Legend of Ransera

Martial prowess and multiple magical competencies made for a very welcome ally. The shimmer of the shield was marginally more reassuring than un-enchanted bracers, but as kind as the gesture might have been, if the creatures were close enough to him to strike, one or two blows wasn't going to do much of anything. Still, Ludwig inclined his head in thanks as he pulled another arrow from his quiver and, with some fumbling, nocked it ready for another shot. Not much of anything was still better than nothing, after all.

Somewhat separated from the worst of the fray, he took care to keep the more-than-capable winged wall of flesh reaving and skull cleaving force between himself and the ever-encroaching, twisted and malformed creatures that continued to ceaselessly crawl up out of gaping earth. The distance, even with his bowstring taut and sharp eyes searching for a suitable target, allowed him ample time to think free of the heat and sweat and putrid breath and smashing, crashing rocks that had overwhelmed him on his unlikely journey here.

There were five of them in total, though that number was extremely generous considering he was three slim shafts of wood and iron away from becoming more liability than asset, and, from a cursory sweep of the field, a lot of shamblers. Many, many more than, realistically, four people were going to be able to handle. Perhaps if the magical birdman had been a master of his supernatural trade - or especially trades - brute force might have been an option. As it stood, however, even with the others holding their own well enough for the moment, it was clear it wasn't sustainable.

Fortunately, it didn't need to be - or so he hoped.

Difficult to hear over the snarls and shouts of effort to repel them, there came the call for a different plan than the unspoken "maybe if we kill enough of them they'll just stop" tactic already being employed. Close the exit, the man said. The hole in question had only grown wider, more and more malformed bodies scrabbling and scratching their way up to the surface... closing it was much easier said than done, though he gave the man the benefit of the doubt by presuming he - and everyone else - was well aware the unlikely "how" was more the issue than the "what" as he let another arrow fly only to immediately pull another from his quiver.

So, then, what options had they for the "how"?

With just the five of them... nothing he could see. Not unless the other two birdmen came with pleasant surprises like their silver winged brother. Ideally the earth and stone shifting type of surprises. Barring that, there really wasn't anything they could do. There were too many shamblers - even with the benefit of flight, there was nowhere for the three who had the ability to land where they wouldn't immediately be swarmed and, subsequently, torn apart, even with negated barriers.

"I believe," he began, projecting his voice as best he could over the din as he loosed his last arrow into the mess of writhing claws and snapping jaws. "The Legion may have been alerted by now." He didn't add that it was just as likely Tyr had been unable to make it back to their supervising officer to report. It wouldn't matter what they did if there wasn't anyone coming to aid them anyway. Which meant... "And I'll be off to fetch the Skyguard." He could do that much, at least, now that he was left with just a bow and his fists. Guarantee help, even if it might arrive too late. "Don't ehm... die, I guess."

Ordinarily, Legionnaires were expected to be the first into a fight and last to leave, if they ever even got the chance to, but while either of the birds or the bat might have been the faster choice, all three were far more effective keeping the swarm at bay. Barring the other human man as a master of transposition, Ludwig was the next best choice, as he was now little more than moving target for the still-advancing creatures. He didn't bother explaining himself - it was better the others stay focused on what they were doing - and, instead, took a step forward, only rather than the proper distance it should have been his foot landed on a stone outcropping a considerable distance towards the city, leaving the mess of wings and limbs and swords and magic behind him.

"Good luck!" he called over his shoulder. They'd certainly need it.

He dropped his bow, unbuckled his quiver, rolled his shoulders, then broke out into a sprint down the rocky mountainside, lips moving in a silent, steady countdown: fifteen... fourteen... thirteen...

---

㊋ Despite the efforts of the warriors present, it seemed that there was no end to these abominations. They just keep coming from the opened hole in the ground, and if Hyoga and the other's couldnt impede their advance. As he cut down these shambling creatures, one of the Avialae he saw earlier came to his side, grabbing his attention with a flourish of his blade. What made Xiang take note however was what he did to his swords, setting them ablaze with fire.

It seemed that this one was like himself in terms of the arcane forces he wielded, being a mage of both Reaving and Elementalism. A smirk fixed itself on his face as Xiang followed suit, running his hand along the length of Shimo no Tsume, the aura of black, blue, & grey giving way to flames along the blade of the spear.

Taking to the air Hyoga noticed a unique trait these creatures held, a weakness of sorts. They recoiled at the flames, which sparked an idea in Hyoga. He had to hand it to the feather winged one, that was a useful insight he gained thanks to him. Hyoga put his plan in motion, as if on cue when the feather winged Avialae inquired on his plan.

Hyoga began to circle around the opening, and as he did so, his enflamed spear would grazed the grass. In a matter of moments, the opening was encircled by a ring of flames. The encampment of fire was big enough to corral the creatures within it, and it would allow him to easily pick them off with well-timed swoops, skewering them on his spear with each pass.

He had to be careful as they could easily overpower him, but he figured it would be enough to contain them, long enough for a true plan to be crafted. "This will not hold them forever, but its a start. Let's hope a patrol sees the rising smoke and comes to investigate." he called, swooping into the fiery circle in order to run his spear through as many as he could.

The demons were indeed in fear of the flames, meandering about the blazing circle clawing at Hyoga with each pass. The death wails of these demons, and the symphony of steel tearing into their malformed fleshed filled the space around him. The orchestra of battle was in high swing as Hyoga fought against the horde. The pact weapon, emblazed and radiating its aura within his hands was an instrument of carnage as he cleaved his way through the grotesque bodies.

It was invigorating, as he was able to go all out as he could, letting his raw Avialae brutality take over. Limbs flew this way and that way as he hacked down the mass of them. Though enthralled by this confrontation, Hyoga knew it was only a matter of time before the flames would fail to contain them, he would have to figure out a new strategy in case of that. ㊋

A Welcome Home

---

㊋ It seemed Hyoga had bought them some time, which he was thankful for. The Silverwing avialae seemed to have a good guess of the abilities of those present, a brow-raising as Hyoga looked to the ebonwing one with curiosity, watching as he stoked the flames with his own aether.

As the group plotted on how best to handle the situation, Hyoga watched the creatures as they would test their flesh against the flames only to recoil from the searing heat, the smell of putrid flesh wafting into the air around them. Hyoga wasnt much of a plan maker, not saying he couldnt formulate them, but his talents were best suited to killing monsters, it was what he was bred to do since birth.

Opting to leave the planning to them, Hyoga brandished his spear and leaped into the inferno, cleaving down the first group of monsters in his path with a wide arcing swing of Shimo no Tsume. He was almost certain the others would call him reckless, but he was trying to buy them time to plan, evident as more of the creatures came pouring in and the increase in numbers forced them to advance past the flames.

He had to stop them at any cost, and so he took to the sky once again, though one of the abominations was clinging to his wing, which made Hyoga spin about in order to fling the beast off of him. With a screeching shrill the creature was dislodged from Hyoga's wing and was met by his spear as he drove it down and into the ground.

"I need you to be a fence." he whispered, asking the earth with a gift of his aether to protect the others, raising a small barricade of stone in front of them. With that in place, he flew back into the fray of the horde. whatever they decided to do they would need to make up their minds quickly. ㊋

A Welcome Home

It was a good thing the Novalys had handed him the ring. He may as well have just handed Lutz a whole letter of recommendation. The good kind of letters packed so full of praise and actual recounted accomplishments it was actually taken into consideration. From the moment he'd burst through the doors of the nearest tavern he could find with the ring held aloft, sweat dripping from his brow and arm still bleeding, the Skyguards he'd known would be drinking there - there was always one or two of them around - flocked to him like the birds they were.

Questions and questions and questions. He'd handed out answers like bread crumbs, tossing out "east"s and "north"s until it was determined he should lead them back. There was no questioning the decisions of the Guard. He was a legionnaire after all.

So he'd buckled down his proverbial bootstraps and headed back with the rest of them, seated uncomfortably behind a beast of a woman upon her beast of a stead. Several of the airborne skyriders joined them as well as one of their mages. The power of nobility paired with urgency. He didn't envy the Novalys who stayed behind, though. There was a good chance he was already dead and no number of impressively trained and even more impressively equipped guardsmen would be able to change that if it had already happened as he figured.

But they were all duty bound to return.

The trip back slower than it would have been had he anything left to spark his worn out magic, but they made good time. Great time if taking longer would have meant they would have arrived on a field swarmed with shamblers and no avilae or human in sight. Instead, it looked like the four of them had it under control. They were worse for wear. They were tired and wounded and one of them was a dog now, but they were still alive which was much better than Lutz had been expecting.

He half-hopped and half-tumbled off of his perch atop the horse a half-second before it and its woman rider charged into what was left of the fray. Their battlemage proved to be of the elemental persuasion, and began to aid the others in sealing the breach with her own magic. As for the rest of the mounted company, they, like his riding companion, descended with various roars and shouts and other loud noises to scare away any minor, niggling fears. They - the ones with minds that could string together a sentence - were still outnumbered by a good amount, but in terms of force, Lutz figured the chips fell in favor of the men and women with expensive suits of armor and well-worn but carefully maintained weapons.

He'd been loaned a new bow and quiver, so he put it to use.

Far enough back there wasn't much danger of him being directly engaged, he fired off shot after shot, careful not to aim anywhere too close to the others in the melee. He was fatigued, sore-but-bandaged-up, and wasn't the world's greatest shot on a good day. He wasn't taking any risks with friendly fire.

The ring had been passed to the company's hakumo. It was something Lutz didn't want to be responsible for at all. He wasn't a noble but he knew more than enough about them to understand it was always better not to be the one holding on to anything they owned. His status as a Legionnaire gave him a little bit of wiggle room: there wasn't a whole lot farther he could fall. But... that didn't mean he couldn't fall further. Better to be safe than sorry.

---

㊋ Within the flaming confines of the fray, Hyoga was cleaving down one creature after another. It was a survival bout against innumerable odds. He had to thin as many of them as he could in order to make things easier for the others.

Amidst the quarrel, two shambling demons latched onto his wings. Infuriated he took to the sky, trying to force them off with one aerial maneuver after the next, the screeching bastards becoming persistent and not wanting to let go. He had no choice but to fly low to the ground and grind them off, but this allowed him to shake the other one from his other wing upon his ascent. With an upward spin, the shambling thing plummeted back to the ground.

By that moment, he could hear the yell of the pale Avialae and then came the deafening blast of........force? Hyoga was surely curious about the nature of that blast, not knowing if it was some sort of magic or enchantment? Whatever the case of it was, it seemed to have worked. The hole had closed on itself, and the impending march of the creatures ceased.

Coming to land a few feet next to the others, Hyoga saw, and heard the warcries of the reinforcements that had arrived. He'd let them clean up the stragglers as they had already done most of the work for them. "Not a bad first day for an arrival into the city." he mused to his self, dematerializing his spear.

It was the more grueling part of being a reaver, feeling everything your weapon felt, but it was a bond between him and Hellfang no one else would understand, seeing and feeling battle through its metaphorical eyes. It caused him to drop to one knee, that along with his fatigue. ㊋

Talon was shaking as he worked to pick himself up from the ground. He pulled himself up grabbing a hold of the trunk of a nearby tree for support. He stumbled as he struggled to keep himself upright. He did not have to struggle for long. The sound of wings catching the wind and the familiar sense of a well known presence soon wrapped around his consciousness. He looked up just as he was wiping sweat from his eyes as Aoren landed beside him. The raven winged Avialae dismissed one of his swords. The tightening of his jaw and flexing of his hand as he clenched it into a fist was the only outward sign of the cost of banishing his blade. Talon reached for his companion and the help he needed was given readily. As the two of them walked forward to observe the devastation, the ringing in Talon’s ears died down. He heard the war cries of soldiers and felt relief as the sight of Sky Guard became evident.

“Thank the gods. I do not think I could do that again.” Talon gave a breathy laugh even as he worked to settle his pulse.

“My lord!” He raised his head as he was hailed. An armored Avialae with the wings of an osprey landed. A quick glance on his armor told Talon he bore the rank of hatokomon. The man made his way over to Talon and Aoren extending the ring that he had imparted to the legionnaire. Talon accepted it, placing it back upon his finger.

“We came as soon as we were able, my lord.” Talon nodded.

“Thank you, Ser.” The man did not waste any time with pleasantries or formalities. He bowed his head, drew his weapons and darted into the fray with the rest of the soldiers. As Talon surveyed the area, he was confident that the gathered guardsmen would be able to handle what remained of the incursion. He would not be surprised if a larger unit came to the area just to ensure there was not a resurgence of creatures. With Aoren helping him, Talon nodded his head toward the Rathari and the bat winged Avialae. The two of them made their way over to the others.

“Thank you for your assistance. You have our gratitude.” Reaching into one of the pouches on his belt, Talon retrieved a few bank notes. He extended them to the gentlemen.

“Please. Take this as reward for your efforts. May you use it to rest, recover and press onward to your endeavors.” Talon would not accept no for an answer as he gave them each their reward. With that done, he looked to his companion and then to the skyriders not far off.

“Home?” Aoren nodded and adjusted his hold on Talon.

“Home.” The two of them made their way over to the skyriders as more Sky Guard began to join the field, called most likely by the officer in charge of their unit. It had been an eventful return to the Jewel of Karnor and Talon had a feeling that things were only just beginning.