Fight:Torn Earth Brawl

Etilus steps deeper into the mine on his hunt for new gems. He is a crafter as a secondary skill after all. A slight breeze carries the crumbling remains of dust from the mine, somewhat lowering his visibility. Noticing a shaded figure ahead he approaches slowly with his senses on alert. Is this a friend or foe? He wonders to himself. Getting himself just within distance make out the features of a lycan he immediately takes a ready position. He hasn't been seen thus far, making his attack seemingly a definite surprise. He grabs a pick axe in his right hand and launches it in the direction of the Lycan. Flying through the air in a spiral manner the pick axe misses. Sparks fly from metal scraping the wall a short distance from the lycan. His first attack had failed and surely his new opponent will not be pleased.

Mihael looks up at the sound of the metal impacting upon the cave wall a short distance from him. The sparks giving just enough light so that his face might be seen, or would be seen if not for the helmet he always wears. A single glowing orb seems to appear behind the left eye slit of the man's helmet, now that he has opened his eye, it locks upon the man who threw the axe. Grabbing the very weapon used against him, the hermit hurls the object at it's owner. Taking quick steps, he leaps from boulder to boulder then off the wall and launches his body into the air. A right fist coming down aiming for the skull of his new found opponent, the right leg cocked back and once within range of even remotely striking it would lash out with its knee cap in an attempt to injure the gnome.

Etilus backs away from the lycan the moment his presence had become known. Glaring at him as he turns with a look of rage in his eyes. Once his opponent wields his pick axe he immediately crouches to the floor in what would be an attempt to be a smaller, harder target to hit. Etilus, still watching the lycan's every move, watches as the lycan hurls the axe. With a surprising jolt of life the gnome leaps out of the way of the pin-point accuracy of the axe. He crashes into the wall of the earth, barely evading it . As his body recoils off the wall he is struck in the right temple of his head. The fist denting his helmet and the impact against his face draws instant blood slowly starting to stream out of his fore-head and onto his face. The impact of the blow was enough to send his body the opposite direction and sliding across the rocky surface, therefore the lycan's follow through was not needed. Etilus stands to his feet as quickly as possible, clenching his teeth to help fight the pain he was feeling on the right side of his face. He holds his hand out toward the lycan for a short moment. The veins of mineral within the mining begin pulsating. The minerals begin to expand in the walls around his opponent, causing the rock and clay that molds them to burst. He attempts to cause a cave-in on his enemy.

Mihael does not seem to take notice of the cave beginning to crumble, or rather he does not care. Instead he takes several steps back from where he landed and sits in a meditation stance. Despite being attacked from every angle by shattering stone, each impact throwing his body in the direction of the stone, the hermit manages to keep his cool. Beginning to mutter to himself while spitting up blood, he manipulates the shadows within the cave to his benefit, rising from the very darkness a figure begins to form and step forth. The being that emerges is but a clone of the hermit, a rather beastly figure walking bent over with it’s head tilting upside down, a crazed laugh echoing from the helmet and into the cave. Salivating at the mere thought of battle, the shadow looks as if it were foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. His hands dragging across the cave ground, shifting fragments of rocks aside as they sway with each step he takes forward. “Me hungry,” it says in several voices, still somehow managing to laugh as it does so, even its voices echo and carry on after this…thing or whatever it may be, finishes speaking. Suddenly it lashes out and bolts forward, attacking Etilus head-on. Its arms still hanging loosely as it’s hands scrape the ground and seem to be trailing behind and under the being’s torso. Once it is within the gnomes striking distance it drops to the ground, the right hand already planted and taking the weight of the being upon itself as the left leg lashes out in a side kick aimed at the right butterfly rib, while the right rockets upward, its mark being Etilus’ left collar bone. Should either leg meet their target they would crack the bones if not bruise the impact zone. However he does not know the gnomes strength and is holding back slightly, to use the attack as a way of gaging it as well as seeing his opponent’s movements so as to study Etilus and use his own actions against him.

Etilus still having complete concentration on his attack, causing the specific spots of the cave-ins' effect to burst the rock and earth to bust toward his opponent in a more strategic manner rather than random. He turns his focus of the on-going destruction toward the powerful, intimidating being that was now heading his way. The bursts now coming closer to him begin to sound like small explosions as certain spots create a peppering effect with little shards on the being and other spots forcing chunks in its direction. He is baffled when he realizes it isn't an effective attack against it. He then takes his attention away from it, and back toward the lycan. Hoping that if he were somehow controlling the being, that it would break his concentration. The creature fades in and out when at a distance, but the closer it got it formed into a more solid substance. The gnome continues his attack on the lycan, even as the beast approaches him. As it nears and it's features become more apparent the gnome is stricken with fear. His attacks on the lycan stop and he just stands there motionless....awaiting his fate. He watches as the creature sweeps one leg at his side, and the other in an upward thrust. The kicks landed almost simultaneously, but not at the same time. The blow to the gnome’s side caused a loud shriek to escape from his mouth before knocking the wind out of him. He tries to grab his side and before he can even do that the other kick had impacted right side of his chest, once again throwing the small frame of the gnome. He lands in an awkward position, his head tilted slightly to the left and the right side of his neck and his right shoulder taking the impact of the ground, causing the gnome to roll the wall. He lays there silently, hardly breathing and no movement.

Mihael continues to be struck by stone from virtually every direction as they come in a strategic pattern, his body tensing and blood trickles from between the cracks in his armor. Suddenly yelling in pain and spits and coughs up more blood. Curling over, the lycan grabs his chest, the one location which seems to have been targeted the most. Vomiting blood now he looks up to see the creature lurking over the gnomes limp frame, the foam like salivation dropping slowly and leaving wet imprints upon the rocks about Etilus. He reaches a hand out and utters a single word, “Dun.” The beast-like clone spins around and faces the old hermit. Its single eye glowing a deep crimson as the being begins to step towards Mihael. “Dun? Very well then. We shall start with you.” It says in its strange voices before lashing out at the ancient lycan. Not having much time to react, Mihael throws his body to the left narrowly avoiding the attack, or so he thinks. His right arm is sliced from his shoulder to his elbow leaving a long streak of open flesh and a hot stream of blood. A chuckle is emitted from the creature before it leaps toward the lycan who seems to be making his way toward the gnome, his right arm held tightly to his chest with his left hand, limping as he makes his way, it seems a rather large hunk of stone had damaged his right knee while he was sitting. “You cannot have him Sin. This is not how we work.” He speaks to his own clone, though from the actions thus far one could guess at the possibility that this creature is no mere clone but a personality of Mihael’s manifested. Before he could even make it half way the being called Sin is already in the air ready to slice open the hermit’s stomach and to feast upon the lycan’s body, then follow it up with the gnome. The lycan attempts to roll away but is instead slammed against the rock wall, where a good chunk of stone had been torn and used to put him in his current state. Fist after fist is thrown, each with the impact of a boulder as they make contact with his face, chest, abdomen, and shoulders is a random pattern so as to make it harder to defend and throwing up a cloud of dust in the process. As the dust clears one could see the creature staring down at Mihael, his body limp and soaked in blood. “Your pathetic Mihael.” It says, “Allowing yourself to be as damaged as you are.” The being kicks Mihael over, his back toward the sky, or what would be the sky if they were outside, in doing so a slight ebon glow emits from beneath the stone where the lycan was just at, though Sin does not seem to take note since it seems to only care about the blood that is spilt. The object is protruding slightly though is still embedded deep within the stone. Turning its attention back to the gnome it begins to make its way over. “Your turn now.” It utters as it begins to walk toward Etilus.

Etilus finally moves, regaining his consciousness and opening his eyes to the creature that the lycan had made going rampant against its creator. His body swollen, his armor cracked in several places, and a puddle of his own blood that his face had been lying in was now smeared and crusted onto it. He rolls to his stomach, struggling to even get to his knees and balance his body without falling again. He places an elbow on the wall of the cave and uses it as leverage to bring himself to his feet. Looking beaten, broken and barely alive he staggers in the direction of the creature called Sin. At this point Mihael was being struck repeatedly and the battle disappeared from his sight in a cloud of dust. The dust settles and Sin is staring over Mihael but the words are inaudible at the distance Etilus is from them. The creature turns toward the gnome, walking in an almost indestructible manner. Etilus yells, "We have to stop it!.". He puts his hand onto the rocky floor and waits for the creature to come for him. Etilus tries to concentrate and use his ability with the earth, but it becomes difficult with the injuries he has sustained, As the creature closed in almost to the point where he strike the gnome, tiny roots begin to protrude from the floor, wrapping around the feet of the creature several times stopping him in his tracks. Etilus has exhausted himself to the point he can no longer fight. He can only hope that the roots will keep him disabled until Mihael can tame his creation. His body goes limp and once again Etilus is lifeless on the ground.

Mihael looks up to see Etilus place his hands upon the ground and spring roots to stop the monster in its tracks. Though he roots may not hold Sin for long, Mihael knows this and slowly pushes himself up, only to fall to the earth, and try to rise once more. After about the third try he manages to pull himself to his feet. His eye catching the object protruding from the wall for a moment, though his focus is on keeping Sin from trying to destroy everything it comes across. Holding his arm tight to his chest he grabs his pick axe, hurling it at the beast and charges in, head tucked as he does so his left arm lashes forth as his claws grow out and cut through the creatures torso. Hands tighten around the manifestations heart and tears it free. A loud moaning is heard as an ebon liquid sprays from the gaping hole in its chest. This blood if you would call it that gushes from the heart as well soaking the lycan his from head to toe. As the moaning only grows louder it is suddenly silenced as the shadow manifestation implodes and a gust of dust and cold air then shoots out in every direction. Turning around, he walks up to the strange object, he attempts to pull it out, but cannot do so on his own. Taking a seat he begins to mutter, still spiting and coughing blood, though he does not care. Another shadowy figure emerges from the darkness, though this one does not seem as savage as the previous one. Walking over toward the object it begins to tear the earth around the object loose and after a moment pulls out the ebon glowing object still mostly embedded in the cold stone. “What is this?” The lycan asks himself as the object is handed over before the being walks over to Etilus and begins to heal the gnome, afterwards it begins to heal Mihael. Once it has finished its task it walks back into the shadowy darkness and vanishes without a trace, leaving only the two men alone in the cave with only their own blood upon the cave walls and ground to keep them company.