Starting Date and Time: 25th Day of Mauven, 300 DM, Midday

Starting Location: South of Green Fall

CS URLs: Megumi Tsukiyama & Aaryn Nevi



Warden Knights Geoff and Teskin were seated at the long table in front of the Grand Melee. "Boy, more wine!" The young Anuirean boy, crimson maned, rushed forward with the jug, clanking clumsily in his armor. He poured the wine into the large orc's goblet, the human next to him laughing hysterically at some joke. Four Wardens sat as judges, along with a handful of captains, all waiting for the Grand Melee to begin. The lesser knights had already been dispatched toward Scream Watch. They would likely lose a lot of them, but that happens when Screamers are involved. It was why they held these recruitment tournaments.

They all stood as a massive male Char in the finest Ebonsteel armor, trimmed gold, with a crystalline sword strapped to his back, walked out to the center of the Grand Melee arena. Every Knight stood at attention and watched him somberly. This was one of the strongest fighters in existence, Lord Knight Svarak, commander of the Citadel. The crowd quieted. In a loud, booming voice, "Welcome to the Mauven Tournament. It fills my heart with pride to see all of you here, enjoying the strengthening of our ranks through pure competition. Competition is the pillar which makes Ebonfort strong. And strength is why we still endure and thrive when every other civilization has fallen. Might makes right!"

He paused a moment as every citizen repeated the standing motto of Ebonfort, before continuing, "So enjoy yourselves, drink, eat, gamble, and laugh. As for the fighters. Fight hard, fight for your country, your family, your friends, but most importantly, fight for yourself. It is each and every one of you that makes our empire strong. So prove your worth." He turned and walked toward the stands, for he was not a judge, but merely a patron. He was far too important for such trivial work.

The moment he left the arena, the horn blew signaling the beginning of the Grand Melee. After many had fallen, a cloaked man, face obscured, ran out from the stands into the arena. Once he reached the center of the arena, he ripped off his cloak, revealing his skin covered in crimson vine tattoos. He thrust his arms skyward, letting loose a gut-wrenching scream nearly everyone know, a Scream War Cry. The very same cry they were named after. At the edges of the arena, squires were scrambling to draw their weapons and stop this deranged enemy.

For those closest to the man, their sixth senses went into overdrive. They would all be able to feel something wrong with the world, but couldn't quite place it yet. Then the crack appeared in the air several feet above him. Those nearby could hear the winds rushing out of the crack, could feel the heat it emanated. They could make out intimate details of the mountainous, volcanic world through the crack as it widened. They could see the two suns in the sky. And they were the first to hear the reptilian roars.

An ogre with his club, who'd dispatched several participants, had moved toward the man, raising his club high. He brought it down at the man's head, only for it to suddenly stop a foot above him, and shatter into splinters. These shards flew outward, blinding the ogre, sending him stumbling backward in pain before falling over. The roars grew louder, and single, reptilian head popped into view, looking at the stands, roaring at fellows of its kind behind it. It slinked through and dropped to the grass, and immediately took off toward the stands.

A second, smaller creature dropped through. The creature was not something anyone had ever seen before, not even the most seasoned of hunters. It was twice as tall as a warhorse, and three abroad. It was muscle bound, covered in protective bony plates, with row upon row of viciously curved teeth.

Those in the arena could already hear the screams of panic and distress from the onlookers, but clearly had a much larger problem on their hands. This one immediately charged the downed ogre, both heads biting it's large, bulky body. To the keen observer, they could see the skin around the teeth of one head turning green and fetid, while the area around the other sizzled and turned black. Satisfied the ogre was dead, it cast its gaze to the closest combatant, preparing to charge, roaring in presumed victory.

This being the first time that Megumi had participated in a Tournament, she was quite excited as one would expect. "So enjoy yourselves, drink, eat, gamble, and laugh. As for the fighters. Fight hard, fight for your country, your family, your friends, but most importantly, fight for yourself. It is each and every one of you that makes our empire strong. So prove your worth." The Charr's voice boomed. She hadn't actually been paying attention to what the Charr was saying until now, because she was quite distracted by how grand his armor looked and how.. Alluring he seemed. She chuckled to herself, Prove my worth huh? She never really felt that she needed to prove anything to anyone, as long as she got what she wanted, but maybe she could get closer to this Charr if she was to display some exemplary performance.

When the horn was blown, the clacking of wood rang throughout the arena. Cries of pain, shouts of triumph spread all around. She didn't like the weight of her wooden dagger, which she had chosen as her weapon, although it was balanced correctly it just didn't feel the same as her usual dagger. The same could be said for the throwing 'knives' that they had supplied. They didn't stab anything, they just made a blunt sound when they hit their mark. As she fiddled with the grip on her dagger, a rather burly man charged for her from behind, believing that she was an easy picking due to her stature and his surprise attack. He couldn't have been more wrong. She already knew he was there.

He swung his wooden sword down at her with a force that would easily decapitate a person, but it was heavily telegraphed. Megumi calmly sidestepped the swing, turning to face him before skipping backward some distance. She wasn't the best at combat, but she felt this man was an easy one. In one swift movement, she unsheathed one of her throwing daggers, throwing it at the opponent's forehead. The man smirked, easily deflecting the dagger, slapping it to the side... But as he did so, something slammed into the side of his face. A foot. Megumi had used the dagger as a distraction to create an opening for her jumping roundhouse kick. A regular one wouldn't have worked due to the man's height, but her Katzheer genes made all of her maneuvers a lot easier. She landed back on her two feet without much difficulty, but her opponent hadn't fared as well in the exchange. His face was flat in the grass, which muffled the groan that he let out.

As the tournament progressed, Megumi was able to defeat a few more foes that she had caught by surprise, usually taking them out with a swift blow the temple with the tip of her dagger. Even though it was blunt, driving this dagger into someone's skull was quite painful, if not deadly. Whether the combatant died or not wasn't of any concern to her since her mind had gone into it's cold, thievery mode. She found that it was easy to fight people... If they're not aware of her presence, which was even easier to do due to the nature of this tournament. Whenever she was caught, she could simply run away, weaving past other combatants, who would subsequently challenge the person that was chasing her.

As the Tournament dragged on, many of the combatants were down for the count, luckily for Megumi, she had survived. For now. She caught a glimpse of a hooded man sprinting through the arena. Her eyes were drawn to the crimson vine tattoos on his skin. Oh no. The scream from the man was jarring. She had never heard it before, but she knew what he was. A Screamer. Her father told her stories about the Screamers when she was little, but she didn't think that she'd ever meet one. Not like this anyway. Her tail stood on edge, her instincts telling her to leave. Now.

As the Ogre was killed and the monster had appeared, she knew. Wooden swords won't be enough. Screams and shouts filled the field as people started to flee the scene. She needed her weapons back and quickly. Unfortunately for her, she was actually quite close to the monster, it could easily catch up to her, but fortunately, it wasn't looking her way. She turned and sprinted toward the armory, where all the her weapons had been stored. She didn't plan on fighting such a monster, but she thought that if she dispatched the Screamer, things would get a lot easier from there.

Aaryn climbed up a tree, he was in the north of Green Fall. It might take a while for him to get closer, he climbed and climbed trees, jumping unnatural heights. He smirked, he saw a way he could get to the Tournament. "This'll be a easy route. ....M'kay, yeah..I can do this." He jumped off the tree and grabbed onto a big branch, holding on. Usually, things like this would break someone's collarbone, yet for some reason, Aaryn defied gravity. "...Rrrrrrg!" Aaryn grabbed on, tightly. He felt pain in his arms, they felt like they were about to tear off. He slipped off, falling into a tree branch. "Grrrr!" He fell branch to branch, until he hit the ground. If he wanted to be as acrobatic as his father, he'll need to train way more. Aaryn raised his head, getting up. Aaryn got back to walking, he was getting close to the south

THE SOUTH OF GREEN FALL

Aaryn made it to the Tournament, it was just starting when he got there. After a while, it seemed pretty easy. He took down a couple of people by using his throwing knives. He almost felt like he was cheating, because he was using his shielding power against some of his enemies. This seem pretty easy so far. He might win after all, if he doesn't run into elite fighters. "...Yeah!" Aaryn yelled as he kneed a man to the ground, the man groaned and tried to slash Aaryn with his wooden sword. Aaryn jumped back and jumped in the air. The man was shocked, the man never has seen anyone jump so high. The man was out cold as Aaryn dropped his foot onto the man's face. Ouch, that will leave a mark. Aaryn jumped back in the trees, he was wearing camo, to blend in the trees. He jumped branch to branch. He loved parkour, he really did. If his family was here with him, they'd be proud. Surely, they would. Aaryn smirked at this idea, he missed living in Ruby Banks with his parents and sister.

Aaryn heard screaming and more screaming as he got near. He hid in his camo on the tree. "....Is that a Screamer...? Shit..." Aaryn dropped down off the tree, he looked around and heard screaming. The screaming got louder, something was after him, he ran fast. Something was after him, he could sense it. He tripped over a rock and started tumbling down a hill and fell into a lake. Aaryn was unconscious.

Aaryn woke up, his head throbbed like someone threw a knife at him. He pulled himself up and felt a sore pain in his forehead, "....Rrrrgh1" He grabbed onto a branch and looked around, whatever was chasing him had lost him, Aaryn then heard a growl, he backed up onto the tree, hoping whatever had growled is not near him. He walked slowly to the lake and fell. He could barely move through this pain, he heard another growl, this time closer. He looked up above him to see a raccoon growling at him. "Phew..." Aaryn touched his forehead, he felt a tiny bit of liquid on his head, blood he thought.

He felt like he was going to die of blood loss, he limped to a path way to see a man. The man saw him, the man was holding a wooden sword and he ran at Aaryn. "..Hnng!" He brought Aaryn to his knees. Aaryn threw a punch at the man, he missed as the man knocked Aaryn into a tree. "...This'll be a easy win for me.." The man said, grinning devilishly, he rose his sword about to knock Aaryn out. *POW* Aaryn sended a uppercut into the man's chin, he practically flew into the air, hit the ground hard, and was out cold. Aaryn might be injured, but that won't mean he can't still be a easy target. Aaryn walked over to the man, the stranger was down for the count. Aaryn patched himself up.

The fair in Green Falls during the time of the Tournament was like nothing Rilana had ever seen before. There were so many people, so many things to see. Everything was so colourful and green when she was so used to the white and blue of ice. As pale as she was, she hardly stood out among the swirling masses of people crowding the open spaces between rows of carts and brightly-dyed awnings of makeshift stands.

At first the cacophony of noise, especially the cheering and yelling from the tourney grounds, was almost painful to hear, but after a while she began to feel the festive atmosphere take hold of her. She wandered down the rows of stands, pausing here or there to splurge a little of her earnings on fresh supplies for her otterskin medicine bag and some spices to liven up her meals on the way back to Frigmount.

But what really interested her were the other animal-people. Other Druids, like her, who had found a place working alongside animals, whose unique talents had also brought them to the huge bazaar. She struck up a conversation with a human man who was nearly as covered with Marks as he was claw and fang scars. He was selling several young hawks and eagles, and Rilana stroked the glossy black feathers of a messenger raven as they talked together.

In the next stall, she got a look at regular horses. They seemed tall but not nearly as stocky or wily as the Fjords she was used to. With her pack over her shoulder, she wandered over to where the food stalls were. From here she could see a tiny sliver of the arena and nibbled on some strawberries that had been dipped in honey and speared on a kebab.

She might not be able to see the arena, but she could hear the excited screaming. But then her placid chewing eased and she stood still. The screaming no longer sounded excited...it sounded terrified. People were running. Away from the arena.

Against her better judgement, propelled both by an unhealthy curiosity and the snarling sounds of an animal she was not familiar with, Rilana dropped her half-eaten strawberries and scurried towards the stands. Fleeing people jostled her a bit as she tried to weave around them, but eventually she found herself looking down on a confusing scene.

She was across the arena from where some scaly thing seemed to rampaging in the stands. And on the floor of the arena, another different monster seemed to be facing off against warriors armed only with wooden weapons. There were motionless bodies and smears of blood. What kind of barbaric tournament was this? And what kind of creature was that thing?

Moving with almost ethereal calmness, Rilana walked down the steps to the arena floor, her piercing blue eyes riveted on the two-headed monster. Her nostrils filled with the sulfurous scent of brimstone. Was it coming from the creature? She couldn't tell.

The first of the squires, young orc, reached the center of the arena, long sword and heater shield in hand. The creature had already found a new target, a human man nervously clutching his wooden hatchets. He slowly stepped backwards as the creature edged toward him, mouths drooling, glistening the grass below. The man quickly glanced around him, looking for aid. He saw a female katzheer nearby and a few others standing nervously. The creature charged and the man leapt to the side, just barely being missed by one of the tooth filled maws. He turned, slashing hard at the large creature's side as it thundered past. The wooden axe head struck a bony plate and splintered in half. Not willing to give up, the man stabbed with shattered handle and found purchase, between plates at the back leg joint. He growled victoriously before the creatures tail struck him hard, and threw him several feet back.

The squire hadn't seen the successful attack, and charged forward, shield braced ahead of him, slashing downward. The sword didn't break, but it was bounced from the bone plates on the creature's shoulders. The monster turned, and lunged at the young man, who had managed to get his shield up in time. The creature's jaws clamped around the shield, attempting to tear it free. The squire growled as he was pulled around, attempting to pull back, but managed to keep his feet, his arm locked into place by the shield straps. The other head tried to get around the shield, to snap at the man, but was being fought off by the sword. The creature was momentarily focused on this damned squire.

The man that had been thrown by the tail strike was struggling to get up, seeing a few of the combatants still fighting each other. What were those fools doing? Did they not notice the monsters nearby, or were they simply stupid and uncaring? The man was fairly certain at least three of his ribs were broken, but still he rose. He looked back at the creature watching a squire get knocked bodily away by that damned tail, his steel kris daggers being scattered across the grass.

The Screamer watched with bloodlust in his eyes as the creatures wreaked havoc. His Warlord would be quite pleased with his attack. He could feel his magic draining, as he pumped as much into the portal as he could. He estimated he could keep it open for a halfstretch with how much he had into it now. The foolish knights and civilians weren't even paying attention to him, aside from that ogre earlier. Who would've thought that an ogre made the smartest choice? Keelie would love that story later. This attack might get him back in her good graces after his failed raid on a caravan a tenday ago. He hoped so. The Warlord of the Blood Vines was not known to be forgiving.

Megumi rushed into the armory, the door had already been swung wide open by another squire whom was already facing the beast. However, she wasn't the first one there. A few other combatants had the same idea, looking around for their weapons in the massive room. Despite her equipment being smaller than everyone else's, she quickly found them. Her trusty dagger and throwing knives. Throwing knives that could actually do damage rather than bounce off someone's back. While the other combatants in the armory fumbled around like a bunch of drunks, Megumi made her way back outside, only to see a squire get knocked right off his feet by the monster's tail. She cursed under her breath, something about how useless these squires were, but in the back of her mind, she hoped they were okay.

She glanced over to the Screamer who summoned the beast. She knew what she had to do. Getting rid of the summoner would get rid of the beast, right? Right. She nodded to herself before carefully striding closer to the Screamer, making sure she was out of view. Either this guy was stupid or he had something up his 'sleeve'. He was standing in plain sight, his upper body was mostly unarmored, as was some other parts. He was tall too. Easy target. She drew her metal throwing knives, testing the weight in order to get familiar with it again. After a brief pause, she threw the knives at the Screamer, aiming for his large, uncovered back. As the knives flew, she quickly followed them, drawing her dagger so that she could land a follow-up strike with it when the knives landed.

The moon fey was a pillar of calm in the noisy, clamorous chaos of the arena. There were fighters a-plenty milling around, some of them seeming oblivious to the true dangers, still intent on whatever faux-battle was on today's itinerary. Rilana's gaze followed the unnatural creature, watching the way it moved, the way it drooled grotesquely. It was like a mockery of living beasts cobbled together in a necromancers fantasy. It was wrong. And though her curiosity would have liked the chance to study this thing, the druid could see that it would kill more people before it was stopped. Like the time she took the shape of a wolf and hunted down a lynx with the froth, Rilana knew she had to act.

Once decided, her only hesitation was choosing which shape to assume. There were many at her disposal. A sabre-toothed cat came to her mind first, but even the smilodon was only half the size of dark terror before her. No, she wanted muscle. This was an unknown foe, and in her uncertainty she wanted power and a fury that would make up for her doubts.

The moon fey dropped her pack and started into the arena. A fleeing squire made to pass her but paused, turning to stop her, "Miss...it's not safe!" But Rilana side-stepped him, her slow steps turning into a jog. Eyes on the creature, her shape became a pale blur as she ran towards it. Larger, shoulders widening and arms growing longer until she stooped forwards on all fours.

Her swift, elegant gait became a rolling gallop, tiny feet become paws thundering across the arena floor. Her clothing disappeared, replaced by a thick coat of snow white fur that rippled over thick skin and bunching muscle. Short stout black talons struck the ground, each impact causing a beastly grunt from her narrow snout. If given the space she could have run as fast as a horse, but the distance closed in a matter of moments. Underneath the wild guise Rilana was still herself, but her new shape brought a single-minded determination. In front of her was an Enemy.

Rilana reared up on her short hind-legs, a white wall crashing towards the chimera like a tidal wave of rage. Her black lips split wide to show three-inch canine teeth as she bellowed a hoarse roar of challenge, and behind them was ten feet and two thousand pounds of angry polar bear.

In the back of her mind, she felt Khona's presence, stronger than usual, looking out through her eyes and ready to help guide her the way she had once guided him.

The knives flew true, heading right for the Screamer's exposed back. However, two hand spans from the skin, they momentarily stopped, a bright flash of blue exposing a bubble around the man. If Megumi was paying close attention, she'd notice that each knife, subsequently after the first, got a little closer to the man. But then the knives were repelled by the same force, coming tumbling end over end with the same force at which they'd been thrown, flying directly towards Megumi. Because of the way they were repelled, they tumbled awkwardly, not with the precision of a true throw.

The Screamer turned, realizing he was now under attack from behind. He smiled at the woman, casting a wink. He may have known he was protected, for now, but he hadn't seen how the knives had gotten closer. But he never changed his position, his arms still raised, pushing magic from his body into the rift, that was now growing larger. From her position, Megumi could see others of the creatures, though much smaller, on the other side, staring at the rift, not yet sure if they should go through yet.

The creature had been too busy with the orc squire that it hadn't even seen the giant bear approaching. It hadn't been able to get around the shield it wielded, nor were its jaws strong enough to tear through the steel. It had tried ripping it free, but the stout body, balance, and sheer determination of the squire had kept it in place. His sword had bit many times into the other head, leaving lacerations around the mouth and neck. But he was tiring, the beast had several hundred pounds on him and soon he'd be tossed like a ragdoll. He didn't have time to be surprised when he saw the massive white bear roar up as a new challenger. He really, really hoped it was on his side. The orc gave one last stab before his strength gave out, and the creature finally disarmed him of his shield. He skipped away sword in hand as he watched his shield thrown off like trash, and the creature turned to face its new opponent.

But before it could fully turn, a mass of white furred muscle bowled right into it, striking right behind its left shoulder. The sheer weight tossed the creature off balance, falling onto its side, nearly into the orc squire who'd had enough mind to skip out the way while landing a slash on its less furry tail, lopping off a foot long section. The creature was pained now, having felt something inside of itself break. It was quick to get up, no longer just the predator, but a prey fighting for its life. It went to charge toward the bear, but a moment of pain caused it to stagger, giving just a brief moment of hesitation, one maw looking to catch a leg, the other aimed at the neck and shoulder.

The two behemoths struck with a solid thud that sent a ripple back over Rilana's pristine pelt. Against all the dirt and darkness of men and black armour and wooden weapons the snow-bear nearly gleamed.

Shiny black eyes closed briefly at the impact, savage jaw lunging forward with fangs bared against black maw, but the tumble spoiled the snap and Rilana's teeth came together on thin air with a heavy snarl.

The momentum carried her through and over the chimera and she was turning, rearing again with a paw flung wide. As the sleek black monster surged forwards, Rilana missed the brief stagger but the gryphon inside her mind, a natural predator, did not. Later, the moon fey would say that she couldn't be certain whether it was Khona or herself who brought her tree-trunk arm back towards the beast with bone-snapping force into the chimera's good head, saving herself from being bitten by the teeth aimed at her leg.

The bear bellowed angrily as razor fangs dug through thick fur, tough skin, and an inch of body fat to clamp into her shoulder, fortunately missing the jugular in her short neck. Blood oozed out around the chimera's lips and into it's mouth, a bright crimson stain streaking through Rilana's fur.

The bear reared higher, balancing on hind legs to lift the leech attached to her completely off the ground. She wanted to get her teeth into it and snapped, snarling and roaring huffily as she hit it about the head and shoulders with her paws, digging and pounding cruelly at it with talons that were made for scraping through thick ice into the black flesh. She would peal the tissue from the bones! And in the process, somewhere in the back of her mind hope that the beast was at least distracted enough for the tiny man-sized blurs at the edges of her vision to scuttle in on the creature's unprotected rear.

She made a sudden stop when she noticed that the daggers hadn't actually made contact with the man's back, but she noticed that the third dagger that she threw had pressed forward further than the others. She hadn't expected the knives to be launched back in her direction, but she managed to sidestep out of the way, unfortunately not unscathed. One of the knives had flown in such an awkward trajectory that it cut Megumi's right cheek. She cursed, as she wiped the blood away with her thumb. The man's wink made irritated her. How dare he have such a pompous grin on his face.

She figured that throwing more daggers wouldn't work, and that she may have a better chance if she stabbed him with the knife in hand. She launched herself into a sprint, swapping the grip on her dagger to reverse. She chose to ignore the monsters that stared out of the portal. If she got rid of this man, she would possibly get rid of the creatures too. Maybe. It was just a guess really. As she approached him, she leapt into the air, stabbing downward at the man's face, her dagger meeting an invisible resistance which tried to push back. She persevered, pushing down even harder.

The creature's head was snapped to the side, grooves scored up along the neck and face of it from the claws, a hiss of pain escaping it. A few of its teeth had been knocked free, falling to the ground. Its other head, though, found purchase with its jaws, biting hard into the bear's shoulder. At first, the level of pain would be normal, excruciating pain, but then the skin and fur around the teeth began to sizzle and smoke. This was what the creature was designed for, biting and holding on while its teeth did the work.

When the bear raised up, the creature was lifted bodily, but didn't let go, some of the fur around the bite actually on fire now. Its eyes sank into its head as the bear carved deep grooves into it. The other head snapped wildly, dangling just out of reach. The orc did not miss the opening the bear provided. He'd learned by now that slashing was useless, but he could easily distinguish the bony plates from skin now that it wasn't trying to eat his face. He rushed up behind it, and with his long sword, stabbed once, twice, over and over, guiding his blade between the plates, hoping to hit something vital from where he could reach.

The creature was hissing in pain from its open head as it felt the sharp sting of steel. Then, one struck something that wasn't just meat, and the creature finally dropped free of the bear, swinging hard with its tail. The orc just barely dodged it, managing to lop off another long section of it, that continued to wiggle on the ground. The creature tried to flee, back to the hole it came from, but found that both of its hind legs weren't working. It dragged itself slowly forward using only its forelegs, hissing in pain and fear, totally ignoring its attackers.

The man was still grinning as though he were invincible as he saw the foolish woman try and punch through his shield. He began to laugh, as he poured the last magic he could spare into the rift without passing out, bringing his arms down. Then with a pop, not one that was heard, but was felt by some sixth sense, the shield failed. The man's grin instantly dropped, when he realized he was unarmed. But he wasn't completely useless, punching upward as the woman fell, no longer being supported by the shield. His fist collided hard with her ribs, and he felt a couple give and break.

But he did not win in that blow, for the woman's blade was kept true, and sank where his neck met his shoulder, and her momentum sent him falling backwards. There was a bit of tumbling, the woman falling away from him, knife still embedded in him. He scrambled to his feet, and yanked the knife free. Now that it wasn't in his flesh though, nothing was stopping the blood from leaving his body. Realizing that he had very few options left, he leapt upward toward the rift, getting his upper body through it. And for a brief moment he hung through it, as if climbing over a wall, being supported by the magical edge of the portal. He pulled himself through and tumbled over the other side.

The squire that had been thrown earlier, rushed over to the portal, holding his own damaged ribs, looking down at Megumi, "I'm going through. The superiors will want the body, and any information we can get from the other side. If we're quick, we can get back before it closes, I think. Join me?" It was incredibly stupid, incredibly foolhardy, but the knights were the richest organization around. Who knew what they might pay handsomely for?

Pain! Burning! Inside the guise of the bear, Rilana was terrified. Her people embraced everything about the deep cold. The sparkling beauty of ice and the delicate creep of frost. The unfathomable shades of blue that could only be found inside a sheet of ice a mile deep. But Rilana feared fire. Everyone knew that foreigners in these lands might be burned at the stake for the slightest infraction. And now her shoulder was sizzling next to her ear! The stink of scorched fur and charred blubber filled her black nose so that she could only breathe in snarls through her mouth. But the bear didn't know fear. The bear knew fury!

When the weight of the creature fell away, Rilana fell with it, landing heavily on her front paws, favouring the right as blood and melted fat oozed down the fur and turning it spiky as the gore slicked the clear-white hairs.

She opened her mouth with another primal scream, angry at the pain, angry at the way the chimera was dragging itself away from her. Flecks of froth flew from her wicked teeth and she charged again, her rolling gait even more pronounced now that she was forced to limp heavily, staining her paws in the slug trail of blood left by the beast.

Rearing up, she aimed both sets of claws down on the chimera's back, lunging forward with her stout head so that she could sink her teeth into the back of the monster's neck and end it once and for all!

Megumi felt some satisfaction when the man's stupid grin dropped like his shield did, but this feeling was short lived as it was replaced by sharp pain as he punched her in the ribs. She couldn't avoid it because she was already in the air. The punch sent her tumbling onto the grass, but fortunately, the dagger had pierced the man's body before she was sent flying. She lay still for a moment, her body trying to recover from the sudden shock. She was finding it hard to breath as well, but she recovered quickly.

She slowly pushed herself upright, a sharp feeling of agony struck her as she moved. She put her hand gently on the spot where the man had punched. Shit. He had broken a couple of her ribs. But this wasn't the time to be worrying about injuries. She looked over to where the Screamer was only to see him fleeing into his weird portal. She was considering whether or not to follow him, but she was apprehensive about going in. Her train of thought was interrupted by a Squire who also had some sort of injury to his ribs.

"I'm going through. The superiors will want the body, and any information we can get from the other side. If we're quick, we can get back before it closes, I think. Join me?"

"Go with you? That's ridiculous." She scoffed, wincing as she got up. She slowly walked over to where her dagger lay, picking it up with her free hand. "What are we waiting for?" She added, giving the Squire a cheeky smirk before climbing into the portal. The superiors wanted the guy right? There's money involved in this. Possibly a chance to get close to Svarak.

The creature felt the massive weight of its hunter pressing down on it. It tried to scramble, front legs scratching in the grass wildly, but without its pack legs, it gained no traction, no freedom. Both of it maws were screaming in reptilian panic, calling futilely for aid from any of its brethren. Then it felt the powerful jaws grip down at the neck of its left head. It didn't take more than a single shake of the head and a crunch of the jaws to snap the bone and spinal cord therein. The creature slumped to the ground, dead. It was curious. It had two heads, but it seemed if you killed either of them, you killed them both.

A couple of the other squires had seen the action, and soon found themselves staring at the gore covered, injured, absolutely terrifying bear reining supreme. They were looking around for a superior officer, to give them orders. A particularly dumb, bulky human moved forward, blade raised and readied, to take down this new threat. In his mind, if he led the squires to slay this beast, they'd be the saviors of the tournament. And if he led them, he'd surely get his Knighthood. It was the perfect plan.

Until a large orc fist smashed into his face, knocking the useless squire off his feet and out cold. "Don't be stupid," glaring at the rest of them, "Any of you." He was injured, exhausted, but he wasn't going to let glory hounds take down the true hero of this horrid event. This wasn't a situation to be used for personal gain. It was a nightmare that was defeated by a civilian. She made them all look bad, but she deserved it. The orc sheathed his sword and turned toward the bear, knowing that she was injured, likely still in a fury. He kept his distance, and raised his hands, palms out, "The fight is won, friend. We can fix you up. But we need to have peace."

He really hoped she didn't continue the fight. He'd seen many beings, creature, man, and those inbetween go down either path. If she attacked the squires, she'd take a few with her, but once the remaining proper knights got involved, it would be a slaughter. He really didn't wish for that to happen, it would be a total waste and disgrace. He was looking the bear right in the eyes, knowing better than to encroach on her kill. "It is done."

The squire grinned and winced in pain, he liked this woman already. Biting through the pain in his side, he jumped and climbed through the portal, tumbling head over heel. The world he was in was stifling, the air heavy with heat and humidity. There was a stench of smoke and sulfur, and the only wind was moving from this world into the next. He saw a wriggling mass ahead of him, roughly waist high. It took him several moments to figure out exactly what it was he was seeing.

It was the body of the Screamer, with several, smaller versions of the creatures that had come through. Then he realized where this portal was. It was a nest. That was how the Screamer got the creature here. The man didn't summon the creature, he just opened the portal somewhere likely to attract them. Open it in the middle of a nest, something is likely to get curious, or at least defend its territory. These creatures were just more innocents that got caught up in the horrid plans of the Screamers.

Looking all around, he saw nothing else but waste land and volcanic mountains for miles. He saw no other large versions of these creatures. He knew enough about wildlife to know that the odds of these baby creatures of surviving was pretty much zero. It would be a kind mercy to put them down now, so they didn't die slowly of starvation and cannibalism. He still had one kris left, and he pulled it from his booth. He hated that he was about to do this, but it truly seemed to be for the best.

The passing of the chimera was to the sound of the huge bear, harsh breaths hot out of the sides of her muzzle as she savaged the snapped neck back and forth, worrying it with a gruesome wet snarl like an immense hound with a bone. But as soon as the plated body slumped, dangling lifeless and sagging from her jaws, the bear's fury began to bleed away like a mist scattered by a stiff, clear wind. The foul taste of the blood in her mouth was bitter and she was eager to be free of it, letting the gory slime drip from her wicked incisors as she backed up a step to sniff at the thing. It was true what they said about bears. The dead thing added no fuel to her ferocity and part of her quickly lost interest.

Clarity of mind was accompanied by a flood of doubt and confusion. In moments like these it was easy to understand why some moon fey assumed the shapes of animals more and more as they aged, finding solace in the simple lives of beasts as they forgot more and more of themselves. Rilana did not know what this thing was, but she was curious. Not just about why the frothy drool from each head seemed to smell different, nor even why snapping the spine leading to one head seemed to kill both instantly, but why the creature had been so vicious in the first place. Was it truly some fell monster summoned by the shrieking man solely to bring chaos and death and terror as it seemed? It would have been a comforting explanation. Comforting because it was so simple. But as the huge bear sniffed over the oozing remains, she wasn't so sure.

Movement at the periphery of her vision caught her attention. How easily she had forgotten the score or more of men! Turning, stepping on and over the beast as she turned to face this new enemy, she let out a suspicious roar-huff and stood up on her hind legs, towering over them. Her bulky forearms hung loose down her front, the blood-soaked ravaged one a bit limper than the other. Her snout turned with her focus as she eyed the men with a stern black gaze.

Rilana had no love of black-armoured knights. She'd been a fool! They were all staring at her now, weapons drawn. They would kill her, even if she changed back! Or maybe especially if she resumed her natural form. They would burn her at the stake. Or worse. She looked past them, turning back and forth, limping on the charred leg, no different from any other scared, cornered animal. Did they know what she really was? There was no way for her to be sure.

Would she have to fight her way through? If so, she'd better start now. The longer she waited the more men would arrive.

It took a moment to realize that the biggest man...no, he was an orc, was talking to her rather than issuing orders to his fellow fighters. Rilana paused, sagging forward to rest on three legs and perhaps hear him better. His hands were outspread and she recognized the universal gesture. His eyes were boring into hers and she realized that he knew.

Khona, what do I do?! she thought, not knowing if she should flee or fight.

Do neither, he replied, and with his smug tone she could imagine him preening his feathers and looking down his beak at her, his ear-tufts set at a haughty angle. You slayed the beast. Take pride in your kill. Secrecy is lost. If you run they will simply follow to make sure the snow-bear causes no trouble.

What if they kill me anyways? she fretted. Her fear on this matter went deeper than even she knew. In her mind she heard the rustle of feathers in reply. They will have to capture you first, but we can just fly away.

The moon fey was terrified, but Khona's snobbish flippancy came with a logic she couldn't deny, even if she didn't like it. She was weary, mind and body anguished and in agony. A few shuffling steps away from the gore on the field and she took a deep breath, concentrating hard to summon the energy from within, the concentration to return to her true form. It was similar to the drain she felt when working with her Familiars.

The bear blurred like a chalk drawing in the rain, shrank in on itself, and within a heartbeat or two resolved into the svelte, shapely figure of the moon elf in all her pale beauty. She was tall for a woman but still looked up at the fighters in the ring, her sapphire eyes sharp with both fear and pain in her arm. Changing shape didn't free her from the damage of the chimera's bite, and though her clothes were intact, her porcelain skin was an angry black and red mess under the hem of her reindeer-skin vest.

She swallowed thickly. Most of the weapons clutched in white-knuckled fists were wooden, but it hardly mattered. Letting out the breath she had taken before returning to herself, "My name is Rilana Aurorime'," she announced in a clear but tremulous voice as she waited tensely for whatever might happen next.

The heat and humidity of the place was sudden, sending a shock into her system, the strong smell of sulfur and smoke made things worse on her sense of smell. She glanced around, seeing many smaller creatures, similar to the large one that had appeared in the arena. It was apparent to her that this Screamer didn't summon the creature, he merely lured it into the arena. She spotted the Screamer, laying dead on the ground a few meters away from the portal. She moved slowly towards the dead body, so that she wouldn't disturb the small creatures more than they already had. She slung the man's arm over her shoulder and tried to move him, but a sharp pain pierced her side causing her to stumble slghtly. Megumi looked up to see the squire pulling out his kris. She knew what he was thinking of doing, "Don't bother. This is their home, it's best that we leave them alone, we're also in no condition to fight all of them. Come here and help me." She said in a stern, commanding tone as she attempted to drag the large man's body toward the portal, making very little progress.

They needed to move quickly, the portal was already closing up. If the squire didn't come quickly to help her, she was going to ditch the body and jump back through the portal by herself, she wasn't about to die because of this.

The orc watched the bear change back into a woman, and even though she wasn't an orc, she had an exotic prettiness about her. Perhaps a bit tall and thin, and pale, very pale. But she'd defeated the monster, she was a warrior, that was better than any physical feature, to an orc at least. Humans were so boring about things like appearance and such. He saw blood dripping from her arm, and suddenly realized that shifting hadn't healed her. He didn't know her race, but the woman was injured, more so than he. He wasn't sure it was fatal though, she was still standing after all. He turned to the nervous squires, "Stop standing around fools. Go help the medics with the injured. And bring one of them here. Now, go."

Many of the squires hesitated, not used to receiving orders from a fellow squire. But a stiff orc glare quelled that easily, and they all took off, leaving just the orc. He turned back toward the woman, and began toward her, trying to keep his body language relaxed, to not startle her or send her fleeing. As he got closer, "I would like to check your injury. I am called Togan." He moved closer, large green hands still up peacefully. He moved around her slowly, keeping an eye on the area, making sure no squires got any funny ideas.

He could see the outline of the injury, just barely at the shoulder of her vest, and "I'm going to cut open the back of your vest, this needs looked at, Rilana Aurorime'." He drew his simple dagger from his boot, pulled the vest out from her bloody, sticky skin and sawed through, almost flinching at what he saw beneath. There was a crescent of teeth holes, rimmed black from what looked burns, swollen read around. But, the bleeding wasn't as severe as it should be. Peering close, it looked as if the interiors of the wounds were burned as well. Was that keeping her from bleeding so much?

Then his eyes widened as Lord Svarak walked over, hands still emptied, a medic at his side, the Charr smirking triumphantly. He looked down at the injured woman with intense curiosity, "I would like to say, welcome back envoy of Frigmount." There was a knowing spark in his eyes, clearly knowing more than others about... something. "I enjoyed watching your fight, the both of you. It was more amusing than my own, kept me from being too bored." The orc's eyes widened, both in honor and at realizing that the Lord Knight was capable of watching a fight across the field while in a deadly hand to hand combat. "Thank you Lord Svarak. Was simply my duty. Rilana Aurorime' here did the real work."

He pulled the flap of her cut vest forward, to see the front of her wound, not caring for any sense of modesty she may or may not feel. There was nothing sexual in his examination of the area between her breasts and shoulder, that matched the back. "Firefangs. Most interesting. Better than the vilefang head." He returned the flap of clothing back, and the medic took her cue to begin cleaning and sewing up the wounds. A glint in his eyes once more, "I think we can find something to aid in your injury once the medic is done, after this... is handled." Smirking, "Will need you healthy soon, Envoy."

On the other side of the portal, the squire nodded, and sheathed his kris, moving over to the body, cringing at the fetid and burnt smell coming from it. He was barely recognizable as a human anymore. There were so many burns and bites and open wounds over his flesh, much of which was a dark green now. He strained and lifted the man around the hips, helping the woman push him up and through the portal. He fell to a knee, clutching at his ribs, "Fuck sake, the things we do."

The squire didn't see the glint in a nearby overhang, but Megumi's sharper eyes wouldn't miss it. Further inspection would show a nest of eggs. Some of them appeared like any normal egg, pale white, rough, sort of veiny, in a collection of stones and sand. However, a few of them appeared to be a single egg shaped gemstone, in stunning fiery colors. Not a single shade of red, but as if literally crystalline fire. The portal inched a bit closer to closed, but there was still time.

As the body fell through the portal, Svarak chuckled, "Gotta love a dedicated squire. Although..." He sniffed, and listened close, "Seems they sent something a little extra..." A small version of the creatures they'd fought burst out of the stomach of the corpse with an adorable gruesome Grawgh. It began to nibble on the flesh of the body happily, totally ignorant of the rest of the world around it. Looking at the orc and the medic, "When she's all taken care of, show her to one of the Wardens for me." They both responded in the affirmative, and as he was walking away, "Oh and one more thing..." Svarak reached down to the weapon belt he wore, and pulled a black gem pin from it, and tossed it to the orc, "Congratulations, Knight." With that, Svarak walked through the chaos of the injured and dying, the perfect calm in a terrible storm.

The moon fey was pretty sure that she was shaking, her nerves jangling as exhaustion argued violently along her bones with a renewed impulse to flee. But her flightiness was mostly internal. On the outside she looked worried, but her back was straight and her hands didn't tremble when the orc approached. She naturally started to turn to follow his progress around her back to keep him in front of her, but his eyes were on the wound and she consented to let him look.

"Go ahead," she assented, fixing her eyes on the scene of upheaval around the arena. It was only then that she noticed the portal that was still open and her lips formed a small 'o'. Seeing the rift in the air was uncomfortably surreal and she glanced sidelong at some of the squires. It wouldn't do to leave that thing open would it? But even as she watched it, resolving to focus on something other than the huge orc, she noticed that the portal seemed to be shrinking and there were already people on the other side doing...something.

A pair of figures moved towards them and Rilana found herself looking up into the lion-like face of someone who was apparently Important. Her stunning blue eyes flicked to the shine of the crystal sword over his shoulder and one of her eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Rilana's surprise was even more apparent when he casually mentioned her home. Most people seemed to think she was some kind of elf. Lord Svarak seemed like the kind of person who, if anyone, would know more about the suspicions she had about the Frostfell's apparent isolation. She narrowed her eyes almost shrewdly at that, but kept her silence. It wasn't a conversation she was ready to try with anyone. In fact, she wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Unlike the orc at her side, Rilana, though not disrespectful, was obviously less impressed by this Lord Svarak. "I would like to say that visiting the southlands has been a pleasure, but given the circumstances I think I'll settle for saying I will have a few stories for my children one day." A ghost of a smile played about her lips, and she used it to mask the embarrassment when the Lord Knight reached for her ruined vest. "You didn't have to cut it, I would have taken it off." Now she would have to stop in Green Fall to buy a replacement.

There was a tinge of colour along her pale cheekbones as the piece of her caribou-hide vest came away and exposed her pert cleavage, but she stood her ground and didn't lift a hand to preserve some semblance of modesty, almost daring the two men towering around her to say something lewd. Fortunately, as the Lord Knight appeared, the squires doing nothing better than loitering seemed to have suddenly disappeared, so it was only the Charr himself she had to worry about. And he said nothing. She wasn't sure if that made things better or worse.

You wanted him to look.

Shut up, you overgrown pigeon!

In her mind she could see Khona's amber eyes smiling knowingly.

"Envoy?" She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "I'm just a horse-trainer. But I'll be thankful for whatever healing you can offer." It was only right that they help her after she risked her life, she supposed. She tried to sound appreciative and followed the Charr's progress as he moved towards the sloppy bag of flesh that had just flopped out of the shrinking portal. She was surprised that Svarak didn't simply squash the tiny two-headed chestburster, and as she watched it eat as he walked away she had an idea.

"Knight Togan. Will you please grab that thing and put it in something sturdy. A thick leather saddlebag might work. I wish to study it." She pointed to the creature, hoping none of the others would notice it.