Alliane bellowed with rage as a third arrow pierced through her sensitive leather wings. With another flap of her giant wings she rose higher into the sky, her eyes set on the small clearing not far from the forest she currently flew over. The band of men below had been chasing her since early afternoon when they had spotted her washing herself in a stream. She barely had enough time to throw the rags she wore over her exposed body, clasp the quiver of arrows on her back and run deep into the forest with her bow in hand before they gave chase. Her clothes were still damp as she soared high into the darkening sky, the varying greens and grays below rushing past as she flew overtop the foliage of the forest.

The sound of horses could be heard below and the whistling of arrows as they were fired in her general direction. The clearing was so close now, it was a place were she could maneuver more easily and actually view her enemies. There was a flash from below and suddenly she found herself rolling to her right to avoid a large ball of fire that had been hurled at her. Another two shot out from below, the first she avoided with ease by rolling again to her right. The second hit her though, engulfing her in a quick blaze before being extinguished by the buffeting winds of her flight.

Alliane descended, viewing the clearing from above. It was only small, but it was large enough for herself to land and view her foes when they came out of the forest. She came down with a wet thump as mud oozed over her feet and almost swallowed her ankle. She didn't bother with the arrows lodged in her wings and instead grasped her bow in hand, knocked an arrow from the quiver on her back and aimed it in the direction from which the band of men would come from.

Raven sighed, slapping a mosquito that landed on her. How had she ended up in the rainforest anyway? Aegis walked along behind her.

"I smell something," growled the wolf.

Raven nodded at the wolf, fitting an arrow to her bow. She looked up, seeing a dragonlike creature fly above them. Arrows flew at the creature, coming from deeper in the forest. Soon, sounds of men shouting met her ears.

The creature touched down near her, and Raven walked over to it, allowing her to catch a better glimpse of it. Raven recognized it for a half-dragon. She ducked behind a tree so as not to be spotted.

The half-dragon aimed a bow at one direction and a group of men ran out into the clearing shouting things and aiming bows at her.

"Shield of Faith!" cried Raven, shielding the half-dragon. The arrows glanced off the shield.

"Are you okay?" asked Raven, turning to the half-dragon.

Alliane flinched as the arrows rebounded off an invisible force no more than a foot in front of her. She had expected the arrows to just glance off her thick hide. The sound of someone approaching behind her caught her ear and she glanced back to see the figure of a woman approach her. Who is she? she wondered to herself, not realising she was open to her second side. She saved you, didn't she? She must like you or me to some extent. Alliane glanced once more at the figure before returning her attention to the twelve men who lined up in front of the forest clearing.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked, obviously concerned.

"Yes, so far we are fine, but I dont think that luck will hold out for long." Alliane replied before drawing back the drawstring on her bow and loosing the arrow in the direction of the men. The arrow smacked flat into a mans left shoulder, making him fall off his steed but far from killing him. "I'm Alliane by the way."

"I'm Raven," said Raven, turning to the half-dragon--Alliane.

She drew back the string of her bow, firing an arrow at one of the men. Aegis sprang forward, pushing one of the men off his horse and growling savagely at him.

"Aegis! Back!" called Raven.

The wolf obeyed, springing back.

"Flame Strike!" cried Raven. Flame shot down from above them, surrounding them. Some of the men...about seven, were able to get away. The other five weren't so lucky. Raven turned to them.

"Last chance to run," she said, fitting an arrow to her bow. If they did choose to run...well, she'd let them. But if they chose to attack, that was a different story altogether.

The men decided it wasn't worth the loss of their lives and began to draw back slowly as the two men who had fallen climbed back upon their horses. Alliane kept her eye on the men as they began to retreat back into the forest. "Last chance to run," Said the woman who had helped her so far. A smile crept across her face at those words.

Alliane watched as the last few men crept slowly into the forest, keeping their eyes on Alliane and Raven in case of an attack. Stepping back, Alliane arched her neck backwards and let out a deafening roar before listening to the men gallop off as fast as they could force their steeds. "Well met Raven. I'm glad you came when you did." Alliane spoke, her voice low and gruff, but easily identified as a womans.

She unfurled her wings and looked at the damage, she grabbed one of the three arrows with a firm grip and ripped it out leaving a few splinters behind. "Well, That hurt a bit." Alliane replied, wincing slightly as she grabbed a second arrow and pulled it through.

Anesuri flew through the sky with his snow-white wings. His red hair shook behind him, being blown in the wind. He was feeling exceptionally spirited today, although it wasn't much to say considered that Anesuri was almost always in high spirits. The wind in his hair made him feel free as he soared through the skies. His white garments rippled in the wind, altogether giving him a sort of majestic appearance. His smile was especially dazzling, for today was just a very good day for him. It was just one of those days that he just loved, there was really no explaining it.

However, his flight was interrupted by a loud shout of some sort. Anesuri looked down, but he was too high to make out what was on the ground. His eyes narrowed as he hovered in the air, the only sound being the constant flapping of his wings. He was tempted to continue flying, but the shout bothered him a bit. He decided that he would check it out, just to see what was going on.

Anesuri slowly drifted through a few clouds, making his way to the area where he heard the sound. Suddenly he saw a figure with rather large wings take off from the ground. He still couldn't quite make out what it was, and so he continued to slowly drift, carefully watching the events that were taking place. His eyes widened as he saw large balls of fire hurling through the air at the being. He quickly flew downwards, but found himself dodging a fireball himself. He wanted to reach the person that was being attacked, but was blocked by arrows. He had now gotten himself caught into something.

Anesuri eventually saw the source of the attacks, a large group of men. And so, he began to fly quickly toward the last place he saw the thing they were attacking. When he reached them, he saw not one, but two people.

"Hey!" he yelled as a flaming arrow above was coming down straight to them. His wings flapped hard as he flew to the arrow.

*Clink*

The arrow's head and Anesuri's staff made contact as Anesuri hovered over the two....ladies? Anesuri turned around to make sure there were no oncoming attacks, but it seemed as though that arrow had been the last. Anesuri turned back around to the ladies, still flapping his wings to float in the air.

"Are you alright? " He asked, now not so worried. But still, he looked to be a bit out of sorts.

Raven smiled at the half-dragon and lowered her bow.

"No problem," she said. She stared at the arrows that Alliane pulled out. Sighing, she cast Heal on the wounds. Suddenly, she heard the telltale whiz of an arrow flying through the air. She looked up, seeing a fire arrow aiming at them. Her mind told her to move but her body wouldn't listen. Suddenly, a staff blocked the arrow. An angel was flying above them.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Raven, "Thank you."

"No problem." The woman named Raven replied as she quickly healed Alliane's wounds with a spell of some kind.

The whirring sound of an arrow flying through the air could be heard clearly in Alliane's ears. Where it came from was the next question, which was soon answered with the flap of wings and the metallic chink as a staff blocked the arrows path. "Are you alright?" Said the angel who had just stopped the arrow from falling on top of their heads.

"Yes," replied Raven, "Thank you."

Alliane eyed the both of them for a moment before speaking, "I guess proper introductions are needed here. I am Alliane, or my human side is. She disapproves of the name I call myself, which is Dorian, but it's easier to call separate people separate names." The thought of sitting down seemed enticing to both the minds of Alliane and Dorian. Looking behind and around them they found a suitable boulder to sit on and talk for a while. Dorian was going to keep her form for a while longer yet, she wanted to know who this angelic being was before she shifted shape.

You know I'm probably going to fall flat on my face because of you now. You know I can't stand the exhaustion you place on me. Alliane argued with herself.

"Seperate people?" Anesuri blurted out, when he had actually meant to just think it. "Hehe." He laughed, that ever-so-fake laugh of his that he used in such situations. Anesori allowed his wings to slow their flapping as he gradually lowered himself to the ground. His staff 'thumped' the ground as he touch down with his feet, and his wings seemed to gently fold around his body. Normally, he would have just withdrawn them into his back, but he wanted to be ready to fly at any time. After all, they had just been under attack.

"My name," he started, "Is Anesuri." He smiled his innocent smile and bowed gracefully to the ladies. As he leaned forward, his wings did the opposite and flapped in a backwards sort of way. As he leaned upright again, his wings folded back around his waist. He looked them both over. There was something about them, he wasn't sure what, but there was something about them. He sensed that they were both good people.

"And you?" Anesuri asked to the other lady who had yet to introduce herself. He wanted to ask why the two of them had been attacked, but decided that it would be more polite to allow the introductions to pass, first.

"I'm Raven," she said to Anesuri. She gestured to the white wolf beside her.

"This is Aegis," she said.

She then turned to Alliane.

"What do you mean 'seperate people'?" she asked.

She'd met half-dragons before--Silnimare, Blaez, and Chrono (+) among them, but neither of them considered their dragon and human sides to be different people...at least, not that she knew of.

"This is Aegis," Raven said, gesturing to the wolf that stood beside her. Dorian waited for the question she knew was coming,"What do you mean 'separate people'?"

Ahhhh, there it is. Why don't you answer them Dorian? Alliane asked smugly as she settled down for the story that would unfold. "Well, it started when Alliane was about eleven." Dorian began, "She tried containing her dragon side for four years because she blamed it for almost everything imaginable. We never knew our father and our mother died at birth. We were picked on and bullied by the kids of our village and shunned from almost every game but those that were more physical than mind."

Dorian looked down, remembering how much the village had hated and despised her. "It's not like we asked to be born like this, into a human inhabitation. We hated it. I also hated how I was contained from ever coming out into the fresh air and so I separated myself from Alliane's mind, making myself an independent." Dorian paused for a moment trying to stay focused on staying awake and not falling asleep through exhaustion. "It was a slow process of separating myself from her mind. A long and arduous one. It was when she was fifteen that I was truly free, well, as truly as one can be inside anothers body."

"So as you can see, because Alliane was ashamed of me, and still despises me after all these years, we have become two separate minds in one body." Dorian released what was left in her lungs and took another breath, forcing herself awake. "And now, I think it is time that I slept. I'm exhausted from today as I've been on the run since the afternoon started." Scales began to drop off her body as she slumped slightly, her wings folding in and disappearing into her back. She closed her eyes and almost fell backwards as the large muscles disintegrated and her skin peeled yet again to reveal smooth baby skin that sagged in places around her body. The change took no more than a few seconds, but it was exhausting.

"Hi, I'm Alliane." She managed to say before falling forward, unconscious.

Raven, what a nice name. Anesuri thought, and Aegis..

Raven hadn't had much to say, but Anesuri listened intently as Dorian began to tell her story. His eyes widened as the sounds of her words entered his eyes, for he almost could not believe what he was hearing. Two seperate minds in one body; that was definitely something that he had never heard of before, not in his entire life. Anesuri almost wanted to cry as he listened to her story, for he felt that no one should be mistreated.

It surprised Anesuri even more as her appearance began to change. At first, Anesuri thought that she had the ability to shapeshift, but he realized that this was not the case. She was merely changing from one of her natural forms to another. Anesuri watched as he physical appearance was altered. He had seen many shapeshifters during his lifetime, but this girl was unique.

Two people in one body...Anesuri thought.

"Hi, I'm Alliane."

As she said this, Anesuri saw her start to fall forward. His wings flapped hard against the air as he shot forward, his feet barely touching the ground. He reached out to grab her to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Hey!" Anesuri said, "Are you alright?" He watched her, wondering if there would be a response. She was rather heavy for him to carry, considering that he was such a small person himself. He struggled to push her back up against the boulder, not really sure what to do next. He looked to Raven questioningly, as if to ask her to help him. He didn't often do these kind of things, for his interaction with people tended to be low. But today was proving to be a rather eventful day, if he could say so himself.

A figure is seen moving through the rain forest, Her pace slower than usual, Her stide much smaller, Her structure seeming to stagger more than walk. She brings a hand out to a tree to her side, Breathing deeply, Her gaze shifts about as she regains her breathe. Her gaze shifts infront of her towards another small kind of lake, Another flooded part of the forrestry.

' Aye...I thought I could feel the mud of this place getting damper again, That I did, I thought I may have been sinking more each time I took a step forwards, That I did. '

She shakes her head slightly, Grimacing towards the flooded region of the forrestry as she slowly enters it, Form standing as she moves through the water, Her standing position soon becoming one of a swimming motion as the water seems to get deeper, Her eyes narrowing on her surroundings as she moves out of the water, her already drenched clothing saturated by the water.

She growls loudly as the water on her clothing seems to weigh her down, Her hand coming to her Ken Tanto as another large poisonous bug swoops down towards her, Sting in the air, She knocks it away, Slicing it in two with a simple swoop of her gleaming blade.

It was only a few minutes before Alliane awoke, startled from a nightmare she was having about her childhood. She tried to move but flinched as pain racked her back and sides. "Ouch." She said as she slowly moved her arms, trying to get mobility back into them. She looked around her, working the muscles in her neck, but aslo surveying the surrounding area. It was a decent sized clearing, not exactly perfectly circular but that was the closest shape that Alliane's mind could put to it. She noticed that the man, or angel, Anesuri was standing close by, as was Raven.

Clenching her fists, Alliane could feel mud ooze in and around her fingers. Looking down she saw she was sitting in mud about an inch or two deep. She gave a small cough and felt the pain arch up her back once again. She knew she would need to sit for a while longer before she would be able to stand again. See, you are fine. With rest you shall be as good as new. Dorian whispered inside of Alliane's mind.

"Shutup. Go away!" Alliane yelled out, her throat was dry and the words felt like sandpaper inside her mouth. She hadn't meant to yell out those words, she had only meant to speak to Dorian. "Sorry," She began, looking up at both Raven and Anesuri, "I didn't mean you guys." The sounds of swarming insects and the nocturnal animals coming out from rest inside the forest caught Alliane's ears. The moon was starting to rise as the last of the suns rays began to tinker out one by one.

Raven stared as Alliane told her story. She had known one person in the past who had two personalities in one body--Kithara. Still, her tale was unique. Then, she transformed back into her human form and fainted. Anesuri caught her, placing her against a rock. She moved over to her, trying to see if she could help in any way. Before she could decide what to do, Alliane awoke.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Shutup. Go away!" shouted Alliane.

Raven stepped back, ready to move away when Allaine apologized and said that she wasn't talking to the two of them.

"It's all right," said Raven.

She looked towards the direction the bandits had run to.

"Looks like they won't be coming back," she said.

"That's alright." Anesuri said in response to Alliane's comment to her 'other' mind. He smiled very kindly as he slowly stood, no longer needing to hold up her body. He felt a feeling of warmness inside of him, mostly because he felt as if he had just done a good deed. Anesuri turned to look into the sky, noticing the sunset that was taking place. Sunset; it was his favorite time of all. Watching this transformation proved each night to be a worthy sight.

"Looks like they won't be coming back," Raven said.

Anesuri turned around and walked forward, for he wanted a better view of the night sky. His eyes glimmered as the sun's rays streamed through the trees horizontally; a sure sign of the sun's resting time. His wings began to slowly move back and forth with gentle sways, until finally they began to beat against the air, causing Anesuri to rise about three feet into the air.

"Beautiful, don't you think?" Anesuri said, speaking of the sunset. Without realizing it, he was slowly ascending into the air, for he wanted a better view as the moon and its million companions began their reign of the sky. His arms pushed through the branches of the trees as he rose. Not much would ever stop him from seeing the sun set and the moon rise. He almost seemed to be in a trance as he continued, eventually hovering above the trees for a wonderful view. Although he had not meant to, Anesuri had nearly forgotten about the ones below; thoughts of the earlier attackers having vanished from his mind.

Alliane gave a slight sigh of relief she never realized she was holding when Anesuri and Raven told her it was all right. She hadn't meant to yell out for them to shut up, she meant to only speak with Dorian, it was just exhaustion that made her unable to think straight. "Looks like they won't be coming back," Raven spoke aloud, Alliane grimaced at the words and looked down, knowing very well that the group of men would be back and that she would have to tell the two so.

There was a slight gust of wind that Alliane felt against her exposed skin before she heard Anesuri speak, "Beautiful, don't you think?" Lifting her head, she saw Anesuri rise up into the air to the tree line and face the rising moon. Anesuri looked somewhat angelic to Alliane as he hovered up there on his beautiful white wings. It was almost as if he were an angel of sorts. She had never met anyone outside the villages in the surrounding areas were she lived, which consisted of humans and halflings, and the stories of angels that were told by the local bards could not even begin to compare with meeting one in person.

"Yes, it's rather magnificent to watch." Alliane replied to Anesuri's question. Alliane watched as the sun fell into the earth and the moon rose from the forest ever so slowly. She would wait until the sun's last rays had been extinguished before she explained to the two who those men were and why they were hunting her, or as much as she was willing to tell. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wincing slightly as they woke up from what seemed like a weeks slumber.

It wasn't long before the last ray of sunlight dispersed from what was becoming the night sky. I think it's time you told them what they have gotten into with you and I. Dorian whispered as Alliane groaned under her breath, wishing that Dorian would just stay quiet for a while. "There's something I need to tell you guys. It's about those men. They're probably going to try an attack either tonight, under the shadows of darkness, or tomorrow. Those twelve were only a scouting party..." Alliane spoke, loud enough for Anesuri to hear. for me. She thought to herself as she looked down, ashamed.

Raven stared as Anesuri flew up into the sky to watch the sunset.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.

Raven nodded in reply, her eyes fixed on the sun's fading rays. Aegis growled softly beside her.

"What's wrong, Aegis?" she asked, placing her hand on the wolf's head.

"Somehow, I don't think it's over,", said the wolf.

Raven shook her head. Aegis was always paranoid. It was pretty much a fact of life already. Still, more than half of the time he was right.

"There's something I need to tell you guys. It's about those men. They're probably going to try an attack either tonight, under the shadows of darkness, or tomorrow. Those twelve were only a scouting party...for me.." said Alliane.

Raven turned to look at her. She seemed t ashamed.

"If you don't mind my asking," began Raven, "Why do they want to attack you?"

Anesuri would surely have continued staring at the sky in his trance had not Allian begun telling her story. He was not too far up to hear her voice, but to understand her words, he lowered himself a bit. It would have been rude for him to continue flying so high while she was trying to speak. He listened intently to her, expecting her to explain the reasons for her being attacked. Instead, she told them that the men would be attacking soon. Now, Anesuri had one thing to say, and one question to ask.

"Well, then I suppose that you will need a bit of help," said the angel with a smile. He was just about to ask his question, when Raven asked it first. Why did they want to attack her? What reason did they have for wanting to hurt someone like her? Anesuri's wings began to retract into his back as he used his shapeshifting abilities, causing him to look much more like a human. From what Alliane had just told him, they would need to be on their guard. Sub-conciously, his grip tightened around the staff in his right hand as he waited for her reply.

Anesuri, on the inside, found the men to be rather disgusting. The mere thought of them made him slightly angry. He felt as if he had found a friend within these two, for they seemed to be good people. Hurting innocents was at the top of Anesuri's 'don't-do' list, and if the men came back to attack these two ladies, Anesuri would be sure to let them know of his displeasement.

"Well, then I suppose you will need a bit of help," said Anesuri.

Raven nodded, turning to Alliane.

"If you need any help, I'd be glad to help you," she said.

She didn't know why those men wanted to attack, but she had a feeling that it couldn't be anything good. Her hand tightened on her bow. If it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they would get. She looked around her at the area. They were surrounded by trees on all sides. Trees made good hiding places for enemies.

"Aegis," she muttered in a low voice, "Be on guard."

The wolf sniffed the ground, immediately alert.

(Hope you don't mind me dropping in)

The men had ran from the incident for quite a way when they stopped.
"That was extremely annoying" said one "just when we had her"
"Bit late now" said another "let's see if her littloe friends gone now"
They turned about and saw a black half dragon leaning casually against a tree.
"when did you get there? How did you sneak up on us?"
"Oh please" said Spyro "you lot are so stupid I doubt you noticed that I've just singed you"
"Huh? You haven't"
Spyro's eyes snapped open and he threw a blast of fire at the front man knocking him down and singing him.
"I have now" he laughed.
The men rushed at Spyro who leaped high into the air above them.
"You missed" he called down atrully dodging several arrows fired at him "your aim is terrible"
He teased the men a bit more before throwing down a fireball hitting several trees and blocking their escape.
"Maybe that should teach you for hunting people who havn't harmed you at all" he said and flew off and over the clearing.

(Sorry I didn't respond earlier guys.)
(Yea, sure. The rp is still open to anyone who wants to join.)

Alliane watched the mud slowly settle in front of her as her fingers sliced through it. She wasn't going to say the reasons as to why she was attacked, that was for herself to know and no one else. Don't you think you can trust them with that? Dorian asked her, it was a voice only Alliane could hear and of late it was becoming irritating. I mean, they did help you with those men. She added before slipping back into an inky darkness inside of Alliane.

"Well, then I suppose that you will need a bit of help." Anesuri said. Alliane didn't want to look up but she gave a slight nod of her head in response to Anesuri's statement. The thought of another being actually helping her for once seemed to please her greatly. Back home, help never came to her doorstep.

It didn't take long for the question to surface, "If you don't mind my asking, why do they want to attack you?" Raven asked, her question echoing inside of Alliane's mind.

Not wanting to really tell of why the men had been after her, Alliane just looked up at Raven, "I'm sorry, that's not something I wish to delve into at the moment." She responded, her voice slightly off as she thought of why.

It was only a few moments before Raven offered her own assistance to Alliane, "If you need any help, I'd be glad to help you." She watched as Raven quickly surveyed the surrounding area. "Aegis, be on guard."

Well, don't just sit there looking stupid, thank them. Dorian all but yelled at Alliane. Snapping back to reality Alliane spoke to both Raven and Anesuri, "I should thank you both for helping me when you barely even know-" Her sentence was cut off short as she heard something in the forest and then saw a red glaze off in the direction where the bandits had fled. "What do you think it is?" Alliane asked the two, indicating the red blaze which was most definitely unnatural.

Anesuri decided that he wouldn't pressure Alliane about the men. If she didn't feel comfortable talking about it, then she shouldn't have to. After all, she had just met himself and Raven; although he and Raven were protecting her. Anesuri would ask her at a later time. For he had to admit to himself that he was curious about why these men were attacking this girl, and he felt the need to know since he was helping her fight back.

As Alliane took notice of the red glares in the distance, Anesuri did the same. Without speaking a word, he shot into the air. It would have almost been surprising as one watched the speed in which he launched. His wings swiftly carried him upwards, for he planned to scout the area in question out.

Being very sure that the men from earlier were returning, Anesuri was very surprised to see a figure flying in the air. Anesuri did not think it was possible that one of the men were flying, but he still held out his staff as he continued. They were getting closer and closer, for Anesuri was slightly under the other flyer. He was coming upwards at the thing at an angle, so it was possible that it had not seen him. As Anesuri came into close range, flying at incredible speed, he attempted to close-line it with his staff, and hold it down by the throat, not knowing if his plan would work.

Raven turned her head, staring at the red glares. Those were definitely not natural. She looked up, seeing Anesuri flying overhead. Part of her contemplated shifting her form and flying up there as well. She sighed. Better just leave things to Anesuri. There might be trouble on the ground.

She looked up, seeing something coming at Anesuri. Suddenly, she smelled something. Turning her head towards the glares, she saw smoke rising through the forest.

A fire? she thought, turning to Alliane.

"Do you see that?" she asked.

Without a single word spoken, Anesuri shot into the air. The beating of his wings sending small gusts of air towards the ground. Staring at the blaze that was now flickering from a dull red glow to a bright orange, Alliane almost stumbled with surprise as she realised that it was a fire. The wind was coming from the direction of the blaze and with it came the smell of burning. If that spreads, we better high tail it out of here Dorian whispered. Alliane ignored the comment, knowing very well that she wouldn't have the energy to flee if the fire did come after them. "A fire?" Alliane asked questioningly under her breath.

"Do you see that?" Raven asked. Alliane looked into the sky were Anesuri was heading for and noticed a second figure. Looking around she saw her bow and grabbed it, getting it ready just in case. It was always better to be prepared than not and with that in mind she pulled an arrow from her quiver and set it in the bow.

"I think we'd better be prepared." Alliane spoke to Raven, "I can't stand for long yet, but I can still shoot from this position."

----------------

Elsewhere in the forest the bandits were down one man. The twelve had become eleven as the dragon creature had pretty much incinerated their comrade. With four wounded and a fifth with an arrow in his shoulder, the group were demoralised. One of the men pulled out a horn as a fire errupted in front of them, blocking their escape route. The man blew the horn three times and not far from were they were, the cascading sound of a drum roll could be heard. "Wont be long now men!" He yelled out, "We'll just stay put here and try and douse the fire." At the man's words, several men jumped off their horses and began to use what little magic they possessed to extinguish the fire.

Spyro barrel rolled in mid air casually so that Anesuri missed him.
"You missed" he commented lightly "how did I know you were going to do that, oh yeah I can read your mind, shame I win again"
He hovered in midair with a cheeky little smile playing on his face.
"Don't suppose you're anything to do with the idiots down there in the middle of bieng fried?" he asked "oh whoops hang on, hell why would you, you're an angel never mind"
Spyro flipped backwards and decended to the ground landing behind the two others.
"Before you start" he said "no I'm not trying to attack you, yes I did start the fire, and no it's not going to spread I'm making sure of that"
He drew in his wings and turned back into his full human form.
"Spyro nice to meet you" he said.

Anesuri didn't fly far past the dragon-like thing, in fact he stopped right behind him. Apparently, this guy could read his mind. Anesuri knew that he must be using a spell to do this, but there had to be something else. A telepathy spell could allow the dragon to read his surface thoughts, but not everything that was going on in his mind.

Still, Anesuri hovered in the sky as the guy flew to the ground, and then Anesuri did the same. Anesuri eyed the guy carefully as both of their wings drew into their backs. Anesuri heard the man introduce himself, obviously speaking only to the ladies. The angel took a few steps forward and stopped, intent on making sure that there was no funny business going on.

"If you're an ally of those men, then you'd better not even try anything funny. If you do, your defeat will be inevitable." Anesuri did not look much like his normal, happy self at this moment, for now was a time of battle. He turned and looked at the forest fire, and he could hear the shouts of the men. He began to concentrate and focus as he listened to the men coming near. As soon as he saw one of the men hiding within the trees ahead, Anesuri took off running, heading into battle with his staff held tightly in his right hand.

Spyro looked up annoyed.
"Why would I trap them in a fire if I was their ally?" he retorted "you should really never learn to judge a book by its cover"
Spyro ran after the angel not wanting to miss any more action.
"How's about a little light show to entertain us"
He said blowing a spark into his hand and forming it into a fireball, he threw it at the trees the men were hiding behind and they leaped backwards in fear.
"Gotya" he laughed drawing his sword "en guard"

Alliane watched as the man and Anesuri landed near Raven and herself and introduced himself as Spyro. "And I'm Alliane." She responded, a bit cautious of the man who seemed to be of the same kind as herself. His transformation from dragon to human seemed to have less affect on him as it did Alliane. He is just like us. Dorian whispered excitedly while Alliane tried to quieten her. She could feel Dorian wanting to come back out and talk, but she wouldn't allow that, she couldn't.

Alliane heard the sounds of a horn blowing in the distance, a sound much too familiar with her own village. Listening hard, she heard the responding drum roll and looked on to where the sounds had come from. "If you're an ally of those men, then you'd better not even try anything funny. If you do, your defeat will be inevitable." Anesuri spoke to Spyro. Looking at Anesuri, Alliane noticed his smiling face wasn't exactly all smiley. It had been replaced with something that she had seen before, but couldn't quite grasp the word for it's emotion.

In a matter of seconds Anesuri was running towards the trees, probably intent on the men who would be revealing themselves at the surface of the woods. Spyro didnt take long to make up his mind and follow either. Alliane looked at Raven, "I think those men are a distraction for something else." She spoke, turning around to survey the other sides of the clearing where an attack could come from.



Deeper in the woods a small regiment of men stood and watched as what was left of the twelve men were once again sent into battle. It was by far an unfair thing to do, but the commander needed to see who, or what their female friend had befriended in the past two days. They would never be spotted from where they were, as long as their magician kept up the blanket of protection that shielded themselves from sight by all but the most powerful of mages.

"A distraction?" asked Raven, turning to Alliane.

She looked around her, staring at the forest. The trees would make ideal spots to hide.

"A distraction for what?" she asked.

Somehow, she got the feeling that there was something Alliane wasn't telling them. Aegis growled softly, making her guess that he felt it too.

Anesuri turned his head as he ran to speak to Spyro, "I don't judge. It's called being cautious." Anesuri had now entered the trees, and was headed straight for two men he could see. He yelled back at the Spyro once again, "Being judgemental is ignorant, and for those of few years. My many years have taught me much different." Anesuri smiled, for he knew that it would sound strange because of his young appearance. He was also smiling because he could tell that Spyro had good intentions.

"Aggghhhhh!" The yell of two men came as Anesuri neared them. It was like a battle cry as they charged the little angel. One was carrying a sword, and the other a flail. But Anesuri had no problem in stopping both of their attacks at the same time with his staff. And so, there they stood, the men's sword and flail slammed into his staff as Anesuri held it up with both hands.

Then Anesuri pushed his staff forward so that the men were pushed back. They seemed surprised at his strength, but still, they could tell he wasn't quite as strong as they were. And so, they charged him again. Anesuri knew that he wasn't the physicall strongest fighter, but that didn't mean anything to him. Anesuri ducked under the strike of the swordsman and brought his staff up to strike him in the back. Then the flail-carrier swung at him. Anesuri blocked the strike, and then ran under the man's arm, delivering a powerful strike to the neck from behind. The angel looked around, but he could see no more men at the moment, except maybe the ones Spyro might have been heading for. And so, Anesuri's wings spread out of his back, lifting up the cloak which covered his bare back. He flew up into the sky to look for any more men, and to check for any more dangers.

"Right then" said Spyro accending into the air "that's them done and duplicated, now then what else is there"
Using his supirior dragon sight he looked about.
"Nobody that I can see" he said "and trust me I can usually see for miles"
He decended again into the clearing stowing his sword away.
"But I'll tell you something else, I can sense other minds hidden nearby aside from ours, somebodies keeping watchies on us"

"A distraction? A distraction for what?" Raven asked, looking around at the trees the same as Alliane. It didn't take her long to spot two other small groups of men at different points of the small muddy clearing. They were deep in the forest and the thick canopy's overhead probably shielded them from sight of those above.

She heard someone behind her and glanced back to see Spyro, her ears caught the last of his sentence, "...somebodies keeping watchies on us." Alliane decided to ignore the comment and warn them both of the men she had spotted.

"Maybe that's why, but i doubt it." Alliane whispered silently to the two of them, nodding towards the two groups that were on either side of the clearing opposite to where Anesuri and Spyro had fled to. There were four on one side and another three on the other. That only makes up to nine from what I can tell. Three less than the scouting party we encountered before. Dorian whispered. Alliane suddenly grabbed two arrows from her quiver and stuck them in the ground so that she might grab them more easily after each shot. "This is probably a test of some sorts, to see what our strengths or weaknesses are."

Gripping her bow tighter, Alliane raised it, aiming for the three men off to one side. She drew back the drawstring and let it loose, watching as one of the men fell only seconds later with an arrow in their calf. The man was probably biting down on some leather strap to stop from screaming in pain, but Alliane didn't bother to think on it as she grabbed the shaft of an arrow sticking out the ground and put it to her bow. She aimed again and hit her second target somewhere in the lower torso, making the man buckle over with pain.

----------------------

A storm could be heard not far away from where they stood. The light which the moon supplied would soon be blanketed by the clouds that were gliding in slowly. The reasonably clear and starry night would be replaced with that of clouds bucketing down rain to churn the ground up into a more deeper slush of dirt and water.

A man on a warhorse watched inside the safety dome that the mage had created as a man ran into battle and took out the two men who had advanced just nearby. Another followed closely behind him but soon returned to the center on wings that sprouted from his back. The other man also spread wings from his back and took off into the sky, obviously deciding to stay there and look for danger instead of landing back in the middle of the clearing. "More demons." The man spat, his voice not even bothering to disguise his hate for these two new men.

As Anesuri listened to Spyro, he was watching the area carefully while flying near the top of the trees. From what the dragon had said, there were others nearby; obviously hiding. At first, Anesuri wasn't sure what to do, but he decided that he would follow his heart. Fighting was not his thing, and he was going to do this the right way. With that, Anesuri tossed his staff high into the air, and then held up his right hand. Suddenly a fierce wind began to blow from behind him, and the staff began to burn. The fire that was created reflected in Anesuri's red eyes, causing them to shine brightly like mirrors in the sun. The burning staff was slowly burned to ashes as the wind held it into the air.

After relieving his spell, Anesuri let the ashes fall to the ground. He believed that a fight could be avoided, and he was about to give his plan a try. He flew back to Alliane, and landed near the two ladies.

"It would seem that they intend to do battle." Anesuri tossed the red hair out of his eyes, "We should try and make peace with them. It may save a few lives."

Anesuri was not naive, but he believed that fighting was never the best way to solve a problem. The two men he had taken care of earlier were people he didn't really consider to be a problem, and the best way to make peace seemed to be to just take them out. However, he now realized that there were others. Anesuri did not want to charge them in battle, but instead offer a treaty of sorts. It was always possible that there was a misunderstanding, and if they would not comply, then a battle there would be.

Raven fit an arrow to her bow as Alliane began shooting. She drew back the string, scanning the trees for the attackers. Spotting one man, she fired at him. He cried out as her arrow hit.

"It would seem that they intend to do battle." said Anesuri, "We should try and make peace with them. It may save a few lives."

"I don't know if these guys are the type who will listen to reason," said Raven, fitting another arrow to her bow as three men ran into the clearing, swords out.

Spyro shrugged.
"Sorry buddy boy but there's no chance of that" he said "there minds are hard to read but I can tell they won't want to settle for a truce within the next 50 zillion melleniums, and pretty much most of us will be dead by then so no luck there then"
Spyro blew fireballs into each hand and rose into the air twirling slowly leaving a tail of spiral flames behind him.
"It's a little long ranged so hold onto your heads"
He clapped both hands together and the fireballs shot out of his hands orbiting round each other leaving another long tail of flame, the first one had faded and 5 meteres in the second on began to fade too.
"Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work, Please work, please work, please work" Spyro said without the slightest sign of muddling the words up.
The spinning fireball hit the area where the figures stood exploding and sending most of them flying but the mages stood there ground and the fire harmed none of them.
"Clever cloggs" cursed Spyro.

(Spyro, could you please read what is happening. There are three men left on one side of the clearing, not one of them being a mage. I'm assuming then that your fireball hit the ground and sent the three men flying off in different directions. I'm not upset or anything, I'd just like you to read who is where and what they are doing.)

Alliane put the third arrow to her bow as Anesuri landed nearby, speaking to herself, Raven and Spyro. "It would seem that they intend to do battle. We should try and make peace with them. It may save a few lives." Looking back at Anesuri, she could see that he much preferred talking things over than fighting. She looked back at the men to see only three remained on the side where there had been four and a single man still stood just inside the tree-line on the other side of the clearing were she had shot down his two comrades.

"I must agree with Raven," Alliane began, "These men aren't here to talk peace but to fight and kill." Her face became sombre as she loosed her third arrow and watched as it flew into the throat of the third man. She felt bad for killing these men, they had only been following orders which they couldn't resist for risk of being branded as traitors. Her mind quickly relaxed slightly and she heard the yelp of glee from deep inside as Dorian began to surface.

"Stay down." Alliane whispered under her breath as the three men who had been charging at the small group were thrown in various directions because of an explosion of some kind. She looked up and saw that it must have been a result of Spyro's own magic. Looking around she couldn't see anyone else in the clearing.

You took down three, Anesuri two, Raven one and Spyro three. It's still three less than the scouting party. Dorian spoke to Alliane.

At this, Alliane looked around the clearing, trying to spot the missing three men. Clouds were starting to draw over the light cascading down on the clearing like a veil over a window blocks out the sunlight. "There will be three more men before the main surge comes forth, but I doubt that the main attack will happen until darkness completely envelopes the entire surroundings." She spoke aloud for all to hear, ducking her head in shame for not telling these kind hearts that helped what they had gotten into.

Anesuri listened to what they had to say, and sighed slightly. Of course they didn't want to talk it out. It was always easier to just fight. Down through the years Anesuri had learned that peaceful dealings could have more effects than most thought. But people never changed, and most mindsets were universal. It all just reminded him of how hard his way of life really was.

This put him in a bit of a bind, for he refused to attack the others without talking to them first. Unless, of course, they really did prove to be closed to peaceful talk and the like. Then he would force them to talk. And so, the angel beat his wings to lift off of the ground and flew forward. He flew low and close to the earth so as to keep from being within direct sight. He also flew with extreme speed, his very large wings enabling him to do so.

As he flew forward, he scouted for any others hiding in the trees. When he saw one to his left, he turned to go towards them. But as soon as he turned a pain shot through his right wing. Anesuri fell to the ground, but landed on his feet. His hand reached over to grab the injured wing as it folded in close to his body. Anesuri looked and saw that an arrow was potruding from his wing, and he cringed, for he knew that he would have to pull it out. He first broke the arrow end, then he flapped his wing hard to make the other side fall out. Still, it hurt immensly, for his wings were quite sensitive.

He quickly began performing the heal spell on his wing, but at this time he was now open to attack. Regardless, he continued forward, determined to find the leader of these attacking men.

*A large silver dragon fell from the sky,due to him being struck by a spear by one of the men.The dragon was Yondor Silvoro a half-dragon knight.

Yondor changed back into his human-form.Yondor inhaled and outhaled heavily.He looked around at the group,but remained silent.He focused on his powers and his dragon wings and tail released from his body.He hovered over the ground about 4feet and charged at two men.He withdrew his flail and longsword.Both men moved out of the way and jumped on Yondor's back.Yondor didn't hesitate.He flew up into the sky until nearly a couple feet from the clouds.The oxygen got thin and the two men begain to wheeze softly.They withdrew their swords and started slashing at his back.

Yondor released his body and trusted it with gravity.Soon his body encased in fire.The men couldn't take any more.Their weapons fled away from them,their clothes began to tatter and rip,and their armors signed and burned.Yondor was use to this sort of heat and intensity.

The blazing meteor of body made impact with the ground,creating a small crater afterwards.

A man approached from behind.Yondor swung his mighty tail at him and struck him with his flail.Yondor's eyes went silver.*