Semari growled at the mist, swinging a staff at it in warning. She’d driven them into the ground at regular distances, in case she needed a backup. Parth had gone into a magical trance in her grassy circle, adapting a cross-legged position, her eyes open and burning with green energy, even while the grass rustled and whispered, visibly growing, starting to wrap around the dragon’s legs, creeping up its body, binding it further. The mist was broiling and seething, bristling with spikes and anger, obviously unhappy about whatever Parth was doing. A clump drifted away from the mass, moving closer to Parth.

‘Oi! Stay back, ya misty bastard!’ Semari charged, swinging the staff, green energy flaring into life. She twisted and spun it, trying to shove it into the mist as many times as possible. Damn mist wasn’t even a monster with a body, just a weird magical-curse-thing! The blob pulled back slightly, moving away as she kept the pressure on. Another lash crept around her, until she spun and thrust, dragging and snapping the lash, the rest quickly fading. ‘Yeah, take that!’

The grass spell-circle was now full-grown, grass coming up to Semari’s waist, meadowflowers now blossoming to fullness. The smell was nice, even as vines and tendrils grew over the rest of the dragon. Maybe she was going to turn it into a plant-statue-golem-thing? Although that wasn’t very Parth-like. ‘Hey, no sneaking!’ She pivoted, twisting the staff in a motion like she’d seen with Misutira mopping the floor, twirling the end through the mist and breaking it apart into tiny wisps, that quickly faded away.

It wasn’t happy, the bulk slowly creeping forward as more and more strands quested out in front. As quickly as she could, Semari kept attacking, keeping the pressure on with sheer weight of attacks. She plunged it into the mist again, drawing it out again to find it grey and heavy, the wood now petrified into heavy stone. She threw it as hard as she could, hard enough to make a tiny tunnel through the mist, which quickly sealed itself. Grabbing another staff, she returned to the attack, still spinning and twisting, hard enough that the breeze trailing in her wake rustled the grass. Lengths of mist arced over her head, clearly aiming for Parth.

‘Nice try!’ She jumped high, spinning around and knocking it back with a strike, landing on the edge of the grass circle. Parth’s eyes were burning with power, the dragon now all-but-consumed beneath a tide of greenery, heavy vines bursting into flowers, large thorns brushing against the stone. With glacial slowness, Parth’s hand moved through some arcane pattern, green energy starting to trail up the vines, seeping into the dull grey stone. A touch of colour returned to its hide of the dragon, faintest touch of red starting to appear beneath the grey. The air started to grow hot, as rumbling sounded forth, petals and leaves starting to shake loose from some of the plants.

A lance of mist shot out, Semari barely reacting in time, stabbing the staff upwards and hitting the mist and diverting it from its path, but not before some of it had touched the mass of vines around the body, dirty grey polluting the vivid green. ‘Parth, do whatever you’re doing fast, the mist’s getting pissy!’

The rumbles intensified, even more heat coming out, pushing the mist back for a brief moment. Semari fumbled for another staff, as a cold pain seared her ankle. She glanced down to see a strand was wrapped around her ankle, the bark covering her skin turning grey and cold, petrified into inflexible stone. ‘You’re not getting past me!’ She staggered to the side, batting back another misty lance, tucking the staff under one arm, other hand in a fist.

By now, the mist had encircled them completely, driving Semari back towards the circle of greenery, trying to prevent the further approach of the mist. Another branch drifted across her arm, the petrified bark on her body snapping and crunching as she moved, breaking off in gritty clumps. Semari stepped back onto the circle, the weeds scratching at her painfully, but still better than getting turned to stone. She risked looking back, glimpsing Parth’s mouth slowly moving, the heat getting fiercer, some of the plants starting to wilt, as the thorns and vines tightened themselves around the stone. More coldness spread through her, her bark-covered skin now withered and stiff.

She slammed her bracer against her chest, feeling the burning scorch of the lightning, powering her up, but it damn well hurt! Why couldn’t she have cool, easy magic, that didn’t hurt? The power flowed into her, extra speed and strength, as she punched, a push of air enough to destroy a small blob of the stuff.

A mass was building to her side, a thick clump of the stuff, small wisps already probing out, heading towards Parth. ‘No you goddam don’t!’ Semari picked up the last staff, furiously battering away at the mist, the clump dense enough to resist her attacks, merely shedding some of its mass. As the staff turned to stone, she swung it a final time, before flinging it as an attack.

The leading edge of the mist had rolled over the grass circle, some of it petrifying into stone as it headed straight for Parth. ‘Stay away from my friend, you weird misty bastard!’ That it didn’t respond was annoying, a fight where the enemy didn’t fight back or do anything was weird. At least zombies splattered, but this was just annoying. She jumped in front of it, striking with fists and feet, feeling the core of something in there, something more solid than mist, as it recoiled from her strikes, while her limbs chilled and froze, turning heavy and leaden. It fell back, as a groaning rumble came from the dragon, more of the vines scorching and burning, while Parth continued to mouth her silent words.

The blob shot forward, striking for Parth. Semari jumped in the way. ‘You’re not getting past me!’ She spread her arms wide, as through grappling a charging enemy, trying to wrestle fog, managing to slow it. ‘She’s my friend, I’m not letting you past!’ She punched her bracer again, feeling the sting of the lightning as her flesh was scorched, power forcing her to stay conscious. A chill, penetrating cold sank into her body, sensation fleeing. Still, she twisted, forcing her stony limbs to move, lightning tracing over limbs, trying to grab the mist and keep it contained, even as the numbing feeling moved up onto her chest, then her face, stony darkness overtaking her.