Unleashing Moonwing

[Ioder]

Closed to Fez.

“One more…” a dark voice echoed through Ioder’s mind as he stepped once more into the grand Citadel. Moonwing had been ever present in the dark recesses of his mind, yet now her strength began to swell. She held Ioder within her ethereal talons, using him like a marionette. He walked through the grand halls like a mindless thrall, unable to communicate on his own. This would be the last time Ioder would ever visit this place, at least the last time ever as the man he once was. The last few months had been merely an incubation period for the beast sealed within him. With every conflict she grew stronger, stealing both his power and that of the foes he battled. And now this Ancient Dragon whom he once thought to be vanquished stood upon the threshold of resurrection.

“Soon i'll possess enough power to be free of your seal, and you will be nothing more than my vessel, seraphim.” the dissembodied voice of Moonwing echoed out once more.

“You underestimate me dearly.” Ioder thought back as he fought viciously for control of his body, but to no avail. “You may control me beast, but I will never give up.” he yelled telepathicly, even if he was unsure if he could ever over take the dragon.

This was his greatest folly, believing that he was capable of holding the Mother of Dragons. All that he was, a descendant of the Ancients, master of primordial magic, Fate’s Chosen, mattered not. He could do nothing now other than simply allow her to puppet him like a toy. Anger was all he felt, towards the beast who controlled him and the thought of lost opertunity. The thought of being denied the chance to battle Vincent Cain one final time filled Ioder with unrivaled fury.

Finally as Ioder entered the portal opened by the high monks he came face to face with destiny. He found himself standing on the steps of oblivion, a replication of the Chasm of Nixilis. A vast ridge that originally bordered by Dragon’s Folly. The ground was a composite ore of some kind splintered with massive iron jetties. He stood atop a great cliff overlooking the perillas stone basin below. The smell of noxious gas filled his nostrils as he noted a large river of molten metal deep in the chasen below. The gasses nearly choked him as he quickly covered his mouth with his wrist.

The skies were as grey as the earth, threatening to unleash torrents of lightning at any moment. Ioder noted that at his elevation taking flight would prove to be deadly with such weather. As such he kept his wings tucked away under his green coat. His shaggy blonde hair danced in the violent tailwinds as he made his way to the very edge. He waited here for his challenger to appear and their battle to begin.

As the gale winds raged on the blonde youth made swift hand signs. Ancient glyphs appeared on the backs of each hands and began to glow bright. The air around him began to fill with white shimmering haze as Ioder pulled forth from his magic. The glistening cloud began to dance around him twisting and turning with his every motion. His foe would be here soon and sooner the beginning of the end.

[Fez_The_Kid]

Tendrils of mist rose from an earth the color of lacquer, billowing in their ascent toward an overcast firmament. Clays of soil followed in steady columns. The air seemed to still... then, within the dancing swath of smog, shuddered. A moment later Anubis appeared, the formation collapsing in a sluice of dust. Smothered in the remnants of the breakage, the man heaved as he waited for his lungs to adjust, stepping forth into the clear.

Then he pulled himself upright, studied his surroundings.

The stretch of earth about him seemed like a world of molten obsidian, overshadowed by clouds that seemed no more than two armspans from the ground. Anubis could not detect a single source of light but one: a long ravine filled with something molten, hot, and orange. He grunted, studying the toothy formation of jet-black stone edging the carmine-choked gorge.

The monks had dropped him in a rather peculiar world, a diabolic place suitable for the wrongdoer's soul-- If it exists, that is, Anubis thought. Their magical competence, however, doubly showed in their archetype of an evil god's realm. A diabolic land void of life - of existence itself - crafted for the essence of battle and bloodshed.

Thoughts shattered as he saw the tottering figure of his adversary on the raw edge of the cliff. Anubis could sense the power pouring from the stranger in the midst of wild hand gestures. He strode up the gentle slope leading to the figure, gave no thought of the air suddenly turning hot.

He could now see that the entire chasm wheezed an orange, rising haze; bubbling sounds growing clearer as he neared the edge. He paused, leaving at least ten paces between himself and the contender, who faced the effervescent chasm. A gesturing figure, silhouetted by the glow that seemed to burgeon in the valley of exposed bedrock. Anubis felt more of the stranger's power, churning in the wake of his summoning. The stranger was no doubt preparing for the Salvarian's arrival.

His mettle, Anubis' mettle, would be distinctly tested.

Anubis decided to save his and the stranger's time by omitting vain introductions, his frown stern as he awaited the sorcerer. So he said nothing, vambraced forearms dangling from his dust-caked cape. The time to weigh his options was long past now; at this close a distance, his presence must have been already sensed.

Indeed, sorcery would foul this already tainted world.

[Ioder]

The question wasn’t if Ioder, or the being controlling him, had noticed the rouge’s entrance. It was instead whether or not the challenger was prepared. As Ioder released his nebula into the air around him, it began to take shape. First as a thinly dispersed cloud of sorts, yet as Ioder through his arm out to the side it compacted into a dense torrent of raging energy spiralling around him.

It danced with his every movement like an extension of himself. As Ioder brought his arms across his body in an crossing motion his nebula split in two before digging deep in the rock beneath his feet. Then with a flick of his wrist the two shimmering white clouds of magic remerged sending shards of fractured stone flying as it did. Again and again did the mage send his nebula flying all around in a violent display. With every clash with the ground around him his magic left fractures and trenches in their wake.

Ioder turned his face as his magic calmed and rested itself in a mist covering most of his form. In the faint light from the molten rock below barely illuminated the rogue as he watched intently. Ioder said nothing as he faced the man now with back to the chasm below. As the toxic fumes rose he found himself again covering his mouth with his sleeve. He took slow shallow breaths trying to keep as much toxins from his body as possible.

After a few brief coughs he returned his focus to his opponent. Then without any warning or inclination Ioder broke out into a wild sprint towards his foe. With his arms thrown back Ioder allowed his nebula to trail slightly behind. He hadn't planned to use his nebula just yet preferring to test his opponents reflexes and skills. He came to the battlefield today with no weapons or armor, those had been passed down to his apprentice, he would instead display his talents with him magic and martial arts.

“Guard the self!” he yelled as he narrowed the gap between them preparing to unleash a fury of fists and feet upon the rouge.

[Fez_The_Kid]

The two clouds the sorcerer had conjured dove into the earth in a violent explosion, sending up a burgeoning storm of debris. The flung detritus proved only too bothersome - yet also potentially dangerous, nipping at his exposed skin. Grunting, the hunter raised a hand to shield his face. The spectral orbs punched through the earth. Wind howled, the clouds reappearing for the slightest of moments before plunging down again in an impact that rocked the earth underfoot.

Anubis watched in awe, gauging the amount of power in display. Much to the Salvarian's concern, it seemed that his adversary was a potent one.

The refuse settled, and a misty veil rose, hiding the sorcerer where he stood. Anubis however never relied on sight alone, for he heard his adversary shift - turn - the ground crunching under his feet. Anubis felt a suddenly sharp sting along the length of his throat, quickly constricting his gullet. Eyes squinting, Anubis gathered the tail of his cloak and quickly held it to his mouth. A moment later he figured that the ravine was emitting gaseous toxins.

Why he only felt their full effect now, he could simply wonder.

His adversary also seemed to struggle as a series of coughs sounded through the murk, then stopped. Testing the air, Anubis found his breathing once again secure - if only temporarily. He released the cloak, ragged breath filling his lungs.

Anubis cocked his head at a growing footfall, his attention slowly fixing on the approaching figure of his adversary. Without warning, the man leapt out, dukes at the ready.

A battery of punches lashed at the Salvarian, each blow a blurry fist striking and retracting, like a serpent striking for the kill. Where Anubis failed to dodge, he blocked. A single blow connected.

The pain still throbbing in his jaw, Anubis gained on the opportunity and balled a fist, thrusting it - his knuckles closing in on his opponent's disfigured face at full throttle.

[Ioder]

Ioder felt the familiar sensation of his fist against his foes jaw. He felt the grinding of the Salvarian’s teeth as his knuckles cracked his sharp face. As Ioder drew his fist back the rouge unleashed a powerful blow barreling towards his own exposed face. Yet he was prepared for the quick retaliation for the mist shrouding him responded swiftly. As if compelled to defend its master the mist gather and solidified catching the rouge’s mighty blow.

Protected, Ioder withdrew a few paces back dragging his feet along the warm stone. As his protection faded as did its grasp of the Salvarian. Taking the brief advantage and using it to its fullest Ioder turned face and began for the chasm ahead. As he ran, the Seraphim quickly brought his sleeve to his face. Tearing a long portion off with his teeth before fashioning a makeshift mask to protect himself from the fumes ahead. It wasn't much but it would do for now.

As he narrowed the gap between himself and the glowing chasm, Ioder threw his right hand back unleashing a strong torrent of his nebula back at his opponent. The magic twisted and turned as it soared forth tearing the stone asunder in its wake. This wasn't intended to do anything more than to force the Salvarian into following him further into the tretorous arena. His magic would continue to follow the man, weaving and hoping, until it either caught up to the man or he pursued Ioder.

Then as if he threw caution into the wind Ioder leapt forth into the chasm. His cloak flapping in the hot wind as he fell into the pit. He feared not what might await him below, no rocks or jetties could claim him. His levitation would allow him to gently land upon whatever surface might await him.

[Fez_The_Kid]

Bracing for the counterattack, Anubis found himself unattended, set himself upright as he saw the sorcerer retire, his spectral figure sailing back through the wispy fog. The Salvarian's brows fractionally rose. This guy is… powerful. The magic he's using - it's strange, uncanny. He rolled his shoulders, his frown deepening. Need a plan, or else I'll be counting worms. Anubis then blinked as the figure twisted, dashed toward the ravine.

Swearing, the hunter gathered his cloak behind him and broke into a lope after the man. Few heartbeats later the sorcerer lifted a hand and hurled something back, revealing one of his nebulae. This time, however, it appeared not to bore into the ground. This time, indeed, Anubis would be the one to have the honor.

The earth crumbled underneath the cloud, rocks splintered by a powerful force that cleft its path through the air. The Salvarian did not stop in his tracks, but instead chanced to meet the cloud as it rushed closer. Moments from meeting it he pitched to the ground, which quaked at the spot. The cloud passed so explosively that Anubis felt its force - its potent magic - plunge onto him as it carved its way overhead.

Within a heartbeat the Salvarian was back on his feet, ignoring the pain that had embraced his back, and sped in the dark rut after his opponent. Who did not so much as balk before dropping into the hazy ravine.

Anubis reached the edge. Lava licked at the cliffside two-men's height below the jagged rim. He winced as a fierce, sharp heat clung to his body from below. Even fiercer still, he considered, was the pungent smell that followed.

Cursing, the Salvarian unlimbered his crossbow. A quarrel was already rested in the slot, held in place by a loop of leather he now pulled clear. He hooked the clawfoot over the braided string and clinched it back.

Somehow, the stranger seemed to stand unscathed on the lava surface, if not hover.

He had dealt well with one perceived attack, but Anubis only wondered how he'd deal with the imperceptible, as he would now learn. The monster hunter snapped the crossbow up and aimed.

He thumbed the trigger. The weapon bucked in his hands.