COMPLETED ~ Eldar X Rogue: CSI DC- There's a murderer on the loose...

Lutis' face twisted in dismissal even as Soneya was talking. It was the biggest load of bullshit he'd ever heard. She was lying to herself more than to him, trying to convince herself that she hadn't thought of him the whole time as a criminal and a commoner. He might have been both, and he accepted that as a fact, but that didn't make him any less worth than a stuck-up mage who'd happily charge extortionate prices for her half-hearted magic.
"Keep tellin' yourself that. You couldn't even keep the look of shit off your face when I was starin' right at you some of the time." His own disgust wasn't veiled, refusing to look at her properly. Her stupid mud-streaked face and twig-tangled hair.

His gaze snapped to hers as she tried defending herself though, a huff on his lips and a flap of his hands and arms. "Oh, I ain't used to being treated like this, boo me. And I guess it's alright 'cos I've been put in the shit before, I can go get put in it again, 'cos I'm less likely to die a horrible shitty death being crushed under a ten tonne of tiles, eh? You'd better write me a sign, 'bury this poor bastard under all your bad luck, he can deal with it 'cos it's happened before, but not this lassy'. Thanks." He folded his arms, a scowl on his face now. He hadn't wished danger and fear on her, but it was a fact of life sometimes, and she wasn't going to get any exceptions from that just because she was a woman. He was tired and hurt and had been through just as much as she had, but they had to face facts and get on with it. There was no coddling to be had.

When tears sprung to her eyes, his expression softened a little, but the damage had already been done by that point.
"Whatever. I'm done with putting up with shit-talk, and I sure as gods' know am done with hanging round here. Get some other worthy sod to pick you up. Good luck to 'em." He brushed his hands together, ridding himself of her. He felt guilt, but tried to quash it by repeating her derogatory words in his head. She was making enough noise to attract every beast in the woods to them anyway.

It sounded like they had heard her, too. He blanched at the sound of cracking branches and twigs, rustling leaves getting closer now she had slowed in her shrill tirade. Not more bad luck, he couldn't cope with that. His insides felt like they were shriveling as his eyes met dark ruby ones in the canopy, staring him down before an ebony hunter leapt out the trees and onto the ground before them, hackles raised.

The more they yelled at each other, the worse Soneya felt, but she had begun steering down this path and with every word was picking up speed. She knew she was going to crash hard even before Lutis started yelling back and calling her on her bullshit. Still, hearing him yell back, the words stung. More than she wanted to admit.

The truth of the matter was though that if she had to imagine herself going all that happened again, she couldn’t imagine anyone being a better partner-in-crime than Lutis. Yet another thing she wouldn’t admit. Definitely not out loud.
Besides, Lutis was done listening to her anyway.

Just as she was about to apologise yet again, the words died in her mouth before they came out as a branch cracked under something heavy, close enough to them to make Soneya’s hair stand on edge. Without meaning to her hand shot out to grab Lutis’ arm. “Please tell me we aren’t in even more trouble,” she whispered, voice barely audible.

The words had barely left her lips when an ebony hunter jumped out of the trees above them. Soneya’s grip on Lutis’ arm tightened until he probably had broken skin from where he nails dug in. Should they back away? Should they stay where they are? Should they try and talk to it? This was ridiculous! How had they managed to get into yet another pickle after they had only just escaped an evil magician, law enforcers and a crazed dragon?!

All of a sudden, the ridiculousness of it all hit her, or maybe Soneya’s hysteria hadn’t quite worn off yet, and the mage started laughing uncontrollably.

Soneya made Lutis flinch at the sudden close contact, his own reactions slower than normal. All this exposure to fear apparently wasn't doing him any good, just making him worn out. They were always in trouble, it seemed. Soneya must have been a magnet or something. A thin hiss crept through his teeth as she gripped with her nails, his skin already feeling sore from all the bruises and beating of rubble, let alone her grip too.
"Well this means we're not gon' get thrown in jail again, I guess," he said, a slight edge to his voice, sharper than normal.

"We're just gonna get eaten instead! That's great!" Oh, life had such fun in store for them. He sort of hoped it'd get him first, then he wouldn't have to put up with the hope of trying to escape another time. It seemed as Soneya had a similar sort of viewpoint to his own, as suddenly she burst into such mad cackles of laughter it took both him and the dragon off their guard. Oh she'd lost it. He pressed one hand to his face, rubbing over his temples. "Not the best day t'try and make us your snack, dragon. Come back tomorrow."

Instead of the dragon instantly pouncing on the pair of them though, it seemed to be having some difficulty. Even in holding itself up, as Lutis removed his hand again after not having been leapt on and devoured within a few seconds, he could see it swaying from side to side. It's mouth was hanging open slackly, sides heaving in and out with the effort of just a jump and a couple of laboured steps towards them. Now he paid attention, it was obviously in a bad way.
Frowning, he started backwards as the ebony hunter tried to advance, but its front legs seemed to fail underneath it, sending it toppling onto its side. Things weren't funny any more, in that we're going to die! way, concerning instead.
"Soneya..."

Soneya couldn’t help it. When she saw Lutis burying his face in his free hand, she had to laugh even more, not to mention the words he spoke to the dragon. Tears were streaming out of her eyes and leaving tracks on her dirt stained cheeks, she was having trouble breathing and still she couldn’t stop laughing.

What a way to end it all! To be eaten by a dragon after all!

However, when Lutis called her name, somewhat urgently, she forced a lid down on the hysterics and tried to focus on the situation at hand. The dragon all of a sudden didn’t look quite as menacing anymore with how it was swaying on its feet, barely able to stand upright. If there was one thing she had learned though, it was that a wounded predator was a very, very dangerous animal. So instinct made her take a couple of steps back.

But the dragon didn’t look wounded, not at first glance anyway. “What’s wrong with it?” Soneya asked silently, any thoughts of laughter having completely evaporated. “Do you see any wounds?”

The dragon was panting and trying to scramble to its feet, but all its efforts were futile and it only managed to swish around a few leaves with its claws. Brushing aside caution and ignoring the warning bells in her head, Soneya moved closer to the dragon when a dark realisation dawned on her. “Do you know what kind of dragon this is, Lutis?”

Their attempts at deciphering the evil magician’s papers may not have given them much, but if Lutis had been correct, then the mage would try to get its hands on an ebony hunter.

As Soneya knelt by the dragon’s head, her hand slowly reaching down to stroke it, she really, really hoped that this wasn’t another attempted murder or maybe an ongoing… “Shit,” she whispered. “What if he’s close by?”

"You tell me." Lutis wasn't going to get close to an animal that still looked like it was going to rip off a limb if they stepped too near. It had tried its best to be fierce in the few moments after it had come down from the treee, but apparently was closer to giving up the ghost instead of them. Soneya moved a bit closer, but Lutis decided he wasn't going to go near without some sort of defence. He looked around for a stick, hauling one down from a tree with a crunch before also taking a few steps forwards.

What type of dragon was it... well, he hadn't seen one before, so it was probably some special forest type. It looked kinda like a snake, if he had to push a guess, with its black scales and long thin body. "Er... something scary dragon? Is it dead?" A growl met his answer, lips quivering as Soneya knelt by its head. She was a nutter, to think she could get so close and not come off badly. Somehow she kept all her fingers though. He linked his fingers around the width of his stick and leaned on it as she inspected the dragon.
"Nah, he wouldn't come all the way out here, would he? No point. I think he's probably still back in the town. Thinkin' we're there too and trying to find our tracks. That ain't good." Did that mean he was going to track them, even if they never went back to the town again? That was a sobering thought. "He wants this dragon, he wants us... he finds one or the other an' we're coming off reet bad."

The dragon swiped its tail back and forth like an upset cat as Lutis leaned forwards to look a little closer at it, disturbing the leaves all around it. A few stuck together underneath it, and when they came away, they looked sticky and black. A closer examination answered Soneya's earlier question; Lutis carefully pressed his stick against the dragon's tail so it stopped moving, peering closely at the scales. "I found a wound. Great big long one, look at this."

The mage wasn’t really paying attention to what Lutis was doing, only having a vague sense of the latter moving around and doing.. something. Instead, she concentrated on inspecting the dragon. The beast suddenly didn’t seem so fierce to her anymore, despite the growl it directed towards Lutis.

“I really hope he isn’t going to follow our tracks,” Soneya muttered finally. Her overtired brain was sending her all sorts of scary images that she tried to shove away into the far recesses of her mind. She didn’t want to dwell on what could potentially happen if the magician found them or the dragon, which all ended in one huge mess one way or another.

When Lutis called out that he had found a wound, she moved away from the dragon’s head and headed towards the now trapped tail. “Gosh, that looks nasty, doesn’t it? It doesn’t seem to bear resemblance to whatever it was that has been done to the other dragons, so hopefully we’re in luck.”
As soon as she said it, she shook her own head, knowing that their luck was probably the worst out there and they shouldn’t count on it.

“This needs to be cleaned out before it infects,” Soneya said though as soon as the words had left her lips, the dragon growled again. “Fine!” She threw her hands up. “Let it get infected and die,” she growled back at the dragon, who trembled from the effort of lifting his head off the ground enough to shoot her a glare.

Muttering profanities under her breath, she turned away from the dragon giving her the evil eye and let her eyes drift over its back. Her breath hitched when her eyes fell on what could only be described as a branding of some kind. “Ah, Lutis... You aren’t going to be happy about this...” Without a further word, she pointed to the wavy lines burnt into the dragon’s scales exactly on the spot where the tail grew out.

Hoping against something probably meant that it was already happening, so Lutis didnt hold out much for thinking the sorcerer wasn't on their trail. Instead he concentrated on the dragon, moving closer when it didn't thrash around like he thought it would with its tail pinned down. It was quite the long cut; Lutis thought it was probably made by a blade.
"I think it's been cut, look how clean it is. The only jagged bits are 'cos of the scales." It wouldn't have stayed still for something like that, and it was definitely not as deep one end. Very carefully, and making sure he was far out of the way of teeth and claws, he gripped the tail in his hands, trying to ignore the rumbling of the dragon he could now feel through his fingertips.
"Aye, it's right nasty." He plucked a leaf away and the dragon scrambled, trying to get at him, but not quite managing. Lutis leapt out of reach, hands up in front of him like it was some sort of protection. "Ahreet, jeeze. We ain't got time for you if you ain't got time for us. Might as well make a start on walkin'."

He scooped up his stick from the ground and held it in both hands. He felt bad for the dragon, but he wasn't going to help it if it didn't want, and there were better things they had to do. At least Soneya had stopped yelling at him.

Maybe they weren't going to separate themselves from the dragon quite so quickly after all. His heart sunk as Soneya pointed out the mark burnt into the ebony hunter's scales, a sigh escaping his lips. "Ah, shit." It was perfectly obvious now it had been pointed out.
"Ahreet, dragon," he started, voice resigned, "we're gon have to work together on this one. We do have a common... enemy, I guess. So stop bein' a shit and tryin' to bite us. When'd this happen? Now? Or earlier." First things first, to work out whether they were immediately in danger. It didn't seem so though, from the way the dragon sort-of shook its head. Well that was good, at least.

This was shaping up to be a horrible escape plan. It had sounded so nice at first to just get out of the town, but now, Soneya wasn’t so sure it had been the right thing to do. Of course, remaining within the city walls hadn’t been an option either so they were stuck with having to make this work, one way or another.

When Lutis asked the dragon to stop biting them, she frowned. Had she really not noticed? But it was very likely she hadn’t. She was still tired and far too focused on the wavy lines to actually pay attention to what the dragon was doing – or Lutis for that matter. Come to think of it, staring at the wavy lines had made her a little dizzy and she had for a moment thought they might be moving. Probably because the dragon had been thrashing about.

“Alright,” Soneya said, suddenly feeling bone-tired. Their little rest hadn’t done her much good, it seemed. “Can you talk?” she asked the dragon who nodded, but when she proceeded to ask him to explain what had happened, the dragon just looked pained and made a sort of whiny, yet grumbly noise.
The mage cocked her head, confused, until something occurred to her. “Damaged vocal cords?”
When the dragon gave a small nod again, she continued, crouching before the dragon: “Is the wound recent?” A shake of its head.
“Was it a man who did this?” A nod.
“A magician?” A fierce nod.
“Did he let you go?” The pained look on the dragon’s face instantly made Soneya regret having asked the question, all the more so because her tone had been somewhat incredulous. “Good thing for you that you managed to get away before he could do to you what he did to the others.
A look of alarm crossed the dragon’s features and he instantly began pawing the ground as though he was trying to get himself back into an upright position. “I’m not sure getting up is a good idea.” But when she looked up at Lutis, she grimaced. “Then again, getting up and out of here might be our only option.”

Standing up again, Soneya turned to fully face Lutis. “Anything else that we should know immediately, you think?” She couldn’t think of anything else what with all the pictures of mutilated dragon bodies and wavy lines having a party inside her mind. “Otherwise I suggest we help this poor thing up and get the hell out of here.”

Lutis pinched his brow between forefinger and thumb as the dragon explained his predicament, slowly. Wonderful.
With what was more of a confirmation of the dragon's backstory rather than any sort of new information, the line of action they had to take was quite clear. Obviously, staying in the forest was unsafe, and the three of them, knackered and injured, were going to be no match for a mage if- when- he found them. It was bad business, but unfortunately, they seemed stuck in it until either the mage was locked away for good, or he managed to... no, he didn't want to think of that ending. At least they had another ally now.

"Well, I ain't stayin' here. Move your ass, dragon. We gotta hit the road." He gave it a light tap with the stick he still held, provoking it to its feet with snarling and growling. "Yeah, I know. Sit and mope if you wanna get found." All this not-sleeping, constant anxiety was making him grouchy. When the dragon was up on his feet, he was already turning to pick a direction through the forest, the one that had the least brambles, ferns and tangling branches. It was still hot and unpleasant walking though, the forest not the coolest place to be with the sticky heat of the day, and the sun wasn't even up to its peak yet. No hard exercise for him, please. Every so often there was the rustling of trees as a thin wind blew through the canopy, stopping them in their tracks in fear of their pursuer having found them. Or, the town guards... either seemed likely. A deer exploded out of the undergrowth at another point, and the dragon tried to leap for the creature as it skittered away with splayed legs, but his injuries meant he could barely move to pursue it. Thankfully he gave up before he ripped open hit cuts again.

When the sun was at its peak in the sky, they stopped for a rest by a clearing in the forest. Their route had been unstructured and random, so Lutis wasn't clear on how far they had actually walked, but it had felt like a long way. A road cut through the forest from one side of their wavering trail to another, so it seemed like a good place to stop; the dust track could be seen from right to left for a way, so the chance of being surprised was a little lower than before. The rainforest was still a huge swathe of dense land that anything could spring from still, but that was a constant danger.

Lutis flopped down at the side of the road and flapped one hand weakly in front of his face, trying to cool himself from the sticky mess he felt he had turned into. Certainly there were no comments he could make towards Soneya any more about being a mess. His stomach felt empty and he was parched, unfamiliar with what plants would kill him and which would make a tasty meal.
"Where d'you think this road leads?" he asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with one sleeve. Kaionar, that'd be nice. A straight route all the way back home. What a laugh; it'd probably go to another wretched forest town where they hated anything out of the ordinary- even if the ordinary was murder. "Ugh, it's so hot," he moaned.

Soneya did not approve with how Lutis treated the dragon but he was right in a way. There was no time left to pamper bruises and scratches or hurt egos. They had to get a move on. Preferably yesterday already.

Their get-away was definitely not glorious. Not that Soneya had expected it to be a comfortable walk, but she hadn’t thought it would be this tedious either. Already dirty and sweaty from the day before, she felt like a complete and utter ball of disgusting mud on two legs when they stopped for a rest. Sitting down on the forest floor suddenly didn’t bother her as much anymore as it usually would have. Not that she minded a bit of leaves and needles on her clothes – stuff she could easily wipe off – but she had really liked that dress; a dress she was most likely never going to wear again from the way things were going. There were stains on it she didn’t know how or even want to define which made it improbable that they were ever going to come out again, even after a couple of washes.

The mage was still standing, inspecting the clearing and the various growths surrounding its edges when Lutis finally uttered something that wasn’t a moan. Looking back over her shoulder at him, she shrugged. “I’m really not sure. We haven’t exactly gone straight and I honestly can’t remember which direction we headed into last night, so your guess is as good as mine.” Soneya turned back to checking the plants, this time moving closer to them before she added: “I just hope we’re going to find civilisation soon, or at least a stream of water so we can clean up a little bit.”

While Lutis continued to moan, the dragon seemed to have spotted a squirrel or something along that size and was trying to get the better of it, but to no avail. No wonder with how slowly the dragon was moving in the meantime. She hoped his wounds weren’t going to start festering.

“Ah!” she exclaimed under her breath, and dove behind a couple of trees. She couldn’t remember the name of the plant, but she remembered the form. It was one she had used in several experiments as it was naturally rich in water. It would serve them well now, hopefully. Picking a few leaves, she walked to the dragon and held them out to him. “What do you think?” In answer, the dragon carefully picked them out of her hand and began munching them slowly, carefully as though savouring every little bit.

Smiling, Soneya headed back towards the plant and picked a large handful of leaves, some of which she put before the dragon who had now flopped down against a tree and was still eating the first batch of leaves. The rest of the leaves she took over to Lutis. “Here,” she handed them to him. “They don’t taste like much, or all that well really, but they have a tendency to store water in abundance. Eat them slowly, you’ll get more out of them.”

"Not sure I want to find civilization," said Lutis. Last time, civilization hadn't been that civil. He didn't want the image of a gurgling stream that popped into his head, too fresh and enticing. It made him thirsty just thinking of it. He ignored the dragon as it tried to catch himself some lunch, not fancying the look of the mangy beast he was chasing himself. All the fuss Soneya was making over some plant that looked no different from the rest didn't amuse him either, unintelligent in the ways of botany. He looked at them blankly as she proffered a set for himself, taking them with a skeptical look on his face.
"Er..." He gave the leaves a sniff, turning his nose up at the sharp smell of them. This was lunch? He supposed he couldn't provide much better, but it wasn't something that promised a full stomach or a sweet taste. "Thanks?"

He was fairly reluctant to put the leaves in his mouth- once he did, there was a bitterness to them that made him scrunch his nose. True to her word, they were soft and juicy, filling his mouth with liquid. It didn't taste good, but he supposed it was better than being thirsty for the rest of the day. Pushing them to one side of his mouth, he tried to work out which direction was which.
"I'm bettin' this road takes us back to the town," he said eventually, having looked both directions up and down, and spent a while just staring upwards as well. "Look how straight it is, then just disappears into trees that way." He pointed off to his left. "I think it turns. No idea why this bit's so wide and straight an' then it goes off another way, but there ya go. People build weird things." There was hardly a tree overlooking the road at all, only shrubs growing alongside the strip of earth down the middle that they sat beside. Perhaps the trees shrunk back from open space below them. "So the other way, that way," his finger stretched towards the opposite direction, "must lead somewhere better t'go. Another town or something- somewhere t'get food." As if on cue, his stomach grumbled with hunger. "There's no point in losing ourselves in the forest again, reet?" If they followed this path, then they'd eventually end up somewhere. If it took them back to where they had come from... well, that was bad luck, but there'd be another path they could cut across onto and then away again.

Rest aborted, as they had probably had enough time, and sitting was starting to attract nasty buzzing flies that hovered round the ears and bit the back of the neck, Lutis stretched. He put the rest of Soneya's leaves in a pocket and swallowed the need to voice the discomfort of his feet. And everything else, for that matter.
The road was much easier walking than trying to bash their way through the forest, so progress was much faster with hard ground beneath their feet. Strangely, every so often there were deep rents in the ground, where the earth had been ripped up in long grooves. They were irregular, occuring in patches that destroyed most of the road when they were present, then there would be none at all for long stretches apart.

As they picked their way across one such set of deep indents, Lutis commented on the strangeness of them. "What are these weird things? Can you imagine tryin' to get a horse and cart down here? Impossible." He shook his head, throwing his arms out wide to either side as he stumbled. "Sorry, slipped."
Regaining his balance, he happened to look up into the sky. Silhouetted against the sun was the shape of a dragon, wings outstretched as it descended right towards them, closing fast. Panic grabbed Lutis as he realised it was probably going to come down right on top of them- not good.
"Dragon, DRAGON!" He hasted to move himself and the other two out of the way as the beast approached, not seeming to care they were in the path of its landing strip.

Feeling somewhat miffed while Lutis uttered his thoughts on roads and directions, Soneya munched on a few leaves, glad for the small respite they provided her dry throat. It wasn’t much but at least it was something, which was always better than nothing at all. She might have been able to pull some water from the earth but she wasn’t sure she had regained enough of her energy to be able to perform magic. Besides, it might be a better idea to try and keep her reserves in case they ran into trouble, and knowing their luck that would most likely be sooner rather than later. Though she really, really hoped for the contrary.

The road they were following was definitely easier walking than before but Soneya had a strange feeling in her gut. It may just be that she was wound so tightly that her stomach was starting to make her feel bad for the way her nerves had been acting up. It wasn’t the forest as such that gave her the creeps, after all she had spent enough time of her life in a forest and had never felt funny about it, but something about either this part of the forest or just this area of the island in general made her feel a little queasy.

When Lutis commented on the grooves, she nodded. “They seem very out of place. Definitely not a trade road. Something feels…” Soneya gasped when Lutis’ arm suddenly hit her square in the chest as he tried to regain his balance.

Glaring at him, she rubbed her chest. Just about to open her mouth to tell him just what she thought of him, he shouted dragon and Soneya’s head snapped up to follow his gaze. As he pushed both her and the injured dragon out of the way, the mage stumbled and almost fell but caught herself just in time before she face-planted.

The closer the dragon came, the bigger it grew and Soneya began to wonder how on earth the thing wanted to land there on that tiny piece of road between large trees. It would never be enough.
“Ah, I’m not so sure this is going to be enough,” she grunted as she in turn took hold of Lutis’ arm and pulled him even further into the trees, coaxing the dragon to follow them. The latter however suddenly turned and ran back onto the road, giving odd keening cries.

The storm conjured up by the wings of the large dragon made leaves, dust and other debris float up from the ground and Soneya threw an arm across her face to shield her eyes as much as possible. She knew there was a reason why she had always disliked these huge beasts. And if that wasn’t enough already, it roared loudly, making the mage’s ears ring.

The injured dragon however was covering before it, keening and almost purring as it stretched its neck up to meet the large dragon’s snout.

Their departure from the road was less than graceful, but it was more important to get out of the way of the beast bearing down on them! Lutis was hardly elegant himself as he stumbled over shrubs and bushes to get out of the way, Soneya tripping over her own feet in haste. A landing strip- it made sense now, why it was so straight and there weren't any overhanging trees!

Lutis spun to look at the dragon landing once they were far enough away, holding one hand in front of him to stop the blast of wind blowing leaves and twigs in his face. It was quite the creature, the downdraft from its wings blowing the trees from side to side and whipping all manner of loose litter up into the air. He had never seen a dragon so big, dwarfing them all easily- even the Ebony Hunter. Speaking of... that dragon was going to get squished, heading out towards the giant beast.

He was too late clapping his hands over his ears at the sound the dragon made, loud enough to rattle his teeth. Ears ringing, he crept forwards towards the two dragons as they seemed to communicate- perhaps they knew one another? It certainly looked like it, from the way the Ebony Hunter was rubbing his face all over the other one's nose, a bit like an oversized cat. Well, it was probably difficult to avoid a dragon as big as that, when it made such a dent in the rainforest. It wasn't that much to look at, bar it's enormous size; just shades of brown, big wings, big scales, very long horns. Impressive, but not a head-turner in any other respects.
"Hey Soneya, I think they might be friends or somethin'," said Lutis, watching them from behind the safety of a tree. Maybe the bigger dragon could speak, tell them what had happened and what was going on? Maybe they could employ its services to squish the Mage for them, that'd be nice. Lutis entertained the thought for a moment. The dragon was friendly, right?

It had somewhat slipped his mind that the Ebony Hunter hadn't been the most friendly animal when they had come across one another, so when he moved a bit closer, it surprised him that the Longhorn was equally as unwelcoming. It focused its yellow eyes on him at the rustling of leaves he made, and immediately he regretted getting so close. There was barely any warning as the dragon opened its mouth and spat thick fire in his and Soneya's direction, trees hissing as the molten liquid stuck and burned through bark and trunk. Lutis yelled and dived for cover, scrambling to get out of the way as the dragon lunged forwards to snap at him, the ebony hunter leaping in agitation at the larger dragon's actions.

“Well what do you know, it sure looks like it!” Soneya replied when Lutis pointed out the friendly relation between the dragons. She herself was not remotely extending the same feelings towards the large dragon that had now settled itself on the middle of the ‘road’. It was far too large for her taste and the horns looked spiky. It wasn’t one of the guardians from the town, was it? If so, then they were in such deep shit.
Also, she wasn’t sure where it came from but the dislike for anything large and four-footed came screaming back to her as she looked at the beast. The mage had thought she had fought that so-called ‘knowledge’ she had been taught and made up her mind about it all but it seemed as though some things were just too ingrained. Overly large dragons like this one made her skin crawl.

Her distaste was in no way helped by the beast itself. Instead of reassuring her, considering that it was friendly with the ebony hunter, it just glared at them and suddenly tried to roast them.

Screaming, Soneya dove for cover, going in the opposite direction as Lutis had. And that was when she lost it. Yelling at the dragons on the path, she vented the frustration of the last few days and threw it all at them.
“That’s it! I’ve had it! Next time an injured dragon falls into my lap, I’m going to leave the damn thing to rot! Why the hell is everyone after us? We didn’t do anything! What the fuck is wrong with you all? Have you ever heard of something called innocence? - (/)%/&%*/+&*ç%/(+&* - Seriously, go rot in a dark, dank cave somewhere! See if I care!”

She continued with yet another string of profanities, profanities she didn’t even know she knew, and shook her fist at the dragons. The molten gunk was at least not turning into a fully-fledged forest fire or catching her dress on fire..
[/i]

Come all this way to be roasted alive, cowering behind a tree as leaves fell burning from branches... Lutis covered his head over as one such branch came crashing down nearby, scrabbling out of the way to make sure he didn't end up a similar way. The Ebony Hunter was making agitated yipping and yapping sounds as the Longhorn glared at them, but it didn't seem to be making that much different, at least to Lutis.

Before he had a chance to run further, or resign himself to being roasted alive (what an unpleasant way to die...) Soneya suddenly lost it. Just, completely lost it. She'd done so earlier once already, but this was something else... if there was a definition for rage complete, she was it. For a water mage, she was much too red in the face, so much so he wondered if she'd ever return to a normal colour again.
And that was cursing to match Kaionar's underworld. She was really going for it. The joker in him wanted to act surprised, but in all reality, he didn't feel much different.
He couldn't blame her at all though. Might as well go down fighting, apparently.

The two dragons seemed somewhat overtaken by Soneya's outburst, although it didn't stop the Volcane Longhorn going for Lutis again as he stopped trying to avoid the huge dragon. The dragon's tail whipped out as he stood still, dumbstruck, and before he knew it he was scrambling on the ground trying to find his feet again. He let out a screech as the dragon pounced forwards to eat him, claws gouging into the dirt either side. Trying to scramble away was useless as he was hefted easily off the ground, fingers clawing at plants as the dragon took off. He saw the Ebony Hunter turning back towards Soneya as the Longhorn abducted him into the sky, held in place with a set of claws round his middle and one round his legs, wind whipping past him and stealing away his breath as they climbed higher into the sky.

She was angry, so so very angry. And though she was exhausted and had almost completely drained herself the day before, the sight of the Volcano Longhorn diving after Lutis in an attempt to eat him or roast him or whatever the hell it was it wanted to do to him, not to mention the fact that they completely ignored her screamed accusations, was the last straw. And then, as if all that hadn’t been enough already, the Longhorn simply snatched up Lutis and flew off.

That was when Soneya completely lost control.
The magic burst out of her. A yell of pain on her lips as her arms stretched out to her sides and her fingers almost curled into a fist, a wave of water erupted from the ground and surrounded the ebony hunter.

“Put him down,” she ground out through gritted teeth. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep this up and for how long it was going to knock her out, but at that moment, she didn’t care. “Bring him back down safely, or I swear I’m going to increase your friend’s pain.” The ebony hunter stared at her through a sheet of water, panic flooding his eyes before he looked up at the Longhorn and began screeching madly.

Hooooly crap, this was high up and barely a second had passed. Lutis' hands flailed at the air wildly as he tried to grip something- anything- that might save him from this whooshing, stomach-churning, rollicking flight. The solid ground whirled underneath him as the dragon banked and fought to get air under its straining wings, trees suddenly small as twigs. If he had tried to scream, all the air had been whipped away from his lungs, barely enough to keep breathing, it seemed, let alone voice some complaint.
It was difficult to even verbalise complaint, when utter terror insisted on making him dumb.

He wasn't sure what Soneya was doing down on the forest floor- it was somewhat of a side thought, and he didn't have time for those right now- but something caused the longhorn to suddenly change it's course. Where the ground had been getting smaller and smaller as the dragon caught a warm updraft, suddenly the opposite was true as it tucked its wings to head back to the ground. That did cause him to scream, barely seeming to make noise as the wind stole all sounds with ferocity. Everything was blue and green and brown and grey, then a wild concoction of all of them. The world went spinning as the dragon threw him up into the air- into the air!- limbs flailing, then he came down hard between the Longhorn's wings as it took at pass at Soneya with its claws. If the mage was caught up Lutis wasn't sure, half aware of a sudden coating of water as the Longhorn grabbed at the Ebony Hunter through Soneya's defences, half aware of the urge to vomit all over the dragon's bright scales. That one, he wouldn't be holding back.

Pain. So much pain! It was ripping through her veins as though it were part of her blood stream. Everything was hurting. But she had to hold on. The reason why was starting to dim as her body began shutting down, but nevertheless she held on.

The Ebony Hunter was frantically looking between her and the Volcano Longhorn, keeping up a steady stream of screeches – maybe they were communicating? – and suddenly, there were claws scratching at her.

Whether it was an attack or an attempt to take her, she didn’t know. All she knew was that it hurt, a lot, and that something had to have happened to Lutis. If Lutis wasn’t in the claws anymore, then the dragon had to have dropped him. Or was there a new dragon in play? But Soneya couldn’t move anymore. Her muscles were locked so tightly that she felt like a statue. And that’s when it hit her that she was not only draining the earth around her but herself as well. The magic took water from wherever it could, including living things. Including her.

Without hesitating a second longer, she let go of the magic, collapsing on the floor just as the Longhorn made a grab for the Ebony Hunter. Her arms and shoulders were burning where the dragon had scratched her and she could feel a couple of tears sliding down her cheek and she distantly wondered where the water for those tears had come from before she sank into blissful darkness. She was completely and utterly depleted.

There was nothing for it but to hang tightly on, and hope that the Longhorn wouldn't shake him off from its back.After all the shuddering and shaking as the almost hit the ground (or, that was what it felt like), the Longhorn gained air again and settled down its pace, thick wings beating the sky in steady time. Lutis tried to look behind to see if Soneya had been abandoned behind in the forest, but they'd already flown above the treetops and turned, hiding the wide strip of open ground from view.
He felt a strange pang of fear and... was it loneliness? For Soneya? Well, they had been through a lot.

They flew for what seemed like a long time, the forest a swathe of green below them. The dragon's flight settled quickly, soothing Lutis' ill stomach. From motion sickness, anyway- enough for his mind to turn towards what would happen to him when the dragon landed, what would happen to Soneya stuck out in the forest. The sun swung round slowly from one side of them to the next, the dragon turning in a huge arc.
Finally, it came across what it seemed to be looking for, its head bending down as it looked... and then dove. All the sickness returned in a rush, and Lutis had to grip with all his might to the dragon's thick scales as it hurtled towards the ground. The trees rushed close by, then suddenly there were town walls, buildings and streets.
It had taken them back?!

The dragon hovered in the centre of the town square as it let down the load in its claws, Ebony Hunter bouncing free, then landed lighter than it should have for such a massive beast, a roar deafening the man and rattling doors as it announced its presence.

Soneya awoke what seemed like hours later with every muscle in her body screaming abuse at her. When she tried to swallow, she barely managed, her throat was so parched and so were her lips. Unsure as to what had happened, she remained where she was for a moment, prone on the floor, somewhere, and tried to gain her bearings. Something had woken her up but she couldn’t figure out what.

The only thing she really registered was pain and thirst. So much thirst. The lack of water in her body was bad enough that it completely blanked out the pounding she should have been feeling in her skull. She knew the headache was there. Or she figured it was. It certainly wouldn’t have gone away after over-exerting herself when it had been present even before she started using magic again in a very ill-advised move.

She still didn’t know where she was and her vision seemed blurry and dark – or had she not fully opened her eyes yet? Her hearing however was telling her of some kind of commotion. And it was loud. Far too loud for the pain she was feeling. She tried to move, to get up, to turn her head, but her body disobeyed her completely. She barely managed to even lift her head and her eyelids were still not cooperating fully, or maybe it was her eyes. That last thought sent a jolt of panic through her. What had she done to herself?!

Curling tightly into a ball – which she seemed to be able to do after a bit of coaxing - , she decided to just let it all wash over her and ignore anything and everything. It was probably not the wisest move but it was the only one she could do. Getting up and getting away was completely out of the question. If it was her last move, then so be it. Thoughts were swirling around in her mind and not all of them made sense. A face was pretty clear to her though.

Maybe she had been able to save Lutis before she had managed to kill herself.

The last Lutis and Soneya had seen of the mage, he was being dragged off into a cell near theirs, in the lawkeepers' headquarters. It hadn't been clear whether he had managed to escape as they had. Knowing the strength of his magic however, and the incompetence of the lawkeepers in this particular town, he would be surprised if the mage was still locked up.

The dragon moved underneath him again as it stalked forwards after the Ebony Hunter, who had found her feet and was doggedly making its way towards the biggest building in the square. The door clanged shut as the two dragons stalked towards it, the Ebony Hunter starting to flag again after being carried for such a long period of time. It looked towards the Longhorn as if to say, bust that thing down.
The Longhorn complied, ripping one of the doors off with a horn through the wide handle. Inside, people screamed as light flooded through the door, the smaller black dragon leaping inside to bite its jaws around a writhing figure and drag it out into the square.The figure kicked but didn't scream, already calling on his magic. The mage.

He didn't have any timet o summon magic like he had before though, the Longhorn snapping down once he came into range, and chewing him down in big mouthfuls.

The sounds didn’t make sense. It sounded like she was surrounded by people. But how could that be? Lutis and her had escaped into the forest. The only living beings around had been whatever animals habitually inhabited the forest and the two dragons. That would in no way account for the commotion taking place around her.

Curiosity took hold of her and while it was in no way fit to battle the pain still holding Soneya in its tight grip, she was willing to start battling again. She wanted to know what was going on.

A jolt of survival instinct kicked in as well when the talk turned into screams. She had to get up. She had to get out of there. No matter what was happening, she didn’t want to be a part of it. No matter how much she hurt, she didn’t want to die.

There was a loud crash and more screaming. And then.. Soneya felt the pull of magic. It felt familiar, and it felt terrible. Jolting upright, ignoring the way her head spun madly, she forced her eyes to focus. Abruptly the magic stopped and after blinking furiously a few more times, she realised why. The fragile looking Ebony Hunter and the Volcano Longhorn that had attacked them were having their way with the mage. Or rather, with what was left of him.

“Eurgh,” she muttered, gathering her legs underneath her so she was in a more comfortable sitting position and was unable to turn her eyes away. Not that the mage didn’t deserve what was coming for him, but this was a pretty gruesome sight.

And then she spotted Lutis, or what she assumed to be Lutis. On top of the dragon.
“Lutis!!” she screamed, but of course, only a hoarse croak came out of her abused throat.

Ugh, that was horrible. Lutis heard chomping and snarling noises, cracking of bones that he tried to block out. The screaming of the petrified townspeople, they were a bit more difficult to ignore.

The dragons finished with their prey, the Ebony Hunter bolted down an alleyway and out of sight. The Longhorn wasn't quite as lithe, and had now remembered the unwanted weight upon its back. Apparently all ties with humans were severed now, with justice served the dragon way. The dragon bucked and twisted, then threw him off across the square and took to the air. He didn't expect it, limbs flailing as he flew through the air and thunked to the ground. The cobblestones received him before something soft stopped him from rolling further. He groaned as the dragon blocked out the sun with its wings, dust and debris from the ground blowing into his eyes from the dragon's gust of wind.

Eyes wide, Soneya watched the Volcano Longhorn wiggle around until Lutis came flying off its back. While the dragon bounded away without seemingly a care in the world, Lutis crashed to the floor, conveniently next to the water mage, throwing her off balance in the process.

People were running around screaming, making Soneya wonder what on earth the use in that was, and the peacekeepers came running from everywhere to inspect the ruckus. They were going to pay for whatever had happened, she was almost sure of it. With the two dragons on the run and the two of them sitting there in the dirt, she just knew that this was going to come and bite them in the ass. Especially after their previous escape...

Flopping onto her back, Soneya reached out a hand to brush through Lutis’ hair, the only part of him she could reach in this position. “Are you okay?”

Oh jeeze, even with a bit of padding from whoever Lutis had landed on, he could have done without that last journey through the air. He really didn't feel like getting up. In fact, if he just lay there, maybe they'd ignore him for a little bit, give him some well deserved rest. It really was well deserved.

He jumped a little as he felt a hand touch his hair, twisting his head around in the fear that maybe someone was about to grab him, or it was some beast trying to nibble, but fortunately, luck was smiling int he form of Soneya.
"Oh, hey! You made it." He gave her a limp smile, reaching up to pat her halfheartedly on the hand. God, it was good to know she was in one piece. He'd actually been pretty worried back there. "Kinda sucks though, right? The one place we didn't wanna end up. Gods, I could sleep for a week." He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having to do nothing, although it wasn't exactly comfortable. It was only when a shadow fell over him he felt he should probably do something about it.
Lawkeepers again, oh great.

» COMPLETED ~ Party Time! With Liz and Eldar
» Anyone for the rescue? (Cold, Parade, Eldar)
» Chance Meeting [Kor] - Completed
» Height of the Hunt (Eldar & Nen)
» The Altar of Stars (Alex X Eldar)