Forest-Fire

[Koga]

Koda heard the voice and immediately knew what was coming for them. Crap there's more of them? He growled defensively as he felt Erynies' grip tighten around his arm. No one was going to hurt her, not after everything she did for him today; no, he was going to stay here and fight to make sure that he, Fia, and Erynies making it out of this alive. Fia was wounded and Erynies was exhausted, but he still had some energy in him. Just enough energy to fight these fools off. "They must have sensed all the magic." He whispered to Erynies, trying not to be heard by the approaching fiends.

Acting quickly, Wildfire slid his hand out from Erynies' grip, and pulled his fire-staff from his back. He then twirled it in a full circle around his head and with both hands slammed the bottom of it into the ground. A circle of fire half way as tall as the tallest tree in the woods formed around them, giving them momentary protection from the trespassers. He then dropped his staff to the ground and slid his hands under Erynies to lift her up. "You're going to be okay, little dove." He repeated his phrase from earlier on and placed her ontop of Fia's back along with the herbs and Erynies' Spellbook.

The voices from behind the bushes were starting to get louder now, and Koda felt his magic weakening as they got closer. They were shouting at the fire, "They're behind the flames!" "Kill the mage!" "Burn them!" Wildfire shook his head from side to side, these mage-hunters had no idea what they were getting themselves into. He didn't want to kill them, but seeing as they were leaving him with no choice: he had to whatever he could to protect his friends. At this point he didn't even care about his own well-being at all, all he could think about was protecting his friends.

"I'll follow your wisp back to you when it's all over, just stay somewhere safe and don't use any magic or light any fires okay? And if I'm not back by the time the sun rises..."" Wildfire paused for a moment, lost in thought, "take care of Fia for me." Then he smiled at Erynies for a second, "Now we're back down to one favor." Still smiling, he walked over to Fia, "Get her someplace safe Fi, I'll be back for you guys." Then without another word, Koda slapped Fia on the rear end and she began to run. Using her fire magic she created a small hole in the back of the fire circle Wildfire created for her to run through without the pursuers noticing.

Once Fia and Erynies were out of range, Wildfire picked his staff back up. He held the staff in the air with one hand and began to channel his energy into it. The fire around him immediately got sucked back into the staff. His shield was gone, and now all the Mordecai could see him. Koda got a good look at each of their faces. There were three of them, three and a hound. Rage began to settle inside of him. He felt anger coursing through his veins as he observed their features. He wanted to remember what they looked like, these villains who threatened the safety of his friends. These people, these horrible people were the reason he couldn't live his life freely. His thoughts brought him back to his mother. She was a kind and loving Mage who never did anything bad to anyone, yet she was ashamed of herself for knowing magic. THESE were the people who did that to her. He let the anger take control of him, channeled his rage into his staff and then BOOM. All the fire he just absorbed exploded from his staff in a firey bliss.

Fire as hot as the sun burned all around him, two of the Mordecai managed to duck for cover. However, the hound and the third Mordecai were too late. Wildfire watched as they burnt to a crisp in his flames. He was beginning to feel mad with power. He already knocked two of them out of the battles and now only two remained. Wildfire looked around him, the remaining Mordecai were now taking cover behind a fallen tree and they couldn't see him yet. Swiftly, he ran toward a charred up tree and began to climb its burnt branches, using the fire as his cover. He knew he couldn't get too close to the Mordecai or else he wouldn't be able to use his magic, so he had to do this from a distance.

Wildfire stood on the most stable tree branch he could find, and looked down at the two Mordecai from above. They were looking all around them in every direction but up, "Where did he go!?" one of them shouted. "What kind of witchcraft is this?!" Then all they could hear was maniacal laughter as a rain of fire came down on them from above.

[viestrus01]

'So that's how they always managed to find me,' she thought as Fia ran. Slipping in and out of consciousness, her thoughts ran wild.

Who are they? How did they get here? What do they want? And most of all...

Why are they doing this?

She remembered her first encounter with them. In a group, like the one Wildfire is fighting off right now. Their bodies should still be somewhere in the clearing.

It was a few weeks ago... Erynies had casted the most powerful projection spell she ever cast. It nearly decimated half of the woods, if it weren't for her still having some control over it. Too much fear caused it... her imagination and mind ran rampant, and the spell was accidentally cast.

Luckily enough, half the forest didn't get damaged, though...

She shook her head. No, she didn't want to see those bodies again. She did remember lying there on the ground though, nearly dead, before some animals came and rescued her, including her arachnid friend. She didn't know how, but they nursed her back to health.

Then came tonight, and here they are again.

She was worried for Wildfire. There was a moment during that fight a few weeks ago where they somehow, though she didn't know how, negated her spells.

But a part of her also felt confident that Wildfire will be able to handle himself. She saw him fight just now, after all.

With a sigh, she calmed herself down. Then, she pointed towards the left path as they were approaching a branching road.

"There," she weakly said. Her shelter was the best place they could hide in right now.

[Koga]

Fia followed Erynies' direction obediently. "He's going to be okay you know." She cocked her head back so that one of her eyes met with Erynies'. Somehow she could just tell that the girl was worrying at least a little bit. "He always gets so dramatic when he's about to fight, like it's his last fight in the world." She shook her head from side to side before once again facing forward. "We both know it's not." Fia began to think about all the fights they had been in together, and the progress Wildfire has made since he had first started practicing magic. "I taught him everything he knows about fire. Together we've taken on groups of ten! He can handle that measly bunch by himself no problem." Fia was partly worried too. She was always there to help Wildfire in battle, this would be one of the very few times he was on his own. She wasn't going to tell that to Erynies though, and part of her just knew that he would come back anyway. He always comes back.

--

The two soldiers had tried dodging the flames, but to no avail. They were getting burned up. Luckily for them though, one of them had a shield. The Mordecai raised his mighty shield up against the fire, his arms were burnt and charred but he managed to cover himself. The other one was an archer and without any means of defending himself, he decided to take cover behind the warrior. Wildfire continuously hurled fireballs down at the men hoping to overwhelm them with his flames, but it was ineffective. The archer loaded an arrow in his crossbow and aimed it over the warrior's shoulder. fling an arrow had hit Koda in his left shoulder. He cried out in pain for a moment, feeling a terrible burning sensation coming from the wound. Iron arrow heads...

With the sheer power of his rage Wildfire withstood the pain, grabbed the arrow from his arm and pulled it straight out. Then he hurled his biggest fireball straight at the bowman as he peaked out to fire another. The crossbow set ablaze and with it the archer. A pained screech was heard as the burning man fell backwards onto the ground behind the warrior. Wildfire looked down at the last remaining soldier, he wasn't going to be able to take on this guy the same way he took out the other two; he was heavily armored and had a giant shield. He spun his staff in circles in the air, all the fire in the area began to swirl around the top of his spear like a giant tornado. Then he raised the staff up sideways with the blade pointed at the warrior, all the fire he had collected followed his movements and took the form of a giant spear also pointing at the soldier. Koda took a deep breath, and when he exhaled the flame-spear turned a bright blue and flew straight into the warrior's shield, breaking his guard just for a moment. This was Wildfire's chance. He jumped down from the tree, and rolled out on the ground to break his fall. He held his spear in one hand and with his free hand he punched a fireball toward the Warrior's armored chest. The soldier fell back a bit, with his guard still wide open. "No please!" He shouted, but it was too late.

Koda ran at him holding his spear strongly in both of his hands, "Don't beg." He said as he spear went straight through a kink in the Warrior's armor and impaled him in the gut. "It makes you look weak." He then pulled the spear out, shook the blood off of it, and placed it back on his back. The man laid on the ground, coughing up blood. Wildfire turned around and began to walk away from him. "I apologize, but I can't have you following us." He said as he created a ball of fire in his hands.

"No...NO!!!" the man cried as a ball of fire wrapped around his face, burning his skull to a crisp.

Wildfire looked up at the wisp who had waited here throughout all the fighting, "Let's go." He said and followed it all the way back to Erynies and Fia, holding his wounded shoulder the whole way.

[viestrus01]

The elf heard a loud shriek in the distance, almost like... a dying wail...

She shut her eyes, shivering slightly. No, no, not another one... she didn't want to see another dead body...!

Once more she opened her eyes, inhaling a calming breath. Her eyes darted about, noticing that they're close to her shelter. After a while, they got in, Erynies breathing a sigh of relief.

"Alright, we're here..." she said as she jumped down. The shelter wasn't all that great. Situated in a small cave, with an entrance lined up with trees, bushes and overlapping roots and branches, this place is rather secluded. Perfect for a resting spot.

The cave itself is dark, dimly lit, yet roomy, with more than enough space for a family to live in. She (wobbly) headed towards the back of the room, grabbing her supply of water she got yesterday. Due to the dim lighting, the elf had to probe around for a little bit to find a makeshift bowl. Grabbing it with trembling hands, she got a good amount of water in before she drank it, little by little, careful so as not to spill it's contents. Bringing the bowl down, she sighed, slumping back against the wall. Even in the darkness you could make out how pale she is.

Yet despite this, she still managed to stay awake, or at least forcing herself to, waiting for her small wisp and Wildfire to come back.

Before long, both she and Fia heard the echoing of feet, crushing the grass underneath it. The steps almost feel heavy, as if the person were wounded.

A moment later, her wisp flew in, bathing the room in a dim, lavender-ish hue.

[Koga]

Wildfire followed the wisp into the cave, still clenching his wounded shoulder. His eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the new lighting, but when they did he saw Fia running happily up to him. She nuzzled her large red head into his chest and cooed gently at him. He responded by softly petting the feathers on her head and grinning from ear to ear, "I told you I'd come back Fi." Then he looked around the room for Erynies and found her slumped against the wall. "We should be safe now, I doubt there's anymore of them." He said to her,  and even if there were more, if those Mordecai got the chance to see all the bodies both Koda and Erynies left behind... they weren't going to want to mess with these mages.

Wildfire reached inside Fia's saddlepack and grabbed some more bandages. He wrapped them tightly around his wounded shoulder to supress the bleeding, groaning a bit as he did so. "Bloody Mordecai." He said as he moved away from the cave's entrance and sat down against the wall next to Erynies. "I thought we'd be safe from them in these woods, but I guess not." He tightened the bandages around his arm, and then tied a knot to keep them in place. He'd ask Erynies to heal it, but she looked way too exhausted to be doing any sort of healing spell right now and besides if there were more Mordecai in the woods he didn't want their hounds to sense the magic. "I heard theres a sanctuary for mages somewhere in these woods, that's where me and Fi were heading." He was sure the girl could handle herself. He had already seen just how powerful her magic was, but he hasn't seen her use it in combat. He thought back to the dead bodies he had found earlier on. Could this have been Erynies' doing? No way... She was just a little girl, but maybe? The girl had some extremely powerful magic so it was definitely possible, but she just didn't seem like the type. "We were planning on staying there for a few days before moving on again." He chuckled a little bit, "It's an adventurous life for us. We'd be happy to take you along with us if you'd like." Wildfire smiled at her and then leaned his head back against the wall, the exhaustion was starting to kick in.

Fia walked over and laid down in front of them cooing rather joyfully now, "Peace and quiet." She said to no one in particular (not like koda could understand her anyway.) "Finally." She closed her eyes and began to drift into sleep.

(( You know I never really expected Fia to have a voice XD but this works out great. ))

[viestrus01]

At the mention of the Mordecai, Erynies sighed inaudibly. So that's what they're called...

Her gaze fell onto the wound on Widlfire's shoulder. A small puncture wound, rather deep at that. Couldn't be a bird's talon, or claws that happened to hook on to him... a weapon then.

She nearly reached out a hand to heal it, but then stopped, knowing how exhausted she is. She saw a mage once, healing someone despite being exhausted, but she needs to be careful... lest she die casting a spell simply from being too tired already.

For a moment, her body felt tense as she finally realized what Wildfire had done.

More bodies in the woods...

And then came the question about the village. Instantly, Erynies perked up.

"I know where that is! I can take you there tomorrow, if you'd like..." A secluded village, and sanctuary for mages... yet those 'Mordecai' are here now. She wasn't sure if that place would be so  safe now...

Then came the offer for her to come with them. Politely, the girl declined.

"I was planning on staying here for a while longer... But, you can come see me whenever you like." She smiled a genuine smile, a small, thin line forming on her lips, "Though it may be a little hard since I wander around a lot, too..." She then saw the bird walk up to them, lying down in front of them, joyfully cooing while uttering something along the lines of 'Peace and quiet'. She couldn't really make it out. Too much haze in her head. Too tired...

Erynies took of the pin suspending her bun, made to lie down, closing her eyes, and letting sweet sleep finally take over.

Well... sweet would be far from the truth.

A nightmare was what graced her while she was asleep, yet somehow she had a hard time waking up from it. Probably since she hasn't reached a point where you were to die, like how every other nightmares end.

Surrounded by a field of mangled, pulverized and destroyed bodies under a dark, almost blood red sky, she couldn't move. Some of them were reminiscent to her victims, others burnt or stabbed or crushed...

Suddenly, came a twitch from one of the bodies. And then more came. And more. And more.

Soon, the twitches evolved into movement, movement allowed them to stand, for their mouths to move, for their vocal chords to work. Then...

They wailed.

A dying wail so horrible it would scar the minds of anyone who saw it. Then they finally stood their full height, revealing their deformed, reanimated bodies.

Necrosis.

They all walked straight to her, the elf still unable to move. Their hands, with nails now looking more like small claws more than anything, reached out to her. The wails became louder and louder, to the point where it was deafening, she couldn't tell if they were coming from them or if they were coming from inside her head.

Pain shot up as she saw a sword get driven up against her abdomen. Claws began to pry their way into her open wound. More and more came. Everything became a blur of pain and red.

She opened her mouth to scream, and did in fact, succeed. She woke up, screaming, almost to the top of her lungs, matted in sweat, the sun already beginning to peek above the horizon.

(Glad to know Fia having a voice is working out for you XD)

[Koga]

When Erynies fell asleep, Wildfire laid back and shut his eyes. His body felt heavy and exhausted, yet his mind still wandered. He thought about all the people he killed today and began to picture their faces. Guilt struck him. He didn't want to hurt those people, he just wanted to keep his friends safe. Wildfire shivered a little as his mind slowly drifted out of consciousness.  Would these people ever leave him alone? All he wanted was to be free, to fly wherever he wanted and to cast any spells he wished without the fear of persecution. This dream of his was beginning to seem like it was just that: a dream. A dream that might not ever come true. Regardless, in his sleep that night he was free.

Koda flew high in the air, his arms outstretched like wings. Fia was by his side and the two of them were as free as birds. They flew past volcanos, over mountain peaks, through rivers and into canyons. They flew all across the world that night, from the islands of Yoreiq to the kingdom of Connlaoth, they saw it all. They were unrestricted, with no chains pulling them back anywhere. They were truly free.  Wildfire had many nights like this one, nights where he flew across the world. He loved everything about it: the wind blowing in his hair, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and the beautiful sights that no one else in the world could see. It was truly a beautiful dream, unfortunately it was short-lived.

Wildfire awoke to a scream. A scream so loud and frightening it caused him to awaken screaming equally as loud. He swung his fist blindly into the air and with it flew a wave of flames. He panted as he looked around him, he saw Fia and Erynies, and then he realized that they were safe. "Oh.." he said looking down at his fist for a moment, trying to understand what just happened. "Are you okay?"

[viestrus01]

Erynies didn't hear the question Wildfire asked. She was practically hyperventilating.

That dream again... ever since she killed those people it's almost always been that dream! A nightmare full of reanimated corpses...

Was it just her, or is it the ghosts of those people haunting her?

Tears began dripping down from her eyes, and she wept, silently, covering her mouth with her visibly trembling hand, hiding her chattering teeth as her body shook. All the while, she took deep breaths to calm herself yet she couldn't. The image of that nightmare was still burned onto her brain. Like it was branded there, never to dissapear.

[Koga]

When Ernyies didn't respond, Wildfire rolled onto his knees and crawled over to her. Was she okay? Obviously not, but what was wrong? Wildfire didn't quite understand what was going on, but figured it must have just been a bad dream. He grabbed her by the arm and looked up at her teary-eyed face, brushing a few stray strands of hair back behind her ears softly. "It's okay." He said softly to her, "you're safe Erynies." His eyes met hers and he smiled a bit shyly. "You're safe." he repeated with a certain emphasis on the word safe.

Wildfire had known what it was like to be afraid. Deep down past his angry, childish exterior, he was afraid. Scared of all the cruel things that exist in this realm, all the evil, the people who would see him dead if they got the chance, the demons, the monsters. This all caused him great fear, but Wildfire learned what it meant to be brave a long time ago.

Erynies' eyes brought Koda back to a time when he felt just as afraid. He gazed into them, and strangely enough he saw himself, as a mere child of 16. Scared and alone, crying with broken iron chains on his wrists and ankles. He remembered that day so vividly now, even after all these years of trying to forget it the memory had managed to worm its way back into his mind. His first encounter with the Mordecai, a mere 8 months after he first left home. His father never taught him what iron could do to mages, or how the Mordecai fought, or anything about them other than that he had to avoid them.

Wildfire was a child at the time, he still was, but then he was even younger. He was in the Sirantil Valley, so close to Connlaoth. At the time he wasn't afraid of the mage-hunters. He thought his father had been so scared of them for no good reason, he thought that he could avoid them by hiding in plain sight. He was wrong. Their hounds had sensed him use his magic to create a small campfire, and when they got to him Wildfire had no idea why he couldn't use his magic against them. It just wasn't working, no matter what he did he couldn't cast a spell. He told Fia to run, but she refused. He threw rocks at her over and over again until she eventually flew away. The men had caught him, chained his hands and ankles and began to bring him back to Connlaoth for god knows what.

Koda thought his life was over as they marched him toward their great city, but then Fia came back. She flew over the warriors and rained fire down on them from above. Throughout all the destruction Wildfire had managed to grab one of the soldier's swords and fought some of them with his shackled hands. Then he remembered his face. The face of the first man he killed. Wildfire had shoved the mans own sword through his heart and watched the life leave his eyes, heard him breathe his last breaths, and smelled the foul scent of death overcoming his body. The image haunted him now. The image of death burned  in his brain. It had been so long since he even thought of this, but somehow this elven child had brought the thought back to him.

Wildfire's face grimaced for just a second at the thought, as he looked down at his wrists half-expecting to see shackles on them. Now he knew how the girl was feeling, was it all the death that made her feel this way? Has she ever killed a someone before? Wildfire took a second look at her face and immediately knew the answer. He thought back to the bodies he found in the woods the night before, now realizing that it had to be her doing.

"It wasn't easy for me my first time either." Wildfire said, looking down at Erynies. For some unknown reason, the girl had felt like family to him. He had only known her for a day, and to be honest they hardly even spoke to each other, but now Wildfire knew just what it was about her that reminded him of himself. She had become a little sister to him, all in just a day.

[viestrus01]

You'd be surprised how easy it was, she thought, still sobbing. The thought sent a chill down her spine. How could she think like that? Those were lives. Lives!

After a while, the girl's sobbing quieted down, calming down, yet she was still evidently crying. Should she tell him? Someone told her once, on the very few times she went into a town, that bottling up everything isn't good for you. That you need to let it all out every once in a while.

After a while, she began to speak, her voice nearly silent, cut by hiccups and shaky.

"I-I was scared," she said,"so scared I... I cast a...a powerful spell.I n-nearly destroyed half of the  woods! Y-You saw how... how mangled those bodies were..." At this, she felt herself beginning to sob again, recalling every detail of the nightmare.

[Koga]

Wildfire looked back down at his wrists, noticing that he still had visible scars from where his chains once were. "I know." He said solemnly, still thinking back to the time he first killed. How could a small girl like her cause so much damage? Wildfire didn't bother asking, knowing that it would probably just resurface negative memories in Erynies, but still he wondered. "I was only a little bit older than you at the time, maybe two or three years. It was Mordecai as well, I- I didn't know about their magic-draining abilities, or the effects of iron on mages. I couldn't do anything, I told Fia to run. They chained me in iron and marched me toward Connlaoth, probably to kill me or imprison me or something. Fia saved me, I stole one of their swords and..." He paused for a minute looking down at his hands again. They were the hands of a killer, a murderer. Hands that have taken lives, hands that will never again be innocent. "I still remember his face. Even to this day."

When Erynies began sobbing again, Wildfire remembered when he had sat there after the battle: crying in shattered chains. The only thing that made him feel any better was the fact that Fia was nuzzled into his lap. Wildfire moved in and embraced her in a giant hug. "The first time's always the hardest." He said quietly, Fia moved in as well and nuzzled her head softly into Erynies' side. "It's going to be okay, little dove."

[viestrus01]

Erynies kept sobbing for what seemed to be hours, yet in reality she only cried for a few more minutes. Deep breaths and Wildfire's words plus Fia nuzzling her head to her side helped the elf calm down. After a while, her sobs receded to mere hiccups. Those too died down rather quickly.

She moved away from the redhead's embrace, smiling a bit as she wiped off the remnants of her tears. "Thanks,"she said, grateful to have someone here to listen to her. That person was right. Letting it go every once in a while is good for you!

At least now she know she's not carrying this burden alone...

A little while later, the girl brewed the salve she promised and applied it to Fia's head after cleaning it. She spoke as she slathered the salve onto the wound.

"You... you said you were headed to the village near here, right...?" She then turned to Wildfire as she finished. "I can take you there if you'd like." She then went to work on making more of the salve, applying it to Wildfire's wound and using a healing spell to further it's healing process. She already looked a tad bit pale from just that.

She then noticed that she still had some of the salve left. Quite a bit actually; enough to last someone a whole day. Two, if they conserve it.

The elf decided too neatly pack up the salve, giving it to Wildfire.

"Here," she said, handing the salve.

[Koga]

Wildfire smiled to Erynies and said, "Hey, don't mention it." He then stood up and studied her as she brewed the salve. How someone could turn plants into potions was a strange concept that he just couldn't understand. Wildfire was better at burning things, not creating them.

When Erynies began to heal him he responded to her, "That would be great." He winced a little bit as she touched his wound. "We haven't quite mapped out these woods yet." Wildfire figured she had to know her way around here better than he did.  When she was finished, he shook his shoulder out a little bit. "Good as new." He said smiling, "Where'd you learn how to do that?" Healing magic was yet another foreign concept to him.

Koda took the salve into his hands and looked curiously at Erynies, "Are you sure you don't need this?"

[viestrus01]

Erynies shook her head. "No," she said,"I can brew some more if I need it." At the question about her healing magic, she thought about showing Wildfire the front page of her book, but thought against it. Explaining things simply would be better.

"It's not actually normal healing magic," she said, then sighed. "I don't quite understand it myself, but that book called it 'Projection'. Projecting an image and feeling into reality is what it is. It's the only spell I know how to use." Meaning all sorts of spells apply to this one alone.

[Koga]

Wildfire shrugged, he didn't understand. How could something as complex as projection even be possible? The concept of transferring an image from ones mind to reality was far different from Koda's fire magic. He simply used the energy from his raw emotions to create fire from his finger tips, the stronger the emotion the stronger the flame: simple. He accepted the salve and placed it in  Fia's saddle-pack for safekeeping. That would definitely come in handy later on.

As the morning light began to shine more brightly in the cave, Wildfire yawned peacefully. "Well, I'm ready to head out when you are." He pat Fia on the head, and the two of them slowly walked out of the cave and into the woods. It was a bright morning, the birds were chirping, and a soft breeze filled the forest. Wildfire stretched his arms behind his back, and looked up in the sky.

"Hey Erynies have you ever flew before?"

[viestrus01]

Erynies grabbed her book and headed out of the cave. She didn't need to pack up anything else; it wasn't like she was leaving for good anyway.

She shook her head as she got out. "No, I... never flew before." Though watching Fia right now, and the events with the cyclops earlier made her think this was going to be... hysterical, so to say.

She felt a tickle on her shoulder, and saw her spider friend there, moving about quickly. "Hey," it said,"you're not gonna leave me here, aren't ya?" The elf chuckled.

"No, you can come with us if you'd like." The spider ceased it's movements, settling down on her shoulder.

[Koga]

Wildfire smiled at her response, this was going to be fun. "Well there's a first time for everything!" he said before lifting the Elf by the hips and placing her down softly on Fia's saddle. Then, he too jumped onto Fia's back and a kicked her off. The bird began to run, feeling slightly heavier now that she was carrying two small people and an over-sized book. Regardless, her wings were strong enough to carry them, and she's definitely carried much heavier things into the air. As she ran, she began flapping her wings rapidly. Slowly they began to feel lighter, and lighter, and lighter before finally they were a few inches off the ground. Before long those few inches turned into a few feet, which turned into a few yards, and before they knew it they were soaring high above the trees.

"Woooooooooo-hooooooo!" Wildfire shouted feeling the wind rush through his hair. This was what he lived for, to fly high above the clouds. He reached his hands up into the air and swore for a moment that he had just grazed the heavens. "This is what life's all about Erynies!" He shouted loudly so that the wind would not cover his voice, then he gestured toward the reigns. "Just pull her in the right direction, she'll know where to go!"

Wildfire looked behind him, but all he could see was clouds. He looked down, and saw the same thing, aside from a few tree tops peeking out. He was getting an extreme temptation that he just couldn't resist. "I'll be right behind you!" And with that, Wildfire let go of his grip on Fia and slid off her back. He was free-falling through the air head first. His eyes stared down to the approaching ground, he began to feel an extreme rush throughout his whole body. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, he opened his arms and legs out wide in order to slow his fall down, and gazed back up at Fia and Erynies. He had already fallen a great distance from them, and honestly he was loving every moment of it.

Wildfire felt so free. Nothing was holding him back now, not even gravity. Well, not yet anyway. It was like his dream all over again, he was flying. Well sort-of flying.

[viestrus01]

As they rose towards the skies, Erynies swallowed a lump in her throat. Man, was she nervous! And all this shaking... is it her arachnid friend or is it herself?

Before long, they're high above the treetops and all she could see was white and blue.

They're high in the sky now. With only Fia's back as a source of safety.

Erynies let out a high pitched scream as Wildfire shouted in excitement. This being her first time flying, she was terrified. How long was the drop? A few feet? A few yards?

"OI!" She turned to her spider friend, now practically holding on for dear life. "Ya never told me flyin' was gonna be this traumatizin'!" Erynies nodded. They were going so fast the wind practically smacked her face.

She then heard Wildfire shout something else. Something about reins, and leading Fia the right way to go. And then he shouted again.

She gripped the reins so hard her hands practically shook. She snapped her head back towards Wildfire but he isn't there. Her eyes darted downwards, and... there he was. Free-falling.

"Wildfire!"

If this is what life is all about... Eh, she'd rather take things slow.

[Koga]

Fia could feel Erynies shivering on her back, "Don't be afraid little one, I won't let you fall." She said without turning her head around, her eyes were focused on the sky in front of her. She had felt Wildfire slip off her back, and didn't really seem to care. "He does this sort of thing all the time." She said to Erynies as she shouted down to Wildfire. "He'll be fine."

Wildfire began to notice that he was getting closer and closer to the trees below, but he decided his fall wasn't over yet. He lifted his staff from his back and pointed it behind him diagonally, then using a large burst of flames he rocketed himself back higher into the air in Fia's direction. As the wind blew through his hair he let out yet another scream of excitement, "WOOOOOAAAAH!" He kept holding the burst of flames until he flew right past Fia and Erynies and up higher into the hair. From there he stopped the flames, performed a full backflip in the air, and then stuck two fingers in his mouth to whistle as loudly as he possibly could. Finally, he opened his arms and legs out wide, closed his eyes and began to fall gracefully back down through the air.

Fia heard the whistle, made a complete U-turn, and caught Wildfire with the small amount of space left on her back. They had been flying together for quite some time now and definitely learned some wild air-tricks, and this was definitely not the most extreme trick they've done by far. "That was incredible!" Wildfire shouted as Fia turned around to get back on course. Oh how he loved to fly, to feel the wind blow through his hair, to see earth below him in a different way from anyone else. It was his favorite thing in the world to do, and he took any opportunity he could get to do it. "Do you want to try?" Wildfire smiled, he knew Erynies was nervous, but hey maybe she'd like it as much as he did.

[viestrus01]

At the mention of trying it herself, Erynies shook her head vigorously. Nope, flying on Fia's back is good enough, thank you very much!

Erynies then tugged the reins to the right, leading the two into the village, still with trembling hands. Was it adrenaline? Or fear? Or maybe both?

She could feel her arachnid friend trembling too, still holding on for dear life as the wind kept on trying to brush it off. Wildfire seems quite content with free falling, but terra firma will do just fine for the elf.

But... she is quite curious. What does it feel like to free fall like that? Why in the world does Wildfire love it so much?

Great. A battle between common sense and pure curiosity. This is gonna be fun.