Legend of Ransera

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龍 Hyoga had been approached by the dragonshard merchant he had helped a while back. The man's younger daughter, the one he and Finn had saved from the Warren's was in trouble. She apparently was making a routine delivery and was captured by bandits. As such, being the honorable man he was, the kathar was more than willing to help the merchant.

He was never one to pass up an opportunity to test his skill whenever he could, but more so he couldnt let such actions go unpunished. As such the first task on the list was to get to the den in which these vermin were holding up at. He knew that he had to make this as quick as possible and ensure the young woman was returned safe, as per the request from the merchant.

The merchant explained that they were holding his daughter for ransom, thinking he was a rich merchant when in reality he was struggling to make ends meet as it was. There was a spot the merchant was supposed to bring the ransom money, and Hyo opted to go in his place. He would ensure the daughter was safe before eliminating her captors.

Hyoga was somewhat annoyed, as this was the second time he would be rescuing this man's daughter from danger, but he wasnt in any position to turn down work no matter where it came from. He was more than eager to wipe these fools out, as there was no honor in their actions. To kidnap and ransom off the weak was unforgivable, and Hyo could honesty turn the man away.

He was taught that due to being born with a gift afforded to Avialae, it was his duty to help those weaker than him. The exchange was to happen at the grotto he was found of, as it was secluded and had easy access to the main means of travel. Though he had his reservations about the whole situations, he didnt want to waste any more time and flew to the rendezvous spot to make the exchange.

Racing there he landed a few feet away from the water's edge and looked around, not seeing a soul, something he found weird as there should have been someone waiting there to make the swap. "I'm here to make the exchange for the girl, you can come out now." he shouted, hoping it would reach the ears of the captors.

Silence......

Nothing but the sounds of the water of the grotto gurgling behind him, his eyes swiveling side to side looking for any signs of them. He found himself straining his eyes and opted to go another route instead. Materializing his pact weapon, he stabbed Aoi Ryu into the ground, Hyo began to channel his aether through the pact weapon. He learned this from Yumeko, the art of Projecting, being able to see and hear through the eyes and ears of his weapon. Unfortunately, he couldn't see that far this way at his current level.

The range wasn't covering as much as he thought it would. It was weird though, basking in the sensation of looking through another lens. Coming out of the trance-like state Hyo continued to survey the area, keeping his senses as sharp as possible. That's when the water spoke to him. "Danger! it gurgled, causing the Kathar to go into a defensive stance. "Come out or your death wont be pleasant!" he demanded to whoever the water had warned him about.

Soon several figures came from out of the shadows of the treeline as the sun began to set over the area. As he watched he counted at least 12 armed men coming to surround him. At the helm of them was one of the merchant's daughters, the warrior one. She held a look of determination on her face. Hyo was confused as he had saved her earlier this season.

"Care to tell me what this is?" the Kathar hissed, his eyes locking onto hers. With a confident raise of her head, she pointed her sword at him. "No hard feelings handsome, but you are bad for business. No one will deal with us ever since they found out you saved us. We have to do what's best for our family. If you leave now and promise never to return, we won't be forced to kill you." she explained which made Hyo scoff.

"And to think I saved your life once. If you want me to leave, you'll have to make me leave yourself, but know I will not show you any mercy." he noted, pointing his pact weapon at her. "Fine, throw your life away then, a shame, you are rather cute too and just my type......kill him." she ordered, the first wave of the men advancing.

Hyo would meet them halfway, using the speed of flapping his wings to close the distance between him and the mortal in the front of the wave. It didn't take Hyo much time to dispatch him, Aoi Ryu slicing cleanly through the man's neck and as he fell to the floor, the other foolish humans charged him. Hyo was impressed as some of them were somewhat skilled, but they were not on his level, to say the least.

Soon the area was filled with armed men as Hyoga began the dismember and maim all of them, limbs & blood coating the grassy field. Gaining some distance, Hyo flew up and around allowing the armed men to regroup and stand waiting to intercept him, 12 men in total. Without hesitation Hyoga rushed the group, first taking out the unfortunate first two humans in the front of the group by delivering well-placed slashes to their necks after praying their swords.

As the others began to surround him, he'd simply leap back into the air, only to dive back into the fray, cutting down three more men in the process as he flew by. Three of them in the group were the long-range fighters, firing magical bolts of fire at him. Hyoga wasn’t fazed as he could handle such, if not match them. With little effort, he was able to dodge the incoming projectiles with fair ease, soaring in and out of the way.

He quickly moved in and was able to put them down, calling the water from the lake of the grotto, and turning it into icy spears. He sent them rocketing through each of them, their bodies falling into the lake and turning the water red. With eight down already, only four more remained. Hyoga was now surrounded by the remaining four, watching as they began to circle him like wolves circling a wounded animal, waiting for the moment to end it all. It was several moments before they all went to attack him at once like fools.

He figured they believed that if they could overwhelm him they could win, but like the others, were sadly mistaken. With a quick pivot in his stance, he motioned for them to come at him. As the first one came into his strike zone he clashed with the warrior until the blade of Aoi Ryu found its place in the man's chest, then caught the blade of the second attacker and used it to catch the third attacker's blade. Wrenching his weapon from the first he brought it arcing across the abdomen of the second and third.

Both men fell in front of the last one, a look of terror forming on his face before he turned tail and ran. Hyo wasn't going to allow him to escape, launching Aoi Ryu into his back causing him to skid across the grass. With a flick of his wrist, Aoi Ryu came flying back into his hands, Hyo's attention now falling onto the merchant's daughter. He was just about to leap at her when the merchant appeared.

He begged Hyo to spare her, pleading that they were paid to do it and that this wasn't their idea, that they had no other choice. "You've said this, but I need a name. Who paid you?" he inquired, his guandao aimed at both the merchant father and his daughter. "We never got a name, nor we able to see his face as he was covered in a hood and cloak. The only thing we could see was his wings. You couldn't miss those gold wings for anything."

Her words sent a shockwave through him, as he was taken back to that moment looking in the flames as those gold wings resonated with him. He could feel his body go hot as his fury raged. Clenching his fist he broke the skin of his palms as he tried his best to contain it, but he couldn't stop it letting out a roar. It was so fierce the wind whipped and raged around him like a tornado.

"Go......!" he whispered, and when they didn't move he sent forth a wave of flames to get them moving. "I SAID GO NOW!!!!" he roared watching the merchant tossing over a pouch with money in it before the two ran away from the bloody battlefield. He couldn't believe that they would go this far. But he then realized they had to have been watching him.

They had their eyes on him long before the Pinnacle Games. It also meant no one could be trusted now, as even those he had helped before could be easily bought off to try and kill him. "Just my luck." he whispered, his head looking up to the coming night sky. 龍

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"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"