[IC] Fairy Tail : United we Stand

[KiltmanBagz]

Klisa jumped so hard she nearly caused the bag of salt she kept in her belt look to jimmy free and fall all over the floor...again....Luckily she had grown used to the various guild members causing her to jump in surprise she had gotten into the habit of tying it quite tight into place. The blue-dressed girl spun around to Mary behind her with her normal bright demeanor. Like a ray of golden sunshine was their resident bar-lady. Among the tougher mages in the guild in many ways, it often came as a shock to outsiders that only knew of her as her reputation as an A class mage that she also worked as the bartender and waitress of the Fairy Tail Guild hall. Though Klisa could imagine few others that would have both the strength and the patients for the role. Mary was a perfect fit. The kind of out going, confidante person Klisa aspired to become with time.

"Mary, it's not nice to gossip so." Klisa gave a gentle giggle, as well as a slight flushing, to Mary's scandalous implication, only to be once again shocked into jumping, in unison with Mary, as the guild master was suddenly in on their conversation. surprised so much that a few bubbles very much akin to sea-foam hiccupped from her mouth as she made her squeak of surprise. She quickly popped the bubbles and covered her mouth to prevent more, a nasty habit of hers when she was surprised or nervous that was simply enough to embrace her to death. "H-hello Master Pollux." she greeted as he made his closer to her and her fellow dragon slayer. She nodded her head at his request for company, it wasn't often she got to speak with the Guild Master, as she was often too shy to approach him herself, or he was to sick or busy to otherwise be approached. "I have time, since I'm still waiting for someone else to do the job with." she replied

Though Klise ended up doing a lot more listening that talking. A mage of moderate power on her best days, which could be impressive given her limited time with this style of magic and being totally self taught, had she not that title and legend of 'dragon slayer' to live up to. She felt like a child listening to the serious talks of adults as the master and a few of the mower powerful guild spoke about some disturbing trends and what their level of involvement ot action taken should be. When it became cleaner the conversation was getting more private and serious, and less of her business to hear, she politely excused her self, taking her leave of the masters company.

She was soon met with Damon, the guilds celestial mage. A boy, only a year younger than herself, with great potential for growth. While somewhat of a 'slick' individual in his personality her was more often than not genuine and friendly at the very core of his being. Someone that Klise was more than happy to work with, though she figured there were few she wouldn't be willing to work with within the guild honestly. She gave him a smile and nodded her head "I would be delighted, company by the Sea is better than walking by the waves alone. I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

[MysT3CH]

Steadily alternating between a near-crawl and low squat, Verin grimaced as he studied the giant footprint before him. Deeply embossed within a patch of soft grass, the three-pronged impression was easily noticeable among the tall, lushly green foliage. The mage's crimson eyes then eagerly scanned the surrounding woodlands, searching for additional clues as he ran two fingers against the base of the footprint. Once again, he was grateful. As the Wyvern, a predator at the top of its food chain, subsequently failed to cover its tracks. Thus, for only the second time, Wandera had picked up its trail.

Ever since Chloe and himself had managed to embarrass Rurik, their companion had been overly, if not eerily, quiet. While Verin enjoyed this, using the ensuring silence to sharpen his focus during their hunt. He also couldn't help but feel guilty, but quickly dispelled the thought as a question then came to his mind.

"Hey Rurik, if you were a predator who knew he was being hunted, what would you do?" His words were hushed yet firm, implying there was more behind the question than mere curiosity. Hence, as Verin moved away from the footprint, he then turned toward a distantly damaged tree.

-=\ Ω /=-

Mt. Hakobe, Fiore

Snow. It battered his face with ferocious force. Sending a nipping chill over his increasingly tender skin as each of the crystal flakes shattered against his cheeks. Feeling as daggers as they did. Eyes squinted, his face became but a constant scold. Jaw hardened as he pushed on, braving the cold. Each step a struggle as he lifted and lowered frozen feet out of, and then back into, a knee's depth of snow. His emerald eyes leaked as they scanned, then searched the vast expanse of whiteness around him. Attempting to satisfy his urge to rest, whilst not condemning himself to the fate he now fled. With a gloved hand, he went on to fumble then tightly grip the steel rod within his grasp. Stammering his steps as he stumbled, fell, then recovered with an exasperated gasp.

He shivered violently, shrugging off the sensation of pain that accompanied every movement that his body made. While a minute wince proved it to he not without ill effect, the leather clad man simply pressed on as he had for the last quarter hour. Daring not to stop, as not to risk confrontation, or worse, capture by his pursuer, he continued on his wayward path. Thus, he was quick to glance over his shoulder. Quickly, discreetly, as the many times before. A slight wave relief filling his being as he pursed his lips beneath the white scarf he wore.

It was then, if only for an instant, that he heard it. An unearthly roar over the cry of the frigid winds. Turning frantically, he watched as a dual quartet of boulders barreled down an unseeable slope. Appearing to be nothing but distant spots as they sliced through the veil of inclimate weather and continued towards him. He turned and took a step, then paused. He wished to do nothing but run, yet his muscles ached. Thus, he did nothing but wait. Dropping to his knees before laying flat on his stomach upon the surface of the snow. Covering his head, he then closed his eyes, praying that the his snow covered jacket would be enough to hide him among the storm. Again he heard the rumbled roar of the boulders on approach.

[KillamriX88]

Rurik looked at the footprint they'd found. It was quite large. Talons like that could easily disembowel all of them in one slash. Well, he doubted they'd be lining up, so that wasn't too big of a concern, but still... Their prey probably saw them as such, and was much larger. Their only real advantage was their magic and numbers.

He pondered Verin's question for a bit. He wasn't entirely sure, a wyvern was much different from a wolf or bear.

"We have to consider all the facts. According to Alex, they're smart, so it will probably be coming up with some sort of plan. Because you ran from it, Verin, it's going to assume it is stronger than you. To it, you're prey. It's going to assume that we're all prey. However, the fact that you tried to attack it, and then came back with more means it might also assume that we're not defenseless, so it won't just sit around. If it knows we're here, then it probably wants us to follow it. It expects us to track it, so I assume it's leading us to where it will feel more comfortable fighting back when it is ready to confront us. Also, if it is smart, it won't just wait... it'll ambush," Rurik finished ominously. "The only thing is, if we don't know where it plans to wait, we don't know when to expect the ambush, so we'll have to always expect an ambush."

In that case, he was their best bet of not getting caught off guard.

"Predator Magic, Sense. Ears." His voice was little more than a whisper, but a moment later, even a whisper wouldn't escape his hearing. If the wyvern got close, the smallest twig snapping, or a breath taken too loudly would alert him.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Chloe, was bored. This tracking business was growing exceedingly tiresome and annoying. Why couldn't she just level the damn forest. That'd draw it out, and then they could proceed to kick its ass. Or it'd just succeed in pissing it off. Probably the latter. Verin and Rurik looked like they were enjoying themselves, or at least didn't find all this boring, so she managed to keep her mouth shut for the most part, only letting out a quite snicker at Rurik every now and again. She couldn't help it, that look on his face when Verin and her mocked him was priceless. She'd have to buy him a drink or something later to apologize and for being a somewhat good sport about it.

The question Verin posed to Rurik caught her interest though. She wasn't an expert hunter or something like Rurik and Verin, but even if that Wyvern was smart she didn't think it'd set up an ambush for them, would it? "An ambush? Seriously? If I knew I was the baddest thing in the forest I'd just attack anything that tried to attack me." She replied after Rurik gave his answer. It seemed like that would be the logical choice for a giant man eating predator to her. Of course, Chloe was only used to thinking with her fists. Any in depth plans that didn't involve her punching something, went over her head usually.

She just wanted to hurry up and find the thing. Testing how strong she was against a Wyvern would be a good challenge and she was getting impatient.

[MysT3CH]

Verin almost sighed with disappointment at Rurik's words. "Was afraid you'd say that..." As he spoke, this time audible in volume, the young mage stood to his full height. At the rate they were going, they'd be hunting the Wyvern for days. So far, he had been able to pick out what he had thought were obvious baits. Clawed tree barks, dead yet uneaten animal corpses, forcefully broken tree limbs, but here now, the clues were starting to blend. Not only was it baiting them, it was watching. The thought only angered Verin at his core.

"Screw this." As the words left his mouth, his hands subsequently became engulfed by black flame. "Let's give it its prey" Without warning, he threw his arms out to his sides and took off into a sprint. All the while brandishing his arms in an wild display. When combined with the horrible squawking sound he continuously made, he would've seemed to be little more than a pyromaniac who had lost his way.

Inwardly though, Verin prayed that his plan would work. More so as he watched some of the surrounding foliage ignite in a shadowy display. "Oi! Polly! Remember me!!!? Dummy want a cracker?!" He aided his taunting with more failed attempts at mimicking the Wyvern's cry.

[KillamriX88]

Rurik's mouth formed a thin, tight-lipped line as he stared at Verin's strange and embarrassing behavior. What. The. Hell. Rurik blinked in confusion. It didn't help that his currently enhanced hearing made Verin's horrendous wyvern calls all the more obnoxious. But he heard something else too.

A rustling in the bushes. In the direction Verin was heading was large boulder, easily a few dozen tons of rock, and that was just what was visible above ground. The faint rustling gave way to a scratching sound, something hard grinding against something else hard. Something was climbing the far side of the boulder where they couldn't see. He also heard the unmistakable sound of scales sliding over the stone. Something with claws and scales was there, he was sure.

Rurik quickly came to a conclusion: if Verin walked by that boulder, there was a good chance he'd be a dead man.

"WAIT!" Rurik shouted just as Verin was about to reach it. A moment later, a large, green mass peeked over the edge of the boulder. Rurik saw fangs and scales glistening, but he was focused on Verin. Just as the wyvern reached the boulders summit, Rurik reached Verin. He grabbed his collar of Verin's jacket and pulled him back, and then outright lifted him and threw him backwards.

A moment later, there was a flash of green and white and scales and claws sped by, followed by a crash and a cloud of dust as the wyvern hit the ground where Verin had been about to step. Rurik's eyes went wide and his body went stiff, The wyvern craned its neck around, and suddenly Rurik was nose-to-nose with the beast, feeling its breath wash over his face. If he'd taken another step whilst saving Verin, he would have been pounced on!

A twitch of movement, and Rurik snapped back into motion, jumping back as the wyvern's jaws parted and snapped back shut where his head had been. It's jaws were big enough to take their heads off. In fact, it was just big in general. It's skull was early the size of his torso.

Once safe from being bitten, Rurik ended his retreat. He saw the wyvern pause, it was confused. Why wasn't he running, it must have been wondering. Why was this puny creature staring it down? But stare it down he did. He took a step forward, and the beasts eyes narrowed. Another step and it's body tensed and its jaws parted ever so slightly. So that was the limit then, how close he could get before breaking the stand-off.

He took another step. As expected, the beast snapped forward, jaws aiming to rip him in two. As expected. He lunged to the side, evading the deadly fangs.

"BEAR CLAWS!" Rurik's hands began to glow and the skin on his forearms took on a darker tone. He made a fist, and rammed it into the side of the wyvern's jaw. It's head was snapped to the side and it pulled its long neck back, shaking its head. That had hurt it, though Rurik had felt the hardness of its scales. It was like punching iron. However, it lowered its head and began to back away.

Well, that had been easy. It must have already seen the threat they posed. Job done.

His celebration lasted about two seconds before he caught the dangerous glint in the creature's eyes. He'd made a slight miscalculation. He had just enough time to raise his arms in front of his chest before the wyvern spun, twisting its body around and slamming its tail into Rurik. He was lifted off his feet and flew back, past Verin, bounced, flew past Chloe, and landed face down in the dirt.

Slight miscalculation. At least his magic had kept his arms from snapping like twigs...

[Marc]

The wind pelted against Riley’s chest as he and Alex slowly trudged through two inches of snow that blanketed the ground around them for what felt like miles. They barely had an idea of where they were going, since the blizzard made it near impossible to see. They were both tough, so they could handle the icy wind that tried to rip them to shreds with every gust. Riley thought that they were going the wrong way, but the silhouettes of the mining town of Holstur began to appear in the distance. Only miners would be crazy enough to live out here. Although after Alex confirmed his suspicions of the snowstorm being conjured by a Wizard, it made him think that a blizzard of this size was a first for the citizens as well. How were they going to get all of them out safely in this? He didn’t know the answer, and before he could ask Alex the figures of a large army of men dressed in armour walked towards them.
“It’s the Rune Knights.” Their armour was similar to what Mary usually wore, except hers no longer had their crest magically imprinted on its breastplate. However, when the group got closer he started to notice differences in their armour. The Rune Knights didn’t wear large shoulder guards, and their armour was silver, not grey. He also noticed the strange animal horns that were attached to their helms.
“All intruders must surrender and die.” A soft voice spoke from behind them, a young girls voice. The whole thing confused Riley, but he didn’t have time to think as the strange figures bombarded Alex and Riley with an array of different magic.

Thanks to some quick thinking and movements by Alex, the two of them were able to escape the group of mages.
“This mission just got a whole of a lot harder.” Riley stood up from the hiding spot and stared at Alex. “Hey, you’re a pretty strong wizard. Think you can keep them busy while I go and search for the Rune Knights and the villagers?” The two agreed on the plan, and Riley bolted off from their spot and ran as fast as he could. The magical storm that they had been in seemed to have an eye, focussed around Holstur, so he could at least see where he was going. He managed to slip past the group of wizards and entered the barren village. He ran to the city square, the strange quietness of the village giving him the creeps. Upon entering the village square, he was left to witness a horrifying sight. He probably would have thrown up, if he hadn’t seen it before. The markings on the ground, the bodies placed at key positions to form a giant magic circle. If Yukiko hadn’t stepped in all those years ago, this would be his fate. The idea that these dark rituals were still being held made his blood boil, and even when an armed wizard approached him with the intent to kill him, he didn’t hesitate to quickly swipe his blade through the air in an upwards arc. The man managed to step back in time.
“Nice try kid, but that sword of yours can’t pierce my armo-” He stopped mid sentence, watching as his armour fell off of him piece by piece. He opened his mouth to call for backup, but he was quickly met with a left hook across the face from Riley, followed by a knee straight to his gut.
“Who the hell are you people?! Talk or I’ll gut you like a fish!” He yelled, demanding answers from the Wizard. He looked back at the various bodies scattered across the town square. There were many childre amongst them. Even a few newborns. He bit his lip to stop himself from screaming, his fists clenched tightly around the guards neck. “I’ll kill you, you monster!”

He watched as the colour began to drain from the struggling guards face, and seeing that look of pain twisted across his face reminded him of his parents and the way those Dark Wizards had killed them. He barely remembered their names or their faces, he only remembered the day they died. He released the man, who fell to the ground coughing and grasping for breathe. He quickly ran away, when the sound of footsteps behind him brought his attention a young woman only a few years younger than him.
“Are you… a survivor?” His eyes widened in shock. She was beautiful. Her long, ginger hair curled down her shoulders to her waist, and her face was petite and light. She wore a strange, Victorian style dress with white lace. She stared at him with a disinterested expression, raising her palms to face him.
“Begone, intruder.” A large, black Magic Circle materialised above Riley, scanning him up and down. Her power was insane, he’d never even felt this kind of magic pressure from Yukiko. Just the force of it kept his body locked in place. “On second thought, stay.” She had the same voice as before, the girl who was issuing commands to the Dark Wizards.
“You’ll miss the big show if I kill you, and you came all this way. Let me give you a front row seat, I’m sure Lilith will love your company.” She clicked her fingers, and another magic circle appeared beneath him. The ground bubbled with a black sludge, which latched onto his legs and began to pull him into the ground. He cried out for help, tried to resist, but nothing stopped him from being dragged under.

A few moments later he awoke on some strange, cold place. Below him he saw Holstur. She had teleported him to Mount Hakobe. There were so many dangerous animals on this mountain, and not to mention this ‘Lilith’ person the girl had mentioned. He couldn’t just sit around, so he decided to make his way back down the slippery mountain slopes.

---

Mary was already in the Soul Mountains, still wearing her sundress. She’d decided against wearing her armour at the very last minute, so she had a head start with picking flowers. She had already filled two baskets full of wildflowers when James and Aero began to make their way to her.
“Oh, hello you two.” She wrapped her arms around the two of them, pulling them together into a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry about storming out earlier, I guess you could say I wasn’t feeling the best.” The field around them were beautiful. The Soul Mountain pass was a popular tourist destination once, until bandit activity started to grow there. Now it was just a travel pass from Magnolia to the next town over; Haven. The Soul Mountains were a beautiful slate gray colour, and the large patches of wildflowers that were scatted throughout the pass were truly a sight to behold.
“Come on you two, we need to fill up 20 baskets each to meet our quota.”

[Rune_Alchemist]

Chloe was busing laughing at Verin's wild yelling when Rurik had saved his head from becoming lizard food. At first, she was a bit stunned and couldn't really do anything. That thing, was huge. Definitely bigger than she thought it was going to be. They were supposed to fight this thing? Well damn, now she'd wish Alex didn't get re-assigned. "Oh well" she though "No time to complain about it, I'll just have to-" Chloe barely had timed to dodge a flying Rurik, who had just been sent flying by the creatures attack.

"Hey, watch it!" She shouted at him, completely ignoring the large lizard. "If you're gonna get killed, don't get me killed in the process idiot!" She shouted at him with a growl. During this time, the large beast had advanced on the both of them and let out an enraged roar, none to pleased with either of them. "Alright you little birdie," Chloe grinned, almost evilly as she took a fighting stance. "Lets clip your wings." The ground around Chloe, Rurik, and the Wyvern began to lowly rumble as small stones began to lift off the ground. Soon, a visible amount of stone had been removed from the ground and had began to form a shape just a meter or so away from Chloe.

The Wyvern seemed unimpressed with this development, and charged at her. She smirked a somewhat cruel smile as the beast did so. "Hands of the Stone Giant!" The mass of earth forming behind her settled, as two giant earthen hands took shape. Just as the giant beast lunged at her, she placed both of the fists in front of the beast, acting as a shield.

The Wyvern slammed its head into it at a high speed. "Haha! Running into a rock wall at full speed hurts, doesn't it!?" She laughed almost manically. "I should know, I've done it a few times myself. Verin here too." The Wyvern reeled backwards, obviously hurting a bit from the two blows that had just been landed on its head. Chloe wasn't about to let up though. Unlike Rurik, she wasn't going to pause, not for even two seconds.

She ran towards the beast, the stone hands balling into fists as she aimed another blow right on top of the Wyverns head. The Wyvern had already recovered though and dodged the attack by swiftly sliding its head out of the way sending the two fists smashing into the ground creating a small crater. In the following seconds, the Wyvern head butted Chloe hard enough to send her flying backwards. She managed to regain her balance though, and land more or less on her feet.

"Oi, are you guys really gonna let a girl do all the fighting?" She chuckled, as she seemed to shake off the blow despite the obvious bruise she would have later. This was bad. This creature obviously was going to need all three of them to take it down, hopefully the other two would get off their asses and lend a hand.

[Shifter_Master]

Alex took a moment to make sure that Riley was going to get past the swarm of mages safely, nodding to himself he requipped his long sword while taking a centering breath 'Once again I find myself calling out to a force that may not even exist' he thought as he stepped out from his hiding spot 'But I must once again use this gift to take lives so that more may be saved, so please don't hate me too much' He knew it was too much to hope for to take down this group and keep them alive, after all Dark cults are not going to just up and quit if they get knocked down. That didn't mean Alex was going to enjoy it, nor did it mean he was going to kill them all on sight, he was going to try and be better than the cult.

Pulling in his magic to have his presence blend in more with the storm, he started his attack, a quick dash and a few slashes dropped his first target before he retreated in to the storm, his coat making him harder to track. Rinse and repeat a few times and now there were four dead or severely wounded, but they were sticking together. One tried to split off and get to the town before a rail of raw magic ran him through, but now his cover was blown and the rest of the squad knew where he was. Gritting his teeth Alex charged them intent on keeping the initiative he had going. Minutes later he was the last one standing the white of his coat dyed red as was the snow that was falling, wiping some of the blood off his face Alex let out a tired sigh 'Killing never gets easier, thankfully' after a short break Alex set off towards the town. His look resolve seemed as if it was carved from stone.

Upon reaching the center of town he didn't even falter a step, He knew already what he would likely find. The types of magic and the outfits that the mages he had dealt with had told him all he needed to know. He walked right up to the edge of the ritual circle that had been placed before stopping. Tossing his arms out to the side, his sword vanishing as he did, he pulled upon his magic as a cold fury settled in his gut "Force-Make: Crushing Wave!" He intoned harshly as he slammed his hands together in a sharp clap. Instantly a thigh high wall of raw magic appeared around Alex, before flooding out from him ripping up the ground as it dug its way away from him in all directions. He held the spell until it removed the ritual site from his view. After that he turned towards the sky before yelling out, amplifying his voice with his a small touch of magic "You shall not hide from me!" Taking a deep breath after his shout, he closed his eyes as he sharpened his magical awareness to its peak. He scanned the surrounding area; he would be ready for when someone came to find him.

[RowsOfDeath]

Despite the embarrassment that came with the embrace, Aero still appreciated it. It meant that she was okay, and not troubled to much by whatever went on earlier. He admired her in her sundress, it really suited her. Pulling his gaze away from her, he admired the surrounding area, the view off of the mountain spectacular.

Far in the distance he could see Magnolia town, the guild towering above every thing else. Further on, he could see the ocean, and Hargeon, where Charlotte would be arriving.... Taking his thoughts away from that, he nodded to Mary, and bent down to pick flowers. Whereas most wizards of his caliber would be degraded to do such a menial task, Aero found it relaxing, even soothing, and soon drifted off into daydreams.

"Aww, look at you, picking flowers! I remember when we were kids, and you used to make them out of ice, and give them to the ladies in town.."

He looked up, to see Elena standing there, grinning, already holding 5 baskets full. She worked hard, and fast, he'd give her that. He smiled as she said that, his thoughts drifting to back when they were kids....

---

"Here Miss Ariel, I made you this! It's a flower made of ice!"

Aero is young, only about 12 years of age. It had been about 4 years since the day he found Elena, and he had almost perfected his ice magic technique. Lately he'd been using his magic to create different things, and found he could create anything he pictured in his mind's eye. After seeing one rare flower in the village, he had been so captivated by it that he started to practice creating it, until he had almost made a perfect replica.

He presented it to Ariel, the villages nurse. She smiled as he handed it to her, and looked it over. Taking it, she placed it outside, on the windowsill, where it wouldn't melt.

"Thank you Aero, this means so much to me.. Maybe someday you can learn to create entire fields of flowers, that will last forever..."

---

Aero smiled fondly, his eyes tearing up a bit. He quickly wiped them away, making sure the others hadn't seen. He'd never live it down if they caught him crying. Besides, he'd see her again someday. He took back to the task at hand with a new vigor, picking flowers by the bunches, quickly filling up his baskets.

[datadogie]

James chuckled when Mary had hugged him, and then got to work picking flowers. It was quite peaceful out in Soul Mountains, and quite beautiful. If someone had taken him in his sleep, and he had woken up there, he'd probably not think he had been kidnapped, rather think he was still asleep and dreaming. It really was alluring.

After a while, James had finished his seventh basket of flowers. There we go, he thought. Just another thirteen to go. Suddenly, he stopped, and looked around at the others. Weren't we meant to get twenty baskets each? How are we supposed to carry all of that? He thought. He shrugged. They'd probably figure that out after they picked all of the flowers. James smiled, and continued to pick flowers.

Two more baskets later, he was practically swallowed in peacefulness. Suddenly, his ears heard something coming from a short distance away. It sounded like someone slipping, followed by a quiet oof noise. He looked up, and started to stare in the direction that the sound had came from. Being a dragon slayer, James had keener hearing, sight, and smell than normal humans. However, James couldn't see or hear anything coming from the area around him. He smelt something, though. He shrugged. It probably was just a traveler that had gotten lost, or maybe a person who had stopped by to look at the flowers. James went back to filling his tenth basket.

[MysT3CH]

For a moment, Verin had frozen in disbelief. A single cold sweat falling from his brow as he quickly heaved himself off of the ground. Though he had been prepared to counter an rapid attack, he was grateful that Rurik had intervened when he had. Even if he had hated the manner in which it had been done.

"Tch. At least I drew the damned thing out." As he took up a stoop, carefully maneuvering around the small clearing that had so suddenly become their battle ground, Verin watched as his two comrades engaged the large Wyvern. However, it was only after Chloe had blocked a blow from the Wyvern, that he finally reached over his shoulder and drew Esclarin from it's sheath. Skillfully, he then maneuvered it so that its blade would be parallel to his frame. Holding it within his right hand, arm outstretched, as he shot into a forward sprint.

His first couple strides was short, and focused on accelerating the movements of his limbs. The next two, long and leaping, as the young mage adjusted his angle of approach. Aiming himself directly at the Wyvern while making sure to keep Chloe between it and himself. Hoping to stay out of it's line of sight. Verin knew they wouldn't win in a slug-fest with such a naturally powerful beast, and for the most part, was sure that his comrades now did as well. Thus, it was his third sequence of movements that set his plan into play.

With an frontal leap, Verin shot forward, and utilizing his magic, summoned forth flames at the soles of his feet. Through them he boosted his momentum while in mid-air. Twisting about as to be upside down as he flew towards the beast, he then slammed Esclarin deeply into the earth below and before him with purpose. The results were instantaneous. With his flames still propelling him forward, Verin brought his feet together and tucked his legs in close to his frame. Just in time for his weapon, which had viciously whiplashed, to swing forward and make contact with the soles of his feet. Uprooting both dirt and stone with it as aided Verin on his way, acting as slingshot for him as he shot a mighty kick against his weapon and pushed off of it. The action caused him to again fly towards the Wyvern, albiet at a more rapid pace.

He then focused on increasing the output of his feet's flames. Intent on further increasing his speed. Thus, Verin now flew towards the Wyvern at blindingly speeds. Having just delivered a blow to Chloe, the beast was blind-sided, hence could only cry out as it begun to spin in an attempt to intercept the airborne Verin with its tail. It was only at the last second, just as the Wyvern's tail was about to reach him, that the mage then channeled all his focus into surrounding his right arm with his God Slayer Flames.

The explosion was brilliant.

While the Wyvern had remained relatively unscathed, having only been momentarily knocked of its balance, causing it to stumble over from its own weight. It was the resulting flash of black light, as well as the heavy concussive force of the attack, that left the creature momentarily dazed. Verin, who had been knocked to the ground by the force of the impact, then struggled to his feet. Breathing heavily as he gingerly clenched his right arm in pain.

For most mages, even ones with enhancement magic such as Rurik's, an attack like that would have left their arm badly broken and mangled. As the amount of force Verin had just funneled behind it was insane. It was only thanks to the scale-like armor composition of his arm, that Verin had managed not to brake it. However, even that didn't stop it from throbbing immensly with a sharp crippling pain.

[KillamriX88]

Rurik had taken an extra second to just lay there. It didn't sound like anyone was dying, but when Chloe began to complain, he pushed himself up... just in time to see the wyvern get blown up... wait, no it was still there. Rather, Verin had nearly blown himself up. The wyvern just looked annoyed, and was already regaining its balance. Well, Chloe had just been headbutted, and the state of Verin's arm was questionable; it seemed it was up to him for the moment.

Rurik advanced toward the beast and it honed in on him, as he was the only one really moving. It was angry now, so it immediately returned the favor, crawling towards him on its fore-wings. Rurik didn't need it to get close this time.

"Predator Magic: Flying Tiger" His arms glowed, the energy a brighter hue this time. He quickly swiped both his arms, and eight waves of energy shot through the air, in two sets of four, towards the creatures face. The first set hit it and it flinched. It then shut its eyes and tucked its head back, allowing the second set to splash harmlessly against its scales. It worked out well enough; it had looked away. "Predator Magic: Bear Claws!" Rurik closed in and swatted one side of its head, and then the other, bouncing its head between his two hands. It screeched and pulled its head back, covering its head with its wings.

Good, now he just needed one more blow and- his eyes went wide as it reared back, spreading its wings quickly. Rurik was nearly hit, stumbling back and covering his eyes to block the dust cloud. He panicked when he realized he'd repeated the mistake the wyvern had just made. He looked just in time for the wyvern to buck its head, knocking Rurik over. He quickly scrambled back, he needed to keep away from its jaws. It was smart though, it didn't try to bite him, it kept its head away, where it was safe. It tried to spear him with the single, large claw at the tip of its wing. "Predator Magic: Tiger Trap!" He swung his hands three times, creating a tightly knit mesh of energy hovering in the air a foot in front of him. As the wyvern lunged, it struck the latticework of energy, and recoiled as the energy burst against its wing. Rurik felt something hit his face: blood. It was't much, but when the wyvern had thrown all its weight against his tiger energy, it had cut itself, the scales around its wing-claw had tearing away a little. It was almost negligible damage... but it proved the beast wasn't invincible.

That said, Rurik was still not on his feet, and the wyvern was still mad... he wasn't sure he had time for another tiger trap. He hated asking for help, but surely he'd bought enough time! They had to be ready to move again!

[Rune_Alchemist]

As Chloe regained her composure for another round, she was surprised to see a huge explosion. She couldn't help but to be impressed. If that was the power of Verin's magic, then he could have probably handled this by himself. Or so she thought in the first few seconds of the explosion until she saw Verin get blasted back and clutch his arm as though he had nearly broken it. Was she seriously the most competent one here? That thought was amusing, considering she was normally the one getting injured all over the place.

At least the beast was stunned, and at looked like Rurik was going to go in for another attack, giving her time to ready her next few attacks. Cracking her knuckles she focused. She made a downward punching motion, one of the giant hands she made following suit. It would have looked like a nonsensical movement to anyone who didn't know what was coming. The stone hand sank into the ground, cutting through it like butter. After only a few seconds had passed, the stone fist began to rise, as if it was trying to pull something incredibly heavy out of the ground with it.

Finally, it surfaced, pushing aside dirt and causing a few rocks and other debris to be launched with some force away from the hand. In the giant hand, was now a hammer that had a head that was at least half the size as the Wyvern's own torso. Needless to say, it would cause some serious blunt force trauma to anything that it hit. Thankfully Rurik had brought her enough time to ready herself and prepare this. It may be a good way of hurting something, but she wasn't that fast with making it and needed to concentrate. The latter of which was hard enough for her to do without being attacked by something. Both of the stone hands grabbed the Hammers handle. "Heh, guess what you overgrown lizard?" She cockily grinned as the beast recoil from one of Rurik's attacks, giving her enough time to run to the beast.

"It's Hammer time!" Chloe made a swinging motion with her own hands, the giant stone hands and hammer making a horizontal arc as they swung through the air. The giant hammer smacked into the side of the Wyvern, right as the Wyvern was about to have a Rurik flavored snack. The Wyvern was visibly pushed back a few yards by the sheer force of the blow. "Haha! Wow, that was satisfying! How's it feel to get hit by a ton of stone?!" It would have been more satisfying had the creature made a crunching noise, but if one blow wasn't going to do it, she supposed she'd just have to beat it again.

"How about another?!" She smashed the hammer into the side of the creature again, the creature roaring in either pain or anger. As long as she could keep up the assault and not give the beast the time to retaliate, she'd have this fight over in just a few more swings. Unfortunately, she was too focused on attacking it instead of watching her surroundings. Just as she was about to deliver the third blow, the Wyvern lashed out with its jaws right as she was at the top of her swing. ...well shit. She didn't have enough time to dodge the attack, instead she'd have to use a more defensive skill. Stone Giants Armor!

The beast easily picked up Chloe in its jaws, thinking it had won victory. It attempted to bite down on its prey, only succeeding in biting down on a hard layer of earth, maybe cracking a few teeth in the process. Instead, the Wyvern flung Chloe with its massive jaws, flying past Verin and Rurik and smashing into a tree. Her stone armaments fell to the ground next to her as she shakily stood up, seemingly unbothered by the fact she almost became a snack for an overgrown lizard.

"Damn it, now I'm pissed." She clutched her side, obviously having broken something from that attack.The last minute stone armor allowed her to escape any fatal damage, but she probably broke a few bones. She was lucky the Wyvern didn't try to chomp on her again, the armor wasn't strong enough to outlast two of those attacks.

[MysT3CH]

Breathing deeply, Verin flexed and relaxed his arm before standing. He hadn't been down long, but already the Wyvern had once again been engaged by both Chloe and Rurik. Both of which assaulted the beast via an impressive display of their proficiency with magic. However, just like before, they were each pushed back. Unfortunately, the moment Verin stood, the mountainous green beast had made him it's target.

Leaping agilely into the air, it roared as it barreled towards him. It's large wings spread open widely as it dive down upon him. More out of instinct than will, the young mage quickly leapt to his right. He completed his evasive roll just as its powerful hind legs clawed at the earth were he had just been. With an heavy bang, the Wyvern then landed, having been left without room to maintain a low altitude flight within the small clearing.

Without hesitation, he then pivoted as to once again face the beast. His crimson eyes slits as he stared daggers at the winged creature. Watching as it once again lowered itself onto all four limbs before finally turning to face Verin for the second time. Having noticed his sword protruding from the earth not two feet ahead of him, Verin had hoped he could slowly make his way to it. It was only after he had taken his first step, when the Wyvern had charged at him, that he quickly broke into sprint. Attempting to reach his polished black steel weapon before the monstrous lizard could reach him.

He would have too, were it not for a stretching horizontal slash from one of the beast's winged forward limbs. To close in proximity to successfully retreat, and left without time to effectively counter, Verin's only option was to evade. Hence he hastily jumped upwards in an attempt hurdle the Wyvern's attack. Still, he was too slow, and the was knocked off his balance as the lizard's claw skimmed the one of his feet. As a result, he landed on his back with a painful thud next to the large creature's feet.

Without thinking, he then inhaled, channeling his magic into his lungs as an black magic circle briefly appeared in the air just above his mouth. Realizing where he had landed, the Wyvern immediately pounced. Yet, just as it was about to claim victory with an heavy downward stomp, the magic circle vanished. Only to be replaced with an intensely hot torrent of black flame as Verin exhaled, releasing the spell he had been preparing since he first struck the ground.

The Flame God's Bellow. Even without an incantation, it instantaneously rocked the green giant, who quickly ducked it's head behind the set of wings it now used to block Verin's shadow-like flames. Loudly, it roared in defiance as the scorching fire began to burn both the skin and scales off of it's wings. However, it wasn't until the Wyvern had flinched, momentarily yanking open it wings as to save them from further damage, that the spell yanked the beast off of it's feet and sent it reeling away from the young mage. The creature had been launched about a meter into the air before it thunderously slammed against the hard earth a few feet away.

"We need to work together!!!" The words escaped him as he rose to his feet and began rushing back toward his comrades. Attentive eyes trained upon the beast the entire way. He had had to yell in order to be heard over the deep and menacing growls the furious Wyvern had now begun to make. As his eyes fell upon Chloe, something clicked, and an idea suddenly flooded his brain.

The Hammer. He had witnessed the way Chloe had used it to nearly beat the beast into submission. Alone, her attack had dealt more damage than any of the attack Rurik and himself had managed to throw it's way. Not to mention, that after what had just happened, Verin had proved it wasn't immune to the heat of his flames. A smile lined his face.

"Hey Chloe! Wha-do-ya think about introducing a hot hammer to it's face?"


-=\ Ω /=-

Within the confines of a large and stone walled cavern, Lilith sat mounted upon the corpse of a long deceased Mountain Vulcan. The former inhabitant of the spacious cave. Its corpse, in its entirety, dwindled away in a rot, causing the stench of death within the room to thicken and stain the immediate air around it. Just as its coagulated blood had stained the cold rock beneath it. Overhead, a single row of ten troches protruded, mounted upon the lip of an slightly elongated ledge. Her face hidden by the shadow of the aforementioned ledge, Lilith trained her disinterested gaze upon the five rune knight in restrains before her. Patiently, she waited to see if any were now willing to speak.

When they remained quiet, she idly flicked her wrist, instantly killing one of them. She sighed as he shrieked. With another flick of her wrist, his limp body fell to the floor.

It was gruesome, even worst than the others, as she had only broken the other two's necks. What had once been a human body was now only a bloody mound of broken flesh, weakly held together by the shattered pieces of bone protruding from it's exterior. Crossing her exposed long legs, the ginger-haired teen continued to look on. Silently pleased with the way the remaining men now frantically squirmed against their knotted restraints. Two of which were clearly on the verge of hurling up the contents of their stomachs, as they repeatedly made sounds reminiscent of gaging as a look of terror washed over each one's face. Maliciously, she then parted her lips. The innocently sweet sound of her voice only became eerily unsettling as her words left her lips.

"So extraneously pusillanimous. I grow weary of you pretentious hominids." She didn't say it, but Internally, Lilith now regretted having taken hostages. As they increasingly proved to be little more than an waste of her time. Thus, it was with a forward thrust of her left hand that she sent the one of the more unshaken men soaring towards the cavern's far wall. There, he splattered against the stone with a sickening crunch, nigh-exploding in a misted burst of bone and blood.

Lilith, whose petite yet curvaceous figure now twisted in search of an more comfortable position in which to sit, now leaned forward. Revealing herself under the dim light. Though still cross-legged, the eighteen-year-old's head now rested upon a closed fist. Her arm's elbow seated upon left thigh. Her moderate but heavy chest threatening to fall out of her yellow tank-top as she moved hair long pinkish-red hair behind an ear, and out of her face. Her lower half covered by an mostly hidden pair of tight white short-shorts. She would have definitely have been considered attractive, were it not for the black tendril shaped marks spread across her flesh, and her threateningly blanked face.

[BrassOtter]

"Hmm... Just let me talk to Alicia about the arrangements of our stay, and we can get ready to go..."

Gant smiled and nodded at Klisa, walking past her to flag down Alicia. He pulled her aside from her activities a moment to go over the details of their stay in Hargeon. There were some clarifications, plenty of questions, and a very serious warning that Kilsa and Charlotte were the only women to accompany the young mage back to the guild. Gant simply sighed and agreed, sticking his tongue out at Alicia as she turned away. She'd made it clear from early on that he wasn't to bring strange women in to the guild, no matter how 'friendly' he was with them. Gant winced at the memory of the chewing out he'd gotten the first time... And when he'd tried hitting on Alicia herself. She'd also made it Painfully clear he wasn't to try and use his charms on any one in the guild... Though that didn't stop him when he had a few drinks...

"Alright, so here's the deal; We're going to Hargeon to pick up a friend of the Master's, and while we wait for her to get in to port, we need to investigate rumors about a book of dark magic..." Marcus scratched his chin, looking off in to the distance for a moment before snapping back in to reality. "Seems strange they'd want to bing it in to Hargeon, since it's not the most magically inclined of places, but whatever. We'll be staying a nice place right on the water, and our meals are included with the stay. All we have to provide is clothing and whatever information we can get while we're there."

Damon smiled at Klisa, giving a small bow as he started towards the exit of the guild. He waved back at her, and called over his shoulder. "I'll see you at the train station in about an hour, yeah?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

As Verin unleashed his flames upon the Wyvern, Chloe was regaining control of her stone armaments. After making sure they were still in working order, she focused her attention back on the beast they were fighting. Verin had successfully burned the creature, proving that his flames were effective if applied with enough force. As Verin rushed back to both of them, he shouted something about working together. Wasn't that what they were doing? Well, sort of working together. More like one of them failed to attack it, almost get killed, another attacks, almost get killed. It was team work...right?

When Verin suggested something about hitting it with a hot hammer, she was at first slightly confused and gave him a quizzical look. She soon put two and two together however, and couldn't help but to grin at the suggestion. "Heh, I like the way you think Verin!" Her hammer was powerful enough as it was. If it had Verin's firepower added to it could probably cause a dent in that Wyverns tough scales. "Just one thing, being a chew toy again is not something that'd be good for my health." She said with a wince. Yep, something was definitely broken. Probably a rib or two.

[KillamriX88]

Rurik was quite glad that he had not been eaten, or impaled... and then eaten. He pulled himself to his feet, and nearly panicked when he saw Chloe nearly get eaten. However, she didn't get eaten, so he didn't quite panic. Still, he winced when she got toss like a discarded chew toy. Her assault had been impressive though, and so was Verin's follow up attack. Rurik was starting to feel like the third wheel. Was he roll going to be the weak link here? It wasn't that he needed to be the strongest, and he didn't want someone else to be the "weak link." He just didn't want to be so useless. If he was useless, then he didn't belong there.

He heard Verin suggest something. A hot hammer? No, it made sense; Chloe's hammer could hurt it, and his fire could burn it, so together... would it be enough? It would certainly be better, that much was obvious. As for how one lit stone on fire, well, magic had a way of breaking rules. But he also heard Chloes complaint, she didn't want to be bitten again. In fact, it was debatable if she'd live through that again, even just now she'd probably gotten a little lucky. No, they certainly couldn't risk that. The one problem they'd all been having was falling short, and then being left open to a counter attack. If they were going to do this, the wyvern needed to be vulnerable, with no way to fight back. That way they could focus on getting in the hit they needed.

"You two hold up!" he shouted to them. "Give me a minute, and make sure you're ready! I'm going to make an opening!" They had to be smart about this. This is it. Don't be the weak link! he thought to himself, trying to get himself in the right mindset. He stepped forward, so that he was the first one in the line of fire if the wyvern chose to make the first move. He could see it staring at him, eyes wide, lips pulled back to reveal rows of teeth, each tooth long enough to impale him. This thing was pissed. It wasn't about food or territory anymore, it had a personal grudge against them and wanted them all dead. He supposed they must have been doing something right. Still, it sent chills down his spine, having the thing staring at him like that.

Why was he even in this position? Oh right, he'd wanted to see it. He'd wanted to learn. Had he done that? Had he had enough time to watch it? Or had he been knocked around so much, and done too little, and wasted his chance? Did he need more time? Did he deserve more time? He found himself hesitating, thinking about this perhaps once in a lifetime chance he had. He had no real teachers he could turn to, he needed things like this. In his thoughts he realized he'd let his guard down, and the wyvern had noticed.

The beast lunged at him, jaws wide. Rurik's heart kick-started itself into high-gear. He had one shot to live through this and he wasn't going to waste that.

"PREDATOR MAGIC: BEAR CLAWS!" His arms shot out and one hand each grabbed the upper and lower jaws of the wyvern, holding them apart. It's jaw strength was massive, hell, the strength of the beast in general was overwhelming. His feet slid back across the ground, leaving furrows in the dirt. His arms trembled with the effort of keeping its jaws parted. If one had told him he was going to be wrestling a wyvern today... well actually he probably would have been excited. Right now, he was terrified as he knew he would soon be overpowered. Power wasn't going to win this, the amount of seconds he had left where he could keep pushing back were dwindling, and he'd had scarce few to start with.

"Predator... magic... TIGER CLAWS!" he strained to speak, and focus his next spell. He pulled back quickly, arms darting out of the beast's maw, jaws shutting an inch from his face. He swiped at its eye, but hit the scaly ridge over it instead, but it flinched. As a flying hunter, it needed its eyes, they were precious. He darted around, and aimed for the other eye, making it flinch again. He swiped twice more at its face, denting and ripping away scales. It pulled back, and then surged forth with a snapping bite. Rurik ducked low, the jaws passing over her. "Predator Magic: Bear Claws!" He lunged back up from below, both palms slamming into the wyvern's lower jaw simultaneous, hitting with as much strength as he could muster in that one second.

The beast reeled, it's head jerking upward from the blow. It stumbled back, onto its haunches, exposing itself. Rurik darted in, seeing a chance to leave it completely defenseless.

"Predator Magic: Wolf Fangs!" He stabbed the middle and index fingers of both hands into the beasts left knee, and then spun and darted to its right, stabbing into it's other knee. His fang magic just enough to punch through the scales, almost up to his second knuckle. The beast roared in pain, and began to collapse forward, threatening to crush him under its bulk. He jumped and rolled out of the way, the wyvern falling behind him. "NOW!" Rurik yelled, signaling Chloe and Verin to launch their attack. They needed to hit it now before the wyvern regained its footing. Its injured knees would only slow it for so long.

[Marc]

The cold wind ravished the barren village, covering the air with a thick cloud of dust and snow that coiled itself around the area Alex was standing. Through the cloud, a silhouette began to slowly move to confront Alex. It was small, obviously feminine. The dust and snow seemingly parted around her, as if afraid to touch her. She twirled her fingers through her hair, letting Alex stare at the intricate white lace of her gloves and sleeves.
“What a thoughtful gift.” She thought allowed, staring at the destroyed magic circle. “You should have told me that you were going to tidy up our mess. I had this avalanche prepared all for nothing.” Before Alex could blink she was instantly behind him, her face leaned against his back. Her soft lips touched the skin of his neck. “Sister always told me that men like you were cruel and harsh, but you seem so warm and loving.” Before Alex could even think of grabbing her, she was gone again. From the top of a rackety old building, her voice pierced through the wind. “And you’re strong as well. I think I might love you.” She closed her eyes, magic power leaking off of her skin and soaring into the air as wisps of light. After a few moments of silence, she opened up her eyes.
“That boy really looked up to you, perhaps even as his older brother.” She was talking about Riley, and a wicked smile crossed her lips. “Aren’t big brothers supposed to protect their siblings? How unfortunate, you couldn’t even do that.” In a moments time she was in front of Alex once more, her palm thrusting up to strike his chest. Then, in a split second, she was several meters behind him. She’d moved before her strike even made contact. “I don’t want to fight you, but how else are you going to avenge your dear friend? That poor boy had such high hopes. You were going to teach him to be strong. I’ll never forget that smile he gave you in the carriage ride here.” Her eyes glowed golden, seemingly staring right through Alex. “He looked really cute there, didn’t he? Like a puppy begging for a treat.” She laughed, holding out her hand to him. She awaited his approach.

---

Riley wandered into a strange cave where he could hear some voices. They were quiet, but he could hear them. He walked through the strange, jagged mouth to witness a lady ripping a few other men apart. At least, he assumed it was her. She barely moved herself, but there was a strange aura around her. Riley drew Yukiko from its sheathe, slowly approaching her with the blade pointed at her head.
“Keep still, I don’t wanna hurt you ma’am.” He kept his eyes on her, ensuring that if he felt magic he’d be ready to jump into action. “I’m gonna have to ask you to come with me quietly.”

[MysT3CH]

When Lilith found Riley's blade pointed at her, she immediately set upon him her gaze. She was almost impressed, he would have managed to get the drop on her, had the remaining of her captives' faces hadn't had lit up. Their hopeful gazes betraying the young mage's location as they looked to their potential savior with glee. Yet, it was only after he had asked that she accompany him that she sighed. Sitting up, the girl then parted her lips in order to speak.

"So phlegmatic." As she spoke, her hands moved together as to smack against one another. Making a loud echoing sound as she sarcastically applauded the mage for his achievement. Upon her final clap however, she violently released an powerful telekinetic wave in the boy's direction. Though it was highly unlikely that she'd somehow miss at nearly point blank range, the mage would be abruptly forced back a few feet. At which point Lilith would simply leap to her feet prior to using her telekinesis to grab hold of the corpse of the dead Vulcan. Subsequently tossing it towards the remaining three captives as she began to levitate in mid-air.