Curse of the Crystals

Chapter 20: The Fifth Irregularity - part 2

Just as things were starting to look dire for the group of mages, the wolves were distracted by something. Itzal was the first to figure out the reason. "The others must have come to our aid, we should finish this quickly, before Vural starts firing at them."

Arethusa replied. "We're pretty close by now. If you sprint straight ahead, you should get to him in a few paces."

It was all the encouragement Itzal needed, as he broke away from the rest of the group. He was relying on Maiara's magic reflecting the various arrows so far, but now it was up to his own ability to dodge them. In all honesty, he'd never done something that had made his heart beat as fast as it was beating right now. He could see the arrows coming at him at the last possible moment, so he needed to use the full extend of his magic to dodge them. When he finally saw the person who'd been firing arrows at him, he realized it was indeed Vural.

He didn't hold back, as he rushed towards Vural using the full extend of his magic. The latter had swapped his bow for a set of two short-swords, holding them up just in time to deflect Itzal's first strike. Itzal instantly realized that Vural wasn't using the same predictive abilities as the Dwarves and Ezer. Instead, Vural seemed to anticipate Itzal's attacks based on observing the miniscule details in his movements. If it wasn't for the thick fog, Itzal might've been able to feint an attack against his opponent, but he couldn't risk Vural getting far enough away from him to vanish in the fog again. This forced Itzal to keep a strong offensive going, without giving Vural a single moment to relax or withdraw.

They were fairly equally matched in this situation, but Itzal had one advantage. It took effect the moment he managed go graze Vural with his short-sword, letting the poison enter his opponents veins. Itzal was fully focused on the battle, unaware of anything other than the opponent in front of him. His life could be ended by a single mistake. A single slip-up on the rocks below his feet could be the end of him. A single blink at the wrong time could get his head sliced off cleanly. It excited him. He was even more excited when he noticed Vural became just that little bit more sluggish, which showed the poison starting to affect him. His own magic was running out, so he was becoming more sluggish as well, but it was happening a slightly slower tempo than Vural.

Just as he thought he was going to win this, the fog pulled up so thickly that he couldn't see a single thing. Even with his magic working to its fullest extend, he got stabbed in the shoulder by Vural before he could react, as he never even saw the blade coming. Vural spoke up. "If this was a fair fight, you might've actually beaten me."

Just as Itzal expected to feel a deadly strike, he could feel himself being healed instead. At the same time, Vural had to dodge a stab aimed straight for his head. Despite all the mist, there was still someone that could see him clearly enough. It surprised Vural so much that he got himself grazed, although he quickly regained his composure. Sadly enough for him, Itzal's poisons were still coursing through his veins, and Arethusa managed to put him on the defensive. She kept stabbing and thrusting her spear at him, not giving him a single moment of respite. The fog was gathering around her, trying to obscure her vision, but her magic had locked her sight on her opponent. The only thing troubling her was her footing, as she was unable to see the ground she was standing on.

Knowing that none of the others would see anything in this fog, it was up to her to finish off this opponent. She heard what he had done to the camp, and she heard about his involvement in the autonomous zone, so she had more than enough personal reasons to bring him down. She only needed to keep fighting him without losing her footing.

Ezer, Blue and Frode had ended up fighting back-to-back. The fog had let up somewhat in their area, giving them a bit more of a fighting chance. Things still weren't looking good. The group was split up in the chaos of fighting wolves and rats alike while in an area with bad visibility. A few of them had already fallen to the animals, but a far more dangerous opponent had shown itself. Various people, all clearly under the crystals influence, had them surrounded. Combined with the remaining animals leaping through the remaining fog, the situation was dire.