~The Forests of Avalon, A Dragon Roleplay~ 2

[HollyBird24]

Silv knew where Jasper and Avalon-dragon's conversation was going; nowhere he want to be.
While he doubt they would team up or even figure out he had anything to do with it, Jasper being what he was and there being an already downed dragon, he would rather pick up the remains later.
Spreading his wings and pushing off the ground he called back, "Well, Adeline, I do believe our guests can handle the situation themselves."

Adeline cast him an exasperated glance and followed quite willingly. It was only luck that Jasper hadn't called her out already, not that it would matter a bunch as he wasn't aware of her current situation in Pelendava, but drawing anymore attention to herself then necessary was only asking for someone to let something slip in front of Silv. As she left with Silv, a small, but rather significant thought crossed her mind. Before sending her, Camilla had revealed the sole reason of her attack, to find Silv and get revenge for Henry's murder. It wasn't an attack on Caronia, it was an attack on him. Silv knew the reason behind it all, it had been part of his master plan, but she wasn't sure if he realized how determined she was to acomplish this. While the rest of her warriors were battling, she would most certainly seek him out above all other tasks. If she found him... and Adeline was with him... things could very quickly start to work against her. "Maybe we should stay low..." She cautioned, for his as well as her own, safety.

 

[Gerbil]

Adeline cast him an exasperated glance and followed quite willingly. It was only luck that Jasper hadn't called her out already, not that it would matter a bunch as he wasn't aware of her current situation in Pelendava, but drawing anymore attention to herself then necessary was only asking for someone to let something slip in front of Silv. As she left with Silv, a small, but rather significant thought crossed her mind. Before sending her, Camilla had revealed the sole reason of her attack, to find Silv and get revenge for Henry's murder. It wasn't an attack on Caronia, it was an attack on him. Silv knew the reason behind it all, it had been part of his master plan, but she wasn't sure if he realized how determined she was to acomplish this. While the rest of her warriors were battling, she would most certainly seek him out above all other tasks. If she found him... and Adeline was with him... things could very quickly start to work against her. "Maybe we should stay low..." She cautioned, for his as well as her own, safety.

It was plain as day something was holding Adeline back, perhaps she still had friends in Avalon she didn't want hurt or maybe she was just afraid to fight. He doubted the latter. He was single minded on his goal, but not completely oblivious to her, and she was too smart for her own good.
Staying low was what he planned, as fun as it would be to take on Avalon. The entire thing was going too slow for his taste though, he couldn't even find Lilith in the fray above. She needed to go, fast.
"Why, Adeline?"

 

[Gerbil]

This time it was Jasper's turn to gawk, "Henry's dead?" He echoed in disbelief, swinging his massive head away from Maggie to face Frill. Although he hadn't parted on good terms with most of Pelendava, Henry was one of the few who he still remembered with a sort of fondness. They had trained together through their youth, and although Henry had never become a warrior in the end, they had remained friends. While Jasper had long since come to terms with the fact that his loyalties lay elsewhere, he still felt a pang of sadness to hear that he was dead... and even more so when Frill accused him, and Caronia for the murder.

"Dead is the decent way to put it. If I had been the one to have found him on the border, I wouldn't have been able to identify the remains." She retorted bitterly, austere silver eyes locked on his.

 

[HollyBird24]

It was plain as day something was holding Adeline back, perhaps she still had friends in Avalon she didn't want hurt or maybe she was just afraid to fight. He doubted the latter. He was single minded on his goal, but not completely oblivious to her, and she was too smart for her own good.
Staying low was what he planned, as fun as it would be to take on Avalon. The entire thing was going too slow for his taste though, he couldn't even find Lilith in the fray above. She needed to go, fast.
"Why, Adeline?"

"Because unless you plan on showing off some impressive battle moves in front of Lilith, she's going to see us meandering around doing nothing." It wasn't a total lie, or entirely impossible that she would be concerned about this. They might not have run into the Caronian queen yet but she was out there somewhere, and she was bound to be keeping a close eye on them as she had promised. She flew behind him in silence for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the back of his head. He was hard to understand, she had realized. Not his motives, or his quest, but what he was thinking. She was never quite sure what exactly went through his brightly colored head, and this bothered her. How much did he know already?

 

[HollyBird24]

"Dead is the decent way to put it. If I had been the one to have found him on the border, I wouldn't have been able to identify the remains." She retorted bitterly, austere silver eyes locked on his.

Frill's words caught Jasper off guard, this was news to him. His cool blue eyes appeared genuinely troubled, and he stepped away from Maggie completely to focus on Frill. "The killer you seek does not come from Caronia," he replied, then paused to rephrase his statement. It was entirely possible that the killer had come from Caronia, but was not sent by any Caronian official as far as he knew, "or rather, was not sent to Pelendava by anyone with authority here."

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Droll barked into surprise when Chandler slammed into him. Droll managed to shove Chandler off of him before they hit the ground, so they both landed separately. Drol

Chandler landed hard and grunted as the air was knocked from his lungs, but pulled himself up non-the-less and faced Droll. He took a few deep breaths to get some oxygen flowing again, and to calm his rattled nerves, then launched himself at Droll before the other dragon could make it to his feet. His battle training was still fresh on his mind, and in the moment of battle it seemed remarkably clear to him what he had to do to protect Kyra. His claws stretched wide and full as he crashed into Droll, slashing and biting with all his strength.

Coraline burst through the trees opposite Chandler and Droll, and her eyes went as wide as full moons at the sight. She had been under the impression that their hiding spot would go undetected as non of the dragons stationed there were on the aggressive side of the attack. To see Chandler and Droll fighting made her realize how serious their situation was, and without another moments hesitation, she threw herself on top of Droll along with Chandler.

 

[HollyBird24]

Chandler landed hard and grunted as the air was knocked from his lungs, but pulled himself up non-the-less and faced Droll. He took a few deep breaths to get some oxygen flowing again, and to calm his rattled nerves, then launched himself at Droll before the other dragon could make it to his feet. His battle training was still fresh on his mind, and in the moment of battle it seemed remarkably clear to him what he had to do to protect Kyra. His claws stretched wide and full as he crashed into Droll, slashing and biting with all his strength.

Coraline burst through the trees opposite Chandler and Droll, and her eyes went as wide as full moons at the sight. She had been under the impression that their hiding spot would go undetected as non of the dragons stationed there were on the aggressive side of the attack. To see Chandler and Droll fighting made her realize how serious their situation was, and without another moments hesitation, she threw herself on top of Droll along with Chandler.

Tanis watched Chandler and Coraline for a moment, debating whether or not to help them or Kyra. They seemed to be fairing alright for the time being, she so opted to follow Kyra and Arrow into the cave for a moment to see if they needed anything.

After the initial shock of seeing Alistair in his state, Kyra quickly began going through a checklist of items to try and diagnose and help the venom cursing through his veins. When nothing worked, she turned to Tanis in desperation. "The venom is too strong, nothing that I have here can help him!"

Tanis's blood turned to ice, she had been expecting to fight a battle of tooth and claw, not of medicine and death. She understood Kyra's fear of losing Alistair, but she wasn't a healer and to stand here, doing nothing made the feeling of helplessness even worse. "Surely there is something, something that can save him!"

Kyra sunk her claws into the dirt and squeezed her eyes shut for a second. When she opened them, a new spark of hope and determination flared in them. "There is one thing, one dragon who might be able to help."

"Who?!" Tanis urged.

"Belial, he's a rogue that travels frequently between the cities." Kyra rushed to explain. "He deals in Hyacinth, a very rare, and a very expensive herb. It might be able to help."

"Where can I find him?"

"I don't know! Thats the problem! He could be anywhere!"

"Are you certain that it'd be worth it to try?" Arrow spoke up for the first time.

"I don't know... maybe..." Kyra looked wearily at Alistiar. "Its worth a shot."

"I'll go then." Arrow said. "Tanis must stay here, we can't spare her."

Tanis opened her mouth to argue, but Kyra beat her to it. "Okay Arrow, go, and go quickly! We haven't any time at all!"

 

[trainfullachickens14]

Chandler landed hard and grunted as the air was knocked from his lungs, but pulled himself up non-the-less and faced Droll. He took a few deep breaths to get some oxygen flowing again, and to calm his rattled nerves, then launched himself at Droll before the other dragon could make it to his feet. His battle training was still fresh on his mind, and in the moment of battle it seemed remarkably clear to him what he had to do to protect Kyra. His claws stretched wide and full as he crashed into Droll, slashing and biting with all his strength.

Coraline burst through the trees opposite Chandler and Droll, and her eyes went as wide as full moons at the sight. She had been under the impression that their hiding spot would go undetected as non of the dragons stationed there were on the aggressive side of the attack. To see Chandler and Droll fighting made her realize how serious their situation was, and without another moments hesitation, she threw herself on top of Droll along with Chandler.

Droll roared in angry protest at the weight being thrown on him and the claws and teeth that were hacking and slashing at him. He managed to kick Chandler off him for the second time, sending him skidding across the ground away from him. In the same movement, he rolled his body over and used the extra momentum to smash his huge, hard, medieval flail-like tail into Coraline's side.


______________________________


Meanwhile, in a large underground burrow nearby, Karen awakened to the sounds of the combat. Her ears stood up and she lifted her large head and peered out the enterance to the temporary home she had made the night before. She had been on the run back towards Pelendava with her adopted children for the past week and was making progress, but not as much as she would have liked. She realized that there was some kind of conflict going on and was frustrated, but did not feel unprepared or incapable of defending herself and her kids. Though she tried to avoid combat if possible, she was fully capable and willing to fight if she needed to.

(Backstory Time!

)
Because of nerve damage she had recieved as an infant, her body never realized when it should have been done growing. This made her a very formitable dragon as she was about 30 feet tall and just as long, not counting her tail. Ever since a few years ago, she had been very glad that she had gotten that nerve damage when she had fallen out of her nest and smacked her head as a hatchling. Her thankfulness for that defect started as a result of her only true child, her daughter Connie, being the only survivor out of a clutch of 30 eggs. All but two had hatched, but when she came back with food for her babies one day the burrow had caved-in, burying all of the hatchlings except Connie, who had wandered out of the cave before it collapsed. After that point she became a fiercely protective and caring mother, not only to her own child, but to any young dragon she found that was in need. A few months after the loss of her first clutch, she and Connie found an infant Nightfury alone in a crudely constructed burrow under the roots of an elm tree. It appeared as if the original mother was being chased by something and had put the baby there to give him a chance at survival instead of being killed along with its mother. Jason, as the Nightfury became named, was adopted by Karen without a second thought. More recently, Karen had come across a teenage dragoness named Jessie crying alone in a remote piece of the forest with what looked like the body of a dead sibling. It was, in fact, her late brother Steven, who had been murdered by Droll, and Jessie had looked not much better. Karen took Jessie under her wings (*badumtss*) and continued her wandering, searching for young dragons in need and answering their largely unheard calls for help. However, when the fighting between Caronia and Pelendava flared up again, she knew that she had to head home to the good city Pelendava.

Now, she realized what the situation was outside and ducked back into the burrow to alert her kids.
"Psst... Jess' honey... wake up..." Karen said, nudging the teen gently with her snout.
"Mmmff... huh... what is it mom?" Jessie answered groggily, rubbing her eyes.
"Not sure, but I need ou to wake up the other two, we are probably going to need to leave pretty quickly here." Karen turned to leave the burrow.
"Wait, where are are going?" Jessie asked as she stood up.
"I'm going to check and see what's going on, I'll be right back. If something goes wrong, you three know which way to go to safely get back to Pelendava, and I can catch up with you later."
"Alright mom," Jessie said as she walked over to start waking up her siblings. "I love you."
"I love you too, sweetie," Karen replied.
Jessie turned to respond, but when she looked, her mom was already gone.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Droll roared in angry protest at the weight being thrown on him and the claws and teeth that were hacking and slashing at him. He managed to kick Chandler off him for the second time, sending him skidding across the ground away from him. In the same movement, he rolled his body over and used the extra momentum to smash his huge, hard, medieval flail-like tail into Coraline's side.

Chandler growled in frustration and sunk his claws into the ground to prevent him from skidding too far, leaving deep gouges in the ground. He waited for half a second, just long enough for Droll to roll and expose his belly, then launched himself towards towards the fray and sank his teeth deep into the soft tissue of Droll's neck.

Coraline screeched in pain, her legs buckling underneath her frame as the spikes on his tail sunk deep into her abdomen. The impact knocked her clean off her feet, but she didn't end up flying backwards as one might expect because she was nearly impaled on his tail.

 

[trainfullachickens14]

Chandler growled in frustration and sunk his claws into the ground to prevent him from skidding too far, leaving deep gouges in the ground. He waited for half a second, just long enough for Droll to roll and expose his belly, then launched himself towards towards the fray and sank his teeth deep into the soft tissue of Droll's neck.

Coraline screeched in pain, her legs buckling underneath her frame as the spikes on his tail sunk deep into her abdomen. The impact knocked her clean off her feet, but she didn't end up flying backwards as one might expect because she was nearly impaled on his tail.

Droll howled again as Chandler attacked his more vulnerable belly, but the multiple layers of thick scales that grew all over his body did their job and prevented any major injuries for the time being. He slashed a fore foot across Chandler's face, aiming for an eye and/or the sensitive nose. At the same time he redirected his tail, which still had Coraline stuck on it and was still in the middle of the same swing that had hit her, and smashed it and the attached Coraline into Chandler. He then abruptly whipped his tail back in the opposite direction, which jerked Coraline off of it and let her and Chandler continue flying through the air away from Droll. He watched the two of them bouncing along the ground and landing in a heap against a large maple tree about 20 yards distant. Then he turned around, positioned himself behind a large oak, and swung his tail as hard as he could into the trunk. At the same time, he blew a ball of fire out into the air just in front of the tree trunk on the side closest to Chandler and Coraline. The results of his seemingly strange move were just as he'd anticipated. When his tail hit the wood, a huge section the trunk shattered into a million foot-long super-sharp splinters that went flying towards his adversaries at a surprisingly high speed. At the same time, the ball of fire he had blown in their path set all but a few of the flying spikes ablaze. He smiled as he watched hundreds of thousands of flaming wooden spikes fly towards Coraline and Chandler.


_____________________________



Nearby, Karen heard the sounds of the combat getting more intense. Then she heard Coraline's screech as Droll's tail impaled her in numerous places and knew someone was in deep trouble. She carefully maneuvered through the trees, trying to step as quietly as possible as she approached the area. When she got close, she could see Tanis through the brush about 200 yards from her. As Karen began to approach her, unintentionally making a little more noise than she would have liked, she thought that the one she saw would work well as the dragon she would talk to first. "If she's on Pelendava's side," she thought, "then that's good 'cause she'll be able to help me find out what's going on. If she's fighting for Caronia, that's not a big problem either. I'm easily twice her size, if not three times, so I could take her no problem if I had to." Karen was about 80 yards away from Tanis when, since she wasn't paying attention as much as she should have been, her right hip accidentally slammed into a mid-sized spruce tree, sending it toppling over with a crash. It was nowhere near loud enough for Droll, Chandler, and the others who were duking it out to hear it over the noise of their fighting, but it was loud and clear to anyone nearby like Tanis who wasn't fighting and wasn't overly close to the combat.