Gretchen had thought she had a shot with all the distractions, but Krysia still managed to scope her attack out before it collided. Gretchen still had pride, but not like Gertrude. It was tempered in her own weakness, and allowed her to make decisions like tactical retreat. Gretchen called off the rest of the Celestial Spears. She might have been able to hit Krysia if she'd loosed the lot of them all at once, but her own... allies? Comrades?

People she had to tolerate.

Her own people she had to tolerate would be caught in the crossfire, and she'd likely deal more damage to her own chances than to Gisela's. At the very least, Krysia didn't seem offended enough to go after her. Like a small injured animal, she slinked back behind a tree and began chanting again. It looked like a lot of the Roses were about ready to make a charge up the hill, and Gisela was already focusing that way. Gertrude would be back up in the air to bombard Gisela from the flank again in no time, with the Hundi's attention so thoroughly elsewhere.

---

Gertrude groaned. It was probably time to get back in the air, but fighting Gisela [i]annoyed[/i] her. In fact, not being [i]the strongest mage in any given place[/i] annoyed her.

Old hags annoyed her, especially. Eternally clutching at their power and prestige and refusing to make way for the next generation with a headstart that reached practically an eternity and would get only more egregious as the years wore on.

Oh, how she yearned to teach Aleksiya a lesson.

Or Gisela. Whatever. Only, she was incapable at this point. All she could do was offer a distraction. Well, a victory was a victory.

Gertrude lifted up off the ground, seeing that Gisela was pretty aggressively targeting those who were charging up the mountain. It was time for a different sort of bombardment. Gretchen had chanted up a pretty massive fire spell, and Gertrude unleashed it from Gisela's flank. She didn't necessarily want to burn Gisela, but the hilltop that surrounded her. The flames and smoke would likely make it difficult to see and chant, and the Roses wouldn't need to worry about it until they crested the hilltop and achieved victory regardless.

Then, once that massive spell was unleashed, Gertrude would continue bombarding as she had been earlier. She was pretty sure Gisela would have an answer for this, but nothing that wouldn't cause her some distraction.