A Paladin's Might (Mission/Aiyana)

It was strange being on an airship, having always ridden on flying creatures any time she had been in the skies. It was a different feel, more smooth unless they hit some turbulence; which even then was less taxing than clinging to the back of a winged creature to keep from falling to meet the ground for a grisly end. The airship was well made, and the name was nice. The “Black Sun” had such a nice ring to it when said aloud.

Their job was taking them into the kingdom of Pergrande, the kingdom of no mages. They even had a hatred of those with magic, their military devoted to anti-mage warfare. Ardere had asked her along, after she had healed up from their last job solving the werewolf curse. The two of them, along with the duck mage named Davey that she could never understand when he spoke, were going there to free a prisoner. A Raccoon from Seven, named Remy, had been captured after wandering too far from home. The animal was being held in Blacksteel Keep, one of the top prisons in the entire world. If they didn't free Remy by the time the sun came up he would be executed.

She heard Davey mention the word dead, the rest being unintelligable due to her being unable to understand his accent; if it could actually be called that. It was followed by the flame god slayer's words of encouragement before the two made plans, the bandaged girl simply listening to them until her opinion was asked. ”Well, going into the underground tunnels would be the safest way. I see nothing wrong with doing it this way. Especially if we do this at night when it would be harder for them to catch us before we get there.” She wasn't all too sure on her reasoning, having never really been trained for stealth and the like, but at least her opinion had been asked!

A nod of agreement from Ardere would be the end of the planning stage for their entry into the prison they were going to be sneaking into. The leader of the group, the flame god slayer whom had invited her out for this, told them to gather their things and to meet on the main deck once they were ready; as they would be landing in ten minutes. With that said a strange noise came from Davey, causing the young woman to jump slightly as the duck said something else the couldn't understand. Something about a roast? Not wanting to stay long enough to be brought into conversation with the impossible to understand mage, the bandaged woman walked off to the cabin she had claimed as hers for the duration of the job.

The room had the bare essentials to be called living quarters. A standard bed was in one corner of the room with a table, chair, and a mirror filling out the rest. Most of what she needed was on her person, the young woman running a hand through a length of her long hair. The mint green strands were well taken care of, and soft, as she looked into her own green eyes. The girl had come so far after running away from her parents to become a mage against their will. What would they say to her if she ever went back? They had yet to say anything to her as of yet, even to the letter she had sent after her very first job for a guild; back when she was in Lamia Scale. Fixing the hat atop her head, her glass charms clinking against each other as her hand and arm moved to do so. Making sure she also had her weapon attached properly to her side, Aiyana turned to look at her shadow. ”Well Memory, let's get this show on the road.”

With that said Aiyana Shuer stood up, the pair of jewels in her hair clicking together as they met each other in front of her, and began walking towards the main deck of the ship to meet with Ardere and the duck she swore had a speech impediment. The short girl was the last to arrive, just before the deadline for when they would be heading out. She heard the duck talk about fighting toys, but again she just ignored what the animal mage said as she decided to respond to Ard's simple question. ”Yeah, let's get this done quickly and save Remy.”

The landing of the ship was something on the tip of exhilarating; the Sabertooth girl growing excited and wide eyed as the descent happened. They landed in a slightly rocky area, the ship surrounded in the objects to hide the massive thing from view. The young woman followed the man and duck to the side of the ship; the flame god slayer tossing a rope ladder over the side so they could get down to the ground and begin the trek to the tunnels. Aiyana was the last one to slide down the ladder, hitting the ground after Davey had taken a few steps out of the way so she didn't fall into him as she came down.

Once she was situated, Davey the Duck began their trek towards the escape tunnels they were going to enter the prison from. They walked through the rocky land for a while, no other living beings in sight as they did so. ”It's too bad we won't be able to come back to this country easily after this. I'd love to one day be able to see if it's this beautiful all over the country.” The sentence was said aloud, not directed toward anyone really. The phrase was just said to keep her mind busy, not to get a response from anybody. It wasn't long before they reached a small cave, a large metal door being the entrance they had followed the duck to. Ardere asked if anyone had a key, the third mage in the group swiftly blowing the door open with a purple blast from the duck's staff. Something about pee was mentioned after he did so. Did he need a bathroom break already? Or was she just forever stuck with not knowing what was being said by the mage the entire job? With that said, the three descended into the tunnels that would eventually bring them inside the prison.

The member 'Fire King Ardere' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The tunnels surprised the young woman as they began their walk through them. The tunnels were a bit dim compared to the sun itself, but were actually well lit for what they were; an underground escape tunnel. Due to the magic phobia of the kingdom the tunnels were lit not with lacrima, but with oil burning lamps. The shadows danced as flames moved about in their raging fury as they slowly ate at the oil beneath them. 'Memory probably feels like she's at home with all these shadows about.' The thought amused her as she was brought out of it by the taller mage's mentioning of their walk being a bit longer than they expected it to be. It would be easy for Aiyana to keep it down while they walked through the tunnels, but she wasn't too sure about the speech afflicted duck. He seemed to groan and gripe for what seemed like ages before they came to another door; one that had anti-magic properties.

The fix was easy, however, as Ardere simply used his enhanced physical strength to bust through the hinges with a single slash downward. Had they the time to talk, the bandaged mage may have said some kind of flirty words to him about it. Sadly that line of talking would have to wait, as they had bigger things to deal with. As the door was being gently set down, the three invaders were in the eyesight of two men that were looking right back at them. A single word left Ardere's mouth as the enemies began to move, the duck saying something about Vertigo. Either the duck wasn't liking the light or, per usual, she just was not understanding what the gods forsaken mage was actually saying! ”Well, looks like our stealthy entrance ends here.”

"Great, we're all dead now!" That was what Davey actually said as a burst of magic would launch at the knight coming towards both him and Aiyana. What Aiyana thought she heard was "I'm going to bed now." A grunt left her mouth as she ran towards the knight, not wanting to give the man the advantage of lining up an attack on the stationary girl. The cautionary words from Ardere proved to be great advice. As she drew her weapon, bringing it up to block the attack that was swinging for her head, she was slid backward with the hit. The young woman jumped backward at the same time as the magical blast struck the armor of the mage; doing nothing but leaving a small dent that would have been laughed at had they all not been in combat.

"They have anti-magic armor! We'll never beat these guys, and they are not even a paladin!” Davey was, as usual, groaning unintelligible words as Aiyana let loose a bandage at the mage with her right hand; the left hand being the one wielding her Egyptian weapon. The bandage struck the weapon the man held, wrapping completely around it before she pulled with all her might. Not expecting such a cheap trick, trying instead to dodge thinking it was an attack on his body, the sword was torn from his hands to land back into the tunnels they had just been in. An angry grunt was all that the circumstances got out of the Pergrande man, the guy running at her again to fight with bare hands. ”That's a lot easier to deal with than that sword.” The mumbled words were backed up as she caught the fist with a side swipe of her weapon, the hook pushing the arm up and out of her way as she landed a full punch into the face of her enemy.

The man seemed to ignore the cracking noise that signified the breaking of his nose. Instead of flinching, or reacting at all to the pain, the knight simply let loose a kick that sent her to the ground. The 'oomph' that she made was cut off by the sound of Davey making a strange quacking noise as he clicked his staff, hard, against the ground. This resulted in a large magical barrier surrounding the opposing knight, the man bouncing off against it once before he realized what was going on. Instead of just standing there and allowing himself to be restrained the main shoulder charged, the barrier breaking at the expense of the shoulder guard of his armor. The time it took for him to do this was enough for Aiyana to get up and catch her breath, the woman speaking up to call her pet to summon help.

”Memory! Give me Bacor!” This was a new one for her to summon. It was the Zombie summoner she had defeated a long time ago. The extremely thin creature appeared in a flash of light, being summoned from Aiyana's memory of the defeated creature. It's pale white skin, and hair, had an anemic look to it as the monster roared loudly. The zombie master would be an excellent help for the rest of this job, provided it actually managed to survive long enough to be useful to them. The undead beast was stronger than it's lanky form gave it credit, not to mention the curse it could spread with just a single well placed bite. If all else failed she could have the creature summon up a batch of zombies if they needed a wall of bodies between them and the Pergrande defenders of the prison.

The reaction the man had to her summon was extreme, something she should have expected from a knight in the service of the Pergrande military. ”You have committed a heinous crime, one of Necromancy! The punishment is your life, whether you lay down arms or not!” The speech was not one made while standing still, the armored man charging at her as he spoke. His charge was interrupted by a swift punch that connected with his right arm, Bacor being the one landing such a strike. The blow threw him off balance, the bandaged mage taking the opportunity to strike again at the head of the man. The strike was not done with a fist, but with the blunt part of her khopesh; the triple use blade connecting with a loud crack.

The concussed man's steps faltered for a bit, before he tried to throw a punch at Aiyana. The attack missed, and majorly so. With his arm going off to the right, apparently attacking a double image of the Sabertooth female, the woman caught it with the hook part of her armament before pulling as hard as she could. Tendons had to have been torn as the limb was pulled out of socket, the dazed man finally letting out a single moan before dropping to the ground; unconscious at last.

It was within moments after that, not even having a chance for Davey to speak or complain, that Ardere pressured them for quickness before reinforcements arrived. Aiyana followed closely behind Ardere, with Davey close behind, as her summoned zombie lord stayed a good distance back to keep from taking up too much space near them. The young woman dreaded coming up against any of the higher up Pergrande military members. If a simple knight was that powerful, what more could a Captain, or Paladin, do against them?

The pace set before her was an easy one to keep up with, she was faster than the average mage after all. Though Davey seemed to be a mage focused purely on magic, which was a blessing and a curse with where they were now. Doors passed by them as they continued in the line they ran in. Looking back, Aiyana would see Bacor bringing up the rear; the monster sniffing at each door lightly as he ran past. It looked like the kind of sniff one did when dinner was cooking, to try and see what was being made by the scent alone. The thought of it made her shiver a bit as they moved along, that her summons still held some remembrance of what they were and retained their base instincts and personality. It was good Memory was on her side, lest she would post one of the worst threats to others; pulling monsters and beasts from anyone at will.

It wasn't a silent trip, however, as Davey yet again was letting loose another string of unintelligible words. This time there was a large amount of them, Aiyana hearing something along the lines of “No bout unburden tat, hole platypus.” After that there was mentioning of Remy, and she heard the words “or worse” at the end of it. Ardere left slightly reassuring words in response, surely because all Davey could do was complain about how doomed they were in the hardest to understand way possible. 'Well, at least he doesn't spit everywhere when he talks. That would just make it even more aggravating,' the Sabertooth guild mage thought as the flame god slayer asked the duck mage which way to go. It was then that she, FINALLY, understood an entire phrase from their third member in the party; to go left!

The member 'Fire King Ardere' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The search for Remy would continue with the team following Ardere as they followed the directional instructions given to them from Davey. They passed rooms that stored many the item that were used by a country with a large military, or a military in general. Weapons on weapon racks, food rations that could last years, and many odd and ends were all stored on shelves or in crates. Had they been spies trying to sneak in and get the preparedness, and strength, of the country this prison would have been enough to decide. Pergrande seemed ready for anything, and easily ready for the unknown as well. Especially when one considered how expensive it was to create anti-magic items and armor. The small woman would have shuddered, had she not been trying to focus on the words Davey the duck was suddenly speaking.

Not a single word came out that she actually understood, but there was a single one from Ardere that she did; Stop. The stop was sudden, the bandaged mage coming to a sliding stop to end up just behind and to the right of the taller man. Memory, being a flying creature, had no issue with her pause of moment, nor did the summon have issue either; the creature simply grabbing a wall with one arm to slow his momentum. Up ahead in the distance there were two guards coming around the corner, one seeming to give orders to the other. 'Oh great! Is that someone in charge of the regular knights? Cause one is a knight and he's being given orders by the other it seems.' The thoughts were not happy ones, no one bit. They had no choice but to fight, though, as Remy was in the direction the guards were now blocking them from. ”Ardere,” Aiyana whispered just loud enough for the man to hear her voice, ”If you and Davey take on the one giving orders me, my pet, and Bacor can take on the knight.” She wasn't sure how strong the one in charge was, but surely the duck and flame god slayer could take him on easier than she could with just her zombie master.

Aiyana did not wait long after Ardere was engaged in combat with the leading knight before she was in combat with the regular knight. This one had a different weapon however, using a halberd instead of a sword. The weapon was basically a spear, save for the fact that the end was a battle-ax instead of just the usual spear point tip. With khopesh drawn, and prepared for the fight this time, Aiyana swung around with the hooked part of the blade to redirect the swing of the man's weapon. She lunged forward as he tried to correct himself, the weapon pulling him slightly with it, as she landed a full blow to the chest of his armor with the blunt part of the weapon.

The strike dented the armor with the hit, but nothing else. Her opponent didn't smirk, not even a sign of pride, as he let loose a punch to Aiyana's chest; the young woman sailing a few feet through the air before she landed in a roll, a hand down on the ground as she sat on her knees. Before the knight could come in to beat on her Bacor made a low, deep bass, growl as a deep red light suddenly shown across the floor. Five zombies rose from the ground from those spots the light originated from, Bacor's signature move of zombie summoning at it's finest. The man did not make a speech like the other had, knowing full well they were the one's that had caused the disturbance from earlier that they were here to check on. Instead he went straight into the fray, killing off two of the Zombies before anything could actually attack him.

The Sabertooth mage used this as her chance to stand back up before letting a flick of her wrist launch out bandages at the man. The bandages did not just strike at the man, but were a spell she had taught herself with the holder style magic; the Pharaoh’s Burial Ceremony. The man suddenly found himself wrapped completely in bandages charged with magical energy, surely a problem for even one in anti-magic armor.

Spoiler:

With three zombies, the master that controlled them, and the master of the master against him while he was bound in bandages, the knight now had a worried look on his face. Bacor and his zombies began a tirade of attacks on the armor of the Pergrande male as he struggled against the bandages, small tears showing over them as he used brute strength to attempt to get out of them. ”Oh no you don't!” It was all she got to say as she ran forward, arm holding the spell in place outstretched ahead of her as she tried to get closed enough to strike at the man with her weapon. Aiyana didn't get there in time, the man breaking loose in time to strike one zombie across the mouth. A head went flying as a body hit the floor, the man picking up his weapon to make short work of the other two zombies as Bacor punched the man directly into the face.

The strike drove the man backward as he swung his weapon at the large, white, creature. The blade struck across Bacor's chest, bloodying the creature as well as the ground with a spray of black blood; the blood of the curse. The monster grabbed the weapon before it could be pulled out of range, pulling on it to attempt to yank it out of their opponents hands. Instead of letting go, the knight surprised all around by managing to stay in place. However, the bandage mage let loose an attack with her bandages that struck across the back of his knee, causing a slight falter that her summon used to finish him off. Successfully obtaining his weapon as he fell forward, the zombie master used the handle of it like a weapon and knocked the knight to the ground on the other side of the room; definitely in a state to no longer fight.

She took a moment to catch her breath before Ardere and Davey came up to her, the three continuing into the darker part of the prison; the dungeon. With luck they would find Remy soon so they could begin their trek back out and to the ship so they could complete this job.

The member 'Fire King Ardere' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The next few minutes of running through the dungeon were interesting, to say the least. The flame go slayer, known as Ardere Kasai to those that knew his full name, began to play a game of 'how much fire can I eat before we fight again.' Aiyana simply followed quietly behind the other two as she heard the duck and man converse before Davey nodded to the taller man's explanation about him preparing for more opponents. As the dungeon grew darker her job partner did them the honor of making himself their personal candle, using a small flame in his hand to give them light as he sapped the flames from all the torches; the area behind them basically pitch black.

After a while they came to a heavily locked cell, a raccoon walking up to the bars to yell out the duck mage's name before the two conversed. A sword would crush through the anti-magic locks, freeing the animal and reunited him with his duck companion. Ardere asked for some flames, lit torches showing up down the hall to show a large group coming towards them. 'Well...this doesn't look healthy for us.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a grunt from Bacor off to her right, the woman looking over to see the creature acting antsy as the men approached. ”Well, guess I should be prepared. Right? Memory, give me a random summon to give us an extra body to fight these guys.” A flash of light would bring forth another zombie creature; a Zombie Beaver. That was right, at one point in her life she had had to fight and kill a zombeaver! Even she had been dumbfounded when she had seen the monster coming at her back in that job.

”All right, Remy, let's see what you can do. We're gonna need everyone here to pull their weight to survive this escape.”