[Zephyr]

'He's faster than I thought. But not quite fast enough.' Prophet thought to himself as Akira dodged Isa's frontal attack, but fell victim to the flaming blast. However, his grim satisfaction at landing the blow soon faded as it became apparent that Akira was somehow protected from the flames. 'Not only does it not hurt him, but he feels the need to mock me as well. Talk about adding insult to injury', he mused.

"Tap into a stronger source of magic?" he responded, "And have this fight over before it gets inter-". Cut short by Akira's sudden conjuring of a darkness that quickly began enveloping the garden, Prophet grinned. "Forget what I was about to say. This just got interesting."

As the darkness swallowed him, Prophet returned his daggers to their sheaths. Exhaling deeply, he closed his eyes and placed his left hand on the hilt of his katana. He had just started to empty his mind when the drums began to pound. A look of anguish crossed his face, as long-buried memories flashed across his mind. The drums grew louder as Dargarth, barely a man, laid his friend to rest. Anger blazed through him at the sound, and taking up his fallen comrade's dagger, he ran towards the booming. The last remnants of the army that had destroyed his village marched towards him...

Prophet shook his head violently to dispel the vision. Having regained his composure, he tried once more to focus. For just a moment, a calm look passed over his face. With a fluid movement, Prophet drew his katana from it's sheath, spun around, and swung. There was a sound of steel clashing on steel, and momentary sparks flew through the darkness.

'Too slow, you idiot,' Prophet mentally cursed himself as he felt a hot line of pain across one of his cheeks. Stepping back quickly, Prophet removed himself from Akira's reach. "A good tactic," he said wryly. "Unfortunate that here, in this garden, we are surrounded by the very essence of time itself. I can sense the ripples you make in it as you move." 'Although,' he added mentally, 'it's not like I can keep it up for long. I just hope he doesn't realise that.'

To prove his point, Prophet brought his sword around in a tight arc, while he simultaneously channelled time magic into it. A thin curve of blue light exploded from the tip as the sword whistled through the air. The leading edge of the curve - which is actually a small ripple in space-time - was infinitesimally thin, giving it the ability to cut through even the hardest alloys. This thin blade of time sped forth, aimed at where Prophet sensed Akira to be.

(OOC: I strongly recommend dodging that. It cuts through things better than a light-saber)