Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Toogee]

<"Sonya, just hold him with your paw for now,"> Kozel instructed the dragon. "One more question before I send you back, though. Where does one get such a massive wyvern as that one?" he nudged his head toward Isis, who was keeping her distance for the moment.

"I don't know, she's not my wyvern..."

Jam never knew the origin story of the giant black wyvern. She knew Haythem came from Rex Avaz, but she had no idea if there was such a thing as a race of giant wyverns out in the desert. Even if there were, the dancer didn't want to risk having the Neviskotian Army follow her home in search of said wyverns. Jam hoped her fate did not rest on her knowledge of her companions' mounts.

[Phoenix]

Ze Forest

"Interesting," Kozel murmured, glancing over at the massive wyvern, and then briefly at Eva. "Alright, your ride is here. Now you can tell all your family and friends about how you rode a dragon and survived. Not many outside of the imperial military can make such a boast," he smirked.

<"With all due respect, commander,"> Karla quietly spoke up as she positioned her wyvern just in front of Sonya, <"the last thing we need are mercenaries spreading rumors about Sonya ... that is, unless there's a change in our schedule.">

<"There is,"> Kozel nodded cryptically, causing Sonya to grimace just noticeably.

"It looks like that woman is ferrying the captives across," Haythem noted. "I heard exchanges like these usually happen at the exact same time to keep one side from double crossing the other."

"They have the upper hand," Amon explained bitterly.

Ze Stables

The healer sighed as he began closing up the wound on Norbert's arm. "I can't promise you'll be back to mint condition, not with a wound exposed for this long. There's bound to be some scar tissue already forming. With the other wounds you probably won't notice it, anyway, but mind your arm and try not to use it if you don't have to. Can you fight with your other arm by any chance?" It would have been better for him not to put anymore stress on it at all until it had healed properly, but he assumed they would at least have to fight their way past the bandits once they got their courage back.

"So if Fizza's handling the diversion does that mean the rest of us are all heading out at the same time?"

"That's what it seems like," Doran said as he glanced off at the corner Fizza had disappeared down. "She's crazy but, this operation would have been a hell of a lot more difficult without her."

"I personally doubt I'm ever going to see her or my pegasus again," Darcey sighed.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

When he was informed about the scar that would remain, Norbert shrugged with his uninjured shoulder, not wanting to interrupt the healer's work. He already had a small collection of scars, one of which was even on his face; one more wouldn't mean anything. When talk of fighting their way out came up, though, Norbert grimaced. Right; it probably won't be as easy as just running out... Well, I'll just have to fight through this.

In response to the healer's question, Norbert replied, "I'm not as concerned about my wounds as I am about my bloodloss when it comes to that. I can fight with both hands, but if I can't keep my balance or if I black out, then there's no use in it. I can ignore pain and weakness fine. Ignoring losing consciousness just doesn't happen, though." He sighed, then added, "But to answer your question, I don't think I can use my poleaxe one-handed like this, and I don't have any other way to carry it right now. Considering our situation, though, I guess I'll just have to tough it out and fight with both arms as well as I can."

[Nanami Touko]

Eva was clearly still tempted to fly over, but at least this lieutenant was moving to deliver her Jam. There was one thing she couldn't entirely ignore, though. "<What... What are you planning?>" She didn't expect an answer, but to ignore it entirely would be foolish.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Snake Mom

[Toogee]

"Shut up Eva," Jam thought to herself. The dancer had no interest in prolonging this encounter with more conversation about things that might antagonize her captor.

Jam didn't waste time climbing aboard Karla's wyvern, lest Kozel decided to change his mind at the last second. Not that moving to his commander's mount would stop him from retrieving her, but the fact that they were moving away gave her comfort.

[Phoenix]

Trees

How had she even heard any of that, Karla wondered as she began flying toward Eva. <"Oh no,"> she scowled, <"you mercenaries are not getting in our way, again. Mind your own business.">

<"Hmm ..."> Kozel started to tune out the conversation nearby.

"Can I not just ride on your back or something?" Carlos asked, looking up to Sonya, "You have no idea how uncomfortable this is." He got little more than a frown in return. Right, Kozel's orders. He was going to stay trapped between her claws until the imperial commander decided otherwise. "Great ..."

Blood

"Since we're all leaving together, anyway," Cameron spoke up, looking right at Norbert, "I was thinking you should just ride with one of us."

"That would be best," the healer agreed with a partial nod. With Norbert's arm healed, as much as it could be that is, he turned his attention toward the others. "Let's see ... this would be a lot easier if you could take off your armor, honestly." He wasn't going to press the issue; there wasn't a lot of time for thorough work, and he could easily stop the bleeding, internal and external, even while working half blind.

"Doran," Darcey's eyes narrowed at the guardsman, "What happened to Carlos? Did you guys get him?"

"I doubt it," Doran scratched his head as he thought back on the battle. "If he went down, though, it was probably early in the fight." That reminded him ... "By the way ... the captain's dead. No clue who took him out, but it was probably the 'skotians." Darcey was stunned into silence. "We found him while we were chasing down your pegasus. It wasn't pretty."

[Mercakete]

Norbert had thought about asking for a ride a couple times, himself, but hadn't felt good about it. There were only five available pegasi, and besides the concern with slowing the equines down, what gave him more of a right to ride than anyone else? Not everyone was going to be able to ride. This was really the Ursaeans' operation anyway, and they were trying to rescue people, here. Being one of the mercenaries, he felt more like a third party and that virtually everyone else present had more of a claim on the pegasi than he did. So, he'd decided not to ask.

Now, though, it was being offered to him. He thought about saying that other people needed it more than he did, but then he realized that that was probably untrue. Instead, he addressed the armor issue, which took far less consideration. Shaking his head, he replied, "We don't have time that. Just do what you can."

Then, he looked uncertainly at Cameron. "Are you sure you want to offer me this? I'm not your responsibility. Heck, if you left me behind, you'd be justified. And there are others who could use the ride, too, and they're your own people."

[Nanami Touko]

Whoa. What a reaction. "<Sorry I asked. Give me the girl and we'll all get out of your way.>" Whatever they were planning, the most they could do right now was inform the authorities, and hope someone as strong as Kozel was ready to get into the fight. Don't worry Jam, you're almost out of there.

[Toogee]

Not knowing any Neviskotian, Jam had no idea what Karla was saying, but she didn't sound happy. She could be saying anything and Jam would be none the wiser.

"Just for your insolence, I'll cut off the dancer's toes, one by one!"

Instinctively, Jam moved a little bit further from the rider.

[Phoenix]

Sky

<"If you ever tell me what to do again, I will kill you,"> Karla warned as she flew into position for Jamilla to disembark.

The exchange seemed to be wrapping up, so that just left Kozel's last inquiry. He was still trying to decide whether he would actually make an inquiry about the massive wyvern nearby, or just take it from them. It wouldn't be all that difficult, but it could very well be more trouble than it was worth, especially considering how close knit these particular mercenaries were.

Stables

Cameron nodded, "I'm pretty sure."

"The people not getting rides are fast enough on their feet," Darcey said, scowling at Norbert, "you on the other hand, need help, so don't argue."

"Every pegasus rider's either getting on her own pegasus, or riding second with someone else. The rest of us are going on foot," Doran explained to the group as a whole, "that's the way it should be. Incidentally, we do have a few more injuries to look at, so you may want to pick up the pace," he added, this time for the healer.

"I know, I know," he replied irritably as he tended to the next wound. He couldn't help but wince at this one, as it may or may not have hit a kidney. He supposed his patient would be a lot worse off right now if it had, but he couldn't be completely sure.

[Mercakete]

"I wasn't arguing!" Norbert somewhat irritably corrected his sister. His irritation rapidly lessened as he explained, "I just wanted to make sure we were making the best choices we could, here; no one here owes me anything and I didn't want anyone regretting this later. That's all."

Then, a little awkwardly, as he was humbled by their insistence on helping him, he added, "All that said... Thanks." He knew that even Darcey had been abrasively affectionate just then, and was only being snappish and demanding because she wanted him out of there alive. He therefore added resolutely, "But if we come across my pegasus out there, or if we need extra speed, I'm dismounting. I'll take a passenger, too, if we find Riz."

[Toogee]

Sky

<"If you ever tell me what to do again, I will kill you,"> Karla warned as she flew into position for Jamilla to disembark.

The exchange seemed to be wrapping up, so that just left Kozel's last inquiry. He was still trying to decide whether he would actually make an inquiry about the massive wyvern nearby, or just take it from them. It wouldn't be all that difficult, but it could very well be more trouble than it was worth, especially considering how close knit these particular mercenaries were.

Jam climbed down and onto Sasha as quickly as possible; the warning sounded ominous in tone. She sat herself between Eva and Hoshi to keep herself more secure. The dancer wrapped her arms around Eva tightly, in case Kozel decided to pull her back. Jam wouldn't say another word, hoping this ordeal was finally over.

[Nanami Touko]

Fight back the urge, fight it, fight it. This dog wasn't above her and her constantly talking as if she was had been grinding Eva's gears since she'd shown up. As much as she wanted to jump right off of Sasha and tackle the lieutenant right off of her wyvern, despite consequences (like falling to their death), Jam came first. She let the girl settle in, seemingly terrified, and gently pat her hair with a sigh. Just let it go. You've gotta get them both outta here. "You're fine now, Jam. Sorry for being so slow." Being this close to Kozel was already scary enough, being held hostage by him had to have been harrowing. I guess we're free to leave, then. Without a word, Eva turned Sasha to fly off towards Isis, and get away from the dragon rider.

[scorri]

Hoshi had essentially been frozen in fear ever since Jam had been grabbed by the 'skotian leader. It seemed like no matter what they did, it was going to end in death. When Eva managed to somehow turn everything around and get Jam back safe, she slowly let out a sigh of relief. "I... Good job Eva. I... I thought for sure at least one of us was... was going to die. And... I was just frozen." Some leader I am... "Jam, are you ok?"

Meanwhile, Lumi and Star had managed to get out of the compound via the main gate and were headed towards the woods, hoping that none of the wyverns would chase after them. She quickly checked on Shad, but he was still stable though unconscious.

[Phoenix]

The Last Hurdle

Kozel stood up as Karla made her way back over. <"Sonya, give Carlos back to Karla. You and I have a couple more things to take care of before we head back.">

<"Commander?"> Sonya resisted the urge to tilt her head. Keeping stable this close to the treetops was difficult enough even with the assistance of earth magic; adding general confusion to the mix certainly wasn't helping.

"You mercenaries," he called over toward Isis and her passengers, "that's right, the ones on the mountain wyvern! Don't even think about slipping away on us! I've got questions about that wyvern of yours!"

<Did I hear that right?> Haythem wondered. Kozel was somewhat small at this distance, but his voice carried clearly enough in the clear weather. "What should we do?"

Amon winced at the thought of being held up and possibly pulled into a battle over Isis after everything they had already survived. "Humor him for now, but be careful. We'll be defenseless that close up."

"On one condition," Haythem called back, putting a vexed look on Kozel's face, "I'll answer your questions but you have to promise to let us go without harming anyone afterward!"

<"I should have known he'd want information on that thing,"> Karla mused to herself as she returned. Seeing that Sonya was trying to hand off Carlos, she steadied her wyvern. Carlos floated gently to her and was quickly seated behind her.

"I won't kill anyone present if they don't get in our way. If you left anyone behind in that mad scramble of yours, then those are fair game if they're with the ursians, or my boys are already on them," Kozel warned. He wasn't going to leave room for them to disarm his team indirectly. "Other than that, you have my word."

"Who did we leave behind?" Amon wondered aloud. Norbert immediately came to mind, followed by Lumi and Shadrak, though the latter two had been mounted up and ready to go by the time they had left. If the wyvern riders were chasing them, then ...

Chasing Stragglers

"You there! Stop at once," came a voice from behind Lumi and the unconscious Shadrak. Four imperials, two on each wyvern. "You won't be warned, again," the same 'skotian called over as the two wyverns descended toward them.

Nearly Time

"It sounds like you don't want to be in anyone's debt," Darcey scowled at Norbert. It was more of a knowing scowl, one that could crumble to laughter at the slightest provocation. "... but that's just what I'm hearing when you try to explain yourself," she added, and her scowl became a faint smile.

"Call it even for Doran," Cameron said, causing the guardsman to bury his forehead in his palm, "and for helping out with the pegasi. If we find your pegasus, it would definitely help if you give someone else a lift, so we appreciate that."

"We're settled over here," another pegasus knight called over. She and the others did seem to be mounted up.

"Almost finished over here, too," the healer called back. He was moving onto the last of Norbert's wounds; it was nearly time to go.

[Mercakete]

"That's true, but that has nothing to do with this," Norbert corrected Darcey in a quiet grumble. Really, he just wanted to give his all to make sure everyone got out of there okay. He hated slacking off. Though now wasn't the time for clarifying that. In fact...

"Doran said that there were others that needed help," Norbert reminded the healer, "I'm fine now; not going to bleed out anymore and I can move much better. We don't have time to bandage every little bruise, so you should probably move on to someone else. Thanks for the help."

That said, he asked Cameron, "Am I riding with you?" She had been the one to offer.

[Toogee]

"Let's just get back to camp," Jam said to Eva and Hoshi. She had no desire to talk about her experience at the moment; the sooner she could leave this behind, the better.

Then Kozel turned to the other half of the team. Jam knew there was going to be a catch to her return. She would regret if the price for her return was everyone on top of Isis. She watched, waiting to see what the next move would be, hoping it wasn't their last.

[Nanami Touko]

So they were going to fly away and everything was going to be fine, right? Wrong. Eva couldn't help but sigh, holding tight onto Jam and continuing her fly over to Isis. Sasha ended up next to the giant wyvern, hovering there a few wing spans apart. At least the rest of them could see that Jam was safe, even if they all weren't, yet. "Haythem, unless it's really important, you should probably just tell him! No point in extending this past where it needs to be." She shouted her opinion over, not actually having stopped to wonder about Isis' size yet, but it'd be a lie to say she wasn't the least bit curious.

[-Cynthia-]

Maybe he's worried about them huntin' down bull wyverns? I'm more concerned about us right now though. Nadya thought to herself. <"Ya can lie to him if that'd make ya feel better, if he's travelin' to Rex-Avaz it'll be a long time before he figures it out,"> she suggested to Haythem.

--

"Being able to communicate over long distances could be useful, but try not to overextend yourself. We still aren't sure how this all works," Liam cautioned Joanna. Hopefully my presence prevents Malik from pestering her at the very least.

[Phoenix]

Wyvern?

<It's really important that we aren't killed immediately after telling him what he wants to know,> Haythem thought irritably at Eva's comment. <"Are you kidding?"> he replied to Nadya, <"lying to him is the last risk we need to be taking, right now. I'm not worried about anyone back home, I'm worried about us.">

"To start," Kozel began, as Sonya drifted ever closer. It was clear now that she wasn't flying entirely naturally. Her wings weren't beating fast enough, and her drift didn't seem to have any apparent cause other than earth magic. "Where did you get this wyvern? Out east somewhere?"

"No," Haythem shook his head, "I raised her myself. She's originally from dragon country." Haythem wasn't certain if Kozel knew what or where that was, but it was the truth. Perhaps that region was referenced by a different name up north.

Kozel's eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean those mountains separating Kigen and Rex-Avaz? That impassible nightmare of draconic hordes?"

"The same," Haythem winced in anticipation.

"And you are absolutely sure this thing you're riding is a wyvern ...? A full blooded wyvern?"

Sonya understood Kozel's curiosity, now. He wasn't as interested in acquiring a massive mount for himself as figuring out how mercenaries had gotten their hands on and successfully trained a potential half dragon. It was just a myth, of course, a myth the separatists in the east insisted on perpetuating, but if there was any place on earth where dragons and wyverns might produce half breeds together, it was definitely in that region known unofficially as dragon country. Sonya was certain that Isis was merely an overgrown wyvern, however. She had the smell of a wyvern, and the limited intelligence of one, as well. There wasn't even a hint of magic about her.

Haythem smiled nervously. "Yeah, I'm sure. I gave her a special"--horrifically spoiled was more like it--"diet growing up. There were some ups and downs but she's happy and healthy." She certainly wasn't happy right this moment, but maybe once they were safely away from all of the unfamiliar wyverns and Sonya ...

Arrangements

"Yeah," Cameron nodded as the healer stood up.

"I wasn't worried so much about the bruises," he noted with a sigh, "I've got a few myself thanks to all this fighting. Whatever you do, don't get into anymore fights until someone's had a more thorough look at you. I'm pretty sure I took care of the bleeding, but that hit you took in the back isn't completely healed. Too much force and you'll force it open, again."

"We'll be playing escort, so the riders shouldn't have to worry about fighting anyone who tries to stop us," Doran noted as the healer made his way past him.

Resolving

It was a fair point that they didn't know exactly how the emblem functioned, but it didn't seem to be inherently dangerous. Joanna had been far more concerned that the effort she'd put into using it had came too little too late. Fortunately, the situation seemed to be resolving, slowly, but peacefully. "I think it's almost over ... and they're not fighting, anymore."

"Well that's good to know," Malik murmured.

[Ether]

Well, things had calmed down for now, at least. It seemed that Kozel was interested in Isis, based on how things were going up top... hopefully they would stay peaceful, as with her current vantage point, the best Angelica could do was bounce a shot off of Sonya's underside, which would be entirely useless at any rate. Besides, the dragon seemed to be the only one on their side, in all this.

[Mercakete]

Well, that was good to know. His back still hurt, but it turned out that it was more than just residual pain -- the muscles were still delicate where the wound had been given an incomplete healing. If that was the case, then he didn't have much choice but to try to take it easy. Unfortunate, especially if there was an emergency, but there was no getting around it with their time constraints. He also still had that puncture wound above his collar bone, but he was less concerned about that for now. He'd just ask someone to heal it if he managed to catch up with the others.

It was good that the guardsmen were going to be the ones to deal with incoming attacks, too. They had guns, so hopefully they had the ammunition to at least deter the Neviskotians until they could get some proper cover from the woods. He wasn't sure how much longer until their gambit, though. It would be soon, but just how soon depended on how many people the healer still needed to work on, and how severe their wounds were.

"Well, we should probably get mounted up," Norbert remarked to Cameron, "Need to be ready as soon as everyone else is, after all." He paused briefly before asking, "You native to Ursaea?"

Edited February 24, 2016 by Mercakete

[scorri]

Hoshi quietly waited, hoping that the man would ask his questions and then leave them alone. Though part of her hoped it would take long enough for the rest of their group and the other Ursians to escape.

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

Lumi cursed under her breath but pulled up, knowing that she could do nothing to fight against four enemies and two wyverns. She hesitated and then gave a slight shrug and called out, "Hello. I know that you probably have orders to make sure all the Ursian soldiers don't escape. Well, I'm not really part of that group. I'm a mercenary, and I know I'm riding a pegasus, but I'm not wearing their standard uniform, *clearly*, and we really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, and my friend here could be dying and I know that doesn't mean anything to you if you were planning on killing us anyways, but it'd be really nice if you could at least let us go join the rest of the members of my group that already flew away. I mean, your commander probably caught up with them since he was riding a dragon. At least that way you'd know what he wanted to be done with us as opposed to just assuming. After all, Sonya liked my group. I'm sure you don't want a dragon angry with you, right?"

[Phoenix]

Cut Loose

"Very well," Kozel sighed. "Disappear, all of you. If I catch you messing with one of my operations again, neither Sonya nor the lieutenant are going to save your sorry hides." <"Let's go! Straight to Ursaea, Sonya!"> She hesitated just long enough to frown apologetically at the group, and then beat her wings hard to get herself moving. <"Lieutenant, you're in charge until we return! Kill anything in the fortress that's not ours!">

<"Understood,"> Karla muttered under her breath. She glanced over her shoulder at Carlos. "You're still willing to cooperate with us?"

"Wha- ... oh, yeah ... sure. I could think of worse things," Carlos shrugged.

"Then that's a lot less killing we have to do. Hang on. I'm taking you back to your men so you can rein them in." And with that, they were off, joining the other wyvern knights and heading northeast.

Mount Up

"Was I born there, you mean? Yeah," Cameron nodded. Although she'd been born there, Ursaea wasn't anymore important to her than the rest of Ursium. That was something she had in common with Darcey. It was also slightly unusual among the Ursaean garrison. "I know you're not going to be fighting, but try not to stretch too much or anything like that," she warned as she mounted up. She offered him a hand up.

"I'll go check in on our decoy," Doran said, heading for the entrance.

"I just hope she knows what she's doing," Darcey grimaced, the thought of losing her pegasus for good coming back to haunt her.

Dialogue

<"Nature's breast, I didn't catch half of that,"> one of the riders exclaimed.

<"Mercenaries,"> his passenger began, <"apparently they're in good with Sonya. Just want out of this alive.">

<"No one cares what Sonya thinks,"> the rider hissed back, <"the commander calls the shots, here. She must have led them to the base and helped them level the place.">

<"Probably, yes.">

The other rider, not wanting their own side's conversation drag on too long without a rebuttal, called back to the fleeing mercenary ... and he had something of a smirk on his face as he did. "Have any coin, merc? That would make up for the inconvenience."

Shadrak's eyelids began to flutter slightly. He could hear voices, one a bit too close given how loud it was. What was going on?

[scorri]

Lumi hesitated, and then shook her head. "We... we've been low on cash lately. Haven't gotten pay day in a while. I have like... a couple silver coins but... Look please. If we'd known what we were getting into back in town, we never would have hired on. No way did we want anything to do with you 'skotians. Most of our group aren't even from here. Why would we get ourselves in the middle of a war?"