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[Phoenix]

Altenau's Fall

Hours Earlier ...

Those who weren't held up in their homes praying not to be struck dead by the raining arrows were running through the streets in panic. Entrance to the city had been blocked off by massive crystalized spikes rising up out of the ground that only fliers could get passed, and only to a fate similar to those trapped in the besieged town. Edwards himself lied wounded before a mysterious woman.

Edwards: You're ... you're behind this!

She returned only a smile.

Edwards: Well ... why don't you just get it over with? I won't beg for my life.

Woman: You should. Not everyone here has to die, so long as I get what I want.

Edwards: W-what do you want exactly?

She tightly grabbed his shoulder with a strength too great to be human causing him to wince in pain.

Woman: Power. With you and some of your pathetic ilk still living and uninfected, you're far more useful to me.

Edwards could only return a look of fear to the hellish creature in disguise.

Hours After the Attack ...

The streets lied empty ... no signs of battle or even the bodies of those that had died remained. The spikes that had grown up out of the ground to deny entrance and exit alike had vanished leaving nothing behind. The only signs that anything had happened were the numerous tiny holes in the rooftops and the complete lack of life in the city. Something terrible had happened there, but no one was left to tell the tale.

On the Road Again

Irina rode on Kiev while holding Niket in her arms. Isotov rode on Francis alongside Kelas. He had nearly fallen asleep in his boredom whereas Lev seemed to already be asleep. It was the middle of the afternoon which made him wonder if Lev had been up all night. Back in the old days he knew the wyvern rider to be a bit of a late nighter, but he didn't suspect him of still doing so. Now he wondered. He also felt a bit inconvenienced by it seeing that he couldn't speak with him about the Morgan matter while he was unconscious.

Meanwhile Irina was experimenting with Niket. The wyvern was probably too young to connect any of her meanings yet, but it was still fun for her to try.

Irina: "Ih-ree-nuh".

She pointed to herself before repeating it. Then she pointed to him as she uttered his name.

Irina: "Nick-ette".

Viveka watched while riding alongside Conrad and Jasmine.

Viveka: Yeeeeah, because flying lizards just aren't enough ... now the damn things need to learn common so they can politely inform us that they're about to kill someone.

Jasmine: I thought you were over hating wyverns.

Viveka: No, I'm over stabbing them in the eyes and paying a settlement to the rider when they get too close. I still can't stand those things.

Irina tuned out Viveka as best she could as she continued.

Irina: "Nick-ette" ... "Nick-ette".

Viveka: "Wyvern-nut", "Wyvern-nut".

Irina leaned in close bringing Niket's face close to hers and whispered to him with her hand pointing back at Viveka who raised an eyebrow in response.

Irina: "Ig-nore-ant" "Sit-ee-girl".

Too Much of A Good Thing

Spoiler -

Lev opened his eyes to find himself leaning back in a chair with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed and lying across the desk. Making a quick observation he noted that the office was Ivanko's. A bit nervous he quickly got up from the chair. The last thing he needed to do was give Ivanko the impression he was aiming for the man's position as the head of the organization. The more he looked around though, the more he found the office to his liking. Rather than Ivanko's items, there were nothing but Natasha's novels and manuals, and paintings of his favorite exes. He felt that even though he had no recollection of the event, the organization, or at least the Halton office was already his.

As he looked out the window he raised an eyebrow a bit surprised to not see anyone around. Even Victor wasn't lazing about. He made his way over to the door aiming to find someone in the building itself. As soon as he opened the door he saw Tessa standing there with a wide smile on her face.

Lev: Tessa?

She quickly took his hand and dragged him out into the hallway causing him to stagger as they headed down the hall.

Tessa: I was wondering where you were. Come quickly, I want to show you something.

Lev: Show me what? What's going on here? Where's Ivanko? Hell ... where are the assholes normally running around these place?

Tessa: No assholes here, Lev. Not now that you're in charge.

Once they reached the main hall she released him and ran to the front door opening it to reveal something utterly shocking to Lev. Outside Victor was snarling at Tessa, not the same Tessa that had dragged him through the mansion, but another identical one. She was chastising the massive wyvern. Completely panicked, Lev called out to her!

Lev: Gah! Tessa, get the hell out of there before he tears you in half! (Wait ... Tessa's right here ... what the ...?)

The Tessa with him pointed at the other one smiling.

Tessa: We've almost got Victor trained. He'll make such a good guard wyvern.

As she said that, Victor lifted his paw to swat away the other Tessa. It collided with her body with incredible force. Lev flinched but immediately noticed that Tessa hadn't budged an inch, in fact it had been as if Victor tried to smack an immovable mountain and he retracted his now sore paw with an agitated moan. Tessa quickly slapped him on the nose and gestured at him.

Tessa: Bad Victor! No brutality.

Tessa: See? He hasn't killed anyone in over a month.

Lev: ... ... ... is ... ... is there anything else I should be aware of?

Tessa: Yes! We're renovating. The office is finished, but not the rest of the mansion.

Lev: Again with the "we".

He suddenly heard a lot of racket behind him. When they came to the front door the area was empty, but it was as if there was massive construction going on behind them. He truly didn't want to look.

Lev: Tessa, what's going on behind me?

Tessa: ... renovation.

As he steadily turned to face the noises he saw a dozen girls working hard to change the entire appearance of the main hall, each doing something different, but all of them having the same appearance.

Lev: Tessas ....

He had to suspend his disbelief for a moment as one of the Tessas at the top of a ladder trying to place work lost her balance! He rushed over and caught her before she fell to the ground.

Tessa: Whew. Thank you so much.

Lev: Sure thing.

Neither of them noticed but the ladder had been knocked off balance as well and began falling toward them. Their final warning was its portent shadow looming over them. Both looked up at the same time but it was already too late to move.

Tessa: Oh bugger.
Lev: These is gonna hurt.

A loud crash sounded leaving Levski on the floor unconscious. He woke up to fifteen Tessas desperately trying to all heal him at once. As he tried to stand up, he found numerous healing orbs in his face. With no room to maneuver, he moaned helplessly as they tried and failed to coordinate their efforts. They seemed oblivious to the fact that he was already healed as well. Lev was quickly engulfed in concerned healers after a few moments and opened his eyes again to find himself sitting in Krinkov's saddle behind the wyvern eggs. It was apparently all just a dream. Looking at the eggs he raised an eyebrow.

Lev: I sure hope those aren't going to hatch into Tessas. You can definitely have too much of a good thing. Oi.

OOC: Only Luna's going to get that one

OOC: I'm up way too late to be posting a new chapter.

Edited by Phoenix, 03 December 2010 - 12:00 PM.

[-Cynthia-]

Althea

The horses moved across the wide open Septimian plains, sweeping westward without pause. Over the horizon, Althea spotted several large, dark shapes That must be their wyverns. she thought to herself. She told Blitz to stop and the other horses stopped behind her.

"Brothers, sisters. Soon we will make our stand. Lend me your strength of arms and your magic, your faith and your resolve. This day we make our stand for the Goddess, for justice, and for the liberty of all men. This day we fight!" Althea said, raising her sword high in the air. The blade seemed to reflect extraordinary amounts of sunlight, positively glowing in the afternoon sun.

OOC: This should be out of sight of the group at this point.

Edited by -Cynthia-, 03 December 2010 - 03:16 PM.

[Script]

Luc Altair

The Count of Directus kept himself a bit distant from the bulk of the group. Thunder had been approached, so keeping him separate from other people was a fair thing to do for now.


The Fargo

Fargo cheerfully drove his carriage around. Thankfully there was only superficial damage to it, so it was perfectly usable.


A Paul

The small cuts in his bag were not superficial! Well, that's what Paul wanted to say to anyone who thought so.

[Tyrant Sage]

It had been awhile since he told Helios his idea and he hoped the Wind Sage wouldn't think he was crazy and that he would actually try it. It was too bad about Dani, but at least the issue was resolved for now.

The main problem was Dimitri. Who knew what he was up to. In fact, Alf was quite surprised that Morgan even let him come along.

Great. He's going to hit on every man here. Gah. Just what I need.

Looking over towards the others, Alferis spotted Aiya carrying what looked like a Killer Axe. That was odd. He didn't think Aiya knew how to use axes. She probably didn't. Perhaps he could give pointers?

Last time I saw a Killer Axe was back in the mountains with pops. He used to use one. Not very well now that I think about he thought, chuckling inwardly. He never thought he'd have something from his time in the mountains to laugh about.

"Hey Aiya," Alf said coming over to her. "Is that a Killer Axe? Thought you only used swords. Do you want some tips on how to use that thing?"

[Snike]

Heroic Blindman
The swordsman had felt the presence of the weapons long before Althea, what with his sword glowing gently enough initially, and brighter as they approached the Crimsons. As Altea came to a stop, Henry saw her spirit flare up, eventually... channeling into her blade? It was unbelievable, but it seemed like her weapon was connected to her soul. Amazing. Without realizing it, everyone else rose their weapons, as well.
"For the Goddess!" They shouted, and the cavalry was ready for battle.


Chronicles of Septimus: The Sage, the Soldier, and the Cavalier
Elle rode on Helios' horse, trying to ignore some of the unwanted attention directed at her. There was silence, for most of the trip, but then, the sage finally began to ask questions.
"... Who is this Dani person you all called me...?" she asked, beginning with the most significant one. "... Was she that identical...?"

Alex rode on the horse she commandeered, in relative silence near the rear of the group, thinking. The way they were going was only a few miles away from the border, so, maybe... Yes, Jerdon would be the best place to go at the moment, what, with Father being preoccupied with the war. If they could get there, then a rebellion could be birthed.

Derek was in a different kind of silence, one that was brooding. They were almost back home, but, were they going to be welcomed with open arms? He had ran away, technically, a year ago. What prevented them from branding him a coward? Then there was the issue of Dani. She had lost her memories... He wondered whether it was for the best, as, it seemed like she was going to hurt herself in he letter... If only he had been there...

The Man in Black
A few miles ahead of the group, was the black-garbed stranger, heading directly for Altenau. He seemed to be oblivious to the dangers that were ahead of him, as he was strolling at a leisurely pace, but a bulge in his cloak hinted that the man was ready to cut down any potential threat.

[Mercakete]

"Can anyone hear me?! Merryl! Eddie! Winsey! Marcus?! Mary! It's ol' Joe! Joe Pommel! Mr. Pommel! Merryl!!" called her merchant as he wandered Altenau's empty streets. His heart was pounding. There wasn't a trace of life. (They're in hiding. They must be. If I can convince them it's me, then maybe they'll come out. Surely Merryl recognizes my voice!) "Merryl!! Where are you?!"

His horses were again frightened to the point of immobility with the cart outside the town's gates.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Niket was beginning to understand the significance of the sounds the humans made. They were like when you growled at something to keep it away, sort of. "Niket" meant himself. "Irina" was the new familliar human. Did everyone have sounds that meant them? Niket woundered what the sound for the hairy thing was. "Nnnnnkt! Nnnnnkt!" he tried to immitate, making the small growl sound and clicking his tongue.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Namid was glaring straight ahead, ignoring his rider. Tas found himself sighing again. "Namid, you don't have to be so cross," Tas attempted to coax the wyvern again.

Namid ignored him.

"... I know you're mad at me, but I really am feeling better. My cough is gone and my sneezing is much less frequent."

The mountain wyvern snorted, tossing his head a little.

"... I don't know how to convince you," Tas sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Still sleeping in the carrage, seated between Charlotte and Arrin, was Beau. His dreams were his own and though they made little sense, they were fit to be in the young hier's subconcious.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Raemond listened to Althea's speech with a quiet smile. It didn't apply to him, but it still reminded him of how the woman achieved her rank. (You certianly haven't lost any of your moralle-instilling abilities, Althea.)

Edited by Mercakete, 03 December 2010 - 09:47 PM.

[Ether]

After giving Tas the herbs so that he could recover more quickly, Aiya had been following the group's travels rather lazily, until Alferis approached her, making note of her newly acquired Killer Axe.

"Yeah, I was having some trouble with lancers, so I decided to take up the axe. I got the basics from Levski, and I have my training fundamentals to back me up... but more practice would definitely be helpful... I haven't actually used it in a real fight yet, afterall..." Aiya replied sheepishly.

"But... Levski seemed... reluctant to fight me while I was using this thing... are you sure?"

[Balcerzak]

Just as the group was preparing to set out, Alferis had approached Helios, offering his thoughts and opinions on the matter. The suggestion was Morgan. The Toran prince wasn't quite sure what to make of the idea, to be honest, so he'd simply replied, "Huh..." before nodding and indicating that he needed to prepare.

The shaman certainly commanded his grudging respect. Despite the frequent chastisements and the occasional insults she'd delivered him, she was certainly competent in her field. But could she really do what the axefighter had suggested? And if she could... would she if asked? Helios thought that perhaps he'd have to come up with a way of making it seem like it would be of greater benefit, something actually worth her investment if he decided to go that route, but was for the moment coming up entirely blank on ideas.

He had been guiding Elle to his horse while musing, but having come now to close enough proximity he had to carefully make sure the beast wouldn't try to bite her or otherwise lash out and cause trouble. It seemed that there was no immediate issue. He asked if she knew how to ride, and got a non-committal grunt in reply, she was probably lost in thought on other matters and he couldn't blame that one bit. He helped her to mount up, and it was only after she was seated that the warhorse had made its move, biting his arm as he prepared to follow suit, and make his own way into the saddle. A few choices curses had slipped out of his mouth before he clammed up, and shrugged in resignation.

Most of the ride passed in silence, until at some point Dani/Elle had started to quietly ask something that had been on her mind. Of course, it was a similar question to the one that was on everyone's mind.

"Dani was... is.... Well..." Helios's first attempt to explain was an unparalleled success.

Regrouping his thoughts, he came around for another pass at it. "She was a thunder sage. We first met her when we were wrapped up in a tangle with some wild wyverns. She used them for bolting practice. She was always lively, had a great smile, cheerful, giggled a lot. She was probably Eric's best friend... which is why she tagged along for good. And then we met up with her brother Derek― Munktan I think it is? A rather important family from Jerdon... Having them around was... well, I'm sure it helped Charlotte out a lot, when she was still... But then, one thing after another..." The burst of clarity started to disappear, and his words were again trailing into mumbles and confusion.

"And yeah... you're her spitting image," he concluded rather lamely.

[Tyrant Sage]

"Hey not at all. Well, not right now obviously, but next place we're at, I'd be happy to spar with you. Now I'll give you some tips using the axe. Always use two hands on the ground. You can use it to block easier and to attack faster and harder. Not sure about using it in the air though. You want to do overhead strikes in general so you can smash in the heads. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to swing it fast and hard enough in battle though, so you want to work on that. The other thing is throwing axes, which I do have. I can show you good ways to use them too," Alf said long windedly, gratified he was able to help someone out.
-------------
The Bard.

It had been a very bad night for Sadie.

She had fled towards Altenau, which she knew was safe, but others didn't want to seem to go anywhere. Along the way, she saw some creeping shadows moving around and fearful she might be assaulted by bandits, she walked all night, not going to sleep very late and even then only slept fitfully.

Worse yet, during the night, it was raining and she was already cold from the night air. This made things quite hard for her and her cloak wasn't much shelter or help. It protected her lyre but not her.

"Hopefully I can reach Altenau soon, get a nice book to read and a warm bed. Maybe brother will be there," she said to herself, shivering as she walked down the road.

Edited by Red Magister, 04 December 2010 - 06:02 PM.

[Phoenix]

Kamilla

It seemed that they have finally caught up to the group. A chill rushed down Kamilla's spine at the realization. She had gone over the battle a few times in her head, but she saw no foolproof way to reach Tessa which had her worried. Surely the girl would be mixed in with the others. What was she supposed to do? Tell the cavaliers to completely ignore the group's veteran healer? No that wouldn't do. She would most likely have to seek an opening of her own and hope no one in the group was malicious enough to attack her outright.

Irina

Irina's face lit up at the overwhelmingly cute display. Niket's attempt at sounding out his own name quickly prompted Irina into an old habit she hadn't done in ages. She quickly rubbed her nose against Niket's before praising him.

Irina: Oh you're so cute, and so smart too! I bet in a month or two you'll have some basic concepts down at this rate.

Kiev wondered what Irina was talking about. He recognized a lot of the words but he always had trouble drawing up meanings.

Ghost Town

As Joe came into Altenau, the entire area was deathly quiet. There wasn't a soul about it seemed. Things changed as Joe came deeper into the city however. Up in a window of a nearby building, several shadowy figures watched. The same was true of the building on the other side of the street. The buildings were full. Suddenly on the second floor of a very close tavern, a woman burst through the window with her arms flailing trying to wave to Joe!

Lindsey: Joooe! Run! Run away now! A demonic force has taken everyone hostage!

As she spoke numerous tendrils came out of the window behind surrounding her. Before she could add anything else to her warning, she was dragged back through it. The tendrils pulled the windows shut so hard that they broke bending inward, the glass falling into the room! That was when the town finally began to stir. Sounds everywhere, from low pitched moans to hissing snarls and the coiling of tendrils gathering just out of sight.

[Mercakete]

"Lindsey?! Lindsey!! Are you alright?! What's all this about--" then he noticed the tendrils and paled, "...d-demons...?" His attention snapped back to where Lindsey had been. "Wait! Where's Merryl?! Where are Altenau's children?! We have to get out of here! I have my cart and horses. It won't be enough for everyone to ride but we can save the children! Where's Merryl?!"

The panic was in Joe's heart, but he didn't dare run until he had at least attempted to save the one family member he had, the innocent children of Altenau and the rest of the townsfolk. He couldn't just leave them without trying.

[Tyrant Sage]

Sadie had drifted closer to town it seemed. She could tell from the buildings appearing in the distance. Sighing softly to herself, she brought out her lyre and began strumming a little tune, playing as she went near the entrance.

When she arrived, the town was strangely underpopulated. That was odd. She was in Altenau a lot throughout her travels and Altenau always had bustling people here. Something was wrong.

She heard yells and cries from somewhere. Putting her lyre away and pulling out her wind tome, she ran towards the directions of the yells.

Edited by Red Magister, 04 December 2010 - 06:03 PM.

[Phoenix]

Their Fate

Joe was soon surrounded on all sides as dark maroon colored figures stepped out into the open, some of them possessing tendrils in place of hands, others completely engulfed by the hideous tentacles. Within a few moments the figures could be clearly made out. Some of them were already dead, but those still living were moaning in pain as their bodies were forcefully led over to Joe. One of them was a familiar face. With endless tears running down his face, he warned Joe.

Eddie: J-Joe ... don't l-let me ... c-come any closer. I don't ... wanna hurt you! GAH!!! Stop it!

He was quickly made to hold out his arm and the mass of rot covering it hardened taking the shape of a four foot long crystalized talon.

Eddie: Jooooe ... r-run ... just run. RUN, MAN!!!

Behind Joe, several of the dead were steadily approaching with their arms held out hoping to soon grab and restrain him. Meanwhile, not far away Sadie had been running toward the commotion. A growl sounded from the roof of the building right by her. On top of the roof was a lone dog. The dog's paws were horribly discolored and patches of his fur had fallen off revealing rotting skin underneath. His eyes were a milky white and he eyed Sadie with contempt. It had not been the only one following her. Several undead stepped out of the alleyways reaching out hoping to grab her despite their distance.

[Mercakete]

Joe was horrified. "W-what's happened here...?" he faintly asked no one in particular before trying to run, searching for an opening. He knew this town. Eventually, he'd find a way to escape...he hoped. (Merryl... Merryl, where are you?)

[Tyrant Sage]

Looking behind her, Sadie's eyes widened and chanting softly, she fired a razor blade of wind at the dog. Another quick spell and she formed a small dagger of pure air lodging into the heart of another zombie. She fired yet another blast of concussive air at the zombies, and ran as quick as she could, staying right by the merchants...and more zombies.

"Huff....huff....sir....don't worry you guys. I don't know who you are. But I know if we don't work together, we'll never make it out alive. I'll protect you guys with my magic ok? Just stay close to me." With that, she faced the monsters with a fierce expression on her face.

If I die, I'll never meet my brother. How am I going to get out of this?

[Mercakete]

(What's that? A..girl? A mage? What luck! We can escape and come back when Altion and Adam bring the warriors here!) "Hurry, girl! I'll need your help with cutting these down. Be careful not to attack the living ones, though: they're innocent villagers. Let's just break past them. I'll try to lead us out of here," Joe instructed, running for a fairly thin line of undead. "Through there!"

[Tyrant Sage]

"There are living people here? Looks all like rotting corpses," Sadie said, firing off a gale of wind at the undead near Joe before backing away towards his direction, keeping an eye on the back. She conjured up a medium ball of air at the zombies and it bowled them over, the force knocking their legs off.

"Strike!" she said, following after Joe.

[Mercakete]

"Yes; and they're my friends. If they're speaking intelligably, don't hurt them. It seems like some ghastly form of possesion," explained Joe as he and Sadie ran through the break, turning a corner in an attempt to escape.

[Tyrant Sage]

"Right, I'll keep that in mind," said Sadie, following Joe around the corner. Unfortunately there was a giant zombie dog! She summoned a wind blade to cut off the top of its head but it kept moving.

[Phoenix]

The Horde

Sadie's attack forced her initial attackers back granting her time to escape further into Altenau. When Sadie attacked the undead hound up on the roof, the wind blade slit it's throat letting loose a small torrent of nearly blackened blood as the dog collapsed. It rose only a few seconds later ignoring its wound and ran along the rooftops keeping up with her until she arrived at Joe's side!

The two were heavily outmatched however and still chose to retreat through the weakest cluster of undead and hostages. As they broke through they were grabbed constantly by weak and decrepit hands. The two continued to fight their way through the ever increasing horde until they reached the end of the street coming into an four-way intersection. There they were met by an even larger horde of both undead and still living hostages. Among the hordes were undead cavalry still wielding their weapons. They marched toward the two head on leaving no where to run but into a building where they would eventually be overtaken. As they crowds drew closer men, women, and children cried out to them, some for help, others desperately trying to get them to leave.