"Rattletrap!" shouted the Clockwork Goblin as he appeared in the radiant fountain. All around him, his erstwhile allies were arriving too. The Radiant had called, and five of it's champions had answered. The armoured keen looked around. A large, rotund creature beside him swigged from its barrel, splashing some heady drink down it's front. Mangix the Brewmaster.
"A fun guy to be around!" Rattletrap grinned inside his helmet.
On his other side, a floating ball of pure light moved to the panda. Io, the Guardian Wisp. Another good hero to have. Rattletrap flexed his hook arm, this was going to be a good one. Natures Prophet stroked his beard as he looked at the shopkeeper's wares, already deciding his future purchases. And finally, Rattletrap noted with interest, the final hero arrived. A relative newcomer, yet already proven to be a formidable fighter, Xin the Ember Spirit.
"Welcome friends" Natures Prophet spoke, his tones rich and gravelly. "We must decide how we shall deal with the Dire foe."
"I think it apparent that I shall take the lane in the middle of the battlefield." Ember Spirit spoke, at once confidant and wise.
Clockwerk spoke up. "Hey Prophet! We all know where you wanna go. I'll offlane."
Furion nodded his thanks.
"I guess that leaves the Wisp and I as drinking partners eh!" The jolly Brewmaster guffawed.
The Wisp said nothing, but made a tinkling humming noise.
"See you around fella's!" Clockwerk waved to his comrades as he made his way to the edge of the Radiant camp. All around him, the soldiers of the Radiant were stirring, being slowly animated by the deity that resided in the ancient monolith situated in the centre of the stronghold. The warriors were spirits, created by the Radiant from natural elements. When their bodies were destroyed, their spirits simply returned to the Ancient, ready to be used in the crafting of more soldiers.
Clockwerk followed the path to the pathway jocularly referred to as the "suicide lane" by the Radiant heroes. The Towers he passed floated gently on their pedestals, seemingly nothing more than beautiful constructs. Rattletrap had seen his fair share of heroes killed from underestimating a Tower. The "creeps" as they were called, followed behind him, mindless in their intent to destroy the Dire. As soon as they spotted the Dire troglodytes, the Radiant warriors threw themselves forward to battle. Clockwerk hung back a bit, waiting to see his foes before heading into danger.
"Come on you ugly nightmares! Show yourselves" He called tauntingly.
A high-pitched cackle answered his insult.
"Nightmares are exactly what I am, little Keen." from behind the creeps appeared a twisted, nightmarish creature. It had no eyes to speak of, it twitched grotesquely and floated along, it's cloven hooves not touching the ground. The Bane Elemental. Following the monster towards the clump of struggling soldiers, a hulking figure moved. Ostarion, the Wraith King.
Clockwerk cursed, it was said the unholy king had grown even stronger since his transformation from bone to spirit.
Squaring his shoulders, the armoured Keen cautiously began his deadly dance with the fiends. Kill a creep, move to safety, deny a creep, move to safety, toss out his cogs to push them away. Avoid death. Rinse and repeat.
Mangix happily stood just behind his allied soldiers. Whenever a Dire creep seemed on the verge of death, a swift strike from the panda's flail would finish it off. The Wisp moved constantly, darting forward to send a ball of light towards the two Dire heroes and retreating. Luckily, the Dire had fielded two melee warriors. The powerful Magnoceros, and the Nyx Assassin. Whenever struck by the Wisp, the insect would hiss and skitter furiously. Magnus bore his sniping stoically, slaying the Radiant creeps with almost as much impunity as the Brewmaster. If Io knew it would be one the Nyx Assassin's primary targets, it gave no sign. Together, the two Radiant Heroes beat back the Dire, pushing the waves towards the enemies own Tower. At an unseen signal, the two foes decided enough was enough, and together unleashed their powers.
Magnus swung his spear in a great arc, and a shockwave of lightning split the ground, travelling towards the Radiant forces. At the same time, the Assassin struck it's claws at the ground, causing a burst of spikes to erupt from the earth. The creeps were struck violently, being flung to the ground by the lightning before being gruesomely impaled by the spikes. The Brewmaster, readying himself for a kill, was hit by the combo. Temporarily staggered by the spells, he reeled drunkenly. The enemy saw this, and ran in to attack. Wisp who had temporarily gone to visit the side shop, emerged and gathered about him four balls of pure light, they circled him, spinning faster and faster. As Brewmaster gained his balance groggily, he was slashed by Nyx Assassin's claws, and Magnus stabbed him in the gut with his spear. The Guardian Wisp tethered to the injured hero's side, and the four orbs collided with Magnus and Nyx Assassin. The foe retreated, Nyx Assassin spitting curses at the ball of light. The two Radiant heroes moved back, Brewmaster panting heavily. He collapsed, wheezing. Blood ran from his injuries. Slowly, and with much fumbling, he removed a green potion from his stash and downed it. His wounds gradually healed, and the wheezing stopped. A sigh of relief emerged from Mangix. With a grimace, he stood up.
"I thank you, my glowing friend." He didn't sound remotely amused anymore. "Let us return." The Wisp merely floated beside him, buzzing.
Xin moved with fiery purpose, every part of him alert and concentrated. He moved lightly, always out of reach of his enemy. He would dance forward and slay a creep, then dance back. It was a deadly dance, the dance of the middle lane.
"Especially with someone as deadly as her." Xin thought with a hint of a smile.
Akasha, the Queen of Pain, stood on the Dire side. Every bit as beautiful as she was evil, the succubus smiled seductively at the elemental.
The two heroes competed viciously for dominance of the lane. Already Xin had been struck twice by her cursed dagger, and he was feeling the pain even after having consumed two tangoes. However, his gold was at a considerable amount.
"This is going well, all things considered." Ember Spirit decided with satisfaction. at last, the courier arrived and stood by his Tower. Walking over, Xin fished out the enchanted bottle from the cargo on the little donkey's back.
"Thank you friend, now back you go." With that, Xin ran back to his lane. Deciding he had played passively long enough, he activated his flame guard. At once, searing flames surrounded the elemental, and he ran into the throng of battling creeps. Xin slashed a swathe through the troglodytes, his flames burning to death those who avoided his blades. On the opposite hill, Xin spotted the Queen of Pain ready another dagger. This time, the Ember Spirit was ready. As she tossed the dagger, he closed his eyes, drawing deep on his martial arts techniques, he moved like a flaming blur. As the dagger passed through the space he had just been, Akasha was struck by a burning blade. She cried out, preparing herself to blink away, but was suddenly draped in the Ember Spirit's searing chains. The Succubus was dragged to the floor, her wings entangled. Xin reappeared where he had been, the dagger buried in the ground beneath him. He ran up the hill towards the chained woman. Once. Twice, he struck her, before the chains crumbled to ash. As Xin raised his blades for a third strike, the Queen of Pain screamed, causing the Ember Spirit to grimace, and flapped her wings, blinking back towards her Tower.
Xin watched the injured succubus heal herself. The radiant warriors ran past him towards the dire side, all their foes dead by the Ember Spirits hand. With no one to fight, Xin headed for the runes. As he walked, he sipped from his bottle smugly.