Duel:Desparrow v Xzavior, Match 7 of the 2016 Frostmaw Tournament

From HollowWiki
Duelists: Desparrow vs Xzavior
Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 15 minute posting limit
Stakes: Auto-hit to the winner
Judges: Hildegarde, Pilar, and Sabrina

Icey Bridge

The path here leads onto a newly restored bridge, and as you step along the path you must be careful not to slip, as the smooth obsidian stones are treacherous even when not covered in thick ice. Hardly wide enough to permit a Frost Giant's passage and lacking any form of protective hand rails, the narrow black bridge smoothly leaps the considerable gap of the glacial chasm beneath you. Glancing to the west you can see a peculiar sight, small buildings that seem newly built nestled among snowy ruins. You will have to get closer to see what they may be. You may head east back towards the hunting grounds from here as well.


Balgruuf steps forward, his hands gesticulating up and down in the air in indication. It seems the crowd is wise, and as the various spectators and gamblers begin to quiet down, the aged being takes a stance at the center of the fighting pit. The mouth piece is a towering man, an elder frost giant whose hair and beard have turned a stark shade of blue-tinged white. His voice is growling and severe as he booms out to those present, "Welcome to the second round of the Titans of Winter Tournament! Here we gather on the Icey Bridge to watch two noble warriors do battle." The snow is thick upon the rail-less bridge, and the stones are slick with ice. One wrong move could send someone tumbling to their doom. Once the signal to begin is given, the crowd steps back out of the way to allow both combatants to do their worst, and Balgruuf fades into the jumble of frost giants collected at one end of the fighting area. "Good luck to both Xzavior and Desparrow!"


Skysong stands back as the duel begins. She watches and prays to the Gods that the two men don't destroy eachother entirely. Though she doesn't know Xzavior well, she still hopes he will be fine. She has confidence in the Lycan, her comrade, but she worries for his safety.


Desparrow had come to this round already transformed, in lupine-humanoid form. Standing on one end of the bridge he gazed at his opponent, the target of his latest experiments Xzavior though prior relation would have no effect how he handled this fight. With a claw he sliced open his right bicep, left and right thighs and then a small gouge across his chest and from these wounds poured forth a fog of the magic essence produced in his own body ether; the fuel for his magical power. Ribbons of this ether curled about his form before solidifying into a spectral armor, makeshift headpiece, breastplate, leggings and boots of lupine design. Light as hair but hard as steel they would give him an edge in battle. Crouching low, spikes on his boots forming so that he could have good grasp in the thick ice, he dashed towards his opponent with claws glowing bright with magic but before he made it within melee distance he had ripped open a gate and vanished. It could be heard though that he had stepped back through but on the opposing side of Xzavior a few meters back and he released the gathered energy in a diagonal cross slash, sending out six intersecting arcs that hummed lightly as they ripped through the air. Where they touched the bridge small trenches were dug though before they too could reach Xzavior they stopped in mid air, Des' left eye glowing purple as he took total control of the spell. Clenching his fist the arcs appeared to be cracking, the sound of glass shattering piercing the air when the blades of energy broke into dozens, possibly well over a hundred jagged ethereal pieces which he then sent like a hailstorm towards the naga which would rip through the flesh and splinter off into the wounds. Those that sailed overby would come back around for a second strike before dissipating.


Xzavior easily trekked the thick snow and ice with his snake like body giving him less of a chance to slip. He looked around expectantly to find his new opponent, he never bothered to look around at the crowd. Not really why he was here. Xzavior was surprised to see Desparrow standing at the other side of the bridge and gave a small shake of his head knowing this was not going to be an easy one. Without waiting to find out if Des was ready, Xzavior knew he was ready for most anything after sparring with him a few times, he summoned twin ice blades and eyed the bridge in hopes to find a means of using the slick surface to his advantage. He hadn't realized just how long he was strategizing until he saw Des running at him. With a curse he raised his swords thinking to block a straightforward attack but when Des jumped through a gate of magic he quickly looked around to pinpoint his location only to turn in time to see the criss cross attack. All he could do was lift his arms to block the worst of it as it shredded them and part of his lower form. He was going at this a lot more serious then any of the spars they've had before. With a snarl he blocked the rest with a shield of ice before whipping around and thrusting out a sword, for a second nothing happened but soon the lycan was surrounded by spikes of ice that shot from the ground, aiming to turn the man into a living pincushion.


Desparrow was not going to simply wait for his opponent to come at him this time around, this was not just a spar anymore, no mercy would be had and although he wouldn't intend to kill his opponent, if he wasn't careful death would be very real. Magic continued to pour from his self-inflicted wounds though as his body emptied he appeared to slim a bit, his own mana-gorged flesh becoming less saturated. When the spikes erupted around him the majority of them shattered their tips on his armor at the expense of its durability shown by it cracking and chipping away. Other spikes however found purchase on his hide through the side and even managing to puncture a crumbling pauldron shatterint it entirely and then sinking into his right shoulder eliciting a howl of agony. Adrenaline flooded his veins dulling the pain and in response to further advancing ice spikes he released a crushing pulse of kinetic energy which destroyed his prison. His left hand began to glow bright red while his right arm stay limp and with blood trickling down. Holding out that hand he released from his finger tips five crimson lances which acted on the twitch of his digits. They curled through the air like ribbons but it was obvious when one struck the bridge and dug out a nice gouge in a flurry of indigo flames and a shower of sparks they were far more dangerous. Their dance was a ballad and Desparrow was the maestro and with calculated precision he drove the ribbons towards the dismemberment of his opponent while driving them to pierce critical joins that would ultimately cripple movment, elbos, knees, the neck where hearing and sight could be knocked out. In the end he drove them like a lance towards the naga's chest to pierce the heart and leave a gaping burning hole


Skysong gasps as the ice spikes make contact with Des. She bites her lower lip with worry, hoping that he will be ok. She looks around at the bridge as it shudders with the blasts from the Lycanthropes attack. She looks around at the other spectators to see if they were worried about the ice bridges stability as well. She was a dragon, all she would need to do is transform to her true self and fly, but would the other be ok? She wondered silently to herself though her expression showed her worry.


Xzavior flicked off the blood that fell from his arms, the cold was stinging the wounds. He might not have a problem with the cold but the cuts that covered his arms said otherwise. His face twisted in a scowl from it. He took a mental note to strategize before the fight began. He hissed as he miscalculated just how strong Des's armor would be but quickly snapped back into focus as the ice shattered and the flaming lance shot at him. He knew the moment that Des had summoned them that they weren't just going to hurt so he was quick to dodge out of the way but as he did the lance missed his chest but bit right into the side of his abdomen. Gods, he was off his game. With a growl of pain he ripped himself from the lance and ignored the pain as he snaked forwards with deadly speed and went to drive his twin blades into the slits in Desparrow's armor. He wasn't just going to leave it at that. If either blade stuck they would let off a cold that would freeze the body severely both outside and in.


Kang stands against a pillar without a shred of worry on his face. He'd fought here before and had left a victor. Today would tell whether the wolf or the naga shared that fate. A few icy spikes in the body shouldn't slow Desparrow down any. It's not like they had killed him. Therefore, the injuries don't matter. Similar injuries to the naga were viewed in the same light, if not disregarded entirely. Nagas aren't bipedal and therefore wouldn't be as handicapped by an injury to one side. Center of balance is everything.


Desparrow banished his ribbons after they had done what he could do with them, allowing the used magic to evaporate into oblivion. When Xzavior came at him the lycanthrope was going to meet his would-be pupil head on with right arm hanging weakly at his side flailing with the motion of his body. Those spikes in his boots worked great to his advantage, anchoring him to the ice when necessary and detaching when he needed to move allowing him unhindered movement across the bridge. Once in range he twisted his body to narrowly evade one of the blades and then take the other in his good arm, the blade sinking into his brace but under the impact and conflicting magic it shattered allowing the edge to sink into his arm. It wasn't the bite of the sword that caused him to withdraw but the panic from seeing the flesh begin to darken in a growing pool while hardening as the liquid in his cells froze. Ripping away from that blade he channeled his magic for one final attack, a finishing blow to his opponent though the pain which was overpowering the rush of adrenaline in his system was destabilizing his magic making it volatile though it was a risk he was willing to take when in both hands spheres of magic, one red and one blue. Releasing a burst of magic from his feet at the sacrifice of his boots he pushed himself a great deal of distance from Xzavior only to give him room to toss those orbs towards the naga. In a wide arc they met back like a pincer in front of his enemy in explosions of opposing elements that clashed releasing themselves in a whirlwind of red flames and lightning which would both electrocute and incinerate all caught within within seconds, numbing then reducing to ash.


Xzavior released the blade and quickly fell back a few feet. he could just make new one so it was of no issue. Seeing Desparrow bring forth the magic projectiles and lunge back he narrowed his eyes and waited not a second Des threw them to rush passed the orbs over head. He closed the distance between him and his opponent in no time and as he did he quickly coiled around the wolf to rip off his helmet, if he had one, and to grab the sides of his head and lower the temperature while the rest of his body worked to crush Desparrow's through his armor.


Desparrow was hardly surprised to see Xzavior dart past his final spell but it was a bit disheartening to see that it was entirely evaded. This meant nothing however, both arms damaged, his right shoulder worse off than before with the physical exertion put upon it in the last attack and with the adrenaline fading the fatigue was coming on though he was not finished yet. When snake and wolf met on the narrow bridge in a death coil Des had to do something, especially when his helm was removed and that cold was surged through his head. He couldn't focus, it was hard to move but not impossible and with a grunt another surge of magic was released in the form of a heated wave that flooded his flesh expelling cold even as various cracks coudl be heard from in his body. One more push of force from his feet he shot out of the Naga's grasp at the expense of a dislocated shoulder and several cracked bones however unnoticeable when he landed sprawled out on the ground and barely moving from the pain that tore him up on the inside.


Skysong felt her heart swell and tense with the duel. She was proud of her comrade, but her emotions were on a rollercoaster. She longed to help Desparrow and help him but knew she could not, not u til the duel was over.. and that was providing the Lycanthrope lived. She winced as her comrade was injured left and right. She gazed over to the Naga and saw damage as well but seemed to be less concerned as his injuries didn't look as devastating as the wolfs. She stood there watching the duel, heart pounding, racing. This duel had amazing opponents and great attacks, but she worried so for her friend.


Winner: Desparrow


Desparrow struggled to get to a stand, in fact he couldn't do it with any manner of assistance from his right arm at all and he couldn't move his abdomen much either without a crippling pain raking his body. Still somehow he managed and stumbled over to Xzavior with a smile. Reaching out his left hand he patted the head of the other, "One day you will understand why I seek strength. You will understand why power is necessary. One day you will be strong too." with that he turned from the other and sliced open a rift before nearly falling through to a place unknown.