Challenges

[Omio]

Saira had managed a kill without getting harmed. Everything was going perfectly. He was waiting for the right moment, and after the one was killed, a couple started blind attacks, and he drew his second knife before jumping down, disposing of two with spinal shots - both of them in the back of the necks, and then jumping aside as two of them did jumping tackles at different timings.

He rolled, which barely managed to dodge the jaw of yet one more as he pulled one knife out, slicing the front legs of one Coldwarg off. It didn't stop the thing from trying to attack, but it rendered the Coldwarg barely mobile, as he used the same knife to stab the next one that came at him. However, there came a cost. He had made himself a bloody mess in front of yet another seven Coldwargs. He'd be their lures.

Len soon bashed yet another leaping Coldwarg away from him with his arm as he jumped into the branches again, watching as they went after him. Saira, as long as you remember to throw your knives, we'll be fine. Perfectly fine. Though my arm's getting a little sore, but that's not unusual.

((Finished.))

[WolfEnchantress]

Saira slipped foreword, pulling the dagger from it without being seen. All of them had begun to attack blindly - losing their sense of smell had them completely disoriented, and then being attacked by something they could not sense was driving them wild. She grinned, deftly throwing the daggers into her targets, then slinking forewords and removing the blades from the dead coldwargs to throw again. Simple, as long as she stayed away from them.

She watched a moment as Len killed several in a rather bloody fashion, causing the coldwargs to lose interest in their invisible attacker and focus on him. She frowned and moved directly behind him, throwing the deadly blades into the things that he missed (of course being careful to not hit Len). These things were pretty easy to dispatch of, they didn't really have a plotted plan of attack or anything. They just kind of went for whatever moved.

Their Numbers grew lesser, and she was surprised at how many there were. They came in waves. Wolves travel in packs of about 12, this pack was many times the size of that. She shrugged. They seemed kind of stupid. Easy to finish off, really

[Omio]

"Screw it! Saira, the rain's starting soon, and Coldwargs hate the rain! Climb up a tree, and wait them out! I can gas them from up here!" Unless these ones are being controlled by something, in which the gas will slow them down, if not outright stop them... And then something came back as a flashback.

"There is the state of mind which is that of the nature of water. All things are merely existing, as it performs its proper bit, and does not feel anything from the whole event. Invoking it is merely a cantrip; a request to the Forces is all. From there, you are no longer part of the battle. You merely are."

Len had remembered this lesson from his teacher, whom had been a Knight-mage. Knight-mages were a bend of Wildmagic, but of a different sort; they were capable of things that Wildmages would never lay hands on, but they were a bit lesser in power, magic-wise, on that. Where a Knight-mage's abilities were from within, a Wildmage's abilities come from everything but themselves. Len was finally beginning to understand things in a bit more depth, already semi-detatched from the battle. Then he remembered a detail. "Saira, once you're up a tree, show yourself to me. I'll have to see you up here before I can do anything down there." And it isn't going to be pretty.

[WolfEnchantress]

Hearing Len's order to get up into a tree, Saira snuck forewords quickly and removed her bloody knives from the Coldwargs that they had most recently struck down.

From there, she climbed a fairly leafy tree a bit away from Len's with relative ease and, once she was up, situated herself sitting down so she wouldn't fall. Looking over, she was only a few feet below Len's level, and from where her tree was she could see him perfectly.

"I'm here," She said, throwing off the cloak. She draped it over the branch she sat on and watched curiously, not re-sheathing her blades just in case. Below them, the wolfish animals snarled and swiped at nothing, sniffing around and glaring about the trees.

[Omio]

Len had to do something rather risky; worth it, but risky. "Once the smoke clears from below, we'll be clear to travel. I'll have to borrow your knives, though - just toss them into the tree I'm in here, and I'll use them to exact what I need." Alright, use the Alkaline Colgwarg blood, and a bit of acid, and it should make a fume of which they cannot survive in. It'll be unable to rise high enough to get at Saira, but I can only hope she can climb higher if she needs to. That, and I'm more able of withstanding a gas attack than she is, so if things must be, I'll have to toss my gas mask up to her. Nonetheless, just rumble as much as I can down there while the gas takes care of a good number of them and provides a smokescreen for me to play with. Hopefully, the rest rush in, and I can feint them into a gas trap, and if not, the olden way works. Especially if I port three or four knives. Then I can leave one, and use another and not have to stop immediately in order to keep going...

[WolfEnchantress]

Saira wiped the blades of her knives on her pants, leaving a smear of blood but clean knives. From there, she carefully tossed the knives to Len, feeling a bit uneasy being without arms. However, the smoke would clear them out. Probably.

She swung the cloak over her shoulder and crouched, prepared to climb or perhaps change trees if need be.

"Okay, do what you must, I'm ready for anything," She said, keeping half of her attention on Len and half on the Coldwargs.
I don't remember ever seeing these on the Ridge. Maybe once. I wonder why they are here? She thought to herself before shaking her head. No matter. They will be disposed of soon enough. She tensed, ready to move should need be.

[Omio]

Len nodded, and pulled a vial out as he plucked the knives from the tree. He set the knives in the branch as he reached back, and pulled a gas mask from his belt - the one he had used earlier. He might feel slight amounts of the effects of the fumes he was going to make, but it's a low cost, in comparison to the effect. He then pulled the knifes back out, sheathing his own and readying for chaos. He waited until the proper moment. More came, and then more, and then he felt the moment arrive, jumping down, and taking one down. Once he did, he opened the vial, and ducked a pair of leapers as he put the solution into the wound of the Coldwarg. Then smoke began to rise, confusing the Coldwargs, and making their lungs burn from the fumes. Len, however, had one more trick up his sleeve; Battlemind. It was a spell meant for Knight-mages, but any Wildmage could learn it, with a Knight-mage to teach them. He invoked the cantrip, and he only saw coloured spots. He saw where the enemies laid, despite the smoke. He jumped up, dodging a pair of leapers, and came down on a tough one, burying one knife into it, and pulling another before rolling aside, waiting for the moment. The red spot that he had struck at, however, had turned blue, meaning that the threat was gone. Then he felt something from behind, and ducked, spinning as he ducked, and then spiotted one large red line. He drew the knife along the line, and he was barely strong enough to get the whole line; he ended up gutting his attacker mid-lunge. The numbers died, but the smoke rose. Too much. Len had to act quick. He looked, still in battle-mind, for Saira. "Saira, where are you? I can't see you from down here!" This is going to suck for the next day, but I don't care.

[WolfEnchantress]

Saira watched him jump down into the midst of dozens of Coldwargs with some apprehension, even though she knew he probably knew what he was doing.

The smoke rose, making it hard - no, impossible to see what was going on. She heard whines and cries from the enemy and nothing more., though she strained to hear anything at all. Th smoke was rising and expanding the area it took up rather quickly.

once she heard him call for her, she moved as low to the ground as was possible with the deadly smoke.

"I'm right here," She called. "A bit to your left." She wasn't positive, but she could make out dark shapes in all of the mist, and one of them looked like a person

[Omio]

Len had little option remaining, as he took off the mask, and tossed it up to Saira, holding his breath as he dispatched a couple of the new ones coming in - most of them, as soon as they walked in, collapsed as soon as they got in. After dispatching them, he exhaled, and lowered his face to the ground, which accidentally caused him to inhale. However, the gas wasn't as noxious to him; he had trouble breathing, and every part of him felt as if it was on fire, but he could take that kind of pain.

Detach yourself. From pain, from emotion, from your body, from everything. Float free, and what happens to while while departed briefly is no longer your concern.

Len had little options remaining, as he soon let himself fall into a sleep of which would leave him unresponsive for a bit. His spirit was detached from his body, floating over to where Saira was. However, he would be unseen, and unheard unless she was extremely sensitive to spirits, which few were. A dragon might be able to see him, but not in enough detail to identify him unless they knew him. The cost of this is high, but Saira, I'm still here, protecting you. Even in the state I'm in, I'm still with you. ...I'd say that, if I could be heard...

His body would probably turn yellow-skinned, which would definitely indicate that something was wrong, but it was something he could handle internally, it'd just take him a struggle to get through the rest of the day for it to go away naturally. He could do a rough treatment, but that was a dumber option; he was running low on that sort of thing, and wouldn't want to use it for something like this.

[WolfEnchantress]

Saira caught the mask that had suddenly flew up from he haze. She put it on and lowered herself a bit more so she could see what was going on better. It was still hard, to tell, but it looked as though all of the Coldwargs were being easily done away with with either the blades or the smoke, which seemed to be becoming more lethal as it continued to hang in the air.

Then she saw Len, who lay on the ground. She blinked in surprise, then fear. Was he - ?
"Len?" She called tentatively, again, dropping a few branches (with some difficulty)

Once she reached the ground, she knelt by him, making a face at the smoke, which even this close made it difficult to see. She placed two fingers on his neck, a bit to the side, and felt a slow pulse.
"Okay, so you're alive. That's a start." She looked around. She wanted to somehow get him out of the toxic mist, but couldn't see where to go. She contended herself with sitting where she was, a worried expression on her face, and tensed up to attack anything that came near and occasionally making sure he was still alive.
"Len, wake up," she muttered, figuring that the longer he stayed in the mist the worse it would get, and hoping it would clear away soon.

((Leaving... post as soon as I get back ;D ))

[Omio]

He wasn't at his body, but he saw Saira's actions. However, as he was, he wouldn't die unless his body had completely stopped functioning, and it was still capable - barely. As he was, though, he could affect the air quite a bit. He then drifted from the outside edge of the smoke back into it, and out, and in, clearing a path of sorts by air. At least while like this, there was some way of doing something beneficial. He knew the cost of this was going to probably be something nasty, but he didn't care anymore. Anything to keep Saira safe, he'd be content with.

(( Have fun. ))

[WolfEnchantress]

Sarora picked up her head, catching something on the wind, something strange, but just as it had come it was gone as soon as the wind died down. She scowled, as much as a dragon could and scanned the woods with a practiced eye before relaxing a bit, again lowering her head.

**

As Saira waited, nervously fidgeting with the fringe on her cloak, she loked around once more, and noticed something. There was one area where the smoke as definentally thinner. No, not thinner - clearing completely. She stared in wonder for a moment, not sure if it was wind or something else. Either way, she immediately moved into action.

It wasn't hard to get Len out of the smoke, moving him the same way she had before. Once they were clear, there was a significant difference in her ability to see, which pleased her. She still sat crouched, poised for anything unexpected to occur.

[Omio]

Len then drifted back to his body, and the searing pain that enclamed his chest came back to him with a wheeze, picking up enough sense to dig for something in his backpack, if he could find it. He searched semi-blindly, dark spots in his vision impairing him a bit as he managed to find something he opened the lid, and put the vial close to his nose before inhaling sharply with his nose, and holding his breath. He could feel the countereffecting stuff removing the main damaging factor of the gas. When he sighed, the gas game out his mouth with a blue tinge, though a bit closer to grey. He wasn't completely clear of pain, but his breathing came much easier. So did speech, though his voice was quiet, and a bit weak. "Saira.... ...thank you. ...Thank you... ...for proving I could trust you more than myself..." He was still having slight troubles, bit he'd be better, eventually. He laid down, making sure he rested for the next bit. "I... ...I think we're clear... I'll... ...neeed to rest."

(( Welcome back. [Glomps, the cobwebs falling off of him as he did so.] Make sure to PM HDTV, unless he notices that you've posted. Wouldn't want him to miss out. ))

[WolfEnchantress]

Saira was startled, if only slightly, when Len woke abruptly. He searched for something, which he breathed in, and when he exhaled a blue-grey fog lifted away on the air.

"Ssh, don't talk," She said gently. "Rest, save your strength." She wished she could call for Sarora - the dragon could clear this smoke with one beat of her wings and carry them both to safety. But she didn't. She'd said she could make it without her, and she was going to prove this to be true. She strengthened the mental barrier between herself and the massive dragon who, unknown to her, waited only a half-days walk from there.

Saira dug in her cloak until she located a pouch of leaves. She crushed three of the brittle things in her hand and dropped them into the waterskin, shaking it vigorously.
"Len, if you can drink some of this, it will help bring your strength back," She said softly. She'd used it on occasions too numerous to count, and considered it a lifesaver. It wouldn't make him jump up with energy, but it would be an improvement.

(( He knows I'm back, he posted on my 'I'm back' thread ))

[Omio]

(( Ah, alright. ))

Len smirked. Allheal. Of course. Right no-- Oh, wait, this goes in the digestive system, so it's completely irrelevant. She's right. And he took the waterskin, downing maybe a third of its contents before resealing it. He handed it back, and laid down, not saying a word. He was saving his energy alright; He was semi-slow in motion, and saved as much work as possible. If I were to take a whiff of it, however, it's destabilize many things, and an ugly result could come about.