Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[roymbrog]

It seemed most of the group was ready to go, but Synthia realized she had forgotten something. Krystal shut off the deflectors when they stopped. The mage quickly reactivated them, returned to the cabin, and took up the reins. “Hey, we’re about to leave,” she called at the few unmounted still standing around. “Hurry Up!” She did wait, however, for everyone to get on before starting the wagon off towards the southern side of the fortress.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, as long we can gain as enough time we may need...> ''Alright, I'll do just that.'' John said before ordering Gil to descend. Since they were already near the wagon and not that high anyway, it didn't took long, but they didn't actually landed.

''Hey!'' He called out to Synthia, since she was the one who was driving after all. ''From which side are we going in? North or south?''

[roymbrog]

“South!” Synthia shouted back to the wyvern rider. Hmm... She hadn’t told anyone else which direction, had she? She had assumed those with mounts would just stay with the wagon. “You’re not going ahead, are you?”

[Acacia Sgt]

''Well, there is a chance they've closed the gates, slowing you all down.'' John explained. ''We're going ahead to force them open if need to. Alright Gil, let's go!'' This last part directed to the wyvern, who left one grunt before gaining some altitude and then heading beyond to the southeast.

[Phoenix]

Darksider: Venture

Surprisingly the Darksider chose to walk from there, not taking advantage of his horse and simply leading the steed along by the reins. The further he got into the city, the more lost he became, and hiding from the patrols was nearly impossible. He stopped to look at his map of the city and tried to figure out where he was. A few minutes of that and he decided to look for one of his contact's homes in the city. Hopefully they were still there. First, however, he had a patrol to get past, about ten Neviskotian soldiers armed to the teeth and in no mood for civilians.

"You! Identify yourself!" one of them called out, sword drawn immediately afterward.

"Oh dear, uuu-good day, gentlemen. I am the great and powerful Darksider. Perhaps you've heard of me."

The soldier just stood there giving a confused but aggressive look for a moment. "... if you're drunk ... get lost. If you're sober ... answer the question truthfully."

"How dare you! I AM THE DARKSIDER! LEGENDARY AGENT OF DARKNESS!" Even Simon's horse wasn't buying that, which it noted with a quick snort.

"The hell? Are you on drugs? Listen, Urcenter is now under Neviskotian control. You'll cooperate with us or we'll lock your delusional ass up, understood? Now, identify yourself."

"I'm the Darksider!"

"Don't make me and my men beat you to death. No one's going to find what's left of you."

"Simon Higgens, Sir." he shot back with his head between his shoulders.

"Well now ... that's a start, I suppose."

About twenty minutes and a thorough inspection later ...

"Hahahah, oh you Ursians aren't so bad after all. Never thought I'd run into a Nyx enthusiast this side of the continent." the soldier laughed, patting Simon on the shoulder.

"Yes, she is my inspiration. Such beauty and such magnificent power. As a child I wanted to be just like her~"

"Hahah, don't want to be too much like her, or you'll sprout a pair of beautiful breasts. What would you do with those, I wonder, baaahahahahahahahah!"

"Heheheh ... yes."

Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way In

When Gabbie looked straight down to see John heading southeast, she pulled on her steering rod to guide Ringo into a backward loop. From there, they dove downward toward John and once they were close, leveled out and flew right up beside him. "So south, then ... alroight, let's get over there and see if the gates are up!"

We March

"THIS IS DANTON!!! ....snrrrrrkbahahahahahhaahah!" shouted Burke from the top of the highest point in the fortress overlooking the entire battlefield. "Oh I always wanted to say that, but this place never really sees any action. Well ... time to watch Sardis and his men die horribly~"

"That maniac ..." Hayato commented, looking back up at Burke from the western gate. He heard it all the way from there.

"Let's go, it's time to fight." Sardis ordered. With that, he and the others he had gathered left the western gate and arrived on the field, ready to confront Selene's entire battalion.

"... damn ... so much woman .... Do we really have to fight. I'm having other ideas, here." Colin asked.

"I'm certain they would rather fight than negotiate."

"Fiiine." Colin quickly whipped out his sword and took his stance. Silvia and Hayato followed.

"Before we begin the battle ... would you grant a name?" he called over to Selene, the obvious leader of the opposing force. The emblem is drawing nearer, I can feel it ... good.

What the ...

As John and Gabbie drew closer, Gabbie tried to see if the southern gate was closed. It wasn't. It was fully lifted. "There should be two gates, lemme fly lower to see if I can spot the other one." she called over before descending close to the ground. What she saw surprised her. "The hell? The inner gate's ... opening? Is this a damn trap?" She flew back up to John. "Be on your guard! The gates are open! The inner one JUST opened! They've probably got somethin' in there waitin' for us. Normally I'd be ready to fall back and come up with another plan but we're already waist deep in this." she noted glancing over at the western side and the two sides about to face off. She then felt the bag she kept on her waist. Right ... I've got the emblem. Can't let myself get caught no matter what ...

[Rothene]

Knowing that part of the plan involved using the safety of the wagon, Ranyin got onto it alongside the others, taking his time feeling the plating inside it, and pray that they would prove reliable in preventing the group inside the wagon from getting hurt.

***

Mireille crossed her arm and said, "Yes and no. I feel rested enough to protect you, but...it would be best if I stick close to you to fulfill my task in the battlefield. To do that, would mean riding with you. Will your mount mind the extra weight?"

[Acacia Sgt]

And there it was, the fortress. True, as Gabbie had said, the outer gate was opening. And there in the distance the battle between the military would engage their forces. However, the news of the inner gate didn't bode well.

''Hm? You say they're opening the inner gate?'' <Now what could it be? They would need to escape from here regardless, but on the other hand...> ''Well, they would be expecting an infiltration team most likely. So then what do we do, any suggestions? Just see what happens next?''

[roymbrog]

Well, as long as she wasn’t as tired as he was... Phyllis could probably carry the two of them since Mireille’s armor looked pretty light, but the horse was tired already. Perhaps Valter could compromise. “Uh, you can ride with me till we reach the fortress. I don’t plan on taking Phyllis inside, the poor girl’s probably exhausted,” he replied, and patted the horse's neck. He turned Phyll around slightly and reached out a hand to help the knight up.

[Rothene]

Mireille grabbed hold onto Valter's hand and got onto Phyllis' back.

"So you mount's name is Phyllis?" asked Mireille when she had made sure she was not going to fall off as soon as the horse started moving.

[roymbrog]

After helping Mireille onto the horse, Valter began following the wagon. “Yes,” was his simple answer to her question.

[Phoenix]

Concerns

Gabbie gritted her teeth. Her instincts were screaming at her to turn around. "I don't loike this, but ... we foinally know where they are. This is our only chance to get Raquel back, I can feel it ..." she replied to John. "J-just ... be careful."

Danton

While Burke stood atop the tallest watch tower's roof overlooking the field, he caught sight of the small force approaching from the south, with two wyvern riders far ahead of the main group. "Scouts, huh? better safe than sorry, I guess. Now I wonder how Naomi's coming along with her preparations."

He looked down into the fortress to see her with Raquel. She was examining the other girl closely. Raquel was barely conscious, again, and tied to a twenty foot pole. She was quite a ways up on it, near the top. Much to her surprise, Burke soon appeared at the top of the pole, landing a perfect jump from the top of the tower. From there, he knelt down and shook his head at the girl below him. "Tis probably safe to say that you've seen better days, 'Raquel', hehehehhhh. Don't worry, though ... it'll all be over soon. Naomi, are you ready?"

She nodded in response. She then put her hands together as if about to begin praying. Burke interrupted her by chucking a staff to her, which she made great effort to catch. "You'll be needing that, as well, I think."

Arrival

As they came closer, Gabbie flew over the buildings to try and see if Raquel was outside. The big pole out in the open seemed rather obvious, and she grunted. "It's a trap, definitely but ... what kind. Are they gonna lock us in here ... blow the whole place sky high and then look for the emblem in the ruins ... what?! Dammit, I've got nothin'." The wagon came racing into the fortress and it wasn't long before Raquel and her captors came into view. Sandrock and Riley had no choice but to stop as a dark object came slamming into the ground right in front of them at well over terminal velocity! The explosion of dirt sent the horses into a panic! There, in front of the wagon was a large black steel coffin with giant silver symbols on its surface. The symbols were in the shape of three double headed staves.

From inside the wagon, the sudden stop rocked the occupants horribly, but there would still be room to get out, and with it stopped, Amon knew that it was probably time to do so. Rather than waiting to get to the back, he looked up trying to find the roof exit they had been told about, and once he found it, he opened it, and climbed out using the ladder on the wall. From the roof, he saw what was going on. Even with the coffin embedded deep in the ground right in front of the wagon, his focus was on Raquel. "Raquel! Are you alright?!" She wasn't very responsive ... that wasn't good. Perhaps it was too much time away from the emblem.

"Oh good, we have more guests. Come to pick up the loud one, I see. I'm afraid that's not going to happen, however. All journeys come to an end ... and this is the end of yours." Burke threatened from just above Raquel.

Who is that guy?

[Mercakete]

Gytha followed suit in exiting the wagon. The first thing to grab her attention was the coffin. She thought it was weird since all the ones she'd seen were made of wood and didn't look so...weird. Then, the guy on the pole and Raquel gained her attention. "...I don't get it. Why're ye on somethin' that high?"

Norbert had been flying as well while all this was occurring. The solution was hideously obvious to him. As soon as Raquel was sighted and the situation processed, he simply flew at the pole, whipped out Splinter and swung it hard at the pole with the intent of snapping it, making the guy at the top fall while he or another flyer caught Raquel and cut her bonds.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Indeed, they were expecting us.> John thought, watching everything as it unfolded. The coffin was certainly a sight. ''Doubt that is just to block the way.'' He said. <Even so, then for what? It's a coffin, then are undead going to come out of it?> He then saw Bert going at the pole. <Wait, what is he thinking? Even if he manages to rescue Raquel there is the fact of that guy on top of the pole. Should I do something as well?> He wondered.

-----

To say the sudden appearance of the coffin and the stopping of the wagon was unexpected, well, that was a given. What... what was that about...? Sophia though, a hand on her head. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at the coffin. What is that thing? A coffin? Seeing the others starting to get out, she decided to follow suit.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[Phoenix]

Countdown

As Bert swooped down and attacked the pole, Burke made one preparatory move, a small jump from his crouched position. During the jump, he twisted his body into a side roll and threw out his left hand so hard and so fast that the left sleeve us his coat was shredded! That revealed what was underneath, an arm almost the exact size of one made of flesh, but no human arm could feasibly fit inside the those metal structures. Nothing seemed to be holding the mock arm together but the sleeve itself, and as Burke threw out this arm, it stretched all the way to his target and his gauntlet viciously grasped Rizen's right hind leg. "Ggggotcha!"

Gabbie was in the air as well and saw the man's metallic arm stretch out to catch the pegasus. "W-what the ... fuck is he?!"

Physics would only set in next, as Burke's body began to heavily and quickly weigh down the pegasus. "You kids today ... leaping into danger without a second thought or any kind of planning! How typical!" Burke yelled. As his boots slammed into the ground, he pulled his arm closer in and forced Rizen and her passengers straight to the ground! "Naomi, it's time ...."

"Uuu-OH!!! Right!" She quickly clasped her hands together and began chanting rapidly.

"Is that some koind of incantation? I don't know what she's doin', but we've gotta stop her!" Gabbie called out. It got Naomi's attention and she looked up at Gabbie with a deep grimace.

"Hemera, protect me ..." she muttered, before resuming the chant.

[Mercakete]

The man on the pole jumped off as Splinter held to its name and broke the pole in half. He wasn't too concerned that the enemy had jumped and instead looked over to his fellow airborne fighters to see if one of them would catch Raquel and either slide her off the top of the falling pole or cut her loose. However, when Rizen shrieked a shrill whinny, Norbert's attention darted to her, then down and he saw the man hanging onto her leg and dragging her down. "Hey! Let go of my pegasus' leg!" he demanded as they descended. Rizen began kicking at the man with her free hind leg as her wings frantically flapped, trying to keep them from falling too quickly. The weight on the single leg was hurting her.

"A'right," Gytha respionded to Gabbie's suggestion, taking out her pistol and firing a shot at the chanting girl's torso. At the distance they were at, she didn't want to risk aiming for a small a target as the head. Even if she missed the girl's heart, she'd hit something important.

[Phoenix]

Black Rain

"Let you go? I don't think so. We haven't had our fun with you, yet." Burke replied, his grip not loosening in the slightest.

At the sound of a gunshot, Naomi's eyes opened wide on reflex, and all she saw was a speeding black object zoom by her and deflect the shot. The object dug an eighty foot long trench into the ground as it crashed off to the side sending dirt and dust everywhere. Another black coffin, pointing out of the ground like a leaning tower, this one bearing a silver symbol in the shape of an ancient glyph, a representation of light magic. Naomi sighed in relief. "Thank you, Hemera ..."

"... okay, it's rainin' coffins ..." Gabbie concluded.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Just who is that man?!> John was surprised by the turn of events. But more importantly, Bert did managed to do something, and sure enough there was the top part of the pole falling down with Raquel still tied to it!

''Quick Gil!'' He said, and the wyvern obeyed flying over to the falling pole. John quickly took out his lance.

It all happened quickly. He approached from the front, with the falling movement head-on, slightly to the side. As the pole reached almost a horizontal position and him slightly below in altitude, he held his spear arm in front and with the spear pointing upward, then swung at the ropes on the other side of the pole while having his other arm reach for Raquel's arm. With the cutting of the ropes this freed Raquel sending her to a free-fall if not for the fact John had her arm.

''Now!'' John ordered, and the wyvern now did a turn, moving Raquel in turn away from the still falling pole. John quickly put away his spear as they turned and now used the free arm to grab her arm as well. Now Gil leaned back and flapped his wings to counter his now backwards momentum as John used this to heave her up. <Got her!> He thought as Gil leaned back forward, effectively remaining in place in mid-air.

<That... was close.> He could almost sigh in relief.

[Mercakete]

"Wha..? Don't think I hit'er..." Gytha muttered as she holstered her pistol.

This is bad... thought Norbert at the man's words. He did manage to catch John freeing and catching Raquel. That was something to smile about. "Now get out of here! Fly as far away as you can with Raquel!" Norbert called over to John, "We can't let anyone have her!" He hopes his message was conveyed: they couldn't let the organization or the military get to Raquel since both were after the emblem. He set himself to action, putting Splinter back to his belt and taking his polaxe from Rizen's side. It had a longer reach, after all. Turning around as best he could in the saddle (Rizen was fairly virticle at this point) Norbert swung the poleaze at the man, hoping to land some form of wound on him either to make him let Rizen go or to land as much damage on him as possible before he did let go, seeing as it would be hard to defend yourself while dangling from a pegasus' leg.

Gytha decided to be proactive as well, taking out her sword and running at the chanting girl. If ranged attacks wouldn't work, maybe melee ones would.

[Acacia Sgt]

<No need to tell twice.> John thought. ''Let's go.'' Gil began now moving southwards again, past the pole, the coffin, and the wagon. <So we have her now, but then? The wagon will have a hard time to turn around, and there's that guy and the girl to worry about. I can't leave them behind, and yet...>

[Snowy_One]

As Gytha fired off her gun and the second coffin came crashing down, Robin shrunk away closer to the cart once again. "<GODDAMNIT!>" she cried out in Skotian. She looked over at the two coffins, her bow drawn as she had been trying to line up her own shot just before Gytha had fired. She didn't know what they were at all, but the odd symbols on their surface told her that they were not of this world. She could even swear that she had seen one of them before on Shadrak's tome. Even if she hadn't, she felt certain that the symbols were likely magical ones. What was worse, they had done nothing yet. That wasn't good. They had a purpose, but it wasn't obvious, that meant it was likely something really bad that she didn't want happening.

"GYTHA! SHOOT THE SYMBOLS!" she cried out. Though she felt slightly sorry for the distress Bert's magical flying pony was in, she was willing to wager that, if those magic symbols activated, it would be in for far worse troubles than simple strangulation. Worst of all, Robin's own obsidian was fragile, not built to blast, and she couldn't disrupt them. Gytha's pistol, however, could. However, she had to do something!

She quickly changed her aim from Naomi to the metal arm that had started to strangle Bert's flying steed. Though she disliked the man she took careful aim, hoping that her arrow would cut through something vital or lodge itself in whatever served as a elbow and let the horse loose, and let her shot fly!

Edited December 6, 2011 by Snowy_One

[Phoenix]

Burke: The Impregnable

With each swing, the easily recognizable clang of metal on metal rang out. Burke's grip didn't cease, but the occasional grunt or two escaped his helmet. Even if was easy to shrug off such attacks, it was still probably annoying to have one's head repeatedly thwacked. "Cut that out before I make you! You kids aren't too bright, are you? If we wanted Raquel sooo badly, why the hell would we put her up on a pole out in the middle of the open?" Burke asked, not really caring for an answer; he only had a point to bring up. "The one you really ought to be scurrying off with is the one who has the emblem~"

All of that talking was interrupted by an arrow that came speeding into his arm. The arrow became lodged between two parts, and Burke looked back at the shooter in the distance. "An arrow?! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?!" Another question he wasn't waiting around for an answer for. For a split second, areas between his metal parts glowed with a golden energy. With one powerful pull he sent Rizen down and sent himself over both her and Bert. He landed a short distance from them and shook his head. "I'm not Sardis. I don't make mistakes. Any hope you had of ruining our plans disappeared when you arrived."

Naomi: The Coordinator

With Gytha charging at her, Naomi took a few steps back to buy herself some time. Perhaps, not totally unexpected this time around, another black object came crashing down between the two sending out a burst of dust in all directions. Naomi covered her face when it happened and began stepping back even further. "I need help. Lex, Enceladus, Diana, Michael, Hector ... please ... come to me ..."

The coffin that had crashed in front of Gytha like a missile had a symbol as well, a spear running the length of the coffin and two smaller spears on both sides. Amon leaped from the top of the wagon and began his approach, being careful as he made his way by the first coffin that landed, and even looking out for new ones as he made his way toward Gytha.

"Oh here they come ..." Burke quietly uttered, the final warning before five more coffins rained down over the area. They all crashed somewhere near Naomi shielding her from any follow up attacks, but striking the ground like lightning. The first to hit bore an ancient symbol of dark magic. The second bore an ancient glyph of anima. The third bore seven arrows. The fourth had a long sword along with two smaller ones on either side. The fifth had a single double edged axe and two single bladed ones on its sides. In total eight black coffins had come crashing down onto the field. Burke could only chuckle at the situation, now.

The Light Coffin, the Dark Coffin, the Anima Coffin, the Arrow Coffin, the Sword Coffin, the Spear Coffin, the Axe coffin, and the Staff Coffin, all eight of them slowly lifted away from their impact points and hovered in the air toward Naomi. "W-w-w-what's ...?!" Amon couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Holy shit!" was Gabbie's only reaction.

Naomi quickly finished the last verse in her incantation during the spectacle and finished just as they began a unified orbit around her. A small glowing glyph appeared under her feet. It didn't stay there long, however, and immediately began a rapid expansion, stretching out in all directions over the ground. In only two seconds it had reached out from the center of the fortress and nearly reached the inner walls, a moment after that, and the entire fortress could be seen sitting under the circle. It stopped growing after that, and a column of light highlighted the entire area, shining from the ground up into the heavens.

"Emblem inside the fortress ... check. Cage dropped ... check. Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneight-Naomi's little entourage present ... check." Burke went down a mental list of things. "Still hard to believe these idiots are worth having around. We've ... already won but ... Naomi!" he paused to call to her.

"Yes?"

He pointed a finger in the party's general direction. "Try to kick their collective asses. I want to see for myself what could possibly be worth salvaging in this pathetic pile of under trained dogs." Burke instructed.

"Okay. Hemera, Lex, Enceladus, Diana, Michael, Odin, Hector, Dionysus, prepare for battle!" she called out. The eight coffins began an even more rapid orbit around her.

"Yes!" Burke said before leaping up onto the second story of a nearby building. From its roof, crossed his arms and watched. Not as high as the tower, it was still a decent view of all the action. "Get over here and show me what you're made of! How well can you do against my coordinator, hmmm?"

OoC:

There's a huge change on the battlefield. The fortress has been magically cut off from the rest of the world(let's go with the rubberband wall as opposed to the solid wall or the electrified wall, kay?). Also the light is not going to blind anyone, it's not that intense.

Post note: Keep in mind that there is a statfight portion to this coming up shortly(this is my last prebattle post unless plot attacks keep coming). Try not to get yourselves incapacitated before then

Luna note: Soldier reactions to the 'fortress of light' should come after initial encounter starts, etc

[Mercakete]

"WhaAHHHH!!!" Norbert couldn't even voice his general confusion at what the armored man had said about being worried about the one holding the emblem or worrying about the golden glow of the armored man's arm. Rizen was thrown back over to the group and Norbert along with her, both landing on Robin with Rizen on top of the pile of three. Norbert groaned, crushed under his own pegasus for a moment as the disoriented, winged horse rolled from her back to her side, dazed and trying to figure out which way was up. As he lay there between Robin and Rizen, somewhat stunned himself, Norbert registered the armored man talking. "Any hope you had of ruining our plans disappeared when you arrived." What..?

Gytha watched as the events played out, focussing on the coffins, the girl and the light for the mostpart, especially since one landed right in front of her. Initially, she'd stopped and shielded her face as it blasted the ground in front of her. Then things just got weirder from there.

A light spread over the ground underneath them. Shaking off her daze, Rizen stood up and gave her rider and the one he'd landed on some room as she let loose a small, pained bray. Norbert picked himself up, too, though he was a bit winded and ached from Rizen's weight and the impact of the slam to Robin and, from there, the ground. He didn't want to move, but he did if only so that Robin wouldn't have someone else's weight bearing down on her. "What...What's happening...?" he managed as he looked around at the scene around him and regained his breath. He was concerned for Rizen, too, but whatever was happening sort of demanded attention.

From the mutterings of the guy who seemed to be in charge, they were trapped and about to fight the girl and her coffins.

"This's just been one weird thing after another," Gytha muttered, not as phased as the others around her. She was glad Amon was nearby, too. It contributed to keeping a cool head. "Ye landlubbers sure have some strange things," she mentioned off-handedly as she eyed the girl and her coffins.

Norbert walked over to Rizen to make sure she was alright. If her back had been hurt too badly, then he wouldn't ride her even for an aerial advantage. That was his plan, anyway, until he remembered they had healers and he wasn't alone in this fight. "Anyone with a staff, could you get over here? Rizen, Robin and I could use some healing." Might as well ask for help for himself, too. After all, fighting in this state wouldn't be helpful.

[-Cynthia-]

Preperations

Nadya didn't really know what to make of the coffins, but this situation seemed to be turning sour rather quickly. She considered making a hasty exit, but the enemy seemed to have prepared for that possibly. Sighing, she went over and applied her staff to Robin and then Bert's pegasus.

"Better not get knocked out before the fight even starts eh?" she said to the injured pair grimly.

Veronika lept from the wagon and tried to find an opening to attack the magic user, but the coffins seemed to be forming a perfect wall around her.

"I think we're going to have to smash these coffins to get through," she said hesitantly. Not sure how effective my sword will be at trying to cut through metal, but fighting seems to be our only choice at the moment.

Aggressive Negotations

"I am Major General Selene Alexakis. You are all guilty of kidnapping, trespassing, and the murder of several Ursian citizens. I am prepared to offer mercy however, if you lay down your arms and surrender we can avoid a slaughter here. Otherwise I cannot guarantee that any of you will leave here alive," Selene said, staring Sardis down. He appears unarmed and their leader...if that's the mage Weyland spoke of I shall have to defeat him quickly. she thought to herself, gripping her lance. The soldiers stood tensely, all poised to strike at a moment's notice.

[Rothene]

Smash these coffins? That's blasphemous, how can one contemplate disturbing the dead, thought Ranyin as he followed Veronika out of the wagon to support her. Not sure what possible protective magic could have been employed by the enemy spellcaster far away, Ranyin gestured to Naomi and asked Veronika, "Want me to take a shot at her? The technique of manipulating the magic through my tome specialises in extending its range, but not by far."

[Mercakete]

"Right. If we want out of here, we'll have to work together," Norbert agreed, then added, "Thanks for healing Riz. Could you heal me, too?" He was still injurred and though he hated having to ask for things, this was a sort of dire situation. They were trapped and he wanted to join the collective efforts to escape. Rizen was very grateful to the lady for the healing. Her back and leg didn't hurt anymore. As a thankful gesture, Rizen gave a light snort and nosed Nadya. This was peculiar behavior, so it caught Norbert's attention. Hey... You're never that grateful to me. He wasn't going to make a fuss about it, though he did feel his pegasus was being a tad unfair. Rizen ignored him.