[Job] Moondragon and Voidwalker {Akeya/Serilda]

"Character counts most when duty calls."

Serilda certainly had her apprehensions about taking a job at a place affectionately known as the “Haunted Village”. The Voidwalker wasn’t exactly a fan of haunted places, particularly after the last job she’d been on with Mythal. Unfortunately, she seemed to be one of the first ones called on these days whenever Sabertooth received a job posting for anything regarding the supernatural. Luckily, this job seemed to be less about ghosts and more about werewolves. Those certainly sounded terrifying to deal with, but she’d take a target with a solid body any day over an ethereal one with no physical form. At least she’d be able to sense the location of a werewolf.

She had gotten to the location somewhat early, wanting to wander the place for a bit and get a feel for its landscape and structure. Serilda was supposed to be meeting another wizard here, though she new little about her aside from her name: Akeya. She didn’t even know what guild the other mage was from, or if she even was with one. The Council utilized free agent wizards as much as legal ones, so it was entirely possible her assigned partner wasn’t affiliated with any particular groups. Either way, the Voidwalker could only hope she was able to find this other wizard before night sank in.

For the most part, she ignored the start of the festivities around her, only looking to take note of the area and the people. Beside her, the wolf Xiuhcoatl walked at her heels. Serilda had wondered briefly at the wisdom in bringing her companion on this particular job, but ultimately had pushed such doubtful thoughts aside. The wolf was fully trained, now, hardened for any battle and completed in her bonding process with Serilda. For better or worse, the two of them were partners. She hadn’t trained the animal to live a life of safety, and if she went on a dangerous mission without her the wolf would be both insulted and hurt. Serilda didn’t have the heart to do that.

As they moved around, many people greeted her cheerfully or wondered over the wolf’s stunning coat. Serilda would smile or nod in polite acknowledgement, but never stopped to speak with anyone in length. She had a job to do and was not one easily distracted from her duties. Thankfully, most people could tell that she wasn’t exactly there as a tourist, as she walked upright with her hands behind her back like she was a soldier on patrol. Granted, that was how she always walked, whether on a job or no, but they didn’t know that.

She wasn’t feeling too out of sorts for this job, at least. Mythal had a brush in with werewolves himself recently, and she’d taken it upon herself to get some tips from him about fighting them. Plus she still wielded Moonlight: the ordained holy sword crafted from the teeth and bones of werewolves that Mythal himself had killed. The glowing weapon was currently tucked away in the worn looking sheath at her hip, its aura hidden away… for now. It would be of great help in the fight to come, to be certain.

As the light in the sky began to wane and she made her way closer to the edge of the village, a flare of light caught her attention out in the distance. In the sky floated a figure that seemed to be purposefully drawing attention to itself. The other mage, perhaps? That seemed the most likely. Finding one another in a crowded village would certainly be more tedious, but there was only one way to know for sure. Stepping out of the confines of the village, Serilda started making her way toward the figure -- who would probably see a lone woman and her wolf heading directly toward her. Though the Voidwalker could easily fly up to meet the other person in the sky, Xiuhcoatl had no such abilities so the noblewoman chose to stay on the ground.

As she got closer, the other woman drifted down to close the distance. It confirmed Serilda’s suspicions that this likely was the other mage she had been sent to work with. They got closer to one another until she was able to start making out more distinctive details. Large reptilian wings spanned from her back and gold tinged scales covered clawed limbs. A tail rested behind her, and upon her crown were a set of dragon like horns. Either this was part of her magic, or she was not human. At least, not fully. There was a time not so long ago where that might have put Serilda on edge, but her time with Sabertooth had done much to soothe her worries about a lot of other humanoid creatures that she knew little of, or even only knew by stereotypes. Instead, she only observed the woman coolly as they approached one another, taking enough stock of Akeya’s appearance only to fix her face and distinctive features in her memory.

“Akeya?” she asked, her tone even but not unkind. Upon confirmation of the other woman’s identity, Serilda would offer a firm hand for her to shake. “I am Serilda Sinclair, with Sabertooth. This is my hound, Xiuhcoatl.” she gestured to the wolf, who sat obediently at her heels but looked up at the strange woman with dark, curious eyes. Her fluffy tail twitched from the hint of a wag, and through their empathic bond Serilda could sense that Xiuh was very interested in greeting this strange woman that smelled nothing like anything she’d ever come across before. The wolf stayed where she sat, exercising an impressive amount of discipline, but her personality was impossible to hide from her eyes. One could easily tell just by looking at her that she wanted nothing more than to wander over to the dragoness and better make her acquaintance.

“Did you get a chance to look around the village yet, at all?” she asked.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

The two women shook hands respectfully with one another, both appearing to be professional and disciplined individuals. Akeya inquired about the wolf in relation to the job at hand. It was a fair question, and one that did not offend Serilda by any means. “I am not worried. Her breed is one that also possesses high intelligence, and she shares an empathic bond with me that can only be broken through one of our deaths. She will not be confused by them. Plus, I think a third pair of eyes to keep watch on the civilians will be beneficial to us.”

Akeya explained that she’d been monitoring the village from above similarly to how Serilda herself had been doing on the ground. When the dragoness expressed her frustrations about not being allowed to better prepare for the night, the Voidwalker did nod in agreement with the thoughts. “I can understand where they are coming from in not wanting to apprehend those in question before they’d done anything to merit it… but I do agree that this task would be much simpler if we had been allowed the chance to segregate them, somehow. Unfortunately, most politicians dislike extreme measure of prevention before being pushed into them by extreme and immediate need.”

It was an unfortunate truth that most government types did not like to upset their people by taking precautions that might be necessary, however offensive, before the problems arised. They almost always waited until after the issues had already come to a head and forced their hands, and often by then many lives had already been lost. It was a sad truth that Serilda had been exposed to a number of times as a noble, but unfortunately she had little control or sway with the Magic Council. Their instructions on how to handle this had been given, and that was that. All they could do was hope they acted quickly enough to keep anyone from being too badly injured, or killed.

The other woman suggested they head back into the village while they discussed their plan, and Serilda followed suit, listening to the woman as they walked. Starting to the side where the moonlight would first touched seemed wise, so off they went. Akeya relayed a bit of her knowledge regarding werewolves, though she also confessed that she didn’t know if there would be any differences between normal transformations and those that took place during the perfect moon. Serilda hummed in thought. “I know it would likely ruin the festival, but it’s a shame we can’t just find a way to obscure the moon entirely for the duration of the event. The patrons would be sore, but I could live with that -- particularly if it meant preventing the transformations entirely.”

Unfortunately none of her magic would let her accomplish such a feat, and given that the entire festival revolved around the moon she wasn’t sure if that would qualify under what the Council would consider “interfering” with the event.

On the plus side, the more Akeya spoke her mind the more hope Serilda had for the task at hand. She could already tell that the dragoness was of similar mind to her, at least in the sense of being in full communication with one’s partner and approaching the situation from a practical standpoint. Serilda appreciated working with someone that was forward and to the point. Akeya explained her own abilities, stating that she was best suited for close combat and sneaking up on enemies that were distracted or preoccupied.

Serilda nodded approvingly. “I think our magics will work well together, then,” she informed the other woman. “My magic is a bit tedious to explain, so to save time I’ll simply say that I’m capable of manipulating the molecules of space in the physical world. Most of my spells are centered around crowd control. I should be able to keep numerous werewolves at a disadvantage for you to capitalize on with your own abilities. As far as my actual fighting, I tend to mix my spell casting alongside fighting with my sword.”

She gently patted the scabbard at her hip that sheathed the scimitar within. “It’s a holy weapon that was actually crafted from the teeth and bones of werewolves. Every strike they receive from this sword will drain their power and energy until they haven’t the strength to fight anymore.” Serilda could use the effects of her sword to incapacitate the turned villagers without killing them. They’d be hurt, of course, but they would live and recover.

“As long as we don’t stray too far from one another I should be able to find you if we get separated, but just in case we should establish a spot to meet should anything go wrong. We should also try to ascertain what direction we think is best to start funneling people toward once the chaos starts, so they aren’t all just scattering beyond our ability to protect them. I haven’t gotten the chance to get an aerial view as you have, yet, so your judgement on that might be more informed than mine.”

"Character counts most when duty calls."

For a moment there was a brief glimmer of hope that they could prevent the transformations entirely as Akeya made mention that she had a spell for darkness that could potentially block out the moonlight. However, upon giving it further consideration the dragoness shook her head and said it probably wouldn’t do anything. Moonlight tended to have magical properties even on a normal moon; a perfect moon was sure to bring down any such spell she might set up. So much for that.

As they moved through the village, no one approached them -- though they did get several glances, being a rather odd trio. Serilda didn’t really seem to notice that Akeya was giving off any sort of antisocial vibes, as she interpreted as just being much like herself: focused on the task at hand, with no time for dallying. Her partner seemed as pleased as Serilda was that their magic and fighting styles would likely complement one another in this upcoming fight. She also had a few comments regarding Serilda’s weapon.

“Yes, that was one of the reasons,” the noblewoman confirmed with a slight nod regarding her sword’s material makeup. “But no, I’m not exactly what one would call religious. This sword was a gift from my best friend. He had it crafted especially for me because, as he likes to put it, I’m not exactly a fan of ‘things that go bump in the night’.” Serilda smirked a little wryly over the wording, able to admit one of her own fears rather than hide it. “I believe in gods, but my desire is that they stay far away from me and mine.”

This was especially so now that she was so close with Mythal, who was being actively hunted by a fallen goddess. Serilda knew one day that her own path was most likely going to cross with the god’s, though she sincerely hoped it wouldn’t. Faera had no idea where Mythal was, and both he and Serilda were looking to keep it that way -- though that was difficult, given that her friend had made a bit of a name for himself in the wizarding world. The tone of her final statement about wanting gods to leave her alone held just enough weight to them that Akeya could likely assume that Serilda had an experience at some point that had turned her away from being fans of gods, even more so than most other fantastical types of beings.

The confirmation that Akeya was a dragon was something that Serilda didn’t miss, either. It did make her a bit more nervous, but that was easier to handle given that the woman didn’t really look like how Serilda expected a dragon would. Clearly she had dragon features, and perhaps she could take on the full body of a more traditional looking dragon, but she was still more on the humanoid side for now -- which helped. Plus, Serilda was rarely one to be controlled by her fears. Her partner so far had been nothing but civil, friendly, and honest with her so far -- all things that Serilda judged much more highly and favorably than her own base ignorances.

Akeya pointed out a good central location to meet up should they get separated and need to find one another again, as well as suggested that the best place to encourage people to hide would be in buildings rather than to just make a break for it, least they do little but draw the werewolves’ attentions and tease their predatory instincts. She nodded. “Very well, that’s what we’ll endeavor to do. At least we can be thankful that there are buildings around here they can hide in, rather than just tents.”

Gods, wouldn’t that be a nightmare.

Time passed, and soon the evening was culminating to the appropriate time. The perfect moon was high in the sky, just past the treeline until the fullness of its light washed over the festival. The air was filled with sounds of music, chatter, and general merriment from everyone celebrating until a single scream pierced the air. Not wasting any time, Serilda rushed toward the sound of the cry, where soon others were starting to follow suit. Even before she could see them, she could feel several bodies changing shape, twisting and writhing as their forms manipulated into beasts.

She drew Moonlight, the scimitar glowing lightly from its ordained tempering. “Move!” Serilda yelled, automatically shoving people out of her way and toward the nearest buildings. “If you value your lives, you will get inside and stay there! Stop staring and go!” She snatched one man roughly by his collar to get his attention, as he’d been transfixed watching the transformations around him. He blinked and, suddenly aware of himself, bolted toward the nearest building.

“Xiuhcoatl.” The wolf perked her ears toward her mistress, listening without taking her eyes off the werewolves appearing around them. “Vagt.” It was a general command, but one the animal would understand. She didn’t immediately start attacking any of her cursed, humanoid kin but she did start to keep an eye on the surroundings, and moving closer to some of the werewolves that were perhaps a bit too close to civilians and putting herself between the two groups.

There was no sense wasting any time waiting for the transformation to be completed. They knew why they were here, and those subject to the curse would already be showing signs. Reaching into her magic, she pinpointed several nearly transformed werewolves and expelled the air from their lungs, causing them to restrict without making room for more air. Those affected dropped to their knees and clutched at their throats, unable to breath. It wasn’t a spell that would hit all of their targets, but it would certainly put enough off their guard that Akeya would hopefully be able to dispatch them quickly so they could move on to those she hadn’t been able to reach yet.

“Go!” she yelled again at another group of civilians that were frozen in panic. She shoved them out of the way and blocked a strike with her sword from the werewolf that lunged at them. It howled as its fleshy arms cut themselves on her blade. “Stop standing around and get inside!” The people fled, and for a moment the werewolf looked like it was going to follow but Serilda sliced at it with her sword to keep its attention.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

Not that her mind was actively on such thoughts at the moment, but after all this was over Serilda would reflect on how refreshing it was to be working with another mage whose approach matched her own, and whose magic complimented hers. They were already working together like a well oiled machine, two down to business women with a job to do and no interest in wasting time about it. As soon as Serilda had pin pointed the first transformations and hindered them, Akeya sifted the light around herself and made quick work of the werewolves. One by one they were knocked down in a flash until each of them were unconscious.

As her partner verbalized, however, it was only a temporary solution. These creatures needed to be restrained or they might get back up while the moon was still out. Akeya suggested breaking a bone or two to keep them incapacitated and disinterested in fighting. “I can sink some into the ground, as well,” Serilda told her after a brief nod to convey that she didn’t particularly have any qualms about breaking their limbs, either. Those would heal. “They’ll be hard pressed to get out and do more fighting when they’re surrounded by solid rock from the shoulders down.”

As the dragoness set to breaking a few legs, Serilda used her magic to gently lower a few of the werewolves into the hard ground and solidify it around them until nothing but their heads were poking out. Just as they were wrapping up, Akeya was explaining that there would be more -- probably stronger ones -- when they heard howling in the distance. Both women set off as quickly as they could, keen to make it to the spot in question before anyone could be killed.

When they got there, the scene was already a bit hectic. The werewolves had already fully transformed and were attacking the villagers, who were screaming and running in a panic as they were wont to do. Serilda took only a fraction of a second to study the situation before narrowing down which spot was the most critical. So far no one seemed to be dead, but as they ran up Serilda saw a woman that was trying to run get knocked over by one of the beasts. “Angribe!” she shouted, pointing at the creature.

Xiuhcoatl shot across the way like a bullet from a gun, the Star Wolf easily bounding over the space in a couple quick steps. Her breed was known for their speed, and she had been holding back much of this time so far to keep pace with her human mistress. But with her instructions given, the wolf slammed her body against the werewolf’s before it could slash at its prey, knocking the larger creature to the side. Her powerful jaws locked onto the humanoid wolf’s arm and dragged it back, drawing its attention away from the woman.

“Inside!” Serilda commanded for what felt like the thousandth time already. Her tone was like iron and the woman obeyed immediately, scrambling to her feet and ducking into the nearest building.

The noblewoman poured her magic into the ground and shook the pockets of Void space within it. The ground reacted by shaking, the earthquake over taking the area and throwing just about anything with feet off balance. It was a calculated risk. Many of the villagers would have a hard time walking as easily, but they could afford that while the werewolves were more focused on the confusion of not being able to control their movements. And thankfully, the buildings on the island had been made to withstand harsh natural disasters like hurricanes, so they were not toppled by the spell.

While everyone was scrounging in confusion as to where this sudden earthquake had come from, Serilda capitalized on the moment by ensuring their targets were the ones most hindered. She tapped into the empty spaces of the air beneath several of the werewolves and spun the area violently, creating miniature cyclones beneath each one affected that threw them up into the air and away from the villagers.

By the time all that was done, she had already made it over to Xiuhcoatl, flanking the werewolf she was fighting. Serilda quickly unleashed a series of shallow slices into the rabid creature’s flesh, attacks meant to wound only enough to allow her sword its ability to siphon the victim’s energy away. Between the attack from Xiuh and the loss of energy from the ironically named scimitar Moonlight, the beast fell to its knees gasping. Serilda swiftly clubbed it over the head with the pommel of her weapon, knocking it out before turning to see if Akeya needed further help with the rest.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

“I will stay until the job is complete, after they have returned to normal and everything is settled,” she assured Akeya. As far as Serilda was concerned, her task here wouldn’t be done until night had passed and everything had been settled.

Her partner raced ahead with her superior speed and was already making quick work of many of the werewolves there by the time Serilda caught up. The noblewoman did everything in her power to distract or incapacitate the rest so Akeya could take them down. The dragoness made the most of the opportunities Serilda gave her, using her wings to fly through the air and knock the great beasts around.

One creature stood out from the rest, however, and not just by color. The werewolf with curiously white fur had taken just as tough a beating as all the others, but had not gone down with the rest. It got back to its feet and set its eyes on the mages. Even as Akeya spoke her warning, the creature shot forward toward her with a blinding speed. The dragoness barely managed to get out of the way, but found herself being hotly pursued.

Thinking quickly, Serilda used her magic to tear a large section of Earth out from the ground near the fighting pair and with a flick of her wrist launched it at the beast. The large boulder slammed into the werewolf’s side, knocking it away from Akeya and toward herself. Serilda jumped forward with her glowing sword bared and met the oncoming lycanthrope with her sword, slicing a large shallow gash along the backside of one of its shoulders. It howled with rage and twisted in the air, managing to free itself from the inertia of the large rock.

Attention now on Serilda, it snarled and charged her just as quickly as it had her partner. She made no attempt to move out of the way, watching the creature bear down on her with a steady and calculating eye. It snarled and lashed out at her, looking to barrel into her and snap its jaws into her flesh, and for a moment it seemed it would accomplish its goal for she simply stood and waited. But right when the creature was about to make contact, it found itself passing harmlessly right through her body, powerful jaws cracking down on absolutely nothing at all.

Serilda spun expertly on her heel, delivering another blow with her energy draining sword to the werewolf’s back while it scrambled to recover from the unexpected missed attack. Yet again the creature roared with frustration, turning to set its dark eyes on her with a bloodthirsty glare. Instead of seeing her, however, it only saw the face of the boulder as Serilda had once again directed it back at the lycanthrope. It barely had enough time to brace its arms in front of itself before the chunk of earth smacked it again.

This time, however, it was more prepared. Its hind feet dug into the ground to slow itself down as it fought against the push of the giant rock until they both came to a standstill. With its great strength, it lifted the boulder off its head and hurled it back at her. With a swift squat, Serilda kicked herself up into the air several meters where she hovered in the sky, sword at the ready. She was a skilled swordswoman and mage, but she fought at her best when using a mixture of the two skills together, either to overwhelm a single opponent with multiple attacks like she had been with this white furred werewolf, or to allow herself to be a one woman army against a slew of opponents. At the moment, the werewolf’s angry eyes were set upon her with a hyper focus, Serilda using her powers to keep the creature’s attention and hopefully allow Akeya to sneak in a few more devastating blows.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

Akeya certainly knew when and how to capitalize on the moment. Serilda kept the beast’s attention focused on her, drawing it’s ire and keeping it moving so it wouldn’t have enough time to wonder where the other wizard had gone. When the lycanthrope was properly distracted, Akeya found her opportunity and landed a savage blow to the creature’s stomach and sending it flying up into the air. Since the werewolf clearly could not fly, it was at a severe disadvantage and the dragoness made clean work of it. One hit after another put the creature into an indefensible state and soon her partner dropped on it like a veritable comet and smashed it into the ground below.

Serilda descended as Akeya put a few final stomps on the beast to knock it out before double checking to make sure it was still alive. “Understandable,” the noblewoman said as her partner admitted that knocking them out came a little less easier to her than outright killing them did. Sometimes it was more difficult to reserve one’s strength than to simply fight at full force. “Though given that they don’t seem to have much control over their actions in this form, nor a choice in transforming or not, I can understand why the Council wants us to keep them alive.”

At the end of the day they were still people, still citizens of Fiore that deserved as much protection and safety as any others -- just required a bit more care at the moment when handling them. Serilda flicked some of the blood off her blade, away from Akeya, but did not put the weapon away just yet. The night was still young and they surely would find more creatures to fight before all this was done. Not wanting this particular specimen to get back up and come haunt them any time soon, Serilda did as she had with many others that night and gently lowered it into the ground until only its head was visible.

When Akeya mentioned that the werewolves so far had all been male, Serilda frowned in thought. “Strange. You’re right, they have all been male.” She really hadn’t thought much about that so far, mostly because she’d been preoccupied with all the fighting. Aside from this one, the beasts had so far all looked so similar that she’d just assumed there wasn’t much of a difference between the two, physically speaking. But as she thought back to fighting against the creatures she was reminded of certain dangling bits that would not have been found on any female werewolves. Was the lack of females significant toward something?

She wouldn’t get the chance to ponder about it, or even to ask questions. Another howl sounded, this one fairly loud in comparison to the others. Akeya seemed to think this one might actually be a female. Serilda wasn’t entirely sure how one could pick up on such a thing from this distance, but at this point she was used to the fact that her natural senses were a bit dulled in comparison to many other wizards she knew, particularly those that weren’t fully human as Serilda was. It could have been a higher pitch in the tone of the howl, or even a scent. Either way, it did not matter.

Akeya took to the sky and Serilda decided to stay on the ground, thinking it better to keep themselves split up so they’d be harder to target. She sprinted along the ground in the direction of the sound, legs pumping as hard as her heart and her lungs. Every time Serilda got into a lengthy battle such as this one, she found herself eternally grateful for Aster’s harsh tutelage and training over the years that had kept her body in peak physical condition. Serilda was tired, but not so much as to affect her work just yet -- particularly when she’d mostly been able to focus on spell work rather than physical combat thus far.

When they finally caught up to the source of the howl, what she saw actually stunned her a bit. This wolf was huge, bulging with muscles and covered in a bright golden shade of fur. It almost seemed to shimmer as the creature moved, and if it didn’t reek of being an even deadlier foe than their last one Serilda might have taken the time to actually admire it and deem it beautiful. It had long claws and powerful looking legs, moreso even than the one they’d just dispatched. There was also no mistaking that this creature was female.

The beast lifted her nose to the air and sniffed audibly, picking up their various scents. She eyed them both as if trying to decide whom she was going to attack. Knowing that Akeya would be more useful if she could get in a sneak attack, Serilda wasted no time in taking the initiative to draw the creature’s attention. Signaling for Xiuhcoatl to stay and flank, the Voidwalker ran to the side, strategically away from the beast. It took note of her swift movements and the predatory instincts kicked in, enticing the werewolf to give chase.

And chase it did. Serilda had an inclination that this lycanthrope would be even more swift than the last, given its size and the bulk of its leg muscles by comparison to the white furred one. But no amount of academic understanding could have prepared her for the reality of how quick the creature truly was in practice. Without so much as a running start, the female werewolf shot at her like a bullet out of a gun, closing the distance between them in a mere second. Serilda gasped in surprise and tapped into her magic, lightening the weight of her body so she could move more quickly.

She was just barely able to manage to dodge out of the way of those great claws, which swiped through the air so hard that Serilda was certain the thing would tear her to shreds in an instant with only a few blows. Her suspicions of that were only further affirmed when a sudden explosion from behind her caught her attention. Bits of wood rained down on her as a nearby tree cracked and split into a thousand spraying pieces. Serilda stared in shock for just a moment -- had that creature just swiped at her so hard through the air that it sent a shockwave to destroy what had been behind her?! “What the hell?” she asked herself.

The thing turned on a dime, too. It didn’t hesitate to pivot and follow the direction she’d leaped, already geared up for a second attack. Serilda raised her sword just in time to block the incoming blow. She managed to keep herself from being mauled, but the force of it still hit her weapon so hard that her arm went numb and she was thrown backward. The only reason it didn’t overwhelm her right then and there was because Xiuhcoatl managed to catch up and throw herself on the beast’s back, snapping her jaws around the nape of its neck and holding on tight.

With an enraged screed, the beast shook itself in an attempt to dislodge the smaller wolf to no avail. Finally, it reached behind its head and snatched the other animal, pulling it up and throwing it as well. By then, Serilda had quickly recovered from being tossed and sprinted forward once more to engage the beast. They needed to slow it down, first and foremost, or they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

With her free hand raised above her head, Serilda focused her magic and centered a spell upon herself. The air around her for several meters suddenly thinned and became so cold that frost flakes started to form in the air and gentle wisps of steam danced before the lips of all breathing creatures within the circumference of the spell. The female werewolf began to labor for breath like it had found itself at the top of a tall mountain where oxygen was more scarce, and even with all its great fur its muscles twitched in complaint against the frigid temperature.

It leaped at her again, but this time the werewolf was moving significantly slower. More than slow enough for Serilda to keep up with it. She kept her attention on the creature because it was still deadly. Serilda had only a brief moment of concern for her own wolf having been tossed aside like a newspaper, but her empathic connection to the smaller creature told her the canine was fine for now. With the thinned air keeping the werewolf shivering and hindered, Serilda continued to engage it carefully with her sword until Akeya could find a good time to dip in and land some strikes of her own.

"Character counts most when duty calls."

Even as she fought back the beast -- or, more realistically, kept herself on the defensive so that she wouldn’t get mauled to death -- Serilda could sense that Akeya had caught Xiuh before the wolf could come into any serious harm, letting her fall back to the ground with a bit more control. Though the dragoness had been invisible, Serilda’s Void sense always kept her keenly aware of where anything in the physical world around her was located, so she did not need to see people or things to know where they stood. She was grateful that the other woman had taken the time to help the wolf, making a mental note to give her appreciation at a more appropriate time.

Right about when Serilda was starting to lose a bit of ground Akeya found her opportunity and slipped into the fray, appearing behind the werewolf and slamming her foot into its temple. Another swift kick put some distance between the two, and with her threatening stance the dragoness suddenly appeared to be a more appealing target for the beast. It bolted for Akeya, its speed picking up once it exited the range of the Empty Chill spell, giving Serilda second to regather herself.

Serilda watched as the dragoness utilized her magic to throw the lycanthrope off guard. Not wanting to leave the fight up to the other woman, she followed the trail of the fight, keeping just enough distance so that the beast would stay focused on the other woman and perhaps provide Serilda with an opportunity to land a couple well placed blows. Akeya managed to daze the thing, which was definitely helpful -- and no small feat.

As it turns out, it was probably a good thing that Serilda was keeping her distance from the combating pair. Akeya took a deep breath into her lungs while the werewolf attempted to steady itself, and blew out a fierce breath weapon. It was fascinating to behold, somehow both light and dark with a mixture of colors that were reminiscent of the sky at dusk or dawn. The roar echoed in Serilda’s ears, a deep bellow that put the werewolf’s previous howl to shame in terms of pitch and intensity. So great was the strength of the blast that it knocked the lycanthrope back and into the nearest building, causing the stopping wall to crack and groan from the abuse.

“On it,” the Voidwalker said as Akeya zipped past, once more ducking into the cover of her magic to prepare for a better attack. The beast was already starting to regain its equilibrium, though it was missing large patches of fur and what was left no longer had as much sheen or luster to it. It pried itself out of the wall and stumbled forward, laboring for breath. May as well make that a little harder for it, Serilda figured. She settled her magic into the creature’s lungs and expelled the space within, constricting the organs and preventing them from filling again with oxygen.

Then, she tapped once more into the air around her, creating dozens of needle thin darts that tore through the sky and into the choking beast’s flesh. Tufts of its fur and bits of blood went spraying as it looked like it had been riddled with buckshot all over the front of its body. When the spell ended, Serilda signaled to Xiuh and raced forward. At the last second she tapped into her magic and used it to boost her speed just as the wolf slammed its body into the back of the lycanthrope’s knees.

Serilda slapped the flat of her blade on the werewolf’s chest, pushing her back over Xiuh’s body and knocking the creature to the ground. With a cry she lifted her sword and jammed it so hard through the beast’s bicep that it pierced through the other side and pinned it to the ground. The creature screamed with agony. The wound was far from fatal -- a good healing would patch it right up once things were back to normal -- but even a few long seconds of Moonlight’s exposure to the beast’s flesh was more than enough for it to sap a great deal of energy from her.

By the time the Voidwalker removed her sword, the creature was heavily weakened. Before it could attempt to stand, as it sat there wheezing and struggling she used some of her magic to form a protective frost around both entry points of the wound to keep her from bleeding out. Then, she dropped the creature into the ground.

A bit of wandering around the area lead them to a handful more werewolves, but nothing nearly as powerful as the golden one they faced. Even tired and having been fighting all night, it took little work for Akeya and Serilda to bring the beasts down. By the time the sun rose and the people started turning back to normal, all the werewolves had been captured and restrained with a miraculous zero casualties on all sides, and all the two wizards had to focus on was just keeping the non-cursed folk from trying to retaliate -- which was simple enough just by feeding them information that if they got too close they could become infected with the curse themselves.

Representatives of the council showed up conveniently after sunrise to take stock of the situation and verify that there had been no fatalities. Healers were set to work on those with broken bones and more serious wounds once the lycanthropes had returned to their natural forms, confused and in a lot of agony. Once Serilda and Akeya had done their part to turn the unfortunate citizens to the council representatives for care and treatment, they were allowed to part with their payments as well as the council’s profound thanks.

Serilda took the time to thank Akeya properly, both for saving Xiuhcoatl from a potentially bad injury as well as on being such a fantastic partner to work with. In fact, the Voidwalker went so far as to express an interest in working with the dragoness again sometime in the future. She felt that the two of them had paired quite well together. Presuming the other woman was interested, she would exchange contact information with her and assure her that if Akeya ever required assistance on another mission she should feel free to reach out. From there, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways to recuperate and relax after a long, grueling night.