Location:
Border forest
Mid-Morning
@Cu Chulainn@Guy0fV4lor@Crimson Paladin
Elias couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle in response to the young boy’s shocked exclamations as the group began their journey into the woods.
"I’d honestly thought them dead myself, and were it not for your sister’s descriptions I’d still think as such…"The knight’s voice trailed off for a moment as his eyes performed a perimeter sweep, continuing to talk once he’d confirmed there weren’t any threats lurking nearby.
"As for killing Dragons? There's a number of ways to deal with them, their success usually depending on how intelligent or crafty any given dragon might be. Sigurd the Dragonslayer; my great, great, great, great Grandfather– discovered and employed a great many methods on his hunts. He’d use anything from siege weapons, to traps, even poison… But what he found to be the most effective strategy; particularly on wyverns, was breaking their wings."Elias raised his right hand, a single finger held skyward,
"Because, in the words of Sigurd– even with scales like steel, teeth like razors, and any number more of a dragon’s terrible boons… A Dragon suddenly deprived of something it’s instinctually used its entire life; no matter how wise, or cruel, or crafty it may be…"Reinhardt tapped his extended finger against the side of his temple,
"Quickly loses sight of this, and becomes little more than just another beast to be slain."Though the knight was keen to share some of the stories his father had given unto him with the children, the distant clamor of voices and the telltale clinking of armored figures moving about the path ahead. Raising a fist, Reinhardt silently gave his companions the signal to stop; taking a moment to glean as much as he could from the distant voices.
From the sound of it, Elnith had clashed once more with the Wyvern, and had been left in rough enough shape for the Harzel knights to apprehend her without resistance. The knight grimaced beneath his helm. It seemed that he would need to play diplomat; much to his own dismay, if the mission was to return to Airedale in success.
Elias craned his head over his right shoulder, speaking in harsh whisper,
"Ethelred, form up tightly on my right side. Do your best to look menacing, but not like you're trying to threaten them. Should the situation turn violent, I'd ask you do your best to avoid freezing anyone unless absolutely necessary."Turning his head to the other side, intent on asking their Elven tag along to hold his tongue as best he could for the time being– Elias would find the Elf to have suddenly vanished; seemingly having already taken the initiative to conceal himself nearby.
Gently clearing his throat, Reinhardt nodded to Ethelred as he eased his steed into a slow trot; puffing his chest out authoritatively as he would interject upon the conversation ahead in a stern monotone,
"It isn't a Fomorian. What you're dealing with is a Dragon."Elias slowly brought his horse to stop once more once he was at what one might consider a polite distance from the Harzel Knights, placing a fist diagonally across his chest as he'd give a short bow from atop his steed,
"Greetings Knights of Harzel. I am Sir Elias of House Reinhardt; Blood of the Venerable Dragonslayer, and Son of the Lord Johann von Reinhardt. On my right is Sir Ethelred, my faithful comrade and fellow Knight." Reinhardt locked eyes with the individual seeming to lead the small troupe; his calm gaze firmly affixed as he would posit their leadership with a question,
"Are you too, hunting the beast that has burnt six entire villages to the ground in only a month's time?"The knights and their small entourage would pause immediately upon hearing Reinhardt’s greetings. The one named Gráinne seemed like she was going to say something, but Lonan raised a hand, silencing his seeming subordinate as he’d coolly stare at the two in front of him. Curiously, he didn’t seem to pay Ethelred too much mind as he’d focus more on the one speaking to him.
“That is a name that carries a long line of respect and tradition.” The black clad knight greeted Reinhardt. “And it is quite a claim to make, too.”
“An absurd one. Dragons were killed ages ago-bweh-” She was given another smack on the back of her head by Lonan.
“Apologies, my squire doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. We have indeed been asked by King Harzelslack to look into this matter and bring back the beasts head. I don’t suppose you have any proof of this claim…or proof you are who you claim to be?”
“...hey, aren’t those the kids that went missing?” The squire interjected, the two kids behind Reinhardt failing in their attempts to make themselves invisible behind the larger man.
"Indeed." Reinhardt responded flatly, shifting his gaze to Gráinne for a moment before returning his attention to Lonan.
"We found them while investigating what remained of their original Village. It was through examination of what was left from the attack as well as the girl's description of the creature that leads me to believe we're dealing with a Dragon, rather than a Fomorian. Now as for proof of who I am… A moment please. It's a bit troublesome to flex the crest through this much armor when outside of combat. "Elias closed his eyes, taking several slow, deep breaths– then letting out a small grunt of exertion.
At first there was seemingly nothing. But as the knight continued to
push...
A fearsome glow erupted proudly from deep within his chest; its molten color gleaming forth like a star in the night, its undulating glow mirroring the rhythm of an unyielding heart!
The knight’s eyes opened; his hands gripping tightly to the reins to prevent his horse from bucking,
"Rings, heraldry, and documents of pedigree can be easily forged or stolen… But this– the very legacy of Sigurd that lay within my every heartbeat is proof of who I am!"Reinhardt allowed his body to relax; the glow slowly subsiding into near nothingness as he would set his attention firmly on Lonan again,
"Does that suffice as proof enough? Or shall I remove my chestplate for you to see it more clearly?"“...No, that is quite alright.” Lonan mouth slowly pursed downwards into a frown. It was a crest and emblem anyone even slightly familiar with the great houses of Albion would know at a mere glance.
“Eeh…guess he’s not lying, but something about them still seem fishy. Especially that icicle over there.” Gráinne rested her sheathed blade on her shoulders, tapping it lightly against her own pauldron.
“Unlike you two, these guys actually kill fomorians!” The voice of the young girl piped up, causing her brother's eyes to nearly bulge out of his head.
“Oi, brat what’d you say?!” Gráinne shouted in response. “You should be thankful King Harzelslack even sees fit to guard your pathetic little villages-”
“That’s
enough Gráinne. If you’re going to let the words of a child rile you up then I’ll have you sent back to clean the stables for a fortnight.”
“I am sorry, please forgive me Sir Lonan.”
“That outburst aside…” The darkly armored man folded his arms across his chest, observing the duo in front of them. “I still find it difficult to believe there’s a dragon involved, even taking the word of house Reinhardt into account.” He’d move a hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. “...if I may be so bold to assume that you are here to slay this supposed dragon, then allow me to join you. I’ll have Gráinne here and the other soldiers escort the children back to the village.”
"Wait, there's another matter we need to discuss." Ethelred finally spoke up.
"The black knight you mentioned, why have you arrested her? She was seeking to slay this beast, same as you and I. How has she trespassed Harzelslack's laws?"Marduk watched the knights converse from the treetops of the forest, taking solace on a rather beefy branch of one of the more modestly-sized trees. Moving across the woodlands swiftly and silently was something that only came natural to one raised among the Elves, especially with the enchantments given to him by his boots and cloak. It was almost as if he disappeared entirely from sight.
The Elf, however, only sat and watched, chuckling a bit after hearing the knights of this rival kingdom are ruled by some guy named “King Hardlysack.” Humans from this part of the world had the funniest names. To be honest, he was having his own battle… that is, against drifting off to sleep. After all, he had spent a notable time of the day in the midst of combat. It didn’t help that the knights he traveled with had decided to do the ‘boring’ way of finding answers.
“Ha? What relationship do you guys have with that beast?”
“That…I have to ask why you’re asking such a question. I would not have expected the Noble house Reinhardt to collaborate with such people.” Lonan responded. “I’m sure you know of the rumors surrounding her. Shows up conveniently around the time Fomorians attack villages, the conflicts she’s had with the Harzel knights in the past.” Well, it was no secret that Elnith wasn’t quite well liked. The rumors of her being some sort of barbaric warrior that would kill you just as quick as ignore you with imperity wasn’t exactly something they wouldn’t know. “King Harzelslack has put a bounty on her head, alive, or dead. She is to be tried within the borders for various crimes.”
“Doesn’t matter if she was here to slay it or not. We’re bringing her in and she’ll probably be executed.”
"Executed?" Ethelred asked, clearly agitated, straining to avoid lowering the temperature around him.
"She–""That’s enough Ethelred." Reinhard interjected harshly; punctuating his statement with a piercing glare directed toward the Ice-Bound knight.
"Forgive my companion– despite his appearance, he is of kind heart and tends to assume the best of people's intentions. He likely believes the woman in question to be horribly misunderstood, especially since the two children claim she saved their lives and drove off the dragon at one point.Reinhardt looked between Gráinne and Lonan for a moment before continuing on,
"And as I would like to prevent you from getting the wrong idea, the Black Knight is not affiliated with House Reinhardt."Elias paused, allowing the message to sink in; attempting to allow any tension built up by Ethelred's outburst to dissipate before going any further,
"That said… I would like to interrogate her. From what we overheard, she has faced the creature more than one time, and I surmise she may have even managed to track it back to its nesting grounds… If such is the case, it would be equal measures foolish and wasteful to not find out what she may know before continuing on our hunt.""Would you be willing to afford me a chance to speak with her?"“Good luck.” Gráinne harrumphed. “That bitch has refused to tell us anything and we even took the time to waste resources on her to patch her up.”
“Under Harzel law, such bandits and rogues are not typically allowed any visitors.” Lonan coolly replied. It didn’t seem he entirely brought Elias’ story, but he didn’t seem intent on pursuing it further now. “Especially one as presumably violent and dangerous as she is. While you claim no affiliation I find it curious you even asked about her in the first place, and now you wish to interrogate her? I see no reason to grant such a request.”
In the distance, there was a roar. Deep, guttural, but distant.
“That said…gathering information is part of my job. If you will allow me to be present during this interrogation, I suppose I could allow you.”
The roaring from beyond served as a proper alarm for the Elf, his instincts heightened at the sense of danger. Quickly, he climbed the tree he was in, looking to obtain a better vantage point for the skies above. In particular, he looked for any indication of where this roar came from…
… and how far away whatever this
thing was.
Ethelred complied with Elias' rebuke and remained silent. Beneath his crystalline helmet, he looked over each of the Harzel knights, silently assessing the threat that they might pose. The reasonable thing to do would be to play nice, join up with the Harzel knights to slay the dragon, and only then press for Elnith's release. However, between the loss of Od still weighing upon him and the more recent irritation of being called an "icicle", Ethelred was not in a good state of mind. The most he could do was keep his mouth shut and let his more level-headed, more human companion handle matters. Still, could a peaceful compromise be reached? As reasonable as the Harzel knights' leader was, could he really be persuaded to release someone whom he deemed a criminal?
Elias’ head snapped toward the direction of the distant roar; determining that it was North of their current position.
"I agree to your terms." he calmly responded to Lonan; his eyes still locked on the Northern horizon,
"But it seems the interrogation may have to be postponed for the moment… I believe another attack is imminent."The knight guided his horse closer to the Harzel Knights, angling that the entourage could assist the two children with dismounting.
"I'll be leaving these two in your care Gráinne. As for you Sir Lonan, you're welcome to take their place since you don't seem to have a horse of your own at the ready… Much as I dislike being underprepared as we are at the moment, I'll be damned before I let that beast burn another village. Not while I'm around to do something about it."“I’m glad to see the Reinhardt family is as reasonable as I had hoped.” Lonan nodded, glancing towards the direction the roar had come from as well as Elias positioned to help the children dismount. It was clear that the black armored knight didn’t trust Elias or the group, no doubt still being suspicious of them.
“Eh, but we don’t wanna go with her.” The brother huffed.
“Watch your mouth brat. You should be lucky you’re even still alive after running off.” Gráinne, in her attempts to help the children dismount would instead end up having the younger sister wiggle out of her arms before she touched the ground, who would then proceed to run around to the otherside of the horse, causing Gráinne to run after her.
“I appreciate the offer, but that will be unnecessary, Sir Reinhardt. We have a patrol to finish. I’ll send Gráinne back to the village with the children-” The skies roared again, closer this time, loud enough to interrupt their conversation.
By the time Marduk had managed to climb to the trees to get a good vantage point on what exactly had made that noise, he’d be the first to see the black winged death that had decimated the villages - and it was speeding right towards them! It was hurtling from what seemed to be northern Albion, from the Mountains towards them at a nearly impossible speed! Elias would be the second to sense it, aside from the obvious roaring. A familiar, somewhat nostalgic smell…but this one, causing his entire body to seemingly enter a fight or flight response.
Marduk had mere seconds to get down from the trees and warn everyone, should he wished.
In the next instant, the sky above the group darkened, a shadow passing above them as the creature would fly overhead, another roar which shook the heavens bellowed from its throat as it would start to descend, circling back towards the knights.
The moment that acrid smell; the stench of a sickly ash and all-consuming flame, reached his nose– Reinhardt's every hair stood on end. His every insinct screamed that this beast– no, this
dragon was his enemy! A familiar heat began to build in his chest as he watched the shadow pass over the group of knights as his thoughts raced through his head. If he could smell the dragon…
"Dammit– I think it smells me!" Reinhardt glanced toward the now mostly panicking knights,
"Get the children to safety, I'll lead it away from you!" The knight whipped his head toward Ethelred, cracking his reigns fiercely as his mount would break into a sprint–
"Ethelred on me! Don't follow too closely, try to stay out of it's sight until I give the signal!" Ethelred nodded and spurred his horse into motion, following some distance behind Reinhardt. This was it, they had to put this monster down before it could cause any more destruction. He didn’t have the natural aptitude for dragons like Reinhardt did, but his cursed, frozen state should provide some protection against the dragon’s fire. At least, he hoped it would.
Leaping from treetop to treetop, Marduk had also moved away from the rest, aiming to split up in order to avoid being bathed by its fiery breath. As he did, he would whistle a tune of a certain songbird native only to the Lylmesari Forest. It was a tune the two knights should know well, as it is one Marduk was quite fond of repeating during lulls in their travels. He whistled just loudly enough for Reinhardt and Ethelred to have an idea of where he may be moving.
Of course, to those who have extensive knowledge of the avians of Albion, such a bird call would sound quite off. While Marduk didn’t expect the wyvern to be an ornithologist of any skill, perhaps the Harzel Knights may surprise the Elf with their own unique skills…
Needless to say, the Harzelslack knights had not expected to have something like this suddenly jump them. The normal soldiers shouted as the beast flew overhead, one of them falling onto his ass from the sheer sight of it. Gráinne gave a shout of surprise as she’d finally catch the young girl and pull her away from the horse.
“Gráinne, take the children back to the village!” Lonan shouted. “Use Stelbas, get there and rally the detachment to be on standby!”
“C-can I?” Lonan would bring his hand to his mouth to his hand, a sharp whistle shortly ringing out. Perhaps, to the surprise of Ethelred and Elias, from just behind Lonan a spectral steed shimmered into existence, reality rippling around it as its hooves left puddles in its steps. Its speckled blue and white fur similarly seemed slightly damp, but otherwise it appeared as a normal steed. Without another word between the two, the steed would quickly walk over to Gráinne, the children, at least understanding the situation would quickly let the redhead.
“The rest of you, on foot, move, move! Do not engage that beast!” Spurred on by their leaders words, the knights collected themselves, bolting from the area while Lonan himself would remain, running, at least, on foot after Ethelred and Reinhardt.
The massive draconic creature had slowly finished its long, arching turn back towards the group now. It was flying low enough now that its claws clipped the tops of the trees, the speed and size of the creature completely shearing them from their trunks. Lower it would fly, trees and plants from the forest being completely uprooted, the cracking and splintering of wood as it would soon slam into the earth, not far in front of Reinhardt. It slid across the ground, across the path and into the trees on the other side from the speed it was going.
The first thing he’d feel, was the sheer heat from the creature as his horse reared back, startled from the creature in front of its sudden appearance. Even from simply existing, they could see the trees and plants withering, charring, dying from the sheer heat this dragon gave off. The next, was its size - towering above the forest, larger than even the ramparts on a tower as it straightened its posture, imperiously glaring at the group before it.
It’s scales were completely black, the beasts eyes a burning, angry red. Along its neck were holes, red, dripping with what seemed to be liquid magma that fell to the ground, burning and scarring the land with its heat. These holes continued down its entire body, its back, all the way to its tail. Two larger holes adorned its body near its hind legs, along with two more on its underside in just the same position. Its ‘arms’ were much as the two children described, more wings than arms, covered in tough, hard scales. Its head seemed almost scarred, too, lacking any lips around its teeth, giving it a horrific looking, macabre grin as more liquid magma leaked from between its teeth.
Notably though, on its chest…was exactly as the girl had described. One third of the Reinhardt family crest was emblazoned on its scales, dripping with hot searing magma like the rest of its body seemed to be.
And impaled in that crest, was the very familiar sword of Elnith’s.
The beast reared its head, an air shaking, earth shattering roar echoing through the forest.
Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Early Night
@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99As the night dragged on, the lively trio drowned themselves further and further in their mugs. Sorcha would jovially engage in both talking and various amounts of camaraderie with both Luna and Fio either by giving the smaller girl a bone-crushing hug or challenging Luna to an arm wrestling contest too, which would typically end in a draw. Eventually, though, Sorcha and Luna both would have to admit, they had been backstabbed, bamboozled, and quite possibly betrayed by the resident witch. Leo had excused himself earlier, having wanting to go check on their prisoner and perhaps, do some interrogating before Luna could remember what she was going to do to her brothers.
As soon as the Witch made her sly victory apparent, Sorcha
“Lunaaaaa…” Sorcha slumped over the table, arms drunkenly stretched out towards Luna. “Fio cheateeeeed….” She’d whine, face puffed out in a pout as the Queen fumbled with an empty mug. “MMmnnngh…Fiiiine!” Sorcha would stand, slamming her hands on the table and nodding. “Sinsh…she won…her priiiize….is me!” The Queen, would then, somehow in a show of drunken dexterity would manage to grab Fio, picking the smaller girl up over her shoulder and start carrying her off to her bedroom…well, as best as she could. She was stumbling over her feet a bit.
@FrogRFlowR
The Fomorian, indeed was far too caught up in her own little experiment to pay Niall much attention. The sound of flesh being cut, calipers and scalpels squelching as the body was prepared for whatever horrid thing she had done to it. Once he had sneaked his way to the axe, lifting it would only be a small matter. It was certainly heavy, much heavier than even his lance or armor, but still able to be carried without too much trouble.
Upon seeing the armored owl knight with his Axe, the red-haired Tuatha’s mouth lit up in a grin, seemingly eager to get out of the bindings.
“Put it in my hands. Hurry up!”
Supposing Niall would do as requested, the instant the axe was in the Tuatha’s grip, there was an instant surge of magical energy from both the axe and its wielder.
“Ahahaha! Time to cause some havoc!” The Tuatha’s muscles visibly bulged, becoming more defined, sturdier, as with a swift yank of his wrists the shackles would snap in two, he’d rip the ropes off his midsection and immediately break the restraints on his ankles too, giving the axe a firm swing in front of him. “Thanks friend! Now I can do what I came here for!”
“Now, what’s this?” Of course, this ruckus wouldn’t go unheard by the Fomorian. “A little rat…bird? Curious cat? Whatever you are, you’ve decided you have a death wish coming here, huh? Or did you want me to give you a few enhancements?”
“Shut it bitch, no one wants your creepy fingers poking them!” The Tuatha would swing the axe overhead, slamming it into the ground. Niall would feel another surge of power as fiery cracks appeared alongside the ground, surging towards the Fomorian.
“Tch-” In a show of some decent acrobatic ability, she’d pirouette to the side as an eruption of flame surged from the cracks seconds later. “That wasn’t a request.” her mouth turned into a wide grin. “Do you really think I didn’t have any guards?”
Immediately Niall and the Tuatha would become aware of some groaning sounds and shuffling noises. From the room behind the Fomorian, the corpse she had been experimenting on had jolted to life. Its body was crossed with stitches and wounds, and from its beheaded neck, two black arms extended from its neck.
“He’s not done yet, but I think he’s more than enough to handle you.”
“I’m not scared of a creepy undead puppets.” The Tuatha grunted.
“Stuuuupid, you’re surrounded.” She wasn’t wrong, from the entry hall, there was the sound of more shuffling and growling as more of her experiments seemingly woke up, all sporting grotesque, usually arm like appendages to their body. “But if you insist on fighting…I’ll be able to collect more battle data, so by all means, ahah!”
Danyel
datadogie
The Red Seelie
rush99999
Xiro Zean
Cu Chulainn
Alfhedil
Ojiro Mashirao
Gerlando
Izurich
