[center][h1][color=indianred]🄴🅁🄸🅂🄴🄳[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=indianred]It was getting a little hard to breathe. Thin air, high altitude, her speed which hadn’t decreased in any way, her idiocy – there was a wonderful variety of reasons to choose from.

With a mental, exasperated sigh, Erised got rid of the gravity-defying organ. The leftover desire from the change channelled through her form, hollowing her bones. The changes were subtle, almost unnoticeable, but Erised felt it all. Lighter, streamlined. Her form seemed to [i]fit[/i] the skies somehow. Against her back, two skeletal fingers poked through her shirt and in a manner that was gruesome and not quite painless, burst out in a rush. The rest took place in a split second: meat rolled out over bone, then crimson red feathers fluffed out, spreading until they ended in jet black tips. Her shirt was agreeable to the change, shifting to adjust to the extra limbs.

While all this took place, her body had slowed to a stop in its ascent. Gravity reclaimed its hold on her and, with a slight tug, she was falling. Slowly, and then quicker as speed gave her a nudge and the planet’s surface jogged towards her. Jogging, not rising steadily, because its pitifully weak gravity was the cause of Erised’s blunder in the first place. If it wasn’t for the wind stealing her breath away, she would’ve given a haughty sniff.

The dragons were circling idly above the village. A brief reprieve from raining hell on the humans? No, their desires still sang of bloodlust. They weren’t tired. They were waiting for their chance to strike again. Somewhere along their thirst for blood, something else pulsed strong in their hearts.

[b]Serve the king.
Orders.[/b]
[I][b]Orders.[/b][/I]

How boring. Erised fell headfirst, wings folded, form straight as an arrow. With both hands on the hilt, she pointed her sword straight down and braced for impact. Not a moment too soon – the sword plunged into the neck of one of the unsuspecting circling dragons.
 
‘[i]Fuck![/I]’

That’s what she’d had in mind, anyway. In reality, the sword snapped in two, splintering at the tip, and she smashed into the dragon’s neck. Pain shot up her arms as she bounced off unyielding scales and slipped right off the dragon's neck, into open air. She watched as the dragon above her opened its maw, resigned.

‘[i]Fucking figures the sword's a loser too.[/i]'

Ice – ice? – shot towards her and she ducked out of the way with a quick flap of her wings. The attack, never stopping, followed her and with a click of her tongue, she looped up and over the dragon. What a bother. Sparing a side glance, she flicked her fingers. The attack stopped, a garbled choke escaped the dragon and then red burst out of it, piercing through its chest and back. If anyone bothered to look closely, they would see that the red matter resembled the sword she'd previously attempted to use.

'[b]Really? I thought dragons were supposed to be strong[/b],' said Erised. The red matter vanished unceremoniously. Desire had no use lingering in the physical plane.

[b]DIE HUMAN.[/b]

The two other dragons hadn't bothered watching their comrade fall; they charged at her with enraged roars and she stayed where she was, hovering. She lifted a hand and flicked her fingers. Like before, desire burst out of their bodies, though this time it pierced through their chests and backs as simple spikes. They fell. She watched, disinterested, then redirected her gaze to her palms. Her flippant demeanour from earlier was all but gone.

'[b]Still got it[/b],' she murmured.

It was so [i]easy[/I]. Destroying. Killing. She flexed her hands. Taking over this world, setting hell on these people, all of it would be so, so easy. She hardly needed to lift a finger to kill everyone in an instant. The hilarious part was that it wouldn't even matter - she could find another world just like this and do it all again. Here, she knew no one, didn't even know the local language. None of them [i]mattered[/I]. They shouldn't.

She grit her teeth. 

[i]'[color=sandybrown][b]Guess you'll be here a while, huh?[/b][/color]'[/I]

Before she could tell the memory to piss off - and really, a mini-flashback, how delightfully cliché - a distant whinny caught her attention. She glanced back down to the mess below. Fire still blazed in the little town. The marketplace was basically a free bonfire at this point, thanks to all the ancient ass, flammable structure. Where the hell [I]had[/I] she landed herself in? The place was outdated. 

Provided nothing had interrupted their descent, the ice dragon would have crashed in the forest on the edge of the village and the other two smack-dab in the middle of the town, atop the marketplace where they smothered the flames somewhat. Not too far from where the ice dragon had crashed, a thick trail of ice had broken through the forest's canopy, probably from the ice dragon's earlier attack. However, all this Erised skimmed over with a disinterested eye to look at the stables, currently in ruins. Another distant whinny sounded and Erised bristled. Her horse! Bet or no bet, she was getting that horse. Abandoning thoughts of world annihilation for the moment, she sped over to the stables. The fire hadn't spread there, thankfully, and the stables weren't as ruined as she thought. At least the roof hadn't collapsed. There was another dragon nearby; it didn't seem to be with the boring human-siding dragons so she ignored it. Landing roughly in front of the stables, she stumbled in and her expression immediately soured.

'[b]Oh. You guys.[/b]' The unreasonably powerful kid and the big guy who'd come to get defence earlier. She didn't bother asking why they were there - the remains of brain and shattered bone splattered on the ground along with the limp body they'd belonged to filled her in well enough. No matter. She was here for the horse. She'd been content enough seeing these two obvious protagonists on the sidelines but crossing their paths directly, and [I]twice[/I], stirred an uneasy filling in her gut. Coincidences proved to be otherwise far too often. 

The horse was still where she'd last seen it and significantly less composed. Great. Erised's chances of befriending animals were always abnormally low, but now they were nonexistent with the horse already freaked out.

'[b]Hey, uh, either one of you a natural with animals?[/b]' she said. '[b]'Cause it would be great if you could calm her down and then I'll be on my merry way.[/b]'[/color]

[hr]
[center][h2]𝕭𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖔𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓...[/h2][/center]

There was a stretch of forest that rounded the back of the village, before the trees petered out and sloped up into the mountain Secor called home. Getting down the mountain quickly had been easy enough for Secor; now he crouched among the top branches of a sturdy tree, peering out at the scene before him in amazement. The human village was doing its best to turn into a pile of ashes. Fearing for their lives, the humans scattered in a mad frenzy. Some retreated back into their houses, while most ran blindly away from the epicentre of the traitors' attack.

So far he had gathered that the situation centred around a female human hatchling, protected by a bigger male human. The human hatchling was most likely important, considering the traitors involved, but for what reason Valen couldn't fathom. The most alarming thing he heard amidst the chaos was the startled shout of '[b]ARIST![/b]' - he'd stiffened where he was, instinctively ducking down even though he had no need to. An Arist? Here? How? He must have misheard. Reluctantly, he peered through the branches again. No, that was an Arist alright. He bristled, barely holding back a confused growl. He'd have to alert the clan and they'd have to set up a guard post. An Arist was no joke. Especially not when they were supposed to be [i]extinct[/i].

But this one wasn't doing much else, aside from attacking one of the traitors. Secor narrowed his eyes. He'd observe a little more before making any decisions.

'[color=lemonchiffon][i][b]Secor![/b][/i][/color]'

Alarm rushed through him a second time. Foliage rustled and he looked down as one of his [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragcave/images/c/ca/Floret_Wyvern_female_gold.png]floret wyvern neighbours[/url] came into view. Though her flowerlike mane and tail resembled some of the plant life around them, that was about where the similarity ended. Her spread of gold and back feathers made her stand out like wild mana in a pitch-black cave. He wasn't any better but at least he could take care of himself in a pinch.

'[i][b]Haila![/b][/i]' he responded sharply. '[i][b]You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous.[/b][/i]'

'[color=lemonchiffon][i][b]I'm on my Wander. Secor, I saw the human village burning. Isn't there anything we can do?[/b][/i][/color]'

Wandering now, of all times? There couldn't have been a worst time to pick. Secor didn't know the details of the florets' rite of passage for their young but he did know that there was an unspoken rule not to interfere with wherever their floret neighbours chose to go. It was an etiquette that wasn't making his job any easier at the moment.

'[b][I]It's a [/I]human[I] village, Haila. The second you show yourself, they'll try their best to kill you. And will probably succeed in doing so[/I][/b],' he added. Some florets were tactically-sound fighters, but Haila wasn't one of them. She was known for her eager optimism; the enemy would rip her into tiny, soft pieces.

As if on cue, his instincts prickled. Not bothering looking up, he leapt down the tree, barreling into Haila and shoving them both aside. A chill ghosted against his back, and then [I]something[/I] slammed into the ground behind them. The sound of resounding cracks followed its heels. Growling, Secor got off Haila and looked back, before immediately looking up through the newly-made gap in the canopy. A wall of ice was spread along the area they'd just been in moments before, half-buried into the ground. More concerning, however, was the small figure in the sky.

'[I]No.[/I]'

A human with wings wasn't possible. Unheard of. As if hearing his thoughts, a massive red object pierced through the ice-breathing traitor, almost effortlessly. The other two traitors were dispatched similarly after, leaving the human alone in the skies. An unsettled growl rumbled deep in his throat. Haila shifted uneasily next to him.

This was a problem, a [I]massive[/I] problem. If humans were harbouring magic this powerful and the Arist were back - and with one right [i] here[/i], they may all be in grave danger. He glanced at Haila and a flash of irritation went through him. If it weren't for her Guardian-cursed Wander...

'[i][b]How good's your long-distance telepathy?[/b][/i]' he sent.

'[color=lemonchiffon][i][b]...I could probably reach the clan from here. What do you want me to send?[/b][/i][/color]'

'[i][b]No. I'm heading back to warn the rest.[/b][/i]' He hesitated, then continued. '[b][i]You stay here and keep an eye on the human in the sky. If anything develops, tell me. And do not, under any circumstance, engage with it or the traitors[/i][/b].'

Concern radiated from Haila. Secor hoped it was just for the risk her task held and not for the village humans. She had a soft heart and was yet to understand the ways of the humans. On the brighter side... she'd learn them soon enough.

A rumble of agreement escaped her. He started to move off, then paused.

'[b][i]With heart, Haila[/i][/b],' he sent, and received a burst of surprise.

[color=lemonchiffon]'[b][i]With heart, Secor.[/i][/b]'

He left without looking back. So began Haila's Wander, by the edge of a burning village.[/color]

[hr]
[center][h1][color=mediumseagreen]CHERYL LUSBY[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=mediumseagreen]Jack seemed different from the frazzled mess he was before. He didn't even meet her eyes until he was right up in her space. Mood swings and unstable magic; great travel buddy she'd been saddled with.

'[b]Yeah, yeah, let's just go[/b],' she said. It was about time, anyway. Without much fanfare, she slipped the coin pouch into one of Guinea's saddle bags, got on the horse and, assuming Jack followed suit, they were off at a full gallop. 

An unlit oil lantern was hooked on Guinea's saddle bag but seeing as tonight was Beckon Season, she wouldn't have need for it. The three moons lit her path well, bathing the surroundings with their glow of pale green, blue and pink. The colours mingled perfectly - blending into each other without quite mixing. Maybe if Cheryl had a mind to appreciate nature, she might have thought it looked nice, but all she wanted now was a thrice-damned bed. The moons just meant she had one less problem to worry about.

Sonarlis, the meatpit of a town it was, was tucked away against a mountain and located a day's travel from the next nearest town. They certainly wouldn't be near any civilisation any time soon, but she'd clear at least part of the journey before finding a good spot to camp out. Jack better had his own bedroll, because there was no chance in hell she was sharing. The road out of Sonarlis was bordered by the forest edge and if one were to look, foliage and shadows would wink back before the tree line. Stare long enough and perhaps something else might look back. With her eyes on the road, Cheryl had to settle for shadows lurking just out of the corner of her eyes. Piper's breath chuffed against her neck every other moment. The steady rhythm of Guinea's hooves beating the dirt grounded her. With Guinea being one of the speedier breeds, Cheryl imagined they'd be able to cover quite a bit of ground before settling for the night.

If she pretended that no one else was in the saddle with her, it almost felt like a non-crappy night.[/color]