Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Welcome Kerrigan!! The more the merrier!))

Surveying her handy work Elcia notice the huge number of mechanical men storming through the city's gates. Like a witch on a broomstick she steered her staff near the most heavily invaded gate. Once again she gestured with her hands. The ground around the gate trembled and cracked. Several people nearby stopped what they where doing to brace themselves. In a matter of minutes an enormous tree as white as snow had grown up in the middle of the gate. The way in and out was blocked by a solid trunk and razor sharp icy leaves.

Kerrigan arrived near Viral just as he finished killing the last robot, and she gave a low whistle.

"Nice job there," she complimented Viral softly, so as not to surprise him. She looked him over for a moment, thinking he looked vaguely familiar. She glanced at Ithna, but the fairy made no sign that she recognized the man. "Uh, do I know you from somewhere? I swear I've seen you before..."

She snorted.
"Me, with them? Hardly. I'm on my own team. My name is Kerrigan, by the way," she offered her hand to him. "Nice to meet you. And you are...?" She trailed off hopefully.

"Viral, eh?" Her eyes flashed with recognition momentarily, and Ithna jingled next to her. "A pleasure, I'm sure. Oh, and I saw Elcia earlier. She seems to be taking care of herself." She turned slightly and gestured with her head in the general direction of the city gates, while watching him out of the corner of her eye.

Viral, she thought, delighted with the new development. I thought I'd seen him before. This is turning out to be more fun than I'd anticipated! But I can't let Ithna ruin it now. She batted at Ithna with false casualness.

"Shush, you good-for-nothing fairy. If we were trying to be quiet, we'd be dead because of you." Ithna made an outraged noise and began to swear at Kerrigan and lecture her in fairy-speech. Kerrigan caught Ithna between two hands. "I know what could happen, silly," she quietly hissed into her hands, too softly for a normal human to hear. "But I don't really care. I've spent far too long with nothing to do. I can't even properly prank, or even help, the humans. He's not human, so it makes for a good change, don't you think?" The trapped fairy stopped her struggles and made an reluctant affirmative tinkling. "Good." Kerrigan quickly opened her hands again and Ithna flew out.

"Sorry about that," she said, turning back to Viral. "Fairies, don't you know."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Right. Well not many non-magical beings have encountered magical beings. That they know of, anyway. And you did a pretty good job," she said, surveying the area again. "Three dragons at once? I don't think I could've done that. The most I've handled is one at a time." She knocked on the dragon skull on her head. "This guy found me while I was asleep and thought I'd make a tasty snack. He makes for good armor now." She smiled innocently. "I just wish that it wasn't so big sometimes."

She turned slightly just as the rider attacked and cursed, then shoved Viral out of the way. She then leaped back quickly with a delighted squeal.

"Finally! I've been waiting for a fight," she said, grinning widely. As she spoke her retractable claws came out, long and sharp. "Though I was hoping for someone a little more... original. The whole evil-in-black look is so clichéd."

The fight was going exceedingly well, despite the seemingly never ending waves of automatons, the vigor of the towns people was a sight to behold, all charging forward pushing back the line of attackers, striking at limbs and bodies, metal flying into the air. But that vigor was running out and it was visible in their eyes. sounds could be heard just around the corner of more people fighting the metal Men.

"This is our chance!" Cthuagrai thought. "We can flank them with whoever is on the other side and wipe them out."

"Everyone!" He shouted, "CHARGE!"

Leading point, Cthugarai rounded the corner to find that the front wave of Warriors already felled by the woman in the white robe he was before. But before he could call out to her something moving through the gate caught his eye, and his heart sank. Moving with calculated slowness, was a massive steel tank, with its barrel pointed right at him, the next few moments moved in slow motion; he shouted back to the villagers to stay back behind the wall, the cannon fires a huge projectile directly at him, the feeling of melting ice can be felt in his right hand, and acting on instinct he kneels and covers his face with his hands while closing his eyes.

Sobs can be heard from the villagers behind the wall, and the sound of battle is drowned out by rubble falling to the ground. Course grating cheers can be heard by the warriors on the tank, and as the dust clears... they gasp in surprise.

Right were the cannon impacted the earth and cobblestone, there was an explosion... frozen in ice, neither dripping nor moving, and behind it was Cthugarai behind a shield made of the same material as his spear.

"Whatever you need"



The shield slowly reformed itself into his spear, and slightly stunned he stared at it, and the warriors began to attack again.