MALAKAUS FIREBELLY
An explosion engulfed Malakaus. The madman's magic was mighty indeed; where it not for Malakaus's masterwork suit of armor and his own divine blessing, he would be dead. But the same could be said of many situations like this before; all the way back to his first battle at the city of Kararagi. Or was it a city-state near Kararagi? Malakaus never bothered to remember. Despite his actions there, where he and 100 other of his clan brothers fought off a force of 10000, that one battle was but a one of many. Fire was a constant companion of the orc; he remembered that when that battle started, the enemy began by throwing pitchers of burning oil. How it coated it body and incinerated his kin. How he and his brothers-in-arms charged forward while on fire, slighting as many as they could in their dying breaths. Taking their own flame-throwing siege weapons and turning it against them. Fire was no stranger to Malakaus anymore than the sun was to their world; it would always be with him, engulfing him. And one day, it would kill him.
But not today.
Malakaus's vision was blurry, his hearing muffled by a loud buzzing sound. That spell not only was powerful, but also very loud. He could make out some sort of noise resembling screaming, but he couldn't make anything out from it. He tried to look around but despite it being night, everything was too bright. It took a few minutes before his eyes finally adjusted and his ears cleared out, but eventually he was able to perceive the world again. To no surprise, a blazing inferno was in front of him. It seemed that the madman had used a spell to set the other building on fire. Malakaus was quick to start shouting orders to the people below.
"Get a water brigade! Anyone who can use water magic, douse this fire! Atisha, where are you? Deal with this now!" Malakaus tried to turn around to walk down stairs, but he immediately fell to his knees. He looked down and noticed that his armor had melted on his body. The gambeson he worn underneath helped against some of the burn, but even then the molten metal ate through that and was burning his flesh. He growled in pain as he turn off the slag, allowing his body to cool off in the air. Soon there was a shower of water that helped fight the fire and cool Malakaus off.
It wasn't long before Atisha managed to get to Malakaus before he could even stand. She greeted him with a splash of refreshing, restorative water. While the pain was still there, slowly but surely his wounds were healing. She berated him for his foolishness, but Malakaus was quick to quip.
"I ain't dead yet, so you don't need to worry about me. I doubt that other guy is either. Only one of my strikes made it, and I don't see his corpse anywhere. I'd like to believe that no one could survive that attack, but until his head is in my hands he's still out there." Atisha helped Malakaus to his feet and bring him down to street level, where various citizens were working on dousing the flames, either with buckets of water or their own meager water magics. Once he was there he greeted Maria and Tani with a smile.
"Sorry I was late, Knight Commander. I came as quickly as I could, but it seemed like I only made it in time for his finale." Malakaus coughed violently and sat down. His burns were bleeding now, and Atisha tried to treat them only for him to raise a hand to stop her.
"That madman is still out there. He may be wounded, but if he has allies they no doubt are on their way now. We must find him before he escapes our grasps and continue his reign. Don't argue with me Atisha; you know it'll take more than an inferno to kill me. What'd take to kill him, I'm not so certain about. Three formidable fighters and yet he was still able to get away, and even I couldn't catch him by surprise. He's certainly not someone we can simply ignore. So it's important we capture him soon before he has the strength to attack again. You may want to cover your ears."Malakaus waited for everyone to step back and ready themselves before he shouted very, very loudly.
"FORETTE! BLANC! KYLE! GET OVER HERE!" His voice boomed through the city about as loud as the explosion did, just to make sure those three adventurers he hired didn't run away. And if they did, then they probably weren't going to be much help anyways. Clearing his throat Malakaus was starting to get a bit tired, so he tried to wrap up what he wanted to say before he'd pass out.
"Don't do this alone. Rally who you can, guardsmen, adventurers, whoever with a strong heart or a steady hand. I'm not done yet either; I can't rest knowing that a murderer of that strength is still within these walls. Seal the gates, and watch the backstreets. A rat like him crawls through the gutters and over the rooftops. But if you can work together, then you will lose." Taking a deep breath Malakaus leaned against the wall. He noticed that he didn't have his axe anymore, likely also slagged just like his armor. His shortsword was still by his side at least, as his body blocked most of it from the flames.
"I just need a bit of a breather and I'll be right with you." Malakaus tried to say encouragingly. Whether or not he was telling the truth, only time would tell. When Atisha pointed out towards the strange golden sword, Malakaus slowly but surely made his way over to it, not touching it as she said.
"I'll watch over this blade. I may be wounded, but no one would be getting it without a fight."@Seirei No Hai@Forett@dabombjk@ADamnFiddle@liferusher
ATISHA ELUVIAN
Atisha looked up just in time to see Malakaus engulfed by the madman's magic. It was a good thing that they had all jumped off the roof, because in a split second the roof turned into a blazing inferno. It was like hellfire; despite the building being made of stone, it was burning quickly. Fortunately as fast as the fire came, people were quick to run away from the danger, and the brave ones were being useful by trying to douse the flame the best they could. Since the fire started from the rooftops a conventional bucket brigade wasn't too useful, though a small handful of by standards used their magic to douse the fire the best they could. Atisha willed herself to use her magic as well, conjuring a powerful gout of water to rain over the fire.
"El Huma!"As the fire was being battled, Atisha made her way upstairs. Or rather, up a wall. Dropping her spear she climbed the wall like a monkey, and there she found Malakaus kneeling. Worried filled her voice as she used another spell to douse him with water, but this time fused with healing power, knowing fully well that he was injured. Fortunately his spluttering told Atisha he was fine. Kneeling in front of the orc she tried to speak to him to verify his life.
"You fool... You shouldn't have held back. It's annoying when you're useless!" Atisha said with a tinge of anger, and a mix of concern. Malakaus was quick to respond, which made Atisha glad that he hadn't died. He was quick to point out that their foe may still be among the living, so Atisha helped him down the stairs onto the street. When he started to cough Atisha was about to use her magic when Malakaus stopped her.
"What are you- Don't be a fool! You're not used to me in this state. You can't even stand, let alone chase after him. Let me heal you, dammit!" But Malakaus was adamant that finding the madman took priority over his health. Atisha couldn't say she disagreed, more so when he pointed out that despite Tani and Maria's presence, they didn't seem all too effective. Sure they managed to land some blows on him, but despite that he was still able to outmaneuver them and have the stamina to cast such a powerful spell. No doubt he had some blessing of sort, or maybe he was just that skilled. But again, all the more reason he needed to be taken out now while he was somewhat weakened; if they couldn't defeat him in this state, their chances once he recovers were even less.
Malakaus then let out a loud roar for three people, whom Atisha assumed were people who were following him. Evidently they were about as reliable as the town guards, as Atisha hasn't seen hide nor hair of them while they were fighting the madman. It actually bothered Atisha that he would try to get help, seeing that if they couldn't do it, some random strangers off the street were unlikely to do any better. Even more bothersome, he continued to spew nonsense about working alongside others to try and take out this madman. For a battle-harden warrior, Malakaus was very idealistic.
"Are you retarded? Whether we bring one hundred or one thousand, it'll make no difference if they're weak. But Malakaus is right: we need to act fast and capture this man before he continues on his reign of terror. He can't have gotten far, and I know how we can find him."The magic was fading, but Atisha could still feel the lingering effects of her magic. But while she felt it, that aura of fear was still strong. It was as if he was still here... Or it's source was, at least. Looking around and Atisha did notice a golden sword on the ground near Tani. It wasn't the rapier that the madman was using, but it was likely what he was carrying. It was ornate, with skulls and such on it. It certainly looked like a cursed sword, and the fact that Atisha was uneasy looking at it gave her enough of a gut feeling to call out to it.
"Don't touch that sword! Something... Something is wrong about it. Very wrong. It likely belongs to our culprit, and given it's ornate design and the negative feelings I'm getting from it, I'm sure he'll want it back."Before losing her train of thought, Atisha focused on her lingering spell. The fire, despite it's power, couldn't simply dispel her cloud. It was getting harder to maintain by the second however, so they all needed to hurry. She made the cloud rise up from the madman's body as it continued to rob him of his senses, and as the cloud rose up it would look distinctive from the smoke elsewhere. And it was the only way Atisha could trace this man until the spell wore off.
"Let's hurry!" As she ran, she immediately ran into a boy who had wandered onto the scene, nearly knocking him over. She snarled at him and continued onwards.
"Get out of my way!" Picking up her spear Atisha went to follow the cloud.
@ADamnFiddle@liferusher@Zelosse@GamerXZ
