Name: Mark (Mark) Redding, Race: Human

Ht: 5’10, Wt: 160, Sex: Male, Archetype: Wizard

HP: 5 / 5 Mana: 0 / 39 MCU: 0 / 300

Stats:

Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2,

Agility: 2, Magic: 3, Mental: 3, Energy: 4.

Relevant Skills: Absorb Life, Elemental Magic - Fireball, Gather Mana, Magic Sight, Maximum Mana, Memory Recall, Physical - Awareness, Physical - Climb ______________________

"Fuckity, fuck, I almost nuked the shit out of you there," Mark said once he recognized the target he threw a fireball at was Charisse.

"Jax…" Charisse puffed and sucked in a lung full of air. "Needs help."

"Jax should be fine," Mark looked to where Jax and the villagers should be. Out of habit, he gathered mana.

"Todd, in tr…" A cough racked Charisse, interrupting her statement, causing her to double over as she tried to hack up a lung.

Mark caught a large stain of red on her back. Slightly bubbles frothed at the darkest point as his friend coughed.

"Fuuu… goto Jax," Mark said. He pointed in the direction where Jax and Reggie last were. Without waiting for a response from Charisse, he stood up and gathered mana.

Taking a deep breath as he imagined the mana flowing into him, Mark grasped the rope with both hands. Placing a foot at one of the knots, he pinched it with another. Carefully he inched his way down the rope.

Moving faster as he descended, he dropped down the last few feet. Glancing in the directing Charisse had run from, he stared into the woods looking for a target.

Trees, shrubbery, bushes, foliage, green bits, nothing out of the ordinary for a forest. Mark cursed and started jogging in the direction he thought Charisse had exited the woods. In the back of his mind, a small voice reminded him he shouldn't be running out alone.

"Bah," Mark slowed and scanned around to find any signs of a fight. Still spotting none, an idea popped in his head. A few fireballs would distract any fight and buy Todd some time.

Remembering a forest fire, Mark sighed, turned in the direction Charisse took off in and followed.

"Injured, disguised as a bush," Charisse said as Mark jogged up. Jax and she both threw a glance at Mark. "Glad to see you didn't do something stupid."

"Let's go, Reggie, Mark, Charisse," Jax threw a glance at three villagers who had weapons handy and pointed at them. "You three, come with us. The rest of you stay here and be on guard."

Without waiting to see if anyone followed, Jax took off running past Mark. Charisse chased after, catching up to Jax while pointing in a direction.

Gathering Mana, Mark jogged alongside Reggie. Armed villagers taking up the rear, one of them looked familiar, but Mark couldn't remember where he'd seen her before. Glancing at Reggie, his furrowed brow was deep enough to plant crops. Reggie's breaths came through clenched teeth as he stomped along.

"Something wrong?" Mark asked.

"Later," Reggie said with a slight glance behind them, then resumed looking forward.

Mark nodded his head and focused on not tripping as he ran. Gathering mana as he ran, knowing he was full but hoping to break that next rank of Maximum Mana. Breath in. Breath out. Gather mana.

Seconds passed before Charisse and Jax slowed to a stop, allowing Reggie and Mark to catch up. Charisse pointed a finger toward some trees.

Several shadows moved through the trees, almost in a line, each spaced out by a little bit of distance. Mark smiled and whispered, "nuke?"

Charisse shook her head, pointed up in the sky above. Mark nodded his head and gathered mana yet again.

Eyes to the sky, Mark found a clear path where the magical ball wouldn't hit anything. Pointing in the direction, Mark threw a fireball up into the sky.

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Pursing his lips, Mark acted as if he needed to adjust his aim, then tried again. The small ball streaked through the air, past the trees and branches, until it soared high into the sky. Seconds after losing sight of the tiny ball, Mark saw an explosion in the sky. His eyes focused on the spell's powerful effect, watching the ball expand, then slowly fade as the fire lacked the power to sustain its inferno.

His mind started wandering into the possibility of a magical fusion reactor and how it could be achieved with multiple fireballs. A hand shaking his shoulder derailed that train of thought.

"Um, fighting?" Reggie said that once Mark looked at him. Without waiting for a response, Reggie took off into the woods, followed by the villagers.

Mark gave a glance to where the fireball exploded. The fiery explosion left no evidence in the clear sky. Mentally shelving the idea, he gathered mana and followed his friends.

Grunts and cries of pain reverberated through the woods. Mark followed the sound; leaves and branches obscured his vision until he came around a large tree. A copse of thin and tall trees opened the forest up. Some of the soldiers in the back shooting arrows, several of them in melee combat with Jax, Reggie, and the three villagers.

A prone soldier lay on the ground at Jax's feet. Reggie was inching over to the female villager. She struggled with a soldier who seemed to knock her back a few inches every time she blocked a strike.

Giving the scene a second glance, Mark didn't see Todd anywhere. Wishing he had the means to fly, Mark pondered climbing a tree. The long thin trunks and branches axed that idea. Pointing the finger at one of the archers, Mark gathered mana to throw a fireball.

As if appearing from the air, Charisse lept on top of the archer Mark was watching. Her dagger driving into the side of the man's neck. Mark changed targets, finding another far enough away from people; the explosion wouldn't hit his friends.

A tiny ball of fire zipped through the forest toward its target. At the last moment, the archer moved a little to the right, causing the spell to miss them by inches, hitting a tree a dozen feet behind him, and exploding into an inferno. Mark could hear the rush of air as the fire consumed it in the blast, as well as a cry of surprise from the archer.

"Idiot! You could have hit Todd." Charisse yelled.

"Fuckity," Mark cringed, and he threw a prayer to the gods he didn't hit his friend. Looking back at his target, the soldier had put a couple of trees between him and Mark.

Crouching down and moving to his left, Mark carefully moved around to get a better line of sight.

Putting some distance between him and the soldier, he wove between several trees and bush, ducking, and even crawling to ensure the target lost sight of him. As he rounded a thick group of shrubbery and tree, he looked toward the archer.

The spot was empty. No one stood near the tree; Mark's eyes scanned the area around it; no one was there. Sighing through gritted teeth, he moved closer while looking for movement of any kind. He switched to the magical spectrum to detect if any arcane trickery was involved.

Little motes of mana danced before his eyes. Green bits of life fell from the trees onto the ground. Tiny white drops of sunshine drifted from the sky, falling onto the brown motes wiggling in the earth. At the base of a dead tree, little dark grey motes swayed as they gathered around some mushrooms. No sight of the soldier or anyone else gave Mark pause. He dropped the magical spectrum, then glanced around to try and locate Jax or Reggie.

Forty feet ahead, Jax's armored arm raised his warhammer high, and it caught a bit of sunlight. Mark walked toward his friend and keeping a wary eye for anyone hiding.

Only the movement of his friends ahead, and the soldiers they were fighting. He gave the woods around his friends a scan to find the missing archer. The thought of Jax and Reggie falling caused his heart to skip a beat.

Something poked Mark in the side of his neck. A high pitched young-sounding male voice whispered, "stop your friends or die."

"Oh give…" Mark stopped when the sharp point pressed tighter against his neck.

"Have your friends surrender," the male voice whispered.

"Guys, guys," Mark said in a normal tone of voice. None of his friends or any of the other soldiers looked in his direction.

"Louder, and don't get stupid."

"Guys!" Mark yelled.

Reggie glanced over in Mark's direction. His gaze continued to the left and right but didn't seem to focus on Mark. After a second, Reggie looked back toward the soldier he was fighting.

"Fuckity," Mark sighed. "Guys!" he repeated loudly to get their attention while working on a plan. Reggie glanced in his direction again, then awkwardly dodged a sword swing that nearly scalped him.

Racking his mind, he couldn't come up with a spell that would prevent him from taking damage. Lacking any defensive options, he tried to remember any offensive spells.

Mark remember a spell name, Absorb Life, but he couldn't remember any details of it, nor the costs. Silently cursing himself for getting himself into this position, Mark cast the spell.

Energy flowed into Mark. His heart started racing as the world snapped into focus. The world's volume increased; the slight wind in the trees, clashing of weapons in battle, cries of pain or exertion from combatants, like drinking a can of WhoopAss and getting a second wind.

A gasp of pain followed by stabbing as a knife sliced open Mark's neck. The soldier threw Mark to the ground.

Mark coughed and gasped, both hands going to his neck. Blood gushed out through his fingers. Glancing up at the soldier who sliced open his neck, Mark shivered in disgust at the soldier's condition. Hair white and s face sunken and hollow, through gaunt cheeks, the tightened muscles of his jaw and neck bulged.

With fading strength and Reggie nor Jax nearby, Mark hoped the spell would heal; otherwise, he was going to be back in the glade.

The soldier gasped as if the air was sucked from his lungs. His skin thinned almost to translucence as he fell to his knees. His wide eyes stared at Mark as he slowly lifted the dagger with one hand. The other hand reached to the dirt and wilted grass to pull him closer to Mark.

Mark managed to raise his hands to block the knife, but the soldier drove the blade into Mark's stomach. Pain in his abdomen replaced euphoria as the dagger withdraw, dripping blood as the soldier lifted it high for a second strike.

The pain disappeared, replaced with energy and a slight feeling of ecstasy. The soldier slumped to the side. The skin on his face withered and pulled back, revealing teeth. The eyes still wide, looked at Mark.

Getting to his feet, Mark reached under his shirt and felt around his stomach. No wound remained. Another hand went to his neck, and it was also healed. Blood still coated his hands and clothing, as well as a puddle on the dirt. Looking down at the soldier, Mark kicked the dagger away from a limp hand. The blade skittered over to a tree that looked like it'd been dead for years but still somehow held onto the dead leaves.

The feeling of exhilaration faded, as did the energy. Weight of the day's activities settled on Mark's shoulders as the sounds of battle became muffled.

Slowly gathering mana, Mark breathed in deeply, but something inside felt empty. One more, he thought, as he tried to absorb some more energy. A second passed, and a wave a weariness washed over him. Mark's hand shook a little.

"No," Mark said. Gathering mana again; Mark tensed the muscles in his arm and forced it steady as he again tried to absorb energy.

Sounds of the forest crashed into Mark's ears. He looked away from a withered husk of flesh on the ground and to his friends. Several of the soldiers had taken up positions at a distance and were firing arrows, pinning Jax, Reggie, and two of the three villagers behind a group of trees. Charisse was nowhere to be found, nor the third villager.

"Oh hell no," Mark said as he pointed a finger to one of the archers and gathered mana.

Mark dropped a magical wall between one of the archers and his friends. Before verifying the wall was there, he gathered mana to repeat the process. Placing a second wall to create a vertex, he quickly cast the third wall to place a triangle around the archer.

Mark's heart slowed, and the world dulled as the energy faded. Reaching a hand toward the husk on the ground, he gathered mana again, involuntarily licking his lips.

A trickle of energy entered Mark. Glancing around, he saw the plants around him had visibly wilted; the corpse on the ground looked desiccated. Glancing over toward the trapped soldier, Mark felt the emptiness inside him ache a little with a grin; he ran to his prey.