Shadow over Gerelden IC

[AngelLightheart]

Angel Blackwing

Angel watched the plight before her, the only things marking that she was still alive to be her shallow breathing and her body trembling slightly. Her eyes never left the dragon's, but she was still aware, vaguely, of what was going on around her. Grimlock shouted a few orders and charged the dragon with a newly acquired spear. Arrows clattered against the dragon's scales, distracting it just long enough for him to put a spear into its vulnerable jaw. He didn't get away without the dragon smashing him clear off Kelt and into a wall, where he slumped and stayed.

Her concentration flickered for but a moment.

The dragon broke through her defenses.

"No!" she cried out, and dropped to her knees.

Her body twitched as the dragon ravaged her mind, hitting her where it knew it would hurt. It came across a feeling of hers in its exploration of her mind. Her feelings for Grimlock. It turned its head after lighting a house on fire to look at the slumped over knight and started towards him. Angel looked up slowly to see what was going on. Her eyes widened as she saw the dragon standing over Grimlock. She gathered up what will of hers remained and slowly stood. The dragon looked over at her, annoyed, and threw another mental dagger at her.

"Slytha..." she murmured.

The dragon flinched. Angel looked up, a fire burning behind her eyes. A dagger slipped into her hand and she slit open her arm. Blood flowed freely from her wound, but she didn't flinch, or seem pained in the slightest. She tapped into the power of her blood and snapped her fingers.

The dragon slid back a meter. It roared its anger and shot a stream of fire at her.

"Jierda!" she yelled, her voice ringing in double tones, flicking her wrists sharply at the dragon.

The dragon flew clear off its feet to crash into the ground a good distance away.

"Get on the dragon!" she ordered the men standing around, gaping at her.

She dropped to her knees again, stretching a hand over towards Grimlock and channeling energy into his downed form. "Rise, Grimlock. I still need you," she murmured.

Clinging to what energy she still had, she kept the dragon's mouth restrained.

Where in the blazes were the others?

She put out a vague mental call, searching for the minds of her companions.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

A voice rouse him, the voice of an angel, perhaps it was his angel calling him? Yes that had to be it. No wait...angel? Angel Blackwing! The beautiful elf who seem to like him, she needed him. A knight always helps those in need. He groaned softly and opened his eyes, a building was burning, Kelt had returned to his side and he used the huge horse as support to pull himself to his feet. Huge claw marks ran over the chest armor and he knew it would have killed him if not for the armor.

"Right old friend, wait here."

He turned to find that Angel was bleeding from a cut, the clean line indicated it was made with a blade, probably the one on her side. He pulled on the straps of his armor, undoing buckles and untying knots with practiced ease. His armor fell to the ground, he didn't need it, not against a dragon. He needed speed, he quickly buckled on his sword and ran, his body protested, but if he did not make haste the dragon could kill the towns people and worst of all, it could kill Angel. Drawing his sword as he came close the dragon was starting to gain it's footing, jaws snapping at the nearest man-at-arms, he drew back and struck as hard as he could at the nearest thing he saw...the dragon's tail. The roar that came forth threatened to deafen them as the sword bit through the scales, flesh and bone, separating a good four feet of the tail's tip. The dragon turned to face the new threat, but Grimlock was moving, without the armor he was deceptively fast. He struck with all his might at the dragon's flank, the blade pierced the scales again and the dragon roared in anger, but Grimlock detected some pain there as well. He could stay out of the dragon's clutches...for now, but he seriously needed help and with Angel's magic being used at full force, he needed it fast before her energies faded.

"Hit and run, don't stand and fight it will be your death!"

Leading by example he struck at the dragon's paw as it was raising it to struck at him, the blade catching the finger behind the talon, another roar and a swipe with the claws, but Grimlock was on the move already.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Where the hell did this dragon come from? Actually, that was a question better saved for later because right now, the dragon was in the middle of town and it wasn’t happy. Right now it was being poked at by the human knight who had shed his damaged armor and a group of some of the braver townspeople. However, the dragon seemed to be angrier at the elf woman than at the humans because she had just used some magic to toss the dragon around a bit. Jager could understand the feeling; he’d be angry too if some magician had just tossed him around.

Jager recognized from the elf woman’s posture that she was engaged in a mental duel with the dragon, something that usually didn’t end well. Fortunately, Jager and the Mori elves had discovered a little trick during their hunts against the dragons a long time ago that proved quite useful. It was discovered that a particular type of music kept the dragons from being about to concentrate, making it impossible for them to attack with their minds. Granted, the music didn’t make the dragons any less deadly, what with their ability to breathe fire, their claws and the like.

Jager figured that the humans and the elf woman could handle the dragon once the mental attacks were no longer a factor, so what he did was pulled out his flute and started to play an odd tune, one that annoyed the hell out of the dragon. Of course, it would probably be just as annoying to everyone else, but the important thing was that the dragon was now desperately looking for the source of the music instead of attacking the others.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

The first notes set his teeth on edge and for a moment he dared to look for the source and there stood Jager. So the man did have some uses, apart from disappearing into the shadows. The dragon turned into Jager's direction and was solely focused on him, Grimlock took a few breaths and raised his sword.

"Give the beast hell boys, now we have to end this!"

A sharp whistle brought Kelt trotting closer, he swung into the saddle, he needed momentum to do real damage and with the dragon distracted and lumbering after the retreating Jager, he could gain enough momentum to tear through that hide of the dragon. The men-at-arms still hanged back and the dragon was gaining on Jager, Grimlock tapped his heels into Kelt's flanks.

"CHAAAAARGE!!!!"

Again Kelt shot forward like an arrow out of a bow, this time there was no need to keep level and Kelt ran full out. Grimlock kept himself as close to that powerfull neck as he could, the speed worked perfectly, they barely missed the swinging tail and as the dragon drew within striking range, Grimlock came to the new point of his attack. Drawing back with the sword in both hands, he struck. The impact jarred his whole frame, threatening to dismount him, but the sharp blade slid through sinew and scales. The dragon's roar was deafening as Grimlock effectively crippled the left hind leg as the blade cut through the Achilles tendon. The charge carried them past the flank of the dragon and as the head whipped around Grimlock stabbed with all his might. This time the impact shocked the sword from his grasp, but the dragon's eye sported a broadsword. Kelt swerved away and Grimlock grabbed hold of the saddle's pommel to stay on the big horse, he was satisfied, he had made an impact, and effectively disarmed himself.

"Let's find a weapon Kelt, this is not over."

 

[LeoHawk35]

Zelthuros

A low rumble. A neverending fire. The flow of ancient, primal magic. The flow of power, the elements. He felt it all. He opened his eyes and could see it all. See every motion the eye could see, and even a few it couldn't. He could smell the air. Smell everything in it, everything around him. He felt the dirt under his paws, and how easily his talons slid into it. He could feel the eternal fire as it pulsed under the dirt. The air as it tugged on the leathery membranes of his wings. He rose to his full height from his position on the ground, stretching his long neck, then the rest of him, much like a cat.

His body had changed dramatically, taking on a full new form. His form was no longer that of a man, but of something...much more. A legend, come to life. He stood up on his hind legs and spread his wings, the fire in his eyes bright in the night. His was the form of a dragon. Majestic and frightening in equal pieces, like the others of that race. Though none possessed the black scales he did, nor the fire lit behind his eyes.

Of course, that could be because he wasn't like the other dragons.

He sniffed at the air, catching the scent of smoke. Fire. Several familiar smells. And a smell that hit him more than the others. There was another dragon nearby, awakened. It was attacking that village. The village he had been at just minutes before. He should have been there. He should be there.

He feet moved, carrying him swiftly and silently against the land, towards the village.

He had control of his new body and mind. Mostly. Certain primal instincts took over at inopportune moments. Such as this one. The challenge of superiority.

His muscles gathered under him and carried him off the ground, his wings unfurling and flapping once to push him over the buildings. He turned his head to the moon and roared a challenge. The dragon turned to him, caught by surprise by the figure outlined in the moon.

Then they collided.

Zelthuros slammed right into the other dragon and they rolled. He got the other's head in his paws and slammed it against the ground once, twice, thrice, before it threw him off, turning and pouncing on him. He kicked it off before it could land on him and he followed up, bathing it in black fire. They roared at each other, a deafening sound, and clashed midair as they dove at each other. The sound of their bodies clashing was almost as thunderous as their roaring was.

He slid on top of the other dragon when they hit the ground, digging his talons in between scales and drawing rivulets of blood. The dragon roared in anger mixed with pain and tried to dislodge him, to no avail. He continued thrashing until the dragon's tail slammed into him, throwing him off. He hit the ground, rolling and smashing into the wall of a building, which then collapsed on him. He growled and tried breaking free of the rubble, but the weight was too much.

The dragon shook itself off, ignoring the blood running off it and all its missing scales, walking slowly over to the trapped form.

He thrashed some more, trying in vain to dislodge the rubble. A few pieces fell off him. Given enough time, he could get free, but he didn't have that kind of time. He glared at the other dragon and gathered the heat in his stomach, then projected it forward, focusing the stream with his tongue and turning the sword in the dragon's eye white-hot, causing it to roar in pain and thrash, trying to pull the sword out and ignoring those around him for the time being.

Zelthuros could only hope that the others had the time to kill the other dragon, AND he had time to get away before they killed him. He was quite helpless at the moment.

And yet, through all of this, he couldn't help but wonder how he got himself into this mess.

 

[AngelLightheart]

Angel Blackwing

Angel grimaced at the sound assailing her mind. She ground her teeth just slightly, turning her eyes to find the source. Jager was there, holding a flute in his hand and playing the most annoying sound she had ever heard. She was about to throw a bolt of fire at him, the thought of his clothing catching fire and him rolling about on the ground amusing her slightly, when she heard a faint sound in the distance.

Angel blinked once. What was that?

There seemed to be a second set of feet hitting the ground, getting closer. Quiet feet. Quieter than they should have been. Angel turned her head, looking for the source of the noise, just as a great black form leapt over the buildings of the village. It flew up in front of the moon and roared. A dragon's roar. It was magnificent. The roar shook her body and caught the attention of everyone in the clearing. Including the other dragon, who looked over in sudden surprise just before they collided.

The new dragon was fast and vicious, easily overtaking the other dragon and wounding it a great deal before being thrown into a building and having that building collapse on it. It could probably get free, but not soon. Not with the other dragon slowly advancing on it. Angel worked on gathering the water in the air around the dragon, watching as the pinned dragon bathed the face of the other in fire, not singing the beasts skin, but lighting up the sword, heating it to white-hot.

The dragon roared in fury, clawing at the sword buried in its eye, pulling it free and looking at the pinned dragon with a fury she had rarely seen before. She muttered a quick string of words under her breath and the ground and the dragon's feet snaked upwards along its legs, snaring it in place. The spell did no harm, however, so there was nothing the dragon could do to stop it.

Or perhaps that annoying tune was getting to the dragon just as much as it was getting to her. Who knows?

She channeled her energy into the ground, holding it, and the dragon, in place. Hopefully the others would take care of the dragon before she ran out of energy. Perhaps the other dragon would have time to get free, as well. There was something strange about that dragon, though. It had to be friendly if it had attacked the other dragon, right? But two dragons in one village when none had been seen in the area in many, many years? Very strange.

And just where was Zelthuros?

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

As luck would have it, Grimlock found a weapon as Kelt made a turn to face the dragon again, a man-at-arms was cowering behind a house holding a heavy halbeard,

"YOU! Hand me that weapon!"

There was no hesitation? Grimlock was holding the weapon scant moments later as the weak minded fool fled the scene. Then there was a roar, he had time enough to see another dragon crash into the other, their fight was furious, but the first one proved lucky...OK that was before the sword got turned into white-hot metal.

"HEY THAT IS A FAMILY HEIRLOOM!"

Of course nobody but Kelt heard him and he seemed a bit amused at that, a glimpse through the buildings showed him that Angel was busy working her magic again. Grimlock kicked Kelt in he sides, the action took the big horse by surprise and Grimlock urged him on, by the time they reached the dragon, Kelt was running full speed. It was dizzingly fast, Grimlock aimed the blade of the halbeard at the dragon's throat as it reared back to attack Angel from the distance he was at. This time he struck his mark, the blade ripped open the dragon's throat, sending blood spurting in all directions as the soft tissue was torn open by the sharp metal, again the impact was enough to dismount Grimlock, he held onto the halbeard as he fell, the blade twisting and cutting, only jarring from his grip when he landed on his back. Grimlock looked up at the dragon, it was mortally wounded and it knew it aswell, it aimed to take somebody with him and then again that tune wafted over them and the dragon tried to roar, but more blood spurted from it's ripped open throat. Grimlock got to his feet and limped away, finding himself next to the tail of the trapped dragon, he looked at the creature, it had helped them, now it needed help.

"A knight helps those in need."

He cursed his oath as he started to clear the bigger pieces of rubble away, his body screaming in pain at the effort. Finally even he could no longer carry on, he slumped to the ground and looked at the black dragon.

"It is as much as I can do, I'm done."

He fell forward and lost consciousness again.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

This is getting ridiculous. Now there are two dragons? The arrival of the other dragon had surprised Jager, causing him to trip and nearly swallow his flute, but he was able to recover and avoid injury. Jager watched as the two dragons fought likely only dragons could, the sound of the fight alone shook the ground. This was a fight that the villagers would remember and talk about for generations to come. He watched as the new dragon was flung into a building, the rubble trapping it, and then as the first dragon approached to deal the final blow, the trapped dragon turned the sword in the first dragon’s eye into a white hot needle, causing excruciating pain.

And then the others took action. Angel, the elf, used her magic to trap the first dragon in place, using the ground to snare its legs. Then Grimlock, the human, wielding a halberd, charged forward on his horse, driving the weapon deep into the dragon’s neck, blood pouring out. A mortal wound had been dealt, but it wouldn’t bring the beast down fast enough. Jager had to act, and act now, if he wanted to eliminate the threat of both dragons. He tucked his flute back inside his cloak and made his move.

Jager rushed forward, the cloak around him making it seem like he was a blurred shadow. Under the dragon’s neck he ran, grabbing hold of the halberd that was lodged there. Using his forward momentum, a quick twist of the handle, and the dragon’s own recoil as it jerked away from the shadow that had run under it, Jager pulled the halberd free, completing the cut that Grimlock had started. The bleeding from the dragon doubled its flow as the jugular was completely severed and ripped free, the dragon quickly losing its strength as the thick blood left it. It under a minute, the dragon was dead, having bled out from the wound in its neck and the many other cuts that had been inflicted during the fight.

After freeing the halberd, Jager disappeared into the shadows of a nearby alley, reappearing again standing on the peak of the roof above the dragon still trapped in rubble. Looking down, Jager saw that the human had moved some of the larger chunks of rubble in an attempt to free the dragon, although why he would do such a foolish thing was beyond him. He could see that one of the moved pieces of rubble had cleared a spot on the dragon’s chest area, and Jager filled his mind with the image of that spot as he turned the halberd upside down, getting ready to jump down and drive the halberd like a spike into the chest of the trapped beast below him.

Jager had hunted dragons before and never once had he seen a black one, but he wasn’t about to dwell on the significance of the dragon’s unique color. Instead, he focused on the target spot, using the image of it as a barrier in his mind should the dragon attempt to influence his actions in order to save its life. As the beast continued to attempt to free itself, aware of Jager’s presence above it or not, Jager took a deep breath and then jumped, his aim straight and true.

Only a strong act of magic or some other miracle could save the beast from death, or at the very least, severe injury, now.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Zelthuros

The weight didn't hurt. Not exactly, at any rate. It was more just the pressure that annoyed him, and the face that he couldn't get out just yet. Left to his own devices, he was sure that he would get out in a short amount of time. But he wasn't left to his own devices, and there was still another dragon in front of him. He moved his neck, shifting off the rubble that had been pinning his head down and allowing him to move and look around. The fight with the other dragon quickly ended as it was downed by Grimlock, who had just dealt it a mortal wound. It would have bled out on its own, of course, but Jager flew in the finish it off. Which was for the best, to make sure it had no more time to deal damage.

Zelthuros moved his attention to the rubble holding him down, pushing outwards with his wings and knocking piles of rubble off him. There wasn't that much, really. He had just lost much of his past strength from his lack of time in this form. He was just glad he was in control right now. Glad that it hadn't taken over this time. It was just satisfied with the bloodshed...for now.

The knight moved some of the rubble as well, but it was too heavy for the human to do much before collapsing. A small rock hit Zelthuros on the head. He looked up into the eyes of Jager, standing over the edge above him. There was no way that he had good intentions, this fact only pronounced when he dropped off the edge, the halberd pointed right at him. He growled, gathering a bolt of fire. Not enough to kill him, but enough to move that bloody halberd away from him. Of course, his scales might have been hard enough to take the hit, but he didn't want to take the chance.

And then, as it turned out, he didn't have to do anything. A black form on all fours dashed by his vision, springing on top of a large piece of rubble, and then directly over him, crashing into the falling elf, locking his jaws around the wooden haft of the halberd and snapping it in two midair, then landing on, and pinning, Jager. His form thus stopped, who the figure was finally materialized. It was Shadow, the direwolf.

Zelthuros took the opportunity and gave one last push, shoving upwards with his legs and outwards with his wings, and he burst free of the rubble. He took off immediately, leaping over the outer line of houses and then disappearing into the night. Once he was clear, Shadow stepped off Jager and slipped into the ruined building, moving through the ruin and exiting out the back before disappearing himself.

 

[Dramaticflare]

(Edited)
Down the road, carelessly jaunting his way, came an oddly dressed elf with the distinct air of unflappability. He didn't ever break into dance so much as perpetuallly look like he was going to. He would siddle sideways, flop frontways, and bounce backways. People often stopped and watched, if only to shake their heads and keep walking. And Zander would ignore them. At least he did until he tripped over some of the rubble from the collapsed building.
Springing back to his feet, he caustically demanded of the stone, "Who allowed you to be some layabout in the middle of my road, eh? I have half a mind to teach you some manners!" The stone laid there unresponsive, as stones are won't to do. "Wise guy, huh! Well how about this! Ducky, fire!" A small purple sphere that had been following Zander about shot fire out and torched the stone, leaving it scorched. Stilll, the darkened stone paid him no heed.
Zander fumed for a few seconds before turning his pupilless eyes upon the prone form of Grimlock.
"You! You must be related to this stone due to the fact you are comfortablly lying on a bed of its relations! How can you sleep on the cousin of such a laggart?" He demanaded while jabbing his finger in Grimlocks direction. When he got no response, he swore in an odd, possibly self-made language and caused a small eruption of force underneath Grimlock, so that Grimlock stood, if only for a second. When Grimlock fell back on his rear, zander swore again.

 

[AngelLightheart]

Angel Blackwing

Angel worked her magic, holding the beast in place so that one, and then two, of her companions dealt fatal blows, the latter making sure the beast was done for good. She released the earth binding it, relief instantly flooding her body. She flicked her wrist and a ball of light green energy appeared, which she pressed into her chest. She blinked and shook her head, standing slowly and looking over to where Jager was dropping over the pinned dragon, halberd in hand.

She gathered herself for another spell, the air noticeably changing course, when Shadow flew out of nowhere and crashed into Jager, breaking the halberd and pinning him in time for the dragon to get free and escape, which only took mere moments more. Angel tilted her head slightly as Shadow ducked into the building and disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Angel shook her head, this time out of confusion, and started walking over to the two men, brushing some dirt off of her. She looked back up and, to her surprise, saw another elf standing over Grimlock, trying to talk to him, it seemed. Well, not before torching a stone with the small orb following him about. How curious.

"Hey!" she cried out upon seeing Grimlock pushed up to his feet and then fall again.

She morphed the air behind him to set him down gently, so he didn't break his thick skull on a rock or something. She walked over briskly and glared at the elf.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, the air still slightly whipping about her.

 

[Dramaticflare]

The elf physically blanched as Angel breached his physical space to demand things of him. Zander mimicked holding onto a hat in the wind as Angel caused his hair to move about. Zander took a few steps back and then bowed deeply announcing, "Los Zanderheim del Stelvinter Loquatia, at your service lady. You may find it easier upon the tongue to refer to me as Zander."
He then considered his reply physically, propping his chin around his palm and the attached elbow upon his other arm. The small purple orb began swaying listfully.It was a few tense seconds before Zander questioned, "is this a trick question?"

 

[AngelLightheart]

Angel Blackwing

Angel blinked once.

Twice.

This man was quite possibly insane. Probably was, now that she thought about it. She noticed his charade and killed the wind, releasing it from her dominion. She looked down at the prone Grimlock, kneeling down to check his pulse. He was alive, just unconcious. Lack of sleep probably did that to him. He could use a good night's rest. So could she.

She doubted they would be getting it.

She glanced over at his gear, snapping her fingers with an uttered word. A hole opened up in the air behind her, filled with glittering coins and trinkets. She feigned picking up the gear with her hand, then throwing it over her shoulder. The armor and other equipment followed her will, lifting off the ground and then flying into the hole, settling neatly while a small group of tools set to work on them. The hole was only open for a few seconds before it shut again, winking out of existence.

Angel sighed, looking back at Jager and raising an eyebrow. She was sure he would be fine, so she didn't give him any more notice than that. She looked up at the new man, blinking again. She ignored him as well, looking back down at Grimlock. She waved her hand in a semi-circle next to her, another small green orb appearing in it. She pressed it slowly into Grimlock's chest, waiting for a reaction.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

He was having such a lovely dream, it involved an elf who used blood magic and a bed, he stirred and opened his eyes and above him there was the same face as the one in his dream. Without real thought and still sleep dazed, he reached out and brushed his finger tips over her cheek, his thumb barely touching her soft lips.

"If ever one doubted in the existence of angels, I have just seen one."

He lowered his hand and blinked, he had to admit that he was feeling better, still tired, but not that hurt anymore. Then the events of the day flooded his mind and he sat upright, his hand grasping for a sword that wasn't there anymore.

"The dragon?!"

 

[Dramaticflare]

"Gone gone gone!" shouted Zander as he twirled about on the stones of the ruined building. He hopped up to Grimlock and then scotched past him until he stood atop the structure. He mimed a telescoping action as he surveyed the surrounding countryside. He spun about until his eyes came to rest upon the headless corpse of the terrifying creature. "I found it! Okay, ducky, I'll be honest. I found MOST of it!" he corrected himself. Past the two compatriots Zander skipped, kicking small bits of rubble ahead of him as he went to ponder the massive creature draining it's blood across the road. There was a quiet moment he spent in seeming contemplation, before he dipped his finger in the pool of blood and began gratifying across the scales of the dragon in its own blood. Angel would probably recognize some of it as arcane writing, but it wasn't conhesive and the languages kept switching.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

He stared at the new elf as he hopped and skipped around, he looked from Angel to the other elf and then shook his head.

"A man acting like that is hiding intelligence."

He slowly got to his feet, his muscles were stiff, but not sore, he smiled down at Angel,

"This is the second time you awaken me, keep that up and I will have to make sure you are asleep before I try to drift off."

He chuckled and walked over to the corpse of the dragon, it was a small one judging from the tales, most probably a young one then.

"Since this is the first time I hear of this, how did this dragon grow from hatchling to this size without revealing itself?"

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Movement off to one side caught Jager’s attention before he could land, and he was able to turn just in time to have a large, black mass of hair and teeth slam into him. The force of the impact threw Jager clear of the dragon and those jaws that would have otherwise clamped down on Jager’s arm instead snapped the shaft of the halberd in half. Once he hit the ground, Jager found himself pinned by none other than Shadow, the direwolf. Even if he wanted to, Jager wouldn’t have been able to free himself from the wolf’s pin, so he waited, finding the whole situation a bit unnerving. When the wolf did nothing except release him once the dragon was gone, Jager was left wondering what that had been about. The wolf was protecting the dragon?

As Jager got up, a very oddly dressed man wandered into the area and quite blatantly proclaimed his status as an insane magic user by having a floating ball of light torch a piece of rubble that he had tripped over. Jager watched the exchange between the mad man and Angel, his gaze going from wide eyed surprise to a glare as the magic user wandered over to the dead dragon and proceeded to write on the dragon’s scales in its own blood. At this distance, Jager was able to see that the man was in fact an elf, which further lowered Jager’s already low opinion of him.

Still holding the half of the halberd with the blade on the end, Jager walked over to the dragon’s chest, muttering curses at dragons, wolves, elves, and magic users in his rough native tongue that sounded nothing like the other elven languages. He didn’t care if the others heard him because there was little chance that they’d understand him, and even if they did, he didn’t care. As he passed the elf mage, Jager glared at him, propping the half halberd up on his shoulder.

"Since this is the first time I hear of this, how did this dragon grow from hatchling to this size without revealing itself?"

“Remember that story Zelthuros told us back in the ruins, the one about the Great Dragon Raid?” said Jager once he was next to the dragon’s massive chest. He then took the blade of the halberd and began expertly cutting into the dragon’s hide as if he had done this many times before. “It’s likely that this young one had snuck in with the others and instead of heading off to attack with its kin, it went to sleep somewhere near here.”

Jager tossed a few of the dragon’s scales behind him as he cut, and he even “accidently” tossed one past the mage’s face if only to get the crazy elf to put some more space between the two of them. He continued to cut, the halberd being awkward and cumbersome in Jager’s hands, but getting the job done. Soon he had separated a few of the dragon’s ribs and tossed a few chunks of flesh behind him to join the scales, and then after jabbing the blade of the halberd inside a few times, he stuck both hands inside and pulled out what looked to be a large, bloody stone. It was the dragon’s heart.

 

[Dramaticflare]

Despite Jager's invasion and subsequent attack upon Zander's personal space, he did not react to the other elf's presence or instructive commentary. Zander continued merrily scribbling in a mad series of language snippets and even began humming merrily. Itwould probably annoy Jager to no end, but there would come a reprieve, however short.. The trigger of this reprieve was quite simple: Zander had run out of room on his side of the dragon and Jager's rough hewing.
"What have you done?" demanded Zander of Jager, positively pumping steam out of his ears. "What have you done to my beautiful chalk board? I needed that chalk board to educate the poor masses!" He gestured wildly at the empty street, flingling blood off of his fingers. "Who else is going to elucidate upon the prefects of the thirtyfifth exarch of the Fulgur Half-Sphere in this backwater community!" He flailed wildly into the air for a second until letting his arms flop to his sides in seeming defeat. "No more respect for the teachers, I tell you. Kids these days, what with their..." it was at this point Zander became unintelligible and began walking back and forth muttering to himself, occassionally pausing to look at a particular passage upon his dragon chalk board, then he would glumly shake his head and go back to pacing in front of it, arms folded behind his back.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Zelthuros

A beating heart. Beating in tune with everything around him. Magic, nature, the air, the eternal fire burning deep within the ground. The air that passed through his lungs matched the pace of the wind, going in and out with all the power of that element. His body was his own, though control had never been lost. Contested, yes. Always contested. Always the other wanting to tug at his limbs, whispering in his mind, begging for conflict to satisfy its bloodlust.

He opened his eyes.

It was dark still. He clenched his fist and noticed that he actually had fists now. And legs. He was back in his human form. Little known fact is that every dragon has its disguise. But that was a fact that few dragons even knew. Very few dragons actually discover their alter-form. Was he a dragon, then, that he has two such forms? The answer is no. He was no dragon, though a dragon's soul lived inside him. He was...an anomaly.

He sat up and then rose to his feet slowly, looking around him. Several animals of various types stood around him in the clearing where he had collapsed, staring. He looked to them and then to one wolf in particular holding a bow in his jaws delicately. The wolf stepped forward and handed the bow up into Zelthuros' waiting hand, which closed around the dragonbone. The animals scattered when he looked back up.

"Curious..." he murmured, looking down at Shadow.

He patted the wolf on the snout and then started to walk back into town to see the mess he had made. He arrived in a few minute's time, stepping around the very building he had been trapped under to look upon the scene before him. Not much had changed, other than a new elf, who looked quite curious and seemed a bit loose of the mind, talking nonsense in a language that Zelthuros knew, for the most part, but just couldn't keep up with because he was raving like a madman. And then Jager digging out the dragon's heart, murmuring in the language of the Mori.

Mori! That's what Jager was. Zelthuros himself had never learned their language to its fullest, but knew enough to get by and to recognize it when he heard it. Jager seemed a subtle one, to put it plainly. It's curious that he would decide to speak in his native tongue now. Though, of course, he had no reason to suspect that anyone would recognize his tongue. Few had so much as met the Mori and known what they were.

He kept his distance for the most part, looking around the town but keeping the curiosity out of his now full-fledged amber eyes with a noticeable fire burning within them.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

He looked at Jager as he went to work and at the new elf who clearly was much more than he showed, he shrugged and walked away from the corpse, he had notice a strange glitter and he hoped that it was the sword of his fathers. It was, he came across the blade and gingerly touched it, it was still hot, but not too warm to handle. He picked it up, the only thing wrong with the sword was that the leather thongs that encased the handle, but it was not a difficult thing to repair. Holding the weapon he turned back towards the others, a shadow caught his eye and there stood Zelthuros, well at least their little company seemed whole again, the only missing one was Yuroni. He sighed a weary sigh, sheathed the sword and walked over to where Kelt stood eyeing the dragon's corpse.

"Come along you big lug, I'm sure you want some oats and water."

A soft nicker and the sound of heavy hoofs on the ground followed him as he made his way back to the stables, giving Angel a smile on his way back. People parted from him and so far nobody dared to make a move against his companions as they were the ones who had just saved the town.

 

[AngelLightheart]

Angel Blackwing

Angel sighed, watching Jager dig out the dragon's heart very unceremoniously. Even if he was misguided, dragons are deserving of more respect than that. There are words to be said, actions to be done.

Leave it to the Mori to throw out honor.

She sighed again. She shouldn't think that way. She was a Blood Mage, after all. The most forbidden of the magic schools. More so than even Necromancy, which was a dark art in itself. Regardless, Angel murmured a few words for the dragon, plucking a few of its spare scales off the ground with a touch of magic and bringing them over to her.

She placed them in a small pouch on her belt before turning to Grimlock when he smiled at her. She smiled back and blushed slightly. The turned to scan the rest of the village, just barely seeing that Zelthuros had returned with Shadow and were standing in the darkness under the eave of the destroyed cottage. She wondered where he had been. Maybe she would ask him later. When she was turning away, though, and he looked at her, she thought his eyes had changed colors. It was too far away for even an elf's eyes to be sure, but she thought they were a bright amber now.

She noted briefly the writing of Zander, the newest insane mage, and waved it off. What he was writing didn't interest her in the slightest, which was saying something. Usually she was interested in everything odd, and Zander was very odd indeed.

She shook her head and turned away, following Grimlock into the stable, which had avoided the entire fight without a scratch.

 

[Dramaticflare]

"Fly damn you!" Cried the elf from the back of the headless dragon, physically attempting to flap one of the massive wings. Despite his best efforts, really his best, he couldn't even get the wing to budge. He threw himself back and sideways and forth and waysides but the corpse absolutely refused to enngage in any activity. "What is with this town and its rampant laziness? I'll never understand, ducky. Truly I won't."

Disengaging from his attempt to receive life from the lifeless, Zander slid down the tail of the creature and into the road. There was a bit of a crowd growing now and Znder sneered at them dissapprovingly. He stalked back along the dragon's corpse and noticed the bigger knight and womann wandering off.
"It appears ducky that we might be finished in this location. The air is getting stuffy," he tugged at his collar and fanned himself with his handkerchief. "The sultryness is astounding." He further mumbled, and he too left the scene of the dragon.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Zelthuros

Zelthuros stepped out of the shadow of the building carefully, eyes scanning the area again for any sign of hostility from any person, or even any object. Things weren't what they seemed when a dragon's magic was involved. It...changed things. Made things different like no other kind of magic could.

He walked calmly, body language betraying nothing as he stepped up to the head of the downed dragon. The soul reawakened within him made him see things differently, including this dragon, whom he had had a part in killing himself. He knealt down slowly, placing a hand over its snout. He closed his eyes.

"I am sorry, brother." he murmured in a voice not quite his own, a voice containing a darker tinge, one filled with an ancient magic.

He gave the snout a gentle pat and closed the beast's great eyelids before standing up again. A great beast had been lost this day. A youngling who didn't quite know what world he was in, who didn't know what had happened over the many years that he had lay dormant.

He turned his head to look at the others gathered around the beast, and those further away who kept their distance. {I}Commoners.{/I} They always thought strange of magic and any race other than human. But it was not for him to question. He turned his gaze fromt hem and moved away, seeking his own solitude, but paused and turned to cast a glance at the heart held in Jager's hands.

A shame.

He spun his longbow in a graceful circle through his fingers as he walked, not pausing until he reached the edge of the village. He stopped to lean against a cottage, watching the multitude of people who had already fled towards Detrol. They would warn the guard there, and they would most likely be over to investigate the claims within the next few moons. They should have time enough to rest and get away in time.

If all things go according to plan, of course.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Grimlock

He stabled Kelt and rubbed the big horse down, then from the bags of feed he brought him a mixture of corn and oats, he knew that Kelt would appreciate that along with the water. He turned to find Angel behind him as she had followed him, he gave her a small smile.

"Are you alright? That was quite some battle you fought out there."

He wondered if she knew of all the things he had thought when she pulled him from the black void of unconsciousness.

"And quite a strange lad the new guy is, I wonder what his role would be in all of this."

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Jager mostly ignored the insane elf, which was no small feat considering his antics. Instead, Jager found a bare patch of dirt and proceeded to clean off the blood and grime from the dragon’s heart as best he could. He briefly took note of the departure of Grimlock and Angel, with Grimlock taking his big horse into the stable and Angel following shortly thereafter for some reason. Jager also noted with some relief the departure of the insane elf, hoping to never cross paths with the mage again, but somehow doubting it.

Jager also saw Zelthuros step out of the shadows and approach the dragon. Something seemed different about the undead Ranger, a sort of attentiveness and an almost…mystique…that hadn’t been there before, but with the atmosphere charged as it was with the battle, Jager couldn’t get a good sense of what was different. It was at that moment that someone’s cautious approach caught his attention, and when he looked up, he found the captain of the city guard walking towards him a bit nervously.

“It’s d-dead, right?” asked the captain, looking nervously at the corpse of the dragon.

Typical, but not unexpected, thought Jager. It had been hundreds of years since any human had laid eyes on a dragon, causing the great beasts to become little more than fairy tale creatures to frighten children with, and it was often the case that fear remained even when the children grew up. While the city guard was charged with defending against attack, they were never trained to deal with something like a dragon, so it wasn’t surprising that the guardsmen were nowhere to be seen during the fight. However, for the captain of the guard to even get this close to the body of the dragon was a testament to the man’s courage, even if he was so scared he was stuttering.

“Unless you know of a creature than can survive having its throat slit and its heart cut out, yes, it is dead,” replied Jager, adopting an accent that he typically used when dealing with humans.

“You’re that Northern Nomad hunter, aren’t you? The one who brought in some goblin ears earlier?” asked the captain, relaxing a bit at Jager’s words and recognizing his accent.

“Yes,” Jager replied simply. The Northern Nomads were a fairly large collection of independent human tribes who wandered the northern regions of the world, often traveling southward to trade with Detrol and the other cities. It wasn’t unusual for a few members of the tribes to settle down in the cities or to wander on their own, which was a fact that the Mori took advantage of.

The Mori shared many similarities with the Nomad tribes, their languages sounding so similar as to be nigh impossible to differentiate to those unfamiliar with one or the other language, as well as many physical features. However, that is where the similarities end. The Mori and the Nomads are not related in any way, not even in sharing a long forgotten bloodline.

“I hope you aren’t expecting the city guard to pay a bounty for that creature because we can’t even begin to offer enough thanks for killing it,” said the captain. “In fact, I don’t know if there is even a bounty offered for whatever that is.”

“Although I’ve never seen one before, I believe this is what you call a ‘dragon’,” replied Jager, the guard’s eyes going wide in surprise. Jager realized that there indeed was no public bounty offered for dragons, considering how rare they are. The only bounty offered was between the Mori and the King in Detrol, but that was hundreds of years ago, so there was way to know if it would still be honored by the current king, let alone remembered. Given the general attitude towards non-humans these days, Jager rather doubted it.

“A d-dragon?!? I thought they were just fairy tales!” exclaimed the man. “The stories hardly do them justice.”

“Was there anything else you’d like to ask, Captain?” asked Jager, getting a bit impatient with the man, but not showing much of it.

“Oh, right. Yes, I wanted to know if you were friends with the…,” the captain trailed off at Jager’s glare, for Jager knew what the captain was asking. “No, apparently you’re not. Well, I just wanted to inform you that you are welcome to stay in town for as long as you wanted, but the two magic users will have to leave town. We’re not so cruel as to force them to leave so soon after saving out town, so we’ll have some supplies and horses waiting at the gates around midday for them. That should give them plenty of time to get far from here because we expect a patrol from Detrol to arrive by sundown.”

Jager looked off to the east and saw the very faint glow of the coming dawn, which meant that Angel and the others would have a few hours to rest before they had to leave.

“Thank you for the offer,” replied Jager. “However, while I have no business that requires my presence elsewhere, I have no desire to get involved with soldiers from Detrol. When they ask for the ones who killed the dragon, you can honestly tell them that we all left town of our own accord, desiring neither fame nor fortune for what we have done. If you wish to convey your message to the others, you’ll find the woman in the stables talking with that man who seemed to have been a knight. As for the other, your guess is as good as mine as to where he is. Good day to you, Captain.”

With that, Jager left the captain to go look for the others on his own while Jager sought out a place where he could get some rest after all that has happened in the past day. It had been weeks since he had last gotten some proper rest, having only just returned from his last hunt just yesterday. He was supposed to be sound asleep in Detrol right now, but his hangover, not to mention his vacation, had been ruined by the events that occurred just a short time ago, shortly after sundown, and it was now almost sunrise the next day. Whoever was responsible for all this will not be happy once Jager tracked them down.