Fight or Flight

[Kryos]

Through the gloom, Kryos began to notice that the trees were beginning to be more spread out. He was nearing the border of the Red Forest, and he would be glad to get out into the open plains of Raiaera. Hopefully, he would be able to clearly look upon the moon within the hour. However, he couldn’t allow that small comfort to lower his guard. He could end up in a fight at any moment, and slow reactions would be fatal.

Yet his journey to the border was smooth. He paused about a hundred feet from the end of the trees, giving his muscles a quick rest. While he did so, he studied what he could of the plains beyond the trees. The ground rose and fell in gentle rises, clustered here and there by an occasional tree, whose leaves were still red, but not at vibrant. He took a drink of spring water to quench his slight thirst, and gazed through the light canopy at the stars. Some shone brightly, yet spaces of black moved across them, clouds stealing their light. His own silver eyes mirrored them, and he wondered again what lay ahead of him at Valinatal.

Suddenly, a cool breeze whispered from the direction of the plains. It wasn’t the wind that startled Kryos, but the quick words that it carried. He snapped his head toward the source, eyes narrowing in concentration. But he could make out nothing. Quickly, he activated Moon Gaze, and widened his field of vision to its extreme. There, at the end of his vision, moved a small group, heading his way. He couldn’t pick up any words at that range, but the group was most likely silent anyway. They were coming at a good pace, and, if their path remained the same once they entered the forest, would pass right by him. He strode to a spot that would intercept them, and waited in the shadows to see if they were friend or foe. He slid his muandrian from its sheath, wincing as it rasped against it. He did, however, leave his eyes stained with silver, incase others joined the small group, as well as to monitor the current group’s approach. His eyes glowed softly as he prayed that they were allies.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Not certain if the Red Forest was the safest place to get at, I kept my weapon at the ready in case we encountered more zombies within. I saw that the Forest was many yards ahead of us. Alk and Anne walked alongside me as I took the lead position of the group. My tail swished back and forth lazily rubbing the ground beneath me as I walked. My muscles were powerful and knotted, and I was ready to leap at a moment's notice like a spring. With my sword pointed down, I let it occasionally scrape dirt up so I could hear some noise.

The world had grown quiet. My nerves were extremely tensed as I walked forward. From time to time, I stole a glance back at the site of Valinatal trying to see where the center of destruction was located. I kept my senses attuned to the area around me so that I might detect it should a group of Arta warriors attempt to catch me off guard. By now I'd grown weary of combat from all of the recent fighting. I wanted to get some rest but the very notion was out of the question.

"What's wrong Mr. Lizard? Are you all right?"

She'd taken to calling me "Mr. Lizard". That was Anne's voice. I'd grown used to her strange line of questioning. She was unusually intelligent for a girl that age. She talked to me a lot about various concepts that were rather mature for such a child. It seemed that Elves had an incredible education system and were at the top of the world in that department. Anne had many questions about Fallien, my homeland, and my people. I tried to answer what I was at liberty to answer. The others remained quiet. Mostly they were still extremely traumatized from the ordeals they'd just faced.

"I'm just tired Anne, that's all. We've been going at this for a while now. We should find a place to rest soon."

"Yeah I think Alk is tired too."

The beautiful dog barked in agreement. It put a smile on my lips to have such companions with me. Everybody proved useful in their own right. By now, Ellers had her injuries covered by thick layers of bandaging. The Arta's infections was contagious but they'd managed to catch it before it could completely incubate within her. We walked forward, not following any particular path, but heading in the general direction of Kryos. Seeing a suitable site for setting up an encampment up ahead, I decided that it was time for some rest.

"We'll rest when we get to that spot over there."

And little did I realize in my exhausted state that Kryos was hiding in the trees in that area. We would soon be upon him...

[Kryos]

“We’ll rest when we get to that spot over there.”

Kryos caught his breath when he saw that the group of seven intended to rest in a clearing not five feet from his hiding spot. His eyes narrowed that fate would play out like this, that they would be forced to meet. He wasn’t too worried, though. They certainly weren’t part of Xem'Zund’s army, so he was sure that he could get by without fighting. But, it was no guarantee of safety. The leader, even in the dim light, would be a tough opponent. He appeared to be an enormous lizard, standing about eight feet tall, and bearing a sword before him. The others though, looked fairly harmless. A girl, a canine, and four other adults, either human or elf. He tightened his grip on his weapon as they got closer. Not wanting to scare them, he inhaled, and took a half step forward, out of the shadows that he had hidden himself in. The moonlight filtered through the trees, and reflected off his blade. It faintly gleamed silver, complimenting his eyes. He stood, and waited for the response of the lizard-man.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

I expected many things but a bandit was not one of them. There were many ways to react, but in my tired and weary state I did what I knew best to do. I readied my weapon and moved into a combat stance. I raised my fist for my companions to halt and I addressed the bandit before he attempted to waylay us. My cloak flapped in the wind and he would immediately recognized the cloak of a Soldier of Valinatal. I kept myself on a guarded position, with my weapon in a defensive stance in case the would-be bandit attempted to accost us. My team ceased walking and drew weapons instinctively. I addressed the bandit before us.

"You'll get nothing from us if you're a bandit. We'll defend our wares! State your business hoodlum."

[Kryos]

“Stand down, soldier. I am no bandit, nor a hoodlum for that matter. I’m making my way to Valinatal, to see the destruction for myself, as well as try to pick up any clues that might help us.”

To try to reassure the group, Kryos sheathed his sword. Maybe they knew something that could help him, so it would be wise for them to join forces.

“I’m Kryos. I think it would be best to join forces for the meantime. But where have you come from? Do you have any news from one of the other cities?”

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Wind came in from the southwest at approximately 20MPH. i felt a chill in the breeze that made me think of Salvar. Bringing my cloak up a little tighter to myself, I petted Anne's head momentarily. A moment later, I lowered my weapon to show that I wasn't in an aggressive state any longer. Hearing the man's words convinced me that he wasn't a threat. I decided on sheathing my sword a minute later to show the youth that I'd heard him. Joining forces? Where did I come from? Wasn't it obvious?

I looked back towards Valinatal and could still see the smoke rising from the terrible gash that the meteor spell caused in that once noble city. Looking back towards Kryos I narrowed my eyes to thin reptilian slits. I kept my fists clenched as I looked upon the youth for a moment.

"It won't serve Valinatal any good to go back there. right now we must move forward. To Eluriand or off this continent. Xem'Zund's forces are about and can attack again at any moment. I fought one of his commanders, a Necromancer calling himself Netha'Tu. A small brigade of Valinatal's soldiers are still looking for survivors of the attack. I think it would be all right to join up forces since we're on our ways out of Raiaera anyway. We could combine resources."

The youth looked hungry and thirsty. Taking out a spare waterskin and ration pack from his own travel packs, i removed one of each. I tossed the rations towards Kryos so he could catch them on his own. The food pack contained fresh jerky and fresh fruits, not a hearty meal...but better than nothing.

"Some extra food and water in case you're hungry and thirsty."

I explained. After all, my training at Valinatal made me a soldier first. It was my duty to help civilians...

[Kryos]

Kryos deftly caught the water and food rations as they sailed through the air. A quick scan of the contents revealed jerky and fruit, which was a definite improvement. He slid his pack off, and placed the new rations inside, after taking a quick drink of newly obtained water.

He analyzed the information presented to him, and concluded that it would indeed be wise to skip his visit to Valinatal. At most, he would be able to help a few survivors, but if others were already there doing just that, it wouldn’t really help in the overall picture.

Suddenly, a wave of fatigue flowed through his body. He hadn’t realized that his eyes were still activated, softly glowing silver. He concentrated, and they slowly returned to normal. He really needed to build up his endurance when it came to Fargazing.

“Is this all in your party?” Kryos wanted to make sure that everyone was accounted for. However, the girl suddenly slumped to the ground by the lizard. Upon further examination, he could see exhaustion radiating from the entire group. Kryos shook his head to stall an answer to the previous question.

“Never mind. You are most certainly tired. Let’s move farther in about fifty more feet. There’s a clearing there that I saw before we ran into each other. We’ll talk there.”

Not waiting for a response, he shouldered his pack, turned, and made his way toward a possible sanctuary.

[Lexxum_Vordic]

Seeing my reflection in Alk's eyes, I could see a cloud of exhaustion within the dog. I too, was tired but could hold out for a while longer if needed. I picked up Anne's form and placed her in my arms after sheathing my weapon with a quick flick of the wrist. Walking forward I signaled to my companions that it was okay to move forward. We kept a few paces behind the rogue as he guided us to the clearing. Soon, we arrived at the clearing.

It was indeed a short walk but it felt like an eternity in exhaustion. My red scales burned with the feeling of being tired, over pushed and overworked. All of my muscles ached with the recent traumas that Valinatal had endured. I was still angry and bitter about the failure against Netha'Tu. It seemed that my early soldiering career was still wrought with defeats. It was all right though, I'd learned from my mistakes and vowed not to make them again.

Entering the clearing, I immediately saw that Kryos was right. I took out supplies from the recent trip to the supply despot and prepared to set up a well sized tent. Going immediately to work, I was helped by the others as they figured it was more important to keep busy. I dug fire pit for the whole group. Once the tent was ready, I proceeded to hunt for some fire wood since I wanted to keep myself busy. I let the others stay with Kyros, he seemed like a good enough lad. I kept Anne with me, not wanting to loose sight of the innocent child. She'd already seen much already.

Finding some firewood relatively nearby to the camp, my senses caught something stirring in the far distance. My hand went to the hilt of my weapon almost immediately. When it was clear that they were just forest critters stirring, I relaxed my stance a little bit and grabbed the fire wood that I needed for the pit. Returning to the camp I saw that the other had already set up their supplies and a secondary tent. The gang was already relaxing. I walked over to Kryos and nodded to him sitting down upon a rock.

"We can talk here. The others will be resting. Everybody is tired." I put Anne down in the tent and went back to Kryos' position. "My name is Lexxum Vordic. We just finished coming from Valinatal like I said earlier. I'm a soldier from Valinatal but I hail from Fallien." [i]I extended my well built arm towards Kryos so that he might shake my hand in greeting.

[Kryos]

Kryos extended his right hand to accept the gesture. The creature’s grip was strong, muscles tight under his scarred flesh.

“Well met, Lexxum. It’s good to be surrounded by allies.”

As Lexxum stepped back, Kryos rose from his seat, and went to his pack. Digging through the contents, he quickly found what he was looking for. A worn, wooden box, about four inches in length, two inches wide, and one inch deep. Opening it, he took out his flint and steel, and approached the fire pit. The wood that Lexxum had gathered was dry, excellent for burning. Ripping some bark off a branch, he twisted it until it resembled a ball of brown wires. Setting that into the heart of fire, he placed the other branches around the nest. Positioning the flint so that sparks would travel directly into the kindling, Kryos struck. It took three times until it caught, and within a minute, the wood was burning merrily. Kryos sighed with satisfaction, and returned to the smooth stone that served as his chair.

“So, nothing is left of Valinatal then?” Kryos meant the question to go unanswered. “I can’t believe it.” The flames of the fire cast light throughout the camp, and into his eyes. He felt sadness at such a loss, and his gaze reflected that sorrow. Shadows from his hair danced across his face. “Well, I guess all that matters now is, what will you do now?”

[Lexxum_Vordic]

I nodded in an attempt to confirm his question. Valinatal was in a state of utter ruin and destruction thanks to Netha'Tu. It hurt to think about it but it was all I could think about. I had a chance to possibly prevent the destruction at hand, but I couldn't! I wasn't strong enough to. But I vowed to Lord Mitra that I would one day have revenge on Netha'Tu and properly avenge those that were killed on that day. I was silent for a long time as I pondered the situation at hand. Many good things had come out of such loss and devastation. I'd met Anne and the other survivors. I'd met Alk, and now I met Kyros. The rogue seemed like a good enough lad. I turned to look at the fire and I could almost see the ruined city of Valinatal.

"My last orders were to take these survivors to a safe place. The Valinatal Guard is taking care of the rest. I don't know what I'm going to do afterwards. I haven't planned that far ahead. I just want to get these people to a safe location."