Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[scorri]

"Well, it's an offer! Think about it and let me know some time. Like I said, Pete and I will be traveling with this group for a bit, but I trust you and I'm sure he will too!" Looking around the camp for Pete, Lumi noticed a female who appeared to be punching a tree. "Uhm, excuse me Aneda, but I'm going to go walk around the group for a while, meet other people. I'll talk to you later though!" Jumping up, she wandered over to Mireille, watching her for a few seconds before gasping, "I know what you're doing! I do that! You're channeling your magic energy to strengthen your punch! Here, watch!" Lumi took a breath and concentrated for a few seconds. Then, with a slight grin on her face, she whirled and side kicked the tree, leaving an imprint of her foot, as well as a slight frost pattern around the edges. "I worked on that for ages. Do you know how to do the other half though? Can you use your physical strength to supplement your magic?"

[Rothene]

Mireille stared at Lumi for a moment in awe. Did she include the effects of the elements to her blow? After shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Mireille answered, "No...I have not tried the reverse. According to the theories I gathered, it is a bit trickier to do the opposite."

"And to be honest, I'm very new at this technique. Only recently have I started to put it into practice." Like only almost an hour ago.

[scorri]

"Well... it depends really. Here, let me show you." Lumi pulled out her tome, and stepped so that she was within arms distance of the tree. "Now, if I were to just send a bolt of ice into the tree from here," she said as she concentrated and then gestured at the tree, "not much would happen." A small ice spear flew out of her hand and slammed into the tree, where it broke and fell to the ground. "But, if I instead do this..." She concentrated again, creating another ice spear. This one, she grabbed, twisted it so that the point was facing straight at the tree and then slammed it full force into the tree. Moving her hand away, there was a clear hole in the tree where the ice had cut into it. "So... basically, by using my own strength added into the magic push that I would normally have, I get a stronger push. The way I do it here is I actually make two projectiles. One is the one you saw on my hand. That one I don't push. The other..." she flipped her arm around so the other woman could see her elbow, "is right here. I create a small patch of ice on my elbow and use magic to push that forward so that I get the strength of my arm added into the magic push. It's extremely useful for close range. For anything other than that though... Well, it's all research. I don't know if it's possible or not. My grandfather used to say that they were researching it in some academy or other, but no one knows how to do it yet."

[Rothene]

"Oh," Mireille remarked, slightly surprised at the simplicity of the method, "It makes a lot more sense how the reverse is done. But I use lightning based magic. Do you perhaps have any advice for it since unlike ice, lightning based magic do not take on solid shapes."

"Oh, and forgive my manners. I am Mireille Authine, pleased to meet you," said the Ursian knight offering a hand.

[scorri]

"Oh! Ah, I'm Lumi. Er... Calumeina Valli. But please. Call me Lumi. Uhm, as for lightning... Well, hmm. You could maybe do something where you shove one of your lightning balls at a target faster... Or maybe infuse a small knife or spear with lightning and shove it into someone that way... I guess I don't quite know. But, I'm sure if you worked on it you could figure it out!"

[ReformBlade]

"If we can find time for it, maybe. I'm much better at doing than I am a bookworm, though." Mushirah admitted to Tia, accepting the hug however impromptu it was. "I'd say that's probably exactly why I don't know how it all works, that and having a somewhat inconsistent attention span..."

Admiring the girl's thirst for adventure, Aneda smiled then made note that Hannah had finally landed, tiring of today's exploits and laying down where she landed. Aneda, however, took it upon herself to follow up on Calumeina's shenanigans and watched her demonstrate her capabilities to a certain... oh thank god, she said her name, Aneda may not have remembered it if she hadn't, not really noticing the girl, or knowing much about her to begin with. Maybe it's time to change that? But ugh, they were having a discussion of magic, something Aneda knew nothing about, but she did understand how there was physical force involved, and lightning. "Um... if I may butt in here, perhaps you could just find a really er... conductive weapon, I think? Something that'd let your lightning flow through it easily, just stab someone and then zap the weapon!"

[Rothene]

"A very conductive weapon you say?" Mireille asked with a smirk before reaching for her imbued lance to brandish it, "I do not know the conductivity of this lance, but I know if I pour magic into this, it does add an extra zap to the stab. And with enough magic, it even releases a bolt of lightning up to a certain distance."

[scorri]

Lumi raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Really? That's awesome. And well, besides what I've already said, all I can suggest is that you try to get as much combat experience using these skills as you can. There's no real substitute for actually fighting someone else. Even if it's just a sparring match, every little bit of combat type training helps. As much as it is fun to destroy a tree," she grinned, "it's only so useful when compared to hitting a person."

[Rothene]

"You are right," Mireille said stroking the tree, "I feel bad hitting a tree that can't defend itself."

"So how should we spar? With weapons or unarmed?"

[scorri]

"Oh! Uh... well, if you want to spar with me... uhm, well, you have a spear clearly. As such, I'd probably use magic against you so that I didn't have the disadvantage in reach that I would have if I were to use my sword. And if you want to practice using magic to supplement your strength, being armed is probably more useful. But, it's up to you."

[Rothene]

"So, shall we start of with weapons, then move on to tomes?" Mireille asked, "I would like to get some practice with my magic side if possible too. Without neglecting my martial skills."

[scorri]

"Oh. True, that makes sense. Well... why don't we start off with physical weapons since you've already got a handle on that type of bolstering and then move on to magic afterwards."

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Wellspring of Spirit]"Now that everything else seems to be out of the way," Hypnos began, pausing briefly to make sure he at least had Raquel's attention. He didn't care if anyone else was listening or not. This was mainly for her ears. "What happened earlier this day, the power that filled your body until it was near the breaking point ... it was doing this because the dragon ... I was causing it. I have always been causing it, even from the very beginning. Your subconscious wasn't involved in any way before now."

That's great, but why were you doing that if it almost killed her? Shadrak wondered angrily. There's got to be some reason you risked her life and consequently everyone else's.

"Long before we met, it was just a theory that I believed in ... a way to restore everything I lost when Obelisk betrayed me. Neither could be done conventionally, but the fire emblem is anything but conventional. There was a problem, however. Without a physical presence, I could not restore my power, and without my power, I could not manage much less survive the process from start to finish. I needed help. I found a mere human, or rather, they found the emblem piece that you once carried, Discovery. The dragon appeared before them to set things in motion. Over time, a steady supply of the emblem's power was infused with them to prepare them for the forging of a spirit spring, but the dragon acted too quickly ... just like in your case ... and the emblem wielder died before the spirit spring could emerge within them. More time was needed ...."

"What's a spirit spring? I've never heard of anything like that before," Raquel finally spoke.

Yeah, me neither, Shadrak suddenly realized.

"I suppose that makes sense. During the Legendary Rebellion, all of humanity knew what spirit springs were ... and they used that knowledge in order to develop a way to kill vasili. Most of the legends you know about, Leviathan, Nyx ..." he paused to glance at the angel of death before continuing, "Thanatos ... these are the ones who survived an age where humanity was just a generation or two from becoming like us, able to wage war on an incredible scale. Wrath stopped this however. He stopped everything. Thinking back on those times, it's no surprise that the spirit spring is a well guarded secret, but being so close to the end, it longer matters ... at least I don't believe it does."

"So what the hell is it, then?" Shadrak spoke up impatiently.

"A spirit spring is the very core of a vasilus. It defines each of us as immortals. Lilith has one, Griffin has one, the egg you've been looking after has one ... I once had one. Spirit springs draw their power from the true realm of the gods and transforms that spirit energy into all of the powers vasili use, the self sustaining life you know as 'immortality', unlimited conventional magic such as light, darkness, and anima, and so on. These spirit springs not only give all vasili their abilities, but define their limitations. When a vasilius is created, a god creates a spirit spring and determines each of its qualities. It in turn defines the vasilus being created, their strengths, their weaknesses, even specific disciplines and talents can be bestowed. They're our greatest strength, and also our greatest weakness. Wrath already proved this by using the spirit springs to unleash his curses upon some of us. In the same way a spirit spring bestows talents and power, they can also be made to enforce harsh restrictions and disabilities ... and without these spirit springs inside of us, we are mere mortals. For the time being, I am a mere mortal, in fact."

Lilith's curse! It's being sustained by her own spirit spring ... amazing. So it's the reason she's so freaking powerful and why she'll go comatose without an emblem piece. So really these spirit springs are the key to everything as far as vasili are concerned, Shadrak mused. Before long, he'd gotten out his notebook and began quickly writing down the new information. This was good, too good.

"You wanted to make a spirit spring, then ... with my help," Raquel concluded quietly, not sure what to make of it.

Hypnos nodded and said, "You aren't quite ready yet, but I'm rather glad things turned out this way. You survived, you can use the emblem's energy now, and you don't seem to hate me. That's worth being in a state such as this awhile longer, I'd say," ending with a smile. "There is one more thing you should know about these spirit springs, Discovery ..."

Shadrak paused so he could focus on what was coming next.

"Vasili are limited by their spirit springs and cannot redefine them on their own. The overall power of a vasilus never changes, no matter how long they live, and no matter how long they train. A vasilus is created at the apex of their power and ability with only the experience missing in most cases ... but you remember what I told you about Obelisk, don't you?"

"Uhh ... he took your power? He took your spirit spring from you?"

"I don't know how he learned to do this ... but it did increase his overall power. That is why he betrayed me. Even a little one such as I could provide him with more power. Obelisk discovered a way to consume the spirit springs of other vasili to increase his power, though all of them would die in the process. In time, it changed him from a mere assassin into a vasilus juggernaut during the great war. I on the other hand, have discovered a way to create new ones using the emblem's energy. I've taken a bit of pride in that bit of innovation, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make here. Obelisk was not the only vasilus who killed others by devouring their spirit springs ... Lilith was another."

"She killed them and increased her power?" Raquel only looked worried, but she was actually a little disgusted.

"Not directly. The sword she carries, Ascension, is a holy blade. When Ascension strikes a vasilus and penetrates their body, the spirit spring within them is quickly absorbed into the blade, rendering them mortal. They then most likely succumb to the wound itself. The blade has one other function that I know about, and combined with my knowledge of creating spirit springs, it's a grim prospect. The spirit springs trapped inside of Ascension can be tapped into for a time to increase the wielder's power. Lilith has the other half of Raquel's emblem, and with it the potential to create an unlimited number of undefined spirit springs. If she fed all of these to the blade, she would be able to amass an incredible amount of power at a moment's notice. She once served Wrath dutifully, and her reasons for abandoning that life aren't exactly clear ... and so I don't trust her. At least not with the knowledge I've amassed over the years. Not yet."

I guess I can see where he's coming from, but Obelisk seems just as dangerous if not more so. Then again, he's not really doing anything as far as I can tell. Lilith on the other hand is flying all over the place preparing for Wrath. It seems pretty likely that if she knew how to create a bunch of spirit springs to help her fight Wrath, she would ... and who knows what happens after that. She might just keep on increasing her power over and over again until ... I don't even know. Where does all of this end if she can just keep increasing how much power she can use? Raquel mused. I guess it's the same thing with the emblem ... where does it all end with that kind of power?

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would ask her the questions that I can't. We seem to have a common purpose, or something relatively close, but that isn't enough," Hypnos explained. "Find out who she really is and what made her into that person. Then perhaps, someday soon, I won't need to conceal myself any longer. That would ... be nice, I think." Hypnos' visage began to fade away as he said those last words.

"W-wait! Hypnos?!" Raquel quickly moved to where he'd been standing and as expected, found nothing there for her.

That's ... all I really needed to say, Discovery. You know more than most mortals were ever meant to, now try to get yourself something to eat.

But what about earlier today? You wanted to create a spirit spring inside of me ... why? Why not just ... create it somewhere else ... anywhere else?

Do you want my comforting answer, or the serious one? Do you really want to know why the dragon decided in that moment to put everything on the line like that, yet again?

When you put it like that, I'm not so sure ... but- "Raquel?" Shadrak interrupted her thoughts. "Is he gone?"

Well I certainly am now! Next time, Discovery!

Hey wait! "Agh! SHADRAK!"

"... what? What'd I do?" he asked, leaning back and stepping away.

Raquel slowly sighed and hung her head. "Nothing ... he's gone for now." I can't take it out on him. Hypnos was getting a little evasive again.

A New Road

After the hunting party had returned, the group pooled together their available resources and ate. The next morning, they set out heading northward to Europa. It would be days before they arrived, and Raquel simply hoped they wouldn't run into anymore trouble before then. She counted up fifty-seven days since her journey began. It was a miracle she hadn't succumb to paranoia after everything she had experienced. When she wasn't driving the Dauntless, Gytha was(and learning how on the side), and when she was driving, she spent the hours contemplating: her situation, Hypnos' situation, the group's struggle against the Organization, Lilith and how to fulfill Hypnos' request. The last one in particular she didn't want to think about, but she'd already made the mistake of complaining about it to Reign, who was sharing the front seat with her that day.

"If you'd like, I could talk with Lilith for you. I've been meaning to anyway but she's not around much," Reign offered.

"This isn't a 'no', Reign, but why would you want to talk to her at all? And what about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's a rare opportunity so I might as well take advantage of it. Besides, you said it yourself; bad things happen to you when she comes around, so maybe it'll help if someone else deals with her next time. I'm sure Hypnos will be listening in and if not, I can just relay the info later."

"Knowing my luck, she'll hunt me down to scold me about my missing emblem piece and then berate me for not having gotten it back by now. I'm also not sure what to say--if anything--about Thanatos."

"Don't say anything about me," came Ayano's voice.

Raquel looked around for a split second and then stopped herself when she recognized the voice. She wasn't going to spot Ayano unless the girl wanted to be spotted, and Reign didn't even turn his head more than an inch in response. "Sooo, I guess I'll let you deal with Lilith whenever we get around to that, then. I have to say, you're braver than I am."

"She doesn't seem so bad, but I'll admit, I'm a little intimidated after what you told us about her sword. I didn't know there were anti-vasilus vasili. Should have realized it, though. Still, she doesn't seem so bad."

"I bet it's just the thigh highs," Raquel teased while keeping her eyes on the road and cracking a smile. Then she thought about what she'd just said and was a little horrified. Her smile melted into a frightened look. Oh gods, that would be horrible ... To make matters even worse, Reign leaned back in his seat and went back to staring at the plais off to the right. He didn't add anything else which left her wondering. Clever, cruel nomad.

Soon, something unexpected happened. The Dauntless and its accompanying mounts came to an area that Raquel didn't recognize. She wasn't so proud as to say she knew the ursian roads like the back of her hand, but she had a feeling they had taken a wrong turn somewhere. They were much closer to the mountains than they should have been at this point. They should have reached Urquium by now as well which suggested they were indeed on the wrong route. They were still heading in the direction of Ursaea, but they had missed a planned stop along the way which meant their supplies would have to last at least one day longer, and that was cutting it a little close. Ursaea was on the farside of the mountain and it would take at least one more day to reach no matter how fast they could feasibly get the Dauntless moving. Alternately, she could have them turn back and find that fork in the road that she mistakenly took and head to Urquium proper, but as close as they were, it seemed pointless to try and get back on the right road. They wouldn't save supplies or time that way and getting to Europa as quickly as possible was the real priority. With this in mind, she decided to push ahead and approach Ursaea from the south rather than the east as she normally would.

It was going to be a bumpy road from there on out ....

Even In Death

Greta's caravan made its way eastward at a steady pace, making good time over the next day and as they came up toward the mountains, it seemed that Ursaea was finally within their reach. Then fate reared its head spitefully once again and set them on a course toward disaster. As they traveled down the main road, they saw an enormous obstruction in the road, upon closer inspection, Greta realized that it was a dragon ... a recently dead and rotting one, lying right there in the road. There was also a man sitting down with the corpse, leaning against its chest for support while his sword rested against his shoulder. "... daaaamn."

"Watch your language, Grit," Pa called down from the roof. Then he saw the dragon and said, "... damn! Is that an actual dragon this time?!"

"You a dragon slayer?" Greta asked curiously. He returned a cold and intimidating gaze.

"Don't go this way ... I managed to run down and kill this one up to this point, but there were two of them. It's been picking off travelers on this route, so you should take the road up through the mountains. You'll have more coverage there," the man replied, sounding sure of himself.

"Not like we can take this road anyway with that big old thing blockin' our way ..." Greta noted, a bit annoyed by the situation. She knew that taking the right path at the fork in the road would take them south of Ursaea and not straight to it like the path blocked by the dead dragon. It was just one inconvenience after another. Still, one thing stayed on her mind long enough for her to inquire again. "Hey ... are you a dragon slayer, Mister? Where's your team? Y'all usually work in small groups, right?"

"Where do you think my team is, lady ...?" he asked, tilting his head and glaring at her. "If you want to pay your respects, just take your wagon there and go around this rotting filth. You'll run into pieces of them eventually."

"... no thanks." Greta sighed and said, "We're takin' a little detour, but we're gonna be quick about it. We want to reach Ursaea as quickly as possible if there's another dragon around here. Uh ... thanks for the advice, pal ... and for gettin' for killin' that thing. You probably saved a lot of lives by doing that."

Amon listened to the exchange carefully up to its conclusion. If we take the mountain route, we need to be quick about it. There's nothing stopping a dragon from keeping an eye on both roads at least until they're more than a just few miles separated. Still ... I really don't like this. Have to wonder how long this guy's been out here with that dragon corpse too ....

Greta soon got the wagon moving again and took the right path on the fork in the road, something she soon realized paralleled her previous decision at Urden. She didn't have a moment of peace in her mind after she realized this and made a mental note to stop taking right turns at forks in the road if things didn't pan out this time around.

Long after the wagon and enormous wyvern had gone out of sight, the man leaning on the dead dragon let out a deep sigh and slowly stood up. He turned toward the dragon and frowned. "I'm sorry to have to use your remains like this, comrade ... but you serve even in death, and we'll never forget that." Looking down the road they took, he said, "That's the nineth one, Schwartz ... we really need to move on soon. Seriously ...."

Hours past and they eventually made it up onto the mountain road. There was more coverage from aerial attacks than Greta and some of the others had been expecting. Her fears finally began to relent, but only a little bit. They were still a good ways off course and probably wouldn't make it to Ursaea before nightfall unless they found some better terrain, soon. When they finally made it onto better terrain, their coverage left them. There was a massive series of clearings up on the mountain and while the terrain wasn't as rough on the horses, they were now much more exposed. As if that wasn't enough to send chills down the merchant woman's spine, she saw the last thing she ever wanted to see heading up the road, a massacre. There was no shortage of slain men and horses. Not many of them were armed either, and those who were, were lying dead beside damaged or broken blades.

"Grit? You sure we went the right way?"

"We- ... we never go the right way, Pa! DAMN! That guy had no idea what in the hell he was talkin' about! The dragon's obviously set up a nest around here or somethin'!"

"Stop yellin', Grit! You'll attract the beast!"

"Did you just call me a beast ...?"

The voice that uttered those words came from massive lungs and could have been heard for quite a ways off. Pa turned around to see a massive black dragon standing behind the wagon, only about twenty feet away. It hadn't been there before and the mages had probably already realized that they were dealing with a shadow dragon, the most notorioius variety. Isis immediately turned around and backed away from the dragon, hissing loudly at it. Pa didn't hesitate and fired his rifle at Schwartz as he fell back in surprise. It was another miss, but barely. The shot grazed the dragon's cheek and drew blood.

"Heheheheh ... they always shoot first. Now then, which of you wants to die first?"

"Oh gods ..."

[Parrhesia]

Wilhelm's mace came quickly to hand. That didn't mean he was first into the charge; he hadn't gone deep into his thirties by being reckless.

[Snowy_One]

As the Dauntless had been moving, Tia had been busy. Squirreled away inside the Dauntless she was busy sitting in a corner, a small sphere of water held in her hand as she focused intently on it. Inside the sphere of water was a small slip of paper, soaked through and through, trapped within rapidly moving currents, yet not breaking apart. That was part of the exercise. Tia's goal was to keep the paper in one piece while, slowly, she shot tiny currents of water through the sphere to spell her name. It may have seemed childish and stupid, but it required a LOT of focus and control and was a great was for Tia to let off stress from what she had actually been doing.

All about her drawings of various ships littered the floor, only barely gathered into small piles, as she tried to focus on the problem Maomao had presented her. This was proving to be VERY difficult. Already she had discounted making a giant rudder to function like a fish fin as the stress on the hull would be too much, but there were PLENTY of other ideas for her to use!

She smiled as she finished the 'A' in her name and pulled the water back into a small flask, successful. "Whew! That was a good workout!" she said, holding the unbroken paper aloft! "T.I.A!"

---

Robin looked about as she followed the group, her eyes focusing on Raquel. Normally she wouldn't be worried, but Raquel seemed to be distinctly... unsure of herself right now. Were they somewhere that she didn't recognize? "Raquel? Are you alright?" she asked, wondering if Connor or Tia happened to have a map by any chance in the event that they were lost.

[Toogee]

Stairway to Heaven

Through the bright blue skies of Ursium, Eli Irving and his Pegasus steed Betty were traveling from their home in Europa in search of a wagon bound for town. On orders by his boss Prof. Weyland, the rider was to deliver a message and some rations to a girl named Raquel. Trouble was, he wasn’t having any luck on the more popular route to the city. Even in Urquium, a popular stopping point on the way to Europa, there was no sign of this girl or her party. It had been a few days since he had started his search but after nine wagon stops, Eli decided to search the road less traveled, speaking to his Pegasus about the mission.

“Well, Betty, maybe they like taking the long way around to places. But still, these mountain roads are treacherous, and I’m not talking about the brigands either. Sitting on those wooden seats on these bumpy roads, your rump’s gonna be sore for ages. Ah look!”

Sure enough, a lone wagon and company were beginning their trek around the mountain. Maybe this one was it? Declaring the tenth time being the charm, Eli urged Betty downward to meet the group. The black Pegasus obliged, diving straight down toward the ground. Eli had to tighten his grip to hang on. Most Pegasus riders would control the descent, but with Betty’s wild nature, Eli found it far easier to let her do what she wants.

They landed some distance from the Dauntless, making sure that he didn’t appear to be a threat. He grabbed his lance, which was currently serving as a flagpole. The flag in question was a long piece of white fabric, on which the symbol of Weyland Enterprises was emblazoned. With the flag flowing nicely in the wind, the Pegasus began galloping towards the wagon. Eli hoped his intentions were clear enough; he didn’t need a repeat of the gun shootout of Wagon Stop #5. He had Betty slow her gait as they reached the driver’s seat.

“Good morning, mam and sir,” Eli said to Raquel and Reign. “Eli Irving, Weyland Enterprises,” he tipped his hat to show the Weyland seal upon it, “Is there a Raquel Valcyn traveling with you?”

Highway to Hell

Man, my butt hurts…

Traveling through the mountainous terrain did not sit well with Jamilla, literally. With more people joining them, the wagon was beginning to get a little crowded for the dancer. Fortunately, she made the decision to ride on the roof with Pa and Shaun. Sure, the ride was bumpy, but at least she was in the fresh air.

“You guys have the sweet spot up here,” she said to the wagon watchmen, “blue skies, green grass, beautiful mountains, dead bodies everywhere…!”

Jam had to do a double take as she saw what appeared to be the end results of a big battle. Once again, they were misled into taking the exact wrong path. This time however, there a big angry black dragon standing behind, threatening them with death. Jam waited for someone to come up with an ingenious plan to stop said dragon, or maybe even a speech to placate his murderous intentions. Instead, the only words that came from the group were “Oh gods”.

“Get down Shaun,” Jam whispered to the boy, already kneeling on the floor. She wasn’t sure how this would make them safer, but it made her feel safer.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Toogee

[Mercakete]

There was a black pegasus flying around just a short while ago and Norbert had been following it with his eyes as he rode along beside the Dauntless. Lumi had mentioned that black pegasi were rare, so even though this one had a rider, he still felt fortunate to see yet another one. That didn't mean he wasn't suspicious, though. When it landed somewhat near them, he had a mind to ride over for himself and see what the rider's intentions were, but his misgivings were quelled well enough when the rider rode over to Raquel in peace.

He couldn't help but joke a little at the humor of it, even if it was just to himself. "Hahah; wow, Raquel, what is it about you that attracts male pegasus riders?" His smile swiftly disappeared, however, being replaced by a grimace. Norbert's brow furrowed seriously as he thought to himself with some embarrassment. Er... That sounded a lot better in my head... I hope no one heard that...

Gytha, meanwhile, was atop the wagon, laying on her back and staring at the sky with her hands behind her head and one leg crossed over the bent knee of the other. Maw was sunning herself in a corner of the wagon's roof. Someone was talking to Raquel, but she didn't see any reason to pay it any attention. Whatever it was, it sounded friendly enough to be handled by the merchant herself.

Besides, Gytha had other things to think about. Primarily, she was going over the instruction she'd gotten from her last session of learning how to drive the wagon. Just because she was improving didn't mean she could slack off with regard to perfecting her wagon-driving skills and right now that meant going over things in her head. It was the only thing they were having her learn, after all, and so she figured she'd devote herself to it.

[Phoenix]

They Greet From the South

Raquel looked on ahead of Sandrock and Riley at the road leading up into the forested mountainside. It was going to be a tough trip for the horses, even more so than the first and second times. At least she knew where they were for the most part. "Yeah, I'm fine, Robin. I just haven't been on this particular road before."

"You know where we are, right?" Reign chimed in.

"For the most part. We just need to make a right somewhere along the mountain road and we'll reach either Ursaea or the road between Ursaea and Urquium. Either's fine as long as we get there today. I'm tired of camping ..." Raquel explained, concluding with a heavy sigh.

"Incomiiiiing," Ayano quietly and offhandedly noted, just moments before the lone pegasus rider landed. That got Raquel and to glance over at the rider.

Before long, the man had asked for Raquel by name, not surprising beyond the fact that they had been tracked down out in the middle of nowhere. "Um, that's me," she quietly replied. She didn't notice that Reign was pointing at her with his finger at about the height of his abdomen. When she finally did notice, she glared at him. What if it had been an enemy just trying to get close enough for a clean kill? Sardis and Samael most certainly knew of her affiliation with Weyland by now, so this like any other recent meeting had the potential of being a trap. She felt just a little bit safer knowing that only people in the group knew about Ayano. That was an inexplicable death or two awaiting their next adversaries.

They Flee From the West

The situation was a hell of a lot worse this time around than a simple brigand attack. Greta knew that their best chance of getting out of this alive was to run like hell, but without some kind of distraction, they might not make it. The city was still a ways off, but the turn leading to the southern gates couldn't have been much further up the road. If they could make it there, make that left turn, and keep on running, they might run into a patrol along the way that could help them. "We've gotta move!" She said, warning everyone to stay in the wagon so as not to get left behind. Stopping for anyone now would likely mean death for the whole group. She whipped down the reins and got her horses moving at full speed.

Meanwhile, Haythem got Isis back into the air while Malik and Fizza argued. <"They're not going to make it. We have to distract that guy,"> Fizza reasoned, this being the second time she'd said it.

<"We're not sacrificing ourselves for these people! Amon, what's more important to you, living to get the emblem piece for Lady Aisha, or getting torn limb from limb here and now and failing her again?!">

<"It's not that simple, Malik. Besides ... our goal wouldn't be to win, just to distract it and then escape, ourselves.">

<"Well ..."> Haythem began to chime in. <"I'm not sure we can actually escape, but I think we should at least try to help them. That's what we agreed to. It's our fault for assuming there wouldn't be any dragons involved.">

<"Yeah, and you guys would be setting a poor example by letting that many women get butchered, Sancturan or not,"> Fizza teased.

<"Do not bring that up,"> Malik snapped.

<"Haythem, distract him from the air. The rest of us will keep him busy down here and use the trees and wreckage nearby for cover,"> Amon finally decided.

<"... good luck, man ... and please don't die.">

The wagon was getting some good distance from the dragon and it was almost out of sight by the time Greta called up to have Pa fill her in on their distance. Shaun was ducked down and shaking in fear. This was leagues beyond the fear he'd felt when they were fighting other people. "Keep'er goin' steady, Grit! We're gettin' away."

"Where's Amon and the others?!"

"Er- ... ah, they must be playin' decoy for us."

"Urgh! That just ain't right ..." Greta appreciated the selfless act on their part, but she didn't expect to see any of them again. She was right after all, they were crazy ....

[scorri]

Erion

"Well... that's a dragon. Well come on Pips. Lets see how fast you can actually move here." Nudging his horse slightly, Erion quickly made it up to a gallop, chasing after Greta and the wagon. Seeing Amon and co. staying back, he muttered under his breath, but continued to ride forward. Not that Pips would've stopped if he'd tried to turn back around. She was smarter than to try and fight a dragon.

Lumi

[spoiler=Dark Flier Battle]

Wielding her lance in both hands, Mireille shifted her legs slightly to her right and lunged swiftly pouring as much psychic energy as she can into her arms causing her trust to move more swiftly than usual. Wow, the power!

Dark Flier ability -5 Mag, +5Str
http://invisiblecast...r/view/4089862/ 1,3,1 Autohit!
3 + 2 + 5 - 2 = 8 damage
Miri 18/18
Lumi 10/18

Lumi grimaced as the lance tore into her arm. "Nice hit! And nice use of magic to bolster that. Now... watch this." She attacked first without bolstering her attack with magic and as she had suspected would be the case, managed to completely miss. Quickly though, she spun around with a second attack and blasted her arm forward in a downward cut across her opponents lance arm, sped up by her magic.

[spoiler=roll]
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4089868/
5+8-2-12=-1 miss
Full shift, -5 mag +5 str, def is now 5
autohit
10+3-0=13 damage
Miri 5/18
Lumi 10/18

"Hmmph," Mireille grunted as she felt the the strong blow to her arm. Knowing seeing an opening in Lumi's last attack, Mireille grinned as the right techniques to capitalise on it surged through her mind. The Ursian knight did not spend years in the army training on nothing.

With a swift trust, Mireille feinted her first attack, missing by a margin by more than she had wanted but then quickly swung the lance down in a devastating blow that would have left no room for a sword user to counter. But a surge of pain shot up through Mireille's lance arm causing it to spasm mid strike, barely missing her mark and causing her to break her fighting form that oculd prove fatal. No, arm work damn you!

dark flier ability -5mag, +5 Str for both the Counter and Attack
http://invisiblecast...r/view/4089880/ 1,6,3,4,6,6
Miss
Critical miss
Miri 5/18
Lumi 10/18

Lumi barely managed to dodge the first attack and when the second attack faltered because of the strike to the arm, she grinned. Quickly swinging her blade, the girl muttered under her breath as her swing missed due to her haste. Taking a breath, she struck true on her next swing, knocking the other woman down with a well placed patch of ice and pointing her sword to her throat. "Surrender, victory is mine! Or, something like that." Grinning, she offered her hand to the downed woman.

[spoiler=roll]
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4089882/
1+6-12=lolmiss
Dark Flier Shift
6+6-12=hit
10+2-0=12 damage
Battle over

"I...need to practice on my footwork more," Mireille said grinning as she grasped Lumi's hand to lift herself up. "Give me a moment, my arm still hurts before we move onto fighting with magic."
I sure miss my armour.

Lumi reached into the bag she had tossed to the side before the fight had started and pulled out a vulnerary. "Here, use this." She tossed it over to the woman before pulling one out for herself. Sitting down to get a chance to catch her breath, she grinned at Aneda. "So, what did you think? Any tips for either of us that you saw from just watching?"

Curiousity piqued, Aneda butted in, "Well, if you two are gonna spar, I want in. I'll fight the winner! Or the loser, or both at once!" she threw in the last part on a whim so as to not let anyone feel left out.

"Hahaha, well... how about this? Once we're done fighting with magic, you and Miri can face off in a battle of the lances or something. Speaking of, Miri, you ready to go another round?"

After allowing the vulnerary to work its mundane wonders, Mireille wielded her tome and assumed her combat stance, "I am ready."

Lumi grinned. "Ok then." Muttering quickly under her breath, she gestured towards her opponent. A spear shaped of ice flew towards Miri, barely missing her before embedding itself in the nearby tree. "Damn."

[spoiler=combat]
Lumi full shifts, -5 Str, +5 Mag
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090033/
miss, carry on
Lumi: 18/18
Miri: 18.18

Unfazed by the spear of ice, Mireille quickly made a few gestures to generate the path of electricity to surge towards Lumi. Unfortunately, her lack of experience with using lightning magic in combat, combined with the very narrow hit zone of this pinpoint based element made the Ursian knight's spell spark harmlessly to spots where her mobile opponent once was, unable to hit a moving target.

Dark Flier ability -2Str, +2Mag
http://invisiblecast...r/view/4090037/
No autohits, moving on~

"Heh, nice try. Well, lets see how this works..." Muttering under her breath again, Lumi quickly made two hand gestures. Grabbing one of the formed ice spears, she quickly utilized the patch of ice on her elbow and threw the ice spear at a much quicker speed than before at the same time as she threw the second one using only magic. The first managed to graze her opponent, while the second one was too slow and missed her.

[spoiler=combat]
Lumi's still shifted
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090035/
auothit!
10+1-7=4 damage
Lumi shifts, str to mag
miss
Lumi: 18/18
Miri: 14/18

Furious at her lack of success, and the sting on where she was hit, Mireille decided to use cruder methods to unleash her lightning. Ionizing the metal of her gauntlets that were insulated underneath the Ursian knight threw in a few quick jabs and punches. Having to be cautious about the static charged fist, so as to not accidentally shock herself, made her reflexes and punches less swift than she would have liked...but this was the closest way she could actually hit with magic.

Her second swing almost hit its mark. Excited, Mireille let the electricity discharge at Lumi spectacularly. But the moment of excitement was also a moment of hesitation, which was more than enough time for her foe to shift to a safer position.

-2Str, +2mag
http://invisiblecast...r/view/4090053/
Miss
CRITICAL MISS
Moving on...

Lumi grinned as she dodged the attacks once again. "Magic is hard. You'll get used to it though." She gestured and caught another one of her ice spears. She quickly thrust it into Miri's jacket, shoving her up against the tree and pining her to it. Grinning, Lumi gestured, flipped the ice spear once, and slammed it into the tree next to the pinned girl's head. "And match. But, you're learning! A couple of those hits would have done real damage if they'd managed to hit. Once you get your control down and your speed up, you'll be zapping people in no time! And nice use of the lightning on your gauntlets. That would have knocked me over for sure if they'd hit. Lightning is nasty stuff."

[spoiler=combat]
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4090049/
autohit
10+5-7=8 damage
Lumi shifts str to mag
8+4-12=hit
lethal~
(10+4-7)*3=21 damage
Battle over

"Next time I will be able to score a hit on you...with magic." Mireille said grinning, "We should spar more. Fighting you made me realise that for too long I had been focusing on the defensive, of taking a hit for others. I need to work on my ability to attack now."

Mirielle then looked at the hole in her fur jacket. It was an expensive piece of clothing she had brought with her. Or at least expensive by commoner standards. The Ursian knight made a mental note to get it replaced next time she was back at her estate.

"You sure you don't want to spar, Lumi?" Aneda said with a grin. Their fight was interesting to say the least, though unorthodox and extremely dangerous, but Aneda didn't know the latter part, it just sort of looked cool. "Anyway, I'm more used to fighting atop my trusty partner but I'm still quite capable of fighting on the cold hard ground if either of you are interested."

"I think I will take a break from sparring for a bit. I need to practice hitting stationary targets with my magic first. When I can do it confidently, I'm sure I will be ready to practice on moving targets," Mireille said.

Lumi paused and then shrugged. "Well, I guess I can do one more round. Do you mind if I use magic though? I'm more comfortable with that, so it should be more of a challenge that way."

"... Aw crap. I recognize that guy. Ugh, Pete, I'll be right back." Riding over to Eli, she smiled halfheartedly at him. "Eli... what brings you here? And uh... where do your plans have you going after this?" She paused, then continued quickly, "And you aren't going to mention that I was here to anyone, right?"

Marella

As she walked in front of the rest of the group, Marella stared straight ahead, doing her best to ignore the thoughts running through her head. I'm not strong enough. They can't depend on me. I'll just let them down. Maybe I should just leave the group. But then I wouldn't be here if they needed me. Ugh. Nothing makes sense anymore. I can't protect anyone.

Edited June 18, 2013 by scorri

[Toogee]

Eli gave a sigh of relief as Raquel confirmed her identity. His long search had come to an end at last.

“Finally! You would not believe how many wagons I had to stop to find you. …Ah…that sounded creepy. Um…anywho.”

The rider brushed off the comment and began looking through the bags, an effort not to come off as a stalker. Soon, Eli brought up a large bag that took a bit of effort on his part to bring up. Once within his arms, the rider opened the top to reveal a bushel of blueberries.

“The professor sends his regards,” Eli said as he passed on the fruit to Raquel and Reign. “He also requested that I assist you in your trip to Europa. I do know the way to Europa as well as safe resting areas. I am also staff-capable should the need arise. I can provide a resume if you need my credentials-”

At that point, Lumi had appeared beside Eli. The rider was in utter shock; he had not seen her in years! He was part of the search party that looked for her; he had given her up for dead. And now, Lumi just came up and talked to him as if they were hanging out the whole time. Needless to say, Eli was at a loss for words.

“Uh…uh…uh…”

The rider had a feeling that he looked incredibly stupid at that moment. His mouth was agape as he tried to process the string of questions Lumi had presented in rapid fire. Then there was the fact that this was all happening in front of Raquel. Crud! Some trustworthy escort he was turning out to be! Eventually, Eli regained his composure and spoke.

“I will let you two mull things over. If you excuse me, my friend just came back from the dead.”

With that, Eli slowed Betty’s trot so that they would travel behind the Dauntless. He urged Lumi to join him so they could have a private conversation.

“Well, first of all, hello,” Eli began. “It’s been a while since…you know…you left without saying good bye…I mean, you had your reasons I’m sure, but…well, no one could find you and there was kinda a funeral and everything.”

This was about as angry as Eli could get, which wasn’t saying much considering he didn’t feel particularly mad. He certainly didn’t sound that way. His accent came off as more awkward confusion than anger. Meanwhile, Betty nudged Starhunter in order to get some acknowledgement from her sibling.

“I’ll be helping get you guys to Europa, so I guess you might have time to explain what happened…maybe?”

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

Jam watched as the battle between their Rexian allies and the dragon grew smaller and smaller as the wagon sped off. The dancer appreciated the selfless act; though she heard some argument in her native tongue, they all helped them get away. She just hoped that theirs actions weren’t sacrificial.

Jam looked back to see poor Shaun shaking like a leaf. He reminded her of the children back home, who were often afraid of the thunderstorms that occasionally rolled in. She decided to employ the same technique to calm the boy. Jam carefully made her way to Shaun’s side, sitting next to him. She then gently stroked his back up and down.

“The dragon’s gone now,” Jam reassured Shaun. “At this speed, we’ll be in town in no time.”

[Eail]

Alphonse had cursed as he heard the shot ring out from the top of the wagon, and the booming voice that followed. Bursting out from the now makeshift passenger cabin to the front, gazing behind them just in time to see the Dragon that was.... not following them? Yet Amon and his group were gone, had they acted as bait or something similar?

Something like that wouldn't sit well with the swordsman, this was probably another situation that could have been avoided if that damned Old Man hadn't decided to shoot first rather than think. For now though, it seemed like they were gonna get away. Greta was obviously disturbed at what just happened, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and throwing a nod her way.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Eail

[Phoenix]

Libera Me From Dragon

"We're not out of this just yet, Alphonse. If that thing catches up to us now, we're finished," Greta explained. She wasn't sure of that, but she had already realized that the thing was capable of warping around. It couldn't have approached them so swiftly otherwise.

"Are those people gonna be okay, Jamilla?" Shaun fearfully asked, only lifting his face up from hiding long enough to hear what she would say.

Regardless of her answer, things weren't looking so good for Amon and the others. As soon as Amon, Fizza, and Malik had dismounted, Schwartz charged in on foot and body slammed Isis, sending the wyvern tumbling backward into the woods with Haythem helplessly hanging onto her for dear life. That was a very bad start to this diversionary battle.

"You know, I'm not really interested in slaughtering a few nomads. Frankly, no one's going to give a damn or shed any tears."

"Bastard," Malik yelled, readying his knives ... all of them.

"You're sick; I can already tell," Amon somewhat quietly noted. "If you're here to kill ursians just to make people feel terrible, then you've got one hell of a fight on your hands. We're not going to let you hurt those people!"

Raising a brow, the dragon glanced at him and muttered, "You know what? Just for that, I'm going to let you live just long enough to see how wrong you are. Well ... assuming this doesn't kill you." Then without warning, the dragon's hand shot forth backhanding Amon and sending him straight into a tree. He passed out almost immediately. "You'll wake up to a pile of corpses in the woods, but rejoice that you aren't among them, hahahahah."

<"Malik,"> Fizza tried to get the red rexian's attention. <"We're next in line, so keep your wits about you. I have no idea how to deal with dragons, so I can't save your ass if this all goes sideways.">

<"Our so called leader is out cold and Haythem's probably dead too! How are things not already going sideways?!">

<"Honestly? I was expecting to be the only one who was still in one piece.">

While Malik glared at her, the dragon slowly closed in.

[Mercakete]

Whoever this new guy was, it seemed like Lumi knew him. Oh right; I should've expected that. If black pegasi are that rare, he would've had to get his fro a breeder or something. Either that or he's darn lucky. She mentioned she raised pegasi. He probably got his from her. The two passed him as they fell in behind the Dauntless. He only glanced at them as they passed by, taking note of a few of the new rider's features for future reference. He seemed concerned... The two were probably going to have a private talk. So, Norbert chose to simply ignore them and continue to ride casually at the Dauntless' flank.

[Snike]

Axel leaned against the inner wall of the Dauntless, motionless and silent. Almost to Urquium or Ursaea, whichever one they were going to. It had been a quiet three days since the fortress battle. Hopefully their luck would continue with that duration.

***

Blake, with repaired clothing, sat in one of the corners of the Dauntless, in the process of planning out a circuit or two around Ursium once they reached Europa and he inevitably would be fired. This had been ongoing for the past few days, and when not thinking ahead of time, the swordsman dedicated himself to practicing with his two weapons. Better to have at least one useful skill, even if that was in combat.

***

Grant was on the roof, as even though the Dauntless now had an open ceiling, it was still too confined inside for his liking. Besides, what with what he had heard about the Wrathites and the Organization and whatnot, he needed some time to think. The job was already getting dangerous enough personally, but it might affect his family, too? The duelist wanted to help, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if the benefits outweighed the risks in doing so.

***

" 'Kay Lumi," Pete said, as his companion took off to meet the newcomer. She didn't seem happy about meeting the new pegasus knight, which might or might not bode well. May as well make sure he was aware that there would be no funny business. The man produced a whetstone and began to sharpen his utility knife loud enough so that the pegasus riders could hear it.

[RPG]

Garrimor had slept through the initial dragon encounter. Wagon rides seemed to do that to him. And by the time he woke up, Greta's group had begun their escape from the monstrosity. Luckily Garrimor's size made it difficult to move in and out of the wagon, otherwise he would have leaped out and charged the beast.

He attempted to stand for dramatic effect, but had to settle for a squat when he realized his head was already almost touching the ceiling when he was sitting. "Those foreign idiots are going to die against that thing!" Garrimor bellowed as he tried to support his awkward posture. "Turn back and let me off! I'll show you how a REAL man fights! I'll break its over-sized neck with by bare hands!"