Fantasy ~ FableWood ~

[Lioness075]

Leandra frowned at this new information, though it didn't exactly provide her with anything useful. It was mostly things she already knew of.


Glancing at the man with her arms crossed over her chest, Leandra then said, "I already know of the intentions to kill the king. I'm with the Heroes of FableWood and we're trying to figure it out as well. As far as we're concerned, they're going to make a move during the race, when the king is hidden in some cave from everyone's view but other riders'."


Narrowing her eyes at the man before her, Leandra then asked him, "What's your name, by the way? I can't say I trust you fully with how shady you and that other person were acting earlier, but I'm not about to hold you here when you've done nothing wrong."


Waiting for the man's reply, Leandra hoped the other group had been successful in getting to the other shady person. Was it a gryphon they'd mentioned earlier? One like Ward?


@SilverFlight

 

[zCrookedz]

Ottos head flicked back and forth with the conversation, each theory adding to the suspicions of the assassination attempt. He didn't have much to contribute to the theories so went to looking at the floor around him. He eventually found a feather on the floor, thought he could not figure out if it was from possibly a pillow or another Gryphon. Either way he went to sniff it and the feather wound up stuck to his nose. HE pawed at the feather and but with a tickle it made him sneeze shooting the feather off at high speed. Otto glared at the feather and then cocked his head. "If I was going to ambush someone, wouldn't it be better to do it when there are not other racers around? I mean with all the other racers flying about up there, someone could easily spot them. I would take them out first, then I would go for the one I really wanted." Otto crouched down low starring at the feather before leaping after it and clamping down on it with his teeth.


@Lioness075 @SilverFlight

 

[andujarprime]

Malachai grumbled his agreement as he folded his wings to drop down near the bat. Once the wind had subsided he snapped them open, the air buffeting them from his drop and pushing him upwards. He had placed Kallin back onto his back and was shooting out of the exit in no time. Hot on Avaar's tail two lanterns lit he had adrenaline racing through his veins. He kept the presence of mind to watch out for the king, but it had been a long time since he had felt this hrill. Almost like battle, but much more lighthearted. He spread his mind out to see if the others were still close behind, he only felt the familiar touch of Kallin, Alex, and Quincy's minds. As they raced on floating shrubbery and stone columns littered the sky between the ice caves and the next course. "HANG ONTO YOU HAT!!" He thought up to Kallin as he surged forward. He felt the currents ahead begin to change, he altered his course as well dropping altitude and snapping his wings open to rid a lift up and forward. With a few flaps he shot up then angled himself forward and down, wings snapped shut and cutting across the sky between two small floating trees. He snapped his wings open shortly after passing them and tilted slightly, allowing a new current to push him over and forcing him to bank right. He finished the turn as he barrel rolled over the top of a low floating column. Once he was righted he flapped his wings and shot forward once more, this time aiming high, picking up enough momentum to allow him to drop across the sky and into the next course without having to open his wings and risk getting blown off course.


@SilverFlight

 

[DawnAntalios]

Nyr was torn about what to do. It warmed her heart that both Leo and Ward expressed their sympathy and wanted to help her, but now Elena offered her aid as well. She wanted to say yes, she wanted to heal to cease this burning feeling from her wound... but she could not. They probably could not afford to tarry for long, the king with Malachai and Kallin have already made a considerable lead on them.


Finally she looked at Elena and shook her head.


" Your offer is kind, but there is no need, really. " she thought in her mind " I will survive, but the race must go on. When we are done we can tend to the wound. "


She finally took wings once more, trying to ignore the pain. She had heard Leos thoughts and nodding she tried to lean closer to the wall. The guardian's words seemed to be ture, it was much easier to navigate near the walls. Trying her best she followed the others, trying to find a way out from this frozen cavern.


@Bea Delaine @zCrookedz @SilverFlight


Arianne looked around at the others silently. She was not sure what their next step will be but it seemed that the informal leader of their group currently was Leia. She walked around in the deafening silence, not knowing what to do. Eventually she walked to Achyls and stood beside the raven girl, waiting for the plan.


@SkywardSocks

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo watched Elena and nodded his head to her as she looked to him. As Nyr flew closer to the wall the air seemed to quiet itself and Leo took the opportunity to reach into his back once again. This time however he pulled a out a small back of what seemed to be seeds. He reached in with his finger tips and pulled out a small hand full of seeds and tossed them back into his mouth. He crunched down on the seeds and lay down flat across Nyrs back his left arm stretched out towards the injury on her wing. He closed his eye and thought back to how he was able to heal before. He concentrated on the memory of the power and could feel his mind reaching into his reserves of energy which had begun to fill with the contents of the seeds he had swallowed. He could feel the power stretching from his hand into Nyrs wing as she beat them. The pain would subside first, then the energy would begin to heal the wound from the inside out until the skin was mended back together as if nothing had ever happened. Leo felt the power fade and opened his eye, lifting himself he examined the wound then thought to Nyr "Lets hope the next leg of the race will be a bit more hospitable, although something tells me we wont be in for such luck." He gripped tight to Nyr with a smile and turned to Ward and Elena giving them a thumbs up along with his smile.


@DawnAntalios @Bea Delaine @SilverFlight

 

[SkywardSocks]

Achyls hadn't really been listening, instead she had been looking up at the cracks in the walls and ceiling, at the light that seeped in above. From what she did hear, she knew it would be best to not interfere. They would not benefit from her chipping in. She looked at Arianne, who had now taken to standing beside her, and a happy sigh escaped her. Kneeling down to face her, she brushed off the dust that had begun to accumulate on her dress from coming down into this place. The girl's words were clever, very clever, especially for someone of her age.


"How have you come to know all this?" she whispered, her hands placed delicately around the girl's upper arms. She was extremely curious to know more about Arianne, feeling some kind of bond between them both.


@DawnAntalios

 

[SilverFlight]

Leia considered the possibilities. "Our friends are out there now. Ward told me about the assassination attempt during the race. They'll prevent that I have no doubt."


"What?" The gryphon looked puzzled, "no, our sources tell us there would be an attempt here, when the king returned!"


"Two? There will be two attempts?"


"It would appear that way." she looked even more worried.


Suddenly Leia realized. "Lisanne. She's not working with Canton...she's going for a plan on her own!"


"Its Brenna, my name...is Brenna." The gryphon said as an afterthought.


"I'm Leia, and this is Luness, Achyls, Otto and Arianne." Leia introduced them one by one, pointing at each in turn.


"Do you know if Lord Canton and the other nobles have rooms here?" She asked the gryphon.


"They do! On the second tier, East wing."


"Then that's were we're going." She said flatly. "If we can find evidence linking one of them to the assassination attempts we might be able to bring it to light before anything happens."


Leia made for the secret door. "Oh, and we are so sealing this behind us. Luness, Otto, can you guys do a quick check of this room before we go? Make sure there are no surprises for King Cedric."


"Oswald." The man gave his name to Leandra. "Brenna should be in the king's room. We must get to her...your friends...they won't hurt her will they?"


When the room was cleared Brenna lead their way, moving swiftly down the passage and up a narrow flight of stairs. This hidden door lead them out into a corridor.


"Start checking rooms." She said but before Luness moved off she leaned over to the werecat. "Follow her. I'm not really sure we should trust her just yet."


((Basically you are looking for a written contract between the assassins and the noble (either Canton or Lisanne), go nuts, you can find it however you like. ^^))


@Lioness075 @DawnAntalios @SkywardSocks @zCrookedz


Ward, upon seeing Nyr would be all right flapped to gain a bit more ground. They had lost some falling back and now Ward could barely see the king.


he dove for the torch, allowing Elena the closest distance he could provide for her to light it and then he soared upwards on the momentum. When the wind at the exit hit he used the wing trick Elena suggested, snapping them closed and dropping slightly in altitude for the benefit of going through the wind without losing speed.


"I would never want to worry you, as soon as the race is over then, please examine my wings." He said as they flew out into the open sky.


The beacons led them onward into open sky once more and it was here Avaar excelled, with flat, aerodynamic body pushing through the air like a racing skiff on water. The last and final island glowed in the distance...because it was an active volcano.


@Bea Delaine


Alex soared around wide after they had left the ice cave, catching an updraft and shooting forward. they were gaining on Malachai now and had flown past Ward and Nyr. The king was well in sight.


"I see another set of caves on that island. This is the last place the ambush could be!"


As they approached the air began to warm, the caves however were on the other side of the island from the lava flow, protecting the racers from the dangerous heat and noxious gases. they did have to fly over it though.


"Cover your mouth," He warned, "Volcano fumes are not the greatest to breathe in."


@Flutterby


Kallin yelled as he clung to the harness as Malachai executed a perfect barrel role. "How about a warning next time? 'Hey Kallin? You might get tossed off my back in this next move so hold on extra tight ok'." He did his best to mimic Kai's gruff voice. His attempt at humour died on his lips however as he saw the final challenge looming over them.


"That's...a volcano." and the beacons were headed straight for it.


@andujarprime

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena smiled at Leo, nodding at him with satisfaction when he helped Nyr. She was able to complete the torch with no difficulties after the almost falling mishap.


"Good. Now.. This is the last part? If anything happens, rely on me to take care of myself and stay on. Just please focus on maneuvering to not get hurt. I'll follow suit. I guess there's a cave coming up where the assassination attempt is going to happen."


She said, readjusting and prepping for the final obsticles.

 

[Lioness075]

Luness frowned at this new information. Two attempts?


Upon hearing Leia's theory though, Luness nodded and quickly chimed in, "That would make sense for them to have two different set-ups in case the first one didn't work out."


Hearing Leia introduce her to Brenna, Luness merely nodded at the gryphon in turn.


Hearing Leia's plans to search the rooms, Luness was rather amazed at how brilliant of a planner and strategist Leia was. She'd have to compliment Leia on this when they weren't so busy.


Upon being told to check the room real quick, Luness nodded and then glanced over at Otto for a moment before nodding at him and saying, "See if you can find anything, Otto. This shouldn't take long."


Before she could make a move to search the room though, Leia whispered for Luness to follow Brenna.


Nodding at Leia, Luness then whispered back, "I've got her scent. Once we search the king's room, I can follow Brenna's scent and keep track of her."


Dropping to all fours, Luness began sniffing around the room and after a brief search, she didn't find anything. Pausing, Luness glanced over at Otto to see if he had found anything yet.


While waiting to see what Otto had found, Luness stood up on her hind legs and then began gingerly feeling along the walls for any possible hidden doors.


@SilverFlight @zCrookedz @DawnAntalios @SkywardSocks

~~~~~

​

Leandra dropped her arms to her sides and sighed before saying warily, "I'm Leandra."


Walking up to Oswald, Leandra whipped out her pocketknife and began cutting away the paracord on Oswald's wrists and then his ankles while saying, "I'm not so sure about my friends, honestly. I haven't been with them for long. The only one I'd really be worried about would be Luness, the werecat. She always seems rather dark and dangerous, at least she does to me. I tend to avoid her whenever I can."


@SilverFlight

 

[andujarprime]

Malachai's body shook as he laughed.I did warn you. 'Hang on to your hat!' Remember?" He had felt the heat from volcano as the flew past the obstacles. The heat, the fire, it called to him. "YEAH IT IS!!!" He thought excitedly as he dove down, following close on Avaar's tail. He felt Alex closing on him so he sent him a warning. "If this is what I think it is, the scrying orb won't see inside these caves. Be prepared." With that he continued onward. He dove down at the halfway point across the rim of the volcano, his wings tucked. He snapped them open to catch a draft that brought him back up and over the volcano lip, then on towards the caves. As he reached the entrance he reached out to the king, a strong wise mind. "You're in danger your majesty, this is Malachai. We believe the assassination attempt will be carried out here in the final stretch of the race." He wasn't sure if he could get through the kings mental barriers without appearing hostile, so he gently nudged his words towards the kings mind. @SilverFlight


Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[DawnAntalios]

Nyr watched with awe and fear as Leo used his power to heal her wounded wing. Now she did not feel the pain any more - instead she felt guilt churning in her belly. She took wings once more and with renewed strength she dashed forward, faster than before, and finally they reached the outside of the caverns. She could see the king and the Kallin-Malachai duo in the distance and the Ward-Elena in front of them. As they were flying towards their last destination she raised her head and sighed.


" You shouldn't have healed me Leo. " her voice resonated in his mind " Without Lily's power this might exhaust you more than usual... I do not want you to expend all your power because of my foolishness. "


She then concentrated dashing after the others. In the distanced she saw the bright island and she had realized what their last goal will be. A volcano itself.


@zCrookedz


Arianne looked at Achyls with an angelic smile. When the girl knelt down in front of her to see her better she could not help but chuckle. Then, with a sheepish smile she answered.


" If anything then you should have learnt that not everything is what it seems, Lady Achyls. " the little girl answered. She then reached out with her tiny hand and put it on Achyls' heart. Once again she smiled.


" My mother died when I was born. My father did not have too much time to help me. So I turned to the books and I have learnt everything I could. Solitude and those scrolls were my only companions. But I have heard about your legendary deeds. The heroes of FableWood... at first I thought it was a hoax... but now I am certain that you all deserve the title. Especially you, Lady Achyls. "


She looked at her once more before mischievously hugged her, then quickly she ushered the raven girl into the room to follow the group. If that gryphon knew anything about what was going on then they needed to follow her. They walked past Luness and Otto and hurried after Leia and the creature.


@SkywardSocks @SilverFlight @Lioness075

 

[zCrookedz]

Otto looked up as Leia and Luness called out to him. The feather he had been playing with, had managed to get stuck to the top of his head with slober. He smiled at them and began to sniff the room over. Other than the familiar smell of the room from when they first entered he didn't smell anything to out of the ordinary. He looked to Luness and nodded to her with the all clear.


When the signal was given to leave the room and file into the corridor Otto started with a door on the left side of the room. Shifting so he could open the door with his thumbs has slowly opened the door and poked his head inside. The room seemed to be empty,and extremely clean. Otto shifted back to his wolf form and began to sniff around the place, looking for anything that seemed to be out of the ordinary. Checking under the beds and atop the various furniture,


Otto eventually made his way to what seemed to be some type of office space. He stepped very cautiously up to the desk, where he caught they faint wiff of something pungent. Originally he though it to be one of those liquids that people put on them to smell pretty. He hopped up on the top of the desk, ruffling a few pages as he did and found a small vial of black liquid with a sealed letter underneath it. Otto looked around and shifted back to his human form sitting cross-legged on the top of the desk. He picked up the vial and looked at it carefully wishing Leo was here to identify the substance. So he looked around and scooped up the vial and the envelope. He trotted back out the the room to the hallway and looked around for Luness.


@Lioness075 @SilverFlight


Leo looked at Nyr with a smile "I apologize, but I could not let that injury persist. I will be fine, do not worry." Leo watched as Ward and Elena picked up the pace to catch up with the others. As they finally escaped the the glacier tunnels and the bright flash of a volcano illuminated the last part of the challenge Leo became concerned. He reached out and touched Nyr "This has to be it, It must be happening in there." He watched as the groups caught up and entered the volcano, Leo gripping hold a bit tighter in anticipation.


@DawnAntalios

 

[Lioness075]

Luness followed after Otto outside of the king's room, after she'd failed to find any hidden doors. Perhaps they had some other plan for offing the king in there. Poison in a drink or some food perhaps?


As Luness paused in the hallway, she soon heard the ruffling of papers in the room that Otto had entered and she soon saw Otto exiting the room with what smelled like some kind of oil, for writing perhaps, and then she smelled some melted wax.


Curious about such scents, Luness then approached Otto and, while standing on her hind legs, Luness asked the young werewolf, "What'd you find, Otto? Anything useful for us?"


After she asked this, Luness raised an eyebrow at the feather stuck on Otto's head and Luness deftly swiped it off of Otto's head while she waited for an answer from him.


Despite being exclusively told by Leia to follow Brennan, who's scent she could still smell nearby, Luness noticed the young child, Arianne, briskly walking after the gryphon. Did she want to make it obvious that they were still suspicious of the gryphon?


@zCrookedz @DawnAntalios @SilverFlight

 

[Flutterby]

As the air warmed, Quincy sat up slightly. She kept her eyes on the king, and nodded. “If we can get through here, he will be safe." She told him, even though the statement was more for herself. She did as he said, and covered her mouth with a bit of her jacket. Malachai and Kallin were just ahead of them, and the king just beyond. The kelpie felt a rush of excitement. They were right at the front of the race, maybe they would get some kind of mention for being a frontrunner.

 

[SilverFlight]

Heat blasted in Ward's face as he angled closer to the flowing magma. Quickly he threw up a shield to protect Elena from the worst of the temperatures. They rounded a corner close to Malachai and Alex and then something flickered across his vision. For a moment the beacons seemed to change direction, then they flashed back to normal. The king was now nowhere to be seen, the rocks jutting up over the surface of the volcano made it impossible to see more than twenty feet ahead. On instinct Ward turned where he had seen the flash of the beacons change. Around the next bend he saw the king, veering away from the course to swoop into a low-lying cave. Lava dripped from a river at its mouth and large fangs of solid rock lined the roof. This cave looked much more ominous than the one the beacons led too.


"This is it!" He cried to everyone in earshot, sending a mental call to the dragons as well.


King Cedric shook his head as Malachai's voice rung in his thoughts. "Who is that?" But he was on guard now, trailing into the cave. Avaar hissed at the intense heat, coiling his wings in and reducing their surface area as much as he could.


"Too hot!" he growled. "Something not right." They flew out of the narrow tunnel to a wider chamber, rounded for being shaped by the flowing magma during one of the many eruptions of the mountain. Below them a torch sat in the middle of a circular platform, ringed with a river of magma. Cedric had Avaar pull up.


"I agree my friend, this is not right, we should head ba--" But he had no time to finish. Avaar screamed as a spear crunched through flesh and bone. The machine that threw it was set high into the wall, in a small cave where someone stood to man it.


They went down, Cedric leaping away from the crash as his beloved friend crumpled on the rock and lay still.


"Avaar!" Cedric ran to him, placing a hand on the great bat's blood-covered back. He did not look up to see three dark casters approach.


Alex caught Ward's mental message and swung in behind him. The scene he witnessed made him growl in anger. Those casters would be dead in minutes.


"Quincy! You have your bow right?"


((Not much time this morning, I will post the other half when I can))

 

[Flutterby]

Quincy watched in anger as the king was lead astray, into a hot, remote cavern. Her anger only grew when Avaar was shot down by an infernal device mounted in the cave wall. “As always." She responded, pulling it off her back and knocking an arrow. As the dark castes began to approach the king, she aimed at the closest one and waited until she was sure of the range. The kelpie definitely didnt want the arrow to fall before hitting him, or deflect off weakly.


(Picnic date with the boyfriend today, will be on later though)

 

[SkywardSocks]

Achyls gasped as Arianne squeezed her in the embrace. She appreciated the gesture, but that girl's grip was a lot stronger than she thought. She almost didn't have time to stand again when Arianne grabbed her hand and pulled her along with the others. Remaining next to the girl, she stood, listening intently, so she could pick up everything she had previously missed. Her curiosity had now gotten the better of her, the whole idea of stopping an assassination thrilled her, she needed to hear all she could now.


@DawnAntalios

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena felt the heat blast in her face but then immediately become more easy to tolerate. She knew it was Wards doing and she hoped he wasn't allowing himself to get burned either. The magma streamed and the air seemed twice has hard to breath through. She watched the king and his partner dive into the cave now. Elena scooted up and let a hand free in case worst came to worst and she needed to cheat to keep the king save. She let her hand brush up against a piece of igneous stone to connect with the material. Scraping her fingers the tiniest bit, she pulled back and waited.

 

[DawnAntalios]

Nyr had to think quick before she decided to dive into the volcano after the others. She feared not for herself but for Leo... after all the guardian has done to her it was time to repay his kindness. Slowing her pace just before the fiery crater she let out a screech - this time she commanded the power within her to obey. Slowly and steadily an invisible, strong barrier formed around the guardian, ensuring that he would be safe. Shaking her head she flew faster once more, not caring about the strain of keeping up the spell she hurled herself into the maw of the flaming abyss.


The volcano was hotter than she expected aso she had to be incredibly careful while she navigated within. The almost choking gas of sulfur and other suffocating toxins made her cough and limited her vision. She then heard a scream - an unknown one but she knew something was very wrong. Turning in the way where she had heard the death cry she flew as fast as her wings allowed her to.


" Brace yourself, my beloved. It would appear that something is amiss. We must hurry to find out what has happened. "


@zCrookedz


Arianne's grip was firm and she held Achyls' hand with determination. For moments visions of protecting the raven girl swarmed her mind but she quickly dismissed these thoughts. If anyone then these heroes were the ones who needed to protect her instead. She guided the raven through the narrow corridors where she had followed Leia and she finally blurted out with a question.


" Lady Leia, Lady Achyls. " she started, her voice now serious, free from the playful tone she had before " Aerios is a paradise and was always my home. But now I have nothing to stay here for. Seeing how the forces of darkness are attempting to harm our beloved king I have realized that not even this place is a safe haven any more. "


She turned to both of them with a pleading expression.


" Please, let me help you, let me come with you. I will be to your use I promise, I can take care of myself, I will not be a burden. I can not sit idle while Caraboss ravages the land - no longer do I want to wait in the shadowy corners alone. "


@SkywardSocks @SilverFlight ( and once she joins us @Lioness075 )

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo placed his arm across his face as the smoke and acrid heat of the volcano pushed against him. His eye began to sting ferociously until the smoke cleared and the heat seemed to die down a bit. He could feel the energy before him and lowered his arm looking down at Nyr, his brow furrowed as he thought to her.


"Nyr! What about you?" He thought desperately of any way to help her but he had no means of raising a shield or a barrier of any kind to keep the heat and smoke away from her. He looked at the others who had headed for the small cavern to the side that Nyr was piloting them towards. He was about to begin lecturing her when the screech of the kings bat rang through the noises of the volcano and Leos turned his attention back to the cave. As the entered the scene with the others Leo could see the great bat laying still on the ground and he climbed to the top of Nyrs back. "Can you take out the machine?"


Before he got her answer he lept from Nyrs back towards the platform Cedric and Avaar had crashed. After hitting the ground into a roll, Leo sprinted across the warm rocky surface towards the king before reaching the kind and kneeling beside Avaar to determine his condition.


@DawnAntalios @SilverFlight


Otto looked up as Luness approached and flipped the envelope over in his hands sniffing the wax seal on the side. Holding the envelope in his hands he pealed back the seal and found a small parchment of paper inside with something written on it. Otto skimmed over the note and looked up to Luness with a concerned look before beginning to read it out loud.


"Sven-





Here is the vial you asked for. It wasn't easy, or cheap, to get so for the love of Fablewood do not waste it. It should be untraceable in the kings drink or food or whatever you and the Black Claw plan on doing with it. But you better not screw up like you did before, the "hero's" will be much to busy with the races to see our back up plan should Canton fail. The gold will be transferred to you and your organization once the dead has been done as the has Duke promised. Do not mes this up!!





-Lisanne"


Otto looked up to Luness and then looked at the little bottle. "Huh. Doesn't sound like these people like the guy with the scars very much, does it?


@Lioness075 @SilverFlight

 

[SilverFlight]

Leia looked over Otto's shoulder at the letter and a broad smile broke out on her face. "We've got her! Otto you're amazing!" She threw her arm about his shoulders and gave him an excited hug.


"Guys! Come here, Otto did it!" The letter was written in her own hand, and was finished in her own seal. Nothing could be more official. "This will be enough evidence for sure!" But something made her frown. She examined the vial more closely.


"Uh Guys...the vial isn't full." True to her words the black liquid reached only halfway up the bottle...they couldn't take the chance in assuming it hadn't yet been used. She gave the others a grave look.


Brenna was not with Leia and the others when they made the discovery. She was busy checking the other rooms, turning over cushions and rooting through drawers. It was only when she found a portrait on a wall that she paused. It was of King Cedric, a much younger version of him, unscarred, with fair hair and a stern expression. Slowly she reached a talon out and placed it on the frame, gazing up at the picture in silence.


@zCrookedz @SkywardSocks @DawnAntalios @Lioness075


Oswald stood up, rubbing his wrists gingerly. "Come then, we must get to them." He knew Brenna was to check the king's room and they went there first, finding nothing but a black feather, which Oswald picked up so as not to leave evidence.


"Let's try the rooms upstairs." Sure enough as they reached the top of the secret staircase they saw them all.


"Where is Brenna?" he asked urgently.


@Lioness075


Cedric barely noticed Leo land beside him. He had a hand in Avaar's golden fur, now stained dark with blood. "He's gone." The king's voice nearly broke in the moment, but in the next it was hard and cold as he turned, his one good eye burning into the attackers. "He did not need to die!"


Cedric drew his sword.


Immediately the mages cast their spells. The lava rippled in the river and suddenly burst into life. Three massive canine-like creatures snarled as they leaped from the magma, their bodies made of the same, hissing as it came into contact with the cooler stone.


@zCrookedz @DawnAntalios


"Oh they most definitely need magic support." Kallin jumped to his feet as Malachai swooped into the cave, the tip of his staff glowing blue. He focused his energy and suddenly malachai's body was encased in the light. The light shivered and solidified into regenerating ice armour, covering his chest, back, legs and the leading edges of his wings. Kallin doubted even Malachai could tolerate a dousing in molten rock.


Then he jumped into the air, using a wind spell to angle himself toward the platform. he landed hard and suddenly wished he hadn't been so stupid. The rib he had cracked in the fight that morning sang with pain and he nearly toppled. barely avoiding the fangs of a magma dog as it snapped at him in surprise.


Kallin stumbled back to Leo, clutching his chest. "I can protect you from getting burned...but I can't fight this one!"


One the dogs jumped at Cedric.


@andujarprime


Ward kept still, holding close to the rock as he flew so Elena could use her powers. He saw the dogs rise and Cedric draw his sword. Kallin was injured and the odds seemed impossible.


"We need a human's power." He said gravely to her.


@Bea Delaine


Alex balked as the magma dogs appeared, how in the world were they supposed to fight those? Then he saw it, an empty chalice in the center of the platform, perhaps this had been a part of the race, but written off because it was too dangerous? If lord Canton was overseeing the course, then he would obviously know about it.


"Kallin! can you charge the chalice with ice magic? Then all we have to do is touch out weapons to it!"


Kallin looked up, hearing Alex's idea and nodded. He sprinted forward, dodging dripping fangs. A drop of magma touched a corner of his robes and burned a hole straight through it to the ground.


Alex angled round and clapped his wings together, the wind knocking one dog into another. He couldn't stop the mage however who was dashing for Kallin, and aiming to cut him down.


@Flutterby @everyone

Spoiler

((But with a river of magma in place of the chasm.))

 

[Lioness075]

Luness was more than pleased to hear what Otto read off, though she was also secretly relieved that he knew hot read and hadn't asked her to read the letter for him. She would've been ashamed of her inability to read.


Matching Leia's excitement at Otto's discovery, Luness grinned, though her grin quickly vanished when it was discovered that some of the poison was missing.


Instantyl feeling wary of Brennan again, Luness excused herself from the group and used her sense of smell to follow the gryphon's scent into one of the rooms a bit further down the hallway.


Upon entering the room, Luness took note of the artwork depicting King Cedric when he was younger and without the scars.


Then Luness noticed Brennan with a claw gently pressing against the artwork. Narrowing her eyes at the gryphon, Luness almost rushed her so as to demand where the rest of the poison was, but the facial expression that Brennan bore said ill of such intentions.


Suddenly feeling a bit curious, Luness quietly walked up behind Brennan and then asked her calmly, "Do you know how King Cedric got the scars on his face?"


@SilverFlight @zCrookedz @DawnAntalios @SkywardSocks

~~~~~

​

Leandra didn't even get a chance to tell Oswald to wait before he was off in a hurry to find Brennan.


Sighing, Leandra quickly put her own knapsack on with her staff still attached to it while she took Luness' knapsack in one hand and Kallin's staff in the other hand.


Muttering some curses under her breath about being the team mule, Leandra soon was at Oswald's side in the king's room only for him to find a black feather and then he was off again.


Inwardly cursing at Oswald's eagerness and agileness compared to herself, Leandra followed him up the stairs and was soon at his side and breathing a bit heavily.


Not seeing Luness with the main group, Leandra cursed ot loud and then quickly asked the group, "Where the bloody **** is Luness?"


Leandra definitely hadn't signed up to be any pack mule for the team. She lugged enough crap around when she was in the military in the real world.


@SilverFlight @DawnAntalios @zCrookedz @SkywardSocks

 

[Bea Delaine]

Elena watched as the scene unfolded. Avaar, gone. The smiley and incredibly kind bat was gone. Kallin was injured, and all for some politics. Something inside her snapped as it had periodically in the past. She sat high on the back of Ward, hands no longer holding on and out in front of her. Waved of stone swept upward to touch the furry beasts, hoping to cool them.


She looked to the mages and men set to do the job. Te ground began to shiver ominously as her mind floated back to the first time she was the deliverer of judgement, before even arriving at Fablewood. She had forgot.


As the ground shook minorly, cracks loosened stones that flew up and morphed into small fanged four legged creatures. Rows by rows lifted and sprinted towards the attackers. Elena didn't know how much magic she was using, and her plan was set to the point if she did, she would still try to see it through.

 

[zCrookedz]

Leo closed his eye as he verified Avaars passing. He placed a hand on the creature for a moment and said a quick prayer to the forest before standing with Cedric. Leo's scowled at the devise mounted to the wall and brandished his axes.


When the lava hounds emerged and Kallin arrived, Leo looked to the mage but he was on the move in a heart beat. Before Leo could go with him a hound lunged for him and bore its dripping fangs at Leo. He dodged out of the way but the monster only landed and whirled around back at him. Leo had nothing to defend against the creature, but the prospect of Alex's idea sounded promising. Leo looked ahead to Kallin as he made his way to the challis and could see one of the mages after him.


Leo dug his claws into the ground and sprinted after the mage, followed closely by the lava hound. Leo turned back as the creature got closer, his mind began to prepare for the burning attack. Before the beast could sink its fangs into him Leo looked to the mage and then smiled as he lept into the air over the mage. Hoping that the lava hound would not be able to stop in enough time before running into the mage, Leo joined Kallin on the platform with the challis.


@SilverFlight


Otto looked to Luness with a prideful smile and wrapped an arm around Leias waste to hug her back. He held up the tiny vial and saw what the others where talking about. He hadn't even realized the vial was emptied some, he just assumed people filled them up that much. He sniffed at the vial and then looked back to Luness but she was gone. Instead he looked to Leia and smiled "I can sniff out whatever the poison has been added to. This stuff may be undetectable to humans, but my nose can smell this stuff from a mile away. It really smells bad."


Otto nearly jumped out of his skin when Leandra and the other cloaked figure came rushing up the stairs asking for the gryphon. Otto held up his arm and pointed down the hall. "They went down there."


@Lioness075 @SilverFlight

 

[Hel]

"I'll go with you to find what's become of the rest of the poison, Otto." Anya said, appearing behind Otto with her teleportation and placing her hand on his shoulder as she did. She'd been following along very quietly until now, but now she heard of the poison and what Otto had said. She could only hope they could find what had become of the poison which had been used before it completed the job it was intended to do.


@zCrookedz