Radais let out a startled yelp as the spiky sphere of earth he had avoided earlier reversed course behind him and nearly hit him in the back as it was magically drawn back to Theion. The Dragon Price had realized earlier on that the Dragonslayer was the greatest threat to him and his friends; thus, he sought to challenge the Shaman one on one to give his friends time to deal with the rest of the bandits. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he had under-estimated just how right he had been. Fighting Theion was like trying to fight an avalanche; he could fire off attack after attack like rocks falling down the side of a mountain. It didn’t matter how many Radais avoided; there was always more coming.

“Why keep fighting, dear Prince? My victory is as certain as the earth beneath our feet.” Theion mused in his booming voice as he willed the soil Radais stood upon to open like the maw of a great beast.

The Dragon Prince leapt into the air with a quick flap of his wings as he felt the ground shake and then split beneath him. As he was distracted, avoiding the snapping jaws of the hungry earth another ball of spiked earth flew at him. He conjured a quick fireball to destroy the projectile, but just as quickly, Theion pulled another from the soil. The two magic wielders were, in essence, deadlocked, but Radais was stuck on the defence. He simply couldn’t work his magic fast enough to make a worthwhile attack while dodging everything Theion was throwing at him.

In the back of his mind, the Dragon Prince did that math, and the numbers weren’t adding up in his favour. Theion only needed one good hit to throw the Prince off balance; if he fell, the earth might swallow him before he could get back up. Hopefully, his friends were almost done with the other bandits, but he couldn’t spare a single thin second to check. During his evasive actions, Radais had thought to lure Theion into putting his back to rest of the battle, but the Dragonslayer proved to be too clever to tactic. Instead, he moved in parallel, attempting to do the same to the Prince. It was in the midst of racing, mental strategizing, and frantic dodging that one good hit finally landed in the form of a tree branch. Radais was flying sideways to avoid another volley of deadly spiked projectiles when he clipped a low-hanging branch with the side of his head. The impact was sudden and painful enough to draw a started cry from him as he fell to the ground with a loud *THUNK* and felt fingers of earth latch on to him.

“Ha! I have you now!” The Dragon Slayer declared from his floating dais of earth as he swooped in closer.

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Radais tried to push himself up as he flapped his wings, but his legs continued to sink into the ground. The crushing grip of the Shaman’s magic was like having his lower appendages in a giant vice. He felt his bones strain under the pressure threatening to snap like twigs.

Theion hopped off his flying dais as he strode around Radias mockingly. “Perhaps now you wish to rethink your offer?”

“It was …argh!... sincere you know…” Radais answered between grunts of effort as he tried in vain to pull against the titanic grasp of the earth. He needed to buy time. He was certain his team was winning. He had faith in them.

“What?!” Theion demanded.

“With my illusion earlier! Yes, the ‘me’ making the offer was fake, but I meant it!” Radais groaned with effort. “I-I would have paid you to escort my team. We could have both walked away from our meeting having gained something.” Radais explained as he felt himself sink further into the dirt. “My offer still stands! I can pay you handsomely for your help!”

Theion simply laughed in reply. “Whatever treasure you could have offered would have been a paltry sum compared to--”

KAR-COOM!

Xion’s bolt of lightning hit Theion’s side with enough force to knock him off his feet and sent him flying several yards in less than a heartbeat.

Radais breathed a sigh of relief as he finally managed to look to where his friends were and realized they had routed the rest of the enemy as he had hoped. Xion’s gaze was focused on

Theion and held an expression of utter fury that was seldom seen and was frightening even to Radais. He followed her eye-line to the Dragonslayer and saw where he had not only been blasted off his feet but THROUGH a tree and into a second! That was the sort of power that even the sorcerers of legend would have trouble manifesting; Xion would pay a heavy price in exhaustion later, no doubt. Zhanatos was at Radais’ side a moment later and, with his enhanced strength, tore him free of the ground.

“You alright, boss?” The Berserker inquired with a worried tone.

“Well… I had a bit of a sinking feeling for a while there….” Radais replied as he attempted a stoic chuckle. A glance at his clothing revealed he had been swallowed up to his waist. Any higher, his chest would have been compressed by the stoney grip, and he would have suffocated. Xion and Larxene soon joined the pair and expressed similar concerns. Radais thanked them for their concern and Xion for her timely intervention. “Let us secure our foe. I have some inquiries I wish to make when he wakes up.”

“Wait ‘secure’? You want to tie him up? He almost killed you! I should just put an arrow through his head and be done with it!” Larxene protested.

“True…” Radais nodded, “But as he was doing so, he said something interesting. I need to ask him about it. I believe this was not just a chance encounter this day….”