Academy arena.

[Icarian Dreams]

"Then cease your moaning and stand your ground. If you wished to avoid confrontation you should have watched your words when speaking of my liege," she called out, taking a step backwards as she drew her blade towards herself, pointing it slightly towards the ground, and raised her shield to assume a combat-ready stance. The smirk on her face disappeared to give ground for a determined frown, and she waited for him to ready himself for the fight. There was this sense of cold, calculated fury coming from within her. His reasoning was sound, but she didn't really care about that anymore. These few moments when he spoke, she used to get an understanding of her surroundings and prepare. This wretch would regret his words. She looked him straight in the eye, raising one eyebrow. "Ready, summerling?"

 

[Solomon]

No mercy from the winterfae of course. Linden might be unarmed and unarmored but he had his wits and his magic they had been enough in the past and would have to be now too. He grabbed some seeds and assumed a figthing stance. He readied his magic pooling power into the seeds in his hand. He returned her gaze and nodded. "Ready, frosty." 

He threw the seeds (well spores but thats trivial) at her and they exploded rapidly into ferns which grew rapidly into ferns which withered before the reached her but let out more spores in the air. He hoped they would distract her and maybe eve mess with her vision. Linden ran away from her to the softer ground in the center of the arena he used his magic to mess up the concrete of the outer areas of arena hoping to slow Lynette down so he could prepare a trap. He began scattering seeds namely Wisteria vines, crown of thorns, roses, and cotton grass. And readying one choice acorn for the big trap he had planned.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Solomon

[Icarian Dreams]

"Hmph." Lyn groaned, turning her head to the side as she raised her shield to block the cloud of spores flying straight at her. She clenched her teeth, pushing against the surprising force of the particles. Attacking me with seeds, now? She smirked, and forced her way through the plant matter, quickly finding out Linden in the middle of the arena. Small snowflakes started to gather around her wrist, as she focused her mind to channel the energy she felt inside. With a decisive motion, she pushed her sword-arm forward, causing a layer of snow to gather in the gaps between the terrain, creating a more traversable surface.

She rushed through the now-clear ground towards the center, and, with a motion resembling an upwards slash, sent a wave of frost flying towards the man, hoping to kill off whatever it was he was planting at the moment. With her other hand, she let go of the shield, letting it hang on her arm as dozens of small balls of ice began to gather, first around her palm and wrist, and quickly alongside her body, sharpening into dozens of small icicles that flew alongside her as she ran. She smiled deviously, and grasped back the shield, trusting her concentration to keep the projectiles flying forward alongside her.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Icarian Dreams
Mess != moss

[Solomon]

Linden scrambled out of the way of the wave of frost still holding the acorn. He had been right in assuming she could and would use cold to attack him. He threw his power into the earth and raised a small semicircular wall out of the ground to protect himself from projectiles. He maintained a small portion of it in the ground to keep track of her movements. He now more than ever wished he had fire magic as so many of the Summer Court did. But alas he'd have to do without.

He sent his power out to first the cotton grass being an arctic plant it thrived in the cold and Lynette had just so generously provided the right climate. Tall grass clumps with one taller section holding a small white ball of fluff rose around (but not on) her pathway. They were used as cover for the wisteria vines that hadn't been in the blast. He had them reach out to grab and ensnare her. This would also be a useful test to see if her armor was enchanted. Knowing his luck, and the reuptation of the Winter Court, it almost certainly was.

To impede her progress he had the roses, he had only picked the hardy sort which could handle the cold and grew them in small arches over her path. The crown of thorns would largely be useless with the cold so he grew only the ones closest to him along with the now planted acorn. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Solomon
Clarification on how he can see to prep attacks

[Icarian Dreams]

Lyn stopped mid-dash, realizing that her charge would be futile against the newly-created shield that rose out of the ground around her opponent. Hundreds of small icicles flew past her as she ceased her concentration, knowing better than to expand energy on trying to stop their momentum. With the sound of a breaking glass, they shattered harmlessly at the earthy barrier. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed some movement in the grass around her. She cursed under her breath, and slashed to the side, cutting in half a vine that just shot in her direction. A gasp came out of her lungs as another one began wrapping around her shield-arm, pulling her off-balance. She grit her teeth and pulled the plant closer to herself, grasping onto the vine. Solid ice began to gather around her hand as the stem started to freeze, until, with a contraction of her fingers, she shattered the frozen vine, freeing herself. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the road ahead of her, almost mindlessly slashing at a couple emerging vines that tried to replace the ones she just destroyed.

With a quick motion, she lowered herself onto one of her knees, pushing her hand into the ground. Spikes of ice began emerging alongside her form and in towards her opponent, effectively walling off any more vegetation that he might have summoned along the way. With a twist of her hand, she let the walls before her expand, reaching to their opposite counterparts, creating a set of makeshift stairs. She rushed up them, along the way cutting or pushing off any plant matter that blocked her way. Her boots adjusted as she strode through  the slidy terrain, with every following step digging deep into the icy surface - a small enchantment, but combined with her magic, it proved plenty useful.

She stopped on top of the staircase and thrust her blade into the ice, freeing out her other hand. For a split second, she focused her gaze inside the barrier, trying to read what Lin was attempting to do, before she raised her hands, moving them in circular motions and summoning a gust of chill wind right inside said circle. The moisture within the area began to gather, forming tiny shards of ice and snow that whirled, creating a small, but rapidly increasing in size and speed snowstorm, effectively forming a deadly trap, with Linden right in the center of it. She felt the ice under her feet begin to crack as she released the tempest with one of her hands, focusing some of her remaining energy to raise a pillar within the blinding snow, just where her opponent left himself an escape point. The ice walls she had behind her began to melt at an increasing pace, but she didn't care much about them - she had enough time before the decay reached her position.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Icarian Dreams
Re-done

[Solomon]

Linden sensed her halt through the icy ground and felt her slice through the vines he had sent after her. He smiled and grew the vine from the severed portion but she finally used her magic and froze them freeing herself and creating a barrier. He cursed quickly began forming the crown of thorns into a makeshift whip. That done he then doubled his focus now on growing out the root system of the tiny oak sapling before him. 

Then he could no longer sense her presence, he panicked looking forward at the opening seeing nothing he looked up to see her weaving her hands through the air. He felt a chill that was anything but metaphorical he hurriedly put a small mound of earth over the sapling and covered that with a frost resistant lichen to better insulate the tiny oak. It was the best he could do in the little time he had, he had to hope it would work. He felt Sarissa coil about him as the temperature dropped further and the wind began moving more quickly. He grabbed the whip he had fashioned out of the crown of thorns, dropped a section of the wall and moved out of the burgeoning blizzard. He slumped against the wall teeth chattering hugging himslef and cursing himself for leaving his midriff exposed. He still had the presence of mind to straighten out the circular wall to weaken the vortex of frost by forcing the winds to buffet against stone rather than being funneled. 

He glanced over at the icy structure Lynette had created and sent a pillar of stone to crash into it and hopefully knock her to the ground. He stood shivering and readied the whip he had made from the crown of thorns.

[Icarian Dreams]

Lynette sensed the ground under her feet shake, threatening to collapse, and she grasped the hilt of her sword. The ice storm began to slow down, no longer draining from her energy, but she still had some time before it completely died down. Once again, she raised her shield-arm, preparing to send another barrage of missiles towards her enemy, before her eyes widened at the massive pillar of rock soaring through the air at her. Her concentration on the ice structure broke as she desperately attempted to slow the projectile down, materializing layers upon layer of thin ice out of the moisture in the surrounding air - without much of a success. She gasped loudly, barely holding her feet on the ice by the enchantment of her boots, as the massive glacier shook violently from the impact, waves upon waves of water exploding all around from the shattering, rapidly-melting structure. She barely managed to hold the ice that was directly under her feet secure, creating a small platform on which she plummeted downwards into the cold waters.

She felt her insides jump to her throat as the ice disk crushed into the furious waves underneath, bringing her down to her hands and knees as she barely held onto the edge of the floe. Only after a moment did she get a better grasp on the situation, quickly focusing her energy to freeze the water beneath into the shape of a slope on which she could slide down more safely. Having regained her balance on the rapidly moving platform, she straightened up, trying to find her opponent - only to see him shiver with a whip in his hand right next to his own structure. She commanded the ice beneath to expand in that direction, the platform under her feet gaining momentum with every following second. Just as she was about to hit him, she curved the slide just a little bit upwards, and let her boots release their grasp, the ice disk shooting from the sudden lack of friction from under her feet, with stupendous force heading straight for Lin's chest. Lyn herself tumbled forward, the velocity of her fall surpassing even her own expectations and knocking her well off-balance. By the skin of her teeth, she managed to soften her fall with a roll, even despite it feeling every bone in her body shake, as it was met with the cold hard ground. Finishing the manouver, she swung her blade upwards from the side, in a rather ungraceful attempt trying to force the momentum of her stumble into a blow against the other changeling.

[Solomon]

As the pillar crashed into the ice Lin watched his opponent stumble, slip, and then make a slide headed in his direction as she slid towards him he prepared to raise a wall for her to slam into at the last second. As he waited tense he check on the oak and was glad to sense it was still alive he diverted a portion of his energy to continue to grow it's roots.

Lin tensed as she grew close. She jumped off however and the wall only served to prevent him from being hit from the disk of ice. It shattered violently gouging the wall. His heart lept to his throat and he was filled with dread, she was going to kill him if she got the chance. He stepped back on the now muddy ground away from a clumsy blow from the other changeling as she stumbled. He lashed out with the whip seeking to wrap it on the leg that held most of her weight at the moment and pull her off balance.

[Icarian Dreams]

Lynette grit her teeth as the ice shattered across the newly-risen wall, more than glad that she managed to get off the platform before it hit. She didn't have much time to focus on that, however, as her blow went wide, causing her to overextend instead of regaining balance.

She panted in surprise as the thorny vine wrapped around her leg, pulling it from underneath her. Thanks to her armor, the spikes didn't doo as much as to merely scratch the metal plates, but the sudden tug at her ankle completely put her off, sending her falling backwards into the moist and muddy ground. Only by the very last second did she manage to fit in her own strike, with the edge of her shield swinging at the side of his head. She fell onto her hands, spun around by the momentum of the blow, but quickly turned around, fearful not to keep her back exposed to an enemy. With a quick cut she severed the whip still holding her leg in half, and crawled a few steps back, focusing some energy to channel a ray of ice and frost at the man, gaining a few precious seconds to help herself raise from the ground with her other hand.

Re-adjusting her stance, she took just a split second to take better notice of her opponent - the chill seemed to have gotten to him, but he was still standing firmly - in fact, he had already put up way more of a fight than she initially expected he would. She couldn't let him get a breather. His strength so far had come from careful preparation of the environment, but she doubted he'd have as much of a chance in direct combat. Instead of charging him head-first, however, first she lowered the ray of frost she was still aiming at him, freezing down the wet ground and covering it with a layer of ice, slowly expanding in all directions with every passing second. Let's see you run on that. She smirked. Only then did she advance, careful not to run head-first into any stray pillars of stone he might have summoned.

[Solomon]

As he pulled her off balance Lynette swiped at him with her shield he jerked his head back as that appeared to be where she was aiming but as she fell her strike connected with his thigh. He gritted his teeth in pain that was going to leave a nasty bruise. 

Lin tried to keep pulling her off balance circling her and pulling at the leg which his whip was wrapped around buying time for the roots of the oak to grow closer to her. Then she fired a ray of frost at him forcing him to slack his grip to dodge. She took the opportunity to sever his whip and he dropped its useless remnants. He backed up slightly as she stood and moved to dodge as she fired another ray of frost, but it wasn't aimed at him. His eyes widened in realization she was going to freeze the ground and remove his only advantage the ability to control the terrain. He had to spring his trap now. As she took her first step onto the large icy patch she had created the roots of the oak burst from the ground seeking to twine around her legs, body, and arms.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Solomon
So many grammar errors ffs

[Icarian Dreams]

Lyn felt a shiver of satisfaction run through her as she felt the shield make contact with his body. Finally, an attack that actually landed. The following sequence of events filled her with even more confidence. She was on her favoured terrain now, and even though the summerling knew of that, she didn't see any way for him to avoid it - aside from just running like a coward - which she definitely was not going to allow him. She kept her blade low to allow for quicker and more precise attacks, and pressed on.

Then, the ground burst open. A sprawling root broke through the ground in front of her, sending shards of ice flying across the battlefield, and forcing her to halt her assault and raise her shield to block her face from the tiny projectiles. Her eyes almost burst out of their sockets. "Wha-?!" she barely had time to exclaim, before another powerful root wrapped around her waist, yanking her backwards. She pulled forward, instinctively trying to break free, before she felt more roots emerge from the ground, darting under her axilla and wrapping around her arms. For the first time in the fight she felt the fear that she may actually lose it. Faint panic took over the trained, distant determination as she felt even more of the tree begin to grasp her legs, despite her thrashing. Her heart was racing. Was this really going to end like that?

[Solomon]

Linden felt a surge of excitement and relief as she was caught in his trap. He had to close the distance now. Linden didn't really see a graceful way to approach quickly and decided to slide over graclessly on his butt. He smirked at her useless thrashing as the roots wound around her tighter. He raised a dome of stone over her finally and completely trapping her. He had the roots let her go there was no reason to make her suffer unduly. "Do you yield?"

[Icarian Dreams]

Seeing how her struggling only made things worse, Lyn stopped feeling only the frantic beating of her heart. Panic started giving place for anger, as her opponent approached her. She looked him straight in the eye, nearly a growl escaping her throat as he put on that cocky smirk of his. Then, the walls rose around her, and she was taken by the darkness.

She breathed in strongly as she felt the bindings weaken their pressure on her chest, and pulled forward, breaking out of them. To her relief, the remaining roots began to retreat, letting her move freely, even if only within her prison. She coughed a couple times, catching her breath, and looked around in the darkness. The shield was still hanging on her arm. The hilt of the sword was still in her hand. This was far from over.

His words came through, dulled through the layers of thick surface. She groaned, not answering. You should have kept the roots up, she thought, leaving his question unanswered. She sheathed her blade, and extended her just-freed hand forward, feeling out the material of the trap. His muffled voice gave her some ide on how thick it was. Nothing she couldn't handle. Her eyes closed as she directed her energy into the extended limb, shivering as waves of coldness begane vibrating within it. The surface under her hand whitened, a soft layer of rime building on the rock surface. She directed the energy forward, in her mind seeing the strings of ice expand through the stone, filling in every little nook and cranny, forming thin glacial veins, spreading across the entire wall. Then, through the ice, she felt the air on the other side. She smiled.

An avalanche of rock burst outwards the dome, rubble and cold dust soaring through the battlefield. Lynette barraged right with them, her shield raised tall in front of her as she charged through the shattering wall, straight at Linden. Her sword-arm fumed as a layer of ice covering it came in contact with the searing rays of sun, the frost starting to break and fall down from the limb. She had no sword in her hand. She did not need it.

 

[Solomon]

Lin's confidence drained as he heard a sharp crack issue from the stone he should have kept the boubds or sttacked when she refused to answer. he tried to reinforce it but he was to late. The stone burst and he raised his arms to protect his face.

He was slammed into by Lynette's charge knocking him back and to the ground. He screamed out in pain the metal of the shield had been so cold it burned and no doubt some of his skin was stick to it. Clutching his exposed midrifg desperately he administered some healing to his wounded midriff as he scrabbled backwards away from her in the icy mud. 

He had to get ready for her next attack, he moved the roots through the ground to himself. Panting and scared he was nevertheless determined he hadn't lost just yet.

[Icarian Dreams]

She panted heavily, as she landed on him, pushing the shield hard into his body. This was it. She finally got him.

"Yield...?" she slowly asked, almost as if she just remembered his question from moments earlier. "...no," she answered after a while, still in the process of catching her breath. She pulled her shield back from his body, grimasing as she felt some of the skin on his body tear when she did so. Her other hand went to his throat, bringing him up as she herself rose from the ground. Without letting go, she pushed him towards the stone wall that he himself created, pinning him to the dome. "...do you?" she asked.

She felt the ground rumble slightly under her feet, and looked at the ground around them for a moment. Veins of piercing-cold ice emerged out of her fingers, wrapping around his neck and gorge. "I wouldn't try it if I were you," she threatened, with intensity looking him in the eye. Truth was, she wasn't herself sure how much longer could she keep it up. But she still had the energy to clench her fist for one more time, should he push her to it.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Icarian Dreams

[Solomon]

He gasped as she grabbed his neck and lifted him to his feet he clutched and clawed at her arm. As he struggled in defiance she sent her power into her grasp and he gritted his teeth in silent pain as frost bite degan to spread on his neck. As he continued his stare of defiance, Sarissa lashed out at Lynette sinking her fangs into her nose and letting go as Lynette reeled back in surprise and let go of Linden.

Linden's heart surged with pride for his loyal pet as he began to intertwine the roots around his limbs. They withered away as thick bark spread across his skin embuing him with the strength and resilience of the mighty oak temporarily banishing the drained feeling he had from using so much magic. Hopefully the boost would allow him to take on a trained close quarters combat fighter. He threw a punch at Lynette's face hoping to knock any confidence from her. As the bark crawled up his throat he spoke, "I don't think so... we haven't seen how you fare against an actually armored opponent." as he finished the bark formed a helmet covering his head. 

[Icarian Dreams]

"Motherfu-" Lyn yelped in surprise, her fingers releasing their grasp as she sprung backwards from the sudden attack of the changeling's serpent. Her hand instinctively went towards her nose, just in time to block the underhand attack. Even despite that, she felt her own hand strike into her face, taking over the momentum of the punch. She staggered and took a step back to maintain her poise. "You wretch~" she hissed, her fingers curling into the shape of a fist. If anything, the strike re-ignited the wrath she felt.

She attacked him with a quick uppercut, aiming to disorient him as she winded up another strike with her shield, from the side. This skirmish should have ended minutes ago, but she still had plenty of fight in her - and after all she's put her opponent through, she expected him to have overestimated his constitution with this last-ditch effort to oppose her.

[Solomon]

The uppercut clipped the side of his head as he tried to move out of the way but with the barkskin he it merely rattled him for a split second. He moved to grab her shield arm to stop her incoming attack. "Fucking cruel harridan!" He used it to haul her closer and thrust his head forward trying to headbutt her. Lin was going to press the advantage of being completely armored unlike Lynette who lacked a helmet. He pulled his head back to slam it into her again.

[Icarian Dreams]

Lyn rasped as he grabbed her shield-arm, not really expecting the changeling to have the reflexes nor the strength to stop such a blow. She let out yet another gasp as he pulled her closer, striking her firmly with his own forehead. Thinking on her feet, as he winded up another strike, she dug her fingers into his forearm in a counter-grapple. This time she expected the incoming blow, and ducked to the side and out of the way, using the force of his strike to spin him over her shoulder, staggering to the side from the sheer weight and the momentum of his body, She felt herself lose her footing, and fell right onto her opponent, the hard way bringing them both to the ground.

With her ears still ringing from the sudden change in altitude, she climbed onto her hands, putting her knee to the other side of his body, in a clumsy attempt to straddle him. She blinked a couple times, trying to get rid of the slight buzzing in her head, as she swinged at him once again, hoping to introduce his face to her fists.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Icarian Dreams

[Solomon]

As he went for a second strike to her head she ducked low and bowled him over he maintained his grip however and towed her to the ground with him. With a shout of alarm he landed face first. Dizzied he was slow in rolling over and so Lynette ended up atop him and going for a pin she was partly effective, but grunting with effort he got an arm free. He punched her thigh as that was the area easiest to reach with the least armor, but that didn't stop the blows coming towards his face. He grew thick dense thorns on his face plate hoping to injure her hands. He winced as her fists swung towards him.

[Icarian Dreams]

Focused on the offensive, Lynette barely even felt the punch directed at her thigh, and pushed her fist forward, landing the first blow of - as she hoped - many.

A cracking sound resonated through the arena, followed by a high-pitched yelp of pain, as with all the force of her blow, the winterfae impaled her fist on the spikes that were now pertruding from her opponent's face. The metal plates gave down to the fierceness of nature, bending and collapsing under the thick thorns of his skin. She stumbled backwards, clutching her pained hand, a few of the thorns having broken off the bark skin and now sticking out from the openings in her broken glove. She felt a warm liquid run down her wrist, and suddenly realized that it was the first time in the entire combat that she actually bled. She stopped for a second, looking at Linden with an almost surprised expression.

[Solomon]

Her punch landed jarring him as he recovered a grim satisfaction filled him as he realized she was much worse off than him. Although he felt tinges of guilt for causing someone such pain he didn't want to waste the opportunity, as he could feel the power of the bark skin beginning to wane. He lashed out with a kick to knock her down as she stumbled back off of him. His barkskin helmet withered and crumbled and he returned her surprised look as she fell with a stern glare as he stood. He moved to pin her so he could do what she had been planning to do to him only moments ago.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Solomon

[Icarian Dreams]

Her wide-open eyes suddenly narrowed as she momentarily got out of the state of surprised stupor she was in. She instantly pushed herself off the ground to close the distance, thrusting her fist into the ground and growling in agony through her clenched teeth when the spikes plunged even deeper into her flesh. With a wide arch, she swung her shield from the other hand, putting all her might and ferocity into a blow that could down a bear, thrusting it right into Linden's exposed ribs. She closed her eyes when the strike connected, with a quite unladylike roar pushing it through to the very end, before taking a few more steps further, and falling to her knees, panting heavily.

She forced herself to open her eyes and try to find her opponent, the pain and exhaustion starting to hit her all at once. If that bastard had any last tricks up his sleeve...

Edited December 16, 2020 by Icarian Dreams
Small edit

[Solomon]

As he charged towards her she got up much quicker than he had anticipated. He tried to hit her but she slammed her shield into him and he waa knocked aside and sent tumbling across the muddy ice. He staggered to his knees clutching his chest and panting as the barkskin continued to crumble sloughing off of him, much more quickly now as protecting him from that final blow had drained the rest of its power. Lin looked over himself. He was bruised, his muscles were aching, he was sweating far more than he was used to, covered in mud, and just plain exhausted. He looked over at his opponent and she appeared to be in the same position. He coughed several times and then asked in a worn out voice, "Truce?"

[Icarian Dreams]

She panted a few seconds more, trying to steady her breath before she turned her head towards where Lin's voice was coming from, still prepared to fight back any last-ditch assault. She groaned, trying to push herself slightly upwards, the blood running down her fingers and onto the grass below. Her head was spinning, her energies exhausted from having to break through a solid stone wall with nothing but her magic. She threw her shield to the side, getting rid of the weight, and pulled the gauntlet off her bleeding hand, throwing it somewhere into the grass. She looked towards her opponent, a tiny smirk appearing on her face. That bastard...

"...Truce." she responded after a few seconds, in a half-relieved, half-defeated tone.