(Post written by Script)
As Sylvire led the others away, Aurion let out a sigh, turning to face the weakening gate. “Let me say,” he began, glancing between the two women with him, “It is an honour to face my final moments with two such worthy allies.”
Mirana scoffed, “Come now, Aurion. You’re fighting with a corpse and a witch, that’s hardly the kind of company that your kind is fond of.” She teased, a grin upon her pale features.
Aurion managed a smile. “Well then, I suppose I am defying conventions by being decidedly fond of the both of you.”
Placing a hand on his arm, Selwyn nodded. “I think we are all ready to see the end of our lives. We have lived long enough to be satisfied.”
And then the gates buckled inwards, and the hinges broke. The three scattered backwards away from the falling metal, Mirana’s last few remaining soldiers flowing into the courtyard to face the foes. The hulking metal construct faced them down, and from behind it stepped the rest of the Orsa.
There were eight alongside the construct, not counting the mage that Luriel’s arrow had already felled. First came the winged man, a half-celestial, his crossbreed nature shown by the blackness of his wings. Long blonde hair fell over a muscular form, unlike the normally light builds of his kind. Alongside him stepped the woman with flowing red hair, clad in golden armour and her flesh practically glowing with magic. The two mages remained near the back of the group, a dark elf with white hair and relatively pale skin, clad in oddly formal attire as well as an inhuman seeming creature with a mane of white hair, and what looked to be a demonic mask upon his face.
The dark elf witch stood alongside another woman, leather clad with a heavy cloak, holding a large sword and wearing a claw-like gauntlet, and the cloaked archer, little visible of him apart from his metal gauntlets. The final figure was a handsome man with long dark hair, wearing light armour and wielding a pair of wicked curved blades. The winged man glared at the three that stood before him balefully, before speaking.
“They do not hold the artefacts,” his voice was derisive and tinged with superiority, “Lyn, Roran, Koretta, take Golem and find the others. We will rejoin you after dealing with these three.”
Mirana cleared her throat and folded her arms, “Hey, hey. We aren’t just pests to be dealt with, you know. All high and mighty with your girly golden locks, maybe you ought to pay closer attention to your feet.”
The man fixed Mirana with his gaze. “Kill this one slowl-“ he began, before cutting off with a shout and jerking backwards. Attached to his foot was a skeletal snake, clamping down with its fangs scything through his boot. It was swiftly incinerated, but Mirana grinned.
“Told you so.” She said idly.
“Kill them!” the man barked.
At that moment Aurion struck. A bolt of light shot forth from his palm and towards the man, who reacted with a sweep of his fist, shadow emerging from it to meet the blast, the two attacks colliding and exploding outwards in a cloud of smoke.
From the smoke a cascade of arcane bolts emerged, as Selwyn released her spell. One of them caught the finely dressed mage solidly in the chest, and the elf spiralled backwards to land with a crack, a gaping hole in his body. As swiftly as the smoke had arrived, it was gone, revealing the masked figure as he swept his arms up. Fire poured forth from them to meet a swiftly erected shield around the blood elf as the enemies’ leader beat his wings once to launch into the air. Aurion followed suit, and took the battle to the skies.
Mirana found herself facing off against the red-haired woman, and cracked her neck. “You’ll want to watch that hair darling.” The warlock said, “It might get caught on a sword.”
The woman smirked, “You’ll want to watch the hair too. It might get caught on your spine.”
Mirana barely had time to consider what she meant by that when the woman’s hair exploded outwards in a flash of light, spreading out and coursing towards her in a fiery spiral.
Selwyn saw Mirana engulfed by the golden-armoured woman’s attack out of the corner of her eye and cursed. She had her hands full, however, with the masked fire wielder. Fire continued to pour from his hands and part upon her shield, and he showed no signs of relenting. Opting for a different tactic, the blood elf’s eyes flashed. From where she stood, an image formed of her diving to the side and darting around the courtyard. Following the movement, the masked man redirected his flames, not noticing the ‘second’ Selwyn still in the same spot. This gave her a window for attack, and she took it.
Thrusting her staff forwards, she sent an arcane bolt bursting outwards to strike him straight in the head. His mask split, and so did his skull, tumbling backwards in a mess of blood.
But then the demons began to return. Apparently, the winged man had renewed his efforts, and around the courtyard the creatures began to sprout out of the woodwork. Selwyn was quickly surrounded, and her fight became a whirlwind of magic, striking down creature after creature after creature. It was exhausting. So exhausting that she didn’t notice the archer at the gate slowly putting an arrow into his longbow, pulling back the string and aiming at her. So exhausting that when the arrow buried itself in her chest, and she was thrown backwards, it was almost a relief to feel her life fading from her. The pain was short lived, and the mage’s vision faded to darkness.
Surrounded by fire, Mirana didn’t see Selwyn pulled under by demons. The warlock was having a hard enough time not burning to ashes, most of her magic taken up maintaining her form. Her robes had long since burned away as she struggled forwards against the torrent of flame, each step seeming to take an eternity. Her flesh began to charr and burn, and in places she was reduced entirely to bone. But she was moving, and each step brought her closer to the woman responsible for the fire.
The demons moving around her did not concern her – they could no more enter the fire than anyone, and so they did not impede her when she reached forwards and closed her hand around the woman’s neck. Blinded by her own fire, the woman didn’t see her coming until she was already squeezing her windpipe. Her fingers scythed through the woman’s skin as shadow magic surrounded them, and the fire faded as she went limp in Mirana’s grasp.
Even as the horde of demons pulled her under Mirana was cackling her victory.
Above in the sky, Aurion and the dark winged man clashed with blow after blow. Evenly matched, the two celestials traded strikes for strikes, conceded wounds to wounds. Neither seemed to tire. It was only when Aurion risked a glance downwards that the battle turned.
Seeing Mirana and Selwyn pulled down under a carpet of black creatures drove Aurion to the edge, and with a roar of fury he brought his palm up with full ferocity, breaking from the precise and skilful manoeuvres he had been employing, and divine light burst outwards. His fury caught the other man by surprise, and he was driven backwards, the strike burning across his chest.
Aurion lifted his hand to finish the battle, but a sudden flash of pain stopped him. The celestial glanced down at the arrow that was swiftly forming a crimson blossom on his chest as if in disbelief.
“It’s over.” The Orsa’s commander fixed Aurion’s eyes with his own. “The Patronus die today.”
And then his sword fell, and Aurion dropped from the sky. His body hit the courtyard floor with a dull thud.
