Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 12: *This Title has been stolen*

[Phoenix]

OOC: Boooored

Everyone

Lev: I'm a little curious, Morgan. That tome you carry around. What does it do?

[-Cynthia-]

"It obliterates my enemies, disintegrating most of their flesh and bone. Elder magic is notorious for efficient destruction. Slightly more inaccurate than anima magic, but the results are devastating." she answered simply.

[Phoenix]

Everyone

Lev: ... well damn, that Alferis guy sure was a little too worried about your safety ... ... wait, and you can use that kind of attack in non lethal way if you so choose?

[-Cynthia-]

"I can deal nonlethal damage. I used to practice on chairs, simply knocking them down without destroying them. I had hoped to reason with my allies and win them over through logic, but perhaps brute force is the only thing they understand." Morgan shrugged at Lev.

[Phoenix]

Lev: Well that's talent for you. I don't know anyone that is any good at throwing hand axes who can't strike a man without causing a fatal wound. (Sorry, Ivan but you're engaged, and if this woman doesn't get sick of me ... weeeeell I just might have to pursue this hahahaaaaah!) ... you know you sound more like you're ready to give up on making these guys understand the importance of what you're doing. I know I suggested it in the first place, but needing to resort to brute force means you're running out of options ...

[-Cynthia-]

"I have made it clear every time someone had made an error that such behaviour is entirely unacceptable. I tell them they are wrong and why they are wrong and yet the idiocy persists. Lack of focus, falling for obvious traps, complaining about doing what needs to be done...I feel as if I am at a loss here. I am unsure of how to prevent them from making errors. How do you do it as a mercenary captain?" she asked him, hand on her chin.

[Phoenix]

Everyone

Lev: Actually I'm a commander. There's a slight difference. For one it's not an actual rank. I'm simply second in command. As long as my orders aren't outrageous or superceded by Ivanko himself, they have to follow them ... and there's your answer right there, Morgan. This group is a bunch of renegades. There's no truly recognized leader. No chain of command. And certainly no consequences for disobedience.

He started to laugh when he thought about it more.

Lev: Hell, you might fix both problems with a proper command structure. The people who are necessary will fall in line eventually, and the idiots will likely leave on their own since they won't be able to get by without being punished hahah!

[-Cynthia-]

"You may be correct. Organization is key to any group, especially considering how our numbers have grown."

"The problem is that I do not see a suitable leader among us. Damian is charismatic, but he spends all his time fondling Aiya or Damian, I suspect he became a Colonel solely on his father's name. I don't think anyone else in the group has any leadership experience whatsoever. Helios may have ruled Tora for a short while, but leaving the company is his hands will have us all dead by sundown." Morgan scowled. "If we had someone capable of commanding respect, like Ivanko, I would be glad to appoint them leader, but I see no such indvidual among our ranks."

[Phoenix]

Everyone

Lev: Well ... let's see ... (Damian? ... ehhhh ... Iso? heheh ... Headmaster ... obvious? Yes ... sane ... no. Eric? ... too injury prone ... Viveka? ... ... I don't think that will last very long though she would know what she's doing. Conrad? That would make sense. He is a general, but then again where the hell is he? He's never around. ... no dice ...., yeah not a lot of candidates. I would volunteer but Ivanko would just chuck another tomahawk at me. *sigh* ... I guess that just leaves you, Morgan. Doesn't really matter that you're not good with people. that can be fixed with some help. (Hope that didn't come across as too forward ...)

[-Cynthia-]

"I never expected I would ever become leader when I set out on this journey, but one cannot anticipate everything."

Morgan sighed "If you want something done right, I suppose you have to do it yourself. Very well Lev, I...suppose I can try to take up the mantle of leadership."

"So what does being good with people entail anyway? Giving them some vapid compliments and acting as if their opinions matter?" she asked bluntly.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Morgan has such a hermit/robotic innocence.

Everyone

Lev: You don't actually have to be "nice" to be good with people. You just have to know what to say to who to get what you want from people (Should I be talking about these with her?). I'll admit Esphyr's givin me helluva time with this concept but she'll come around once she realizes she's just shouting at fortress wall. To get what you want from people, you generally have to give them something they can relate to. Luckily it doesn't have to be a compliment. Common enemies are social goldmines. So are common disinterests. You've got to let specific people know that you love and hate specific things that they do, and never show them any part of you they disagree with. It's a little sneaky but it's either that, or kissing their asses for support. These manipulative tactic isn't necessary on people who already listen to you though. Just be earnest and sincere and let them know that you place a lot of importance on what you want done. I'd probably need some more time to explain all these :/

[Inactive Account]

The others' horses had been acting up for a while, Kelas realized. Not panicky; they just shook their heads and were unwilling to go... pained, maybe, like their riders were doing something to them... except they weren't that she could see (and if they were, well, she had words for them). Amari seemed unaffected.

There was no time to contemplate this though: they had reached the graveyard, confronted by a small boy. Watch it be Shanice, she thought grumblingly, but the boy quickly disproved that by turning into a dragon.

She dropped from the saddle, sending Amari to calm Francis and heading to the others' horses herself. Grabbed muzzles and necks, soft words in their ears, followed by Amari's lead-mare posture got the group's horses on all fours again, and they no longer had to worry about being thrown. She turned her attention back to the dragon.

Oh, gods-- Tessa had run to the dragon and was... consoling it? Damian was trying to get her away, good plan except it was Damian-- Kelas rode forward, but he'd already pulled the girl up onto the wyvern, and she was arguing furiously. Kelas could only sit and watch as the dragon was talked down.

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

Francis was shaking his head a lot, and Arrin couldn't tell why. He was doing his best to be gentle with the reins...

Suddenly he was preoccupied with other matters as the little boy the group had just encountered grew into a huge dragon. Arrin stared in shock, falling from the saddle as Francis reared in panic, and scrambling back up.

When Tessa ran forward, so did Arrin, shouting her name and bringing out Daranau in case she needed backup. She paid no mind. He glared at Damian as he swooped her up-- you dog, she didn't want to be picked up-- and stood there, waiting for Damian to let her down. "Are you all right, Tessa?" he called.

[riariadne]

"This just goes from weird to stupid..." Chase muttered, as the little boy in front of them turned into a dragon.

[Phoenix]

Lucille and Jasmine

The two pegasus knights soared over the Halton plains backtracking to the previous settlement. The sun was approaching its noon position and the hours were beginning to slow just enough to drive Jasmine crazy. During their trip, Lucille had to remind her several times that reaching the town would take slightly less than half the time simply because they were flying full throttle. It only calmed the woman a little.

Not too far away from them, General Conrad himself was speeding across the plains atop Thunderbolt! His crimson axe swinging back and forth from the horse's sprinting gallops! When he looked up and saw the two familiar looking knights, he slowed Thunderbolt to a long stop.

Conrad: Viveka must have sent them to give me a report ...

He reached into a bag near the rear of the horse and pulled out a small blue stone. It was transparent like a crystal, but foggy, and its interior was clearly influenced by magic. He prepared for a mighty toss, and then chucked the stone straight into the sky! It soared to well over two hundred feet, then the magic inside the stone activated! A blue lightning bolt shot straight down and landed near Conrad! The bolt was too weak to kill anything larger than a cat, but blue lightning was a perfect signal as typical lightning bolts were yellow.

The two knights quickly spotted the familiar signal and flew down to meet him! Conrad caught the drained stone in his hand after it fell back down and bagged it before the knights reached him.

Conrad: Works every time ...

Once they landed, they both dismounted, ran up to him and Thunderbolt, and saluted while at attention!

Lucille: Sir! We are here to deliver Captain Viveka's report on her request, Sir!

Jasmine: ... oh right! Here's the letter by the way ...

Jasmine took out a small piece of paper and handed it to Conrad who was still mounted. He looked the note over carefully.

Where to begin ...

It appears that Damian and Morgan are in charge, so only listen to them for opinions. Unfortunately they aren't that effective at leading the party. Damian also stated that he wasn't the actual leader, so that might leave you an opening since I doubt the shamaness is good for anything more than shepherding the idiots, and she doesn't do that very well either. Next we have the mages. Isotov, the fire mage, yeah you guessed it, he's the firestarter ... twisted fire starter. Arrin, a really cute thunder mage. Helios, a wind mage with the extraordinary gift of butting into conflicts and making them worse. Danielle, a thunder mage as well. She's a loose cannon. The mages are just this group's foot soldiers. They don't serve any other purpose really. Next up we have the mercenaries. Esphyr is an emotional wreck, and Damian's second. Don't take that one too seriously. Then we have Irina, a wyvern rider. She's not as annoying as some others but she's definitely ... off. There's a man named Levski in this group who claims to be one of Ivanko's mercenaries. I don't believe him but since he's doing me some favors I'm far passed despising him. He jokes about me being his property though and it's got Esphyr in hysterics so don't take it the wrong way. He's just being a dick dog. There's a Jerdonian mercenary named Derek with the group too. He's Danielle's brother. He doesn't cause any problems at all. He might actually be kind enough to help enforce some order in this group. We just picked up a priest who's less than useless because he doesn't like my meat shield suggestion and he's insistent on staying with the group. No idea what that's about, but I'm passed carrying.

Having reached the end of the front half's contents, Conrad flipped the piece of paper over to see the back of it.

I'm writing this in a hurry so please forgive my condensed summaries. Anyway ... we're heading for the dragon graveyard. You can catch up to us in no time if you hurry. I honestly wouldn't recommend joining this group of neanderthals unless you could somehow gain control over the group yourself, but they do have some potential. Oh! And one more thing. I'm giving Lucille and Jasmine a vacation so they can help us. You need a pair of eyes on this group at all times and that's me, so they'll be available to fetch us anything we need, and deliver news from home if need be. Almost forgot! I have my clothes too so you don't have to worry about my cleanly episodes or anything like that.

Cordially, Captain Viveka

Conrad lowered the note with a half smile on his face.

Conrad: Oh, Viveka ...

Lucille: ... orders, Sir?

Conrad: 1st Lieutenant, Lucille, 2nd Lieutenant Jasmine, you're both coming with me. Try to keep up! YAH!!!

Thunderbolt suddenly took off down the plains leaving Lucille and Jasmine scrabbling for their nearly spooked pegasi in hopes of catching up to their speeding general!

[Dark Sage]

Reika walked ahead on her own. The slowpokes. Either they were entering fights and causing a rucus, or they were as slow as molasses. She would just ditch them for a bit.

She thought about her employer for a bit. Why did he care about her spying on them. They may wield the Crimson Weapons, but they would probably kill themselves due to their own stupidity.

And that Heinz fellow. I wonder what he's truly up to. He's a bit too interested. Is he connected with my employer? she mused to herself.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Balcerzak]

As Tessa was returning to Trevor, Arrin had run up to her with an "Are you all right?"

Yes... that's right, he'd tried to chase after her again hadn't he? Was he still caught up on the whole knight protector business? That was days ago... She'd probably only avoided having him stop her this time due to the fact that Francis had spooked at the sudden dragon appearance much more badly than Trevor had. Still, it didn't seem like he was trying to rebuke her; unlike Damian and Morgan, Arrin's concern seemed to begin and end with just whether or not she was safe. She could handle that.

Turning to face him, she realized she was still glaring angrily, and the poor boy hadn't done anything to incur her wrath. Not quite sure what to do or say, she looked aside. "I'm... not hurt," she managed to reply. It didn't quite answer his question, but she wasn't really all right.

Watching the young dragon take off, having been hurt, scared, and confused, Tessa's frustration boiled up again. She hadn't been able to make a difference. With a deep sigh, she tried to relax, to defuse a little, but it just wasn't working. Once again turning to Arrin, she followed up. "I think I need a hug, and you've just been drafted for the job."

Leaving no room for complaint, she reached out and pulled the young mage toward her. They were nearly the same height, so she couldn't bury her face in his shoulder, and instead just settled for holding on fiercely, pressing their chests tightly against each other as she knotted her fingers into the fabric of his shirt.

"Don't say anything... please. For just a little while," she breathed, trying to let the tension, anger, sadness, and frustration flow out of her.

[Dark Sage]

OOC: Timeskip!

The day was uneventful as was the night. The next day, Alferis rode near the front of the group. The graveyard was fast approaching and it was filling him with dread. He couldn't quite place his finger on it. Besides the fact it was a graveyard, but there was another feeling, one of sadness filled him. There were few dragons left in the world apparently, if at all. He felt as if he shouldn't be here.

Duh. he told himself. Just need to make sure Pary doesn't desecrate any graves and we're fine.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Psych]

Berry, Marry, Verry:

"Alright girls. They'll be here any second. Assume positions. The skeleton's will jump them soon."

"Ugh."

"Alright Berry. I go for the fire mage, right?"

"Right Verry. Let's go."

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

Pary:

"So this is the graveyard? I wonder if anyone's here. Let us go look for that dragon's mother's grave sister."

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

Cess:

Cess dismounted his horse, and walked it towards the graveyard. "I say we split up to go through these mausoleums. There are more than enough of us to do it. Damian, why don't you split the group up."

[Dark Sage]

"You know that's suicide right? We'll be in deep trouble if we split up around here. We don't know this place and we won't be able to call for each other's aid. Let's stick together or at least split into two groups."

[Snowy_One]

"There won't be any mausoleums." said the headmaster, calmly walking beside the cart. "It's a ruined city after all. What we should seek out if we desire to find the grave of his mother is a place of residence."

"Is there any history as to this graveyard?" asked Esphyr.

"Yes. About five hundred to a thousand years ago, the Lord of Azure Flame rose up and called the nations to his aid. Many nations rallied, and waged war upon the dragon kind. They fought fiercely until, at last, they reached the dragon capitol. Then, the goddess intervened. The dragons repulsed the Lord, but their capitol was lost. Out of rage and fury, they assaulted the human nations, razing much until, at last, they exhausted themselves. Many records were destroyed, as were they. The graveyard was their capitol. I expect it to be hidden at least somewhat, but have never seen it myself."

[-Cynthia-]

Charlotte lagged slightly behind the group, gathering wildflowers as she went. After seeing Arrin hug Tessa, she apporadhed the troubadour.

"Tessa?" she asked softly, since the troubadour seemed to be upset. "I thought we could place these where his mother is, if we find her. Not that we know what she looks like necessarily, but...I want to do something." she finished up lamely.

[Dark Sage]

"Well we should stop the heart of the city then. And maybe we can pay respects to the dragon boy's mother on the way if we know which one is her's" said Alferis, glancing at Pary and Tessa.

[Snowy_One]

"I agree." said Esphyr. "It... It's personal when you've seen her child and held him. You know you must do something."

Esphyr's right. But what?

[Phoenix]

OOC: Cynthia's probably going to raise an eyebrow at this post.

Ivanko and Ivan

Following the directions sent to him by Aiya, Ivanko made his way toward the dragon graveyard at high speed! Ivan was close behind, but not nearly as prepared. Victor, the massive bull wyvern was decked beyond recognition! The wyvern was wearing a special set of armor crafted by Ixion. Upon his head was a helmet seemingly crafted for a dragon! It gave off a great shine, and covered most of his head. Attached to the nose was a set of horns that were similar to a rhinoceros'. Upon his limbs were ebon plates with sharp edges. Upon his tail was a massive piece of armor covered in bladed edges, perfect for killing even armored foes in one blow. His torso was also armored similarly, and Ivanko himself was carrying two massive ebon shields close to Victor's wings. Holstered in different places were numerous hand axes, Ivanko's great sword, and his personal lance, an extremely long lance capable of stabbing enemies from even beyond Victor's range. The only reason Victor could carry so much, was because they were all specially designed by Ixion. He was a flying tank, moderately protected from nearly all forms of attack, and his mobility was reduced by a bare minimum! Ivanko smiled from atop his perfect killing machine.

Ivan was riding a mountain wyvern different from his first, covered in dark blue scales! He two had two massive shields of the same make as Ivanko's! They were clearly not just here for helping to retrieve simply dragon slaying weapons. They approached the graveyard, they flew in low to keep attention off of themselves. The group wasn't in view yet, but they were close by.

Lucille Jasmine and Conrad

They had finally caught up to the group! Though they hadn't been spotted yet, Thunderbolt's hoof stomps were going to alert the group soon, and Lucille and Jasmine would easily be spotted from the sky!

Lucille: There they are!

Jasmine: Ewwww ... bones everywhere ... yuck.

Conrad: Go over and flag them!

Everyone

Viveka: I don't know if splitting up is necessary just yet. We don't have any knowledge about this place. We need to scout it out before splitting the main group.

Lev: We ran into dragon child on the way here. If Esphyr is right about the father, we might want to be at full strength since she likely pissed him off ahead of time.

Viveka: Oh and I forgot about that. Since Esphyr likes to abuse children, we'll definitely not want to be splitting up to get picked off one by one just yet ... if we must split up, I suggest sending all the idiots straight into the graveyard while everyone else just waits here.

Shanice and Megae

The two demons were running on foot now to catch up to the group! Shanice was in the form of a purple cheetah and Megae was simply fast enough to keep up in her full sprint!

Shanice: This is it! We find them and flank them! Hit'em with everything you've got! This is the final showdown, I can feel it! Hahah!

OOC: Ivanko and Ivan aren't close enough to be spotted. Conrad and the peggies are close enough to be spotted. Shanice and Megae are nowhere in sight, even the animals can't detect them yet.

Useful info:

Victor's armor is known as aero armor(it's very light weight and acts as a delphi shield and a resistance buffer)

The four shields Ivanko and Ivan are carrying are each ten feet by four and a half feet, and are extremely effective at deflecting arrows(they aren't for him, he's bringing them for others to use)

[Psych]

Berry:

"Girls! Attack with your seige tomes! We'll hit them now before the know what hit them! Archers, advance!"

Suddenly swarms of skeletons climbed the various buildings. Readying their bows and arrows, they released a single shot. But a single shot hundred of times is still a lot. A large tornado swirled overhead, aimed directly at the pegasi.

----------

Verry:

"Berry gave the signel! Fire traps go!"

The perimeter of the city burst into flames, 10 feet high. The inferno was consuming the dead trees and old buildings all around the place at a dangerous rate. Flames from a large meteor appeared above the group.

----------

Marry:

"Ugh! Guh ung ugh!"

Dozens of skeleton soldiers swarmed out of the abandoned houses. Swords raised high, and lances at the ready, they surround the group ready to strike. Howls of hundreds of wolfs could be heard in the distance. Lightning strikes struck dangerously close to the group avoid them by inches.