A flurry of rage, and steel descended on Ayla. The only reason she had bothered to decelerate in the first place was to worn the other woman - who clearly didn't need it. As soon as the curtain of daggers began to coalesce, she took a deep breath, and with a harsh whipping of the wind she took off. She opened her eyes just in time to watch the very last dagger be absorbed into the spear.
Magic was so alien to her, yet so beautiful, and so compelling it drew her up short.
CRACK
A massive slab of steel, crudely hammered into a savage semblance of an axe, and enchanted with extreme weight, connected with the back of her helmet. Ayla shrieked, her forehead smashing against the visor as she went hurtling foreward. Desperately she attempted to flip herself before she fell, but it was pointless, and she hit the stone wall face first. The visor cracked on impact, sending shards of glass straight into her face, but the suit otherwise kept her from broken bones.
"Fuck!" She hissed, pushing herself from the wall with a shake of her head. "I guess standing still is still a ba-"
CRACK
The Orc had persued, and as his prey rebounded he leapt wildly at her. The brute brought his axe down dead center in the middle of her back with both hands, screaming wildly as it drove her to the ground. She twitched a little when she fell, and fearing his new prize was about to vanish again he dropped on-to her, knees first. He howled again, his bloodlust boiling over when he heard something inside the suit break.
It was three of Ayla's ribs, and she stifled a scream as she felt the monster's weight settle. This had gone too far.
Trapped under the weight of a hulk she had only one option, and it brought a smile to her lips. The Orc was enraged by now, he had tossed his weapon aside, emboldened by his well-armed comrades. It was extremely difficult to focus, and Ayla did everything she could to block him out, to listen to the true sound of his wreteched body. She just needed a few precious seconds.
Eyes jamming shut, she focused on the sound of his heart, of his blood vessles flowing, his breath, every aspect that contributed to his organic structure. It was slow, for her, at first, but she managed to managed to piece it together note by note. By the time she had it, she realized the orc was trying to pry off one of the outer plates on the back of her suit, as if it would do anything. A little doubt crept in as she made up her mind, she had never matched frequencies with a living being before, but it was the best idea she had.
"Hey, greenskin," she coughed, choking the words out around a mouthful of blood. When he didn't even grunt in response, she just smiled wider. "Okay," she chuckled, "I tried to warn you.."
Ayla began to shake violently, and her captor mistook it for resistance. Like the idiot she had hoped the Orc was, he tried to put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting up. Two things happened in the span of as many seconds, first the Orc's big, green hand went right through her, and then it exploded. Blood, bone, and ribbons of flesh took to the air at high velocity, and the assailant jumped back, howling in pain.
"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?" He demanded, clutching the stump of his arm, and staring murder at the woman in the dirt.
"NEVERMIND THAT," barked the taller Orc behind him. "JUST GRAB THAT SLA-"
VOOOOMM
Pink lightning flashed, blinding the Orcs around her as Ayla skipped straight to her full speed. She was up, and on her feet in milliseconds, which meant each Orc had just enough time to clutch at his eyes before they died. She froze to survey the first wave of reinforcements, this time making sure not to drop into normal-speed. She desperately searched for a plan, but fury consumed her, and the new playful persona she carried cracked.
Inside was the same brutal, unrelenting Ayla. The goal had shifted in her mind, in her soul. Survival replaced with annihilation.
She wasted no more time in movements, now blitzing from Orc, to Orc like a murderous pinball. Her fists flew like bullets, hammering the orcs without mercy as she danced around a hail of axes, and swords. In her slow motion world it was no great feat, save for the sheer number of attackers. Ayla felt her forehead begin to overheat again as it struggled to calculate a path around so many weapons.
It was a thing of beauty really, with no one to see it, because she no longer slowed down to deliver her blows.
The lightning arced around the field, and each time it collided with an Orc a broken, bleeding, and huddled mass was left behind. Uppercuts broke jaws, severed tongues, and sent the scum reeling, roundhouses left them bent nearly in half, and pushed shattered ribs through lungs. Everytime an Orc blinked a comrade was hit with the force of a freight train, and fell to the side.
A retreat had started much to the commander's fury, and it looked like Ayla was about to really play hero. Until the first arcane missle hit.
She wheeled around, staring at the scorched ground mere inches behind her. Her blood ran cold as she realized her H.U.D had been dead since she hit the wall. Somehow it made her eye hurt more to think about it, but being cut off was far worse. This meant absolutely no missle detection, no Overwatch feed, no comms, it was old school from here on out. Not that she had much time to feel sorry for herself, three more bolts screeched through the sky above her.
"I seriously want a pay raise.."
She watched carefully, almost happy to see something moving at normal speed for once despite what it meant. Once sure they were trained on her Ayla glanced around, firmly trapped between reorganizing reinforcements, and a volley of arcane death.
"A really, really big pay raise."
She was just about peal out when it happened. The biggest Orc she'd seen yet charged out of the blue, and straight towards her. Her jaw dropped as she watched his legs pump at a completely normal speed, and she braced herself when she saw the blade. Both of her eyes began to glow in response, and as she dropped into a ready stance sparks leapt from them. The last thing she wanted to do was over-exert herself this earlier, but if the choice was exertion, or death she knew her answer.
Inhale, exhale..
The already slow world she occupied ground to a near halt as she focused. Even the freakishly fast Orc was reduced to a near-crawl, and she took a difficult step towards him. She was, for the moment, accelerating her personal time-line, which meant interacting with the world was difficult, like pushing through a hurricane. She almost stopped, she gave herself enough room with a few seconda to avoid the blow, but as she got closer to the creature a new idea came to her.
Quickly she trudged her way over to the Champion, and with only a bit of hesitation she did what she had to.
As soon as she was "safe" she dropped the control of her timeline, leaving the Champion in place just beside where she had been, alone. The creature looked around wildly for a moment, desperately searching for it's prey.
"Where the fuck did sh-"
Twenty-two tracking bolts carved through the sky, dipped down into the tunnel, and unceremoniously crashed right into the Orc. He was obliterated on impact, turned into a fine, red mist, with an unharmed Ayla at the center. She had phased into the savage, not through, turning him into a second suit of armor. She swept a bit of gore from her arms, and shrugged at the befuddled remaining orcs.
"Talk about a role-reversal, huh?" She snorted.