Kingsway Rifter Arrival

[faderifting]

WHO: New rifters & their rescuers
WHAT: People fall out of a rift and get attacked by stuff
WHEN: Kingsway 8
WHERE: The coast of the Waking Sea in northern Orlais, just west of the mountains.
NOTES: The arrival log is open to all. Solas was able to alert the Inquisition to the general area where the new rifters would be arriving so people could be sent to pick them up.

You were asleep--deeply or fitfully, for the last time or just resting your eyes for a moment-- and then you were not. And wherever you were was not, anymore, replaced by nothing but the sensation of falling, tumbling into endless, bottomless nothing. If this were still a dream, you would wake before you hit the ground. You can't die in a dream, they say. In some worlds.

In this world, you're plunged down through warm, sticky sea air and full-body into salt water. It's shallow enough to stand and keep your head above the rolling waves--but you'll need to do more than that to live. Overhead, there's a flaring, shifting, green-lit tear in reality. Around you, there are a number of ghastly figures: some float above, hooded and rasping, poised to freeze the sea around you if you don't get out of it quickly enough, while others are spindly monstrosities that burst up from the sand and rocks beneath your feet and scream as they emerge from the water. Whatever arrived with you floats in the waves, slowly pushed toward the shore, or sinks beneath the surface. It may be wisest to leave it for now and collect it when the area is slightly less demon-infested.

To add to your troubles, there's a narrow splinter of light in the same sickly green as whatever brought you here, now glowing out of the palm of your left hand. It aches, a bone-deep pain that gnaws even through all the distractions.

But there's help, on the shore.

Comments

Mac | Destiny | OTA

[spaceswan]

Sleeping, rare as it is for the Guardian, is hardly ever so eventful! Sure, sometimes there's bright lights and monsters, sometimes he's drowning (being unable to swim), sometimes he's falling or blowing up, but it's never all at once, and certainly never so real.

The belly-bottoming-out feel of a real end-over-end tumble was the first thing to tip him off that he had either slid from his bunk and was about to hit the floor or he was legitimately falling. In the rapid processes of thought where time seemed to slow, Mac considered the possibility that Taken had found and destroyed his ship while he was sleeping, but the notion was quickly ruled out, since surely Ghost would have alerted him? Speaking of which--

"GHOS--"

Of course he would hit water, get the wind knocked out of him, swallow a good mouthful of wet salt and wouldn't get a word out. Of course his stupid, useless tin bucket wasn't saving him. Of course. Why not?

Pure vitriol manages to motivate him to find which way is up so he can pop his head over the roiling, frothing mess. No time to worry about Ghost; being alive at all is a pretty good indicator that everything is fine insofar as his chatty phylactery is concerned, so why bother focusing on that when the Hive are everywhere? Best as he can figure it, that's what happened - Hive attacked him and now here he is, crashed on Venus, maybe? Venus has a lot of weird crap in the sky. Green....blue? Doesn't matter! Here and now! Here and now!

"Oh hell," he mutters, patting his back and sides in search of a gun. Any gun. Nothing. Naturally. Aha! But his fingers do curl around the hilt of his sword, a comforting grip as he raises his weapon from over his shoulder, fully intending to fight whatever is coming his way. Of course getting surer footing would be an excellent idea, so he's just going to Blink step over to the shore and--

One second he's in the water, bobbing unsteadily and brandishing Sol Edge, the next he's zipping wildly through the air, leaving a misty trail behind him and really, Mac can't keep up! Before he's able to catch himself he's crashing into the ground head-first, rolling end over end and skidding to a gravelly halt on his back, staring up at the sky in confusion.

This is so, so much worse than coming back from the dead in the middle of a trash heap.

"Can I please wake up now? Please?" he pleads with nothing and no one in particular, one hand patting aimlessly at his side in search of his sword, the other levering him painfully upright again. Gotta get up. Gotta fight. Can't stop.

[serannas]

Ellana only catches the tail end of the man's crash into the ground. It looks like he attempted Fade Stap and couldn't stick the landing. But with demons pouring out of the rift, anything beyond killing these creatures will have to wait. Mac will see a blue glow appear over him as Ellana casts a protective magical barrier on him. It looks like he has a sword, but maybe he's too hurt to fight?

"Fall back if you need to!" she calls out before focusing on the demons rushing towards them. She raises a hand into the air and then jerks down her fist, setting a Static Cage over the demons. When they reach the edge, the electricity will zap them back to the center of the cage, trapping them and damaging them for the duration of the spell. It can buy them some time.

[spaceswan]

"Well I've already done that, haven't I?" he groans, catching his breath a bit as he heaves himself upright and winces. Funny, normally just laying there for a moment would have at least recovered him from some of his injuries, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was obviously shielded, but it wasn't his own.

Turning bright green eyes on the woman, Mac shakes himself free of his confusion and focuses instead on the fight. Questions later, Hive now. Or whatever these things are; he can't really recognize them. At least he's backed up by another warlock? That's familiar enough!

"Pardon me!" Mac shouts cheerily despite the pain in his back and sides. Accepting he was awake meant more focus, and there were few things the man enjoyed more than a scuffle with friendlies in attendance! Drawing both arms back, pulling the elemental forces in around him, he thrusts a hand forward, aiming for the center of Ellana's caged area and materializing a swelling orb of flame that pulsed and burned anything in the vicinity.

"Uh, miss! Ma'am? Lady? I seem to have a bit of a thing?" Mac announces a moment later, looking at the hand he's raised to cast the spell. Green light throbs and flickers there, alarming at the least. It isn't blocking his ability to cast, at any rate, and he's watching Ellana, ready to work off whatever she does next because clearly she's got the home field advantage.

[serannas]

"Well, yes, but I meant retreat, not fall," she says quickly, getting ready to cast another spell. But then he casts one for her and she watches his flames with an impressed lift of her brow. Fire magic comes the most naturally to Ellana. It was her job in the clan to light all the fires, and with magic it was easy. It looks like it's easy for him too.

"Oh! Yes, that. You can use that to close the rift and stop more demons from coming out." And now she closes the distance between them. He seems friendly enough and not likely to set her on fire. Up close, he'll see she has green eyes too, though not nearly as bright as his. She also has pointed ears and a purple facial tattoo that spreads across her upper cheeks like the branches of a tree.

"I've watched people do it before. You sort of reach for the rift and pull your hand back like you're pulling it inside out."

Corvo Attano | Dishonored | OTA

[watchesandlistens]

The mask haunted his dreams.

Hardly surprising, when it had been designed to strike fear into his enemies. Well, their enemies, the Loyalist's enemies. Maybe that's why it still followed him in his nightmares. Maybe that's why it came with him when he fell through his dreams, and into the water.

The warm seas of Karnaca served as a playground in Corvo's youth as much as the jungles had, and you had to learn to swim swiftly if you didn't want to lose a toe (or worse) to the hagfish. It was a bit of good fortune for him in an otherwise incredibly unfortunate turn of events, and before Corvo could even discern that this was not another twist in his nightmares, he was swimming for the surface. His head emerged from the waves, mask still covering his face, like a monster rising from old sailor's tales. The mask conceals his shock, muffles his gasp as his situation settles in to his sleep-fogged mind. His first thought is that he's back in the void, and this is an elaborate test set up by the Outsider, but...there are others bobbing in the water with him, aside from the monsters. Are they other mark-bearers--?

But those monsters are not to be ignored while Corvo mulls this over, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out they are hostile. He slips through the water, barely avoiding a creature in rags that hurls bolts of ice at him. There will be time for processing later, once he's safe, if there is safety to be found here. The first goal is to head for shore, and he continues to cut an imposing figure as he swims hastily through the water--it's faster than trying to walk in the sea, at least until the water is barely to his knees, and he wordlessly rises up. The next issue at hand is any means of self-defense, which is answered when his eyes catch metal glinting in the sun, and he spots his sword bobbing along in the waves not far from him. He picks it up, and makes it to the shore just in time to face a new monster, springing up from the sand with a horrifying shriek.

There's no time to be shocked or to hesitate, not when this creature is baring down at him, and he lifts his left hand up--well, now there's a pause, as the mark of the outsider mixes with a ghastly green glow that was not there before. Perhaps this was why he was called to the void--? But then the creature lunges at him, and there's no more time to muse over it. The symbol on his hand lights up, and he moves in a fade step (this isn't blinking, he realizes, and puts that on the ever-growing list of things to puzzle out) behind his would-be attacker, jumping into the air and bringing down his sword before the monster even realized where he'd gone.

That's one down, but there are plenty more, and the crunching of sand heralds the approach of someone new. Corvo spins around, sword up and ready to fight. He makes no move to attack, not yet, simply standing there, an unwavering and decidedly unsettling being, wind weakly tugging at his water-logged cloak.

[gatheringstorm]

"Nice mask." Well, it is, though there isn't time for Korrin to inspect it as she pleases. In fact, the tall horned woman barely glances at him before casting a Barrier spell over them both, her own still holding up decently but uncertain what magic he might have beyond Fade Step. Whoever he is, right now they're on the same anti-demon team.

Narrowing her eyes at the despair demon that just doesn't seem to want to leave the new rifter alone, she readies her staff and what seems to be a simple sword hilt. It's coming to them, which is more than okay since Korrin would just as soon not leave land. "Let's hit it from both sides, shall we?" She wastes no time in conjuring her glowing blade, lunging forward to slice at it as soon as its dumb enough to leave the water.

[watchesandlistens]

There's a tense silence as Corvo waits for this monsterous horned creature to attack him next when it--she--talks. She compliments his mask, of all things, then tasks him with helping her fight the ragged creature that had followed him out of the water. And...she used magic. A magic that he had certainly never been given, a sword that could materialize out of thin air. A little large for his needs, but surely you could adjust it...? There's no mark on her hand, though, no sign of the Outsider.

She must be a creature of the void. One that is curiously not hostile to him, but neither is the Outsider. It stood to reason that there might be others. It would certainly explain her inhuman appearance, and her magic. And that she likes his mask.

Mystery solved, he resolves to question her once the fighting is done, and simply nods. He raises his sword and darts to the other side of the demon, jumping higher than a human should be able to as he swings his sword in a wide arc. Whatever these were, they were in the way of him getting answers and going home.

[gatheringstorm]

That high jumping reminds her suddenly of Kain, and his recent dramatic death. Hopefully, this man doesn't have the same love of recklessness and disregard for common sense. (She liked him just fine, but it was so true.) That wide arc catches the demon off-guard before it could spin away, just as she hoped, and Korrin adds to it with her spirit blade, tearing into the thing. Getting blasted with ice a moment later still makes it worthwhile. Between the two of them, it's still going down.

[extramural]

"My dear Corvo," the Outsider greets, holding his own sword in his hand, boots upon the shore. There is a faint smile, or something like it. "It's not like you to leave a job half finished."

It is easy to return to this habit, to speaking to his Marked as a being of the Void and not anything mortal. It is a habit, the Outsider knows, he will likely have to break. He knows more than Corvo at the moment, but that is not likely to last. Beyond that- he's glad to see him, in his own childish, selfish way. Corvo is familiar but never expected, and the Outsider would like to see how the fallen Protector handles himself in this world.

Speaking of-

"The demons will continue to attack. We have been ensnared by some magic that even I do not understand, brought to a world beyond yours, beyond the Void, beyond what we know -- and they are from this world's realm of magic and of dreams. They would rather like to possess you in order to stay, and it is, I'm told, rather permanent."

There is a gesture with his sword, even as the wind around them begins to pick up. "If you'd care to join me...?"

Windblast bursts out, slamming into one of the despair demons and sending it toppling into a piece of driftwood.

[watchesandlistens]

He can't even muster surprise that the Outsider is here. Of course he's here, Corvo just got dropped out of his sleep into the ocean, in the middle of a bunch of monsters trying to kill him, why wouldn't he be here? And sassing him about the whole thing, to boot.

Corvo lifts his mask up, looking incredibly disgruntled, and is ready to tell the Outsider exactly what he thinks about this latest batch of shenanigans that he is most certainly not in the mood for. But then the Outsider keeps speaking. This in itself is hardly unusual, but what he tells Corvo doesn't involve vague hints on what may or may not come to pass, nor ambivalent yet amused musings on Corvo's life choices.

He squints at the Outsider, then turns to where there are, surely enough, more demons coming forth. Then back to the Outsider, then back to the demons. Then he sighs, and lowers his mask back down.

"Once we're done, you're going to explain this further." Way to take a stand, Corvo. But he turns to the encroaching demons, and dashes at them, sword swinging. It's hard to grasp just what is happening, but it's not the first time that his life has been thrown into shambles. And a good first step to reassembling it is always to get rid of whatever is currently trying to kill you.

[extramural]

Demands are interesting- a step that many never took, but one it seems Corvo has been pushed into. It makes the Outsider smirk, even as Corvo turns away to continue the fight. He will explain as best he can, if only because he dared to demand -- though he suspects Corvo will not appreciate the answers. He also suspects that the Outsider not knowing may help impress upon him the severity of their situation.

Maybe.

If Corvo decides to think about it.

In any case, the Outsider returns to the fight as well, sword flashing and magic howling.

post rifty nonsense

[rowancrowned]

He likes the sort that fall through a rift and come back to themselves fighting. Thranduil doesn’t have any problem with those that can’t, or won’t—never trained, never needed to train, couldn’t lift a sword—but it cuts the number down of what he needs to fight by, well, cutting them down. Some even hold their own and don’t need to be dragged back to shore. Thus Corvo spares himself of Thranduil’s attentions in the middle of the fight—

Though he’s still subject to them later, while drying off by a fire that night.

Thranduil has stripped down to breaches, and is still soaking wet, recently having seen the ocean for the first time and spent the afternoon after the fight ended swimming in it. He wrings out his hair as he approaches Corvo, confident in how he moves, shoulders back, an effortless grace and otherworldliness in how he moves, how he—is it a trick of the light?—faintly glows.

“You know Duinenor.” A statement of fact; he neatly seats himself beside (perhaps two feet between them) Corvo on the logs set up round the fire. “Or perhaps it is better to say he knows you.”

[watchesandlistens]

Corvo would like to think that he is not a particularly proud man, one given to vanity. And he would also like to think that whatever pride in his appearance that he did possess could not be crushed by an ethereal, graceful, glowing, soaking wet man strutting around like he was trying to get selected to be the cover model for the next Young Prince of Tyvia novel.

He decides that the fire is a more worthy place for his eyes to rest.

His first thought is to apologize to the man, he's never heard of anyone with such a name. But after a moment's thought, it occurs to him that there is only one person that matches that description, one person that he could claim any knowledge of in this strange world. "Is--" He pauses for a moment, and decides not to attempt to butcher the unusual name with a poor attempt at voicing it. "--that name what you call the Outsider?" Another nickname, perhaps? Or--maybe his true name, though the idea of the Outsider even possessing one strikes Corvo as odd.

[drazhada]

[ the entire experience is so horrifying, so unlike anything he's ever experienced before, and maia's so shocked by it that he doesn't even have the time or presence of mind to scream before he plunges into water. panic fills his mind, and he thrashes, arms weighted down by heavy, embroidered fabric as he struggles to the surface once more. (oddly, some part of him thinks to be concerned with how much work his edocharei will have to do to clean his clothing again.)

he breaks the waves with a desperate gasp for air, and finds himself in the middle of a scene out of some sort of hell. monsters in the waves, on the sand, strange figures clashing with them-- a battlefield. he's been dropped into some sort of battlefield, in the ocean, and he is going to drown if he can't drag himself forward out of the water. ]

Cala! [ he chokes as he accidentally swallows sea-water, coughing, slippered feet sliding on the sandy bottom as he pushes himself forward, confused and upset and still panicking. ] Beshelar! [ where are they? how did he get here? was he drugged and kidnapped? are his nohecharei dead? gods, he doesn't have time to dwell on any of this, there's so much going on around him that his head and his senses swim with it.

he reaches waist-high water with relief. he's so close to the shore, if he can only get to the shore-- and the sand and water before him burst into the air, showering him as something terrible leaps up into the air, all spidery limbs and horrifying claws. maia screams, stumbling back and falling into the water again, struggling to get away from whatever it is. ]

helps??¿?¿

[watchesandlistens]

[ Corvo hasn't any better of an idea on what is happening than Maia, but he is better at swimming, and at fighting. He had been working on swimming to shore himself, knowing that fighting in the water against an unknown enemy was idiotic at best. But Maia's scream cuts through the chaos, and before Corvo has even turned, he knew he was about to do something...well. Idiotic. While he would like to think he has a healthy sense of self-preservation, it has always been in his nature to protect others, and that nature will always trump any worries for himself.

That decision is only strengthened when he manages to get a full look at the situation. The boy...well, he's gray, among other peculiar traits, but still clearly young, and appears to have very little idea how to handle the monster that had burst out of the sand to attack him. And to top it off, he's flailing around like a puppy when first introduced to water. His priority will have to be the monster, but he can do one thing to help the unfortunate young man not drown in the meantime.

Corvo raises his hand, clenched in a fist, and there's a ghastly green glow around that fist before he moves--an impossibly fast blur that parts the water as he rushes to Maia's side. However, considering that he is still entirely concealed, even his face covered by that unsettling mask, Maia has every right to not feel particularly comforted by his new companion. Comforting him is low on Corvo's list of priorities, decidedly below ensuring the young man actually lives, so he doesn't bother with unnecessary reassurances. He does, however, bother to fish a peculiar trinket from his cloak, one that seems to give off an eerie ringing when exposed to the light. Corvo examines it for but a second before he reaches and tucks it into the folds of Maia's clothes. And if Maia bothers to examine this gift, he'll discover that it appears to be a little charm made of bone. Fun! If he keeps it, however, he'll discover that swimming is suddenly significantly easier.

That settled, Corvo's attention turns to the monster, and he jumps out of the water, higher than any human ought to be able to, before engaging his new enemy with his sword. ]

his... hero????

[drazhada]

[ maia's first instinct is to be extremely alarmed by the sudden appearance of the masked stranger, particularly as he reaches into maia's clothing-- but it's to place a little charm, and a moment later he's attacking the monster. between those facts and maia's exhaustion from the last several panicked, terrified minutes, he just doesn't have it in him for a fresh wave of fright. he's all frightened all the time right now.

a part of him rails at his own behaviour as he manages to move out of the way of the stranger and the monster, finally making his way to shore and struggling not to just collapse there. he should-- he should help somehow, shouldn't he? but he's never been in a fight like this in his life, and he's certain his household would be completely horrified if he put himself in danger like this, and.. honestly, what in the name of the lady could he even do?

still, he can't just stand idly by like a maiden in a tale, can he? searching about his feet, he picks up several rocks, then throws them as hard as he can at the monster. demon? whatever it is. one misses it entirely, one glances off its shoulder, but one smacks it right in the back of the head. it doesn't do any real damage, of course, but they're distracting, which seems to be enough for the masked stranger to triumph.. he hopes. ]

[rowancrowned]

[ the sheer delight of the sea, the sea cannot even be ruined by the rift, by the churning water full of demons. he can taste the salt air, and knows his hair will be sticky from it, even braided messily as it is to keep it out of his face as he fights.

thranduil is sure he heard somewhere that salt water ruins leather, but declines to mind in favor of going in to help the sodden mass of fabric and jewels yelling for help-

ah, some part of thranduil's mind supplies. a fear demon.

(he's getting very good at telling them apart.)

it's far too busy feasting of the emotions of the small elf? elf-like- those are pointed ears, yes, and proper hair- to bother to look behind itself, which it how it ends up with a sword sweeping through its torso and another in the area that might be best dubbed neckish. it shatters into smoke and the smell of ozone.

two swords leave no hands free to offer in aid to the sodden might-be-elf, so there's a flash of movement as thranduil sheathes one, and then offers his hand to haul this one to his feet. ]

Come.

[ he's likely the better option, considering the demons. ]

i just dont have alarmed enough looking icons for this intro

[drazhada]

[ he's certainly the better option, though maia's still struggling to put the pieces of this situation together in some form that seems remotely sane and familiar. the stranger is-- an elf, he thinks? darker-skinned and -haired than he's familiar with, and so tall! as tall as maia's own grandfather, who is the most giant person maia knows. foreign somehow.

it doesn't matter right now. he takes the hand, his other gathering up his soaked robes to better free his legs. he stumbles after him, water sloshing, silvery eyes wide and ears flattened back in deep distress against his head. ]

I-- [ no, no, that's wrong, maia. he gulps a breath, tries again. ] We do not understand! What is this place? How did we-- [ he flinches at the scream of another of the monsters, finished off by an unseen blow. ] This cannot be the Elflands!

Post-rift closing?

[gatheringstorm]

[The chaos is over, at least for now. With the demons dead and the rift sealed, the local coastline is a lot less noisy. Inquisition agents are milling around, retrieving what they can from the sea or checking on those freshly arrived. One of those is a very tall, horned woman who's been all over the battlefield, flinging lightning spells and swinging her glowing blade at every demon in sight. Now that blade is just an empty hilt at her side, staff strapped to her back as she approaches.

An eyebrow arches as she takes in the sight of the nearest rifter, noting the heavy, intricate fabric that's entirely out of place for several reasons. But that can't be the focus of her attention and she looks him over for signs of injury.]

Hey, are you alright? Do you need healing?

[drazhada]

[ maia had removed his outermost robes and spread them on a line that had been helpfully strung up near one of the fires. thranduil had unbound his hair, and now it hangs in slowly-drying curls down his back. he feels hopelessly disheveled and embarrassingly exposed, but he doubts anyone else will even notice. these are not the elflands by any stretch of the imagination, after all, and he's seen many with unbound hair, and it's not as if he's the only one who'd been soaked by a fall into the ocean.

still, his glance up on being greeted is a little owl-eyed, and only more startled upon seeing that the one who'd addressed him is a member of that race thranduil had called qunari. ]

Oh, [ he manages, a little faintly. his ears flick back and flatten against his skull, and after several dismayed seconds in which he worries about how to proceed, he recalls that she'd asked him a question. ] Oh! Oh, our-- that is, thy pardon. [ he glances down at himself as if it's only just occurred to him to be concerned with injuries, but.. there's no blood anywhere, and while he feels bruised in numerous places, he's certainly had worse before, and his skin and clothing won't show it. he glances back up, offering a small, shy smile. ] Hast been a strange experience, but I believe I am fine.

[ he hesitates, turning a plain iron ring around his thumb--a contrast, its simplicity compared to the other rings he wears--glance briefly drawn out over the rest of the beach and the others lingering. ]

Might-- Might ask thee a question? [ he lifts a hand to touch one of his ears, brows knitting a little. ] The tallish people with the odd, round ears.. [ look, when you're from a world that probably doesn't have humans, you bet your bottom dollar they look weird. ] Art not the same as the shorter folk with similar ears..?

Iskandar | Fate/Series | OTA

[conqueredhearts]

Iskandar had been riding toward Archer. It would be his last ride but he knew it would be a memorable one. Just a brief closing of his eyes to embrace it and then he noticed that he wasn't on that bridge in Japan anymore. Mainly because he'd been plunged into the water and he was left coming up with his horse, getting off to pull the great beast toward shore.

With the big glowing green light and the demons. Not quite the same as a shining gateway managed by a King in gold. But it was rather interesting to say the least and he shook his hair back before mounting his horse again and giving a grin as he lifted his sword. Things were different around him and he could feel the ache in his hand. But there was no time to dwell on that because there was a magnificent battle laid out before him!

The tall man laughed as he spurred the large black horse forward, slicing through enemies and even trampling them with the hooves of Bucephalus. How his horse had come with him to this world was unknown to him but it didn't even matter in the long run in his eyes. His old friend was here and they were still fighting together, which was enough to bring a grin to his lips.

"Onward, Bucephalus! We shall eliminate our foes even if it must be one at a time!"

Obviously it wasn't but it was clear horse and master had no fear to be found. These were seasoned warriors who worked as one.

[gatheringstorm]

As it turns out, the new rifter isn't alone in the battle with his mount. Up ahead, a horned woman, easily matching his height, smirks as she lures some of those spindly, shrieking terror demons her way. These ones are always her least favorite, hands down, and she's been meaning to repay them for all the time she's been knocked flat on her back.

"Let's dance, assholes!"

Whirling her staff, she sends a blast of lightning to strike it and arc over to the others, the creatures coming to a halt and spasming as her magic courses through them. Not content to just stand back and watch the show either (not when she knows it means one will phase behind her, like they do), Korrin lunges forward and with her other hand, conjures a glowing blade from her previously empty hilt.

[conqueredhearts]

Iskandar heard the call of the woman and looked over. Based on the way she was manipulating magic he was certain he could assume that she was a mage! (Yes, he wasn't even bothering to pay attention to the horns.) He let out a laugh and guided his horse her way, smashing through a pair thinking they could take her from behind. How foolish those thoughts were.

Coming around, he slashed his sword down to cut into the mouth of another nearby as he called out to his current battle companion. Why not? She was right there!

"Your dance is splendid! A pity they are not better partners for you!"

[serannas]

Usually Ellana wouldn't bat an eye over a warrior fighting on horseback, but as she comes closer to fight off the demons, she sees the glowing green shard in his hand. Did-- did his horse come through the rift with him? Does his horse have a shard too? Never mind; now is not the time to question it. The stranger needs help and he will see a faint blue glow underneath him and his mount.

"Shielding you!" she shouts towards him. Her barrier spell decays as soon as it's placed, but for about fifteen seconds or so, he and his horse should be protected from any incoming damage. Then she aims her staff at a demon and thrusts it forwards, a fireball shooting towards it.

[conqueredhearts]

Iskandar noticed the glow around him and didn't bother to hesitate in his actions. He heard it was a shield and he immediately used that as an opportunity to be reckless for a short time while he charged a larger group so he could trample them to the ground. It was far better to use this advantage than to question it in his mind (of course it probably also helped that he was used to the fact that mages could do extraordinary things) and to instead use it to win. Cutting down the ones that remained, he looked over at who had helped him and gave her a grin.

"My thanks, my friend!" He laughed then turned his horse to come closer to her moving in a circle around her body to force the demons to keep their distance. "It is good to know I have so talented a mage to fight with me!"