Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 6: Standing against the Bolivian Army

[Inactive Account]

Kelas held her head. The situation was bad enough without certain people talking... "Can we just knock her out so she doesn't say anything when they get here?" she muttered to Isotov, only half joking. "We should probably knock Helios out while we're at it..."

Arrin glanced at his sister. Kelas' grim humor would take some getting used to. He stayed quiet, standing between Kelas and Tessa.

OOC: muttered. She did not say it loudly.

[riariadne]

"Would you look at that. Viveka is here! Who woulda thought... wait... dammit, I just remembered something. Irina, Aiya, keep an eye on her. She hates wyverns."

Chase glared at Kamilla. "You talking isn't helping us. It never does. Just... be quiet."

[Phoenix]

Iso leaned in and softly replied to her.

Iso: Who knows? That mouth of hers may come to our advantage. Say we toss her out there, and she distract them with banter until we escape?

Irina: Oh you two -_-

Outside the fortress, the pegasus knights arrived at the rear of the battalion! Viveka landed by the Captain who'd been waiting for her! When she got off, he was smiling as if he wanted to give her a big hug!

Captain: The General is going to be thrilled :)

Viveka: Indeed.

The two of them made their way to the front of the formations with their steeds in tow! Snipers lined up near them to provide cover in case a fight broke out. Viveka stopped just a few feet in front of the group and called out to them!

Viveka: Chase! Chase!! I know you're in there!! Come out, unarmed, and alone!! If anyone else makes a move, I'll have no choice but to finish you all off!!

She then turned to the Captain next to her.

Viveka: If anyone besides Chase approaches without my consent, weapons free.

Captain: Ma'am

OOC: Probably best to wait til the others are back on before advancing this too far. Then again, Damian IS hurt and Morgan is Morgan XD

Edited May 27, 2010 by Phoenix

[riariadne]

Chase heard Viveka calling out his name from outside. "Dammit, that was quick. We don't have a choice. I'll go out. You take this-" he gave his bow to Kelas, "and you can take this-" he was about to give his knife to Kamilla, then rethought and gave it to Morgan. "Well... here I go..." Chase muttered, and walked outside.

OOC: Before anyone objects, *points to soldiers' stats in feedback thread*

[Phoenix]

The soldiers waited for him to come out. As he approached, Viveka and the other Captain smiled.

Captain: At last.

Viveka: ^_^

Iso and Irina watched as he left. Irina was a bit stunned.

Irina: Could they really overrun us if we fight?

Iso: Let Chase handle this. I've got a feeling that this situation isn't as do or die as it first appeared.

When Chase reached Viveka, she crossed her arms. She seemed a bit agitated.

Viveka: How on earth did you amass a group like that?

[Inactive Account]

"She'd turn on us in an instant," Kelas pointed out. "Well, here goes," she said as Chase handed her his bow. "Good luck." She examined the bow for a moment, then realized it would be no use; even if they had a chance of surviving a fight, she was still too tired to help out. "Don't suppose they'll let us sleep after we're arrested," she grumbled.

ooc: aaaaaaaa grammar

Edited May 27, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Kanami]

Kamilla sighed and walked away from the group, there seemed to be initial suspicion towards what she was about to do, but being surrounded by soldiers and not being able to do much inside the fort anyway seemed to assure them somewhat.

Finding a large rock, or was it rubble? She wasn't sure, she sat down and took a long hard look at the group, questioning why she was even travelling with these nutcases. If something were to happen Damian and Aiya could probably get themselves out of this mess somehow, Morgan,the swordsman and Tessa she didn't mind, but had no reason to go out of her way for. The rest of the group however, she wouldn't really care about even if they had their heads on the chopping block.

She looked up at the sky, it was starting to get dark, and she could see the first of the stars comming into sight. She hated these people, most of them at least anyway, she'd contemplated running off multiple times, but there was nearly always someone watching her, if only she could find a way to get in contact with some local church that could relay her message.

As she continued staring at the sky, a black line zipped passed her line of sight and disappeared. She frowned and looked at the sky again unsure what she'd just seen. But her confusion was quickly resolved as the line was followed by several more arrows zooming out towards the army situated outside the fort. They weren't the only ones in the fort.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Nadesico

[Snowy_One]

Far overhead

Far overhead, the headmaster of TISME shot through the clouds, following invisible strands of mana through the air, hidden from the naked, and even the trained eye. This way and that they turned and twisted, following wild and chaotic paths. A sudden bank left send the headmaster through a series of low and poofy clouds before a second bank left sent the headmaster back into the freedom of the open air. Then, suddenly, YET ANOTHER LEFT bank sent the magi back a full turn, sending the airborn tracker back into the bank of clouds before the mana trail suddenly shot downwards and below, entwined with several other threads causing the headmaster to suddenly go into a barrel roll before stopping and being forced into a loop-de-loop.

"WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!" screamed the headmaster as the loop resolved and suddenly flipped back upon itself, sending the headmaster shooting through the air upside down. Eventually, the pathway righted itself once again, allowing for straight flying. A decent bit away, the headmaster could see the ruins of some fortress and several small dots down below, though it was far away to make out easily. Something was happening.

"Great. When I get home I just KNOW someone is going to bug me about that." remarked the headmaster to no one in particular. "Asking why none of my mages were there helping the army out. Uggg... I'll just claim that... Wait. I don't have to put up with that. They didn't contact me and I'm not obligated to send mages anyways. Ah well, on with the hunt!" The headmaster pointed out in a random direction and quickly flew off before doubling back the proper way, this time following the magic strand properly.

[Inactive Account]

"Who the--" Kelas began as the dark arrow whistled past her head. She spun, nearly losing her balance. The archer wasn't visible from outsid: probably lurking inside the fort, she guessed. She slung Chase's bow over her saddle, picking up her own. She strung and raised it, hesitating. "Who's in there?" she asked quietly, not expecting a reply.

Arrin bit back a cry of surprise as the arrows whizzed overhead. He turned, bringing out Daranau. "What's this now?" he asked. He thought he saw a figure in one of the high windows of the fortress, but it was shadowed... experimentally he sent a bolt of lightning up along the castle wall. Unrecognized faces were visible for a moment. "Do we know these people?" he asked. He doubted the answer would be "yes," and readied his tome to attack in earnest.

[Snowy_One]

"What in the-" said Esphyr,startled as the arrows started to shoot by. "I thought we had surrendered! SURRENDER!" she called out, utterly confused as to what was going on. When someone surrenders, doesn't the army usually WANT to take them in for questioning and imprisonment? Not, say, shooting them out in the wilds?

[Kanami]

Kelas's question was ignored for a few seconds, before a single arrow flew at Kelas and Arrin, barely missing each of their head. A clear warning shot. Judging by the number of arrows zooming through the air, there were alot of them, perhaps not even half the cavalaries numbers but still, a lot more then the group could handle in their current weakened state.

Kamilla stared up at the tower, the arrows flew right out of the fort and into the confused army outside, clearly they had no intentions of attacking the group. "Uhh, might be an idea to....." she paused then shook her head, these people never listened to her anyway. While the group tried to figure out what was going on, Kamilla ran off into the fort in an attempt to hide somewhere should the Elysimman army outside manage to get their cavalary in.

[Inactive Account]

The arrows continued to fly. They obviously weren't on the side of the soldiers, nor were they helping the group... "Arrin! Shock 'em again! Blind 'em if you can!" she called. Arrin nodded, sending a bold of lightning blazing across and into some of the windows. The firing stopped for a moment. "Get out of range!" Kelas yelled, heading for the woods as quickly as she could. She'd take soldiers who were out to capture over an unknown party out to kill...

Arrin threw another round of lightning at the windows, then turned and followed Kelas.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Sorry, Ether, but I need some authority for a second :D

Damian: Kelas is right! We can't let the Elyisimians think we're behind that attack! Get outside and keep your hands up!

It could have very well been their last option before being killed, as the soldiers were preparing to storm the fortress and dispel the advantage the archers had!

Iso: That's more like it! Katie! Come on!

Irina: This is an odd surrender. Won't they shoot at us? :/

Iso: Not if you drop your weapons and keep your hands up!

Iso grabbed Katie and they ran out, followed closely by Irina and Kiev!

[Kanami]

Several second of silence followed as the archers within the fort stopped shooting, but it wasn't long for them to resume, apparently they were taking turns at sniping at the army outside instead of having one archer constantly in on position.

As the cavalary burst into the open court where the group had been, the arrows rained down on both the group and approaching cavalry, causing more chaos within the area then there should have been.

Shout of anger echoed as soldiers fell all over the place.

OoC:

I refuse to accept all the arrows are missing, and would like to see you calm down an troop of cavalry that are having a nice shower of arrows Phoenix :P

Edited May 27, 2010 by Nadesico

[Inactive Account]

Kelas ordered Amari back: he mare galloped in an arc behind her, herding the others and their horses after Kelas. Kelas wasn't faring well; Arrin had passed her at a sprint. All she was managing was a walk. She tried to break into a run, and stumbled, falling. She cursed, struggling to get to her feet again.

Out of range of the bows, Arrin collapsed against a tree, panting. He dismissed Daranau; it would not help in any negotiations. The spells had taken more out of him than he'd expected... it had been a long day. Nearby soldiers passed him; all he could do was lean against the tree, hands in the air.

[Snowy_One]

"WHAT IN THE HEAVENS IS GOING ON?!" shouted Esphyr, flat out confused. What on earth was happening anyways? Caught between two armies and not knowing what the desires of one was while knowing all too well the intent of the other. Worse yet, since she was closer to the fortress, she could be mistaken as part of the shadow army, but running away might make her mistaken as part of the Elyisiman army and shot by the shadows.

There, however, was another option. "I am a mercenary. I work for hire. Nothing more." With that, she bent her legs under her and went down into a soft kneeling position, as if drinking tea. It was stupid, retarded, and idiotic, but in doing so, at least she would have neutrality and be out of the direct line of fire, as well as possibly ignored.

[Phoenix]

The arrows raining down on both sides were coming from above! Outside, Viveka could tell that the people she was trying to capture were being attacked by someone else!

Viveka: No way! Chase! Get down! We have to end this now! Get the foot soldiers in there! Storm the place and clear out those towers now! Don't attack anyone leaving the fortress if they're surrendering! GO!!! >_<

The soldiers all stormed into the fortress in mass, blowing passed the group and nearly trampling some of them! They made their way up to the towers in numbers to thick to make a true dent in! Some of the cavalry had been injured and killed, but there were still dozens remaining! With so many reinforcements, the cavarly regained their moral and their calm and began riding to cover all of the exits!

Viveka: No one's going to take my prize

[Kanami]

Nice try Lacuna, but you seem to have forgotten my specialty XD *End of the world music plays*

~Inside the Fort~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

???: "Master, the bandits that sneaked into the fort have returned fire, as ordered we will begin eliminating them as well."

???: "Fool, let the go, they can do no harm. How much longer until the mages complete the gates?"

Woman: "Several more minutes sir, should we send out troops?"

???: "Heh, no. Set the fort on fire, we no longer have a use for this place."

Woman: "As you wish great master."

Woman:The master has spoken, we are to prioritize the completion of the portal runes, he has also order the destruction of the fort, along with it's evacuation.

Cloaked Man: Yes Ma'am.

Woman: Have them switch to fire arrows, don't forget to set the nearby tree's on fire as well, there's bound to be a few soldiers in there.

Cloaked Man: Yes Ma'am.

Woman: Get to it then.

OoC:

Cease Fire

Switch to fire arrows!

Resume Fire! XD

Nyahahahahahahahaha

Also attempt to post like Phoenix -fail

Edited May 27, 2010 by Nadesico

[Snowy_One]

As the mysterious soldiers took their mistresses commands to heart, they set about getting tar so as to ignite their arrows. Scouring the fortress, however, the men had decided to split up into parties of two to ease their search. As two of them made their way down throughout the bowls of the fortress, they each took a torch in hand.

"Hey Steve?"

"Yes Bob?"

"Just a dumb question. Why do we need tar anyways?"

"Well it's quite simple actually. You see, modern arrows are made of iron and steel. These are metals naturally, and they are very flame resistant. As in, you can heat them up to very hot temperatures and they will not ignite. In fact, in order to get metal to ignite, you would need a furnace so hot that we couldn't use it in the army."

"Steve, why can't we just use wooden arrows?"

"Because wooden arrows splinter too easily to be of any use on the battlefield. A slab of wood could stop them cold without trouble. Besides, even for flame, they are poor because the fire is overoxidized and can not maintain throughout the arrow flight. That's why we need tar."

"Hey Steve. What does tar smell like?"

"Like a marsh Bob. Like a marsh."

"Hey Steve?"

"WHAT?!"

"It smells like marsh."

A second later, a large explosion ripped through the fortress, imploding any and all tar within and sending bricks of atone flying about outside, the embers of the stupidity of the two mooks extinguishing in a mighty implosion that destroyed all but the outer shell, where there was no tar.

[Inactive Account]

The ground rumbled with the force of an explosion: something inside the castle had just blown up. Kelas grabbed a tree for support and got up, stumbling further in. A soldier grabbed hold of her arms. "I'm not fighting now," Kelas mumbled. "You keep holding on like that, I might fall over, though." The soldier loosened his grip and marched her to where the others stood.

Amari chased the ones who'd been traveling with her human towards the woods a bit, dodging arrows and cavalry. The other horses quickly followed her lead as well, and after rounding the group she led them in. She halted beside Kelas, not bothering to avoid stepping on some soldiers' feet.

Arrin looked around: More of the group was in the woods, and captured. Something inside the fort had exploded... the arrows were still flying, though. He sat on the ground with the others, watching the battle.

[Phoenix]

Viveka: ... ... *cough* ... WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!!! >_<

She held Chase down as debris landed nearby! Most of the buildings in the fortress came crashing down in massive rumbles! The soldiers that survived the explosion, roughly half, made a mad escape from the fortress as all but the sturdiest buildings and the outer walls collapsed! The army eventually regrouped near the entrance to the fort as the shadowy figures escaped!

Viveka: I ... can't believe this happened ....

She was happy that she accomplished her mission, but she'd lost many good men, the one thing she tried hardest to avoid. She was more or less defeated in her own mind. As she kept her hand on Chase's shoulder she teared up and wiped her eyes with her other hand.

[Kanami]

Woman: "Master, It's time to.... leave?"

The woman stated as she entered the room.

Woman: "Master?"

Seeing no traces of the man, the woman turned and headed to the portals,

Messenger: "The eastern and southern bloc are aflame"

Woman: "Hmm, very good, send the specialist force over with the crates"

Messenger: "All 50 of them Ma'am?"

Woman: "Yes, send all of them"

Messenger: "Yes Ma'am"

~Messenger hurries off~

Woman: "Everyone else through the portals."

Messenger2: "Ma'am?"

Woman: "Through the gates, no talking back"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Elysimma's Capitol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

???: General Upson, good evening.

Upson: You! I thought I told you not to come here.

???: I'm terribly sorry sir, but we had an agreement.

Upson: What? You supply me with.... the stuff-

???: -And you permit our use of fort Selizara, it's now burning in flames thanks to your soldiers.

Upson: What? I haven't, wait, Jackson! That incompetent.

???: I'm terribly sorry but our contract is over goodbye.

An aura of darkness eneveloped the man and he was gone, along with Upson's head.

The former generals lifeless beheaded body lying before in the center of his office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woman: "Survivors?"

Messenger: "1/2 our troops, no one from the eastern and southern bloc yet."

Woman: "No matter"

Messenger "Ma'am? What was in those crates?"

Woman: ".....Fort Selizara is no more."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selizara

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George: "What are we supposed to do with this stuff?"

Ben: "I don't know, The Maiden just told us to throw it on the fire."

George: "How will that get us out of here?"

Ben: "I don't know, maybe it's magical or something?"

George: "Kay Benny, if you're sure."

*Throws*

*Boom!* XD

Edited May 27, 2010 by Nadesico

[Snowy_One]

The rippling wave of the explosion knocked both Esphyr and Katie down on their respective asses, HARD! Esphyr went toppling head over heels as the blast shook the very soil beneath her so hard as to cause her to fall face first into the ground. A sharp ringing noise filled her ears as she slowly pushed herself upright, the world about her seeming to spin about in a gentle daze as Esphyr was picked up by similarly shell-shocked soldiers.

"What the... What happened? Why is the world spinning?" she asked, her voice confused and muddled.

Meanwhile, Katie had been sent toppling forwards into Iso's back, catching herself only out of sheer luck before she collided with the mage.

[Phoenix]

When Katie bumped into him, he dropped Proxima onto the ground! One of the soldiers that came to capture them grabbed the book before Iso could and held it up to look at it!

Captain: ... the hell is this thing?!

Iso: Hey! Careful with that! It's bound to me!

Captain: You some TISME flunky?

Iso: Give me that tome before I burn you to a crisp-

Katie quickly grabbed Iso's shoulder trying to interrupt him! He turned to her and she was clearly disapproving of his threats.

Iso: ... you're right, no point in getting stabbed to death by spears at this point -_-

Then several more men came to Katie and began taking away all of her books, roughly snatching them one after another!

Iso: >_<

OOC: I wonder what tomorrow will bring

Edited May 27, 2010 by Phoenix

[Kanami]

The first explosion had forced the earth to rumble in an earthquake like manner, the second however was large engulf the entire fort in flame. As sparks flew out in all directions, the forest nearby caught aflame, sending all those still within in a panicked frenzy as the leaves of the tree's above crackled in to ash.

The central building (biggest) in the fort had been unearthed by the first explosion, but the second one was large enough to destroy the already damaged infrastructure. The building, no longer able to support itself leaned dangerously on it's side before finally losing it's battle and falling right ontop of a troop of cavalry. Who were trying to carry out their fellow soldiers who had survived the explosion.

Meanwhile Kamilla stared blankly at the chaos that had ensued. She had been looking for somewhere to hide but had so far been unsuccessful, it was a military fort after all and despite it being out of commission for awhile it's core structure and designed still remained intact. She contemplated entering a building again, but like her last few attempts didn't want to make a face to face encounter with the inhabitants of the fort.

Deciding that the army outside was too aggravated to risk surrender she turned and headed for the forest, most likely the safest haven in this chaotic fort siege. It wasn't long before the first tremor shook the earth, and she fell ungracefully on her face. She though she saw someone slumped against a tree out of the corner of her eye but wasn't entirely sure and she didn't have time nor skill to tend to the wounded.

As the second explosion shook the earth Kamilla once again tripped scrapping her side against a sharp twig, and the wound Chase had inflicted upon her back at Istample had apparently opened up again. "Should have listened" she muttered to herself angrily, the church she had studied at had taught that the Crimson Weapons were the manifestations, or remnants of the Demon Lord in the world, and that they brought nothing but misery upon the world. Dusting herself off, with her good hand she stumbled past the tree's until she finally smelled the smoke coursing through the forest. "Haha, did the arsonist not learn his lesson the last time?" she mumbled to herself as her vision grew dim and she fell to the ground unconscious.