Beyond Light's Reach (IC)

[Finland SSR]

Cyradil Vask
Haden Hill

Tenna

Karl Thaddäus
We die in darkness
The tunnels

Theodor Arnulfsson / Riki Farinhait

---

It didn't take long for Theo to finally receive some support in the fight against the flanking behemoth. Cyradil, after rescuing one of the officers from near death, suddenly charged past him, straight at the monstrosity. This was the same wounded woman from earlier, right? So we have at least a few healers among our ranks, then... That was reassuring. Cyradil's attack did not take the creature down in one blow, as expected, and while she barely managed to escape unscathed, she practically screamed for any sort of plan.

The heat of battle was not a good time to be making strategies at all, but Theo's experience against the beasts of the surface gifted him an idea.

"The joints!" the Dragon Killer yelled out, leaping to the side and pushing Cyradil away from the behemoth's ground-shaking slam, covering the two of them with his massive pavise shield. "A humanoid creature this massive cannot sustain itself upright if even one of its knees is taken out. And if it falls, its sheer mass should leave it unable to stand back up easily."

Of course, that's easier said that done. After all, just getting to the knees would be pretty hellish while that creature is still swinging its monstrous arms...

"I'll stand before it in the front, get around it and try striking the knees from behind."

Theo stepped away from Cyradil, spinning the partizan spear in his hand and raising his shield, while the giant behemoth started approaching him, winding up its fist to strike.

Meanwhile... Outside of the tunnels, in the foliage of the forest, Riki watched the surviving forces of the three armies make their way towards destiny with a passive glance. One of the knights, a woman, tried to pat him on the shoulder, but the necromancer simply jolted back and backed off, covering himself with his pitch black cloak. That was about it for his interactions with the rest of the party - for the most part, Riki simply stuck to himself. His horde of zombies could not deal any decisive blow at the remaining demons by a long mile, so instead he had to resort to harassing actions. Demons were easy to fool - a zombie of one of their kind could easily blend in among their ranks and then suddenly lash out to cause chaos.

It would die, and lose its second chance, but it would also sow disorder and prevent the demons from reorganizing. For a while, this meant that the demon hordes could not rush the tunnels with their full force. It was a thankless job, of course... But, when the day of judgment arrives, Datune will know who tried to give Eboris a second chance and who would have rather saw it perish.

Focused on his duties, Riki did not escape getting touched, apparently - suddenly, an Elvish woman grabbed him by the elbow and started dragging him along.

"H-huh?.." the necromancer muttered under his breath, almost inaudibly, but did not resist. She wasn't a demon, so, as far as he was concerned, she was likely an ally. The Elvish woman dragged him across the forest before suddenly pulling him into a tree, where the two of them sat down on one of the thicker branches, strong enough to hold the two of them without any difficulty. A silence of a few seconds ensued. Riki blinked, not sure exactly on what had happened or what he did to deserve this, but... hey, it did get him out of the sight and reach of any demon below.

Almost instinctively, he pulled out his ornate knife to draw a glowing pentagram mark on the bark of the tree, then pressed his hand onto it. Dozens upon dozens of corpses below them, scattered across the forest and the battlefield, would start to rise and join the necromancer's horde. This included many of the corpses littered in front of the rear guard party in the tunnel, desperately trying to hold back the demon advance - the men would witness their dead comrades stand up and rejoin their ranks, the mortal wounds on their bodies not even bothering them.

"You didn't have to, I was fairly protected..." Riki finally spoke up. "...but thanks."

[The Republic of Atria]

Theodor Arnulfsson

He made sure Rudolph was as defended as he could be from on coming demons. Francis wished he knew a little more about the magic that was being used and why it was taking so long. As he waited, he saw at least five unholy gargantuan behemoths erupt from the portal. Each of which was at least two and a half men tall, and likely with the strength to match. Under better circumstance, such a mighty beast would make an excellent trophy.

But circumstances required him to work with the Dragon Killer he met a few moments ago, who had already come up with a plan: Go for the knees. Normally, Francis went for the neck or heart, but the sheer girth and size of the creature made that idea rather unlikely. Even if he held the very end of the handle of his scythe it would just barely meet the monster's neck. So he had no choice but to comply with Theo's plan. Though the Dragon Killer did volunteer himself to distract the creature, which was contrary to some of the things that he had heard from the alchemists.

Hopefully Theo was as good as dodging as he implied because Francis had to make a dash that was both fast and didn't draw the beast's ire for a few moments. His weapon was already fully extended, and he prayed that the background noise was enough to muffle his footsteps as he circled around the giant demon. He waited for the moment where the demon took a step forward to attack Theo and swung his massive blade at the bend of the Demon's leg.

[Tomia]

Quentin and Lena
Seeing that Saeleem had somehow managed to genuinely harm the monster, Lena and Quentin stepped forward to take advantage. Neither of them really understood what the Chosen had done to inflict pain, their spells were meant to heal after all. But facing down giant demons was far from the appropriate time to ask questions. And so the Knight and the Knight Enchanter both charged towards the staggering Behemoth. Lena decided to take a different approach, this time targeting the monster's legs instead of its arms with her ice. She shot blasts of ice at the base of its feet, using whatever magic she had stored to stick it in place. She was dangerously close to being forced to use her own life force to support her magic, but in a life or death situation like this she didn't see much of an option.

The Behemoth was not taking this standing still however, it continuously slammed its massive fist at the ice, trying to break its way free. Shards of ice flew everywhere, but Quentin was not deterred. With his foe's attentions focused at its feet, the Knight had a clear opportunity to finally inflict some damage. The problem was, how exactly could he hurt this beast? Its skin was made of hardened rock like material and his sword wasn't going to do much damage to it. However, if they were like the other demons, they bled and could be killed. So they could only hope the same could happen to these beasts.

With that in mind, he targeted its right arm, which was currently slamming at the ice around its right leg. Quentin's blade sparked with lightening as he raised it above his head before striking down with all his might at one of the cracks in the Behemoth's armor. The attack met its mark, and sliced into the magma like fluid on the forearm. The monster shrieked in pain as Quentin slashed down, taking off a chunk of the rock like armor from underneath as the behemoth flailed its arm in pain. This shot Quentin back, forcing him to the ground. However this was very much worth it, given the important glimmer of opportunity he had discovered.

It's armor is a shell. It can be removed,and underneath is it's weak spot.

"Target the soft spots around the armor! They can be killed, keep heart!" Quentin shouted, his voice booming in the echo filled cavern.

Alexius
As Ivaran struggled against the behemoth, time slowed around Alexis as his staff sparked with electric energy. Slowing time was draining his energy, but it was necessary to give him the time to build up a powerful attack. In what to others felt like only a few dozen seconds, Alexius unleashed a massive strike of lightening at the behemoth. It struck the creature in the chest, knocking it flat on its back. Alexius also stumbled backwards because of the immense strain the attack took on his body. Unfortunately it had not been a killing, blow as after a minute or so the behemoth stumbled to its feet. However it was not unscathed. On its left shoulder its rock like armor was blown clear off, and even much of its underneath molten flesh had been ripped away by the fierce attack. It's left arm clearly wasn't working to full capacity, however it was still swinging its right one furiously.

[The Great Swedish Empire]

Karl Thaddäus
Die Again
The tunnel

The men cheered as they saw reinforcements, at last, join their ranks. Rejuvenated by this injection of freshmen the line of Dasucs and Tashar held against the bulwark. The demons were now dying in their hundreds to this small force numbering barely two hundred. They held the line like a sea wall against the sea squall. Again and again, the demons crashed upon their lines but they could not break through even in their desperation and panic.

The great beast was now tearing through their lines. Already, a dozen withering demons had been impaled on its many horn's and spikes. It had undoubtedly crushed a hundred under its feet in its mad dash to the line of men that simply just refused to surrender. Karl could see it throw demons in the air and yelled to his men, "Prepare to open up the lines on my command! Open a corridor here." Karl pointed at the part of the line just before the protrusion of rock he stood on. "Have spears cover in the inside. Stab it's side when it's coming through. Aim for its legs."

The command was rallied to the others. Many men glanced back in confusion but Karl only returned them with a steely glare that stared straight into their souls. They nodded and once more returned to cutting apart the insane charge. Karl once more dove into the battle and ignited his blade. A great blue cornea surrounded his saber and he held it up high for all to see. The men made a small gap in the lines for him to pass to the frontline. Some cheered but most were too busy killing.

A demon charged him. Karl struck upwards and hacked deeply at the neck of the demon. There was a bright flash and it appeared to the men that the holy light had purged the foul demon from this world. The light faded away and Karl saw what he had done. He had split its thorax wide open to the center. It squirted yellow rancid ichor out of it's wound and fell down. The men cheered again. The great beast was now coming ever closer; only barely thirty meters away now. "Not one step back! We hold this ground through all!" Karl yelled.

The beast was only ten meters away now. "Open up!" Karl yelled a small corridor of men were opened. The great beast crashed through the line of men harmlessly. As it charged mindlessly down the corridor it's sides were stabbed by spears. It's leg tendons were torn apart by steel and its legs wavered. A spear dug into the side of its head and pierced deep inside. The beast let out a deep groan and began to slow its charge but it was not enough and it crashed headfirst into the rock formation. The rock formation exploded into a shower of a hundred stones. The beast legs, at last, gave out and it fell. It let out a loud howl of pain as liters of its green blood watered the ground.

Karl allowed himself a smile, "Close the gap! And send a group of men to deal with that disgusting thing."

A contingent of men, armed with spears and axes, broke away from the group and fell upon the beast. They skewered it with their spears and chopped off its legs with their axes. It took a long time for it to die.

Karl began to laugh in a haughty manner as he slew another demon and rammed the tip of his glowing sword through the chest of one of them. He turned around and let his men to their own to cleanse the survivors. He turned to one of the reinforcements, "Who is in command- what the-" Karl stopped himself as he looked at the man closer this time. His rib cage had been ripped out to reveal it's organs, grey and unmoving. It did not bleed and its face was like stone. Its eyes were milky white. Its sword was red with the blood of the demon that had killed him.

It's torn thorax let out a wheeze but Karl could tell what it meant when it saluted him and plunged once more into combat. He fought side by side with comrades that had thought him dead. Karl looked around, the battle rage leaving his body, and saw more like him. The dead had risen and were once more fighting side by side with their brothers and sisters.

There was the sound of cruel laughter coming down from the tunnel. Another wave of demons was coming down. They trampled the bodies of their still, though barely, alive comrades. There was something about this new wave. There was a physical feeling of malice coming from them. The feeling that these demons were somehow worse than the last ones.

The demons charged. "Rascals, do you want to live eternally?" Karl cried to his men and readied himself. A thousand more demons against so little. Simple mortal men against monsters that should not exist. Despite the maddening chatter of the demons and their madness, they held their ground.

Men died side by side with their comrades. Men died having cleansed a demon from the world. Men died twice.

[Sarderia]

Calt

The whole tunnel was a mess, to say the least. Bodies were scattered down on the floor, mortal and demon alike, and rivers of oozing ichor flowed down around them as well as those of red blood. Calt had found his bows for not much use down here, especially not in so close quarter fights. The charge, led by a Tasharen knight by the looks of him, did certainly spared them another group of demons; this time, the human barriers are actually holding. But he knows not for how long they will, nor when does this crazed charge of abominations would stop; one by one, each group follows another, ramming and slamming into each other all the while those thrice- damned molten giants are away lighting up every soldier they could put hands on.

He walked to the rearguard, his horse having escaped from the tunnel. Animals could not stay put in the presence of demons for too long; neither could he, truthfully. The pressing, the desperation in the field, strained his mind earlier, and now he had to join another brawl again. At least there is reinforcements here. He could not help but wonder how Randolf's doing out there on his own. Struggling, obviously. Dying, probably. At least I escaped that part of hell. He shot two arrows on the latest band of crooks coming down, as he watched a behemoth getting torn down by the Tasharen's group of men. Calt smirked inwardly as his own mages gathered around. He was certainly still full of tricks, and the Bands were not the last resort he's got. He put the bow again on his back, strapping it on the holder. Hands now free, he began drawing the image he'd been too overly familiar with in this day. 

The vortex of magicka whirled and sparkled in the air, as he shouted a command for his mages to do the same. Another wave is coming; this time, slightly larger. Calt had no time to concentrate on the vortex, his own thoughts, and the demons all; but he could feel them coming - a sense that this wave, somehow, was even darker than the last. He was not sure what exactly is that, a kind of magic or just the reek of hell coming with them, but certainly the need of slaughtering them all is paramount - after all, he does not like the slightest bit trapped with demons full of malice. His circle of magical vortex was now hovering in the air, a bright, brilliant blue shining out in the air. This would serve, he thought to himself. Muttering a simple, summoning spell, he turned his hands a round move, and the vortex starts moving like a wheel, albeit not going anywhere. The surrounding air was whirled into the vortex, as it began to spin ever faster and faster, the blue forms just moving shadows by this time. With a slight gesture, his mages knew what to do; soon, several vortex started sucking air and spinning on the rear. He could hear the gasps of Tasharen men-at-arms at the center, as a gust of wind start forming besides them. I don't need no soldier, he thought to himself. 

Calt's thoughts, his brain, was telling him that all he did was just a show of tricks, that he should do what he's been doing all the time; running away and bashing all kinds of creatures in his escape route. That his life wasn't worth dying so honorably in a damp tunnel with a thousand fucking demons waiting to tear his flesh. The logical part of his mind wanted to laugh it all over, his concentration into how he'd pass out an eternity in hell - he doesn't even thought a bit of other people besides himself the time. But he wasn't being logical; nor did he was in his right mind, because if he was, he would not scream to his mages to break the vortex, and point the Storm-Eye spell into the charging horde of demons, with a loud "Hold them!"

The sudden guise of wind was strong - though it may be a little understatement. The front line of demons charging was thrown backwards almost a dozen feet, while the ones behind them fell down like dominos, for several lines. Ultimately, the demons managed to held - though by the time they rose up, the charge momentum was lost. His effort had not gone for naught, well, him and his subordinates. There was no cheers, however. He obviously expected that from people terribly scared, confused, and forced to fight beasts for their lifeline. Honestly, if he was seeking out approval, he would have ran hours ago back to Dascus. Calt would not say he bought all the rhetorics about honor and bravery the field commanders had been preaching from the start. Even if he did, he wouldn't admit it…

From a near distance, he saw the demons gradually retaking their stance, trying to charge again. They were so pissed off this time - what should have been an easy steamroll thwarted by fucking wind. He let out a very thin smile, cautiously not over-showing emotions; the angrier those demons are, the dumber they get. He walked - bravely - front of the soldiers, casting a small vortex on his hand. He closed his fists, and a sparkling crimson rope forth spawned from his hands. His mages in the rear, meanwhile, did blasts - dumb fools thinking they could take one by one of the horde of abominations. He would have none of it. Calt whirled the ropes out into the horde, catching half a dozen of the front lines on each rope. The Bands now bound the demons against each other, a lump of mass, and he threw that mass against the horde's center, smashing a pack of demons against another. Good, he thought, they were starting to lose cohesion. Now if only the noble Tasharen lord and his band of bravehearts would realize a perfect gap to strike. The ropes, now empty, gripped another pack of demons, and he used the same movement to threw them against one another. Several now tried to cross right to him - frustration and loss of formation now taking its toll. He whipped the group with the rope in his left hand, while his right grabbed another pack of demons, slamming it against another.

Eventually, some of the demons realized his way of sewing chaos. They pulled off his Bands with great force - he landed body-first very near the horde of demons. His left hand was still holding a rope, though. By instinct, Calt whipped out the demons nearest to him, and then ran, casting a vortex and the Arcane Phantom spell desperately. Miraculously, the thing actually worked - so conveniently sending him off to the rearguard. He needed a greater amount of ropes now, and a greater amount of magicka, as even his physical body began to strain right now. Forming another vortex, Calt touched his Rune of Mind necklace, opening the thing. The vortex was now covering his body in form of a large eye. It spun around, and with a flash - there was now nine of him. Gasps could be heard from the soldiers, and even his own mages.

He casted another small vortex and the Bands spell. Each version of him was now holding two crimson ropes; one on each hand. They all followed the same gesture as the real him did - catching a small group of demons, and slamming it against one another. Eighteen ropes twirling and hurling the charging horde, confusing the demons even before they touched the main line. He noticed the soldiers did nothing, even with all the distraction with the demons. Calt turned, and with each version of him following close, he addressed the Tasharen commander - he know not the name. The line of demons grew thinner as they began to scatter around. "My Lord! Now is the good time to strike. They are being scattered and out of formation! You could help me -" he pulled another group of demons charging- "with-" slammed half dozen demons towards another charging group- "this!"

[Galnius]

Meanwhile... Outside of the tunnels, in the foliage of the forest, Riki watched the surviving forces of the three armies make their way towards destiny with a passive glance. One of the knights, a woman, tried to pat him on the shoulder, but the necromancer simply jolted back and backed off, covering himself with his pitch black cloak. That was about it for his interactions with the rest of the party - for the most part, Riki simply stuck to himself. His horde of zombies could not deal any decisive blow at the remaining demons by a long mile, so instead he had to resort to harassing actions. Demons were easy to fool - a zombie of one of their kind could easily blend in among their ranks and then suddenly lash out to cause chaos.

It would die, and lose its second chance, but it would also sow disorder and prevent the demons from reorganizing. For a while, this meant that the demon hordes could not rush the tunnels with their full force. It was a thankless job, of course... But, when the day of judgment arrives, Datune will know who tried to give Eboris a second chance and who would have rather saw it perish.

Focused on his duties, Riki did not escape getting touched, apparently - suddenly, an Elvish woman grabbed him by the elbow and started dragging him along.

"H-huh?.." the necromancer muttered under his breath, almost inaudibly, but did not resist. She wasn't a demon, so, as far as he was concerned, she was likely an ally. The Elvish woman dragged him across the forest before suddenly pulling him into a tree, where the two of them sat down on one of the thicker branches, strong enough to hold the two of them without any difficulty. A silence of a few seconds ensued. Riki blinked, not sure exactly on what had happened or what he did to deserve this, but... hey, it did get him out of the sight and reach of any demon below.

Almost instinctively, he pulled out his ornate knife to draw a glowing pentagram mark on the bark of the tree, then pressed his hand onto it. Dozens upon dozens of corpses below them, scattered across the forest and the battlefield, would start to rise and join the necromancer's horde. This included many of the corpses littered in front of the rear guard party in the tunnel, desperately trying to hold back the demon advance - the men would witness their dead comrades stand up and rejoin their ranks, the mortal wounds on their bodies not even bothering them.

"You didn't have to, I was fairly protected..." Riki finally spoke up. "...but thanks."

Proud of her herself for saving someone, Tenna sat lazily on the strong branch she had pulled herself and the human up to. There was enough people that the behemoths had to break through to give the elf some time to catch her breathe, and Tenna gladly took it. It wasn't until she heard scratching sounds that she even looked in the other person's direction.

Tenna found herself transfixed at the sight. She had never seen something so beautiful. Something she had wanted to badly. It's lean form worked expertly, carving away some symbol that was beyond the silver haired woman's understanding. She had to have it. It had to be hers. She needed....that knife.

Instinctively reaching out a hand, Tenna attempted to examine the blade from up close. The sounds of battle were distant, so she could not care less. She had lost a few knives in the fight as it was, but this...it's ornate form was just the replacement she needed.

[The Great Swedish Empire]

Karl Thaddäus
Counterattack
The tunnel

The cruel laughter and malice of the incoming tide of demons became ever louder as they came ever closer. Karl had deployed a line of pikes and spears at the front while keeping his swordsmen in reserve to plug up any breaches and even a potential counterattack. Karl stood side by side with his men as he stared down the tunnels and watched the demons close the gap. They were barely a hundred meters away. They crushed their still living, though for most it was barely, comrades under their claws and cloven feet. Long tounges licked the air in anticipation and swords scraped against the stone wall. Only eighty meters away. Seventy. Sixty. Fifty. Forty.

"Their corpses will pave our way to victory! No fear!" Karl howled to his men. Their reply was gruff and brutish. He did not care. As long as they would die for him in their duties he would take any response no matter how blunt.

There was a loud whistle of wind coming from the tunnel, barely heard over the inane chatter of the demons. Karl thought little of it. Simply just the demons. Then he noticed the wind rushing down the tunnel. Something was up and it was certainly not the demons. The simple whistle turned into a nearly deafening howl.

Karl looked backward. There was a man in armor and robes just standing behind them. The movements of his hands were complex and at such speed that they were blurs to the men. Some gasped. Some stared. Most just readied themselves for the death that was now thundering towards them. The ground of the tunnel now began to shake under the feet of the oncoming waves. Men gritted their teeth and held the handles of their pikes so tight that their knuckles had begun to turn white. Sweat began to pour down their foreheads.

The howl of the wind was now unbearable. Karl yelled out for his men to stay strong but it was lost on the howling wind. The demons were now upon them. That last glorious stand had begun.

For a moment the howl of the wind had stopped. Then the entire tunnel shook with the sound and force of the wind. Men felt their hats and helms nearly ripped from their heads by the invisible yet powerful force of the wind. The first wave of demons was thrown back like the dolls of a child. The ones behind them fell back as if they had been smashed by a battering ram.

The men, women, and even death of the rearguard slackened their jaw at such a show of pure power. The many mages of Dascus had been known for their powers. But never on this scale and right in front of their eyes. The mage strode forth through the line with such grace yet Karl could smell there was a sense of pompousness to this one. For a moment he saw Lord Sampson. Karl was glad that he rid himself of such a fool.

A chunk of dirt fell from the ceiling and fell on Karl's head. It was nothing but it made him blink for a second. When he opened his eyes again there were nine of the mage. Karl thought that he had been smashed in the head by a rock and that he was seeing things but he looked to his and right and saw his men's eye go wide as such a display of legend.

Each one of these manifestations held a great glowing whip in both its hands. Great whirlwinds of light filled the tunnel. The demons were now confused and scattered. Now was the time. The mage yelled at him to charge but the command had already been given.

"Pikes forth! Boar formation! Swords men show to mercy to any survivors! With me! With me!" Karl cried to him men and began to charge. His blade grew brilliantly blue once more the moment he plunged the tip deep inside the heart of a demonette. He blocked a flurry of blows from another before returning the favor by a simple lunge into the head of the demon.

The pikemen of Tashar and Dascus surged forward. Their long spears skewering the scattered demons like boars during a hunt. Behind them, the swordsmen finished off any survivors. Footslogger Harkin stuck of them like a pig. Harkin walked a few steps forward keeping the tip of his pike in the belly of the demon, driving him back until the wall of the tunnel. With his great strength, he lifted the demon up the tunnel wall. It yelled out in pain and suffering and Harkin enjoyed every second. He ripped his pike out and the demon fell to the floor. It held its guts in both its hands and cried out in pain but it was none compared to its shriek as Harkin drove his pike right into its crotch. It fell to its knees clutching its crotch. Harkin would have continued on punishing it but he heard the commander order his pikemen to return to formation. He drove his boot forward into the side of the demons head. It fell flat on its face where its skull was crushed under the great weight of Harkins boot.

There was a flash of cold steel and Harkin found himself staring at his steel botted bloody toes. It took him the rest of his life to realize that something was wrong and what happened. Only when his headless body fell onto the deck next to him he realized that...

Karl lost his blade and the demon drove one of the shattered bone of its severed arm into his shoulder. The gashing mouth tried to find purchase on Karl's face. Its breath was unbearable but Karl found his dagger and plunged it into the demon's neck. He wrenched it out and the demon staggered back. It held it's remaining hand but he did not save him. His corpse crumpled to the floor, ejecting out of the neck wound blood like a pressure hose.

It was working. The charge of the pikemen had scattered most of the demons and was driving them back out of the tunnel. The dead bodies of demons and men paved a path down the tunnel. Men walked over hundreds of corpses in their charge against the fleeing demons. They had no mercy. These were the things that had slain so many of their brothers and sisters. These things that had tormented their childhood and their parents. They had expected to receive any mercy so they gave none.

Karl, his coat bloody, he did not know why, walked over to the mage that had turned the tide. He held out his hand and spoke, "Thank you. I am Officer Karl. I am in command of this contingent. I suspect you come from the vanguard. Give me a second." Karl turned around and yelled to his men who were returning down the tunnels, many holding heads and other bits of demons as trophies. "You there. Yes you." Karl pointed at one lower officer who was helping to remove one of the wounded, his armor had a bulge around the stomach, clearly, this men rarely led from the front but he would do. "Take forty pikemen and twenty swordsmen down the tunnel. Take command of the contingent. Send reports to me every quarter-hour. Do not fear to ask for more men from me. if needed." The lower officer nodded and began gathering his force.

Karl turned back to the mage, "Where was I? Oh, thank you, mage. What was your name"

[Finland SSR]

Francis

Tenna

Theodor Arnulfsson / Riki Farinhait

---

"Come on!" Theo yelled out, a faint smirk forming on his face as he backed off from the advancing behemoth and then suddenly leapt to the side to avoid its overhead smash. Despite the Dragon Killer's armor and heavy weaponry, he moved with no less speed and grace than a professional rogue - when fighting against the most ferocious beasts of Eboris, it can mean the difference between life and death. Spinning the spear in his hand, Theo gave it enough momentum to pierce through one of the behemoth's fingers and pin the arm to the ground. Roaring and grunting, the creature was left stuck in a rather awkward position where its whole body was bent forward and back was exposed.

With the corner of his eye, Theo noticed someone circling the behemoth - it was not Cyradil, however, but rather the hunter who had fought alongside the Slayer of the Crypt and whom he had noticed for a fraction of a second before. The hunter followed Theo's orders, charging forward and slashing straight at the creature's leg. It immediately released a roar and stumbled forward, but the strike was not enough to bust its knee just yet.

The Dragon Killer pulled out his spear, ripping off half of the demon's finger while he did so, and backed off for a few steps while the behemoth turned around to face its new opponent. It winded back its fists and released several powerful punches, with the strength of battering rams, at the hunter. Meanwhile, Theo turned his head towards Quentin, who yelled out that the glowing magma underneath the behemoths' armor was their weak point. Targeting those soft spots can kill them.

"Change of plans!" the Dragon Killer yelled. "You don't have any ranged weapons with yourself, do you? We need to target those glowing magma gaps to kill them!"

Meanwhile...

Riki watched the marks on his right arm while spinning his ritual knife with the fingers of his left hand. There were a lot of undead under his command right now, most of the marks were glowing, but were also losing their brightness really quickly. The battle below must be ferocious... he's going to have to reactivate the spell yet again if he wants to-

"Wait, what are you doing?!" he called out as soon as he noticed the Elvish woman reach for his knife. She didn't seem to care about anything else and simply pushed to try to grab the blade. Riki stretched out his hand to try to move his tool as far away from her as possible, but all it did was make the situation even weirder. One of the woman's hands was now pressing onto his cheek and trying to push it away while the other reached for his knife much like a little child would reach for a bag of sweets on the top shelf.

And he needed that damn knife!

In a fit of desperation, Riki pulled off the hand pressing onto his face - however, it had tragic effect. The weight got shifted just enough for the entire fragile system atop of the branch to lose balance and for the two of them to slip off to their doom.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Neferis Lahari
Haden Hill Tunnels

---

Despite the loss of about half of their forces, the cavalry charge was successful, and Neferis soon penetrated into the darkness of the underground alongside Archeno, the flames that surrounded her licking at the darkness and interacting with the silhouettes of countless demons to cast eerie shadows across the length of the tunnels. Countless demons lined the shadows of the great chamber that had opened underneath the battlefield, but the charge did not - could not - slow down and continued plowing through them, even as the demons realized what was coming, even as they scrambled to defend the portal.

Even as more appeared, several times larger than the rest.

This has to be a joke... The wolf Thalari thought as she continued running at the head of the formation. Despite her instincts urging her to purge the monstrosities in front of her, she managed to keep a cool head and think more carefully about it. Charging headlong against that... thing won't do us any good. This form won't help.

As they neared the glowing behemoth and Archeno rushed forward even faster in hopes of crippling the creature, Neferis wisely decided to slow down instead, little by little, allowing the cavalrymen nearest to her to overtake her and rush ahead to support the human shapeshifter. Soon the bull crashed into the fiend, who was pinned down and subsequently run down with the spears of the Dascian and Eshonie riders. Seeing it struggle to move forward or fight back, the Thalari saw a clear opportunity to take it down.

Picking up speed again, Neferis charged straight at the behemoth and kicked off into the air, headed towards its chest. Just before reaching it, white hot flames engulfed the she-wolf's form, which seemed to shift underneath the light and smoke. Suddenly, the sound of crashing thunder echoed throughout the tunnels and the rock-like armored hide around the behemoth's chest became sundered and cracked. The sheer force of the impact sent the creature reeling back - this, coupled with Archeno pinning its leg and the cavalrymen thrusting and slashing at it, was enough to topple the great beast. It crushed a great many of its fellow demons on the way down, and landed with a thundering noise.

Neferis landed on its chest a moment afterwards, now in her human form and holding Mala'kai in her hand. She breathed heavily and her midsection was bleeding from several wounds sustained during the charge. She was no less determined than before, however, and raised her hammer to smack aside the giant's hand as it reached towards her to defend itself. Jumping away from its chest, she smashed the creatures's hand into the ground to keep it pinned down.

Not far from there, a Knight of Shotarr who led the rest of the soldiers into the tunnels, shouted that the behemoths could be cut down just like any other mortal. Hearing this, Neferis looked back at the cavalry.

"You heard the knight, riders! Slice this foul creature to ribbons!" The Shi'el exclaimed, rallying the Tasharen and Eshonie to destroy the demon.

---

Saelaam of Trelia
Haden Hill Tunnels

---

Quentin and Lena were quick on the uptake, it seemed, and as Saelaam's prayers left the massive demon writhing in pain, the two Tasharen warriors sprung to action: the Knight Enchanter fired spells of ice at its feet in order to bind it, while Quentin took advantage of both distractions to slice through the creature's arm, severing one of its hands from its body. The winged young man didn't smile, but there was a clear sense of relief coursing through him as he let up his prayer for a moment to catch his breath, also dismissing his magical shield - it was taking up too much magika, and he had already gone through last night's reserves, meaning that any further use of magic would come at a cost to his own health. Not that there's a correct choice between killing myself and getting crushed to death...

As he recovered - even if only a little - he watched the Knight Commander pushed back by the demon shortly after delivering a crippling blow. Frowning at the sight, the cleric ran forward before the behemoth could lash out with its sole remaining hand and then muttered the three words of power that, together, allowed him to instantly translocate himself and others. One second, Saelaam was barely grasping Quentin's shoulder, and the next, the two of them were by Lena's side, away from the bound giant's reach.

Now safe, at least for the moment, the priest of Oadot observed the raging behemoth intently, Quentin's words echoing in his head. After a moment he turned towards him and Lena, visibly weary, but resolute nonetheless. "Sir Raeden, Dame Goodwin, I... I have a plan." He began. "You said the unarmored spots are vulnerable, correct? It looks like there's quite a large one just below its head. I think I've still got a few more spells in me, so I could teleport you behind that thing's head - if you could then decapitate it, we would have one less monster to worry about." He suggested. It was a risky maneuver, but one that promised to end the fight in one blow, if successful. "If the demon is distracted, it won't be able to defend itself." He added afterwards, pointedly looking at Lena, making it apparent what his plan was for her.

[Theyra]

Alexius

Ivaran Miaris

"Impressive" was all he thought as Alexius's lighting strike hit the behemoth. Knocking it down in a grand display of magical power and for a moment, Ivaran thought that the creature was stained. Ivaran slowly walked towards it to inspect it if it was dead. After a minute of inspecting, he quickly found the behemoth had still alive as it started to get up. By the Light's grace, the blow had hurt it as its right shoulder armor was gone and it appeared that the behemoth could not use its left arm. Even if the blast didn't kill it, it did wound badly and proved to Ivaran that they can be beaten. "Now where should I strike? Ivaran thought as he dodged the behemoth's attacks. Him nearly getting hit by a sweeping attack with the behemoth's right arm. That was too close for Ivaran's liking and he knows that he can not keep this up forever.

The behemoth roared in frustration as it is failing to kill Ivaran and Ivaran saw an opening to attack the behemoth. Attacking the already weaken behemoth's left arm and started to slice up its left arm. The behemoth wailed in pain as the attack struck home and rendered its left arm useless. In desperation, the behemoth swung at Ivaran and while the blow did not connect, it forced Ivaran on his back. He had to roll out of the way of the behemoth's fierce stomps and quickly got up when he could. Gripping his glaive tightly, Ivaran made another strike against the creature. Realizing that there were opening in the behemoth's armor and aimed for a weak spot on behemoth's right leg. Hoping to disable the creature, and he struck with all of his might. Landing a hit on the behemoth's right leg and took off pieces of the armor. The behemoth howled in pain and once again swung at Ivaran. It missing just by an inch and jumped back in response. "If Alexius can land one or two more hits with his magic then we can end this fight". He thought and briefly turned at Alexius and yelled, "Keep those blast up and we can finish this thing! Ivaran turned back to the fight, just a bit more and they can end kill this behemoth and be one step closer to ending this nightmare.

[Galnius]

Riki watched the marks on his right arm while spinning his ritual knife with the fingers of his left hand. There were a lot of undead under his command right now, most of the marks were glowing, but were also losing their brightness really quickly. The battle below must be ferocious... he's going to have to reactivate the spell yet again if he wants to-

"Wait, what are you doing?!" he called out as soon as he noticed the Elvish woman reach for his knife. She didn't seem to care about anything else and simply pushed to try to grab the blade. Riki stretched out his hand to try to move his tool as far away from her as possible, but all it did was make the situation even weirder. One of the woman's hands was now pressing onto his cheek and trying to push it away while the other reached for his knife much like a little child would reach for a bag of sweets on the top shelf.

And he needed that damn knife!

In a fit of desperation, Riki pulled off the hand pressing onto his face - however, it had tragic effect. The weight got shifted just enough for the entire fragile system atop of the branch to lose balance and for the two of them to slip off to their doom.

Tenna could not understand the man's frantic fighting. She was simply reaching to examine the blade. If she wanted to steal it, he would likely not notice. However, he seemed to fight tooth and nail to ensure that she did not so much as brush against it.

This, of course, made Tenna more curious about the knife. What was so special about it that it was to be defended so readily? Sure, it was pretty, but this man didn't seem like the type who would keep it around just for that. Her curiousity got the best of her, and she clawed for it with more vigor, pushing his face away in an effort to have more access. This did not last, as in one final act of retaliation, he wrenched away her hand....knocking them both off balance.

Tenna moved quickly, grabbing one of her own knives and stabbing it into the tree. She was just hanging on with her feet planted on the branch now, and she reached to catch the falling human. It slightly worked. Instead of both falling to their deaths, the motion seemed to put the man right side up. He would not be breaking his neck today.

The manuever did manage to have a downside, naturally, as Tenna was not very strong. She failed to fight against the intertia and gravity, with the added weight causing her to lose her grip and fall as well. She suffered no pains (as the elf's fall was broken by the male) but was quite annoyed. She inhaled deeply and quickly, exhaling through her nose in a huff of annoyance. Rising to her feet, she glared at the man who was clearly the cause of their predicament.

[The Republic of Atria]

Theo

His strike wounded the monstrous demon, but not enough to completely disable it's leg. Despite both him and the Dragon Killer doing damage, the beast turned to face him, striking at him out of pain and anger. The beast easily had the strength of a dozen men, but not the speed. Francis was able to jump back and out of the creature's reach leaving it to flail in rage. Not a moment after, The Dragon Killer managed to somehow figure out that the glowing spots on the demons were what they should be going for.

It seemed a bit obvious once he brought it up since the glowing liquid seemed to be their blood and that it would be far more effect to strike at them as they weren't protected by the demon's natural armor. Once the demon had finished thrashing about, Francis dash forward, driving the tip of his scythe into one of the glowing spots.

[Tomia]

Quentin and Lena
Quentin suddenly found himself transported slightly out of harms way by Saelaam. The two of them were now standing next Lena slightly out of reach of the Behemoth. It was there that Saelaam suggested a plan to kill the beast. It was certainly risky, but risky was necessary given their circumstances.

"Lena, will you be able to handle using more magic?" Quentin asked, knowing her reserved energy was likely going on empty.

"I'll be fine Quentin." She replied with steely resolve. "Its you we should be worried about, attacking that demon from behind will not be easy."

"Yes, but its a necessary risk. Saelaam, we are ready when you are."

The healer nodded, and soon Lena restarted her ice attack on the behemoth's appendages, getting its attention and sending it into another rage. Before it could aim its large fist at Quentin and Sael, the pair had disappeared once again. They instantly reappeared, dropping down on the shoulders of the great beast. Sael quickly flew away to safety, leaving Quentin hanging onto the beast with all his strength. It wasn't easy, considering the behemoth was flailing its arms and legs due to Lena's attacks. However it didn't seem that he had been noticed and so Quentin climbed over the monster's shoulders until he found himself face to face with the back of its neck. Saelaam had been correct that there was a clear opening. About a foot of space on its neck was left unprotected, and with a clean strike Quentin would likely be able to end the fight.

He released his right had to reach for his sword, which was a grave risk given the difficulty he was already having hanging on. His left arm screamed in pain as he pulled out his sword. He quickly lifted it up with right arm and kicked off the beast. With both hands on his blade he stabbed with all his might into the exposed molten layer of skin. The behemoth let out a horrible scream and fell to its knees. The ground shook at the impact and soon the massive demon came toppling down. Lena attempted to shield herself with ice but it was clear that that would be ineffective. Luckily Saelaam swooped down and rescued her just before the behemoth fell to the ground. Clouds of dusk shot up from the impact, and when they cleared Quentin's sword stood tall in the beast's neck. The knight himself was laying in front of it, having been clutching its armor during the frightening fall.

He rolled of the beast, clearly exhausted and in pain. Lena rushed over to him.

"I'm fine.." Quentin said, staggering to his feet. "I just... need a minute." He was clearly struggling to catch his breath after having successfully killed one of the behemoths. He turned to Saelaam.

"Good plan."

Alexius
Meanwhile Alexius nodded as Ivaran told him to keep attacking. He inched closer to the behemoth, who was now attacking wildly like a corned beast. Once he was only a few feet a away he slammed his staff against the ground and suddenly the earth around him rippled with electricity. It shot forward towards the behemoth, electrifying it from below and in a large explosion it was knocked off its feet entirely.

"Now Ivaran! Strike at its heart and end this fight!"

[Northwest Slobovia]

Archeno
Battle of Haden Hill, The Tunnel

Neferis charged straight at the behemoth and kicked off into the air, headed towards its chest. Just before reaching it, white hot flames engulfed the she-wolf's form, [...] the sound of crashing thunder echoed throughout the tunnels and the rock-like armored hide around the behemoth's chest became sundered and cracked. The sheer force of the impact [...] was enough to topple the great beast. […]

The thunderclap left Archeno's ears ringing, and he wondered what the Shi'el had done to cause it. Bull's wide vision or not, it was hard to see what happened just above his head with his horns pinning the demon's leg.

But the tug of the beast falling was unmistakeable, and Archeno felt his head being dragged forward as its leg tipped backwards. He wasn't just trapping it, his horns were trapped too! After a moment's panic, Archeno returned to human form.

"You heard the knight, riders! Slice this foul creature to ribbons!" The Shi'el exclaimed, rallying the Tasharen and Eshonie to destroy the demon.”

Archeno was instantly surrounded by horsemen and mooseriders surging into the gap he'd left, stabbing and slashing at the flattened giant demon. Its weak attempts to protect itself became slower and less frequent as the cavalry found its weak spots, and soon they erupted into a cheer: the behemoth lay still, its glowing blood dimming.

With the cavalry surrounding him, it was easy to pick out faces and other distinctions in their diminished numbers. He'd need their names to tell this story properly; all heroes should be remembered.

As they started to regroup to attack other demons, Archeno was able to pull himself out of their midst and he made his way over to Neferis, who seemed badly injured. “That was an amazing display of magic and valor! But you seem a little worse for wear. Perhaps a little something for it?” He fished around in a belt pouch and pulled out a thumb-sized, corked bottle, which he offered to the wolf-woman. “Taino's Curative is just a little something, but it should close some of your wounds.”

The wolf Thalari nodded appreciatively and then grabbed the vial, uncorking it and sniffing the contents. A grimace appeared on her face. "Well, it can't be worse than searing them shut. My thanks, storyteller." She said before downing the vial.

Archeno laughed appreciatively. “It hurts much less. And you're very welcome. If this is all the demons have, we may see victory.” He caught motion out of the corner of his eye. “What is she doing??” He face showed confusion, and he gestured towards the archer. “Not a soul in front of her. Excuse me, I think she might need our help.”

He broke into a short run, drawing his knife along the way, not that he had a next move. The knife, even with the Whetstone Wash and knowledge of the demons' weaknesses, was next to useless, and without distance to build up speed, he couldn't charge as a bull. But to flee when triumph seemed at hand… how would he ever explain that he learned of the final stroke secondhand, while he was cowering in a corner somewhere safe?

As Archeno approached the archer, he shouted above the battle din. "Could you use a little help with the beastie you're fighting?"

She barely gave him a glance before she nodded, drew another arrow, and took a shot, driving a shaft deep into the behemoth's flank. The demon reacted poorly to that, roaring and charging her and Archeno.

“Oh, shit!” The storymaster froze. The behemoth was almost on top of them before he had the slightest idea what to do. The chinks in its armor! He ducked under the creature's swipe. Almost: he could feel its claws tear through the outer layer of his armor, rip off some of the sewn iron disks, and rake his skin. But he'd just have scars to show for that, not lose his arm at the shoulder.

He lucked out, as the demon focused on Brialya, and Archeno slashed for the back of the behemoth's left knee, trying to hamstring it. He drew glowing blood, and the creature hobbled, shifted its weight to its good right leg, and tried to face both opponents at once.

[OOC: With thanks to Zark and Tomia.]

[Sarderia]

Calt

It was a lie to say he did not enjoy the slaughter. He dashed out a part of the charging horde into the walls, and then sending another smacking with force into them. He noticed that the commander had ordered his minions to help him. While it certainly came as a relief for first, the manner of fighting had became so familiar to him; gripping and dashing and throwing demons to the roof, walls, and deep inside the tunnel. His magicka energy was strained, however. In an instant, Calt could feel the many forms of him, clones, images, all disappearing into a husk of thin color, before being drawn all to himself. He staggered and dropped to his knees as his illusions came back. The force was not usually this strong, but he had used the Bands with it - a strong overuse of magic. In his torso, the Rune of Mind was pounding greatly, and he could almost sure that his heart was going to bounce off the flesh. His head was pounding, too - though it was the least of his problems.

Calt rose up rather painfully, his bones cracking up and down. He let out a scream not-so-loudly, the effects of his previous spell still straining. Walking, staggering into the best part of his company still standing, he saw the soldiers - Tasharens, Dascians - charging together in a crazed manner, holding and throwing their spears and stabbing every demon they could get their hands on. He was sure that whatever part of the royal army these Dascians were, he was sure as hell they're not in his camp. Randolf and the Commander would not have them, at least. More so with the fact that their way of fight was no different from the demons - in human skin with flesh. One, in particular, he noted, was a berserker. Ripping a demon with his pike, and then stabbing it around the body, and then stepping on its head. A plasma of fiery blood spurts out around it, now that the savage had scurried back to his great commander. Calt was wary of them all; he had not a good time with barbarians like this. But he certainly need their strength and numbers, even being mindless killers as they are. 

But the savage pikemen met his end rather fitting; his head severed and crushed by another demon. What a justice. Calt made another Bands spell on his right hand, and casted a Burning Shield on his left. In a quick gesture, he threw the Shield in front of a group of soldiers, protecting them from a pack of demons, who screamed in pain from hitting a fiery wall. He then folded his hands made another vortex, casted a Bands spell before slamming the vortex of magicka into the ground. The floor cracked and split a little, before finally lashing out several large crimson ropes from the ground. A desperate, charging group of demons was startled by crimson ropes tangling their feets; throwing them up and down and then dashing them to the sides, ramming another group of demons as well. 

And just then he realized the Tasharen had been standing beside him the whole time, although the last time Calt saw him was on a tight duel. He took off the mask, as the air had became unnervingly damp, and accepted the hand. While he despised such people, he tried his best to show nothing and just play along. He gave his best smile and kind impressions, and waited for the man to finish his orderings.  "Ah, right. I am Calthanius Swyrfe, Vice-Mage of the Consortium of Dascus." His hands was still flickering with magicka, an effect of the previous spell, still straining and sucking a large amount of energy. "Let's just get straight to the point now; you're having as much trouble as possible with these-" he kicked a demon's head, "things. And you know the way seal whatever abyssal hole these abominations came from, I thought?" One of his mages approached him and whispered the situation happening in the tunnel's deeper parts. "I see."

He turned to Karl again. "You are sending your groups alone, without further, larger, protection. Not a single mage in sight. In fact, did you bring one?" A small vortex of magicka appeared again on his hands. "There are larger beasts down there, and more soldiers fighting. They would need any help, every person into their aid, and mages. You would do well to bring the whole force, or maybe leave a part for reserve, and see what we could do to stop these ever-coming tide of demons." He gestured for his mages to accompany Karl's soldiers. "Ah.. with respect, Officer."

[Auropa]

Cyradil Vask
Haden Hill Tunnels

Compared to the others taking on the behemoth, Cyradil drastically lacked both speed and mobility. As they continued to dart around and over the gargantuan creature, she still struggled to simply avoid and deflect the odd attack sent towards her. Seeing little chance of flanking or out-ranging, she instead kept to the front and focused on keeping their enemy's focus split between herself and the others in the group however she could. When it began to concentrate on anyone for too long she’d bring her shield and mace to the ready and charge in close. From there she made sure to deliver painful reminders of her presence with harsh swings aimed as close to the beast’s joints as she could before making a hasty retreat to safety. Most bounced off the solid stone and did little more than annoy the creature, but in the rare moments when everything lined up for her, some blows would manage to scrape past the stone and slam viciously against glowing flesh below. As satisfying as the beast roaring in pain was though, she couldn’t deny her worries. They might have been steadily doing damage, but it was a slow process and every second they spent fighting down here was another second the horde spent trying to flank them as they cut through their allies above.

It was then when Quin’s voice rung out revealing the monster’s weak spot.

Likely sharing her concerns and fears, the others wasted no time in changing the focus of their attacks. The scythe wielder was the first to find their mark and after deftly making their approach, went on to plunge their weapon into the thick orange core. Motivated by the creature’s bellows, Cyradil followed suit. Charging at the creature once more and narrowly dodging the few swipes sent her way as she went, through some blessed combination of luck and skill, she managed to close the distance and get in close before the beast could fully recover from the hunter's attack.
"Oadot guide me." She whispered to herself as she finished a silent prayer and pulled her arm back.

In the next instant, she lunged upwards and poured her weight into her blow. For all its strength, the creature had been too reliant on its own armor's protection, now outnumbered, distracted and partially pinned down, the beast had no way to protect its exposed self against her one-strike assault. As the blood soaked metal met its target, it bore through and plunged deep into the monster’s exposed stomach. As it found purchase, Cyradil continued her attack and pulled down hard. At first the mace continued to tear down another few inches but after releasing a torrent of orange innards, the weapon finally stopped as it became wedged between the clotting guts and stone plates around it. When its brutal descent came to an end though, Cyradil braced herself, poured fourth her power and pulled back with the might of a titan. As the stone holding it in place began to crack and the creature bellowed once more in rage and pain, her arms began to light up as brilliant arcs of electricity traveled out from her and struck against her foe, daring it to resist her directions. Finally, she tightened her grip and took a half step back. As she went, the beast seemed to trail behind her, falling to a half-kneel as its damaged knee failed to withstand the additional force and punishment.

Half covered in the burning orange internals of the creature, Cyradil continued to struggle with all she could muster. Even with her strength and her foes’ guts quite literally in her arms, she could feel herself loosing grip against the unreal power of their enemy and as her momentum came to a crashing end, she felt the force resisting her continue to rise and begin to drag her back. Doing her best to ignore her body screaming in protest, she tried to redouble her efforts and keep the monstrosity locked in place for even just a few seconds longer.

“Finish it!” She managed to call out, hoping someone was close enough to land a killing blow against the monster.

[Finland SSR]

Cyradil Vask
Haden Hill Tunnels

Francis

Theodor Arnulfsson

---

Despite all of them being complete strangers, who probably would have never met had it not been for the demon invasion which united them against a single opponent, their actions worked together in near perfect harmony. After Theo informed his allies about Quentin's idea of targeting glowing weak points, Francis took advantage of it and struck one of such points straight to the liquid orange core. While the juggernaut was left thrashing about and distracted by the hunter, Cyradil joined the fray, pinned down the creature and lunged her mace straight into its stomach. Covered in the creature's innard ooze and on the bring of getting crushed by the stumbling creature, she called for help, for a final blow, and a final blow soon arrived.

The tip of Theo's spear suddenly shot past Cyr's shoulder - the lumbering creature, weakened by Francis's several strikes and pinned down by Cyr's efforts, didn't even get a chance to react when the weapon pierced straight through the gap in its neck. It gurgled, lumbered forward and started spraying its burning insides through the newly opened wound - meanwhile, the Dragon Killer's shield moved in front to cover both of the warriors to protect them from the ooze, and he yanked Cyr back to get them out of the behemoth's collapsing range. It unceremoniously plopped down to the floor, any semblance of life in its body vanishing.

Theo took a deep breath, stepping away from the Shotarr knight, and observed the corpse of the goliath which the three of them had slain.

"Theodor, son of Arnulf. Order of Evruin." he laconically introduced himself to the hunter - unlike Cyradil, he had not been in the temple party, so the two of them were still unfamiliar. With that gotten out of the way, Theo turned his eyes to the rest of the battlefield which the tunnels had gotten turned into. "How many live behemoths do you still count?"

---

Tenna

Riki Farinhait

---

Good news - the two of them did not fall to their demise, the Elven woman was swift enough to stab her knife to the bark of the branch and use it as a means of keeping the two of them suspended in mid-air.

Bad news - they still got to fall. The woman was not strong enough to hold them both - and since Riki was the one hanging from her grip, once her fingers slipped away, he was the one who got to receive the brunt of the damage, landing rather painfully in the grass below. The necromancer released a pained grunt and clenched his head - and when he opened his eyes, he saw a rather frustrated Elf on top of him, pulling off from him, standing up and then huffing at him. What, did she think that he was the one at fault here? She was the one who started reaching for his knife out of nowhere.

Riki responded with a faint scoff and stood up on his feet as well. He offered a glance to his mark-littered right arm, seeing that several of the marks were still glowing brightly, then turned forward and sent Tenna a nod, ordering her to turn around. It perhaps should have been expected from the start, but their violent and loud crash attracted the attention of a few demons who didn't seem to be interested in charging down the tunnel. The creatures looked meager and nothing for a veteran warrior to deal with, but... well, emphasis on "warrior", isn't it?

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Saelaam of Trelia
Haden Hill Tunnels

---

Both the Knight Enchanter and the Knight of Shotarr seemed to agree with his daring plan, and after a brief conversation between the two, the latter turned to him. Saelaam nodded and grabbed Quentin's shoulder as Lena turned to the behemoth to continue her attack.

"Ara fel alak."

Suddenly, the two were on the air behind the demon's head. While Quentin dropped on its shoulders and held on with all of his strength, the winged Thalari flew a good distance away from the creature. There didn't seem to be any archers among the demons guarding the portal, so he felt safe in the air, even if the tunnel's ceiling didn't allow him to go very high.

Before long, the cleric's gambit paid off, and the behemoth let out a horrifying screech before falling to its knees, Sir Raeden's blade embedded in the base of its neck. It was still early to celebrate, though, and as the slain demon began inching forward, Saelaam realized it would crush the Tasharen woman if he did nothing. Cursing at his lack of magika - which would've allowed him to teleport her to safety with ease - he nonetheless dived towards her and picked her up with some effort before flying away, narrowly managing to avoid being flattened by the fallen behemoth.

With a sigh of relief, he set the Knight Enchanter down on the ground as gently as possible. She immediately rushed to Quentin's side to check on him, and the young man slowly trailed behind. Fatigue had been wearing him down for a while now, but the priest of Oadot did his best to resist, knowing that putting an end to the demon invasion was paramount. He nodded at the Knight Commander's compliment before looking around the battlefield. It seemed like they had largely won the battle against the abominations spewed forth by the portal: in addition to the one he had helped Sir Raeden take down, one of the five behemoths was struck down by the members of the cavalry charge, another went down thanks to the efforts of several knights, and of the remaining two one was being handled by an elven knight and a sorcerer, while the other one was attacking the Athelaian he had helped earlier and the storyteller who had led the cavalry charge.

The cleric then looked down. This close to the slain giant, the silver hammer he continued to hold tightly seemed to shine brightly, enveloped by a halo of holy light. He glanced at the black curtain that sat at the very end of the tunnel, and dread began to grip his heart once more - there didn't seem to be any more demons coming from it at the moment, but that didn't mean they were out of danger.

"Sir Raeden." He spoke, turning back to the Knight of Shotarr. "Most of the fiends are dead, but more will come if we do not close the portal at once." He stated, before his voice became uncertain. "I do not know how we can do that, but... if I get close enough, maybe the hammer will..."

[Theyra]

Alexius

"You do not have to tell me twice! Ivaran yelled as he quickly moved to get on top of the behemoth. Another strong blast of magic from the Alexius worked and now was his chance to end this demon. Ivaran climbed on top and he got into position above the behemoth's heart. When the behemoth started to recover and started to reach out to Ivaran in order to grab or knock him off. Before the behemoth could reach Ivaran, he aimed and plunge his glaive into the behemoth's heart. The behemoth howled in pain before its limbs went limp and let out a death wail.

He did it, he thought as he pulled his glaive from the behemoth's chest. The behemoth is dead and with a sense of relief, he let his guard down and looked around to see how the others were doing. Another behemoth had been slain by another group and it looks like only one of the behemoth's remains. "Four down and one to go", Ivaran said under his breath and he stepped off of the behemoth's body. It looks like they were winning against the demons and for the moment, no more demons are coming out of the portal. But, for how long and if they do not close this portal somehow then all of this would be for nothing. He looked straight at the portal and he wondered to how they could disable it. To his knowledge, they do not have anything that could bring it down unless someone here and alive has an idea of how to take it down. Hopefully, what Alexius said about that following that human is the key to stopping this nightmare is right.

Ivaran turned to face Alexius, "Okay, most of the behemoths are dead and any idea of how to close the portal? His voice tired, "cause if we do not close that portal this will not stop or should I place my trust in that man that you said was the key to ending this?

[Tomia]

Brialya
Archeno had clearly weakened the behemoth as it stumbled towards the archer. Now knowing that the spots between its armor were its weakness, Bria notched an arrow that shined brightly as it was drawn back past her ear. The bow string snapped and the arrow shot forward, finding its mark in the beast's shoulder. Upon contact the arrow flashed brightly and exploded in an almost blinding display. The creature roared in anger and stumbled backwards, struggling to keep its feet under the onslaught.
Brialya knew she didn't really have the skills to take this monster out on her own, so her eyes scanned the cavern around her.

"Warriors, this behemoth is weakened! Take it down and we can end this fight!" She shouted to those around her, hoping someone would come to her and Archeno's aid.

Quentin
The knight had no idea if Saelaam was being intuitive or hopefully naive. Quentin believed in the gods, but he wouldn't exactly call himself spiritual. He had doubts like most men, and frankly he found more comfort in the things he could see or feel than in the metaphysical. Still, something about this moment was different. He had felt it all the back in the temple. The hammer that the beast folk held in his hand was no ordinary hammer, and this was no ordinary moment. Sometimes greatness required faith, and right now faith was likely his best shot.

Quentin struggled to his feet, ignoring the aching pain in his ribs. "Then I will follow you chosen. I'll get you to that portal, you have my word."

"We'll get you to the portal." Lena corrected as she approached the pair. "Come on then, we have a world to save so we might as well get to it."

[The Great Swedish Empire]

Calt
He turned to Karl again. "You are sending your groups alone, without further, larger, protection. Not a single mage in sight. In fact, did you bring one?" A small vortex of magicka appeared again on his hands. "There are larger beasts down there, and more soldiers fighting. They would need any help, every person into their aid, and mages. You would do well to bring the whole force, or maybe leave a part for reserve, and see what we could do to stop these ever-coming tide of demons." He gestured for his mages to accompany Karl's soldiers. "Ah.. with respect, Officer."

Such disrespect... Such words... this was what the men of Dascus were. Arrogant soccers that cared not for anyone lesser than them. And this one was questioning his command. His achievements? The sacrifice of his men and women to hold the tunnel even though every moment one of them died. Some were even brave enough to die twice.

"I cannot hold this ground here for long. I must withdraw my forces further down the tunnel if they are to preserve their combat effectiveness. If the vangaurd does not push fast or hard enough we will have no room to retreat. If you do want to be of use then use your mages to cover our retreat."

[Galnius]

Good news - the two of them did not fall to their demise, the Elven woman was swift enough to stab her knife to the bark of the branch and use it as a means of keeping the two of them suspended in mid-air.

Bad news - they still got to fall. The woman was not strong enough to hold them both - and since Riki was the one hanging from her grip, once her fingers slipped away, he was the one who got to receive the brunt of the damage, landing rather painfully in the grass below. The necromancer released a pained grunt and clenched his head - and when he opened his eyes, he saw a rather frustrated Elf on top of him, pulling off from him, standing up and then huffing at him. What, did she think that he was the one at fault here? She was the one who started reaching for his knife out of nowhere.

Riki responded with a faint scoff and stood up on his feet as well. He offered a glance to his mark-littered right arm, seeing that several of the marks were still glowing brightly, then turned forward and sent Tenna a nod, ordering her to turn around. It perhaps should have been expected from the start, but their violent and loud crash attracted the attention of a few demons who didn't seem to be interested in charging down the tunnel. The creatures looked meager and nothing for a veteran warrior to deal with, but... well, emphasis on "warrior", isn't it?

Tenna realized now why she ran in the first place. Helping people always seemed to get her into trouble. In the past day alone, she got these strange creatures thrown at her. Then, she decides to try and help someone for the second time and giant creatures arrived. Now, she helps some ungrateful prick of a man and not only does he make them fall out of a tree, but now the creatures are back. On top of all that, one of her arms still hurt!

Tired of all of this, Tenna let out a deep sigh. Grabbing a few knives, the elf threw them in the demon's direction and....they dodged it. Tenna's eyes narrowed. Her lip twitched in a annoyance. She reached down once more, this time with both hands. Ignoring the injury she drew two more blades. Perhaps it was a blessing they had come along. Sure, she wasn't one to fight for her life, but the past few hours had made her need to hurt something or other.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Neferis Lahari
Haden Hill Tunnels

---

"Perhaps I can help with that."

Immediately after the voice had spoken, a grunt could be heard, and a large ornate warhammer flew forth from somewhere behind Brialya, heading straight towards the fiend's head. It brought up its rock armored hands to try and protect itself, but its movements were much too slow, and the hammer struck it square in the head with a loud crash, leaving its stony face cracked and deformed. The hammer fell to the ground head-first with a loud thud, while the behemoth was staggered by the heavy blow - already off balance from its slashed knee, the creature could not remain on its feet and fell to one knee.

Neferis walked up to Brialya and offered her a small nod, one hand hanging to her side and the other clutching her stomach - her wounds had subsided thanks to Taino's Curative, but some of the pain remained. "It's stunned now." The she-wolf pointed out. "Now's the time to deal the killing blow."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Archeno
Battle of Haden Hill, The Tunnel

The whistling in the air caused Archeno to turn and seek its source, and he was rewarded with an excellent view of the Neferis' hammer flying through the air and flattening the behemoth's nose and denting its brow. Just the kind of detail he wanted!

Neferis walked up to Brialya and offered her a small nod, one hand hanging to her side and the other clutching her stomach - her wounds had subsided thanks to Taino's Curative, but some of the pain remained. "It's stunned now." The she-wolf pointed out. "Now's the time to deal the killing blow."

Giving her a crisp nod, Archeno carefully approached the dazed demon. He stuck to its bad side, even though that meant crossing in front of it, because he lacked the wolf-woman's confidence it would stay dazed for long. But the behemoth's glazed eyes didn't follow Archeno as he got along side it, and it slumped wordlessly when he slit its throat.

For a moment, Archeno searched for the nearest demon, but found none between them and the black curtain. Instead, he heard only a moans of the wounded and the distant clashes between the rearguard and the demons.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Saelaam of Trelia
Haden Hill Tunnels

---

Both warriors, one from the Enchanter Order and the other from the Knights of Shotarr, pledged to get him through to the end of the tunnel, no matter the cost, and Saelaam looked at each of them before turning his gaze to the portal. The black curtain remained completely impassible, only appearing to be affected by an unseen breeze which caused its form to ripple sporadically. It was a foul creation and the young cleric could not stand to look at it for long, but he'd looked long enough to know that it wouldn't be an easy task: most of the lesser demons in the depths of the tunnel had been delivered to their dreaded makers alongside the larger stone-clad ones, but a small group remained near the abyssal gate, intent on defending it to their last breath; Saelaam briefly wondered if they were expecting reinforcements or if they were simply that well-disciplined, and both thoughts disturbed him for different reasons.

Still, that small group of demons was the only remaining obstacle between the hammer and the hellish portal, and all three of them knew it.

"Take care of those." Spoke the priest of Oadot, resolve in his voice. "I'll go on ahead to the portal. I don't see any archers among them, so I'll be fine." He assured them. The two knights nodded and then rushed ahead to rout the last of the demons, but instead of taking off right after, the Ar'el hesitated for a moment, wings still and feet firmly on the ground.

The truth was, he really didn't know how to close the gate, even if the silver hammer seemed to be the key. He also didn't know if it was possible for demonic reinforcements to come out of it as he approached, or even if the foul artifact wouldn't just suck him in if he closed in too much. But what he did know was that he couldn't afford to be afraid of any of that. Not when all of these people, and possibly the whole of Eboris, depended on him. Taking a deep breath, the winged Thalari closed his eyes for a moment and uttered a prayer.

Imera, grant me integrity. Shotarr, grant me courage. Oadot, grant me strength and protect me.

With that done, Saelaam jumped into the air and his black wings beat furiously, holding him aloft. Flying just under the ceiling of the cavern, out of reach of the weapons wielded by demons and mortals alike, he spared a glance below only to watch as Quentin and Lena worked in tandem to wipe out the remaining demons. Afterwards, he looked ahead once more and saw the black curtain draw closer and closer. It had a repulsive presence that grew stronger as he approached, quickly becoming nearly overwhelming, as if he was being physically pushed away from it.

Yet, with much effort, the cleric finally landed in front of the demonic portal, which seemed to suck out the light from its surroundings. In contrast, the silver hammer glowed brightly in his hand, almost blinding - it felt warm to the touch and let out a low, erratic hum as well, as though it were eager to fulfill its purpose. This was all new, and it became evident that the hammer was reacting to the presence of the portal.

So it was true after all, this is the key... Saelaam thought, his grip on the shaft tightening. Still somewhat uncertain of the next step to take, he let his intuition guide him and raised the hammer over his head before landing a powerful blow on the surface of the portal. Immediately, the sound of glass shattering flooded the tunnels, and a sudden gale buffeted everyone within. An unearthly scream was heard briefly as the demonic portal appeared to split into several shards that then fell to the ground before dissipating into a black mist, completely disappearing after a few seconds.

As the black mist cleared away, Saelaam could be seen still standing in front of where the portal had once been, staring ahead as if in disbelief.

...It is done...

The portal is no more.

Feeling his strength suddenly leave him as exhaustion and arcane fatigue began to set in, the cleric fell to his knees. One hand continued to grip the ornate silver hammer that had sealed away the portal, but it was now dark, as it had been before all of this happened.