P A R A G O N
For Rickter, the world was moving too slow. His body was moving too slow. The exhausted face of the woman he loved was covered in sweat as she barely held herself together. But though his love for her was insurmountable, his rage was all-consuming in that moment. Ice and fire spread out from his body…and began to cover Telion as Rickter unleashed his power without focus, without control and without purpose. That pure burst of unbridled rage, backed up by his use of Overcharge, was enough to disrupt the aetheric control of the Jester but also had the consequence of disrupting the magic protecting those who he loved.
One of Telion’s arms and one of her legs were both flash frozen…and then shattered as his power raged further and further out of his own control. Words that tried to reach him, telepathic outreaches, powers that sought to calm him, all fell upon a curtain of blind anger as the Rathari Demigod was consumed by his primal instincts. Out of his own control, Rickter would transform into a towering wolven lycan with ebony fur dusted with frost blue hues. His scream of fury transformed into a howl of rage that was soon answered across the Northlands as that wrathful howl became a call to battle for every wolf in Karnor.
Consumed by his instincts as he was, Rickter was now plunged into a battle for control. Not against the Jester. Not against anyone else. But a fight to control himself…or be lost to his own primal godly fury.
The control ensaring Hikami’s mind was completely fractured. The warrior was released from the control almost as soon as he unleashed his powers against Iselya. The deadly rain of icy power he unleashed was met with a wave of silver-white fire and a burst of frigid power that the enraged demigod released. Hikami, being uniquely situated as an entity comprised of water and icy power, found himself invigorated to heights previously unknown to him. Power coursed through him allowing him to completely shrug off the lethargy caused by his exertions and by the Jester’s mental control. But just as soon as that power coursed through him, he was frozen solid by the wave of power barreling through the courtyard as the raw, undiluted power of Frost and Winter billowed out from Rickter in a blind fury. After a few moments however, Hikami’s unique nature as an icy being allowed him to move under his normal mechanisms after the initial shock wore off.
Lyra. Lyrielle. The Lady of Whisper. Every facet of her being was at first burned and then gently warmed by the power that she called upon. It was indeed unsettling to give herself to Hope and Light in such a way but the call she made was answered. Where at first her arm burned with the sensation of thousands of stinging hot pokers, it was then soothed by the sensation of what felt like a hand coming to rest upon her opposite shoulder followed by the feeling of another hand wrapping around her forearm, as though to steady her. Those who observed would, for the briefest of moments, see the manifestation of two beings reflected in the light and shadows that Lyra summoned to herself. One figure had a hand resting firmly on her shoulder, a being of darkness. The other was a figure of light that was steadying her arm even as she shed her blood to form the pictographs that created the barrier. When it was in place, the presence touching her forearm squeezed lightly and the barrier expanded to cover the nearby Hannah and Patrick and the serpent.
The barrier of light that she formed was perhaps the only thing that saved Hannah and Patrick from certain death. Even then, it barely rose in time to spare them from injury. Patrick took a blade to the shoulder. Hannan was sliced across her thigh. But both of them were spared doom as the rest of the Jester’s deadly blades shattered upon impact with Lyra’s shield. That very same barrier is what spared Lyra, Hannah and Patrick from the blast of furious cold that would have frozen them solid as the silver-white fire burned away the ice to protect them.
For Iselya, her cyclone of dawnfire was perhaps the only thing that saved her from being frozen solid. The rage that consumed Rickter caused his aetheric dampening powers to become distorted and wild, disrupting the manifestation of her pact blades. As a result, Hikami would be able to dodge the blades directed at him in the moment he regained his senses. Meanwhile, Iselya’s use of Novuril and the unleashing of that cyclone managed to spare that side of the courtyard from becoming a complete frozen tundra. Between the fire she unleashed and the other powers at play, the collateral damage hurled into the shadowy Demon Tide creature, first freezing a portion of it and then shattering it completely as it released a shrill cry of agony, its form rapidly beginning to deteriorate in full.
The Jester was first ensnared completely by Lyra, a note of surprise followed by dark amusement followed by emptiness as its mind was completely shattered. Rather than scream…it laughed before tumbling from the skies. The body was caught in the icy blast released by Rickter’s fury, freezing it solid.
The body shattered upon impact with the ground.
Perhaps too easily.
Off Topic
The Demon Tide is defeated. The Jester is defeated...for now. All adverse mind control effects are ended.
Telion - Her left arm and left leg were flash-frozen and then broken. She is now in critical condition.
Hannah - Her right thigh has been split open. She is poisoned. She must be treated if she is to survive.
Patrick - His right shoulder has one of the green glass knives stuck in it. He has been poisoned. He must be treated if he is to survive.
Hikami - Free of mind control. You are completely restored to full strength due to the icy power in the area. Additionally, your water and ice-based Elementalism may be practiced at the Grandmaster level for the time being.
Lyra - Shielded. Unharmed, if a bit uncomfortable.
Iselya - Having been cut by one of the green blades, you are poisoned. You must find treatment if you are to survive.
Rickter - You are in berserk mode. Your primal beast has been unleashed and is in full control of your mental faculties at the moment, and he is FURIOUS. Everything is an enemy right now. Nowhere is safe. Panic. Rage. Anger. Hurt. Fear. Those are the instincts driving him at the moment. As a result of this overwhelming fury, your powers raged out of control. Proof of the danger of a neophyte demigod who loses themselves to their primal fury. You will need to find a way to pull back from this berserk state.
