Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 22: The Hunt

[Balcerzak]

Luc had filled in the specifics for her, regarding the current whereabouts of the group, finishing the response to the monk's query, but before Tessa had time to add anything else it seemed that recognition had dawned of its own accord for the man, and no further explanations seemed necessary, as taking in nearby scenes he uttered his condemnation of what they had done. If it had just been the monk's own feelings behind his words, she could have accepted the reproach, perhaps even welcomed it. But not content to leave it at that, his utterance had dragged The Lady into it as well.

What an ingrate, and a blasphemer himself she thought, and raised a hand, ready to smack him for trying to impose his own will and wishes upon the divine, but before she began the downstroke she halted. Was she truly in a position to judge the misdeeds of others right now? Of course not. If anything her recent rebuke, relayed through Aiya's vision, served only to remind her that she was tottering on the edge of disfavor. Perhaps the man's condemnations were correct, and The Lady would continue to mete out trials and tribulations on her for her sins.

Lowering her hand gently, and resting it on the monk's chin, she answered back as calm as she could manage. "Damned or not, I'm trying to save those whom I can save. Before she parted this world, your commander... seemed to accept her fate. From what she said, I felt as though she wished that if her path were the wrong, and ours were the right, that we may succeed upon it. I doubt that you will believe my words though, I've no good reasons to give you..."

Realizing that though she and the count had wished to save his life, the others may not have been so inclined, and that even if they would tolerate the action without reprimand, dragging him along would be out of the question. It had never worked for Kamilla in the past, and certainly wouldn't work now. Looking up at Luc with questioning eyes, she asked, "...We should fetch him one of the horses of his fallen comrades and let him flee, oughtn't we? The others that escaped will no doubt already be telling of their mission's failure, so freeing one more won't matter will it? He can't very well stay with us..."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Heathens, the monk had said. Perhaps. But murderers? No, the only one with the intent of murder would have been the reformists. But semantics would have no place in any argument with the monk. If the Goddess were to smite them all for any supposed sins she would have done so already; meaning by proxy that the world was either doomed before their actions or not because of them. It was an amusing thought at any rate.

Luc watched as Tessa seemed to raise her hand to slap the monk for his words, but instead softly placed it on his chin. Her words regarding continuing down this path, Luc smiled a bit, they seemed something he would say. And yes, the way the lady captain was speaking, Luc could believe Tessa's words regarding her choices.

Tessa spoke to Luc next, asking what they should do with the monk. This was a fair more difficult affair. Letting him flee would turn some opinion against the two of them--but the words earlier, he couldn't let those go to waste. Which meant trying to think a reason to let him go. True, that other monk had escaped, but his delayed arrival, mention of a different mission. It was possible he wasn't coming to fight the group. What was the most likely course of action this monk would take? To head to back to his reformist allies and speak of this encounter. And of this mercy. But would he? If he spoke of it, laying the seeds of doubt would be a powerful boon. But if the monk lied, or hide the truth, it would just spur more fervor against them. But in the latter case, the monk would be sent after them again. Would another group believe them if Luc claimed the monk had lied about some thing? No. But, that was a course far in the future. For now, Luc would agree with Tessa.

"We must do it quickly then," he acknowledged her idea. Luc eyed one of the reformist horses milling about some distance aft. Should the two of them just say they let the monk go? Or attempt some subterfuge? Both had their risks. But the subterfuge had a better reword for a far greater risk. Too great a risk. Best to keep this simple.

The 43rd Cavalry Squad of Directus

"So it seems," the Sergeant looked at his men. "Weapons high boys!" His troopers responded with shouts and the unsheathing of their blades. "On your word General."

[-Cynthia-]

"So...why am I still alive? Are you going to kill me like you did with the rest? Take me along with you? Allow me to leave? I suppose my fate lies in your hands now." Ronald said to Tessa and Luc, with the suspicion that their private conversation was about him.

[Dark Sage]

A strange man with a bow spotted the pair and headed out to talk to them. Upon asking their names and their purpose, Raemnond had told him their goal and their connection to Altenau before she could answer. Still, she thought maybe the man could help them?

"My name is Sadie of Vaorin. I just came from Altenau and I guess there's a demon running around there. And lots of walking corpses. I want to help him get rid of them but we don't have any help. If you may, well, could you help us out with this if you may? I understand if you don't..."

[Mercakete]

Raemond sighed at the girl's - who was apparently named Sadie and hailed from Vaorin - request. "As I said, miss, you will not accompany me tomorrow. It is too dangerous and you would distract me," he repeated to the young bard. (I wonder if it is safe to leave her alone with this man. He certianly seems like he could offer her some protection from the cursed wielders, even if it is knowing where to hide.)

[Psych]

Pary:

Pary insulted Alf. Pary flirted with Viv. Pary was awesome. 8]

Pary walked back to fill the pots with water, rubbing his neck. He started talking rather out loud to no one in particular. "You know, if anyone is to blame for Aiya dying, it's probably Alferis. I mean, he did attack her and push her out a window. She almost died for god's sake."

[Balcerzak]

When the monk wondered if the two were just going to kill him, Tessa frowned. "It would be a waste of both my efforts and those of The Lady to kill you now, just after having mended you. And we certainly can't take you with us. Are you fit to walk, can you ride a horse?" Luc had agreed with her suggestion, so the healer started to put it into motion.

"If you were to flee in the direction opposite of Altenau, you won't be pursued. Even if some of the others might want to, I have faith they can be persuaded otherwise. And... not all of you number were killed. If you do happen across Kamilla again... let her know how very sorry I am about the entire affair. I tried... failed... If you would ask her to forgive me?"

Shaking her head sadly, she stopped talking. She was being foolish.

[-Cynthia-]

"I...think I can ride a horse, at least for a while anyway. I can ask this Kamilla to forgive you, though I would not do such a thing in her shoes. Your mercy is appreciated, though I wish you had all showed similar kindness to my fellows." Ronald said, getting up. "Come along Adagio." he called out to his horde, which slowly trotted over. Ronald struggled, but eventually managed to mount the horse.

[Dark Sage]

"But...you can't do it alone," Sadie protested. "Where am I supposed to go? How can only you do that alone? Or with just the two of you? I know magic anyway. I can help you out."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Luc watched in silence as the monk rode off. Now it was time to deal with any potential backlash.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Timeskip as soon as things are wrapped up here.

Wrapping Things Up

It was nice that everyone had survived, but the site of a massacre was no place to set up camp and thus it would be best to keep moving a little ways further before nightfall. Levski checked on the eggs gently uncovering them and looking their shells over for any signs of damage. There weren't any thankfully and he carefully covered them back up and placed Niket right next to them on the saddle.

Lev: Okay, tough guy, you guard those eggs with Krinkov while I'm gone.

With that he set out quickly finding Irina and informing her that it was best to get ready. Fortunately she was already prepared to depart having both her own things and Iso's things in Kiev's saddlebags. She headed over to where Krinkov was while Lev continued over toward Isotov and Kelas. Stopping near the pair he made a gesture toward the carriage and the wyverns.

Lev: We really ought to get going and it'll help if we're all up and about.

Iso groaned but quickly began to sit up.

Iso: Alright, I get it.

Lev: Also, I should talk to you when you're not playing "stay alive" with Kelas here.

Iso: Why would you want to talk to me? I'm not a woman.

Lev: Means to an end. That about sums up my motives. Okay see you soon.

Levski then left the two and headed over to the outer edges of the battle seeing who was still caught up doing what. He saw the one of the surviving enemies take off on a horse and slapped his palm against his face while moaning.

Lev: Uuuuoi ... you didn't ...

It was too late now, unless Lev felt like tracking the man down, which he didn't, and with Kamilla's escape, it was already about as bad as it could have gotten. Perhaps Tessa and Luc knew something he didn't. Either way he left the situation alone and simply called over to them completely ignoring the monk riding away.

Lev: Hey, are you two ready to go yet?!

Iso: (A means to an end? I don't know what's worse. That he's a complete jerk if you're not in a skirt, or that he's completely blunt and honest about it.)

[Snike]

Discouragement

"Yes, I did come from that town," the man said, nodding. "However, no offense, brother, but, you're no match for the bag of bones that is occupying Altenau, right now. That monsters' power is mythical, in this time and age. You should turn back, while you can," he finished, looking away.

[Dark Sage]

"If that's true sir, then I suggest you turn back as well," Sadie said, her voice filled with concern. "If none of us can defeat this monster, than we need to go and look for reinforcements I guess. Brother, if you're a templar, than are you able to go back to the church to ask for some men to help us? And don't you dare tell me I can't come along with you to fight it."

[Inactive Account]

After Isotov got up, Kelas got to her feet and stretched, trying to get the ache out of her just-healed shoulder. "Yeah, time to get going before they bring friends back," she agreed, though Lev had already walked away. "Right, I'd better check on Arrin," she noted, seeing that Arrin was sitting on his own, looking miserable. "I'll be back in a minute, I'll get the horses too."

She headed over and dropped down next to Arrin. "You okay?"

Arrin jumped with surprise when he realized he was being addressed. "Huh? Oh... I don't know," he replied, not looking up. "Just... what I did then..."

"It wasn't the best way to find out what happened to your teacher," Kelas said with a sigh, putting a hand on Arrin's shoulder. "There anything I can do?"

"It's not that-- finding out was the answer to the question that had been bothering me for a while," Arrin corrected. "Just... it also raised a few more questions, that I don't think I'll be able to answer."

"What questions?"

"Well... questions like, what possessed me to attack that woman-- what was I thinking? And... they killed my teacher because of me. What do I do about that?"

Kelas realized that some of Arrin's dejectedness was coming from guilt. "Arrin. Listen to me real closely now, I don't want to have to repeat this a lot. Look at me." Reluctantly Arrin complied. Kelas looked him in the eye and told him, "It is not your fault that your teacher died. Maybe those weapons bring misfortune, I don't know, I'm not exactly educated. But that doesn't make it your fault. And I am not going to let you get all depressed thinking it is."

"But--"

"No. No 'but's. I dunno your teacher, even from what you've told me of her, but I'm fairly certain that she wouldn't want you to think that, either. Not your fault." It was a little precarious saying such things, Kelas knew, but she was fairly certain that there was nothing Arrin could have done, and he certainly hadn't had a hand in it. "As for your other question, that one seems pretty simple too. You wanted revenge, didn't you?"

"That's the question," Arrin replied miserably. "I wasn't ever looking for revenge before this. I wanted to find out what happened, and I wanted justice. Not revenge."

"What do you mean? Aren't they the same, in this sort of instance?"

"No! When I set out to look, I knew I'd have to do something about whoever the killer was, so they couldn't hurt anyone else. But when I found out, I wanted to hurt them... because they'd hurt my teacher, because they'd hurt me. And instead, I just put myself in danger, I made it harder for you, and I nearly hurt Tessa. How do I answer for that?"

That shook Kelas. She remembered her own attempts at revenge, taking aim and there suddenly being one less bandit in the world. Sometimes they'd screamed, and she'd felt a bit of triumph, like the screams were paying off a debt to the people she'd lost. They'd cursed her as a demon, and she'd laughed, feeling like she was carrying out the wrath of the gods. Of course, she hadn't always won, and too often she'd limped off to the healers, and the healers had warned her off revenge. She hadn't listened. Certainly she didn't want Arrin to put himself in danger like she had, but what he'd just said put all the rest of it in a different, rather uncomfortable light. "I don't know," she answered at last. "The fact that you're even asking that shows you're better about that than me; I'm... not the best person to ask about that. I guess you can start by apologizing to Tessa. As for making it harder for me... I'm just glad you're all right." She sighed. "I dunno what to do about that lot now, I really hate to fight with any of the churches, but if they try to kill you... they'll have to answer for what they've done, but I don't think fighting will work in this case. Which means we'd better get going, before they send more people after us. You going to be okay?"

"I think so," Arrin replied. Kelas' reassurance that his teacher's death was not his fault had helped, at least, though he still was unsure about the revenge question. He got to his feet. "Is it all right if I go in the carriage again?"

"That should be fine," Kelas replied, also standing. "We got some more horses to handle now, but given how that boy is with them, that shouldn't be a problem. Go ahead. Oi! When'd you get so tall?" she added, noticing that Arrin was about as tall as she was.

"I don't know," Arrin said, having to laugh a little. "My teacher is-- was always grumbling about me growing like a weed."

"Shoo, all you tall people," Kelas grumbled with feigned irritability, waving a hand. Arrin grinned and headed off to the carriage. Kelas went to retrieve Amari and Francis, then headed back the way she'd come. "Right, I think we're ready to go."

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

Hearing people start to talk about leaving, Tobe finished adjusting Gluebag's tack. "Awright," he stated, "I done everything I can until we got time to groom 'im and see about 'is scrapes. His tack all fits now at least, you better 'amember all o' where I put the buckles, if'n I can't do 'is tack for some reason. Say, don't he have a name, aside've Gluebag?" he asked Altion, fishing leads out of the cavalry horses' saddlebags and tying them together to form a string. He hopped up on the lead cavalry horse, comically dwarfed by the large knight's saddle he sat in.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Anything else can be handled in retrospect.

Heading Out

Once the group was ready to leave and the bodies were buried by Esphyr and some others, the group departed from the battlefield and pressed onward until after sundown. As the temperature lowered, so did the group's movement until they came to a stop and began setting up camp. While Irina cleaned Kiev's paws of the dirt from the graves he had been recruited to dig, Kelas and Isotov made a decent sized fire.

Irvinheim Fortress

Later in the evening the fortress hands began to run around in a frenzy. They had been warned earlier about a possible disturbance, but they never expected what felt to be the aftershocks of a distant quake. Suddenly the grew in magnitude until people throughout the fortress could hardly keep their footing. The ground quickly cracked and burst wide open in the middle of the training grounds as the head of the gigas emerged towering into the sky. From the watch tower Karina was so upset she had a clearly visible bulging vein on her forehead.

Karina: I ... can't ... stand ... all of this ... eldritch ... crap.

The massive chimera quickly let its head fall down hard on the ground shaking the entire area again and opened its mouth. Quickly another set of jaws from within came forth and opened as well followed by another, and finally one more. Ixion stepped forth out of the mouth a bit fatigued. Karina had already gathered up Damian, Etain, and Stephanie, but Miranda was nowhere to be found it seemed.

Karina: ... are you going to cover up that hole?

Ixion: Not necessary. The holes are dug to be unstable. They fill with dirt or collapse as we pass through them. Following this digger into a tunnel is certain death.

Karina: I didn't say I was worried about security.

Ixion: You didn't have to. Damian, ... Etain, Stephanie.

Howard was also still following Mana around and was thus standing right beside her still. Stephanie kept quiet for a moment.

[Dark Sage]

As everyone stopped and set up camp, Alferis wondered about how Arrin was doing. Glancing at him, he seemed to be looking somewhat better than when he last saw him. Which was good. Poor kid had gone through a lot and it was good he was able to cheer up better that fast.

He was a nice boy too and Alf regretted not being able to talk to him sooner. At the very least, it would be good to check up on how he was doing. It was good to the current strength of your allies.

Of course Kelas might be very wary or attack him for talking for Arrin. What Alf did without knowing really made Kelas wary of him. And he couldn't blame her. He was irrational beforehand and of course she should be worried about him harming Arrin. Not that he would anyway.

Resolving himself, Alf slowly headed towards Arrin, waving a bit as he went.

"Hey kiddo. How you holding up here? It was a tough battle earlier. 'Specially for you and it wouldn't be good to have someone as young as you get all broken down right?"

[Balcerzak]

Levski had headed over to Luc and Tessa, coming nearby shortly after the monk had parted ways. She had been oblivious to the fact that he was there until the count had reacted, but it became clear he was trying to find out if things were ready taken care of, and gauging the general readiness to move out. It'd been a while since the last time she had had a real talk with the wyvern lord, but she was in no real shape to carry on anything of the sort, and he probably had other things he needed to address as well.

Tessa had wanted to get involved with the makeshift funeral proceedings for the fallen knights templar, but her body was giving out on her. It seemed to be all she could do to keep from sliding to her knees. She'd managed to get Luc to escort her back to the carriage, linking her arm with his and leaning heavily on him the whole way. Once she climbed inside, she took a cue from Beau and Charlotte, who already had retired for naps of their own, and promptly passed out, letting the heavy weight in her chest, and the fierce pain in her ear dull away to nothing as her consciousness drifted away, taking a small break from this world.

The upside of this was that she didn't have to endure the boring transit of the carriage ride. The downside to this was that her sleep was unsteady, and ill-restful, and during the course of the ride she was frequently twitchy, perhaps in response to bad dreams. The fact that they had arrived at a camp, and that the carriage was no longer moving, seemed yet to register to the girl.

[Mercakete]

Raemond sighed. (They probably know better. Either that or they've never fought a demon before and were simply frightened. I may not have really fought one either, but there is a difference between light magic and other weapons.)

"The Grand Cleric sent me alone to eliminate the demon. I cannot return for help before I have assessed for myself that the task is too great for one man alone," he explained, ruling out the possability of help from the templars - at least under the circumstances. Turning his attention to Sadie directly, he made a weak ball of light glow in his hand, showing it to her. "You insist on helping me to fight the demon. However, I doubt that this is the kind of magic you wield - nor that you are all so very proficient with what spells you can cast, having chosen to study music first and foremost. So long as you keep yourself safe, I do not care where you go. However, you must also not be hinderance to me. I will say it again: the battles against the lord are not for children. Do not take away from my focus by accomannying me. I will follow this command and I will withdraw if I feel the challenge excedes my abilities."

Though his voice held serenity and not even the slightest hint of anger, he was resolute. Trying to speak as plainly as he could, he extinguished the light in his hand and stated, "I would constantly have my eyes on you, if you came. I would be distracted by trying to protect you and I would be unable to guage when things become too dangerous to that I could retreat. I would not be able to sense where the demon is. I would not know when something is sneaking up on me to attack. I would not be able to even cast any spells because I would not have the focus. This is because I could never allow a child who I could save to come to harm. Now do you understand why I must go without you? I would otherwise be utterly useless."

Edited December 12, 2010 by Mercakete

[Dark Sage]

"Yes. I-I'm sorry," said Sadie, shaking her head. "I don't mean to distract you but I guess you're right. I wish you luck then and I guess I'll see you around. I hope." Turning away from the two men, Sadie headed away from Altenau and them, and did not stop walking for hours.

[Inactive Account]

"I'm all right," Arrin replied tiredly. He wasn't entirely sure if it was true or not, but if it wasn't, he wasn't really comfortable telling anyone besides Kelas or Tessa (and he wasn't sure whether Tessa was speaking to him now or not, since she'd fallen asleep right away) about it, and he was a bit more wary than usual about Alferis after the man's insistence on going after the demons shortly after Arrin had woken from his coma. "And yourself?" he added out of habit; such a response was one of the few measures of politeness Ilony had had, so he'd picked up on it automatically. His heart wasn't entirely in it; right now, he wanted to get something to eat, maybe talk to Tessa if she was up for it, and go to sleep.

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

"All right, food'll be ready in a few minutes," Kelas stated. She'd managed to shoot some rabbits before it had got too dark out, and had found a somewhat dented stew pot in the back of the carriage, so today they got food that actually almost had a flavor. "Mind everyone gets some before the mages eat it all," she added jokingly. A growing sense of unease suggested to her that Helenos couldn't be far now, but so long as they weren't attacked overnight, they should be able to handle it, so she was trying to ease her nervousness via jokes. It... wasn't going all that well. She kept glancing around; Alferis talking to Arrin also made her a bit nervous, but unless he went crazy again, she should probably let Arrin deal with the conversation on his own.

[Dark Sage]

"I can't complain right now. At least we we escaped with our lives," Alf said, kind of passively. "You know, I can get that you'd rather not talk about what happened back there. So let's see...your thunder magic. Can anybody learn thunder magic properly? It'd be good to at least know a bit."

Hearing Kelas call out dinner would be ready very shortly, Alf's stomach growled impatiently. He really hadn't eaten in awhile.

"Mmm...wonder what's for dinner. But anyway, uh, is thunder magic particularly hard to learn? I want to know at least a little bit, so I can help you guys out better."

Course your mana's not very strong, but who knows? Magic might make it stronger?

Edited December 12, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Mercakete]

Niket was still curled up atop the eggs, a steady growl half-gurggling, half-humming from his throat. The big human had entusted the big, red wyvern and the eggs to his care and even though he'd allowed the Irina to feed him the remaining pieces of deer meat from earlier, he was going to remain vigillant. The big wyvern he was used to and the familliar human always worked so hard to protect the eggs. He'd try hard, too!

~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't see anything yet," Tas yawned as he rode Namid over the plains. It was too dark to see anything below clearly anyway, but he and Namid still had to eat. As a reminder, his stomach let loose a loud, long growl. "I have to stop eating one meal a day..." moaned the courier.

Likewise, Namid groaned. He was hungry, too, and Tas wasn't getting enough food. Poor Tas. He always worked so hard, even to the point of pushing himself through illness and hunger. Namid tried to smell the air for food, but his nose was numb from all the blood in recent days. The mountain wyvern was certian that the other humans would have food for Tas at least to eat, even if Namd himself didn't get any. However, he knew Tas: he probably already knew that and was out here hunting anyway just so he could make sure he wasn't an inconviniance. In that way, Tas was kind...but stupid.

~~~~~~~~~

Beau had fallen asleep; his listening ears were obsolete for the time being and would remain so until his body decided that enough rest had been aquired.

[Inactive Account]

"Hm... I wouldn't call it too hard," Arrin replied. "It's just a matter of understanding that..." He launched into a detailed description of the basic formulae involved, unaware that he had begun to ramble.

"All right, stew's done!" Kelas called. She wasn't incredibly happy about the amount; there should have been more, but there wasn't much to be done about it now. She helped herself to some and sat back, looking around the area: they would be able to set tents up, but they'd need people on watch. Well, at least she wasn't falling asleep on her feet today, so she'd be able to help with that.

[Dark Sage]

As Arrin launched into an explanation about the basic formulas of thunder magic, Alf had lost him nearly immediately and desperately tried to keep up, not even knowing what he was saying. Stuff about various mana methods and threading and the like. What was that? It was pretty much a relief when the stew was ready and he took a bowl and nudged Arrin to come along with him.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I don't quite understand a lot of what you're saying. I'll try to follow a little better, but could you start over and slower please?" he said, politely, helping himself to some stew.

"Mmm. My compliments to the chef."

[Inactive Account]

Arrin paused in wolfing down a portion of stew that was probably more than he should have taken. "All right," he said doubtfully, and tried to explain again, slower. Somehow he ended up rambling again anyway. "I'm sorry, I'm not a very good teacher," he added, taking a break to eat some more.