Welcome to Gaia! ::

WATER SPAWN!

"Oh, oh s**t." Eyes widen in horror, he could only stare as the elves gave each other panicked looks before running around screaming like fans at a soccer match.

Wait, what was a soccer match?

Shaking his head of such confusing thoughts, he pushed his chair back, letting it drop to the floor in a scene of anime badassness, hand flying towards his belt where his dagger was located, pulling it out, the light gleaming off its shiny surface that was reflected into his eyes...

Only to be knocked at the side by a passing, scream elf person, causing him to drop the ******** thing.

"s**t, s**t!"

He dropped to the floor and began stumbling around, looking for his dagger, getting whacked in the head repeatedly as elves ran by ********, this is way too early for another bloody spawn!" he cursed, grabbing onto the dagger and getting hit in the head again. "We haven't even gone over the team tactics yet. Someone implement the rolling defense!" he hollered, just as the spawn let out another roar.

"Oh, and the ******** seems to be getting closer! We need a battle plan here!" he turned to the leader, a bright gleam in his eye. "Shall we go for the basic attack plan where the mages get behind the swordsmen and chuck spells at the...thing while the swords people chop and hack and slash and do all sorts of delightful things to the spawn or do you have something better in mind?"

The spawn chose this moment to roar again, this time sounding much, much closer.

"Oh put a sock in it!" he shouted angrily at the direction of the roar, his voice drowned out by the increased screaming of the elves who where still running away. "SHUT UP! WE GET THE MESSAGE! YOUR HERE! YOU INSPIRE FEAR EVEN IN ELVES! YOU SMELL LIKE SOMETHING JUST DIED, DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

He shook his head.

"Alright, I think I've pissed it off enough...if it heard me at least...Now we fight!"

Blade had to admit that she felt a little bad for Grenth. Poor man had to be confused. However, he wasted no time in suddenly spotting the water spawn and shoving the swords into his belt. Blade herself was more than happy that she hadn't bothered to stop and change into her spawn hunting gear. If she had, she wouldn't have made it in time.

"Tricky little b*****d," Blade muttered to herself, reaching underneath the table and pulling out one of her own swords. She pressed herself against the edge of the table, the scent of food reaching her senses and making her stomach growl. She grabbed a roll from the table and stuffed the entire thing into her mouth. She hadn't eaten anything since this morning or so and being a magic user she had to have something in her system before or after she used her powers. She'd fainted from fatigue on more than one occasion thanks to using up magical energy and no food. Blade wasn't going to take a chance at that. She swallowed the roll, gagged for a moment, and then swallowed a few more times to help the bread her down to her belly while she looked over to where the water spawn was. 'ice spawn but not this one.>' Just her ******** luck.

"Summon! Do anything you possibly can, even if its just throwing food at it." Blade responded as Silver ran up to her, moving to step in front of the gimped elf as a meat shield between her and where Blade could smell her friend to be. Thank god that elves ran fast. "Be sure to have your knives out in case the spawn manages to get closer to you! Kid, be quiet for a second- Seraphis stand beside me." She paused, taking in a deep breath while scanning the area while he brain tried to work to formulate a plan. The smell that was all too familiar to Blade burned at her nose and she had to bring a hand up to cover her nose. There were tables, orbs in the air, and food.... "Watch my back," Blade ordered before turning on her heel, sparks flickering around her hand. She waved her hand and all of the tables flew into the air, being tossed by the blast of fire she'd put underneath them. They all landed off to the side, away from the battle site. Blade didn't want anyone to fall or trip on them, and they wouldn't work well as a shield because they were too thin. Splinters would just get everyone and people might get hit in the eye. She whirled around, taking in another deep breath. ""

They had made plans while they had been traveling, but not against the water spawn. Blade hadn't expected it to be this far north. Normally it preferred to stay away from cold climates because it moved... slower! Right. ''

"Grenth, Leon, over by me!" As she yelled out the commands she pushed Seraphis back behind her with her free hand. "Silver, beside Seraphis! Seraphis, use any slowing, ice, or lightening spells that you can. Doina," another roar from the water spawn, much louder than before. "Uh- kid- Falconer, try not to yell until I tell you to and stand between us and the mages. Doina! If you know anything enhancement or protection spells, use them now. If anyone gets injured try to heal them as quickly as possible." Hell, this formation was something that was pretty damn old school. But forget that, it worked like a charm. And because they didn't have time it would work well. "Remember that the water spawn's blood is literally water," she had to raise her voice because of the water spawn's bubbling noises, signaling that it was just about to appear. "Don't use any heat or fire spells directly against it. But when it bleeds try to evaporate its blood before it can absorb it. We want to keep it away from the snow as much as possible and keep the snow as snow so that the water spawn can't reabsorb it. Be prepared to scatter because we might have to do that- Silver always stick by Seraphis and Doina with Grenth." She ran out of breath from her rapid talking just in time for one of the water spawn's long legs to appear. "Try to slow it down as much as possible, aim for the legs or its stomach! Grenth, be prepared for my order to teleport on top of it if I tell you to!"

Then it appeared, its small round body mounted atop multiple legs. Its scales shimmered in the light and it paused to stare at the group before turning itself over to them. It moved unusually slow, the small claws that it had resting near its mouth clicking while it made an odd humming sound. Blade narrowed her own crystal-like eyes at it, the grip she had on her sword tightening. It was a good thing she'd worn this dress because it was so easy to move in. "Party crasher," she muttered darkly to herself, tensing herself as the water spawn bolted forward. It stopped just as it reached the ring of dried land, claws clicking together while its empty black eyes rolled around in its head. "Seraphis," ' "pull it towards us and freeze it until we can hit it!" This battle was actually in one of the best places it possibly could be. The water spawn was one of the fastest and having it slowed down was an advantage- anything that helped against a spawn was practically worth dieing for.

Seraphis nodded at Blade's orders and wasted no time in taking up his position. His eyes widened in wonder as Silver began her summoning ritual. His eyes grew even wider when he saw what she had called forward! He had never seen anything like this in all his years of practicing the art. It must have been something unique to Silver. It just had to be. He made a mental note to ask her about it later. He looked to Silver after the beast she had summoned moved forward.

"Try to stay behind me," he told Silver. It wouldn't do for her to get hit by stray energy. He looked at the Water Spawn and quickly judged the distance between him and it. It was still too far to hit with some of his heavier ice spells, however his Ray of Frost spell extended indefinitely until it hit something. He decided that he would use that to draw it in and, once it was close enough, he would switch to his more powerful Cone of Cold. He waited till everyone was in position.

"Get ready! I'm pulling it now!" Seraphis said, already performing the hand gestures required for the spell.

"Tirak lithsan!" he shouted, extending his hand. Immediately, a white ray of pure, freezing cold extended from his hand and to the Water Spawn. He would wait a few seconds before he cast the next one, trying to stretch his energy reserves out over the course of the fight, but he would continue his chosen strategy until Blade told him to do otherwise.

Leon heard Grenth yell as he looked around again for Blade. His immediate reaction was to his sword as he stood up, knocking the stool he had been on over. He cursed himself for leaving his naginata at Silver's house. He heard the loud roaring of the spawn and was, himself, surprised at it being a water spawn. This would probably just enforce people's suspicions of ibixians preceding spawn attacks.

He listened to Blade closely and got into position quickly, but not before he heard Blade mumble another name as if she were talking to herself. Feritae. Leon would have to ask Blade about that later. Once in position, he watched the others as they began to get to where they were told to be. As the roaring grew louder and the summoned wolf-like being formed by Silver's doing. He began giggling to himself. The closer the spawn, the more difficult it was to suppress his laughter. Before the spawn appeared, Leon knelt down and grew a strong root around his arm to act as living armor, figuring that if the spawn were to 'bleed' on him, then the root would soak it up and help further his defense. This was the current limit to his magic, but it was something.

Then the spawn appeared. It was worse than what people had described to him. His fear escaped his control for a split moment, and ten was abolished. He now had only one regret: that he could not fight this foe with his naginata. He calmed his emotions as the ray of frost whizzed past his shoulder and decided to relax and meditate lightly before he was 'allowed' to attack. "Just let me know when you need me to charge." he said quietly to Blade. He had waited a long time to help fight another spawn, and this time, his party would not be slaughtered.

Blade took in a deep breath, feeling the chill rush up against her spine as Silver began to summon. She didn't dare look at it, however, at least not intently. Instead she only gave it a swift glance to know what it looked like (not wanting to get it mistaken with something else and end up attacking it) and then redirecting her attention to the spawn. Then Seraphis began casting an ice spell and she could feel the energies in the air shudder before rushing out against the water spawn. The water spawn itself dodged the spell instead hitting whatever had been behind it. However, it did exactly what Blade had wanted it to do: it was away from the snow. It darted around, moving so quickly that Blade had to move very fast to keep herself between it and her allies. Then the spawn slid to a stop, tilting its head back and making a gargling noise. When it returned to normal its legs began to shake and twitter, the air around it waving as if it were being surrounded with intense heat. Blade, however, knew better. Just a split second later the 'waving' formed fully into water. The liquid rose up, swirling into a tower that rose three times higher than the buildings around it. "Silver, use summon on word!" She didn't have time to form complete sentences. Grammar was going to be thrown out of the window for the time being.

"Help!" Blade yelled out just before the water twisted around like a serpent and then came hurdling down like a giant sword. At the same moment she lifted one of her hands up, a small spark forming before it exploded out into a fiery disk that shot out and crashed against its opposite element. It only lasted for a second before the rest of the water came down. "Attack!" Making no hesitation and quite literally putting her life in her magical castors' hands, Blade's attention and shadow senses passed into the shadows underneath the spawn. Then her sword shot out from underneath one of the spawn's legs, causing it to shriek in irritation and leap back. Hopefully it would be enough for the summon to be able to hit it. That summon was currently the most powerful weapon that they had- and Blade had actually never seen a summon like it before- so it was their greatest chance in injuring the spawn. It would take sheer and unmerciful luck more than anything, but there were always miracles....

It was... concerning how fast the water spawn was. Leon had trouble keeping up with it, much as it seemed Blade was. Unfortunately, he was just barely too slow to help Blade with the water spawn's attack, but it made him make sure he was more attentive.

Then, suddenly, there it was. The order to attack. He was thankful that Falconer har given him an extra knife that he held now in his root-covered arm. He really did miss his naginata, which would have been imensly handy in this encounter, but it would certainly be interesting without it. Leon took a split second before attacking, enough time for the summon to attack, and then followed Blade off to the left more, before leaping towards the spawn. His weapons were ready to strike on impact instantly. In the time it took to think, run, and leap, Leon had started casting a growth spell on the plant life under the snow and especially in the clearing. It wouldn't doo all that much, but it would make the plants extra thirsty, which would help in cleaning up the spawn-blood. Unfortunately, this forced him to split his attentions slightly, so he would be just a fraction of an instant slower. He could feel the root on his arm pulsing, craving water.