Once Caio had climbed onto Énbarr, the nightmare carried them both into the sky at a gallop, high above the city and the river. Though initially dizzying, Shiva adjusts to the altitude and focuses on following the flow of the river. Once the fog rolls in, however, she finds herself cursing beneath her breath as she struggles to make heads or tails of anything below.

Down on the riverbank, Shiva can barely see the racing figure of Zadkiel, matching Énbarr's pace as she carries Alaris and Astrid. She can just make out the words Astrid shouts to her, and attempts to augment her voice to make sure that she's heard. "G̵̨͛͑̅̓o̸͓̊t̴̛͚̫͛ ̵̨͍̹͉̊͑̍̈́i̵̱͔̇͛͠t̵̪͕̜͒!̷̿ͅ" The sounds that leave Shiva's mouth are a weave of both human and inhuman voices, and she recoils from the noise. She leans back to Caio with a chuckle, "Whoops." Leaning out, she yells to Astrid in her normal voice. "Got it! We'll handle it!

Once more leaning back to Caio, she still needs to yell to be heard over the wind. "Think you can cover Énbarr's flames with shadow? I should be able to see through any darkness you make. Now we need to figure out how the hells we're going to spot the ****ers through all this fog!"

Caio sits behind Shiva on her flaming steed, arrow notched with no target in sight. “I could, though we have the advantage of speed and flight…” He says, more occupied with methodically scanning any amorphous form he can discern in the thick fog

Alaris leans down against Zadkiel's neck as she rushes along the riverside, her massive hooves thudding into the turf. "You're doing marvelously, darling... I promise no riding for a week if we make it out of this."

Through the swirling mist, Caio can make out the mast and hull of the longboat gliding silently through the fog, heading downstream towards the sea. However, it seems that their approach has not gone unnoticed and a black cloud is streaking up towards Énbarr. Cawing fills the air and it quickly becomes apparent that the black cloud is a murder of crows. They harry the nightmare and her riders mercilessly and, as they draw in close to Shiva and Caio, the two can see that these birds are also undead.

Énbarr takes graceful evasive maneuvers as the murder closes in on them, weaving through the sky and trying to get the undead corvids off their tail. But their relentlessness combined with the fog almost causes her to lose track of the longboat, and Shiva's frustration mounts with each dive and turn away from the birds. She struggles to think of a method to be rid of them, as her lightning would do harm to both Caio and Énbarr. Then the ring comes to mind. It had teleported her, it should be able to teleport other things as well. 

Reaching out towards the cacophonous squawking, she focuses with the ring. "**** off."  

Electricity begins to build in the air around the nightmare, and before Shiva can react, the hellish horse and her riders disappear in a flash of heat and light.    

The world twists and spins, pivoting around the spacial fulcrum that Shiva wears on her finger as though it were the only fixed point in the entire universe. One moment Shiva, Énbarr and Caio are surrounded by rotting birds and, the next, the world has repositioned itself around them such that they are starboard of the longship. To Alaris and Astrid, their companions seem to twist in on themselves, vanishing into an infinitesimal point, before unfolding from a similar singularity adjacent to the Norscan ship. What was once a sign over the door now hangs on the bow and simply reads The Ravager. The sails are full and billowing, carrying the vessel with the current downstream to the sea. Several muscular, tattooed Norscan warriors stand on deck surrounding a beautiful raven-haired woman clad in wolfs' skins and leather armour. Her eyes are clouded over purple.

Caio braces himself as Shiva channels the reality warping power of the ring, emerging from the singularity with a grimace and his arrow still drawn. His eyes take in the details of the Norscan party rapidly and settle on the concentrating spellcaster. "Focus the witch!" he shouts and lets fly the arrow at the woman.

The shock and disorientation of their teleportation in the place of the murder is disregarded as best as Shiva can manage as she comprehends their new position and the enemies they now stand before. She reaches out her hand towards the figure in the center of the warriors, and only notices once her lightning is already rending through the air towards them that the person is a beautiful woman. 

She feels an ache in her heart that she has neither the time nor the willingness to investigate, instead throwing her head towards the shoreline. "NOW!!!"

On the shoreline, a mighty transformation began the moment Alaris saw the murder of crows swarm their friends. Crackling divine energy courses over their face and hair and armor. Where it touches Astrid, the power is soothing rather than searing, reminding the dwarf of days of love and light. Luminous wings burst forth from the paladin's shoulders and for a moment, Astrid fears being knocked right off the back of the warhorse, but the incorporeal wings pass right over and through her, filling the priestess of time even more richly with the spirit of Hope.

"Zadkiel, take care of yourself. Keep your eye on the longboat and stay close, but protect yourself. Astrid, hang on tight!" Alaris hefts Hope's Edge in one hand and their lightning javelin in the other, and with a prayer for strength, they drive themselves into the air and towards the Norscans with massive wingstrokes. The cool air and fog, and the dwarf's arm around their waist, drags them downward and each wingbeat is more painful than the last.

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Caio braces himself as Shiva channels the reality warping power of the ring, emerging from the singularity with a grimace and his arrow still drawn. His eyes take in the details of the Norscan party rapidly and settle on the concentrating spellcaster. "Focus the witch!" he shouts and lets fly the arrow at the woman.

 
Caio looses his arrow and the 'witch' raises her hand in a sharp snapping motion. The head punches through the centre of her palm, upon which she grasps the shaft and pulls. As though connected by a chain of invisible power following the path of his arrow, Caio is yanked from Énbarr's back and sent sprawling across the deck of the ship. Angry Norscans loom over the elf on all sides.

Moments later, Shiva's lightning strikes the woman in the shoulder and she cries out in anger. The mist begins to clear and she locks eyes with Shiva, ready to do battle.

Shiva leaps off of Énbarr the second that Caio's body slams onto the longboat's deck, flying through the air before landing squarely onto the accursed vessel with a thud. Within her, she reaches out to the nightmare. "Get to safety. I'll call for you when it's over."

Facing down the imposing, tattooed Norscans, she lets out a bestial roar and reaches both of her arms towards them. Electricity builds, vacillating between her muscular appendages with alarming speed. The energy is then released, superheating the air and causing a loud boom as it is fired directly at the men.   

Lightning crackles and arcs amongst the Norscans. Those closest to Shiva are left singed, but it seems that her efforts have been spread too thin to have significant effect. The men turn, scowling, towards the Tiefling, their tattoos glowing with a fell purple light... and then they are upon her. Axes strike out at Shiva, even as the Norscan shields close against her, heavy boots threatening to trample Caio underfoot.

Alaris drives their wings to get to the stern of the longboat. "Astrid - let go! Go help them. I'm hunting the witch."

When the dwarf drops to the deck, the relief is palpable as Alaris lashes their wings in one more fierce wingbeat, driving themselves at the witch. Radiant energy coruscates across their body, down Hope's Edge, and bursts into a blinding light that reminds the witch of something she has forgotten - that there are forces in this world that will always rise up to protect Life!

     "Just drop me behind the others!"

     Astrid wraps her arms around the waist of Alaris they take flight for the boat, burying her face into their armor as the dwarf does not want to watch the ground move below them. Once back on firm footing, the dwarf quickly composes herself and one hand goes to her holy symbol while the other is outstretched toward the group of Norscans. 

     "Brightmantle, slow their blades!" An oppressive wave of energy falls over their foes.

Caio hits the deck and rolls, his armor absorbing most of the impact. Suddenly on his back and surrounded by hulking, tattooed Norscans, Caio dares a smirk. “This is almost appealing.” The brutes don’t have time to process his flirtatious quip before Shiva slams into the deck and discharges into the hoard. As they charge her, their feet fall through wisps of shadow instead of Caio’s prone body.

The knight and the priest join a moment later, Alaris descending from the heavens with blinding brilliance. The illumination cast on the woman grows even more stark in Alaris’ eyes as a wall of black rises behind her like an inverted silhouette. Then there’s a flash as Caio’s sword catches their light and swipes horizontally as if the woman were a sapling and Caio were a lumberjack.

Caio's strike from the shadows is precise and deadly, but the Norscan woman's sword is in her hand as quickly as the elf can move. Parrying the inquisitor's long blade such that it glides past her, the witch dances between Caio and Alaris, but her expression is no longer as ethereal and serene as it was a few moments ago. Avoiding the blow has clearly cost her something.

Across the deck, the majority of the crew find themselves caught in time as Astrid invokes her God's power. Their limbs drift in slow motion as they fight in vain against the temporal distortion.

As the muscled cretins rush Shiva, she takes a deep breath and pulls gently from the demon. Their footfalls seem to slow as the world comes into a familiar, sharp focus. The light of Alaris's divine power illuminates the deck of the ship in the night, and the tiefling is able to anticipate the trajectory of the rushing blades that seek to end her. With the grace of a dancer, she weaves between the many axes, several mere centimeters from her arteries and tendons as she deftly avoids the onslaught.

Then the movements of the men grow sluggish as Astrid's magic takes hold, eventually slowing to a crawl as they visibly struggle against it. Shiva bears her fangs in a maniacal smile, her black claws extending from her fingers. But as she goes to tear at her enemies, she finds that her muscles begin to lock up as well as her movements slow. Straining to look up, she sees Astrid beginning to sweat while she controls the flow of her time magic. Full control of Shiva's body is returned to her, and without hesitation her claws find the flesh and bone of her enemies with horrific strength. 

The quicksilver parry from the Norscan necromancer furrows Alaris' brow with a moment of concern as the winged meteor hurtles towards her. "See the Light and remember what could have been!" the bogatyr cries out before they lash out with their glaive in a downward diagonal swing! Passing in a flash, the warrior executes a neat wingover to turn back towards the caster and prepare for another attack.

Caio circles around the woman as Alaris flares past, never leaving the shadow cast by their radiance. He swings but again the witch parries, her supernatural strength straining against the weight of Caio's blade. As she glares into the shadar-kai's obsidian eyes, her own gaze bursts with purple flame and that same dark magic is reflected into Caio's eyes where it begins to burn as well.

"Extinguish the light." she commands, the words driving into the inquisitor's brain like nails. Caio turns to Alaris as they rise, shining brilliantly. The woman's words throb in Caio's mind, sickly sweet. Extinguish... the.... He tightens his grip on his sword, its blade now thirsting for celestial blood. 

Suddenly the elven runes scrawled across Caio's face flare, and the purple flames beginning to take hold in the dark of his eyes are snuffed out. Caio's attention returns to the witch and he tuts in disappointment. "You're outmatched. Surrender or perish."

"Thrym's beard, what is your problem?" The Norscan woman demands, twirling out of the blade lock to glare at Caio and Alaris. Her sword sways before her in a wary guard.