Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 19: To catch a Priestess

[Snowy_One]

"I take it that that is the ride you so desired?" called down Mana, glancing up into the sky. Already, her ability to see slightly into the magical spectrum told her more about what it was that was coming down. A large beast filled to the brink with twisted and mauled mana networks like an abomination. Mana shuddered slightly, the feathers on her body raising up ever so slightly so as to make her seem larger than she actually was; a instinctual defensive mechinism. She had seen mana networks like this before, when she had been but a small child locked away in the TISME dungeons. In the days of cruel experimentation, a drive to learn and understand magic at any cost, even the humanity of the scientist.

Her fingers gripped the sides of the carriage, the nails biting into the wood as faint gusts and boughts of wind slipped along the veins of the lumber. Her body was trying to run away, seeking to flee from something that reminded it of that time of pain, and she had to make a concious effort to stay seated instead of running away. This... was more important than her troubles.

[Ether]

As Ixion explained the mechanics behind Stratos' extra set of appendages, the wyvern itself had began to sniff him with suspicion.

'So instinctually, it seems normal enough... to avoid having to brawl with this thing, don't seem aggressive enough to be threatening, but not meek enough to be an easy lunch.'

Allowing the wyvern to finish, Damian allowed his muscles to relax, a tense body would show fear, anxiety, and those were not ideal things to express.

"She seems to be quite fine-tuned then. Is this something for the Ivanko Mercenaries to take advantage of, or your own personal experiment?"

[Phoenix]

The One Thing In The Way

Kamilla listened carefully at Tas' explanation and tried to remember all of it while Lev pondered to himself. When Tas closed up the eggs however Lev came back out of his thoughts and Kamilla's gaze went up to the wyvern she could still see, the little infant. The mention of being escorted to the Septimus base quickly reminded Lev of a current issue though he waited before actually commenting on it.

Kamilla wasn't sure why she'd been mentioned but realized she was clinging to Lev and Tas obviously didn't know anything about Morgan or her twisted ways. Without context she realized that she seemed like a girlfriend or something. With that she quickly let go and took a step back as soon as Tas mentioned "attachment". Lev chuckled a bit.

Lev: Eh. Suppose I could add her to my list, heheh.

Her shoulders popped up a bit in surprise, and Krinkov rolled his eyes. He knew his master had plans of that sort. The list always referred to preferred females and if she was on it, she was going to be getting special attention from his master. Why couldn't humans simply cut out the strange things and simply make their offspring? Were things that complicated with them?, he pondered.

Kamilla: (List? What list does he mean?)

Lev: Okay one issue we do have right now is that we're a tad busy. Can't explain the details myself though.

Kamilla: (They must be planning to kill Septimus soldiers or incinerate things all to save the world from the demon king who isn't even here.)

She gave a heavy sigh and took a few steps back. Details or no details she didn't want any part of a conversation about the group's mission. It was all complete lies and garbage to her.

Lev: I have an idea though. You might want to consider coming with us until the current stuff gets taken care of. After that's done with, I might be able to talk Morgan into stopping by the base where you can get the gold for the eggs. If not, I can take you myself afterward and then regroup with the others later. Either way helps.

Wings

Ixion: Her purpose is to help further my own studies. Everything outside of that, serving as transportation, personal defense, is sheer convenience.

With that he came over to the wyvern and mounted her leaving room for Damian. Ixion then turned his attention to the Headmaster again.

Ixion: I trust you'll be fine following along ....

Driver: (It took eight and a half hours to get used to this woman with a bunch of wings, but now there's a cursed wyvern with a bunch also?! What madness is this?! It's the wild wings of the apocalypse!)

[Snowy_One]

"Indeed. I could not bear to ride such a beast when my own abil-I'm sorry. I should not have said that. Yes, I do plan to fly along behind you. Rather, I expect I will be flying ahead of you and glancing back."

[Snike]

Eew?

"... Get off of me," Derek said, pushing Rita off, before hauling her over against a wall, cautiously avoiding the vomit. "I would stay there, until the sickness wears off." Having said that, he decided to step out a bit, as it seemed they would be waiting a while.

[Inactive Account]

"Nnh... what?" Arrin mumbled, regaining consciousness. "What just happened...?" He remembered sitting down in this room, but had no idea how long he'd been out. It appeared to be a while later; more people had now gathered. "I should tell someone about that," he mumbled to the cat, "because it will be an issue if we start moving... but I don't want to tell anyone who will worry too much... this is a problem..."

The cat merely looked up and blinked, then jumped down and headed out into the hall. Arrin sighed and looked for someone to mention his troubling new symptoms to, but nobody struck him as a particularly good idea at the moment. Wait... there was Morgan. She wouldn't make too much of a fuss, at least.

Carefully he got up and slowly made his way across the room, fighting lightheadedness the whole way. "Er, Morgan?" he said quietly. "Um... things are getting worse. I passed out for a while, but I'm not sure how long. I don't want people to worry... but this could make moving around problematic."

[-Cynthia-]

"I would suggest lying down for the time being." Morgan responded to Arrin. "When we are ready to go, someone can pick you up to take you along, it's not as if you are particularly large." She pondered the situation, Cess was still reporting regularly but the demons had not attacked yet. Morgan supposed she would simply have to stay awake throughout the night in case there was an attack. Besides, then she would be able to keep everyone focused once she got up in case the demons attacked then.

[Mercakete]

Tas could guess what Lev's list comprised of, though that was not so important at the moment. "Go with you? Hold a moment... You wouldn't be needing to fight anything, would you?" Tas asked, somewhat paniced "I told you, I'm a courier. I have no fighting experience and I only practiced a few basic thrusts with my lance. My handling of a javelin isn't exactly top-notch either. Sure I can ride the wind with Namid well enough, but that would only make me useful as a target and that is not a position I would volenteir for!" The chick squirmed, feeling the anxsiety of the familiar human. He let loose a small cry, confused but getting the feeling he was in some sort of danger.

[Inactive Account]

"All right. I'll walk if I can, I'd rather not get in the way, it's just..." Arrin trailed off unhappily. "Anway, I'll keep resting for now, then." He turned and headed towards the back of the room again, this time settling himself on some cushions and trying to go to sleep. It seemed a little odd, after having been unconscious for most of the day, but eventually he faded out.

OOC: ...he won't wake, by the way, until he gets Daranau back

Edited October 1, 2010 by Kiryn

[Ether]

"I see." Damian replied, looking over Stratos once more, before stepping up and mounting the four winged wyvern behind Ixion.

"You say these wings let her match speed with a bull wyvern... I wonder if that is true in practice."

[Phoenix]

Company

Lev gave a light chuckle and then put his hand out on Tas' shoulder.

Lev: Not everyone in these group fights. I'm actually a supply unit myself. It's a good way to let other people train and get stronger and it's also a great vacation from my usual work ... which is just brutal. If you've got business with the Ivanko's mercenaries and I'm the only one around to help out then I'll do what I have to while on my current job for Morgan. (Where does she get that money?

Speed To Match

Ixion: Bulls can gauge their own speed against other wyverns by merely watching them fly. Victor didn't follow her here so he cannot keep up. That is the first time he's ... merely given up on a chase though his reasons may stem from more than simply domination instincts.

As Ixion climbed aboard, Stratos let loose her wings and took off into the night sky.

Ixion: This trip ought to take little more than a few more hours. Try to stay close to us, Headmaster.

[Ether]

"I see, well, I see no reason to disagree with what you said, so I guess we can leave it at that." Damian replied, as they took off. At least the night air would help his mind and body.