Fantasy ~ FableWood ~

[zCrookedz]

((Im making a post i swear. few more moments.))


 
Leo looked out over the field as Tigirius approached with his council. He was right, burning the flowers would create a giant smog of the poison and they would be doomed. Just as Leo was about to scold Leia for leaving the cart, she chimed in with the idea of the frost. It had worked the first time, why would it not work now? Then he turned to hear Anya's ideas, glad to hear the extra minds working together to try and figure the puzzle out. With each person's idea's Leo began to formulate the possibility of a plan. He stood before the cart, his arms crossed before his chest his brow furrowed in frustration. His mind muddled a bit from recent events, he was glad to hear Tigirius's piece together a plan. It was a good plan, Leo nodded to him. "Anya, you will need to take Ashley, Mitchell, and Otto with you at the very least. They are our most vulnerable. The others will split between Tigirius and myself. Elena, if you think you can stifle the flowers then you can provide support to Lee in keeping them from releasing more pollen." Leo looked back up to the tower and felt the strange sensation they were already being watched. Shaking the feeling he turned to the others. "How do you want divide the flanking teams?" He posed the question to Tigirius and the others as he began to feel a slight pressure on the back of his head, a side effect of the poppy pollen he had inhaled.

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena rubbed Ashley's shoulder gently to alert the tired woman. She shifted herself as Leo spoke and removed herself from the cart, helping keep Ashley upright in it until she was ready to go also.


"Hey.. It's time to get going. Anya will help you, alright? So stay safe."


Elena gave her one last smile before slipping out and over to the poppies, removing her over shirt and wrapping it around her nose and mouth like a mask of sorts. She nodded to Leo, loyally and got down on a knee, hands ready to take swift of the magical plant life.


"This is more than I have ever controlled, Leo, but I believe I can close the buds long enough to be frozen. And I will go where I'm needed, so that's up to you."

 

[Hel]

"I can... I can take them." Anya said, firmly, then she added, "If necessary I could probably make a second trip, too, but if I do it may leave me too tired to do much fighting." She noded to both Tigirius and Leo. They were much better and putting together a full plan than she was, it seemed.


She looked over to the dragon snoozing on Quincy's shoulder and jumped a little when he spoke.





"I can take Quincy and Ethan, and one other, if you'd like." Alexander offered, sitting up. He had woken up when they stopped and was trying to sleep again, but it seemed he was ready to wake up now. He looked at the two who seemed to be in charge while the group was in their land. "Just give the order and I'll follow."

 

[SilverFlight]

Tigirius thought for a moment.


"Ward, Nyr, Excalibur and you in one team, and then Achyls, Quincy, Alexander and myself in the other. I think that would be the most even split of power."


Ward heard his name and got out of the cart slowly, squeezing Elena's hand before he went to Join Leo and change into his gryphon form. In his true form he towered at the height of a cart horse, his golden feathers glinting in the light of the day and his fierce eyes the same amber as they had been in human form.


"Leia, you heard Leo, you are not to engage, but stay back and cover our more vulnerable members. If things go wrong we will need you to cover a retreat."


Leia nodded seriously.

 

[Sleipnir]

Ethan sat back, listening. He glanced at the bangle once more. Last of a dying race. It was a vague thing. Would this creature even listen to Ethan? He certainly couldn't force it to. He had to hope for the best. He heard mention of Alexander and couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement: To ride on a dragon was every kid's dream.

 

[SkywardSocks]

"I shall follow orders as they are given, Tigirus sir" Achyls said respectfully, kind of hoping that saying this would give her the chance to travel through the poppy fields. Being chosen by Tigirius was just another upside. She smiled to herself, before walking to join the tiger, wings spread like shadows of great stature as if wanting to give an air of strength. She would do all that is expected of her to prove her powers to her company. Though this time she swore she would not lose her control, she would not be weak in the face of her darkness in this hardship, but curiosity was no mark of weakness. She squashed her excitement, in order to seem ready for what was to come, when, in her mind, she was buzzing with eagerness.

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo nodded to the tiger in agreeance with the teams. He turned to Anya after he spoke, reaching into his satchel he grasped one of his tiny vials and held it out to her. It was a deep bluish color and was a tad bit cloudy "If you feel yourself running low on energy, drink this. I made some special elixirs before we left for Oz encase we needed something special. It will give you energy to spare to finish getting everyone else across." He turned to Elena and gave her a confident smile. "I have no doubt in your abilities. I rest all of our lives and your's and Leia's capable hands." Leo made his way over and waved his team to join him. HE was comforted to know Nyr and Ward would be at his side, and more than a little interested to see their newest Fablewood hero in action should the occasion arise. He readied himself for the long sprint when the frost was ready.


Otto on the other hand had bounded out of the cart and watched the others conversed. He approached the field and starred down the flowers. He crouched down and began to growl at the red peddles until the plan had been hatched. Not having much to input in the discussion he stayed close to Anya until it was time for his trip across the poppy field.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Nyr nodded as she walked towards the others. She looked at the field then turned to them.


" In my true form I am enormous. " she said, realizing that she had barely shifted into her dread raven form in quite a while. " If you wish I may just be able to create a distraction for the enemy, causing them to chase me while you slip in. If Lee could do a mist then you would be completely protected in illusion while they try to get me. "


She sighed and nodded.


" I am ready to be a bait, just say the word. Otherwise we sneak in somehow... but I am ready wherever you lead me. " she said looking at Ward, Leo and Excalibur.

 

[SeaTea]

Mitchell began to feel a bit light headed again as he saw this activity, especially the transformations, go on before his eyes. He has remained quiet the entire as he continues to observe while taking the time to slowly draw out the sheath of his knife and attaching it to his hip, almost without paying attention to it. He also moves to stand outside the carriage but doesn't move beyond a few steps as he takes to taking a knee and staring down the road to the tower that seems to be the center of the oppressive atmosphere around him. He seemed anxious at the very least while he began to flex and pop his fingers while he watched the others in this group, becoming something completely different than the welcoming band in the short time he had known them, move to set off toward the, well, nothing else could be used than tower of evil.

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena nodded to the others, hoping they were ready. She would begin before any more time could be wasted. She gave Leo and Ward a thumbs up, squeezing Wards hand as he prepared in knowing they would be separated again. It was hard, worrying, but he was a Gryphon. A human girl probably wasn't the best protection.


"Good luck.. And don't get hurt please. I'll find you all when we get the poppies subdued and you are all safely across."


She said, at first to Ward but then to the rest of the group as well.


She in took a deep breath and and placed her hands on the ground, eyes closed tight to see the root systems intertwine. Before long she could see the tower from the perspective of its closest buds. Than she forced her magic over that of the field.


Flowers could be seen slowly closing and folding down and red fading and concealing itself beneath the cloaks of green they came from. It started close, than like a slow wave, rippled out and spread throughout the field.


"I got it! Leia! Do your thing."

 

[BloodThunder27]

When Elena snapped her out of her sleeping state, Ashley found herself much more alert. She had her chance to rest and she used it wisely. Hopefully she won't collapse in the field or anything. When Anya and Elena helped her off the cart, she felt like she was ready. Finding it difficult to breath, Ashley grabbed a Scarf that she had been keeping with her and covered her mouth and nose with it so she wouldn't have to ingest anything that could be dangerous to her baby. Since they weren't fighting yet, she didn't feel the need to take out her bow. However, she was ready to try her best and at the same time hopefully show that she is a responsible Mother if there were any doubts. Anyhow, she stayed close to Anya and Elena as they began travelling on foot.

 

[SilverFlight]

Ward laid his ears back in the gryphon equivalent to a disapproving frown at Nyr. "You may be willing to risk you life, but I am not." he said flatly. "If we follow Leo's plan we will all be spared great danger, we don't know what it up in that tower besides our target."


"Right!" Leia said, guiding her water spirit with a gentle hand. Slowly Lee began to melt away, growing into a thick cloud of mist which continued to expand. Tad, the air spirit provided a slight breeze to filter the mist among the flowers. Slowly they watched as ice began to form on the buds, freezing them shut and withering the petals.


With another burst the mist thickened and created cover for the flanking teams to approach the tower unseen.


"I don't know how long I can hold it, move fast!"


Ward nodded to his team and slunk into the fields quickly, cutting a trail for the other members. He had no idea what to expect, so he kept low, and quiet and went over the spells he knew in his mind.

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo grabbed the hilt of one of his Axes and held it out in front of him. The front facing blade of the axe would be a great way to hit the poppies with little effort. Once he was satisfied with the poppies condition, he followed Wards large bulk into the field swinging his ax back and forth destroying the poppies where he could. He kept his eye on his team mates, should any of them begin to show signs of the pollen Leo would be ready to scoop them up and get them to safety. Their path continued on for a good distance uninterrupted, until Leo spotted something reaching up out of the frozen flowers. A yellow hand, which soon turned into an entire yellow person, lifted themselves up and out of the flowers. It turned quickly to the intruders and its face contorted into a foul grimace. While it didn't possess any weapons, The hands began to shoot up from beneath the flowers everywhere the flowers closed and froze. The strangest part about the yellow people that were now trying to reach and grasp a those who ran through their forest of red flowers, was the groans and gasps they made. Almost as if they were in a sleep state Leo recognized their expression and quickly turned his head to Tigirius "Tigirius! Crow has the field riddled with mindless Winkies folk!! If they grab you they will halt our progress. Do not let them reach the humans!" As they continued to make their way through the field Leo bashed any of the mindless folk backwards with the blunt end of his ax. He looked to his team "They must have been asleep by the poppies. Do not harm them, it may be that when we free Crow they will be released from their mindless state."

 

[Hel]

Anya nodded and thanked Leo when he gave her the potion, then turned to her charges: Ashely, Otto, and Mitchell. "Okay... Are you guys ready to go?" She asked them, ready to teleport when they were ready to go.


Alexander went with his group, following along in human form to prevent upsetting any more poppies than necessary.

 

[SkywardSocks]

Achyls continued with her group, sticking close, with her wings folded around her so as to not stimulate the poppies or draw any more attention to the group. She stayed close to Tigirius, allowing Quincy and Alexander to have their space together. She enjoyed seeing their interactions with one another.


Under her feet, the yellow hands rose from the ground, reaching out to grab her group. She beat them back with small amounts of dark magic, trying to calmly continue with the group. She did so with much ease, as she did not have to worry about destroying the people, simply subduing them.

 

[SeaTea]

Mitchell tries to grin before wiping it off his face and turning to Anya. "Well, I wouldn't use the word ready, but I'm good to go." as he moves to stand next to Anya, figuring he would need to as he talks a large breath and keep his eyes focused on the tower while wondering what could possibly be inside of it, and what could he possibly face now.

 

[DawnAntalios]

" Allow me. " said Nyr as her eyes were now burning with the same white fire as she did in her alternate form. Stepping forward she reached out with her hands, both glowing with a white light. She concentrated as a white halo surrounded her head, targeting the yellow creatures.


" Bell'narrath, dum alish! " she boomed as a white, soothing light shot out against the strange folk. Those who were touched by it staggered then few fell to the ground, others were walking sleepily while the stronger were mere disoriented temporarily by the spell. She had no intention harming their opponents, merely lulling them into a slumber.


" They will not remember any of this when they wake, we will have some time. " she said as they continued their flanking attempt. She hoped that they would be less aggressive after they wake up.

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena kept her eyes shut tightly and not a muscle on her body moved as she attempted to keep the poppies reversing into a pre-bloom state. With Leias support, it was much easier but still the slightest disruption could allow the sleep inducing flowers to regain control and release their pollen. It was going well and through her eyelids could watch the group, but something was wrong. Yellow bodies lifted their way out of the dying flowers and attacked the group. Without releasing flowers, Elena tried to help.


Around the traveling groups, flower less vines shot from the earth and entangled the yellow sleepwalkers with care but enough force to stop them. The flowers in front of the group dropped wilted as though Elena was warning them to move out faster.

 

[SilverFlight]

The Hungry Tiger crept through the flowers, feeling the chill of the mist seep into his fur. Suddenly he felt something grab him and turned to see a yellow limb attacked to his leg. Tigirius batted the grabbing hands away, knocking their owners back into the plants as gently as he could. He pressed forward snarling in frustration. "That devious witch! Using innocents to fight us for her." He growled, a sound like thunder and pressed on harder. The tower was not far off.


Ward reared up, beating his wings to disperse the closest winkies without hurting them. Tad gave them as much support as he could, gusting to distract the dreaming fold and block them from grabbing into the heroes. The gryphon charged forward, leaping over the enemies and finally clearing the field. The door to the tower was made of black iron and towered above even him.


Leia gritted her teeth. She could feel Lee's fatigue as the mist held and the ice encased each closed flower, but something was fighting it.


"T-there's someone trying to reverse Lee's magic." She said. "I-I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it." She closed her eyes and focused harder, willing her own energy into the water spirit, knowing that if she failed here her friends would be at the mercy of the thing in the tower.


Sweat began to bead on her brow. "There's no way...I'm letting...that thing...get you!"

 

[Hel]

Anya nodded, "Okay, well, stay that way," She said, taking a deep breath. She reached over and Touched Mitchell's shoulder, and Ashley's and Asked Mitchell if he could pick up Otto. Once he did, she teleported with the three of them to the tower base. No one noticed the small group appear through the thick mist. Stumbling forward, Anya took a long swig of the potion that Leo had given her and felt her energy restored. Thankful that her exhaustion was so short-lived, she turned to watch the others make there way over.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Nyr paused as she saw the cloud of protecting mist weakening. She stopped, urging the others to go forward while she closed her eyes, trying to make a connection with Leia. As she searched for the girl she encountered some foul minded sorcerers around - but they did not engage them just yet. Finally as she found the girl she realized how much she struggles.


" Do not be frightened, it is me, Nyr. " her thoughts intruded the girl's mind " Let me lend you my strength, Leia. Together we will fight back whatever is disrupting you. "


She then channeled the pure power of the moon into the heroic human, trying to infuse her with her own power. She could only hope that such a union would give the others enough time to arrive at their destination.

 

[Flutterby]

Quincy moved quickly, nimbly dodging the reaching hands. One little yellow man had made it to his feet and tried to grab her, but she put her hand on his forehead and pushed lightly, knocking him back over gently. The mist around her began to thin, then grew strong again. She frowned and pushed faster, knowing her friends were at the end of their strength.

 

[SilverFlight]

Leia gasped as she heard Nyr in her head. Once she settled on the idea she allowed Nyr to help, opening up to her friend.


"That is a stupidly cool trick," She said allowed. Focusing and using Nyr's power she felt a presence in the tower, darining Lee's ability.


There! She thought and focused a mind blast onto the target. The mist suddenly redoubled, allowing the rest of their companions to make it to the tower unseen. Leia grinned.


"Thanks Nyr, I was worried there for a moment."


Ward inspected the doors, then turned to Leo. "Any ideas?" It was then he heard a noise. The sound of wings...hundreds of them. He looked up and hissed in surprise. Issuing from the top of the tower was a thunderous cloud of black birds...crows.


"Is that supposed to be irony?" He asked, bracing himself for an attack. He readied a ball of fire in his talons and hurled it skyward at the descending flock. The fire burst upon them, sending some scattering but it barely made a dent.


"Uh..Leo?" he said, starting to get a little worried.

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo looked ahead to see Anya and the others pop into existence at the base of the tower. Relieved to see the first part of the plan a success he turned back to succeeding with his own. Continuing his onslaught of the posies, and keeping the mindless Winkies off him and the others as they made their way to the castle. Once he saw Ward clear the edge of the flowers Leo made a final push to get over the threshold of the towers defense and reach the cold stone walls of the tower in one piece, however he did not stop. Confident they would make it through the mists, Leo traveled around the side of the castle till he came to giant black iron gates of the tower. He looked around the edge of the door, looking for something. Finally his eye widened as he found the emblem he was looking for and with his massive arm pushed the block as the crows poured over the top of the tower. The massive black gates lurched with a loud bang, and were free of their locks. Leo pushed the massive doors backwards enough for people to begin filtering in. "INSIDE!!!!" He roared over the crows noise so that everyone could hear.

 

[SkywardSocks]

Achyls got to the door, still mesmerised by the land around her. She looked up to the mist ridden sky in awe, but instead caught sight of what Ward was talking about. They were not much different to her Raven form, but much more menacing as they barrelled towards them. She did not want to cower inside, fighting her natural urge in order to follow orders. The noise was deafening, a ringing shooting through her ears as they circled. Out of respect for Leo's orders, she made her way inside, staying by the entrance to protect the humans if needed. She could, technically, disguise and distract in her bird form, surely in the calamity a raven would not be too difficult to distinguish from a crow. She remained there as others made their way inside, keeping at a safe distance from the door.