The battle raged around them. Possessed creatures lunged at them, only to be fended off by a burst of light or the slash of a sword. Sylvius turned abruptly to check on his group, taking a headcount and trying to assess the amount of danger that they each were in. Azrael, of course, seemed to be doing fine, if not a bit too enthusiastic about his spells. He always seemed to get more aggressive than the rest in fights. Aliyah and Sage appeared to have teamed up, Aliyah in her dragon form. 

Nodding to himself that they all seemed to be handling themselves just fine, Sylvius returned his focus to his own self. He clutched his sword tightly in his grip and swung it elegantly at a monster which had been approaching him, vanquishing it. He hated doing it–he knew these monsters weren’t in control of themselves, but there wasn’t much else to be done in this situation. They were here to rescue stranded people from their kingdom and bring them to the safe haven. He continued on to a nearby building, heading inside a few steps to look around and see if there might be anyone hiding.

What he found was something beyond description. It was a sort of…dark mass, floating in the air, covered in blinking, pulsating eyes. There appeared to be some sort of beak at the center, somewhat raven-like. Am I…Looking at Corvus itself? Sylvius’ heart rate picked up and his yellow eyes widened. He began taking a step backwards, wanting to leave quietly, but something stopped him. It felt like he wasn’t in control of his own limbs. No matter how hard he willed it, he couldn’t get his body to move. It was then that he heard his brother’s voice behind him.

“Sylvius!” Azrael called out desperately, quickly being held back by Sage’s grip on his arm. 

“Azrael, stay back!” Sage growled as she tugged him away from the entrance of the house. Aliyah landed gracefully behind them and hurried over, turning into her human form once again. When she saw the situation, her stomach lurched. No, not him…

The Scourge seemed to have realized who it was dealing with. Sylvius felt an immense pain in his head greater than any pain he’d felt before, and he found himself crying out in pain. His hands clutched his silver hair, wishing hopelessly for this torture to stop, until suddenly, it did. Everything just…stopped, and Sylvius’s vision got dim and blurry. In moments, he was unconscious. 

“No!” Azrael howled as his little brother fell to the ground, and he lurched forward to try and get to his side, only for Sage to pull him back again. 

“Are you an idiot? Can’t you see what’s happening? You can’t get close to him!” She reprimanded, fixing her stern but caring gaze on her teammate. “You’ll be killed!” 

“No, I won’t!” Azrael rounded on her. “If anyone’s familiar with this thing, it’s me, you got that? Now let me go!”

It was then that Sylvius stirred from his unconsciousness, giving Azrael a moment of false hope. But when Sylvius rose, he wasn’t himself anymore. His eyes had been glazed over black, vacant. His movements were sluggish and stiff, almost as if he were being puppeted. He lifted his head slowly to face who he now saw as his opponents. Suddenly, without warning, the shell of Sylvius lunged forward and slashed his sword in Azrael’s direction. Azrael just barely had time to cast a ward to protect himself, still suffering a nasty gash in his arm that stung horribly as the ward shattered on impact.

“Sylvius, stop! Fight it!” Azrael cried out, casting another protection spell around the group.

“Get back! We have to regroup. We can’t fight him while he’s like this.” Sage commanded.

“We can’t let him out of here or he’ll have room to shift forms,” Aliyah spoke up, her voice wavering as she watched Sylvius throw hit after hit at Azrael’s barrier. “Azrael, can you seal him inside this building?”

“No! I already told you, I am not leaving him!” Azrael snapped back over his shoulder. But with every hit of Sylvius’s sword, Azrael’s barrier spell weakened. He couldn’t keep this up forever. But they couldn’t be right! There had to be another way. 

“Just long enough for us to escape,” Aliyah continued, her tone urgent but gentle. “We have to go. You know he’ll be okay on his own; he can handle himself. If we get too injured to fight, we won’t be able to come back and save him. The Scourge will release him once we are no longer here, I’m sure of it.”

“You- I-” Azrael started, clenching his teeth and uttering curse words beneath his breath. Sage was growing visibly impatient with him, which made Aliyah’s heart race further. What they really didn’t need right now was Azrael to lose control. But, thankfully, and only moments before the barrier was destroyed by Sylvius, Azrael made up his mind. He sent a surge of energy hurdling towards his younger brother, just enough to push him back, away from the door. 

“Get out! Move!” He barked, ushering the other two out the door along with himself. He slammed and latched the door behind him, then pressed his palm against the lock. A shimmer of purple light glinted beneath his hand, and that light spread to encompass the entire building. By now the monsters from outside were on them again, and they had very little time.

Once outside, Aliyah shifted back into her dragon form and Sage and Azrael climbed onto her back. Sapphire blue wings raised like massive walls around the two before rocketing downwards, sending the three climbing up into the sky, to disappear within the clouds.

“This is all your fault!” Azrael exclaimed with rage, throwing a finger in Sage’s direction. “If you had just let me save him, he would be here with us right now. You act like you know us all but you don’t! You don’t know Sylvius like I do! I could have pulled him out of there if you’d only let me!” Tears of hurt and anger streamed down his face, tears that he was unable to control. 

“I saved your life!” Sage countered, stepping closer to Azrael, her shoulders tense and one hand balled into a fist. “I won’t have you turn all of the blame on me. If it wasn’t for me stopping you, none of us would be here. The Scourge would have killed us all, probably including Sylvius! Don’t you understand this was the only way to keep all of us alive? If you don’t stop acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum, we’ll never get Sylvius back!” She shouted each word, allowing bitter anger to overtake her for a moment without realizing. She was boiling with rage at Azrael. The only thing to pull her out of it was the sound of a sniffle behind her. She turned to see that…Aliyah was crying, quietly to herself. Sage’s angry gaze softened and she let out a sigh. 

“We’ll get him back,” She reminded Azrael, also partially directed at Aliyah now. “We will. Knowing Sylvius, he’s probably already recovered and on his way back to us.”

Weakness and need – Azrael refuses to leave Sylvius behind even when it becomes the best option for survival. He needs to be able to think more clearly with the help of his group so that they can rethink a better strategy.

Desire – To bring Sylvius home safely

Opponent – The Scourge, Sylvius, Sage

Plan – The plan was originally that the group was going to the kingdom to rescue those left behind. The plan changes to become leaving Sylvius behind and regrouping in order to return and save him.

Battle – verbal conflict between Azrael and Sage, trying to convince Azrael to leave Sylvius behind for now. Physical conflict between Azrael and Sylvius since Sylvius was possessed by The Scourge.

Self-Revelation – Azrael realizes that Sylvius with the powers of The Scourge is far too much for them to handle, and that they must retreat.

New Equilibrium – The group is now without Sylvius, and must figure out how to get him back.