Roleplay

Iratha looked up from her finished prayer to see Misery clambering back up to her position. The ridgeback confirmed her fears, that he was after the townsfolk. She growled, but they had to keep going. It wasn't safe out in the middle of nowhere.

Checking to make sure the hatchlings were all secure, now riding with Misery, the paladin called for everyone to stay close between the two of them. Her magic could create a safe space, but it would be only just big enough as long as they were moving.

"Come on," she called, "carefully now. There's still a long walk to the next town. It's not safe out here, so keep your wits about you."

The air sounded with the sharp call of a bugles wail. Iratha recognized the tune as a traditional imperial call to arms. Several voices shouted from the woods. On either sides of the group neatly organized rows of dragons marched out of the woods. They numbered close to one hundred troops in total, about half of them were identical copies of the golden imperial. The other half were an odd mix of guardians, ridgebacks, a few copies of a spiral, and a blue, yellow, and purple tundra. All were well equipped for battle.
One of the imperial copies stepped forward.

"You are in possession of stolen property in the excess of 2,300,000 treasure. Surrender now and you will not be harmed. If you do not comply within the next minute you will be captured by force."

The guardian growled, picking her sword up from the ground. "I am a divine paladin of the order of Radiant Shield," she barked, it was flat and practiced, "and this is a rescue mission. By the command of both the Icewarden, and the Lightweaver; Dragons. Are. Not. Property. Now get out of our way." It seemed likely that she knew they wouldn't heed her warning. The paladins had some sway usually, but these dragons seemed unconcerned with traditional law. The ward shimmered, threatening pain on those that drew too close. It was light and heat up close, bright and intense as the sun from the outside. Her tail thumped the ground as she brought her sword up to point meaningfully at the non-copy dragons.

She wondered if the guardians could sense that she had nothing to lose.

Misery pulled her wings back tight, a protective shield around the children. A low growl echoed from her toothless maw. But now she was scenting the air. The copies, she had surmised, were less important than the real thing. Magic had a scent, and her nose was keen.

Rohn fell back, blending into the crowd. He was small, and not a warrior at all, but he was nimble and silent. The skydancer began searching for a crack to slip through. If he could hide, perhaps he could help.

The air was tense, as the paladin stood her ground. The group of townsfolk were well within the reach of either large dragon, who were standing almost back to back.

The mirror was in a state of pure, unfiltered panic. Fight or flight kicked in and the mirror bolted back down the trail at full tilt.the mirror made it only a few feet before one of the golden imperials lunged out of the woods and grabbed the mirror. The mirror let out a scream, then with a blinding light the imperial and mirror burst into flame and dissipated into a small cloud of ashes.

The Imperial sounder angry now, and shouted.

"SURRENDER NOW MAGGOTS AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED."

The guardian simply hummed, falling into a low rumble in her throat. They had her terms, and it was unbecoming of a paladin to strike first.

But where Iratha was a sentinel, unflinching and unmoving as she stood between what seemed to be certain death and the group of dragons, Misery was a predator. The ridgeback stuck close to the paladin so that the young dragons that clung to her back were protected. But her head swayed slowly back and forth as if she was searching for a target.

She was still looking for a scent, of course, to try and find the real imperial, but there was more for her to do. Only a scar-toughened hide protected the ridgeback, but she used scare tactics to make up for some of what she lacked.

Misery's cold eyes scanned over the dragons, and any time one caught her gaze she would make some small predatory movement or sound. What would be more effective was getting her claws on a dragon small enough to fit in her mouth.

The imperial was now seething with anger. He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"GARRISON, FOR-MA-TION"
The imperial copies began forming up infront of the various other dragons the spiral dragon copies began to cast protection shields over the army of imperials.

"MARKSMEN, FIRE!"

Iratha felt a stinging sensation at the base of her neck. Feeling the area she felt something pokeing out of her hide. She pulled it out and recognized it as the same kind of dart that the one the mirror had pulled out of the tundra that morning.

((Iratha's wearing a set of full plate armor, which doesn't lend well to dart shooting. Go for the front, not the back of her neck. I've changed the hit location for now.))

((If we were meant to lose, that's cool, just let me know and have a little fun first.))

The guardian let out a growl as she felt something glance off of her armor, looking down to see the dart sticking through her wing membrane. A flex dropped it out, a lucky spot for it to land. However there were parts of her wing arms and most of the front of her neck still exposed, and while she could take more hits than a tundra, the darts may still fell her.

The guardian flexed her wings, the solar blades moving with them. Her next move was to half step forward, placing the first row of combatants in range of her broadsword. She swung in a wide arc, the magic blade almost leaving a light trail in its wake.

They would be able to get out of the way, if they backed up quick enough. The guardian hadn't moved far beyond the range of the protection spell that she had cast over the group of unarmed dragons, as it was the only thing that would protect them from darts or attack once she was out of range.

--

Misery lunged at the same time, aware that projectiles were flying now. They would have a hard time piercing her thick hide with darts, and an even harder time dropping her, but it would only be a matter of time if they didn't end this soon.

She had chosen a target beforehand, another ridgeback that was smaller than she was, and that she had seen no copies of. She lunged in to grip at the unfortunate dragon with her claws, intending to pull them into range of her mouth and bite down.

Her sawlike teeth would make quick work of living flesh if she could find an unarmored spot, and devouring a mouthful of flesh directly from one of the enemies was a good way to continue her fear mongering.

It was a good way to slip back into old habits. But they needed a monster now, if what the mirror had said was true. She hoped the paladin could forgive her. That the hatchlings on her back would hunker down and ignore the sound of fighting.

--

Rohn was still hunkered down near the townsfolk, but he had seen an opening now. Creeping close to the ground, the skydancer darted towards a gap in the line of troops.

This wasn't to attack, just to sneak away from the group. Perhaps if he was stealthy, he could reach the marksmen and lend the paladin a hand.

(It wont be a win, but it's not gonna be a loss.)

An imperial copy burst into smoke just before the blade would have struck. The next imperial however stuck out an armoured hand and grabbed at the blade, it hit leaving a sizable dent in the armor and a cut on the imperial's side, the imperial world an expression that seemed angrier then physically possible. A blue flame spread from the cut and spread across the imperial's skin, it spread up the blade and began enveloping Irathas hand. It was the coldest feeling Iratha had ever felt in her life. The imperial exploded in a cloud of dust taking the sword with it the blue flames dissipated rapidly. However lit left a searing pain on Irathas skin.

--

The ridgeback seemed nervous, the smaller ridgeback tried to do.... something. The ridgeback held her fists out in front of her. Nothing happened and the ridgeback began to panic. Then, suddenly she felt claws on her side and a golden glow of flames began to enveloping her head, however she couldn't feel anything other then the claws in her side.
--
Rohn's plan went well and he made it through the gap in the line, now he just needed to find the Marksman.

((Fair enough. Should be interesting. Is that ridgeback the one with the lightning powers?))

Iratha was somewhat caught off guard that the imperial was able to catch the sword, and more when he took it with him. Though the frostbite hurt like a sword wound, it was a pain she could fight through. She was broken from her shock as a dart bounced of her pauldron.

Experimentally, the guardian held out her claw and called the sword back to it. Not that she had any idea where her weapon had ended up, but the enchantments had never failed before. She wasn't sure of the range on them, however. This was not a soulbound weapon as she had once wielded, having opted not to call upon that particular divine blessing again after she had seen the toll of the last elemental clash. Perhaps she would again, if they made it through this.

Barring that, her claws and teeth would do fine. She was strong enough to put up a brutal fight without her sword. And now she knew that she could take them.

--

With a snarl, Misery's head darted forward toward the other ridgeback's shoulder. It wouldn't be a fatal wound; she had no desire to kill, at least at the moment, only to take a mouthful of flesh.

She wouldn't need to keep a grip, if the bite connected. then her front limbs would only be used to shove the ridgeback away so the other soldiers could get a good look.

Her long spiny tail lashed to either side of her, threatening to impale anyone who got too close while her head was occupied.

--

Rohn darted up a tree, flitting quietly through the branches. Now and again he would stop on one, his patterns looking like snow on pine needles. His progress was toward Misery's side. He had seen the dart connect with Iratha's wing, so figured they must be in the back, and probably on the side closer to the ridgeback.

he paused to search the tree line.

A copy of an Imperial approached the palidin. A wicked grin spread across his face.

"What's the Matter Palidin? Cats got your sword?"
--
Misery felt her teeth start to make connection then suddenly the other ridgeback was gone, and so was the feeling of gravity. A feeling of weightlessness overcame her senses. As quickly as the feeling came it went, and suddenly misery smashed into a wall.
--
Rhon had a great view of the imperial latch on to misery and bothe of them explode in a cloud of ashes covering Miserys target in ashes. Rohn still couldn't see the Marksman and would probably have to relocate to find them.