C1 RacksomAnd then, there was War(5th Board)

Rilos burst out of his smoke, shaking the last twists of colour from the ends of his tails, now jet black.
“You all right goblin?” he shouted over his shoulder, not looking back to see if he was still there- He could feel the goblin’s weight. The ground was much closer now, carnage erupting all over Racksom, which had turned into a battlefield both outside and inside the city. The prisoner that Rilos had been heading to save had been born inside the city on the back of the huge dragon, which would make manoeuvring in the streets harder, but escaping easier.

The spine spike dragon adjusted his position, zooming through the sky the last few metres in silence, his scales completely camouflaged against the dark of the night sky. When he came close to the dragon, he flared his wings wide, slowing their descent immediately (and thanking his stars that he had no wing membranes to get shot through) before he leapt on the back of the huge dragon, behind the stake that the prisoner was bound to.

Now they were close to the prisoner, and not up in the sky, Rilos recognised him with cold clarity.
“Prince Atleon?” he gasped, his mouth gaping open for a moment before the black dragon he had attacked started to thrash and snarl, trying to dislodge him. He didn’t know the Prince personally, but had heard tell of him during his messages across the island. He dug his claws in, distracting the larger dragon as best he could, and hoping the smaller goblin would free the prince himself.

Static pulled her horse to a halt as a ball of energy was directed at her. She ducked the ball, wheeling Tamarisk around to save him being hit too. The opponent who she was about to attack now seemed preoccupied, and she dithered for a moment, looking around to see the best place to go.

She need not have dithered, for at that moment, a pair of dragons leapt at her, almost identical in their colours and sizes, but slightly different at the same time- But not enough that she could tell the differences quicker than their timed leap, and shadow, that seemed to fall over her eyes like a blanket, obscuring her view.

In her stomach, she felt four paws hit her, pushing her from her saddle. Her feet were dragged from the stirrups, and she heard Tamarisk whinny in fear as she was ripped from his back, pushed to the ground by the two dragons. She hit the ground with a thump, her metal body plate clanging as she hit the cobbled road. Her head banged less violently on a softer surface- It must have been a corpse, or some such other thing.

The heavy weight of the two dragons started to crush on her armour, the metal starting to bend inwards. Her eyes still blocked by darkness- magic!- she threw out a wide shield of electrical energy, trying to throw off the two dragons from her with a strong attack.

Atleon could do naught but observe how the defenders were giving their best and their lives in the defense of their city and their precious island. He hoped it would be enough. It even seemed like they stood quite a chance against the invaders, several powerful allies having revealed themselves. Of course Silverwing, the blue guardian dragon, and his rider would send waves of hope through the defenders, giving them the power they needed to keep this up for as long as necessary. However, Atleon could not help himself but gasp in horror as the tribal battleblood suddenly appeared. There was no denying that this was a turn of events that might not prove to be the best for Dragon’s Cove, though at least the dragon did not care for sides, only for devastation. If only they could keep him away from Racksom…

Then suddenly there was a voice in his mind, telling him not to do anything rash. He almost snorted at this, what rash thing is there to do anyway when you are bound everywhere that is humanly possible and stuck on a huge dragon with several guards positioned around you? Thinking about how he could reply to this being, he was immediately distracted as the large form of a spined shadow dragon appeared, hovering over the prince and his entourage. Before Atleon could shout for it to stay away, it already landed on the huge dragon that was carrying the prince on his stake, and immediately three quarters of the guards turned toward the dragon – and its passenger?! – to engage them both in a heavy fight, away from the prisoner of course. “What do you think you’re doing, eh? Take one step closer and it will be the last thing you do!” growled one of the guards, the ferocious determination in his eyes proving his words to be the absolute truth. They would not let anyone pass to get to Atleon and anyone stupid enough to try would have to pay with their lives.

“Get out of here!” Atleon then shouted at the spined shadow dragon. “There are more important things to be done rather than trying to get me out. I’m alright!” Frantically, he tried to shift position a little but he was bound too tightly to the pole to be able to completely see the dark dragon. “Go help the guardian and get that tribal battleblood away from the city! As long as it stays out of reach of the defenders, we can use its strength to our advantage! Now, GO!” The guards obviously had heard the conversation and were now attacking the spined shadow dragon with every single weapon they had, realising that Atleon’s plan might turn into a heavy disadvantage for the Surahnian rebellion, something they were not inclined to let come to pass.

Siofra cursed at the masses of people that were suddenly everywhere in the streets of Racksom, surrounding Zartear and his men, attacking them, running away from them, pursuing them and even helping them. It was such a heap of confusion that the half-elf decided the leader did not need her help in that place. She was going to be more useful somewhere else, and a plan was already forming in her mind. A grin spread across her face as she was just moving to turn Shetan around to slightly change direction towards the heart of Racksom, when suddenly there was another arrow coming at her, this time hitting her full out in the side. She yelled in pain and frustration, immediately looking into the direction from where it had come from, her eyebrows furrowing in discontent as she saw the white wings of the avian girl disappear behind the wall. You are so going to regret having done that, she thought. Siofra would have snarled, had she spoken out loud, but for now she only pressed her lips together in a thin line, as she broke off most of the shaft, leaving the rest of the arrow in for now. She needed to check the wound before she pulled out the tip, wanting to make sure nothing vital was damaged, even though she would survive, she was certain of that. However, it hurt like hell, and she would repay the favour in kind.

The stallion shifted underneath her, shying away from a fire that suddenly erupted only a few feet away from them. Once again, one of the flame arrows Cato’s archers were still shooting had found a target. As Siofra reconsidered her plan, she grabbed the arrow and ripped it out of the box it had hit, its tip still burning. This will come in handy, and with that thought Siofra galopped away from the bulk around Zartear, disappearing in the dark side streets of Racksom, slowly winding her way to the centre.

Felren took keen interest in this woman, she tried to tell him she was on their side even had the gull to draw her weapon on him. Perhaps her caution was a good sign. At the mention of a dragon woman, Felren scowled. He had seen this one’s destruction. This would make for a good kill to add in for Felren’s little game with Zartear. “Take me then, woman, and I shall dispose of her.” Felren flicked the lingering blood on his sword and allowed Deos to take him where Kevv was currently resting. His ruby red eyes scanned the dragoness form. “Disgusting. To see a dragon like such.” He growled as he gripped his blade. Though this one had such magic, she looked half dead already. “Keep out of my way.” Felren looked over his shoulder to Deos to ensure she would not interfere. He doubted she would, but always good to make certain.

Striding forward, Felren kept his full focus on the dragon woman in front of him, he wanted this one’s head, quite literally. He felt a surge of adrenaline course through his body at the thought. Stealthily he made his way to Kevv’s side and in a flash of motion wrapped his arms around the creatures neck and got behind her. He drew his sword to her neck. How the blood of this creature would taste, he thought to himself before pulling his other arm back to make the finishing blow.

~*~*~

Lena whirled her short sword in a half circle to parry a blow that would have hit Talos’ side. She used her other blade and pushed up through the man’s arms and straight up through his esophagus. Blood spurted from the man’s mouth as he tried to scream but no sound was produced. Lena gave a twist to her blade before pushing the man away from her. At Talos question she looked back to catch a glimpse of Siofra . She grinned in satisfaction. “I hit her, pretty good. I don’t think I killed her though.” The last bit of her statement was bitten off as she parried another blow from the side and fought back the man. Lena looked over her shoulder for a brief second to survey Talos, blood covered him everywhere and she wasn’t sure what was his and what wasn’t. “Doing okay?” She asked quickly, jumping to avoid at blow to her knee caps and simultaneously kicking the next man in the face. She heard a crunch of the cartilage smashing under her feet.

Last edited by Artemis on Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:12 pm; edited 2 times in total

Jaden and Rokam both felt something. Jaden, having had a lot more combat practice than Rokam, leapt away. Rokam was blasted off Static by the powerful wave of electricity. He howled, forgetting the magic. The shadow around Static's face lessened, then cleared as Jaden hurried to see if Rokam was ok. The club dragon was whimpering, his skin damaged in places where the electricity had hit worst and burnt him. Jaden was concerned, but there was no time to help Rokam now. Their opponent was back on her feet. Jaden snarled and circled her, flexing his claws. He didn't know how long she could keep using her power, but it certainly wasn't something to be trifled with. He regarded her warily, then leant suddenly towards the left and lifted a front leg in that direction. But his back legs pushed off, and he sprang slightly to he right of Static-Static's left. His paws flashed out, sharp claws aimed at her exposed arm. Without time to register if it had connected, he took another slash at her right leg on his way around her, and then skidded to a halt next to Rokam, who was now sitting and swaying slightly.
'I can't see properly,' he groaned. But Jaden's head broadcasted a clear image: Rokam leaping up on sound feet and attacking Static. Inside, the spade grinned- at least Rokam knew that a firm decision nearby would get through to him clearly. Jaden turned to see the effect of his assault on Static, watching the future to try and see if she was going to go on the offence with her power again. Rokam's mind soon touched Jaden, backing up the visions. But Static was clearly still undecided; about five possibilites whirled round, amongst everything else occuring in the war raging around them.

As soon as the dragon cleared the shroud, Kagan bent over and wheezed like he had only done twice before. He waved at the air in front of his face, not quite enjoying it's company. "Near dead, dragon, thanks." He blinked a few times, checked his belt for his knife, then smiled: Still there, and he was still deadly. He sat in silence, hand on the hilt of his knife, until the dragon latched onto the giant beast's back, causing it to roar and alert the guards. He sat in contemplative silence, sizing up the group. And when his thoughts were broken by the guards and the appearant Prince, he smiled the sort of smile that made you want to run, and fast. "Oi, dragon!" He yelled at his mount, over the noises of war. "You go on ahead, I'll stay here!" He jumped off and patted the dragon's flank. "You go fight the big beastie!"

Kagan landed sharply on the dragon's back, looking up at over a dozen guards wielding imposing-looking spears and swords. Kagan put on a worried face, taking out his knife and looking at it worriedly. "Oh no, is this a midstake? All you big, strong men against little 'ol me with naught but a meat knife?? What to do what to do..." He tossed his knife from hand to hand, looking up at the guards shyly. "Well, go on you he-men: Make your move."

The noise of the battle hit Jackdaww before the actual sight of its destruction did. He and Measle had been running for the best part of three days to reach the attack and join the fray, and both dragon and boy were exhausted. When the battle finally came into sight, however, Jackdaww felt a rush of energy fill his body as he ripped his sword out of its sheath, and watched the ruby set in the handle twinkle the colour of freshly spilled blood. “Here we are, Measle.” He told the lightning storm dragon panting beside him. Measle snorted in response, and gave Jackdaww a disapproving look.
“You can’t look after yourself enough to be out here. You are an idiot, Jack.” He told him, dashing some of the courage Jackdaww had built up on the journey. He shook off the abuse, and continued walking towards the battle, sword in hand. Measle crawled after him, not leaving the ground for a second since he didn’t trust his rider to not get killed or suchlike if he wasn’t there with him. They had been separated before, and the outcome hadn’t been pretty.
Eventually, they arrived at edge of the battlefield. Jackdaww could see destruction in every place possible, but his eyes were drawn to a huge Tribal battle blood in the midst of it all. He jogged into the battle, his sword ready, and darted between smaller fights to reach the epicentre of the violence. Measle tutted behind him for being so foolish, but chased after him anyway, knocking a few men behind him over. Finally, they reached the edge of a large circle surrounding the dragon. Gazing up, Jackdaww’s breath was almost taken away by the size of the beast, and Measle seemed even smaller than usual there next to it. They looked up to see what it was doing, and how everyone was responding, occasionally fighting someone briefly to keep their spot in the centre of the drama. Behind him a man seemed to be nursing a dragon, and Jackdaww kept a careful eye on Measle in case anything happened to him, but Measle was already looking for himself. He watched Jackdaww’s back while Jackdaww watched his, but neither of them was really in the safest position.

Elsewhere, a dark figure swooped from the top of a small wall. A deadly rain of arrows fell in her path, and two jet black wings helped her glide to the ground. Green flecks could be seen on her wings and in her dark hair as she moved to retrieve the arrows she had just fired from their targets, and she marched into the midst of the battle. She occasionally loosed another few arrows in her wake to clear a path, but continued towards the main wall of the city. On her left wrist, a tiny charm bracelet jingled. She hurried to tuck it into her long, unrolled sleeves before someone tried to take it for its silver, and continued her progress. She stopped to fire an arrow in the direction of the main battle, unsure of where it would land, and finally made it right to the wall. There she found a spot behind a barrel to shoot from without being seen, and crouched low there until she saw someone come closer. She was not a strong fighter, so she preferred this style of action: well hidden and safe. She had only left the safeness of the city to fight because she thought that the gore-crows certain to arrive might have something to do with a message she had discovered in her bracelet. “You must find the other Blackbird.” it said, but the rest was faded. So there she waited, watching the crows beginning to circle and wondering how she had ever gotten involved in that battle.

Armeno watched as a ring of defenders rallied around the huge dragon which grappled with the guardian. Hearing a loud thud of feet, he turned to the source to see another dragon complete with human partner, possibly a rider, break through the crowd. He smiled as the two joined the circle. Armeno urged Veloxpes into a canter, and made his way to the dragon.
'Hello,' he called over the racket of the battle. 'Have you come to help us with this monster?' He gestured towards the Battle Blood. 'I think we're going to sustain heavy losses fighting it off,' he warned. 'But we have to get it to the ground before we can help, really.' Velox skittered backwards nervily as the dragons' shadow fell over him, and Armeno stroked the horse's neck to soothe him.

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Kevv frowned a bit.... the mind she was at radiated uncertainty. She walked a bit farther, giving a sigh too. She kept at Atleons' mind though, being as soothing as she could. ~I only say this, because im going to begin loosening your bindings slowly. do NOT move, not until I get there. Ill see to it you escape your bonds.... finding the royalty of this planet was kinda my mission anyway. Thus, I might as well make a good amend, by getting you out of this mess.~ She said softly to him. She would indeed begin to work his bonds. but their motion would be unnoticeable by the guards. She was only going to loosen it up enough to where he could slip out with little effort, when she wanted him to. Kevv could feel every guard around Atleon too. But she had a plan for those. But Kevv had some other things to do, before making her way out there.

However she frowned heavily suddenly. Someone had deadly intent for her it seemed, it chilled her heart.... Feeling arms coming for ehr neck, she let him. Smirking a bit too. "My my, arent we just brave and ballsy." She said softly. Then Kevv let her energy roil... she didnt have as much as she did before for sure, but she had more then plenty left. That small serum sped up her adrenaline and heartrate, energizing her body. althogh she was going to hurt later and she knew it. She kne wit was going to be needed though, with the way things were going here. Kevv was ebginning to get that strange feeing to her heart.... would she die ehre? It was possible and she knew it. He renergy though shocked through her and through who was grabbing her too. She knew it was going to be a very rude awakening for whoever was clinging to her too. Kevv wasnt someone to just grab, this being would learn that very swiftly. Kevv made the energy thrust a bit outward too, and hard. To push tis male off of her and a bit far back.

Kevv growled, turning to face Felren too. Her soft gaze narrowed, twitching her tail to. "What brings you after me hmm? I wouldnt think someone like yourself wanted to condemn themselves to a harsh fate. You seem more intelligent then that." She told him. But Kevv stood read, waiting. Figuring she would likely have a few more obstacles then this, before getting to Atleon. Although she was fine wihth that, long as Atleon wasnt being killed or something. Until then, she could hold off brutes like these she supposed. Kevv sighed a bit, just how many more people were going to test her? She ahd a mission, and she wanted to carry her purpose out here, and yet people like this got in the way! It kinda angered her. She held off that feeling though. No... she had to keep calm. Anger threw magic focus off, which was not something Kevv wanted to happen.

-------

With a growl the male stood on a hill. Watching the battle transpire down below. "Son of a...." The humanoid-demon shook his head, giving a sigh. How was he supposed to find who he was looking for in this? He didnt want to get into a war. Hell he had no quarrel with anyone on this planet truly. Yet this hell.... if he ran into it, someone was bound to come at him, and then he would definently end up with some enemies for sure. Xavien knew he had to do it though. He wanted to find who he had abandoned. Though he had left her for good purpose. But he had promised her he was going to come back to her. Xavien would never break such a word he gave. Thus.... he gave a huff. "Well... here I go then I suppose." He muttered. Well dashing down the hill, unsheathing his sword, hoping he didnt have to use it. He would just parry away whoever came for him, then keep on going.... it should be easy enough right?

Jackdaww nodded, and shouted, “Sure, we’ll help, won’t we Measle?” whilst nudging the dragon in the ribs to keep his attention. Measle gave a small growl, and acted as though he would rather be at home, but inside he was just buzzing at the thought of a battle. He hadn’t been in one for a good long time, and it really made his blood boil. However, neither Measle nor Jackdaww could think of how to attack such a huge beast. What they needed was an archer or someone to that effect. At least, that was what Measle was thinking as he tried to form a strategic plan. Jackdaww was all for the ‘good old hit and hope’ method that he favoured. Measle grabbed his shirt between his teeth as he noticed him trying to walk away, and held him in place. “Jack, wait. You don’t know what you’re doing. We need a plan.” He hissed through his teeth. Jackdaww moaned, and tried to run off, but Measle’s jaws were too strong for him. Instead, he reluctantly nodded, and waited for a more appropriate moment to attack.

Starling, the winged archer, heard the roaring of the Tribal Battle blood, and felt she really should help. Her mission within the city walls would be useless if she couldn’t get rid of that nuisance first. She ran un to the beast’s feet, loosing arrows into the men nearest it as she went in a silent flurry of arrows. As she gathered the arrows again, she realised just how big the creature was, and how insignificant her tiny bow would be. Pulling an arrow from one man’s eye, she took aim at the colossal creature, and fired. The arrow fell short, but the second she fired came much closer, heading straight for the tribal battle blood’s foreleg. Finding a place to aim, she sent a shower of tiny, blue-fletched arrows after the first. A few went of course, and headed into the other men and women trying to fell the creature, but most looked as though they should hit, unless the creature moved before they did. Either way, to something that large, they would seem like little more than an annoyance, but Starling needed to try that before getting any closer.

Mask sneered as his arrow hit it's mark. He was pleased when it annoyed the man farther, and honestly the horrid jhob the man did of taking the arrow out was quite fun to see. However, Mask couldn't help but feel a little sad, seeing as there was no way he was going to get his arrow back. Pulling himself back up to the window sill, Mask stood up and climbed onto the roof of the house. He could see a lot up here, but that also made him a target. He needed to be closer to be more of a persisitant pest. Any distraction he could cause could prove to be helpful later, and from the looks of it, with that dragon getting annoyed at something behind it, these men needed to be distracted. Mask backed up on the roof, and leapt forwards, moving closer form roof top to roof top.

When he finally got to a good vantage point, he sank low and lay on his stomach, turning his bow sideways in his hand. He nocked three arrows into the spring and drew it back. Picking three targets, he let the arrows fly. One was heading to his origion target, the man who had been rude in the first place, and was trying so hard to avoid a fight, Cato. The second arrow was direction to who everyone seemed so inclined to talk with. He wasn't exacly who this man was, however, something about him rang leader. The third was directed towards the leader's left, where another man on horseback sat. However, from the way it was aimed, it would appear to be heading more towards that man's horse, than him himself. Which was just bad aim on Mask's part. They other two arrows held true to their aim, flying towards the men's unarmored faces.

"Okay?" Talos echoed, aiming a kick at a man's kneecap and was rewarded with the crunch of metal and the scream of a man in agony as he leg bent the wrong way and he collapsed to the ground. He was quickly silenced by a long knife through the neck, the avian who had killed him not sparing more than a few seconds on the man in order to keep from simply being overwhelmed by the mass of soldiers assaulting them. "I'm doing better than okay. Why can't fighting pirates be like this?" Even though he said that, he was starting to get worried. He had noticed that more and more he was guarding Lena's back instead of her sides from attack. They were almost completely encircled by the fighting soldiers, the trenches doing little to slow the pure numbers of enemies that they had to face. There were less people on his side now too, and the acrid stench of something burning invaded his nose. Daring to look up, he saw to his horror that the gate had finally caught on fire between the flaming arrows that were being shot and the enemy dragons flitting about that were lighting the town up.

The West Gate was finished. Even with all of the mysterious power flooding through them, determination and hope couldn't compete with raw power and massive numbers. "Retreat!" He called over the noise of the battle. Gripping Lena's forearm, he spread his wings and half jumped half flew over the soldiers to another small band of farmers and boys that were valiantly trying to defend themselves, despite the dead at their feet from both sides of the struggle. Talos helped to clear away some of the soldiers, then repeated the order to retreat, sending them to the Northern gate to regroup and flee into the countryside. It was a good effort, but Racksom was lost. "We need to get to the other side of the wall, tell everyone else to regroup and get out. We need to cut our losses." He said to Lena, fending off a stray soldier that continued to pursue them between pulling discarded arrows out of the ground and restocking his quiver.

“Crap. Crap!” Rilos suddenly found himself surrounded by opponents, not just the huge dragon that he had pretty much landed on to rescue the prince, but also swarms of guards (who he hadn’t though about before his rescue plan went into action). He heard Atleon shouting, picking out the words over the noise around them, of metal and humans and war. The guards that faced him were armed with long spears and swords, and immediately started to attack.

Rilos dropped to the ground, holding his wings high above him. Although they were membrane-less, they were still vulnerable to swords and spears, and heavy blows would shatter the light bones easily. The goblin had leapt off his back and was prancing on the larger dragon’s back like a circus rider, brandishing a short dagger at the humans all around.

He immediately set to with his claws, ripping the closest spears out of the human hands and crushing them underfoot. He gave a roar, slashing with his claws around and swishing his tails angrily. Sure, he looked fierce enough on the outside, blasting short flames at the closest guards and attacking for all his worth, but inside he was shuddering with fear. What the heck was he doing?

Static felt the pressure on her body lift as her electric shield exploded away from her, taking the thick darkness that had covered her face with it. She leapt to her feet, scrabbing on the ground for her scimitar which she had dropped when she was pushed from the saddle of Tamarisk, who had bolted at the chaos. Her gaze on the two dragons darkened, anger fuming within her. A cruel smile crept over her face as she saw one of the dragons wailing and holding his face.

Her eyes flicked to the other dragon- Wiser, for he seemed to have avoided her blast. He circled, and she watched him carefully from under her hood. Cold anger boiled within her, chilling her heart. These dragons would die for attacking her tonight.

The dragon leapt at her side, slashing with his claws. She pulled her arm away quickly, twisting on the spot and bringing her sword around to slice at the dragon, missing as he spun away. She felt a sharp pain across her thigh, but she ignored it. The dragon had managed to scratch her through her soft trousers, just above where her boot ended, but now they were close together, and in clear shot of an electrical bolt.

Static suddenly slid low to the ground, covering her eyes with her swordarm and shooting a bright, blinding electricity in the direction of the two dragons. It was low in power, dissipating harmlessly around the dragons, but bright enough to blind the spade for a few moments. She uncovered her eyes again, and leapt at the two dragons, hoping they were caught off-guard enough that she could get in a few strokes of her sword before they attacked her again.

Last edited by Taj on Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

Felren was forced to release his grip on the dragon woman before he could make the finishing blow, an electric shock had run through his body causing his limbs to drop from the womans neck. She made the smart move to separate some space in between and then spoke to him. Felren snorted at her comments. "I've no flaw in my choice of kill, false dragon, you are weakened and I shall let my blade taste your blood." And with that, he was done talking, it was time to let his blade do the work.

Moving quickly, Felren held his sword low, coming in from Kevv's side and struck at her side. She already had bleeding wounds and if Felren knew anything about magic he knew you needed energy, no matter how great the pool of magic you have, if the contain has no energy to wield it, it was over. To ensure Felren got a hit somewhere he opened his mouth, gathering energy in the pit of his stomach and released a stream of blazing hot fire in Kevv's direction.

~*~*~*~

Lena was driving one of her short swords though a mans eye when Talos had grabbed her arm and shouted to the shrinking army to retreat. She nearly lost grip of her sword but quickly pulled it out of the mans eye socket before Talos could fly off with her and over the crowd. With a half flap of her wings to catch up, Lena landed next to Talos as he began to give her instructions.

She nodded and only moved far enough from Talos to yell in the opposite direction than himself. "Retreat!" She kept Talos in her sight and she made a light jog. That was her mistake, as she turned her attention back in front of her her neck had ran into something very solid and the next thing she knew she was on the ground with stars in her eyes. A solider had taken advantage of her not looking in front of her and totally close lined her.

She didn't have time to contemplate how stupid she felt before the man drew his sword and made several jabs at her. Rolling, she avoided a majority of them. She felt a searing pain run down her wing as the man finally got a hit on her. Rolling on her back, Lena kicked the man, not wasting time to run her blade through his neck in between his armor. She snorted indelicately and kicked the man for good measure. She got back to work as she made her way back to Talos' side. "Retreat!" She yelled again as she reached him.

When the flash went off, Jackdaww was still looking around casually, but Measle caught the light full in the face. He ducked his head against the light and roared in pain. His vision was fine, since he was well adapted to seeing lightning flashes, but his eyes seemed to burn from the brightness of it. When he opened them to see his attacker, he saw only a fuzzy blur that could have been a human, and the blotted shapes of the other dragon and human. Jackdaww heard the roar, and spun around to see what was happening, but saw nothing since the attacker was so low to the ground. “Measle?” he shouted over the sounds of the battle. “What’s the matter?” Measle didn’t answer him, but kept blinking to try to clear his vision. Jackdaww walked to his side, still not seeing the attacker, and rested his palm on Measle’s shoulder while he recovered. He seemed oblivious to the fact that there was any danger, and had his sword lowered by his side.

Starling saw the flash of light from a little further down, but thought nothing of it. After all, all sorts of weapons could be being used, and it could simply be a small fire. But when it vanished she became a little more worried. She crouched, and took off with a strong jump and a flap of her wings. While she flew, she tired easily, but she had enough time to see a small dragon blinking – blinded, it seemed, by the flash. She circled to the ground again, and wondered what was going on. Then, she gathered up her bow and sent a few more arrows towards the Tribal Battle blood for good measure, before rushing to gather the ones she had fired. She didn’t know where to look, so it could be a long hunt, so she started by walking up to the front legs of the Tribal Battle blood.

With the torch in her hand, Siofra led Shetan through the inner streets of the city of Racksom, which were completely abandoned by anything living. Not even rats were scrambling away from under her stallion’s hooves. Nevertheless, she needed to be hasty. It would certainly not take too long for someone to realise that there was a jet of flames moving around too quickly to be a simply fire burning away quietly. Or maybe they were just all too busy killing each other to notice such simple details. While she was manoeuvering Shetan and had a bit of time on her hands, her thoughts returned to a moment not too long ago. The last fight she had been in, one of the bloodiest she’d ever been in actually. Xavien… Her heart called out to him, wherever he might be, and she almost wished he was there with her, to make her stronger, to make her … well yes, what exactly. Half the reason why she was in this war, on Zartear’s side on top of it all, was her need to find him and for some odd reason she could not explain, she thought this was going to be the way to find Xavien… Or at least that horrifying demon that might or might not have taken and/or killed him, which she sincerely hoped had not happened.

Shortly after, the middle tower of the city came into view and with it the large flag of Racksom, the banner representing the defenders of Dragon’s Cove. Its deeply blue background and the the circle of brightly coloured elemental stones with the silver rams horn in the middle, symbolising the guardian dragon’s protection, seemed to be radiating hope even in the dark of the night. Siofra pushed away all other thoughts and concentrated only on what she had come to do. Dismounting, she quickly hugged her horse with one arm, holding the flames as far atway from him as possible. “Now go, Shetan. We will find each other once this battle is over my friend.” The stallion looked at her and then turned and galopped away into the shadows, the darkness quickly eating its black form. It was then that suddenly the leader of the defenders was yelling for his allies to retreat and cut their losses. “Well, then..” Siofra muttered and hurried up the winding staircase as quickly as possible. Once at the top, she did not make a fuss or ceremony. She simply put the torch to the rather huge banner and waited for it to catch fire, which it did quite quickly and rather impressively, if she had to say so herself. Within seconds, the flag was completely submerged in flames. This should make a few of them lose faith, she thought grimly, watching the defenders gradually beginning to retreat, almost flee. She caught a glimpse of a pair of white wings, reminding her of the pain in her side, which she was trying to ignore, and she almost pulled out an arrow to shoot the avian girl but then thought better of it and ran back down the stairs. The time for payback would come soon enough, and Siofra had to get away now.

Apparently really were all as stubborn as they said because no matter how much of a serious order Atleon’s statement had been, that goblin had his mind firmly set on remaining put. Same went for that dragon who simply ignored his words as well. In a way, it was a nice gesture but on the other, it made him furious. He did not like being disobeyed when he clearly knew how to prioritise things in a battle and people did not listen to him and in this case, there really were far more important things to be done than getting him out of these ropes. He could deal with whatever Zartear had in store for him but he was not sure the defenders were going to hold out much longer, and the guards were already fiercly attacking the dragon and his little rider. It was exactly then that Talos began screaming for his people to retreat and a grave look passed over Atleon’s face, knowing what this was mostly going to end like.

The being talking to him in his mind was intriguing Atleon. There was something about this creature he knew nothing about but the mere sound of a voice, which might not even be the real sound that came out when spoken and the fact that it seemed to be a female. And just like she had said, he felt the ropes loosen up a little bit, if only barely noticeable, they did. Yet, he very wisely followed her advice and did not move. This was neither the place nor the time to be doing little stunts that would end up not only getting himself but also the goblin and the dragon into trouble. He did not even try anymore to make them leave, knowing they would not listen, especially not now that they were engaged in a fierce battle over who got the most spears...

Guest

Kevvs' gaze narrowed greatly. She knew this males' words were true. She was quite drained, and even though she had amped ehrself up again, it was going to do more damage to her then anything in the end. However Kevv kenw she had to stall ofr time. She wanted to be sure Atleon made a good escape, before letting herself go. Kevv knew she had to use what energy she had left for Atleons' sake, more then for her own. She growled though, seeing Felren come for her again. Her staff sun, parrying the blade away. The burst she jumpd away from. "Damnit..." she muttered.... how could she be faltering now? Why was she risking it all, for a group of dragons and.... humans? That were not even of her native planet? It was almost outrageous! Kevv needed to act quickly, and she knew it. Thus, Kevv began what she could.

She glowed once again, this time putting alot more into it then she ahd befre. She raised up elementals of many kinds suddenly... around the soldiers that were attacking the ones helping Atleon. They of course began to assault theones trying to keep the prisoner there. Kevv sighed a bit, a bolt of icy energy shot at Felren too. She ahd to keep time on her side, just for a few minutes..... She froze the ground around her too, making it slick and slipper... so runnig to her wasnt too good an option. Her mind touched Atleons as well. ~It seems a change of plans is here... the two there now, with you. Once your bindings are fully loosened, get with them. Make your escape hasty, for the barrier im about to make for you three is NOT GOing to last for too long..... for its going to take my life eventually.~ She told him. ~But dont worry... lest you die here, we Will meet again.~ She told him simply. Kevvs' mind touches the mind or Rilos next. ~Make your fight hasty. I cant keep you all shileded forever.... but I will, so you can get the prince out. Once you do it, Run. Do not look back, do not fight anymroe, lest someone stands in your way. Get him away from here.~ She said softly. Then her shield went up. A silvery barrier around the three of them... for helping hands itd mean nothing, they could reach in. Someoen attacking them though, itd bounce right off. however every hit battered Kevv instead. She flicked her tail, watching Felren though. "Alright... youll kill me today perhaps. But... youll regret it later. So come and do your worst." She told him with a growl. Going to keep alive long as she could but she knew she had two minutes at best..... Her mind touched the ones of her planet, who were coming there too, lettign them know, what wa shappening. Oh many would be in for a harsh time, once Kayoss and Gorz came around.

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Xavien ran right into the fighting, though he didnt swing mst of the time. A few people he had to parry, and run away, but otherwise, he just kept going. e had to find Siofra... where could she be? what side was she on? He hoped she was with whoever was winning for now. He knew the surahniasnw ere considered bad, but it looked like they had this battle in the bag for some reason. He felt another presence there too, a strong presence, almost divine presence.... how could this be? Kevv, here? She felt close to her death though... well he ken wher deaths were false at best, she had those soul thingys... He ahd to wonder why she was on this planet though. Of all the places she could be, she was on this one. But he didnt dwell on that. Damnit Siofra, Where are you.... He thought... he had to find her! Wait... wasnt that... yeah, by the flag there! He ebgan to her, but he could tell this wasnt going to be an easy run, there were alot of Defenders there wanting Siofras' hide... he had to get there though, had to. He rushed quite recklessly through, parrying a blade now and then that slashed for him....

Faust notices when a little fox appears from no where infront of Zartear. THough sword seemed to be hovering near her she was exposing her back to him. Also the fact that she could totally ignore him, especially at how large he was. He waddle/walks closer to Zartear and the fox. He leans close and exhales his hot breath on the creature as his breath ripples it's fur. "Hell to you little one but you are a rather rude morsel."

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Rcksom flag burn and hear the shouts of retreat. "The city is yours Zartear, your prize awaits you to take it." He looks past the little pest of a fox and talks to the new king. He was half tempted to just open his beak and eat the fuzz ball just to get it out of his line of sight.

Hearing the commotion behind him Cato yanks the reins causing the horse to spin around, seeing a dragon and ...goblin? An arrow wizzes past his face by inches and glares up at where it might have come from. With a growl he grabs the previous riders shield and fixes it to his back. See if you can shoot through that you bastardHe could tell they where trying to free the prince. Watching the goblin leap free of the dragon's back and begin taunting the guards. He pulls arrows from his quiver and loading one that he fires at the golbin.

Kicking the horse he rides off to get the Spine dragon off the Black. Crusing as he uses his legs one not as strong as he would have liked. He could feel the blood from his wound leaking into his boot as the horse stops a few feet away from the thrashing dragons.He yelled at the guards to go after any place they could on the Spine dragon. He hoped one or more would be able to hamstring the dragon. At lest then if it would not be able to hold its own weight.

Loading another arrow from the few he held he aims at the dragon's face, aiming for the area near its eye. He used this tacting many times before when he was hunting dragons.

Kumiko flattened her ears at being spoken to in such a manner, and she sat back on her haunches. Once again, she shimmered upwards into her human form, her fur transforming itself into the meagre clothing it always did- a spell she had had put into effect by a magician who owed her. Her magic was not cast a spell and it'll last, it was ongoing for as long as she used it. But now, whatever clothes she had on in her human form became her fur in her fox form, and vice versa. NOw she stood at her full height and tossed her hair back.
'Where's the fun in just waltzing in and declaring yourself leader?' she demanded, pouting a little at the fact that she seemed to have missed the fighting.

Armeno heard the calls for retreat, and looked at the leader, dismayed. Sure enough, the avain had flown back towards the city. Armeno stamped his foot. He hated surrender, especially when he had fight left in him. And he'd barely begun this fight. He was furious with these invaders, coming and taking the city by storm. He didn't know much about this island, but the defenders certainly seemed to be in the right- and they were losing. He swerved Velox around and plunged for the invaders. HE didn't care who he fought, so long as he was getting rid of some of these people. Just because he fought for a living didn't mean he thought all the fight were justified- he wanted to help the majority. And those who were in the right. He sliced his way through the crowds, felling opponents all around him. Armeno barely ever got like this, but when he did, he was pretty hard to beat.

Rokam had just got back to his feet when the light struck and he flinched back, eyes squeezed shut. Jaden had been looking down at the other card, and so he wasn't blinded, but he was a little dazzled. He couldn't see clearly, but tensed and spun back round as he heard their opponent approach them again. Her sword flashed out, and Jaden flung a paw out to deflect it. He nearly got it on the flat perfectly, mostly by luck, but it twisted a little and left him with a painful but manageable cut. Snarling, he blinked a few times until his vision recovered. He then kept blinking, but stole a good look at Static before he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. By now, Jaden could see vaguely too, and the club watched as the spade hurled himself at Static, opening his eyes only after he had moved. Jaden wasn't going much for fine aim; even if he could get onto the woman, if she struck him unconcious his weight would pin her down and Rokam could strike.

Once the fleeing soldiers that he had ordered away were in the clear and his quiver had been restocked half-way with arrows, Talos began backing away from the fighting, covering the retreat of his men until they were far enough away that a pursuit would be stupid. For a heart stuttering second, he watched as Lena was taken down by an arm to the neck by an enemy soldier, but before he could move to cover her, she was back on her feet again. Sighing in relief inwardly, he set his gaze for the ramparts. Most of the archers were dead now and the siege machines that Zartear had brought was quickly reducing the proud mighty wall to rubble. It wasn't passable by foot just yet, but there was a sizable hole to the right side of the gate that was looking rather worrying. The fire that was eating at the gates had already worn most of the way through the ancient wood, and all they had to do was wait for the blaze to go out and simply knock the door off it's hinges. With his limited amount of fighting power, it really was useless to continue to defend the gate. "We head for the other side." He yelled to Lena above the general noise of the battle. Gathering himself, Talos jumped into the air and with a powerful stroke of his wings was up and over the wall, landing on a roof on the other side of the gate. However, there was to be no rest for them on the inside of the wall despite what protection it should have offered.

Chaos had erupted inside the city, originating from the Southern Gate. He had been told that the gate was open, but hadn't expected the devastation that was resulting from the influx of enemies. What appeared to be a mounted unit had entered the city and made decent progress until being stopped by a host of dragons. Even from here, he could see the flames shooting out as the winged creatures battled back and forth. A line of fire stretched inside the walls of the city, some of the smaller houses in the poor district that were made out of wood ablaze. The fire seemed to stop however when it came to the stone housings of the richer district, despite the flames that licked at the mortar and stone.

His eye was drawn to the flag that they had placed on one of Racksom's towers, the emblem of their order burning in a brilliant flare by a shadowy figure on the roof. Down below him where the handful of reinforcements, mostly boys that were too young to give a good fight, or else too old. To them he owed a safe escape to the northern gates, and that's precisely what he was going to attempt to do. "We're retreating!" He called over the group and they immediately began to talk amongst them, a hint of panic entering their ranks. "We will take the streets to the Northern gates and regroup with the force that was outside there." The narrow streets of Racksom would make it hard to move quickly through the city, but it was that same inhibitor that made the move possible. They would more or less be protected from dragon fire and stray arrows in the winding streets, and only another battalion of soldiers or a small dragon would be able to attack them directly. As his small force began to head in the direction that he had told them, he looked back to the fighting near the Southern Gate and clenched his fist.

To summon them away, or not? Well, he had already decided that Racksom was more or less lost to his forces. Very very soon the Western gate was going to collapse, and any attempt he might make to try and push the Southern invaders out would be flanked or even surrounded by the forces from the West. Yes... they were out numbered, out skilled, out classed and now out maneuvered. They would have to abandon the city if there was to be any hope of regrouping and eventually taking Racksom back. "We need to get them to retreat." He said with a lifeless tone to Lena, sheathing his long knife and dagger in favor of his bow. "Get in and spread the message then leave. I don't want to see heroics. We've already... lost too much."

Felren easily dodged the spear of ice coming in his direction and jumped back to avoid being taken in by the ice that was now surrounding Kevv's feet. He narrowed his red eyes at her. Thisthing was stalling for some reason. "You stall, creature, for reasons I may not know but its fruitless." His silvery voice was cool, collected and dripping with confidence. Taking another deep breath, Felren blew small licks of fire on his blade, heating it until it was glowing hot. With the rest of his fire he tilted his head down, running towards the ice. It melted in front of him giving a clear pathway. As he got close, Felren blew one final breath of fire at Kevv before leaping in the air and above her. He brought his sword down above her head.

~*~*~*~

Lena followed Talos up and over the gate, landing on the same roof he was on. It was a depressing scene to see the town in such shambles. Such destruction, so much blood. This was how Zartear planned to rule a kingdom? He wouldn't have much of it left if he did. At Talos' instructions to go back in to get the rest of the people out she nodded. He looked so...defeated. And it sounds obvious to call him such but...her heart ached to see the look on his face. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We did what we could, my love..." She nodded once more before taking to the skies, flying deeper into the battle grounds knowing her partner would not be far behind. "Retreat!" She called over the sounds of chaos.

The force of striking the dragon was overwhelming, but it was of course, what he expected. After all, even though it had been a while since he had battled a dragon of very similar size to him, he hadn’t forgotten what it felt like. He felt the cold air swoosh around his scales as he crashed through the sky, connected to the tribal battleblood. As expected, it wasn’t long before he heard the clashing of teeth and claws. Arching his neck, he maneuvered it out of the way just in time to avoid the razor-sharp teeth that came at him. This dragon was probably one of the most ferocious of all beasts in this war, and right now, it was living up to it’s name.
Silverwing quickly dug his claws into Xaoc’s side before pushing away just in time to avoid what seemed like tiny, blue flickering arrows sent from the circle of defenders below. The last time he had checked, there hadn’t been quite as many, and he could only hold back a frown as even more appeared. The only chance they had of even injuring the beasts was if it became grounded, and as of now, that didn’t seem very likely. Especially not now since he had only made it angrier. But he didn’t care, he wouldn’t let such a fowl creature cause so much havoc on this city. Not while he was there, at least. Twisting his wings, he flew for the beast again, his claws slashing and teeth bared. He felt them meet their target, and now it was his turn to go for the dragon’s neck. His teeth clamped shut again and again as he tried to grab hold of Xaoc’s flesh. He could feel the heat pulsing from him, but he ignored it, he only had one thought on his mind…getting rid of this distraction.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the defenders begin to head towards the city’s walls. They were retreating. Dread passed over Silverwing’s mind as he realised how overwhelmed they were. Zartear had a greater force number-wise, and it was beginning to show. They were losing the war and would soon lose everything here if he didn’t so something. But how could he when he was wrestling with a tribal battleblood?

The men surrounding her suddenly slowed down their advance and began to retreat. Over the cries of the battle, Sandy heard the calls of triumph from the invaders as they pushed forwards No! She almost cried out loud. They were losing, and if this continued, they would soon lose the city.
Taking one slash at a man’s throat, she span on her heels and ran with the crowd back towards the great walls – or what was left of them. During the battle she had barely had chance to see what a state Racksom was in, and now that she had a chance to look, she wished she hadn’t. Hardly any decent walls were intact, and from what she could see, the banner that represented the protection of the stone, was a blaze. Taking a deep breath, she allowed her glance to fall upon the direction of the large tower which held the stone. How long would it be until that fell too?
Her thoughts were interrupted as a roar filled her ears. Turning her head as she ran, she gasped in horror as she caught sight of Silverwing and the tribal battleblood locked in a death drip. Half of her wanted to run to her dragon, join in the fray however little her chances of survival were. But she wouldn’t let herself be brought to such a stupid mistake. Going over there probably wouldn’t help at all. There were already a group of defenders beneath them, doing whatever they could to bring the red beast down, but from what she could tell, they hadn’t really made a great impact. No, now she had to help the people, she trusted Silverwing would do the right thing, and now her battle was with the invaders.
But then a thought crossed over her mind that made her hold a breath, with Silverwing away from the city, who would be there to stop Zartear from reaching the tower? No doubt the DDC would try, but with the best of the gates in pieces, and most of the people now scared to hell, would they be able to pull themselves together and defend what was probably the most import thing at this moment in time? And even if they did, would they even have a chance in being successful? Zartear had managed this much, and he showed no means of slowing down. With no way of Sandy or Silverwing reaching the stone in time, it was practically his already. Racksom had to pull themselves together, and fast.
Sandy sprinted for the centre of the city, jumping over a few pieces of the fallen wall, not knowing what to think. No matter how fast she went, she could feel the seconds beginning to drag her down, as if she were running in slow motion, and not covering any ground at all.

As more guards started to attack Rilos, he decided that this was a very, very, very bad plan. A sword got through on one of his sides, and he felt a spark of pain flash across his back leg as a long slash sliced through some of his scales. Giving a roar of pain, he twisted his head to shoot a long tongue of fire at the attacker, bringing his head back round to the front to blast back his nearest attackers. He clambered backwards up the dragon that he was half standing on, digging his claws into the writhing beast. It flashed its tail angrily to try and dislodge him, but that seemed the least of his worries, as the guards moved further forwards to attack, filling the space where he had been standing. Yells and shouts filled the air, his opponents grouping together to try and bring him down. Further away, calls of retreat started to echo, as Racksom was slowly lost to Zartear’s advancing armies.

As an arrow flew towards him from an enemy further away, he heard a fast voice within his mind. He nodded breathlessly, not replying as it told him to take the prince and run, to fight fast. He yanked his head up to deflect the flying arrow with one of his long curved horns, but before it could hit, a silver shine seemed to separate him from it, and it glanced harmlessly off the shield. Behind it, the guards suddenly seemed to find themselves surrounded by new opponents- For which Rilos was truly glad. He turned on the black dragon that the log on which the Prince was bound, clawing his way up its scaly hide. This dragon, of course, he wasn’t protected from, but the jolting and writhing he could handle.

Prince Atleon was bound atop the dragon to a long vertical log, ropes knotted around his arms and body tightly, holding him in place. The log itself was attached to a small platform, wide leather straps leading down around the dragon’s belly and neck to hold it in place. All in all, not an easy contraption to free the human prince from. Rilos clawed his way up to the platform, looking at the ropes quickly to try and work out the best way of getting them undone. If He bit at the ropes, he would miss, and achieve nothing, if he tried to claw them apart, he would get stuck in the wood- His precision wasn’t good when it came to things like this. Dragging the whole log away with him up into the sky to escape wouldn’t work, because it was firmly attached to the dragon, and that would never work at all. Flaring his spines in frustration, he pulled a face.
“I don’t know how to get you out of here!” He yelled over the noise of the battles all around, behind the silvery barrier. “Goblin, can you help?”

Static felt her sword twist in her hand a little, not fighting the curve of her blade. A cruel smile started across her face as she dragged the sword from one of the dragon’s paws, leaving behind a long scarlet line. The dragon was still obviously dazed- He hadn’t expected that had he! Although now, he seemed to have adopted a different technique, closing his eyes until he was attacking. The dragon leapt towards her, a formidable sight, but made a big target. The sorceress took the bottom of her sword in her other hand, holding the scimitar like a hand and a half, the hilt long enough to fit both her hands along, and sliced across his path with a long powerful cut, aiming to slice his relatively unprotected stomach open. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the other dragon hadn’t yet moved, which was a blessing, but was sure that he would as soon as he had regained his good sight.

As Armeno plunged through the enemy, he realised he was doing little good overall. He felt the sharp pain of a blade cut into his shoulder, and grunted in pain and annoyance. Veering Veloxpes around, he quickly left the crowd, trying to deflect blades with his uninjured arm and sustaining only another small cut. He then circled the city, sticking close to the walls to try and cut down the lengthy journey and gritting his teeth as he felt the warm blood trickle down his arm. Eventually he reached the next gate, by which time he was feeling slightly queasy and his arm was mostly red from the blood coming out of his wound- luckily, it was beginning to clot a little. He soon enough found a small and damaged but empty building, which he steered Velox towards. Ducking his head right down to fit through the door, he urged the horse through the too-small gap. They squeezed in and Armeno slid thankfully off the horse. He pulled aside the material of his shirt and inspected the wound. It was a couple of inches long, but fairly deep. He knew he couldn't fight with this injury, and so he began the difficult process of magic. He wasn't very good, but he could speed the healing of this wound by weeks. He spread his hand over the injury and focused on healing it, picturing the flesh melding back together. He felt an odd tugging sensation in his shoulder, but when he removed his arm there was only a dark line to show the wound and a slight ache if he moved it too fast. Smiling grimly but feeling a little tired out from his exertions, he took a drink before he ventured back into the city. He wove through the narrow streets- or rath Veloxpes did- and after a time he reached an area nearer the centre of the city- an area most of the rebels had not yet reached. Now he looked around, Armeno could see why the retreat had been ordered. Many of the people here were injured. So many of the people had already given their lives for Racksom, and to no avail. Armeno understood... But he wasn't yet ready to give up on this fight. He scanned his surroundings, wondering if anyone felt the same way as he did. A woman sprinting past caught his eye. She had long, dark hair tied up, wore practical clothes and on her belt a sword with a blue stone set in the pommel glinted. She certainly didn't seem to have given up- she was running for something. Armeno flicked his heels into Velox's sides, and the horse leapt forwards like he had been stung. After rocketing madly towards the woman, Armeno pulled hard on Veloxpes' reins, his shoulder twinging very slightly as he did so, and leant forwards.
'Can I help you at all?' he asked politely.

Jaden's momentum carried him onwards; in the air as he was, there was little he could do to dodge the sword. It didn't quite slice him right open as had been intended, but it left a long scratch along his belly which dripped a bright bead of blood occasionally. He cursed the fact that she hadn't been taken in by his charade- obviously she had guessed he wasn't so badly effected that he needed to have his eyes closed for so long. But as he fell, expecting to land straight on the swrd that the woman still held up, he felt a large force knock him away sideways.
Rokam hurtled himself at the falling Jaden. Jaden wasn't that old, but Rokam was still probably stronger than him, and he certainly looked it as he knocked Jaden aside and then spun on his hind feet to glare at Static. Givng her little time to do anything, he lunged for her. His paws slid on the reddened ground as his teeth snapped at Static, attacking wherever he could get. As soon as he stopped moving, he sat back on his hind legs and began slashing randomly with his sharp claws.
Behind, Jaden shook his head in despair as he prepared once more to fight this mysterious woman. He suddenly noticed, though, that the defenders seemed to be flooding in through the gates. He frowned; he had heard no call for retreat. But he thought of it no more, as he joined Rokam, delivering slightly more strategic attacks.

Measle shrugged Jackdaww off, and roared at the one who had blinded him. His vision was clearing a little, so he could see well enough to charge at her, and try to bite. His teeth snapped harmlessly for a while, as Measle tried to get his bearings sorted, and by then Jackdaww had noticed her too. “Measle, what are you doing?” he screamed, running behind him and standing by his side, sword drawn. He swung the silvery blade around like a child would with a stick, and aimed it menacingly at the woman before him. He felt like saying something, but his mouth was dry. This would be his first major battle, and he was more than suitably terrified.

Starling dashed under the legs of the huge dragon, and picked up some of her blue-fletched arrows. She had almost filled her quiver again, and couldn’t see any more, so she wandered slowly away. She was amazingly calm in the midst of the terror, and wandered to the walls again. She turned a full back flip when she reached them, using a gentle flap of her wings to keep her in the air, before darting inside the tall walls to explore.

Most of Racksom was yet untouched by the fire or the invading army. While they flew over no-man's land between the Western and Southern gate, it was quiet, almost peaceful in a dreadful sense as the two journeyed on silent wings, surveying the destruction distantly. Behind them, there was a dull echoing crash as the burning gate finally fell down, quickly followed by cheers of the invading army as they stormed the newly opened entrance into the city. Silently, he hoped that the invaders would head for the center of the city instead of following his fleeing forces north. On foot, it would take the army quite a while to reach the tower that guarded the stone, and by extension, the dragons and other fighters that had taken on Zartear's mounted unit. Flying, it would only take another few minuets to reach the forces, skipping over the confusing confined streets as they could. As he looked up to the tower once more, a sudden idea struck him. What if this didn't all have to be for nothing?

"Lena! I want you to go warn those at the Southern gate to retreat. I'll meet you at the Northern gate when you're done!" Without waiting to see if she would actually do it, he turned sharply and headed straight for the tower, flapping hard to gain height and speed as he went for the tower. Up so high, the battle between the Guardian and the red and black dragon was more real and close than he ever wanted it to be. A stray burst of flames nearly burned him alive, but he got away with a few scorched feathers and an aching wingtip, the flesh of his wing membranes on the left side now aching terribly with every stroke of his wings. Still, he fought through the pain and did his best to avoid being caught in the middle of the terrible battle that had been reduced to biting and clawing. The two dragon, silvery light verses bloody darkness were a mass of tangled wings and claws and tails, each dragon trying to conquer the other while they plummeted steadily toward the stones of Racksom. But he was almost there now.

The tower loomed in the darkness, tall and foreboding over the city of Racksom. From here, he could see all too clearly the aerial battle, the rushing black mass of infantry heading steadily toward him, and the mass combat to the South. It was really truly quite a mess. He only hoped that Lena could get their allies away from a very sudden death at the hands of the infantry that was coming for them. Their forces were relying entirely on her for now.

As he got closer to the tower, he realized that unfortunately it didn't seem to have any windows from the side that he was approaching. He had to get in there and grab the stone. If they had to retreat, then at the very least they could keep the elemental stone out of Zartear's hands! He flew closer and around, but as he passed by the tower, he felt some hard force collide with his wing. Talos dropped a few feet, confused and inspecting himself for an arrow or something before getting himself up again and inspecting the tower with greater care. What had just happened? He flew closer to the tower again and this time ran straight into some sort of invisible barrier and was knocked back.

"A shield..." He mumbled, looking at the top of the tower with a new-found appreciation. Holding out his hands, he approached more cautiously and found that if he got within a few feet of the stone, he met resistance, a weird pulsating light that moved like ripples in a pond flowing out from where his palms touched the invisible wall. "Of course it's shielded!" Talos exclaimed suddenly, a wide grin breaking out across his face. This was great news! Not all hope was lost to them now! They may have lost Racksom, but Zartear wouldn't find a way to get to the stone unless he could break the barrier somehow. Folding his wings, Talos plummeted into a controlled dive, leveling out a few hundred feet above the street and looked for lower entrances to the tower. Gliding around the bottom of it, he stopped and hovered when he arrived at what he supposed was probably the only entrance. It was hard to tell if it was a doorway or not, however, because it had been walled up with a mass of stone. It wasn't just a block of granite, however, but appeared to have been literally melted into the wall. An effective method indeed. Well, this was even better news. They didn't have to keep protecting Racksom to save the stone... they just had to come back and take it from Zartear before he could get into the tower and remove the barrier.

With his spirits running higher than they had the whole battle, he ascended back to flying height to survey how things were going on the battlefield.

» (C1, Racksom) The Making of Men (12th Board)
» Tremors in the Earth....C1, Racksom (4th Board)
» (North of Azure caves, east of Racksom) ~~~~Peace in the Everplains~~~~6th Board
» The Destruction of Quinsilla.....T1 (1st Board)
» (C1, Racksom) Surnames in Surahnia (19th Board)

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

C1 RacksomAnd then, there was War(5th Board)