The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Well, the situation tensed up. So that happened. Neither of the soldiers seemed to be interesting in preparing a banquet, which Ileca took as a personal insult, but the exchange that followed was more interesting for her. What were they thinking now anyway? The hell was them debating about? Ileca couldn't understand humans at times. Anis was unlike most of them. She's simple to read, and her train of thought was quite simple too. Ileca hated complicated people. However things took an interesting turn when the Light Spirit spoke up. Whatever she was talking about, it managed to surprise the soldier and made him act suspicious.

 

And...oh.

 

Oh.

 

That was annoying.

 

Without her noticing, one of the soldiers have moved towards the lizard boy Ileca questioned his sanity earlier, and brought a knife upon his neck. He said something that Ileca couldn't understand, but it must be a threat of sort. Human really are confusing.

 

"Uh, what's happening now?" The leaf-snake slithered on Ileca's neck, asking what was happening. Looking at her spirit, Ileca wondered what she should say to it for a bit before letting out a small squawk it would understand that would explain the current situation for it. Shirin was slightly confused at what Ileca was saying, but after understanding the situation, it crawled on Anis' neck, and as per Ileca's direction, bit her hard enough to make her wake up.

 

"W-wait, where are we?"

 

"Skweeee! (You're fresh now, right? Then, hang on tight!)"

 

Barely giving Anis any time to react to anything, Ileca had raced towards the man holding the lizard-boy-thing and aimed to straight up ram him as she accelerated into a gallop in seconds. Anis managed to hold the handle just in time to not fall and be dragged, but once she noticed the one holding the Draken, she sighed and got her hand on her short sword. Even if in response to Ileca's sudden attack the covered man slit Reinaan's throat, she could just heal the tissues and resupply him with blood while maybe the Chosen of Water could heal him.

 

In the meantime, Shirin looked around, wondering if there's supposed to be anything else that it needed to be aware of.

 

---

[Sethera]

"How can you still be hungry?" lizard boy--or Reiny--asked. Reiny boy.

 

"Because I'm a growing girl," Gilly patted her flat stomach. As the saying goes, a slender halfling was a starving halfling. If you didn't have at least a stomach bump, then you were pretty badly off.

 

"It is pretty hot..." Lindow replied to her earlier words, smoothly placing himself between her and the door. "Did the soldiers that were stationed here die from the heat? Or was it something worse?"

 

"Something worse? Lindow what are you talking about?"

 

Gilly felt a burst of annoyance at her new blockade. "Hey, what's your problem?" she snapped, making to move past the man, when Snow, visible only to her, hopped in front of her, shaking his head. Then his words registered. "Wait, you guys aren't the real soldiers?"

 

"Well that's...quite the rude question. Yeah the heat killed some of our companions but I don't see why that would make a difference. Wouldn't that just prove how you really need to get inside?" the soldier on the right spoke.

 

"Actually," the fairy girl who didn't like her spoke up, addressing the man that had spoke, "I am the leader of this group. After you spend a few moments with these idiots, you'll see that none of them are fit to lead. Now, you'll have to remove those rags if you want to continue to address me. I just cannot be bothered to strain my ears to hear your garbled voice."

 

"Do you have information on the Demon Gate?" the orc asked.

 

"Oh s***."

 

"Should have been told..."

 

Then the soldiers looked at each other before the left soldier lurched forward and grabbed Reiny boy, bringing a knife to his neck. The other soldier sighed. "You really should have just came inside. It'd be a lot less uncomfortable for all of us. But if you want your friend not to wind up vulture food I think you should take off all your equipment, everything, and leave. Maybe, just maybe, you can reach the city without dying. Either that or lizard-boy gets a whole new hole to breath from."

 

"Waaait, what?" Gilly asked as the woman on the bird woke up. "I thought you guys wanted us inside, and now you want us to leave? That's kind of confusing. Do you have some sort of decision-making problem? Like, you keep changing your mind? Because sometimes I have that and sometimes I have to decide what to eat and wowie is it hard because can you imagine choosing between cheese soup and vegetable beef? Really, it's a wonder I ever eat anything, but oh I do figure it out in the end," she finished proudly. "Also why are you holding a knife to my friend?" Because he was the only one cool enough to pillow fight with her, and that made him an instant friend. "Are you guys trying to be evil people? But doesn't that get tiring? Don't you ever look at yourself and wonder why you're doing that and maybe you wanna do something else for a change? Like not stab people. Oh wait, unless...you don't like lizards!" she gasped. "I think that's...uhh...what is that called again Snowy?"

 

"Racism," the rabbit replied, not taking his eyes off the soldiers.

 

"Yeah, racism!" Gilly finished just as the bird seemed set to ram into them. Speaking of rams, Hob had waddled up to the halfling protectively. "And that's bad because uhhh well it's just bad. Like, if I decided to stab you because you wore cloths on your head, I'm sure your feelings would be hurt. Also your spleen."

[Andx]

The conversation carried on briefly but Reinaan with his back turned to the men wasn't able to follow what was happening. There was something suspicious going on but before he could place it he'd been grabbed by one of the men behind him, an arm coming down around his own to try and stop his struggling which he started immediately upon being grabbed. That was until he felt a metal tip pressed up against his neck. Time seemed to come to standstill at that moment. That was his death just waiting to happen. The man barked out demands that the group give them everything they owned or he'd be stabbed through. Ziiyol was in a panic at her partner's predicament and began begging the others to just do what they said and save Reiny. The boy's own thoughts were very simple and panicked.

 

"Knife. Death. Home." was all that ran through his mind. He couldn't die here. The council had already condemned him to die but he was supposed to make it back to his family, successfully completely Ziiyol's mission for him and becoming a man. Soon this all shattered as well when the large bird charged the man. Reinaan had struggled to get slight hold on the arm holding the knife but it wouldn't be enough to stop it. In a panic he took a deep breath as the man plunged the blade deep into his throat. It met some initial resistance but once it made it in it had a much easier time. The pain was hot and intense and not quite like anything he'd ever experienced. It consumed the mind and immediately blood began dripping into his wind pipe irritating it. As it was the blade had avoided major blood vessels in the neck but the damage to the windpipe was going to make breathing difficult very quickly.

 

Thought stopped at this point. There was only primal instinct at this point. He'd been hurt and he had to kill whatever it was that had hurt him. The pupils of his eyes narrowed, his attention to sounds faded. All he could do was try to hurt what was hurting him. The Draken opened his mouth and with all of the strength of his jaw clamped his teeth into the arm holding him. In response the man twisted the knife in his neck some, sending a fresh surge of immense pain through his system. But still he tightened his grip on the arm as if it was the only thing that could save his life. Thus preoccupied the man holding him found himself unable to prevent Anis' attack from landing.

 

The Chosen of Nature's blade was swift and true as she struck at the man's face. As she passed the blade struck across the man's face at about the bridge of his nose, leaving a deep gash across the whole of his face. With a spray of blood and a shout of pain the man let go of Reinaan and the knife and moved backwards some. Reinaan's bite eased up as he did so and he staggered forward the knife still stuck in his neck. Without thinking he grabbed hold of it and swiftly pulled the blade out his neck. While helpful to the pain it was not helpful to the blood loss at the wound sight. Without the knife to plug it the blood began to flow more freely. Reinaan was enraged at this point mostly incapable of rational thought. He staggered a bit between hacking and coughing but turned himself about. The man was still reeling from Anis's blow. With only the slightest hesitation to register this was the one who had hurt him the Draken lunged at the man intended to slam the weight of his body into the man but with it he readied both sets of claws forward as he jumped. One hand was poised to gouge out an eye the other to go for the man's throat in sort of ironic justice but mostly because tearing apart thing's necks tended to kill them pretty quickly. The boy let out a scream the sound of which no mammal could have ever produced. Ziiyol watched on in fear now at her partner's response to the injury having been unaware he could make any such sound.

[Alaina]

With everyone else starting to get on edge and implicate that the people who were here weren't what they thought they were, these thoughts were only met with a feeling of validation as they seemed to realize their cover was blown. While the tension seemed to be growing and growing in the room, the earth chosen was starting to get more on guard when she had heard something fall from behind her. Turning her attention over to it, she saw that the dark chosen had somehow fallen, quite unsure as to how it happened. However, during the time she was distracted by the dark chosen, one of the men had managed to take hold of the draken boy and seemed to be holding him hostage. The girl's eyes widened at the sight, feeling a large of wave of frustration at herself for letting such a thing happen, and was at a loss for what she could possibly do in response to it. It was obvious that there was no way they could trust them and give them what they had, but she couldn't just let the draken boy get killed because of that. The girl struggled hard to think of what it was that she could possibly do in order to prevent both scenarios from happening, but while she could think of nothing to do, the bird mount certainly had. 

 

While the bird creature charged, the earth chosen was a bit shocked by its sudden movement, but quickly recollected herself as she knew that a fight was about to be happening. Taking time to only draw her shield, she paid little heed to the man who had the draken boy, as he was already being ganged up upon, and thus did not actually see his current state. Instead, her attention was focused more so towards the other one, who after he got over the charge had drawn his blade at the ready. While he seemed ready to strike back at the group, the girl had gone to make sure that such a thing wouldn't happen. Running in to intercept his attack, as the man brought his blade down towards the draken, or bird one of the two, it was met with a solid steel shield. The girl's expression had intensified as she stood her ground and parried the blade away with her shield, putting it back into place after hte blade was deflected. The girl simply stood her ground, her gaze locking straight onto the man and making sure that the only thing that his blade would hit was her shield. 

[Cherz]

Ayden's head was raked by a ravaging headache. The desert heat was proving to be too much for this sheltered Izalton child. Sure the forges were tough, but they were nothing like this. This was extreme dry heat was affecting him. A throbbing migraine brought him to his knees. The sudden collapse didn't seem to draw attention to the current scene brewing however. He clutched the hilt of his sword. Luckily, he hadn't the common sense to sheath it. Sure it was dragging a trail in the sands, but the blade was probably wicked hot. Its inky black metal did a good job conducting. Though it would probably benefit him to  sheath it soon...and maybe get some of Bri's healing. Speaking of the dainty fair, she was spitting fire at a group that had crossed them.

 

Lo and behold, all the chosen were building up tension within the group until combat was sure to erupt. Surely the 'fallen man' behind the now rushing groups was surely no threat. He began uttering dark words. A rune of darkness blossomed around him, sending a shadowy tendril forward, spawning this same pentagram under the man closest to him. As he continued the incantation, his migraine struck again. The spell was making it worse, and intense pain frothed through his brain. But this time, Ayden was determined to show the other chosen he was not a burden any longer. This would be the time he finally did something. He stood to his knees and tried to finish his Strength Draining Curse. If he could the incantation he would have a brief window of time to probably hack a few people, provided he wasn't interrupted or silence prematurely.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres stared at Gilly. What? She knew the girl was odd but this situation seemed very...not right for that kind of thing. "I don't think...um." Keres, for once, was able to speak up but, in a cruel twist of fate, she had no idea what to say to the strange response of the girl.

Sadly it seemed that the "soldiers" weren't at near as much of a loss as she was. They acted quickly. However one of them paid for their actions dearly. He was unable to fend off the savage attack that the Draken delivered on him. So forceful was the boy that the man dropped to the ground, trying to cover his face with his arms.

 

His companion attempted to help him to no avail. Their sword bounced off the shield of the girl who had been silent, unassuming, this entire time. The man reached into his pouch for something but a wave of weakness seemed to overtake him and he dropped the pouch at his feet.

Glancing around wildly, he looked towards the doorway, and called out. "Now, c'mon guys, now!" The door slid shut. "Dammit you bastards!" He cursed, and turned back to the group. "Now. We don't have to...just let me...erm." He glanced to the side and began to run.

 

Then he stopped suddenly, freezing in place, as his gazed locked onto something in the distance.

Keres looked back, behind them, to notice something strange. For a brief moment the ground seemed to stir, and then settle, merely two dozen feet away from the group.

 

The sun was finally getting to Lindow and Kha, now, as even the Orc's hardy skin didn't seem enough to completely erase the effects. They both felt suddenly nautious, and their mouths felt especially dry, as they stood still in the intense sunlight.

[Hälō]

"This heat..." Lindow found himself slightly distracted by the effects of the beating sun as all those around him bursted into action. Satisfied that the man who had grabbed Reinaan was taken care of, Lindow set his sights on the other assailant as they turned and called inside the building for help. Fortunately, it seemed that whoever was inside had no intention of coming to his aid... 

 

Watching with a smirk as the other man prepared to turn and run, Lindow's eyes narrowed slightly after seeing his target set his sights on something in the distance. "Hm?" Lindow grunted after glancing over his shoulder in time to catch a brief movement beneath the ground. "That can't be good..." He sighed before suddenly lunging towards the man.

 

Driving his dagger into the other his target's shoulder as they met, Lindow wasted no time in pinning his victim down against the ground. Despite the size difference, the other man found himself unable to escape Lindow's surprising strength, and as he peered up at the Thunder Chosen's foxlike gaze he was immediately met with a question. "Pop Quiz!" Lindow chirped mockingly down at his victim before moving his face so that their foreheads were only inches from touching. "What's moving underground? A friend of yours?" He punctuated his sentence by roughly twisting the dagger that was still lodged the man's shoulder.

 

"Are you fuckin' kidding me, you bastards don't even know?" The man growled through a pained expression. "Ah, funk, funk, stop... stop moving around dammit! That hurts!" 

 

"Well good, it's a dagger..." Lindow pressed on whilst slowly driving the blade deeper into the man's flesh. "It'd be defective if it didn't hurt." The man squirmed and struggled from the new pain, causing Lindow's eyes to narrow slightly as if he were amused. "Now answer the question please." He continued. The tone of his voice now growing far more urgent after taking noticing of the movement beneath the ground yet again. Now closer than the last time... 

 

"It's a funking animal! Jus stop and we'll be fine!" The soldiers words caused Lindow's head to shoot up. All this movement must have drawn some kind of predator into the area...

 

Unable to tell who had been listening, Lindow quickly turned back to the others. "Everyone stop moving!" He spoke in the commanding tone that was usually only reserved for dire situations during his hunts. "We're attracting unwanted attention..." 

[Andx]

The rush of adrenaline continued and ultimately resulted in Reinaan's claws digging deep into the face of the man who had assaulted him. The feeling of piercing the man's flesh was almost delightful for the enraged Draken. Ziiyol loudly gasped seeing her companion's successful move and with that sound Reinaan snapped back into reality, the primal hunting instincts subsiding. His momentum which had knocked his assailant over had carried him down on top of the man who was now attempting to cover his face to prevent further injuries. The others around them attempted to engage the other man before he could much of anything. With his senses about him Reinaan took note of the struggling he was having with breathing. He gasped for air but struggled to get anything. He held a hand still wet with the man's blood up to his own injury which was still bleeding.

 

Fear and panic began to set in again. He'd die if he couldn't get breathing right again and quickly. He got up off the ground by the man and staggered backwards behind the other Chosen still gasping in attempts to get some respectable amount of air into his lungs. He pressed against the injury with his hand as best he could but this needed actual treatment. Ziiyol rushed to her companions side now that he was a somewhat safe distance from their attackers, at least in the sense that they'd have to go through all the other Chosen before getting to him.

 

"Reiny!" she said with obvious distress. Nothing ever bothered her but seeing Reinaan hurt had even the carefree Ziiyol scared. She had seen what had happened to the wind spirit in the Council's tower. The fear of her own existence ceasing was certainly a factor but this was mostly concern for the boy she'd chosen. As thing's progressed Lindow yelled at everyone to stop moving. Not paying attention to Lindow faster had gotten him into this predicament as it was so Reinaan immediately attempted to stop his labored movements. Standing still was going to prove difficult and quickly he fell to his knees and held himself up some with the hand not pressing up against his throat. This position he could hold for now. But the struggle for air was getting worse.

 

"Someone please, help Reiny!" Ziiyol called out to the others wishing she had any sort of healing power. The young Draken could feel himself slowly beginning to black out but was determined to live through this and fought to stay awake.

[Sethera]

Nobody was listening to her! The nerve of them all! Gilly stamped her foot angrily, then stopped when all it did was kick up sand.

 

"I don't think...um." Well, this girl had paid attention at least, even if she was at a loss for words. Poor girl, must not have known how to react to such sublime wisdom pouring from her mouth. The soldiers, however, completely ignored her, which really wasn't very nice of them. Not very nice at all. Secure in the knowledge now that these were bad soldiers--because if they were good they would have at the very least responded to her--the halfling started to charge forward, ready to conjure an ice spear, when the ground stirred not very far from where she was.

 

Mr. Lindow asked one of the soldiers in a not-so-nice way what was going on (then again, they were not-so-nice soldiers). Apparently it was an animal? However, dragon boy was down for the count, and Gilly wasn't sure what she should do. Should she stand still or try to help her new friend? But she didn't know what to do, so maybe leave that to the people that actually knew what they were doing? So what should she do then? Give him some moral support? "Stay strong, Reiny boy!" she shouted across to him, giving him a thumbs up. Hopefully that would help. Maybe. She wasn't sure what else she could do about the hole in his throat, except make it bigger with her spear. Which was a big no-no.

 

But now what? Stand still? But that was like asking her to give up food. Well, maybe not that bad, but still, pretty bad. So she tapped her foot for a bit, then realized maybe it'd be better to move her upper body instead. So she twitched her fingers, and then started swaying, and then started swaying for real when she lost her balance, landing with a small whump on her butt. "Heheh, I guess that's another way to stay still?" she giggled, a little embarrassed.

[Alaina]

Holding her ground, the girl made sure that the man with the sword drawn was not going to be able to injure any of her comrades. As she kept her eyes locked onto him, she noticed that he seemed to be pulling something out and wasn't quite sure what it was, but only tightened her stance, ready for anything. Keeping a sharp eye out for what he was doing, it seemed widely unnecessary as he simply dropped whatever it was he pulled out of his pocket onto the ground, following up with nothing. Her attention then was drawn to the door as he seemed to be requesting for back up. But nobody came. Instead, the door slid shut and it seemed that the two out here were all on their own. As he made an attempt to bolt out of there, the earth chosen called out a, "wait!" wanting to get some kind of answers from him, but it seemed largely unnecessary in the end.

 

The man had stopped, for some reason. The girl wasn't sure for what reason, but he had stopped. Before she could figure it out, though, the lightning chosen had made his way over to the man. Seeming to interrogate him, the way he acted didn't cease to fill the girl with a feeling of discomfort, but she continued to listen as the man attempted to warn them of something. Looking around, as the lightning chosen called them all to stop, the girl froze in her tracks trying to spot what was so pressing. As she finally looked back, she saw of the ground shifting and approaching them closer and closer. However, she couldn't help but fidget from her spot for a bit as the spirit of fire called out to have someone aid the draken in not dying.

 

Looking over, her eyes were filled with panic as she saw the bleeding hole in the draken's neck. She didn't want to see someone else die, but she was powerless to do anything to stop it. She couldn't move or whatever the creature was had a chance of attacking them. Even if she could, she didn't have the medical expertise nor supplies in order to treat him. And as far as magic went, throwing sand onto the wound wouldn't help it in the slightest. As she stood there, she just felt a feeling of powerlessness come over her. And so, she looked over to the only person she knew that could help him, the orc, and with a pleading look in her eyes asked, "can you save him, please?"

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Everyone stop moving! We're attracting unwanted attention..."

 

"That is an order I will disobey, regretfully as it is."

 

Still on top of Ileca, Anis had the bird rush towards the injured Draken now that he's done mauling his attacker, utilizing the birds' light steps to not create too much sudden detectable ground movement in the meantime. The existence of the new creature worried her, but she had Ileca on the lookout for it if it decided to go at her. With the Draken now before her, she noticed the gash on its neck. The wound wasn't as deep as she thought due to the thick Draken skin, but he had lost a lot of blood from it and the gaping throat wound would also have a bad effect on his ability to breathe. First thing Anis did after clearing the wound was to make sure air circulation was still maintained with it. Then, afterwards using a part of the exposed veins from the wound, she got the sample of the Draken's blood, and with it she focused her magic into the wound while she poured sand into the open blood vein. The sand turned into blood that perfectly entered the vein as the channel grew due to Anis' magic accelerating the cell growth, and the process continued until she was sure she replaced enough blood, and got out a bandage from her bag and after conjuring some herbs to help the wound hurt less and clean it from bad forces, she covered the wound with it. Healing him until the point the open wound completely closed off would be really hard.

 

Now, with that done, she could focus on the mystery thing on the sand, and the people that just attacked them.

 

"Chosen of Water, do you have healing abilities? I can't close his wound yet. He'll live, but with that gaping wound on his neck I'd worry a lot about him."

 

She didn't dislike Drakens, really. She just couldn't really bring herself to trust them. They're on a team now anyway. Would only hinder the group if she just let him die.

 

---

[Cherz]

Ayden's curse had taken its effect, but before he blitzed, he realized the peril his new 'friend' was in. Their healer seemed incapacitated by the same splitting heat induced migraine he had, but the draken was obviously severely wounded. There seemed to be so many problems already, and they haven't even made it to the demon door. They weren't even close. How did anyone expect them to close that gate if they were struggling this early? As Ayden said before, they were a suicide squad. He grimaced and moved, not towards Reinaan like the others, but towards his best Orc friend. He took out his flask of water. He really wanted to drink from it...and the pain in his head wasn't subsiding, but that was alright. He splashed the Orc with it really quick, before drawing his greatsword.

 

"Come on Kaw, you'll be a'ight, I swear." He said, taking a very defensive position. He was prepared to strike any for that wanted to get in the range of the orc companion. 

 

"Get ready..." Nocturne warned, his arms crossed. He seemed completely apethetic to the situation at hand, as if it was not a concern at all. He was still unable to enter the physical plane, so instead he elected to simply watch and wait, brooding in the broad light.

 

[Andx]

Ziiyol continued fretting about her injured partner with next to nothing she could do. She would attempt to touch the injury but could do little other than warm the immediate area around her hand. She could try searing it shut she thought but how well she could manipulate the flames she summoned on her own was a question of concern as was Reinaan's ability to withstand it. But shortly enough the Chosen of Nature atop her large bird companion arrived apparently ready to help treat the stab wound. The limited amount of air he was getting was making focusing difficult for Reinaan. He saw and heard things but they didn't register as to what they actually were. He noticed a woman approach him that much he knew.

 

Anis began her treatment by cleaning the wound and ensuring there wasn't anything obstructing his breathing. There was some pain to this process but the young Draken wasn't entirely aware of it at this point. The next stage of her treatment involved the magical transmutation of sand into his own blood. The sensation of the magic and the new blood forcing their way into the injury was a unique sense of pain the boy had never quite experienced and he let out a soft cry as it happened. But as it continued Reinaan's throat itself at the least had closed up and healed. The full injury remained to be treated but it was properly bandaged for the moment. With the closing of the throat normal airflow began again. With a gasp and a severe coughing fit the boy began deep sharp inhaling. He seemed starved for air and took in the incredibly deep breaths with little exhaling at first. But after a moment that too calmed.

 

Ziiyol rejoiced at the treatment and without much restraint at all wrapped her arms around the Chosen of Nature. This had nothing of the feel of a normal embrace for all that really came with it was additional heat to add to the already hot environment. "Thank you so much, you saved Reiny!" she called out immensely relieved. It was perhaps a little premature but she was happy all the same. Reinaan however was still out of it though slowly regaining his senses. Now able to hold himself up he got to his feet and looked forward at the woman who'd treated him. Somewhere in his head he knew this to be the Chosen of Nature but somehow his scrambled brain registered it as someone he knew. With a smile and a laugh the Draken too suddenly embraced Anis making for a bit of an awkward group hug centered around the woman.

 

"Monah!" he cried out affectionately, it sounded something like a name for one of his people. The limited oxygen clearly hadn't been kind to his mental processes. Thankfully the woman would be spared a fully abrasive scaled hug due to Reinaan having put on the cloak the council had prepared for them earlier but that didn't stop his face from scratching at her. It was moments into the hug Reinaan realized what he was doing and who he was doing it to. Embarrassment quickly took hold as he quickly released Anis. He would have liked to have run about a dozen meters or so the other way but remembered Lindow's words to stay still. So instead he stood there in a mixture of emotional and physical discomfort from his embarrassment and the slowly healing wound in his neck. Ziiyol began laughing as the boy looked around unsure of what to say or do.

 

"Uhhhh..." he began knowing full well how thoroughly he had messed up. This woman hadn't seemed to like him much as it was, there was no way she'd ever like him after this. "T-thanks for helping me..." he managed to say before throwing his gaze straight down at his feet.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

With every movement the creature in the ground got closer. Keres was staring at it, wracking her brain for what this creature could be. Too small to be a Sand Worm but it had to be something similar, right? Perhaps some strange species of mole-man...

 

She flinched as it got closer, whenever someone moved, and wanted to warn them again to stay put. But it seemed that everyone had stopped finally.

Keres wanted to help the Draken but she didn't feel she could do much for him. Her magic would be able to dull the pain he was likely in, but, in this case, that might just have caused him to open the wound more. She could stop the bleeding but the wound seemed to be deeper than just that.

Thankfully the Nature Chosen seemed adapt at this sort of thing and managed to keep their companion from dying.
 

She let out a soft sigh of relief that turned to a choking noise as she noticed what was happening with the Orc.

He seemed to have taken the heat even worse than expected. It began to dizzy him and he stumbled back, then forward, unable to even keep in mind Lindow's warning. Then he fell to his knee, hand hitting the ground with a soft thud.

 

The creature under the ground, fairly close to them by now, reacted instantly as it started to rush towards the Orc. Keres opened her mouth to croak out a warning as the Orc, with even more shifting, got to his feet, but it was too late.

Out of the ground surged a large creature which opened its mouth wide, coming from the ground and readying to chomp down on the Orc's torso.

[Sethera]

So Reiny boy was in danger but then Alice--no Anis decided to help him so he was much better now. "Good job, Anis!" she cheered. Anyway she, Gilly the bold, was still lying on her butt, but that was fine because huh she felt a bit weak and shaky didn't she? "Geeeez," she whined. "Why do deserts have to be so spirits-saken hot?"

 

"Not even imminent danger will stop your mouth from moving, will it?" Snow muttered beside her.

 

And then when a large creature burst from the sands, Gilly's eyes widened. "What is that thing?" she asked. "Looks tasty. Let's go Snowy we have a monster to hunt!" she stood up and formed an ice spear in her hands.

 

"Idiot, you were told not to move," the rabbit hissed.

 

"I know," the halfling replied, "But you shouldn't always expect me to listen." Closing an eye and sticking her tongue out, she took aim, fingers slipping on the water already starting to form on the spear.

 

"You're going to hit the orc!"

 

"No I'm not!" she shouted as she threw the spear. Snow looked away, afraid to watch, while Hob continued to huddle in the halfling's very small shadow.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"What's with these people and attracting trouble...?"

 

Anis shook her head with how much their non-human companions had gotten into trouble as she prepared herself. Before then she had just tried to admonish the Draken for moving way too much with his throat still almost open, and she was just going to ask Keres to fix him up further before the creature on the ground jumped out of the sands. It was a...fish of sort, she never saw one like that. What was a fish doing on land, anyway? Swimming on sand like that...nevertheless she loaded her bow as the creature was showing its intent on attacking the Orc. He was suffering from heatstroke that made him lower his guard, and if no one did anything soon, he would be eaten. A spear was shot towards the shark and orc's direction, and Anis decided that it was the time for her to fire her own arrows at the shark. Meanwhile, Ileca had left her a while ago to approach the shark herself. She jumped to perform a body-slam on the shark to get it away from the Orc, while also coordinating with Anis so she wouldn't be hit by the arrows or Gilly's spear.

 

"Keres, Gilly, either of you can treat someone suffering from a heat stroke? Once we deal with this shark, we need to patch up the orc a bit before we actually move to somewhere shaded. The longer we're idling around here, the more the heat will get to us."

 

[Ren✧]

"Do you have information on the Demon Gate?" The Demon Gate. Information on...the Demon Gate. The...Demon...Gate? Kha grew still. Tried to focus on the men in front of them. Their voices seemed far off. He watched as they took Reinnan hostage. Something inside of him told him to react. Told him to drive his sword through the pair of them. To hand over all his belongings. To do...something. Something...something? He watched as the desert around him began to spin. How did he get to the desert? He had never been to the desert before. His throat felt dry. 

 

Kha watched as Reinnan's throat was slit open, watched as the group of Chosen retaliated. He watched, but couldn't find the energy to move. What was he doing in the desert again? Oh yes. Did these men have any information on the Demon Gates? Something cool hit his skin, Kha could hear the voices of the Chosen again. They sounded a little closer now. He almost felt like he could hear them if the desert wasn't so loud. The dunes kept moving, waves of sand churning over one another. His throat felt dry.

 

Kha fell to one knee. The sand felt strange between his fingers. How did he get to the desert again? He heard a strange noise, this one sounded closer, sand rained down from behind him. He heard shrieks and shouts of warning. Kha's pupils went wide, blood rushed through his veins. He dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back. He watched as a spear fashioned of ice and several arrows flashed overhead. He tracked their movements towards one of the most terrifying creatures he had ever seen. He swallowed hard. His throat felt dry. 

 

Even if the projectiles hit home, the sand shark would most likely land on top of him. Grasping his sword with a firm grip, he raised it into the air. Trying to hold it steady so that the predator would impale itself. Why did they come to the desert again? 

[Hälō]

"Dammit..." Lindow hissed in annoyance as a few members of the group failed to heed is warning. Moments later a creature that resembled a shark revealed itself to be the predator that had been stalking them. 

 

Watching as the Ice and Nature Chosen sprang to Kha's aid, Lindow shifted slightly atop his captive before raising his arm and extending his thumb, index, and middle finger towards the beast as it approached it's prey. "I guess now is a good a time as ever..." He mumbled under his breath as sparks of bright blue electricity began dancing all around his arm before settling at his hand in a crackling aura. He couldn't just let the groups only real healer be eaten, could he?

 

"The Third Blade!" Lindow called out the name of his technique. Having never used magic before, the man found himself in awe as he watched with glowing blue eyes as the aura around his hand suddenly form into a blade of pure lighting magic before rapidly extending towards his target. Tensing his muscles to keep the blade's path straight and just narrowly avoiding Ileca, Lindow drove the attack into the creature's side in hopes that the shark would slice itself open in it's advance, 

[Cherz]

Nothing could ever be simple, could it? Ayden was standing by the swaying orc, doing his best to protect and stabilize his friend. Naturally, everything went to sheet. The sand stirred, and from it popped a giant shark. Of course. Of all the things to worry about now...the other chosen sprung into action quickly. Gilly threw an ice spear, Lindow dashed over to it, attempting to cut it through. Kha seemed to realize the peril of his situation and tucked and rolled. Now the only thing left between the shark and the orc was this excuse for a man. Ayden could feel his hands shaking on the giant sword. He gulped, though his mouth was super dry and he ended up momentarily choking. As it came barreling closer, he made up his mind.

 

"funk it I'm screwed anyways." He choked out, putting his entire back into the swing.

 

Indeed, it was a forceful swing. He meant to slice that sand shark before it could get to Kha. Regardless, it would probably eat him anyways. Ayden figured there would be worse ways to die than being eaten by a shark. It would also make one hell of an afterlife tale. Perhaps even bring some meaning to his existence...

[Andx]

Perhaps all chances of a friendly relationship with Anis weren't spent. She seemed much more okay with the delirious hug than Reinaan would have imagined though she did seem somewhat irritated in general. The woman had started telling him to stop moving so much with how injured his throat was. But before anything else could really be said or done though there was another more serious problem to deal with. The reason they'd all been told to stop moving, the thing the men who'd attacked them had been fearing would come. It looked like a fish. A really big fish. That swam in sand. And was trying to eat an orc. Definitely not anything the young Draken had seen or considered possible.

 

The others reacted quickly to attempt to rescue Kha and Reinaan readied his spear now that he finally had a moment to grab something. As he readied to throw the weapon at the shark to join the barrage of projectiles he thought of what Anis had started to say and felt something in the injury in his neck. It wasn't tearing open but it felt close. Reinaan froze at the sensation and slowly held a hand up to lightly touch the bandaging. Any sort of exertion to fight off this shark could well open the wound again and he would be right back to gasping for air. But he couldn't just do nothing, that would be infuriating. All he could think of was his spirit partner.

 

"Ziiyol, I can't help them fight it. But you have to do something." he asked of the spirit. She seemed ready to comply though hesitant to leave her partner's side yet. "I can summon some flames Reiny but there's no guarantee I don't burn the orc too." she said warning him of the risk her powers took without being channeled through him. Reinaan could feel his frustration building as his grip on his spear tightened. "Then just be ready to do it if the others can't fight it off fast." he concluded. Considering Kha would be the key to healing his injury properly it felt wrong to not help save him from this monster but the boy needed to keep himself alive to be of any help. Ziiyol stepped forward closer to the Orc and shark and readied her fans. She would commence her dance in the event the others couldn't get the beast to stop attacking. And when she did there was no telling what all would get set on fire for it. Reinaan himself began scanning the area. He needed to focus. Another one of these things couldn't catch them off guard or the group might not be able to fend it off in time. His eyes, ears and nose all did their own part to determine what was happening around him. He'd never tracked anything like this before but it wasn't going to stop him from trying.

[Alaina]

While the girl was pleading to the orc to try and heal the lizard boy's injuries, she felt her heart dropped at the same time the orc did. She wasn't actually sure what was going on, but quite like the Dark Chosen before, the orc seemed to be affected by something and unable to keep his senses about him. As he lost his ability to stand upright and fell, it seemed that the shifting in the sands had finally taken notice of him. As it came barreling towards him, something that the girl was likely never to expect coming out of sand jumped out of the sand and went to go take a bite down on the orc. Her eyes widened, both in fear at the man being in huge peril and surprise from seeing what looked like a fish come out of sand. Regardless, she knew that there was no way she could get between the fish-like creature and the orc in order to protect him from its maw. While that still would not have stopped her from running towards them anyway, what did was the immediate response of everyone else, seeing a few of them close in on the fish and the orc, making her entering any kind of effective melee with it extremely difficult. 

 

With everyone else being on the offensive, the Earth Chosen felt as though there was no way for her to immediately help. Instead, she decided it was important to learn more about the creature before her. After all, it was a fish, and having only one appear before them was a bit odd. With a look of both fear and focus in her eyes, she looked to the man who had warned them about the sand beast in the first place and asked in a louder than normal voice, "do you know if they travel in groups?"

 

When she looked at the man, she had seen him with his blade still drawn at the ready, with a focused gaze on the orc. While she wasn't sure how much he was actually paying attention to her, he seemed to respond to her with a shake of the head, effectively telling her that that fish was the only one that would be around. The answer had calmed her a bit, not needing to be on alert for any more shifts in the sand, yet the man himself did not. She recognized that he was still a danger to them, and kept a watchful gaze on him instead, figuring that the rest of the group would be able to handle the sand fish. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"You're going to hit the orc!"

 

"No I'm not!"

 

Keres turned her attention to the little Halfling, frightened that she was going to do something exceedingly stupid. However the spear she threw didn't strike the Orc. Nor did it do much of anything, however. It struck the shark. But it hit one of its pectoral fins. The ice landed upon its surface and shattered. Evidently the creature had particularly hard fins, probably how they are able to go through the ground so easily. Keres couldn't help but take out her paper and begin to take notes as the scene unfolded.

 

Unfortunately the scene that followed was an utter mess. Kha was in a position to strike the shark when Ayden jumped in the way. Putting himself in the extremely small space between Orc and shark, which in turn knocked the Orc onto his backside. The shark continued and, being closer to a target, bit down upon Ayden's middle, teeth tearing through the protective covering and biting into his flesh, drawing blood.

Anis' arrows didn't seem to disturb the creature much, however, it did seem to be wounding the beast.

The bird crashed into the shark in that moment and knocked it to the side. Which, as the shark was biting into Ayden, served to fling the man straight into the sand as the beast thrashed about.

Ileca managed to avoid getting hit by both the ice and the arrows...however.

Lindow's blade went into the shark. It's path was true, and straight, but he wasn't able to quite predict the movements that Ileca's attack would cause and the bird found itself being cut across the flank with the electrical blade.

The shark, meanwhile, seemed to be stuck in midair, with the magical blade lodged into its side and giving out occasional shocks which, admittedly, didn't seem to affect it much. It did seem to cause it to spasm and, while it would cause Ayden much pain, it also freed him from the shark's grip.

 

Keres stared, slightly open-mouthed, at the sudden events, and decided to rush over to Ayden to pull him fully away from the shark. She reached for her flask and opened it, pouring a small amount of water into her hand and hovering over Ayden's wound. The water spread across it and Ayden would feel the pain reducing, and the blood would, for a time, stop flowing. "Temporary." She muttered to him.

[Sethera]

"Oh wow," Gilly gaped. "That was uhh well I didn't expect it but umm at least it hit Mr. Fishy?"

"You named it?" Snow asked, aghast.

 

"Well yeah otherwise what would I know to call it?" she huffed.

 

"A sand shark?"

 

"What's a sand shark?"

 

"...That's a sand shark."

 

"Oh yeah! Silly me, heehee."

 

Snow shook his head, sighing. "Why me?" he muttered. Then he looked up, "It might be for the best for you not to do anything now."

 

"Eh? But whyyy?"

 

"Because, your attacks were ineffective, and you have a greater chance of hitting an ally than the shark with the way it's moving around," the rabbit responded. "Ayden, for instance, isn't that far from the thing."

 

"Hmmm but I don't like doing nothing," Gilly crossed her arms. "I know! I'll see if Reiny boy's all right!" she rushed over to the Draken. "Are you okay Reiny boy? Don't die on me now!" she peered in his face. "Whatcha looking at? You looking for food?" She peered around herself. "I don't see anything but sand," she mumbled in disappointment, before perking up. "Wait! Maybe I'm not looking hard enough!" she resumed her search of the desert, shading her eyes with a hand.

[Ren✧]

There were too many things for Kha too keep track of. He thought the sand shark was as good as dead, set to be impaled on his sword, but then the dark visage of Ayden appeared in the space between himself and the desert predator. Kha wonder if he had seen that right. However, it wasn't even a second later when he felt the hot sprinkle of blood that accompanied the shark biting into Ayden's midriff. The orc let out a strangled cry of alarm, his vision suddenly replaced by the elf ravaged by the council's shadow creatures. He hadn't been able to save her. 

 

And now, despite being so close, he feared that he would again be unable to save the Chosen of Darkness. Watching the sword-wielding-sorcerer fall into the sand, Kha rolled onto his side. Swallowing hard, he fought back the dizziness in his head and the feeling of sandpaper against his throat. "Kal'bri..." He croaked out, unsure of where his spirit had gotten off to. Apparently she had been safely observing from a distance, hovering above the conflict that had sprung up after she declared herself the leader. Taking her lofty time, she eventually floated down to be eye level with Kha.  

 

"This is why I am the leader. When you all make decisions, things go to sheet." She said nonchalantly. 

 

"Help...Ayden..." Kha choked out.

 

The light pixie looked over her shoulder watching Keres work some sort of magic on the injured Chosen. "...seems like the water witch has got it handled." 

 

"Kal'bri..." He insisted further. 

 

"Oh, alright, I suppose I do enjoy that one." 

 

There was a brief flash and Kal'bri disappeared, a moment later Kha was enveloped a faint, familiar aura. He felt the dizziness ebb slightly, he still desperately needed water though. Uncorking one of the flasks at his side, Kha took a swig of it, letting a large part of it spill over his face. He took another drink before moving the rest of the way to where the shark and had dropped Ayden. 

 

He fixed the water chosen with a look. Too hot. Help me if you can. Kha let the healing magic spill from his palms, realizing he had left his sword back where he had fell. He shook his head briefly, he wouldn't worry about being unarmed right now. He needed to focus on saving Ayden. 

[Cherz]

Ayden was so sure of himself. He didn't even think twice. Of course, the giant clusterfuck all happened at once. He went to slice the shark, but it was too fast. He brought his sword over head, but before he could drop it, the shark plunged the tooth daggers into his chest and began tossing him around like a rag doll. So thats what being a plush bear felt like. He felt nothing as it shook him around, and sure enough the other chosen dealt with it. In the aftermath, he was thrown aside, into the sand.

 

Thats when the pain set in. He saw his chest and the amount of blood that was on it made him scream. Well, yelp. He let out the jabroniiest noise he had ever made. For a moment he was too stunned to say anything. He placed his hand on the wounds. The shark had torn right through his thin armor. His hand came back, all bloodied. The pain was unimaginable. He began gasping for air, but that only served to dry his throat. The noises he made sounded like someone choking a cat.

 

Thankfully the water chosen had approached. She did some of her healing witchery. The pain dulled to a minor ache, and the torrents of blood stopped gushing. He moaned, relief and Ecstasy. The healing magic felt so good, especially the water on his torn and sweaty chest.

 

"Ya know...just for that it was almost worth it." He said with a dumb grin. He was still sprawled out on the hot sand and the fix was only temporary.

 

It was then that the giant orc came lumbering over him, casting a shadow over his face. The orc placed his hands on Ayden and took care of the rest. The wounds closed, and while the skin remained red, at the very least they weren't open and waiting to be infected. More relief and ecstasy flooded through him. He opened his eyes the full way to see the orc, basking in radiant light.

 

"I think I'm in love..." He half mumbled to the doc, relaxing for a brief moment as his wounds were tended to.