The ashes before Strife

Episode 5 : Vengeance or Style? ; 4

Cayde Barbaten POV:
40 minutes earlier:
I dangled from the purple rope of corruption latching to the roof in a web at the top of the dark silo just outside the top floor doors of the elevator 'that is a large welcoming committee cayde. You sure this will work?'

"Well, it's better than waiting for my arms to give out and fall to my death Incursik." I started swinging backward and forwards on the purple rope building up momentum waiting till I could push myself off the stone wall behind me with both feet strengthening my mana shield on my back and neck.

Then at last after a few seconds of cumbersome swinging my feet finally reached the wall and I stuck them in place using ice. I sensed the outside of the metal doors once more reminding myself that seven people were waiting for me.

I coalesced the mana into my bare feet on the cold stone wall as I began thawing out the ice while I pulled on two strings of corruption attached to the edges of the doorway until I finally let loose the mana in my feet accelerating me forward as I jumped off crashing through the metal doors horns first greeted by 3 tuxedo men with rifles and 4 with swords all in a surprised stupor of my speed. I tucked and rolled across the floor taking out the legs of one of the riflemen.

My back then slammed against the white wall coursing a throbbing pain through me but with no time to waste, I quickly shot myself to the side with two jets of flames on my bare feet as the rifle men's bullets pierced the walls where I once laid. I then stood myself up blocking two swordsman's attacks grabbing their swords with black gauntlets of ice kneeling on the ground as a third swordsman came down the center of the two of them aiming to cut me in half.

I coursed electricity through their blades making them scream in pain as it entered their body making them pass out. I punched the ground letting a corrupted purple vein spread to the swordsman and the still downed rifleman prohibiting their movements but the last 3 ran away as the vein split off chasing after each of them.

The two riflemen shot several bullets backward not daring to look at where I am missing wildly, I conjured three javelins of purple thunder in the air that crackled in anticipation shooting the three runaways in the back making them collapse and allow the corruption to reach them stopping any further movements.

'That was quite well done I must say.' I looked around admiring my handiwork of small carnage in the now destroyed room with a red curtain on fire and several holes in the blue carpeted floor and white walls and a cracked mirror reflecting me in bloody rags with two fiery silver eyes through my black mask that looked like a bird laughing.

"Thanks. So any idea where the party is?" I pulled out a silver sword from an incapacitated man inspecting it corrupting it as I awaited incursiks response.

'Just listen for where the posh laughter is and you'll find them. But of course, it is best to deal with our new playmates behind you first.' I turned around seeing five men with unsheathed swords all of them lit on fire by magic.

Two of them sent pillars of fire at me which I stepped to the side to avoid against and I started sprinting towards them throwing a large cube of ice to ruin their arrowhead formation which worked as they failed to melt the cube after launching a flurry of fireballs into it making them all jump to different sides as it shattered on impact.

I stabbed the closest to me in the knee with my newly acquired sword making him scream out in pain his ally shot a fireball at me which I quickly evaded after corrupting the man's body, getting blown away by the fireball.

A different man tried to tackle me down after losing his sword but I stopped him erecting a pillar of ice hitting his head first which then released several frozen tentacles wrapping around him and freezing him solid.