Roleplay

Iratha slowed, Holding out a wing to halt the group. Misery peered warily at the imperial from the back, while Rohn crouched off to the side near the deeper snow to watch curiously.

The paladin lowered her head to the mirror's level. "He was leading the group that came after the fire started," she muttered softly, "and was hanging around when I took back the tundra that Miz rescued." Her tail twitched slightly, and she glanced up at him. No doubt he had been waiting for them, there was hardly another reason to camp in the dead center of the only trail.

"I take it you've met?"

The mirror peered back down towards the imperial.
"That imperial is bad, bad news. I used to be part of a unit back in the days of the Valkyrie Project. We once came to clean up the remnants of a layer of dragons he had taken a dislike to. I don't want to go into the details, but every single one of the former residents was burned from the inside out, they looked like they took hours to die. What we weren't told was that he was still there. He started hunting us down, one by one. It was torment we couldn't escape him he would just appear around the next corner and grab another one. Until it was just me."

The mirror shuddered.

"He made me watch him eat them"

((Sorry about the delay! I had to drive home for a few days out of nowhere. I'm loving the new breed though!))

Iratha let out an involuntary growl at that, the armor on her tail clattering as it thumped against the snowy ground. They needed to keep moving, but she didn't want to force them to parade past him. "You can sty by me if you'd like," assured the guardian quietly.

"Rohn, go see if there was a fork in the trail, or a pass that we missed," she commanded, still not raising her voice, "Miz, I want you to go down and see what he's doing in the middle of the path. I can trust you to stay safe."

The ridgeback grunted affirmatively as Iratha backed off to check on the other dragons. It was a good place to knock snow off of clothing and check cantines to see if they would need to melt snow for water.

The ridgeback clambered carefully over the small ridge of snow and down the short slope. She approached him walking down the middle of the path, obviously in no hurry. Her icy eyes gleamed from their dark sunken sockets.

"This is an odd place to make camp."

(the gaolors are great, I wish the genes weren't as expensive as they are though)

The Imperial glanced up from the kettle suspended over the fire.
"Well, I beg your pardon! I didn't smell you approaching. Quite unusual of me, I have to say, I must be coming down with the flu. Well do take a seat, I'll make us some tea."
--

The trail ahead of Rohn was easy going as the group had already made a path.

--
The group settled down to wait, the irate tundra was now semi conscious and was still in no state to hold a conversation.

((I hope the auction house prices come down at some point. I need to grind in the coli to try and get those. I think phantom and spirit are my favorite.))

Misery cautiously approached, sitting down near the fire with her wings down at her sides to stabilize her. "It must be all of this cold still air," she commented nonchalantly, "makes it hard to smell anything at all."

The ridgeback coiled her tail neatly at her feet, and turned to look the imperial over. "What brings you out this way? There aren't many towns along this route."

--

Rohn flew low, just above the trampled snow, to make better time. He couldn't cover all the distance that they had walked that day, but he remembered passing by a steep mountain cliff. It seemed like just the place that another path may have been buried by the snow, because the one they were on wouldn't have been wide enough to take supplies anywhere.

He could understand why Iratha didn't want to pass by the imperial. Misery was his friend, and she had eaten dragons, but there was something to be said about the strange imperial's lack of remorse.

--

The paladin paced around the group, making sure that they were back from the bend in the trail. She was content to keep watch, occasionally dipping her head to answer questions or speak words of encouragement. She was listening for a whistle from Misery, or the sound of Rohn returning from above.

The imperial nodded.

"I'm supposed to be out here to find out why one of my employers retired signal stations was requesting to access restricted files. Then when I show, I find the small retirement town of rejection engulfed in flames. Then the only town member we can find is a malfunctioning biodrone. Oh, that, and the woods are full of bodies. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

--

Rohn contenued flying but no luck, he couldn't spot any other trails.

--

Looking down at the two on the trail, flash of golden glow in the this trees on the side of the trail grabbed Irathas attention.

Misery tilted her head, hadn't Iratha already spoken to this dragon? She resolved to play dumb if he was. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard," she hummed, pulling a crumpled parchment out of her bag and offering it over. It was the original letter that called for help, sent out to many different groups of dragons. "They had been begging for help for months. Dragons going missing, dragons being killed."

The ridgeback shrugged and politely cleared her dry throat into one tattered wing. "You sure the town wasn't evacuated? I'm sure the paladins would have gotten involved at some point." The tip of her tail twitched, and she wiped a string of drool from her face.

--

Rohn gritted his teeth, but turned. They must have passed the spot. He flew back as fast as he could, to tell the paladin that they would have to march onward.

--

Iratha turned her head slightly. That certainly wasn't the light reflection off the snow. She narrowed her eyes, but turned at the sound of quick wings. Rohn shook his head, and the paladin sighed. She urged everyone up.

They would have to form up at her sides again, and with luck they would pass by with little issue. Some of her wards on the townsfolk were still up anyhow. The guardian ran a claw over the hilt of her sword and looked back down the slope.

The Imperial scoffed.

"You know, for not having much of a face on you, your poker face is absolutely horrid. Now let's cut the chase, please and thank you. My employers want their property back. I have been sent to collect what they own, with or without your consent. Now, you have two choices. You can either hand over the former townsfolk and go on your way, or you can be removed from this situation."

--

Flash came again, this time from another section of trees, then another, and another. Flashes of golden light appeared in the trees all around them.

Misery didn't even look surprised. "And I don't see why we were dancing around the issue," she snorted, "but you should know that I'm not the dragon to talk to about this. I do what the paladin says."

She pushed herself to her feet, lazily arranging her wing into a comfortable position. Her movement was languid and lizard like. "And I'm sure we can both guess what the paladin will say." She half-turned as she spoke, as if to climb back up the slope with the news. As her flank faced the fire, her tail moved with lightning quickness, smacking against the base of the fire to fling hot ash and boiling water at the imperial's face.

It was followed shortly by her claws and teeth, the scarred dragon lurching forward like a viper's strike. His face was the primary target of her first attack. She expected magic.

--

The paladin drew her sword, pressing the point to the earth as she began to recite a prayer under her breath. Rohn quickly ushered the milling dragons closer to the guardian, watching as the air around them shimmered. Her wards were powerful, but the skydancer knew that she was most powerful when on the front lines.

Misery's plan work flawlessly, to a point. The coals showered the imperial who didn't even flinch. The imperial burst into an intense golden flame and before Misery could lay a claw on him the imperial burst into a cloud of ashes, falling softly to the ground.

--

The flashes of golden lights in the the forests started to slow in constancy, but it was still quite fast.