Dedicated to Distraction
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:43 pm
The Brewfest festival had been in full bore for nearly a week, and along with it, every taunting, luring scent any of dozens of crafted drinks could bring. For most people, it was a joyous time to celebrate and a time to laugh with friends while doing stupid things one might never do sober. For Elek, it largely had been a near week of sweating, grinding his teeth, and feeling half-sick from the temptation of it all.
Already there had been several nights he'd been unable to clearly recall; nights where he's awakened in a place he had been fairly sure he'd not gone to consciously. His fear of what that meant had him rightly worried, and any effort he could take to keep himself busy, even to the point of losing sleep over it, was highly preferrential. As the sun set on Saturday night, dark rings had started to form around the Sin'dorei's eyes from his fatigue. The day in partiuclar had been a lengthly one with a grueling assault he had taken point as vanguard for. Yet, rather than take off his armor and allow himself to relax, the Blood Knight traveled to the mountains in the northern reaches of Pandaria.
Beleath the watchful eyes of Xuen, The White Tiger, Elek challenged himself in the enclosed arena with the task of protecting the Pandaren, Sikari the Mistweaver. Frustration built with each failure, and the failures in either protecting her or keeping himself standing were mounting steadily as the night continued. Yet with each new bruise, the elf refused to relent. He'd entered in with a small stack of flasks and a modest supply of food, both of which were dwindling down to their last few as the attempts began to number beyond his ability to clearly count and recall. It had been hours... hours of brutal work and punishment that left him teetering between attempts and wanting to just lay down and sleep, and just not care for whatever the night may bring.
Elek paced back and forth as he reviewed his spell book and the glyphs he had transcribed upon it to change the magics he could call. Pages turned back and forth as if he were looking for something he couldn't find, lips softly mumbling the words to the spells as half gestured moves of a hand briefly touched upon the somantics they invovled. From what it seemed to those around, he had been looking over pages long forgotten in their unuse. With a slap of the pages together, the Blood Knight closed his home and let it hang at his side once more.
"Again, Rotun!" the elf howled as Sikari bit her lower lip, weary from the repetition and the way things always seemed to fall apart on the final wave of the challenge. To her, it wasn't sll that bad when it were simply he who proved unable to keep himself standing, but several of the attempts had ended with her taking the brunt of it. In fact, by now she'd wondered if several of such were deliberate after her taunting, chiding remarks she'd made on a few of the attempts that hadn't gone so well. The Pandaren woman took a deep breath and sighed, eyes closed and her head briefly lowered as if she needed to conjure up the fortitude to do this again. With a nod, she signaled to Rotun to ring the gong while Xuen's conjurations once again began to assault the both of them.
The Mistweaver had to clench her jaw as she watched the elf's stumbling execution of the early waves, yet despite how much she teetered on the verge of calling for Rotun to stop the trial, she knew the elf's tenacity and grim determination would never agree until he couldn't stand on his feet at all anymore. Perhaps, she figured, the fourth wave would knock him flat out and that they could opt to not revive him until morning. He was taking hits far faster than she could heal, and the moment it seemed things were at an end, a brilliant flash of radiance erupted that knocked each illusionary warrior to the ground. In the brief moment of calm as the sound of fighting had stopped, Elek set his palm flat upon his own chest and bathed himself in the warmth of the Light and returned to the fight renewed. With a nod, Sikari continued on, casting bolt after bolt into the images of their enemies.
The waves from then to the last were largely mechanical to the two of them by now. They posed little challenge in and of themselves, but they wore on the patience and served to make the overall task that much more daunting. This wasn't only about one's ability, but endurance and the capacity to keep one's focus even in the midst of constant struggle. The tenth, final wave had come before the enemies of the ninth had fallen. It wasn't too uncommon in their attempts, but the pyromancer's lava pools tended to dispatch them before the worst of the next set had come. With the two large conquerors on their way, Sikari grit her teeth and scowled, fangs bared in near dread of the result she feared would come again.
Yowling out, Elek grabbed the attention of their enemies and pulled them towards the remnants of a lava pool that didn't have much time to it. Fortuantely, the path to their target had been a line of fire, burning their forms in increasing flames the further they ran to meet their target. As they reached the elf, the both of them shouted out and doubled their size in their rage. Numerous times before, the tandem move had felled the elf in a single united strke, and as their hammers came down, Elek cried out a yell to the Light that surrounded him in a glowing sphere that stopped their swing several inches from his head in a harmless reverb. Scowling in turn, the two of them turned away with their Wind-guard accomplise and rushed for the Pandaren Mistweaver who cried out in dread, eyes closing tightly as the lot of their adversaries began their multi-pronged attack upon her.
However, the pain she expected didn't come, prompting a confused blink while their weapons glanced off from a swriling magic that surrounded her. Magic glowed around the elf's outreached hand, his palm facing Sikari with several glimmering streams reaching out and around her body. "KILL THEM! FELL ONE OF THEM NOW!" he shouted out as she fumbled with her weapon and renewed her string of spells into one of the large Conquerors. The group rushed back towards Elek, flailing madly at the glowing shield that denied them the blood they sought. Two Ambushers charged in to join the fray as the Blood Knight threw a bolt of holy energies towards the both of them, drawing them towards him while he started to cast a spell. In the moments before his shield had fallen, fear gripped one of the illusionary Hozen and the beast turned to run in terror around the arena. The rest renewed their attacks, only to then be thrown to the ground by the crash of light that hit them like a busting star.
With a few seconds solace, Elek put distance between himself and the group, precious moments that let Sikari wear down on the more wounded Conqueror. Their speed easily allowed them to catch the fleeing elf, but not before their rage had ebbed and their size diminished. A clang of Elek's shield blunted a few swift attacks as the group converged, granting him time to summon forth an Ancient Guardian and the protective gaze it provided him. Shrouded in the dampening field the old spirit provided, the Blood Knight wrest the final sharge from the healthstone he'd gone in with and called upon the Light to give him a few seconds worth of divine protection as braced for the end of the spirit's ability to assist him. As the being dispersed, Elek called down a hammer to stun one of the larger foes, a precious six seconds that gave Sikari the time she needed to bring low the giant mogu.
Looking over his shoulder, the Hozen still ran wildly in abject fear. A refreshing of the spell ensured its torment wouldn't end before the elf and Pandaren dropped down the last Conqueror. The solitary Ambusher never had a chance.
Rotun rang the gong as the final enemy fell. Sikari dropped to her knees, her hands on the ground as she breathed heavily from the exertion of the night. Elek staggered towards one of the barriers and leaned against it, his sword and shield pulling his arms down with hardly the strength to keep them in his hands. "Well done," the challenge master spoke as the grummle and goblin with him clapped their hands in congratulations.
"Good work, Elek," Sikari spoke as she pulled herself to her feet again, propping herself up with her staff.
Nearly out of breath, the elf replied, "thank you, Mistweaver."
Word was sent of the accomplishment shortly later.
Already there had been several nights he'd been unable to clearly recall; nights where he's awakened in a place he had been fairly sure he'd not gone to consciously. His fear of what that meant had him rightly worried, and any effort he could take to keep himself busy, even to the point of losing sleep over it, was highly preferrential. As the sun set on Saturday night, dark rings had started to form around the Sin'dorei's eyes from his fatigue. The day in partiuclar had been a lengthly one with a grueling assault he had taken point as vanguard for. Yet, rather than take off his armor and allow himself to relax, the Blood Knight traveled to the mountains in the northern reaches of Pandaria.
Beleath the watchful eyes of Xuen, The White Tiger, Elek challenged himself in the enclosed arena with the task of protecting the Pandaren, Sikari the Mistweaver. Frustration built with each failure, and the failures in either protecting her or keeping himself standing were mounting steadily as the night continued. Yet with each new bruise, the elf refused to relent. He'd entered in with a small stack of flasks and a modest supply of food, both of which were dwindling down to their last few as the attempts began to number beyond his ability to clearly count and recall. It had been hours... hours of brutal work and punishment that left him teetering between attempts and wanting to just lay down and sleep, and just not care for whatever the night may bring.
Elek paced back and forth as he reviewed his spell book and the glyphs he had transcribed upon it to change the magics he could call. Pages turned back and forth as if he were looking for something he couldn't find, lips softly mumbling the words to the spells as half gestured moves of a hand briefly touched upon the somantics they invovled. From what it seemed to those around, he had been looking over pages long forgotten in their unuse. With a slap of the pages together, the Blood Knight closed his home and let it hang at his side once more.
"Again, Rotun!" the elf howled as Sikari bit her lower lip, weary from the repetition and the way things always seemed to fall apart on the final wave of the challenge. To her, it wasn't sll that bad when it were simply he who proved unable to keep himself standing, but several of the attempts had ended with her taking the brunt of it. In fact, by now she'd wondered if several of such were deliberate after her taunting, chiding remarks she'd made on a few of the attempts that hadn't gone so well. The Pandaren woman took a deep breath and sighed, eyes closed and her head briefly lowered as if she needed to conjure up the fortitude to do this again. With a nod, she signaled to Rotun to ring the gong while Xuen's conjurations once again began to assault the both of them.
The Mistweaver had to clench her jaw as she watched the elf's stumbling execution of the early waves, yet despite how much she teetered on the verge of calling for Rotun to stop the trial, she knew the elf's tenacity and grim determination would never agree until he couldn't stand on his feet at all anymore. Perhaps, she figured, the fourth wave would knock him flat out and that they could opt to not revive him until morning. He was taking hits far faster than she could heal, and the moment it seemed things were at an end, a brilliant flash of radiance erupted that knocked each illusionary warrior to the ground. In the brief moment of calm as the sound of fighting had stopped, Elek set his palm flat upon his own chest and bathed himself in the warmth of the Light and returned to the fight renewed. With a nod, Sikari continued on, casting bolt after bolt into the images of their enemies.
The waves from then to the last were largely mechanical to the two of them by now. They posed little challenge in and of themselves, but they wore on the patience and served to make the overall task that much more daunting. This wasn't only about one's ability, but endurance and the capacity to keep one's focus even in the midst of constant struggle. The tenth, final wave had come before the enemies of the ninth had fallen. It wasn't too uncommon in their attempts, but the pyromancer's lava pools tended to dispatch them before the worst of the next set had come. With the two large conquerors on their way, Sikari grit her teeth and scowled, fangs bared in near dread of the result she feared would come again.
Yowling out, Elek grabbed the attention of their enemies and pulled them towards the remnants of a lava pool that didn't have much time to it. Fortuantely, the path to their target had been a line of fire, burning their forms in increasing flames the further they ran to meet their target. As they reached the elf, the both of them shouted out and doubled their size in their rage. Numerous times before, the tandem move had felled the elf in a single united strke, and as their hammers came down, Elek cried out a yell to the Light that surrounded him in a glowing sphere that stopped their swing several inches from his head in a harmless reverb. Scowling in turn, the two of them turned away with their Wind-guard accomplise and rushed for the Pandaren Mistweaver who cried out in dread, eyes closing tightly as the lot of their adversaries began their multi-pronged attack upon her.
However, the pain she expected didn't come, prompting a confused blink while their weapons glanced off from a swriling magic that surrounded her. Magic glowed around the elf's outreached hand, his palm facing Sikari with several glimmering streams reaching out and around her body. "KILL THEM! FELL ONE OF THEM NOW!" he shouted out as she fumbled with her weapon and renewed her string of spells into one of the large Conquerors. The group rushed back towards Elek, flailing madly at the glowing shield that denied them the blood they sought. Two Ambushers charged in to join the fray as the Blood Knight threw a bolt of holy energies towards the both of them, drawing them towards him while he started to cast a spell. In the moments before his shield had fallen, fear gripped one of the illusionary Hozen and the beast turned to run in terror around the arena. The rest renewed their attacks, only to then be thrown to the ground by the crash of light that hit them like a busting star.
With a few seconds solace, Elek put distance between himself and the group, precious moments that let Sikari wear down on the more wounded Conqueror. Their speed easily allowed them to catch the fleeing elf, but not before their rage had ebbed and their size diminished. A clang of Elek's shield blunted a few swift attacks as the group converged, granting him time to summon forth an Ancient Guardian and the protective gaze it provided him. Shrouded in the dampening field the old spirit provided, the Blood Knight wrest the final sharge from the healthstone he'd gone in with and called upon the Light to give him a few seconds worth of divine protection as braced for the end of the spirit's ability to assist him. As the being dispersed, Elek called down a hammer to stun one of the larger foes, a precious six seconds that gave Sikari the time she needed to bring low the giant mogu.
Looking over his shoulder, the Hozen still ran wildly in abject fear. A refreshing of the spell ensured its torment wouldn't end before the elf and Pandaren dropped down the last Conqueror. The solitary Ambusher never had a chance.
Rotun rang the gong as the final enemy fell. Sikari dropped to her knees, her hands on the ground as she breathed heavily from the exertion of the night. Elek staggered towards one of the barriers and leaned against it, his sword and shield pulling his arms down with hardly the strength to keep them in his hands. "Well done," the challenge master spoke as the grummle and goblin with him clapped their hands in congratulations.
"Good work, Elek," Sikari spoke as she pulled herself to her feet again, propping herself up with her staff.
Nearly out of breath, the elf replied, "thank you, Mistweaver."
Word was sent of the accomplishment shortly later.