Once they parted, Tahir and Shukri sped toward the barrier. Tahir managed to convince her to not run using too much aura, due to the barrier likely having guards in some capacity. To him - he believed they’d either find a mage strong enough to cast or maintain the barrier, which the Raven would probably have to deal with - or a magical device similar to the orbs with someone stationed to protect it, which Tahir found much more likely.
Glancing up, Tahir could see embers overhead, carried along by the wind. The fire must be getting close. Thankfully, the Grove, and more importantly the branches of the tree that encompassed it, didn’t seem affected by the embers. As Tahir’s eyes trailed back around to the barrier, he could see the occasional flash behind it, and vague silhouettes. Likely the mages inside trying to break free. He couldn’t help but wonder if he could teleport in with the Traveler. The Raven said the barrier would block teleportation magic, but the Traveler had managed to teleport someone out of the confines of an Epic spell that kept them bound, and that was when Tahir could only summon them at tier one.
An idea, for sure. Tahir wouldn’t risk it while the prospect of a fight loomed close, though. He and Shukri ran until they stood within a few dozen feet of the barrier. A distance that would have caused both of them to be out of breath if they didn’t use aura to bolster their stamina. They spotted a singular person standing, a tall figure in a dark, hooded cloak. At their approach, the man turned to face them. “Sorry, brats. This area’s off limits.” He said in a gruff voice, but one that almost seemed like he held back laughter. He had a bald head under the hood, a bulky, muscular frame, and a tattoo of a line that went down the side of his face, from his left eyebrow to his chin. “The mages put up this barrier, you see-”
“Cut the bullshit.” Tahir cut him off. “You’re just standing guard in case you missed a couple, aren’t you?” Of course, most mages who saw the majority of their guild sealed inside a barrier would come to try to break them out. Based on his carefree reaction, it seemed like they didn’t know that they didn’t manage to catch the Raven in the barrier at all.
“Well, ain’t you the smart one?” He picked up a warhammer that he had against his side. As he slammed it on the ground, Tahir felt a nauseating wave of fear pass through and overtake him. He felt his breath quickening, and fought back the urge to just run. This must have been the aura exertion that Murabi used to keep monsters away from the group when they traveled to Isanthyr. It triggered an instinctive fight or flight response to the point that Tahir had to forcibly calm himself down and take slow, deep breaths. “Tell ya what. If you leave this place now, I won’t have to shut you up unless you try to come back.”
With the frightening aura having such an intense, visceral effect, this guy had to be as strong as a mithral Redcloud at the very least. Tahir’s thoughts went spiraling back to his fight with Ester, how he had a strong showing in the beginning from blocking her attack but felt completely overwhelmed by her after until she decided to stop. He’d fought things about as or even more powerful since then, with the intent to kill him, but he couldn’t shake the thought that he’d just walked into something he couldn’t get out of unscathed.
Still, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Since then, he had gained a little more aura, a lot more mana, second tier spirits, and he had Shukri with him. Shukri, who looked entirely unfazed by the waves of aura coming off of this man. “I will ask for your name only once. It is the only courtesy I will give to someone I’m about to kill.”
“Just you? Your buddy here looks like he’s shaking in his boots.” The man said. Tahir glanced back, able to see through the barrier now that they’d gotten close enough. It seemed like many of the people who came close to try to find a way through had backed away, affected by the waves of fear. He could just barely make out the woman he saw when the group first came to talk to the Raven - the Blade of Frost, standing at the edge on the opposite side. “But if you must know, my name is Giralldo. I-”
In the blink of an eye, Shukri crossed the space and took out her spear, aiming for Giralldo’s neck. Moving faster than Tahir would have expected, Giralldo lifted his warhammer and deflected the spear, making it go above his head and slam into the barrier. Their fight began in earnest, then, with Shukri jumping back and beginning to trade blows. Tahir didn’t jump in immediately. His mind still raced, he knew Shukri probably couldn’t take someone as strong as a mithral Redcloud by herself, and she rushed in out of anger, but he didn’t know what spirit to summon to support her immediately.
Most of them would work, but he needed one that would give him an edge against an overwhelming force. Neither the Traveler’s teleportation, the Winged Serpent’s divine magic, or Dahlia’s primal magic seemed like they’d work here, and even with his recently increased mana, he wouldn’t be able to use enough intermediate or advanced magic to really harm an aura shield like his. No, he needed to join the fight, and the only one who would help him do that would be his new spirit.
And so, he went to summon them at tier two, using a majority of mana due to his recently risen mana pool. A spirit that he’d decided to call the ‘Huntress’. As she appeared before him, taking the form of a catlike beastfolk. Other than her much longer black hair, she bared an incredibly striking resemblance to Shukri. “In most other circumstances, I would be glad that you decided to call upon me so quickly.” She said, as her body formed before his eyes. “I’ll rarely have time to savor the hunt in defense of the Grove, though. What a shame.”
Before Tahir could even say anything, she sped off toward the fight. As Giralldo readied a wide swing toward Shukri, he had to quickly shift to avoid being slashed by the Huntress’s claws. This caused him to leap back to adjust to the new combatant. Meanwhile, Shukri looked as astonished and shocked as Tahir had ever seen her. “M-” She started to speak, but the Huntress turned toward her. It only lasted for a second or so, but Tahir could swear he saw the spirit putting a finger to her lips.
Regardless, just before he decided to jump in himself, he reached into his storage bag and pulled out the potion that Theo gave him to increase his speed. He could think of no better time to use it than now. The Huntress’s affinity, rather than reducing how much mana it took to use any type spell in particular, increased the efficiency of all of his uses of aura. His shield, his strengthening, even his speed increase to offset the weight of the earth spirit. He also believed he had a better sense for combat than he did before, he could read Giralldo’s movement’s much more clearly than he could before he summoned the Huntress, but he’d have ample opportunity to test just how much it affected his combat sense in a moment.
“Boss!” Just as Tahir uncorked the potion, he spotted three more figures coming from around a nearby corner. They must have been stationed in other areas around the barrier to make sure mages didn’t come and try to break it if they weren’t initially trapped by it. Probably from the same mercenary company that the Raven hired as escorts for their stay in the Grove. Currently, Tahir stood in between them and the ongoing fight between Giralldo, the Huntress, and Shukri, so he decided to make sure they wouldn’t get through.
He gulped down the potion, feeling an intense rush of energy and quickly sliding the empty vial back into his storage bag. He drew his sword, and stood firmly between them and their supposed boss. That seemed to get his message across pretty quickly. One of them took out a pair of throwing knives and launched them with aura-enhanced speed and power. Still, Tahir could see them flying through the air, and with a lightning fast wave of his sword, sent them flying off in two different directions.
That gave all three of them pause, either from his ability to deflect them at all or how he could without even moving. He gave a mental thanks to the earth spirit, then rushed forward at a speed that surprised all of them. The man in the middle barely managed to pull out his longsword in time to block Tahir’s downward swing, causing a shower of sparks to burst out as Tahir’s swing followed through and sent him sliding back a few feet. The other two rushed back to draw their weapons, a battle axe and a morningstar respectively, and once they drew them, they moved back in to try to strike him at the same time.
Tahir could definitely see both of them - he could tell that they were around the strength of a platinum Redcloud from how much aura they put into their swings, and he could see the paths they’d follow. He felt like he’d be able to dodge them, with a bit of difficulty normally, but with the potion’s boost to his speed, it felt like child’s play. He ducked and dodged, and in the same movement sent two slashes across their sides, just barely breaking through their aura shields but not managing to get past their armor. At that point, the first one came back, having fully drawn his longsword, starting a chain of blows with a heavy amount of aura infused, driving Tahir back, keeping him parrying and deflecting, while the other two recovered and tried to surround him on all sides. When they looked poised to strike, Tahir dodged instead of parried, whipping around the longsword user, and kicking him toward the other two, making them divert their swings into the ground instead of hitting their ally, and cracking the ground beneath them as the weapons connected.
While they recovered from that, he glanced past them, toward the fight happening right in front of the barrier. Shukri and the Huntress seemed evenly matched with Giralldo, with him managing to last against the two, but neither managing to get an edge on the other. He refreshed the pool of spiritual energy for the Huntress, who’d used about a third of the total, using his mana, and he decided that he’d played around and gotten a handle of his enhanced abilities long enough, and he needed to end things with the three in front of him quickly so he could join that fight.
Taking a deep breath, he swirled aura into his blade, visibly tinted red, and rushed forward toward those three. In an effort to avoid what certainly looked like a killing blow with the amount of aura present, they all jumped back, but Tahir wanted that, just so he could get into a space with all three of them at the same distance. Once he reached that space, he stood and quickly spun in a circle, swinging his blade in a wide arc, and letting the aura fly. One of the forms Murabi taught him. While the one he’d mastered so far focused on sending his aura out in a singular slash, this one sent it in a wide slicing arc around him, flying out and striking the unsuspecting mercenaries, carving right through their aura shields and into their chests or in one case the neck of one who unfortunately ducked low.
As they collapsed on the ground, Tahir noticed a couple of things. An intense rush of exhilaration filled him despite him realizing he just killed three people. Part of the way the Huntress’s summoning with aura affected his mental state. He also noticed the gaze of both Shukri and the Blade of Frost on him in the aftermath of that strike. Shukri quickly got back to her fight, but Tahir had cause to worry about the other.
One thing after another. He thought with a sigh, and moved to join the fight against Giralldo.
