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[Phoenix]

Security

While Jasmine had been scouting for any reinforcements, Viveka had withdrawn and flew over to Tobe to guard him for the remainder of the battle. He was underneath his horse but aside from that he appeared to be fine. And he had wisely kept a fair distance from the fighting so guarding him there would make it easier to spot approaching enemies long before they drew close enough to engage them. When she arrived, she silently stood guard until she saw Geraro fall. The remaining forces wouldn't be far behind she knew, and sure enough, they too fell in short order.

Jasmine returned and landed near Viveka and Tobe, and waved.

Jasmine: There aren't any reinforcements in sight. If they're inside the forest then they're already as good as dead. We've got this one in the bag.

Viveka: Great, let the General and Morgan know right away.

Jasmine: Yes, ma'am.

She flew off to the rest of the party as Viveka dismounted and slowly approached Tobe. She knelt down beside the horse and offered her hand trying to smile even though she wasn't quite in the mood to feign something like that.

Viveka: The fighting's over now.

Report

Jasmine landed as carefully as she could, making sure not to crush any of the bodies, and dismounted near Conrad and saluted him.

Jasmine: I surveyed the battlefield, sir. They don't have any reinforcements anywhere in sight, and anyone in the forest is roasting by now. I'm pretty sure we're done here, sir.

[Snike]

Brute
The journey back to the capital was rather uneventful, the sole exception being when a group of bandits decided to accost Jace, oblivious to who he really was until the moment they attacked. That hadn't ended particularly well for them, what with half their number dead, and the other half scared, straight he hoped. Banditry certainly wasn't the best path to go down, as the Hero had learned a long time ago. Back when Gracia was alive, and not even a dream to him. That was a tale for another time and place, though. For now, he'd have to deal with the damage to the Burgosas.

The initial damage had looked a lot worse than it really was. There were a lot of superficial burns to the buildings, but nothing white-washing couldn't cover. A few buildings were completely destroyed, which was unfortunate, but some things had to be sacrificed for change. Regrettable, but necessary. The only real problem was the looting, but, as Jace had known for a while, all it took were a few on-the spot arrests to curb that. All in all, the earthquake had caused more damages, so this would take no more than a month to bring things back to normal.

The Brute walked down the main road of Burgosas, but instead of heading directly to the palace, he turned right, towards the cathedral. Helenos, alongside that shadow rumoured to have wiped out a whole battalion, was a sure sign of the return of the demons, and divine assistance would be required, for sure.

[kdanger]

Kelas didn't have to attack again, as Alferis finished the druid off. Grimacing, she slid down from the saddle; this was why she'd bothered learning the sword, she thought, as her left arm and side had been rendered mostly useless by the attack. She held on to Amari for support with her good arm, quickly assessing whether people were all right: Arrin was still slightly hurt, but he was on his feet and steady, Charlotte was all right, Tessa was all right, and the boy who had been hanging round the horses had fled. This had not been a good fight from her own point of view, though: she'd been... unfocused, or something, not functioning quite as well as she should be. The depression from earlier might be getting her down, she supposed... in which case she'd have to double her efforts to keep it from affecting her. Which, she already knew, was easier said than done.

She wasn't sure how many people were in worse condition than her, so she didn't say anything, instead waiting for one of the healers to be free.

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

Things were over quickly, and Arrin was able to put away his tome, check on everyone, and go catch Francis before he ran away. He led the horse over to stand by Kelas and Amari, who were not in as good of shape. "You're going to let the healers see to you, right?" Kelas was standing, but she didn't look like she was going to be conscious for very long without help.

"'Course I am. You all right?"

"I need a little bit more patching up, but I should be fine for the moment," Arrin replied. "Why did you--"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Kelas cut him off, waving her bad arm limply to try and indicate she didn't want to talk about it. She couldn't really talk to Arrin about that, especially not after the morning's chaos.

"Are you sure you're--" Kelas didn't seem to be making sense, which worried Arrin. "Should I get Tessa?"

"Let the healers see to people who are doing worse'n me, then call someone over. I'll live. Don't start worrying at me, please."

Arrin stood and worried at his sister anyway, just quietly.

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

Tobe had shut his eyes and covered his ears so it took him a few moments to realize that the lady with the pegasus had approached. Cautiously he edged out from under Shadow, though he did not take the lady's hand. "Why is everyone tryin' t' kill you all?" he asked miserably, refusing to look towards where the fighting had been, or to the burning woods.

[Phoenix]

Viveka

Lowering her hand and relenting her smile, she glanced over at the carnage and sighed.

Viveka: They have their reasons. They're usually after the weapons some of us are carrying, and yes, they're willing to kill us for them. This may not be the best time to bring this up, but are you going to be able to handle this kind of thing for awhile longer? (Tobe needs a place to stay, but we're a bit too busy to do anything about that right now. The best I could do is have Jasmine escort him to Elyisima and send a note with explaining things to my family but ... I don't know if they won't overwork him without me around. He'd be a guest, not a stable boy.)

[Tyrant Sage]

"Oh Reika...that was pretty gutsy of you charging that sick piece of work like that," Alf said quietly, holding Reika's body in his arms. "Oi! I need a healer over here! Anybody help?"

Sadie saw that Alf had called for a healer and decided to maybe check up on Reika later. There were probably others that needed help. Better yet, if one of the attackers was still alive, the group might be able to get information from them. Stepping over to where Njordjenka was lying, she touched his neck to feel for a pulse and surprisingly, he was still alive.

"Hey! I got a live one over here!"

[Mercakete]

(Everyone is calling for healers, as usual...) Whether his musings were an internal sigh or grumble Beau did not know nor care. He simply put his physic staff back into his bag and took out his heal staff before sliding off of Lantos' back and onto his own feet. It seemed that Charlotte was taking care of Prince Helios, so that option was out. Prince Tristan and Princess Charlotte seemed fine, too. Sadie was calling for someone to heal an enemy, Alferis was calling for someone to heal an ally. Kelas was a bit worse-for-wear and a couple others were lying on the ground unconcious. One was Heinz and the other two he didn't quite recognize, though he was fairly certain he'd seen the firey-haired woman with the giant wyvern before. He just couldn't quite recall her name. She must not have been impressionable.

(Princess Charlotte is closer to that enemy than I am.) Beau also decided that Tessa could heal the Nomad siblings while he saw to some of the others. Heinz was the closest so he was Beau's first target. When he started in that direction, Raemond -- who had simply been looking on up until this point -- followed alongside him and asked, "Wait. You're helping them?"

"Of course. I am one of those who can wield a staff," Beau replied rather unemotionally.

"I understand that, but..."

"In spite of being of the same faith, I do not see these people as enemies as you do. You cannot act against us either, so do not try to stop me."

At Beau's retort, Raemond halted Lantos. He'd let Beau heal the others, of course. In the meantime he could try distinguishing between the crimson wielders. Once Heinz was healed, Beau didn't stick around. There were others requiring his assistance, after all. The next closest was the one Alferis wanted help with, so he made his way over to them. Without a word, he applied his staff to Reika.

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

Just because the healers were busy didn't mean Esphyr shouldn't bother them. In fact, it looked like only Charlotte and that new kid were healing people. Damian was already by Tessa, sho Esphyr figured he would be taken care of soon. "Hey, Tessa!" she called over to the troubador, "When you're done with him, Aiya could use some help, too!"

[-Cynthia-]

The girl that had recently joined them pointed out that the man Helios had been fighting was still alive. Charlotte weighed the options before her. He might deserve to die for what he has done...but we may be able to restore Dani's memories from what he knows. Let the Goddess sort him out after that. "I can heal him, but I think we should tie him up with rope or something first. We don't want him escaping or attacking us again," Charlotte said to Sadie and whoever else was around.

[Script]

Luc Altair

The battle continued to go favorably for the party. But, there was no need for reckless action. Luc continued his vigilance on guarding the only member of the group who had been struck down. But he would shortly be joined. Reika made an attack against that druid fool and was struck down in an instant, Heinz was randomly chosen by an attack from the druid and Aiya and Damian followed similar fates in their offense against him. The man was strong, but not near the terror he had paraded himself to be. Kelas had a better skirmish with him, taking advantage of his flaws and striking a heavy blow while escaping by her own power despite being hit with a counter. But it was Alferis' raging attack which delivered the deathblow, decapitating the druid and sending his head flying. A quick look around the battlefield and Luc watched General Alex finish off the last dregs of this ambush. It was over, and as long as Helios and the others hadn't been killed this was the smoothest things had gone since Luc had met them.

So, why did things seem off? There had to be more to this. But, if there was, wouldn't it have happened before the enemy force had been eliminated? Not that the druid fool was some sort of paragon of intelligent thinking, but, this attack had been a suicide rush and even an animal would avoid that. Did they want this? Bah, delving into the insanity of the dead was useless. He would have to be vigilant for any further plans, but this was wasting time that could be used on watching.

The mounted Captain set his sights on any possible threats to emerge nearby, while keeping as best an eye on the recovery process of the group. Dani, or the Elle girl, whichever was by Helios still. Morgan came over, calling for Princess Charlotte to aid the Wind Sage. Prince Tristan looked in good health as well. The other pegasi riders were fine, and Luc's eyes followed one of them to a standing Conrad. No one seemed to be attending to Kelas yet, but she could still move under her own power so the dark magic hadn't been too devastating. Arrin was with her, also moving on his own. A glance away though, and there was Alferis cradling the injured Reika. Not exactly the most surprising thing, that she wouldn't be the first healed.

But not a few feet away from Luc, that new girl--Sadie?--was checking the foe Helios and Luc and attacked. So, he was still alive? This would be useful in the many ways. But others would need to be tended to before the enemy, he looked over the fallen, seeing Beau tending to Heinz before going to Reika. Charlotte spoke out, almost surprising Luc. She was offering to heal the ambusher, and making a good suggestion to tie him up beforehand. "Heinz might still have some of his rope left over," Luc mentioned.

[Snike]

Paladin
Derek rode frantically to where the sage was advancing on Elle, desperate to stop him before he could capture her, or worse. Halfway along his path though, Luc turned and knocked the man out.
"Thanks," the Jerdonian horseman said to his Septimian counterpart, as he turned just past where the Count had stopped. The battle was all but over, though, as the last attacker was slain by Alex just moments after the leader was beheaded by Alferis. And so, the recovery began, albeit at a faster pace. There had been few casualties this time, and it looked like that the others had control of the situation. Regardless, he did a perimeter check. No enemies in view, as the pegasus knights had already probably concluded. And the sun was still rising, which was a good sign. Maybe they'd make the border by nightfall. He looped around, and, spotting Viveka talking to someone , rode up over to her.
"Are you alright?" Derek asked, dismounting Ann and approaching the pegasus knight. "I brought down the warrior who was attacking you, but I wasn't sure whether he had got an arrow out..." The man stopped, as he realized the stable boy from Burgosas was the one who Viveka was speaking with. "... Hello, I don't believe we met. My name's Derek," he finally said, looking at the boy. "Yours is...?"

[-Cynthia-]

Hearing Luc's suggestion, Morgan went over and took some of Heinz's rope from his recently healed body. She then went over and tied up the man knocked unconscious by Luc. Charlotte gave him minimum healing to keep him from dying.

"We should not tarry too long here, 'tis unwise to leave ourselves so exposed. Once the injured can be moved, let us be on our way. Interrogate this man if you wish, though I think these enemies are no longer relevant," Morgan said to anyone listening.

[kdanger]

"Just Tobe," Tobe replied, hiding slightly behind Viveka. He was still hesitant about talking to new people, especially after a fight.

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

It seemed to be taking a while... Kelas swore under her breath, it seemed like the wounds incurred by dark magic sometimes had the capacity to get worse, or maybe she was just noticing them more now. "Need to sit down..." she mumbled, dropping to her knees. Things were spinning a bit, but she could still see... sort of... "Can someone help?" she asked, not sure that anyone was in a position to reply.

Arrin ran forward to steady Kelas. "Are you sure there isn't anything I could do to help?"

"Vulnerary in my saddlebags," Kelas instructed, propping her head up against her good hand. "Don't remember which pocket..."

Slightly panicked, Arrin searched, eventually finding it. He opened the bottle and tried to press it into Kelas' free hand, then realized that she couldn't move that one well. She took the bottle with her other hand, and gulped down a bit of the potion.

"I'll live," Kelas insisted as some of the spinning and pain went away. "I can wait for a healer."

Arrin shook his head. He wasn't sure whether to stay to make sure Kelas didn't pass out, or to go and try to call Tessa or Charlotte over. For the moment, he fretted.

[Mercakete]

Once he was done healing Reika, Beau took a quick look-around to see who still needed healing. Tessa wasn't doing anything yet. Odd. Maybe she was preoccupied with talking to the one near her. So, Beau decided to do her work for her, first aproaching the hurt wyvern rider from before and healing her. Esphyr looked quizically at the kid. "Who're you, anyway?"

"I'm Beau," he replied, "Leave me alone. I've got work to do."

"Sheesh, sorry for asking..." Esphyr rolled her eyes at the faux appology she made, which went ignored by the young healer anyway. From there, though he moved on to the Nomad siblings, since he figured Tessa was taking care of the fallen man near her.

"I'm sorry it's taken so long," Beau mentioned, beginning to feel the fatigue from his healing. With a sigh, not really feeling like conversing, he applied his staff to Kelas' wounds. It took some time, but she was good as new by the end of it.

"Are you hurt, too?" Beau mumbled to Arrin. He was determined, though still a bit sore from what Arrin had said before, "Or would you preffer healing from Tessa or a vulnerary?"

Edited by Mercakete, 20 May 2011 - 08:22 PM.

[kdanger]

"I have some burns, if the others have been healed already," Arrin replied, indicating the wounds. He'd been ignoring the injuries while he worried over Kelas, but they stung all the same. Kelas nodded her thanks to Beau, but did not attempt to push herself to her feet yet. She realized that she'd been having trouble breathing properly because of her injuries. Now she breathed in deep and stretched out her arm now that it was functional again.

[Phoenix]

Viv and Sunny

She hadn't quite gotten an answer to her question since there was now a third person present, but she had already admitted it wasn't exactly the best time to ask said question, so she didn't mind. It also seemed like a good chance to introduce Tobe to Derek. It probably wouldn't put a veil over the massacre that took place a few minutes prior, but it was something.

Viveka: Tobe, this is Derek. He's a good friend of mine. Derek, Tobe.

[Mercakete]

"I've healed the ones who need it the most," Beau replied, again making use of his heal staff. Once Arrin was healed, Beau glanced around again. Usually after fights Beau stayed to speak with Arrin but now he wasn't sure he knew where to go. He knew for a fact that Kelas didn't like him and Arrin didn't trust him. He refused to speak with his countrymen and he didn't like how Raemond was always at his shoulder. He didn't want to speak with any of the royalty for now... Where could he go to rest? The carrage wasn't available... The forest was on fire. That left choosing a section of the battlefield and sitting. Deciding that would seem rather silly, Beau chose to seek out the first person from this group he'd healed: Luc. So, wandering away from the Nomad siblings, he wandered towards him, using his heal staff as a walking stick to some extent.

It was odd approaching the cluster near Helios, Sadie and Charlotte without them being the ones he was planning on speaking with. All the same, he adressed Luc with a polite nod and the question, "How did you fare in this battle?"

Edited by Mercakete, 20 May 2011 - 09:12 PM.

[Script]

Luc Altair

Luc nodded in response to Derek's thanks and watched as the Jerdonian paladin trotted over to the Elyisima Pegasus Knight. Morgan shortly after that, made her way to Heinz and borrowed some of the rope Luc had mentioned possibly existing from the downed man. She placed the binds on the ambusher quickly, and made her deceleration of intent clear. Writing them off as a threat just because of the failure of this ambush wasn't a good decision. Luc brought a hand to his chin in thought regarding the interrogation as he continued his survey of the area. He had past experience with this man, he was sure, and that could be used. The real problem would be containing the more hotheaded members of the group from simply brutalizing the captive before anything useful had been extracted. As his thoughts and eyes drifted across the battlefield, he saw the collapse of Kelas, and the aid given to her by Arrin and Beau. And shortly after, the latter approached the gathered around Luc, and directly addressed the Directus Count. "Thank you for your concern. The worst I suffer from would be a bruise I'm not even sure I could see if I remove my armor," Luc respectfully answered. "Now, how are you? I noticed your use of that staff as a walking stick, and I've seen and heard how taxing healing can be on the healer."

[Mercakete]

Beau nodded, glad for the understanding. "Yes. Because I, as well as the staff, am a conduit for the healing magic to flow through, it can be tiring," he ellaborated a bit, "So I am tired in spite of having not engaged in combat myself." It was a good beginning to the conversation. The young healer glanced over to the commotion with the enemy they'd just captured. "We seem to be taking on quite a few noncombatants. What do you think about all this?" he inquired. Talking to Luc was a welcome change since he seemed to have his wits about him -- something Beau couldn't say for all of the members of the group.

[Tyrant Sage]

Awakening

Njordjenka awoke with a start, feeling pain all over his body and he realized he was tied up. Looking about, he saw his companions including Geraro were dead. Looking up, he saw the druidess and one of the healers standing over him. Turning around, he saw Elle was still alive, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"....Elle. Good to see you're still alive," he said to her.

[-Cynthia-]

"I don't think that's very likely," Charlotte said, stepping in. "You're part of that group that captured her, aren't you? Tell me what you did with her memories. I'm a busy woman with little patience for criminals, so I suggest you start talking," she said harshly to the tied-up man.

[Tyrant Sage]

"Hmmm? That wasn't me who did it. That was the clown who erased her memories. There might be a way of getting her memories back, but I do not know how. Anyway why do you care? And how do you people know her?" Njordjenka replied quietly to Charlotte.