Snippet #1374698

If she were being completely honest with herself, Asmara would have to admit that it looked bad. even so, she still held out the good-faith optimism that not all was as it seemed. They were, indeed, surrounded by Darkspawn, with no help in sight, and she was quite tired and liable to drop from exhaustion at any moment, but... they weren't dead yet, and that had to count for something.

Still, her heart was pumping frantically in her chest, and she knew when the Darkspawn charged for her that there was no way she stood a chance in her present condition. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she readied a Winter's Grasp spell, the icy magic cooling her fingertips as the mana lingered on the cusp of actuality, then abruptly halted any such process when a warrior came to occupy the space between herself and the creature that would end her, followed swiftly by many more.

She knew not from whence these reinforcements came, but she could sense among them at least three instances of the same taint that she possessed. "Grey Wardens..." she breathed. "There are Grey Wardens that yet live." Her exaltation was of the most temporary sort, though, for her attention was quickly drawn back to the battle itself. Even with the additional numbers, the Darkspawn could not be said to be outmatched; there were simply so many of them. Asmara's lips pressed together in a thin line, and she released the spell at a Hurlock headed for the large cat, who already was on its back, seemingly overpowered by the creature that had attacked it.

The prospects were not good, and the young mage attempted to assess where she might be the most useful. Glancing around, she knew it unlikely that she would survive in a close-quarters confrontation with a Darkspawn; she was simply neither built nor trained for that. Offensive magic was itself a risky prospect; there were many people in a rather small area, and the chances of friendly fire were great, especially the way everyone was moving about.

All right, so I do what I do best, then. She debated the possible use of a single Heal spell versus a Group Heal; as of yet, only a few parties were sporting injuries, and none of those too grave. Perhaps it would be best to wait until such time as they were. It was always a strange thing, waiting for tactical purposes. It was not something that she had thought to do until she learned of such things from the Wardens. Speaking of which... it might be an idea to inform the lady knight of this, though battle hardly presented the right opportunity for such a thing.

Rather than do this, then, Asmara moved to a back-and-center location, form where she could keep an eye on everyone to see how they were doing, and also remain somewhat protected from the Darkspawn. This at least was fairly accepted practice for mages without the means to fight up-close.