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The Heartwood
Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Camelia, Cesare, Bekkah and Celi

Closer to the conflict the remainder of the companions crept.

Ahead was Cesare; by the time he reached Darian's side the rider was bearing down upon her, a cavalry charge, silvered blade held high.

By the time they could see into the small glade they could here the desperately cried ...

" ... YES! YES! YES!"

The Heartwood
Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Camelia, Cesare, Bekkah, Celi, Kadri, Daxia, Mikal and Darian and Longtooth

All it took was that single motion ...

The sharp scent of acid, a taste of bitter sliced through the air like a dagger's thrust. The air was virtually shorn, a jagged tear of darkness so black it was almost blinding.

And then IT stepped through.

Like one might a tent flap, except the narrow rip was in the fabric of the wind itself.

It was tall and horridly skeletal; standing almost a person higher than the banner. Its flesh was an ever flowing sheen of dark grey, moving awfully over its frame. Huge shoulders of bony plate rose on either side of its sunken, bleached bone skull. Its eyes were just holes, black, empty, and yet they still turned to find its natural foe; the woman with fire colored hair. It too had red in its coloring, its huge exposed beating heart, pulsing un-rhythmically beneath its open rib cage.

The demon dripped, lurching its attack - horrid, odd, yet deadly smooth, its claws bound to tear Daxia from Fern.

The Dayalan's horse was panicing.

Staying calm in a fight was one thing.

Facing down a demon was another thing all together.

Darian

Another arrow was nocked as the first one flew to its target, and none too soon. A rider bore down upon her, blade flashing. Too many memories flashed at once and she fired again, not towards the rider but towards the chest of his mount, the soft flesh just above the join of the legs.

She knew even if the arrow flew straight and true to the animal's heart, it could still thunder down on top of her, crushing her in it's death throes. Tucking her bow tight against her, she dives and rolls to the side while an odd sting of sounds issuing from her, the only intelligible words being bend and blend.

Daxia
with the girl -- and the Very Bad Man and the Demon -- in the glade

Nostrils flaring, though more likely in anger given the look in her sapphire eyes rather than the panic Fern showed, Daxia grabbed her shield as she slid from Fern's back, quickly tucking the reins through one of the many loops and rings attached to the saddle. "Run, girl... follow Kadri," she muttered. The horse bolted, and the Dayalan turned towards the man and the demon, an expression of contempt on her face. She took a small step to the side, putting herself just that much farther away from the demon, and that much closer to the mage. She spoke clearly, her voice ringing across the small glade.

"My Lady Dayala, I call down the full force of your wrath upon this demon, this creature of chaos."

As the last words echoed, she was stepping in to strike the mage... evisceration with the sword, moving upwards to slice lungs and heart if possible, keeping the shield between her and the demon-caller.

Celi pushed the two women she was leading down and out of sight, while her mind careened across the intervening space to hook up with Stormrunner.

I know you're out there, Stormrunner. Unhorse that one ...

She sent a mental image of the one charging down on Mikal,

... then leave him to Mikal and take down that one ...

the second image she sent was of the one after Kadri. "He's yours.

That would leave three on horseback: one looking for their archer; one going at it with Darrian and Cesare and by inference the Hound; and an ostensible leader of the band, now confronting the girl and Daxia.

Celi could get to all of them, as soon as she and Stormrunner could get their act together. She had to be careful not to sic him on someone who might panic and try to hurt him before they realized the softpad was on their side, and to keep him from trying to have a go at the demon "just because." She sensed Daxia's magic, and hoped it was better suited to fighting demons than anything Celi could do, and she did not want to see Stormy killed for being needlessly heroic.

"Bekkah, you two stay down and out of sight. If you see a big cat, it's my brother. Don't let him scare you. He'll help us."

She readied her kukras, crouched like a contest runner waiting for the signal to go; she focused on Stormrunner's actions and positioning. She would dart in and cut the throats of the ones he unhorsed, before they recovered their senses. They were a well-trained team.

KAdri. . . looked at the scene, sighed, then turned LIsica sharply and urged her to as much speed as she could manage. There was little else she could do here, and one thing that he Lady taught is that you know when to run. This was. . that time. She moved to find Bekkah and company.

Bekkah

She didn't need to be told twice. Bekkah hated fighting. She saw no sport in it and when it was real, she hated it even more. She would help those hurt, that she could do, but she had no desire to watch. She trusted in these people because Dazi trusted them.

"Do you see Daxia?" she asked worried about her sister.

She barely registered the comment about a cat.

Cesare

The scene is upon him almost before he can react. He is aware that others are in trouble beyond but Darian and Longtooth are here and so is an enemy. A soft curse escapes his lips. The man might not have been an enemy only moments before but Cesare knows that he will try to hurt and kill both Darian and himself given the opportunity and so now he is an enemy, kill or be killed is the order of the day.

Estimating the horse's momentum, he runs for a tree close by to offer some protection, as he intends to try to hurt the rider if possible, horse if necessary. As he runs blades appear in his hands ready to step out and attack from the side.

Mikal

If there is one place on all this earth he has learned it is not wise to be, that is standing in the path of a charging destrier and it's armed rider.

He does not expect he has time to reload the crossbow, so he discards it as he moves into the thickest set of trees nearby. He focuses on the man's weapon causing a brief flicker to flash from it as he pulls both his blades.

He begins to use the trees both to cover his flank, and to eliminate the momentum of the destrier, forcing it to stop and wheel to go past and to make sharp turns around the trees. At the same time he stabs at the man and his mount as the horse comes with range, quickly darting back into cover after his strikes.

The Heartwood
Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Camelia, Cesare, Bekkah, Celi, Kadri, Daxia, Mikal and Darian and Longtooth and The Girl

The girl scrambled, though the underbrush in a chaotic tangle of arms and legs and skirts and cloaks. Her direction was, quite simply, away! Her tumbled path took her towards the road, into the wood, and she would have made the trees if she didn't trip and stumble, falling out of sight in a depression in the tortured, ancient wreakage.

"EEEEK!"

... was her comment upon the sudden turn of events.

Kadri too had the same idea, turning her horse around, spurring it fast, the fine Amber mare showing just how fleet of foot she could be. The fact that she was being chased, that she was leaving a fel magician and his demon pet behind, that could only serve to increase her speed. The brigand that followed her pushed his steed too, just as fast, just as sure. His sword was drawn and held low, his mantling snapping in the wind. Like his companions, the only common marking they wore was a faded red-brown scarf, trailing like a nightmare pennant. To the right and back past Cesare and Darian Kadri galloped, returning the way she came. Her pursuer was perhaps five horse paces behind, gaining only slowly, when there iwas a sudden flash of green and tawny dashing through the underbrush. While the rider iwas a good distance from hunter and Rhoni, this new combattant crosses his path so fast. Low to the ground, the large critter was a feral blur; three large strides and a leap! The sharp moment was noted, perhaps even expected, as a breathed whisper passed through the brigand's lips, almost singsong, but a dangerous singsong. There was a sudden feline scream as mid air the pouncing softpad screeched in terror. It's leap, its attack was ended, all there was was a scared and panicked cat. Away from the rider he twisted, as if trying, impossibly, to fly some other direction. The softpad overshot and landed in the underbrush, not on its feet as feline lore says it should but in a rolling sprawl, vanishing into a tall briar bramble.

Kadri broke free of the woods and led her pursuer out into the fields, back towards the Brementown Road.

To the side, in the trees, Darian let loose another arrow. It flew straight, it flew true, it missed the horse's body. Instead the horse's head jerked back as the steel pointed shaft drove into its long muzzle, not stopping until it's point burst out just below a tall white ear. Darian had to move fast and quick, barely avoiding the sudden, massive, inertia driven corpse of the horse coming down upon her. Cesare was not so lucky, however. The horse's rider did better than terrorized felines. He landed on his feet. Cesare hit; but between motion and mistiming his blade failed to even penetrate the brigand's light armor. The brigand, however, was more fortunate. In return his heavy blade slashed across the Rhoni's arm. White hot pain was shared with a sudden splash of blood. The blade bit deep, coming away covered in blood and it was all Cesare can do to keep ahold of his blade.

Mikal danced, Mikal moved. And far too quickly did he duck and weave around the tree, pursued by his brigand. Evenly matched they were - the rider pulling his mount in tight circles, the Jvrillian orbiting about his tree. Swords struck upwards, swords slammed down. Two sound strikes ... Mikal barely parrying the hard attack from abov just as the brigand did the same against Mikal's attempt, slashing away the deadly blow from below.

Leaving only the conflict in the center of the glade.

A summons answered.

It was bright, it was blinding, yellow light spearing down from the sky; hot - one could feel the heat of Her light even into the woods - soundless but like a blazing lightning strike the tall, misshapen demon was lost in the glare, enveloped complete inside a pillar of fire. It made a horrid noise, anguish, hurt and gurgling as if melting.

Daxia stepped around. She looked into the sorcerer's eyes and he looked into hers. And then, then she knew she couldn't win, that all was lost, her friends dead, the world ending, her sisters even turning their back upon ... upon ... upon.

And she knew it was lies.

Magic and lies.

Drawing herself up Daxia tossed off the Eastern curse, cleared her head and struck. Her attack had been interrupted, it was not as sure, but he wore no armor. Her sword bit into his upper leg. he collapsed to his knees, still up, still breathing, but - for now - badly hurt.

He looked past the Dayallan and upwards.

Watching as the demon shuddered and stepped forward. It was blasted, there was the sickly scent of burn flesh and sinews, it dripped obscenely, its inside dripping to the ground. It struck, hard, almost knocking Daxia off her feet. But her shield held, blocking between her and the slowly disintegrating thing.

The demon still stood.

But it was badly, badly hurt.

Celi and Stormrunner

The squall from the softpad cut through Celi's head like a hot knife, the pain and surprise shared and her own voice added to the big cat's in a wail of pain and surprise.

She recognized the magic, for there was no mundane weapon that could turn the big softpad from its intended prey. Armed with that recognition, she did her best to damp the fear, first in her own mind and then by extension in Stormrunner's.

She was certain he could fight it if he knew what was causing it -- and she stayed in there with him. Brambles again? she said. I think you are a bramble magnet. Calm, Big Brother. I am coming to you. I will remove all the thorns, and soothe your skin with a lotion of aloe and sweetgrass, and I will comb your fur, and heal all your cuts and scratches.

Know this: that was magic, that brought the fear. It is not real, but it is hard to push past. Stay with me in my head, and we will fight it together.

The attack apparently had done nothing to deter the horseman's pursuit of Kadri. They were headed away from the vicinity, toward the Bremertown road, and she was not going to run him down, even if she had been foolish enough to want to. If he lost track of her, she could swing in behind him and hamstring his horse; if an opening presented itself for that, she would take it. That would save Kadri from pursuit and put the horseman on the ground with a lame horse, while she set about rehabilitating Stormrunner.

MAybe they could help Daxia with the unarmored one ...

Cesare

For a second there is only the pain, but then comes the fear and with it the adrenalin surge to fuel his survival instinct. He now has an opponent on the ground, an opponent who is likely a seasoned fighter and unhurt. But the odds are not that bad, even with his injury, because there is Darian, maybe even Longtooth as backup. It should be enough. He just has to stay in the fight and to survive long enough.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he channels his energy into the dance, and if he gets a chance to heal his arm at least to stop the bleeding.

Kadri:

Looks like a fine little mess I've gotten myself into here, Lady. Going to need a little . . luck. . .to get out of this one. See what I can do about creating that. . .

So, Apparently, she could not outrun him . . . time to figure out if she could outmaneuver him. Again, she leads Lisica into a sharp turn, switching directions as far as she could with a minimal loss of speed. Perhaps the other horse could not change its momentum so fast as the smaller mare. Looking over her shoulder as she executes the move, she mutters under her breath.

"See if that horse is as smart as you, Liss'."

"Fox and hound, sight and sound, an sure your senses spin around. Keep your eye upon the trail . . don't stumble when your senses fail."

(If I can't, I can't, but the basic idea is to Dullard the horse at the point of the turn to break its concentration and pull off its reaction time in following. If I can't do that, then ignore it and edit that part out. Still trying the rapid direction change either way)

Mikal

He grunts in respect for his adversary as he parries the man's blows and sees his own parried in return. He keeps to the man's off-hand side, to force him to have to strike across his body where his reach is restricted.

**Well, this will get us nowhere.** He thinks as he ducks back behind a tree and sees the horse spin to follow him. **Time to do something else.**

And as fast as he thinks that, he parries the next blow from the horseman with his Main Gauche, but instead of striking back at him and his sabre, he instead feints a blow to the man's side, then angles the blade downwards, stabbing it deeply into the horse's front leg, attempting to sever the tendons and muscles and bring the man to the ground, where the fight will be more to Mikal's liking.

It is possible the man might even be rolled onto by the horse, or fall prone, and Mikal prepares to react to any such opening provided.

Darian

The Hunter is no where to be seen...

Bekkah

She had raised her head up enough to see the demon summoned against her baby sister. She wanted to scream and charge out of hiding to help Dazi, but she knew she'd do more harm than good. She smiled as Dazi called upon her God to attack the demon, but the smile faded as she saw the creature still standing and now attacking Dazi. She held her breath, only letting it out when she saw her still seemingly okay.

She took a moment to look around at others of their group. She'd barely seen Kadri on horseback go flying past them with an enemy in hot pursuit. There was nothing she could do for Kadri so she turned her attention to Mikal who seemed to be holding his own, then Cesare. Perhaps it was a healer's instinct, but she knew instantly that Cesare was hurt. Not mortally, but bad enough that he could be in trouble. He needed help and quickly.

"Celi, can you help Cesare? He's in trouble I fear." she said trying to remain as calm as she could while her attention moved back to her sister and the horror attacking her.

Daxia
with the mage and demon in the glade

She hissed at the sorcerer's attempt to cloud her mind. When the demon struck her shield, she stumbled but quickly righted herself. With no hesitation, she once again invoked her Goddess' help. "My Lady Dayala, lend your strength and wrath to my blade," she murmured.

Turning slightly to get the proper angle, she slashed through the demon's legs on a downward angle to give the strike more force, keeping her shield between herself and the mage, and stepped quickly back... ready to parry an attack from either of them, or move even farther away should her strike cause the demon to topple in the wrong direction.

The Heartwood
Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Celi, Camelia, Cesare, Bekkah, Daxia, Mikal and Darian and some various and sundry bad men and one demon.

It was a deadly dance, one of circling, one of back and forth and back and forth, between Mikal and his red scarfed foe. Fient and strike, blow and parry hooves dancing close and hard. His blows were as fast and as sure as the Jvrillian's, until the tactics changed. Mikal's blade finally ducked beneath the dark metal bastard sword to strike true. The horse screamed,a dark and painful whinny as its foreleg was shattered, shorn, coat and bone torn and splintered. The handsome animal tumbled forward in a final collapse, smashing into the underbrush, tossing its rider. Even on the ground it screamed in pain and panic, trying to get back up and failing, again and again and again until it just ...

... lay there.

However ...

... not before the easterner's black blade slashed down against Mikal.

He could feel, he could hear, the harsh edge blade crush and then shear his armor followed by an absolute cold of the bastardsword's bite. For a moment, for a heartbeat, it was a if the sword did more than hurt, it was as if it were seeking out his very soul. When it drew back, as the brigand tumbled, crimson blood splashed through the air. Mikal's main gauche was gone, his arm loose at his side, unable to hold anything let alone a parrying weapon. From his shoulder poured blood and every motion sent a bolt of pain, blurring the mercenary's vision.

As a few yards away his opponent shook himself back together, rising from where he had been tossed, looking right at Mikal with carnage crazed eyes.

It was all Bekkah, Camelia and Celi could do, to watch the carnage unfold around them; Celi holding her actions, to see how the fortunes of battle played out. For Cesare it too was a trade of blows; the red scarfed brigand's blade slashing into his abdomen, a harsh blow that cut past armor and drew blood. One wound healed, another given. It did not topple the Rhoni, but it stung enough to steal his breath. In return they traded blows; Cesare's dagger plunged into the Easterner's chest, all the way to the hilt, jamming in the man;s ribs. The blade was yanked from his hand; and it was as if the brigand actually reveled in the pain, the blood the conflict. Until, from out of absolutely nowhere he arched, his chest pushing forward. He rose to his tip toes before he fell to the his knees. Somehow he was still alive, swaying there as if in prayer. However in the center of his back was a second blade.

One of Darian's.

This left Daxia and her horrid foe. The demon lurched, its odd claws reached out, seeking her - to him - tiny figure. And yet it stumbled, she could feel the weight of its blow in the air, and if but a breath more sure she would have been broke in two. Her sword, now it shown, milky white and pure. The blade cut a fast arc and it was if it trailed a hundred tiny tiny stars in its wake. The demon screamed, its shuddered, it convulsed as her blade drove into its leg. Halfway through her blade should have stopped but it didn't. The entire macabre figure shook, shuddered, and in a twisting of the air it fell apart, like a jar of molasses emptied upon the ground. The muck, it's being, splooshed across the center of the glade like a thick tsunami, over a foot deep before it started to bubble and boil off.

The eastern mage, he had used this time well. On his feet, he pushed himself, sibilant words choked out with a slash of his arms in an arcane pattern

He did not attack Daxia, no ...

But in the wake of a open hand's dramatic sweep a barrier rose up from the very ground to separate him from his foes.

It was a wall; writhing, twisting, of grays and black and disturbing flows of crimson. It crossed the small glade, rising higher than Daxia's head.

It took a second look to realize that the twisting gray cobbles were not stone or masonry ...

... but faces. And even if they didn't make a sound, their contenances were contorted in a forever of screaming.

The Heartwood
Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelfth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Kadri, Longtooth and Dean

For one of them is was deja vu.

For the other it was midday, cold because it was Crown of Ice, and he was far from home; many months had past on his ride east, so far that it was hard to remember what the sound of surf against stone was. His own quest, it must be coming to a close because he was literally running out of geography. Soon he would be at the mountains, and there was nothing past that.

Home was a forever ago, the tall formal Keep of Talantal almost as long past. The No More Griffins Inn, Highside Heather and the Silk Creek Ravine; all behind him. Even Bordertown was a handful of weeks at his back.

But it was noon and he had drawn his horse to a stop, to nibble upon a travel biscuit; a gift from a farmer's wife at breakfast. They were poor folks, but it would have hurt them if he had refused.

His horse's mantling matched his own surcoat, deep red and formal, trimmed in light gold up the sides. The cloth snapped in a suden wind, one which was there and gone again.

The odd thing was the Girl.

She was on a beautiful black horse. But she was bent over her steed's neck, her hair snapping behind her like a pennant, galloping hard, galloping fast, coming from the south, cutting across the Brementown Road and then continuing on north.

Behind her was another rider, this one in fel pursuit. His horse stumbled for a moment, allowing her to regain a bit of a lead. Stern commands from the rider, however, brought his horse back into control and the chase resumed. This was a strange manner of hunter; he had long white hoar, his garb and armor was of horribly clashing colors as if collected at a handful of farmer's markets. About his neck was a long scarf, it may have been white once but now it was stained many shades of red.

His purpose was probably ill, since his long curved sword was out, surely gripped in a strong hand.

He drove his horse across the trail, perhaps a handful of yards in front of the Squire.

A few moments later, chasing the man who was chasing the Girl, loped a dangerous looking ruff.

No, not a ruff.

A snarkhound.

Celi with Stormrunner, somewhere near Mikal

Help me, Stormrunner. Help me, help Mikal.

Cesare had done for his foe, though the damned easterner refused to fall over.

But Mikal's foe, despite seeing his horse killed from under him, had struck Mikal a wicked blow, rendering one arm almost useless.

So maybe Mikal could use a little help with a distraction.

She could do that, and stay as loose and alert and agile as she could, dodging whatever the easterner threw her way until (hopefully) Stormrunner or Mikal did some damage.

"Hey!" she called out, from behind the easterner, where she was suddenly standing in his blind spot. If he didn't turn to mark her, she would use one of her lightning-fast acrobatic maneuvers to slice his anterior knee ligaments, the one place you couldn't armor and still bend your knees. Her kukras were sharp enough a hundred times over, to strike such a blow as she moved past and away just as acrobatically to dodge any attempted riposte.

She was tempted to add some sort of cocky comment such as "...don't make me hurt you." Only she really didn't want him to take serious notice of her until after she'd moved in, slashed and moved out. Besides, her mouth was too dry for all those words, and she was really worried about Stormrunner, who was singularly quiet ...

Bekkah

She nodded approvingly as her sister, her baby sister took out the demon, then she saw the wall appear. Fortunately for the priestess of Attera, she could not see what the wall was made of. Her attention though was drawn back to Mikal and Cesare. The latter seemed to have miraculously dispatched his foe with a weapon in his back. This she did not understand. The scene with Mikal was much more dire however. She saw the blood flowing from his arm and knew the severity of the wound at a glance. She thought about attempting to heal it from here, but then Celi was gone from her side, appearing behind Mikal's foe. If she could dispatch him quickly, she could get to Mikal before he lost too much blood.

Kadri:

She shouted out as she went by.

"HELP!"


And she starts swinging Lisica around to go back towards the glade. Perhaps the man - and as importantly his swordarm - would follow.

Cesare

He had little doubt that the other dagger belonged to Darian and he knows enough about them that he knows it wasn't thrown; too much force behind the blow. He is relieved anyway, regardless of who and how - those questions are for the survivors at a later time. His opponent is still alive even though on his knees.

Instinctively he considers whether he could render the man helpless, a blow from the hilt to the temple, an attack on the weapon hand or arm to disarm him. That might give them someone to question and he still has the manacles he took off the girl..

[OOC Not being actually able to see the opponent, I can't judge on Cesare's behalf how much of a possibility this is. If the risk is to great, slitting the man's throat might be a better option. ]

[half a post in PM ]

Mikal

Pain! Sharp, shooting pain. Pain such that the oddity of the sword seeming to be attempting to draw out his life force is almost unnoticed. Almost. But still shockingly harsh, the foulness of it a stain on his soul.

He'd been dancing with the man, and had gotten him to the ground, but not without cost. And a cost that might turn out to be fatal.

Drawing on his concentration, he does what he can to get past the pain. Ignoring it is simply not possible. A soft flash washes over the wound and the blood seems to flow a bit less strongly.

Still he knows that he had been a close match for this man, and now, without his blocking dagger, and weakened, he is no longer. He must act quickly. A drawn out battle is not going to go his way any more.

So he instantly changes tactics. Taking a firm hold of his sword, instead of dancing back as he had been, he instead steps forward. Closing inside the man's reach, stabbing with his short sword he attempts to drive it thru the man's chest.

As he starts his move to do so, he hears Celi call from behind his opponent. He does not expect the man to lose his concentration, but if the attempted distraction will help, for even a fraction of a second, that may be all he needs.