"I know what kind of man you are." Shiv heard the voice whisper as if from inside his head as he clashed furiously with this woman. He had dodged her first strike, blocked her second strike and been electrocuted as the result, and had gone on to launch flaming boulders and projectiles at her while keeping a safe distance.
"When I was young, and first learning what it meant to be a priestess…" Shiv dodged a bolt of lightning by throwing himself into the flaming sky. The bolt had been the width of a house, and the explosion its impact made was loud enough to completely destroy normal people's eardrums.
"I was told that I was talented." Shiv responded by forcing the earth far below to surge upward and form a plateau that he then landed on. Simultaneously, sharp rocks shot from Shiv's plateau that were the size of cars, but they all missed the red-dressed woman who was almost as fast as all the lightning she was throwing around. "I was told that every. Single. Day. Right before they began torturing and training me."
"And you know what?" The woman was beside Shiv, stabbing a knife at him, but he managed to move faster and actually grab her wrist. "I knew they were lying." Another knife appeared in her other hand, and she slashed at him, but he let go and dodged back in time to avoid getting hit. "I knew from the very first moment they told me." She threw the knives, and they flashed brightly with crackling electricity, blinding Shiv. "I was four, at the time."
Shiv went underground. As deep and as fast as he could go. Above, he felt and even heard the destruction of his plateau.
"I wasn't talented. That was the cold, hard truth. So I built myself up with my sweat and tears, and my enemies' blood." Her voice somehow followed him down, causing him to shoot himself through the earth like it was water, at an angle and burst out at extreme speed into the open air.
"You should be more focused on killing, not telling me your life story." Shiv looked around wildly until he located her high in the sky, and activated [Lightning Summoner]. He knew the lightning would only empower her, but the air around her began roiling with angry clouds. The wind was buffeting her, and thunder began to rain down abuse on her ears. She screamed, and a ball of lightning originated from within her that expanded at an incredible rate to blow back the stormy clouds and create a crater below her.
But she did descend back to the ground. "Listen to my story, boy. You would do well to learn the lesson I am teaching."
The moment before she touched the ground, Shiv was racing toward her at an insane rate of speed. He was upon her almost before she had time to register what was happening, and took his fist in the stomach as a result. She was sent flying into the air, and an explosion of lightning forced Shiv to turn his gaze away from her.
He relocated and stayed hidden until his sight returned. She never stopped talking throughout this small respite, though her voice was a bit faded now that torrential rain had begun to pour down. "I made myself who I am. You, however… you are talented, are you not? Anyone can see that you're an idiot, mentally, but your skills in battle tell a much different story." A blast of lightning close to Shiv's position forced him to relocate, still blind. "You have been blessed. Brought to this place of power by hands that were not your own." Shiv's vision came back. "This is the difference between us. You were made, and I made myself."
Her voice became a whisper in his head, "This will be your undoing."
Shiv wasn't having any of it. He finally located her at the top of a half-collapsed building that looked suspiciously like a church, and removed it from the equation by replacing it with a small mountain that came up behind her and curved over to prevent her from jumping.
She jumped forward and sent a stream of lightning his way that he used every ounce of speed in him to avoid. He sent boulders flying at her in response, distracting her. At the same time, he erected more little mountains in a circle all around them.
When the barrier had been completed, Shiv was standing still. He looked up at his opponent, who was perched on the edge of a tower that had been knocked on its side as she examined her surroundings. "Crude, but effective." Shiv spoke. "I don't care how hard you worked to get your power. Or how lazy and blessed you think I am. Just know one thing, woman: I am going to win this. And then? Then I'm going to forget you ever existed. I'm mentally an idiot, remember?"
She smiled, but Shiv could see the wariness in her eyes. "I care not of being remembered."
Shiv shrugged. "I figured you worked so hard for something like that. It seems to me that you people on this planet place an undue importance upon your name and how it's remembered."
She had a pitying look marring her features. "As I said earlier, your mental acuity leaves much to be desired."
"Fine, fine. I'll stick with my strengths, then. Which I think was fighting, right?"
"Yes, your ba-" Shiv didn't give her time to think. He'd noticed how much faster he was then her when it came to the quick movements of melee combat, and desired to leave this ranged fighting, which was clearly to his disadvantage, in favor of fighting up close and personal. When it came to physical strength, he had her outstripped in every possible way, but he couldn't utilize any of that unless he got close enough to grab her.
Suddenly, a flurry of emerald javelins stopped Shiv in his tracks. He stepped to the side to dodge one, but didn't take his eyes off of his lightning-wielding opponent, who was waiting for that perfect opportunity.
In front of him, a woman in a blue coat landed lightly in a crouch.
Shiv didn't ask Esmeralda what was going on. He didn't even blink. He focused everything in him on surviving this encounter.
"I-I'm sorry, Shiv. They knew about my daughter. They have her. I… you know why I joined you."
Shiv didn't react. He was watching the lightning woman, who was smiling arrogantly at him.
Shiv was angry. No, he was furious. He knew he could beat the lightning woman, but it would be a call that was far too close. And now two more people had entered the scene, both of which were at least equal to him in terms of the power at their disposal.
"Surrender, Shiv, was it? Your blonde wind mage friend ran. You didn't stand a chance against the High Priestess, and now with us by her si-" Shiv took this opportunity the blue-fur-robed woman provided when she spoke. He rushed at her, expecting her to do as air mages do and dodge, but was sorely disappointed when she took his attack head on by summoning an earthen shield and bracing herself. 'Those clothes are ridiculous. Why wear only red unless you're a fire mage? And c'mon. Blue? That's the most air magey color there is.'
Shiv didn't let it beat him, though. He used her shield as a springboard for his much lightened body and flew straight at the lightning mage. She reacted as he had expected by sending an absolutely massive bolt of lightning straight at his face. He turned himself to metal and mentally prepared himself for the pain he was about to experience while focusing everything he could on strengthening his metal body against heat.
It all happened in a moment. The lightning passed through Shiv. He felt like he'd been cooked alive, but he persevered and didn't hesitate. He registered the shock on his opponent's face. But he removed the expression by punching it. With a superheated metal fist.
Her face caved in. He stood straight and turned around. The deceptive earth mage below, he wasn't worried about. He looked up at Esmeralda, who was mere hand-spans away, dropping with extreme speed toward him with her spear braced in her arms, milliseconds away from running him through.
Time seemed to stop.
Shiv looked into her eyes, and saw the desperate love she had for her child. He saw the shame she felt at being a traitor, not once, but twice. He saw the respect she had for him, despite his mission and who he was.
For a moment, just for a moment, he considered letting her end him.
Then he was blown to the side. His arm received a jagged cut, but he was tumbling over himself and then off of the side of the tower to land heavily on the ground. He rolled to the side when he sensed lightning being shot at him.
And then Duncan was at his side, helping him up and pulling him into the air.