01-09-2018, 08:49 PM
Dernhelm uttered but a soft cry, sinking to one knee as the wound assailed her spirit. Kopaka lingered, gloating over his kill as a wolf before a wounded lamb, allowing himself to savor the defeat. Though the blizzard still swirled around them both, obscuring his form from the wounded shield maiden, Kopaka remained poised, preparing to execute the empire’s justice. Kopaka slowly raised his blade, a two-handed blow with the power to swiftly finish the exchange.
Yet Dernhelm’s resolve remained unsplintered, and rising with a shout she swept Hasuhyrne in a great arc, catching Kopaka’s knee as the blade orbited the disoriented maiden. Kopaka bore the pain, yet even so his own strike was foiled, simply bashing off the side of her helm, though scoring a grove that halted her retort.
With desperation, she hurled herself against her foe, and though Kopaka’s sorcery kept his footing firm amidst the frosty floor, the sheer power of her charge sent him staggering backwards far enough that she could return to form. Her mind swayed under the weight of her injury, but the maiden of Rohan could not relinquish the momentum that her scrambling efforts had obtained, and with grated teeth she pressed.
Kopaka gave ground, his whirring shield gaining speed as he parried blows from Hasuhyrne. Once and again the blade of the mark was thwarted, though with each defended strike her opponent’s stance became more desperate. The assault was halted however, as Kopaka caught Dernhelm’s blade betwixt the cloves in his own weapon, and sparks arose as each strove to gain mastery of the contest.
The blizzard all but vanished, so intent was Kopaka on containing his opponent’s weapon. Yet with a cry, Dernhelm drove both blades into the Hau te Kōpae catching them and the slatted shield in a mire of straining metal. Yet again, Dernhelm drove against her foe, yelling even over the screams of the enmeshed weaponry. Kopaka’s stature proved sufficient to withstand the attempt, yet with this blow Hasuhyrne was slid free of its entrapment and was allowed to descend iron ruin upon the Toa.
The blade swung high tearing sheerly into Kopaka’s sword arm, spraying the sparking lifeblood of her foe across the nexus. Dernhelm evaded the harried counter from Kopaka and again Hasuhyrne sang, this time sliding beneath the Toa’s shield to bite at his left flank. Kopaka’s own blade was now free of the ensnaring shield, but Dernhelm assault had become a tumult against which his only recourse was to endure. With the strength borne of wrath, Dernhelm’s ire now arced towards the fabled Kanohi that lent power to her foe. Yet the power of the mask was not to be so easily undone, and with the finality only the supernatural could conjure, Dernehelm’s swing was halted, as an ancient force repelled her from her quarry, sending her slide across the Nexus floor.
She arose more slowly this time than last, though Kopaka’s own hurts kept him more wary than his own bloodlust desired. The burden of control weighted his actions, and this was held as no secret to Dernhelm’s mind, for she saw in him herself, as through a mirror broken with a hasty blow.
“You fight seeking death.” She declared, paling not beneath the glaring spectral eyes of her foe.
“I fight seeking Order!” Kopaka retorted, and though no breath revealed his weariness, he was as Dernhelm, mired with hurt and slow to muster for another conflict.
“Order can be death, to those who seek an end in battle. You seek a fate that has been stolen from you, a justice that was wrongly wrested from your sight. And you consign yourself to death on the blade of a worthy foe. I have seen this plague work its way upon a mind before.” Dernhelm’s words were true, and Kopaka did not perceive his foe as seeking to delude his actions. Instead he laughed, a hollow sound, devoid both of cheer and of timbre.
“You are truly a newcomer to this place indeed.” Kopaka said, preparing his stance for yet another clash, “To seek one’s death in battle here is a stolen fate indeed.”
The Great Kanohi again made its presence known, this time taking the form of the Kakama, and its radiance filled the darkness around Kopaka’s gaze. With barely a moment passing between his stances, Kopaka was at length, beyond the farthest thrust of spear, then right before Dernhelm’s blade, then gone again, and poised behind her even as she fell away from the expected assault.
With a desperate twist, the shield of Rohan swung behind her and Hasuhyrne plunged. Kopaka’s pale and ghostly eyes then widened, for even as his own steel found the flesh above Dernhelm’s shield, so did her blade come to a resting place within his innards.
Yet Dernhelm’s resolve remained unsplintered, and rising with a shout she swept Hasuhyrne in a great arc, catching Kopaka’s knee as the blade orbited the disoriented maiden. Kopaka bore the pain, yet even so his own strike was foiled, simply bashing off the side of her helm, though scoring a grove that halted her retort.
With desperation, she hurled herself against her foe, and though Kopaka’s sorcery kept his footing firm amidst the frosty floor, the sheer power of her charge sent him staggering backwards far enough that she could return to form. Her mind swayed under the weight of her injury, but the maiden of Rohan could not relinquish the momentum that her scrambling efforts had obtained, and with grated teeth she pressed.
Kopaka gave ground, his whirring shield gaining speed as he parried blows from Hasuhyrne. Once and again the blade of the mark was thwarted, though with each defended strike her opponent’s stance became more desperate. The assault was halted however, as Kopaka caught Dernhelm’s blade betwixt the cloves in his own weapon, and sparks arose as each strove to gain mastery of the contest.
The blizzard all but vanished, so intent was Kopaka on containing his opponent’s weapon. Yet with a cry, Dernhelm drove both blades into the Hau te Kōpae catching them and the slatted shield in a mire of straining metal. Yet again, Dernhelm drove against her foe, yelling even over the screams of the enmeshed weaponry. Kopaka’s stature proved sufficient to withstand the attempt, yet with this blow Hasuhyrne was slid free of its entrapment and was allowed to descend iron ruin upon the Toa.
The blade swung high tearing sheerly into Kopaka’s sword arm, spraying the sparking lifeblood of her foe across the nexus. Dernhelm evaded the harried counter from Kopaka and again Hasuhyrne sang, this time sliding beneath the Toa’s shield to bite at his left flank. Kopaka’s own blade was now free of the ensnaring shield, but Dernhelm assault had become a tumult against which his only recourse was to endure. With the strength borne of wrath, Dernhelm’s ire now arced towards the fabled Kanohi that lent power to her foe. Yet the power of the mask was not to be so easily undone, and with the finality only the supernatural could conjure, Dernehelm’s swing was halted, as an ancient force repelled her from her quarry, sending her slide across the Nexus floor.
She arose more slowly this time than last, though Kopaka’s own hurts kept him more wary than his own bloodlust desired. The burden of control weighted his actions, and this was held as no secret to Dernhelm’s mind, for she saw in him herself, as through a mirror broken with a hasty blow.
“You fight seeking death.” She declared, paling not beneath the glaring spectral eyes of her foe.
“I fight seeking Order!” Kopaka retorted, and though no breath revealed his weariness, he was as Dernhelm, mired with hurt and slow to muster for another conflict.
“Order can be death, to those who seek an end in battle. You seek a fate that has been stolen from you, a justice that was wrongly wrested from your sight. And you consign yourself to death on the blade of a worthy foe. I have seen this plague work its way upon a mind before.” Dernhelm’s words were true, and Kopaka did not perceive his foe as seeking to delude his actions. Instead he laughed, a hollow sound, devoid both of cheer and of timbre.
“You are truly a newcomer to this place indeed.” Kopaka said, preparing his stance for yet another clash, “To seek one’s death in battle here is a stolen fate indeed.”
The Great Kanohi again made its presence known, this time taking the form of the Kakama, and its radiance filled the darkness around Kopaka’s gaze. With barely a moment passing between his stances, Kopaka was at length, beyond the farthest thrust of spear, then right before Dernhelm’s blade, then gone again, and poised behind her even as she fell away from the expected assault.
With a desperate twist, the shield of Rohan swung behind her and Hasuhyrne plunged. Kopaka’s pale and ghostly eyes then widened, for even as his own steel found the flesh above Dernhelm’s shield, so did her blade come to a resting place within his innards.
Quote:and an even 800 here as well.
Shouldn't be a prohibiting factor, but my semester starts back up tomorrow. Just an advance warning if my third round is slower.