Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 8: To Catch a [s]Predator[/s] Demonic, soul-sucking mesh

[Phoenix]

Isotov and Irina

Iso looked up at the horse Kelas left for him, and the horse stared right back at him.

Iso: Umm ... Kelas? ... perhaps a quick tutorial is in order. I spent the last ten years on foot.

Irina hopped down from Kiev and came over towards the group.

Irina: If anyone needs a ride, Kiev and I are ready to help-

Kiev heard the word "ride" and immediately hissed! It was a loud and strange sound he didn't make very often. He quickly sat down and turned to face his rear. It turned out that he had a very large claw mark from Helenos that was throbbing in pain. It hadn't bled much, but to have so many scales ripped off had the young wyvern extremely irritable and unfriendly towards the prospect of extra weight on his back. When Irina turned back to see what was wrong, she gasped!

Irina: Oh no! That crazy dragon got you! :o

Rushing over, and stopping near him, she took a look at the wound. It was three separate claw marks, each very deep with dozens of scales torn away from the flesh. Kiev stared at his wound right along with Irina.

Irina: I'm so sorry you went through that, Kiev. I should've been more careful.

[Snike]

"Well, that settles things, I would guess," Eric said. "I can run, and one of the other two can take my horse. No problem, right?"

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan pulled on the reins. The horse continued to nom.

Morgan glared at her mare. The lack of cooperation reminded her of many party members.

She reached over and grabbed the horse by the head.

"Good girl" she said as the horse began a slow trot Northwards.

[Inactive Account]

"Okay. Left foot in the stirrup-- holy hell. Ouch," Kelas commented, as Irina's wyvern's hissing directed attention to its injury. Noticing the others already beginning to move off, she continued. "Right, it's not different from climbing into any other saddle, I'd imagine. You're not going to fall-- it's a sensible animal, it keeps its feet on the ground." Isotov was now properly in the saddle, still looking dubious. "Right, now nudge with your heels, see if you can get him walking." She sighed. "They would leave already... Oi! Arrin! Unless you need help with anything, go on ahead!" She clicked her tongue at the horse. When the vocal cue failed, she leaned over and gave it a swat on the flank: it ambled forward. She caught up with Amari. "See? Not so bad. Right, and don't haul on the reins like certain people are doing..."

-----------------------------------------

Arrin got on Francis again-- he really was getting better at this-- and rode up next to Tessa. "Ready to go?"

[riariadne]

Chase continued his sprint towards the group and saw, with dismay, that they were about the leave, all of them with horses. He picked up his pace and hollered, "Hey! You're forgetting someone!"

[Inactive Account]

Kelas glanced back to Chase. "Saved you a horse," she called back, then turned her attention back to making sure Isotov didn't fall off.

[Phoenix]

Isotov and Irina

Iso listened carefully to everything Kelas told him, and he was ready to go by the time she finished. Riding a horse wasn't so bad. He was actually a bit excited by it.

Irina led Kiev along by his reins while he occasionally yelped concerned for his wounds.

Irina: Don't worry. I'll have Tessa take a look at it once we reach the inn. First we should get out of this swamp. If we stay here much longer, it could get infected or something.

The injured wyvern shook himself off hoping to knock away the last of the swamp smell off of him. It didn't work, but it satisfied him, and he followed Irina's lead.

[riariadne]

"Oh... fun." Chase said sarcastically, but go on the horse anyways and attempted to get it to move before realizing he had no idea where to go anyways. "Where are we going? What'd I miss? Anything horrible besides that dragon?"

[Inactive Account]

"We're going to a town the new guy-- Cess, I think his name was-- saw on the way. The others are up ahead already. We're going to sell the extra horses and rest up, then decide what to do from there," Kelas explained. "You didn't miss much, except Kamilla's gone again. Speaking of gone-- did that damn fool wind mage finally get himself killed? I don't see him anywhere." To Isotov she said: "We should catch up too. Reckon you'll manage going faster?"

[riariadne]

"Hold on, he's not here? Huh, I felt a lot more at ease, but that's a total relief if he's gone. I honestly think we're probably better off without him... though now that I've said it he'll probably come back. Ugh. Let's enjoy this time without him... I certainly am already."

[the_whistler]

Heinz had arrived roughly around where it seemed the majority of the group was standing, slightly out of breath from running in the muck. He looked down at his shoes and frowned. I'll have to clean them later, the mud will destroy the traction and grip. It appeared however, that the nomad was handing out the warhorses left behind by the fleeing soldiers.

Heinz scanned his over, noting the tack and the stuffed saddle bags. Excellent. There seems to be a plus side to having entered that marsh after all. I'll look through these later and take it as my pay for now. With any luck, the others won't notice, it's not like these horses are theirs anyway. Finder's keepers. Heinz put one foot into the stirrup and swung over the side. Not bad, these soldiers train their horses well. Heinz rode the warhorse a few steps away from the swamp, and the horse settled into a lazy jog. Just then he overheard the archer and the nomad talking, the traitor woman who had been hiding behind the captain was named Kamilla apparently, and the "damn fool wind mage" was probably the green haired man in all likelihood.

Heinz paused and circled his horse back slightly to the two. "My name is Heinz, and I work as a traveling mercenary. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he nodded slightly. "If you don't mind, could you tell me the names of the people in your group?"

[riariadne]

"What? No. Why the hell should we?" Chase retorted to the traveller. "And why are you following us? Don't give me any crap that you weren't, nobody else in their right mind would go through the swamp unless hey have a really good reason."

Edited June 15, 2010 by Lightning

[Inactive Account]

"I think one of the others is paying him, he's not going anywhere," Kelas responded. "Save your vitriol for Helios. I'm Kelas, and my brother Arrin's over there," she explained to Heinz.

[-Cynthia-]

"Helios is actually a vital member of this group." retorted Morgan. "Stupid and annoying, but vital. If he's missing, we should turn back for him."

[riariadne]

"Can we wait a minute or seven? This has been the most peaceful time since I've been in this group, excluding sleeping," he said to Morgan, before turning once again to the traveller. "Hey, you! Why are you still here? Must I spell it out? We don't need you here. Go away. Bye, probably won't ever see you again, get lost. You get the point- wait what? " he abruptly cut himself off. "He's already hired? Whaaat. Fine. You don't have to go. Not telling you who I am though, because if you don't know, well that's your problem."

Edited June 15, 2010 by Lightning

[Ansem]

OOC: I totally ripped this from somewhere

Helios woke up. He had no idea where he was. "So you finally woke up" He heard a soft voice say. He looked up to see a girl no older then his age smile back at him. Questions started filling his mind. He decided to ask the most important one. "Who am I"? The girl gave him a peculiar look. "You mean you dont know who you are" She said. She thought for a moment. "Amnesia" She said. Helios got up. He had a massive headache. "Your pack, there must be something in there that might remind you of who you are". She handed it to him. He opened the pack. He took out two books and a necklace. There was a pouch of gold and a letter. He read the envelope. "From Helios to Near" Helios read. "Near huh" the girl said. "That must be your name". Helios looked at the letter. "Near huh". "Im Near". He looked back at the girl. "Who are you"?

OOOC: I forget to mention i helped myself to a time skip since i got no response

Edited June 15, 2010 by Kai

[the_whistler]

Heinz raised his eyes. "And you are a needed member of this group, archer? You have no other reason to be here other than the fact that you are a criminal, wanted for multiple crimes. Even the slowest of mercenaries knows your face by now, it's plastered on the walls of every major city. As for why I am here, I ran into the cart while walking to Ilymphia, and was right in the cart with you going through the swamps. For a wanted criminal, you sure are unobservant. " This man is an idiot, probably even more than Helios supposedly is.

"The nomad is correct. As long as Morgan and Esphyr's employer remain among you, I see no reason to leave."

Edited June 15, 2010 by the_whistler

[riariadne]

"... Shut up, you! I'm an essential part of tis group. See this?" he said, and materialized the Crimson Bow. "This is the Crimson Bow, and if you don't shut up you're going to be good friends with one of its arrows. Ad I'm not clueless. I don't have to know who I'm being followed by, just that I'm being followed. Since apparently it was you, what do you want from us? Money? To turn us in? Nothing in particular and you're just following us around like a fool?"

Edited June 16, 2010 by Lightning

[Inactive Account]

"Good job telling him all about it if he's out to get us," Kelas muttered. "Let's go, no use being part of the conversation right now," she told Isotov.

[the_whistler]

"To put it simply adventure and money is what I want. As I said before, I was not following you, I had stopped the cart to ask how far away Illymphia was, where I was going to get work. This group interests me, and fulfills my demands for work and excitement quite well. I am a competent mercenary, and once I get more details about my pay I can go about fulfilling my job, whatever my employer happens to require. Unless he or she wants you killed, I am under no obligation to turn you in." At least for now. He is an arrogant man, this Chase, if he still goes by that name that is. You may be a wielder, but I have no control over what others may do to you when they see your face. At least another weapon has been found.

"Excuse me Kelas, but why is your brother Arrin a mage? I know little about nomadic life, but I heard that they do not accept magic in their lives." Heinz called.

[Phoenix]

Isotov and Irina

Iso: Yeah, best to catch up with the others.

As the two set out, Iso suddenly remembered what Irina told him earlier about the demon called Shanice. Apparently that was the surviving assassin from the attack that left Proxima in its current state. Kelas being targeted had him a little worried.

Iso: Kelas ... that demon that attacked you at TISME ... do you remember anything else about it? Was there anything you forgot to tell us?

Irina wasn't far away. She was now riding Kiev again, but the wyvern didn't feel like flying. He stayed close to Morgan's horse while licking his wounds. She watched him with a very sad look on her face. Her attack on Helenos was a very good distraction for Katie, but Kiev paid a decent price for it. Wyverns didn't care much for battle scars as trophies.

[Inactive Account]

"Ask him," Kelas suggested as she rode ahead. "I'm not entirely sure myself."

As Isotov asked about Shanice, her hands clenched, and Amari slowed for a moment, feeling the pressure on the reins. "The smarm, the blue flashes with the eyes, the ice... no, don't think I missed anything. Why?"

[Snowy_One]

In hindsight, now I wish I hadn't blown up the cart. It would have made finding a place to rest so much easier. scribbled Katie in her tome before giving a wide YAAAAAWN!

"Yea... And... With that cart no leeches... No leeches. I'm okay. They're just leeches... I just need a moment." said Esphyr, quivering at the thought of leeches.

And some help from a shrink.

[Phoenix]

Isotov and Irina

Iso: I'm asking because I may have missed something this entire time. The assassins I sometimes bring up? Well I never knew that they might have actually been demons. The demon that attacked you was the one I missed when I killed the lot of them. I knew if there were any more they would come back eventually, but if that demon attacked you by himself, he may be the last one. If that's the case, he needs to be dealt with, before someone else dies. You got lucky, my friends didn't.

[Inactive Account]

"Ah, so basically I'm not the only one what wants to kill it? Good to know." The knowledge that this demon had been following a Crimson Wielder for years was not comforting to Kelas; it meant that it was a hard creature to defeat. "Speaking of which, do we even know how to kill it? I'm assuming plain steel won't work."