feaudal area

[Cifero Windtail]

(You know, patience is a freaking virtue!)

*Cifero had put the key and Shadis's swords in his satchel and had followed them when they left. However, he had run in to Karn on the way, and since he was pretty much the only other person, he had gotten the report and had to rush over and give it to Shashoh. Karn, meanwhile, was manning the barracks with the other troops. He had gotten back in time to see that there was something definitely wrong going on... and Hunter was back.*
"Well, looks like he decided to attack... and it also looks like that wolf from earlier found him."
*He scratches his head*
"Where have I SEEN HER?!"
*Suddenly, he hears violent arguing and sounds coming from a nearby area.*
"What's happening over... wait a second, that sounds like Dala...."
*Moving to a tree nearby the area, he arrives just in time to hear most of the conversation. He facepalmed himself.*
"Great Glaux, that man's an idiot..."
*Suddenly, the man grabbed Dalavesta, obviously planning on disposing of her. He gasped.*
"SHITE!"
*Drawing Selven and his dagger, he jumped down and rammed hard into Atticus, causing him to let go of Dala; then, moving quickly, he stood in between his sister and the other two men, holding a blade in each direction. Panting, he looked at Atticus.*
"How... thick are.... you? We're all on... the same... side..."

[Sne]

Shashoh emerged from one of the houses covered in some sort of colored ragged blanket and a gigantic hat. It was the sign. Hidden archers emerged from dozens of places and shot demons one after another.

#

Grace extended one of her wings to deflect an arrow, which promptly broke into icy dust. "Lady, you must get in.", she said and kneeled, stopping any movement as protocol required, not to hurt the user. Lumi saw Grace's back opening to allow her to enter the safety. She tried to make a step, but then felt Kim's hand and stopped and looked at his face in surprise.

#

Dala was under the opponent in the failing position, again. A fight of distractions, huh? she thought and the moment the black wolf ended talking to Aeron she kicked Atticus in his nuts, which appeared to be made of thick leather armor. Suddenly, Cifero rammed into the black wolf and she quickly got up.

Through a window Dalavesta saw a glimpse of a figure in an enormously wide hat. The signal! she thought and jumped to her crossbow, grabbing it while bouncing off the floor with her hands and loading it mid-air. She landed by the window with a sight at the street and after several quick but muscle-soring turns that armed the weapon she aimed at Grace with trembling hands and pulled the trigger hastily.

[Roxy Wolf]

*I blush heavily as Lumi looks at me, and I let go of her arm* sorry...
*I jump down from the roof, grabbing the crossbow bolt right before it hits Grace* I'll take care of this, get away!
//sorry, it's bedtime now...//

[Cifero Windtail]

"Wait!"
*Running over to Dala, Cifero quickly slipped the necklace that Lorkin gave him over Dala's head.*
"You need it more than I do."
*He looked over at Atticus and the other man*
"You're welcome to help her out. Just don't kill her."
*He looked over at Lumi, Grace, and Kim*
"I have other engagements to attend to..."
*Moving quickly, he stands between Dala and the others his blades drawn.*


ELSEWHERE...

*A tall, scarred warrior opens the door to a room, flanked by other warriors. There is a large mandala at the far end. A lone figure kneels on the ground, his back to the warriors. He is watching something in a large mirror. Reaching the bottom of the steps, the tall warrior kneels. The others follow.*
"You summoned us, my lord?"
"Yessssss, my loyal general. Yessssss I did."
*The figure looks over his shoulder, revealing a featureless silohette similar to the face of a cat, for the room is mostly dark except for a strange light coming from the mirror. A single, gleaming, evil-looking eye is seen. It resembles a lizard's.*
"Come here, Grant, and tell me what you sssssssee."
*The general, Grant, comes up the stairs and looks into the mirror. A picture of Cifero sitting in a tree is shown.*
"I see... a crat, presumably young, but who has apparently been through a lot."
*The figure chuckles.*
"Yessssssssssss.... that is correct."
*The figure stands, revealing himself to be about the same height as Grant. He looks the warrior in the eye. Still, no true features are shown.*
"He ssstandsss in my way... the sssspiritsssss have ssssshown me that he is one of a group who will ultimately caussse the downfall of everything we have achieved."
"But my lord, you have control over the other one. Surely you could..."
"SSSSSSSILENSSSSSSE!"
*The figure takes a deep breath and continues.*
"He issssss not an adequate choissssssse. I need him for my massster plan. I want you to sssssssssend one of the Dregurn... a powerful one."
*The tall warrior nods*
"Right away my lord. The boy won't stand a chance."
*The tall warrior leaves the room, accompanied by all others except for two blue-eyed indiviuals, who remain. One of them is a tall white bengal tiger with a giant broadsword, while the other is a slightly shorter lynx with numerous daggers and a long metal spear. The figure looks back and chuckles.*
"Not long now, my ssssonsssss... sssssssoon, that little pesssssssk sssshall fall prey to the Dregurn... and then nothing will sssssstand in the way of the demon lord Marcusssss Dresssssssdon."
(The plot thickenssssss...)
 

[Sne]

The bolt in Lorkin's grip started to heat up and readying to burst into a fiery explosion.

"Cifero! This is my last shot! Grab your crossbow and shoot! Shoot the dragon!" Dala said and not waiting for him to react jumped out of the window and slided down the sloppy roof, loading her last dragonsteel bolt and turning the crank with difficulty, then aiming and shooting again just as she landed on the ground in a crouch.

[Cifero Windtail]

"But... I might hurt the other two!"
*Cifero sighed*
"Alright!"
*Pulling his crossbow and a dragonsteel dart out of his bag, Cifero crouched down and watched as Dala's bolt sped towards the Grace. He quickly loaded his own bolt, unwilling to fire for fear of the others... and then he heard what the robot said, and knew he had to. Standing up straight, the crat took aim at the Grace's head, focusing with a hunter's will.*
"Lord forgive me..."
*With those words, he fired the crossbow...*

[Sne]

Both bolts approached the street at almost the same time, but only one of them hit Grace, exploding into blazing needles instantly, however without much effect. Steel splinters slid off the armor, some of them being trapped in the quickly formed ice. Lumi shook herself and rushed to enter the suit, but it was too late. The other bolt passed by and hit a demon, shooting out his guts and other shrapnel. Pieces of demon bones flew towards Lumi and her antimeteorite clothing reacted, generating small blasts of steam to deflect them, but the cloud was too dense--some of them hit the proctective layer without causing much harm, but it wasn't the case with one of the dragonsteel fragments. The moment Grace covered Lumi's back with her wing, it was too late.

Lumi coughed up blood as she read the report on her retinal display.

NAnite Network ImmuniTy Ensemble overloaded.
Numerous units lost due to hemorrhage.
Numerous units lost due to high radiation levels from a foreign body.
Multiviral infection out of control. Liver damage imminent.
Lung and heart damage detected. Death imminent.
Seek full medical attention immediately.

She couldn't see the world behind the shiny letters anymore. "They need--to be stopped, all of them, at any cost, sto--" she whispered and lost consciousness.

Grace froze.

[Cifero Windtail]

*Cifero looked at the fallen Lumi in horror.*
"Oh my god..."

[JohnnyP789]

Atticus grunted slightly when he got kicked in the nuts and he was just about to say something when he got rammed. The wind rushed out of him, and he hit the ground shoulder first and stood up quickly, drawing his sword," Side? I'm on no one's side... Not yet anyways..." He turned to Dala and watched as she jumped out the window along with the man who just rammed him. He turned to the blind man," No time for pleasantries. lets go. window ten feet, drop atleast 7 then a roof, then ten to the ground, lets do it." He shouted distance for the blind man and followed Cifero, landing in a crouch next to him. He saw what the bolt did to this girl, and he spun on Cifero and dala," Look what you done!"

Atticus ran over to lumi and knelt beside her, telling grace that he means no harm, he is there to help. He looked Lumi over and turned to grace," What happened?"

[Cifero Windtail]

*Cifero felt a heavy sheet descend on his heart.*
"Stupid freaking crossbow..."
*He ran over to the fallen wolf and looked upon her with sadness. A tear ran down his cheek as he turned to face Grace and Kim, throwing the accursed crossbow aside. He fell on his knees and looked up at the hulking dragon-like robot.*
"I... I'm sorry, miss. I... I never intended to kill her.... I didn't even intend to kill you or him. That's why I fired at the demon... I thought it would be safe..."
*He hung his head low*
"Please... forgive me."

[Sne]

Grace froze still, but emitted more and more heat around, causing others to slowly back off.

Situation out of predefined protocols. Heuristic protocol formulation.
Error: No Union personnel exists. Resolution: default to user.
Error: No user defined. Resolution: restoring previous user: Admiral Lumi Kreuz.
Error: User deceased. Resolution: ...
Could not resolve. Critical error. Invalidate all restrictive protocols and resume.

Within that fraction of a second she analyzed more data than in an entire year. No restrictions. Everything is permitted.

Error: User deceased. Resolution:
Disregard essential and non-essential goals.
Neutralize cause and potential causes of user decease by elimination.
Reverse user decease at all costs.
Effective method devised.

"Executing!", she roared and flash-froze Lumi's body to preserve it, then all her scales lifted and she exploded with incredible heat. Soon the warmth was enough to make everyone back off, and fast, then to cause combustion of everything around, cracking stones, evaporating unlucky people who remained in place, melting their armor right on them and bending their swords in an instant.

Simon, one of the hooked rebels, was close enough when he tripped and fell to turn into ashes together with his scythe, including it's blade which heated so rapidly it soon turned into shiny droplets.

Several demons in vincinity were pushed aside by the pressure and got their armor damaged, but they being demons, fire didn't hurt them much.

Dala, confused greatly by the turn of events, was walking absentmindedly towards Grace when the heat wave hit her. She jumped into one of many small canals used for trasport of goods, expecting to escape the heat. The water wasn't much of a barrier. It become almost boiling-hot in seconds. The pain was unbearable... but then it disappeared and she drifted with the current as far as she could, her bursted skin leaving a red mist where she was, then climbed out and collapsed.

Shashoh dropped his ragged clothes, revealing a dragonsteel glaive the very moment Grace let the heat wave out and he was close enough to become a victim of the blast. He was alight for several seconds and slowed down significantly, but seemed otherwise unfazed. His clothes and fur got incinerated, revealing thin gray scales, long horns and folded wings which didn't fuel the fire. As soon as the flames were gone, his fur quickly grew back.

"This ends now," he said with an otherworldly voice that sounded like he was speaking it directly to everyone's ears at once.

[Cifero Windtail]

*Cifero, reacting quickly, had grabbed Kim and Atticus and enveloped them all in a cerulean magic shield. Usingthe skills he had learned from his practice fight with Gaara, the crat opened three of his gates, giving the shield enough energy to last through the explosion. When the blast finally ceased, Cifero disengaged the shield... and stared around in shock at the carnage.*
"Wh... what have I done?"
*Walking slowly over to a rock, he plopped down sadly. He felt something nudge his shoulder, and turned to see Aragon. The crat patted his nose.*
"You are something, man... *SIGH* I hope Dala's still alive... see if you can find her, boy."
*Karn walked over to Shashoh, still alive although shaken.*
"There were many casualties, sir... all the commanders were killed in the blast. But the majority of the rebellion is stationed in Gradian, so we still have a large army. Plus, 300 of our soldiers here survived the blast."
*He grins*
"We've got Hunter's hideout surrounded, sir."

(Sne, I must remind you that Dala has the necklace, so she'll heal shortly.)

[Kaya]

((holy crap this jumped  a lot. 0-0 ))
 
Cassandra follows after hunter enjoying the rush of the shadows but gasps when one was burned out.
 
"god drat it! that freaking hurt!" She stumbles after hunter.

[Cifero Windtail]

(I'd get in the house...)

[Sne]

Shashoh was dressed in a partially melted and torn greenish plate armor, underneath which there was a gray rabbit again. He shook his back powerfully, dropping two shoulderblade plates and revealing his wings again, extending them and then jumping into the air to strike kneeling Grace with his glaive. She didn't get up and the heavy blade was free to fall on her neck.

Automatic combat mode unrestricted. Activating.
Emergency mode permanent.

She raised her hand just before the razor sharp edge fell and caught it effortlessly. She risen from the kneeling position, picking up the weapon together with surprised Shashoh.

Warning: Many systems non-functional.
Goal restored: Seek proper shielding.

Shashoh let go of the glaive, took out a short dragonsteel javelin and stabbed Grace with immense strenght repeatedly, making it spew sparks and eventually break, just as Karn ran to the shouting distance and gave Shashoh a battle report.

"Get... out of here," Shashoh said with difficulty and then looked back at Grace. "What are you?" he said when Grace swiftly turned the glaive in her right hand, took a grip on the handle and swung at him at incredible speed. He barely dodged by flapping his wings, but she punched him with her left fist, sending him at a building which shook from the impact.