Private - Force of Change

It had been a long time since Lucia had finished her preparations. It had simply taken too long to acquire all of the tools, reagents and necessities for a spell on the scale she was hoping to accomplish. Acquiring those resources naturally needed some help, from Vivian, from Luna, from Savannah. Everyone had had a hand in making sure Lucia had the tools she needed to build and complete this spell, though the pressure mounted, Lucia didn't feel anxiety. She hadn't ever cast such a grandoise thing outside of her dreams, even her most powerful formation cast when her Facade shattered was still only a 5 layered formation. She felt confident, casting a glance at those three watching her from afar, confident and moved that everyone would try so hard to support her in taking a new subordinate against these types of odds. The celestials were not an easy enemy to fight, angels and forces of extreme good were certainly powerful enemies to make for such a silly reason, but even so, they stayed with her up to the present.

With a firm and resolute expression, she started forming hand seals with a sharp gaze speaking aloud, it would be an incantation blended with gestures, combined with sacrifices she was determined to make the spell go off without a hitch. Those loves of her's would be able to see the things they'd collected and scavenged light up in flames, melt down into nothing, fade away into ash. All of that hard work they had all done together was being burned away into nothing, but it was all for this one spell to be cast.

"The 9 by 9 formation, the apex, the zenith, the Omega. 9 is the ultimate, greatness, of limitless power and potential-- 9 represents the greatest of destinies, the highest of forms, the final evolution." She spoke as a large ring began to appear around her, just short of swallowing everyone else along with it. Lucia had carefully measured out the length of the magic circle, starting from the largest layer, she worked her way inward letting things get more complex as the runes continued to place themselves. "Tian, Ze, Huo Lei, Feng, Shui, Shan, Di, are the 8, the Trigrams, the fundamental principals, the building blocks of the Dao; Sky, Marsh, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth make up our world. 8 represents the foundation, the core, the basics." She added as the next layer took shape, radiating a gentle lavender light, images of mountains, waves and other images scattered across that 8th layer, different from the 81 runes from the first, the next was built from 8 pictures.

"7 represents the virtues of every saint, and sin of every deviant. Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Prudence and Temperance give light to the world of men, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Sloth and Pride provide shade for those experiencing crisis and misfortune. 7 represents the morality, the heart, the soul." She continued letting there be a new ring added, the circles adding up, getting narrower as more and more of that large magical circle was filled in, this time with darker purple images of misdeeds and brighter lavender images of righteous acts. "6 is the number of worlds and paths, Heaven, Hell, Demon, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost; The number of judgement, the journeys our souls travel to grow. 6 represents redemption, atonement, it is the world around us, and the world we will travel to next." She spoke as the 6th circle appeared, ignited with bright lavender light as the others, depicting the 6 circles of reincarnation. Lucia's brow began to pirspire, she was clearly taxing herself to continue, but did so without hesitating as she tried to read the spell to it's completion.

"5 is the number of elements our world has at it's disposal; Water, Metal, Wood, Fire, Earth, these are the resources we use to survive. The elements that compose the super powers of our world, 5 represents abundance, materials, tools." She continued on, adding the 5th layer, the five elements joined the other circles, but by this time cracks began to appear in the earth, the burning materials that had once been a pile behind Lucia's back finally reduced to nothing as the rumbling ground began to turn beneath the circles. "4, in 4 the four cardinal directions are represented; North, South, East, West, each guarded with the might of a grand and majestic creature, standing steadfast against creatures of the outside world. 4 represents the boarder of our world, the wall between dimensions, the boundary lines." She continued, biting her lip to keep herself conscious and aware. Despite clearly exhausting herself though, her eyes burned with excitement and anticipation. Never before had she had a chance to orchestrate something grand-- To truly showcase her 'specialness'.

"3 is the truest essence of the martial Dao, the core of an immortal's cultivation; Spirit, Mind, Body. It is the essence of power found in all who cultivate and pursue the immortality of the Grand Dao. 3 represents completion, perfection and is the pillars upon which one can harness the Dao." She spoke, even her toes curled with the desire to stay awake and not quit, it was getting more difficult, but slowly a fissure began to spread through the earth. "2 is the truest form of choice, the form of trial and tribulation, the number of option. Dark and Light, Fire and Water, Sky and Earth, 2 is contradiction, it is balance, it is opposition and mutual suppression of yin and Yang." She spoke, fortunately things were coming together slowly but surely. After the symbols for the 4 directions appeared, the layer meant for the three essences of martial arts, they were joined by the center piece which was a large yin and yang. The whole formation began to turn in different directions, varying speeds.

Lucia, at the center finally gestured with a hand, a firm grasping gesture as she lowered her hand towards the soil beneath her. Clenching her eyes tightly, she was on the last leg of the race, just a little bit farther. "1 is the number of absolution, of the end, of despair. 1 represents death! The goal of all things in life, the destination that awaits all, the inevitability that cannot be fought or defeated." She spoke, as the center most point of the Yin Yang circle began to rise, slowly at first, but faster, lifting her up with the mound of dirt as it grew. "Seidou Goui! Through me the cries and despair of the envious masses roar as one, through me, all power, all strength, all possibility becomes 1. With my strength, I don't need to be great-- Instead, I will return 'great' to '1'." With the loud cry, the earth finally cracked and hands began to surface, the formation was burned into the ground and began crumbling away revealing the myriad of corpses buried beneath as they all began to crawl out.

Upon finishing the spell, she felt her limbs like wet noodles, falling down only to be caught by an armored hand of Sylvanas. The woman briefly glanced to the others, just outside the circle, making an effort to offer Lucia to them before she spoke some parting words. "We already have our task, I'll leave the Miss with you. Fight hard." She spoke, that frosty knight's frigid gaze warmed briefly when looking at Lucia's supporters, those she loved. The knight was a devoted tool, finding pride in her role as a blade to be wielded and swung, treasuring those companions of her miss, the Knight took charge of the undead pouring out of that abyss as they began to take to different fields...

 

A reasonable distance from the site of Lucia's ritual a small town was going about it's business as usual. The frontier village was covered in snow as usual, smoke rose from a few chimneys as one might expect, it was a village that lived together in peace and harmony, each one supporting the other, peace and happiness, it was a common scene. Far removed from the affairs of the world, war, normal human struggles were far from sight, it was a village that functioned without help from the outside world, blessed with autonomy and none to bother it. People spent time removing snow from their roofs, greeting each other in passing, an elderly holy man greeted people with a kindly smile, the village chief watched the hustle and bustle with a proud grin. Things went on as normal for most of the town.

The few guards posed on the walls were largely for decoration, retired paladins and the like who retired to the quiet countryside hoping for a quieter life away from secular troubles removing themselves from the struggles of common human conflicts and struggle. It was a peaceful almost paradise-like village but no matter how normal the day seemed, there were ominous signs on the horizon. The few paladins were the first on the walls to notice the rumblings. With confusion and frowns they began questioning each other and sending out patrols to probe the source of the rumbling in confusion. While it could have been any number of local monsters, there was usually always a signal from the scouting parties, people initially didn't think it was a big cause for concern, but after receiving no sign, signal or flare from the scouts, they began to worry.

The first to notice something wrong, was the seemingly elder holy man who wandered the village offering acts of kindness to the locals. Turning his head towards the sky, as if meeting the eyes of an unseen figure, his dazed expression lasted a short while, before his eyes began to constrict with 'feeling'. It was hard to place exactly what it was that gripped him, he remembered this feeling from his youth-- Fear. He felt Fear when he saw the 'sign' in the sky.

As if on cue, the moment that holy man was triggered, the horizon changed. A group of knights began to pour out from the trees. Shocked and stunned, the guards froze up, uncertain about how to react, their paradise hadn't been raided by bandits for several generations, their defenses were largely for appearances sake. "Worry not my children!" A firm voice echoed out through the village, the elderly holy man released a resplendent glow in reaction to the panic. "These fiends will not make it past our walls, as we practiced, push them back!" It was a call that managed to wake several of the local guards, the retired paladins already on the move to prepare crossbows and throwing spears.

They were confident, even with the number of knights approaching they would need to make it through the heavy walls and doors to raid their village, bolstered by the radiant holy light coming from their equipment and gates, they quickly relaxed. No evil force had penetrated their city's walls for a hundred years, they were certain that wouldn't change.

"W-Wait what are they doing?" One suddenly called out causing the complacent holy figure to turn suddenly in confusion. The undead weren't slowing down, raising on mounts to reach the walls, they didn't stop or prepare to storm the gates like everyone had suspected. "What kind of mounts are those?!" Another one called out after noticing the reason why.

Each knight wasn't mounting a horse, instead, they were all riding on skittering insects, large ants with crystalline eyes. Though the life had long since faded, they still moved like zombies. Clearly they were the remains of what Lucia had taken from the ants' nest with Vivian. Upon reaching the walls, the Tal'darim knights roared as the ants connected to the wall and began scurrying upwards. The guards on the wall were dripping sweat, shirts clinging to the back, these monsters were scaling the walls with ants? There was panic, and chaos in the enemy camp, with mounted knights pouring in the paladins desperately threw spears and bolts trying to slow their advance to no avail, this type of unconventional siege had been unheard of.

"Fear not my faithful, these feinds will not have this day!" A voice called out, a firm, and heroic tone, a picture of masculinity and rippling power stepped up to the clouds. With white wings stretching from his back, that elderly holy man who had once seemed wizen and aged, took to the sky to slow the charge. With a sweep of a majestic blade, golden light splashed free from his swing sending several mounted knights crashing down. "Hold firm! If we stand together we will not fall!" He spoke, laughing heartily, conceit and self-confidence pouring off of his body. He diligently began to sweep his blade through the air, trying to knock more downward, but was stopped quickly when an pale blue light might his next swing. That slash of frosty energy clashed with his blade causing him to pause in shock. "You... How-- A monster should not--" He began to gape, but couldn't finish his sentence as he parried the next round of icy spear lights with his blade.

"Enough, old man, we know this is a Celestial base. This town is going to be locked down starting now. None of you are allowed to leave." The source of that blade light spoke up, Sylvanas stood in the field, with enough space to swing her spear, without a mount, simply observing the celestial who was trying to halt her group of knights. Despite her icy indifference, the holy warrior sneered as he continued clashing with the Wight knight. "Mph, you think your little group of undead can halt us? Our reinforcements will come and sweep you all out like the rotting mess you are." Despite his insulting words though, Sylvanas remained unmoved, a frosty stone at heart, she simply gaze back with a frigid hate in her gaze. "I wonder..."

 

"Hurry, the secular village needs reinforcements!" "Push those undead bastards back!" Roars echoed out in another world, the celestials were preparing reinforcements as the remaining one in the village had said. Gathering up a brigade to remove the undead. Trying to storm out and bridge the gap, as if being summoned through a spell, they gathered traversing worlds until they found themselves halting. Perplexed, and confused, such a thing had never happened before, the hub between worlds was one that couldn't be so easily interfered with.

While they struggled pressing against the boarder between worlds, trying to force their way through, Lucia's other subordinate flashed a seductive grin. The lush and curvaceous figure of the fiery lich Lina wandered through the tall grasses not far from where Lucia's group set off. In a circle a myriad of corpses sat or stood in different positions, dressed in formal garbs, there were monks with prayer beads, priests with crosses in hand praying, mages with artifacts and tools in hand. All of them were still as statues, silent as the wind, they remained still while Lina circled them slowly. "We'll bar passage from other summoned creatures for a period of time. Hopefully we can buy plenty of time for the Miss~" She spoke with a lick of her lips, her hair whipping about with the appeal of a blazing flame as she leaned against a branch acting as the overseer of the sealing spell.

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Back where things began, Lucia was catching her breath still, recovering, her expression still a tad pale. All that remained with them were Alice, the small faceless girl who waited patiently with her summer's dress. The other was a pair of skeletons, one short in a blue robe, the other tall in an orange robe, the smaller one half asleep, the tall one heroically posing while examining himself in a hand mirror. The quirky skeleton pair were perhaps the only subordinate that none among Lucia's supporters had met yet.

"We'll have some time with that, enough to storm the tomb at least. Beyond a certain point inside though, Dark Magic won't be effective." She spoke, still weary, but she still managed to flash a smile to the three who supported her at this point. "@Vivian Cruz, @Savannah Reed, @Luna Avalbane, I'm counting on you, let's get going okay?" She asked, her atmosphere mellow, friendly as usual. Clearly intending to spend a good portion of this adventure recovering since she wouldn't be of much help.

 

Vivian's azure gaze was glued on Lucia has she did her ritual. She had never seen the amount of patience and force one could draw from the earth to power such a ritual. Her mouth would be agap if it not were a twisted snear. Not that she hated Lucia, or thought of her less or did not love the woman, it was merely the fact that she still felt like she was in the shadow of a great presence unable to tear away from the looming darkness she could not escape. It was jealousy. Vivian never had that urge for anyone until she met Lucia, even then it was just a tiny bit. But the more she exposed her power to the ocular desires of the Witch, there was more and more of that seed of jealousy growing with in.

Her hands formed tight fists, her nails digging into her flesh almost puncturing the skin on her hand. This is what it meant to be powerful, to be respected, to inherit a world of magic! That was a desire she wanted...if she could only tap into the same stream of knowledge that woman had. But for now, she could only watch and only wait to see the army of undead. Even if she was jealous and somewhat hateful, there was still that feeling of love and tenderness and she enjoyed such display of grandiose power. Besides...Vivian too would one day have that kind of power; ripped from the breath of Lucia or swallowing hole the world of Terra.

As the scene unfolded, the ritual done, Vivian was brought back to the others. Savannah, the Fiend Knight, Lucia's special Protector, her guardian and Champion among them. Luna, the woman who was new to the group, she had powers equal in more raw arcane energy, most potent and damaging then her own. She could still feel the pulse of power resounding in the girl even now after their short sparring session. And then...there was Vivian, the Dark Witch of the group, the so called 'Devil,' and the one closest to smelling like the Rule of Red. But she would not turn nose or hide who she was, when the day came or if it ever needed it to be...She would act on her ambitions and she would devour--

Her thoughts fled instantly as Lucia was helped to the group. The shadow of a sneer upturned into that bright, perfect sharp smile of hers as she now found out Lucia was quite alright. She brought a hand up to her Lover's shoulder, "Dark Magic won't be much use huh? Good thing I have other talents." Her right hand lifted, bandaged still from her fight with the Ant Queen, yet she dropped it tenderly at her side and rose her left arm, unblemished from the battle. With a snap of her fingers, it ignited the Pyromancy flowing in her veins before she curled her fingers and doused the flame.

"Ready when you are..."

 

Luna had never quite seen Lucia's power, had never experienced it firsthand though she had come close once before, so watching the woman create and finish such an in depth and powerful spell, whatever it had been, was something so incredible that she couldn't help but watch with her mouth wide open, a hand absentmindedly gliding across the fur of Natiri, who also watched the ceremony with part suspicion and part awe. The tigress had no clue that humans could possess that kind of power within them, even if it took a while for them to coax it out of themselves. Suddenly, she found herself feeling like she wasn't the strongest, most powerful predator here.

And as Luna looked around, noting that Savannah and Vivian were of course also present, she could see that Vivian looked....almost angry about something? Maybe angry wasn't the correct word, but it was difficult for her to not slip her hand into the witch's and try to comfort her in some way. Was she angry about something that had happened? Was she angry that that she didn't have the same sort of power? Maybe it was jealousy, or rage at herself for not being any more use during the ritual? Luna knew that she herself wished that she'd been more help to Lucia, even if there wasn't much she could act as besides an arcane battery or just another fighter.

She turned to Savannah, smiling warmly as the ritual came to a close and Lucia flopped over, watching as she was brought over to them. Luna took a step forwards, but Vivian was already at the necromancer's side, a hand on her shoulder. The white mage pouted, looking down at her feet in disappointment, even as Lucia and Vivian spoke about being ready to fight. She still didn't know exactly what they were doing, which scared her a little. "I um, I-I think I'm ready." She didn't do anything flashy, like Vivian had. She just adjusted the sword at her hip, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "I-I'll try not to hold you all back!"

 

Since the ritual started, Savannah had not taken her eyes off of Lucia’s figure. She stood about two steps away from the other two women, her intent gaze shifting from Lucia’s figure to the swirling magical rings that wrapped her feet. It was amazing really and also confounding. Magic held so much power within TerraSphere and it was the singular avenue of progress that Savannah could not see herself grabbing. Intricate and mesmerizing as it were, the weight of her greataxe and the push of her body into her enemy’s space felt more right to her than standing back and reciting a few words while waving her hands around.

The knight had taken a wide stance, her arms crossed over her breastplate, her helm resting on the ground next to her right foot. When Lucia had made her aware that they would be doing this…thing today, she had spent a good portion of the night getting herself ready. Her formfitting heavy armor would have gleamed if it weren’t made from dark metal. The scuffs and dents and blood splatters that had been present before were now missing. The blade of her axe, dull from overuse, also appeared sharper in the sunlight, almost menacing.

Snapping out of her haze once Lucia made her way over to them, Savannah was in the same mindset as Luna to step forward and offer a hand, but Vivian was there instead. The Death Knight instead nodded, believing that perhaps it would be better if Lucia did lean on Vivian. Savannah needed to take point anyway, considering she could probably withstand more damage than any of the women behind her.

Glancing at them each in turn, she exhaled the nerves that buzzed in her chest and stomach, gave a nod and tried to force a smile to her lips. It came out more grimace than anything else.

Ready when you ladies are.​

 

Though tired, Lucia still smiled, leaning against Vivian, resting against the busty woman. She couldn't tell something was wrong, if she had she could only sigh a little internally though. After all, who knew jealousy better then her, who understood envy more then she did? It was a unique conundrum, Lucia'd never had something others couldn't achieve before, she didn't believe it was any different now. "It will be a bit tough getting inside. Morgan Folke wouldn't have traps installed because he'd be afraid of the Winter's Claw charging in rather then some inexperienced adventurer's party. Instead, what we'll be more likely to find will be creatures or beasts or some of the celestial acting as guards instead." Lucia explained the problems she anticipated, Morgan Folke wasn't a man who was hard to predict from what Mortimer had explained to her.

"Savannah, I'll trust you to lead the way. Vivian, take care of her okay?" She asked with a small smile giving the pair soft pats. Gathering herself up to support her own weight she knew that she could count on Savannah and Vivian for the fighting, but Luna, she glanced towards, gesturing at the girl with a soft hand. "Luna, would you rather take care of me at the back? It will be a while before I'm feeling better." She offered, thinking that Luna was probably looking for a way out or a more supportive role. She didn't want to send anyone who wasn't ready to the front lines.

Once everyone had decided on exactly how to advance though, Lucia would show them the way. In the distance there was an occasional plume of smoke, a flash of light from Sylvanas' conflict with the Archangel. It was a fight that was flashy for the purpose of drawing attention and pulling people away. Lina could only hold off the Angellic reinforcements for so long after all.

As the group advanced through those woods onto a clear plane, their destination would be rather obvious. A glaring pyramid-like structure resting at the center of the clearing. It only seemed to have a simple cellar door on it, it's size and make were inconspicuous, if one didn't know what it truly was, they might mistake it for a strange shack or house. The door at the front was largely just for show. What lie behind it was a deep and dark staircase leading down into shadow-y depths that couldn't be so easily seen. As one advanced down the steps, stones along the walls would glow brightly illuminating the passageway, but the deeper they went down the dustier things seemed to become. It was clear that few, if any, came or left this tomb.

At the base of the steps, it was clear they were no longer on the ground floor, the passage way opening up into a larger space, the glowing stones spreading from the narrower walls to the room's walls and ceilings once they passed the threshold. Within were a pair of statues, who stood in wait, holding large stone weapons, one a blade and shield, the other a large staff. Upon entering, their eyes would slowly light up, as if scanning the intruders to decide whether they were friend or foe from the energy within their bodies.

 

Savannah gave Vivian a long look before turning her attention to Lucia with a nod of her head. Removing the helmet from under her arm, Savannah fit it on her head, equip her great axe and exhaled a slow breath. She knew where they were going as Sylvanas had explained much to her after their sparring session. She hadn’t expected the female Drow to be so loose with information, but because she was with Lucia, Savannah assumed that she was trusted with the information. They were all working for the betterment of the Dark Lady, after all.

So, the Death Knight took point, her lithe form at the front of their group. Her eyes kept glancing toward the sky, the flash of lights from the fight in the nearby village making her wonder how their forces on that front were doing. She didn’t have a lot of knowledge about what was going on there. It was ‘above her paygrade’ as she had been told, to which she had merely shrugged off and limped back to her own tent. She didn’t have to know everything and if Sylvanas didn’t want to tell her, the Knight wouldn’t force the issue.

As the pyramid rose up out of the ground before them, Savannah could feel the nerves begin to stir in her stomach. She knew they were fighting celestials and creatures whom were protectors and guardians and such, but did that really make them evil? She didn’t think so. Well, maybe Vivian, but the rest of them hardly had an evil bone in their bodies…

And yet, here they were.

She exhaled once more as they crossed some invisible threshold and immediately stopped, a sudden ringing in her ears making her halt. She ground her teeth, the sound an annoyance against her sensitive ears. Suddenly, charging out of the pyramid came three large, lumbering figures, a snarl torn from their jaws. Golden fur glinted in the sunlight and Savannah could just make out the metal armor that was partial obscured by their fur.

Holy shit, those are Gurahl.

Savannah’s voice was an excited whisper. Werebears were, well, rare, and she had never seen ones that had golden fur like these. And there were three of them. Shit, she swore to herself as she squared her shoulders and set her sights on the massive 7 foot creatures. She had to protect the rest of them. Granted, they might mow her down as she did that, but she would at least be able to say she tried.

With a yell, she charged forth, hoping to draw their attention away from the three females behind her.
​

Hidden: The Protector Gurahl

 

As Savannah looked at Vivian, the eyes were reflected back with that snaking smile over her lips. The woman chuckled under her breath, despite the serious nature of this quest they were undertaking Vivian would do her usual thing and stoke the woman as she put her helmet on, "That's right, Honey. Shake that ass for us." She called out to the Tank as she would take point. Vivian only laughed looking behind her as Lucia would be taken care of by the vanguard Luna. She had spared once with the woman and after that she had no idea if her powers or her aggressiveness turned into a more pronounced form or if she was still lagging behind like before.

Vivian deep azure eyes shifted as she caught up with the head female in tow. Her left hand slithered over the armor of the woman and her nails scraped along the metal of her armor. Where there was land, there was earth and the earth was her playground. With such a gesture, the azure eyes gave way to a more earthy brown as she swept her hand back and forth, dusting covered Savannah's flesh and armor giving it a bonus to her armor class, as well as protecting that delicate blue skin of any stray arrows or puncture wounds.

"Gotta protect that sweet, soft blue skin. We wouldn't want it to be too ripped apart, although if you want, I could always lick those scars of yours." Vivian's seductive tone cut right through any tension there might have been earlier. To add more into the emphasis, the female lifted her hand to her lips, splitting her fingers in a 'v' and licked the air between them before laughing.

The earthy brown gaze shifted once more as Vivian's azure came back. When there was the sound of something coming from their destination, she narrowed her eyes and sighed, "And here I thought they were going to welcome us with open arms." It was no matter, her bare feet stopped walking and she quickly started to pull the elements from around her. A spell circled igniting beneath her feet as the wind rushed through her dress and hair. The witch laughed as she called upon those elements of fire and built a ball of fire in the palm of her left hand.

"Time for a little target practice..." While Savannah would go head long into the battle to protect them, they had to work as a team. She would watch the woman's flank and tend to her side and levitate the ground should the need arise. "I got you, honey!" A ball of fire growing hot loomed and sped forth to one of the Celestian Werebears. The flame licked over its body as it ran forth and caught ablaze, burning it's hide as it stopped to quell the fire on it's arm.

 

Luna watched with wide eyes as Lucia stepped forward to pat Savannah and Vivian, basically completely ignoring the white mage herself besides a quick throw away statement, declaring her to be at the back of the party. Why? Why didn't the woman trust her yet? Was this what she really thought of her? That she couldn't be trusted up front, that she might run away and leave people to be hurt or die? Was all of the talk about being impressed with her resolve to help people and protect others just a convenient lie to make her work hard and get her to stick around? Why was she only showing affection to Vivian and Savannah? Did she not care about Luna as much as those two?

She sniffled, wiping at damp eyes with her sleeve as she nodded dejectedly, more than just slightly upset with what had happened and was currently still happening. She hadn't known that the woman would think so little of her that she'd actually just toss her at the back of the group, out of sight and out of mind as she spent most of her time paying attention to the bickering and teasing of Vivian and Savannah. She should've known that she wouldn't fit in with the group, she'd never managed to fit in with any group of people before, so she'd been stupid to think that Lucia and the others would be any different.

It wasn't fair! Lucia had promised that none of them would be treated with any more preference than the others, yet here she was paying the most attention to Vivian and Savannah, exactly what she'd promised not to do! How could she!? It took all that Luna had in her to keep herself from completely breaking down into tears, lagging slightly behind the group as the made their way through towards their objective, under the guise of being the vanguard of the group, so that they wouldn't see any tears that did end up slipping through her emotional grasp.

Why was she the one to get left out? Was it because she wasn't powerful like Vivian, or brave like Savannah? Maybe it was, she had nothing to really offer the group after all. She could make friends with animals and fire beams whenever she wasn't too scared to do so, of course she was going to be useless to them all! She was so stupid for thinking that they would even want her with them! They'd given her plenty of attempts to back out, but it hadn't been because they were worried about her! It was because they thought she couldn't handle it, that they'd be better off without her with them, lagging behind and slowing them down!

She bit her lip at that thought, clamping down on a sob before it could slip past her lips and draw attention to herself. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why had she even bothered trying? They didn't see her as somebody they wanted with them! Lucia barely paid any attention to her with the other two around!

Savannah's shout barely snapped her out of her funk, looking up through bleary eyes to see a trio of Gurahl emerging, looking down at her feet. She was supposed to guard the rear, wasn't she?

She sighed, looking down to Natiri, who growled and snarled by her side. The Tigress was fully grown now, far larger than most of her kind could even possibly grow to. Their bond had made the creature strong, powerful. Luna sniffled. "Go....Natiri. Please help them." She spoke softly, trying to hide the way her voice cracked as Natiri shot her a questioning glance, before charging head first at the Gurahl.

The Tigress sprinted, keeping pace with the fireball that Vivian had launched at one of the werebears, using it to hide herself from view before pouncing away from it, leaping at the bear's partner, slamming her considerable size and power into the foe to topple it, before hacking and slashing away with glowing claws and teeth, a veritable storm of fangs and claws, tearing across armor and into exposed flesh.

 

Seeing Savannah and Vivian advancing happily, even Vivian teasing Savannah a little, Lucia wore a small smile, glad to see them getting along, even if it was currently a bit shake-y she liked seeing everyone getting along and things being harmonious. It was heart warming, feeling the light of those three candles pressing back the darker feelings in her own heart, it was something she hadn't really gotten to experience all at once. Finally having it in front of her, she was relieved.

Her hand remained in the air for a while though, having expected Luna to accept her gesture or take her hand when it was offered. Blinkingly, for a short while, Luna seemed distracted, Lucia'd put a bit of extra thought into Luna's situation and condition, the girl was getting better at dealing with a combat situation, but had never really experienced a real bloodied life or death battle. Lucia'd thought herself pretty clever for letting Luna adjust to the atmosphere of live combat after she'd struggled to fight a goblin on her own. The woman seemed bothered by something though, Lucia was largely oblivious to the misunderstanding as she gestured with her hand wondering if Luna was stuck in her thoughts and hadn't seen her soft gesture. "Luna? Come along, we don't want to get left behind right?" She asked with a perked brow, this was a serious situation they were going into after all, time couldn't be wasted, but Lucia didn't want to push either.

"Come on." She spoke with a soft laugh, trying to jog Luna from those thoughts by taking her hand and helping her along behind Savannah and Vivian.

She'd left the vanguard for the experienced pair, believing they'd had the know how and technique to deal with trouble, she didn't doubt their skills, if anything her doubts were more on their ability to coordinate making her giggle internally. Nodding along with Vivian's teasing, she brought a hand to her own mouth trying to speak over the roaring of their foes as she called out to Savannah. "Vivian's right Savannah, if you get beat up too much, I'll have you strip for everyone as a punishment~" She teased with a bubbly laugh. It was a serious combat situation, but she was just too delighted having everyone with her.

The bears roared out in their effort to deal with intruders though. Morgan Folke's tomb didn't have treasures but instead had guardians. The actions of the three were pretty swift in meeting the threat head on. Savannah's effort to draw attention did reasonably well, the creatures had turned their gazes towards her, but it was clear their interest would wane soon as one was struck by flames. With a burning paw, it roared sweeping it's arm through the air to put it out, the swings were heavy and fierce, but weighted, the creatures were clearly not the most agile even if they didn't seem slow. It's golden fur had been burnt almost clean from the arm, it's armor largely exposed, a portion of it's defense being peeled away, but it's flesh and skin not yet completely exposed yet. The Tigress's blow seemed more familiar to the werebear group then the sudden flash of fire that seemed to shock it's target. With a furred paw it parried the blow with a heavy swing of it's clawed arm trying to bounce the tiger back and away.

In retaliation the savage beasts roared back swinging their arms down at Savannah as they attempted to surround the temporary threat. Though their interest in her was already waning even as they struck blow after blow at her. Two clawed arms swept at the armored warrior's body, the first two glancing blows managed to cleave claw marks across Savannah's chest plate. The third though seemed easier to parry. Though the force would be felt by her arms, it was a blow she knew she could sweep away with her axe in much the same manner the creatures themselves seemed to parry blows with their claws returning tit for tat.

 

Stripping as punishment?!

It wasn’t what Savannah wanted to be thinking about as she went head to head with the massive seven-foot tall werebears. Adrenaline and fear were a heady mix pulsating through her blood stream and while this would usually make it exceptionally easy for her to contrate and fight, Lucia’s words continued to echo within her ear canals. Just how in the seven hells was she supposed to not get beaten up? She was the tank!

It had to be a ploy to just strip her anyway. Fucking damnit!

She parried one of the massive claws from the beast, the talons scraping across the front of her breastplate. The noise was terror to her ears and she grimaced because of it before dancing backwards, barely missing the second paw as it too came down in an attempt to wound her. Okay, so far so good. Her celebration lasted mere seconds. The heavy weight of a second Gurhal rammed into her back, the talons tearing into her arm…or it would’ve torn into her arm if Vivian hadn’t buffed her with her spell.

Shocked, the Knight looked down at her forearm, expecting it to be a mangled mess of sinew and bone. Finding it intact, she gasped and swung on reflex, catching some of the armor plating around the Gurahl’s upper chest, her axe being deflected.

Holy shit, something Vivian had done had worked and it had saved her. Holy shit, holy shit. Did that mean she had to thank her after all this was over? Ugh, probably, and who knew what that meant…

The furious roar from the first Gurahl captured Savannah’s attention as her muscles went through familiar motions, parrying the attacks that the werebeast forced onto her. She growled in reply, trying to get the upper hand in this close quarters combat situation, but it was difficult when your opponent was about three feet taller than you and probably weight as much as a semi-truck!

Was Morgan Folke’s remains really so important? Savannah had never even heard of this dude before, yet he had celestial werebears protecting his final resting place. Shit, if this was just the first wave, what more would they find down in the tomb proper?

She swallowed, barely dodging another heavy paw to the head. She came up suddenly, a surge of energy allowing her to cleave her great axe from the side and the sudden momentum caught the werebear by surprise. It turned just as the axe cut across its face, severing its maw in two, the lower jaw spinning off one way while the helmet went spinning in the opposite direction.

Warm blood sprayed from the wound and covered the female Death Knight. She gripped her axe harder, spun it around, allowing her body to follow the energy of the action, and cleaved through some of the werebeast’s armor, a satisfied grunt coming from her while her foe cried out in pain.

And then it fell to fall fours, snarled, and rushed her, catching the Knight off guard and immediately bulldozing her over. ​

 

"Hey Savannah, how are enjoying the pounding?" Her quip was loud enough to be heard and that almost annoying bubbly laughter continued there on. A flick of her wrist and a wave of her hand, Vivian began her incantations once more. A ruby colored spell circle soon started to shift and change to an almost seething black ring. The runes dances along the edge like dancing and twinkling stars. Her bare feet gripped to the earth almost claiming its energy for herself.

A flick of her wrist and wave of her hand, the ground started to shake and rumble. Azure eyes shifted into a mix of hazel and darkness as her smile curved into that wanton pleasure for battle. Yes, Vivian was by all means a beautiful and sexy delicious woman. Men and women alike craved to touch her, to look upon her, to be experienced with her. However, she was not all just sex and makeup. The woman held within her ambition, rage, and power. The collection of these forces fueled her appetite into monstrous levels.

With her fingers snapping and joints popping, the spell circle flurried around rotating at an intense level. The wind around her seemed to spin with the disc below her as violet hair raised from off her shoulder. With a hand, she commanded the ground to lift Savannah off the ground, a pillar of rock aiding her by sending her towards the heavens. With another flick of her hand, and a laugh, she seemed to slash at the air with her long slender nails.

From the ground came the popping and sizzling of dark energy and tendrils. They whipped frantically back and forth against the Werebear that had chased down the blue skinned woman. Her hands moved in a simple pattern, her knees bending as if speaking to the earth in a low tone and then clapped her hands and pushed her palms out as if ejecting a force. The rotting black tendrils snapped and tethered to flesh and body, ripping it asunder one limb at a time before the earth shook and swallowed the bones leaving nothing of its existence.

 

Natiri, after being batted aside, growled and crouched low, circling the werebear that had managed to knock her away, sizing it up and judging where to attack next, with Luna looking onwards through bleary, tear stricken eyes, before she decided to test out a new skill she'd learned. It wasn't impossible to fuse her masteries together, but she'd needed to learn something to help be the intermediary between them. She'd hoped Lucia would be able to teach her more about the skill she was going to be picking up, but it didn't seem like the woman wanted to spend much time with her anymore.

She sniffled, looking up before whistling sharply, drawing Natiri's attention as the tiger backed up and stood in line with her, a magical circle bursting into life below her, her mouth wide open with an identical, yet smaller, magical circle around it. Those two magical circles, depicting an open, fanged mouth with a mushroom cloud inside of them, were identical to the magical circle around Luna's hand as she glared through teary eyes at the Gurhal, a soft purple glow escaping her hand before seeming vanishing.

Yes, she'd learned to utilize her magic through her pets, channeling their own strength into it. It was an idea she'd been working on for a while, being able to merge her power with those of her companions, this being the closest possibility to reality, seemingly.

At Natiri's open mouth, small white flakes of energy began to materialize from the air and gather in front of the tigress, forming into a small white ball. It was taking a while to form, but the Gurhal seemed to be more interested in its falling comrades than Luna and her partner. She glared. Even the enemy seemed to think she wasn't going to be useful. Why!? Why did people look down on her!? Even her own friends!? Even strangers!?

The ball of energy in front of Natiri grew to the size of a ping pong ball, yet it felt extremely heavy, the ground beneath the tigress cracking. Luna growled, a white light briefly shining in her eye, matching the same white flash from Natiri's eyes.

"40 Millimeter Byakko Cannon!" A roar from Natiri and the words, cracked and full of grief and anger as they were, silenced the battlefield as the ball of arcane energy collapsed into a beam that slammed into the Gurhal and kept going, pushing it back until it slammed against a wall and had nowhere to go, before exploding violently.

The magical circles died down and Luna looked down at her hands as Natiri plodded over to her and rubbed against her stomach. See? She was useful! She could be useful! Why couldn't anybody else see that?

 

One minute, she was on her back trying to fight off a rampaging werebear and the next, there was the scent of burned fur in her nose and she was about twenty to thirty feet high in the air. Savannah’s scream could be heard from the ground where the rest of her group was. Not only had Vivian taken the Knight out of the fight, she had triggered a fear that Savannah didn’t even know she had.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

She plastered herself to the ground as much as she could, her lithe frame trying to meld into the ground if possible. She refused to scoot near the edge and merely looking out over the treetops and seeing the battle in the sky in the distance was enough to keep her heart-rate on the up and up. She inhaled and exhaled like a marathon racer, sweat beading her brow and making her swallow convulsively. She felt like she was going to puke.

LET. ME. DOWN! Please!​