Icarian Dreams

Anpu grit her teeth, still not quite sure about the safety of this entire thing. Maybe she should have just gone and warned someone who had some more experience on fighting potential otherworldly threats. Or someone who could stop the triplets from actually performing the ritual. But being more or less in the center of attention, her chances of slipping out were rather slim - it seemed she needed to carry through the entirety of this. So she sincerely hoped it would all go according to plan. "Um- yeah, for arcane magic, that's- more or less right..." she said, visibly glooming at Jessica's mention. She wasn't sure if the demoness teased her intentionally or not, but for someone who spent countless hours buried in the library in fruitless attempts to do as much as summon a spark of arcane energy in her hand, being called "not good enough" hurt harder than a kick in the groin. She cleared her throat, trying to regather her composure. "So, umm, the scroll should have the incantation. Just read it as you expand energy and, uhh, it should summon... something," she stated without much confidence. She felt like she was stating the obvious here, but that was pretty much all help she could have given aside from checking on whether everything was set up and performed correctly - pretty much everything else was in the scroll. There were a couple more advanced techniques she's read of, but none of them needed to be utilized for a summoning such as this one, so she didn't even mention them.

Lamp slowly followed, letting the boy get some space. He was clearly quite overwhelmed, even though Lamp still didn't quite know what by. When he stopped to look back at her, however, he seemed much calmer and - in general - fine than earlier. She smiled back at him, glad that he was feeling more confident. "Yeah, as I told you - any time!" she gladly let him know, fluttering up a few feet as she answered his question. She was still very much keen on the idea of dating - or mating - but understood if Hiro didn't want to get to it quite yet - after all he needed to show her around first! Lost in thought, she almost flied straight into Hiro's back as the boy stopped before the classroom door. "Oh~! Yhmm!" she confirmed, acknowledging that he hasn't been lying, and it was, in fact the History class. For a moment, they stood in silence, before Lamp remembered why was he even leading her to this class. She quickly pulled up her timetable and rotated it to showcase a rather roughly drawn layout of the school, before marking what she presumed was the path to the History class. She nodded with satisfaction, ready to go further, but stopped to listen as he asked her about her phone. "Nope!" she answered. "Didn't exactly have the pockets to bring it," she explained, gesturing with two of her arms towards her rather bountiful bust and hips - or rather what little material was covering them. Somehow, the matter of where she got the pen to sketch a plan on the timetable got omitted. "I think it's in my room. Should we get it?" she asked, looking up to him, only to realize that he was in fact below her.

She took the bowl from his hands and placed it somewhere to the side, before resting her head down into the soft mattress, keeping her eyes fixated on Lin's own vibrantly golden irides. She smiled. He had her right where he wanted, and she didn't even really mind it. And all because of a few honeyed words and a bouquet of flowers... She smirked. He was such a fool - young, so naively stubborn. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he reminded her of something she had longed for, something that she's been missing without even quite knowing what it was. And he was attractive, she thought, for once deciding not to usher the thought away. Perhaps it was her who was foolish to let Lin charm her like that. Queen Mab would surely have her head if she had the slightest idea on how close Lyn let this "summerling" get to her, or how much influence he had on her right now, but frankly, the Winter Knight couldn't care less. She didn't really have the strength nor desire to worry about that. Currently, she just needed a while to calm down, and, for once in this lengthy day, to relax, if even for a moment. No powers in the world would take that away from her now, not even the ones of the Queen of Air and Darkness herself. She turned slightly, pulling her legs onto the bed, and cuddled a bit closer to him, keen to hear the sound of his voice. Yes, it was clear what he was trying to do. It had been clear ever since the first word he uttered after waking up. But was it really so wrong? He wanted her, she wanted him. What did it matter where they came from or whom they served? It had been ages since someone treated her with as much affection as he did - the Winter Court was not the place for such frivolousness - and even if it was all just an act, who said she couldn't enjoy it? "You don't owe me anything, Lin. You'd do the same if the tables were turned," she responded quietly, in a tone of something obvious being stated. Because, in fact, it was him who took care of her first. Even if he didn't quite remember it now. She smiled encouragingly. "But... a massage would be nice..." she followed in a slightly dreamy voice.

You shall burn in the depths of hell for not complying to my advice!

Neeko-neeko-nii! She seems great so far! I can't wait to see whatcha gonna do with her ^-^ Also, I just learned that there's a word such as "zygodactylous". The more you know...

Lynette finished up filling the dish with snow and stepped over to the brazier, sending a longer look towards her guest. He seemed... contemplative. Good, hopefully it mean he was beginning to come back to his senses. She returned her gaze to the fire, slightly rotating the bowl above it to heat the entire bowl equally. She grit her teeth. The soaring flames beneath her hands were way too warm for her comfort, even when she directed some more energy into them, trying to equalize the temperature. Focused, for a moment she almost forgot about the man close by, reminded only by his voice, when he finally finished his deliberations. To her relief, he was beginning to sound a bit more clear-headed. As he spoke, she blushed once again, in a nearly exact fashion as he described it. This time, it was not unexpected embrace that solicited such reaction, but rather the flowery words of praise and exaltation towards her visage that he preached. It seemed that he could be chivalrous if he wanted to. As she finished warming the water and composing some sort of an reply to his poetic confession, she turned to the sight of a bountiful bouquet of snowdrops in his hands, and all her voice could produce was just a surprisingly light and girly laughter, so different to the cold exterior she's been showing him so far. With an amused smile, she stepped up to the bed, with the bowl in her hands taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. Half-turned towards the changeling, she lowered her head for a second, hiding her blush amongst the sea of snow-white curls that flowed to the sides of her head. When she raised it back up, her expression was slightly more controlled, but the amused smirk still remained on her lips. "Listen, we-" she began, trying to give him some explaination, but couldn't really bring herself say anything more about the passed situation. She shook her head. "It's unimportant. You'll remember with time," she decided, with a slight bow graciously accepting his gift of flowers. She shook her head again, in disbelief, and handed him the filled bowl in return. "Here, drink this. It should help you," she claimed, and brought the bouquet closer to her face, smelling the flowers. After all that happened, he was seriously giving her flowers... She shook her head once more. What an utterly chaotic and absurd situation. She mindlessly picked a few of the stems out of the bunch, slowly examining them, before taking a few seconds of skillful work to weave them into her hair. The flowers hung delicately from above her ear, like a set of beautiful tiny bells. The remaining ones she placed on top of the nearby chair, noting in her mind to perhaps find some vase for them later. She looked at Lin as he spoke once more, slightly raising her eyebrow in answer to his proposition. Someone here's determined, she smirked, and, despite her better sense, rested her head by the side of his body, herself not sure what exactly pushed her to this gesture. Picking herself slightly upwards and resting on her elbows, she turned towards him. "Well, if you can provide the leaves, I could make us some warm tea~" she offered, her voice bearing a slightly playful note behind it.

Why not both? Hemaphrodites rule

Lyn Her jaw dropped as her guest plainly and directly stated his intentions, and fell even lower at his... vulgar insinuation towards her. "What- Me- You?" She found herself once again at a loss of words, blinking rapidly as if trying to get out of this weird dream. What on all that is good was going on? She inhaled deeply, trying to keep her cool and not to burst out any further at her guest's highly inpapropriate bluntness, as she tried to get a better grasp on this entire situation. He must have been delirious, there was no other option, but it seemed that he had at least some understanding of his surroundings, or at least whom she was. Maybe she could somehow get through to him. "Listen, Direnni," she started, pausing for a moment as she felt something touch her in a very inappropriate manner. "Err-" she stuttered, flushing strongly, and, with a gentle, but firm move, moving him off of her. She attempted to regain her composure and spelled out her following words, looking him sharply in the eyes and hoping that at least something would get through to that delirious mind of his. "You are hurt. You are not thinking straight. I'm not here to... bed you, I'm trying to keep you from freezing to death," she stated, almost instantly regretting her choice of words. "As in... trying to- ugh-" she groaned and gestured towards the brazier, finding herself struggling to explain the concept in a way that would not instantly suggest any bodily contact. "With the fire- not with- you know. Now lay down and don't... move too much, I'll- I'll get you some water," she decided nearly mid-sentence, her voice still carrying some of her initial disbelief. Maybe if he was a bit better hydrated he'd get out of this... state he was in, she hoped. Getting stuck with a horny summerfae was definitely not something she wanted to do today- not something she wanted to do, period, she corrected, catching herself staring at his endowed, and nearly completely bare, body for a bit too long than she intended to. Trying her best not to be rough with him, she slowly rose up from the bed, with a stern frown on her face pressing her hand on his chest, and, in a short, decisive motion, pushing him back down onto the mattress. Stay. Down, she thought, trying to chase away the images that he left in her mind. She pushed herself off the bed, walked up to her desk, and stopped for a longer moment, her hand hanging just above it. With a slight shake of her head, she picked up a small metal bowl, throwing out some crappy plastic fruit that rested inside and must have come with the rest of the room when it got assigned to her. Her other hand, she raised above the basin, and, after a few seconds have passed, faint snowflakes began raining down, at an increasing rate filling out the bowl with pure, clean snow. She looked to the side, towards the flickering flames. Now only to melt and heat it up...

Lyn felt some movement behind her. Good, she thought, at least his thrashing will keep me awake. She sighed, and let herself close her eyes for a moment. Just a second, she decided. Then, the movements behind her intensified. She turned, towards the sound, slightly parting her eyes, only to see Linden begin to move aside his serpentine companion. "Oh, good, you're awake. How are yo-" She started, before his arm rounded behind her back, pulling her into a sudden smooch, which, alongside the light giggle that followed, left her utterly speechless for a few good seconds - just long enough for him to delliver his flowery ode. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, not able to utter a sound. "You- I- What in the heavens do you think you're doing?!" she protested, her cheeks burning with a bright pink colour, so contrasting to her usually pale visage.

Lynette sat on the edge of her bed, for the tenth time reading the letter from the Winter Court she was sent here with. It was cold and formal - as most things around the Winter Court were - and it explained what exactly she was to achieve in the academy. She sighed, once again stopping with her gaze on the refined signature at the bottom of the page, folded the paper in three, and brought it closer to the flame of a small brazier next to her. The Court would have wanted her to do this the very moment she crossed the school grounds, but she couldn't help but feel some slight nostalgia towards the message. Besides, its contents weren't really all that sensitive. Lyn couldn't really imagine how could they possibly have helped the summerfae, should they have found it. But well, now the contents were safe in her head, and the letter was nothing more but a pile of ashes gathering on the base of the brazier. She looked behind her, at the man lying unconscious on her bed. @Solomon He was out for a couple hours now, and Lyn was frankly getting slightly worried. She's already chastised herself for letting her emotions take over her and starting that stupid duel. What was she even trying to prove? This was not the place nor time for skirmishes between the Courts. If either of them got seriously hurt - or worse - ended up dead, she would be in serious trouble by now. Hell, it was likely that she was already in serious trouble, but didn't just know it yet. It wasn't be past the Courts to have their eyes and ears present even here. Or maybe, especially here. Not to mention, even if they didn't, this man who now rested beside her would surely report back to Queen Titania sooner or later. Lyn's eyebrow rose as he moved slightly behind her. He was not quite back to his senses yet, but at least he showed signs of life. To her annoyance, so did that damned snake of his, refusing to leave his side for even a second. The groundskeeper, a strong, but gentle orc, helped her get Linden here after she hauled him through the courtyard, and even brought her this brazier to heat up the room. The nurse was apparently not on the job today, but Lyn managed to secure some bandages and some human medicine for them to patch up their wounds. She did her best to bring the summerfae changeling to the best condition she could, and then took care of herself - but thanks to her guest's aid, most of her wounds have already closed, so she resorted only to tending to the nastier of bruises that remained on her body. Her arms and armor were now standing to the side, placed on and against a small desk that she supposedly was to study at. Now, she was left only in a soft, light tunic, and a set of slightly harsher and thicker leather pants that she usually wore alongside her armor. After nearly an entire day of wearing a suit of metal plates, such clothes made her body feel exceptionally light, even though the exhaustion was slowly beginning to get to her. She yawned, and rested her head on the mattress, a few centimeters away from Linden, trying her best to avoid his serpentine companion that had been faithfully guarding his body. She forced herself to keep her eyes open, staring at the monotonne ceiling above them. Falling asleep now would likely mean that she wouldn't be up when her guest woke up, which was something she really aimed to avoid. It was still undecided what exactly was he playing for, and Lyn had no doubts that he would be more than eager to search through her things if he had the occasion - even though she already made sure to hide or destroy most of the things that she didn't want him to see.

Hearing the man actually address her by her title, Lynette couldn't help but smile. Usually she'd dismiss it for cheap mockery, but this time she didn't sense any of it in his expression nor in the tone of his voice. She shivered slightly when he took her hand, but appreciated the gentleness with which he handled it. She'd expect more rough treatment from someone she just almost killed. His apology she accepted with a faint nod of her own. Truth be told, it was her who approached him with accusations of dishonesty and mal-intent. This didn't of course release him from being responsible for his disrespectful behavior, but it did give some justification to his actions. They both had things to apologize for here. That said, she didn't, of course, suddenly start to completely trust him - his motives and goals were still largely unknown, and she was set on finding out what they truly were - but she did warm up to the man. Of course. That's why you lasted so damn long, she thought, hearing his explaination of how he healed his wounds. The light energy around her hand felt warm and pleasant, and even slightly tingly. She breathed out in relief as the pain she felt slowly began to subside and the wound on her hand started closing. Her gaze rose and she looked up at him, grateful, but still, even with the atmosphere slowly adjusting to its usual warmth, the marks on his skin attracted her concern. "You do need to-" she started, reaching out to try and feel out the temperature of his body, but she didn't even get the chance to touch him or finish her sentence before he blacked out. "-ah, damnation," she concluded, springing to her feet to catch the man before he fell and potentially hurt himself even more. She grunted heavily as his weight collapsed onto her shoulder, and reached with her recently-healed limb to hold him from falling to the side. "Need to get you somewhere warm..." she decided out loud, and began to slowly pull him towards the exit from the arena. [ Scene finished ]

The boy's reaction was not at all what Lamp expected when she posed her offer. At first she got slightly scared and worried by the sounds he began to make, but then she managed to discern words in between his stuttering. She tried to grasp as much of it as she could. She kept silent with a puzzled expression as he spoke, unsure how to exactly react to this weird outburst of emotion. He wasn't really making much sense either, or at least, Lamp had trouble finding it as she listened carefully into what he was saying. He mentioned some "morality rules", but then told her that it was just a "build-up", then said he wouldn't want her to get bored, when a while back he was describing this process as something rather fun and enjoyable. It was all very confusing for the moth-girl. What she managed to grasp out of his stream of words, however, was that this weird foreplay that Hiro called "dates" was apparently of great importance to humans, and so she wanted to make sure that Hiro wouldn't be discouraged by her inexperience in these sort of things. "No, no, it sounds really interesting, I'm sure I wouldn't get bored" she assured quickly, hoping that it would help get him out of this agitated state he got into. "B-but we can of course just simply breed if you want to!" she then proposed, beginning to think that maybe it was his inexperience in this whole "dating" thing that made him so embarassed by her offer. Of course, she could use someone to help her understand better how this process worked, but if he prefered to just get into it, she was be happy to oblige - after all, that was how she was taught to do it.

With a grunt of pain, Lyn removed a spike stuck in her hand, channeling just a bit of her cold powers to staunch the bleeding. It was the least she could do until she got proper medical attention. Hopefully, they had a healer somewhere in this school. With the adrenaline slowly fading from her body, the pain was intensifying, and she was starting to feel faint. Truth be told, it was one of few actual combats she's been in, and this was one of the even fewer wounds she has ever taken. Still, she did her best not to show too much weakness to the servant of the summerfae. The moment he kneeled next to her, however, she instinctively pulled back, moving her sword-side away from him. Her muscle memory was still not letting her relax, and the sight of the person whom she just came out of intense combat with approaching her peacefully was quite alien to her mind. She sighed, easing her muscles and getting on one knee. "I'm fine. Concern yourself with your own wounds, su-... Direnni," she addressed him, this time stopping herself from calling him a "summerling". For a pawn of the Summer Queen, he fought much better than she expected him to. He deserved at least that small bit of respect - even if she didn't quite trust his motives yet. She raised her head to look him in the eyes, more out of curiosity rather than anything else. To her surprise, she didn't find there prejudice. He seemed genuinely worried. She closed her eyes. "Fine, do what you will," she conceded with another sigh. "But we need to get you somewhere warm first. You're showing signs of frostbite." She gestured towards his neck, which, she noticed, was beginning to take a sickingly pale tone.

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.

If anything, Jessica's assurances were nearly the exact opposite to what Anpu hoped for. Summoning was very much not about "awesome powers" and experimenting with summoning "great warriors". Summoning had more to do with having to run for your life from an angry archdemon after you realize that maybe you should have finished drawing that circle before moving on to the "more interesting" parts of the ritual, and trying not to get your soul trapped in an inescapable maze by a bunch of angry fey who broke out of your control after you tried to send them after your enemies. It was a seriously dangerous process, and Anpu was not too keen as to trust the sisters' ability to "keep creatures in check". "Right, I-" she started trying to voice her concerns, before the voice of the other sister interrupted her mid-sentence. "Yes, s-sorry!" she quickly responded to the impatient demon, her ears arching towards the back of her head in a compliant expression. not really wanting to make the siblings angry. "Umm, so the circle is mostly complete already, you'll just need to light some candles in these four circles at the vertices," she pointed at the symbols. "Then you'll want to start the invocation while supplying energy to the circle. Magic works, but historically, this has also been done through some intense physical activity, like dancing-" she recited, clearly quoting some book she must have read. "-Of course you also need the chant or the true name of the creature summoned," she added from herself, "It should be somewhere in the scroll."

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...

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.

"Oh~, I meant, the circle would be weaker, not the summon," Anpu clarified. "It is here to hold the summoned creature in place so that you can, you know, place your demands!" There was a surprising amount of enthusiasm in her voice as she mentioned that, given how historically most of the times summoning had not been exactly used for too... noble of causes. "And don't you know what the familiar you're summoning is?" she insisted. "Wasn't it written on the scroll somewhere?" She wasn't in fact aware in the first place that it was a familiar the sisters were trying to summon, but hearing that was surprisingly comforting - even if she wasn't exactly sure whether summoning such creatures was even allowed by school rules. It meant, for one, that the three devious demons were not attempting to, for example, make a pact with a devil. In simpler terms - a good sign.

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.

"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.

I think you have one waiting for you in the Magic and potion wing. I've been meaning to respond in Lucy's Dorm as well, but I frankly got a bit stuck there.

I haven't been so active in ages! Been enjoying Cyberpunk in the breaks from ED myself, the game is pretty addictive, even despite its flaws.

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.

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.

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?