[EVENT] Acher's Attack on Enghelab

[zenderael_mods]

Who: Everyone! Remember, if you're in the Nenakret on Wednesday, you can't be here on Wednesday, at least until later.
When: Wednesday the 28th.
Where: Enghelab/Las Vegas
Before/After: During the parade.
Warnings: Violence, TBA.

This is a general purpose post for Acher's attack on Enghelab. Note what day your thread occurs in the subject line, in case this takes several IC days.

Comments

[andlivefreely]

As soon as he realized what Acher was doing, Mal threw an arm up in front of him like a shield. This was more than a futile attempt to block a powerful attack, however, for with the motion came the shifting of the earth and concrete before him, lifting suddenly to form a thick, protective barrier between him and Acher's assault.

He still felt it. The ground shook beneath his feet, and the edges of the wall crumbled, cracks forming across it, threatening to collapse on top of him.

Mal was not used to using spells in combat.

He moved backward, away from the wall, as quickly as he could, expecting Acher to burst through it, shrieking like a much more sinister version of the Kool-Aid man. He also couldn't put it past the guy to leap over it, or something equally impressive.

He'd heard about the things Acher and his men could do.

Before his druids could get involved, the excitement attracted some of Acher's men. Whether or not they had any sense of loyalty to Acher didn't matter. They saw a fight, and wanted to take part.

Unfortunately for Mal, this left him alone in his fight against Acher, as his druids became occupied.

[fearnoreproach]

Acher saw the shield come up and growled, softly. He jumped, then, high into the air. He wasn't burning much of the warhound's blood, now; he used just enough to get up high, spun in midair, and then came descending down towards Malachai. That gigantic two-handed sword chopped down straight for the Vohu's head, trying to split him open with a mighty, two-handed chop at the Vohu.

He wore enough plate armor to make him heavy. He landed in front of Mal, armor shaking and boots digging into the ground when he hit. He barked a laugh out again; his men were moving in too, fighting with Mal's, and he left them to it.

He doubted he could control him, anyways.

"Brave of you to come!" Acher roared down at Malachai. "But the last brave thing that you will ever do, I think!"

[andlivefreely]

Leaping over it it was, then.

(Some small part of him wished Acher had gone through it-- that would've been hilarious to describe to his friends.)

Having half-expected it, Mal was able to scramble back enough to avoid having his head split in two, but he didn't quite get his shoulder out of the way. The blade sliced cleanly through the leather and scraped down his arm, peeling the skin away as if it were a potato and nicking the bone in his elbow. It bled profusely, and his hand rose to press against it, trying to stem the bleeding, or somehow relieve the pain, or... something.

He barely heard Acher land through the pain, sucking air in through clenched teeth. He knew, however, that with his druids distracted, he was probably in trouble.

He did catch Acher's words, and glared at him through tears that threatened his eyes.

"It's not bravery. It's responsibility. Something you wouldn't understand."

As he spoke, he called to his spirit, summoning her to him, regretting that he hadn't brought her along to begin with. He'd left her behind because she'd have called attention to him, but he'd done that well enough on his own...

[fearnoreproach]

"Responsibility is an excuse made by the weak-willed to persuade the mighty to not rip them from limb to limb!" Acher snarled in Malachai's face, even as he ripped the blade back from his arm. When he threw it to the side, some of the Vohu's blood sprayed out from the sword, splashing as droplets across the ground. Then, he rushed in again, closer. The distance meant his sword was less useful, but he still brought it around.

He swung the back of his mailed fist for Malachai's cheek, trying to knock him backward. It was an obvious blow, one that drew the eye, and was meant to get some attention.

The pommel blow was the attack intended to capitalize on that distraction. He swung the hilt of his great sword up, ramming the pommel up at Mal's solar plexus, in a brutal blow. He knew he was summoning an aide; he did not know he fought the Vohu, though, and assumed it was merely a normal elemental coming.

[andlivefreely]

He was about to respond when he caught sight of the movement. His training with Anais kicked in, teaching him to react immediately, keep an eye out for feints, and if Acher were raising his sword, he probably intended to use it, whether the fist connected or not.

The sword was the bigger danger. He chose to take the hit to his face, letting it throw him back and not fighting to keep his footing. It hurt like a motherfucker, the mail cutting a gash into his cheek, and he was sure there was some bone damage in there, but it got him out of the way of the pommel blow, which he saw miss as he fell.

It put him at a greater disadvantage.

But that was when his spirit appeared.

Yosgeth manifested in the air above him. For a brief moment, she seemed to appear calm, but that didn't last. She felt Mal's pain, his fear, his distress, and instantly filled with rage.

Her featureless face turned toward Acher just as a jagged opening threatened to split her head in two. From it came an angry, ear-splitting wail.

[fearnoreproach]

The ear-piercing, howling wail ripped into Acher's ears. He stepped backward, eyes widening, as he got a good look at Yosgeth. It began to dawn on him that he could not take such a thing.

"You--" He snarled, stepping backward quickly, drawing a deep breath as realization dawned on him. "The Vohu...!"

He gritted his teeth together, then he focused his magic for a moment. He called up a solid wall of rock, which erupted from the ground and shot up between himself and Yosgeth. Acher turned on heel, then, and began to bolt away from Malachai and his spirit.

[andlivefreely]

With the wall in place, Mal couldn't see what Acher was up to. He had to rely on Yosgeth to deal with him.

But when she started to chase after him, moving right through the wall, Mal realized Acher was fleeing.

And he grinned the most smug grin he'd ever grinned in his entire life.

"Don't fuck wit' the Vohu," he muttered, inaudible to anyone but himself.

He tugged his spirit back to him (respectfully-- as much as he liked the idea of Yosgeth chasing Acher through the streets of Las Vegas, he kind of needed her), and she turned on the men Acher had left behind instead, helping his druids fend them off.

This freed his druids up to tend to him. They weren't clerics, but they did have healing magic, and were able to mend his arm and face enough to stop the bleeding. Still, it ached furiously, and the blood loss combined with the pain and the stress of the damage he'd taken left a blackness threatening to take him over.

He couldn't stand. He felt weak, faint. His druids took it upon themselves to carry him out, fleeing the city before more of Acher's men found them.

Somewhere along the way, the blackness won out, and he faded into unconsciousness, with Yosgeth trailing along behind.