Amal breathed a silent sigh of relief when Chiron arrived at the scene. She wasn't foolish enough to let herself feel confident his weapon would prove any more effective than the priest's but she felt comfort to know she was no longer alone in the terrible fiend's sights.  With two to serve as a distraction for the larger monster, surely Ethan would be able to find a way to join them.<br/><br/>The mage had been about to speak when lightning rained down on a few of the smaller fiends that had been closing in on the duo.  A new presence had joined them; Amal could feel the strength of her magic and knew she had found an equal, at least.  When the woman suggested they work together, Amal lowered her chin in a sharp but polite acknowledgement of both her understanding and her agreement.<br/><br/>She straightened her shoulders and took her place beside Chiron so there was one mage flanking him on either side.  From her vantage, she could see the figure of the priest out of the corner of her eye but he was frozen.  Casting a lightning spell towards two of the small fiends who seemed to be eyeing Ethan hungrily, Amal felt her heart sink when the priest began to run towards the temple.<br/><br/>At the same time Chiron's voice cried out, Amal's mixed with his in a wash of disbelief and disappointment as she shouted, "Ethan?"<br/><br/>Neither she nor Chiron could follow after him, however.  The larger fiend captured the warrior and Amal could feel nothing but a wave of disgust so strong her stomach ached from it as she watched her friend whipped about like a rag doll.  When he hit the ground, she closed her eyes and felt mana pooling, once again, in the center of her palm.  Her fist was clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white.<br/><br/>When the new mage suggested focusing their efforts at Chiron's sword, still stuck in the beast's leg, she had a powerful water spell ready to cast.  Shed tried to create a reaction against the lightning from Chiron's sword.  When all her effort seemed to have produced, however, was an even more angry fiend, Amal drew a shaky breath and frowned at the other woman's words.  Suggestions indeed…<br/><br/>Furrowing her brow, the mage was about to respond when a new voice captured her attention, "Chiron!"<br/><br/>Glancing over her shoulder, the mage recognized Harris immediately, but the Blitzer wasn't alone.  There were two other men behind her, nearly identical in build and appearance, one in a blitz uniform and the other dressed a bit more formally.  Marveling at the duo's brilliant orange hair, the mage wondered aloud, "Crusaders?"<br/><br/>"You girls stirred up some serious trouble here, yeah?" the shorter of the two but most formally dressed remarked with a handsome smirk.  He pulled a bright blue sword off of his back and took up in the place Chiron had been.<br/><br/>The other man made to stand between where Harris was knelt beside Chiron and the enraged fiend.  His weapon was… a Blitzball?  Really?  Raising an eyebrow, he met her gaze with a lazy smile, "Hey Lu, who's your new friend?"<br/><br/>Amal scowled at his nonchalance and shook her head.<br/><br/>When the fiend roared an angry sort of warning cry and reached out to strike at the blitzball player, he narrowly evaded the attack.  He began to spin the blitzball around on his finger.  The mage was struck when she noticed dark clouds of smoke starting to pour from the surface of the ball.  He tossed the ball in the air and met it with his foot to send it soaring in the fiend's direction.<br/><br/>As the blitzball bounced back into his waiting hands, smoke still pouring from it, he chuckled nervously, "Hehehe… guess I shouldn'a expected that to work, yeah?"<br/><br/>Biting her lower lip, the mage worried to herself, 'Will nothing destroy this fiend?'<br/><br/>Amal's attention drifted towards Harris and Chiron.  From the distance separating them, the warrior seemed to be unconscious.  Harris had his head propped up in her lap, however, and was removing the cork from a bottle of red liquid with her teeth.  Feeling mana in the palm of her hand, once more, Amal cast another bolt of lightning towards a trio of the smaller fiends nearing too close to her friends.<br/><br/>Noticing a flourish of blue before her eyes, the mage realized the large fiend had tried to strike her but the new swordsman had caught the beast's leg before it could make contact.  She'd been focused on the Sinspawn threatening her friends and hadn't thought about still standing well within the hideous creature's sights.<br/><br/>Watching the Blitzer toss his ball at one Sinspawn only to have it ricochet off of two others before returning to his waiting arms, Amal watched in horror as three new scales flew forward to take their place.  Most horrifying was, of course, that the scales were immediately replaced, regrown it seemed, almost as soon as they had been shed.<br/><br/>As the other mage cast a spell at these newest fiends, Amal shook her head, "It's no use!  Cut one down and more will grow to take its place.  There has to be a better way."<br/><br/>Whatever that way was, however, Amal couldn't fathom a guess.  She studied the creature carefully, noting the scales and thick skin beneath, terribly small, dark eyes that were almost painful to look into… there had to be a weakness.  Certainly there was some limitation to how many times the creature could regrow it's scales.  There was something there they hadn't uncovered yet, she was certain.<br/><br/>As the Blitzer destroyed a few smaller fiends and the new scales separated from the beast's body to take their place, Amal aimed a lightning spell at the exposed skin. Nothing happened.<br/><br/>The warrior slashed twice to destroy the newest Sinspawn, but this time, Amal tried a fire spell against the thick skin left exposed.  The fiend roared so loudly, the mage had to press both of her hands over her ears and she shut her eyes tightly.  When she opened them, there were no new scales in place of the old ones.<br/><br/>"Burn the skin and the scales can't grow back again," Amal muttered, working out what she'd just discovered.<br/><br/>The Blitzer, it seemed, had worked out the same detail for himself as he cried out to the warrior, "Chappu, you saw that, yeah?"<br/><br/>Amal watched as the warrior, Chappu, nodded sharply before turning to look at the other mage.  His voice sounded calm despite the adrenaline that must have been coursing through his veins as he slashed through a few more of the smaller fiends closest to him, "Got that, Lu?  Burn'im up, babe."<br/><br/>"Don't call me that," the dark-haired mage practically growled as she called forward a fire spell to burn the exposed flesh of the monster.<br/><br/>Chappu grabbed the mage in his free arm and pulled her out of the way of a powerful swipe the fiend had aimed at her.  As he set her down again a few meters away, he teased in agreement, "Lulu it is."<br/><br/>"Looks like it's me an' you den," the Blitzer shouted to Amal, snapping her out of her thoughts.  He threw his blitzball at the two fiends in front of him.<br/><br/>When three scales flew off of the largest fiend's back, Amal let her fire spell serve as her answer.  Without a word, she rolled off of the fiend's line of sight and followed after the blitzball player.  The fiend was mad now, finding itself peppered by fire spells from both sides.  Together, Amal and the nameless blitzer made their way to the opposite side of the fiend from Lulu and Chappu.<br/><br/>Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harris had thrown Chiron over her shoulders and was carrying him towards the temple and out of the way.  She thought about Ethan; if he was still inside the temple, surely he could find a way to help Chiron.  It felt like so long ago he'd… well, he'd run away.  Gritting her teeth, Amal pushed the priest out of her mind.<br/><br/>If he'd been so anxious to get to the village to protect the people there, he should have been prepared for whatever he'd find rather than run away from his companions.  Chiron was hurt terribly because of his decision to leave.  The mage was angry with him, sure, but she used the emotion to add strength to her spells.  Chiron was injured and Harris was busy caring for him, but she could still fight.  She'd buy the two of them as much time as she could manage.<br/><br/>Casting another fire spell at the fiend's exposed flesh, she whispered to herself, "Be safe, friends."<br/><br/>Each time new spines would fall away from the beast's body, Amal would meet the exposed skin with a fire spell.  For how long their back and forth continued, the mage wasn't certain; she was exhausted, having never found herself in any sort of real fight.  Her mana reserves were low and each time she summoned a new spell, it became harder than the last one.  Her feet weren't able to keep up with the blitzer as he continued to weave in and out between spines and the angry fiend's attempts to swipe at him.<br/><br/>After a few more cycles, Amal fell behind the blitzer.  As caught up as he was, he hadn't noticed she'd stumbled right into the fiend's line of sight.<br/><br/>"Wakka!  Protect your mage!" Lulu commanded, her voice as sharp as a dagger as it cut through the otherwise still village.<br/><br/>The beast's roar caused Amal to fall backwards as she stared up at the fiend helplessly.  Her Moogle was anxiously urging her back to her feet by nudging her shoulder but she was frozen in terror as the fiend raised its arm to strike.  Capturing her Moogle in both arms, she turned her back in an attempt to shield her companion from the blow she knew would come.