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((Elistral shot an arrow at Reaper before.))

At that range and that moment, Gorash was strangely glad of the unholy spells his king had cast on him. His body shuddered in his armor which rattled violently, his eyes closed at the pain, and his teeth clenched down so hard his jaw ached. But as soon as it came it passed, and Gorash opened his eyes again. They'd changed however to be a fierce orange and reminiscent of a dragon's. "I'll kill you after the elf, boy." He snarled angrily, he corners of his mouth raising up into a smile. Then he tore off his helm and jammed it on Jake's head to stun him, shoving him to the side as he did so. The other him began yelling and screaming anew in his mind as the Ravagers swarmed into Salim, mowed down by the defenders on the inside as well as the pressing reinforcements from the outside.

"They're broken through!" Rore swore obscenely. How had they done that so quickly? "To arms!" He shouted, desperation in his voice edging his words and carrying them above the crowd. "Don't let them get any farther!" The Protectors met their enemy again, and Rore saw the archers on the wall hurrying to either shoot at the stream coming in or on the other side of the ruined gate.

((Oh, that's unfortunate...I thought you said Marie was next. You're so cruel to your characters. XD ))

Rore glanced down distractedly at Jake before trading his enemy off to another able Protector. Then he took the helmet from Jake, tucking his sword under his arm by the hilt with the blade angled downward. "Hm, why did you come to me?" He asked under his breath as he turned it from side to side, tracing the smooth curves with his fingers. "This looks like it's from my land...I feel like I know the smith who made this." Rore frowned and looked at Jake. "What man? If my suspicions are right, nobody from my homeland knows that I'm here. Unless the king allied with Reaper..."

"Mother, be careful!" Elistral called over to Sylvia. She herself was already moving to guard the city's opposite gate.

Gorash didn't hesitate the slightest when Oni crumpled to the ground, taking the arrow meant for him. He continued to slaughter his way towards the wall, intent on the elf woman who had singled him out. No, no! Give me back my body!, he heard the other him scream. "You think I would now?!" He laughed as he cleaved someone from shoulder to hip. "After all the times that I've been pent up, it's about time you knew my pain!" Gorash spotted a small staircase leading up to the wall and swerved towards it.

((I see. Ugh, I'm too lazy to find the right color of orange for Gorash, so it'll be changing until I do. XD ))

Gorash didn't stop or slow down as he charged towards Sylvia, nor did he try to avoid it. Instead he grabbed one of the archers firing out over the wall and yanked the poor man in front of him. "Fight me not in that coward's way," Gorash roared above the man's tortured screams as the enchanted fire burned him from the inside and out. "Give me a good battle before you die, elf!" He snickered and tossed the man down on the opposite side of Salim, the Ravagers falling upon the easy prey. His halberd hummed as he swung it at Sylvia.

Rore glanced so quickly in the direction Jake pointed in that he felt his neck give a small pop. Nostalgia drifted on the edge of his mind, but he shook it away, not understanding. "Alright, I'll go. You stay here." He began to shove his way through the battling crowd. "Hey, don't let the barriers fall!"

((Buh-durp. A halberd's not a sword. =P))

Elistral was glad that Rore had taken the freedom of his position to help her mother. Now she could concentrate on her own battle. Something dark passed in front of her as it flew along the barrier Jake had erected. It took her a moment to realize that it was Crow.

"...Monster?" His shock so strong at the single word spoken, Gorash forced through the restraint put on him by his darker side. Tears began to glimmer in his eyes, one beginning to return to it's natural gray-blue. His choked his words out. "I-I'm sorry, I--" A shudder ran down the length of his spine and he was dragged back mentally screaming as the other him retook control, laughing wildly in his deeper voice. His halberd blade rose a fraction to deflect the tip of Sylvia's sword. "Youngling?! My blood is ancient, elf! Back to the First End War, though I doubt you were even born then!" Gorash continued his swing to sweep his weapon horizontally at her.

Kicking and bashing faces in with the pommel of his sword, Rore shoved his way relentlessly to Sylvia's defense. He gasped as he escaped the melee's clutches, facing the back of the man fighting her. He ran as silently as he could in his armor, bringing his sword up as he charged. When in range, Rore brought it down at the man's back, reverberations from the force of the blow shaking his arms.

((The haft (long part) is similar to a spear and the blade can vary, but in this case it's reminiscent of an axe blade.))

Elistral began to shout instructions to her command of the archery force before she jumped of the wall to land by Demios and Jake, her coat brushing the ground. The archers split into two uneven groups, the majority firing at the dragons and the rest at their normal targets. "Let me fly for you then, Demios." She had to raise her voice above the loud crashes above, noticing her friend's wistful look. "Instruct me how to fight by your thoughts." Pulling off one of her rings, Elistral presented it Demios. When worn by another, it allowed the user to communicate with them. She had neither Strider nor Jake's ability.

Gorash glanced down at his ruined weapon, then behind him to the one who'd struck him. Hopelessness and hurt crossed over his face as he struggled to regain control. "Rore?"

"Gorash?" A cold feeling trickled down in Rore's gut as he beheld the sight of his best friend. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Rore...I...When you left, it only took a year for the king to become more corrupt than before. I'm...I'm different now because of him, but I never told him where you were!" Gorash shuddered at the assault on his senses from his other side, but froze when Sylvia's words reached his ears and were processed. "Do..." He swallowed, tears stinging his eyes once again as he turned to the elf. "Do you really think I had a choice in this? Do you think I'm allowing myself be taken over?!" His voice shook as he scooped up the shining blade of his halberd on the ground with one black gauntleted hand, forcing himself not to break down. "If you had been taunted, and degraded, and forced to slaughter innocent people by your own body, would you call yourself weak?! Would you have been able to fight back, elf?! Ha, I think not!" With that, Gorash howled darkly and unsheathed his great sword from under his stained cape, standing to point both it at Rore and his still usable halberd blade at Sylvia. "I'll kill you both right now! Go ahead, and let my hunger be sated by your blood as it courses from your very body!"

Elistral nodded in understanding and drew her sword, the runes engraved on it glowing a soft, pulsing blue. She muttered something under her breath and the previous ticklish feeling on her back spread and warmed, like the sun was shining on it. Then, two golden specks of light emerged from her coat near her shoulder blades, passing trough as if they were transparent. As soon as they were finishing materializing, becoming solid, Elistral used a wind current to lift herself off the ground, beating the wings she now had to gain altitude. One of the many shadow dragons stared in disbelief at her, unable to comprehend that an elf was actually flying. It proved to be it's undoing, and as Elistral withdrew her blade, which she'd plunged it's full length into the beast to reach it's heart, she knew that the rest of the fight wouldn't be so easy.

"Demon?" Gorash easily followed through with Sylvia's swing, skillfully guiding it the slightest inch away from his body before it struck and flipping the edge up to redirect the momentum. He chuckled deeply. "Ah, how cute. You don't understand, but I'll let you keep thinking that until the light dies in your eyes."

Rore was shocked. What had happened to his friend? He'd mentioned the king having played a major part in it but nothing fit together. His head buzzed unpleasantly as it tried to process the information. Unbidden, muscles moved without him realizing it and his sword flashed in front of him at Gorash.

"...Azeois?" Gorash paused with his halberd blade in an arc midway down to Sylvia's head just as he shifted his body to block Rore's attack. It clanged loudly, pealing like a bell as an odd expression crossed his face. "Azeois..." He repeated it to himself, as if tasting the word. Then a strange gleam leaped into his eyes. "That young fool?! He's still alive? Ha ha, I can't believe it! I thought for sure he'd been sent to the void!" Reversing his grip on the halberd blade, Gorash swept the blunted edge where it would normally be attached to a pole at Sylvia's neck and shifted away from Rore, sweeping at his side.

"Are you going to do anything, yet?" Fenrir asked of Reaper, having appeared next to him. He was fidgeting with his watch as he did so, scraping off the dried blood on it's gold exterior.

((Who's the 3rd person who voted in the poll?))

Elistral twisted to the side to avoid the ice. She glanced up at Marie impassively. Getting yet another of Reaper's commanders was an endearing prospect to her, but the dragons were still attacking the barrier. She swerved away from Marie, weaving around another shadow dragon to dispose of it, as well as trying to lure Marie away from Salim.

Rore backstepped quickly to avoid the humming great sword, stepping back in the range of the blade to prevent any further attacks. He swung at Gorash's hip.

Sylvia's sword skipped off of Gorash's halberd blade as he brought it up yet again, though this time it came through to glance off his gauntlet, finding an opening to cut his hand. He only grinned at her and dropped the blade, lunging forward as he jammed his elbow back to smash Rore in the nose, Rore's sword swinging an inch away from his hip. Gorash grabbed at Sylvia.

Fenrir's yellow eyes flashed dangerously as he glared at Reaper, snapping his head to the side to look at him better. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled defensively and he drew himself up. When he spoke, it was venomously. "I've always regarded you as interesting, Reaper. And I've never been one to let my anger rule me...too often. Therefore I do have a question for you: Do you fear Death?"

((I don't think you can...))

Elistral ducked a tail swing from a dragon and flew away from it, all the while luring Marie. "No, I am here to spare your life when you beg mercy." She shook dragon blood off her own sword, the crimson specks glittering as they fell, and tried her best to take a defensive stance in midair.

"You mentioned Azeois, elf," Gorash shook Sylvia slightly, tightening his grip. "What connection do you have with him?"

Rore stumbled forward, almost blinded with the explosion of pain in his nose. Seeing Sylvia in danger, he removed his hand that had been stemming the flow of blood to swing his sword at Gorash, the flat of the blade instead of the edge. He couldn't believe his best friend was evil.

His hold on Sylvia's neck loosened in the slightest as Gorash was struck from behind. He growled in rage and turned a little, his great sword arcing downward.

Rore lurched to the side, mainly because of the pain he was in rather than tactics. "Gorash, I know you can obviously hear me," He paused to spit the blood running into his mouth out. "I don't understand. Can't you stop?"

"Why should I?" Fenrir replied, a strained, wry smile coming to his own face. "I've been on that doorstep for more years than I can count now. Invited in, even."