Minotaurs and that Stuff [Ardere/Aiyana/Job]

Halting for a moment, Ardere's nose twitched. The slight stench of the labyrinth was distracting, but it did not prevent him from smelling the nearby enemies. Drawing his blade, the fire mage began to loosen his cloak. Looks like you might be right, Ai. Responding to the comment from his companion, he did recognize one of the scents; minotaur. The others reminded him of some sort of bird, but with a twist to it. While he was not completely positive on how many enemies were coming, he could tell it was at least 4 or more. As they grew closer and closer, their foot steps began to echo in his ears, but there happened to be less foot steps than enemies from what he could tell, almost as if some of them were flying, or gliding. Hmm. Keep your eyes peeled. Unsheathing the crimson blade tied to his back, he spun the bastard sword between his finger tips. Bending his knees ever so slightly, the guild master looked around. The maze was one of the more eerie and ominous sights he had witnessed in his lifetime, but he felt a sense of security among friends. Perhaps they would not experience the terror of the Cursed Lands as heavily this time.

Instinctively reacting to a whirring in the air, Ardere swiped his blade to the left, snapping an arrow in half flying towards him. The two pieces of the arrow fell to the ground, and he held the flame in his hand outwards, allowing them a bit better vision. In front of them he could spot a group of harpies, from a quick scan they seemed to be half swordsmen and half archers. They did not look particularly powerful, but there was strength in numbers. Gripping his blade tightly, he heated it up. The Coward's Blade came into effect, as Clarent grew a bright red from sheer heat, allowing him to melt through his enemies. Just as he went to charge one of the harpies, he dodged left to avoid an arrow, but something else came pummeling towards him, from the right. Leaping up into the air, his feet found themselves kicking off the concrete just as a large minotaur, one of the labyrinth guardians he presumed, bashed into the wall to his left. As he twirled through the air, the fire mage managed to slice open the minotaur's shoulder as it created a massive crack in the wall, roaring in pain and anger. The sheer force of the charge and roar sent the in mid-air guild master tumbling, but he quickly regained his balance, sliding across the floor. So our enemies have made themselves known. Let's get this show on the road. Charging the minotaur, he spun around harshly, sending his cloak across the beast's front, blinding it. As the beast thrashed and flailed, it was pierced by a searing hot blade. Melting through flesh and bone, the samurai slayed the minotaur before sliding to the side. Allowing his friends some more room to fight, they still had quite a few enemies left to go before this was over.