Snippet #1711563

Breaching the fortress had been the easy part of the invasion, but the Kaelathians now had their wits about them and morale restored by their charismatic field marshal. It was time for the Prilacians to step up their attack. The two sides were dead locked, having two walls in each of their control and the battle was now moving to the middle of the court on the ground level. Theda moved down to there herself, walking calmly into the frey. Once the torch was spent she had been using as a flame thrower Theda took out her real weapon: her white branched staff. A staff was the most useful and efficient way to conduct magic, even though it could be done by hand. The staff drained less mana from a person. She also removed a dagger with a white wooden handle from her boot and held it in her other hand as an extra defense.

The first Kaleathian soldier to approach her charged sword drawn, ready to attack. With a wistful movement of her staff though, his stride was abruptly ended and he fell at her feet snared to the ground by glowing green roots. The phantom tendrils grew over the soldier's torso and coiled around his neck where they held until he breathed no more. Theda did not stop, stepping over the man and continuing her steady stride. She had her eye on the Kaelathian gunmen on the opposite walls.

Dante who was also on the ground level, saw Theda's concentration on the gunmen in front of her and paying little heed to those beside her. He immediately ran to her side to cover her. He put his black staff horizontally in front of him with both hands and a blue essence shield formed. The bullets shot at them were flattened against the aura-like protection and any swords lunged at them were repelled with such force they flew out of their holders' hand.

Theda stopped as soon as she felt close enough to cast her spell. She raised her staff in front of her and the small branches at the tip of her staff crackled to life with fire. She pointed it at the gunmen and yelled in the formal tongue unknown to the Kaelathians, "Ignite!"

Their guns exploded at the barrel as the gun powder inside was instantaneously ignited by her magic. The men dropped their mangled guns and screamed in pain from their bloody hands and scathed faces. Her magic had added more punch to the explosions and the useless guns continued to fizzle on the ground as if doused in acid. Theda felt invigorated by the success and tingling of mana flowing through her. She turned to her side that Dante was guarding from the other gunmen intent on doing the same. A few of the soldiers having witnessed what happened to the others, dropped their guns and scrambled out of the way in terror. Those not aware or quick enough to drop their guns were wounded the same as the other gunmen. Many nursed seered eyes and broken fingers and were vulnerable as the Prilacian marshal ordered his soldiers to take advantage of the moment to attack the wall.

Dante evaporated his blue shield and pointed back to the wall in front of them recuperating from Theda's first assault on their weapons,
"Look! Over there! Marius is there, he has a pistol in hand!"

Theda looked in the direction Dante was pointing and focused her pale green eyes on the famed heathen marshal for the first time. Her face scrunched up with a look of anger she rarely showed, if ever. The flames on her staff reignited more hot, turning them blue. She took aim, this time intending to do more than just wound this godless beast. She would mangle him - kill if she could, to stop him from ever resisting Prilacian authority and denouncing their God again. "Ignite barbarian!"