Best Laid Plans

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The impact shook the ground, throwing dust and debris high into the air, forcing Meliadol to shield his eyes against the biting wind. But as quickly as it happened, things calmed. All that was left was a thick cloud of dust that hung low in the air, settling gradually and obscuring the battlefield. The aftermath was a whisper upon the landscape, a hushed hint of the destruction and chaos just moments before.

Yet the silence lasted only a fraction of a second before the sound of steel on steel once again rang out. Meliadol struggled to make out anything through the dust, but all he could see was the barest hint of shadows fighting within.

Somehow she must have survived the alpha strike.

A message popped up in his HUD.

[01:24:52]Heoh to you: gtfo when i yell

Meliadol didn't have a chance to respond. The dust had finally dissipated to reveal the spectacle hidden within.

Heoh stood defiant, looking worse for wear and missing her telltale chain belt, but definitely not dead. Both the Wizard and Weaponmaster took a step back, because they finally saw what had happened to their Knight companion within that swirling cloud.

Like a dog in a yard, with the missing chain wrapped tightly around his neck, he was tethered tight to the ground with only a glowing dagger to pin the chain down. He struggled to no avail. The knight was less than an inch from reaching Heoh with his strikes, yet that might as well have been a mile.

"Bind? How does she know a druid ability?" The Wizard exclaimed.

Heoh hopped around the bound Knight, dashing toward the Weaponmaster. The formally calm man panicked, five ethereal weapons appearing above him in defense of their master. They zipped forward like snakes to intercept, yet at this moment, in the face of countless weapons rushing at her, Heoh chose to throw her last dagger past them, directly at the Weaponmaster?

Why?

Meliadol couldn't figure it out. The man was at full health; he could easily trade blows with Heoh. Contrary to his thoughts, the Weaponmaster recoiled from the dagger, another sword appearing from nothing to defend against it.

Fwom!

Right as the other ethereal weapons were about to hit her, Heoh flickered, winking out of existence and appearing holding her dagger mid-flight as it was parried by the Weaponmaster's defending blade. Heoh, perched on the Weaponmaster's chest and anchored with her offhand on his collar, let the weapon fly from her grasp, her now empty weapon hand alight with an otherworldly glow.

"Fuck, she's using Possession!" The Wizard's warning came too late. Her glowing hand grasped the stunned Weaponmaster by his forehead and Heoh disappeared once more.

Where had she gone?

[01:25:11]Heoh to you: get rdy

The Weaponmaster bent down and picked up the dagger, turning toward Meliadol. His eyes were pitch black, vacant, as if he had stared into the void and brought something back.

Holding the dagger by its blade, he began to run directly at Meliadol.

"Stop right there, bitch!" The Wizard screamed, his hand conjuring a series of ice shards that went rocketing toward his ally.

The man ignored the Wizard's spell, shuddering with each impact, but not slowing in the slightest.

Meliadol and the Weaponmaster locked eyes, "Out of my way! Move!" the Weaponmaster yelled. He could hear the slightly garbled voice of Heoh behind the words.

His body obeyed even as his brain rushed to catch up. Meliadol threw himself to the side right as the Weaponmaster dove forward, twisting in the air to throw the dagger at the Wizard as he landed hard where Meliadol had been moments before.

Click.

Arcs of electricity shot up from the ground, biting into the Weaponmaster and holding him in place. Black smoke streamed from his shuddering mouth to take the form of Heoh, who immediately vanished, only to reappear and catch her dagger inches from the stunned wizard's face.

She was close enough to kiss him.

"Hi there!" Heoh smiled viciously before thrusting the dagger home.

Wizards weren't meant to be up close in melee combat, and that fact couldn't be more evident as Heoh released everything she had on the poor man. Combo after combo as she raced against the small window of opportunity she had created. She was fury incarnate, a vicious biting animal that had gotten a hold of its prey.

The Wizard attempted to escape with a small teleport in a random direction, but Heoh quickly threw her dagger and transferred herself, sticking to the man like glue. He could not get away, and by the time the crowd control wore off from the Knight, the Wizard had fallen, fading in to ash as the Knight charged in.

It was nothing for the Ghost to port to her other dagger as the Knight got closer, avoiding his second use of the move that would force her to attack him. Quickly scooping up her dagger and chain, she bolted for the cliff, skidding to a stop right before the edge.

Turning around, with her hair waving in the wind, she looked satisfied at the results of the fight. Meliadol could almost feel the smugness radiating off her. The Weaponmaster still writhed on the ground, paralyzed, and the Knight looked indecisive, stunned at the loss of his teammate and her sudden exit.

Finally, those green eyes settled on Meliadol and she afforded him a wink before diving off the edge. In less than a minute the woman had left destruction in her wake before vanishing into the air, as if she had never existed to begin with.

The very essence of what it meant to be a Ghost.

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