Completed To the Sand Sea

[Leovold]

Beyond that initial strike, there was little Leovold could do to aid Eira in saving herself and her dragon from the Thagretian spawn that had latched on to the Malennis duo. Even so, Leovold had readied his lance and wheeled back around towards Tyafainne, waiting for an opportunity to charge in and hit the creature again. To his amazement, he didn't have to.

Eira and Tyafainne worked in splendid concert, dispatching the beast handily. Iralux slowed his charge, coming instead to a hover, then landing nearby upon the mountain.
"I never much was one for stealth, anyways," Leo quipped back, Iralux having handily burnt through the coverings he'd previously been wrapped in.

Something caught the Solherre rider's attention from below. Several more bodies began to move towards them from below, most looking to be roughly human sized, but a few looking quite a bit bigger.
"Hells, more of these Nephilon vermin closing in. We need to withdraw. If the two of you still have the strength, get yourselves into the air, quick as you bloody can!"

Iralux roared loudly, aware that the little game of hide and seek was long over now. Leovold hefted his lance and pulled Ira's reigns. More of a fight was likely inevitable, and while he was more than happy to purge more abominations from Malakath the odds of the two riders being overwhelmed were high.

"We'll buy you time to recover. Move. Move!" he shouted before the sun drake lifted off once more, set on an intercept course with the Thagretian welcome party.

 

[Eira]

Eira snapped back into action, taking heed of the orders given by her higher command. Snatching her sword to place back in it's sheath, the Malennis rider made for the leg that would give her access to the saddle upon Tyafainne's spine. She could feel the dragon's pain clearer now, greater than that of her own. "Shit." Ignoring the precious seconds that would have them in the air and clear, Eira reached for the bags attached to the saddle and produced a vial. It was small, and in it's purest form. The Ransa tears would have to do for now, and as she balanced along the spine and called for the dragon to still their wings, Eira poured the contents over the deepest wound.

Tyafainne complained in a low rumble. Eira slowed her breathing, making her way back to her seat as the Moon Dragon began to test her wings and make for the skies. In order to hold on, Eira's hand made for the pommel and crushed the glass vial beneath her hand. The pieces stung as they dug into her flesh, but her own anxiety and panic numbed the pain.

"Higher, Tyafainne!" She called, needed to release a loud sound. To scream would only alarm the celestial dragon.

Leovold

 

[Leovold]

Leovold's eyes rapidly traced the number of enemies quickly moving in. Seven in total, approaching fast. Four were barely bigger than he was, darting about erratically on the wind; skirmishers...they'd be running distraction for the larger ones, or trying to pull Leovold out of his saddle. Two more were at least twice as big as the first batch and a fair bit bulkier, trailing what looked to be some sort of vapor from their faces; brutes, though smaller than the ones that had attacked Eira.

The last one was lagging behind the others. It was grotesque looking, bulbous, a mockery of nature's perfection as it somehow managed to keep its rounded body in flight on many sets of stitched wings. That could only have been a behemoth judging by its sheer size, and it was assuredly more dangerous than the rest of the pack. Something seemed to be dripping from its form as it drew closer, though Leovold could only guess what foul trickery the Thagretians had instilled in the creature.

"Come on, Ira, just need to fend off the smaller ones. We can outrun the behemoth," Leovold assured his dragon, who was making audible grunts of enthusiasm. "Let's GO!"

Leovold's energy rose to match Iralux's through their bond, the dragon surging forward and then diving down. The Solherre warrior leveled his lance. Claws and blades glinted on the bodies of the smallest Nephilons as they drew closer, their screeching easy to hear even over the rushing wind.

Iralux roared as it slammed into one of the skirmishers with a powerful thud, that same smoldering energy bursting from his chest and sending the Nephilon spiraling downward in a burning heap. Moments after, Leo angled his lance and slammed it point first into a second skirmisher, impaling the thing. Ichor exploded from its chest and it let loose a piercing shriek. With a grunt of exertion, Leovold tossed the lance, sending the second skirmisher spinning away.

Suddenly another loud thud impacted Iralux, the dragon roaring in outrage. One of the brutes had closed the gap much faster than Leo had anticipated and had already begun to dig its claws into the sun dragon's scales.
"Disgusting vermin!" Leovold shouted out, pulling his flail from Ira's saddle.

Before Leo could do anything, however, erratic flapping emanated from behind him, then stopped. Leo felt a claw seize his shoulder and he wheeled to see the third of the smallest Nephilons clinging partly to him and partly to Iralux' back.

"Splendid..."

 

[Eira]

The Ransa tears began to numb the pain Tyafainne felt, and the dragon had climbed higher and higher into the moonslit sky. When she was sure they would be untouchable, Tya levelled in the air and took a turn. Eira was able to see the trouble burdening Leovold and Iralux, waiting a moment or two before gritting her teeth.

Move. She willed them, but she did not share a bond with the suntouch rider and his solar dragon. Tyafainne growled lowly, still battling the oddness in her wing. Eira's hand reached back, fingers curling around the hilt of her sword. Get me low enough to jump and then you are to get up higher up this mountain.

Tyafainne's refusal costed them precious seconds that Eira could be back down there to help fend the abominations from climbing Iralux. A rider knew how to fight upon their dragon, but there was only so much one could do before being outnumbered.

Eira knew that Iralux would not take kindly to her hitching a ride, but the Malennis rider found herself slipping out from her saddle and lost to the open air. She did her best to keep her feet from kicking out as she fell, bracing herself to land and not to lock up her legs. In the years she was unable to fly upoon Tyafainne, her father ran her through drills every rider needed to know. Eirenthe was a similar size and build to Iralux, and it was this borrowed familiarity Eira found herself behind the Nephilon that clutched at Leovold.

Blade lifted high, curving in a downward strike that glinted in the light of the moons. Despite her small stature, Eira's strength cut through the thick and tough shoulder, hindering the use of it's right wing. She had felt the pain and frustration Tyafainne went through all those years strengthening her muscles for flight, and Eira understood just how crucial her strike would be.

"We need to get airborne!" She shouted, sword slashing again and taking out points in the Nephilon's anatomy she figured would slow it down before finishing it off. "Tyafainne has made for the mountain peak. Get us there."

Leovold

 

[Leovold]

Thrashing and complaining from Iralux had already begun before Eira had touched down on the dragon's back. He had other things to worry about than an uninvited ally, namely the Nephilon brute he was currently scrapping with.

More vile humour spilled from the skirmisher that had tried to assail Leovold from behind, Eira having cleaved halfway through its torso. It gave its shrill cry of objection, causing Leovold to wince at the piercing sound. Eira killed it, however, making it a simple matter to grab it by the wrist with both hands and pull it hard over his shoulder. The skirmisher slammed like a sack of potatoes into the back of Iralux' neck before sliding limply off the dragon and tumbling to the earth below.

"I know. I know!" Leovold yelled back, stretching over the side of his saddle to get a better look at what Iralux was dealing with. The dragon was holding the brute at arm's length away from him, taking turns with the thing as they tried to bite into each other's faces. "Ira, stop toying with the thing and let's GO!"

Iralux let out a roar that sounded like a mix of disappointment and anger before blasting the Nephilon with a jet of plasma. No sooner had he done so than the sun dragon's wings spread fully and began to beat as hard as they could carry the trio.

Leovold looked over his shoulder as they made their break for the summit. Sure enough, the behemoth struggled to keep pace, just an ominous, distant, airborne blob whose presence would only be felt if they allowed it to. The remaining brute and skirmisher had lagged behind the initial onslaught but were not so easily left in the dust.

"Going to need to do something about the last two, Eira!"

 

[Eira]

Eira fell to her knees as Iralux took them to the air, her free hand going to clutch at Leovold to keep balance as the wind whipped around them. Her eyes followed his line of sight, seeing the Nephilon that still made a move for their retreating forms. Her lips pursed, and her mind began to work.

There was no more time or ground to fight against them on their own. The dragons would have to work together in getting their backs clear of any pursuers.

Tyafainne!

An answering screech met her ears. Moon Dragons had a higher pitch to their communications, and it always brought her arms to gooseflesh. "We are going to have to try and loose them within the mountain range. Keep them from heading towards the border." They would have to later skirt the outside before making their way back to the Wall and protected wards. "Fire and claws."

Tyafainne snapped her jaw, audible to them both from Iralux's back.

"I will tell Tya to make the first pass with some fire. It may slow them some." The moon dragon moved, a reflection if the night flying overhead and releasing a great steam of fire before lifting and circling, waiting for the next pass before moving to meet Iralux .

 

[Leovold]

A good head on this one's shoulders, despite her novice.
"Agreed. With the smaller ones dispatched, the larger one should be no match for a pair of true dragons. When you slow them, Ira and I will--"

Leovold's words were cut off suddenly. A distant, otherworldly, warbling roar rung out from the direction that the two Thanasian riders had just flown from. It was impossibly loud, distant, its bellowing boom carried along by the desert sands. There was no way that the sound had come from the behemoth, visible as it still was.

The moment the roar began to die down among the mountain peaks, the Nephilons halted midair, turned about face, and began to return from whence they'd come.

"...Or perhaps we shan't."

Leovold's burning eyes snapped forward, and then to Tyafaine. Iralux sensed his intent and began to get into formation.
"Go, get to Tyafaine. Let's leave while we're still able."

 

[Eira]

Eira flinched, shrinking behind Leovold as her hand threatened to slip from his shoulder and perhaps throw her off balance, but she clutched hard as the resounding roar fell to a silence among the mountains.

She barely moved her head to look around for the creature that owned the terror-filled roar before Solherre asked her to callback her dragon. Tyafainne turned and flew towards the riders upon Iralux, soaring below the sun dragon should her rider wish to leap back onto her bonded, but Eira stayed where she was for the moment, not until she knew they were a great distance away from enemy reach.

It was not until the Wall was in sight that Eira patted Leo's shoulder and stood, peering to see where her dragon matched the sun dragon's speed. "I will see you at the debrief. Need to see to Tyafainne's wings before then." And with a smile, the Malennis heir fell off the side, only coming into view climbing back into her seat at the saddle of her dragon.