Interrupted by Hugh as he was about to reply to the healer who asked if he was the leader, Jakobe gave the knight a quiet nod, glad that he didn't have to explain himself. He was nervous now that they were almost ready to leave, to say the least, and until he got his bearings, he wasn't ready to speak to anybody.

As the convoy approached the village that Hugh told them was occupied, Jakobe breathed a sigh of trepidation. Whoever they were about to fight was going to regret what they'd done. The numbers were a bit disheartening, though: twenty-one enemies at the least, with the possibility for more inside the buildings. They'd have to be careful of ambushes, but he was sure their fledgling tactician would be able to guide them properly.

Moving over to the man, Jakobe spoke softly. "Pair me with the dark mage from the north. Reinbach, I think his name was. I've a feeling we could fight well together." Gently tapping Thunderclap's neck, Jakobe kept a good hold on the reigns as the steed turned to the side and started walking without guidance, taking the pair a few steps away from the convoy, but still close.

Looking over the assorted band again, Jakobe smiled. He had confidence that they could do this, so long as they worked together and weren't idiots. Giving them all a nod, he turned over to their leader, Hugh. The two would have made a deadly pair, but keeping the sturdiest people together wasn't always the best idea, if it left the squishier ones to fend for themselves.

---

One long, as-disciplined-as-it-could-be march later...

Habeen listened as Hugh explained the situation with the raiders. "I'm getting some bad vibes from this," she commented. Her unwavering smile contrasted with what she said. Habeen glanced over at Kel's battle map. The raiders seemed minimally organized.

Habeen stepped back and turned, finding Jeanne right behind her. Startled, she stepped back.

"Hey, hey, don't freak," Jeanne said to Habeen, passing the folk magician and taking a gander at the map as Kel mentioned the group of enemy thieves. "Hm. I could probably rob those fellows blind," Jeanne declared, "and still escape with nary a scratch."

"Are you that confident in your abilities of theft?" Habeen asked.

"Hey, I got pretty far before the government got me good," Jeanne replied, shrugging. "And I don't think thieves, of all manners of people, would alert the authorities. That said, they might turn their swords upon me, so I may need lance support..."

Franky chewed on Hugh's words as the last adjustments were made and the group set off. Along the way, Franky had to get used to the new sensation. Franky was excessively aware that they had been walking for a long period of time in the same direction. Usually, Franky's freedom to walk in any direction was limited by the radius of his ship. By nature he would be forced to turn back on himself after a certain amount of paces otherwise he would be walking amongst the fishes. It was almost nauseating for him to be walking in tandem in a singular direction for so long, striking his psyche like torture. At one point, all got a bit much for the pirate and slumped with a deep sigh into a crouch. By chance, he happened to slouch into a flower bed, and daisies of various colours surrounded him. Franky waved the back side of his iron axe against the petals before culling one particular daisy head with the front. He raised the pruned flower to his nose and embraced the scent flooding his nostrils.

Something within him began to settle, calming his soul immensely. While his eyes were closed and his lips forming into a soft smile, the pirate instinctively rose to his feet. When he opened his eyes, he could see he was a little ways off from the main group due to his distraction. He lifted up his axe and rested it over his shoulder and marched on, following behind the group.

By the time he arrived at the de facto camp, Franky was aware of some unrest, catching the back end of Hugh's speech regarding helping the nearby settlement. It appeared that everyone was settling into formation directed by the troupe's resident tactician.

Gaius poured over the information that the Wyvern Rider had given him. He sat completely lost in thought and he barely acknowledged Jakobe's request that he paired with the northern man. This is a tactical nightmare, He thought, we are out-numbered, out-armed and they are the defenders, The only two advantages we have here are surprise and magic. But after the first strike, we loose surprise...hmmm...The first attack must be fatal, we also cannot allow them to use the townsfolk as hostages... Eventually he came up with three ideas. All right, If they go here...then we do this...follow up here...and....maybe this isn't as hopeless as it seems! He spent another hour or two tweaking and improving the plan. Gaius suddenly jumped up and strode to the center of the small encampment,, he grabbed a sword and shield on the way, and started banging them together. He shouted, "All right Ladies and Gentlemen gather around! I have a plan!"

Once everyone had gathered Gaius started to speak. "Everyone, I'll keep this short. Here is the plan, Boat, Nic, and smiles will set the building with the lancers on fire and take them out as they try to escape. Ro and Frank will pair up and stand outside the building guarding the mages. Monk, you are to go with them and do what you do best, keep them whole and healthy. The burning building will be the signal for everyone else to charge. San, and Bubbles will pair up and I, and Red will go with them. We will hit the axmen hard and fast. Lilith, you are to stay back with Timmy to keep him alive while he is to support us. After that, Red and I will charge the leaders. Don, Pel,-" "Its Kel!" someone shouted. "Sorry, Kel, along with Fault and Kuur will move out and take out the squad of archers. Once that is done, you will fall back to guard the houses of civilians. But Fault and Kuur are to move around to mop up the various other enemies around the town, try to keep them away from those buildings. I don't know about the rest of you, but this is my first time doing something like this, what ever you do, don't panic and remember to improvise." He surveyed the small army before him, hoping that they will all survive. "Any Questions?"

Nickolas' walk alongside the caravan was rather pleasant and unevenful, something that he particularly enjoyed when away from the biting cold of his home-country. He'd never seen wildflowers that weren't as hardy as weeds when it came to the frosts that covered his old home year-round, and the delicate, sweet smelling flowers that lay along the side of the road had only come to his life as a result of the war. Small blessings, he supposed. He spent the tactician's two hours of planning resting and simply conversing with any who passed by, doing small card tricks with little bursts of flame or ice.

As he listened to the plan, his already pale face drained of color, leaving him white as fresh snow. When he spoke, his voice was shaking slightly. "As I can place everybody but Red, the assumption goes that Red is the little miss, correct?" He peeled open his Flux tome, looking for all the world like he was just enjoying a light read of the almost acidly sweet tome. "Then I do have a question."

"Are you mad? You want a flyer to charge a group of bowmen, then you send half your magic forces to clean out a building one magic wielder could accomplish easily, and then throw your least experienced mage and yourself at the largest and most powerful of their forces?" He wasn't happy, nor even pretending to be, that was for sure. "One of whom, if Sir Wyvern Rider description is apt, is either a mage or an assassin, neither of which are the seemingly sure kill you assume they are!" Nickolas was panting now, gesturing wildly at the collection of buildings. "This stinks of the well-intentioned slaughter for at least little miss Syrena and yourself, and I will physically restrain you two if I have to."

He whirled on his heel, striding boldly up to the taller man and still managing to look imposing even at the nearly nine inch height disparity and the sheer ridiculousness of his last statement. Pale flames flashed behind his eyes. "Now then. I do, in fact, have another question." He put on the same smile that he'd worn for Syrena back in the courtyard, abet now void of all of the warmth and kindness and now only laced with a chilly anger. "Would you like to make an addendum to your plan now, or later, Sir Tactician?" The facade of anger slipped a bit as he added: "Please?"



She had been ready for combat in the first thirty seconds of the announcement, and then the tactician had promptly vanished. The Panoplian archer had made it nearly thirty minutes before she whisper-mumbled some excuse about 'going hunting' at Lilith, and wandered off into the woods with her bow and quiver of arrows, surprisingly stealthily for her large size.

Kuur returned only minutes before the tactician revealed his plot, proudly bearing no less than two rabbits and what appeared to be some sort of weasel, noticeably not lacking any of the perfectly preened arrows in her quiver. She wandered up to the side of the convoy with her prize, proudly showing off her catch with no lack of subtly despite the fact that she wasn't actually speaking; Something that didn't seem to faze her gloating in the slightest.

The archer caught Nickolas' rant in its entirety with an utterly impassive face until he finished, before blinking and turning to face the weaver of strategy. As if in direct contrast to the outburst of the northerner, Kuur simply nodded slowly and tested the draw on her bow, aiming it at the distant image of the town. Her lips twitched up in a self-confident sneer. "...I have no... problems."

After a moment spent looking over the hill at the occupied village, and another studying the map sketched in the dirt, Hugh breathed out a sigh and stepped into the limelight. He raised a hand for attention over the general mumbling and clatter of weapons, gear, and animals. “Looks like our techie's a bit of a rookie. Hope you don't mind, Gaius, but considering this is your first time and all, I'm going to shift some stuff around a little. Your basic plan of attack sounds pretty good, all things considered, but your pairings could use some work. Listen up, folks.”

He gestured to each individual as he mentioned them. “Takes one good fireball to set thatch on fire, so we'll only be needing one mage for that job. The little incident back in the Basilmeron Castle courtyard has convinced me that Syrena would be best for that job. Franky will watch her back. Arkhant and Ronin will be near, but together, and will make sure the civilians get out okay. The plan is simple and efficient: fighter draws the aggression and the mage throws spells from a distance. It's a combination I saw a lot of in the Basileus' annual Doubles tournament. Lilith and Sanguin should lead the assault against the axemen; front-line combat isn't Jeanne's thing. You also forgot about the thieves. The trouble here is where to put our armor, which is me and Jakobe; we best resist the archers, but we'd also have the advantage against swordsmen. I say we employ Habeen and Kuur to harass them until Jakobe, Nick, and I deal with the archers. Timmy will accompany us to make sure we get through intact. Once we break the archer's line, they'll flee to try and get back the range. By positioning Gaius and Jeanne behind them, we'll ensure that there's nowhere to run. Then Jakobe and Nick will finish the thieves. During this time, I want Kel performing more reconnaissance on the leaders to determine their capabilities, perhaps trying to separate them if you feel confident, and roaming the perimeter away from the archers to bring down any who try to escape. Afterward, he and I will move toward the enemy leaders, joined by whoever else is done with their tasks. They may outnumber us slightly, but we've got skill, unity, and above all, purpose.”

Pulling his weapons from the convoy, he placed two javelins in holders on his back and hefted his spear. He raised an eyebrow at Nickolas but addressed everyone, “Does that work a little bit better?”

Gaius snapped his head over to Hugh, "Call me a rookie again and your going to be eating that lance." he said calmly. He turned to address everyone. "I'm sure after the lancers overwhelm Frank by sheer numbers and kill Red, and the archers turn their arrows on the fleeing citizens along with the mages they will just kill over and we will win." He said with all the sarcasm he could muster. "Besides if we have Red burn a building she may burn the town down along with it. We need focus, not power. Also, the thieves are yours after you kill the archers, or do you doubt you ability to beat them? Those axmen are strong, but inaccurate, that's why sending our two most nimble together is a better idea. Those archer will try to reateat which is why Fault and Kuur will play the anvil to your and Kel's hammer. You are right about the leaders, we know nothing about them, Which is why we save them for last, then we can hit them from all angles with everyone. If we fight, like you suggest, we may make it. But their numbers will pay a heavier toll on us, better to hit them fast then to take them slowly.

Kel Was dozing off, drifting deep into thought half listening for his name to be mentioned. And it was mentioned wrong, luckily someone in the crowd happened to correct it for him, no idea who. What came next built up enough energy for Kel to sit up AND take his mask off. He had been told to take out archers... as a wyvern rider. "Yeah so that plan is shit." He muttered. Before he could finish the thought two things happened. One, a man began ranting much louder and full of far more soul, and two, some freshly killed rabbits were brought to the attention of Druug who quickly scuttled his way over the the archer, throwing Kel from his back. "Gee Druug, glad to see you love me still." He grumbled, grabbing his ax from the ground. He looked to the archer and then to the rabbits. The weasel wasn't what Druug cared about. "Hey, uh, don't mind this big guy, I packed some in the caravan so you can keep those rabbits, but since we're here can I commission you some more of those for Druug down the line? They're his favorite." Kel smiled before whistling and pulling a not-as-fresh rabbit off of his belt.

He heard several plans and then the tactician once again suggested that he face archers. "Fuck man you just don't get it do you?" He tossed the rabbit in the air and Druug snapped it right out of the air. He gripped on of Druug's wings spreading it. he gestured to the thin membrane wetween the bones of his wings. "See this? One arrow is all it takes to bring me out of the sky, and here's a quick note, I don't fly slow and I don't fall slow either." He dropped his wyvern's wing and walked into the face of the tactician. "Now tell me. How far have you ever been dropped from the sky?" His nose was almost touching the tacticians. His fists were clenched and Druug finished his snack and approached as well, sensing the tension. Druug loomed overhead and let out a hot snort into his face. "Hugh, your plan was fine. I don't usually grow to like someone as much as you or that mage there, but you two have earned some respect in our eyes." Eye contact was not broken from Gaius, nor any personal space given.

The jovial countenance of Hugh turned decidedly sour as he heard Gaius not only reject his leading officer's advisement, but threaten him. He felt expectant eyes on him following the young tactician's challenge, shortly followed by a perturbed wyvern rider's brusque dismissal. The knight stepped forward and put an arm on Kel's shoulder. “Stand down. Nothing will be solved by displays like that.” He pulled Kel back and looked up at Gaius with suppressed scorn. “Soldier, I don't know what's gotten into you, but let's take a look at the facts. You admitted yourself that this is your first time in the field. Now, I might not have been born with a lance in my hand or a helmet on my head, but I've been in a fair share of skirmishes more dire than this one. A single arrow will kill our Wyvern Rider. Syrena has more than enough support in the form of Arkhant and Ronin should she require it, and I trust that she can control herself. We are outnumbered by a mere five men, and these are mere brigands we face, not a trained army.”

A more earnest look reasserted itself on Hugh's face. “You and I will iron out our problems together after the day is won...with my plan. Failure to defer to my leadership will compromise your position on the Reclaimers. I don't know if your father would like that very much.” This information came from Gaius's contract. “Do you understand?”

The journey wasn't altogether unpleasant. There leader had given the youngest of the group, which was Syrena and a shy priest boy she thought was named Tim, leave to ride on the convoy. It was nice to know that the option was available to her but Syrena didn't want to make the horses work harder and besides she liked walking. The weather was calm and the fields they passed where full of wild flowers. There was that scent in the air that said summer was just around the corner.

They stopped earlier then intended because according to there Wyvern riding scout (whose beast still made Syrena uneasy) there was a village not far off that appeared to be occupied, most likely by bandits. There resident tactician went to work figuring out a strategy and Syrena decided that she had some time to herself. Among her belongings on the convoy she had a bag filled will half inch disposable candles that the Arch Mage had given her. It was part of an exercise he'd taught her to hone the precision with which she could use her magic. The exercise went something like this: She would lay three candles out in a row and attempt to light each of the wicks, individually. The goal was that she cause only the wicks to catch fire and everything else to remain unburned. So far all she'd managed to do was melt a substantial number of candles.

Syrena went a good distance from the group. She didn't think any of them would thank her for setting fire to them and in her past experiences with this technique she'd do more damage to the surrounding area than the candles. By the end of the two hours after which Gaius called them all back Syrena had successfully scorched a meter wide section of land, melted twenty five candles beyond recognition and set fire to a tree which she'd mercifully been able to put out before it turned into a blaze. Feeling slightly defeated Syrena packed up the remaining candles and returned to the group.

Syrena had a little trouble following the plan because while not knowing the names of everyone present she certainly didn't know the identifies of the nicknames that the tactician had assigned to everyone. It was only when Nicki started his rant that Syrena got a better grasp on the plan. Syrena, whose nickname was apparently 'Red' despite the fact that she wore green and commanded blue fire, was supposed to rush the axemen and the leaders with Gaius. A sudden image of flesh boiling off bones and scorched skeletons falling to the ground there axes red hot flushed into Syrena's mind. "N-no, I d-don't think t-that w-would work." She wasn't worried so much for herself as she was the enemy. She of course knew that they were bandits but the idea of killing them like that, burning them to ashes seemed almost cruel. If she could help it Syrena wouldn't kill anyone. Syrena smiled slightly as Nicki took her side defending her against the idea of being thrown directly into combat.

Syrena felt a little better when there leader, Hugh stepped in and revised the plan, swapping teams around. Now it was her job to set fire to one of the outlying buildings and flush out the lancers inside. Another image touched her mind, of a building consumed in blue fire and the screams of people dying within. "Are you sure t-that w-w-would be a g-good idea? My flames c-can be w-wild. I c-can't always k-keep control. The village c-could all b-burn." That wasn't something that Syrena wanted to happen. Her flames where a lot harder to put out by conventional means. Smothering didn't work very well and water was only half as effective. The more flames of hers there were the more difficult it was to use Arma Infernum to silence them.

The tactician appeared to agree with Syrena about the village burning but the way he presented it scared her. Suddenly feeling very anxious Syrena moved away from the group and sat down next to a tree. It wasn't far enough that she still couldn't hear everything being said but anyone who wanted to talk to her would have to walk over. She didn't want to die. She really didn't. It hit her then that they were in very real circumstances where the possibility of one of them not making it back alive was a great one. At that moment all she wanted to to return home and tell her father she loved him.


Marcus spent the walk in silence. The open air felt good on his face after spending to many years in the monastery. Not that he hadn't liked it there but it was only one type of living and Marcus had always wanted more. Every day however he'd told himself that he didn't deserve more, not after what had happened to his friends.

Once there stopped a league from the nearest village there Wyvern Rider reported that the village was occupied by what appeared to be bandits. The tactician settled into thought about how the could liberate the town. Marcus in turn settled into meditation. It was a good means of passing the time and allowed him to be attentive and calm in the most strenuous situations.

When Gaius was finished and presented his plans Marcus considered some glaring problems. The building job could easily be accomplished by one mage instead of three. Sending a Wyvern against archers was suicide and not be to self serving but placing Marcus in the back healing two axemen while the little imp of a priest was placed far to close to the center of combat was a serious concern. Marcus might not be a fighter by nature but he could defend himself if it came down to it. He doubted the same could be said for the boy.

Also worrisome was sending the little girl to the front lines. Marcus wasn't aware of her exact capabilities. The tome she clutched tight to her chest seemed to indicate a mage but he'd never seen a Grimoire quite like that one before. Unless she was much sturdier then she appeared one well placed blow could easily spell her death.

It appeared that Marcus was not the only one to share these concerns however as Gaius began to argue with there leader and the Wyvern Rider. He noticed Syrena slip out of the group. Perhaps nervous about what was to come.

Hugh appeared to use his authority to override the tactician which did not appear to please the young man in the least. It was then that Marcus stepped forward. "My Lord, if I might place my input. I may not be a trained warrior but I am fully capable of defending myself with the skills taught to me by my order. I do not mean to be in any way rude but I do not think the same can be said of young Tim. It may be wiser if I was the priest supporting those in more direct combat while he healed those in the rear. However I leave that decision up to you." Marcus bowed his head and took a step back.

---

Jeanne hung back and listened as the tactician argued with the knight. Good grief! she thought.

"Are we seriously going to brief our battle with the brigands with boisterous bickering?" Jeanne shouted over everyone. "I mean, come on. I didn't escape death row to stand here and watch the men argue over whose plan is better. Now, I'm no tactician, but I think if you two can agree on which parts of your plans mesh the best together in terms of that," Jeanne continued, waving at the village's direction, "then I think we could iron this out pretty easily. Without, you know, turning blades upon each other. Though it seems that the general consensus is that we should NOT send Flying Ace over here into a crowd of bird hunters. Just a thought."

Jeanne folded her arms and stepped back. "Ah, just one question, though. If I were to, you know, find something that I deem better in the hands of the less fortunate in the pockets of, say, a thief, do you mind if I hang on to it?" she added.

---

---

Three mages for one building? Wouldn't the fire specializer be a better choice?

Though Habeen did notice that Syrena expressing concern about the extent to which her powers can spiral out of control.

As Gaius and Hugh butted heads, Habeen made her way over to Syrena and bent down to meet her at eye level. "Hey," she said, smiling. "You seem pretty nervous about going through with either plan. Is something the matter?"

Gaius knew how intimidating he could be, with his height and dark robes, and he used it to full effect starring back at Kel, never blinking or backing away. "Move it, lizard boy." He muttered. Louder, he said (loud enough to hurt Kel's ears.) "Fine, go with your strategy, I will fight to the best of my ability, but note, I do so under protest, sir." Spitting out the last word. "It seems foolish to me to have a tactician, but ignore his advice, especially when people's lives are on the line." With that he pushed past Kel and walked away. He stalked out of camp, intending to find somewhere to cool off. He wandered a bit until he found a deep, clear, river flowing out from a waterfall. He sat for awhile occasionally skipping a few rocks to keep his mind off things. After some time, he came to the conclusion that he acted badly. I should probably go back and apologize. he thought. He laid on his back, relaxing and cooling his anger, enjoying the simple sounds of nature. He heard some footsteps and a polite cough. He opened one eye and looked over. He saw...



Lilith stood in the shade, away from the group watching the drama unfold. The obviously proud Tactician unveiled his plan, with some added terrible nicknames. She didn't like her part in the plan, and there was a huge bone of contention over the Wyvern rider going at the archers, but Lilith thought most of the rest was sensible enough. Then Hugh criticized him and suggested a new plan. Lilith liked her role in it, but she was apprehensive about the fire mage lighting up a building. The argument got more and more heated until Hugh pulled rank and stopped it, in his favor. I understand about how his is the leader and has final say, but was pulling rank really necessary? She wondered. As soon as she thought that she realized, Although, judging by the stubbornness of all participating, that was probably the only was to stop it quickly. But was it the best way? Gaius accepted it with as much grace as was expected (which is not much), and stormed off. At this, Lilith stepped forward and said coolly, "You know, there are better ways to express your opinions to someone, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve stomping all over their pride, getting angry and yelling at them. Gods, you are all acting like a bunch of children, not responsible adults." She then walked off intending to find the wayward tactician. She lost his trail, but eventually found him by a river, looking like he was sleeping. She coughed politely, walked over and sat by him. After a while, he finally sat up, sighed and spoke, "I acted like an idiot back there didn't I?" "Yes, you did." she replied. He winced at the rebuke, given without hesitation and confidently. "I am sorry, I just could not keep my cool, I should know better but they got under my skin." She snorted, "Don't apologize to me apologize to them." He smiled ruefully, "You are not very good at sympathy." "I wasn't aware that I was supposed to be." She told him. He chuckled, despite his bad mood. He stood up and said, "Still, thank you. You helped me work up the nerve to go back and apologize." "Glad to be of some use." She said standing up with him.

As the Reclaimers bickered between themselves and worked out the plan they were going to use to take the village by storm, one of the people specifically handling the village stood before one of the buildings, taking a headcount of the people stuffed into the home to make sure none had escaped off to get help. When he decided the number of people was satisfactory, he ordered one of the axe-men to guard the door and dissuade the people of the village from attempting to escape. Taene then strolled over to the bandit leader who was standing in front of the other building containing the captured villagers, barking orders at his men to move faster and to haul loot like their lives depended on it. Likely because they did.

He was a burly man who seemed much more blubbery than he did muscular. At about 7'9", he would be quite intimidating to anyone smaller than him and judging by how his crew reacted to his shouting, that hypothesis would be correct. But after people got past the size of his upper body, what Taene assumed they were looking at next was the large blade carried on his back. Upon reaching the leader's position, Taene attempted to capture his attention as he seemed to be wrapped up in screaming at his crew.

"Sir-" Taene began, but he was very quickly interrupted by the louder man who assumed Taene was one of his run-of-the-mill bandits. "WHAT!? Ah, yes, you. What is it?" He said, scratching the side of his head. The Kindred pinched the bridge of his nose to relax the headache he could feel rumbling through the corridors of his cerebral cortex. "I wanted to know if this was going to take much longer. Eventually we're going to get attacked if we wait here long enough." The bandit leader put his arm around Taene's shoulder and his other arm swept outward towards the sky. "Look, m'boy, this crew is one of the finest in the land! The chances of someone getting the drop on us are closer to none than they are some!" And, at that, the leader let out a hearty laugh. He went back to barking orders almost too fast, as soon as he was done with his little chucklefest.

Taene sighed. "If you insist, sir." With one quick maneuver, he slipped from underneath the leader's arm and walked back to stand in front of the building to reclaim his post, telling the bandit that he can go back to guarding the entrance to the village. His hand ran through the hair of his forehead to the top as he yawned slightly, leaning against the frame of the door of the building. "Can't wait to get paid and then get out of here." Tae blinked his eyes a couple of times to make sure he remained alert, and kept his eyes trained on the sky. Never knew what could come from above, after all.

Syrena watched as Gaius threw what appeared very much like a temper tantrum and stormed off. He was of course right, there was no purpose to having a tactician if his plans and counsel were to be blatantly disregarded but wasn't it also important for those in leadership to take the advice of others under consideration rather then refuse to listen because it wasn't there plan.

Overall it seemed no one was acting particularly suited to there tasks. The Wyvern Rider was hot tempered, the tactician was prideful and while Syrena sort of agreed with Hugh imposing his authority over Gaius' and making him for more or less unnecessary seemed like an unwise choice. It might work for now but conflicts like this tended to not be resolved when one party over road the other. The tactician and there leader would have this argument again. Syrena was almost certain of that.

Syrena was so busy thinking about how this could all go wrong that she didn't notice the approach of Habeen the dark mage till the woman was right next to her. Syrena started slightly when the dark mage started to speak. Though Syrena had had limited contact with them it seemed to her that dark mages were rather strange. Nicki was nice enough but he smelled sickly sweet and he was quite an odd man. Habeen in contrast had an unnerving smile plastered over her face as though it had frozen that way.

Habeen asked Syrena if she was nervous about the plan of attack, whichever one they ended up using. The answer to that was complicated, well no, actually it was painfully simple. Syrena was scared to death of the up coming battle. "I d-don't want to d-die." It was more complicated then that though. Syrena didn't want to see anyone badly hurt either but her powers seemed to have a different idea about it. Ever since Kel had reported the occupation of the village and Hugh decided they would lend aid there had been an excited hum deep in Syrena's veins like the flames were itching to get out. "I d-don't want to k-kill anyone e-either."

Syrena had not confidence in her ability to control her magic. She couldn't even lite candles properly with it without scorching the land and melting the wax. "H-have you ever s-seen f-fire destroy something u-utterly?" A change came over Syrena. He voice became just a little bit clearer, her stutter falling away. Unbeknownst to her, Syrena's eyes started to glow a light brilliant blue and the symbols on her tome did the same. "It's like a great monster clawing at everything around it. It has no mind, no intend just a need to destroy, woods, stone, flesh, bone. It all falls before the flames. Everything burns, everything falls to ash. Imagine you were the only thing standing in the way of that."

All at once the spell was broken. The glow faded from Syrena's eyes and they resumed there silver shine. The symbols on her tome became dull blue again and Syrena's stutter returned. "If I l-let that o-out, c-can I p-put it away when the f-fighting stops?" Her magic wasn't like everyone else's. All the other mages Syrena had met seemed to reach for there powers when they needed them and put them back when they didn't. While Syrena struggled to keep hers contained at all times. It was like a living thing, a caged animal clawing to get out.

Kel quickly recovered from the shove past him Gaius had delivered, given Hugh had a hand on him for added support after pulling him back a bit. This only made matters worse and Kel had reached a boiling point considering the tactician had just admitted that Kel was just a piece on a chess board, not a person. His life was going to be risked as well as many others by this tactician who, given, had better plans that Kel, was in his first combat encounter. Hugh was quick to defend his previous plan, and Kel was still hot headed. "When do I get to fly out." He said looking up to Druug who watched the tactician walk off into the forest unsure of what was going on other than that Kel was mad at the guy for some reason. A hand reached up to pat his face and Druug craned his neck down next to Kels face and let out another grunt and a deep, breathy, and quiet roar. In one swift motion Kel pulled his mask down once more and hopped onto Druug's back. He heard Syrena mention something about not dying.

"That's the plan. Killing shouldn't be a problem considering I saw most people getting paraded into other houses. Nobody that doesn't deserve it will die. And we're an army, don't be afraid of dying. We protect each other, and unlike that tactician I'm pretty sure we don't want anyone to die." He turned away from the girl to face Hugh, waiting for a queue to fly away. He knew his job, fly around back and scout the leader, try to separate him from that other guy somehow until Hugh called him in to storm them by surprise. He was angry and ready to hit something. You might say eager to kill and you'd be right. His fist clenched on his ax and his other hand was ready to whip the reigns on Druug to signal him to take off. Druug felt the tension in Kel and spread his wings unfortunately close to the rest of the soldiers. The two were communicating silently already. They both knew that Kel was angry and they both knew how to blow off some steam, all they needed was a signal to go and they'd be off.

"Of course, Sir Hug-." Nickolas barely had time to nod in acceptance before the unexpected outburst from Gaius cut him off, and the ensuing rage from all parties left the dark mage looking solemnly after where the immature strategist had stormed off to. He made a mental note to talk to the wyvern rider about this incident, but that would have to wait. Instead, there was the more pressing matter of the lives in the village. He lightly strode up to the captain of the convoy, and tapped him on the shoulder after Marcus had said his peice.

Nickolas bowed to the fellow northerner, gripping the Flux grimorie to to his chest. "Sir Hugh. I will personally apologize for finding fault and discrediting Sir Gaius' plan in front of the convoy later. However, I urge you to put your plan into motion immediately, before the denizens of the town come to any more harm." He glanced around, slightly disappointed that the tactician hadn't simply walked off to the edge of camp within easy talking distance. "The occupying bandits have had no less than two hours warning since we got here, and the likelihood of them spotting us only increases when it gets dark enough to force us to use torches."

The dark mage glanced over to his fellow practitioner with more than a little curiosity as Syrena's voice, free of stutters, drifted over to him. He paused to consider his actions before exaggeratedly doffing a wide grin to mirror the Plegian's, and winking at the young girl. "Don't worry, little miss, I have no doubt you'll be able to contain your power. Your talent shines through even now. On top of that, I'm certain that you'll be just fine with Sir Franky acting as your guardian." The grin faded slightly. "And don't worry about hurting or killing. Just leave that to... those of us who have already sullied our hands."



"...Alright." She slowly nodded to Kel's request as the latter had already taken off to argue with the tactician about the viability of sending fliers to take down archers(Kuur didn't care, either way, she wasn't the one who'd be hurtled to certain doom if she messed up). She tucked the carcasses of the animals away in the storage wagon with the intent to skin and grill them later. Satisfied with her work, the archer turned to watch the proceedings with a growing feeling of annoyance that peaked when the man who towered over even her reacted like a spoiled child.

"This is...slow." Her brows knitted together, a sure sign of her displeasure. "No... productiveness. I'm... going ahead to... scout." She had been raised on a caravan that constantly ferried goods from one end of the massive Panoplian desert to the other, which meant that if you weren't moving, you weren't helping. There was no room for people who couldn't pull their own weight.

She vanished into the grasses near the side of the road with her bow out and at the ready, an arrow already nocked against the string as she made her careful way toward the edge of the village in the hopes of catching at least one of the guards unawares.

As soon as Gaius returned to the camp, the first thing he did is find Hugh. When he found him, he saluted him, military style, subordinate to superior. "Sir, I apologize for my earlier behavior. I will act better in the future."



Gaius departed and Lilith lingered by the stream for a little longer. She looked around and realized she was stalling. Why is that? She wondered. Oh, I know, this spot reminds me of home in the summer. There was a spot similar to this one that I often went to. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Look at me, acting like a homesick schoolgirl. She squinted at the sun to judge the time. I had best be getting back, we will need to attack soon. Hey, that gives me an idea... She slowly made her way back to the camp. She heard Syrena, Nickolas, and Habeen talking as she made her way to her tent, but she didn't stop to listen. She entered and quickly, but carefully, checked all her equipment, making sure her swords were sharp, and clear of rust. Also she cleaned off the dirt and grime that had accumulated on her armor during the march. Once everything was ready, she went out side, found a shady spot and waited for the order to form up. She popped a piece of candy in her mouth while she waited. These are so good, but I'm running low. Maybe I'll be able to buy more once we run off these bandits.

---

Habeen listened intently to Syrena speak. She talked of the great fire within that clawed and struggled to escape, to rain havoc... how she, as the gatekeeper, felt it not a privilege but a responsibility, even a burden, to wield such a blazing power. Sometimes Habeen felt that way with her own folk magic as well, especially in dealing with the more agitated spirits. Perhaps that's why modern mages call her kind of magic "dark magic."

Habeen exhaled. She wasn't a pep talker at heart. Somehow, she felt great discomfort in sending the young mage out into a battle, especially if she had doubts like that... Habeen's smile wavered a bit.

"I suppose you wouldn't be standing here if you didn't have some sort of control over your magic," Habeen said, trying to offer some kind of consolation. "No doubt you've got a way to channel your magic instead of it channeling you. I don't really quite understand what you have to deal with, but hey, you've made it this far without frying to a crisp..."

Habeen winced upon saying that; by nature, she wasn't that heartless. "If you aren't comfortable with going out there, you ought to talk to Hugh about it, face-to-face," Habeen offered. "He'll most likely understand. I think he'll understand. Here, I'll go with you if you would like."

Watching on silently as their tactician argued the merits of his somewhat-crazy plan to other members of the Reclaimers, he nearly laughed when the young man threatened their leader. Yes, he had magic, but that was the only thing he had when compared to Hugh. Hugh had, at least somewhat, the group's loyalty, huge-ass armor, and sheer force on his side. Even if Gaius succeeded in cutting down their leader, he would be among the casualties as well.

Thankfully, the crisis was averted, even if it wasn't in the best manner possible. Kel took off shortly after Gaius did, after giving some slightly disturbing but well-intentioned words to the young mage who lacked control over her flames. Deciding to pitch in, he dismounted Thunderclap, affectionately rubbing the stallion's hair before approaching.

"He's right, you know. We'll have your back, your front and your sides. We'll handle the ugly parts, just follow your role and everything will go fine."

With each new bit of input, Hugh endeavored to guarantee his attention to its provider. He made a mental checklist of requests, details, and other tidbits, though couldn't help but be tickled when the monk addressed him as 'my lord.' “That's a good idea, sir. Consider the healers' places swapped. But please, don't call me a lord. I want to become more than a captain to you all; I want to become a friend. And that can't be done with social disparities. If you must, just use the standard knightly prefix: Sir. Though given how little I look like a knight, I won't even insist on that.”

Hugh cast a suddenly weary look at Jeanne and Lilith. They seemed to be under the impression that any sort of deliberation, however thoughtful and respectful, constituted a meaningless and childish squabble. He did, however, give her major props for her alliteration, so his tone wasn't so bitter when he replied, “Once we're victorious, we'll make sure that the villagers get their property back, but if the thieves have loot from a previous raid, we're not going to traipse around the countryside to return it, so we'll add it to the convoy.”

The advisement of Nickolas mirrored a sentiment that Hugh felt most keenly himself: the call to action. In truth, the lancer wanted to get started just as much as the dark mage, if not more. Had two hours really gone by since the Reclaimers had arrived? It nearly hurt Hugh's heart to think of all the advantages that time was rotting away. He hoped to Naga that the bandits' degree of intelligence and power of observation correlated to the relatively pitiful standard that he'd come to expect from lowlife brigands.

His worries evaporated briefly as his attention was then seized by Syrena—her glowing eyes and tome, to be specific, and with those anomalies in his view he found himself obligated to listen well to her words. Her unencumbered voice described an affliction most serious and frightening, even to a knight. Fortunately, Nick, a man more well versed in the arcane arts than he, was on hand to provide reassurance. Hugh did his best to follow it up, “Never fear, young one. Your target, according to Kel, is outlying, which means the chance of spread is less. Though we've been together a short time, and you speak of a curse most dire, I feel somehow as if I can trust you completely. The human spirit is stronger than any curse in the long run. You have my confidence.” She soonafter received both Jakobe's and Habeen's votes of confidence as well, and Hugh hoped that Syrena found them as moving as he did.

The meeting concluded with Gaius's approach and apology. Hugh's scarred face broke out into a grin. “No worries, soldier. The beauty of beginners is that they're allowed to make mistakes.” He picked up his voice so that all could hear. “It is far past time that we get started. Remember your instructions and assume your positions. Our roles as Reclaimers begin with us reclaiming this village.”

Another couple of minutes passed as last-minute preparations were made and tactical locations attained. Thanks to Kuur's discreet scouting, a single sentry facing in their general direction had been found: a burly yet refined-looking man with long, dark hair tied in a ponytail. Bearing no visible weapon, this was clearly one of the two important figures that Kel had momentarily laid eyes on before. Furthermore, the man was looking skyward, which meant that anyone sent to deal with him might still get the element of surprise. With this new intel in mind, Hugh planned for himself, Jakobe, and Nick to swarm the man before heading into the village to flush the archers.

When all was ready, Hugh gave the signal, and the Reclaimers attacked.