Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 2: Glimpses of Elyisima

[theonefate]

"Ugh..." Rayton mumbled as he finally awoke. He still wasn't quite feeling like himself though.

Rayton felt utterly humiliated. A foolhardy mistake had nearly costed him his life. Seeing as the situation was looking grim he said nothing as he ran beside Kelas, calling his crimson bow and notching a bow. He saw that he was a bit sluggish in moving still.

"Kelas...we get out of this alive, I'll devote my services in any way I can to help take out the one responsible for this. I feel like a damn idiot right now..."

[Inactive Account]

Kelas came to with a string of fluent curses in the nomad tongue. "What the-- AMARI!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she began to run alongside Rayton, putting distance between them and the burning camp.. She'd been right to saddle the mare, who would be outside the camp by now... sure enough, she heard a whinny through the roar of the fire, and the mare cantered up, running alongside. Kelas leapt up into the saddle, but her reflexes were still dulled; she got her foot over but careened wildly off the mare's left side. The mare slowed and reached her head around to shove her rider properly into the saddle. Kelas reined the mare in and held out a hand to Rayton. "Come on, get on," she said. "The faster we get out of here..." When the archer was in the saddle, Kelas kicked the mare into a gallop, hoping that Rayton would get his balance quickly.

Edited April 10, 2010 by _____

[Kanami]

Something was seriously wrong within the camp, Children and aged seniors were sitting down to rest and falling asleep at an alarming rate. From afar it seemed like a peaceful settlement until a womans voice shrieked through the night. "My baby! My poor poor baby!" she howled cradling a pale infant wrapped in towels. An old man who had been sleeping nearby swayed, fell against the ground with a thud and took his last breath. Fear and panic spread throughout the encampment, casualties started appearing even within the group which had been evacuated by Daimian and Aiya.

[theonefate]

Rayton swayed a little, but managed to clamp his flegs in a way that was comfortable, yet wouldn't allow him to go flying. During the ride he watched as many died right before their eyes.

"This is unforgivable...I swear whoever's responsible will pay for this!" He replied, readying his bow once getting repositioned on the mare. He may have been dulled, but he still had his temper.

And then fear could be seen in his eyes as he thought of the mage girl. "Sabla...Kelas, we need to warn the others of what's going on! That stuff has to be poison, from the looks of what's happening."

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan looked around at the villagers fall around her. This was unusual, some form of dark magic or perhaps something more mundane. Either way, Morgan was not that interested in finding out.

She turned towards Damian. "We should leave this place. I think it would be very unfortunate for the same fate to befall us. I am aware that you wanted to help these villagers, but I do not think there is anything we can do here."

[Ether]

"I-I guess you're right..." Damian replied to Morgan.

"Anyone who still can,get out of here,bring someone with you if you have the strength!" Damian yelled into the crowd,himself grabbing a coughing man before he began to leave the camp for good.

Morgan seemed to give him a peculiar look.

"I can't just leave them to die,Morgan,you know that...I have to save at least one person...so long as it is in my power..."

Aiya also helped up one of the refugees,and the stronger of the refugees began to evacuate the weaker.

[Ansem]

Helios wandered toward the middle of town when he heard a familiar voice ring out. "Helios" he heard a girl yell. He turned around and saw a girl with blonde hair. She ran toward Helios and hugged him. "Your alive" she cried. "Your really alive". At first he couldn't tell who it was but once he looked at her face he knew who it was". "Lea" he said. She was crying on him. Helios remembered how Aiya was crying on Damian. It was quite ironic. At the corner of his eye he say someone. "Your alive" asked the man. "Auralus" Lea said. "Helios.. hes". "I can see Lea" said Auralus. He stared at Helios. "How did you escape the fall of house Tora"?. "Or you could be some sort of shape shifter" said Auralus as he pulled out his Rapier. "Relax Auralus shape shifters can't come out in the light" Helios said as he turned to Lea. "You might not know this but i broke my arm a while ago". Lea blushed then let him go. "Well Helios i guess you should come see father" said Auralus. "He will be joyed to see you alive".

[Snowy_One]

By the time Esphyr had returned, the first of the refugee's had started to drop. When Daiman gave the order to grab at least one refugee, Esphyr needed no second-guessing to know what to do. She had her order. She didn't have to think one bit! All she had to do was listen... a sweet release from responsibility! As quickly as she could, she grabbed the nearest living person, not even bothering to check to see what age, gender, or even if they were a refugee and started to drag them out of the camp at full speed. She had her order! She didn't need to think!

[Inactive Account]

Kelas turned back into camp, once again tying a scarf across her face to keep out smoke. An unattended horse was cantering back and forth in panic. Before Rayton could protest, Kelas shoved her reins into his hands and vaulted onto the other horse's back. "Start rescuing people!" she shouted, adding, "If you try to make off with my horse, she'll leave you in a ditch somewhere, with a broken neck if the gods are merciful!"

Kelas turned the camp horse towards the nearest tent. It had a jerky gait, which made bareback riding difficult-- Kelas saw a gash on one of its legs. It wasn't bad enough to require immediate attention, so she kicked it into a gallop, looking for survivors.

A young woman was stumbling away from the fires, carrying a small girl, either passed out or dead. Kelas slowed to a trot alongside her, reaching out for the child. Kelas removed her scarf to tie the child to her, then offered her hand to the woman. The woman climbed up, wrapping her arms crushingly around Kelas' waist... Kelas grimaced and sent the horse cantering out of the camp, trying to inhale as little as possible. She deposited the woman and child with the other refugees, filled her lungs with the cleaner air, and retied her scarf, galloping back into the camp.

[Ansem]

Helios went back to Castle Freesia. It towered over him ever since he was a child. Auralus lead Helios to a room where a cleric healed his arm. The cleric wrapped his hand up. Then Lea gave him a white robe. Auralus had some business that he had to take care of leaving Helios and Lea together. Lea took Helios to the back of the castle and gave him a bow. She remembered how good his bow arm was. Lea and Helios spent the rest of the day together. When King Leon came back with Auralus he almost burst into tears. "Now i can fufill lady Rin's last wish" said King Leon. "Helios when i heard Tora fell i sent my most Elite knights to go find survivors". "It wasnt until after we drove them out that we found Rin dead". "I am truly sorry". "You dont know how happy we are that you are alive". "Lord Leon i would love to stay but i have to go back to this group of Halton soldiers" said Helios. "I have to go back to them". "I honor your wish Helios but please allow a couple of my knights to escort you" said Leon. "I have not revealed that i am of noble birth to them yet" said Helios. "They might have different thoughts of me if i told them". Leon sighed. At that moment Lea burst into to tears and clutched Helios. "You left us once and now you want to leave us again" she cried. "I dont want to lose you again". Helios looked at Lea's. "I have to" said Helios. "I must avenge mother". "Forgive me Lea". That night he tried sneaking our but was caught by Auralus. "If your going to leave then atleast take this" Auralus said as he gave him a Resire tome. "This was mother's before she passed away". "Thank you Auralus" said Helios. "I will cherish it" said Helios as he walked into the dense forest.

[theonefate]

"Wait-ah dammit." He had to immediately dismiss the bow to grab the second set of reins before he would have lost control.

Fortunately for him he had no interest in making off with the horse so he was safe from that danger. But he was more concentrated on finding survivors. The first person he discovered was the priestess he rescued before, and once again she was in a bit of a bad way, despite having the heal staff still.

He rode up to her quickly, letting go of the reins with one hand while leaning to the side with his hand outstretched. "Grab on!"

With her hand in his he hoisted her up with a mighty heave and waited until she was seated before whipping the reins and making the horse take off into a full gallop again, hoping to find more survivors and the rest of the group. He did happen to discover the shamaness from earlier and others, with refugees helping those who couldn't exactly get out by themselves.

The horse whirled past Esphyr and then came to a halt near the small group. He once again outstretched a hand. "Anyone who can get on take my hand, and make it quick."

He'd probably have to take multiple trips, even with Kelas' help. He'd have to thank her later...

[Inactive Account]

In, pickup, out, breathe, in again... Kelas stopped counting how many people she brought out. The first horse had gone lame running over some glass shards; Kelas had quickly dismounted once she got out of camp, removed the glass, and slapped the horse on the rump, setting it limping in the direction of the healers. She'd come see what she could do for it later... she ran back into camp, finding a packhorse tethered to a peg in the ground. It fought the rope, rearing up and shaking its head in a panic. Kelas drew her belt knife and cut through the rope, gripping the end like a rein as she jumped onto the horse's back. Pickup, out, breathe, in, pickup... now there was a water trough in her way. She urged the horse at it, hoping the uncoordinated packhorse could make it... the jump cleared the trough, but the horse's hind feet caught it as it landed, and the trough was knocked over. The water splashed over the horse's legs, running downhill where it might barely help against the flames...

She passed Rayton a few times. He seemed to be doing all right, and it didn't look like her horse was injured...

The wind was picking up, blowing embers through to the parts of the camp that weren't already on fire. This wasn't going to work much longer. Kelas dropped off the latest rescue and scanned the panicking crowd for Rayton: no sign of him. Gritting her teeth, she galloped back into the camp to look.

[theonefate]

Rayton and Kelas has crossed paths several times as they both escorted civilians out of the camp. When he finished he scanned for Kelas, grunting when he didn't see her. With that he headed back for camp.

"Better find her before she gets the wrong idea..."

[Ansem]

Helios was in the middle of the dense forest. Most people would be lost but he knew this place like the back of his head. He noticed that it was quiet, too quiet. He walked deeper into the forest to find bodies. He bent over to check the people pulse. There was no pulse. Something is wrong. He looked at the bodies. There was no struggle. They just seemed to tipped over and died. "They must have been poisoned" he said to himself. He walked toward the entrance of the forest hoping he could find Damian and ask what was going on. Thats when he remembered Sabla. He knew that she was not around here and looking around wouldn't be of any help. He really hoped that Damian found her.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas saw Rayton galloping through the camp. She headed for him, scooping up an unconscious boy on the way. "Let's get out of here!" she shouted, but it was inaudible; he understood her intent anyway, and nodded, following as she jumped a pile of debris and ran out of the camp.

[theonefate]

When the horse Rayton was on picked enough speed after jumping the debris as well he rode beside Kelas. He glanced at the boy she just picked up. "That's the last person that's here, right? ...Wait, have you seen Sabla? Haven't seen her yet."

[Inactive Account]

"Who?" Kelas asked, struggling to keep the unconscious boy on the horse. "Over there!" she yelled before Rayton could answer, pointing to a clear spot they could escape through. She turned for the gap, once again trying to ignore the embers riddling the air.

[Kanami]

OoC: Just thought you two should know, you're not immune and sticking around much longer will make it hard to come up with a reason as to why you're still alive. By this time it should have started affecting healthy mid-aged people as well.

The new makeshift site where everyone had gathered was in a sorry state, all the provisions that had been saved from the burned town of Darien were now gone, mounts that had been saved had either died or fled, and only a bit over a dozen townsfolk seemed to have survived, most of them males, and all were between the ages of sixteen and thirty. The only redeeming factor was that amongst the survivors was a young female priestess who could somewhat neutralise the poison.

EDIT: The reasoning behind this attack isn't just me being mean, but I also wanted to wipe out as many Darien-folk as possible. Mainly cause it's a pain travelling with a crowd of people, and I doubt Damian is equipped with enough provisions to carry half a town of people, injured people nonetheless across to another nation.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Nadesico

[Inactive Account]

Kelas trotted into the midst of the new site, depositing the unconscious boy among the survivors. She slid, coughing, off the borrowed packhorse, taking the reins of her own horse as Rayton dismounted. The adrenaline that had fueled her efforts was running out, and she stayed on her feet through pure stubbornness, leaning against her horse for balance. Her head spun. The miasma she'd inhaled was beginning to get to her. She just needed... to care for the horses... and then...

In a daze she rubbed down her own horse, then started on the packhorse. The gathering (it couldn't even be called a camp) was starting to organize, and a line for the sole healer was forming. She didn't need it, she'd deal with the burns later...

She gulped down some water from the barely-full canteen in her saddlebag, then splashed some over her face to try to combat the drowsiness that was setting in again. A few minutes later, though, she was out cold on the ground, her mare standing over her with forelegs planted to either side of her, daring anyone to try to bother her owner.

OOC: Yeah, I figured we'd be affected sooner or later, and assumed that after a few runs we were relying on stubbornness and adrenaline (both because of the fire and the plants.) I also figured the fresh-air breaks we were getting in between might help a little.

Edited April 11, 2010 by _____

[theonefate]

OOC: Duly noted.

After being directed to the girl's location Rayton let Kelas' horse go with her and staggered to get Sabla. She seemed to not have visited death's door, but was probably close, as was Rayton. His vision swam as he slowly but surely made his way to where the others were.

At the "camp" he gingerly set Sabla down and clenched his head. "We did it...but it nearly cost us everything..."

And with those last words he collapsed in a heap beside Sabla, on the brink of death due to being around the hazardous poison longer than Kelas. Without a cleric's help he'd most likely die.

[-Cynthia-]

Unlike many of her companions, Morgan felt fine. She had evacuated the area of the poison almost immediately and did not return to aid any more villagers, it was not really her area of expertise.

She considered the events that had just unfolded. The bandits, the fire, the poison...none of it seemed particularly targeted towards the Crimson Weapon wielders,which was fortunate. Perhaps now that most of the villagers were dead, the attacks would stop.

[Snowy_One]

As Esphyr dragged her target towards the new site, a unearthly sense of light headedness and woozieness started to flow about her. She didn't know why, but suddenly her sense of balanced started to quiver and waver. She suddenly pitched forwards, the corpse of the person she had taken going flying off to the side and landing splayed out on the ground as she fell to the earth. What had happened? Why was she feeling so... wrong? Had she been poisoned as well?

[Ether]

A new temporary campsite had been set up,if you could call it that.Most of the refugees had died of the now obviously toxic fumes,and only about a dozen civilians were still alive,and half of them were on the brink of death.

Damian punched a nearby tree,causing his hand to bleed,and the wood to splinter.

The attack plan had been well thought out,ransacking the healers first,only one priestess surviving due to being asleep at the time.The small flames had lulled the villagers into a false sense of security,and they had been reluctant to listen to his premonition of danger.

******************

Aiya walked up to the priestess,drawing her attention.She brought over both Kelas and Rayton,both of whom had fallen unconscious and were in desperate need of healing.The villagers recognized that the pair had rescued over half of the remaining refugees,and allowed them quicker care.

After seeing they were taken care of,Aiya went back to Kelas' horse.The mare was a good,strong horse,and it had taken Aiya a good chunk of time to convince the animal that she wished to help her rider.Aiya knew the horse would get wary if she was kept far from Kelas,and began to stroke the horses mane near the healing area,to keep the horse calm.

******************

Damian was checking who had arrived,and who had not,a bandage quickly wrapped around his hand.Kelas and Rayton were in intensive care,Helios was nowhere to be seen,and Morgan seemed okay. Aiya had managed to calm the horse down,and had departed into the woods to find herbs for the priestess.

"But where is Esphyr...?" Damian wondered.The crimson sword wielder had not been far out of his sight before,and as he scanned the nearby area,he caught sight of her toppling over into the dirt.

"Esphyr!" Damian called out to her and ran to her side,she seemed to be still conscious,and looked up at him weakly.

"What's wrong Esphyr?! Do you need anything?" Damian asked the girl desperately,she seemed to be getting weaker.

[Ansem]

OOC: Just do it Ether. There is no point in asking.

Helios was walking when he sensed a knight approaching. He turned around and the Scarlet haired knight stopped. "Lord Helios if you are not going to except any aid then at least take this" she said handing him a jar. "It is a antidote" she said. "It cures any type of poison there is". "You may not know but there is a fake vulenarys that is spreading around". "Please do not buy any healing items from this region". "This jar has enough antitoxin to heal 5 people". "Use is wisely Milord". "Thank you" Helios said to the knight. "Milord there is something i must ask you" the scarlet knight said. "How is my brother"? "Ian is a fine warrior" said Helios. "He just needs to learn some manners". The scarlet knight sighed. "Thank you lord Helios" she said as she rode off. Helios had to find Damian. Chances are where he is a lot of people have been poisoned.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Kai

[Snowy_One]

"Yes... I'm fine..." groaned out Esphyr. Carefully, she slid her feet back under her body and pushed off, rising back up to her feet. "I mean... The state of my health doesn't matter. I will be... fine. If I'm... poisoned I know a thing... or two about... potions." Her voice was clearly weary and fatigued and faint beads of sweat had already started to condense upon her forehead. If Daiman had gone so far as to touch her body, his hand would have retracted in a instant as Esphyr's flesh had become hot to the touch.

Still, the mercenary girl didn't seem terribly perturbed by the state of her physical health. Once she was back on to her feet, she went over to the body she had fetched and picked it up once again. "Even if she's dead... She... deserves a proper burial." With that, Esphyr seemed to shut Daiman out as she continued on towards the new camp. She had hardly made it three steps before she suddenly pitched to her left side, stumbling off a good foot off her path before she managed to catch herself and continue on.

OOC: There are two explanations. One is that something is making her sick, and another... is that she's poisoned with Nad's poison. Either one works fine and it's up to Nadescio to decide which.