Eastward Bound and...Man, it looks scary in there. (Open)

[Wrathwyrm]

"Gods, this is brilliant!"

Why didn't he ever do this before?!  He had the stamina and the concentration.  Hell, it was fun!  He was leaping around like the forces that keep him to earth were for other people!  Forget bears and wolves and basilisks!  Up here, the only trouble was that bad birdy back there!  Speaking of which, we mustn't forget that he was actually use to all this zipping around through the air business, because he was catching up.  But frankly, Sano was enjoying himself way too much to be worried now.  He heard the incoming swoop and - in mid-jump, no less - zipped off to the left and came to rest on another tree.

"At this rate, I'll be in Ketra before nightfall."

He turned to address the predator.

"How long are you planning to chase me, anyway?  'Cause you'll probably get eaten by a dragon if you keep this up."

Something Adela kind of boasted, and one of the reasons Sano was even going there, was its squads of dragonriders, Adelans atop fire-breathing reptiles.  Airborne as they were both being, chances are that if a patrol came by while close to Adelan lands, the traveler would be spared while the predator would be toast.

[Rune]

Zero circled back to the annoying stranger. He landed in the same tree as the man, settling on a nearby branch.

"Until you leave this place. You are more likely to be a target than myself."

The dark phoenix hybrid narrowed his eyes at the human.

[Wrathwyrm]

Sano shot the man-bird-of-prey a glare of irritation.

"What part of 'I'm a traveler, passing through.' don't you get?  I'm working on it, you stubborn flying ass!"

It was the worst!  The guy has all the intellect of a human and he thinks no farther than a hawk getting up-at-arms (and talons) over someone doing basically nothing, yet getting a little too close to his damn feeding grounds!  Sano was just trying to get into Adelan lands, and the forest was dangerous enough as it was without this flying pain in the neck going at him.  Hell, the only reason he hadn't seen a wild animal yet was because the two of them were too noisy.

"Do you hunt after everyone like this?  This IS the way to Ketra from the last town.  I'm not lost or anything.  People go here."

[Rune]

Zero rolled his eyes at the foolish human.

"I get all of it. As long as you are here, you are an intruder."

The idiocy of humans never ceased to amaze him. Still, the dark phoenix hybrid was determined to be rid of this man.

"No, just intruders like yourself. There is always another way. You may not be lost, but you still came here uninvited and unannounced. That may be the case, but they are still trespassing."

[Wrathwyrm]

"Ah, I see.  You're a selffish, delusional, narrow-minded, pain in the ass."

Sano's eyes narrowed at the beast with scowl.

"Like my father."

Not that Zero would give a damn, but that obviously put him on some kind of shit-list.  Fortunately, all of Connlaoth would have to pay for grievances before Sano bothered taking it out on some half-bird predator of the forest.  Perspective and all that.

"Well, the hell with you.  You'll never kill me, now that I'm wise to you.  This 'inruder', you'll just have to suffer, but not for long.  Thanks to you, I can just do this."

And like that, he was simply hurled into the air in the direction of his choice, no warnings and no apparent attention to the gripping force of the world.  It was literally mind over matter, so long as the matter was metal, and he was wearing it.  He was just blatently flying now, and he did it without wings.  He'd be in Ketra by sundown, at the very least.

[Rune]

"Quite the contrary. I am merely a creature who is defending their home."

Zero's feathers ruffled in irritation at the human.

"Your daddy issues are of no concern to me."

He was getting rather fed up with this stranger. The dark phoenix hybrid did not suffer fools gladly. Zero was prepared to continue to harass this fool until they took the hint.

"The feeling is mutual. Perhaps, but you're still an intruder. It is the intruder that suffers. That won't save you."

He took to the air as the man flew off. The hybrid flew up towards the man and attempted to grab him from below with his talons.

[Wrathwyrm]

Except...yes, it will.  Zero was essentially trying to obstruct Sano from passing through the Draconi Forest, and failing at it.  Because he had given the young man the idea of flight, he was now using his power to perform a relatively minor feat, rather quickly.  Every time Zero got near now, Sano would simply zip off laterally in a sudden 90-degree change in motion that wings are simply not capable of replicating, completely out of talon range, before continuing on.  And what was he going to DO, anyway, if he got him?  Judging by his powers, he could drop a heavy net in Zero's face at the last second, the success of which would cause him to crash in a rather messy manner.  Not exactly the bother he was hoping to become, now, was he?

[Rune]

Zero's red eyes narrowed in annoyance as the flying human zipped sideways like an overgrown hummingbird. However, he wasn't beat yet. The dark phoenix hybrid was determined to make this man regret his decision to invade another's territory. Zero shadowed himself again and made multiple doppelgangers. He and his replicas then proceeded to swarm the intruder on all sides.

[Wrathwyrm]

Well, as it turns out, charging a guy who seems to have the power to project and alter metal...who is wearing armor...is not a good idea.  No sooner had the doppelgangers appeared than the inclination to mash them slid across Sano's mind.  It was an instinct, one that took the form of spikes launched from his armor that all transformed into spiky walls moving at speed.  They were there for a handful of seconds, which was all that was needed, because anybody in front of Sano was moving right at him and would have no chance to avoid a sudden wall.  That would simply plow through or knock them aside from the force of the velocities and all.  The sides, the top, and the bottom would have a slightly better chance, but to do so means to avoid danger and therefore give up pursuit.  To continue is to bash right into a wall, because they wouldn't be gone until either Sano felt he hit or missed.  The back, of course, was the easiest to avoid because he was moving away from it and not pushing it faster forwards like any of the walls in front.  Now, regardless of whether Zero's doppelgangers were smacking into these metallic projections or avoiding them, they weren't getting through.  His guard wasn't going to be down anymore.

[Rune]

Zero glared in annoyance at the human as they drove him and the doppelgangers away. Although he was unharmed by the spiky walls, the doppelgangers were less lucky. However, the dark phoenix hybrid still had other ways of dealing with difficult prey. Zero kept his distance from his quarry as he began to sing. He hoped his eerie and beautiful voice would get the stranger to relax.

[Wrathwyrm]

A rather devious ability for a birdman of prey to have.  However, there was a problem.  Right now, the two of them were moving at speed.  Sano, being in the lead, was moving himself along to keep himself in the lead.  It left the both of them flying around at some fairly-high velocities, and as a result, couldn't communicate.  In the future, where there's skydiving, it will be discovered that two people in freefall move so fast that their words are lost in the wind as it rushes by.  Similarly, two beings flying fast across the open airways would experience a similar issue, but because they were giving chase...a more unusual effect would take place.  With heightened senses and the fact that Sano was ahead of him, Zero might pick up things said by him as the soundwaves flew back at the predator, maybe.  But Sano is only human, and his ears - while good - are not that good.  The air rushing by them combined with him moving away from the siren sound means that he can't even hear it.  As of now, the only thing he could hear were approaching wind displacements, which is why he could avoid Zero and his attacks.  Although more subtle and clever a maneuver, the siren song was - at best - barely audible and thought of as his imagination if he heard any of it.

[Rune]

Zero narrowed his eyes as the man was unaffected by the song. He refused to give up, though. The dark phoenix hybrid was a rather stubborn being, especially when he felt his territory was being threatened. Zero flew over the human and attempted to use his Shadowmancy to trap the stranger in complete darkness. He hoped it would hinder his quarry.

[Wrathwyrm]

Of course, there was no reason at all for Zero to suspect that Sano could see well in the dark and always had, but he wasn't about to allow himself to be surrounded by a shapeless force of darkness, at any rate.  Suddenly, he was clad in armor from head to toe - full plate armor - so that he couldn't even feel the wind anymore, and simply focused on avoiding the darkness trying to envelope him.  With an open sky to choose from, that wasn't as hard as you might think.  However...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

During this pursuit, the two of them had flown past trees and trees and trees for flipping miles.  A huge amount of walking travel had been covered and the sun was still out overhead.  Given all of this open-air travel going on, and how long they'd been at it now, ]it was only a matter of time.  Adelan people have a strict military doctrine regarding the training and maintaining of their army, standing or flying.  One thing that was regular in their duties was that of the patrols.  They cannot abide any possible threat to their borders unchallenged.  That is why, some ways ahead, the two were spotted.  Four dragons in formation came to hover as the lead man saw something.

"What do you see, Rengal?"

"I see darkness, and figures in flight.  We ride."

Dragonriders were known throughout the land, their power universally recognized.  With firebreathing mounts, these men were soldiers of the Adelan army.  A swordsman led, a pair of archers followed, and a dedicated mage was rear-guard and support.  Apart from the fact that the dragons were pretty noticeable, the chaser and chasee they were moving to intercept had only the glint of cast defensive magicks upon the party as warning that they were about to get their act sorted.

[Rune]

Zero was glad his darkness had some effect on the human. However, as he was about to go in for another attack, some men on dragons appeared. Although the dark phoenix hybrid would have liked to have been able to drive away the stranger himself, he was now greatly outnumbered. Abandoning his quarry, Zero plunged towards the trees. He hoped the dragonriders wouldn't pursue him.

[Wrathwyrm]

Taking a precaution is not an effect.  Sano was completely unharmed.  The armor was more a statement of no-selling the birdman's efforts.  But hey, we've got incoming now.  Dragons suddenly came into Sano's field of vision, a fact which surprised him enough to head straight up in order to shed velocity and dissuade them from thinking he was on the attack.  He stopped up there in mid-air.  The group leader signaled the other three go ahead as he flew up.  They were going to deal with the other thing while he confronted the stranger.  The first thing that Sano noticed, apart from the fact that there was a dragon hovering before him now, was that the soldier before him had dark skin, which he'd never seen in his entire life.

"Who are you?  State your purpose."

"I'm a traveler from the west, on my way to Ketra.  This pest of a birdman decided to give me trouble, so I flew."

"Yes, I'd heard reports of such a beast in this area.  How're you even doing that?"

Sano looked himself over and just shrugged.

"Magic?"

Rengal laughed.

"Get going, then.  But do not do anything to upset the dragons, or your armor will become a molten tomb."

"I believe you."

That would be the end of Sano's part in this area, but what about Zero?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Well, the thing is...they really had heard about him.  Being so adamant about 'intruders', there'd be plenty of whom he'd probably killed, others that he'd chased off in one direction or another.  Eventually, complaints of such would make it to Adela, who would filter down reports of such a beast to its soldiers.  Ironically, if a patrol had caught him before, he could've even been killed by them and then subsequently resurrected himself later.  Whether such had happened before or not, they had ways of dealing with a creature like this.

The other three dragonriders had pursued him to the area in which Zero dove below the treeline, but they did not go down in there.  There were better ways.  I mean, even though it would be hard to pinpoint him in all that, they had frigging dragons and magic.  The mage raised his hands and three circular symbols made of white light appeared before the mouths of their dragons.  They were filters, changing one element into another.  Right after the spell was cast, all three dragons spewed fire directly into the trees and the surrounding area, creating a purifyiing white flame that spread throughout the area, lighting up the area.  It's effect upon the trees?  Maybe no more than photosynthesis.  It's effect on the local fauna?  Temporary blindness.  What about creatures demonstratably seen to be consorting with darkness?  Uhhh...that's bad.  The only silver lining, really, is that if they got 'im, he'll be back.

[Wycliff]

A dark shadow darted across the landscape below, avoiding boughts of deadly white fire. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Of all the rotten luck, I had to come on the day of some god damn shadow burning festival! A singe here, a scorch there: it wasn't the worst day Aven Alveron ever had, but it was damn close. He berated himself inwardly. You could've come to find the Phoenix last week, but noooooo- you just HAD to help that blacksmith find his daughter!
However, in the midst of the chaos, a stroke of luck! In his peripheral vision, Aven spotted the Dark Phoenix dodging through the trees just as he was. Not surprising, considering the strength of the unnatural disaster the two of them were currently fleeing from. While Aven was ninety percent sure that the creature would rise again were he to be caught in the onslaught of bright shining doom, he couldn't imagine dying to be a pleasant experience. Past that, Aven didn't want to stay in the apparently shadow-forsaken Forest any longer than need be, and the time Phoenix's take to resurrect was not tine he was willing to spend narrowly dodging certain death. Strafing over to where the mythical beast was flying, the shadow Mage called out to the creature, attempting to yell over the constant barrage of white magic. "Do you need a hand? With your help, I might be able to get both of us out of here without need for a painful rebirth!"


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[Rune]

Zero was relieved as he managed to reach the safety of the trees. However, the stupid, dragon-riding humans wouldn't leave him be. The dark phoenix hybrid moved swiftly through the forest to avoid a painful encounter with the white magic fire. However, Zero's flight was soon interrupted by another annoying human. "Not from a human. I do not help humans, either. The only reason I am in this mess is because of your kind."