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[Phoenix]

Viv and Lev

"I'm only pointing out that he would see a basic ambush coming in time to counter it. I'm not even talking about higher level tactics, which you yourself said the demons are unlikely to bother with." Viveka replied in an agitated tone. "The shapeshifters seem quite rare though, so don't go over the top with that suspicion, or it'll only slow us down. We need to make sure we leave a way out for people to evacuate, and kill any demons we find along the way. You trained to sense demons, right? So you should at least be able to spot a shapeshifter if we run into one."

"The training was good for shapeshifters, right?" Lev asked with the faintest hint of worry on his face.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan

"It worked on Miranda, but it has not been tested on any other shapeshifters yet- though the same principles should apply. I also have not trained enough with it enough to have a long range, so if we were to get separated I may not be able to detect the demonic presence immediately. Given the magnitude of this attack I expect Shanice to be present, so we should all be on our guard," Morgan said, raising her voice near the end for everyone nearby to hear.

[Ether]

"Will do... give 'em hell for me too, Irina, okay?" Aiya called out, wondering when, or if, she would see her friend again.

[Phoenix]

Irina On the Move

"Will do! Travel safely, Aiya! Ulfhrahn, take care of her!" And with that, the two parted ways and Irina made her way back over toward the gathering, stopping by Iso and Iris first. "Umm, Iso?"

"Okay what's the bad news? It may have been ten years, but I know that look." Iso replied.

"It's not all bad news, but Aiya won't be coming with us. It ... wouldn't be safe for the baby."

"... okay ..." Iso was shocked but handling it quickly. He shook his head a couple of times to regain his composure. "Well ... so much for that boxing match, huh? Heheh."

"You'll have to reschedule, yeah. So are you or Iris going to use Kiev?"

"Iris volunteered." Iso instantly answered.

Viv and Lev Standing Still

"Hmm?" Stephanie was drawn into the discussion by Morgan's last statement thanks to the volume. "Is it time?"

"Almost," Lev answered. "Iso's eyes light up around demons now or something, so he won't be much help there either ... there'll be demons everywhere, but hopefully the two of you together can spot any shapeshifters like Shanice." Lev said with a shrug.

"Maybe the demons will all be too impatient for that sort of tactic in this battle, but I guess I won't count on it." Viveka noted.

[Balcerzak]

The unlucky swordsman was all by himself, almost as if he were being isolated, intentionally or not. It actually made him rather easy for Tessa to approach, and she did so, heedless of any stares or attention they may or may not get. When she got to within a few feet of Eric, the troubadour laced her fingers behind her back and leaned to better look at the much taller man.

"So... Charlotte tells you were dead for awhile?" She cut straight to the chase. "What was it like? Did you meet The Lady? How did you come back?"

[Snike]

Eric
Tessa, the group healer, was eventually the first non-military member of the group to approach Eric. Fortunately, or unfortunately perhaps, she was inquiring not about his time as a Templar, but about he came back alive. On one hand it was avoiding the whole I-just-tried-to-kill-you aspect of his return, but on the other hand, it Eric had no idea how he was revived.


"Hello Tessa," Eric said first of all, trying to appear at least relatively friendly. "It wasn't painful, at least, not after the first few minutes. Kind of like falling asleep, except, while everything was fading away. I did meet The Lady, who gave me directives to go find Kaileen the Mother." That hadn't gone well, he neglected to mention, given that she was the one that helped seal the Lady. "I'm not actually sure how I came back, but seeing as I did, I can only think it was the work of The Lady. Regardless, I've been given a second chance, and I intend on using it to stop the Lord, hopefully with more success than last time."

Alex
"No problem. Hello, Snips," The Comet said, as she eyed the horse, unsure of whether or not it would try to bite her. "Looks like we'll be doing so riding around, then. Excellent."

[-Cynthia-]

Departure?

"Yes, very nearly. I hope you have a very clear idea of where we are going- warping to the wrong location could kill us all," Morgan impressed upon Stephanie. "Assume defensive positions everyone!" she ordered.

Tristan proceeded to mount Bellerophon, while Charlotte made her way near Eric.

[scorri]

Adena noticed how Alex was eying Snips and hurriedly said "Oh don't worry. Snips doesn't bite. He's quite the gentle horse. And yes! I've found that being on a horse makes it much easier for me to reach people and also stay out of the way of more enemies." Hearing Morgan tell everyone to get ready, she gulps. "Looks like we're heading out." She grabbed her fire tome from the saddlebag it had been placed in, and secured her staff so that both were in easy reach. "Good luck. I'm glad I'll have you protecting me," she says to Alex with a smile.

[kdanger]

It sounded like it was about time to go. Kelas retrieved Amari and swung into the saddle. She surveyed the group, hoping that Isotov and Arrin wouldn't move too far apart so that she could watch out for both of them.

"You ready?" she asked Arrin as he climbed into Francis' saddle and pulled up next to her.

"No," Arrin replied truthfully, getting out his tome, "but that doesn't really matter, does it? I'll just have to do what I can."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone's really ready to go charging into a city full of demons, but here we are," Kelas agreed grimly. Her bow was strung and slung across the front of her saddle, and she didn't really have much else to do herself. Well, maybe one thing. "<Oi, Hainam!>" she called. "<Group's about to travel by warp staff, so don't freak out or anything, okay?>"

[Mercakete]

Tas offered Aiya a last wave before following after Irina back to the others. She told her brother about Aiya's new status as a mother he responded a little awkwardly. Why doesn't anyone seem very happy about it? Tas wondered before he heard that Iris would be looking after Kiev. I guess that's one less thing for me to do. She'll do a good job protecting him. I'll just focus on trying to be helpful in other ways.

Then, Morgan called out for everyone to get into defensive positions. Wait, is there a specific procedure or formation for this I don't know about or does she mean just a defensive position in general? Ah! It doesn't sound like there's a lot of time to wonder about this! "I'll be on Namid," Tas hurriedly told Irina before rushing off to his wyvern and nimbly mounting up. Should I be in the air? He wasn't really sure what to do with himself at the moment, but decided to just wait for further instruction.

Esphyr, meanwhile, walked over to Alferis. "Hey, watch my back and I'll watch yours, okay? This isn't going to be a standard fight, I think," she advised as she unsheathed her sword and readied it for combat with her back to the center of the gathered group.

[Phoenix]

Bring Them Closer

"It is more than simply knowing where we are going," Stephanie defended. "I can only hope Ixion gave me enough of his power to reach the city at all ..."

"You'll do fine." Lev assured her as he hopped back up on Krinkov and readied his axe. Krinkov could already tell some serious thing was about to go down. That woman with the stick on his back was doing something ...

Morgan gave out the order to get ready, so there wasn't anything left to discuss before the actual warp, and she quickly mounted up on Susann. The pegasus wasn't nervous yet, but only because the magnificent one was still close by.

Irina mounted up on Nikita and Iso wandered closer to the center of the group before summoning Proxima into his hands. Irina moved over to Damian as Stephanie began preparing to warp the entire party. "Damian, don't run off, okay? I promised Aiya I'd keep you out of trouble." It felt odd telling her old employer what for, but it was that or have him wonder why she's sticking so close.

"... okay ..." Stephanie took a deep breath and began reaching out, trying to begin the warp. Shortly afterward, a powerful light began to spread out from under Krinkov until the entire group was encompassed. Everything disappeared as the light rose up over them ...

[Balcerzak]

Eric's explanation was a little... vague, but still full of wonder. Tessa was surprised, and maybe secretly a little jealous that the swordman had even been given a special mission from The Lady. There was much more she still hoped to learn though, maybe she could help with his quest too?

"Looking for Mother Kaileen?" the valkyrie confirmed before pressing her lips into a line as she concentrated, trying to remember anything about where they had parted ways, when suddenly something else came to mind. Something a little... disturbing.

"...Actually, I think there's also something else I have to ask you. Were you―"

She was cut off however by Morgan's cry to prepare for transport. With a quick and unsure smile, she apologized, "Looks like we'll save this for later, huh?" She then hastily departed, taking Trevor by the reins and gravitating over toward Arrin and Kelas.