Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Phoenix]

On Target

"I don't know why the empire would stoop to using bandits as a guerrilla force, but-" "Must you Ursians use the term 'bandit' for anyone that doesn't follow your rules? If that is the case, then your bandit probably pales in comparison to ours. Enough of this. I've come to put an end to this little issue once and for all. This fortress is now mine. Anyone who remains here must swear fealty to our emperor. Everyone else dies."

"Swear fealty to your emperor?" The guard captain was stunned. Did he really expect anyone to take him up on that? Perhaps Carlos and the rest of his men would, but he couldn't fathom any of his own men turning simply to avoid having to fight there way out of this place. It was clear to him though that they had lost, not to Carlos and his men, but to the much more dangerous man backing them.

"You are expecting mercenaries to swear loyalty to the emperor? That is not being realistic," Sonya said, knowing that another fight was imminent.

"You can forget it in either case," the guard captain spat, "we didn't come here to get coerced into serving our enemies or their so called emperor." Something from earlier finally registered as he began to hear the commotion behind him. There was even wind magic in play. He knew better than to turn away from an enemy, but he should have at least a second or two to assess the situation. Kozel was so high up and sitting on Sonya's crown. It would take him at least a few seconds to get himself stable enough to throw his spear, which was enough time for the captain to take up a defensive posture and defend himself. He decided to risk a quick glance behind him to see what was going on. That was when he saw Eva, Angelica, and the former's wyvern struggling with Carlos and the guardsman from before. The captain didn't recognize the now helmetless guardsman. "What the ...?"

"CAPTAIN, WATCH OUT," Sonya cried. The captain unsheathed his sword as he turned back around, expecting to see Kozel rearing back to throw his spear. What he found instead was that Kozel hadn't even moved, and the spear was coming straight at him like a lightning bolt. Did he have the strength and balance to throw a spear from a leisurely position like that?, the captain wondered as he tried to move out of the way. He wasn't going to make it out of the way in time, so he swung his blade, hoping to at least keep the tip of the spear from striking him head on. He could trust his armor to keep it from piercing into him, but the last thing he needed right now was to be sent to the ground by the impact. He narrowly managed it, but his blade caught the spear's and forced it aside, leaving Kozel with one less weapon to use against him, and leaving the guardsmen in a slightly better position overall.

Just as the captain was about to comment on Kozel's attack, he caught the spear out of the corner of his right eye. He'd knocked it off course, and now it was twirling at mind-numbing speed, and traveling back toward Kozel in a wide semi-circle. "Wha-How?!" Instead of returning to Kozel's hand, it stopped roughly five meters in front of and below him, almost directly between the two of them. "Is the weapon imbued with some kind of magic or is he a mage ... or both?" the captain mused aloud as a victorious grin crossed Kozel's lips. The captain braced himself as the spear shot toward him, again. This time, the captain prepared to sidestep it. Just as he took the step, the spear stopped, abandoning all of its momentum in an instant. The captain's eyes went wide with horror as he realized his mistake, but there was nothing he could do now. He could already see the weapon making the subtle realignment it needed in order to strike him dead on. And just like that, he was defeated. With a blast of power that sounded almost like a naval gun being fired, the spear lunged at him a second time, striking him through his breast plate and boring completely through him.

Carlos had been trying to get some distance between himself and his captors when he heard the blast that signaled Kozel's kill shot. He turned to see the guard captain on the ground, his armor stained so thoroughly red that it was a wonder he was still conscious. The spear used to inflict the fatal injury was wedged into the dirt, and slowly jerking its way out, again. The thought that he might be next was a little too sobering, as he'd forgotten to keep running as a result.

Boom

Things were getting extremely tense with the wyvern knights overhead, but then the dragon, Sonya, called out a warning to the guard captain. Amon wasn't sure what to make of it, but it looked like the fighting had already broken out. He flinched at the sound of what could have passed for an explosion, and squinted his eyes to try and figure out what had caused it. Having only just regained consciousness, his eyesight wasn't at its best. He could still see that the guard captain was down and bloody. "Was that a javelin?" he said, not sure what had taken down the captain.

That Dragon

"They're probably here to protect Carlos," Darcey said.

"What about the dragon?" Cameron asked, "Whose side is she on?"

"That's not obvious, already?" Darcey scowled at her. Even if the dragon had been entertaining the idea of helping the Ursaeans, it wouldn't have any choice but to help its true allies, now.

"CAPTAIN, WATCH OUT!!!"

Cameron glanced toward the direction of the shout. It must have been the dragon. "We should go see what's happening outside." She was willing to listen to any objections, but she didn't want to waste time if she wasn't going to get any, and turned her pegasus around to head for the entrance. When the explosion came, she'd flat out assumed the battle had begun anew.

Nyet

"Give it a rest, Pete," Greta said, tired of being talked out of what she'd spent days convincing herself was the right course of action. "I've never been anywhere but Ursium, so since I can't stay here right now, it's better to work in a group. Besides, if I leave, I'm takin' my hires with me. Goin' places unprepared is what keeps gettin' me into these messes." She winced when Liam asked Rolo if he would simply go back to his home. This part was mostly her fault, at least for telling Rolo about the emblem, the artifact he was searching for. She supposed she would explain that when the time came.

[Ether]

Well, things had just taken a turn for the worse, and fast. Even if Sonya was the overpowering source of the stuff, even on sight alone, she could tell that this guy was a seasoned Earth mage. Leaping out of the saddle, Angelica turned her head back towards Eva.

"Take someone else. I might not be as fast as Sasha, but I'm still faster then anyone on foot. We need to get out of here now, forget Carlos. He's not worth dying over... I can't get a read on just how strong he is, Sonya's aura is too thick... damn." Angelica noted to the rider, cursing to herself. And with Carlos free and scrambling off, she had yet another target to keep track of...

[Snike]

There was a sound like a cannon shot, and Carlos' subordinate turned around for a moment to see the guard captain impaled by a spear. What in Sardius...? He turned his attention back to his boss, only to see, with horror, that he had stopped to stare towards the carnage.

"Hey, snap out of it!" the man shouted towards his boss, as he resumed running towards him. "We have to go! Now!"

***

"Right, well explain to everyone else why they risked their lives for nothing, then come back and tell me it's just being unprepared to blame," Pete said, as he turned away from the irritating merchant. He hoped that they could get a move on, if only because that meant he didn't have to listen to her any longer.

[Nanami Touko]

Ready to lunge at Carlos and the bandit, Eva heard a blast, jumping and turning to see-- "C...CAPTAIN!" She turned as white as she could, her natural want for challenge fleeing in the face of such strength. The lance was getting itself out the ground; it went straight through him, and there was no way to fight something like that. Eva remained frozen at the sight for a moment as Angelica said her piece, Eva finally snapping to and nodding without a word. Who's nearby that I can take on foot there has to be someone I can grab who, who-- Eva spotted the nearest person to Sasha. Hoshi, probably just as stunned as the rest of them. "Sorry for this!" It was all Eva had time to say as she snatched up the small woman, jumping into Sasha's saddle, and setting Hoshi in front of herself. "Hold on!"

Sasha wasn't about to hold onto the swordsman any longer, immediately spinning around and flapping his wings-- "<Wait! Sasha!>" Eva pointed at the frozen Carlos, knowing this was probably her only chance to nab him before getting skewered for hanging around. Sasha growled, but she steered him over, the wyvern picking up what she wanted. With a quick snap of his jaw, he grabbed Carlos by his uniform, flapping his wings and taking off. Please just put enough distance between that spear and us...!

Edited January 30, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Mercakete]

"Cameron, wait," Norbert responded, hoping to stop the woman before she did anything too quickly. "If you want to know about the dragon, I can tell you some of what to expect. She found us as we were coming to rescue you all and offered to help. She hates bandits. She's the one who told us about the minefield outside, and she distracted the balliticians so that we could launch an attack here. As for the other Imperials, I wouldn't trust them. People on our side are tired and hurt...or unequipped for combat." With that last bit, he gave her a pointed look.

Then, he went on. "We're not going to be able to fight them off easily... You and the others can't let yourselves be seen until you're ready to fly out of here. I think you should go back to Ursaea all in one burst to warn them about what's happening here. Four riders on four pegasi. Any more will slow the pegasi down and then those wyvern knights that're circling us might have a chance at catching you. If you catch them by surprise, and if we have all four of you going off, we might have a chance at getting the message out of here."

[Toogee]

Boom

Things were getting extremely tense with the wyvern knights overhead, but then the dragon, Sonya, called out a warning to the guard captain. Amon wasn't sure what to make of it, but it looked like the fighting had already broken out. He flinched at the sound of what could have passed for an explosion, and squinted his eyes to try and figure out what had caused it. Having only just regained consciousness, his eyesight wasn't at its best. He could still see that the guard captain was down and bloody. "Was that a javelin?" he said, not sure what had taken down the captain.

Jam watched in horror as the spear targeted the captain and skewered him with explosive force. She was trying to come to grips as to how that was possible as she attempted to explain the situation to Amon.

"Yeah, but...the spear was turning...in midair. That soldier must be some sort of mage." Jam replied, wondering what this meant for them. The latter was answered when Eva flew out of there, even with the bandit Carlos. Jam knew she wasn't one to flee from a fight, but this wasn't going to be a fight. This was going to be a massacre.

With eyes supposedly on Eva's departure, this was likely their chance to find cover of their own.

"While they're distracted, we can either make a run for Haythem or hide in the forest. Either one is better than waiting here for that spear!"

[scorri]

Hoshi had been trying to figure out how they were going to deal with the 'skotians that had arrived when all of a sudden she was grabbed and tossed onto Sasha. A rather undignified squeak escaped when Eva first grabbed her and after that she grabbed onto the saddle and nodded. "Yes... Holding on. I can... I can do that. I... Everyone needs to be getting out of here. Now!" Her voice was barely loud enough to be heard by those right near Sasha but hopefully everyone would realize that...

Lumi had been heading towards the gates when the wyverns first started to appear. And all of a sudden she spotted a dark shape flying at top speed towards the compound. She sighed. Star landed with a triumphant neigh, having arrived to save his human from the vicious scaled beasts. She was about to grumble at the pegasus when the captain was murdered by the leader of the 'skotians. "... You know what Star? I think you have the right idea. Lets get out of here." She hopped up onto the pegasus' back and they launched up into the air. She quickly scanned the ground to see if she could spot anyone in need of help.

[-Cynthia-]

"Maybe we can get Haythem to come over here. I don't think Amon's in shape to run right now and we don't wanna be stuck out in the open. HAYTHEM! ISIS!" Nadya called out, sending a light spell intto the air in order to attempt to attract their attention.

[Afterglimmer]

Not good. The bizarre spearman’s words couldn’t have carried more weight as the guard captain was quickly dispatched. Luther quickly glanced over as Eva’s wyvern managed to pick up Carlos which meant there was no point in staying here. He also noticed that Amon hadn’t fully recovered from their earlier battle and moved towards the injured Rexian as Nadya fired a blast of light magic into the air to signal Haythem. “Think we should move towards the forest so Haythem can get to us easier?” Luther suggested as he approached the distracted group. If that spearman decided to attack them, their chances of escape would be nonexistent.

[Phoenix]

Battlements

Carlos stared off at nothing as he was carried into the air. "So ... this is happening, apparently." Now he figured his odds of surviving were next to zero, if only because his uniform wouldn't support his weight for very long. At least he'd die instantly when he fell through the trees and crashed on a mine. He figured they would make it about that far before the imperials either forced the ornery wyvern to let him go, or something on his outfit tore loose.

On the ground, the swordsman that had been pinned slowly rose to his feet. "I know they aren't happy with us, but for once I'm glad the 'skotians are here." He glanced to the fake guardsman and said, "come on, let's get out of their way."

<"Where do they think they're going?"> Kozel said, watching as the mercenaries tried to flee by air. His spear finally ripped itself out of the ground and flew straight back into his hand. High above him, several of the wyvern knights circling above broke off from the rest and moved to intercept the fleeing mercenaries, taking a wide arcing approach, and relying on the speed of their descent to quickly catch up.

<"Please let them go, Commander,"> Sonya irritably pleaded. She could see the guard captain on the ground beneath her, still just barely clinging to life. It was the last thing she wanted to see after their brief cooperation. <"They are not loyal to Ursium.">

<"They're not?"> Kozel asked as he set his sights on another Ursaean guardsman, <"Mercenaries, then?"> His spear shot out from his grip and flew straight at Carlos' disguised subordinate at blistering speed. Given the guard captain's defiance, Kozel didn't see much point in sparing the guardsmen, anymore. He was starting to realize that they were fighting for more than just their wages, and that made them all but useless to him. Even Sonya wasn't going to try to convince him otherwise. It would be a futile exercise. Kozel took a moment to admire his handiwork. <"I'll consider it if they don't give us too much trouble,"> he shrugged, <"but I want Carlos back. He's the only one that can keep all of these ruffians in line without a show of force.">

Suddenly, a light appeared, and almost as if in response to that light, the massive wyvern on the stables took off and began gliding toward a small cluster of people nearby. Kozel scowled at the beast. He'd gotten a report about that particular wyvern before setting out for this place, but he was still wondering how these mercenaries got a hold of it.

Also Battlements

"Whatever works," Amon groaned, too lightheaded to count himself among the fully coherent. Nadya took the initiative and that was more than enough to get Haythem's attention. Isis had gotten moving almost as soon as the light appeared, and was heading their way. The massive wyvern landed practically on top of them, her chest forming a ceiling above right above their heads.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner," Haythem called down to them. "Isis is in one of those moods. She's ignoring every other command."

"Make sure we don't leave anyone behind," Amon said, fearing the likely result of a blind impromptu extraction.

Stables

"The 'skotians are going to be circling high over the fort," Darcey began, "if we try to run, they'll catch us." A pegasus always had an advantage of speed, except in the rare event the wyvern had a significant enough height advantage. Then they had the advantage, at least initially. It was something the Neviskotian Empire employed whenever it could, which occasionally saw lone scouting parties involved in skirmishes at extremely high altitudes. "We're going to need a distraction or they'll get some of us on our way out."

Road

Greta balled her hands into fists at the retort. As if she was supposed to be able to foresee and prevent all of this. She wasn't entirely convinced that the wagon was a lost cause just yet, but she was no longer entertaining the idea of sending someone back to Europa to retrieve it for her. Instead, she was trying to think of another way to recover some of their losses.

[Snike]

'Yeah, alrig-Urk!" the subordinate said, as Kozel's spear ripped through his back and embedded itself into the ground in front of him. He only caught a mere glimpse of the bloody weapon, and only experienced a mere moment of the pain, before everything fell to darkness.

[Mercakete]

"We don't have time," Norbert disagreed, shaking his head. It was a far less fervent disagreement than his usually were. What he did agree was that a distraction would be nice, if they could get one, and already, his mind was trying to work out how to overcome this situation. "Even if all of the riders don't make it out, at least one has a chance. It's better than running out there or waiting in here, and then dying."

He sighed, frustratedly shaking his head. "My pegasus already bolted -- I have no idea where she is. So, my reach is limited. I'm not in top fighting form, either. Hmm..."

Norbert remembered the last time he'd dealt with Neviskotians in this area: his "fight" with Schwartz. It hadn't ended in the best way, but it did give him an idea. It was still grim, but so was their situation. "We could double up on riders. When the wyverns get close enough, the extra rider could jump onto them and hamper them. That should give the pegasi what they need to escape to Ursaea."

Then, he added, "Whatever we do, though, someone should be keeping an eye on what's going on outside. Maybe a diversion will just pop up on its own." The massive wyvern taking off from the roof hadn't escaped his notice.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya scrambled on top of Isis behind Haythem and quickly scanned the battlefield. No one on their side seemed to be in any mortal danger...until Nadya came to a horrible realization.

"Oh shit...Shadrak's still unconscious back near where the ballistas were," Nadya said, clapping her palm to her forehead.

[scorri]

Lumi had spotted the others climbing onto Isis so she swooped down to them. "Anyone need a ride?"

[Toogee]

Jam looked over to the ballista when Nadya mentioned Shad. They could still fly by and pick him up along the way. Since Eva seemed to escape with no response from the Neviskotians, perhaps they weren't a target after all. Of course, the longer they stuck around, the more likely they'd change their mind. She didn't want to stick around for that to happen.

Lumi flew to them, offering assistance. It was most certainly needed, especially with Shad.

"Hey Lumi! I can come, but we need to get Shad." The dancer pointed over to the ballista remains where the dark mage lied unconscious. "Can you carry three?"

[scorri]

Lumi frowned slightly. "I might be able to take two smaller people but... Probably better if Isis takes you if she can handle it and I'll just carry Shad. I'll go grab him. If you still need a ride, send a magic flash up or something." She nudged Star, keeping him on the ground this time as he raced over towards the ballista. Spotting Shad, she quickly dismounted and started to get him up onto Star. "Hopefully they aren't interested in us..."

[Nanami Touko]

Eva was a bit panicked, to say the least. Several wyvern knights had broken off, heading for the rest of the group, but there were three still blocking her path through the skies... And they had mages sitting back seat. "Hoshi, you're going to need to hold on to the saddle harder than anything you've held before... And if things get too scary, just close your eyes. We'll get through this. <Sasha! You're gonna need to hold onto him with more than your mouth!>" The wyvern understood and grunted, strong claws gripping onto Carlos as they got closer to the blockade. Alright so you haven't had any time to practice, but Nyx shoved everything you could ever need to know about flying one of these things into your head, so... So just put it into use! Easy as that!

The technique was there, but the body wasn't learned, meaning this wouldn't be as easy as Eva had hoped. At the very least, she still had the barrier from her sword, so if the mages hit her and not Sasha, things wouldn't be as dire... But she had a feeling they would be aiming for him. No time like the present... The group was coming up fast, so she had to act now, or pray they were bad at aiming. "<Dive, Sasha!>" With a swift jerk on the reins, Sasha turned a hard right and swooped straight for the woods. She hoped the riders wouldn't try to follow her right away, perhaps have their passengers blast at them for a bit, first. Maybe they'd get lucky enough for that. "Hoshi, can you make any sorts of magic barriers? Anything at all?"

Edited January 31, 2016 by Snake Mom

[scorri]

Hoshi was barely holding on as Sasha went into a dive. At the question, she shook her head. "I... I know the theory but I haven't had any reason to test it and... the flying and diving and... No. Sor... sorry."

[Afterglimmer]

Luther wasted no time climbing onto Isis once she landed nearby. “She can handle the druid, but we need to go. Do you two need a hand?” the mercenary announced as he turned to help the others get on the massive wyvern.

[Phoenix]

Giddiyup

"WHY?!!!" the swordsman cried out, as his own ally was struck down right in front of him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

<"Hmm?"> Kozel cocked an eyebrow at the man near his latest victim. His spear returned to his hand, again. <"What's wrong with him?">

<"Commander, you weren't paying attention, that was one of Carlos' men,"> Sonya bitterly explained.

<"Ah ... well that's a shame. I hope they won't hold it against me. I can't make out fine details from up here."> He glanced off toward the fleeing wyvern. <"The others can hold down the fort while we're gone. You and I are going to handle this personally, Sonya.">

<"I agreed to stay out of this,"> she hissed.

<"If you weren't so easy to track, we wouldn't have figured out what was happening here,"> Kozel scoffed, <"so you're as involved as any of us, already. No one crushes my pawns and then flees. If you want me to take it easy on them then you've got two minutes starting at your 'I agreed to stay out of this' tripe to talk to them yourself. Then I'm going to take what I want by force."> It took Sonya a moment of consideration before she forced herself to take off. If not her, Kozel would call down his own wyvern and eventually track them down. The longer it took him to reach them, the more he'd be inclined toward simply killing them, so she decided to obey him for now.

Preflight Checks

Amon was about to reach up to take Luther's hand but figured Jamilla should head up first, just in case their evacuation didn't go unchallenged. "You first," he insisted.

As Sonya flew up into the air, Haythem watched in awe. He may have had a large beast himself, but Sonya's wings were gargantuan up close and from this angle. She seemed to be following after some of the others, which could have been good or bad depending on whose side she was on, now. Haythem, frankly, couldn't tell at the moment. "Where should we go, exactly, and I'm just going to ask right now, what do we do about those wyvern riders overhead? Three of them are already in action."

One of the wyvern knights did break off from the group above, however, and went in the same direction as the other fliers that were leaving the fort. It was just the one, though.

Distractions

"We only have four pegasi, though," Cameron frowned, "If they have more wyverns than that, then they'll catch whoever's weighed down. Maybe we can try distracting them with arrows. We've got at least one bow with us. If we found a couple more, on our way out, maybe a few of us could stay behind, shoot at the riders, and then head back into the stables for cover. It's not the best plan of action but it's less likely to get any of us killed right out of the gate."

"Hopefully," Darcey began, bitterly, "just hopefully they'll see fit to send an emergency request to the capital so we can get some reinforcements down here. We don't have enough air power left to fully protect the city. Our pegasi, plus the few still back at the barracks just aren't going to cut it."

"Get yourselves ready and head for the entrance, but wait for me before you take off," Fizza interjected as started for the entrance, herself, "I'm going to help with the distraction, but we need a couple of things, first."

[Nanami Touko]

As dire as the situation felt... Had they really not noticed? Eva had pushed Sasha just above the treeline, and they were soaring away from the fort fairly quickly, trying their best to head back in the direction they'd come from... Oh, gosh, what if everyone gets split up and lost from all of this? Eva groaned. "Don't worry about it, Hoshi," she started, getting back on track, "just keep your head down and stay as calm as you can... For whatever reason, they aren't after us yet, so maybe we can get out of this pretty easily." It would be great if they could just fly low like this and escape without a hitch, but Neviskotians were stubborn contenders. She'd know. So they weren't out of the fire yet. "You still alive down there, Carlos!?" she shouted, hoping to get any sort of response. If Sasha had accidentally jabbed a claw into him, that definitely wouldn't be good.

But then she caught something. Right out of the corner of her eye. And she really wished she hadn't. Sonya. Sonya was flying, and she was flying right after her. Eva went as pale as possible. "<S-Sasha...>" she whispered, panic settling back in and adrenaline pumping itself harder than before. "<S-SASHA! FLY! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!>" Sasha was confused, wondering what the panic suddenly was. One quick glance back and his instincts took over, not at all disagreeing with the order. He went even lower, right next to the tree tops. If they were going to outrun a dragon, a dragon with that maniac captain riding him... They were both going to have to play this smart. No room for mistakes.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Ether]

Well, if there was one advantage that Angelica had, it was that she was a much smaller, and less noticeable target then someone on a wyvern or pegasus, and with her smaller frame, she was harder to hit then either. More than anything, however, she was small enough to use the treeline to her advantage, after having cleared the makeshift fortress, and using the branches to avoid the minefield. It was a tad slower than taking to the skies, but it made pursuit immensely more difficult, since wyverns could only plow through so many trees without staggering and dropping, no matter how well trained they were.

There was still that Neviskotian commander to worry about, but without being able to properly gauge his skill level, that was probably a crapshoot. By the time she'd know whether she could take him on properly or not, it'd probably be too late to escape if she needed to, anyway.

[Mercakete]

"Can you shoot that high?" Norbert asked, uncertain about the idea of the bows. He'd outflown several arrows himself in the past; he doubted the wyvern knights would have much trouble with it.

"What stops them from just ignoring you and flying after the pegasi?" He frowned in consideration as an idea came to mind. "Unless...we make them think we have less pegasi than we have... We could send just two out and cover them with the arrows, then send the other two out on another route once the wyvern knights have committed to chasing the first two."

[Toogee]

Preflight Checks

Amon was about to reach up to take Luther's hand but figured Jamilla should head up first, just in case their evacuation didn't go unchallenged. "You first," he insisted.

As Sonya flew up into the air, Haythem watched in awe. He may have had a large beast himself, but Sonya's wings were gargantuan up close and from this angle. She seemed to be following after some of the others, which could have been good or bad depending on whose side she was on, now. Haythem, frankly, couldn't tell at the moment. "Where should we go, exactly, and I'm just going to ask right now, what do we do about those wyvern riders overhead? Three of them are already in action."

One of the wyvern knights did break off from the group above, however, and went in the same direction as the other fliers that were leaving the fort. It was just the one, though.

Jam nodded and grabbed onto Luther's hand. As she seated herself behind Luther, she noted how much bigger Isis was to Sasha. Great for carrying the rest of the group, but would that make them a much bigger target? She then saw Sonya fly overhead, but Jam wasn't thinking of size. That dragon was headed straight for Eva and the others! Her past experience with dragons told her this wasn't good. Perhaps the dragon remembered who she worked for...

"If those wyverns get too close, I can blast 'em with magic," Jam replied to Haythem, reaching out to help Amon up. "I know it's not much, but maybe it'll be enough to get them to back off. we should hurry and catch up with the others though. I don't trust that dragon..."

Her attempts to distract herself from the thought of her friends getting turned to dragon food were unsuccessful.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Toogee

[Phoenix]

Riding Coach Cargo

Carlos' face hosted an unseen scowl as they flew away from his fortress. "Why are we heading straight south? There's nothing out that way. You're not going to lose them unless you head to a settlement and force them to either attack it or withdraw." Honestly, these people. "Also it's a little HELLISH down here. Perhaps some refreshments for the passenger in cargo?" he bit out as the tree tops raced wildly beneath his dangling feet.

Meanwhile, above them and closing in fast from the northwest, were the three wyvern knights. A ways behind Carlos' captors, and gaining considerable speed, was Sonya and Kozel. <"One minute and ten seconds, Sonya, then it's killing time,"> Kozel spurred her onward. They were too far away to even have a conversation, but they would be close enough for Kozel to attack them well before then.

Destination Set

"So we're following Sonya, then?" Haythem said, almost not even a question, really. There was no time like the present, and perhaps Isis would be less irritable once there were fewer fliers overall for her to deal with at a time, so he got her to take off and start heading after Sonya and the initial escapees. That was when two more wyvern knights broke off from the pack high overhead.

Intel Gathering

"Well no, but they might be close enough to take convincing shots at once they're in the middle of their dives," Cameron said.

"Who said anything about convincing?" Darcey smirked, "if I can shoot one of them down, I'm going to." When Norbert explained his idea, she said, "Hold on, let's get some do some scouting since Fizza doesn't want us to do anything until she gets back. We don't even have to go outside. We can check out that hole in the roof and see if we can find out how many wyverns we're up against. Then we can figure out how to divvy up the riders heading out."

Mischief

Doran had managed to secure a couple of rooms of the main building situated in the northeastern portion of the fort, right beside the stables, and there were no prisoners to be found anywhere, only bandits, either hiding like cowards or trying to ambush and outlast anyone searching for them. He'd even lost a man when they checked one of the rooms. Their point man was stabbed in the neck with a bayonet, only managing to unload a crossbow bolt into his attacker's abdomen before collapsing. The vulnerary didn't stop the bleeding fast enough and he wound up dying anyway. Doran cursed himself for overextending so far, but they had to find their pegasus knights. Carlos had to be keeping them somewhere.

"Get ready to check upstairs," he instructed the four remaining guardsmen in his group, "and be extra careful," he added, unnecessarily.

"Hey, there you guys are," came a woman's voice. Doran and his men spun around expecting to find a prisoner or a female bandit, but instead they saw Fizza, standing in the open door that was the building's entrance, arms akimbo, and a mischievous grin on her face.