Fable - Ask The Road of Condemnation

[Sibylla]

It was just going from bad to worse.

"Shit," Sibylla cursed, barely hearing Landon 's quip regarding mages costing double. The bright flash had burned her eyes, and she was seeing flashes for a few seconds before being able to gather her bearings.

Mages and fire. The scent of charred flesh and bone was already an acrid stench in her nostrils. With a grunt, she pursued her fellow Knight's path, knowing well that working in pairs was going to be to their benefit than splitting off.

Just then, an enemy solider came crashing through the trees, sword raised to strike Landon from behind. Reflect took over and she swung her sword up, blade clashing against her opponent with a resonating twang. A grunt and she used all her strength to shove the man forward, causing him to trip and flail back. Immediately, Sibylla twisted her wrist and ran the man through the belly.

There's saving Landon's head take one.

"If we do, you'll try and cheat your way through it," Sibylla countered, darting towards the right where she saw another mage in the distance. There wasn't time to spare. Where Landon had the advantage of distance, Sibylla had that of strength and sheer determination. Rushing towards the mage as he concentrated in creating a large fireball, the Anirian Knight charged.

Before the mage could complete his spell, Sibylla had already slashed his throat.

"Five."

 

[Alakir]

Before he could blink, men he'd served with for nearly a year were dead all around him. Alakir felt the heat intensify before his vision went white, and the cool, seaside path suddenly began to boil human flesh. But for the warning from the female Dreadlord Zana, Alkair would have been another letter that Talus would have to send at the end of the journey.

Alakir counted himself blessed in that regard. No one was left from his household to receive that letter, and no one would bother to make a proper headstone for him in the family cemetery.

"We won't hold long if they get to continue buffeting us with flames. They seem focused on the caravan," he remarked toward Zana and Talus, "and there's scant leavings of our contingent to guard the prisoner."

He kept a healthy distance now from the cracks, which still broke through the path now and then to vent pressure in the form of superheated steam. They'd come to the crossroads of guts and glory, and there were only two paths forward.

"Your pardon, m'lord," Alakir dared, "but I'd like to throttle those fuckers for killing my friends. May I have your leave to do so?"

 

[Talus]

Talus moved like a bolt of lightning as he saw Zana's horse shift slightly above one of the cracks. Panic struck his heart, but he fell back on his instinct and reached out to touch Zandor's neck. Magic coursed through his veins, and then there was a sudden shift.

The world snapped into a familiar blue and white for Zana, Talus...and her horse. An urging touch moved them only a few feet, and with a great whinnying cry Zandor and the other two snapped back into reality just to the side of the carriage.

He looked up at Zana for a few moments, an odd expression on his face. That was the first time he'd phase-walked with something as large as Zandor. There was a look of almost confusion on his face, but he shook his head as he heard a guardsmen call to him.

"Do it!" Talus hissed at Alakir. "I'm right behind you."

He gave Zana a glance. "Cover us."

It was the only order he gave as he broke off from Zandor's side and sprinted off behind Alakir, rushing through the fire and heading directly towards the foreign mages.

 

[Zana]

Zana was a little glad she hadn't eaten that morning. With the combination of the vision and then phase-walking she thought she would have thrown up if there was anything in her stomach. She caught the odd look and could feel the mix of emotions roll through him.

Later.

They would figure out his growing magic when they were alone. For now...

Her heart leapt into her mouth when he bolted off after the Guard. She couldn't protect the carriage well and go after them. For a moment she was torn but there were enough Dreadlords beside the carriage to handle it; five of them still survived. More than enough. Zana paused a second more to see one of them pull the prisoner from the wreckage of the carriage and then she turned Zandor and nudged him after Talus and Alkair.

The stallion cleared the wall of fire and then went crashing after the other two. As the fireballs began to rain towards them Zana threw up her hand. As they hit the purple shield they fizzled and then from the purple energy they spat themselves back out towards the people who had thrown them.

 

[Landon]

Fighting The Fire Mages and Enemy Up the Hill (for those now joining)

Landon shook his head and quickly rolled to his feet, like the predator they trained him to be. Arrow slid to his bow and he fired at a soldier running up to swipe at Sib as she took a second mage out. The man dropped dead. Quickly.

"Me? Cheat. I would never." Dark brows rose in mock-offense but the rest of his face remained all business. Tall, powerful legs took him toward his fellow knight. A dagger was taken from his belt as he launched it at another mage. It hit something invisible and clattered harmlessly to the grass.

A shield of magic?

Landon's attention didn't shift long off of Sibylla as he moved with her, covering her attack. It was an easy rhythm. Reminded him of the front and how they'd often work in pairs during the scouting missions. A powerful kick to another attacking soldier then a quickly, silent cut along the man's throat.

"Six," the man said grimly.

A spared glance over his shoulder at the purple shield. The tell-tale flash of his boss' sword. "Reinforcements comin.'"

 

[Alakir]

"VEL'ANIR!"

His breathless warcry wrested free from his throat. Spittle sprayed wanton as he hefted his weapon and closed the distance as quickly as his legs could carry him. The fear of arrows was dispelled by a cocoon of magic that warded them off, but his disbelief was suspended by bloodlust.

Every Guardsman in his contingent was gone. Men he'd served with for months now, people who's life stories he'd heard and knew lay dead around a carriage fit to carry a single prisoner. They'd died for Vel'Anir, the way he was always told he should.

For some reason, their deaths did not sit well with him. He knew he could not have prevented it, and yet, he felt he could exact vengeance. Alakir felt it was his duty.

Talus gave him leave. Zana gave him cover. "EAAUUUUUUUUUURGHHHHH!"

The blade of his weapon drove deep through the chest of one of the mages. Fire channeled around his body hungrily tore into his eyes and slithered like a serpent into his mouth. Released unbidden by the man who controlled it, the magic now sought to turn on the unworthy. His body immolated, he hit the ground beneath the weight of the Guardsman, who wasted no more time on him.

Around them, horror rose among the ranks of their assailants. Screams and orders mingled and became incoherent noise. Alakir wrenched his weapon out of the corpse and brought the haft whipping round. He would plow through them and give the Dreadlords ample room to ply their deadly trade.

The Anirian Knights were there, ripping through the line of attackers as well. Once the haze of rage lifted, Alakir saw them, too. The blunt portion of his poleaxe smacked the meat of another mage's back and sent him reeling.

Alakir thrust a fist skyward triumphantly, words failing him.

 

[Vale]

While it was great that the attack on the mages on the hill was successful, that still left the small group of guards and himself by the carriage. The attackers that had rushed down in the hill collided into the small shield wall the group of guards on this side of the crack. For the guards that weren't in a fight with one of the sword-wielding assailants, the others would run around their flanks and straight toward the carriage and prisoner still inside.

That's where Vale stood and when the first one came through, his sword met the attackers in the air as sparks flew erupted from the collision. The second swung at his back and the Dreadlord ducked underneath before taking a step back and letting the two remain in front of him. Casting a quick glance to his flank, he saw that the rest of the Dreadlords and practically everyone else ran up to the hills to deal with the mages and just had them at the carriage. "Perfect." Vale muttered to himself before the two men lunged at him once more.

The first strike was deflected to the right and when the second was coming in, Vale whipped out his hand and the shadows responded. The sword was about to connect to his arm but it stopped mid-air abruptly and cause the wielder of it to grunt heavily. It appeared as if it just had hit a wall and stopped in place but on the ground where the shadows of the fighters reflected them, the man's arm had a tendril of shadow wrapped around it unnaturally and keeping it in place.

Vale didn't need another moment before his sword came down in a vertical line and sliced the attacker's arm clean off. The man let out a scream and collapsed to the ground with a pool of blood beneath him. The Dreadlord sidestepped to face his other attack and readied his sword. The guards that were defending the caravan were fighting for their lives but were giving ground, more of the attackers running past them and jumping onto the carriage as even the driver started to fight with them.

 

[Sibylla]

It was a chaotic nightmare. Magic was tossed left and right, either through the use of fireballs, shadows, or the incantations that would manifest weapons itself from thin air and lance through the mages who were attacking them.

All the while, Sibylla was tempering herself to the rhythm of the fight. She felt comfortable here. In the midst of blood, sweat, mud, and the high risk of death. Maybe she was an adrenaline junkie. Perhaps this was why she could never truly feel comfortable with the Home Guard. Escorting for society balls or protecting the Dreadlords from assassination could never match the high she felt at being able to use her hands and skills to bring an opponent down.

Working as a pair with Landon, the Knight found another archer. A dock of an arrow and it flew at their direction while another made an attempt to lunge at her. She only barely caught sight of the movement, grabbing the solider to use him as a shield, the arrow piercing his back. That still counted right?

Yeah it does!

Shoving the body off of her, she called out to Landon, pointing at the archer, "Get him!" she told him, moving to cover him as another mage at their right attempted to summon a large ball of fire. She did her best to rush forward, slashing at another attempt to block her by a second opponent. Her sword came crashing down, slashing across his chest only to twist and be plunged within it. A third soon joined him.

Eight!

Her eyes were still on the mage, his incantations almost to completion. She was too far to stop him and had yet to pick up her dagger.

"Fuk," she cursed, eyes going wide as the massive ball shot out towards her direction. Sibylla was quick, but not fast enough. It struck her on the chest, tossing her back to crash onto the trunk of a tree. The wind knocked out of her, and the magical flames seemed to lick at her armor. The only saving grace is that the scaled leather had been a gift of the Dreadlord masterworks, taking the brunt of the damage so that she wasn't immediately consumed by the flames.

 

[Talus]

Talus burst into the center of the mages like an explosion.

His ghostly form snapped into existence besides the robed foes, his sword flickering forward with no amount of warning or cry of battle. He was not there to offer mercy, he was not there to offer a moment of consolation or anything of the sort.

The Dreadlord cut into the attackers without a single moment of hesitation. Crimson blood splattered onto the ground, bodies fell like ragdolls, and men who had mere moments ago considered themselves powerful beings of magic were rent from life.

A ghostly hand came up, reaching towards one of the robed figures and grasping.

From the man's very core Talus ripped a formless figure, his soul tearing free with a scream as Talus' crushed his fingers together. There was a quiet snap, and then the ghost disappeared from existence as his sword turned and stabbed into the last of the mages. "Zana! Clear the rest!"

Talus called to his secret love, knowing she would be able to flatten those forces still around him.

 

[Landon]

Like any good soldier, he trusted Sib to cover him as she motioned to the enemy archer. Pale blues snapped to the movement in the dark, gaze narrowed and he let loose an armor-piercing tipped arrow. It found its mark into the man's forehead.

The flare of fire caught his eye as Sib was thrown backward.

Landon managed to keep most of his cool, free hand dropping for a dagger at his belt and with a strong flick of his wrist, it buried into the fire mage's eye who'd just fired at his fellow knight. The mage dropped and in a blur of ghostly movement, Landon recognized Talus.

Thank the gods.

Landon shouldered his bow and backtracked to Sibylla, punching and shoving his way to the dazed knight. Sharp blues studied her form quickly, making sure she was still breathing. Okay. But his attention remained outward, providing a barrier to any who thought they'd be able to cut her down as she gained her footing and breath.

"You with me?" A panted grunt over his shoulder. Bow on his back and two daggers in his hands.

"And we're tied," the smallest of ripples on his mouth.

 

[Zana]

The Earth cracked -

Her sword cut through one of the mages as they tried to drag her from her saddle...

- beneath their feet once more, stemming from a man -

... Another fighter approached her and whilst her eyes were looking ahead instead of to the present Zandor reared and struck the assailant in the head with enough force to crack their skull. The warhorse was given a wider berth after that.

- his hands were pressed to the ground and he murmured beneath his breath -

Zana was trying to find the man even before the vision left her and Zandor kicked out at another person who came to close. There! He was cloaked as he had been in her vision and he was about to kneel towards the ground... Talus' shout divided her attention for a split second and she didn't need any further encouragement.

The Second Level Dreadlord, Pride of Luana, made it clear in that moment why exactly she had risen steadily to become one of Ashur's favourite Dreadlords. The assailants began to rise into the air. There was a look of bewilderment about their faces as they dropped weapons, scrambled to hold onto anything nearby to keep themselves from raising into the sky. But bewilderment was quickly replaced by pure panic as they gripped at their throats and the invisible force that was crushing the very air from their lungs.

The lucky ones found their necks broken. Others had the air slowly squeezed from them, and others, others who she had seen launch attacks that had killed and hit Dreadlords from Luana, began to scream in agony as their limbs were ripped apart by invisible tendrils of force.

Once every life had ended the bodies dropped to the ground with sickening thumps that filled the sudden silence of the forest.

Zana breathed hard as she brought the magic back into herself and slowly slid from her saddle in exhaustion.

 

[Vale]

Vale was quick to get on the carriage and on top of it as he launched a kick into the man's ribs who was fighting the driver and immediately fell off. One of the attackers climbed onto the carriage and the Dreadlord immediately flexed his fingers as the man put his hands in the shadows to find something to hold onto. He couldn't lift his hand again like it was caught and while he was distracted, Vale's blade went through his chest with ease before being pulled out.

The Dreadlord glanced at the guards who had been defending on the ground but they had been overrun then. One of the guards had lifted his shield but his assailant used his weapon to drag the shield down while another used the opportunity of the opening to stab their sword right through the guard and kill him there. When that one fell, the rest quickly got stormed and stabbed or cut into pieces.

Vale wanted to use his magic but if the prisoner escaped, he would need all of it to keep him contained. He was trying to use it sparingly and he whipped his attention to the driver. "Go!" More of the swordsmen began to sprint toward the carriage and the driver hesitated for another moment before finally gripping onto the reigns and flicking them to get the horses moving.

With the Dreadlord on top of the carriage, he sheathed his sword and stretched out both his arms slightly with his palms toward the sky. As he focused, the rune on neck gave a slightly purple hue and he flexed his fingers. When the wave of attackers entered into the light, they tripped to the ground by an invisible force. They all looked behind them and saw it was their own shadows acting on their own accord as they climbed on top of them.

Some of the men would stab the sand but nothing would happen. The shadows of each of them would draw weapons before beginning to stab into them. The attackers would start shaking as blood would start to pour out from beneath their clothes. A second later, the carriage took off as the others ran to their comrades before attempting to find a ride to catch up.

 

[Alakir]

With a grunt of effort, Alakir drove his final target overhead. The magus wore an expression of terror as the blade that impaled him dug deep, hefted him airborne, and then retched as it nailed him into the dirt. The three of them had broken the mages, but the losses had been significant enough to stall any forward movement.

All of them knew that to press onward without shoring up reinforcements was a risk. If nothing else, whoever had planned the attack had done so knowing it would buy them time if nothing else. Alakir was grimly aware that absolute success was unnecessary.

He also imagined that the Dreadlords knew more than they were letting on. "I'll get a head count and assess the damages," the Guardsman told Talus and Zana as he pulled the halberd free of the corpse. As the adrenaline slowly left his body and he caught his breath, Alakir slung the weapon at his back and shot his officer a glance.

"Did they know when they sent us?" he inquired.

He also knew that Talus might not want to answer him.

 

[Talus]

Talus swept to Zandor's side in an instant, his form suddenly snapping forward to a ghost that was already catching Zana in it's arms. His fingers laced around her, making sure that she never hit the ground as she softly tumbled into his arms.

A brief smile was all he could offer, a sense of reassurement through the bond as he did his best to make her know that he was there for her. His fingers tightened, and he took in a breath as he looked her over for any other wounds.

Alakir's voice rang out behind him. "Fuck if I know."

The answer was far more cavalier than any other Dreadlord would have offered, but Alakir was one of his soldiers, and on top of that Zana was half passed out in his arms.

He really didn't know the answer.

"We have to go after that Carriage." Talus said with a shake of his head. "No way we can let them get him."

Not after what the bastard had done. His head panned, and then he suddenly spotted Landon, still clutching Zana. "LANDON!"

He called out to his friend.

"We need horses!" Well they would, Talus and Zana could take Zandor.

 

[Zana]

Zana had never felt so tired.

She barely registered the fact it was Talus who had caught her as her head lolled against his chest for the moment, eyes closing as she sought to stop her head from swimming. Such a show of magic shouldn't have left her feeling this drained; it was as if she had been fighting all day. It could of course be down to the fact she hadn't been sleeping well recently, at least not unless she was at the Cabin and able to suppress her visions. But she was used to that - it was what she had been trained to cope with.

So why did she feel like she was going to throw up?

"They did," the Luana Dreadlord managed after a moment or two as her head cleared and she managed to swallow the bile rising in her throat. "I'm okay..." she nodded to Talus to set her down on her feet though her legs were still wobbly and she ended up leaning up against her horse.

As the two Knights gathered in Zana tried to explain.

"There is a traitor in our group, someone who is mind linked with one of their Commanders. They know our numbers, our strength, our every move if it is spoken aloud," she just hadn't been able to see who the mole was.

 

[Sibylla]

Mage fire had a way of burning flesh and bone without any way of putting it out. It was Sibylla's fortune that her armor was treated in such a way to offer a measure of resistance, preventing her from becoming a human torch.

The tiny hairs within her nostrils felt singed, and the acrid odor of sulfur lingered. Ice blue eyes managed to glance up at Landon, blinking rapidly as she gathered her bearings. There was no time to linger; wasting time meant sure death.

"I'm fine," she told him, staggering back to her feet. It was at that moment that the air seemed to thicken with the presence of magic. What came next was just a sheer demonstration of the experience and skillset of the Dreadlords. Mass culling of almost all of their opponents.

A cry out for Landon drew her attention, and she shoved him back, encouraging him to go, "Go... I ain't dead yet."

A pause. Then annoyed. A tie?!!

 

[Landon]

He felt that sharp shove into his back. The shove was almost a bit low.

Go...I ain't dead yet.

"Try to keep it that way, lass." Landon sheathed his daggers, attention snapping away from Sibylla only when he was sure she was as she said. Pale eyes tracked to Talus and grimaced, seeing Zana in his arms.

Might wanna not stare into those eyes of hers so long, mate.

With a sharp whistle, Landon's trusty stead, Ferg, came trotting back to its owner, through the dropped enemy bodies. Landon grabbed the reigns and pulled himself up. Easing Ferg next to a lone, plain brown horse, he snatched the reigns and lead her toward where Talus and Zana were. Adrenaline from the fight was still coursing through his body, helping him not to feel the bruises that were already blossoming on his back from falling off Ferg earlier.

"Talus," Landon reached across, offering the reigns of the brown horse to his friend and commander. Perhaps one of the other knights needed it. Lips frowned along his beard as he heard what Zana had to say. He didn't fully understand the extent of her powers and wasn't sure if he wanted to. Didn't want to shit himself.

The knight looked down to Zana.

"What do you suggest?"

He shifted in his saddle. That carriage needed help but he wasn't sure how they'd get out of this with the mole. "Sure we can't just sink the goddamned transport in the ocean?" Tip it over the cliffs. He knew they'd wanted the prisoner alive for whatever nine levels of hell reason that way. Perhaps if that wasn't an option the next best thing would be to kill the prisoner.

 

[Vale]

Vale remained crouched on top of the carriage as his eyes scanned left to right while he steadied his breathing. The horses pulling the carriage were going at breakneck speed, the driver pushing them hard to put more distance between them and the attackers. The driver still flicked the reigns as he called back, "We've been separated!" Vale stood up and made his way to the front seat where the driver was, "I know." The driver glanced at him and then the road, "They're probably following us right now!"

Since he was on the carriage, it wasn't ideal for his longsword and he kept it sheathed as he pulled out one knife from a sheathe on his chest and another from his boot. "I know." The driver gritted his teeth then, "Stop bloody saying I know!" This is when the Dreadlord finally glanced over to him, "Then keep driving." He waited with his knives in hand, the trees that now surrounded them on all sides able to provide cover for anything.

That's when whispers that only he could hear started to lightly touch his ear. Vale stood up at attention before more proactively setting his gaze to the trees to look for something. "Whatever happens, don't stop." That's when a few seconds, a blur moved out from the forest and slammed directly into the side of the carriage. It nearly knocked Vale off and toppled over the whole thing. The Dreadlord, with his magic, pulled back down on all of its wheels and showed whatever hit them.

It was a wolf, or whatever was left of it. The animal was covered in runes, it appearing almost half the size of the carriage with some of its muscles somewhat malformed in certain areas. It was clearly rabid from what it had suffered through and was just doing what it was told. So that's what had been tracking them, Vale thought to himself before the creature launched itself on top of the carriage and towards the Dreadlord.

Behind the carriage and slightly down the road, there were shouts from the riders that had been chasing after them.

 

[Alakir]

There was precious little time to be angry now. While he had every reason, the ruling class was protected from any notion of anger while his mission remained unfinished. It was typical of a Guardsman: done wrong, but still held to a professional standard. Anyone but Alakir might have balked.

Because it was Alakir, he simply agreed. He quickly took stock of their surroundings, and the high pitched whinnying of several spooked horses gripped his attention. They trampled and tripped over corpses strewn across the battlefield in a mad effort to afford flames. "There's no time for me to go corral them all. Everyone pick your own mount and we'll ride."

Any mirth left in him had drained. There was only the conflict now, and the Halberdier could not find joy even in its resolution. How many men died so that one might find his way to a distant prison? Why not simply have his head and be done?

Too many unanswered questions left a bitter taste in his mouth as he vaulted onto the equine and dug his heels into its haunches. The creature reeled backward and protested loudly, but with a few twists on the reins and a tug of the bit, it slowly calmed. When the horse realized that the rider intended to take her to safety, the mare became slightly less combative.

"There's a good lass," he whispered alongside her head, scratching the horse behind the ear. "We have to move quickly, now. Show me speed," he coaxed.

He called back to the others, "if I get to him before the rest of you, I'm putting my blade through his heart. Keep that in mind."

 

[Talus]

"I might do the same." Talus muttered to Alakir as he half turned to Zana to make sure she was still fit to ride. When he was sure that she was his fingers tightened for just a brief moment before he grasped the reigns of the horse that Landon had offered him.

"For now we catch up with the damned thing." Talus said as he grasped the horses stirrups and pulled himself up into the saddle, watching as Alakir broke out ahead of them. "Then we think of what to do with the prisoner."

There was really only one plan in his head, and it was in alignment with Alakir's.

The man had slaughtered dozens of Guardsmen, killed Dreadlords, and had made threats to thousands. It was time for him to die, especially after all of this. With a glance towards those still able to ride Talus motioned after the way the Carriage had gone.

Then he kicked his horse and quickly sent his mount into a gallop.

 

[Sibylla]

Landon left, leaving the Knight to gather her bearings. A grimace went lancing across Sibylla’s grimy, blood splattered face. Pain registered just along the backside of her hand, where the leather glove that had protected her from the severity of the mage fire had peeled back into tatters. A large, red welt now permeated across the skin. It would blister.

Her scale leather armor chest piece did its job, but not everything she wore was capable of taking mad hits like mage fire. Nostrils flaring, and with a grunt, the Knight removed the lingering bits of leather off her hand so she could move it freely. Less protection but there was little to do about it.

Loose strands of hair feathered over her forehead, promoting stormy grey eyes to piece through that dark veil into the night. There were bodies littered everywhere. The bulk dead.

Already the Dreadlords were yelling to round up. However, as Sibylla made her way towards the voices, a sluggish motion caught her periphery. A man struggled under the lance of arrows that pinned him to a tree.

Not a Dreadlord. Not one of hers. Narrowing her eyes, she clasped her sword in hand and went straight towards him.

 

[Zana]

Despite her exhaustion Zana gripped the pommel of her saddle and heaved herself onto Zandor's back. The dun horse turned and gently nosed at her as if trying to help then pranced like a stallion put out to pasture once she was on his back. Great bags hung under her eyes like smokey smudges but her back was iron straight and her jaw set in a stubborn lock, though she did spare Landon at least a small fraction of a smile.

"Are all Guards so ... passionate?" she countered with her own question as she watched Alkair boldly gallop off followed by Talus. A slight shake of her head caused her hair to tumble down her back in a shimmering waterfall of dark chocolate browns. coppers and the slight streak of auburn. Her eyes tore from the dust of the other two horses with the arrogance of someone who knew her horse was built for far greater speed and glanced to those who lay dead and dying.

"If there are survivors try and get some information out of them, anything they might know about who the contact in our group is. I'm going to go try stop those two idiots from getting everyone still with the carriage killed," despite her words, which to anyone else hearing would be bang on for a Dreadlord, there was a light in her eyes she shared with Landon. Love, a little mirth, humour that donated her words as sarcasm. With one last glance she spurned her horse after the two and Zandor shot off like a streak of gold, soon catching up with the others.

Meanwhile at the carriage her own grey shadow had stayed with her real quarry. The large wolf had been tracking the other, watching, curious why one of its own kind smelt so wrong. But when it went to lunge towards the carriage Grey hit him in the side. The two wolves came tumbling out from the forest cover snapping and snarling at one another before the poor, dying beast finally had its throat ripped out. The victorious Direwolf gave a howl then lumbered after the carriage, tongue rolling out.

One of the guards raised an arrow as if to shoot it before getting a sharp smack by one of the remaining Luana Dreadlords.

"That's Dreadlord Zana's wolf you fool," he had become a common sight at the Luana training grounds as well as the Guards.

 

[Landon]

"Yeah, well," the man sighed, turning his gaze skyward. "You know it's a full-time job so good luck with that." A smirk above his beard as he shared a quick, knowing look with Zana. Pale blues watched her gallop off after the pair and he shook his head, slipping off the horse as quickly as he'd mounted him.

A stroke to Ferg's neck.

"Aye, you'll get to run again soon." Gaze traveled across the carnage of what just happened, quickly spying his fellow knight. Moving toward the only other movement on the field.

Fuk.

Landon strode quickly toward her to cut her off. Assuming her intentions. Because it's what he would've done before the new orders came.

"Sib," a nickname that came easily, surprising even him. "Wait," his hand would go to catch at her arm. Gently but firmly.

 

[Sibylla]

Sibylla was already formulating a plan in her mind when all of a sudden a movement to her right and her name was called. Well, a nickname. One she hadn't heard of in years. Landon was lucky that it was him; she had to pull her hand back from running him with her sword once she registered who it was.

A glower of stormy grey eyes shone up at the other Knight. Her face was a smear of blood, sweat, and grime, but one could still make out the twin dark beauty marks at the upper side of her cheeks on both sides of her face.

"What is it? We have a live one," she told him plainly, gesturing to the man still pinned to the tree by one of Landon's arrows.

"He'll talk one way or another," she told him plainly, indicating what was her real goal. Not that getting the one up on their bet wasn't on her mind.

That could come after.

 

[Vale]

The wolf reached halfway to the carriage and Vale readied himself for a fight but that's when another form interrupted. Another wolf, one that must have belonged to Zana, tackled the rune-covered one mid-air before the two animals tumbled through the forest, the snapping of trees and branches with growls and snarls accompanying it. When the fight ended and Zana's wolf walked off and the guard lowered his bow.

The riders that had chased after the carriage were getting closer and closer, their shapes now discernable as Vale stared back at them. The others still haven't reached him yet but he had a feeling they were close, he just had to hold the carriage for a few seconds. The Dreadlord stood up and on top of the carriage, one knife in each hand as he watched the group.

There were four in total but they didn't jump onto the carriage this time and Vale arched his eyebrow. That's when he saw all four start to flex their fingers as balls of fire would start to form. The Dreadlord turned toward the driver, "Mov-" But the assailants launched their fireballs onto the wheels of the carriage and directly under, causing an explosion to rock it and lift the entire thing off its wheels.

The metal carriage rolled on its side as its latch to the horses separated, the vehicle tumbling as it knocked down. Before it could take Vale with him, he jumped off and roughly landed on his feet to practically tumble with the carriage, his own body hitting trees and rocks with it until finally, they both stopped at the base of a small ravine near the road.

Vale felt cold water rush underneath his gloved fingers and it slowly start to soak the rest of his armor. With a pained grunt, he pushed himself to his knees as he was in the middle of a stream, blood flowing in the water as well from him as he spat out a glob of it. A few of his ribs felt broken or just bruised and it hurt to breathe but Vale closed his eyes and stood up, letting out a painful yell as he stumbled backward and used the carriage as support.

When he glanced up, he saw the four mages that attacked the carriage at the top of the road. They stared at him until they dismounted and started to come down the ravine. Even in his damaged state, he slid out the sword from his back and waited there. Vale glanced left and saw the door to the carriage beaten down but still locked. He would only have to hold until the others arrived now that they were fully stopped.