Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[Afterglimmer]

With the dragon's departure, Maris emerged from his hiding place. "About time, now I can finally move freely...." he muttered as he observed one of the Rexians he had been watching charge westward. He had no idea what he was worked up over, but it was no concern of his. He wanted to complete the task he had set out to do and get back to the road as soon as possible.

Approaching carefully to avoid an unnecessary fight, Maris called out to the other Rexian who had stayed behind. "I don't suppose you would need a hand, would you?" he called out to the man.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika breathed a heavy sigh as Schwartz left. Well at least most of us came out of this alive. There's something to be said for that. She looked around to see what was going on, Bert had flown off to do something stupid most likely, Rook was holding Marella's body, and most of their group was on the right side of the field where she decided to go.

"We should get healed up and get out of here as soon as possible. We can take these other people with us for now I suppose- do you have any idea what they're doing?" she asked them, looking over towards the group heading westward.

[Mercakete]

"Sweet Mother Mercy!" Norbert exclaimed as Rizen reared up with a terrified whinny, even attempting to fly backwards, it seemed. Neither pegasus nor rider had expected the dragon to appear mid-air like that, and neither wanted to fly right at him like they'd inadvertently been doing. The dragon caught a pegasus and a rider on his claws, resulting in a massive splatter of blood before the two began falling. As horrifying as the sight was and as the sound of her vain screaming was, the squad leader's cry took his attention. Then, he winced. If I hadn't hesitated, could I have caught up to that knight and saved her? He shook his head. I have to focus!

With that thought, he began looking around for the squad leader. Blast it, where is she?! The pegasus knights' flight pattern looked like a swarm of gnats -- they were all going in all directions but not going anywhere at the same time. It was hard to pick out which one was the leader. I don't have time for this! "HEY! Whichever one of you'd the leader, send someone back! You need to report this or whatever it is you do! Ursentius needs to be warned!" You can save one of your own this way, too, stupid!

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

Once the Neviskotians were gone, Gytha breathed a little easier. It seemed safe to begin working on helping the injured and talking to the people they'd just attempted to save. Veronika seemed to have the same idea as she addressed them. When the Neviskotian woman pointed out Amon and some...flying girl?...running up a hill, the mariner ran after them. She wasn't nearly as fast as Amon and they were a fair distance away, so she wouldn't likely catch up until they arrived wherever it was they were going, but she still wanted to see what Amon was so urgent about.

[Phoenix]

Rush

Before long someone had caught up with him, though it wasn't who he was expecting. He wasn't expecting anyone in particular to begin with, but certainly not Angelica. Any help was welcome as far as he was concerned, though. "I do need help, but don't take any unnecessary risks. I just want to make sure my friends are alright."

Meanwhile Haythem slowly began to stand up when he heard a voice behind him. It looked like he wouldn't be joining Amon on that uphill climb after all. Deciding to reply to the new face and then focus on finding Isis, he said, "I suppose we do ... hey you haven't seen a large mountain wyvern flying around nearby have you?"

Meanwhile, Veronika made a general inquiry about the other group, the one that was almost wiped out by Schwartz. Neither Raquel nor Reign had an answer for her, and Shadrak was still taking everything in. Plenty of people he didn't know were dead at the hands of that dragon, but also Marella and a few from that other group Amon was traveling with. "I-I'll see if they need any healing and then we can get out of here," Shadrak announced.

"We can't leave yet," Raquel finally spoke up. It was a sensitive subject, but there was no avoiding it after they had come so far up this road. "That wagon and the craters around it are blocking our way. There's no way the Dauntless can squeeze through that."

"Hmm, Mushirah. Do you know any earth spells that can smooth out those ditches? Moving the debris probably won't be enough of and by itself," Shadrak asked.

"My wagon's just some obstruction now, huh?" Greta muttered to herself while she stared down at the dirt.

Bull Rush

"Forget about Ursentius, this dragon is going to kill hundreds in Ursaea if we don't do something," the squad leader shouted back in frustration. As far as she was concerned, Ursaea was this dragon's target, a lightly defended city just out of the capital region and possibly ripe for conquest. The thought of Ursentius being attacked by a lone dragon was ridiculous and so she didn't even consider it.

Schwartz went after another knight and uppercut her with his claws. The knight herself was sent flying off of her pegasus having broken her right leg in multiple places. The pegasus was killed almost instantly and its body was ravaged by that single blow, leaving it barely recognizable for what it was.

"We don't have a chance ... RETREAT!!! Fall back to the garrison," the squad leader ordered. Just as she began to turn her pegasus around, Schwartz rushed her an switched from his claws to his enormous maw. He slammed his jaws shut at her stomach and tore her away from her steed before releasing her to the wind. No ... not here ... not like this ... "AAAAAAGH!!!"

[Snowy_One]

Only one thought came to Robin's mind as the dragon warped away. Only one concept raced through her mind. One which she didn't even know the proper word for in either Skotian or Ursuim. Complete and utter revolt to a level beyond any she could feel. This was, by far and away, the most horrific being she knew. If, ever, she met Schwartz and had the shot, there could be only one outcome. No being that could willingly toy with a sentient being, treating them as little more than... not even paper dolls, but like flies!

"<I will find you dragon. I will find you, and I will kill you. That is your only fate. If I die, then my ghost will come back to rip whatever fetid maggot you have for a soul from your body and drag it down to hell!"> she said, gritting her teeth in something that felt like it was beyond any amount of rage or disdain she had ever experienced in her life.

She looked over to Veronika, a cold, accusing glare at her. <"I don't know how you can stomach such a monster Veronika. The only reason we are alive is because of you. Thank you. Thank you, and damn you. Even Urswine deserve better than to be that dragons play toy. Even the fallen deserve better.">

---

Tia gulped as she watched that dragon warp away. She knew beasts of that power could never be up to good. And a dragon like that had likely just gone off to attack one of her towns. One of Ursium's towns.

"Why? Why must war create such horrific monsters?" she asked, not caring if Eli, or anyone else, heard.

[Ether]

"I'd be more worried about the guy on foot trying to get out in a pinch, to be honest." Angelica retorted, before giving Amon a knowing glance.

"But I figured that was what you were coming out here for... worst case, they should both be light enough that I can grab one of them and evacuate them to those guys to get healed... but there is no way I can get both, and you might be too heavy... it'd be a close shave." Angelica continued, giving the Rexian man a more serious look.

[-Cynthia-]

Robin seemed rather distressed by Schwartz, which was an understandable sentiment. At least she understood the practicality of it all. <"War makes monsters out of many. I imagine most would prefer to take the high road- but victories do not come without a cost. I do not envy those who must make such decisions,"> Veronika said to Robin. She didn't know how to handle the matter of the blockage at the moment, clearing roadways was hardly her area of expertise.

[Parrhesia]

Rook had reached the inner calm of someone passed beyond the fires of mere anger and into the cold air of hate pure enough to cast aside all other emotion. "You bastards," he said, almost to himself at first, before turning his gaze onto those around him. "You stupid, miserable bastards! You thought you could swan up here ready to save the day, and everything would be bright and fine at the end... but you've cocked it up now, you shitstains, you saw reality and it fucked you in the mouth."

I should have stopped her.

The treacherous thought came sudden and unbidden. Rook licked his lips and tried to talk past it.

"You thought you could be heroes. There's... there's no heroes left in the world anymore. Not now."

I should have stopped her. I didn't. I couldn't. I failed.

"So you were left to crawl and bargain with a dragon who had you at his mercy. You're pathetic. All of you." I'm pathetic. "You should have died instead," he spat. It should have been me. "I'm going to be alone for a time. If anyone interrupts me, tries to stop or touch me, they'll pull back a stump."

Hating himself, cursing the world, Rook stalked off into the distance, pressing the body close to his chest as he walked.

[Mercakete]

"Grrr-- YOU STUPID, LITTLE--! ... Eeew..." No reason for aggression over a squad leader who'd just been bitten in half. Ultimately he agreed with her last command, though. If even one pegasus knight got away, she could pass on the message to the dragon's next actual target. Just one... Just one of them has to make it. With that thought in mind, the male pegasus rider urged Rizen towards the dragon, flying up as he neared him to get above the Neviskotian. I'm not risking Riz. And if that thing can warp, then it's useless to try to keep up anyway. I have to give these knights a fighting chance!

Once he was above the dragon, Norbert leaped off of Rizen and landed on Schwartz's back. There were spines running down said back in rows of three, with the shorter ones being only a few inches tall. The middle line of spikes were about a foot long, however. That proved useful. The rider grabbed onto one of the longer spines when he landed. If it wasn't for his gloves, the smaller spikes beside it would've torn at his arm. I don't have a lot of time. Norbert then began to pull himself along using the spikes and keeping at least one hand gripped on a spike at all times as he did so. Get to the head. Get to the head... Then I'm smashing this vomitous juggernaut's face in.

[Afterglimmer]

"So that was yours, huh?" Maris answered back, closing his eyes as he tried to remember where the wyvern had flown off to. "I believe it was heading eastward...might want to start around there..." he recalled, as he pointed in the direction the man's mount had gone. "In the meantime, I'll see if I can lend your friend a hand," Maris said as he headed after the other Rexian, lowering his hood to reveal his face. Last thing he needed was getting mistaken for a straggler and getting attacked.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Mr. Raven

[Snike]

Norbert took off, shortly followed by Schwartz, so Axel lowered his rod, and stood silent for a moment, almost expecting to hear the screams of the soon-to-be doomed pegasus knight squad. When that didn't happen, and various people began to emerge from the woods, the man began to head into the woods, and away from the massacre.

***

The dragon left. Along with Bert. That idiot. Blake chose to put his frustration with and concern for that pegasus rider aside for the time being, and instead returned to the wagon survivors.

"We're going to regroup, then head to our wagon all together," he informed them, as he moved towards the road. "If any of you were injured, we do have a healer on hand, the man in blue robes with brown hair. His name is Shadrak, for reference."

And with that said, the swordsman moved up to the road, where another problem presented itself: the path was cratered and blocked by wreckage. Before he could respond to that, though, Rook went off on a grief-fueled outburst, blaming Marella's fate on them and saying that the group at large should've died. To be honest, Blake was surprised by the severity of the response. He hadn't known that the two mercenaries were that close. Regardless, the distraught bowman had already taken off, so there was nothing the Ursian could do for the time being. Instead, he decided to start trying to clear the road of what debris he could carry.

[Snowy_One]

<"I will never become a monster Veronika. I do not care which side they claim to represent. Monsters are their own side. I do not care that that dragon claims to be on our side. If he is, it is only because our deaths amuse him less than Ursium deaths right now. May the gods have mercy on whatever Ursium soldier or innocent dies to his hand.">

[Phoenix]

Get Higher

<"... what ...?"> Schwartz was surprised to feel Bert leap onto his back like some sort of insane wyvern catcher. "Oh I'm gonna take your scrawny little ass for a ride, human," he warned in common before diving a short ways to build up speed and then pulling up sharply. A second later, and the two disappeared in a warp. The pegasus knights continued to flee to the north but one of them was swiftly taken out when Schwartz reappeared. He bit down hard on the pegasus' midsection, crushing is body and severing both of the rider's legs. As they rose over the fleeing squadron, blood rushed and rained over Schwartz's body. Finally he threw the flailing pegasus and rider away and both fell back down to the earth. Schwartz had no problem being sprinkled with blood, but he didn't take pleasure in having to spit out the rider's legs, one by one. He even coughed several times afterward.

With that terrible deed done, he began to bank left in preparation for dive and another attack on the pegasus knights. "Let's see just how much force you can handle before you fall off." Ursaea was in view far off in the distance, but nobody could help them now ... except for Bert, but he was a victim in all of this now, as well.

They Come and They Go

Amon didn't like making aggressive suggestions or decisions but for all he knew his friends were in danger. That typically served as the catalyst for Amon's aggressive side and so he replied, "If we get there and those shooters are trying to hurt them, I'm fighting. I'll leave the extractions to you." The scenario kept playing out in his head. A neviskotian soldier was hauling up Fizza by her collar and she was helpless to stop him. Amon imagined himself approaching and attacking the soldier in various different ways but none were guaranteed to succeed.

Surprisingly, his scenario was more accurate than he realized. When he finally spotted someone up the road, it was a neviskotian soldier and he was reaching down toward Fizza's collar. He was either checking a pulse or about to do something more nefarious but Amon didn't care to find out. "Get away from her," he shouted, trying to close the gap between them as quickly as possible.

As soon as the man looked in Amon and Angelica's direction, he felt a sharp pain in his neck. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, cold steel penetrating places he'd never felt pain in before. When his eyes returned to Fizza, he saw a teasing grin on her face. Finally some of the pain subsided as the cold steel in his neck vanished. Fizza's hidden blade had retreated into its sheath beneath her wrist and all he felt on his neck was her hand and his own blood pouring out. He stumbled back as his vision began to blur.

Amon's pace began to slow considerably when he saw this. The man was bleeding all over himself. Before long he had stopped within conversing range of the deadly exchange. "Fizza ...?" Lying beside her was Malik, who seemed to still be alive; he was definitely breathing, but unconscious. He only received back the same grin from Fizza that she gave the soldier.

<"N-Natalie ... I was careless. I'm ... so sorry ..."> As his vision faded, the man uttered an apology to his wife and fell dead on the ground. There weren't any other neviskotians around from what Amon could tell, so he began to relax, if only slightly. His friends were still badly injured from the looks of things. That certainly hadn't played out the way he'd imagined it.

Guilt Trip

"I don't ... I don't know what to do anymore," Greta muttered at Blake. She'd never felt so helpless in her entire life. Any goals or dreams she had relating to her family were smashed to pieces, leaving her lost, confused, and unable to think straight. Hearing one of the mercenaries on their side go on a short and extremely hurtful rant put her into even lower spirits. "Dyin' instead of Shaun would have been right but I ... I couldn't do anythin' to help him." The tears came back in a fresh wave of pain and she covered her face.

Raquel scanned the area trying to decide what to do and how to help, but after Rook's outburst, she felt like she'd done something terrible somehow. Marella was right there arguing with Veronika. Thinking back on it, she might have been able to save them both, but saving Veronika stunned her and she didn't have time to help Marella too. Standing there staring at the dust on the road, she resolved then and there to master this new ability. If she could just do that, she would be able to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

Reign listened to the exchange between Veronika and Robin but didn't get anything useful out of it. He'd have to ask what the archer's rage was about later, though he had a good feeling she was simply sore about almost being flattened by that dragon. He didn't care one iota what Rook had to say about Marella's death. He was grieving like any aggressive lone wolf might; there was nothing to be done about that right now.

Shadrak on the other hand became furious at the rant. They should have died? Selfish, insane, ignorant, crazy, so many different names were coming to mind. Things were bad enough, but Rook had to go and say that to them? If he'd stuck around any longer than that, Shadrak knew a fight would have broken out, and he would have been the one starting it. He didn't care if the man was especially hurt by Marella's passing, he was saying Raquel should have died, Mushirah should have died, he should have died. "You selfish, stupid, bastard ..." he growled under his breath as the man walked off.

"East, huh? Well ... it's looking like a long walk but I think I can make it. Thanks for the information, man," Haythem replied to Maris as he waved goodbye and began heading down the road, limping some but enduring for the sake of finding Isis. It was looking like he would be the first to reach the Dauntless again.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika couldn't really agree that Schwartz would ever turn on Neviskotia, but she had little interest in debating the matter. <"I hope I never have to become a monster either,"> she replied to Robin with a sad smile.

She could hear Rook's ranting- it was clearly best to leave him to his grief. If I hadn't made myself a target, perhaps she would not have...well if I had hid with the others Schwartz would have killed us all. She knew it was a rationalization, but it was far more comforting than blaming herself for another lost comrade.

[Mercakete]

It was made apparent that Schwartz knew he was there...and that he wasn't about to let things remain that way. As he moved into a dive, it was all Norbert could do to hold onto those spines. Then, they went almost straight upward. It was hard to see what with how fast they were flying, but the sky seemed to change. In fact, it wasn't the sky, but their location: the dragon had warped. Norbert was forced to close his eyes when blood came showering down. He got another one.

They continued to rise a bit more and the blood rain stopped, so Bert opened his eyes again. They turned left and the dragon spoke again in something of a taunt. He'd begun to descend a little, gliding. Now's my chance. He knew he didn't have much time, but he also knew he had to make sure he had a firm grip when moving from spike to spike. So, his hand on the lower spike let go and he quickly tried to get a good grip on the next spike up the dragon's spine. The traces of blood made that a tiny bit more difficult than normal, but luckily the spikes themselves weren't absolutely drenched. Left over right, right over left, the Ursian made progress as quickly as he could. It was a good thing he'd trained to grip tighter rather than to let go of whatever was in his hands when the stimulus presented its self. Originally it had been so he wouldn't lose his maces. He never imagined he'd be in this kind of situation.

When he felt Schwartz begin his descent, Norbert stopped advancing and just focused on holding onto the spines in his hands and pressing himself downward. He had no intention of being knocked off of this dragon just because a little wind got under him. He'd made it to the dragon's wings' shoulders now. For now, he was relatively safe, still. Any closer to the dragon's head, though, and he would likely just be grabbed and pulled off. The next opening I get I have to make it to his head. If I can't, I'll have to settle for trying to break his neck...with one hand while trying to hold on with the other... It'll be hard, but I have to try. Besides, there's no going back, now.

Speaking of not going back, something rather important occurred to Norbert. Usually when he hopped onto someone else's mount Rizen was flying relatively close by, watching for when he'd eventually retreat via falling so she could catch him. She was probably not around right now, though. How am I going to get back to the others? Aw, Merz... Well, this stinks. No going back now. I'm seeing this through to the end.

[Parrhesia]

Wilhelm collapsed.

[Eail]

The other swordsman finally returned after the damned dragon had left, about time too. Greta was pretty much in the middle of a mental breakdown though, and after all the woman had gone through in such a short amount of time Alphonse couldn't blame her. "Hey buddy.... would you hold onto him for a second please?" the redhead asked Blake before handing off Shaun's corpse. The bastard that was ranting about something nearby certainly wasn't helping.

Bending down onto one knee Al put his hand on Greta's shoulder "Greta... please dont think like that. I was supposed to protect you guys... and I couldn't, but I can still save you. Come on... let's go to their wagon and rest."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

So now that his plan was ruined with the dragon flying off and... that one guy flying after him. Well, Gar hoped he'd get a one-way trip to dragon stomach for that bought of particular stupidity. Certainly the pegasus squad was gonna be the first that way though. Ugh. This all could have been avoided, but nooooo, other people think they have plans. Angel went off on her own thing as well. Good, best not let anyone's thoughts wander over to that until they got some alone time.

And then that.. one guy started swearing like a clod. Really, someone dying was no reason to go swearing like a child. And who even was he and the dead person anyway? Ugh, too many damn people even with this little culling. And now no doubt the survivors were about to play run alongside and Angel and bleh. Well that aside, the clod started shouting about being heroes and blaming others and himself and saying blah and blah shoudla died instead. This was kind annoying. Well, really the swearing annoyed him, Gar was a man of class after all.

"Whooo heroism, I'm damn glad to be a hero, look at the hero that is me and heroflect!" Gar shouted as loud as he can. "Now let's heroically clean up our path and get heroically moving, chop chop."

Isn't he just the biggest asshole?

[Ether]

'That was pretty good... an assassin of the Tide, huh? I might need to ask about them in the future, if she's an example, they're pretty good...' Angelica noted, as Fizza dispatched the Neviskotian soldier who had been approaching her. Well, it seemed that removed any need for her to spear the man through the chest... a pity, it might have been nice to let off some steam.

Either way, landing with a roll in front of the two, it seemed that the other man had fallen unconscious, and while Fizza was active, she seemed to not be in the best of shape herself. It didn't take long for Amon to reach them, which allowed her to speak up.

"It's a good thing one of you is awake, that makes this a lot easier... if I don't need to be the one to stop you from falling off, I can actually worry about not crash landing..." Angelica began, turning to Fizza.

"I'm gonna need you to hold on tight, I'll get you down to someone who can heal real quick... Amon, I'll need you to carry Malik back, think you can do that?"

[Phoenix]

Fleeing the Black Reaper

Those stragglers are getting a little too far away, but I'll be tapping into my reserves soon if I'm not careful ... "What's the point of saving these worthless patrol officers anyway? What are they to you?" Schwartz asked his clingy passenger before holding out his paw with a single claw directed at them. A moderate build up of dark energy occurred, and then blue sparks began to appear around the claw. A few seconds later, just as Schwartz began his dive, a massive electrical discharge raced off toward the fleeing knights.

With Ursaea in sight, and the shadow dragon losing ground, the pegasus knights were starting to get their hopes up, but the rider out front was struck in the back by what looked like a blue lightning bolt and she and her pegasus cried out together before both plummeting leaving behind nothing but a thin trail of smoke. "Dark thunder, watch out!"

"One mistake now and you'll be nothing but paste on the forest floor," Schwartz warned Bert as he began his dive. They began to pick up quite a bit of speed and Schwartz didn't pull up until there was no other choice. He kept a steady altitude just a dozen feet above the treetops as he approached the pegasus knights from behind and below. With his momentum what it was now, he would be able to kill another one instantly with another warp if he wanted to.

Retrieving Opposites

Amon was surprised either was conscious but deep down he had been hoping both of them were fine and just saving their strength by staying put up here. Angelica suggested taking Fizza back while Amon would take Malik, but first Amon wanted to find out what happened. If anyone should have been conscious it was Malik, he felt. "Yeah, I can do that, but first ... Fizza, what happened?"

"Malik healed me first ... doesn't seem like him. I woke up while he was trying to tend to himself and he collapsed. I did what I could for him, but he's lost way too much blood. He's probably going to be completely useless for awhile," she explained. During that explanation, she began fiddling with the sheaths on the bottoms of her wrists, eventually locking both of the blades inside. It seemed silly to leave them unlocked and risk dual stabbing one of her rescuers on the move; the movements that unleashed the blades could be done purely by accident and so it wasn't worth the risk.

"Alright then, I guess we should get a move on," Amon replied. He wasn't sure carrying Malik back would be easy, but with Gytha on the way, he might not have to. He just didn't know that she was a short ways behind them and so began mulling over effective and relatively safe ways to carry the wounded sancturan back down the road.

Recuperating

Reign couldn't help but wonder what the hell Gar was on about but it probably had something to do with Rook and his harsh wording. Figures someone would be annoyed enough by that outburst to do something like that. Fact was, they did need to clean up the road or they would have to find a way to turn the Dauntless back around and head for Urquium. That would set them back at least two days by his estimate. Schwartz was gone so this path should have been relatively safe now. He decided that if he was going to help with clearing the road of the wagon's debris, he should at least inform that wagon's owner.

He arrived just in time to see a young boy slain by an arrow handed off to Blake. He winced so slightly it would have gone unnoticed by most. From the sound of things, the swordsman was trying to comfort the woman he was coming over to speak to about the wagon debris. He didn't like bringing this up now, but there was no sense in waiting any longer.

"... fine ... I'll go. If I do anythin' else, someone'll probably end up dead," Greta replied, shaking her head and fighting back tears.

Reign closed his eyes with a frustrated expression on his face. The last thing they needed was that kind of painful and ultimately pointless self deprecation. "Your name's Greta, is that right?" he spoke up, opening his eyes again and stepping closer. He had her attention now at least, evidenced by her affirmative nod. "We need to get moving again as soon as possible ... and so we have to do something about the heavy debris on the road and the craters. If there's anything else you wanted to try and salvage from the wagon, or if you wanted us to keep an eye out for anything ..."

"Yeah, I get ya ... I don't really ... wanna see all of that right now so ... just please bring me back anythin' ya find that's not covered in blood or completely ruined," she replied bitterly.

"Understood." With that out of the way, Reign turned to leave, noticing that he wasn't feeling too good all of a sudden. Situations like these always seemed to turn him back into a soldier, and that wasn't the best thing to be realizing now of all times. His outer posture and expression didn't betray how sour his mood had become as he went over to inspect the wagon. "We can probably blast the debris out of the way once we're done salvaging things, but combustion spells could start a fire if I'm not careful. Synthia and Grant would be better for this sort of thing. As for the craters, we'll just have to find some dirt to fill those back in or something, I guess," he assessed aloud. "Just the ones closest to the center of the road should do," he added as an afterthought.

Searching for Isis

Gabbie waited in utter boredom back at the Dauntless atop Ringo waiting for signs of the others. The first person she saw coming up the road was one of the last people she would have ever expected, the sancturan commander's son, Haythem. What was he doing way the hell out here? Then again ... "That mountain wyvern I saw a minute ago ..." Aside from its sheer size, she thought little of it, but things were starting to make sense. Once he was close enough and waving to greet them, she called out, "You and your wyvern get in a foight?"

"Hahah ... no ... no," Haythem embarrassingly replied. "N-Nadya!" It appeared to be time for a flashback.

[spoiler=Getting In Good With the Parents]Haythem sleepily approached the camp once he'd made sure Isis was ready to go. He had slept beside her a fair distance from the group to make sure the horses weren't spooked by her just as promised, but it would be time to leave soon, so he had to gather up Amon and the others and make one last good impression on Nadya's parents if he could. When he arrived, he found they had just finished up with breakfast. Breakfast?! <"Uuuuuugh ...">

"Hahah, looks like he's up ... <It's okay, I saved some for you, Haythem.>" Fizza said, offering him what looked like half a bowl rather than just some leftovers.

<"Oh uh ... thanks ..."> He hadn't been expecting that, at least not from Fizza.

<"Sooo...when are ya all headin' out?"> Marko asked, coming up to the group on top of a grey destrier.

<"Oh for Mercy's sake Marko, at least let 'em eat breakfast first. We don't get a whole lotta guests round here,"> Vadoma cut in apologetically, sitting on a rock nearby sewing up a tunic.

<"The giant lizard will keep out any game for miles once anythin' smells it. I rather enjoy eatin' and so does everybody else I reckon,"> Marko pointed out.

<"Heheh,"> Haythem nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head. <"Actually, we were going to be heading out pretty soon here. I guess it's good timing too; we don't want to be a bother, really.">

That's true, Amon thought, feeling almost guilty when Marko brought up the apparent hunting troubles Isis would cause before long. <"We appreciate your kindness, though.">

<"Right,"> Malik chimed in affirmatively.

<"It was no trouble at all really. Y'all paid pretty good coin,"> Vadoma said cheerfully.

<"But I don't want ya all to go. I wanna learn more about Sanctuary and Aisha and bein' an assassin!,"> Kizzy interjected in a whining tone.

<"Kizzy, ya ain't old enough to even spell assassin. Go skip stones or whatever the Wrathdamn hell kids do these days,"> Marko said gruffly with a stern sideways glare at Fizza.

<"I'm sorry we have to leave so soon, Kizzy, but we've got a lot of land to cover. Maybe I'll teach you some moves the next time we see each other," Fizza explained, smirking at Marko at just the right moment once she was done so only he would notice.

<"By the way ..."> Haythem began to speak up.

<"Oh, here it comes~">

<"I was wondering if I ... might have your blessing ...">

<"Yay I wanna learn new moves!"> Kizzy exclaimed, before a harsh glare.from Marko sent her scurrying away. <"Bye!"> she called out behind her.

Marko then turned his gaze upon Haythem. <"Sure, why not? Aisha watch you, safe travels and all that,"> he said dismissively.

Vadoma chuckled. <"I reckon that ain't quite what he meant dear. This is about Nadya right?"> she asked, looking over to Haythem as well.

<"Uh-yes ma'am, that's exactly it,"> Haythem nervously admitted. <"I was hoping to have your blessing-err both of your blessings, heheheh ...">

<"Is she even interested in you ...?"> Malik asked, looking annoyed by the whole situation. Haythem didn't quite hear him, though.

<"Well didn't ya say your pa was some kinda nobleman or general or somethin' back in Sanctuary? Seems like that'd make ya somebody of importance back there,"> Vadoma remarked.

<"What's it matter who his pa is? Nadya should be hitched with a guy who can take care of her and that's someone who knows how to provide for his family and live off the land- not some city slicker"> Marko said, studying Haythem warily.

<"Seems to me that someone sent on missions by Aisha can handle himself pretty well. Besides, he's kinda cute,"> Vadoma said with a wink, prompting an eyeroll from Marko.

<"Y-you're too kind,"> he replied with a blush and some more head scratching. Soon realizing that nervous responses weren't going to win over Nadya's father, Haythem put on a strong face to go along with his hopefully strong appeal. <"I believe that couples work better as a team. I'm plenty capable of handling hard labor if we ever found ourselves out on the plains, and with Isis helping out I could probably hunt well enough too. Meanwhile Nadya could cook what I bring back and we eat well. That's just when we're not in a city making money and enjoying the sights,"> he explained with a somewhat confident smile at the end. It was a little too optimistic, but with the way it came out, even Fizza was on the verge of rooting for him now. Amon was also convinced that Haythem and Nadya could probably make it just fine all on their own and just about anywhere. <"So, rest assured, I can take care of her. More importantly, we can take care of each other.">

<"Seriously, is she even interested in you ...?"> Malik tried again. Haythem heard, but pretended not to. He was planning on worrying about that little detail later.

<"That lizard probably eats 'bout as much as everyone here and we don't live in places where there's tons of food about. Besides, you'd have Luca and all the rest of our horses not to spook with that thing. Ya act like ya know how it is, but the two of ya are too different- not a good match,"> Marko said firmly.

<"Maybe Nadya don't wanna come back here and live with us- if she wants to live in the city, best do so with a city boy,"> Vadoma pointed out. <"For what's it's worth, you have my blessin' hon,"> she said, with a sideways glance over to her husband.

That was when Haythem realized that he'd simply assumed that Nadya and him would be either living in Sanctuary or off on their own somewhere. Considering what she'd told him about her goals, that wasn't as likely as he originally thought. Maybe after all was said and done she could be convinced, but right now it seemed as though it could go either way. <"Thank you, ma'am. I truly appreciate it."> Then to Marko, he said, <"Sir, I don't know what it will take, but someday soon, I'll prove to you that Nadya and I are a good match.">

<"Has to be mutual to be a good match, right?"> Malik chimed in again, expecting to be ignored for the third time. Due to that, he was noticeably less irritable when he said it.

<"I'm not sure what it'll take either boy, but I'll wish ya and your companions all the best. Tell Nadya to come home,"> Marko said, sticking out his hand.

<"Ooh, I think he's warmin' up to ya- he's not just tryin' to get ya to go away this time,"> Vadoma said, eyes twinkling.

<"I'm not warmin' up to anyone woman!"> Marko protested, hand still extended.

Haythem smiled at that but for the life of him didn't laugh. If this was any sort of progress, he wasn't going to ruin it with that sort of poorly timed reaction. Instead, he acknowledged Marko's request, saying, <"Yes, sir, I'll relay the message as soon as I possibly can.">

<"What are the chances of us even running into her ...?"> Malik asked.

<"It's best not to worry too much about it. I wasn't sure how my situation with Raquel was going to work out in the end but it did,"> Amon noted.

<"Never said I was worried.">

"Amon was right, hahah," Haythem hollered joyfully as he held up his fist.

"Amon? Wait, is my pillow back? Foinally, something good happens whoile we're out in the sticks," Gabbie mused aloud while getting down from Ringo's back. That was when she noticed Ayano behind Haythem. She had only just now noticed her which was a little alarming considering she wasn't cloaked. Why wasn't she cloaked.

As she walked on by the cheerful Haythem, he flinched. She made for the interior of the Dauntless, aiming to 'borrow' at least one light tome and one wind tome. It didn't show on her ever expressionless face, but she was growing extremely weary of being in plain view all of the time. Haythem on the other hand was a little shocked that he hadn't noticed someone walking directly behind him for a tenth of a mile.

"They need help clearing the road up ahead. Some people died fighting the shadow dragon, but only one of yours," Ayano noted on her way, causing Gabbie to grimace. Who did they lose this time?

[Ether]

"Alright, well. Just do what you have to, make sure your grip is solid... it's not gonna be fun for you if you fall off." Angelica noted to Fizza, as the woman began fiddling with her blades... presumably to stop them from stabbing into her.

[Mercakete]

The dragon began to talk to him again. What's his game? It was almost like he was trying to convince him it was pointless to keep this up. Either that or he was genuinely curious. That didn't hold his attention for very long, though; that crackling sound couldn't be good. Then a blue lightning bolt shot forward. Norbert couldn't see the end result, though, as the dragon pulled into a dive again. The dragon then warned him what'd happen if he wasn't careful. Yep. They were beginning to really pick up speed.

When the dragon leveled out, though, he didn't slow down. He was speeding towards the pegasus knights from below. I can't move; we're going too fast. If I try anything, I'll get blown off... Blast it. It was good to see that there were still six pegasus knights alive and flying. I'll just ride this out. Not much else I can do right now... When he slows down... Norbert looked to his left, only moving his eyes. He was right between the dragon's left wing shoulder and his spines. Why didn't I think of that before? I don't have to reach his head. I just need him to slow down again.

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

That was around the time that Gytha caught up. It seemed like though there were a couple injured people, there weren't any enemies about. Actually, those injured people looked kind of familiar. "Oh. They're here too?" were the first words out of Gytha's mouth, referring to Fizza and Malik.

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

Rizen had been absolutely shocked when she saw her rider jump onto the dragon. That thing was a massive predator! This just further proved her point that he had no pegasus sense: always rushing headlong into danger. No doubt he'd be dead many times over if it weren't for her. And she thought he'd been getting better at not doing that... Well, she stayed somewhat close by for a little while, but then the massive predator and her rider disappeared. Where'd they go?! They seemed to reappear further away, and they just kept going... The pegasus wanted to rush after him, but this was something she couldn't possibly win against on her own... So, Riz fretted a while before deciding to circle back. Being around the herd made her rider come back before, why not now?

And so, Rizen flew back to the place where she and her rider had left and landed. She wasn't sure which human to bother about it first. This was important! So she just kept circling in place, snorting and braying as she tried to figure out what to do next.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

At the Dauntless

No one from their group had returned predictably. Nadya wondered how long they should wait by the Dauntless before leaving- she figured her contract was about up, when a figure approached the Dauntless. It was...Haythem?

"Oh uh, howdy Haythem," Nadya said in a surprised tone, trotting Luca up. "What are ya doin' here of all places?" She could hear Ayano reporting that only one person from their group had died. This group must be blessed by Mercy or somethin'.

Connor listened in on Ayano's report. One dead from our group...could have been worse I suppose. Not sure how to clear the road necessarily...I suppose blowing the debris into smaller chunks means that they could be lifted out of the way by hand, but that might take a while. He noticed Ayano heading towards the interior of the Dauntless and watched her carefully.

[Afterglimmer]

Maris had not gotten very far before he saw others heading in the same direction Amon had gone. Coming to the conclusion that they could help him with whatever made him rush off, he decided to follow Haythem to see if he could help him find his wayward mount. As he closed in on the Rexian's location, he noticed that he was talking to faces that he had not seen back near the wreckage. Deducing that these strangers were with the group that had come to help against the dragon, Maris approached them. "Any luck finding your wyvern?" he called out to the silver-haired Rexian as he drew closer.

[Phoenix]

TopSpell

Finally, after a good length of time flying just above the treetops, Schwartz made his move on the remaining pegasus knights and flew straight into another warp spell, reemerging out in front of them. A head on collision with one of them was downright unavoidable at this point, and Schwartz was preparing to take down more than one with this attack. They were flying too close together. "N-noooooo!" The pegasus knight on a crash course with Schwartz screamed as the gap between them disappeared. Schwartz lowered his face so she would have nothing to strike but his forehead. Colliding with tremendous force, the pegasus was killed, and the rider was hurled from the saddle and onto Schwartz back. She was cut a dozen times on his spines as she tumbled helplessly down his back and onto his tail. Two more pegasus knights were blasted from their mounts with rudimentary dark spells during the pass as well and fell to their deaths.

"Aaaaaaaa-" Miraculously, she hadn't been knocked out by the collision and she hadn't fallen afterward. She held onto Schwartz's tail spines as tightly as she could despite her injuries.

Schwartz wasn't surprised he now had two passengers, but he was growing rather tired of the first. It seemed like a bad time for a second. As he began to slow down to turn around and make one last pass on the survivors, he said, "Alright, you've had your fun. Get off or I'll reave you." As he said this, reserves of dark energy began to surface all over his body, the same kind that had appeared before each of his nosferatu spells.

"Please, stoooop," the knight clinging to his tail yelled. He heard her but barely with all of the wind they were rushing through.

Medevac

"Oh I'm sure the fun's over either way," Fizza replied, figuring she'd just had her last violent exchange for the day. She simply shrugged at Gytha's question and picked herself up. "Alright, if we're going to do this and get out of here, let's do it."

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Gytha, can you help me with Malik?" Amon asked.

Language Barrier Strikes Again

Reign was about to head back to the Dauntless to retrieve their wind and ice mages but saw Bert's pegasus return ... without him. "I've got a really bad feeling about that," he said to no one in particular while pointing a finger at the fidgeting pegasus.

Raquel's eyes widened in near panic. Had Bert just ... fallen off or something? There was no blood which mean the dragon, Schwartz, probably hadn't done anything brutal to him, or at least nothing that would leave any sign on Rizen. She didn't know what to think. He was just ... missing. She still wasn't comfortable approaching Rizen, however, so she didn't take any immediate action beyond fretting along with the pegasus.

"What's ... oh great. Let me guess, Bert went and got himself torn in half and she's just back to tell us the bad news," Shadrak concluded, crossing his arms.

Ayano: Super Thief

Blushing, Haythem said, "I suppose it wouldn't be convincing if I said I came all this way just to see you, would it? Heheh" Before he could answer Nadya's question seriously, Maris got his attention. He glanced back and waved as he yelled, "Not yet, but apparently she came this way, just like you said. Won't be long now, I don't think."

Meanwhile inside the Dauntless, Ayano looked around trying to find the tomes she needed. As soon as she found a light tome and picked it up, Chip came out of nowhere and threatened her with his gun. Ayano disappeared but Chip fired anyway, missing his target and putting a fresh dent in the wall of the Dauntless.

"Too slow," came Ayano's voice from behind the capuchin. With a shriek, he quickly leaped down from the crate and ran into hiding. He would have to come back with another shot prepared for this illusive thief. That just left the wind tome.

"Was that a gunshot?" Haythem asked those present.

"Was noice knowin' you, Ayano," Gabbie said disinterestedly, assuming she'd been shot by Chip just then.