The hounds with red fangs(Orgoth & Jun)

It took her almost all night to catch up to Aline's captors. They had somehow fled from the city with more ease than she'd expected, and by the time she'd reached the road out, they had a long lead. Not only that, but not 300ft from the gates she was ambushed by a gang of the bastards. She'd tore through them with vicious abandon, not caring how many landed a blow on her. She left no one alive, though she hadn't stopped to make sure of that. She ran all night without stopping. They had taken a strange route away from the city, following the river that ran through Edaria up towards Zendar, and it was near the lake that she eventually found the abandoned cart. By the tracks on the ground, they'd traded it in for a different vehicle, and continued on.

It didn't take long to catch them after that, near a rise overlooking the rushing river, a high drop down into the water below. They'd put her in a prison wagon. Bethany didn't stop to think about how to approach the assault, she simply engaged, swords swinging and fire blazing. She was a living fury, killing men left right and centre. Even so they faught back, hitting her with clubs and other blunt weapons, but her onslaught was to much, and soon silence fell. She stood in the clearing breathing heavily, hurting all over. Bethany rushed towards the prison wagon and ripped off the lock, pulling the door open. She was met with a boot to the face, and was sent sprawling backwards. She looked up to see the human from the house, as he stepped out of the wagon and dropped to he soft earth, grinning. He looked around. "Shit you made a mess." He said. "I figured you would catch up to us. Did you really think it would be that easy?" Bethany growled and got to her feet. "Where is she?! If you've-" Bethany started but he snapped back. "Oi, shut up. She's not hurt. Not that it matters to you. You think you can just fight your way through me and catch her right? Well, lets find out."

Drawing a sword and dashing fowards he slashed at her in a single fluid motion. Bethany blocked his strike and thrust with her other weapon. The blade passed through him and his image suddenly blurred. She barely seen him out of the corner of her eye as the one before her vanished and he slashed open her arm. She staggered back and his sword flashed, lacing her with several more cuts. She growled and took a deep breath, her throat glowing. "Arilia, now!" He shouted, and a ball of water hit her in the face out of nowhere. She lost her footing and fell backwards, recovering by going into a roll. She looked for the source of he attack but didn't find it before the man resumed his onslaught. Bethany was forced into fighting defensively, until seeing an opening, her hand burst into flames and she lobbed a ball of fire at his face. A tenticle of water burst from the ground and slapped the ball of fire, causing an explosion of steam.

Bethany backed off away from the obscuring cloud, and her opponant stepped through. "Your famous in Karcenak. Well, infamous really. Who knew you'd so easily be stopped by a little water." He said. "I don't get the big deal mind you." He grinned. "Fuck you.." She growled and made to charge forward. Water surged up around her legs, and a beam of frost shot from gloom, freezing it solid. As Bethany began to struggle more tenicles surged up, and wrapped around her wrists. From the slowly receeding darkness an undari walked forward. The human glanced at the undari. "Kill her." He commanded. The undari looked unsure, and glanced at Bethery. She seemed to have an war raging within herself, however she reached out a hand and snatched a spear from a floating pool of water.  "I'm sorry." However, she hesitated as she raised the weapon, and shot another quick glance at the human. After a few more seconds, she sighed. "I can't do it..."

He shook his head and stepped forward, sword poised to strike the head from Bethany's shoulders, when suddenly water surged forward and shoved Bethany backwards, off the cliff and into the river below. The human glared at the Undari. "What the hell are you doing!" He snapped. The undari stared sheepishly at the ground. "I'm sorry... I changed my mind." Arilia said to the man. "She could have survived that fall." He sneered. "She'll most likely drown." Arilia replied calmly. He scoffed. "You better hope she does. Or hargrave will have your hide."


Bethany woke up with a jolt, her body going rigid as she assumed she was still falling. It was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out. A man with a curious frown stood knelt beside her. "You're awake. I assumed you were a gonner, with all that blood on you." He said. Bethany glanced around Wearily. "Where am I?" she croaked. "On a river bank." He said, giving her a humorless grin. "I seen you bobing along like a raft and fished you out of the water." He said. She groaned and started to stand. "Hold on now you need to rest." He said. "I'll give you a ride to town." He said. Bethany shook her head. "No I have to go after them." She mumbled. "After who? Your in no shape to be doing whatever it is your thinking. Not alone atleast."

Bethany managed to stand and lean against a tree. "I'm fine." She said, swaying. She knew he was right though. She'd wouldn't be able to save Aline in the state she was in. She needed help. "How far is it to Sunshield hold." She asked the man. "Uh, two day's travel I suppose. you'd make it in half a day with a good horse. I'm not-" He started. She looked at him. "How much for one of your horses." She asked. "Uh...twohundred gold?" He hesistated. She fished out a small purse and tossed it to him. "I need a saddle too. Quickly." He stared at the purse, then jumped into action.


It was growing late, when a lone figure on a horse came thundering up to the sunshield hold. Bob watched with apprehension as the rider speed towards him. He wondered if this was the moment he would pay for joining that silly mercenary band, to be cut down by an unknown rider. However his fears were not realised, as the horse stopped suddenly a few feet from him. He looked up into the face of a dark skinned woman with one eye, a pair of swords hanging from her belt. He swore he'd seen her before, but didn't have much time to dwell on that either as she suddenly toppled from the horse. He tried to step back, but the now unconcious woman slammed into Bob, and brought him crashing to the ground too.


Marie Elenesta, Head Healer of Sunshield Hold's medical facilities had been half asleep when two people were rushed into the building. One was an unconcious soldier who'd taken a knock to the head when the other, a badly beaten young woman toppled from her horse and landed on him. Marie got straight to work seeing to the woman, who she assumed was out for the count. However the woman suddenly woke her, face full of fear and confusion, and caught Marie's wrist. When she realised she was in no danger, she let Marie go. "I need to see Kairi Thorne." She said, trying to stand. However she quickly passed out again. Marie looked at a young assistant. "You better go fetch Miss Kairi. And be quick about it." Marie ordered. Then she got back to work.

In the training area of Sunshield Hold, a session was very much in progress. A group of young recruits was being instructed on combat with a sword. They cut and thrust the warm air as they worked on conditioning their bodies to better handle the weight of a weapon in battle. To this end, each recruit wielded a training sword that had been altered to weigh twice as much as a standard steel equivalent. Their teacher imposed the same condition on herself also, though it impacted her less due to her already impressive physical strength. Kairi Thorne's instructions floated through the air as the recruits took up their positions for a final time. "Okay folks, run it again. Then we'll call it a day."

The class of recruits filed out slowly, some of them rubbing sore shoulders and elbows. Kairi smiled and turned away to replace her own weapon on a nearby rack. Another day done. The recruits had some promise, but a lot of work lay ahead for them. Kairi sighed and wiped sweat from her brow as she made her way to her quarters to wash. When she was finished, Kairi exited her quarters and headed down to get something to eat before her next class. She made it halfway before she was intercepted by a panicked-looking young man. "Miss Thorne! Excuse me!" The man stumbled to a halt in front of her, and she grabbed him as he nearly toppled over, out of breath.

"Woah there. What's your hurry?" The young man regained his bearings and delivered his message. "Miss Thorne, Doctor Elenesta needs you at once." Kairi looked at the man with a look of concern. "Walk with me." Kairi began jogging hurriedly towards the medical wing, with the messenger in tow. "Is everything alright? Marie doesn't usually need help unless something big has gone wrong." The man looked at her. "A badly wounded woman was brought in moments ago. Doctor Elenesta is patching her up, but the patient has requested you by name, and she sounded quite adamant."

They entered the medical wing, and Kairi saw Marie Elenesta gesturing to her to hurry. Kairi approached swiftly, rounding the cloth partition to see blood and a face she recognized. "I'm sorry I came as quickly as I could... Bethany?" Kairi moved to the side of the bed and looked the Asentari in the eye. "What happened? Tell me everything."

Rex had gotten a late start on the pursuit. An extremely late start. He'd changed quickly into his dark clothes, and left his things in the mansion. No need risk losing it at the inn when he didn't show back up. He followed much the same path as Bethany had, and had seen the destruction she wrought. She was always a vicious fighter, almost akin to a certain red head he knew, but this was worse...she was pissed off to high heaven.

Nonetheless, he continued on. He was hours behind. He found the abandoned carriage. And followed the new tracks. The way they were going confused him. Wouldn't they have went more north, northeast? Or even arranged a ship? Would that not have been easier if they planned on using her as a slave and for huge profit? Or they might just ransom her off...like that would go over well. No matter the case, Rex needed to get her back. Or someone, not necessarily him. The political ramifications of this would be felt by everyone, but most of all Mondolin and Edia.

When he reached a lake, he became more cautious. More bodies everywhere. But no sign of anything. But more tracks leading towards Zendar. Did Bethany lose? There was a cliff...the blond looked over it. Nothing indicative that she fell off or was thrown off...and he didn't see a floating body. Forgive me Beth...

Rex followed the tracks. Sticking to the shadows and up in the tree tops, he found the wagon. A man and...something else entirely...he couldn't tell. Still, he kept a respectable distance, and kept his hood up. He wasn't going to just charge in like Beth likely did. He needed to be smart about this. When they exchanged Aline to someone more...easy to pick off, he could rescue her then. Or perhaps sooner. But he was going to bide his time...which he may or may not have.

~Cameo~

Nichol did the exercise with a four pound sword, along with others who were using a slightly heavier version. Since he was using a short sword, until he was perhaps older, he got off lucky to have a slightly lighter training weapon. Still, his shoulders were sore...he'd have rather'ed practiced his magic and crystal manipulation. Still, with some pats on the head, he went off to explore some more.

Only to find the medical wing, and poked his head in. To see a very tanned woman talking to Kiari. Well, whatever...he'd just keep on walkin...

Bethany had regained conciousness, and found herself lying in a bed. Bloody clothes were gone, and a young woman stood over her, hands moving over her body. She gave the woman an appreciative look, and grinned. "You know, if you wanted to feel me up you could have just waited till I was concious." She said with a grin. The woman shot her a look, and then shushed her. "I'm healing you. Stop talking, I need to concentrate." She was telling the truth, it turned out. As her hands moved, Bethany felt the pain receed. Bruises were eased and cuts sealed. The woman's gaze travelled to her face and she scowled. "That should have been seen to when it happened." She said. "I only need one eye to admire you're beauty." Bethany replied and the woman scoffed.

Bethany heard footsteps approaching the door. She heard Kairi before she seen her, speaking to the healer, Marie, as she rounded the curtain. She was shocked to see Bethany. "Surprise." Bethany said. Kairi asked her what had happened, but before she could answer, Marie spoke. "She showed up outside the gate bruised and cut up. Allot of blood on her clothes, but by the looks of things only a small portion of its heres." The healer said with pursed lips. "If it makes you feel better, they were very bad men." She said. The healer scowled. "Your friend seems to be in good spirits now. I will leave you two to talk." She turned and left. Bethany watched her go. "She's nice. Hey, got any wiskey? I'm starting to sober up and I don't like the feeling." She said, but then her face became serious as she pushed herself into a sitting position, pulling the light sheet that covered her up around herself.

"Aline Drexara's been kidnapped by the Red Fang." Bethany said. She frowned. "I need your help to save her. Whoever took her has an Undari and some snot of a human on their payroll, and I can't beat them alone. Not to mention it was likely the Red Fang. They tried to conquer Edaria before, a long time ago. They must want to use Aline to sieze control of the city. " She said. She realised she'd never actually told Kairi about Aline and herself. "I know you met Aline during the contact war. You must know she's a good person. If thats not enough, then I suppose you should also know that we were, well, together along time ago. She means allot to me. I can't let anything happen to her."


Arilia sat on the seat of the prison wagon beside Kaziel as the carriage trundled along down the road. The wagon was empty, and now they were just laying a false trail for anyone else who happened to notice the leader of Edaria's disappearance and tried to follow and save her. She gave Kaziel an assessing look, wondering how he'd known that Asentari would follow them so fervently. He'd seemed to know of her. Arilia wasn't sure who she was at all. She secretly just hoped the woman had survived the river. And for both of their sakes, that she wasn't crazy enough to follow them.

Kaziel noticed her gaze and sneered at her. "What are you looking at fish face." He said. Arilia looked away. "Nothing." She muttered. "Well, I don't mean to alarm you, but we just kidnapped a high profile target. Changes are someone could still be following us. So keep your eye's peeled and do your job." He snapped. "And I better not see that Asentari bitch ever again." He grumbled. "There's no way she survived that fall. I'm pretty sure Undari are the only beings who don't drown when submerged in water for long periods of time." She said snarkily. "Keep it up and I'll kill you and tell Hargrave the Asentari drowned you in your own blood. Your not the only one with fancy powers. Or haven't you figured out that Hargrave likes to collect special pets? Now shut up."

Marie explained how Bethany arrived, but Kairi was more interested to know what had happened leading up to that. Kairi nodded and Marie excused herself to let them talk. Bethany opened up with her usual banter, but Kairi's expression did not change from its focused seriousness. "What happened?" The Asentari then sobered up, raised herself to a sitting position, and told her story. Kairi's expression changed to one of deep concern.

"That's brazen, even for the Red Fang. The Nyberrite Alliance must have seen an opportunity to make a move. It's unlikely the Fangs acted of their own accord." Then Bethany said something that surprised Kairi even more. "An Undari? Really? That's unexpected." Bethany then explained how they had tried to take over Edaria before, but failed. Kairi frowned. "They are controlled by the Alliance now, which makes it even stranger."

Bethany then explained that she and Aline had once been in a relationship. Kairi nodded, slightly surprised. "Okay, I didn't expect that. But even so, Aline's importance to the political stability in the area cannot be underestimated. If the Red Fang or the Alliance gain control of Edaria, it will mean trouble for the entire region. I do remember her from the First Contact conflict. If not for her level head and diplomatic skills, things might have escalated." Kairi sat down in a chair beside Bethany's bed, and stared at her with pure focus and determination. "Tell me where to go and what we're facing."

Rex stayed on them. But the direction still confused him. Unless...it was possible that they already handed her off. Taking off his sword, he'd mark in Draconic Bethany on a tree and make an arrow. To hopefully allow her to catch up. He didn't dawdle in that, and every so often, made the same mark. He was still able to catch up and stay on them, though still keep a respectable distance.

If they did already hand her off, and this was just a distraction, then they needed to keep those two people alive and find out exactly where they took her. He kept behind them, though when the opportunity arose, he'd move to the side where the bars and door was. He needed to find out if this was just a distraction or they had something else planned. Still, he didn't make a move yet, and kept a safe distance away from the duo. So far they hadn't made it known that he got spotted.

Waiting till night might just be his best option to find out. These two seemed too wary right now...

Bethany nodded. "I don't think they were simply trying to take over before, either. The Nyberite alliance and the Ardorian Conclave have been trying to get control of Edaria for years. I have some surprising stories about the Conclave, but that can wait." She said. "But anyway, your probably right. They didn't do this alone. But I've never encountered Red Fang that well prepared. Most used clubs and maces. They came prepared to deal with Asentari. Never mind the fact they had an Undari, who was well capable of using her powers, and managed to slip in and out of the city unnoticed."

Bethany nodded. "Edaria is the most defensible city in the freelands. They could turn it into a fortress, giving them control of the east undine. It's all they'd need to tip the scales towards wiping out the Conclave, and probably the Sunlight Warriors. If mondolin or Edia move's to intervene, the other could see it as a threat and attack. If the Eldari move in, the heanta attack..." Bethany sighed. "It's starting to look worse." She said.

Kairi sat on the end of her bed and stared her directly in the eyes, and asked her where to go, and what she would face. "First of all, if you think for a second I'm not going with you then you must be out of your mind, or you've forgotten just how stubborn I am. I'm no milksop, remember." She said, the last part with a smile. "As for threats. The human is skilled with a blade, he didn't demonstrate any powers, but He didn't need any to deal with me by the time I'd gotten there. The undari was... Strange, to say the least. I don't think she's a willing accomplice. She did shove me off a cliff, but only when she realised her friend was about to cut my head off. But we still need to proceed with caution." Bethany moved to the edge of her bed. She winced in pain, but ignored it and started to stand.

Once upright she dropped the sheets and looked at Kairi. "I'm going to need clothes. And that bottle of whiskey. I wasn't joking about that." She said, with all seriousness in her face. She wobbled slightly, and nearly ended up sitting back down. A wise person would atleast rest for a few hours after the beating she'd taken. They didn't have time to waste, so she would get drunk instead. "We'll need horses. The wagon was headed towards Zendar, but they didn't have Aline. Still, those two are our only leads right now, so my only suggestion is going back to the river and trying to pick up their trail. It took me all day to get here."


As the day became brighter, Arilia's eyes slowly began to hurt. She'd always suffered from light sensitivity, but made up for it with keen sight in the dark. She didn't say anything to Kaziel, as he would simply use it to mock her, but it made her job that much harder. Still, she was relieved when Kaziel stopped the wagon. They were an hour from Zendar now, and would probably be diverting soon. Kaziel gave her a sneer. "I'm going to take a piss. Mind the wagon." He said. She watched him walk off into the woods and sighed. "Prick." She muttered. She closed her eyes and listened for his return.

Bethany prefaced her briefing by making it clear that Kairi wasn't going alone, that she would accompany the Human. Kairi nodded, a small smile creeping across her features. "I know. I expected nothing less." The Asentari told Kairi what she knew about the enemies she had faced already. A skilled Human, and a seemingly reluctant Undari accomplice. Kairi understood Bethany's caution. The Asentari slowly shifted to the edge of the bed, rising with a wince before dropping the sheets that covered her body and requesting clothes and the bottle of whiskey. Kairi chuckled, keeping her eyes locked on Bethany's. "Why don't you sit back down, and I'll see what I can do."

A half hour later, they were back on the road. Their steeds cut across the steppe handily, and it wasn't long before they made the river and looked around. The wagon's tracks were easy to spot. "It seems you were right. They are heading for Zendar." Kairi looked in the direction of the tracks. "It's a bit strange though. Zendar has never really been a place that attracts attention of this kind. Although I haven't been back since we met Vala and the others before Yoniva..." Kairi shrugged and continued on with Bethany. "Well, like you said, it's all we have."

The two stopped, and the man left. Probably to relieve himself. Well, this was perfect. He can check the inside of that cart then. She seemed awfully relaxed. But probably listening in. As silently as he could, he snuck up from behind the wagon, to the left. His scythe was collapsed on his waist, within easy reach, but his sword was his quick draw.

He continued to be careful and looked inside. Nothing but supplies. Great. Hopefully she hadn't detected him yet. Getting close enough, he drew his sword and held it at her throat, close enough draw just a little bit of blood. "You have the count of three to tell me where Aline is." Unless he started to hear what he wanted to know, he would count down. And wouldn't respond to anything else. The threat was hopefully obvious. Even if he had to kill her, there was the human. Something that he knew how to torture to get information. He didn't know what she was.

Though his hood was up, at this range, should could see his face, and could probably even guess his hair color. But probably not see his eyes well enough to tell that he was an Asentari.

Bethany flopped back onto the bed. "Fine, but be quick. And if you can, find me a green cloak. I like mine but its a bit of a mess." She said with a frown. It wasn't long before they were back on the roads, and the journey back was faster with better horses. Eventually they found themselves back at the site of the fight, and Kairi questioned the tracks directions. Bethany frowned and looked after them. "I wonder if Vala and Fayla are in Zendar. I doubt the Red Fang is ignorant of their existance, so going there is a bit of a risk." She said, urging the horse forward after the tracks. Not long down along the path, she spotted something carved into a tree. It was her name.

She pointed it out to Kairi. "Look. I think Rex might have followed us too." She said. "That, or that weirdo carved it." She followed the tracks further until she came across the carving again. "Its definitely Rex. We should probably hurry, he might decide to do something reckless." Bethany said. She kicked her horse into a gallop.


Arilia sat with her eyes closed, so lost in though she never even heard Kaziel return until he stepped up onto the cart, shaking it slightly. Except, when the edge of a blade touched gently against her throat she realised it was not Kaziel. Arilia's eyes snapped open with shock and she met the shrouded gaze of a stranger. He asked for Aline's whereabouts. She managed not to panic. "They brought me along as a counter for the fire asentari, nothing more." She said. She told the truth but doubted he'd actually believe her. So while she spoke, she began to manipulate the water in her water skin. There was just enough to pull seastorm from it.

Arilia suddenly dropped back away from the blade, and pulled the bident from the water, driving it up to catch the blade between the two prongs and push it away. However instead of immediately attacking the stranger she slid to the side and rolled off the wagon to the opposite side of him. She didn't cry out or call for help. "I don't want to fight you." She said quietly. She didn't really want anything to do with it, but this was her lot in life. She hesitated before continuing. "We're a diversion. They took the asentari away in a different cart. I don't know where too."

"I do." Kaziel suddenly stepped out of the forest. She felt a flush of dread as he walked up to her side. "Oh gosh, we've shared so much already. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell this lovely stranger where his little friend is. I'll wisper it in his ear when he's bleeding out on the ground." He said sneering at her. "You're worthless fish face. I knew you'd spill your guts given the chance. Hargrave owe's me fifthy gold, she bet me you wouldn't dare tell a soul what you know but here you are gabbing away. It's just as well I convinced her not to tell you." He smirked and pushed her towards the stranger. "Never mind that, I'll punish you later. Go clean up your loose end." He ordered.

Kairi followed Bethany down the path, stopping beside her when she pointed out a carving of the Asentari's name on a tree near the side of the path. "Rex? I wonder if that means that the Oculi Draconis know about what's happened." They traveled on, and Bethany stopped again at another carving, confirming that it was indeed Rex that was tailing their quarry. Bethany suggested hurrying, before Rex did something stupid. "Indeed. He is skilled, but he also lacks experience. I'm with you." Kairi followed suit and ushered her mount to up the pace.

He was about to slit her throat when she made a move, stopping him effectively. Rex jumped up onto the cart in a crouch, ready for a counterattack. Only one never came. She spoke up, claiming to not knowing where and that she didn't want to fight. But the human on the other hand, came out, spoke up about a bet, that he knew, and pushed his partner towards him.

He observed the two closely. "If you truly don't wish to fight me, then leave. Besides, I don't know what you are, and thus don't know how to extract information from you. But the human...that's a different story. I've had practice on your kind before..." With that, he jumped over the duo in a flip, to land facing the human's back, about five feet behind him.

His eyes glowed blue, as did his throat, as he unleashed his Dragon's Breath. It was more to destroy the cart then actually kill the guy, but it was so obvious that hopefully he would dodge. Same with the woman. Lightning obliterated the cart and killed the poor beasts towing it. Then Rex closed with a slash towards the side of the knee, and then an upward slash at the arm. Rex followed it up with a spin kick to the chest.

He just hoped that Beth would get here soon. And with reinforcements.

Arilia didn't move when Kaziel ordered her to. The Asentari told her to leave, and Kaziel snorted. "You fight him, or you answer to her. I think I know which your more scared of." Still Arilia stayed still. Kaziel's gaze darkened, but before he could do anything the Asentari lept over them and attacked. Kaziel and Arilia scattered in opposite directions as lightning burst forth and smashed into the wagon, tearing it to pieces and killing the horses. The asentari lunged at Kaziel who deftly avoided the flurry of attacks, catching the kick with his hand and letting it send him sliding away from Rex. Arilia made no move to help him, and Kaziel looked between her and the asentari. "If you won't fight then sit there and don't move." He snarled. His hand shot forwards and before she could dodge, a cage of earth burst from the ground surrounding her. Spikes of rock formed and pressed towards her, forcing her crouch and stay still.


They thundered down the path through the forest, when something flashed from the woods in front of Bethany. She ducked under a streaking arrow and pulled the horse to a halt, leaping from its back to land on the path. Another arrow shot from the trees at her and, she spotted several men moving out into their path, and from behind Kairi. She wasn't surprised to see the redfang tattoo on the closest man's arm, although it looked a bit different then usual. Why they were laying in wait here though, she had no idea.

Bethany drew her gladius and threw it through the chest of the man blocking the road. He slumped into the ground and she screamed to Kairi. "Keep going I'll deal with this lot!" She shoulded, then charged the next closest man to stop him blocking Kairi.


With Arilia locked away, Kaziel turned his attention to Rex. "Oooh turture. Let's exchange some tips." He said and drew his sword. "I've always wanted to find out how hard that skin is. Where its not so tough, that kind of thing. I didn't get much of an idea from slicing up the fire asentari earlier. I have a feeling the eyes might be a weakpoint though. Never got to find out since Arilia shoved her off a cliff. Come on, I'm eager to find out." He said, then dashed towards Rex, and feinted to the left before twisting and bringing the sword straight up, aiming for the groin. He grinned wildly.

Kairi pulled her horse to a stop as well at the sight of an arrow whizzing over Bethany's head. A group of mercenaries moved out into the road to block their path. Bethany suddenly leapt from her horse onto the road, and immediately impaled one of the men with a ranged gladius attack. The Asentari yelled at Kairi to continue on without her, charging one of the men who blocked her path forward. Kairi hesitated for a moment, but soon made her decision. Their job was to save Aline, whatever it took. She nodded to Bethany, a serious expression on her face. "Right. Be careful." She coaxed her own mount into action, taking off down the road.

Soon after, Kairi found a commotion on the rode, and immediately knew she was in the right place. The familiar form of Rex von Broven was engaged in battle with a human male, with the smoldering remains of a wagon in the background. Kairi swiftly dismounted, drawing her shield and sword. She charged in immediately, hurling her shield at Rex's assailant in an attempt to draw his attention before addressing the man. "That's enough. Surrender now, or face the consequences." She braced herself, not expecting the man to come quietly.

He didn't respond, though he was a little surprised that the human encased his partner in stone. It would take his elemental breath to shatter stone, but his other electrical attack wasn't going to do shit if the human did something similar with stone. The blond went in after the guy, only for him to feint, and forced Rex to block the guy's sword with his own. And knock it away from him. The blond aimed a punch to the ribs and moved to the right, using his swords reach to try to cut off the man's fingers on his sword arm.

It was then that Kairi came in, and demanded that the guy surrendered. "I don't think that's what this guy will do...and whatever the other one is, doesn't want to fight and claims to not know where Aline is...but this one claims to. I take it Beth is somewhere behind you dealing with unforeseen fodder?" Even if injured, she was going to do whatever it takes to get Aline back...even if she had to go through an army.

Kaziel took the punch but perposefully slammed his own sword into the Asentari's as he tried to cut Kaziel's fingers off to try and force him to drop it from the vibrations of the clash, then he slid his foot back, turning the stone beneath his foot to sand, and kicked it forward into the Asentari's face, along with ten stone spikes hidden in the cloud of sand. He was about to continue the attack, when he heard the hooves of a horse approaching and retreated to stand by Arilia in her stone cage so he could keep an eye on the asentari and the newcomer. A woman in white, the crest of the Order of the sun on her shield.

As was the way with arrogant fools from the order, she immediately ordered him to surrender. Kaziel snorted. "Yeah that's exatly what I plan to do." He said. "Not." He looked at Arilia. "Come on your not going to rufuse to fight and let me face unfair odds." He asked. Arilia didn't respond. "If I die, Hargrave will skin you alive. Even if you escape today, she'll find you. She always finds us." She still didn't answer. He shook his head. "Fine. I guess I'll summon her." He raised his hand, and the ground beneath his feet turned to sand, and began to flow up into his palm, forming into a bird of stone, no bigger than a robin. He wispered a message into its ear, and the bird shot off into the trees behind them. "how long do you think it will take for her to arrive?" He let he cage of stone disolve. "You had better start running."

Kaziel looked at the woman across from him. "Come on then, you face a Hound of the red fang. Lets see if two of you are enough to take me down!" He said. And then he charged the woman, a spear of stone forming in his hand. He spun and threw it at the Asentari then threw himself at the woman, ducking low to slash his blade across her knees using the momentum to position himself so she was between him and the asentari, then following up with a two handed uppercut, stepping after her if need be, in an attempt to cut her from groin to throat or atleast knock her shield aside.

Kairi's eyes narrowed as the man retreated toward a stone formation which appeared to house a young woman, though it was not Aline. Rex piped up then, advising her that the enemy was unlikely to surrender. Kairi nodded, her expression stony-faced, as their enemy gave his sarcastic return. "No, Rex. I don't believe he will either. I just thought I'd give him the chance before we commit to the next step." Rex explained about the girl in the cage, that she was a non-combatant for now and didn't seem to know of Aline's whereabouts. "I see. Then we keep her out of it for now. We must subdue this man, but not kill him. Bethany will be along shortly." The man then formed a bird made of stone in his hand, whispered to it, and then let it fly away before dismissing the stone cage which housed the girl. Kairi gave Rex a sideways glance. "Looks like our bout's time limit just got smaller."

The man announced his status as a "Hound" of the Red Fang, before challenging the two of them. Kairi scowled. "Enough with the theatrics. Let's go." The man obliged, charging towards her while hurling a stone spear at Rex. She jumped over the leg slash, but he maneuvered rapidly to keep Kairi and Rex from flanking, and before Kairi even landed back on the ground, swung a vicious two-handed uppercut at her. She got her shield up to block, but the force launched her a few yards backwards, landing on her head and bouncing onto her front. She regained her feet quickly and charged back in, stopping suddenly just outside the man's sword range. She deftly transformed Starlight into spear mode and launched an array of thrusts, each one aiming for the man's limbs to try and disable him. She then spun and attempted to backhand him with her shield, using her strength and momentum to spin through and keep her guard up. She stopped and eyed him warily, while also keeping an eye on the girl.

The man took the punch, but slammed his sword into his. Rex kept hold of his blade...it would take a lot more than that to make him drop it. He did have to move his head to the side to avoid getting blinded...and ended up with some red lines on his face. Not full blown cuts, but something sharp definitely scraped alongside it.

He retreated when they both heard Kairi coming. And the man released the woman. He created a stone bird, and sent it flying off. The blond did roll his eyes at the obvious. "Yes, thank you oh wise one. Come on, we've fought together before, don't state the obvious...have more faith in me, would you?" It was a small tease, and the small grin should tell her that he wasn't completely serious about it.

Then the guy made a move. Rex ducked underneath the stone spear and moved to flank the guy. Unfortunately, he was smart enough to not let that happen, and keep them both at the same side. With no ranged capabilities, it made these types of fights difficult.

Kairi kept up the pressure though, and got in his face. Even if all he did was divert Kaziel's attention, Rex would go low and move at an angle for a wide turn to slash at the back of the legs, mindful of any moves that Kairi made and made sure to not interfere with her. He was relegated to hit and run moves while she was the front guard. Rex couldn't help but notice the similar circumstances that he and Kronos were often at when they had to work together at the academy.

If the opportunity arose, he could cross reference with Kairi for a tactic he and the traitor often deployed against other teams in training.

He knocked her flat, but to her credit she was back on her feet and closing the distance fast. He was ready for her, or so he thought, until she stopped and drove her sword forward, transforming it as she did. It extended until it became a spear that swiftly outdid his reach, forcing him to dodge suddenly and take a nasty gash from the blade. She launched into a barrage of thrusts and jabs aimed at his joints, and then the other one was behind him. Kaziel was forced to leap aside to avoid the slash, but it left him open to a spear thrust.

At the last second the blow was deflected as a red bident struck the spear and pushed the head away. Arilia had finally moved, and instead of running she had decided to protect him. Her fear of retribution at the hand of Hargrave had evidently won out. "Good girl." He said. "Now deal with her will I deal with sparky over here." Kaziel said, grinning. He left Arilia to guard his back, and then drove his sword into the ground, ripping it free with a casing of stone that added a few extra pounds and almost an extra foot to the blade. "Come on then, sparky. One on one again."

He dashed forward swinging his sword horizantally two handed, putting allot more weight behind the blow. If the asentari blocked or locked blades, he would try to bull rush him and drive him backwards, hopefully causing him to trip. At which point, he would bring the blade down in a two handed Vertical slash. If the asentari dodged he'd try the two handed vertical slash, but make it an uppercut.


Arilia had contemplated running, but how far would she have gotten? There was no where for her to go outside of Hargrave's reach. No one would put their neck out for an Undari. They were barely tolerated. She was worth nothing to anyone but Hargrave. So she had intervened and redirected the spear before it impaled Kaziel. It was probably to late to escape punishment, but maybe she'd get off easier than if she had run. If she survived.

Facing the woman, she held her Bident in a two handed grip, ready to react to the slightest movements. As long as she was faster than the woman, she should be able to deflect that spear with her bident's twin heads, but she was certainly bulkier than Arilia. She was almost a head taller and twice as thick in the limbs. She would easily overpower Arilia, and who knows what she would do if she didn't just outright kill her. Probably torture her.

The danger the woman posed suddenly dawned on her, and she threw out her hand, firing a beam of cold energy to drive her away from Arilia, who then started to back away. She drew back a hand, drawing water to it, and threw a javalin of water at her, taking up her defensive stance again, backing away but circling to draw the woman's attention from Kaziel.

Kairi managed to land a hit on the man with her spear, forcing him on the defensive. Rex combined with her offensive seamlessly, and an opening to end the fight presented itself. but she was caught by surprise when her final spear thrust was halted by a red bident. Kairi stepped back and paused looking to the source of the interference while Rex and the man continued their battle. Kairi wanted to jump back in and help the Asentari, but the girl stepped between Kairi and the other fight. The Human lowered her spear and studied the girl. She was prepared to fight, but Kairi could see fear and hesitation in her eyes, and she knew she had to try and bypass her without killing her. If she could somehow reach out to the girl, convince her to avoid the dangerous path she was walking. But Kairi also knew what a person could do when fueled by fear. She had lived it herself after all. Taking a small step forward, Kairi lowered her shield.

"Wait, I know you don't want to do this. I know you're afraid. But-" Kairi was cut off when the girl suddenly fired a beam of energy at her. Kairi rolled to the side, feeling the cold from the blast as it barely missed her. She looked up and raised her shield to black a javelin made of water that the girl had hurled at her. She knew she was a sitting duck at this range, so she needed to close the distance to have a chance. Kairi decided to take a gamble, hoping that the girl's young and naive appearance wasn't just for show. Kairi started on her way, running towards Rex and his opponent, trying to bait the girl to intercept her either with her spear or some other technique. All she needed was eye-contact. As she ran, she waited for the girl to commit, hoping she didn't understand what it meant when Kairi's eye's lit up. When the girl was do something, Kairi stopped and looked directly at her, releasing her Solar Flare.

If the girl fell for Kairi's ploy and was blinded, she would use the opportunity to try and snatch the bident from her grasp, ramming it through a tree if she succeeded. She would then rush over to try and join the other fight. If the girl wasn't blinded, Kairi would stop and face her, braced for the retaliation.

Kaziel avoided the slash, but it also left him open. It was Kairi's turn to end this. Only for the other one to get involved. Eyes narrowing at the unknown race, he wondered why she feared this Hargrave woman so much. Who she was...she'd likely pale in comparison to Alura. He refocused on Kaziel, the man coating his sword in stone. Clicking his tongue, he readied himself.

The man rushed him, doing a heavy horizontal slash. Switching his sword to his left arm, he blocked it. He'd barely just got his scythe out when Rex got pushed back and landed on his back.

To avoid getting sliced, he rolled back, getting on his feet at the same time. The blond had to jump back again, but then his scythe was also extending, the main handle being in front of him. It was clear he was gonna do a horizontal slash of his own, using his longer reach.

If Kaziel dodged the clear slash, he'd have to react fast to avoid a stab at the shoulder. Rex would then jump ahead and aim a slash with the scythe at the guy's legs.

If he didn't, and scraped his stone encased sword against it to close the distance, Rex would shift it vertically and keep it between him and his opponent, ready to deflect any kind of stab or catch a slash and deflect it, hoping to open up and hack off a hand...

Kaziel seen the horizontal slash with the scythe coming and backed off. The asentari responded to his dodge with a thrust catching Kaziel on the edge of the shoulder as he dodged. He slashed at Kaziel's legs but Kaziel dropped low and caught the scythe blade with his sword, then forced it up and over him in an attempt to get a clear shot at Rex's back, taking a two handed slash at it. He closed the distance, using Rex's oversize'd weapon against him by staying close, and tried to slash at his legs, ready to deal with the Asentari's longsword.

If Rex backed off and tried to get Kaziel into slashing range with his scythe, Kaziel would launch a barrage of ten stone spikes at him, but would otherwise let him retreat and prepare to deal with the incoming attacks.


The woman tried to talk to Arilia, but it was to late. She was already in a defensive mode and wasn't going to listen to her. She needed to show Hargrave she wasn't being disobedient before she arrived. To Arilia, and Maybe Kaziel, there was worse things than death but on that list there was nothing worse than Hargrave's cruelty. The woman avoided her attacks, but instead of attacking back she seemed to hesitate. Then tried to run past her. Arilia slid into her path, Bident raised, only to notice the woman's eyes glow. She wasn't prepared for the blinding flash that caused her to scream and throw her hands up. Eye's burning with pain, she tried to see what was happening, when she felt her Bident ripped from her grasp.

"No!" She said as she waited for her own weapon to kill her, but there was a thunk as the woman drove it into a tree. She bypassed Arilia and went to join the fight Against Kaziel. Arilia started to panic, and half blind she summoned up as much water as she could and fired off a barrage of twenty water orbs into the fight, attempting to hit the woman and to drive the combatants apart to give Kaziel a moment to escape being pincered by the two fighters.

While all hell broke loose after her barrage, she stumbled her way over towards the tree, feeling for the handle of her bident. The weapon was driven deep into the wood, and there was no budging it. Drawing more water to her, she formed it around the handle, and caused it to vanish into the liquid. She formed the water into an orb and pulled her bident from it, then started to haphazardly throw water javalins towards the woman. She still couldn't see, so she was throwing in the general direction of them with no actual aiming, potentially hitting Rex or Kaziel if Kairi wasn't actively blocking them or they flew straight wide. Either way she hoped that her continued assualt would draw the woman back to her.

Kairi was just about to reach Kaziel when she heard a rustling behind her, and turned to see a barrage of water balls hurtling towards her. One hit her in the side, but she got her shield up to protect herself from the rest of them. She lowered her shield again to see the girl make her bident vanish, before pulling it out of an orb of water beside her. The girl then began forming some kind of javelins made from water in her hand. Kairi did also notice, however, that the girl still didn't seem to be able to see, instead she seemed to be listening for Kairi's location. Kairi knew she had an opportunity to change the game, so she called out to the girl. "Hey!" She waited for the girl to turn to her, moving so Rex's fight was directly behind her, before calling again when the girl began to wind up to throw. "Rex! Move!" Kairi hit the ground, hoping Rex heard her and also moved. The javelins sailed over Kairi and towards where the other fight was. Kairi moved once the girl stopped throwing, rolling to her feet and surveying the others for damage. She moved slowly towards the girl, who by now should be recovering from the Solar Flare, shield raised for what would come next.

Rex had to quickly reposition his scythe for it to guard his back while moving forward. It mostly worked, but still got a gash at the shoulder blade. Not near as deep or anything as the intended strike, but still deep enough. The blond jumped and turned, slamming his scythe down to stop a strike at his legs, and did a swift overhead swing aimed at the shoulder.

Then the warning came. Rex peered over and saw why. Eyes widening, he backflipped away from Kaziel and hit the ground, waiting for the turmoil to be over as the attacks sailed just inches above him from his ready position. Once it was over, he got back up and was ready again...but was a bit more cautious now...

Kaziel spun as the scythe came around for the shoulder, the tip of the blade catching him as he did. Then he heard the woman shout and seen Rex dive, and joined him, diving below a barrage of water attacks. He hit the ground and rolled back to his feet. "OI fish face watch where you're throwing those things!" He shouted at Arilia as Rex got back to his feet. At least she'd managed to draw the attention of the woman again. Kaziel gripped his sword one handed, low to the right and watched his opponent. And then he heard the hoof beats.

Kaziel turned towards the sound as a horse burst into view, Bethany on its back. She leapt from the back of the beast and drew her swords as she dived towards Arilia's unguarded back. Kaziel didn't bother shouting a warning, since it was more trouble that Fishface was worth. However, the air between Arilia and Bethany shimmered, and a hand emerged, striking the asentari from the air and sending her flying. Hargrave, stepped forth and the portal vanished.




The burning in Arilia's eyes had lessened, but she still couldn't see properly. She could vaguely make out the woman moving towards her, her barrage of attacks having drawn her back. She heard something else coming, but she couldn't see well enough to make out, however she felt the portal appear, she heard the thump and she barely made out Hargrave before her. The woman turned to Arilia, and slapped her across the face, knocking her to the ground. "A little birdy told me you've been causing trouble Arilia."


Bethany was seconds away from ending the undari, when some woman came out of nowhere and knocked her on her ass. She tumbled across the ground, and managed to make it to her feet in time to see her slap the undari and chide her. Then she stepped passed her, towards Kairi, and continued speaking. "No matter. We'll talk about that when we get home." She asked. "Where the fuck is Aline?" Bethany shouted. The woman looked over her shoulder at Bethany. "Mercy. And you must be Thorne." She said, looking the other direction. Then she looked at Rex. "You, I don't know. Are you an asentari, boy? I've always wanted to bring an asentari into the fold, you might be a bit old to train properly though. I'm sure I could make it work." She said to Rex.

Bethany growled. "Leave him alone. I asked you a question you fucking weirdo. Answer me." She said. The red head looked at Kairi. "Now you, I admire. So strong after such tragedy. I wish I'd gotten to you before the Order of the Sun. Alas, I didn't know you existed before you made a name for yourself. Some red fang factions are just crude, I'd hardly be caught keeping them company." Bethany opened her mouth to speak but the woman interupted her with a smile. "Kaziel, Arilia come here." The Undari and human both joined the woman, standing behind her, heads bowed.

Bethany circled her slowly, joining Kairi and Rex. "I am Lina Hargrave, and theses are my hounds. Pretty, aren't they. Young Arilia lack's obedience, but it wasn't easy to aquire and Undari so I have to live with it. Kaziel is a better example of an obedient pet. I'm so glad he's still in one piece, or I would be killing you all, not talking." She said. Bethany growled. "Enough already, I'm not going to ask again."

"Yes, yes. Where is Aline. You keep asking. Gone to the winds. We handed her off to the Nyberrite Alliance. Multani's people. You've all heard of Juresh Enyo, the the Ruler of Karcenak? You should know him atleast, mercy. You opened the door for him when you threw you're little tantrum and burned down half the city." Hargrave smiled. "I'll let you take a guess where he has her. Good luck with that."