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If he- no, she- was a goddess and these were his fellow heroes, the world was starting to seem grim indeed. Eslai shook his head, another distinctly human affectation, in an attempt to clear out his muddled autosenses. The goddess seemed to have restored even his frame to its original strength and for that at least, he was glad. As for the quest proper..

".. are the heroes this world has been waiting for.."

Eslai had to admit, he didn't feel any proper attachment to the world and in all honesty, he would rather have it all destroyed and made whole again.

".. walk the path the Fates and the Gods set out for us.."

The onyx clockwork snorted a puff of cloudy steam. This was what the Fates wanted for him? Despite himself, there was an itch in his palm, an insistent urge to take out his pistol and simply shoot the naive elf. She looked like the type too, all glowy, warm, blathering with nonsense and absolutely irritating.

The other elf had the right of it, Eslai thought. While he himself did not need food, civilisation was always a welcome reprieve and he needed time to think this over. What was happening, really? Goddesses aside, what were those beasts? Who were they- Eslai did not count himself as one of them- trying to defeat?

A stray thought drifted by that his justifications were but an excuse to himself so that he would be able to follow May and.. and what? Protect her? She didn't need his protection. And there she was, messing with some strange magics with the goblin, apparently alchemy of a sort. She didn't remember him, she didn't need him. Or was it the other way around? Did he need her to restore himself?

He contemplated briefly, and idly, what would happen if he were to simply save the supposed villians time and shoot himself. Then he stood and began following the others. Had they even taken note of him the whole time he'd been resting on the ground? Perhaps, perhaps not, it did not matter. It was hard- it always was and always had been- to even manage the effort of caring. Were he still human, he would have sighed. Another burst of fluffy steam wafted out from his mouth-grille.

Click, click, snap. Click, snap. Click.

So I had just finished my little “alchemy-off” with the human girl when a dwarf yelled at us that she would give fifty bucks to the one who guessed how her quiver made arrows out of nothing. Before I could respond the elf swordsman spoke to the whole group: "Well, listen up strange people, I have no bloody idea who you are or what you intend to do. But, sounds like there's food in this Kingas town, so I'm going there. If you want me to guide you there let me know now and I'll walk slowly enough for you to follow. Otherwise I'm taking off."

It sounded like quite an excellent plan to me. However that’s not to say everyone was happy with it, as the creepy bastard decided to speed on ahead. I would say this new development made me sad but it would be a horrible lie. I just wish he had taken the damn princess with him. However now people were beginning to walk away and I didn’t want to fall behind. Before I left I turned to the dwarf and said: “Look I don’t care how your quiver works, there are a limited number of ways it could work and I’m not inclined to play a guessing game just to win some deer that you cannot possibly have on you right now.” And then I picked up my scythe, turned and began to follow the rest of the group.

Honestly, male deer as a payment form. And people say I’m crazy.

Mokou sat on the grass, considering her options while recovering her breath and adjusting to her body's sudden reincarnation. As the dizziness subsided from her thoughts and strength returned to her, then, she realized that she'd need to make up her mind at once on how exactly she intended to go about making her way to this "Kingas" place, wherever it was.

I suppose I'll have to follow SOMEBODY, at least. The only ones who seem to know where it is we're going are that distracted-seeming elf and the masked one. Hmm... Well, while I'd normally be rather reluctant to follow anyone whose stated goal is to boil the seas, least of all after having just died and been resurrected, there are some questions that need answering. His nature is similar to my own, but there is a difference between us. Is that difference one of form, or simply one of substance...? That is the answer I must uncover.

Reasoning thus, Mokou slowly rose to her feet. Reaching down, she almost absentmindedly picked up one of the many sacks of gold coins that had been left them. "I wonder if it's alright to counterfeit, even if you're a god...?" She mumbled to herself, stretching her scarlet-feathered wings as small sparks danced across their surface, scattering into the air as she gave them a few good flaps to ease them out.

"Perhaps this is somehow foolish of me, but I see no reason to walk when I could reach the destination much more efficiently through flight. In any case, I would say our masked friend needs watching, so, as I can fly just as well as he can, I think I'll take on that task." With those words, Mokou allowed flames to creep across her body once more, using her rejuvenated fires to reinforce herself in preparation for high speed flight. Once this was done, all there was left to do was brace herself, spread her wings, and then, with a mighty leap and much beating of wings, launch herself into the sky. Glancing down at the group below her, she turned in the direction in which she could still sense the lingering traces of the masked one's power.

"'Till then," She mumbled, not exactly sure if this was the proper way to make an exit in Human social circles. Nevertheless, there was no time to waste. The cloaked man was getting farther and farther away the longer she waited. And so, surging her power to propel herself like a rocket, and giving a mighty stroke of her wings, Mokou, too, vanished in a flash of light and fire, the air screaming overhead as it collapsed to fill the vacuum left in her wake. Turning into a streak of blazing light across the sky, the phoenix vanished into the horizon.

BGM: Analyze ~ Retribution for the Eternal Night

The roar of the passing wind filled the ears of the draconic expatriate as his feet kicked off the ground once more, continuing his gait that was spread across miles, a single step whisking him far ahead across the fields. After one such step, a forest suddenly appeared on the horizon, the green canopy spreading off into the distance. Another step caused the now far closer wall of trees to appear in more detail, and the dragon noticed it splitting before him, leaving a somewhat large opening, caused, judging by the glint of blue his golden eye caught, by a river making its winding way through the wood.

Not particularly happy with this new development - it would mean a significant loss of speed - Procyon nevertheless surrendered to inevitability and slowed his pace slightly, now appearing as a barely visible blur that left a deafening crack in its wake. Darting in among the trees, the dragon didn't even bother to aim for the ground, instead darting across the surface of the flowing river, launching blasts of water toward the sky as he hurtled onward. However, his decreased speed turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because otherwise there was no way he would have seen the enormous, fanged mouth flying out of the forest toward him in time to dodge.

The river exploded as though its winding way had been shattered by some immense bomb, water hurtling out of its banks in a wave that towered over the trees lining the road of blue. The wall of liquid and mud crashed into the gaping maw of the black-as-pitch serpent, obscuring its single eye as it lunged toward what it thought was its prey, even as the air far above it shimmered, resolving into Procyon's form, seeming to float in the sky at the apex of his leap. With a snarl of anger, the dragon in the form of a man raised his arm, revealing the gleaming, golden chain of his bonds stretching down far below him before vanishing into the canopy.

The tidal wave of water that had blinded his attacker collapsed, washing over the long, snake-like body of the creature twisting through the trees below him. Procyon's sharp eye darted across the form of his enemy, the back of which seemed strangely spotted with grey. A faction of a second later, he realized why. Plates of spiked armor covered the creature's back, clanking together as the serpent writhed below. Still, there was something odd about the sight, but Procyon had no time for a close inspection. As gravity began to take hold once more, he gave a mighty heave on the golden chain in his hand, and with a crash, the dragon fell from the sky as trees from below were yanked into the air to replace him. Tearing a swath of devastation through the forest, Procyon skidded through the loose soil torn up by the uprooted trees, holding out his free hand as a veritable hailstorm of blue bolts of light lanced out from the air around him, leaving burns and scars down the side of the creature of darkness that dared assault him, shattering some of the smaller plates of metal with loud cracks.

Crying in rage and pain, the tail of the black monster lashed out toward Procyon, catching him in the chest with a force that would have crushed the bones of a normal man. The dragon, luckily hurled just above the canopy, reached for his chain to catch himself, but widened his eye in shock as a blur of black drew his attention to the air around him. Procyon managed to sense the pulse of power and whirl in time to see a hulking creature of pitch gathering its power in the air before its eye. He recognized the creature from the battle of a short while ago. He also realized just what had happened.

Before, the oddness he had felt when he looked at the snake was explained by the fact that it had been carrying more of its brethren amidst the spikes of its armor this whole time. Procyon growled in anger at being outmaneuvered, and then began to draw upon his magic. "Timeless Monolith ~ Rock of Gibraltar!" He wasn't entirely sure just what a 'Gibraltar' was, but it was the first defensive spell he could think of at the time, so he quickly cast it. With a burst of power, blue light flowed from his body, curling around him and forming the shape of an immense, fortified promontory even as the Hell Laser tore across the sky, the world seeming to scream in protest at the abomination being inflicted upon it. Black washed over blue-white, cracking the barrier, but not breaking it. As the Jackal that was firing realized that its power was not enough, other creatures, launched into the air at the same time began to charge their own power.

Within the cocoon of light, Procyon's voice rang out calmly, a smirk almost audible in his tone. "Too little, too late. Spell Transition ~ Murder Holes!" Chaining his second spell onto the first, and leeching off its remaining power, Procyon's Spell Transition saved him the energy it would have taken to go on the offensive as countless slits opened across his barrier. A loud cry of dismay cut the air as the creatures realized their predicament. The next instant, the forest was filled with a hailstorm of azure projectiles, shredding, melting, or just plain exploding anything unfortunate enough to be in their path...

...and just as quickly, the light was blotted out once more as a huge, black head rose from the forest behind Procyon's spell and swallowed it whole. The forest fell oddly silent as the second serpent lowered its head down below tree level. No sign of the dragon's continued existence remained. Lying down contentedly on the ground once more, the snake hissed out a signal to its injured partner further upstream. Or at least, it started to, before suddenly halting in confusion, its rudimentary intellect unable to process why the being it had just eaten was stepping out from behind a tree on the riverbank before it. That hadn't exactly happened to the monster before.

"Sacrifice Play ~ Kingside Castle." The snake suddenly felt an odd warm feeling rising in its chest as the strangely-not-eaten dragon in front of it raised his hand, and slowly, deliberately clenched it into a fist. The energy still maintaining his spells was released. Explosively.

The black chest of the monster expanded as though the things insides were beginning to boil, and as the snake let out a hissing call of dismay, the creature's midsection ruptured, spreading black ichor through the trees. Writhing in agony, the creature spit out an ominous, black, boiling substance at the source of its pain, but the lump of poison was intercepted halfway to its target as, with a loud crash, a tree that Proycon had torn up in the fist seconds of the battle crashed to earth, the others falling behind it and casting shadows over the canopy around the dragon, even as more Jackals began to slink out of the surroundings, screeching in synchronized anger.

"I've had just about enough of you creatures." The dragon growled. His eye twitched at the pain in his chest that accompanied his words. He was running out of power, and there was still another snake, doubtless coming toward him quickly. It was time to go all out. Gathering himself, and bracing for pain, Procyon went on the offensive. "Divine Miracle ~ God's Wind!"

The screech of the Jackals was answered by the scream of the wind as what seemed to be air whirled around the dragon, , surrounding him with streams of blue energy mimicking a howling breeze. The serpent, lunging forward with its intact upper body, was caught by the initial wave of power and thrown backwards into the line of trees behind it, tearing them apart, only to reveal the sky behind as the monster was flung from a cliff, flying over the waterfall that dropped from the river to the lake far below.

With a grunt of exertion from Procyon, a falling tree was scooped from the sky above the water, and riding a crest of tiny flickers of blue power, it soared off the fall after the snake. The ground detonating around him with the force of his movement, Procyon hurled himself forward, flickering from view with a crash and a bang, the sonic boom of his passage only causing further destruction to the surroundings and the Jackals that had intended to attack him.

Materializing from his flash step atop the flying log, Procyon let loose one final blast of phantasmal wind toward the screeching half-snake that remained flying through the air. The monster defiantly opened its jaw, as though to strike at Procyon, not appearing to realize that was impossible while flying through the air. Instead of the dragon, who leaped free at the last minute, the trunk of the tree, its base shredded into a point by the razor sharp currents of power flying around it crashed into the wounded monster's open maw, and with a hiss-like death-knell, it fell into the waters below, the splash obscuring the falling black form of Procyon from view.

-------------------

Panting, Procyon ignored the constant shower of water droplets from the waterfall in front of him, leaning heavily on the tiny ledge he had managed to reach, hidden by the falling torrent. The dragon wasn't entirely sure if or how the beings of darkness would attempt to track him, but concealing his magic signature as he was, while hidden from sight and smell being the falls seemed like as good a method of avoiding detection as any. Across the lake below, he could see black forms moving in and out of the trees. More serpents? He wasn't sure.

However, the light burning high in the sky and approaching fast told him that the creatures would soon be forgetting all about him.

-------------------

Monsters:

Well, there are multiple Jackal Warbeasts in the form of snakes with spiked armor and more jackals atop them. Dunno how many, that's up to you. These guys are just marauders, so they aren't as tough as the Kraken from before, but still kinda nasty. One has some burns on its side.

Speaking of burns, there will soon be lots of fire to act as a beacon for everyone else to find this place. I don't think you will have any trouble seeing where we are...

BGM: Eastern Youkai Beauty - ZUN

The air screamed and burned with brilliant red as, sparks scattering across the sky, the shape of a phoenix swiftly coalesced into being high over the forest. At the heart of this giant, burning avian, the lone girl who hovered at the center of the blaze looked calmly down upon the dark woods below as countless shadows darted and writhed between the collapsing expanse of trees, which, devastated by some spell, the power of which yet lingered in the air, were already beginning to fall and tumble over one atop the next, strings of collapsing trees scattering outward in all directions like some mockery of a child's game of dominoes.

"Those creatures again... But these seem different from the last," Mokou murmured to herself, slowly beating her wings as she descended from above. Already, the enemies on the ground were gazing upward with mingled fright and rage, seeming to immediately focus their attention upon her, abandoning whatever it was they had been doing before, or, more specifically, the enemy they'd previously been hunting. "I wonder... Is the difference just in their shape, or is it in their guts? Perhaps their guts are hard and stiff, or perhaps their guts are weak and powerless? Perhaps they have no guts at all, and are simply fools?" Grinning, she slowly allowed her flames to collapse inward, once more condensing into a whirling aura around her as they swept round and round with ever greater force and velocity, sending bursts of searing wind sweeping over the forest canopy as sparks and ashes began to fall like snow, the sky turning red as the fires blazed ever brighter, until it was as though the phoenix had become a second sun, burning with cruel, hellish intensity, the mere heat cast off by her presence enough to ignite the underbrush in the forest below. The Jackals on the ground began to back towards the river, letting out several distressed cries as the fires began to spread, as though reaching for the heavens from which their master and maker descended. The inferno grew and grew, until soon, the Jackals found themselves backed up against the water, standing at the eye of a spiraling hurricane of flames.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter," Mokou said at last. "If my destination is this place, then first, I must cleanse it of pests. If my destination beyond this road, then I must open a path. Either way, it seems I have no choice but to test firsthand the strength of your guts!"

With those words, the whirling tornado of flames surrounding the forest river abruptly collapsed inward, walls of heat and screaming wind pressing upon the Jackals from all sides, sending several scrambling into the waters of the river only to be boiled alive there as they were washed screaming and flailing over the waterfall by the now roiling current. At the same time, much of the whirlwind of phoenix fire swiftly rose upward, coalescing into around the body of the airborne girl, then spreading behind her in the shape of a giant firebird. With a mighty blaze burning within each hand, two wings of fire reaching ever upward towards the heavens, and countless streaks of flame trailing her like the tails of comets, Mokou descended with a mighty beat of her wings.

Recovering from their initial panic, several of the more powerful Jackals hastily shaped their power into its usual destructive form, taking aim and firing a curtain of Hell Lasers towards the descending phoenix. And yet, Mokou merely laughed, banking one of her wings and rolling out of the way as the storm of shots from the ground erupted upward, piercing through the space she'd only just occupied a split second earlier. Her flight instead carried her far out past the main body of the Jackals, streaking inches above the burning ground on the opposite bank of the river as she arced back around, at the same time releasing a retaliatory burst of searing feathers from her beating wings as she circled back to strike her targets from the side. Screaming as they flew, these burning projectiles collided with the mass of Jackals from the side, mowing down several of their ranks and spreading flames throughout their midst, sending several toppling into a panic right back into the raging forest fire they had gathered up - making themselves such easy targets in the process - to escape from.

Roaring, the largest of the Jackals - the wounded serpent lying in the river - rose up, screaming as the boiling current began to roast it within its armor. Lashing out in a frenzy, it reared up right in the path of the phoenix, cutting off Mokou's flank attack, and opening its single eye wide, a whirling mass of dark power instantly erupting from within it as it released its most powerful attack, a full-blown Mega Hell Laser. Instantly crossing the distance between the serpent and the phoenix, this raging torrent of midnight black burst forth with unprecedented force, scattering the entire wall of flames on that side of the bank and decimating the large part of the forest with its shockwave alone, while the laser itself tore a massive swath through the terrain, sending burning trees collapsing in all directions as the earth churned and melted away, leaving almost instantly a molten pit of lava where the forest had once been.

And yet, from amidst this unfocused torrent of pure destructive power, a brilliant crimson light abruptly shone forth as, raising her hand, Mokou released one of the charged spheres of blazing radiance she held, spread her wings, and then launched herself forward with all her might, becoming a radiant bullet of undying flames that pierced straight through the raging typhoon of blackness all around her, rushing like a comet straight up the core of the Mega Hell Laser and colliding directly with the beast's wide eye. With a terrible squelching sound and a faint hiss as the fluids in the unfortunate creature's eye began to boil, Mokou plunged the orb of pure elemental phoenix fire she held directly into the beast's skull through its eye, blinding it and blowing apart a large chunk of its face with a tremendous explosion, scattering the Mega Hell Laser in all directions as its focus point was abruptly destroyed, then blocked off by Mokou's power, resulting in the entire torrent of energy losing all semblance of control and falling like a hellish rain across the landscape in all directions. The Jackals on the riverbank screamed as many were decimated by their comrade's own attack, while the serpent howled in agony as its body and skull both boiled at once.

Mokou, meanwhile, was launched back upward into the air, raising her remaining sphere of power as she did so. Holding it high overhead in both hands, she then cast it downward, at the same time releasing all of the power compressed within it in an indiscriminate blast of pure heat, light, and fire just as it collided with the top of the downed serpent. Once more, the ground cracked and shattered beneath the force of a raging inferno as the serpent was reduced to little more than dust, while its comrades were scarcely more fortunate, many of them either igniting along with the forest or falling into the boiling river and being consumed and swept away. But, even those who managed to survive this raging attack were not safe, for, rising from where they had fallen, they found themselves face to face with the phoenix as she calmly touched down, folding her wings as her radiant aura, along with all of the flames burning within the forest and the molten fires simmering in the crater left in the wake of the Warbeast's attack, slowly condensed to form a single, gigantic feather within Mokou's extended hand. Curving back, this in turn took on the shape of a burning sword that writhed and whirled within its maker's grasp as she leveled it at her remaining few enemies, who backed away in terror, only to find that there was nowhere else to run.

Mokou smirked. Really, this battle had been almost too easy. It was far easier to list all of the things in this forest that were combustible than to list those that weren't. Once the entire wood had been set ablaze, it had been easy to assimilate the heat of the many fires into her Phoenix body, providing her with the power she needed to match even this number of enemies whilst at the same time cornering them, allowing her to shoot them down at her leisure. Like shooting fish in a barrel, she had picked them off en masse while leaving them nowhere to run, and giving them almost no chance to defend themselves. And now, there were so few left, it seemed, that she'd be able to finish the remainder without issue.

"As I thought," The Phoenix said, smirking as she took a step forward. What happened next was a flurry of movement and a sudden flash of snarling flames that all occurred too fast to be seen. In an instant, countless precise arcs of fire spread across and throughout the remaining group of targets, a mere arc left in the wake of a sweeping blade of flames as it cut through their entire ranks. "No guts at all," The Phoenix said simply, allowing her feather-sword to vanish into sparks and standing atop the opposite riverbank as all of the Jackals she had just passed in a single step collapsed in a simmering, sizzling heap of mangled and melted bodies behind her.

Mokou gave an ever-so-slight half-smile. It seemed that being reborn once again at her full strength after spending so long in solitude, wasting her power resurrecting herself every time she died of hunger, had given her the edge she'd been lacking in her last battle with these black beasts. Although, the many fires now burning around her had been a great help in that regard as well. Still, it seemed like something about this was just too easy.

A roar from the forest behind her answered her question as, turning, the phoenix came face to face with an even larger group of Jackals at least three times larger than the one she'd just eradicated. Ah. So that was why it had seemed too simple. She hadn't quite finished the job yet!

"More of you looking to have your guts charred and burnt? Heh. Alright," She grinned, turning as the flames around her resolved themselves into the shape of countless more burning feathers, instantly aiming themselves at the new targets as, once again, she fluttered her wings, hovering into the air as the forest collapsed and crumbled all around her.

"As you wish, then! Allow me to test your guts!"

.....

Enemies: Still a hell of a lot of Jackals. The first group is entirely destroyed, though. Also, there's not much of the forest left. Mokou just incinerated half of it, while the Jackal Serpent reduced the other half to a lava-filled crater with a giant laser. So, yeah. Stuff is burning now. All of the stuff. All of it.

Strider watched through a crystal ball as his Jackal forces where pushed out of the cities around the world, the old magic of the previous Heroes still allowing people to do battle against the demons. He wasn't worried through, his generals all escaped their cities after causing the maximum amount of damage before their forces had been routed. But the attack would have the desired effect, it would put the fear of the Jackals back into the people, and fear would make them so much easier to control. He reached down and a servant handed him a small glass of red wine, which he brought to his nose so that he could enjoy the scent. Half the fun of drinking wine was enjoying the scent of it. The other half of the fun of course being draining the entire bottle after a successful mission.

"You seem quite pleased, even through your forces had their assess handed to them on the battlefield" the voice of the woman hidden behind Strider's throne observed. "One would think you would be a bit more disappointed that you didn't manage to kill everything in existence in one day"

Strider chose not to answer straight away, instead he took the high road and slowly drank back his wine, savoring the taste it left in his mouth after it slid down his throat. "Your attempts to make me angry are as transparent as always, you know as well as I do that the forces we are using right now are only taken from the most newborn of the Jackals, they are the only ones that can fit through the crack you and your partners where able to provide us with, or did you lie to me?" Strider regarded the wine glass in his hand and then casually smashed it against the servants face, sending him to the ground with multiple shards stuck in him. "It splashed around to much in the glass, next time walk slower if you don't want a face full of glass" the servant bowed and held his face to catch any blood before it fell to the ground and quickly left the throne room.

The woman laughed. "No of course not Strider, you know I would never lie to you, only newborns can slip through the cracks, and while they might be able to form Warbeasts and other such things with aid from my magics there is still a limit to what they can do" the woman sighed to herself and her voice seemed to echo throughout the halls. "I miss back when we were just beginning this partnership and you were much easier to play with"

Strider sighed lamenting the destruction of what he imagined was his favorite cup. He would have to have the servant executed to deal with the loss he felt from it. "Speaking on that matter is there no way your group can speed the process of expanding the crack, or must we continue to wait for it to grow by itself in the slowest way imaginable?" Strider allowed his tongue to move up and snatch a small bead of wine that had stayed on his lip and not on his mouth.

"Strider you know very well that even the crack that we caused lowered our energy to the lowest it has been in years, the crack will grow on its own, soon you will have the eldest of the Jackals at your command to do whatever you please, until then you will be forced to deal with the... lower stock" the woman's voice seemed to fade with the last word.

Strider slowly stood up and put his hands in his coat before walking off. "Guess that is all there is to say on the matter then, mi lady"

Apple pie. Definitely apple pie. It'll be the first thing I get in Kingas once I get there. Rissien walked at a steady, slow pace toward the target city. Guiding the others hadn't been a difficult task, there wasn't much need for guiding as much as pointing which way to walk and moving on. He did make a point to walk a few paces ahead, however, in order to make sure the group didn't veer off course. And to think on important matters, such as what food to get and which order to get it in.

The stillness was broken suddenly, when a firestorm surged a relatively short distance away. A bit to the left of the path he took, but close enough that it was still in their way. Eh? These two who went ahead, maybe? Rissien immediately drew one of his swords. Doesn't really matter if it's them, I suppose. He waved it vertically, cutting a straight line mark on the ground, and turned to the others.

"Follow the line's direction straight ahead and you'll get to Kingas. For now I'm taking a detour." He didn't care for stopping to hear any responses, and jumped into the trees, vanishing from sight. The firestorm would have ended by the time anyone reached its area, but that didn't mean he shouldn't go see what was it about.

The swordsman quickly disappeared among the trees. I looked back at the path he had indicated as leading to the next town. It would have been nice to rest at the next town over but sadly I knew that I couldn't. I needed more data on my enemies since I had been a bit....unfocused during the last encounter. I looked up at the flames and wondered what could have conceivably caused them. However there was no time to ponder as I ran towards their source of the destruction.I arrived to see a battlefield of flames. One side was a lake of lava so spectacular for a moment I though I was back in my hometown. The other side was a forest in flames with the Elven sorceress floating over it.

On wings

I wasted no time in pulling out my notepad. I mean this is extremely interesting stuff. Insanely powerful fire magic and wings! On a Person! I love magic so, so much.

Then I looked up and I saw the enemy.
Jackals. A lot of Jackals.

I remembered them being less frightening in the bar. They were much clearer here. Shadowed fur covered phantom tissue. The eye for each bright with an otherworldly light. Things appeared to be crawling beneath the skin. And that was just the basic ones. There were others, the large versions of the simple ones which strode amoung them like taskmasters, a giant snake slithered across the ground seeming to rot what it touched. A colossal bird floated on dark wings. We were so screwed.

Before anything else could happen the bird dived straight towards me and caught me in its talons. I could hardly breathe and the thing was already starting to carry me away. I had suspicions about why I was being captured instead of killed and I would not allow it.

I reached out with my power. I felt the matter. I changed it. The bird's talon became water and I slipped from its grasp falling to the ground, losing my scythe in the process. Luckily the monster had not been very high up by the time I escaped so I only ended up slamming onto the burned earth. I was just picking myself up from the ground (and feeling what would be sore for weeks on end) when I was swarmed by a wave of Jackals. I was knocked back to the ground. I barely dodged a claw that would have torn out my eyes and scrambled to my feet.

Surrounded, I had to be as fast as I could. The first to charge at me found himself turned to stone as his petrified form smashed a Jackal sneaking up behind me. A quartet of foes had pre-prepared acid thrown on them, clawing at the dissolving substance which they could not escape from. I let out a breath of fire towards a more clustered section of the enemy. I threw one of my explosives vials into another grouping defeating a large number. Monsters fell into pits of water that were turned to glass. I formed barriers from the very ground to aid in my battle. I did pretty well all things accounted for. However there was only so long I could keep up this amount of effort.

Then I saw it. One of the big Jackals was headed towards me wielding my scythe.

Oh no he didn't.

I'm unsure what happened then but my next memory is of me standing atop the corpse with my scythe in hand. I was still surrounded but now I had my weapon and I was ready to take one all comers. I just hoped that someone would come to help me soon. Until then I would just have to show the beasts why you don't mess with a goblin.
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Battle conditions: Gux has defeated a rather large number of enemies and wounded a Warbeast. However most of Jackals are alive and Gux is somewhere behind enemy lines and will probably need help.

Alina saw the beacon from a distance, as they rode. Light calls to Light. But this light was... wrong. Not peaceful, but angry; not pure, but violent. It would destroy everything in its path. She ignored the swordsman's words, guiding Caranor directly toward the heart of the inferno.

She closed her eyes, trusting her familiar to see well enough for the both of them, focusing as she rode on healing the curse, converting the vicious flames into a more constructive form of light. She-- or, rather, the unicorn-- timed her approach just right; as she reached the point where the flames, had the been left in their initial state, would have consumed her, she had just completed the process of converting their hungry heat into a radiant light.

Alina slipped off Caranor's back, still maintaining physical contact with her familiar as she knelt on the scorched earth, leaning on her familiar's side. Had any creature survived the flames? She had begun to search for the music of living souls, prepared to send tendrils of life flowing through them, when a louder, more discordant note struck her mind's ears: they were still under attack.

Looking up, she saw the black beasts reeling overhead, but Alina merely smiled. Caranor whinnied as her mistress raised her arms, and the bright light she had just made out of the fire flowed upwards, splitting into two segments.

The first segment seemed to chase after the beasts, systematically engulfing them and consuming them with the fire that burns no physical growth, only the darkness which is anathema to the fire's light.

Simultaneously, the second segment expanded across the skies in a shower of sparks, blinding the vision of the Dark warbeasts as they attacked.

Alina hoped that with this aid, the attack would end soon, so that she could move on to the more important work of infusing this dying forest with vibrant life once more.

_____________________________
Conditions: Alina's light-fire killed a handful of Jackals, and the lightsplosion will probably impair the vision of the rest of them.

To say that May was irritated would be an understatement. That blooming sparkle of sunlight elf had not only spread her love and joy to the entire region, but had also suffused the battlefield with a soft white glow, similar to one of the incandescent lights May had seen back in her brief view of the town. Well, this is useless. she thought, climbing a soft slope to get a good overview of what remained of the battlefield.

There were a few blazes left burning by the flaming peacock that had decided that going nova was the best choice when fighting in a group. The dragon had disappeared again. good riddance too, the demon The goblin alchemist was standing over the bodies of several of the jackals. Oddly though, she didn’t see any more of her, well, she guessed that they were her teammates, rough as THAT was going to be. She did see several of the jackals loping toward her at an alarming rate, which, given the circumstances, was worrying.

It was too late to run. The jackals showed tremendous speed when they wanted to, and May wasn’t that fast. May knelt to the ground, concentrating. She felt a tug on her mind, a nudge of something half-forgotten pushing her hands into motion.

“So... Not going straight to town either, are you?” Said a voice above her. Rissien, still hanging on a tree branch. May simply glared at him briefly before focusing on her work again, while the elf didn’t seem to care and went on, “Well, I guess everyone wants a piece of these guys. I don’t get it, though. They’re fairly weak, a bit tricky to fight when outnumbered but still, that’s a given for any fight where you’re outnumbered anyway, so it doesn’t count.”

The group of Jackals continued their steady approach toward the two of them. They seemed somewhat disoriented, but were still vicious enough. Rissien just adjusted his posture, sitting up on the branch and waving his legs playfully. “I must say, whoever burned this clearing was a bit careless... What if there were fruit trees there? I mean, I’ve been hopping around, trying to look for some apples or something, but not a single fruit in sight. Disappointing, to be honest. A whole forest without fruits. Maybe it’s not the right season or something.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but once the Jackals get within range, I’m activating this circle. As much as I... enjoy your cheering personality, if you stay in the tree, you’ll die a horrific death as I convert all the carbon in your body to graphite.” May said, eyeing the elf with a grim expression.

“Impressive.” He nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t be around when that circle goes up. Not much of a circle yet, though... So, let me buy you some time, I guess. I did come have a look at these things anyway... Not interesting to fight, but I’m here already. Maybe they’re stashing some apples.”

“You’re insane.” May said, completing the circle. “Haven’t you thought of, I don’t know, ASKING someone for an apple? Be a sight easier than attacking a ravenous horde.”

“Yeah, you’re right... Do you have any apples, by the way?” He couldn’t wait for a reply before the Jackals got too close, instead, he jumped from the tree diving sword-first for the one nearest to them. “Alchemy thing, right? I’ll get them rounded up here for you. Just shout when you’re ready.”

There were still six living Jackals at varied distances from the elf. As it was, only two and Rissien himself were within the range of the alchemical circle. But that began to change when the elf adopted a defensive stance, parrying and dodging the claw swipes of their enemies.

For a moment he started to launch swings of his own, trying to trim the number of enemies down, but he had already lost his momentum. Whenever he dropped his guard to swing at one Jackal, two others aimed for him, forcing the elf to defend himself once again. Sword link would work wonders now... But... I need the swords on me to get out of this circle. He continued guarding and parrying, and slowly giving ground to the creatures. Within a few moments they would be close enough to the alchemical circle that even the ones farther back would be within reach. Any time now. He loosened his grip, preparing to leave the area as soon as he heard the call.

“Okay.... weird, elf guy... you might want to get the hell out of the way now.” May yelled, placing her hands on the circle and furrowing her brow in conversation.

Rissien only listened until the “weird”. He spun his blades in a quick arc, gaining a little space around himself, and immediately moved his swords to his back. With one quick motion, he jumped straight up, and against what gravity would dictate, he simply kept going up until he reached roughly five stories of height.

The circle activating in a swirl of sparks and light. Purple lightning began shooting out from all angles, focusing on the hulking Jackals. May huddled at the center of the circle, ignoring the sparks, pushing as much energy as possible into the reaction. Slowly, the Jackals began to run and crumble, the carbon inside them compressing into graphite. Soon, all that was left of the short battle were 6 piles of grey dust and an exhausted alchemist in the center of a ruined white chalk circle.

“That was really impressive.” The elf said, coming out of the foliage. He extended his hand to offer something he had found. “Berry? Not very meal-worthy, but I guess I was looking too high. Ended up landing in the middle of some bushes, with these. Better than nothing I suppose.”

The elf had hardly finished complementing May before the berries were gone. The Alchemist then dug through her pack, pulling out dried fruit and a canteen. Seeing the elf’s hungry look, she tossed him about half of what she had. “You’re bloody insane, you know that?”

“Most people seem to tell me that these days, maybe it’s even true. You’re part of that tattoo group though, so I’m guessing you’re kind of a strange team. I don’t think any of you actually went ahead to town, after all.”

“Uh.... you should have one too, weird guy.” May said, proffering her arm. “See?”

“Me? Nah, I never did tattoos. Too permanent and stuff, and besides, I never saw any of you guys before today... So I’m not part of the group. Why would you think I have one?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I can’t say I know any of them either, so... take off your gauntlets.”

“Just what the hell...” The elf stared at his right hand. It did, in fact, sport the emblem of a shield encircled by swords, just like the one he saw in May’s hand. “Since when is this thing here?”

“... How long has it been since you washed your hands?” May said.

“Well... I’ve been busy fighting and going to that Honey Bee place... I expected to get some rest, and more importantly, food, in there. Then we’re here... So, some four or five days moving around in full armor? Though... Come to think of it, there was some weird thing about going to that inn...”

May glared at the elf for a while, then said, “Well,today has been... eventful... Know a good place to sleep?”

“Camping would be a bad idea. Best way is getting to Kingas, we’re not too far from it now.”

---

Enemy Status: We just got some stray Jackals close to the edges of the charred area. Still plenty of baddies to go around.

With a light thud, Procyon's booted feet landed in the sand at the base of the cliff. He made sure to hug close to the rocks scattered this way and that around the waterfall, which was now, apparently, boiling. The dragon didn't particularly pay much attention to that, however, since it wasn't bothering him at all, and the cloud of steam as it fell into the wide lake below only served to help hide him further. He had lost sight of the firebird as it had crossed the top of the cliff, but the explosions and crackle of flames served to let him know exactly where it was and what it was doing just as well as his eye would have.

Slipping towards the outer boulders, he scanned the shore of the lake, and his eye twitched in annoyance. Though he had only a single eye, his sight was still almost supernaturally keen, and thus he could clearly see that what others would have dismissed as shadows moving amidst the trees on the far bank was actually a second wave of enemies. Just as he had expected, that firebird had once again gone completely overboard, and the light was drawing those creatures from miles around. While his breath had slowed to a more steady pace, the faintness in his limbs told Procyon very adamantly that he wasn't going to be participating in any more fights for some time. Stretching his legs silently, the dragon wondered if they would hold out for another short sprint. They probably would, he decided, but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Scanning the further bank again, he located the small gap in the trees where the water flowed onwards once more in a significantly small stream. A low growl emanated from behind Procyon's mask. Since he didn't have much choice in the matter, the dragon prepared to make his attempt regardless. However, at that moment, a brilliant white light spilled over from the top of the cliff behind him.

Caught off guard, Procyon still managed to contain a shout of surprise as he shut his eye to protect it from the flash. Ducking back deeper into the rocks, he blinked a few times to regain proper vision. Damn it, that didn't come from the firebird! The rest of those useless fools must have followed the trail! How did they get here so fast? Above him, nearer to the cliff edge, he could hear the sounds of a melee, and a moment later, a second, much less bright flash of light. They are all up there aren't they? Procyon thought, his mental tone tinged with disbelief at their suicidal insanity. They just saw some light and decided to run toward it like a bunch of lemmings. My god. Do I really have to work with these people?

Unfortunately for the dragon, yes, yes he did. His plan wouldn't come to fruition otherwise, and as absolutely hair-rendingly aggravating as associating with these people was going to be, the thought of what would come at the end of it would make it all worth it. Barely. Glancing with a frustrated sigh at the far beach, which was just now beginning to swarm with black as Jackals poured forth from the trees, Procyon turned back to examine the cliff and wonder how in the hell he was supposed to get everyone out of there with the minimal amount of energy that he had left. Behind him, the creatures cut off the route of escape he had been intending to use.

This was going to be a long day.

----------------
Yeah, enough to go around doesn't really describe the situation. Mauraders for miles are now oncoming, and we have some serious issues. Dunno about you people, but Procyon has about one spell left in him. Luckily, he has, or will have, a plan for it that can help make an opening. It is going to take a while to get to that point though, so until then, you are pretty much on your own, and the plan isn't even guaranteed to save everyone, or in fact, anyone, so you guys might want to do something. What, I don't know.

So to celebrate the end of the RP hiatus here is a new post that Eli and I concocted:

Leaving the hungry elf to his adventuring, May began to look for a way out of this mess. The shadow-things were swarming the battle field, circling the smaller forms of her teammates. The light from that elf, the sickeningly sweet one, had begun to fade, as well as the fires from the phoenix.

Looking around, May saw the goblin alchemist she’d argued with earlier. He seemed to be in a bit of a bind, as about twenty of the jackals had decided he would make a good meal. Pulling out a bottle of acid and a pen from her pack, May quickly drew a seal on the bottle and threw it into the midst of the shadows. The effect was nearly instantaneous as the bottle exploded with a flash of light and whoosh of flame.

--------

The explosion had been somewhat unexpected. However it had cleared away the stupid beasts so I wasn’t going to complain. That was when I looked around and saw the source of my salvation was the female alchemist from before.

How wonderful.

“Yes? is there something that you need?” I asked.

“Oh, you know how it is. I try to find that one type of plant you’ve spent months looking to categorize, and then there’s this battlefield right on top. I mean, give me a break.” May said sarcastically, scribbling more seals onto bottles of fluid.

“How cute.” I replied. “But in all honesty what do you need? I’m a tad busy at the moment.” I said, decapitating one enemy while impaling another with spikes of rock. “Company to entertain, samples to take, things to blow up.”

Throwing more bottles out into the fray, May glared at the smaller alchemist, “Take a look around, dumbass. We’re about to be overrun.”

I looked beyond the immediate area for the first time in a while. “Well, thats quite a problem.” I thought to myself. However I couldn't let the young one think she had caught me on a point. “Ah, yes. Now I see. You’ll have to forgive me for not seeing that sooner but I’ve been fighting all alone out here. Do you actually have a plan to deal with it or did you just want to annoy me once more before we die?”

“Well I was thinking that we could do something about it. Maybe make them pay for killing us, at least.” The last few bottles flew into the shadows. “I dunno. Maybe we ought to be using some alchemy. I mean, it’s just a thought. If you prefer being chewed limb from limb, I’m sure they’ll oblige you.”

Well she had a point. I did after all have an example to set. “So in conclusion you want to do something but you have no plan. and you’re still relying on drawn circles for everything. Even if you can’t get the circle free alchemy down the least you could do is use some pre-prepared circles. certainly would speed things along.”

“Circle-free? That’s possible?”

“Yes most just don’t do it because it sacrifices some stability. Which is why I use it for battle, couldn’t risk it on my experiments they were already unstable enough.” Another jackal died from a diamond growth in it’s eye after I laid hands on it.

“So, are you going to show me how or are we just going to surrender like the nice meals we are?” May said, dodging a very disgusting set of claws.

“Theres really nothing to show. You imagine the circle, focus on your desired result and just put power in it like you would any other circle. Some use clapping, gestures or incantations but mostly I find that unnecessary.

May looked at the goblin suspiciously. Then, she reached out to one of the shadows, brow furrowed in concentration. Suddenly, flowers began growing out of the jackal’s ears, and he collapsed into a heap. “IT WORKED?!” May said excitedly.

“You could at least act like you expected it to work.” I grumbled. These new alchemists. Think they know everything the first time out. Took a bit of effort to work that out. I decided I probably shouldn't tell her that my mentor didn't teach me everything about how to do that, it’d only upset her to hear a lot of trial and failure was involved in perfecting the process

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, you are most likely insane. So, if it’s not proven, it’s probably faulty.”

“Your faith reassures me.” I replied acidly. Now that we had that out of the way we needed a plan and it needed to be a damn good one. “Now we need to figure out how to take out a large number of these b-” A jackal picked me up and began choking me. So as a sign of my appreciation I transmuted his air into poison gas. I cleared my throat as I landed. “As I was saying we need to kill a bunch, preferably without killing ourselves and our allies.”

“Well, I don’t think poison gas would be very practical.” Twisting, May transmuted two jackals into each other. “Maybe some explosives?”

“Not really that much safer than the gas-” I dodged back from several of the grasping monsters. “But we are running short on options. I mean we certainly can’t turn the whole place into a lava field, most of the rest of them wouldn’t survive”

“As far as-” May ducked under a set of jagged teeth. “-transmutations go, I think that would be the easiest. The only other-” A quick jump, followed by another transmutation sending a jackal to his death. “-option would be to suddenly chill everything in the immediate area. and to be honest that’s probably more dangerous than the lava idea.”

I grimaced. “Maybe we should just go back to the explosion idea.”

“What about making some sort of beacon? So all these idiots’ll head over there, and away from the flames?” May looked over the goblin’s head (granted it wasn’t exactly difficult), to see that the entire battle field was swarmed with black.

I thought to myself for a moment (and dodged a laser while I was doing it). “That could work we’ll need an element that will send off a smoke plume or that will just glow all on its own.

“I think these Jackals should have enough. We could just set them on fire... It’s a bit... gruesome... but the smoke should probably attract the attention of most of the group. We could then move over to that pile of rocks and lava the floor.”

I shrugged. It wasn't the worst plan I had ever heard. For that matter, it wasn’t the worst plan I had come up with. That was the sea monster I had designed to protect the whales. I hadn't expected it to eat the whales. “Sounds like a plan” I said. Immediately breathing fire on the group in front of us. “Come on May, add to the fun.”

Clapping, May sent a stream of flame towards the rocks, clearing the path for herself and the goblin. Upon arrival to the rocks, she pulled out a piece of chalk and began sketching as large of a fire seal as she could make. “Okay, so... How much power do you think this will take?”

“Not as much as you think. We have plenty of heat to draw from.” I said gesturing to the lava field. “We’ll lose some of the heat in transit but that means we only need to put in a portion of normal power.”

Concentrating, May focused on the ground, she imagined it getting agitated and angry, heating into the thousands of degrees. When the moment was right, she released the circle and felt the immense drain the transmutation took on her body. Opening her eyes, she saw the goblin experiencing similar levels of pain as heat burned her skin. All around her black shadows burned as the floor became lava.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Battle situation: The battlefield is now lava! There is a smoke signal leading to a safe area, have fun getting to it.

Alina had just begun to reach for the lingering sparks of light in the nearby trees, when another wave of heat jolted her eyes open. There it was, another blaze of destructive light, and the ground... the ground was moving.

Alina sighed. She was loath to abandon her friends, but it was useless to try to save them when more fire was on its way, and she knew that she had destiny yet to fulfill before her own time could come.

"Fire. Fates alive, why do all these people so love fire?" It was the closest to irritation that she'd felt in a long time.

Leaping onto her familiar, she leaned to her right, whispering in the unicorn's ear, "Caranor, get us out of here."

As the mare galloped toward less volatile ground, the albino gazed back at the forest-turned-battlefield. She probably could still salvage the trees, she knew, but the cost... She shook her head. Who was she to object on such grounds? Besides, Caranor would keep her safe, even if she fell asleep. And she hoped it would not come to that.

Gripping the glass focus she wore at her neck, she closed her eyes, turning her head back in the direction of the trees. Once again, she mentally sought out the life force of the trees, not one at a time, but all at once, as though the forest itself were a living being-- it was.

And this time, she did not coax those glowing strands gently into health; she jolted them, bringing them from dormant near-death to a shining shield of light, which would protect their shells from the heat and the flames even as it burned to a crisp any ill-meaning creature which ventured too close to its range.

The shield would not last forever; she had to hope that the lava and fire would have dissipated by the time the bright shield retreated into the cores of the living trees. The elf slumped against her unicorn's neck, resting as she was carried the rest of the way to safety.

Back at the smithy he had worked, Eslai had handled molten metal with his bare, uh, metal hands, crafting and forging weapons and ammunition. A bit of trivia he had picked up: iron melted at around a thousand and five hundred degrees. Lava on the other hand, was anywhere from seven hundred to a thousand two. Either way, it inconvenienced him only so far as he tried to wade through the thick, viscous goo with a bit of difficulty. Magic and metal would keep him alive.

His auto-senses whirred as they reconfigured to absorb the suddenly intensely bright battlefield and without hesitation, he picked out a couple of Jackals burning as they sank into the ground. No sense wasting ammo on them, Eslai thought. A smoke plume rose up, evidently some kind of signal, for he could see that irritating elf astride an incredibly incongruous pearlescent unicorn galloping towards the smoke. Good thing the, what were they called, Jackals were all dying one by.. uh.. one...

A Jackal, now strangely orange instead of black, charged at him, roaring some kind of battle chant in whatever bestial dark language it possessed. A conflagration gathered at the back of its throat and rushed out as though shot through a high-powered hose, a flame-thrower of sorts. Without breaking his stride, Eslai shot the beast twice in the head and kept walking. That sort of pretentious nonchalance, he mused in retrospect, was probably not the best affectation to try for in the middle of a battlefield.

Within moments, the Jackal he had shot exploded, a temporary sun flaring upon the face of the land, throwing Eslai far forward, head-first into the lava. Now that, that was very bad. The clockwork man was all metal, true, save his brain. If his brain were to heat up.. Eslai struggled desperately to pull himself free of the oozing liquid. He could almost feel sweat poring down his cheeks, as whirring servos warred with the lava's death-grip. One tense moment, another, then he was free and Eslai thought that he had never felt more thankful for his metal body. Wiping away the molten rock, he turned back to see what he had wrought, albeit accidentally.

The explosion triggered by that lava-Jackal had cratered a large portion of the land, blasting away trees and its fellow beasts. That, while very good, was also very bad, because now as far as he could see, every single remaining Jackal- an entire army's worth maybe- had turned orange. None of them seemed inconvenienced by what lava remained anymore and if they all exploded just as spectacularly as that first, then the 'heroes' were in big trouble.

Eslai ran towards the smoke, like the coward he was.

-

Jackals, colour-coded for your convenience The Lava-Jackal is a fireproof menace, capable of breathing fire and also explodes very spectacularly when murdered. Have fun!

Even as the last Jackal began to collapse into curling plumes of darkness around his blade, Julian strode over to the nearest gap in the shell of the warbeast he'd infiltrated and peered outside, his optics automatically adjusting to filter out some of the red-orange light that was spilling into the chamber. The sight that awaited him was exactly what he'd expected: fire, and lots of it. Great job, everyone. Absolutely wonderful. Once again, I look away for two seconds and someone turns the battlefield into a volcano. Real nice of you.

Stifling a sigh, the Timekeeper turned back to the Jackal transport's interior just in time to see the veins in the floor change color to match the flames outside. And now they're getting used to fire. Typical. The flesh beneath Julian's feet abruptly began to climb in temperature, and he quickly shifted his footing to a part of the chamber that didn't have lava flowing right below it. What I wouldn't give for a backup squad right now... He kicked out at the base of one of the cartilage pillars that separated exoskeleton from innards, and the warbeast quickly responded by letting out a yelp of protest, the chamber floor quaking as the enormous Jackal instinctively lurched into uncontrolled forward motion.

---

So, to sum up- Julian cleared an entire warbeast of its cargo of grunts (probably not the first), and is now getting himself out of the battlefield by kicking said warbeast in a nerve cluster. Probably gonna stay inside until his transport gets out of the firestorm, at which point he's going to carve up the serpent thingy's internal organs and kill the crap out of it (hey, it worked the last time he tried it). Your move, everyone else.

Chris was having a bad time. When all of the other heroes went forth to the middle of a forest for no apparent reason her first idea was to keep going towards where they planned, but soon she was proven incapable of doing so as everyone entered the forest. Now she was surrounded by an army of jackals - No, she was surrounded by an army of fire jackals and a freaking river of lava. She awaited a little too much to put her plan in action and now she was hidden under a rock and a pile of dirt, shrouding herself with some very puny enchantation while an army of fire beasts rushed all around her. She didn't think she could blast her away through an army of jackals this massive all alone, nor slowly sneak away carrying the amount of gold she had with her.

At that same moment, one of the fire jackals stood right in front of where she was hiding, as if it had noticed something strage. It stared around with his sole malevolent eye but didn't find anything. Then the jackal spit a fireball upwards as if in anger or some sort of war chant ("Let's go and kill them!") and ran forwards. "I'm so fucked right now, damn it all."

Mokou wasn't having much difficulty dealing with the Jackals this time around. Thankfully, it seemed these grunts were much less durable than the formidable leviathan that she had been killed by in their last encounter. Better still, she was in top form thanks to both the goddess' regeneration spell - perhaps that rather abrupt resurrection had more merits to it than she'd initially given it credit for? - and the fact that the battlefield was now apparently made of fire and lava, giving her a tremendous amount of material to manipulate without even having to expend her own power on summoning her phoenix flames. Mokou gave a slight smile as she swept down her right wing, incinerating a lesser Jackal even as it leaped at her and launching her to the opposite side as a nearby Warbeast raked the ground upon which she'd stood. Several small paper charms flashed into existence around her hand, then streaked towards the offending serpent, embedding themselves in its eye and exploding. It didn't take the giant creature down, but it would at least make it more difficult for the thing to target her in the future. So, all things considered, the battle was going in her favor.

That is, until a large portion of the flames ravaging the forest were suddenly ripped from Mokou's control, an agony like having a piece of her body torn away - a sensation she knew quite well enough to make a comparison to - suddenly wracking her core as the fires around her suddenly spiraled out of control, the phoenix aura that had surrounded her beginning to warp and twist as she tried to recover from the sudden push against her spiritual body, spread as it was over the entire forest.

A barrier...?! Someone must be trying to disperse my flames! Is it the enemy? The Phoenix thought, grimacing as she searched wildly around the forest for the source of the barrier, already readying an attack in the hopes of eliminating whoever it was who was trying to strip her of her flames. That is, until her eyes fell upon the shape of a white unicorn, fleeing with its unconscious master over its back. You mean... it was her?! Mokou might have felt somewhat angry at apparently having been betrayed, but she had little time to, as the Warbeast whose eye she had just blown out began firing a stream of lasers across the entire sky, forcing Mokou into a dive as she skimmed the surface of the lava, several Jackals hot on her tail. Giving a mighty flap of her burning wings, the Phoenix released a shower of searing heat, abruptly rising straight upward as the exploding hailstorm of fire and molted feathers rained down on her pursuers. Shooting a glance back over her shoulder to appraise the damage and locate new targets, Mokou found yet again that things were not, perhaps, as favorable as she had thought.

What...?! They just shrugged it off?! An attack of that magnitude was enough to shred them earlier! The Phoenix thought, her eyes widening as she rolled to the side, then came in for another dive, landing on solid ground just long enough to brace herself and leap forward, lowering one of her wings and sweeping it forward, wrapping it around the front of her body as she launched herself through the staggering group of Jackals, its foremost feathers acting as her sword while the wing itself served to shield her body.

Landing on the opposite side of the enemy group, Mokou grimaced. Just as she'd feared, her wing had somehow completely failed to damage the enemies, who were now glowing red hot. And spitting fire at her, for that matter, but that was about as effective against the Phoenix as her own attacks were against them.

Have they somehow fused themselves with the fire? Blood of the goddess! That means my attacks won't have any effect of them at all! The Phoenix realized, dodging backwards as several of the Jackals leaped at her with unexpected speed, one of them managing to rake its claws along her side, very nearly bisecting her at the waist had she not reverted to the form of fire at the last second, escaping with a mere scratch... that is, until the Jackals surrounding her abruptly fused themselves into one, larger Jackal, opened their combined maw, and devoured her flaming body in one bite.

Reforming herself inside the Jackal's gullet, Mokou gathered her power, hoping to rip the beast apart from the inside. As she prepared to do so, however, her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Their insides are full of fire? She realized, glancing around at the burning pit that was the Jackal's stomach, a smile slowly beginning to return to her face as a plan occurred to her.

A few moments later, the combined Jackal gave a scream of agony as the power inside it abruptly exploded against its will, causing it to self destruct much like its wounded brethren have. Hovering down from amidst the rain of fragmented Jackal body parts, Mokou emerged, gasping for breath. Being eaten by a creature like that wasn't exactly pleasant, and this was coming from one who had experienced death several times firsthand.

Oh, and the fact that she'd just emerged amidst a swarm of Jackals rushing a small mound didn't help much, either. Huh, wait a minute, wasn't that the magic of one of the other heroes? Damnit, so they really were all here, weren't they? She'd come investigating that masked one, and had gone all out since there wasn't anyone to get in the way. But now with the others in danger, it seemed she would have to cut off her little attack - well, and because the only way for her to destroy these adapted enemies was to get eaten by them, and she wasn't particularly keen on repeating that experience.

"You there!" The Phoenix exclaimed, leaping back towards the mound and hurling a blast of heat into the oncoming horde. It wouldn't harm them, but at least the shock would probably slow them down. "Unless you have a plan to eliminate these creatures, I suggest immediate withdrawal."

Rissien didn't see that coming. Not the reinforcements, not the floor starting to boil under his feet and most certainly not the fact that the trees didn't burn down from the heat.

"Woah hot hot hot hot." He jumped from tree to tree. "Man... These guys don't do small stuff... Cooked fruit would be good though. If I can find any before it becomes charred fruit, that is. Charred food's no good."

He moved for a while, talking to himself and occasionally batting a stray Jackal down into the poll of magma. Until a wave of hot air almost knocked him down into the pool. Turning his attention to it's source, he heard the winged elf suggest something about retreating.

"Yeah yeah, makes sense." He mumbled, and turned to face the horde of enemies. The elf drew his swords, but, instead of moving to attack, he placed them on his back again, only with blades bared this time. Then he jumped. By infusing his magic into his blades through the translucent chains, he was able to cut through air itself. As long as he kept his body in motion, he would be effectively able to fly.

"Now. Anyone stranded anywhere? Or can everyone get out of here on their own?" He knew no one would be able to listen to his voice from his current position, but then again, he was used to talking to himself and this was no different.

-----
Rissien Status: He'll circle the field, looking for anyone that's not moving out. If you need help, you can have a psychotic elf drop from the sky sword-first into whatever is holding you back. Otherwise, he's on his way out.

Procyon's form, slipping silently along the base of the cliffs, flickered into a blur of movement and vanished with a whoosh of air just in time to be replaced by a torrential downpour of lava washing over the edge of the rock high above him. Watching from atop a rock twenty feet away, the dragon glared upward at the battlefield just out of sight. "Are they just not thinking, or is it that they find themselves incapable of higher brain functions?" A hiss filled the air as the lava slammed into the lakeside, instantly filling the air with a huge cloud of steam as the water at the edge of the lake was boiled with lightning speed.

Procyon slowly looked around at the grey walls that washed over him, cutting off sight and dulling sound, while behind him, the hissing of the water screaming in protest at the molten stream running into it grew ever louder. A plan was beginning to form in his mind, and his sole eye narrowed in concentration. Dropping down from the rock on which he stood, Procyon slipped up to the grey face of the cliff that hung above him, barely visible in the cloud. Pacing quickly along its length, Procyon ran his hand along the surface of the rock, trying to feel the changes in its shape in hope to catch anything that his eye missed in the steam.

It took him a few moments, in which the explosions from above continued, with many being far louder than before, to find what he was looking for. Procyon doubted the increase in noise was a favourable thing, but if the worthless excuses for heroes had survived this long, they could stand to stay a few more minutes. Running his hand along the shape in the stone, Procyon traced the outline of the small crevice that allowed entrance into the interior of the cliff face. Slipping through carefully, he inched his way along the narrow passage, and, just as he had hoped, it soon widened. Very little steam had slipped into the crack through which he had entered, and so Procyon was, with a slight application of his power to summon a glowing cube in the center of the room, able to see far more clearly within the dim rock chamber.

The dragon silently nodded to himself, deeming the surroundings acceptable for his purposes. "Hm," he grunted quietly. "If they can't use this to dig them out of the mess they caused themselves, then it is no concern of mine. I'll just tear apart the fools responsible for this myself, and then I will free myself from this humiliation I have borne for all these years at last and regain my true power!" As he spoke, his body began too glow as he floated slowly off the stone ground, engulfed in blue power, the last of his remaining strength. "Well, let's see what you do with this, so-called Heroes! I wonder if any of you are worthy of being in my presence!" And with that, the cave exploded.

On the battlefield above, the first sign of the shift was a quiet rumbling, emanating from the depths of the earth as though some immense creature had grown hungry somewhere far below them. Then the land around the cliff edge began to buckle. Red hot rock and molten earth plummeted toward the lake below as the cliff shuddered, and then gave way, leaving the while battlefield to slowly slide into the water below, lava and all. Then the wave of red from above met the blue of the water, and the entire world was engulfed in grey steam.

Somewhere deep within the grey, a black specter with a single golden eye slipped away from the destruction and into the woods, moving quickly towards the human village known as "Kingas".

The temperature where Christine stood suddenly rised for a second, and then someone she didn't know whether it was another one of the heroes or an enemy spoke something about 'creatures' and 'suggest imediate withdraw'. If that was a threat Chris couldn't know, because just after that the apocalipse happened. "Holy fuuuuuuuck!" If Hell had already been summoned when the forest was fire and lava, she didn't know how to describe what was going on right now. The entire land collapsed and caved in a lake. River of lava and all. A thick cloud of hot steam and dust surrounded the place where the forest stood one day. But the worse was that Christine was stuck and sliding towards iminent death.

When everything collapsed Chris got mostly stuck under earth and rocks, save for her right arm and head. Thankfully, she was holding an arrow when everything happened, in case a jackal decided to attack her by surprise. "Corrosion!" Channelling a spell through her arrow, the rubble on her started to erode, and even though more came to occupy its place it was enough to free her other arm, which held the bow. On the last second before being covered again she readied another enchanted arrow with a dark red glow. This one was powerful enough to destroy most of the debris covering her, which let her escape from being burried alive or from completely sliding into the lava river.

As soon as she left her natural coffin, Chris turned once again to face it because she had to not fall into the same place all the lava was going to. Dodging the hole where she just was, she kept running away from the lava lake that was forming. The archer couldn't see where she was going to, but she could hear her environment well enough to know no jackals were close to attack her, though she also had no idea if there was anyone nearby. "Fuck everything!" Chris yelled to the heavens.

May struggled to regain her balance after the dragon did his work. The lava table was shifting, swirling its way deeper into the yawning earth. “Gux, I think we shouldn’t be here anymore.” May said, half-jokingly towards the smaller goblin.

I felt the ground begin to slide beneath my feet. “I do believe you are correct in this case, actually we probably should have moved when we intia-” I cut off my ramble as my feet began sliding towards the the lake. “Ramble later! Running now!”

“That’s what I was telling you!” May grumbled, scrambling up the steepening hill, glancing about for proper footholds.

“We need a proper path” I yelled at her. “Otherwise we’ll just slide into the giant death cloud with everything else.”

“What, and you want the weak little apprentice to save your ass?” May said, annoyed, as the island tilted further into the muck.

“Yes, you’re higher up. Therefore you can make the more complete path. Now will you just do it?”

May mumbled something that may have been a referral of where Gux should send his attitude, then closed her eyes and focused. A few tense moments later, a better path was created, reaching up to a spot outside the collapsing field of lava, monsters, and debris.

I hurried up the path the girl had created, helping to push her along once I got up to her, she looked pale and woozy. This was unsurprising given her efforts today, really a testament to her ability that she was still standing at all.

Not that I would ever tell her that of course, had to maintain my dignity.

Once we got near the top the path started to crumble due to strain. I quickly pushed May onto solid ground first before flinging myself off the collapsing pathway.

We both sat there breathing heavily. “Not bad for a half-trained apprentice.”

“Says the.... Alcoholic... Goblin... Alchemist...” May panted in between gulps of air

“I’m only alcoholic when the princess is around.” I replied.

May snorted, obviously preparing another retort, when her eyes widened. Leaping to her feet, she quickly sent a worried look at the goblin, then leapt at the shadow beast. A few quick flashes, and the beast growled with irritated. May winced at the expenditure of power, wobbling on her feet as she jumped towards the monster. With a yell, she quickly scooped up a loose piece of stone and threw it at the monster. The monster roared as the rock collided with it, smashing into pebbles as the beast returned to smoke. May seemed to find this image rather amusing, giggling as she collapsed on the ground.

I walked over to her and looked down. “Can you walk at all?”

May looked around, eyes glazed over. “Who’re you?” she asked, voice slurring.

I rolled my eyes. Of course she couldn’t. “Just stay there, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okay, I’m just gonna taykka nap now...”

I gathered some loose wood and found some kudzu nearby. Quickly I made these into a improvised sled(without alchemy which was a pain.) With some effort I dragged the girl onto the sled and tied the vines to my scythe.

And so that was how the great goblin alchemist Gux Clayhand ended up dragging an unconscious teenage girl towards Kingas and hopefully our other allies.

Oh. This wasn't good.

Eslai wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but then the ground had juddered and then suddenly he was sliding, falling down the tilted earth. Clods of magma spurted past him into a dense white cloud of.. Why was there a cloud beneath him, wait, the auspex return kicked in, analysing the temperature and oh by all the powers that be, that wasn't a cloud, that was steam! Some jackass had flipped the metaphorical table of the battlefield into a lake!

"Bastard!" Eslai's speakers blared distortedly as he flailed wildly in mid-air. On the bright side, the Jackals were falling into the lake as well, what would happen if they hit the water- no, no, focus! Then an idea came to him.

Triggering his internal mechanisms, two pistols slid smoothly into his grasp and, aiming to a side at nothing in particular, he prayed, locked his elbow joints, and fired. The recoil sent him flying in the opposite direction, corkscrewing through the air and, stowing away the pistols to be reloaded, he grabbed onto an orange Jackal which roared in fury. Metal clicking on metal, his internal systems shifted, and a third pistol came into his right hand, which he promptly jammed against the Jackal's head.

There was a rhyme of sorts he remembered vaguely, one of the few things he could remember and he shouted it now.

"Jackal, Jackal,
Why do you yell?
I bring darkness,
I bring Hell!"

Nobody else heard the little ditty in the wake of the explosion from the Jackal after he pulled the trigger. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have spotted a black figure arcing across the sky.

Eslai yelled and yelled like he'd never yelled before, wondering in a panic if perhaps this was not the brightest idea he'd ever had. Maybe, just maybe, he ought to have considered that one explosion might trigger a chain explosion. After the first five seconds of screaming, he realised he could see a lot from his vantage point in the sky. Oh, look, someone had raised a flat path and two figures were clambering- oh, wait, no, the path broke. Now one was dragging the other on a sled and the small figures were suddenly medium-sized figures and now they were pretty life-sized-

He crashed into the ground and tumbled forward for a few metres, ploughing a small furrow through the tormented earth before coming to a stop.

"Ugh.." Eslai pushed himself up, feeling dizzy. That was something new. They'd never told him a Clockwork could ever be dizzy. His autosenses flickered, then reset itself. "That was brutal.. Oh, goblin. You're alive- May? May! She's alive, isn't she?"

Without waiting for a response- his autosenses were scanning for life signs anyway- Eslai squatted by her side, fingers lightly grazing her cheek. The contact was all he needed to confirm a pulse and he exhaled a steam-puff of relief.

"Goblin, need a hand?" Again, without waiting for a reply, he went forward and began helping the goblin pull the makeshift sled. Things were probably alright now, since he'd detonated most of the Jackals by accident. After all, what were the odds that their dying energies would have coalesced and formed the largest Jackal Warbeast yet? Screw it, he was just a Clockwork with a few guns. Let the others deal with the damn thing, he thought, he just needed to get out of here before the gigant crushed him, the goblin and May.

Alina felt, rather than saw, the ground dropping away as she rode. Hooking an arm aroynd the unicorn's neck to maintain balance, she reached over and patted the creature gently on its flanks. Understanding its mistress immediately, the great beast extended wide white wings that had not been visible a moment before, pumping them steadily to keep its rider aloft.

Alina closed her eyes, searching for the pinpricks of lifeforce that she had marked out to be those belonging to those destined to be her companions if not her friends. It did not help matters that two of her fellow heroes were clockwork men, with no light to seee, and at least one of those remaining had already abandoned the group.

She frowned as she heard one of the others curse loudly, and began whispering a simple spell ro clear the air of its verbal pollution. Her incantation was cut short, however, when she found two of the lights she sought, one if them flickering dangerously. She approachef, to find the clockwork man and the mad goblin labouring over a third of their group-- the sweet human girl, maidenly May.

Was this that lovely girl's day to die? She offered the question up as a prayer to the fates, but met no confirmation.

"Can you two make it safely back?" she asked, scooping the recumbent girl up in her slender arms and laying her atop her mount. "She can ride with Caranor and me, while I heal her."

Alina smiled serenely as she began to restore the girl's spent energy, alrwady setting off again for Kingas.

Well, the good news was that the person Mokou had swooped into the midst of the lava field to save was not only still alive, but also escaping on her own, skirting the edge of the collapsing basin of magma even as the ground she had only moments before occupied began to crumble away.

The bad news was, of course, that the phoenix herself was now standing on the very brink of a precipice filled with steam and flames, and the ground beneath her was already beginning to collapse, dragging her feet down with it. Instinctively, Mokou spread her wings and, giving them a mighty sweep, attempted to take off. The earth cracked and at last gave way, shattering to pieces and falling into the abyss as the phoenix rose into the air, pelted by searing stones from above as the entire area around her collapsed into the lake of fire. Shutting her eyes tightly, the phoenix covered her face from these projectiles as best she could, and merely focused on escaping the disaster zone. Rising into the air, she shot upward like a scarlet bullet, until at last, the ground was left far, far below. Amidst the chaos beneath her, nothing could be seen save for smoke, flames, and ashes, least of all her comrades, something that became all too apparent after she had circled the burning crater twice over and seen nothing amidst the steam or smoke.

How foolish of me. I hadn't expected the others to catch up so quickly. If I'd only been more careful about using the forest to fuel my flames, perhaps those people from the inn wouldn't have been caught up in all of this. I suppose I can only pray that they were somehow protected by that barrier I felt tugging on my presence back then. The Phoenix sighed, ceasing her flight and turning her attention toward the direction that she'd followed the masked dragon in in order to reach the forest in the first place. It seems I will not be able to locate the others here. That 'Kingas' place is the most likely destination that they will make for, and likely lies in the direction that masked one set off in before the battle. I only hope I can locate the town before they meet there and move on. The lands of Humans have changed a great deal since I last set foot in them, and it seems unlikely I'll be able to find it without either luck or assistance. In any case, however, it seems that I can only follow the one who led me here in the first place, and hope he takes me to that town. Reasoning thus, Mokou at last set off, headed in the direction, which, she hoped, would take her to Kingas.

Kingas: Classifcation- City, medium sized, trading hub.

Kingas was built with the unified effort of the Goblin, Dwarf, and the Valcium Alliance. It acts as a hub between the three cities and stands as a testament to their alliance. The city has an active guard, so there is minimal bandit interference and low crime rates for a city of its size. There are many hotels and restaurants one could visit, along with all manner of shops. If one looked hard enough they might even find some less savory means of gaining access to rare things. But that would mean going through the Denaria Sisters, the only criminal gang in the city. Your main objective is too gather the materials needed to make the full journey to meet the Highlord Pardoner, but no matter where you get said materials if will take a full day to gather everything and have it packaged for travel. Staying a day or two might be advisable to rest from the last few days and gain strength for the trip. Of course there are a few things that can be done while the Heroes stay here.


Side Quests

He who lives by the sword: In the part of town where most of the performers conduct their business a large crowd has gathered around a man who wears the garb of a wandering soldier. At his feet is a pan filled with gold. He tells the crowd that if any can defeat him in single combat he will give the victor not only all the gold, but the sword he wields. Anyone who is well versed in ancient legend will recognize he weapon as Mankizu, the Katana of Biting Despair. It is said that if one uses it the sword will slowly drain their lives, but also make them near impossible to beat. Battling against him could offer great experience, and possibly a few lessons. Or maybe another blade he has on him.

Mark of a Hero: In the town square a young girl who is sitting on the edge of a fountain can be seen crying and generally looking miserable. If one manages to calm her down the girl will explain her dad walked into a near by building with two not so nice looking people and hasn't come out for about two hours and the girl is scared something has happened. If one continues to investigate they will find the father surrounded by a group of armed thugs working for the Denaria sisters. The father owes them a debt due to having to borrow money from the sisters in order to pay for a healing his daughter needed, and they intend to take it in blood. The father is a merchant with strong ties to various kingdoms, and helping him might net you a discount at various cities. Of course doing so will mean crossing the Denaria sisters, which holds its own risks.

Civil Disorder: There seems to be quite a mob in front of a store selling Clockwork parts. It appears the mob doesn't quite agree with people trading away their natural magic for the sake of machine bodies or limbs. While it might at the moment be a nonviolent protest here appears to be a man in a black robe that is whipping the crowd into a frenzy. He is a follower of the Demon Lord Iz, the God of Chaos and Anarchy. If allowed to continue the mob might push into the shop and destroy it. Of course if a hero kills the follower then they will be labeled a murderer. Find a way to get rid of the mob without having to resort to killing someone and there might be some free equipment given by the shopkeeper. Or help the follower with the crowd and gain favor with the followers of Iz.

A Contest of Drink: A local tavern is holding a large scale drinking/drink mixing contest. A team of two would have to enter the bar and split the duties between themselves. One would attempt to concoct the perfect drink to wow the judges while the other attempted to outdrink the bars record. The alcohol of choice is known as Raven Lag, a very powerful drink that is said to leave a full grown dragon feeling tipsy. Any team that can win both events will be offered a large cash prize and free room and meals for the night, which they can share with any of their friends. This is mostly because no one believes that the contest will be won. There is a cost of entry of course, so make sure to pay up before entering.

The Magicians Code: A local magician has put up fliers around town to look for an assistant for his final show. He promises a very rare and old spellbook for help for this show. He even claims it to be a book written by one of the Heroes of Legend, with his personal notes still intact, making it doubly rare. Help the magician put on one last show and you can get the book. Or you could attempt to steal it, but that would be rather foolish, seeing as you never know what traps a mage will put on his personal objects to keep them safe.

Into the Black Market: A rather small and timid man is looking to pay for protection from a strong individual in order to enter into the cities lowpay district in order to find the legendary Black Market. He says he wants to find an ingredient for an alchemy experiment that isn't held in normal shops, the rare Mambo Lily, whose pollen can call on contact with a persons skin. Entering into the Black Market will be difficult, but the mission taker will soon find out that the man is a target for a hit put out by the Sisters themselves, and protecting him will be a harder job then intended when a Dragon assassin by the name of Unzi comes after the man will full intent to kill. If you get the man out alive you will earn the scorn of the sisters, but access to the mans alchemy collection and a few free potions. Take him out through and there is a sizable amount of gold in it, along with a favor to the sisters.

((Side Quests are optional, and are on a first come first serve basis. If you want one claim it in the discussion quickly, you never know when they will be gone. Of course players are encouraged to not go alone into any of these, but you can if you wish. If you have questions you can ask, but don't worry about rewards, as long as you don't give yourself the all destroying knife that completely kills all the Jackals and makes you god I am pretty sure you won't do anything crazy))