The howl of the wind, the dull bite of the cold being held at bay by protective magic, the metallic stench in the air all of these sensations had been muted and pushed out of Alex's mind when he first sensed someone approaching. He turned to face them some time before they could be actually seen through the snowfall. His eyes were flat, his stance loose, he was tense and full of openings it seemed, but his mind was alive and a blaze of activity. He burned the girls’ image in to his mind as he had with the circle before he erased it, her words never really reached him, their intent, their meaning yes, but not the words themselves. His eyes never left her, even as she teleported from place to place it took only an instant for him to be looking at her again. Teleportation magic is loud to those attuned to the feel of magic around them, and With his senses as sharp as they were at the moment the stranger was basically telegraphing where she was about to move to.

Turning to face her fully after she stopped he took one last deep breath before letting it out in a long 'Tssssss' As he did all the tension bled out of his body, his head drooped and his shoulders slumped. Then as he took in a small sharp breath his head snapped to face his foe, his eyes cold and sharp. Slowly he slid in to a stance, one hand near his side half clenched in to a claw, the other extended with one of his requiped daggers in a tight reverse grip. It was a Southern Wolves stance for close quarter combat against mages, modified for both dagger combat as well as spell casting. He didn't spike his magic, instead he let it flow free resulting in a thick pressure to build around him similar in effect as if several B rank mages were spiking their magic in tandem. He had no need to go all out yet, he didn't know enough about his target to show everything he had, that being said the freezing fury within him wouldn't let him hold back much. High B to low A rank was as tame as he could make himself at the moment. Even then he had no plans about letting the person in front of him leave this place alive.

The two combatants stood facing each other for a few moments longer after Alex settled in to his stance, the wind and snow the only things moving or making sound. With no warning, no build up Alex suddenly blurred towards The small woman in front of him, closing the gap in an instant with a flurry of dagger strikes and kicks all aimed at vital spots that would kill or maim. The entire time he was silent, Words no longer held a purpose to Alex thus he made no noise as he aimed to cut down his opponent.

Chloe chuckled as Rurik finally chimed in on their planning. She was getting pumped for this combo attack of theirs. The hammer was already pretty destructive, and with the added flames should give that Wyvern a nasty beating, if it didn't just simply outright kill it. if Rurik could stun it long enough to make an opening, then she could easily hit the Wyvern and hopefully that would be the end of it. It was still a bit risky though, but since when has she ever done anything that was sensible? She grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"Alright Rurik, make that opening!" She shouted to him as he stepped forward to challenge the beast. She was already pretty much ready to give the Wyvern a thorough thrashing. Just one thing was left - lighting the stone hammer on fire. She wasn't exactly sure how that would work, as stone didn't exactly...burn easily, but she'd leave that part to Verin. Worrying over the details wasn't gonna get them anywhere. She hefted the stone hammer in one of the hands, and turned to Verin. "Alright, do whatever it is you're gonna do!"

As Chloe held out the hammer, Verin lowered his stance into a squat. His hands surrounded by his raging black flames as his gaze focused about the hammer within Chloe's grasp. Letting air filled his lungs as he inhaled, he then exhaled calmly before focusing on why he was fighting the beast. It was no longer about protecting the town, nor about being able to brag and boast great feats. No. Now it was personal. He wanted to see it hurt, to teach it humility. To avenge his guild mates, whom it had injured during the coarse of their battle.

He let his hatred fill him, and subsequently his magic, as he channeled it into the center of both palms. In reaction, his flames blazed viciously and grew into the shape of two large fang mouthed laws. The likes of which flickered and danced wickedly, appearing as if the flames themselves were alive as Verin felt an calmness wash over him. Outwardly he appeared as calm as he normally had, but as he internal rage momentarily overflowed, a wicked frown briefly lined his face.

"Flame God's Supper." His words were soft and barely audible. Spoken as he clapped both his palms together before his frame. Instantaneously, the to jaws of black flame slammed against the head of the hammer, swirling menacingly as they bit at each other. Before long, they grew still. Then, with one final unified jerk, the flames began to swirl around the hammer's head in a clockwise rotation. Forming a perfect sphere around the weapon.

"Go!" Locked in place, Verin kept in his stance, hands still clasped together as he focused on maintaining the spell. He grinned wickedly as he watched Chloe take off towards the beast.

This. Was. Awesome. Despite the danger of the situation, Chloe couldn't help but to grin somewhat sadistically. Verin had successfully lit the hammer on fire, or rather, surrounded it in flames. Whatever he did, the Hammer was likely going to do more than give the poor lizard a little headache. In fact, it would probably give it some new flying lessons. Needless to say, this was going to be fun. She held the Hammer in the stone hands, ready to strike the beast. All she had to do was introduce the Wyverns side, to the head of the hammer, which easy enough now that Rurik had stunned the beast. She rushed towards the stunned Wyvern, The Hammer poised to strike the beast on its side.

She swung the hammer as hard as she could in a horizontal arc, sending the hammer careening towards its target. This would hopefully be the end of the fight if they were lucky. She was positive there wasn't any way even a Wyvern could withstand something this destructive.

Rurik saw Verin light Chloes giant stone hammer on fire. Actually, it may have been more accurate to say it was wreathed in flames, swirling around it dangerously. He watched as Chloe swung the great, burning hammer toward the fallen wyvern. Just before it collided, Rurik had a thought. Chloe's last series of hammer strikes had hurt it, but mostly made it angry. The same with Verin's flames.

Together, those two forces were certainly frightening, but a hammer didn't make flames burn hotter. And how much harder would the hammer hit, even with the help of Verin's flames? Rurik had no way of knowing. But what he did know was that he didn't trust the wyvern to stay down, he'd seen it take attacks and come back even more ferocious too many times during the fight. He had to make absolutely sure. "Predator magic... RAGING BEAR!" He swung both his hands, striking the back end of the hammer, ignoring the flames surrounding it. It was an explosive blow, sending the hammer careening the last foot of the way into the wyvern's side. A blow that would have been crushing became outright devastating. And a devastating, super awesome attack, needed an equally awesome name.

As the hammer flew towards its target, Chloe shouted the first thing that came to her mind. "Giant Bear's Ultra Super Mighty Flaming Hammer of Destruction!"

The hammer slammed into the side of the Wyvern with a loud explosive noise, the hammer practically exploding into large fragments from the sheer force of the impact and taking half the stone hands with it. The wyvern was thrown from the ground, crying out in pain, shock, and rage. Despite its great size, it flew quite a distance before crashing back to the ground and tumbling to a stop. It flailed madly to get back to its feet, covered in flames, in a pained, panicked frenzy. It beat its wings frantically as it scrabbled along the ground almost drunkenly. Finally it got off the ground, the flames finally dying, and began to fly away, wobbling through the air as it retreated, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

It seemed victory was finally theirs.

Rurik thought he heard something strange, but that was before a wave of flames and shrapnel bounced back at him. He wasn't sure that he entirely blacked out, but he definitely had a blank moment in his memory after getting blasted. As he sat back up, apparently he'd been knocked over, he saw the wyvern taking to the sky and flying off. He felt a stinging sensation, and looked down to see little bits of stone stuck to his forearms. He brushed them off, and fortunately it seemed most hadn't broken the skin. That said, at this point he was pretty sure he didn't so much have arms as he did have a couple of bones wrapped in tenderized meat. Both his arms were black, blue, and purple from the elbows down. His hands had also been singed, and stung quite badly.

He stood and glanced at Verin, and then Chloe. That was when what he heard came back to him.

"Chloe, uhh, did you say something when you attacked the Wyvern?" he asked. "Something like... uhh..." What exactly had he heard? That was when his mind pieced it together. Giant Bear's Ultra Super Mighty Flaming Hammer of Destruction. His eye twitched. What in the name of everything sacred was that? "Err, actually, n-never mind." He sighed. "Let's just head back to the guild." He needed to take care of his arms, and more importantly, he needed sleep. He'd been tired, and now he was pushing somewhere past exhaustion.

Finally releasing his hands as the Wyvern feld, a smirk of satisfaction lined his face as Chloe brought the hammer against the Wyvern. In awe, Verin mouthed the words that had left Chloe's mouth, trying comprehend what he had just heard. "Utlra...Super..." His eye twitched as he stared at Chloe quizzically. Letting out a sigh before raising his hand to his face, slapping his face against his palm. He shook his head.

When Rurik suggested they return, Verin simply walked over to Esclarin. Gripping it's hilt, he then fought off the fatigue weighing his body down as he heaved the sword out of the dirt. It was only after he sheathed it that he thought to address his companions. Looking to both of them, he then shot them an exaggerated grin and sent both arms out before him. Giving them both an thumbs up.

Hope sighed, trekking up the mountain. The sun was shining, the birds were out, the bees were buzzing.... And she was in a horrible mood. Her cheeks turned red with anger, realizing she still had a ways to go. Hope stopped, catching her breath. She absentmindedly watched a butterfly flap from flower to flower, her anger at having to walk up the mountain fading a bit.

---

Earlier:
Hope walked into the guild, looking around. It was relatively empty, as most of the members were on their respective missions. It was early morning, and the sun was shining through the windows, illuminating certain spots here and there. Although most people hated mornings, Hope actually loved them. She always felt so refreshed waking up, although that was probably because of the permanent Beauty Sleep charm cast on her. She could sleep for ten minutes and feel like she'd slept for days. She also woke up perfect. Always. ALWAYS.
She headed over to the request board, scanning over the various jobs and such. There was a request for two wizards to make a cake... One to go after a wyvern... Hargeon trip... Suddenly, one caught her eye. Her beloved Aero had taken a quest. Any quest he had taken was one she had to be on. Forget doing work or getting the reward, she just wanted to spend time with him.... It was a request for three wizards to go... and pick flowers. Up on the Mountain Pass.

"THE MOUNTAIN PASS? OHNOOHNOOHONOOHNO!! They can't go up there. there's..."

---

Hope slowly made her way up the mountain, checking her surroundings every now and again for a sign of unwanted visitors. As a squirrel jumped out of the bushes, Hope squeaked and moved away. Seeing that it was just a squirrel, she relaxed a bit. She was right to be fearful, though. These mountains were notorious for their bandits, and one group in particular was just....
She shuddered, thinking of the implications if that group of wizards ran into them. They were bad news, and could spell trouble, even doom for the trio.

---

As she neared the peak, Hope's breath caught in her throat. What lay before her was the most beautiful, most magnificent sight she had ever seen. Fields upon fields of flowers, each more beautiful than the last. Roses, Tulips, Wildflowers, Partheneons, Pansies, Dafelites... They were all so pretty. Whoever requested for them to be picked obviously wanted to put on quite a display. These flowers alone could make any party or event into a bonanza.
Feeling incredibly inspired, Hope sat on a nearby rock, pulling out a pencil and paper. She had a weird quirk about her where no matter what danger or trouble she was in, or someone else was in, if she found something pretty enough, she had to sit and draw it. It had gotten her into serious trouble before, but she always managed to handle it. This time, though, there was no danger present, just the flowers.
She began to draw, her pencil flowing across paper with ease, perfectly capturing the likeness of the flowers. She would later study the picture and create a simple Love spell that would allow her to recreate the image around her. It was a power she adored, being able to show others the beauty of the things she saw.
She was so engrossed in her drawing, she failed to notice her surroundings. Dark figures started to rise from the ground, forming into people. As they materialized, the band of criminals slowly approached Hope...

Chloe stood there, laughing loudly as the Wyvern stumbled off. She was feeling quite pleased with herself and if she was feeling tired from their encounter, she wasn't showing it at all. "HAHA! Take that you overgrown lizard! Come back again and I'm not gonna go so-!" Of course, the laughing agitated her broken rib and before she could finish the sentence she ended up doubling over in pain while placing a hand on the side where it was broken. "Ow ow ow ow ow..." After a brief moment of this, she stood again and seemed to have forgotten all about it, wearing another huge grin.

"Hah! We sent that over grown lizard flying! Despite her being cheery about the whole thing, she was feeling more than a little tired, and the broken rib wasn't helping. Well, those were two problems a few drinks could fix! "Lets go celebrate! Drinks are on me guys!"