Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[EinRaikou]

Ein listened to the words of the ginger boy, their medicine man and finally those of Ari. As much as he wanted to agree with Skrye, as much as he wanted to bring this battle to the Shadow King's doorstep it just wasn't feasible at this time. Just as Ari had finished speaking her piece he walked up alongside her and spoke up, " Ein, is my name. Ein Raikou, and I spent the time since the fall plotting of a way to take revenge on the Shadow King for the death of my brother."


"That being said... I have to agree with Ari, " he gave the girl a faint smile so she knew he was on her side, " I don't think we're ready. A couple of hours ago Lapis was barely able to walk, I'm still not at full mobility, and we barely know anything about each other," the only thought crossing his mind that anyone of them could be a bandit with their own interest at the forefront." I agree with your decision to move towards the capital, however, " Ein went silent. He needed to come up with a way to word this properly, " I think we should split up, and survey the surrounding counties for survivors, supplies, weapons; anything to help out. We should take time to rest up, and send a small scouting team of our quietest, and most agile warriors to survey the Shadow King in the capital. "


Ein was trying to voice his opinion, without sounding like he was attempting to usurp the leadership role Skrye would be obvious to assume.


" And while there is definitely safety in numbers... " He thought back to the events of last nights skirmishes. There were countless wolves, and there was just enough warriors to handle them. " I think if we were to get attacked, we would likely end up tripping over one another, or worse, friendly fire."

 

[Effervescent]

As soon as Skyre garnered the attention of everyone at the camp, Rederik backed away from the man and calmly took a seat. He did not wish to be in anyone's line of sight, nor did he wish to attract any attention from the large group. His fingers played with the dark cloth of his hood as he listened to Skyre's proposal. Truth be told, Rederik had never been to Aliak. He'd never even been close to it in his travels. A city teeming with people was something he made a point to avoid.


"I've been considering leaving Valia," he chimed in quietly. "If the Shadow King has sought refuge here, then he has no reign elsewhere. The further away from the city I've gone, the better it has appeared. Let us live. Let us continue on. We cannot fight him with our numbers. We would risk too much by journeying to the epicenter of all that has destroyed our livelihoods."


He paused and shifted uneasily where he sat before continuing. "I will follow your lead regardless," he stated. While survival was in his best interest, his conscience would never allow him to depart the group knowing what dangers Skyre would lead them into. Ethan had already volunteered against his own judgement, and that was something Rederik placed as his fault. Had he not disturbed the man in his cottage he may not have ever been put in danger. It was a sense of responsibility for his actions that rooted him to loyalty.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Helia sat in her new tree, just outside the clearing that held a large group of survivors. Her mind was at war with what to do with herself. She could wait until night and try to sneak in, stealing the supplies she needed. But that man was non-threatening, and offered her a 'home' of sorts with them in their camp.


Part of her thought it would be a perfect trap, but the things is, in her state they could have taken her down and left with her easily. No, he seemed sincere. That said, caution was best.


Cutting a strip of bark from the tree, she engraved a message, 'Send the man from early, and a medic.' before throwing her knife through the air to strike about the middle of the camp, a bubble of air at the end popping loudly to draw everyone's attention on impact.


Happy with her plan, Helia lowered herself to a bough closer to the ground and waited.

 

[Shura]

Rusar remained mostly quiet as she observed the camp much like she would watch her prey, only this time there was no intent to kill. She simply took in the small notions and interactions between everyone noting the tension and awkwardness between some and closeness of others. It seemed the universal key to the camp was Skyre who almost everyone managed top at least be pleasant with and show some form of trust. Then there was the opposite which was the young boy who had mouthed off. Even after being talked to and offered tea she could tell there was a darkness about him. Something she couldn’t trust, nor would she. Rusar had trained in the school of dark magic, seen those who were more power hungry and selfish than herself. Part of her knew the war had probably saved her from becoming a much different person. She could recognize hatred and vengeance when she saw it and knew just how deep those emotions would root themselves until it became all consuming. Even with the best intentions things could go very wrong, and the boy was one she would have to keep an eye on.


Rusar was broken out of her thoughts when one of the hunters, the very pale one with the strange pet, approached the fire and complimented her bow, she had to admit their kill was a big help to the group. She smiled over to him slightly “Thank you, I’ve had it for a very long time.” She answered “Congratulations on your catch, hopefully we’ll continue to have such luck as we travel.” She looked over as the large bird was cleaned and put to roast. She went back to her quiet observation as more people conversed with one another She found Skyre’s use of wind magic fairly interesting as he served up portions of meat to everyone. She thanked him and ate quietly, admittedly there was never anything more delicious than meat from your own kill.


Rusar looked over as the brunet who had offered her Tea approached as well and nodded slightly, “Peace is fairly fleeting in times like this. It’s best to just enjoy it while it lasts.” She muttered before finishing the last of her meal.


Then Skyre started his proposal, she couldn’t lie with such a large group it felt like they stood a chance however the chances of that happening were very, very small. There were points both for and against the plan all with their own merited she herself could think of over 100 ways for this to go wrong why it shouldn’t be done but there was one very important reason that Skyre had brought up. What else could they do? Run and try to survive? For how long would that last? Even if they found a suitable location to try and settle it would only be a matter of time before the shadows would come again. Her original goal had been to try and find her village, however she knew deep down there was little to no chance of her families survival, so what was the point? Rusar knew she was just avoiding the situation, but she had seen how others reacted to watching their loved ones die, or seeing them dead. Taking on a pack of shadow dogs would be easier than dealing with such a nightmare. So she would fight. The true question remained was to how.


She sighed softly “What you say is true... even if we do run there it's only time before the shadows will catch up to us. With the numbers we have now taking on the legion of shadow creature would be near impossible. However the fifteen of so of us who have managed to gather here is proof that perhaps there are other out there who have also survived. Others who also seek to see the shadow king as well. It might be wise to not only build our numbers but learn eachothers strength’s and weaknesses before attempting such a goal.” Rusar spoke up. “It might also be beneficial to move in smaller group and meet in one location instead of all moving as one large caravan, less attention would be drawn.” She added. War was not much different than hunting, sure the stakes were higher and there were armies involved but you still had to find your prey, find out their weak points, plan then strike. And just the same as in hunting parties even groups small numbers when well organized can take on and defeat a large seemingly impossible prey.

 

[SkyGinge]

FREE POSTING is now Active


////////


Skyre watched and listened in turn as his campmates voiced their opinions. When Ethan approached him he was immediately grateful to find an ally, but as the arguments built up he realised that they were all asking a similar thing. "I have seen the state of Aliak, yes, I was camped out there for several weeks until that unsuccessful uprising forced me to flee. There's no doubt that the place is now crawling with shadow warriors and the like. But I'm not asking everybody for a belated sacrifice; if we get to Aliak and things are too dangerous then we leave and try to find something else to do. But reaching the city should at least, for now, prove a goal that may give us answers."


"I know we are hardly an army, and that is why I suggested we travel there via the east, seeing as it is largely uninhabited and far less likely to have shadow warriors around," Skyre continued. Each of the other survivors had good points, he knew, but they had to do something, and they had to move onwards as a unity. "We are not ready to fight, I realise that, but whether we're ready or not we're going to have to. At some point the Shadow King is going to grow tiresome of simply sending shadow creatures to us and send something bigger, something more potent, like an army of shadow warriors. People forget that they were the main threat that destroyed the Kingdom. We have to have a goal, and I think this is a decent one."


Turning to Red, he softened his voice a little. "With due respect, nobody has ever left Valia. You know as well as I do how treacherous the surrounding seas are. Perhaps chancing a journey across them would be easier than facing up to the Shadow King, but then we'd have run like cowards. Then what would the people who were killed in this masacre think? How respectful would it be to leave them unavenged?"


Standing back up with a respectful nod to Ein and Rusar, Skyre's tone changed again from being serious to a bit mroe leniant. "That said, I do think in the long term that splitting into smaller groups would be a good decision. But as you point out, we're injured at the moment, and we don't fully know eachother. In smaller groups it would be easier for somebody to turn against the others, especially if their group had somebody unfit in it. And also, the landscape of our direction is pretty much just this." Skyre indicated to the thick foliage, foliage that from their clearing seemed to continue uninterupted for miles. "With no easily distinguishable landmarks we'd be at a loss as to how to find eachother again, and where to meet up. Add that to the fact that today we're only going to have a single afternoon's travel and I don't think there'd be and major difference in separating now, especially as from studying the Shadow King's attack patterns I reckon we're relatively safe for today."


He frowned a little, but his emerald eyes shone with confidence and determination. "Look, I know it's not a perfect plan. It's barely even a plan at all. But it's there. And it's better than nothing. It should give us a purpose, something to aim towards, something that won't make us feel like worthless leftovers who should've perished with the rest. I trust all of you, and hope that you'll trust me to, but I ask at least for today we stick together and head east. Of course, you're free to disagree and head elsewhere, but it'd be a major shame to lose your company."


Hoping that his speech was now fully fleshed out, he sat back down, knawing off the last piece of rabbit flesh from his plate and wondering where he'd be in an hours time.


//////////


To his surprise, Skyre found himself travelling with the others as a large group an hour later. After a quick turn around in regards to lunch, they had packed up their gear and extinguished the fire, and soon Skyre was leading them through the neverending forest path at a steady but nevertheless brisk pace. After consult his mental map of the area, he had determined that it would be wise to head a little north first; this would allow them to avoid some of the more treacherous valleys. However, as a result of there being no immediate landmarks in that direction as he had thought, it was very difficult to tell which direction they were going, and so he kept on having to blast himself into the air above the trees to get a view of where they were heading, and adjusting himself from there. This happened a few times, and he thought it would have annoyed some of the other members of the group.


Soon, however, they began to reach familiar bits of forest, parts where he had treaded a few days prior, and so he began to get his bearings and backtrack a little. Yet after perhaps twenty minutes of this they were forced to deviate from this path once more. Now needing a break, they were suddenly greeted by both the distant site of something bright erupting through the trees, and the distant sound of a close river. Knowing he was eager to split up, Skyre allowed Ein to take some people down to the river, where they would all meet up after their break. He had no doubt that they would need it; they had covered very good ground.


Skyre's lonely thoughts on the journey had been largely concerned with leading them down the right paths and on the responcibilities he had inadvertantly had bestowed on him by becoming their unspoken leader. He thought it a little ironic; he was probably young than most of them yet was now free to act as their superior. He wanted it to continue that way; unspoken leader. Desiree has been right once more though; they did respect him, and the honour of that gifted him a calm, wide smile.


Pushing their way through the trees, the source of the light actually turned out to be light reflecting off of a short plaza of broken white stone - they'd stumbled upon a very small village. In fact, the term 'village' was unfitting for the place - it was merely one street of ruined houses, some worse off than others; a few of the houses were now only crumbling piles of grey stone, whilst others were simply missing parts of their roofs and windows, with the insides clearly devastated. It always upset Skyre seeing their previous settlements in this way; it brought a grounding reality to the situation that living alone in the forests did not.


"We'll rest here," he announced, turning to the others as he leant upon the broken wall of a house. "Might as well search fo supplies here too."

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree watched from Skyre's flank as he made his announcement. She hadn't known what his plan had been, but once heard it hadn't surprised her. What else was left for them to do? Survival would not be enough – not in the long term. Heading to Aliak was a start; once there, though, decisions would have to be made.


Skyre sat and waited for the proverbial firestorm. A moment passed where everyone absorbed his idea and contemplated what it meant for themselves. Desiree had no such worries; wherever Skyre went, she would follow. She meant to be his protector and was determined to do precisely that even if it meant following him right into the Shadow King's great hall.


Ethan was the first to speak. His words were calming and echoed what Desiree imagined many of the others were thinking. It was true that the weren't an army. Her brow furrowed at Ethan's jab at Skyre about false hope. Hells, until yesterday most of them were directionless, scared and without any hope at all. False hope, she thought with a tinge of ire toward Ethan. Even if that was his concern, now was not the time to voice that opinion.


Still, heads nodded and some quiet conversation buzzed after the healer finished speaking. The woman with whom Desiree spoke before Skyre gave his small speech had risen during Ethan's turn and crossed the camp to stand near to her. She gave her name, Ari, quietly to Desiree as if to not allow her secret to be heard by the others. Desiree smiled warmly and with sincerity in her blue eyes, simply nodded to let her know that she had heard her.


Ari waited for Ethan to finish before she voiced her own opinion. The woman proclaimed what to Desiree was obvious: indeed, they were nowhere near ready to take on any of the Shadow King's more elite forces. Ari finished her short commentary and sat next to where Desiree stood holding her quarterstaff. That's a start, Desiree thought since Ari didn't return to her seculsion across the campsite.


One of the other men took his turn and introduced himself as Ein. He agreed with Ari's assessment of the group's situation but agreed with Skyre's plan. He then suggested that the group split and survey the area for whatever resources that they could find. That's a foolish idea, Desiree thought, as any thing of use or value would have quickly been taken by the shadows and splitting the group would only inhibit their chances.


The paler man, whom Desiree had not yet met, spoke and talked about leaving Valia – as if that would escape the Shadow King's grasp. He doubted the group's chances and suggested journeying farther away from Aliak; however, in the end he agreed to follow Skyre's lead.


Desiree let the last words sink in with everyone present. While doing so, she lightly touched the air around the camp and tweaked it just so which would affect the sound waves in and around their small clearing and enable her to be heard without having the shout. It was a easy trick that took almost no energy for her to maintain and one that many of the professors at the university would dabble in air magic to learn to make their lecturing effortless.


"Some of you already know me," she started from her position still behind Skyre, "but for those I haven't met my name is Desiree. As we are all voicing our opinions and concerns, please allow me to add mine."


"Skyre is correct. We cannot simply hope to survive out here as wandering nomads. The shadow forces will eventually find us and will eventually cut us down. We need to be more pro-active in out survival."


"Both Rederick and ..." she looked back at Ari before continuing with a smile, "and this brave lady here make a valid point: we are not ready. I agree that we are not ready – not yet."


"I can also agree with Ein, in that we will need as many resources as we can find," she said with a nod toward him. "However, I believe that splitting the group would make us more vulnerable even if we were to split our forces as evenly as we were able."


Desiree slowly cast her free hand around to indicate the entire assembly, "All of us at this time yesterday had no idea that we would be in this place today with this many other survivors. Myself, I was hounded and driven by shadow wolves for four days without much rest and yet here I stand before you. Each of you have similar stories to tell of your survival after the Fall. It is the one, tangible common thing we share."


"But merely surviving is not enough," she said as she brought her hand back to her side. "And roaming the countryside without purpose will be our deaths, whether in this group or on our own. Skyre's bold idea gives us direction, purpose and something to at least move toward. I will follow him and encourage the rest of you to do the same."


Desiree raked her hair back with her free hand. "We can be a formidable force if all of us want to be. I suggest that we voice our talents and abilities so that we can ascertain how best we can fight and survive. With this information, we can plan strategies by combining our talents and Skyre will know what resources we currently have that we can most effectively use."


"I am a third year wind mage from the university, having not been able to start my fourth term. I am stronger than most of the students I knew then and that is my strongest asset to this group." She lifted her quarterstaff a little from the ground. "I know enough of this staff to not kill myself or anyone else nearby, but my martial skills are ... lacking."


She took a deep breath and exhaled. "That's about all I have for now," she said and she released her light touch on the air around them. 

Pushing their way through the trees, the source of the light actually turned out to be light reflecting off of a short plaza of broken white stone - they'd stumbled upon a very small village. In fact, the term 'village' was unfitting for the place - it was merely one street of ruined houses, some worse off than others; a few of the houses were now only crumbling piles of grey stone, whilst others were simply missing parts of their roofs and windows, with the insides clearly devastated. It always upset Skyre seeing their previous settlements in this way; it brought a grounding reality to the situation that living alone in the forests did not.
"We'll rest here," he announced, turning to the others as he leant upon the broken wall of a house. "Might as well search fo supplies here too."

An hour or so after lunch, the party broke camp and followed Skyre's lead east. Desiree took a position just behind him as she flanked him in a silent, watchful vigil with her hood pulled over her head against the mid-afternoon sun.


Occasionally, she would look back upon their train of survivors and remind Skyre to ease up the pace lest grandpa be left behind. The old man's gait would eventually be a disadvantage to them, so she tried to work a solution for him in her mind while they continued on through the forest.


Skyre used his talent to whisk himself above the treetops to gather his bearings which annoyed Desiree. Flight was the one, real talent of the wind mage that she had never had the opportunity to learn and she was jealous of the ease with which Skyre launched himself time and again. Still, each time he descended she greeted him with a pleasant smile.


Her feelings toward the red-haired wind mage had changed significantly since she had declared herself his guardian. Although his infrequent leaps above the trees was upsetting, she told herself that it was more because she couldn't protect him up there while she was still grounded. Fortunately, his forays above lasted only long enough for him to survey the area and he soon returned to the ground.


He walked in silence for most of the day. Desiree allowed him his time for she was sure that he was thinking about everything he had to do as their de facto leader. It was a large burden for such a young kid, but with the right guidance she was certain that he would manage just fine.


They came across the remains of a few houses that had clearly showed the shadow forces' handiwork. Skyre declared that they would rest here for a while and see if they couldn't find anything that the shadows may have left in their wake.


Desiree approached him, and in a low voice suggested, "We should assign a rotating watch using teams. Now might be a good time to assess what talents and abilities we have, find out who works well with whom and start setting some order." Desiree snorted at her use of the word order. "With a normal routine, they will start to accept each other more easily."


"Additionally," she said as she kept her voice low, "you might consider delegating some of your new-found authority. That will add to the routine and comfort level as well as take some of your attention from the more mundane tasks. Once you know everyone's talents and abilities, you can better assess who would be right for which tasks."


Desiree shrugged her shoulders under her cloak as she turned away from Skyre to face the group that milled about. "That's just my suggestion; I won't be offended if you decide otherwise." 
Desiree gave Skyre's arm a gentle squeeze and then moved away as she sought out Clara and her grandfather. She wound her way through the rest of the group and finally found them. She approached casually with her hood still covering her from the sun.


"How are we managing, grandpa?" she asked in a light-hearted, but sincere voice. "Can I help you find a spot to rest in the remains of one of these buildings, out of the sun?" Desiree turned slightly and offered him her free arm.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Helia struggled more and more to make her way through the trees as she tailed after the group. Her hold on magic had failed right before the dagger she'd thrown hit the ground, so now she was back to stalking after them as best she could.


Her right arm was borderline useless in it's current state, but she still couldn't bring herself to face her fears and just go down and talk to them. As Helia grew closer to where the group had been headed, the trees thinned out, and the woman found herself landing softly, if not unsteadily, on the roof of a building.


Moving from rooftop to rooftop, Helia got as close to the edge of one of the roofs as possible.


Her exhaustion was apparent as she leaned over the edge to assess the group below, and the constant use of wind magic to hide her presence was wearing her down more and more. Attempting to step back from the ledge, a sharp crack was heard and seconds later Helia was falling to the ground below.


Helia rolled as she hit the ground and came out of it lying on her back. A warm wet feeling running down her face let her know the nasty scab on her brow had reopened as well. As she inched her left eye open to assess her surroundings, Helia found herself staring up at a red haired lad.


"Mmm... just... just dropping by is all..." joked Helia from behind painfully clenched teeth as she awaited his reaction.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre smiled warmly at Desiree's words, and watched her walk over to the other pair. He didn't quite know what he's done differently to suddenly earn her full loyalty, trust and maybe something a little sweeter, but he was happy for it. It felt very good to have know he somebody who would always stand by his ideas and ambitions, and especialy good that it was her.


Then out of the blue his daydreams were interrupted by a tattered body falling with a painful thump from the heavens, startling him almost out of his skin. He initially thought it was the corpse of some old villager, but then it moved and spoke to him. "Are you ok?" Skyre managed, though be knew full well what the answer was. If only Ethan were there; Skyre couldn't remember whether he had gone with Ein or with them.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Helia let out a pained chuckle as the man spoke.


His words were 'Are you okay?' which, for whatever reason, struck her as funny. Helia briefly thought back to before the Shadow King's ascension when everyone was still around. How she would laugh amongst people, and enjoyed being around groups back when her master had been training her. For a moment, she forgot the recent events and cracked a real, if not a bit rueful, smile.


"Yeah, m'fine now. Lost the ground for a bit..." she snickered, "But I found it."


Attempting to sit up brought Helia's mind out of its daze as a sharp pain shot through her body causing her to hiss in pain. Laying back down, Helia felt herself start to panic as the logical part of her mind started to remind her how vulnerable she was at the moment. Her breathing quickened to a rapid pace and her eyes dilated for a few moments before she managed to reign in most of her fear through deep calming breaths.


Finally, after a minute or so of deep breathing exercises, Helia looked back to the red haired lad.


"You wouldn't happen to have a medic to spare, would you?"

 

[Macaberz]

Modrin resorted to trailing behind everyone else and keeping to his own thoughts. Eventually, he knew, he would have to speak with them. But the longer he could put it off, the better. Along the way he'd picked up a fat twig and started to sharpen and clean it with his dagger, but even that became boring after a while. He observed the travellers ahead of him. They appeared quite happy in spite of their predicament.


It made him long for home, for his father. The old crab had always said that those people were evil and cruel. Day after day, Modrin had learned not to trust the magicians or the common folk. He, his father had said, was from a special family and one day all the filth in the world would bend the knee to him. He'd laughed it off then, and he still couldn't see how or why these people would ever submit to him. Yet his hate for them was so deeply instilled in him, so relentlessly peppered into his skull, that he failed to see ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Instead, he saw his enemies walking straight towards their deaths.


When they finally stopped for a rest, Modrin left under the pretense of taking a pee. Not before he'd stepped well out of sight, his only companion emerged amidst the trees. Laelaps, the great Shadow Hound that had led him to Skyre and Desiree. Modrin dropped to his knees before the massive Shadow Hound and embraced him. "I missed you," he muttered under his breath. The great dog replied by sitting down and rubbing its icy snout in the boy's face. "Tell your pack to stay at a good distance. I'll see you soon, buddy." Modrin said. He could feel the inky fur rippled underneath his hands and it calmed him to press his ear against the dog's flank and feel the steady rise and fall. Knowing his time was short, he gave Laelaps a few more friendly pats before the big beast scurried off. Modrin raised himself and headed back towards the camp. Soon it would be just be him and the dog again. Soon.

 

[Shura]

Rusar decided to move along with the group but she didn't exactly stay with them, it unsettled her and made her feel like an easier target. So instead she kept near to the group but moved on her own through the brush some times scouting ahead to make sure there were no threats. She spotted the girl who seemed to be following the group and nearly shot her at first but remembered one of the hunters mentioning a girl in a tree who was injured. Rusar left the girl to her less than stealthy talking and went on her way, she kept an bow ready the entire time, Even though it had been calm she didn't trust their luck to be completely safe their whole journey. There was also a second reason for not moving with the group, it scared off potential game. The huntress kept her senses open not only to threats but anything that might add to the groups food stock. Several times she stopped to hunt something new.


She lucked out in coming across a rabbit as well as possum to thought it would be a good idea to play dead. There were plenty of small squires but they were more trouble than they were worth. At one point while Sky was doing one of his areal checks Ru decided to take a break unfortunately it had been short lived when she caught the sound of hissing. It seems the smell of her kill had brought upon another predator. It wasn't the first time it happened but she was still taken by surprised, thankfully her reflexes made up for it as she chard the snakes head with a quick fire ball. Thankfully so because the damn thing was fairly large at little over 3 ft. After that little scare she managed to catch one more possum before the group stumbled along the abandoned town. She hesitated at first not sure about approaching it lingering behind for a bit, watching as the strange tree girl crashed in thorough one of the buildings. She shook her head before approaching the group spotting the strange boy leaving into the forest. She narrowed her eyes slightly but let him be. If it had been up to her she would have left him behind but survivors were scares so extreme mistrust would have to suffice for now.

 

[EinRaikou]

Skrye was right, as was Desiree and Ari. Everyone had their points. Everyone had their flaws. There was in fact nothing that cold be done aside from standing up to the darkness that covered their land, or hiding and trying to survive.


Eins thoughts on separating and surveying focused more on healing up and being mentally prepared prior to taking on that task of heading to the capital. In all honest, he was afraid. He was afraid if their group went anywhere near the capital, anger and revenge would take over and he would make the mistake of running head first into danger. Afterall, it was the last place he saw his brother alive.


Nevertheless, he decided to press on. He helped the group pack up there things, and began their trek through the forest. Every once in awhile he would stop to check his scar, and make sure it want reopening.


When it came to separating Ein took a small group to the river to collect fresh water and make haste towards their destination, along the river side. In this way, at least if they were attacked here, as opposed to in the woods it would be easier to maneuver ones self.


During the rest stop at the river thoughts began occurring to Ein. 'Maybe spencer survived somehow,' was the most important one. Maybe, somehow, his brother hadn't died. But he knew, that this was all but a pipe dream.

 

[Effervescent]

Distant cries echoed through the trees and radiated outward. It took effort for Rederik and Naraya to stay away from the Shadow King's wake of destruction that seemed to radiate from Aliak. Rederik had one goal in mind: return home before it's too late. Already he felt his hope slipping after fighting pack after pack of shadow hounds. Every town he passed by looked to already be in ruin, and it was as though he could not even catch up to the cause.


The glow of fire and thickness of smoke choked his lungs as he began to near the village of Namoor. Namoor was a small settlement in the Southern regions, its housing built and nestled within the thick sturdy trees of the forest. While Rederik took up the nomadic life of an adventurer, he still considered Namoor his home, and would frequently return to visit his loving family. He could never abandon them at a time of need, but he wondered if he were too late.


He nearly reached the main path when he ran into Jnar, his body battered and bloodied as he stumbled and fell into Rederik's arms. Over Jnar's shoulder, Rederik could see silhouettes in front of a fiery backdrop. The trees were set ablaze, but he could hear nothing aside from the roar of flames. Rederik eased Jnar behind a thick bush for hiding and began to rush into the fray. But Jnar quickly grasped Rederik's sleeve and pulled him down.


"Jnar!" he pleaded. "My family!"


With a shaky hand, Jnar produced a letter within his pocket addressed to Saben, his wife. "They came from nowhere," he said. "We cannot fight them, Rederik."


"Then let me help!" Rederik responded in frustration. It was difficult to see such a capable warrior as Jnar in such a condition. The aging man shook his head solemnly.


"We are the last," Jnar revealed. Rederik felt his heart sink and his hope shatter. He could never bring himself to believe they were all dead.


"I swear on my life I will avenge Namoor," he swore as he fought back his tears. Rederik was never given the chance to say goodbye, and he found himself rising once again, his eyes on the silhouettes in the distance. Jnar snagged the pale man back to the ground with what little strength he had left.


"Don't be stupid, boy," he hissed, and coughed up a bit of blood that slowly dripped down his chin. Rederik's attention turned to his friend's wounds. It looked like several sharp objects were run clean through the man. They both knew he did not have long to live, and out of respect Rederik stayed and listened to Jnar's final words. "What good is avenging if you die in your attempt? You must live. You must survive. There is no army that can defeat the evil that has befallen Namoor."


"They are but few," Rederik cut in. "Surely the armies of the capitol can defeat this meager battalion."


Jnar's brow furrowed in both pain and remorse. "If the Shadow King's minions are here, then the capitol has likely fallen. Listen to me, Rederik. Live. Survive. Find others like yourself and continue on. Be smart. Know your battles. There is no shame in choosing life over a fool's errand."





Rederik felt the sting of shame regardless. He had always felt since that night that by choosing to live he was respecting those passed. By surviving, he had to play it safe. He had to avoid excursions such as the one Skyre led them to. But now he was seen as a coward and a fool, and it was enough for him to travel in the back of the caravan with the excuse of watching their backs.


He did as he intended, though, and insured that they were not being followed by anything unsavory. The blonde huntress had chosen to scout ahead, and there were plenty of capable individuals in between to insure a safe trip to the abandoned town. As soon as Skyre declared it their resting place, Rederik set out to search for supplies.


He stopped short as he heard the muted thud of the small girl hitting the ground. Rederik took a moment to observe the interaction between her and Skyre and felt it best not to intervene. The situation was being handled by capable individuals. With a down-turned gaze, he threw up his hood and entered into the first home, praying that he would not find the dead.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre was just about to call for Ethan when suddenly their was a hollow collection if thumps nearby. Thrump! Thrump! Thrump! The ominously unnatural sound was distant, and he had only picked up on it through his wind magic, but none-the-less present. But what was it? The sound gradually got louder, and Skyre suddenly realised that it was marching. Somebody, or something, with very heavy footwork was heading their way. Which meant...


"Everybody, hide, quick, keep quiet!" He half-yelled, half-whispered, making his voice carry to reach the company of the village. Kneeling down, he hoisted up the woman who had landed in front of him and laid her down behind the ruined wall of a destroyed house, crouching down behind it himself, breathing hard. Thrump! Thrump! Thrump! The noise was distinguishable now to normal ears, and the yet unseen threat was nearing them quickly. He only hoped that everybody else had hidden themselves in time.


THRUMP! THRUMP! The marching figures entered the village, their heavy footsteps echoing on the cracked stone plateau, and now it was possible to hear a male voice over the top of it, a gruff but screechy voice that simply yelled "Left! Right!". Over and over again. Is that... another human working for the Shadow King? So many questions began to flood into his mind, but he forced himself to concentrate as a sharp "AND HALT!" ringed out across the village.


Feeling around on the wall behind him, Skyre noticed a small but convenient hole. Holding his finger to his mouth to shush the injured woman, he carefully readjusted his position to use the small hole as a way to see what was going on. What he did see surprised him.


From his limited field of vision, Skyre could see several black-clad figures dotted about, puffing hard and resting. Human figures. Skyre's stomach clenched in a mixture of confusion and hope, but quickly sank when he saw the remarkable helmets in each other their heads. A taller, helmet-less figure moved into his sight, and as he spoke Skyre recognised him as the shouting man who had been calling the instructions.


"Right, punks, listen up!" The man roared, and Skyre flinched, unsure who he was addressing. "This is only a small comfort break for you scumbags, because we need to double our speed for the second part of today's journey! The Shadow King needs these things transported east, and so we're going to transport them west, do you understand?" The man's aggressive tone had made Skyre presume that this man was addressing them, but from his words it was clear that he was talking to the helmeted bunch. Out of the corner of his eye, Skyre noticed a few of the figures holding what looked to be a huge pillar made of a mysterious dark stone.


So these are people that work for the Shadow King. Now that was one powerful statement; he did have underlings after all! Though I don't imagine from their helmets that these people had a lot of choice in the matter. What are they up to?





"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" the man roared rather unnecessarily, and the others figures replied monotonously: "Yes, Marek."


"Good. Only a few minutes more rest!"


A deathly silence filled the camp as the survivors waited for these figures to leave, and Skyre desperately hoped that everybody would remain silent.

 

[Kharmin]

Desiree was attending to Clara and Magnus when Skyre's warning was called out. Now, she could also hear the unmistakable sound of marching feet progressing closer to their ruined village.


She glanced around quickly and determined that the girl and her grandfather would be safe from sight. "Stay here," she said, more of a command than a request. She pulled her hood back over her head and peered around the broken, sandstone wall toward the oncoming noise.


"Hells," she cursed as the dust was visibly rising and closing on their location. She took a quick scan and watched as the rest of the company scurried to find places to hide. Skyre carried a limp form behind a wall down the street to her right.


Desiree chanced and bolted in his direction. She looked over her shoulder and knew that she would never make it before being seen. This angered her as she could not protect Skyre if she wasn't at his side. She changed her mind and in a last dash effort, dove behind a collapsed wall and scrambled around to her knees which enabled her to peek through the top layer of the debris.


She had just made it. The oncoming force, all arrayed in black armor, halted at their commander's signal. The sudden silence was unnerving as Desiree was certain that the commander could hear her very heart beating in her chest.


Desiree looked toward the building across from her, behind which Skyre had carried the body. The woman was propped up against the wall next to him and Desiree could see blood on her face. She summoned a small puff of air and wafted it at Skyre to get his attention. Once he turned, she mouthed, Another one? with an incredulous expression as she pointed to the injured woman beside him.


Desiree's eyes burned from within her hood at her yearning to leave her hiding place and join him, but she knew to do so would risk all of their discovery. She remained behind her wall of rubble, but it didn't mean that she had to like it.


She turned her attention back to the small troop that had arrived. The commander demanded their complaince and literally shouted at them. The troops finally acquiesced and called him Marek. Desiree pondered for a moment, but didn't immediately recall the name. She discarded the thought as immaterial at present and carefully observed the soldiers as she tried to figure out who they were and the function of the black obelisk-things they were transporting.


Defeating this band would deal a small blow to the Shadow King, but more importantly would deprive him of the obelisk-things and boost the morale of the group. She gripped her quarterstaff in her hand.


Besides, they aren't all that, she considered as she watched them mill about. We can take 'em, she thought. She glanced back at Skyre with confidence and tossed her head in the general direction of the intruders. Yeah, we can take 'em.

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre caught Desiree's words and gestures and nodded along, but he was unconvinced. Whilst these figure's don't seem terribly imposing, I'm worried about him. His armour is exactly the same as the shadow warrior's, and that was practically unpenitrateable. Besides, I've a sneaking suspician he's a whole lot stronger behind that shouting mask then he'd let on. I hope nobody attacks.


"Alright, that's enough resting, on your feet men! Come on, chop chop!" Marek yelled back into action, and the village was filled with the sound of shifting clothes as the black-clad men straigthened up and began to leave camp, Marek at their helm and screaming out commands once more as the soldiers carrying the black pillars filed out first behind him. Skyre thought it was a miracle that the man didn't have a sore throat if all he did was shout everything, but was nevertheless glad of their departure. The figures, whoever they were, clearly weren't interested in seeking surivors.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Shifting herself to be more propped against the wall, Helia gave Skyre a prod or two until he drew his eye from the hole and looked at her.


"I can throw a few knives, and I can peg the blighters accurately enough, but I'm no good in a close up fight, and I'm not an any state to be trying it."


Skye nodded, but his attention seemed elsewhere for the moment. Looking about Helia found that there was another woman in the ruins as well, and she seemed to point at her. That's when Helia noticed that many of the wall were cracked, and remembered how precarious the structuring was. It gave her plenty of ideas.


Giving another prod to Skyre, Helia spoke again.


"These walls are weak, I would know. That said, we get the lot of them over by a building and drop it, it could make this whole fight go a lot easier, and would kick up some dust to cover our escape. We'll, provided you're okay with there being a we there. Outside of that, loose bricks and woods could make for a great distraction depending on the talent of your wind mages. I would do more in that department, but that trip off the roof isn't my longest fall in the past few days."


Helia was satisfied that she'd given enough input to work with and tied her right arm to her belt so not to jar it too much before sliding on of her knives from its sheath and preparing herself for a fight if there was one to be had.

 

[Shura]

Rusar scanned the small town before starting to poke around in one of the buildings bear the center of town that looked to be fairly sturdy, she looked around for any signs of life but found only signs of a hasty retreat. Whoever lived there had long since fled, but at least she didn't find any bodies. She felt it kind of rude but started to look around in case anything of use was left until she heard the thunderous foot steps and dropped into a crouch. "What on earth..." she muttered softly listening to the sound recognizing it sounded more like military marching. She peeked thought one of the shattered windows seeing a group of dark clad entities drawing close and ducked low again. "Oh just F-ing great..." She cursed readying her bow but crouched low on the ground listening to the shouting of what she assumed was their commander. She stayed perfectly still barely even breathing as she simply listened. She at least had decent cover to shoot from should things get messy she hoped the rest of the group stayed hidden instead of doing something stupid.

 

[Effervescent]

Rederik and Naraya hid in one of the abandoned homes across from where Skyre had fled as a battalion of men filed into the village. He spared a glance through a dusty window, only able to make out shapes and forms as the one called Malek shouted at the men. They were headed west with rather large, dark objects, and fear gripped at his heart. There were so many villages in the West. The would be decimated with the numbers that battalion carried.


Naraya crouched in the corner away from the door. Neither of them wished to risk giving their location, especially since the commander was just outside. Rederik was well versed in the art of seeming invisible. Remaining completely still would allow him to meld into his surroundings, and when people aren't particularly thorough, a quick scan about would make him appear as if he weren't there.


He waited for signs of engagement, his hands hovering over the hilts of his daggers. There was a small chance that, given any suspicions, they would search the village and find the rest of the group, or even him. Relief relaxed his shoulders as the troop carried on with their march, and he rose slowly as the rhythm decrescendoed carried Eastward.


His search for useful items continued as he calmed. Much of the home's decorations had been upturned or broken irreparably causing Rederik to watch his footing. He did not carry a satchel or a bag on him typically, but he still had in his possession one of Ethan's bags. Room had been made to carry a bit more supplies, to which he had every intention of filling once again.

 

[Cookie]

Ari had been quiet throughout the journey to the ruined village and the arrival of potential enemies certainly wasn't going to change that. She hoped, she prayed that nobody would engage. Ari was not strong enough to defend herself, much less anyone else. Even just the extended walk to the town had been enough to wear her down, though she didn't show it.


She was hiding behind a different wall from the others, one a bit further away. Ari knew that if a fight broke out, she would be better use on the outside of it than the inside. Slightly ahead of a her, she could hear her allies whispering behind a decrepit structure. Ari couldn't make out their words, but she was worried that even the slightest sound would draw attention to their presence.


If at all possible, Ari preferred to avoid battles. It was more crucial now than ever with her condition. She was still recovering from her last battle and hated feeling this useless, but she had no choice at the time.


Nevertheless, Ari gripped her knives tightly. She crouched and waited silently for the company to march on.

 

[EinRaikou]

From his spot perched on the bank of the river Ein watched as the water flowed past. This was some kind of serene peace, something almost fairytale like. He was curious what the rest of the group was up to, how their situation was faring in town, but something burried that curiousity. Concern, hope, wishful thinking that somewhere in this world his brother lived.


Deep thinking had become an issue for Ein. This kind of thinking was the kind if thing that would allow someone to sneak upon him unbeknownst to him, however something snapped him out if his thoughts.


A loud boisterous voice called out nearing the end of the forest, just up stream where it met the town the others were in. 'I don't recognize that voice,' Ein thought to himself. Just as quickly as the curiousity over swept his body so did the concern.


"Something's happening," he called out to his comrades at the river. "I have a gut feeling everyone is in trouble. "


With that Ein began running alongside the stream towards town, hoping his allies followed suit.

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

The argument, or should she say debate, at the campfire had hardly been anything that Clara found interesting. She had every reason to go to the capital, it had been the place that she and her grandfather had been aiming for anyways. If they could find a sheltered place under the Shadow King's nose it would be the perfect location to gather information on him and his goons. She was about to say as much too until a butterfly landed on the tip of her nose, fluttering its wings a few times before flying off in the direction of her grandfather. She followed it with her eyes, seeing that it had been his way of getting her attention silently and nodded at the intensity in his eyes. He wanted her to stay silent so that's what she would do. Instead she waited patently as the group finished their decision making and everything was packed up.


Skyre was made the unofficial leader, no words were spoken on the matter but when it came time to leave everyone looked in his direction for leadership. It was impressive but somehow Clara didn't understand the ultimate trust that everyone placed in his hands, he was just a couple years older than her and several years younger than most of them. He brimmed with confidence now that he was leading though, his walk brisk as they started out on the path he had set up in his mind. As the group set off Clara hung in the back with her grandfather, finding him a nice walking stick that he could use to keep steady.


"Grandfather,," She said, seeing the strain on his face. "You still don't want them to know about our magic?" Clara searched his face for some time, looking over the creases between his brow and the heaviness in his eyes. He was weighing things in his mind, whether or not they should stay with this rag-tag group of survivors. Clara had said it before, that she didn't plan to just survive. She wanted to live a free life, one that couldn't be lived under the rule of the Shadow King. It was just for that reason that she had given the choice to Skyre and his company to find her; if they wanted to life as well she would join them. Now it seemed like they had grabbed hold of that small amount of hope. They looked to Skyre to find a way to LIVE, not survive. She just hoped that Skyre was up to the task of leading these people to what they wanted, Clara secretly hoped that he'd be able to.


The group split after some times march. Her grandfather itched to go toward the river, Clara gave him a shake of her head. "I'm staying with Skyre," She commented. "We can't trust them as far as we can throw them and at least Skyre is light." It was the first time Clara had actually expressed her opinion to her grandfather, usually he made the decisions and she followed like the respectful person she was. This time she thought he was wrong though, the ones that went to the river knew nothing about Clara and Magnus. If they were to be attacked, well it was likely it would be every-man-for-himself and that would leave Clara and her grandfather at a disadvantage. She trusted that either Skyre or Desiree would work up the courage to make the group hold rank, or at least she hoped they would.


Being attacked though, it was the last thing she wanted to happen. It was clear they weren't in the best shape, injured and elderly traveling together was not the best army. She had confidence in her grandfather's abilities but the rest of them were an unknown factor. Could they fight? Did they have magic that was actually battle ready? Sure they had shared a bit of their skills around the campfire but those were only words. Desiree was powerful, her wind had nearly knocked Clara sideways when they had been caught off guard by Modrin. Skyre seemed to have a strange sense of command around him that made people want to follow and protect, he would no doubt keep a calm head in a fight. She knew nothing about the rest, even the blonde archer that had claimed to be a good shot had disappeared into the trees the moment the group had set off.


Clara didn't want to be attacked, but it seemed what she wanted was the opposite of what she was given. They were resting in the shadow of a ruined building with Desiree when the dull thud of boots greeted her ears. Clara was proud to say that her senses were rather adapt, her sight and hearing at least. She had to make up for her grandfather's lack of hearing and failing eyesight, after all. When the noise appeared she perked up, her eyes locking with her grandfather's as she strained to hear what it was. It was only seconds later that Skyre could be heard as a warning for them to take cover, Desiree at once springing into action at the sound of his voice.


"Young love." Clara heard her grandfather laughed as Desiree darted out of the archway and through the empty street. Young love or not, she was going to get killed. Clara thought to herself as she went to the doorway she had just left and watched her make an attempt to get to Skyre. She failed, diving behind a crumbled wall as the heavy footfall got closer and finally the mass of dark suited soldiers entered the area.


Clara hissed at the sight of them, ducking back into the house and grabbing hold of her grandfather so that she could bring him out the back of the house and safely into the trees. She had no intention of letting him die just yet, which meant he needed to be a safe distance away. When she found a grove that was hidden she sat him down on a tree trunk and turned away.


"Clara." His voice made her turn back, "Remember, no magic." She nodded, a flash of a grin spreading across her face before she sprinted back to the town and climbed to the second level of a half-fallen building. From her spot she could see most of the group in their hiding places. The air was tense and most of them gripped a weapon, though they didn't look ready for a fight at all. They were rigid with nervous anticipation, eyes narrowed for any sight of the enemy and ears strained to hear even the tiniest movements. Luckily enough it seemed like the small shadow army was ready to move on, it's commanded already leaving the boarder of the camp with his trail of helmeted men behind him. There was a group of stragglers though, one that struggled to carry one of the several black pillars that seemed to be rather important.


Clara gripped the edge of crumbling ledge, holding it with her free hand so that she could lean over to see Desiree behind her wall a few ruined buildings away. It was useless trying to get the woman's attention, she was to distracted by Skyre across the street to bother looking around. Still she had to try, had to see what the plan was, so reaching out he bow arm she gave a small wave in hopes that the woman would see it. This went wrong after that, the stone behind the hand she was leaning on gave way and she began to tumble. She was already out the window with a shower of rocks falling with her when she realized how stupid she had been. At this rate she would fall directly in front of the straggling soldiers, helpless unless she landed on her feet.


Sorry, grandfather. She thought to herself as she threw her hands out, jets of bright flames erupted from her hands as she steered herself into a good landing position. When her feet hit the ground she at once turned to face the soldiers, knowing that if anything was a threat it was them. Up close she could get a better look, dark armor and thick helmets. That's all that really stood out to her as she gave a sheepish grin. Plus the swords dangling at their hips where as her weapon had fallen a good distance away, useless in a situation that she couldn't reach it.


"Afternoon..." She said, her feet spreading into a readied fighting position. "I hope you all aren't afraid of fire." With that her fists erupted in flames and the tense stillness of the soldiers broke. All she could really do was dodge, ducking a few sword swings as she tried to get behind one of the various soldiers. Their armor looked thick, but metal heats up and when that happens they would cook like a nice roasted duck unless they stripped off their helmets. That would give her a good target to hit with her arrows when she finally got her bow back. She just needed the opportunity, which came when she ducked two sword swings that ended up colliding with each other. Stepping to the side she placed two hands on the large helmets of the attacking soldiers and at once heated her body to a degree that turned the metal she touched a glowing red. There was a scream from inside the armor as the soldiers skirted away, batting helplessly at their helmets.


The screams echoed slightly in Clara's head, ripping holes in her confidence as she watch in stunned silence. It was almost like they couldn't remove the helmets. With the metal heated to that degree they would actually... Clara's eyes widened as the first of the two dropped to the ground but didn't have time to see the other as another sword aimed to separate her head from her body. She jumped away lightly, to terrified to kill anyone else to use the same tactic she had used before. She hadn't meant to kill, not that way at least. She could imagine the pain they had felt, the metal of their helmet slowly roasting their brain to the point were they died. She stumbled backward against a wall as a soldier closed in, her eyes widening as she hesitated. She hadn't meant to kill, she didn't want to kill anyone like that again... but... if she didn't then it would be her that would...


The sword was raised, glinting above her head as the soldier raised it. By the gods, I'm sorry grandpa... Clara flinched, her eyes closing as she prepared for the sharp pain and death that would follow the sword. 
(Oh dear lord... that is WAY longer than I though it would be.. the black pillar and a few soldiers can escape but I wanted to give our group a chance to study it if need be. It's up to you Sky!)

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Helia watched the extreme tactical blunder, and then the woman's face right after. It was clear she hadn't been prepared for the horrors that came with the mixing of fire and flesh. Hauling herself up, Helia let fly with the first knife in a smooth overhand throw. As the blade sailed through the air Helia smiled.


The blade struck perfectly, sinking up to the hilt into her target, a soldier intent on taking the head off the lass with the fire. It didn't kill him outright, as she had no good angle on him, but he did make the mistake of turning her way. Reaching down, Helia pulled two more knives from her thigh and threw them in perfect synch.


Twin muted thuds reigned over the crackling of the corpses as the attacking solider stared dumbly down at the pair of knives in his chest before dropping.


There was a brief moment of melancholy across the ruins, as if everyone had decided to take a moment to figure out their own plans. Sadly for Helia, that melancholy ended with the soldiers barking orders. As some split off after the fire mage, and some took defensive positions, three in particular started making their way towards her.


Taking a nervous step back, Helia realised she had forgotten to make a backup for this one. Looking over at Skyre, she gave a weak, and somewhat embarrassed chuckle.


"Uh, hehe, mate, I think they figured out where I was...uh, hiding. Sorry about that."

 

[SkyGinge]

Skyre nodded along vacantly as the wounded woman spoke in his ear, but he wasn;t really listening. His eyes were trained on the fast disappearing soldiers, his ears concentrating on keeping all of his movements absolutely silent. He watched all of the figures disappear from view, knowing that they would soon be safe.


Then something disasterous happened. He heard the voice of a young girl, Clara perhaps, suddenly speaking aloud. What are you doing?! He tried to awkwardly reposition himself to see what was going on, but just ended up slipping over and very nearly landing on top of the wounded stranger. Then the world erupted with a blinding light and Skyre dived to shield his eyes. When the light faded, he climbed to his feet, out of his hiding spot, to be greeted by the screams of the soldiers, chillingly human screams that made him flinch. There's something left inside these people, there has to be!


Watching in horror, Skyre observed the unfolding danger, but to his surprise, just as Clara was about to take a fatal blow, the woman on the floor next to him fired a bullseye dagger to the soldier's hilt. Now more prepared, he was able to use small gusts of controlled widn to angle her seconf flurry of knives to just the right points, but this bought them attention from the soldiers.


Disguarding all stealth, Skyre simply walked out onto the battlefield, nodding to Desiree as if to say 'Time to fight!' As he rose, a few of the soldiers turned to face him, and drawing his sword, he offered them a respectful nod too. Walking backwards, he surveyed the scene. There was perhaps only ten of them left now, and they hardly looked strong. But the screams, the screams of people like them that still were reverberating around his skull, made Skyre reluctant to strike, and so he stood, defencively stanced, guarding the woman who had just saved Clara's life.

 

[Shura]

Rusar heard the crumbling in a near by building and silently prayed that it was just her imagination until she took a chance to look and saw the Clara girl tumbling down in front of the guards, "are you kidding me?!" She hissed under her breath drawing two more arrows arrow, she clenched the bow tightly in her hand causing the runs to glow red. "I hope no ones afraid of loud noises..." She muttered watching as knives flew out from the building and smirked slightly before popping up from her location as she saw guards approaching the house and hut Skyre was hiding in. She fired off three arrow in quick succession before they could draw too close, the instant they came into contact with the side of the solders helmets they exploded into medium fireballs. Rusar didn't wait to see the effect her attack had, if it didn't kill the solders it would have severely disabled them giving skyre the advantage. She bolted out the back of the building and around the corner needing a new location to shoot from.