The Frost Mage and the Battlemistress

The beastlands became nearly a frozen tundra this afternoon, the once lush grass briefly coated in a thin sheet of ice, the aftermath of a titanic battle. Ariyana found May'katcha out in the wilds gathering regents. Little was said between the two before it came to blows. Swords raised and spells flung, the struggle beginning swiftly.

The frost mage slipped in and out of the Ethereal Plane to avoid Ariyana's deadly falchion. Deftly evading what would have cut down any less experienced mage, She kept her distance as she assaulted the battlemistress with an elemental summon and worked to break down Ariyana's protective wards.

The seasoned battlemistress cut down the elemental, pressing the charge, and kept her protection up against May'katcha's onslaught of ice and snow. Surprised by Ariyana's defenses, May'katcha took a near crippling strike to her side that almost sent her sprawling back but she managed to slip into the ethereal again. Gingerly, May'katcha struck Ariyana with a spell to drop the drow's hereditary resistance. She then followed through with a Bigby's spell to capture the battlemistress, but Ariyana absorbed the spell with a quick defensive mantle. Ariyana pressed the attack, swinging at the frost mage's multiple images, scoring a few glancing blows before the drow jumped into the transient plane. When she gained the advantage of distance, May'katcha switched tactics and unleashed a volley of arcane orbs at her opponent, bombarding Ariyana with a painful volley of razor-sharp ice.

Knowing she needed to close in quickly, Ariyana stopped to give herself distance whilst May'katcha summoned another elemental foe to use as a shield. The battlemistress threw up another protective ward and charged in. She closed the gap quickly as May'katcha danced in and out of the ethereal plane, dodging Ariyana's powerful strikes by a hair. May'katcha struck her again with a spell, then followed with the incantation of another ethereal spell, but in a burst of speed Ariyana swept in quickly, her sword hastened by magic, and plunged it into May'katcha's icy heart. The wild caster's magic let out a frigid gust of wind, coating Ariyana's weapon Flamesong in a sheet of ice and throwing Ariyana's hair back.

There was a pause for a long moment, minute clusters of ice and snow falling around the two combatants, before the tormented frost mage lifelessly fell from Ariyana's blade and hit the snowy ground beneath her. Ariyana frowned at the sight and sighed. She brushed the bits of snow and ice that had coated her armor, gently picked up the deceased frost mage, and carried her to send the body, and hopefully the soul, off peacefully.