The Search For Mana

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

"Don't move for a second!" Lazaryos growled and slammed his staff on the dragon's shoulder, the head of it about 12 feet past Chrono's face. The charged topaz then fired off a flurry storm that opened up the path again, but it was quickly closing again as the first worm went down and the baby scorpions that hatched from within it came swarming in on the group. "Ember! I doubt me and little dragon boy can stall them just by ourselves!"

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember gritted her teeth together. "It's not like I haven't been doing anything!" She yelled as she threw more fireballs after she had pulled her staff out of the scorpion's head. She moved to stand on the other side of Lazaryos. She directed her staff at where they kept trying to make a pathway and sent a stream of fire towards the baby scorpions that had just come out of the fallen worm.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono felt the ground give beneath him as a 'baby' worm literally rose mouth-up right under him. He stuck his sword down and stabbed into a side of the worm as it came up, using its own momentum to cleave through until it just flopped dead behind him. He then yanked the sword out to block a stinger before sending the blade down on the scorpion's head. "I'm gonna need a section of the river to myself after this from all the gunk I'm getting here!!" he yelled out in a joke while going back to cutting a path through the insects.

[Srgntcuddles]

Alistair hacked at the scorpions doing his best to keep them at bay. He was annoyed at the fact his scythe could only turn humans rather than everything else. Though it still amused him at watching the slain scorpions stand back up only to crumble once again. It was getting monotonous quickly, there was several scorpions and worms alike. Nothing satisfying about killing something that wasn't as intelligent as humans.

[Vosur Aekira]

He quickly put away the venom sack in an empty third-pouch on his belt, having two others for herbs and other natural remedies he would come across in his journey, turning around to see a large worm opening its maw to attack him. "Worms, bugs.... these are starting to take their toll on my cards." he muttered as he flung the venom coated card into the mouth of the worm before rolling to one side to avoid being attacked. After the card lodged in the roof of it's mouth, the creature started moving more sluggishly, allowing Vosur to easily climb up the side to further avoid attacks until he could get to a clear pathway while the worm shifted from side to side to look around for him. The worm's movements brushed aside some of the scorpions, which gave Vosur a clearing for him to jump off of the worm and sprint to the others.  Along the way, he pulled his sword from off of his belt and attacked a larger scorpion that was about to tail-strike Ember from the side by cutting off the tailtip of the scorpion. He didn't stop very long due to having remembered she was a fire-mage and thinking that her first reaction to hearing an attack would probably to fry the general direction of the sound.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos pressed on with the others and began getting really frustrated. The worms were already beginning to conquer over the scorpions, despite losing two of their own. Lazryos pressed his staff against Chrono's sword, and created a large blade extension made of lightning. "You have only one swing with this, hatchling! Make it count! Everyone! Get ready to make a break for it!!"

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember heard the attack and turned her head to see a scorpion missing its tail-tip and the wolf-tailed guy who was the one who cut said tail-tip off. She swiftly set the scorpion on fire before refocusing her attention on holding off the scorpions and worms while they waited for Chrono to swing his sword with it's lightning extension to clear a path. She also stayed prepared to run when the time was right so she was alert as she continued to hold off the creatures.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono nodded, ignoring the 'hatchling' comment as he held the sword upward before bringing it down for a near 160 degree arc slash with both hands, and as much strength one could muster in such a short moment. "You seriously underestimate your girth if you think a hatchling can carry you, mage!!" he yelled with a smile over the crackle of the extension as it apparently did its job of giving them space to move around, which he took advantage of by rushing his way towards the last few scorpions in the way and dealing with them a bit more quickly since he was no longer restricted to frontal attacks.

[Srgntcuddles]

With an unimpressive display of power blew open a passage Alistair joined the others in a run out of the mess they were in. Once clear he turned back remorseful of the things he couldn't kill. But it wasn't all bad, he did get to kill things. The next things he was looking forward to was the Bandit Guild that was out here, those people he could kill and have some fun with. He put his scythe back on his back and pulled his hood back up which had fallen down earlier.

[Vosur Aekira]

He kept on in the dash-and-slash through the scorpions, going only for the tails unless he was attacked by their pincers. Every so often, he would have to jump to one side to avoid being tackled by a smaller worm, allowing it to latch onto a disabled scorpion while he continue his way through until the very end. When he finally cleared out of the small battlefield of scorpions and worms, he swiped the air in a ritualistic manner to clean off any blood from the battle and sheathed it into the scabbard, re-belting the sword as he pulled out the 57-card deck and the venom-gland, coating the edges in a very light layer of the poison while he waited for the others to join up.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos ignored Chrono's comment as they made a run for it. Before they knew it, they were back in the desert and far from the conflict of insects. Lazaryos was panting as they stopped. He can sprint, but that was one hell of a long run to escape that horde. "We're going to need to head north for now... hah... hah... there is supposed to be a nice reservoir where there isn't any insect populations. Just make sure to avoid any sand pits on our way. The sand trap ants out here are as dangerous as worms."

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

When the path was clear, Ember ran through with the others. She dove and rolled when a worm had started to come down and there wasn't enough room for her to run underneath. She never paused though because she went straight back up on her feet from the roll and kept on running with the group, never falling out of step. When they were finally far enough away from the horde, she stopped with the rest of the group. She took slow, deep breaths as they all rested. She wasn't really winded but she might have been if they had ran further.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono kept quiet as the group stopped, he aslo listened to Lazaryos for a few moments before 'leading' the trail and keeping an eye out for the 'sand pits'. His eyes started to glaze over as he could 'see' five sources of light hovering over a nearby sand pit. He made his body stop so he wouldn't walk into the pit while his own mind continued to replay his past in front of him. If I didn't know any better, father would probably used the same hallucinations to beat me the moment we fight... he mused as lights became figures that dimmed until their physical features were easily visible. Of course, the first day my siblings tried to kill me... Wheres the off switch on this?

[Srgntcuddles]

Alistair was a bit intrigued about the sand pits Lazaryos mentioned. If they came across one he would certainly have to push Ember into one of them. If nothing she would still be dead, he would be happy. And if the others came at him he would push them in too. Or kill them himself. "How many of these...Sand traps might we encounter? What are...the chances we might find one? Do you think the death would be...Painful?"

[Vosur Aekira]

"Careful what you wish for, grim mage..." Vosur spoke in a snide, his red-irised eyes glaring at Alistair as he put the cards away and securing them in the pouch before he unsheathed his sword to lightly coat its blade in the venom. "...you may get more than you bargained for." he spoke before he sheathed his sword and put the gland back in the pouch he had it in. He stretched a bit before he started looking around at the ground for tell-tale signs of such pits. The white-haired and white-tailed man shrugged before he spoke again. "If you wish to find out if it's painful, maybe it would be best for you to find out first-hand then tell us how painful it is before you succumb to the feeling of being punctured repeatedly by their pincers and then eaten alive. Personally, I'd rather not have anyone I ally myself with get harmed, but you're so eager to know more about the hunting habits of these creatures..."