Valur

[Noctis the Devious]

"Aw, I'm flattered. Don't worry, I'll do the sneaking around."

"I'd be worried!"Ryder laughed and patted himself down but then remembered he had no more money to spare. "What? No tip? That's alright lad, I only gave you the finest mead in all the hold! Tell you what, you let me keep this and I'll forget all about it. You know, in case I have more tenets looking to blow up their rooms."

The young wanderer snickered, a devious glint in his eye as he pressed his hand against the parchment and slide it over to him. "Sure. Think of it as something to remember me by." He grinned and motioned for the stranger to stay put before dashing up the stairs. When he returned, it was with an old knapsack well-worn and seemingly falling apart at the seams sling over his shoulder and his cloak swishing behind him. "March forward!" He exclaimed, dramatically pointing off into the distance as he lead the way toward the door.

"Thanks lads! Your help is highly appreciated! I'll save your rooms for you when you return."

"Oh, that won't be necessary." The redhead winked, holding the door open an only exiting after the stranger.

"You know, I don't think I ever caught your name," Ryder mused when they were out side of the Loyal Storm. The streets were alive with activity and the witch weaved through the throngs of body with relative ease. "You probably already know mine though. Strange name isn't it? My grandmother used to entertain my mother with stories of dragon riders; great men who could accomplish even greater feats. Can you imagine? How great a man has to be to tame such a beast! But they're not real, huh? The dragons you described last night don't seem like the type to allow lowly casters ride them. Anyway, that's how my name came to be. Ryder Brushwood. Ryder the rider!" He laughed at his own joke. "Have you ever ridden a dragon?"

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

The silver dragon had little intent to leave, finishing what remained of his meal while he waited. He didn't expect the entire ordeal to last too long but even if it did, he was good enough at hunting to fell just about anything. By the time that Ryder had returned, Valur had finished his meal, dropping a few lesser coins by way of tip. Slipping his hands into his jacket pockets he headed out with the warlock behind him.

"You too?" the white-haired man said with a smile. "My father named me after the valour I showed when he met me, hence why my name is Valur. Valur Armise to be accurate. And.... your first mistake is thinking that dragons are beasts. They're just as intelligent as you, if not more so. Top that with at least centuries of experience and you're looking at one better than you. Of course... aerial combat is far different from combat on the land. I can see why a mage would be of use in the air, but only if they could get past the scales.

"I've not heard of any dragon riders though. At least nothing that wasn't of necessity - one time things. But have I ridden a dragon? You could say that I have. Briefly and not for combat though. It's not like riding a horse - you don't even have close to the same saddle and that if the dragon can even handle one; some of them simply can't have one because of the placement of spines and the like and others don't want to have something like that on them because if done improperly it hampers wing movement. Difficult to say the least.

"But it sounds plausible enough that it might have happened. History was never my strong suit and it wasn't something that was ever mentioned."

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder's interest was peaked at the crystalette's choice of words but figured it wasn't his place to comment. He wasn't entirely rude (when sober). "Valur Armise," the name rolled off his tongue experimently and he grinned at the sound of it. "Nice! Even your surname has a ring to it. I bet you're one of those guys that has everything going for them. Good looks, awesome name, badass sword, money at your finger tips-- fate has delt you an amazing hand, my friend." He winked at him, once again making a pass at his little hobby. He then laughed. "It's honestly not hat hard to be more intelligent than me, you'll probably find. But I see where you're coming from and I apologize. I guess when you hear it so often you kind of pick up on it, you know?

"But really, what is a beast? Why do we automatically assume beasts are creatures on four legs and low intelligence? From my understanding, beasts, by definition, is anything not human, right? Doesn't that make me a beast?" Toward the end of his ramblings his voice tapered off, as if he was asking himself the question more so than Valur. He chuckled humorlessly before throwing his temporary companion a sheepish smile. "Sorry, lost in thought there for a moment."

He tilted his head when he realized the swordsman didn't debunk the possibility of dragon riders actually existing, his grin widening. "Really? I can only imagine what mom would do with that information..." At the mention of his mother, his mind tried to venture down roads he didn't want to explore and quickly shook it off, digging out a book from his ratty knapsack. "So we have rock runes, murmuring robed figures, and blood sacrifices?" He jotted down something in his notebook thoughtfully. "Well, this certainly is the place to do it, with all the travelers and vagabonds passing through, someone could get swiped from the streets and no one would even notice. I bet that's their main focus too: travelers." He continued to scrawl some notes as he spoke, while putting to use his extraordinary six sense to dodge the on coming traffic.

"I won't even bother with asking around. Too many unknowns and not enough official corroboration to figure out just who was taken and who might have witnessed anything. We're better off going straight to the forest and investigating from there. Probably need to stake out..." Ryder fowned and flipped to a seemingly blank page, staring at it for a long moment and closing the book with finality. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to before I sleep~"

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

"Everything going for me?" the dragon asked. "If you think that, it's only because I've worked so hard for it. I'm at an age now where I have the ability to do what needs to be done instead of fumbling about and learning it. To keep with your words, fate dealt me quite poor hand, aside from a single card: my father. That allowed me to draw new cards every so often rather than being forced to fold early into the game...."

In keeping with the analogy he had shared a little of his early life; not so much the particulars but Ryder was smart enough to understand that if it hadn't been for his father, then he would probably have been dead, slain for the benefit of the poachers.

"The way I've always defined a beast is one who lacks the capability to understand the concept of morality. A bear would not realize that killing a man is right or wrong - it is simply hungry or protecting its territory. Whereas you and I would realize it easily. Simple as that.

"But if we're heading straight for the forest, we had better head off for it instead of wasting our time. We don't want another killing on our watch.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder allowed his words to sink in, evaluating the man's body language from the corner of his eye. The witch was horrible when it came to handling sensitive topics and often times made remarks without a second thought, but if Valur took offense he was did well to hide it. If anything, he was simply correcting Ryder and leaving it at that. In fact, Valur seemed to be someone to take things into stride and counter with wit. Was he really the same guy boasting twelve fights? What did they do to provoke him anyhow? He tried to remember but his fuzzy memory only recalled a guy acussing him of cheating.

"Life is funny like that," the young wanderer mused, offering an apologetic smile.

An awkward "oh..." escaped him when Valur offered his own definition of a beast and the grin turned sheepish. I really am a beast.

"Well, if you're expecting to teleport over them I'm sorry to disappoint," he laughed. While the town was on the outskirts of the forest, they had to get through the markets, the side gate, and cross a bridge over a small river to get there. Along the way Ryder continued to ramble about his travels, distracted by the occasional oddity and once again regretting ever paying a visit to the Dreary Cove. But unlike before, he handled his words more carefully and avoided any topics that may reveal any personal information. He was weary when it came to dishing out information he concidered private. Most witches were.

The forest wasn't particularly thick, more like a lightly wooded area. Game paths cut cleared through the sparse foliage and visibility was limited by few obstacles, other than the trees themselves which grew skinny and tall. There were far better places to conduct secret rituals, in Ryder's opinion. The redhead kicked over a rock a coal-drawn rune was revealed. His eyebrows knitted together. Sloppy. Why...? He shook his head and pulled another book from his bag. This one was thicker than the previous one with a slew of book marks and unattached pages sticking out at all angles. Despite the numerous pages, Ryder had no trouble turning to he one he needed, a map of the forest it looked like, only it was in the process of drawing itself out. He marked the position of the stone and closed the book with a sigh.

"Brace yourself. We're in for an interesting night."

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

"Why teleport when you can take the scenic route and fly?" Valur answered, a mysterious yet mischievous smile on his lips.

As they walked, he countered Ryder's stories with some of his own removing some of the more draconic aspects of them for his own sake. They were the usual tales he told though, tales that anyone who had paid attention to him in a town he had passed through might remember - spectacular only in that it wasn't something the average humanoid could pull off. When you were a dragon though, you tended to have those kinds of adventures far more often.

The silver dragon had passed through this forest on his way through but hadn't really been paying attention, though he had been on the outskirts of it at the time. Going deeper, he did notice the same things as Ryder. For supposedly secret and dangerous rituals, this wood was one of the worse choices you could make. As Ryder pulled out the book, Valur looked around, his ice blue eyes slitting as he looked beyond was could be considered normal humanoid sight.

"Interesting you say? Sounds like you might know more about what's going on here than you let on. Care to share what you found in that book of yours?"

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder tilted his head, a flash of the previous mischief dancing in his forest green eye, and showed the self-generating map to Valur. "This is where we are." He pointed to two dots next the drawn X. "And this is the little gift left by our friends." He was about to leave it at that but thought against it, closing the heavy book with a sigh. He rubbed at the back of his neck and flashed an apologetic smile.

"As a witch I'm horrible at sharing knowledge and such, but I'd hate it even more if your were to get hurt because of something I didn't tell you. Nothing you should know is in that book. We, or well, I am being baited but I didn't know if I could handle it on my own." While he was more than capable, he was also bound and determined to keep who he truly was hidden from the rest of the world, going so far as to take up Spirit as a magic source despite how difficult it was for someone like him to control. "So, I thought if I brought someone like you along it might even the odds?" He chuckled sheepishly and ducked his head.

"I normally don't do this very often - you know, ask for help - but you're interesting, you know? You and your sword, but I'd understand it if you felt the need to leave. It's not like I can't handle myself, I'm not that incompetent..." he trailed off when he realized he was rambling.

Even if Valur did choose to stay, the young wanderer still wasn't telling the whole story. He took comfort in secrets, and while it wasn't a very healthy habit, they were all he had.

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

Valur's eyes returned to a normal humanoid appearance before he peered at the map that Ryder proffered. At the boy's confession, Valur's eyebrow raised. Event he odds was a light way to put the force he could bring to the table, pun intended.

"I'm not going to leave you on your own. It's just not in my nature to. Though you might be a bit disappointed - I don't fight with that sword very often. I think I've only drawn it three times since receiving it. Still...."

He held out his hand an a blue glow spread out from his palm, forming into the shape of a halberd before coalescing into a solid form. The weapon didn't glow but it was a solid light blue, clearly magical. He took it in that single hand easily and let it rest against his shoulder with surprising ease.

"You'll find I'm not without a way of defending myself."

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder perked up when Valur went on to say leaving him alone was against his nature. It actually caught him off guard. Very little caught him off guard. "Oh no! I didn't expect you to use your sword. I was just saying it's very unique and the fact is given to you by dragons makes it all the more--" Ryder blinked at him. That was a halberd. He had conjured a halberd out of some kind of magic the young wanderer was far from familiar with and it rested against his shoulder as if it was a part of him. No doubt it actually was an extension of its weilder. Ryder chuckled. "You certainly are full of surprises!"

With a wide grin splitting his freckled face, he waved his new companion deeper into the woods. The deeper they went, however, the more reluctant Ryder became. "I can see now why they chose this place," he murmured distractedly. "These trees don't seem to be in the least friendly. They're old. Soldiers who've seen the worst of war..." He stopped to press his palm against the dark bark. As much as he want to dwell deeper into the old wood, to entangle himself in the network of roots beneath their feet and loose himself in the whispers of the ages, he would going further than what was expected of a witch, even if they were known for their natural nature affinity. He pulled himself away and ignored the yearning to dig into a souce long neglected for years. "These trees are defiled. If I were a human, I wouldn't want to come here either."

He shook his head and continued down the trail only he seemed to see. Finally they stumbled upon what he had looked for, a stone similar to the one they first found, but with being so well hidden it was obvious they weren't suppose to find it at all. "There's more of them too," he mentioned as he marked the stone on his map with an X. "I need to find them to see what they make. It'll give us a better idea on what we're dealing with here. You can wait somewhere where if you like." Without waiting for an answer, he continued on following the invisible path connecting the rune stones together.

There were not one but two sets to scout out, much to the wanderer's amazement. One took on the shape of Aries and the other, Pisces. He frowned, coming to stand in the middle of the later tapping his coal stick against the parchment. It had taken all day to scout out all the rune stones, the day creeping into the evening. "This is odd," he mumbled. "There should only be one. Why are there two?" He sighed snd snapped the map book shut. Either way, he needed to find a place to hide before their targets decide to come out and play.

He picked some thick foliage along the magic path connecting the rune stone they first saw and the rune stone they found afterward. He belly then chose the time to growl. He pouted; food would have to wait.

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

The silver dragon merely smirked at Ryder's comment. If only the warlock knew everything that he could do. Of course, more than likely, the red-haired man would probably never know most of them, at least not the important ones. That he could conjure weapons made of force was something any silver dragon could do; they were the sole subtype able to do manipulate such a difficult magic. They could do a few other things but it wasn't in the way of spells like a mage would.

Following after Ryder, he kept his weapon close, avoiding the low hanging branches with ease, the halberd a natural extension of himself. The other seemed much more in tune to nature than he was which was to be expected - silver dragons were dragons of war for the most part. He let the warlock do what he wanted but then he said something rather curious about humans. Was that to imply normal humans or to imply that he wasn't a human at all?

He wasn't one to be leaving Ryder alone, certainly not with something clearly interesting to the warlock going on. Following after, he kept a mental map of the stones and the relative distances, seeing the same constellations as Ryder. He had no idea what they meant but the last one seemed to give the other pause.

Hearing Ryder's stomach growling, he chuckled softly.

"Didn't think to bring anything with you?" he asked. "Too bad. Even if it is a day trip or overnight, you always bring something. Here..."

He dug into one of the pouches along his belt and pulled out a strip of meat. It looked greenish, but not from mold, more like it was the colour of the meat itself, screaming that it was poison. Which it was in most cases. Preparing hydra meat the way he did left it palatable for dragons in enormous quantities since they were already mostly immune to poisons but for normal consumption...

"Eat it slowly," he said, ripping the strip in half and offering one to Ryder. "Too quick and you'll poison yourself. Unless you happen to be be immune to hydra poison."

Taking his own, he chewed it thoughtfully, the poisonous flavour adding an odd spiciness to the meat.

"So what was so confusing about the runes?"

 

[Noctis the Devious]

He blushed and ducked his head when Valur remarked on his protesting stomach. "Yeah, funny thing, I didn't want to forget any of my books-" and bringing everything would have been a hassle- "But I guess I got so caught up in the excitement I forgot to bring my rations." He honestly thought the crystalette was just taunting him and would leave it that, but suprised him once again when he actually offered... poisoned meat? Ryder blinked but accepted it; free food was free food even if there was a chance it'd kill him. The offeeing was then followed by instructions. Oh, so it was consumable...

"Wait, Hydra meat? Where did you get hydra meat?" He was pretty sure the import was illegal in most provinces and he was fifty percent sure they were in one of those provinces. Not only was it lethal to most creatures, but it was the meat of a hydra.No exactly the most demanded meat out there. "I knew you were too good to be true. First you buy me breakfast, then you follow me out into the woods under vague circumstances, and then poison me." He sighed melodramaticly, but in the end it was all in jest. He watched Valur take a bite of his own share, waiting for him to suffer some unfortunate side effects, but when he remained alive enough to ask a question, he decided it was safe enough to eat.

He picked off a piece and popped it into his mouth. "Well, for starters, there's two of them, which is odd on its own. Why would you need two? And if that wasn't enough, they're considerably big. We're either dealing with a cult big enough to be lead by two leaders, a cult over estimating their casting ability, or two cults cooperating on this ritual." He looked down his book of maps splayed aross his crossed legs and tapped his coal stick against the enchanted parchment. "And I won't be able to tell if their positive or negative until the head honcho stands in the middle..." The direction he would face would determine whether or not the constellation was upside down or not. "But judging by these runes, I'd say they're negative. Even if we're dealing with a poasible blood ritual." Then as an after thought, "Oh, either way, we're dealing with cultists, or did I already mention that?" He took another bit from his meat when he had thought he'd waited long enough.

It had the consistency of seasoned beef stick. It wasn't terribly bad, but then again, witches weren't exactly picky eaters either. The kick it had didn't even put him off. In fact, Ryder enjoyed spicey foods. He went to take another bite but caught himself with a nervous chuckle. "Hey, Val? How fast is too fast?" It would be a terrible shame if he died doing the one thing he was actually good at at; eating. Witches were notorious for their high metabolism and resulting insatiable appetites.

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

"The same way I get most of my meat - I hunt it and I kill it. Sometimes for money. There are plenty of reasons why you don't want a hydra near your village and they pay well if you can remove the problem."

It was true enough; he did get paid for jobs like that. Other times he happened upon a hydra in the wild and took care of the dangerous beasts.

"Yeah, you mentioned cultists. Can't say that I've had any run-ins with them. At least not that I was aware. Sure, sometimes people come after the sword, but they're usually in small groups of maybe 7-8. Cults though... Sounds like something more along your realm. Still.... I bet they bleed like everything else."

Valur had little knowledge about this sort of magic, even with his widespread travels. There wasn't much he could offer besides a bit of added muscle. Nine tons of dragonscale, muscle and breath.

Casting his gaze back to the warlock, the silver dragon surveyed what he had already eaten.

"Take another bite and you'll be pushing the limit."

 

[Noctis the Devious]

"S-seven or eight!" Ryder stammered. "You sir, are either incredibly modest or simply a subtle bragger." Ryder chuckled at the claim. "Honesty. Four or five is small. Seven or eight? Medium or large at best. But, yeah, cults are-- well, they can be tricky if you don't know how to handle. They're mostly consisted of practitioners. Rarely are witches actually involved. That doesn't mean we should underestimate their magic ability. In fact, I know practitioners who can best witches in magic duels."

He rubbed his neck, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I should describe the difference between a witch and a practitioner, huh? It's a common misconception really. You think I'm human, don't you? I surely look human, right? But a witch isn't human. In fact, we're distant cousins of nymphs. Practitioners on the other hand, are humans who can manipulate magic. Do they have they're own classes? Yeah. Most witches though, don't look much into practitioners. Typical of my kind really, thinking they're impersonators. Me? I'm not sure. They're able to do it, so maybe there's nothing nature defying about that. The thing is, witches know limits and respect boundaries. A witch classified as a witch can only preform spirit magic and they accept it. Humans? They need to surpass those boundaries and that's where cults come in. They begin to study element magic, and those who succeed become elementalists. Not to be confused with elementals.

"But for practitioners to study the forbiddens? That's going too far. Forbidden witches are rare for a reason. Too many and the very fabric of our world may unravel. For humans to have that kind of power? It's almost frightening." He shook he head and offered a sheepish grin. "But yeah, get pass their defenses and they bleed just like everything else." He eyed the halberd the crystalette had summoned and tilted his head. "Can I ask you a question? How exactly does your magic work? What can you do?"

Of course, when Valur mentioned "pushing the limit" he groaned. "Alright, just to be clear, you mean for right now and not, I don't know, for the end of time?"

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

"Neither - it's a simple fact. You don't get entrusted with something like this if you aren't capable of defending it. Granted, there have been more but the size of the group is all in the eyes of the beholder. A cadre of bandits is easy but a few powerful necromancers? That tends to get bad very quick."

Especially in his natural form. With size came many advantages and disadvantages and Valur had lived and fought long enough to understand them all. Simple humans and the like without any magic power were lucky to nick his scales so 20-30 highwaymen were nothing to him.

He listened with interest at Ryder's explanation. his travels had only gained him the barest bits of knowledge about witches though, he did have a few esoteric bits flitting around and a few things that he had pieced together. Ryder had a different scent than a human; slight but noticeable for his draconic senses.

"My magic is force magic. Simple force. I can shape it into implements and weapons, create forcebolts, shields. Nothing all that special about it, other than it's natural for my kind, even the limitations. It's quick to react so I don't need to do anything special to cause to shift forms."

Demonstrating this, Valur's halberd shifted into a bastard sword in a matter of milliseconds.

"Just something I can do that helps me on my way. I'm not as well versed as a mage but I never can be - it's why my kind are as militant as they are. We have to rely on physical power more than magical, but our magic is more focused to help us."

"For now. For how long depends on how quickly you absorb it. Could be a few hours, could be a few days. You know your body better than I do.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

"Modest it is," Ryder chimed, bumping shoulders with the man beside him to show it was all in good fun. It made sense though: if you needed something safe gaurded you hire the most moncho man you know and send him on his way. Logical, but it didn't add up. The sword sounded highly important to the dragons, beings Valur himself said could take on a mortal form, and yet no one among their ranks proved themself worthy? So much so they had to trust someone who had up and lived with them? Sure anyone can earn anyone's trust, but if the dragons were instead witches and the sword a priceless artifact that needed to be moved, no outsider would be picked no matter how much they were trusted. A practitioner maybe. But not some other human mortal, no matter their skill of adoptive stance. A witch would be needed to complete the work of witch, so why entrust Valur?

"Force magic," he parroted thoughtlessly, and then current events caught up with him. "Right force magic. That's an uncommon branch of magic to study." So uncommon in fact, Ryder only ever read about it, so he had a vague understanding of what Valur was telling him. Even if he had rudely zoned out his sixth sense acted as his ears in such instances and allowed his to keep up. Listening without listening: it was a useful skill. "Being able to will into inexistence magical forces and shape them to your whim. Or something like that. It's kind of like Spirit magic, but it doesn't draw from the Source."

He looked back at the strip of meat in his hands but before he could risk another bite, his heard jerked in the direction of the village. They were still too far away to see but with how scanty the foilage was the pair would be seen as soon as they saw the approachers. Ryder quickly fixed the problem by casually lifting his arm and tracing a symbol into the bark above their heads with some Spirit magic he gathered at his fingertips. Not soon after robbed figures crept down the magically marked path. By then night had completely taken over and it was a simple matter of slipping away whem the night life kicked in to full swing.

The young wander simply watched them, reclined against the tree behind them and popping a piece of meat in his mouth. When they came near enough, he pulled another one of his books, this one filled with hand drawn magic circles of various styles and pressed a hand to a page in particular before waving it. Oh if only Practitioners had a sense for foriegn magic. He watched them in quiet amusement, six of them sailing by, until they disappeared from view. "Well aren't we dealing with an arrogant bunch. I guess we should follow them. Better to watch them gather than staring off into this bleak forest." The trees were totally not unnerving him in the least.​

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

The silver dragon's lips curled at one side, parting to show off incisors that were just a touch too long for a human. Modest indeed... The half smile vanished at Ryder's movement and Valur's eyes narrowed as he peered in the same direction as Ryder. His blue eyes turned yellow with slit pupils, zooming in on what the other had sensed. They came alone or in pairs, though one group of three did pass by at once. All of them robed figures, their genders indeterminate behind voluminous robes and hoods, but all moving with singular purpose along the magically marked trail. His grip shifted on his bastard sword, the edge resting against his shoulder. He knew he could attack them now and cut them down, none of them in the slightest wary of what was around them; it was if they had taken ownership of the forest and it was unfathomable for them to consider anyone else encroaching upon them.

"They seem to think they have sole claim to this woods," Valur agreed quietly. "As if none would dare step foot here. Perhaps they are right to believe so for those who live here. For us though... It's an invitation. I counted 23 though only a few had any real power to them from what I could sense. Nothing that would really affect either of us that much. Of course... who knows what already awaits them?"

He watched as they passed the distance to which they would be invisible to human sight before standing up.

"We'll find out what exactly is going on with them. For all we know, this is only a symptom of a larger problem."

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder nodded at Valur's last statement and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head. "None of them are actually witches, mind you, but their numbers, and this ritual, should be regarded with caution." He was curious as to why these humans were studying blood magic of all things. Sure humans were power hungry, but not without redeeming qualities. He had stumbled upon a cult trying to use blood magic to cure cancer, or at least some kinds, yet didn't exactly know enough about blood magic to put it to practical use. He shook his head and traced the same magic circle he had placed on the tree above their heads on the palm of his hand. As long as they didn't use magic they should be able to move along with the cultists without being seen nor heard. He trusted Valur to keep close as he proceeded after them.

It was no surprised they were lead back to the circles Ryder had scouted out earlier, but with one key difference: a table was being set up in the middle of one. The red head frowned and ducked between a tree despite his active spell, but he learned from passed experience it was better to be safe than sorry, and allowed himself some time to consider theur options. There were some cultists gathered around tge other circle, yet even with the distance between the two it wouldn't be long before they caught on to a disturbance and investigated, or well attacked. Honestly Ryder saw no other way around a full on confrontation. More cultists came from same direction they did and easily caught his attention, one them sporting a thick gray beard jutting out from the shadows of the hood. He couldn't but smirk at how predictable this was turning out to be.

His smirk fell, however, when he noticed the cultists had brought along a guest. He didn't recongised the girl but even with only one good eye he could tell she couldn't have been older than seventeen, her hands and ankles tied together and a cloth stuffed between her teeth prevented her from making much noise. Despite her bonds she struggled futility against the cultists, who carried her toward the table and dumped her unceremoniously across the hard surface. Under her a magic circle was immediately invoked. Ryder's dark green eyes narrowed at the scene. It made sense they needed young pure blood but for what?

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

Valur could already tell that there were no witches among them - Ryder had a distinct magical smell on him and none of the others had the same. There were scents of magic though, but it was the kind that came from book learning and hard work, though the metallic tang of magical items also ran through them and none of it was very strong; it was probably nothing more than cheap charms or fetishes. Nodding, he stuck close to Ryder, his blade vanishing as he crushed in between his palms.

Coming across the circles they had before, Valur's eyes picked out a table being set up among them. Seeing Ryder duck behind a tree, the silver dragon followed suit, his slender form easily hidden behind the trunk he had chosen. New scents of humanoid invaded his senses and he peered past Ryder to see another group approaching through the woods, led by a man with a thick grey beard sprouting from a chin hidden behind a hood. As long as he had lived, it was the first time that Valur had seen such a stereotypical setup. Sure, he had read the legends but most of the individuals of ill repute he encountered shied far away from such obvious indicators.

As they passed through he smelled something more, something fresh and untainted by the ways of the world. Blue eyes settled on a young woman, barely of any real age, being brought in, bound and gagged. They dumped her onto the table without much ceremony, stepping back as a magic circle below her began to glow softly. Looking across at Ryder, he could see the redhead's face contorted in thought as he observed. Turning his gaze back to those around the circle, he picked out the smells of those invoking the circle, picking out four from among them; he wasn't about to let them go through with this but they needed to know what was going on.

From his fingertip dripped silvery drops of force magic, coalescing into four athames between his fingers. Four blades, four deaths. He waited for the the instant that the magic began to pick up, intending to stop it before it went too far and save the poor girl.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Ryder glanced back at Valur when he felt his magic invoked and pressed closer to the tree trunk, the invisibility broken. So far though, they remained undetected. Thankfully most magic users didn't have a sixth sense so finely tuned. On the other hand, he knew he had to do something before Valur took matters into his own hands. He bit his lip and looked toward the beginnings of a ritual. He hadn't even considered rescuing the girl. Now he was forced between sparing the girl and interrupting the ritual, or letting the ritual continue and leave the girl to see where they were going with this.

He was far too curious for his own good.

He waved his hand to get Valur's attention and pointed towards the apex of the circle. 'Aim there' he mouthed. There were enough people there to to simply continue the ritual even after the death of a couple evokers. Attacking them directly wouldn't prove effective at all, but attacking the circle would surely have them scrambling. The catch? There was most likely barriers to prevent such an occurrence but Valur seemed to have enough power behind him to dispatch them easily enough. That left ensuring the other wasn't too open to assault. Ryder threw a hand up toward the sky where light gathered, starting as a pin prick and quickly expanding into a thin disk. It wasn't exactly hard to over look as the light bathed the ritual and soon Ryder was spotted, but before any practioner could open a book and call upon a spell, the young wanderer smacked his hand against the ground and a rain of needles manifestations poured upon them. A circle of clearance formed around the captured girl at least while the cultists were sent dashing into the shadows of the forest.

It wouldn't hold for long but at least there were no longer any cultists to ensure the continuation of the ritual. He pulled his cloak up when a fire ball was thrown his way, only to have the spell snuff out on contact with the magic resistant material. Not that it was real fire to begin with but that didn't mean it woul be pleasant to come into contact with either. Ryder retaliated with another energy blast in the form of a ball of energy thrusted in the attacker's direction. Once the rain of needles came to an end, he threw up a quick barrier to defend against another on slaught of magic.

 

[Yaoi Master Gavin]

His eyes centered on the invocation, the silver dragon's senses picked up Ryder's motions and Valur glanced over at his ally, catching the mouthed words. and the direction of his indication. It seemed that Ryder intended for him to go after the circle itself rather than the casters. It made sense but it was likely to be better protected. It might have been a bit revealing but if he was going to save the girl, there was no other option. Keeping his eyes on the proceedings, he pricked the four athames into his forearm, the tips coated with blood.

There was a reason why silver dragons had very little magic - they were considered spellbreakers by many. They had a resistance to magic in their very blood and some could negate magic with a bit of application. Valur was one such dragon, able to pierce magical defenses with his very blood and able to devour magic to fuel his own powers.

Valur was waiting for the crescendo to hit, that would be the best time to catch them unawares and give himself and Ryder the optimum amount of time to take advantage of surprise. Of course, it seemed that the witch had no sense of tactical finesse like Valur, instead going for the distraction to give Valur the advantage. The silver dragon was not about to give up that advantage though. As the light became obvious to the cultists, he threw the athames with precision, each destroying a portion of the circle where they stuck in the ground for a few inches around.

The cultists began to scatter, though some of them were clearly up to putting up a fight. Several fireballs were lobbed, most going awry, though one was blocked by the witch's cloak. Blue energy shot from Valur's hand, taking the form of a halberd once more. Darting out from his cover, he spun, cutting one cultist down while knocking another two away with the shaft. For someone of his build, moving three bodies like that would have been impossible without magical help. Bringing the halberd up with one hand, he drew it back as though it were a bow, a string and arrow forming as he sighted it. Letting it fly, two cultists found themselves pinned to trees, caught by two different arrows from a trick of perception.

A fireball exploded across his back, licking around the blue fabric before vanishing. Now though, it looked silvery and more like scalemail than the cloth it had seemed before. After a second or two though, it reverted back to normal. The halberd twirled and as he turned he hurled it. As it streaked through the air to catch the caster, it was clear that it was no longer a halberd but a javelin.