Before Riff could send his chains at her, she traced a small spell on her palm and blades of sharpened sand and glass rained down on him. There was nowhere to go within the vortex to escape the barrage except for where she stood, and that's exactly where Riff appeared. Close enough to breathe on her, Riff met her eyes with a dark smirk, but it fell as Talamayas tackled him. They struggled in the sand, Vice reaching for the shackles hung on the back of his pants, but Riff saw them and threw sand in his eyes before he rolled out down a dune.

The decline took Riff out from under her wind spell, and Helia slid down in chase, trailing her hand back with a spell of water magics. There was little moisture in the desert, but she dug deep to find an aquifer not too far and lift the mass of water up and over the dune down into the natural valley at its base. It swallowed Riff as Helia grabbed Talamayas' hand and reached for another wind spell to keep them on the surface. It was shaky at best and more so when she realized that the water hadn't buried Riff as much as she wanted. Using his chains, he ran a whirlpool around him, commanding and controlling magic that should not be his, and she had to abandon her position for another dune as the churning waves threatened to take her under.

With the spell magic gone, the water soaked into the sands like water into a sponge, dampening everything at their feet to a steaming mess as the sun fought for dryness. Riff didn't even look like he'd gotten a drop on him, but Helia's use of such powerful magics had him now focusing on her more than Talamayas. One of them had predictable magic, flames and brute strength, while the other could reach into an endless bag of the unknown. That made her more dangerous than Talamayas, and Riff changed focus to cut her down.

One would think Riff would use more caution when he was unsure of her skills, but he didn't. The man came at her like a meteor ready to crush and burn the earth beneath regardless of terrain, slashing for her throat. It was only a sledgehammer of fire magic from Vice and several earthen shields thrusting up from the sands that kept her head attached to her shoulders. And there was no break in Riff's assault. When one of her spells fell, he forced another, shields of earth, clashes of water and wind to try and throw him away, blades of sand and glass, but Riff just kept coming.

It was unreal, like a nightmare.

For some reason, she'd thought she could be useful in a fight against a legendary mage like the first general of the Songs, and she couldn't have been more wrong. Even with powerful magic, she wasn't quicker than him, nor did she know how to fight in close combat situations against a man twice her body mass. That was where Riff liked to be too, so in her space that any missed shield or stumble in the sand would be her death. No one was pulling any punches here, so if Riff hit her, she would be on a one way trip to the void.

Several times, it was only Vice's fist in place of Riff's head that save her, or his torso stopping a blow that would have cracked her head open. The more tired she grew from moving the more the panic set in. Riff sensed it too, his prey floundering, and he took it as a sign to ramp his assault up, like stamina wasn't even a thing to him. Riff never tired, only got faster, stronger, and more lethal.

Chains dug up the sand below her, and at the edge of the dune, she didn't have anywhere secure to jump to. They reached for her legs, and she shoved flames below her too crush the spell, but they solidified the sands below. She couldn't maneuver on the slippery glass as Riff dropped on her from above.

The slash of double chains, hit arms, but they were Vice's as he dropped Talamayas Sol's body between them. With his hands, Vice grabbed Riff's mage weapon and yanked. It pulled Riff off balance, but as soon as he saw his physical chains were a hindrance, he let them go. They faded back into he magic they had come from and Riff darted back.

In that small moment, Helia gasped for breath, the heat of the rising sun baring down on her in a way heat never had. The weaker she got, the more she felt the natural elements. Even if she harnessed flames, if her magic was depleted, she could be burned as much as any other.

"It's okay, Helia." Talamayas' fingers touched her face, but she saw through his crimson eyes to Vice beneath. "Don't be afraid. Though he might look it, Riff isn't limitless. You are doing exceptionally well for your first fight against your kind, and I'm here to protect you should you falter. Take a moment to breathe."

Vice left her then, using all of his force and magic to drop on Riff. With her at his side, Vice had kept his magic close and controlled, but with her out of the way, he released the full force of Talamayas' magic. The sands around Riff and him melted into a pool of glass, and Riff had to flee from the lack of oxygen as Vice took all of the air with it. Blow after blow, Vice commanded the sun, battering away at Riff, but steam filled the air with each blow that spelled out an end. Riff was huge, but he was faster than Vice, better trained the both of them, and experienced in battle against more than one opponent.

No matter how much Vice told her to remain calm, she couldn't help but worry as steam filled the air. Vice was using too much of Talamayas' magic, forcing it out to keep Riff away from her, and it was her fault. If she were stronger or more composed in battle, he wouldn't have to bear the brunt of the fight.

A blow of physical chains struck Talamayas straight in the chest and he fell into the dunes in a puff of steam. When he rose though, it was no longer as he'd fallen. Vice crawled up from the sands sweating, the slick moisture reflecting the sun, and Talamayas' body shrank and slouched away in a puff of steam to reveal Vice's original body. As much as Vice pretended he was Talamayas, he wasn't and his body couldn't handle the vast amount of magic constantly channeled through him. Such unstable magic didn't belong in anything living or undead, but Talamayas Sol had mastered that over the years. Vice had not.

"Another body?" Riff spat with a frustrated grind of his teeth. "How many skins do you wear, vampire? Allow me to peel your last one off." Riff thrust chains for Vice, and he dodged by rolling down a small dune, but he couldn't pick himself up well enough before Riff was on him again.

With few spells left in her arsenal, Helia reached for one of the strongest that she'd been waiting to use to hit Riff when she saw an opening. There were no openings with the man though, so she might as well use it to cut him off from Vice. Bolts of lightning surged up into her fingers and she struck them between Riff and Vice to stop his advance. Shards of glass and sand flew into the air, but Riff didn't bother with the debris except to cover his face and eyes with a bracer. The small cuts that shredded his attire meant nothing to him if he could fell his opponent, and he was on Vice as soon as the dust settled.

"It's time you die, beast." Riff growled, his chains slithering up on all sides of Vice as he picked himself up onto his feet. Vice circled to look for an escape, but there was no where to go and he was out of energy to fight back. "You're out of tricks."

"Vice!" Helia called to him as she tried to go for Riff's back, but her knees wobbled and her vision wavered as she fell. Just like Vice, her body had been channeling energy that was too powerful for her to manage on her own, and her muscles screamed for mercy. It left her sand-locked with her eyes wide as the chains ran Vice's body, circling his limbs, delving into his flesh and piercing down through his eyes to devour him from the inside out.

Helia expected blood, some sort of scream perhaps, or for Vice to jerk like a puppet on strings. Instead, Riff's eyes grew distant, his shoulders sagged, and he stared off dazed into oblivion long enough for another Vice to drop down, pull Riff's wrists behind his back, and shackle them. With no hesitation, Vice shoved his hand into Riff's mouth and yanked out what looked to be a tooth. It was a poison capsule, she realized, as Vice crushed it into the sand. All infiltrators had a means to kill themselves if captured, and as rabid as Riff was, it was no doubt he'd use it.

By the time the light returned to Riff's eyes, his ankles and wrists were bound, and he struggled in the sands with confusion on how he'd ended up that way. Helia was still confused. By all accounts, they'd lost. Riff had overpowered the both of them, triumphed over Vice, grabbed onto soul with his chains, but then his consciousness had just checked out.

"No!" Riff screamed into the sands, using his legs to bring himself to his knees. It had his face in the sands as he glared up at where Vice stood in duplicate. "I chained you! I felt them enter your body! How?"

"You are powerful Riff, perhaps the strongest mage alive if one is to measure, but you are just that, living. Your great magic gives you control over that of this world, of which, I am not. With your chains, you reached into something uncontrollable and indomitable. The void. Many get lost within its distorted time. Even I myself fell into it and barely made it out with Helia Cinder's help."

Stone had switched with Ghost in the chaos of glass and sand from her lightning spell. Had him using too much magic and losing his guise of Talamayas been planned? To lure Riff closer when he saw a wounded animal too weak to fight death? Even if it had been, it had exhausted them both. Ghost slumped against Stone, leaning on his other half just to stay standing, but they'd somehow captured Riff. That trick wouldn't work twice though, so they better keep him in chains until they found a nice dungeon.

"Kill me," Riff demanded after he'd searched his mouth and realized his escape from this was gone. "At least be honorable about defeating me, vampire. There is no information Talamayas Sol can glean from me with my people fallen. All that awaits me is cruel torture, and I will not be a new toy for him."

"I cannot kill you, Riff Song," Vice said, though gently, like he was apologizing.

"Too loyal to that shit master of yours?" Riff scoffed as he rolled on his side to get his chin off the hot sands. Staring up into the skies, his grey eyes dimmed like he was powering down. "This is a shit way for my life to end."

"I am loyal to my master, Riff, to Wren Sol. If I kill you, he will suffer unimaginable emotional pain. Even if you are opposing each other, you are friends, comrades, and family. Wren doesn't want you dead as much as Harper doesn't."

"Harper," the name had Riff snapping rage in Vice's direction. "You speak of him as if he lives."

"Yes. Harper is in the castle with his son, Cadence. Talamayas found Cadence lost in the sands, and Wren was caring for him until he could find a means to return him home. They expected your attacks but hoped to diffuse the situation without loss of life. I apologize for the lies I uttered to rile you, but I needed you to focus on me over Helia for most of the fight."

"Fuck off, vampire." Riff didn't put much oomph into the curse as he sank in defeat. "Don't waste your time on such lies. Just put me in the cells with Harper. At least I can die knowing I'll suffer as Wren did. It's the least I can do for not being there when he needed me most."

The way Riff deflated had Helia worried that he meant to strike when they dropped their guard. With how, out of the three of them, Stone was the only one on his feet, it was very possible. Magic or not, he had enough muscle to take down a rhino and he'd die hopping as long as he took one of them with him.

"All we need do is keep him here. I will fetch Shan," Ghost said to Helia, leaning off Stone with a huff of renewed purpose.

Ghost disappeared as he headed back to the castle, and Helia remained seated on the sands. Her mage skirts keeping the worst of the heat from searing her skin, but her heart was well burnt. Never in her life had she felt so useless, even with all of her great power. It was eye opening though, how far she had to go to reach the heights that Riff danced upon. Being a grand mage meant nothing if she could only be so against vampires. Helia needed to learn to fight her own, as daunting as that was. No matter how much they tried to pretend that vampires were the only enemy, humans were just as treacherous.

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