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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spider_Jerusalem" data-source="post: 1733067" data-attributes="member: 5507">Apologies to everyone waiting for this. Hey Milo, good to see you floating about. And yes, Milo starts to come into his own (not that the little guy already hasn't - trust me when I say he was a tough nut to crack and that sneak attack is a geewhiz when it works - bloody TrueStrike). ANYWAY. Last section of Another Brick in the Wall coming soon. Hope you like this one. Spider.Part 3 of 4As Thalin crashed to the ground, Mikka sprung into action. His hands were a blur as a protective spell melted into existence around the fallen mage. The warning horn of the border wall ceased abruptly. “Thalin! Get up!” cried Mikka as he edged to get a view of the wall from behind the boulder.Thalin squirmed to his knees, “Dariel,” his breathing heavy and ragged, “Dariel!”His mind called too, and a feint thrum of life pulsed back. Thalin felt Dariel’s pain. Thalin’s chest felt collapsed and his arms felt shattered, but they were not. Dariel’s were. The sharp focus of reality washed over him, the ice crystals that he crouched over glinted in the sun, like a hundred stars lain at his feet.“Mikka,” said Thalin as he drew himself to his feet. “Make me fast”Mikka felt obliged to ask for a ‘please’ but thought better of it. As he cast the spell, Mikka looked up at Thalin, whose eyes were clouded white, and he noticed that Thalin too was weaving his hands in the air. The tiefling finished the incantation with ten claps that got quicker and quicker. A pop of energy sunk into Thalin. At the same time a shimmer of ice shot over the mage’s skin. “Keep this safe. If someone should attack, escape and take it to Tilverton,” said Thalin to Mikka as he unslung Erifeci and placed it into his hands, his face stern. “Righto. And what then?”“I don’t know,” answered Thalin truthfully. With a final flick of his wrist, Thalin’s scimitar Shard was coated in a crackling coat of frost, the air near the blade hissing in protest. Crouching down, he looked at Mikka, “if you sell that staff, I’ll give Torious your family tree.”Mikka gave a look of hurt as Thalin launched forward and out of the protection of the boulder, his body moving at a blinding speed. - - - - - - - - - -Milo sent the string of little lights up into the air, their fuzzy bodies bumping and spinning together. Seconds later, a crossbow bolt zipped through them. Choosing his moment carefully, Milo crouched forwards and jumped towards the wall. He heard the call of the guards as they saw him move. Dammnit. The silhouette of a guard’s helmet was momentarily eclipsed against the sky, and Milo loosed a bolt upwards.The guard toppled forwards and crunched heavily into the snow. Reloading the next bolt, Milo saw the billowing robes of Thalin as he sped across the open plains, a crackling blue sword in his hand. Milo shrugged and felt the bolt tense into position. The guards above him began to fire shots at the sprinting mage. Using the brief respite, Milo kissed Tymora’s Ring and vaulted upwards. With a whoosh of magical energy and a shriek of battle, Milo back-flipped onto the wall.- - - - - - - - - -Thalin counted his steps as the crossbow bolts zipped past him. One bolt had grazed his side but he had kept his momentum, and most importantly, his spell. With his last two steps he kicked forwards onto the rough wall. His gloves and boots stuck fast. Momentarily stunned by vertigo, Thalin heard a bolt sluice through the air under his chin, and he quickly climbed upwards.A guard rushed to the battlements and leant over. His body shook once then slumped backwards, a crater of frost where his visor once was. Thalin crept onto the parapet and surveyed the scene below.The courtyard was small and paved. A thin slush of ice covered the stonework, and the milieu of guards kicked and splashed about in it. He thought of his years as a boy in the courtyard in his father’s castle. A crossbow bolt thudded into shoulder but magic slivered across it in an instant and it fell away in a fine dust.“Dariel!” shouted Thalin again, both out loud and in his mind. An immediate screech came from the wall on the other side of the courtyard, where Thalin saw the white flash of Dariel’s wingtip in the shadow of a battlement. Two more bolts whistled into his body, Thalin only feeling a faint push before they fell away into dust. Thalin let a laugh escape his lips. Such a pitiful resistance. His thoughts crumpled in his mind as three fiery orbs erupted into the cold air from the centre of the courtyard and streaked towards him.- - - - - - - - - -Torious plunged forwards, the frozen top layer of snow cracking under his weight as he leaped onwards. The Ulutian’s had drawn level to him now, their awkward gait suddenly seeming perfect for this kind of descent. Torious had watched as Thalin and Milo had stormed the wall. Guards were dropping quickly, though not quickly enough.Reaching the end of the snowdrift, Torious felt his boots thud onto the wall. He still had to reach the gatehouse, and the bolts that had begun to whistle past had to be dealt with.- - - - - - - - - -Milo landed perfectly on the inner parapet, an opening bolt pitching a guard forwards and off of the wall. Two lumbering guards, each wearing the insignia of Robar, lurched towards him. Milo weaved sideways and unsheathed Sliverspike, though he found that his fingers had instead found Vampire. With no time to change, Milo brushed the first guard to the side and traced his sword over the achilles heel of the second. The small sting of pain on Milo’s hand was quickly subdued by a surge of energy, speed and strength. And thirst.- - - - - - - - - -Thalin gasped as the orbs blasted into him, his skin suddenly blistering and bursting as the energy crawled through his skin. Staggering back from the force of the attack, Thalin pushed himself to a stand. Another shower of bolts cascaded into dust around him. Dariel’s wheezing breath began to falter, and Thalin felt a rip of pain deep in his chest. I will not lose you, my friend.Thalin felt the air crackle with magic as his hands instinctively pulled the elements under his control. Below him, the guards had lined themselves in two rows of crossbowmen. That won’t save you. Not from me. Thalin’s eyes frosted over and his clothes prickled with a cold sweat. His hands moulded the surging energy together. The guards fired again, and from the fog of dust came back a nimbus of frost, which sped into the centre of their ranks. With a sound like someone sharply taking in breath, the unit of crossbowmen crusted white with frost. Their bodies stood as statues, the lethal plummet in temperature leaving their blood frozen and their flesh rock hard. Dropping down into the courtyard, Thalin could only hear the sound of Milo’s cries, Torious’ far off battle howls and the soft tinkle of the dead crossbowmen. Almost lost in the moment, Thalin just managed to bring up the crackling Shard in time to deflect the swing of a flaming scimitar. Whirling to confront his enemy, Thalin found himself face to face with four identical men. Each held a blazing sword of fire....</blockquote>

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