Vanish, Like Tears in Rain (M)

[Lion]

But her delay had given Bhalasar time to square himself and when she came at him, he met her shield to shield.  He was strong, a wall, and when she would collide with him the clash would create a massive bright light.  However, he was not immune entirely to the force which she herself wrought, and it sent a subtle quiver down his hands, and he brought his weapon arm up to strike at her.

However, it seemed his motion had brought up the amulet he had fought so hard to retrieve.  He moved too quickly, and his pride would shatter much like the amulet when the edge of his weapon impacted the small crystalline object, shattering it into pieces. 

[Ethereal-Star]

At the collision of shields, Elowen was temporarily blinded by the bright yellow light and stumbled backward, but that only lasted a second before her vision began to return. However it was enough time for his weapon to strike her, but luckily most of the damage was absorbed into her tough red-gold armor. The hit seemed to crack something the wraith held in his hand, green crystalline pieces flying this way and that. Miraculously none of the shards hit her at all, falling harmlessly to the ground in broken bits and pieces.

With renewed fervor, the sun elf swung her weapon at his head at the same time a ghastly shape emerged from the broken pile on the ground. A loud screeching was heard then coming from a black open maw that seemed to comprise the creature's mouth before whatever it was vanished. With Elowen concentrating on her attack, she only saw this out of her peripheral vision so it didn't fully register at that point.

[Lion]

It all seemed to move so slowly.  Bhalasar had never felt so stung in his life.  And it came not only from the blow Elowen's weapon delivered to his face, but the sheer pain of it struck his whole body, electrifying him and he screamed in agony.

However that energy was not kept solely on him, and like a bolt of yellow lightning, it would leap across Elowen's weapon and strike the very heart of her.

[Ethereal-Star]

When the blow hit its mark, Elowen was thoroughly unprepared for what happened next. The force of her own weapon ricocheted back onto her and while some of the fire damage she was able to absorb, it wasn't enough, not to mention the sheer divine power her weapon possessed. Normally holy power only dealt damage to those evil and and vile of heart, certainly not those who fought for the side of good. Something was terribly wrong here. Elowen didn't know what it was, but it gave her pause.

After letting out a blood-curdling scream of pain, Elowen fell back breathing heavily before turning her enraged glare to the black wraith. He didn't look any better, and that at least made her feel a sense of accomplishment, even if the victory was only partial. Growling out between her teeth, she snarled at him. "What did you do?!" Wanting nothing more than to keep attacking her foe until he was no more.

[Lion]

Bhalasar was knocked back, and laid against the gnarled bubbling roots of an tree behind him.  He gasped for breath as he hadn't had to do in ages, but the need suddenly fell upon him.  And nothing made him feel more corporeal than the pain that coursed through him at this moment.  When the elf growled at him, he simply looked at her with wild eyes and scowled.

"I-I...How am I supposed to fucking know!?" he spat, voice hoarse and pained as if his own ribcage was feeling ripped apart.  He then looked upon the broken glass of the amulet scattered all over the underbrush.  "No..." he breathed.  He scrambled up, or tried to with extreme effort.  "No!  NO!  What!?  WHAT HAVE  YOU DONE!?"

He reached for his blade again, trying to push the pain away from his mind as he crawled over to Elowen and raised it to stab her.  "You're finished!" he howled. 

[Ethereal-Star]

Rolling out of the way, the blade hit only dirt as Elowen jumped to her feet. With renewed clarity and drive, she swung her morningstar at Bhalasar again, aiming for his mid-section. The fight was on again, as the sun elf strove to put as much crushing force into the hit as she were able.

[Lion]

And when her blow connected with his chest, that yellow lightning struck again, seeming to come from any violent contact between the pair, and struck them both square in the chest.  Bhalasar stumbled onto his pack and tried to hold his chest together, the points of Elowen's morning star having scraped against the metal of his armor.

[Ethereal-Star]

The sun elf was knocked on her back in pain as the yellow lightning struck the both of them. What the hell is going on?! she thought angrily. Elowen quickly jumped up and repositioned herself into a fighting stance, ready to swing at him again if need be. Although now she was hesitant to do so as it seemed whenever she did, her own strikes retaliated against her.

"Curse you bastard! I don't know what you did to me, but I swear you won't be around for much longer to gloat!" Normally this would be true, but with the odd effect of her own weapon going against her, Elowen was much less certain about what was going to happen next.

Still her desire to see the end of this abomination was still very strong within her and so Elowen raised Demon's Bane to strike again. Charging at him, she screamed in his face. "Die!"

[Lion]

He raised the shield, just barely deflecting the blow as more electric sparks passed between them.  The blow only brought on more pain that surged down his arm, and the same effect would pass through Demon's Bane and into Elowen.

[Ethereal-Star]

Elowen gritted her teeth at the pain in her arm, but otherwise showed no further signs of being impaired. Now more determined than ever to finish the thing before her. Yet, she was faced with an aggravating problem. Her own weapon had never turned against her before, and in her bloody haze she wondered if it had anything to do with the shattered artifact on the ground. She was now at a loss.

Elowen wanted nothing more than to hit her foe again with Demon's Bane but hesitated instead, looking down at the shattered pieces of glass and crystal still lying in the grass. The sparkles of green against green while pretty, seemed to be the cause of her problem and the sun elf screamed in rage at this.

Huffing for a few seconds to catch her breath, she noticed her enemy also seemed reluctant to fight. At least it wasn't purely one-sided, as the wraith's own attacks also injured him as well. Elowen glared with pure hatred at him, and spoke venomously, "I may not be able to kill you now, but upon my weapon and family I swear you will meet your end soon enough!"

[Lion]

Bhalasar remained still, panting hard as if to still a heartbeat that remained.  "Why?" he hissed at her.  "Why try to destroy me?  What have I done to you?"

[Ethereal-Star]

Elowen was also trying to calm her breathing, and she adjusted her position on the ground as a tree root pushed painfully into her side. The sun elf snarled at the wraith in pure aggravation. "Scum of the earth like you don't deserve to exist!"

[Lion]

"And who are you to judge me as scum, elf?" Bhalasar spat at her.  He stepped back, staggering and soon falling against a ridge of stone beside a tree.  "You can't hurt me.  As I can't seem to hurt you.  It only seems to bring more pain between the two of us.  Now unless you have a deathwish, you should cease this foolishness at once."