Thrown into combat
Where bodies lie piled
Hides his emotions
His blood's running cold
Sabaton – To Hell and Back

They had almost lost the Reaper, to a spear, of all things, yet she had been dead, an immortal killed! But thankfully the voice had given Life enough power to bring Dalanesca back again, thankfully. Dalanesca and Lokir may have only met once before, and it was a hell of a meeting, and she wasn't the nicest of Deities all time, but that didn't mean Lokir wanted her gone. They knew more than before thanks to catching the spying wasp woman they had caught and still held captive. Lokir had wanted to snap her neck but had been held back so that they might be able to get more information from the wasp thing.

But that was behind him at the moment, now, he was standing on the island of Apoy, somewhere Shiloh was working on her own projects and getting her people in line. At this time he was with a group of his people from Scarwood Fort that had come up North to the island to help reinforce the local garrison. But the fighting wasn't going well, the enemy were insect in nature and had clear advantage in the forests already, add in their unique weapons, armour and techniques and the Caneluxiers were at a clear disadvantage.

What made it more difficult for Lokir, personally, was that he had heard speaking hope that the Gods would be able to use their powers to help wipe out the invaders. Sadly, as word spread that the Gods' powers were not effective against the invaders, yet the invaders were able to injure and even kill a Deity that hope quickly seeped again with each death. Lokir was angry, just pure angry as they walked with his squad through the forests.

He was wearing his full armour, black with white trim, but Lokir had taken the shine out of the armour, well, the fighting had helped. He was feeling tired, something he hadn't felt since Ascending, and that was putting his mind off as well, he had to think like he was mortal again, and that was hard after a long time with immortality backing your actions up. With his powers nulled he wasn't able to use his immense Strength against the enemies, he was back to the strength he had as a simple mortal werebear. That was considerable by mortal standards, but some of enemies they had heard of were very strong themselves. What really galled him was his ability to learn a fighting style simply by watching it and know it instantly was also gone, he couldn't read them at all.

”Lokir, we have tracks.” A voice brought his attention back to reality again, he chastised himself for getting lost in thought, complacency was hard to break. Lokir stepped over to the tracks that had been found as his troops stayed close looking out into the underbrush. He had no idea what he was looking at, and could barely tell which way the tracks were even going they were so unrecognizable to him, and all of his troops in fact even the experienced rangers. ”What do you think is happening at the Fort, Tetrarch?” The same man asked.

Lokir looked to him as he stood, happy his helm covered the sad look on his face, this man before was trained by inexperienced in an actual fight. ”It's something I'm trying not to think about. And, again, call me Lokir, titles aren't needed here, and my name is fast to say, Rorik.” Lokir replied with a flat voice as he looked around, a chill ran up his spine. ”Fuck.” He growled. ”Arms up, we're being watched.” Lokir spoke sternly and all of his troops got their weapons ready, something was watching them, but from where?

Shyrus strode into the Salty Barrel, not a fantastic tavern but for some reason it was one of her favorite in Adeluna city. Normally the tavern would be packed, the sound deafening and the ale flowing fast. There was always something going on here, some mischief to make or some dangerous situation to escalate. The owner of this particular tavern, an elven harpy that went by the name of Rain, was not Shyrus' biggest fan. It might have something to do with damages, injuries or an outstanding bar tab that could cripple a baron. Or because elves had pointy ears and were jealous of dragons. Well, she knew which she believed. Damn knife ears. Stepping through the doors, though, she was immediately struck by the silence.

"What the… Someone die in here?"  Well, normally even a death wouldn't slow the pace down. The body would be removed, often by a hungry dragon looking for a quick snack, and things would go on as normal. Maybe that witch Rain was finally dead. Yeah, but that would be cause for an even bigger celebration. So no, that wasn't it. Besides, the ancient dragon gods weren't that kind. She was cursed to butt heads with the elf for a while yet, until a suitable accident could be arranged. At the nearest table, looking sullenly into their tankards, one of them tugging on their beards in a gesture of worry, were three dwarves. She recognised them from a couple of games of dice she had won, and then lost… The brawl that had sprung up after that had ended with the back wall collapsing. She grinned at the thought as she approached them, looking over at the bar to make sure the coast was clear. It was. Perfect. "What's going on, friends? Rain forcing everyone to eat the stew?" One of the dwarves looked up at her, eyes darting around as Shyrus' voice rang out through the room. There was the sound of shuffling, chairs scraping, a quick mutter here and there. Nobody was moving or talking though, something was seriously wrong. She found her hand closing around the wand made from a sliver of her grandfather's bone. "Ya haven' heard, girl? We're bein' invaded! Gods're droppin' like flies! All is lost! ALL IS LOST!" the dwarf began wailing, knocking his tankard to the floor, heaving in great heaving breaths as he sobbed. Shyrus backed up a step, confused by the drunken rambling of the dwarf. One of the others put his arm around his companion's shoulders, and the other just looked down into his own tankard without saying a word. She looked around the room again but nobody would meet her gaze. Nobody, that was, except the elf standing behind the bar, glaring at her.

Shyus wandered over to the bar and leaned against it, going for an air of boredom. If the evil elf sensed any weakness in her then Shyrus was doomed. "So, old woman. I hear we're being attacked… Funny, I didn't notice enemies at the gates or the sound of great battle being met outside of the city." She examined the nails of one hand, which had begun to sharpen. She was hoping she just looked like she was examining them for dirt, though. As she always did, Rain responded to her in draconic, as if trying to prove something. "I'll never understand how you've managed to survive so long while being so dense, you stupid, foolish waste of scales." Wow. "Well you know, I tend to sleep a lot and eat people who annoy me. Plenty of rest and a healthy diet is the key to long life and happiness, friend." Her face split in a smile that revealed teeth that were elongating and sharpening, much like the nails had. This time, though, it was intentional. "Oh my time of being scared by you are long past. If you were going to kill me you'd have done it by now. I should warn you what's happening though, you'll likely hear it from others soon enough. Some mysterious enemy is invading the islands off the West coast. From what I hear Apoy was hit particularly bad. There were rumors of Death herself dying, but that's all they were. She's still around, it's been confirmed. Don't know why people listen, everyone knows the gods are immortal." Shyrus had her own theories when it came to the gods. She had always wandered what one would taste like, and if she did manage to eat one… Well, how do you remain alive when you're being digested as a thoroughly chewed mass of meat? She drummed her fingers along the top of the bar as she thought. Mysterious invaders… West coast… If these invaders reached Itjivut then her home might be threatened, no matter how well hidden she believed it to be. If her hoard was to be safe that meant she would need to help the gods. Besides, this might be her chance to finally try one….

Without any further consideration she turned in place, lifting her wand and focusing to open a gateway. She had been to Apoy a few times in the past, but it had been a while. The most vivid place she remembered had been the forest, hot and humid with all those nasty biting insects. Oh, those fucking bugs. How she hated them. The temperature in the room dropped as she remembered. Looking down, she supposed the plain blue robes and slippers she was wearing weren't exactly ideal for a romp through a jungle, but then time was wasting. She could appropriate new clothing when she reached that town… What had been the name of it… Well it didn't matter. She was sure that when she was there she could fly the rest of the way. That would take care of those insects, couldn't bit through her scales now could they? The patrons were finally taking notice, some due to the humid air blasting them through the portal Shyrus had opened, others due to the rapidly dropping temperature in the rest of the room. Whenever Shyrus came by these things always seemed to happen. She was a curse.

Shyrus stepped through the portal and immediately found herself sweating and hating herself. Now who had thought it would be a good idea to come into a damn jungle? She tried to chill the air around her and only did a passably good job of it. Instead, she had another thought. What if… She froze the sweat that was beading on her skin, instead, and shivered with pleasure at the sensation. Yes, this could work for a while at least. On the positive side, these robes weren't all that heavy, so things could be worse. The portal snapped shut behind her, closing her off from the sounds from the tavern in Adeluna. The trees surrounded her on all sides. She could transform here, she supposed, and tear up a bunch of these trees. Or she could do the responsible thing and look for a clearing. She could already feel scales beginning to form.

The humidity in the air reminded Jadira of the hot summers she experienced when traveling as a child. Although it didn't happen very much she could still recall the intense heat. Now she was experiencing it again. Not that she minded to much. She was preoccupied in her thoughts about the upcoming battle. Jadira hadn't been in Lokir's group for a long time. In fact she had just arrived there a minute ago. Once she had heard about the battle against these strange bug creatures she traveled to the nearest fort she could find. However due to her utter lack of direction she didn't make it to the fort. Yet fortune was with her since she came across a travelling group of armed people that were muttering about the insect enemy.

Jadira knew that there were proper names for the enemy but insect enemy or bug people worked perfectly fine for her. She also doubted that the army would notice a stranger joining them. Which so far they didn't seem to notice. Jadira was ready for any sort of fight, not because she was blood hungry or extremely violent, but because this would be the first time she would really be tested. There was that time she ended up in the fey world and the other time she completed trials to help save the world. However that was a long time ago and right now she wanted to make sure she was capable of handling a proper battle. Not just a one on one with a monster. She could feel the concern of the other soldiers around her as they walked. Which she could understand. After all if these creatures could kill a goddess then they would be a lot more difficult to take down. But why would they be trying to fight if it was really hopeless? It only became hopeless when others let it be. Jadira used a small spell called Hunter's Instinct. This allowed her senses of smell, sight, and sound to be enhanced. Jadira was using this spell in order to be able to identify threats quicker and with more precision. A soldier next to her looked like he was on the verge of tears.


"What is the matter?" She whispered awkwardly to the soldier.


Jadira was never an expert at making others feel better. Socializing in general was not her strongest point.


"The matter? Did you really just ask that? We are walking to our deaths and you ask me what is the matter?" The guard whispered with panic back, "If the gods can't defeat these enemies then what chance do we have?"

Jadira understood his concern but it was not helpful if everybody looked so defeated already.

"We have a higher chance than any god." Jadira whispered, "If we take up our swords and do something about it. If we don't then we are already dead. But by holding that sword and fighting, you are giving everybody a chance to survive. I don't know about you, but I am prepared to sacrifice everything to save my world. Are you?"

The soldier seemed to feel a little bit better.

"Yes." He said with determination.

Jadira was glad that her little speech actually was useful. Especially considering that she just made it up. But he didn't really need to know that. It was her hunch that a mortal could beat the enemy since they were all marching into battle. However she was not certain. What was true was the fact that she was ready to do everything in her power to save her world. This was what she had been training for ever since she was a child. This was why she travelled around so much and faced so many foes. This was why she fought so hard. This was why she would go around the world learning, training, fighting, and becoming the warrior her trainer could be proud of.  Jadira would become stronger and she would make a difference. She would help save what she knew. Even if it meant risking everything. She wondered for a moment how her friends back home were doing.

There was no doubt in her mind that they also raced to the nearest fort to help in the battle. They were the type of people who would not stand being given village duty and being satisfied. They probably headed out as soon as they heard of the attack. She almost wished that they were here, fighting alongside her. However she knew that she would never be as lucky as that. Besides there was a possibility that they were safer back home. If they were here they would probably become a distraction. Jadira would most likely waist her time looking out for them than looking out for the group as a whole. In a way it was better for them not to be here. Her mind then wandered to her family. Her mother would probably be at court discussing what to do about the attacks while Jadira's older sibling watched.

They would be safe. For now. As for her father, well to put it simply, if these bug people chose anyone to kill, she hoped it would be him first. Just so that nobody else important, innocent, or even normal would get hurt. His life was an easy sacrifice to make. Unfortunately that would never be a sacrifice Jadira would need to worry about. Especially considering the fact her father would stay hidden away in the safety of his home and would never set foot anywhere even the slightest bit dangerous. But now was not the time to be thinking of such despicable people. Now was the time to concentrate on the battle coming up. She then realized that she didn't have the slightest idea where they were going. Well, this is what she got for joining the group so late. Still she probably needed to know. Jadira quickly asked one of the other guards. Apparently they were going to another fort. Riveting.

Jadira heard Lokir order their arms to be up. So she readied her Ataiyan Katana, it was the strongest weapon she had at the moment. Then Jadira used Arcane Empower to enhance her own magic in case she needed it. Jadira was ready for a battle and was going to make sure that she killed as many of the enemy as possible. Her eyes scanned the jungle in search of any threat. 

The land of Revaliir was under assault by a strange insectoid race.  They had taken down the Goddess of Death, but he heard rumors that she had been resurrected by Lady Angela.  Regardless of whether they killed someone who was a horrible person or not, Hiro Kouen decided he had to stand against these mysterious beings.  He hated Lady Dalanesca.  During the whole 7 Deadly Sins escapade, she and Xunatar's curse claimed the life of his mother, and Dalanesca personally killed Hiro's father, Sabishii Kouen.  He could not forgive that.  Regardless, these insects were not interested in stopping at just killing one Deity, and were interested only in wiping out the entire pantheon, and everyone else as well.  They wanted to wipe out every immortal and mortal.  Hiro Kouen thought about these insects.  Where did they come from?  They were capable of killing Gods, yet they were not immortals themselves.  They weren't like these "Titan" class enemies that his father had battled back in their homeland of DaeLuin, the forces of nature of such incredible strength that they challenged the power of the Gods of that land themselves, and took a concentrated effort between mortals and immortals to kill just a single one.  Right?  The "Titans" that Sabishii talked about were giants, dragons, and so forth, with incredible strength, and were closer to forces of nature.  These insects were the size of an average humanoid give or take.  A race of near invincible insectoids would've raised Revaliir to the ground already.  But they had some kind of power that allowed them to be able to kill Gods, and be unaffected by them.  It also brought shades of a weapon Hiro heard about from DaeLuin, that his father talked about.  The "Godslayer."  A weapon that could slay a God, and sap them of their power.  Were they connected?

Hiro Kouen was among the troop of soldiers that was patrolling the jungle forest of Apoy Island.  He knew not much about the God that was guiding them, and leading the group, Lokir.  He was the God of Courage and Strength.  Even without the divine power, Hiro could tell this God was strong, and brave.  He was out here with everyone else, leading the charge against the beings that could slay him like any common soldier.  It showed his strength, and conviction.  Hiro would be glad to follow such a man.

Hiro Kouen wore a brilliant set of red and gold plate mail.  It was his style to stand out like a sore thumb.  His armor had the crest of a phoenix on the chest plate.  Hiro himself was young, appearing around the age of eighteen or so.  He had spiky raven hair with red highlights.  He seemed not bothered by the heat and moisture of the tropical forest, despite being garbed in heavy armor and cloak.  Lokir seemed like he was either affected by the heat, or just plain tired from being up so long.

Lord Lokir gave a command to the group to have their weapons at the ready.  They were being watched.  Hiro had his hand on the hilt of his blade, sheathed to his side.

"Hmm . . . I can't see whatever's watching us.  I can't sense them either."  Hiro's sapphire eyes glowed as he attempted to sense the auras and magic of their environment.  "Better keep an eye out everywhere, even above.  They're insect creatures, right?  They can fly, can't they?"

Lokir wasn't deaf, he had heard the guard speak in a whispered tone to the female elf that was with them. He was about to turn and reply but the elf woman took care of it, calming the younger man and Lokir was thankful for that. In the mood he was he wouldn't have likely been a soothing with his words to the young man. There was another young man close by that Lokir did not know, but he stood out with his red and gold armour and spiked raven hair, Hiro, Lokir had thought he heard the young man call himself.

Weapons up, Lokir scanned the trees, he hated this forest already. He glanced to the young knight as he spoke. ”Yes, we managed to capture one of their forward scouts just as the invasion happened, she's been here for some time watching us, so they already know more about us than we do of them. She's a wasp, according to her and she looks like one, four arms to boot.”

Lokir explained but was cut off by the clear movement in the trees and the sound of feet hitting the ground in a pattern. Lokir growled under his helm as from the trees huge blank ants appeared, there was at least six of them, most of them the sizes of larger dogs, but two of them were damn near as large as Lokir was in his bear form! Lokir didn't know a lot about insects, just how to kill the normal ones, but he did know one thing about ants; that they were a lot stronger than their size let on. Which meant these things would very strong given their size.

Behind them walked another six beings, but these were standing upright on two legs and still very much like normal ants minus how they walked. Four arms and each armed with a pike or spear like weapon, but from where Lokir was standing he couldn't tell what it was made of. All six of them lowered their weapons in perfect unison and a thought occurred to Lokir. ”Ants are hive minded, aren't they.” It was posed a questioned but was more of a statement.

Lokir had his bastard sword out and a tower shield in his left hand, his strength as a werebear allowed him hold each like they weren't as heavy as they were. But he no longer had that unlimited strength from his aspect so in time his arms would get tired from the weight. But for now he was ready, but as he looked to the ants before them one things caught his attention; none of them looked like that wasp woman they had caught.

He didn't get anymore time to think as, as one, the abnormally large ants moved to attack, mandibles open wide to clamp down on anything they could a hold of. Lokir roared in challenge and charged forward, shield up and sword held high. When he got close to the ant that was moving for him Lokir turned his shield to the side, hoping that it would be too wide, and hopefully strong enough, to prevent the ant from closing its mandibles around it.

When they collided Lokir snarled and pushed, digging his feet in as the big insect snapped around his shield, the shield started to creek from the pressure already. The ant dug in as well and Lokir growled again as he was starting to get pushed back, damn this thing was strong! He took a swing with his sword from around his shield but the heavy blade was deflected by the carapace of the ant, only scratching it, and pissing it off.

He hissed and pushed harder, Lokir wanted to check on the rest of his troops but he wasn't able to, if he took his focus away he was dead. They out numbered the ants, but not by much and not nearly enough in strength. Lokir was forced back further, boots digging into the ground and he pushed back, using the pommel of his sword to batter the mandible around his shield, seeing if he could break it.

He had to hope that everyone else was fairing alright.


[OOC: hehe good luuuuuck ;) These things aren't easy to kill!]

Shyrus was still in her human form, scales covering the majority of her body, straining at her robes, when she picked up the sounds of combat. The sound was unmistakable. The screaming and shouting, pleading for deities and mothers, the crash of arms. It was distracting. Bothering. She should go other there and give them a piece of her mind, here she was trying to find… Ah. That would be one of those battles she was trying to find, wouldn't it. She gave a sheepish grin, all wide, sharp fangs, glad that there had been nobody around to see her outburst. Not that she had been saying out loud, but if there had been someone here she might have struck out at them in annoyance. Well then, time to find the battle. She tilted her head, listening carefully, trying to get a better sense of the direction. Sound tended to travel in forests and jungles, but she had a rough idea where she was going. She hoped. She considered returning to her true form, flying above the trees. It would be faster, and might make it easier to spot the battle. But with the tree coverage? It could just as easily make it harder, too. She gave up on the transformation, the scales sinking back into the soft flesh of her human body. Her pure white hair, which had been bound in a tail before was now hanging loose. She had nothing to bind it with, now. The tie had snapped, and  now she was in an even worse mood than before.

Shyrus began walking in the direction she believed she was meant to be heading in. The soft slippers she was wearing were next to useless in this environment. She was actually stumbling and tripping over most of the undergrowth, sharp things hidden were poking at her feet. Wouldn't have been happening if she was flying, would it. She hissed in annoyance, pushing herself a little harder. The sooner she got to that battle the sooner she could crack some skulls. Relive some of this stress that all these minor annoyances were building inside of her. The heat was getting to her too. She had to keep stopping, remembering to lower the temperature around her body periodically. It would be so easy to just open a gateway, return to the tavern and get someone to eat. That would cheer her up. On the other hand, she was committed now. She was closer, the sounds getting louder. This made her feel a little better, at least. Something was going right on this miserable waste of a day. She looked down at her robes, looking over the ruins of them. They were spattered with mud, torn and there would be no saving them. Her slippers were in a similar state. She clenched her fists. She would be taking clothes from someone, and soon, to replace them.

Soon enough she was able to see movement up ahead. From the look of things, she was coming up at a right angle to the fight. She slowed her pace which had become faster and more painful as she went. Her soft flesh was now bruised and lacerated in dozens of places. It would be easy enough to heal when she was done. Squinting, she was able to make out the bodies of… Wait a moment… How many legs did that thing have?! She froze in place for a moment, eyes widening. Don't be a spider. Please don't be spiders. Her wand was in her hand and she was already getting ready to get the hell out of this place when she realised the shape was all wrong. Six legs. Not eight. Completely different body. Not a spider. She breathed out a sigh of relief, but her battle lust was ebbing now. It looked like an ant, just too fucking big. She could deal with ants. They were disgusting and all, but they had less legs. No sticky webs. She could handle this. She would handle this. She put on her game face, trying to look serious as she walked calmly towards the fight.

One of the ants, one of the biggest, turned to face her as she got closer. How had it even known she was there? She didn't have time to think that through, though, as the thing began charging at her. She shuddered at the sight of it, crawling and being generally sickening in it's hissing and clicking progress. Lifting her wand, she unleashed a blast of ice magic straight at the giant ant. The cone of cold hit it straight on and Shyrus continued using her magic to reduce the temperature surrounding the ant. The colder it got, the slower it became. It's confident charge became more of an awkward stumble, reminding Shyrus of her own rush towards this. It was still ten feet away when it stopped dead in it's tracks. She lowered her wand and approached it, then, keeping her mind on controlling the temperature around it, continuing to make it drop. As she reached the thing she could tell it was dead already. Obviously ants didn't hold up well against the cold. She gave her wide, toothy grin, peeking around the edge of the ant body to check on the progress of the fight.

Jadira didn’t even have time to understand what those ant things were before one came charging at her group. Some of the soldiers scattered to avoid being trampled by an ant. Jadira herself also moved out of the way. She noticed that even Lokir was having trouble with the ant’s strength. Suddenly an ant came charging at Jadira. She tried to dodge out of the way and managed to escape it’s mandibles but still got pushed due to the speed it was going at her. She got pushed against a large oak tree. The ant charged at her and she moved out of the way just in time. The ant ended up getting it’s mandibles tuck in the tree. Before it had the chance to pull out Jadira took a strike at one of it’s legs. Since the legs were less tough than the actual body Jadira managed to slice through it with her sword. The ant seemed to be less balanced now and still was stuck in the large oak tree. It began to use one of it’s other legs to pull itself out. Jadira took this chance and sliced at the other leg on her side. The ant toppled over. Even though the ant was strong and had tough enough legs to keep itself up, it couldn’t manage with two legs torn off. The ants needed all six legs to keep it’s large body up. And if two on one side were gone then gravity would take it’s toll and make the large creature fall.


Jadira then used this advantage to slice off the last leg so there was no possibility of it getting back up again. Her sword would probably be unable to slice through it’s tough body. So instead Jadira took off it’s antennae so it couldn’t function properly anymore. Hopefully by doing this it would be dead. Jadira didn’t have the time to celebrate her lucky victory. There were more of these giant ants ready to tear apart the rest of the group they had. Some were already injured. Jadira ran over to three soldiers who were essentially running from the giant ant. An idea occurred in her mind and she silently cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner. She held up her hand and cast a spell. One that would weaken the ant that was chasing the soldiers. Due to it being weakened, it moved slower and with less power. Jadira looked over to Lokir’s ant and cast the same thing to that ant. Making it weaker. Lastly she used an agility spell on herself to make it so that she could move faster. But that would be the limit she could use in her spells for a while. Jadira had already used four in the last hour and probably wouldn’t be able to use any other spells until she had regained more energy. After all she was a fighter, not much of a magic user. Now that the giant ant was slower and she was faster, she ran over to the giant ant that was chasing the soldiers and got it to chase her.


“You three!” Jadira shouted, “Get behind the ant. I’ll distract it from the front. You take out it’s legs from behind. Take out as many as possible. And be careful in case it has a stinger on the back.”


She didn’t really know whether or not all bugs had stingers. Jadira just assumed that all bugs were armed with stingers or something to bite with. She then began to move around, getting the ant to chase her. The three soldiers got behind the ant from the back and dug their swords into two of it’s legs. The ant, unsurprisingly, noticed the pain and was about to turn towards them but Jadira took this chance and swung at the ant with her sword. It turned towards her and began charging again. Jadira dodged it’s first attack and was almost caught by the next one. But she knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. She would eventually run out of places to move. Jadira really hoped that the three soldiers would be able to keep up and destroy the legs.


Suddenly the ant started to drag itself with its two upper legs that were left. The three soldiers were able to get rid of four of the other legs. Now that it was extremely slow, Jadira moved in to attack. She had to avoid it’s head but she did manage to take out one other of it’s leg while the soldiers took out the last one. Then Jadira sliced off it’s antennas. Her eyes then noticed that one of her three soldiers was bleeding. Apparently they got their arm crushed underneath one of the legs when they were trying to take it out. That was why it was taking so long. It was unclear whether this was just a broken bone or if it was worse. Jadira was not a doctor. However what was clear was the fact that this soldier would not be able to fight or defend himself until they got him to a healer. Jadira turned to the two left. “Both of you stay here and protect your comrade.” Jadira instructed, “If an ant comes near you two, use the tactic we did together. I need to help out the other soldiers.” Jadira then turned to go to battle with another group of soldiers. She knew that magic and strength for her would not be the way to defeat these ants. It helped but she needed to rely more on her wits and speed. But she was lucky to have these soldiers to help her. Alone she would have a tougher time. 

Hiro listened to Lokir as he spoke, the Gods had captured one of the insectoids, and that one had been a scout, a wasp-like creature.  Where they all wasps?  Or were they all of different kinds?

"Sounds nasty.  Not good.  And these things nullify and can kill Immortals?  Hard to believe that, a race of insect Godslayers.  But I've heard of a legendary weapon called the Godslayer from the world I came from could do the same thing.  It was no more than an ordinary weapon against a mortal, but sapped the powers of an immortal.  Scary stuff," Hiro said, recalling the stories his father told him.  Then, the sound of many footsteps could be heard from ahead.  There were a group of ant-like creatures, several of them were smaller, like large dogs in size, but there were two towering over the rest, maybe eight or nine feet tall!  There were being followed by another group of ants, standing on two legs, and each holding a number of weapons, polearms made of some unknown material.

"Heh, I do believe they are, Lord Lokir.  I hope no one has myrmecophobia in this group.  Well, time to squash these bugs under boot.  En garde!"  Hiro drew his blade from the scabbard on his belt.  It was an unearthly bastard sword that appeared made of out an obsidian and crimson metal with a bit of a curve to it, releasing a great deal of heat when it was drawn.  Hiro charged into battle, leaping into the air with great vigor, raising the blade over his head, he leaped toward one of the larger ants armed with weapons.  He swung the blade with two hands down at the solider ant, who parried the blow by crossing two of the spears to catch Hiro's sword.  The clash of steel on steel resounded out into the battlefield.  The ant took two of his other spears with his other remaining arms and prepared to thrust them up at Hiro as he was in midair, clashing with Hiro's sword.  An explosion of fire came from Hiro's feet, catapulting him higher into the air over the solider ant in a flipping motion.  Another explosion of flame came from his legs and he plunged himself down at the ant's exposed back.  He swung his Phoenix Blade of Wildfire, flames surging from the blade, and struck at the solider ant's back.  The fiery slash took a chunk of carapace out of the ant's back, exposing a soft gooey inside.  Hiro bounced back toward the soldier ant as soon as he hit the ground, preparing to strike against the ant's now exposed innards.

However, another ant came rushing in at Hiro, striking him with a powerful bull rush, slamming him into a nearby tree with a loud crack.  A gasp of pain escaped from Hiro's lips.

"Y-yup, definitely a hive mind.  I think they're  . . .  covering each other."  Hiro struck the ground as the soldier ant that slammed him moved back.  The two ants started to circle around him as Hiro started to get back to his feet.  Hiro glanced at the two soldier ants circling around him.  He had to separate them, or he'd get pincered between both of them.  HIro held his sword to the side, preparing his next move.  "Sorry, Lady Angela." He prayed silently.  His eyes moved to the ground and he scraped a line across the dirt with the tip of his blade.  He drew a line in the metaphorical sand.  Flames erupted from the ground from the line, creating a firewall separating one of the ants from Hiro.  The firewall extended across the ground and spread farther and farther, lighting up foliage, creating a bit of a small forest fire.  The two soldier ants recoiled from the flames, scared and confused by the sudden appearance of flames everywhere around them.

Hiro lunged at this moment, his eyes burning with a powerful blue glow.  He struck a flurry of fiery blows upon the one soldier ant that had a piece of carapace missing on its back, striking at it's torso, chipping off bits of its now burning exoskeleton.  The Phoenix Knight jumped back and raised his blade above his head, swinging downward, unleashing a blinding blast of flame aimed at the soldier ant's chest, the burning hole he cut through it.  The ant recoiled further, retreating in pain, his fellow bug warrior leaping through the flames to aid him.  Hiro whirled around and unleashed another blast of flame from his sword, striking a cut through the ant, sending debris flying from its exoskeleton, and knocking that soldier ant backwards from the blast.  Hiro panted, caught up in the adrenaline rush, sweat on his brow.

"Come on, ya bastards!  What are you afraid of, a little fire?  I got a whole lot more ready for you where that came from!  I have even worse planned for you!" Hiro spat blood out of his mouth and grinned.  These two soldier ants were very strong, and durable.  They were still kicking after all that.  This was getting to be kinda fun.

Lokir could hear the sounds of the fighting around him but the one large ant had his full attention for now. When his large bastard sword was proving too much of a burden Lokir shoved back on the ant with all his weight while dropping the heavy blade, for now. In his now free right hand Lokir called up some of his magic and a long bladed dagger of grey magic formed in his hand. This was more able to get between the chitin plates of the ant and it squealed in pain when Lokir found a weak spot. With it backing off for a moment Lokir lowered his shield and charged it, keeping up the attack, ramming the blade into the ant's eye twice. It reeled back hissing in pain while a drone ant came charging him to defend the feral.

Lokir charged it to and got his shield low and forced his way into the ant's defences shoving the large shield into the drone and lifting. He flung the ant over him while moving forward against the feral in that opening. Lokir knocked in the head with his shield a few time using the steel covered edge to drive it to the ground. When it was down Lokir roared and brought his heavy boot down on its head, crushing through the chitin and making rather nasty and loud crunching noise.

The bear God grunted and was forced forward when the drone ant from before struck him in the back with its spears, but Lokir's armour prevented the weapon from going through. Turning quickly Lokir released his magic weapon and stoop to get his bastard sword and just charged the drone, shield up. However the ant's friend was ready for that and came from Lokir's right side, away from his shield, and stabbed with four spears. The impact was hard enough to force Lokit to the side throwing his charge off but he wasn't able to stop the momentum in time, so ended up running into the first drone anyway, they probably didn't think he was as heavy as he was in all that armour.

With Lokir barrelling into it the drone ant stumbled back and tripped, only then to have Lokir's boot come down on its face. That only stunned it so Lokir kept stomping until it stopped moving. One of the large feral ants came charging at him and Lokir turned and threw his bastard sword at it and dropped his shield. The big ant knocked aside Lokir's thrown sword but in that time Lokir had formed two heavy war hammers from his in born grey magic.

With a yell Lokir swung the hammers around connecting with the feral ant's side since it dodged at the last moment, being told by a comrade that the attack was coming. It forced the ant aside from the impact on its armoured body, but Lokir wasn't about to let the attack slow. He moved forward still swinging his left hammer around from the side while the one in his right hand he brought straight down.

With the left hammer he caught the ant in the leg and shattered it making it screech and his right hammer came down on another front leg since it moved throwing Lokir's aim off. With both front legs broken the feral ant skittered back and away while a drone leaped in to defend it, the same one from before with the spears.

Lokir dropped his grip on the hammers' more shorting them, it would give him some more control. ”If you can make a break for it do so, get back to the fort before more come!” Lokir called out to his people as he moved against the drone before him hammers ready.

Shyrus leaned up against a tree and cleaned her nails as she watched the battle continue. After that first ant had come wandering over none of the others had seemed to want to bother with her. Too bad, that. She didn't feel all that inclined to help the soldiers fighting, either, as they seemed to be doing a fairly good job of seeing to the bugs. In Shyrus' professional opinion, the only good bug was a dead bug. Especially if they had eight legs and wove disgustingly sticky traps. She shuddered, the memories this thought brought up were even more unpleasant than the weather in this horrid place. Kill all insects, that was the main thing. But let others do it wherever it was possible, that was the main main thing.

Of all the soldiers fighting, three of them stood out to Shyrus. The first was a female, an elf from the look of those pointy ears. She almost seemed to be dancing around the giant ants with her sword, slicing away bits and pieces and giving commands to the soldiers around her. Shyrus wouldn't have pegged the elf as being in command, but from the way the regular soldiers followed her instructions, perhaps she was wrong. It did make sense to have the elf in charge, though. If they didn't have a dragon to command them then an elf would do just fine. Shryus had her very own elf, she had left him back on that dull island with all the dead people though. After she was done here she would need to go check on him, make sure he was okay. Poor little guy. Elves were smart though, smarter than the humans. Then there was the human in the shiny armor that Shyrus was already picturing back at her hoard. It would look very nice there, very nice indeed. She had hoped he would die, make it easier to take the armor from him, and for a second she had thought he would. The ants knocked him around and looked like they were going to kill him when all of a sudden he had started swinging fire around. A mage, then? Shyrus had no great love for mages, they were horrible people. Always looking to bother dragons, either for knowledge or to harvest their bodies. Hateful creatures. Was this one a fire mage, to boot? Well, he could keep his armor. She wasn't going to sully her hoard with the armor of a fire mage. Then there was the big guy. He had started with a sword and shield but had looked like he was struggling even more than the other two had. Perhaps he was a new recruit. She was going to write him off before he dropped those and instead begun swinging some hammers around. Looked like the big guy was pretty strong, from the way he slapped the ants around with those hammers. She was close to being impressed when he begun shouting at everyone to retreat. Well, that was no fun. Why would they retreat when it looked like they were winning?

Shyrus huffed out a sigh, her breath frosting on the air as the temperature around her dropped. If they were going to run, who was going to kill all of these bugs? She traced her fingers over the runes carved into her wand and made a decision. They needed a little help, that was all. The bugs had decided to leave her alone after she killed the big one, so perhaps getting involved was going to be something that she would come to regret… But she had made up her mind. Worst case scenario, she would fly on out of here. It wasn't like the insects could fly now, was it?

Shyrus strode forwards, picking out two of the human looking insects. She fired off two balls of ice at the first one, knocking it back with the first and buckling it's leg with the second. She turned towards a second ant and summoned forth a cone of cold air, blasting the second ant soldier. It slowed and eventually froze in place, bringing a smile to Shyrus' lips.