The battle is joined, friends and allies coming together against a common threat, save for those separated by misunderstanding



Mixed feelings abounded in the room as the silver knight shut off his commanding persona as easily as turning off a faucet. The sudden change told everyone present that Revenmar was capable of changing moods at the drop of a hat, which meant that no matter how affable he suddenly seemed, he could threaten any one of them again in an instant. All the same, the tension in the room eased. When the cookmaster, the paladin, and the axe-fighter left, the shaken workers returned to their duties as well as they could.

Morderik's distress persisted once the group returned to the mess hall. He looked as though he wanted to be outraged, but knew better than to question the bizarre warrior he'd offered his aid to. Into the silence that followed, Effin interjected himself. “Well! Reckon we couldn't 'ave got the scoop any faster. Angenny, eh? I know 'er. Quiet, but always awful full o' 'erself. Like everyone around 'er was disgustin' or embarrassin'. She got long brown hair, dyed red.” He waved the cookmaster off. “Thanks fer yer 'elp, Mord. 'Ave a good one.” With a nod toward Revenmar, he started toward the door.

A sound split the air, resounding through the hidden town's still atmosphere. For a moment the two horn-blasts surprised Effin more than anything, but his eyebrows furrowed and his lips curled a moment later. He'd never heard the sound, but he'd drilled for it, and his face spoke of bad news. “The alarm. Beastmen in the valley. God, we ain't ready...” Moving with a speed that defied his age, the burly axe fighter shouldered open the door of the mess haul, slowed just long enough to get his heading, and then charged in the direction of the barracks. “C'mon! They're comin'!” By that time, the entire population of the mess hall had mobilized and was heading to one of the two doors with great haste.

The scene outside was one of pandemonium. People ran every which way, arms full of what they'd been working on a moment ago or equipment to prepare for when the enemy was upon them. In particular, the barracks broiled with frenzied activity, with soldiers climbing in and out of windows to get past the traffic jam at the door. A man with a crisp uniform beneath his halfplate barked commands, trying to establish a method in the madness. Effin joined the surge heading in and tumbled from a window a moment later, hatchet in hand. At the same time, a familiar silhouette appeared. Emile jogged onto the scene and extended a hand down to help Effin up, who accepted without any hesitation.

His face inscrutable beneath his crested helmet, the comet chaser looked back and forth between Revenmar and Effin. ”Looks like our spy'll have to wait, not that I found anythin' on my end. We under attack?”

Effin looked at him as though he were daft before turning to run in the same direction as the rest of the soldiers. “Yeah, yeah!”

Gathering that the situation was too urgent for any further questioning, Emile followed. He reached out and, for the brief moment moment he was close enough, clapped a hand on Revenmar's shoulder as he passed by. “Let's get goin'!”

Before he knew it, Emile passed through the gates. He looked up after passing beneath the catwalk and spotted the man he knew as Oswalt, bow at the ready. There was no time for familiarities, so he pressed on. Already he could hear the sounds of metal against metal, and adrenaline rushed through his veins. My first real fight. The column of soldiers rounded a copse of trees, and the hidden valley opened up before them. Right away Emile could see the enemy—a wall of orange and brown, bearing weapons of dull iron and bone, already more than halfway across the span of dappled grass and grappling with the first wave of human soldiers. More foxmen poured through the illusory boulder that marked the valley's entrance by the second, their form more a stream than a flood, but still startling in its implication. How many are there? Yet, despite the enemy's numbers, Emile felt confident. His excellent vision, combined with his visor, meant he could scrutinize every detail about the beastmen before him from a long way off, and none looked especially strong. Added to that the readout of his enchanted lenses, which told him that no fox's power exceeded 'minor threat', and he felt sure that he could take them.

When he reached the front lines and immediately stepped on the corpse of a man with a broken-off bone spear through his throat, he almost dry-heaved. So distracted was he that he didn't notice a vulpuryun swordfox darting toward him until the beastman was only a couple meters away. His eyes widened as he reached for his left saber. “Whoa!” The swordfox's bloody blade was already in the air, but Emile drew his own with incredible speed, unsheathing and slicing in a single stroke. His bright edge blossomed with cutting wind and sheared through his foe's wooden spiral shield, barely slowing down. Its tip slid through the swordfox's leather vest and into his torso, leaving an inch-deep gash all the way across. The windforce of the blow knocked the beastman back after cutting him, throwing him to the ground, and Emile transitioned into a powerful overhead slash with the same blade. A verticle wind slash fell upon the prone fox, very nearly cutting him in two as it extinguished his life in an instant.

The bright green flash of Emile's Euphoria blades drew the eye of everyone in the immediate vicinity, ally and enemy alike. A spearfox a few meters away hurled his javelin at the new threat. Moving with natural grace, Emile swatted the javelin aside as he closed the distance, with a dash, then drew his other saber with an upward slash that carried the bloody fox into the air. Emile, high on the thrill of battle, repositioned his swords for an -xslash at the airborne enemy and let it rip. Unable to dodge, the howling foxman was dashed to quarters midair.

Emile looked down just in time to see two beastmen with strange-looking gear lunge at the same time. This time, he was not poised to counterattack, and the foxed thrust their staves into his chest at the same moment. In an instant, a painful tingling filled his body—paralysis. What? These creatures shouldn't be able to CC me. Gritting his teeth, he started to move, laboriously forcing his way through the affliction. The foxmen betrayed no emotion from behind their masks, but their ears flattened; evidently, they were surprised, too. Before either they or Emile could act, however, a pale hand reached in from the side and grabbed hold of one's head. A beam of red magic burst from Randy's palm, firing clean through the fox's head, and as the other turned a soldier Emile didn't know jumped in from the other side to bury her short sword in the other's back. With a halfhearted snarl it fell.

Randy grinned, his mint-green pompadour a-wobble. “You possess some exceptional magic, my friend, but have a care. Our foes' druids carry lightning rods that can render any man immobile. Though, it would appear you were seconds away from freeing yourself...” Frowning, he turned his attention to the next wave of foxmen, approaching fast. He cast a protection charm over the nearby soldiers. “...I will support you. Let us proceed!”

The group charged. Remembering a skill of his, Emile raised his swords to clang together for Rally Spectrum, planning to boost his allies' attack. The memory of a man lying dead in the dirt came back to him, however, so he called, “Rally Defense!” before leaping forward to join the charge.



Death came for the vixen, her failed attempt at an ultimate attack making true what she'd known would come to pass. Her dying gasp, venomous to the last, vanished into the whispering of the woods. Her kin dead or fled, Rorryln had been the last vulpuryun standing, and her demise left Lenore and Kallahar alone together.

Lenore breathed a sigh of relief. The adversary she'd judged worthy had met her end without an excess of pain, and there didn't need to be any more fighting. She allowed her eyes to slide closed as she steadied her inhalation, and her hands' deathgrip on her staff ceased. To either side of her, the grim flesh constructs stood without moving, waiting for their master's command. She gave them none; already Lenore felt tired, but she knew the end of this conflict with the beastmen lay far off. In a few moments, she imagined, her respite would end and she would have to pursue the bulk of the vulpuryun warband. To do less would be selfish, an invitation for the horde to attack the village her uncle discovered. While he could handle himself, any attack would mean the loss of life, and the last thing she wanted was to see innocents dead.

To her left, Kallahar stood up. Lenore stopped leaning against her tree and turned to face her, ready to give an affirmative nod. What the Death Knight said, however, left her dumbfounded. W-what?” She was leaving? Why? Before she could come to her senses, Lenore was by herself. ”Wait! I know I-I didn't really help much there, but you said yourself I should be who I wished to be, or something like that! If I'm gonna be a heroine, I can't just slaughter people! Nobody deserves the k-kind...the kind of stuff I can do now...” It was too late; Kallahar was gone. Just like that, Lenore had nobody but her unthinking, unfeeling new bodyguards.

A moment passed before she sniffled. ”Damn it, it isn't fair...” Before long, her panic gave rise to frustration. ”What the hell's her problem? Leavin' me alone, just 'cause I didn't chase after and kill those poor foxes...” After a moment of wiping at her eyes, Lenore cradled her staff against her chest and head. Trying to think of what to do next. ”I've got to find Uncle E,” she decided after a moment. ”He'll help me. No, I'll help him. If I help save the village, they can't possibly hate me.” So intent was she that she hadn't noticed a tendril emerge from beneath her dress to grab and drag in the body of Rorryln, nor the muted crunching. ”Okay.” She shook her head to focus, then started to run in the direction she'd been heading before the ambush.



Like people crowding around a fight, the trees closed in around Yasha's battle to escape her magic-induced haze. Sun filtered through the trees onto the leaf-strewn, root-tangled forest floor, and into the eyes of the sharpshooter. Fresh in her mind was a scene of wanton slaughter, of thunder from the heavens and the rage of the earth, a frightening and confusing dance of crystal, fire, and blood. Emerging into this woodland felt very much like emerging into a dream, or perhaps waking up from a nightmare. Its serenity was surreal until the telltale noises of armed conflict pierced the windless trees.

Following the sound would lead to an altogether strange sight. Humanoid shapes obscured from a distance by the canopy's shadows resolved into the forms of foxes who ran like men, armed with a variety of weapons, into a boulder nested amid some trees packed trunk-to-trunk. Instead of smacking into its stony face, however, the foxmen dashed straight through the huge rock, and in return that illusory barrier admitted the clash of weapons, the cries of beasts, and the shouts of men.

@BurningDaisies@IceHeart

---

Yeah, I'm drawing a blank here.

I couldn't understand a single word in all these books. Some of them have colorful and bright covers while the others are a little torn; majority of them are worn out, as if they're as old as the city itself. I tried to call on every inch of my power, taking inventory of any available spells that I can use in the situation I'm in. Alas, all of my spells can only control the wind and the weather which is pretty awesome in other times, but not on this one. December and Danielle sure are lucky to have very loyal servants beside them at all times. I made a mental note to create my own servant whenever I have available time in the future.

I moved over the section of the library that's near to an open window. Perched on it is a bird with blue feathers on its abdomen, black-colored wings, and a big red spot on its head. It's pecking something on the windowsill, which I later found out was actually bird seeds that someone may have given to it. I scanned the rows of books, desperate to find something that I can show to the rest of the team. When I still couldn't find anything, I exhaled loudly and the sound of shushes filled the library. I mumbled an embarrassed sorry at a person near me who looks like he's trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes.

"I. Hate. My. Life.", I said as I softly banged my head a couple of times on a wall, careful of not making any unnecessary noise to disturb the others. I glanced at the bird perched on the window, still pecking at its bird seeds. Judging from its appearance, I'd say it's roughly a year and a half old (don't ask me how I can determine a bird's age, I don't know how I knew it either). It may look a bit grumpy but I silently prayed to Abares that it's as approachable and friendly as the last two birds that I met.

I warily approached the bird, careful not to disturb it. "Uhm, hi! Hello there!", I said softly to the bird. "My name is-"

"Scram hybrid", he said. What I didn't understand is that it used the word hybrid almost as an insult like how some ignorant, small-minded, and pathetic people I know on Earth would use the "n" word.

I breathed in and out. Oh boy.

"Good sir, I would just want to ask you if you can understand what the texts on this book means", I randomly picked a book and showed it to the bird.

"O'course I can! I ain't dumb!", he said. "But I ain't gonna give my aid to hybrids such as you. Besides, only real magicians can have the full right to use the guild's library. Try-hard magician wannabes..." He returned to his pecking after that.

It took all my willpower not to strangle the mean bird with my talons. I softly laughed, which got the attention of the bird, and told him, "So only real magicians have the right can use the library right? I hope this would suffice". I looked outside the window, put the book beside the bird, turned my gaze at the clear, cloudless sky, and chanted silently. Thunder boomed at the distance, and soon dark, heavy clouds slowly covered the skies. Bolts of lightning crackled within the clouds. Dry leaves, dust, and other materials started to create a mini whirlwind that will soon become a tornado. Weirdly though, no wind is blowing inwards the library despite the windows being open, as if the library is magically enchanted to be protected from the outside elements.

"O-o-okay, okay, cut it out. I-I get it, you're a true magician. Y-you can stop now, please just stop now. You're s-scaring the others", he stammered. I turned my head. The other people inside the library seemed to notice the sudden appearance of a storm outside. Their expressions turned into a mix of shocked and scared as they slowly realized that I'm the one causing the storm.

I smiled back serenely at the bird and mockingly curtsied. "I am glad I have met your expectations." With just a flick of my wing, the storm dissipated instantly, the sky becoming clear and cloudless again. Relief is evident to the people inside the library, avoiding my gaze whenever I looked at them. Mr. Laser Eyes didn't look at me the same way again; one can argue that he's regarding me with awe now.

I turned my attention back at the bird. "So," I said with a sneer and my eyebrow raised while picking up the book, "will you help me now?"

He shuffled his feathers. "As if I have a choice. Alright, let's see what you got."

---

High and high above the skies lies Regnophos: the Kingdom of Clouds. To the east lies the golden sun and to the west is the silver moon; the colors of dusk and dawn prevailed throughout the Kingdom of Clouds as it is forever set in eternal twilight. It is here that Abares, the Sky God, resides. He can see everything around the world via the images appearing on several swirling clouds that surround him. A particular event that caught his attention is the sudden appearance of storm clouds gathering above Brightwing City. Only a fool would fail to recognize that this is a magically conjured anomaly. What's more, the god can tell on who is behind this: Himitsu.

He passed his hand towards the swirling vision and it zoomed in on Himitsu, looking outside through a window in the magical guild's library. He sees a bird talking to Himitsu. He sees the smug look on the priestess's face as she saw how it frightened the bird. The god thought that the bird does not believe she is a powerful magician, so she conjured the storm as a definitive proof of her abilities.

"Greetings, great and noble sky god Abares."

He suddenly looked west, where the silver moon is eternally trapped in moonrise. A wisp made of violet and blue clouds floated towards the god. Even if the apparition does not show any expressions, its voice is full of goading.

YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN MY DOMAIN, DELUBIYO.

The apparition laughed mockingly. "Oh please, Abares, I am not welcome anywhere as long as you are there. Besides, I came to discuss very important matters to you."

It floated above the vision where Himitsu is being talked to by the bird. "My, my, is this my new loyal subject? She seems very powerful, promising even, unlike your other priestesses."

YOU WILL NOT SPEAK OF HER THAT WAY. SHE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS. SHE IS SPECIAL.

"OF COURSE SHE IS, JUST LIKE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE OTHERS!", the wisp jeered. Despite being made of clouds, it began to glow in violet light, purposely doing this to taunt the sky god. "You told them they are the chosen ones, feeding them with lies that they are the key to defeating the impending evil, and fill them with false hope. And you have spoken highly of these fair maidens, saying that they can resist the influence of the incoming darkness, yet they remain loyal to the death to me."

Abares floated to the other visions. The wisp followed the god to a vision showing two villages at war with each other, far from Brightwing City. "When will we stop this nonsense, Abares? No matter how special or powerful you think your priestesses are, if they cannot resist my temptations, they are worthless compared to the darkness."

The sky god looked east, where the golden sun is set in eternal sunrise, bathing the clouds in golden light. BECAUSE I DO NOT LOSE HOPE, DELUBIYO, the god said. I BELIEVE IN THE PROPHECY. IT HAS NEVER FAILED THE GODS BEFORE AND IT WILL NOT FAIL US NOW.

They both turned towards the vision where Himitsu is. Knowing that she won, she asked the bird for its help and it reluctantly agreed. After a few moments of talking, Himitsu's eyes began to widen in surprise.

"I do hope this is the one, Abares. Remember your oath, if you fail this time..."

I KNOW. I DO NOT FORGET, AND I ALSO DO NOT LOSE FAITH. SHE IS THE ONE.

The glowing apparition laughed, like it is seeing an adorable puppy playing with a toy. "You really haven't changed a bit, dear brother. You're still a stubborn, hard-headed, little brat. How adorable you are still." The apparition dissipated, leaving behind its amused laughter.

The sky god sighed and turned back to the silver moon. TIME HAS CHANGED US IN DIFFERENT WAYS, the god said absently, YOU OF ALL BEINGS SHOULD KNOW THAT, SISTER.

So singular was his purpose on finding the spy, that when the horns blazed it took Revenmar a few good moments to wrap his head around the new sensory overload. Once Effin announced they were under attack, his focus shifted to finding Lord Smile. Though he was a God and nothing could hurt him, it was still his duty to be by his side. The camp itself seemed to be in chaos but he was confident Emile would be easy to find. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't help but smirk at all of the commotion about him. The villagers were running everywhere grabbing weapons and armor and it was such a sight to behold. This was his race, proud and determines to win. He would not fail them.

Like he thought, they caught up with Lord Emile and after a couple of brief statements they were on their way to the gate. As Lord Emile passed him and touched his shoulder, Revenmar responded,

"Aye.. Let us battle."

He followed Emile to the gate, the vicious sound of metal on metal clashing was apparent in the distant. He was ready.

As they reached the frontlines however, Revenmar became separated from Emile by a sudden influx of soldiers and was caught in a group that headed off towards the right side of the ensuing battle. He cursed under his breath but knew his God could take care of himself, afterall he was a God. He just hoped his Lord wouldn't be too upset with the fact they got separated and he wasn't their to cover his back. It would have to wait for now.

He flared an intimidation aura as he proceeded to the front, walking past the broken bodies of the dead and dying. The foxes or vulps, were ferocious fighters, Revenmar admired that. They would still die however. He unsheathed his sword, Dominion Aspect and wrapped his arm in his shield, Divinity and charged the nearest fox. The fox was engaged with a fellow soldier and loosing. The fox parried the soldiers sword away and began to bring his sword down for the killing blow. Revenmar got their first, and before the fox could turn he lopped the beastmen in half at the waist.

He was slightly bewildered that he was able to cut flesh so easily but that would have to wait, their was still a battle going on. He turned to the soldier and nodded to the man, who was slightly covered in bloods but stood with a look of awe on his face. The man then picked up his sword but Revenmar was already gone.

His next battle came to him. A group of three foxes ran at him, fangs bared and their weapons raised. Revenmar raised his shield and blocked their attacks easily, he then followed up with an upward thrust of his sword, slicing one of the foxes across the chest and the one next across the face. They both fell with gurgled snarls and then silence. The third one became enraged managed to dash to his sword side and swing his sword at Revenmars arm. The blade hit with a clang and bounced off harmlessly. In return Revenmar shield bashed the fox, sending the now broken creature flying into a group of men, but the fox did not stir. The men, confused as to where the fox came from looked Revenmars way.

Revenmar lifted his sword high into the air and shouted in a thunderous voice,

"To me you Vulps! Give me a challenge!"

Unbeknownst to everyone, he activated one of his aggro spells, which would draw a certain amount of foes to his position, so he could take the damage and have the other soldiers get a breather. It seemed to work as foxes began to charge him in a chorus of yips, snarls and growls. Many foxes came to his challenge but not one would leave. He went about, in a display perhaps none of the other humans had scene before, killing the foxes with impunity. He was still slightly unnvered at how easy it was to take life in the new world but his battle lust was all consuming.

@Lugubrious

@IceHeart

Akena

She nervously tugged on Lexus, and quietly whispered so no one would hear. "I don't understand what's going on. Why do you look like that? Who are all these people? Why are they all staring? Don't they know is rude? And why is this temple not consecrated? There's no divine spark. It is a temple right? And who is this Dragonfather?" Her words came in a thoughtless rush as she desperately tried to grasp the situation.

"You should have told me that sooner!" She whispered angrily, trying not to shout. Her cheeks were already died a few shades of red. "I don't want to stay here anymore. Can we go? I want to see December!"

Seeing Lexus turn his attention to the Earth Priest outside, her gaze followed. She could his connection to some divine being, but couldn't pinpoint the source. The priest on stage, however, was a charlatan as far as Akena was concerned. He had not an ounce of divine magic and strange arcane energy flowed from him freely. "Why is the wizard at the pulpit and the priest outside the temple? Do they worship arcanists and magi here?"

Regardless, she recognized the Yuan's look was one of reverent awe rather than irritation or awkward curiosity. At first, Akena didn't understand why he wore such an expression, let alone why it seemed directed at her, but it quickly dawned on her. "I think he was overwhelmed by my aura. Should we talk to him? It may help him regain his senses."

Hearing Akena the Chosen's declaration that there was no divinity in the temple caused a sudden feeling of shame to descend on Lexus Dominiel. The angel had made the blasphemous assumption that the religion of the Dragonfather was the true religion, had assumed that the 'Dragonfather' was another form of December, when in fact, it was nothing more than base ancestor worship.

g = 9.8m/s^2
g = 9.9m/s^2
g = 10.0m/s^2
g = 9.9m/s^2
g = 9.8m/s^2

For a brief moment there was a mild but dreadful feeling of heaviness. The cathedral stones creaked and groaned, stained glass rattled, loose dust high in the arches dislodged and drifted to the ground. A few people may have experienced mild vertigo and difficulty breathing, but the sensation passed as quickly as it came. Lexus Dominiel unclenched its fists.

Turning to Akena in a whisper, "Yes, let us depart. There is no truth to be found here. The angel said the last part with a certain degree of venom. Lexus Dominiel continued to fill Akena in while they walked out of the Cathedral, "Your reemergence has been most fortuitous. Had you not appeared, I might have been led astray. Lady December is currently seeking information on this new world that we find ourselves in, and is at the Magician's Guild with two other gods: Lady Danielle and Lady Himitsu. I have come to the spiritual district to see if there are devout worshippers on the right path, and made the mistake to wander into this den of ignorance. So as to keep our divinity hidden for the time being, Lady December has placed this disguise upon me.

Agreeing with Akena's suggestion to speak with the Earth priest, once out of the cathedral, Lexus Dominiel called out, "Holy man, are you experiencing an Epiphany?"

Just one more shot... Her endurance was quite unusual, but one more shot and she would be nothing but another dead corpse... Yasha remembered having those thoughts, she remembered the cruel smile on her face as she saw Senna's hp... She was basically a walking corpse, and yet she had the audacity of boasting and taunting Yasha... Yasha remembered clearly her finger, rubbing the trigger as she savoured that moment... But then... Everything went wrong very, very quickly.

Yasha felt the magic inside her, almost like a thousand needles piercing her body as her own mana, and the very magic flowing through the earth went rampage. It was like the very earth was screaming in agony, as raw magic power from the leylines went rampage.
Lightning storms crashing down from the sky, erecting crimson red crystalline spires wherever it touched.
The agony Yasha was feeling was something indescribable. It was almost her very soul was rebelling against her body, trying to tear her open and get out.

But almost as sudden as it started, everything stopped. Yasha's vision went strange, as she was consumed by a vortex of raw and furious colors, the pain finally disappearing completely...
She tried to blink, but she could only see only the strange vortex. Her vision getting weaker and weaker, the last thing she saw before going unconscious was a forest... She could see the trees, smell the earth... Was she hallucinating? Was that death?

After minutes that looked like ages, Yasha finally was able to gather enough strength to open her eyes. As the ringing on her ears slowly subsided, she could hear a very familiar sound. The sound of a battle. Steel clashing against steel, screams of anger, pain, fear, both human and inhuman.
As she tried to get up, she could distinguish humanoid figures dashing through the forest, but they weren't man. Foxes that walked just like men, wielding weapons, talking, walking... These foxmen were running right through a boulder, from which Yasha could distinguish as the source of the sounds of battle.

Some type of portal or illusion? She had no strength to fight right now, she couldn't even walk right. Going to a battlefield might not be the smartest decision... But again, she didn't know if the beastmen were friendly...
Her only choice was go deeper into the forest, try to rest and recover her strength and only then, try to do something. Maybe go through the foxmen portal.

Using nearby trees as a support to prevent her from falling, Yasha got up and dragged herself away from the sounds of battle and the foxmen. She had to find a calm and relatively safe place to recover her forces... After that... Then she could think about revenge, IF Senna was still alive. If that demoness was still alive... Yasha would certainly kill her. She was marked. She had to pay for her sins...

@Lugubrious

@Stern Algorithm

The strange sounds coming from the groaning building and the sudden feeling of heaviness gave the people quite a stir, but since it was only for a moment, puzzlement was the only thing left on their faces. Lexus and Akena made their way out of the Cathedral and while the congregation was a little miffed, they did not bother to call out after them as they exited. Still, this would be an event talked about for a few days.

Agreeing with Akena's suggestion to speak with the Earth priest, once out of the cathedral, Lexus Dominiel called out, "Holy man, are you experiencing an Epiphany?"

So caught up in events, Yuan didn't even think of moving as the stately knight[Lexus] and the elven priestess[Akena] walked out of the church and then headed straight for him. Apparently he had been rather obvious with his staring and now he was face to face with a very strong knight and a being with a divine aura. Though she was an elf, a being beneath humanity there were at least a few ancient records of particular beings being bestowed with gifts by the six gods. If nothing else, the divine aura was unmistakable.

Yuan cleared his thoughts so he could respond. "Forgive me for staring but, from the moment I saw the young lady it was unmistakable that she has received the blessings of the gods. It is my first time witnessing an aura as pure as yours but for you to appear here surely must be a sign of great importance?" Yuan tried his best not to cower as his senses tingled from the aura, but his training kept his will firm.

If nothing else, he needed to at least figure out why such a being had appeared in Brightwing, and in the Dragonfather Grand Cathedral not less which was not associated with any of the gods he worshiped. As he spoke he could feel Akena's curious eyes gaze upon him as she stood alongside Lexus, it seemed like she was judging his worth.

@baraquiel

As they searched through the various books, the man searching madly through the old city records finally came across something he could use. Inside the scroll were the old blueprints for the undercity, they were out of date to be sure, but they could reveal forgotten pathways and weak walls in the sewer system. It was not much, but hopefully it would be enough for those vermin to keep their end of the bargain. With a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, the man tucked the scroll inside his clothes and tried to be as casual as he could while he walked away.

Meanwhile December was trying to figure out how to join the Magician's Guild, since if they could become members, they would have access to a lot more materials then the few they were allowed as members of the public. Gaining access to those more secretive materials would make finding useful information a lot easier. As she lied about having 'some' skill with magic the receptionist looked at her closely.

"Well even if you do have magic skills it takes a bit more than that to join the guild. First there is a base requirement of level 2 magic for a basic membership and at least some level 3 spells for an advanced membership. Even if you can do that though there is a...small fee to register with the guild along with some forms and tests so we can get information on you that can be shared with the rest of the guild." The receptionist beamed, while December was really not sure how to react.

From what the receptionist had told her, the Magician's Guild was a bit of an exclusive club that also liked to keep tab on its members somewhat. While the magical requirements were an absolute joke, the fee and the actual registration could prove to be a problem. If they did register, what kind of information would the guild require them to give to gain membership? They were strangers in a strange land and their entire group had various animal characteristics and if it was discovered that they had got in by pretending to be mostly human, except for Himitsu who was obviously a beastman, they could get unwanted attention.

As December was trying to figure out what to say next, an alarm started to blare from what looked like a bell on the ceiling next to the entrance. The man from before had tripped the alarm by attempting to leave with guild property without properly checking it out. In a panic the man bolted for the door, knocking aside a visitor who unfortunately decided to enter the building at the same time.

The receptionist looked shocked as the man made his escape and this gave December an idea. "Tell you what, if I nab that thief for you maybe you could help me get a guild membership?"

"If you catch him perhaps, but I doubt he'll get far as our alarm system will alert the nearby guards as well. Although, we would prefer to deal with the situation ourselves first to understand why he stole from the guild in the first place."

"What in the world is going on?" Danielle asked as she came out from the archives to figure out what the annoying sound was.

"Well it could be our ticket to understanding our situation better." December replied before bolting out the door, using her keen sense of smell to track the frightened thief.

Yuan cleared his thoughts so he could respond. "Forgive me for staring but, from the moment I saw the young lady it was unmistakable that she has received the blessings of the gods. It is my first time witnessing an aura as pure as yours but for you to appear here surely must be a sign of great importance?" Yuan tried his best not to cower as his senses tingled from the aura, but his training kept his will firm.

"...gods...?!" Lexus Dominiel asked with notable disdain in its voice. However, remembering it's directive to remain discrete, Lexus Dominiel did not pursue the subject. "Yes, well...I am Lexus Dominiel, and this is Akena. Her arrival does in fact signal the portent of something great. She is the harbinger of enlightenment and salvation. Divinity as you have never known walks among you. But before I speak more, I wish to learn of your teachings, for Akena has seen holiness within you. Tell me of your...gods...as well as the gods of others." Lexus Dominiel loomed in towards Yuan oppressively. Though its physical form was much smaller due to the illusion, the dominating presence of the Angel of Weights was not so easily hidden. Hopefully, Lexus Dominiel could learn about this world, since to talk about religion was to talk about the people who practiced it, as well the institutions that they had erected. Tribes, nations, wars, art, and society revolved around religions.

Overwhelming strength and conviction--is it all one needs to defeat insurmountable odds?



Singlemindedly ferocious as they were, the foxmen of the Vulpuryun Tribe boasted their fair share of wits. Even those among them that couldn't boast a dozen battles under their belt could recognize the two abnormalities that had taken the field. No regular soldier could, after all, rack up such a body count at such a blistering pace. From the moment that foxes started dropping like flies, their still-standing comrades took notice of the lethal knight's shining armor and the crested swordsman's flying razors of wind. After finishing off the last man challenging him atop a nearby boulder, a burly foxman with a huge greatsword began barking orders. The beastmen not directly engaged with Woodstop's soldiery, or entranced by the silver warrior's taunt, began to rotate their positions. More druids and hexfoxes appeared near Revenmar, and archers took up positions close to where Emile was fighting to nock and loose their arrows.

Giving Revenmar a respectable distance, foxes wielding hexing wands began to channel energetic purple magics. They moved his way in waves, and their lapping touch seemed to increase the weight of his already-heavy armor. His powerful muscles were forced to contend with the debilitating might of Gravity, strong enough to lay out flat any ordinary soldier, and to bring even the most prodigious strongman to his knees. At the same time, the druids flourished their lightening rods to shower him with bolts of electricity from afar, aiming to cook him in his heavy plate. A rarity on the battlefield, such armor nevertheless sported its fair share of weaknesses.

For his part, fortune favored Emile; the allies he fought beside spotted the bowfoxes taking up advantageous positions to fire upon them. When the call went out, Randy looked to confirm for himself, and ended up smiling despite the dire circumstances. “The subhumans display more military practice than I would have anticipated. Look over yonder, Emile! Our foe has pegged you for a magician and seeks to penetrate your arcane artistry with a quarrel or two.” He paused to concentrate, dodging backward as a spearfox grew too close for comfort. His movement left a comrade's flank open, and the spearfox altered her weapon's course to bury itself in the soldier's thigh. While the man let out a startling scream of agony, he lunged forward toward the fox and bashed her shield with his own. Stunned, she couldn't react in time to avoid a vertical air slash from Emile that parted her arm at the shoulder. Her howl was cut off by the soldier's axe, which he slammed down into her collarbone from above to get around her still-raised shield. As she toppled, he fell back too due to his brutalized leg, and the next moment he was being left behind. Randy fell back, his palm aglow with a green luster, to start healing the injury as he dragged the soldier back. “Tarry not, mercenary! Those arrows will rain down upon us in seconds, now that there's an opening.”

Emile nodded, and as he stepped onto a small rock sticking out of the grassy hill, he swung his sword to throw another air slash at one of the archers. The relatively slow-moving air razor left the bowfox plenty of time to duck out of the way, however, and the next moment an arrow shot Emile's way. For a second, he couldn't process how fast it was moving; sharp though his vision was, they did not make possible the impossible feat of speeding up perception, and to him the arrow looked scarcely slower than a bullet. He felt the impact before he saw it. ”Huh!?” Panicked, he looked down, but the arrow was already twirling away to fall, harmless, in the grass Just before piercing his belly, it had been stopped by a thin barrier surrounding him. It hit him the next moment, just before the second arrow did: aether body. The swirling orbs floating in the air around him were proof—the Comet Chaser's blessing had prevented harm. Randy, still watching, looked dumbfounded as the arrows smacked into Emile one by one and magic spilled into the air instead of blood. The other soldiers had taken cover behind knolls, trees, or shields, and they appeared just as surprised. Not one to rest on his laurels, Emile ducked behind a large stump. Thud, thud, thud went the arrows into the stump, and then they stopped.

The woman in armor beside him, whose dirty-blonde hair, pale purple eyes, and short sword gave her away as the very same soldier who'd helped Emile moments before, stared at him dubiously. “That's some useful magic. Got any to spare, mate? Ya might be able to head back out, but we're pinned down here.” Her face became a scowl of anger. “How many bleedin' bowfoxes they keep in reserve? Gonna take the hill, we were. Now we're sittin' ducks 'til their duffers come 'round and clear us out. Unless ya fancy chargin' 'em one by one.”

Silent, Emile took a peek around the edge of the stump. His visor allowed him a clear look at the well-built beastman commander on his rock at the hilltop. “Better to take care of the real problem.”

Lips curled in a proud smile, Hargrihn the Highlander stood with his enormous claymore atop his shoulders. More a long chunk of sharpened iron than a real sword, his 'weapon' could have put an entire team of lesser foxes to shame, but this Vulp's physique made it clear he was no ordinary beastman. For a moment it had seemed like the human force, bolstered by its steady stream of reinforcements from the village as well as the two forces of nature that fought for them, would take the hill and force the warband out of the valley. No matter how strong it might be, however, anything on the battlefield was subject to military strategy. There was no move the humans could make that the Vulpuryuns lacked an answer to. Though a veteran of many battles, Hargrihn did not typically issue commands like this, but he felt sure that the effectiveness of his calls would earn a newfound respect from the warlord once he became aware. Still, the Highlander's true passion was the fight, and he almost wanted to let the humans advance so that he could leap down and join the brawl himself. It was with a shimmer in his dark eyes, then, that Hargrihn watched the shape of the special swordsman rocket up from behind his stump on wings of aether. For a moment, in fact, a great many eyes were on Emile's spectacle as he hung in the air, his magic wings a steam of effulgent teal and pitch-black trail, before he drove straight toward Hargrihn.

At the last conceivable moment, the Highlander moved his sword to intercept Emile's double overhead slash. The resulting clang rang across the battlefield, and the fox's grip held against the Comet Chaser's push. As Emile's feet touched stone, Hargrihn pushed the locked weapons down, and bared his teeth in his enemy's face. “A beautiful light show. Very impressive! But not for the Highlander!” He adjusted his grip as he spoke, his grin widening. “Magic, dexterity...tools of the coward! There is just one path for the true warrior, stranger!” Mustering his strength, Hargrihn gave a mighty shove. Emile's loose footing on the edge of he bolder gave way, and he tumbled backward to land in the grass. Above him, a great black shadow blocked out the sunlight dappling through the treetops. “Muscle power!”

Emile rolled out of the way, and Harghrin's sword split the earth where he lay a split second before. In a flash the Comet Chaser regained his feet, and the fight was on.



The thickness of the woods meant that the sounds of battle faded away with haste as Yasha made her beleaguered retreat. In the hollow of a deformed pair of trees, whose trunks had grown together into a warped curve, she found a place to hide and rest. In the shadows beneath the leaves the pale sharpshooter did not stand out so much as one might think, and as her breath eased she could feel the stillness of the air. No errant breeze filtered through this forest, and only the drone of insects, the swish of leaves, and the song of distant birds interrupted the silence.

That lull remained until an odd noise disturbed the atmosphere. At first it could be mistaken for footsteps, but rather than the fall of shoes on leaves and roots, it sounded far more like slapping. Even stranger was its frequency; the soft, meaty noise could be heard several times per second, unassuming in volume but detectable thanks to the woods' general quiet and growing louder as whatever it was grew closer. After a few moments, the noises' perpetrator passed within Yasha's view. For about a second she could make out the unusual but familiar shape of Lenore, who she'd seen but perhaps not assigned a particular significance to last night after the enigmatic transition. Not far behind Lenore followed two more conventional-looking flesh golems, their freakish forms all the stranger for their silent attendance to their mistress. Lenore did not notice Yasha in any way, but instead headed in the general direction of the illusory boulder the markswoman spotted a short time ago—though in fact, Lenore's current course could take her right past it, if there weren't any foxmen to clue her in on where to go.

Yasha was lucky to find a safe and tranquil place to rest. The sounds of battle had completely disappeared, together with the strange foxmen. Under the shadow of two warped trees, the only noises Yasha could hear were the sounds of the forest and small animals. The place she found to hide was so convenient that even with her pale and striking appearance, it was somewhat hard to see her.

She didn't know exactly what happened before, but she could still feel the magic energy inside her, rebelling against her own body. It wasn't nearly as painful as before, but she still could feel the mana trying to get out of control...
Those symptoms, the crystalline, crimson spires and all the destruction... Were that the effects of the so called 'leylines'? Veins of pure, raw mana that ran across the land? They probably resonated with the amount of mana Yasha was gathering herself, making the Leyline break into the surface...

"Ugh... I can't even think straight... " she thought to herself, feeling dizzy and resting her head on the trunk of the tree for a second.

Yasha wasn't able to use any magic in the state she was right now... Now with her magic meridians all messed up, and the flow of mana inside her body looking like it wanted to rip her very being apart... She had to rest and meditate, and by sheer luck, that place was perfect for that. Crossing her legs and sitting under the twin trees, Yasha closed her eyes, diving inside her own self, carefully trying to order her own mana.

After some time, a peculiar noise interrupted her. At first, it sounded like footsteps, they were far away, but they resembled footsteps. Someone that deep within the forest? One of the foxmen maybe?
But as the sound grew nearer, it became clearer and louder. It wasn't footsteps. It was a meaty sound... Almost like slapping or something like that... It was somehow... disgusting, but at the same time it was vaguely familiar...
Pressing her body against the trees in order to hide herself, Yasha patiently waited to see the origin of the sound, after all it was coming directly towards her.

After a brief moment, Yasha was able to discern a slightly familiar shape walking through the forest. It was Lenore, and if Yasha wasn't mistaken, she was in the same situation as her. She was also a strange in that strange land. If she remembered herself well, other than the fact that she was a shoggoth, a fleshy abomination, she seemed to be a pretty normal girl. But still... Yasha trusted Senna, and that happened... She wouldn't make the same mistake again...

Although Yasha wasn't able to conjure bigger spells, due to her magic meridians, that brief meditation was already enough for her to use simple spells like Perfect Unknowable or even Fly, albeit she wasn't able to fly per se, instead only glide a few centimeters around the ground... Which was still faster than running...

Immediately casting those two spells, she waited for Lenore to pass, and started to follow her trying her best to not alarm her. She wanted to know if she could trust Lenore. Yasha wasn't in conditions to fight anyone right now, and anyone who saw her and was even a bit sensitive towards magic would know that, due to the chaotic flow of mana inside her.

Lenore was walking towards the same location where Yasha left a while ago, near the strange boulder portal and the foxmen. It was a risky bet, but Yasha would have to go there sooner or later...

@Lugubrious