Ash nearly lost his balance when a second pillar shot him straight up once more, rocketing him to the sky. He jumped back off the pillar and landed on the branch of a nearby tree knowing it would be too dangerous to land on the ground if this kind of attack would keep happening. Getting close to the dome was going to be just as difficult as he thought but something seemed off about the fairy. The age of such creatures was difficult to determine on appearance alone but Vo could not have been old enough to contain such magic. Ash glanced down at his shadow below and willed it to rush the dome to test how close it could get before being taken down...or up. If the shadow managed to reach the dome it would strike with an immensely powerful blow. The warlock made his way down to a lower branch, crossing over onto another tree. Heating the dome until it became an oven was one option he had but that required time and for him to be close. Calling on his magic, he heated his hand as he considered the option for a moment longer. However, his hand grew in temperature far faster than he intended and instantly combusted as a flame wrapped around his hand. It was then that it clicked to him. Vo wasn't this powerful. Not naturally anyways. Somehow Gaia was amplifying their magic but to what kind of levels he could only speculate. He looked down to watch Aethelrick get pinned against a tree by his arm. Deciding to put his newfound power to the test Ash directed his palm towards the pillar of earth that pinned the nephilim. He had seen Hestia use this kind of magic several times before and had never considered asking her for a lesson to improve his own fire magic as he had been too busy learning other things. Perhaps after this he would reconsider. Ash unleashed a great ball of fire toward the pillar that held Aethelrick down in an attempt to destroy it and free him. Ash turned his attention towards the dome that protected Vo and fired another blast of fire at the fairy. "Thank you for saving her." Rhett repeated after catching his breath, his eyes falling toward Felicia. He had wanted to care for Clarity himself but what could he do that magic could not? Rhett sighed and headed over toward Felicia, lifting her up into his arms only to bring pain coursing through his body once more. At least Felicia felt lighter than Clarity...if only for the fact that Clarity had the weight of her sheer attitude pressing down on him. "I'll consider going with you but only if I can bring someone else along. There's a nephilim in there, the one Titania was after, who's been turned." He lowered his gaze. "By me." Rhett added regretfully. "I can't leave her behind but I don't know if I can convince her to go. I'm sure you've met some stubborn people in your time. How do deal with them? ...Without setting them on fire I mean. Not that you do that, I'm sure. ...I think." Once more Rhett kicked at the barrier while waiting for someone to dismiss it. "As soon as I talk to her you'll have your answer. If she agrees to go, then you've got yourself dozens of hungry wolves to feed and a sassy ifrit to deal with. If not..." He hated to admit that Hestia had a point that sending the other werewolves away would keep them alive longer. Rhett growled lowly, hating to be forced to pick between trying to keep Brianne safe while defending the Institute and keeping the other werewolves alive. Unfortunately, he knew that it was one life versus many. They couldn't fend off Titania and he knew that. But, if Brianne chose to return with him he wouldn't have to make that choice. Not unless he decided to knock her out and force her to come along with Hestia. ...Assuming Hestia considered Brianne a werewolf to begin with. There were so many "if's" and "but's" that it began to frustrate Rhett reminding him that there was no easy solution and that did not even include the fact that an Alpha of New York still needed to be chosen. "How soon do we need to contact Yuri? Couldn't you use your magic to call him?" Cin awoke. DRAMATICALLY! He found himself in Titania's presence. Not her throne room but a private area away from others. He turned his head to see the nephilim leader, Yorick, as well though the man had taken leave of his senses and was in a stupor undoubtedly caused by the Queen. He rose to his feet slowly. His weapons were gone. Not that they would have done him any good against Titania but to even graze her with the tip of his sword would have brought a smile on his face. And yes, that was a sexual comment. "What form of torture have you prepared for me? The fact that I still live is proof enough that you don't want me dead. Yet." Cin's eyes fixed on Yorick once more. He had already known that Titania was working with the nephilim but to see this man in person in such a state was...strange. "I always knew you had a soft spot for the nephilim. Centuries of death caused by their kind and this is your rebuttal? His corpse should be displayed on their Institute."
Roric scratched his chin and shook his head upon thinking it over for a moment. "Sure, reconstruction started in 707 but that doesn't mean it was finished that year. I've never known any keeps to be finished being built within the same year it was started. What about 708? Or...what if there's another clue to tell us how long reconstruction might take?" The archer shrugged, crossing his arms. "I'm an archer, not an architect dammit. I have nod idea how long that stuff takes to complete but I've gotta think it takes at least a full year." He looked around. The place still seemed rundown to him but he had to assume after the rebuilding this place had looked a lot more fantastic. And a lot less bloody. "Any other shots in the dark?"
Roric scratched his chin and shook his head upon thinking it over for a moment. "Sure, reconstruction started in 707 but that doesn't mean it was finished that year. I've never known any keeps to be finished being built within the same year it was started. What about 708? Or...what if there's another clue to tell us how long reconstruction might take?" The archer shrugged, crossing his arms. "I'm an archer, not an architect dammit. I have nod idea how long that stuff takes to complete but I've gotta think it takes at least a full year." He looked around. The place still seemed rundown to him but he had to assume after the rebuilding this place had looked a lot more fantastic. And a lot less bloody. "Any other shots in the dark?"
Ash's shadow separated from him the moment Vo's words were spoken. As prepared as he was for a fight, he could have never expected the ground beneath him to shoot upwards. Instinctively, he leaped off the rising pillar making a landing that might have actually hurt had it not been for the grass cushioning his landing. It was now that he almost regretted not having brought his hatchet along with him. Almost. He circled the mound of earth shielding Vo. There was no room for his shadow to simply crawl under, burning earth was not very effective, and his other favorite spells would not fare any better. There was the option of getting creative but he chose against it for now. There was no need to reveal more unless he was forced into it. Still, despite being separated from his hatchet, Ash reached for it anyways knowing it was not there. He could only wonder how old this fairy was and how powerful she might be. And then Arch ran out of things to say and fluffed this post up with this unnecessary sentence. "Sonnuvabitch." Rhett clutched his chest, struggling to stand up. He made the effort to speak a word of thanks to Hestia but only a hacking cough came forcing him to his knees. Gritting his teeth, he stood up once more, thanking whatever powers that be that the High Warlock had come to save them. A girl along with Cin were taken but he had to be glad for the small win they had gained. The werewolf limped slowly along towards Clarity's body, noticing the gentle movement on her chest that told him she still lived...if only just. His eyes fell over Felicia who had fallen unconscious. Her wounds were not as grievous as Clarity's so the ifrit demanded his attention first. "Don't worry Felicia, not leaving you out-" He coughed once more, spitting out blood. That wasn't a good sign but considering he had not felt that he was choking on his own blood he had to assume that his broken ribs had not punctured his lungs. As he knelt down to carefully slide his arms underneath Clarity he knew his body was going to make him pay for every motion that strained him so. The werewolf looked at Hestia and took a moment to catch his breath, his chest feeling as if the weight of Titania's vines were still there. "Thank...you..." He weakly spoke, unable to form more words as he lifted Clarity gingerly. Titania may have saved her life but he wanted to do more than just leave it to "vine magic" to keep her alive. He stopped short at the entrance. There was a barrier. Holding Clarity for too long was not something he wanted to do. "Open up." He growled impatiently, kicking lightly at the barrier.
Irrin leaned back against lift's wall, raising an eyebrow at the girl's questions wondering if she was voicing her thoughts out of concern or for the sake of scientific accuracy. "There's little that can be done for me. At Coalition Medical, I was pumped full of stuff that was far stronger than what I'm taking now. I'll be okay, thank you." No, he wouldn't, but that hardly mattered now. So long as his medication could keep him on his feet and sane for the duration of the mission that was all he could afford to care about now. "By all means, if you and that stubborn medical officer can develop something better suited for me than what I was given, go ahead." The lift doors opened and Quint stepped out onto the bridge. "Ah, Inspector Quint, you've returned. Just in time." When Ensign Rivida had brought them in to cut off the scavenger vessel she had told their communications officer to hail them. They had been taking far too long to answer their call. Almira stared at the viewscreen, watching the ship as it held steady along with the Ouranos as the two starships kept to their geosynchronous orbit. Captain Altius was beginning to grow anxious and motioned for Quint to take a seat in Yvette's now-empty chair. "Scan their ship. I want to know if they're up to anything." "...Aye." She noticed a slight tone of discomfort in his voice but she could not discern what caused it. After a moment of silence Irrin spoke up once more. "I'm...I'm not readying any lifesigns on board." Irrin leaned closer towards the console as he made further scans. "Captain, there's an energy reading below-" The Ouranos reverberated as the floor beneath them shook. "They're cutting into the shuttlebay, Captain! I don't know how they got past our sensors. Even current cloaking technology isn't powerful enough to hide from our-" The ship shook once more, interrupted Irrin. Sirens sounded around the ship, putting the entire crew on alert. Warning signs indicated that there were intruders aboard flashed throughout the screens on the Ouranos. Almira immediately reached for the intercom control to call for a security team only to find that there was no response from the control. "Captain, it seems that we're under the attack of a computer virus. I am trying to restore power to the affected systems." "Initiate a lockdown, Ritter. Now." "But Captain, that will prevent-" "Just do it! How many are on board?" "Forty, Captain. Lockdown initiated." The lockdown would impede the progress of the intruders but also slow down the passage of any security officers who were sure to be making their way to protect the most sensitive areas of the ship. "Ritter, one more thing," Almira awaited a response from the Ouranos AI but none came. "Ritter, respond." Still no response. She cursed under her breath, knowing that whatever infected the ship was interfering with the AI's programming. She looked over at the bridge lift, knowing that it was the only one on the ship that was unrestricted during a lockdown. One could leave but none could enter. She glanced back over at the crew still stationed at the bridge. With the security teams being slowed by the lockdown they needed a team to respond quickly to the intruders boarding their ship. "Quint, lead a team down to the armory. There are no security personnel here so I won't order any of you to put your lives at risk, as such only volunteers will follow Quint. Move quickly, the longer they are on the Ouranos the more likely they are to kill someone. I will remain here to keep us from spiraling down to the planet." "Understood." Quint rose from his seat and withdrew his pistol, an Emissary, from his coat and headed towards the lift. "Anyone willing to defend their ship and fellow shipmates follow me." The three scavengers closest to Doctor Saturday heard a disturbance. Not a disturbance in the force but a disturbance of the desolate landscape. The turned and approached, their pistols raised. Soon enough they caught a glimpse of the mysterious alien. One of which, a young Setesh pirate, opened fire upon seeing Saturday's pearly white mask believing him to be some kind of specter. The other two, alarmed by the young male's weapon discharged took aim and opened fire at Saturday. A searchlight drone popped around the corner, illuminating the street Winters and his security team were heading down. The searchlight turned red upon seeing the foreigners. A group of ten pirates rounded a corner, following their drone, and aimed their rifles and pistols at the Ouranos away team. "Kill them all!" One of them shouted as the pirates fired at the security team, some of them making a sprint to the other side of the street to take cover.
Ash could not help but admire Morrigan's steel. Once more he was reminded how much had changed in such a short amount of time. Despite his wishes to just take a moment to gather themselves from the last trial, they were called upon for a second time. Unfortunately, they were to be separated once more but this time the groups were larger. The task they were set to accomplish this time must have been far more difficult than the previous one. Another fight? It seemed more likely than four person chess or something to that effect. Ash lingered for a moment with Morrigan as they were told to head off in different directions. "Fan sábháilte." He spoke quietly toward her, giving the fairy one last look before following after the one called Vo. Aethelrick, Masque, Valister, and himself. Assuming Masque followed and there was to be another trial by combat, he felt that his group was the stronger of the two. Yes, the other set had Morrigan and a Lightwood but the warlock and other nephilim were young. Aethelrick seemed tough, even by the standards of his kind. Valister was an ancient vampire and that was worth enough on its own. Masque, if he came along and if he chose to make himself useful, was no doubt good with a blade...as much as he hated to admit. Soon enough, they were led into another clearing with no signs of the other group to be seen or heard. Titania leaned in close to speak to him and, if Rhett had no sense of self-preservation, he would have Changed and made the effort to tear her throat out right there. Seelie Queen or not, no one walks off an injury like that. But that would assume that he would be fast enough to get to her in time and that his aim would be perfect. Given with what happened to Brianne...the idea was immediately tossed out. The Queen's face changed almost instantly at the mention of Hestia. Vines suddenly sprung up and constricted around him, tightening until he felt and heard a sickening snap of a bone. "Fuck!" He growled as pain shot up from his body and only seemed to worsen when the vines loosened. Blood dripped out from under his shirt. "My grandma gives tighter hugs than that." Just the act of breathing made his chest hurt. He could hardly focus on what Titania was doing when she took her eyes off him but in, what felt like, seconds she returned her attention to him only to return to squeezing him with her vines. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, giving it his all to keep her from hearing him shout in pain. It was the only act of defiance he had left as the fairy began to crush the life out of him. If she wanted to hear him scream she was going to have to try harder. Cin struggled dramatically.
A little update on Andromeda: Source Hype.
The KH series. Triple dipped on CoM as I'm sure a lot of us did by getting the original, the PS2 version, and the version within KHI.5. Dragon's Dogma. Triple dipped on that one by buying the original, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, and then the PC version of Dark Arisen. And...that's it I guess.
"We won't fail." Ash responded to Shadi though he had not been speaking for the entire group but, rather, for himself and Morrigan. They had too much riding on this for them to return empty-handed. Even though this was not their last hope it was still the cleanest solution he had. He folded his arms and looked toward Gaia, questioning what kind of motives she had that could cause her to wait centuries for others to complete some unknown task. He wondered if Gaia wanted to come back and was just testing whether or not those waiting for her were worthy of her return...but such a desire seemed a little too arrogant for the Mother of Fairies. There was little more that he could ascertain from Gaia without completing the tests she set forth for them so Ash turned his attention away from the Great Queen to observe the edge of the clearing and wait for the others to arrive. And just as he turned a pair emerged from thicket, Morrigan and Nick, and entered the clearing. Nick looked somewhat roughed up, his clothes having been torn as a result of whatever trial he and Morrigan had been put through. It was...odd that they had been put to work together. Ash could see what he might have had in common with Alarick but Morrigan and Nick? The similarities were only superficial at best. Perhaps not every pairing was meant to have some greater significance. Soon after, Valister and Masque appeared as well having completed their task. A vampire and a serial killer? There was no interesting commentary he could have made about that. When Masque approached he made a scene. Ash's patience had been beginning to thin but he could not make any threats to the other warlock in front of Gaia. He knew she would stop him from putting down Masque like the rabid dog he was and so, Ash chose against acting. For now. Ash left Alarick's side to head toward Morrigan and upon coming closer he spotted burns on her arms that he immediately recognized as having come from contact with iron. A look of concern crossed his face. "Alarick would benefit from your presence by him." Ash spoke up toward Nick partly for getting the Lightwood boy out of his current mindset and partly for giving Morrigan and himself a little privacy. "Will you allow me to tend to these?" Ash gestured towards the burns on Morrigan's arms. Even if Gaia did not wanting their injuries healing too quickly that did not make him any less determined to do everything he could to give Morrigan a speedy recovery. "Aside from your arms, are you well?" Rhett clutched his chest, finding blood that blood had spilled out from his once-more aggravated chest wound. He winced, finding that yet another rib had been broken due to the Seelie Knight's powerful kick. Rhett struggled to get up even after having been temporarily blinded only to find that now Clarity was halfway dead, Felicia was more injured than ever, and...Cin was now being tied up by vines, his flaming sword having fallen out of his grasp. Titania was by Clarity's side, having done something with her plant magic to keep the girl from dying. Rhett would have been grateful for Titania stepping in their losing battle if the Seelie Queen had not decided to take this moment of weakness to make an attempt to convince Rhett to betray Brianne. "Honestly...I think I'd prefer the torture." He glanced back at the Institute, hoping Brianne would stay inside and out of harm's way. Titania would find Brianne eventually. She would get past whatever they threw at her...and her word that Brianne would be treated "gently" was a tempting one considering that fairies could not lie. But Titania made no promise to not kill Brianne. She made no promise that she would not kill all of them eventually anyways. Nothing good could have come from giving in to what she wanted. All he could do was buy time until Ash returned with something or some one who could put an end to Titania. Rhett looked at Cin's sword, desperately hoping for some way out of this situation. It would not be enough. It just wouldn't. But then, something clicked. Cin struggled against the bonds that held him. He had no words for Titania. Nothing but hatred and anger emanated from the knight as he made his efforts to break free. It couldn't end like this. Not after a century of planning. Not after having come so close. Cin growled and clenched his fists, eyeing his blade which was just out of reach from his tied hands. "Hestia. The High Warlock. Threatening the nephilim at the footsteps of their home would put a strain on the relationships between Downworlders and them. In my time dealing working with one warlock in particular, I've found that the High Warlock is keen on wanting to keep the peace. Butchering us all her, burning down the Institute, and torturing a Lightwood would put her in a very uncomfortable position. You know better than I do about her...fiery attitude." The truth was, Rhett had no idea what kind of "attitude" Hestia had. All he knew of her was what Ash had told him of her. That she was extremely powerful and that she wanted nothing but to keep the Downworlders from going at each other's throats. Still, she was the only one he could think of mentioning that would be even a remote threat to Titania. No doubt mentioning Gaia would have made matters worse... Still, it was the only card he had to play.
The struggle is real.
Roric is going with Sanderson. For variety reasons. Or something. I dunno.
Just as Irrin was about to make the injection in his arm and take the lift up a girl, a young Lieutenant in the science division, knocked into him and dropped the datapad she had her eyes glued to. Once again, his character came into question. Perhaps the lack of medication had been impairing his judgment because should have known better than to administer the treatment in a lift while the doors had still been open. "Medication. I'm sick. Just trying not to let it get worse." He spoke curtly, continuing with the injection now that things just were not going to get any better for him. As soon as the syringe was back in its case, and the case back in his coat, Irrin knelt down to pick up one of the pieces of what remained of the Lieutenant's tablet. "I swear these things used to be tougher a decade ago." He glanced at Ana. "You should keep a tighter hold on these. There's only so many the Coalition will let you drop before reprimands start being made." Realizing that with his flat tone this sounded more like a serious warning than a simple reminder. "I'm so-" He cut himself short, thinking the apology unnecessary. She ran into him. Not the other way around. Still... "I'm sorry you ran into me." Irrin stood up and waited for the Lieutenant to rise as well before speaking again. "Deck five. Get me to the bridge, Ritter." He hoped that when Ana spoke to say where she wanted the lift to leave her that she would speak the name of a different deck. Quint had been subject to enough awkwardness and suspicion for the day. On the planet below the landing party consisting of twenty-four Maraku and Setesh scavengers had fanned out through outskirts of a ruined city, searching for it. Most were armed with modified AER pistols and some gripped strange rifles of unknown origin. Flashlights scanned the area as the scavenger party began to close in where they had believed to have lost one of their comrades. Five came within sight of Doctor Saturday. The second they saw him, they would open fire.
The whizzing of an arrow came to his ear just a moment before it struck him. If Cin had been prepared for a fourth attacker to come at him he might have been able to prevent it from hitting him but it hardly mattered as the arrow only jerked his arm forward before bouncing off his armor harmlessly. He glanced over at the direction which it had been fired from and saw nothing. Given the range of a bow and the speed which the arrow still had left when making contact with his armor, he knew the assailant could not have been far. Perhaps the attacker was invisible. Knowing there was nothing to be gained by seeking out the bow-user and swinging wildly in a desperate attempt to make a kill, Cin chose to ignore it. There were more pressing matters at hand anyway. First came Clarity, charging in at him from the side aiming to stab him. He swung his broadsword at the ifrit and stabbed at her with his claymore in attempt to get her to back down. The moment he made his move, Rhett leaped at him with Ash's hatchet in hand, forcing Cin to turn towards the werewolf to stop the blade with his armor covering his arm and kicked Rhett away, knocking him flat on his back. With his eyes focused on the ifrit and male werewolf, Felicia's attack connected with his right arm, further damaging the already dented armor within the wolf's powerful jaws. Blood from his right arm trickled down and dripped to the floor. The armor on his right arm was ruined now. "No more games!" Cin growled, quickly raising his broadsword to the sky as the light of the afternoon sun glinted off its surface. In a single instant a brilliant radiance exploded from the blade bathing the entire area in light. Cin used his claymore, still alight in flame, and swung it in at Clarity's direction whether Felicia chose to stay attached to his arm or not. He stabbed his secondary sword towards Felicia at the same time and, despite the movement being awkward even for him, he hoped that the light from earlier would have been enough to keep her from dodging.
"Captain, your presence on the bridge is needed. I shall inform you of the situation as you walk." Ritter had spoken, interrupting Captain Altius's focus on the files she was viewing in the briefing room. Shutting off the projection before her, Almira headed out of the room as Ritter began to explain the current happenings she had missed while off the bridge. Upon arrival, the Ouranos had made contact with very suspicious characters on board a vessel that likely held nothing but bad news for anyone in a thousand light-years. "Deck five." She spoke as soon as she entered the lift, clasping her hands behind her back as it took her down to the bridge. Instead of spending her time looking over the records of the Elanus Incident, the threat of an attack on her ship called her attention to more pressing matters. "What? No. Don't be so negative. No one is going to die on their first mission." Almira talked out loud, despite not needing to do so to answer the concerns of the Ryve nestled in her brain. During the entire time she had been bonded with it, the symbiote had never allowed her to give it a name because their species did not require names apparently despite the fact that other members of the Ryve species had elected to give themselves names if their host had not done so. Even though the Setesh had been a part of the Galactic Coalition for some time now there were still those who found it strange that the Setesh people "came packaged" with another sentient species. For her kind however, they were grateful to have such a relationship with something so vastly foreign to everything else and, in fact, the Setesh would have likely killed themselves off in war if it had not been for the Ryve's ability to assuage her kind's natural aggression. Captain Altius stepped onto the bridge, her scattered thoughts refocusing on what lay before her. She took her seat at the captain's chair and looked over at Ensign Rivida. "As soon as the shuttle containing the away party departs, set us on an intercept course with the other vessel, Ensign." From what everything Ritter had told her, Almira knew this was a pirate's ship. Who knew how many vessels it had torn apart just to add to its already formidable arsenal? The fact that they had not already fired on the Ouranos only meant that they were buying time for their own landing party to steal whatever was of use from the planet below. They had to be taken in. Irrin left without saying another word to the medical officer irked that she still did not believe him despite his reasons for being there. Perhaps if she met the others... Though, there was no reason for them to see the other survivors so he would have to just deal with the fact that the doctor of the ship was angry with him for all the wrong reasons. Once he was clear and onto the lift away from everyone else, he withdrew the medication from his case and stared at it for a long moment. "Sir? What deck are you heading towards?" "Just...hold the lift here for a moment. I need some time..." "The shuttlebay is on deck twelve, Commander. The transport ship is ready when you and your team are. I suggest you hurry, the landing party from the other vessel has already begun to close in on the unidentified life form." The doors leading out of the armory and into the lift opened automatically, awaiting for Commander Lightwood's team to head down and out.
Edited everyone in finally. Added a "Weapons" tab for the Ouranos armory. Still incomplete so it'll be some time before I finalize everything.
If he had not already had his own preference of what he wished to call "home" Ash would have asked to live amongst the other Downworlders here when everything was said and done. The houses that seemed to have been grown rather than constructed gave every structure in the clearing a unique style that could not have been achieved anywhere else. Though perhaps everything here was just a little too peaceful and too quaint. Even with such tranquility giving one endless time to study and to refine one's skills...he felt that it lacked the very conflict that he had thrived upon. Gaia had said that their injuries, none of which he had yet to sustain, would act as reminders of their lessons in this place leaving Ash to wonder how much worse it could have been...and how it might turn out for the others. She reminded them that their families were in New York but that did nothing to ease his mind. At least the tone Gaia held seemed to imply that they were alive...and possibly well but he could not be sure. His eyes stayed fixed on Gaia for a moment, studying the Great Fairy for a long moment. Ash knew better than to risk sounding impatient by asking how much longer they would have to wait or if there were any other trials they would have to complete in order to get what they wanted. Before Ash could work a way around common courtesies to make an attempt to glean more information from Gaia, the ifrit who had guided them to her approached and questioned her use of trials on them. Ash raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued by Shadi's inquiry. With both Clarity and Felicia trying to hold Cin off, along with Felicia's own request to take the pack into the Institute, he would have had to be out of his mind to refuse. Even after just having been able to give it more than a moment's thought, he knew that sending the packs away would have been a worse idea than simply allowing Cin to have them. The knight was bad but of the threats Rhett could think of he wasn't the worst out there. Keeping the packs close meant that they could at least stay ready for any attacks from others who were hunting them down. "You heard her! Get in. All of you!" Several wolves lingered, some seeming entertained by the fight but most were quick to listen. Rhett glanced over at the Institute entrance, wondering how Brianne was holding up through all of this. ...Or if she had even returned yet. Rhett watched as several wolves began to back into the Institute and waited just long enough to be sure that least a good portion of them were inside before he made his move. Even as Felicia's knife entered his side the knight made no reaction, despite the hurt he had felt far worse pain before. Just as he felt ready to subdue the werewolf, she changed forms and snapped at his hands only for a narrow miss when he pulled back. Cin had the power of brute force on his side but that did not make him slow. Far from it. Hooking the grip of his fallen broadsword with his boot, he kicked the blade upwards back into his right hand. With the larger claymore in his left hand he swung in a wide arc to strike at Clarity just as she thought she could catch him off guard. "Stupid girl. Two ants are crushed just as easily as one." With his eye having been taken off Felicia he stabbed backward at the female wolf where he had last believed her to be. "You could have saved yourself a great deal of pain by simply staying out of the way." Just within the periphery of his vision, Cin noticed movement of yet another trying to flank him. With both of his hands occupied with using his swords to keep the ifrit and female wolf at bay, Cin raised a magical barrier to ward off the incoming attack. The barrier cracked and gave way as a blade of both silver and iron slammed against it, shattering the magical wall and continuing on its path until it grazed against his left shoulder. Cin winced and leaped away and spun to get his three opponents in view. The third being Rhett holding Ash's hatchet. Of course it would be that weapon. Cin growled and pointed his blades at the three. "I really was hoping I could avoid making a mess of this." He juggled his two swords, switching hands to put less weight on his injured shoulder by placing the claymore in his right hand. "How long will you three last when I decide to stop holding back? Seconds?" Just as he finished speaking the claymore in his right hand erupted into flame as an intense blue fire engulfed the entire length of the blade.
