Our war, their burden.

[Dracovicus]

Cloud started to come down from the air, one ice block at a time, Until he was close to the ground. Cloud UN-combine one of his swords from each other and put them away, seeing how he did not want a accident to happen. He look at Dahlia, than to Ingrid. Both of the girls, crazy or not, was having a bad day today. He walked up to Dahlia and look down at her, than to her legs. "Would you like me to carry you or let the dragon do it?" Cloud asked her. He simple was not going to leave her here.

[Lothuialel]

Lou ran to Dahlia. "Oh my god! Dahlia!" She looked her friend over and panicked. "Someone pleas help her!" The Shadow Walker freaked out and tried to stop the bleeding.

 

Camile rode Asa up a hidden trail and looked back to Shinobu. "Conrad should know how to walk up this slope. We are just along for the ride now."

Edited March 11, 2014 by Lothuialel

[MetalDragon]

"I'm not bleeding! Hey, don't do tha- ow!"

Dahlia complained loudly in pain as Lou tried to treat her, and Cloud approached her. At the same time, the now conscious Ingrid also came over to look at her, while covering the spot where once was her left arm and a grievous injury. "If you ignore the fact I'm completely unable to walk now, I'm okay. It just hurts a lot." the red-haired girl said and stared up at the people who surrounded her. "Now, would you mind and please give me some personal space? This is very awkward." she requested, trying to sit up by herself.

Ingrid looked to her side and saw Irina, who she immediately recognized. "Hey, you're that dragon I met in the dead woods, aren't you? Where's Apple? Is she not with you?" she asked.

 

 

=========================

 

 

Salazr grinned and helped his fellow kin search for the treacherous general, anxious as a chance to finally bring back Kievo was finally given them. And it sounded like extracting the information from the general could make for a fairly entertaining moment, too.

 

 

=========================

 

 

Shinobu returned the look to Camile and nodded. "Right. I'll try to not fall off or anything!" she smiled and adjusted herself on Conrad, her mood upbeat as usual. The cleric noticed they weren't quite going on the mountain's path and that got her curious. It looked more like a hidden path they were following now. Where were they heading to next? "Hey, um. Aren't we straying off the path? Where are we going?" she asked.

 

 

=========================

 

 

Enya glanced down at the hatchling that clumsily took off Drago's back, looking at his blue eyes and asked her about the mages. "What are the mages? By definition, a mage would simply be someone capable of casting magic." the mage looked at the young dragon, thinking of a way to explain it in a way he'd understand. "But of course, there's more to that. I believe you mean the mages that dragons despise. To be more specific, the mages are the magical people that live in secluded communities to the far north, in the mountains that have some of the most brutal climates in whole Kevatia. We had an important role in the catastrophic events that happened a long time ago, such as the war and the spell." Enya continued.

[Lothuialel]

Lou sighed and stopped trying to treat Dahlia. "Do you need anything?" The worried dragon asked. She sat down next to Dahlia and refused to leave her friend.

 

Camile smiled. "We are traveling around an Orc camp. This trail is safe and hidden. It's an unused eleven trail." Camile looked back at Shinobu and have her a reassuring smile.

[Quackerz]

Irina turned her attention to Ingrid and answered "Yes, I am that dragon. As for, Alicia, she's fine. I just didn't bring her into the town since I was afraid she'd get hurt." Irina took note of Ingrid's missing arm, the only thing she could think of was that it had been 'taken', so to speak, by one of the dragons that they had fought. While the other human Dahlia was obviously in much worse condition than the last time they met. It still didn't make sense to Irina why these dragons and humans, had stayed against completely impossible odds. One thing was on her mind though, the dragons had left this place suddenly but fought bitterly to defend it. Granted they took no losses or devastating injuries of their own, since everyone seemed to ignore the goons as though they weren't a threat... She couldn't help but have the feeling this place was still on the list and that Bielgrath would return to reclaim the castle after he had completed whatever had taken his attention for the moment.

 

Irina stared at the castle, closing her eyes a bit. She could almost feel the dragonic memories that the castle held, from the age of dragons... Slowly her mind began to clear.

She could almost see the castle in the glory it once held, not broken down and decayed but standing tall as though it reached into the sky with many towers and statues of dragons on and around the castle. The grass was green as far as the eye could see and the sun shined brightly, a soft wind blew the tall grass as a few dragons seemed to roam around in the vast plains. There were a few trees clustered closely together in certain spots that were large and had heavy foliage. The town was not there and a few hatchlings chased each other around in the grass... She opened her eyes again, but was disappointed to realize what she had seen was not real. Or at least, was no longer there. The castle was still in it's crumbled state and the town was destroyed. She turned her attention back to these strangers, but she couldn't shake the feeling she had. What see saw seemed so real...

 

 

---------------------

 

Talikia looked out above at the dragons flying around, her head was barely visible from one of the caverns and she quickly pulled herself back in, hopefully before being noticed by anyone. "So, the tales are true. The generals live..." she quietly said to herself, then took off into the tunnel deeper. The inside of this tunnel did not appear natural - but instead looked fortified, fallen trees had been shortened and placed in random spots as obstacles and barriers, as well as a few used like pillars to hold up the ceiling. Accidentally stepping on a branch that had long since been knocked off one of these trees, it snapped loudly and seemed to echo.

 

Bielgrath stopped suddenly and looked around as did Grenack. "Talikia attempts to flee!" Bielgrath suddenly yelled and flew down into the chasms followed quickly by Krevkant, they had a good guess which tunnel it came from and were heading straight for it. Talikia however had picked up the pace after stepping on the branch, knowing that finding her had been made easy because she had gotten careless.

 

Bielgrath flew into the tunnel but was suddenly hit in the side by a large log that was being held by ancient vines, the vines broke afterwards allowing the log to fall to the ground. Though Bielgrath had slowed Krevkant had not and continued to fly through the tunnel. "The tunnel must be filled with more traps like these... Very clever, Talikia." Bielgrath said and opened his wings again, attempting to take off. But as he had fallen to the ground he had lost the force he already had going and the lack of wind currents prevented him from taking flight again. This same thing would happen to Krevkant or any other dragons should they slow down or stop. Bielgrath quickly began to move by foot then, he would likely be outpaced by Talikia but he knew she was also on foot, or the branch would not have been snapped earlier.

[Eldricht-Aviary]

{{ Ajhkhjsahjkdhsja, Internet finally came back full swing, so I'll take the opportunity, if said occasion is an opportunity to be presented - - }}

 

He should've been thankful he knew the tunnels as well as he did, or else Nilos would've gotten lost with the other two with their distractions. First they smell a Beastfolk Caravan on the fifth turn, then a cluster of deer on the eighteenth turn, then they wanted to stop to finish off their horse meat remnants, and then when they finally hit cold air they insisted on huddling close to him for warmth. Insisted. Nilos was thankful their tails were wrapped, but to be perfectly honest, he was feeling crushed. Mostly literally. Once he'd commanded good personal space of them again, it didn't take him long to recognize the tunnels he'd traced the scentwork into. And he wished they could've found a better place, to be honest.

 

" . . . Alright," Nilos murmured to the others, " the scent is strongest here. They must've stopped at the mountains for - - something." He poked his head around another turn of the cavern. Unlike all the tunnels that Mistress Almas' Lurkers made, these tunnels looked to retain theirn atural ruggedness where htey now stood, but deeper in, looked more - polished, he could say?- and littered in sharp, unfriendly objects of stone and wood. No supporting objects here, so he presumed this was the end of another route through the mountain. One another dragon had fortified? He didn't recognize it.

 

He wished the other smell here wasn't familiar, too. " However, we've entered outside territory here. I haven't been to these mountains in years, but if this isn't Cavern Lurker doing - and I'll bet you my right foot it's not - than whatever did this is going to be equally pissed we're here. Any non-loyalist dragons here would be more than happy to kill us, so don't expect to smell anything friendly, let alone find anything remotely so."

 

" Though we do smell bears on the mountain," the first twin replied," And we know the party of soldiers that passed the last air passage connected to the surface smelled like piss," the second went on, before waving her talons over her snout, " Guess they haven't found good hot springs to wash up in for some ages, ah?"

 

Nilos rolled his eyes. They risk getting found and chased out of the tunnels by Mountain Lurkers, and Rogue Dragons, and the first things they're concerned with are bears and unhygenic soldiers. Right. He really shouldn't have been surprised. Still, once he made another turn into a tunnel, he paused. There were vines? Vines, yes, strewn right along the ground. Though it didn't look like this part of the tunnel was fortified, he couldn't help but think it was just the start to a bigger system, or the end route of one- - and then he froze right solid, he did, as he flicked his tail in front of the other two to halt them. He grounded his feet and listened, eyes closed, he tried to focus on the sounds . . .

 

A branch snapped , light paws breaking old wood beneath weight. Claws scuffed, voices boomed, Logs broke and vines snapped, a multitude rushed down, running, running, flying down the tunnels . . . . Well, , that sounded like it might've been nearby. Or at least on that same route. And approaching their position fast. Surely, it'd be a minute or so before the hunters and the hunted came, but that was plenty of time." I think the Generals are losing their hunt." Nilos didn't have a lot of time to plan, so he acted on instinct and worked fast. He whacked the other two with his tail. " Boys, if the Generals are chasing prey, I think they'd like it made easier, don't you?"

 

They grinned, and for once, their Cavern Lurker heritage showed in their malicious, crooked smiles. They tore the binding from their tails with their back talons as Nilos hopped back, behind them, well enough away from the tails as not to be accidentally hit, and he watched them brace themselves to form a thick, powerful blockade, barbs presented forward by the tail they bore front and center. Should the hunted dragon make any mistake in movement or dodging, they'd either get a faceful of deathly poisonous barbs or a stomach of claws. If they were big enough, or strong enough, though, then barreling through the twins was always possible. So long as the bacteria-laden barbs didn't scrape them and slowly rot them away. But hey, if they did get scraped, at least they'd slow down and die in a day or two.

 

He himself, should they be pounded down by whoever they were trying to catch, moved on to breaking down the softer foundations of the way they came, where vines and strange leaves showed none. Dislodging rocks and watching soil begin to crumble as he tried blocking off their exit as quick he could, by body, by claws, by head and tail and slamming of wings, he tried sealing off their old route as best he could, careful to jam his claws into the right cracks and bashing his horns into weaker mountain stone. He was thankful none of the bigger boulders hit, but progress was being made, at least, for such a runt.

 

If there was anything a Cavern Lurker was born knowing, it was how to break off an exit. The caverns were their soul, the soil was their blood, and hte construction of these places was their flock of knowledge. Now, if only he could seal it in time - if only the Twins weren't barreled through by whoever was being hunted, then maybe his plan wouldn't utterly fail - then perhaps he might start believing in ' good first impressions '.

 

{{ I'm no power-player, by the by. He may be preparing the trap, but attacks and traps are always open to avoid or get struck by, and normally I'll try to keep my vocabulary showing such clearly - - If it wasn't the hint for any entrances, though, I apologize! But caverns were mentioned, and most all parties were already in the caverns, Nilos and co included, so - - - . . . If this seems off-kilter, I'm sorry, I got little sleep, I'm nervous and lost as hell, and to be perfectly fair, my head's aching from an earlier argument. I hope this isn't too terrible, considering the experience, species, and circumstance of the characters and setting - - the trap could always backfire and let the General Rogue escape instead, but shjakhdak im tired, im rambling, im sorry u.u|;| }}

[Quackerz]

(( While it hadn't occurred to me to use that as a hint - I must say you did a very nice job capitalizing on this! =] ))

 

As Talikia quickly ran through the tunnel she could hear herself being pursued, one of the voices sounded like Bielgrath himself yelling. "Great. Now that my home's been found, they'll be back and I'll have to find a new one!" she said to herself angrily as she quickly came around another corner and came to a complete stop. She could see multiple Cavern Lurkers there, it seemed as though they were trying to block her escape. She suddenly turned and swung her tail into the wall, knocking out the support for the ceiling that she had long ago made. A small bit came down, but the trap failed to properly trigger and there was hardly any collapse at all. "Gotta find another way out." she said to herself.

 

Krevkant had tripped many traps along the way, but none of them had managed to hit him. He had either outflown them or hit them with his tail and ahead he could see Talikia, the traitor general stopped. He suddenly slammed into her from the side and pinned her against the wall, with a loud roar he lifted up his barbed tail and swung it at her. Talikia quickly pushed Krevkant back enough to free herself and fall to the side, causing his tail to slam into the rock wall and a bit more of the ceiling to collapse. Talikia turned and quickly ran back the way Krevkant had just come to go down another tunnel.

 

Krevkant ripped his tail out from the wall sending dirt everywhere in the process, he caught a quick glimpse of the cavern lurkers before he noticed that Talikia had now backtracked. As they seemed to have tried to set a trap for Talikia, "In the name of Kievo, stop that traitor!" he yelled out before he again took off after Talikia. He was no longer able to take to the air as he had stopped, putting him on equal ground with Talikia. Her biggest advantage now being her many traps and knowledge of these caverns.

 

 

As Talikia ran back into the tunnel she could see Bielgrath coming at her and halfway between them was another turn in the tunnel, she quickly dashed for this and hit another wooden pillar with her tail on the way by, collapsing in part of the ceiling as she detoured. Bielgrath roared angrily as he came to a stop, the debris had mostly blocked his path though he could still see through to the other side in spots. He backed up a bit then rammed into the blockade, knocked it down and onto the floor. However more of the ceiling then collapsed to replace it, blocking his path again. "TALIKIA. YOU THINK A FEW TRAPS WILL STOP US?" he yelled out angrily, before he backed up again and once again rammed into the blockade, this time not stopping and going clean through it.

 

More of the ceiling collapsed as he went through, a few large stones hitting Bielgrath and injuring him but not slowing him up. Bielgrath had now turned grey from the stone like dust and quickly turned to pursue Talikia into the detour tunnel.

 

((Hopefully I didn't misinterpret the trap.))

[Eldricht-Aviary]

{{ Ahhhhh gosh, thank you actually, I thought it'd be an easier opportunity to slip in than anything else, considering ;;;; }}

 

{{ Though to clarify, it's just Nilos and two Fever dragon twins, really. They're just a small party, but the Fever dragons make up for it in their inherited size and brute force. Just clarifying for future posts!}}

 

{{ And you didn't misinterpret the trap, my friend! Not by what I'm reading, at least. The original trap was to block off that exit and have the Twins stop her if she tried to barrel through before he managed to seal that tunnel, but as a General, I presume she'd know her way around a pair of big brutish Fever dragons. }}

 

Nilos managed to cave in their old exit before the dragoness turned up, but she stopped short of the Twins' murderous barbs and ducked, slamming herself into a wall while the twins made quick moves not to hit eachother with their missed attacks. Her supposed trap seemed to fail, though, by the looks of things, and Nilos was almost ready to take the opportunity to uncover himself of the dust and rubble and pounce.

 

And then the other dragon came through out of the blue. What had Almas mentioned his name was? Bleeding Moon Dragon, hum, that was Krevkant, yes? Krevkant, right. He'd need to remember that so as not to humiliate himself. The Twins were almost ready to pounce the female and restrain her for capture, but the other General interrupted them short by his body slamming attack. Which seemed to work until she freed herself and had him slam into more of the wall before going back the way she came. A few large stones hit the Twins in this, disorienting them momentarily.

 

There had to be more tunnels back there, nobody was stupid enough to run back to their hunters. Once he had himself uncovered, he had the Twins cover their tails again before the trio also took pursuit, bounding on beating claws on the trail behind Krevkant.

 

She didn't look like a Cavern Lurker, but she knew her mountains well. She must've been here a while, and only now did he feel like a fool for not requesting more Scouting trips from Almas to investigate. Still, the trio followed Krevkant hastily, with the Twins leaving them to take another detour to try and find a way to cut the chase off. Not that he trusted them to succeed in this, but if they suddenly separated, they knew what they were doing. They were more hunters than he was, after all. He was just a scout. They had more years of bloodshed on them than he did years from hatching onward, despite their annoying attitudes.

 

" I think General Kragmire would be proud of her architectural skills here." he murmured sarcastically to himself. At least that Stone Dragon could build herself a proper labyrinth. While dead wood suport and traps were all well and intricate, he didn't fall prey to many that would slow him down, especially from a General. He presumed Almas would've enjoyed this trip more than he would've.

 

No, he was quite assured she would've enjoyed it more. She always loved the hunt more than he did, especially if they seemed like they were winning. He only hoped they had a backup plan for this chase, otherwise, negotiations would become a lot less even-tempered with them...

[Katzyn]

Astras, being a youngster, latched onto the concept of a person doing magic. "What kind of magic? I have a healing magic that I used once on Sonata when Orcs attacked her...and I helped heal Drago a little faster when he got poisoned by that big evil dragon, in the town..." he said excitedly, flapping his wing a little.

 

Sonata smiled fondly down at the little dragon, and carefully (and almost as clumsily as Astras) slid down off of Drago's neck to stand near Enya. "I'm curious, as well...and would like to know more about this 'important role' in the war. The dragon who had raised me never really talked much about the Mages; he more seemed to take the burden of the war on his own shoulders, as if the dragons were entirely to blame for everything that happened." At this, she gestured to the dead trees.

 

Privately, she thought to herself, If mages had an important role, should she really be trusted?

 

At that thought, she suddenly turned to Drago, hoping she and Astras weren't being rude and interrupting what had seemed to be an urgent conversation. "That is...if we have time? I know you wanted to get moving, Drago."

[Quackerz]

((Unfortunately, MD's PC got fried again so I've been left in charge of his characters. I know for sure I can't pull off Enya's personality, so I'm going to go ahead and separate her and Drago until MD can RP again.

 

I'll have Salazr keep following Bielgrath around. As for Dahlia and Ingrid, I don't really know how to RP them, so I suppose I'll leave that up to Lou and Melo. MD just asked me to be sure "their legs/arm aren't magically restored".

 

MD said that Lou can take over Shinobu. ))

 

 

 

Talikia quickly ran through the tunnel, she took a left then a right then another left before going straight down. Krevkant had already caught up to Bielgrath and was beginning to pass him, despite how far behind he was. As Krevkant came to the first turn he stopped and listened, as did Bielgrath. Quickly they followed the sounds of Talikia running to the left... Then to the right. But by the third turn, they could know longer hear her. Bielgrath turn and dashed down the right tunnel and Krevkant to the left.

 

As Bielgrath ran he tripped another log trap, he turned and spewed his flames at it burning it away, the vines snapped upon being hit by his flames dropping the large log to the ground which rapidly began to burn away quickly.

 

As Krevkant ran he found that the tunnel turned sharply and went straight down, he could hear running down below and quickly dived in. With a large splash he hit the bottom, standing up he looked around at the total darkness. He let out a large burst of flames directly in front of him, lighting things up a bit. Standing directly in front of him was Talikia who leaned to the side to dodge his flames, she glared at him angrily. With a loud roar she pounced him and knocked him onto the ground, attempting to pin his head under the water. He let out another large burst of flames further lighting up the area, pushing Talikia off and swing his claws slashing her across the side. Talikia hissed angrily in pain and backed off, but immediately released her own flames at Krevkant, burning him on the side then lunging at him with her teeth, sinking them into his shoulder and barely missing his neck. He roared angrily as he turned and dug his claws into her side, picking her up a bit and throwing her aside.

 

Talikia quickly got to her feet and dashed through another tunnel way, Krevkant quickly followed. Bielgrath had heard the fighting a bit and followed, landing down with a splash he followed the sounds of running in the water. It was not much longer until the tunnel ended, Talikia opened her wings and took off into the sky. But was suddenly tackled out of the sky by General Grenack, Krevkant and Bielgrath came out from the cavern and looked around just in time to see Grenack pin Talikia up against the rock wall of the chasm. Talikia roared loudly in pain as she attempted to struggle, but was inevitably overpowered by Grenack. "The game is up, Talikia!" Krevkant yelled as he flew closer, Bielgrath grinned as he also flew closer. Caecilius and the other dragons were also gathering around now...

 

 

----------------

 

Before Enya could reply, she detected yet another dragon coming. Considering the fact it could be a Mage hunter she didn't want to stick around. "Damn it. There might be trackers scouting the area. I'll contact you again later, Drago." she said then proceeded to run off.

 

Drago simply watched as she ran off. "Hmm... Trackers." he said and looked up to the sky, it was quite possible that a tracker would also attempt to attack Sonata simply for being human, though he could likely handle them. "We should go... I know much of the mages role in the war, if you don't mind hearing it from me instead." he stated, since Enya had ran off before she even had time to reply to Sonata.

[Eldricht-Aviary]

Nilos continued to follow along accordingly, but when the others met the fork in the tunnels, he turned to follow Bielgrath instead. This turned out to be the mistake on his part, seeing as Bielgrath's passage was the one filled with traps and logs. Though Bielgrath managed to disarm traps himself, Nilos managed to avoid a few tripwire vines and dodge a few sharper stone traps on his own. He had to admit, his size came in handy, it did.

 

But alas, his directional choice cost him assistance in the action. When he resurfaced with Bielgrath, Talikia, as Krevkant called her, was already pinned. Fortunately, though, he didn't seem to be the only one later to the party, as the human phrase went on. The Twins soon emerged from another tunnel nearby, seemingly hoping to cut off Talikia's exit from the tunnel they heard her going down, but were quite visibly disappointed when they found she was already caught.

 

They came forward to rejoin Nilos, or moved to, but then paused. At the same time, Nilos seemed to have a similar realization, and came to the conclusion that their trio still intruded most uninvited and most unexpected, so he instead gestured for them to take a few steps back, so that the party could get their interrogation out of the way.

 

{{ gaaaaaah headache comin in, i think imma hop off for the night }}

 

{{ ill check replies and things tomorrow, or something, g'ni }}

[Katzyn]

((Sad! I hope he can return soon Dx))

 

Sonata jumped slightly when the mage ran off suddenly, but realized the danger quickly, and scrambled up Drago's side more confidently, settling herself swiftly as Astras used his wings once again to half jump, half flap his way to his friend upon Drago. "Ready to go!" Sonata called up to the large black dragon, her fingers curled into his neck armour for steadiness.

 

( ( sorry, no colors! ) )

[Eldricht-Aviary]

{{ Ah - -- bump? Again? }}

[Quackerz]

((Sorry for the late reply, been pretty busy and probably will continue to be until Tuesday. And lol Bumped while I was writing my reply =o))

 

 

As Talikia attempted to struggle rapidly, Caecilius flew down and landed. His single eye seemed to light up, "Open your mind..." he said in a dark tone of voice as he walked towards Talikia and Grenack, "Open your mind to me. Open it!" he yelled out, Talikia quickly brought her tail up and hit Grenack managing to knock him off. She jumped to fly away but was immediately blocked by Krevkant, who lifted up his tail and brought it down hitting her across the back and knocking her down. The barbs on his tail had barely missed her, her consciousness seemed to be fading as Caecilius attempting to break into her mind.

 

 

Caecilius face seemed to almost grin, revealing only one of his teeth in the process. His eyes seemed to disappear and turn white.

[in Talikia's mind...]

Caecilius looked to the left, then to the right... Everything was very dark, but there was a bright light in the distance. Growing larger it seemed to be coming towards him, before he was engulfed by it and disappeared... He closed his eye then opened it again, he could see the traitorous generals there. Velsor, Drago, Talikia and the others. It was the room Bielgrath had showed to Eidolus before, but it was not in the same condition. Instead it was very shiny and well polished, there was no dust or dirt anywhere as it had been kept perfectly clean and spotless.

 

In the center of the room, surrounded by the traitorous generals laid a large black dragon on the floor. As the other generals stood in his way he could not clearly be seen, though it was obvious he was bleeding out due to the amount of blood on the floor, but his chest still moved as though he was breathing. Faintly Caecilius could hear talking... He could not clearly hear them, but he caught some of what was said. "Kievo must die..." "Let him suffer for ... done." "... You've ... mad?" "If ... kill ... others will ..." "So ... suggest ... let him live?" "They will ... alive." "Then ... agreed." (The "..." in these represents parts he was unable to hear, be it one word or many.)

 

Caecilius closed his eye again as though he was in pain, gritting his teeth he opened his eye again just long enough to see something else, everything was dark again but a large dragon could faintly be seen, it had been chained to a large stone wall, as well as chained to the ceiling and floor. With a large metal collar on it's neck, it's tail had many metal clamps on it that were attached to the chains and it's arms were chained so that they hung up in the air a bit, while it's ankles were also locked in and chained, pulled as far to the other side they could go. Almost lifted off the ground from being chained in so many directions... The dragon could be seen preparing to roar loudly, but a large stone door closed in front of it's face, the door glowed a brilliant yellow afterwards as it was magically sealed off...

 

The traitorous generals were once again there, along with a single mage. The mage looked old and had a large grey beard, his robes were tattered and dirt colored, likely because they had not been cleaned in ages. As the other dragons left, Drago stayed behind glaring down at the mage. The mage knelt down onto one knee, lowering his head as he looked to the ground... Then was hit by Drago's flames, disappearing into them completely.

 

Caecilius could feel he was being kicked out of Talikia's mind and rapidly began to flail back in reality, catching one last glimpse of a large mountain, with a large human fortress built around it on all sides with a large town in between, as though the mountain was the center of the town.

 

Talikia jumped up and opened her wings, charging at Krevkant and rearing up, beating her wings forward and catching Krevkant between them, hitting him and disorienting him. She used this force to propel herself into the air and rapidly fly away.

 

Bielgrath readied his wings for takeoff, "I have the information we want. I know where Lord Kievo is." Caecilus suddenly stated as he stood up normally again, with a furious look on his face. Krevkant got up and glared at the fleeing Talikia. Normally he would pursue such a nuisance, but they had what they wanted... Kievo was the first priority, everything else was secondary.

 

Grenack however turned his attention to the dragons that had helped them in the tunnel, or at least tried... He could not help but be curious as to who they were, or what they were doing there. But most importantly, if they were truly on the same side. "You did what you could to help us... Tell me, are you also fellow Kievoans?" he asked. While he knew Bielgrath would be eager to depart to find Kievo, he was still curious.

 

 

----------------

 

"You still did not answer my question. Would you like to hear the tale from me, seeing as Enya left?" Drago asked as he began to take of again, any dragon or human alike from his past would surely be surprised or die of shock to see Drago allowing a human to ride him, it had been surprising to him that Enya had not brought the subject up. Whatever his future intentions were however, remained a secret to all but himself as he did hunger for power, after all...

Edited March 14, 2014 by Sean175

[Eldricht-Aviary]

{{ahh, sorry about the bump, it doesn't show when people are responding! and it's alright to be busy, I'm sure hte others will keep the htreat occupied in the meantime! }}

 

 

Personally, Nilos knew little of what they did to the traitor General, but by what minimal words he caught before they momentarily knocked her out, he guessed they had tried to invade her mind for information? It wasn't an uncommon tactic for Kievoans, even if he hadn't been around to witness it in its' golden age. Though the Twins were anxious to take pursuit, she was gone too quickly for them to even get a headstart, leaving them looking starved of their proper bloodshed in the cavern mouth.

 

He honestly didn't expect to get addressed immediately. The one who did the invading of the mind didn't seem happy, after all. Still, he straightened himself out, as properly as one adult runt could, and dipped his head respectfully to Grenack. " Though we are not directly linked to Kievo himself, " he began, " we do dedicate ourselves to his purpose in the name of our mistress. However, we came in her name first. It is she who is loyal to him, and because of this, we serve both happily"

 

Nilos lifted his head once more. " We came to find you on behalf of Lady Almas, whom has been anxiously awaiting your revival of activity. Once we brought back confirmation that you were all alive and on the move, she hardly waited before sending us to seek you out."

 

There was a flick of his tail, and the Twins bowed their heads. " I am Nilos, leading scout of the Fifth scouting division. These are the Rotter Twins, Bubos and Guros. "

 

The first twin lifted her head with a grin, claws curling into stone as she stepped forward alongside the Cavern Lurker. " Lady Almas suspected that a reunion of forces would do you good - " she grinned, before the male twin nodded, " - especially if you're still on the search for your leader. "

 

" But that's if you remember her, of course; or if you're interested in an alliance at all. "

[Katzyn]

Sonata nodded, holding on tightly to Drago's armour. She looked down at Astras, and he looked interested, as well. "Yes, we would appreciate it if you could fill us in while we fly. Like I told Enya, the Dragon that raised me never really seemed to talk about the Mages, and I guess I sort of forgot they even existed..."

 

Astras turned his head back to look at Sonata and said, wistfully, "I wish we had been able to see her do magic! Maybe she could have taught me more about healing magic?"

[Quackerz]

Caecilius snarled angrily as he glanced from side to side then began to pace.

 

"Hmm... It has been a long time, but I have retained some memory of Lady Almas. You can tell her that her offer of an alliance is accepted, as well that we have gained the location of Kievo's remains." Before Grenack could continue, he was interrupted by Caecilius who suddenly began to yell. "The nerve of those traitors! THE NERVE OF THEM!" Gaaahhh!" Krevkant glared angrily at him, "The location. Spit it out already." he said with a bit of spite towards Caecilius. Bielgrath watched as Caecilius paced, the fact that the information had upset Caecilius was upsetting him already, despite not having heard it yet.

 

"They sealed up Lord Kievo alive. ALIVE!" Caecilius yelled and lifted his head up, releasing a large burst of flames straight up into the air. "They did... WHAT?" Bielgrath yelled out as Caecilius finally said what he knew, Krevkant let out an infuriated roar. "How dare they do such a thing!" Bielgrath yelled out, one of the goons lifted his head up "Does this mean Lord Kievo is still alive?" He asked, but was immediately struck down by Krevkant's strong tail. The barbed part of his tail turned up so as not to poison one of their own, "Fool. No dragon can survive thousands of years without food and water, not even Kievo. They left him there to suffer." Krevkant yelled at the dragon, annoyed by it's slow thinking.

 

"You remember the days before the Great Drought, Bielgrath? The great human empire known as "Vinslanador"? The same one that the humans rebuilt before the Supreme War?" Caecilius asked as he paced, "Of course I remember. The greatest empire in the human world twice; yet it fell to us in only three years." Bielgrath responded, "The capital city. Of "Santhenegon", the city built within a fortress but around a mountain. They hid Kievo within the mountain there." Caecilius continued, "Of all the unholy... They dare to put him right at the heart of that city? That empire? Graaah!" Bielgrath yelled, opening his wings and beginning to take to the air once again.

 

 

After hearing this, Grenack turned his attention back to Nilos. "Hmm... It seems we shall be off to the city of Santhenegon. Perhaps Lady Almas would like to meet us there?" He asked, knowing that Bielgrath would not likely have the patience to stay and talk to the three in his enraged state.

 

------------------

 

"Very well. Hmm.... Where to begin... Ah, at the beginning of course." Drago said in a low tone as though he was talking to himself after "very well", he chuckled a bit then continued "Before Kievo started up the war, he came to the realization that we dragons age much slower than humans... So he felt it necessary to get an ally, such as the mages. The only other race in the history of Kevatia that had not bothered with warring and kept to themselves. Kievo proposed to them an alliance, taking five of his generals with him. I was one of those generals." As he flew he passed over multiple towns, but said towns had long since become abandoned after being destroyed, likely from dragon attacks or orc raids.

 

"At first, the mages were... Apprehensive, to say the least. A few of them even attempted to blast us upon arrival. The elders however, were much more willing to... Listen. And listen, they did. They accused Kievo of being a lunatic and rejected the idea. But a few hours later they changed their mind, they decided to work alongside Kievo, to use their magic to give new powers to the dragons, unnatural powers that no dragon could be born with, nor teach to another. They also agreed make a new type or armor, meant specifically for dragons, to those that wanted it. This is where my armor comes from."

 

((Not going to say everything in one post, so that can leave room for Astras/Sonata to ask questions. ))

Edited March 15, 2014 by Sean175

[Eldricht-Aviary]

And with tensions rising, Nilos knew just as well as Grenack when the time to depart came. Voices rising, flames being spouted, venomous words being spat, he was not one to stick around in unwise circumstance. The acceptance of the alliance was relieving enough to confirm his mission was successful, but bringing the information of their next location and having her meet them would be a lot easier than his alternative.

 

He nodded, smiling as quietly as one could when restraining their relief. " We shall have her meet you there post-haste, sir. Keep your pulse." he hummed. The Lurker dipped his head in respectful parting once more, then turned to head back down the tunnels, the Twins glancing back to Grenack hesitantly before following. One of the twins even threw a second, maybe a third glance back, as if they wished to stay for some part of whatever came.

 

" Bubos," Nilos went on, " I want you to get that scrying orb and explain everything to her on the way back." Bubos nodded and went to sifting through his hip-bound bag with his tail, while Nilos looked back to Guros, " And Guros, I want you to pack us a bear for the way back. Meet back at the fifth tunnel fork close to the crossroad." Guros, too, nodded before dashing down another tunnel turn and disappearing.

 

Nilos' stiff and formal posture from before fractured, before finally loosening up. His head finally hung low with a sigh. Gods, did he want a bath. Maybe he'd be able to get one when he'd get back, while Almas was gone. That'd be such a panacea to his aching bones...

 

------

 

Scrying Orbs were curious things. Spheres of crystals and precious stones which were carved in a number of ways and functioned in a number of manners. Some merely had to be touched or channeled by basic focusing magic in order to establish communication, others had to have runes tapped, or traps unsprung, others had to be physically implanted, there were plenty of fashions to keep them from being stolen or misused when otherwise rigged for loyal purpose.

 

Almas, particularly, had one of the better Sulkfarl scrying orbs. Complicated runes were no match to the grooves of blown glass and carved indentations lining this beautiful, large stone of jade. One simply ran their claws along specific grooves in specific manners to get their messages across. A dragon's form of morse code, as it were. And she wasn't honestly expecting good news when she felt hers begin to hum beneath one of her pillows.

 

The silken cushion was softly tucked aside to move the stone forward, grasped in polished claws. Keeping the pads of her front paws pressed against such, the various gashes and crevices hummed and sang of their message, burning warmly as a coal in a room cooler than bone. When she got the fully scratched message through, she couldn't even keep back her grin.

 

No, a smile was too small for such an occasion. A grin was more deserved. If she was still a younger dragon without responsibility, she would've rolled in her blankets for a minute, but as an adult, she had priorities, and acting immature was not one of them. She moved one paw aside to dig her claws along the grooves, and the message rang across clearly.

 

' You've all earned yourselves hot bathes and a fine feast for your return, children. A Promotion for Nilos and bigger quarters for you Twins will be appropriate when we get to fully restoring the foretress.' Swifter dashes of the claws sent hotter streaks through the orb, talons glowing like glass. ' Return to the foretress as soon as you can, and keep to the tunnels to avoid tracking. By the time you come, Montressor will be left in charge. He'll give you further directions from there.'

 

Once she got the affirmative hums from the stone, she rolled it into a nearby bag and slipped it onto her shoulder. If they were to be moving so quickly, she wouldn't have time for any fancy attire, so the slips of velvet and dragon cashmere would have to do for travel. Not her most luxurious look, but there were more pressing matters than appearance.

 

She swept up from her feet with a swish of the tail, which pressed the rest of the pillows into an organized nest. Padding her way out of her old Magus study, she then slipped the door closed and locked behind her. A few other essentials were sought and slipped into the bag, and she approached the Flight Hall.

 

Montressor, precious mage he was, was fixing up the hole in one of the older murals by generating more sand to amend the natural injury. She swept by him with a momentary, friendly embrace, and he only nodded. " Telepathic message has been retrieved and sent throughout the Foretress, milady," he could only say, " I'll do well to investigate whatever the idiot refugees keep trying to find in the Deathtrap. You stay safe."

 

" And should any turncoats or traitorous generals come by?"

 

He smiled. " I'll make sure we have examples for all."

 

She gave him a swift nuzzle in understanding and parting before spreading her wings and taking her good running start. She dove from the edge of the widest window, before swooping back up in flight like a swan and taking way. Her dearest friend would do well to keep the place safe, she was sure. But she'd have to make fast work.

 

" Santhenegon, hm? I hope the others still have some good stomachs on them. I'll want some of the humans to my own talons, after all, should they still remain..."

 

And with a chuckle only dripping with joyous, young poison, she was off into the scorching hot skies toward the old human capital.

 

{{ god, so late at night i think my head's doin swirls. If there are any typos, i apologize, ill just sleep for the night; catch you later ;; }}

[Katzyn]

Sonata had gone very still when Drago had told them he had been one of Kievo's trusted Generals, her heart in her throat as she thought to herself, One of the Generals? Doesn't that make him a bad guy? But then, if he was, why did those other General attack him? And why would we be on our way to warn others of the danger? So is he a good guy, then? But if he was a General, he must have done some awful things in the past...

 

Astras, too, was shocked, and looked back at Sonata, his eyes wide, but he said nothing, because Drago was still explaining to them about Mages. He gradually returned their attention to what Drago was saying, and, in an attempt to cover for Sonata's shocked silence, Astras asked, "Powers? What kind of powers did the Mages give you? That magic you used in the town, when that human attacked you?"

 

 

[Melomancer]

Eidolus flapped her wings frantically, hoping to reach the generals before she missed anything important. She had left earlier to tend to something with her children." Dammit. I'm late.." She spotted Bielgrath taking off near her." Bielgrath! I'm sorry I'm late, something urgent popped up. Any luck with the situation?"

[Melomancer]

Bielgrath knows where Kievo is. Our only hope is to guard the remains."

(How does he know this? They're thousands of miles away or something. You can't just make your character know something just because YOU know it. E.g: You tell me Armin's childhood OOC. I can't just immediately make Drakaht know it too, because he didn't experience or hear it anywhere. And you said they were damaged. No they weren't. You didn't mention"They were damaged by the attacks." Anywhere. )

Edited March 16, 2014 by Melomancer

[MetalDragon]

((I'm back, and what Melo said, to be honest. Though just looking for Drago would be fine by me. As I'm a bit lost here, I'll reply with characters one by one.))

 

Dahlia glanced up at Levi with a certain expression of disdain. Couldn't they see how her situation was like now? "Guard Kievo's remains? Look at my legs. Do you expect me to continue with like this?!" she suddenly snapped at the dragons, furious about what had happened. Thanks to their headstrongness, she now found herself completely unable to walk or move around by herself. "Oh, wait. But you lot want to be heroes! Am I right? Well, in that case, I better warn you now that good heroes are dead heroes. And eventually, they'll be forgotten." Dahlia continued to shout angrily.

[Melomancer]

Drakaht walked over to Dahlia and gently lifted her onto his back."I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.. Maybe we could get you to a healer soon..Or Lou could use a healing rune." He looked around at the destruction. The entire town..gone...He imagined the screams of everybody who had died.

[Katzyn]

((MD, at least you don't have to worry too much about Enya, lol! She just ran off so she wouldn't get spotted, and Drago and his human and hatchling are flying off now.

 

But seriously, welcome back! Hopefully things are fixed?))

[MetalDragon]

((We kinda threw away the old PC and bought a new one

Yeah, things should be stable for quite a while. I'll think of a reply for Enya when I get to it.))

 

Dahlia sat up on Drakaht's back and looked down at him. She puffed her chest out and let out a long sigh as Ingrid approached them. "Were it as simple as just casting a healing spell, I wouldn't be so pissed off... I bet it would only make the pain stop. We'd need an accomplished cleric, at the very least. And I owe Ingrid an arm, literally." she said and looked over at Ingrid who was fairly close to them now. "Out of all people..." Dahlia thought and suddenly took off her black cape, putting it on Ingrid in a way it hid the empty space in the absence of her left arm.

"Huh? Why did you give me this?" the orange-haired woman asked, looking at her new clothing.

"Consider it my thanks for saving my life." Dahlia replied bluntly as she looked down and reflected on the battle and the terror she felt upon facing the one who razed her small village. "That copper dragon... he was the one who destroyed my home..." she mumbled.