lunaecalamitas | this day should be for me

None of that, now! Again, with vigor!

[He laughs brightly as he teleports again with another firm whack of his broom under the wizard's legs (14), sending him right back to the ground.]

Come on, Ithaqua, we haven't got all day!

Fine, you ugly little hole-dwelling vermin.

[Ithaqua summons his broom, but before he sits on it and straps his axe to his back, his shield catches a spell aimed right at himself-- even if it shatters and he needs to reapply it soon, he's safe. But his anger is piqued, and he leaps to attack the wizard who attempted to kill him. Now his axe does find its target, burying itself into the wizard's chest to doom him into a painful, slow death, and blood sprays his face. (15)]

I'm taking these mana stones.

Edited 2024-06-23 05:49 (UTC)

[There he goes. There's a slight look of apology, a smile that doesn't reach his eyes as the man gurgles for breath and starts to freeze and crack, just as the other witches had. But Solomon turns his eyes away as the man goes silent and shatters, wiping the spray of blood on his sleeve with one hand and grabbing his broom to a decent height with the other.]

Only what we can carry immediately. We have more company.

[He scoops up a few to pocket, but the threads that have extended through the sky have faded to nothing, and those stragglers that had left, the small crowd that was watching from all ends -- it would not be the North if not for the unnecessary boldness of so many. While some fight each other, most now see a growing prize and even less of a reason to keep their presence a mystery.]

Fly, Ithaqua. Let's see if they can handle the chase as well as you.

[Ithaqua is greedy, stuffing his mouth and then sweeping the rest into the pouch on his hip, which he'd taken the large jar from-- because it can hold more than its size. He makes a face at the feeling of the mana fighting him as he swallows, but shakes his head to clear it.

Now he finally hops onto his broom, attaches his axe to his back, and clutches the soul shard to his chest as he rises in the air. But first! He points at himself (7), and Solomon (17), applying quick barriers to absorb one spell each for them as they flee.]

[authors note: this is where nik and ray learned that the shard is too big to be in a jar so it's fine it was never in a jar in the first place, dwbi, back to your regularly scheduled thread--

He nods his thanks briefly at the feel of the defensive spell against him, letting Ithaqua take the lead as he hops on his own broom and follows suit.

It's very quickly apparent that Ithaqua has a substantial speed difference. No matter, if it makes them both harder to keep track of, then all the better. But it means that they're rapidly being split apart from one another, even as the snow field melts away to the rolling stretch of the snowy woods.

From further back, still open in the snow, Solomon feels the heat of a spell just barely missing him (8), laughing as he rolls his broom to the side and teleports a few yards ahead. Get good, scrubs.

In the lead, Ithaqua might very well find that some of those stragglers following the threads have doubled back and are very unhappy to see someone mimicking a star wars speeder with a Very Big purple stone tucked under his arms... that looks 1) bad and 2) like free target practice! Too bad they, also, need to get good (10).]

[Well, they have a lot of hangers-on, don't they? As the one with the soul fragment, he really needs to get a move on, so he does. It's a good thing he has so much speed compared to all these other wizards and witches, even Solomon.

Who cares about him? This assignment is more important.

And it's time for Ithaqua to say the most toxic quick message in all of IDV history:]

You're on your own! [And off he zooms--]

[At least he was expecting this much. Still, Solomon can't help but sigh. Here he'd been hoping for at least a little more teamwork than this!

Ithaqua's speed highly outmatches his own, though, and even though he has his own ability to teleport, it doesn't stop the magic in pursuit, both in long-range and in those who have their own abilities to keep on their tails.

The first hit to connect (18, 6) slams into and shatters into the barrier that Ithaqua had just created. It's fine, hopefully a deterrent, and Solomon attempts a spell in retaliation, an enormous magical circle opening up to shoot out projectiles at the oncoming swarm.

Unfortunately, despite its wide range (5) it doesn't seem to hit any of its marks... and the distraction leaves him wide open.]

[Anyway he gets a laser beam straight to the face from one of those retreating witches the second he turns around. (20)

Ow.

Down he falls off his broom and into the trees, which helps some of the other spells being thrown his way miss wildly (3, 8, 2, 3, 3), though the partner alongside that more successful witch does manage another potshot at him (13), cracking apart the tree he's landed in and dropping him flat to the ground.

No... he's not about to count himself overwhelmed like this. And what kind of teacher would he be, if he couldn't follow the lesson he'd just shown to his apprentice?

The mana stone in his pocket is shoved into his mouth, swallowed as he wipes blood from his mouth, and with the trees as his cover, he teleports backwards. Only when the action has caught the attention and slowed the pace of some of the pursuers does he teleport again, off to the side, seemingly at random.

He's going to be at this for a minute or two, but whatever stragglers are going after Ithaqua should be very few now in their irritation to thwart the thorn in their side that is Solomon.]

Edited 2024-06-23 07:12 (UTC)

[He has no regrets-- but he also has an important item to carry, of course he must prioritize himself.

Especially when those who ignored Solomon are trying to aim for him. The fastest ones number five, he can tell with a quick peek back, though it distracts him enough that one particularly strong spell hits him from the side, nearly knocking him off of his broom. In fact, he manages to hang on with his free hand solely because he manages to walk on air now, and has to struggle to climb back onto his broom. (16)

At the very least, the rest were quite pathetic attempts. (2, 10, 7, 8)

Though injured, a burning feeling in his side from the spell that did hit him (19), a stench in his nose, Ithaqua urges his broom forward, able to escape his pursuers with a renewed burst of speed from his broom. (18) No, seriously, he's actually gone now.]

[Goodbye, feral child, be free.

Solomon continues to not have a great time (13, 8, 1, 7, 12) but it's giving him well-needed exercise and we're sure he'll manage.

(1)

One of the smarter of the group catches him mid-teleport before he can even raise his wand to finish another spell, and a nearby tree comes to life and grabs him by the leg, yeeting him like a baseball. Ah, the things Ithaqua misses when he leaves so fast.

It's fine. He'll remember he has a long-distance teleport before he gets completely killed.]

[Well. Maybe.

A firm, prone landing to the snowy ground dazes him, and four more successful spells (15, 3, 20, 15, 14) hit him in the interrim. While the crack of lightning misses, the slicing sharpness of the wind does not, right before another laserbeam that hits him dead center in the chest (what is with these goddamn lasers) and sends him sprawling backwards yet again through the snow. As he tries to pull himself up from that, yet another tree bursts to life to nab him and lift him up off the ground with a crushing force, while ice rapidly builds at his limbs.

When Solomon finally DOES cave and completely teleport away back to the North tower, he's in enough actual pain to be heavily, heavily irritated.

Thank god for that healing potion.]

this day should be for me

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