<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/db/e9/cf/dbe9cf5fe0e93ceb0b2c4707e6679664--character-portraits-character-ideas.jpg)</div>“Whooa!”<br/><br/>The murmur of appreciation was uttered loudly as Les managed to send out a crackling wave of solid ice that crawled towards the rats like a shadow swiftly reaching across a courtyard. Two hours ago she would have never figured either of them would be down in the muck slinging magic and she almost wished her father were there to see it as he’d likely have just as difficult a time believing it as she did.<br/><br/>She was just starting to feel proud of themselves, including his half assed compliment when he remarked…<br/><br/><em>“Remember what I said about conserving energy? I didn’t mean to run down and bodily pull the bloody monsters! And what about what I said about running when odds are bad? That doesn’t mean throw everything and the town crier at them and hope for the best!”<br/></em><br/>“Ugh!” Sophie didn’t hesitate to let him know what she thought of his advice.<br/><br/>“You said to make it count. How else were we supposed to kill two birds with one stone?”<br/><br/>The dark haired one climbed to her feet, backing up the hill as the rats scrambled for purchase. Their broken jagged claws left long white gashes in the glistening brown ice as they desperately and angrily tried to climb the hill. The inches thick layer of frozen water was not a smooth glossy surface, but rather the textured carpet of mud had frozen providing them little grips here and there and before long the rodents had managed to claw their way a decent distance, eyes locked on Les, whom they seemed to blame squarely for their nasty situation.<br/><br/>The two that remained after the tank had oh so graciously gotten off his ass and decided to help were still quite sizable and with minor injuries and it seemed that Soph would have to deal with them and fast as there wasn’t too much ice remaining between them and her.<br/><br/>There was something thrilling in the fear of it, of facing off against monsters with no promise of surviving or coming out unscathed. She could understand a bit now, the tails that storytellers and bards alike spun of the romance of adventuring.<br/><br/>Her fingers ached and her body was sore. Even now she could feel bruises beginning to blossom on her pale skin below the layers of cheap canvas and leather that her gear was made up of. Yesterday they had fled from even the smaller rats but now they were here, covered in shit, cut, scraped, battered and broken in parts but holding their ground. They had not run away, even if the tank had insisted they do so.<br/><br/>Well, he could fuck right off. Evenembers don’t run.<br/><br/>Even with all of that pride bubbling inside of her, Sophie was only vaguely aware that her brain was nervously reciting a prayer over and over in her head, the words fading in and out like music carried on the wind. Were her thoughts even doubting her? Praying to the gods to save her from a public and deeply embarrassing failure?<br/><br/>She paused, allowing herself a precious moment to focus upon the words. Where had she heard this prayer before? It wasn’t in the common tongue and just how did she know it was a prayer in the first place? Its cadence was almost melodic, words she couldn’t remember the meaning to rhyme with each short verse.<br/><br/>It was relentless, like a song you’d have stuck in your head for hours or even days, it refused to be ignored. Soon, Sophia was mouthing the words, mumbling them out loud and feeling herself growing more confident in their pronunciations. The same tingling static energy rippled over the surface of her skin, making the tiny fine hairs of her arms stand on end. Well, those that weren’t covered in mud, that is.<br/><br/>Just as the rats had reached the end of their icy runway, tiny specks of glimmering light floated about their heads like little airborne match heads, they grew larger and brighter.<br/><br/>The rodents stopped, blinking in confusion and snapping aggressively at the little fireflies that buzzed about their head, only they weren’t fireflies but flames that quickly landed on the creatures like flies on shit.<br/><br/>Instantly their matted hair ignited, adding the smell of burning fur to the already intoxicatingly putrid array of fragrances. The rats squealed in pain as the flames hit their skin, rolling in the mud in an attempt to put themselves out. The flames would not be so easily snuffed.<br/><br/>The priestess felt herself going light headed, continuing to slowly back up the incline towards Cerias and away from the now grisly spectacle before her. Their shrieks were as impossible to ignore as the scent that was making her eyes water. The giant creatures flailed, legs and tails going in all directions as they slide down the icy hillside towards their cave.<br/><br/>They would likely be dead by the time they finally finished sliding all the way down, or at least she guessed as they had finally stopped squealing. Their hulking corpses still appeared to have some fight left in them, as if the limbs hadn’t yet realized that the brain had extinguished like the magicked flames that no longer danced over their targets.<br/><br/>“I… uhh…” She began, feeling the shift a bit under her feet, causing her to reach out and brace herself against the trunk of a long since dead pine tree.<br/><br/>“Huh?” The single sound summed up her own shock and a dash of pride at the unexpected appearance of what she could only guess was divine intervention? She sure as hell didn’t remember learning that language in school.<br/><br/>The trio stood in silence, Soph and Les panting from exertion, waiting to see if their trials had been completed to satisfaction or if fate would see fit to continue to shit on them some more.<br/>