The Fight for Asis

C

Chrona

Guest
Original poster
In the Magic Academy, the students have just gotten out of their last class of the day. Most of them wandered the halls alone or in groups. Students who live in the dorms were required to be in their rooms by midnight tonight. Staff of the Magic Academy would be patrolling the halls for any students out of their rooms as usual. They didn't use to do this. Not before Lerago came into power. Magic Academy was once a lenient school, but fear of the students either being killed or forced to join Lerago's ranks caused them to become a bit more strict.

Life in Lerago's castle was the same as always. The guards patrolled the grounds in groups of five or more. Guards in groups of three kept watch in each watch tower around the castle. Groups of ten were stationed at each of the four cages of the dragons around the castle. The Dragon of the North, South, East, and West were their names according to the place they were around the castle. Every guard wore the same plain gray armor, except for the squad leaders which wore plain black armor.

Lerago sat on his throne, listening to the daily report with a bored expression. He rested his head on his hand, which was in turn resting on the throne's arm rest, and his legs were spread far apart.
"The Resistance has been forced out of the town of Oldhill, and retreated to Vertdell my lord. We are currently sending troops to pursue them as we speak." A squad leader reported.
"No, cancel that attack. I know them by now. Vertdell is one of their strongholds. Whatever squad you're sending won't do us any good. We'll wait, and lure them out into the open before we commence our attack." Lerago instructed.

((Neutral parties are allowed to go anywhere they want. Some are in Vertdell. That is the town closest to the Magic Academy, and the junkyard where the cavern is hidden.))
 
Fredrick appers out of the shadows of the room supprising the squad leader but not his leader.
"my lord, do you have any request for me?" whipsering so quitely that only Lerago could hear him. Feeling uneasy that his master has not said anything yet whispers again "i understand my lord" and slowly fades back to the back of the room watching the squad leader. Fredrick is fearful that his leader will have no need of his serves for the day.
 
Flight. It's the best feeling a person can experience. The freedom of letting everything go, and allowing the currents of air take your body. Amirah allowed her eyes to close, enjoying the breeze flicking little strings of her black hair across her face. The rest of her mane trailed behind her like the tail of a comet, brushing against her white-feathered wings. These beat in slow, powerful swings, propelling her body forward through clouds and sky. That was all Amirah could hear: the sharp whine of wind and the muffled "swoosh" of wings. It was strange, this sense of peace and tranquility in a situation far from it.

They were retreating. A lump of shame formed in Amirah's stomach, and all sense of care-free vanished. She had failed, both as a soldier and a leader, and there was nothing she could do about it. She looked down at her teammates as they marched across the ground. Were they as ashamed and disappointed in her as she was? Was there any trust and respect left?

If she were sensible, she would realize that it wasn't solely her fault, that this leadership was a joint effort shared with others. But she wasn't being rational, and she placed all blame on herself. The weight of this burden seemed to be felt physically as well as mentally; her flying body lowered in altitude, soaring just above the ground. Her wings ceased their flapping, spreading out strait and still as Amirah flew in sullen silence.
 
Uthavel was working in his shop located near the back of the resistance base when he decided to look up at the clock. "That attack should have ended by now." Thrusting a white hot blade into a bucket of water, while remembering the conversation with the other leaders regarding Oldhill. It was one of those towns that he knew they wouldn't have been able to control for long. Too little exits which allowed them to be trapped more easily. Also, Uthavel had stated in the meeting that there wasn't enough people in that town that would support the resistance in the first place, which means they wouldn't be supplied as well as they could be.

Taking the cooled sword out of the bucket of cold water, Uthavel tested the blade on a piece of wood that was three feet thick. With very little power, he was able to use the blade to cut the wood like it was butter. There was no resistance when the sword passed through. Another masterpiece, one again that would have to be used with caution. Very few people in the world would be able to use this blade without hurting themselves and fewer still would be able to master the use of the blade, and even a smaller number of people in the resistance would be able to use it. How many swords had he created that were now being used by the King's men and the king himself, all of which were of equal quality to the ones he continued to make. The only swords that might be higher in quality would be his own which he created from material that could be mined once every five hundred years. He still had some left and the time to mine more was just a few months away. He would have to go back to the place he first discovered it and had no idea what it was, back to the town where he grew up.
 
Quas.

The essence of the storm.

The white orb of energy floated around his body, a tempest whirling around Kythos. He was in the air once again, watching over the fight between the Resistance and the men led by Lerago. The gusts raged around his body, sending the plain brown cloak that he wore over his leather vest and breeches flying about him. He watched the forces of the Resistance go, the angel that was leading them fly away. He felt some what of a familiarity to that heavenly being - Yet he couldn't put a pinpoint onto what he was. The mage shut his eyes and shooked his head in confusion at the sense of nostalgia that clouded him. He didn't know where it came from, and why.

He watched a group of Lerago's men detach themselves from the main force and pursue the retreating force - Stragglers, perhaps. He wasn't one to interfere, but perhaps this defeat has hit the Resistance hard enough. They have no need of further meddlers. Accelerating his speed in the air, a draft formed behind Kythos and he flew towards the ground, landing right behind the ground of men. Once he landed on the ground, he let go of Quas and invoked Exort - The soul of a phoenix.

"You shouldn't have tried to chase them. If you didn't, you wouldn't have met me."

That was the last words the men heard when they hastily turned around. They barely saw the face of the mage before the fire raged through the small group of ten, burning all of them to a crisp and leaving their lifeless, burnt out husks on the ground. Invoking the essence of Quas again, the mage flew off with cold, unblinking eyes and closed his eyes whilst in the air - He just slaughtered an entire group of men, for a cause he had no part in. What was he doing? With his eyes closed and his mind detached, Kythos had subconsciously hovered beside the other angel, Amirah.
 
The former Countess Vera Rotwell was a dignified woman of tall stature, moral standing, and reputation. It was rare she found herself in a situation she was not prepared to enter…today was no different. Two academy students had declared a ‘duel to the death’ over the hand of one of the school’s young beauties, and seeing as the school was understaffed and over-worked, it fell on the one of the senior-most professors to handle the situation. She stood in the doorway of the school, watching amateur lightning bolts and fire balls fly lazily towards and away from the duelers who seemed utterly absorbed in their own devices,

The sorceress’s full lips twitched in a cocktail of agitation and amusement as the two sweaty young men clumsily tossed their spells at each other, while the girl in question (and a crowd of onlookers) stood at the doorway opposite of Vera pretending to be distressed while she reveled in the attention surrounding her. Vera brought a ringed hand to her forehead. “The young become younger with each generation.” She murmured, imagining briefly what she would have done to her own children if they pulled such a stunt at school.

Without another moment of hesitation the sorceress stepped into the courtyard and did not pause in her stride until she stood directly between the two duelists who faltered in their spells upon spotting their teacher, though neither were skilled enough to stop the fumbling elemental attacks from hurtling forward. Vera calmly raised her hands. “Boys, I ought to bend you both over my knee.” As the fire and electricity came close enough to touch, the shade of a large tree growing in the courtyard leapt from its place and came to form perfect, shield sized disks around the teacher’s hands. The shadows dented when struck but slowly absorbed the attacks into them until nothing but the smell of smoke was left of them.

Dismissing the shadow, Vera turned her attention to the boys. “My office, now.” The two scurried away, clearly realizing the gravity of the situation. The sorceress turned her violet eyes on the rest of the onlookers, pinpointing the trouble making girl after only a moment. “As for the rest of you, get out of my sight.” The stampede could have been called an exodus.
 
-Rasim Malak-


Rasim watched the two angels fly away from the blood soaked soil, disappearing in the horizon. He had always known that Amirah was one of the leaders of the resistance,they knew that much, but the other one...? From the still smoldering corpses he guessed that the other angel was also working with the resistance, he would not want to be with Legaro when his lord heard that news.

“No matter,” he whispered, “We'll deal with them when the time comes.”

His voice was strange, it reverberatedover itself, as if he was saying everything twice, but at once. It did not seem to come from his mouth, but from his whole body. It was truly the only quality that was beautiful about him.

“Just like those angels to go and leave like that, abandoning their wounded and the sick,” he mocked.

The town of Oldhill was in shambles, the scars of bullets and magiclittered the ground and walls. Rasim walked down the streets of the town, solider ran to and fro, shouting orders and helping the wounded. In a little bit barricades, trenches, and pavilions would be set up in and all around the town; fortifying it until they could work out a new plan to attack the resistance.

Right now it was chaos, soon there would be order, the wounded would be dragged into pavilions receiving treatment from master mages while the dead would be left in a burning pile. But Rasim liked chaos better, and it would be a few hours before everything was set up, it was time for a little fun.

He stopped by a dying resistance soldier, a dagger stuck in his side, puncturing his spleen, with
attention he could easily live. Rasim stepped on the man's chest as he dryly heaved,

“Water...please.”

Rasim nodded, his face hidden by his hood,

“Sure thing my friend, drink up,” he handed him a canteen.

The man took it was shaky hands, drinking it in huge, choking gulps. As he continued his efforts to quench his endless thirst, Rasim gently gripped the handle of the pike and then violently tore it out. The man's screams pierced the sky but no one paid attention, it was a war zone after all.

“Don't you feel lighter now, and should you really be drinking that?”

The man looked down at the canteen and found it full of sand, he dropped it in shock and began violently coughing, every heave bringing up more sand until his hands were full of it; his throat felt rough, like sand paper. He slowly looked up in shock at the man, what was going on? But his puzzlement quickly faded to fear as he saw the man.

Back when he was a child, before the good King was killed and replaced by Legora, the solider would go
hunting with his brother. It was way up in the mountains where the snow fell very heavy in the winter and they had to be bundled up in at least three layers before they went outside. Of course they weren't really hunters, not like their father, they were children after all but it was the pride of the whole thing.

Sometimes they got lucky and managed to kill a rabbit and they would run back home, their mother would smiled and go skin and prepare it, and their father would pat them on thehead and maybe teach them something new. But as they crept out of the bushes, they saw only a few feet away, a snow leopard. It's head swiveled towards them and it bared it's fangs, snarling. The brother stood in shock for a moment before it started silently moving towards them, it's padded paws not making a single sound on the freshly fallen snow.

His brother finally broke out of his trance, and screamed, and then the leopard pounced. The screams stopped abruptly as it ripped his throat out. The soldier-to-be watched as his brother's blood poured onto the white snow, the leopard turned towards him with his brother clutched in it's jaw, it stared at him silently and then began to drag his brother away.

Even as he felt the warmth of the urine drip down his legs, as he felt his whole body shake in terror, he
could not move. He watched in silence as the leopard dragged his brother through the dense woods before disappearing over a small hill, and then as if a spell was broken, he started to scream.

It had been many years since the soldier had even though of the leopard, he kept that memory locked tightly in a corner of his mind, dusty with age. But now his terror was brought forward once again, for instead of the strange man on his chest, their now rested that very leopard. It swished it's tail and growled at him and once again he felt the urine drip down his legs...and then the leopard pounced.

Rasim watched the man die, his eyes bulging with fright and shock, and laughed. His laugh was just like his voice and many men turned to stare, but they did not stare long for they knew he was a sadist and nothing more.
 
Even from here, she could smell the carnage.. The occasional wind that blew brought with it the fresh smell of gun powder and smoldering flesh. It made her wonder why on earth she was here? Why couldn't she just stay out of this entire mess and simply live the life of a blind fool.. No pun intended. She stood just outside the city of Vertdell, debating on whether or not to enter and see what the latest news was.

Eventually the debate was won and she figured it was better than sitting around at home like an old blind hermit.. Yes, she was old even though her appearance didn't show it. In fact, her appearance gave way of a woman in her mid twenties with brightly colored hair that reached down to the back of her knees. Her hair was a natural color believe or not. In her hand she held a staff made of magically enhanced steel and due to how much magic it had, it turned the metal black. It was the last gift she'd gotten from her mentor before they parted ways.

With a light breath, she began to walk forward.. Her bag hefted over her shoulder and her hood lowered. The first she needed to do was find a place to stay and what better place than Inn with it's own Pub? It took quite some time to get around and she even had to play nice with the locals so they'd actually lead her to the location she desired and finally after about an hour or so of walking around and being lead by a boy, she was released at the door of the Inn where she reached out to give him a few coins for his help "My thanks, lad".

Happy with his bounty, which is what she assumed, she heard him skip away while she chuckled a bit and turned to then push the door in and enter the tavern. Based on her experience, the bar was always up front and ahead of the door but judging by the concentrated smell of liquor, it didn't take long to find it. Walking forward once more, she ignored the sudden silence that befell the place upon her entry and then threw her bag down and sat while leaning in and dropping a few coins on the counter "Some ale would be nice.. And of course.. News of your latest bounties.. If that's not too much trouble.. ".
 
Lula was simply walking back to her dorm. She stopped and observed a little of the fight going on between the boys, thinking it was idiotic for them to be doing this. As soon as Vera appeared, Lula knew this fight wouldn't last much longer. She began walking towards her dorm again, her head turned towards the soon-to-be-over-fight. Observing her teacher's magic, Lula was reminded of how big the power gap between the teachers and the students was.
“As for the rest of you, get out of my sight.”

As soon as Vera said this all the students immediately started to leave the area. Unfortunately for Lula she was caught up in the stampede, causing her to be forced in the opposite direction she was originally headed. She was able to fight her way back a ways, but two boys from her group of friends each grabbed one of her arms and dragged her away. The boys were redheaded twins with bright green eyes. They were each wearing the typical uniform for freshman at the Magic Academy. "Guys, let me go!" Lula yelled, but they merely smiled at one another as they dragged Lula out of the open gates of the Magic Academy.

Waiting outside were the rest of her friends, most of which had big smiles on their faces as well. "What's going on?" Lula asked as the twins let her go. "There's a party tonight in Vertdell!" Exclaimed a little freshman girl with long blonde hair. "We all decided to ditch school for one night and have fun." A junior boy with pitch black hair said in an unusually deep voice. "When was this decided?" Lula questioned. "When you were hanging out in the library with Ms. Rotwell during lunch." The freshman girl answered. "There's no time to waste. We need to get going now or we'll never make it to the party." The only senior of the group said. She was a tall girl with short white hair and bright blue eyes.

The twins nodded and took hold of Lula's arms again, knowing she would object to this party no matter what everyone would said to her. "Guys! Come on, we shouldn't do this right now! The semester final is in a few days, I need to study!" She yelled, trying to get them to listen, but with no luck.

Lerago tapped his finger on the arm rest of his throne out of pure boredom. He hadn't been out of his throne room all day. Without another thought, he stood up and walked out to inspect the grounds himself. This was something he hardly ever did and a few of his guards on break nearly died from choking on their drinks from the shock of seeing their lord out of the castle. The first thing Lerago did was check on his dragon he uses for drawn out battles. It was the Dragon of the North, the earth dragon of Asis Castle.

Those with the dragons of Asis Castle were given great respect and power over the soldiers. They were even given a room in the castle instead of having to sleep in the soldier's barracks, and were allowed to rename their dragon. He had given the Dragon of the South, the wind dragon, to Valeria. The Dragon of the West, the fire dragon, was given to Rasim. Lately, Lerago has been considering giving the water dragon, Dragon of the East, to Fredrick. 'If he proves himself in the next battle, the dragon is his.' Lerago thought.

"How is my dragon doing?" Lerago asked the guards in charge of taking care of the earth dragon. "Oh, my lord. Forgive me for I did not see you there." The squad leader said with a deep bow. "Your dragon is healthy and ready for battle, my lord." The squad leader reported. "Good to know. As you were." Lerago said, walking away to observe the newcomer's training going on in the soldier barracks.

"Coming right up." An old chubby man said with a deep ruff voice. "The only bounty up for grabs is on a creature spotted near Eliana's place. She says it's bad for business and would like it to be taken care of soon. It's a creature that's a mix of a tiger, wolf, and lion. Personally I think someone was messing around with alchemy. Maybe some kids in District 4."He explained as he got her order together.

"Eliana is willing to pay a hefty sum for the creature to be taken care of. She'd do it herself, but is currently getting a big order together for the Magic Academy. Their semester finals are coming up soon, ya know. They'll need all the healing potions they can get before the big day." He chuckled as he slid the ale towards her.
 
Fredrick watches the newcomers training grounds close up and inspects every newcomer to see if any trainne has raw talent. As exspected all the trainnes are complet itiots to spying and alchemy. Though there are some trainnes that are quite well with the daggers and mace's. They arent as good as the begining of the Lerago revolution. As he watches the trainnes he gets a strong feeling in the air and turns to see that the lord himself is approching the area.
 
Nodding lightly to this news, her head tilted a bit and when the mug slid over to her she caught it with ease and lifted it for a gulp or two. A breath and she placed it down on the counter once more with a lick of her lips "Fine Ale.. ". Hm.. A creature to be hunted. She wasn't one for potions or spells, all she needed were her weapons and her element but her mentor always tried to get her into it.

Though this bit of news seemed like something any o'l regular bounty hunter would do. She's more of a mercenary than bounty hunter and what she was more interested in was the news of the fight between the resistance and the empire but how would ask about this without seeming.. conspicuous?

Right now, it was probably best if she took him up on the offer to him this Eliana with her creature problem "I see.. And where do I find this.. Eliana.. ?". Perhaps this woman could tell her more about what wanted to know since she's delivering supplies to the Academy.
 
Lula's classmates dragged her though the forest that separated the Magic Academy from Vertdell. The walk to Vertdell would take about an hour if they didn't stop. Lula kept kicking and screaming like a little child throwing a fit. All her friends ignored her useless attempts to get free with smiles and some talk of the party.



"Ah, Fredrick. How are the newcomers?"
Lerago asked as he walked up to Fredrick.


Karin paced around the Resistance's cavern, cursing at herself under her breath for not going with them to Oldhill. She had become sick the day before they were going to leave, and it took Zack a little longer than she would have liked to heal her. Her younger brother watched her pace around from his seat on a tall flat rock.

"Karin...I think it's best if you sit and rest. This isn't good for you since you are still recovering..." Zack said calmly, with a hint of worry to his voice.

"I can't just sit around while the others are out fighting in Oldhill!" She yelled, stopping and turning to face him. She sighed. "Sorry Zack..." She said, feeling calmer now. "I just can't help but feel useless if I'm not out fighting Lerago and his troops...." She said, sitting down on the ground. "I hope they all come back safely."


"Eliana lives in a house outside of District 2, towards the northeast I believe. You can get better directions from just about anyone on the streets. We all know Eliana since she is our only doctor." He explained as he cleaned out a mug.
 
Fredrick awaits to hear a negative comment about the new recruits but insted he hears
"Ah, Fredrick. How are the newcomers?" and Fredrick thnks about what to tell his master but he dosent wish to anger his master so he tells his master
"lord larago, there are about 76 new recruits, about 34 want to become gards, mages, or a battle planer, the rest want to join your vast army.
as for there skills most of the recruits have a fine hand with the dagger, sword, and staff. There are also exceptional recruits that have there with magic, archrey and sword play."
He turns from his master becuase he knows very well that his master will be uppset with this part of this report
"There..are no recruts that have any knowlge or raw skills with spying and alchemy."
 
Jayde only gave a light nod to the man while sitting back to finish her drink. She was honestly for more excitement than this but for now, it'll do. Turning her back a bit to the barman, she wondered if she'd actually hear anything among the people who were here. Perhaps members of the resistance whispering about some secret plot.. Or even the king's men speaking of some raid they plan to have.

To her luck, there was neither of the two, no news from the resistance or a plot from the king.. Oh well. It seems that the only entertainment she's getting is killing some strange hybrid that's lurking about in the neighborhood. A gulps later and her drink was finished and with it "Many thanks for the Ale and the bit of news" she excused herself and picked up her belongings to exit that tavern. Now she has to find some sort of escort to take her towards District 2 since she really has no energy to listen to whispers and go from there.

With her staff in hand, she walked nonetheless and did her best to rely on whispers and directions but she soon realized she was walking in circles so a guide was a must in this case. It made her wonder how Phoenix was easily able to walk around the town since he was blind as well. Once more, she asked a young lad to take her to Eliana's place or at least the neighborhood of where she resided and once she was lead, she sent the lad away with a few coins. Now she had to listen about once more but soon she approached the woman's home and gave the door a subtle knock with her staff and waited.. Hopefully this will be entertaining.
 
Locking the door to his shop, Uthavel went to check on the other blacksmiths to see how they were doing. He had grouped them not only into what kind of weapon they were best at creating but also the top quality of weapon they could make. The highest group he had was level 3 A, which considering how many people were in the resistance, and how few of them could actually make a weapon it wasn't bad, but it also meant that he was the only one creating weapons with a quality grade of level two and higher. If he could he was hoping he could either train or find a few blacksmiths that could make weapons to the standard of level 2 A grade standard. He personally could create level 1 weapons to the standard of S, which was the highest quality weapon a blacksmith could make, and he was one of the few in the kingdom who could create such a weapon.

Stepping into the polearm shop, Uthavel grabbed a recently finished weapon and swung it around a few times, startling a few of the blacksmiths that were in the shop. After the last swing, Uthavel saw a small chip in the blade. "This is a level 4 shop, come on people, these blades cannot and will not chip after a few swings. Got that!?" he shouted after destroying the blade against the ground. All the blacksmiths in the room yelled "Yes sire!"

Leaving the shop, Uthavel inspected several more before he was satisfied that everything was in working order. With inspections done, Uthavel decided to go check up on Karin and Zack to see how they were doing, and to see if Karin had gotten over her illness. After having to ask where they were, Uthavel arrived at the carven and spotted Karin pacing back and forth. Bring his hands to his mouth he called over to Karin and Zack.
 
Lula finally calmed down, letting them drag her through the forest and to Vertdell. 'What would Ms. Rotwell think if I miss our extra credit lesson?' She thought, feeling worried. 'Plus the teachers would know we're all gone when they do the room checks. This is a really bad idea...'

Tsk. Lerago didn't like this news at all. He wanted a talented soldier to infiltrate the Resistance to get a better idea of what they are planning. He also wanted to break them apart so it would be less of a pain to deal with them. "I now place all of these soldiers under your command, Fredrick. You will lead the next attack on a Resistance base. If you succeed in taking Fort Greenwood, you'll be greatly rewarded. I expect them to be trained and ready for battle in three days."



Shuffling could be heard within Eliana's house soon after Jayde knocked on the door. Eliana herself opened the door. "Why hello there~" She said cheerfully. "Are you here to deal with the creature?" She asked curiously. Eliana smelled strongly of herbs from mixing potions all day for the Magic Academy.


"Uthatvel...what are you doing here?" Karin asked. "Have you heard anything from the others?" She continued, walking up to him.
 
Uthavel does a mock bow to Karin before answering her questions. "I needed a break from the shop and wanted to check on the other shops. They're going to need a little bit more time before they can create weapons good enough for combat." He shook his head to Karin's second question. "I have heard nothing. Like I said in the meeting we should not have gone through with this. We don't have enough fighters with the skill and experience to hold a town like Oldhill. Because of the town only has two ways to leave, we need people who can form strategies on the fly. But enough about that, I plan on leaving for about three months. There is a material I want to mine that is only minable every five hundred years. I plan on taking a couple of novice fighters with me and hire a small guard of mercenaries. Many will be after it, only a few like me know where to find it, so I can guarntee that there will be people after me. The guard is to draw away suspicion that I could be apart of the Resistance."

Uthavel peered over Karin's shoulder, "How is Zack dealing with everything?"
 
Leaning on her staff, she didn't realize she'd actually wait this long even though it was only for some amount of minutes. A light yawn left her though her senses went on alert when she heard a bit of shuffling from inside of the house, her grip on her staff and bag tightening a bit.

When the door opened, she heard a strange rather chipper voice that reminded her so much of her cousin.. Especially with the scent of herbs surrounding the girl. Clearing her throat a bit, she nodded lightly with a raised "Aye. I'm here to deal with that nasty hybrid.. among other things of course.." She wasn't exactly sure how to approach the subject or even talk about it. It's not something one would talk about over a drink or snack. "Just point me to where it is and I'll deal with it as fast as I can..".
 
Fredrick knew his master would be displessed about this, so he decided he was going to ask his master if he could be disgised as a techer or staff member of the magic school. Then his master gave Fredrick a heavy request but it could work out fine. fredrick became excited for this request but he wanted to tell his master the new idea. Finnaly fredrick had the best way to say it.
"yes my lord it shall be done, and the annex of greenwood shall be fairly easy, and no need for a reward, taking a command from you is rewarding enough". As his master was was about to turn away from him he says quickly
"BUT, i have an idea to take down greenwood without a whole army. The idea is that i will train a small team to learn my ways and we will make our way into the area with out an alarm, once me and the team weakens the floor of the city it will fall with a full scale attack."
 
((Sorry for the wait guys. I've had writer's block for this for a very long time...I'll edit this into my post soon))