Fantasy Setting Summer Dawn

[SilverFlight]

Desrick laughed at Meera's blatant enthusiasm.
"We will get started at the next available moment, but for the time being, let's enjoy the rest of the market. What else do you like besides herbs for healing?"
Baconhands

He had seen Lohr's interaction with the fruit merchant from a distance. The gentle, good-natured spirit that had captured his heart was still thriving and well it seemed.
The orc chuckled at Lohr's sheepish request.
"I'll split the cost." He told Crow with a smile.
Goonfire Zazz

Crispin listened to Ora's stammered apology with a completely gobsmacked expression.
"Ora...I knew you were joking...I was joking back. Moon above you took me seriously? And you've been fretting about it this whole time?" He put a gentle hand against her cheek and moved in close, trying to be the comforting presence he hoped he could be.
"Ora, these things are known: I, am an ass, and one should almost never take me seriously...I'm so sorry my stupid mouth ruined your time at the forge.."
Flutterby

((Timeskip tomorrow))

 

[Flutterby]

Ora expression went from something like fear, to surprise, to mortification. Her ears and cheeks went deeply red, and she found herself looking away from Crispin's face. He looked so shocked and upset.
You're truly terrible, you nitwit. Now you've made him feel bad. You really-
She hated that she felt so much doubt, that she couldn't ignore that voice or shut it up.
-don't think this could work, do you? Remember Meera's face when you mentioned-

Ora inhaled softly when his hand found her cheek. The voice stopped, mid-sentence. She looked up again, and the hardness in her shoulders melted. It was like magic.
"No, it didn't, its okay, I.. I'm just not very good at this, and I.. don't want to hurt you. I have an idea of what that feels like and I don't want that for you- er, us.. whatever." She scowled, for a split second, and then finished. "I just don't want to hurt you, and I thought that I had so.."
There was still regret on her face, but the worry had gone out of it. The lines on her forehead had smoothed. Her lips parted as she drew in a deep breath. She tilted her head, only a little, to lean into his touch. The rest of the tension hiding along her spine fell away, and Ora let herself lean closer. Slowly, a smirk formed on her lips.
"From now on, I will keep your boorishness in mind."
SilverFlight

 

[Goonfire]

While the ordeal with the now-rejoicing merchant and his recovering girl was happening, Crow thought long and hard about what Pyrrhus had said. After paying half the cost of the stall’s entire inventory, he backed away to stand next to the towering centaur, then looked straight up to give him an answer. “I’m sure by now, my father knows you’re no slave. I... let that hint slip during the party,” he murmured sheepishly. “I have to tell him somehow, because if I simply disappeared, he would probably scour the whole continent for us. Although... surely, we’d do the same, if we had a child who went missing.”
SilverFlight

Of course, how could Iolas go unnoticed? He did receive some strange looks from passers-by, though it it was a real toss-up when considering he was a barking high elf. “Oh dear, I forgot the leash for this dog,” Crow played along dryly, not cracking a smirk.
LazyDaze

 

[SilverFlight]

"The fact that you don't want to hurt me," Crispin said softly, "Is exactly why you never can." He ran a thumb gently along the bone of her cheek as his hand stayed where it was on her face.
He only stepped back with reluctance.
"Good, my "boorishness" will keep us great company for the ride to Dwerstand!"
Flutterby

Pyrrhus seemed relieved at Crow's sheepish admission. "You did? Oh, well, it may not be as big a shock as I thought it was going to be. That's good then."
He nodded in complete agreement.
"Of course! We can't whisk you away to Dwerstand without letting someone know." He stamped a hoof lightly on the ground for emphasis. "I would be beside myself with worry if a child of ours went gallivanting off with a strange yet charismatic and wonderfully handsome centaur. I would say: "Gallus my boy, you cannot treat your fathers so, you absolutely must tell us about your doings and where this devilishly-charming creature is taking you."...well," he glanced down at Crow with a warm, happy smile. "I'm not committed to "Gallus"."
Goonfire

*~*~*

The road to Dwerstand had been smooth. Their horses kept a good pace and between Pyrrhus' infectious good modd and Crispin's foolish jokes and pranks, spirits were mostly very high. They had passed into the foothills of the mountains now, a rolling grassland with hills that obscured nearly everything when one was at the bottom and revealed the towering peaks in the distance as the travelers reached their tops.

"What can we expect from your home Ora?" Pyrrhus asked her one morning after they had just arisen. He was lying on a soft patch of grass near the fire, packing away his ink and paper. Desrick had set about cooking their breakfast, some of the oats set into water with a few salted raisins and a stick of cinnamon, and the smell was enough to set stomachs rumbling.
"I haven't been able to glean much because we've tried to avoid people. Back in Cyndara I would have had all the latest news from the minstrels who had recently been to wherever I wished to know about."

Crispin woke late, and crawled out of his tent with his hair sticking up on end in every direction. He dragged his feet to the campfire and mumbled a sleepy good morning to everyone nearby.
"I'm not sure I like camping on the ground. For all the space you Sumennans seem to have you can't grow a decent-sized tree anywhere it seems..."

If one had looked in the distance, down the trail they had been taking, one would have seen several dark shapes, riders, running full tilt towards them. Aiming to catch them up but for what purpose, they could only guess.

Goonfire Flutterby Zazz Phayne Ms. Sparrow LazyDaze Baconhands mothspit

 

[Baconhands]

In Meera's mind, Sumenna had treated her a lot better than expected. While she found it difficult to adjust to the heightened level of light, the shapeshifter found herself somewhat intrigued by the culture, the people, and the plant life. She had an abundance of questions, primarily to do with herbs, fruits, and vegetables, most of which were answered fairly quickly by a few members of the party. It was apparent that there were quite a few people who had some form of medical knowledge, and Meera was quick to ask if she could shadow them as they made potions, picked herbs, and, when the time came, when they healed injuries. This was a temporary family - the family she currently chose to be with. And she wanted to help them as much as possible.

Meera was awake earlier than most - she wasn't a heavy sleeper, and the light from the perpetual sun made it difficult for her to rest for longer than a few hours at a time. She was tired, yes, and heavy bags had formed under eyes, but she was not bothered by this; what bothered her was that breakfast still felt like ages away. Sitting cross-legged next to the fire, the shapeshifter held an empty bowl impatiently in her hands. It was a different breakfast to what she was used to, but after her first try a few breakfasts ago Meera now ranked it as one of her favourites. She had found a few berries that went well with the oats, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from throwing a few in.

As she spotted the figures on the horizon, Meera straightened her back. Her disgruntled expression vanished, and was replaced by one of perplexity.
"If I mentioned that there were people riding towards us, would that cause alarm? Or relief? Or indifference?" She indicated to the incoming riders, and placed her bowl beside her. She stood.,"Because... well... if you'd like I can fly over to them, have a look at them. Maybe have a conversation or two. That would save them the journey, perhaps if they're friendly? If they're hostile... well, I think I can fly faster than them."

Goonfire Flutterby Zazz Phayne Ms. Sparrow LazyDaze SilverFlight mothspit

 

[LazyDaze]

After the various antics and adventures in Eskaro they eventually continued their journey to Dwerstand. Eskaro was a needed stop. For a brief moment you could almost forget about the dangers to come. It had not gone unnoticed how uncomfortable several of members of their party was in the outdoors of Sumenna. Iolas was fairly comfortable in either country although he was definitely partial to the Sumennan vegetation. Speaking of vegetation he was awake, like many of the others, however, he was not sleepy. Setting his harsh training in Everreach aside he had learned to operate at full capacity with little sleep. When one is a asleep, that person is at his most vulnerable state. Not only in the natural sense but in the sense that others could be advancing their position while you are doing nothing. Attacks, planning, gaining intel, all of these things can be done while one is in stasis. The less time that you allow this vulnerability to last, the better your own position becomes. It was pretty simple. After all these years it was only natural for him to push rest aside.

He looked at Crispin when eh made the comment about their lack of trees which prompted Iolas to laugh quietly before speaking. "At least the trees we do plant refrain from using us as toothpicks. Besides, we have a Desrick to sleep under."

Iolas then stood up stretching, almost a bit too suddenly. He noticed the shadowy figures approaching; however, Meera was the first to speak. He placed a hand on the hilt of his blade as he walked towards that direction. He gave Meera a smile before answering her question. "Indifference..."
Meera, who seemed eager to help; however, this wasn't the time to put her life on the line.

"....No, not yet. At this distance you can see them which means they can probably see you. Without the element of surprise on such an open plain you might as well walk toward them as you are. In fact, it is a bold move on their part to approach us in such fashion."

Friend, foe, random travelers? Iolas had no idea what this could mean; however, the timing was too perfect. Not to mention that they were coming from the same path they had taken previously. "Rise and shine, it would appear we have guests," Iolas shouted earnestly to alert any who may have been still sleep or groggy. He was prepared to face off with them if need be.

SilverFlight Baconhands Zazz Goonfire Phayne Ms. Sparrow mothspit Flutterby

 

[Flutterby]

Ora gave a soft chuckle, mostly hiding her disappointment as he moved away. The feeling went away quickly enough- they had preparations to make, after all- but it's presence was new and strange, and thinking about it made sleep hard to find that night.
*~*~*
The ride to Dwerstand didn't bother her as much as she had thought. She had woken in the morning feeling sluggish and nervous and ill-tempered, but between Pyrrhus and Crispin, and the warmth of the sun, her mood was equal parts concern and sleepy happiness. It wasn't the worst combination she had felt recently.
The morning that Pyrrhus asked her about home, she had been sending to the horses and just walked back to the fire. She seemed startled by the question, but quickly made her face relax.
"Well, it will be better for those sensitive to the light. Much is underground, part of the mountain, so the light won't be so bad. It might prove more difficult to get around, though. You're all.. tall, which will make you stand out enough as it is. I mean, I'm considered kind of tall, so." Ora gave a shrug, trying her best not to look worried about it.
"As for culture.. Dwarves value the ideas of hard work, humility, mastery of one's craft, even if the nobility doesn't reflect that anymore. I-"
Ora stopped abruptly when Meera spoke up, and turned to look at the horizon. Sure enough, there was a group riding towards them at full speed.
"We could try to make a run for it," The dwarf advised as she returned to her pony. Calmly, she removed her bow from its place. She didn't see them agreeing to run, or making it very far if they did. Not with pack horses and her pony in tow.

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

​

Feyre Yinnelis

Feyre had risen that morning quite early, which wasn’t unusual. She took stock of her supplies, stretched and trained a fair distance away from the camp, and more. For the most part of the trip, Feyre has stayed silent, other than the fair amount of witty, dry-humored comments she’d make here and there inbetween certain conversations, unable to help herself, though she did make a fair point of keeping herself distanced from both Desrick and Pyrrhus. Simply looking at them made her feel unusually guilty. She’d tried to approach the orc several times but found herself usually saying some stupid jokes and walking off instead, the apology getting stuck in her throat. As for Pyrrhus...sometimes apologies weren’t enough.

Shink. Shink. The metal daggers scrapped lightly against each other as Feyre occupied herself with sharpening her ornate twin daggers to keep her mind from the smell of Desrick’s cooking, her stomach rumbling in anticipation, quietly tuning into the the idle chatter of the group, especially to Ora and Pyrrhus and their discussion on Dwerstand. Feyre glanced up from the blades briefly to look at the two before movement caught the corner of her eye. Feyre swiveled her head in the riders direction, tensing as her eyes narrowed with suspicion around the same time Meera pointed them out, offering to help before Iolas claimed it wasn’t worth it—not for the moment at least.

Feyre stood up slowly, rolling her shoulders with a rather bemused expression that didn’t match her uneased nerves, “who knows,” Feyre said dryly, “maybe they're just delivering us gift baskets, everybody loves those,” she joked with a sarcastic tone of optimism to nobody in particular, crossing her arms and leaning her weight on her hip as if she wasn’t at all worried, though the daggers she still held in her hand said otherwise.
SilverFlight mothspit Zazz LazyDaze Flutterby Phayne Baconhands Goonfire

 

[Zazz]

Azaria hadn't slept more than two hours since leaving Eskaro. She, like Iolas, was a product of Everreach training. Sleep made you vulnerable. Even when she did catch some shut eye, she held firmly onto her late father's twin daggers. Thus, she had seen the party on horseback long before Meera mentioned them.

The halfling elf came to stand by Iolas just as Lohrithe was sharing his berries with the shapeshifter, Meera, and whomever else wanted some. She set an arrow in her bow and took aim, waiting for some sort of signal, ready to fire in under a second. "What do you think?" Azaria asked of Iolas. "Sent by the Bishop?"

 

[Goonfire]

"Well, not only that, but..." Crow cut himself off, in case there were any prying ears. The mention of a trip to Cyndara would be scandalous news, especially among the lay. He found a wide grin creeping across his own face as Pyrrhus discussed chasing down a hypothetical son. Naturally, the inquisitor's hand flicked into place over the smile as soon as he was conscious of it. "Gallus, hm? I'd count it in the realm of possibilities," he returned with a playful nudge.
———
Dwerstand seemed so distant, still. Crow knew he needed to be patient; many inquisitors throughout history failed because they attempted to expedite their missions. Luckily, he learned from their mistakes.

During the long rest, the inquisitor crossed the road and made a second campfire that was a bit fancier and better-fed than the first. This decoy would at least buy some time, should bandits make such a poor choice. Either way, such fools would likely happen upon a party with at least two light sleepers and a possible insomniac, all of whom wielded weapons with terrifying efficiency and accuracy.

As with many rests in the past week, the mutt woke next to Pyrrhus, except this time it was in response to the sound of talking and horses approaching. By now, the decoy campfire had snuffed itself, leaving only ash. His armor lay in a pile, off to the side with his spear. So by instinct, he bolted up and grabbed his spear, standing with the others to watch the events unfold.

SilverFlight

 

[LazyDaze]

Iolas eyed the shadowy figures carefully as Azaria stood beside him. He relaxed, just for a bit, before regaining his composure. Everyone seemed to be sharing the same feeling of foreboding as the inched closer and closer. Iolas tapped his hilt a couple of times as he tried to think things through before answering Azaria's question.

"Come with me. I'm going to do something incredibly stupid," Iolas said with a playful smile almost ignoring her question, but not completely. After all, he knew what he was about to do next. Iolas retreated to where he had last left his horse and cut the rope with his blade. He saddled on to his horse and rode toward the mysterious figures while snatching Azaria up on the way, swinging her to the back of his horse. He wasn't going to let them dictate all of their options. He smiled as he briefly waved behind him. "If they start stabbing me, that's the signal," he said cheerfully. The others were free to do what they wanted to do, but he wasn't going to wait for an attack. If it were allies from the Bishop, his timing was horrible; if they were enemies they should have came a few hours earlier.

"If they attack. Shoot em dead...," Iolas said confidently. Bandits, allies, or neither, either way they better reveal their purpose fast.

Zazz SilverFlight Flutterby Goonfire Feyre Phayne Baconhands

 

[Zazz]

The halfling assassin's serious expression broke at his invitation, and she shook her head, putting her bow away as he went for his horse. She was ready for him when he snatched her up, extending a firm hand and swinging herself gracefully onto the horse behind Iolas. With one hand, she held onto him. The other was ready, three knives ready to fly at the slightest promise of danger. They left, giving the others time to gather themselves, and perhaps put on their armor.

The wind in her hair was a welcome feeling, and for a moment she put her face in the back of Iolas's neck, the tiniest of smiles adorning her lips before she raised her head to peer over his shoulder.

 

[SilverFlight]

Desrick frowned when the others pointed out the riders.
"They're coming up fast. No one peaceful as ever moved with that sort of urgency."
"Maybe they're not for us?" Crispin put in hopefully.
Ora suggested running, but with the weight they had on them, and the look of the horses the riders had, it was clear who would be outstripped, long distance or short.
Pyrrhus got to his feet as the others prepared for the worst outcome. The figures were still a ways off.
"Do you really think they mean to attack?"
His question was nearly cut short when one of them lifted a bow and shot. The distance however would have been far too great to land...but the arrow whistled into the camp and planted itself dangerously close to Desrick's feet.
The illusion shimmered and broke, the riders had been using light magic to make it seem like they were much further and now...they were right on top of them. They wore a strange silver armour that glinted in the sun and made it hard to focus on them.
The first of ten ran straight at Iolas' horse with a cavalry sword. Two more charged past him with pikes and three more were changing bows for their own swords.
Desrick roared a battle cry and went for his axe, hefting it in one hand, while the pot ladle was still clutched in the other.

Crispin had his bow strung and an arrow knocked in three breaths and loosed. The arrow went just wide of the gap in the armour between chest and arm, and bounced harmlessly off.
Crispin swore. "Whatever they're wearing it hurts my eyes! I can't get a sight on them!"

Pyrrhus had found his blades and went to stand by Crow. He parried a spearman's blade and sent his other hilt into the back of the man's helmet, knocking him off his horse, but they were coming in much too fast for him to defend against the other two inbound.

One of them struck Desrick hard with the dull end of the pike. From the back of galloping horse the blow nearly took him off his feet. In the pass-by the rider's horse upset the stand holding the pot of porridge and it went flying, spilling its contents all about the camp.
Desrick gave the rider a look of pure contempt, a dark mark already appearing on his cheek where he'd been hit.
"I was hungry." He growled.

Goonfire Flutterby Zazz Phayne Ms. Sparrow LazyDaze Baconhands mothspit

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

​

Feyre Yinnelis

Feyre gaped after Iolas and Azaria with brief mortification. Idiots. Morons. What the hell were they thinking pulling a stunt like that? Feyre got into a more combative stance as they got closer, before an arrow abruptly flewthrough the air, landing at Desrick’s feet. Feyre narrowed her eyes at the distant riders, a plummeting sensation in her chest, something was wrong, the ground beneath her shouldn’t be shaking at such intensity at the distance, “They’re—“ but it was all she was able to shout in warning before the illusion simmered and they were suddenly right in front of her, blinding her momentarily. Feyre shut her eyes briefly and went by movement and sound alone, hearing the faint swing of a sword cut through the air above her, and Feyre swiftly ducked under the blow. Darkness. She’d fought in before—just the dark. No sight. She memorized it like a friend, it had once been her only ally—not seeing. Now, moving within it felt like a familiar mapped out place.

Feyre opened her eyes to see another strike Desrick, the porridge contents spilling as they ran past, and Feyre nearly gave a cry of dismay as Desrick remarked about him being hungry. She was famished! Feyre’s expression turned fridgid as she turned her head slowly back to the rider that had swiped at her, the shadows seemed to curl around her while she focused on the two in the camp, trying to fight off their armors effect on them with her own shadowy illusions and magic to assist the others and herself. In the mean time, she took aim at one of the riders and launched her dagger with all her weight, the dagger flipping through the air before promptly hitting one of the two riders, hard, in the back of the head with enough force to knock him out. Behind her, her shadow was moving of its own violation in its own similar, combative stance as hers.

SilverFlight mothspit Zazz LazyDaze Flutterby Phayne Baconhands Goonfire

 

[Goonfire]

Crow had been uneasy, but this assault confirmed the feeling among the entire group. Given two more were coming in his direction, he lifted his spear, but paused to cast a spell. “Look away,” he warned, giving Pyrrhus a short warning and squinching his eyes shut before discharging a bright flash to stun the two horsemen, causing one to veer off-course and swing wide. Meanwhile, the other was coming too close for comfort, so Crow continued the motion with his weapon, thrusting upward to send the rider reeling off his mount. Unfortunately for the inquisitor, he wasn’t quite out of the way; the horse grazed him, spinning him off-balance. He tumbled over, but made a quick recovery, snatching the spear and rising onto one knee, almost in tandem with his dismounted enemy. “Come on...”

In his peripheral vision, Crow saw the reactions to the cooking pot being dumped. While that was highly inconvenient, it certainly drew the ire of a few. If they were holding back before, they surely weren’t anymore. ‘Avenge our meal...’

SilverFlight Ms. Sparrow

 

[Baconhands]

Meera was going to start raving about the hypocrisies of Iolas when the warnings started coming; as the arrow landed at Desrick's feet, Meera let out a quite audible yelp and soon enough she had transitioned into her raven form. She was not a fighter - she would just get in the way of her friends when it came to it. Trying to make herself as little a liability as possible, she took to the skies, circling high above, trying to get as best a view as she could of the skirmish that was only just beginning.
Good, she thought to herself, if anyone gets hurt, I can just swoop down, a potion here, a balm there, get them away from the danger. Easy - no need to get in the way of the people who actually know how to handle themselves.

The opening stages unfolded before her; she saw Desrick get struck and initiated her plan. She swooped down, transitioned to her human form and quickly sifted through her bag, bringing out two small vials - one a deep red, the other a purple. She offered them to the orc with an explanation, "Red one heals, purple one's a pain killer. You need to shot them cause they taste bad."
The shapeshifter kept an eye on the rider as she spoke. When the porridge spilled, a great sense of loss struck through her heart like an arrow. She could feel the urge to drop to her knees in despair. That was her breakfast. Her breakfast. How dare they? Her despair soon manifested itself into a great anger - she felt a renewed vigour. "Avenge our breakfast," she uttered.
She took to the skies once more - if she saw an opportunity to take one of the riders out, she would not give them any mercy; one does not knock over porridge and get away lightly.
SilverFlight

 

[LazyDaze]

An arrow was suddenly sent whizzing in the direction of the camp, confirming everyone's suspicions. Iolas drew his sword and prepared for the worse. The situation was more dire than he had thought as the illusion came down, revealing that they were a lot closer than they originally thought. Perhaps they forced their hand, but the timing was still advantageous for them. This also revealed that some of the riders were extremely close. One so close that he was already targeting Iolas, or at least his horse. He didn't have time to attack the other two riders. On instinct Iolas veered a little to his right as a mighty upward swing with his left hand to send the opposing rider's arm flailing upward. Iolas continued his forward momentum, slowing down for just a moment to give Azaria the opening to take out the rider and steal his horse. "Azaria," was the only word Iolas shouted. She should have seen the situation they were in as well. It was the only word he had enough time to say given the situation. Fighting them on foot this far from camp wouldn't be ideal.

Iolas quickly noticed the glint in their armor which made it hard to focus. This no doubt hurt their ability to attack them with ranged weapons and projectiles. It was not ideal, but close ranged fighting was the best option. With the first rider taken out, and the other two moving on ahead, gaps in their formation were already forming; however, they were just a bit too eager to kill them it would seem. They weren't fighting the mindless savage that he was years ago. Iolas charged at full speed toward the group with no trace of fear in his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to take them out single handedly; however, he could remove their advantage by working with his comrades. Iolas squinted his eyes as he sped up, seizing the moment to run past the group while the gaps remained. There was a brief clash between him and two other riders as he squeezed through their attempt to converge and close said gap as his arm got grazed by one of their blades. He more than returned the favor by delivering a good wound to one of the riders legs. However, Iolas promptly turned around and approached their rear. Iolas would expect them to scatter at this point, but with any luck Azaria would be able to help pin them down from another direction, hence why she needed her own horse. The next step would be for the fighters remaining at the camp to notice Iolas' efforts to pin down the enemy, or at least some of them and limit their space to operate. However, the good thing about being a target is that they wouldn't have to chase them very far. At the very least they could not place their focus on one area and this should give those at the camp ample time and opportunity to defend themselves from manageable numbers less the enemy would want to fall into a basic pincer attack.

SilverFlight Zazz

 

[Phayne]

Flutterby mothspit Goonfire SilverFlight LazyDaze Zazz Baconhands Ms. Sparrow

~Past time activities~

Left to his own devices and having shaken off those that had begun to grow suspicious, Azael using his lithe form had managed to snake his way into almost every available dark corner of the city itself, the dark colored feline; a kid in a candy store. As was to be expected, Eskaro was a gold mine of wonders, the ever opportunistic Azael taking full advantage of the cities culture for his sole benefit. While the citizens were gold nuggets ready to be plucked, it was still the impressive Monastery that had turned out to be Azael's golden goose, almost every inch of that holy building being littered with trinkets and antiquities that were just begging to be stolen.

Alas, the majority of Azael's newest collection would remain exactly where they were; the feline resolving to loan all of it to the arch bishop with the promise that it would be collected at a later date. An unspoken contract was made and that was the end of it. Several wagons would be needed in order to gut the monastery of all the items Azael had decided was his; these wagons potentially funded by the sale of the Dragon Bell once Azael acquired it.

.....

~Realization~
It was by chance that Azael had been lingering atop one of the statues in the main hall way; body slung aross the shoulders of the bronze maiden who overlooked it all. Two attendents had been walking by, hands pushing trolleys as they made their way to wherever it was they had needed to be. Idle chatter shared between them would normally have been ignored by Azael, what importance could their conversation have that it would impact Azael's life. How small minded he was. Ear's pricking up and eyes shooting open, Azael listened as the two attendants conversed about the recent departure of the Bishops Guest, the young woman expressing her unease at having to deal with the Cyndarans that had been apart of 'Lord Crow's' entourage.

"Damn it.. Damn it Damn it!..Those blasted buffoons!... Leaving without me!" shouted Azael, causing both attendants to stare at him with disbelief. "I bet it was that High Elf's decision... cat hating fool" cursed Azael as he quickly leaped off the head of the statue and made way towards the stables, dashing between the legs of the younger woman which in turn elicited a high pitch scream from her, before her knee's buckled and she fell flat on her ass.

"I need a horse... I gotta find a horse!" he spoke to himself, sliding across the floor as he attempted to make a sharp turn. "I can't believe those fools... did they really just up and leave like that?!" another scream echoed down the corridor as Azael leaped, bouncing off the bust of another attendant as he made another sharp turn, the sound of cutlery bursting into chorus as they fell upon the floor reverberating through the building.

It was several minutes of running through the Monastery before Azael had made his way outside and at the stables, the door partially open as the stable boys got to their duties of tending to the horses inside for their masters. Aside from them, the stables had been relatively devoid of other humans, the barn in which these horses were house being deemed as 'not important enough' to have trained guards stationed near them. Lucky for Azael, who after catching his breath had began to stalk his way into the wooden building. He needed a horse.

With padded feet, Azael managed to enter the building unnoticed, the dark feline keeping as close to the walls as possible as he made his way past various stables. Head hung low and eyes kept on the target all the way down at the end. On either side of him horses kept to their business, several peering over at the miniscule intruder as he sauntered past their stalls towards the last one; this stall being located opposite to the large pile of hay.

Buried beneath the pile of hay, Azael waited patiently for someone to tend to the distressed horse, the young mare showing obvious displeasure towards the foreign invader that had entered her comfort zone. Neighing and kicking at the door, it was only a few short moments before one of the stableboys had caught on and began making his way towards her stall, oblivious to the presence of Azael.

Creaking doors and booted steps accompanied the neighing mare as the boy attempted to calm her down, both hands carassing its neck as he gently patted away; cooing softly as he did so. How revolting. This in itself had lasted several more minutes, the boy taking his time to ensure that the horse had truly calmed down and that everything in its stall had been up to par with the required standards. It was only when the boy had begun to exit that Azael pounced, his small black form quickly shifting into a much larger, much more ferocious predator.

Much bigger than the boy, Azael stood over him; right paw pressing down heavily upon the boys shoulder as bladed teeth etched ever closer to his trembling face. "Saddle this horse for me boy and point me in the direction of Dwerstand... I won't ask again", a deep predatory growl escaped through his mouth as he continued to lean in closer, his breath washing over the prey caught in his grasp; saliva free falling onto the boys cheek."Do it... I have no time to waste here"The boy, trembling in sheer fear of the creature above him had taken no time to agree to Azael's demands, his head nodding away furiously as he struggled to find his voice.

...

~The Road to Dwerstand~

A short distance ahead of Azael, a fight had begun to take place; several riders engaging on the group headed towards Dwerstand; weapons in hand as they attempted to take them by surprise. The faint sounds of combat just audible along the whispering wind that blew past Azael, the feline reluctantly in his human form for the duration of the ride; for obvious reasons. With adrenaline building in his body, Azael hurried the horses pace; right hand feeling his side for the slingshot.​

 

[Zazz]

The assassin's eyes widened at the sudden change; the riders' distance was an illusion. She felt the change in Iolas, and calculated his next move by the feel of his tensing muscles. She knew what she had to do; she had already put her knives away and readied herself for a jump when her name came from her partner's mouth, and she did not hesitate. Squinting her eyes against the shimmering armor, the assassin leapt and tackled the horseman. The horse threw them and Azaria yanked his helmet just over his eyes. He grasped at it in an attempt to right it, but it was too late; his throat was torn, a set of bloody fangs set in a snarl spitting out a chunk of flesh. The man bled.

Azaria stood. She left him to die, neck spurting blood, and promptly took his horse, riding off towards the camp. "Bloody skies," she cursed, seeing Crow still with no armor. "We gave you time, you grisly goat."

Now, she had a problem. She wasn't armed for this. The least ranged weapon she had were her twin daggers, and she'd have to get in close to get anything done with them. She needed to think of something besides tackling each rider like the last.

Meanwhile, Lohrithe had begun swinging his huge sword, the gold decor glinting in the sun. He managed to knock one rider off of his horse, and proceeded to swing wildly, eyes stinging, until he accidentally knocked his enemy a few feet by the head. The rider was knocked out cold. Lohrithe squinted at his surroundings, annoyed by the enemy's antics. "Desrick! Where are you?!" Spotting green, he rushed over to fight at his back. "I can't see them," he said, even as he parried a blow.

From afar, Azaria noticed something strange. Feyre's shadow was moving... oddly. She watched it for a moment - perhaps it was a trick of the light? - until she realized... Feyre was making it move like that. Magic? Definitely magic. It had to be. The halfling elf rode up to the cyan-haired half drow, stabbing a rider in the thigh on the way. "Feyre," she called, stopping near her and extending a hand. "I need you to cast them in shadow," said Azaria. Time to see if she was right. "That way I can see where to hit them."

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

​

Feyre Yinnelis

Feyre felt a bead of sweat form on her brows as she manipulated the shadows of what wasaround her, including that of the groups, their shadows separating from their form entirely and moved about their own violation, pursing their horse-riding attackers with whatever weapons the owner of the shadow possessed. The strain of controlling so many shadows was quickly exhausting the drow, her own physical exhaustion adding to this as she squared off against a rider, dunking under his blade before drivomg her dagger into her throat, the cut trained and precise to avoid blood spurting out at her, able to see perfectly with the shadows she stretched out around him, blocking the suns reflective nature. She slid theknife from his throat and spun around at the feel and sound and a running horse, relaxing a little at the sight of its rider, Azaria.

Feyre arched a brow at Azaria’s request and quickly glanced around to take in their surroundings, specifically of the members fighting in the camp. Most were dealing with the enemies in the camp with only slight and with the help of her shadow replicates, she hoped she’d beeen able to provide further help in helping them slay their enemies properly. Now, she had to help Azaria deal with the bigger portion of the riders.

Feyre turned and nodded at Azaria, grasping her hand and pulling herself quickly up into the horse, “you have as much time as I have strength!” She called to her over the chaos of blades clashing, forcing her concentration on the area around them, one by one the soldiers were cast into shadow, rendering their light-reflective armor useless for the time being. Feyre let out a silent gasp, squeezing her eyes shut briefly at the pain and weariness they weighed on her body. She’d never casted so much magic on so many before—it was hard. The amount of magic she was using was greater than she ever felt before. Now, Feyre didn’t think she’d be able to lift a weapon if she wanted to. Now, she fought to stay awake and conscious, her resolve unbreaking on the soldiers as she concentrated on the task at hand, a thick sheen of sweat covering her entire at the strain—but she did not break. Would not break. Until every soldier was dead.

It was this thought she repeated over and over as the battle raged on, hoping the group was as efficient at fighting as they were at babbling.

SilverFlight mothspit Zazz LazyDaze Flutterby Phayne Baconhands Goonfire

 

[Zazz]

Relief settled her chest, and perhaps a bit of hope, as the other half drow cast some of the soldiers in shadow. A confident smirk curved Azaria's lips and she once again wielded her bow. In the span of four seconds, two elves slumped in their saddles, arrows protruding from their necks. A third was alerted to what was going on, and shouted at the others. Three more joined in and began to surround Feyre, but the assassin kept them at a distance. It was a struggle. Feyre needed help, but Azaria didn't have the time. "IOLAS," Azaria bellowed, letting a third arrow fly, letting it slip through the eye of an enemy. Three surrounding.

 

[Flutterby]

Ora watched in worry, and no small amount of annoyance, as Iolas and Azaria hopped onto a horse to go challenge the riders themselves.
"Skies above, are they so convinced of their own excellence?" She muttered softly, unsure if she was more irritated or concerned. She had to settled of concerned, when the illusion broke that the riders were practically on top of them.

Ora stayed at the far edge of the camp, and tried to shoot, but had the same problem Crispin did. The armor was blinding, it was impossible to aim accurately.
It remained impossible until the shadows started to move. It took Ora a moment to identify Feyre as the person behind it. She felt a brief, intense flash of gratitude.
Ora returned the favor quickly, drawing and loosing arrows in the direction of the soldiers that were targeting her. The first one deflected off of the armor, as Ora's eyes recovered, but the next two found their marks solidly, and took down two of the soliders.
The half-dwarf took a breath, drew another arrow, and focused on her next target.
Zazz Ms. Sparrow
SilverFlight mothspit LazyDaze Phayne Baconhands Goonfire

 

[LazyDaze]

It was only from this angle that he could now truly assess the dire straits they were in. They did well to hold them back for this long; however, they were undisciplined and abandoned Iolas as they decided to take out Feyre who seemed to be countering their advantage of a blinding armor. The remaining riders began to attack and although his allies were making short work of them, even their best fighters were starting to stretch themselves thin. He took a quick note of Meera flying above before he heard Azaria's voice scream his name which seemed to make the world stand still. Feyre was surrounded. Azaria had her hands full..his friends needed him. Iolas applied some pressure to the vial he was given in Eskaro, making it crack just a little so that it would be easy to break as he threw the sleep potion up towards Meera. Meanwhile Iolas leapt from his horse and with minimal strikes was able to parry the death blows meant for Feyre just in the nick of time. He smiled after brief pause at his sudden intrusion. "Please remain still," he told Feyre after flashing a grin.

Iolas could have finished them for sure; however, he had to protect Feyre who was drained which forced him on the defensive. Furthermore, he did not want to kill which made it extremely hard for Iolas to land a decisive blow. Iolas danced around Feyre as he parried and returned non lethal strikes to at least keep the riders from charging in recklessly. At this point their numbers had dwindled so he just had to remain calm until someone else landed a clean strike. He kept his cool expression as he created an invisible circle that he would not allow them to enter. Then one of them slipped up, probably frustrated with the entire situation. "Even my mercy has its limits,"

Iolas eyes widened as he parried his sword and clotheslined the rider off of his steed, slamming him head first into the ground. The rider was clearly concussed however, the impact did aggravate Iolas' shoulder. Stabbing his own sword into the arm of the opponent to keep him pinned, Iolas took his opponent's blade and continued his defense until help arrived. If he had learned anything at the ball, it was that he could not save this world alone. Iolas continued to hold off the other two riders until one of the others could take them out.

Ms. Sparrow Baconhands Goonfire Zazz SilverFlight

 

[Zazz]

Lohrithe was confused when his sword no longer hit metal; at the order of one of the others, his opponent ran off to circle Feyre. He wasn't sure why. Though, he did notice he no longer needed to squint painfully at their armor. Lohrithe frowned, lowering his sword. Feyre hadn't mentioned wielding magic. Azaria's face, he saw, was smeared with blood around her mouth. Iolas heeded her call, riding in to defend Feyre. Two successful arrows came from Ora and Crispin's direction, leaving only one soldier, whom Iolas had knocked unconscious.

The drow crouched to check on his fallen soldier. His sword had dented the helmet pretty deep. He doubted the man's head was intact, but he checked for a pulse nonetheless. Nothing.

Azaria was grateful for Iolas and Ora, and she nodded the latter's way when the second heathen fell. Immediately, she jumped down from her stolen horse and went to Feyre. She held her, afraid she might keel over if she didn't. "Feyre." The assassin tucked a hand into a pocket and produced a small handful of cranberries. "Here. Eat these. Gather your strength. It's over."

 

[SilverFlight]

Pyrrhus threw Crow a grateful look as the inquisitor protected his flank. Pyrrhus returned the favour and moved about him as if they were dancing; parrying blows and protecting each other.

Feyre's shadows to douse the reflective armour was a stroke of genius, and it saved them. The riders balked in the confusion of darkness and were quickly overcome. Once Crispin had a clear shot he took it, using his arrows to keep the soldiers away from Feyre as best he could until the others could cut them down.
Every soldier that had attacked them now lay dead or dying in the grass.
Desrick took the grim work of finishing those beyond recovery.
A whistle from Crispin alerted Desrick to one last figure, standing a good distance away. He turned his horse and spurred it in retreat. He had seen everything.
"No good, he's too far!" Crispin shouted. "I can't get a shot in him."

Pyrrhus meanwhile was checking injuries.
"Whoever they were, they weren't pulling any of their attacks. They meant to kill us."
He made his way over to Azaria and Feyre.
"Shouldn't take a moment, and I'll have you right as rain."
"What do you think they were trying to accomplish with that?" Crispin asked as he went to find Ora, checking to see if she was all right.

When he found her he took her hands gently. "I hope those brutes didn't hurt you."

Desrick cleaned his axe on the grass by what was left of their camp fire. "Check their clothes, perhaps we can find a clue as to where they came from."
He looked with chagrin at the spilled pot. "For now I suggest we press on. I'll try making food again when we're a good long way from here. He should change our route too. Someone obviously knew where to find us."
"Well that worries me." Crispin added. He looked to the others. "What do you think?"

When the clothes were searched there were no discerning emblems, however the cut of the cloth and the materieal used to make the armour would scream Evereach.

Goonfire Flutterby Zazz Phayne Ms. Sparrow LazyDaze Baconhands