Rystra vs. Cadence
Cadence grins to Rystra and pulls two twigs from his messy purple hair. Beating them together in a catchy rhythm, he begins to dance. Within a few moments you notice Karcas doing a little jig and before long he's dancing around the shop. Then the bottles on the shelves of the shop dance their way off the shelves and begin to swirl around the room, spilling various potions on their way. Then all the weapons come out and waltz around, twisting and swinging and dipping their sharp edges dangerously around the small room. Cadence sits down in a covered corner, beating away with his drumsticks. Before long the mysterious and probably dangerous potions along with the wayward weapons dance their way into an ever tightening circle around Rystra.
Rystra catches herself from tapping her foot as Cadence begins to drum, the pupils of her eyes narrowing into draconic slivers as she turns to take in the sight of all the dancing goods. The woman shifts thoughtfully, seeming to not realize how close the weapons and potions are circling, finger a small pouch at her waist. Drawing forth a small black opal little bigger than her thumb she murmurs a spell of silence, the words starting as nothing more than the sound of water trickling down a stream and ending in silence. Even as the Opal seems to pulse with the suppressed sound of the drum beat Rystra reaches for her oak staff, not completely trusting the silence to stop the dancing weapons. Unable to speak another spell into the silence she knocks a few of the closest blades aside, the staff dipping and twisting with some hard learned skill to clear a path towards the corner in which Cadence resides. Uncurling her fingers from her staff enough to take the pulsing Opal from her palm and smash it at Cadence's feet, the stone splintering and releasing a thunderous sound. As soon as the spell of silence is broken she murmurs a single word, under her breath, the shards of Opal unfolding into numerous willow black creatures, glasslike eyes and similar sharp teeth catching the light as they swarm around the musician.
Cadence screeches in surprise as he's attacked by a swarm of opalized munchkins and realizes that he's backed himself into a nice little corner. He points one of his drumsticks at the swarm and yells, "Immobulus!" When it has no effect whatsoever, Cadence grumbles and mutters, "It worked for Hermione..." With a sigh, Cadence points his silent sticks down into the core of Kuri and chants a silent plea to the rhythms of the planet. Kuri begins to spin faster and faster...while you don't notice the rotations, you can feel the increased gravity. Just in time to keep Cadence being ripped to a bloody pulp by the shining teeth, his attackers drop to the ground with a clatter. Unfortunately for Rystra, it doesn't stop at that... the shelves begin to bend, and the building creaks with the added weight. Not to mention the effect the severely increased gravity would have on a person, the building is becoming quite unstable. It would be tragic if it happened to fall and bury alive a very nice and talented young mage.
Rystra frowns as she is momentarily disoriented before realizing that the increased gravity is making her limbs feeling heavier. Crystal grey hues dart to the creaking shelves and back to her little minions. Lifting her hand with some effort and sweeping in from left to right the creatures dissipate into shadow, condensing into a single black Opal on the floor. Not trusting herself to be able to get back up once more if she bent to pick it up she simply leaves it there. leaning heavily upon her staff to stay upright the woman closes her eyes, the shadows in the room seeming to condense around her figure briefly forming the illusion of an elemental dragon before the room become illuminated by the sheer absence of the shadows seeping into the ground. The mage starts to sing softly, the words sounding little more than a trickle of water growing steadily louder as she speaks to the land, trying to right the wrong and slow the rotation of the planet. Her eyes snap open as she falls silent, attempt to recuperate from disorientation and the fatigue of delving so deep into Kuri. Pulling another Opal from a pocket of her cloak, this one swirling with the suppressed blue flames of a different duel. Flicking her wrist she sends the stone spinning above her palm. Murmuring a word of release, cold blue fire trails from the stone down to her fingertips, from there directed towards Cadence, covering everything in its path with a thick layer of whore frost, the cold instantly making the air of the store dry and painful to breath.
Cadence oohs and aahs at all the pretty patterns in the frost until he realizes that he doesn't really want to become a part of it. He takes a moment to adjust the rhythm of his own body to slow down his breathing and raise his body temperature a little bit. The he sits and hums to himself while the frost covers the countertop, the glass bottles, the walls, and the ceiling. As soon as he begins to feel like he won't be able to take in another breath, he opens his mouth and exhales a long shrill shriek. It's the kind of noise that would send shivers down your spine and possibly burst your eardrums. The glass bottles shatter, disposing their contents in a spray of little droplets. Then the pretty frost that has built up begins to crack. Cadence twirls his twigs and grins as a twirling wind fills the room. The cracked pieces of ice begin to fall from the ceiling, and release their grasp from the walls and shelves. Within a few moments a spinning cyclone of sharp shards of ice races around the room, seeking out the soft, ivory flesh that belongs to Rystra. Deciding that this isn't quite enough, Cadence giggles and says, "After all, it is Christmas time..." and he begins to sing, "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...twelve drummers drumming..." and he trails off. A barely audible noise fills your ears and then gets louder and louder until you can't stand the sound of another drumbeat. Through the spinning shards of ice, you see twelve drummers closing in on your position, decibels increasing exponentially every few seconds.
Rystra shifts, the pupils of her eyes narrowing till they are barely visible, a shiver running down her spine as an unnatural breeze picks up around the room. Murmuring something that sounds like she is calling upon her guardian she hugs her cloak tighter about herself, her pale skin seeming to crack and darken even as the room seems to glow with the lack of shadow once more, the shadows flocking to her figure and seeping into her form. Tightening her grasp on her staff with one hand she holds her free hand aloft, fingers coated in a thin layer of translucent Opal scales, curled around the Opal the cold flame had been held in, now empty. Raising her voice, now generated by several different octaves into one monotonous chord, using all the draconic lore of her guardian without fully transforming in such a cramp area she attempts to overwhelm the sound of the Drummers, even as the spell sucks the winds and their driving force towards the Opal, capturing the shards of ice and the chill of the wind within the confines of the stone. Pocketing the stone with still nimble fingers the woman takes both hand to her staff and swings it, not really meaning to harm the drummers so much as knock them back Turning on her heel once more, her hood falling back from her now slightly draconian features she slips between two fallen drummers advancing upon Cadence. As she steps closer the shadows seem to leave her figure, her skin growing a healthier shade by the moment even as the shadows warp into the same willowy figures as before, this time, tearing off strips of wood or gathering a discarded weapon as they near the drummer.
Cadence looks at the shadows and ponders. He ponders over the rhythm of the method or madness of Murphy's Law. He grins as a little light bulb turns on above his head. He beats his twigs together in a very uneven, disturbing rhythm. Several large termites quickly devour the wooden weapon of the shadow closest to Cadence. The metal in the large axe that the second shadow picked up suddenly falls out of it's frame and embeds itself into the floor of Karcas' shop. The mace that is carried by the third shadow rusts solid from all the frost and wind to which it has recently been exposed. Then, the most amazing thing happens. A chunk of the ceiling falls to the floor, undoubtedly due to the stress put upon it from previous attacks. The lack of a complete ceiling lets sunlight shine throughout the shop, pushing all shadows aside for the time being.
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