Board 8 > Labyrinth of Ishiene, Topic 3 [CYOA/Forum Game] [ITD8]

(+) Yeah! (+)

oh.

well
---

B. we will MAKE it worth it
---

Where will I be able to find this and your previous tale transcribed?
---

Unfortunately the Wiki only has ITD 1-7 right now. It's missing A Drowning in Lyre and Trauma. I think you followed most of ITD 7 (Catharsis) so there's not much you missed there. I also remember your character in A Drowning in Lyre being pretty big (it was the robot character).

Trauma was the story you missed, but it's not on the wiki. You didn't participate in this one but I actually included Pino, a character you had pitched to me in the past.

As for this story I'll finish archiving it once the story ends. Although it's very likely it will benefit more from me splitting it into two parts (the game part and the postgame story part) I have no idea if I'll be able to do that cleanly since it's all in one topic.

Anyway I'll harass lefty some more about uploading the other stuff to the wiki.

Full Wiki:
http://itd.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Dropbox link with all ITD 1-7 Archives:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dss7d63o9mudea6/AAASR2lUrtIVnDvrkfw_nekja?dl=0
---

GenesisSaga posted...

Where will I be able to find this and your previous tale transcribed?

*A Wild Gen has appeared*

Also, 9. B: We defeated a mighty enemy weapon, even at great costs, and we must continue to fight.
---

some cool stuff about this chapter

so the reason the enemy commander and the last of his soldiers were fighting to the death here is because they were waiting for the drake to come and back them up

also when Martin begins to feel his heart beating faster, that's dragon fear. this was actually discussed in a previous game as an affliction that humans suffers whenever dragons or drakes are nearby. it tends to make them freeze up completely or react more slowly which puts them at a huge disadvantage against drakes. this is what happened to Martin, Blackwater, and Sen. Jess has seen and fought dragons before so she was more resistant to it. in Catharsis, Ashvel thinks about this a lot during his POV chapter because he was one of the few not affected by the dragon fear when the shadow drake attacked their camp.
---

9.B. War never changes


But really though, we actually encountered the drake at an advantageous time. The drake was by itself with no soldiers to back it up and some of the most strongest PC's were there to fight against it.

Just imagine what could've happened if the drake showed up during a huge battle..
---

9. B: Sure for previously stated reasons
---

9B. With great change comes great sacrifice.

Yeah, this was probably one of the best times to encounter such a powerful enemy. All of its allies were slaughtered and thus unable to assist it, not to mention we had pretty strong characters around to face it and even they ended up really badly beaten.

If that Drake had shown up during a decisive brawl, it certainly would've changed the whole tide of battle, to be sure.
---

@GenesisSaga ,

lefty went ahead and added the other games.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dss7d63o9mudea6/AAASR2lUrtIVnDvrkfw_nekja?dl=0

Lyre > ITD7 > Trauma is the "correct" reading order, but Lyre and Trauma are set in their own separate dimension. Trauma is a direct sequel to A Drowning in Lyre though, so you'll have to be familiar with that at least first. although as I said above from what I remember you are pretty familiar with Lyre and ITD7 so you should be able to jump right into Trauma and read through it.
---

hmm so I'm thinking of the next sequence of events that need to happen and I'm sort of realizing there will very likely be more chapters than I initially intended. I... assume... everyone is fine with this?

here's my current outline

10 - Reggie
11 - Macina
12 - Y
13 - Something Special
14 - Vanguard POV
15 - Kennedy

the order of 11-13 can also be switched around without causing too many problems, I think, but this is just the better way to stagger out the different groups. when this set of chapters is finished though we should actually be close to the end. so like 16-18 chapters total when I was initially picturing 10-12. we're already on 10 though and we just aren't close to the finish line yet.
---

13 - blue wing pov??
---

10. Quietly in the Bay

Fifth day at sea. Back at sea.
Reginald Bartlesby hadn't even gotten the chance to rest on land for more than a few days.
It was nice to help prepare the defenses at Lighthouse,
But he had actually enjoyed himself far more helping with administrative tasks.
The truth was that when he was young war and glory had seemed like the ultimate goal of life.
This is just what young men of his ilk believed. And so it must have been true.
As he grew older he found he didn't like fighting so much, nor was he that great at it.
Well, he had managed to kill that hulk back on the Ganthian Ocean.
In a manner of fairness, though, it had mostly been the work of Jessie Lawlier.
She was born to fight. She was born to charge into things.
Reggie felt more like, especially as he gained experience, he was born to manage.
Managing the estate at Marietta was something he was good at.
It was a comfortable life.
And now, alas, he was out on the ocean again and sailing east.
They had gotten word that forces from Undercity were heading here by ship.
Bartlesby wasn't just sailing halfway across the world to meet them again, no.
This was so that he could help in case of another attack by Blue Wing or the Catharsis navy.
Ergo... Reggie was going off to war again.

It was the fifth day back at sea, when he received a knock at his cabin door.
He'd mostly been shutting himself below deck.
He was depressed.
"..." Reginald lay there, not answering.
Maybe they were bringing him food again.
Reggie didn't like eating while at sea. It made him feel sick.
He'd need to eat eventually but for now-
The knocking came again. Insistent, this time.

"C-Captain! My Lord!" It was his first mate, Dunleavy.
"You must come at once! There's... someone... on the ship..."

Dunleavy sounded as if he was having trouble saying it.
Or maybe it was difficult to explain?
Reggie sat up in his bunk.
Someone on the ship?
Just how could such a thing even happen?
Well, his curiosity had been sparked at least.
He decided to go and see what this visitor was all about.

When Bartlesby arrived above deck he found the Visitor sitting on the railing of the ship.
He leaned back and forth playfully and did not seem all that concerned about the possibility of falling off.
The lad was young, even younger than Reggie's youngest son.
He had freckles on his cheeks, large and dark freckles, but his skin was very pale.
His hair was black. And when he glanced around he had a tendency to open his mouth.
When he did that his very sharp teeth were visible.
It was like looking into a bear trap.
Reginald, oddly, took note of the fact that the boy was wearing dark eyeliner around his eyes.

"Who are you?" Reggie asked, stalking over there. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Jack," the boy said. "I thought you might want my help."
"So I came to meet with you, Lord Bartlesby."

Reggie felt a chill run down his spine.
How did this bastard know his name? No, more importantly-
"How did you get onto this ship? We're miles away from the coast."

"I go places. I see things," Jack explained, "I do things."
"This is why I am useful. This is why you'll want my help."

Reginald thought about it for a moment.
Whatever the hell this thing was, he didn't want anything to do with it.
"Throw it overboard."
He went back below deck.

Jack was waiting in his cabin. He put Jack out in the hall and locked the door.

Seventh day at sea.
Getting rid of Jack seemed to be impossible.
---

...

They tried tossing him off the ship several times and he always came back.
It seemed a bit cruel but Reginald even tried tying him up before tossing him in the ocean.
At this point it was more like some kind of game.
Even Jack was laughing about it as they tossed him into the water.

"We have a long journey ahead of us," Jack said.
"It's okay if you take your time. Soon you will trust me."

Just why did this thing want to win his trust?
That only made Reggie even more suspicious.
However, after another few days of this he realized he was stuck with Jack.
He was going to have to talk to it some more.
It wasn't going to just go away on its own.
"Alright, Jack." Reginald said at last, breaking.
"What is it you want? Some conversation?"
"I have nothing else to do out here at sea...."

"Oh, thank goodness," Jack replied in earnest.
"I was just thinking of leaving if you kept playing hard to get."

Reginald suddenly regretted that his willpower wasn't just a bit stronger.
Or maybe this creature was saying that just to mess with him.
"Come on then, to my quarters." Reginald told him.

"Do we need to speak in private?" Jack inquired.

Reginald shook his head. "I have board navy there, and bourbon."
"You play board navy, don't you?"

"Never heard of it," Jack said.

"... do you drink bourbon?" Reggie inquired. "Are... are you old enough to-"

Jack seemed to be thinking about this question.
He did not come up with a response by the time they reached the cabin.
Explaining the rules of Board Navy to Jack went fairly well.
He was clearly intelligent. The rules of the game were complex but even an amateur could play.
It was essentially a tactical board game similar to Chess or Riding Knights.
Reginald found it odd that Jack had no experience with the game.
But, well, maybe he was from some backwater village where they had no games.

The Duke of Marietta poured himself a drink.
"So, Jack, where do you come from?"
That was the thing on his mind so it was the first thing he'd ask.

"I'm from Sea-Quartz," Jack said. "I believe you've heard of it."

Reginald nodded to himself. He poured a second glass just in case.
He walked across the room and set them both on the table.
Then, as he spoke, he began to set up the board for play.
"You don't look like the other one I met. Neonite, I believe he said he was."

"I'm from before that," Jack said. "But I know of the Neonites."

"Before...?" Reginald took one glass and slid it to himself.
He took a long sip from that. "What do you mean, before?"

Jack looked down at his hands, then back up at Reggie.
"Reggie," he said. "You should know something."
"I am what you would call a Devil. I'm not like the others from Sea-Quartz."
"Well, I came from there originally, but... it... it's hard to explain."

Perhaps Reginald had been right not to trust him, then.
There was wisdom passed down to all living creatures in Purgatory.
For as long as he remembered. Literally everyone knew it.
No matter which era. The Ganthians knew it as well as Eslanders and Arlanders.
Never. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Trust a Devil.
"I don't think we can work together," Reginald said.
Then, he paused for a moment.
Jack wasn't saying anything.
Reggie spoke up. "Why would you tell me that?"
---

"I do not like to lie to people," Jack said.
"I know that you would find this information problematic."
"But it's better if I tell you now than if you find out for yourself, later."

Reginald let out a sigh. He slid the second glass to the boy across from him.
"Drink from that," he said.

Jack put his hand on the rim of the glass.
"Will you trust me?"

Reginald shook his head. "I just want to see what happens when a Devil drinks it."

18th day at sea.
Jack had quickly mastered the game of Board Navy.
It was no longer fun playing with him, since Reggie would inevitably lose every game.
Soon they'd be rounding Vera's Cape.
It might be important to stop and touch bases with Kennedy.
Maybe, at this time, he should try to figure out what to do with Jack.
Surely Kennedy would know what to do with it.

He saw two ships docked at the eastern port just below where the keep was.
Figuring he had good odds, Reggie decided to pull in.
"What's the most unbelievable thing you've seen?" Jack inquired.
Reginald thought carefully before responding.
Although, truthfully, he already knew what his answer was.
"Blue Wing," Reginald replied.

Jack hopped up on the railing and scanned the other ships.
"I've seen an incomprehensible, formless being fall in love," he said, without being prompted.

Well, Reginald had been curious.
But what the hell kind of answer was that?
He couldn't even fathom what Jack was talking about.

Kennedy has already taken the keep at Vera's Cape before they even arrived.
He rode down to the coast to meet with Reginald.
"Well," Kennedy elaborated, "It was more like they abandoned the keep."
"I think they'll be marching west but Sunday should be able to take care of them."

Reginald nodded.
"I suppose we'll miss out on all the action."

Kennedy ignored that remark. "You'll want to be shipping off again soon."

"Oh, I thought perhaps to stay a night or two," Reginald answered.
"It would be nice to sleep in a bed on land before the long journey."

Kennedy shook his head. "The people from Undercity will be waiting on you."
Even though Reginald was a noble and this Erensworth was nothing...
Well, it didn't matter. Here in war, here at sea, Erensworth outranked him.
That was just one of the things of life you needed to get used to.
"Don't come back here, either," Kennedy said. "I want you to sail north around the coast."
"If you meet with me on the way, fine. If you don't, I need you to sail past the Silver City."

"I thought the goal was the Silver City?" Reginald asked.

"If only it could be that war was won so quick and clean," Jack cut in.
The boy simply walked up and joined the conversation.

Kennedy, wary, investigated Jack.
Not liking what he saw, he glanced at Reggie.
"Sorry, who exactly is this? I don't think we've-"

"My name is Jack," Jack said. "Unfortunately, I don't have any business with you."

"You're the one who butt into this conver-"
Kennedy suddenly stopped himself mid sentence.
He was a grown man. Clearly above arguing with a child.
He turned to Bartlesby. "What is going on here?"

"It's a long story," Reggie said. "Kid is a... um... ah... well...."
It was hard to say it out loud. "A devil." His voice was practically a whisper.

"What?" Kennedy prompted.

"He's a Devil," Bartlesby repeated, louder.

"And you're letting him follow you around?" Kennedy was alarmed.
---

Reggie shrugged. "Letting, well... I can't get rid of him."

"Just throw him overboard," Erensworth commanded.

"He tried that," Jack said.
"I tried that," Reggie said at the same time.
The two looked at each other. Jack laughed.

Reginald looked back to Erensworth.
"I don't think I can get rid of him."
"But he seems harmless enough. I'll do as you've commanded."

"Hold on," Erensworth said. "I didn't finish giving my command yet."
"And I want you to understand something... no Devil is harmless."

Jack behaved while Kennedy finished giving him more detailed orders.
Before long they were out at sea again.
He didn't even get to sleep in the castle for a single night.
Reginald felt depressed again but he still forced himself to go above deck.
If he didn't then Jack would bug him.
Being stuck on the ship with the Devil was... okay, it wasn't too bad.
But being locked up in his room with Jack would have been very uncomfortable after long.
Staying in there for days at a time was no longer an option.

Three weeks at sea.
"You know what I thought was weird?" Jack said.
Bartlesby was curious. "What exactly, Jack?"
He hated to admit it but at this point they were getting along fairly well.
He had a better rapport with Jack than with Dunleavy, his first mate.
Jack snickered to himself. "Winchester and Alura were watching for birds while you were at sea."
"Do you remember that?" Jack inquired.
Reginald hesitated. "You... saw that?"
"Of course." Jack shook his head. "But think about it."
"Only a crazy person would look for birds this far away from land."
Bartlesby suddenly felt very worried for the people who had gone with Prince Winchester.
"He's a Prince, you know," Reggie suddenly remembered to say.
"I think, um, you're supposed to address him with respect. Even though you're, you know,"

"Well," Jack said, "Such things don't matter to me."
"If a guy is nuts then he's nuts. That's a bigger problem then who his dad was."
Reginald hated to say it out loud but he supposed it was true.

"What else did you see?" Reggie inquired.
He almost didn't want to know the answer to that.

"You're worried about your friends who went with him," Jack said.
Jack looked sad for some reason. "I can't tell you what happens, though."
"That part hasn't happened yet. I mean, it has. But not in a way that I can see."

"It's... difficult to explain..."

They began to draw near the Broken Isles.
Because the ships from Undercity departed from the north they'd be coming through here.
It was a very treacherous place to navigate.
Not because of the ocean itself, no.
Despite the name the channel here was fairly easy to sail right through.
However, they passed so close to Catharsis that it could draw the attention of Blue Wing or her fleet.
Or any of the other Fairies currently embroiled in the war against Demonity.

They found a nice place to moor the ship and waited there.
Reginald briefly thought about going to land but decided against it.
"Too risky," he muttered to himself, in a bitter tone.
He was angry with his own decisions because he knew he made the safe and correct choice.
But, ultimately, he still wanted to return to land and he couldn't.
---

Reginald went to find Jack at that time.
Jack was peering down into the water.

"Jack," Reginald called out, approaching him.
"Tell me, do you know where the Undercity ships are?"

The Devil thought for a few moments.
"I don't have access to that information."
"It's been hidden from me. Very clever, you..."
Jack wanted to feel precocious or sly, but it didn't work.
He simply felt like he had been defeated.

Reginald blinked, having no idea what the hell this creature was talking about now.
"What were you looking at?" he asked.
That had been on his mind when he walked up but he had something more important to ask first.

"I was thinking about your Deep God," Jack said.
"You pray to the Gods or something? Are you that kind of person?"

"I thought you saw everything..." Reginald stated.

Jack shook his head. "No. I see things. Not everything."
"Only what has been revealed to me. That's why I'm asking."
Jack had an idea.

"I-..." Reginald didn't really want to say.
But, honestly, he didn't know why he felt embarrassed.
It wasn't like Jack was a member of the family council.
"Honestly, I've never found myself praying."
"Doesn't seem to fit my sense of fashion."

"..." Jack didn't say anything for a moment.
Then he laughed a little bit. "Yeah, those types of people exist too."
"Still, that makes it difficult. I was going to tell you something."

Reginald shrugged. Jack was talking nonsense as always.
"The Gods surely exist, don't get me wrong," Reggie said.
"But I do not think they care about a small person like me."

Jack nodded. "Well," he said. "If you won't even accept help from a God,"
"I suppose it will be very difficult to get you to accept help from a Devil."

Reginald felt a chill run down his spine again.
That was something he often found himself forgetting.
Was he starting to trust this monster?
The thing that could not be trusted?
Truthfully, though...
If Jack wanted to kill him or betray him, he had no way to defend himself.
It wasn't as if being vigilant would change that fact.
Reggie pushed him overboard. Just for old time's sake.

"We'll wait here quietly. They'll get here eventually."

A few days later, the men said they thought they saw a sail in the distance.
"Friend or foe?" Reginald wondered out loud.
Jack didn't seem to know the answer to that.
"So why are you here?" Reginald inquired.
"I don't know that either," Jack told him honestly.
"But I've been following your little adventure and..."
"I thought you might be the most interesting person, to-."
"No..." Jack hesitated. "I think there must be a reason I came here."
"It's just that I don't know what it is yet. Sorry."

Reginald sighed to himself.

Then, all at once, Jack began to know why he was there.
It seemed the moment had arrived.
His eyes grew wide and his pupils tiny as he was filled with information.
It came to him from some other place.
A place that was far beyond the comprehension of Reginald Bartlesby.
A place where it felt like time could stand still for days,
And yet months could pass within the span of a few hours.

Jack looked at Reginald's sword belt.
"Do you know how to use that?" he asked.

"Not very well," Bartlesby admitted.

Jack nodded. "Maybe I know why I am here, then."
There was a loud whirring sound and Jack's chest suddenly grew bright.
Reginald could see a blue light burning beneath his clothes.
---

"Huuu.... hu... hu...."
Bartlesby heard someone panting and running through the thick underbrush.
It wasn't here though. It was miles from here. On the island.
No, not that island. Not the near island. Over there. On Catharsis.
Jack grabbed him by the wrist.
"What are you-...?" Reginald couldn't think.
There was too much going on at once.
He heard the sound of wood snapping and heavy leaves falling.
Something was crashing over the forest's natural barrier, flattening it.
They weren't being slowed down at all. They were right behind him.
No. No they weren't. He was here in the bay. He wasn't over there.
Then, all at once, he was there.
Jack turned into lines of blue light and Reginald felt himself pulled through it.
Together, all at once, they hit a brick wall.
He tumbled to the ground and then tried to rise to his feet.
However it was an unsteady balance.
One might expect that after warping several miles across time and space.

"Why can't you just go to where the Queen is?" Jack asked, no one in particular.
"No," Jack said. "You can't do that. You don't know where she is. Not yet."
"That hasn't been revealed."
"Besides... if you go there you couldn't do anything anyway."
"Jack, you don't have Magic in your blood. Jack, you-.... JACK!"
Suddenly he snapped out of whatever he was doing just then.
He grabbed Reginald and yanked him to his feet. "Draw your sword."

Reginald drew his sword.
"Am I going to have to use it?"

"You might," Jack said.

He really didn't want to use it.

The Demon of Wonder appeared before them, diving over a log that was blocking his path.
He seemed to be running at full speed and didn't plan on slowing down.
However, he was just as surprised to see them as they were him.
As such he hesitated for just a second too long.
And, mid air, his foot was caught on the log and he faceplanted into the ground.

Jack went forward and knelt down. He grabbed the Demon by the shoulders.

"Who are-" the Demon began.

Then, all at once, his Pursuer appeared as well.
It was easy to guess what it might be but hard to say for sure.
It was covered from head to toe in armor. Massive armor.
A full suit of Stone Plate, aptly named because it was supposedly hard as rock.
And, of course, it weighed just as much too.
Seeing this monster barrel into the clearing while wearing such heavy armor struck fear into Reggie.
Sword or no sword. He could have been holding a fifteen foot lance and it would do nothing here.

The creature wielded a huge double handed mace in its hands.
With a step forward and a powerful swing it smashed the log in half.
Thankfully, Jack had grabbed the Demon and pulled it away.
They both rolled across the ground as the dirt beneath them was split in two.

"Jack, I can't fight this thing!" Reginald told him.
As if it wasn't obvious. As if he didn't need to say it.
But maybe Jack didn't understand and maybe he needed to say it.

"Just keep it busy," Jack implored.

And this is why Reggie realized he never should have trusted a Devil.

The Pursuer, not slowing down at all, charged Jack and swung his mace.
Now arcing the weapon horizontally, he cleaved right through rock and dirt.
The ground itself was cut open and battered.
However, the two eggs he intended to smash were not scrambled.
Instead there was a loud WHEEP sound and a trail of blue light scattered.
Jack had escaped.
He came to get the Demon.
He came to get the Demon and then left.
---

"You can only trust them to betray you," Reginald muttered to himself.
He backed away from the Pursuer and held his sword in both hands.
Then, looking at his weapon, he realized how absurd this situation was.
"Gods above and below," he muttered. "I'm holding a tooth pick."

The Pursuer rounded on him.
Looking into the eye slit on the helmet, Reggie thought he saw a green light shining brightly.
Recognition seemed to flash from within.
Reggie was not what he expected to see in a place like this.
But it was definitely something he should be trying to kill.
So he jumped forward and aimed to land on top of Reg and smash him.
Yeah, he'd completely flatten that guy beneath him.
And Jack, that Jack, even though he was a Devil, he really meant no harm.
He'd actually feel bad when he realized that Reginald had gotten killed here because of him.

Reginald threw his sword away, useless that it was, and dove forward.
The last thing he wanted was to land on it an impale himself.
That would have been a stupid way to go.

The enemy landed on the other side of him, not having expected a dive.
Its weapon slammed into the ground in front of it.
Then, not hesitating, it lifted the mace and rotated its upper body.
It was going to swing backwards and hit Reginald before he could escape!

Reggie had been counting on the fact that this enemy would be slow.
Anyone wearing full Stone Plate would be slow.
Well, first of all, nothing that lived should have possibly been able to move in that.
So maybe he should have thrown logic out the window.
Still, diving had earned him a few more seconds of life.
And as he rose and tried to scramble away he realized he wasn't fast enough.
No, he couldn't get away before that weapon came at him.
That backswing, even a backswing, was enough to completely obliterate his body.
Ah, well, Reginald decided to use those last few seconds to think about things.
He contemplated all that he had done in his life.
Was he happy about it? Disappointed?

There was a pale blue dot in his eyes.
Then, without stopping, Jack warped into the clearing and then back out.
Somehow, though it was risky, he managed to grab Reggie without turning off his Warp Drive.
The two of them flew over the island of Catharsis, phasing in and out of the material world.
Reginald cried out in pain as he slammed into a branch.
They burst upward through the canopy.
Then they landed in the ocean on the opposite side of the island.

Reginald flailed around in the water.
His arm wasn't broken, somehow. He could still swim.
Desperately, he clung onto Jack.
As long as he held onto Jack he'd be fine.

"Gods above and below?" Jack inquired. He chuckled. "I heard that."
"So you're praying to the Gods now. Maybe we've broken ground..."

At that moment Reginald realized that he was trusting Jack with his life.
There was no turning back now.

[Chapter End]

10. What will Reginald do with this information?
A. Follow Kennedy's orders.
B. Use Jack's power to assist Rutherford.
C. Use Jack's power to assist the Vanguard.
---

A wild Jack has appeared and shenanigans occurs

I guess the other options leaves the current plan with the ships high and dry unless someone else does it

Currently I am feeling A (although I worry this doesn't utilize the new passengers so I dunno)
---

The question we need to ask ourselves here is which party would be helped most by knowing everything that we know. Jack clearly has access to the narrative's timescale, which opens a lot of options, though still leaves everything pretty murky.
---

JeffreyRaze posted...

The question we need to ask ourselves here is which party would be helped most by knowing everything that we know. Jack clearly has access to the narrative's timescale, which opens a lot of options, though still leaves everything pretty murky.

True I just figured by his power it was referring to the warp thing rather than his partial narrative viewing hax (or maybe a combo of both maybe Jack fills them in on stuff happening which leads to Reggie shifting forces around or whatever)

From that I figure

A. Just sticks to current plan (meet up with potential Undercity guys then cruise by Silver City). This is what Kennedy is planning for with the information / situation that he had access to at that given time so that is probably what he thinks is going on for whatever future moves he might make barring other stuff happening? Maybe if stuff goes down along this current path Jack may still be able to help

B. I don't know if there is much to be done here unless Jack can warp REALLLLY far and its happening right now. I am just referring to

"You're worried about your friends who went with him," Jack said.
Jack looked sad for some reason. "I can't tell you what happens, though."
"That part hasn't happened yet. I mean, it has. But not in a way that I can see."

but I dunno

C. Someone like Martin may be able to make some use of Jack's abilities / knowledge from the choices available assuming it leads to something like that. I am just wondering how it plays out with Reggie and the current plan with Erensworth
---

10 A
---

What exactly is a devil? Are they related to demons?
---

Devils are any creatures that can freely travel between all Dimensions and the spaces in between Dimensions. some creatures are born this way. others, like Jack, became a Devil later when he gained his Warp Drive (and thus the ability to warp around freely).
---

10.A. More Devil shenanigans incoming
---

11. Look At The Horizon

"Go then, my pets. Bring the storm."
"Bring despair and the black hand of misery."
"Bring them blood."

---

Shortly after the failed siege at Kedfast it began to rain.
The rain was heavy and hard and lasted for days.
Macina found herself wishing the rain had come sooner.
If it had rained during the battle then that would have helped prevent the fires.
Those fires had burned out parts of the keep and destroyed some of their defenses.
But, then again, it seemed they wouldn't need it. At least not for now.
Sunday and Rainn had left without barely a word.
However, when he was leaving, Macina got a good look at Rainn's face.
"I've been with Sunday up until now," is what his face said.
"If she's going to run off on some foolish quest I think I'll stick with her."

And, so, Macina was left with Aster again.
Not a single person had stopped to care that both her and the man from High Point were badly injured.
Truth be told they didn't have time to worry about that.
The army at Vera's Cape had been smashed for their folly of coming this way.
That meant the forces fighting in the west were her biggest priority.
They'd already set up their supply lines and liberated as much of the land as they could along the way.
Aster had been organizing men who would ride to the other villages between here and the Cape.
And those who would go West, to Lighthouse, cutting across the land.
These men would be rallying militias.
Not to aide the Esland forces, no.
Their goal was to have the men of Arland rally and liberate themselves.
All of the other small towns and villages along the way.
Each of them needed to earn their own freedom.
They'd be better for it in the end. Knowing they had fought to free themselves.

Macina and Aster Crawford, meanwhile, would be riding west together.
Defending Kedfast had little value at this point.
They doubted anyone would come here to try and retake it.
The fighting was going to move gradually westward.
All the while, Liona should have been forming a noose around the Silver City.
However... for that... things had changed.
Liona's priority had changed. Sunday's priority had changed.
Macina found herself sighing as she bounced in her saddle.
They were on the road now with two columns of men riding behind them.
So all the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men would be going that way, Macina supposed.
And if Liona couldn't save her and Sunday couldn't save her and she couldn't save herself, well,
Macina wasn't sure what happened after that.
Instead of thinking about it she focused on getting reinforcements to Glemoor.
That was, originally, where everything was supposed to happen.
Let things remain as they were.

Aster was looking at her like he wanted to say something.
Macina had realized weeks ago that he was not really impossible to read because he was smart.
Rather, he was simply difficult to read because he was not a normal person.
He didn't have the same subconscious body language and facial cues that people typically had.
Those kinds of things she picked up on instinct.
Sometimes she could read Aster but it was difficult.
He seemed incapable of normal social behavior.
And, for that reason, Macina, who could normally read the social behavior of others,
Found him to be nothing more than a great mystery.

"How is your hand doing?" Macina asked him.
Making conversation was better than sitting in sullen silence.
Macina herself had her arm bound tightly to her side.
She'd have to make sure to use that as little as possible.

Aster, nursing his broken fingers, grimaced.
"There's a bit of pain, still," he admitted.

Macina nodded.
---

Aster had a bizarre range of social behavior that was difficult to predict.
But he seemed to understand, on some level, that he had a tendency to overstep his bounds.
Or, at the very least, he knew that he had a tendency to say things that he wasn't supposed to.
Well, maybe Macina was giving him too much credit.
Maybe he just spent a lot of time wondering about the correct thing to say?
Realizing she was lost in thought, and focusing too much thought on this difficult man,
Macina started to feel frustrated with herself.
In any event, she was pretty sure this would get him talking.
Sometimes he would be silent at times but he was really waiting for the other person to initiate the conversation.
It was like Aster needed an invitation to talk at times before he would open up.

And, indeed, at that time, he continued.
Probably now revealing whatever he had been holding back before.
"Lady Mocol," he said, "Where exactly do you think Sunday and Rainn went?"

"To find the Queen, I suppose," Macina told him.

Aster nodded. "Yes. I thought so too."
For some reason he looked a bit sad.
Or maybe he was just glum and distant.

"You're more worried about Sunday than about the Queen," Macina observed.
Normally it was difficult for her to figure out Aster Crawford.
Perhaps this kind of statement was a bit embarrassing.
Hell, it was actually a bit of an accusation she realized, after saying it out loud.
But her excitement had over written her common sense on this one.

Aster looked away and didn't say anything else.

Macina rode in silence for a while.
She began to wonder if Aster's fascination with Sunday was purely scientific.
Or, perhaps, he had some kind of feelings for her?
Weirdly... she found herself getting jealous.
Was there anyone who would worry about her like that?
To care more that she was in danger than they even cared about the Queen?
Honestly, thinking about it, Macina couldn't think of a single person.
She began to wonder what it was like to have someone like that.
At that moment Aster seemed... his focus was...

"I want to ride ahead and do some scouting," Macina said.
She kicked her horse and trotted away. What an annoying day.

Before long she decided to leave the road and go into a grove nearby.
There were low hanging fruit here. She was able to stand up in her saddle and reach for one.
However, with only one good arm, she had to be careful about her balance.
She could reach out and grab one or she could hold onto the reigns.
It was not possible to do both things at once.
Luckily, nothing bad happened, and she got the fruit for herself.

Aster rode into the clearing after her.
"Lady Mocol," he said. "Maybe we should ride together."

"I knew you were worried," Macina said.
She smiled a precocious smile.
But it was something she knew Aster would never understand.
He was worried. Worried about Sunday.
They road north and west together for some time.
Then, when it began to get dark, they doubled back and found the soldiers again.

Setting up a tent with one good arm was far too much work.
Some of the soldiers volunteered, damn near insisted, to help her by setting one up.
However, she had to refuse that. It probably was not what a lady would do.
She did have her pride, though, and simply wished to sleep under the stars.
There was a strange beauty in the infinite black curtain of space.
And those distant twinkling reminders of far away light.
---

The next morning she ate the fruit she had retrieved while riding in the morning.
It was good to get a bit of energy after breakfast.
She made plans again to ride ahead with Aster and scout the area.
Sending out real scouts might have been more responsible.
However, she honestly didn't see them running into any enemies.
It just felt nice to ride alone for a while.
Almost like she was out on a hunt or simply ranging around her own estate.
Well, except, she wasn't really alone. Crawford was here as well.
Ser Crawford? No, he wasn't a Knight. Probably not Lord Crawford either.

"You aren't Lord Crawford, are you?" Macina asked.

Aster shook his head. "No."

"Do you... have a title?" Macina inquired further.
"Not that it matters, of course. I was just curious."
She found herself blushing a bit. Did she seem too rude to ask this?
"I had only been thinking about it, and-..."
Why had she been thinking about him in the first place?
It was only because they were riding alone, of course.
There wasn't much else to think about when no one and nothing else was around.

"I'm technically a Doctor, I suppose," Aster said.
He seemed totally uninterested in this conversation.
In fact, he didn't even seem to notice that Macina was flustered.
"Truthfully I never cared for such pointless titles."

Macina turned her horse around and sat in silence for a few moments.
Then she began to trot away. "You can just call me Macina if you want."
She practically said it under her breath. But she was sure that he heard.

Aster rode after her. Once again, as always, he failed to catch the mood.
"Oh, gods above and below," he said, "Please don't call me Dr. Crawford."
"Just how we've been doing till now is fine."

She supposed that it was like that, too.
How they've been doing for now was just fine with him.

One day, while out ranging, they found a forest with a thick canopy overhead.
The trees here twisted upward and stretched their limbs out in comfort.
The branches, intertwining, locked together and formed a hard net of wood.
And the leaves filled in the gaps to block out sunlight from above.

"Fear of the dark is a very natural response, you know," Aster went on.
He ducked as they passed under a branch with thick vines hanging down from it.
The branch wasn't low enough to touch him but he was tall enough that he wanted to avoid the vine itself.
"We rely on our eyes for most of the information we receive during the day."
"When you lose that valuable ability then you never know what might be waiting out there."

Macina glanced around them as they passed through.
The conditions here were low light but it wasn't pitch black or anything.
She could imagine how dark this place would get at night.
It would be like existing in a world without sense. Or like not existing at all.
"Strangely beautiful in a way," Macina caught herself saying out loud.

Aster's horse kicked its foot a few times. He seemed to have difficulty leading it.
"Oh, look, a fox," he pointed out. He didn't sound too excited. It was more just a matter of fact.

Macina caught sight of the bushes moving but didn't see whatever slipped between them.
Then again it didn't surprise her that small critters would lurk in these parts.
Their odds of running into any large predators was thankfully small.
The bigger concern here would be snakes, honestly.
The horses did seem to think so as well. Even hers was giving her trouble today.
"Don't you feel like we've removed ourselves from the rest of the world?"
Macina was saying weird stuff now. She smiled to herself and looked up at the canopy.
---

"Whether you perceive it or not, it's still there," Aster said simply.

Macina felt her eyes dart left and then right.
Her heart was beating a little bit quickly now.
Was that because of...? No, even that didn't make sense.
Rather, she began to think about the horses.
Then she began to think about some other things.

Macina glanced back at Aster for a second.
A curious expression was on her face.
In the distance she heard the cry of a hawk.

"Aster," she said, "Go back to the column."

"... What?" He replied. He looked confused.
"Forgive me if I said the wrong thing there, I-"

"No, it's-" Macina shook her head. "No time to explain."
"Just ride. Get some archers. As much light horse as you can."
"And don't return here alone."

Aster's horse began to back up on its own accord.
The horse itself was already panicked.
"Macina, will you-" Aster made an annoyed sound.
He grabbed the reigns and tried to steady his horse.
"Will you be alright if I'm not here?"

"If you're here I'll be in more danger," was all she said.

She heard the sound of hooves as he departed, but she didn't look that way.
It was dark here and she doubted she'd be able to see him anyway.
Now it was only a question of how long it would be before he returned.
That and how long before... something else came here.
She didn't know what but she knew it was something.
A thing that she wasn't prepared, couldn't be prepared, to deal with.
Arland was a strange place but it wasn't so different from home.
When it came to the strange and unexpected that would be reserved for the Outsiders.
The Fairies and the creatures they had brought with them from other worlds.
The horse, even now, refused to behave.
Macina, then, decided to climb down from it.
She undid the saddle and then slapped the horse, setting it free.
It ran away, leaving her there alone in the woods.

Macina closed her eyes and held her breath.

There was a soft wind blowing on her face.
It was true that people generally perceived most things with their eyes.
Everyone was like that. Even Macina.
However, she had other ways of perceiving things too.
Her instincts alone were very fine tuned.
But beyond that she knew how to rely on her ears and her nose.
And everything else. Even her feelings and emotions meant something.
Her heart began to beat rapidly again.
The wind picked up, growing a little stronger.
She heard the sound of wings beating overhead.
The leaves overhead rustled and then there was a quiet rumbling sound.
Her breathing stopped.
She silenced everything then.
She wanted to even slow and silence her heart.
But for some reason it wouldn't stop beating.
The floor was vibrating, the ground beneath her.
The horse she had let go. She could sense it now.
Every time a hoof smashed into the dirt it sent a vibration to her.
The branches above creaked slightly and bent with a weight.
Then leaves were released and a stronger gust of wind blew through the clearing.
Anything would have felt that one.
The direction and the strength of the wind had changed.
There was a lashing sound and then one of the branches over her head broke.
She heard it hit the ground near her with a thud.
Her skin grew a little bit hot as the sun was shining on her when it had not before.
Her eye opened slightly at that moment.
Looking up, squinting against the light, she thought she saw a long and thin shadow moving through the gap
---

It was going away from her. In the direction of the horse.
Macina began to quietly walk in that direction.
She drew her knife without making a sound.
Macina only had one arm to use now. It wouldn't be enough.
But maybe she could do something with it.

The horse ran left and then right, and then doubled back.
Then, all at once, it stopped.
It reared up, looking around the clearing in which it had stopped.
At that moment it realized it had nowhere to go.
A great weight above the two shifted.
Macina heard the sound of the branches rustling above them again.
Then, all at once, a storm of leaves fell from above.
The horse whinnied, crying out, and jumped.
It tried to break into a full run from a stand still.
And, maybe, it had almost succeeded.
Hard to say. But in the end it hadn't been fast enough.

A long thin neck shot down through the canopy above.
It had crimson scales with black skin beneath.
Charred ruby seemed to be digging in the space between, the gaps.
She saw something on the sides of its reptilian head flare out.
And realized that it was sporting an odd pair of gills.
Its mouth opened to reveal a small collection of teeth.
However, even those few would be enough.
They were each long and sharp and curved.
It shrieked, loud, the shriek of a dragon. Macina felt her heart rate speed up again.
There was no way she could control it now.
Not even with her breathing techniques.
Her mouth opened but somehow she stopped herself from letting out a shout.
The mouth of the monster closed around the horse, catching it.
Then with a crushing motion it snapped those teeth shut and impaled the horse from all sides.
The dragon turned its head sideways and shook the horse.

Macina found herself taking a step sideways on pure instinct.
Her arm touched a nearby tree and she leaned against it.
No, not just leaning, but, she angled her body around it.
Feeling her legs shaking she somehow found the strength to slide around the side of the tree.
Her back was to it now.
Because her eyes were still fixed on the dragon, her head was bent over her shoulder.
It hurt to crane her neck that way but she couldn't look away.

It dropped the horse from its mouth.
The horse struggled a few moments, its leg kicking, but it went limp.
It must have bled to death from the puncture wounds all over its body.
There was a snapping sound as the drake put more pressure on the branches.
Then, leaning down, it moved its head closer to the ground.
It was ... looking for something?

Macina realized that the dragon was not hunting wild horses.
That thing had not just come here for a meal.
It was looking for the rider. It had expected a rider.
And then it must have realized that the horse had no rider.
It turned its head to the right, looking that way a moment.
Then it looked back to the left.
Its eye seemed to skim the direction in which Macina was standing.
And even though she was hidden behind the tree she felt like it was looking right at her.
That blood-filled eye was looking right at her.

Macina felt her eyes growing hot and wet.
She hadn't cried since she was a little girl, she was pretty sure.
She hadn't pissed herself either but that was definitely happening now.
Warmth began to run down the insides of her legs.
Her lungs were desperately punching the inside of her chest.
They were trying to escape. Screams. Sobs.
She was choking them back.
If she made even one sound it would completely destroy her.
---

Macina's mouth opened instinctively and she lout out a shriek as the canopy before her exploded.

The creature swung its tail through the branches above.
It was about ten or fifteen yards off the mark but that didn't matter.
Branches, leaves, a bird's nest and a few eggs, they were knocked into the ground and smashed into it.
And Macina, being startled by that sound, nearly jumped out of her skin.
Even Macina didn't have nerves of steel.
She had let out a cry. And that meant-

At that moment her neck had snapped forward, looking at the explosion of debris before her.
Anyone would have looked that way upon hearing that.
Anyone would have screamed. She couldn't fault herself for that.
She wasn't perfect. She was only human.

Then, she turned, moving away from the tree.
Her head went back the other way.

The dragon spun its body, twisting, and broke through the canopy above.
It turned its head in her direction and lunged forward.
Its tail flailed upward, then back down.
It hit the tree line on the other side and broke several branches on the way down.
The creature was not bulky but rather lithe. Long and thin.
Probably the worst case scenario for Macina.
Instead of getting stuck on the trees he spun his body and twisted through the gap.
Then, rubbing his elbow on the ground, he lunged forward with an exaggerated crawling motion.
And with a snap and a swipe his claw ripped through the air.

The tree Macina had been behind moments ago was cleaved in half.
Her phantom, which had been standing there in her place, was gone with it.
Macina was pretty sure she could imagine her own death.
She pictured that monster ripping out her spine and her guts.

The thing wasn't here for food, but it was hunting after all.
It was hunting her. It was here to kill her. It wanted to kill a human being.
Someone must have sent it here to kill human beings.

"Uuu...... UUWAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
Macina howled like a child and began to run away from the site of carnage behind her.
Even ripping apart trees like that seemed cruel.
The creature hissed and then grabbed the top end of the trees in front of it.
With a twist it righted itself and pressed its belly against the ground.
Then, with a pull, it vaulted into the air, launching itself back above the tree line.

Its long and slender tail, half whip, half sword, slashed through the ground beneath it.
But it was important to remember that thing was several feet wide.
The tip hit the ground, digging through the dirt.
But the muscular tail itself ripped the tree line and half and cleaved a line straight through the forest.
Macina felt the wind at her back and it was all she could do to throw herself out of the way.

She stumbled twice and realized if she fell she'd probably land on her arm.
If that happened she was going to be in a lot of pain.
The pain would cloud her mind. The wound might open again, that would be bad too.
She had to stay on her feet. So she found the power to do that.
Macina managed to find a tree and steady herself.
Her heart was pumping so hard now that her entire body felt hot.
She felt her head starting to hurt.

The treeline above her had grown silent.
She felt a slight breeze blowing through.
Not at all like the one caused before by the movement of the dragon.
Because of those large wings she would be able to tell when it moved.
It was sitting still. Waiting to see if she was dead, perhaps?
Waiting to see what she would do?
Maybe it didn't know. Maybe this was her chance to move.
Or maybe it was thinking that it would trick her into thinking this was her chance to move.
Macina closed her eyes, holding back tears, but felt them arriving at the corners of her pupils anyway.
She turned her knife over several times in her hand.
---

There was a loud SMASHING sound as the tail of the creature exploded downward.
It tore through the canopy again, shooting at random.
They were playing Board Navy now. And Macina only had one small ship remaining.
The enemy would blanket this area at random.
If it hit her then she'd die and that was good.
If it missed her she still might panic and scream again.
This time she didn't. She stopped herself somehow.
Macina wasn't making any noise. She made sure of that.
It must not know where she was. It couldn't.
She had to bet on that. She had to bet on her own ability.
If it knew where she was then she was already dead anyway.
She couldn't win.
Then, in that sense, it was better to assume it didn't know.
She built a strategy around that assumption.

The tree line broke again, more softly this time, and it poked its head down.
Macina quietly moved around the tree she was near, masking herself from view.
Rather than looking she quieted her breathing and waited.
She waited till she heard the sound of it vanishing through the trees again.
Now... it would...

CRASH!!!!

The canopy erupted again, raining acorns down on the ground nearby to her.
She heard them pounding like a million small sling stones.
Perhaps less than a million.
Just who was counting in a moment like this...?
In any case its guess had been unreasonably close.
Macina didn't know if that was luck or if it was making an educated guess.

All she knew was... she had to act now.

Macina took the knife and turned it over in her hand.
Then, although it was her offhand, she did her best job to throw it as fast and as hard as possible.
North, through the tree line, hoping to find the gaps.

The knife spun awkwardly, missing the first few trees.
It wobbled in the air and the point turned away.
However, this ended up being even better.
It thudded against a tree far away, then spun and hit the ground.
Here it bounced across the ground. It hit the leaves with a rustle.
Then it landed again and crunched some more leaves where it connected.

There was a shriek and the monster dove beneath the canopy.

If it was moving in the direction of that sound, attacking as before, then Macina was at its flank.

She ran the other way. She ran south as the monster went north and west.
It howled and turned its body, wriggling between the trees.
That had slowed its movements before.
And trying to turn and reach where she was now would be an awkward motion.
If it even realized that she had tricked it yet.

Its tail spun sideways, cutting through the forest.
She heard one of the trees behind her snap and fall halfway over.
But she couldn't stop to think for that.
Macina only kept running. That was all she could do.
Now she was panting loudly but she couldn't stop herself.
She broke the treeline and felt the light assault her eyes.
It was brighter than she remembered it being, that light.
She had gotten used to the darkness.
She thought she was going to die in that place, after all.
Maybe her brain had subconsciously made it her home.

She was at the top of a steep hill.
There ahead, below her, was a river that cut across the land.
There were more trees on the other side.
---

Macina heard a crunching sound behind her as the monster pulled itself back up over the trees.
She felt wind rush across her as its wings flapped and it steadied its balance up there.
From its perch she felt its eyes on her back.
It craned its neck, looking down at her.
But it did not leap forth. It did not give chase right away.
Instead it sucked in a deep, deep breath.

Macina let out a hiss of pain, looking away from the sun.
From here, she happened to look left rather that right.
For that reason she was looking back up the road she had come from.
And there she saw two dozen light horses. Aster Crawford was with them.
"Macina!" he called out. He called her by her name.

The creature howled, hissed, and then vomited in her direction.
Boiling blood erupted from its gullet and oozed out of its mouth.
It leaned over the trees, snapping the branches that it grabbed directly with its claws.
The wood beneath its mouth caught fire.
Drool hissed and sizzled as it touched leaves and melted cleanly through them.

And all at once it let forth a cascade of this bubbling liquid in her direction.

Macina screamed as loudly as possible and kept running.
The ground behind her was rushing after her now.
It was like being caught in a landslide.
The grass and dirt were no match for its blood, which seemed as hot as a molten forge.
The creature flexed its powerful limbs and crouched low to the ground.
Yes, that was right. Let it stay focused on her.
She was like to die anyway. Might as well keep it distracted in her final moments.

Her legs felt like they were going to break.
She reached that point where she couldn't even hold her balance.
Like her body was just tumbling down the hill but her legs somehow managed to keep her upright.
But she accelerated even beyond that point. Knowing she couldn't slow down.

Macina was crying still from before, but she began sobbing loudly.
The sound of the hillside behind her popping and sizzling and melting was terrifying.
She saw the hot glow of the molten blood behind her as it ripped across the clearing.
Then all at once a stream of liquid shot past her on the right hand side.
A ditch began to form to her right. It was cleaving right through the planet.
She was only lucky that this was not a single curtain, that the droplets of liquid was cascading at different rates.
Macina Mocol didn't know anything about the dynamic behavior of fluids.
She didn't know how it would go, what was the fastest route, or how to best prevent her legs from being melted off.
All she could do was keep crying and keep running and hope the Red Death didn't catch up with her.

Finally she stumbled and threw herself face first into the ground.
She hadn't meant to do that. Macina grunted in pain and her body bounced off the ground.
She kept rolling down the hillside.
As her body spun her face kept turning the way she didn't want it to turn.
Looking back that way at her impending doom.
The hillside behind her was melted into a black chasm of hell.
She had escaped that. Somehow. The boiling blood had run its course and hadn't quite reached the bottom of the hill.
But the monster had already vaulted into the air.
And it landed on the ground, shaking the entire planet she was fairly sure.
Its heavy wings beat, throwing hot wind over her body.
---

Macina tumbled through the mud, still rolling across the ground.
Then she fell into the river and began to sink.
Her first thought was that no one would be able to tell she had pissed herself before death.
That was comforting to know, at least. Now it just seemed like she had fallen into the river.
No questions would be asked.
The current grabbed her and began to pull her west.
Macina somehow righted herself and looked straight up at the sun.
Here, under the water, it didn't seem so bright.
Only like some distant lamp hidden by a murky haze.

The face of the Blood Drake appeared above her.
The current wasn't pulling her as fast as she had thought at first.
It was more just that her brain was scrambled from the inertia.
Vertigo must have caught on after rolling down the hillside like that.
Her eyes were wide in that moment.
The thing above her became an incarnation of Death.

Its mouth opened wide.
Its gills flared upward and out.

She found herself wondering an odd thought.
Did this thing eat fish often? Had it plucked them out of the river like this before?
Macina supposed the fish where it came from must have been very large.
A planet of great and powerful beasts. Must have been a strange place.
The surface of their world ruled by what she thought of as monsters.
But for them it was only that nature had never ceased to be king.

"Do you have a God there? Gods?" Macina wanted to ask.

But in its eyes she only saw blackness. An endless canopy of darkness.
Whatever this thing had once been, that was consumed and overwritten.
It was gone now. It was only an empty husk. A servant of its master.
There was a strange beauty in the infinite black curtain of space.
And those distant twinkling reminders of far away light.

Macina opened her mouth and a stream of bubbles poured forward.
They were each and every one of them racing toward the surface of the river.

Arrows fell heavy and thick.
Shrieking, whistling, tearing through the sky.
Two volleys, fired in tandem.
One line of archers behind the other.
They must have set up on the hillside with-
No, to fire this quickly they hadn't even climbed off of their horses.

The water vibrated as the creature slammed its foot into the ground.
It must have been writhing in pain as two dozen arrows slammed into its hide from above.
She saw its form flex. The gaps between its scales widen.
The blackness opened up but the ruby red within began to shine brightly.
It turned its head toward the mounted men over there.
It opened its mouth wide and let out a roar, the roar of a king, the roar of a primal monster.

Macina wondered if Aster Crawford was standing in the way.
She didn't want him to die. But she supposed it didn't matter now.
Macina was far past getting her way.
And it seemed like they were both going to die here.

Macina kicked her feet and pushed her head above the water.
She couldn't hold her breath any longer.
Then she saw the oddest sight.
Her eyes noticed strange things first.
Three arrows buried in the ground.
Nine arrows stuck in the hide of the monster.

Twelve men, mounted on horses, charging down the hillside.
Each of them was holding a lance forward and they were closing the gap quickly.
The monster spit up, launching burning liquid onto the ground in front of it.
---

The first man didn't slow his charge at all.
"For the Queen!" he screamed. "For Esland!"
Even as his horse thundered into the burning pot of oil before him and faltered, he didn't lose his courage.
The man leapt from his saddle and threw himself forward.
The dragon's tail slashed outward, snapping, catching the man in mid air and breaking his body.
He flew into the water headfirst and probably was already dead on impact.
The other knights surged forward.
The Blood Drake had moved to defend itself but it hadn't created partial cover.
And even those with the courage to die served a role here.
Yes, that man had died, but he never stopped moving forward.
Neither did his allies.
One might have been stopped by that tail.
Three more by the lava pits that were melting the ground in front of them.
But the angle of attack was such that not all of them could be stopped.
And eight men crashed into the monster and into the river bank with it.
Lances tore into its scales as the men hit the enemy with all of their strength.
The horses kicked outward, rising up, battering the enemy with savage fury.

Then, all at once, Macina saw them locked together there and struggling.
The Blood Drake, wounded and battered, still pushing back and trying to maintain the upper hand.
It raised its arm and slapped downward with its claw, killing a man instantly.
A second had been knocked off of his horse only from this motion.
He rolled away and his hand accidentally was stuck into the burning liquid, melting off.
Then one of the horses backed up and trampled him before falling into the pit as well.
It was whining a mad whine of incomprehensible pain as its body began to dissolve while it yet lived.

"Archers!" Aster laid out his command. His hand went up in the air.
He was going to fire into his own soldiers, Macina realized in that moment.

The men still seated on their horses finally managed to draw their short swords.
They knew in that instant they were all going to die.
"FOR HONOR!" their voices raised in a singular chorus.

"Fire!" Aster commanded.

Macina ducked her head beneath the water.

The sky above her was filled with blood,
and the monster rolled into the water here with her.

She saw its rotten corpse sinking to the bed of the river.
Filled with arrows. Dead men clinging to its bloody hide.
Macina kicked at the water frantically and swam to the edge.
Swimming with one arm was hard but it wasn't impossible.
The current here wasn't so strong anyway.

Then she emerged and was kneeling down in the mud and spitting up water.

Aster Crawford was standing before her.
"I'm sorry," Aster said. But his voice was devoid of all emotion.

Macina was panting heavily. She didn't say anything.
Her face was blue but her forehead was bright red.
She felt like her lips were probably dark as well.
Her hair, wet, was clinging to her face.
And there was blood running down her arm now.
She had battered her shoulder on the way and being in the water hadn't helped at all.
It seemed to be making the wound flow more openly and freely now.
Though, she supposed, technically, she had washed and cleaned out the wound.

There was a bright side to everything.
---

Macina looked up at Aster. Sorry...? For what?

Aster averted his eyes. "I sent twelve men down that hill to die."
Was that pain or regret he was showing? He looked as incapable of expressing it as always.
But somehow, looking at him, Macina could feel his pain.
She felt bad. Felt bad for him. For having to make that decision.
He had killed the Blood Drake though. That was the important thing.
And he had saved her-.... he had...

Macina blinked up at him, a few times, trying to recognize his face.
Did he look like the same person as he had always looked before?
Her mouth opened slightly. "Aster." She felt her curiosity rising again.
The man before her was a mystery as always. "Were you trying to kill it?"
"Or were you trying to save me?"

One of the soldiers finally joined them.
He removed his cloak and gave it to Crawford.
The man from High Point knelt down and wrapped it around her shoulders.
At that time he had a very shrewd expression on his face.
"My goal was to do both of those things," he said.

He hesitated.

Macina felt her heart beating a little bit faster.
She looked to the sky, but didn't see anything else circling up there.
She looked back into his eyes.

"I wanted..." Aster stumbled over his words.
"A plan to kill it, but to make sure that I saved your life as well."

He had worried about her too, then.
Macina thought it felt about as good as she imagined.
Maybe it was just the blanket he had put around her.
But she was feeling more warm already.

[Chapter End]

Huge difference when you've got someone like Macina to detect and prepare for the enemy ahead of time! Though these drakes are still insanely powerful beasts. Not to be underestimated!

11. J-Bot is...
A. Clever but not too strong.
B. Tough but not too quick.
C. A natural entertainer.

Go my J-Bot!
---

That was adorable! Though some of the butterflies in her stomach were due to dragonfear. Speaking of which, is Aster so oblivious that he's immune to dragonfear?

In any case, this was a nice, feel-good chapter.
---

J-Bot is....... C. A natural entertainer

(I like bards)
---

C.

Awesome Chapter! It was very unique and cool to see the drake vomit blood instead of the typical breathing fire.
---

JeffreyRaze posted...

Speaking of which, is Aster so oblivious that he's immune to dragonfear?

nah. in the forest scene Macina simply realized what was going on well before he did. you can assume his heart was beating a little faster from his POV but he didn't know why. I mean sometimes during the day our hearts just beat faster or slower for various reasons. for Macina it was just her high perception, the heartbeat thing, the horses, the hawk crying out, etc. Aster doesn't pick up on the fact that she has sensed an enemy until a while later when he asks if she'll be okay if he leaves. to put it another way... they weren't in range to really be affected by the dragon fear, but Macina still sensed that something was off. later at the end he was far away up on the ridge so he did pretty fine. considering how the soldiers were behaving it's also possible to assume he did something to bolster their courage and may have been able to do the same to himself.

chaos259 posted...

Awesome Chapter! It was very unique and cool to see the drake vomit blood instead of the typical breathing fire.

Storm Drake!
Blood Drake!
---

Well I just meant any of the typical elements(Fire,Ice,Lightning) that has been done a lot already in other stuff.
---

11 C
---

you

want to be

ENTERTAINED?!
---

right now I have

Alura praying to the Quiet One

Reginald following orders instead of using Jack's powers

and J-Bot is a natural entertainer

are you guys fine with all of these? I can't change the Alura one now though, the outline is already written.
---

Dragon dragon, rock the dragon!

MariaTaylor posted...

right now I have

Alura praying to the Quiet One

Reginald following orders instead of using Jack's powers

and J-Bot is a natural entertainer

are you guys fine with all of these? I can't change the Alura one now though, the outline is already written.

Sounds alright to me
---

Looks fine
---

personally I would change both of those

Reginald should totally use Jack's powers (although I don't know what would be the most tactical option)

and our robot should be either strong or smart (although I'm indifferent between those)
---

This is an ITD game, we rarely do anything sensible (if we choose to do the sensible thing) that turns out well.

Hence why I want a Bard
---

hey now using a devil's power isn't even "sensible" I just want to use our new toy
---