Spirits of the Earth

"397, 398, 399, 400..." The young girl whispered to herself as she sat on an old withered tree stump. In her hand was a rather large coin purse, which she had been making sure all the expected coin was still there. After thoroughly examining the purse, she smiled and set it down beside her. With a tired sigh, she fell backwards on the old stump, and stared up at the sky with her crimson coloured eyes. Another job done. After almost a week of tracking, she had finally managed to find the dragon slavers. This job had required a lot of stealth and cunning. Luckily the girl possessed both of these qualities. With her quick thinking, she had easily made her way passed the slavers, and released their captive dragon in the middle of their camp. The girl didn't even need to unsheathe her blade after that... The dragon had made quick work of the unprepared and surprised slavers. After which it had thanked the girl for freeing them, and even offered to fly her to a location anywhere in Adela as repayment. However, the girl's expression changed from satisfaction to a somewhat depressed look. She remembered asking the large dragon of he had seen another of his kind. A much older dragon by the name of Xenin. The beast answered honestly, and did not recognize the name. The girl slowly leaned up and looked down at her chest. The small silver and purple amulet sat silently, glistening in the afternoon sun. She held it in one hand and observed it for a moment. What was the point? Why was she given this? What had her dragon mentor decided to keep a secret before his sudden disappearance? So many questions had ran through her head, but this wasn't unusual. She'd often find her mind going back to the amulet whenever she thought about her mentor. However, all thoughts were suddenly shattered with the abrupt interruption of a familiar voice behind her.

"Vaia, it's time to leave. The caravan is ready." Her head turned to see an older fellow dressed in commoner's clothes. "Huh? Oh Uhhh... Right." Vaia responded somewhat delayed. She slowly looked back at the amulet and quickly hid it underneath her chest piece. She stood up, grabbed the coin purse, adjusted the blade on her back, and followed the man down the path...

Out of everyone in the caravan, Vaia was probably the one who stood out the most. Her long violet hair, bright red bandana, and dark violet clothing made her stick out. However, that was the intention. Vaia usually cared little about her looks, as they never helped her accomplish her goals before. Evident by the long blade on her back, she wasn't the most... "Lady like" girl. Still only 15 years of age, her mindset was only looking for one thing. Accomplishment. To put it simply, she was a merc. Most would be surprised by this fact. Her young age and status as a girl built onto their shock. But that never changed the fact that she was damn good at her job. Her long silver outlined blade wasn't normal. Or at least, not anymore. In Ketra she managed to pay a wizard a very large sum of gold to put an enchantment on her weapon. Now it had the power to release magical energy at her opponents with every swing, as well as give the holder very fast reaction time and speed. Best part was that no one else could use her sword in the same way. The enchantment was bounded to Vaia alone. The weapon which she carried in a long sheath on her back went by the name of "Phantom Bite"  it's sharp edge had carried her through many dangers, and never once failed her. For now however, her hands stayed tightly gripped along the reigns of her horse. As the large wooden wagon traveling beside her slowly made it's way through the thicket of the Draconi forest. She tried to stand out for a simple reason. Were the common bandit raid occur, they'd most likely see her first, thinking she was an easy target. Of course they'd be wrong if they decided to proceed under this assumption. But by the time they realized that, the wagon would already be too far ahead for them to think about ignoring the girl and going after it.

After many hours of uneventful travel, the group had reached their destination. Vaia sat on her horse silently, staring at the city of Ketra... Capital of Adela. After quickly observing the plains that divided her and the city, she waved her hand, signalling the caravan that the path was safe. After she waved it through, it wasn't long until they had reached the main gates. The sun had started to set on the horizon as she approached the guards waving the common traders, visitors, mercenaries and so on through. She didn't get much more then an odd look before given permission to enter the city...

Now the rest of the evening Vaia had already planned. She'd spend some of the gold at her favourite inn, and rest for the night. After all, she was very tired. Probably not the best condition for being on the job, but luckily that factor was never put to the test. Her shoulders were sore, and so was her back. Despite a Phantom being relatively light, it still wore Vaia down if she had it worn for extended periods of time. She'd need to look into that. Maybe there was a spell she cold put on it to make lighter? However, the most unusual thing was how heavy her neck felt... Something was odd about it, but she payed little attention.

A few minutes from entering the large city, Vaia quickly dispatched the horse. It wasn't hers after all. The caravan leader quickly thanked her for her service, and gave her the agreed amount of gold. She took it, and turned down the street... The girl's senses had been somewhat dulled from fatigue, which was why she had no idea a small group of shady looking Draconians had been eyeing her carefully from a distance...

Rylzyr let out a long sigh as he weaved his way through the thinning crowd of the city, watching the way his shadow stretched out far away from him as if it were desperately trying to run away. He ran a hand through his wavy coiffed hair and glowered at the city around him. Three months ago, a colleague had sent a letter to his address requesting his council. The mage scoffed at the letter and quickly forgot about it, allowing it to get buried under the ever growing pile of papers on his desk, until four weeks later when another letter with the same seal appeared at his doorstep. This time, however, the writing had an air of urgency to it. Rylzyr knew his colleague well enough to know that an urgent matter to them meant that their cat's tail had turned purple or that someone had scuffed their shoe and no one was able shine it out. So, in response, the mage burned it. For several weeks, he ignored every single letter he had received until fidgety little Halfling showed up at his doorstep and pleaded for Rylzyr to return with him to Ketra. Seeing as he had been bombarded with messages for months, he begrudgingly went with the little man, and sure enough, the apparent emergency was something as small as a queer wooden music box that was possessed by a harmless spirit with a mischievous heart. After having exorcised the spirit and he receiving his payment in the form of the same damned box, a sheepish smile, and an "I.O.U," he stormed out of his colleague's estate and into the bustling city, meandering throughout the maze of streets as his temper cooled down.

The beautiful array of oranges, pinks, and reds that painted the sky quickly faded as the sun sank deeper into the landscape. Rylzyr had been wandering around for quite some time, not paying much mind to his surroundings until something peculiar caught his attention: a young girl --around his own apprentice's age, he noted-- turned the corner and wandered sluggishly down the streets in his direction. The magic that radiated from her danced in the air tingled Rylzyr's skin. He could tell that the blade on her back was enchanted, but there was something else he could not quite put his finger on. It was a peculiar sight alright, but the most peculiar thing about it were those who appeared to be following her.

The night was young, the sun having just dipped behind the horizon. A man saw this as a good time to leave his richly furnished carriage, and enter a large, upper-class tavern. If you saw this man you would instantly recognize him for what he was, a second generation noble not quite used to his station. You could tell this because of his bearing and the way he carried himself. He didn't slouch when he walked, but his eyes were always drawn between the ground and his coin purse. Only a merchant truly cared about his purse, and a commoner would slouch and stare at their shoes when walking the streets. He hadn't developed the haughty aura of a true noble yet, he didn't have that disdainful look in his eyes that betrayed his belief that the world existed solely for his benefit.

But he sure did dress like a noble, his richly dyed plum jacket was lined with silver, and his deep maroon shirt was fine silk with gilded buttons. His boots were fine black leather, and came up to mid calf, too tall for comfortable walking, yet too low for riding. They were perfectly useless. Like the man who wore them, for he was Yolen Redara, son of Yadan Redara, a man promoted to noble status solely by the depth of his purse. Yolen entered the building and went straight to the bar, ignoring the other patrons. The bartender, a portly man with a greasy mustache,  nodded at Yolen, clearly used to his presence, and gestured towards a door behind the bar.
"Its ready" He said. Yolen ignored the man save for a disdainful glance and threw open the door, and taking in the scene around him.

He had expected to see a table with cards and coins, with friendly faces around it, Instead he found a single figure sitting at the table. It was shrouded in darkness, but that might have been the darkness of the room. What could not be explained away like that were the flames glowing where its eyes should be. Yolens eyes widened and he took a step back, or he would've had the bartender not shoved him into the room and barred the door from the outside. Yolen turned and pounded on the door.
"What is this?! I demand to be let out of here!" His words descended into hysterical cries. Once he realized his words were going unheeded he turned to the figure with eyes of fire. "What do you want from me?" His voice quavered as he struggled to hold back tears. The figure stood up and slowly walked around the table to Yolen while saying
"Yolen, Yolen, I only want one thing from Yolen." He towered over the cowering man, and said "I have a question for Yolen." He leaned down until he face was right in front of Yolens, and the man could feel his breath, and strangely, it smelled like smoke. "Do you know my name?" Yolens brow furrowed in confusion, before hesitantly saying  "N-No?" The figure sighed, "Truly a shame. Yolen would've been spared if he had known." The last thing Yolen saw was a tendril of smoke stab through his throat.

Rathen stood over a corpse. Now just another job done. Now he could leave the room that was saturated with vice. Gambling. A truly deplorable habit. Sadly young nobles like Yolen here engaged in it far too much, and got far too serious when Yolen himself cheats and puts his friend out of a large sum of money. Serious enough to justify Rathen taking his life. Well, jobs done, Rathen could leave. He turned and held out his hand. A torrent of sparks left the shadowy appendage and streaked at the wall opposite the door. And Yolens corpse. And the bribed bartender. The sparks struck the wall with such force that it exploded into a storm of splinters.

As he stepped out onto the street he saw a group of draconians staring at him. He drew himself up to his full height of nearly seven feet, and flared his flaming cloak, his sin, his greatest mistake, his curse. The group grunted, clearly  not wanting to deal with a clearly dangerous indevidual right now, and turned back to what they were staring at. Which was on closer inspection a girl. And a very peculiar one at that. Their clothes and sword were strange but what drew Rathens eye was the pendant. He could feel the ancient magic radiating from it. Maybe it could give him his name back, Rathen tried to smother the flare of hope that blossomed inside him, but couldn't. Not completely. Rathen stepped  into a nearby shadow, hiding himself. He decided his employer could wait. This was far more important.

Mortum felt on edge. Actually he had felt on edge ever since he had entered the city. 2 months prior he had been contacted about a simple enough job. Some poor bastard had been at his shop and when he came home his wife and daughter were missing. He told me he suspected the strange group of merchants that had left the same day. Now he was walking the streets of Ketra trying to figure out how best to tell the man his family was dead. But strangely enough that wasn't why he was nervous. A strange sense of dread was so thick in the air he could almost feel the weight. But from what?

As the sun set on the city he saw a group of draconian's. Facing away from him in a group. He stopped when he saw their heads tracking something. It was a girl and a most unusual looking one at that. The purple hair was certainly unusual but the amulet had a strangeness about it. They probably were bandits looking for an easy score. He didn't have much else to do that night since he was leaving tomorrow, so he ducked into an alleyway behind them and observed.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the busy streets got dimmer. Vaia began to drag her feet, slowing down. At first, she was simply tired, but now, she could barley keep her eyes open. Her senses became even duller as the girl walked through the crowd... Evident by the strange man she bumped into. She simply shook her head, and slowly stared up at him. Her expression was emotionless. No one could tell what she was thinking , not without magic. "Ohh... Sorry sir. I-I wasn't looking wear I was going..." Vaia muttered, barley loud enough for him to hear. She was honestly too tired to even register his odd appearance. But others still gave him strange looks as they walked by. The dark skin and demonic horns seemed to stand out among the crowd...

"Ssss... Did you hit her?" The grey scaled draconian whispered to one of his comrades, hugging the corner of the building. "Yessss. I managed to hit the girl in the neck... But too lightly for her to notice... Give it a few minutes... She'll be in a deep sssleep..."

Rathen snuck from shadow to shadow, creeping ever closer to the draconians. Sneak is the wrong word though, Rathen didn't crawl furtively, he strode confidently from shadow to shadow, only moving when he knew he would not be seen. His progress was slow, but he was undetected. Once he was in the shadow of the draconian himself he finally started to listen to what they were saying. Apparently they had poisoned or cast some sort of spell on the girl they were chasing. Rathen, on some level deep inside him knew this was wrong, and that he should stop it, but that voice was so tiny it barely registered. After a minute of deliberation Rathen decided he needed a closer look at that amulet. After all, it might be the key to giving him back his fire. He left the shadow, seeming to rise out of it, and with the aid of some firmly pushed sparks, flew over the draconians onto a nearby roof, where he could watch the girl from above.

Rylzyr raised an eyebrow at the girl's slurred speech. Her glossy eyes hung half closed as she stumbled forward and into the mage.

"Whoa whoa whoa," he said as he swiftly swooped down to catch her fall. "Are you okay? What's wro--" As he awkwardly tried to pull her up to meet her eyes, his voice staggered when caught a glimpse of a small dart sticking out of her neck. Cursing under his breath, he held the girl up with one arm and conjured a bright orb in the other, bathing the streets in a blinding white light.

Peering out from the corner of the alley, Mortum was momentarily blinded by the sudden light, backing into the alley and and trying to regain his vision. What the hell was that, he thought, reviewing what he just saw. The girl bumped into a tall strange looking man who looked concerned then casts some sort of light spell. She had looked almost like she was drugged. Did the tall man drug her? Was this some sort of signal? But peering out again the draconian's looked just as confused. He would wait for someone to make a move on her before getting involved.

Vaia stumbled, but something quickly stopped her fall. She groggily grabbed the mans's arm to try and steady herself, but something g was wrong... Her vision began to fade in and out and her arms trembled. Her legs felt like jelly, and were slowly losing the ability keep themselves up. Her body felt heavy, and she couldn't fight the compulsion to lose her balance completely... The last thing she could see was a blinding light... And then darkness...

"HISSS" The Draconians covered their eyes by the blinding lights after the odd fellow caught their prey. "Move out! Get the girl!" The grey scaled Draconian yelled to his partners. Within an instant, the six lizards spread out in many directions. Two quickly scaled the buildings aside the street. Two others dove into a back ally, while the last two charged down the street. They elgantly ducked and rolled around the crowd before jumping several feet abov Rylzyr and Vaia. He threw small pellets, and within an instant, the street was masked in a thick fog. In the confusion, his friend ducked down and snagged the girl's collar. Completely uncouncoius, she had no way of fighting back. He slung her over his shoulder and sprinted down the street...

The white orb continued to swell in the mage's hand and before he knew it the Draconians rushed towards the pair and coated the entire street in a thick smoke. The crowd broke out in a panic, blindly pushing their way over each other as their shrieks and coughs rose through the chaos. In the midst of being shoved by panicking pedestrians and doing his best to back away from the madness while clutching a girl in one arm and a forming ball of pure majicka in the other, he felt someone tare the girl from his grasp. Muttering a curse under his breath, he shattered the orb in his hands, sending the knife-like shards spraying in six different ways towards the each draconian offenders and cutting through the mist like scissors through cloth. Peering over the heads of the frightened crowd, he spotted the Dracon with the girl and sprang after them.

Rathen saw the man try to help the girl, and saw the Draconians steal her away. His magic was strong, and as always was the case when Rathen saw another mage he felt a flare of anger and a flame of jealousy spring to life in him. He was staring at the mage when two of the draconians jumped onto the roof next to him. he spun, and got a fist buried in his stomach. The draconian felt almost as if his fist sunk into Rathen a bit, as if he was slightly incorporeal. While the draconian was absorbing this strange sensation Rathen was berating himself. Stupid stupid STUPID! He had let himself get distracted. Rookie mistake, and one he should never had made. He needed to get over his jealousy of mages, it was one of his few weaknesses.

In a movement quick and lithe as a snake Rathen grabbed the draconian by the wrist and swung him into the other, who was charging toward them. They crashed together and one of them fell off the roof entirely. The other lay on the roof, dazed. That was when it clicked. Rathen looked at the draconians, taking in their draconic features; the scales, teeth, horns. They might have the key, or know something that does. He stepped back, and glanced at the scene on the street below. A draconian had the girl over his shoulder and was sprinting away. Rathen ran, and jumped off the edge of the roof in a spark-propelled jump. He flew through the air, cloak flapping, before landing closely behind the fleeing creature. He sprinted, his long legs carrying him to the edge of the creatures shadow, where he lunged and shoved his hand into it. Once he had a handhold pulling the rest of his body in was easy.

Everyone made their move all at once. The street was suddenly consumed in fog as forms rushed in all directions. Two rushed out of the smoke and paused as they saw Mortum obstructing their way. They grinned when they saw that he was incredibly skinny, an pulled knives. Good, Mortum thought, I could use a straightforward fight. The first lunged aiming for his gut but Mortum grabbed his hand. In a satisfying crunch, Mortum squeezed an broke nearly every bone in his hand. The draconian yelled looking at his hand in shock more then pain. Mortum pulled him in and head butted the stunned mercenary, metal colliding with scales in an odd crunch. He went down almost instantly but as he fell the second draconian had flanked and stabbed at Mortums shoulder. The blade went in cleanly yet much to the draconian's surprise Mortum merely looked at him. "Gonna need to do better then that." Said Mortum.

The mercenary ran back into the fog but as Mortum went in to pursue him he saw a shadowy figure glide into the chaos. Certainly a dramatic enough entrance for the unusual occasion. But as he saw him grabbing at one of the kidnappers he figured the man meant well for now. He approached the tall figure although it was still hard to see him in the fog. "Did you see where the other three..." Then Mortum recognized the figure and stopped dead in his tracks.

The effects of the smoke seemed to have little effect on the Draconians, as they elegantly made their way through it, careful to avoid the resistance the panicking crowd had caused. Vaia lay motionless on the nimble creature's shoulder, her body locked in a deep sleep as they had predicted. After quickly dodging the horned man, the pair quickly sprinted down the streets, taking random turns around every corner in order to shake their perusers.

"HISSS... We have a follower!" The grey scaled Draco hissed to his companion who had noticed the wizard chasing after them. "LOSE HIM! WE NEED TO GET THE VOID BEARER TO NAZIX!" His friend responded with a quick nod before looking forward. Ahead was a rather busy street, and crossing in front of them was a very large wagon containing many crates, all held together by a thick rope. The two Draconians quickly vaulted over the wagon, and one released a flurry of knives at the large rope mid jump... With a loud snap, it ripped apart and the contents of the wagon spilled into the street... Straight towards the pursuers.

Rathen silently lurked in the draconians shadow, and watched as they cut the ropes holding crates and barrels from spilling across the street. Rathen saw them block the path of the others chasing the draconians, and faced a dilemma. Stay in the shadow and not help the others, guaranteeing that he stays with the draconians, or help the others clear away the flotsam blocking the street, and have help when he inevitably confronted these obviously capable thugs. Rathen thought, then jumped out of the shadow and shouted
"Clear the street!" In his rough and gravelly voice, before blowing the crates away with a wave of smoke and sparks.

"I'm not sure," Rylzyr huffed, keeping his eyes on the Draconian with the girl. "They took to the tops of the buildings. My priority is to make sure the girl's--" His voice halted suddenly as he swung his head to meet the bounty hunter's familiar face. "You!" A exasperated scowl formed across the mage's face as he stared the man down with his intense gaze. "Ugh! I don't have time for this!" he muttered to himself as he turned away from the man and continued after the thug.

The mage whizzed through the crowd, steadily gaining on the Draconian with his long strides. He watched as one of the thugs sliced through a rope, sending crates spilling out from a wagon and engulfing the streets. Rylzyr screeched to a halt and cursed under his breath as he readied a spell in his hands, but before he knew it, an outside source sent the crates flying in all directions. Dumbfounded, his eyes darted around the panicking crowd before settling on a man clad in a shadowy cloak. Figuring it was him who cleared the rubble, he gave the man a quick nod and continued to scramble after the kidnapper.

Frustration rattled through Rylzyr as he watched the Draconians grow smaller in the distance. Despite his long legs, Rylzyr knew he wouldn't be able to catch up the the pair in time. He needed to slow them down, or better, to chase them into a less inhabited area. The mage muttered an incantation and sent a bolt of electricity shooting from his index finger and into the face of crumbling wall and with a loud crack, the wall collapsed and flooded the streets.

Mortum held the mages stare before thinking, wrong place and time to pick another fight. "Damn" he muttered before running further into the chaotic street. As he ran he noticed the mage was also pursuing the kidnappers. He looked forward to see crates scattered around the street. He briefly noticed a man in a dark cloak, perhaps the man who glided from the rooftop earlier. It was then that he heard a resounding crack and saw the draconians progress stopped by a crumbling wall. The girl appeared to be unharmed thankfully. He drew his sword and yelled, "Perhaps if you surrender the girl you can all keep your heads!". The talk was just tal of course, he was still going to make sure they could never pulls something like this again.

Without stopping to watch, the pair of Draconinas quickly sprinted down the street across the one from which they just covered in stray crates. It seemed to have bought them some time, but that's when the two noticed they were no longer being chased by one person, but three. Could it be they had already discovered the importance of the girl? Before they had time to think however, a large bolt of lighting img whizzed above them and crashed into a building ahead. With a. Loud explosion, the old stone came tumbling down right in front of them. They screeched to a halt only for a moment, growling under their breath. They turned to each other to see the trio of chasers were still a little ways off, but the explosion was undoubtly created by one of them...

"SPLIT!" The grey Draco yelled. His partner nodded, and he dropped another smoke pellet. In an effort to confuse their chasers, the two Dracos ran in separate directions, both charging into two different buildings on either side of the street. The plan was simple. They were obviously after them to rescue the girl, but they wouldn't be able to see which one of them had her if they split up under the cover of the smoke. They'd be forced to pick a random direction and hope the Draco holding the girl was the one they were chasing...

After that, the grey Draco ran through someone's house, the girl on his back. Vaia was still unconscious, and had no knowing of what was going on. He quickly clambered his way over the wooden stairs, ducked under the table, and jumped out the window over a much, MUCH busier street. LUckily, the girl was strapped to his back by her leg and hands, so he didn't need to worry about her falling. They were far above the street, and he quickly grabbed hold of a rope that connected the house he jumped from to the buildings of the other side. His natural physique as a Draconian let him quickly perform a tight rope procedure to get on the other side. Just in case he was followed, he let out another knife to cut the rope. He then continued to sprint across the rooftops.

His partner on the other hand ended up in a small market. They had switched the holder of the girl in an effort to confuse their pursuers. With that, he wasted no time trying to get to the reindevouze point. He quickly sprinted through the market stalls, jumping, ducking his way through the shops. Showing no effort to hide himself.

Rathen ran after the dracos, trying to make up for the lost ground from stopping to aid the others. once the wall collapsed he jumped in a flurry of sparks, landing in the middle of the smoke from the pellet. He blasted sparks outward, but found that the draconians were already running in opposite directions. He made a snap decision and shouted
"The stone dragon is mine, find the other!" Before running after the grey draco. The chase was an interesting one. While the draco lithely jumped and ducked under obstacles, Rathen blew them apart. This made the chase a dance of a graceful lizard and a rampaging shadow. But Rathens direct approach was helping him catch up. He didn't need to lose momentum and jump over things, he just destroyed them and ran through the wreckage.

Rylzyr watched as the two Draconains split up and in that moment he considered completely giving up chase. He was a high class scholar, not some brutish mercenary. Chasing after a pair of low-life thugs was an utter waste of time and he had so many other things he'd rather do than play a petty game of cat and mouse. But then again, it was rather odd that a pair of criminals would brazenly kidnap a young girl in public. He thought of Bryn and his sisters. If it were them, he would have hoped that someone would come to their rescue. Rylzyr cursed under his breath.

If only he could care a little less, perhaps life would have been much simpler for him.

With a short incantation and a wave of his arm, a small glowing orb appeared in the palm of his hand. It bobbed up and down, humming ever so softly.

"Find the girl," Rylzyr said. "You know what to do."

A melodious sound emanated from the spirit as she faded from Rylzyr's hand. She reappeared momentarily in front of the Draconian in the market, but disappeared just as quickly once she noticed the absence of the girl. A second later, a thick mist appeared in front of the other Draconian, twisting around itself and morphing into a large, nine-tailed fox. The fox spirit lunged at the Draconian with blue flames streaming from her sharp jaws.

This was getting to be particularly troubling. Most bandits would have just givens up the girl and ran but this group had no intention of running. Either they had some very motivating personal tie to the girl or they were professionals working for someone else. Whoever they're working for is getting their money's worth he thought cutting right and charging through two separate doors, only to find himself in a busy marketplace. He frantically looked around trying to spot the draco when he saw a different draco holding the girl. Clever thought Mortum, but not clever enough. He ran towards him on the opposite side of various stalls that split the market place down the middle. They may have a better physique then most humans but everyone gets tired, well everyone but Mortum. The draco briefly lapsed in his pace and Mortum took the opportunity diving between stalls cutting at the draco's leg with his sword.

The grey draconina continued to quickly sprint across the rooftops, wearily looking behind him to keep tabs on his chasers. One behind him seemed to be gaining ground. The man masked by shadow was close behind, not taking any mind to the obstacles the Draconian didn't have the luxury of avoiding. However, before his thoughts could wander too far, there was a sudden commotion in front of him. The sound of magic hit hie ears and his lizard head darted forward to see a giant nine tailed fox. He skidded on the shingles of the roof to slow his advance as the canine lunged at him. With a loud "HISSSS" he put both his hands forward to try and halt the attack. However it didn't work. The fox managed to knock him over, but his quick feet kicked the animal from his chest... However, the girl on his back was gone? During the heated encounter the ropes had snapped, and Vaia laid motionless on the roof top just a few feet away, and she was slipping. The sleeping girl was only a few meters from a near 16 foot drop into a busy street, and the ground between them was disappearing fast! The grey Draco paid no attention to the fox, and lunged after her.

Meanwhile, in the market the other Draco quickly hurried. His mind was focused on one thing. He needed to get back to the meeting place. Assuming his friend was capable enough to meet him there, his job was finished. However, it didn't seem he was going to make it. With a sudden crash, an armoured figure dove between the stalls in front of him, and cut his leg with a sharp blade. the Draco hissed in pain before quickly stumbling forward and skidded on the cobblestone ground. He turned himself over, knowing his chase was done...

In a flurry of smoke and mist the spirit flew through the draconian and clutched the girl firmly by the collar of her shirt. Together, they dove down to the streets where they were met by a very out of breath Rylzyr. He caught the girl in his arms and continued along the busy corridor, yelling up to the shadow cloaked man, "don't let him get away!"

Rathen nodded to the Mage. He wasn't entirely sure how he knew he was a mage, he just smelled like magic to Rathen. He stepped off the roof and fell, trailing sparks and smoke. He landed with a thump, spraying sparks in every direction. After a second of recovery Rathen lunged after the grey Draco, grabbing his throat and slamming him into a wall. The Draco recovered quickly and using the wall as leverage kicked Rathen away.





OOC: Are the draconians supposed to successfully kidnap vaia?

Mortum looked down at the fallen draconian, before reaching down at him. The Draco tried to kick him off but he caught his leg and twisted, the resounding crack being followed by the Draco shouting in pain. Mortum started to drag him to an alley as he shouted and grabbed uselessly at his arm. Mortum looked back to see the shadow man struggling with the other would be kidnapper. The girl appeared to be safe, at least for now. He pressed the Draco up to the alley wall with one arm. The Draco pulled a knife but Mortum had expected something like that and grabbed his arm pressing it to the wall and squeezed. More cracks could be heard followed by more pained shouting. "Listen well scum," he said, voice dripping with contempt. "broken bones will be the least of your worries because if you don't talk I'm going to start cutting thing off, and trust me, they will be things you'll miss."

(OOC: No, they're not. We can void the Draco escaping from Rathen.)

The grey draconina hissed as the shadowed man slammed him against a wall... "Heheh... You have no idea what you're interfering with?" The other Draco sputtered as he spoke to Mortum. "Soon, all of you will perish! Hehehe.. If we couldn't get the job done, others will! the void has been opened... Black wings will fill the Darkened Skies!" They both realyed the same message to both of their captors... Suddenly, both the lizards bit down hard on something in their mouths. Their jaws began to fizz, and their breathing slowed... They were dead. A suicide pill had done the job...

All the while, Vaia's eyes slowly began to twitch. Her mind locked into a deep sleep, but it was evident it was wearing off soon..

With Vaia still in his arms, Rylzyr rounded the corner into an abandoned house. He crouched down against the back wall and cradled her in his arms.

"Hey girl," he said as he patted her cheek. Vaia mumbled under her breath but was otherwise unresponsive, so Rylzyr took out his flask and poured water all over her face. "Wake up!"

"Damn" muttered Mortum, "Damn, Damn, Damn." These weren't mercenaries they were zealots, part of some doomsday cult perhaps, thought Mortum. He left the dead draco and walked out of the alley. He could see the mage holding the girl in question. He needed to find out what the draco's wanted with her in the first place. As he walked to the Mage he saw both the other draco dead and the other pursuer, he would have to question him later. Approaching the mage he asked "Is she... alright?"

"Hrmmm... Wha...?" Vaia's eyes slowly flickered opened as the wet sensation hit her face. Her brow shifted upwards as soon as her vision returned, and witnessed a very strange looking man peering down at her. "HUH?" She exclaimed rather loudly, her face getting red as soon as she realized she was being held. Her head darted around the street, realizing this wans't the same one she last remembered being on. She saw the dead draconian not far off, and her mouth quivered. "Who..? What happened?" her head was full of questions.

"Hmm... she's fine now," Rylzyr said with a snort. His gaze shifted to Vaia. "Who are you? Why where those Draconians after you and..." Rylzyr raised an eyebrow as he glanced down at the amulet around Vaias neck. "Why does a girl like you have an amulet like that?"

Jewelry. The girl was just drugged and nearly kidnapped by a group of highly trained, well equipped draconians who spouted some apocalyptic jargon and Rylzyr asked about her jewelry. He sighed and walked over to the dead draconian loudly saying,

"More importantly, who are our dead zealots?"

Vaia's facial expression told the two men she had no idea what they were talking about. "I uhh..." She started, still studdering. She tried to answer the questions she knew to the best of her ability. "I'm Vaia..." She started before looking over to the dead Dracos. "I... I don't know who those are... Did they try and kidnap me?" She pondered, still not grasping the entirerity of the situation.

Soon, the horned man asked about her amulet. Vaia's face looked down at her chest to see the dragon rift amulet lying dormant on it's chain against her breastplate. It had the same beautiful pulsing, faint purple color. "My..." She stopped, thinking of a word to try and describe her dragon mentor. "My f- father gave it to me..." She said, suddenly looking back up to him. "Who are you people? And what happened?" She felt her head, still sore from the chase she was unconscious for...

"Hm... Perhaps that's why they were after her..." Rylzyr mutter to himself, his eyes resting steadily upon the girl's amulet. He could feel the magical energy emanate from the amulet, filling the air with a soft tingling sensation. There was no doubt that there was something quite special about this piece of jewelry.

Completely ignoring the girl's questions, Rylzyr's eyes snapped up to meet Mortum. "What happened to the Draconians?"

Mortum crouched over the dead draconian and opened his mouth. "Suicide pill, same as the one was chasing. They came willing to die." Not many cults he knew of could pull off something like this. More importantly why her?

He stood up and walked back to Rylzyr. "Who ever put them up to this invested quite a bit in their equipment. Did your Draco say anything about the void or black wings?"

Vaia stared completely confused at the two men.  Finally she pushed herself off of Rylzyr's arms and stood up. Woha, whatever happened sure did something to her head. She had trouble keeping balance for a moment, using the wall to support herself, until she was able to regain her footing. She arched an eyebrow at the other man's question. "Wh-.. I'm sorry, I have no idea what's going on, can someone please explain to me what happened?" She asked, in an irritated tone.

A puzzled look swept across Rylzyr's face as he studied the merc before him. "The void? Black wings? Huh?"

Mortum looked toward the girl upon hearing the question. "Well our dead draconian over there and a few of his friends drugged you and attempted to kidnap you. We happened to be in the area luckily." Odd that the Mage was there at all, he would have to check on that later.

He looked back at Rylzyr "When I tried to interrogate one of them he used a suicide pill, I can see this one did the same thing. Before mine died he said something about the void opening and black wings over dark sky's, or something to that effect." He paused before adding "Shouldn't you be going back to practicing spells or fraternizing with demons or whatever it is your kind does?"

Rylzyr pushed himself off the ground and crossed his arms. He rested his icy gaze on Mortum, his expression unreadable save for a slight scowl that lay across his face. "Funny you should ask that. I actually just finished sacrificing babies to the demonic overlord of absolute evil," he said with biting sarcasm.

He snapped his gaze away from the bounty hunter and rested it on the girl that stood before him. "Anyway, it looks as though someone wants you for something, which should be obvious enough. So there. Your explanation. Take it as you will."

Vaia began to feel rather small and insignifcant as she watched the two men talk. Obviously there was some tension between the two, seeing as the horned man just retorted a sarcastic comment... Or at least she hoped it was sarcastic...

That's when he turned over to her and elaborated on the obvious situation. Vaia still had no idea who those Draconinas were, or WHY they drugged and tried to kidnap her in the first place. "I uh... I'm not sure what to make of this..." She answered honestly, looking over to the dead Draco. That's when she walked over and kneeled next to the body. She held open the lizard's mouth and peered inside. The suicide pill had killed them like the armoured man had said. She then took a look at their garments. Looking for anything that would tell her who they were... That's when something fell from a pocket flap... It looked like a piece of parchment, a note!

Mortum chuckled from beneath his helmet."Funny, and here I thought you wouldn't have been insulted considering your... Friend." After there last encounter Mortum had asked around and while there wasn't much to be found about the mage rumors ran rampant about his race, especially in regards to demons. While Mortum normally didn't buy into such rumors, but his experience with Rylzyr didn't exactly go against the popular image.

"Try not to get in my way and I might not have to hurt you." He said, his voice filled with venom.

Rylzyr guffawed. "That's cute, corpse. Just... try not to assault people and we should be fine. Anyway, this isn't about us, now, is it?" He walked up to where Vaia stood and scooped up the note that lay beside her feet. He remained crouched in front of her, looking up at her with his steady gaze as he presented the note. "Young lady," he said with an usually soft tone to his voice. "It seems as though you've dropped this."

Vaia continued to ignore the two's bicker as she searched the dead Draco's clothes. That's when a shadow formed in front of her, and Vaia raised her gaze to see Rylzyr kneeling across from her.

"Huh? I don't recognize this." She told him, reaching out for the piece of paper. She flipped it open and began to read it to herself. The note read simply:


She read it to herself in her head, her eyes widening as they scanned the paper. What was this all about? Novian? 1000 year defeat? the amulet around her neck? Who were these people, and what did they want from her? "Th- This was on the Draco's body..." Vaia muttered silently to herself. Something bigger then her was obviously going on... Her hands shook in slight fear as they grasped the note. She silently looked down at the amulet around her neck... Something about this necklace had caught the Draconian's interest...

Mortum smirked under his helmet at the comment. He would have to deal with the mage later. Right now there was still an alarming lack of information about this whole thing. He noticed the girl was intently reading some parchment. Mortum maneuvered around her an quickly read it from behind. They now had a name and a motive to work with. This Nazix had just had a target placed on him and he didn't even know it.

"Void bearer, huh? Sounds like quite the title. Anything you care to share about that?" He said with an undertone of suspicion.

"Oh, so now you're harassing little girls," Rylzyr snorted as he crossed his arms and gazed up at Mortum, smirking. "Hmph. Typical of someone whose heart isn't even beating. Just look at her,"--he gestured at the girl, his eyes remaining steady on the bounty hunter--"Does is look like she has a fucking clue what's happening?"

Shaking his head, Rylzyr's eyes left the man and lingered on Vaia before finally resting on the note. "Anyway, may I see that?" He gently took the piece of parchment from the girl's hand and skimmed over it a couple of times. "That amulet," he finally muttered. "The void... I wonder..." Rylzyr reached out to touch the amulet, only for it to send a shock-wave of electricity through his fingers and up his arm. Cursing under his breath, Rylzyr recoiled and clutched his hand. With his eyes wide and glistening with curiosity, he gaped up at Vaia and murmured, "interesting!"

"I- I swear I have no idea what that means!" Vaia told the armoured man honestly. She had no idea what any of this meant, or why people were after her and the amulet... She held it steady as Rylzyr took it. She looked up at him as he observed it for a few seconds, her eyes hoping for answers that he probably wouldn't be able to give her. That's when she heard him mumble something about the void and then the amulet. He then reached out his hand, and her eyes widened! "Uhh, sir! I wouldn't do that-" She was cut short by the amulet's natural response to other people... Like always, the strange thing repelled anyone but Vaia with a volt of purple electricity. She never knew why exactly it did this, but had always assumed Xenin had placed an enchantment to protect it from getting stolen. Unbeknownst to her however, the truth was much more then that...

"Er.. S-sorry... It does that with everyone but me..." She told him, her face red with nervousness. "It's usually why I keep it under my armor so people don't try to..." 

Mortum ignored the comments made by the mage. You didn't make a good bounty hunter by being very trusting. He instead intently observed her face for any sign of deception and... nothing. "I apologize but I had to make sure." He said with a twinge of regret. He didn't want to scare her but the mage had put him in a bad mood. She was only a child after all... one that wore armor, had a most unusual blade, and a magical amulet as demonstrated by the mage. Before she had been drugged she appeared to have been alone at dark in the streets of Ketra. How incredibly innocent, he thought.

"Tell me" he said, more sympathetic this time, "Why does a girl like you need armor?"

"More importantly, why do you have that amulet?" Rylzyr asked once again. "And how in the world did you even come in possession of such an artifact?"

Vaia's face became hinted with annoyance at the armoured man's question. Of course, just like the rest. No one expects a little girl like Vaia to be able to fight. She faced him. "Well, if you MUST know I am a mercenary. By blade is enchanted and gives me advantages in battle most people don't have. I may be young but I wouldn't say I'm a 'little girl'" She told him, facing away as the horned man questioned her.

"Like I told you before! It was a gift from my father! A memento, n- nothing more!" She said, clutching the object with her hand.

Mortum was silent for a second. Mercenary work left terrible scars both external and internal. To do that kind of work at such a young age was unheard of. More relevant however was her response to the mage. Her response was too insistent, add on to that the stutter..."You want to try that again, without the lies?"

Without so much as even glancing away from Vaia, Rylzyr brought his arm up, blocking Mortum's face with the palm of his hand.

"You... really have no idea what that thing is, do you?"

Vaia opened her mouth, about to retort some sort of snarky comeback to the armoured man who seemingly accused her of lying. It was true! Vaia had no idea why everyone was so focused on the object hanging around her neck... Thay's when the horned man raised a hand in front of his face and interrupted.

"W- Well of course I do!" She said, her face getting red with nervousness "It's a memento to remember my father by... Maybe it's just worth a lot of money or something...?" She trailed off, sounding unsure.

Looking at the mages hand, Mortum thought how easy it would be to incapacitate the increasingly annoying mage. Another day unfortunately, another day. Instead he satisfied himself with grabbing Rylzyr's wrist, not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to hurt, before pushing it down and away from his face. "Wouldn't recommend doing that to people who could snap you like a twig." He coldly stated, letting go.

Screw this thought Mortum they had an appointment with this, "Nazix", whoever he was."Fine" he said to the girl,"We should just go and ask this Nazix guy ourselves, would be rude to keep him waiting."

As Rylzyr clutched his hand from the pain of Mortum's grip, he couldn't help but chuckle at the man's threat. The mage didn't find the man the least bit frightening and he could help but find all of his attempts at intimidation to be rather amusing. "Oh how I would love to see you try," he purred as he pushed himself from his crouched position, towering over the both of them.

"Ignoring the corpse..." Rylzyr crossed his arms and turned his attention back to Vaia. "Your father didn't happen to be a mage, did he? That amulet's quite... unique for a simple memento."

"A m- Mage?" She questioned. Vaia was unsure on how to answer that question. While technically Xenin wasn't her father, he did raise the girl her entire life... So it should be safe to call him that! Although other people would find their relationship strange, and Vaia knew this... She put a finger to her chin and gazed upwards steadily.

"No... Not really... He's more like a... Well he's..." She stuttered, obviously unsure how to describe him without outright saying 'DRAGON.'

"Er.. He did have some magic powers... Such as flight... And uh.. Fire breath..." Her face got red.

He looked at the girl as she fumbled through her explanation with annoyance, and then confusion. She just implied that her father was a dragon which was wrong for all sorts of reasons but he really didn't want to think about that now.

"Look," he said to the girl in an annoyed tone, "as fun as sitting here all night and not getting straight answers would be, we don't have all night. The ringleader of this little operation is sitting on his ass, waiting for you. If he finds out what happened, he'll try this again but in greater force. So if you two don't mind I'll be going to have a friendly conversation with Nazix."

And with that he turned and began walking away.

"Bye," Rylzyr scoffed as he watched Mortum walk away.

"Well anyway..." Rylzyr lock eyes with Vaia, his cold gaze unreadable and unwavering. "We can discuss more about this father of yours and his supposed memento later," he said, punctuating father and memento with air quotations. "However... I'd hate to admit it but the corpse is right. Once word gets back to this--oh, what's his name--Nexas character, he'll certainly send more thugs after you and as fun as that may sound, I'm sure it will get old quite fast. Well, you can chose to go after these brutes, or..." the mage clicked his tongue and glanced over at the bounty hunter. "You could allow him to do all of the dirty work for you, but I doubt he can even find his way out of the city..."

"Like hell!" Vaia said angrily. She wouldn't let anyone else go confront them for her! She needed to be there for this meeting. After all, she was a skilled swords woman, and was confident she could handle it. She simply rolled her shoulder and adjusted her blade, it's faint pink glow could be seen reacting to her hands.

"If anyone's gonna find out what happened, it's gonna be me! I don't care if he comes along, but I won't let someone else do this for me." She told the horned man, before turning and quickly following the armoured man.

Like most young fighters she clearly had fire in her, he thought. In Mortum's experience this fire got most aspiring warrior's killed. Let's just hope that magic sword is enough to counteract bad decision making.

"As long as you don't do anything stupid we should get along just fine kid." he said turning his head as he walked, "Oh and you don't have to go mage, would hate to see you ruffle that expensive coat."

Rylzyr shook his head as she watched Vaia storm off. He was just about to turn and walk away when he hear Mortum's snide comment.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Rylzyr said as he caught up to the bounty hunter. "I can easily just buy a new one." He turned his head to meet Vaia, the smirk on his face softening ever so slightly. "Ah, where are my manners? You may call me Rylzyr. The pleasure is mine."

"So you're going to help us?" She asked as she noticed Rylzyr move up beside them. She wouldn't push away any extra help. She just found his personality offputting, and didn't expect him to come along.

"Oh, s- sorry! I'm Vaia. Vaia Nim!" She told him, putting a hand on her chest as she said this. All this time she had completely forgotten about their names.

"I suppose I will," he muttered half to himself.

"That's the spirit!" Mortum said in mock enthusiasm,"Maybe if you don't send your friend to do all the fighting you might amount to half a man. Oh how could I forget," he said turning to Vaia,"I'm Mortum Rukker, a 158 year old dead man who kill's criminals for money, and he's a cowardly mage who has a demon of supreme evil contained within him. Figured we should get those facts out of the way before we worked together." He slapped Rylzyr on the back just a little too hard,"Isn't that right Rylzyr?"

Rylzyr stumbled forward from the force of Mortum's patting. As the mage recovered, the scowl on his face morphed into a strange half-smile and he patted the bounty hunter on the helmet with the same force.

"Oh you," he said in mock-friendliness. "Always teasing your elders." He turned to Vaia. "Coward or not, at least I'm not a fucking imbecile. Hm... but I guess anyone would be that stupid if they've spent the last one-hundred-and-thirty-something years rotting..."Rylzyr turned back to Mortum. "Just... try not to assault people again, would you? Oh, and it would be of our best interest if you would actually think before running off with your sword waving stupidly about in the air. I know you have at least half a brain left to think with."

The sound of the pats echoed inside his helmet as Mortum chucked to himself, thinking about how nice it was to have an enemy so easy to hate. It always made the fight that much easier.

"You know, you were right about one thing, I did rush in when I shouldn't have. But fucking imbecile?" He tutted, "Language, after all you never know when your kid, I'm sorry, apprentice is around." He let the words hang in the air for a second. "You two aren't exactly inconspicuous, remember that. Now if we're done with this shit flinging competition, we have work to do."

Vaia arched an eyebrow as the two men kept going at it. She simply sighed and kept walking, trying her best to keep her attention focused on the note, and ignoring Rylzyr and Mortum's bickering.

"We have a destination apparently, and I'm pretty sure I know a person who can point us in the right direction..."