Vanguard: Into the Abyss

[Nohiki]

"Eh, how about we go back where there was just water to be scared of, and shatter the portal so they don't follow?" Loki suggested, raising a bone spear and throwing it at the heap of demons piled up on the silver dragon. The pile converted into a squirming source of hurt sound, hopefully giving her an opening to escape.

[Midnightmoon]

Akari twisted from beneath the weight of bodies and bucked to try and dislodge a few more. Staggering to her feet she ran for Loki and ducked in behind him, "No good," She gasped. "I'm no good in this form." she thought to herself, and tucked in her wings and pulled back the lunar magic. First is stretched then slid back into it's little star in her mind. To the observer she turned white and then a human with a staff and sword stepped out from the fadding after image. She ran between Loki's legs to the other side of him with renewed confidence. ",They would rip us down before we got to far into the brush." She finished, taking a swipe at a enchroaching hound. It yelped and she brought up her staff to finish it off with a blast of magic from the end.

(ooc: I'm gonna feal so embarased by this powerhouse post later)

[Kauria]

"A portal?" came that same slippery voice from the far shadows on the right. The pack leader cocked its head, gazing down from its newest perch. "Good to know." It raised its head and gave a high, piercing cry, and the mental onslaught stopped, many of the creatures drawing closer to its side. "Keep them busy," it ordered the remainder of the hounds, eyes crinkled in a grin. "See you later!" it called, tearing into a sprint back down the path they had come, two-thirds of the pack running after it.

[Nohiki]

"Nu-uh!" Loki hummed, slamming his hand into the ground. The second his hands touched it, a solid wall of razor sharp spikes rose from the ground, cutting off the way to the portal for several hundred meters left and right. He wobbled on his feet from exhaustion. "Might be a good time for somebody else to help!" he shouted, trying to catch his breath, no more magic in him.

[Zetherus]

Hashin saw the creatures trying to converge and jump at him for a pointless grab, but his maneuverability was just too good in the air. That was until he saw his next target on the tip-top of a tree and swooped down to attack. The wind clanner quickly arced back through the air to kill his next thinking opponent not seeing the hound on a branch below leap up and over him into his flying path thirty feet away. Hashin didn't notice until he felt something land on his back that began to claw and bite, throwing his concentration off at his main target. He barrel-rolled right into top of the tree, breaking the thin leafy protrusion just to escape that one beast's grasp to get another to latch onto his torso. After feeling bites from the creatures sink into his wing arms and legs, he had to get to the ground now to get these things off him. The wind dragon jetted to the ground and landed in front of Loki starting to kill the beast on his chest by grabbing it with his two fingered paws and throwing it to the dirt. Ignoring the beast on his back, he stood up and brought his two paws down onto the stunned enemy hearing the sound and feel of breaking bone vibrate beneath his feat. "Having fun yet?" He yelled in anger as he took off again and created a wind funnel in a certain area trapping the largest lot of demons in the in the wind spell. The demon on his back was sucked into the tornado where he was flung somewhere not in the area to meet his crushing doom. Hashin called out to the others as he kept the spell at his strongest, "Hey comrades, I would appreciate that you came and killed these beasts I've got trapped would yah?"

[Midnightmoon]

Akari ran around to the other side of Loki so she could see Hashin's trap. Raising her staff again, staying close to Loki's side and away from the cyclone, she blasted into the center of mass with a hollar. The single blast incapacitated the ones who got a direct hit while wounded the ones on the edges. "Catch the leader Hashin!" Akari yelled, pointing with her sword at the milling backs massing at the base of the wall. She couldn't hold the pose though because she had to transfer her point to a slash.

( Mana: 40/80 )

[Nohiki]

Now that Loki had little to contribute, he wobbled further away and ducked in a small recess in a terrain nearby, watching the melee. It took him few seconds, but then he noticed that not only was there humen on the field now, but also the silver dragon was nowhere to be found. His head pivoted left and jaw dropped, baffled at how did that happen.

[Midnightmoon]

The demons were no longer laughing. Yipping, they broke away from the wall and scattered into the forests shadows and up into trees. Akari chased after the leader. Taking the staff in both hands she drove the length into his side, knocking him down, and then took her sword and rammed it into his hips, pinning him to the ground. He howled and was only answered by muted whimpers as the others scurried away. "A secret for a secret," Akari leaned down close, speaking in a quiet voice laced with steel, "you have ours now let me have yours. Something set this all in motion, something out of place. You, with your many eyes should have seen something." The demon bared his teeth and made a swipe for her. She leaned back and all he acheived was wrenching the blade into his flesh with a twist. He yelped and conceeded, "A secret for a secret, a story for a tale. Fine, you shall have what you seek. We've seen a ritual of the sleeper and glimpse of his dreams. He dreams of crashing walls and burning civilisation. In his world there is a grandfather tower and-" It stopped. Akari tapped the sword hilt, making it wince and continue in a strained voice," -someone found all the parts and started time once again. Armagedon is at hand and all secrets will be ours in the end." It finished the last sentence in triumph and started to laugh again. Akari yanked the blade free and silenced him.

[Nohiki]

Loki approached from behind. His nose told him his eyes didn't deceive him. The scent was the same. There was no doubt in his mind the human was the same as the silver dragon. "What? But how? You're... squishier..." He said, still not coming up with good enough explanation for how that could happen.

[Midnightmoon]

"Squishier? Is that how you describe your companions here?" Akari asked, watching the demon corpse melt, before turning back to the now large Loki. "And how is it so strange to be asking the reasons why this is possible, when your kind itself castes greater feats of magical might?" She took out a cloth from her pouch and wiped the blade clean of gunk and put it away in its sheath. "Making this long tale short lets just say i had a run in with a pure source of magic which then granted meee... certain attributes. Now we must continue. We need to find this Sleeper's world and find a way to stop this tower. You do realize what would happen if Armageddon were to come to pass, right."

[Nohiki]

"But... You are!" Loki defended himself, not really tempted to make the small human that just utterly destroyed a demon mad at him. "So, 'your kind', heh? I assume that means you're human naturally." He pried a little, wondering if he could get his paws on some of this 'pure source of magic', not at all interested in the Armageddon come to pass part. "Uhhhh, hihi, why don't you think on that, you seem to know them best."

[Midnightmoon]

"Naturally, yes." Akari echo'd Loki's words with a touch of sadness, remembering how the others had treated her before her flight. "Come one then, we should find another gate and try to find our way to the Sleeper's world." she said suddenly, resettling a section of loose cloth before heading forewards. "I've heard recounts that indicate that certain individuals can sense magic sources and wells. I can't see anything but maybe another type of sight may be able to sense what we're looking for. I'm just running on a hunch though."

[Morty]

((I LIVE))

"Wait a second..." said Daedalus, panting as he slowed to a halt by Loki and Akari. "You're telling me I kissed a human?" he exclaimed in dismay, the revelation about the Sleeper and Armageddon lost on him in the wake of this news. He fought the urge to scrub his mouth clean with a handful of the infernal grass that had sprung out of the tone floor at the toll of the bell. The sudden shift in environment had been a shock; what if they were transported to a level without water? Not only would he be helpless, but he wouldn't survive more than two days, maybe less, if the conditions were arid enough. The only option was to press on and find a way to safely close the portal.

[Nohiki]

"Pst, a human who I wouldn't give a reason to be mad at me." Loki whispered to Daedalus, gently pointing to the demon corpses around. "And you're not exactly a model yourself outside water." he said mockingly. "So can you turn yourself one of us at will or do you need a ride?"

[Midnightmoon]

"I can turn myself between the two, most of the time. Now enough personal questions. We must find those wells!" Akari exclaimed, getting frustrated at her companions. "The demon said that the clock was started again and the other dragon said that once the bells hit zero we'll be out of time. When we came in we were pushed into the forest when the bell rang eight times and here we are in another world which means our next wrarning will be six. I can't find them on my own."