Eclisse knelt down beside the dying Cylus, her face was one of regret and sadness. "No, we're not leaving here without you! I got some vulnerary that should.... No..." She had hoped to use her vulnerary to try and hold Cylus over, but she realized by her empty coat pocket that she had given it to Roane and her wyvern. Eclisse's eyes turned back to Cylus, he was already gone.

Eclisse's face darkened as she closed Cylus's eyes, this whole plan to stay behind and try to find survivors was a wasted trip. She stood up and immediately realized her and Taka's situation. Varjan soldiers had surrounded them and were slowly closing in. "Taka... Get out of here... I'm gonna clear a path for you to run... One of us has to make it out of here at least..." Eclisse stood ready with her sword.

Tomoe nodded to Jarde, before running towards the crowd of soldiers jabbing and aiming at Nyx. She brandished her weapon and ran following Myno.

"Stop!" she shouted to the pole-wielding footmen, edging her way in with her shield thrust forth. "You mustn't hurt her; you'll only throw her further into a rage!"

Tomoe knew stories of dragons that transformed in a wave of anger and emotion. Reacting with brute force, furthering that monstrous anger, that wouldn't help one bit.

She held her guard naginata in front of her, blocking the jabs from the poles.

Taka was not one to grieve too long on a companion's death. The death of his grandfather during their travels already strengthened his resolve so he quickly put the body to the ground and grabs Eclisses's hand. He shakes his head and sticks his tongue out at the barbarians...as he runs away quickly and leading Eclisse right behind him. There was no time to waste in escaping from the area and the fact that their goal was no longer able to be accomplished...they had to escape. Hoping that the escape route he planned to be still open, he hurries off with Eclisse in hand.

"Follow me and don't look back! I'll make sure those muscle-heads are off our tail when we run but don't stop running. If you block something, do it on the fly and keep on moving. And above all else, don't lose sight of me."

This route was meant to regroup with the others...hopefully.

@Darkmoon Angel

-@ToadRopes-

You managed to get several of the Footmen's attention. They could not hear your words over the chaos and confusion and they simply decided that you were the enemy.

They immediately tried to attack you with their long weapons but you manage to block or evade them and since they were just Footmen, you did so quite easily. But suddenly, someone yelled. "Focus on the dragon, I'll handle this one!" The order came from a Concilium Hero who then aimed his bloodied sword at you. "A warrior from Iapana, are you? I'm going to enjoy this one!"

You will have to be careful on this one. Heroes of the Concilium are more than your rank and file soldiers after all.

-@Polaris North-

You disrupt the Bow Footmen when you charge into them, routing them off. "Well that was easy." Jarde remarked as he prepared to sheathe his sword.

But suddenly, Merilia yelled. "My lord, watch out!" An entire unit of Concilium Soldiers charged forth and surrounded the three of you. "Dammit... Lord Jarde, stay close to me!" The Hero charged the Soldiers and initiated battle against them with Jarde following close behind her.

Meanwhile, you were surrounded by enemies again. At least these troops are not as durable as the Dwarves you fought earlier so they should not be too hard to fight off. However, you see Nyx thrash around some more, shaking off the polearmed Footmen accosting and chasing her but she now found herself fighting a group of Hellriders. Their swords may not be as sharp as the Footmen's polearms but they still look dangerous.

"Go after Nyx, Mino!" Jarde ordered you. "You need to bring her back so we can escape!" Suddenly, a spear hit Merilia in the leg which elicited a scream of pain from her. "Merilia!"

-@cloudystar & @Darkmoon Angel-

The two of you run across the battle and escaping the gladiator and his men.

Soon, you spot two Dragons rampaging across the fighting. You both recognized one of them as Myno but not the other though you can safely infer that she may be Nyx as she and Myno seem to be the only Manaketes in the entire pass. Myno, Jarde and Merilia were busy with some Bow Footmen while Nyx was surrounded by some horsemen.

However, you also spot Tomoe dueling a Concilium Hero. She may have that handled but one can never be too sure.

Annnnd civil discussion didn't work. What did she expect? Tomoe was on a battlefield trying (and undoubtedly failing) to calm down a bunch of angry soldiers stabbing an out-of-control manakete.

But when the bloodied Hero approached, eyeing her like a hunter would a deer, she knew she was quite in trouble. She had the weapon length to keep her distance from this warrior, and she was quite well-versed in defense techniques, but men with swords placed a lot of offensive pressure.

That being said, she did not want to harm this man over something as misfortunate as a misunderstanding. She would have to drive this powerful warrior away from Nyx.

Tomoe assumed a long-distance defensive stance, maximizing the amount of naginata she had before her while still maintaining control over her weapon. She did not intend to give the Hero she was dueling the luxury of having her distracted by making futile attempts at reason. Instead, she prepared to fend off the swordsman, twisting her weapon and attempting to force him into an awkward position that would buy the others time to help Nyx without having to deal with Tomoe's opponent.

"Told you to have some faith in m~...oh wow hehe...out of the flames and into a blizzard, aren't we? Well archers against our main company and a hero against our new spear gal. You want to go for one group and I get the other? To be honest, I'd rather focus on the hero to be honest...one target for me would be nice. I could provide you some covering fire for a moment if you want to charge into either or of the group. Hehe...one person providing covering fire. Your choice, just tell me the orders and I'll follow."

Taka was carefully studying the situation and planning out a major escape route for all of them to follow. After all, their forces were way too spread out and separated...that and not in the best situation for another flat out battle. That's why he wanted to get them all out into a safe space...hopefully. He was still chuckling this entire time, surprised that he was still alright...despite having much better/impressive allies earlier. Reminder to self, make a gravestone for that mercenary man.

@Darkmoon Angel

Myno knew that the ones he was up against weren't too hard to route. They were footmen after all. In his time at Archanea, he learned the difference between your run-of-the-mill soldiers and your more notable soldiers. However, they were great in number. Just when Jarde thought that it was over, another squad had reached them. Boy, they were persistent. He spun around, using his tail to fend off the soldiers and make them retreat.

Jarde and Merilia seemed to have more problems. Jarde told him to go after Nyx, but Merilia's scream made him turn his head ever so slightly to her. He saw the spear that had pierced through her flesh. He sent out a fireball towards their direction, meticulously aimed so that it would hit the Concillium soldiers but won't damage them too much, and it would only do little to no damage to Merilia and Jarde.

With that, he took off into the air and headed for Nyx. She was still thrashing around. It would have been effective should it have stayed as the run of the mill soldiers, but now she was up against Hellriders. "Nyx, fall back!" He growled, his distorted voice loud and hoping to reach the green rampaging dragon. He then turned his attention to the Hellriders and then flew down at them, attempting to scatter them by a bluff. He would attempt to take on of the soldiers and drop them at a height where they would be sure to break something.

@Lady Athena

Battlefield
The green dragon thrashing around in the air known as Nyx, continued to thrash around while firing large green balls of flame towards these hellriders. The cried of the other manakete reached her, although rather than her stopping she turns and lashes out towards the other manakete. She seemed to not care who anyone was. They are all her enemies. This was not the same innocent person who fainted before, rather this was a creature which wanted nothing but death.

Nyx's mind
Nyx lied on the ground groaning in pain as she tried to fight the creature that lived within her... She was determined to not let loose, but she could feel her grip on reality breaking. She begins to tear at her own face in agony.

@cloudystar Miraculous, the thief managed to pull himself and Eclisse out of the conflict back to their group, but things were going bad for their allies as well. "Told you to have some faith in m~...oh wow hehe...out of the flames and into a blizzard, aren't we? Well archers against our main company and a hero against our new spear gal. You want to go for one group and I get the other? To be honest, I'd rather focus on the hero to be honest...one target for me would be nice. I could provide you some covering fire for a moment if you want to charge into either or of the group. Hehe...one person providing covering fire. Your choice, just tell me the orders and I'll follow."

Eclisse nodded at Taka's suggestions. "I'll see what I can do about those archers. Let's hope we make it through this." Eclisse ready her blade and rushed at the archers bringing her blade down on the closest one. "Hey you arrow shooting pansies! Try focusing on someone your level!" She shouted to the group of enemies.

Not hesitating for a moment once he got the commands, he launches arrows at the hero...making sure to mark him and give the spear girl some breathing room. However, he did send an occasional arrow at the band of archers to help Eclisse in fending them off.

"Good luck with those archers, yell if you need some help! Hey spear girl, I got your back from all the way over here! Suggestion, don't stand in the arrows' path hehe."

Taka gives her a thumbs up if she can notice and smiles as well. He was quite happy he got the single target from a far range, nothing to worry about then...well as long as no one comes to attack him. Shooting from this far would guarantee each shot practically a perfect shot. Hopefully he'll deal enough damage as well through the hero's armor...otherwise he wouldn't be of much support.

@ToadRopes@Darkmoon Angel

-@cloudystar & @ToadRopes-

The Concilium Hero took the initiative to attack Tomoe but she was prepared, blocking and evading the Hero's swings and thrusts. "You b****! Stand still!" The Hero yelled in frustration.

But he halted when an arrow struck him in the shoulder, the projectile piercing through his armor and lodging itself firmly in his flesh. "Ah, dammit!" He yelled as he dropped his sword to clutch his wound. A few more arrows hit him in his side and he fell to the ground on his back, his remaining hand laying upon the arrows sticking out from him.

He bled profusely but was not dead. "Finish... me. You... you damn Iapanese..." Blood dripped from his mouth. You could give him what he wanted but that could convey that you are indeed an enemy of the Concilium and by extension, the League of Arcadia. Then again, you are in the middle of a battle so it was probable that no one would see, let alone notice.

-@Darkmoon Angel-

You charge into the aid of Prince Jarde and Merilia. However, you were mistaken that they were archers. They were actually Soldiers, spear-wielding infantry of the Concilium.

Still, you manage to slash one of them which took him down and distracted the other Soldiers for Jarde and Merilia to get a surprise attack on them and that along with the fireball from Myno earlier, managed to rout them from the battle.

The Prince immediately slung one of Merilia's arms over him and walked over to you. "Eclisse, take Merilia and go find Keerin and the others. Then get yourselves away from the battle as far as you can. I need to help Myno and the others still here." He ordered you.

"My lord! I cannot leave you behind!" Merilia protested, her face in disbelief.

"No Merilia, you're wounded and I need you out of here as soon as possible." Jarde shot her down. "Besides, I'll be fi-- GAH!"

An arrow from a Concilium Sniper hit Jarde right in his rib, dropping Merilia and falling to his knees. "JARDE!" The red-armored Hero yelled as she forced herself up with her injured leg to take a look at her Prince. "Get Jarde out of here, Eclisse! Please!" She practically begged you.

"N-No Eclisse! Get... Merilia... out of here!" Jarde reiterated his orders.

Since they were both armor-wearing warriors, you could only carry one of them.

-@Polaris North & @Lady Athena-

Nyx's wild but mighty attacks manage to take down Myno and send the latter to the ground. One would be forgiven if one thought a violent and destructive duel between two powerful beings was about to erupt.

Meanwhile, the Hellriders have rode off, not wanting to get in the middle of two Manaketes fighting each other in their huge, draconic forms.

Inside Nyx's mind however, someone embraced the pained girl from behind. The entity's touch was soothing and relaxing, bringing peace where there is chaos and bringing joy where there is pain. Nyx could not turn around since she was being embraced after all. However, she could note that the arms around her were feminine and motherly.

Tomoe brought the guard naginata down; however, it was not a blow meant to kill, but to sweep the sword out of the Hero's reach. "Archer... fellow..." Tomoe said to Taka.

Yes, the slurs the Hero called during the battle were quite unsavory, but Tomoe recognized the confusion and discombobulating that resulted from Nyx going wild.

Tomoe turned back to the Hero. "That isn't how my people do things. And that isn't how I do things. Death over a frivolous misunderstanding?" Tomoe scoffed. "I was hired to protect people from things like that."

Tomoe turned back to Taka. "Do you mind helping me restrain him, if possible, and carry him to a safer spot?"

It was risky, of course, and she wasn't quite sure that the other soldiers would share her sentiments; however, she did not want this to end in excessive bloodshed.

"We'll have to drop him if we are targeted, and defend ourselves as such; if you think it'd be a better idea to provide cover with arrows, then by all means..."

Myno had been entirely unprepared for the relentless attacks of another Manakete resulting in him being sent to the ground. That, added with his just healed wounds, made it hurt very much. He let out a deep grumble as he picked himself up and then shook his head. His eyes shone with anger and blood lust. He stumbled backwards and shook his head once again. No, he can't lose his grip now. One rampaging Manakete is hard enough to contain, two would just be disastrous.

Unlike Nyx, however, Myno can't just bring himself to launch a barrage of deadly attacks on his ally. Myno let out another roar and then launched himself at Nyx in hopes to pin the other down. His attacks were not lethal and only aimed to parry whatever attacks Nyx would do. He just needed her to calm down damn it!

Unfortunately, in his focus on Nyx, he hadn't exactly noticed the unfortunate happenings to Prince Jarde and his aid.

@Lady Athena @PaulHaynek

@Lady Athena, @ToadRopes, @Polaris North, @cloudystar & @Darkmoon Angel

Myno had successfully subdued Nyx but that may be because she suddenly collapsed into unconsciousness for reasons only Nyx probably knows.

A sudden magical strike of lightning routed any remaining hostiles around Jarde's regiment. Its caster, Keerin, ran up to the group who had rendezvoused. "Come everyone! We have no time to waste!"

Jarde, however, noticed the absence of two members who were with the Sage. "Keerin, where are the others?"

"We... lost each other when we tried to make it to you." Keerin answered. "Now we must go! Before we are swept again in the fighting again and possibly lose more people!"

"...Very well." Jarde turned to what remained of his regiment. "Myno, carry Nyx. Let me know if something happens to her again. Eclisse, carry Merilia. Taka, give me hand." He issued his orders before spotting a good route to leave the battle for good. "Everyone! Follow me and Taka!"

And with that, Jarde's regiment made their exit from the Battle of Dragonrage Pass, an event that will likely be remembered infamously in history.



Jarde's regiment reached a forest somewhere in the border of the Concilium and the Moon Kingdom. The dark of the night had gone and gave way to the light of morning. However, a fog had fallen on the forest so despite the presence of the sun, visibility was quite limited. Once the Ereb Prince was sure there was no danger nearby, he gave the order. "Everyone, let's rest up here."

It was the chance for the group to catch their breath and maybe try to comprehend what exactly happened in Dragonrage Pass. "That was quite the ordeal, wasn't it?" Jarde began. "...I just wish all of us made it out..."

Keerin, meanwhile, approached Tomoe. "Madam, may I ask you to assist Prince Jarde in removing the arrow on his rib? I will be with you shortly after I heal Merilia." She requested.

After they finally escaped from the battle, Taka looks around for his Wyvern pals from earlier...but unfortunately doesn't find them. He sighs and heads over to the corner of the camp to make a tiny etching in a tree, and adds a few flowers if he can find any. On the makeshift grave for the others it states:

"For the Brave Companions of Jarde's Company."

Heading back to sit on the stone in camp, he takes out his Iron Bow to start checking if he has enough arrows for the day to come. He does wave at the others as they pass and go on their activities, not wanting to be a bother. After all, he was a thief and people tend to look down upon him just because of his job.

"...too bad not everyone made it. Guess we got to pick up the work from here."

@PaulHaynek@Polaris North@ToadRopes@Darkmoon Angel

Tomoe was distressed about the lives lost and the way that the battle ended... at the very least, though, she did not fail her primary objective.

She might, if Jarde did not get the arrow wound that Keerin pointed out treated as quickly as possible.

Tomoe hustled over to Jarde's side. "Milord, it would be best not to pull the arrow from the wound; it could damage your vitals. Please keep still."

She pulled off one of the sashes on her kimono and washed it best she could in a running stream. She then cleaned the area around the arrow (careful not to touch the sharp edges). Then, she stabilized the arrow so that it would not move. Protecting these officials meant addressing dangerous injuries as well. "It'd probably be best not to move until we can get you to a proper healer," Tomoe stated.

For reasons unknown to him, Nyx had been easy to subdue and she soon turned back into a human making life way more easier. He transformed back and then slung her over his shoulder as he looked at Jarde as he yelled out his commands. Myno gave the boy prince a small nod as acknowledgement before adjusting his grip on Nyx so that he was comfortable with her position and would be able to run fast while making sure that she was comfortable as well.

The Manakete was unsure just how long or how far they had been running, but they entered a forest and a fog blanketed them - both ensuring that they would be well-hidden but also hiding the enemy should they come after them. But it was good of a place to rest as any. He put Nyx down on a soft patch of ground so she could sleep more comfortably there and then looked around.

Taka had made a grave for all their fallen comrade, bless their souls, Tomoe was wrapping Jarde's wound with some cloth and Keerin was healing Merilia. Myno let out a sigh as he sat down and then leaned onto one of the trees that surrounded all of them. He would have asked what they should do. But rest first, that is their first priority. From what had transpired, it's well-earned.

Eclisse was glad that she didn't have to make such a tough choice of either saving Jarde or Merilia, she didn't want to leave anybody else behind in this raging conflict. As the remainder of the group fled from the battle they came upon a foggy forest, a nice place to hide out and rest at. Once they had managed to find a spot to rest, Eclisse leaned Merilia against a rock. "We can rest easy now... Ugh... Some meeting that turned out to be..." She said wiping the sweat off her forehead, never in her life did she expect to be in a large scale battle like that.

She stood up after assuring that Merilia would be fine and looked upon the rest of the survivors, they were a sorry lot right now. She walked on over to Myno before noticing the sort of grave that Taka had made, she took a pendent from her pocket and placed it on the makeshift grave, she had to pay her respects. After doing so she turned her attention back to Myno, Nyx was resting right beside him after her... Little rampage. "That was... Rough, wasn't it? You two going to be ok?" she asked him.

@Polaris North@PaulHaynek

Seeing that the swordswoman from earlier has decided to hang with Myno and the unconscious Nyx, he decides to keep Tomoe company whenever she's done with attending to Jarde's wound. He stays behind her and pokes her side a few times grinning as he tries to get a better understanding/vision of her. After all, it was kinda climatic/key timing that she came in to save them...especially after the deaths of many of their comrades. He eventually does stop poking her once he gets her attention to ask a few things.

"So...spear lady, what's your name and such? Sorry to be a hindrance and I know a bandit is the last person you want to see right now, but I am curious about newcomers. Especially since after that recent annoyance...best we all start learning about each other a bit to approve teamwork I guess. That and I got no one else to bug...the few people who were actually friends of mine...I can't find them. Oh well, if you don't mind me pestering you though, I'll be right here at your side for now until Captain Jarde calls on us."

@ToadRopes@Polaris North@Darkmoon Angel

Battlefield
Nyx is struck by Myno and immediately reverts back. She falls towards the ground. At some point during the falling she is caught and brought along with the rest of the group. She would lie within the barracks seemingly sleeping peacefully...

Nyx's mind
Nyx was frozen in place for a moment as she was embraced by a motherly feminine figure from behind... Something felt unusual about these arms... The next thing Nyx knew she felt all the energy stored within her body drain away. She slowly gets to her feet to face the motherly feminine figure. "D-do I know you perchance, ma'am?"