Act 2 - Out of the Fire
A downpour put the wildfire out at last. Exhausted after their tireless efforts in helping Feathertrot rescue small critters from the flames, the trio rested by a stream to wash the ash from their hides. Many lives had been saved, and from the ashes they’d even spotted a firebird. Trillia had found an egg as well - at first they’d been saddened, believing the flames had killed the hatchling within, until they realized it was smoldering of its own accord, a perfectly healthy fire egg. They wrapped it in leather and Feathertrot promised to hold onto it in case some drake returned, searching for it. Thankfully, their Dunhoof friend also negotiated safe passage through the Wintermane centaur territory at the heart of the tangled wood, so they would have time to recover a bit before entering Serthis territory, in the Sandswept Delta.
Scorched Forest Prize Bucket wrote:
The journey to an unknown destination always felt longer. Trillia had tried to convince the other two to just fly over the Tangled Wood, but Hisae was convinced it would be a good challenge for them. Now, true to its name, the thick, interlocking branches made it impossible to fly up and out. Well, in a pinch they could probably claw their way out by brute force, but for now they weren’t that desperate. The perpetual darkness was oppressive, however, and the travellers had begun to wonder whether they were lost in the shadows. There were plenty of tales of those who’d lost their way. But their fears remained unvoiced.
Still, they kept walking, because there was no other choice. At least we’re not bored, Trillia thought. The siblings were having fun in their own way, although the imperial didn't quite understand what was going on.
"What of the following is a secondary gene?" Hisae asked. They had been exchanging random questions since that morning.
"Baldwin, obviously!"
And random answers.
"...What?" The imperial finally decided to try and join the conversation. Maybe she would get some clarity on this whole game at least.
"Tomo. Old lady back in the Viridian Labyrinth, asks the weirdest questions." Hisae explained, smiling fondly. "'Which one is not a Flight?'"
"Nature!"
"And what's my name?"
"Scribbles!"
"Physically male Guardians take pride..."
"In their pretty eyes."
"What's that?"
"A shrunk deity riding a Snapper!"
"No..." Hisae stopped walking and pointed to her left "What's that?"
They turned in the direction the Guardian was pointing towards. There looked to be a break in the trees at last. And a lump of... Something, not very far, silhouetted in the light coming into the Wood . The mushrooms cast a soft glow against the side nearest them, which was not very helpful in identifying it. Lyn immediately flew towards the lump his Guardian had noticed, with Hisae right behind him, and Trillia following shortly after.
As they got closer, they realized it was a dragon. A snapper, unclothed, with scrapes and bruises all over his head and body. He was staring wide-eyed at a pebble on the ground, and looked to be in shock.
"Uhm, excuse me? Are you alright?" Hisae asked. The snapper jumped slightly, turning his head to look at the younger dragon.
"The others?" Hisae questioned. The Snapper returned to staring at the ground and didn't reply.
"Who are these others? What happened to you?"
"There-there were bandits." he finally whispered. "They robbed me of all I have! They wanted me to pay them to let me head to the Brightshine Jubilee! They took everything! My purse, my documents, my tradegoods and clothes - even my pajamas! My grandmother had made those for me! But worst of all... They took my Blossom! My poor little friend, she must be crying right now... You need to save her!" He said, prostrating himself before the group. "Will you save her? Please? You lot look like you could handle them..."
"...Who is Blossom?"
"My duskrat! She was my only friend, you must save her, please!"
"And you are…?”
“Urvine, of Clan Arkayna. But please-”
“Well, we need more information. How many were there? What manner of creatures? Where did they go?" HIsae interrogated.
"I’ll tell you all of that on the way! We must hurry, who knows what those fiends might do to my little Blossom... Please! T-to the west! In the Delta! They were heading up the coast towards the Scarred Wasteland."
Urvine had barely been able to make it out of the woods before he gasped to a halt. Despite the Aid Lyn had rendered him, his injuries still seemed to cause him pain. He’d related the details of the attack and urged them to continue without him, swearing he would catch up once he caught his breath.
Now, night had fallen. The group was hunched behind some grassy dunes, peering at the dark mouth of the cave, cast in the orange light of a bonfire outside its entrance. Serthis shadows danced against the rocks and across the sand.
“So… Three of us versus who knows how many bandits. Well, we know there are at least the three pearlcatchers, but then - I don’t see any sign of them. Maybe this is some kind of Serthis lair instead.” Trillia squinted into the dark, trying to count the serthis she could see.
A pearlcatcher lady, both beautiful and ruthless, Urvine had said, with two mean males who looked to be twins. "And too many serthis to count! There must have been more than thirty!"
Such a large number allied with just three dragons seemed unlikely; they had fought their way through many other Serthis on their way here, and when questioned, none of them had admitted to being affiliated with the bandits. All had insisted their hideout was this cave, however.
“We need a plan,” Lyn said. He had that far-away look in his eyes, and his hands were twitching about.
“If these are anything like the ones we encountered already, we should be able to defeat them easily. Once they see their fellows lying broken in the sand, they will flee and we can recover what was stolen.” Hisae bunched her claws, tail flicking restlessly for a fight.
“We could wait until most of them are sleeping, ambush ‘em. Then we’d only have to fight a few at a time. They wouldn’t know what hit them,” Trillia argued.
“I… think I have a plan, but it requires some preparation. Set a trap, cause a distraction - lure them out of the cave, into the trap. It probably wouldn’t get all of them, especially if there are a lot more than we can see, but... “ Lyn trailed off.
"Lyn, are you done yet?" Trillia’s voice was was barely a whisper on the night breeze.
"Just a moment." the fae replied, pushing the wire in front of him. After some plucking and pulling, he seemed satisfied and flew away, trailing an end of the wire in one claw.
"Shall we lure them out?" he asked, fluttering over to Hisae as she inspected the placement of the large net of copper wire. It was most of the roll Lyn had stowed in her satchels, but he insisted he could recycle it once it had served its current purpose. The guardian nodded, satisfied with the trap.
"Go."
Lyn grinned ever slightly, sending a small shock of electricity down a second wire clasped in his footclaws. An ear-splitting explosion rent the air and turned everything briefly orange. Chunks of sand and rock sprayed from behind them and, after much confusion and shouting from the camp, brought the gang of serthis slithering over the dunes.
Lyn hovered slightly above the net, positioned to be out of reach of grasping serthis arms. Hisae and Trillia held their ground, as if bracing for a fight; the net was between them and the serthis, nearly invisible in the shadow of the dune. When the horde was nearly upon them, they took off into the air and flew upwards.
"Shock." Lyn whispered, concentrating on sending the elemental magic in his system through the wire he held. The intricate web of wires suddenly lit up with lightning, electricity sparking in the air as it coursed through the wires. The serthis caught in the trap fell to the ground, paralyzed or twitching. Those on the tail end of the mob that had avoided electrocution ran in fear after witnessing the event.
“It worked!”
“You… didn’t know it would work?” Trillia inquired.
Lyn frowned. "Well, it was my first time attempting to channel electricity on a larger scale. And I can't quite control the current yet."
"Oh."
"Let's just go inside." Hisae interrupted, walking past the prone pile of serthis. Her companions followed behind warily.
"Do you think that was all of them?" Trillia asked, staring at the entrance of the cave with doubt. The inner walls were lit by the glow of a smaller fire than the one that burned outside.
Her question was answered by the shadows preceding a trio of pearlcatchers that emerged. They were flanked by four serthis who seemed to be of higher rank, larger and armor-clad, unlike the rabble they had run up against previously. The snakes hissed, brandishing their weapons, while the males on either side of the female flexed their wings and took up battle stances. Their clawtips glowed as orange as their eyes, infused with heat.
“Boss, looks like someone’s been making a mess,” the vipera dragon grunted.
“Zane, she can see that perfectly well for herself without your inane commentary,” sniped his brother.
The one called Zane looked both annoyed and somewhat abashed. He said no more.
Red eyes glared at Lyn from beneath an equally red cowl, not even sparing a glance for the antics of her henchmen. The bandit leader looked like a blood-soaked ruby. Her voice was cold and quiet.
"Kill the big beasts. Cain, bring me the little one."
“As you wish, Boss.”
“Lyn, stay on my back!” Hisae let out a truly intimidating roar that would have sent lesser enemies running. The serthis elite circled her, jabbing in with their long pikes. Mostly they were staying back too far to land more than glancing blows, in order to avoid the guardian’s thrashing limbs,, but one managed to jab a speartip into her thigh. They paid for it when she whipped her tail around and slammed the serthis against the outer rock of the cave. It didn’t get up, but the three remaining serthis maintained their assault.
Trillia was facing off against the bandit leader and one of her lieutenants. She was bigger than both put together, but they were fast. The male had already left several smoldering claw marks against her hide, though she had managed to rip his wing with her teeth and it was now dragging limply, slowing him down. Just as she was about to lunge in and finish him, the female hit her with a glowing red bolt that sent her reeling with nausea.
Meanwhile, Lyn had not heeded his guardian and was flitting around, dodging the flaming claws of the one called Cain. One swipe nearly took his head off, but luckily he only lost his glasses. Half-blind, with static leaping all over his body as he built up a charge, he dove for the fallen serthis’ pike where it lay in the surf. He brandished it, as if to impale the pearlcatcher descending on him, but his opponent landed out of reach, laughing.
“You’ve got a lot of spunk for such a smallfry. Ferrara will have fun with you. ” In his overconfidence,Cain made the mistake of grabbing the pike at the metal where the spearhead joined the haft, intending to fling it away. Lyn channeled a lightning bolt through the damp wood, which simultaneously exploded outwards in hundreds of splinters, and electrocuted the pearlcatcher. He screamed in pain and collapsed steaming on the sand.
Hearing his twin’s cry, Zane abandoned his leader and rushed towards the beach. Lyn could only see a blur coming towards him and prepared himself for another fight, but the bandit ignored him. The pearlcatcher crouched beside his brother’s prone body, using his good wing to cover him, and nudged him with his snout. The fae squinted at the scene and caught his breath while he considered what to do. He heard a screech and saw a red blur taking off into the sky. The bandit leader was running now that the odds had turned against her. Hisae was chasing the serthis toward the dunes. Trillia was vomiting into the sand.
Lyn decided Trillia seemed like she could use some aid. He was about to attempt a healing when she waved him off. “No, no don’t… it’s… it’ll pass but… it’s worse to try and cast healing magic at the pestilence, it-” the imp broke off with a round of dry heaving. Lyn rubbed her side through it until she could finish what she was saying. “The plague magic will contaminate it, so restorative magic becomes harmful. I’ve seen it happen before, if you think this is bad....well let’s just say it’s a good thing you didn’t do it.” The fae blinked at the revelation, feeling a bit sick himself, though whether from the close call or the smell of the vomit was debatable.
Hisae was heading back towards her companions, though she stopped upwind. “What are we gonna do about them?” She swung her great head at the pearlcatchers huddled on the beach with a dangerous look in her eye. Lyn fluttered onto her shoulder and they approached the now pathetic-looking pair together. Cain was breathing weakly, while Zane’s broken and shredded wing was clearly paining him.
Lyn touched the guardian lightly to hold her back and jumped down, close enough to see their faces but still out of reach. “I can heal him up. But only if you swear to leave and not bother anyone again. And if you break your word… you’ll get worse the next time.”
Zane gaped at him, at the fierce statement coming from such an unassuming, tiny dragon. But he nodded, “I swear, I swear by the Flamecaller Herself! We’ll go back to Ashfall, you won’t hear nothin’ about us… Please, don’t let my brother die.”
The fae nodded and strode forward, placing his paws on Cain and closing his eyes. He focused his breathing and channeled a healing energy into the pearlcatcher. Like electricity, it was a current, but soothing rather than shocking. Revitalizing. Cain opened his eyes and gasped, flailing a bit. Lyn jumped back, gave the pair one last glare, and climbed back up onto Hisae’s shoulder. They returned to Trillia, who was helping herself to a barrel of drinking water from the heap of supplies piled up outside the cave.
“Feeling better?” the guardian inquired.
“Than about five minutes ago, yes, but I think I’ll go to sleep now.” Trillia padded out a furrow in the sand beside the mostly dead fire and did just that. The pearlcatchers gave them a wide berth and limped toward the treeline.
“You should get some sleep as well, Lyn. I’m going to take a peek in the cave, just to make sure there are no more surprises, and I’ll take first watch.”
Lyn yawned and shrugged, “Wake me up in a few hours so you can rest too.” He curled up beside Trillia and was out almost before he closed his eyes.
The following morning found the companions still resting in the camp by the beach, recovering from the battle. Urvine the merchant caught up with them at last, gushing over their victory and thanking them profusely. From his recovered goods, he presented some finely-crafted clothes embroidered with copper thread and wing guards to Lyn, declaring they were “all the rage” amongst engineers.
The fae changed into them gratefully since his own vest and footwraps were looking rather tattered. Hisae had appropriated a few pieces of dented but serviceable armor for herself from the crates in the cave the night before. The guardian apologetically presented Lyn with his glasses, which had been broken in half, but the fae just used the, luckily, uncracked lenses in his new goggles. Trillia seemed disinterested in armor, but she was pleased to find a lamp that would come in handy for exploring the cave, along with the tiny lantern Lyn had affixed to his tail.
Sandswept Delta Prize Bucket wrote:
has been unlocked for Trillia! Surely she only wears it ceremonially though ;)
x15
x10
+ pick one:
or 
@ 1 ticket per 90 pts PER PERSON
@ 2 tickets each
@ 2 tickets each
OR 3 
@ 1 ticket per 100 points
Trillia - The Ranger
