Completed The Horde

[Raven Nightfoot]

54th of Spring 513AV It was a fairly warm day in The Wildlands, a lone young woman walked the long road to the north. The woman had medium length raven hair, her amber eyes seemingly ignited by the bright rays of the sun turning them to a brilliant gold. She strolled along the path lost in a daydream, completely unaware of what horrors awaited her not far down the road. Raven may have wanted to become a traveller, but she certainly wasn't fond of the part where she actually had to travel. She had met an old merchant not long after leaving the city of Syliras and had hitched a ride on his wagon for most of the way, but unfortunately their destinations differed and this morning they had to part ways. So now Raven was experiencing what it was like to physically WALK the long road, it wasn't exactly dreadful, but there was a definite lack of entertainment. It wasn't long before the forest became a boring backdrop to her journey and so she fell into a daydream as she pushed on. Due to the warmth of the day, Raven had packed her cloak away and was In her usual attire: tight black leather pants with matching corset and boots, comfortable and unhindering with her whip rolled up and latched to one of her hips, dangling with each step. Raven's innocent daydream was interrupted by a rather loud rustling in the bushes beside her, she turned her head nonchalantly to see what had caused the noise. As she peered into the shadowy depth of the forest she noticed what seemed to be the silhouette of a person walking towards her. "Hello?" she said calmly. A moment passed and the shadow made no response. "Great, I'm a thief who's going to be robbed." she said softly to herself but since she only saw one man, she wasn't exactly worried. As the figure emerged from the shadows Raven's eyes widened in shock, the person looked as if he had literally just dug himself out of a grave, his skin was a dirt like colour and he had small stones stuck to him in random places. The figure was deformed, it had bulges in some places as if it was brutally beaten, it's nails looked more like claws and one of it's arms was visibly longer than the other. Slowly the figure walked toward her, although it barely qualified as a walk, it swayed way too much from one side to the other and had a complete lack of grace. The creature raised it's head, teeth bared as it got closer. Raven who was now frozen in fear could do nothing but look on in terror at this monstrosity of a man. It's teeth, or fangs, they were long and horrifically grotesque and it's eyes were a solid dark brown. There was no way this was a person, perhaps it was...once, but not anymore. Run! Move! Do something! Raven told herself over and over again but to no avail. Finally as it got nearer the creature let out a loud sound that sounded like "yuk", it sent a shiver down Raven's spine which shook her out of her petrified state and not a moment too late as the creature swung one of it's clawed arms violently at her chest. Raven, now finally shocked into action, instinctively jumped backwards barely dodging the attack. Her usual confident expression gone as she let out a soft fearful scream. "What the petch!?" she said as the creature swung it's arm at her causing her to jump backward yet again, and then the process repeated once more. Luckily this creature wasn't too well coordinated which caused Raven to quickly calm herself down, enough to gather her thoughts. 'Thank goodness this thing was alone' she thought to herself as once more it swung it's arm violently at her and once more she jumped back dodging the attack completely, but this time she retaliated with a straight kick toward it's chest. The creature jumped back avoiding Raven's kick the same way she had dodged it's claws. Agitated by this Raven sent another kick toward it's chest and yet again it dodged but this time Raven followed up with a second kick aimed at it's chest. The creature clearly wasn't expecting the second kick and her foot slammed into it's chest sending it stumbling back a few steps. This only seemed to enrage the creature as it darted forward swinging it's arm yet again, Raven jumped back again avoiding the hit but was caught off guard as the creature sent a second swing with it's other arm. Raven dived to the side landing roughly on the ground with a grunt and quickly getting back to her feet. She was about to attack the creature again but noticed several more rustling noises in the nearby bushes. "Shyke!" she said, immediately abandoning the fight as she turned on her heel and sprinted along the road. There was no way she was taking on more of those monsters! As she ran, Raven heard several howls behind her and she just knew they were chasing after her. But that thing could barely walk right? There was no way it could catch up to her in a run? Right?? Unfortunately for Raven she couldn't have been more wrong, the creatures darted after her with the first one quite far in the lead. Raven looked back noticing that it wouldn't be long until they caught up to her and she had to find a new solution, quickly. She ran toward a nearby, rather large tree with the creatures hot on her heels and jumped up at it, one of her feet pushing off the tree trunk as she propelled herself up to one of the high branches and grabbed it. She heard a thud from below as one of the creatures ran straight into the tree's trunk, she had barely escaped it. She pulled herself up to perch on the branch looking down at the horrific sight below. The creatures were surrounding the base of the tree, all howling at her, that terrible howl. There were at least a dozen of the monstrosities on the ground, baring their grotesque fangs at her. She was stuck like a cat in a tree while the creatures lashed at her while some tried to climb the tree themselves. She was in trouble.

[Aren]

Aren had been traveling with a caravan from Riverfall for the vast majority of the trip, but it was now detouring away from his intended destination: Nyka. Even so, they had brought him to just within a few days walk of the city, and the Akalak figured he could brave The Wildlands for at least that long. Having waved off his new acquaintances, the blue skinned warrior now found himself dutifully following the directions the caravan leader had given him: just keep going northeast till you hit the guys in the robes. They seemed fairly simple, leading him to believe that the trip would prove uneventful, for once. Of course, hardly before he had even taken a step (figuratively speaking) towards Nyka, already his ears were accosted by the telltale sound of impending trouble. Knowing that it was foolish to expect something that never came, Aren diligently followed his keen sense of foreboding right to the source of the aforementioned disturbance. Recognizing the how and why, if not the who, the Akalak immediately unstrapped his scythe in response to the scene before him. Some men, it seemed, had treed a woman. There was something off about them, however, which he couldn't quite make out at the distance he currently found himself. At first, the azure warrior assumed they were brigands, but as he drew closer he could tell they had no weapons. In addition, the sounds they were making did not seem to be the sounds of men, and the look about them certainly seemed to support that same assumption. That's when it hit him! The caravanners had talked about these creatures at length, though Aren had only paid attention to a fraction of their conversation, a fact he was presently regretting. Assuming he was correct, these were Yukmen, a type of creature that were said to mimic the appearance of men, or some such. Regrettably, these were just campfire stories to him, and as such the Akalak would be forced to engage them rather blindly. Though the notion didn't sit well at all with the cautious warrior, the alternative was simply unacceptable, as he was entirely unwilling to abandon a hapless traveler to the mercy of these things. Being capable of basic arithmetic, Aren quickly recognized that there were an awful lot of them, but only one of him. He didn't know what they were capable of, but suspected that if he allowed them to overwhelm him, they wouldn't have to be capable of much. Despite this, the Akalak had a plan in mind, which he proceeded to implement by sticking his thumb and index finger in his mouth and unleashing a loud, piercing whistle. The noise immediately garnered the attention of a few of the Yukmen, but most of them were still busy clawing at the tree in an effort to get to their prey. Some was better than none, or even all, Aren thought, actually surprised that one of his plans had gotten off to such a smooth start. The first one that had peeled off was on him as quickly as it's deformed legs could carry it, but it's combat skills were rudimentary at best. Easily ducking underneath the creature's clumsy swing, Aren's scythe promptly retaliated by separating the monster from it's head. Soon enough, however, the other two had caught up, and the Akalak was forced to deal with them as well. One of the pair lunged at him in the same manner it's kinsmen had before, prompting the same response from the scythe-wielding warrior. This time, however, the Yukman narrowly avoided the blow by ducking underneath it. Aren fluidly transitioned into an over the top downwards swing which pierced the top of his opponent's skull, but he didn't like how that had gone. The third Yukman was right on top of him at this point, attempting a similar downward swing with it's clawed hand, prompting Aren to sidestep out of it's way and return the favor. The creature mimicked the action, however, prompting a concerned look from the Akalak. Before he could finish dispatching his foe, Aren noticed that some more of these clever beasts had broken off their obsession with the tree and had begun to head his way. Estimating that, at the rate they were learning, it would be a bad idea to confront more than one or two at a time, the warrior decided that it was time for the second part of his plan. He observed they could copy each other's learned abilities, but Aren was hoping that their physical traits did not shift as well. Namely, he needed their speed to remain constant to the individual, otherwise what he was about to do was a succinctly bad idea. Turning around, the Akalak seemed to flee the battlefield with all due haste, but he was hoping that as many Yukmen as possible would give chase. All in all, there were seven trailing behind him, but that still left three barking at the girl in the tree. For now, she would have to deal with those herself.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven was still stuck in the tree while the horde of monsters gathered around and lashed at her, although she was clearly out of range. Her mind was filled with panic as she tried to think of a solution, but none came. There was a loud whistle in the distance and a few of the creatures sprinted off in the direction of the sound. Raven raised her head in search of the source of the sound and there, as if sent by the gods t hemselves was what seemed to be a giant blue man holding a scythe. What? She had to be hallucinating from the mixture of fear and adrenaline, but thankfully she was not. She watched from a distance as the large blue man decapitated one of the creatures, causing Raven to wince instinctively, followed by another wince as he killed the second one with a downward strike. She couldn't believe her luck, although she would surely be annoyed at her lack of independence later, when she had time for such a luxury. "Today's my lucky day." she said to herself as several more of the beasts lost interest in her and darted towards the large blue man. Raven let loose a sigh of relief, feeling much calmer now that there were only three left, although she'd have preferred none. The man was obviously an Akalak, Raven knew enough about the large vibrantly coloured race to be able to recognise one on sight, but that was about all she knew. Just as Raven was beginning to feel like she'd been saved, the Akalak man turned around and fled. "What?? No!" she said as she climbed and pulled herself up onto the highest branch of the tree for a better view. Only to confirm her suspicions and see the man fleeing, although the creatures would soon catch up. There was some rustling in the tree and to Raven's dismay she was greeted with a terrifying sight. One of the creatures had managed to pull himself up into the tree and was now making it's way toward her, with that horrific savage expression on it's face. Quickly, while both it's hands were gripping at the branch just below her, Raven ceased the opportunity and swung from her branch to deliver a double footed downward kick to the creatures face. The creature relinquished it's grasp on the branch as it fell hitting a few branches on the way down and slamming onto the ground far below with a loud thud. Raven winced yet again, even though these things were trying to kill her, she still wasn't able to bring herself to kill them. The creature just lay there on the ground, completely still, she wasn't sure whether or not it was alive, but that wasn't important at the moment. Raven noticed that other than the fallen unconscious or dead monster, there were none left. She looked to the road to see the two sprinting in the direction the rest of their kind had gone, in pursuit of the akalak man. Raven saw this as her chance to make a clean get away, quickly she descended the tree making sure to drop as far from the fallen creature as possible incase it were to awaken from it's undetermined fate. She wasted no time in running up the road in the opposite direction that the monsters had gone. Raven's duty was only to herself, besides he was a big strong warrior, he could take care of all them on his own, right? Besides he was a complete stranger , she had no duty to him, but neither did he to her and he'd still risked his life to save her. Raven came to a halt with a loud growl of frustration as she reluctantly turned around and began running back towards the monsters, was she crazy? "This almost definitely won't end well!" she shouted angrily. She was furious with herself and this man for appealing to her barely existent morality. As she approached she examined the scene, the large group of monsters were just about to surround the Akalak man, there were, 1, 2, 3...TEN of them! They were definitely in for a fight. "Do it fast before they can adapt, give them no chance." she said to herself, team work was not her thing. Once she was several feet from the battle, she grabbed her whip, unhitching it from her hip. Her grip tightened on the cold handle as she concentrated. She was no professional with the whip, but there was no room for mistakes right now. She concentrated for a few seconds before raising her arm and flinging it diagonally forward. Like a rudely awoken snake, the whip sprung to life and shot forward and horizontally simultaneously. It wrapped tightly around one of the creatures necks and Raven quickly changed her stance and tangled her arm around the whip before giving it a hard tug followed by her crouching and yanking it downward. The creature was pulled roughly off of its feet as it flipped over backwards, before being sent downward to the ground head first. It landed with a loud whelp, it was alive but didn't look like it'd be getting up soon. Raven couldn't believe her luck, she had never gotten the whip to work like that on her first or even second try. Soon another of the monsters that was beside the downed one was on it's way toward her, Raven pulled the whip tightly causing it to stiffen and the creature to trip over and slide on it's front in the dirt. Raven barely had a moment before another creature swung at her with it's fists, she had no time to get the whip loose from the others neck and was forced to release her grip on the handle in order to jump out of the way. However, she was too late and the creatures knuckles connected with her chest with a loud thud which sent Raven a few feet into the air before landing onto the ground on her back. She tried to get up as quickly as she could although her legs wobbled a bit, that punch was incredibly powerful and it had knocked the wind out of her. "That's gonna bruise." she said, trying in vain to lessen the horror of the situation. She couldn't fight for much longer.

[Aren]

Aren ran, hoping they would give chase, and indeed they did. Fortunately, the Yukmen seemed capable of copying each other's behavior, but not much else. As such, the pack had members that were stronger than others, but more importantly, it had members that were faster than others. Naturally, one or two would catch up to him before the others were in position to completely overwhelm him, and that had been the Akalak's plan all along. Of course, that idea had come to life before he realized how quickly they learned. Suddenly turning around, Aren's scythe cut a horizontal swath towards his opponent, the fastest Yukman in the horde. The creature did as he had learned, and tried to duck underneath the swing much as as he had seen it's brothers do. Unfortunately (for it), what it did it did only on a superficial level, with no real understanding behind why such a move might or might not be warranted. In this case, trying to avoid it by going underneath was inadvisable, as Aren's swing had been aiming for the waist this time. An actual person would have understood that, but his foe's mimicked response was only the pale shadow of a real concept. Having inadvertently put his skull in the path of Aren's scythe, the Yukman's head seemed to open up at the ear, which is where it had been unfortunate enough to be struck. As the creature fell, the blue warrior took a moment to glance at it's friends still giving chase, and that's when he noticed the very person he was attempting to save chasing THEM. Aren's jaw was threatening to sweep the floor with itself, dumbstruck as the Akalak was; he could not believe what he was seeing. This fool woman was going to ruin the entire plan, not to mention defeat his valiant attempt to save her, by getting herself killed in the process. "Are you out of your damn mind!?" Aren shouted, flabbergasted by this turn of events, before he noticed that the girl had not wasted any time in getting herself in trouble. Realizing that her life was in imminent danger after the blow she took, the Akalak instinctively reacted with the only tool he had at his disposal that might be able to aid her at this particular juncture: magic. It would have to be a hastily constructed spell, lacking both finesse and efficiency, but the would-be conjurer didn't really see that he had much choice. Amassing a hovering ball of Res above his palm as quickly as he was able, Aren swiftly flung the thing at the Yukman looming over the girl. He transmuted the sphere into a fireball about a meter in diameter just before it left his area of influence, but he didn't have time to see what effect his attack had, or even if it hit it's intended target; the rest of the horde was now upon him, and it was time to flee again.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven could not believe her ears, the audacity! She had the chance to make a clean get away but had decided to return the favour he had paid her and he had the gall to ask her what she was doing. "Excuse me!" she shouted back at the annoying blue man. This is why Raven usually focused on her own well being other than the well being of others, people were ungrateful. Raven was more than agitated but that was not her biggest problem right now. There she stood, not far off from where the Akalak man and the horde of monsters stood. The monster that had just landed a hit on her, slowly stumbled towards her angrily$ She was winded and trying to catch her breath as she slowly stepped backwards. The next thing she knew, the monster was engulfed in flames, it screeched and screamed in pain for a few seconds before dropping at Raven's feet. She turned to look at the man but once again he had run off with the remaining six of the monsters on his trail. He must have been a mage, and an arrogant one. After she had caught her breath Raven retrieved her whip from the ground and watched as the man and the monsters ran further. By no means was she going to help this time, not after he had responded so ungratefully, unless he was in desperate need. Even then, she would only be helping in order to make him eat his words. "How dare he, I didn't ask for his help, or need it!" she said to herself angrily, although she knew it was a lie. She rolled up her whip and latched it back to her hip and began walking in the direction of the man and horde, making sure to stay a fair distance from the fight, not too close to get involved, but not too far to be out of range incase she needed to step in.

[Aren]

Aren continued to run, and his plan seemed very well formed when the fastest of the Yukmen began to once again catch up with him, leaving their monstrous brothers behind. Turning about, the Akalak was greeted with a low slash meant to disembowel him, which he just barely managed to avoid with a reactionary back-step. Even so, the creature's claws managed to leave their mark on his leather armor, but the real drawback was that the back-step he had performed would likely be copied in short order. The more he fought them, Aren knew, the harder it would actually be to fight them. By the time he dwindled down the group to one or two individuals, he mused, they probably would have copied a good deal of his defensive and offensive techniques. Thankfully, the Yukmen did not seem able to copy his Reimancy, but that was a finite resource. The Akalak wasn't sure if he had enough Res to take a half dozen Yukmen out, but even if he did, the effort would leave him extremely drained. If it were to come to that, and he happened to run into another group of these creatures, he'd be easy prey for them. For now, however, the scythe wielding warrior still had a few tricks up his sleeve that these monstrosities hadn't yet mimicked. Taking a step forward, Aren lunged the snaith of his weapon into the offending Yukman's stomach, promptly bending the smaller opponent over. Before the creature even had time to react, he was already bringing hus scythe back for an over the shoulder swing which promptly found itself embedded in his opponent's back. The Akalak had aimed for the general vicinity where a man's heart was located, but he didn't even know if these things had hearts. When the creature slumped over, unmoving, he reasoned they did, but Aren was so busy trying to make sure that he failed to notice another Yukman closing up on him. Looking up just in time to avoid a decidedly unfriendly swipe to his head, the Akalak wished he could say he was surprised when the creature fluidly transitioned into an over the top swing. Though he blocked it well enough with the snath (the staff part below the blade; synonymous with snaith) of his scythe, the creature swiftly countered his block by delivering a straight kick right to his chest. Pushed back by the blow, and surprised by seeing a move they hadn't gotten off him, Aren began to suspect that perhaps they WERE capable of understanding what they copied, instead of just mindlessly mimicking it. The notion troubled him greatly, until he remembered the girl he had gotten in this mess to save, and realized that they probably just learned it from her. With the other four members of the posse catching up, Aren found himself forced to "strategically retreat" again, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance if he allowed himself to be surrounded. During the confusion of all the fleeing, however, it seemed that the path the Akalak and his merry horde had taken inadvertently traced a semi circle. Now, they all found themselves barreling back straight in the direction they had originally come. Aren waved at the damn fool girl who had decided to slowly trail after the group, just now realizing that particular fact, "RUUUUUN!" he screamed, hastily looking back to see just how close the horde (or more accurately the handful) of Yukmen were.

[Raven Nightfoot]

The akalak man killed yet another one of the monsters as Raven watched from a safe distance. It didn't take long for the situation to redirect itself back towards her as the akalak man once again darted away from the remainder of the horde. "Great! Here they come again." she said grumpily as she turned around and began to run. She was now more annoyed with the situation than anything else, it was taking way too much time and effort. "I should have fled when I had the chance." she said softly as she began running. As Raven ran, the akalak man and the group of monsters not too far behind she noticed that one of the monsters she had attacked earlier was lifting itself off the ground. The one she had snared with her whip still seemed to be down, but the one she'd tripped seemed to be ready to get back into the fight. The creature was currently still on it's hands and knees as Raven quickly approached it. She jumped up and delivered a double footed stomp just below the creatures neck, forcing it right back down into the ground and without hesitation she resumed her run. This flee then fight tactic was extremely tedious, they definitely needed to end this soon or they might lose the fight to exhaustion. "Can we end this!...Soon!" she shouted back to the akalak man who was slowly catching up. Raven still didn't know what the things were, rabid people? Undead people? Or just abominations, but it hardly mattered.

[Aren]

Aren trailed after the girl who had suddenly found herself in front of the horde, nodding approvingly of her neutralization of a Yukman which seemed to be recovering from some kind of fall. It wasn't enough to make him change his mind about believing she was touched in the head, but it was a relief to know the woman had at least SOME common sense. As the Akalak caught up to her, his lips pursed at her brilliant notion that it might be a good idea to actually conclude this little exercise at some point in the near future, "I'm open... to suggestions!" Aren replied, his words interrupted by the periodic need to gasp for breath in the middle of this all out run. Damn these things, these Yukmen. They were relentless, but they had to get tired at some point, didn't they? They may have been almost kin to beasts, but even beasts grew fatigued eventually. Still, they didn't seem to be showing much sign of slowing down, while Aren's massive bulk made prolonged exertion a more and more difficult task. All those muscles required a great deal of energy after all, and between fighting and fleeing, he was expending his supply at an alarming rate. "If they act like beasts..." The warrior suddenly thought, realizing that there was generally one thing all animals had in common. One instinctual, overriding fear that made even the most vicious of predators think twice about ignoring. Releasing a gelatinous concoction of Res from his left hand, which slowly worked it's way up his scythe, Aren coated the blade of the weapon in a dual-layered resin. The outer skin was meant to be transmuted into flame, whilst the inner section was maintained for the purposes of control and safety. Though frustratingly difficult and more time consuming than normal, under present circumstances, the Akalak managed the technique with fairly adequate alacrity. Suddenly halting his run, the scythe-wielding, magic using warrior turned about to face his unyielding foes. Waving the aforementioned scythe around, which currently found itself aflame, the Akalak reasoned that if Yukmen were like beasts, then it also stood to reason that they would have a natural fear of fire. As the five ravening monsters continued to press forward, however, it started to become more and more probable that this may have been a slight miscalculation. A few moments later, Aren seemed to become aware that this was no longer a probability, but in fact a certainty. "Oh, gods!" He shrieked, in a rather high pitched, decidedly unmanly tone of voice. Turning about as fast as his body deemed it possible, the Akalak once again resumed his fleeing with a renewed sense of urgency. He knew, however, that neither he nor his female companion would be able to keep this pace up much longer. As such, Aren realized that there was only one real option here, as far as he could tell, and began to prepare himself for the seemingly inevitable usage of that option. Even if he could pull it off, however, he was going to need a little help. Although Aren began to expel as much Res as he thought he could muster, the task was complicated (and thus delayed) by having to simultaneously maintain the grueling pace at which they were running. As such, the Reimancer thought that maybe a little teamwork was in order here, "I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to buy me a little time!" he shouted forward, to the black-clad woman, regretting having to ask her to put herself in danger. Unfortunately, the Akalak didn't see any other choice.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Once again they were on the run, the remaining monsters hot on their tracks. The blue man caught up to her as they fled, strategically. Now that she had a closer look at him she noticed just how big he was, he was a hulking mass of muscle and was probably double her weight, his well defined muscles relaxing and contracting as he ran. He said he was open to suggestions, "I've got nothing." she replied between breaths. As they continued their exercise, the akalak man seemed to have come up with a plan, slowly he emitted a viscous looking substance which then covered the blade of his scythe, magic. The man stopped his run to turn and wave the now flaming scythe at the monsters, but it seemed to have no effect on them and soon enough he was running beside her once more. Raven was concentrating on her breathing not wanting to be too out of breath when one of them actually did come up with a plan but she was already beginning to feel fatigue approaching. "I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to buy me a little time!". Raven let out a soft annoyed growl at the idea of being a distraction, but it was the only plan they had. "Got it, just hurry." she yelled before coming to a sudden stop. Slowly she turned to face the approaching abominations, "Okay Raven, just avoid getting hit, don't take any unnecessary risks." she told herself as she began running back toward the monsters. "This plan better work." With Raven and the monsters now heading toward eachother, it took less than a moment for the gap between them to disappear. Raven target the one at the back of the group and ran straight past the rest, she jumped into the air using her momentum to deliver a forceful kick to the monsters chest, although the monster toppled easily and Raven landed on her feet ontop of it. She turned around to make sure they'd all focused their sights on her, but it seemed only one did and the rest still ran after the man. Quickly, Raven unhinged her whip from her hip and wasted no time in flinging her hand forward causing the whip to crack, the loud sound filling the surrounding area. Not only did the noise gain their attention, but they seemed even more enraged than before as the turned and ran back at her, screaming unintelligible noises as they ran. "Oh shyke, I made then even angrier.". Raven made sure to curb stomp the downed monster beside her to ensure it didn't get up and attack her again, slamming it's head back into the hard ground. Then she was focused on the rest who had now reached her. Since unarmed combat wasn't very useful, she was relying almost completely on her acrobatic skill. Horizontal swipe, dodge and repeat, this happened three or four times before one the monsters tried to deliver a running kick to her face, Raven sidestepped barely avoiding the attack as she watched the creature land flat on it's face. They could mimic but not perfectly, at least she had that as reassurance. "Are you done yet!?" she shouted as she jumped back barely avoiding a clawed swipe yet again. She continuously backed away to avoid being surrounded although her chances were looking dim as she was nearly exhausted.

[Aren]

Stopping in his tracks, Aren turned around and eyed the Yukmen which the girl was tangling with. She was doing an admirable job of keeping them occupied, but he could tell she was no fighter. Combining that fact with the impeding onset of total exhaustion, it was obvious that she wouldn't last long. At some point, she would make a mistake or slow down just enough for her attackers to land one or two solid blows on her... and after that it would all be downhill from there. Knowing that he had to act before it got to that point, Aren mustered every once of focus he could manage. Now that he wasn't busy fleeing for his life, the task of producing and controlling his Res was made much easier. Even so, however, the scope of what he was attempting seemed a bit much for someone like him. He certainly had never tried such a large spell before, for which there were obvious reasons, but he presently found himself absent a better alternative. Thinking of what he was about to do, Aren wished he didn't have to create such an excessive display, but he simply didn't have the control to simultaneously launch five different instances of a spell at five different moving targets. Since he was using all the djed he thought he could safely part with, and then some, it meant that he would be severely weakened afterwards. For this reason, If he were to attempt, say five fireballs aimed at each of the Yukmen, a single miss could mean both their lives. Condensing his Res into a horizontal swath in front of him, the Akalak was already starting to feel the effects of extracting so much of his djed. He felt weak and unsteady on his feet, but he would not allow himself to succumb. In a few moments, he and the girl would both be safe, or a few moments after that they would both be dead. Either way, the time for resting would come soon enough. "I would suggest you get down, when I tell you to," Aren advised, trying to warn his companion about the impending danger he was about to fling her way. After a few more moments preparing the spell, it was as ready as it would ever be. and the Reimancer hoped it would work, as the alternative would not be very pleasant. With an effort of will, the Akalak propelled the carefully molded mass of Res forward, like a wave. Just before it was out of his complete control, he transmuted the entirety of the long, thin shape into a hybrid combination of flame and air. The resulting transmutation sparked to life in a white hot flash of energy that looked it might be able to wreak some havoc on most anything that stood in it's path. "Now!" Aren shouted, hoping that she would do as he had suggested, because since the attack coming her way was no longer under his control the girl would have to tend to her own safety. Truthfully, the Reimancer himself wasn't too certain what kind of damage the spell was capable of, but damn it sure seemed like it could do quite a bit. Unfortunately, the Akalak didn't have much time to admire the results his handiwork, as he dropped towards the earth almost immediately after he had issued the warning to the woman in black. As he slipped into a well earned moment of unconsciousness, his thoughts lingered on the moment. The wave had a wide brim, but was vertically condensed specifically so that it could easily be dodged by simply going above or beneath it. It was pretty inspired, Aren thought to himself with smug satisfaction, just before his face hit the ground with an unceremonious thud.