บท 514: Time's Up!

Rikke stares from the backlines at the living fireball that was flying over their heads and raining flames atop her forces. The woman appeared to be fire incarnate, blasting powerful lightning bolts from her fingertips, summoning rays of fiery destruction from the sky, and if that wasn't enough, her very presence caused things around her to ignite.

She was thankful that most of the Imperial troops on the vanguard wore thick leather armour under their steel breastplates, otherwise the now glowing hot metal that comprised them would send her men to the ground screaming in agony.

"ARCHERS! FIRE AT THE FLIER! BRING HER DOWN FOR THE LOVE OF ALL GODS!" she loudly commands, her breath getting caught in her throat at how the woman easily avoids every arrow.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT HOT ENOUGH FOR YA!? FEEL THE BURN!" Lina cackles as she sprays fifteen Imperials with searing hot flames which send them to their knees screaming.

Rikke's blood goes cold at the ecstasy in the woman's voice as if she was enjoying every moment of it. Enjoying the smell of her men's burning flesh. Indeed, she appeared to be getting stronger with every spell she casts, who knew how long it'd be until they finally managed to bring her down... IF they managed to bring her down!

She looks over to the robed man at her side with an imploring expression, "You have to stop her now! Even with that earlier explosion, we still outnumber them! But that won't last with that fire-bitch killing us!"

Thankfully, the hooded man nods, "I will deal with her." he says as a plain staff appears in his hand from nowhere. The next second, a spell is flung towards Lina, but it isn't anything overtly offensive in nature...

Lina doesn't even notice when she's been struck, only that everything else around her appeared to be moving faster... Or was it her that'd slowed down? Ignoring this, she continues her slaughter, dismissing the sensation as a trick of her mind. Unbeknownst to her, her temporal pace had slowed.

Arrows were now getting far closer to hitting the flying woman, but it still isn't enough to bring her down. Rikke growls under her breath and snatches a bow from a nearby archer, quickly drawing an arrow and firing.

*SHLICH!*

It pierces Lina's shoulder, causing her to tumble through the air in a slight daze. She quickly recovers however and turns a fiery glare at the one responsible, her flames growing fiercer and incinerating the arrow sticking from her shoulder. This doesn't close the wound, but Lina makes sure to cauterize it closed to avoid losing any more blood. "You'll regret that! BURN IN HELL!"

The next moment, a Laguna Blade is shot right at Rikke who is unable to do anything but watch as it approaches her. The mage next to her moves however, swiping his staff in the way which deflects the lightning to the side, still killing a couple of Imperials, but not hitting its original target. "I believe the term would be to 'Cool off'." he remarks with a smug grin under his hood.

Lina scowls, "There's only one person who can say that to me, and she's already dead! Why don't you join her!" she shouts, unleashing a huge wave of fire at Rikke and the mage.

The mage erects a small but strong barrier in front of him and the Legate, it, unfortunately, doesn't extend to the nearby Imperial soldiers and archers however, leaving them defenceless in the face of the large attack.

*FWOOOOOOM!*

Hundreds of people instantly go up in flames, the front incinerated in an instance while those behind them died a slower, more painful death.

Rikke looks around in horror and shame, shame at her inability to do anything to save her troops... She looks to the mage in front of her and grits in teeth in anger, "Y-You should have done something! More to save them! You are supposed to be powerful! Yet look around us!"

The mage lets out a sigh, "Fine, if you wish to bring back your useless followers, I move at your command." he drawls, tapping his staff on the ground which covers the duo in sphere and a larger sphere around that which encompasses the nearby area... Then, time simply begins rewinding, the fire attack unleashed by Lina reversing and completely disappearing as the confused fire mage watches from outside the sphere.

Soon enough, all of the burning men were alive and standing, unaware that they had indeed just perished a moment ago.

...

"H-how..." Rikke mutters in disbelief.

"Why, you said it yourself earlier... I am powerful." he casually replies, almost sounding bored.

*CRAAAACKLE!*

A huge lightning bolt strikes the shield the mage had raised earlier, the shield holds strong despite the cracks forming on its surface, allowing it to block the attack... For now at least.

"If you're so powerful, kill her already!" Rikke implores, not wishing to see her men die so gruesomely again.

The man nods, pointing his staff at a point in the air, "Fire an arrow there, now." he says before casting another spell, catching Lina and causing her to begin rewinding in time... Rikke fires the arrow, and Lina rewinds into its path as the mage releases the spell, allowing it to strike true, piercing her throat.

Once the killing blow is struck, Lina's body simply dissipates, ceasing to exist from Tamriel. The mage tilts his head as this occurs, his grin getting even wider. "A Conjuration...? A modified Flame Atronach perhaps? Intriguing... Impossible and intriguing."

He looks to Rikke, "It seems like this trip was not for nought. I thank you for providing me this opportunity."

"Just who are you, mage? I've never seen magic like that before!" the Legate all but demands.

The mage shrugs, lowering his hood and revealing his Altmer features, "I am Vrijeme Tempra, Ritemaster of the Psijic Order. Please do keep that hushed for now, our involvement in this is to be strictly kept to the bare minimum until our task is done... Your Thalmor friends wouldn't appreciate our presence..."