The witch must die

Jp with Omni, Bandorchu and Winteroak

As Alexis steps back from the hollowed stone filled with blood she heard a twig snap to her left. A man with tanned skinned and dark hair stepped toward her. His skin was painted in hues of reds and blacks. Alexis raised her shield and sword towards the newcomer but as she spun towards the man he seemed to spit a cloud of ash in her direction. Her face was covered in smoke as she took a step back blinded.

Alexis closed her eyes protectively, not lowering either sword or shield, and focused on her hearing instead.

Whelp, you asked for this.

She recognised with gallows humour, preparing to receive her just desserts for her recklessness. Hopefully Voah would get out of this unscathed.

She felt the impact of something heavy against her shield pushing her over on her back. Voah watched as the man wearing what look like tanned leathers and a wooden mask kicked at Alexis's shield sending her to the ground. A cloud of smoke or ash still circling around her head.

Voah stepped forward with purpose, redirecting the tribal man's attention to herself but trying to keep him close to Alexis so that she might still be able to blindly attack. She circled to the left so that that man was between her and Alexis. In a duel, Voah would normally be on the defensive and wait until the other person attacked to get a sense of their movement and capability but she felt in this situation there was little time to lose. She wasn't sure how many more waited nearby and this had to end quick and dirty. She couldn't let Alexis die and more, she could not suffer the witch to live. She wasn't aware of it but the Arbiter was smirking as she feinted with her sword and lunged in for a kick, trying to knock the man prone and have him at some form of disadvantage under her blade.

Then she warned "Alexis, he is to your ____".

The savage man easily side stepped her kick and moved away from the reach of her blade. He grinned he pointed his fingers at her and a cloud of ash appeared to sprout from his mouth towards Voah's face.

To his surprise the cloud dissipated around the Arbiter's head. He hesitated clearly confused, raising his large club and taking a few steps to the side.

The ash had coalesced around Alexis’ face, even as she fell, blinding her. It was magik. The man must be some sort of shaman. It was no surprise to Voah that the native was quick, but now she knew for sure not to make a heavier attack until it was clear that she had him. Voah stepped confidently toward him, unblinking through the cloud of ash as blew it toward her.

“Alexis, I’m coming for you.” she said as she slashed sideways, trying to control the shamans movement rather than make a hit. She danced to opposite direction of the shaman, keeping him in front of herself, now trying to reposition herself next to Alexis.

The man gave Voah a wide berth weary of her and her long steel blade. He spoke some sharp words in a guttural tongue they had not heard before opening his arms.

Voah knelt down quickly next to Alexis, keeping her eyes on the shaman. "Do not fear. I've got you." she spoke in a gentle tone as she placed her hand over Alexis' face. "Kupen clear her sight. Rise, Alexis."

She did not wait to see if it worked. The Arbiter rose and pointed her blade at her enemy. "Vastad, I call on you now. Do not let our blades fail!"

The cloud of ash blinding Alexis dissipated as the Arbiter's hand moved across it. But as she rose and called upon the God of war, a huge shape lunged from the undergrowth hitting her scare in the chest and throwing her to the ground. A huge slotted cat stood above Voah trying to dig its jaws into her face.

Alexis had pulled herself up in a crouching position as the Arbiter‘s touch freed her vision from the strange smoke.
The sight that met her was an unwelcome one, as her saviour was about to become an overgrown cat‘s snack.
So she did the first thing that came to mind - propelling her full bodyweight against the cat of prey with an angry scream ripping from her throat, trying to throw it off of Voah.

Pushing the big animal off the Arbiter, Alexis crashed against it with her shield throwing it across the small opening in the jungle. Voah's face and shoulders had some cuts and scrapes but nothing too serious. She drew a big breath of air once the weight of the beast was off her. But before she could get back to her feet the savage man jumped on her swinging his large club down with all his might. He growled and spat in his deep angry language.

Still gripping the silvered sword she guarded herself from the blow with a clang as she rolled out of the way. This was not the way things were supposed to go down, she thought. She rose to her feet, her blade tip making a circle in the dirt as she turned around to face the man in a hunched position with her teeth bared. She lunged forward with the sword.

In the meantime the big cat was quite perturbed to have been so rudely interrupted by Alexis and showed its irritation by lunging at the merc instead.

Unlike Voah though Alexis was prepared and managed to ram her shield into its gaping maw. The impact had her feet leave scratch marks in the ground as she was pushed back by the uninhibited force of it.

While her shield protected Alexis from the wicked teeth, its claws were an asset, too and she could feel the sting as they drilled themselves through the protective layer of leather armor surrounding her shield arm.

Alexis emitted a feral growl rivalling her quarry’s as she dug her feet into the ground and with strength born from pure adrenaline she pushed the beast back and up inch by inch until its underbelly was exposed to her blade.

Her shield arm bleeding heavily Alexis drove her blade deep into the large cat that recoiled in pain having its insides pierced. With a last powerful swat of its paw against Alexis shield it pulled away from her bleeding heavily, but still keeping its eye on the woman. Alexis shield was torn from her arm. Behind her the savage man tried to weave and dodge out of the Arbiter's sword's attack but his club was not very effective against Mizarian steel. Voah scored several cuts to the man, who onced again tried to use his clouds of ash only to see them dissipate around this strange woman. He let out a huge bellowing scream and attacked Coach with an overhead swing.

'End this Voah. You have to END this NOW.' sang the voice in her head.

As she squared off with the shaman, he raised his arms for a powerful downward strike. Voah saw that as an open opportunity. She sprang forward, plunging her sword into his chest and kicking him back off of the blade.

"Zinheim, I have another one for your garden." she said, her chest heaving from the action.

Alexis shield lay forgotten as she grabbed a very old looking dagger from her side instead.
With a look of grim determination she stalked towards the wounded beast.

If it really wanted to dance until the bloody conclusion, she was more than game for it.

Voah approached the fallen man quickly and kicked his flailing club to the side sending it tumbling into the undergrowth. Seeing his doom, the man scurried backwards on his bottom and spat at her with vile curse words she didn't understand before pulling a knife from somewhere and getting one last swipe, nicking Voah's forearm. She put her foot down on his chest, pinning him to the ground on his back. His eyes went wide as she slashed her blade fast and hard across his throat ending him.

She turned to check on Alexis.

The beast snarled at Alexis ready to pounce once again. But just as it appeared ready to attack it shook his massive head in confusion as if her primal mind was foggy. Free of the shaman's control and wounded the beast snarled one last time and fled to the undergrowth, leaving a bleeding Alexis to her own fate.

Alexis took a deep breath, before looking back to see Voah stand victoriously. She gave her an exhausted thumbs up before searching for a bandage to at least staunch the flow of blood.

Walking back over to the Arbiter and picking up her shield on the way, she told her with a lopsided smile.

“I bet you get told that every day, but you are pretty darn amazing. I owe you one, piuthar.”

"You have already given me your loyalty. You owe me nothing." she let out a long exhale and as she moved back toward the path from which they arrived, she noticed a leather strap on the ground. She picked it up. A teak figurine hung from the necklace. It belonged to Till.

The time to gather their breaths was cut short as Alexis and Voah heard noises from somewhere up ahead, coming form the direction they came from. Something or someone was walking towards them.

Alexis gently pulled Voah back into to jungle.

“I think this is our cue to leave. Or hide, at least.”

As the noise of approaching steps was coming exactly from where they themselves had arrived, Alexis decided to go off to the side in an angle, swiftly searching for an impromptu hiding space.