Return to the Rift

Veronica was left to care for Delinae, which was a little bit complicated for her. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all except stand there and watch. She was essentially useless since her only ability was weak and there would be no way she could do anything to fight. But that was okay since someone had to watch for Delinae. They had no idea how much time she had, if the poison would kill her or not..and Ronnie had no way of finding out. She touched Delinae's face, trying to feel for a fever, or anything at all which might help them. "Del, Delinae? Can you hear me?" She asked her hopelessly, taking over Joey's previous hold on the woman.

From the corner of her eye, she too watched the man approach Joey, and bit her lip in fear as his sword reached for him. She saw the flames appear in his hand, and she wanted to scream. It still worried her to watch him fight, and even more in this situation. If anything happened to him...it would be her fault.

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Hawk's eyes narrowed on Fallyn as she walked toward him, completely ignoring Ronnie and Delinae. "Fallyn." She said, her voice playful. "Good to see you again." She tightened her grip on the two daggers, stopping to face him evenly. Around her, Raven had appeared, and had taken on Joey, which was fine with her. He would be easy enough to get a hold of. And the girl....well, she appeared fairly useless.


"Can't say the same to you." Fallyn replied, his hesitation disappearing as he drew his own sword. And launched himself at her. Their blades clashed against one another, and Ronnie could only stand in the middle of the dueling pairs and watch helplessly with Delinae. That was, until the brown headed girl started to approach her.

Delinae didn't respond to Veronica's promptings. Her face was pale and her breathing had turned shallow. Blood continued to leak from the small wound at the back of her neck. Despite all this, though, she was still alive.

Joey had little time to retaliate. Raven came on quickly, every sword swipe measured and precise in a way that could any be managed after years of training. He knew he should be dead already, but the man wasn't trying to kill--it looked like every strike was meant to debilitate, aiming for a limb or any area that would cause pain, but not death. Even so, it kept Joey from doing much of anything beside dodging. The flame he had conjured died almost immediately as he was unable to focus and keep it lit.

He looked back to see the smaller of the other women approaching Veronica, and realized immediately he was powerless to help. "Ronnie, get the hell out of he--" he started to yell, but it was cut off by a gasp of pain as Raven's sword found the flesh of his upper arm, drawing blood and his attention again. The pain forced him to acknowledge a very real truth: they could die here.

It was true, they could die here. Delinae didn't respond to any of Veronica's probing, and she didn't know what else to do. She would feel so bad if the woman died because of them. She and Joey didn't have to come back, it had just been Veronica's stupid idea to do something without even asking if it was the right thing. And now, because of it, she and Joey could die. It wasn't such a big deal for herself...but Joey, he meant everything to her. And if something happened because of her....well, she wasn't sure if she could handle it at all.

Ronnie turned her head in Joey's direction as he called her name, and she gasped as she saw the blade tear into his arm. "No..Joey!" She called out, but her voice died out into a little gasp of pain as a sharp stinging of pain ripped through her shoulder. She staggered forward, letting go of Delinae in her arms. she could feel the fabric of her shirt ripped and warm blood starting to run. She turned around, her eyes widening. It was another one of them, a young small girl, and she was holding a long coiled whip-like weapon in her hand. That was great.

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Hawk and Fallyn were dancing around the open ground with ease, neither of them managing to gain an upper hand on the other. Each were equally matched with skills, their footwork fast and fluid. But Hawk was simply making him pay attention to her, making him run in circle after circle so that the others were unprotected. She was confidant that neither of the two children would be able to handle themselves against her assassin counterparts. Fallyn and Delinae had been the only two who she had considered a threat, and one of them was taken care of. And Hawk could handle him.

All she had to do was wait then. That was, if Snake didn't mess up, and that little brat suddenly started being able to control his powers again. But then, the way his flame died so quickly, Hawk really didn't think so.

Joey's thoughts were a jumbled, panicking mess. He tried desperately to sort through them, trying to find anything--a spell, even just an inkling of an idea--that would save him and Veronica. There was nothing. All he could think, as the blood trickled down his arm from his wound, was that he was going to die and there was nothing that he could do.

The sword came down again, a blow that was certain to do worse than just a cut. Joey threw up his hand instinctively, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge again. A single word, another spell, sprang into his mind; he didn't even have a chance to think of what the spell was before he shouted it in desperation, praying that it would do something.

Raven's eyes widened as his blade met resistance. His sword stopped in midair, as though hitting a wall. Joey was just as surprised; he hadn't expected the spell to do anything at all. Reflex took over; he grabbed a hold of Raven's wrist and the flame sprang back to life in his palm. The fire immediately caught on the assassin's sleeve and streaked along the cloth, searing the skin underneath. Raven cried out in pain and dropped his blade, stumbling back from Joey as he tried to shake off the flames. Joey didn't even bother watching him, grabbing the sword and rushing back toward Veronica and the girl with the whip.