A gust of wind blew across the rooftops, disheveling the hair of a cloaked figure seated upon them. Lyos saw the whole scene play out from his seat upon the parapet. His friend Orpheous, a new face, Saber, and a strange man with a dark aura all converging upon the center of the courtyard. A strange light seemed to glow in Lyos' eyes as he gazed intently at the group of men, his muscles tensing with anticipation of the battle he hoped wouldn't happen.

The new figure appeared to be searching for someone, and from what Lyos could tell, that person would be in for fight if the stranger ever found him.

Suddenly, the dark man dashed for the figure he didn't recognize, bringing his staff to bear. In one sweeping motion Lyos leaped from atop the parapet and drew both his dagger and Kostafrith. Gathering himself upon impact, Lyos sprang forth with almost godlike speed towards the two fighting. His heart racing, he attempted to throw himself between the men, desperately hoping he could dampen the blow enough to save the man from certain death. It mattered not that the attacked was a stranger; he would not stand idly by as another life came to an end before his eyes. In an amazing feat of acrobatics, Lyos arced through the air, one blade colliding with the dark man's staff while the other slashed through the air at the attacker. Its blazing hilt a crimson blur, Kostafrith's blade shone in the dim morning light as it tore through the cloth about the man's left leg, drawing a small amount of equally crimson blood. The blow had connected with the stranger's head which was now bleeding profusely. Though the man now lay motionless beneath him, it appeared that he stood a small chance of survival. Hoping his attack would be enough of a warning, Lyos hazarded a glance up at the dark man's face.
I do not know what sort of quarrel you may have with this man sir but I can assure you that this is no way to greet someone, that it is not. You seem like a noble warrior, so if you would please lower your weapon so we can get this man to the informatory I would be much obliged. he said as he readied his body and blades for the immanent retaliatory response.

OOC: That. Was. AWESOME!!!!!!!

I think we found December's RPer of the month, guys.

And after that: No more God-modding. I'm Accepting Lyos' attack because that post was made of awesome!

IC: Nogare's staff zoomed through the air, the force of a Goron behind it. It did not make it to it's desired target, however, at least; not as it should have. A boy, young by the looks of him, had flew off of a nearby rooftop, and had thrown himself between the staff and Azador, but somehow dodged, and the staff collided lightly with the targets head.

Then there was pain in the leg. As he roared in agony, Nogare looked down; to see that the boy from earlier had ducked down and cut his leg, and a steady flow of blood was pouring out.

Then the boy offered something. Nogare just glared down. "The time for words and offers is passed, now it is just battle, scum!" He said, pulling back Belegcam, and, pointing it down, aimed a shot directed at Lyos' head, so that the boy's brains would be crushed.

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Kasei was obviously getting close; the sounds of battle rained through the streets. He came upon a guard.

"What is going on?!" He demanded of the knight, who turned to face him.

"Sir! The Exile, Nogare, Has returned, he is causing a ruckus. A group of adventurers is holding him off. The guards are moving towards-" He did not get to finish, Kasei had already moved past him.

Nogare? What is he doing here?

OOC: As there is no more god-modding, Lyos; you can dodge that, or another man could use a shield to protect you. (GO, AZADOR!!!) You can also move the staff away, but nothing like:

'Lyos grabs Belegcam, stands up, and beats the crap out of Nogare with his own weapon.'

"I'm not a mage," Orpheous muttered, but Azador had already grabbed Kasei's attention. Then all hell broke lose. Azador had said something, but Orpheous didn't hear. Nogare suddenly rushed up to Azador and attacked him with his staff harshly. At this exact second, havoc broke out in the courtyard. Meanwhile, an angel-winged warrior stood on a rooftop, glaring at Nogare from under a cloak hood. Then, Orpheous saw Burlo and Saber on the side-lines. He tried to get eye-contact as to tell them with his eyes that they shouldn't get involved unless they want to get severally hurt, hopefully they noticed his signals. However, odds are, he knew they would not listen.

Then, as Orpheous was trying to make eye contact with Saber and Burlo, a boy attacked from one of the rooftops, and Nogare began to retaliate. The boy was Lyos, that new guy from the courtyard. Orpheous was now ready, his hand gripped his sword that was concealed within his staff as he swung it at Nogare as he made his move for Lyos.

This fight is useless, I did not wish to create a useless bloodbath.
Not again...
I want to protect instead of destroy again. Is it only because of those single words?

Azador ignored the crowd that had gathered just for this battle, although the yells tried to make him act more violently. He had to concentrate on the fight because rage would only bring loss.

"I must act..."
He stretched his wooden rod en pointed to Lyos.
"Protect this weary soul with the blessing of heaven, PROTECT!!"

An small colorless aura appeared around Lyos, right before the weapon hit him.

[/i]

Ooc: Aww thanks Kasei

IC: The foe was fast, perhaps too fast. Though Lyos was ready for the incoming attack, he knew that it came with such speed and strength that he would not have enough time to parry without sacrificing his arms or head... or maybe both. With no time to sidestep the assault, he gathered all his strength in the core of his torso, heart rate shooting through the roof as it delivered precious oxygen to the muscles in his diaphragm. His inner being exploded with a frenzy of violent spasms in reaction to the deafening shout they produced. So explosive was the force of the sound waves that rather than diffusing radially, the pressurized waves of air propagated directly at the staff, causing it to visibly quaver and slow down significantly upon impact. While he would now be able to stop the incoming attack, it would still likely shatter the bones in his arms to do so.

Suddenly Lyos' eyes were flooded with the brilliance of a blinding flash as the attacker's staff froze in mid swing, halted by some unseen barrier. It was not until then that he had noticed that the man he had saved had regained consciousness and was holding his staff out as if to cast some incantation. With a flash of realization, Lyos gazed down upon the man in awe. To take such a brutal attack and still be responsive enough to cast magic was no small ability. The bleeding had stopped, yet the man still appeared pale and drained.
I must thank you, good mage. My life would most certainly have been forfeit had it not been for your power. Can you rise?

Unsure of how long the strength of his arms or the mage's shield would hold out, Lyos realized that they needed to move before the staff could have a second attempt at their lives. Lyos' heart leaped as he caught a glimpse of Orpheous rushing in to confront the dark man. Perhaps this would give them enough time to get out from underneath the dark man's oppressive offensive.

Ooc: You got it

Many things happened at once. Nogare raised Belegcam for the blow, but when he went for the strike, a barrier got in the way. It was the mage from before. "Pft, nuisance." Nogare said, trying to crush the barrier.

His eye caught something off to the side. Orpheous was now coming, swinging his staff. Belegcam was raised in an instant to parry. The staff of Orph was knocked aside, and Nogare aimed a blow right at the inkweaver's chest, striking him dead-center. "You are all fools."

--------------------

Pushing his way through the last group of people, Kasei saw a shocking sight: Lyos and Azador were both on the ground, and Orpheous was just injured. The cause? Nogare. Filled with rage for a second, Kasei cleared himself of emotions, and raised his left hand while his right drew the scimitar.

As quickly as possible, Kasei attacked Nogare, who turned as though seeing the attack, and knocked aside the blade, and tried the same manuever on Kasei's head. The rebel flame, however, saw the attack, and dodged by moving his head to the left.

Kasei got a grip on his sword again, and brought it up to attack Nogare's side. Nogare dodged backwards, away from all his opponents, and redied himself. "Lyos! Azador! Get up!" Kasei demanded. Now was the time for fighting.

Azador stood up quickly leaning on his wand.
"Kasei? Who is this ridiculously powerful lunatic with an old broom?!?" He said trying to look Kasei in the eyes.

"Well I got to admit that he's powerful but that that branch is easily burned to ashes, I'm afraid." He sounded to confident for someone who had just been hit by the weapon.

A small flame appeared in his hands, trying to intimidate Nogare even more.

OOC: Sorry, Nogare...if you're reading this. I don't want to insult your character.

Saber finally pushed through the last few citizens. He had been unable to see much of what had happened, but his eyes instantly recognized the four adventurers who were currenrly in conflict, and knew they needed assistance. He saw that the weapon clutched in the enemy's hand was a staff--Wood. He focused harder than he ever had before as he held his left hand behind him and strained his tissues, trying to force the energy into his palm. Finally, he felt a trickle of heat. Eyeing the small ball floating just above the tips of his warming fingers, he focused his gaze directly on the ball of flame, and it began to increase faster, soon becoming a half foot across. Satisfied, he put just a bit more of his magical reserve into it to sustain it and squared around on the foe. He eyed the weapon clutched in his hand and hurled the ball at the warrior's chest--If he tried to block it, his staff would hopefully catch fire. Then again, he hadn't experimented much with magic, and he fervently prayed the small ball of fire would do its work.

Meanwhile, Burlo was bowling people over left and right as he trudged through the Courtyard, a practical boulder with feet. "'Dese people 'r gettin' ta be annoyin'." He grumbled crossly, then a cog revolved in his forehead and he put together a plan. Sucking in as big a breath as he could, he squatted down. With a mighty spring, he launched far higher than anyone could imagine, over fifteen feet. Despite his massive size, he stayed afloat as he soared ever closer to the center of the fighting. He saw Saber launch a fireball and raised an eyebrow. We're fighting, are we? He thought without an accent. Then he opened his mouth and shouted in his familiar drawl, "I's comin', mate!" He reached beneath his coats as he began to flatline at twenty feet in the air, his long tangled hair trailing behind, and removed a short, splintered staff. He raised it above his head as he began to fall, unleashing a strange, and somewhat disturbing, yodeling war call. He brought the staff down with such momentum that it was by luck it didn't break upon sheer impact--Although the surface it impacted wasn't known to the Cleric at the time.

If this is Nogare, why is everyone still alright? Kasei thought to himself. Then Azador spoke. Big mistake. Fool! Kasei screamed in his head. Too late, Nogare had heard. He lifted his head, and turned to stare into the eyes with his own, evil ones.

He is a dead man.

"Your existence is worthless, mage. You will be relinquished of that worthlessness today." The son of Grayblade said calmly, then moved. He was in a sprint towards Azador, staff raised for the kill as he aimed it at his target's head once more. It zoomed through the air in an arc, this time, force was behind it, enough to destroy a pety shield.

CRACK

Blood flew, and a roar of pain rang out. Kasei had jumped in between Nogare and Azador at the last second, and raised his own, extremely strong left arm to stop the attack.

He had obviosly miscalculated. Blood drenched the cloth of Kasei's arm, it was evident that the bone underneath the skin was broken. The roar had been Kasei's own. Nogare simply looked, but jumped backwards in fear of a counter-attack. Kasei was injured, but he was still resourcefull.

Then the sound of an ignited flame crossed Nogare's ears. He turned, and saw as Saber lifted his hand and unleashed a fireball. Nogare smiled confidently, and raised his staff, and swung. The fireball was extinguished as Belegcam collided with it in midair.

However, another shock came - a drunk, heavyweight shock, as Burlo tried to flatten Nogare. The exile stared for a second, then raised his weapon once more. It collided with Burlo's own staff, and succeded in sending the Cleric in another direction - to the ground.

Kasei grabbed his injured arm, then turned his head to glare at Azador. "Idiot! Don't antagonize someone like that, you'll die!" He barked, as Nogare charged again, this time, for Kasei. "Aw, crap." The Rebel Flame muttered, and let his right, good arm lift his scimitar once more. It rose with the speed of a bullet(whatever that was), and lached itself in Nogare's left arm.

"An eye for an eye." Kasei snarked, as Nogare jumped back again, bringing Kasei's scimitar with him.

OOC: Time for a battle royale!

"Dammit!!!... Kasei!" The mage yelled after hearing cracking of the bone.
"You can't beat that guy with only one arm!!"

"It's...unfair...I can't stand unfairness!!"
"Corruptness!!!"
"Evil!!!"

For a brief moment Azador's glowed crimson red as if he were to burst out in rage.
But the wizard remembered his mast's words: "Do not let the darkness become part of you...instead use this power for your own goals."

erghh...He quickly closed his eyes. "Darkness you who have always part of me, do not destroy out of hatred but for protection of others." The mage muttered the red radiance disappeared as he opened his eyes. A wicked grin appeared on his face and he stretched his rod up into the air. " Come forth incantation of the shadows "
Jormungand!

A small pentagram appeared before Azador on the city street. A sudden form of energy appeared out of this magic circle, it was a large black tentacle reaching to the heights of roofs. The massive form of energy lunged a direct slam at the 'legendary Hero' right before Kasei could hit the same target.

OOC: I hope you don't mind this Kasei, as I'm only trying to let this fight continue.

With the grace of a fox, Lyos leaped to the periphery of the battle, sheathing both his dagger and Kostafrith and whipping around his theorbo in one flowing motion. While still in air, he whispered something only discernible to those in the immediate vicinity.
Sonata of Restoration.
Without a pause, the twang and resonate hum of the stringed instrument immediately filled the chilled air. With each ascending passage, a faint aura seemed to increasingly shine from the very depths of Lyos' soul, finally manifesting itself in what appeared to be ribbon of verdant light. As the final note rang out through the surrounding courtyard, the aura burst forth as if to catch the escaping sound, surrounding each of Lyos' allies in its pursuit, mending their wounded bodies and spirits.

The battle now was deffinately picking up. Nogare had barely dodged away from Kasei when a new assault came flying at him, Azador's self- invented Jormungand spell, the energy surged towards Nogare, and an explosion rocked thr courtyard. When the smoke cleared, it was obvious that Nogare dodged, there was no body.

A shadow appeared behind Azador, Nogare again, who swung once more at the mages head, and the full force did the unthinkable:

Azador's head was smashed it.

Kasei stared, a howl escaped his lips as he charged at the legend, his groken arm trailing behind him. He swung, and Nogare doged, but a surge of fire escaped from Kasei's right hand and blasted the Son of Grayblade right in the chest, sending him flying.

It was at that moment that Lyos acted, and as he flew, it was obvious what his tactic was-a cure.

The sonata of restoration flowed through the adventurers, healing everyone. Kasei's arm was mended. Shocked, the Rebel Flame turned to Azador, who was lying on the ground, but obviously alive, and cracked-skull free.

Kasei smiled, and returned his gaze to Nogare. "You are obviously not going to stop on your own violation, so we will stop you by force." He declared, letting more flames escape his hands, a giant inferno now flew at Nogare. There was no escape.

Or was there? Nogare grinned, and aimed his staff right at the oncoming wave. He swung, and instantly the flames were dispelled.

Of course, that didn't mean that Kasei was done, he himself charged in just as the flames died down, a new weapon in hand; his scythe.

He swung.

Nogare jumped.

A blast escaped The blade, and a whole block was decimated. Kasei lifted his head to look at Nogare, and aimed for a second swing......

With a grandiose modulation away from the tonic, Lyos' song took a drastic turn. The tempo became faster, the passages became more violent, and with each passing note the song began to blossom into a full fledged double fugue. To match the music's change in color, the aura emanating from Lyos transformed from a lush green to a vibrant azure, swirling around his body in a violent cyclone and picking up all manner of dust and debris from the fighters' previous attack. As if borne out of the very energy of the song itself he shouted,

Kyrie eleison, Christie eleison, KYRIE ELEISON!

Suddenly, bolts of pure energy arced from the center of the vortex, striking out to the flying shrapnel, igniting them as they continued their revolving paths. Lyos' theorbo struck a dissonant chord and the debris became a cloud of flaming projectiles vaulting through the air towards Nogare.

Saber couldn't tell what was going on anymore.

Everything was a blur, the action was so intense, so swift...He couldn't keep up with the duo at the heart of the battle, endlessly trading blows. He hit the ground when the explosion went off, clutching his chest and gasping. He inhaled dust from the ground he had landed on and began to cough roughly. He grabbed the neck of his shirt, pulling it up over his mouth to try and filter the air as he fought to stand up after the blow. Finally rising to shaking feet, he saw Burlo lying limp on the ground--It was likely that he had been there ever since he crashed down from the sky like an inebriated comet. The mercenary hobbled over to the cleric as Lyos unleashed a devastating spell, and rolled him over. He's breathing. Good.

Standing again with his knees wobbling, Saber raised his blade. He had no energy left to cast another spell--He might have been able to squeeze out another Fire attack if he hadn't been jostled around so much afterwards, but now there was nothing to do but head into the heart of the fight. He had been physically healed by Lyos, that much was true. However, mentally, he was losing his focus. The intensity in the air, the pure vibe was doing more damage than the physical aspect of the clash itself. He said a quick prayer over Burlo's slumbering body--In the name of Nayru, of course, he didn't want to offend the cleric--and stepped slowly towards Nogare. He winced as a piece of shrapnel revolving around Lyos nicked his shoulder, licking his finger and tracing the scar it left behind gingerly. Then he felt something spreading through him--The physical wound gave him an emotion to play off of other than exhaustion.

He tried to feel the pain as much as possible, to let it ignite his spirit with a cause, a purpose to continue the uneven fight. His legs lightened slightly. He increased his speed, eventually barreling towards his enemy at a fairly faster than slow speed, his saber held limply at his side until the last second. Hopefully, Nogare would be too distracted by the rebel flame and Lyos' magical assault to bother much with the humble mercenary as he raised the blade in an arc and dropped it straight downwards towards the Exile in one smooth motion, falling forward and landing on his chest from the effor the had put into the strike, his lungs burning from the dust that had infiltrated them.

With the last dissonant sound of wood on metal still echoing throughout, the song ceased. Silence. His head reeling from the massive energy just released, Lyos looked to where his attack should have gone, but the only thing his bleary eyes could see was the brilliant sunlight filtering through the dust. Both Kasei and the Exile were gone.

His legs gave way as the cold fire that had just moments ago illuminated his face steadily faded from his eyes. Lyos’ knees struck the ground full force, kicking up a silent puff of dirt. As his vision began to fade he had the vague impression of someone rushing towards a foe that was no longer there.

It's too late, our quarry has fled. I can only hope Kasei can take care of this. he thought blearily.

Just when the last vestiges of consciousness began to escape his wearied body, he caught sight of a burn and slash on the attackers shoulder.

I'm sorry my friend, your pain was my doing.

Fëlzane daz Dégine... he whispered as he collapsed to the ground. Along with his awareness seeped away a white wisp of energy what surrounded the wounded soldier's arm, and with that he surrendered to oblivion. Darkness.