Blood of Legends ((Kiandra&Mephilis))

Kiara looked at Seylian and then exchanged a glance with Tom. There was no way that Seylian could have taken her out so easily, unless something had gone wrong, completely wrong... She looked up at the screen as it showed a couple of clips from their battle, and she watched as Menis almost had Rune, and then... he hesitated... Kiara gasped, eyes widening as she looked over at Tom, knowing he would have seen what had just happened. "We've got to find her, before she spirals down..." Tom nodded, and then turned to watch as Seylian began to yell at Rune, before butchering her. "Shit... we should have told them about her trauma..." Tom said, looking at Kiara as she walked towards the door. She turned back towards him, and nodded, a serious look on her face, although the other males could easily tell she was holding back tears.

Up in the room, Cylesta nodded at her uncle, and she smiled at him before heading towards Demon and Manus. She heard the last couple comments between the two, and smirked at the two. "Black Team definitely had the advantage. Seylian got one up on Rune, although I'm not quite sure how he did it... Either way, I think something is up with Rune. She didn't look right when she was up against Menis at the end..." She shrugged, and waved good bye as she walked out the door.

In the small storage room, Rune gasped for air, curled into herself. Her throat felt like it was closing in on itself, and she buried herself back into the corner, the darkness covering her as her mind spiraled. Within the darkness, she returned to that cold dungeon they had kept her in, her fur shivering.

Kiara and Tom looked at each other, and then Kiara nodded at him as she took off out the door, very nearly slamming into Cylesta, who sidestepped around Kiara who looked at her with wild eyes, "Have you passed by Rune?"
"No, I haven't seen her... What's wrong?"
"I think she might be in trouble. Can you help me look for her?"
"Sure." Cylesta looked into the room, her eyes taking in om and the other three males, as Tom spoke up, his voice quiet.

"What exactly happened in that battle Menis? Near the end?" His voice was serious, letting the other three males know that this wasn't a joking matter.
 
"Ehhh?" The three males would exchange confused glances as they watched the others began to activate like an ant hill before them. Her trauma? Spirals down? The fuck where these crazy people going on about? Then Kiara was gone, and now Tom was starting to interrogate Menis. Seylian's eyes would narrow a bit, clearly not liking Tom's tone at all as he spoke to his friend. "She killed me?" Menis started with a shrug, his voice and face both full of defensive confusion. He did nothing wrong, why was Tom looking at him like he was a criminal? In fact, the tension in the room caused Menis to blank on what she had said to him as he died.

This only served to frustrate Thomas more, who took a deep breath before continuing. "Thats not all Menis! What els-" At that, Seylian stepped forward cutting Tom off by shouting his name. Tom's gaze jumped over to meet Seylian's, the two glaring daggers at one another. "Menis, Thyverian, you are excused, I need to speak with Tom for a moment." Seylian said, thyverian did not need to be told twice and walked about of the room, happy to breathe. Menis was a bit slower, but finally started walking toward the door. Tom instinctively reached out toward Menis, but Seylian managed to intercept him, and the two began grappling with eachother, Seylian managed to get the upperhand and pushed Tom back into the monitors showing the next match that was starting. "You need to stop, Menis hasn't done anything wrong!" Seylian shouted as the door closed behind him. Once Menis was gone, the grey feline stepped back, letting the smaller ginger push off of the monitors as he growled. "You don't understand." Tom started before Seylian interjected again. "I understand enough, Rune's been through hell, its changed her, probably has something to do with trusting the wrong person! I was there, she shouted at Menis for hesitating, and I put her down and shouted back at her. Menis had a hard enough time the first time he actually watched an enemy die from his arrows, there was no way he was going to have an easy time killing a friend upclose!" This clearly anger Tom further, he lunged forward and grabbed Seylian by the scruff of his cloth armor. "You didn't have to yell at her!"
"No! I didn't! And she didn't have to yell at Menis! What she went through wasn't his fault." Seylian said as he grabbed onto Tom's wrist that was grabbing him. "Getting mad at him, blaming him won't change what happened to her. Nor will it make her love you." Those words seemed to just sap all of the anger and strength out of Tom, as Seylian easily pulled himself free from his grip. The two males just awkwardly stared at one another before Seylian walked out of the room and Tom just slumped into a chair.

He was right.

Menis would be wandering through the halls, looking for where Thyverian went from the room
 
Cylesta moved through the halls quietly, her own shadows doing most of the work for her. As such, she easily found Rune, hiding within a storage compartment. She took a breath, scenting he fear within and sent a quick message to Kiara, letting her know she had found her. She opened the door, and stepped in, closing it behind herself, as she realized Rune was curled up into a tiny ball in the darkest corner she could find.
"Rune?"
Silence greeted her, and she sighed, before crouching down and approaching Rune, making sure she could hear her movements. Rune finally looked up at her, and she stopped, stretching out a hand towards her, waiting for Rune to trust her enough to accept the help given.
Rune took a moment to study the pale female, and then swallowed thickly.
Cylesta nodded at her, and then said, "Bury them. All the emotions, into a small box. Lock them up tight, and show me your strength. Then, after the battle, you can open the box. When you are safe."
Rune tilted her head, and finally nodded, as her eyes went blank, all emotions being tucked away into the darkest corner of her mind. he took Cylesta's hand and the two females rose from the floor, Cylesta watching her nervously. Rune took a deep breath, and nodded to her, before they walked out of the storage compartment. Kiara met them outside the door, and sighed in relief. She was about to hug her sister, when she noticed the unnatural look in her eye. She turned towards Cylesta, a question on her lips, but Cylesta shook her head, and Kiara huffed in resignation. the three females headed back to the room assigned to them, and Kiara approached Tom.

Cylesta sent a quick message to Thyverian, Menis and Seylian, letting them know that she had found Rune and that they were all back in the room. She nodded to them, and said, "Rest up, your final battle is up soon, and it seems you guys need to work more cohesively as a team..."
Her words rang out through the quiet room, and she walked back out, heading up and out of the arena. Her palm pad chirped, and she opened the message, grinning at the easy reconnaissance mission given to her. It was almost an insult, but she would allow it.

Within the room, Kiara approached her sister, to try and check up on her. Cold blank eyes met hers, and she knew she would get nowhere, so she sat back down, biting into her jerky. She passed some to Tom, and then looked up as the door opened to the large room.
 
Menis would join end up stumbling upon Thyverian who was taking the chance to snack before the next battle. The white feline would offer his friend a wave upon spotting him. "Hey Menis, how you feelin?" That question seemed to pause the younger male for a moment, before he finally just shrugged. "I don't know, I don't know why everyone is yelling at me, sure I lost but..." He just kinda trails off and shrugs despondently. Thyverian would reach over and place a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I... have no idea whats wrong with Rune, but I don't think you did anything wrong. One way or another we are all going to have to learn to co-exist together." After those words of encouragement, Thyverian would offer Menis a piece of jerky, which the emerald eyed feline would happily accept.

"Yo!" The voice of Seylian would ring out sometime later as the squad joined his favorite subordinates. Looking over at him, Thyverian would offer a piece of jerky. "How'd things go with Tom? I see he didn't decapitate you again." Seylian would scoff at that as he snatched the jerky from his friend. "We had words, and I think I got my point across. Without spilling too many beans, Rune has some... issues and it seems Menis triggered some kind of mental break when he hesitated to finish her in the match." He says before taking a bite out of the jerky, before continuing. "While I did not appreciate her method, she is not wrong Menis. You should not hesitate in a life or death situation like that, I know its not easy, especially up close... Last thing we need is to lose out mascot." He says, ruffling Menis' hair a bit, this manages a small laugh from the younger male. Thyverian was about to speak, but was cut off by Cylesta's message to them. "Hm?" Menis exhaled as he checked the message, "Looks like they found Rune, and everyone is waiting for us back in the waiting room."

"Alright, then lets not keep them waiting, we need to plan for the next match anyway." Seylian said as the three of them turned back toward the room of waiting.


It was not too long before the three men returned to the room, Seylian looked around, quickly noticing the familiar expression on Rune's face. "Do you need to sit this one out Rune?" He asked before heading over to a magic console. Using some hand gestures to tell Menis he needs his help with this since hes not so magically inclined. Menis would scurry over and start working on the magic console as Seylian listened to Rune. Thyverian would remain by the door, arms crossed as he leaned into the wall.
 
Rune shook her head, looking away from him. Kiara glanced at her worriedly, but didn't say anything, remaining quiet. Her sister would do what she did best, close off al emotions, get the mission done, then go off to find trouble.
Rune's quiet voice reached Seylian, "I'll be fine. I do owe Menis an apology though." She turned those emotionless eyes towards him, deep pits of agony, and said, "Sorry for freaking out on you." Leaving it at that, she turned to look at the magic console, and then asked, "Do we know who we are going up against?"

At their answer, she pulled up some info on the other team, and started reading up on old mission reports, and passed info between their palm pads, known weaknesses, and things to look out for for each member of the opposing team.

Kiara read the info quickly, before asking, "Are we going to do this as a big team, or split off into groupings?"
"Probably best in two groups of three or pairs." tom answered, walking in. Rune turned away from him, last thing she needed was him seeing her so empty.
"I think either we do Menis, Thyverian, and Kiara, and then myself Seylian and Thomas, Or, Kiara and Menis, Thomas and Seylian, and Thyverian and I. Either way, the other team likes to hit hard and fast, but after the first couple hits they seem to slow down. If Thomas and Seylian take the first wave, we can easily win this by the second round. Kiara and Menis can remain out of sight and on high enough ground that they can take a target, and Menis can protect the both of them if someone does get to them. Thomas and Seylian can take the first wave, and once they've run out of steam, Thyverian and I can come from behind and pin them in." Rune said, laying out a sound strategy for their win. She looked around at the group, avoiding Thomas as she did so.
"Any suggestions to that?" She asked as she stood up, stiff muscles holding her tense. She wanted this done and over with, so she could find relief, so she could find the pain that would keep her numb.

Up stairs, Cylesta appeared next to her uncle. "Menis hesitated to finish Rune. I don't know how well she's going to do in this last battle, she's slipped into the void to protect herself..."
 
Their opponents would be identified as the Scarlet Knights, a team of Rastarox powerhouses that are known for trampling over battlelines. Some are veterans of the civil war like Melorn, others are up and comers personally trained by these vets. They will be facing two of such veterans, and four of the newbloods.

Leading this team would be Namdrus, a veteran leonkin from the war, who stands at an imposing seven foot six feet tall. Covered in a complete set of full plate adamantine armor. Adamantine being one of most expensive materials in the world, a perfect hybrid of diamond’s hardness, and metal’s flexibility makes the armor as close to indestructible as mortally possible. The complete nature of his armor leaves no openings for bladed weapons to really harm him, making blunt weapons, firearms and magic the only real options for dealing with him. He wields a greatsword in one hand, and a metal kiteshield in the other, making him particularly dangerous. On top of that, he is a seasoned commander, second only to the head of the Scarlet Knights, Lemantu, who is on the sidelines, much like the commander of the Blood Hawks.

The other main threat would be the Leoparkin Ulon, standing at six feet ten inches, he is something of a behemoth of the leoparkin. He uses a weapon commonly known as a mini-cannon, a rather large barreled rifle that fires shells that vastly outclass normal firearms in size and stopping power. Rather than loading clips like most gunners, he has to reload a single large canister round after each shot. He can fire single, massive rounds that can decimate single targets, or special scatter rounds that can wipe out entire squads, and even explosive rounds for bombarding areas. If threatened in melee, Ulon keeps a pair of maces attached to his cannon that he can quickly detach to defend himself. His armor is also adamantine, but is not complete like Namdrus’, there are gaps in it for a bit of extra flexibility, but those openings are protected by mail armor, protecting him from slashing weapons, and somewhat from thrusting strikes.

The other four are not nearly as renowned as these two veterans, you have a young leonkin that wields a large maul hammer, he wears fullplate steel, so a hard target, but not as hard as their leader. A Tigiran who specializes in a large greatbow, with a longsword backup weapon He wears sparse plate armor, protecting vital areas, but allowing him to maintain all of his natural mobility. A Panthean mage who wields a twinblade sword,and specializes in elemental magic, he weirds no obvious armor, but probably has protective magic. A very large Tigiran who uses paired greatshields to combine offense and defense in one, he also wears complete fullplate armor, making yet another hard target.

Seylian watched the more experienced group fire off a round of ideas and put a plan together. That was quick, however he did see one tiny issue with their assessment. Raising one hand in a semi-sarcastic manner, he would wait until Rune or Tom looked his way. "If I may make a humble suggestion." He starts motioning a hand to the console Menis was working on. "Perhaps we can take a look at the map we will be on, and what, if any objectives may be presented." His face only had a mildly smug expression on it as Menis managed to bring up the overland map.


It was much larger than the last few maps they had fought on. Clearly because this was going to be a six versus six battle rather than three on three. Both sides had a small fortress with a single wall layer with battlements and a small citadel resting behind the walls. Two mirrored expanses of grassland leave from the walls of each fortress, feeding into mirroring forests and ending finally at a wide, raging river. A single bridge stands as the only obvious way to cross the large body of water.

“Looks like another capture the flag mission, except this time both sides have a flag.” Menis says as he quickly reads over the briefing that comes with the map. “Looks like there is an antimagic field over the river, thats going to make getting across fun.” Thyverian raises an eyebrow as the young Menis continues to go over their coming mission. “First team to three captures wins, if we die, we will be revived at out base after a thirty second delay.”

“So we cannot just fly, or teleport over the river, we either fight over the bridge, or maybe we can make one?” Seylian responds, getting a nod from Menis. “Any magic that enters the field will cease to function, including enchanted items, once you leave the field they should start working again.”

“So we have a group of high powered, heavy hitters that we have to fight on a single bridge, over a river we are not likely to escape if we fall into. Sounds exciting.” Thyverian added.

“I can’t blast them with my magic arrows through the field, or make us invisible to sneak over.”

“We will likely have alot of trouble taking the bridge, but we do have more guns than them, so maybe that can turn it to our favor. With the anti-magic field, they cannot protect themselves from bullets with magic.” Seylian adds as the newbies ponder over the battle to come.

“We will also need guns on the wall, to protect our flag, just because there is only one bridge, doesn't mean there is only one way across. I think we should split into three groups, one team defends, one team fights on the bridge, the other tries to find another way to cross the bridge.” Tom speaks up, looking over the map.
 
Rune nodded, and Kiara spoke up after Seylian, "I think Thyverian should be one of the flag defenders. He's a tank when needed, and can easily take on an army. I think Menis should also defend. He's got a large range with his weapon, and can take care of the long range, while Thyverian takes on the short range. I could be paired with Thomas, He's good at close combat, and I can cover the long-range if needed, while You," she pointed at Rune, "And Seylian are wildcards. You both are flexible, and can tackle both long range and short range attacks. Rune can leave some clones which each team, which might help in the long run, as we'll have more numbers over theirs."

Her suggestion made Rune nod, and she stood then, "We might do that at first, but we need to keep switching it up. They have two very experienced fighters on their team, which means we need to use everything in our arsenal. Even if it sounds like something really simple, or dumb, we should try it. Anything to give us a leg up." Her voice was an even, cold, and emotionless tone, and Thomas looked her over quickly, "Will you be okay to fight?"
"Yes. We'll get this out of the way, and then I can fall apart. I don't want you guys to worry about me, and get yourselves killed because of it." An inch of emotion bled through her voice, weighing her down as she looked at the team, and then the door closed, her emotions locked away from the light of day. Time would tell if it would help them or falter them in the long run.

The countdown began on a screen above them, and drew their attention to it. Five minutes left. The team took the five minutes to drink a few sips of water, and eat some jerky that Kiara passed out. As time ran out, they walked to their starting position, outside the large metal door, that would begin to slid open at any moment.

Cylesta looked over at the Scarlet Knights dossier, and grinned. She knew Lemantu, and knew he trained his team very well.
"Hell, Uncle Melorn, they are going up against some powerhouses." She looked back at Manus and Demon, and said, "Any bets?"
 
“You know Rune, telling us that you are going to fall apart, does the opposite of making us not worry.” Thyverian says with a bit of a shrug, glancing over at Kiara. “Are we going to need to tie her up after this or something?” He asks, not entirely sure whats going on, but it sounds to him like she means to harm herself.

“Alright boys and girls.” Seylian said after the final countdown started. “We have a mission, and a plan in progress. Lets go do this thing.” He said, leading the group into the the next chamber to to await entry into the battlezone. Menis happily accepted some jerky, giving Kiara a soft smile before starting to gobble it up. The other men also accepted jerky, but seemed a bit more serious due to what was about to happen.

“Yeah, I don’t expect them to win, but if they don’t score a single point, they will be running drills all month.” Melorn said, as the arena began to light up. Magic creating the map that would soon be turned into a warzone. Manus grinned up at Cylesta, “Hawks win, 3-0.” Cylesta would almost be able to feel the side-eye the demon gave his adopted brother under his facemask, “I think the Hawks will win, but you seem to think the Knights will roll over. Its not going to be easy, Hawks, 2-3. I think the Knights are better, but between Rune’s clones, Thyverian’s super… whatever mode, I think they will pull it off.”

As the group was teleported into their fortress, there was a second countdown timer before they would be allowed out. Tom, Seylian, Thyverian, and Menis all glanced back at their flag, and the room to get a feel for what they would be looking for.
“Alright!” Seylian said as the timer ticked down. “Rune, I want you to have some clones using whatever they can find to make a bridge! Then you and I will blitz the bridge and try to get under it! While Tom and Kiara fight them, we will get behind them and make a bee-line to their base! Tom, and Kiara, obviously I want you on the bridge, try to keep their attention while we get by them! Menis give us a haste!” He got all of this out in record time right before the doors opened, to let them out. Menis quickly cast the haste spell, giving every a massive speed boost as they went their ways.

Seylian was pushing himself into overdrive to reach the bridge before the other team. Wish a dash of luck, and a bit of skill he blasted through the forest without incident and managed to get under the bridge before anyone was the wiser.
Tom would move at a brisk pace, to get there before the other team, but not so fast that it was clear that they were magically sped up, no need to get them suspicious. Not long after he got to the bridge, he saw the imposing Namdrus and the greatbow wielding Tigarian behind him. Where they using a similar three person strategy, or something else? Not wasting much time, Tom fired a volley from his two pistols only to have them blocked by that large shield, that was enchanted to block bullets, great. Tom quickly had to duck behind a tree as a lance sized arrow blew past where he was.
“Gonna have to get them to come out over the bridge, no chance we are hitting them through those enchantments.” Guns were so good, but also easily countered by a few spells.
 
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