Vae Victis

After having sent Tyra violently flying into a stone wall, Lorec stopped thrashing about with the axe. To him, it may as well had been a war axe from the land where Tyra had come from, and not a full size battle axe. Standing upright once more, Lorec glared at the axe, seeing his eyes' reflection in it. This was a weapon that had served many a worthy warrior, as he could feel a certain... Ethereal power coming from within it. Looking back up at Tyra, he smiled as the aura around him still violently flickered. Slowly walking over to his sword, he dislodged it from the stone with his dominant left hand, albeit with some difficulty. As he did so, his right arm bulged as though it were a creature desperately breathing for air... Something was happening to lorec's body. The toll that was being taken was heavy, indeed. As he dislodged the blade, Lorec brought his arm over his head, and rested the blade's broad side upon his back and shoulders. Smiling at Tyra, he brought the arm holding her axe back, as if he were about to throw it. Which is exactly what was about to happen. The muscles in his left arm bulged as well... This was going to be one axe throw for the record books. With all of his might, Lorec threw the axe directly at Tyra in a manner in which one would likely throw a frisbee. The axe traveled towards her at astounding speeds. Was Lorec really trying to take her head off with such a throw?

It was then that Lorec had lifted Tyra and her axe into the air, and left his zweihander planted as he grabbed his end of the axe handle with his other hand, as well. Still lifting her upward, he then started to thrash about violently, attempting to swing the axe in all manner of directions, as if he were trying to shoo a fly away from his food. It was evident that he was trying to disarm Tyra, and send her flying away as he would keep the weapon. Ever so chaotically, he kept on swinging the axe in a frenzy, trying to get her off of it.

Still shaken from the pain felt of the axe in his side, he only tightened his grip upon Tyra's axe. He let her slowly pull the axe blade out, only To leave a gaping wound that was bleeding profusely below his ribcage. He slowly turned his head to Tyra, and disturbingly enough, had a wide grin on his face. Right into the beast's trap. He held on to the axe, refusing to allow Tyra to pull it away. " you know Tyra... A predator that has had it's claws taken away and its teeth ripped out... CEASES TO BE A PREDATOR! " It was then that the goldish-brown aura flared up immediately around Lorec. Veins all over his body, particularly his upper quarters, started to bulge as if pumping waterfalls of blood throughout his entire body. The very sinews of his horrendously scarred hide seem to almost fail at containing the sheer muscle mass within his body. With Herculean effort, Lorec attempted to lift Tyra and her axe off of the ground as one in an explosive motion!

Figuring out, albeit too late, what Tyra was planning, Lorec kept himself planted with his left hand on the sword, and attempted to try and catch the axe in his hand with the other arm! However, due to the extended recovery time from the momentum shift... He was unable to stop it completely. Managing to get a grip upon the axe's handle, Lorec succeeded in at least preventing it from sinking all the way to his vitals, namely, where his kidney would be. However, the axe had still sliced into a decent amount of his body, and he was starting to bleed profusely from the wound. As the blood trickled down, Lorec had let out a pained groan of agony in his grunting, almost biting his tongue in pride to not show his opponent how badly it hurt. That being said, Lorec still had his hand on the axe. He wasn't letting go... And that grip of his, to Tyra, may as well equate to the jaws of the nine fathoms itself.

Lorec left completely unawares by this change in Tyra's strategy, fumbled forward awkwardly. With the momentum shift combining with his great weight, he almost tripped up, and planted his sword to keep himself from falling flat on his face. However, his side was completely exposed....

Seeing as how Tyra had gone for Lorec's face on multiple occasions during the fight, the Minotaur had wisened to her old tactic. Bringing the zweihander back from it's previous swing, Lorec met the axe with a downward diagonal slash that he had put all of his weight into, beginning a deadlock of strength, slowly trying to push her back. " I would've killed you by now if this were truly to the death! If you refuse to evolve in your tactics, you may as well lay your head in a guillotine's bosom and beg for your own execution with a shit-eating grin on your face!"

" Who the hell do you think I am? I've got the strongest body out of all the members of the Divine Retribution, and that's why I can tow the line in a drawn out fight!" He said, beginning his own charge towards Tyra, bringing his sword downward to clash the with the axe. He put much of his might into the swing, wishing to clash blades with the little mare who was proving to be the greatest challenge he had ever experienced.

Reeling backward from the immense force of the blow, Lorec was forced out of his kneeling position and onto his hooves, jumping backward as he slid from the blow. The life force energy that he had been sending throughout the entirety of the great stone Ursa had stopped flowing from his body. As he recovered into a standing position, he smiled, and began to draw his sword from his backside scabbard. " about time you made it in here, krigare... I actually felt that one..." He gripped the zweihander with both hands, and put his right shoulder forward, ready for Tyra to make her move.

I wouldn't have anyone else stalking me ( I know it's off topic, but it's good to see you around again)

Lorec was unresponsive toward Tyra, and continued to send out power throughout the entire body of the stone ursa. His eyes stared directly at Tyra, blank and glowing, as if he were asleep with his eyes open. His entire consciousness had gone into powering the gargantuan stone war machine, and it had reflected earlier, as though Lorec was indeed the great bear himself. Perhaps a well placed strike could bring him out of his little trance...

Within the ursa's body, one could digress that it was definitely not a living organism. It was almost completely hollow, save for the same goldish-brown life force energy flowing to multiple portions of the body, creating a kind of skeleton that worked as a base for the outer stone shell. Any warrior with at least half a brain could assume that, by following the steady stream of power that outlined the beast's skeletal portions, that they could find the epicenter of the beast's heart; Lorec. The stream that ran up the esophagus was convening with the other streams, in what would've been the ursa's stomach, as it just appeared as a giant, hollowed out cavern, with Lorec kneeling over, palms on the ground, and the aura exuding from him and into the body of the beast. His eyes were pupil-less, and glowing as well. His face looked as though he were in a trance...

As the great ursa arose to a bipedal position as it had succeeded in sending Tyra high into the air, it pointed it's head skywards, and slowly, opened its mouth wide, revealing a great set of stone teeth, and roaring loud enough to split the heavens! Keeping his jaws open, it was evident that he was aiming to consume Tyra! @ Kazas, smiling, chuckled ever so slightly again, and spoke. " You think so? Haha... He's never reached this level before. I think... That Tyra can help him push even further...."

The Stone ursa kept on bucking violently, trying to send Tyra off skyward. Giving one more powerful push off of the ground, the Ursa bucked onto it's two hind legs with all of it's might, attempting to send Tyra straight into the sky! Kazas, inching over to Vera a little, started to intertwine his tail with hers playfully, while smiling. He spoke to Her in his signature, calming voice. " Really? You went white as a sheep all of a sudden..."

The Ursa, after falling for a few seconds more, crashed into the earth violently, making an excessively large impact crater that was at least 300 feet in radius, and sending a maelstrom of debris skyrocketing into the air, almost akin to a volcano's eruption. Stunned from the plummet, the great Ursa's rock armor was nigh cracked heavily on the underside, once more revealing part of its true, metaphysical make-up. Face down against the ground, the Ursa slowly rose again, this time, with Tyra on his backside! As if he were a bull that was extremely frustrated at its rider, the great Ursa began to buck, to-and-fro, violently trying to shake Tyra off. Kazas knew that Tyra was more of the quiet type, and wasn't really expecting a full answer from Vera. However, there was a very faint nervous laughter in her previous statement... Was something wrong? " Vera... Is everything okay?"

@ Hey, Naga is kind of stuck outside. Got turned away for looking like an Eastern hippie. ( racism in Equestria, everyone!) You can wait to initiate conversation with him after the party is done, he'll be outside. However, he won't really talk about all of the undead stuff, unless of course, he sees you with Luna ( an immortal ). Then, perhaps maybe we could delve into the ' perfect undead ' arc we talked about?

Falling at a fast past, the Ursa was seemingly speaking to Tyra as he was attempting to crush her. " Krigare Tyra! Are you so helpless as to let yourself be crushed in such a dishonorable manner?!?" ________________ @ Kazas, almost by instinct, reached for Vera's hoof, almost having a knowing grin upon his face. He spoke... Seemingly not surprised by the events that had taken place. " Amazing... Is it not Vera? As you are my beloved, the others will warm to you as well, and you will have more companions who genuinely care about you. Of course.... That is, depending on how much time we spend with them, versus how much time we spend alone. They might get jealous..." He said, with a slight chuckle.

Falling at a fast past, the Ursa was seemingly speaking to Tyra as he was attempting to crush her. " Krigare Tyra! Are you so helpless as to let yourself be crushed in such a dishonorable manner?!?" ________________ @ Kazas, almost by instinct, reached for Vera's hoof, almost having a knowing grin upon his face. He spoke... Seemingly not surprised by the events that had taken place. " Amazing... Is it not Vera? As you are my beloved, the others will warm to you as well, and you will have more companions who genuinely care about you. Of course.... That is, depending on how much time we spend with them, versus how much time we spend alone. They might get jealous..." He said, with a slight chuckle.

After getting into position, a moment of stillness dominated the Ursa, as if it were gathering all of its might for the next action that it would perform. And, after what seemed like 15 seconds, the Ursa, roaring and causing an echo throughout the desolate plains, lept high into the air, ascending in a straight line, and causing a tremor along the ground! It was almost impossible to measure how far off the ground that the Ursa had jumped, but one thing was for certain... At the apex of the jump, one could probably guess that they were at most, 600ft off of the ground. As the Ursa reached it's maximum potential for the jump, it spread out it's limbs. It was very clear what the bear was trying to do. It was trying to pancake Tyra between itself and the ground, and velocity was increasing, fast! The only way Tyra would come out unharmed, was if she could make her way onto his backside, or maybe even just the back of the paw....

Failing to send Tyra back to the ground, the great stone Ursa stopped shaking, and stood still while growling. Tyra was a feisty little fighter, that was definitely certain. If he could not force Tyra off... Then prehaps he could smash her between himself and the ground! Slowly bending his knees as if to lunge for unsuspecting prey, it was then that the stone Ursa started to run forwards, away from the crevice and in the opposite direction, towards the river that surrounded the valley. then, when he had achieved enough distance from the crevice, the bear would then bend it's knees, as if poised to leap....

finally able to climb out of the pit, the great Ursa began to try and shake wildly, like a dog, attempting to knock Tyra off and have her plummet quite a distance. Now that Lorec was on all fours and out of the crevice, it would be a vertical climb for Tyra. Having been struck by Tyra's axe, stone was peeling off and dropping down below, to the ground. However, it almost seemed as if it were of no consequence to Lorec. Still shaking like a wild dog, the great Ursa would do everything to throw Tyra off.

The great stone Ursa was too slow in trying to swat Tyra like a fly on a wall, and his paw crashed upon the ground, sending tremors throughout the entire area. However, this did provide him the opportunity to escape from the crevice that he created, as both paws were on the ground, he began to climb out, not paying attention to Tyra.

Hey, if anyone could come outside for a smoke break/ something else and get Naga into the party, well that'd be just dandy.

As if the earth itself were a snake.... The stone, from where The great golden Ursa had struck it's paw in order to climb upward, had begun to seemingly... Crawl up the Ursa's arm, and slowly started to creep and cover it's entire body, as if the earth itself was his armor. He was quite literally absorbing the earth, and using it as a shell to contain the form he was now in! However, the makeshift stone armor would be weak in some areas around his entire body... Perhaps those could be used as attack points? As he was calling forth the stone to protect himself, Lorec also was still raising his now gargantuan right paw high into the air, attempting to bring it down hard on Tyra! While the impact was certain to have an extreme level of raw, kinetic force, it was also to be an excessively slow attack, given the size of the beast! But had Lorec really become this monster, or, was he controlling it somewhere from within... __________ [KAZAS AND THE OTHERS] Kazas's single eye widened in shock and disbelief. Lorec had finally done it... He had ascended past the second phase of the keepers, and had managed to externalize the wasted energy from soul infusion into maintaining a definitive shape; that of a great Ursa! Kazas, relaxing, had a strange, knowing smile on his face... But why was he so relaxed after appearing so tense? Syuren, still with a hoof around Sifana, dropped his jaw. " holy....." Sifana, immediately stopping all semblance of mourning, looked on in awe. " is that... Papa?" Alrahm, stroking his beard, started to cast a spell, his horn glowing a faint white. From within his robes, a small journal appeared, along with a quill and ink. Floating in air, the book opened, and the quill dabbed itself in the ink, and began to write. Already on the page was a sketch of Lorec, along with some information written down in shorthoof notes. He appeared to be updating this particular section of his logs..... And finally, Vorrin, sitting quietly for the duration of the match, spoke softly. " so, big guy... This really was what you were looking for... Wasn't it..." _____________ [NAGA] the monk had bowed his head as Caliber had taken off, and attempted to resume to talk to the bouncer to get back in... He would try to drop names, would that the bouncer would believe that he knew the ones whose names he would drop. He would wait outside, ears downward and deeply discouraged, hoping that maybe someone could help get him inside...

@@Unicorncob Stage three; externalization. Accepting part of who he is instead of fighting one of his primal characteristics, Lorec has diverted wasted power from the soul infusion into a metaphysical shell, resembling that of an Ursa Major! Can Tyra take on this mighty beast?

The quaking of the earth would eventually cease, and the light from the crevice would eventually fade away. However, it was evident that this silent prelude was but only a calm before the storm. Nothing but dead silence... Without any semblance of warning... A large, golden object came shooting out of the crevice, and seemingly latched on to the edge of the opening. Upon closer inspection, it was a massive paw, slamming down and causing tremors in the surrounding area! The paw itself was massive in scale, nearly rivaling the size of a house in itself! It had smashed into the ground approximately 20 feet away from where Tyra had been knocked away! It was surging with pure energy from the soul, and even seemed somewhat metaphysical! And it was then that this seemingly gargantuan creature poked its head out of the crevice, trying to climb back to ground level for all to see... It was that of an Ursa... An Ursa Major, golden in appearance, with white eyes that could send fear through any prey. Having a clear glimpse of Tyra, the great beast roared with an ungodly amount of force, and closed it's mouth, continuing in snarling. It was then that a deep, distorted version of Lorec's voice could be heard. " Krigare Tyra!!!! Here I am! " It was then that the great golden Ursa pulled up on the Cliff using his left paw, and the right one then came into view, rising from the crevice along with much of the great Ursa's body! The great bear was coming for Tyra!