[Darkness]

Facing towards Saelel, and thus the storm, as he was, the dark cloaked man had plenty of warning in seeing it coming. Firing off another fireball at the man, he immediately brought another spell to mind, this one to defend himself. An up motion with his staff seemed to... pull... a wall of stone from the ground around him, a small half dome that sheltered him from the storm in a shell, though he could see the effects of the storm as it curved inward after passing along the sides of his cover. He could do nothing but hope the druid called off the storm soon, or, at least, came into a position where he could fire spells from him. From here, he could do nothing, unless he thought of a more fitting spell. This shield was the best he had thought of in the few moments he had to think of it.

[MA-53]

Saelel winced. He had taken the fireball straight on. And though his favor with guane wulfdancer protected him from the brunt of the fiery assault, his robe was singed, as was his hair. None of his burns were major, although the fireball was enough to cause a lapse in his concentration. The wind died, and the sand settled, leaving Saelel staring at an earthen dome and a toppled glass statue. Saelel begin to call to the earth, but he found himself rather lacking in energy. More manipulation of the earth could put him in a dangerously deep trance, leaving him vulnerable.

He opted for the second option. He transformed himself into his most preferred form: the mighty lion. With a roar, he leaped over the dome of earth.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man spun his staff in a circle, and a glyph appeared, completely covering the mouth of the dome. Out of it stepped a warden of a mysterious forest, a grove warden. Holding a sword in his hand, he lunged towards the lion. The glyph vanished.

[MA-53]

The warden leaps at Saelel before it recognizes him for what he truly is: a guardian and preserver of nature. Without hesitating, Saelel speaks to the warden, and turns it around to attack its former master.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man showed a face of disgust. A wave of the staff generated another glowing glyph directly in front of the warden, that it jumped through before realizing it was there. Another circle of his staff created a new glyph, from which stepped an Edastian Myrmidon. With a great sword strapped to his back, which he drew, he too lunged towards the lion to attack.

[MA-53]

Saelel's feline grace allowed him to dodge the clumsy swing of the greatsword easily. The man left himself open then, and Saelel took advantage of that opening, leaping mightily and going for the throat...

[Darkness]

Though perhaps 'clumsy', the myrmidon was still able to bring up a gauntleted arm about his face. The force of the lion hitting him still knocked him down, both he and the lion going to the ground, but his throat remained intact. The dark cloaked man called another fireball, sending it flying at the lion on the man.

[MA-53]

Saelel felt the disturbance caused by the fireball, and gingerly hopped off the myrmidon, allowing the burning sphere to rocket towards his downed foe...

[Darkness]

The myrmidon rolled out of the way just in time, and once more swung his weapon at the lion.

[MA-53]

The fight against the myrmidon was futile, Saelel knew. He dodged the latest attack, and used his momentum to hurl himself around and towards the cloaked man. Roaring once more, he leaped to attack, claws outstretched and jaw open.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man put his hand out before him and pulled up, and a wall of stone was wrenched from the ground between him and the lion. The myrmidon turned, slashing at the lion once more.

[MA-53]

The wall caught Saelel by surprise, but not unprepared. He turned himself in the air, and hit the wall feet first, then launched himself off of the wall, over the myrmidon's swing, and at its face, claws in front, mouth close behind.

[Darkness]

The myrmidon ducked under the attack, waiting for the lion to land so he could attack again, while the dark cloaked man threw another fireball.

[MA-53]

As Saelel vaulted over the myrmidon, he turned his body to face him when he was behind him. Then, in an instant, he transformed into his hawk form, his newly formed talons in exactly the right place to grab the man by the forearms and haul him in to the air, dodging the fireball in the process.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man let out a flurry of fireballs, all towards the hawk and its general area.