“Sorry,” she said.
“With elves being united and my family issues, I get a little touchy. Just call me Sarris,” she said.
“Even my former maid calls me that or something worse,” she said then laughed,

With her usual teasing she was on her broom and airborne in a heartbeat. She had spent days practicing that move. Good for getting away in a pinch. Also a good way to make the boys chase you.
Fireclaw let out a grown of disapproval then started to ready himself for flight.
Birds, Rabbits, skunks, squirrels, and the wolves all started flying or running the other way.
Cyran would be airborne before the Drake.
Sarris felt it was her duty to make sure Fireclaw knew that he was not in charge.
Sarris on the other hand did not think about the fact that Fireclaw was a could hundred years older than she was, had four times the brain mass that she had, understood more languages, and could read, though turn the pages was a bit hard.

Sarris flew slow enough that they would catch her before she reached the nest. She had thought that the insects might attack something flying to protect the hive.

“It’s no problem at all.” Cyran replied to her apology. He understood all too well what it was like to have an issue with one’s family, and he would not begrudge her her reaction. “The unification of the elves has a lot of people on edge.” He did not elaborate on why it might make people nervous- even as a moon elf himself, his own feelings on the unification didn’t matter, when this shift would cause tension that affected the common folk.

He waited a moment while Sarris got on her broom, and Fireclaw roused itself from its resting position. He flew ahead, scouting the area, with Sarris flying slow enough to keep an eye out for any of the luminescent plants, as well as any of the wasps. Even in the darkness, Cyran’s eyes were keen, and he managed to keep his eyes out for any wasps or nests that might be lurking in the shadows.

Sarris seemed to have the idea to fly around and lure out any of the creatures in the sky, but Cyran didn’t have the energy to keep using his wings forever, so he would wait until he lured out any of the wasps before landing near the nests and taking care of the pests on solid ground. After a few minutes of flying- Cyran going first, Sarris trailing behind, and Fireclaw taking up the end- did Cyran spot something in the shade beneath one of the trees. A dark lump that might have been a nest, with a couple of buzzing figures fluttering around luminous spots on the ground.

“Looks like there’s a nest down there!” He called.

“I see it,” she said as she slowed and turned looking for a place to land close to the nest but far enough that she would not be swarmed before reaching the ground.
Her plan was not to be attacked till she had a good attack of her own.
She did not have fire, she could not make a flood, she could have Fireclaw burn the forest but that seemed like a bad idea at this point.

She waited for Cyran who seemed much more maneuverable than she was.
“There seems to be activity in that nest,” she said looking to find out what plan Cyran had worked up.

Sarris had one trump card. That was to make it cold and snow. This was not her strongest magic. She could turn into an animal like a bear or a badger. She had seen them attack bee and hornet nests and not be impacted by being bit or stung. It was not much to go with but it was better than shooting an arrow into the nest and running.

He did not have the energy to keep up his wings forever, so when Sarris confirmed that she’d seen it, Cyran had no choice but to land and continue this fight on ground. He had less maneuverability this way, but he couldn’t stay in the air indefinitely. As he landed, he drew closer to the hornet’s nest, getting a proper look at it. These creatures were far bigger than normal insects, and had bulging eyes and large stingers that looked like they could pierce through his flesh as easily as tearing through paper. He’d have to be careful.

One of the hornets dove for him, attempting to stab at him with its stinger. Cyran hit the ground and rolled out of the way, raising up Cold Steel and slicing it across one of its wings.^[1] Ice splintered out from the cut until the wing froze entirely, preventing the wasp from staying airborne. The creature fell to the ground with a harsh buzzing noise, still gunning for blood but unable to quench its thirst. From his hood, Cyran felt the vampire bat finally stir, flying out from its hiding place to attack and drain the blood of the wasp, who could no longer fight back against the assault.

That was one creature handled, but there was still an entire angry swarm to go. Cyran glanced up at Sarris, who was still hovering in the air. He could fight off these creatures, but they would just keep coming unless someone dispatched the nest. He hoped she had something up her sleeve that could take care of the large construction. Until then, he would draw them off and provide support from down here as a distraction.

---

1. Ice Rune

Sarris was a bit horrified as one of the Hornets dived at Cyran. Hornets were bad, but these were large and looked mean.

Sarris only had one trick that would work at this point. Cold and snow. That would allow them to attack the nest with the hornets moving slowly.

Raising her arms, she spoke in a loud tone casting her snow squall spell. Slowly cold winds started to blow in and snow started to fall.

From around the forest buzzing could be heard as the large hornets returned to their nest. The moved slowly and laboriously as they flew. Sarris watched to make sure that Cyran was safe.

When the last of the hornets returned to their nest, Sarris grabbed her broom and jumped from Fireclaw's back. Flying in the snow was a bit of a challenge but she concentrated on keeping the whiteout up long enough till they could deal with the nest.

Just as Cyran was about to fight off another hornet when, all of a sudden, snow began to fall from the sky in rivulets, cold air blowing in much like the frigid regions of Frostgale. The hornet froze at the same time Cyran did, shocked at the sudden change in temperature. Cyran glanced up to see Sarris hovering above, a worried expression on her face that didn’t lessen even as the hornets began to retreat into their nest, clearly unused to the cold and unsure what to do.

“Thank you for the assistance.” He said, grateful that she’d managed to contain them to the nest for now. But they weren’t out of the woods yet- the creatures needed to be taken care of, and there wasn’t much Cyran could to in terms of destructive magic. His abilities focused on quick, well-timed strikes at weak spots. Perhaps the same would apply here, if only he could figure out where the weak spot was… he was not versed in how hornets nests were made, but perhaps there was some way to knock it out of the trees before destroying it.

Well, there was no time to learn like the present- Cyran pointed a finger up at one of the spots where the nest connected with the branches of a nearby tree, blasting it with a miasma of dark energy that would hopefully erode away the structure and weaken it.

---

1. Chaos Bolt

Sarris smile a worried smile. As Cyran thanked her for her help.

The spell that Cyran cast made her uncomfortable. To the point that the ring on her finger with the angelic being made its presence known.

The spell did its work and the nest dropped falling to the ground and bouncing twice. The cold was still active, but the snow had begun to taper off.
"It will be a little bit before I can make it snow again," Sarris suggested.

From the mouth of the nest angry eyes looked out at them. The face of the insect looked mad, even their smaller cousins looked mad. It moved its mandibles and antenna, sniffing the air for scents of those attacking it.

The eyes were about the size of Sarris' fist and the mandibles were long and sharp. The nest looked as if it could hold about ten of them. Probably less with the queen being in there. Queens tended to be bigger.

"They say that drowning or fire will work the best on them. Cold will do it too, but it will kill the plants too. And it would take me days casting to keeping it cold enough," Sarris said looking for some advice on what to do next.
"They will probably stay to the ground with the cold at the moment," She said.
"We could try to attack the nest and start slashing at it," Sarris suggested. She did not want to get close to the nest she had been stunk enough in her life.

Sarris eventually flashed him a nervous smile, one that Cyran couldn’t quite pinpoint as the spell did its job, eroding just enough to force the nest to fall from the trees. She suggested burning or drowning it, neither of which were options that Cyran possessed, unless he wanted to pick it up and carry it all the way to the nearest body of water. Considering the angry hornets that lay in wait inside, Cyran wasn’t really a fan of that option.

“I suppose our best plan of action is attacking it while they’re still stunned.” Cyran mused. He didn’t have much in terms of raw power, but he had a dagger that would probably do the trick and keep the insects from attacking. He pulled out Mercy’s Lament, the dagger thrumming with a dark energy that seemed to disrupt the very air around it. It was not a dagger he particularly enjoyed using, but it would do the trick for now. Those who were hit by Mercy’s Lament were filled with visions of death that they couldn’t shake off, which would prevent them from retaliating as Cyran slashed up their nest.

“You can stay back, if you’d prefer.” Cyran nodded respectfully to her before setting off at the task of cutting up the nest, slashing at the insects inside. It was a small miracle none of the insects inside made any move- until Cyran got to the queen.

Just as he was about to bring the dagger down on her, the insect darted out, stabbing him in the hand with her stinger. Cyran yelped in pain, stumbling back as the queen flew into the air, getting ready to strike him again.

Where his spell had bugged her ring, the dagger made her finger hurt.
"Ow," she said as her ring got hot on her finger.

"I think I should stay back and use a little magic," she said giving the dagger a worried look.
"My cursed ring does not like that dagger," she added. She needed a little more time before she could make it snow again.

She whispered a quick prayer to Lunala and Ginma for protection for the two of them. Not being very religious, this seemed as strange to her as anyone listening to her. This was a desperate situation.

As Cyran did his work, Sarris listened as another drone started to lumber in heading towards where the nest should be. As the queen started to defend her children, Sarris in a loud voice called forth an earth elemental. She sent it to pull the nest and any remaining insects with it down into the earth. After a moment, the incoming drone made contact with the elemental. The elemental grabbed it. The stings did some damage to the elemental, but the elemental just crushed the insect as it bit into it's arm.

Sarris called out to Cyran, "He will help protect you."

Cyran wore a thoughtful frown on his face as Sarris mentioned that her ring didn’t like his dagger. He couldn’t blame her- the dagger itself was a horrid, cursed thing, and one he didn’t particularly like using unless he had to. He would put it away and tuck it just out of her sight once he had the opportunity. At least, that was what he was planning on doing, until the queen jumped out from the nest and knocked the dagger out of his hand as she injured him. Cyran ducked and rolled backwards, patting down his pockets for one of his other weapons, when from behind he heard Sarris mutter something out of his breath, and the earth sprang up to his aid.

The insect struck true against the earthen elemental, which seemed to shrug off the attack as if it was nothing. Cyran’s eyes widened as the elemental grabbed both sides of the insect, applying enough pressure to crush the hornet between its hands. Cyran didn’t have much time to be in awe at the feat of magic as Sarris called out to him spurring him back to action.

He stood, brushing himself off and continuing back towards the nest. With their queen gone, the other hornets didn’t make much move to attack the elves or the elemental, and the ones that attempted to were knocked aside by the elemental while Cyran figured out how to dispose of the nest. Eventually, he pulled out Cold Steel, the blade with the ice enchantment- a dagger that did not thrum with dark magic like the first. The ice would hopefully chill the nest and prevent any further wasps from jumping out while the elemental protected him.

It was slow work, but eventually, he managed to render the nest into small pieces, effectively destroying it. He straightened, turning to Sarris as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “We’ve done it.”