Though the battle was coming to a conclusion, Zaino wasn't finished. Even as the remaining fliers turned to flee, he refused to let them escape, pursuing them and caught a Wyvern Rider just as he had prepared to take off into the sky, tossing his sword to the side. He clung on to the wyvern's wing as it began to struggle when it reached ten feet from the ground, beginning to descend slowly. He propelled himself up enough to grab hold of the rider's leg with both hands, pulling the rider from his mount. As the two plummeted to the earth, Zaino again pulled the rider downward so that they would absorb the sheer force of the fall, shifting his hands to grip their armor as they made their landing.

The rider screamed as his back met the ground, bones crunching and blood splattering around his body in a splotch. Zaino, seeing as the man was immobilized, quickly rose to his feet and nearly tripped as he reached for his sword. Seeing this, the man made a vain attempt to plead for his life, barely able to raise his hand in a motion for Zaino to stop. [b]"St-stop... I've got family.. they'll starve!"[/b]

[b]"I had a family too,"[/b] Zaino replied, using his free hand to remove the rider's helmet to reveal the man's youthful, frightened face. He was not amused at the man's display of tears, raising the sword up as the man continued to beg.

[b]"But Lant-"[/b] was all the rider was able to say before the edge of Zaino's sword crossed the man's throat. [b]"[i]But clearly[/i], you didn't seem to care then, did you?"[/b]

Zaino looked above to see that the wyvern had flown away freely from the scene along with the rest of the surviving fliers, unable to keep himself upright for any longer. He couldn't tell if he had reopened any of his former wounds, and he was sure that he had gained new ones. Some of the bandages around his body had lost their tightening, allowing blood to flow from whatever wound did open. Biting his lip, he cursed himself for being in the same position as he had been last time when he collapsed.