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Jandar Varan
Cliff staircase, Askavi

The Sapphire Warlord Prince took the opening Jandar had presented him with. The Kaeleeran Warlord grunted at the relatively shallow slice into his side but counter attacked without hesitation, cleaving the Eyrien’s shoulder to the bone. Jandar was frustrated it hadn’t been a killing blow, but at least he’d forced his opponent to retreat. The Opal Prince soon took the previous Eyrien’s spot, advancing on Jandar and swinging at him. Jean evaded, and was forced to focus his attention on the Opal Prince.

Just as they began their fight, reinforcement arrived. Three Eyrien warriors arrived to protect Faeril, and Jandar silently thanked Mother Darkness for the timely intervention. “I’m with Faeril,” he shouted in an answer, keeping his eyes on the Opal Prince, circling him, attacking, defending, and evading mostly in response to whatever the other male did for now. “And have one of your men take a look at her! One of these bastards cut into her wing!” he added, providing his allies with information that wouldn’t be beneficial to the enemy – because the enemies caused the Black Widow’s injury in the first place.

Then, he drew on his Red jewel, added another protective layer of around his shield as well as did the same as when he’d broken Sapphire’s barrier in the first place – he wrapped his sabre with a cutting craft-based coat, which sparked red, and added a bit of length to the blade that might be difficult to grasp visually for his opponent. Moving onto the Opal Prince aggressively, Jandar attacked, moving into the Eyrien’s space. He was aiming to catch the opponent’s warblade either on his shield or the sabre, at which point he’d be free to swing with whatever tool remained free at the man’s head. If he succeeded, he could at very least knock the Opal Prince out.
Asteria



Finally, the damp scent of water. Asteria ignored the dust from the south beyond noting there might be a desert there, and focused on the refreshing scent from the east. There were still several miles away from it, but Asteria was determined to get there without any pauses or interruptions. They had a heavy load to carry, but she was certain they could manage. They’d even found a well-traveled dirt road heading to north east, but they could inspect wherever it led later. For now, staying in the foliage which helped cover them and not tray from their goal was a priority. “We can head east while staying far enough from the road not to be seen by any humans on it. Though if any of them have decided to take a rest by the road or something, we’ll have to be careful,” Asteria replied.

That said, she focused on balancing their loot without it compromising their stealth. Having to accommodate for the additional weight and the bulkiness of their stuff definitely wasn’t easy. At first, they had to walk fairly slowly to adapt, but dragging their feat would mean a longer journey. Asteria sharpened her hearing, this time not listening only to the surroundings and the potential dangers around them, but themselves. While the plants might provide some cover, rustling would still be a dead giveaway to a careful observer. Well, someone like that would still spot them easily, but there was only that much they could do. Thankfully, Ed’s mad was a fairly decent cover that blended with their surroundings.

Asteria flexed her muscles, doing the best she could to prevent any cramps while on the move. She’d have to stretch after they were done hauling their things to whatever water-side awaited them. She was aware that fresh water likely equaled a settlement, especially given the dirt road weaving in loosely the same direction they were going. They’d have to be on the lookout for that. Asteria huffed as her tail began to feel kind of numb. She just had to keep it pressed around and against their baggage or else risk it getting dropped – which would not only delay them, but may cause an unfortunately loud noise. She kept a careful eye on Mother rat, because the non-human-souled rodent couldn’t communicate with Ed and Asteria with as much clarity as the humans could between themselves. Mostly though, she kept her gaze trained eastwards, her paws working diligently to carry her and their items closer to their goal.

Amisaki Kyou


It was the time of the Cultural festival again. Kyou helped out on the sides; he’d helped paint several props for the play his class has decided to do and was dragged to the Archery Club’s exhibition by the president, Kimura Toru. Kyou suspected he was there half because of his skill and half so Kimura was able to handle the horde of fangirls that showed up just to fawn over him. Kyou didn’t consider himself much of a distraction, but he supposed the archery club’s president had more experience with that sort of a thing. Kyou wasn’t even too bothered by it; all he had to do was concentrate on shooting the target. If people wanted to look and be impressed by that, that was on them. He didn’t notice when he was in his element in any case. It was then that he was informed by Toru that some of the students were volunteering to clean up the gym afterwards. When asked whether he would participate, Kyou agreed. Before that, however, he had time to enjoy the activities the students had prepared. He had some food, saw his class’s play, went to a café or two, and visited the Music club’s performance.

In the afternoon came the time for cleanup and there was a surprising number of people gathered in the gym to help out Tachibana. Kyou shrugged, deposited his school bag to the side, and went to help with carrying the chairs, boxes, trash, mopping the floor, and whatever other miscellaneous tasks presented themselves. He didn’t pay attention to other people except to move out of their way (he avoided Kou in particular) or go help if someone (except Kou) shouted that they needed an extra hand or two. Soon it was time to leave, and Kyou had just grabbed his bag to sneak out in front of the crowd when the idea of food was brought up. Well…he supposed he could stay for a while more. When two first years attempted to go outside to fetch the food, however, they found the room to be locked. That…That was odd. It had been opened when they came in, and there was no reason for Tachibana to lock it. At least he had a spare set of keys, but really, why were they locked in in the first place?

And then, as if to exponentially rise the misfortune they were in, an earthquake begun. Kyou paled, planting his legs on the ground as his eyes nervously darted around. He, he had to get to safety. They all did. However, trying to fit through the doorway in their situation would be unadvisable. Kyou swayed on his feet, noticing he was panting harshly. Rather than waiting to fall over, he simply crouched down, using a simple breathing technique while clenching and unclenching the stress ball in the pocket. In a few seconds, his mind was clear enough to assess the situation. People were already shouting advice, moving to safety, or helping others move. Kyou knew very well he had to stay away from anything that could fall on him, so he crawled carefully toward the centre of the gym – he also checked the ceiling so that he was as far away from any light fixtures that might detach from the shaking as he could.

He couldn’t help the fear that the whole damn building would just collapse on them, however. All Kyou could do, however, was wait, breath in, hold, breathe out through the mouth, breathe in…out…squeeze the stress ball…release it…breathe…He stayed where he was, gaze fixed at a spot until he was stabilized. He then checked around to see how others were doing, but as far as he could see, everyone was with someone. Besides, he honestly couldn’t afford the energy to worry about others when he himself was barely holding together and not panicking. He told himself that earthquakes were fairly common, and that they simply had to wait it out. He would leave the saving of others…to others. All Kyou could do was sit there, wait, and watch the situation unfold as he clutched onto his bag with one hand and the stress-ball with the other.
Asteria



“Oh, no, no, sorry for the confusion, I meant for you to carry the plants, because my jar is full,” Asteria commented, waddling to the Healing Herb and Nullven Cone and stashing it into the mat he’d created. “Also, Nullven is this purple plant that is the key component to creating an anti-venom,” she added, clarifying. She went back to teaching Mother rat to balance and carry her part, and then, they were finally ready to depart. The humans in the village were all gathered together, and their leader (or leaders, if the old woman counted) was present. “Wonder what they’re chatting about,” she muttered out loud. She was almost certain they hadn’t gathered simply to accomplish a ritual, despite them being around the shrine. They just seemed a tad too agitated – perhaps they were simply discussing the mountain explosion. Or perhaps they were as concerned about more Myrmidors arriving as Asteria herself was? Well, if they stayed near enough, she could probably gather enough data by observing them and the goings on to confirm or deny that. The question was if she wanted to. On the one hand, it was technically their fault if the ants attacked, but on the other…the rat trio would be endangered as well, and not just by the insects.

“Yes, water is certainly a priority. The humans, if nothing else, must surely have a source of it. Remember seeing any sort of well? If not, there may be a stream or river nearby. As for the mountains…If nothing more happens to them in a day, I suppose we could assume it was a one-off thing for now and head there if we get fed up with these plains too much.” After that discussion, the conversation died down, and Ed seemed to concentrate on something. They had to go somewhere, but in their situation, both staying too near the humans and straying too far away from the only settlement they’ve encountered so far could present a risk. Most of all, they needed to scout for water. For now, Asteria lead them vaguely toward the east, on the lookout for signs that the villagers might have left of travelling in their direction. If the humans did have to go elsewhere for their water (or whatever other resource), they would have left tracks, perhaps even a visible road if they walked a certain direction often. Though time was not their ally in the search for water (and shelter), splitting up would be just asking for death with how often they were attacked by things. So, they could only rely on their senses to try to smell or hear or see some hints of water. Asteria, however, chose to also use Mana Sense every now and then, because if it had been able to detect wind mana before, then surely there was such a thing as water mana.

Asteria



Asteria took the parts she’d gathered from the scout, and left its body alone. She sniffed at herself cautiously, wary that she’d got too much of its scent on herself. It would be terrible if she’d once again managed to lead the ants to them once they moved out of carelessness. While Ed was still asleep, she experimented a bit with the part. The exoskeleton plates could be used as an armor if they weren’t too heavy, but first, she needed to drill some holes into it somehow. The best candidate for the tool were perhaps the mandible she’d managed to tear off. Not exactly precise and likely not to work, but this wasn’t something she could do with a hatchet, and there were no other tools available to try this with. So, she gripped one mandible with both paws, set it against a corner of one of the exoskeleton, held the plate still by crouching on the other part of it, and began drilling by hand. Really, she was just slowly turning the mandible in both hands, observing the effects on the plate. She gave it a few minutes to see the effect, taking care not to crack the plate on accident.

Then, she noticed Ed had stirred. “Oh, hey, great to see you up. Let’s gather all our things and head to the other side of the village. I don’t want risking more ants or more humans. Though I’m not sure we’ll be able to carry this all…” she glanced around. The bloodingfly stinger was still lodged in one of the ant’s neck, and she went over, pulling it out, and inspected its structural integrity. If it was too battered, she’d leave it be. Next, she stashed the Bloodingly’s stinger, as well as the proboscis and its needlelike end that were still lying around into the jar with next to the leather, four horned goat, and hex cat eye. It barely fit. So, if Ed takes all his items that leaves me the jar, the hatchet, and the assorted leftover ant parts. She could carry the jar and the hatched, as proven before, but the Myrmidor plates, mandibles, and legs…that would be a bit of a challenge. She tried wrapping the plates with the insect legs, a rather macabre endeavor. But what else could she use for rope? She’d seen the villagers had some rope items, but she wasn’t entirely sure how to make some herself. Hemp…fibre…Plants? She might muddle together something if she gave it a go, but making something usable might take too long. For now, she decided to harvest the nearby plant, and bundled the plates, legs, and mandibles with its stalk as best she could. This third bundle was something that Mother rat could carry, perhaps.

“Ed, will you take the last Healing herb and Nullven cone?” She directed absentmindedly as she waddled over to mother rat with the recently harvested Scout parts bundle. Putting a paw on the other rat in a soothing gesture, she made an enquiring squeak. She carefully put the bundle first on her back, wrapping the tail around it, looking at Mother rat as she demonstrated. Then, she moved the bundle to Mother’s back, and still looking at her, tapped the fellow rodent’s tail, chattering at her, and attempting to guide it to wrap around the items as she’d showed her. “Come on, hold it like this,” she muttered. Once the items were somewhat in position, she released Mother still observing her. If the Mother rat held onto the items, she would send a warm affirmative feeling through telepathy. Next, she went to grab the items she’d designed as hers – the hatchet and the jar – and turned back to Mother expectantly, watching whether she still held onto the bundle Asteria had put on her or not. If she did, then they could finally leave. If not, she’d try to get mother to carry the items once again. As soon as Ed was ready, however, she’d urge them all to leave.

Jandar Varan
&
Faeril Ashkevron
Cliff staircase, Askavi



Jandar huffed and re-sheathed the knife he’d pointed at Jassen. No, he didn’t think the man wanted to bring the harm to Fatima, but his preconceptions and reckless actions might just do so, no matter how well-intentioned he might be. Instead of saying that, however, he simply hissed out a low “Fine.” He focused fully on the three opponents, assessing their strength. This might be a theoretical three-on-three, but Faeril was exhausted (and not a warrior, as she’d pointed out), and Jassen certainly couldn’t be counted on to act. “Either help or don’t get in our way, then,” Jandar added to the older male, dismissing his presence for the moment.

The Kaeleeran Warlord readied his Red jewel, waiting for Faeril’s sign on how to act…but then the Black Widow turned to him to answer, and Jandar’s eyes widened as he saw the Sapphire Warlord Prince lunge for Faeril. Though ready to counter-act, the Warlord Prince was faster, manifesting a sapphire shield between the kidnapped Faeril and the two wingless males on the other side, and Jandar barely prevented himself from slamming face-first into the shield. He growled, summoning his sabre as he watched the goings on in frustrated horror. Faeril poisoned the Sapphire Warlord Prince, which was good, but that didn’t prevent his maniacal rambling as the other two men pinned down the Black Widow.

Jandar drew on the power of his Red, wrapping a tight coil of his power around the sabre, making it shine and buzz with power. He slammed the weapon forcefully into the shield with both arms, one palm wrapped around the hilt and the other helping by pushing onto its pommel. The physical force combined with his craft managed not only to crack the shield, but shattered it entirely. The Warlord thought his success may have been helped by how hasty the Sapphire Warlord Prince had been with placing the shield. Snarling, Jandar lunged at the male who was positioned over Faeril and threatening to mutilate her. His sabre was poised to slash at the male’s arm, intending to disarm him – in either meaning of the word.

Haelendar had cut the bitch's finger quite deeply as he felt the shield shatter. He had expected the two men to fight, but had not realized one of them wore the Red. Turning away from the witch, he swung his dagger up and with a show of skill vanished it and called in the deadly Eryien warblade to knock aside Jandar's attack. Swinging a punch that collided with the Dhemlan's head in a glancing blow. The Opal who was pinning Faeril's wings called in his own blade, intent on damaging the witch's wings. He managed to slice a nasty cut down the leathery membrane of one before Jassen tackled the man. The two tumbled onto the stairs in a tangle. With her wings free and bleeding, Faeril jerked and fought to run as the Blood Opal Warlord Prince held fast.

Jandar hissed at the blow to his head, but retaliated with a sweep of his legs, attempting to unbalance his opponent. Though he was concentrated on his own fight, he did notice peripherally that Jassen had joined the fight to help Faeril. He was honestly surprised; he’d have to re-evaluate his opinion of the male. He didn’t expect the old man to stand up for the Black Widow whom he’d not long ago attempted killing, the Eyrien female who was practical enough to suggest killing or wiping the drunk’s memories. If they all got through this, he’d certainly have to thank him for the back-up if nothing else. Inhaling with a flare of his nostrils, Jandar summoned his heather shield for extra protection against the Warlord Prince’s warblade. Recognizing the other as a skilled warrior, he approached cautiously, and yet attacked with no hesitation as he tested for the Eyrien’s weaknesses.

The leg sweep against the larger male did nothing as Haelendar snarled and brought the warblade down on the heather shield and he would have cleaved it if not for the Red shield that spun the attack to the side, courtesy of Faeril. "It will cut bone as well as flesh with ease! Do not be fooled!" The woman warned as she flung the Warlord Prince she was dealing with off the stairs and into open sky with her own Blood Opal. Sagging against the wall the woman staggered up the steps. Fighting was not an option for her at the moment. So her next option was flight by foot. The bastards had cut her wing and she didn't feel like risking more damage by trying to fly. Already tired from the the walk and the drain on her jewels, the witch scrambled up the steps desperate to escape the slaughter. For it would be a slaughter.

Jassen and his opponent were in a tangle. He had not joined the fight for the Black Widow. In truth, he had not considered the poisonous woman at all. Rather he was more intent on not letting news of his Queen reach the wrong ears and theses men were a threat to that. He would say it was to protect his Queen, but that was only a partial truth. Fatima's mother had been his Queen. He would have and had done anything for her. For Fatima he would protect the girl per the wishes of his Queen, but also to save his own skin. The First Circle would bear a brutal punishment for hiding a witch of such great power. So he fought. It was a ugly and brutal struggle. It did not end until there was a sickening crack, then the Eyrien rose from the ground and left the broken form of a member of Fatima's Court on the ground, his head at an odd angle.

Jandar frowned at having to be saved by Faeril, but coated his wooden shield with a double layer of Red shielding of his own in response. So, he would have to rely more on evasion and the power of his jewel against the warblade. He circled the Eyrien carefully, poking at slashing at various points of his body at various angles, his eyes primarily focused on his opponent’s eyes and only peripherally on his warblade. Glancing at the direction one moved or attacked in was rather involuntary, so if he could predict or perceive the Warlord Prince’s attack path, he could take advantage with a swift counter-attack. Of course, Jandar himself also had to keep an eye on the terrain and where he aimed with his sabre, so it might take him a bit to learn enough of the enemy’s patterns.

And while theoretically the Sapphire-wielding Eyrien would get weaker over time due to the Black Widow’s poison, he did not have the luxury of prolonging the time – mainly because just then a crunch and a swift glance to the source of the noise alerted him to the fact that Jassen had been killed off already. Faeril might distract one of the trio for a short while, but she was in no state to fight, so he'd soon have to face three Eyriens by himself. Grimly determined not to be spooked or distracted, Jandar baited the Sapphire Warlord Prince by pretending to freeze for half-a-second or less upon seeing the Blood Opal Prince killing Jassen. It was a believable reaction, and yet also risky. Jandar was prepared to side-step if his enemy decided to take the opening and strike at him, but it was a gamble. Even if he evaded swiftly and successfully, he'd still have to kill in one counter-strike to reduce the number of enemies. He had to. He did not know if he could, but wasted no time on hesitation or worry. He was simply...decisive. Putting it all on this chance to dispose of one enemy before the other two were able to attack him as well.
Jandar Varan
Cliff staircase, Askavi

Jandar smirked at Faeril, though his eyes narrowed automatically at her insult. Yet, he released the slight tension; sarcastic banter he could do and even enjoy, he just hadn’t expected it. “Yes, our dear companion here does need looking after,” he retorted nonchalantly, redirecting the drunk and dim comments to fall both on Jassen, though he was very much aware the dim part was meant for him. “But then again, that wouldn’t have been necessary if you had chosen to deal with him already,” he added on a sigh, as if he were the one most inconvenienced by Jessen. Truthfully, he was just poking at Faeril – both for hesitation of not simply killing the man (though of course he understood why she hadn’t chosen that route) as well as for being unable to alter his memory, which he suspected was due to the exhaustion the Inkeeper had hinted at. The Warlord wondered if the Black Widow was the kind to stab (or worse, poison) him if she were irritated enough. As they continued the ascent, however, she found something much better to wound him – mentioning how SaDiablo was either a conspirator or prisoner of the Hyallian Queen. Jandar frowned, continuing on in a thoughtful – and admittedly somewhat sullen – silence.

Apart from brooding, he spent the rest of their journey observing Jassen. The old drunkard was obviously beyond enraged. Would he attack the Black Widow again? Given how foolish the male was, it was certainly possible. He really did have to wonder why Faeril hadn’t killed him. Was it simply to curry favor with Fatima? Or was it some sort of odd hidden kindness of hers, as unlikely as that was? Jandar didn’t know, but he’d keep an eye on Jassen in any case. At the top of the cliff, the silence was interrupted by Faeril swearing quietly – Jandar was once again somewhat impressed by her sharp tongue and coloured words – and spread her wings to prevent Jassen and himself from passing forward. With a glance at their opponents, Jandar drew the knife still sheathed at his back and pointed it at Jassen’s back, his actions obscured from their enemies’ sight by Faeril. “Listen, old man,” he hissed quietly – Jassen and Faeril would be able to hear him, but the three opponents facing them were unlikely to catch what he was whispering. “I would like to hope you realized on your own we need to co-operate for this, but just in in case you haven't...Dare to even try anything, and I will skin you alive before ripping your heart out. Are we clear?” he gritted out in an undertone, his attention split half between Jassen and the three intruders. If he had to, he’d incapacitate the inconvenience first, then help backup the Black Widow. “Faeril, direct attack, diversion, or deception? I’ll follow your lead,” he added in a murmur, not expecting the female Eyrien to answer him verbally. He was ready to summon his weapons and draw on his Red jewel if he had to, however.
Asteria



Asteria sent a telepathic message of relief and welcome as Mother rat recovered, then huffed a laugh at her worry over Ed. “He’s just asleep,” she muttered, leaning a head closer to him to listen to his breathing and heart-beat – just in case, and also to show Mother how she could ensure his wellbeing on her own.

Asteria knew her fellow human needed his rest, but they needed to move as well. It was possible the explosion had confused and deterred the ants as well as it had the humans, but they couldn’t count on that. And when the humans regained their wits, they might come back – if nothing else, to dispose of their corpses, perhaps. With that in mind, Asteria moved to the den, ruffling among their belongings. An item in there might turn out to be helpful on the situation, and if not…she had another idea as well. Firstly, she inspected Ed’s belongings, mainly the crystals that she had up until then not inspected yet. Though she doubted they’d be useful for this situation, she wasn’t entirely certain when and for what they could come in handy, and she could certainly remedy that. So, she used magic analysis on both a tainted crystal and the flame touched crystal.

With a quiet “Hmm,” she moved on to her own items. The jarful or antlers, an eye, and the leather was largely an unknown. Seeing as all the things were technically parts of the monsters, she used Monster analysis on each. She also unfurled the leather scroll, examining its length and width, then put it all back into the clay jar when she was finished. She realized the move would be easier if Ed were awake for it but…How to wake him up? And moreover, they still needed food – which they had in form of insects – and water, which was rather scarcer than she’d prefer. Making her way to the insects, Asteria used Mana drain on both to refill her mana, and also ate some of their flesh to satiate her hunger. As for the water…she could attempt to dissect one of the Myrmidors, but the worker had a poison gland somewhere in there, and while it could be precious to get…Well, if Ed doesn’t wake up, I’ll have nothing better to do, will I.

But she did want to at least make an attempt to accelerate his resting, if nothing else. Approaching, she held a paw on his head, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She established a thin, unobtrusive telepathic link. Carefully, she fed a sensation of peace, rest, pleasantness, and passage of time over the link alongside miniscule amount of mana. As she did so, she breathed deeply, meditating, focusing on a calming sensation. Convincing another’s brain that it was resting sufficiently would, if nothing else, require her to feel at peace and detached from time. So, she focused on her breath, and kept the telepathic link up until she almost ran out of mana. Then, she slowly opened her eyes, inspecting Ed. Unsure if he was waking up yet or not, she moved to her next task – recovering back the mana she’d lost, and then dismantling the ants. For the former, she closed her eyes, and focused much the same as she had when she’d tried to speed up Ed’s rest. She knew meditating was a skill, and she’d bite her own tail if that skill didn’t help in recovering mana. Using the miniscule amount of remaining mana she had from her experiment with Ed, she also used Mana Drain to draw some energy in from the surroundings; something that had worked in the past, if not exactly effectively.

When that was done, she took a moment to listen to their surroundings, trying to ascertain whether the humans – or something else – would approach them. Regardless, Ed did have to wake up first, and so she took the hatched, a rock, and moved to a Scout. She used her own claws to attempt prying off the most damaged part of its exoskeleton first. Only if that would not work would she use the hatched – carefully, as she did not want it destroyed so soon. Her target was its abdomen. She took time and care to study it as she opened it up. The abdomen was where most of its organs would be. It might hold half-digested food. What she was really after was any sort of liquid. The hemolymph should theoretically suffice for now, should it not? And, by dismantling a Scout, she would learn enough to hopefully safely remove the poison gland the worker possessed.

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