[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/7iJKKu5.png[/img] [color=FIREBRICK][b][h3]MALAKAUS FIREBELLY[/h3][/b][/color][/center] The air was heavy. Magic was obviously afoot; even Malakaus could feel it. A force so heavy, so thick, even for one such as him, who is completely ignorant on magical things, could tell something was amiss. But Malakaus wasn't one to hesitate. He isn't one who trembles in fear. Malakaus has been a knight longer than most people have been alive. He's faced frenzied trolls that burst forth from the ground, men get ripped to shreds by land-roving monsters, zombies tear down entire villages with nothing but their teeth, and that’s all in the last two years. He can hit an imp with a bow at three hundred yards, kill a grizzly bear in hand-to-hand combat, and cut a man in half with one swing of a sword. Malakaus does not tremble with fear. He kills it. His opponent made the mistake to try and flee. Because the moment he targeted Tani, Maria, and Atisha, it would be then that Malakaus appeared. Despite being a knight of considerable bulk and perhaps an intimidating presence, when Malakaus wanted to he was as notable as an insect; insignificant to even the most perceptive of things. But despite that perceived notion, Malakaus's strength was anything but small. He had already had his axe out and swung, not once, but three times. While he may not be as agile as Atisha, when it came to combat he was certainly her superior. In what appeared to be one simple swing was actually three swift chops, the first being a vertical slash that would bisect the mysterious attacker. The second was a horizontal slash at shoulder height of the man; it would either decapitate him, or cleave him in half. The last was a wide sweep at knee height, coming in at the opposite direction of the second swing. It would cut of the madman's legs, as well as catch him if he tried to duck underneath the second or sidestep the first. And that was only if he could even react to Malakaus by the time he realized he was under attack. In the span of three seconds, Malakaus made three strikes. For the next three seconds, he followed it up with a quick grab towards the man's back. If all three hits were made then the only thing Malakaus would really be grabbing was whatever was within the black cloth. But even one of Malakaus's strikes would have been a lethal blow if it landed. He didn't know who this madman was, or his reasons for doing this. He calls himself chaos, he calls the knights cowards, yet here he was in a situation that didn't suit him against foes who came to fight him. Whatever he was, Malakaus only considered him a dead man. [@Seirei No Hai][@Forett][@dabombjk][@Zelosse] [hr] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ivrDE41.png[/img] [color=FORESTGREEN][b][h3]ATISHA ELUVIAN[/h3][/b][/color][/center] The air was heavy. Atisha could feel a curse emanating from the man. He ranted on and on about being some force of chaos, as if this makes him some sort of exception from laws or rules. Truly a madman. Logic and reasoning was well beyond this person, so as he ranted Atisha readied a spell herself. Yet somehow her voice felt choked up; it was like she was drowning. Who was this man, that he could make the very air around her so thick? Atisha could feel a weight on her shoulders and she struggled to be rid of it. But this wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. No, it's something she was all too familiar with. This was the feeling of fear; of facing an opponent who outstrips her in all abilities. Whether she was outnumbered, outplayed, or simply overpowered, Atisha would feel this same heavy weight on her body. The same weight that told her that the easiest, most simple thing to do was to fall. But if she had ever listened to that feeling before, then Atisha wouldn't be here. This man could have been chosen by the gods themselves to kill Atisha today, but she wouldn't allow it. The very fact that she was here now meant that it was [i]Atisha[/i] who was in control. And she would not let anyone control her, not her body, not her mind, and not her spirit. As the madman escaped to the rooftop on the other side, she could see Malakaus had already arrived and was about to launch his attack. Atisha knew exactly what to do then. First, she followed Maria's suggestion to get off the roof. She knew that the madman had access to powerful fire magics, and now that he was "safely" away from the three knights, he would try to slay them all with a single spell. So Atisha launched herself off the roof, knowing that she could make a safe landing even under the curse's effect. But as she fell, she had one more spell up her sleeve. [color=forestgreen]"AL HUMA!"[/color] Form her hand, the water serpent lashed out towards the madman. But instead of turning into ice or water, the serpent transformed into thick cloud that wrapped itself around the man. The cloud itself was harmless, no more painful than a mist. But this spell was powerful because this cloud of water vapor obscured his senses completely; he could not see through the cloud, and within the cloud was the sound of a storm that blocked out all noise. All he would be able to smell was the rain. And no amount of thrashing or dodging would allow him to remove the cloud from him, not until Atisha's spell was over. And with this spell, the madman wouldn't be able to target either her, the other knights, or Malakaus right behind him. Not without simply aiming randomly, which while very risky, at least ensured that he couldn't actually strike anyone intentionally. Atisha landed on the ground with some difficulty, but was otherwise unharmed thanks to using her partisan to slow her fall. She surprised a few people on the ground but she was quick to address them. [color=forestgreen]"Get out of here! There is a murderer on the loose and it's dangerous!"[/color] Perhaps not the most orderly way to clear a crowd, but it got the intent across. [@Zelosse][@ADamnFiddle][@liferusher]