Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Mercakete]

The barrier broke as victory was accomplished. This should have been a happy time full of celebrating and getting the heck away from the enemy. And though the barrier shattered, a new threat appeared. The light on the ground remained and, actually, grew more ominous as it began changing colors and lightning arced across the sky. The scenery around the old fortress kept flickering between somewhere very dark and the Ursian scenery. And the armored man had evidently joined the battle. However, he was less than happy and in this state especially, was cloaked in an aura of dread. Even at the distance he was with all those other mercenaries between him and the armored man, Norbert was nervous...and Raquel and Connor were still outside the wagon.

"Get...in the wagon...now..." Norbert quietly instructed, eyes locked onto Burke. We can't escape. Where are we being taken? What will happen? Even now, though, Norbert planned to defend the noncombatants. What else could he do? This was his job. This was what he'd agreed to. Well...not this particular situation, but he'd darn well protect those he said he would. His hands rested on the grips of his maces. He didn't hear them moving. Either they were really quiet or weren't moving. His fear grew a little. Norbert dismounted Rizen, picked up Raquel and -- as quietly as he could, set her down in the wagon. "Hide. Stay hidden as long as you can. Climb in a crate if you have to. Do not come out understand?" he whispered sternly before going to to grab Connor to get him into the wagon as well.

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

Gytha began to wake, but something was strange. It was very quiet but she was healed. Wasn't there a battle just a moment ago? Was Synthia okay? Was Amon? As she sat up, the scenery told her it had not been a dream in the slightest. She didn't immediately see the coffins, either. However, the armored man from before was still around. Synthia was right by her, apparently having healed her. Now wasn't a time for talking, though. Gytha only watched, wondering what was going on.

[Acacia Sgt]

He was successful in preventing the coffin from ramming against Sirocco, but what about him? Well, at least he was still alive somehow. He had managed to not be knocked out off the wyvern, but wasn't really in condition to move much afterwards. Gil likewise, suffered from being hit, but stoically showed less signs of damage, courtesy of his breed.

<I guess... this would be... what being on the other end is about.> He thought. <No wonder this was thought of... it's quite effective on practice. I could've been worse if we've been flying.>

Fortunately for him, not that long he then felt some sort of energy coursing through him. <Eh, what is happening... wait, I'm actually feeling better?> He looked over. It was Sophia, using her staff to heal him. ''Th-thanks.'' He managed to say.

''It was nothing.'' She said. ''It's what I do.''

Just then, the ground started to quake. Gil instinctively took off the ground. ''Wh-what's happening!?'' Sophia asked, getting panicked. John looked around. Total chaos, that's what! <So that's what. They finally knocked her down. But it now that guy is ready to take us on. This isn't good, more so with all this happening around.> Well, once thing for certain.

''We must get away from here.'' He stated.

''But where to? The edges of the area don't look very inviting to cross.'' She answered.

''Well, at the very least, away from him.'' He concluded.

The tremors were getting worse by the second as Burke neared the area. ''I guess there's no time. Here, climb aboard.'' He said, stretching out a hand towards her.

''W-wait, what!?'' She blurted out.

''You'd rather run with these tremors?'' He asked.

''N-no...''

''Well then, climb!''

She clearly showed some hesitation here, but nevertheless took on the offer. Not like the alternative was better anyway. ''Hold on tight.'' John warned. ''Alright Gil, let's go!'' The wyvern grunted before flying off back near the wagon.

[Phoenix]

Final Moments

Amon was grateful for the healing but a little miffed by Nadya wanting to run and leave them at such a bad time. Not everyone was in a position to get moving. Unfortunately, Nadya didn't seem to be able to get out either. Luca was having trouble just keeping his footing and was becoming upset with the unreasonable terrain.

"You people are quite something, but I STILL don't think you're worth keeping around ... especially not as a favor for that idiot, Sardis!" Burke announced to the party. "You've got nowhere to run ... who wants to die first?!"

The largest tremor yet struck right as the question was voiced and a bright flash originating from the surrounding environment itself assailed the fortress. Burke paused. The shaking stopped. The lightning stopped. The glyph was gone, leaving behind only a burning red glow in its wake with smoke rising in various places. The areas beyond the fortress had become pitch black. There was no sky, no sun, nothing but the occasional bright cloud. Surprisingly there was no darkness either. "... huh." Burke chuckled a bit.

Ruin

Another of Sardis' own men got in the way of Selene to try and save Sardis, but falling back was going to be the end of most of them and he quickly needed to come up with a plan. Anything he may have had brewing was lost when a voice came yelling "THEY'RE GONE!!! THEY'RE GOOOOOONE!!!" Sure enough, when Sardis glanced back at fortress Danton, there was nothing remaining but the basements of whatever buildings had been there. "Urgh ..."

"So what now?!"

"We get out of here ... and hope that Burke will at least humor us. The advantage is his now, however. All of you fall back and run! Hayato, Silvia, Colin! You're with me!" he instructed. He then prepared himself for the next attempt by Selene. He was getting tired of losing men just to protect himself ....

The Other Side

Burke began to laugh more and more, harder and harder over the next few moments. As he did, the walls of the fortress began to crumble in certain places. The foundation of the entire fortress had been left behind, so the less stable areas collapsed, some immediately, others would give in a few hours or a few days under any stress. "Heheh ... heheehehehahahahahh ... HAAAAahahahahaaaahhhhh .... BAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAAH!!! AAAAHAAHAHAAHHAAAAAH!!! WELCOME TO THE OTHER SIDE, KIDDIES!!! ... huhehehaaahh AMAZING!!! I knew we were going, but I had no idea you were bringing the whole damn fort with us, Naomi, I'm quite impressed. Good work, now quit bleeding out, already. Make yourself presentable for Death's sake, you're embarrassing." Naomi struggled to get up and held onto her wounds tightly. She didn't have her light coffin to heal her, but she still had her elixirs, so she took one out and began using it. Burke after seeing she was taking care of herself looked back to the party. "Now ... where were we ...?"

Amon quickly got to his feet now that it was easy enough to do so. He didn't have a weapon, though. Well that figured. He sighed, despite the situation Nadya had healed him, so he owed it to her to at least make sure if Burke came near them that he would be dealing with Amon while she got to safety. He doubted he would be able to turn around to tell her to run before catching glimpse of her on the other side of the fortress, though ....

Gabbie still had her weapon, but such a heavily armored target was out of her league. A distraction at the very least might buy them some time? "Oi! What the hell is your deal?! Why'd you bring us here and what was this foight really about?!" These were things Gabbie actually wanted to know, but what she cared more about at that moment was getting the man talking.

"Why here? Heh, I really enjoy his work, it's flawless. Listen up, and listen good. There is no better place to bring those you wish not to be found. You are on the other side, now. This is where EVERYTHING ends."

"Vague much?" Gabbie retorted.

"... the Land of the Dead. The other side. Purgatory. Any of these titles is fitting. Clear enough for you now, Gabriella? The best prison is the kind that doesn't need walls." he explained wagging a finger.

"W- ... wha ... t?" she broke into trembling at the thought. If they had been taking to a place like that, there really wasn't any hope, was there? Had they really lost?

"Ah yes, one of you gets it~" he added. "You should all be as afraid as she is ..."

"Shut up! You haven't won yet! You've got a lot of people to get through first!" Gabbie threatened.

"Eh, close enough." he said shrugging. "Besides, I'm looking forward to that part~"

Raquel couldn't help but gasp as she looked out through the open roof of the wagon. Despite Bert's warning she had to look. Climbing up the ladder to stick her head outside, she saw it, the endless expanse of black sky and the unnaturally white clouds. "This place is ... just like in my dreams ...." Raquel quickly ducked back down into the wagon and came out of the back to get a better look. "It's all the same. It's exactly the same."

Edited December 9, 2011 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

The encironment was unnerving enough, but hearing what Burke was saying... W-what...? Norbert was standing by the wagon, stunned at the news. It certainly looked like it'd fit that description.

Gytha was also amazed, though she couldn't quite get herself to believe it. "So... This is where th' dead go?" Gytha asked, "That mean we're dead?" To be honest, Norbert was wondering the same thing. After all, who could go to the realm of the dead besides the dead?

[Acacia Sgt]

Near the wagon, Gil stopped in mid-air once the scenery changed. <So that's what it was.> John realized. <They were planning to warp us elsewhere. But to where exactly now? This place is certainly giving a bad vibe, there is no use in denying it.> At the sound of Burke's laughter he ordered Gil to turn around, and heard the rest that followed.

<The Land of the Death, huh?> He thought. <Who knew it was possible.>

''We aren't really dead, do we?'' Sophia asked.

<Hm, are we really? They planned this, and he doesn't sound concerned of being here with us. Besides, I doubt they'd risk transporting the emblem here if there was no way to head back. Still...> ''At the very least we may not be exactly trapped here.'' He answered. <But I guess the question is, can we really make it out? They would certainly don't allow us to go with them, that's for sure.>

Such power to do such thing. she thought. Just who exactly are these people?

[roymbrog]

<Renting space here. I don't have time to write a post now, but I don't want to be left behind either. I'll fill this when I can.>

[-Cynthia-]

Purg'd

"Wait, we're dead? Never imagined death to be like this...and I sure don't feel dead," Nadya said dubiously.

"Why take us here if you were just planning to kill us anyway? All that business with the warping fortress and such seems like a waste of time if you're as powerful as you claim," Veronika said to Burke, sword drawn.

Connor raised an eyebrow at Burke mentioning Gabriella's name again. A little strange that he knows her...that's not the biggest problem right now I guess, but it's something to ask her about later.

Outside

From her peripheral vision, Selene saw the fortress began to shimmer more wildly until it disappeared entirely.

What in the Wrathdamn hell was that? I should have gone in there myself...bah I need to defeat the enemies before me. Perhaps they can answer my questions. she thought, before Gorgotha dived at Sardis. The tip of her Wingslayer lance seemed to glow as she rammed the steel deep into his shoulder. "I cannot allow you to leave," she said, noticing that most of the organization members were retreating.

[Snowy_One]

"<Heaven? I am in heaven?>" asked Robin as Burke made his announcement. Something was off about this though. Though she had heard stories and tales of the afterlife, a world where the souls recieve either their just reward or punishment, it seemed wrong that a being from that lifetime could cross back into the realm of the living, not to mention be beaten while within that realm.

"So... It has finally happened. Three times I almost came here, and the fourth claimed me." she said, depressed as she lowered her bow. "Why did you not use such power before if you had it? Are you insa-... Are you out of you... No. <Did you drop your brain on the ground, **** on it, drop-punt it, then put it back into your head?>" she said, resorting to Skotian to find the proper words to describe how insane she found the notion. She wished she was a bit more attuned to magic so she could be able to tell if this world was real or not, but either way... this guy seemed to be stupid! He let the woman do the fighting while he stayed back, then dragged them all to Purgatory when she lost instead of helping her out? How insane were these people?

[Phoenix]

The Lost Fortress of Danton

"Ugh, you're not dead ... yet. I'll be taking care of that shortly. Very shortly." Burke quickly explained to Gytha and Nadya. "And you ..." he addressed Robin this time. <"... the current language of this conversation is supposed to be 'Common'."> he explained to her slowly as if speaking to a child. <"You need a brain to come up with a decent insult while speaking it. I can see you couldn't handle even that much. So sorry~">

Gabbie had apparently gotten an interview going and Burke was already losing patience for it. To Veronika he replied "I don't like being disturbed, lady. In a world like this, I can take my sweet time ... and besides, death doesn't hold the same meaning for you as it does for me. The fight ended far too early for my tastes, but not only am I bored ... I'm also itching to see what you people look like when you're really fighting for you li-... err ... ... huh." Burke paused out of the blue. His head tilted slightly to the side. Naomi looked into the pitch black sky around the same time. "Well, I guess that settles that ..." he muttered with his head held low and his shoulders shrugging. "Naomi, pick up the pieces of the fallen; we're leaving."

"What?!" Gabbie exclaimed.

"What ... you didn't think I was in charge of this world ... did you?" Burke chuckled while shaking his head and then turned to head over to Naomi.

"You're just leaving us here?!"

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged again. "You're not going anywhere." he replied while Naomi used a powerful sacrificial spell to restore the Coffin of Light.

"Hemera ... restore the others ..." Naomi instructed weakly, falling to her knees once again. One after another, the slain coffins began to come back together while the Coffin of Light shined on them. Once all eight of the coffins were restored, two of them floated low to the ground and assumed a horizontal position, Light and Darkness. Naomi sat on the Coffin like it was a table, and Burke hopped up onto the Coffin of Darkness, standing on it with his scythe rested over his shoulder.

"We'll return once it's decided what we'll do with the lot of you. A few words of advice ... don't wander. This isn't the world you know. There is no life here. The water is not life sustaining. Save for what came through the warp with us, there is no food. The storage area has enough rations to get you through the month I'd wager, but wander too far from these walls and I promise you you'll be dead inside a week. Hmmm ..." he stopped to think for a moment. "Is there anything else I'm forgetting? Oh, of course! I almost forgot. Ahem .... Fuck you all ... I win, hahahahahaahaaaah!"

"Tch." muttered Gabbie.

In the Wake of Danton

The fortress had disappeared entirely, but the fighting did not cease. Neither side could afford to let their guard down in the wake of such a spectacle. Even still Sardis and Hayato were grievously injured, Hayato receiving a downward slash against his face and being forced back by a cavalier's blade, and Sardis receiving a deep stab wound from Selene's lance. Sardis immediately gave in to something primal, and the white in his eyes vanished behind a veil of black. His irises began to glow a golden yellow. "Back off, you!" he yelled before violently tearing himself off of the lance and placing a hand to his shoulder. The injury became even worse over it, but he preferred to be free for the moment. "Don't push me too far ... you won't like what happens to you and your soldiers." he threatened, already gathering a noticeable amount of dark energy in the palm of his hand. It didn't matter that it was on the injured side. The pain was drowned out by fury.

Hayato dodged the next attack that came his way, and then the cavalier was killed by a sneak attack from Colin. "Damn, Hayato, you're gonna need a medic ..." he noted. Hayato's injury went over one of his eyes and part way down his cheek, and was bleeding so badly that half of his face was painted red in his own blood.

"Shut up, it's nothing! Where's Sardis?! We have to protect him!"

"Uhhh." Colin paused to scan the area and quickly spotted him and Selene near the back of the combat zone. "Uh yeah he's doin' the glowy thing. We should get behind him before he blows the place sky high ...."

[Psych]

Sirocco felt sick at what was going on. No living thing could cross into this world. No magician should be able to blur the lines of a soul.

"I..I shouldn't be here. We must escape." Her whole body was trembling as the two enemies flew away. She slowly shuffled her feet back to the carriage, trying to reach her bags. "Mercy...I must..." Sirocco turned, her face easily turning shades of green, before she lost her stomach on one of the carriage's wheels. "Where is my garb? I must...."

[-Cynthia-]

Purgatory

"So it's a death sentence either way then. We wander, we die, we stay here and live longer but still die. Unless some other...warping person shows up to rescue us it seems we are doomed," Veronika said rather dejectedly.

Well if there's a way in, there's gotta be a way out right? Of course we don't even have stars to guide us or anythin'... "Luca, I don't think we're in Sardius anymore," Nadya said glumly.`

[Acacia Sgt]

<The nerve of that guy.> ''Well, I guess this is it.'' John simply said.

''What do you mean?'' Sophia asked.

''They leave, stranding us here. Not much else to do for the moment, might as well head to the wagon for now.'' He shrugged. ''Let's go Gil.'' The wyvern flew the remaining distance back to the wagon, before landing.

[Mercakete]

Well, they weren't dead. That was a relief. ... Kinda. Something caught Norbert's attention, though, and he hurriedly picked up Connor and slipped into the wagon...where he saw Raquel peeking out through the roof's hatch. Putting the kid down, the pegasus rider swept the legs out from under Raquel, caught her, sat her down and gave her a long, hard look. "Don't. Do. That."

[Snowy_One]

"There are worse things than death. I do not see how he has won. We would have ended up here anyways when we died and he has done nothing but act like a spoiled brat. He has defended nothing, he has accomplished nothing. I am at peace with my own death. Being here does not bother me." said Robin as she sat down, trying to mask her inner distress. She was terrified. Not of her impending death, but rather, of the life that she had missed out. Hunting in the wilds, sitting around campfires with friends, having a child, watching them grow up, things of that sort. However, she was determined not to let Burke feel like he had won if she could... her recent insult aside.

"<I am not afraid of being here.>" she said simply.

[Phoenix]

Abandoned

"Well at least if you die here, we know where to find you when we decide to come back. You go out there and kick the bucket and I'm not so inclined to search." Burke remarked after Veronika's assessment. "You're not afraid to be here, huh? Good! Cowards bore me. I'm sure there are some free beds in the barracks and food in storage. Don't pig out or you'll be fat AND dead, haahahahahah! Have fuuuuun ... using the broadest possible definition of fun, that is." were his parting words as the coffins began to lift off of the ground. Light and Darkness carried the two over the fortress walls and away northward as the remaining six followed closely.

--------

Once away from the fortress, Burke glanced at Naomi. "... so where are we, anyway?"

"The Flats, I think. See? There aren't any big hills for miles." she explained while pointing to various areas.

"Good thing too, because while I'm glad I still have my fortress, I'd rather not warp it in the wrong location. Although this area ... probably isn't my first choice. By the waaay. Despite the way things went you managed to keep yourself in line. I know that couldn't have been easy. I thought for a second you were going to force me to clamp your mouth shut."

"You did all the talking." she muttered shyly.

"Just wanted to leave them with some food for thought, girl ... chances are they'll be here for quite a while yet."

Meanwhile back at the fortress, Gabbie sat down in the dirt and sighed. She set her lance down next to herself and wrapped her arms around her legs. She began thinking deeply about the situation. There wasn't an obvious answer to something like this. Amon picked up the small fragments from his knife along with the blade itself and examined them in his hands. "What am I going to do now? I've had this knife for so long ..." He sighed. "If that's not bad enough, there's this place." he said looking around and up into the sky. "Hmm ..." he slid the pieces into his left hand in order to free his right so that he could delve into his pocket for something else. The trinket Lulu had given him. He took it out to look at it, and like always it was shining, likely due to Raquel's emblem. She wasn't far away, after all. "This thing is still useless with her so close by, and leaving the area probably isn't a good idea ..."

Luca's rider seemed a bit depressed, and so was he. This wasn't a problem they could give gold to get out of, was it?

When Raquel got yanked back down into the wagon, she stared right back at Bert. "Bert, I've seen this place before. In my dreams. I'm just trying to make sure because there might be someone here that can help us ... ... ... I'm not crazy!" she added at the end. The first part seemed to warrant it.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

That pegasus rider guy picked him up again, an action Connor was finding rather annoying.

"I'm not crippled or anything you know, I can move myself when I want to," he said to Bert, somewhat irritated. "And I don't think you really need to be bossing Raquel around either, she's been through a lot lately."

Nadya

At a loss for anything else to do, Nadya went over and healed Valter. He was apparently her "teammate" or something, not that she paid much attention to such things. She noticed his glasses were broken. "Sorry about your specs, healing staves can't fix those," she said to him, shrugging.

Veronika

"I do not treat dying in such cavalier a fashion and I suggest you do the same," Veronika said to Robin, snapping back into reality. "There doesn't seem to be a way out right now, but of course they wouldn't want us to think there's a way out. I don't know what this place is, but if we got here somehow, there must be a way back. Some sort of...magicky thing," she said, looking over at the magic users in the group hopefully.

Selene

"It will be difficult to cast spells when you're dead," Selene said to Sardis simply, narrowly missing his torso and impaling his other shoulder. While she assumed this would normally cause a loss of concentration, the dark energy in Sardis's hand continued to grow.

[Mercakete]

"Didn't your uncle tell you to stay where it's safe in dangerous situations?" Norbert retorted to Connor, annoyed at how difficult he and Raquel were being about keeping safe. To Raquel, he replied skeptically, "So, you've been to the land of the dead before, huh? If you know anyone who can get us out of here, then, find whoever it is if you can. If we leave this fortress, though, we're not leaving, apparently. Let me check to see if it's safe."

The pegasus rider left the wagon and took a quick look around. It looked like they'd been left alone. "Alright, I guess its safe enough for you to come out now," he told those in the wagon before departing it and wandering around to survey what had once been a battlefield.

Gytha stood up, placed her hands on her hips and looked around. I...guess it's kinda like th' sea at night. Not so bad. she tried to gain a more positive prospective. She saw Amon wandering around and decided to walk over. "Ahoy," she greeted before seeing his shattered knife, "That doesn't look good... Need a new knife?"

After wandering a little, Norbert saw Nadya tending to Valter. He'd apparently been defeated in battle, cuasing the pegasus rider to grimace and walk over. "Hey, Valter. You alright?"

[Snowy_One]

"Aye, the magic users. I wish I could help them out, but alas, the only thing magical about me is that I seem to attract ghost cats. What about that book? The Necronomnomicon? That is the only book of magic I know that can bring back the dead, but I may be wrong. Did Shadrak make it through? He knows more about this sort of thing than us and is the best hope we have unless wingirl can predict how we will escape or something."

[Snike]

So, the girl fell to the ground, wounded, but not dead yet. He'd have to finish her off, to stop the coffins. Blake lifted his sword to strike her down... and froze. There was just something about the situation, that made it so that he couldn't swing that blade. Maybe it was because this was probably how Father ended their life. Maybe because he felt bad about killing someone who was relatively defenseless. Regardless, he couldn't do it.

Luckily for him, someone shouted "Hey watch out!", and immediately, the swordsman dived out of the way. That was not a moment too soon, as the remaining coffins flew by, nearly sending the novice flying. Blake scrambled to his feet, and... All hell broke loose.

The light surrounding the battlefield vanished, and the ground began to shake. The area began to change color, and Wrath's fury roared louder and louder. Worst yet, that armored commander dropped onto the main floor, and began to walk his way. Lovely.

Luckily, before the man could give anyone wicked scythe wounds, the shaking stopped, and instead, parts of the building began to collapse. What.That didn't make sense, it seemed stable earlier, when... Oh.

They weren't exactly where they used to be, were they? The world save for the ground was black as night, without any stars to compensate. It was like they were in a cave, but no cave could be this big. The young man turned his attention over to the armored commander, who had began to laugh like a maniac, a skill any self-respecting criminal would perfect. Then the person from earlier - a woman - asked him what he had done. The response rocked the world. They were in the Land of the Dead. Bloody hell. They were dead. It was over.

Wait, apparently not, Mr. Villain said. They were going to be kept alive, until he decided to end their lives. Here, his actions became erratic. At one moment, he was going to go kill them all, or at least give them pointers in scythe combat. The next, he and the coffin-girl flew off, leaving them stranded, with a month's supplies and a warning that if they were to leave the fortress, they would die. Already people began to despair. They were just sheep for the slaughter, it seemed, and there was no way out, according to the bad guys.

Blake sheathed his sword, and glanced around for any sort of leadership. There was none. So he looked to see if anyone had any ideas. There was just the idea that there might be a magical way back. Did they even have enough mages for that? The swordsman sighed. This was getting nowhere.

In his search, he found the source of the helpful voice - the wyvern rider lady, who seemed to fight on foot. She seemed to be unoccupied, so he walked over.

"Thanks for the warning earlier, Miss," he said, wondering if she caught his hesitation.

[Zsword]

Zelatus

There was a long blue cloak draped around Gabbie's shoulders, any investigation would reveal the smiling pale face of Zel, as he sat down next to her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. He wanted to say something, something to maybe lighten the situation... but nothing came that wasn't already said....

Krystal

She clambored out of the wagon, looking around, shaking. "S-so... we're not... but we're in... magic is scary... I'm sorry I couldn't help during the fight..." was all she could say, to no one in specific... the entire experience was kinda daunting on her.

Shadrak

Everyone's favourite shaman came strolling out from behind a pile of rubble, his journal in hand, taking notes. "Yes Robin, I made it." He confirmed. "But I won't be able to get us out, I'm a dark magic, and a scholar of history, not a master of travel between dimensions..." He closed his book, and put away the quill. "So, my only input on this that I can say is, listen to the man about the rules of this land, unless any of you KNOW otherwise, they're all we've got... Though, throwing someone between the 'Lands', especially the entire fortress, that magic would take a lot of energy... hmm..." and once again out came the notebook and quill as he started to scribble away.

[Phoenix]

Settling In ... Or Not

"Heh. No problem. Thanks for taken that girl down before those coffins could bury us." Gabbie replied with a half smile. It was good they won but the fact that they were in this place made victory seem more like defeat. After all, the enemies they defeated just healed themselves, revived the fallen and flew off leaving them to die. "Now we just need to foind a way out of here. They may have won this round, but I'm not gonna just sit around and hope a solution pops up." she added.

Amon grimaced. A new knife ... "I really liked this one, and it's a model that I'm really comfortable with. I wouldn't be as precise with a new one for awhile. To get an exact replica I'd have to go to a man I know back home ...." He sighed.

"HEEEEY!!! DRAGON!!! ARE YOU HEEEERE?!!! HELLOOO?!!!" Amon looked over toward the source of the all the noise. It was Raquel. She'd just stepped out of the wagon and started shouting, apparently. Wasn't she from Ursium? What dragons would she know of? "DRAGOOOOOOOON!!! Ugh ..." She quickly took out the emblem. Unlike in her dreams it was completely dim, not a hint of light coming off of it so far. "... I know you're out there, HEEEEY!!!" She started looking around hoping to spot the enormous dragon head somewhere in the background, maybe in place of a building like in the last dream, or perhaps hanging up in the sky somewhere. "Don't tell me I have to be asleep ...."

"Welp ... this isn't workin'. Can't think of anything. We just don't know enough about this place to figure a way out, yet, but waitin' for those two to come back and 'decoide what to do with us' isn't appealing eoither if you ask me." She thought to get up and have a look around, but Zel settled in with her first. "I am so glad I've always got source of warmth and a blanket. Means I don't have to invest in pants or a coat ... but seriously, we've got to foind a way out of here. How about the three of us start lookin' around? The place is falling a part, but that's even more reason to be quick about it. We don't want anythin' valuable to get buried. It's better than mopin' around with the some of the others, at least." she explained shrugging. "And Raquel would you shut the hell up?! There aren't any dragons around here or we would have seen them by now! Sheesh!" Raquel simply gave a light glare at Gabbie. She didn't expect anyone else to be able to see the dragon even if she pointed him out. No one in her dreams ever saw him either.

Violence

"I only need one!" Sardis yelled, taking hold of the wingslayer to keep Selene from stabbing him anywhere else and using his other hand to hold out the dark sphere of energy. "You see this ...? This is the price your men and women will pay for your interference ..." He quickly chucked the sphere away from himself and pulled the spear out from his shoulder before stumbling back. Hayato and Colin reached his side and stood to the left and right of him with their blades ready. "We have to fall back ... or you'll be caught in the sphere as well ..." he warned while panting. Already the sphere was beginning to grow larger and quickly dominated the wind, creating a swirl of dust throughout the Ursian and enemy ranks.

"Told ya he was about to blow the place!" Colin affirmed while guarding his face from the wind. "This is really messin' up my hair ..."

"Sardis, let's go already!" Hayato yelled.

"N-not yet ... I'm going to make sure ... I'm going to make ... sure ...." he struggled to get out. His wounds were quite serious already. Holding out both his hands to aid his concentration he quickly summoned a second sphere and pushed it away from himself. The second wouldn't carry half as much destructive power as the first, but it was highly likely that it would put a huge gap between Sardis, his surviving subordinates and the Ursians before being absorbed by the original singularity. The components for a massive explosion were put into place ....

Edited December 10, 2011 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

"Well, better than not bein' able t' fight," Gytha replied with a shrug. Raquel sounded like she'd gone crazy. Maybe it was important, maybe it wasn't. Could've just been temporary, she didn't know. "Maybe there's somethin' 'round 'ere ye can use. Let's go look."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're not crazy, huh?" Norbert asked as he walked over from where he'd gone to check up on Valter. Nadya seemed to be handling things alright and it wasn't like he could help. Rizen was still following him. "Didn't think your friend was a dragon. If you know one that can get us out of here, maybe its worth the risk. When were you here last anyway? I knew you were a travelling merchant but really, the land of the dead? Does that mean there's a trade route or something around here?" he asked, half-serious, half subtley asking Raquel to stop going into hysterics.

[Acacia Sgt]

The pair dismounted once the wyvern had landed. <Well, so now what?> John was thinking. <I guess if we are here we might as well take a look around the place. We may find something of use other than food.> His thoughts were interrupted though, when Raquel began shouting.

<What is she doing?>

Is she alright? Sophia was wondering.

John walked over. ''You're calling for a dragon? Here?'' He asked.

[Snike]

There he was. Sir Knight returned from whereabouts unknown, just in time to jump into the conversation. He could've been useful earlier, but that... Well, that was water under the bridge, for now. Then Raquel began to shout something about a dragon. Poor girl. She must've been tortured to madness. But that wasn't a pleasant thought to have, so Blake brushed it away, for now.

"It was mostly luck, to be honest," the swordsman admitted at a normal voice, despite Raquel's raving, before turning rather quickly. "I'll take the main building. There's probably supplies in there, despite the fact it looks shaky." As he said this, the stone groaned.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"I wouldn't trust what the man said, he was just about to kill us a few moments ago. Not very trustworthy if you ask me," Veronika commented to Shadrak.

Then Raquel began shouting about a dragon. "Raquel, are you sure you don't need some rest? Your time in the fortress was probably rather harrowing," she said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Selene

Selene watched the sphere grow, creating a huge cloud of dust. She gritted her teeth. I don't want to let these criminals get away...but allowing my men and I to die would serve no purpose. "FALL BACK! ALL UNITS FALL BACK!" she shouted, yanking her lance out of Sardis, and quickly flying away from the singularity.