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Match Start: July 23rd, 2011 @ 8:00PM
Match End: August 23rd, 2011 @ 8:00PM

Post Response Limit: 4 days
First Post: Sol

Stage Description:
On the planet Kyrvktz, a lone plateau rests amid a soil-ridden field. Rising nearly one hundred and fifty feet into the air at a nearly vertical angle, the flat top is about two hundred meters in diameter. Not much resides on the top of the landmark. A few skeletons, a shrub or two, a blade of grass here and there, but overall, not much. The barriers allow a character to fly fifteen feet away from the edge, and about thirty feet up. The danger of falling off the side of the plateau is present. Visibility is good, with the sun at it's peak position.

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May the strongest grass blade emerge tallest.

Time was not a concept that particularly appealed to Sol. It was rash... sudden and occasionally unpredictable. Despite being a constant force, it upset Sol that time could surprise and overtake people without their knowledge and ultimately destroy them. Time truly was the ultimate opponent but for the moment, time decided to favor the fiery hand of justice that Sol wielded. The time of day was when the sun was highest and that allowed Sol the benefit of increased stamina. Sol would now be able to fight for much longer then normal with all of this energy flowing into his body.

The grounds itself was nothing special. He had yet to look over the side but wagered a guess it would be a rather steep fall. Regardless, Sol liked to control his battlefield and it was easier to do this from the center then from the edge. There would be no cover for him or his opponent which Sol had yet to determine as a good or bad factor. As usual, only time would tell what would happen next...

As usual, Aeryn was far from contemplating serious matters like the nature of time, destruction, and justice. In fact, his first thought when he arrived on the plateau was to ponder the relative benefits of using this location for A) an arena against B) a sunbathing deck. The silvis stretched, casting his eyes around the barren, flat landscape until they landed upon Sol. "Hey!" he called out, lifting a hand in a wave, "How's it going? Don't think we've met yet, in the lobby, but it's a pleasure. I'm Aeryn - and I apologise in advance for kicking your ass. You know, circumstances and all. It's sort of inevitable."

Pausing, Aeryn folded his arms and shifted his weight, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Any chance I can convince you to just give up now? I only just finished washing the last guy's blood out of my hair, see, so..." He shrugged, smirking and returning his hands to his side, drawing his sword out and readying his shield. "No? Last chance. I'm gonna feel mighty bad beating on an old man, you know. You should be fighting dementia, not tournaments!"

Just about done with his loudmouthing for the moment, Aeryn dropped into a ready stance about twenty feet away from where Sol was standing. A gust of wind rolled across the plateau, carrying with it a smattering of dust. A lone, decidedly dead tree rose from the ground a few paces away, and clumps of shrubs clustered sparsely around the area, but otherwise the arena seemed totally bare. No convenient cloud platforms to jump on this time, then, he guessed. "Alright, then. Let's do this. Come at me, brah!"

Sol was not impatient, he had no desire to deliver a quick and deadly blow. His opponent did not seem so weary which was Sol first inclination on how to defeat him. Young and rash fighters have always been easy to overwhelm by simply tiring them out and pushing them to the brink of their prowess. With the Sun on Sol's side, he doubted that this big mouthed little boy would be a match for Sol in a term of endurance. With that thought in place, Sol began by sliding his right foot out and intricately weaving his right hand upward towards the sky. A small flicker of flame appeared at his finger tips looking much like his fingers could be substituted as lighters.

"Life is much like a flame, my dear boy. A simple huff could blow it out and if you get started before you are ready..."

Sol quickly slashed his hands diagonally across his body with the fire trailing behind. The movement easily caused the flame to disappear into the surrounding air. The power of his fire was still resting inside the base of his palm, energy growing through Sol's body but the visible fire itself had disappeared.

"Then you will find yourself extinguished. Dont rush your life for it might not last much longer..."

Sol casually stood back up and watched his opponent, taking no particular stance. He was ready for whatever the young Aeryn was willing to dish out at him but would he be able to see what Sol had done this first round?

While Aeryn had no way of telling exactly what Sol was doing, his magical sense did tell him that the man was doing something. And from experience, he could only judge that somethings tended to be bad for you. But there wasn't much that Aeryn could really do about it, for now, or at least - nothing direct. He could prepare to take whatever it was, however. Tightening his grip on his shield, Aeryn began to steadily channel his own energy into the defensive enchantment upon its surface. Thin ripples of silvery light crept their way down the arm that held it, difficult to make out from a distance and easy to write off as a trick of the light.

Of course, this battle wasn't going to get anywhere if both fighters just stood on opposite sides of the arena charging their lasors, Aeryn deduced, and so with little hesitation, he went into motion. "I've got plenty of life left to come, don't you worry -- I have a happily ever after to live out once I win this thing." And for once I'll have contributed to it. Is it sad that I resort to deathmatches because I can't hold down a day job?

A disc of white light appeared beneath Aeryn's feet, lifting him upwards on a platform of solid energy. "I love this trick, I really do. Beats surfing any day, though I totally have the hair for that as well." he commented jovially, grinning. After only a moment's pause to ensure he was well enough balanced, Aeryn shot forwards upon the disc. He kept his senses trained on Sol - both visually and otherwise. He wanted to be ready to catch whatever it was the old man planned on throwing at him with something other than his face...

To be aware is a hard concept to master as it requires more then just mere sight. The Sun's graceful energy filled Sol like a cold drink seeping through his body. Soon, his aura changed to a light green giving Sol the power to conjure his Green Flame which was undoubtedly his favorite color. It was too bad that color no longer meant anything to the aged fire manipulator. Being blind to the distractions of the world, Sol was aware of energy but not of the beauty that he had left behind with things such as color. Still, it was best not to dwell on the past so Sol watched his opponent for a sign of weakness.

Aeryn was not terribly unusual and upon seeing him create his own mini surfboard, Sol established that his power was of an internal source. There was no indication that he drew power from anything which meant that Sol would have no chance to cut off his energy. The plus side is that internal sources did not last as long as external which is what Sol was relying on. He was willing to wager that he would last much longer in the battle with the Sun's power backing him up but there was only one true way to figure that out.

Not wanting Aeryn to get any closer, Sol decided to take charge of the battle. Sending his right arm out, he gave a swift slash through the air, his hand stiff and straight. A thin Green Flame shot out roughly seven feet or so and streaked across the horizon intending to dismount the approaching Silver Surfer wannabe. Sol did not know how quick the board would enable Aeryn to move but this broad attack was one of the better options in getting a hit. The fire itself was not exactly a standard flame and was used more so like a lead pipe then fire intending to burn. With that said, if Aeryn was hit then he would be struck hard and not burned as Green Flame possessed little heat.

This was only the first part of a two way attack as the motion was quick and simple to preform and the energy was already stored. As Sol's hand finished its movement, he used his momentum to spin his body. Raising his left leg, Sol sent out a straight and seemingly pointless kick. Energy flowed through the aged fighters frail body and a spark of Green Flame shot from the base of his foot. The fire pillared out like water from a hydrant and streamed towards his target. Both attacks used about the same force but as the second was more concentrated into a three foot diameter circle, it would hit much harder. This was an excellent test to see the speed of Aeryn's reaction time and his ability to maneuver.

Aeryn might not have had years of training to master the concept of 'awareness', but he had the significant ease-of-use advantage of a working set of eyeballs. The bar of green flame that Sol sent out quickly drew the silvis' focus. There wasn't anything evidently special about it, it seemed just your run of the mill fire attack. That said, it was a pretty colour, which he supposed had to be worth something. The old man was clearly warming up.

Ha. Warming up. Fire. Hot. How punny.

Chuckling to himself at the awful mental joke, Aeryn kept his eyes on the fire. As his platform-cum-surfboard raced through the air, the bar of fire too rushed to meet him. Aeryn tensed, rising in altitude a few feet and counting down the seconds. At just the right moment, the silvis grinned, and he jumped. His cloak fluttered outwards behind him in the air as he soared in a showboating, overly-flashy flip over the line of flame. His hair streamed out dramatically as he spun forwards in the air, but despite the crowd-pleasing antics Aeryn's focus was still on the fight.

His magical sense warned him mid-air of the second attack, and as he fell back towards his energy platform (which had slowed to keep pace with his jump) he tightened his grip on his shield. Landing firmly on the glowing surface, Aeryn dropped into a half-crouch just moments before the blast of green fire was about to strike him. With swift reflexes, Aeryn brought the enchanted shield upwards to meet the blast. The fire slammed into its surface, and the enchantment rippled for the briefest of instants before the fire was reflected straight back at its source: Sol himself.

Unhalted, and with no intention of staying his course, Aeryn's luminescent 'surfboard' (he was much more badass than the silver surfer though, because hey, he had kickass hair) shot forwards once more at its original pace. Aeryn himself narrpwed his eyes and readied his sword as the gap between the two fighters was swallowed by the speed of his travel. The hand gripping his sword started to emit a bright glow as he gathered energy within his fist in preparation for when he reached melee range.

Experience had taught Sol never to expect the best results so when he realized that his combo had failed to even touch Aeryn, Sol simply cleared his mind and prepared for a second barrage.

Directly after his fiery kick, Sol had proceeded to step backwards at a slow but steady rate. Just enough to make sure his opponent wouldn't be breathing down his neck once he prevented Sol's second attack. Sure enough, the youth had no problem deflecting the pillar of fire and continued his race towards an inevitable close-quarters. The options at this point were building up but time was running out. Sol decided the most important factor to handle at the moment was Aeryn's ability to get around so quickly. He needed to keep his opponent on the defensive and preferred not to have to enter in melee combat so with that in mind, Sol was ready to dismount this show-boater.

Generally, sending fire to a person who manipulates fire was not the smartest move. It would have been far more beneficial for Aeryn to have destroyed the flame or sent it away from Sol. This does not mean that Sol was immune to fire all together just that the odds of his own attack hitting him before he took control of it was slim to none.

Placing his feet and sending his palms forward, Sol decided to make this attack as broad as he could. The pillar of fire halted as if hitting an invisible wall. The flames then proceeded to work their way outwards and quickly covered a six foot radius. In no way did Sol expect this thin wall of fire to harm Aeryn, especially at the speed he was going. His opponent was probably aware of that too assuming his reaction time allowed him to comprehend the wall of fire that had appeared before him. What Aeryn didn't know is that Sol's Green Flame had far more capabilities then just getting hot and packing a punch. Sol pulled his hands back and the fire solidified in a split second. There was little chance Aeryn would be able to maneuver himself to prevent impact with the wavy green wall but luckily for him, his force should be enough to smash through the wall. The collision would put him in a difficult spot as he would exit blind and hopefully fall off his silly little board due to the sudden nature of the hit. The wall itself would probably fall over as it was not exactly being held by anything which would cause more of a burden for Aeryn. Sol had to keep in mind the broken pieces that would likely still remain as they could prove useful in the future. Regardless, this surprise attack could tip Sol into a favorable position.

Despite not knowing about the full extent of what Sol's green fire could do, Aeryn had over the course of his life encountered enough magic-users to know that, in general, flying into blazing walls of the stuff couldn't be good for you. It was generally quite bad for your health. However, Sol was right on one front - there wasn't a lot of time for Aeryn to react to the fire's appearance, and certainly not enough time for him to avoid it by any conventional means.

Aeryn was quite good at being unconventional, thankfully.

Whilst his sword-hand charged power, Aeryn swept his left arm upwards in an arc, white energy flashing into existence just in front of the wall. In the same moment, he jumped from the board, angling his body as though he were about to deliver a flying kick. His feet met the energy, and the quickly-constructed manifestation bent dramatically as if it were rubber. Knees bent, Aeryn's momentum was swiftly absorbed by the elastic surface, and bouncing off of it, he dropped. Flipping up-right in midair, Aeryn once more swept his arm around, drawing the elastic barrier downwards, reshaping it as it traveled. What came into his hand was nothing more than a handle, but it was one that had no problems with that irritating concept of 'gravity'.

--Begin Edit-- It seemed as though Sol's wall did not share the same advantage, however, as the construction dropped swiftly past where Aeryn hung, falling at a much slower rate. The silvis took this chance to swoop over the wall, reaching the ground in only moments, landing hard but safely on both feet. As the wall failed to dissipate, he made a swift note to keep track of what that big collection of magic was doing, given its close proximity to him. --End Edit--

In the meantime, the silvis' board had punched cleanly through the wall - the paper thin edge of it combined with its rigidity making it akin to a blade at the speeds it was travelling - and despite it leaving his field of vision, it had remained in Aeryn's mind. Using his magical sense, he was able to keep a good idea of Sol's position, and while he was falling, the board remained on course. Seconds after punching through the wall of flame, the board would impact Sol like a flying sawblade, following him like a homing missile unless he could do something to prevent Aeryn following him with his mind.

Not one for waste, as he landed, Aeryn spun on the spot, taking the momentum from his brief fall and turning it into a forceful throw. With a grunt of exertion, Aeryn launched the energy-handle from his grip towards Sol at high speeds. As it moved in the air, it shifted for a second time, shrinking and condensing into a deadly and precise spike that was aimed for Sol's forehead. Now that Aeryn had vision on the man, guiding the shot to a more precise area was far easier.

The time wasn't yet right for Aeryn to release the charge he was gathering in his right fist, and so he kept the energy there for the time being. Now temporarily on foot, Aeryn once more lifted his weapons and started forwards in a sprint.

It seemed it was Sol's turn to improvise. The flying disk that Aeryn was riding continued onward without his master which was a shame. Sol had intended to trap Aeryn by re-igniting the fire when he hit the wall. It would be a sort of hammer/immolation effect and thus the best of both worlds. Still, that did not mean that Sol couldn't take advantage of what was given to him which happened to be the light board. Instead of immolating Aeryn, a small portion of the wall surrounded Aeryn's disk instead. Now covered in a green haze of fire, the disk continued to Sol who was waiting patiently. Once the disk was close enough, Sol used his power over the fire to manipulate the board's direction and send it sailing over his shoulder as harmless as a passing bird. The momentum would keep the board out of play for a while unless Aeryn had a way of summoning it back and due to the distance and force of travel, it would be tough for the young man to keep his mental connection strong. Still, Sol would not be completely ignorant of the disk, just pleasantly relieved for a moment.

Meanwhile, the fire that surrounded the board released its hold and began a quite orbit around Sol. It was time to pick up his act so Sol kept a steady concentration on the Flame to condense and strengthen its power. His opponent seemed to have a charge of his own which remained constant in his weapon. He was probably desperate to use it so what better way to toy with the boy then by sending him a barrage of fire to delay his attack. Raising his right hand, a flicker of Blue Flame appeared and shot forward. The major difference was energy usage between this flame and its Red and Green counterparts. The Blue could hit hard but lacked heat or other unique qualities. It was just a ball of energy.

Sol was not quite a fool and had not forgotten the shield that could reflect energy. If he wanted to hit his opponent, even with an elementary attack such as this, he would have to learn from his previous attempts. The ball of Blue Flame continue for a second or two before erupting into a dozen smaller sparks. The mini flames streaked forward faster then the original form but would pack less of a punch. Still, it would be plenty to keep Aeryn at bay and to give him several nasty little bruises. Unfortunately, Sol would be receiving a bruise of his own as all the flashes of energy had blinded him from the small speck of Aeryn's handle. It was last moment before Sol sensed it and instinctively raised his forearm to shield his face. His body managed to slightly tilt but not enough to dodge the attack completely. The handle penetrated at an angle into Sol arm just above the bone. Sol could feel a warm sensation of blood and a dull stinging as the pain began to seep in. This was nothing serious and would only effect a fighter who allowed pain to block his thoughts. Sol would take this in stride like his took everything else and remove the small energy spike.

Aeryn was already in the process of lifting his shield to deflect Sol's projectile when, rather inconsiderately, it suddenly exploded into lots of them. At this proximity, there wasn't a lot that he could do to get himself out of their path, and so he resorted to the never-failing option of brute force. Aeryn triggered the energy that had been building up in his fist, and in an instant, the air in front of him exploded with bright light as the silverite energy manifested itself into a solid barrier. The silvis had been planning to use that energy to deliver a rather nasty slam to Sol himself, but he needed to close the distance between them, and being halted by a barrage of fire wasn't going to help matters.

The barrier easily took the fireballs, the focused energy requiring little in the way of topping-up once the damage was dealt - the size of the generated wall was more than enough for what Aeryn had planned. Even as the smoke of the blasts cleared, the energy was shifting again. The majority of the wall gathered before Aeryn warped and rippled, before from the energy split eight luminescent blades. The silverite that formed each of them was refined and condensed to the sharpness of any steel sword, and without the hindrance of a hilt, all sides of the hovering weapons were as deadly as each other.

By now, the number of objects that Aeryn had created was beginning to go beyond his mental capacity to control, and so without ceremony the now-distant board flickered into nothingness. The spike that had pierced Sol's arm, however, had one last irritation to cause before it vanished. Thinning into a miniature blade, the sliver of energy abruptly spun into motion as Sol reached for it, sharp edges scything both at the arm it had pierced and whatever Sol was using to remove it for an instant before vanishing. This would likely increase the severity of the minor wound, albeit not dramatically.

Now free to focus on his blades, Aeryn first worked to renew his mobility. Two of the blades shot downwards in a blur to 'attach' themselves to his boots, lifting him off of the ground on what could only be described as sharp, deadly, and incredibly shiny hover-skates. The remaining power from the wall, Aeryn thrust backwards, detonating it to his rear in order to create a pulse of force that boosted him forwards with a sudden rush of speed, skimming the ground with ease. The fan of blades followed him just as swiftly, closing the now tiny gap between the two fighters in moments.

It was here, in close combat, that Aeryn was confident he had the advantage.

The blades of energy he had created swept into motion, spinning forwards in three pairs (using all of the six as well as the two he was employing as 'skates' was beyond Aeryn's ability to control, and so he utilised each set of two as a single, two-pronged weapon) in order to attack Sol from three angles. The first pair of blades quickly thrust forwards towards Sol's stomach without so much as a moment's hesitation. A split second later, the second pair would arc around in an attempt to meet Sol's neck, whilst the third pair swept around and behind him in an attempt to hamstring the older man.

Aeryn himself kept his shield up and his sword ready. The majority of his focus was taken up manipulating the energy blades, and making the effort to add to the assault with his own physical sword would leave him unable to react to the possibility of a counter-attack from another angle. As it was, his reactions would be far from instantaneous.

The reasoning for Sol avoiding close combat for so long was not necessarily because he lacked skill in hand to hand but instead because a ranged fight would require more energy usage from both parties. Sol had already established that he would outlast his opponent and so he tried desperately to keep Aeryn at a distance. Despite Sol's best attempts, Aeryn had broken through and was baring down upon him with his deadly combinations of sword and white energy.

Luckily, Sol was at an advantage with power level for the moment as Aeryn was forced to release his energy and Sol still contained his charge. As he instinctively tried to pull the spike from his forearm, the creation spun out and disappeared. In its place, Sol's wound opened up more and a thin line of blood appeared on his palm. Such dirty little tricks but all would be repaid in full over time. The Emerald Flame that circled his body wrapped itself around both wounds which gave Sol relief and cauterized the wound to prevent further bleeding. Sol did not dwell on the spike after it disappeared and focused back on his opponent. The blue flame had just struck and despite the smoke, Sol could see all too well the result. The energy that had been released by Aeryn was blinding which gave Sol reason to worry but also reason to smile. There was no more stopping his opponent and so Sol would have to play his next move carefully.

As quickly as his aged body would allow, Sol ran forward to meet his opponent which was really only a few steps. He doubted Aeryn would expect to be charged after all the effort that Sol had went through to keep him at bay. Not to mention, Sol's next attack would need to be as close as possible. The Green Flame left Sol's body and shot into the ground like water seeping into dirt. The fire would spread outward underneath his opponent and cover roughly a three foot radius around him. Sol then halted nearly a couple feet from Aeryn and crouched down. All the while, two small Blue Flames appeared in both hands, its cool fire soothing Sol's skin but preparing to devastate his opponents. Thrusting his palms forward, the fire's scattered in a jagged format covering a wide area and forming a blue wall of flame. The flame was different in a sense that it started quickly but seemed to halt in place and move slowly outward, continuing its expansion. What Sol had done was create a wall of blue fire some ten feet high and eight feet long. At such a close distance and with hopefully unexpected timing, Sol would entrap his opponent's blades and his opponent himself if they had moved forward at all after his last protective effort. The fire would not burn but would be treated like jello, preventing anything from moving through it to quickly no matter how sharp. It would appear like Sol was simply trying to stall again but this was not the case and with all this energy in action, Aeryn would have a hard time determining what is in play and what is not.

Aeryn cursed vehemently under his breath as his swords met the odd fiery barrier, flicking his wrist upwards to create a spongey wall of energy to slam into before he met a rather sticky end upon his own blades, which would just be dreadfully embarrassing. Brought to an abrupt halt, Aeryn had no intention of staying there, and with a quick crouch, he launched himself upwards. The two blades he hovered on carried him upwards, his crouched position keeping him stable despite the high speeds. If the blue fire wall made it possible, the blades that had embedded themselves in it would retract swiftly and follow Aeryn upwards as he rose above the wall's height, flashing in the sunlight as they arced gracefully through the air.

Soaring over Sol now, Aeryn focused his eyes on the man - with the presence of so much magic, pinpointing him without a line of sight was nigh on impossible - and his blades changed direction with swift and merciless intent. The six razor-sharp constructs shot downwards like arrows towards Sol, spread out to rain upon him over a small area and from separate angles, in an effort to foil any evasions. Aeryn himself let gravity do its job, and spun on his momentum, aiming to land behind Sol just as his blades either impaled him or embedded themselves in the floor where he had been. His shield was up, ready to defend against a counter-strike, and his sword swept out in a fluid movement. If Sol had turned to face him, this slash was aimed to be drawn across the man's throat, whereas had he not turned it would be aimed lower, for a hamstring.

Of course, if Sol had changed position entirely, Aeryn wouldn't bother swinging his sword at nothingness. That would be silly.

This was it, the moment Sol needed to deliver an ending blow.

His wall of fire preformed perfectly against his opponent's blades but Aeryn was ever so resourceful and managed to bounce back off his own energy rather then Sol's. The elder watched Aeryn's light lift from the ground and his blades withdrew easily enough to follow him. He was going over the wall and more then likely coming back down. He didn't know if he had the power to levitate with sword stilts so Sol would have to wait and see.

In the mean time, Sol focused on the wall in front of him and manipulated the fire to make room for Sol's body. Upon Aeryn reaching the top of the wall, the blades shot downwards with the intent to kill. Sol simply sidestepped into his wall preventing the blades from reaching him. Still, Sol kept his arms up and his wits ready in case he had to close the outside of his makeshift cave. It would be a thin layer in which to protect himself if closed but still enough to prevent the blades from reaching to far in. At this point, Sol gathered the energy of the Emerald Flame to the opposite side of the wall and in a rather wide radius of about 10 feet so as to hit Aeryn no matter where he should land.

The aggressive young man landed with his sword ready but he would be disappointed upon Sol no longer being within striking distance however, Sol was willing to help Aeryn out and bring him a bit closer. With a flick of his wrist, the Emerald Flame shot from the ground just behind Aeryn's position. A pillar of green would slam hard into his back with the energy flowing out from one set point. The attack would press the man forward and into Sol's wall. Should everything work as planned and his opponent be unable to dodge his attack, then Sol would be ready to end this fight next turn.

Unfortunately for Sol, Aeryn was not quite so foolish as to descend directly into the path of an attack when he had a means to avoid doing so. As soon as he saw the Emerald Flame sweeping outwards over the area, he halted his descent, slowing to a hovering stop a few feet over the attack, and retreating backwards a few more. His eyes remained trained on Sol, and as a result he had no way of seeing the pillar of green flame coming. However, rather than pushing him directly forwards, due to the fact that he was standing upon his blades, the pillar instead dismounted him.

Flailing in midair, Aeryn swept a hand down with a grunt to draw the skates downwards, merging together in mid-flight and sweeping beneath him to form a wider platform that he could safely land on, bending his knees into a crouch and quickly regaining balance and focus. Even as he landed, he was focusing on the blades that remained embedded in the ground, and they sprung back to life again.

Moving once more with speed comparable to a volley of arrows, the energy blades shot upwards at an angle straight for Sol, all six aimed in a scattered pattern around his torso. Hopefully Sol's attention would still be on Aeryn himself, though it was probably too much to hope for that the man would have made the mistake of taking his mind off of the blades. Aeryn took a moment to breathe - his stamina was still holding up, he hadn't expended too much energy so far, making the most of each manifestation, but the physical exertion would eventually come into play. Hopefully this would end before then.

"How you holding up down there?" Aeryn called, grinning, "I'm like a fly, ain't I? Buzzing around up here and being a pest, and making it damn hard for you to swat me. Scratch that, a dragonfly. Dragonflies are cool."

Nothing ever seemed to go quite as intended but that didn't mean Sol didn't still have the advantage. His opponent was getting restless and throwing out rash attacks without thinking them through. Sol knew that by continuing his steady assault, he would eventually break his opponent and end this fight. Unfortunately, it was time for Sol to regather his own powers or else his attacks would become just as pointless as his opponents.

Sol was not completely sure what caused Aeryn to hover instead of land, maybe he wasn't as careless as Sol gave him credit for but the result of his actions meant that Sol's attack had to leap higher which caused the attack to not hit with full force. Aeryn easily maneuvered himself back into a standing position, unfazed by the attack which was aggravating but no where near as aggravating as the swords that Aeryn was attempting to use again. Sol decided to eliminate this threat once and for all before continuing against the self proclaimed "Dragonfly."

The pillar of green surged past Aeryn after its grazed hit and towards Sol's location. The elder stared death in the face as the swords attempted to end him but only to be slammed down by the Emerald Flame. Sol threw his hand into the air and the blue fire wall ignited and gathered back into Sol's hand. Likewise, the Green Fire which had just punished the swords into the ground, swept forward and back into Sol's opposing left hand. The energy left behind from Sol's original wall also reunited with the Emerald Flame. Sol did not know if the swords could be destroyed or halted with such a hit so he kept his guard ready and took a few steps back to give him some space. Aeryn was probably wanting to strike again which is what Sol hopped he would do as Sol silently placed his left hand near his throwing knives. Magic was not always the way to win a fight but that didn't mean it wasn't the most effective.

For all intents and purposes, it appeared that Sol's flame had done its job. When the flame dispersed, the swords were nowhere to be seen. Aeryn's face was screwed into a scowl of what looked like a mix between anger, concentration and ... well, constipation, if you were honest. It was obvious that he was still doing something, but quite what he was doing would be more difficult to discern. The silvis hovered in place, mind working rapidly to formulate and carry out a plan.

The truth of what had happened was something that hopefully, Aeryn could turn to his advantage. The swords had been shoved downwards, but as they had moved, Aeryn had quickly shifted their shape into an extremely dense, extremely thin spike about a foot long. This spike had been pressed into the earthy ground, and had drilled straight through the earth and out of sight. Once underground, Aeryn kept his focus on the spike, and kept it moving. The small size of the energy and its density, formed from the already focused energy of the blades, meant that it was far easier to drill through the solid earth with it than with a less charged manifestation.

In order to distract Sol from the possibility of a sneak attack, though, Aeryn continued to put on a show. His hands lit up with an intense light - easy enough to manifest something so insubstantial - that would seem to suggest that he was charging for a final brute force assault. Just to add more cinematic glitz, he spread the light to his eyes, dramatically rising upwards on his board.

At that moment, just a few seconds after Aeryn had started his 'charging', the spike broke from the earth directly between Sol's feet, and shot upwards. In the instant it broke the surface, the spike was shifting - broadening, slipping seamlessly into a razor sharp line of energy that rose like an upside-down guillotine towards him in a blur of motion. Should the blade connect, it had the potential to split Sol straight down the middle.

Not wanting to take any chances, once the blade reached chest height, Aeryn would once more shift its form. With a sweeping motion of his arms, the blade would split, exploding outwards at more than a dozen angles in deadly shards like shrapnel, each the size of a throwing dagger and with more than the slicing potential of their metal blades.

Sol was blind to the visuals of the outside world, a sacrifice he gave long ago, but in return he was granted true sight of energy. The blades size may have changed, but you could not destroy the energy that had been put into it and for that reason Sol could see the shinning light of the thin blade all too clearly. The fight was starting to annoy Sol, this truly was becoming a game of swatting the fly and one that showed no clear signs of ending. So when the little fly decided to "power up," Sol was not impressed for Aeryn has yet to demonstrate that any actual power was put into his manifestations. It was clear to Sol at this point that he was the powerhouse of the magical front and it was time to prove it.

"Enough of this..." Sol mumbled as he contained his thoughts. With a flick of his left hand, part of the Green Emerald shot into the ground and collided with the thin blade. Upon impact, the flame hardened to hold the blade in place. Aeryn might be able to drill his way through the flame still but only with the increase of energy. Sol sent his right hand forward and raised his palm to his opponent in an Iron Man sort of way. The Blue Flame released in a ball of fury and with the force of a cannonball. Sol gathered his remaining energy that was in play and not in use and began to revert it into the standard Red Flame. Regardless of what happened next, Sol was confident the outcome of this battle would go to him simply for the reason that Aeryn didn't seem to have what it took to match his magical power and he has yet been able to get close enough for a decent melee hit.

So what will you do now little fly?

"Boing."

Aeryn smiled, lifting his shield with a casual flick of his wrist. The enchanted surface came into the path of the blue fireball from the side, and as the powerful projectile met it, Aeryn's sound effect seemed rather appropriate. The impact was entirely absorbed by the magic of the shield, and it was with just as much force as the original attack that the blue fireball shot off sideways where Aeryn had whacked it, harmlessly shooting away. It seemed that this conflict was coming to a crux, and so it was time to actually use up some of the energy Aeryn still had waiting in reserve.

The silvis gathered his power - not simply in appearance, this time, but in reality - and went in for a two-pronged attack.

To begin with, he directed energy to the underground blade. The manifestation fluctuated with the influx of power, and broke through the surface of the emerald flame with relative ease, shooting back on its original course. With the speed that it had been travelling at, the emerald flame would likely have stopped it relatively close to its destination - and so it would only be seconds, if that, before the attack burst from the earth to take its toll.

A more obvious strike, though Sol would no doubt be aware of both, came from Aeryn himself. Gathering the pure energy of the Silver Dimension into himself, he unleashed a powerful beam of superheated energy from his eyes and mouth straight down towards Sol - should it come into contact with him, it would sear through his flesh and bone alike, reminiscent of a super-charged laser cutter. Faster than a conventional projectile, the beams would cover the distance between the two fighters in approximately the same time as his other attack struck, meaning that Sol would have a far harder time dealing with them both.

There were benefits to holding yourself back. The first, and the primary reason that Aeryn had done so, was to enable you to fight for longer. But it was always nice to be able to come up with a surprise.

Aeryn would have made a comment on this, unfortunately, his mouth was full due to his firin' of his lazor.

Sol made sure to learn from his opponent as a match progressed, something Aeryn seemed unable to do. The fact was that Sol had counted on Aeryn blocking his attack in order to limit his actions. The Blue Flame did indeed hit like a hammer but it also has the quality to be adhesive which had already been revealed when it hardened to contain his original blade(s) attack. Upon contact with the shield, the Flame would instead attach itself and harden. The weight would not be much of a factor but as Sol could control the movement of fire, it wouldn't be beneficial for Aeryn to have his now modified shield on his person. Of course, it might be hard to worry about such an action when you are busy spewing energy from your face.

The rest, they say, is history. The power sent into the blade to break its Emerald prison was not unexpected but still an inconvenience. Not sending more energy to prevent the attack was a risk that Sol had chosen to take in order to prepare for a more devastating attack. Now Sol was left with two options and, had he been given more time, he would have chosen to simply take the hit. As it was, Sol reacted on instinct to protect himself which meant side stepping to the right and allowing his swarming Red Flame to knock into the broadening blade. The fire would push the energy weapon away but seeing as the fire did not hold the same quality to block as the Green and Blue Flame, the shrapnel explosion would not be as easy to defend against and should pierce several spots in Sol's midsection.

However, Aeryn required concentration to maintain action with his moves and seeing as his original intent was for the blade to strike sooner and then explode at the direction of his will, the odds of the blade exploding was not very likely. It would mean that Aeryn could fire his burst of energy and explode his blade which may be possible but unlikely. Sol had more energy at store then Aeryn but didn't have the time to send it out. Upon sidestepping, the energy from Aeryn's face blast reached Sol and collided with Red Flame that encircled him. Deflecting pure energy with energy was much easier then deflecting physical manifestations. The two attacks met with equal force as the Red Flame had been a continuation of power used all fight and was reverted from a higher energy source of the Emerald Flame. Sol had expected to actually overpower Aeryn but it looks like he would be lucky to just counteract the powerful laser as his Flame had not had a chance to gather completely. Once all was said and done, Sol would only have his Blue Flame that stuck to Aeryn's Shield and a small packet of Green Flame that had been used in attempt to hold Aeryn's spike attack.