Mountains passes never had been the best places to travel through, especially when paired with unnatural inclement weather and the threat of world take over looming in the near future.
Malaena did not particularly care for such roads herself, there were too many things that could go wrong in the unevenly narrow channels cut between mountains, too many places that offered perfect hiding places for those intent on ambush. Yet in this instance she was not terribly concerned about this particular route, Hopsfield himself seemed far more comfortable with their current path than he had been the entire trip thus far, no doubt due to the fact that the Turmien Pass was under the control and protection of a well known and highly respected order. As far as everyone was concerned there was no sign to indicate that this leg of their journey was going to be any more difficult than the past couple of days.
Not until, that is, the battered walls of the The Order of Schlucht finally loomed into view.
Truth be told, when the group drew near enough the fortress to realize something was horribly amiss, Malaena was relieved, intensely keen for a change of pace and a refreshing bought of conflict to do away with the mindless task of placing one foot in front of the other, not to mention providing some distraction from the less than ideal travel companions.
The inability to take to the skies had not been a great hardship at first, it had been interesting to study fellow travelers and gather bits and pieces of information that might come in useful further down the road. After awhile, however, peevish whining about chilled fingers and aching feet from many of the underlings had begun to bring out an irritable side of the phoenix. The sudden chance to set something on fire could not have come at a more convenient time, as it provided an excellent outlet and completely avoiding the risk of destroying the tenuous alliance between herself and the others.
While orders began to ripple through the ranks and the companies prepared to defend themselves, Malaena took the opportunity to slip out of the midst of the wagons and bustling people, skimming along the uneven edges of the pass until she found a small goat track carved into the wall. Nimble feet picked out the narrow path, carrying her upward at a steep angle, and in a matter of seconds she was perched among a group of jagged boulders taking in every detail of the scene below.
Emaciated skeletons swarmed the siege torn walls of the fortress, their movements abrupt and unpredictable much as one would expect from the undead. Yet the longer she studied them an unsettling feeling began to stir, there was something off about the entire thing for even though several dozen kept randomly spilling forward to attack the small force gathered at the foot of the walls, the majority of the undead remained where they were, simply seething about in a confusion of movement, never truly attempting to overwhelm the attacking force.
It was almost as though they were waiting for something.
A wave of extra heat flooded her body, spreading and growing in intensity until it appeared as though a thin veil of shimmering flames clung to her entire form. Every movement caused ripples of brilliant blue to shoot through the glow of white hot fire, and the second Malaena lifted her hand the veil disappeared, flowing through her core and limbs to collect at the tips of her fingers.
Perhaps there was a chance the mass of undead were waiting for higher orders, perhaps they were simply becoming accustomed to their newfound un-deadness. Whatever the case, she was quite certain the question would be discussed and figured out later, right now she had some steam to blow off, and a perfect target with which to focus upon.
The tiniest twitch of her fingers sent the globe of fire spinning through the air toward the fortress walls. Keen silver eyes focused intently on the projectile, a ripple of golden light dancing through the pupils as the globe suddenly shifted form, stretching and spinning until it became a ribbon of flames that crashed into the wall, flowing like water down the stones and engulfing a swarm of undead that had just burst from one of the openings. The force of the blast and the energy that had been put into it caused the the wave of fire to continue on its deadly course, crashing into the ground at the foot of the wall and spilling outward in a rush of intense heat and flames, dissipating just before overcoming the group of soldiers gathered beneath the purple banner. No doubt they wouldn't be overly thankful about almost becoming burnt to a crisp, but she had every reason to believe a few scorch marks were far more reasonable to endure than having various limbs ripped rather unceremoniously from their bodies.
Apparently the army of undead did not appreciate the attack either, for quite suddenly the creatures surged forward, driven by a renewed sense of purpose and verocity as they poured out of holes and over the top of the walls like an angry nest of disturbed ants.
Faint traces of an amused smile shadowed the corners of Malaena's lips as three more bursts of reddish fire soared through the air to explode amongst the swarming multitude.
What a refreshing turn of events.
Mae