The Magecraft Chronicles III Story Thread

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo didn’t quite recognize the voice, but the mention of his name is what startled him the most. After being alone for all of these years with no connection to his past, he never exactly hears his name very often. He turned to find that the voice game from a young girl who’s face he didn’t recognize. Then again, while wandering across the continent he had tried to sever all ties from anyone he met along the way. It was lonely, but he always thought it seemed safer for everyone else that way. Liulfr bounded out of the kitchen and tackled the girl to the ground and began to lick her face, tail wagging excessively.
“Liulfr! You’re alive……kinda. Come here boy!” She threw the undead canine onto his back and began to scratch his decaying belly.

Roluo watched the two together and his eyes began to widen as memories began to swell up in the back of his mind. I was only eight years old…

“Liulfr! Roluo come on! Hurry up I want to show you what I learned today from my lessons!”

“Suri! Stop running!” He chased her as she ran away from the village and down into a nearby valley. He lost his footing at the top of the hill and tumbled the rest of the way down before crashing down onto the ice covered lake at the bottom of the valley. “Suri!! Why’d you make me come all the way down here!” He clutched his knee as the blood began to run down onto his shin. “Look what you made me do! You’re supposed to be my best friend!” He tried to hold back tears, as young boys tend to do. His father had always tried to teach him to be tough, especially in front of Suri.

“Oh you big baby!!” Suri knelt down beside him and pricked her finger with a small blade from her pocket. “Just watch and stop crying! Mommy taught me this today. She said I have a special talent.” She held her hands above Roluo’s injured knee and drew the blood out from her finger. It formed a small bubble around the scratch and produced a small light and humming. Suri closed her eyes and began to concentrate and mumble silently to herself. The light faded and she drew the blood back into her finger, revealing Roluo’s freshly heeled knee. “See! All better.” She leaned over and kissed Roluo on the cheek. “You big baby.”

Suri used to play with Liulfr like that when we were children. She was the only one who could ever make him melt like that. But..it can’t be her…everyone is gone…aren’t they?

“..S…Suri? Is that really you? How…” He reached back behind himself to grab for the chair he had knocked over early and sat down to brace himself. Unlocking his past like this usually made him feel light headed. “How are you here? It IS you isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s me you big baby. Me and my father were away the day that…well…you know…everything changed. We were out hunting and came back to find the village and its people torn apart. The only person we couldn’t find was you. We looked all over and could never find you. Where did you go Roluo? Why did you leave the village if you were still alive? Me and my father had to rebuild everything ourselves. It was just us for as long as I could remember…what were you running from…”

“I was…running from what I did.” Roluo’s knees began to shake and the little bit of color he had in his complexion began to drain. He knew he had to tell her. “I did something. Something bad. You know that spell my father was working on? The one that no one had ever successfully done before…”

“Roluo…no…”

“Yes. Yes I tried. You know how I was as a kid. I always had to force everything. I thought I could do anything I wanted. I was wrong…everything was wrong. I killed everyone. I managed to raise it…but I just couldn’t get control. It wiped out everything…everything we loved…”

Suri hung her head low and walked over to Roluo and wrapped her arms around him. “You big baby…I’m just glad you’re here. Me and my father survived for a while on our own, until the army came. They took us on one of their airships to this city. My father eventually died in prison and I escaped because I really had nothing else to lose. Eventually I made my way out into this forest and found the old man here. He took me in. I’m just so glad my past found me again. I haven’t been able to feel like me in so long.”
Father Time stroked his beard and pulled up a chair next to them and sat down. “You know boy, I can erase your memory of this, but I won’t.”

Roluo’s eyes began to swell up and he slammed his fist onto the table. “Why not!!”

“Because, you need this past. If I erase your memory, that same fatal flaw will rise up again and you will just hurt more people. That day. The day that you destroyed everything you held so dear, it keeps you in check. So I won’t do it. I think in a way, you served your time. Those years you spent running from your past to find me was your penance. You need to finally come to terms with your past now that it isn’t entirely destroyed. Besides, Suri is getting too energetic for my old blood now. I think it would be best for her to go with you now. I’m just a crazy old fool, there isn’t much here for her anymore.”

Suri squeed and darted across the kitchen and hugged the old chronomancer. “Thank you so much Father Time. I’ll never forget you!! You have done so much for me.” She stepped back and took his hands and looked into his graying eyes. “You know what? I’ve always just called you Father Time like everyone else. You never told me your name.”

He walked the party to the doormat and leaned himself against the door frame. “My name is Sorian, Joseph Sorian.”
Roluo’s grip tightened on his staff, “Sorian? You mean to tell me that you are Nathaniel Sorian’s grandfather?”
“I was, once. I don’t believe the capital thinks very highly of me anymore though. You must get out of this city you two, well, you three.” He looked down at Liulfr and smiled. “If you run into trouble and end up meeting with my grandson, just mention my name. Tell him to let you go, as an old man’s last wish. Now go. I wish you all the best.” He closed the door.

Roluo and Suri made it back to the capital airfield hours later under the cover of night, and began to search for the first airship leaving town.

“Roluo look! That airship is taking off. They won’t be checking who boards it anymore since they are already in the air. Here grab on!” She popped open a bottle of animal blood that kept at her hip and drew out a whip and threw it at retracting boarding ramp of the climbing airship. Roluo picked up Liulfr and held onto Suri as she slung them up onto the ramp before it managed to close.

“Suri you are just as dangerous as ever. I can’t believe you just made me do that.” He collapsed on the floor of the airship and laid on his back and Liulfr crawled on top of him. They heard footstep around the corner and a man accompanied with a young girl holding a skull approached them. “Roluo sat up straight and scoffed, “Shit. You again…Nathaniel. I see you fixed your ship. Sorry about that.”

Suri clicked her heels together and waved, “Hello Nathaniel!! Your grandfather Joseph sent us. He said to be nice.” She looked down at Roluo and kicked him in the side. “See you big baby, that wasn’t so hard.”

[Damien]

Izaak turned to Valendis. "Is there anything we can do to help? If we're all going to take on the Celestials, then we should definitely help you take care of this possible threat first."

Sorin piped up, "I could shadow-port you if you'd like. It would get you there quicker."

Izaak glanced at Sorin, slightly shocked. "I didn't know you'd care about someone else's problems."

"My dear boy," chuckled Sorin, "I may be a dark person, even introverted at times, but that doesn't mean that I'm not caring."

"I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted your generosity," replied Izaak.

"Think nothing of it!" Sorin turned back to Valendis. "Now, would you like the assistance, or would you prefer to do this on your own? I feel we should have asked that to begin with. I would shadow-port you regardless. Getting you there as quickly as possible would be beneficial no matter what you decide."

[Calefrun]

At the same time that Roluo and Suri were making their grand entrance, another group found their way to the airship's deck. As Suri addressed Nathaniel, the door to bellow-decks swung open and a group of hellans charged out with their weapons drawn. They were all clad in leather armor, the apparent leader's being heavier than that of his comrades. The horned man also wore a helm which covered his entire face, save for his yellow-tinted eyes. He wielded a bow, which he held aimed at Nathaniel, whom he apparently deemed to be the largest threat.

Turning to one of his men he ordered in a gruff voice, “Take a group and find the controls for this thing. Secure the place, but keep casualties to a minimum.” Three of the hellans ran off to follow the command, leaving four more alongside their leader. He added, “I'm sure an airship from Vaer will be an acceptable apology to the chieftain for our getting captured.” This time addressing Nathaniel and the others he said, “Don't do anything reckless, and none of you will be harmed; at least not until we reach Cerberus. Once there, your fate is out of my hands.”

One of his men growled, “Why don't we just kill them now, and save ourselves the trouble? It's not like any of them will live long once we get back anyway.”

Sounding annoyed, the lead hellan replied, “Because I'm in charge here, and you are to do what I tell you. Understood?” The man who had asked merely grunted in response.

[Myrdraxxis]

Veraask sighed, shaking his head. “This is not a task that can wait forever. Already I have put off my task too long and there is no telling how many of the outsiders have breached the veil. But…” he trailed off, considering the situation. These were the only people he’d found to help him. “If you must do this first, Valendis, then do so. Quickly.”

~][~

The morning had begun early for Nathaniel and his team. The Mage Hunter had awoken to find that the crew of the Vandred was already bustling through the building, gathering supplies and performing last-minute checks before heading out to the docks.

Nathaniel rose from his rather cramped cot and began to do the same, securing his weapons from one of the far lockers. He glanced out a nearby window and noted that the sun was barely beginning to peaking over the horizon. His team wouldn’t be here for another hour yet. With that in mind, Nathaniel made his way over to captain Corvinus’ office. He was about to knock on the door when it swung inward and the captain appeared with two mugs of hot coffee in his hands.

“Morning, sir.” The captain greeted, offering one of the mugs to Nathaniel. Nathaniel took it gratefully, giving the captain a grin as he did.

“Your men are up early captain.” Nathaniel said. The captain nodded and motioned for the mage hunter follow him as he began to head for the exit.

“We had to make sure all our supplies were aboard the new ship before we set off, not to mention going over the ship to make sure everything is up to speed.” The two walked across the airship docks, between bustling crewmen and army patrol until they had made their way to one of the many airships berthed in the docks.

Nathaniel appraised the ship silently for a moment before looking over at Corvinus. “So is this ship up to speed? I can’t imagine that the navy would requisition a faulty airship for our mission.”

Corvinus grunted. “It’s a solid enough ship, no doubt about it. The Sylvina saw action in the south, against some hellan raiding parties. It will get the job done but..” the captain sighed. “It’s just not the Vandred, ya know?”

“I know what you mean.” Nathaniel agreed, eyeing the ship. It would take some getting used to, their new home.
An hour later, Nathaniel’s team assembled a the docks in front of their new ship. Nathaniel surveyed the team to gauge their readiness. His retinue had been handpicked, and the mage hunter had yet to be disappointed. Faust and his stormtroopers stood at rigid attention, eyes locked forward and waiting for orders. Xing, the ever-silent xiolinese man seemed perfectly relaxed, but Nathaniel knew better. The man could go from relaxed to murderous in half a second. Ishabel was looking around at all the ships and humming a tune to herself. Deyanira, their newest member, was doing much the same. Except she was holding a skull.

“Alright then. We’re shipping off in five minutes.” Nathaniel said, addressing them. “Our journey will be taking us deep into Arcia this time, I don’t think I need to tell you how dangerous this operation will be. We’re up against an opponent of unknown strength with little support. I expect the best out of all of you.”

“We’re up for it, sir.” Faust said. Nathaniel smirked.

“I know. Now get on the ship, we’re moving out.” Nathaniel and his team boarded the Sylvina and began to make their way towards the bridge. Faust sent two of his men along with Xing to prepare their quarters while the others went to the bridge.

They would have made it too…if a painfully familiar necromancer and his friend hadn’t suddenly appeared on the ship in front of them.

Nathaniel stared at Roluo. “You.” He said simply. Of course, he should have known that things wouldn’t be so easy. Maybe this is what he got for inviting a blood mage into his team. Nathaniel almost missed Suri’s words.

“I don’t know about any grandfather named Joseph.” He said flatly. Honestly, he’d never known any of his extended family. Or much of his family at all, really. He had to admit, he was mildly curious about this supposed grandfather. Though hearing his family name being used by a necromancer did make him rather…irritated. “You have about thirty seconds to explain why I shouldn’t kill you, Roluo. Not only are you a necromancer on a mage hunter’s ship, but you are responsible for the destruction of our last ship.”

And the hallway was suddenly filled with angry screaming hellans. How nice.

“Faust…the captain mentioned that this ship had seen some action in Cerberus, didn’t he.” Nathaniel said, eye twitching as the apparent hellan leader began barking orders in his face.

“I believe he did.” Faust replied, eyes narrowing as he glanced from one hellan to the next. There were five here, three had left to go secure the bridge. Good luck to them, Corvinus wouldn’t go down without a fight. “He neglected to mention any prisoners on the ship though…”

“Quiet you.” One of the hellans barked, stepping forward to strike Faust. At that moment Nathaniel moved, grabbing the hellan’s arm and twisting it around behind him and forcing the raider to his knees. With his other hand Nathaniel whipped out his pistol and shoved it against the back of the hellan’s skull.

“I think you need to learn who’s really in control here.” Nathaniel’s voice was deadly calm as he pulled the trigger and the pistol let out a loud BANG.

At that moment, Faust and his troopers snapped their firearms up and trained them on the hellans. “Don’t do anything reckless.” Nathaniel said. “Faust, can you get word to the bridge? They might have some company soon…”

Nathaniel trailed off as Xing stepped into the hallway, flanked by the two remaining storm troopers. The xiolinese man’s blades were out, and they were coated in blood.

“Ran into some trouble?”

Xing shrugged. One of the troopers spoke up. “Three hostiles trying to get to the bridge. All neutralized, sir.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Excellent work, Kasser. Now then.” He looked at the hellan leader. “What to do with you?”

[Calefrun]

The hellan leader scowled in annoyance, though only he knew it. Even after he had told that idiot to stand down, he attacked anyway. Now the enemy had the advantage. For a moment, he considered ordering his remaining men to attack. He had a small chance to survive, as he could still catch the enemies off guard with his magic. Even so, the other three would undoubtedly die. They would die fighting, as all hellans should, but theirs would be meaningless deaths, and this hellan had seen far too many of those already. At last he came up with an idea, though it was a foolish one and would cost him his honor in the process. A price he was willing to pay to save his fellows.

“YOU BASTARDS!” One of the remaining hellans screamed, and prepared to attack.

“NO!” The leader yelled at him, “Our people are to die in battle, but what you are about to do is suicide, and there is no honor in that!” The other hesitated long enough for the lead hellan to drop to one knee, facing Nathaniel. “I know not your mission, but if you allow these men to return freely to our home I will swear my life to you, and follow your every command so long as you do not ask me to turn my bow on my own people. I assure you that my aim is unmatched, and I have a number of other... skills which you would find quite useful.” The three other hellans each displayed a mix of shock and rage.

“Denfar, you traitorous scum!” One shouted, “You disgrace yourself with the mere suggestion!”

Another chipped in, “And YOU are the next in line to lead our tribe? It would be better for us all to die here, then for you to live another minute!”

“Suicide or not, we would sooner die than allow you serve this human dog!” The third added.

Ignoring them, Denfar simply said, “Please, consider my proposal. We are at your mercy.”

[Myrdraxxis]

Nathaniel stared down at the hellan leader -apparently named Denfar- who was prostrating himself before the mage hunter. He considered the man for a long moment, glancing at the other hellans and then back to the leader.

"You know what? Fine."

Faust stared at his boss in surprise. "Sir?"

"We already have two necromancers on board, why not throw in a hellan marauder to our little party. What's the worst that could happen?" Nathaniel pretty much didn't give a single damn at this point. He was just wanting this mission to start already. "We will drop your people off near the border and then we make our way to Arcia."

With that order given Nathaniel left, heading for the bridge to inform the captain of their unexpected detour.

[Mizagium]

"So how did you relearn to speak?"

Kugo and Marion adjusted to the Professor's imposing figure quite easily. Because seriously. Is a talking dragon really that strange? Somewhat, perhaps. But to a veteran dungeoneer and a world traveler, such oddities came almost daily. After a point, they ceased to loose their wonder and become annoyances. Kugo hadn't reached that point yet, but Marion was getting there.

"Ah, yes," Fezziwigg picked at his teeth with a claw. "Turns out that dragon vocal cords are very advanced, you see. They communicate with each other through a highly complex series of growls and roars. Given another million or so years, and they might develop a primitive civilization." He paused and waved his hand back and forth as if weighing the options. "Well, a sufficient burst of magical energy applied to the correct centers of the brain could stimulate rapid cognitive development, but in a mature dracoform, such a sudden evolutionary response could result in catastrophic biological malfunction. I am something of an expert on these magnificent creatures,” he added sheepishly.

Marion’s two customers had eventually gotten over themselves and joined the main group around the campfire that Fezziwigg had produced. He was a fire dragon, after all.

“This is all very interesting,” Marion declared, “but I do have to safely return these two back home.”

Fezziwigg sniffed the air. “No, I would recommend you stay here for the moment. It will be dark before long, and a hoard of black dragons are passing through. Monstrous, lumbering things. Quite unique among the dracoforms, actually: They are the only species able to transform their bodies. Into shadow, no less!” He chuckled. “I’ve taken to calling them shade dragons, myself, but don’t tell the University that.”

Kugo frowned. “Can’t get past them?”

“Oh, heavens, no! Slow they may be, their shadow forms allow them instantaneous movement in short bursts. They use this technique for predation (and less frequently, evasion). Taking on any dragon is difficult, but a hoard of them? And shade dragons at that? No. Stay here until they pass. I can keep you safe from other dragons—they don’t like to mess with each other, you see—but shadow dragons are the exception.”

“Wonderful,” Marion muttered. “Guess what…” she forgot their names “we’re hanging with the dragon-man for a bit, so get comfy!” And she stormed off.

“What is the matter with her?” Fezziwigg asked of Kugo.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I only just arrived here.”

“From where?”

“Uh, well, see, that’s the thing. I’m not sure anymore. I was in Nostia, fighting some ice-spirit-thing, but then a big portal opened up and I got sucked in. And I ended up here.”

Fezziwigg scratched at his chin. “Hmm. What color was this portal?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, green and black and gold. Why?”

“No reason. Just thinking.”

-

Valendis bowed his head quickly. “Thank you, Veraask.”

He stepped back. “Custodite mandata mea et responde, mihi dicere: Venerunt ad me Master Tier-Lightning Dragon-IXION!”

The skies darkened and a portal to the spirit world was torn open. Out roared Ixion, the dragon of lightning.

“Thank you for coming back,” Valendis said and gave it an affectionate pat. “All aboard for New Ossen!” He clambered onto the dragon’s back and waited for the others.

[Myrdraxxis]

Veraask joined him.

[Monika]

"Woohoo! Another adventure and another dragon ride? I've never been this lucky before!" Kazan laughed, climbing up onto Ixion's back with only slightly more grace than last time.

"Hmph," Lenore felt mildly annoyed that "her" summon was being called by someone else, but she opted not to express her discontent at this very moment. "Sorry, Ixion, for again using you as a form of transportation!" She bowed her head in deference to the massive dragon. "Please bear with us for just a little longer. After we visit Valendis' family, maybe they'll teach us how to summon a creature meant to be used for travel," she smiled warmly, before swiftly climbing up onto Ixion.

[Damien]

Izaak walked forward slowly, still somewhat intimidated by the dragon. He reached up to pet the dragon, testing the waters in a way. When the dragon made no move to attack, Izaak conjured a small burst of wind to aid him in mounting the dragon.

Sorin, on the other hand, walked up to the dragon with ease. He patted it just behind one of its front legs and proceeded to climb.

"How are you not awed by this magnificent creature?" asked Izaak.

"Well," Sorin said, "I know a few things about dragons. The number one rule to remember is that if it's not a shadow dragon, you're most likely going to be fine. Besides, he had no problem with me before."

"True, but I've been told that most elemental beings are fickle, so I just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't attempt to kill me."

"Understandable," chuckled Sorin. "Now then, let's be off, Valendis, shall we?"

[Calefrun]

“And what exactly do you expect us to tell everyone else when we get back,” one of the hellans asked, “That we simply did as you commanded and gave up? No, Denfar, we aren't going to go along with this. Maybe we'll die, but at least we can die with our honor, which is more than can be said for you.”

“No,” Denfar said, “I didn't think that you would agree to the idea. You can tell the others... tell them that the traitor subdued you, and that you had no choice in the matter.”

“Wha-” Before the hellans could realize what was about to happen, Denfar swung his foot around and tripped the closest man to him. Faster than the other two could react, he punched the next of his former allies in the face with enough force to send him reeling backwards. The third slashed his sword at the attacker, but Denfar dodged the blow and circled around the man to deliver an elbow to the back of the his neck, knocking him out. At this point the first two hellans were back on their feet, and poised to strike their traitorous leader. They both attacked, and Denfar dove out of the way. They continued their offensive, but neither was able to land a blow. Finally Denfar saw an opening and slammed both hellans into the wall of the corridor, after which they fell to the ground unconscious.

To the humans gathered, Denfar said, “If there is any rope handy, I suggest restraining these two. The cells in the brig are somewhat... unusable at this point.” A couple of the men came forth and began tying the arms and legs of the hellans. As they did so, Denfar closed his eyes and saw a face. Her face. This... he thought, this is what you would have done, right? I guess I'm an outcast now, but... their lives are more important than my own freedom and honor.

[Mizagium]

Ixion transported them to New Ossen is no time at all. Being a dragon of lightning certainly had its perks. The dragon slowed to standard flight speed (about that of an airship) once they reached the southern continent. Below them sprawled the port city of New Libras.

"Keep going south," Valendis told the summon. "We need to get south of Vesperitas. My house is in the country there." Ossenians carried most of their culture on their backs with them when Megolin took their homeland with them. Vesperitas had been their capital city since time immemorium, and it would continue to be until there no more Ossenians.

New Libras gave way to country, which became city again, and then country. "There!" Valendis pointed down at the land and Ixion responded by angling that way. It circled the home as it descended before landing before the front door.

"Thank you!" He leaped off the dragon, missed his landing, rolled, and scrambled to his feet. He didn't knock and the door wasn't locked. A dark cloud had invaded his mind during the flight and now a deep sense of dread propelled him forward. "Mom! Dad!" He waited in the entrance. "Vidalia?" His voice echoed in the still building. "Anyone?"

"Brother?" His sister appeared at the top of the stairs that went to the second floor. "Welcome home." She clutched something in her left hand. "I was just wondering when you would return." Her voice was icy and smooth. She descended the stairs.

"Where's mom and dad, Red?"

She took her time answering and descending. "Oh, around. You know how they are. Don't you want to know where I've been?"

"What's going on, Red?" She reached the bottom of the stairs and he could see now that she held a sword. The blade was a deep crimson naturally, so he didn't notice the blood at first until some of it dripped onto the floor. The he noticed the trail she had left all the way down, a small puddle on every step. "What did you do?"

"I did it, brother," she declared with a savage smile, all teeth. "I found Cruor. I told you I could." She held it up as if presenting it to him.

"And I told you not to seek that evil artifact. Blood magic corrupts." He swallowed hard. "Put that down and tell me what happened here."

Hesseppatt had been perched on his shoulder the entire time and finally spoke. "I don't feel anyone else in this house," she chirped. "Just her. Her aura is overwhelming."

Raefe's hair was standing on end but she remained frozen. "I can't believe it," the cat creature sputtered. "That sword. Again. It's haunting us. It's haunting our family."

"Where are mom and dad?" Valendis repeated in a shaking voice.

Vidalia giggled. "In here." She held up Cruor again. "I can hear them screaming."

[Damien]

Izaak and Sorin dismounted the dragon the moment it landed, following just behind Valendis.

Upon entering the house, the two mages saw Valendis talking to a small, red-haired girl.

Looks like it might be his sister, thought Izaak.

He stepped up beside Valendis and began casting. "Murum vis."

With the incantation finished, the air in front of the group tingled with magic, and a transparent purple wall of pure arcane energy materialized.  "Better we be safe than sorry."

"Let's just be doubly sure," said Sorin coldly, walking past the two. "Kopraan vokun gron!"  Motes of shadow billowed up from around the room, congealing into tendrils that snapped around Red's legs and arms, effectively immobilizing her, followed by more shadow enveloping her, creating an area of total darkness, making it impossible for Red to see more than a few feet in front of her.

That girl's aura, thought Sorin, ...it's too powerful to be truly emanating from her.  Let's hope that these defensive spells will keep up protected long enough for Valendis to talk some sense into this girl before she tries to kill us all.

[Myrdraxxis]

"Valendis..." Veraask's voice was deadly serious as he dismounted, joining the young summoner inside. Sorin and Izaak had subdued "Red" as Valendis had addressed her, and privately the arkarris was glad that they had taken the precaution to do so. Veraask recognized that blade. Or rather, he felt the magic eminating from it and remembered the stories of it.

Cruor the Blood Drinker.

A blade that had very much lived up to its name in the past. As far as Veraask could remember, its most recent owner had been a psychopathic shade who decimated one of the Great Houses and was responsible for an event that history books referred to as the "Blood Cult Uprising".

"We need to separate her from that blade. Bad magic coming from it." As he said this, the arkarris' talon-ed hands began to glow with purple-red energy, chaos magic gathering for spells.

~][~

Unnoticed by the others, another figure was observing the house, looking on curiously as he felt a flare worryingly familiar blood magic from within the house.

He'd followed the group from Kyros, out of curiosity more than anything (which really was the reason he did anything these days) and wasn't disappointed with where they had led him.

"So, it's that damn blade again." the man muttered, tugging the collar of his coat tighter as he idly puffed on the cigar clenched in his teeth.

He didn't move. Not yet.

"Let's see how this goes.'

[Monika]

Lenore and Kazan, like everyone else in their party, had also followed closely behind Valendis as he dismounted the dragon and stumbled inside his home. While Lenore's initial thoughts were about the "quaintness" of the house (most residences were quaint when compared to the Morana family manor), after listening to Valendis' dialogue with his sister and noticing blood on the floor, her thought process shifted to finding the most effective summon in her (rather limited) repertoire to deal with this blood crazed teenage foe.

Kazan was a little more vocal about his thoughts; he unsheathed his twin swords and glared at Red. Lightning danced around Kazan's blades as if it were a living being, almost like it was personally challenging Valendis' evil sister. "You've got 60 seconds to talk some sense into your sis, Vally, before I shock it into her for you," he growled.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo watched in horror at Denfar took out his companions. How could he do that? I'd give anything to have my tribe back. How could he just...abandon them like that. He poked the hellan nearest to him with the end of his staff to see if the creature was alive. Suri smacked him in the back of the head and scowled at him. Yeah yeah yeah I know. It would be stupid to raise them even if they were dead, but you can't blame me for trying. Geez. Besides I already pressed my luck with this Nathaniel character once before, I don't think I could get away that easily again.

Roluo shrugged. "So uuh...a necromancer, two blood mages, a hellan, a mage hunter, and an undead dog walk into a bar....right? Yeah no ok this is still awkward I know. I guess you want me to stick around and work off that giant hole I poked in your last ship huh?" He picked up his staff and positioned it over his shoulder blades like a yolk and slung an arm over either end, and looked at Denfar. "So I guess we are stuck in the same boat now aren't we?"

[Calefrun]

Denfar opened his eyes and looked at the human that had addressed him. "In somewhat of a literal sense, yes," he replied, "However I doubt your actual situation is much like mine." Oddly enough, he found something reassuring in not being the only unwanted passenger on this airship. Still, after everything that had just occurred he wasn't really in the mood to be making friends. Especially not with a human. Then again, he thought, it's not like I'll be on friendly turns with any hellans at any point in the near future.

[Mizagium]

Vidalia giggles again without blinking. "Aww, your friends want to play, Valley," she sing-songed. Tendrils of blood whipped out from Cruor and snapped the shadow bonds that restrained her sword-hand. "Thank you, Cruror." Now free, she swung the sword in a casual arc, severing the rest of her shackles. Of course, obscured by shadow, no one else could see her. She remedied this by arcing the sword again, horizontally, bursting the bubble.

"Nice try, but no. Cruor can't be stopped by parlor tricks."

Valendis suddenly regained his senses and drew Gram, the Dragon Slayer, from the scabbard at his belt. He held it before him like a ward. "Red...don't make me do something--something we'll regret."

"Too late, bro," she snapped. "You should have thought of that sooner!" She lunged at him, bringing Cruor down into the floor where he had been just a second ago. The force of the swing dug into the wood and filled it with the blood that seeped from the blade. When she withdrew it, it looked as if the floor's wound was bleeding. Valendis came at her with Gram, but only halfheartedly. She parried the strike and sent him careening into the wall.

"Not good enough!" she shouted. Valendis came at her again, and again she parried. This time, though, she seized him by the front of his shirt while he was unbalanced. With inhuman strength, she tossed him into the far wall, hard enough to dent it and knock Gram from his hands. "You're not the bigger person anymore, Valley. Let me show you what I've learned!"

Magic emanated from her, summoning magic, but tainted. Arcs of red blood magic poisoned the summoning energies that swelled within the room.

"Incola Mundas Spiritus, custodite mandata mea et responde mihi dicere: venerunt ad me: Lost Tier, Korath the Blood Crazed!" All the light in the area seemed to be swallowed up at once and the roof of the house was torn away, revealing a swirling vortex of magical energy. This was not a normal summoning portal, this one lead somewhere else, a realm lost to time, where even the spirits fear to tread. In a flash of red lightning, a massive humanoid form appeared in the ruins of the Gae'om house. Eight feet tall at least, possessing more muscles mass that should be humanly possible--and six arms, each ending in razor claws designed to strip the flesh from bones. Raggedy, matted hair obscured the face, but three red eyes pulsated somewhere beneath that. Crimson veins ziz-zagged across the massive form. It only wore a simple breechcloth by way of clothing.

"Like him?" Red teased. "Tiamat taught that to me--oops, you weren't supposed to hear that."

Korath the Blood crazed breathed heavily, each inhale seeming to suck the breath from everyone's lungs, and each exhale poisoning the air the air they sucked in to make up for it.

He waited for the commands of his summoner, eager to tear apart mortal forms.

[Monika]

"So much for talking out our problems..." Kazan shook his head and began to channel copious amounts of electricity through his twin blades. He looked over to Lenore and addressed her "Lenore!"

"Yes, Kazan? Have you thought of a strategy?" Lenore rolled her eyes, still thinking of a summon that would be useful for this battle, all the while struggling to breathe.

"Of course! I'm the team leader. That's my job!" He replied with an uncharacteristic air of seriousness in his voice, perfectly reasonable given their current situation. "Obviously, the only ones equipped to handle the big guy over there- " he motioned his head toward KORATH THE BLOOD CRAZED "-are you and Valendis. Hopefully he'll get up soon...Anyway, first thing's first. This air has to be purified before we all suffocated. If we can't breathe, we can't fight. You know a Wind summon that can help?"

"Um...Actually, I do," Lenore glared at Kazan confusedly, baffled by his apparent sudden spike in intellect. "Her name is Kazetama. She should be able to do the trick."

"Good. I'll see if I can handle Ms. Red, then. You take care of the air problem!" Without another word, Kazan dashed toward Red and swung both his blades at full force toward her body.

Meanwhile, Lenore withdrew her staff, stamped it on the ground and recited the summoning chant. "Incola Mundas Spiritus, custodite mandata mea et responde mihi dicere: venerunt ad me: Advanced Tier Wind Faerie, Kazetama!"

In a stark contrast to the summoning of Korath, a swirling blue portal of magical energy appeared at Lenore's side. From it emerged a humanoid slightly taller than Lenore, wearing a flowing whitish pink gown and sporting a pair of 4 clear wings on her back. She looked much like the Wind Pixie, Sylphie, that Valendis had summoned during their trials in the library. One might even conclude that they were related.

"Ah, long time no see, Len-" As she emerged from the portal, she noticed the hulking figure of Korath that seemed to be poisoning the very room merely by being present.

With a slight bow, Lenore answered "My apologies *cough*, Lady Kazetama, but there isn't much time for pleasantries. Those two over there, *cough*," she pointed toward the blood crazy Korath and the equally blood crazy Red, "are trying to *cough* kill us. Not to mention, the air is being poisoned."

"Say no more. Divine Wind!" As Kazetama spoke, shining sparkles of some sort of magical dust filled the air, and the wind speed picked up to about 20 miles per hour. The circulating air chilled the room and battered the fighters, but it was significantly easier to breathe.

"Thank you, Lady Kazetama. Now, I know you aren't much of a fighter, but-

"I'm your summon, Lenore. If I am commanded to fight, then I shall fight. You really should stop being so formal...But I'll chastise you later. Airstream!" Kazetama pushed her hands in a Kamehameha like fashion toward Korath, sending a wave of compressed air toward him. Air with a concussive force of about 15,000 Newtons. Even an 8 foot tall blood demon should be affected by that, right?

[Myrdraxxis]

Veraask let out a very unpleasant swear...which to everyone else just sounded like a really loud and annoying 'SQUAWK' and began casting.

"Beware! Do not get caught up in my magic. Very unpleasant for everyone, yes." the arkarris warned and aimed the steadily growing orbs of chaos magic clutched in his talons at the new summon.

"Sztreks Avqksrelyz" the incantation was a string of syllables that were painful to the ear, impossible words that should not exist in our plane of reality.

The air literally screamed as twin bolts of red-hued chaos lightning leaped from Veraask's hands and struck Korath the Blood Crazed.