Exploring for a day...

[Rylith]

Even having failed several times to slay the mage, the creature would never give up. Neither could it be demoralized, as its will was not it's own. Letting out a low hiss, it dropped lower to the ground than it already stood, it's scaled belly flat upon the rocky path to let the ball of ice fly overhead.

Slithering, more than crawling, it dragged itself a few paces in case any follow-up ice attacks were made before leaping to it's feet once more and charging, this time lunging foreword with jaws agape, attempting to take a bite out of the mage's leg, rows of pointed teeth dripping the same acidic venom it had be launching.

If Tyanno had time to examine the lizard before it struck him, he would have noticed that, other than the craggy rock-like armor it bore all over it's body; there were no spines other than the ones on its tail.

[Akai Honmura]

Akai looked onto the battle with a certain amount of expectation. She had never seen a battle like this, and now she was enjoying herself. She had pulled herself on top of the giant rock, just far enough that the shadow she saw looked human. She was not sure who this was, or how powerful, but she could not understand why he just stood there while this man was in trouble. Then, thought she, maybe he is the one controlling the beast. If that was the case, maybe a slight disruption to his thoughts... If not, then he would simply be punished for not helping this poor man. She grabbed a stone, and hurled it across the gap of the battle field, right at the shadow as it stood behind the other rock formation. She didn't want to be seen, just yet, so she quickly ducked behind the boulder once more, as to prevent the man from seeing her.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

"Ah, this can not be good..." Tyanno responded as the ice ball whizzed over the critter's head and it charged in retaliation. Not exactly what Tyanno had planned on, but it only forced his hand. He knelt, bracing for the on coming attack, but in his hands, his concentration resided. He held them close to his body within the fold of his cloak. His brow furrowed in strain as he tried to produce an icicle as fast a possible, sweat beading more from the work rather than the actual fight.

The shaft of coldness grew rapidly in size and in sharpness, but still there was only seconds. He thrusted out the evolving point right as the creature closed with him, aiming for the roof of the putrid mouth that gaped at him...

[Rylith]

This battle would be won soon enough, Rylith thought, smirking to himself as the mage reacted to his creatures charge, preparing, it seemed, to take the full force of the charge itself, which would end up with the mage either being crushed by his beast's weight, or thrown from the cliffs to an almost as certain doom.

Yet abruptly, seeming from out of nowhere, a rock collided with his head, breaking his concentration and focus on his summoned creature. With a cry of fury, he stood from his crouch and looked around, glancing to where the rock had come supposedly come from. "Return." he said firmly, pointing at the rock, which quivered for a few moments then launched back upwards, retracing it's trajectory until it collided with a certain rock formation.

With a moments worth of concentration, Rylith silently slipped from reality, materializing once again in front of the rock formation that his assailant must be hiding behind, "Why don't you step forth, let me see your face at least, before I kill you."

Meanwhile, the beast, which had been charging so recklessly as Tyanno abruptly halted in it's attack as Rylith's concentration was broken, jerking back and inadvertently saving itself from being impaled upon a spike of ice as it hunkered back defensively, hissing at Tyanno.

[Akai Honmura]

Akai didn't want to put herself in the line of fire of any spells, so instead, she jabbed her staff into the ground, right in front of the boulder that she was hiding behind. Instead of attacking directly, she pushed on the boulder, sending it towards the man, rolling in a straight path. She pulled her staff back, and began to follow the boulder, using it as both weapon and shield, at least until she was close enough to attack with her staff. She shifted her grip on the staff to increase her range, as that seemed to be what the battle called for. She didn't want to let him get far enough that she couldn't smite him.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno watched in surprise as the beast halted abruptly and stepped back. His amazement didn't phase him for long. Capitalizing on the sudden defensiveness of the lizard, Tyanno finished his icicle to its proper potential. But before he could act further, his attention was drawn to a rather large boulder as it shifted and began to tumble down the way toward a dark form standing in a defiant stance a distance away.

Turning back to the foe at hand, the reptile seemed almost some what distracted, which was strange compared to every other attempt to lure it away prior to this new turn of events. Gripping the ice point like a dagger, Tyanno leaped at the creature and brought the hardened and crystalline sharp spine down on the lizards head. He hoped his attack was enough to pierce the skull of the beast. Armored or not, it was still just an animal...

[Rylith]

Rylith gave a grunt of surprise as the boulder he had been in front of began to roll slowly towards him. Yet surprise subsided and anger once again returned. In the same way that he had arrived, he transported himself too directly above the boulder, maintaining an enchantment to hold himself suspended about an inch or so above it. "You mock me, fool that you are." he said, his voice low and grating, as he pointed a finger at Akai, "You will die slowly then, as it seems that is the path you wish to follow."

At the same time, his beast, still on the defensive now that it no longer received orders and directions, jerked its head backwards as the mage attempted to stab it in the skull, hissing as it did and eyeing the mage warily.

Yet it was clear the mage would not let us and thus the beast reacted instinctively to the threat, spinning around again to protect it's head while simultaneously attempting to drive it's assailant away with a lashing strike at the mage who was already almost on top of it from his attempted attack. Hopefully, the mage would this time be pierced by the many glistening spines on it's tail now that he would most likely have to take time to recover.

[Akai Honmura]

Akai, having followed the boulder closely, had noticed when he materialized above it, and not having expected it, took a moment to react, but not very long, before she thrust her staff toward the beast's master. She hoped to jab him in the stomach, or the kidneys, and try to send him to the ground in pain. It seemed as though, for the first few seconds of her strike, he had been ranting about something, but having fought in battles before, she never listened to what an opponent said, short of declaring surrender. It was probably just meant to intimidate her, anyways. She didn't want to waste any more time reacting to something that had happened twice already, so she prepared herself that he might move in some unpredictable manner. She focused on the form before her, that, though he might disappear at any second, she might react likewise, and stop him from surprising her.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

Tyanno could little to stop the creature from retaliating. His hand went up to deflect the strike with the shard, but the attack still bowled him over. Slightly dazed, he lay on his back, and he glanced down to his hand. None of the barbs broke through his leather gauntlet, but the icicle was broken.

Cursing himself, he fanatically concentrated again on the piece to start regenerating it. He could hear a rasping male voice spew out threats and the grunts of the warrior as he imagined her attacking something. What he did not know, nor did it concern him at the present moment. He knew the beast would take advantage of him being down and he had to prepare for imminent attack...

[Rylith]

Rylith saw the weapon lancing up towards him and did what any rational being would do to avoid such a strike, he leapt. Of course, since he was on much higher ground, it was a rather simple jump, one more foreword than upward. Landing gracefully behind the warrior, he pivoted on the spot to face her, "You'll have to do better than that, little child; you're simply too slow. Too slow indeed."

Far below, down on the ground, his weapon broken; Tyanno was essentially a sitting duck now. Which, most unfortunately, the beasts natural instincts told it, reminding it that here was the most probable source of it's next meal. Turning it's head to face Tyanno, it hissed softly, hacking up another glob of acidic mucus and spitting it at his chest.

[Akai Honmura]

Akai had been so focused on the man before her, that it was impossible not to notice his jump. She was thwarted, but she would not let him go. She forced her foot backwards, aiming straight for his kidneys, while at the same time thrusting her staff up at his face. She was not about to give up, even with the obvious power difference.

[Tyanno Dynam, Allaine mage]

This was not one of his better days. Tyanno cursed as the beast lobbed yet another gob of goo at him. He quickly pulled his heavy cloak over him as a shield. He felt the wet lump hit his cloak and he could smell both the acid and the compromised fibers. He whipped the cloak back and revealed a new spar forming in his right fist. But it's growth halted for a moment.

Now had the reptile had any intelligence this would be a sign to back off, but since it was a simple animal, it took no warning as to what was about to happen. Tyanno closed his eyes and as sweat began to bead on his furrowed brow, he raised his left palm at the lizard and issued a blast of water at the gaping creature's face. Though the actual spell didn't use much actual water in volume, it had been pressurized with as much concentration as he could spare from the icicle. A jet that would have knocked over an unsuspecting horse in its power. Tyanno gasped heavily as the attack was issued forth. This was going to have to end quick...

[Rylith]

In his own arrogance, Rylith had greatly underestimated his opponent, thinking his opponent little more than a girl with a stick, yet upon landing, he realizing the full turn of his error. He reacted instinctively to her attacks, throwing his hands out to catch her foot, jerking his head to the side as he did so to avoid being hit in the face, yet he was not quite quick enough for the second dodge and he received the blow glancing across the side of his head.

Reeling a few steps backwards, away from the girl, he grasped his head in his hands, the explosion of pain surprising him. Taking a few steps more backwards, he decided it time to retreat. Still backing up, his tattered cloak writhed and wrapped around his body, like a many beast bearing many tendrils, engulfing him in the black cloth which seemed to dissipate some ethereal wind.

Back where he had left his creature, it stiffened at his departure, taking Tyanno's attack full in the face, getting thrown backwards. Yet it never collapsed on the ground, being instead dismissed back to nothingness, from where it had been first conjured, it's like-force snuffed from the lack of it's master's presence.

[Akai Honmura]

Akai whirled about a few times, expecting the man to appear elsewhere, preparing her staff for a strike. Upon realizing, after a few moments, that he was gone, however, she stopped and stood with a rather stupid and confused look on her face. She wondered if he wouldn't just wait until she was off guard to come back. Oh, well. It seemed as if she would just have to pretend to be off guard until he came back. She wouldn't let him surprise her though. Then, she remembered the man that had been fighting the beast in the first place, and wondered if he was okay. She heard a loud crash, as the boulder that she had loosed fell from the high platform she had been battling, on, and hoped that it had not landed on him.

She rushed to the side of the ledge, and looked over, that she might see to help him with his lizard problem, but alas, it was gone, and she couldn't help someone defeat something that wasn't there. Instead, she decided to call down to him, "Hey! You! Are you okay?" She leaned over the edge, looking for foot-holds, and climbed down, finding them quite easily. She looked at the man as he stood there, wondering what he had been doing here in the first place. In fact, she wondered why she, herself, was there. In the midst of the battle, she had completely forgotten her own purpose for being here. She held her staff at her side, still not giving up the suspicious notion that the man hadn't quite left them entirely. "Akai. Er... My name. It's Akai." She extended the hand that was not holding onto her staff to the man before her, waiting for him to acknowledge her greeting...