Rat And Horse

Talon and Aqua start approaching a door to a tower on the wall.

"Wait, I can feel a massive amount of moving air." Talon stops Aqua as he stares at the door.

"What does that mean?" She gives him a confused look.

"It means I can't tell what's going on in there. They probably know about my abilities, meaning …" Talon sits in thought briefly. "Aqua, get ready to make a barrier." He draws his dagger and places his hands on the door.

The door crashes open, revealing the tower to be full of many different kinds of foliage, all circulating air at an extreme rate. When the door hits the walls of the tower several metal shards soar towards Talon, they are deflected by an impenetrable water barrier.

"I know who you are." A figure wearing bandages and red tinted glasses hides within the overwhelming amount of foliage. "You maintain order in the mountain range." The hidden figure looms above the door on a separate platform, while Talon points out another person. "And from the info Chase gave me, you just have plant magic. Am I right, Hazel?" Talon stands confidently behind the barrier.

"At least you did some research, however your source is wrong." This light brown haired woman wears clothing fit for winter, her amber eyes gleam as she lifts a large stringed instrument. "I have a few more tricks at my disposal." The face of a horse flashes behind her.

She strums the instrument, and the plants begin moving faster. The world behind Talon fades into a black void, a green energy starts coming off from either side of the wall.

"Aqua, make a dome!" Talon quickly turns to Aqua, his voice carries the sense of severity.

The swirling water barrier completely surrounds the two, right before a pair of massive roots could crush them.

Hazel strums another note, sending a blast of sound waves into the water, the attack breaks through and hits Talon directly.

"Talon!" Aqua watches in fear as Talon falls to the ground.

The water barrier reforms, and the roots hit with such force the barrier nearly breaks. Aqua places her hands on it, focusing on keeping it up. for a moment she thought her fingers were claws, but the vision of the claws disappeared when she blinked. The figure with red glasses lifts up their hand, and the dagger under Talon's arm begins to move. The dagger flies at the occupied Aqua, and Hazel prepares to strum a note again.

"Now I've got you!" Talon leaps up, catching the dagger before it could hit Aqua. Hazel blasts a hole in the water again, but this time Talon throws his dagger through the opening and shields himself with compressed wind.

Hazel strums a note and a tree moves in front of her, she is caught surprised as the dagger turns gliding on the wind from the moving tree. The dagger soars to the bandaged figure, they easily stop it by letting it sink into their metallic hand, however a green energy pushes onward.

A section of the tower above the door explodes as debris flies everywhere. Talon turns to see a giant metal symbol of the sun and moon hurling towards them. It causes the bridge to rumble and shake as it crashes in, and blocks their only exit. The bandaged figure lands on the center of the giant symbol, Talon's dagger still embedded in their hand.

"It's about time we exterminate these pests." Their red glasses shimmer as they look over to the duo.

They reach out their hand and the spikes from the sun detach from the main body and float around them. Suddenly a dark smoke assaults the figure. As a snake rises out of the wall's bridge, it disappears leaving Chase in its place.

"I thought you guys could use a little more help." The dark toxic smoke rises off his hands.

"Chase! What about the civilians?" Talon glares at him.

"No need to worry. I got them to safety, what seemed like half an hour before the fight broke out, and when I got to the battlefield Rouge told me about how you guys got here." He gives Talon a thumbs up.

"We are very disappointed in you Chase. For being so smart, your decision making is very poor." The bandaged figure begins walking towards them, spikes following in suit.

"Hey Talon, make sure they get what they deserve." He gives the figure a wrathful glare.

"You're leaving them for me?" Talon looks at Chase as if he was betrayed.

" You have a much stronger reason to fight them. Chase turns away from Talon.

"Aqua, you need to drop the barrier and run through the tower." The snake appears behind Chase as a dark smoke comes from its mouth.

"What? Are you crazy!?" She looks from him to the massive roots that have been attacking the barrier.

"You'll be alright, I've got your back. You need to go further into the keep, your magic directly counters Leon's." He blasts one of the roots with the smoke, causing it to wither.

"Okay, I trust you." She drops the barrier, and everyone leaps into action.

Aqua zooms past Hazel, vines spring out blocking the door to the keep. The vines are shredded as a pair of spectral eyes flash above Aqua, she continues onward.

"It's time for the end of the nine, you stand no chance Hazel." Chance stands at the entrance of the tower as Hazel turns to him with an angry expression.