Middle Of Nowhere

Eloquence

The feline was spirited, making intentions clear as he displayed his fangs and let out a hiss. Unsheathing his claws, he was ready to maul his adversary. He didn't care that he was up against a wizard who the magical community had a generational fear for. Before him, was a human who made his friend suffer, the one who shut his friend off from being receptive to his calls for calmness. Lee wanted to make him suffer as he pounced toward Insidian, with intent to latch on to any part of his face and have his way.

Insidian however, was observing the development with great interest. He had to try really hard to not smile at this desperate attempt of futility. He gave the feline some respect and wanted to see where this would end. It was usually the cats who play with their prey, relishing their miserable demise, but his first prey was going to be a cat. He saw the cat approach him with a lethal intent but to him it could've been a sloth walking. He effortlessly swerved out of the way, leading to Lee having to scramble into an uncomfortable landing.

But the desert critter was persistent. But the outcome was not any different. Now slightly annoyed, Insidian deflected Lee with a swoosh and sent him back with the recoil of the forward momentum.

"I won't let you hurt him," Melody sprang up once again defying gravity with her shoes, dodging energy blasts from Insidian, who kept on the barrage. Melody was forced to improvise on the fly as she figured out that her sonic blasts were no match to their fabled nemesis. She created a makeshift construct and jumped on to it. When one shattered with impact from an incoming projectile, she hopped to the next, keeping herself on her toes as adrenaline took over. She desperately wanted to get in close quarters with Insidian from where she could try taking control over him.

Lumien sensed an opening and rushed towards the battle. Giving it all even if exhausted from the previous bout, he summoned an incredible burst of energy with successive violent flurry of attacks from his blade which was countered by dark tendrils from Insidian. Even though he knew he couldn't sustain superspeed for long, he kept going, tearing through the eery vestigial limbs all the while sending a shower of swords towards Insidian. Watching Aurelia hold her own against an incensed Kelvin, Lumien did not want to let her down. The king had entrusted him with her safety, and he needed to do better.

As he stopped protesting the never-ending defenses, he found himself getting choked out by one of them. The feeling of constriction made his head feel light as he gasped for breath. He desperately wanted to ease the pressure on his neck, but it wouldn't budge. He flailed his arms around trying to hold on something which did not exist. His trusted sword slipped from his hand as it dropped to the ground, landing softly on the sand.

Melody was just recovering from the fall she took after her attempt to hypnotize the experienced wizard did not go as planned. The sand was burning her eyes as she woke up, watching helplessly as Lumien was struggling to keep himself alive.

"You have fought valiantly, boy. Unfortunately for you, intent does not beat skill." Insidian observed Lumien closely as his eye balls started rolling towards the back of his head.

"I'm sorry. You made this painful for yourself," remarked Indian's tone of chilling calmness as he intensified the stranglehold, preparing himself to experience yet another human succumbing to his utter display of ruthless dominance.

Melody felt the faint glow of the sword at first quickly escalating into a violently blinding whiteness. A shield of light materialized in the air around her. She couldn't believe it. The man who she thought was annoyed by her to the point that they barely tolerated each other, trusted her to do her job, whilst going through unimaginable levels of pain.

She had to make this count. She missed the bickering. Aurelia was always there for them both. The two found potential in her while everybody around her lamented that she was wasting away.