Peaceful Days, Nights of Blood 3 (Hibernating for now!)

[Strider Wolfheart]

Strider dropped to the ground, huffing, his heart pounding. Using that kind of magic would kill him. His mortal body wasn't strong enough for the strain of such magic. Jake...

Jake heard Strider in his head and turned towards the top of the wall, a few guards already coming to aid Strider. "Oh no." Jake teleported to where Strider was, taking to his knee to be over Strider as he huffed, clutching his chest. "It's your mortal body. It can't take the stress. Hold on, let me get you to Elistral. Jake went to touch Strider to teleport and Strider grabbed his hand.

Strider shook his head. No, take me home. No one must know. Strider dropped his hand to the stone and tried to calm his breath.

Jake thought for a moment. "Alright. Jake touched Strider and instead of taking him to Elistral he took Strider outside his home. "Always skewed." Jake had meant to be inside but instead they were outside. He lifted Strider to his feet, supporting most of his weight as Strider still huffed for air as his heart attempted to cope with the stress and took him inside, closing the door behind them. Once inside he sat Strider down in his armchair and sat down himself, waiting for him to calm down.

"Okay, we're heading to take a magical orb from some man in a small town not far from here." Sardain stretched, shaking his head after being probed. "Alright, let's head out." Sardain kicked his horse into a light gallop as he entered the treeline.

"So, young miss. How can one such as yourself speak draconic? I didn't think humans could learn it." Aleck kept watch of the road as he rode, speaking to her with the wind in his face.  

[transformersgirl13]

Raven frowned. "Showing off? Hey, at least he stopped the fire... What did he do years ago?"

Maxx walked along silently, lost in his thoughts. "Hmmmm..."

"Huh? Oh, my friends dad taught her and i when we were little, she learned more than me cause she had more time around it," She paused thoughtfully. Human... Only half way Aleck... Only half way.... "He was always teaching us cool stuff like that, he speaks lost of languages, now that I think about it..." She frowned, "He had a habit of doing it when deep in thought. It was funny when he realized it." She grinned at that, he always made her laugh when he did that, then she blushed when she realized she had been rambling. "Do you speak any other languages?"  

[Strifer Garuwashi]

Azoth continued to egg the guards on. The pupils on his red eyes shift slowly from the circular shape to the dragon slit shape. One of the guards seemed to find his voice. "Sir, we are told to use force on anyone we deem hostile. The man before had permission to enter, but you have none. We will strike you down if necessary." The mere thought produced an almost brutal laugh from the dragon. The sound came through as more of a choking roar then a laugh, which was common of most dragons. "And you expect a being such as myself to be afraid of you? Interesting. Assuming I let you draw your blades, how long do you think you would last?" The guard that had not spoken began to grow pale, his face becoming more stern the less color it had. The other knight Responded not with words, but with force his fear turning quickly to anger. The blade moved quickly out of it's sheath and a powerful howl errupted from his vocal chords. A true warriors yell if Azoth ever heard a human produce one, but unfortunately he was far too slow for the dragon.

Azoth's fist began to grow in size slightly, producing more muscle mass than there had been even previously, which was quite considerable. On top of the change in size the skin began to form into scale, which took on a bright red color, the same as a beautiful ruby. His nail formed into claws, which were clenched with in the palm of the fist itself as Azoth simply dodged the clumsy, rage enduced swing from the warrior and struck hard and fast into the knight's stomach. The force of the blow not only dented the metal armor the knight had been wearing, but knocked the wind from his lungs, and kept it out, the dent hold firmly in place. The knight collapsed to the ground gasping for air, his blade tumbling to the ground, but thankfully not down the winding stairway. Azoth's eyes were alight with the fire of joy as his hand returned to normal human shape, but his eyes and teeth remaining in dragon form. As the man slowly and surely lost consciousness, Azoth bent down and simply ripped the bent armor off his chest, tossing carelessly to the side next to the blade. HIs breaths began to come in more frequently, and Azoth brought his eyes to the next knight, who had become even paler still. "Now then, do you see what happens when you lose your temper? And that is why humans are so interesting." Azoth stepped to the side of the corridor to wait for his new traveling companion and to give the second knight room to check on his fellow guard.

Kylar edge his horse to a gallop to follow Sardain down the path. As they started off he also listened to the supposed job. A single mage? Why would it take the two of us to retrieve something from a single mage? Kylar contemplated the thought to himself before opting to simply speak to Sardain. "If you wish to save time and effort, I could simply assassinate the mage as quickly as I do with every target. Retrieving the orb from the dead mage would be simple enough." With Kylar's shadow powers he could sneak under any door, past any unknowing, and kill any target far easier than most. With his years of strict training it made the task even easier. Most mages could feel the shadow magic at work, but it used such a minor amount of power it could be mistaken for another mage nearby working. The mage may never see it coming before Kylar's bright red blade was sticking through his chest.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

"Being the leader, sproutin' wings, dying and coming back. That sort of stuff." Verin explained as they came side by side with Avariel at the stable entrance. The other horse began to graze as the assassin led his mare into the well-kept building. "Also, it was dramatic as all hell." His customary scowl found its way back on his face as he also remembered the less notable bits. Isariah seemed more than happy to take her place in one of the empty stalls and stood patiently in it, waiting for Verin to take off her saddle.

Despite the danger of still being relatively close to spinning trees, Rore had welcomed the breeze that had resulted in Strider's work. Running his hands through his hair, he glanced up to look at the man, and was surprised to see that the spot on the wall was empty. "Hey, where'd your father go?" He called over to Elistral although he was already moving away to the assess the site of the damaged forest.

Elistral offered a shrug in return. Now that the blaze had been properly dealt with, she had other things to start worrying about. Strider could handle himself. "I'm going to the library to pick up a few books." She said to Demios and Sylvia. "History mainly, although I already know that there won't be much available."

Eon soon grew tired of flying above the wispy clouds and dipped down below their line, becoming a darkened splotch on the blue and white cover. The land below had changed only slightly from the plains to smaller fields with a lighter hue of grass and dotted here and there by trees. A nondescript landscape like it had been when he remembered it, something that oddly comforted him. However, ahead of him he could see the human capital of Radic. It had been built on a very slow-rising slope, almost unnoticeable until one walked very far up near the outskirts of the city just outside of the tall walls. From that height and distance, Eon couldn't pick out many details of the city.

Moving from the closed door, Fenrir found himself being stared at not too long after stepping on the rug that was like so many others in the castle. Two bright blue eyes stared at him as if having expected his arrival. That didn't bother him, the king normally held the aura of expectation about him in the first place and after having known Fenrir for a few years, had become even more wary. As such, the guise of the other man, a blonde-haired and bearded figure that practically gave off the air of nobility, magically changed to a much younger countenance with no beard at all. The eyes stayed the same, now icy and less kind than before.
Ignoring the dull sounds of whatever Azoth was doing through the barrier separating the room from the hall, Fenrir struck up a conversation, speaking lowly but no less as optimistic as he usually was.  

[Strider Wolfheart]

((IIIIIMMMM BBAAAAACK! >=3))

"Alright. I may go back to Strider's home and pick up my things, i'll join you in a few minutes." Demios turned to Rore and put his hand on his shoulder. "Keep up the good work buddy." Demios nodded his way and walked on towards the city gate, perhaps he'd meet Verin on his way in.

"Only Taraxacum's native one. I'm not very smart truthfully. I only know two languages and that's all I need to know. I can read and write but no real knowledge. I grew up on the streets." Aleck looks off up the road and sees a bridge. "Do you see it? That's the border."

"No, imprudent and reckless. We don't know the skill of our adversary nor the layout of our target. To send out our "ace in the hole" from the jump would be unwise. I'll let you scout it out first, be one with the shadows, then once you've identified our target i'll work to create a distraction. I want you to go and retrieve the objective at that point. Understood?" Sardain rode along on his horse, taking in every detail. Making sure they weren't jumpped, knowing Kylar was doing the same.  

[transformersgirl13]

Maxx laid a sudden hand on Verin. "Came back, how?" he looked at Verin with his deep blue eyed stare that made you seem to be lost, Maxx din't intend Verin to submit easily, but this was important.

Raven watched Maxx out of the corner of her eye, she knew the reason Maxx was freaking out, he had been brought back as well.

"Ah, well at least you know things, right?" She looked to where Aleck had said the bridge was, "Oh! I see it. cool."  

[Strifer Garuwashi]

Azoth frowned as he heard the clanging sound of more soldiers appearing from below. Apparently the scuffle had not gone unheard. Three more guards appeared with blades drawn prepared to face the situation, but stopped in the door way. One raised his blade to Azoth's neck, which produced a very large smile on his face, again bringing forth the draconion features from behind the humanity the hid. He began to turn pale before he was interrupted. "Lower your blade. It was self defense. Two of you carry Regault down the stairs, and one take over his post for him." The guard lowered his blade, but kept a skeptical look as he sheathed it, then helped the other man carry the collapsed soldier down the stairs. Azoth toned down his smile as the two guards resumed their post, the one who had seen the situation keeping his eyes on the dragon, but more in a moment of awe than anything else. The new guard simply looked at him with confusion. "Now then, how long does he typically visit the man behind the door?" Azoth sure hoped to not be kept waiting for too long.

Kylar listened to Sardain's plan. It seemed sound enough. He was not used to working in more than a solitary sitruation, and the other man was clearly more prepared for large groups. Their tactics prepared them for vastly different situations, and for once Kylar was almost glad that someone was with him. Killing was what he did, not his way of life. Although he did not blame himself for anything, for one does not blame the sword for the wielder's actions. For once he was grateful to be in a situation where bloodshed may be avoided, at least on his end. It was not often the assassin ran into a situation like this. "Understood. I am not used to working in groups. The plan is tolerable." That was perhaps the closest thing to a compliment the assassin had given in almost two decades.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((Yay!))

Verin stared back at Maxx, one hand on a strap of Isariah's saddle, his eyes hardening to show little emotion. It was habit and one that he learned worked well through his line of work when he had to intimidate a target. "First, I think there was something with a book and a piece of his soul being in it," he said in a quiet voice, underlying tones letting the other know that it wasn't wise to touch him. "The second time I have no idea. You can ask him yourself." Then he turned his chilled glare onto Raven. "Do you mind getting off?"

"Mm? Thanks." Rore gave him a tired smile before moving away from the scattering group. Gorash fell in step with him as they headed back to the desecrated area. Things had to be done before either them or the townspeople relaxed. Chopped trees had to be moved and cut for use, and eventually the ragged stumps in the earth would have to be pulled out by teams of horses. Although for now, any remaining cinders would have to be stomped out and water be poured on any spots still warm, despite the display Strider had created. "Damn, such a waste..." Rore sighed to himself.

Elistral waved at him as he left and almost left to re-enter Salim before she remembered that Sylvia was still standing in place. Normally that wouldn't bother her, but everyone else seemed to be busy at the time and it was a courteous thing to not leave her mother of all people just standing there. "Are you coming?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder. She tried to keep the impatience growing in her from leaking into her voice.

Tired of the glide on the upper currents of air and occasional thermal, Eon flapped his wings more frequently to pick up speed as he passed on the eastern side of the city. One tilted a few degrees up and set him into an angle that curved his flight path even move, the half-circle bringing his intended destination into his burning sight. Behind the entire capital, the slope continued its slow descent before suddenly dipping down, steep walls of bared rock showing out and dangerous to any who did not know that they were there.
As he flew almost directly past it, his never relenting hatred for the lesser beings increased. Down below, they lived and fought over such minor things like food or social standing. A growl sounded out from Eon's throat, disgusted at them and filled with rage. It grew as the sounds of the humans reached him so high up, and turned into a defiant roar that he had to quickly keep in check. They knew nothing of his presence at that time...but soon they would.

The conversation between Fenrir and the young king dragged on for only a few minutes, which surprised the former a little. They talked a bit about the situation in the capital, namely the faked food shortage and hard times, and the intended plans for said supplies. But he came to the conclusion that he must have interrupted something important, which he didn't mind at all personally. The frustration in the man's face mounted considerably as Fenrir strolled over to the desk by the wall, even having the gall to ruffle the blond head of hair.
From outside of the room, only muffled shouts were able to pass through the thick door, followed by loud thumps of objects being thrown and contacting with the floor and walls. Then suddenly, a thump louder than the rest was heard and the door shook as if something had hit it. The guards jumped a little when it creaked open and Fenrir, one hand pressed tight to his mouth, bolted out, shutting it quickly. A final thump finished the ordeal, the tip of a dagger protruding through the wood. "You do not want to go in there, he is very angry."  

[Strider Wolfheart]

Sylvia had been standing there. She felt something was wrong. But when Elistral called to her she snapped out of her daze and turned to her. "Oh yes, of course. I'll head home. Perhaps your father is there." She then looked down at the charred remains of a few tree limbs and walked dazed back towards the town. She couldn't help but feel like Azeois was in pain.

Strider had fallen asleep in his chair, his breathing back to normal. Jake sat there inspecting him, feeling Strider's magic return to a stable state. He carried too much magic for his human body. It would slowly eat away at him as time went by until the strain with supporting it would destroy his body completely. There would be no 'coming back' after that. His shell would be destroyed and he'd be forced to accept his fate and die. Returning to where ever he was made. Jake sighed, the thought of losing Strider seemed unreal. He's always been there. For millions of years he's been watching over everything. Sure he couldn't be everywhere at once but that's what he had people like me and Demios, Elistral, Rore, Verin, and Gorash for. We are his people. Maybe this is what he had been doing all along. He wanted us to learn to fight without him. Independent of outside leadership. But then again, he always has been there. Jake looked out the window at the sky, continuing to think.

"I suppose you're right. Now, let's get into friendly territory. If we meet guards don't speak too much. I'll have to explain your predicament." Aleck kicked his horse into a gallop, heading towards the surprisingly fortified bridge. There were four guards at each end, each covered in armor bearing a dandelion seal. When Aleck reached the bridge he slowed to a stop. "Hello lads, I wish to pass into our home." "You'll be disappointed then that we have to bar your entrance with her on your saddle, sir. You know the laws during war-time. No outsiders allowed." The guard seemed very trained and rigid. A straight cut man.
"Then you'll be disappointed that she is a ward of the state. I've offered her protection inside Radic. If you do not allow her passage I shall have to deem your actions as insubordination." Aleck had a stern face on, contradicting his normal genial manner.
The guard swallowed deeply, the crime of insubordination was death during war-time. "Very well, sir. You and your ward may pass." The guard tapped the pike he had onto the stone bridge and he and his fellow guards stepped aside. Allowing Aleck and Sasha to pass.
"Thanks." Aleck returned to his normal self as he pressed the horse forward towards the other end, the guards already parting there too.

"Shall I take that as a compliment?" Sardain smiled at Kylar as they continued on their way. Soon though they could hear the sounds of village life. A blacksmith's hammer and anvil, along with live stock, a few people too. "Alright, time to dismount. You know what to do. Scout first, i'll be planning our escape route as you do so." Sardain got off his horse and started to slowly make his way through the trees. Suddenly they came to a small opening in the trees. They were up upon a hill, a great vantage point for seeing the small town. There were maybe about ten or twelve buildings, each of which were made of wood and grass roofs. Log cabins basically. But near the far end there seemed to be a house that stood off away from town. Some sort of lights were inside of different colors. That was the target. "Alright, go and check things out. I want you to tell me of their guard activity, if there is any, and of the bast place to draw attention. No killing unless completely necessary, understood?"  

[transformersgirl13]

Raven jumped off and laid a hand on Maxx, who automatically let go of Verin, "Thank you, Vern," She said. "For both the directions and saving us form a bit of danger." her smile said she meant it but her eyes were as hard as Verin's, the usually deep and rich blue as cold as icebergs.

Maxx's eyes never left Verin, but grew colder, both in color and stare, when he turned to Raven, "A book? Does it have a name? And where would we be able to find him?" Maxx may have let go when Raven touched him but he, for once, didn't feel comforted by her touch. "Verin this is more important than you could ever think of, i need to know." Maxx had a calm voice and didn't care that it was was a little demanding, but he was somewhat glad that it didn't come out as a growl, picking a fight with Verin wasn't something he wanted to do at the moment...

Sasha nodded as they came to the bridge she watched the guards face with a somewhat innocent look, but not to innocent lest they think something of it, she studied all of the other guards out of the corner of her eye. She stayed quite while Aleck talked and listened closely, her violet eyes looking at how the bridge was made, yet she never moved her head. she relaxed somewhat when the guard let them pass, but didn't let her face return to its normal self until they were past the bridge.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

Verin didn't reply to either of the two as he turned away, the way he held himself at that moment speaking volumes in that he didn't care at all. He busied himself with setting his belongings aside and unstrapping everything from the mare. The saddle, reins, and other assortments went on the side of the stall and the assassin took a moment to brush the horse down, scratching her hindquarters affectionately before stooping to swing his bag over one shoulder. Then he stalked out of the small space in silence without another look at Raven or Maxx except for one flat word, "Follow."

"Mm." Was all Elistral was able to reply to Sylvia before the woman walked off. Instead of heading off as all the others had done, she turned her own gaze to the east. The shadow of a mountain range loomed in the distance behind the forest that had been saved, relatively, from Eon's fire. That day, they seemed much more obscured than they usually were. Attributing it to cloud cover, Elistral turned her mind back to the task of searching for books in the library, and she walked with the flow of people heading back and forth from Salim to the burnt forest.  

[Strifer Garuwashi]

Azoth smiled as Fenrir exited the door, which had been preceded with angry thumps and shouts. A dagger slamming into the door afterwards. "Well then let us hope we don't anger the entire castle. It may end badly for them." He pushed himself off of the wall and looked at the Sire Wolf, "Please, you first. I'm certain you know the castle far better than I." He hoped to get out of the castle before revealing where he had wanted to go. There was going to be a slight amount of tension when they visited the place anyways.


Kylar dismounted with Sardain and walked to the opening revealing the small town. It was nothing out of the ordinary for the fringes like this. Very small, but the oddity was obvious, different colored lights giving away magical presence. "Understood." His voice left him quickly as he began to walk forward, but with each step he sank deeper into the ground. After about ten steps his whole body had appeared to sink into the ground, but he was actually becoming one with his shadow. It was not necessary that he immerse himself with his shadow so slowly Kylar simply didn't want to alarm his current travel partner. It did not take long before he was in the town, when he had been going towards the town he had been jumping from tree shadow to tree shadow, but once he was near the town he made a full sprint to the nearest building. Not many people would have been paying attention, but it was safer to make sure no one had the option of being suspicious.

It was an odd feeling, his shadow hiding behind the shadow of the building. No behind is not the right phrase, inside of the shadow. I am inside of the building's shadow. It had a tingling sensation around his entire body. In fact when he had begun his training the shadows it had been difficult for him to tell himself apart from the other shadows. But now it was practiced habit, he even took the time to watch for the villagers before he jumped between the buildings. After about six hops he was close to his destination, but he paused before going any closer. There was one guard lazily sitting on the front porch, sharpening his blade, but nothing else. This struck him as odd, and he looked around before making a move towards the house.  

[Strider Wolfheart]

Jake sat there for a few moments until he heard the door open, Demios had stepped in. "Ah, hey. I was wondering when someone would show up."

Demios stepped inside and shut the door behind him, eyeing Strider. "Yeah, i'm just here to collect my things before I go and look aroun the library with Elistral." Demios looked at Strider with a puzzled look as he slept. "Is he, okay? I've never known him to fall asleep when there's stuff to do."

"Oh yeah, he's fine. He just wore himself out with that display a few minutes ago. I'll watch him, don't worry." Jake smiled at Demios.

Demios seemed even more puzzled. "Alright, if you say so." He knew something was up but if Jake didn't say anything it was because Strider didn't want anyone else to know. Demios grabbed his cloak and satchel and turned to head out. "Keep him safe." Demios nodded and opened the door, heading out towards the library.

Sylvia was walking up to the house when Demios stepped out, noticing her. "Ah, hello Demios. I see you have your stuff. Have fun flipping through books."

"Yeah, i'll try. Not the most fabulous job but Elistral can't just do it alone." Demios walked past her with a ping of regret. She would know something was up too.

After Aleck had gotten off the bridge he felt better. "There, much better, no? Always hated the security." Aleck patted Sasha and smiled.

From where he was, Sarain had a good idea of where to catch attention. Depening upon the amount of security it'd make a good scene and give a good chance of escape. Nt to mention lower the amount of possible casualties drastically. Now if only Kylar would return with the report.  

[transformersgirl13]

Maxx followed Verin, keeping a straight face to hide the butterflies he had in his stomach, he always got butterflies when going to meet new people. A glance to his right showed Raven following a few steps behind, watching Verin's back with a thoughtful expression, and, if Maxx knew er like he did, something along the lines of a smirk on her lips to show what she thought was either funny, or she had butterflies too. Maxx gave her a reassured smile, and she smiled back.

Sasha nodded, and smiled back. "Hey, sometimes security is necessarily, ya know? It helps people to feel safe, especially during hard times, like in war-times like he said you guys are in." Sasha thought for a second. "Then again i'm not much of a war fan, to many innocents get hurt in my opinion."  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((I'll catch up with this, Trans, and Half-Blood tomorrow guys. =D
Edit: Half-Blood is last.))

Verin was able to walk quickly through the streets after entering through Salim's open north gate thanks to the extreme lack of populace crowding the way. That, he attributed to the fire-efforts, although he did notice a beginning inflow of people as they filtered back to their homes, either tired or retrieving items to further help the cause. Despite having not been in Salim for many years (on rare ocassions, he'd visit with an alias name and identity), the large-scale battle that Elistral had written to him about had not changed the overall layout of the place. it was almost as he remembered it. But that didn't mean that he knew where Strider's house was. Just when he thought of pulling someone aside, he spotted Elistral among the crowd, mumbling to herself. That worked. "Hey Elistral!" he called, getting her attention.

"Town Square, follow a side street from there." The elf called back distractedly. She looked in his direction and stopped in place upon seeing his perplexed expression. "You...are going to Strider's, right?"
"Yeah, but..." He hadn't said anything.

"I figured that, after so long, you'd drop by..." Elistral replied, a little confused as well. Then she shook her head dismissively before continuing her walk, reaching the library, a different street but very close to the Town Square as well, and slipping in.

Verin stared after her for a few moments, and then too shook his head as he resumed his search. "Whatever."

"Infinitely." Fenrir replied with utmost confidence, his smile still hidden behind his hand. He started off, not looking back to check if Azoth was going to follow after him. "We'll go to the courtyard-garden place. Usually teleporting works better in the open air. Or...do you want to meet someone, first? "