Another order within the tower? One that would answer to the Grand Magus directly is an idea that would cause her unease under any leader of the tower. The fact that it was her friend Isobel, did little to soothe her. Yes, the magister hasn't had an easy time as of late, but Stridax knows better than to offer the man any sympathy. Of course, he would want another order. No doubt it would be another way for him to gain power. Stridax just wasn't entirely sure how much it would help him yet. She sits, trying not to betray her doubts too much, as their conversation carries on. She was happy that Isobel had trusted her enough to keep her informed about updates regarding the scions. The fact that the other known scion as of right now was one of the few, well many, mages she couldn't stand. The only aspect that separates Agate from the others was the power he had amassed in terms of allies. She may warn Jakk about being a loner, but her own life had delivered many a warning regarding her own behavior that leans in that direction.
When the ear-splitting alarm fills the air, she immediately shifts into her shadowy form. When Isobel began floating, she took on her glamoured form and followed the grand magus. There, in the distance, one of the wards was breaking. It was miles away, and unleashing monsters onto the world. Having no idea how Isobel planned to get there so fast, Stridax took Isobel's hand with only the briefest of hesitations.
Wherever the grand magus would go, Stridax would follow. As they soar through the sky, Stridax kept one hand in Isobel's so she wasn't lost in the air along the way. She was already focusing much of her stored magic, harnessing it in her feet and free hand as she prepared for the problem. The ward looked red, and swollen even as it breaks. Monsters of the wastes slip out as they fly closer. When one of the red, scaley creatures stumbled through the broken ward, it let out an ear-piercing cry and flung fire from its palms. One of the balls of flames fly south of them, landing in the canopy of the trees below. The other ball of fire cuts through the air, its flames growing then shrinking over and over again as it heads straight for them. "Watch out!" Stridax shouts as she throws out one of her hands and summons a wall of shadows for the flames to crash against in front of them. Her wall crumbles and folds over the flames, holding them there until the wind puts them out.
Stridax takes a deep breath. There's a way to fix this. Even if it's a lie it provides her some comfort as she summons shadowy platforms ahead of them. "Protect the Grand Magus!" She shouts the order at the magister as she transforms into her shadowy form, and flies from platform to platform as a small shadow. She was able to travel faster then most weighted beings in this form. A speed she uses to get ahead of the other two and clear the way. One downside to kobold's shapeshifting is that they can not use spells while in their shadowy form. An individual needs a mouth to speak the spells, or a hand, or foot for the symbolic components when they aren't on the ground, or have ink, or another liquid to write them in. However with age comes knowledge and tricks. Stridax would travel across her summoned platforms for speed, and when she got close enough, she would keep her lower form in shadow as the upper half of her unglamored, partially scaley, partially hairy body flinches as another fire ball passes through one the platforms behind her. Stridax looks down over the edge of the shadow platform she currently rests on, and prepares her first spell.
Kold flashes in a flurry of greys, blacks, and whites as he uses a cold they developed years ago to warn of her how powerful attack is coming at them and from which way. The code was almost meaningless now as they face attacks from every way. Her eyes flash as from their typical white coloring to a nearly pitch black, as her umbramancy fills her. Shadows start to crawl out from every tree, bush, rock, flying individual, and even the side of the mountain itself. Her power breaks the laws of the natural world as she commands the shadows to move, first swiftly along the ground, and then up towards the sky. Giant walls made of formless, darkness surrounds the fire flinging monstrosities. They cry out as the walls fall around them, blinding them. Their hands fly through the sides of the dark, smacking some of their companions about as they remain blind. The others shoot up, wrapping around the faces of the flying, scaley, almost dragon like beings heading for them. They crash into each other as a result, before dropping to the ground. She continues to blind any and all monsters that grow to close, as she attempts to make a path safe enough for Isobel and Agate to fly down towards the base along. She could have made the shadows solid, but then she would not have been able to attack so many so quickly, and her mana reserves would have been depleted twice as fast. In a time like this. One must fight with the fear that the battle will wage on for days, and not just in this hour.