Return to the Valley (Gryphon Bonding) CLOSED

Shy/Frisk (Damaged Village)

The injured would be gathered in one of the still-standing houses nearby and the few healers the village had to offer would be beyond grateful for Frisk's help and voiced their gratitude repeatedly; healing magic was sorely lacking among them all meaning their magic was literally a life-saver. Several souls would be snatched from the jaws of death's gate by their actions alone and it's quite likely they wouldn't be forgotten by the villagers any time soon.

Joining the gathering it would be mostly the menfolk, some injured though not as seriously as the others, many covered in dust and ashes with torn clothing. The few women who were with them were staying close to men that they were clearly familiar with, either kin or spouses. Their expressions varied between shock and anger and grief.

The Mindspeaker was quite a standout among them, a Gryphon. Order of the Rose by his elegant, long-legged appearance that might give faint allusion to a puffy-sleeved shirt and an ascot with how his feathers grew on him. The villagers were clearly on one side of this debate and he was on the other, a taloned paw raised in a pacifying gesture even as Frisk spoke up and drew their joint attention.

Yes, exactly! he quickly agreed. There is little point in jumping to conclusions when there is a need right before us.

"Jumping to conclusions?!" one of the men, seemingly the main speaker for them as the others were nodding in agreement with his outburst. "The brat is his offspring - we know he was involved in this! He's got that monster's blood in him, and he was seen running off right after it happened."

"Nothing good comes from anything that beast left us," a women shuddered, huddling close to her husband by their lack of other similar appearance.

"We appreciate your coming here to help us, though I can't imagine how you knew we were in trouble," another man said to Frisk with sincerity in his voice. "I don't mean to make it seem like we aren't. But if he is the cause what trouble might he cause by being allowed to run free wherever he pleases while we're discussing things? The longer we talk the further he runs. That's what we were talking about before this Gryphon overheard us and put in his own two cents."

I simply feel that there might be more to this than you are seeing, explained the Gryphon. Have not there been other odd occurrences in this valley of late, things that are too far away for a mere child to reach without his absence having been noticed, and you said he was kept under watchful eye at all hours? At this the men grumbled, clearly unable to deny the reasoning but at the same time not willing to release their suspicion. Perhaps an impartial third party might go search for this boy, who if innocent might need medical attention and if guilty certainly shouldn't get away, while you tend to your families and homes? Once more the men muttered to themselves. It was clear the Gryphon meant for himself to go, but perhaps they were suspicious of the Rose Gryphon now as well, given how quickly he sprang to the defense of their suspect. At the same time he made sense, as some were quietly saying.

Decisions, decisions!

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Nec (Mysterious Cave/Fortress Ruins)

Racing away from the cave and taking to the air, it would take about ten minutes to reach the ruined fortress. Nec would be in a unique position to see what was going on: on one side, Nessa was facing down about half a dozen shadowy forms. On the far side a large, winged form was flying here and there, up to higher levels and back down again, with another half a dozen or so in pursuit. It seemed this creature wasn't so worried about attacking as they were simply evasion. But they clearly could only keep this up for so long. The Changeling's high vantage point would also allow him to see a small gleam from within the main keep of the fortress, like a glow, or a light reflecting strongly off of something. How odd, but perhaps a subject for a less-perilous moment?

Time for a quick plan of action!

((Please see the note at the bottom.))

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Nessa (Fortress Ruins)

Lightning - vivid pink and with a scent of lemonade instead of ozone but still lightning - crashed among the shadow wraiths, scorching stone and creating a near-blinding flash in the darkened ruins of the fortress. But despite the fact that they were incorporeal it seemed the magical lightning did some damage as those few in its path screeched in reaction, recoiling and even those more at a distance slowed their approach.

The opening they gave would offer enough time to get through the wall behind her. The stone was brittle with age and damage from whatever caused the fortress to become a ruin and fell away with a loud crash of rock. Beyond it was what may have been a training ground for soldiers, perhaps; there were derelict targets and posts for sparring dummies as well as a few weather-worn wooden weapons on the ground.

But from the other side, back where the shadows were regrouping, Nessa would be able to hear the beat of wings. Not small, leathery ones returning but larger, feathered ones. A loud, avian scream of challenge and a crash of stones would tell that another combatant had entered the battlefield, if the female Mindvoice that followed wasn't clue enough.

Do not lose heart - I will lead as many away as I can convince to chase me. Your magic is far better than my talons. Come, you shadows! Catch me if you can! The beat of wings was heard again as someone flew away and by the sound of things some of the shadow wraiths did indeed follow this new target. Nessa's enemies were cut in half, more or less, leaving her with roundabouts eight to deal with. Those these eight were approaching her new surroundings, one even moving through the wall away from the hole she'd made and seeming wary of the magic that Nessa could command. This first one had reason to do so as it was clearly less-present that they had seemed to be before; one of the ones struck directly by the lightning.

Nessa would probably have one more chance to strike before she was within reach of the first few of them, without other movements.

((Nessa, you are free to say there's anything in the training grounds that you wish, and if you want you can eliminate some of the shadows too. Nec, you are free to move about the fortress and say it is laid our or has features as you want as well as take out shadows. This battle is yours to describe and control, and you both may post multiple times to deal with the fight. Please feel free to PM me with any questions and let me know if you need me to respond to anything in particular.))