darkSpyro

Quote: A Guy

"Raclaw! Raclaw?! Are you all right?!" Latnok asked, highly concerned. "That's it - we're done with Shade! We're not wasting any more time with him! You need to cut that mental link - we cannot be held to him like this anymore!" Latnok said, furious. Sere looked on - fully understanding Latnok's concern and reasoning. As much as he did not want to admit it, trying to keep Shade under control had proven to be completely infeasible, and others were paying the price for it.

As Raclaw gently opened his eyes, he moved his head and looked directly at Latnok. "It's-- it's alright. I'm alright and it wasn't Shade this time. Someone was trying to cut Shade off from his powers, prosumeily one of the Aelinonian forces. I couldn't see where he was or what was exactly was happening to him; I just know that it was affecting both his abilities and even his very own telepathy. The dream started to collapse and if we had stayed any longer; it would've collapsed completely.," he said just than realizing how the effects of whatever had happened had paralleled the effects his very own collar once held over him. As he awoke, Chester almost jumped on him in excitement. "It's alright buddy-- I'm alright.," he said in common with a faint smile.

Laszur didn't respond as quickly to Angora as he had previously. "This place? Technically not," he admitted. "However, for those wanted for the more severe crimes, such as murder like your friend here, we endeavor to make sure that there will never be any safe haven for them. Not only are these lands not yet part of any nation Aelinon recognizes, but other nations tend to understand the value of... good relations with us, and we can be quite persuasive in having criminals extradited."
Laszur looked at Shade, with a serious expression. "I possess your friend here. You are infected with the hexphage fungus, the current strain infecting you being something that only we have the antifungal for. You are weaker now, and will be almost completely helpless before long. You will surrender and await your fate. A behemoth will be here within an hour or two.
"Surrender, and you will have the chance to fight for your freedom against other vile criminals in our arena, for our glory and entertainment. Fail to comply, and there are creative punishments in store for all of you."

"Power... draining? Aelinon?" Latnok thought out loud.
"I see three possibilities," Sere said. "First - the Void Breaker. Possible if Shade is still within Aelinon territory, but definitely not if he is out of its range. Second possibility - hexphage fungus. Relatively easy to apply, mostly used to subdue prisoners, especially magic users. Third possibility - mages are there and siphoning his power directly. The least likely, considering the risk to themselves, but if Shade is wounded, it's possibly unavoidable. Either way, Shade is bound to have limited means of fighting back if it has reached that stage. That does, however, give me hope that he is being taken prisoner and not killed outright."
"Hope? Hope?!" Latnok said indignantly. "Forgive me, I'm sorry. What I mean is, are we sure we should even care about what happens to Shade at this point? He has proven himself to be too dangerous to people to live. I'm sure many people have died as a direct result of the destruction he has caused just now, all because we trusted his buddies to keep him under wraps instead of doing the responsible thing. I daresay that we should be out there helping Aelinon hunt him down and put him down like the dog he is!" Latnok was not at all conscious of Chester as he said that.

Angora should've known Laszur wouldn't care if this was Aelinon territory. Even though she could've used magic to escape, she wasn't going to leave Shade to his luck. She knew telepathy, but she wished she could know teleportation as well. Angora was thinking of telling Laszur about the order that guard gave her that allowed her and Shade to roam freely, but then she thought that he has been the only one kind enough to let them go. He was probably a family man, so to avoid the guard for being punished, she kept the piece of paper hidden and decided to just go along with the arrest, tolerating the galud's hard grasp. A past, Angora never would've done that. She would've left others behind to their fate, but Maverick's noble nature has rubbed off on her.

Quote: A Guy

"Power... draining? Aelinon?" Latnok thought out loud.
"I see three possibilities," Sere said. "First - the Void Breaker. Possible if Shade is still within Aelinon territory, but definitely not if he is out of its range. Second possibility - hexphage fungus. Relatively easy to apply, mostly used to subdue prisoners, especially magic users. Third possibility - mages are there and siphoning his power directly. The least likely, considering the risk to themselves, but if Shade is wounded, it's possibly unavoidable. Either way, Shade is bound to have limited means of fighting back if it has reached that stage. That does, however, give me hope that he is being taken prisoner and not killed outright."
"Hope? Hope?!" Latnok said indignantly. "Forgive me, I'm sorry. What I mean is, are we sure we should even care about what happens to Shade at this point? He has proven himself to be too dangerous to people to live. I'm sure many people have died as a direct result of the destruction he has caused just now, all because we trusted his buddies to keep him under wraps instead of doing the responsible thing. I daresay that we should be out there helping Aelinon hunt him down and put him down like the dog he is!" Latnok was not at all conscious of Chester as he said that.

Chester made a whining noise, but calmed down once Raclaw said something in dogspeak. "It's-- it's not Shade himself that's the problem. It's his powers and his inability to control them. He has caused death yes, but never intentionally-- and I believe we should respect that. If we can't get him to control his powers or even do it for him, than there has to be some way to permanently render them useless. As much as I would hate to take that from a dragon-- it may be our only option should we wish to preserve some kind of life for him.," he then said in common looking at the others. 'Perhaps we could simply keep the hexphage fungus on him and/or some kind of permanent restraint?,' he thought to himself.

"No more words? Wise," Laszur said. "I would highly advise you to not make physical contact with the dragon, as the fungus will spread to you should that happen. Now, we just wait for the army to get here and pick us up. I wonder how your owner is doing. No doubt a good man - a shame he will pay the price for the dragon's bloodlust.
"You, dragon. Why don't you tell your friend here what was happening right before you started attacking the city? About how we had to move out to respond to the death and destruction you caused, all by yourself? Go ahead - unless you feel a lie would be more comforting for her."
Far off in the distance, faint rumbling could be heard and felt, which drew nearer and nearer. Eventually, the sound of crashing and splintering wood was clearly audible.

"Whatever the cause, he is a threat to innocent lives as it stands," Latnok said. "We have taken too many chances, and he has shown that restraining his power is difficult. We cannot continue to try to work with him. We have to consider the lives at risk just to protect one creature who has nothing to offer the world except his obsession with one troll." Innocent people have died already. Why would they, who were supposed to protect them, consider keeping them at risk for the sake of one? "Regardless of whether he intends it or not, he came to a highly populated area, knowing damn well that he has little to no control of his powers, and killed people as a result. He deserves whatever punishment they throw at him."

Back with Maverick, with the help of the special glove, he managed to find an oasis many miles away. He was exhausted and dehydrated, but at least the glove did it's job, and what was better, the spot didn't drifted too away from the direction to Redwater. As he drank pleasantly, he saw his reflection. He felt so low, so disappointed in himself.
"Where did it all go wrong with us? Why is everyone conspiring against us? Should we have left with the Guardian's back then? Mi Angorita saved the world once. Is this how they're always going to show gratitude?" Maverick said to his reflection as he cried angry tears. With all that was happening, he didn't even had the chance to practice his beloved mandolin. Why did his family returned to the awful Aelinon? Last time was an accident, so maybe it was the same case here. After all, those monsters were expanding their territory. There was a high chance they entered by accident again.

Quote: A Guy

"No more words? Wise," Laszur said. "I would highly advise you to not make physical contact with the dragon, as the fungus will spread to you should that happen. Now, we just wait for the army to get here and pick us up. I wonder how your owner is doing. No doubt a good man - a shame he will pay the price for the dragon's bloodlust.
"You, dragon. Why don't you tell your friend here what was happening right before you started attacking the city? About how we had to move out to respond to the death and destruction you caused, all by yourself? Go ahead - unless you feel a lie would be more comforting for her."
Far off in the distance, faint rumbling could be heard and felt, which drew nearer and nearer. Eventually, the sound of crashing and splintering wood was clearly audible.

Angora really, really hated Laszur at the moment. They said appearances were deceiving, but the galud was as evil as he seemed. Despite being coiled very hard, she managed to say a few words.
"I once defeated a creature with the help of the Galaxy dragon. Recall Sere's testimony in the trial. A creature that would've caused much destruction for the world. I did it to save innocents. But next time the world needs me again, I'm going to leave it to it's luck. Leave you all evil beasts to rot your putrid souls..." Angora said with gasps for air, feeling like she should've remained with her original decision and let the Darkmatter spread. Even if Aelinon had managed to defeat it with their fancy, irritating weapons, she believed Sere when he said it would've caused a lot of fatalities in the attempt nonetheless.

"Did you think I would be impressed by such a story?" Laszur asked. "Many have tried to oppose us. Everyone who has has not only failed, but has made us stronger. You can tell your story to the men, women, and children your dragon friend has killed when you meet your end in the next world. See what they think of it. But our laws have no pity. One foolish captain took pity on you after hearing your story, and allowed your dragon to get as close as he had before murdering many. A shameful mistake, one he will be paying the price for as the families of those who have died watch justice granted to him."
As the rumbling grew closer, the sound of falling trees grew nearer. A humongous, monstrous, rocky figure could be made out over the treetops.

Angora managed to free part of her throat from the galud's tail, making her speak better.
"You think you're so special for having those humongous monsters as allies and some fancy, murderous weapons. You think you're doing this for the people? You're doing it to satisfy your thirst for power. You disguise your real purpose by claiming you're helping innocents. I've seen that lame excuse many times. But you'll see. Great and powerful cities always collapse after a while." Angora claimed, knowing that cities like Atlantis and Egypt were once powerful and practically invincible until nature decided it had enough of their greed.

"Should we let unprovoked murder go unanswered?" Laszur asked rhetorically. "No. Your friend here has murdered innocents, and you and your owner are accessories to that; blood begets blood, and we will give you all your fill."
The last of the trees near the group came crashing down, as the behemoth emerged with a platoon of soldiers accompanying it. "WE ANSWER YOUR SIGNAL," the behemoth bellowed. "WHAT CAN WE CRUSH?"
"No crushing - not now, at least," the galud instructed. "This is the dragon responsible for killing and destruction in Redwater. The men with you can tie the dragon to you, and you can drag it with you to Redwater through the underground path. Have them take this troll with you as well."
"CHAIN THE DRAGON!" the behemoth bellowed. "TIE IT TO ME! GET THE TROLL!" At once, the men accompanying the behemoth moved to follow the orders.

Angora was left quite in shock that such a forsaken beast was capable of speech. The behemoths looked too stupid to be intelligent, so words coming out of their mouths was quite a riot. Being taken away and getting out of her awe, Angora managed to say one last thing to the galud.
"You think you're doing good here? Innocent people live in fear because of your senseless law. They can't do anything because they don't know if it'll get them penalized! Shade did a favor to those people! They don't have to live under your tyranny and dictatorship anymore!" Angora yelled insultingly to Laszur, certain that one way or the other, he and the rest of the evil soldiers who were dastard enough to follow such brutal laws were going to get what was coming to them. Life always made bad people pay one way or the other, and she was certain that one of these days, they were all going to atone for their own crimes.

Back at the oasis, Maverick decided to change his appearance. If Shade caused trouble again, he was certain that they were going to be searching for him too. Aelinon was harsh, and believed that even if they knew he was forcefully separated from his family, they wouldn't see reason. However, he was certain that the court judge would be fair again, and understand that they were simply a victim of circumstances. But for now, Maverick wanted to avoid capture to get information first. He took out a knife, and with a lot of painful resolution, he shaved the hair on his arms. This was the first time he ever had to do something so drastic, and even though it always grew back completely in a little more than a week, it was still a humiliating procedure. To change his appearance a little more, he even gave himself a haircut, looking a lot like a beatnik. He then took out his old cape, with the painted teeth, the one he had when he entered the mysterious realm, but knowing that the painting was going to attract attention, he put it on the other way.
"Well Maverick, you're a new man now. This is for your family. Are you ready to face the injustice of the world?" he said to his reflection, trying not to succumb to despair...

"You knew you could not control your powers, yet you CHOSE to come to Redwater, where your unprovoked destruction of buildings led to the death of innocent people - including children," Laszur chastised. "Consider yourself lucky that I figured you may have a shred of worth alive, if only to allow others to see judgment passed on you. Your fate, and that of your friends, is out of my hands now - the judges will decide what to do with abominations like you, if we think you're worth the trouble of keeping you alive until then." As he spoke, the men took Angora from Laszur's grasp and began putting restraints on her, while Shade was being chained.

"Shade came to Redwater because we were injured! He took the risk of trusting you to cure us, because unlike you, he has a heart! And look how you treat us! Your men attacking Shade were the ones who caused those people to be killed! Never forget that!" Angora criticized as she was taken away, feeling undignified on how even with Shade's explaination, they were being arrested. She had no doubt that it was the soldiers provoking him that caused his powers to go rogue again, meaning that they were the indirect, yet main cause of the destruction and death in Redwater.

Many miles away and with a new look, Maverick was about to leave the oasis to continue his long, perilous journey. But then, as luck would have it, the pond caught the reflection of what looked like a brown bull taking a drink on the other side. It seemed injured. Maverick knew these creatures. It was a dirt buffalo. They looked a lot like bisons, exclet they were light brown and less hairy. They were quite common in dry forests and deserts. This one probably recently lost a fight for territory, so it's exhaustion would be advantageous. Maverick took out a rope, and prepared to face the animal.
"Well fellow, I hate to do this, but I need you to take me to a place." he said as he got prepared to wrestle and tame the lone beast. Dirt buffalos always travelled in herds, so this one being alone must've been due to banishment. Better for Maverick...

"Idiot troll," one of the soldiers commented. "You don't think we have better things to be doing with our time than attacking some random dragons? There are plenty of creatures which look just like him - hell, the Guardians brought one just this morning. None of them have seemed to have a problem with us."
"Don't waste your time," another soldier said. "You think some troll is going to be able to understand anything? Civilians had already died before we even knew the dragon was there. We had to answer - driving the dragon off saved more lives."
"That idiot captain, letting that thing get that close to the city - considering the circumstances, I'm sure the king himself will be at the trial. He should just be outlawed and left to his fate at the hands of those who have lost loved ones, if you ask me."

Angora didn't struggled to get away, nor she wanted to try. Shade had blind fate in these people, and look what it has gotten them into. If only he could've asked for help someplace else.
"I was in Redwater to search for a beast master that could help Shade. If you just had left him alone while I did that, none of this would've happened, but why am I wasting breath with the lot of you? No matter how much of he truth is thrown to your faces, you'll all just continue with this delusion of safety to keep in power. But of course, what can you expect from a society that has a killing arena to please your sick idea of amusement? Barbarians is what you are!" Angora accused, believing that an arena like that could only be concocted by a mentally insane brain who viewed killing as a spectacle to be witnessed.

Maverick wrestled with the dirt buffalo, getting to his back and ducking his stabbing horns. It only took him a couple of minutes to subdue him. The animal was already injured and was quite young, so it didn't take Maverick long enough to domesticate it. Dirt buffalos didn't make very good cattle, but they could be tamed under the right circumstances, and Maverick was lucky enough to find himself under one of those circumstances.
"I'm sorry hermosa criatura, but I will need you as my steed for this journey. My family is in danger." Maverick said apologetic to the animal, knowing that even if it couldn't understand it, perhaps at least he could make it feel what he was feeling. Unfortunately, despite having many objects in his bag, he didn't have any seats, not a horse or even a small wyvern seat, so he had to improvise with an arm chair. Maverick broke the legs of the chair, placed a blanket underneath it and then tied it to another set of ropes, disgustingly reminding himself of all the ropes he had to tie in his pirate days.

With that settled, Maverick used the rope he caught the buffalo with as improvised reigns, and without struggle, the dirt buffalo allowed him to mount. Maverick has never done something like this, so it was quite an accomplishment. He was about to leave, but then lead the buffalo to the pond so it could have the drink it couldn't finish, and once it was once again hydrated, Maverick pressed on with his new steed, onward to the dangerous adventure...

"Like we're going to let some blighter who justifies murder call us barbarians," one mage said. "You know what? I think we're all tired of hearing you. Shut up." After a brief period of focus, he cast a spell on Angora - a silence. Unlike Latnok's usual spell, which just affected him, this would prevent Angora from verbalizing anything at all, making her words feel as if they were blocked up in her throat. Angora could try to resist; however, doing so would reveal her magic capabilities.. "You can tell the rest of your garbage to someone who cares."
"So what punishment do you think they have in mind for the human?" a soldier asked.
"Probably the arena as well," another said. "Would be quite nice if they made him fight that captain."

"It looks like we will gain some speed now" Dex said after he noticed How Maverick was now traveling.

"Problem" Sapphire Simply asked

"Never" Dex said

And so they kept following Maverick like before.

Maverick travelled on with his new steed, looking a lot like a normal human nomad. The dirt buffalo was easily complacent, not hard to lead and didn't went rogue for Maverick. The two of them were practically one and the same. Both were forced away from their family. They were alone, injured, and lractically feeling like happiness escaped them. The dirt buffalo was really calm most of the time, but there were times where it got uneasy, prompting Maverick to calm him down with a pat. Maverick would look around him, and even above him, but they were seemingly the only ones in that remote terrain, miles away from the next city...

Quote: A Guy

"Like we're going to let some blighter who justifies murder call us barbarians," one mage said. "You know what? I think we're all tired of hearing you. Shut up." After a brief period of focus, he cast a spell on Angora - a silence. Unlike Latnok's usual spell, which just affected him, this would prevent Angora from verbalizing anything at all, making her words feel as if they were blocked up in her throat. Angora could try to resist; however, doing so would reveal her magic capabilities.. "You can tell the rest of your garbage to someone who cares."
"So what punishment do you think they have in mind for the human?" a soldier asked.
"Probably the arena as well," another said. "Would be quite nice if they made him fight that captain."

Angora knew a silence spell from a mile away. It turns out these guys were Latnok 2.0. If they had silenced her, it's because they knew she was making sense and hated to have the truth told to them. Since they want to continue living on their fantasy, they silenced those who told the truth. It didn't matter. Angora smirked at the mage, practically making fun of his cowardly method to keep her quiet. She was tempted to use magic, but still believed it was best to keep it a secret until it was absolutely necessary. Her most powerful magic always acted out in times of great danger, but for now, she was simply arrested. If she went to another court, she would once again defend herself and Shade like she did last time, and if they managed to get freely that time too, a great scold awaited Shade for bringing them to Aelinon territory again. So many p,aces he could've gotten help, yet he chose their main place of misery. What the heck was the dragolet thinking?

"Oh, you're a smug one, aren't you? Don't worry... we can fix that," the mage said. "Laszur, do you have any more hexphage?"
Laszur tossed him a bag. Reaching in with his gloved hands, he grabbed a handful, then slammed his hand against Angora, rubbing it in.
"Don't worry... your Guardian friend won't be here for you this time. I'm sure no one will even know or care if some random troll just so happened to 'vanish' from prison. Hey, Haldrick!
"Yes, sir?" one of the soldiers replied. Seemingly higher-ranking, based on his uniform, though still subordinate to the mage.
"When you get to the prison, make sure to let the jailers know that this one has been noncompliant. She needs a little special treatment."
"Will do, sir!" The mage grinned.

Angora didn't know what this special treatment would be, nor she didn't want to know. Being silenced wasn't enough for these sadistic jerks. Now it turns out you couldn't even do faces at them. Now they were the pinnacle of egocentricity. Now she knew she had to do something... but without them realizing it. The problem was that even if she did managed to escape, Shade would have to be left behind. Whatever his infection was, she believed Laszur when he said she couldn't touch him. She could escape rather easily with magic if she wanted to, but did he said hexphage? Wasn't that suppose to drain magic? Angora didn't feel like that was happening, but she remained cautious. Whatever these evil bullies were planning to make her disappear, she will do anything to survive. She has been doing it all her life, and this ocassions won't be any different. However, there were times where she felt genuinely scared. When she saw Shade getting wild, she glared at him and slowly shook her head, not wanting him to make a ruckus that would get them into deeper trouble than they already were.

"Neo, I don't know if you can hear me, but this could be it. I will fight 'till the end for my freedom, but these monsters are making it so difficult. If you're still living within me, I... I need your help. I don't know why the Galaxy Dragon or you saw something special in me, but it's clear that I won't be seen as anything but a troll." Angora said in her mind, with solid despair. She wasn't trying to use telepathy, so magic wasn't an issue, but it was clear that the insane amount of injustice and persecution from this sadistic society was finally getting to her...

The mage, instead of being shocked by Neo's appearance, was seemingly ecstatic, and his mood reassured his men. "Oh, so we have a troll shaman on our hands! The folks in the arena are going to love this! Guess the hexphage was a good move, after all. Now, you, spirit. We have a criminal here, wanted as an accessory to mass murder, on top of resisting arrest. Now begone, before I can think of more charges to add." The rest of the men and Laszu readied their weapons, as the behemoth trained its gaze.

Now Angora was really terrified. This could make things worse. She expected Neo to assure her everything would be alright and that he would help when the time came, but this was bad timing. If they saw him, they were going to know, or at least strongly suspect Angora had magic. Neo had been missing all this time. Was really a plea for help and a touch of despair all that was needed for him to manifest himself after all these months? It was too late for her. The secret was out...

"Your dragon began destroying buildings and killing people completely unprovoked, before we even knew of his presence," the mage said accusingly. "If you will lie on his behalf then we have no reason to take you seriously. He has been, at the very best, grossly negligent, and at the worst, malicious. He will face justice. No 'god' will change that. He will answer for every man, woman, and child he has killed. We do not fear you. Stand aside." The mage waved off Neo, dismissively, as his men began to move Angora and Shade.

"My men do not answer to you," the mage said firmly, as the men and the behemoth continued to move, heedless of Neo. "My men answer to me. And I will not take the nonsense of some fairy who has shown that he cannot even accurately recall the events that preceded our engagement with the dragon. The surge of power that was so large and sudden, it forced us to respond immediately. If you had such capability, you would have stopped this from happening in the first place. I would rather be in bed than be doing this, but here I am, because of this creature. As your dragon friend will soon find out, actions have consequences. And, in Aelinon, those who spill the blood of innocents through their own carelessness or hostility will have their blood spilled in turn."

Angora appreciated having Neo by her side. However, as she suspected, the soldiers were as brain dead as ever. They refused to be reasonable. Since she doubted they would believe Neo about her not having magic, she let them further confirmed their suspisions by breaking the mage's spell. It was harder and more painful than she expected, but coughing up some blood, hen finally lifted the silent spell.
"Enough of wasting your time Neo. Let them be. I want to see how this plays through. How far their delusions of justice goes. They don't listen to anybody, I doubt they will even listen to the one that so benevolently created this world for them, for us." Angora said, referring to the Galaxy Dragon. Orion created this world, and she has saved it, yet they chose to plague and waste it with war and their own iron fist. What was more disgusting is that the soldiers even went against gods, having a weapon that could supposedly destroy them? How far their obsession for control went?

Quote: A Guy

"Whatever the cause, he is a threat to innocent lives as it stands," Latnok said. "We have taken too many chances, and he has shown that restraining his power is difficult. We cannot continue to try to work with him. We have to consider the lives at risk just to protect one creature who has nothing to offer the world except his obsession with one troll." Innocent people have died already. Why would they, who were supposed to protect them, consider keeping them at risk for the sake of one? "Regardless of whether he intends it or not, he came to a highly populated area, knowing damn well that he has little to no control of his powers, and killed people as a result. He deserves whatever punishment they throw at him."

"It doesn't matter now-- the Aelinonians have him now. He's alive at least and I doubt they'll just let him go, so he and the others are likely destined for the arena. After another trial I'm sure.," Raclaw said with a slight sigh as his connection to Shade all but disappeared again. Even though he didn't want to admit it-- Shade was becoming an hassle both to himself and to humanity. He truly wished that Shade was able to control his powers or that he might one day be able to.

With Neo's disappearance, the mage laughed defiantly at Angora. "Bravo, bravo!" he congratulated sarcastically. "It was almost buyable! Almost! The whole bit about some old legends? Brilliant! Let me give you a few pointers for next time.
"First: if you're going to have the spirit claim to be associated with some god, make sure it actually knows what actually happened, instead of repeating the same denial you have. It immediately loses credibility otherwise. Second: it's pointless for it to deny magic use when it is clear as day that you just summoned it, especially if you're then going to show your hand by breaking my silence. And the third thing: it you're going to strain yourself so hard to brute force a silence away, instead of casting a spell to do so, you may want to make sure that there's nothing that will just stop the caster from casting it again." On cue, the mage repeated his cast of the silence on Angora, waiting to see how she would react this time.
"So you're probably not used to meeting other races outside your rocks or caves or whatever. But let me tell you something, something important; the three main races comprising Aelinon? Your average humans, or values, or mermen, are not nearly as dumb as those trolls who bow down and kiss your feet just because you can cast a fireball, or as naïve as that one fawn boy who is every bit as weak and pathetic as his heritage would suggest. You may want to consider that next time, before trying to play games with us."

"Though I hate to say it... I do not think we should intervene in this," Sere said. "We have offered to help him; he has forsaken our help and went his own way, and it has led to this. Any further attempt to intervene will probably not go much better, and may put us in a very bad spot should he kill more people. This is the exact same thing which happened with the prototype of the dragon hatchling program... except, with how much power he has displayed, I do not have a feasible way to keep him restrained short of drastic measures Aelinon is probably using already." Sere's voice betrayed his defeat; his own shortcomings.
"There is only so much we can do before we realize that keeping him alive and under control is not worth the risk to innocent lives," Latnok said. "He never should've stepped foot anywhere near a populated area."

With the dirt buffalo's help, Maverick was just a couple of hours away from Redwater. He was doing a lot of thinking seeing the stars above him.
"Ishulgu was it? I don't know who you are, nor did I know that somebody such as you existed, but if you can, please help us in the ordeal ahead. Me and my family, we only want peace. Is that too much to ask? Please, whoever you are, help us..." Maverick pleaded to the horizon, having taken the bug man's words to heart. He knew Orion was probably very busy with everything that was happening in the world, so he desperately fave his faith for another individual he knew nothing about.

Quote: A Guy

With Neo's disappearance, the mage laughed defiantly at Angora. "Bravo, bravo!" he congratulated sarcastically. "It was almost buyable! Almost! The whole bit about some old legends? Brilliant! Let me give you a few pointers for next time.
"First: if you're going to have the spirit claim to be associated with some god, make sure it actually knows what actually happened, instead of repeating the same denial you have. It immediately loses credibility otherwise. Second: it's pointless for it to deny magic use when it is clear as day that you just summoned it, especially if you're then going to show your hand by breaking my silence. And the third thing: it you're going to strain yourself so hard to brute force a silence away, instead of casting a spell to do so, you may want to make sure that there's nothing that will just stop the caster from casting it again." On cue, the mage repeated his cast of the silence on Angora, waiting to see how she would react this time.
"So you're probably not used to meeting other races outside your rocks or caves or whatever. But let me tell you something, something important; the three main races comprising Aelinon? Your average humans, or values, or mermen, are not nearly as dumb as those trolls who bow down and kiss your feet just because you can cast a fireball, or as naïve as that one fawn boy who is every bit as weak and pathetic as his heritage would suggest. You may want to consider that next time, before trying to play games with us."

Another spell wasn't going to silence Angora. Concentrating her mind in the mage the same way she did with Shade, she began using telepathy.
"Keep choking in your own ignorance. You will see soon enough..." she said, not knowing if he could hear her, but even if he didn't, it wouldn't matter. Whether it was Orion or someone else, or maybe even something else, people like them always payed some heavy price for all the bad they've caused...

Nothing initially happened in response to Maverick's entreaty to divinity. However, down the road, three odd insects - appearing as a combination of a beetle and a scorpion, with wings, and a bit smaller than Maverick's torso - jumped out from some loose dirt in the ground, and seemingly bit and stung the dirt buffalo. The animal, initially moving at a steady pace, began to move at a reckless, breakneck pace instead, though perfectly maintaining its heading, its direction still being controllable. It was clear the pace was not sustainable; however, it was lasting for the moment, at least.

The mage, surprised that someone who would go through so much effort to break a silence still had telepathy, raised his hand, preparing to cast a psi-block; however, he set it back down. "I'll let you have your little moment of defiance," he said. "We'll see how defiant you are after some special treatment, or after being forced to fight your troll friends - if you don't disappear before then.

Angora didn't reacted to his threat, but did took advantage of the chance.
"Heh, good luck. My own kind doesn't like me. But of course, you wouldn't know." Angora said, practically mocking the little knowledge he had about trolls. Before he could rebuff that however, she went straight to the point.
"Just answer me a few questions; is it true that this Silent Spear has a weapon that can kill even gods?" she asked, sounding as if she was challenging him. She was about to face death, or maybe even something worse, so she wanted to know as much as she could before these bunch of fiends dictated her fate...

Quote: A Guy

Nothing initially happened in response to Maverick's entreaty to divinity. However, down the road, three odd insects - appearing as a combination of a beetle and a scorpion, with wings, and a bit smaller than Maverick's torso - jumped out from some loose dirt in the ground, and seemingly bit and stung the dirt buffalo. The animal, initially moving at a steady pace, began to move at a reckless, breakneck pace instead, though perfectly maintaining its heading, its direction still being controllable. It was clear the pace was not sustainable; however, it was lasting for the moment, at least.

"Easy! Easy!" Maverick said to his new steed, initially not associating his plea to the bizzare insects that appeared. After a long while, he started to wonder if there was some sort of connection. It didn't matter now, for at this rate, he will reach Redwater much faster and he could finally save his friends...

The mage did not seem bothered - rather, he was somewhat curious. "Very well - since your fate is inevitable, I suppose entertaining myself and giving you a little lesson won't hurt. The artifact you are most likely referring to is the Void Breaker.
"The Void Breaker is not controlled by the Silent Spear - it is controlled by a subdivision of the Aelinon military known as the Silver Shield. The artifact is so named because that is what it was called in the ancient language we deciphered the instructions from - a tool to destroy the supernatural, those not grounded in the world. We are not completely sure of its origin; there are legends, such as it falling from the sky, however. What we have is one piece - the other piece is known as the Void Locator, which is capable of pinpointing every source of supernatural energy in the world.
"The Void Breaker is capable of absorbing many kinds of supernatural energy - whether it be typical raw magic or more enigmatic divine energy. It is also capable of unleashing power in a devastating chain reaction that destroys this energy and turns it against the source - which is what allowed it to turn an entire flock of dragons into ash in the battle of Vonterr. Such an artifact is capable of performing the same action on divine energy, which would allow it to neutralize or destroy a god. Its only weakness is that, with the exception of utilizing its power to create general physical barriers, like what we had in Redwater, it does not work against non-magical creatures - a big problem when it comes to those which plague our border, one we are currently resolving.
"The Void Breaker currently has to be directed completely manually. Despite this limitation, we are capable of utilizing much of its power. Once we acquire the Void Locator - and it's not a matter of if, but when - we will be able to pinpoint every magical and divine creature in the world. From there, destroying any of them would simply be a matter of channeling its energy, with the Void Locator directing it, rather than us having to direct it manually, which limits the range at which we can utilize the weapon.
"So yes, we are in full control. We fear no god. And eventually, once we have the Void Locator, we as a nation will have complete domination over magical creatures. We have been fighting to protect our existence for our entire existence - soon, nothing will ever be capable of threatening our borders or our existence ever again."

Quote: A Guy

"Though I hate to say it... I do not think we should intervene in this," Sere said. "We have offered to help him; he has forsaken our help and went his own way, and it has led to this. Any further attempt to intervene will probably not go much better, and may put us in a very bad spot should he kill more people. This is the exact same thing which happened with the prototype of the dragon hatchling program... except, with how much power he has displayed, I do not have a feasible way to keep him restrained short of drastic measures Aelinon is probably using already." Sere's voice betrayed his defeat; his own shortcomings.
"There is only so much we can do before we realize that keeping him alive and under control is not worth the risk to innocent lives," Latnok said. "He never should've stepped foot anywhere near a populated area."

Quote: Spyroconvexity

“We should give him a chance. It did feel like he was trying very hard to control his powers.” Icestorm said. “They are trying hard to survive out in the wild while we thrive on comforts of the city.”

"Godfather Sere is right unfortunately-- their fate is in the hands of the Aelinonian court now and our influence had very little impact the last time we tried to intervene. As much as I would like for him to be able to sucessfully control his powers or for his recent actions to be undone; what's done is done. Lives have been taken and it will up to the mercy of Aelinon rather he lives or dies. For his sake-- I do hope that he is given the chance and that he may eventually learn to control his powers. However, whatever happens to him now is beyond our control-- for better or for worse.," Raclaw said not having entirely given up but also having accepted the facts for what they were. He thought of the dark dragolet as a friend, but knew that there was very little he could personally do to help in the matter. He looked at Latnok and knew that his Guardian companion was probably right-- about the link and eventually about the fate of Shade himself.

Quote: A Guy

The mage did not seem bothered - rather, he was somewhat curious. "Very well - since your fate is inevitable, I suppose entertaining myself and giving you a little lesson won't hurt. The artifact you are most likely referring to is the Void Breaker.
"The Void Breaker is not controlled by the Silent Spear - it is controlled by a subdivision of the Aelinon military known as the Silver Shield. The artifact is so named because that is what it was called in the ancient language we deciphered the instructions from - a tool to destroy the supernatural, those not grounded in the world. We are not completely sure of its origin; there are legends, such as it falling from the sky, however. What we have is one piece - the other piece is known as the Void Locator, which is capable of pinpointing every source of supernatural energy in the world.
"The Void Breaker is capable of absorbing many kinds of supernatural energy - whether it be typical raw magic or more enigmatic divine energy. It is also capable of unleashing power in a devastating chain reaction that destroys this energy and turns it against the source - which is what allowed it to turn an entire flock of dragons into ash in the battle of Vonterr. Such an artifact is capable of performing the same action on divine energy, which would allow it to neutralize or destroy a god. Its only weakness is that, with the exception of utilizing its power to create general physical barriers, like what we had in Redwater, it does not work against non-magical creatures - a big problem when it comes to those which plague our border, one we are currently resolving.
"The Void Breaker currently has to be directed completely manually. Despite this limitation, we are capable of utilizing much of its power. Once we acquire the Void Locator - and it's not a matter of if, but when - we will be able to pinpoint every magical and divine creature in the world. From there, destroying any of them would simply be a matter of channeling its energy, with the Void Locator directing it, rather than us having to direct it manually, which limits the range at which we can utilize the weapon.
"So yes, we are in full control. We fear no god. And eventually, once we have the Void Locator, we as a nation will have complete domination over magical creatures. We have been fighting to protect our existence for our entire existence - soon, nothing will ever be capable of threatening our borders or our existence ever again."

Angora looked very annoyed. She expected a simple answer, not an entire speech. However, that didn't stop her from listening.
"Hmm, so that's how it is now, isn't it? You're even willing to destroy gods to maintain this sick dictatorship? Willing to destroy, let's say, even the Galaxy Dragon himself, the very creator of your world and existence just to prove a point? Have you considered that you may even destroy the world itself if you bring it's creator down? Are you willing to destroy the world, your lives and those you claim to protect just to satisfy your obsession to control no matter what?" Angora questioned, remembering the time when Shade was evil and managed to take control of Orion. It was beginning to affect the entire world around her, which would have gotten worse if she hadn't faked alliance with him and stopped him. She suspected that the mage wouldn't have the answer to that and would once again take the cowardly method of silencing her. Still, even if that turned out to be the case, she already left him with the question, and if the soldiers were determined to still be a bunch of sadistic, egocentric ignorants, that didn't stop her from trying to play with their minds and let them think beyond what they see under their noses.

The mage seemed unbothered by Angora's question, rather self-assured in his response. "There is no reason to believe that destroying some manifestation of divine energy will cause the undoing of non-divine entities on a large scale. Nothing in our science suggests that - that being the case, it is not likely to happen, any more than a sculpture would collapse because its creator died. This is assuming that such a legend is even true, and this Orion isn't just some powerful being who gained a following. We are on the verge of complete and utter victory - we will soon create a world where no outside force can ever come against us. Once that is accomplished, it is simply a matter of rooting out crime - such a problem would likely require the use of psychic power on a grand scale to make people completely unwilling to ever commit crime. Something we are no doubt working on."

Angora now knew what the problem was. He didn't believe Orion was the real deal. This denial and lack of knowledge, in other words, complete ignorance, is what made these Aelinonian soldiers so annoyingly cocky. Still, that only made Angora smile. She didn't feel hatred for these soldiers anymore. Now all she felt was pity. So blinded by their thirst for power that they refused to see the truth behind their actions.
"Science eh? Suit yourself. Want to be in denial? Fine by me. I warned that galud friend of yours that there is a very evil, very dangerous water dragon out there much dangerous than Shade and he refuses to do something about it. I give you the warnings, and you all ignorantly decide not to listen. Fine too. How bad will it be to see you all wallowing in pity and regret." Angora said gloomily, faking concern. Finally satisfied, Angora started to make herself comfortable on the behemoth's back, if that could be called a back. The skin was so hard it felt like rocks, but the little troll has been on worse places. She fell completely silent at last, firmly believing that in a not so distant future, this awful society will fall victim to their own violence and ignorance.

The soldiers and captives continued to move, without much more noise than the behemoth's stomping. Eventually, the platoon reached a completely isolated area. The behemoth raised his forelegs high in the air, as the mage channeled his magic in tune with the behemoth's. As the behemoth's forelegs hit the ground, the earth started to shift violently, revealing an absolutely gigantic tunnel, which the platoon then entered.
The light in the tunnel was extremely dim, with just a few torches, much like the underwater prison. As the group progressed further through them, the tunnels became even wider, and the various sounds of galuds going about their business could be heard. The tunnel environment would seem like a perfect place for their nocturnal nature and photosensitivity.

Angora scowled with both fascination and disbelief. Did a tunnel this large was really created to hold various of those humongous monsters? Since she doubted the Aelinonian soldiers would dirty their hands with manual labor, she believed these amazing tunnels were done by slaves. These jerks really loved underground prisons. But Angora got bored again, and since she didn't want to strain herself trying to lift the second silent spell, she instead telepath to a very certain individual... the behemoth.
"Impressive. Tell me beast, how many people were enslaved to create these tunnels? Was it you? How does it feel to let such a mighty creature like you be mounted like a giant horse? Not to mention intelligent enough to speak? Did they promised you something? Do they pamper you like a giant baby? And what about food? Must be a fun budget keeping the lot of you." Angora taunted, asking many question at the same time like an annoying child. She wanted to irritate the behemoth enough to trick him into losing it's temper and destroy part of those tunnels, maybe even kill a few of those evil soldiers. If she managed to succeed, she would prove this is exactly what happened to Shade.

"So it would speak to me..." a solid voice telepathed back to Angora. "It thinks itself worthy to speak to me. I pity it. Smaller than my food. I shall entertain it." The behemoth continued its telepathy in understandable, if imperfect, speech.
"Long ago, dragons controlled much of the world. They took our food, they took our land. We were forced underground. Little food. Driven to near extinction. Then, humans destroyed the dragon nation. Dragons still great in number, but no longer capable of fighting big wars. Humans found us. We killed some. One spoke to some of us. Said they could kill dragons. We just needed to help.
"Dragons fly. We crush enemies on the ground. We could not reach dragons. Our earth magic, it could not touch dragons. Dragons acted against us with impunity. Worked with humans. They put big bows on our back. Capable of reaching dragons. Brought dragons to the ground. We smashed their heads, crushed their bones, ate their meat. Soon, dragons forced into hiding, like we were.
"Other creatures oppose humans on the ground. No match for us. We trampled them, crushed their bones. They were meat to us. As humans fought, we ate enemies. We ate fallen humans. We devoured all.
"Dragons destroyed. We eat as humans fight. Even when we do not fight, humans still feed us. They bring us their cattle. They bring us their horses. They bring us their trees. We eat all of it. They say, others threaten their existence. They, the humans must exist. They bring us food, they bring us power. We feast as they fight. With human machines and magic, we are invulnerable.
"These tunnels. Originally galud construct. We use earth magic, humans use earth magic, mermen use water. All dig. Make tunnels bigger." The behemoth continued on its straight path forward as it telepathed, seemingly no more distracted by Angora than it would be a stray thought.

Angora nodded, rather disappointed at not getting the reaction she expected. Still, this was a very informative chat. The creature using telepathy further proved their intelligence, and Angora found it humiliating how such mighty creatures let themselves be treated like this in order to receive food. Before addressing the beast again, she looked at Shade.
"I will make sure of that Shade. If they so desperately want an entertaining fight, they will give you the cure." Angora assured, almost certain she could convince them to give his powers back.

With Shade assured, she then addressed to the behemoth.
"So then, you're like giant dogs... no wait, better yet, you're like, vultures? Or maybe parasites? You keep certain humans alive in order to have all the food you want, and in exchange, you let them dominate you. Typical behavior of weak willed monsters. You're practically telling me that you're a simple carrion eater. Squash them you say. Hah! If that was true, you wouldn't have needed human help. Can't hunt on your own? Can't consume live prey? Afraid it will escape you? Or defeat you?" Angora teased, continuing with her provocation. She correctly deduced the behemoths must've been omnivores, but now she realized the true horror behind these wars. Not only did they ensured that the Aelinonians would remain in power and spread the fear, it was also to use the fatalities to feed these giant abominations.

"It does not understand... I will educate it," the behemoth continued. "We kill ground prey. We eat ground prey. Dragons fly. They eat ground prey. We cannot kill flying dragons. Humans can kill flying dragons. We can kill humans. Therefore, no need to fear humans. Humans fear us. Humans, mermen, galud, much like your kind, are weak; ask us to do work for weaklings. Easy work. In exchange, they kill enemies we cannot. They bring us food; they bring their foes, their foes become our prey, their dead become Simple decision. Practical decision." The behemoth was either not quite capable of grasping the concept of physical labor being humbling, or was thinking purely logically. "You. Dragon. I do not know what humans, merman, galud will do with you; I have fought in the arena before. Amusing for me. Those I face, some have fungus on them; makes them taste better, more nutritious."

Angora lost nearly all the color of her face. She was starting to realize the true purpose of the hexphage. Not only could it absorb inside magic. It was also used as condiment. Now she was realizing what the ruthless mage meant when he said about making them disappear. Nevertheless, the little troll remained calm. The behemoth may be intelligent enough to speak and use telepathy, but it seemed to rely too much of logic to get the bigger picture.
"Ah, so then, you allow yourself to be degraded to this level just because you couldn't deal with a particular kind of threat? You let some prey dominate you so you can have even more of it in the end? Hah, couldn't kill dragons because they could fly! What a lame excuse! If you had been smart, you would've found a solution. Improvise something. Instead, you decided to take the easy way out and get to this humiliating position." Angora expressed, not even trying to irritate the behemoth anymore. She was trying to make him see reason, see how oppressed he allowed himself to be. The Aelinonian guardians were impossible to talk to, but if the behemoth could see reason, it would be worth it. And if lucky, there may even be a slight chance that she would make them rebel. It seemed impossible, but it was worth a shot...