Unless....
Sanguine Rose
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The Author: Alexia Wynd
STATUS: Wow three years since an update....well - I guess I've been busy. Finally getting back into real story writing instead of just editing and submitting old stuff. 2 yrs ago
- Last Seen: 1 mo ago
- Joined: 9 yrs ago
- Posts: 401 (0.12 / day)
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- Sanguine Rose 9 yrs ago
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Recent Statuses
2 yrs ago
Current
Wow three years since an update....well - I guess I've been busy. Finally getting back into real story writing instead of just editing and submitting old stuff.
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6 yrs ago
Responses didn't come like I meant them to. I'm working on being able to get to them this week. Thank you for your patience with me.
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6 yrs ago
Responses to those waiting to hear from me will come tomorrow. Apologies.
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6 yrs ago
Shit happens, responses slow. Working on it. Please be patient.
6 yrs ago
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Bio
I'm an adult with a family and responsibilities that take priority, as well as mental health issues that can cause me to not get on this site for periods of time. Just know I will get back to you - hopefully within a few days. Right now my schedule is in flux until I get everything figured out properly so I cannot make promises to respond quickly.
If you've come here looking to RP, please note right now I'm not accepting any new projects. Thanks for the interest, and I wish you luck on your quest.
I recently started working on getting published, and have self published one story so far. Check it out on Amazon - Into the Night by Alexia Wynd. You can also check out more of my work - short stories and the like - at my recently started Patreon: patreon.com/storiestocaptivate
If you've come here looking to RP, please note right now I'm not accepting any new projects. Thanks for the interest, and I wish you luck on your quest.
I recently started working on getting published, and have self published one story so far. Check it out on Amazon - Into the Night by Alexia Wynd. You can also check out more of my work - short stories and the like - at my recently started Patreon: patreon.com/storiestocaptivate
Most Recent Posts
@Xaltwind Lol, yeah I can definitely see that. It will be interesting to watch them interact.
I'm much like a wizard - never late, nor early. I post exactly when I'm meant to.
Returning, please!
Markovis pinched the bridge of his nose a bit harder. This all seemed counter-intuitive. They had the chance, they had the capability, to find where the lightning beast denned, and they were being told to withdraw. Had they not proven the prowess of mages thus far? To be put on hold for some warmage to show up and lead a hunt when there were two well and capable mages to get them started right now was insulting even with the praises. They would need the information Kiba wanted to get. And yet...
A heavy sigh escaped him, and he dropped his hand to the side. "Yes. Less restrictions for our next job would be preferrable."
He put the VOX away and turned back to the others. Given Sergeant had seen fit to praise them, it was probably due. Right? That was what leaders were supposed to do after tasks, right? Media suggested good leaders helped motivate their subordinates with praises or reassurance that their work was worthwhile. For...morale? Or something. As the mage that undertook the job on his own and accepted these two as partners, that kind of made him leader, didn't it? Even if Adelyn did most of the smoothing over when he lost his temper back at the garrison, he felt like the fact the job was under his name kind of made him the de facto head of this mission.
He glanced between the two before settling his gaze on Adelyn. "Your performance was unconventional but effective. Keep it up the good work." He hesitated for a moment before patting her shoulder twice, in two solid pats, before dropping his arm to his side. Then turned to Kiba. "Your idea was good. I will ensure you are part of the team to handle the beast when we get our next chance." He gave Kiba two similarly solid pats, before heading over to his mount. Dealing with the horse, making sure it was calm and ready for the ride back, was easier than trying to figure out how to deal with people. He'd take dealing with animals over people any day.
"Two hours?" Ria blinked then tapped her chin as she considered the time frame. It was seemed way too long and would definitely have them back to Rembrandt later than she thought they would return, but also too short for her to recover as much as they thought she might. So why bother with the time frame if they got confirmation they would actually receive the support they were promised? Oh, Nolan did fight. Maybe he might need more time to recover. Sure she'd helped, but he actually fought. And if they don't get support he'd probably need to do more. He'd need to be as tiptop as he could get.
A cheery smile brightened her face. "Sounds good. We'll meet you back here in two hours." She spotted Damian wave and she rocked up onto the balls of her feet to make herself more visible as she waved her arm. "Bye, Damian! Don't be a stranger!"
She didn't waste any more time, or even give Nolan further opportunity to respond, before she hooked her arm with his and started them off toward the canteen. "You know, this turned out to a great opportunity. I haven't visited a Pergrande outpost. I'm kind of curious if their canteens are similar to other lands. Are you curious too? Well, I suppose probably no, given your relations with the guardsmen. But it's still good for us to see, right? Better than just awkwardly standing around in the yard or getting in the way somewhere."
As soon as they entered the canteen she found them a table in a back corner and taking a chair that put her back to the room. She trusted there wouldn't be trouble, but also figured he might prefer back to a wall. He'd been on edge enough for the rest of the trip, knowing no one would sneak up on him short of spells that let them just appear behind him, would be a bit comforting. Her ass was no sooner in the seat than she jumped to her feet with an "Oh!" then just walking off toward the bar to request two waters before returning to the table.
"So, I have to say...Thank you," she started, offering him one of the glasses before taking her own seat. She ran her finger around the rim of her glass, the water slowly trailing in a lazy wave following the path of her finger. Her gaze remained on his face and her smile softened. "I don't typically take jobs that take me out of Rembrandt beyond the farms. I usually just do stuff around town to help with the guild's PR or earn money less magic intensively. So thanks, for agreeing to this job with me.
"It's been a nice change of pace for me. Doing this job. I know I'm not all that impressive for helping in the fights, but you're quite handy in them. That's not very surprising. I don't think anyone is surprised to find you can handle yourself in those situations. But I still think in is worth noting. You're a very skilled mage and combatant. This must be a cakewalk for you even with the swarm. You must have trained hard to get to your skill level. Did you have a mentor, or were you - ya know - self taught?" She finally seemed to take a breath, if only to give him the chance to answer her.
Calling the mission? While it was the smart thing - the easy thing - it meant they were abandoning a perfect opportunity to observe and understand the relationship dynamic between the two beasts. After all, the claimed reason for needing a sniper overwatch was to keep an eye out for if the lightning beast showed up. It was illogical - neigh, cowardly - to retreat just because the circumstances changed from handling just the one beast to also contending with the known threat as well. It was too...standard military operating procedure for him. Especially when the original job they accepted was the understand this very situation.
Actually, the more he focused on that - the quieter his world became. It was such a gradual thing that he barely noticed nature was no longer deafening. There was no longer that swell of pressure making even his heartbeat sound like a beating drum. All the easier to focus.
Of course the lightning beast would show. It proved it was a beast by doing so, made this all the more logical and important to study. There was unfamiliar energy - scents - in its territory. Any predator would investigate another predatory intrusion such that they posed. No, they couldn't just surrender this opportunity. It was all laid so properly at their feet. Except that just reinforced that retreat was the correct call. Adelyn was - well he wasn't actually sure what to classify her as at the moment, but he was certain she was not mentally up for the task he had doubted her physically capable of just half hour before. He had no intentions of needing to explain to Jenna how a lightning mage was killed by a lightning beast even if it was her own sheer stubbornness that befell her.
No, he had to accept the mission was a bust. There would be another time, another chance, even if he had to make it without a job.
Markovis was about to voice as much into the VOX until Kiba spoke up. The quiet swordsman would not make the request to track the lightning beast on a whim. While he wasn't sure what Kiba's skill at tracking was, he was confident in his survival skills. He was confident he could operate quietly and safely enough to do it alone. Because he had to. Adelyn's assistance with it would ruin the mission and that was more abhorrent than calling it off completely.
"Perhaps instead of calling the mission completely, altering it is better. If you have visual on the creatures, it will give us the opportunity to observe the dynamic. If the town is unaware of where the lightning beast dens, Kiba heading out to track the path it traveled to arrive here while it is preoccupied will provide invaluable information. If the VOX range is great enough to communicate if the beast disengages, that is." They had to give it a try to salvage the mission. Unfortunately, he wasn't in charge. If Sergeant demanded the return, then he had little room to push back; really, the little he was negotiating here was already a bit more effort than he really wanted to put in. They'd just head back, collect whatever they'd get for the job completed to the guardsman's instruction, and he'd take Kiba back out afterward. It would just be such a burden to make the travel out here twice.
"I suppose you would call that fun," Ria laughed softly. "Truth be told, I was hoping that was the job still available. But oh well. I'm sure we'll hear that we ended up having more fun!" Despite how taxing it was for her, she did enjoy this job a bit more than she assumed she'd like monster hunting. Well, unless it was monster hunting near the water but then an ash mage probably wouldn't like that too much. No, this was the best mix for them. She'd just tell herself that until it was true.
On the topic of rest, she had turned her attention to the guard and opened her mouth to turn the offer down, except Nolan got to the answer first. Resting if the others were ready to head back to Rembrandt seemed like it was an unnecessary burden on the guards. Surely they were interested in getting back to their original post to rest. Staying at the outpost wasn't exactly rest. Both had their minds made up that she needed to rest. They were right, but - why were men always so certain on what women should do? It was done out of concern. They were just trying to look out for her wellbeing. Someone needed to, and she had been ready to not be concerned about it at all.
Another smile accompanied a shrug. "Okay, yeah. Resting sounds like a good idea. Just a little bit. Okay? I'm sure everyone wants to get back on the road."
It's all yours.
Every nerve in his arm tingled with a surge of adrenaline. Pushing harder, utilizing stronger magic - it was what he wanted in his core. But it wasn't what Mark wanted logically. He wanted to be tactical in the application of his magic. Of all their magics. But the impulse was becoming numbing again. It was such a big reason he preferred working alone. The babysitters so far out and the other guild members so much closer made following the darker part of his tactics impossible. The Sergeant's frantic attempts to break through static interference didn't do him any favors trying to go about this with a clear head.
Ignore that! Kill it!
He closed his hand to form another sphere when the smell hit him. Ozone of a coming storm, but there wasn't a storm on the way. And it wasn't from Adelyn. Adelyn, thus far, had not created such a shift in the local atmospheric energy. That meant only one thing. And the coms cleared up just in time for Sergeant to confirm it.
Rather than continue his assault on the red beast - as much as he hated to disengage from his primary objective - he instead temporarily shifted, using Into The Void to phase in and out of where he was to avoid being hit by the lightning from the new combatant. While the red beast was well in hand, and moreso when it fell heavily after the latest hit it took, the lightning beast he knew was not something he could take on while liabilities were nearby.
No! Stay! Fight! Kill.
He could. Surely Kiba would convince Adelyn to follow Sergeant's orders and get her moving toward safety. That would eliminate that threat and he could stop holding back. The arcs of lightning were creating too much static interference. Everything was too loud.
Then Adelyn shouted. Arcs of lightning shot back toward the lightning beast. Dammit. He was not going to explain to Jenna how a lightning mage was killed by the lightning beast terrorizing the forest of Rembrandt.
He took a step forward, teleporting directly beside Adelyn and Kiba. A wall of tentacles sprang up between the three mages and the two beasts in the clearing, acting as a short term barrier to protect them. Just needed long enough for him to grab hold of both mages and pull them with him as he stepped backward...
And Void Stepped all three to appear beside the horses.
Mark didn't care he didn't give them warning or an option. This was his job they were allowed to accompany him. This call needed to be made and he was not going to deal with arguments before he made it. It was...why wasn't it quieter here? Everything was still buzzing too much in his ears. The Sergeant wouldn't shut up.
Go back and kill them both.
The dark haired mage yanked his hands from his companions. A hard breath pressed from his lungs and he closed his eyes. He turned his back to the others and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was the closest thing to showing the others how stressed he was at the moment. Despite how much he was ready to scream, his voice was as level toned as always when he grabbed his COMs and made it translate, "Sergeant, we are clear. Report: is our target still down?"
Okay, she had not planned to focus less on the barrier than she already was but here she was: doing just that. But they were within shooting range for the snipers so...it couldn't hurt too much at this point. She guided her horse over to Nolan and the Corporal. For good news, that was some of the worst she had heard. Nolan's assessment of the Asterin was rather spot on. So much so she was fairly comfortable conserving her energy at this point.
It took barely a thought to let the barrier cascade away without a drop spilt on anyone. "Yeah, if the snipers aren't seeing any within range, then it is better to conserve energy now for the ride back. Odd to think, but I kind of hope it is an ambush scenario. If they are potentially reacting to something bigger, that may be bad for whomever is handling the red beast." Though even conserving her energy wouldn't help her restore enough to be useful at all. Nolan would surely have to do the major lifting in another fight, but then...hadn't he already had to? She'd do better to support them all during the next fight. If there was one.
Look at what restraint got you.
It was a simple instruction to stay down and away from the fray. But from the arch of that lightning jolt, Adelyn had assuredly done neither of those things. And no sooner had he restrained the Vulcan than she had set it free. The tentacle had barely enough time to securely latch before it was zapped into pieces. While the red beast destroying the tentacles he sent after it was well within the expected outcomes, apparently no plan survives Adelyn's involvement. Each tentacle cut down squirmed and bubbled away into the ground, leaving behind dead plant life wherever it oozed away.She better have her own plan to overcome the Vulcan, then. She had Kiba and Sergeant on her side though. That was what teams were for, wasn't it? Divide and conquer. The other two guild mages could handle a single Vulcan. Sergeant would take pot shots at the thing if it broke through their defenses, and would radio in if the lightning beast was inbound. So that left Mark's only concern being the red beast. With Adelyn's poor choice injuring it too, he needed to ensure he regained it's undivided attention.
The beast.
With the Vulcan around, it wasn't a good time to utilize the Fury attack, but there the other options would destroy the forest. Perhaps a little more precise measures. Not many spells were appropriate for that. At least, none he had mastered to this point. Theoretical applications were dangerous enough for the environment, much less the fact there were people he was supposed to not injure. The trouble of working with others, he sighed. Don't hold back.
There was no choice though. He needed the thing to focus on him as the target. If it diverted attention to the Vulcan it would possibly divert attention to Adelyn and Kiba. He was not going to explain to Jenna why they died. He was the bigger threat here anyway. He needed to prove it. Mark kept lashing at it with the tentacles spawning from the ground as he stepped into the clearing. The thing could dodge and destroy as many as it wanted as long as it was distracted. After one last attempt to catch the beast in a draining grasp, he stopped in clear view of everyone. Abyssal energy pooled in his palm before he wound back and threw it like a baseball aimed for the monster's side. "Abyssal Destruction." If it contacted, or even if it missed, it would blow up like a grenade. A beam might have been better, a continual attack that would cut rather than explode, but this was bound to be less dangerous for the others. He didn't give it time to land before he charged up another ball and threw it where he anticipated the beast to land if it dodged the first one.
The travel wasn't long, and the hits to the shield were not exactly hard to handle, but she really needed to concentrate on it to keep from getting distracted and dropping it. She couldn't time it, she couldn't predict where the next one would be, but she was getting the feeling the attacks launched upon the shield were testing its integrity instead of actual attempts to get to them. That wasn't a comforting thought. Hearing the chatter about the patterns of attack didn't make it easy to stay focused either, but knowing they were almost out of the forest was comforting. Once they were out from tree cover it would be probably safe enough to drop the barrier; surely they would have clear line of sight to handle any attacks. Except there could be long grass or brush along the path that would make it easy for them to hide in. Then she would just need to hold out a bit longer. She could do that. Even though it wasn't easy, she could manage the barrier until they were absolutely in the clear.
When she heard her name, she blinked herself to more attention. How was she doing? To be perfectly honest she was certain she wasn't going to be able to hold a barrier up the whole way back. For now? "I'm fine. Once we get to sniper range, I plan to drop the barrier. How are you holding up? You sound tense. I know Asterins can be nasty to deal with, but they should be no trouble for you even if there's trouble on the return trip. This will go fine. We're all trained professionals."
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