Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 22: The Hunt

[Dark Sage]

"Why are you here Jace?" Alf asked Jace more calmly. "Why are we still alive? That dragon and those monsters were so strong. They should've killed us. Did you save us?" he said more steadily at Jace.

It appeared that the subject of the conversation between Jace, Conrad, and Morgan, was the political situation going on involving Septimus. He had forgotten that Septimus had been invaded by Halton. Things were really bad to Septimus it seemed. First a civil war by Jace, then an invasion from Halton.

Sort of bad of me to hate a country whose having it so rough he reflected to himself.

Morgan seemed to believe that the Lord's seal was truly about to break and that the continental wide war was pointless. It was indeed pointless, but from what he had been hearing and from what he saw, the Lord coming up wouldn't exactly be that much worse than what was going on.

Although if Halton was invading Septimus, Aiya might go out to join her fellow soldiers. He had never thought about it very much until now, but it certainly was possible and he'd lose a friend.

Now Jace though. He was most likely the one who ordered an invasion on Vaorin. Admitedly it hadn't gone far, but it did take his town and another nearby. True, the town was a hellhole, but it was his hellhole.

And even then, he still destroyed an entire nation. He is not somebody we should trust. He probably saved us from Helenos though, so he can't be as bad as I thought. But still...what to do...This is not something to rush in blindly, I need to think this through.

"Jace, if you did save our lives, we are in your debt. Still, you did start a civil war in Septimus and crushed Jerdon. Forgive me for panicking, but you could understand why I'd be concerned."

Edited January 1, 2011 by Dark Sage

[the_whistler]

Conrad:

"What's done is done, since the war has begun. It will all be resolved in due time." Although some options are better than others. "As for that man, he's probably heard one too many tall tales about the Brute. If you'll excuse me," noticing his subordinate lying prone on the ground. And the priestess has once again found us as well.

"Will she be alright?" he asked the princess.

Heinz:

The mercenary stirred slowly. Ribs don't hurt so much this time, blinking his eyes open. Both Jace and Kaileen are here now, eh? And Helenos is gone while that woman from the dragon graveyard is back..... perhaps she got rid of it? Standing up shakily, Heinz listened in on the argument the bandit was provoking.

[Snike]

Terror

Flames, flames, everywhere! Elle had stumbled into a building, while the others were outside, and was immediately trapped inside, as the azure fire leaped up, covering the exit. It spread quickly, blocking her escape paths. The smoke choked the air, and soon, the Sage couldn't breathe... Everything... Was so... Dark...

OOC: She's unconscious. Not dead. Yet.

Aaand here. We. Go.

"I was here to take out Helenos, yes, but then my objective was sidetracked by this discussion, the fact that my daughter is with this group, and the mention of a few demons," Jace remarked, to the bandit. "I'm not here for the fledgling royals. Or to kill you all. I'm not the monster most make me out to be..."

"YOU!" Derek bellowed, having left Viveka to the Princess. Furious, he charged the Hero, aiming to cut him down once and for all. In his rage, the man missed Jace by a margin, leaving him open for attack. The Brute evaded, then sent his adversary flying with two mighty blows, shattering his shield and sword, and knocking the Jerdonian unconscious.

"... Duke Muntan here needs to restrain himself better," Jace remarked, putting away his axe. "Now then, where were we?"

[-Cynthia-]

Charlotte's reply to Conrad was interrupted by a yell by Derek. She hustled over and began healing him with her staff. "Sir Derek may have had the right idea here you know." she scolded the group assorted around Jace. "He's murdered countless people, all for his own selfish power struggles. We should be taking him away in chains, not inviting him to afternoon tea."

[Dark Sage]

"Princess..." Alf started, still a little weak, his voice quiet.

"Princess, you saw how easily he took out Derek there. You know he saved our asses from Helenos. Helenos. The demon dragon. We had a hard time beating her on our own, and he defeated her for us. There is no way we could possibly beat him and restrain him. And even if we could, what would we do with him? We don't have a castle to throw him into jail and returning to Burgosas would be suicide with him in our company. His men would shoot us down and he's a smart man. He'll find a way out."

[Snike]

Record

"If you define 'murder' as defeating people in combat, then, yes, I have, Princess. I have not cut down one unarmed individual in all my campaign. The late king fought and lost, as did Arc," Jace said, referring to Derek's father. "And as your axe-wielding friend here points out, you really are not in a position to try to take me out. Anyways, back to the task at hand.

"I have been made aware of a few demons that you have encountered, namely, the ones by the names of Shanice, Ruby, and Eric," he said, frowning as he said the last name. "Could someone enlighten me as to details on Shanice and Eric, and details about said encounters?"

[Script]

Luc Altair

Charlotte had taken to not doing much--a fact Luc was grateful for. Normally this would be a time to examine facts and look for improvements in actions. But constant vigil--and knowing everything needed to be improved--kept Luc's attention focused on the now. But unfortunately despite his observations he was too slow in stopping Derek from charging at Jace, and inevitably failing. Charlotte rushed over and Luc followed.

As anticipated, Charlotte quickly spoke of how this was all wrong. Alferis attempted to point out flaws with Charlotte's ideas, but Luc doubted they would be heeded. Jace was also quick to rebuke Princess Charlotte's claims, as no doubt most men would. But even though Luc had no knowledge of the men Jace spoke of, he found it likely that the Brute's words were true. But his final words, of Ruby, Shanice and Eric, were the most worrying. How, had he known? Only the group should have had any knowledge of Eric at the very least. And...

Paul. Yes, he was out and about. Luc did see him go away with Jace but, why would he report on that? He was under orders, obviously. Which meant Councilman Richtor was doing his best to appease everyone as he tended to do.

A Paul

"Oi, I thought I told you that in secret," Paul said from atop a nearby building that somehow still stood. "Oh wait, I never specified that? Damn."

[-Cynthia-]

"What about the war you started with Jerdon? Or the civil war here in Septimus? That blood is on your hands too. Maybe he saved us from Helenos, but why should we support a monster simply because he killed another monster? There is no justice in this!" Charlotte responded to Alferis.

"And what happened to Eric is none of your damn business. I guess we cannot administer justice on him right now, but there is no reason to continue discussion with him. Frankly, I'd rather talk with Megae. At least she knew she was a ruthless killer." Charlotte said bitterly to the group.

[Phoenix]

Iso

When Jace mentioned Shanice and some of the other demons by name, Iso finally bothered glancing over. While he didn't necessarily mind sharing information, the tensions between the two factions was something he didn't want to get anywhere near. The last thing he needed was Charlotte, one of the healers upset with him. There was also the fact that he wanted to make sure that if Shanice was still around, that he was killed off for good and for certain. He couldn't necessarily trust Jace with that. He could only trust himself and his few yet living allies for that.

Adam

Adam though a Septimian also had no place in the argument and instead opted to walk around. When he spotted the woman uncomfortably seated atop Krinkov along with Morgan, he quickly realized that he hadn't seen any other survivors. Not even Joe the merchant. Was she, her child, and himself all that was left of Altenau's populace? There was no way Helenos could have killed off everyone. However those blue fires seemed to consume so much as it was, and most of the monsters turned on each other ... perhaps most of the survivors died then and there caught up in the carnage. He hung and shook his head in disbelieve before running up to Krinkov's side.

Adam: Miss? Do you know of anyone else? Anyone else that made it?

She immediately began tearing up and held her baby close as the tears began to come down. Hugging the infant tightly she remained silent, only shaking her head. She didn't know of anyone else.

Adam: ... but ... but Edwards ... and Joe and ... ... w-why ... this is what I was trying to prevent. Dammit, why?!

The human was using the "why" word. Usually used to get a lot of other words which was probably information. Krinkov snorted. Why what exactly? Why all the dead people? Fighting tended to have that effect. Why all the fire? Well apparently in this part of the land, it could rain blueish fire. Krinkov had a "why" of his own due to that. Why would humans build a city in a place where it could rain fire?

Edited January 1, 2011 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

A dethroned princess and a victorious military leader were having a disagreement. Though it was an expected scenario, it still put Beau in a bit of a tough situation. (Or rather, it would be difficult if they knew who I was. This is Jace the Brute: current ruler of Jerdon and apparently the one who led the attack on Burgosas. The means Septimus is his for now. However, it is difficult to say if he will be able to keep a hold of it. The princess is the rightful heir to Jerdon's throne and Prince Tristan is next in line to rule Septimus. Both are travelling in the same company as I am, though Jace seems to be far more competant and better-supplied. The prince and princess both know who I am. Thankfully, Jace doesn't. If I make myself and what are essentially my alliances known, then the Bellmire familly might suffer one way or the other. Keeping beneath notice is the best course of action, it seems. However, inactionis capable of speaking just as high of volumes as action. Though I agree with Alferis and believe that Princess Charlotte is being too idealistic, it would be absolutely tactless to say so. So, for now I will sit here quietly and hope to keep from notice.)

Closing his eyes, Beau continued listening in on the conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lantos nervously cantered into the city he could - at one time - identify as Altenau. Though it was in the same place as Altenau, the half-scorched city reeked or carnage and all in all made him nervous. This was the place the girl had mentioned for him to go, though, after she'd gotten herself and his rider onto his back. He stopped when they had come into the ranks of a bunch of humans and horses with a couple pegasi and wyverns. This was a strange assortment, but the girl seemed comfortable enough with them, so Lantos was relaxing more, too. He waited for the girl to dismount, planning to stand around with the other horses once he was unloaded of passengers.

Edited January 1, 2011 by Mercakete

[Dark Sage]

"No...I'm not suggesting supporting him at all...just that it's impossible to do anything about him at the moment. There's nothing we can do to beat him and it would create a whole slew of problems anyway even if we did.

Besides, not all of us are at full strength anyway. We definitely wouldn't stand a chance. I'm sorry princess but there's nothing we can do."

[riariadne]

Snapped back into real life by a comment by the Brute, Chase was utterly dumbfounded. "Wait, what the hell? That's what happened to Eric?" he said in a angry outburst. "Traitorous little... Dammit, how did we all fall for that?! And why didn't anyone tell me! Ugh!"

edit: fuck yeah italics tags failure

Edited January 1, 2011 by Haruhi Suzumiya

[Snowy_One]

"If you summoned it in a rage to strike down something that was in your way, then yes I would. I've already seen one persons life ruined by her fear of the weapons, and I do not see why you desire to remain here. The only true safety or security from the weapon that plagues you is for it to be removed from you. It is a demonic weapon, and even tempered by the light, it will do cruel things to you in order to do what it must. It will keep fighting against you, gnawing at you, pushing at the rim of your conscious until you either break, or it is removed from you forever. There can be no 'mastery' of a demonic thing unless the Lord himself wills it to be."

Then, turning to Ixion, she pushed Damian's comments from her mind as she focused on replying to the druid. "And if that is what you think, then your knowledge of the wind is sorely lacking. Also remember that I am also human, in addition to the spirit part of me. What you propose to desire Ixion is a dangerous desire. From wild-eyed maniacs teaching small children to cast and risking having them explode due to poor training, to crazy-eyed maniacs creating machines of death beyond the control of any person, to people delving into arts and forming elite enclaves of knowledge to be hidden away. All are threats. I will not claim that TISME is immune to them. I believe at least three of us in this room to be old enough to remember what TISME was like before I became the headmaster. However, that does not mean that abandoning it or ignoring it is the answer. I am willing to oversee Damian's work if it must continue, but my faith in your ability to preform such a task without your own selfish desires coming back to bite the world has been shaken. You toss aside beasts you created yourself as if they are objects. I would not put it beyond you to find some way to acquire the base materials needed and then to make one simply because you can. And you tried to kill Ixion? How did he survive? He's a seventh, and you're a demon who got the drop; I assume."

---

As Kaileen surveyed the destruction, the familiar voice of Jace came to her ears. Not even a quick flicker of rage passed through her mind, or even conscious recognition, as she was instead focused on the destruction that the dragon had caused. "Sara." she muttered, placing her hand upon the door to one of the now empty houses. "I... I'm so sorry Sara." Wiping away a quick tear, she turned her back to the house and hurried over to the nearest person. A younger woman with raven-black hair and whom was clearly a magic-user (Morgan).

"Excuse me miss." she said, giving a proper curtsy. "I want to speak to the person whom is in charge of this group."

---

Altion's ears perked up as the child, Tobe, mentioned that Kelas had almost kissed someone. A mage. He could almost feel his heart sinking into a deep pit, causing thick and heavy bile to flow within his mouth. Kelas was taken. Damn. The rest of the childs words seemed meaningless after that.

"Yea." he said, the world about him going mute as he looked down numbly. "Sure." he added, not sure what he had just agreed to at all.

[Ether]

"Then supervise, Headmaster." Damian said simply, moving towards the center of the room.

"Perhaps true mastery is not impossible... but that is not what I need, not what I desire. My desire is to retain control of my own actions, of my own thoughts, my own... life. Whether I can tap into the deepest flames of hell at a whim is of no concern to me." Damian said, and keeping the words of the headmaster in mind, Damian concentrated on his weapon.

The Crimson Spear materialized in Damian's hand, demonic energy swirling about the room.

In his other hand, Damian held the Gungnir strong, the Holy Lance pulsing in revulsion against the Demonic weapon.

The sensation of fire and ice again... Damian braced himself against the colliding energies, his body's complaints ignored for the time being.

"As for your other suggestion, have you seen the effects of severing, Headmaster? Isotov lost his sight, and nearly his hearing, in a matter of only several days. I have been attached to Gae-Borg longer than any other wielder... and my attachment occurred at a very young age... who is to say I would even last a day?" Damian said solemnly, the chaotic flow of Demonic and Holy energies raging within his form.

"So then supervise away, Headmaster. Because I can't just bow down and let this thing take me over... so long as I draw breath, I will oppose this demon."

[Phoenix]

OOC: Retconning Ixion/Miranda/Damian/Mana scene back outside where it was originally. The wolf thing Miranda's coddling wouldn't be found indoors. Neither would the other 2-4 that were nearby.

Opposition

Ixion listened for a moment as Mana first addressed Damian, and then as she addressed him yet again with the same repeated accusations he barely resisted a petty eye roll before responding.

Ixion: Don't bombard us with your false morality, we haven't the time left for that. If you must bother putting a TISME flag on this endeavor fine, but do not get in the way.

When asked about her encounter with Ixion, Miranda gave a rather simplistic and implicative reply.

Miranda: Ixion's not a eunuch you know. As for how he survived ... I'm not really sure. I thought I did it right but here he is. In hindsight it's a good thing I didn't kill him because then I wouldn't much to do with myself or have this beautiful dog thing of mine. Eh. Fenrir works.

Ixion: Enough. I survived by falling back on a since outdated strategy. That is far more than you really need to know.

Miranda made silent gesture at Mana puckering her lips to further hint at what tactic she used while she stroked Fenrir's mane.

Miranda: Heeeey, he has quills hidden underneath his flesh. Nearly solid too ... interesting.)

[-Cynthia-]

Charlotte began to raise her voice to protest Alferis, but found herself weakened from the healing, the fighting, and previous arguments, and she fell over in a heap, unconscious.

"Anyway, I suppose I am the leader of this group if you require such a thing, what do you wish of me?" Morgan asked Kaileen. "As for Eric, he attacked us two nights ago with superhuman strength and agility. He claimed to have killed Shanice, but given the source and lack of physical evidence I see no reason to believe him on that point."

Edited January 2, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Dark Sage]

Having managed to successfully mount Raemond on the horse, Sadie rode swiftly as she could to the city, seeing little but destruction. This time, it was deserted and she prayed that there was somebody around to help.

Well, it seemed that way at first, but as she rode in, she found various assorted people around, including Jace the Brute, a few people leaning against a wall, and others. One of the people leaning against the wall was Alf.

This was the group he was with alright. The group who had saved her life.

"Excuse me sirs. I just came from the road and I was wondering if any of you, um, knew how to heal. This man with me is dying. Could you please help him?"

Edited January 2, 2011 by Dark Sage

[Inactive Account]

Tobe nodded and started to run for his horses again, only to pause and turn back: he wasn't sure Altion had actually heard him, and the man was acting a bit strangely. "Hey mister?" he asked, returning and waving a hand in front of the man's face. "You aright? Did you get hit in the head or sommat?"

[Snowy_One]

"In a twist of irony, Damian, it may be letting the demon take you that brings you to your freedom. I only had a limited time with Esphyr before she left TISME, but I had access to the achieves. While I did not study up as hard on the matter as I should have, I did come across something interesting. In the past, there have been both dragons and men whom have sided with the Lord. Such a thing is not to be unexpected. Most of them have remained untouched by his power directly, but every once in a while, usually just before the Lord was forced to retreat again, they would manage to attain great power. Weapons, armor, and abilities consisting of blue flame that were of immense power that could be summoned at will before vanishing into thin air. Sound familiar? However, according to those records, when the Lord left, so too did those weapons and abilities. It is my belief that these weapons, as they are forged from a hellfire base, are linked to the Lord. While there are records of complications from losing these abilities, like you said, there are also records of them being perfectly fine, aside from being thrown in jail or executed. In other words, it may be possible for the Lord of Azure Flame to sever them without complications like you believe."

---

"What I wish of you." started Kaileen. "Is to tell me if there are any survivors of this... This..." she turned away, unable to finish the sentence.

---

"I wish." replied Altion before sighing. "Would be less painful. Alright lad. You seem to know how to get him to move. If you can convince him to get moving, I'll gladly follow."

[Phoenix]

Demonic Weapon

Ixion: This qualifies as getting in the way, Headmaster. Why are you still preaching about any of this. While waiting to be severed by the LoAF of Azure Flame whom we have no guarantee will spare their lives, Damian could very well have another episode. Couple an average of two to three of these outbursts a month and their enemies barring down on them from all sides and I'd say they don't stand much of a chance. We need to deal with any potential problems we can as soon as possible.

Miranda: He's had outbursts before? How did you deal with those?

Ixion: By rendering him unconscious each and every time using extreme force.

Miranda: ... well that can't be healthy ....

[Inactive Account]

"I guess we just hafta wait for the others to get up, I donno why some of them's sleeping..." Tobe said doubtfully. "You sure you's okay, you need a healer? You some sort of hurt?" He couldn't tell what Altion meant by "painful" and the man sounded rather off.

[Script]

Luc Altair

Charlotte's response to Alferis were the harshest words he had ever heard her speak, and her preferences regarding Eric still made it clear how deeply it bothered her. Alferis mounted a lackluster protest, but fortunately for him Charlotte collapsed before she could muster any response. "Fargo!" Luc shouted as he slipped from his position atop Thunder and knelt to Charlotte's side. Was this exhaustion? Or had she been more heavily injured in battle than Luc had pitifully noticed?

"Yes, Captain?" the cavalier waddled up to the little meeting from wherever he had been.

"Take Derek to the carriage, I shall follow with Princess Charlotte shortly."

"Ah, jeez, yes Captain.," Fargo walked over to the other fallen Jerdonian and utterly failed to lift him. "Haha..."

Before Luc could get to any words of Fargo, a voice--feminin in nature--came from behind. Asking for help. Luc turned around--ready to handle it, when he noticed it was that girl he saw a tad as they once fled Burgosas. Was she a resident of this town? No, for now that didn't matter--if anyone was injured that was a higher priority. Though--glancing around--the active roster of healers was low. Charlotte was out, Pary had apparently died(maybe giving old Cal peace?, though still a weakness to group strength), Luc had not lain eyes upon Tessa for a fair bit and she was likely to be near exhausted as Charlotte--the same holding true for Beau as well. And there was also Kaileen. But, could she be counted upon? The state of the town looked to have struck a personal chord with her.

No option was preferable, so Luc made a new one. He'd see the extent of this unknown man's injuries after taking the two Jerdonians to the carriage; then assess if the aid of staff was needed. Expert he was not in the nature of wounds, but it was the idea he had confidence in. "Aid, perhaps in a time," he finally replied to the girl. "But our own resources are stretched. Let me set eye upon the wounds in fair time and I shall decide if they are worth pressing our exhausted further."

A Paul

Oh goodie, Kaileen. And since Paul was actually visible, he could torture her. Or not. Really, the show was already blissful enough without his interference.

[Dark Sage]

"Thank you sir knight. I managed to stabalize him somewhat with some vulneraries, but I don't think they're quite enough...this may require a specialist," Saide said wearily, slumping down to her knees, believing that perhaps Raemond would truly be alright.

[Mercakete]

Lantos could tell that the girl was calmer. That made him calmer too. However, he could tell something was wrong. His rider was still slung over his back and still wasn't moving. Also, though the town wasn't as scary as before, he still felt a little uneasy here. But all these people seemed fine, so it had to be safe, right? But the scent was familliar; not only the scent of blood -- which he was not at all accustomed to -- but the scent of the humans themselves. And, furtehrmore, the scents of most of the other horses. They were mostly from the very stables he was usually housed in! But...where were their riders?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The call for help sounded urgent enough, though from an unfamillar voice. It soon sunded, however, like his assistance wasn't needed right away. Luc -- one of the more satisfyingly competant members of the group -- was already taking care of things. Grateful, Beau continued resting his body against the wall and keeping his eyes closed, feigning sleep, while he listened in on the political discussion.

[riariadne]

"Hmph, jerk... Well shoot, we all fell for that pretty badly," Chase said glumly. "Can we trust anything he's said...? He could've led us into a lot more trouble than we know..."