The signal was given and Kel and Druug were off like a lightning bolt. There was no sound barrier breaking pop, sadly, bu they were as close as they could get to making one. The wind wrapped around them as if they were drilling their way through the air kicking up a trail of dust from the road leading into the town with a loud whistle coming from some of the holes in Kel's armor. the dust seemed to be chasing them flying off of the ground beneath them. With a precise movement of the reins, Druug flapped his massive scaled wings and launched into the air making a small crater (maybe half an inch deep at most) of loose dirt and rocks on the path below them. The duo made a hard right in the air upon being high enough up to see the town and began their long circle to get to the back of the camp where the leader and the other man herding the townspeople around were. They had a bit to go before reaching the town since they had to circle around as opposed to charging into the front door.

There is nothing stealthy about being on the back of a giant fire breathing winged reptile while pissed out of your mind. He stormed into town from above, flying behind the two buildings that were housing the townspeople transition upwards once more to make sure the two important looking warriors noticed him and to draw attention to the back of the town, maybe it was strategy, maybe it was dumb luck but now most of the bandits were looking to the skies. He didn't get to pull his ax out and attack since he was flying for speed and holding a weapon out wouldn't be the most aerodynamic decision especially with archers nearby. His part of the plan was... something about separation and recon. Stick to the outskirts away from archers. Out of the action for now. He kept his height and circled the town, he must of looked like a large bird or a hawk from how high up he was, had Druug not obviously been a dragon who had dove around the town he might have been able to watch the leader and other man less obviously. A few arrows were pointed at him, but the bows were quickly turned as The Reclaimers arrived. They were like ants, rushing in from all sides, split into groups swarming the enemy. A sole wyvern rider this high up would be the least of their concerns.

Franky had genuinely not been paying attention to the disagreement regarding the plan. Not due to any disapproval or restraint from getting involved, he was simply so sure and collected that between the majority of sell-swords and war veterans that this would sort itself out in a reasonable manner. Instead, he was busy marvelling at his daisy. That being said, the charm of the picked, plucked flower was beginning to wane. As he brought it to his nose to sniff, he was getting familiar enough with it to predict the sensation of the aroma in his head before the freckles of pollen tickled the inside of his nose. When he heard the tactician call out his name he tuned in, and similarly did so when Hugh retorted at Gaius. He was seated with one leg lying bent at the knee on the ground, and the other one bent but pointed up, with his arm resting on the upright knee. He watched Syrena shrivelled at the thought of death, not just her own, but trying to look at a bigger picture of consequences and mortality. Those that approached her first tried to issue resolve in promising her safety.

Franky understood enough from his snippets of actually listening that he would be paired with this troubled mage to put down a stow-house of magic wielders. Franky picked up his axe and balanced it against his shoulder one Kel took off upon his Wyvern, giving clear signal it was time for action. He walked near and deliberately passed Syrene in a measured, moderate pace.

"You do nothing. People will die. Yer do something, other people will die. That's not something yer can control. Even if there be a way to save these people without killing any o'er raiders... the war be ravaging on still. Somewhere... some how... a man is killing another man over the very thing this band of people be trying t'stop. And e'ry day we get closer, someone'll die due to this war. But it seems for right here and now, the gods have gifted us a chance to vote who dies and how many. I cast me-vote for the raiders and I intend to make me-vote with my axe in their blood, seeing as I have no talent with instantly setting things on fire..." he wagered, largely to himself, if not really.

Syrena smiled as several members of the group come to comfort her in there own ways. Nicki reassured her his confidence in her abilities and told her that if killing was best left to those who had already crossed that line. It was sort of a shock to think that Nicki was among that number but then again it made sense. Some forms of dark magic were heavily rooted in decay and death. Likely most people here had killed or would in the coming days.

Habeen seemed to mean well but her reassurance felt a little strange to Syrena like a lion comforting a gazelle. Syrena couldn't shake the feeling that Habeen was sizing her up. Then again as someone who'd spent most of there life alone maybe that was just the way she looked at the world. The most comforting was the cavalier. He didn't try to affirm her faith in her abilities or there confidence in her. He just told her that they all had her back come what may. The pirate's words were simply alarming. Perhaps they were true but still that wasn't the kind of thing you said to someone. Especially if you were hoping to have them fight by your side in ten minutes. It wasn't something that Syrena really want to consider so for the moment she disregarded it.

Hugh's words of wisdom seemed well spirited but off. He didn't really understand what it was she was trying to communicate. The flames weren't a 'curse' as he put it. They were a part of her as truly as her silver eyes or her blonde hair. They were like another facade of her personality. One that she didn't want the world to see. Some people had to resist becoming violent, some had to resist being mean spirited. Syrena had to resist burning down the world around her. Or at least that's how it felt to her. "T-thanks everyone. I'm f-fine now."

The tactician appeared shortly after with a brief apology and while the final checks were made and everyone prepared themselves for battle Syrena steeled herself for what she was expected to do. She had to flush the lancers out of the house with her fire and deal with those that escaped. She shivered slightly as the imagined sounds of people burning to death again filled her head. No, she commanded the flames, not the other way around. She could cause enough damage and smoke to force the bandits from the house. After that Franky and Ronin and that mage with the hard to pronounce name could deal with them. She wasn't going to kill anyone.

Syrena approached the axe wielding pirate, they were partnered together and it appeared deployment was not far off. She might not care to highly for his company but they still had to work together, Syrena was young, not childish. "Hi," she said shyly. "I'm S-Syrena."

The signal, once given, prompted Habeen to sort through her tomes. "Ah, perfect," she said with that consistent smile, holding up her Mire tome. "Now, where was that archer..."

Habeen was no strategist or weapons expert or whatnot, but she did know that magic (that was not Mire or any of its derivatives) could hit at either close range or a little bit longer range. Therefore, mages and archers had good synergy, able to both attack and defend if paired up.

"Kuur," Habeen called, running up to the taller woman. "Why don't we pair up to take on these axe-wielding maniac fellows? I figured that we could give them a bit of a headache while attacking from a distance, and that they wouldn't want to get too close to one of these." Habeen held up her forged Flux tome, which she affectionately called "Voodoo" (after the commonly-used modern name of her traditional magic).

Kuur nodded, keeping herself busy rechecking her bow for non-existant imperfections. It was more habit than actual nessesity, something that remained from her childhood years in the desert. "I...understand." Her voice, soft and lilting as always, held a note of arrogance. "This will be... easy."

"Sure hope so." Habeen shrugged. Her ornamental bones clacked against each other as she moved. "I've run across a fair share of these brigand fellows in my travels. Usually aren't the brightest folks. Especially not the beefy ones. Though I have come across some exceptions, of which I hope these bandits are not."

The archer mirrored Habeen's shrug with one of her own. "You... didn't have me... along." Her lips twitched upward in a faint smile, a hint of pride adding to the note of surety. "Bright or... not. They all go... down... with an arrow in their... skull."

Habeen smiled wider. "Suppose the bigger the brain, the easier it is to sever the front mass off. And please, don't ask me how I know that." She waved off the thought.

It was actually quite the tale, involving a surgery, three books, and an angry chicken. But that incident is for another day, perhaps in a support conversation.

Habeen hefted her books. "Well, you let me know if there's anybody further than ten yards away from us that you think is looking to split our own skulls open. I'll pop them real quick." She patted her Mire tome. "Though I don't suppose you plan on letting that happen. For at least forty yards."

Kuur snorted quietly, waving her hand with insulting dismissiveness. "If... I miss... I'll be sure to... get you." It took her a few seconds to get over the worst of the silent giggles as she again began to focus on the task at hand. Green eyes flashed as she glanced out across the open field toward where the duo's targets were located. She raised her arm, all traces of mirth gone and her emotionless manner of speaking returning in full. "If we move... now... we'll beat Lilith... and the other... swordswoman... to the axemen."

"Well, why don't we do that, then?" And with that, Habeen quickly scanned the scene, looking for someone to give the old one-two. "We just have to keep them from offering their fellow thugs some strong-arm support."

"I'll just divert their attention from anybody else..." Habeen muttered as she flipped through her Mire tome. She found the page she needed, then placed a palm on the page. White, ethereal circles orbited Habeen's forearm, lighting up the tufts of fur on her wristbands. In the distance, Habeen opened her eyes a crack just to watch the axemen squirm as her magic worked them into a frenzy. She heard panicked screaming that turned to roars of fury.

"And... I think it should be safe to start shooting," Habeen said, glancing over at Kuur and snapping her book shut with a satisfying thud.

"...Understood." The amazon-like woman took off from Habeen's side with a loping stride, nocking an arrow to the well-kept bowstring as she dashed into the grass.

The nearest axeman, a brutish looking fellow whose skin had been burned a nasty red by the corrosive green foam of the Mire curse, looked up just in time to recieve Kuur's first arrow to his right eye socket. Kuur smirked at the sight, feeling the pleasure of a job well done. The archer pulled another arrow out of her quiver, lining up her next target as the rage just as quickly turned back into panic with the arrival of the two swordswomen.

Look at her go, Habeen thought to herself, before turning to a dog-eared page in her Voodoo tome. She whistled as she calmly strode into the fray. Another axeman, this one directly in front of her, raised his axe to tear Habeen a new one; the folk magician simply cracked open the book and said, "Ou se kounye a mannken mwen; vire lam ou sou kè ou!"

A ring of magic circled around the axeman's axe-holding arm and froze it in space, before dissipating and inadvertently(?) causing the axe-wielding bandit to tear his own chest open. The bandit screamed silently as his lungs and heart gurgled. He collapsed. "That was certainly a pleasant sight," Habeen said [3/4] sarcastically. She didn't take [total] joy from doing that.

Getting back onto his horse, Jakobe looked at Hugh, Nick and Marcus, his companions for this part of the assault.

Not the best assortment, if he was being perfectly honest. Between Hugh and himself, this group had a serious disparity in agility and speed. However, they were going for quite a few enemies, so they would need to stick together. Ultimately, that simply meant that Thunderclap would have to keep at a walk or canter as they advanced, which was simple enough.

"Sir, would you like to take the front, or shall I?" Making sure that his halberd was ready, Jakobe and Thunderclap performed a short spin, looking around.

After a quick glance at the lone sentry, Hugh looked over his shoulder and replied to the Cavalier, "I'd like you to rush ahead, attempt to knock over the sentry, or at least block his escape. We'll follow as quickly as we can, take care of him, and then make a beeline for the archers." The excitement was building in him as he looked over his comrades. All seemed in order. "I see we're all ready to go, so...Jakobe, charge!"

Nodding, Jakobe gave Thunderclap a pat on the neck before caling out to the steed. "On, Thunderclap!" Kicking the horse on the flank, the two shot forward, Jakobe holding his halberd at the ready. As they approached the lone sentry, Jakobe slashed at the man with the blade of his halberd.

More or less alongside Jakobe given his lack of valiant steed, Hugh raced to keep up. Finding himself falling behind, the knight vowed to at least greet his enemy in spirit if not in person at the Cavalier's flank. After transferring his lance to his off hand, Hugh unslung a javelin from his cache and prepared to throw it should his ally's initial charge not keep the sentry down long enough.

As he jogged to keep up with the assault party, Nickolas turned quiet; as if the battle had ceased to be his concern. He muttered slowly under his breath, practicing careful pronunciation with each syllable that passed his lips. The dark mage glanced at the lone sentry that stood in their path. A lone man was all that stood between the Reclaimers and a perfect surprise attack.

Nickolas nodded to himself, his face grim. He'd make this as quick for the poor man as he could.

He cracked open the Flux tome and began to weave his occult ways in the air, leaving twisted trails of pale runes in the air as he stared with glowing eyes at his intended target.

Marcus took long strides as the assault party advanced, each readying his own weapon. Jakobe atop his horse, Hugh with his lance and Nickolas began to weave spells through the air.

Marcus fitted the Mend Crystal into his staff preparing for the bloodshed to come. Something about this didn't sit right with him. The sentry they were targeting looked too frail. Not the kind of person that kept large groups in terror and he seemed not to have any weapons in his hand. It was possible he was a mage but Marcus didn't see a tome anywhere and he suspected natural magic users such as Syrena were one in a million.

"Everyone stay alert, something is amiss."

As it turned out, Taene's hypothesis that remaining still for too long would lead to being ambushed was backed by the Reclaimer's sudden burst into the village. At first, he wrote the sounds of pounding feet off as just the lackey bandits moving quickly for once. But the appearance of what appeared to be a man riding what Taene only could've assumed was a wyvern.

His body shot to attention and he called out to all of the men in the village, "PREPARE YOURSELVES!", in an attempt to hopefully give the bandits some form of a fighting chance. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the invading force were too focused on taking out all of the lesser bandits. And Taene had to quickly come to terms with this as he ducked underneath a halberd blade in one of the closest brushes with death he had in recent memory. Noticing more enemies headed his way, Taene rolled away from the front of the building in an attempt to throw off his attackers.

Upon hitting his feet, he quickly drew a dagger from a pouch behind him. Don't get carried away. You just need to get them down.

At that moment, a javelin lodged itself in the soil at Taene's feet. In Jakobe's wake, Nick and Hugh arrived. The knight caught a glimpse of Taene's weapon of choice and smirked, "Ready to slit some innocent throats, I see. If you're not the top dog around here I'll go ahead and skip the dramatic dialog. Nick? Please fry him."

"I'll try to make it quick, Sir Hugh."

The muted chanting reached a crescendo as Nickolas planted himself behind the stalwart form of the knight. He whipped his arm up in a patently feral gesture and snarled out a word in some long forgotten tongue that hurt the ears. The sickly sweet stench that was the dark mage's constant shroud grew in volume and complexity as the primal power burst forth with a soundless pulse. The seemingly innocent smell revealed itself to be one of rotting fruit under-toned with the ripe bitterness of decaying flesh. From the dark mage's outstretched fingers, a purple-black ball of thumping energy threw itself forward. It hissed and spat horror as it rocketed toward the now exposed sentry.

Marcus hung to the rear of the charge. He knew that violence was sometimes nessesary but at the same time he'd also learned that most often it wasn't. He was here to support. If the time came that one of the group was in desperate need of assistance then and only then would Marcus use his staff as a weapon.

The scent being summoned from Nickolas' Flux tome brought back some vivid and long forgotten memories. There was of course nothing inherently wrong with dark magic but still all these years later the feel of it on his skin made Marcus uneasy.

When the strange man finally drew his weapon, a dagger Marcus did not feel any better. That was not the weapon of someone expecting frontal combat. Something wasn't right here, something farmilar, it was hoving in the air all around this man but Marcus couldn't place it finger on it. It was from so long ago.

The words coming from the warrior that had thrown the javelin that had nearly hit Taene were essentially wasted, as he kept his eyes on the Flux tome carrying man who was very clearly rearing for an attack. Upon the sick smelling ball of despair and misery shooting out from the young man's fingers, Taene was on the move to avoid it reaching his skin.

He dove to the ground with gusto, letting it pass him and take the stench it carried with it. "You lot are quite intent on ending me, but your methods of doing so are quite.. bland," The Kindred shot to his feet, holding his weapon in front of him. "Please tell me this isn't the best you've got." The corner of his mouth tugged into a slight smirk, waiting for the next assault.

Behind the now crouching man, the dark magic spell spiraled onward until it clipped the edge of one of the thatched roofs. Still hissing violently, the rotting magic unraveled with spectacular force, the black tendrils ripping through the organic material with unnatural ferocity.

The sight of Taene doing nothing but waiting allowed Hugh to lay a pat on Nick's shoulder, and murmured "Keep up the pressure. All he's doing is dodging. One of us can make him dodge into the other's attack." The knight then rushed forward and aimed a hefty, two-handed horizontal swing at his opponent's torso. Behind him, Nickolas' muted chanting continued without breaking pace as he traced another set of pale runes. Moments later, the dark mage spat another word in the dark language and loosed another ball of bleak hatred at the knife-weilder's left side. Jakobe, meanwhile, was circling around for a second run at the sentry, this time his halberd's pointed end lined up with his enemy's torso. Between the three, he was sure they'd be able to strike a deathblow.

The challenge that was so desperately sought after was finally given to Taene, albeit in the form of pain no matter what choice or path was taken. As he was charged by the hefty looking knight, he quickly made an attempt to sidestep away from the blade, only to be met with a blast of Flux.

He was thrown off of his balance by the blast, because of the sudden force as well as the pain that rippled through his body as he felt the dark energy hook into his flesh in several areas of his chest at once. Taene tumbled to the ground quite quickly, losing grip of his dagger as he did. "..Good, good." Words forced themselves from his throat as he got to his feet. But he wasn't free from attack just yet, and he clutched his chest as he rolled to the side to avoid the charge from behind and a pretty nasty wound. "Nice try, but a basic spell isn't going to lead me to death."

"Try this on for size, brigand!" Hugh emoted as he advanced. He swung twice, taking a short hop forward each time in an effort to strike Taene as he tried to roll away. All the while, Hugh counted on more Flux to keep the pain coming, though he wished that Jakobe would stick around to help corner the slippery braggart rather than persevering with attack runs. "Help me box the villain in!"

Grunting as Taene avoided his second charge, Jakobe pulled Thunderclap's reigns back, causing the horse to slow, and guided the pair closer to the fighting. It was clear that it would take more than a one-man cavalry charge to end this, and as he approached, Jakobe moved his halberd to block off an avenue of escape for the sentry.

"It would have been better if it did. I don't enjoy suffering." Nickolas crept around Hugh's armored form and readied another curse. His fingers slowly played on the wind and again called forth the blossom of decay from deep inside his tome. The deep colors of his magic swirled and boiled beneath his touch, and blasted forth on the grave wind, this time aiming to decapitate the wounded man.

Surrounded. Was the first thing that Taene thought to himself as he rolled to avoid Hugh's attacks, just as he assumed that the manakete would. A slash landed across his back, something that wasn't entirely expected. As the third Flux in a row was blasted towards him, Taene dropped into the fetal position to avoid it before pushing himself up into standing posture.

"Can't be avoided now, death wasn't in the mission debriefing." His hand shot into the pouch at his side from which he removed a twinkling stone which was strung onto a necklace of beads.

For the duration of the fight Marcus had been positioned at the rear of the group. Prepared to heal when nessesary and grudgingly to committed to combat if absolutely unavoidable. From his where he stood the monk had a perfect view of the stranger as he reached into a pouch by his sisde and pulled out a blue shining stone.

When he saw it Marcus' heart almost stopped. It had been at least twenty years since the monk had last set eyes on an object of such power and rarety and yet he recognized it perfectly. Though the one his mother had possesed had been black their was no doubt, they gave off the same vibe of caged power.

"Get back! Everyone, get back! He's a dragonform and he's preparing to change!"

Almost immediately after Marcus shouted his warnings, Taene thrust his fist into the air with the gem clenched tightly in it. Bluish energy swirled around him and collected around him forming into an odd shape resembling a flower, concealing his form. Suddenly, the "flower" burst open. Standing-- Flying, where Taene used to be, was a large azure dragon that stared down the men in front of him.

"My turn." The dragon reared its head upwards, collecting an odd sort of frosty aura in its maw. When it felt that what it had was sufficient, it suddenly slammed its head downwards and launched a ball of pure winter at the dark mage that was accompanying the group. The breath was specifically aimed towards his hands, attempting to cut him off from his primary method of attack.

As the lone sentry transformed into a dragon, Thunderclap neighed loudly and reared onto his hind legs, almost throwing Jakobe off. Holding his halberd awkwardly in one hand, the mounted knight threw the other arm around his horse, trying to calm him down. After he was at least level, Jakobe tok a good look at the dragon standing before him. "In all my life, I never thought I'd see a Manakete in the flesh...."

Nickolas' casting hand slashed down and out, immediately canceling the fourth Flux curse as he dived to the side, hitting the ground with a grunt. Satisfied with his escape, he glanced up to see his gross miscalculation and the ball of pure cold smashing toward him.

A stifled scream broke through his lips as his left leg froze, a pain akin to burning slashing across the dark mage's nerves. He grabbed at his next tome, grunting out painful syllables as the scent of burning wood began to rise in place of the stench of rot.

Knowing what was to come Marcus started to run towards the dark mage. His calm exterior seemed fractured. He wasn't in time to push Nickolas out of the way of the ice blast but he could at least mitigate the damage.

It was clear the ice had done some serious nerve damage to Nickolas' leg. This kind of wound was more difficult to deal with. Simply stitching flesh back together was relatively easy. However returning life to rotting or frozen extremities was a might more difficult. This wouldn't be a quick or easy fix but perhaps for the moment Marcus could do something to ensure that Nickolas had his leg in working order for the remainder of the battle.

Marcus planted his staff in the ground next to the dark mages leg and the crystal began to glow. He could guarantee the mage perhaps fifteen minutes of full use of his leg before this started to wear off. After that it would take several days and regular treatments to heal it properly.

Marcus reached inside himself for his magic and placed his hand on the man's leg. "Nickolas, you are going to feel excellent for perhaps the next fifteen minutes. After that it will be pain like you've never imagined it before. There are not any other options. You have my apologies."

Within Nickolas' leg the flesh thawed out and the nerve signals began to route around any damaged ones. Marcus made sure that those reporting pain were cancelled out. The dark mage's leg now worked perfectly fine but this was only a temporary patch.

Meanwhile, Hugh, having not taken any adverse side effects due to Taene's transformation, advanced into melee range. "And the evil beast dost reveal its true form! Jakobe, pair up with me!" He shouted, and thrusted upward with his lance to spear the dragon in the belly. In this form the knight knew, while capable of flight, Taene couldn't rise out of his reach without sacrificing the effectiveness of his ice breath, and larger size meant slower movement.

Jakobe spun his halberd around once, then twice before whipping the spike on the reverse side of his halberd towards the dragon's leg, intent on prohibiting it from standing without great difficulty.

Noticing the knight charging him from the front in an attempt to spear through his scaled belly, Taene beat his wings much harder than he had been previously to send gusts of wind towards Hugh to hopefully push him back, or at least remove his weapon from his hand. His tail quickly lashed at Jakobe, attempting to knock his halberd back with the spined appendage.

But he knew that the mage was truly what he needed to worry about now. As the smell of burning wood hit his nostrils he knew that another spell was being readied to hit him from the front. Another ball of magical frost was gathered between his jaws as he reared up to fire at Nikolas a second time.

Nickolas nodded, unable to properly respond to the healer as the preparations for his next attack came underway. His fingers traced blazing golden runes into air around him as he murmured the scripture inside the red tome. A brilliant pinprick of light burst into existence mere inches from his dancing fingers as a pulse of dry heat shattered the remaining frost in the air. It swelled in strength and volume in tandem with his measured chanting until a fist-sized sun crackled in front of the dark mage. It was already fighting to let itself loose as Nickolas leveled it at the ice manakete.

"I'm sorry."

Though up until this point two swordswomen had advanced behind buildings and low to the ground, they were forced into a dead-on sprint at the axemen when the panicked warning of the sentry attended to by Hugh, Jakobe, and Taene alerted them to incoming danger. Taking to her heels, Sanguin rushed out from behind an outlying cottage. As she barreled forward, scimitar drawn, she took quick stock of the situation.

Five bandits lounged around a campfire they'd made out of a shredded merchant's cart, in the process of gorging themselves on ill-gotten food pilfered from the townsfolk. Under normal circumstances she expected that her mercenary companion and herself could have cut the odds down to three against two before their adversaries prepare themselves, but with the watchman's alarm sounded, that ship had sailed. Her footsteps on the packed dirt road telegraphed her approach, and before she could deliver a deadly horizontal slash to one man's neck, two others jumped at her. One of them, a woman judging by her shorter stature, screamed out a savage battlecry and hefted her axe at Sanguin's head. The myrmidon raised her shield to block it and sent a horizontal cut around it, slicing open the barbarian's shoulder. Unfortunately, the ankle shot of another axe-wielding man made her back up to evade it, keeping her from finishing the first one off. Though Sanguin only growled, it was plain that she could use a hand.

Lilith had been in the chaos of battle before, she knew what she was doing. She let out a battle cry of her own as the charged the five axmen. As soon as the pair reached them, Lilith managed to catch one of the two axmen that had pressured the myrmidon in the throat with the tip of her sword on a long thrust. One. But that was where her luck ran out. The rest of the axmen ganged up on her, forcing her to step back and preventing her from landing a killing blow on any of them. She set her back to her masked partner, trusting her to watch her back. Wait, did she just actually growl?! Lilith thought as she dodged a swipe of an axe. No, do not get distracted mind on the battle, Lilith.

Freed from assault on her left side for the moment at least, Sanguin pressed her advantage against the axe-toting woman she'd earlier wounded. She aimed her slash at the arm whose shoulder had been cut, instinctively pursuing the new weakness. The barbarian, apparently without the sense to flee, flinched away from her blade and swung wide. All it took from Sanguin was a step and thrust to move in past the brigand's lackluster guard and pierce her torso, near the lung. As the woman collapsed, coughing blood, Sanguin turned her attention to her put-upon ally. The axmen, seeing that the mercenary fought without a shield, were on a brutal offense. Sanguin dodged in and took one of the blows with her shield at close range. Unable to pull back his axe to block the wolflike woman's own slash, he tried to block with his arm, and lost half of it the next instant. He stumbled away and the last axman took his place, making the fight a two-on-two. Beneath her mask she was smiling. "They're afraid," she laughed. "They thought themselves the wolves, but it looks like they're the sheep." Sanguin leaped forward in an overhead swing, one that an axman could easily block, and therefore leave himself open.

Lilith saw what Sanguin intented. "How deep shall I bury you?" She taunted. She ran forward with several dance-like steps, and crouched low. She let loose with a powerful, lighning quick slash then she held that position. Two. The axman fell, first one half, then the other. The second axmen had been killed by Habeen. She cleared the blood from her blade with a flurish and a flick of her wrist. She turned and grinned at her companion, the blood on her face turning her grin from sarcastic to feral "Well, that was quite refreshing." She said. Lilith look around, "All right! Whos next!? She yelled to the whole battlefield."

Sanguin shook herself, though curiously not her blade. Her gazes scanned hungrily for more targets. She had next expected Kuur and Habeen to appear and interfere...hadn't Hugh said something about swordsmen? Hearing the tramp of feet, the masked woman charged forward again, leaving Lilith behind as she sprinted around a building. She found an entire group of swordsmen -at least five strong- piling along the earthen street, pulling with them sacks of loot and even a few villagers. Upon spotting Sanguin, three of them hefted their bronze and iron blades and spread out to surround her, while the remaining two hustled faster. As much as she wanted to be aggressive, Sanguin managed to restrain herself with the knowledge that if she attacked one, at least one of the others would gank her in an undefended place. Snarling, she banged her scimitar on her shield , hopefully drawing the attention of not only Lilith, but Kuur and Habeen as well.

"Dammit, wait!" Lilith spat as the myrmidon recklessly rushed off. She ran after Sanguin, not even pausing to behead a not-quite dead axmen. She found Sanguin beset by three swordsmen, thieves this time while two ran hauling some loot. Sanguin was making a lot of noise, making her a perfect stalking horse. Lilith was on them and killed two with as many perfectly timed slashes. Three, and four. An instant later, Sanguin's obsidian scimitar was driven down into the remaining thief's shoulder, splitting several inches into his torso. The masked woman cackled and kicked the screaming body off her blade. Once the swordsman was finished Lilith swore and said "They got away!" She dashed after them. Sanguin looked around--surely the dark mage and the archer had heard her noise, and were coming to help?

The sole occupant of the sky flew circles around the town from above, watching patiently as Hugh and the others sent to confront the lone man did battle. The guy was quick, dodging some hits but he took a flux due to good planning on Hugh's part. He let out a quick "Heh" and Druug perked up and started flying lower almost knocking Kel off his back. He had spotted something running and decided to chase it, and from what Kel could see it was a deer. Druug chased it down further, getting dangerously close to the archer's ranger before Kel regained control and made a hard left away from them. He couldn't see Hugh or the others fighting with him and longer but during his sweep he saw the rest of the army having all the fun killing these bandits. Hell, that dark mage guy over there just made a guy rip his own heart out it seemed. This only fueled his anger and he let out a yell as his low seeping circle of the camp continued until he saw something interesting.

There was a pair of lance wielding deserters trying to escape unnoticed but ohoho, they had forgotten the wyvern rider who charged the two holding a hand ax ready to be thrown at the one furthest away. He used the momentum the wyvern had created to throw the ax and hit the man dead in the back at blinding speeds (the ax that is, wyvern's aren't THAT fast), lodging it into his armor and spine. He kicked the wyvern's sides and screamed harder, reaching a hand down to his side ready to reclaim what was recently lost. They made a quick climb upon a javelin glancing Kel's armor scratching it's surface. Just before the ascent however he grabbed the hand ax's handle and hoisted the paralyzed lancer into the air climbing steadily trying to dislodge the ax from the man's back. At around a hundred feet or so he popped it out and put it in Druug's saddle before grabbing the war hammer. The other guy was slower but had one hell of a thick suit of armor. This shouldn't be a problem with the heavy hammer. Druug and Kel reached 150 feet before stalling and doing a slow back flip into a nosedive. They were going much faster than wyvern could by just flapping it's wings. They reached about fifteen feet above the ground before pulling forward and riding the momentum and bringing the hammer swiftly into the knight's face knocking him over as Druug let out a screech. They circled around as the knight knelt down gripping his lance. The duo flew in slower as Druug landed to slowly walk up to the knight and allow Kel the final hit. All of his anger was unleashed to put this hammer down on the man's skull, making his ears meet his shoulders and watching him drop. Kel couldn't help but shout again, this time a less angry more relieved shout. He didn't care that the fight was easy because they were trying to run away from the battle as opposed to actually fighting, it was a great way to relive that excess anger.

He heard a commotion back in town and sheathed his hammer as best a hammer could be sheathed. Druug took flight once more and as they peered back to where Hugh was, he saw a dragon. "Ohhh that's not good... Druug, nonono NOT TOWARDS THAT, wait, is that Hugh down there? GO TOWARDS IT DRUUG!" Druug was obviously not excited to see another draconic being, let alone another male. Kel saw it attacking Hugh and the two magic users as well as that nice cavalier from before and the drive was back, however this time without the anger. "Whattaya say Druug, is that our queue?" he pat the wyvern's neck and grabbed his pole ax. The reach would help and hopefully Druug could dodge those ice blocks. He began his charge across the sky, no longer pushing Druug so hard to fly faster than normal. Druug was already worn out from the speed so he wouldn't have been able to anyways. Druug let out a screech as they neared, and Kel let out a "HEY BIG GUY! I think you forgot about something!" as he lifted the ax overhead from a good 20 feet away ready to bring it down on the beast. The thing was bigger than he thought it'd be but Druug seemed to want it more dead than Kel.

Hugh, totally recovered from his near-embarassing flounder when assailed by Taene's stirred wind, sensed victory in the air when the sky darkened. Another airborne reptile, not just a dragon but a wyvern and its rider, swooped in to finish the fight. Making a mental note to thank Kel later, Hugh left the area, signaling for Nick, Jakobe, and Marcus to join him. "Looks like our smoky friend is going to deal that changeling the final blow. Our next act is to engage the archers and flush them out into the blades of Jeane and Gaius. Are we all good? Any wounds for the good healer?"

"No wounds to report as of this moment." Marcus said standing up from where he'd finished healing Nickoloas. "However the injury the dark mage sustained was quite grave. The magic I have worked over it is only a temporary patch. He has perhaps fiftenn minutes before he'll collapse with pain." Marcus glanced down at the strange smelling man. "He's not suffered any permanent damage but his leg will require a number of days and treatements before it is made whole."

"I don't think it'll be so much from pain as it will be from the fact that my leg won't work anymore." Nickolas managed to get out a weak chuckle. He'd lived in Augur all his life before the journey down south to join the Reclaimers. He'd seen what overexposure to the cold could do on a first-hand basis.

The overpowering scent of a forest inferno had died down as the dark mage closed his fire-based tome with a snap. Smoke rose from the edges of the book, and it looked a lot more... singed than before. He stood up, dusting himself off and pulling out his Flux tome. "I'll be fine. I'm ready to move on the archers when you are, Sir Hugh."

Shaking his head to clear the battle haze, Jakobe felt a twinge of pain in his arm. "Damn dragon got me in the arm, it looks like. Little more than a flesh wound, thankfully. I'd not waste the healing on it unless it gets worse, so don't worry." Taking a deep breath, he looked between his fellow Reclaimers, hoping that Kel would be able to defeat his new opponent. "Anyway, I'm good to go. Shall we?"

"Indeed. Time for the archers' curtain call." Hugh led the party away from the scene where two dragons now faced off in the sky. Mindful of Nick's condition, he knew that time was of the absolute essence. According to Kel's recon, there weren't that many archers, but to his knowledge three arrows could spell the end for an unarmored soldier. When he rounded the corner of the town's general store and found the cluster of archers blocking the street, a volley of arrows almost immediately shot his way, but mercifully met the ground or wood rather than cloth or flesh. "Hmm..." he murmured to his allies, safe for the moment behind cover. "Let's rush them in a two-by-two formation. Me and Jakobe in front. Ranged support and healing behind. As long as we move forward faster than they move back, we'll flush 'em no problem. Just hope the others are waiting in the wings. Now!"

The team fully rounded the corner and began to advance.

As they turned the corner, Jakobe replaced the halberd on his back, drawing his longsword and gripping it with both hands. Prodding Thunderclap to gallop forward, he relied on speed to avoid being harmed by the volley of arrows. On their own, a few archers likely wouldn't be able to hit a charging cavalier, at least not until he got in close. While a bow wasn't the best weapon in close quarters, the extremely large target that a mounted soldier's horse provided required little in the realm of aiming to hit. As such, Jakobe made sure to start circling around to hit the archers in the back during his approach, intending to sandwich them between himself and the others.

Nickolas peeled open his Flux tome as he jogged to keep up, ducking behind the charging form of the cavalier as an arrow whistled past his head. He began to recite the words of power as another arrow buried itself next to his foot, warning the dark mage of his limited time.

Though arrows whizzed dangerously by, bounced off armor, were toasted by flux, or simply hit their targets, the squad advanced. Any hits were quickly addressed by Marcus, who managed to keep himself from becoming a major target in the process. Sensing danger, the archers were already beginning to retreat by the time the knight, the cavalier, and the mage crashed into their ranks. Unable to contend at melee range, the bowmen took to their heels and fled, though they hadn't far to run as the trap snapped shut.

---

Jeanne had skirted around the obscured outskirts of the village. Gotta get to the other exit before the archers do, the thief muttered to herself. Jeanne ducked between two buildings and drew her sword.

The archers had turned tail, just as Hugh had hoped. Jeanne hoped to high heaven that their panic soured their aim. Jeanne signaled with a nod to Gaius from across the exit.

"Going somewhere?" Jeanne taunted, jumping out from behind the buildings and running to intercept the archers. Of course, Jeanne was but a single person, and somewhat average in terms of stature; if not for her blade, the archers would close in upon her and simply shove her aside.

Of course they had to nock their arrows and fire. Jeanne ducked as arrows sailed overhead. "Whoops, you missed me," she joked. She ran with her blade to attack the archers up close; hopefully she would get sufficient cover from the fledgling tactician as she did.



Habeen, upon hearing the violent banging of Sanguin's blade, looked over at the group of thieves accosting both her and Lilith. As Lilith cut down two of the thieves, Habeen licked her thumb and fingered through the pages of her textbook. She raised her hand upon reaching the Mire page and the white circles materialized around her arm once more.

Lilith's furious swearing alerted Habeen to the presence of the last few thieves running like squirrels. "Oh, well. They could have gone quietly," Habeen said with a shrug. She pointed at the fleeing thieves and the air around them bubbled into that same corrosive foam. They shrieked as their skin blistered from the chemical reaction. "Can't run so well with the mire eating at your legs, can you? Ha-ha!"

Dylan readjusted his goggles as he pushed Andromeda towards the ground. He was getting close to his next stop, a village if he remembered correctly. He checked his mailbag, making sure that it was attached to the saddle securely. He would hate to lose it just before he arrived. Looking down, he saw how worn our his pegasus was, and he gently stroked the side of her neck. "Don't worry Andromeda, we'll get to rest at this next place for a while. It's our last delivery for a while." He smiled a little, and continued stroking the neck of his Pegasus as they came close to the ground, landing just out of the town.

He stopped, and blinked as he saw bodies at the edge of town, Andromeda reared, and it was all Dylan could do to not fall off. "Calm down, we'll go in carefully, figure out what's going on, okay girl?" He started gently stroking her mane again, and eased her forward, pulling the lance off his back. It felt somewhat unnatural in his hand, and he shifted a bit on the saddle, quietly and continuously consoling Andromeda. Continuing to ease her forward he didn't see anyone immediately about. "These guys don't look like normal citizens. Be careful girl." He whispered this softly between Andromeda's ears, and he felt he stir a bit while he made sure the mark on his suit that said he was a courier was visible.

Who was fighting them? A detachment from the army wouldn't of bothered come back here to a village instead of fighting at the front lines. He thought to himself, continuing on, looking out for any sudden attacks. Curiosity was getting the best of him. Maybe it was the Reclaimers he had so wanted to join a few days ago. If he remembered right they would've left the capital fairly recently, so maybe they had been staying here when raiders attacked. That though made Dylan excited, and he gripped his lance tighter as he pushed his Pegasus into a canter, much to her dismay. He knew he would soon be in sight of the fray, and he couldn't help but wonder if the Reclaimers had their own uniform, or if they dressed like the rest of the army.

While Gaius waited, he could feel himself calming down into his battle mindset. He took deep, slow breaths, his heartbeat slowed, and his mind calmed. He took every non-essential thought and emotion and tucked them away, concentrating on the coming battle. He heard the combat start to rage everywhere. As soon the archers broke and ran, he and Bubbles were ready. With a nod they attacked, Jeane came out first with a taunt. While their attention and aim, was on her, Gaius stepped out, wordlessly and silently, and cast the magic he had held ready. A bolt of Elthunder struck the rear archer. He had time to cast once more, hitting that same archer to make sure he was down, before drawing his sword and charging the confused archers. He closed on the nearest archer. Gaius's first slash shattered the bow the archer was attempting to draw, and the second beheaded him. Jeane got the third. Without acknowledging their victory, Gaius ran off "Come on there are still more enemies!" he shouted over his shoulder at her. He came upon two fallen, but still alive, thieves. He swiftly and mercifully dispatched them both and waved to acknowledge an nearby dark mage, he recognized as Smiles, who he assumed had caused their wounds.

Reflexes saved Taene at that moment, with the considerably dangerous fireball sailing through the air towards him. Without even thinking, his wings flapped very heavily upwards. The collection of frosty aura was halted very suddenly as Taene quickly lifted himself up into the air, only barely avoiding being turned into roasted scales and horns. But of course, that wasn't the end of the onslaught. Taene silently cursed when he saw him. The kid flying in on the beast, with an ax raised above his head.

"If you stand down now, I will not harm you greatly." He said in a massive voice, before beginning to prepare another breath for an attack, hoping to simply disable the kid or his beast and avoid great harm. Having hit the mage from earlier quite badly, which Taene gathered by tone of voice and word choice, the importance of precision weighed on his mind much heavier than it did previously. But if this.. child. Moved and somehow caused harm to himself, it wouldn't be of Taene's worry.

As he was deciding what he was going to do specifically, and how, the breath that was being readied for attack finished itself and Taene opened his maw wide in preparation for the shot. A gust of frosty air flew from his mouth, which was the only warning that the attacker coming from the sky had before the ball dislodged itself from Taene's throat at speeds that would make an unladen swallow jealous. The magic was aimed towards the hand and arm area of the boy charging. The hope was to cause him to drop his weapon, maybe retreat so as to avoid major injury.

The dragon's gust of wind caught Kel off guard, but Druug was in his element. The wyvern took matters into it's own hands and narrowly evaded the ball of ice, using it's aerodynamic body to cut through the wind and only slow a bit. Kel's last site after the surprise evasive maneuver was a pure, glowing cyan followed by the most intense cold he had ever felt. To make matters worse he was now flying on a wyvern, who seemed to be flying through some heavy winds and he was getting a taste of frostbite too. Not the ideal situation. The ice grew it's way to the inside of his mask and helmet before he hand to rip it off while holding desperately onto Druug. the mask popped off and fell to the ground, shattering on impact as Druug continued his approach.

His face now fully exposed to the winds and elements was not holding up. his eyes were watering and drying out and he was nearly blind until he pulled Druug to a stop a few feet from the Dragon's face. Kel wiped away the tears running from his eyes straight back to his ears and steadied the shrieking Druug before realizing just where he was. "Last chance buddy." he said with a tinge of fear in his voice. He wasn't in this army to die, he was just looking for his sister. And if this monster was in the way of that he had to either take it out or run around him, and with all eyes potentially on him, running wasn't an option. "Counting to 3 and if you don't surrender I'll, you know, do the thing that I get paid to do." He gripped the pole ax and raised it above his head once more, and on each count, Druug flew a bit higher and further back to prepare for a dive to enhance the blow.

"1..." He backed up more.

"2..." He backed up again, putting the ax further back to get more swing.

A confused look passed the archer's face as a metal point appeared to sprout from between his lungs. He choked and breathed his last, and Hugh maneuvered him off the point of his lance and to the ground. Killing was not something he thought he'd ever quite come to terms with, but it was a necessary evil. The feeling that he got from a dying man, the spark of life ebbing from his body and finally vanishing into whatever ethereal river guided him on...it was enough to make a man sick, at times.

Another moment, and the archer squad was all but wiped out. A single one of them surrendered, and Hugh sent the least-wounded member of the current group -Jeane- to escort him toward the convoy and tie him up. A momentary respite settled over the group as Marcus rushed to heal the last of their wounds. It wouldn't be long, the knight knew, before Nick's leg got the better of him, and they needed to make these last few minutes count. He caught a glimpse of Sanguin, Lilith, Habeen, and Kuur between the buildings, mopping up the last of a unit of thieves. For a moment Hugh dared to think that the attack had gone off without a hitch.

Then he heard and excited neighing.

Hugh whirled around to find a Pegasus and its rider just coming between two huts. Though his first instinct was to toss a javelin first and ask questions later, a quick examination accredited the idea that there was more to this one than met the eye. He leveled his lance at them and shouted, "Who goes there? You haven't the manner of a bandit."

Dylan pulled back on the reins a tad sharply when he heard a voice call out for him, and Andromeda launched herself several feet into the air before Dylan managed to coax her back down softly. She was certainly jumpy today, but he couldn't exactly blame her. He looked over to the individual who had called out to him, but his eyes ended up fixed on the spear Hugh was carrying, gripping his more tightly, but he tried not to look threatening with it, that would only get him killed. Assuming these people weren't going to try anyway, that was.

Swallowing, Dylan answered Hugh asking who he was. "I'm Dylan Caercot. I'm a courier who just happened to be stopping by this town when I saw, well, this, going on. I assure you I mean no harm." That was the truth, and he pointed to the little emblem on his shoulder that was supposed to confirm this story. "If I may ask, who are you? And why are you here?" Dylan carefully kept his Pegasus partially turned from the group, so he didn't look like he was about to try and run them down. He gently leaned down and whispered to Andromeda that it'd be alright, as she was still acting skiddish.

Looking back up at the group, and the person that had made him top, Dylan wondered what their affiliation was. Were they in with the army? Or just a group of vigilantes who had come to this town to stop bandits. He had heard Hugh say that he didn't have the manner of a bandit, that meant that was who they were looking for. Maybe these were the Reclaimers? Shaking his head imperceptibly, Dylan dismissed that, thinking that the Reclaimers wouldn't be quite this miss-matched and the most unlike anything he had seen in the army. After a soft breath, he held his tongue from speaking. It was likely that Hugh would introduce himself as well as what affiliation he had with the rest of these people.

Ronin approached two of the squad member that would be joining him on the assault dragging his Imposing axe behind him. Leaving his weapon in the ground Ronin clapped both his companions on the back a little harder then was necessary. "And I'm Ronin, good to meet you two." The slap on the back while it stung, like the suckling parasitic kiss of a mosquito for Franky a similar "pat" sent Syrena's delicate frame sprawling into the dust. Ronin took a step forward and offered her his hand to help her up. "Sorry there little miss, sometimes I forget not everyone's as large as I am. Are you okay?"

Franky glanced down at Syrena as she was helped to her feet by the brutish Ronin. It came to no surprise that the only other man who fit a similar role to Franky had a similar look and shape to him. Franky would never class himself as dignified, nor would he particularly want to be. He was a common man with an uncommon lifestyle. He got things done with an axe. If it didn't work, he'd bring a bigger axe, but he had a code. His power and brute strength didn't explode out of him like a brute. But it did for Ronin, and knowing that looking upon the barbarian was the same as looking into a metaphorical mirror, he could never escape being tarnished with the same brush as this willing oaf.

The large magical tome Syrena was carrying cushioned her fall. While he hands stung slightly she wasn't injured. "F-fine. I'm f-fine." she muttered as the very large axe wielding gentleman helped her to her feet.

Ronin turned to Franky with a good natured grin on his face. "What about you sir, are we ready to start the attack?"

"I be ready, it seems you already started," nodding to Syrene as he finished his remark. Franky had no grin, instead, he had a fairly unimpressed blank expression. "What say ye, lass? We be getting to swinging once you can rain fire down," he added to Syrena.

Ronin felt very guilty for knocking the young girl down. He'd meant to be friendly and instead he'd almost injured her. Well what was done was done. It wouldn't do any good to dwell. He'd said his apologies and they had a mission to complete.

"My apologies again miss..." he paused searching for her to give her name.

"Syrena, m-my name Syrena." the young fire mage muttered to the ground. The presence of someone so boisterous and ready for action made Syrena feel very small and timid. The fact that both Ronin and Franky were turning to her, expecting her flames didn't do anything to help matters.

Syrena cracked open Arma Infernum. Strictly speaking she didn't need the tome to channel her magic but if she was to have any hope of controlling it the runes scrawled across each page were more than necessary. Syrena laid her hand over the words and each started to glow with blue light. A small fire burst into being in Syrena's palm and disappeared almost as quickly. "I'm r-ready."

Ronin glanced around. "Hang on, weren't there four member to our party? Two for the front of the building and two for the back." The axe wielder couldn't quite recall who else had been assigned to there unit but he was sure there was a fourth member.

When Hugh gave the signal to move out Arkhant looked up from the scrolls and books he'd been studying. Their tactician had been devising a plan for the last two hours. Arkhant had thought he had more time to study.

The magician snatched up the scrolls and books that he could carry before running off to find his squad. Finally he caught sight of the three, two large axe wielders and one much smaller girl who he'd heard could command fire with extraordinary power. He should remember to ask her about that later on. He magic seemed rather unconventional and he was more than curious as to what made her different. Perhaps some sort of artifact had imbued her with power, or else she was natural phenomenon. He was getting off topic.

The group looked as though they were just about to march out. "Wait!" He called after them, willing them to stop for him. Arkhant skidded to a halt in front of the three others and dropped most of his materials on the ground. He scrabbled to pick them up before realizing that they were about to go into battle. He couldn't hope to carry of all this. Reluctantly he plucked his elwind tome from the bunch and set everything else down next to a tree where it would be safe.

Franky glanced down at the newly arrived mage, clearly unimpressed. Rather then comment on the newest member of there group he turned to Ronin and said. "I'm not one for all this smart-war malarchy. Do we wait on some signal before we strike? The bandits will most likely focus on the burning building amongst everything else. If the goal is to save the villagers, we don't know how they might take to this group being the first to strike."

To answer the pirate's question Arkhant cleared his throat. "In warfare a distraction is generally perpetrated before the actual attack into order to draw attention away from the main strike unit so the wisest course of action would be for our group to be the first to take the offensive. Oh and I'm Arkhant by the way."

Ronin looked the mage up and down. He was rather scrawny and while clearly intelligent Ronin doubted he'd ever seen a real battle up close. Still the boy was eager to learn, that was clear enough. "That's well enough for what's written in your books but this is real combat. If we draw everyone to one spot immediately we will have every enemy unit to deal with. While I take great pride in my own strength and assume that each of you are able fighters we could not take on that force on our own. It's best we attack at the same time as the others. It keeps the bandits divided."

Syrena looked between the other three as they argued about the proper time to begin the attack. In her mind the best point would be a little ways after the attack had begun. Then her flames could serve as a distraction for the enemies already in combat and they would only have the lancers in the building to deal with on there own. Still she didn't want to interrupt anyone and she wasn't really sure that she could outline her plan decently even if she did start to speak. Still there was something she could point out to the others.

"Ex-excuse me." he said, he voice was quite and might well have been overlooked. "I think, I think t-they're already g-gone." Syrena said point to the open field where there leader Hugh, the cavalier Jakobe, the dark mage Nicki and the rather quite priest whom someone had called Marcus were charging one of them enemy sentries.

"Sh-should we go?" she asked looking at everyone else. They all obviously had more combat experience than she and so she deferred to them to know what was the best course of action.

Franky shrugged his shoulders. On the one hand, it conveyed his general indifference the the whole situation, but also established his genuine lack of wisdom in regards to this kind of warfare. He didn't know whether they should go on, but it didn't worry him either way. Franky made his was from the camp towards the village. He paused on the perimeter of the village, as his lack of listening to the briefing left him lost on where exactly they needed to be, or what buildings they were looking for.

Ronin watched as Hugh and his squad charged into battle as well as Franky lumber over to the side of the village. "I'd say that's our cue. Whatcha think?" he said glancing back at Arkhant and Syrena as he followed Franky to the side of the village.

Arkhant nodded in agreement as Ronin led the way to the side of the village. Before they started moving the young mage glanced at the girl beside him. "You're sure you're prepared with this? I've studied this kind of warefare. Forgive me for asking but can you summon your magic under pressure, some mages can't."

Syrena's mouth turned up in a sweet and innocent smile at Arkhant's concern. She was perfectly capable of using her magic under extreme circumstances. In fact that was generally when it worked the best. Rather then speak in answer Syrena held up her hand and a small ball of blue fire burst to life in her palm before she snuffed it out and followed Ronin to the side of the village.

The house that is was indicated Syrena should burn was on the outskirts of the town. It looked to be some sort of pub just off the main road. It wasn't that uncommon for these sorts of buildings to be near the towns entrance so that weary travelers might make use of them. The others followed Syrena up to it as it was her job to set the place ablaze.

Syrena was about to summon her magic when Arkhant raised an objection. "I'm sorry miss but we should be covering the other entrance otherwise some of the lancers may escape. Give me and Ronin two minutes before you light this building." Syrena nodded quietly and started to count in her head. She glanced at Franky once or twice while she waited.

When the time elapsed Syrena opened the cover of Arma Infernum and placed her hand on the page, The runes began to glow and first burst into being on the page. Syrena scooped the flames up in her hand threw them like a ball at the roof of the pub. Her flames took root almost immediately as the thatch was let alight. There was a thirty second delay before she started to hear shouts of "FIRE!" From inside the building.

As Ronin and Arkhant took up positions at the rear of the pub the roof was set ablaze with Syrena's particular brand of fire magic. The lancers inside no doubt suspecting that they were being driven into the open divided there forces between the two exits hoping that at least one would get away unharmed. They were mistaken.

At the rear of the building Ronin and Arkhant readied for a fight. Four lancers came charging out and as they did so Ronin ran to meet them. He swung his enormous Imposing Axe intended to take the head off the first lancer. However the weapon was so unwieldy and commanded so much momentum that he was unable to alter it's course when the lancer dove for cover. His giant weapon hit the wall of the pub cracking threw a support beam and causing the door to collapse on one of the enemy units.

At a bit safer a distance Arkhant was preparing to caste wind magic against there enemies. He read the ancient language that his tome was written in and glowing orange air runes started to spiral out of the tome. With the precision born of practice he directed these at the lancer closest to Ronin hoping to disable the man before he had a chance to attack the axe wielder. Though it was clear that he had done significant damage his target was still active.

Ronin let go of the handle of his axe which was still buried deep in the wall, in order to dodge the blow of a lancer who'd recently been bombarded with wind magic. As the man thrust his spear at Ronin the bigger man dodged and grabbed the shaft of the weapon yanking the man forward pulling him off balance. With no weapon however Ronin was at a loss for how to finish him.

Seeing his chance Arkhant summoned another round of elwind and targeted the man that Ronin had just pulled off balance. The wind tore threw the air finally laying him in the dust. That was two enemies defeated. While Arkhant had been dealing with Ronin's enemies the other two lancers had rallied and were advancing on him. He prepared another draft of wind magic but there was no way for him to take out two targets in one shot. At least not before he was impaled.

Ronin saw the predicament Arkhant was in before the mage himself noticed. Soon as he was sure the lancer as his feet was unconscious Ronin ripped the Imposing Axe from the wall and charged. Ronin was attempting to lay the Imposing Axe to rest in one of the enemy combatants skulls but the large form of the weapon made it difficult to maneuver. Instead in came crashing down over the lance the man was preparing to stab Arkhant with. The lancer turned around to see who had destroyed his weapon and was met with Ronin's determined expression.

Arkhant was grateful that Ronin took one of the enemies off his hands but that still left another for him to deal with and he his tome didn't allow him to rapidly fire off spells. As the lancer drew near Arkhant became aware that he would not be able to beat the man in one blow and if he didn't the lance would pierce his chest. Instead of targeting the lancer specifically Arkhant targeted the lance. He used his influence with the wind to change the weapon's trajectory but to the surprise of its wielder. However it wasn't quite enough.

Ronin was too busy with his own problems to deal with Arkhant's. The Imposing Axe was too large for him to rearm himself with and the lancer had only head of his spear. It seemed however that the head was enough. Ronin was strong and powerful but he did not wear armor and with his weapon buried in the ground he had no defense for himself.

The spear Arkhant had redirected was pushed far north of its original target be it didn't quite clear the mage's body. The spear pierced his shoulder and stuck fast. In the moment the mage noticed Ronin was in trouble. In a desperate split second decision he summoned more wind magic but rather then use it on his own attacker he targeted Ronin's.

The wind magic struck Ronin's opponent mid strike saving the axeman's life. Ronin reached out grabbed the spear head from the disoriented man and stabbed him through the heart with it. Then he turned to Arkhant to thank him for the assist only to discover that Arkhant was having his own problems. He had a spear protruding from his shoulder and a lancer preparing to cast the final blow. Ronin quickly pulled the Imposing Axe from the ground and with his first decently aimed shot that day cleaved the lancer's head from his shoulders.

Without the lancer's grip on his weapon supporting him Arkhant fell to the ground. Ronin ran up and caught the mage's body before it hit the mud. "This is all my fault. If I wasn't so busy or so reckless." Arkhant smiled a little which appeared more like a grimace of pain. "Come on, this isn't a mortal wound. Get me to a healer and I'll be perfectly fine." Not long after that the background support healer Tim was summoned to tend to Arkhant's wounds. He would require a number of days to recover properly but for the moment he was okay to reenter battle.

The dark-skinned woman darted forward with the agility of a leopard at the sound of metal clashing on metal and rolled past Lilith and Sanguin's melee. She came up with an arrow already laid against her bow's oiled string and aimed at the fleeing bandits.

The arrow whistled as it shot past Lilith's head and buried itself inside one of men's neck, causing the swordsman to spasm involuntarily and collapse. Another two arrows followed moments later, both finding their marks inside soft flesh of the remaining man, easily penetrating what had already scorched by the Mire curse. As the last one of the looters fell, the archer smirked. "...Easy."



Nickolas grimaced, glancing down at the shaft of the single arrow that had the luck to fly over the heavily armored defensive line. It had penetrated his already wounded leg, leaving only three inches of the shaft and a feathered tail producing outside of his flesh.

Perhaps the universe just didn't want him to walk on that leg for a while.

Dismissing the pessimistic thoughts with a shake of his head, Nickolas put on his best smile and glanced around for the thieves he'd been told to take care of. The healing could come later. Noting their demises at the hands of the capable womanfolk, he instead turned to the cavalier. "Sir Jakobe. It appears that our final task has taken care of itself. We should move with Sir Hugh on the perpetrator of this raid."

The courier's answer, paired with his appearance and manner, were sufficient to convince Hugh that Dylan wasn't an enemy, or even involved in this conflict. Before replying, Hugh held up a hand signaling give me a moment, and took a moment to check on Nick's status. Not only did the dark mage have only a few minutes left before his leg would no longer be of use to him, but a stray arrow had lodged itself in that limb during their assault on the archers. “In Naga's name...I had heard that dark mages had bad luck, but this is ludicrous. I hate to press you in this condition, but like you've said, we must move on whomever's captaining these brigands immediately.”

He turned back to look at Dylan, and pointed the shaft of his spear toward the village's sole guard tower, where none of his soldiers had yet been and where the opposing leader likely resided. “Proper introductions will have to wait for later, since we're headed thataways to finish this mess, but suffice to say I am Hugh and these are the Reclaimers. If you're not too busy delivering messages to the dead, we could use your help.” The knight hadn't meant to be sarcastic; doubtless the intensity of the situation had drawn it out of him. Leaving the pegasus knight to make his choice, Hugh returned to address his allies, and saw that at the same moment, Lilith, Gaius, Kuur, Jeane, Sanguin, and Habeen had arrived. Evidently, the axemen had fallen and the thieves were no more, along with the archers' demise. Aside from the conflict of Taene and Kel, which had yet to be properly decided, everything seemed in order. Even as he thought that, however, Hugh couldn't help but feel that he was forgetting something.

“Hey!”

The knight spotted Franky, Syrena, and Ronin fleeing from the direction of a building that had gone up in flame a short while ago. Directly behind them was Tim, who was doing his best to support what seemed to be a heavily wounded Arkhant. Not far on their heels was a small squadron of spear-wielding soldiers, escapees of the burning building judging by their singed clothing and sooty faces. At that exact instant, however, the bandit soldiers became aware of the larger group that their targets were heading to, and wisely peeled off in the direction of the guard tower instead. After calling for Tim to find a safe place to leave Arkhant, he summoned the whole of the Reclaimers host minus that mage and the wyvern rider, and charged with those thirteen others toward the defended position.

By the time that the Reclaimers drew close, however, the adversary boss had appeared. Despite now being outnumbered fourteen to seven, he sauntered forth with sneering confidence and contempt, for beneath his arm he had a feebly struggling young woman in Dancer's attire, and in his other hand was a steel sword pressed to her throat. On his back, behind his styled black hair and ponytail, was an iron axe that gleamed almost as malevolently as his eyes. His six soldiers fanned out behind him, spears lowered. This man took a moment to speak, knowing from the look on Hugh's face that he had the advantage. “Well, well, well,” he laughed. “You lot come in here, slaughter my men, and yet the death of a single helpless innocent causes you to take pause. Another bunch of uppity do-gooders thought they'd try to match up against Malboro, eh?” His sneer turned into a tooth-gritted frown, and his voice sacrificed all its glee for hostility. It was obvious just by looking at Malboro that he was no average bandit; his clothes, though old and somewhat dirty, were of high calibur, and behind the cruelty etched into his features there was the look of noble breeding. Plus, unless that axe was ornamental, he harbored proficiency in more than one melee art. “Lay down your weapons now, or her pretty little neck will be in pretty little shreds.”

Dylan's eyes widened in childish glee once Hugh announced they were the Reclaimers. "R-really? You're the Reclaimers?! Wholy cow! I wanted to join when I first saw the posters! Oh my gosh I would love to help you guys out!" He leaned down, petting Andromeda's flank. "It's alright Andromeda! Let's take to the air girl, these are good guys." He pushed her forward, and Andromeda took off, going a few feet into the air, and then starting to travel with the rest of the Reclaimers. He was more than happy to help them, and he came to a stop just in front of the rest of the group, spear barred menacingly.

Once the bandit leader came out, holding a hostage. Dylan swallowed, his grip tightening around the iron lance, and he kept Andromeda steady in the air, despite her neighing. He couldn't find anything to say, and so just waited for what Hugh decided, glancing back at the apparent ringleader of the Reclaimers. He had no idea as to how to handle this particular scenario, save maybe a sharpshooter, though there only seemed to be one bowman. Maybe that was what was getting Andromeda all worked up. She was never happy around bows. Dylan just glanced back at Hugh, waiting for an order, happy to serve.