Zelgadis

[Carthrat]

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Gourry fell cleanly and quickly into Lina's arms, who held him in a position not unlike a man holding his wife aloft...

The group to the rear seemed to notice, and the large man halted the group, then ordered them to spread out and search.

The frontal group checked behind them, but continued onwards.

Lina was busy shouting at Gourry. The second group would find her in about 30 seconds.

[Shukuen]

"Okay, that deals with them," Shukuen muttered, watching the front group move on. Whispering 'Raywing', he flew silently after them, keeping close enough to spy on them without being sensed, and trying to determine if they were the right group.

[Carthrat]

As Zelgadis drew closer to the group, he saw that the jagged sword the mage carried was glowing slightly. Apart from this, there was no indication of anything unusual.

[Shukuen]

Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Shukuen studied the jagged sword carefully.

[Carthrat]

From his current position high in the sky, Zelgadis couldn't possibly make out more of the sword than he already knew of it. Moving close enough to study it would probably alert the bandits to his presence.

Several explosions and loud screams showed the other group had reached Lina...

[Shukuen]

Smirking at the sounds of carnage drifted from behind him, Shukuen idly wondered if he should feel guilty for using Lina and the others like that.

"...nah."

Landing on a sturdy branch, he began to weave mana lines together as he chanted.

"Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand!"

A feral grin on his lips as he completed the chant, he threw his arms forward, launching the explosive spell directly in front of the bandit group, with a cry of --

"Fireball!"

[Carthrat]

The fireball streamed towards the group, and promptly exploded.

Three of the men were immolated instantly, flailing about like dolls.

The rest, however, managed to throw themselves out the way, and the man with the jagged sword had produced a shield, and was now mumbling hs own spell..

..and rose into the air, swooping towards Zelgadis while drawing his sword.

[Shukuen]

Despite the approaching danger, Shukuen couldn't help but chuckle as he drew his own sword, his eyes relaxed shut as he floated patiently, waiting for his opponent to draw nearer.

It's official... I've now gone mad!

[Carthrat]

Zelgadis didn't get much resting time: the mage was on him barely after he opened his eyes.

While the large, two-handed jagged sword did much to obscure what the mage looked like, Zelgadis might have noticed a small tattoo on his forehead before he lashed out with a fierce overhead strike...

[Shukuen]

Raising his sword perpendicular to the oncoming slash, Shukuen parried the attack, then twisted around in an attempt to use his opponent's momentum against him, as his sword swung towards the enemy mage's back.

[Carthrat]

Unfortunately, air-to-air hand to hand combat is a little different from ground combat, and as such, Zel couldn't really use his enemies momentum against him, because the mage merely flew over Zel as he spun around, preparing to deal a fatal blow from directly above him...

[Shukuen]

Shukuen reacted, quickly flying to the side to avoid the attack and lowering himself until below the treetops, using the branches to hide his movements slightly. All the while, he kept his eyes directly on his opponent, his sword held defensively so he could parry an attack from almost any direction.

[Carthrat]

Yet... nothing seemed to be happening nearby. The mage appeared to have given up chase, dissapearing while Zel was making his futile attempts to hide while moving at such a speed...

Several bolts whistled through the air, and while they merely bounced of Zelgadis's skin, he saw that the mage's entourage were rapidly loading crossbows to get another shot...

[Shukuen]

Shukuen frowned, paying little attention to the archers as he glanced around, wondering where the mage vanished to. Feeling another arrow thunk against his stone skin again, his headsnapped down, glowering at the archers.

"Will you just but out?!" He shot his hands forward, and cried out "Diem Wing", a sudden gust of pressured wind flew towards the bandits like an invisible battering ram.

[Carthrat]

The arc of wind flew towards the archers, scattering them and breaking one or two crossbows.

Zelgadis didn't have time to savour his victory, though, as the mage swooped down from above the trees and, with a cry of "Solar CHARGE!" unleashed an incredibly powerful overhead blow towards Zelgadis!