Closed Swords And Arrows [Antonius Fighting Grounds]

[Avrial Stalinsa]

It seemed as if things were going all to smooth for Avrial, she might have missed her mark but it seemed like she still made a lasting impression at least in his plate armor anyway. There was a glimmer of pleasantly suprised that beamed from her facial features, she was a Stalinsa after all this is what they do.

She walked towards him with a confident stride, fully prepared to make him yield before her dual wielding prowess. Up until a knife was thrown at her, Avrial made no attempts at moving out of the way. The edge made contact and clanged against the steel of her plate, where it fell limply into the dirt where it was walked over and discarded as she followed in pursuit

She made no attempts to run after him but she did trail behind Alex to keep pressure on him as he ran out of the open training grounds, and into the forest terrain. All that armor, that nice heavy shield, and that big ole two and half hand bastard sword. If wrestling her arms in full plate hadn't fatigued him the full sprint in heavy plate even if for a few seconds was certainly going to catch up to him sooner or later.

Are You running into the woods to cry?

Don't tell me your no match for the loveable Avrial

You can't get your patron to fight your battles!

Avrial teased as she let the flat of her swords rest on her shoulders as she followed him into the woods. He seemed to think he would hold an advantage here and he might, however was he really prepared for another skirmish after wasting a fair bit of energy to get her there in full sprint?

Her guess was no, she would wear him down and drag him into a mud fight.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

The impact of the throwing dagger hadn’t had the full effect he’d wanted. The dull glancing ricocheting off the plate was enough of a moment of distraction to allow him his escape. Now ducked amongst the trees he pressed his back into one of them taking a moment to centre himself. He’d spent a good chunk of his stamina but he wondered. Magic took up a lot of stamina. That he knew, he’d watched Rhov start to pant after a single use. Perhaps she’d gotten a better hold on it. Or was purposefully holding back on her power.

Alex slowed his breaths, his feet rolling against the soft earth for a moment getting a feel for his armour. The steel plates sound slowly fading from existence, against the sounds of the other knights training in the grounds. He stepped through the trees now using their distance to mask whether he was approaching, retreating or circling her. However good she was with her blades they were nullified there, all he now had to worry about was her strength. Alex crept through the darkness and very dim light of the trees. Apparently as good as she was at swinging her swords and her magic she wasn’t that good at controlling her mouth. A fact he’d have to remember.

Alex passed through the trees using the shadows and small shifts in the branches to try and get her to expend her energy on taking wild swings thinking that he was there or that he was coming up right behind her. His pace however with the walking was one that whilst speedy was controlled and non-exerting he needed to recover some stamina and this would be his only chance to do so. Finally after she’d wasted enough of her stamina Alex would begin to tighten the circle and spiral in towards standing behind her. His blade out he’d aim to press it against her side and cut through the belts holding the chest plate on. If he could relieve her of her defences perhaps she’d be a little more careful. After attempting to take a swing at that he’d twist behind a tree and try to fade from sight again. If he couldn’t then he’d use the tree as terrain advantage for cover.

[Avrial Stalinsa]

Avrial had seemed to have lost track of her adversary as her weapons rested on her shoulders. For the briefest moment she thought Alex had run from combat. Until his shadowy image was cast from the trees, and she did react to his shadowy image dancing around but perhaps not how he anticipated.

Sharp and controlled thrusting strikes is what she used. If she couldn't swing her sword side to side the swordsman naturally would adapt and adopt a different approach. As she was making these thrusting strikes the opposite arm would rest it's blade on her shoulder to give her arms a periodic break from combat but also for another purpose.

She did notice a change in the shape of his shadow, as she made efforts to puncture the figure. It was steadily getting smaller and smaller with every curving looping thrust she let her arms carry out, but she was adamantly composed in her fighting stance. She would thrust, then step forward following through with her action.

She was starting to feel as if she had made a grievous mistake by following him into the woods. Her stomach hurt a bit from the workout and his elbow but it could have been worse if she hadn't delivered a swift counter.

But that's when he finally took the time to confront the superior bladesmen, she didn't see it as he thrust his dagger out but as she could certainly feel the strike as his dagger ripped into the strap but found itself short of its mark thanks to the square buckle.

But as Alex pressed,
Avrial who remained stance twisted her feet and pivoted from facing forward to backwards to confront her assailant , the left Kilij that rested on her shoulder came chopping down full force towards Alexs right shoulder with the ability to spring into action twice as fast as the weapon had already completed half it's journey. Her once resting swords edge was like a guillotine locked and loaded waiting to fall this was because it was already brought up and didn't need to be swung up and then down. Side to side motions was one thing in the confinement but up and down was another.

The weapons reach was superior to his dagger, if he tried to flee she would be able to see to him. He could stand and fight it out, or run but was he foolish enough to turn his back to her?

But with a lack of reach from his dagger she would follow up with an underhanded thrust with her right kilij to fish for a penetrating blow to the armpit of his left shield arm as the swords arc could bypass his shield and spiral back into that intended spot.

Once again her movements were methodical and precise, like there was no difference between what her right and left hand were capable of. As the sophisticated techniques were done with no variation in strength or skill as she set them in motion. All that stood in her way we're the trees if they weren't such an obstruction she'd be able to blitz him with wave after wave of hammering blows.

But she would need an opportunity to push him out of the woods, and she had a feeling he was going to bury himself in the thicket like a tick. All she had to do was the keep the pace on him, and keep track of him. She was lucky all he tried to do was break a piece of her armor off, he could have landed all manner of game changing blows.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex had landed his strike, he’d cut through most of the strap only a thin sliver of leather held it in place only one more to go on the other side and he’d have her breast plate out of the way giving him a much larger point to aim at. If not for the strap the other side it possibly would have fallen open then and there, given the weight of the steel itself.

With her twist though the kilij came down, thankfully for him the trees meant it wasn’t a broad slice which may have gotten him. Though the thought slipped his mind that she'd attempt a downward swing at him. He took the blow on the pauldron of his armour and felt the strike rake down over his arm. A stabbing apin pushed through the arm holding his dagger. But as it did he thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't an enhanced strike, as that may have taken his arm clean off. After the hit Alex pivoted on his foot and rolled around behind a tree. She then tried to thrust at him and attack a weak spot of his armour, however due to the angle of the shield on his arm He placed the edge of the shield between him and the blade using the unique angle of the shield to send the swing of her sword up and away from his body using the outer arced edge.

He slipped into the trees again, this time he assumed she'd be wise to what he'd done the first time. She'd see through the effects and he was primarily right, shirt sharp thrusts came at him whenever he passed between the trees. Several scraping against his breastplate. He wanted to go in to fight on equal ground but he couldn't.

Not yet. He had to get that other belt off and new she had an idea of what his target was he had to be more careful. So instead of closing the gap he pulled another throwing dagger from his bracer and picked a moment. He tossed the throwing dagger out whilst still moving, hoping the sound of the blade thudding against the tree bark would draw her attention away from him. Hoping it would make her think there was another person there and distract her long enough for him to get out of sight.

If it did and he could then he'd close in from behind her again and take another strike at the belt on the other side. If he cut through that he assumed her chest plate would buckle under it's own weight and tear what remained of the straps. If it did h'd have a much larger area of vulnerability to go after.

Right now he didn’t care about winning this was a show that he had enough foresight to change the situation to his advantage and then use tactically placed strokes under the cover of darkness to take out a superior foe. Even if he managed to get her to a stand still, at best it would be a draw. She had the superior skill and the longer time served. However if his strike failed…If he missed his target. He was in for a world of problems, exposed with no cover within range of several various forms of causing him trouble and pain. Right now every thing was a gamble.

[Avrial Stalinsa]

Avrial seemed all to happy as her kilij cleaved into and raked off his metal enveloped arm, granted she was happy with making contact as that connection had the possibility to swell and possibly bruise making it difficult later to wield larger weapons but that was a wild assumption as she had no idea just how much of the impact actually transfered into the meat of his arm.

Although she had no qualms of kicking a squire in the unmentionables to drop them out of combat to teach a lesson of vulnerability in armor could be considered dishonorable but would there mortal enemies the ebonstrife not adopt such a tactic to vanquish her kin and gain the upper hand and was the squire now prepared for such a dubious blow? But under such context If she knew she was going to land a sword blow on a vital she would stop short of her mark and exercise restraint and self control. Beating up a squire and leaving them in tears or unconscious was all fine and good but mauling them beyond repair or killing them was bad form.

Although after her initial strike and follow up there came an unfamiliar looseness in her armor as she felt two pieces of her armor flap open then close up like half of it was unsupported and unsecure. And perhaps she made a grievous mistake to follow him into the woods where he could ambush her with guerilla warfare tactics but Avrial wasn't dense enough to not have enough common sense he'd only managed to do half a job and that he had the intention to finish what he started from a tactical point of view and that gave Avrial an idea of what to expect and how to prepare for it.

By a stroke of dumb luck Alexs throwing dagger spiraled past the Knights face causing her to momentarily panic and shield her face as the rotating aerial dagger missed her visage by a hair. It gave him the opportunity he needed to sever the second cord to her armor but the Stalinsa swordsman was but aware of what was going on as she regained her bearings and composure.

She called upon the essence of the Flux once again as she tore into herself pulling djed across her form and funneling it through the entirety of her body into one area. As flux energy flooded and surged through her astral pathways like an arcane torrent she summoned every part of her mortal coil into the metaphysical matrix of her right arm.

As she felt the all to familiar push she released the djed to augment her strike in her right arm. As she spun around the arc of her sword flowed tightly with her form to avoid getting hung uo on branches as she let her right arm fly out from herself to increase the momentum and torque of her 180 horizontal slash aimed at his shield. Her goal was to hit his shield so hard and so fast the impact would reel him backwards into the large solid trunk of a tree with enough force to whip his head back into it and render him unconcious, that was the game plan this time around she had used her last flux maneuver and in a way she was gambling as she had never attempted to unleash that much flux energy before.

But as she performed the tight slash attack the back plate and front plate of her armor came snapping off her form from her sudden and violent twisting strike. So in a way his tactic paid off but might cost him dearly in doing so, as he kept to the same task rather then try to branch out and use what Alex had already known deep down. And that was Avrial was expecting this after he had cut through the first leather strap, perhaps in a shrewder tacticians hand that knowledge could have been played against her. And in a way perhaps it would be his singular focus that might cost him the match as it made him short sided to the potential of the tactical knowledge he had just gained, as he knew what she was expecting and did not utilize and exploit that to his advantage as he had been given a moment of tactical forsight before the events unfolded.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

With the familiar scent of success came the bitter taste of regret. The moment his blade clipped the bet on the opposite side he saw something. She’d regained her form in a matter of moments. This spoke volumes about the calibur of the woman. Just in case Alex had his shield tucked up to this side, though how useful it came in didn’t fully register until she’d begun her swing. The strike connected. Such force and power behind it Alex could hear the metal creaking. He pressed his shoulder and his other arm into the shield hoping to brace it but still the force of the impact was far too strong.

Even in the tightly packed grove with the compact swing and the momentum behind it Alex lose his footing. Slipping slightly and the force carried him back slamming him into a tree. The wind escaped him as he slumped down feeling the arm sore. Very sore. Either it was a bruise or something had chipped. Neither was the case, he looked to his forearm to see she’d dislocated it. He wanted to scream to cry out in pain but now he muscled it down only, the pain showed on his face. Despite this, his efforts had yielded fruit. As she delivered the strike her chest plate snapped off from the momentum. If he could find his feet and push his resolve through he’d have a shot now the playing field was levelled. Alex winced and stood back to full height his back now throbbing with pain as well.

Both arms injured. Back in pain. Alex twisted around the tree behind him making another tactical retreat. He hoped to put a little distance between them and taking a moment he’d grab his fore arm and in a swift turning motion of his body he popped the joint back into place.

He screamed through his teeth, brief but enough to know the pain was there. And that was not going to feel good for a while. He flexed the fingers of his shield arm, that was going to be sore in the morning but he’d have to deal with it as it stood. The weapon masters had trained him to keep standing and fight through it.

He slipped his dagger away and drew his bastard sword again. Judging his physical state. He assumed he’d have potentially one more clash one final push to make an impression if he hadn’t already. He rested the sword on his shoulder, hoping to use it to balance out some of the weight and ease the strain. It hurt against the impact she’d landed but it was less aggravated when as pressure instead of a pull. He unfortunately couldn’t say the same for his shield arm that was still going to smart like nobody’s business till he got the shield off. Until then his arm hung to the side until he needed it. He squared off facing her his feet both pointed to the side trying to angle himself to give her less of a target.

He had one chance to make this count. One chance. A chance that he’d wait for.

[Avrial Stalinsa]

At first there was a smile as her strike sent him reeling backwards into the tree trunk, but then a sudden shock that came from her right arm. A weird tingling sensation that slowly vibrated into a psychotic itch she could not scratch and relieve as the pathways between the physical and metaphysical protested her over the top usage way too much way to soon without the control. There was no hard limit to what she could achieve but as her muscles in her bicep wrist and fingers tightened against her will as the sword had all but fallen out as the tightening continued and what was once uncomfortable had become torturously painful as the spasms and contractions got more intense and less forgiving until this carple tunnel sensation had all but faded.

Her forehead broke out in cold sweat as she kneeled to retrieve her sword, gentle with her fingers she picked the kilij up slowly not trying to agitate what had happened. And as she did this she could hear the sweet whispers in her mind, pleading with her to use the flux it was a dark sensual voice like one of rhysols servents and this voice seemed to wash over her clouding her judgements with audible luls of sweet nothings to use her personal magic.

For a moment Avrial had this crazed look in her eyes that had broken her once flowery demeanor as she struggled with her personal demons brought on by over giving as she had pushed herself just to far when she paniced. It was one of the most rewarding but also dangerous personal magics known.

This crazed look like she was having a mental break only seemed to intensify as her vision started to tunnel around Alex, everything else simply did not matter as her field of vision narrowed smaller and smaller and everything on the outside became blurred and sloppy. Nor were her movements fluid as she sporadically twitched involuntarily she didn't even seem like she could walk proper as she hobbled about.

Another give away was her nose started to bleed, she wiped her nose and smiled with an insane sort of glee as she focused on the blood.

Avrial was no longer in control she was cusping the milder side of overgiving, there was a decision for Alex to make on his moral compass.

Push to win, or realize something is wrong and stop the contest

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex waited…Held his position. Dealing with the situation as events unfolded. Until she emerged from the treeline. Alex balanced his sword on his shoulder his left arm hanging by his side. Both still in equal measures of pain, combined with the slowly fading pain of his stomach. Standing now through sheer force of will she crept closer. He assumed all pretence of holding her composure was gone. Strange. Given how quickly she’d regained it within the trees he was a little confused as to why it had been dropped now. Alex made a motion to square up to angle off. Though there was no trace of a firm stance.

What cemented the fact was that blood ran from her nose. He hadn’t landed so much as a strike and yet she was bleeding. All he’d managed to do was grant himself a larger target, he’d never stuck her face. The blades he threw both missed, and then they’d cause a cut not an internal bleed. Alex tightened his stance unsure of how to react. Was this a ploy to get him to drop his guard? Or something else?

Alex back up holding his form unsure of whether to advance or call a close and help. The whole situation was throwing him. She’d been actively pursuing him with no thought for a plan relying on her raw skill with her blades to overcome him, now that he’d granted himself an opening she was suddenly adopting a strategy? Alex let his blade fall from his shoulder before stabbing it tip first into the soft earth beneath his feet.

“Sera Stalinsa…Are you alright?” The only words he managed to ask still hovering near his blade just in case she was attempting to play him in some way, and take another severely dishonourable attack in his direction.

[Avrial Stalinsa]

"No, no I'm not OK!

Marlow why did you turn your back on us, you know the rules, you know what happens to traitors! Why wouldn't you just listen to reason? You were my friend but now your dead in some back alley in sunberth and for what? What did you gain from your betrayal?

You ain't even worth my steel, you can keep your head seeing as you found it then but you'll rot with those ebonstrife bastards.

Now be gone you peching haunt!

leave me be!"

Her head turned to a tree and her gaze fell upon it irrationally as she raised her finger and said.

"........"

After saying her piece she gave a couple of gentle pats on the bark of the large trunk, like she had a personal moment.

As over giving started to fade from her she started to withdraw from her mild hallucinations that was similar to a drunken stupor, even out of her mind she knew better then to divulge the orders secrets her head did throb with a pulsing migraine that did not relinquish it's grasp upon her skull. She might have blurted out things in her past that bothered her, and maybe if you looked hard enough there was a lesson there at least for the squire. Whether it was to remain vigilant against the temptations of darkness, or maybe that the path to knighthood may not be so black and white, or even the commitment to there cause to spill blood of someone they considered a friend for betrayal. And what of that brief awkward moment? Oh she just saw her friends face amongst the bark.

While it was true she did not display tactics and instead chose raw skill it was her choice to follow him into unadvantagous terrain. Was this to further sharpen and hone her edge and give Alex a shot to use tactics and further evolve down his path? He had used strategy so well in fact she had beaten herself when she lost control and panicked with the flux and his toughness carried him the distance, he'd made his impression but as Sera Arial regained her senses and shook off that bat shyke crazy over giving as it faded it was obvious that she'd never tell.

"Stand Down Soldier!
You've done a most excellent job, I los..... nevermind I pushed harder then I should have and over gave and you saw something was wrong and disengaged.

Now back to the woods with ya and don't come back without my armor...

Move!"

The unranked knight was obviously embarrassed about over giving and wanted him to quickly put his mind on other tasks to keep him from dwelling on the things she did or said.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

The sudden spin of sanity caught Alex a little, or rather a lot off guard. It was strange to see someone acting like they’d just dived into a different form of reality directly in front of him. Alex picked up the Sword next to him and sheathed it. Seeing quite clearly that something was wrong with her. More than physically at least. Seemed like she had some demons, long lingering spectres from her past.

He slowly walked over feeling the pain in his torso taking hold harder than the one in his arm. It may have hurt something fierce but with the two pains in his man body he walked with a slow stumble attempting to stand up right. And now despite the incessant pain pulsing through him he was being ordered on top of it. He half felt robbed, like he’d put in so much work to not see an end, for better or worse but orders were orders.

“Yes, Sera.” All he said before he stepped into the trees again, reclaiming the throwing daggers he’d used on his way, slipping them back into their hiding places. With a good amount of strain he managed to pick up the now split hunks of steel that lay against the two trees where she’d made her stand against his tactical warfare.

Hoofing one over his undamaged shoulder and the other tight against his torso he stepped out of the trees, placing the steel by where she stood. “Pardon me Sera, but I’m going to head to the soothing waters…I’m fairly certain somethings either broken or not quite right…” Giving a weak salute he stepped off balancing his eight in a way that didn’t make his abdominals scream in agony.

The thing keeping him aloft and still walking was willpower and something else. A pure push of resolve and something more primal. Anger. Anger that he’d been so overwhelmed and with such littler effort. Magic. Magic was something he had to learn how to discern and counter act somehow. See who had it and who didn’t. It might finally give him the ability to stand on some kind of equal footing.

But right now he needed to get the pains checked out, or else he’d be in for a gruelling couple of days. With the other training he had to do and patrols. He couldn’t afford to be out of action.