A blood curdling scream erupted from below as the attack made contact. Rehtul's breaths, coming in ragged gasps, eased ever so slightly as he wiped the blood, snot, and spit from his back with his billowing white sleeve. The mage began to slowly descend from his heights, sure now that he had made his mark, and that hopefully his opponent now lie dead somewhere in the clearing. A battle such as this had pushed him to his absolute limits, though finding out what those limits were was likely useful in its own right.

As feet touched grass, Rehtul allowed himself to take a huge gulp of air to make sure he wasn't dreaming. A man as powerful as that, and he had succeeded? Of course, he realized it was only due to a fairly bad strategy by the leader of the Brotherhood. Blinding a mage that can attack in every direction, especially if it means blinding yourself, could have some rather dire consequences if you have no other way of sensing when an attack is on the way.

Suddenly the darkness was replaced by a white searing pain, as though lightning had stricken the young man right in the center of his head. The ice holding his body up cracked and shattered under his weight. He fell forward, catching himself on his arms only just enough to stop himself from being fed a bloody, muddy mouth full of dirt. Water slowly seeped into the cotton fabric of his coat and coarse muddy dirt coaxed itself into the undersides of his fingernails. The smell of fresh cut wet grass assaulted his nose as he lied there, waiting for this ordeal to be over, one way or another.

Guess I pushed a little too far, he thought.

Not much of a surprise, I suppose...

As the energy of battle slowly wore off, aches and pains made themselves apparent all over the mage's body.

"Ow... that son of a bitch really did a number on me," he muttered under his breath as he continued to lie there, face half buried in the mud. "And to think Felicity really thinks he needs someone else's protection... what an idiot..." Those last few words were the last thing he remembered saying before he blacked out.

Minutes later, he found himself staring at the ceiling of one of the rooms reserved for fighters when a battle was over. A window facing toward a sunny field allowed plenty of light to filter in as the mage brought himself up to sit. Just to be sure of his condition, he wriggled his toes and extended a leg.

"Making sure all the parts are still working?" a monk asked from a desk.

"Yeah. He did blind and paralyze me," Rehtul responded with a smirk. "First time that's ever happened to me. It was... definitely an experience I don't look forward to repeating."

"Yes, I'd imagine not. Well, your vitals all check out. You can feel free to get dressed and head out if you'd like. As it is, I must take my leave. There are others who are in need of my services. You may use the room for the next half an hour if you don't feel quite up to leaving yet, but please try to be out of here by then."

"Very well." Rehtul wasn't entirely sure why he was being rushed, but didn't particularly care either. There were plenty of other places around Radasanthia where he could have his meeting with the Lord Osiris that were much nicer than the Citadel's recovery rooms. He splashed some water on his face from the nearby basin, threw his shirt and coat on, and then turned to open the door. Hopefully it hadn't been too long and he'd be able to catch the other man before he left. There were still matters to attend to.