Paying the Price

Vermillion lazily continues to read his book as time slowly marches on. He couldn't do anything else but to wait for Viviana to recover, but also that there's nothing else happening close by...even though there is something major going on much more farther down the road...

"...Wish there was something to do..." said Vermillion, lost within his thoughts

His wish did came true though as he felt something amazing close by and in the sky. It was fast to react to, but he managed to sense out Glitter and Moonlight flying through the sky in the direction of Wellspring. Though it was dark out, so Vermillion couldn't see them.

"Wh-what the? What was that I felt...? It was something...very mystical... Perhaps I should check it out, but..." said Vermillion as he looks at the sealed bath house where Viviana is still sleeping and recovering within the Cultivation Bath "I can't leave her behind...but it's going to take her a long time for her to fully recover, so... Alright, I made my mind, I'm going to check it out as it's not too far away from here, and then I'll be back here just before Viviana wakes up. I can leave my pushwagon here since no one is going to be able to steal it or my wares very easily since I magically locked it tight. I'll be back soon, Viviana..."

With that, Vermillion gets up and rushes on over to check out what he sensed up ahead. Though he already lost sensing Glitter and Moonlight, the direction that they flew to was more than enough to hopefully track and find them.

...Little that Vermillion knew that he may find something way more than he bargained for as he did left his weapon, the Durandal, behind...believing that he doesn't even need it...though he wish that he had soon enough...

"Oh so they want to kill us? I can help you!" He says willingly if he wanted to help you would know "Oh! How about I help with those walls they could easily be broken down." "Φοροαλλαγές ζεσσλεοκ ωριαίας" he chanted that will cause the rain to turn to snow and the air around will get colder before finally causing it to hail around but not inside the town but the hail will not do anything to harm just to hit things and slow them down (note it's snowing in the town and hailing out in the forest.

"Hmmmm for a fight I'd like it to be fair to the people I'm fighting. Sometimes I like to set the mood!" He yelled over the sound of the hail. "λεαΨε θες Βέροια Μακεδονίας Ιταλία στο τι στους!" He hissed in an ancient tounge. This caused the hail to turn back to snow. He then made a snowflake that never melts land On elesa's nose "here I'm sorry for scaring you little one here is something for a gift."

The soldiers, under the spell of the siccubi, seem to be just waiting to get their turn. But amidst the middle of it, they all stop suddenly and look up into the sky as Smokey, black mist starts to seep out of their eyes, nose, mouth and ears. They freeze like statues in place, releasing the demoness of lust from any devious act as their brutish chanting and wailing goes silent.

"Yes mistress. Very well mistress." Each and every one of them say at the exact same time before all their attention returns to the succubus. One by One, starting from the closest and going out, they start to grab at the demoness, gripping her arms and legs, lifting her into the air as they start to walk off away from the village.

The rest of them- those that are already satisfied and passed out- all start to move towards the village, ignoring the demoness and the hail stones that start to pelt at them, almost as if they had been rise from the dead. They jog at a medium pace with their arms by their side; some retain their weapons, but those that had dropped theirs just pick up the first thing they see- sticks, logs, rocks, anything...

As Vermillion traverses through the forest for about 20 minutes, he manages to get pretty far and is a little more than halfway to Wellspring. Everything was going well...until suddenly a blizzard just randomly started and appeared out of nowhere... Surprised by this, Vermillion eventually trips and falls while getting pelted by hail a bit before it then becomes snow.

"What in blazes? First it rains randomly out of nowhere, and now snow of all things is happening now? This is one very strange night... Obviously this can't be a natural cause, it must've been summoned by someone or something else...maybe the same person that made the rain...? But then why snow...? In any case, I'll be able to continue on through despite the snow thanks to my fire magic abilities keeping me warm." said Vermillion

As Vermillion was about to continue on to reach Wellspring, he soon senses something bad in the air...something very horrible and dark...this made Vermillion very worried...

"This feeling in the air...I got a very bad feeling about this... It's dark...and corrupted... Blast! Had I known something like this is happening I shouldn't have left my Durandal behind...but I can call it to my side if I'm somewhat in range of it still... Let's see..." said Vermillion

Vermillion stops to concentrate really hard to see if he can magically call his magical holy knightsword, Durandal, to his side from his pushwagon. His magical insight was able to reach his pushwagon, but he was too far away for the Durandal to respond to his call.

"Blast! Too far away! But I don't need to backtrack too much, just a little bit..." said Vermillion

Vermillion travels back about 130 yards in 3 minutes. There, he tried calling his Durandal again, and this time his magical insight was able to peer through the bottom of his pushwagon where his sword was kept in a secret compartment. Able to connect with his sword, Durandal, Vermillion then calls it out, shooting out of the pushwagon as it flies to him at high speed, weaving and dodging trees until Vermillion retrieves it in his hands safely at his side.

"Alright, I've retrieved my Durandal, and now I should be able to investigate what that horrible feeling is, and hopefully purify it. It must be incredible dark magic...demonic even... I'm glad that my creators have given me this sword to help purify the darkness as it's my mission to help make this world a brighter place...for their sakes..." said Vermillion

With the Durandal in hand, Vermillion then continues on heading towards the direction of Wellspring, including following the dark corrupting force that is affecting the soldiers as they also make their way to Wellspring. It's, however, going to take Vermillion a while to reach his destination as the snow does make it slightly harder to transverse, and there's no point in using his fire magic to melt him an easier path through the forest despite his magic won't burn the trees...to him it's better to save his energy for the fight ahead...

Elesa would watch as the downpour of rain changed into a gentle flurry of snow, reaching for her water charm, "Seal of Water. Flow." She says as she carefully moves the umbrella of water out from over hers and Her Ladyship's heads, though she stayed close to Her Ladyship for warmth now, finding it to be radiating naturally from Her Ladyship, as it did from most magic users, with a few exceptions. She blinks and crosses her eyes to look at the snowflake that had landed on her nose. She moves to carefully touch it with her fingers, finding it not breaking apart like most snow did, "Oh wow... It's so pretty." she says in a soft tone, smiling happily.

Looking up to the man on the dragon, "Thank you, Mister." the child calls out politely, giggling as she cuddles into Her Ladyship again. She began to think that maybe this yet nameless, ice magic using, dragon riding male wasn't so scary after all.

Meanwhile, Lilim was having a blast. Already she had fed on 6 of the soldiers, and was vasting in the bliss of nourishment aplenty, until suddenly the next three soldiers that were having their turn stopped playing with Lilim and she began to feel the overwhelming malice overtaking them and filling their life force with what to Lilim was lethal poison. She had shared her weakness with those that were under her spell, so she was greatful they stopped exploiting it when they became possessed.

"What the?!" she gasps in horror, grabbing her gown, getting to her feet, and pulling her tights up before the soldiers stopped trying to feed Lilim and were instead detaining her and starting to carry her away. She wouldn't be able to fight much for a minute or so, but once she had her strength back, she took to a hover and violently twisted free, throwing the soldiers that had ahold of her off with relitive ease.

Humans didn't offer much in the way of power, but they gave Lilim enough to fly over their heads and bolt off ahead of them, flying low and racing back toward the village. She'd spot Raven with another small group and signaled to them, "Miss!! We've got trouble!! The soldiers are-... Merry?!" she calls out to Raven before getting closer and recognizing most of the small group.

There were only two that she didn't know their names yet. The new man standing with the group, and Raven. Raven had failed to introduce herself even though Lilim had introduced herself and Elesa to her and half of the village, so out of respect, Lilim would call Raven by Ma'am or Miss, until introductions were made. As for Will, he'd likely have Lilim's classic nickname of 'Hun' until she learned his name.

Shaking her head, "Reunion celebration later... The soldiers are coming. And I can't feed from them now. Some powerful force has pumped them full of malice, if I try to feed from them now, it'll poison me. We have to get ready for it now... The fight is about to be inevitable." she says quickly. She'd smile after a moment though, "This couldn't have wotked out any better if it had been planned. Two of the strongest magic users in the area together in one place... What are the odds?... Um... Merry, I'm running a bit low on magic power?... Could I have a little donation?... And Miss? Could I pull a little from you as well? If I take a share from each of you, I should be able to get back to full strength without putting either of you out of commission. Would you both be willing to go along with that plan?" she asks curiously.

The soldiers are easily tossed aside, fumbling around on the ground for a moment before hopping up to their feet once more. The ones you tossed watch the demoness fly overhead rather creepily, just staring so thought moving. The others all rush forward towards the village faster than men in armour as heavy as that should be able to, and they're only getting fast with every passing moment. It would be a mere 10 minutes- if that- before they were at the gates..

This was all quite overwhelming for Lorsch. He was used to a life of isolation and now, here in his presence, were some of the strangest people in the known world.

Lorsch sighed and decided to walk atop the walls before the soldiers arrived; if he was lucky, he could have enough energy to take out the initial attack force. The snow was surprising to him, he hadn't seen such a phenomenon before today and, should Kuthras decide it, he probably will see plenty more in the future.

In the distance, he heard a chorus of footsteps. The soldiers would arrive soon, as Lilim said. He sat on top of the wall and awaited their arrival so that he might get the upper hand against them.

Will kept pace with Glitter and Moonlight, probably to their surprise. Once they reached the village, Will landed with everyone else, taking a few steps to keep himself from falling over as he folded his wings up. His wings ignited in a burst of flames and eventually disappeared with the flames. He let Merry talk to Raven before saying something just as Lilim had arrived, being cut off by her. But once she was done asking for some sort of energy, he said what he was going to say. "If it's who I think are coming here, you'll be in for a fight. And you'll definitely need my help." Will told them.

Merry pings the area with her aura so she can see, but gasps softly as the group is approached by a young woman, moving her hands to her heart nervously, "We know... That's why we've come. We'd like to help protect this place if you'll let us." Merry says in a kind tone. It was obvious that Merry was no fighter, but the fact that she was an elf and had quite the wealth of magic power to her should have gave away that Merry had some kind of skills that could help in the long run.

Then came the cold, though, and Merry would move her arms slowly to hug herself and began to shiver. Pixel would be hiding in Glitter's mane, huddling closer to him as the temperature suddenly shifted. Organna hardly minded the cold, letting the temperature freeze the water that was on her and annoyedly brushing it off, finding the sudden freeze dry more annoying than hendering.

A familiar face would appear then. Lilim! With news on the soldiers that were set to attack. Merry would see Lilim smile and propose her plan, looking to Raven to see how this plan sat with her, "I'd be happy to help, Lilim. And yeah, let's save the reunion party for a safer moment. It is good to see you again though. We've missed you." she says before another shiver sweeps over her, causing her to hug herself tighter and lean into Glitter for warmth, "Brrrr... W-why did it s-s-suddenly get... S-s-so c-c-c-cold?..." she mutters timidly. The cold temperatures had her all but completely unable to move. She'd suffer through it though, having come to give help in the battle to come, not get help just because the temperature dropped to an undesirable degree.

Lynken starts to Levitate using the power of air tells lorsch to get of the wall for a sec so he can make little ice pillars holding up the walls just in case the men attack the wall. "Oh I forgot to tell my name! My name is Lynken.
Bane of water and fire. Oh and little one you might catch a cold here have this." Lynken gives elesa his scarf because she might catch a cold the scarf is velvet red with golden edges " this scarf is very special it stops the cold from touching you at all."

Lorsch heard Lynken's message and hopped off of the wall. He was unsure of his opinion of the dragon rider as he just couldn't read him like he could with the others in the village. Whilst he contemplated the enigmatic man, he noticed the elf girl clearly not handling the cold at all. Lorsch had his fur to keep him somewhat warm but she was practically defenceless.

He walked over to her and gave her the top layer of his robes to warm herself with, "Keep warm, we can't afford to lose anyone tonight, especially before the enemy even arrives."

Raven would hear Lilim's calling and watched as she rushed over, explaining to her SOMETHING about the soldiers, only to be interrupted by her train of thought as she recognized Merry. She would look between Merry and her party, before ushering them all inside. She would probably be disappointed to find that there was no fire anywhere in their village, though given what they were it wasn't hard to see why. Still though, to keep Merry warm she ushers both her and Lilim inside her shack while inviting Will inside, to at least keep them out of the way of the wind. Raven takes a seat on her chair, before crossing her legs staring at Lilim as she spoke. While Lilim explained the situation, Her Ladyship would bring Elesa inside so that not only could she be reunited with her big sister, but this way she was also kept out of the cold. Raven would close her eyes and think when Lilim was done speaking.

"Trouble indeed.....We appreciate the help, miss and party..."

"War is inevitable now...just when I thought it was over...though I'm concerned about-"

"Yes, Crow....I'm concerned too...not everybody here knows..."

The two say to one another, before Raven looks back up at the two of them. When asked to lend some of her magical energy, Raven would hesitate for a moment. She didn't mind helping them at all, but rather it was Crow who would need convincing. Her eyes would grow white as her mind seemed to disappear so that she was able to talk to Crow face to face, and after several minutes of an awkward silence, her eyes would go back to normal, and she would slowly nod her head while Her Ladyship moved to sit next to Raven.

"That's fine...if that is what you need then were happy to provide it...."

"My little owl...your not usually like this....what's troubling you??"

"It's just....I'm nervous about having so many outsiders....if they have and use fire magic against these soldiers and miss, it could leave many of us severely injured if not turned to a pile of ash....Hell, there is a Bane of Fire in our village! This doesn't concern you?"

"I will admit that I'm not completely without fear, but I have faith that it will work out in the end...."

"I hope so...I'm sorry, but I'm not the only one talking in here...."

"I'm aware, but Crow shouldn't be nervous either. In fact, she may be a big help in this coming battle."

"Really??"

"Oh yes, I believe so.."

Her Ladyship says to them as she moves to hug Raven and ease her worries a bit. Raven would pause before hugging her mother back, slowly becoming more comfortable and easing up a bit.

The sentimental moment between raven and her mother could only be cut short as the obnoxious thumping of fumbling feet comes up over the horizon through the trees. The groaning and chanting that the soldiers made when lilim was with them had by now devolved into senseless rambling and low groaning. The amount of soldiers present, combined with the black mist that seeps out of their head creates a sea of black along the path, hiding the feet of those struggling behind. The hail that pelts down barely effects them at all- a few take a good shot here or there to the eye or the knee, but despite this they show no signs of slowing.

The skin of these soldiers was visibly starting to rot, in mere minutes these men had turned from brave warriors jinxed by a siccubi spell, to a legion of shambling undead draugr; dead men under the spell of another's corrupted and fowl magics.

The men don't slow down as they get to the village walls, slamming their entire bodies into the falacade without care, each one that slams into the next builds weight and pressure against the defensive barrier until the combined weight of their heavy armour breaks through the gate, 2 or 3 of them are trampled and crushed under the weight of the others without remorse as they moan and yell garbled sounds, each one spreading out into different directions, ready to attack any they see...

Will accepted the offer and followed everyone inside. He watched the conversation between everyone, notice the little girl. He smiled gently at her and waved to her, letting everyone speak. Then Will hears the crashing of the gate and yells and moans of the soldiers, which was odd to Will. "Well, looks like the party's started. Organna, get this street and the adjecnt one and I'll go around to the west side of town, towards the noise. I'll leave some for you. " Will said as he draw his sword, finally revealing it fully to everyone. With the black leather hand and crow talon pommel, the blade also had a feather engraved into it's length. Will turned and opened the door, turning to go towards the noise once he got out the door.

Lynken did not walk back inside with the others. He wanted to stay guard and prime the defenses so what he did was make another wall made of ice around every intersection and there were spiky ice bits on the floor he made before seeing the enemy in front of the walls (as they are see through.) and floats up above them and encases one in a very thin layer of ice. "The dead is rising!" He yells before running into the place where everyone is and telling them about the soldiers breaking the sandstone walls before summoning his ice spear and shield before giving elesa a snowball "throw this at the floor if you need help it will protect you." He said before climbing up onto windsnapper above the wall.

Lilim follows Raven back to her hut and takes Merry's hand when they go to enter the house. She knew Merry prefered it outside where her blindness wouldn't be a factor, but figured a chance to get out of the cold was well needed, especially for a Forest Elf whom was so thin from not having much to eat and in spite of the strength of her aura, was so vulnerable to the cold. The sudden drop in temperature didn't bother Lilim at all. In fact the cold temperatures and presence of ice and snow put her in the running to use her most powerful skills of all. She just needed to get back to full strength so she could utalize that potential of hers.

Elesa would be flattered by the gifts of the unmelting snowflake and Lynken's scarf. He'd been nothing but nice in her eyes, so she was quickly growing fond of him. When Her Ladyship brought Elesa back to Raven's hut, she runs back to Lilim and hugs her. Lilim of course hugging Elesa back and picking her up to hold her close. Elesa would also give a warm hug to Merry, which noticably knocked the chill away from her. Elesa always did give really warm hugs.

As everything got said and the sounds of the invaders were heard, Lilim would look to Raven and Merry, "Time is short. While everyone else buys us time, we have to take this chance. Merry, you're more familiar with me than... Um... I'm sorry Ma'am, I never caught your name... Um... Anyway, Merry, you're more familiar with me than she is, so if its ok, I'd like to feed from you first and let her top me off. You need to get back out there as quick as possible with everyone and make sure no one gets injured. Your healing prowess will be invaluable, no doubt about it. Oh, and Miss, could you get another blanket for Merry to wrap up in?" she says as she shifts her attention between Merry and Raven.

Elesa would look between everyone as everything got said, and recieved yet another gift from Lynken. A snowball? Well, she was an easy girl to please, and thanked Lynken with a warm smile before he left. Lynken was gaining a reputation as a gift giver to Elesa, and his gifts were certainly buying him access to her good books.

Vermillion continues to transverse through the forest, going as fast as he can through the snow and little bits amount of ice...though the terrain did ended up slowing him down a bit... Regardless though, he was just about to reach Wellspring as then he saw it...rotting zombies were shambling their way into the settlement, moaning and full of dark malice...

"Holy blazes! Are those...zombies of what I've read about in the royal library back at home...? Ugh...and their rotting too with their skin melting off of their bodies...this is one very nasty job..." said Vermillion as he moves in and sees houses, and also Lynken up in the air "There's a settlement all the way out here?! I would never have guessed! I must help purify this place of the undead or else everyone here is in danger."

Vermillion wastes no time as he raises his Durandal up high. Using his internal magical energy within his body Vermillion empowers his Durandal to allow both the weapon and himself to use exorcism light magic to purify the unfortunate undead zombie hoard.

"With my Durandal, I'll save the settlement and purify the zombies here... The poor souls here must be exorcise into eternal peaceful rest..." said Vermillion

Vermillion starts by picking away at some of the zombies from behind, firing small lasers of light at the zombies which cause their bodies to burn in white purifying flames as the exorcism power within the Durandal does it's work. Despite fighting off the zombies from behind, he can already see that there's so many of them all over the place.

"There's so many of them here... I pray that everyone is okay and safe inside, but I have to act quickly before they break into the houses." said Vermillion "Or worse my magical power will run out first, and then the whole place may be overrun..."

Merry and her party look to Lorsch as he approaches, and Merry would gasp softly as he drapes a layer of his robes around her shoulders, moving her hands to grasp the edges of the offered cloths and pull them a little tighter around her, "Thank you, Sir. I greatly appreciate it. I don't do well in the cold." she says softly. Organna looks to Will and smirks, sitting on the back of a Pegasus in a Pemdas top, a loin cloth, and a short midriff wrap and hardly felt the cold at all. She was a Warrioress though, and didn't need any special care.

Moonlight had her feathers and thick skin to keep her warm and Glitter had a natural barrier of magic energy that gave him his own personal comfort layer, as did Pixel as she assumes the hidden appearance of the classic plasma fairy, covering herself in a layer of warm light. The group as a whole was thrilled to see Lilim again, and followed Raven back to her cabin. Organna opted to stay outside and leaned against the wall to listen in, and the equines did the same as they likely couldn't... Or shouldn't... Be entering small houses anyway. Pixel stayed with Merry though, up until the sounds of the invading soldiers cane about.

Organna would give a toothy smile to Will as he suggested they take the first waves and meet the threat head on, "You're speaking my language, Will. Let's dance." she says as she cracks her knuckles and follows suit with his plan. Glitter and Moonlight would take up defensive roles and watch for enemies to get by Organna and Will and head for the cabin. Any that did would be met with the hooves and wings of a magically buffed Pegasus Warhorse that knew how to fight as well as any human soldier if not moreso. Their main goal was to keep the cabin safe while Merry was inside.

Pixel would layer herself in her light again and take off after Organna, pulling more of a scouting role than a fighting one, and she'd be the first to spot Vermillion using rays of light to attack the invaders from behind. This information would be relayed to Organna first and then to Will, "We've got another ally in the back attacking the corrupted soldiers with a sword and beams of light!" she says quickly.

"Heh, seems like a lot of magic folk want a crack at the action. Well, the more the merrier, there's plenty to go around." Organna says with a battle happy smirk, rushing in and starting to use her strength to punch the zombified soldiers and either knock them back, knock them away, or knock them to pieces, whichever came first. Along the way, Organna would find one with a pretty heavy looking axe, "Ooh, there's my cabin boy." she says before giving a spin to take down three sword wielders with a heavy windmill kick, then rushing at the one with the axe, intent on fighting this one herself and taking that Thesean Axe as her own.

Back inside Ravens cabin, Merry would be sitting in a chair and cuddling into Elesa warmly, finding the warm embrace of the child far more comforting than any fire could ever be. As a Forest Elf, Merry didn't care much for fire, even on torches. She prefered the light of nature and the warmth of a loving touch rather than the destructive radiation of flames. Merry would nod agreeingly to what Lilim was saying, "Agreed. I'll give you as much as you like, Lilim. You're too strong to tell to keep hidden. And... If it's ok... Could I keep Elesa with me out there? She's so warm." Merry asks with a soft blush, cuddling into Elesa a bit more.

Satisfied that the forest elf was being cared for, Lorsch made his way to the battlements and saw the ensuing battle below. He saw the orc warrioress carving her way through the Theseans, she reminded him of himself before he found Kuthras all those years ago.

He was snapped out of his nostalgia by the sight of Vermillion's magic, "Another helper?" he thought. He was certainly shocked to see so many magic users in one battle, but the help was not unwelcome. He peered at the bottom of the wall and saw the soldiers trying to slam themselves through the wall. Lorsch grabbed his staff and tapped it onto the sandstone wall. Where the soldiers were, the earth below them opened into a trench too high for them to climb out of. Lorsch had no intention of killing anything - not anymore.