Foolish Consequences

[Ilta Kveld]

Ilta worries for a moment as it rolls into a ball, but the fire forces it back into an upright position. However, she winces a little as her sword grinds over his head. Tough armored bones. She knows enough not to let it touch her as it lunges forward, not believing she could escape death a second time if bitten or scratched by these creatures again.

She leans back to avoid the claws, and delivers a kick to its stomach to force it back a little. At least, her feet and legs were well-covered. She does notice its belly is quite a bit less resilient during the previous move. Attempting to follow up the kick with a sword blow to its softer underside, she hopes to kill this one before the second dusk breaks through.

[Aria Wurud]

Aria inwardly rolled her eyes at her grumpy companion, and snorted at his teasing. 'A evlewt toof nogard t'nsi elbapac fo gineb eht feiht er'uoy gninoisivne. Re'ouy tsuj gniog ot evah ot tsurt ni ym seitiliba ot tpada gnithgif selyts ot hcae laudividni mrof.' While she recognized her companions exceptional abilities to maneuver in a humanoid state; she still excelled at being able to adapt to her different forms.

As they charged core shouted his advice 'I ees ti' She saw it she would just need to wait for her opening. It was sure to come when she became closer; mostly because she was banking on the prediction that the beast would go for her less armored charge. After all when hunting you go for the weakest. As she grew closer she paused the blasts to power up a strong charge in her throat. The high pitched wine only grew as a blue light crackled in her jaws. As the creature launched itself at her charge as she predicted, it exposed its belly to her massive jaws. As the girl kicked the dusk away she let loose the blast she had been charging. A full blast at short range would have devastating effects.

The smell of burning flesh and the crunch of a short bursting through crispy skin reached her senses in the span of a few seconds. The beast would be launched fallowed by two more blasts for over kill. She turned her attention back to her charge on top of her back and rolled her shoulders. Indicating the girl should get off. She'd have an easier time to put that sword to good use on the other one if she wasn't on her back.

[Beasts]

Instead of her hand, the beasts claws sunk into the fabric covering her legs. Fortunately the layers of cloth were barely a saving grace; for the girls skin remained unmarred. Suddenly a burning pain erupted from its soft underbelly. A sword pierced its skin, followed by a strong blast of what seemed like electricity. Sending the beast backwards at alarming rate. It hit the stone wall, its spikes digging into the rock. Its body hung from the rock wall, squirming around in distress. Its large jaw gaped open to let out a roar however only rasping sounds emerged. Its charred body gave one last twitch before falling limp.

Suddenly the barrier which the dragon had created burst; pieces flying far enough to bounce off the dragons hide. The other beast stood on all fours, heavy breaths being puffed out from its nostrils. It swung its horned head and roared in triumph. Its head scanned the area, attempting to lock onto its prey.

[Ilta Kveld]

Ilta feels relieved as the dusk goes limp. “Alright, let’s get -” And then other one comes crashing through. She has her doubts the dragon could outrun it. However, fighting it would be more difficult than the last one. Cursing they had to enter a ravine full of this nightmarish creatures, she keeps her longsword at the ready.

“Run or fight?” she asks the dragon. She’d leave the decision to her larger companion. In the back of her mind, she wonders what would happen if a dragon got injured by a dusk and then realizes that not really an idea she would like to entertain.

[Aria Wurud]

They didn't have the option to run; the storm still raged on above them keeping them in the ravine. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the sandy ceiling. This storm certainly popped up at a convenient time. The dusk showed up conveniently after that odd parchment was found....in an area where they were unlikely to get any prey. They weren't exactly near the city; and scents don't exactly waft out of the ravine. 'Core I t'nod kniht siht dnas mrots detrats no sti nwo drocca, I teb ouy gnihtyna fi I saw ni a egrog dnouh mrof i dlouw eb gnillems annam ta siht tniop...nehw ew llik siht tsal eno siht dnas lliw ylekil pots. nehw taht sneppah I kniht ll'ew yltnaifed eb gnitnuh nwod Garrett. Eh dlouhs ees taht tnemhcrap.' Garrett would be likely to know what the parchment was a clue to... She had a guess, but she hoped she was wrong.

She looked at the beast which has burst out of the wall; it reminded her of a bull. Those horns were meant for charging. But that momentum usually through them off...its underbelly looked to be smooth as well. Although since the beast look like it was meant to be on all fours the same tactics for the last one wasn't going to work. So the girl needed to get off her back; Aria would only wait for a few moments before she'd buck her.

Aria huffed still observing what seemed to be a slightly dazed dusk; and it looked like to be tracking its prey through scent not sight. They would confuse it a lot more if they were to split up and to attack from multiple angles. That or Aria could draw its attention to her enough for the girl to aim a well place sword blow. She suddenly reared up in an attempt to bounce the girl off her back. Either she was off or not Aria charged forward a bit, stopping a good bit away from the dusk. She opened her jaws and let out a mighty roar. The sound was a mix between a screech and a lions roar; it made the ravines walls shake. Her good wing out stretched, her back slightly arched; the jaw full of razor sharp teeth in full view. When the dusk charged which it likely would Aria would leap into the air and right over it.

[Beasts]

The defining roar of the dragon had its desired effect; the beast locked its attention on to the dragon. It lowered its horns and scrapped the ground with its clawed paw. It swung its head back and forth and snorted before charging at a scary pace. It would continue charging even after the dragon leaped over its head. It crashed into the wall which the spiked dusk hung. The wall began to crumble as the dusk ripped its horns out; once free it began to buck and lash out at anything around it with its razored tail, claws and teeth. While it wasn't locked on to any prey it certainly would do damage to anything within range.

[Ilta Kveld]

Ilta somehow to not fall butt first on the ground after the dragon bucks her. “Fight, got ya.” As the dragon lets loose its powerful roar, Ilta holds the side of the ravine to not fall as the world around her shakes. It takes her awhile to reorient herself, and get a good hold of her sword again.

She watches as the dusk charges past the dragon and goes head first into a ravine wall, sending the place shaking again, but less that the dragon’s roar. It lashes about dangerously, closer to her now than to the dragon.

She was an Earth mage. She could do something about this right? Stone wasn’t too dissimilar from working with metal, right? Breathing slow, she places her left hand against the ravine’s rock wall. Focusing down the rocks that lined the ravine, her mind travels to the ground underneath the beast. She takes another deep breath as she attempts to open up a chasm underneath the creature and call a slide of rocks to push it in.

[Beasts]

It stopped its mindless rampage and paused, its head swinging wildly trying to lock on to the prey it had originally been after. The one that had issued the challenge; it dug its claws into the ground as was about to charge once more when suddenly the ground below it crumpled away. It scrambled to find its footing before being onslauted by a wave of rocks. The Dusk was buried alive in a stone tome. The only things sticking out from the rubble were a pair of horns. After that everything went silent....

[Ilta Kveld]

Sheathing her sword, Ilta looks at the buried dusk once it stops moving. With the adrenaline wearing off, the achy feeling after the crash was now coupled with the exertion of that kind of magic. Her right shoulder had more of stabbing pain though, but it didn’t worry her too much. She always got pain from time to time there. Walking to the dragon, she moves cautiously as they have already caused the walls in this ravine to crumble multiple times.

“I didn’t really know the dusk traveled this far westward... Anyways, this is obviously a terrible place for us to stop and sit. Going up and out is impossible though. So which way do you want to head?” she asks the dragon. She breathes a sigh, “But I suppose we will likely encounter more no matter what direction we go.”

[Beasts]

The girl would have only a few precious minutes to relax, before the ground beneath the rubble began to groan. The horns of the beast seemed to be moving ever so slightly as the creature beneath the mess began to move. Suddenly the dusk burst free, stone went flying in every direction as a mighty roar of triumph left its throat. It leapt from its tomb and swung its head wildly, its feet stamping and rearing as it furiously tried to locate the one who had sent it under.

[Aria Wurud]

A low chortle was all the response the girl had gotten from the dragon; Aria's large cat like eyes scanned the area that the dusk had gone down. They shifted back up to where the storm oddly still raged on...Something was not right. It made her scales bristle as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. The ache in her wing was annoying...it would continue to hurt like a bitch until someone was able to pop it back in. .......ouY wonk s'ti hgih emit I detnevni na tnatsni noitacinummoc epyt fo lleps... spahrep taht lliw eb ym wen tcejorp.' She let out a sigh, the feeling of uneasiness did not pass; and if she had learned anything over the last few years it was to trust that instinct. Normally she'd fly until that feeling passed, but she was grounded. Due to the storm and due to her wing; but really she had hoped that once that last dusk had been taken care of that the storm would have passed.

Suddenly the pile of dusk began to tremble, Aria reacted quickly. Her head darted out towards the girls waist her teeth sinking into the handle of the sword she carried. She yanked it out of its holster; her eyes fixated on the pile. When the beast broke forth from its stony tomb Aria darted forward her body low to the ground, she jerked her head sideways and up in an awkward movement letting the blade she had just stolen sink into the beasts tender belly flesh. She released the sword and pulled back as fast as she had landed the blow.

When the Dusk took its last shuttering breaths the raging storm above them began to show signs of slowing. Aria sat up on her hind legs, her large triangular head looking up. Her tail lashed out in a cat like manner as she sniffed the air. ' skool ekil ym hcnuh touba eht mrots saw thgir...tub taht tcaf srehtob em erom.' She turned her attention back to the girl and looked back down at the sword which was still embedded in the dusk. Ilta would have to grab the sword herself if she wanted to keep it. But once she had they probably could start making their way back to town.

[Ilta Kveld]

Ilta jumps back at the ground moves again. At this point, she was all out of tricks and way too close to the beast. There was no way she would survive any one on one encounter between the two of them. However, if it was possible, she looks even more frightened as the dragon grabs her sword. Fang was probably the most valuable thing she owned in terms of actual cost as well as sentimental value. And there Fang was, being carried away from her.

She watches helplessly as the dragon plunges the sword into the dusk’s belly. Thankfully, the beast went down, but now she had to get close to the creature’s corpse. Running over and grabbing the sword with both hands, she yanks it out. Afterwards, she cast a glare at the dragon, “I understand this time, but don’t touch the sword again.” There is some fear in her voice, mostly about the prospect of losing the sword forever.

Sheathing it once again, she looks up toward the sky to see the storm clearing again. “Looks like we can climb on out of here, and head wherever on foot. Or stay out of the terrible heat, travel the ravine, and just risk whatever else is down here. Any preference?"

[Aria Wurud]

The large dragon dropped down to all fours when the girl went to retrieve her sword. The girl would have been a duskabob if she hadn't taken the sword and stabbed it..but all she got in return for such a feat was a glare and an order. Aria shot a warm blast of air through her nostrils and into the girls face and turned around and sat facing away from her. 'I am a dragon.... you can't tell me what to do' clearly spoken in her body language. Her fanned tail swung out, most likely whacking the back of the girls legs; whether it was intentional or not was up for debate.

Currently Aria was debating on whether or not they should climb out or not...it would seem however that the ravine had been booby trapped. That and they just had made it unstable with all their blasting. The wise move would be to brave the heat...though then again since they were in a ravine a water source had to be not that far away. The river would most likely be close by....which meant they could follow that to the town. The town wouldn't be that far away by now. That and the sun hadn't risen yet it was still dark out. They had a few hours until sun rise; they could make it to the town by then if they hurried.

With that thought settled, in response to Iltas question, the large dragon scurried up the side of the Ravine and out. Its large damaged wing dragging along the ground behind it. Ilta would have to climb out herself. After all she had proofed that she had been good at climbing.

[Ilta Kveld]

It wasn’t that Ilta wasn’t grateful. However, she might have felt better about dying in the ravine than losing Fang. While that might be a lot of meaning to place in a single object, the sword had been by her side for years now serving as both a weapon and a memory. As the fanned tail attempts to whack the back of her legs, she lifts her left leg up and the traps the tail under her left foot. Her eyes are have a mixture of anger and fear with a hint of something wilder like a mental wall was about to break. “No. This. This is mine.”

Releasing the tail, her eyes go to the ravine wall as she tries to soothe her anger somewhat. It wasn’t nearly as tall as the falls, and certainly not as slippery. She climbs up in relative silence as the repetitive task calms her mind from this entire ordeal.

[Aria Wurud]

Aria once on top of the wall waited for the girl, her claws kneeding the sand as she waited. She began to pile the sand in a large pile. By the time the girl had reached to top Aria had constructed a very poorly formed sand blob....couldn't really call it a castle. When she was out of the ravine Aria lifted her head to the air, taking in the scents of the desert. She did smell water, off to their right; if she remembered the layout of the land that meant if they kept traveling forward and to the left they would run into the city.

Aria confidently moved forward, expecting the girl to fallow her; her damaged wing creating a trail in the sand as it dragged behind her. Her tail was held slightly above the ground, only brushing it the ground ever now and then.

Just before dawn the city would come into view, a bunch of houses made from mud bricks. It seemed to be one with the land around it. Colorful fabrics lined the dark doorways, a few sleepy folk would be moving about their early morning chores. Tents lined the outer edges of the city, pens of sheep and cattle, and chickens ran about freely. Camels and some horses were tied up near a well; desert palms dotted the area indicating the city was well fed by an underground source. As your gaze fallowed deep into the city the mud buildings became larger and more intricate. It was an impressive site for someone who saw it for the first time.

Aria stopped as soon as the city came into site; her dragon form would likely cause a panic among the citizens. So she settled down in one of the sand dunes...the girl would have to enter the city alone. But...Aria was in range now so she sent a mental message out to her companion Thorne 'Thorne? Wake up you old dog; my wings hurt I'm stuck in dragon form...I need someone to pop it back in, that and I think the girl I'm with is going to claim me as her new pet dragon if someone else doesn't...Is Garrett around? If so can you go poke him and bring him out to see me?' She felt the old dog stir, his reelected agreement seeping through their mental link. Thorne had reached that old age where fallowing her around on her adventures wasn't quite possible any more. So he stayed back at the Mary and was content to be the guard dog of the tavern. The staff had grown to love him and his personality had softened in his old age. So he was well pampered. She could trust the old dog to fetch Garrett if he was around; if not he'd fetch someone else who knew her predicament. Everyone who knew her secret after all would understand what was up if Thorne showed up without her.