darkSpyro

Aretis blinked and looked suspiciously at Shade and Starz with their 'secretive comment'. When Starz bumped into him, he frowned with a concerned look on his face. His eyes rested on her paws and noticed Starz wince in pain. "Starz...your paws..." He said, his voice shaking a bit. He then looked at Shade. At that moment, Aretis made a decision. "...the mission's off." He called. "We're going back."

Kihei looked at the others "Aretis may have a point, your darkness is being affected the closer we get. We can't risk more death"

"We can't put anyone in danger here. This is jeopardizing our safety and I don't want anyone else injured or killed. Especially you." Aretis looked at Starz. He then looked at Shade. "Why did you two keep this a secret until now? What if we had gone in and you both turned on us while we were fighting?"

"Starz... We don't want our home to go through this either, but you and Shade cannot continue safely" Kihei said "We all have our limits, and for what its worth, you did great"

Aretis hugged Starz tightly. "I know, and I'm glad you've made it this far. I am and will always be by your side, my dear." He whispered to her. "I'm staying with Starz." He told the others. "But this mission is too dangerous for our party to split up." He frowned. Think, Aretis think! This isn't supposed to end like this.

"...there may be a way." He suddenly said. Searching in his bag he whipped out the crystal ball from earlier. Aretis suddenly tensed, backing away from Starz and used his earth powers on the cliff, creating a very, very small cave. Only large enough for 2 dragons to be in at a time. There was a stone pedestal inside it that was hollow. Aretis placed the crystal orb on the pedestal and began digging through his bag. "I know a little about apothecary. It's like forging but with liquids." He said taking out two vials and pouring them both on the crystal ball. The liquid began to drip down the orb normally but Aretis shot a light beam into the crystal ball and it stayed there. The liquid then seemed to be absorbed by the crystal ball and the ball's color turned from translucent, to brown, to a light purplish color.

"Starz. Shade. Do you trust me?" Aretis asked them, stepping out of the cave.

Kumara watched closely. She was slightly relieved they had stopped the mission for now, as the place gave off an unsettling feeling, and the revelation of Starz' dark form and Shade reacting to the darkness didn't help that matter. Darkness was an unstable element, and could manipulate its user whenever it became too concentrated in energy. She hoped Aretis' plan worked.

Derrick originally didn't want to go out, especially if it meant being in the sunlight, but he bulked up and traveled with these strangers anyway. He still didn't know them all too well, but it was apparent trust was there. He hadn't had much of a life after his transformation, and this group has made it quite interesting in only about a week. He had made a home, living with George, in a quiet, nice town. The elders entrusted this mission to them, envisioned them as the heroes, and wasn't about to let the elders or the other innocent lives be taken for nothing, "I'm not stopping," he then looked to Aretis, "Your plan better work, or we're going to be down two assets in this final stretch, if that is the case anyway," he walked over, somewhat up the steps, "We've already lost one member, someone who was very close to one of us. Did that stop them, or us? I'm not saying we should just keep going and leave them here if they can't go on, I'm saying it shouldn't stop those who are able to keep moving. If we turn back now... Makil would have died in vein."

George wanted to step in to stop Derrick from talking, but he felt he made a point somewhere and wanted to see how the others reacted first.

"If we decided to move on, would you be willing to fight and maybe even have to kill Shade...and Starz..." He paused a little. "...to survive if they attacked us? This darkness isn't something you talk out of a fight." He muttered and then looked at Starz and Shade. "I'm going to extract the darkness from you. This will hurt." Aretis looked at everyone else. "If you want to help, find whatever you can to make some bandages. Find some warm water if you can too." He then sighed looking at Starz and Shade. "I'm going to need both your essence and an opening to extract the darkness from. So forgive me, but this has to be quick." He enveloped his claw with some kind of metal in his bag. Darting around quickly before anyone had time to react, he was right in front of Shade and slashed his chest with the metal claws he had. It wasn't a shallow cut, but it also would not be fatal provided it would be covered up before Shade lost too much blood. With his claw still dripping with Shade's blood, Aretis reached up and put a drop on the crystal. "Eiarith netharin deil!" He said softly, light shooting from his claws into the orb. The orb absorbed the blood and the purplish color sparked blue for a second. A gravitational force hit Shade forcefully as the orb sucked out the darkness greedily like a leech.

Aretis walked over to Starz and took her paw. He used his other paw that was not stained with Shade's blood and made a small incision that cut a few arteries on both of Starz's paws. Repeating the same incantation, the same force was being felt by Starz, but on a smaller scale.

George stepped up making some of the dirt lift away from the ground, "I can provide the same method I use for myself, using a thin layer of earth, I can seal the wound until the body clots the opening itself," he then looked back up over to Derrick, "Find some water, they will need it. In fact we all will," turning to the others, "Kihei, you can numb the pain with your ice abilities," Derrick had already taken off, zooming about to locate clean water, "Azuron, you're a water dragon, if Derrick cannot locat any fresh water, we may need you to use some of your energy to produce some, for them."

ooc: Icestorm?

The dark aura and the darkness was sucked up into the orb like water to a pipe. The orb turned darker and darker until it was black as night. It took a few minutes, but all of the darkness could not resist the pull and it all went into the orb. All of it. (>.>) Soon it was all over and all that was left was a black orb and two bleeding dragons by it.

"Sanitize the earth first too." Aretis said as a fellow part-earth dragon. "We don't want some black infection from this god-forsaken place." Aretis tore part of his satchel to use as a bandage for Starz. "Earth may be used as a bandage, but cloth or leather is always the best. This way you'll be able to move around still and it'll help clot the blood." He said, wrapping Starz in strips of cloth from his torn bag. He tied them as tightly as he could. His bag wasn't big enough for Shade's wound so he let the others take care of him. "Are you alright, Starz?" He asked softly, touching her cheek.

Kihei nodded and used his ice to numb the pain "You know Derrick, you made a point. I don't want his death to be useless"

George pulled a few vials of various liquids and spices from his own satchel, "I had bought these lesser potions from our town before we left. They aren't much, but they will help regain some strength," he then proceeded to pull out some food items, pretty much emptying his satchel, "It's old, but still whole," he ripped the straps from the satchel, and stripped the sides to fan it open, "Instead of the sand," the earth materials faded to granules again and dropped away, "You gave me a better idea," he glanced at the young light dragons. Walking over to Shade, he summoned some earth to hold him up, and placed the spread out satchel, leather side facing the wound. Using the strap, which could be extended slightly, wrapped the top and bottom edges down, "I don't have enough to seal it completely. Anyone else have an idea, now would be a good time."

A red arc of electricity flashed around the orb. Aretis winced. "I thought this might happen. The darkness was great in the both of you. I have to dispose of this quickly, or it might blow up in our faces." He muttered. Great claws of Argoth, it's already at this stage... Touching it would kill a dragon now. Aretis took some earth from the wall and covered the orb in a good thick 3 inches of earth all around. Grasping it, he ran out of the cave and took flight as fast as he could, looking for a place to take the orb away from them.

ooc: Just so you guys know, I'm gonna be gone all next week so I might not get a chance to post and stuff.

ooc: It's no problem. If anything before I leave I can find a way to just have Aretis be in the background for awhile. Or I'll just give S-G permission to play my character for me.

Aretis found a deep gorge in the earth. He flung the orb down as hard as he could and then sent a light beam to push it down faster. He knew it would explode soon. Aretis flew back to the group. "Everyone, into the dark cave, now! That dark energy blast may not effect the dark creatures around us, but it will definitely effect us. I don't know if we'll completely be out of the blast range, so hang on!" He said. Aretis then used his earth magic to widen the cave and collapse the pedestal for more room. He moved the earth under Shade to shove him into the cave as well.

Aretis took a deep breath and uttered the words "Mamoru, Levisra Estile!" (Which literally translates to: "Protect, shining light!" With a deep surge of power that he brought from the core of his being. Aretis shone brighter than ever before. The light expanded and encompassed everything in the whole cave. The barrier of light arced with spirals and looked like glass with light refracting in a dozen different directions. If this wasn't a life-or-death situation the spectacle could have been quite beautiful.

Then the explosion hit, and rocked the land to it's core.

Aretis looked back at Starz, his eyes conveying the unspoken "Thank you" to her. Aretis rushed over to the edge of the wall as the explosion hit the light barrier. The force threatened to crush the wall Aretis had made like paper. He poured all of his strength into stopping the force as it hit his light barrier as he pressed his paws to the wall and channeled all of his energy into it. The shield glowed brighter, but the dark wave threatened to engulf it as well. Aretis's wall looked like it could give in, but so far it was holding. Aretis closed his eyes and shoved all of his magical energy into blocking the force. If they were anywhere near the center of this bomb, Aretis's shield wouldn't have lasted a second before shattering. Good thing he threw it far enough.

Being born naturally an earth dragon, George couldn't even comprehend the power that was being used to both batter them and protect them. He knows he is steadily becoming more of a shadow elemental, but still cannot understand why. Was it because there was some magical force that was altering him to better suit Derrick's needs, or was it a suppressed ability he's had since he was born? Either way, shadow is darkness, darkness is the opposite of light, which, in turn, could be reversed to some extent. Though this was all a topic for another time, George still carried much interest in the matter.

Derrick, being one of the smaller dragons here, fit right into the cave easily. He positioned himself above everyone else, clinging to the ceiling with his claws imbedded into the rock somehow. He thought about how such a force could be created by what darkness these two had stored up. Why not use it against the enemy? If they knew it was there, and they were of the opposite element, it was apparent they would have some considerable control over it or at least enough so that they could expel it if need be. A transfer of energy is a transfer of energy, which means even though something was made for a specific input, it still has a limit on said amount of intake ability. By this standing, even a shadow based attack could hurt a shadow based being, especially if physical contact is involved.

Aretis released the shield, and sunk slowly to the ground. He had just used up a lot of energy on that shield. He coughed and cleared some of the dust off him. "Starz..." He said, seeing her safe and smiled. "Remind me to never try to play doctor ever again." He muttered softly and brushed some of the dust off her as well. His senses recovered a moment later.

"We need to move. Now! I think we just pissed off every dark creature within a 50km radius and they'll be after us. The least place they'll expect us is in their own castle. We need to find a way in and quick." Aretis said to everyone.

"Is everyone ok?" Kihei asked as he got some ice ready

ooc: I'm back! Ready to roll.

Aretis grimaced and looked around at everyone. "This isn't good. We need to move now before they see us. Ugh, it's a long shot but the back window I saw before at the castle. That's the only place I can get to quickly from memory. Can everyone fly?" He asked in a hurried voice. Aretis quickly rummaged through the rest of his torn satchel. He'd have to leave everything behind and Aretis didn't like that. He donned his lightweight armor, and put some of the extra potions he had bought from the store inside the pieces of his forearm-guards and clipped a few on the straps connecting his chest plate. Finally, he took out his clairvoyance orb. He knew he couldn't take it with him. It would be too cumbersome to carry around. Aretis used it one last time too survey all around them. He saw dark creatures crawling up out of their homes. The mist itself was beginning to thicken with shadows. Soon it would be impossible to see. Aretis quickly looked at the path they were to take to the window they could break through. The path was still clear! He was worried about two dark creatures moving swiftly toward the path and more than a number he could count were already heading to where they were hiding.

Aretis frowned again and knew he was using too much of his magic. Quickly with the earth, he dug a hole. It took him a few seconds but then he was done burying his orb. Aretis was feeling very exhausted though and drank two of his energy potions. A temporary measure, but it would keep him going for now. He felt a small pain in his chest but did not let it show and dismissed it as the stress of the situation they were in.

(So, anyone think they could give a recap of the current situation?, I'm hoping to get back into this.)

Kihei hovered off the ground

"I should have saved my energy until we were inside the castle, but it looks like we don't have much choice." He muttered to himself then looked at Starz. "You know those darkness creatures. I just did one last scout around and it looks like about two hundred of them will arrive where we are in three minutes. So if we wanna live, I'm going to cast a light spell that basically makes us fly faster. Problem is, I've never actually casted it on someone other than myself." Aretis was talking really fast, a sense of panic in his voice. He pointed at Shade. "Also we need to carry him." Aretis got into the air and then picked up one of Shade's forelegs, but immediately dropped it. "Nope. Sorry, correction, you guys need to carry him. I'm not physically able." He sighed disappointed in himself.

"Well, I can take the vanguard. Follow my lead after I cast the spell. I'm going to also be creating an optical illusion around us so people that do try to spot us won't see us flying in the air. That's also another reason why I'm panicking a little. Also I just drank two energy potions which is kind of like overdosing on magical energy. So uh..." Aretis kinda just realized what he was doing, yapping away and paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "So, everyone ready?"

Derrick stared blankly at the ground for moment before snapping back to reality as Starz dusted off from the area, "What's gotten into her," George said, catching Derrick's attention. He had a small burn looking mark on his shoulder, but it steadily vanished as some shadow aura covered it, "Better not wait around here though," he steps over to assist Azuron with Shade, "Lets get him inside for now, and make it fast."

Aretis grimaced. "Starz!!" He called out. Quickly Aretis casted his light magic spell at everyone. It flew toward each of their wings and enveloped their legs. Aretis's own were glowing as well. Crouching quickly, Aretis sprung into the air, leaving a trail of light in his wake so the rest could follow them. However, he kinda well...let's just say he was more focused on getting to Starz and less focused on directing everyone to the castle. The trail would only be there for a few seconds. Aretis was traveling way too fast to be 'leading' the group down his path. His small body was much faster than bigger dragons. Aretis was following behind Starz as fast as he could.

George hefts Shade onto his back, trying to avoid having him block his wings, "They got here faster than expected," he commented as he began running toward the others. Flapping his wings as he went to gain momentum before taking off.

"Starz!" Aretis again called out trying to get her attention.

The darkness creatures that were almost upon the group stopped and looked around, hissing and spitting. Aretis's light spell had done the trick, rendering them mostly invisible to the darkness creatures.

Aretis swooped through the window, silently hoping everyone saw where the window was and would make it in safely. That glass was a little sharp. He had just arrived to see Starz obliterate the darkness creatures. He was a little shocked. "Holy firecrackers and snapdragons! When did you learn to do that?" Aretis said amazed and then came back to reality. A small wave of pain shook his brain and stabbed into his skull. A headache. It was a pretty big one. Aretis winced and closed his eyes. The closest thing to describe what had happened would kind of be like a sugar crash after eating a literal ton of ice cream made of pure cane sugar and also giving you a brain-freeze at the same time. The physical exertion Aretis had experienced within the past hour was too big of an overload for his body to handle, and the effects would not be pleasant. Aretis knew that whatever they had to do here, they would have to do it quickly, or his life would be in danger.

"I'm fine..." Aretis grimaced, opening his eyes again. "Let's end this quickly. Everyone make it here safely?" He asked looking back at the shattered window. He was making sure everyone was at least here or on their way through the window.

ooc: Rip

Aretis helped out as well, shooting and slashing at darkness creatures that got too close. He grimaced looking at the window opening one last time and shot a small light beam through it, hoping those still trying to find their way will see the light. Then he followed after Starz.