Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 14: The mental limit

[-Cynthia-]

"Perhaps." said Charlotte. "But look at all these Septimian soldiers, did they beat these...brigands or mercenaries or whatever they were? Or did they lose? Some of these soldiers look to have been killed by magic, and the mercenaries as well. Did all the mages just escape, or was another group fighting the soldiers and the brigands?" Charlotte asked, hand on her chin.

"Ambushed by demons." Morgan answered, awakening from her rest. She felt a swelling in her left leg, but chose to ignore it. "Some of them have the power to remove weapons from their wielders apparently."

[the_whistler]

Take the princess of Jerdon? Probably some attempt to restore the kingdom then. "The princess was with us awhile ago, but she left after a couple days," Heinz said vaguely, shrugging his shoulders. "Those were mercenaries attacking us," he explained. So she mistook a bunch of drunk mercenaries for civilians? Brilliant.

At the mercenary encampment:

The grey-eyed man considered her response for a second, then posed another question. "What will you do now then, without a weapon to defeat the Lord of Azure Flames? You have no Crimson Weapon you can summon now, no way to escape from this place without help." His eyes glittered coldly, testing the shaman.

Edit: Slight rewording.

Edited July 29, 2010 by the_whistler

[-Cynthia-]

"Most likely I will die." said Morgan, her gaze unflinching. "Either you'll kill me, or simply neglect to nourish me. And even should I be set free I will likely die regardless, my time on this world appears to be limited."

[Snike]

Eric

"There are no bodies of mages around here, correct," Eric said, giving the battlefield a quick look. "But that is why I believe we should be moving. If it was Derek's group, either they are captured, or they captured the Comet. Either one means that there may be reinforcements heading out way."

Alex

"For all I knew at the time, they could have been peasants, considering how poorly they fought," Alex said, closing her eyes. "... A few days...? Just my luck."

[-Cynthia-]

"If Sir Derek and the others were captured we should go looking for them." Charlotte said. If they were attacked, this might be all my fault.

"If they were captured, they would probably be taken to the capital, correct? That would take us the way we were going." As the group walked forward, they came upon a shoddy camp, with some familiar looking figures.

"They don't look captured to me." said Charlotte.

[the_whistler]

"So you no longer care to defeat the Lord? A pity, I hate seeing people with promise turn out to be garbage," the man stated, standing up from his chair.

"Originally I followed your little group out of curiosity, you had eluded the Elysimian authorities for so long and continued to focus on this single minded quest to save the world. You in particular seemed to show promise, I have word that you were the one who held this group together. Without your Crimson Weapon though, you seem to be nothing, even your will to live is gone," the grey-eyed man said mockingly.

"Without a leader, your little band of fools will fall," the man said, looking towards the wall. "I have nothing to do with you now, a person only waiting to die is pathetic," he said contemptuously.

The grey-eyed man opened the door. "Get Synt back here," he ordered at the guards standing outside. Within short order the cloaked mercenary was at the door. "Take her out of here and leave this woman to die. We have more important things to focus on now," he ordered. Synt nodded. "Understood, boss," walking into the room and untying the woman from the chair, although he left the ropes tying her wrists and ankles together alone.

"Where do you want-" Synt frowned. He left already. "Well, since you're going to die soon anyway, mind telling me what you did to get him so mad at you? Usually he acts like a walking coffin or something."

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan shrugged. "I am not sure. I simply told him that my chances of survival were rather low. Though since neither you nor he seem particularly intent on killing me, my chances of survival have risen considerably, though not nearly as high as I would like. He seems to have mistaken my committment to reality as despair for some reason." Morgan punctuated this last statement with a hacking cough.

[Phoenix]

The People

Not content with letting Levski and Derek risk their necks again, Viveka decided to tag along with them. She was sure Daneka wouldn't be there this time, but that wasn't the only threat to warrant a little extra help. It was apparently a rescue mission after all. She and Levski soon came to Irina with the new. She of course opted to stay the second time as well. After her, they went to Derek.

Lev: I know it's a bit soon, but the longer we wait, the lower our chances of getting her back safely. Are you coming with?

Viveka: We'll likely be flying this time so ... if you are coming, you might want to gallop.

Not far away, Iso was doing dozens upon dozens of crunches on top of his bedroll and working up a sweat. He wasn't going to let himself get out of shape even if it meant doing military workouts in front of the group and looking like a show off. He just didn't care about social appearances anymore.

[the_whistler]

"You're sick?" Synt edged a few more centimeters away from the shaman. "Can't say I understand him much myself either, but you're supposed to be dead and I've got nothing better to do." Making sure his hood was up again, the man pushed her out of the room, walking past Travis as he pulled the shaman towards the door.

"Hey, uh Travis. Did my boss talk to you yet? He might be in a bad mood 'cause of her," pointing at the mage. "But he pays pretty well, I gotta say."

[-Cynthia-]

"Yeah, he just kinda brushed by me. Weird guy. Might switch to working for him though, this princess bounty is a pain in the ass to collect. Where you taking the girl? She's a little beat up, but not too bad. Having some fun in a brothel?" he asked, eyes gleaming.

Morgan rolled her eyes.

[Snike]

Derek

"I'm in," Derek said, picking up his shield and mounting his mare, who he decided to call Ann. " On an unrelated note, who made that lance? Pretty good work. I'd like to buy one of those at some point."

[Phoenix]

People and such

Lev: The lance? Ivanko's got plenty of forgers, and that one was made to my specifications by an old friend.

Viveka: Yes-yes, great lance, now let's go before something else delays us.

As soon as the last words came from her mouth, she noticed some figures in the distance, though they were still too far out to identify.

Viveka: Speak of the devil >_>'

Levski took a look too but since there were so few of them, he figured the group could handle it while they left to search for Morgan.

Lev: Don't worry about them. Not enough of them to be a real threat.

[the_whistler]

Heinz smiled slightly. "General Alex, if I'm not mistaken, that girl over there in that group looks like Princess Charlotte," pointing at a hill behind the man. "Not sure why she's here myself, but there's your princess," he said shrugging, watching for the General's reaction. Better that she find the princess then some other bounty hunter capture her.

At the mercenary encampment:

Synt chuckled at Travis's comment. "I wish, but I gotta dump this woman, let 'er die out somewhere. Direct order too, plus she's part of those Fire Bandits you were chasing after earlier. Say, Travis, you recognize this girl?"

[-Cynthia-]

"Hmm, yeah I think so. If she had one of those Crimson Weapon things she was probably with the Fire Bandits. Bounty on the Fire Bandits apparently went away anyway, so it looks like I'm off to "rescue" the princess or work for your employer. Whatever pays better really. Have fun leaving her for dead!" Travis said, waving goodbye to Synt.

Edited July 29, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[the_whistler]

Synt grinned. "Definitely," waving back at the mercenary. "I'll see you around, maybe," trailing off as he turned back towards the shaman. "Let's go," he muttered curtly. Leading the mage towards the slums of the town, he stopped at a particularly rundown alley, covered in the grime and dirt that was a staple of the area.

"I've only gotta leave you for dead here," watching a mouse skitter past his feet. "Hopefully whatever disease you've got kills off a couple scum before you die," noting a few eyes peaking out from beneath the mounds of filth. Suddenly the man pushed the woman face first into one of the piles of debris, shrugging apologetically at her struggling. "Sorry you got stuck like this," Synt half-smiled. "Bad luck."

Turning his back, Synt walked back out of the slums, his face obscured by the hood of his cloak.

OOC: Morgan's hands are tied behind her back with rope. Her ankles are tied together as well, but a bit looser, if she can stand up, she should be able to walk around. Running would probably cause her to trip though.

[Phoenix]

The W Team

Lev: Well like I said. Times wasting. Let's get back to that town before those mercs move on.

Viveka: How exactly are we going to get Morgan back from them with just the three of us?

Lev: Kill them where they stand. If a pegasus hadn't landed on me, I'd have been able to fight the fliers on better terms. We just got caught off guard last time. I'm expecting bloodfest this time and am preparing accordingly.

He walked over to Krinkov and mounted the wyvern. Surprisingly, the wyvern was doing rather well, and without the cases and shields tied to him, he was free to maneuver. Not only that, but he was stronger than before. Carrying the extra four hundred pounds of equipment everywhere all day everyday had strengthened his muscles. He was now stronger than before an noticeably buffer.

Lev: Get your mounts and let's ride!

Viveka: Sure >_>'

Susann patiently waited for Viveka to mount her, and once she did, the pegasus took off, waiting for Krinkov to take off as well. Once Krinkov took off as well, the three of them headed out, following Krinkov back to the town.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Phoenix

[Ether]

OOC:I don't think he is actually doing Halton exercises,but Zaftra is quite close to Halton,and IM base is in Halton,so it is safe to assume they would be fairly similar.

Aiya walked back towards the main camp,having set everything up the way Damian had asked. Along the way,she saw Isotov in the middle of a physical training exercise,which she noted was quite similar to her own exercises.

"Isotov? I didn't know you practiced Halton military physical training." Aiya commented,squatting down next to the surprisingly well-muscled mage.

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

"Killing you off would do no good. It simply puts more blood on our hands,and the blood of an upstart Septimian General is the last thing we need,especially in Septimus. 'Sides,you're a pretty damn good lancer,it'd be a shame to off you like that." Damian replied to the conversation revolving around Alex' potential execution.

Seeing several of the others heading out,Damian continued;

"It looks like Levski and Viveka are heading off.Lev went to track Morgan yesterday,so they might know where she is...think we should help 'em?" Damian asked Esphyr.

[Snowy_One]

"I certainly want to." said Esphyr.

[riariadne]

Chase awoke, and recollected the events of the previous night to himself, and overheard Lev, Viveka, and Derek's plans to go back to search for Morgan. "I'm going back too," Chase interjected. "We've wasted enough time, and I'm going to leave now if you guys aren't ready. But if you are, then let's go!"

Edited July 29, 2010 by Lightning

[Snike]

OOC: Dami-warp? I thought he was well out of the camp, by now.

Alex

"All you would need to do is bury the body, and the blood would be non-existent," Alex said, glaring at Damian. "And I don't need your mercy," Then she heard the mercenary, and looked in that direction, too see the princess, along with a few others. "Oh, the irony..."

[Inactive Account]

Kelas looked up at the approach of Charlotte's group. "Irony indeed," she muttered, "we really could have used that staff yesterday." She raised her voice. "Hello there! Didn't expect to see you lot here!"

Edited July 29, 2010 by The Clockwork Alchemist

[Ether]

"I take pride in not being a cold-blooded murderer,thank you. I wouldn't think it mercy so much as finding no need to kill a captive without dire reason. Besides,don't you have a goal? You're being given a chance to keep living,and perhaps push towards it,but you would still choose death? Is the comet nothing but a coward?" Damian asked accusingly,turning towards Alex.

[Snowy_One]

"I think she is." said Esphyr, standing behind Damian. "I mean, she's worried we might rape her and, somehow, being raped will stop her from her goal."

[Snike]

Alex

"Not letting me die was cold-blooded, you git," Alex snapped. "And, my goal is right over there. Also, miss, there's a reason why it's called a fate worse than death."

[Snowy_One]

"I'd hate to say it, but there you're wrong. It's only a fate that bad if you let it be. There's a difference between being a victim and victimhood. Trust me. I had to learn the difference myself."