[Other FULL] Riders [M] [IC]

Jay · May 6, 2016

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

Zile yawned gently as he slowly awoke under a warming canopy of white feathers. He lay close to Alyra as the light of a new Dawn filtered through her wing. She often did that as he slept, it made her feel more comfortable to have him protected under her angelic appendage. He gently lifted her wing aside and stood up, his chest was bare as he slept shirtless. His leather chaps were a little stiff as he adjusted them into place, but otherwise they were fine.

He slowly stepped out of the huge cushion filled indentation on the floor that served as his and Alyra's shared bed. His room was divided into two segments, the sleeping area featuring the massive bed and an easily accessed balcony wherein Alyra could enter with great ease.

The white marble walls of this room were rather plain and a simple heart sat at one end where a fire night be built. It was functional, not too flashy, just as he liked it. The other side of the room contained a few things Zile found to his liking. A weapon rack adorned with various swordsmen and shields... most were dulled for practice. There was also a stand for his gauntlet and alongside it a chest of drawers wherein clothing and light armor was kept. He pulled a purple linen shirt over his head, followed by a plain leather harness for some meager protection. A pair of woolen socks and his black boots followed. It was two nice a day for his cloak. Fastening a belt to his waist he ran a hand along the scabbard of a standard one and a half hand sword before strapping it on and equipping his gauntlet.

They were currently in Pharus Castle, enjoying a sort of luxury Zile had not experienced for multiple years. Upon having their questions answered, the Riders had been shown to their rooms high in Pharus Castle... and while given the option to leave and never return, it seemed that for better or for worse... everyone had agreed to stay with, train under and supposedly fulfil their destiny as a new rider and figurehead of Nobillis' future.

Goodness, that was two days ago now, time moved so quickly.

Interaction with his fellow riders and dragons had been brief as everyone was settling in... be it Princess Sol and her followers or Maxwell and the gecko explaining things to the young Lords family and allowing them too, to settle.

Their rooms were magnificent and tailored masterfully to each individual. Zile was astounded, dumbstruck as to the magical implications of such things. That combined with the meals waiting every morning, mid day and evening with a complete lack of servants really made Zile wonder as to the true power the old rider possessed.

He sat at the writing desk opposite his weapons and clothes and picked up a quill in his unarmored hand. He enjoyed writing, though he didn't think he was very good. A slew of false starts to stories and unfinished poems sat strewn about. One tale told of a majestic iron horse that ferried folks to the end of the world, another of fantastical creatures journeying together on some grand adventure or expedition.

Such utter nonsense.

"Good morning dear one."

Zile in his concentration hadn't noticed Alyra wake up and peak her head into the other side of the room.

"Alyra, good morning. How do you feel this morning?"

She smiles gently before sending him an image of the bed and a feeling of immense satisfaction. He responded in kind with a glad sentiment flowing from him to her.

She huffed gently and let out a quiet grumble.

"Today our work begins eh?" She smiles then.

"Did our new master not tell us on the first night that upon this day we would find orders posted on a notice board in the town?"

Zile nodded pensively. The old rider had requested that they try to make use of the town right from the get go... as soon the ruined homes and alleys would be bustling with life once again. Zile had to wonder exactly how that was to happen... but he questioned the order not.

All he knew and needed to know was that from now on they would be working under the watchful eye if their teacher... and that on the notice board in Pharus town were the first steps in setting out ones identity as a rider in Nobillis. How exciting! It did lend a sense of purpose that Zile was unfamiliar with, so he was gladdened.

Though, his stomach rumbled beforehand.

"Perhaps we had best grab some food first though..."

Alyra snorted her approval before showing an image of the vast blue sky.

"Today I hope to hunt my own meal Tyron. I hope that in doing so i might meet and learn more of my fellow dragons. Perhaps you might go to breakfast without me? You may of course summon me when we need leave or otherwise..."

Zile smiled as he sensed the subdued burning desire to free her wings and fly the uninhabited plains, hopefully with her newfound kin. He sent a subtle notion of approval and a wish for her to enjoy herself, to which she almost went giddy with excitement, expressed her thanks and heel turned to leap from the balcony and soar the open expanse. Their connection grew a small bit fainter, but still held strong at the distance.

Begrudgingly tossing the quill aside to obey his stomachs demands. Zile himself then stood and opened the door to the circular bedroom hallway, he seemed to be the first to awaken as he moved along the pristine hallway, back into the ruined portions of Pharus in order to reach the Dining Hall once more.

The room was the same as the first night he had arrived. Though the torches burned much brighter as they were clearly lit recently. A smaller platter of bread, cheese, meat, butter and milk with a pot of tea sat at the center of the table... though it was still more than large enough to fees every mortal in the castle. Further down was a large wooden board adorned with shanks of meat, food for any dragons deigning not to hunt for themselves that morning.

The Old Rider sat at the table, nibbling on a piece of buttered bread before smiling stoically at Zile as he approaches and sat opposite him. It was a knowing smile, the old man always seemed to know everything at any given time so it made sense.

"Almost nine hundred years Zile, I have had this or a similar breakfast. For a while I grew sick of it but little things like this ingrain themselves in a man."

Zile rose a pensive eyebrow and grinned before buttering a still warm slice and placing slices of cheese upon it for a satisfying chomp.

"Immortality is one of your crazier revelations old man. I'll believe it when I see it."

The elder laughed. "Well hopefully when the time comes we will sit here, I with either hundred years if breakfast and you with nine hundred as I do. Then I shall be reminding you of this."

Zile smirked and continued to eat in peaceful silence before speaking again.

"So... this work you have assigned us..."

"...is on the notice board open to see."

"And what of its nature?"

The old rider pondered for a moment before supping his cup of tea before folding his arms and taking a more serious tone. "The riders, to the people, are long dead." He took a sad countenance, yet still held some hope in his voice. "You are young, but alas, a man upon a dragon is enough to bring joy and inspiration to the people. The tasks there are easy enough. Deal with a few problems cropping up here and there across the land. I've also posted some training regiments and a list of repairs around Pharus town that a dragon would be if great use in."

He took another sup as some tension left his expression. "To introduce you to the World is not easy, so I will allow you to charge in and see then the consequences. If you are not prepared for it in yourself then you need not be the one to be revealed to the people. You might instead hone your skills or prepare these lands for those yet to come." Zile raised an eyebrow to that. "More Riders...?" But the old rider just shook his head and smiles. "Not exactly."

Zile clasoed his hands together and thought to himself for a few moments. If he were a blade then his options were clear, strike out and be seen, train hard and be tempered... or put himself to work in less violent tasks. He was always one to strike out first, but it seemed like a difficult task indeed. Revealing himself to the people of Nobillis... revealing the riders... would he step forward as one of the people here to do that?

Aye, he would. Someone had to and he had wasted too many chances to hesitate here. Besides, he was sure some of his new "kin" would join him once he knew the exact details of the task at hand.

The Old Rider smiled, Zile noticed, as he resolved himself for the task. Was that a coincidence?

They continued to eat breakfast in peaceful silence.

Chapter 1

Player objectives: (Objectives with * are mandatory)
- Get breakfast.
- Explore Pharus Castle and town.
- Interact with fellow riders.
- Go to the notice board and choose a task. *
- Complete said task. *

Foxrally · May 7, 2016

Tamber

Princess Sol Laetanas

Wheeling and Dealing

A soft smile stretched across Tamber's lips as she walked about the castle grounds. It was the first time she had truly started to explore Pharus Castle and the town that was contained inside of its walls, mainly on account of how busy a majority of the Riders had been settling into what was their new home. To be honest, the white-haired gypsy had mixed feelings on the whole matter. She had never been one to stay rooted in one location for too long, obviously on account of her profession. So the subject of actually having somewhere to call home that was not around a campfire or in the back of a traveling caravan was a bit foreign to her. At the same time however, there was a feeling inside of her that made her feel as if this was the way her life was always meant to be. It seemed that their host had wanted them to have that same feeling as well.

After their initial meeting, Krotan had taken it upon himself to escort Tamber, Pyra, and all the other Riders and dragons to the various rooms they would all be sleeping in for what Tamber could only assume would be the remainder of their eternity. While she had not gotten a chance to properly explore everyone's individual rooms, the dancer found her own to be tailored towards her own preferred style... or rather, one that made her feel much more comfortable. The room was light with the warm, comforting glow of candlelight, complete with the scents of relaxing, fragrant incense to give the room a rather exotic, yet intoxicating feel. Comfort was no understatement in the room, as many pillows, plush rugs and fabrics decorated the floor and walls, each feeling silky soft to the touch. There had even been a nest of sorts prepared for Pyra, one that had offered the fire dragon the best sleep she had had in sometime, at least since she had begun to experience dreams about Pharus Castle. In fact, the red dragon was currently in said nest, Tamber choosing to let her companion sleep in a bit longer as she simply did not have the heart to disturb her so early in the morning.

While her dragon dozed, Tamber had already taken it upon herself to fetch some breakfast from the room she and the others had gathered the previous evening, before heading out for her long-desired exploration. Though seemingly abandoned, the town was quite peaceful to the gypsy. While she could not make every single location out, she could at least tell from what appeared to be the faded remains of various sign posts that some of the buildings were intended to be shops while others were had a more "home-like" feel to them. Given the sights of her exploration along with the memories of that vision she had experienced upon her arrival, Tamber could only assume that Pharus had to have been quite the bustling city at one point. Of course, this fed her curiosity into what could have possibly happened to cause it to become abandoned as it was. Even if the previous Riders had all passed on, it was hard for her to imagine that everyone who had resided within the castle walls would just up and abandon such a magnificent place to call home.

"Maybe I should have Krotan tell me more about it," Tamber mused aloud as she walked the empty street. The subtle rattling of her anklets filled her ears, mixing in with the fading chirps of crickets to create a gentle melody as she walked. "It might make him a bit uncomfortable, but... I think we're entitled to know such things..."

Glancing up from the ground, Tamber spotted what appeared to be the board that the old Rider had been speaking of back in the castle. On the board, she was supposed to be able to see a list of various jobs for her and the others to accomplish to help restore Pharus back to its former state and encourage others to return and call it home once more. The gypsy quickened her pace towards the board, the soft blades of grass gently tickling under her bare feet as she stepped off the smooth cobblestones and into the small patch that surrounded the object of her focus. Tamber stared at the board for several minutes, her eyes narrowing as she looked up and down at the writing sprawled out across the papers that had been nailed to it.

"I can't make any of it out..." she whispered, glancing over her shoulder just to make sure that none of the others were around. "Maybe I should have waited for Pyra after all..."

"It's a good thing that I happen to be an early riser myself, Tamber..." a familiar voice called out from within Tamber's mind. Glancing up, Tamber smiled once more as the sight of her dragon companion came into view, gently descending to the ground beside the gypsy dancer. "I am a bit curious as to why you did not wake me when you rose this morning, however... We do not know much about this place yet, and I do not wish for any harm to befall you."

A soft giggle escaped Tamber's lips as her dragon gently nuzzled against her for a moment. The white-haired gypsy gave Pyra an affection pet along her cheek, before returning her focus to the post before them.

"I'm sorry for making you worry. I just wanted you to get a little extra rest now that you finally could. We both know it was quite the journey traveling here," Tamber replied. "Besides, I'm sure our host would not let us wander about into the town if things were that dangerous."

Pyra shook her head in response. "Be that as it may, please let me accompany you next time." Tamber gave her dragon a nod, realizing that she most likely was not going to be winning the argument this time. "So, what have you come out of the castle so far to look at?"

Tamber pointed to the board as she told her dragon about the work that was expected of them as Riders. She explained how it was their duty as Riders to restore the life to the castle and the town by performing various tasks posted by Krotan, all while inspiring the people of the country at the same time. It did not take too long for the dragon to determine what Tamber's problem was in picking a job to accomplish. It was impossible for the girl to hold any secrets from Pyra and as her dragon, it was her duty to assist Tamber in any way she possibly could. In this instance, it required her to actually read the various jobs written out to the dancer so she might be able to competently pick a task to complete and fulfill her role as one of the new Riders. Pyra's assistance did not end at merely reading the choices, though. She also offered Tamber some insight into the jobs, giving her opinions on which ones would best suit the woman in terms of difficulty and strength. Eventually, much to Pyra's dread, Tamber did make a decision.

The task involved a trek to the top of Mt. Rendar, a small mountain due east of the caslte located in the marshlands. It was there that one would locate an abandoned Rider stronghold known as Fort Terminus. Within the stronghold, one would be able to locate several weapons of Riders of olde, left untouched due to the area only being easily accessed by way of dragon. Well, that along with the area being filled with swarms of undead monsters. Much to Pyra's dismay, this also happened to be the very task that filled Tamber's curiosity the most.

"A-Are you sure this is the task you want to take on?" Pyra asked, concern apparent in her voice. "Mayhaps another task may be better suited for you... What about the cat?"

Tamber shook her head. "No, I want to do this one... Pyra, we're in a whole new area... I want to see and explore everything I can about this place and the lands around it. Plus, we're new Riders... It would be a good chance to learn more about the history of those past, yes?"

Pyra sighed, realizing that now she was the one on the losing side. "Very well, but... Perhaps we should seek out one of the others for help? This task seems to be a bit too dangerous for merely you and I to accomplish alone. We have yet to engage combat against anything of the undead nature... I would hate for the worst to possibly befall us."

"Hmm... You may be right, Pyra," Tamber admitted. She gave her dragon another small pet, the sound of her stomach growling filling the air around them. "Why don't you go and get yourself something to eat? I'll talk things out with some of the others and see if I can get some assistance with this task..."

-------------

As the sun's rays slowly began to seep through the crack between the curtains in Sol's room, the figure laying on the massive king-sized bed laying in the corner of the room began shifting. Completely covered by the heavy bedsheet, the person seemed to be lying down in a fetal position, their knees tucked under their chin as if they were trying to make themselves look as small as possible on the enormous bed.

Suddenly, a ray of light peeking through the curtains hit the bed, and the figure stopped moving. After a few seconds of silence, a pale white hand emerged from under the sheets and slowly pulled down, revealing the horrendous creature underneath. Messy and strewn hair, spiked and coiled like a snake ready to attack; a gaping mouth with dried slobber on its cheek; and a piece of clothing so vile and wrinkled one would think it had better belong in a stable than on a person.

"Mornings, am I right?" Khepri said jovially.

"Mmhmh... quiet, Khepri." Sol mumbled, her eyes still struggling to open after the exhausting past couple of days.

"Such deplorable crankiness, young mistress. Khepri was simply trying to lighten up the mood." the dragon replied, chuckling at his own joke. "Speaking of which, the sun is up. Khepri wished not to awaken the young mistress before that, so I took the freedom of stretching my wings a little."

"Mhm, yeah, sure..." Sol mumbled, finally managing to get into a sitting position on her bed. "Go do that for some more..."

"For a princess of the sun, the young mistress truly is not a morning person." Khepri chuckled as he leaped off the balcony of Sol's room again and flew off.

Sol relucantly hopped off her bed and rubbed her eyes, instinctively looking for a pair of slippers as she recoiled from the coldness of the floor beneath her before remembering that she had brought none with her. Although, she remembered Sir Durak had mentioned something about the rooms being personalized to them - maybe there was an extra pair. The room itself was somewhat smaller than what Sol was used to, but was shockingly similar to what she was used to at home. The wall connecting the room to the balcony was completely made of glass, just like the buildings in Luxolis. The other walls - as well as the furniture - were decorated with flowers and elven emblems of different kinds, including the Laetanas' and former Reena Council families. In the center of the room was a massive golden pillow with the Laetanas sun emblem embroidered on it, which is where Khepri slept. Sol had often found herself groggily moving to that spot many times during the night, before realizing Khepri's spikes were dangerously close to her and returning to her own bed. After a few minutes of opening and closing cupboards and drawers Sol finally found a pair of slippers exactly her size. Now that was over with, she sleepily shuffled over to her (equally large and decorated) nightstand, where a small bell rested. She weakly raised her hand and let it drop on the bell, the latter making a tiny 'ting' sound.

Only a few moments later a side door to her room opened, and Cyril entered. "Good morning, Sol! You called?" he asked, getting straight to the point. He knew not to extend conversations with her in the morning, and was used to her crankiness.

"Breakfast... please." the elf mumbled, falling backwards onto her bed again. "And get yourself something too."

"Right away, your majesty." Cyril replied.

-------------

"Slept well?" Cyril asked, sipping on a cup of tea. The two elves sat at the balcony, a small stool used as a makeshift table for their breakfast - which was a tray of different sweetbreads and a pot of tea - as they watched the sun rise in the horizon.

"You didn't bring... enough sugar." Sol croaked, frowning.

"I will take that as a no." Cyril smiled. "I will fetch some more."

"Hurry up." Sol hissed, her hair almost hissing along with her as she shooed Cyril out of the room.

Meanwhile, Tamber had returned to her room by this point. The white-haired gypsy had been mulling the situation over in her head, debating just who she would try to bring with her on the task she decided to take. The dwarf who had showed up with the earth dragon was of high consideration. Something told her that he knew how to handle himself pretty well in a fight. Then again, she also considered bringing someone a bit more agile with her in the mission. In this regard, her mind fell to those such as Flynn or Idorah. Not that she really had much knowledge in how they fought. She just figured that both of them appeared to be pretty lithe, at least compared to those such as Zile.

"Maybe some more air will help my thought on the matter..." Tamber sighed.

The gypsy made her way across the room, stepping out onto the balcony. The faint scent of tea managed to reach her nose, causing her to look over to her left just in time to spot a rather groggy looking Sol having breakfast on her own. A faint smile tugged on Tamber's lips as she examined the Elven princess. The wheels in her head quickly turning as an idea came to light.

"I think I know just who to have come with us..." Tamber thought, placing a hand on her hip as she stepped towards the end of the balcony.

If Pyra was there, she probably would have scolded Tamber for even thinking of taking the Elven princess as her partner for the task. While there was most likely no doubt that Sol was light on her feet, there was most likely room for doubt in regards to how strong she was physically. Then again, it was not her physical strength that Tamber wanted. Rather, it was the power of her dragon.

During her younger years, Tamber recalled several stories told by the Storykeeper of her family's troupe. In several stories, there would often be some foul demon or monster of the damned who was easily brought down by the powers of light and holy. While Tamber was not sure just how skilled Sol herself was in those regards, she knew that her dragon was most likely a force to be reckoned with. Of course, she did not expect Sol to accept an invitation to assist on such a dangerous task right of the bat. She honestly would not put it past the girl to refuse any of the tasks and stay comfortably seated in her comfort of her room, most likely attempting to send her escort to complete the work instead.

"Well... Here goes," Tamber determined, climbing up on the railing of the balcony. She shifted slightly to the edge of the railing. Her balance was poised and steady as she braced herself and leaped across to Sol's balcony, landing gracefully as if it were a common thing for her. "Good morning, Sol... Isn't it a beautiful morning...?"

The princess didn't even flinch. "Mhm, yes... mor...ning, Tamber... Did you get the, ah, uh... the thing?" she yawned, her eyes barely opening as she rested her chin on the railing of the balcony.

Tamber gave Sol a curious look. She really was not sure just what this "thing" was that the Elven princess was supposed to be, much less the fact that she was expecting the white-haired woman to be bringing her something in general. Then again, Sol did appear to be barely able to keep an eye open. Deciding to play along for the time being, Tamber quickly gave a response to her fellow rider.

"Ah, yes... I was having trouble locating it, so Krotan said he would bring it up in just a bit..." Tamber answered. Hopping off the railing, the gypsy landed gracefully on the balcony, taking a seat by the princess. Knowing Sol, or at least what she assumed to be knowing the woman, coming straight out with this request would not yield a very good result. Rather, Tamber knew that she would need to play to her more... pampered side a bit first. A faint smirk graced her lips as she leaned in. "Speaking of Krotan, can you believe that old man? First he drags us all here from all corners of the country, and now he's wanting us to do him all these... favors... It's very rude, don't you think so?"

"Mhm, yeah..." Sol muttered again. "Real load of... junk, that guy."

"Now that wasn't very noble-sounding at all," Tamber thought, doing her best to supress a giggle from escaping her lips. "He put some board out in the town... It had a list of jobs he wanted us all to take part in."

A few seconds of silence passed before Sol correctly processed what her much more energic comrade had said. "Oh, yeah, bored... so am I, yeah... Don't like mornings."

"This girl is in a whole other world, it seems..." Tamber realized. There was a huge potential for this to backfire, especially if Sol did not remember later... "A lot of them seemed to be quite the bother, really... things that I would never expect someone of your status to have to put up with... Saving a cat from a tree?" Tamber questioned.

"No, no cats..." Sol mumbled, suddenly frowning. "Make me... sick."

"Now... if you ask me, there are far more... interesting options to pick on the board," Tamber reasoned. "In fact, why go through all the trouble of having to do something alone when one could team up with others and get the work done in half the time...? Especially if one of those tasks involved looking for wea... er... treasure, yes?"

"Mm?" Sol asked, her attention momentarily caught by the sound of the word 'treasure'. "Say again?"

"Oh, yes... You see, according to Krotan, there's an old fortress that used to be used by the Riders before us just east of here," Tamber answered. She climbed up to her feet, walking across the balcony before leaning across the railing. "It's supposed to be on some mountain in the marshlands... Apparently, they left it there and never had a chance to go back and get it before they all died."

"They, uh, they what?" Sol asked. She had slowly been waking up, the (sugarless) tea helping a little as her consciousness returned to her. "I don't think dying is a very good thing. Wouldn't... want that to happen to me."

"And that's why I'm thinking that we go to get it together..." Tamber reasoned, turning back to focus her attention on Sol. "Of course, we'll take our dragons with us... I highly doubt there would be anything out there that could stand up to them. In fact, they would probably do most of the work, leaving us time to pick up the treasure."

"Go... together...?" Sol echoed. "For what? I said no cat- listen, listen-" she paused herself and rubbed her eyes before staring at Tamber in angered confusion. "Who are you, and did you get me the sugar I asked for? I said I do not like mornings."

Tamber leaned down, handing Sol her cup with a soft smile. "Of course, I brought you your sugar. You watched me add it in just a few moments ago, dear."

"Oh." Sol mouthed, looking around and feeling a little stupid for her outburst. "Uh, sorry..." she mumbled before taking the cup and finishing the rest in one go - oblivious to the fact it was still the bitter mess it had been from the start. Actually, it was a fairly good description of Sol at the moment, a bitter mess.

Realizing that there would be no way to get Sol to agree to go anywhere like this, Tamber figured that she might as well keep up the ruse for as long as she could. Reaching into the hem of her skirt that was around her waist, Tamber pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. If one were to read the paper, they would clearly see that it contained the information of the task Tamber was trying to get Sol to agree to... However, the gypsy woman very much doubted Sol would take the time read the contents.

"Now then... On this piece of paper, I need you to sign here," Tamber explained, pointing to a dotted line at the bottom of the paper. The gypsy had already signed the paper herself... although signing may have been a bit of a strong word. Rather, it was some sort of strange scribble that did not resemble any sort of letter in the slightest bit. "I've... always wanted your autograph... It's not every day someone gets to meet royalty, let alone one as magnificent as yourself..."

Sol looked down at the paper, then back at Tamber, squinting in confusion. "I... okay, sure... hand me a quill..." she mumbled, taking the paper from Tamber and extending her other hand to ask for a something to write with.

Tamber quickly reached for the second piece to finish her plan, a branch tipped in charcoal, compliments of Pyra. Taking a moment to touch the tip gently to make sure the twig was still capable of writing, the gypsy smiled and held it out for Sol. "There you go."

Sol took the twig and sloppily drew something akin to the royal Laetanas seal with her personal signature next to it; once again completely unaware of what she was actually signing on. "...there. Are you done now? I need to change clothes."

"Oh, yes... I think this is everything I need," Tamber replied, taking the paper with glee. Taking in notice that the paper had some sort of writing on it from where Tamber had the princess sign, she carefully folded it up so she could deliver it to Krotan in a few moments. "Everything looks to be in order... Thank you very much, Sol... See you in a bit."

"Sure, sure..." Sol mumbled as she waved her fellow rider off. "Glad I could... help." she yawned.

And with that, Tamber climbed back up on the balcony's railing and nimbly lept back over to that of her own. A soft giggle escaped her lips as she landed on her own, the woman clearly pleased with how everything seemed going just as she needed it to. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Sol's attendant coming back out onto the balcony. She offered the man a quick wink, before returning back into her room.

"Your majesty! Are you all right?" Cyril asked, running to the balcony as he dropped the cup of sugar he had brought for Sol. "I just saw someone at your side..."

"Mm?" Sol asked, rubbing her eyes. "Didn't I just tell you to lea- oh, no."

"What is it, Sol?" Cyril asked, looking around to see where Tamber had disappeared to. "Has this Vile assassin attempted to-"

"No..." Sol muttered, shaking her head. "Much worse."

She had accepted to go on a mission with Tamber.

A joint post of Foxrally and Frozen Heart

Sir Bastian · May 7, 2016

Time To Get To Work

Flynn Cooper

A loud yawn escaped Flynn's mouth, smacking his lips together while groggily lifting his head from the lump of pillows he was laying on top of. After shuffling about a little, he rose to his feet and wobbled out of the 'bed', where he and Ferrus had gone to sleep the night before.

At the thought of Ferrus, Flynn glanced around the room while scratching his pantaloon-clad rear. The room was nice and simple. It had a little fireplace with a rug in front of it, a large bookcase with various factual and fictional writings, as well as a table with two chairs beside it, in case Flynn wanted to bring his food with him back to his room. Past a little archway was his more personal quarters. A writing desk, a little window, an –actual- bed, a closet for various clothes and his gear, and a bathroom (Which always had a fresh barrel of water ready for a 'shower').

Glancing over at the doorless archway to the balcony, Flynn spotted Ferrus, sitting by the edge, eyes to the skies. Padding over and outside on his sockless feet, Flynn raised a hand to shield against the rising sun with a small squint. He yawned again and patted Ferrus' side.

"Hey Ferrus. You're up early."

The dragon rumbled quietly, Flynn receiving a sense of relaxation before he turned his head to gaze at him with his golden eye. "The world is about to change, Flynn."

Blinking his eyes slowly, Flynn raised a hand to rub his eye, smiling as he stepped over to take a seat besides the dragon with his hands in his lap, letting the warm morning breeze brush over his bare chest, his hand moving up to ruffle his hair.
"… I think you'll need to elaborate on that, I'm not really 'up' yet."

Ferrus let out a rumble-like chuckle, glancing out across the plains again. "The riders have been gone for a long, long time. Now, they are about to come back… but in a way the world has never seen before. A forgotten legend returning." He paused, looking down at Flynn again. "Where will you be when this happens, Flynn? What do you hope to achieve, with us being here?"

Flynn's brow furrowed as he looked out over the plains. He could feel Ferrus' genuine curiosity behind the question, and he knew that Ferrus could sense his own uncertainty about the situation.

"I've… read a lot about the riders. They did good. They made the world a better place. If I could… help, to do that, better the world? Then I would. The world –needs- helping." A moment passed as a small bird flew across the sky above them, chirping happily. "… Plus, I get to be trained by –Krotan Durak-. Can you imagine that? Me!"

Flynn grinned brightly at the thought of that, the pride and excitement bleeding through the connection to Ferrus. The dragon hummed and nodded his head, lowering it to give Flynn's neck a puff of hot air, causing the young man to squeal in surprise. "I understand. We will see where the wind takes us, then."

Flynn grunted and lifted a hand to rub his neck, unable to keep up the act as he smiled and patted Ferrus' side again. "Thanks, Ferrus. It's… really nice to have someone to talk to, and trust."

The large dragon hummed, eyes on the sky. A sudden flash of movement caught both their eyes as a white streak of movement trailed across the sky. Flynn blinked, glancing up at Ferrus. "Hey, wasn't that… uh, Zile's dragon? Alyra, I think?"

"Mmhm." He rumbled in reply, golden eyes set on the feathered dragon. After a moment, he rose to his feet and arched his back, stretching out. "I am going."

"Oh, uh… okay? Are you going to make friends with her?" Flynn glanced up at Ferrus, shuffling a little away from him to give him more room to stretch out his wings. Ferrus hummed thoughtfully before simply leaping from the balcony, falling for a moment before rocketing skywards.

"Or, you know, you could just not bother telling me. Thanks!" He shouted after the dragon, letting out a muffled grumble. He felt Ferrus' teasing amusement as the connection whittled down to just a soft tingling at the back of his head. After another moment of watching the sky, Flynn got up and headed back inside. The day had only started, and Flynn was determined to do –something- to get his career as a Rider started. The mere idea of being trained in the art of combat, magic, politics and advanced riding maneuvers by one of the Riders of old had Flynn extremely excited.

Once he had washed and dressed himself in his usual leather tunic and loose, white shirt, he headed out of his room. After peeking around the circular room, he quickly shuffled off down the hallway. As much as he was interested in getting to know his fellow Riders, he figured that for now, he'd just… hang back a bit, get a feel for their new 'profession'.

After a long walk down the stairs from the tower they resided in, Flynn made his way to the dining hall, skidding to a halt as he heard voices. Peering around the corner, he noticed Krotan and Zile having a meal and a chat. Flynn took a deep breath before stepping forth. "Uh… morning, Zile. Morning, master Durak." He followed up the greeting with a bow of his head to the old rider.

The old rider lowered his head in response to the younger man's, to him, boy's, payment of respect. "Ah, the young rider of iron approaches... please sit, Flynn and join us." He gestured quickly with his wrist and the chair to the right of Zile moved outwards of its own accord, causing the other new rider to jump in surprise.

"Oh ehm... Hello Flynn. Good morning." He didn't seem to comfortable with the sudden display of magical power, but he didn't make a direct comment relating to it. "Did you sleep well?"

Flynn gave the self-moving chair a bit of an odd glance before offering a quick smile, moving over to take a seat. He sat for a moment, waiting for the chair to push itself in, but as it didn't happen, he shuffled up against the table by himself.

"Thank you, master. And, uh, yeah, I did. I haven't really slept in a 'bed' like that before. But Ferrus seemed very happy with it." Reaching out, he picked out a lump of nice, warm bread and spread some butter on top of it along with a few slices of ham before biting down on it, quickly glancing between the two of them. "I, uhm, had a few more questions, if you don't mind...?"

Zile poured a cup of tea for himself, adding just a drop of milk to cool the liquid, he takes a quick sip but still manages to burn himself. He had to take a moment then, to assure Alyra that he wasn't in any trouble. He proceeded to butter another slice of bread, unable to deny his own interest in Flynn's questions.

The Old Rider polished his own cup of tea off and interlaced his fingers, before glancing at Flynn with a firm authority, edged with patient understanding. A mentors gaze for certain. "Of course Flynn, I understand how quickly things are moving for all of us. I will answer anything you ask to the best of my ability."

Flynn nodded quickly at their mentor, lowering his gaze to his plate for just a moment, while collecting his thoughts. Slowly, he breathed out and looked up again, having to keep the questions from pouring out in a steady stream.

"How long ago did you send out the eggs? And why were we, specifically chosen? I mean, I know we're supposed to be the ones best suited for our particular dragon, but..." He paused, glancing at Zile and then back at the rider. "... I'm not sure if 'of iron and the forge' has anything particular to do with me. Ferrus is great... in his own way, but..." he trailed off, brow furrowing.

"Flynn..." The old rider smiled softly, as if amused and sympathetic all at once. "I sent the eggs out just over fifty years ago, my intentions were to have the Riders appear soon after... but I honestly underestimated the dragons fickle nature, following this is the answer to your second question." He places his cup upon the table and glances between both Zile and Flynn with great interest.

"I do not know."

Zile felt his eyes widen a little as he finished drinking his tea and his mentor grinned in response. "I did not choose you, your dragons did. Even if they don't remember the choices made from their eggs, they still made the choices, not I, you would have better luck asking them." He leaned back and allowed his smile to reform to a sterner and concentrated expression. "Too be fair to you, however, yours is a question that was once often asked. To give you proper advice Flynn, I would recommend you look at your relation to your element in a more representative or poetic sense. The answer to these queries is often not so black and white... your suitability might surprise you."

Flynn's eyes were constantly on the old rider during the explanation, as he reached out for a nearby pear. He bit down on it and began chewing, his brows furrowing at the second part of the answer. He glanced back at Zile before glancing down at the food in front of him.

"Representative or poetic... Hmmh..."

After a while of quiet contemplating, Flynn nodded his head, offering their mentor a smile. "I'll think about your words. Thank you, master." He paused a moment, feeling the faint tingle of Ferrus' distant enjoyment of... well, he was doing -something-, at least. Probably found some wild horses to scare. Flynn focused back on the old Rider.

"And... Thank you for wanting to teach us. It must've been tough to live through what you have." He let the thought sink in, while gathering courage, sitting up a bit straighter. "I, for one, want to help in any way I can, to restore the Riders."

The old rider smiled very gently in response to Flynn's newfound resolve. It brought him some joy, it seemed, to see such an enthusiastic response. "I am very glad to hear that Flynn. Perhaps... in forging a new path for the Riders you will live up to your title rather quickly no?" He chuckled and Zile smirked a little too... before standing up and stretching out a bit to take the stiffness out of his legs.

"Well, consider me satisfied for the time being. Time to get the work, eh Flynn?" He taps the younger man hard, yet enthusiastically upon the shoulder. The Old Rider glanced at Zile with a tinge of bemusement as the second eldest amongst them walked away. "And what Zile, is the work you will be undertaking?" Zile waved his hand dismissively as he left. "Something high profile and violent, let's be honest I'm probably the best suited to get that sort of thing done."

Flynn looked up, cheeks puffed full of food after he'd decided he was suddenly -very- hungry. Swallowing down, he raised a hand to Zile as he left. "Good luck, Zile!"

With that he was gone... and the Old Rider stroked his beard pensively, turning his gaze to Flynn instead. "Flynn, you are uncertain still, but I find the best way to gain true determination is through swift progress and the satisfaction of a job well done. That being said I feel you will come to experience such feelings through some manual labor of a non-violent nature." He stood and popped the remains of a bread slices into his mouth before continuing. "The castle entrance from the town side is in horrible disrepair and until now I have had no need to fix it. However if left unchecked now it will rapidly become an inconvenience... might I count on you to rectify the issue?"

"The entrance...?" Flynn tilted his head back, glancing into the ceiling. He -did- remember seeing the crumbled entryway via the town during his and Ferrus' fly-by the other day. It'd been a long while, if ever, since he'd done some honest, manual labor, too. Plus, it'd be really helpful, if the Rider was planning on reviving the castle, town and all. He turned to the old rider and beamed a smile, bowing his head. "Definitely! I'll get right on it."

Snatching a spare pear from the table, he got to his feet and made his way down the hallway, opposite where they had entered when they all arrived, Flynn reached out with his mind, touching the weak, tingling sensation he could still feel from Ferrus. The dragon felt inquisitive, but Flynn was sure he would be there in a moment.

... Or, maybe a little more than just a moment. When Ferrus finally came trudging through the hallway, Flynn had been waiting by the massive wall of rubble and stone lying in the way. Giving the dragon a semi-annoyed little glare, he got up. "Where were you? I've been waiting for half an hour!"

Ferrus lifted a leg and let his rough tounge trail across one of his claws, making a motion that seemed mostly like a shrug. "Were you in any danger?"

"Well, no, but I- I asked you to come!"

The dragon lowered his leg down again, leaning his head down to give Flynn a small nudge with his snout, the corners of Ferrus' mouth pulling upwards. "And here I am. Before Flynn could respond with any sort of grumpy indignance, Ferrus glanced up at the wall of rocks and broken marble. "And what glorious task has our benevolent elder bestowed upon us?"

Flynn hadn't really experienced Ferrus being sarcastic before, and it caught him a little off guard. He shook his head and looked back at the rubble as well, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, we're supposed to clear this up, so everyone can go in and out of the second entrance, here. Apparently the noticeboard with all of our tasks is in the middle of the town. Don't ask me how -he- got down there without walking all the way around..."

Ferrus harrumphed and nodded, leaning in to grasp one of the boulders in his jaws, chomping down as the rock split apart, raining gravel onto the floor below him, the black-grey drake chewing on the rocks as if they were candy corn. "Let us begin, then."

Giving his friend a smile at his unusual eagerness for actual –work- that didn't involve any kind of fun, Flynn nodded firmly and moved over to assist in chucking away the smaller rocks and boulders while Ferrus made quick work of the larger ones, with either his teeth or claws.

"You do realize that marble tastes absolutely horrid?" Ferrus commented, glancing down at his companion with an oddly mischievous undertone. Flynn gave the dragon a sideways glance, tossing away a boulder. "Uh, no? I mean, I don't really eat rocks as often as you do. But I'm –guessing- you're wanting to be compensated? Name your price then, O eater of minerals." He mocked, flashing the drake a grin.

Ferrus snorted with amusement, taking a step back as a small rockslide happened from crushing another rock. "I will let you know once I have thought of a suitable favor, Flynn."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will." Flynn mused with a smirk, flicking a small rock up at Ferrus, which bounced off of his hide with an odd pinging sound, the drake letting out a rumbling hum, as the two continued their work.

LinearAxel · May 10, 2016

Sunlight began to trickle in through the window, dancing delicately through strands of azure hair. Lyra attempted to escape the sleep-stealing menace by pressing her face into Lorelai's neck, but soon felt her dragon's comfortably cool scales pulling away.

Time to wake up, little elf.

As Lorelai stands, Lyra presses her face into her mattress and feels around for a pillow, which had been cast aside in the night, as Lyra preferred to sleep against her dragon, rather than an overstuffed pillow. "Five more minutes."

Surely you don't want to dawdle on this important day. Lorelai dips her nose against Lyra's side and delicately nudges against her, slowly rolling her onto her back.

That's right. Today is the day they were going to start making a name for themselves: telling the world of the Rider's return by doing deeds. Lyra sits up and hoists herself from the plush bed, brushing her hair out of her face as she heads for her dresser. She's grateful that the elder rider somehow managed to create alternate clothes for them, as everything she had brought from home was far too warm for this climate. She pulls on a thin black shirt, and a matching pair of leggings. Over her shirt she straps on a light, yet durable leather overshirt, which she was told would serve as her training armor—until her body was strong enough to wear something heavier. The material was sturdy enough to take a blow or two, and it covered her vulnerable chest and stomach.

Even better than the lightweight shirts and pants were the ballet slippers that quickly replaced her heavy, clunky snow boots. The slippers were thin and light, making them impeccably easy to move around in. They were by no means magic, of course. The first time she put them on she attempted a tiny ballet number—which landed her on the floor within a single twirl. Still, they made walking (and even running) a great deal less bruise inducing. Lyra easily slips them on before sliding on a pair of leather gloves, which guarded against the chafing from the grip of their new weapons. "Ready to go?"

Shouldn't you eat something first?

"I'm not hungry." This was a big day…and the anticipation was creating knots in her stomach. Lyra shudders at the chilly sensation running down her spine—Lorelai's disapproving stare. "…But maybe some tea."

Lorelai was not yet comfortable leaving Lyra unattended within the castle walls, thus she neglected the opportunity to hunt; choosing instead to escort her rider to the dining area and pick from its vast selection of breakfast options. Upon arrival, Lyra took notice of the elder rider nibbling on his bread, as he had the previous day, and the day before that. He seemed fairly focused on his conversation with Zile, which Lyra didn't care to interrupt. She slipped in quietly, giving the duo a delicate smile and a nod (not wanting to look rude), before collecting a goblet and filling it with hot water.

At least take some bread, for my own peace of mind.[/] Lorelai broadcasted her thoughts across the room, hoping she would gain some type of backup, if Lyra decided against listening to her.

"For you." Lyra smiled as she dipped her assortment of tea leaves into the hot water. She collected a biscuit, as well as a few fruits, which she wrapped in a small collection of napkins before sliding them into her satchel; they could be eaten on the way.

With a tiny growl of contentment, Lorelai snatched a cooked chicken within her jaws. Now we can be off.

The flight into town was a quick one, and it didn't take the pair long to find the notification board of requests.

"Wouldn't it be easier to put this up in the castle?" Lyra asked as she slid from her dragon's powerful neck.

Perhaps, though the elder said this town will soon be full of people again. Perhaps they will attach their own requests.

That made sense. Lyra gives her dragon a delicate pat and makes her way slowly to the notifications; that look of uncertainty creeping back towards her expression.

'The entryway to the castle through the old village has collapsed.'

A rubble removal mission…probably not a mission suited for an elf.

'Seek out and hunt the fire salamander.'

Er…no. She couldn't bring herself to kill something that was probably just lost and confused. Goblins, certainly, those things are trying to be evil, but a lizard-- Speaking of goblins…

Lyra stands on her toes in order to reach the top request. The town had been burned, with the exception of a barn, where the locals were hiding…and if these goblins were as smart as they seemed to be, they would be burning that barn down next. If it comes to that, Lorelai could easily put that fire out. The small elf trembles with anticipation, which lightly crinkles the note in her hand. "We can do this."

Lorelai is pleasantly surprised. She had been feeling Lyra's hesitation since they departed for their quest. I think we can as well.

Lyra folds the paper and tucks it under her armor, quickly running her fingertips over the hilt of her blade (okay, good, she did bring it). "We didn't have goblins in Rosaria." She admitted. Guess Goblins don't swim? "But we learned where to strike to cut them down, just in case." It was tradition that everyone on the isle of Rosaria be taught the arts of fencing and archery, thus no one on the tiny piece of land was totally defenseless. Now…did she say all of that out loud to reassure Lorelai, or herself?

Dusty · May 10, 2016

Idora smiled, enjoying the wind whipping across her face. It was cold, laced with water, and made her nose and ears feel numb, but she wouldn't have given up the chance to fly for anything. The freedom of it, the ability to look down at the world that looked so small below, it was incredible. Then the two, Idora and Morenth raced out of the cloud they had been flying through and the sun just rising over the horizon shone brightly on the two of them, illuminating them and making the droplets of water on Morenth's neck and wings sparkle with brilliant light. No, this wasn't something she would have given up for the world. They'd been flying for about an hour and they had already made an incredible amount of distance. After a while, Morenth said, We should have invited one of the other riders to come along with us. Their help would have been much appreciated, not to mention good company.

Idora scoffed, "Good company? The entire group just seems a bit off, the riders at least. Sol is your typical pampered princess, Tamber seems easily excitable but incredibly unreliable, I trust Zile about as far as I can throw him and Flynn even less. The two dwarves seem alright, although neither would be equipped for this mission I think. Maxwell is only a child and his dragon seems to hate everyone, and Lyra is no more than a child in elven terms as well. How can I trust any of them to do their job? Half seem incapable of doing so, and the other I wouldn't trust with my back turned to them!"

You need to calm down Idora. This isn't Tarja anymore, Morenth reminded her, not everybody is trying to kill you or influence you. These are riders, just like you. Like you said when we first all met, our backgrounds and histories don't matter anymore.

"Sure," Idora snapped back, "but that doesn't change who we are as people. I'm still Idora, a bastard assassin and thief. Just because I'm a rider now, that doesn't change what I've done or who I am. I mostly just said that because I didn't want anyone to know who I was. Which, your introduction by the way, not helpful in that regard."

Morenth only hummed in amusement, choosing to stay silent. Idora took the silence as an opportunity to think back on all that had happened in the couple days since they arrived at Pharus. After their dinner, all of them had been showed their rooms by the strange old rider, and from what she gathered each room had been specially prepared for each of them. She had gotten a glance of Tamber's room as she walked by once, and the entire place seemed to exude Tamber as a person. Carpets on the floors, sweet incense filling the room, the room just suited her. Idora hadn't seen any of the other rooms, but her own room was...interesting.

The room was somewhat like the rooms she'd had in the past though. While her past abodes had been mostly spartan places with bare walls and floors, places she could abandon at the drop of a hat, this instead was what she might have dreamed a permanent house could have been like. Instead of bare floors they were made of wood with soft carpets in some areas. Idora had been concerned that Morenth would scratch the floor with her claws, but it seemed to be enchanted somehow and impervious to her claws. The walls, instead of being bare, held various bookshelves, and even a few paintings. The depression in the center of the main room was padded with pillows, and there was even a separate room with a writing desk, a smaller bed for her, and stacks of papers, quills, and ink. And the entire room was open to the air, a large balcony to one side with an opening large enough to accommodate a dragon of considerable size, then windows with crystal clear glass on either side to provide even more natural light.

That being said, as casual as the room seemed, there were other elements more familiar and even more comforting to her. In one corner of the main room was a weapons rack with a half dozen swords and knives on them, all of them expertly crafted and weapons that she had trained with since she was young. There was even a small package when unraveled was found to contain various types of whetstones and oils for sharpening and protecting her blades. In one corner of her study there was a small table with a mortar and pestle on top, and a drawer below revealed dozens of ingredients and concoctions. She noticed a lack of the more deadly poisons, but there were plenty for immobilizing, confusing, and other tricks she had often used. The entire room felt casual, but held most if not all the tools of her trade within it. It was like an arsenal is disguise, and Idora loved every bit of it for both aspects.

After a couple days of rest, Durak had instructed them that there would be various missions that each of them should choose from. None of them seemed quite fit to her particular skills, but the one about hunting a giant volcanic salamander seemed interesting enough. She couldn't say she was particularly skilled in hunting wild animals, but she was confident in her tracking skills, and a salamander that spewed volcanic fire and rock seemed like an easy target to track down.

And so that morning the two of them had gotten up before dawn, still a well worn habit for Idora, and snuk downstairs to the main hall to get an early start on the day. Idora wasn't surprised to see Durak already awake with the entire table set and garnished with piles of food for breakfast. Idora didn't say anything but nodded to the man and stuffed her leather bag with a few rolls of bread and a dozen strips of dried beef.

"I suppose it's too much to ask for you to sit down and enjoy your meal?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm in his voice and a glint in his eye.

Idora allowed herself a small smile as she put up her hood, "I'm not really one to sit still for long, nor do I enjoy tarrying when work is to be done."

The old man smiled and nodded, "Happy hunting then Idora, Morenth."

And that brought them back to the present, flying away from the ancient ancestral castle of the riders to the west towards Oblitus Woods where the salamander had last been sighted. She leaned back in the saddle as the full brunt of the wind blasted her chest, but she didn't mind. That would have been suicide on her previous saddle, the modified horse saddle that had only just fit, but the proper dragon saddles Durak had provided for them were far superior. She was strapped in at the legs, meaning even if she sat up straight like she was, there was no risk of being blown off her dragon. Not only safer, the saddle was much more comfortable than her own makeshift saddle.

Smiling, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind and the sun. They would be flying for a few hours at least before they were in the general area, and she intended to be well rested when they eventually found their threat.

Green trees were below her instead of the green and yellow plains from before when they finally spotted their quarry. There it was, a giant black, grey, and orange lizard within about a half mile of the forest and slowly meandering in that direction. "Alright, let's get down closer and see if we can get a better view of this thing," Idora said to Morenth. The dragon agreed and entered a steep dive, the flaring her wings to stop them as they reached the edge of the forest and stalled, then hovered a few hundred feet from the salamander.

It's skin, or rather what appeared to be some sort of armor plating, covered most of its body. It appeared to looks like hardened magma, dark and pockmarked, skin of stone it seemed. Between the cracks in the armor, particularly where there were joints in the monster's body, it's true skin could be seen, a sort of light orange color, and it seemed to pulse and flow as if it was made of fire or magma itself.

The monster turned it's eyes towards them, bright yellow orbs with no obvious pupil or iris, but nevertheless seemed to burn it's stare into them. With a hiss like water hitting fire and creating steam, the salamander opened it's mouth and out came a bright glob of something. Idora barely had enough time to curse before Morenth twisted her wings and they dropped in a tight spiral, falling seemingly end over then crashing to the ground on all fours. The impact was so sudden and strong Idora smacked her head against Morenth's neck and her vision swam for a second. Then she found her face connecting with the neck only a moment later as Morenth suddenly surged upward dodging another ball of liquid rock, then the two were several hundred feet away and out of harm once again.

"Well shit," Idora mumbled, her head swimming, "I think this is going to be harder than we thought."

Indeed, Morenth agreed, we will have to tread carefully here. Although...I think I might have an idea…

As Morenth described her idea, Idora began liking it less and less. By the time the plan was described completely, Idora was in a properly sour mood and she spat out, "I hope you know we're only doing this because I don't have a better idea, and it's your fault if I get burnt to a crisp." With a grimace, she began to unlace the bindings on her legs, "Let's just get this over with, I already hate this overgrown newt."

Jay · May 12, 2016

Chapter 1: Experience

Alyra had come instantly at Ziles calling her, was a speck of red on her white feathered maw from where she had been devouring her prey... she apologized profusely once Zile pointed it out and proceeded to use her long snaking tongue to wipe away the speck, claiming she missed it while freshening up. They moved from the bridge entrance of Pharus Castle quickly following this, the trip was only a few seconds to the old town with Zile sitting upon his companions new saddle, which he had lugged outside upon his shoulders, from his room, following his departure from breakfast with Flynn and Durak.

On his way out he had noticed Sol's manservant Cyril walking the hall with a small container of sugar. Gods, he hated that. Cyril was in every way the lapdog of his perfect little princess and it irritated Zile to see him going through motions so obediently for the seemingly lazy and arrogant heiress to the elves. Zile and Sol had the same status now, with ranks higher than royalty... but did Zile have servants wiping his arse after a toilet break? No. No he didn't. He also doubted that if _he_ asked for something, that Cyril would comply.

But oh well, it really wasn't something to be getting worked up over... as Alyra commented. The two walked comfortably towards the job board, ready to pick out something fairly low maintenance... but still exciting enough to get his blood pumping.

"Hopefully we can kill something semi challenging today..." He idly commented to Alyra, broadcasting his thoughts to her privately.

"You hope for the strangest things... I peaked at the board earlier, can't we just save a kitten from a tree."
"That sounds boring."
"It sounds safe.."
"Exactly. What a bore."
"Tyron..."

She gave up then, letting her irritation flow openly into him... but putting no further arguments forward as she was very aware that his mind would not change.

As he approached the board, Zile was surprised to see that Lyra and Lorelai were already present. Tapping Alyra's foreleg to still her, he approached quietly, hoping to catch the tail end of Lyra's conversation. She seemed to be pondering a request to vanquish some goblins that were attacking a nearby town.

"We didn't have goblins in Rosaria." She spoke aloud. "But we learned where to strike to cut them down, just in case."

Zile stepped forward then, shrugging his arms a little as he quickly interjected. "Goblins probably aren't smart enough to swim... but you know, every time I've killed one it's been on dry land. So I'm not exactly all knowing on the issue."

Lyra jumped a little, slightly surprised by Ziles intrusion, Lorelai glanced carefully at the grinning man and blinked her eyes once in greeting. Lyra hadn't expected someone like Zile to move so silently, although, she thought she could hear the flapping of dragon wings moments before, she smiled politely before replying. "I don't think they can. Not through such a surf, anyway." She paused then, realizing what he had said and perked up a little. "You've slain goblins before?"

He nodded at that and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, suddenly self conscious. "Killed goblins, killed lots of things really. They're annoying little runts for the unprepared. But anybody trained to fight should be fine." He scratched his stubbled chin gently. "Although... a whole village burning down... that's a little above a goblin raiding parties pay grade... and maybe a little above yours too..."

"We're getting paid?" Lyra half jokes, half questions. Becoming a rider is more like a lifestyle than a job, still, people have been known to give over some coin for goblin hunting. She gives her dragon's head a light pat. "Lorelai can handle a burning anything."

He laughs somewhat, as Alyra pads over in response to a mental prod. She nods solemnly to her sister dragon with a pleasant hum upon arrival and listens patiently as the conversation progresses.

"Paid?... I'm not sure about that, with everything provided for us so far... I think we owe a bit of work in return, eh?" He smirks, before looking her up and down. "You seem well prepared, I'll give you that. But how much field combat experience do you have?"

"Against monsters, none." She confesses. "Against other swordsmen, plenty." But is that good enough? With an expert slayer right beside her, maybe she shoule hand this mission over to him. She could easily swap it for the kitten in a tree request.

"It's a start, but you'll need to learn the wilder techniques of beasts first hand if you want to survive long term in what, I suppose, is our new line of work. Im sure you and Lorelai would be fine in the long run but..." He folded his arms for a moment, pondering his next words. "What if Alyra and I tagged along? We could show you how best to deal with the goblins, it'd be good training for the future."

At Zile's first few words, Lyra reaches for her paper. If Zile, who has experience, thinks she isn't ready, she likely isn't; however, before she can lift her arm so much as an inch, she recieves a delicate knock in the shoulder via Lorelai's nose. It seems her dragon doesn't approve of her rider handing the request over.
But what if she were to take Zile along? She certainly isn't going to say no to help fighting a goblin army... and Lorelai seems pleased by the alternative as well. "My goblins are your goblins." She says with a grin.

He nods resolutely and glances quickly at the paper for the more exact details. "Then my blade is your blade in return. Meet me at the village in question, one hour from now and not a second later, nor a moment earlier. The goblins won't wait around, but I also want you to make sure you're prepared."

"I'll be there." Hell, they could be there in a matter of minutes. The second the conversation ended, Lorelai would take flight towards the town, and two miles is nothing for a skybound dragon. Though Zile seemed rather insistent on one hour of prep... and since he was the one with experience... "One hour it is."

"Good! You're quick to the point. I like that. Now then, let's get moving. No time to hesitate eh?" He gripped the strap on Alyra saddle and hoisted himself up and over in a single movement. With a quick nod and a mental push of acknowledgement from Alyra, they were off.

"Take us to the village immediately." Zile said once they were in the air. Alyra sent a subtle wave if surprise forward as she questioned why he would not wait.

"Something stinks about this. Goblins don't destroy entire villages, it doesn't work like that. They're not organised enough. No, I think there's more to this than meets the eye. I'm not rushing in until I know for certain what's what."

She smiled somewhat and hummed beneath her rider in response. "You wish to protect the young elven girl."

He grunts in response and she chortles deep in her gut as they set course due North, towards the ruined village.

Ziles eyes widened at scene of destruction displayed before him. The village was still burning in places, but for the most part all that remained was ash. He saw the barn nearby, where the final remnants of the population were almost certainly waiting with drawn weapons and worried expressions. He slowly dismounted Alyra and ran a hand over her snout.

"Fly above and watch from the skies, if things get bad plunge in and we can catch them off guard."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Of course... it's just goblins, we-"
"You know that isn't what I mean."

Zile winced, of course she saw through his facade. She knows him better than any other... and though he tries to hold back the rage and sorrow that builds within him in response to the subtle scent of ash, burned wood and charred remains... his feelings are too strong for Alyra to be unaware.

He hasn't seen anything like this form of destruction... not since...

"I'll be alright, Alyra. Promise, alright?" He speaks aloud this time with a half grin and she Huff's in displeasure but acceptance.

"I will be upon you in an instant if I deem you need me. Physically or emotionally."

He smirks and awkwardly scratches the back if his head.

"Very well, now go!"

Reluctantly she falls her wings and takes to the sky, perusing the environment and watching for any threats that may come for Zile. However, both of them are very surprised by what they find.

"Where are all the goblins?"

"Tyron! To your left!"

The gruff man turns his head to see two sets of three goblins run forward from the charred remains if two ruined homes. Their tight, sickly red and blistered skin clinging to their bony hooked noses as they hold simple wooden clubs over their heads. They let out a screechy war cry from their garbled throats and Zile slowly draws his one and a half hand sword, showing no signs of worry or stress as he confidently grips the blade in his unarmored hand.

"Come on then."

The leader of the goblin group leaps wildly toward Zile, swinging his club overhead in a sloppy and violent maneuver. It takes no effort whatsoever for Zile to slightly reposition and crash a gauntlet covered fist hard into the small beasts face. He hears the satisfying crack of bone as he caves the small creatures skull in, killing it instantly.

The second one strikes at his legs, but Zile does a short hop and cracks his boot down on the beasts swinging arm, shattering the small fragile bones within and causing the creature to recoil in screaming agony. A third goblin then falters in his attack and Zile sweeps in, using the opportunity to decapitate both creatures in one fell swoop. Thick, murky brown blood splatters across the green grass below as the monsters drop dead.

The remaining three goblins falter and move to retreat, Zile rushes after them however, his speed being greater than any would expect from a warrior of his bulk.

"What now?! You pieces of filth!"

He catches up and skids through the still dew maiden grass, drawing his blade swiftly along the small of a fleeing goblins back. His ally trips as he looks back in horror... but the third keeps running. Focussing his eyesight best he can, Zile grips his sword in both hands and holds it overhead before heaving it forward with all his might, the blade spins three full arcs in the air, before lodging itself tight in the back of the fleeing goblins skull. It gives a cut off, gurgled moan, before falling silently to the floor.

Zile approaches the final goblin as it scrambles to its feet. As Zile approaches, the creature desperately reaches for its weapon, but Zile is faster... and kicks it away before it can be used against him. Reaching down with his gauntlet, Zile grabs the monster by its exposed neck and hoists it into the air. It struggles and claws, kicking and screaming. But Ziles gauntlet is barely scratched by the pitiful efforts.

"How many did you kill?" Zile asks quietly, but the goblin ignores him.

"HOW MANY?!" Zile roars this time... and a small bird flies from its perch on a nearby tree. The goblin goes silent and slightly limp in his grip, it's eyes painted with fear.

"Please no kill... please no kill..." It has in desperation, before continuing when Zile does not respond.

"No know number... boss say fifty... not know what mean... boss say fifteen left. He say there sharp ear... ten of you peoples... and two stout ones... barn, big barn... me no know numbers, only words... please no kill... please no kill..."

Zile rose an eyebrow. That was an unusually coherent and sensical answer for a goblin. Thus wasn't right at all, these little bastards could barely speak. How the hell was this one giving him proper answers? He realized then, that it didn't matter for that moment. For the time being, he could get more information.

"Where's your chief? Where's your goblin king?" The goblin struggled for breath, but Zile wouldn't budge, waiting for his answer.

"Boss... kill old boss... give us speaking words... make us smart smart... teach us things..."

Zile was taken aback. Something had killed the goblin chief... and now controlled the beasts? Not only that... but he managed to organize them into a cohesive working unit? This had to be done form of sorcery. He doubted something would bother sending years to educate a raging, leaderless goblin clan.

"Where?" Zile asked.

"In ruined town meet up building... where you peoples has talking times... please let go... p... please no kill..." The goblin begged, slowly losing more and more energy.

Zile scowled, so they were camped out in the old town hall... wherever that was. Zile would have to go there and discover what was going on. However, the villagers needed checking on first... he probably should've waited for back up... and... well...

He still had a mess to clean up.

"You beg for your life?" Zile asks plainly.

"P-please no kill... me be good... please no- gak!"

Zile tightened his grip, his eyes blazing with rage.

"Those people you burned alive... I bet they begged. I bet they wanted to live too. Did you show them mercy?!"

The goblins red skin paled horribly. His eyes widening in fear, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words sprang forth. Only a choked wheeze and a soft gag.

"You disgust me you mongrel. Die." Before it could scream, Zile flicked his wrist and the goblins fragile, bruised neck, snapped like a twig. He dropped the convulsing, gagging body onto the floor... it writhed for a few moments before fading into nothing.

Alyra winced as she watched events unfold, but she made no effort to reprimand or complain to Zile due to his actions. He spoke to her through their mental link, in a tired, angry tone, yet one edged by caring sentimentality for her.

"Meet me at the barn, it's but a short walk north of here. I'll be there momentarily. We have people to save."

Chapter 1

Player objectives: (Objectives with * are mandatory)
- Get breakfast.
- Explore Pharus Castle and town.
- Interact with fellow riders.
- Go to the notice board and choose a task. *
- Complete said task. *

Dusty · May 12, 2016

Idora's boots hit the grass hard and she dropped and rolled to reduce the impact. Thirty feet above her Morenth flapped her wings hard to gain altitude, shaking the tall grass around her making it feel like she was in a heavy storm as the gusts of wind battered her. The wind subsided as her dragon soared into the sky and then the two were separated. The distance grew slightly and their link became more strained, but she could still feel Morenth's presence and they could still communicate. Alright, Idora said to her, let's get this over with. She took off at a brisk run, checking to make sure her blades were still secured at her side.

She made her way into the forest, making her way quickly through the underbrush. It was a lot easier to move stealthily in a city where you didn't have as many leaves, twigs, and rocks underfoot, but then again stealth was not exactly her intention. Morenth had dropped her off about a mile off from the salamander in a small clearing. Far enough away for the two of them to not get spat at while trying to land, plus a little extra. So after running at a brisk trot for a half dozen minutes or so, she found their quarry once again, only now much closer to the trees of the forest, much closer than she was comfortable with. Only a hundred feet separated the two of them, her at the very edge of the forest and the salamander meandering its way in that general direction.

She took a moment to watch it, curious as to what it might be doing. She had expected it to make a beeline for the trees, but instead it was still in the grasslands. As she watched it made a sort of croaking sound, then dug around in the ground for a few seconds. It darted its head into the hole it had made, then a moment later it returned holding a boulder twice the size of a man's head in it's jaws. With a crunch, the rock cracked into smaller fragments, and the monster quickly scooped them up with a bright orange and molten looking tongue, eating them all within just two bites. Then the monster began sniffing around, apparently looking for more rocks to eat. That must be how it was able to spit the globs of molten material she decided. Or perhaps it was simply for nutrients, she wasn't quite sure.

The salamander, now that she was able to get an even closer look at it, was probably about forty feet from head to tail. The thing was monstrously large, although the tail itself probably took a decent fifteen feet itself. The entire body, as she had observed before, was made up of what looked like plates of rock, and in the cracks it appeared to flow with magma. Wherever the monster stepped, it left behind a charred footprint, burning up the grass where it stepped immediately, and the grass nearby would char and start small fires. Fortunately that fire had yet to spread significantly, but she could see the trail the monster had burned on it's way to this place.

Taking her eyes off of the monster she surveyed the land nearby. At her back was the entire forest, which spread from north to south as far as the eye could see. In front of her was the field of grass, and to her right cutting through both was a river of some respectable size. Other than that, the land was fairly bare. Some boulder stuck out of the ground, and the land had a slight slope to it running down to the river, but for the most part it was simply plain.

Alright Morenth, let's do this. After receiving an affirmative from Morenth she dashed out of the cover of the trees, pulling her swords out as she did so. She dashed in front of the volcanic salamander and smashed the sides of her swords together to get it's attention. The monster's large head turned towards her for a moment, it's molten pupiless eyes gazing into her, then the beast turned away and ignored her. "Hey," she shouted, running within a couple dozen meters of the beast. Pulling a dagger from her boot, she quickly took aim and hurled the blade directly into the monster's eye.

The dagger buried itself up to the hilt and the beast shrieked and recoiled at the impact, clawing at it's face with it's feet. Curious, Idora watched as the monster slowly calmed down, then it's tongue crawled out of it's mouth and circled around the hilt of the dagger. The molten tongue pulled the dagger out, then the metal melted within the tongue. The eye leaked a bright yellow liquid that oozed for a few moments before subsiding. When the liquid drained away, the bright orange eye had a deep red slit where the dagger had entered. With that done, the lizard turned it's gaze to Idora with as much hate and disdain a salamander could muster.

"Oh shit," Idora muttered then dashed to the right as a glob of molten goo flew past her head. Several more followed in short succession and Idora was forced to focus on dodging as the enraged salamander. Keeping in mind the river behind her, she tried to goad the beast into moving closer and closer to the river, but after a certain point, about a hundred feet from the river, the beast stopped chasing her and just made a frustrated croaking sound. "All right then, your turn Morenth…"

The salamander having stopped, she took the opportunity to throw more and more daggers at the beast. Some impacted where she intended, the eyes, the shoulders and other joints where flesh was exposed. Others bounced harmlessly off of the hardened armor that covered the beast. It enraged the monster to no end, but the monster only seemed to increase it's temperature and melt the daggers buried in it's flesh. Somewhere in Idora's mind, she realized she was going to have to get some more daggers, having thrown a whole dozen of them with only a few left.

While the salamander was distracted dealing with the small but irritating human in front of it, Morenth swooped down from behind it coming out of a steep dive. With a snap, her jaws closed around the tail of the salamander and her momentum sent both of them in the direction of the river. Then with an awful sounding crack, the tail popped off of the salamander and the now tailless monster dropped the few feet it had been above the ground, now only a couple dozen feet from the river. It spasm in pain for a few seconds, the furiously began to try to climb up the bank, but Idora was waiting now with her miniature crossbow aimed at the beast's head. She filled the salamander's eyes with quarrels as fast as she could reload.

Meanwhile, Morenth flew above the forest for another pass on the beast, the tail of the monster still within her mouth. She growled slightly as the tail seemed to pulse in heat and light slightly, then again. Suddenly, before she could release the tail from her mouth, it exploded outwards in smoke and lava. Her scales helped block the brunt of the heat, but her exposed mouth was severely burned and her feathered wings were singed with fire, some feathers still burning slightly. Searing pain shot through her head and she roared in pain and anger, her body flailing for a moment in the air before her instincts kicked back in and her body righted itself.

In anger the dragon swooped down to where her rider was keeping the salamander preoccupied. Flaring her wings at the last second, she delivered a mighty kick to the beast sending it tumbling down the slight incline down into the river. The monster's hot skin steamed as it impacted the water, and the beast made a horrible shrieking noise in pain and fear. Morenth dived into the cloud of steam after it and the river became filled with roars, shrieks, and the sounds of splashing water and sharp crunches.

Idora watched from the shore in awe as the two beasts thrashed in the water. After a few moments the turmoil slowed until she saw Morenth emerge from the cloud of steam dragging the volcanic salamander in her mouth. It's skin was now much darker, the skin beneath the plating appeared to be only a dim color of red and seemed almost gray. The lizard moved much more sluggishly now, it's dim eyes half closed. Apparently the beast had not enjoyed it's bath. Morenth dropped the salamander, and with a single stomp, brought her clawed foot onto the skull of the salamander. It crunched, then shattered, molten liquid rock oozing from the cracks before hardening on the now cold skin.

"Ugh, let's not do that again," Idora sighed in relief.

Agreed, these pretend lizards seem- She cut off mid sentence as the pain returned full force once again, and that was when Idora truly recognized the severity of the burns.

"Oh gods, you're hurt, let me take a look," she exclaimed, racing over to her dragon. Morenth lowered her head so that Idora could get a better look at it. There were several other area of her body with minor burns, but Idora dismissed them as too minor to worry about. Her immediate concern was the horrendous looking burns over her face and mouth. Fortunately, both eyes seemed to be fine, but Morenth's entire snout was charred, and upon opening her mouth she saw even more serious burns within the dragon's mouth. Even half of her tongue was severely burned.

Wait a moment, I feel...get back… Idora backed away as Morenth stiffened, then shuddered. The dragon felt...something within herself, almost begging to be released. Not really knowing how she did it, she tried to release that thing. As she did, her mind was filled with power and to Idora the dragon's eyes shone with a soft green light. The dragon's body twitched every few seconds, then the power faded and Morenth slowly slumped onto the ground, her burns healed.

Her mouth gaping wide, Idora ran over to Morenth shouting, "What in the twelve hells was that!" She quickly inspected the areas that had been burned, but they had been healed as if nothing had happened. The only thing that she could find was a slight amount of scar tissue on the inside of the dragon's mouth, but even as she watched the scarring disappeared.

I...I don't know. Magic I would suppose, there isn't really any other explanation, is there?

Morenth seemed just as confused as she was. "Well, as long as you are fine now, I suppose that's all that matters." As they were talking Idora noticed something out of the corner of her eye and spun around, her blade halfway out of it's sheath.

"Ah, no weapons please, I am a friend," the newcomer said, an elf dressed in a faded green and brown tunic and light brown trousers. "I just wanted to thank the two of you for your help with the salamander. It is...unfortunate that you had to kill the animal, but what is done is done."

Idora grimaced, "Well, not like we had much of a choice in the matter. It wasn't exactly being the most cooperative." Morenth chided her for her annoyed tone. She sighed and tried to relax, "Sorry, bad start to the day I suppose. In any case, you're right, it's too bad we had to kill it, it did seem like an interesting creature."

The elf smiled and said, "You did the best under the circumstances, and we are most grateful for your help!" The elf paused and with look up at Morenth. With a wondrous tone he said softly, "So the dragons and riders have truly returned. We had heard rumors, but...we hadn't allowed ourselves to believe until now…"

"The riders are back," Idora said as cheerfully as she could manage as she swung into the saddle once again, "and we'll always be here for the people of the land." It was a bit corny, but it seemed like a decent thing for a rider to say.

The elf nodded, his grin spreading. "You will always be welcome here rider and dragon, thank you for your help."

And with that Morenth lept into the skies, wings straining to gain altitude and rushing back to the castle which had become their home. "That went rather well, don't you think? I think I could get used to this whole rider thing!" The dragon agreed and they traveled in silence for a few moments. "Damn!" Idora exclaimed, "That bastard lizard singed my cloak!"

Stinging Bea · May 12, 2016

Tamber

Princess Sol Laetanas

Setting Off

Later that very morning, a spring was in Tamber's step as she made her way towards the hall where all the Riders had assembled upon their arrival to Pharus Castle. The white-haired gypsy was humming a small tune as she stepped inside the chamber, her eyes scanning the room into she spotted their host, the old Rider currently looking out one of the windows quietly. The room was quiet, much more so than when she had arrived a few days ago. The lacking presence of dragons seemed to help set in the fact that the castle and its town were essentially abandoned. Yet, this did little to sway the rather pleasant mood that Tamber found herself in.

"Krotan~" the young woman called out, her voice still melodic as if she was singing now. "I've got the paper with the task Sol and I shall be embarking upon~"

"Oh, is that so? Perfect! Now who did you say you were going with again?" the elderly rider asked, taking the paper and reading it over. "Oh dear, it does seem like a difficult task indeed. Ah, I see it was princess Sol after all." he said, answering his own question as he noticed the sun-shaped emblem at the bottom of the paper.

Tamber grinned, placing her hands behind her back in the process. "But any hard work is worth it if we can restore glory back to the Riders and the castle, yes?"

"My dear, your arrival on its own has already done half of the work - ah, here is your partner." Krotan said, turning to the entrance of the chamber where Sol had just entered. "Well then, you truly did sign up with Tamber after all." he chuckled. "I would say color me surprised, but you lose the ability to be surprised after the first 500 years or so."

Sol blushed at the old rider's remark. "I- ah- ahem." she quickly cleared her throat and regained her composure. "Indeed. I do believe it is key for us riders to get to know each other, in order to allow us to work in harmony as a team in times of need. Alienation cannot be the answer to everything." she said, and bowed. "I think this will be a great pleasure and training exercise, Tamber!" she forced a smile and turned to the white-haired dancer.

The smirk could not have been anymore evident on Tamber's lips. "Oh, yes. We're going to have a lot of fun. I was so thankful that you agreed to sign up for this task with me. You were so eager, you barely took the time to read it."

"I... Indeed, yes! I truly am looking forward to this." Sol said as she gritted her teeth. The old rider chuckled knowingly, but said nothing. "Then, with your blessing, I hope, we will take our leave from you, Sir Durak." Sol bowed politely before grabbing Tamber's arm tightly and escorting the pair out of the room.

The second they were outside, Sol pinned Tamber against the wall. "What did you make me do." she hissed. "What did you make me sign?"

The smile never left Tamber's lips as she stared Sol in the eyes. "This is quite forward, don't you think? Normally I prefer a glass of wine or two before I engage in such lust-filled activities~"

Sol sighed in exasperation as she let go of Tamber. "Just... What mission are we going for?"

Tamber giggled softly, the white-haired woman coming to stand upright as she placed a hand on her hip. "Well... What I told you this morning was mostly true," she explained, glancing up to the sky as she spoke. "We are heading east towards an old Rider fort of sorts... But instead of treasure, we're going to be bringing back some weaponry left there over the ages... Oh, and it's all supposed to be guarded by a horde or two of undead monsters."

The way Tamber added on the last bit sounded so casual, as if it was something completely normal. She placed her hands behind her back, looking back at Sol with delight in her eyes. "Doesn't that sound thrilling?"

Sol stared back at Tamber, her expression blank and her eyes filled with seething rage. "You..." she mouthed. "You b-... I..." She stopped herself and took a deep breath. Calming techniques, Sol. Calming. Count to ten. One, two, three, wearegoingtofightundead, four, Imustresistallviolenturges, five... ten.

"It's something new." Sol replied stiffly. "We should call back our dragons."

"Already ahead of you," Tamber replied. "Pyra should be meeting us shortly. I wouldn't be surprised if she found your dragon and already passed the word."

--------------------

Bah. This old architecture is of no interest to Khepri. Luxolis' glass buildings were far more enjoyable. Khepri thought to himself, circling the old castle routinely as the sun rose in the distance. The freedom is much more appreciated, though.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Khepri feels someone's light. he thought. It was coming from not too far within the forest, and was radiating quite intensely - almost burning, in fact. His curiosity now piqued, the golden dragon turned away from the castle and towards the light source.

Not too far from Khepri's location, Pyra was enjoying some peace and quiet to herself. The fire dragon was currently busy enjoying a breakfast of sorts consisting of some trout that she managed to fish out of a nearby stream. She was mildly curious about how Tamber's proposition to Sol about the task went, but figured that the dancer could use a bit more time before she returned to inquire.

"Besides... It is nice to have a little time to myself," Pyra admitted. "Tamber should be safe within the castle... While I don't know the others well yet, I can tell there is no malice within our guest."

As Pyra prepared to take another bite out of the fish, the feeling that she was being approached quickly filled her being. She stood up quickly, taking a cautious stance as she braced herself for the chance of combat. However, this feeling quickly passed as the presence took form in the shape of Khepri. Pyra did not know the dragon well, but she recognized him enough as the one who came with the elven princess. It was sort of ironic in a way, with Tamber busy dealing with Sol, she was now apparently to be busy with the dragon of light.

"Ah!" Khepri called out. "Madam Pyra, is that you? Do not fear, it is I, Khepri!" he said as he landed. He bowed courteously. "I hope my presence is not disturbing you."

The fire dragon remained silent fo a moment, not really sure just how to respond. Slowly, her gaze seemed to lower to the ground as she nodded her head softly. "No... not at all... Is there something I can help you with...?"

"Why, what kind of question is that for a lady to ask? Khepri is here to serve you, kind Pyra. I cannot imagine anyone would enjoy sitting all alone in a silent forest... a meal can only be truly enjoyed with company, is it not true?" he asked, taking a seat next to her. "And besides, Khepri has grown tired of seeing the sunrise. He would much rather see a different kind of sunrise such as yourself, lady Pyra."

Pyra narrowed her eyes in Khepri's direction. "Is this what Tamber calls flirting...? How unusual, I was not aware dragons were capable of such things..." Slowly, the fire dragon looked away from Khepri turning her attention to the nearby stream. "I... I suppose that is acceptable, if you would like to give me your company for a bit. If things go according to plan, we may be spending a good deal of time together soon as it is..."

"Oh, is that so? And what do you mean by that?" Khepri inquired.

Pyra felt a bit awkward at this point. Perhaps she should have discussed this with Sol's dragon before hand, just in case he himself may not have been okay with it. Clearing her throat, she slowly glanced back up at Khepri.

"Well... Our host seems to have tasks that he wishes our Riders to take part in," Pyra explained. "Tamber picked one that she found... a bit difficult to complete with just our power alone. She decided that your Rider was the best fit to accompany her on the request, but..." She paused, feeling a bit hesitant to continue. "She... Tamber figured that... She might need to choose her words carefully and use a few tricks of tongue to get your Rider to agree to assist her."

Khepri chuckled. "Oh, Khepri understands you completely. Here, give me a second-" he paused and closed his eyes, concentrating his energy to where Sol was to feel what she was feeling. "Ho ho... Your Tamber is quite the sly one, my lady..." Khepri said, his eyes still closed. "An impressive skill, I admit."

He looked around. The fire dragon had indeed picked a very peaceful spot to lay in - quite surprising given that she was a dragon of fire. "But yes, indeed. Khepri hopes he will enjoy working with the two of you as much as he is enjoying his time now."

It was a very good thing that Pyra was red in color by default. Otherwise, one might very well be able to see the faint tinge of a blush working its way to her scaled cheeks. Once more, Pyra's gaze shifted away from Khepri, hoping that the dragon of light was not able to detect how flustered she was getting.

"A-Ah... I feel that Tamber is calling me... Perhaps we should head back to the castle now, yes?" Pyra suggested, quickly trying to change the pace of the conversation the two were having.

"Ah, if your rider is calling for you, then mistress Sol must surely be needing Khepri as well... Very well then, let us depart!" Khepri exclaimed, standing up. "Ladies first, of course."

--------------------

After a brief wait, the shadows of the two dragons was cast down overtop of the elven princess and the dancer. The two dragons gently landed in front of their trainers, Pyra kneeling down so Tamber could climb upon her back easily. A small spring was in Tamber's step as she made her way over to the fire dragon, giving her an affectionate pat on her head.

"Sorry, did we keep you waiting too long?" Pyra inquired, nuzzling into Tamber's palm.

"Not at all," Tamber replied. She eyed the new saddle that rested on the back of Pyra, a small smile gracing the dancer's lips as she imagined how much more comfortable the flight would be with the new accessory on Pyra. She made a mental note to thank Krotan for it later. "I think we're about ready for our journey. With the saddles, it shouldn't be so hard on the backside now..." She paused, eyeing Sol with a faint, mischievous-looking smirk taking over her lips. "Especially since some of us might have a bit more of a delicate one, yes?"

And I might as well shove an arrow up yours. Sol thought to herself. "...I, appreciate your.... concern, Tamber." the elf hissed through clenched teeth.

"Khepri is glad to see the two young mistresses are making friends." the golden dragon said, amused as he landed down near Sol. A brown saddle also rested on his back, indeed cushioning his rather... uncomfortable scales.

Tamber turned in Khepri's direction, giving the light dragon a quick nod. "Oh, yes. I have the feeling we're going to be the best of friends after this, don't you Sol?"

The princess ignored both her companions' comments, and motioned for Khepri to get down so she could climb onto him. "We should depart as soon as possible." she said, clambering onto his back. "Are you ready, or do you still have things to bring along?"

Tamber shook her head, quickly following Sol's lead by climbing onto Pyra's back. "No, I believe I have everything I should need."

"Good, then let's get this over w- ahem, let us depart at once." Sol replied, and patted Khepri's neck to signal him to take off.

A joint post of Foxrally and Frozen Heart

GreyBidoof · May 13, 2016

Gamvar Ironfist
&
Grom-Duraz
in

A Worthy Task

As the sun rose over the horizon, the residents of Castle Pharus began to wake from their slumber. Except for one, that is, who had awoken long before the light had begun to shine through the light had begun to shine through the small windows of the dimly-lit room.

That one, of course, was Gamvar.

The lifestyle of a dwarf had little to do with the cycle of daylight. Most settlements were built underground or inside mountains, with little view of the sun and moon. This aspect freed them up to work whenever it needed to be done, which for a smith, is quite a bit of time. Thus, Gamvar, like many of his kin, had an ingrained schedule of waking up, heating up and stoking the forgefire, and starting the day's labor.

I remember when I was just a wee lad, I used ta hate gettin' up outta me bed." Gamvar reminisced aloud, to his half-asleep dragon. "Me mam would come over ta me and whack me with the fryin' pan, sayin' 'Gamvar, ya moth-eaten porridge-eatin' smudge-rubber, get your lazy rear outta bed and help your father!' "

The dwarf laughed heartily as he hammered the slab of metal in front of him. "Good times, good times indeed."

Looking over at his companion, still stretched out across the floor, he furrowed his brow. "Hey, ya big lump of stone, why don't ya get up and get movin'? We've got a big day ahead of us, with the old man sendin' us out on those 'missions' or whatnot."

Grom raised rocky eyelid, and snorted in disdain. "While I understand your eagerness, you must realize that you are the only one active at this time. I doubt even the Elder Rider is ready to assign tasks. Let us bide our time, and have the opportunity to obtain a desirable mission."

Gamvar let out an exaggerated sigh. "Whatever ye say, Grom." The dwarf went back to work, pounding away,

A few hours passed, allowing some sunlight to seep into the room, illuminating the areas that had escaped the light of the forge. The space itself was large, to accommodate both dragon and rider, and seemed to be furnished accordingly. The walls were lined with layers of chiseled stone, with a large doorway that led out onto an outside balcony. One of Gamvar's first projects upon arriving had been to install a crude but effective motorized hinge, that opened the thick slab of a door wit hthe pull of a lever. Much more effective than Grom trying to smash his way through every time, at least.

The rest of of the room was sparsely decorated, but instead cluttered with racks of various metals and materials, gadgets and trinkets, some provided by the Old Rider, some from Gamvar's personal collection. To the ordinary eye, the clutter would seem disarrayed and mishappen, but to the dwarf, everythign was right where it should be. Most of this was confined to the back half of the room, near the area where the forge had been placed. Their host had had the foresight to have one put in the the Dwarf's quarters, for which Gamvar was grateful.

The front half of the room was taken up by a large pile of stone and gravel which Grom slept upon, and Gamvar's few furniture items. A bed, a table and chair, a small desk, and a cabinet set fit with a padlock. The only other defining feature of the room was the massive hearth, which was located along most of the left wall, which would provide a nice blaze when the weather turned cold.

Grom-Duraz had finally begun to stir once more, and Gamvar set down his tools, knowing the former was ready to go.

The pair strolled, if it's at all possible for a dwarf and a dragon such as these two, down to where the castle's notice board stood. It seemed that a number of listings had been posted, but many had been ripped off and taken, presumably by the other riders. Only a few remained. "Let's see here." Gamvar stated, scratching his beard intently.

A nearby woodland has recent suffered a sinkhole at its core, leading to a strange cave that folks have avoided. A small cave of human and elf scouts sits at the edge, join them, your presence will bolster their strength and with them you might find the source of the strange occurrence.

"Eh, I'd rather not have ta deal with those woodland elves. Can't trust 'em. What else have we got here?"

I have made contact with the Dwarven king, Warden Steelbeard. He wishes to meet with an envoy of ours as proof of the Riders return. Meet with him North West in the Dwarven town of Yaltan. Show only the utmost respect, this could mean much for our cause.

Before Gamvar could speak, Grom interjected. "We have spent the last fifty years dwelling in the caves and holes that you Dwarves call home. Let us choose a task that does not require us to return there so soon. Gamvar grunted, disappointed. Some dragon of Earth this was.

This is going to sound ridiculous but... a small cat has climbed a tree in the center of Pharus. I can't get it down, the blasted thing won't listen to me. Perhaps you'll have more luck?

"Well then Grom, looks like we'll have ta take this one, then. Too bad ye had to snub yer nose at the thought of going to see the great King Steelbeard, eh?"

Absolutely not. This is not a task worthy of a dragon. We shall go with the first.

"Nae. Tell ye what, if this task is so beneath ye, let's finish it without breaking a sweat, then come back here. Then we can go visit the wood elves, or go meet with King Steelbeard. Unless that's too much for a dragon like yourself, of course."

The dragon of earth snorted loudly, blanketing the area in sand. I see what you are trying to do, dwarf. We shall return quickly, and then complete a meaningful mission to prove our worth to the riders."

Gamvar chuckled. "Off we go, then! To Pharus! Fear not, cat, the great Gamvar Ironfist and Grom-Duraz are on their way!"

LinearAxel · May 13, 2016

One hour. The journey to the small town wouldn't take even a tenth of that time, though it was clear that Zile gave the time limit so they could prepare for what was to come. Lyra glances down at her sword, then to her dragon. Due to Lorelai's scales being so soft, Lyra didn't bother to put on her new tack, believing it would be counterproductive and only slow Lorelai down, though…some armor might not be a bad idea.

"Let's go back to the castle. We'll pick up some armor and my bow." Having something to attack from a distance didn't seem like a bad idea right about now.

And what do you plan to do with the rest of the hour? Certainly Lyra didn't intend to spend an hour picking up a saddle.

"We'll get to Redford and survey the area." It would do them well to know the area before they go swooping in.

As you wish. Lorelai bows her neck so Lyra can leap back on.

The ride back to the castle took no more than a minute. Lorelai landed on the balcony that connected to their room, letting out a quiet chuckle when Lyra dismounted before her claws touched the ground.

Aren't you an eager one this morning.

Lyra waves her hand in acknowledgement as she rushes for the farthest wall from the balcony, where weapons the elven girl has some experience with had appeared the night of their arrival: A bow, a holster of arrows, several types of slender, one handed swords, and a spear (though Lyra had only ever used a spear to catch fish, and she doubted such a technique worked in battle). The elf takes the bow and the holster and places them beside Lorelai, then returns to her closet, which is located close to the room's other exit: Here is where her armor appeared that first night.

Not wanting to be too weighed down, Lyra straps on only two shoulder guards: If her shoulders are injured, she won't be able to swing a sword, nor properly string her bow…making her a real sitting duck. As for Lorelai, Lyra hooks a simple armored piece to the base of her neck: While Lorelai's chest is protected by what appears to be denser scales, the base of her neck remains soft and (to a degree) vulnerable, but no longer.

Now prepared (as much as they were going to be, anyway) Lyra pulls the holster onto her shoulder, and her bow across the other. "Alright…let's do this."

Yet again the duo found themselves flying towards Pharus town, only this time no stops were made. "Can you make us some coverage?" Lyra asks her draco-partner.

Certainly you mean will I, you know I can.

As she flies, the air around Lorelai becomes damp, and a thick haze begins to form around the two. Due to their aerial advantage, and this misty veil, those looking up from below would believe the skyward object to be a stratus cloud, rather than an elf and dragon.

As Redford Town comes into view, Lorelai slows her flight to an easy-going glide; while goblins might not be the brightest of creatures, they might grow suspicious if the clouds above float by at such an impressive speed. Within their cloud a small circle is made, just big enough for Lyra to peer through the veil and see the decimated town below.

Though…there isn't much to see. Ashes, ashes everywhere. There's hardly enough shape left within the village to tell what used to be a building, or what used to be a tree…Lyra swallows thickly as her mind paints a vivid picture of what this place looked like before: Children screaming in terror, bodies flailing about as fire destroyed them from the outside in, men and women alike begging for their loved ones lives as the goblin horde cut them down without mercy.

"Has it been an hour?" She asks. How can anyone be asked to wait to lay waste to these monsters after seeing what they've done?

Not yet.[i/]

Lyra tenses, but doesn't speak another word. There is no sense in making their presence known now…it could be dangerous to go alone, and while Lorelai could extinguish the remaining flames, it didn't appear that anything that was still burning could be saved by being extinguished now, versus when their hour was up.

Lorelai continued her circle in silence as the barn came into view. It was pretty impossible to miss, being the only structure within the village that was still standing. "…Lorelai." Lyra breathes after a good minute of unsettling silence.

The dragon does not need to ask why she was spoken to; she can feel her rider's dread growing, as well as her anger: She can see the goblins.

"They're headed towards the barn." The Elder warned in his letter that the goblins would be back to finish off the remaining villagers, though she didn't read the message with the sense of urgency the situation truly required.

What's your plan, Little Elf?

"Dive down, we're heading them off." Lyra clutches tightly to Lorelai's neck as she speaks. Sorry, Zile, the goblins aren't waiting.

Lorelai's mouth opens just slightly as she begins her descent. The water that created their cloud coverage begins to fade away, instead collecting within Lorelai's mouth, and becoming super-heated by the energy within the dragon.

With each second that passes the dragon is gaining speed, and soon it would appear the two were falling more than flying.

"Now!" Lyra cries when the two are about one-hundred feet from the ground. Lorelai opens her mouth wide, releasing a powerful blast of boiling water into the center of the goblin horde.

The Jetstream lands with enough force to leave a small crater, goblins hit by said impact were either crushed downward or sent flying, and the crushing of multiple bones was quieted only by the monster's pained screams. Those who were not hit by the direct force, but were sprayed with the residual droplets, also howled in pain, clutching, or tearing at the skin that was quickly being burned through with the ungodly hot water.

Lorelai used the force of her blast to steady herself, and landed gracefully by the barn's entrance. The single blast was hardly enough to eliminate the entirety of the goblin forces, though it did a decent chunk of damage to their numbers.

We'll have to apologize to Zile for our early arrival.

"He'll understand." Lyra speaks as she leaps from her dragon's back, drawing her slender blade and pointing it in the goblin horde's direction. Lorelai's stands just behind her rider, her massive body blocking the door to the building. She lets out a ferocious growl towards the hideous beasts, the air around them growing significantly colder.

Sonata · May 13, 2016

Xander and Xaraho
A Deeper Understanding

'Just how long do you plan to stand over that flame?'

Xaraho rose from it's sleeping place after having stared at Xander for nearly an hour. The dwarf was hovering over the embers of the forge which was placed on his balcony. The perch overlooked the graveyard, and the sparks from the fire flew down naturally in its direction as if beckoning him to follow.

The dwarf continued to stare vacantly at the graveyard below for several more seconds before speaking. "I wonder at times how often you remember of your past lives." Xander's speech was lethargic and his mind was distant. "You say you remember dying time and time again, you say you get visions of different things from past lives but yet cannot control when they come or when they go; but I wonder just how much you actually know." The man turned around to face the dragon, his face blackened with soot from the forge giving him an ominous look. "Do you remember killing? Do you remember why you were hunted; why you were without a rider to protect you? Do you remember my brother, or the person who shot you down from the sky on that night you last died?"

The dragon parted its lips, giving off a strange sort of smile while barring its numerous pointed teeth. 'How much do you actually desire to know Xander? Those of your kind are not always so good at receiving or dealing with information, regardless of if they asked for it in the first place or if they even desired to know it. The things I could tell you...' the dragon chuckled and blew darkness from its nostrils as it stood fully and moved towards the dwarf. 'The pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the pursuit of power; all things that you mortals desire have consequences. Every time man, elf, dwarf or anything in between has sought out and pursued something it has only ended in tragedy. Some may not have seen it in their own lifetimes, even grandchildren may have been sparred from the damage. But somewhere down the line, damage was done from one man's ambitions. What do you stand to gain from learning what I know? Some peace of mind? What would you do with that knowledge once I bestowed it upon you? If I told you that I remembered what happened that night, would you seek to strike me down? Would you seek vengeance upon the hunter who clipped my wings? Truth, knowledge and power are all so poisonous to you mortals. They seem innocent enough at first, but your emotions get in the way and cloud your judgement. What should have been a simple droplet of water in a pond ends up breaking the floodgates, letting loose an unstoppable current that washes away all that you know and leaves you or those that you love in pain when the consequences finally show themselves.'

The dragon had been moving forward the whole time, carefully pacing out its steps until it was not only in front of the dwarf, but towering over it. Xaraho's crimson eyes bored holes into Xander's, smoke flowing out from it's nostrils and spreading across the dwarf's face before flowing off towards the graveyard.

Xander swallowed hard. His back was literally against a wall, Xaraho having pushed him against the railing of the overhang with his advances. "I suppose," he began slowly, lowering his head so that his gaze was averted from the dragon's eyes, "you probably know better than I. You have lived considerably longer. I just... with all of these other riders around, and the idea of us having some greater purpose in this world... it all just seems so much. I was content with what I had and where I was, but then you tore me from it all when you fell from the sky. I suppose I just wanted to know... something. Anything really. Something or some way to deepen our relationship, to give this connection some real meaning. My life has been so routine that even in the short time that we knew one and other you were able to so easily grasp numerous details of who and what I was, giving yourself a reason to actually stay around. Yet I've only just barely scratched the surface on who and what you yourself are. I suppose it would offer some peace of mind to know anything more. If we're to work with these other riders I think it would be best that we actually be able to work with each other first..."

'Well I can assure you of at least one thing then.' The dragon stepped back and sat down with its tail wrapped around its claws. 'I have no memory of having a rider before. I know that I personally have never felt the connection that I felt when you first rested your hand upon the shell of my egg. You are special Xander, of that I am certain. Should you have stayed within that routine for the rest of your life then you'd have wasted an immense amount of potential. It would not do to see that transpire, so I made the decision to stay beside you until you've at least scratched the surface of what it was I saw within you.'

Xander kept his head lowered, but smiled at the words of his companion. This beast was supposed to be known as the dragon of darkness and deception, but it seemed to be the kindest being he'd ever met - or perhaps that was just the dwarf's naivety showing through.

"I suppose I will defer to you then my friend. The sun is above us, now beginning its decent. I've wasted a good deal of the day already contemplating things that needn't be contemplated. So I ask you, what do you suppose we do with the time we have left?"

'Most of the other riders and their dragons have already flown off in different directions have they not? Perhaps we should check and see what for?'

Jay · May 14, 2016

Chapter 1: O mighty Dragon!

Zile had already broke out into a sprint. He had seen Lyra and Lorelai plunge from their makeshift cloud, the dragon of water scalding an approaching goblin troop with water that could melt steel if concentrated. "I told them to wait! Why are they here?!" His thoughts were edged as though they too were a bloodied blade, but Alyra was not perturbed as she drifted down from the sky to fly meters above her rider, keeping a slow pace to match his speed.

"Upon arriving they no doubt saw this destruction... they could hold back no longer."
"They should still be in Pharus."
"They are dragon and Rider Tyron, I know you wish to protect the girl but... her semblance does not make her the same as the girl you see."
"Enough. I... understand. Pardon my ignorance Alyra."
"You are pardoned dear one. But hold fast, we approach our enemies rear."
"Indeed, prepare to flank Alyra. We hunt again today, for fury and not for food."
"I am ready."

The sword he had wrenched from the previous goblins skull shone slick with a brown film of blood. Alyra drifted lower as they charged the rear flank of the disorganized goblins. With a twirling slash, Zile cut through three of the slow approaching beasts and they howled with pain, causing the remaining twenty or so to turn in surprise and anger.

Though they quickly recessed to unbridled terror when Alyra flared the grass around her, landing in the midst of the goblin ranks.

"Now!" Zile called out, dropping down to his haunches to avoid the forthcoming blast. Alyra let out an ear piercing roar and the wind responded, a gentle gust blowing ashes across the ruined town of Redford. The air grew still then, only to swirl in a torrent down Alyra's gaping maw. It pooled inside her, reforming into a powerful weapon, the deadly cutting Maelstrom of wind incarnate.

"Wretched cur! You stand before the majesty of a dragon! You will cause no further harm! Watch in terror as the wind blows, sweeping your form into dust!"

Her mental voice bellowed with pure majesty and authority, her presence emanated an aura... it permeated the minds of all present. The goblins, Lyra and Lorelai, the villagers in the barn and even the mysterious ringleader sitting in the Redford town hall.

It was then in a blinding instant that the wind picked up, like cutting blades it rushed from the feathered dragons maw, the goblins turned to run, but to no avail, the blades of wind moved through their flesh, bone and viscera as if it were a hot knife through butter. Of the twenty remaining goblins, fifteen collapsed into an unidentifiable mush... the remaining five in desperation began to scream and flee to the town hall... and once again the town grew silent.

Zile slowly made his way towards the barn... and Lyra and Lorelai whom stood outside its door. He gave a stern expression to them, but made no effort to scold them. Instead, rather he sighed and patted them on the shoulder and foreleg respectively. "Well done. That was rather impressive."

Alyra hummed her appreciation and tapped her snout gently to Lyra's forehead and then to Lorelei's neck. "Dear sisters, your control of the water is truly impressive. I am humbled to have such formidable allies."

Zile then bolstered his own self confidence. He heard fidgeting and the cough of a child whom held his breath too long to avoid making noise. A hushing mother with a tired and weary voice silenced the younger... and then all went quiet.

He reached his hand forward towards the barn door.... but hesitated in that spot.

If he opened this now, people would know his face, they would no whom he and Alyra were. They would be Riders and the responsibility of the planet would be locked in place upon their shoulders. He could still run away... run away like he always had. He was so scared and so suddenly. He couldn't move.

"Come dear one. Together." A familiar and feathered head reached over his shoulder and placed a snout upon the door just above his hand. Alyra softly gave the door the first little push.

"It is time to face destiny."

Zile wasn't sure which one of them had said that.

The barn doors slowly swung open and the terrified faces of the village people gazed upon them. Behind stacks of hay the children and women gazed out at him... two elven maidens held daggers outstretched to act as a secondary line before the five human children and three human mothers. In front of those and standing before the barricade of bales there were two human men, farmers holding pitchforks... and a regal looking elf stood between them holding a falchion outstretched, flanking either side were two dwarves, one a butcher with a bloodied knife and apron, the other a blacksmith with a large hammer.

The Elven women were the first to shakily drop their weapons... following this were the men, the male elf and finally the dwarves. As Zile stepped slowly forward the elf dropped to one knee.

"D-Dear Rider... apologies for our affronted position. We did not realize who it was that came." His countenance was one of the greatest respect... and one by one the villagers dropped to their knees and bowed to Zile and Lyra. As Alyra entered behind him, the elf spoke again.

"O mighty dragon, I heard your cry but I could not believe mine thoughts. Your race has been gone so long now I had almost thought you legend. If it please you, I am Alton Yarandel, a city born elf and the mayor of this once great town. My people are forever in your debt for our lives."

Zile felt embarrassment wash over Alyra, but he also sensed a profound sense of purpose as she gently broadcast her thoughts to all present... requesting that they rise. Zile spoke then, his voice loud and full of authority, using his past experience as a noble he knew exactly how to behave.

"I am Zile! Son of none and Rider of the wind. With me I bring the fair and furious Lyra, Rider of the water... and with us both come the mighty dragons, Alyra and Lorelai daughter of speed and liquid life."

The crowd bristled with anticipation, hanging on the man's every word.

"We come now to liberate you from your plight! To relinquish you of these pains that take your homes and your families! With us you may come to Pharus, our ancestral home... and from there you may prosper under our safe protection!"

The looks of shock permeated the crowd before melting into untold joy. Tears and clapping erupted amidst the villagers and Zile was taken aback at their sudden acceptance of his words and offer.

Was this the true influence he could bring? Was this the hope that Durak believed they would gift to Nobillis?

"I have never seen you speak so strongly Dear one. You may have just restored the will to live in these few with but a few simple words."

Zile grinned at that and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I think... that's our job now, Alyra."
"Then perhaps it is we, whom are truly blessed."

Zile felt a wave of happiness as Alyra emanated a deep hum of approval.

However the tone was quick to shift back to despair.

"Ack! Sir Zile, on t'horizon!" One of the dwarves, the butcher, cried as he pointed out the door of the barn behind them. A force of some one hundred goblins marched forward. Their clubs brandished as they marched with increased fervor and aggression.

Standing at the back of the troop was the mysterious leader that Zile had heard of. A man with armor and blade as black as night... the gaps in his sallets visor emanated a purple light and no discernible features were visible. Though his taller, larger build gave the impression that he was human.

He pointed forward and the goblins began to charge. The villagers began to weep and lament behind their saviors. This didn't look good at all, even with two dragons these numbers were stacked against them... the enemy must have gathered all of their remaining numbers together for a final push.

"Dear Rider."

Zile turned his head to see Alton standing beside him. The Elven man had long, slicked back black hair. He wore a black cloak fastened by satin lace and a tattered white shirt. His legs adorned with greaves of bronze and boots to match. His iron falchion was drawn and his elegant elven features twisted into a stern expression.

Behind him the two farmers held makeshift wooden shields and their pitchforks were held outward like spears. The two Dwarven workers had their respective weapons brandished and their teeth grit in malice.

"My people will no longer be bullied and abused. We have lost our homes, our friends, our families... but no more." He gave a low bow.

"You offer us a second chance. A chance we will fight to secure. Oh great Zile and Lyra, majestic Alyra and Lorelai... we will follow you whom would take up blade and fang in our defense."

Zile grinned. Their numbers were bolstered slightly, though the odds were still stacked high, this was no longer an impossible feat.

"Thank you Mayor Alton. Your efforts are appreciated." He turned his gaze to Lyra and nodded gently, assuring her that it was time to fight.

It was then that Zile slung himself up upon the back of Alyra and gripped the straps that would hold him in place.

"Are you ready dear one?"
"Are you?"
"I am."
"Then we will ride and fight as one. For the future of these people we shall not fail."

With a grand roar from Alyra and Zile both, the goblin army faltered.

And the motley crew whom would fight them charged in the defense and memory of Redford.

*****

Durak rose swiftly from his chair at the dining hall in castle Pharus. He sensed great peril coming for two of his Riders. A threat they were not yet ready to face.

He could not go, he was bound to this castle, no he could not leave. But his students needed help. He rushed towards the town as quickly as he could. He needed to send another, a third to their aid. He knew for certain but one dragon and Rider whom definitely had yet to leave the city confines.

He had to find Ferrus and Flynn.

Chapter 1

Player objectives: (Objectives with * are mandatory)
- Get breakfast.
- Explore Pharus Castle and town.
- Interact with fellow riders.
- Go to the notice board and choose a task. *
- Complete said task. *

Sonata · May 14, 2016

Xander and Xaraho
A Deeper Understanding p2

"That would be a good idea I suppose."

Xander glanced around the room, seemingly looking for something as he began to rummage about. There was the the wall which led out to the balcony, one adjacent wall was covered in kegs of some unknown brew, the other adjacent wall was adorned with various game trophies as well as the doors to the hall, and then finally the wall across from the the forge had the dwarf and dragon's resting places along with various armours and weapons. As he began to move the armours and weapons, the dragon moved over to the man and loomed over his shoulder.

'And just what are you doing?'

"Looking."

'For?'

"There's supposed to be a saddle around here somewhere."

'Okay, no. Slow down. Why don't we go down there right quick and see what's going on before we get all geared up for a war? I'd really rather not have to wear a saddle if I don't have to, and I know you're more than capable of riding on me without one.'

"Yes, but you're not exactly the most comfortable thing to sit on."

'And you're not exactly the most comfortable thing to carry. Besides, I don't like the thought of being constrained by something like that unnecessarily. It won't take long to go down to the ground, so just deal with it for now. If we find that we actually have to go somewhere of a considerable distance then... I'll think about allowing you to put a saddle on me.'

"So then we're just going to fly down there right?"

'Correct. Go out on to the balcony and crouch down.'

Xander nodded to the dragon and did as it said, taking a kneeling position a few feet from the railing around the balcony. Xaraho moved over to the dwarf and walked over him, the man's hair brushing against the dragon's belly as it passed and placed its front claws on the railing and its hind claws on Xander's shoulders. Kicking its legs up into the air, Xaraho slid off from the railing and fell a few yards before flapping its wings and ceasing its free-fall. A few more flaps and seconds later the two were safely on the ground. Xander's apron had been torn from the dragons talons, but for the most part he was unharmed.

Off in the distance there was a dragon and its rider standing in front of a board. As Xander and Xaraho walked over towards them, they tore something from the board and ran off in the opposite direction.

'Shame. I'd hoped to converse with that one at some point, I believe we share certain personality traits that would be interesting to read out.'

"What one is that?"

'The dragon of earth and strength. And his rider, the other dwarf. I believe you would share some interests as well if only from your race.'

"That so? Perhaps we should meet up at some point and see what happens. For now, let's see what this board has to offer."

The two approached the mission board which the other pair had just been standing in front of. It seemed at one time there had been several different missions available, but due to their combined time wasting they'd missed out on all but for a few.

"A nearby woodland has recent suffered a sinkhole at its core, leading to a strange cave that folks have avoided. A small cave of human and elf scouts sits at the edge, join them, your presence will bolster their strength and with them you might find the source of the strange occurrence."

'I don't care for confinement of any type. I'd rather we choose another.'

"Alright then. Well I don't really know anything about dwarven society outside of what little my father taught me before his passing, so I don't think I'd fit in very well with a meeting with the king. So I suppose all that's left is this one... training to discover the magic within ourselves..."

'While I must say it's a shame to miss out on the opportunity to converse with a descendent or the royalty which hunted me long ago, it is most intriguing to consider bringing out your full potential so early.'

"Well then I suppose that's settled."

"Very good. I'm happy to hear that you've decided to take part in training." Another voice came from behind the two, causing them to spin around quickly and face the old rider. "I do agree that it's a shame you've declined to meet with the king, he'll likely be upset thinking that we're attempting to fool him. But garnering a deeper connection between dragon and rider... It fills me with a sense of pride."

'Krotan. Rider of old. This says we're to see you for training? What advice could you offer for the growth of the mortal? You yourself are not bound by mortal means it seems, much like myself. I'd like it more if we also could speak privately at some time, but for now it would be best to only hear your thoughts on this so-called mission.'

"Hmm, yes. Xaraho. This is your first rider isn't it? Yours is indeed a special case. Well then, allow me to impart some wisdom upon you before you begin. The two of you already hold a deep enough connection, that it should not take much for a breakthrough to occur. For the riders, we discover magic through deep connections with our dragons. Not only should we phsyically in sync, but also mentally and emotionally. Through meditation, sparring, sleeping and generally spending time with each other we should grow to have an even greater understanding of each other. In the end, we should break the barriers down between us. Once you have awakened the powers within yourself Xander, you will no longer be dragon and rider separate but together something entirely different altogether. Do not think of you as yourself Xander, but as your dragon. And do not think of yourself as a dragon Xaraho, but as dwarf. Synchronize. Connect. Break through and grow. This castle is yours to use as you should see fit. Arm yourself in any ways you desire and find the place you feel most at home. Do what feels most natural. I look forward to seeing your progress."

The old rider smiled at the two and then turned away, disappearing down one of the numerous corridors of the castle. Dragon and rider looked to each other, considering what the man had said to them.

'Shall we get started then? I believe I have the general idea.'

"Well at least you have some sort of understanding on what we're to do. He spoke to quickly for me to actually comprehend what he was saying. Should I go and grab some armor or something?"

'That won't be necessary.' The dragon looked over to the graveyard. 'I don't believe things will become quit that dangerous.' A smile cracked from the side of the dragon's mouth which was facing away from its rider as it believed it knew just what had to be done. 'Looks like you didn't need that saddle after all Xander.'

The dwarf scratched his head, averting his gaze to the ground as he climbed on to to the dragon's back. "Well then, lead on."

Oddball_ · May 14, 2016

Xurik Alminé and Hahdrim

"We're nearing Pharus castle." The soft voice of the large purple dragon echoed inside Xurik's mind.

"Its about time, I need to light a fire and dry out. I can't believe you flew us through that damn monsoon." The one eyed man grumbled, his white hair whipping out from underneath his hooded cloak.

A sense of regret radiated from the large beast beneath him, followed quickly by a more powerful sense of annoyance.

"I don't see you trying to give us direction with one of your many maps." The dragon replied with a huff, her batlike wings tilting downwards as they began decending at a rapid pace.

It didn't take long for them to reach the ground. Like a comet, the purple and blue dragon shot out of the clouds and neared the ground, pulling her wings up at the last minute as they hovered a few meters above the ground.

"I don't know why you brought us here, this place is in ruins." Xurik complained as he hopped off of the dragon as she set her claws onto the ground.

"This place is not as it appears. Many emotions linger around this place, can you not feel them Xurik? Some are old and yet... some are very fresh." Hahdrim replied, her head swaying from side to side as she looked around curiously.

"Come." A voice called from within the ruined castle standing before them.

"It is as I had thought, someone is within the castle." Hahdrim chuckled happily, trotting forward without her rider.

"Oh well just go on wi-" Xurik stopped as he suddenly felt something smack him in the back of the head. It was like the worst hangover ever, he was flying towards the castle at a high speed, except the castle was no longer ruined. It appeared as he would have imagined in to have looked in the days of old, with people running in and out, large banners hanging from its walls. In through the gate, through an elegant hall and into what appeared to be a very large and ornate banquet room.

"Xurik?" His dragon said, her nose resting on his chest as her eyes stared into his.

"You weren't kidding about there being memories around here... This place is... strange." Xurik replied after a moment, resting a tanned hand on his dragons forehead. "We should go find whomever was calling to you."

It didn't take them long in order to find their way to the banquet hall which Xurik had seen. The banquet room was empty, although Xurik could tell that others had been there very recently.

"So destiny would choose, so life has decided. That you would enter here as a rider reborn. State your name, brave soul and mighty dragon both."

Xurik looked at Hahdrim with a curious glance and then cleared his throat. "Ahem, er... I'm uh... Xurik Alminé."

"I am Hahdrim, dragon of Mind and Memory." The dragon proclaimed proudly.

"Wait did he just say rider?" Xurik thought to himself after realizing what was going on.

As the dragon finished speaking a side door opened, and an elderly human in his sixties stepped into the room, carrying a black cane with a silver dragon topping it.

"Welcome home, Xurik and Hahdrim. You're arrival was expected." The man said with the same voice that had called them inside.

"Riders? Home? You had best explain yourself." Xurik grunted, his hand on his scabbard.

"Of course, The dreams and visions you had before and upon arriving here were the results of my magic. The legendary magic of the Riders. With it I tested your minds, your bond and your will and you did not dissapoint. By arriving here you claim your heritage and your right. Your being here is not chance. It is fate. The egg chose you, you are the most suited choice for the dragon whom now stands before you... And hand in hand you walk towards an untold destiny." The old rider recited, the speech having clearly been rehearsed many times.

Xurik wanted to turn and walk out of the room. This old man was absolutely crazy. Hahdrim however, was intent on staying and listening to the elder rider.

"Great power and great duty to make it earned. You surely understand that there is no going back. Now you will rise as a legendary figure and ruler you were destined to be. Here in the ancient home of the Riders we will scult and rebuild, we will stand united and when you go to the people on soaring wings they shall herald you as Gods. Here for you, a room, each fit for a king... Facilities for food, training and relaxation... For dragon and rider both."

The common folk heralding him as a god? Well that wasn't an unappealing thought, if an odd one. He was a shadow in the night that the people feared sure, but actively praying for his aide? Not something Xurik could imagine easily.

"I am to be your mentor, for my final chapter in this take of legacy. I will bring you to be the gladiators of law and balance that Nobillis needs now in times of strife, poverty and politics. You are fates chosen, Rider and Dragon both. This Works future is now tied invariably to your fates. It is yours to shape and mold. Any questions?" The old man finished his speech, his eyes coming to rest on Xurik and Hahdrim.

"Master rider, I thought I sensed their presence as we arrived. Are there other riders here?" Hahdrim asked the old man, her head tilted to the side out of curiosity.

"As you awoke, so have others yes. Most of the others arrived shortly after recieving my call, I assume something held you back?" The old rider asked.

"There was a flash monsoon off the coast of Klokrein, we were caught offguard and had to wait it out on some rocks for around half a night." Hahdrim explained, feeling ashamed for making the man wait.

Xurik looked at the dragon with curiosity. Why was she being so polite? He understood that the man was a rider of old, but surely she wasn't scared of the man. Was she truly awestruck?

"I see... Well then it would seem that you haven't had a proper rest in several days. Follow me and I will show you to your room." The old man explained, and they began to follow.

Sir Bastian · May 15, 2016

Unlikely Allies

Flynn & Idora

Letting out a deep breath of air, Flynn stood back up, pressing his hands to the small of his back while arching it out. "Uurrgh. This was a WAY bigger job than I thought it'd be." He looked over the mass of rubble still blocking the entrance for a moment before shrugging with a light smile. "Then again, it's kinda nice to just do some... mindless labour. Don't have to worry as much about... everything."

He glanced over at Ferrus, chomping down on another lump of marble, chewing through it like a wolf with a freshly caught deer. Although with alot less enthusiasm. "When do you think we'll be done with this, Ferrus? Can't be that much left, right...?"

The large drake swallowed down and set to work using his claws and feet to shove some boulders and rocks into the hallway behind him, all the while Flynn felt a mental shrug and a small rumble of thought. "A few hours, perhaps." He paused, turning his head to glance at Flynn, mouth moving up in what Flynn -imagined- would be a dragon smirking. "If we keep working."

Flynn huffed and raised his hands. "Alright, alright, I get what you're hinting at, I'll get back to work. Just keep in mind I don't have the same stamina as you! I -am- only human."

Ferrus let out a rumble of a chuckle while Flynn raised his hands to undo his leather vest, tossing it on a nearby, unlit torch hanging from the wall. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and wiped his brow before stepping forwards, going back to tossing the rocks and boulds into the hall behind them in small piles. Although in a bit more order than Ferrus seemed to be doing.

Far above Pharus Castle in the clouds, Idora and Morenth soared, enjoying each other's company and the gentle breeze that blew above the clouds. Their mission completed, they had decided to just relax for a little while before returning to the castle, something Idora felt was well deserved. It had been a long time since she had simply been able to relax and not worry about being chased or having responsibilities. It appeared to be something that she was going to have to get more used to, but she felt that was one thing she could do.

Shall we return? Morenth mused, We probably should have returned a half hour ago when we first got back...

Idora sighed, resigning herself to having to return to the castle. The castle itself was fine, it was avoiding the other inhabitants that tended to irritate her. Fine, let's go back. It's still afternoon for a while yet, maybe we have some other chores to do. She just hoped whatever she had to do didn't involve more salamanders. Or fire.

Morenth twisted in the sky and the world tilted and shifted. In just an instant the two had gone from soaring parallel to the ground to plumeting downwards in a spiral. Starting to get used to the stomach lurching event, Idora let out a shout and laughed, despite the wind stinging her eyes. Morenth, equally happy let out a roar, announcing their arrival to the rest of the castle.

The dragon's wings flared as the dragon's fall turned into a more controlled glide. She soared around the castle at breakneck speed, and as they circled the enourmous building Morenth said, It seems Flynn and Ferrus are clearing out the main entrance to the castle of rubble. I think we should help them.

Oh come on Morenth, Idora replied, can't we just go back to our room or get something to eat instead? You know I don't like Flynn...

And why don't you like him? came the reply.

I just...I don't know, okay? I can't trust him. Her argument was weak and they both knew it.

Well, I'm going to help, and you're coming with me. Not like you have much choice. If you wish to leave after we land, thats fine. But you'll have to make up some excuse to get yourself away from the man. The dragon's voice was tinged with dark humor. In a more tired and caring voice Morenth said, Idora, you can't hide from your fellow riders forever. Riders live for a long time, you are going to have to work with these people at some point. Might as well start now.

Idora wasn't happy, but remained silent as Morenth completed her descent, now landing on the stone walkway that led up to the castle gates. Or at least, where they had once been. Instead a massive pile of rubble blocked the way, although that pile had been removed somewhat from when she had last seen in this morning. Ferrus was working his way through the pile with Flynn helping with the small rocks that the dragon couldn't grab with his much larger claws. Fine, you win, Idora grumbled to her dragon, but only because I can't think up a decent excuse.

Good enough for me, the dragon replied. Now then, lets make ourselves useful. With that the dragon strode over to where the other rider and dragon were working, Idora dropping out of the saddle and following at Morenth's side.

Tossing another rock behind him with a small grunt, Flynn rolled his shoulders, going in for another one. Ferrus stopped, with his claws around a boulder, raising his head a little. "We have company." he rumbled. Flynn blinked and turned around, brows raising as the ex-assassin and her dragon were wandering up to them. "... What do you think they want?" Flynn asked mentally, the larger dragon slowly turning to meet their 'colleagues'. The man sensed an odd curiosity washing over the link, with a complete lack of worry, wariness or fear, which was what Flynn was supplying Ferrus with in spades, which was probably why he was so amused. "You should ask them."

Lifting a hand to wipe a couple beads of sweat from his brow, Flynn gave the two a nod and a light smile. "Uh... hey. Idora and..." "Morenth." Ferrus chimed in as he stepped up besides Flynn, his eyes set on the opposing dragon, seeming oddly bemused.

"Morenth, yeah. Sorry, all the names, they're... not quite stuck yet, heh." He cleared his throat, a hand moving up to scratch the side of his neck, eyes flickering between the two. "What... can we help you two with?" It was pretty clear that Flynn wasn't entirely comfortable around her.

Morenth strode past the man exhaling as she did, tousling Flynn's hair. What does it look like? We're helping, she said with amusement in her voice. Not asking for any sort of permission, she walked over to the pile of rubble and clamped her jaws over a large peice of stone. Her muscles rippled and flexed as her claws dug it to break up and pull out some pieces that were stuck as she pushed them over to the growing piles of stone out of the way of the gate.

Ferrus' eyes followed the dark-green drake on her way over besides her as she went to work. Casting another glance at Flynn and Idora, the larger dragon turned and wordless went back to work as well, chomping and digging.

Idora only shrugged and gave a faint, if forced, smile as she undid her cloak. It fell from her shoulders and she carefully placed it on a stone a few paces away from the entrance of the gate. Next came her sword belt along with a few of her other tools she kept with her, although she made sure she still had a few weapons concealed, just in case. The swords would have gotten in the way though, and the cloak would have been irritating, not to mention insufferably hot doing this sort of work.

Walking over to Flynn and the pile of rubble she used a thin strip of leather to tie her raven hair behind her head. It wasn't particularly long, but she would still prefer it out of her face. Not having her cloak and having her hair tied back made her feel vulnerable, but Morenth was right, she couldn't just hide all the time from those who were supposed to be their allies. Despite that knowledge, it didn't help her discomfort much.

Adjusting her leather gloves she said to Flynn, "For the record, this was her idea," gesturing to the dragon. Grabing a piece of stone a little larger than the size of her head she groaned and carried it over to the pile out of the way of the entrance. "Did look like you could use some help though," she said trying to appear friendly.

In a bit of a stunned silence, Flynn just stared as she moved past, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. He wasn't sure what to make of this. On one hand, it would be nice to get to know his fellow riders, but at the same time... could he trust her? He'd heard -alot- of things about her, after all. And the only 'good' things he'd heard, were about how good she was at what she did.

"Do you think she trusts you, anymore than you trust her?" Ferrus asked without moving away from his work. That had Flynn pause in his train of thought, looking down at the floor. "... I guess, if neither of us can trust the other, nothing's really going to happen, huh?" the young man mentally asked his companion.

Ferrus didn't respond. Instead, he turned his head slightly towards Morenth, taking a small whiff of air. "You smell like brimstone and sulfur." he commented flatly, although it was clear that he was expecting her to elaborate.

We were hunting a volcano salamander that had wandered out of its own territory. I may have...bitten off more than I could chew. She shared the memory of trying to pick up the beast and the salamander's tail exploding in her mouth. It had some interesting abilities, but it was no match for the two of us.

"I cannot imagine much would be." Ferrus commented with a rumble. "I wonder how it would taste..." He mused, mouth curling into an amused smile.

Flynn shook his head and stepped over besides Morenth, leaving Ferrus to his thing. He was never sure if Ferrus was wise, or just very observant. "Well, we definitely could use the help, otherwise we would've been stuck here for hours, still." He dug in and began tossing the rocks behind him in the piles, the remnants of something iron poking out above the rubble.

He was silent for a moment, sideglancing at all of the objects that Idora had discarded in order to work, before looking towards her. "How... do you feel about... all of this?" He quickly gestured at the castle around them. "Becoming a Rider?" He paused a moment, before quickly adding. "You, uh, don't have to answer, if you don't want to. I'm just curious, is all."

Idora seemed to think for a moment before responding, "I don't really know yet. I mean, I'm happy to be a rider and all, but I can't help but think that the dragons should have chosen someone else." She yanked on a piece of metal, almost falling backwards as it came free. It appeared to have once belonged to some set of armor, but it was so badly dented she couldn't tell what it went to. Tossing the piece onto a small pile of scrap metal, she frowned and said, "The stories always talked about the riders being noble and just, keeping balance between the races. They written about as being a beacon of hope. Honestly, thats not me." Tossing another few stones to the side, she said, "What about you?"

Flynn nodded a little, taking a step back as Ferrus leaned over to snatch a rock that was rolling down the pile of rubble towards the two, quickly crunching it between his jaws. After shaking his head, Flynn went back to work. "Heh, can't say I disagree a whole lot with you. I read -alot- of stories about them while growing up. And... you know, yeah, I'm still not entirely sure the choice of me as a Rider was a good one."

He paused for a moment, glancing up at Ferrus, who let out a thoughtful, rumbling hum. "I told Durak. He said I shouldn't dismiss the idea of being a Rider immediately. So I figure Ferrus and I'll stick around. If anything else, we'll be helping people, right? Gods knows this world could use a bit of help." He muttered at the end.

"That," Idora said glumly, "is one thing I think we can agree on." She thought about the time she spent as the apprentice assassin for her king. She had been killing nobles almost as often as thieves, mercenaries, or actual threats to the kingdom. Casting away more stones she tried to forget those times as best she could, trying to use some of the calming techniques she had learned. For a few minutes the two of them worked in silence removing the rubble.

It was Morenth who broke the silence next. Directing the question at both Ferrus and Flynn, she asked, What do you think of Durak? I only met a couple humans after I hatched, and have yet to really familiarize myself with their species, other than through Idora's memories. I am curious, what do you think of the man?

Ferrus was the first to speak of the two, even though Flynn was just about to open his mouth. "He is a secretive man. But what he hides, he hides for our own good." Despite his words, Ferrus didn't sound thrilled about not being told everything.

Giving Ferrus an odd little glance, Flynn stood up, wiping his brow briefly, looking thoughtful. "... I've read -alot- of stories about the Riders of old. Durak was their advisor. Which means he was probably the wisest of all the Riders." He paused, lifting a hand to scratch his cheek, eyes trailing to Idora again. "And he doesn't care about who we were. It feels like he believes in us. If -anyone- can help us figure out... this?" He motioned between himself and Ferrus, the larger dragon letting out a puff of smog from his nostrils, as if to agree. "... It's him."

A few more minutes passed as they worked before Idora came up with another questions. "So what do you think of Ferrus? I mean, I heard Durak say that each dragon is associated with a sort of element, and Ferrus would be the dragon of the iron and forge. No offense, but you don't seem like the blacksmith type, I would think that would normally go to a dwarf. How do you think all that worked out?"

Flynn let out a chuckle, tossing a boulder off to the side. "You know, I said the exact same thing to Durak. And he more or less just told me to 'Look at it poetically' and that it's 'Not as black and white as you think'." He waggled his hands as if for emphasis, shrugging.

"I am sorry if you are not happy with me as your companion, Flynn." Ferrus turned his head to send Flynn a glance along with a smirk. Or as much of a smirk as a dragon could muster. He rolled his eyes and raised a hand to pat his foreleg. "As if you'd even be bothered by it if I actually thought that." Ferrus rumbled out a chuckle. "Perhaps I would. Perhaps not."

Idora chuckled at the two. "I suppose Morenth and I are in the same place. She is supposed to be the dragon of nature and healing, but I've always lived within a city and healing isn't exactly my thing. Not that I would give her up." As she said that Morenth padded past the two and blew a small cloud of smoke into her face. Laughing and choking at the same time she waved the air in front of her face, trying to breathe some clear air again. After she had recovered, coughing away the last of the smoke in her lungs, she asked, "So where are you from? You don't really have a strong accent of the east or the north. Did you live near teh capital?"

Smiling at their interaction, Flynn dusted his hands off to get some marble dust out from under his fingernails. As Idora asked him about where he was from, he froze a little. The worry he was feeling easily conveyed into the link between him and Ferrus, whom turned his head slightly to give him a brief look before going back to work.

"I, uh. I'm from the capital, actually. It's... a long story." He paused, thinning his lips while peering up at a small speck of daylight shining through the remaining rock-wall. After a moment, he folded his arms across his chest and turned to Idora.

"Listen. I'm not an idiot. It's not very hard to see that you're not really comfortable around any of us. And... knowing who you are, I don't blame you." He paused for a moment, letting the thought sink in. "But, here's the thing. You're not the only one trying to block out your past. I'm far from proud of what I've done up till now. And... I just mean... erh-"

A rumble rolled through Ferrus' chest as he slowly turned around, golden eyes set on Idora. "He means to say that the two of you are not that different. Especially now." He glanced up at Morenth briefly, before looking down at the woman again. "He would like you to trust him, and he, you."

Flynn's cheeks turned a little red after Ferrus was able to put his own thoughts to words, clearing his throat quietly while moving a hand up to rub the side of his head. "Uh. Yeah, exactly what he said."

Idora had frozen in place when he had said he knew who she was. She had hoped that nobody had heard of her role in the kingdom, but she had evidently been wrong in that hope. Her gut twisted, and Ferrus' words didn't do much to help that discomfort. She felt emotions bubble up threatening to release. She felt fear, anger, desperation, all clawing their way out of her and making her just want to run and hide like she always had. Morenth's comforting presence pushed those emotions away and after a moment she had composed herself.

She sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment, resting, placing her hands on her hips. She muttered under her breath, "Gods, will my past always haunt me?" Looking at Flynn she said loudly enough for him to hear, "For the record, I walked away from that years ago, and doing...that work, was never my choice." She gazed back up at the wall of rubble, then put her leather gloves back on to get back to work. "Well, if we are being honest with each other, you're a thief, right?"

Breathing out a slow breath of relief at Idora seemingly taking his words well, he managed to smile sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "Kind of obvious when you've got eyes as keen as yours, huh? Yeah... although, like you, I didn't choose it."

He rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers in preparation to get back to work. "Tell you what, Idora... since I know... uh, well, quite alot about what you've been doing over the years, it's only really fair if you know about me. We can meet up a bit later and I can tell you whatever you want to know. How's that sound?" He turned to her, sending her a questioning look.

She shifted her feet for a moment thinking. What do you think Morenth?

The dragon almost laughed within her mind, I think you're being a fool. He seems sincere, and it will be a good opportunity to actually get to know him. And if you think its a trap, just think about this. You used to kill people as your job, and I doubt anyone here could catch you off guard. Not to mention you happen to have a large, strong, and not to mention beautiful dragon close by.

Idora couldn't help but smile. "Alright, we can do that I suppose. Did you have some place in mind?"

Flynn smiled in return, giving his shoulders a shrug. "I think either of our rooms would probably be the most private for a talk like this. Or maybe somewhere in the town..." He scratched his neck, peering thoughtfully over at Ferrus, who was still just tearing through the stone. "What do you think?" He asked Idora, turning back to her.

"Hmm, I guess maybe your room. I'm curious to see how different it is from my own." What she didn't say was she didn't like the town, especially how run down it was. She still wasn't comfortable with some of the other riders and it seemed to easy to sneak around in the run down town. Plus she was curious what Flynn's room could tell her about him. "In any case, we won't be leaving for a while if we don't get this done..." she said gesturing at the still looming wall of stone, although significant progress had been made.

"Hah, well, it's not all that interesting, I'm sad to say." He rolled his shoulder and flashed a little grin as he walked over and got back to work on pulling rocks aside, pausing briefly. "Although... some of the books I read -did- mention a ton of secret passageways throughout the castle..." He mentioned, glancing sideways at Idora with a small glimmer in his eye.

"Really?" she responded, eyebrows raised with obvious interest in her voice. "I think we have some exploring to do then!" She joined him over by the pile of rubble and continued to work, pulling rocks away one by one. She was starting to feel more comfortable around the man, somewhat.

It took the group a good fourty more minutes, but by the time they were finished, only dust and pebbles were left in the grand hallway, along with a couple of piles of rocks that Idora and Flynn had moved aside.

Stretching his arms out over his head, Flynn moved over to pick up his leather vest, smiling at both Idora and Morenth. "It's going to be -alot- easier to get to and from the noticeboard. Thanks for the help, you two. And, you know, for not just telling me to shove off earlier." He finished with a wry little grin at Idora.

Ferrus rumbled out his appreciation as well. "I am surprised you are the avatar of Nature, and not Earth, Morenth." he added, mouth pulling into a smile, his jest conveying through the mental words. Flynn rolled his eyes and elbowed his chest, only to wince and rub it after hitting one of the more jagged parts of his scales.

Idora laughed at the dragon's attempt at a smile, his scaled face making the human gesture look strange. Morenth responded, Why thank you Ferrus, you seem much better equipped for that role though.

Ferrus rumbled out in clear appreciation at the compliment.

"Okay, I think its time for us to leave Idora," she crawled up on the dragon's back. She hissed to Flynn, "She's trying to come up with a joke right now, I'm going to spare you the misfortune of having to listen to it." Flynn snickered and nodded. "Might be best to take off, then."

Oh please Idora, I almost have one on the tip of my tongue, I just need to find the right phrase... The dragon's mind worked as she slowly walked out of the now clear tunnel and into the daylight.

"Nope, we're leaving, come on. You can tell them later after you've thought for a while," she said to the dragon. "I'll talk to you later Flynn, just come by my room when you want to talk." With a smile the pair took off into the afternoon sky, the sun slowly starting to make its descent to evening.

Raising a hand, Flynn waved the two off, calling out to Idora as they took off. "I will do, Idora!" He watched the two soar off into the sky, planting his hands on his hips as he slowly looked around the bits of rubble remaining. "Well, that went pretty well in more ways than one, don't you think so, Ferrus?"

The large drake's tail scraped along the floor, turning his head to send Flynn a weird, sort of knowing glance. He blinked a few times, squinting as he tried to figure out what Ferrus was trying to say with nothing but a look, but all he got from their link was Ferrus' seemingly boundless amusement.

Eventually, he lowered his head, bumping his snout against Flynn's chest. "I am glad to see your courage has not left you entirely, Flynn."

Opening his mouth to retort, Flynn blinked as he heard someone come running through the hallway. As they both turned around, they were surprised to see Durak almost sprinting towards them.

"Flynn, Ferrus! Your comrades need you!"

Jay · May 15, 2016

Chapter 1: The Skirmish at Redford

Alton harshly rips his blade out of the arching back of a foolish goblin cur. He swings the falchion with incredible grace and elegance, evidence of his intensive training at the hands of his father. Maybe the goblins had improved intelligence, but they still swung their blunt sticks with all the skill of the first newly hatched sparrow of the season.

He fought amidst dragons and Riders, all the stories he had heard from his mother as a babe were true. The legendary dragons and their partners truly did exist. He stood with them now as they came to the rescue of his home and people. He guarded Zile and Alyra as if they were royalty... they were royalty, at that. The rightful monarchs of the land... he would not allow a hair upon their heads to be savaged by these mere beasts.

He looked to their enemies commander and thought back to the previous day. How the strange dark knight marched upon the town with his little demons. He had said nothing. He had asked nothing. The children playing in the fields were the first to go. Slaughtered and massacred like cattle. The men had come then, brave and strong, but they were not fighters. They had been overwhelmed before Alton could reach them.

It was all he could do to round up the remaining survivors and protect them as best he could.

The dark knight was unnaturally fast. His speed with a blade was unparalleled beyond anything Alton had ever seen. It was undoubtedly a supernatural force that guided the dark edge. Though the same cretin now stood and watched from the back of his forces.

But Alton held no further fear. Even as they were slowly overwhelmed in a losing fight. He stood with dragon riders, he stood with legends! He would not, he could not lose! For his fallen friends! For his father's honor! For the memory of Redford! He was but a normal elf but he would avenge his home.

"Graaaaagh!" He charged forward in a bloody mist, swinging his sword with unreal efficiency and focussing on every ounce of his training. The men following him rallied behind his blade and those of the noble dragons and Riders.

Even if the fighting was relentless he would persevere.

And then, as if to give further strength to his belief... he heard the flapping of a third set of great wings upon the dusty horizon.

Chapter 1

Player objectives: (Objectives with * are mandatory)
- Get breakfast.
- Explore Pharus Castle and town.
- Interact with fellow riders.
- Go to the notice board and choose a task. *
- Complete said task. *

Sir Bastian · May 15, 2016

Backup

Flynn Cooper

The wind whipped past Flynn, forcing him to squint at the horizon. Ferrus was soaring through the skies, spurred on by Flynn's sense of urgency. "I really hope we're not too late… we should've just gone without the saddle!"

Ferrus rose slightly due to an upwind, but generally kept himself fairly low in the sky. There was no point in trying to hide themselves by flying up high, they had to move –fast-. At this speed, you may very well have been thrown off without a saddle, Flynn."

Flynn let out a small grunt. He knew Ferrus was right, but if anything were to happen to the others, after Durak had asked him to go help them…

"I've never heard of goblins amassing in numbers large and brave enough to take on a town. They've been brash before, sure, but…" He trailed off, scanning the landscape that blew past beneath them. On several occasions, he could've sworn he saw people stop up in towns or in roads and look up. He felt the uneasy feeling he'd felt when he realized that –they- were going to be a cornerstone of Nobilis. Or, try to be at any rate.

Sensing Flynn's worry, Ferrus swung his tail from one side to the other, fighting the oncoming winds. "Flynn, listen to me. You will be fine. –We- will be fine, as long as we are together."

His words made Flynn do a bit of a double-take. Ferrus wasn't usually one for the touchy-feely stuff. He knew that he cared, but it was nice to hear it from him. Flynn smiled and reached out to pat his companion's neck. "Right. We'll take everything as it comes."

It took them another short while, but finally, Flynn could see the remains of Redford down below. Burned, broken houses, a barn, a small army of goblins and, most notably, a group of surviving fighters, flanked by a pair of dragons and their respective Riders. And, worryingly, a figure in a black set of armor, behind the goblins.

"There! Zile and Lyra!"
"I see them."

Flynn bit his lower lip as he looked over the battlefield. They were handling the goblins well, but there were –way- too many of them. Sooner or later, they'd be overwhelmed by numbers alone. They needed to even out the playing field, and for now, that was best done with pure, brute strength, rather than careful planning. "Ready Ferrus?"

A puff of smog emitted from Ferrus' nostrils and Flynn felt the excitement and adrenaline pumping through their link from the dragon. Pushing his wings close to his body, he plummeted towards the ground. Only just before the heavy dragon landed did he expand them, flapping once, before landing on the goblins' right with a thunderous clap, sending a shake through the earth.

Raising his head high, Ferrus parted his maw and let out an ear-shattering, challenging roar, all the while mentally broadcasting a sensation of pure, animalistic fury. Flynn unstrapped from the saddle, drawing his sword as he jumped off of his companion's back, landing on the ground with a short tumble, to lessen the fall, all the while Ferrus took another deep breath, the goblin army having all but stopped attacking at the shock of this new foe.

Ferrus' chest pulsated a firm, yellow-orange through the dark-grey scales, the dragon pulling his head back before launching a stream of glowing-hot, molten iron, straight down the goblins' ranks. Their near-stunned silence turned into screams of pain and fear, the ones affected almost immediately falling over due to the weight, the burns, or their skin simply melting due to their heat. In some cases, they were lucky enough to survive, but the iron would then quickly harden, leaving them unable to fight.

Wasting no time, Flynn made a dash past a couple of goblins, swerving out of the way of an attack, only to retaliate with a quick swing of his sword, severing its arm. Clenching his jaw to focus, he spun and made a quick motion with his left hand, sending two throwing knives flying straight into the back of the head of a couple goblins that were about to attack Zile.

"Zile! Lyra! We're here! Durak sent us!"

He hopped back from another goblin's swing, following it up by promptly booting it in the face, launching off of it and drawing his knife from his boot, which he then jammed into its neck. He panted as he got up, shuffling backwards. All the while Ferrus had gotten to work on tearing through the ranks by slamming his claws down on top of the nearby ones, or gripping them in his jaws and flinging them across the battlefield.

"We need to take out the guy leading them! What's the plan?"

Shak · May 15, 2016

Name: Maxwell Tybalt || Age: 14 || Rider Race: Human || Gender: Male

Make Yourself at Home

It had been a rough night for Max. Firstly, he wasn't too surprised, nor did he care that Taragon had disappeared in the night again. They'd barely been there a full weekend and Max was completely sick of Taragon; he didn't need to be emotionally connected to the dragon to know that the feeling was mutual. What did surprise him however, was the bath of elk blood he seemed to be waking in. He had no doubts that the two 'surprises' were connected. The stench quickly strengthened and made his feel as though his stomach acids were curdling. As his senses began to gather themselves, the smell of rapidly rotting elk corpses and blood drove him out of the room. He got up with a sigh, walking out to the balcony to catch his breath. It was a perfect image. The large veranda overlooked a great variety of terrains that neighboured the castle. Forests, rivers and lakes, mountains, there was so much potential there. Everything he'd read in his fiction novels and in the more interesting of history books was all right here in front of him. He was going to explore all of it, and he'd start with… the training fields? Admiring the vast landscapes was difficult with the sound of sword smashing and grunting was draining the escapism out of the experience. He glanced down, only to see an armoured girl attacking a training dummy.

"Belle?" Maxwell muttered. Much to his surprise, his twin was able to hear muted outburst. He quickly ducked, assuming she'd turn to see where the voice was coming from. The harsh sound of the wood cracking followed, and the boy made no effort to satisfy his curiosity. That certainly wasn't what he was expecting. He knew his sister loved swords fighting when they were younger, but he was certain their parents had made her stop. He could only hope that she didn't know she saw him. It wasn't likely, but it also wasn't impossible that he could end up like the dummy if he were to say anything.
It was a fitting situation he'd found himself in. Most of his two days had been spent travelling, so he hadn't had much time to talk to his family or any of the other riders for that matter. He hadn't even really spoken to his sister, who had accompanied him on the trip. There was tension there that he didn't want to tackle, now even more on his part after he'd seen her training. Zane was the only one he'd really spoken to, more so than Taragon in fact. He'd tried to communicate with the dragon, but it was an exercise in futility; Taragon wasn't one to respond when things didn't concern him. Honestly, his new room was the only positive thing to come out of this "great" venture. He was now dealing with and avoiding family tensions, had a dragon with whom he shared a mutual feeling of contempt and was now living in a castle with a bunch of complete strangers. Speaking of which, all the other riders seemed to have disappeared. He'd been exploring the castle for a while now, and besides the curly haired guy and his grey dragon moving rubble, no one seemed to be around. It was a suspect scenario, but it was on that favoured him, and we was suddenly feeling much better about proceedings.

After searching for about as long as his tired body could carry him, he found himself in front of the mission board. What he saw was far from appealing. He'd woken up late, and been left with a board full of boring and unflattering assignments. Not to mention he was dragonless, so he couldn't really accept the dangerous ones anyway; not that he particularly wanted a dangerous one. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he wanted at that point. Maybe he could just save a cat…but then, he'd never really been great at climbing. He had no magic, so that was out of the question. Maybe he could just…not take anything on. It's not like the old man would know if he just didn't do a mission.

"I thought you would've went off with one of the others?" A soft voice distracted his train of thought. "Zile seemed quick to jump to your aid when Taragon trapped you in the hid you away from the group." It was the old man. Max couldn't remember his name, as he hadn't with that Zile fellow, but he couldn't help but he felt as though the man knew a lot about him. He hadn't thought too much about the furnishings in the room, but the bookshelves full of adventure stories, the blue flame candle at the foot of his bed, the alchemy table he'd always wanted that his parents had never allowed him to have. It couldn't have been a coincidence. This man knew him all too well. He hesitated when he noticed the man gesture for him to follow before turning and heading back to the castle. "Come. I have a special mission for you."

LinearAxel · May 17, 2016

"What's the plan?"

Flynn's words called out to Lyra, who instinctively looked to Zile for the answer, though it was difficult to tell if he could hear Flynn at all.

Enough, Lyra.

The voice cut through the young elven's mind, harsher and sharpen than Lyra had ever recalled it being.

We did not come to Pharus for you to be Zile's left hand. I will not allow you to look to him as a helpless lamb looks to its shepherd. You are a Dragon Rider. You are a Dragon Rider who has lived her entire life waiting for this moment.

That's…true. Lyra spent hours coming up with battle strategies; studying the strengths and weaknesses of weapons, ways to use terrain to one's advantage, the weak points of multiple types of armor. Her expression turns a bit sterner as she commands her dragon to take higher to the sky, in order to get a better view of this new situation.

They were outnumbered, there was no doubt about it. The goblins had arrived in the hundreds, and even with the arrival of a third rider and dragon, their ranks barely broke twenty. They were terribly outnumbered, though hardly overpowered. One swing of a blade seemed to destroy most goblins, and a spell from any one of their dragons was enough to destroy chunks of the goblins' advances. This battle would be more time consuming than it would be difficult, if not for the key to the monsters' current winning streak: Their leader, the dark knight.

He is most certainly stronger than the pawns he is currently sending forward, and much like in a game of chess, he has no qualms allowing masses upon masses of his army to be obliterated in order to claim victory. This puts the riders at a disadvantage, as they are striving to protect every beating heart that was locked away in that barn. The loss of anyone on their side will be a great loss, and while the strength of their dragons could easily outmatch tens of goblins at a time, there is no guarantee that a few goblins will not slip through, and gain access to the (while capable) exhausted and wounded citizens of Redford.

…That is when realization strikes her: This battle very much is a game of chess.

It does not matter how many pawns you take, in fact, if you're too focused on taking out every pawn, you'll likely overlook the true objective: Take out the king.

Goblins do not attack in an organized manner, this particular group is only doing so under the direction (and quite possibly magic) of the dark knight. If he were to fall, one of two things would happen: The goblins would fall into a state of panic and flee, or they would surrender, and pledge their allegiance to the riders in hopes of survival. Suddenly, the answer to Flynn's question seems all too easy.

"We fly ahead and rush the knight!" She finally calls back to their newest arrivals, suddenly sounding a great deal stronger than the elven girl who, a mere two days ago, proclaimed without hesitation that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. "He can't fight all six of us at once, and once he's gone, the army falls!"

Zile and Alyra might not go for it (not much a team player, it seems) but even without him, two riders and two dragons…they will destroy the dark knight.

Jay · May 17, 2016

Chapter 1: Fight the Knight

"Finally! A plan I like!" Zile grins wildly, his blood drenched sword flashing in the evening light as he strokes it through yet another foe. He has sustained a few cuts and bruises at this point... but nothing worth retreating for. He kicks a goblin square in the face, the numbers have thinned enough for a direct strike to be possible. There's a pathway through the carnage of the small battle. Flying on Alyra would take too long and leave the villagers exposed to attack. So he'd half follow Lyra's plan in this case.

"Alyra, watch the villagers. I'm moving in." He heard her protest at the verbal and mental message both, but he was already running. Behind him he heard the full trudging of another following his pace as he raced over blood drenched grass to his distracted target. Zile turned his head just enough to see Alton follow in his footsteps, the middle aged elf held a bloodied falchion as he raced forward. He shadowed Zile like a bodyguard and though it started him to see such sudden loyalty, Zile wasn't complaining about the back up.

Five yards, four, three... he was right there. Zile could finish this commander off in one fell swoop. He raised his blade and jumped from his feet, the enemy still hadn't budged... it was already over! An overhead slash to claim the victory.

Zile brought the blade down hard....

And missed.

In s near instant the enemy had moved to his side. He gazed with awe and fear as with an armored kick his blade shattered in half and flew from his hands. He instinctively jabbed with his gauntlet but once again connected with nothing. The black knight moved beneath him in another flash... and drove a dark metal fist deep into his gut. Zile felt two of his ribs splinter violently and he was sent hurtling back through the air, tumbling over the ground and landing in a heap on an uninhabited patch of grass. Free of the others fighting.

"TYRON!"

Alyra screamed with mental anguish before tearing goblins apart, rending flesh from bone and creating a fog of murky brown as she eviscerated any who stood between her and her partner.

Ziles vision blurred gently, his gaze drifting in and out as he stared forward. Alton raced towards the black knight and sliced at the black blades hilt. Catching the enemy by surprise, he managed to fling the blade aside... but it was not enough. With lightning speed the powerful warrior gripped the elfs throat tightly and lifted him, gagging and kicking off the ground.

Then the black knight made a move for his sword.

"No... no way. Not like that. I'm not letting him die on my conscience." Zile pulled himself slowly from the ground, he grit his teeth in pain and tightened his fists before moving forward, at a brisk pace.

Alyra howled as the goblins continued to get in her way, interrupting her take off. She saw Zile moving, felt his pain... and howled once more.

"You fool! Tyron you're hurt! Stay down... you can't win this!"

"I won't let him die, Alyra."

Zile broke into a jog, his chest flaring in anger and denial as he moved against its wishes.

"What does one man matter if we lose a Rider! You'll never make it in time regardless!"

The black knight found his blade and gently gripped the hilt. Zile began to run, his feet pounding on the grass as he skirted the battlefield to avoid further conflict. He realized he was bleeding when the rich red liquid dripped down his leg from beneath his armor.

"Alyra help me."

"I can't! I'm pinned down here! Just wait there and I'll-"

"No! I need strength. I need your strength! I've seen too many good people die in my life. I won't see another if I can stop it. Not this time. Not when I have this power to stop it! To protect him!"

The black knight rose his sword as Alton struggled for breath. Zile broke into a sprint, his body and Alyra's emotions begging him to stop but he wouldn't. Even still, he couldn't make it in time. Not even at his greatest speed. He was incapable of it.

"There's nothing you can do Tyron! You must stop this!"

"You know I can't... I have to. I will save this man! I will protect this village!"

"Gods above! Then do not go alone! I give you everything I have Tyron Algray, you cannot die... and you must not stop! Use every part of us both if you must... use it! Focus on the goal at hand!"

"I just..."

"Need..."

"To move..."

"Faster!"
"Faster!"

A great gale ravaged the battlefield.

Zile hurtled into the air from twemty feet away, his fist poised in a curled back metal mass. He shot through the air like an arrow, the newfound strength of the world flowing at his back. His pain faded to nothing in that moment, the very energies of the planet blurred into his being as nature bent to his whimsy. The barriers between his mind and Alyra's were blurred as their goals melded with one another in a brief moment of complete clarity. They would do this. They would succeed. They were dragon. They were rider. They were legend.

The black knight tried to angle his sword in time to block the assault but he wasn't quick enough to stop the Rider of Wind and Speed. Ziles fist collided with the Black Knights sword arm and Zile felt the enemies armor give way beneath the blow. The opponent let loose an ungodly screech and threw Alton across the ground, bruised but otherwise unharmed.

It dropped it's blade from its crumpled arm and Zile took full use of the opportunity, the wind at his back he punched again and again, his bare knuckles bleeding as they moved with speed and force enough to dent and welt his opponents armor, whereas the armored gauntlet tore off large enough chunks to reveal an empty void of dark murkiness beneath. He caved in a section of the opponent's helmet... with a grand uppercut to the jaw... and this time the dark knight went flying through the air, clattering against a nearby tree.

A blinding rage emanated from the wounded creature. The swirling empty void of purple and black beneath its plating confirmed it was no man. It screeched with a deterring howl as Zile once again channeled Alyra and his joined strength to leap forward for the finishing blow.

Alas, it was not to be.

Raising a dented hand the black knight forced forth a sudden burst of dark energy which collided with Zile mid leap. The impact ironically enough, winded him instantly and he hurtled backwards, crashing into the ruins of an abandoned house. The black knight was driven into a frenzied rage, forcing bolt after bolt of seething dark energy into the crowd... though he mostly hit the now panicked and unorganized goblins

And the wind went still.

Alyra felt it as her partner's conscious mind slipped away into darkness. He was badly injured and had lost his waking state. Finally free of the goblins that plagued her, she sent a desperate and distressed image of an injured Zile and the wounded black knight to the other two dragons before taking off towards the broken ruins.

It was up to the other Riders now.

Chapter 1

Player objectives: (Objectives with * are mandatory)
- Get breakfast.
- Explore Pharus Castle and town.
- Interact with fellow riders.
- Go to the notice board and choose a task. *
- Complete said task. *

[Other FULL] Riders [M] [IC]

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