((Well, Izzie left again, so I guess I'm going to conclude this thread and request my spoil))

Sei turned to his future employee to find that the drow had disappeared. Maybe he had gone to get reinforcements, or perhaps the giant winged beast before him actually scared him. Either way, neither sort of activity would really help during the war. If Izvilvin could not stand and help his leader fight, Sei felt that he was not going to be much use at all.

The challenged had been issued, Sei stepping down from his steed to view the avian. The bird cawed once more and began to flap its massive wings, taking to the air. The sands of the Fallien desert scrapped against Sei's skin, slipping between his lips and into his clothes. It was a distraction at best, but the force of the gale sent the Mystic tumbling backwards.

Luckily, Sei had been used to getting thrown around, and instinctively spread his two butterfly wings from out of his back. He rode the wind provided by the phoenix in order to glide upwards. He could hear his horse neighing, running off to Thaynes know where. This was going to be an aerial fight, so the mount was of no use anyways.

Sei was a good twenty feet from his target, each of them flapping their wings to stay aloft. The phoenix struck first, charging at Sei with its stained beak open. It attempted to clamp its mouth down on Sei, but found nothing but air. Sei hand ducked underneath the massive form, flying instead behind it. It was now the telepath's turn to strike.

Sei dived down at the back of the beast, withdrawing his Gemini Blades as he did so. The wind whipped through his hair, and he brought the swords downwards, only to miss the bird. Sei turned behind himself, finding that the phoenix had retreated backwards. Sei repositioned himself right side up and stared down the creature once more. This was going to be a hard fought battle.

The phoenix struck out again, charging Sei once more with a similar attack. Sei began to shoot up into the air to dodge once more, but quickly found his whole body tightening around him. The fire bird had gotten clever, anticipated the dodge, and was now squeezing Sei in one of its talons. The phoenix cawed once more as it started to dive bomb towards the ground, Sei finding breathing to be difficult during this time. The bird raked the mute across the dunes of Fallien, causing his skin to be torn away by the Fallien environment, coating half of his face with a fine shade of blue. Sei screamed in utter agony as the beast moved upwards, released its prey in a sort of throw, and opened its beak once more, assuming the winged Mystic had met his end underneath its claws.

When the bird closed its mouth, it found itself hacking almost instantly. Sei had thrown his curved shaped Gemini blade down the creature's mouth. It was now suffocating on the sword, which allowed Sei enough time to fly upwards in order to regain his bearings.

The choking phoenix hit the ground, continuing an attempt to hack up what it had just ate. Seeing this, Sei immediately flew downwards, sheathing his sword and instead withdrawing his kusari-gama. He quickly tied Jomil's Touch to the weighted part of the weapon, flying behind the phoenix and throwing the chain around its chest. He could feel the heat from the bird attempting to lick his body, invite him into a living hell. He did not care though, right now his avian foe needed saving, and there was nobody else around to help.

Catching the bladed end of his kusari-gama, Sei held on tight and pulled upwards quickly. The result was another hack from the beast. Sei gave some slack to his makeshift rope and did the action again. Two more times and Sei finally heard his weapon slam against the Fallien sands. He released his grip on one of his reins and flew towards where he had heard the sword land. Half of his face had been blinded by his own azure features, his exposed facial muscles being stung with the grainy mist all around him.

He picked up the sword and turned to his foe. He was in worse shape than the bird, and as such, figured he was poised for his own doom. Death at the hands of a phoenix, it was the stuff legends were made of.

However, instead of meeting with a fire bird that was ready for round 2, Sei's good eye saw that the bird was bowing to him. The mute thought on this for a moment; he had saved the beasts life, was it now repaying the Mystic in kind? Sei nodded in understanding to the avian and approached it, no longer feeling the intense flames that surrounded it as they physically lapped at his skin. It seemed as though the creature could will whether or not his fire was painful.

Sei turned, wrapping his legs around the neck of the Phoenix. Spreading its wings, the bird let out another caw and took to the air. Sei Orlouge had found his mount.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he would return to Ixian Castle, nobody had expected him to do it in such a fashion. The horses had arrived days before Sei himself made an appearance. He needed to heal up after all. However, once the Ixian Knights saw their leader riding upon the back of a legendary bird, they were all struck with awe. Many came over to the beast, the avian tensing up at the strangers. However, a soothing hand from Sei allowed it to bow its head, cooing a little bit as the various warriors came to marvel at it.

"So, what are you going to call him?" Anita Orlouge, Sei's daughter, asked with genuine curiosity.

"His name is Hu'Vayn. It means No Fear. I shall tell you all about it once I get some rest. For now, lets get us a calvary started up..."

((Spoils:

Silence Sei requests the following spoils.

Ixian Calvary: The Ixian Knights now have a calvary of the best horses on Althanas, shipped straight from Fallien. The horses number roughly around two hundred, though breeding can be done in order to make more. Such a thing will most likely be referred to in a future quest.

Hu'Vayn: Sei requests the familiar Hu'Vayn, a pheonix with the ability to control the heat of its flames. It shares a warriors bond with Sei, and has thus far only allowed him to ride it. Ixian Knights who do a quest with Hu'Vayn and prove their worth to him will also be allowed to ride him. In wartime, he is Sei's mount exclusively, unless otherwise specified.))