Paying the Price

Raven's eyes narrowed as Lorsch had started discussing the troops and their weapons. The number of men on their way here isn't what worried them. No, it was the fire that they were bringing with them. Back in the days of Salem, witch's were burned at the stake for being a witch, and as a witch, if they were exposed to fire their skin would turn black and start crumbling, before completely turning into ash. And while witch's have certainly evolved throughout the years, this weakness of theirs still held true. Raven would pause to think for a moment, before smelling something in the air. She would turn around and her eyes would widen as she saw a single trail of smoke rise up from the trees, and watched as the smoke spread, eventually being able to hear the cackling of the flames. Her face distorts in sheer anger as she speaks.

"Do they plan on burning us all!? To take us out with fire?!"

"Perhaps..."

"Your Ladyship, if their plan is to burn us all then we must all evacuate. It won't be safe for us here and we'll be trapped her like animals!"

Before either of them had a chance to say anything else, they noticed the earth around the outskirts of the village rise up to form a wall around their village. While it was helpful for a normal attack, if they truly planned on using fire to kill them all, then the wooden walls would only serve as fuel. None the less, they were grateful for any kind of defense at all. Though it would seem as though out of nowhere, rain would start falling from the sky heavily. It was pouring down rain so harshly that it managed to extinguish the fire spreading around the forest. Raven couldn't help but blink out of curiosity, as it seemed that the rain had impeccable timing. Though she wouldn't question it for now. Instead, she would rush towards Lorsch and heave him upwards, slinging him over her shoulder to bring him inside.

Before the combo of Wisher's Rain from both Merrilee and Pixel, Vermillion was continuously fighting the fires. He was doing very well at absorbing as many flames as he can, but then the fire continues to spread outward more and more, however he was able to absorb them more quickly than the fires continuing to burn...still it was a bit of a slow process to get rid of them all... Meanwhile, Viviana eventually found a river which she could use a bucket to douse out the fires as much as she can...inefficient, yes, but it was the only way she could help without the use of water magic... It was then that the Wisher Rain combo came as both Vermillion and Viviana looked up to see storm clouds that just came out of nowhere. Soon the heavy rains doused all the fires...and made both Vermillion and Viviana soaked in the process... Once all the fires are gone, both Vermillion and Viviana met up again within the small patch burnt blacken remains of the forest.

"Well...that was unexpected... Those storm clouds just came out of nowhere, and took out all the fires for us... Good thing too, though I was doing well for the most part..." said Vermillion

"Indeed so, Master... I only wished I could've helped you more if I had the ability to use water magic..." said Viviana

"It's alright, you did your very best, and for that I'm thankful...and I'm sure the other animals would say the same too..." said Vermillion with a smile

"Yes...but we're not done yet... Sure the fires are all gone...but this patch of forest is burnt and ruined... I'm sure many animals are going to suffer if this area is not rejuvenated..." said Viviana

"Wait...if you're saying that, then that means you're going to use your Forest Rejuvenation magic? Even if it's a small area, using so much of your magic at once would--" said Vermillion

"--I know, Master...but I can't leave things like this... Sure this is the first time I've seen burnt forest ruins since back home there's no such thing ever to exist...but I still want to help restore the forest, even though it's not part of our home..." said Viviana

Without another word for Vermillion, Viviana heads to the central point of the burnt forest. She then musters up a lot of nature magical power as then thin tree vines grew out from the ground, wrapping around her as they lift her up a little bit off the ground. Soon Viviana started to glow green as the magical power grows even stronger now, eventually reaching it's peak.

"Rejuvenation!" echoed Viviana

With that one word, green ripples shot out from Viviana's location, spreading throughout the entire burnt area of the forest. It didn't take long for the rejuvenation to bare progress as first the grass and flowers started to grow back first, and then all the trees to complete the process of turning everything from black to green within minutes. Once the rejuvenation was finished, Viviana was released from the bindings of the tree roots that she grew herself as she falls down aimlessly, only to be caught by Vermillion within his arms. The tree roots then receded back into the ground slowly as it returns to the earth as nutrient soil. Viviana appears to be unconscious, but she was still breathing normally...only resting now...

"Well you did it, Viviana, you brought the entire forest patch back to life again... I'm sure every animal will be thankful for your kind service...of course you've used up all of your energy, but nothing but a cultivation bath and a good amount of rest won't fix... First, I will need to make the bath and then fill it with water, and then I can put in two cultivation cellular pills in the water to complete the bath. Hang in there, Viviana." said Vermillion

Vermillion takes Viviana to the back of his pushwagon. There he then summons out some alphabetical runes in a circular pattern to arrange them into rune letters of V, P, R from the top. The runes then disappear as then the magic lock inside clicked open to allow Vermillion to enter inside. He then takes out the sleeping mat to lay Viviana down comfortably on it before leaving outside to close and magically lock the backdoor to his pushwagon. Vermillion then heads to the front, behind the pushbar, as he then pushes his pushwagon away, looking for a good private place to settle down to set up a special cultivation bath that both Vermillion and Viviana has to use in order to maintain their bodies...

Elesa screeches as the rain suddenly comes down and drenches everything in a strait up whitewash. There was no thunder or lightening, but Elesa wasn't fond of being cold and wet. Lilim would take in some energy from the water and used the power to pull the water out of Elesa's hair and cloths, creating a dome over her head out of the rain to keep Elesa from getting wet again. Lilim didn't mind the rain at all, allowing the cold downpour to wash over her and make her gown hug her skin, showing of her sex appeal even more.

Elesa looks around a bit and looks to Lilim with a grateful smile, which Lilim would return a smile of her own, "Well... A little rain never hurt anybody. But I think the soldiers are gonna be furious that their biggest weapon just got drowned. Your Ladyship? Could you please look after Elesa for me for a short time? I want to take a chance and see if maybe I can work my own magic on these humans and see if I can't weaken their numbers with a destraction." she says justifyingly. She'd wait though and see if Her Ladyship would humor Lilims idea or not, after all, Lilim was still only a visitor to Wellspring and was in no position to do anything except ask for smaller favors that could still be openly denyed, so Lilim would mind her manners and wait.

Elesa would look from Lilim to Her Ladyship, already knowing what Lilim had planned and was silently grateful Lilim was allowing her to stay back so she wouldn't have to watch Lilim work.

Lorsch was just barely keeping his eyes open when he was assisted by the raven-haired girl. She had a surprising amount of strength to support a seven-foot gnoll alone, especially when considering her own size.

He had noticed the sudden downpour of rain as he had finished the walls. Despite the walls being made of sand and earth, they wouldn't fall that easily. The rain was conveniently timed though, just in time to combat a fire-wielding foe and the forest fire in the distance. Lorsch came to the conclusion that this rain was not naturally caused; he had no doubt that the rain was conjured by a magic-user - whether or not it was a druid still puzzled him. He had sent a message to the druid of the forest before his voyage so maybe she had taken his advice?

All this thought ended up tiring Lorsch more so he was grateful for the witch's assistance to wherever she was taking him. While he was thinking about it, he didn't know this girl's name yet, he'd just been referring to her hair to identify her. So to rectify this he asked, "What's your name? I never found out."

Will watched the two summon the rain, watching it fall from the canopy onto them. As the water washed over everything, Will rubbed the dried blood off his coat before saying something. "At least this rain will stop any type of attacks with fire they may have. But they're still too stubborn not to think of something else just as bad." Will said before looking at Organna "Ain't you the tall one?" He said, looking up at her.

Lynken arrived in the town wellspring he didn't really care if people saw him ride a dragon into town. He want to the local herb shop and went to steal the frost lilies which people used to poison people but Lynken was immune to its effects as its name states it freezes the insides of the victim who dares to eat it or have it as a herb in their food. The town looked deserted He took the herbs and and when he was about to leave. A Deer appeared appeared out of nowhere. So he wanted some food and he went hunting somewhere else because he did not like the rain. he went back south to his home to hunt other things like ,snakes,scorpions,and mice. But he saw people so he flew down and approached them "hey what are you guys doin? It looks fun." Lynken said. " I hope it is fun because if you want I can help!" Lynken claimed

Raven would turn to Lilim as she made her offer and merely raised an eyebrow. She wasn't really aware of the extent of the succubus's powers, but Her Ladyship could only give a small smirk at the offer, nodding to her as she gripped her staff. She would turn to Elesa and smile, holding out the palm of her hand. When she did, flowers would start to sprout out of her palm, until eventually a rose was formed in the palm of her hand. Her Ladyship takes the flower and slowly puts it in Elesa's hair, smiling at her.

"A pretty flower for another!"

She says as she smiles at Elesa. Raven would just look between the two of them, before eventually turning around. Her eyes would narrow at the wall as she still had Lorsch slung over her shoulder, but after a moment she would walk back inside and place Lorsch on the bed. Once she had gotten him settled, she was prepared to leave, though she was caught off guard by the stranger asking her name. She would stare at him for a long moment before speaking up.

"Raven.."

She says before going back outside and approaching one of the defense's walls. She placed her ear against it and strained to listen, only to hear the footsteps of the soldiers. She would sigh as she approached Her Ladyship, holding onto her arm.

"They're here..."

"Raven, huh?" Lorsch whispered under his breath when she left. The name was close to what he was calling her previously so he couldn't help but chuckle a little.

He lay on his back, still out of breath. If he had built that wall in the desert he wouldn't have even broken a sweat; he was sure he could have built an entire fortress, given the time of course. He grabbed a small woven bag from the belt of his robes and emptied it of its sandy contents. He placed his hand on the sand and chanted a small incantation in the hope that the sand's natural energy would rejuvenate him somewhat.

He felt the energy course through his body, steadily decreasing his fatigue. Though apparently not fast enough as he heard Raven exclaim that the soldiers were here. He had hoped that they would have more time, but it appeared he would have to remain bedridden for a while into the assault.

As the Thesean soldiers were about to attack, meanwhile Vermillion found a nice quiet place right next to the river. There, he sets up and builds a one room bath house out of stone from the ground, thanks to the ability use earth magic along with him having the ability to use fire magic. The bath house was short, but well structured; the tub is also well built without any cracks in it. Once the bath house was built, Vermillion's next task is to get water into the bath via from the river. Without the use of water magic, Vermillion would have to use something else...the bucket, as he has no other alternative, nor that he has any specialized tools to help him since he's far away from his home kingdom... Transferring the river water to the tub by bucket was a chore, but he did with gusto as he finishes gathering enough water in not too much time. Once that's done, now Vermillion inserts two large self-dissolving tablets into the water to not only change the color of the water to green, but also adds cultivational cells to help rejuvenate and restore energy and magical power to the Homunculi. As the tablets continues to change the tub into a cultivation bath, Vermillion heads on out to see Viviana in his pushwagon, unlocking the magical lock from the back to see Viviana being awake...but looks to be listless and dizzy...

"Are you okay, Viviana?" asked Vermillion

"I'll...be fine... Very...tired..." said Viviana, sounding and looking very exhausted

"Indeed. I got the cultivation bath ready for you, so let's get you in the tab." said Vermillion

"I see...thank you..." said Viviana

"Of course." said Vermillion

Vermillion closes and locks his pushwagon's backdoor as he then carries Viviana inside the earth bath house. Viviana did requested for Vermillion's help to unfasten her maid outfit, so she can easily get them off, and then he can leave. Vermillion does this, and left Viviana alone as she finishes getting changed before entering the cultivation bath, completely submerging her entire body, including face, right in. Viviana can already feel the effects of the cultivation cells working within her mechanical body as she closes her eyes to sleep.

Meanwhile, Vermillion seals the door to prevent anything from entering into the bath house, but leaves a small rectangular slot open for air to come in, before getting a fire started to relax and get warm...thanks to the rain soaking them... When Vermillion uses his fire magic to make a campfire, the flame's color were uniquely golden-colored as it's an enchanted flame that doesn't cause any burns...at least naturally... It can be seen pretty far away, especially since Vermillion made camp out in the open, so people would likely spot them if they look hard enough.

It's going to take them a couple of hours for Viviana to be done with her Cultivation Bath. Meanwhile, Vermillion uses this time to write in his journal about the journey thus far, and then reads some books until Viviana was finished with her bath.

Organna narrows her eyes at the man slightly, "Yes, and I guess the concept of introductions just went right over your head, didnt it?... Lets try that again. The Unicorn you rode her on is named Glitter... The Elf you rode here with, is named Merry... The fairy in her hands currently is named Pixel, the Pegasus over there is named Moonlight, and my name is Organna. Have you got a name too, or shall we come up with a nickname for you?" Organna asks as she picks Will up and stands him on his feet, figuring Glitter was ready to have his back free of passengers for a moment.

The rain would be coming down strong thanks to the prayer that had been offered, and it appeared everyone was ready to head back to the village to help out with the attack, but Glitter would pause and look back to Will, "And tell us... Would you be willing to lend a hand against the aggressors, or would you rather stay here where its safe and get some rest? You won't be faulted either way. I merely wish to ask what you plan to do." Glitter asks calmly. Merry would come closer to Glitter, soaked from the rain as more continued to fall and she moved her face toward Will as she got close to Glitter, giving the impression that she was looking at him even though visually she was completely blind, "I'm... Curious about those things too... If you don't mind, sir..." she says in a soft tone, backing up what Organna was asking and what Glitter had asked.

Elesa stood still and watched as Her Ladyship sprouted flowers from her hand, smiling cutely as she put the rose in her hair, "Hehehe, thank you, Ma'am." she says before moving to stand with Her Ladyship and reaching a hand to hold hers calmly, just as a gesture that she wouldn't go wandering off or cause trouble, and in fact proving that she was an easy child to look after for people that were nice to her.

Lilim brushes a lock of hair behind her ear as Raven returns and says the soldiers were close, "Looks like it's showtime then. Just hang back for a bit and try to ignore the moaning. If this works we'll have 30 exhausted but unharmed men to ship back home with ear to ear grins on their faces. Wish me luck, residents of Wellspring." she says as she starts for the opening and waves confidently back to Raven, Elesa, and Her Ladyship, along with anyone else that happened to be watching.

(Fair warning, if the plan is concented to, the content of the plan will be faded to black. If anyone wishes to play out what happened, feel free to PM me and we can get naughty, but otherwise, the RP will be kept to a family friendly rating.)

Raven would almost immediately notice that Elesa would move to hold onto Her Ladyships hand. She was usually cautious when it came to Her Ladyship, but Elesa seemed innocent enough. Though her attention would almost immediately turn to Lilim, who was exclaiming that when she finished there would be 30+ men who would be exhausted, and watched as she walked towards the group of men. She would raise an eyebrow as she looked up at Her Ladyship.

"Mother? What is she planning on doing?"

"She's a succubus, dear. She's going to.....enchant the men..."

"What?!"

Raven exclaims as her face almost instantly goes red. She wouldn't have figured Lilim for a succubus, but then again she didn't know much about them. Aside from that though, she couldn't help but get this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes would glow black once more as another voice echoed from her mouth.

"There's more than just the thirty mentioned earlier..."

"Crow. I was wondering when you'd speak up. You've been silent up until now. Wanna explain what you mean dear?"

"I sense more than 30 people...I think the rest must be in hiding...."

"I see....in that case, we'll be ready for them."

She says as the rest of the witch's leave their homes and return to meet Her Ladyship, spells and staffs ready to defend their home.

Lynken flies in from the sky and sees Raven and a lot of other people too. he flies down to meet them and to ask why they have weapons ready. He sees a sandstone wall in front of the witches he flies over the wall and sees troops so he comes back and asks the raven girl who those people are "um excuse me who are those people and why is there sandstone walls?" He questions "it looks like they are going to attack you! Do you need help?"

Lilim hovers outside the sandstone walls and approaches the soldiers with a slight seay to her hips, her gown hugging her body and leaving very little to the imaginations of the soldiers as they approached. As expected, the cold downpour of rain had varying effects on the soldiers, and some cast some really cold first glances to Lilim, though Lilim only smiled softly and met the swords, spears, shields, bow and arrows, and other weapons with a calm smile and a soft blush, holding her hands up surrenderingly, "Oh my... You boys must really like to assert your dominance, huh?... You know, you only had to ask. I'll play nice if you'll be at least gentle enough that you don't kill me." she says in a seductive tone, sending her Succubus magic out through her eyes and voice.

Elesa shivers under her magic umbrella as they talked about Lilims racial magic, staying quiet but frowning a little as she shows her silent disapproval of talking about such things, clenching her knees together a bit as she remembered from her own past where such talks usually led. The child would gasp though and ducked behind Her Ladyship as Lynken lands near them on a dragon and asks his questions.

Lilim giggles playfully as the soldiers drew closer, "So boys?... What shall we play with first? Got some ropes you wanna use on me?... Cuffs and chains? Ooh, are those pillory stockades? Hehe, come and get me, gentlemen. There's plenty of me to go around." Lilim says seductively, giving her magic one last try at getting more of the soldiers attention. She was prepared to be ravished and act out the soldiers every fantasy until they grew exhausted and fell pray to slumber, but for the moment she just had to wait and see if her infatuation magic worked on these soldiers.

Lorsch's eyes widened at the sight of a dragon out of the window, not to mention someone managing to ride it. He had no clue whether it was friend or foe, so he mustered what strength he had managed to regain in his rest and grabbed his staff. With the aid of his staff, he managed to walk over to the crowd surrounding the dragon.

He had managed to pick the girl accompanying the succubus from the crowd; she was adorned with much lighter garments than those of the accompanying witches, so it was quite easy to spot her. He walked to her and spoke, "Little one, what is this dragon rider doing here?"

Will stretched once he was off Glitter, his bones popping as he did so. Finally after he finished stretching, Will answered their questions. "Yes, I have a name. It's Will Stone. And To answer your question Glitter, yes, I will help. And trust me, if it's who I think it is, you guys are really going to need me." Will said, rubbing the talon pommel of his sword.

Merry nods to Will, "It's good to know you're an ally, Will. Everyone grab something small to eat. I know we're in a hurry, but we can't rush back on nothing." she says considerately, moving over and gathering the roots and herbs she collected earlier, as well as a few berries from Pixels pile, bringing them back to Will, "I know it's not much... But you're welcome to take your pick from what I've gathered. We'll head back for the village after this light meal." she says in a soft but promising tone.

Organna steps over and takes her own prize, a campfire grilled squirl, and makes quick work of it. Glitter and Moonlight chose to be stubborn, or smart, and not eat in the rain themselves. Pixel would reach out and grab a couple of berries, making semi-quick work of them herself. One benefit to being so tiny was that you didnt have to eat much and got full quickly. Merry would let Will choose if he wanted the root she held, or the herb. Whichever one Will didn't choose, she would take.

Once everyone had their meals in them, Glitter and Moonlight were ready as well. "Everybody mount up." Merry calls out after she finishes eating. Merry would take Pixel and hop onto Glitter's back and Organna would climb onto Moonlight's back. Once again Will was faced with a choice. Ride with an Elf on the back of a Unicorn, or fly with an Orc on the back of a Pegasus. Either way, the equines were much faster and travel would be much quicker with them than without.

Will politely turned down the offers for food. "I'm fine. I had a huge pike a few hours ago. Thing almost bit my jibblets." Will told them as he let everyone eat, minus Glitter and Moonlight. Once it was time to go, Will didn't chose Glitter, and he didn't chose Moonlight as well. "I think I can keep up with you guys." He said as he rolled his shoulder, two large leathery dragon like wings sprouting from his back, each with a claw at the main joint.

Merry decides to snack on the root, putting the herb in Will's hand regardless, "... Keep it with you, then... If you get injured again, or if you find someone in need of healing somewhere down the road... You'll be able to offer it to them. Not everyone has your luck, Will... Mother Gaia's healers are skilled, but they're not numerous..." Merry says in a soft tone, mounting up with the others.

"Alright. Let's go." Merry calls out softly, signaling for Glitter to move and Moonlight following suit, both getting to a swift gallop before Moonlight spreads her wings and takes off flying, quickly gaining altitude while Glitter raced along the ground. Moonlight carried Organna high enough that they could see the village and the current defenses they had up. Things were starting to look bad as the small group closed in on the village and the smell of humans became more and more obvious even in the rain.

Moonlight would come to land just outside the gate of the sandstone barricades and Glitter would emerge seconds later, trusting Will to be close behind them.

Raven was getting herself ready to join her sister witch's for combat, when someone she didn't recognize came up to her and started asking her questions like he belonged there. Her eyes would widen at this direct approach, and would even notice that little Elesa was hiding behind Her Ladyship. Her Ladyship would hug Elesa comfortingly to make her feel more secure, while Raven would stare this man up and down. They weren't typically used to so many outsiders, so it was quite curious indeed. Though for the moment, his questions seemed harmless, so he would humor him for now.

"Those are soldiers getting ready to invade our home....We don't know how many there are or how many are on their way here...I won't force you to leave, but don't do anything stupid..."

She says, not liking this guys suddenness in barging into their home. For that reason alone, she was wary of him. Before she could think anything of it though, She would sense a large party approaching outside their gate. The aura's she was sensing weren't that of any witch, but rather a mix of creatures. She would place a hand to her temple as she looked at Her Ladyship, confused.

"Mother, I keep sensing new visitors....We've never had this many outsiders before..."

"I know my little owl, but you were in need of friends. Perhaps when this battle is over, you will make some friends that will stick with you! Regardless, you should go to the front gate and warn these people to flee to safety."

Raven nods and would make her way towards the front gate. When she got there, she would start chanting as the doors slowly opened, revealing to Raven a party that consisted of two Pegasus's, a Pixie, an Orc, an Elf, and someone who looked human. Raven would blink at this seemingly odd combination of creatures, before shaking her head and gripping her staff as she lifted her head to look all of them in the eyes.

"Forgive me, I sensed you from the other end of my village. This area isn't safe. It's about to be under attack. If you wish to not get involved, I would recommend finding somewhere safe to ride out the attack."

She says, unaware of their intention to help her and her people.