Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Mercakete]

Norbert motioned towards the stall below the hole in the roof. He was a bit annoyed, but too tired to put too much emotion into it, especially with the dire straits they were in. "Go for it. I said we should be keeping an eye on what's going on outside earlier anyway. I was just trying to think of how we can get out of here with as few people dying as possible with what we already know."

That was actually a bit of a lie. Norbert had referred to himself, too, there, after all, but he hadn't quite worked out how he, personally, was going to get out of this mess. Rizen was gone, he was injured and spending more energy that he probably should be already, and he couldn't run very quickly as he was at the moment. Who knew where the other mercenaries were, and he didn't know what was up with the guardsmen, either. In fact, he wondered if he and Fizza were the only two who even remembered that there were prisoners to rescue at this point. But that was just it, wasn't it? His focus, right now, was on helping them escape. He couldn't shoot worth anything -- or at least, so he assumed, as he hadn't really given that particular skill a fair shake -- so he wasn't about to volunteer to be an archer. He couldn't effectively help with distracting the wyverns without Rizen's help, either -- he simply didn't have the reach necessary to harry them. So, that left doing what he'd already been doing: helping the Ursaean pegasus knights to brainstorm to the best of his abilities. Once they had a plan in motion, well... He'd worry about himself then.

[Nanami Touko]

Not south? "<Tell me which way, then, Carlos, because I'm not from around here, and if you want a chance at survival, you're gonna have to guide me!>" Eva glanced back again, regretting that she had, Sonya and now three other wyvern knights on the chase. If they were going to turn, then Eva needed to gain some speed to break through the people chasing her. So, as much as she hated it, she started pulling back on Sasha, getting him to climb. Whatever direction they went, she'd need that dive speed again, to get him away from Sonya, at the least. She didn't know why Sonya had suddenly started listening to Kozel, but she couldn't stop to question it, her, or him. Fly or die.

[Phoenix]

Plotting Course

Carlos wasn't much inclined to suggest flying west, toward Ursaea, since it only increased the mercenaries' odds of surviving, not necessarily his own. It was a long way down the mountain, regardless, and the 'skotians would be on them long before they got anywhere ... unless ... "Head west," Carlos smirked. The wyvern knights will catch up with us, but Sonya can't pull any tight turns, so she'll fall behind for a bit. I trust you can hold off the others for at least a minute or two?"

Le Cadavre

Darcey quickly made her way past Norbert and into the stall. She immediately regretted her decision, as well as the involuntary yelp that escaped as she did. "What's wrong?!" Cameron and one other pegasus knight asked in unison.

"S-sorry, it's nothing," Darcey said, shaking off her surprise. "I forgot what made that hole in the first place," she said, grimacing down at the broken and mangled body. She began carefully stepping around the crumpled twisted mess and tried to position herself far enough in the back of the stall to see out toward the airspace nearest the center of the fort, where any fliers would likely be if they were playing the overwatch game. "Why didn't you warn me he was that banged up?" she gave Norbert an annoyed look, though there wasn't much fervor in it.

[Nanami Touko]

"<Nyx didn't pump all that information into me for nothing! Sasha, hard right! West it is!>" It's your grave if you're lying, Carlos. If they were headed south, west was right, and if Sonya was bad at turns, this would be just fine. Still climbing up, Sasha shifted right at a harsh tug on his reins, taking what little height he'd gained and turning it into another short dive to gain some burst of speed. The other wyvern knights would definitely be free to take shots at her, for a few moments, but they were up higher and she was so far down, she could probably avoid them. "Hoshi!" she barked, "I need you to watch the wyvern knights and try to warn me of where they're aiming, alright!? They're heading straight at us now, so it shouldn't be too hard to get an eye on them! I can try to avoid them, but having direct eyes on them would really help!" Eva really, really wished they were thunder, fire, water, earth, light or for Truth's sake, even dark mages, because if she started getting gusts and tornadoes thrown at her, things were going to get even more dicey...

[Mercakete]

Whoops. Norbert had intended to warn the pegsus knights about the mangled corpse in there, but it'd slipped his mind. Oh well. Darcey had found out anyway. And then she asked why he hadn't said anything. He shrugged deciding to just tell the plain truth. "I forgot to. Sorry." After a brief pause, he asked, "See anything?"

Despite the hole facing the sky, it wasn't the best vantage point, Norbert figured. In his opinion, staying just inside the stable doors offered both better cover and a better view. "Or do you think someone should keep watch by the doors?"

[Phoenix]

Chasing

<"Where are they going?"> Kozel hissed as he braced for Sonya's turn. She kept the maneuver as tight as she could, but it still required her to send out a torrent of energy into the forest to bound off of. Over a hundred trees were instantly leveled by the spell, and Sonya's right wing raked some of the treetops as she pulled out of the turn and began heading straight again. She'd done all she could on such short notice, but they'd still fallen considerably behind.

<"Not bad, but they're only making it worse for themselves. Heading to Ursaea's not going to save them,"> Kozel said, already planning for the unlikely scenario of them actually reaching the walled city. He noticed that three of his riders had caught up to them thanks to the sudden turn. That was to be expected, but they'd better actually accomplish something, or it wouldn't be worth the effort. He suddenly noticed a fourth wyvern knight. It was the lieutenant. He'd thought she was simply late following after the fleeing wyvern but quickly realized that she was slowing down from her dive and coming toward them. <"Relaying something, maybe,"> Kozel mused aloud.

Scouting

"I can see a few of them," Darcey replied, adjusting her posture constantly as she searched for the right spot. The wyvern riders were high up, but not so high that she could spot all of them at once, not through a hole this size. "I'm counting three so far, and they're circling overhead. They'll definitely catch us if we try to run." It was no use, though, she couldn't say with absolute certain how many there were, and three seemed like far too few, anyway. "Someone should check from the entrance ... carefully," she said.

"I'll do it," Cameron volunteered. She didn't expect any objections, so she started off atop her pegasus. "I'll be right back," she promised.

[CobyTheGoober]

Rolo didn't know how to respond to Liam's remark. He wanted to go back home, but at the same time, we wanted to travel with Greta and the others. "I don't know exactly why I'm going home, but I got this one feeling that.... If I leave you, Greta, and the others, life will become... boring." Rolo started to prepare himself for the lecturing of Liam and Greta.

[Mercakete]

Norbert nodded, though it probably wasn't necessary. Then, he slid down until he was seated again, resting his back against one of the stall beams, and resting his head back along with it. Things were tense, yes, and he was worried about Rizen, but he was also tired. Though he was stabilized, he was still injured, and recent strenuous activity had gotten him bleeding a bit more again. I wish we had more vulneraries...or someone who knew how to use a heal staff. I'm tired... I need to rest while I can... Though he'd only meant to rest until he was needed, Norbert accidentally managed to slip into a doze.

[scorri]

Hoshi just nodded as she slowly started to form two small balls of dark energy, floating them to the sides of the wyvern, ready to toss them out if needed.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya elected to hang onto Isis for dear life. Not gonna be much use like this if we get attacked...but if I fall off that ain't gonna matter too much.

--

Liam looked at Rolo closely. "A baker serves just as important a role as a warrior. Without providing food, we would not have the strength to fight and would wither away and die. Perhaps humans do not praise the baker as much, but that does not make them any less valuable. A battlefield is a frightening and dangerous place- I do not think you are ready."

[Nanami Touko]

Alright, so, Hoshi had some magic up and ready, and that meant they had some form of response to any attacks launched. Eva noticed the fourth rider out of the corner of her eye, but they weren't heading straight at them, so she kept on course. Alas, the other three were pretty much on them now, meaning it would be time for evasive maneuvers... And judging by Sonya's power when she turned, she had to keep out of range of Kozel and her, the entire trip.

"Hoshi, fire one off! Show them we mean business!" Sasha got himself as low to the trees as he could without flying into it, ready to dive in between them if necessary. Both rider and wyvern hoped it wouldn't be.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Phoenix]

Fine Adjustment

"Move slightly to the right," Carlos called up, "also some seat cushions would be nice."

Now that they were in range, the closest wyvern knight called out to them. "Stop now, or we will kill you all," he yelled in heavily accented common. His passenger was beginning to prepare a spell right on cue, a sphere of white light forming between his hands.

Pulling Ahead

Haythem was fortunate to have begun his turn ahead of Sonya. That kept him from getting caught up in the utter destruction of the nearby trees or the turbulent winds that followed. He'd pulled slightly ahead of the large dragon, however, which left them in a somewhat awkward situation. "Amon ... ideas? I'm not sure what the plan was, here."

Amon glanced over at Sonya and the man riding atop her head, noted the former's pleading expression, and tried to force some energy back into his limbs. "Let's-" He didn't get to finish the thought before another wyvern whooshed over them at high speed. "Another one?"

"She's not after us," Haythem shrugged.

Pay Them Off

<"Lieutenant ..."> Kozel eyed his subordinate with suspicion.

<"Commander, you need to put a stop to this before we lose any men,"> she called down to him. What did she think he was doing, he wondered. Before he could berate her for such an obvious suggestion, she added <"Just pay the mercenaries off. That's why they're here. Money, probably the money for Carlos' capture. You can take it from Carlos, himself, and then we can send them on their way.">

Sonya's face lit up in surprise. She might have suggested that herself if she thought Kozel would actually go for it, but there was a problem with the suggestion, some missing context that changed things. They weren't just mercenaries the Ursaeans had hired; some of them had a vested interest in saving the pegasus knights, something Kozel would be firmly against. If they escaped in all of this confusion, that would be another matter, and perhaps then it would be too late for him to care, but if they didn't ...

<"Hmph ... we'll see,"> Kozel said noncommittally.

No Nap Time

"Hm? Hey!" Darcey came up from the back of the stall and stood over Norbert. "This is no time to be taking a nap! Those bandits aren't going to have their heads down, forever. You need to be ready to go at a moment's notice."

Confirming Enemy Numbers

Cameron decided to dismount before she looked outside, so she wouldn't be putting both herself and her pegasus in danger. She quickly noticed bandits coming out of hiding and combing through the carnage, looking for survivors from both sides. She didn't see any of the mercenaries around, and the Ursaeans had taken up a defensive position around the tents. More fighting was starting over there; she could hear it. Above, she could see the wyvern knights Darcey mentioned, but there were four of them, not just three. Four ... just four? "That's all they sent? No some of them must have left." She quickly rushed back into the stables, hoping no one saw her. It was time to deliver the good news.

The Noncoms

Compared to what he'd be walking into otherwise, Greta had no doubt Rolo's life would be rather boring. Still, just dropping him off in a city somewhere, or turning him toward his home and sending him off wasn't as responsible as it might have seemed, not with the wrathites involved. Greta was more interested in finding a way to keep him out of harms way while he was with the group. "No one's gonna put a kid in danger, so for now you're gonna have to stay behind me and Glen if we get attacked," she said.

Alphonse hadn't shown himself in a while, but there he was. That gave Greta something of an idea. "Maybe since you don't have anythin' better to do, you could guard him if we get attacked," she suggested. More like when they got attacked.

[Mercakete]

"Hrm?" Norbert roused a bit from what was the beginnings of a nap by his sister's yelling. He only opened one, sleepy eye at her initially, though. Her explanation gave him enough context to remember the situation they were in. So, he took a deep breath before letting loose a gusty sigh.

A bit groggily, but now with both eyes open, he replied, "I can't be ready without some rest. I'm tired. I'll fight when there's someone to fight. Until then," he closed his eyes again and, again, rested his head on the wooden structure behind him "let me prepare."

He reopened one of his eyes again, though, as he heard rapid footsteps approaching.

[Nanami Touko]

To the right? Whatever, he must know where he's going... Eva shifted Sasha a bit, the wyvern not minding the slight shift in course, still speeding along the treeline. "You'll get cushions when we're safe. Maybe you comply and get to come with us! Who knows?" Eva sure didn't. In all honesty, she'd grabbed Carlos because he kept talking like he was important, not because she wanted to take him in, or anything. Amon could figure something out.

Currently, there was the pressing matter of several well armed assholes getting close to blocking their path. Eva wasn't about to stop for some light magic. "<Eat my dust, lizard lickers!>" she shouted back, flipping them off for a second. "Hoshi, now would be a good time to start blasting!" They'd get back them in a moment, so as long as Eva could dodge whatever they tossed out, things would be fine, but...

[ArsTheurgia]

"Ummm, sure. I could do that."

Alphonse came closer to Greta and Rolo. Who, from the looks of things, was still a teenager. How did he end up here?

"I'm Alphonse. And you are?" Alphonse put out his hand for a handshake.

[scorri]

Hoshi flinched slightly at the sight of the light mage, but sent one of her dark magic balls flying at the wizard. The second one followed shortly behind it, though this one was aimed at the man steering the wyvern.

Lumi had managed to drag Shad onto Star but wasn't sure she should try to escape via air. So instead she sent Star racing down the path towards the exit of the compound.

Edited February 7, 2016 by scorri

[Toogee]

Pulling Ahead

Haythem was fortunate to have begun his turn ahead of Sonya. That kept him from getting caught up in the utter destruction of the nearby trees or the turbulent winds that followed. He'd pulled slightly ahead of the large dragon, however, which left them in a somewhat awkward situation. "Amon ... ideas? I'm not sure what the plan was, here."

Amon glanced over at Sonya and the man riding atop her head, noted the former's pleading expression, and tried to force some energy back into his limbs. "Let's-" He didn't get to finish the thought before another wyvern whooshed over them at high speed. "Another one?"

"She's not after us," Haythem shrugged.

Jam was holding onto Luther's armor with one hand while her other was left free. She was ready to unleash a barrage of magic at nearby Sonya should either she or her commander strike at Eva and co. That was when another rider flew above them. Jam had to control herself; she nearly fired a blast at the sudden movement. To say that she was nervous about this potential fight was an understatement.

"Come on, Jam! Focus! Don't want to start a war here..."

[Phoenix]

Shots Fired

"Come with you? Why?" Carlos said, somewhat confused. Wasn't their plan to turn him in for his bounty? Sixty gold wasn't a fortune but it was nothing to turn ones nose up at, either. He supposed they could still get fifty gold regardless, since he was wanted dead or alive. They seemed intent, however, on taking him alive, so if not for the extra ten gold or proof of the kill, then what? To Carlos' surprise, the mercenary mage attacked first, though he couldn't see the spectacle first hand, nor the result.

The light mage was struck, but remained in the saddle, held in place by a short chain that linked him to the saddle. The wyvern knight had the same chain linking him to the saddle as well, but for him, it was less needful. He had years of training and had built up the necessary combat instinct to keep himself mounted even while suffering from a grievous injury. Seeing the second attack coming he braced himself for the hit, but the light mage acted before the spell arrived, sending a thani spell straight through it, creating a donut of darkness as the light spell burst against Sasha's tail. The wyvern knight slowed his wyvern down to let one of the others move in while his passenger recovered.

Collateral

<"Commander we can't let the Ursians see this much of our unit,"> the woman pleaded, <"Let me negotiate for Carlos while you secure the fortress. If you're bored, there are still plenty of guardsmen left to there to take care of. It's also better if Sonya doesn't get in our way, here. Remember she's neutral in this.">

Once again, she'd preemptively addressed any complaints the commander might have come up with off the top of his head, leaving him a little annoyed. <"Get Carlos back or kill him,"> Kozel called back, <"No excuses."> He glanced over at the massive wyvern flying nearby. <"Also, be sure to let them know that if they try anything on us, we'll be keeping one of their girls as compensation.">

Kozel reached out toward Isis and her passengers, and with intense focus, began to envelope the nearby group with his power. "Nothing personal mercenaries, but I want some collateral," he called over to them. He hadn't been sure which of the two women riding on the wyvern was more important to the mercenaries, and it'd just be plain bad luck if they were each independent, but that didn't seem to be the case, at least not from how eager they were to help each other out of that place. Hopefully either of them would be enough to ensure his Lieutenant wasn't brushed off or immediately attacked. As the distance between Sonya and Isis grew larger, Kozel's reach narrowed until, having run out of time to deliberate, he focused on the blonde girl. With only one hand firmly grasping anything, she would be significantly easier to pull out of the saddle, and so he did.

"What the ...?" Haythem was stunned to see Jamilla hoisted out from behind Luther and away from Isis in an invisible grip. "Jamilla!" He and Amon both tried to reach out to her with their free hands, but it was too little too late by the time they realized what was happening. Haythem's second thought was to attack Kozel, but with Jamilla suspended in the air like this, she would be at tremendous risk.

"Don't struggle, girl," Kozel warned. "There's nothing soft for you to land on." <"Sonya, pull back once I've got her aboard.">

Numbers

"Seriously?" Darcey buried her face in her palm. Was this really Bert the Crusher?

"Four of them," came Cameron's voice, "there's only four of them out there!" Her elation, as well as the reasons for it, were obvious.

"Just four? That's strange," Darcey said, fearing something was up. They wouldn't have sent only four riders into a situation like this.

"A lot of people are missing," Cameron noted. "Even the dragon's gone. Maybe the 'skotians are chasing them."

[Mercakete]

"Sounds like we have to get moving, then; the sooner the better," Norbert weighed in as he shifted, making to get back up. He managed to get his feet under him when his vision began to spot with different colors. That wouldn't do. Squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth, Norbert again used his poleaxe to help himself up. It wasn't easy, what with that tremor in his limbs and his lightheadedness, but he managed it. Once he was on his feet again, the rider leaned against the post again, hoping to wait out his dizziness there before moving again.

That didn't prevent him from speaking again, though. "Fizza said to wait for her, but if she doesn't show up soon, we could lose this opportunity."

[Toogee]

Distracted by the rider flying above them, Jam failed to see Kozel grab her arm. She lost hold of Luther as she was dragged away from her companions.

"Amon! Haythem!" Jam cried out, reaching for their hands. Her fingers only met the tips of theirs as she was pulled away. Her feet dangled above the forest below. Her body brushed against the dragon's, her life currently in the grasp of their enemy. The dancer considered using her free hand to blast Kozel. At this height however, it would have meant certain death. She had no choice but to grab Kozel's arm with both hands and allow herself to be pulled up.

"You're gonna regret this," Jam said as she was pulled up. An angry tone masked her fear that she might not be going back to the others. She could only watch as Isis became smaller and smaller as Sonya pulled away.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Toogee

[Ether]

Well, things had certainly gotten chaotic quickly, at any rate. With Sonya taking off after Eva, Neviskotian commander in tow, it was all Angelica could do to watch and wait to intervene if necessary, managing to avoid the clearing of trees as Sonya began to move. Eva had been doing reasonably enough evading them, but it seemed the commander grew bored, and had used his magic to hoist Jamilla straight off of Isis... that was unfortunate. Stopping within the treeline, still hidden, Angelica quickly used her magic to move her voice into Eva's ear, they needed to act fast.

"Eva. It's Angelica... not sure if you caught it yet or not, but the 'Skotian commander just grabbed Jamilla with his magic. He's been pursuing you mostly, I think they just want Carlos... if they ask for a trade, just take it. It's not worth trying to get out with him intact." The adept instructed, as she steadied herself on a relatively thick branch, taking a moment to remove the long case from her back, and pull out her rifle. Taking aim from cover, Angelica took a bead on this 'Kozel's head, keeping her sights on him as they approached, her finger resting on the trigger. There was no way in hell she was gonna let this guy hurt Jam, or worse, Eva...

[Nanami Touko]

The blast grazed Sasha's tail, the wyvern growling, but after being pumped with ballista bolts, light magic felt rather tame to his scaly skin. Eva had been about to push him down into the treeline, just to get shots off of them, but Angelica's voice shot into her ear, almost taking her down from the surprise. "<A-Angelica!? Where are-->" C-Calm down, it's her magic, just... Calm. She hadn't expected to hear that, though. Why had they gotten that close to Kozel? Maybe his magic just had that much range... Either way, as much as Eva had tried to get Carlos out of there, the bandit wasn't worth Jam's life, especially. She halted Sasha harsh, the wyvern curving up and climbing, with a lot of groaning and annoyance. With a quick spin and a flourish of his wings, she stopped him in mid air, staring back at Kozel.

"I guess he has... <Oi! Hold your fire! I'm going back!>" She barked orders at the Neviskotians tailing them, taking her sword out and turning on the barrier, just in case they decided to start trying things again. With a slow motion, Eva started flying Sasha back towards Kozel and Sonya, cursing under her breath. Sasha didn't quite understand why they were going back towards the giant dragon, but he didn't make much motion to resist.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Afterglimmer]

“Shit!” Luther cursed as Jam slipped out of reach as Kozel drew her towards himself and Sonya. The mercenary was about to draw his sword in response when something the mage said sank in. He mentioned something about wanting collateral, which could only mean one thing. “Bastard…he’s planning to use her as leverage for Carlos,” Luther growled as he quickly scanned the surrounding area; looking for Sasha and her rider.

[Phoenix]

Mountains

The wyvern knights weren't interested in negotiating, but the passenger of the wyvern knight lagging the farthest behind pointed out Sonya's latest maneuver. It was a wholly unnecessary effort, as the sonic boom and the sound of leveled trees reached them as soon as the mage was relaying the information. Looking back, they could all see Sonya pulling high into the air. If the commander was breaking off from the chase, then they should be getting a signal to do the same, soon. If not, then their mission was clearly to continue the pursuit until they took out the enemy wyvern and its passengers down or captured them.

"Going back?!" Carlos called up, after interpreting what Eva had said to the riders. The explosive wave had been enough of a cue for Carlos to know Sonya had pulled another high gravitational maneuver, but it wasn't until turned around, and the winds from that blast caught up to them that he realized that the dragon was ascending rapidly. "Merz, Kozel's riding on her head while she's pulling out moves like those? Damn showoff."

Danger Zone

Capitalizing on her momentum, and another massive burst of anima that decimated the landscape just in front of her, Sonya pulled up at a steep seventy degree angle, and rose hundreds of feet above the trees in a matter of seconds. She hadn't waited more than a second or two after Kozel had physically grabbed Jamilla before doing so, which forced the 'skotian warrior to mind his balance and control his breathing to withstand turbulent ascent. His armored boot pressed hard against the dragon's crown, and he was instantly brought to one knee as his body's weight increased over half a dozen times over.

Isis had no hope of following Sonya into that climb, and Haythem wasn't even going to consider trying it. Instead, he had her bank to the right and try to turn around. He also made a point of getting her to ascend as well, though at a safer and more stable angle. There was always a chance Jamilla could wind up falling, and if she did, their best chance of catching her would be to have some room for free falling, as well.

"We'll follow her from below, but I'm not sure if we can catch up," Haythem informed his passengers.

"Just try to keep up," Amon said, "but don't get too close." Leverage or no, they weren't going to lose Jamilla here, not after the brutal battle they had just survived.

Kozel could see the chase below instantly dissolve ... or perhaps reverse.. <"Heh, that worked. Fast, too."> He glanced at the girl he had plucked from the massive wyvern. "I have questions for you, mercenary girl. It's been a long day, so please, humor me," he said, casually, though with a well managed undercurrent of irritation. <"Sonya, stay above them, and head back to the base,"> he quickly ordered as the rapid ascent continued.

Stables

"Right," Darcey agreed. "If there's only four of them then just drawing two of them to the same person should be enough ... though it'd be nice if we could find some way for us all to make it back."

"With only four pegasi left," another pegasus knight chimed in, "there's not much choice. We won't make it if we're heavily weighed down."

Cameron climbed down from the saddle and approached Norbert. "You don't look so well." She reached out and offered him a familiar looking object. "They left our emergency supplies in the saddlebags alone for some reason, or mine, at least. I guess they figured having a spare vuln or two on hand wouldn't be a bad thing. Here."

[Mercakete]

Though Norbert appreciated the gesture, he was caught between two replies. He also couldn't help but remember the vulnerary that was offered to him in Ursaea when he was released, before. Would it have been better to take it then? Was it better to take this one now? He really could use it...

In the end, Norbert smiled a bit and shook his head. "Thanks, but you might need it more than me. If one of those wyvern knights gets your pegasus' wing, you'll need something like that with you. Besides, I've bled out too much; I won't be in any sort of good fighting condition anytime soon no matter what I do. So, I'll only take it if it's a spare. If not, I'll see if I can find an allied staffer later."

Speaking of allies and help... Norbert addressed the riders on the whole again. "By the way, those of you who're flying, don't try to use the trees as cover until you're past the minefield. You should be able to tell when that is by your pegasi's behavior. They don't like being around it. But I do recommend using the trees as much as you can once you're past it. It's a lot less risky than flying in open air."