[Official NPC]

Elysia's vanguard has located the enemy!

Spotting the smoke of a camp fire from their aerial mounts, the scouting party has landed a short distance away to find a group of "bulls" camping at ground level in the ruins of a small Chandric commune that was probably the first to fall. The vanguard has snuck in closer for some reconnaisance, using various methods to conceal their presence. The dull twilight and the close growth of the Chandric helps.

Nimisha, having survived the raid on Athendíl to serve as the vanguard's guide, confirms in whispers that these are the same creatures who attacked the commune. Their group is made up of sixteen bulls, presumed to be adults, sitting in various states of repose around a small fire. One is turning a spit roast already half-cooked, the size and form suggesting the meat to be that of a Nymph. A couple appear to be taste-testing a selection of leaves and fruits. Most are sharpening massive, double-sided war axes and runkas. Roughly half have four horns while the rest have six that branch into antlers.

Two of the bulls, slightly smaller and less decorated than the rest, are off to one side of the main circle, butting heads. Their horns clack and scrape together as they argue in a foreign tongue, but none of the furry humanoids step in to stop the argument, seemingly unconcerned with the damage the pair are causing to the camp and to themselves.

Outraged at the disrespect shown to the deceased, Nimisha urges the vanguard to exact revenge, but Cartographer Ramsey reminds them of their responsibility to the rest of Elysia. "What if we fall? Then no one will know where they are and another group will have to look for them all over again! We should report back to Alexandria so they can send a proper attack force."

Nimisha vehemently disagrees. In his grief, he flings the Sylvan Creed to the four winds. "If we return to Alexandria for reinforcements, we'll be ignoring a golden opportunity. These things might have moved by the time we get back, and then we'll have to look for them again anyway."

"Then why haven't they moved already? This is the farthest north that we've received reports, so they must return here after an attack, which means this is probably their base of sorts. Meaning," Ramsey tacks on quickly, "They'll probably still be here when we get back."

"Probably? Do you want to risk it?"

"Then maybe we should find out more before we do anything," the cartographer hisses. "We have a couple of telepaths, maybe they can read those things' minds."

"You're assuming they even have minds."

"Well, then." The cartographer frowns, his hands jerking beside his head in a gesture of frustration. "What would you suggest?"

Nimisha makes a high-pitched noise in the back of his throat. "I already told you! Let's just kill the bastards!"

Vanguard Members

PCs will be added to this list as they reply to the plot thread. If NPCs (italics) do not already have profiles linked, you can make them up as you go and their listed vitals will be updated per chapter.

Aella Karakinos — Unaffiliated Ayad, blacksmith's apprentice
Aiden Roy — Therian
Aifric Ramsey — Therian Cartographer
Alain Gaston-Moreaux — Red Warden
Anatoli Vitalis — Rutilus, Espurian Guard
Faris ibn Alsyad — Purifier rep attached to LoP
Ionia Essytia — Skotadi representative, League of Adventurers
Kiel Taskel — Rutilus, League of Protectors
Maaike Sullivan — Therian scout, LoP-attached mercenary
Mortimer Jericho — Peteulanus, supplies & logistics
Nimisha — Sidhe forest guide for unmapped areas
Captain Olympias Lysistrata — Apali, Varangoi

Current Objectives

• Send news of the invaders' location to Alexandria. [COMPLETE]
  
• Find a way to learn more about these "bulls". [COMPLETE]
  
  • Who are they?
    
  • Where are they from?
    
  • Why are they here?
    
  • What do they want?
• Help Nimisha exact revenge against the monsters who have killed so many innocent Nymphs! [COMPLETE]
  
• OR stop him from making a terrible mistake.

Chronology

This chapter will end out of character at midnight (GMT) on the 14th of July. In-character, the events of this chapter will last one day.

The Vanguard left Alexandria on Menenas (July) 18 by air. They travelled to the Fae Tree by portal and then flew north over the forest to reach the villages affected. They have had 13 days to investigate before finally spotting the smoke from the Malaki's campfire.

Note: To meet the time constraints, mounts must be capable of traversing the forest inside of 13 days (i.e, pegasi, anka, nagrim and dragons). If your character does not have one of their own, they will be supplied a seat on one of the ankas provided (by Jericho at the expense of the League) or double-up with anyone willing to share theirs.

[Alain]

Alain had monitored the status of the humanoid bulls for awhile, even giving some of the more distinct detail the vanguard had on the creatures, but was unable to reach their minds: partly due to the noise nearby. Sadly, he couldn't have the dignity to mourn for the villagers who had been caught. Too many years of experience in the minds of criminals had numbed him to such situations. The noise grew as he regretted that fact, and he maintained an eye on the creatures to make sure they hadn't noticed the party. Nothing, yet. Luckily, the humanoids didn't appear to have any enhanced hearing or the like. Alain briefly considered what to say to join in on the pair's joyous conversation, and decided that it was best to direct Nimisha's attention from the scene before him. If he angered the Nymph or any of the others by being blunt, they would just have to deal with it. Alain put his spyglass away and brought out his COM, hoping to use the reminder as a distraction for the pair.

“Unfortunately, I doubt we have the manpower to avenge the villagers, let alone survive afterward. The best thing we can do for the dead is not join them there...” Alain began dryly, pausing to give a moment for thought settle in as he looked for any signs of calming in Nimisha. One of Alain's impeccable feelings gave him the sentiment that if they gave away their position, it would mean death for at least one of the vanguard. “ Since I have not gained any access to their minds, I will open my COM's connection to Alexandria to give them our position. Of course, I'll need the cartographer's help to give them pinpoint information. We can plan what we do after that.”

The least they could do is give any other teams a good idea of where to send for help, if the vanguard didn't all die at the hands of the bulls somehow. Should the Nypmh calm, rather than rush at the creatures, he would gesture for the cartographer to join him a slight distance from the group to open communications with Alexandria. Alain didn't want to think of might happen otherwise, though the image of a roasted Dracovarian coming to mind allowed him a good idea about that.

[Jericho]

Jericho didn't take sides. He saw a business opportunity and seized it, offering to provide transportation, supplies and even armaments to the League of Protectors as Elysia flung up its arms over some skirmish or other in the forest. He had no idea what was going on, assuming that much of the "news" coming in from the Territories was exaggerated at best and grossly embellished at worst, but he knew a niche that needed to be filled when he saw it.

To his surprise and a small amount of joy, Jericho had spotted a not-so-old flame among the group preparing to leave Alexandria. Thirteen days later, and Misha had yet to speak to him. Jericho wasn't sure if the Sidhe was annoyed that he had left Hesia without a word, or if he was suffering from trauma. He was certainly acting out of character. His urgings and arguments went against everything he had believed in. Killing was not at all how one should pay their respects to the deceased Nymphs.

“Be quiet.” Slashing a finger across his throat to indicate that the pair should be silent, his own voice low, Jeri looked to Alain Moreaux. The magistrate was surprisingly well-prepared, considering that Jericho's impression of him prior to their mission was of a city man averse to such things as camping. Much like himself, really. Damned gnats. “Alain's idea has merit.”

Jericho turned back to study the bulls and their camp again. When Nimisha flung up his hands and began to stand, Jericho's fist clamped tight around the man's slender biceps, and Rusty clapped a huge hand over the Sidhe's mouth. “Sorry, Mish, I don't wanna get dead afore I know I'm taking a few of those things with me.” The Therian's growl didn't stop Misha's struggles, but it would at least stop him from yelling the place down and attracting unwanted attention.

“Let me try something while Alain reports back.” The magistrate was a telepath, but they had already established he was not quite as strong as Jericho. Or perhaps "less brutal" was more appropriate a term. Jericho speared into the mind of one of the smaller bulls off to the side of the camp. They seemed to be the youngsters of the group, or perhaps the females, so they may have the weaker minds as well.

[Kiel]

“Hey, hey, Alain, lemme have that for a sec?” Taking the spyglass from Alain as the Red Warden, like, tottered off to make his COM call, Kiel snuggled up to a tree and, like, made nice with a bush. Like, he wasn't the best at this stealth thing, you know? Like, it may not seem it, but he knew he could talk the hind legs off a pegasus and stuff, you know? And, like, he totally had ants in his pants or something, okay? But, like, it was important, you know, and he could sit — lie, really — still if he needed to, okay?

Fidgeting as twigs poked into his flat belly and his skin prickled where a bug was totally, like, doing a loop-de-loop on his calf, Kiel lifted the spyglass to his eye and, like, you know. Spied through it and stuff. He was doing a really, really good job of, like, ignoring the argument, okay? At least until Misha suddenly went quiet, and then he lifted his head to look at them and his eyes widened. “Like, dude, hey, hey, that's mean, okay? Lerrim go,” he hissed, flapping his free hand at the pair. Misha was struggling to get free of Rusty's grip, his eyes flaring at Jericho with all manner of death promised in them. Coming from an effeminate guy like that, the death glare was way creepy, man. Like, for sers.

“Guys, guys, shh!” Mimicking Jericho's gesture, he slashed a finger across his throat in an effort to get them to quit, like, making scuffly noises. At this rate, they were going to be heard. He put his eye back to the spyglass and gasped in shock and horror when he realised two of the bulls had left his line of sight. His voice barely audible, he hushed, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, where'd they go, where'd they go, where'd they go?”

[Maaike]

An orange-breasted falcon perched on a branch high above the bulls' camp, eyeing the group carefully. She had been much lower down at first, but they had begun to notice her surveillance and had begun to speak in guttural tones, gesturing towards her in a way she didn't appreciate. She was beginning to feel like a chicken already roasting on a spit, so she had spread her wings and glided into the trees just to circle around higher and watch them from above.

Her heart broke for the Nymphs who had lived here. They had apparently died horridly and the Nymph half of her cried out on their behalf, and on behalf of the other Faeth who had fallen these furry thugs.

Shifting her weight from one talon to the other, the Maaike-falcon's gaze zeroed in on her own group as she detected movement. That Sidhe was going to get them all killed if he kept this up. She fully understood the sentiment. Therians were defenders of Nymphs so the idea of seeking revenge was a tough one to ignore, but she wanted to learn more first. That was how she succeeded as a bounty hunter: learn, seek, learn some more and then capture.

Wait. Weren't there eighteen of those things, all told? The falcon scanned the camp again: The two smaller bulls were still rattling horns at each other. The one turning the spit was still turning, the ones tasting were still tasting... Two were gone.

With a shrill cry meant to draw attention from her own group, Maaike lunged off the branch and free-fell down the length of the tree, her wings snapping out to curve her descent at ground level so she could whizz through the camp in search of them.

[Ionia]

Standing at a good distance from the rest of the group, winged figures silently waited for command. The skotadi's wings rustled with annoyance as she witnessed the disturbance with the nymph. “What the Hel do they think they're doing?” she hissed quietly. Their group had descended into the forests as soon as they sighted signs of smoke and gone the rest of the way on foot. They had been careful to conceal their approach, but all that effort would be for naught if the damned nymph didn't shut his mouth.

The zanaryan beside her merely shook his head. His eyes were half-lidded in concentration as breezes of air drifted around him. He was pulling air from the bull-creatures to ensure that the group would remain downwind. It was a delicate process, as the breeze had to be very light to avoid suspicion. Recognizing that, she chewed the inside of her mouth and stayed quiet.

As her impatience increased, Nia crouched and spread her shadows into the ground. The web rippled in a line below their group before spreading forward in a wider radius, when it stopped lengthening, it moved clockwise to sweep their area. Everyone else was so focused on the foreign invaders, but they'd best not forget the Chandric's native predators. The shadows crawled and searched across foliage and detected nothing out of the ordinary. Visually, however, she saw her red-eyed acquaintance motioning at his neck and glancing toward the campers.

A sudden screech pierced the air and Nia had to think whether it was from one of their own or just a random bird in the forest. But then something heavy and hooved tread on her shadows. Muscles tensing as her shadows followed the strangers, she murmured, “Two o'clock, three hundred meters. They haven't noticed us,” she said as the pair of hooves tread further from their direction...only to turn back toward them. Cursing quietly in anyeli, she willed shadows to materialize and tap the shoulders of the people too far away to hear her (mostly 'vari by coincidence). The shadows would dissolve when they turned, and she'd signal about the incoming.

[Aiden]

Initially, Aiden tried to catch scent of the bulls for future reference, but the smell of burning nymph (distinctly female with the perfume of cinnamon and shadowblossoms) was too strong for him to detect anything else. After reverting to his human form, the ex-guard seethed wordlessly with his cat-eyed gaze focused over the campsite. Upon his first glance of the bull-people, Aiden assumed that the bull's senses would be better than average. The people also had more muscle mass than any of the Elysians who were present. They were hybrids like naga, but much more intelligent based on their interactions and heavy crafted weapons. Whoever these strangers were, they had destroyed an entire commune and were now feasting on the dead. As if the nymph had been livestock.

Standing close to the group of watchers, Aiden shook his head as Nimisha argued against Ramsey for an attack. Although Aiden also believed in quick justice, their group knew too little and could not afford a blind rush into battle. While their numbers seemed evenly matched, the bull-people had fought and slain an entire commune of Sylvans. In contrast, none of the Faeth had survived to tell about the extent of the bulls' abilities. Ramsey was right—someone should report back to the cities, and they should keep observing. When the businessman's lackeys restrained Nimisha however, Aiden frowned and protested with a hushed “hey, that's too much.”

“Where'd they go, where'd they go?” During their argument, two of the bull-people had strayed from the circle.

Hearing a screech that he immediately recognized as Maaike's, Aiden frowned as he saw the falcon swoop dangerously close to the campsite. As something tapped him on the shoulder, he whirled with an arm half-raised in defense. No one was there, but he saw the skotadi moving her arms in the distance. While he could not recognize all of her signals, he knew the important parts. Muttering “hind's teeth” in the language of therians, Aiden crouched and contracted into the form of a leopard. Once his eyes re-adjusted for further vision, he glanced in the direction that the skotadi had indicated. He didn't see anyone yet, but there were too many trees and foliage to be sure of that. The 'varis might be able to detain the bulls, but if things fell apart, their group would have to fight...or run.

[Aella]

The ruffling of dark feathers about her seemed an ill omen.

Aella watched, dazed. Since she had arrived home the truths of the world seemed markedly less evident. This, she felt, partially absolved her of the ramifications of her confusion before, now, and the confusion she knew she would experience in the future. This whole experience was confusing; she knew that much.

There was little time to get a grasp of things. Her return to the smoldering remains that constituted her childhood was only days prior, and she had been shortly spotted and subsequently recruited by the gang whom she had remembered from an earlier adventure. She hardly remembered the flight, though she had not flown before and the experience by all rights should have been memorable. It was as if she were in a dream she could not wake from and must simply endure until it reached its inevitable end. So she heard and saw but felt as if she heard or saw nothing; all of her senses were so effectively shrouded by grief's oppressive veil. Yet, she had not once cried. Perhaps it was a feeble attempt to distance herself from the family who had once distanced her, though she doubted such a clean and logical rationale. That uncertainty had thrust her into internal conflict, and like an inconsistancy in an otherwise flawless suit of armor it was something that she could not easily ignore.

She leaned against a nearby tree, her nostrils filled with the scent of ash and charred flesh. She felt a strange kinship with the unfortunate nymph to whom the party's attention was directed, though she had the blessing (or curse) of still being alive. Whatever physical agony the spectacle portrayed was mirrored by the mental agony within. Why had they contacted her then, after so many years of silence? Why bother at all? Perhaps this is another lesson that they chose to teach me, their child who stubbornly ignored what they deemed important and pursued what they thought sullying.

Nearby, Nia was manipulating the shadows, concentration etched upon her face. Aella also noticed the elemental manipulation of the individual at her side. Thankfully they had not asked me to do that; I may not be as light-handed Aella thought, though her usual wry smile never came.

The others were hushedly discussing something until incorporeal hands of shadow tapped their shoulders and caused them to turn. “Two o'clock, three hundred meters. They haven't noticed us.”

A cry of a hawk or some other predatory bird pierced the relative quiet and urged the group's sudden attention.

Aella's eyes narrowed and her right hand instinctively went to her left hip, calloused hands brushing against leather. The creatures she had seen were burly and corded with muscle, and she felt even more apprehensive without her animal companion at her side. Even the place seemed to exert the whole of its will to try and keep her away. But she stood there, defiant and ready for whatever may come, for she knew something that gave her a sense of comfort:

All things bleed the same.

Piper's Boutique || Jessica Clark

[Jericho]

Jericho had never thought to use telepathy as a means of translating. In truth, he did not expect to find anything at all when he scanned their minds, much as he'd find when attempting to read the mind of a windfur: Nothing, or certainly nothing he cared to interpret. He was surprised to realise that the bulls were not as primitive as they appeared. He couldn't decipher the guttural sounds they considered a language, but their thoughts were simple, uncluttered by the tangents and associations and emotions that frequently accompanied the words used by the Elysian species. He could very clearly see the intent that both of the youths had as images flashed, clear and vibrant, through their minds: This little spat was not only over a difference of opinion but would gain the victor the respect of their elders.

He dug deeper, rooting out more images that made no sense at first: A dry, red wasteland. Harsh sunlight, unforgiving wind. Hunting unfamiliar plants that hunted back. A hard life where survival had to be clawed out of the dirt. And a word that summed them all up: Malaki.

“I don't think these things mean to go back.” Jericho turned, a headache twinging between his eyes. He glanced at the others one by one to realise what the commotion had been about. Had they been detected? Or were the two headed their way just looking for somewhere to relieve themselves?

[Maaike]

Maaike wheeled through the air, the nauseatingly appetising stink of barbeque filling the falcon's senses as it flew over the fire and directly through the smoke. She was at once both starving and ready to vomit.

As a scout, she was meant to be invisible. She had signed on for the job because she was good at following people and had deep reserves of patience when it came to doing so. Yet instead of watching from afar and in secret, she was deliberately drawing attention to herself to distract the alien creatures and give her comrades chance to reposition themselves rather than be discovered. You all best show me some gratitude when I get back.

The decoy worked. Most of the bullish faces turned to track her movements over and around the camp fire. She made like a dizzy sparrow instead of a bird of prey, fluttering her wings and squawking as if she was confused or lost or spun off her axes by the smoke.

The next squawk was for real. One of the horned humanoids was suddenly hefting a spear and taking aim. Maaike would have had confidence in her ability to avoid it if it weren't so pimped out. If the main point didn't get her, her falcon body would be trapped between the bone blades that curved out on either side of it. She got the distinct and unpleasant feeling they meant to pluck and eat her, too.

With another piercing cry, she swooped down into a dive to pick up some speed and shot back over the camp the way she'd come.

[Kiel]

“Like, huh?” Turning his head when he was tapped on the shoulder, Kiel, like, glanced at the cartographer next to him. Aifric looked back with his eyebrows up like he hadn't a clue what Kiel was looking at him for, so they twisted as one to look behind them. “Woah, hiss!” Confronted by a thick layer of shadow shaped like hands, Kiel jerked back and almost toppled into the bush he was, like, hiding behind. Aifric shoved him sideways so he slammed face-first into the ground instead. Like, he still made noise, but it wasn't like, "ooh ah, ooh ah, thorns!" and twitching and screaming, you know? Actually, having his mouth suddenly full of leaves and dirt stopped his "Wah!" too.

Struggling to decipher Ionia's mouthed message as he, like, spat soil out of his mouth, Kiel, like, rubbed his face and glanced around. Three hundred metres, huh? Like, they were definitely coming closer, then. His voice hushed, Kiel made a circling gesture. “If we're going, we need to go, like, right now, right now, okay?” Putting action into words, he used his bond with Shane to call her back from the shadows at mid-range where she'd been silently stalking the happy campers. Like, as soon as she had phased next to him, he turned and started, like, belly-crawling towards Nia. On his way, he mouthed at Rusty and Nin to let Misha go so they could do the same, but, like, the Sidhe had other ideas.

Over Rusty's hand, Misha's gaze fixed on the flames of the bulls' campfire. Kiel gasped and shook his head, but the Nymph's hand was already lifting. There was a guttural roar from the camp and the fire suddenly had a mind of its own, like, streaming toward one of the furry humanoids. Kiel scrambled back to the bush and stuck Alain's eyeglass to his, like, eye and stuff, and his jaw dropped. “Like, dude!” The fire had taken on the form of a half-sized Nymph and was, like, wading across the forest floor setting, like, everything in its path alight.

If the bulls hadn't been aware of their presence before, they totally were now. “Like, duuuuuuude.”

[Alain]

Alain was on route to regroup with the others after he finished conversing with his contact in Alexandria when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Although he made sure to show no sign of it, the shadow's action had surprised him, as the cartographer had left not but moments before to regroup with the others. Having his attention, the shadow slowly disappear as he caught a brief glimpse of it signaling towards the group. Damn spooky. Alain had no time to ruminate over the fact as he realized just what the signal was for, and immediately regrouped with the others. It was only upon his arrival he noticed the blaze in the bull's camp, and something within him just told him it had to be the nymph. Sacre chien. Alain stopped moving and instead probed one of the minds of the bulls, hoping for a deeper understanding of their activity within the camp.

Meanwhile, the blaze continued to ignite further within the camp, and flickering licks of flames moved out to the bulls. The elemental Fury's promise of death moved with the unhesistating, subtle grace that came from it's owner. A bull moved away from it with surprising speed, probably added with the dread of what was coming toward it. However, the Fury was faster. It took hold of the bull, setting it alight with flame as it bursted forward. Its head soon turned to another bull, which was already heading from the camp, weapon in hand. A flaming bull was sent its way to block it's path from the camp's perimeter, rage filled courtesy of the elemental. There would be more destruction yet; Alain was sure of that.

Alain noticed, though, that the creature whose mind he was occupying had previous experience with such resistance. He—or she, Alain wasn't sure -- called out in short, loud bursts of noise towards the recently blocked and panicking bull, Furkal. One by one it was barking orders to the other bulls—Malaki, Alain gathered. A few of the Malaki were injured in the initial outburts of flame, and Alain felt lucky for a moment. But only a moment. Four Malaki were headed the vanguard's way, through sheer lack of luck on the vanguard's part, likely hoping for a good vantage point to find any aggressors. Two other bulls were merely trying to help their comrades find their way through the growing smoke, and another pair were chasing after the bird. Apparently, the Malaki had just as much of a dislike for the combustion and loud noise as many Elysian races did. At this point, though, he decided to return to his own state of mind, dealing with the nausea that the flow of new information from the Malaki. He didn't have the time to shake it off.

“Four of the creatures are headed our way, and the others are dealing with the fire at the moment. I'd suggest you prepare yourselves and protect the Nymph, as we won't have time to run,” Alain sniffed. Things always had to go the hard way—just his luck. With hope, the others could eliminate most of the Malaki's numbers over time, and actually stand a chance to confront the beasts. He was never much of one for hope, he mused as he drew his sabre. He certainly wasn't about to go down without a fight.

Spoiler

OOC Note: look up Erinyes if you're wondering as to Alain's refferal to the elemental as a Fury in his mind Lemme know if this post did a little too much at once, though the time passed would actually be quite small here.

[Ionia]

As soon as she relayed her message to the others, Nia turned to walk back to the southern Chandric. They'd completed their mission, and now they needed to report it. Conscious that Raph was still preoccupied with masking the vanguard's movements, Nia placed a light hand on his bicep to lead him in the walk back. Due to the contact, breezes briefly churned around the zanaryan before they resumed their steady flow. Concurrently, the skotadi's shadows dissolved from the wanderin bulls with each footstep Nia took to get farther away. After a couple of steps, Nia paused warily to check on the others, as well as her potential enemies. It was at that moment when things went to Hel.

She heard the bestial roar first. Moments later, the invaders' campfire burst into a flame so bright that even she could see it—at this distance—before condensing into a bright humanoid fire-being. Rage choking her throat, Nia bolted for the vanguard. Only one person in their group could've done this, and he will be so dead. Their mission was to surveil, not attack. You do not jeopardize your unit, you do not act on your own, and you do not blow your cover until the group is ready for it.

“Protect the nymph.”

“Like Hel I will!” Brushing past Alain, Ionia shoved past Rusty to punch Misha in the jaw. Wings roiling with shadows, Nia snarled, “Rotten deaf-eared son of a hydra! What part of--” A throwing axe whizzed before her to thud inches into a tree trunk, and she ducked close to the ground in an instant. Throwing knives ready, Nia heard the charge of the first bull-creature as he stormed in from their right. Forgetting the nereid, Nia sidestepped from their cluster and readied her stance. The second of the wanderers emerged over the bushes, and Nia flicked her wrist to aim a flying knife at the beast's heart. The knife grazed the moving creature's shoulders at most, and tucking her wings in, she dodged and parried the blows of the bull's heavy-handed axe as he lunged at her.

[Aiden]

Leaving the worry of the two stray bulls to the rest of the vanguard, Aiden stalked further left of the vanguard's position for a better view of the falcon. She continued to dive and flutter over their heads, and his breath felt stifled each time a malaki tried to swat her away. She was brave but suicidal, and he disapproved very much of that. Not that she'd care. Even though Kiel whispered for the group to retreat, Aiden slinked further toward the vanguard's left and scaled the nearest tree. He'd leave when Maaike did. His eyes narrowed into slits when one of the bull-people crouched, and he couldn't stifle the growl that erupted from his throat as a spear nearly pierced the falcon. Quickly, the avian changed her objectives, and as she retreated, a flash of brightness bloomed from the camping grounds.

Flinching from the brightness, the leopard shut his eyes as deep-throated yells resounded from the distance. When he looked again, the bulls were fighting against a fire-being that emerged from the pit. The flames enveloped one of the bulls and cut another bull from its attempt to leave camp. However, four were already running toward the other Elysians on the ground. Flanking the vanguard, the two stray bulls sounded their battle cries as well. The group would deal with those six—they had to.

Watching the falcon as she flew near the brink of the campsite, Aiden spotted the two bulls who followed her, their spears and axes poised for action. He roared then, and leapt for the ground as they saw him. They wouldn't chase a pest when the threat of a predator was around. Perhaps they'd become aware of their burning companions or the fight with the vanguards, or perhaps they saw a bigger meal for dinner. Regardless, the bulls charged toward the leopard, but the leopard ran faster. Instead of running back to the heart of the battle, where a shadowkin phased amongst the skotadi's tangle of shadows to assist Kiel, and where Raph attacked a bull with his broadsword, Aiden only ran toward the vicinity of the Elysian group. Weaving among the trees before ducking into a mass of foliage, Aiden watched as the bulls came closer. It was well past twilight, and the darkening skies assisted him with blending as everything turned grey. When the bulls saw the fighting Elysians, Aiden used that distraction to leap. With inhuman speed, the bull half-swirled with his spear outstretched. The metal tore along the upper part of the leopard's arm, but strong jaws snapped through bone as the leopard tore the junction between the back of the young bull's neck and shoulders. Using the momentum of his leap to sever the bone from the bull's body, Aiden continued running to avoid the war axe that was likely to swing his way. Sure enough, as the younger bull gurgled blood, his partner roared and lunged. Aiden no longer had the benefit of surprise this time. He ducked, counter-attacked, and ran out of the reach of the war-axe. He was quickly learning that despite their bulk, these bulls were pretty light-footed.

[Aella]

Aella could not blame the sidhe, though she hardly knew him; she disdained his treatment. Still, she wished that he had shown less restraint in dealing with the invaders; perhaps he was trying to preserve what bit of Chandric forest remained?

As it were, his meddlings only seemed a signal fire that stated: yes, there was a nice group of adventurers waiting over yonder, and yes, they do have pointy things that mean harm.

So Aella readjusted her grip on her own pointy-thing, Foehn. She recalled sitting cross-legged on the uncomfortable stone floor of the smithy. Noyle's rumbly voice seemed immeasurable and omnipotent, reverberating off the equally hard stone walls. He had lectured her again and again to change her grip on things before any significant endeavor; "we find the truth through change; stagnancy may as well be death," he would say matter-of-factly, as if informing her that the sky was blue or that birds could sing.

"Protect the nymph." Since Nia seemed to interpret that as "punch him in the face," Aella supposed she'd have to take over.

A throwing axe slammed hard into an adjacent tree. She glanced at it as she advanced towards the skirmish - it would be a pain to pull out.

The owner of that axe brandished a long tri-pointed polearm and charged at the Nia-Misha bundle. Another one of the beasts vaulted through the thick underbrush with little effort, though its exposed shoulder caught a grazing blow of a dagger. It was upon Nia in an instant, though she seemed the swifter. Misha, on the other hand, was too intent on his not-wanton-enough destruction and had little regard for the unattended beast quickly approaching.

Aella adopted a fighting stance, angling her body to form a smaller target, and positioned herself between the dazed nymph and the approaching creature.

"You can't avenge anything if you're dead," she growled at the nymph, perhaps too for her own reassurance.

The creature took a massive step forward, jutting out its muscular arms and thrusting its weapon at her armored mid-section a good two meters away. She had seen it coming and side-stepped. Her left hand joined her right and she yanked Foehn free from its scabbard with a blast of warmth and low rumbling; unsheathing it had created enough differential in air pressure that the haft of the opposing weapon was propelled away, causing the bull to stumble and correct its footing.

Aella's pupils widened and her heart surged in excitement.

The thing towered over her and made it difficult to access its vitals, so she simply hacked at whatever part was most exposed - in this case, its flank. She ducked low and circled around, then flicked the blade across and through flesh muscle and tendon, painting the ground an inviting shade of red. The blade shimmered in the wan light, untainted, and the beast shuddered and grunted a response. It then, oddly enough, barked something loud and guttural to the night airs. She glanced at the mess about her and grinned at her larger foe.

"Less enjoyable when it happens to you, is it?"

It hopped back and hefted the length of its polearm menacingly at her. Its range was substantial, and Aella could only afford to make counterattacks. Its wound was not vital, and the creature hardly favored its better side; it had lost none of its agility or ferocity.

Unknown (though perhaps surmised) by her, the creature had called to its brethren, the free and able forming a rough surround about the glen in which the recon party was hiding a moment before.

It lunged again.

This time, though, it changed its directory just before impact. Her eyes widened, the prongs of the spear threatening to impale her thigh. She scrambled back and desperately swung downwards.

Clang!

Sparks showered like fireworks. The air seemed to flow into the blade, lengthening it, and that length had caught the spear's tip and slammed it to the ground. Her arms shook with the force. Her blade hummed idly in her palms, warm.

She would not be able to trade blows with something so gargantuan, even if her weapon could.

A noise behind her caused her to start, though she saw that it was just Misha getting to his feet. He rubbed at his jaw and shot an acidic glare at Nia, though she was too preoccupied to notice. He had seen the sparks, though, and with his enemy there and willing there was little choice in the matter.

He thrust out his palm eagerly and the remnants of the sparks glowed hot then blazed and buzzed about like fireflies, hovering mid-air. Then, as if he were disrobing he languidly tossed his arm to the side, scattering the embers to the bull's face.

It dropped its weapon instinctively and began to claw at the flames in a feeble attempt to extinguish them. They would not be easily extinguished.

The stench was too close to the roasting nymph somewhere off in the distance, and a primal instinct ignited within Aella.

She tensed and gripped Foehn overbearingly. The nearby air gathered and condensed on the blade like dawn's fog on Elysia's lowlands. She wrenched the thing free from the triple-prongs and before any reaction hefted the blade above her head and carved savagely downwards.

The bull's chest opened, eager.

The blade was devoid of blood, but there was enough of it elsewhere to register the blow's severity. The hulking mass that was her foe slumped to its knees and then, after a moment of hesitation, toppled to its side.

Aella could feel the tinges of a headache and her heart would not slow its pace. It took her a moment to find her words - or rather, a word.

"Thanks."

One down.

Piper's Boutique || Jessica Clark

[Kiel]

“Wah, man.” Like, for once, it wasn't Kiel's fault that things were going wrong. Like, he normally would have been cheering at the thought but, like, they were kind of in trouble here, you know? At least Alain had gotten a message off to warn the others where these guys were. Like, right? Like, “Alain,” he yelled over the clang of metal and the crackle of flames and, like, the guttural shouts of whatever the heck these things called themselves, “Please tell me you got that message off, okay?”

Kiel didn't know how to respond when Nia punched Misha in the face, so he giggled. He was still giggling when he threw himself bodily onto the back of a one of the bulls, wrapping his legs around its thick waist and his arms around its neck. He'd seen the way Aella was struggling to get at it, the way the bulls had much greater reach in a fight than the smaller humanoids, and remembered his spars and training with Zeph and Vander. They were bigger than him and way stronger, too, so he'd learned to use his speed as an advantage. Aella was, like, doing pretty good, actually, but her sword seemed like the blade was hitting targets way further than it should, so he just assumed she was using the air to magnify the slice and, like, that wasn't an advantage he had, okay?

So he did the next best thing he could think of, which was to ride the damn thing into exhaustion. It worked for a few moments, too, like, the thing went nuts, man. It roared, it tried to chew at his arms but couldn't reach. It tried to reach back for him to yank him off but he managed to duck its clawed hands. It tried to buck him off, so he clung tighter. Like, he rode Slythe, okay, he knew how to hold on for dear life.

And then it backed into a tree, like, hard, and Kiel yelped. Still clinging on 'cause, like, the alternative would be way worse, Kiel was smashed into the tree several times and was starting to get dizzy. Then he heard a throaty growl, felt Shane's anger practically rolling off her in waves, and watched the shadowkin over the bull's hefty shoulder as she lunged for its throat.

A second later, he was on his knees beside the bleeding body, huffing. “Dude,” he gasped, rolling his shoulders to get out the kinks. This was way too reminiscent of his being practically gutted by a tree when that hydra smacked him away. “Let's not do that again, okay?”

OOC: 14 left.

[Maaike]

Maaike's attempt to distract the bulls so her group could reposition themselves was a wasted effort. The air was suddenly hot and thick with smoke as something that looked like a fire elemental flamed its way across the camp, setting fire to anything in its path — including at least one of the Nymphs' attackers. The acrid stench of burning fur overpowered the horrendously appetitising smell of barbequed flesh. Worse, the smoke was billowing right into Maaike's flight path, choking and blinding the already vulnerable falcon.

She heard another roar, this one throatier and distinctly feline. Assuming at first that Kiel had sent his shadowkin to assist, Maaike wheeled over into a dive and swooped beneath the smoke to regain her bearings and some oxygen. Some of her manoevrability returned as well; she flipped into a hard left turn to narrowly miss the blade of an axe, and sped right over the head of a bull as its a good chunk of its neck was torn out.

Aiden. It had to be him.

Looping back around, no longer a target herself, Maaike came in hot with her talons outstretched. Targeting the adult bull who was going after the leopard with a huge axe, Maaike scratched and clawed and swooped away, then wheeled around for another pass.

[Alain]

“Oh yes, the cartographer and I were walking our snakes and comparing our sizes for Alexandria, because they need that information more than our location, right?"” Alain said to Kiel, just before catching sight of the incoming Malaki.

Then Ionia slugged Misha, and Hel began to break loose. Apparently, punching the source of their enemy's distraction in the face was a sound battle strategy. Not that Alain could blame the young Skotadi, well, he could, if only because he wanted to give Misha his due. He still might, when the danger fully passed. Meanwhile, Alain had taken up a background role in the skirmish, knowing that he would be less use in the fray to his allies in their way. Especially Aella, the Ayad proved herself more than enough of a match for one of the Malaki just nearby; Alain hastily aided Misha recovering from the blow, trying to give the battle a particularly wide berth.

Misha quickly shrugged him off, as Alain glanced to the Captain and Anatoli's battle with the Malaki who attacked Ionia. Their battle was one between three well trained warriors, and the vanguard's allies slowly added wound by wound to the beast. Alain himself wasn't much of a warrior, though, but a practised killer, patiently waiting for one of their opponents to fully lose their guard. Although Alain didn't see Kiel's fight with his opponent, he definitely heard it, but instead focused on who Kiel's Malaki was trying to eliminate. It was a leopard, and it was still recovering from having to dodge many blows, while the Malaki it had injured cautiously inched toward the leopard. Alain moved into the fray and deftly swung his blade across the Malaki's hamstring just as it was assaulted by the avian. The bull stubbornly tried to turn around to fight him back despite its wound, but fell regardless due to its unsupported weight. The Malaki was a warrior, proud and strong and hardened over harsh battles that Alain couldn't imagine. But Alain wasn't a warrior, he was a survivalist, and an old one at that. When the creature hit the ground, he allowed it no time to protect its neck from his sabre, and when he looked away from the beast's final death spasms, he saw the Captain behead the final Malaki.

A sensation in his mind alerted him of more prescences in the midst of the battle, and to his surprise, about nine of the Malaki had regrouped—right around them, with the others out of sight. None but Aella had seemed to notice this, though, he was sure they would in time. Strangely, the remaining Malaki stood there, weapons raised, as a single Malaki called out to the vanguard. The foreign, guttural language was beyond his ability to decipher, and instead he looked knowingly to Jericho, keeping his telepathic message brief. "Would you rather try to handle this?" It seemed either of them might have a larger role, after all, despite Alain being a bit breathless at the moment. Otherwise, many would fall to the beasts. They might anyway, especially if the apparent leader had just issued a challenge to them.

[Faris]

Faris alone had remained at the initial landing to watch over the mounts whose riders had dismounted in order to approach the bulls more stealthily on foot. It was from there that he saw the sudden flare of light in the distance. The blaze set him on edge but it was the following echoes of rage that made him take action. He got into the seat of the anka nearest to him, giving the unsettled beast a brief pat on its neck before signaling the winged mounts around him to take flight.

Prior rumours and alleged sightings had already alerted them to the aggressive nature of those bulls; he could only hope that the horn creatures' bark was worse than their bite. The composition of their party was one that leaned heavily towards reconnaissance in his opinion. Head-on combat was a foreboding prospect and grounded as he was with little inkling of what was happening, Faris felt as safe as a Helfish lingering on the shore. And if they lost their mounts... The journey back was going to be a long one.

As the loaned ankas circled the area, Faris noticed a worrying sight- a very purposeful-looking circle of bulls. He urged his mount to go approach while maintaining the current altitude, and saw that indeed the circle was enclosing members of the vanguard. Well, at least they're still alive. Faris remained circling for a few moments more, hoping one of their group would notice him before the bulls did. The foreign creatures were intelligent; they wielded weapons and knew strategies like flanking and above all, did not panic and flee from a sudden fire. They were not beasts, definitely not.

The question is of course, where have these people been hiding all along? Faris' first guess would have been underground, battling the vlareon for survival, sharpening their battle skills and laying their less combative ones to waste through the centuries. But they did not have a build that was typical of underground species, intelligence or not. The horns would not be anywhere this large, for one, and hooves were a sign of living out in the open air like savannas, deserts or mountains.

As he circled, Faris spotted yet another horned person which was joining the circle from the east. He took out an iron maiden, feeling immediately more powerful now that he had a large source of his elemental with him. Perhaps he could even take out more than just this straggler. To those more in-tune with the environment, they would notice a slight, inevitable shift in the humidity as Faris drew upon his power and source. His aim was not the best, but there was no need for sharpshooting with such a large arsenal at hand. From above, Faris created a sheet of water and let it go. As the sheet fell it separated into droplets, creating an artificial drizzle right where the lone bull-person was. And just as abruptly as the rain started, it stopped - the droplets of water were now surrounding the bull-person's head and neck. Despite visible efforts by the drowning bull-person; its claws could only pass harmlessly through the glob of water, its voice muffled to the point of almost complete silence. A few moments more and it - a "he" probably, would be out of commission. Faris had no intention to kill, at least not yet.

[Jericho]

Jericho had been scanning constantly, hopping from mind to mind in an effort to find the leader or some sort of hierarchy to manipulate. Females, the location of their children, any vulnerability they could exploit. Several times the fighting got a little too close for comfort, but either Ninian would yank him to one side or the other, or Rusty would physically block him with his own body. Jericho showed no concern for the two men: That was what he paid them for, after all.

What he learned was disheartening. The females were virtually indistinguishable from the males, the youngsters accompanying the group were on some sort of rite of passage and would sooner die than be viewed by their brethren as weak, and the children were seen as nuisances at best. They weren't even on this side of the portal.

Portal. “Portal! There's a portal, they came through a—Well, inflate my head and pop it with a pin.” On retreating back to his own mind to relay vital information, Jericho realised they were surrounded. “Hmm.” When the biggest Malaki started what Jericho assumed to be an attempt to communicate, he glanced from one to the other of his companions, then turned his head to survey the bulls closing in on them. Just seeing Alain's face put him back in the translation seat, so he sighed and squared his shoulders.

He delved a little deeper this time, translating not so much the words as the intent behind the Malaki's golden eyes. The disparity between the prey-like appearance of the hooves and fur and antlers against the predatory gleam in those golden eyes made him shiver, but none of that more so than what he found in the Malaki's thoughts. “Oh look, we're invited to dinner.”

Since he meant they were invited to be dinner, the jovial intention fell flat. Options chased and tumbled through his mind to be dismissed and tossed aside, but that one thing kept coming back to haunt him. “There are more of them on the other side.” His eyebrows twitched and he corrected himself. “There's a whole world on the other side, these and others, but their world is barren.” At least, the Malaki world as they knew it. He was struggling to decipher the more complex images that hinted at lands beyond their own, but he was more and more convinced they weren't getting out of this without one side or the other falling completely. Even now, he was aware in the back of his mind that Faris was already taking care of some of that business. “They won't stop now they know ours is vibrant and green.”