[IC] Ascension 3: A return to Chaos

[Rai]

The hooded man amongst the crowd of people rejoicing under the light Ami provided began to step away. He slowly made his way down the road. His head rising to observe the infinite void of darkness and space where the moon remained. It had a silvery blue glow but was not yet full. A portion of it missing in shadow. The old man lifted his hand as if to cusp the moon. "This is the true divine light. I will use it." He reached into his clothing and pulled out several seeds. He tossed them on the ground and clasped hands. A prayer.

"Oh essence of mystery. Oh all encompassing void. Bring life through dark.. Life through death.."

He lifted his hood off of his head. Revealing a helmet made out of a skull and hollow eyes beneath it. He breathed in deeply. A blade was now in his is hand. He cut his own hand poured the blood onto the seeds wildly. A red and dark aura began to rise as the plants began to sprout to life rapidly. Mushrooms. Spiked poison vines. Poisonous flowers. And flytraps. Each grew rapidly to great height and size.

"Grow my loves. Feed on death and light."

---

A young woman clad in black armor approached the town. She came with a weapon at her side. A giant scythe. In the skies was her Dragon. It soared down in the twilight to reach its master. It spiraled past Ami and Mason. Snarling at them with bared fangs before reaching its owner. She placed a gentle hand on its hide.

"Its time."

[Jollan]

'You're not strong enough...'

'Give into your desires...'

'You are injured, don't you want to make the PAIN go away?'

'Dremmick!'

'Why are you always fighting your birthright?'

'Dremmick, wake up!'

'Their souls we NEED their souls!'

'DREMMICK LOOK OUT!'

"Ciara!?" Dremmick's eyes shot open to the familiar voice, he wasn't sure when he blacked out, and he only had time to pull his swordbreaker from its sheath and guard as Shye's claws came in contact with it. As soon as she made contact, however, an intense fire erupted from her hand in a stream, burning away the front of Dremmick's shirt, muffler, and canvas straps to his pack. Dremmick, still a bit stunned by the surprise attack, narrowed his eyes at his assailant. "That won't work on me!" he said as he reached his right arm forward and a spike exploded out from the bandaged palm going for her neck. Shye noticed his right arm as soon as it moved and was already suspecting something, moving out of the way just in time, surprised that her fire did nothing to him physically, but she had another plan. She brought down a fist with her other hand as he moved in for his own strike, but her fist was charged with energy and ready to go, releasing as she brought it down, causing a small explosion that helped her to roll away while it blew Dremmick out of the crater, shattering his blood spike and sending him rolling as well, although, less gracefully.

Dremmick stood up, everything was spinning and there was a ringing in his ears. He looked up at his attacker, who was already rapidly closing the gap, "Who the hell are you?" he questioned though he got no answer. He was a bit more focused now. One enemy, should be easy. He formed a long blade from his hand and took hold of it like a two handed sword. This kept her at a distance until she made a mistake, she got in close, passing around the blade, but from the blade itself he sent out more streams of blood magic that skewered through her. "Checkmate," Dremmick said. His eyes turned to its soul vision form and his arm started to glow dimly with his own life force. Only odd thing was, is that there was no soul inside of this woman. "What the-"

Just then there was another explosion just behind him, blasting the back of his shirt away along with him flying a good ten yards forward until he hit the ground rolling. It was Shye's doppelganger that he took out, not Shye. "Dammit," Dremmick cursed. That was a technique mainly used by the Dolofon, which could only mean...they found him. Dremmick could feel that there wear a number of damaged organs in his body from the two explosions. He would be bleeding internally if he wasn't controlling his blood flow, but now it was so severe that if he stopped, he could surely die quickly. His hand started to glow as he dipped it into the earth, drawing life energy from the plant life around him, and he started to heal himself. This caused the curse to increase a bit further, creeping ever so slowly across his body. If it weren't for Ami's loose healing, he may have not progressed this far for another few years, but it was too late to worry about that now. Dremmick stood up, still in intense pain yet a bit refreshed compared to before. This time though he saw her soul. "You're the one who was watching us earlier," he started, "We should have killed you then." he said breathing heavily. "You won't get away this time."

Dremmick moved back in to engage her, but she proved to be even harder to make contact with than her doppelganger. She stayed to his left side to avoid his arm, and would burn away or explode any blood formations that weren't fast enough to do anything to her. It looked like they were in a stalemate.... unless. She was fast, to a point Dremmick even had trouble keeping up with her, so he had to make the area hazardous so she couldn't close in. Dremmick held out his arm and a red mist started to release from it. Much like what he did against the fire lion, he was creating a fog that he could use blood creation anywhere around himself and the immediate area. She wound't be able to burn through it all, and would effectively be surrounded if she stayed. not to mention the slow painful death he could cause from her breathing it in.

Shye was unsure with this new development. The man could control his blood inside and outside of his body, as well as score a fatal hit from his necromancy. Walking into the mist would be suicide, for certain. Shye backed off a bit. But Dremmick only seemed to try to close the gap, the mist following him. she was able to escape a few times by burning up blood mist closest to her, but it was only a matter of time, she had to find a way to disengage and fight later.

[Guy0fV4lor]

Mason Drake

---

@Rai@Jollan@Verticus@Brithwyr@RumikoOhara

As Mason awaited Ami's response, a bright beam of light that very momentarily rivaled the light she was casting off surged into existence behind the young knight, accompanied by an almost familiar sensation. In his core he could almost sense it was Dremmick's magic. How Mason could tell was a mystery to the boy, but more importantly- Dremmick could be in danger! Reeling around, he nearly careened into a snarling dragon! Deadly plants, twisted with dark magic rapidly burst from the ground within the gathered crowd! Though his comrade likely needed help, countless innocent lives were suddenly at stake! "Shit!" the boy exclaimed with panic. As worried as he was for Dremmick, Mason had full confidence his friend's abilities, but for now, the civilians took priority.

Drawing his chaos blade, Mason darted down into the crowd; flying faster than he ever had in his entire life, those who were small, and on the verge of ensnarement, he would snatch up, rush to safety, then return to the scene. Those who were too big to carry, or had already been caught, Mason would free with a slash from his sword as he flew by, sweat pouring from his face as he did so.... Once the civilians were safe, the budding hero could face those responsible head-on without worry that his volatile magic may harm an innocent bystander.

[Verticus]

---

---

Garrett stared at the shopkeeper in his state of sopor. Being guided to such a commercial area was strange for a first-date, in fact, being introduced to such a 'drug' that the potion was, well, that was extremely shrouded in confusion. It took a moment for Garrett to catch on to what Raquel was insinuating, and what the potion actually was. "Oh." Raising an armored hand he would place it against hers, to hold the outside of her hand that held the 'feel good' potion. "This.. Would make you forget, a lot. You would never be able to move forward, you'd just remember what you wanted so hard to forget." He looked at the stand, to Raquel, to the potion. "I'll buy it. But I want you to promise me something that you must never break."

Raquel looked down. Humbled by his words of wisdom. Never having gone through such loss she didn't know precisely how to cope. If there ever was one. She nodded a thank you to his offer of coin for the potion. But his request made her shudder and look up at him with widened expectant eyes, a hint of fear and curiosity in them. "What?"

Garret smiled at her, happy that he had piqued her interest "It doesn't have to be the potion. It can be anything from the market, a ring, a necklace, a pendant, a crystal, a gem, but this potion is here right now." He looked around, motioning her to do the same with his free hand. "Do you see how this place is? After so much pain and fighting? The world as we know it, Raquel, is only this. Everywhere I go, and maybe some day you will too, there is one thing in common: Pain and Suffering. Everywhere. It is not exclusive here, dear." He nodded to himself. "I do not want the world as we know it to be like this. At all. Pain and Suffering is not a fair paradigm that should exist anywhere. I plan, to change this world through what I can do, to end the pain and suffering everywhere. Nobody should be forced to go through the horrors of the world." He looked back at Raquel, hoping to meet her eyes. "What I want you to promise me is when the time comes, wherever or however you may be, you will pledge and align yourself to my beliefs and virtues." With a smile, he continues. "Nobody could ever do such a thing alone. What could change the world is not simply one person who wishes to change it, but many, maybe a whole society, who wishes to change it. I know you hurt. With how the world is currently, hurt will continue. Think about the societies and factions currently in place: They'd jump at the fact that they could take more territory or make themselves more powerful. They will hurt those who have no qualms or claims to such beliefs, they'd hurt people like you, and those we have lost. I want to stop that. Completely. I want to stop all who wish that. I ask for your promise. I ask for yours, and anyone you think would want what I want."

Raquel was taken in by the philosophical speech. Garrett to her seemed truly legitimate in his ideals to help change things. A land with no suffering sold her enough and she was smitten by the promise even despite her sadness. But she was at the same time brimming with questions. "Are you not a knight? Would it not be against some sort of code to see your kingdom as you say?" She sighed. Thinking briefly. "Queen Allo Niscent isn't one to grab territory... I follow her and the people of Gaia. Who I believe share similar desires.." She smiled looking the knight in the visage. "So yes... i promise!"

Garrett nodded. Regardless of how she interpreted what he had said, she would promise to them despite that fact. This will not be the only time she will be thinking on what he said, a seed planted is not a plant until it is fully grown. She will understand exactly what he means soon enough. "Do you want to look for rings? This potion doesn't seem very fruitful, but now that you've got me in the mood, I will get you something of your choosing." He smiled. The conversation was fruitful in the sense that new seeds were sewn in the mind of the poor barmaiden. Strange enough as the world is, materialism was good sense as to remembering a promise.

"A-ah ring..?" She stammered. But was visibly more relaxed by his mention of getting what she wanted. "Well Ive never tried it before... I was hoping you might try with me." Lips thinning into a boisterous smile. As if challenging the knight. "Are you a sober knight? Dark armor yet clean as a whistle." Her left hand ran against his armor whilst her tail expertly grasped the handle of the potion.

He smiled in kind, this was certainly an entertaining encounter, especially with the aspect of such a potion coming into contact with his lips. Lips. He stared at her mouth, as if expressing interest in more than the smile she exposits towards him. He looked at her as she got more physical with his person, and what she might be doing with the potion. Slipping a few coins from his free hand out of the protected pouch of currency fastened to his body onto the counter, he would ensure the potion she had in her hands was paid for, and theirs for their consumption. "A ring and a potion. You sure do drive a hard bargain, Raquel. We'll look for a ring after we go through what this will do to us. We'll have to find a safe place, say a room in an inn, to experience this without a painful end." His free hand would get handsy on it's own, taking a delicate hold on some of the loose locks of Raquel's hair, and shifting them behind her ear, before running his comforting and warm hand along her cheek, in a form of a sweet caress.

It was soon they both were within a room at the inn. Raquel and Garrett whispering sweet promises to each other. The fireplace within one of their finest rooms was where their next conversation started. The ominous potion sitting on a dresser before a mirror that perfectly reflected the low hanging fruit of sunshine coming through the balcony. Stoney and steel enforced. Cold to the touch yet connects you more to the warmth inside of you and eager to seek a body to share it with. The lodgings of Savvan's inn was a cozy place. The smooth tender skinn of Raquel was flush with a crimson underneath her bronze complexion. Her scales were visibly like stone and her filed and polished claws were just as healthy. She laid back on the bed, folding her legs and looking up at Garrett with a smile. "Pardon my rudeness. But are you a knight of Gaia?"

The change of scenery was a a welcomed change for Garrett, such an area would be an opportune time to remove his armor completely and leave it in the room, leaving only the clothing he used beneath the armor to be on his body, the familiar smell of freshly tanned hides and tree bark emanates from his body now that he wasn't wearing such a dirt-smelling armor, either would have been familiar to a hunter of Gaia, one for nobility and one of a fellow hunter. He watched her movements, keeping a relaxed smile on his face. "While we are in this room, I am a Gaian just like you. While we are in this room my duties are to keep you happy. I am indeed a Knight, but not while I'm here, unless you wanted me to be." It was a menial manipulation tactic to dance around the subject but answer it with such a roundabout way. Garrett moved to the edge of the bed, leveling himself with the relaxing woman. "It wasn't rude to ask."

That chiseled form underneath expertly sewn cotton. His odor was kin to natural setting a hunters mark and to her a sign of being an expert traveler through Gaia. Though he was not as large as other men who were knights in Gaia she felt safe around him. He was still fairly foreign to her. The way he spoke in straight sentences. It was hard for her to keep her farm girl accent at bay. "Hmm.. Id prefer you be you." She pointed to him and grinned. "A Knight. Or a man named Garrett whom has traveled into town on a secret mission. The wind sure did blow in a group of you foreigners." Her ears perked up as lights and sounds came from out the window. The blinds letting what little sunlight remained in. The sound of everyone shouting in joy caught her attention and she was stepping onto the floor to walk and see. "What tha hell is going on out there?"

Garrett took a look towards the window. "It may be a commotion I may have to leave for. If you did not want me to stay." He turned, to take a seat on the bed before leaning back so his head pressed against the figure Raquel sported. He had no plans on doing anything but relaxing and sharing a moment with the woman he so graciously courted. "It would be my duty as a knight to go see what the fuss is about. However, I am Garrett Everard at the moment. A big, stark contrast from each other, I assure you." It sounded poetic, he thought, a graceful way to put words, he did not mind giving such inflections and tone to a woman of romantic interest.

The gentle weight of his body filled her with a warm feeling. She kept her eyes on the window but her mind was on his words. "No. I do not wish for you to leave.." The negative thought of keeping a guard from his duty was tempting in a way she ad not felt before. The feeling of power, to have his precious time to herself. A chance she likely won't get again. She turned to look him in the eye. "Garrett Everarda..." She said gently in her accent. It was in contrast to the proper speech of high class nobles and knights. She took his hand. Though hers large for a woman's his was fairly larger. She pressed her own weight to his. Proving she was still a sizable I do blooded woman whose tail was loosely wrapped over his waist. "At least for a few hours.. stay as you are."

@Rai

[Jollan]

Allard, Nailah, Lynn, and the guardians

The group was pleased to be in Nailahs and Allards presence. Each introducing themselves to Nailah. Grim quickly taking the drinks and participating with a self pleasing grinn. His hair curling over his face a little from having been under the humidity of the helmet. Om did not participate. "I seek to stay pure in order to be worthy enough to become a Dragon." He said with humble respect. Erica turned to Nailah with a gentle yet curious smile. "Oh I do tend to get that at times from foreigners." She took up to the drink like the others. Galland was nearly shouting with laughter to Allards story. His chair despite its ample form wheezed under the weight of his body still in armor. "Ah damn good way tah make uh return!" He spoke between glugs. A way of fiercly pouring ones drink into their mouths. Vast amounts of drink filled Gallands belly by the second. "AH DO WUNT TAH MEET THA!" He wasnt one for belching often. So he let out a single loud one before continuing in a more coherent speech. "Meet tha one who healed us. But she looked fairly busy. You know who tha fine lass was Allard?"

"Ah, that woulda been lady Ami. A high born Seraphim capable of amazin feats of healin. She was tha one floating in tha sky scatterin light all around. Tha other healer acompany'n us was a young lassa gal. She healed a number o' folks, thoigh nothin' like tha other. Ami even revived mah wings," Allard said moving them a bit.

Nailah let out a mischievous smile as she saw the others starting to drink too. Om was the only one who didn't. It was a shame, really but Nailah knew that she wouldn't be able to convince him that easily, since he mentioned wanting to stay 'pure'.

"A shame really, but I respect your reasons." Nailah said, with a kind smile towards Om.

Turning towards Erica, who also seemed to be drinking, Nailah giggled as she said she usually heard comments such as the one she had made from foreigners.

"Oh, but I didn't mean to offend you. Quite the contraire to be truthful! You're really something!" Nailah said, giggling.

"I wonder, men probably can't help themselves around you, can they? I wouldn't be surprised if you said that even some women tried to flirt with you..." she continued, with a mischievous smile and a wink.

"A secret between girls, I know exactly how you feel... Regarding both men and women." Nailah said, whispering to her with a cute laugh.

"From where I came from, not wearing many clothes is quite common due to the temperature, but whenever I go to other places, the stares are always present. Can't say I don't like them though... It took me a lot of training to make my body graceful and strong at the same time. Nothing wrong in letting others appreciate it, right?" Nailah said.

It was then that Allard started telling stories about his childhood together with Galland. With an amused expression, Nailah quietly heard them, laughing as he finished talking about how they strapped the Onyx guy who won the strength competition to a rock and threw him.

"I certainly don't envy the ones who were responsible for taking care of you when you guys were younger!" Nailah said, laughing as she took another sip from her tankard.
Galland, unlike Om, seemed to be ecstatic with everything that was happening. Showing that clearly on how he was drinking.
As he mentioned the healer who was floating above the city though, Nailah raised an eyebrow. She was also curious about her, but she didn't want to interrupt Allard's stories just to ask about something so... unfun.

"A seraphim, Ami and a Lassa..." Nailah repeated.

"I am really excited to meet them! Lassas aren't very common from where I came too!" she said, smiling

"Two gorgeous women drinking with you guys and yet you're speaking of another one? So greedy..." Nailah said, nudging Erica playfully while laughing.

"Unless... It was love at first sight?" Nailah asked, with a fox like expression as she looked to Galland, teasing him.

"Oh~ That's so cute~" she said, excitedly without even waiting for his reply.

"Allard, you know a lot about her, right? What kind of men does she like? What are her tastes and preferences regarding presents and activities?" she asked, resting her head on her hands as she waved her tail behind her.

"Oh, shes a firecracker in her own right." He said shooting Erica a grin, "but I'm afraid I had mine own sights set on another growin up," he said looking into his tankard thinking of his wife when they were young. "But Galland!" He said looking up with a broad smile, "tha man couldn't take 'is eyes off 'er, hahahaha! Well, she was certainly a sight ta behold then amongst all tha flowers in their shop. But now look at 'er, makin all these men in armor look like grimy beggers in comparison, even makin' armor look as lovely as lace! Gahahahaha!" He laughed as he threw back another tankard in a few swift gulps.

Erica couldn't help but to blush at the attention she was receiving. "I aim ta keep this town safe. What folk think when they gander at me out my armor is no concern of mine." She sipped her drink. Galland nodded. "Ai.. She ain't the young lass you once knew Allard. She has grown into a brave warrior for her people. This town, and even for tha Queen. She appointed us all. Coming down from high mountain ta do so."

"Aye...many things 'ave changed since I've gone it seems." He said looking down at his tankard as he took another drink, then setting the empty container to the side, a new one nearly instantly replacing it. He wished he could have been here to fight alongside them. There was no real point to dwell on the past, as it couldnt be changed, but it was still bitter. "Tha Queen 'erself came down, eh? What encouraged that?"

"I suppose it was the bandit attack. Or no.. the slavers. Or perhaps the rogue mages. Regardless of what it was we aided tha town and it's people. Even going as far to raid our enemies encampments and ensure they never bother another son or daughter of our own again." Galland looked Allard in the eye. "We made sure those forests were safe and free for hunting game. Not people."

Allard nodded with a short toast with his new tankard, "glad ta hear it, I only wish I could'a been there ta help." He quickly tried to change the subject, "So, how have those flabby arms been holdin' out fur ya?" He said with a grin as he planted a heavy arm on the table for a good ol' fashioned arm wrestle.

"Oh~ So sweet!" Nailah said, teasing Galland as she heard Allard talking about him.

Turning to Erica, who was blushing due to all the attention she was receiving, she couldn't help but laugh. It looked like Erica wasn't used to be stared at and be noticed, not as a warrior, but as a woman.

"I make of your words mine, regarding what others think about me." Nailah said, agreeing with Erica.

"But if you ask me, It's a waste to not use one's beauty as a weapon. After all, a women's body is also one of her weapons. You wouldn't believe how many people underestimate me due to my body." Nailah said, with a mischievous wink

"It also makes things quite funny!" Nailah said with a giggle before drinking the last bit from her tankard.

"How are you all guys holding up? Already tipsy?" Nailah asked, with a mischievous smile, almost if she was plotting something.

One of the tricks Nailah used when drinking was to burn the alcohol in her mouth as she drank. Even though Nailah has a really good tolerance to alcohol, with this little trick, she basically won't get drunk. While she wasn't doing that yet, as she really wanted to drink a little bit and taste it, she wasn't going to let Allard, Galland and the others win that little drinking contest.
Looking back to Galland and Allard, the two men were busy talking about many things, especially their past. While Nailah could appreciate to watch two old friends reuniting themselves after a long time, she was also feeling a bit excluded on all that talk, since she was pretty much the newcomer.

When Allard challenged Galland to a little strength competition, Nailah smiled, clapping excitedly.

"Ooh! Arm wrestling! I wonder if we'll be able to see the winner of it the table will break first!" Nailah said, laughing as she leaned on the table to watch, conveniently making her cleavage quite pronounced as her breasts rested on the table. While it wasn't really on purpose, which was made obvious by the way she was looking to Allard and Galland, genuinely interested in their arm wrestling contest, acting in such a seductive way was natural to her.

"We have come to find out they keep spares in the back," Allard joked about the table breaking, though... it was true. As the match started Allard went to turn to say something to Nailah, trying but failing to notice her cleavage pushing forward, his eyes reverting back to the arm wrestling match at hand his reddening face covered up by the strain of the wrestling match thankfully."S-so! Nailah. What about you? You seem well traveled, any jolly tales from your adventures?"
---
Lynn was worried something may have happened to Siiga while she was out, but now that she was full of energy, she felt like she should go find her. She looked up and saw a figure enveloped in light above the town, though she couldn't get a good long look to see who it was because it was admittedly a little too bright. With Metis as her shadow, she made her way back to the inn. She hoped that maybe everything was okay and she was headed back to the inn for the night. When she opened the doors to the inn, everyone turned to take a look at who walked in for a second before going about their business, as it seemed common practice in most bars. A couple people waves to the 'walking potion' before continuing in their drink.

She was trying to make her way through the somewhat crowded bar, as there were a lot of people celebrating, to try to make it to the stairs. Allard, while arm wrestling, knocked back the remnants of another tankard, still without sign of inebriation. He turned, like everyone else to notice the arrival of the Lassa girls. "Oi, there's tha Lassa lasses now," he said, chuckling at his own combination of words. "Guess they finally got tired of sleepin' outside under tha medic tent."

"Alright ol' friend, are ya done done holdin' back or are ya gonna give it yur all?" he said, taunting Galland.

The patrons could only look up at the rowdy crew above. With joyous praise they spoke of them. Erica was fitted with a relaxed composure. She was more reserved with her drinking and thoughts. Yet she seemed open to their energetic exchanges. Stifling a chuckle as her cheeks grew red. Om quietly sat sipping his own drink. Even more so reserved than Erica. "I have heard of the strength of Gallands old friends." He uttered in thought. Galland looked at the sturdy table. It's thick wood was supported with stone. He layed a thick right arm on the table. Knocking over empty cups in the process onto the floor. He looked at Allard with a 'bring It' expression. His cocky grinn growing. "I remember a strong farm boy yes. But these are the hands that crushed many foes for this place. I cannot lose on my terf!" He roared slamming his fist onto the table. Causing an sizable cavity. Yet the durability of the table contained the blow.

The two were locked hand in hand in what could be recorded as one of the greatest arm wrestling matches seen in many a year. The struggle went on for some time. Allard was sure that Galland had faced many foes in his time as a guardian. But Allard had lived and breathed combat day in and day out for the past eleven years. "You are tha stongest man I know, Galland," he said between breaths with a devious grin starting to form. "You have had many victories, an I pray that ya never lose another battle. So....old friend....may this be tha last taste of defeat ya ever receive!" Allard hauled in his all his might. Slowly but steadily gaining ground as Galland's hand inched ever so closer to the table.
---
Lynn finally made it through the crowd and up the stairs. She knew that the group had most the rooms booked, so she started knocking to see if Siiga may be in one of them. so far most of them held no response save for one person yelling 'piss off' when she rapped on the door. turning red and continuing on, she was about to knock on the door until she heard a commotion. Many curses were being shouted, and it most definitely sounded like Siiga. But the other voice belonged to...that boy! She could here the sounds of struggling and splashing. worried that something may be wrong she started banging on the door "Siiga! It's Lynn! Are you alright!?" She didn't get an answer, which made her more worried, were they fighting? She had to help! With that she barged through the door, using her steel staff to break through, breaking the knob on the door. "Siiga! Are you okay!" She yelled, panic evident in her voice.

[Jollan]

Mason, Shye, and Dremmick

Shye knew she was faster than, Dremmick, but not his blood magic, she had to lose him, and quickly. If she was out of his range, she would be in the clear. Without her doppelganger, she would have to just make a run for it. She bolted back towards town. "Oh no you don't!" Dremmick called out as spikes formed from the mist and flew towards her. He just would need one to hit. Shye however, thought he would try something like this and already had her fist balled up. She leaped forward and turned in the air to face the projectiles, directing one hand to the ground and the other in front of her. She released both blasts at once one, one to break the ground beneath her sending rocks and dirt in the air to cover her, and the other to destroy the spikes. When Dremmick made his way through the cloud of dust to chase her, she was gone."DAMMIT!" he cursed. He went back to gather his equipment before he continued into the city.

Shye was making her way through the city and stopped in an alley to catch her breath. She slumped down to the ground against the wall, her breathes heavy but silent. Nix swooped down from the skies in a panic, having been there while she fought. But she seemed distressed about something. Nix tried soothing her by petting the little dragon, but it wasn't long until she hears a commotion in the streets. She cautiously peaked around the corner, her eyes going wide at the sight. rogue plant-life was running rampant in the streets, attacking people at random. Shye had no idea what was going on, as far as she had known things were fairly peaceful after Nuxta's forces left the area.(edited)
All the sudden the building she was leaning against started to rumble as a plant had overgrown through it, people pouring out of it, running for their lives. The poisonous tendrils reaching out to grab who they could. In the building however, there was still a cry for help, a young child by the sound of it, accompanied by a woman screaming and trying to go back into the house, being stopped by someone who knew it was too late. Shye wasn't particularly sure why. It wasn't her fight, and she should have continued to flee, but instead she jumped into the fray.

Shye leaped through one of the holes in the building, burning and tearing her way through the growth, trying to follow the sound of the child. She found a doorway warped by the building crumbling to pieces, her way through blocked by more growth. She dug her claws into the thick vines,and started to burn through it, ripping out anything that became too weak to hold on. Eventually she found the child crying in the center of the room. She picked him up and fought her way back through the crumbling building, being pelted with ruble and scratched by the plants' thorns as they tried to attack her on her way out. When she made it out, she set the child down and her ran to his mother who scooped him up and ran without a word of thanks, too terrified to stop. Shye's body however started to feel weak. Those thorns...they must have been poisonous, She tried to move but found her body start to numb as she fell to the ground. More tendrils reached out from the broken house, wrapping around her and starting to drag her back in, a hungry maw forming in the center of the building, its tendrils looking for prey to consume. Nix started to panic, trying in vain to cut the vines, biting and scratching at them, ripping some off successfully, but not fast enough, as there were many more to replace them. Shye could hear Nix's outcries to her as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Just as the tendrils seemed to have won, a white blur shot toward the fallen woman; wielding a sword engulfed in black flame. In a single swipe, the tendrils grasping the woman turned to a sickly gray ash as the blur flew past, once again taking to the air before twisting around for a second flyby. This time it seemed to be aiming for Shye as it swept low, it's flaming blade currently out of sight.

All the sudden, the tendrils Nix was working on were all severed. Causing her to stumble back as something flew by them. The dragonling's fur was raised as she saw it coming back at them. She hissed at Mason as he made his second approach while standing on top of Shye's unconscious form, unsure what his intentions were.

With a jerk, Mason scooped them up before more tendrils could lash out once more. Once in his arms, it was clear the young knight was already exhausted from working to save so many civilians; beads of sweat poured down his face as he drew ragged breathes. Looking at Nix, a weak, but reassuring smile grew across his face "Don't worry little one, I'm here to help. The scary people will be all gone soon, I promise!" as a knight he was obligated to give hope to those who needed it most, to make them feel safe in the moments of greatest peril.

Nix wasn't entirely convinced, but she stoped hissing at him. Her fur was still raised and she hunkered down, claws holding on.

Dremmick hard a hard time finding Shye after her escape. When he got frther into town, it felt like a battleground. Buildings were torn asunder, injured people scrambling for safety, and strange plant-like creatures wreaking havoc in every direction. Dremmick had to put aside his hunt to start dealing with the new problem at hand. He starded destroying as many plants as he could, ripping through to the heart of the plant with his blood magic, and then draining away their life energy, and dispersing it to any injired he came across. There were many times he was hit by poison, but he used his control over his own blood to push the poison back out of the wound, expelling any blood affected by the poisons as well. Some, seeing his wounds as he fought, thought him a monster as well and ran from him. Eventually he saw Mason overhead, and though he would link up with him to find the rest of the group....but there was a particular person he saw in his arms that made his blood boil.

Dremmick shot up from the streets to the rooftops using his blood manipulation to grapple up. "MASON! UNHAND HER! SHE'S DOLOFON!" He yelled out to him, a long slender single edged blade forming in his hand. It was reminiscent of a katana, with a longer blade and a much longer handle, am in between of pole-arm and two handed sword, its color completely crimson. Dremmick stood there, eyes now glowing yellow, that ghostly aura streaming from his eyes and enveloping from his right arm, and now across his chest with the rest of his cursed flesh. "Put. Her. Down." He commanded, the murderous intent obvious in his voice.

This woman was part of the Dolofon? Normally, Mason would have dropped her the instant he heard those words, but the person in his arms had gone down trying to save a child. They deserved a second chance. "I can't do that Dremmick, this woman nearly died saving a child.... Even if she is Dolofon, I'd say she deserves a chance to redeem herself. Besides, it's dishonorable for a knight to abandon someone over their past mistakes; you of all people should understand that." he hollered back. However, as Dremmick began to get more and more aggressive, Mason began to grow unsure of his friend's sanity. Could the curse be affecting his mind? It had clearly grown, or was at least larger than Mason had expected. "You need to CALM DOWN. This is no time for vengence. These people need our help-- and more importantly, your curse is spreading.... It's probably for the best you cover up and come back to this later AFTER we deal with the current situation." Mason continued as he flew onward toward the nearest medical personnel he could see outside the danger zone.

"To Hell with a knight's honor if it means saving the life of an enemy who will do nothing but turn around and kill you given the chance. She attacked me, and at any other time she wouldn't hesitate to slit any of our throats just as long as its her mission. Don't be a fool Mason!" At this he did level his blade towards Mason, though he was still a good distance away. Crimson wraps started to cover his exposed body like bandages. "I don't want to fight you Mason, but I will not lose anyone else to the likes of them."

Nix spent her time trying to wake Shye, licking at her face. She knew that whoever they were fighting before had caught up to them, and it was attempting to try to wake her so they could leave. The poison won't kill her, but unknown to the dragonling, even if she woke right now, she would be unable to move for a while.

"Dremmick, this isn't an argument. I'M SAVING THIS WOMAN'S LIFE. Don't worry, the Dolofon won't do shit... If they tried, they would fail, and even if they DID succeeded, a war would break out... Dremmick I give you my WORD, that you won't regret this, I'm sure this woman can be reasoned with."

Dremmick had a decision to make. To trust in someone else, or to go about what he felt was right on his own. It was a tough choice considering his past. Dremmick simply nodded as he followed. His grip on his weapon tightened, blood dripping from his hand as he let them go. "Fine," he said hatefully, not really at Mason, but of the situation in general. "But if I see so much as a bit of resistance from her...I WILL kill her, you have my word." He stopped following and turned his attention to the rest of the town so he could find what was causing this. He called out to Mason as he gained distance. "I'll meet you at the inn when this is settled, I'm going hunting...," with that, he jumped off the rooftops and back into the fray, looking for whoever was spreading the poisonous plant seeds.

Thankfully, it seemed that Mason had saved the woman's life..... For now... Landing in front of the medical personnel that he had seen earlier, he handed the unconscious Shye over . "This woman needs medical attention; from the looks of it, I believe she's been poisoned! Please see to it that she doesn't run off after coming to, I want to speak with her when this is over." he said as he took to the sky, "And mind the little one! They seem to be very uncomfortable around others!"

With that, he drew his blade once more, and flew straight for the Scythe woman.......

[Rai]

All was well until the mage decided to begin using the sacred child Ami Lovegood's power for his own purposes. Such a blind growth only led to the rise of terrible thorns and poisonous drippings. The stone hide of the homes and streets withstood most of the early growth. But if allowed to continue it would disturb the sediment and give rise to rooted beasts. For now they only grew stronger by the aura of commandment forcing all organisms to experience rejuvenation and growth.

Revived warriors, those who worked here as merchants or as farmers, all took those who fought and nearly died the night before were all prepared for tonight. Their nerves steeled as they were just a few moments ago awaiting the release of death. Their brothers and sisters having died the night before their souls forever lost to Nuxta flamed the fire in their hearts to fight against whomever saw to harm this town. Those who ran home remained armed and fired arrows from their windows. Though to a constantly growing plant it did little. Many found their own wounds to be healed immediately as Ami's blessing continued. But the suffering they had to endure from having their bodies ensnared in thorns was painful even to see.

The hardy hides of many of the Oro natives and their ability to fly made escape much easier however. Few fell victim to the plants. Most were able to fend off their early rise and return to their homes or to watch the events unfold right outside of town. A large crowd of people running through the town and rushing past the woman with the scythe. Whom was soon approached by the Aion rookie knight, Mason. Her dragon snarled at Mason, but let the rushing crowd go by without paying it any mind. She pet the beast. Upon further inspection she was a fair woman. One who had the markings of a crescent moon on face and body. Loose armored attire with much of her flesh revealed. Dark scales much like the dragons was on her backside and shoulders.

This woman looked to Mason with a cold yet curious smile. "What do you want? In a time like this you should keep helping the needy, don't you think?" She asked. Her left hand on her hip, her right on the scythe next to her.
@Guy0fV4lor

Galland was fairly surprised by Allard's victory. Though he took it quite well. Chuckling as he sat back on his seat. Feeling an assurance he hadn't felt in a long while. When there were plenty of the strong Oro men and women who walked this town and the one over. Mighty people who had kin from long ago, those who never went up the mountain to be a part of royalty. But soon the fun and reminiscing came to an end. The sounds of people screaming form outside could be heard from a mile away. The group quickly got to their feet and looked out the Inn's windows to see the plants that grew and grew, spiraling onto the towns roads and wrapping around anything it touched. At its center was the masked man, his tattered cloak flowing in the wind as a gigantic flytrap was beneath him. Its aura even visible to the naked eye. A orchid enigma.

@Jollan

[13org]

---

^{@Jollan @Rai}

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C86060

Nailah didn't remember the last time she sat down to drink with such a merry group, even if some were more... quiet. The arm wrestling match, surprisingly, was won by Allard, but not without some difficulty. It was a spectacle in it's own right. But what made Nailah even more surprised was the fact that the poor wooden table held those two titanic men and didn't break.

"I think we can agree that the real winner here is the poor table, don't you guys agree?" Nailah said, laughing. But just as she did so, all laughter quickly died off as panicked screams started to echo through the inn, coming from the city outside.

Looking to the window, they could clearly see the plants growing, taking over the entire city, spiraling and wrapping everything it touched. Differently from the plants growing before, those were much more... chaotic and out of control. It was definitely work of some type of magic. Probably different from the powerful healing one from before.

Allard and the rest of the knights were quick to jump from their chairs, immediately getting ready for the combat. Nailah in the other hand, rolled her eyes with a clearly annoyed expression.

"Oh, what luck..." she said, with a sarcastic tone as she stood up.

"Just as things were starting to get fun... Who knows when I'll have the chance to sit down and drink a bit again..." Nailah mumbled to herself as she calmly walked to the window, taking a better look outside.

While she was indeed curious about what the hell was happening, if she could choose, she would definitely choose to stay at the bar drinking and trying to have some fun with the boys.

With a surprisingly knightly shout, Allard drew his blades, heading to the door together with the other warriors. Taking a better look at him, he definitely looked like he was part of the group.
Nailah turned to Allard with a kind smile as he said to her to stay close to him, obviously worrying about her safety. Thinking about it a bit better, it was only natural for others to think that looking at Nailah. Unlike the warriors who were with her, she wore no armor nor wielded any weapons. Not only that, but she was also not a giant like the others. But she had a small surprise to show them. Nailah only wondered how Allard would react...

"You're such a sweetheart, Allard!" Nailah said, with a giggle.

"Don't worry too much though, I doubt anyone would be able to even touch me. That and..." she said, raising her right hand, showing him her claws.

"These aren't just for show... And if things get too dangerous... I'm half dragon, remember?" she said, swinging her tail with a smirk.

"I promise I'll keep my eye on you guys. Can't promise I'll stay 'close' though. The only thing I ask if to trust me. If things get too weird I might do some... interesting things." she said, with a calm and serene smile as her eyes quickly moved from one side to another, carefully sweeping their surroundings.

"Hey..." she said, as they got out and saw the strange figure standing ominously at the center of all that chaos.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Nailah said, without taking her eyes off the strange man even for a single second.

[Brithwyr]

AND

---

Now, I know what you're thinking. What has Siiga and Bonnie been doing throughout all this? What weird and wonderful misadventures had they been getting up to that was so important that they couldn't take part in this big fight? Well, I hope you've got some lube handy, reader, because this may blow your mind!

Siiga was trying to give Bonnie a bath. I know, important stuff. Screw fighting for survival and honour, the really important stuff is that your tootsies are sufficiently bubbled up.

Weeeeell... I'm making it out like its nothing important. But Bonnie was in a really bad way. There's some things you just can't see through a threadbare cloak and ragged tunic. Things like the lice in his hair, or the eczema up and down his body. This wasn't that cute kinda sickness you see in books, where the person is a little pale and coughs a little, but is otherwise okay. This was full on Ethiopian Child level starvation. There were inmates at Dachau who would say Bonnie was too thin.

"Bonnie, get into the fucking bath."
Siiga had been trying unsuccessfully to get the little brat to take his bath like a good boy. In one hand, she had him by the scruff of the neck, and in the other, a red-hot iron comb that she planned on dragging through his scalp and melting the little vermin who infested him alive. But Bonnie, being Bonnie, just wasn't having it.

"Nae fear!" He cried, kicking, screaming, punching and spitting in a desperate bid for freedom. Oh, he knew how this worked. You meet a nice girl and she acts perfectly sweet, gets you into a nice room, gives you a nice warm bath and the next thing you know, they're pulling out maid outfits and calling you their waifu. Man, if he had a pound for every time that happened... he'd have two pounds, which isn't much, but it's still weird that happen twice.

With all the swearing and cursing, it was a surprise no one had cottoned on to what was going on. Surely SOMEONE had to think there was something fishy going on? Well, this is a story, so I'm allowed to say no for the sake of convenience, which means the first person to barge in on all this going down was none other than our own dear innocent swimmy girl, Lynn.

And what a sight she would have seen! Imagine that, barging into a room to see Siiga forcing a little naked girly-boy into a tub, his bum hanging out and everything. Poor girl would have been traumatized.

"Lynn! Thank god! Hold this little bastard down while I wash him, will ya!?" Yelped Siiga, deftly avoiding a boot to the chin.
"Oi, fish tits! Git yon creep aff me!" Was Bonnie's response.

[Jollan]

Lynn gasped in surprise and hid her eyes behind her large sleeve. "I-I am so sorry! I didn't mean to barge in! I thought you were in trouble!" When Siiga asked for help however, she peeked around her sleeve with one eye, and to the encouragement of Bonnie, she decided to help Siiga. She currently didn't like how the boy referred to her and how he treated her the past few times, so she was actually quite happy to comply with Siiga for this task. The Lassa girl lifted her left hand to the water and then motioned upward with it. The water lifted out of the tub and enveloped Bonnie's body save for his face. The water then, unlike normal became still around him, making it to where he couldn't move because she was applying pressure by moving the water against him, allowing Siiga to brush and scrub away the grime, which seemed to be visibly gathering in the water, Lynn would move the impurities away into a separate ball of water to keep it nice and clean. To keep her mind off the naked lad, she found his clothes on the ground, just as grimy as he was. Borrowing some of the soap that Siiga was using, she made a separate ball of water from her water jar and put the clothes and soap in the ball of water. The clothes in the water ball began to move furiously about until they seemed clean. She let the water fall down the tub's drain and pulled the water from the clothes making them dry once again.

"There! That's much better!" She then turned to Siiga to see how she was doing when she started to hear the cries of the people outside. "W-what was that?" she questioned as she went to the window. She gasped at the sight. "S-Siiga! Look! The town!" she warned. She wasn't sure what to do. on one hand it could be safe here, on the other, she saw other buildings succumbing to the overgrowth. She wasn't a fighter, she never had to really fight with her magic before and the thought of being on a battlefield frightened her. She could heal people, but that was usually after the fact. Her ears were low and her tail was wrapped around her as a look of worry and fear crossed her face.

[Jollan]

Mason, Allard, Nailah

Screams pierced through the merriment of the bar. Allard was quick to jump from his chair, early knocking it over to get to the door and see what was happening. It was like something from a nightmare. Plant growth ran rampant, to a point where there were seemingly sentient plants attacking the citizens and tearing buildings asunder. it could only be the work of some magic, but from where? It didn't matter, they needed to help any of the citizens they could. While Ami may be able to heal wounds, he wasn't sure if she could heal a lethal strike from any of these creatures. They had to act fast.

"We are under attack! To arms!" Allard shouted to the others who were on their way to the door already. Allard drew his blades, raising the smaller one vertically in front of his face nearly touching his forehead as he bowed it in a short prayer for the battel ahead. He then looked over to Nailah, and slung his heavy blade up to rest on his right shoulder, his daughter's blade in his left hand at the ready. "Stay close ta me, I will keep ya safe." he told her. He didn't know if it was the best option, but with what he saw around him, there wasn't much for a safe place to hide either. He looked back out to the chaos around him and prepared to move forward. There was a dark look in his eyes, they would not do this to him or his town again. Whoever this way, Allard would make them surely regret picking this fight.

Just as Nailah said that though, she was surprised to see Dremmick, jumping on a rooftop near to the giant plant the masked man was in. His actions were almost too much of a coincidence to be true. Despite what Nailah had said about having a bad feeling, he did exactly the opposite, punching forward and releasing a blast of energy on the plant, trying to knock it down... Was he doing that on purpose or it was simply in his nature to be so inconvenient? Charging towards an unknown enemy by himself without even knowing what it's capable of is a good way to get himself killed... Not that Nailah would care that much about that though...

The amount of plants growing made their advance difficult, the group had to be quick to cut open a path due to the trees growing back. Even though Nailah was helping by cutting them with her claws, it wasn't nearly as effective as a sword.
It was then that he saw Om letting out a dragon breath, freezing the plants in front of him.

Wondering why she wasn't doing the same instead of tiring herself, she opened her mouth, breathing fire on the plants in front of them.

"So... For how much longer we'll need to cut down these plants?" she asked, obviously annoyed.

"All this sap is making me all sticky! I'll reeealy need a bath after this..." Nailah mumbled, continuing to breathe fire on the plants.

"Just until Ami's power wears off I suppose," Allard guessed. "This man may 'ave spread tha seeds, but its tha magic rich environment making them go wild." He looked down to Nailah. "Here," he said as he sheathed his lighter sword. He grabbed the lower handle, just below the hand guard of his heavy blade, and then pushed it into the upper handle. He then turned it a quarter turn and pulled out what looked to be a mere long dagger to him, but for Nailah it was a guardless short sword. While normally placed in the sword to stake into the ground as a statement for never surrendering and holding ones ground to the death, it was kept in fighting condition at all times as a last ditch weapon. "It may mostly be ceremonial, but it makes for a fine blade in a pinch against those vines. And from the looks of it," he added looking down the street, "It seems our ally Mason has found 'imself a dragon tamer." He thought for a moment unsure where to go, he didn't care for fighting dragons, but he knew he was one of the few who could. He sighed heavily. "I've had tha displeasure of fighting dragons," he told Nailah, "but never when one was constantly bein healed. This should be interestin." Allard looked over to his old friend, "Galland, eyes up, they have a dragon, keep everyone safe! I'll keep'em busy!" He started making his way towards Mason and yelled back to Nailah, "The guardians can handle things here, lets go." Allard continued to slice through plants like a hot knife through butter, never at any time using any sort of earth or wind manipulation like he had used to all those years ago.

Allard's explanation make sense. Ami's power was definitely good, but the seeds, that was another thing, and those were certainly related to that masked guy standing above the plants. Whoever that masked man was, his intentions weren't good and he was using Ami's healing magic for his own advantage.

It was then that Allard extended his hand to her, handing Nailah a short sword to aid her after seeing she was unarmed. Nailah knew how important his weapons were for him and not accepting the help he was giving her would be rude, but it was clear that she wasn't comfortable with a sword on her hand.

"Thanks for your concern, Allard." she said, with a kind smile, sheathing the sword on her belt.

"It surely will come in handy if something goes wrong." she completed.

When Allard talked about Mason, she looked up, seeing a handsome young man flying nearby a big dragon and a strange woman with a scythe, presumably, Mason.

"A dragon tamer now...?" she moaned, with an annoyed expression.

"Is this just our luck or..." she continued, following Allard after he warned Galland about the dragon.

Matching her pace with Allard so she wouldn't leave him behind she turned to him after looking at the dragon for a few moments.

"You've already fought dragons, right? I'm pretty sure my claws, talons or even my teeth can easily pierce it's scales, but I don't know if fire will have any use against him." Nailah commented as Allard's opened way through the plants with ease.

"Aiming for the woman would maybe be a better strategy... Regardless of what we choose to do, I'm sure I can deal a lot of damage. Even if the dragon is being constantly healed, it can still feel pain, right?" she asked, with searing hot claws and talons.

"If it's a wild dragon, it still has a possibility of him going berserk, even if with the scythe woman riding him... The question is, should we avoid that or try to cause it on purpose?" she asked, looking to Allard.

"I want ta avoid having tha dragon go berserk in town. Conventional weapons have no effect on a dragon's hide, and while you may be able to rips at its scales, their healing factor plus Ami's will leave us with little ta no effect. No, ta win this fight, we must prove ourselves ta be tha dragon's better, and prove we are stronger than its current tamer. I used ta be a dragon tamer as well, though I never kept any. When a dragon would become unruly around town I would subdue it through combat an' release it." He didn't want to mention the atrocities of the arenas, however, and went no to catch up to Mason. He came to a stop at his side, his heavy blade at his shoulder and his light blade at the ready in front of him, "Mason, this is one of them I presume?"

"Yes, it is." Mason calmly responded as he drew his blade took a low stance; his sword poised like a coiled snake that was ready to strike, "Alright Allard, I need you to buy time for me-- I can't risk using my powers until the civilians are clear.... I'm counting on you; you take on the dragon while I go for its master. Ready? Go!" he whispered to his towering ally. Slowly, the Aion knight began to circle the duo; never pointing the sword away from the woman, awaiting his moment to strike.

The Taxis doors were open for those who wished to stay in town and remain safe. A transparent aura surrounding it being powered by Ami's light as well it's casters were constantly replenished. Lucius and his knights were able to command the plants to create a wall of vines to further the shielding of the Taxis HQ.
Galland had little time to react to Allards words. He briefly looked back to see Nailah and Allard running towards a woman and her Dragon. "NO!" He shouted. But to no avail as Allard was now too far and the people's screams were too loud. Soon the crowd had escaped and the streets were clear save for a few civilians running for cover or fighting back.

The scythe wielding woman and her Dragon seemed to grow agitated as the number of people grew before her. First a Seraphim knight, then two others. She looked at Mason with a puzzled brow. "Are you mad?" She chuckled. "You face a knight of the twilight. Now that things have cleared. I can proceed." She tapped the ground with her scythe and the shadows opened up. Black stone pillars began to rise around her.

Allard put away his swords and cracked his knuckles. He then stretched his neck side until a pop was heard. As he limbered up, he slowly approached the dragon, his eyes locked with the beast's. Reciting an old verse of power he continued, "I am invincible....my shadow skill is unmatched..." His arms and legs started to steam, raw energy starting to flicker to life, "THE POWER OF MY BLOWS KNOW NO EQUAL!" With that, both of his arms and legs burst into light. "COME FACE ME DRAGON!" He yelled taunting the dragon.

"One might think so...." Mason responded with friendly smile, "Before I face you, I have one question-- Why are you committing such foul acts? Surely a knight of twilight is above such evil."

"What have I done besides waste my time speaking with you. And also..." She watched her Dragon who was snapping in the air in anger at Allard who approached it. The black stone pillars were about 12 feet in length and had triangular ends on both sides. They floated midair and had many carvings on its sides. "Shadow earth." She whispered. The ground beneath Allard began to grow soft until it was like quicksand. Yet it was blackened in shadow. One of the pillars glowed in response.

"Very well...." Mason huffed as he witnessed the woman make a move on Allard, "C'MON THEN!!!" he taunted in hopes to draw the woman's attention as he charged toward her, his sword igniting with black flame

Allard was right. Even though they had Ami's magic to heal others, having a dragon go berserk was still a bad idea, lest they wanted tom completely destroy the entire town... Or what was left of it...

Upon hearing Allard's words, she nodded, confident that he knew exactly what he was doing. He should have no problems in dealing with the dragon.

"I trust you then, it sounds like you already did this before. Ironically, the same points that make the dragon a troublesome opponent right now, also apply to me~ So if things get a bit difficult, I'm certain I can be as persistent as this dragon. Both on stamina and self healing." Nailah said with a mischievous smirk.

If the dragon proved to be an opponent Allard couldn't deal with by himself, she could help him. She might not have the raw strength Allard had, but she is still much stronger than someone from her size should be. Other than that, she was half dragon so her stamina and self healing should be on par with the dragon, especially with Lynn's healing powers.

It was then that she heard Allard reciting an old chant, invoking some type of magic to fortify his members while doing a pose that was worthy of a knight from those books for kids, making Nailah giggle at it. She would certainly tease him after the fight due to that.
"If you need my help then, simply call my name and I'll come in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, I'll try to help Mason a little bit and play with the new girl." she said, using Allard and the dragon to break line of sight with the scythe wielding woman before going towards mason and her, circling them and approaching the woman from behind.

As the woman was distracted by Mason's questions and after whispering some strange incantation, Nailah approached her, gently caressing her cheek while whispering on her ear.

"Are you sure you can afford to ignore me?" Nailah whispered, before jumping back to avoid any possible attack the woman might send her way after being surprised.

With that, Nailah had already start using her charm on the woman. Just a few more touches and she would start feeling the effects of Nailah's magic. Then it would be way easier to play with her senses.

Allard Jumped up from the ground when he felt it start to give, his wings held him in the air when Nailah spoke to him, he nodded, "same goes for you!" he said in refernce to calling for help. He looked back at the dragon, "Time ta begin then." He soared up into the air and then started to dive down straight for the dragon.

The woman looked surprised and turned when Nailah touched her. But she had to resume her guard for Mason was fast approaching. "Damn you!" She cried. The ground beneath Mason began to grow soft as he charged. Buying her time to cast another spell. An encircling of chains began to whirl around Allard. Summoned from the shadows below they aimed to ensnare him and pull him back. Whilst the Dragon unleashed a stream of blue flames, accursed chaotic fire that tore the plants asunder and aimed to do the same for Allard.

That woman was going to be a pain if she was working against him too. Luckily for Allard, in a fight he was a quick thinker. As he dove, he wrapped his wings around him. The chains grabbed ahold only for a moment. The firey blast, while momentarily destroying his wings, bought him enough room to slip passed the chains, landing on the ground next to the dragon. Then using the power of his legs, the twist of his body and the force of his left arm Jumped up land a punch on the dragon's head.

Even though the woman had both Mason and Nailah to be worried about, she still thought she could stop to cast spells against Allard? Was she looking down on them? That made Nailah really annoyed.

As Mason charged at the woman, she turned to guard against his attack, merely cursing after Nailah touched her. Taking off her eyes from Nailah was a lethal mistake... One Nailah would surely take advantage of...

Putting herself in the woman's blind spot, taking advantage of her skills, she approached her once more.

"That was really rude of you, did you know that? Do you think you can afford to keep your eyes on anyone but me? I could have killed you twice already, did you notice that?" Nailah asked, whispering on her ear with a seductive tone as she stood behind the woman, her breasts touching her back as she gently touched with one hand and slowly sinking her claws into the woman's side with the other.

The second the woman turned towards Nailah, instead of jumping back, she simply followed her, turn together with her. Where Nailah was before, a clone of her appeared, jumping back and leaning herself forward with her hands on her hips, swinging her tail as the taunted the woman.

"Have I finally earned your attention?" The clone said, swinging it's tail with a mischievous smirk on it's face.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Nailah said, licking the woman's neck, before jumping back.

"Meow." a second clone said, whispering on her right ear. This time though, the woman was able to feel it's hot breath on her ear.
Distinguishing between a clone and Nailah's real body was now impossible, thanks to her charm magic.

As the three different 'Nailahs' circled the woman, occasionally one would dash forward, either gently caressing the woman and dashing away or slashing her with her searing hot claws. Differently from the first wound Nailah gave her, which was a deep one, these were superficial ones, aimed only to cause pain.

---

Dremmick

It didn't take long for Dremmick to spot who was spreading the vicious plants around the town. It was exactly who he thought looked suspicious from the nomads earlier. He perched himself atop a giant carnivorous plant, close to the center of town, making it easy to spread seeds of vines in any direction he assumed. Dremmick didn't mince words with the man when he got close, landing on a rooftop next to the huge plant. As his arm was nearing its energy limit, thanks to Ami, he pulled his arm back and punched forward, releasing the stored energy into a concussive blast a bit weaker than the one he unleashed outside of town. It pushed him back a bit in recoil, he hoped it would knock the plant around, hopefully causing it to become unstable where he could take advantage of the moment to strike at the masked man as he fell. If not, he would have to make arrangements to meet him a bit more personally.

This nomad merely watched as Dremmick came to challenge him. The group of warriors with Allard began tearing through the plants. Galland without word began to charge in. Stone forming into a hammer in his hand and wind encircling it as a whirlwind of earth tore a plant to pieces and scattered it to the winds with one strike. Om unleashed a Dragon breathe. Unlike fire it froze the plants with a hiss. Then it shattered. Unable to be rejuvenated immediately. Instead struggling under the ice and crumbling more and more due to so.
The large venous flytraps fell back. Crashing into a wall. However in the air was the summoner. Two daggers in both hands he soared down towards Dremmick. Bringing his right hand dagger down on his head.

Unless this guy could fly, he just made a mistake trying to attack by falling toward him. It would mean he had nowhere to go but down. The long thins sword was onw in Dremmick's left hand and his right arm had bloody stains and holes throughout the wrappings. He let his right arm hang down, a steady flow of crimson on the ground, To keep the falling man busy however, the two spots where his horns used to be both has long spikes shoot from them, as if he instantly obtained horns of incredible length. They both went in the direction of the falling man to impale him. If he hit his target, he would turn the horns to blades and split him apart, if they missed, he would roll out of the way, and summon spikes from the pool of blood he planted on the ground. If he could fly... well, he would just have to get creative.

Dremmicks strange and unexpected attack was intercepted by a similar strategy. A vine whipped out from this man's left and right sleeves. Like a mindful tendrils one met a nearby root of the giant plant. Pulling himself narrowly enough to avoid the horns while the other lashed out at Dremmick aiming for his legs to pull to the ground.

Dremmick's faux horns retracted as he spun in place, slicing at the incoming tendril with his blade, and moving his right hand in a swinging motion towards the masked man in one smooth movement. this caused the spikes that erupted from the blood pool to detach and launch themselves toward the masked man. He would then try to move in fast to close the gap between them.

The giant plant that was behind the summoner came forward under his command. Before Dremmick blood could hit him it swallowed it's master whole. The giant mouth of the creature closing around him. The giant creature whose height was two meters taller than the height of a building slammed down three vines to wrapping around Dremmick.

Dremmick grunted in pain as the vines constricted him. "Damn pests!" He cursed as two blades formed out of his cursed arm and sliced down vertically in front and behing him, the severed coils of the vies falling to his side. "Come on out you bastard!" His arm wasn't charged enough yet to fire off another blast, but he saw where he could fix that. Using his necromancy, he dipped his hand into the dying tendrils of the vines and pulled some more life energy out, before it all faded away. With that , he shot another concussive blast towards the mouth of the plant. This fight was fuedal the way he was going about. If he wanted to win, he had to get close. If he could do that, this will be over in an instant.

The chuckling of the summoner could be heard before and after Dremmick fired his blast. "I didn't expect a practitioner of blood magic to be here. Let alone with such a beautiful daughter of Vrondi. So lucky you must be." The plant creature he remained inside of slowly recovered as tendrils felt around for anything living to get a hold of. Crawling into houses through Windows and taking pets and other unlucky creatures. "I have already won you see. My death will be another trophy for Nuxta. I'm sure you know that name." The creature got back up. It's tendrils slowing going for Dremmick again.

"If that's the case, how about you just stand there and wait for me to kill you?" Dremmick sneered as he advanced forward to the plant, cutting down vines as he went. He took his bottle of oil and put some in his mouth, before jumping on the side of the giant carnivorous plant's mouth the man was hiding in. Then a huge blast of fire erupted from his mouth as he made a large hole in the side of it, his blood magic at the ready when the hole opened. "Knock knock," He punched his hand forward and multiple spikes ran throughout the mouth of the plant, and from those spikes, more branched out, hitting a wild and broad area in front him him, skewering the plant in many places. If he hit him, the many tendrils would wrap around him and drag him out as Dremmick leaped off the creature.

But though this was Dremmick intent grasping onto the body of the summoner and pulling him out only revealed he had been covered in the organisms seeds. Once meeting the light of Ami's aura they began to grow rapidly. Some flowing into Dremmicks blood tendrils. Then growing rapidly into vines. For the summoner being tossed around by his foes blood was short lived. As vines wrapped around him and pulled him away. Stopping at the center of the street. "You're quite the stubborn one. But beneath this Descended light I cannot be killed. I can however.. be reborn."

He reached into his cloak. He pulled from out of it with great struggle and agony, blood flowing profusely, his heart. It vested while vines wrapped around it. "Witness... A new birth."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Dremmick shouted as he broke away from the tendrils that were taken over by the seeds. Crimson wings ripped through what little was left of the shirt and bandages on his back, growing from where his wings used to be, and used them to accelerate himself towards his foe. His eyes and arm started to glow with his necromancer aura. He shot out another tendril from his arm to encapsulate the heart so he hopefully couldn't do anything with it, quite yet anyway, and he used that purchase to pull himself in faster. If he missed he would continue by wrapping the tendril around the man's arm instead. "You want to be a martyr!? HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!" With that he moved in as his necromanced arm took a pale, ghostly, near transparent look as her went to drive it into the mans chest to rip his soul out, not making physical contact but around the arm, like with mason, ripples of light came from where his arm would disappear in the man's chest. He took a risk, and any plant seeds that got in him he would have his blood expel them from the many wounds on his body.

The vines wrapped around the heart as if consuming it. However as Dremmick attempted to pull it away with his own blood the vines escaping the summoner body held onto the heart, along with vines from all over. The man reeled back a bit and gasped as Dremmicks arm planted itself into his bloody form. "Ah..! I... see..." As Dremmick began to pull out the man's essence the vines leaped to his rescue. Grasping onto Dremmicks arm and legs. Holding him in place as the soul he was holding began to be pulled by something else. Perhaps Dremmick could see it, or feel it. A force that stole the soul away from him. But instead of being gone entirely now standing before Dremmicks eyes was the summoner soul being held by a giant seraphim with black wings and hair. He stood nude and with a amused smile. Looking at the man's essence I his hands.

"Not one to share I see...," Dremmick mumbled as his blood cut him loose and he jumped back, letting go of the soul. Seeds started shooting out from his body as he got rid of the seeds that landed on him from coming in contact with the man. "Seems you have some friends in high places watching out for you." Dremmick commented as he gather his thoughts about what he saw when he made contact with the man's soul.

[Rai]

The soul of the summoner was in the grasp of the large seraphim. His ethereal presence was enough to take Dremmick by surprise. Though he did not seem to care for anything around him but the soul in his grasp. Yet what the dragon blooded nayu should have been looking at was the heart of the summoner's body. While the soul was the source of power within all Descended it was the heart that allowed ones organic body to harness it. A lesson learned moments too late as the vines pulled away and began to gather into a mass, the heart at its center. While this happened there was a pull on the soul. The seraphim took notice of this with a glance and a smile. His elegant features remained solid as a statue as he released the soul. Parting his lips to speak. "I see. Continue my good work. Cleanse these lands.." His voice echoed like a howl in the wind. The light of the summoner's soul reached the mass of vines and merged within it.

ENEMY : DARK FOREST SUMMONER

The vines whirled around rapidly before coming together to create the form of a being. One that stood around thirty feet tall. It roared. "YES MASTER!!" It looked down at its glowing hands. They were full of mythical energy from the plant life around it. Poison began to pour from its jaws and its center eye released a concentrated beam of light that cut through stone. It tore through a building momentarily before being aimed at Dremmick. Before he could even begin to evade however a shield was placed up that reflected the thin light beam up to the sky. Erica was shielding Dremmick with her full armor clad on. Then swinging by the summoner's side was the knight from Onyx, Grimm. He swung his blade with enough force to cut its leg in half, knocking it over momentarily. He then used the gust of his wings to begin to fly for evasion, showing he was fairly agile in air.

"You're pretty good. But.. Lets try to finish this before it gets any worse, shall we?" Said Erica beneath her armor. It would be somewhat apparent to Dremmick her gender when she spoke. But she had no signs otherwise. She even looked down at the man from her height, which was two feet more than him. "Lets begin, shall we?" She lowered her stance, placing the shield forward and sword back. Her aura spiked, an earthy solid form it was. She leaped forward, her blade almost shining in the moonlight as she whipped a gust of wind that sent the summoner falling back before her blade hit the center eye. Light shined from it in all directions cutting into building sides, the stone road and plants before stopping. The creature gripped Erica and tossed her to the side, she hit a building and fell to the ground.

The sword Erica had landed next to her shortly after and she struggled to get up and grasp it. Then Om came, spear in hand to her rescue before the foot of their enemy could come crashing down on her. Om swiftly ran beneath the creature and came to an alley out of sight. "You are still a bit drunk I see." He said with a bit of a chuckle. "Where did Galland run off to?" Erica questioned between tired breathes.
@Jollan

[Jollan]

Dremmick nodded to the woman as she guarded the attack for him. "I'll go for it's heart, its the center of its power, similar to a golem. That should kill it". He moved in closer, noting his arm was getting brighter again. This was good, he just needed an opportune moment to take advantage of to knock the monster down again. Luckily he didn't have to wait long as the summoner now turned creature lifted its foot to crush the woman who shielded him. He dashed forward and released the energy again against the leg it was standing on to topple it. Dremmick would give it room to fall as he jumped into the air, using his crimson wings. His sword burst into mist and went back into his body as his arm enlarged like it did in the caves, bursting from the constraints of his bandages as an evil looking over-sized crimson arm covered his own. The large nearly blade like claws only made it seem even more sinister. Dremmick landed on top of the creature's chest, his eyes aglow with necromancy, trails of ghostly light streaming from them as his soul vision saw what others couldn't. He could see the heart of the creature just beneath him, shining with the power of the summoner's soul. He may not be able to rend his soul from his body, but he could destroy his heart. His large clawed arm punched into the overgrowth, slicing through a good portion of the vines covering the heart. His claws wrapped around the heart as it grabbed hold, cutting through the vines as he closed the bladed fingers around it. He then Jerked his arm back, ripping the heart from its chest, kicking off of its torso as he did so.

He looked at the heart in his hand. He closed his eyes as he crushed it, his claws slicing into in the process. When he opened his hands he torched it, making sure it was destroyed to the point there was nothing left to regenerate. The blood arm then fell from his body, splattering on the ground, his body rejected the seeds that latched onto him yet again spitting out more blood. He starting to feel the fatigue of his magic as he slumped against a wall and slid down it to a seated position, leaving a streak of blood on the wall. "This damn alliance is going to get me killed." he mumbled as he tried to catch his breath. He looked around to see if either of the other people who joined in the fight were still up and running around. He wondered if the others were alright as well, but moving now that he was seated felt nearly impossible. "I probably look like shit..." he said to himself, with a wry smile as he rested his head back against the wall.

[Guy0fV4lor]

Nero Capital City

---

@Rai@13org

As Nero’s mightiest warriors began their assault on the massive beast, they would find that their attacks prompted no response from the monster, at least until Sleeth made his attack. The moment he made his swing, a massive torrent of searing flame and light ravaged the inside of the barrier, it’s sound so incredible, the breaking of the sound barrier was barely audible. Nobu; stealthiest of the elites, had made a grave error that compromised his stealth, foolishly drawing the essence of the beast. Now, a large, draconic hand shot toward the assassin’s back with incredible speed, reaching to claim Nobu’s soul.

The Dragon Lord

"Oi oi.." Muttered the invisible warrior. "I've been caught so easy.." He said with disappointment in his tone. With a narrow avoidance he slipped by the strike coming from behind him. Pieces of his armor breaking and flying as invisible debris. Before they could even land he was already sliding into a ditch formed from all the chaos. Escaping into its shadows like a well of water. His voice echoing as it faded away. "Until next time!" Right before the Dragon lord could pursue and providing a bare distraction as the cocky black dragon knight soared in, his fists cackling with dark energy only known to the chaotic beings that conjure it from the infinite essence of cosmic magic. A warping of a simple theory, the absence of light, now a weapon of chaos. He plunged his two fists at the Dragon lord. "FIGHT ME!!!" He roared. With a sigh, the Dragon Lord ducked under the knight's strike, plunging his fist into the fool's abdomen as he dodged to the side. The hand itself seemed to phase through the knight's very being, tearing out a piece of his very life essence as it retracted from his body, the black armor now sporting a sizable dent. With a grunt of agony the knight was knocked back several meters. But as he was fading out a new shadow approached. The King himself. His scythe was as clear as the air it parted.

A twisted smile formed on the Dragon's face as a blinding explosion of fire and light concealed him from view. In a flash, chaotic energy ripped and tore through the barrier beneath the feet of the Twilight Mage, creating a hole just large enough for a certain hand to fit through. In an instant, a vice grip crushed the Mage's ankle, as he was violently yanked through his own barrier, the poor seraphs life being drained with each passing moment of contact. The mage was taken by surprise. Their feet being wiped from under. The barrier keeping all matters contained was now shattering like glass. However. Vanishing within a concealment of his own cloak Sleeth reemerged before the great arm that held his valuable ally. "Unhand." His scythe swung at the arm.

”Of course little ant, in fact, I was just finished with him.” the Dragon responded as he released the man; who had already begun to look like a husk. Shooting back, the scythe sliced off about half of the Dragon's hand , but the ancient lord wasn't done yet. "How disgraceful, I seem to have gotten slower over the years..... I'm going to grab a quick snack...” he coldly muttered as he looked at his hand in disappointment.

With a burst of flame, the Dragon raced for the upper district.

"Oh not so fast." A cut in reality. A warped gash of darkness formed by one of the knights. His master of the blade clearly being deep in dimensional darkness. The Dragon would be headed towards it. Around the dragon formed a barrier of burning light, taking the shape of a spearhead. Within the construct a pale, blue energy; seething with chaos, built within as the dragon's approach quickened. He flew into the dimension the gash closing fast behind him. He was now in a dimension of darkness. No longer in the city it would seem. The knight held his sheathe triumphantly as the darkness would attempt to rip the dragon apart.

Yet, as the dark dug away at the radiant barrier, the pale glow within only seemed to build as the construct jerked to a stop. With the sound of shattering glass, the barrier gave way; from it burst an explosion of a pale blue flame long forgotten by this world, driving back the darkness. In it's center the dragon chuckled, would his foe come to face him? Eagerly, he scanned the void with his myraid of senses-- souls such as these could do little to hide from the likes of him. The sound of footsteps echoed in the Dragons ears. It sounded far and close. Though he floated aimlessly here the king who stepped before him stood firm. "Who are you?" He asked. Grasping his helmet and lifting it off. Revealing his face. He then dropped it into The void. It began to float. Gravity having no effect here.

With a twisted grin the dragon spoke, ”Your strength is impressive little king..... Very well, you have earned the honor of knowing my identity..... I ̢̣͚̞̰̞̺̹A͍͢M͉̣͎̺̦͜ ̼̠̝Z͇̹̦̘Ẹ͕̞̯̜͢T̥͙̯̯́H͔̞͙̗͘E͎L̴̩̬͙̬O̬̠̦̼͠S,̨̣̹̖͍ ͚̟̙͖̟͔͘ͅD͙̞E̯̠̻V̙͚̺̠͢O̘̠̘̼͙̥͈͢U̟͙̗R͘Ę̭͚͖̘͙͔̹R͖͍̠̺͍͡ ̜̗̗͜O̴̭̦̱͙͎F͇͢ L̞E̻͎̰G̺̲͕̻̹̝̬͢I̹͕̭̯̫̼O̺̣̼̜͚Ṇ̤͔͠S̡,̣͙̳ ҉͈̼̬͇͉G̱̰͈̤͖͞ͅǪ͙̣D̤͉̥͓̙̹ ̪̥̼̬O̫̙͔̗̟̩̭F͉͈ͅ ̹̯͞ŚO̫Ụ͓͚L̫̟͖̩̝͚̗S̺,̹ ̶̮͉F͉͉̹̳̜̫̗Ò̭̟͇̝̗U͇͖ͅR͡Ṱ͍̫̱͚͙H͍̣͇͕̗̟̻́ ̩̗̰̯̯̦̣B̜̗̤͇̕O̼͉R͈̯̬̲͖̕Ǹ̙ ҉̤̪̺̱O͔͙̖̬̦̠F̴͓͔̬͓͈ ̧͔̟̮̯͍T̟̬͕̦H̖͇̦̜̞̝̘E ̖̺̭͓̖G̣͓̤͔̳͡O̶̜͚̳̭̙̣D͚̗͔̭ͅ-̼̗̰̣̱͍K̴̩I͇̙͙̝͞N̷̠͉̖̺̦̦G҉͚͖͖͍͕̰ ̩̥H͉̬̭͈̣̳̀ͅIM̴̺͈͇S̲̟̳̜̙ḘL͉̙̫̰F̢͙͔̮̲̪͙ͅ!” his words; steeped in chaos, seemed to twist the very fabric of reality.

Sleeth_Face.jpg

Sleeths eyes were emmiting a brilliance kin to the fire in ones soul. Though he resigned himself to the dark. He did not seem to be waned by his foes mass of aura. "The God King? You mean that old Dragon defeated by the so called first seraphim?" He chuckled. "Are you now a lapdog for Nuxta? One of the seraphim's own children?"

"Watch your tongue mortal." Zethelos spat as his eyes glowed with rage, ”Had I not been imprisoned by legions of Seraphim, that battle would have gone VERY differently...... Nuxta is still alive you say? And you think me to be his servant!?!?! How....... LAUGHABLE." the ancient dragon sighed as he began to calm down, even so much as to chuckle at the idea he would submit to anyone.

[drewccapp]

[redacted because oops!]

[13org]

Lynn, Bonnie & Siiga

---

^{@Brithwyr,@Jollan}

---

Bathing Bonnie wasn't as easy as it looked. Siiga gave thanks for having the presence of mind to at least remove the little bugger's knife before she tried to scrub his pores, but he still had his hands and his feet. Not that she was concerned about him hurting her, you understand, but if he smacked her the wrong way, he was going to break a bone, and that was just too much hassle to deal with.

Eventually, they managed to get him to some degree of presentability. He could still be beaten in a wrestling match by a slightly muscular fly, but at least his skin wasn't crawling with parasites any more. Siiga shoved his clothes into his arms and turned to Lynn. "What's happening? Give me the short version!"

"W-well...the plant life. It's become overgrown and is attacking the city! I've never seen such a thing..." lLynn answered still to scared to go to the window and look again.

Overgrown plants? Siiga cursed. If it had been a traditional enemy, like bandits or raiders, it would be trivial to deal with them. But plants?

"Alright. I'm gonna go out and deal with this. Lynn, make sure Bonnie doesn't..."

"Oh no. Ye ain't keepin' me locked up here wi' her" the boy spat, glaring at Lynn.
"If yer going oot there, so ahm I!"

"No, no, no! Absolutely not!" Siiga barked. Just the thought of letting these two out into a combat zone was more than she could bear. "You can't fight, and you can barely walk! You wouldn't last twenty seconds in a combat situation!"

Lynn flinched slightly at the sudden rebuttal.
"Then... here. At least let me do this for you." Holding her sleeves arm at her side, she swept her left arm out in front of her, from left to right. Four streams of water followed her arm from the jar behind her. When they stopped in front of her they formed into small balls of water, which she waved back over each one from right to left, each one taking a new color. There was now a red, green, blue, and yellow balls of water in front of her, smaller than her hand. She lifted both arms, surrounding the water balls, and brought them together, forming one singular ball of water with a darker color too it from the colors mixing.

"Each color represents an enchantment attribute... Speed, strength, endurance, and concentration. Green, red, yellow, and blue. All together they make a potent enchantment that covers all attributes. Please, drink. It will help." She said as it floated toward her, a water ball the size of a fist.

While Lynn assembled her potions, Bonnie stomped his foot "Are ye daft!? Whit are ye gonnae do, lob fireba's at the vines!?"

"Actually, yes. How else are we supposed to destroy plants?"

"And whit aboot the buildings? Ye're just gonnae let them burn doon, aye?"

"It's either that, or we lose the whole town!"

"Ah am NOT having ye running aroond, making cunts homeless!"

Lynn sat silent with her potion.
"I could... make another for you too....if you want." she said to Bonnie. She didn't mention the fact that that would be all she could make for a while, but having more people out there may help the situation.

"Lynn! Tell him that it's the only way!"

"She's gonnae ruin the whole fucking toon!"

"Homes are replicable..." Lynn said, turning a bit red as she some how became the one both of them turned to her to talk sense into the other.

"But people are not..." she added, looking to Bonnie.

"But that goes for you too." She said looking to Siiga. There was a booming as a building not too far collapsed.

"They are already losing their homes, so... try to not add to it...ok?" She gave Siiga a small smile, though she couldn't shake the worry from her face, the potion once again moving to her.

"Cunts, the both of ye!" Bonnie barked in disgust. How had he wound up with a duo so heartless!?

"Well, now I hae tae come, cause else there willnae be a toon left when ye're done."

Siiga grabbed the potion and downed it in one swig. If someone's causing this, they weren't going to be happy with her interfering. "Alright. Lynn, stay up here and..."

"Can she no control watter?" Bonnie interjected.

"Will ye no need someone tae put the fire oot?"

"I could do that," Lynn said anxiously,

"I may even be able to pull water out of the plants themselves so I won't have to use my magic to create my own supply!"

Siiga rolled her eyes. They could have dealt with half these plants in the time they had spent arguing.
"Right, fine, she can come along. But stay behind me, alright!? We dont know the kind of damage these things can do."

She turned to Lynn. "You know where the others are?"

"Some were in the bar, the others were just outside the medical building." Lynn said Her staff floating over to her.
"But it sounds quiet out there now, they must have left."

"Right Lead us to them. We might be able to help." She turned to look at Bonnie

"If you're that desperate to come with us, sweetie, the least you can do is hold my hand"

"Strewth..." The boy cursed, but offered his hand to her anyway. Better than getting left behind in this dump.

"Okay, I'll try," Lynn said as she waited for them to move out. She did as she was told and followed just behind Siiga, floating on her staff. Her ears twitched as she heard different sounds, as if her ears moved to capture everything going on around them.

"There is a lot of commotion coming from the center of town and just past the medical center," she informed them.

Lynn's ears perked up, not as much to the loud sounds of battle, but rather, to the lack thereof.

"It...got quiet all the sudden," she mentioned.

"I don't hear anything in the center of town anymore, but the others should be just ahead," she told Siiga as she was already directing them towards the medical center, close to where Allard, Nailah, and Mason were. Lynn was actually quite relieved that they didn't run into anything, but a bit upset that she wasn't able to help. When she saw the others waved as she called out to them.

"Heeey! Is everyone alright!?" She yelled. She was still floating on her staff, her bare feet still not accustomed to walking on land even though they could.

Nailah, Mason, Allard & Galland

---

^{@13org@Jollan@Guy0fV4lor@Rai}

---

As the ground beneath his feet softened, Mason propelled himself forward with his wings to compensate. Though he wasn't sure what that strange newcomer was doing to the female knight with what appeared to be... clones? Regardless, it seemed to be working quite well; as she was now wide open! With a valiant battle cry, he weaved around the illusory bodies and brought his flaming blade down upon his foe; aiming to create an arcing slash across her chest!

With a clash the enchanted black blade of the twilight Dragoons met Masons. Unlike most materials that would fall victim to the chaotic flames her weapon held strong. It was another spell, the third of five she had available. A divine conjuring of earth. A black stone impervious to chaotic spells. She gritted between her teeth. Nailah's claws were sharp and hot but against her hardened Oro hide she was able to endure it. She nearly hissed at the group before a loud.

"SSSTTOOOOPPP!!" Came from Galland right as Allard was striking the Dragon.

With a loud collision the Dragon fell roaring before collapsing to the ground. "Stop! This is not your enemy!" Galland shouted from above as he swooped down. Landing with a heavy step next to Mason and the woman as they locked blades.

"Stop this at once!" The woman looked to Galland with a glare but even more so to Allard.

"You bastard!" She hissed.

"Stop this! If it weren't for these people I wouldn't be standing here now!" She grew a bit quiet but held her injuries which began to heal rapidly.

"I.. see." She uttered.

"But they attacked ME. Unprovoked might I add. I simply defended myself and Rafah." She leaned against her fallen beast with a sad frown on her lips as she tuned into its pain.

"Damnit," Allard cursed at himself as he looked at the hand he struck the dragon with.

The dragon may be rattled for a moment, but it would be fine, with all the healing energy about especially.

"I beg your forgiveness, caught in tha heat of battle, I believed you an enemy and rushed ta help my ally. I am terribly sorry." He turned looking at his wings. He flapped them a little, burnt chunks falling off of it as it regenerated.

"I'd suppose we both took a good hit!" he laughed heartily, as if it was just some normal wound from a simple matter. He saw the gashes in her side, although they were healing, they still seemed rather painful. He then remembered that Nailah mentioned her claws as a weapon, reminding himself not to be on her bad side.

Just as Mason charged towards the scythe woman and their blades clashed, a spectacle of flames and enchantments ensued. Both Mason's sword clad in chaotic fire and the woman's dark scythe, fortified by another conjuration lit up the battlefield. Even though they were being constantly healed, she still had a deep wound on her side and a lot of scratches. Besides that, Nailah wouldn't stand still while they locked swords...

Just as Nailah dashed towards the woman, using Mason's body coupled with her skills to disappear and appear behind her, a familiar voice echoed through what was remaining of the town. It was Galland, shouting for them to stop. Swooping down from above, Galland's loud voice demanded for everyone to stop as the dragon and the woman weren't their real enemy. Disarmed by Galland's words, the scythe woman stopped fighting, even after sending a threatening glare to Allard, who had struck down her pet dragon.

As the healing pulses started making effect, the scythe woman started talking, explaining how they had started the fight and not her, leaning against her dragon, feeling it's pain.
Allard was also quick to understand the situation, apologizing himself before laughing it off. Nailah couldn't help but chuckle seeing Allard's reaction. A second before he was fighting against the dragon and the woman determined to kill both of them and now he was laughing.

"Not my fault!" Nailah said, finally letting go of the charm spell she had put on the scythe woman as she suddenly appeared from behind Mason, casually walking towards Galland and the others.

"I was told she was the enemy so I simply acted accordingly..." Nailah said, looking to Mason with a discreet giggle, teasing him.
"You should be able to think more clearly now. Sorry for your side and... well... the claws and everything... No resentments, right?" Nailah asked, showing her tongue and winking with a cute expression as she waved towards the Scythe woman, showing her claws as she apologized.

"No one died so we could say it all ended well?" She asked, looking towards the woman, Galland, Mason and Allard.

"But... If you're not the enemy... it means Mr. No-Fun-Allowed is fighting by himself against that weird masked guy... Who came into a city filled with warriors and attacked it by himself..." Nailah said, with a thoughtful expression.

"It doesn't look that good for me... The masked man surely had something on his sleeve to act as he did..." Nailah said, once again looking to the group, waiting for their answers.

Since this woman clearly wasn't the enemy, Mason had no time to waste with this strange woman.
"My Apologies!" Mason exclaimed with a nervous smile as he withdrew his blade (but not sheathing it),

"I mistook you as a collaborator in the attack on this village..... Well, if thats that...... I'm gonna go fight that plant thing." With a short nod, Mason shot into the air, barreling for the colossal monster.

After the whole misunderstanding, Mason was quick to fly away. By his own words, he was going to 'fight the plant thing' but it was obvious by his nervous smile that wasn't everything. He was definitely too nervous and embarrassed to continue there.
Nailah couldn't help but giggle as the man flew away, it was cute how innocent he was despite being a warrior.

"So cute! Is he always... innocent like this?" she asked, turning to Allard, laughing.

Before Allard could answer though, a voice interrupted them. Looking to where the sound was coming from, Nailah saw the amazonian woman from before and a lassa girl with her. The amazonian woman wasn't that much of a surprise for Nailah as she had already seen her before even if she didn't have a chance to talk with her but the lassa girl was another thing. Not only she was one of the first Lassa Nailah had seen, but the girl was simply too cute and adorable!

As soon as she asked if everyone was ok, Nailah kept her eyes on the Lassa girl for a moment before letting out a surprised gasp, dashing towards the girl and circling her, looking at the girl with curious, shining eyes.

"Just... what is this adorable creature?!" Nailah asked, hugging the girl and burying her face on her chest.

"She is SO CUTE~" Nailah said in an excited, singing tone and with a kind and warm smile. The way she was hugging the lassa girl was exactly like one would hug a plushie doll.

"What is your name, my dear?" Nailah asked, looking down to the girl, still hugging her.

"Oh my god I feel like I could keep hugging her for ever!" she said, giggling.

Mason & Dremmick

---

^{@Jollan@Guy0fV4lor}

---

Mason would find the colossal monster dead, a hole in its center, where Dremmick ripped its heart out. There was blood splattered everywhere, not only from Dremmick's attacks, but also from him ejecting poison from his body. Now that the threat of the monster was gone, he just constantly dispersed the energy in his arm instead of letting it gather. Dremmick was sitting down, propped up against a building with one knee drawn up and an arm resting on his knee. For how covered in blood he was, he looked rather relaxed. Though, truth be told, he was fairly tired from the fight, he used up a lot of magic energy producing blood for his body to use. That plus the injuries from that woman from earlier. Dremmick wasn't sure what to do with her. He wished he could have killed her before Mason got involved. Speak of the devil, Dremmick heard something come flying in and he looked over to see the young knight arrive.

"Running a bit late?" He said dryly.

"Couldn't be bothered to save some for me?" Mason chuckled as he floated down to his ally, hoisting Dremmick to his feet.

"I can't believe you took that thing down so quickly....." the young knight mused as he looked over Dremmick's wounds; his expression changing to that of extreme concern,

"Dremmick. From now on let ME be the one on the front lines, you need a break for awhile.... Besides, unlike you-- I'm not cursed. Well, not in the literal sense at least."

With a huff, Mason used his wing to conceal Dremmick as they walked to the Taxis healing center.

"Now, lets get you some help, and don't worry; I won't let sir shiny mcbachelor see you."

Dremmick gave Mason a withering glance,

"If I had waited you may have shown up and tried to save the damn thing." Bandaged of crimson started to cover his cursed flesh again.

"You don't know how lucky we were today.," he said, thinking about what he saw. The man mentioned being in service to Nuxta, and he referred to the ethereal image of the dark winged seraphim as his master. Meaning that the form he saw was none other than Nuxta himself. To think that someone like him would go out of his way for his pawns was an interesting notion, but something to keep in mind for sure. He then heard Mason tell him to hold off a bit on fighting, which made him smirk a bit. But it was when he mentioned the curse that his face seemed to drop back to normal. It probably wasn't a good time to mention it, but he knew something was wrong with Mason as well. He figured he would tell them when they went to rest up for the night. At Mason's mention of that glistening fop, Dremmick could only shake his head,

"I could still kick his ass. He would probably run home to polish his armor the moment it got tarnished with the slightest drop of blood."

Mason couldn't help but chuckle at Dremmick's curt reply, "Would I now? As for Lucius? At least I think that's his name... I have little doubt about your ability to kick his ass-- but right now you're in no shape to fight"

Continuing into an unoccupied Taxis tent, Mason set Dremmick down on the medical bed, sighing as he released his friend, "Alright now Dremmick, get some rest. There should be some clean clothes around here to cover yourself with....... Now, if you don't need anything else, I'm going to see if there's anyone still caught in the plants. After that, I'll go check up on the Dolofon agent and get some answers." Stopping at the entrance of the tent, Mason looked back at Dremmick one more time to make sure he didn't need anything else.

[drewccapp]

”Boss,” Aeden heard Nyph’s energetic and slightly pleased voice.”Something is wrong!”

Aeden’s companion landed next to him and kept pace with him on the road. They had been traveling some time after accepting the call to meet and work with the Alliance. This was the farthest east they had ever been. Overall, the trip had been fairly smooth with the worst thing being travel and the occasional evasion of risky-looking caravans. Hearing those three words from Nyph really worried him now that they were minutes from Pearl.

Aeden frowned as he looked down the road to the city in the horizon. ”What did you see?”

”Plants!” Nyph jumped into the air and flew ahead some short distance. His constantly cheerful tone always conflicted with the severity of most situations. ”Scary plants! Not normal plants! They’re attacking the city!”

Aeden cursed under his breath. He was already later than he wanted to be and now that the city was under an attack he found himself running toward the city. He could only imagine the reaction of the city folks to a full-blooded Seraphim coming to their aid. Well, he did respond to the request, so it was likely some would be expecting him.

At the pace he could keep up, Aeden made the rest of the trip fairly quickly. He halted at the outskirts of Pearl to witness an incredible overgrowth taking over portions of the city. If thousands of years had passed with no one maintaining the city this was how he pictured it would look. He knew that this must have happened recently because some of the vines were still growing and rapidly.

”Damnit,” Aeden drew his sword and dashed toward the closest vine to chop into it. ”What have I gotten myself into?"

”Good hit!” Nyph soared overhead to act as his usual role as a cheery scout. ”Whoa! It looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us! Oooo there’s a lot of blood!”

As the huge plant tendril slid limply down down the wall of the building Aeden checked his blade and clicked his tongue. He sliced through the overgrowth as he called out to Nyph. ”Give me directions, Nyph.”

”Yep!" The pseudodragon cheerfully replied. ”Looks like they fought a tough one! Once you cut through that one there’s a road! Oh! I see a group of a few people! And a dragon! They don’t look like they’re fighting. They’re hugging!”

Aeden sighed as he sliced through some writhing plants and stepped onto the road. He saw a lot of blood and the corpse of a massive plant creature. He stepped up to the scene and noticed the tell tale signs of blood magic. Other magic traces including the plants themselves nearly obscured the traces, but he could never forget what he went through when he was a slave of the Therosi. He could never forget the rituals and what the traces looked like, especially with his Divine Sight. He wanted to be able to differentiate other types of magic, but he just had not been able to train it.

He had other jobs to do than chase down a wounded blood mage. He knew just how dangerous they could be, and he was not prepared for such a hunt. Aeden looked up at Nyph who was soaring above. ”Nyph, where is the group?”

”This way!"

Aeden followed Nyph to another part of the city not far from the corpse of the forest beast.

”See! I found them! A dragon and hugging people and there are others! Wait… The dragon isn’t there anymore! There are a couple missing too." If Nyph didn’t sound so excited all the time he would have come across as disappointed.

Aeden sheathed his sword as he could see things were beginning to settle down. ”Thanks, Nyph. Great work.” His eyes settled on the center of the small group. ”It seems I’ve missed quite a lot. My name is Aeden Demavend, and I am here in response to the quest. Who is in charge here?”

Nyph landed next to Aeden with a soft thud. ”I’m Nyph!” Nyph spotted the dragon flying above the city. ”Oh wow! That’s where the big guy flew off to!”
@13org@Jollan@Brithwyr@Rai

[Lotrix Molick]

Tali's servitor, in its usual mechanical monotone, mentioned what it saw when it scouted to the north. "Mistress, there is a group ahead. Their intentions are unknown. Their abilities are unknown. They appear to have huggers in their midst. A dragon flew off. It is no threat now. They are exactly three minutes north of us. Watch out for magical overgrowth. It is no stronger than normal plant life." It then obediently took its normal place behind her, always three feet diagonally from her left shoulder.

Talise nodded and then drew her Lange Messer. She hacked through the vines on her way to the location where the other people apparently stood. Pearl's area seemed very different this time around. She knew nearly nothing about the mission besides a summon to take part. "Servitor, hide when we get into sight of the group. Avoid confrontation until I give the order to enter the area. Confirm your understanding."

The servitor moved into some of the deeper brush as they got to the edge of the city. "Orders confirmed. Stealth until more orders arrive. I will await your next command."

Its mistress didn't even look at the servitor, knowing its confirmation meant that she could rely upon it to stay hidden. The final vines fell, and she burst into the city, ready for a possible fight. She quickly surmised from the people standing around that the fighting was over. She sheathed her sword and began to approach them. Once within earshot, she gave out a hailing yell. "Hey! Are you folks here for the quest too?"

[Rai]

Gaia / Town Pearl

After all the commotion was dying down many of the civilians began to return to the town. The town was quiet. People were not injured for the most part but the overgrowth was still there even the poisonous plants. Thankfully Ami's power had died down and the people began to hack away at the overgrowth to pry open their doors to stay in for the night. "Damn foreigners bringing their strange cursed magic." Some would begin to say as they were forced to toil. Yet they were quickly hushed or reprimanded immediately. For the wounded are healed and the forces of evil were vanquished once again. This time it was thanks to the foreigners they were saved. The sleeping Dragon opened its eyes briefly to breathe a tired sigh to its owner. Its wounds healed but still fatigued from the strike.

"Wish ya had came at uh better time. But aither way I'm happy ta see ya!" Galland said to the woman who was attacked earlier. She could only roll her eyes at Mason and the others who attacked her. A glare set on them and nearly pointed to Galland for not coming sooner. "I came here by order of the Queen. I am to head up the mountain, but before I did so I saw something going on here in town. I suppose this was the alliance... Real welcoming fellas." She huffed. Galland rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Well one of our own is a part of'em. Ol' Allard. I didn't know he had it in'em." Galland said while looking at the Dragon. "What did they make'em do after taking him I wonder.." Galland and the woman were walking now. The Dragon took off to the air, soaring under the moonlight in a slow glide as it rested mid-flight circling the town from above.

Galland and the knight went to meet with the other members of Pearl's knights. Regrouping at the field outside of town together they formed a sizable dome structure of earth. It was designed fairly simply and had an entrance and windows. They went inside and a fire could be seen within it from outside. Its windows lit with the warm flame like eyes of fire. Out the top bellowed smoke from a chimney and inside was some laughter. The Dragon flying above landing outside of the dome and curling up to rest by its entrance. It seemed the group wanted a private discussion.

[Jollan]

Lynn floated back slightly when Nailah ran up to her, unsure of what she was doing. As the girl circled her, she slowly descended in the air and stepped off her staff, her head turning back and forth to follow her. When she moved in and hugged her, she was at quite a loss for words, not expecting the sudden assault. Her face had turned quite red when Nailah buried her face in her chest.

"Wha-! Hey!" she said in surprise, not quiet able to say or do much about it as Nailah went on, and the fact that the hug was quite surprisingly strong making it a bit difficult to breathe. "I-I'm Lynn...Meditrina," she answered, "a-and please... not so hard... can't breathe," she added sheepishly, her ears folded down a bit.




Dremmick noticed Mason turn around and stare at him momentarily before heading out of the tent. "Go, I'll be here when you come back." He then watched Mason go and relaxed in the medical bed for a while. Dremmick waved a hand over himself, and the blood that was on his body and clothes lifted off him as he tossed it to the ground. He slowly sat up and looked around. Mason said he brought that agent here, right? He had a thought about going to find her and finishing the job, but not that things have settled down, he figured that it may be more lucrative to interrogate her instead, as much as he didn't like the idea of keeping her alive. Instead, he reached back into one of his pouches and pulled out a small notebook and charcoal pencil. He opened up the little book, seeming to open it directly to a drawn picture.

picture

He stared at it for a long time, memories flowing through his mind about a time when he could say he actually happy. He took a deep breath and flipped to a new page and began to write.

Today my curse has grown exponentially. It now has spread further, nearly covering
the upper portions of my chest and reaching down my back. That fool of a healer
demands respect yet can't even control her power, its pathetic. I heard the voices
again. They all sounded like a twisted version of my own, calling for me to delve
deeper into madness with promises of power. Save for one. It sounded like you. I
could hear your voice call to me, warning me of the assassin that approached me.
I don't know if this is some silver lining, but if I one day start to lose myself
to this curse before I can fix this mess I've caused, would I be able to hear you
more? Ciara, hold out for me just a little longer. Nuxta is on the move, and I fear
that if we separate now, he will try to steal you away, and I cannot let that happen.
We will be together again, I swear it.

Dremmick closed the notebook and sighed as he put it and the pencil away. He stood up from the bed and looked around. The Dolofon agent had to be in one of these rooms. Although he didn't plan on doing anything to her at the moment, he thought keeping an eye on her would be in his best interest if she tried to run. He searched through the tents until he came upon one that had a few staff in it. They were treating the agent it seemed. Apparently she was taken by some of the poison that the plants had, and from the sounds of it, it was a nerve poison, one that temporarily paralyzed it's victims. Dremmick decided to leave her for later, knowing that she couldn't make any moves without raising alarm now and went to the Taxis HQ to see if he could find some answers on the samples he left earlier in the day.