Shadow Of The End

Sergius avoided the fire and watched as Nuala burst from the snow to attack the assailant. He moved over to her, still watching the newcomers "You should have stayed under there."

"I would have been burnt to death!" She said. The fire Nova lunged at Sergius with a brutal swing while Nuala cast a burst of darkness at her opponent before he had time to issue an attack of his own. It hit him square in the face and he stumbled back. A shadow appeared in Nuala's hand and materialised into a short spear. She pegged it at her attacker and it pierced straight through his stomach. He made a grotesque gurgling sound as he choked on his own blood and fell back in the snow.

Sergius stepped to the side and avoided the blow, he then made a fist with his hand and swung a heavy uppercut at the attacker's jaw.

The warrior growled and stepped back, his skin looked like molten lava and black cracks appeared where Sergius' punch had connected. The air around him rippled from the heat rising from his body as he prepared to attack again.

"We've got to leave before more come," Nuala said urgently as she reached for Sergius' shoulder.

The fire Nova opened his outstretched hand and a single flame burst forth from his splayed palm and flew directly at Sergius. At the last minute it turned to a burning hot blade as Nuala and Sergius vanished in a twist of shadow...

Sergius prepared himself for the warp, and didn't see the knife coming, before they warped, it connected directly with his chest.

They landed hard in the snow near the base of the mountain.

Sergius fell onto his hands and knee's, hiding the blade in his chest from her "Well, looks like we got away."

"Only just," Nuala said and stood up. "Come on, we should go some place else. They could easily track my energy from the warp."

Sergius pulled the blade out and tossed it away. Even if he had left it in, he was a doomed man, he moved to a sitting position and sat against a nearby snow bank "You go. I'm dead anyway."

"What?" Nuala turned to face him and cursed to herself when she saw his bloodied wound.

"Sergius..." She said and dropped to her knees beside him. She lightly touched the outside of his wound as she inspected it. "No, I can still get you out of here," she said and placed a hand on his shoulder as if to help him up.

"No, it's too late for me now." he said, his voice getting weaker.

The wound was deep and nasty. "Don't," Nuala said. She didn't want to hear him giving up sp easily. "Those bastards..."

She took her cloak off and laid it over Sergius to give him extra warmth. "I'm not going to leave you," she said. Her voice wavered a little as she shivered in the cold.

Sergius pulled out out a small dagger of his "I need you to do me a favour, this belonged to my father, when he was killed, I took it with the oath that I would stick it in the heart of the one who killed him, looks like I failed, but can you keep a dying mans oath alive?" he held the dagger blade and the handle was pointed at Nuala. "That coward Tage never sought me out."

Nuala hesitated but took the dagger. She looked at him with a mixed expression, he didn't seem at all fazed by death; it was almost as though he had known it was coming.

Sergius saw her look, he reached up with his non-bloodied hand and held the side of her face "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just know this, I really cherished the time we spent together, you could say I came to like you beyond our levels of friendship." his words were getting weaker, he was knocking on deaths door.

But he wasn't going to be fine, he was dying.

Nuala exhaled and took his hand when he touched her. "So had I," she admitted, her voice soft.

Death answered and stepped to the side to allow him entrance. "Goodbye, my..." his words were cut short, as his hand had parted from Nuala's face and landed in the snow, his eye was shut as if he had fallen asleep.

Nuala stared at him and swallowed, forcing back the lump catching in her throat. For someone who had been killed, he looked so peaceful. With numb hands she hesitantly pulled the cloak up over his face and slowly stood up. She remembered the dagger in her hand and looked down at it. She would kill Tage a thousand times if she could and still that wouldn't be enough.

Nuala glanced up at Snowpeak and closed her hand around the handle of the dagger before quickly turning and walking away.

Priestly was panicking, not looking where he was going, and almost fell over backwards when Eiria's path eventually led her straight infront of him. He ground to a halt, spun around and ran off again, turning down another alley way.

Eiria kept after the man, hot on his trail.

Eventually, Priestly came to a dead end, and slowly turned towards Eiria. He held his hands up.

"...p-p-please..."

Almost instantly, leaping over the head of Eiria, with a loud whinny, a massive horse jumped in between the two, the mare blocking the path of the first in a vertical manner, the rider looking once to the side at Eiria, then over to Priestly. Her eyes and expression were hidden behind a dark cloak she wore, and a heavy broadsword was in one of her hands, the other one tightly gripping the reins. A bow was strapped to her back as well as a quiver, and a dagger was at the ready, strapped to her belt.

She was silent for a moment- then, glaring at Priestly, ordered calmly and darkly, "Get on."

Priestly let out a shout of surprise when the horse lept over, and backed off.

"What in the...?" he gasped.

The hooded figure was not patient. She swung her sword at him, freezing it in place and aiming it straight towards his throat. She pulled back the reins on her horse slightly, and the mare whinnied loudly, slightly rearing up and striking the air with her hooves.

"Get on or die," she ordered sharply. "I will not ask again."

Priestly stood there, frozen, and then scrambled onto the horse.