Well, the troop was here now. Luna had handpicked some of the soldiers that she knew were competent, in fact, a couple of them were there the day she had met the Queen for the first time and that was a hellish day to be sure. But she picked them because she could trust them to clean up in a worst case scenario. She had already discussed their role with them in this. While it might not be the most honorable job, it was the one she had left the them.

She took a breath and took her steps forward. She needed to start this assault according to plan. This isn't the most dangerous thing she had done. No. With confidence she moved forward, sword at her side and shield at hand. As she came into sight of those on the palisades, she held a spear of light in her hand and threw it hard, aiming as she could past the gate. Though it didn't matter too much. There was more than enough time for her allies to position themselves. All Lady Lightsword needed to do was make an announcement. And she had no better way to do so than with that spear. As it eventually embedded itself and stopped it's movement, Luna caused it to explode into a bright and disorientating light. If one were outside, it would be hard to miss.

"Come fight me, bandit wretches! If you thought a full force of soldiers were needed to rid this land of your kind, you have thought wrong!" Luna said, beckoning them all to her. She reached to her sword and freed it from the confines of its sheath all whilst applying her light coating magic to it. "Come, I challenge each and every one of you to come win a battle you cannot!" There was a dread sense of confidence to the knight as she stood, ready for the arrows and foot soldiers to come charging.

---

@Rune_Alchemist

If the trip down was bad-- the return trips were always worse.

Every time he died, no lingering injury would heal until Elias' soul returned from the underworld.

In other words-- Reinhardt would experience his death twice over; once when he would fall, and once upon his return.

The sensation that the knight would be met with upon his ejection from the underworld was an agony like nome he'd ever experienced.

It was like being trapped in a void. Unable to move. Unable to see. Unable to scream.

And despite being trapped in such deprivation; he could feel everything. The crawling itch of tissues reforming fiber by fiber. The stinging of muscle and organ exposed to open air. The burn of lung; starving for even a single breath--

Before his eyelids could even finish reforming, the Knight had already rolled onto his hands and knees; retching from the waves of nausea and pain that accompanied such a horrific return.

Trembling, Reinhardt forced himself to stand; wiping his mouth with a soot-covered arm as he surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't a sign of his allies nor the Wyvern-- only a single sword planted in the earth beside him.

His eyes rose to scan the horizon-- settling on a distant plume of smoke. The Knight's face contorted into a firm scowl as his fingers wrapped the hilt of the single sword that remained in the scorched section of woodland.

It seemed there was still a dragon to slay.

Location:
Border Village
Mid-Morning

---

@Guy0fV4lor

---

Indeed, there still was a dragon to slay.

So the now clothless dragonslayer would travel across the blasted, burned, twisted and ash forest towards where a plume of smoke was slowly rising into the air in the direction the dragon had crash landed into the earth below. It was something of a long trek on foot, with no horse and it’d be quite some time before he’d reach the edge of green that had been spared from the dragon's scorching fire.

Before he could reach the crater proper though, it seemed as though a somewhat familiar face would be seen first. Lonan and some Harzel troops had formed a perimeter some distance away from the crate where the dragon had fallen, they being the only thing that stood between the dragon and the village behind.

Lonan was busy shouting orders and having his men construct defensive barriers for what little they’d do against a Wyvern. More men in the town seemed to be trying to hastily construct siege weapons.

Of course, the knights would soon notice completely naked men moving towards the crater…and as one could expect, would be immediately suspicious. A group about five shouted towards him, getting Lonan’s attention. Upon seeing Reinhardt he’d narrow his eyes, petting Steblas’ mane as he’d cautiously ride towards him.

“...Identify yourself, creature that takes the form of a deceased knight before I end you for sullying a mans name with your illusion.”

---

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp, early morning.
@VitaVitaAR@FrogRFlowR@Pyromania99

---

Luna had taken ten men with her. Said ten men, had come with her to cover the gates. She had positioned them five per gate with herself at the helm of the one that had been destroyed. True, some of the men had been through Luna on that terrible day that they had met the Queen, and their skill could not be questioned. So the five with Luna would position themselves around her, three on her right and two on her left.

Immediately as she made her proclamation, there was no words to be said by the bandits. A hail of arrows immediately shaded the sunlight from Luna as the bandits made themselves known. About a dozen bandits would run down the slope from where Luna had stationed herself, quickly moving towards the Knight and her five men who stood at the ready to intercept.

The bandits would quickly meet the Lightswords, the five shouting in fervor as they’d block the blows of the bandits they met as metal clashed against metal and bandit against knight, but against over twice their number they were going to be quickly overwhelmed by numbers not to mention the arrows that were bearing down on them. Three would find their focus on Luna herself, striking at the knight with swords and axes.

---

“...this is all they brought?”

“Well that lightsword brat is confident…what’s with these pathetic men? They’re not even fit to be fed to dogs. Looks like this will be twice as easy as I thought.”

“Hah. Pathetic. I could crush her with a single arm…like I’m going to crush this pathetic attack force of hers.”

“I’ll look forward to it, muscle brain, but don’t underestimate that brat. Got the backup plan ready?”

“Hmph, I doubt I’ll need it but if I do I have it.”

“Good! I'll distract the lightswords at the front gate while you flank ‘em. Leave a few bodies for me to play with.”

The soldiers stationed at the second gate had been given similar instruction as Luna had. Take no prisoners and ensure none escape. As soon as the second gate to the stronghold opened, they were immediately beset by no less than thirty bandits - lead by their leader, Annagan.

There were no words exchanged as the large man hefted the hammer, the deer pelt covering his head obscuring his own face as he’d proceed to engage the five men before they could even realize that they were going to be fighting the bandits main force and that they weren’t going to be fighting a defensive battle. They were going to be going on the offensive and seemed to have expected a far larger number of troops to fight.

Annagan’s hammer came down on one of the men as he’d try to block the blow only to be completely crushed by the mans seemingly inhuman strength. He wasted no time in swinging the hammer around, smashing it into another knight and promptly grabbing a third in his grip and slamming him onto the ground with a heavy swing and crushing his skull beneath his boot.

“Weak!” Annagan shouted. “I expected more from the Lightswords!”

Alas, his shouting and this battle was on the other side of the stronghold and Luna could not hear what was going on.

---

“So what is it you wanted to show me?” Sorcha, led by Gabriel outside of the strategy room and towards where the prison in the fort was. Most of the knights were grumbling about not getting to join Luna on the raid, but for the most part Leo had silenced them enough to keep their training and keep them at the ready just in case.

“...well, uh, better you see for yourself.” Gabriel replied with a sigh as he’d open the door to the prison. He’d quickly order the guards stationed there out, and the ones standing over the cell next to their prisoner to move away as he’d open the door, it creaking open with its aged hinges.

Sorcha didn’t seemed to concerned with what was going on here first, but as she’d step inside the cell and see what was in front of her…the blackened, twisted body of what appeared to be something elivsh in nature. Pointed ears, long fangs for teeth and a lanky, emancipated appearance.

“...What is a fomorian doing here, Gabriel? Did they get in and kill the prisoner?”

“Aha, so little faith in our security, eh?”

“Explain. NOW. Or are you telling me-”

“Basically...the man we captured from the bandits turned into that thing after I started questioning him and attacked me.”
“...Not a word of this leaves this room for now Gabriel. Understand?”

"Let's cut them down to size!"

Fio's voice rang out clearly from her position to the fort's right. She had selected an out of the way spot that was not immediately obvious, though it would be difficult to miss the petite figure perched upon a barrier in the air once she began her attack.

Not that they'd be able to stop her.

"Sura. Manifest fifteen phantom swords."

With that, the circles of light spun into existence in the air, a faint hum sounding as Fio thrust her blade skywards. From each circle, the shape of a gleaming spectral blade emerged, glittering and shimmering with magical energy. The Sword Witch's smirk only grew as the lights flashed brighter.

"Ignite and pierce."

Each one flashed briefly, spinning swiftly in the air as a flash of magical energy surrounded each of the swords. It was another enhancement, the effort put into the spell was greater, but what came with it was a greater piercing power. Rather then simply reinforcing this blade, the aura of magical energy would function almost as if each sword had been set ablaze. There was no second thoughts.

It was doubtless that Fio would strike down every foe that her blades struck.

To think otherwise was unfathomable. To doubt herself was unfathomable. She wouldn't consider it.

"Kill them."

She swung her sword down.

The blades erupted downwards, whistling through the air as they hurtled towards the clustered bandits, tearing through the air and leaving a trail of light behind them.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@FrogRFlowR

Niall had been so far waiting on ambush near the second gate. Their plan had been hatched, and his fellow knights Luna and Fio were at the first gate doing their part. Even now, the owl knight could hear Luna's taunt from his perch, high on a tree's branches as he looked down towards the gate.

Things quickly turned sour, however. It seemed they had been made... the bandits had a plan of their own. A lot more men poured from the camp than what Niall and his companions had planned - a surprise attack of their own! Niall and his two ambushed Lightsword men watched powerless as who the knight recognized as being Annagan butchered three men without them even being able to react.

"Go. I'll take care of Annagan." Niall said with a calm yet affirmative tone.



He then stepped forward and launched himself forward with his wind magic faster than he did before and immediately landed before two bandits; one on his right and one on his left. To them, it would seem like Niall appeared out of thin air. However, he did not wait for them to recover from their shock. In one fluid movement he kicked one of the men right under the chin and propulsed him into the air while he then pivoted and kicked the other man's legs from beneath him to make him fall. Niall then jumped high up and grabbed his lance like a javelin only to throw it right at the man in the airs still. The deadly weapon launched like an arrow, impaling both men on the ground just as Niall fell back ontop of his Lance shaft, balancing on it, staring right down at Annagan.

Looking up, the bandit's chief would see the moon right behind the Owl Knight, with his cape in the wind and although he could not the knight's eyes within the dark holes of his helmet, he probably could feel the intent to kill his stare brought with it.

"Annagan. You have killed in cold blood for the last time. There will be no chance of redemption for you, no cell or dungeons for you or slowly die in. Tonight, I will grant you a swift end."

With one quick step backwards Niall fell back to the ground, grabbing his Lance and easily removing it from the two men, now dead. Last they met, Niall was on the defensive. He was under orders to be stealthy and trying to get out as quickly as possible. This time, he was under different orders; No mercy.

He launched himself just as fast as moments before towards Annagan, but the man's hammer would find no target this time as Niall was already behind him, thrusting at the large man's side. As the bandit turned, Niall would be elsewhere already thrusting at him. Annagan was after Niall's after image, the Owl Knight using a lot more than his magic than he probably should to put a quick end to this fight and make an example out of the toughest, biggest bandit around. With incredible speed, Niall delivered dozens upon dozens of small cuts all over Annagan's body without giving the large man the semblance of an opportunity to fight back. His sides, thighs, arms, face, legs, tendons - nothing was spared.

Niall fully intended to end this with a final thrust right into the man's heart, which was his next target.

As the first volley of arrows fell, Luna raised her sword arm and produced a light shield above the me with her angled so it would protect her and her men from the arrows but their enemies were exposed to it. From her raised sword position, it was easy enough to bring her sword down on the head of one of the bandits. His attempt to block it with his axe was meaningless as her magically enhanced blade sliced through the shaft, but diverted it enough to land the blow where his neck and shoulder met.

The other two had launched an attack at he which she deftly blocked with her shield. She slammed their weapons back with a shove of her shield as she slid her sword out of the bandit's gash and took a half step with her right foot before thrusting the blade forward to pierce the second's chest. It was fairly simple work for Luna as the bandits were more about brute force than brains. Unlike that formorian from the day prior. Still, something caught her attention. She peaked upward towards where Fio should be after dodging slightly to the right to avoid a blow from the third bandit on her.

She had expected Fio to be casting her magic on the position she was at but instead... It would seem to be inside the fort or on the other side that there was a hail of blades. Luna slammed her shield into the bandit's face knocking him back as she removed her sword from the second bandit's chest as she pulled her shield arm back again to deliver another smash to the face of the third bandit in front of her. She pondered on what Fio's course of action was but she worried because of that and one other thing. This was a lot less bandits than she had expected. The last smash to the face had knocked the bandit down prone to which Luna gave a loud warcry. "For House Lightsword!" Before bringing her blade down on the third one she had fought.

---

@Rune_Alchemist

Reinhardt paused, briefly regarding Lonan with composed neutrality; "I believe you already know who I am Sir Lonan. If that was all it took to end me... How could I possibly be a true Son of Sigurd?"

The Knight continued forward toward the crater's edge; bending down to scoop a thick steel chain from the ground and wrap it about his chest. Any protest, threat or obstacles would be calmly pushed aside and ignored as Reinhardt came to ridged outline of the blackened pit.

"I'm not sure where Ethelred or the Elf happened off to-- but I don't plan on waiting for them. Giving this beast any reprieve only makes the larger situation more perilous--"

The Knight scowled as he peered down at his hated enemy.

"Thankfully the molten fluids that seem to be its blood haven't started hardening yet..."

Elias straightened, casually yanking a halberd from the hands of one of the Harzelslack footsoldiers.

"When I yell for a weapon-- throw something to me. Doesn't matter what it is. Only that it's made of steel... Call shots before you make them with the seige equipment and I'll do my best to avoid blocking your line of fire."

What was spoken was not a request-- but command; Reinhardt's tone thick with confidence in his methods.

He looked about expectanly-- waiting on the various men to get in position.

And even if they didn't?

Elais jumped regardless.

Location:
Border Village
Mid-Morning

---

@Guy0fV4lor

---

“But there was not even ash left!” Lonan retorted harshly as Reinhardt simply brushed past him and the few soldiers Lonan had brought with him ripping a halberd from the hands of one of the soldiers as well as picking up a chain off the ground, wrapping it around his torso like some sort of makeshift armor. “At least put some clothes or armor on - argh, fine! Let him through!”

With Lonan’s words the gathered soldiers would let Reinhardt approach the smoldering crater that the dragon had fallen into as it fell from the sky. Blacked, charred earth. The air thick with smoke and ash, molten fire having dripped enough from the wound and the dragons body to create a small pooled around it making it hard for most men to approach.

The dragon itself was laying on its side, the wound Reinhardt inflicted jagged and bleeding molten fire as its neck was resting on its good wing. No doubt it wouldn’t be flying any time soon, but even so with the beasts gargantuan size and sturdiness - could the two of them manage to defeat it?

“I believe they went to check on the fort where the cursed knight is being held-” Lonan would reply, gazing down at the dragon’s immobile form as Reinhardt would march down the slope of the crater. “...I would ask any other knight if they’re crazy, but I will reserve judgment until I see results. I’ll defer to the dragon slayer on this. To positions men! DO not engage the dragon! I repeat, do not engage the dragon in Melee unless you want to end up as a burning pile of ash!”

Lonan shouted, mounting Steblas and riding alongside the edge of the crater, barking orders at the gathered militia.

So Reinhardt jumped into the crater.

Halberd raised overhead, the knight slammed the weapon down onto the oozing gash upon the Wyvern’s shoulder.

Immediately the beast shrieked, loud enough to cause deafness and burst eardrums as it thrashed to wakefulness as the halberd wrenched scale from flesh and flesh from bone. Reinhardt felt the beasts maw wrap around his sides, teeth digging into his flesh as he was tossed away from the creature, slamming into the ground with a fair bit of force as it managed to crawl to its feet.

“Uooooh…You…Live?” Its raspy, aged voice spoke. “Ahhhhh…Confusion. I do not know how you avoided judgment of perdition.” It hissed. “MMmhm, Veeeery well, though. I will slay you as many times as I must for our kiiiing.”

It raised its head, roaring again Its left wing hung limply, uselessly at its side. Its chest bleeding but it seemed unbothered as it lashed out at Elias, it released a torrent of fire towards the dragon slayer which was followed up by a brutal lunge forwards, attempting to crush the human with its remaining good claw.

---

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp, early morning.
@VitaVitaAR@FrogRFlowR@Pyromania99

---

A shield of light formed, big enough to encompass the air above her and her men, the arrows harmlessly bouncing off of the construct of light. Luna, at least, effortlessly dispatched the men that were attacking her, their bodies falling to the ground from their wounds. The others that had engaged her men were faring much better, however. Something about these bandits was odd. Though she had effortlessly slain them, even Luna could tell their physical prowess and ability was beyond what was normal for most people.

Unable to assist quite in time, two bandits managed to get the better of one of her soldiers, breaking his guard and impaling his chest on a blade before another beheaded him with a brutal blow of an axe. Another of her men managed to fend off one, using a blade of his own to deflect a blow into a swift stab to a bandits side, before getting clocked in the head with a mace. The other two were fairing similar.

Another hail of arrows was launched towards them, too. It seemed as though these bandits had enough bite to back up their barking. At least now it was four to eight.

---

The two remaining knights quickly nodded, informing Niall they’d go tell lady Lightsword what was happening and support her as Niall began his own assault. The owl knight swift as wind, deadly as the night. Graceful as a bird, the Owl knight poised himself on the lance, effortlessly rending the bandits asunder before they could even react as he made his proclamation.

Annagan, merely laughed under his cowl, offering no reply as the knight rushed towards him. The hammer missed its first blow - Annagan was certainly strong, but he was by no means swifter than Niall. That was likely the only advantage the owl knight had in this situation. As he made attempts to grab Niall, Annagan whiffed time and time again, grabbing nothing but air as more and more small cuts and gashes were delivered to the mans body until Niall was ready for his finishing blow.

The lance thrust towards Annagan’s heart.

Blood spilled from the wound.

Annagan laughed.

“Ahahahah, you’re that whelp from last night!” He, if nothing else seemed amused with this turn of events. “Come back to be crushed have ye? Don’t run like a coward when I crush your insides, this time!” Niall would watch as the bandits chief wrapped a hand around Niall’s lance and proceeded to lift him from the ground with his own weapon. “Lets see how far you fly, bird-!” A howl of pain as Niall was blessedly saved by Fio’s magic, the hammer that was aiming to knock Niall clean into the air barely grazed him, sending him instead stumbling to the ground and merely giving him a few bruises and maybe a small fracture as he’d roll onto the ground a fe feet away.

More blades fell upon the bandits, all shouting in surprise and mild anger as their lives were summarily cut short.

“....Gahaha.” Annagan supported himself with his hammer, blood liberally coursing across his body now. “Annoying, but it’ll take more than just these flesh wounds!” Even wounded as he was, it did not seem the bandits leader was going to go down anytime soon be it from pure physical power or something else entirely. He’d rush forwards, intending to slam the hammer onto Niall. “Leave this whelp to me, men. Go play with that lightsword brat!”

The about sixteen or so men left quickly acquiesced, leaving Niall and Annagan to duel while they made their way to Luna’s flank.

Location:
Harzel Border Fort
@Crimson Paladin

---

Ethelred tied his horse to the nearest tree and followed Grainne to the fort on foot, his lance hefted over his shoulder. He said nothing, silently focusing on observing anything he could regarding the fort and its garrison. This was something that would require improvising and quick thinking, and the more he assessed his surroundings, the better chance of success he had if things went south.. Fortunately, with his eyes hidden beneath his helmet, it’d be difficult for anyone to see exactly what he was eyeing at any moment.

He didn’t think that Grainne would be too difficult to distract when the time came- she seemed to have a bit of a temper on her and probably a bit of insecurity behind it. Ethelred figured it’d be easy enough to set her off with a few well placed words disparaging her stature or her squirehood, but another option was to be more subtle or passive-aggressive in occupying her attention. For now however, he’d follow behind and endure her unpleasant words with silence.

Marduk, in the meanwhile, would use his unhindered sight and enhanced Elven senses to his advantage, taking note of any potential vantage points, as well as the number of guards in any given area. It’s likely that this Fomorian woman Ethelred wished to free is in an area where more guards would be posted than usual. As much as memorizing guard patrols on his own would go, however, Marduk knew he needed to work with more than just his sight if they really wanted to help Elnith out.

“... Say, Ethelred. Aren’t those the children you saved, from that village attacked by the dragon?” Marduk noted, looking to the direction of where the brats may be settled into. “Didn’t they drop something of theirs? I think I have it.” Rummaging through Reinhardt’s stuff, Marduk would grab any random object a kid would likely have, handing it over to Ethelred. Before he could protest, Marduk would lean into his ear, or at least where he thought his ear would be.

“Could be good to ask them about the place. I’ll keep the runt knight busy.”

With a pat of a shoulder and a salute to his chest, Marduk would step away from Ethelred, giving him a knowing wink. He did his best to hide his disgust at being close to such a cursed being.

“Think they’d like you better than me! You know how bad I am with kids!” Marduk would jest, before catching up to Grainne before she could properly respond.

“Say, are there any stables for the rest of these horses? Would be annoying if we had to lug them around for the rest of our tour. And how about those ballistas, huh? Could you show me how they work after?”

Marduk would continue to pepper the runt with questions as he did his best to lead the squire away from the icy knight.

Grainne frowned, though didn’t say much to the two, obviously at least in some aspect respecting the sacrifice that Reinhardt had made. At least until Marduk had opened his mouth to respond to her.

“Stables. For yours, sure. Just over there. That creepy ice…creature stays out here.” She’d say, not even bothering to point and merely gesture her head briefly in the general direction of some stables. “I’ll take you to them, but no touching.” She’d only briefly turn her attention to Ethelred. “Don’t wander off too much. Don’t want to be picking ice off the fort, got it?” Assuming the ice knight had nothing else to say to the redhead, she’d proceed to lead Marduk into the stables.

Marduk’s sight would notice there was quite a force of troops here. At least fifty in total. As for the greatest concentration of them…there was what seemed to be a tent setup nearby the entrance to the fort where the soldiers were using as a sort of outside work area, but there was no sign of someone being restrained or otherwise imprisoned on the outside. It was likely the prison was inside the fort itself somewhere…though he’d take note of a small building on the backside that was hidden behind a few large trees and seemingly purposefully made to be somewhat inconspicuous.

With the elf keeping the squire busy, Ethelred walked towards the nearest Harzel soldiers. He needed information, and he needed to occupy their attention. He couldn't introduce himself as a knight of Sorcha, however, nor could he hope to appear inconspicuous. He wasn’t a skilled deceiver, and his armor made it very difficult to be charismatic and persuasive to people. With some thinking, he opted to approach them using an angle that would not require deceit or honeyed words, instead he would address them from the perspective of something that he rarely got a chance to be- as his old self.

"Hail, warriors," he boisterously greeted them. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Etheling Ethelred Edmundson, lord of Ceolread Castle. I have come here to lend my resources to assist in felling that vile wyvern before it can harm anyone else. Might one of you direct me to the lord of this castle, that I may more closely cooperate with Harzelslack's warriors to end this threat to Albion?"

Despite everything he said being technically true, Ethelred was quite aware of how ridiculous and implausible he must sound to these guards.

The soldiers, understandably as Ethelred assumed, did not take him seriously at all. The group he had spoken too was a small group of about six or seven that were currently near the tent near the entrance of the castle. They were dressed in pretty standard soldier gear, simple but effective armor and weapons.

“You what?” One of them began. “Sorry, never heard of that house. Or castle.”

“Ain't that the name of some ruins or something out by Redwater?”

“Doesn’t this guy look like some sorta weird fomorian?”

“If Grainne let this guy in then he’s probably legitimate right?”

“Since we does that kid know anything?”

“Stop talking you louts and get back to work.” A slightly higher ranking knight, dressed in plate, walked over. “Sorry about them. If you’re looking for the Lord of this Castle, you’ll have to find Sir Lonan.” The armored knight replied, a curt, professional nod to Ethelred. “He’s the one responsible for patrolling the border and he took this castle as a base to operate from. I believe he’s at the nearby village. Said something about wanting to stop the beast before it could destroy the village.”

Ethelred was a bit taken aback that somebody was being reasonable with him. It would be a welcome surprise if it didn't make it harder to keep the garrison distracted. He had to adapt to the changing situation, however. If his presence wasn't enough of a big deal to keep everyone distracted, it'd nonetheless be quite convenient if he was able to move around the fort freely.

"Yes, I've met Sir Lonan. From what I've seen, he's a model knight, honorable and capable," he replied. "Since he's not here, however, is there anything that you would have me do to lend my aid here and lessen your load? If my own castle was in better condition I'd offer to shelter some of these refugees, but alas, it has fallen into disrepair."

“I can’t just give an outsider the run of the place. I’m sure you understand.” The armored knight frowned under his helmet. “But perhaps...Well, Lady Grainne has asked us not to mention it, but…apparently we have a prisoner that Lonan wants information from. Given the situation its been tossed a bit to the side.” He spoke quietly, constantly glancing in Grainne’s direction. Was he not aware of what Grainne had ordered, or did he simply not care for the squire and her attitude? “I was told this prisoner is exceptionally dangerous and the cause of quite a few tragedies over - the infamous Cursed Knight Elnith. How they managed to capture her I have no idea.”

"I can answer that for you," Ethelred replied, encouraged at the mention of Elnith. "When I first bumped into Lonan and Grainne, they happened to be discussing that exact matter. It appears that Elnith attempted to fight the dragon by herself. When Lonan found her, she was badly wounded and had lost her sword- which we later found out was still embedded in the dragon."

There wasn't much use in trying to convince the knight that Elnith was trying to help. Ethelred was still a bit irritated that Elias had not asked the children to give their account of Elnith's heroism to Lonan when they first encountered the Harzel knights.

"Perhaps, under your supervision, you might allow me to question her," he propositioned. "If she's fought the dragon and lived, she might some information on its abilities, weaknesses, possibly its motivations- anything that might that might improve Lonan's chances against it. Given her current situation, she might be more forthcoming to an outsider like myself."

The knight took a few quiet moments to process what Ethelred had told him, before nodding quietly.

“Alright. If she has fought the dragon and lived then she’ll have useful information. Probably what Sir Lonan wanted.” The knight began walking, motioning for Ethelred to follow. Assuming Ethelred did and had nothing much else to ask the plated Harzel knight, he’d be led towards the fort towards the side building that had been partially hidden in the shade of the fort proper. No doubt then, this was the prison of the fort. Stepping inside, Ethelred would find himself in a small guardpost it seemed. A single guard was stationed here, and after a small exchange with the knight he’d proceed to unlock the heavy metal door that led to the prison proper.

Inside was…well, a prison. What did one expect of such a place? Down a small set of stairs, Ethelred’s feet met dirt floors and cold stone walls. The only light coming in was from the small iron barred windows and a handful of glass lanterns hanging on the walls. The Knight led Ethelred into the room. The place wasn’t big, only enough room for five cells. Four smaller ones near the door and a single larger one near the back, which was conveniently where Elnith seemed to be.

As light from the lantern the knight picked up off the wall filtered into the cell, Ethelred would see the Knight, and considering everything Ethelred had heard up until now…well, it was no surprise he could almost feel the malignant curse in the air hanging around her. It wasn’t anything he could see, but he could feel it. A thick, stagnant smell that threatened to choke.

Upon hearing them enter, she’d turn her heads towards them, the usual soft voice that Ethelred had grown familiar with replaced with a harsher, more demanding and deliberate tone.

“What is it now?” She’d ask, clear hostility present, expression softening just slightly upon seeing Ethelred. “Now’s not a good time, aha…” She’d bring her left arm up to her mouth, biting on one of her knuckles.

Her physical state, well, at least that could be worse. She was wearing some pretty threadbare clothing, standard prisoner attire. Half of her face was covered in medical cloth and bandages covering one of her eyes. Her right arm was tightly secured to her chest to prevent it from moving, leaving only her left arm free. The worst part was, though, were perhaps the burns covering her body. In the places that weren’t bandaged, severe burns covered her flesh no doubt if she had been a normal human she’d have died from such burns.

“Get started on your questioning then.” The knight stopped a few feet away from the cell. “I’d rather not be here longer than I have to.”

The sight of Elnith was disheartening. Sorcha's powerful berserker knight, wrapped in bandages and rags, locked up in a cell. Equally disturbing was that Ethelred could almost swear he could feel Elnith's curse. Yet despite the dread that gripped the accompanying Harzel Knight, Ethelred's only concern remained Elnith's well-being and what could be done for her.

With just the two knights in the room and only one guard outside to deal with, Ethelred shouldn't have trouble subduing them and springing Elnith out, but there'd still be the matter of what do do with her. She wasn't exactly in a condition to fight the wyvern, and Sorcha would be most displeased if they withdrew without putting it down. Even if he broke her out and stole a horse for her to flee, Ethelred didn't want her to make the journey back to Airedale alone, especially after what happened to Od.

Ethelred walked right up to the cell. "It looks like you fought the wyvern, Elnith. We saw your handiwork when we fought it." He tried not to let slip that they were working together.

"Unfortunately, it proved a challenge for us too. We fought it with the aid of Sir Lonan, the local Harzelslack commander, but it managed to escape. But Elias..." Ethelred paused, trying to compose himself, "Elias tried to pull your sword from its chest. It let loose this beam of burning light. Lonan and I were able to withstand it it, but Elias wasn't so lucky. There...there wasn't anything left of him but melted slag."

Ethelred turned to the knight. Perhaps it was just condensation from the damp dungeon, but there were beads of water dripping down his helmet.

"What if we were able to use her against the wyvern? She jumped into combat with this thing, and she actually wounded it. Even in her current state, she might be willing to still fight it. I know you want to punish her, but whatever tragedies the inflicted cannot be undone, but we might be able to prevent a tragedy if we make use of her. Besides, we should be able to handle her in her weakened state, and even if she tries to run, there's nowhere to go. We have Harzelslack to the west, frigid snowfields to the north, wastes to the northwest, and Fomorian-infested woods to the east."

He turned to Elnith. "What do you think? If they allowed it, might you be willing to have a rematch with the dragon?"

It was a stretch, but Ethelred desired to exhaust all other options before resorting to force or trickery.

“...Oh.” She would quietly reply. It was followed by a quiet, hollow chuckle. “I see…if I was stronger then, maybe-” She’d cut herself off, shaking her head. “No. No, nothing I could have…nnngh…” The warrior got to her feet, wrapping her hands around the bars of the cell as Ethelred turned to the knight that was overseeing the ‘interrogation’.

“...Hm.” The armored knight frowned under his own helmet. “She’s dangerous, and the things she’s been accused of…hm…” The Harzel knight folded his arms, thinking over the offer. “I…suppose if Sir Lonan was here he’d say it’d be be better to die nobly atoning for one's actions instead of merely awaiting execution.” Before he could give an affirmation of the plan, however, there was the sound of shouting from outside. Warning bells rang out. The sound of men running.

“What the-” The knight didn’t finish his thought, instead turning away from Ethelred and the prison, leaving the room…and also Ethelred and Elnith alone in the cell as he went to see what was happening outside.

This was the opportunity he was waiting for. As reasonable as the knight had been, as much as Ethelred had hoped he still had a chance to convince him to let Elnith out, he couldn't pass this chance up. As reasonable and cordial as the knight had been, as close as he had been to possibly letting Elnith out, Lonan had been quite clear about what was in store for Elnith, and Ethelred wasn’t going to leave this to chance.

"Now that he's gone," he began, briefly looking back at the exit before turning back to Elnith, "Sorcha sent me, Elias, and Od to find you and, if necessary, stop the beast. She hadn't learned that it was a wyvern," He paused for a moment.

”Of the three, I’m the only one left. Od was abducted by Fomorians in Redwater. Elias, while fighting the wyvern, was struck and vaporized by a beam while freeing your sword from its chest. There wasn't anything left of him but his sword and some melted armor." He then raised his lance, grabbing it in both hands.

"I've lost two companions to this mission, but we won't lose you, too!" he announced, before beginning to strike at the cell door's hinges with his lance. His resolve to free her was more than just a knight coming to his fellow’s aid. Elnith, like himself, was cursed by the Unseelie, thus the Frozen Knight thus felt a sort of kinship with her and sympathy for the challenges that her curse posed, and he was not going to let Harzelslack unjustly execute a fellow maledicted soul.

“I…see.” Elnith stepped away from the bars, fingernails digging into the skin of one of her arms as Ethelred bashed away at the hinges with his lance. The low quality iron mixed with the quickly freezing temperatures of the lance would make most of the work easy. If Elnith had thoughts on the loss of Od and Reinhardt, though, her tired somewhat unfocused gaze didn’t show as such.

“I will do what I can.” Elnith replied quietly, averting her gaze from Ethelred, teeth grinding together. Perhaps some anger, but it was at least clear she was trying to keep herself from feeling too emotional, perhaps for fear of losing what little control she seemed to still have about herself.

crack

The metal hinges creaked, the first shattering into icy bits and the door swinging easily open a few seconds later.

“Do you have a blade?”

"We brought your sword here, it's being held onto by an elf warrior who joined us in Redwater," Ethelred answered. "Last I saw him, he was skulking outside near the stables. Once we’re out of here, we’ll meet up with him and get you your sword back."

The Frozen Knight turned around and began making his way out of the castle's dungeon. He didn't know what was happening outside, but judging from the commotion, it sounded like the fort was under attack.

“I see…we better hurry.” Elnith replied, her voice just a tad bit strained as she’d step out of the cell. “Ha…hahah, I’m feeling a little…difficult, Ethelred…and their screams are getting quite annoying…”

Elnith would follow behind Ethelred as the two left, stepping out of the prison and back onto the forts courtyard. Men were scrambling, the knight from earlier was shouting orders, his hefty blade drawn as he’d notice both Ethelred and Elnith. If he thought anything about Elnith being out of her cell he didn’t say.

“If you want to help, Sir Ethelred nows the time! We’ve got-”
A beast, similar to the one that had killed Elias slammed down behind the knight. Its scales were ashen in color and it bore no crest like that on the other one. It was far smaller as well, about the size of an average sized cabin and lacking a clearly distinct, fierce look.

“-Wyverns!” The knight barely managed to avoid having his head bitten clean off, the wyverns fangs sinking into his shoulder as he’d gouge the creature's eye with his sword. The two knights watched as he was lifted from the ground and then slammed into the side of the fort with enough force to crack the armor.

The knight wasn’t moving.

Above, Ethelred could hear shouting, two more wyverns were assaulting the ballistae on the fort. It was difficult to clearly make out, but he could faintly see Marduk leap from the tallest point from the fort, a weapon of light aimed downwards to strike at the wyverns head, impaling its neck, but it wasn’t enough to bring the creature down entirely as Marduk would be grabbed by the second, and seemingly quite literally, tossed a fair distance away.

A shining red blade fell from his grip though, impaling itself into the ground in front of Elnith and Elias.

“...seems we’re unusually lucky today, Ethelred.” she picked up the blade, a dangerous glint appearing in the cursed knights eyes as she’d pull it from the ground. “Say, Ethelred…can you eat Wyvern? They didn’t feed me much in the prison.”

Luna cast another lightshield so that her men were completely safe from any skybound arrows, though the same could not be said for the bandits where Luna couldn't help but think some would suffer from friendly fire. After that volley of arrows, she allowed the shield to dissipate and then plunged her blade into the nearest bandit which was assaulting a soldier on her right. They were focused on her soldiers so she had free reign now right? Not unless they turned on her. She quickly pulled the blade out of his gut and spun, dispatching one of the bandits on the opposite side by a swift lopping off of his head.

The woman grit her teeth as she saw the corpses of some of her soldiers. Angry, she charged towards the left side of where she was originally and slammed into one of the enemies with her shield. The force of her running shield first into the man was enough to cause him to crash into his fellows and disrupt their formation a small bit. Hopefully enough for her men to do something. Regardless, she plunged her blade into the first bandit she hit, removed the blade and threw the man's body to the ground.

Ethelred watched in horror as the Harzel knight was attacked and thrown against a wall. His ally did not get up. The Frozen Knight tightened his grip on his lance, intent on making that wyvern pay. It was no doubt greatly fortuitous that this crisis gave him an opportunity to free Elnith, but he couldn't feel good about watching this knight die as a result.

In the short time I knew you, you seemed to be a reasonable and noble person. You will be avenged. Ethelred briefly wondered if the knight had been pained at seeing Elnith freed, or hurt at the realization that the Frozen Knight had betrayed his trust to break Harzelslack's prisoner out.

From the look of it, there were three wyverns, one at their level and two others targeting the ballistae. Pretty clever of them to attack the siege engines, more clever than he'd expect from a wyvern. The elf had already engaged them, striking one of them in the head, but the winged beast managed to send the warrior flying out of the castle. The elf was probably fine, given what Ethelred had seen of his acrobatic abilities, but it did mean that their ally was out of the fight. At least he managed to reunite Elnith with her sword on his way out.

"I'm afraid I cannot, a consequence of my own curse," Ethelred replied to Elnith. "But that just means more for you, I suppose." Ethelred saw it in her eye- the pitiable prisoner was gone, and in her place, the berserker knight was back. Seeing her reinvigorated lifted the Frozen Knight's spirits and filled him with confidence. Finally, something had gone right in this mess of a quest.

Ethelred charged at the wyvern, aiming his lance at the eye that the Harzelslack knight had stabbed. Assuming it struck true, Ethelred would then freeze it to the beast's flesh to prevent it from freeing itself. If the wyvern wasn't able to pull away from Ethelred's lance in time, the freezing would reach its brain and kill it, but the Frozen Knight didn't intend on waiting that long. Using his lance as a lever, he would attempt to yank the winged fiend's head to the side, exposing its neck to Elnith and giving her a clear shot with her sword.

Niall winced and let out a small gasp when he realized he had underestimated Annagan. That monster of a man was tougher than he thought, still on his two feet after the knight's flurry of attacks and now about to hit him. It was lucky then that this was when Fio strike came causing the bandit to miss his attack and sending Niall falling on the ground further. The knight caught his landing, hand on the side as he immediately straightened himself back into a combat position.

The man's insults didn't seem to affect Niall at all, who elected to just ignore them. At this moment, Niall hesitated between going for the men leaving or Annagan, but ultimately figured that Fio and Luna could handle these ones and that keeping Annagan busy here was the most useful thing to do for now.

"You sent your men to die." he simply said looking straight at the bandit as he approached. Right then, a thick, dark mist emanated from Niall's Lance as they were plunged in the dark. Niall dodged the hammer barely due to his wound, and jump up and back onto a nearby tree branch. There, in silence, he Annagan while recuperating a bit of his own stamina.

He is stronger. Going at him straight on is not the way to go. Fortunately, I happen to be well suited for this...

Annagan would hear a whistling sound coming from the trees, but Niall would already have moved by then. Gwdihw, his pet owl familiar, would fly by the bandit's head to disorient him with the flaps or it's wing first front, then from the back. Eventually, Niall would go for an attack. Taking his words at heart, the knight elected to do the exact opposite than stand and fight; hit and run. He would dash in from the darkness and deliver a quick, precise hit to his enemy and keep going, out of reach. Every time the knight passed by him, Annagan would hear his cape in the wind like the flapping of a bird's wrings, and Gwdihw would then pass from another angle to confused the big man.

If he didn't die from a thousand cuts, then he would be at least stuck here until his companions dealt with the lesser bandits.

She could see many of the other bandits fall, but at the same time... that huge, monstrous man was still standing, still brandishing his hammer. And it seemed as if he had sent some of his men to pursue Luna, as well. The Sword Witch certainly couldn't see any other reason that the other bandits would suddenly break off of their fight.

Thrusting her sword forward, Fio took a deep breath. She'd thin those reinforcements out. Then, she'd focus her attention on the biggest target.

"Ten phantom swords. Form them, create them, give them the edge that takes life."

At her commands, the magic circles in the air spun, and as they did ten more of her ghostly weapons emerged, tilting slightly to take aim at the bandits that had gone to reinforce the enemies fighting with the Luna's group.

"Kill."

With a whistling sound they tore through the air, bearing down on the bandits as they began to move.

And now, she would be able to try and take down that monster of a man with her next blow.

The bastard wouldn't take this one so lightly.

"Sura. Open the way."

The magic circles she had already constructed drifted towards one another, lining up and expanding, creating a multi-layered circle of light.

"Form it. The edge of death. The piercing tool of destruction. That which slaughters the wicked. That which purges evil. Create it and give it form."

As Fio spoke, the enlarged multi-layered circle began to grow brighter. She could feel the air around her practically vibrating, the intensity with which the magical energy was being gathered causing a weight to develop on her small frame. This would take up her whole being until it was complete, but she had to do everything she could to strike down the most monstrous of the bandit forces. To be honest, she didn't particularly enjoy using a spell like this to kill trash like that, but at the same time she couldn't allow any more of her allies to be harmed.

She'd seen what that monster had done already.

Fio couldn't let it happen again.

And so the murderer's sentence would be delivered.

"I shall take the role of the judge who dispenses the sentence. The one who bears all wickedness in the world and carries out the order of execution. This shall be a day of blood and a red sky."

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@FrogRFlowR

---

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp, early morning.
@Pyromania99

---

Another shield to block the arrows. Even if friendly fire might have been an issue, the bandits didn’t seem concerned as arrows would pierce their flesh as they continued their frenzied assault without a care for their own wellbeing, but Luna too, continued her own assault. Another fell to her blade, as the rage-fueled knight slammed her shield into one of the small groups, just in time to prevent one of her men from being beheaded and knocking back their numbers as her blade pierced the flesh of a second bandit.

A momentary lull in the fight ensued as the three remaining lightsword knights regrouped around Luna.

Shouts from the east.

Luna watched as some of Fio’s blades rained down upon the land there - awfully close to her own men and position. Seconds later, two of the knights she had sent with Niall burst from the treeline, followed shortly after by a small group of bandits themselves numbering about eleven.

“Lady Luna!” One of them shouted. “T-heir main force was at the other gate-” The man was quickly cut off, an arrow through his throat. The men with her hesitated just slightly, gripping their swords with a questionable amount of determination as the bandits went from six, to at least seventeen in number now, and with Fio’s support seemed to be focused elsewhere…they were clearly outnumbered.

Something, odd would happen as the battle would begin again, whenever Luna decided to tear into the bandits once more. The edges of her vision started to go white. The beating of her own heart resounding in her head like a drum of battle or war. Adrenaline surged through her body, her muscles aching to be moved and used.

A single word would surface to the front of her mind.



…of course, she could resist whatever influence this was. It would be easy right, just take a moment to recover her breath. Assess the battlefield…but the shouts and cries of the bandits and battle made it difficult to focus on anything other than the battle.

@FrogRFlowR

---

“Gahaha, we’ll see!” Annagan replied with a laugh, seemingly none too concerned about the darkness enveloping him as he’d remain fairly still as Niall would begin his assault. At first, his familiar seemed to have the intended effect - Annagan would make an attempt to strike at the owl, only to hit nothing, followed by another swing to nothing, allowing Niall to land a fairly heavy blow…but such tricks could only work for so long. Nialls lance would hit the mans hammer, Annagan managing to deflect the blow as he’d start to learn the owls tactics. He showed no signs of slowing down or getting tired, either.

“What’s the matter! You’re barely making me bleed!” A ferocious bellow as his hammer caught Nialls’ lance, the impact sending the knight clean out of the cloud of darkness that he had trapped Annagan in, the large man barreling out after him and aiming to bring the hammer down on Niall’s body.

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp Overlook, early morning
@VitaVitaAR

---

More ephemeral blades appeared in the sky, a crown of swords adorning the air above fio. Seconds later, a second barrage fell, the blades launching themselves at the bandits. Now that they were aware of a threat from above though, the bandits were able to dodge, avoid, and dive out of the way of the large blades. Ravenously following after the two soldiers who were barely managing to keep them at bay.

Still, any of their numbers that lessened would make things much easier for Luna below. The Sixteen bandits were cut down to twelve, but that was all she’d have time for as long as she wanted to focus on Annagan next.

Magical energy surged from her body and blade. A single, massive blade, gargantuan in size began to manifest over the girl, the ephemeral blade shining brightly above the battlefield. If the bandit below seemed concerned, he didn’t show it though it was difficult to really tell thanks to the shadow Niall had cast over it…though with the sheer size of the blade, accuracy wasn’t much of a problem.

It seemed, as though, her spell would be completed without issue-

Fio would be alerted to a very strong, very curse ridden magical energy quite suddenly, nearly instantly appearing behind her. Cursed energy began welling up from the ground under her, forming into a point behind her as it began to coalesce into a more solid form, the magical energy solidifying into a slightly more familiar form. If she didn’t change targets or end her spell casting, she was certainly going to get jumped by whatever this thing was!

“Hey, hey, hey!” A large, toothy grin in the shadowy mass as it began to properly take shape and form. It was…a fomorian? A rather mundane looking one, if one were to judge by looks but Fio…well, Fio could tell she really shouldn’t judge this woman by looks. “I was gonna play with that lightsword kid, but I found something muuuuch more interesting! You can’t just throw around that much magical energy and not get me all excited about it! You even made me do something I wasn’t gonna show anyone yet.” A toothy, excitable grin. “That’s a pretty cool sword you’ve got there too. How about…you let me take a swing with it? No? I’m not actually asking. Hand it over and I'll be nice when I'm using your body for experiments.”

More figures began emerging from the ground under her, the cursed energy taking shapes of grotesque bodies, perhaps, experiments of this particular fomorian as they in no way should be living in the traditional sense. Extra arms and limbs sprouted from their necks and in other places, some even had extra torsos or even heads.

About five in total, but something told Fio these were not going to go down easily.

Location:
Harzel Border Fort
@Crimson Paladin

---

“I see…Ethelred,” Elnith began, voice pleasant and even. “I might get carried away. If I do…please don’t let me hurt anyone, okay?” As she’d lift her blade, the frozen knight could see blackened veins creeping along the woman's body, starting from her extremities. It might be a good idea to find Elnith’s armor sooner, rather than later…but regardless, the assault would begin. The Wyvern roared as Ethelred’s lance impaled the creatures eye once more, the beast thrashing in pain as the frozen knight made an effort to yank its neck to expose it.

The beast though, had other plans as it’d lunge forward with its talons in the same instant, trying to pull Ethelred towards it and grab him with its talons…though this, proved less than effective.

Elnith quickly leaped on the opportunity, blood red blade lashing out to cut the Wyvern’s neck. The magical blade easily cut the scales.

“Tch…shallow.” Elnith hissed as the Wyvern would break itself free from the Ice Knights lance, beating its wings as it righted itself, roaring furiously as the entire right side of the beasts face was now covered in ice and frozen blood. It lunge towards Ethelred with its talons, making another attempt to grab the knight.

Luna sneared. Too many were dying. Her plan, whatever it may have been, had obviously failed. Well, the saying was "Plans don't live past first contact with the enemy". And then... There was this presence in her mind. A voice. She gripped her weapon before taking a small breath. No, she needed to keep her head. "Men! Hold these six off, use them as shields against their arrows. Kill them and none of you die." That was a command. Luna stabbed at the closest bandit to her before pulling the blade out and heading towards where the enemy reinforcements were coming from. "I'll win, on my terms."

The Knightess passed the, unbeknownst to her, sole surviving soldier from Niall's squad and run towards the biggest group of bandits coming at her. There were no other allied targets in the way now so she could go all out. "Watch as my sword of light tears you asunder!" Luna exclaimed as she charged at the bandits. She sheathed her sword and in her hands, appeared a large sword of light. It looked to be about as tall as she was and rather thick. Despite that, she seemed to wield it with ease. Her blade swung forward as she were closing into the group and she swung it in a confident attempt to bisect as many as she could. She couldn't keep this weapon up for too long, but she should be able to keep it up long enough without exhausting herself too much.

"Ah?!"

This cursed magical energy.. .there was no doubt in Fio's mind. This was a Fomorian! Turning on her heel, she sprang back, off of her vantage point and onto a platform she had formed in the air using a barrier, the spell she'd been casting cancelling. The enormous sword dissipated, fading away into blue motes of light that drifted skyward.

This must have been the Fomorian mentioned in Sir Niall's report...!

"I haven't the slightest interest in allowing you to handle this sword," replied the Sword Witch flatly. She couldn't provide further support like this, but at the very least she'd managed to take the Fomorian's attention.

As frustrating as it was, this was also an opportunity.

"However, I'm happy to demonstrate my capabilities, Fomorian, since you've given me such ugly practice targets."

The monstrous, abominable things that emerged from the darkness, twisted and warped mockeries of life that could only be the experiments the Fomorian girl had created. Awful. Completely and utterly awful. She would be doing them, and the world, a favor.

"Cutting them to pieces can only be an improvement! Sura, Luna Orbit!"

A single command, for a specific configuration of blades. Ejecting themselves from a circle in the air behind her, the blue phantom swords began to circle around the small witch's body, at first somewhat slowly and then far faster. Rather then a simple barrier, it was offense as well. The abominations weren't likely to care about pain, but they certainly would struggle to attack if they had their limbs sawed through, especially given her position in the air.

Of course, only an idiot would leave it there.

"Five phantom swords. Now."

They materialized from circles in an arc over her head, each one pointing at one of the abominations before rocketing towards them.

It was a test, but ideally it would also at least keep them from moving swiftly as she picked her next course of action.

@Rune_Alchemist

As the wyvern lunched towards him, the Frozen Knight dodged to the wyvern's blinded side. This foe might not be as strong as that large black wyvern, but it'd still require some strategy. It had already proven quite dangerous and quite resilient, and there were still two more of these beast to worry about.

Ethelred recalled the words of Elias back when they were traveling.

Sigurd the Dragonslayer; my great, great, great, great Grandfather– discovered and employed a great many methods on his hunts. He’d use anything from siege weapons, to traps, even poison… But what he found to be the most effective strategy; particularly on wyverns, was breaking their wings.

A Dragon suddenly deprived of something it’s instinctually used its entire life; no matter how wise, or cruel, or crafty it may be…quickly loses sight of this, and becomes little more than just another beast to be slain.

There was no time like the present to put this to the test, and what better way to pay respects to Elias than by trusting in his ancestor's wisdom? The next moment the wyvern's wings would beat downward, he'd aim his lance and thrust it squarely at its elbow. Ethelred was placing considerable trust in Elias' words by performing this attack, but it was the least he could do to honor his fallen companion.

"Elnith!" Ethelred shouted. "Go find your armor! I'll keep this one occupied!" Seeing the black veins appear on her, and hearing her ask him to stop her were both grim reminder that Elnith's curse was much more dire than his own. Ethelred's curse merely affected his physical form, but Elnith's curse assailed her mind. In her weakened condition, she might struggle to hold back whatever dark impulses her malediction brought down upon her, and Ethelred didn't want to risk Elnith's sanity in the fight.

Niall had wanted to finish this quickly, but things were not at all as planned. He had a quick thought to the others, who more than likely also had a kink in their own part of the plan. Now - Niall's assault was working well. At least for a time. With this assault and the first one, Annagan had cuts and wounds all over but still refused to either die or back down. This was getting quite frustrating.

What more, the beast of a man managed to block Niall's hit and throw the knight off balance, literally throwing him outside of his Eye of Night. The Owl Knight was still in the air when Annagan came rushing out after him, his hammer at the ready. A quick thinker, the agile Niall thrusted the lance into the ground to stop himself in the fraction of a second and used his momentum to transform his lance into a makeshift catapult. Annagan had thrown Niall away with such force that the lance wooden shaft bended with he built of momentum when Niall thrusted it down and, when it released, sent the knight just as fast towards the bandit.

Nothing stopped Niall from having other weapons than his signature Lance, and so with one curved dagger mimicking the talon of a bird of prey, Niall aimed at the man's throat coming at him just as fast if not more than when he had been thrown away. His aim was to slash Annagan's throat and continue pass him, surprising the bandit with a move he didn't expect and ending the fight with a clean mortal wound.

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp, early morning.
@Pyromania99

---

Focus.

Luna focused on the battle in front of her, the voice in her head growing weaker as she’d ignore it, shoving it out of her mind. Slowly, the edges of her vision returned, the white light fading and the voice becoming a distant echo…perhaps, something she’d even forget about once the fight was over with.

Her men, would comply as much as they could. They were able to cut down several bandits, fending off the rogues with a manner of skill to match their own brutality. As a third volley of arrows were loosed towards them, all mostly managing to do as Luna instructed. Bodies, absorbing the arrows though some were still caught in the line of fire, taking a shot through the arm or perhaps, leg.

The rest?

As the arrows rained down, Luna held her hand high. A sword of pure light forming in her grip.

She dashed forward, in front of her men towards the bandit reinforcements.

A brilliant, dazzling and almost disorienting light flashed as the luminous blade struck forth.

The bandits shouted, unprepared for it as Luna’s blade cut down most of the force in a single, decisive blow.

As the light faded, Luna would find her chest heaving, her body tired as fatigue ran through her body. Using that blade certainly tired her, enough to send her momentarily to her knees if she didn’t catch herself as the remaining five or so bandits halted right in their tracks. The remaining soldiers tossed the bodies at them, catching them off guard and quickly rushing in as Luna recovered from the attack, dispatching them now with relative ease.

This just left the archers, who were know quickly readying another volley, but she likely didn’t have enough energy to do another spectacle like that or another shield.

And this was on top of just what was keeping Fio or what was Niall facing right now?

@FrogRFlowR

---

This, is certainly not something Annagan had expected from Niall, but he didn’t seem to particularly care. What he did see, though, was the glint of the blade in the Owls hand. Even if their momentum was too fast to change course, the large man was grinning all the same. Niall felt the dagger hit flesh. He felt blood, a paint grunt from the bandit.

But he did not travel past as he had hoped.

He’d feel Annagans hand grab the back of his neck.

“Gggh….ahah…” A pained cough. Blood pouring out of the wound on his neck. Enough to have made any mortal enough man have already died, but Annagan remained standing as he’d proceed to slam Niall into the ground with his remaining strength as he weakly lifted his hammer over his head…and it fell from his grasp, the weighty weapon nearly crushing Niall as it fell onto the ground next to him.

“Ah…haa…ahahah…” A pained chuckle. “I didn’t want to rely on that witches tricks…” With his remaining strength, the bandit hefted a stone sphere, just large enough to fit in the palm of ones hand. “But I’m not…gghk, dying here!”

The stone sphere began to crack, the stone falling away in flakes…and under it? A single, pulsing, blinking eye. Annagan raised his hand above his head, and dropped it in his mouth.

Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Bandit camp Overlook, early morning
@VitaVitaAR

---

“Ruuuude! I put lots of work into my little toys.” She’d pout, seemingly genuinely hurt by Fio calling the abominations ugly. “Well, whatever. I’ll just have to make you appreciate them! Alright then!” The woman laughed. “Lucky for you at least…I’m just here to make sure my experiment reaches completion. I’m not interested in killing a test subject, so I’ll have to restrain myself a little.” The woman raised a hand pointing towards fio with a haughty smirk and a smug grin.

“Ionsaí.”

The five abominations all shrieked. A frenzied roar as they all headed for Fio. It was a good thing she had decided to fight from the air. The five creatures looked like they were primarily built for melee combat as they approached with swift, but jerking, sudden movements. She had at least, made a correct assumption.

They did not care about pain, nor did they care for getting impaled by an ethereal blade.

Similarly, though, as each of the five blades met their mark the abominations did not seem to even care or register that they had been injured.

But they however, were not without offensive options. Of the five, one had a massive hole gouged in its stomach, from which sprouted several arms as though they had pried the hole open from within. Lacking any sort of option for melee, it’d pull something from its insides, a mass of curses and black magic energy, lobbing it at Fio, though it was rather clumsy if she didn’t evade she’d certainly get hit, and getting hit by that, was certainly not going to be good for her health.

“Hmm…note to self, add more ranged capabilities…”

Location:
Harzel Border Fort
@Crimson Paladin

---

The beasts claws raked against Ethelreds armor, chipping some of the frozen armor off of the knight. Consequently, as it beat its wings to keep itself aloft and to put a bit of distance between itself and the knight, Ethelred felt the impact, heard its roar of annoyance as the lance pierced scale, its blood and wound quickly freezing over as it’d fall to its legs, momentarily surprised but not long enough allow Ethelred to avoid the beasts maw-

“Has…anyone ever told you you’re too kind, Ethelred?” Blood. Another pained hiss from the beast as the blood red blade struck forth, easily slicing through the beasts neck with a second, clean slice as the beast was summarily beheaded by the Fomorian made blade Elnith possessed. The beasts body lurched forwards, soon falling lifeless to the ground.

“...I’ll leave you…this.” Elnith finished, with a soft smile, passing him her blade. “I won’t be long, I promise.” The cursed knight, would then make to leave, disappearing into the crowd of knights scrambling to form some sort of defensive line. Perhaps she had some idea where her armor already was being stored, perhaps not.

Either way, that left two more for Ethelred to take out.

The one above was still harassing the Ballista, having already destroyed one in the surprise attack and the second was trying in vain to load and ready itself. He could hear Grainne shouting from up there, a number of curses and profanities as she likely tried to fend it off.

The second was on the ground, having already slaughtered a good number of the harzel soldiers, barely injured at all as it grabbed a man in its maw, tossing it into the air and catching it again, clamping its jaws upon its prey, swallowing the man whole.

---

This was concerning. That meant the bandits at the fort weren't actually bandits, but rather fomorians disguised as humans. That would explain why these bandits seemed unusually tough, but more importantly...Sorcha inhaled as she'd stand atop the highest tower in the fort, overlooking the area beneath her. Her eyes narrowed slightly, a displeased, unheard by anyone growl as she'd grip the stone tightly in her hand.

He was moving, was he?

How annoying.

It was too soon, too soon indeed.

"Queen Sorcha!"

"...What is it Leo?"

"Bandits! They're attacking the fort!"

"...I see no reason why you're troubling me about this. Luna left plenty of men here to handle it." Sorcha responded, watching the rabble of bandits approach from above. "Unless you mean to tell me that sword of yours is as flimsy as your brothers?"

"Not at all, I just thought you'd want to take part..."

"There is no reason for me too involve myself in such a fight unless something unexpected happens. Handle it yourself. I'm not in the best of moods."

"...right."

Sorcha didn't even turn to face him as he spoke, quickly focusing on her own thoughts once more...

Ethelred looked down at the decapitated head that had moments before had been lunging at him. If he learned anything here, it was not to take advice from Sir Elias. Not that he'd expect to ever run into Reinhardt again, rest his soul, but clearly no more of this talk about crippling an opponent's limbs to send them into a panic. Maybe it worked for a great hero like Sigurd, but from now on, Ethelred was going to stick to what he was good at- freezing things until they couldn't move, and stabbing them in the vitals until they ceased struggling.

At least Elnith had been here to get him out of this particular mess. He was grateful for both her help and being lent her magic sword, although he harbored doubts that he was capable of using it to his full potential.

He didn't have time to worry about it, however, because the most immediate concern was the two wyverns left. One had just finished making quick work of a group of Harzel soldiers. The other was in the process of attacking Grainne and the remaining ballista. It was a bit of a dilemma- if he attacked the closer one on the ground, he might be able to obtain one victory, one worthwhile kill under his belt in this disaster of a mission. He had already failed to land a fatal blow on the arcane archer, the cyclops, and both wyverns that he had previously faced, and there was no prestige or glory to be had in killing the few pitiful bandits and lesser Fomorians along the way. And now, that abrasive little brat that called him "icicle" and "frosty" and confidently told him that she could best him in a fight was up there and in need of help. She deserved to be left to her own devices, after all, if she fought half as good as she talked, she'd surely be fine. Furthermore, the destruction of the ballista and the deaths of the soldiers manning it would make it easier for him and Elnith to make their escape if the surviving Harzel forces' displeasure at her escape eclipsed their gratitude for the help fighting the wyverns.

But like Elnith had said, Ethelred was too kind. His body may be cold and icy, but his heart was the one thing that wasn't frozen. A gust of icy fog emanated from his helmet as he cursed under his breath at what he was about to do.

I am going to hate myself for this...

With his lance in his main hand and Elnith's sword held in his shield-hand, he rushed up the nearest staircase and made his way to the ballista. He looked down at the second wyvern- there was still the opportunity to forget about that nasty, foul-mouthed squire and instead plunge his lance into the monster's skull from above.

Ethelred looked away, trying his best to banish those thoughts as he approached the wyvern. As much as he wanted to chill the stone masonry beneath his feet, he felt that with what he was about to do, it might be better not to. To avoid its tail, and get a better angle, he climbed atop the battlements and took a flying leap at the wyvern, intent on embedding his lance into the beast's back while it focused on dealing with Grainne. Assuming it landed, he'd cling to the wyvern's back and invoke his powers to freeze the lance to the wound, and freeze his armor to the wyvern's flesh. This one would not be allowed get away.

"Haa... Ha...." Luna felt like she was out of breath. Was she pushing herself too much? Damn. If it were Fio that used that magic, she would have been fine, right? Probably able to cast it a few more times. She threw herself against the walls that were nearby. They should help give her cover against the arrows. She motioned for her men to join her under it. The next thing was to take care of the archers. Once her group gathered near her, she spoke to them. "Alright. These bandits are something stronger than we had expected but, we can handle this right? I'm worried about Niall since our... Sole survivor here had to retreat to us." The soldiers would know that this wasn't a denigration at least. "I plan to check on him. I don't want any more deaths. From our end, at least." The Knightess went silent. The life of a soldier was one that involved the distinct possibility of death. Luna knew that and so did every man and woman that found themselves at that fort.

"We need to do two things. Recover Niall and dispose of the archers on the wall here. Now, if you guys think you can take the archers without casualties, I'd appreciate if you could clear them. If not, I don't want heroes. Stay safe, maybe just distract them while I go and get Niall. After that, we'll have him scale the walls and I'll come back to you and we'll charge through while Niall clears them from above." Luna then slapped one of the soldiers on the shoulder. "I'm trusting you boys. Make me and you families proud and come back alive. Shields high." After all, that's where any arrows would be coming from.

With that, the Knightess ran along the walls towards where Niall should have been. She didn't know exactly what kept him over there, but she hoped that she didn't come around and find the man dead on the ground like she assumed the other three soldiers were. "Just hold on, Niall." That said, she wasn't sure if Fio was fine. She assumed the girl was fine but it could be hard to say. Still, Niall was the bigger concern at the moment.