Tooth and nail

JP Lucian and Bandorchu

Ostiarium, Forest

Alexis on the other side of the battlefield was engaged in a dance of her own, dodging the furious swings of her Odonine opponent looking for an opening to get into striking distance.

It was in this complicated game of call and response that she sensed an alarm going off from somewhere deep inside, the hairs on her neck standing on end.

Be it instinct or… something else, she made the split second decision to trust that warning and let herself fall backwards to the ground. Just in time to see some kind of blackened energy race across inches from her chest.

It felt cold like the touch of the grave and she highly preferred the disadvantageous position on the ground over a direct impact of whatever the fuck that had been.

The Odonine took little time to press that advantage and swung down on her, and she just so managed to roll away, splinters of disturbed earth and severed roots scratching across her cheek.

It was all she could do to to make the best of that moment the axe wielder needed to free his weapon.

She pushed to interweave her legs with his and rolled with all the force she could muster, tripping him to the ground.

At the edge of her perception she heard Alcuin snarl, risking a glance to see the man charging a black robed woman wielding the same energy that had been directed at her seconds before, his face twisted to a grimace of hateful delight.

Tarmen had much to regret in the fall. The biggest was learning just how skilled the assassins were in hand-to-hand.
While Tarmen fought with mainly with his upper body, there seemed to be a barrage from every direction coming from his opponent, showing a limberness that he now envied. It reminded him of when he had wrestled a Garrah badger, always finding a way to avoid Tarmen’s more meaningful strikes. He hadn’t realized what an ally the burning building had been before.

In a moment his chance came, crashing his head upon the man as he attempted another strike with magic. This took the form of a dark vapor coming from his mouth, which felt like a mix of sewage and strong alcohol as his headbutt passed his senses through what had been conjured.

He staggered to his feet, unsure if the residual nausea was the spell taking hold or the sensation it had brought to mind.

Falling to the ground may have rendered the Odonine‘s large weapon unusable for the moment, but it didn’t deter him in the slightest.
He grabbed Alexis by her ankle and pulled her under him in one strong yank, followed by a punch to her head that had it pounding.

Making use of her disorientation, he pinned her to the ground and began choking her.
It took her precious moments to pull herself together enough to resist which brought her to the point where her vision was fading from the lack of air.
Then deeply ingrained training and experience overturned the rising panic, and she pushed her middle up and to the side in a sudden move that surprised the man enough to topple him off her.

She drew some urgent gulps of air, and remained in that position for a moment.

However when the Odonine resumed his position above her he learned quickly that she had been anything but idle as his renewed attack was met - and ended - by her swiftly withdrawn dagger.

Tarmen made his way through the dwindling fight, seeing several of the Pack had fallen for their own few victories. Such a small but grim reminder of what awaited them. He could make out that the captive remained intact and the same was true for Alexis, while there was still some debate for how this fight could end. Reaching her side, he made sure she was well before motioning to the bound man.

"We need to get him out of here now, then worry about endin' this. I am sure Alcuin can be a good enough distraction."

As if to prove his point, there came a string of powerful curses and promises from somewhere in the scuffle.

Fighting her way to standing again, Tarmen appearing by her side was an unexpected and very welcome relief in the chaos of the clash.

While she agreed Alcuin’s bloodthirsty ferocity did draw quite some attention, unfortunately it proved not to be enough to distract their enemies from their captive completely.

On the other side of the fire, an Odonine approached the bound man and began dragging him to the flames, maybe to end his life just to spite the attackers.

“Now or never then.”

She called to Tarmen, already breaking into a dash.
She didn’t take the time to round the fire, hoping Tarmen would instead, but raced right toward it, picking up a burning log the moment she could reach it.

“Like fire? Enjoy!”
She snarled at the Odonine and with that hurled the log right over the fireplace and into his face.