And I'm freeeee~! Freeeee-faaalling--WAIT, WHAT?! [M/TW]

[Rhindeer]

Trigger warnings for rape/torture


Dragons were amazing beasts, and even after all these years, Khaiya was in awe of them. Their power; their grace; their majesty. They could decimate entire villages if they wanted to, entire cities, even, and in the past she had heard it was true they did. And perhaps some rogue beasts still did today. They were timeless and ancient and wise, creatures of muscles and magic that few could kill--and that those that tried and failed rarely survived.

And yet all it took was one large tear to their wing, the only part of them that wasn't covered in armor-like scales, to bring them to their knees.

Or rather, crashing to the ground.

Khaiya didn't know what did it; she didn't see it happen. She was distracted that morning and fatigued from a poor night's sleep, and so she'd let herself close her eyes just to relieve them of their tired burning as she leaned forward in the saddle, the gentle rise and fall of Jasper beneath her rhythmically soothing, the rush of air around her muted by the helmet she wore. It was a lovely day, sunny and calm, and she wasn't even officially on duty today. She just needed to get out and do something, and a quick flight seemed perfect for that. Stretch Jasper's wings, cure her anxiousness...

Of course, that was exactly when it happened.

Jasper let out piercing roar full of pain and anger and his body jerked, his wings working harder to support his massive weight, and Khaiya's eyes snapped open as ever muscle went taut just in an effort to hold on and stay seated. She was strapped in for safety's sake, but she was in no hurry to test just how well those straps worked!

"Jasper! What is it?" she telepathed at him, her heart hammering away in her chest. They were losing altitude, his wings unable to keep him airborne no matter how he strained, his claws pawing at the air as though that would help keep them afloat.

"My left wing," he telepathed back, and that was when Khaiya twisted in her seat to look--and saw the gaping hole that was flinging blood with every beat. "It's...unstrap yourself, Khaiya."

"What?! Are you crazy?"

"We're going to fall," Jasper continued, and she could hear his breath coming out in bursts as he struggled to keep control, and she watched in horror as he aimed them toward a large patch of forest along the mountainside. "I can try to make this gentle, but if we crash...you need to be free. You'll have a better chance if you're thrown than if I crush you when we--dammit!"

His wing buckled then, giving out from under him, and they plummeted Her stomach dropped and though she'd practiced dives with Jasper before, she thought this time she might truly vomit, right into her damned helmet, because this was not a controlled dive like those. This was a rolling, chaotic fall as the world spun around them into a blur of color, the sheer force of gravity whipping Khaiya around like a ragdoll.

And then, abruptly, Khaiya was no longer staring up at the sky but instead the trees below as Jasper rolled, the trees that were growing closer by the second.

"The strap, Khaiya!" Jasper growled, and Khaiya grabbed at it with shaking hands that didn't want to obey her commands--and yanked it free. And then she was staring at the sky again as she struggled free of the stirrups--and let go.

It was the last thing she remembered before she hit the trees.



The sky was dark when Khaiya woke up, and she was surrounded by trees.

She was also incredibly sore. Everything ached, and she knew as she laid there that she was pretty lucky to be alive. That without her armor, without her helmet, she would surely be dead. That she'd probably be dead if she hadn't let go, because there was a chance Jasper would land belly up--and a chance he'd land on his back with her beneath him and--

...Shit. Jasper.

"Jasper!" she yelled, scrambling to her hands and knees and wincing as her bruised and cut body protested. She gasped, pain shooting through her side--she'd probably broken a rib or two--and clamped a hand to the spot as she sucked in air. Shit. Shit.

There was no answer.

"Jasper!" she tried again, this time sending it out along their link, but again there was only silence.

Silence, except for the eerie sounds of the woods around her, and the distant howl of a wolf.

Either he was out of range or...

No. She did not want to think of the other possibility. She'd know if that were the case...wouldn't she?

Reaching up, Khaiya took off her helmet and mopped her sweaty brow with a gloved hand. Okay. She just had to think smart about this. Stay calm and logical.

It couldn't be that difficult to find a dragon.

[DaGlobster]

"Steady... Steady, damnit!"

Gears turned, and the somewhat crudely fashioned ballista that Smed was seated on gradually turned, tracking its target through the treeline. The dragon was high up, but it was set to a slow soar. Easy to hit, once you get your targeting done right.

Smed sat on the very back of the machine, one eye ensconced in a scope while the other was blinked shut. He had ten or so more goblins with him, with two extras helping him operate the giant weapon. They'd wheeled the thing out into the Adelan heartlands to test it out, and what better way to test out a ballista than by using it in dragon hunts?

The goblins turning the wheels that spun the weapon on its axis looked up at Smed as he used his hands to direct them, almost as if he was controlling the machine itself.

"Come on. Just a little bit more... let me see that pretty face of yours one more time..."

Smed stomped down into a pedal, and the entire mechanism lurched backwards as the bolt was sent flying out with a powerful cha-TWANG.

For a few seconds, there was silence. Gratification, however, was not delayed. Smed watched the dragon's wing nearly get torn in half by the jagged, barbed bolt, and he started to watch it go down.

"I missed!" Smed growled.

"Methinks you hit it just fine, boss," blurted a goblin, watching the red dragon spiral downwards.

"I was aiming for the git riding it!" Smed said, and he wheeled about in the seat to point at the goblin.

"Nobody likes a kissass, Gerki."

Silence followed up, broken only by the dragon's periodic roars, until the beast finally contacted the ground about half a mile away from them. Even from this distance, the impact sent rattles up the weapon's frame.

The goblins all broke into a cheer, and Smed's seat spun about so he could face his gathering of "hunters". The goblins were all equipped with small, crude guns. It wasn't the guns that were special, though, it was the ammunition. Enchanted to bypass protections of the flesh, the bullets were probably something that would appear in a dragon-hunter's shop.

"Alright boys! Spread out, and get real low. We're assuming the rider survived. If you see her..."

Smed smiled.

"Aim for the legs."

Smed jumped down, landing among the goblins that were setting out towards the fallen dragon. The two goblins manning the weapon stayed behind, along with one extra goblin to aim it. The ballista was lowered to aim at ground targets, and the scope removed.

Smed always had a backup plan.

[Rhindeer]

Khaiya tried several more times to call for Jasper, but was still met with silence, and with every minute that rolled by, her worry grew. But she kept it together. Panic only made for a fogged head. Instead, she took her time locating and gathering the weapons and supplies that had fallen with her and checking on their state.

Her sword had survived, protected by its scabbard. She buckled that to her hip, and checked the knives she had hidden in her vambraces and in various other spots in her armor. Still there. A few had bruised her in spots. Her bow was shot all to hell, snapped and broken, and the arrows were gods only knew where. Inconvenient, as it would make hunting a challenge, but she could make snares. Her compass was intact, worn around her neck and resting between her breasts.

The rest she couldn't find in the dark, and it wasn't absolutely vital so she didn't look deeper. With a deep breath, she started to walk, trudging through the woods. Gods. She didn't even know where Jasper had fallen in relation to her! But what else was there to do but pick a direction and set out? She would leave markers along the way so she'd know where she'd been and where she still needed to go and--

There came the sound of crunching through the bushes. A lot of it. With a start, Khaiya ducked low and slipped quietly behind an ancient tree's thick trunk, her back braced against it. She glanced cautiously around it.

She'd never been to these woods. She didn't know what kind of creatures lived here.  But Adelan woods were notorious for basilisks, and the Thunderblacks birthed dragons.

Wolves she could deal with, it was the unknown she didn't want to risk.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''What would you wish for me to do Master. Head to where the girl is, or the dragon.'' Mei asked.

The succubus had changed in the time she had spent with Smed. Her horns had increased a bit in size just like her wings. She could grow out her nails to sharp claws and dark markings were on her skin when she was in full mode. As if all of her humanity had been locked up far away. She licked her lips, her hand resting on her two swords.

''I do not know what your plans are with the woman but... if you are done and she is still alive. Can I have her?''

[DaGlobster]

"We head to--"

Smed stopped dead in his tracks, and the goblins all came to a similarly halted, if much less organized halt as well. He took a few deep sniffs of the air, and grinned.

"I smell a redhead. A scared one, too. To answer your previous question, yes. She'll be all yours."

He drew Anklesnagger from his belt, the various hooks, spikes, and barbs glinting in the light filtering down from the canopy.

"Can you smell her, Mei?"

[SilmeriaElemred]

Mei licked her lips. ''Oh I smell her alright.'' Mei replied. The girl's scent was all over the place. The succubus took her whipand her eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness. She waited for a brief moment before with a smile, she walked towards an old tree.

''Her scent is everywhere but I think thisone.'' Her steps were slow. Yes the girl had fallen off a dragon. But she would be a fool to think that she was not capable of defending herself. ''Come out little pet'' Mei hummed. She was in a good mood it seemed.

[Rhindeer]

That quick glance told Khaiya everything she needed: several goblins, one with a wicked looking weapon, and a demonic looking woman with a whip. And that they were specifically looking for her? That they had seen her?

...Yeah, no.

Her hand slipped down to the pommel of her sword. She wasn't in great fighting condition, nor was she in great running condition with her ribs damaged and making it painful to breathe, but she was going to have to pick one option soon. Goblins might not be an issue on their own--she had turned several into shishkabob over her time as a rider--but as a pack? That was when it got hairy.

And when the woman called out to her--little pet--as she headed toward her tree, that decided matters. Goblins she was more familiar with, but there were too many for her to want to deal with. The demonic-looking woman? There was no telling what she was capable of.

She sucked in a breath, knowing this was going to hurt, and shoved off from the tree before they could come any closer and took off at a run.

[DaGlobster]

For one, Smed was both happy and concerned that the dragon's rider was still alive. Smed, in his own little anarchistic way, despised the dragon knights. Really, he despised any form of elite fighting units. Enforcers for tyranny, is what they all were. He'd heard enough stories of dragon knights wiping out goblin settlements.

He smiled, then, knowing that if he brought her head, along with her dragon's, to the goblin tribes in Adela, his sphere of influence could only grow.

The concern, came not from her, since he was confident she could be subdued, but it came from her dragon. If the beast was still alive, it couldn't be far. Hopefully, it was either dead, or too wounded to move. Probably the former, since a live, wounded dragon would usually be roaring or otherwise cause some sort of ruckus.

"After her!" Smed yelled. "Gun towers, like we practiced!"

And so, ten goblins became five as pairs of two formed up. One goblin balancing on the shoulders of the other, free to fire as they moved, while the bottom focused purely on keeping up with Khaiya. Immediately, they started firing, with no regard for formation or organized combat. The shots weren't the most accurate, but with a decent rate of fire, one of them could get lucky.

Smed himself slowly started to catch up to her, much quicker on his feet and not as impeded by armor as his prey was.

"Mei, slow her down."

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Of course Master.'' Mei replied with a devilish smile and quickly dashed after the women. To bad the trees were in the way. But when she finally got a clear view of the woman she aimed her whip at the woman's ankle to at the least make her trip good.

If it had not been for the armor though Mei would've resorted in whipping the girl's back instead. But when she saw the leather make it's way to Khaiya's ankle she grinned.

[Rhindeer]

They fucking had guns?!

Khaiya flinched when one of those bullets took a splintery chunk out of the tree she had just ducked behind, but she didn't stop. A moving target was harder to hit than a still one, and so she pushed off and took off and kept going, using the cover of the trees to shield her. Something hit her side as she bolted from one tree to the next, but she didn't stop to check if it had hit true or just glanced off her armor, and she knew from experience that if it was the former, it was all the more important not to look and to keep moving while she was still high on adrenaline.

"Jasper!" she called out again, a new sort of panic striking her. What if these things had found him? He could decimate them easily, even wounded, but if he was wounded badly enough that he wasn't responding...

Gods. What if they'd killed him?

But she'd feel it, wouldn't she? She'd know! The other riders all had tales of riders who had lost dragons, and they all claimed that those riders had felt it. Had felt that sudden emptiness and pain. "Jasper, please answer me!"

"Khaiya...?"

She could have cried with relief. The voice was weak, but it was there. "Jasper, listen to me, I'm--"

She cut off with a yelp as something wound around her ankle and pulled it out from under her. She landed with a hard grunt, turned quickly over onto her back, and saw the whip length wound around her--and the demonic woman quickly approaching. Khaiya wasted not a second. She slid a knife out from her vambrace, slashed through the whip, and then scrambled to her feet and took off.

But though she'd acted fast, that fall had definitely cost her precious time.

[DaGlobster]

Smed cackled when Khaiya fell, even as she slashed the whip and kept going. Unlike Khaiya, who's path was complicated by weaving around trees, Smed was just making a straight beeline towards her.

He'd nearly got her, too, when she fell. Now, he was hot on her heels, nearly within pouncing distance.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''As if that will change anything little pet'' Mei said. The whip was shorter but certainly still effective.

A few branches had made cuts on her face and legs where her boots and short leather pants did not reach but those things would heal on their own. There was a prize here.

She managed to run beside Khaiya with a smirk. ''You are a tough one I admit. You surely broke something.'' she said before lashing the whip aiming for the woman's neck.

[Rhindeer]

 They were gaining fast; Khaiya was horribly aware of that fact, aware of in just how bad of shape she was, and aware of the increasing ache in her side where the bullet had struck--and the warmth spreading there--and the ache in her ribs where she'd broken one. But she kept going, flinching and ducking when bullets whizzed by her, dodging around fallen trees and bushes that wanted to snag at her and slow her--but it was all for naught.

The demon-woman caught up to her, and Khaiya was still registering her words when the whip snapped around he neck.

She cried out, grabbing at the whip with one hand, and she slipped her knife again and started to cut desperately at it.

[DaGlobster]

"Atta girl, Mei!" Smed said, as if praising some kind of hunting animal for catching its prey. Using the loss of speed caused by Khaiya having to focus on cutting the whip around her neck, Smed got in within pouncing distance, and pounce he did.

Laughing, he pushed off of the bround and propelled himself forwards, aiming for a low swipe with Anklesnagger. He aimed towards the parts of her leg armor which were mostly chain mail, since the spiked and hooks of Anklesnagger would sink right through it.

If he hit, the weapon would snag in her flesh and armor, and he'd use it to pull her down to a more manageable height.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''We should hunt like this more often. It's fun'' Mei said and before Khaiya could think of cutting the whip again she gave it a good pull before allowing the leather to loosen up so she could withdraw it. It should slow the woman down enough she figured. And hoped.

Mei could smell the blood. At some point Khaiya would not be able to run at all.

[Rhindeer]

Something--many somethings--stabbed into her leg, and Khaiya let out a scream that was half unintelligible swear, half pained--and soon choked, when the demon-woman tightened the whip before loosing it. She crumpled when her leg was yanked out from under her, landing on her ass, but it wasn't just agony that twisted her expression as she caught sight of her pint-sized attacker; it was rage.

Her knife was quickly sheathed, replaced by her sword, as she aimed a swift kick at the creature with one leg--and yanked back against the weapon stabbing her with the other, flesh tearing free, though it snagged on her chainmail and got stuck no matter how she shook it.

"Back the fuck off!" she snapped, breathless, sword crossed in front of her as she scooted backwards, more than ready to slash at whatever or whoever tried to touch her next.

[DaGlobster]

Smed cackled as Khaiya's armored boot clocked him right in the mouth and sent a few fangs flying, as if he found the pain to be little more than a love tap. He fell backwards as a result, and his weapon came with him, yanking out a section of Khaiya's chain mail.

Immediately, Smed was back onto his feet, looking at Khaiya as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He gave her a broken, toothy grin, letting her see the fangs sprouting up out of his gums, good as new.

Mei wasn't the only demonic one present.

"Feisty," he said, licking up his own blood. From behind her, one of Smed's cronies aimed a shot and fired, intent on nailing her clear in the shoulder of her sword arm.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Oh dear. Swearing. You are not scared are you?'' Mei asked. and drew her swords after rolling up the whip and putting it in its holder.

''People swear and walk backwards when they do. I would suggest to surrender but that would be to easy. Not to mention boring. The more they fight back the more fun it is.'' She slowly approached Khaiya but remained out of range. She had seen the goblni behind Khaiya and waited for him to take the shot. She smiled when he did though.

[Rhindeer]

It was in that moment, when the goblin laughed about getting his face kicked in and teeth knocked out, that Khaiya realized just how deep she was. His teeth grew back. He was unfazed. That was not a normal goblin...

And then there was the woman, now with two swords out, and Khaiya's heart beat faster even as her blood leaked out. A demon and goblins and a goblin that wasn't like a goblin. Her face paled but she held her sword steady and shuffled backwards on her bottom more, then put a hand down to support herself as she prepared for the painful task of standing.

"Jasper," she sent out again, even while she was silent on the outside, not caving to the demon-woman's taunts. "I...I think I'm going to die." She was impressed at how calm it came out, but she was rushing the "words", knowing she didn't have much time. There wasn't enough time yet to feel mortal terror. "There's goblins, and a demon. If you don't hear from me again--"

Her connection was severed by the explosion of a gun and the burst of pain that ripped through her shoulder, and the scream that tore from her lips didn't sound like it belonged to her. She dropped her sword, her arm going limp, and for a moment couldn't even begin to think of pulling a knife as all thought blurred away into agony.

[DaGlobster]

Khaiya's blood spattered onto Smed's face, and his smile only widened. That was a good shot! Smed made a note to reward that goblin later, in the form of a turn with the girls.

He licked one of his new teeth, pearly white contrasting with the yellow of older fangs, and he motioned towards Khaiya.

"Knock her out, Mei. Let's bag her and get out of here."