C1 Racksom~~~~And then, there was War~~~~(5th Board)

Akira turned her left arm into the arrows coming her way knowing there was no way she could avoid all of them while avoiding the soldiers around her with a thunk one arrow lodged itself between the joints of her metal arm and the other in her leg. She grimaced in pain swinging both of her blades around her trying to get the soldiers away from her so she could take care of her wounds, unfortunately with Mizu occupied it did not work. She growled and limped away from the fight. "Mizu! Help!" She shouted as loud as she could giving Talos a quick glare though she understood why he did what he had, who wouldn't.

Mizu snarled as he just barely heard Akira call for help, "I can't deal with you right now!" He shouted at Kono who snapped at his shoulder. Mizu growled as the dragons teeth grazed his shoulder. That was when Mizu spotted a bolt whizzing through the air behind Kono. With a grimace he maneuvered himself so that Kono unknowingly flew in the path of the bolt.

Kono screeched as the bolt lodged itself into his back, missing his spine to lodge itself in his rib cage. With that he crumpled in the air managing to safely tuck his wings in just before he slammed into the earth below. Mizu took this chance to fly away and back up akira as they quickly retreated, but not before akira made use of the paper transmutation circle causing an explosion which brought a building to the ground on top of a few of the soldiers though many got away in time. But that wasn't exactly what Akira cared about, the arrows in her leg and metal arm made it impossible to fight well, which meant it was most likely time to make their own retreat.

(akira Mizu- 10H?)

Kono gasped heavily, he grimaced in pain as he slowly brought himself to his feet. "That bolt probably caused a lot of damage." He mumbled to himself. He let out a stream of fire across one of the major roads behind the retreating DDC army. It wasn't much but he hoped that it would at least stall the Approaching rebels. Bleary eyed he took to the sky breathing heavily every time he beat his wings, but he couldn't stop yet. Only once the soldiers were out could he rest. He took the chance to look higher into the sky and he couldn't help but feel betrayed as the guardian dragon left the scene. He figured the guardian had their own reasons, but still, it just bothered him.

(Kono L4ish by now i think)

Kagan turn ed to face the forgerys door and griined, his plan twinkling in his eyes as he answered Rilos. "Don't worry, you're going to love it. Well, after I'm done you will." Grinning like a devil, Kagan pused ope n the door and strode inside, his actions now lost to Rilos as he shut the door. Now, let's get to business. First of all, lights... thre were flint stones behind the counter, and a few torches lining the walls. Fetching the stons and lighting the torches, Kagan could get a better view of his new workplace:The forgery itself wasn't ver grand, only equipped to craft simple things like gardening tools and basic weapons, but it would have to do. There we re all the tools he'd need, hammer, tongs and the like, next to the actual forge, which thankfully was already full of coal. And, should that supply run out, there was a veritable mountain of it in the back corner. "Perfect." He mumbled, cackling and searching for... found it!

A few minutes later, Kagan emerged from the building, a bundle covered in a dirty brown tarp in his arms. "Listen buddy, we need to get you fixed up. Luvkily..." He dumped the load onto the ground, and the contents spilled out: a long length of chains, a meter-long cloth ruler, and a piece of charcoal. "We're gonna patch you up good'n proper, metal style.You up fer it?"

Kagan’s eagerness at whatever he had planned made Rilos feel a little apprehensive, considering they were outside a blacksmith’s, but he just had to trust the goblin- there wasn’t anyone else around that was going to help. He kept an eye out on the street as he disappeared inside, out of his view, hoping that nobody else was going to bump into them- Although it was unlikely, they were far away from where he could hear battles raging in other parts of the city. He felt a little guilty about not going to find Atleon and report what he had seen on his fight earlier over the city, but of course, there was no way he could find the man downed in the street like this, and things had probably moved on from where they had been before.

He looked back at Kagan as he re-emerged, eyeing his armful curiously. Certainly didn’t look like he was carrying bandages and cream to stick him back together again… Indeed, it was a very strange load he was carrying. Chain? What was that for?
“Can try, ‘though I didn’t think you used metal for bandages.” he mumbled, cracking a wry smile. “Jus’ don’t break any more of me.”

(F3)

Seeing the girl retreat was good enough for him, and without wasting another second, he grabbed a man who had fallen by his arm, hauled him to his feet, and quickly took off into the shadow of the nearest building, hoping to avoid arrows and the wrath of the enemy dragon that seemed hell-bent on destroying everything in the immediate vicinity. He didn't see Atleon or Lotharia, having lost sight of the two after his mad dash to make for safety.

"Lotharia?" He called out with his mind, hoping to contact the bright pink dragon that way. He was running with a small band of foot soldiers, most of them having dropped their farm-tools-made-into-weapons when they saw the Tribal coming their way. "Where are you and the Prince? I'm running through the market." The empty stalls of the normally bustling market were much easier to run through than the winding streets, the entirety of the plaza laid out on a grid format, though the cover from aerial eyes was significantly less than the close quarters of the streets.

(K4 heading to L5)

Lotharia was not able to wait for a response from Atleon, hearing another voice in her head which she knew as Talos. "From when I saw you in the air, I believe we are south to you. I...fear this dark dragon so I fled from it." For the first time, Lotharia sounded slightly defeated compared to her normally compassionate and comforting tone. Everyone had something they feared and this was certainly one of hers. "There is hardly anyone here so I will stay put... She squinted looking at a sign near a building she was at. "This sign says...foaming mug?" There was a confused tone to her voice now, not understanding the name of the building but gave the message anyway.

~*~*~*~

The rider that was holding Lena had bolted at the sight of the Tribal Battle Blood and was making his way recklessly down streets, trying to get to the underground tunnels. As he turned a corner however, his horse was viciously attacked by a soldier and went toppling to his side and getting crushed under the horse. Lena was thrown from the horse, landing roughly on her side as the man took in one sharp gasp before blood filled his lungs from the crushed ribs puncturing them.

Lena more than likely would not have woken had it not been for being thrown off the horse and she groaned as consciousness returned to her. It was rather chaotic, and it took her a few moments to remember why is was she was not in the air. Shooting up into a sitting position Lena realized she did not see Talos around her. "Talos!" She called out, looking around wildly. The man who had stabbed the horse advanced on Lena and she rolled to the side avoiding being stabbed. She had no energy, her head was throbbing and she felt oddly sick but she had to keep moving. Bringing her legs up, Lena kicked the man in the crotch and watched as the man went down. She grabbed his sword and stabbing him in the back, getting herself to her feat.

There was one thing on Lena's mind and that was finding Talos. She snapped open her wings and took to the skies, scanning the ground below her and the skies in front of her. What happened in the few short moments though nearly gave Lena a heart attack. She saw Talos running among the streets and her heart jumped in relief what changed it all was the sight of the Tribal Battle blood. How could she have not seen it before?! Not wanting to be a target in the air, she flew low and fast heading in the direction Talos had been running, putting a hand to her mouth as she felt as if she were going to be sick. Now honestly wasn't the time.

As she saw the group of Talos' men coming up she flew lower and then hit the ground running, catching up to him and running along side him. She felt sick and tired, but she would stay by his side...where ever it was he was frantically running to. "I'm okay for now." She wanted to get that out of the way before she was shooed from his side to find somewhere safer.

Foaming mug? For a moment Talos had no idea what Lotharia was talking about, then suddenly it clicked and he realized that she was near the tavern much farther south and west of where he was right now. It would take a while for him to cover the distance if he wanted to rendezvous with the Prince, which was looking to be a less likely option now. "It's alright Lotharia, just get Atleon to safety. I'm with some other soldiers and we're running for the gates-" His stream of thought was suddenly disrupted when a pair of familiar white wings caught his peripheral vision, and he looked over his shoulder quickly to see Lena descending on their group. "Lena! What are you doing here?!" He expected her to be passed out in a saddle still, or at least closer to the gate than this. "And you look anything but okay." He retorted bluntly, continuing to run, though at a more manageable pace for the farmers that were running along close behind him. The market was ending now, a wall of buildings that made up the perimeter and main-road ring looming large in his line of sight. A gap between the buildings indicated the large street that would eventually get them to the East Gate and out of Racksom.

(L4 heading to L5)

Lotharia dipped her head low, but took Talos' comment that it was alright to actually be alright. She had left those people, left them back where they could be getting killed. She moved a bit agitated as she waited in the area for Talos to catch up to them and looked back to Atleon. She could feel his unease, it was almost pouring off the man but this had to be done.

(I5)
~*~*~*~

"Sadly it seems that my ride seemed to have failed me." She left the details out, not wanting to further explain and hoping what she was would be good enough for him for now. At his comment that she did not look so good Lena probably could not disagree. Whether she should or not doesn't mean she was going to, for a long while she had been fighting along side Talos been his partner and it wasn't going to change now. She turned her head for a moment, suppressing another urge to get sick and taking a few gulps to push it down. Had she lost too much blood? She shook her head turning to Talos. "It better that I be here with you than looking for you." She commented, knowing she would have continued to look if she had not found him on her first flight up.

Starling – after a long pause – nodded, and slung her bow over her shoulder. She went to open her wings, but was caught by the sickening weight of her useless, broken one. The adrenaline that had kept the pain away drained from her body, and every movement became agony. Still, she folded the other wing calmly, and tried to hide her shaking hands.

“Where are we heading?” she asked Static, looking into the battlefield below. Very few seemed to be fighting still, but she could still pick out the bright blue, tiny lightning storm with a man sat on his back. She was sure he posed a threat still, but decided not to point that out. After all, they still had to escape. -

It took Jackdaww a long moment to realise what Talos had shouted to the troops, but when he saw them fleeing to the east he knew he had to follow. “Measle, can you run with me sat here? We need to catch up with Talos, and the other soldiers.” Measle fluttered his good wing in what could have passed for a shrug, and lowered his body to run. He was slower than usual – Jackdaww’s small weight still being enough to slow his movements – but he could have caught up to a cantering horse easily. He ran after the winged man that Jackdaww had pointed out, and drew closer with every long stride.

Jackdaww clung on with his right hand and tossed his sword to his left to fend off the rebel troops following them. His leg hung limp, but the cut on his face had stopped bleeding for the time being. His eye felt sticky, and was only half open due to the swelling around the cut, but he could see well enough to catch sight of the troops ahead of them. “Thanks, Measle! Just a little more!”

Kono slowly worked his way onto his feet letting out a low gargling hiss. He squinted when he saw two winged forms in his field of vision. They weren't necessarily close but they were close enough, "Talos!" He shouted through the pain. His voice had acquired a liquid sounds from his most likely puncture lung. "Where is the nearest healer?" He asked (he doesn't know about the whole mind thing.) He knew just from how he felt that he was in no condition to keep fighting but if he got to a healer quickly he might be able to provide at least some back up while the other soldiers fled.


Akira cursed stopping in an alleyway. "Stupid archer." She growled yanking the first arrow from the joints in her metal arm, quickly flexing to make sure it hadn't damaged any of the wire and gave a satisfied smile as it worked properly in all directions. The metal casing had done its job. The second one was going to be more tricky. She pulled out a piece of chalk and drew transmutation circle around the arrow wound then held her breath and yanked with a grimace and a small scream. before placing her hand on the circle and cauterizing the wound.

Mizu quickly caught her and she stumbled a little from the pain of burning herself.but let her go as she quickly regained her balance. "You ready?" he asked showing him her back. But Akira shook her head, "You heard that sound to right? That blood thirsty dragons round. If were in the air were a target. I don't wanna try it. We'll walk for now." She decided limping for th first few steps before steeling herself and walking normally towards the center of the city.

akira mizu- (10H towards 9H)

Lotharia accepted Atleon's pats to her back, only easing the tension out of her body slightly. She began in what direction she thought he was talking about, being East. She wasn't entirely sure where these tunnels were or how to get to them but he made it sound as if they were close and if they were going the wrong way then he would tell her. Please inform me when they come into sight. She asked Atleon, making it clear that she was not in the know of the location of which he was speaking. How could she know? This was the first city she had even been in and the layout of such things confused her. Yes, she had been in the forest and there was winding pathways in between the trees but nothing like a city. There were too many confusing smells and with the war it only made it worse.

Talos, I hope that you are well....Atleon has requested I relay the message to get to the tunnels as soon as you can. I...am not entirely sure of their location but he tells me we are close and we aren't too far from the last location I told you. He said it is an inconspicuous looking entrance to the canals. She knew there wasn't much confidence in her voice but she had no other choice but to tell him even if she wasn't sure about the information herself.

(I5 going to J5)

Rilos mumbled an incoherent reply as Kagan patted him, twitching a few his quills along his neck. Mmm, it was quite nice having a break from all the chaos… And it doesn’t taste so bad now either…. he thought, before his brain got too jumbled to be coherent any more. There was an itching on his other leg, then even that disappeared as he wandered off into a dreamworld.

When he woke up a while later, slowly coming to, his head pounded like there was a dragoness rampaging around inside it. He gave a moan, flicking one of his wings over to cover his face. There was a shiiiink of metal and he cracked his eye open at the noise, fearing it might be an enemy unsheathing his sword. But there was nobody around… although a glimmer of silver caught his eye. Why… His wing was covered in metal! And now he looked, so was the rest of his body!
“Bloody hell…” he whispered, blinking away his drugged daze as he sat up slightly, gaping at the shiny new armour he was covered in. Kagan really had gone all out on it, covering his scales completely with light, sleek plates. Not only was it beautiful, it was the perfect defence.

He was quite surprised not to hear Kagan give some sort of proud remark on his work, and wrenched his gaze off his new protection to look for the goblin. He huffed a breath over his face when he found him, then when Kagan didn’t move, curled his tails gently around his small green form and lifted him onto his back, settling him behind his spines so he wouldn’t get hurt.

He gathered his paws underneath him and hefted himself to his feet, feeling the armour slide cleanly as he moved. Why, it was perfect! He set off slowly down the road, keeping a wary lookout for any S.R troops. Even though he was protected now, it wouldn’t do to run into any of them. The armour was quite light, for all its size, which Rilos was grateful for- he didn’t think he would have been able to carry it all if it had been heavy.

As he turned into another, larger street (it seemed the city was pretty much deserted around where they were), he spotted a large fountain to one side, the fountain itself turned off, but the pool still full of slightly cloudy water. He made his way over to its side and took two long draughts of water, sucking up the cool liquid thirstily. A few fish flapped in the last little bit of water, gasping, he he found he was hungry too- he hadn’t eaten at all during the battle, and fighting had taken a lot out of him. He hooked them out of the water and blasted them with a little fire, killing and cooking them, before he drunk the rest of the water- well, almost all of it- he turned and sprayed half his mouthful at the goblin drooped on his back.
“Hey, I know you need your beauty sleep,” Oh, you really do… “But we’re in the middle of a battlefield here!” he said through a mouthful of fish. Delicious.

(F4)

“Out of this chaos.” Static said to Starling as she asked where to head, jamming the end of her sword into a gap between two stones in the walkway and hoisting herself to her feet. She limped a couple of steps, hanging onto the handle for dear life, then bent down and snapped off the part of the arrow sticking out, sucking in a painful breath. She took a few more steps, putting the least amount of weight on her leg as possible. She wasn’t going to get far fast, that was for certain.

(K2 ==> L2)