Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 14: The mental limit

[Psych]

Pary:

"Well then we don't have to listen to you." Pary took his staff, slamming it down, aiming to hit her collar bone, hoping to knock her unconscious. "Want some tea or coffee?"

[-Cynthia-]

"Oh, why you thank you Dani. Acting lower class may not be as difficult as I thought it was." Charlotte said with a sigh of relief.

The smaller group set out on the road to Anglevar, walking at a brisk pace. Many hoof marks could be seen in the dirt.

[Snike]

Alex

"... Look, Miss. I'm a woman. In a group laden with unsavory men. Put two and two together," Alex said, grimacing as the priest's staff hit her. "Ugh... So, you would drug me, so I couldn't do... This!" she finished, tripping the priest and hitting him in the nether regions with her legs. "And besides, I don't see the point of not just leaving me here. Is there some other purpose you wish to use me for?"

[Inactive Account]

At the sound of raised voices, Kelas looked up to see Esphyr and Pary bickering with an unfamiliar woman, presumably a prisoner. This couldn't end well. When Pary moved to hit her with his staff, Kelas stopped her exercises and headed over, sword still in hand. "What are we doing here, now? Last I checked, we weren't a bunch of highwaymen what catch people and beat on them for no reason. Is there some sort of decent explanation for this that I missed yesterday on account of being mostly dead, or is this just what happens when we lose Morgan?"

OOC: Added the "this couldn't end well"

Edited July 29, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Snowy_One]

"Hell if I know. I'm just hired muscle. But I've been with them for about three weeks now, and I haven't heard of any man forcing himself upon a woman or deceiving her like that. Sides, Kelas over there can put a arrow in a mans eye at three hundred paces while mounted and has a thing bout rape. She would kill anyone who tried it. Anyways, if we really wanted you bending over, well... We already captured you. How much harder could raping be?"

[Snike]

Alex

"I'm a trained soldier, as your 'friend' here clearly knows," Alex said, pointing towards the downed priest. "You probably lose your manhood if you tried to rape me without drugging me first. But you still haven't answered me. Why not just leave me to die?" To the nomad, she said, "You don't need to worry about me. I think he learned his lesson."

[Snowy_One]

"I don't exactly have any qualms about the matter." said Esphyr, gritting her teeth. She hated the idea of Alex being left tied to a tree to die either from starvation or dehydration, but wasn't willing to say it aloud. "If you ask me, I think Damian thinks your cute possibly; or maybe we just have a thing about killing a subdued person in cold blood cause we're not, ya know, evil."

[Inactive Account]

"That's the issue with this lot, you'd think they'd learn, but... and Esphyr, you're in rare form today," Kelas muttered. "Anyway, given I was mostly dead for yesterday's arguments, you won't grudge me asking: who are you and why should we kill you?"

Alex summarized her identity briefly, and Kelas stared in disbelief for a moment. "So we're... holding a General hostage, not only that we're casually roughing her up. Whose bright idea was this?"

[Snowy_One]

"Not mine." said Esphyr with a smile. "But rare form? What do you mean?"

[Snike]

Alex

"I think it was the troubadour who did not just finish me off, and Colonel Kleine, who did not kill me, who are to blame," Alex said, looking at the nomad. "Speaking of Kleine, tell him to go save his companions, before chasing any and all skirts."

[Inactive Account]

"Esphyr, last I checked you'll still go near him, you do it," Kelas grumbled, saved from having to explain exactly what she meant by "rare form." She looked back to Alex. "And I didn't mean, whose idea was it to let you live; I meant who had the bright idea of harassing you. I thought it was some of us were morally bankrupt and some of us were idiots; apparently some of us are both. I'd apologize for them, but they'd probably find some way to ruin it."

edit: clarification

Edited July 29, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Snike]

Alex

"That would be the wind mage, followed by the priest lying on the ground there, and the mercenary," the Comet recited. "Really, there are no apologies needed. I lost, so just kill me. I am nothing but a burden, alive."

[Snowy_One]

"Not my place to decide. Though if you want to die, no one can force you to eat. And are you saying that you want me to feed her Kelas?"

[Snike]

Alex

"'Not your place to decide'?," Alex laughed. "Miss, as soon as I fell on the battlefield, it was decided that I was to die. And, considering the chaos of this group, it's anyone's decision."

[Snowy_One]

"I'm not one for overstepping my bounds. I was hired for a job, and killing someone outside that is poor professionalism. If Damian says to kill you, I will. If not..." she gave a shrug. "Heck, if he said to make out with you, I technically would have no choice."

[Inactive Account]

"No, I'm saying, relay her message about the helping people, because it's a good one," Kelas clarified to Esphyr. "Killing you would probably be worse for us in the long run," Kelas explained. "We reacted to your lot in self-defense. We kill you now, we can't claim that so well. Mind, I don't know what to do with you either, but..."

OOC: clarification argh

Edited July 29, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[the_whistler]

Heinz had simply stated that he'd rather not have to deal with the issue of bits later but the nomad had shrugged him off, promising to fix it tomorrow. The mercenary had left at that point, going to watch the mute mage put together some sort of strange spell to find Morgan. Damned lazy nomad, too busy talking to the fire mage, he mocked silently. I won't be able to find the cloaked man till later then, slightly annoyed at the delay.

Lazily watching the wind mage and Reika fight out of the corner of his eye, Heinz smirked in amusement. No point in complaining about it. Having rank means nothing here, General, you'd be better off ignoring it like the others. Sleeping with his back against the same scrawny tree as before, the mercenary had dozed off fitfully, one knife hidden in his left hand.

Waking up early in the morning, Heinz looked around quickly. Lucky no one showed up last night, wryly noting the presence of two trenches in the ground. Looks like at least one person was careful.Standing up stiffly, Heinz walked over to the captured Septimian General and the others, twitching slightly when he heard Esphyr's comment.

Seems like she has a death wish, he thought, amused. "You want us to kill you?" Heinz snorted. "I'd rather not have a bounty on my head, why not just ask Jace to kill you then?"

OOC: Don't think Heinz heard the part about Alex going after the princess.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Unnecessarily long dialogue incoming.

People

When Viveka finally woke up, she saw Levski stroking Susann's mane. His hand was close to her face, and it caused her to jump!

Viveka: *gasp* Whatdoyouwant? o_o

Lev: Tch, relax. I'm just happy to see a friendly pegasus.

Viveka: ... what?

Lev: Right, so last night while you were getting unneeded beauty sleep, Derek, Chase, and myself were getting our asses kicked by Xenia and Daneka. At least we made it back alive though. Derek's not a bad fighter. I can see why you like him.

Viveka: ... ... what did you just say?

Lev: Last night while you were getting much unneeded beauty sleep?

Viveka: After that.

Lev: We got our asses kicked?

Viveka: After that.

Lev: I can see why you like him?

Viveka: Before that.

Lev: Derek's a good fighter?

Viveka: Before that.

Lev: Xenia and Daneka?

Viveka: Why did Colonel Daneka attack you?!!

Lev: You know her?

Viveka: We've met ... >_>'

Daneka and a pissed off peggie

Daneka woke up slumped over in her saddle. She noticed Svetlana was flying an unconscious Xenia as well. When she gazed around, it was clear that they were nearly back at the cathedral.

Daneka: (What happened? I was dueling Monsieur Levski ... and zen all of a sudden, everyzing went dark ... and now I have terrible headache. Right ... must've been struck from behind. Typical Jerdon cowards.)

When the mounts landed, Alphonse was waiting for them by the entrance. He walked over to Nyx and gave her a full stick of pocky, thanking her for somehow bringing his commanding officer back alive. He took her barely conscious form down from the pegasus and carried her over to a nearby bench near the entrance, laying her across it carefully and looking over her for wounds.

Alphonse: Madame Colonel? Are you well?

Daneka: ... I had good dreams ... strange how I never realize just how silly zey are until I wake up.

Alphonse: Silly you say?

Daneka: Yes, truly silly.

She smiled, then laid her head down, and closed her eyes. Alphonse then stood back up and looked over to the wyvern lord. He didn't know her personally and was certain that giving her the same loving treatment as Daneka was such a good idea, nonetheless he came closer gauging Svetlana's response with every step he took.

[Snike]

Alex

"... He won't," Alex said, looking down. "Too much of a hassle. All the 'legal' issues, that would arise from it, would outweigh the benefits of getting me out of his hair."

Edited July 29, 2010 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

Svetlana hissed as the strange man came towards her. No time to have Mistress poked and prodded.

At the sound of Svetlana's hissing, Xenia woke up and made something resembling a growl more than anything else.

"Good work Svet." she said, patting her wyvern. "Just a little scratch though, no worse than the one I got while leaving the mercenaries. You finish them off for me Daneka?"

Charlotte and company came upon a large plain which contained many bodies. "Was there a battle here? i am not sure how long ago this was, though the bodies look rather...composed." she said to her group.

[Phoenix]

Daneka, that German guy, and Nyx

Alphonse: Xenia was it? I'm afraid the Colonel was defeated in much the same manner as you. There is blood on your wyverns tail however. Perhaps at least one of your opponents was felled.

From the bench, Daneka kept her eyes closed and mumbled out responses just barely loud enough to interpret.

Daneka: Knocked out from behind ... ... Jerdons.

[-Cynthia-]

"Hmph." Xenia snorted. "Well if they want to use dirty tricks, then so be it. We'll just have to be a little underhanded to beat this lot. Time for your presents or..whatever you have planned."

[the_whistler]

Hearing the General's reply, Heinz nodded shortly. Makes sense why she's still alive then, though it's a pity we can't get rid of her. "Say, why'd you attack us in the first place?" Don't think you're allied with my employer, anyhow.

Earlier in the morning:

Riding on horseback, the grey-eyed man had arrived at a guardpost at the Halton/Septimus border, passing himself off as a simple traveler going to visit Septimus. Arriving in the mercenary encampment a few hours later, the grey-eyed man had finally arrived at his destination. Synt had whispered in his ear about the Crimson Dark tome being severed and the possible aid of Travis before the man cut him off.

"Understood. I'll talk to you about the Fire Bandits later," fixing his eyes on Travis. The grey-eyed man walked briskly into the room, ordering the two mercenaries out of the room. Taking another dusty chair from the side of the room, the man sat down across from Morgan. "Synt has told me about your Crimson Weapon being severed. Care to explain what happened?" Though his last remark was technically a question, the grey-eyed man stared straight at Morgan, expecting an answer.

[Snike]

Eric

"It appears to have happened, maybe a day ago, Your Highness," Eric said, looking at the battlefield. "Judging from the armor being present, and the lack of ravens... Oh, what is this?" The swordsman picked up a silver helm. "It appears that the Comet has been here... Milady, it may be wise to leave this place immediately. The Septimus army may be nearby."

Alex

"I was given intelligence stating that the princess of Jerdon was with your group. We were going to attempt to take her peacefully, but then, we saw the battle with what appeared to be our citizens being slaughtered, and acted upon that," Alex said, bangs covering her eyes. "And now, I realize that I was misinformed, As I lie here, defeated."

[Phoenix]

People

After explaining what happened the previous night, Viveka shared her stories about Daneka as well. It was a short exchange, though due to Levski cutting her off. He was more concerned with getting back on track. The primary reason for withdrawing back to the camp was to rest and recuperate. Now that they and the wyvern were patched up again, he felt it was time to set out again.

Viveka: You're going back?

Lev: We already know where she is. If the trail goes cold, we might never find her. We weren't as prepared as we should've been, so feel free to come along, though I doubt we'll run into the flying duo this time around.

Viveka: You're asking me and not Irina?

Lev: I'm asking anyone who's interested in being a meat shield for Krinkov's nose.

Danekins

Daneka: R-right ... even a small part of zeir group was dangerous. Best to settle zis efficiently. (I hope we don't waste too much time on zem. I don't want to miss ze grand ball. zey don't come very often.)