~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ Crystice ~ and ~ Emmra ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
._ The Ice Sorceress ~ ~ ~ The Sorceress Sisters ~ ~ ~ The Sweet Sorceress
When Emmra had been dropped into the Guard Room, one of the first things she took notice of was a very young, and strangely red, Demon Spawn. The poor thing seemed to have been injured badly, for some reason. Tesonu must not have noticed. She couldn't blame him. He seemed so very busy sometimes, and everything was getting crazy right now. He must have accidentally missed it. But what matters is that she's there, right now, and can heal him. She carefully stepped over to it as she spoke gently, "Hold still little one, let me heal those wounds up..."
Emmra placed her hands on the red Demon Spawn and began calling forth the Healing Magic she was so familiar with. She hardly had to think about it, but she did have to focus if she wanted to cast a Perfect Heal. After a brief moment, Emmra finished her casting and restored as much as she could. She spoke softly, "There, better?" When Emmra heard her sister speak in an urgent manner, she quickly turned her full attention to Crystice to listen to what she had to say.
Emmra hadn't really acknowledged it before but she was rather fond of the way Crystice gave out speeches and lectures. It just showed her intelligence, and Emmra very much loved to see that. She was reminded of the days when their father taught her about a lot of historical battles and the different "strategies" that had been used. Emmra was certain that's where Crystice developed an understanding for such things. Emmra herself... never was into such stories and never learned of them. But that was perfectly fine. She wasn't meant to fight at all.
"If anyone from the defensive line is critically injured, stand your ground while I have my sister come and Heal you. Otherwise, retreat behind the defensive line if you're critically injured," Crystice explained. Emmra took careful note of that, though she knew it wasn't necessary. Orders or not, she was always going to answer someone who was in need somehow. She had no intention to ignore a cry for help. Well, as long as they weren't an "enemy". Emmra would help them, too, but then they would just use that help to hurt her, or even Crystice. Emmra didn't want that. She had already learned that harsh lesson before.
"Everyone, move out immediately!!"
Emmra closely followed her sister out the door.
* * * * * * *
Crystice stepped out into the battlefield after allowing the other defenders to get into position first. The Heroes were already engaging in battle by the time she got herself in position. She quickly began watching their movements to see what kind of strategy they were employing. Interestingly enough, they had a similar strategy as Crystice. They formed two lines of defense in addition to having two groups of flankers. Their flankers were being met by Crystice's side guards as Crystice's flankers were met by their second line. Crystice was sure they'd win easily, for they not only had some stronger fighters but supporters as well.
There was one thing that bothered her, however. Tesonu had mentioned two Thieves, yet Crystice only found one. The other one obviously must have known Invisibility, being a Thief. But then there was the question of the Tunnellers. Tesonu hadn't mentioned it to the whole army, but it was one of the understandings she grasped from his elaborate thoughts that he allowed her to feel. There were two Tunnellers and five Dwarves. Could that same Thief have known Invisibility Group and cast it over the Tunnellers? No, that didn't make sense. They were Tunnellers, not meant to fight. It would make more sense to cast it over the Barbarian and other Thief to make the western flank come as a complete surprise. Not to mention, Invisibility Group is such an advanced spell for what is meant to be a weak Thief.
The only thing Crystice could think of was rooting Tunnellers back to their main purpose, which is to tunnel. Perhaps this party was merely a distraction while the Tunnellers mined away at the walls to open up a weak point in Tesonu's defenses. If so, that would prove to be a serious problem. Tesonu was currently distracted with another matter, and thus may not be aware of it. It may ultimately be up to her to stop it. But first, she had to dispatch this invisible Thief, who very much so could be waiting in ambush for anyone to let their guard down or to leave the main fight to seek out the Tunnellers.
"Emmra," Crystice whispered urgently. "Yes, sister?" she replied quickly, sensing her sister's urgency. "There's an invisible Thief somewhere around here, a female I believe..." Crystice explained with knowledge gained from Tesonu, "Can you find her?" "Ok," Emmra replied firmly as she began searching the battlefield. She suddenly spoke up again with a small point nearby Tedworthy, "There... she's about to attack that Salamander..." Crystice took note of where she was pointing and replied, "Alright."
Crystice began preparing a cast of Freeze while keeping her eyes on where Emmra held her point. Once ready, and certain she wasn't going to hit Tedworthy by accident, she let the spell fly. It soared through the air, passing by Tedworthy, the Thief he was attacking, and went all the way to the wall and shattered. "She dodged," Emmra told her. "I noticed," Crystice muttered with a hint of annoyance and a touch of embarrassment following its trail. She began preparing a casting of Hailstorm.
Let's see her dodge this...
"Ah, she's coming this way!" Emmra blurted in shock as she watched the Thief presumably evade the side guards as she headed straight for the support. Crystice quickened her casting and fired a rushed blast of hail. She saw a large majority of her projectiles stop mid air and fall to the ground as she heard a feminine grunt of pain and surprise. The female Thief became visible as she bounced back from the force of the attack at such close range and stumbled across the ground, dazed and confused. An unfortunate side-effect of Crystice's attack was that a small portion of the hail missed and struck Tedworthy instead, but fortunately the revealing of the invisible Thief would clear up any misunderstandings.
"She was heading for me..." Emmra whispered frightfully. With a good look in her eyes, Crystice could tell just how afraid she had been. Thinking fast, Crystice snatched Emmra's staff and flipped it upside down. She fired several rapid Missiles on the Thief while she was attempting to get up, knocking her back to the ground. She moved in closer, gripping the staff tightly as the Thief hurried her attempt to return to her feet. As she was just getting up to her knees, Crystice gave the staff a swing and struck her along the side of the head. The Thief was thrown to the wall and fell back to the ground, badly bruised but not bleeding in any apparent manner, as Crystice wasn't quite strong enough for that. She looked up at Crystice as she lay on her back, glaring for a bit, but her eyes then lost focus. Her head fell back as she lost consciousness.
Getting back to Emmra, Crystice took notice of the way she held her hands in front of her mouth as she gasped in obvious intimidation, "That was violet, Crystice..." "It was efficient," Crystice replied calmly as she returned the staff, "...Sorry about using your staff." "It's... fine?" Emmra replied in confusion as she inspected the staff, wiping away at the bottom part used to strike the Thief. Crystice had just finished personally dealing with the problem of the Thief... now she had to worry about the Tunnellers. Who was available to leave the battle to face them?
"Diana! Withdraw! Go outside the Trap Room and search for two Tunnellers! They're going to try and breach the dungeon from another area!" Crystice commanded in a clear voice. She heard the leader Dwarf begin shouting his own commands with a grunt of fury, "Tetryos! Don't let her escape!" The male Guard, Tetryos, quickly departed from his battle with Nalina and began to pursue after Diana. Crystice tapped Malsiah's shoulder and whispered, "Stop that Guard!" Malsiah complied immediately and Teleported away. Crystice then turned her attention to Diana and shouted off another command, "Keep going, Diana! Ignore the Guard!"
Crystice then gave Shaylum a tap, "Help the Salamanders take out the Barbarian and the Thief." Followed by an order for Shaylum was an order for Almaron and Exussum, "You two... uh, actually, keep focusing on that Giant. He needs to go down as soon as possible." Almost as if on cue, the Lightning Traps and one of the Sentries suddenly fired upon the Giant and stunned him terribly. Another Sentry, the only survivor from the west, fired onto the Barbarian. Crystice was actually a bit surprised, realizing she never heard them fire before aside from a couple Sentries earlier. Was there some kind of malfunction in the Traps that delayed their shots?
Crystice had no time to worry about it now. It was a bother, but they didn't need to rely on the Traps to win. Although, they definitely were about to make things much easier. All of the support units had specified targets except for Emmra and herself. Crystice quickly fixed that with a whisper to her sister, "Emmra, go and cast Heal and Protect on the Salamander fighting the Barbarian." "Ok!" she nodded eagerly.
As her sister set off to perform the task, Crystice set her eyes on Tetryos. There was a reason why she asked Malsiah particularly to attack him. She was the only one available that was within reach, thanks to Teleport. While Suria or one of the units from the eastern flankers could perform the task, removal of Suria would dispatch the western flankers entirely. The eastern flankers were not quite strong enough to be able to afford losing members either. Besides, Malsiah had capable melee talents in addition to Invisibility and Heal Self. Crystice was sure she could handle herself fine. Especially if she had a bit of support.
Crystice began letting Hell loose on Tetryos in the form of Missiles and Ice Shards. Any occasional and accidental misfires were fine, for the most part, as they most often hit the Knight, Guillermo, thus aiding Omervium in his fight. With such a well organized force unleashed upon the Heroes, it seemed like the results of the battle had already been decided.
* * * * * * *
Given the command to aid one of the Salamanders, Emmra quickly moved closer to the defending lizards. Moving behind the one fighting the Barbarian, she whispered, "Hold as still as you can..." She began calling forth her Protective Magic, quickly casting a Protect Spell over the Salamander. "Now I just need to heal up those wounds..." she added as she swapped her focus to Healing Magic. She tried to focus as much as she can, but could not retain contact with the Salamander due to his constant movements. Still, the Heal Spell she ended up casting was sufficient, restoring 16%.
Emmra moved back and watched the two Salamanders fight. She noticed that the other Salamander, who fought a Thief, was having a lot of difficulty. She could sense the magic over the Thief, and knew that his movements had been altered. He was under the effects of Speed, putting the Salamander at a considerable disadvantage. Emmra thought for a moment, then decided to try casting her own Speed Spell to even the odds a bit more. But with the way they moved, there was no way she'd be able to make contact with the Salamander. What if the Thief attacked her, too? She didn't want to put herself at risk needlessly. She knew Crystice would be upset with her, too, if she did that.
Emmra took hold of her staff then began to focus her magic. She remembered what her mother had taught her about Acceleration magic. The way it altered a person's deception of time itself, boosting their reflexes and movement speed as well. She recalled those lessons as she focused her magic through her staff, then let loose her magic upon the Salamander. The Salamander's movements suddenly increased, making the Thief his equal. Emmra would have leaped for joy at her success, but she suddenly felt incredibly tired after having cast three spells like that. Then there was the Perfect Heal she cast earlier.
Emmra moved closer towards the door to the Steel Door and crouched down, allowing herself to rest.
~ ~ ~ Crystice ~ and ~ Emmra's ~ ~ ~
Summary
Crystice/Emmra
Health: 100%, 100%
Level: 6, 5
Experience: 12/80, 18/60 [+8 for Loretta, +8 for Tetryos/Guillermo] [+6 for Cytai's Perfect Heal, +5/3 for Ecthelion's Protect/Heal, +6 for Tedworthy's Speed]
Gold in Hand: 0, 0
Gold in Lair: 842, 650
Equipment: None/Wizard Staff
Location: Trap Room, Support Position/Trap Room, Support Position
Status: Focused, Attacking Tetryos/Tired, Resting
Efficiency: 120%/80%
Summary: Emmra healed Cytai for 25% then followed Crystice outside. They identified Loretta, who was invisible, then Crystice missed a shot with Freeze that hit the wall. She then struck Loretta with Hail after she attempted to attack them, also hitting Tedworthy slightly. Crystice followed up with Missiles and a strike to the head with Emmra's staff, knocking Loretta out. She began passing out orders before the Traps fired, and she focused on Tetyros with Missiles and Ice Shards. She occasionally missed and hit Guillermo instead. Emmra cast Protect, then Heal on Ecthelion for 16%, followed by Speed for Tedworthy. She began to rest afterwards.
Battle Status:
New Orders
Code:
Diana: Head Outside Trap Room and Find the Two Tunnellers Attempting to Breach Tesonu's Dungeon
Malsiah: Stop Tetryos from Chasing Diana
Shaylum: Attack Jimmy and Aella
Almaron: Attack Doug
Exussum: Attack Doug
Enemies
Code:
LV5 M DWARF "Raguld": 98% - [Unchanged] <PROTECT/REBOUND> {ProtectS/ReboundS Charging}
Engaged with Dreggory at the Center of First Line
LV2 M DWARF "Egaro": 100% - [Unchanged]
Forming Second Line
LV2 M DWARF "Dorge": 95% - [Unchanged]
Forming Second Line, Attacking Suria
LV1 M DWARF "Ulthor": 90% - [Unchanged]
Forming Second Line, Attacking Suria
LV1 M DWARF "Afaro": 100% - [Unchanged]
Forming Second Line
LV2 M KNIGHT "Guillermo": 86% - [-2/3% by Crystice's Misfiring Missiles/Ice Shards, From 91%]
Engaged with Omervium at Western Side of First Line, Shield/Arm Injury by Arrow
LV2 F GUARD "Clarissa": 100% - [Unchanged] {HealS Ready}
Engaged with Nalina at Eastern Side of First Line
LV3 M GUARD "Tetryos": 89% - [-4/7% by Crystice's Missiles/Ice Shards, From 100%]
Left First Line After Diana, Now Engaged with Malsiah
LV2 F BARBARIN "Aella": 88% - [-4% by Sentry, From 92%]
Flanking from West, Engaged with Ecthelion
LV2 M GIANT "Doug": 44% - [-18/4% by Lightning/Sentry, From 66%] <STUN>
Flanking from East, Engaged with Tralk/Zama, Traumatized/Slightly Concussed
LV3 M THIEF "Jimmy": 95% - [Unchanged] <SPEED> {SpeedS Charging}
Flanking from West, Engaged with Tedworthy
LV2 M TUNNELER "Fumble": 100% - [Unchanged]
Unknown Location
LV1 M TUNNELER "Jakl": 100% - [Unchanged]
Unknown Location
LV2 F THIEF "Loretta": 64% - Unconscious [From 100%]
Traps
Code:
Sentry A "NorthEast": 100% [Discharged, Delayed Firing]
Sentry B "MiddleEast": 100% [Charging]
Sentry C "SouthEast": 100% [Charging]
Sentry D "NorthCent": 77% [Discharged, Delayed Firing]
Sentry E "NorthWest": 92% [Disarmed]
Sentry F "MiddleWest": 92% [Disarmed]
Sentry G "SouthWest": 100% [Disarmed]
Lightning A "MiddleEast": 100% [Discharged, Delayed Firing]
Lightning B "SouthEast": 100% [Discharged, Delayed Firing]
Lightning C "NorthWest": 70% [Discharged, Delayed Firing]
Spike "South": 100% [Disarmed]
Freeze "North": 100% [Ready to Fire]
Steel Door "Pippy": 100%