Pathwalker - RP

[Red XIII]

"Nope. We can have a nice night aoround here, but only if we stay in a protected place, such as the underground, jeje" Ragnar answered.

"The fire is alright now. It's not too cold nor windy, and it will hold for hours." Ragnar took his crossbow, and prepared it. He also took one of the explosive balls and put it in his pocket. While doing so, he found the frog.

Ragnar took it out, and looked at it.

The frog was stone still, as if it was asleep, but however it was alive and well.

"Could it be the cold?" Ragnar thought. "No! This frog is strange, and something is going on..... We better be prepared."

Ragnar put the frog back into his pocket, and prepared his weapons. He looked to Anyan and said:

"Ok brat. We'll be in troubles again too soon, I'm afraid. Young people don't know how to rest for a day!!"

Ragnar started to look into the darkness outside the camp.... but his eyes had goten used to the firelight.

"Ok, it seems like I'll have to look into the dark for a while" Ragnar thought.

[Dragonium]

Alziel continued walking. Every so often he glanced behind him to check that he was moving in a straight line from the fire, and he had seen the sillhouetted figures of the others watching for him... But he supposed that he was a long way off, for they showed no sign that they could see him.

Thank the Gods they hadn't decided to follow him.

The bizarre feeling inside his head had intensified somewhat since leaving the camp, and by now had risen to a dull ache that numbed his thoughts. He paid no heed to the feeling and carried on.

The darkness had grown now, and the trees were closer together. Some even had leaves on them, though they were dark, spiny things, black and shiny rather than green. Once or twice they grazed against him and he felt their needles. The swamp was hostile.

Without knowing or caring why, he broke into a run. He had mastered running quietly. He tore through the forest, being whipped and scorned by the trees, until he feet collided with a log and he tripped, landing hard on his right arm.

Pain seared through his fingertips, and he bit his lip to keep silent until it bled. He was almost completely unable to move the hand now, but his mind wandered as he focused on it, and soon the pain in his hand and lip subsided.

He stood again shakily, hearing more rustling and cracking from further into the forest as he did so, and without any thought set off towards the source of the sound as fast as he could safely go.

His thoughts dulled, and he could remember little else.

At some point he must have looked back, and he observed that he could no longer see the fire.

[Ben]

Abell watches as liaras condfident hovering flutter turned to a scuttleing searching sentry.


Abell motioned for her beast and silenced the group with a finger to her mouth.


"For the gods favor, frail sprite...give me a sign" Abell though to herself

[Moosetroop11]

Liara suddenly spotted something. A disturbance in the foliage, someway away. She squinted and thought that she could make out her companion- he must have gotten careless, and he was flat on the floor, but there were no further signs that he'd been attacked. After a while the figure picked himelf up and continued walking.

Liara continued watching until she was sure that it was Alziel. Then she turned and nodded to Abell, before speeding off to keep a better watch on Alziel's strange venture. She wasn't sure what to think, but she was fairly sure that he was in danger.

***

The figure heard Alziel's approach. He gripped his warped staff tightly and continued walking, reaching into his pocket and drawing out a single, polished, black stone, and immediately feeling his energy begin to slip away into it's deathly cold surface. He did not remember why Alziel was his prey tonight, but the battle, he was sure, would make things become clear.

It was time to sort things out.

[Kinslayer]

Anyan saw Liara's odd behaviour from above...

He understood she had found Alziel, and probably, he was in danger. "She's going... alone?!" he said, almost whispering.

He did not think twice, Anyan saved the Viper, took a piece of wood, a little bit of linen from inside his bag (it used to be a broken and old cape), and lit it with the fire from the camp (while Ragnar gave him an odd look).

"I'm going...!" he said, leaving the old man, Abell and Saine behind him, running with the torch on his right hand and his shield on his left, putting the shield in front of him, to not cut himself with the wood.

Anyan's sprint was fast, but still he could see Liara from above, as she was diving down.

"The mirror... the mirror..."

A voice started to speak in his head...

"Delliah...?" asked Anyan to himself. It was Delliah's voice...
Anyan kept remembering those dreams from far beyond...

Suddenly, Anyan could see a lighted path in the forest. As if someone had thrown a brilliant liquid on the ground. Something told Anyan that he had to follow that path.

As he started to walk through that path, the brilliant light on it kept dissappearing behind him.

Anyan then, felt something... a noise. "I have to go silently now..." he thought, as he lit off the torch by blowing the fire quickly, and drew the Viper.

He kept walking slowly, as he kept approaching Alziel's position...

[Ben]

Anyans Shoulder was gripped firmly by Abell.

He drew his sword, Not aware that it was a friend, but sudden had a rush of numbness run through his blade arm, as Abell pinched a pressure point benteather her index finger.

"Do not follow a worrior when he request solace" Anyan knew know that he was not in Danger but was annoyed none the less

"But Alziel is likely in danger. Dont tell me that you arent worried..."

A bit of a pause ensued before he continued...

"Or ARE you, woman? For All we know this could be some plot on your behalf."


Abell drew her lips closely to his ear and whispered sharply
"Abell has not plot except to find new home. Abell knows Honor, and thinks somewhere in your young head that you do too. I will keep sentry with you here.
We will watch the sprite and listen...If Alziel is inside danger we will aid him. But if he is not, It would be insult to follow him. The air is Ill tonight, I know. But to Have another stray off alone is foolish."

Anyan bit his lip in contempt and reluctant agreeance.


"Now...Put out your flame. We would be seen miles off" Abell added

[Dragonium]

The figure emerged from the trees where previously there had been darkness. Alziel broke from his reverie and stopped dead.

The figure stood a short distance away at the other side of the small clearing where Alziel had come to a halt. There was very little light, but Alziel could tell that it was the figure of a man. He strained to see across the clearing, and could only pick out a few features.

There was a mud-clogged brown coat that hung like a shroud to the figure's feet. A pair of boots, similarly choked with grime. A staff that had been warped into a twisted, gnarled thing, perhaps by heat or some foul magic.
 
The figure strode forward. A face.

Alziel's heart missed a beat. Ten or so feet away, Shell stood silently.

Alziel walked forwards to greet Shell again. Had it not been for the fog that clouded his conscious thought, he might have guessed that something was wrong. Shell had once carried his staff as a comfort and much as a method of defence; now it was a weapon, and it was gripped so tightly that his grimy knuckles were white.

"Shell", Alziel murmured, his speech slurred slightly. "Good to see you a--"

He was cut off. Something in the forest behind cracked, and Alziel turned and cursed under his breath. It would likely be one of the others rushing to the rescue yet again. It was an annoying habit. Alziel smirked slightly and turned back to where Shell stood.

The staff connected with his side before he could focus his vision. It knocked him sideways, and he fell upon his damaged arm, yelping before the numbness in his head spread and smothered the pain.

He drew Leyland's hunting knife clumsily, and waved it futilely in front of him as the thing that might have been Shell came forward.

[Ben]

From where Abell and Anyan stood, Nothing could be seen.


OOC: Figured Id add that. Let draggy have this sweetness

[Moosetroop11]

Liara was caught in a sudden breeze, making her lose her balance in the air and break her watch. When she recovered and found Alziel again, something was clearly wrong.

***

Shell swung the staff with precision and inhuman strength, the stone biting into his hand and the blow throwing Alziel off of the ground and into the air, the hapless man's back coming into contact with a rotten tree trunk and sending chips of wood floating to the ground. Alziel stood shakily and focused. This thing was attacking him. Be it Shell or an imposter, his warrior instinct was kicking in. He looked for flaws in his enemy's technique.

The next staff blow met Leyland's knife, and Alziel felt a jolt of pain run up his arm. The power was unlike any enemy he'd sparred with, but the technique was still Shell's, a fighting style more tailored to surprise attacks than sustained battle. And Shell's breath was coming in ragged bursts. Whatever possessed the man, he was burning up energy like a furnace.

[Ben]

Abell watched the skies as Liara Flight drifted suddenly in a breeze. When she regained her compsure, suspended in Mid air, Abell could tell Something had caught her attention.

  Anyan And abell watched in anticipation, and suddenly A crack Of Wood Filled the Air some distance away.


Abell, Whistled for her steed and Signaled Anyan to Move toward the Noise while She took the Flank.

"And keep quiet. Stay Unseen" Abell Barked before Mounting and Darting off into the night, Nearly silently on her Reptillian.

[Kinslayer]

"Indeed" whispered Anyan into Abells ear. He took the Viper out, and started to walk slowly towards the crack...

He was worried, but still kept calm as always. He would never allow himself to shake.

[Ben]

Abells Reptilian Stted Wove in and out of the Trees, rarely touching the swampy ground. Instead It launched itself from low lying Branches, and seemed to almost Float through the air in bounds, while Abell Crouched low on its back as the beasts reptile skinned, ostrich like wings Shielded her from the scratching Branches.

The Duo Turned Sharply, and Allthough Abells eyes were covered, She could feel the Beast had found a Vantage point after Clumbing what felt to be a thick and tall tree.

From Some thirty Feet up, Abell watched the ground, as the two Figures, one Alzeil and the other unknown to her Fought with Knives and staffs, One on one below.

This was a honorus battle. It was not her place to Interfere. Her code of Ethics Forbid it. So She watched from her sentry...Abell would not act unless the Odds against her comorade were Tilted to the unfavorable. If Alzeil were to Die in this battle, it was to be his chioce. He requested the Solace, and Had entered a fair Battle. And She would be sure to bring him back to the others, wether he be living or dead in the end.


Abell wanted to know where the sprite was, but was too focused to avert her gaze. Hopefully Liara had seen abell take post And would make her way to a  more defensive positon, near Abell. With luck anf fortune Between Liaras Magic and Abells  Reptillian Stallion they would be able to Bring an Injured Alziel back to camp safely

[Dragonium]

Panting, Alziel stepped from Shell's path and moved behind him. Shell's attack was relentless, and he seemed to be able to read Alziel's movements. The feeling of numbness dulled his reactions, and Shell took advantage of his every mistake.

He raised the knife, and despite the impression that it had become much heavier, and despite the pain in his injured hand, swung it towards Shell. Shell reacted almost immediately, raising his twisted staff and sending the blade flying from Alziel's hand to land in the mud.

Unarmed, Alziel knew he could not hope to be victorious.

Shell came forward again, relentlessly swinging. The staff connected with Alziel's side again, and this time he felt his ribs splinter from the blow. He gasped and stumbled back to land on the muddy ground. Fire seared across his side and he became short of breath.

The numbness inside his mind was almost complete. He could not think, or make sense of what was happening. One thought managed to break through to him; the thought that he would not last much longer in this state.

[Ben]

Abell watched the unarming Blow with unwavering attention.
With breath held, She snapped a  branch from a nearby tree limb and lobbed it in the direction opposite from her standpoint, in hope it would distract long enough for Alzeil to arm himself again...even though it meant possibly giving her own positon away. Alzeils foe seemed to be under some form of influence and may just be concentrating on whats near...

And then another possible Hope entered her mind.... "recipilikapt"

[Moosetroop11]

Shell ignored the branch as it flew to Alziel's feet, and rasied his staff again. Alziel rolled out of harm's path this time, and Shell cried as the weapon hit mud. He had to stop to catch his breath. The stone's effect was taking it's toll.