Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 20: Bait and switch

[Inactive Account]

"Enough," Kelas snapped. Now Alferis was reminding her of some city rusher, a thug out for who-knew-what. "<You damn fool.>" Reflexes formed dodging random assailants on her travels kicked in, and before Alferis could get to his feet, she delivered a quick chop to the back of his neck, immediately dodging away in case the blow failed to knock him unconscious. "...We should probably get him a healer," she muttered. "You all right?" she asked Isotov.

[Mercakete]

Suddenly, a second hand had grabbed the shoe before it could come down. Just as quickly, a fast, balled-up fist smashed into Shamus' face through the bars. Wrenching the makeshift weapon out of the other man's hand, Tas tossed the shoe back through the bars into the cell then bent down and gently scooped up the moaning, frightened hatchling. His fierce glare snapped back to the prisoner after he looked over the hatchling. Not in much detail, though; a thorough examination would have to wait.

Not a word needed to be said to the man that would have killed the helpless, frightened infant. In fact, he wouldn't have punched him if he didn't think the man was still a threat to the hatchling, even after the'd stopped the dowarrd stroke of the shoe.

Earlier, while asking if anyone had seen a baby wyvern, one of the servants had apparently just been calmed down by annother enough to say there was a demon in the dungeon. I was small, but it was "red as blood" and it had wings and screeched at him.

"Which way's the dungeon?!" Tas had immediately asked, butting into the conversation. In spite of the frightened servant's friend trying to say that Tas wasn't allowed in the dungeon, the frightened servant quickly gave Tas the directions. As soon as Tas heard the last of the instructions on when to turn where, he'd bolted, following the servant's words, flying down this corridor and that until he'd reached the dungron, leaping down steps and stopping the murder of the hatchling. He didn't need to be on Namid's back to move quickly, after all, especially not when determination had sized and focussed his mind and adreniline had filled his veins.

Presently, the adreniline was vanishing while Tas calmly and silently cradled the hatchling and began walking at a normal pace the way he had come.

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso let out a relieved sigh and then nodded.

Iso: Yeah, let's go, before something else happens. Morgan's right about one thing. We really need to stop letting just anyone into the group. If nothing else it's detrimental.

Ixion

Ixion eyed the various runes and quickly strengthened his own barrier for the incoming blast. The two researchers were already lost. There was nothing to be done. The last he heard from them were panicked cries as the entire room disappeared in a massive explosion! The door to the room was left cracked and as a result was flung open releasing the blast out into the halls! No one else was killed, but there was a lot of damage and nothing of value within the room survived. When the smoke began to clear Ixion began looking around. If Damian had survived, he needed medical attention.

Bye Bye

Shamus glared at Tas for punching him and quickly went into a rant even though he was walking away.

Shamus: That's your blasted wyvern?! What kind of moron sets a wyvern loose in someone's food, lad?! You little ingrate! Don't think you've seen the last of Shamus, ya hear?!

[Ether]

The blast decimated the room, as expected. However, the man was still standing? Uninjured?!

"W-what the hell are you? There's no way in hell you are a normal human..."

With a final astonished inquiry, the crimson glow faded completely, and Damian collapsed to the floor. A small unscorched area about him signified a last minute barrier of the Crimson Lance's own creation had shielded Damian, its host body, from incineration.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Ether

[Mercakete]

Tas stopped. Though he was still furious at the man, he stayed collected and cool-headed. After the last bit, Tas turned to face the man, though not full-on. For a moment, he was silent. Then, his calm voice sounded, "I should have been watching him more carefully. He ran off on his own. I've been searching for him and now he's safe. I appologize for the loss of your meal. I'm sure you'll get a replacement. ...Thank you for telling me your name, Shamus. If you ever attempt to harm a wyvern under my care again - especially one as defenseless as this one - then I will recall your name, as you have requested, and you will feel my lance and the jaws of my wyvern pitted against you. Good day." Again, Tas began to leave the dungeon.

The familliar human's voice was calm. That meant there was no danger anymore. But his muscles were tense, as though he was about to enter a battle. This greatly confused the tired, little wyvern, but it wasn't worth thinking about. He was in protective arms and so he was safe. Next time he'd bring the familliar human allong on his adventure so that the human wouldn't be so lonely. Why else would he have come looking for him?

[Inactive Account]

"Yeah..." Kelas waved over a passing palace healer and partially explained the situation. "We should probably sit down for a bit while we can, I bet Morgan's coming up with some plan that we'll hear about soon enough," she suggested. "We could probably track that stony one now that the warper's dead, but I don't really fancy doing so without the armored units out front and a few more healers... aah, I don't want to think about this right now, we just got out of it... let's just rest for a few minutes." She found an out-of-the-way bench and sat down with a sigh.

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the bench beside Kelas throwing his arms behind his head as he leaned back.

Iso: Well I guess we wait then. Wait and see where this entourage's leadership takes us.

Inside the castle

As Tas walked away Shamus calmed down a bit. He'd scolded the boy enough to warrant a far worse reaction than that. It was more politeness than he'd seen in awhile. Almost reminded him of Kamilla. He put his hand on his chin as he sat down on the bed in his cell.

Shamus: Hm. Odd kid. Don't see many of those around.

Irina returned from the left wing of the castle to the main hall near the entrance with her head held low.

Irina: Urrrrrrgh ... what a let down. I really hope Tas had better luck than I did.

Ixion

Ixion knelt down over Damian's unconscious form and hauled him up. Help was on the way, but the room was filling with smoke. It would be faster to head in the direction of help regardless. Damian was still alive, but it wasn't clear exactly how serious his injuries were just yet. He moved him out of the room not batting an eyelash at the scorched remains of the other two researchers. They were dead. There was nothing left he could do for either of them.

[Mercakete]

When Tas saw Irina, he smiled a bit. He figured she was worried about the little one, based on how her shoulders were set and how her head was positioned. Cues like that had been important to learn when he was talking to a customer.

"Irina," Tas began, walking towards her, still holding the now-curled-up hatchling in his arms, "Thank you for helping me. Without you and Kiev, I don't think this little one would have survived."

His smile was filled with gratitude and sinserity was in his eyes. He didn't want to think about that Shamus right now. For now, he was talking to someone he'd readily call a friend.

[Inactive Account]

"It's not that I don't care what we're doing next... I'd rather just take a moment to be happy that we got Daranau and got out of there alive, before we go run off again," Kelas explained, wondering if she sounded like she was no longer being serious. "Are... are you all right? You seem pretty tired..."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: I'm fine. Don't worry, I just made certain that Stephanie had enough energy to get us back here. I've heard some awful stories about warping failures. Too tired to train though so I guess I have to just sit down and relax. (It's kind of pathetic that our lives seem to revolve around the demons now.)

Irina

Irina had decided to wait for word from Tas, but she got much more from that when she turned around hearing herself mentioned and saw him walking up to her with the little red wyvern in his grasp. She propped up and hurried over.

Irina: Oh thank goodness you found him! It was bad enough I wasn't having any luck but I had to deal with wyvern bias nobles while I was at it.

That was when a thought occurred to her. She remembered back to when Tas had offered to let her look after the little one sometime. It seemed like a good idea since having two people and two wyverns looking out for him, he was less likely to slip out from under their noses again. She didn't say anything about it though. Part of her felt that Tas might feel bad about what happened in the first place if she did. She decided to maybe just make the offer whenever Tas looked preoccupied.

[Mercakete]

"Oh really? Well when I talked about looking for an infant wyvern, everyone looked at me like I was the town drunk or something like that," Tas laughed.

His small bit of laughter subsided, though he still seemed much more relaxed than normal. "In all honesty, though, it's a good thing I got to him when I did," Tas cradled the hatchling closer to himself, tenderly watching the small one shift himself in his arms, "otherwise he would have at least recieved serious injurry. He seems fine, though. Just a little battered. Looks like he fell a coule times, but nothing serious."

[Phoenix]

Irina

She took a closer look at the wyvern and saw what Tas was talking about. He was a little roughed up and even though he was fine it still made her a little sad.

Irina: Oh no. W-well ... I guess there's no use in throwing a fit over it. He's safe now, and besides, wyverns are tough. We should probably get back to the others in case it gets decided that we're going to leave or something. Slows the whole group down when people break off and do their own thing.

[Mercakete]

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. When it's time to fly again I'll move the eggs from under Namid's wing and strap them to his back again. Until then he has to stay on the ground. He really hates that," mused Tas as he began to follow Irina's advice and head back outside.

[Phoenix]

Outside Awaits The Kiev

Kiev waited and waited but Irina and Tas never came back out for some reason. It was just like last time. Irina had ventured into the giant stone structure, and spent far too long inside it. It was a place only for humans and sneaky animals that were small enough to get by unnoticed. It wasn't fair he thought. Just then his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Irina had returned. He thought he would have to wait at least a day or so. Quite frankly that was far too much longer to go without something to eat. He happily trotted over to them and was greeted by Irina with a pat on the head.

Irina: Wouldn't have found him without you, Kiev. You know I really should buy you some chickens.

She gave Tas a slightly embarrassed look and a sigh.

Irina: He hasn't eaten today.

[Mercakete]

Tas chuckled. "Well, that explains it. Looks like he just wants more attention and food. That's why he was upset earlier. I remember having to deal with depressed wyverns. Nothing cheers them up like spending a night at their side and keeping them well-fed," he replied giving Kiev a look of appreciation and nod of thanks. "Oh, Irina, when we get to the next place we'll be landing, could I ask a favor of you?" he asked, stopping his traverse back to namid short.

[Phoenix]

(Insert Title Here)

Kiev was already feeling a bit better. Irina was talking about wyverns and food. Tas was talking about wyverns and food. It seemed that most assuredly he would be fed soon. Tas asking for a favor had Irina a little curious.

Irina: A favor? Sure. What kind of favor exactly?

[Mercakete]

"Well... Remember when I said I would teach you how to take care of young wyverns?" asked Tas, "You see... I can't fight very well. Normally I'd be fine with that, but things have gotten a lot riskier since I lost my job." It was more than his job. He'd lost almost everything that had been familliar to him. But it was time to be objective, not mourning.

"So, in order to protect the hatchling, the eggs, Namid and myself, I was hoping you could give me a few pointers. That is, when we have time, it'd be nice if you could teach me how to fight. I already know some basics, but my skills with a lance are far from polished. Even Namid was taught not to fight. I'm sure if his instincts kicked in then he could handle himself, but we're both more on the 'civil' side, if you understand what I mean," he hoped he'd said it right. If she refused to teach him, then he would just have to find another teacher, try to teach himself or stay as he was. (Even so, I'd rather have her as a teacher. We already get allong quite well.)

[Ether]

Getting up and shaking her head to clear it, Aiya looked around the new surroundings of the castle grounds. Seeing Kelas and Isotov nearby, sitting on a bench, looking rather... startled.

'Did something happen over there?' Aiya wondered, and decided to approach the nomad and the fire mage.

"Hello Isotov, Kelas. Did something happen over there? You guys look... distraught."

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

Damian: *dragged out while still unconscious*

OOC: Just keep going with Ixion's stuff, Phoenix.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Ether

[Snike]

Pursued?

"... Do you need assistance, in escaping your pursuers? I can serve as a guard," Henry offered, looking in the direction the two individuals came from. There appeared to be no one in pursuit...yet. "Anything for those who serve the Goddess."

[Snowy_One]

It had been decades since Kaileen had entered within a large city. For almost all of her life, she had been a woman whom valued the calmness and serenity of the woods and forest, having only come in to the big cities during the war; usually as part of a liberating or defending force. Her bare feet slapped against the filth of the street benieth her, kicking up spurts of things she could not guess at as bits of things that only the Goddess could know seeped in to the space between her toes.

"Ugggg..." she groaned in disgust. "Mommy? Why does the mud smell like hobos?" asked Henry Jr, bending down to sniff the odd-smelling dirt. Kaileen quickly pulled him upright. "Just keep going, don't look down, and hurry for the rich people quarters. Don't even breath." she said before guiding him through.

The squalor of the city slums was outright disgusting. The homeless from the city had put forth every effort in to being as disgusting and crude as possible. Three people sat about a table, their clothes little more than tatters that protected their decency as they played cards, using scraps of food as money. Two boozehounds sat by a bar table, knocking back swill that looked, and smelled, as if the bartender had just fermented his own pee.

"Hey! Look at that!" said one of them, nodding in Kaileen's direction. "A priesty tart girl! Hey there priestess!" he said, getting up. Kaileen quickly glanced both ways, praying hard that it wasn't her they were referring too. Yet, no other priestess, or even women at all, were upon the street. Timidly, she raised her hand, pushing her child behind her. "Look. I don't want any trouble. I'm just looking for som-"

"Trouble?" said the man, slapping his friends back. "Ha! Perish the thought! I just wanted to know if you were coming to visit the sick ward! Me friend... Me OTHER friend... got shanked for two coppers last week and has been bawling like a struck wolf! The local priest refuses to visit on account of the local gang breaking his leg last year. Please come and heal him."

"I... Ummmm..." she lowered her head, looking at her child. "I don't think this is a safe place for my son, but... I don't ever want to turn away the sick..."

"I will be okay mommy. They're just like those drunkards who visit you every two months that we need to tell to leave." said Jr.

"Alright. Lead the way." said Kaileen, nodding as she pulled her son as close to her as she possibly could. The man nodded and guestured to follow him.

---

Mana was back in the room which Ixion had assigned her. She had almost been... 'escorted' by armed guards to the room after a small incident in the kitchens involving knocking some smuggled booze over. The moment she had gotten inside though, she had dropped the annoying attitude.

"Damn it!" she said, rubbing the still tender flesh where they had slapped her across the cheek. "This is gonna hurt more than I can imagine." she said with a sigh before going over to a small deck. Inside was a small piece of paper and a semi-dry inkwell. Pulling one of her own feathers out, followed by a sufficive 'ouch', she started to write.

As soon as the quill touched the paper, a sudden wave of dark magic, accented by demonic magic, pulsated throughout the castle. Mana immediatly pitched forwards to the floor, knocking the bottle of ink down on top of her as dis-ease flowed through her veins. All about her, the world started to swirl and become uneven. The bed seemed to turn to liquid while the pillow... The pillow.

Mana barely felt the wind about her body move as she bolted to the bedside and grabbed the pillow, flinging it against the far wall with such force as to cause the unlocked door to be knocked open. All about her, the world felt black and dead. The walls, the ceiling, everything. Mana looked down at her own hands; they were covered in black.

"GWARRHG!" she screamed as her nails shot towards the shadow, clawing at it, digging into it, trying to rip it away from the world. Yet, her own blood started to flow forth from the wound. Her blood. Her own blood... Suddenly everything started to calm down and return to normal. Her hands, the shadow, ink. Ink that had splattered over her hands. Her hands. Her normal, half-spirit, hands. Her hands.

She could feel the air rapidly moving through her lungs as the sudden wave of dark magic dissipated, soothing her, easing her. "Uggg." she groaned, resting her forehead against the doorframe. "I need to remember to be more careful in this place."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Aiya?

Her question was one to be expected. The agitation wasn't quite gone from Iso's face and the glow in his eyes had only mostly faded away. They were still red though it seemed to be only a simple saturation.

Iso: Let's just say that I'm starting to agree that we shouldn't let just anyone into the group, especially not people who are potentially a bigger hindrance than our enemies.

Irina

Irina: You want to become a better lancer? Sure I can help with that ... err ... you aren't squeamish are you? That can sometimes get in the way since a traditional wyvern rider fights kind of brutally. You can't afford to be elegant on the front lines and you're bound to get covered in someone else's blood if you actually do end up in a bad situation.

She didn't really like the thought of Tas having to fight the way she did. He didn't have the armor for it. He may not have had the stomach for it either. She wasn't sure.

Irina: Mmm. Maybe it'd be better to focus strictly on self defense. If you're only defending the other wyverns then you shouldn't have to fight too hard.

Ixion

As Ixion pulled Damian down the hall, the surrounding steadily changed from the scorched black walls near the destroyed lab room to the normal undamaged ones ones. They had covered some distance but help hadn't arrived yet.

Ixion: (What is taking him so long?)

Eventually Ixion had brought Damian all the way to the building entrance. He had to set Damian on the floor so that he could unlock the doors and push them open. As the doors opened he saw the surviving researcher running toward him with the same healer from the attack at his flank. Several others were following behind as well. The local area was beginning to stir drawn by the second explosion. Ixion held one of the massive steel doors in place while the researcher and healer picked Damian up and moved him outside. After that, the door was allowed to shut.

Researcher: What happened in there?

Ixion: The crimson lance broke free for a moment.

Researcher: B-broke free? Wait. What happened to the oth-

Ixion: Both killed in the blast.

The researcher's heart sank. He had only survived because he had volunteered to go and find a healer. Sheer luck was his only reason for being and it scared him half to death. It only took a few minutes to get Damian to the hospital inside Irvinheim. There he was given a room and healed of his injuries. Ixion decided to wait until the man regained consciousness before going back into his mind again.

Kamilla

Kamilla: If they are chasing us then extra protection would be a very good idea. Still I don't have any way to repay you for that.

She then gave Xaver a glance. She wasn't sure what he thought of all this. If the group was after them though, she knew he would have an impossible time dealing with all of them. Then it would be back to being a hostage.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Phoenix

[Ether]

"Let me guess. Rita popped out of nowhere, continued to swear that Kelas was a man and was only trying to play hard to get, threw a sword to both of you, claiming to be able to easily take the both of you on at the same time blindfolded with a hand tied behind her back." Aiya replied to Isotov's assessment of the situation, drawing the first obvious conclusion, as she sat down next to Isotov on the bench.

"Afterward, when she blindfolded herself and charged at you, you knocked her out using your boxing skills... likely a quick jab to the stomach followed by striking a pressure point..." Aiya finished with a sigh.

"I wonder about that girl sometimes..."

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

As his eyes opened, Damian groaned.

"Urgh... I feel like I've been trampled by a pack of wyverns..." Damian grimaced as he looked over his own injuries. Seeing Ixion nearby, he called out to the druid.

"So... did you manage to learn anything?"

[Inactive Account]

"No, though she did try and get me to duel her earlier," Kelas replied, shaking her head. "She's probably getting her head checked now. No, we just had something of an argument with Alferis about charging off on suicide missions," she explained. "I think he's going a bit mad, from the way he was acting."

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Yeah, we were dealing with Alferis this time. (Though ... Kelas put a hell of a lot of sugarcoating on the explanation. He was out of his damn mind. Probably still is.)

Ixion

Ixion had been sitting in a chair with his arms and legs crossed simply waiting. When Damian finally woke up, he asked him what happened and if he'd learned anything.

Ixion: As a matter of fact I did. The Gae-Borg is treating you like a parasitic host rather than a wielder like it should be. This is something we need to address because without being the Gae-Borg's true wielder, it will always be able to take control. Tell me. Is there anything about that lance that you don't know?

[Dark Sage]

"Huh? Uh...." Alferis sat up partially, waking up fully, stretching his arms and putting on his mask.

That's odd. Last thing I remembered was being kicked after losing my temper at them...god that was idiotic...and then I'm out. As far as I know.

Kill them! They're...

"Shut up," he growled angrily. Wait...

"Hearing voices...I'm cracking up aren't I. Huh?" he said puzzled, heading to the others.

"Look guys, I'm really sorry about losing my temper and grabbing you and yelling at you. Really bad idea. It's just I really needed your help for you to help formulate a plan and all and well...you know. I didn't mean for this to get out of hand.

Something's odd though. After you tripped me Kelas, I heard these voices, and then I don't remember what happened. All I know is that I woke up without my mask on."