[center][h3][color=1a7b30]Araguay Woods[/color][/h3][/center] [@Evanist] As the fight with the heavily armored knight draws to a close, the warriors take a second to catch their breath before heading towards the sounds of the melee down the road... Well everyone but Erion. Being tasked with searching for Holliander, he'd take his own chocobo and tug on it's reins- turning the creature's heading towards the tree line before riding onward. As the moogle attempted to ignore the echoing sounds of the combat from further down the road, he'd oddly hear the sounds of another melee further into the woods. Quickly, he'd pick up his tempo- rushing forward with renewed haste. As he came near, he couldn't help but notice a pair of humanish figures squaring off with one another- swords at the ready. When the moogle came within shouting distance, a sudden burst of light would erupt from the blade of the slightly smaller man, a blade seeming to form out of said light as it flew into the sky and rushed towards the other man. Oddly enough, the taller and broader of the two, plunged his blade into the ground as the sword of light drew near. Suddenly, the ground would begin to shake around the moogle and his mount (none of the others down the road would feel this) followed by an ebon blade erupting from the ground as it shattered the sword of light midair. Though slightly overwhelmed by the power and spectacle of it all, something else surprised the moogle more so. The two men that were fighting? Were the brother Commanders: Holliander and Vernire. [@Lugia][@Eklispe][@Cyrania] Jo-Anne and Robert quickly made their way up the road, meeting up with the forward guard in a matter of moments. However, nothing could've prepared them for the sights and sounds of the brutal combat: the mounting number of bodies upon the ground a harrowing sight as the survivors fought back the Risen about them. As the duo met up with Arus, the three would begin striking out against the horde- [hider=Combat Log] Robert casts Fire at the Risen Horde x5 Robert casts Fire on Risen Horde: Hit! (68 vs 61) Damage: Risen Horde loses 5 Health (25 vs 20) Robert casts Fire on Risen Horde: Hit! (65 vs 62) Damage: Risen Horde loses 15 Health (30 vs 15) Risen Horde suffers a loss (34) Robert casts Fire on Risen Horde: Miss (67 vs 75) Robert casts Fire on Risen Horde: Hit! (67 vs 65) Damage: Risen Horde loses 2 Health (26 vs 24) Robert casts Fire on Risen Horde: Hit! (70 vs 62) Damage: Risen Horde loses 6 Health (30 vs 24) Risen Horde counters Robert: Miss! (59 vs 63)[hr] Jo-Anne attacks Risen Horde x5 Jo-Anne strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (108 vs 75) Damage: Risen Horde loses 8 Health (28 vs 20) Risen Horde suffers loses (33) Jo-Anne strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (105 vs 61) Damage: Risen Horde loses 1 Health (25 vs 24) Jo-Anne strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (104 vs 68) Damage: Risen Horde loses 3 Health (28 vs 25) Jo-Anne strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (97 vs 65) Damage: Risen Horde loses 5 Health (25 vs 20) Jo-Anne strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (101 vs 73) Damage: Risen Horde loses 9 Health (29 vs 20) Risen Horde suffers a loss (32)[hr] Arus attacks Risen Horde x11 Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Critical Hit! (122 vs 57) Damage: Risen Horde loses 18 Health ((32 vs 23)x2) Risen Horde suffers a loss (31) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (118 vs 63) Damage: Risen Horde loses 8 Health (29 vs 21) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (108 vs 56) Damage: Risen Horde loses 7 Health (28 vs 21) Risen Horde suffers a loss (30) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (115 vs 65) Damage: Risen Horde loses 5 Health (29 vs 24) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (121 vs 67) Damage: Risen Horde loses 6 Health (29 vs 23) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Critical Hit! (119 vs 57) Damage: Risen Horde loses 18 Health ((31 vs 22)x2) Risen Horde suffers a loss (29) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (110 vs 72) Damage: Risen Horde loses 7 Health (31 vs 24) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Critical Hit! (116 vs 58) Damage: Risen Horde loses 22 Health ((32 vs 21)x2) Risen Horde suffers a loss (28) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Critical Hit! (121 vs 65) Damage: Risen Horde loses 16 Health ((29 vs 21)x2) Risen Horde suffers a loss (27) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Critical Hit! (114 vs 57) Damage: Risen Horde loses 16 Health ((28 vs 20)x2) Risen Horde suffers a loss (26) Arus strikes at Risen Horde: Hit! (123 vs 66) Damage: Risen Horde loses 8 (30 vs 22) Risen Horde counters Arus Risen Horde strikes at Arus: Miss! (58 vs 121) [/hider] - felling many of the horde before the undead strike back. All at once, the combat drew to a pause. For some reason, the Risen held their fire, those locked into the brunt of the melee suddenly holding their weapons aloft as they mindlessly stared at their adversaries before them. With a terrible screech from their back lines, the lines of the Undead began to retreat back into the woods. Almost everyone seemed to be taken aback by this, Robin obviously gaping at the situation. As the volunteers began to chase their prey, Robin called out, "Hold! We cut our loses here! Tend to the fallen and injured, we need to regroup with the others." Despite their motivations, most complied to Robin's orders without question. However, one soldier near the treeline spoke up, "What of Vernire?! He ran off into the woods!" "He made his decision. We'll make our way to a more defensible position and search for him as we make camp." With that, the last of the Risen seemed to fade into the darkness of the woods... However, a small flash of light from deeper within seemed to catch the trio's attention. What could it be?