Nissa's pony tail whipped through the air as she quickly pivoted away from an enemy's viper like stab. Her magic then rapidly pooled beneath her feet and propelled her towards the overextended enemy, whose neck quickly became acquainted with the tip of her thrusting spear. The air smelt of iron and dirt as Nissa withdrew its bloodied edge from the collapsing enemy. The spear in return hummed in satisfaction as the remnants of blood dripped from its sharp pointy end.
Nissa subconsciously noted that fact and filed it away for later as she continued her deadly dance amongst the enemy force. The initial surprise of their attack successfully left less than half of the enemy force remaining; however the Emer were now ready, and eager stepped over the cooling corpses of their fallen comrades. As their uniformed line advanced, a grey blur crashed into enemy's ranks, followed by three more as their lines shattered once more. Fenrir and his cousins tore through the enemy with brutal ferocity as their sharpened teeth gored all who opposed them.
Taking advantage of the Fenrir's charge, Nissa and the twins dashed into the enemy; deftly dispatching those who were disoriented before they could close ranks again.
Their new found success however was cut short by a whimpering howl of pain. Nissa followed the emotional pull of her binding as her eyes landed upon one of Fenrir's cousins whose stilled form laid at the feet of a particular imposing enemy. Instinctively she knew what happened, the Emer Commander was not going to let their momentum continue and decided to send out their champion to reverse her advance.
Anna and Gareth moved to guard Nissa's back as she focused onto the challenger that steadily approached her position. The rustic red armour tapered with gold highlights indicated its elevated status; with a matching war hammer that had clumps of fur and blood dripping from its blunted edge. The Champion shouted in its alien tongue and rushed forward attempting to get gain the advantage in their impending duel.
Letting her instincts and binding guide her, Nissa ducked the horizontal swing and moved to its flank. She sent a probing strike at its undefended backside to test its reaction. The Champion retaliated by pivoting off its opposing foot, and brought its magically energized gauntlet to easily deflect her stab. From there, their deadly duel covered the area with sounds of clashing weapons.
The wind pressed against her face as Nissa narrowly side stepped an empowered smash of the champions attack. However when it connected with the ground it resulted in a fiery explosion that sent shrapnel of dirt and stone in every direction. Not unaccustomed to dirty tactics, Nissa conjured a yellow barrier that blocked the small projectiles. However its attack coated the surroundings in a haze of brown dirt, masking its movements. As Nissa went about to clear the air, the Champion pounced on its forged opportunity.
Its massive form surprisingly emerged from the hazy cloud as its glowing hammer poised once more for Nissa's life. He was too close, and too fast for her usual reaction; Nissa had to counter the blow with one of her own. As the glowing red war hammer drew closer, Nissa called upon her binding and fortified her arm as she raised it to intercept the blow. She could almost picture the smile of victory frame the champions face as its hammer neared her arm. Then the split second before it landed, a majestic Aegis made of golden sunlight manifested on her forearm and caught its heavy attack. A loud gong was echoed through the battlefield as its magical defenses returned the following explosion right back at its User.
"Graaaaahh!!" The champion roared in pain as its arm was caught in the deadly blast of its own explosion; tearing through its armour and melting what it didn't destroy. Its arm and a good portion of its upper torso were completely burnt and mangled beyond healing.
The ethereal shield stayed affixed to Nissa's forearm as she dashed forward to deal a decisive blow before the champion could recover. Aiming for its wounded flank, the tip of her spear snapped forward and easily slid into the champions exposed side. It encountered little resistance as it pierced through the Champion's lung and into its pumping heart. Then she withdrew her weapon and retreated a distance, not wanting to be caught in its impending death throes.
As expected from an Emer champion, it was a beast of endurance as, even with its lungs pierced and heart severed, the brute sluggishly moved forward to continue fighting. Nissa didn't give it a second opportunity, as she sent a manifested spear of light into its fragmented chest plate; stopping it entirely. She didn't relax her vigilance until its dead form crashed into the earth beneath and lay unmoving.
Nissa's relief was quickly replaced by anxiety as her binding aspect of emotion drew her towards a desperate and hopeless feeling, that emerged from Anna! Her feet moved before she could think as she dashed towards her friend whose predicament appeared more clear with each second. Anna's sword arm was soaked in red blood as she attempted to divert her enemy's attacks with her off hand. Then it happened, the Emer Berserker took advantage of her damaged limb and brutally shattered it with his armored fist, while her weapon was engaged with his own. Drawing upon the opening of her reaction to her now broken arm, he sent his gleaming axe towards her vulnerability.
The enemy's axe whistled through the air as it drew closer to Anna's exposed torso. "Noooo!" Then a piercing sound of clashing weapons sounded as a thrown sword intercepted the enemy's blow and threw it off course, missing Anna entirely. Elation filled Nissa's heart at the timely rescue of her friend's life, but then she recognized the sword and who it belonged to... Time which flowed so quickly in battle, slowed down to a crawl as her eyes followed the trajectory of the thrown blade back to its owner... Gareth. He had a bitter smile on his face, one of relief for saving his sister and one of sorrow for his actions, as disarming himself was his literal death sentence. His opponent did not hesitate when he threw it, and slid its own blade into the exposed armpit of Gareth's throwing arm.
As time resumed its normal pace, Nissa's magic boiled in response to her rage and answered her call. In one smooth motion, she hefted her spear and threw it in return at the Berserker that was aiming to deliver the final blow to a dying Gareth. The tip of her spear gleamed like molten sunlight as it punctured the enemy's chest plate and with the sound of a cannon launched the Berserker from her mortally wounded friend.
Aided by her binding, it completely picked up the enemy and pinned it to the blood soaked ground a dozen paces away. Yet Nissa paid it no mind as she rushed to Gareth's side to see what could be done. Anna joined her soon after as they left the fleeing enemy troops to Fenrir and the other two wolves whose howls were accompanied by the enemies dying screams.
Nissa's magic flowed over Gareth as she assessed his grim situation. It wasn't good, an arterial bleed could kill someone within a minute, and that was bleeding from an artery not from the heart. The Enemy had done similarly what she had done to their champion, he severed a good portion of his heart in half... Gareth had seconds to live. Despite the facts piling up of his impending demise, Nissa ignored them and attempted to contain his life blood from leaving and heal his heart; hoping some miracle would occur.
Anna on the other hand desperate shouted in a hysterical voice. "You idiot! Don't you dare go to the Craddle! .... Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone! You're all I have left..." Tears mixed with blood as Anna held her brothers paling head in her arms. It was then that he gathered enough strength to speak in a weakened and wispy voice.
"Don't... g-give up..." Gareth forced back down a cough as blood slipped through his lips before he finished his last words. "I ...love you... sis..." His eyes then took on a glassy look as his chest slowly stopped rising.
Anna began to openly sob as she held her departed twin tightly to her chest muttering over and over again non sensible words of loss and sorrow. Nissa continued to apply pressure to his wounded side as her magics told her that he was dead, yet her mind was far from listening to it. The shock from losing another friend muted her mind as she withdrew her hands and gazed over the bright red blood that coated her trembling fingers.
And then the thoughts came like a growing storm 'If only I had been quicker.... If only I hadn't tunnel visioned... If only...'
It was the sound of armored footsteps that snapped her back into focus as she twirled around and leveled her returned spear at the approaching foe. The figure was soon identified as the missing Halvor, whose blood soaked blades matched the color of her own hands.
'If only he was here...' It was then that her anger and emotions reversed from blaming herself to another who was more than capable of saving Gareth. Nissa did not restrain her mouth as she voiced aloud.
"Where in Galea's name have you been Halvor?!" There would be a reckoning for his absence in their fight.