"For heinous criminal acts and attemped murder of our king, you are hereby banished to the wastelands for life." "But I didn't do it!" the guards unlocked the chains "Sure you didn't, now nighty night!" the guard whacked Rallika to the head with his cudgel. He fell down and the guards laughed. "Let that be a lesson to you!" "But..." Before Rallika could finish the captain and his bodyguard rode off "I didn't do it"

For an hour Rallika has benn wandering the wastelands and he was severely dehydrated. He couldn't take it anyore and collapsed. He awoke to see someone in his face "Whoa!" He shuffled up against the wall to see who this person was.

Raamsees watched from a distant perch as a, what appeared to be, demon was knocked over the head by a small barrage of guards. "Hum...," he said from his perch as he began stroking each of his individual nine tails,"those of nobility usually don't travel out to these parts without purpose." Driven mostly by alarm and somewhat by a sense of instinct he jumped from his perch to go do a little investigating of his own. Raamsees quickly headed out towards were the demon had appeared to have fallen.

Upon reaching the fallen demon, Raamsees began to chant some ancient lore of a long forgotten tongue. Apparently this was a healing spell as it involved several healing herbs he had gathered along previous adventures. The spell eventually set in as he watched the demon half rise before saying, "Whoa!" to the nine-tailed figure that stood before him. Raamsees stared at him with a slight look of disbelief because he had never truly seen a demonic being. "Hello,my name is Raamsees Silvermoon," he said with a trustworthy smile.

The desert at this time of day was a hot, barren wasteland. As far as the eye could see there was only sand. Crossing the desert was one of the hardest parts of any journey. There was no food and no water--no shelter until one reached Angband, which wasn't really shelter at all. This was why the Atani had opted to fly across the desert--she wanted to cross it as fast as possible. And that was why she was now flying above the Anfauglir Desert, in the form of a falcon.

But the advantages of flight did nothing to alleviate the desert heat, noted Shaye as the sun beat down her back. She scanned the ground below her, looking for somewhere to rest. A group of guards met her eye. They appeared to be carrying what looked like a demon. After knocking him out, the guards left.

Now things were getting interesting. A nine-tailed fox appeared, healing the demon. Shaye circled them, keeping her eyes fixed on them. After a while, curiousity got the better of her and the Atani flew downwards, landing near them. As soon as she felt her feet touch the hot sands, she transformed back into her normal form.

The girl walked over to them.

"Hello," she said, "Do you need any help?"

Upon seeing a falcon becoming a human and a 9-tailed being in front of him he wonders why they were staring at him. "What?" He then realised he was healed. "Uhh, which one of you healed me? Usually people run from me when they see my aura. I have no idea what colour it is and no idea why everyone looks so freaked but I see myself as human." Now he was babbling "Sorry, I'm not that good at meeting other people. I'm Rallika. I have no idea why I have been abondoned out here and is this wall my back is against real or what cause I can't see it." Again he was babbling and moving off the topic in question.His sub-conscious mind was yelling "Man, how dense are you? Stop the babbling and shut up!" Suddenly Rallika fell backward and hit the sand hard. He leaned forward and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "May I ask for your names?"

Dama panted as he wandered through the scorching desert, his pads becoming singed by the hot desert sands. He had been wandering through Anfauglir for many days now, just barely finding enough water to sustain himself. He had trouble finding shelter; nor would any towns really help with his situation, considering his immense size.

Eventually, he was able to detect a small group off in the distance. From the smell, he could tell there were three among the group. He wondered if they might have any food or water among them that could aid him.

Dama slowly headed closer to where the group was gathered.

Shaye stared as the demon began babbling. He was obviously either nervous or excited, which wasn't surprising considering that he was in the company of a nine-tailed fox and a shapeshifter. She heard him introduce himself as Rallika. Somewhere in the middle of his talking he fell backwards, hitting the sand.

The demon gave a nervous laugh, leaning forward. He turned to them.

"May I ask for your names?" he asked.

"My name is Shaye," replied the shapeshifter, "And he is the one who healed you."

She gestured at the fox.

"I just arrived now."

Suddenly, she heard loud footsteps. The Atani turned, seeing a giant vulpine heading towards them.

What on earth... she thought, watching him.

"As I clearly stated before, my name is Raamsees Silvermoon.", saying to the demon as he curiously watched the other arrivals' faces and advances. "I wandered upon our dear demon-looking friend while gathering rare herds for my healing spells, but seems that he seems somewhat shaken from what ever occured to him." he states aloud to the gathering group as he rises from his prone position.

Placing his finger tips bearly to the grains of the sands, Galor feels the sudle vibrations that the sands emit from the thundering foot steps of a large being; raising from the sands he presses over the sand dunes using his staff to navigate on ward. As he reaches the top of the last sand dune, he begins to hear multiple voices in the lower spand of the desert sands, "It is very strange to find so many gathered in this near lifeless sea of sand!", he shouts to the group as a gust of wind sends his battered cloak flapping and forming to the shape of his body.

"Great" Rallika got up "Thank you Raamsees for healing me. I hope you 3 don't mind a little investigating? I'd like to find out why I have been dumped out here. So uhh why are you in this desert?" An arrow flew past Shaye's head "Arrow fire! Find cover! Thank god we're near some ruins! Folow me!" Rallika ran off and drew his swords, blocking any arrows that fly at him. He slid behind some broken wall and called the others with his hand. "Come on!" An arrow went through his hand "Argh!" He incanted something and the wound healed but left a scar. Rallika took further cover.

Dama licks his lips at the thought of the water the travellers might have on them, travelling a bit closer to the group. It would certainly be a welcome change from the constant thirst he had been dealing with for the past 2 days. He earperks as he hears a voice shouting out from the distance.

Just as Dama is about to head in further, he sees a flurry of arrows headed for the group. "What in the world...?" He watches more carefully now, taking care to stay out of the fire.

Shaye cursed softly as an arrow flew past her head. The shapeshifter drew her katana, glancing left and right for the archers. More arrows flew at them.

"Into the ruins!" she yelled to the other two, running back. She heard a whizzing sound behind her. The shapeshifter ran to the side as an arrow hit the ground. She winced as another arrow grazed her arm, blood oozing out of the small scratch.

Shaye crouched behind a wall, her sword at her side. She peered over the edge, seeing a group of archers firing at her.

"What's going on?" she asked Raamsees and Rallika.

"I don't know! It might be bandits but these arrows look poison tipped. Wait a minute, poison tipped?! Oh god!" The poison began to burn horrible and turn his skin black. He fell on his side and kicked his legs, screaming. He attempted to incant his healing spell again but failed, unable to stop screaming in pain. Some of the attackers left from their cover and drew their blood swords. Finally after healing himself Rallika saw their swords "They aren't bandits that's for sure! Something sinister perhaps." One attacker approached everyone in the area, sword in hand. "Get ready for a big fight!" Rallika swung his longsword at his opponent, got on his longsword hand , spun around and slashed at his opponent, knocking him down. Rallika flipped back on his feet and stabbed down.

Katsushiro felt the salty ground around Angband crackle under his claws as he walked in the shade of the walls. He had entered for some supplies, and having replenished them, he left as quickly as possible. The scum in that city would as soon sell you something as stab you after you left. As he rounded a curve, he heard shouts, and the telltale wiz of arrows. One lodged itself in the sand at his feet. Not unnerved in the slightest, he quickly looked around for a shelter from the barrage. Seeing a ruins a few yards away, he sprinted for it, a shoddy arrow bouncing off his scaled arm. Flipping himself over a low wall of the ruin, he landed on the ground behind it, sword drawn. Looking around, he saw several other creatures taking shelter, one having just felled an opponent...

Rallika turned his head to the newcomer "Well don't just stand there, get over here and cover me! I'm going in!" Rallika knocked down another opponent and charged at the main group. Rallika let off a series of swipes and impaling stabs. He flipped backward and got hit in the right knee from a poison arrow. He knelt down and cringed. The poison was immediately taking effect. "I need help here! Someone come quick!"

Shaye got up as one man charged at her with a sword. She blocked it, dodging his next attack. The shapeshifter deftly swung her katana around, slashing the man and killing him in effect. Shaye aimed her next strike at a second man, slashing his head off with the deadly sword.

She heard Rallika say something about poison-tipped arrows. Shaye cursed softly, feeling the small scratch caused by one of the arrows start to burn. She thrust her sword into another man that came at her. There was no time to worry about the poison now. Hopefully, the wound had been too small to allow much poison in. Right now, all that mattered to the shapeshifter was getting this attack over with.

Cursing himself for his slowness, Katsushiro quickly drew his sword, and felled an oncoming adversary. Getting into a corner of the ruin for a moment, he focused, allowing his Fear spell to take effect. Jumping back over the wall, he charged towards the enemy, his sword ready to strike. He knocked down one opponent, before an arrow found its mark in his lower stomach. Taken aback at the sudden blow, he staggerd back, falling over the wall. The demon had said something about poison in the arrows, but it was having an odd effect on him. He felt rather drowsy. Shaking his head, the repelled an attack from a warrior, and kicked him over. The drowsiness kicked in again, and this time was harder to shake off. I need to splash myself in something.... Another arrow flicked off his scales, and he nearly toppled over...

Raamsees stood motionless for a few seconds as arrows began shooting by his head. He had heard the demon say that they were poisonous just as he and the others began to flee for cover. He quickly snapped back into reality as an arrow lodged itself into his foot. He let out a vicous growl as foot soldiers gathered in on him from his left flank. He drew his Katana and began kicking at the sand surrounding himself in a heap of dust. The guards stood their ground; preparing themselves for what ever would come out of this dense fog. "Insolent fools!," Raamsees shouted as he leaped from his cover leaving each soldier in a pool of blood at his feat.

He began to stagger as he ran for some nearby cover. As he leaned against a wall he began chanting that same spell he had done only moments ago. To his sucess, it worked and as he withdrew the arrow his wound closed leaving only a minor injury. " Nothing a little magic can't solve." he said to himself as he sheathed his sword and began trying to strategically plan his next move. He growled to himself wondering why he had not thought of this before. The answer to nullifying these arrows was all around him in each of these very stones. He focused all of his energy into the matter at hand, deeply hoping the others could hold out just a little longer. His boby began to transform into that of stone and he increased almost two times in height as he formed the very being he had just thought of,... "THE STONE GOELOM."

He leapt over the walls that now looked like a mere obstacle. " Get behind me!" he shouted to the others as he charged forward at the on-coming mass. Each soldier's face turned pale as they saw the towering giant coming towards them. Arrows bounced off of Raamsees left and right as he began sweeping his arms wildly at the ground sending bodies flying in every direction. Deep in the back of his mind, he began wondering what would happen next; knowing that he couldn't stay in this form forever.

The sudden transformation of the shapeshifter somewhat awoke Katsushiro. "I'm, fighting too!" he said, mainly to himself, as he lept over the wall, renewing fear, and running in the wake of the golem. The soldiers were in state of panic, and only a few more arrows wizzed past Katsushiro as he swung his sword left and right. Reaching the Golem, Katsushiro succesfully felled several archers, relieving some of the arrow problems. The drowsiness was still kicking in, but the heat of the battle was keeping him awake. He couldn't afford to fall asleep. Not now, not here. Deciding to try and shock the troops into retreat. Shifting into his full dragon form, Katsushiro gave a deafening roar. Now faced with a golem and a dragon, some of the soldiers began a retreat. Bolder ones charged in, poking and slashing at the two titans. Katsushiro felt several more arrows enter his wings, and he swiped his claw at the archers, knocking them over. He felt the dragon form beginning to fade, leaving only a wounded half-dragon on the battlefield....

Shaye watched in surprise as the nine-tailed fox shifted his shape, changing into a stone golem.

Another shapeshifter? thought Shaye, surprised. She snapped herself back to reality. Raamsees might have stopped the archers, but there were still swordsmen in the area. She blocked the strike of another swordsman, noticing that her whole arm was numb now. It wouldn't be long before the poison spread through the rest of her body.

The shapeshifter ran her katana through the man, running forward just as Katsuhiro transformed into a dragon. Some of the men began to flee. Others charged forward, attacking Raamsees and Katsuhiro with their swords.

Shaye ran forward, intending to support them as best as she could. She ran quickly up to the archers, slashing at them with her katana, but not before one of them hit her with the arrow. She cried out in pain. The poison was flowing freely through her blood now. She could feel her arm, leg, and most of her body starting to feel numb.

Shaye grit her teeth as Katsuhiro returned back to his normal self. The battle wasn't over yet.

The shapeshifter swung her sword someone clumsily at another man, killing him. She was beginning to see blurred images. She fell to her knees, her head swimming. She was pretty much covered in blood, some from the enemy, some from her own wounds.

The shapeshifter forced herself to her feet. She had to try to stay awake. She had to fight!

Those were her last thoughts before she fell over, unconscious.

Katsushiro saw another warrior run up, slay several soldiers, and then fall to the tranquilizing poison.Must...stay...awake... He parried a swordsman's blow, knocking him over with a punch. His claws could still work as well as his sword. Sheathing it, he grabbed another swordsman's sword, feeling its edge start to cut into his scaled hands. He threw the sword away, and knocked out the swords man with several swift punches. His fists felt cold. His whole body felt cold. He too could no longer resist the effects of the poison. Katsushiro fell to the ground, unconcious. As he fell, he feigned death, hoping the soldiers would think him dead. I hope these aren't the kind that hew fallen enemies he thought as his eyes shut...

No matter how many he killed, it seemed there were hundreds more to replace them. He watched as both Shaye and Katsushiro fell from the effects of the poison. "I must act quick," Raamsees said as he flung back yet another barrage of soldiers. He growled as others began to move on he and his fellow comrades. "Stay away from them!" he shouted as one soldier had already began to move over Shaye and Katsushiro in an attempt to kill them here and now.

With another ferious growl, Raamsees pounded his fists the in the direction of the oncoming mass. This sent forth a huge shockwave of energy as his fists slammed into the sand. He then looked back at the man under his feet--the one who was trying to kill his dear friends-- whom now stood petrified with horror. "I'll show you death!" he said as grabbed the man by his gut with both of his massive hands and ripped him in half. Raamsees' body was begining to feel worn and his vigor spent. He knew it would be only a matter of time before he could change back to his true form. He pounded his fists in one final effort to provide time for him to heal his friends. This sent forth one final shockwave that sent countless others flying into thin air upon impact.

Almost as if on que, his body suddenly changed back to its true form and he knew he most act quickly. He hurried to both of his comrades sides and performed his healing arts on their bodies in an attempt to revive them from their mental state of relapse. "I hope this works" he said as the new slew of soldiers quickly approached: not knowing how much longer he could hold out without his two fellow companions. He strained himself to his feet and gave a slight smirk as fresh soldiers came in from a forward mass. "Come get your beaten." he said as he charged at them with his katana in hand.

"Kitsune-san, I think the poison effects shapeshifters faster than others," Katsushiro said as he was awoken by Raamsees. Still groggy from the poison, Katsushiro wobbled as he stood up, then drew his katana confidently, and dealt a glancing blow to an approaching soldier. "So," he asked casually, "Any clue as to why these soldiers appear out of the desert and start flingin arrows at us?" He ducked as a warrior sliced at him, but was not quick enought to dodge the next blow, which slammed into his side. Wincing, he knocked his attacker over, and continued to fight, despite the free flow of blood from his side. I...must not...give in...to pain... he thought as he swung his blade again...

Rallika fell unconscious to the poison and woke later with many cuts and gashes. He shook his had and saw a few of his comrades down. He panicked and got up, looking around. He saw some of the others alive and ran toward them. More soldiers approached , swords drawn. "What are they, soldiers of the undead?" "Get the demon and the shapeshifters! The rest will die!" "What the?" Rallika saw many of the enemy heading toward his comrades. "Damn!" Rallika slashed the heads off the 3 soldiers who approached him and ran, yelling "They're of the undead! We have to get out of here!"

"Retreat?!' shouted back Katsushiro upon hearing the demon's words. 'Retreat' was not a word he generally used, and he continued to slash down soldiers, even as they rose again. "If they're undead, we just need to find the lich or necromancer controlling them. He can't be more than a quarter mile away!" And saying this, he flew into the sky, scanning the area. A few arrows launched at him as he flew, but they all fell short. "Where are you?..." muttered Katsushiro, finding no sign of a lich or necromancer. "Must be in Angband," he muttered again, as he flew back towards the ground. An arrow suddenly hit him in the left ring. Luckily he was only a few feet off the ground, but he toppled and crash landed...

Kiara crouched behind a ruined pillar close by watching as the fight unfolded. She had one of her katanas in her hand and her tail swished back and forth as she looked around. Suddenly she saw some of the fighters falling, as if they were just tired.
"Poison...thats no fair." she thought.
Suddenly a clanking of armor behind her alerted her to some newcomers. She quickly glanced behind her and saw a couple men sneaking up on her. A quick glance back to the field saw a rather young shapeshifter suddenly fall. The demon she really didnt care about. They were sturdy creatures, but atani, they were human in body and were rather susceptle to death.
She quickly leapt up into the air, and flipped to gain some distance.
She landed in the soft sand, drawing her second katana and bounded through several fighters, passing another shapeshifter. Arrows zipped around her, but she was much faster than a normal human. What she had to make up for in loss of flight was with an increase in speed and agility.
As she neared the down woman and demon she jumped over the pair and into a couple warriors.
She spun, her blades flashing, and biting deep into the fighters, knocking them back. They fell heavily to the ground and she was about to turn her attention to another warrior when they began to rise again.
"Oh, thats just not even fair!" she yelled.
As they were on thier knees, she swung both blades, cutting off thier heads.
"Now stay dead!"
She turned around just in time to duck under an arrow, getting up quickly and kicking back a undead warrior. Her blades flashed again and its arms fell to the dirt. she deflected a blow, and with her free sword, finished off the undead warrior.
"So does anyone have any idea where to finish this?" she yelled.
Her hat fell to the sand.
Knocking back the warriors she quickly scooped it up and plopped it back on her head.

Raamsees quickly deflected oncoming arrows as he cut down soldiers left and right. As he stopped for breath, he noticed that those he had just killed seemed to rise at will. "Great...undead;my favorite," he said with a hint of sarcasim. He knew he could not take them all at once and must therefore use this opportune moment to escape back to the walls to heal himself. He used what little energy he had left to change into a falcon and flew towards safety. He began dodging dozens of arrows as archers from below watched the little bird fly by.

Just as had landed on the wall;something unexpected happened. He felt a sharp pierce in his right wing as his boby was sent head-over-heels. As he smashed into the ground, he once again changed back to his true form. He rose to a half-sitting position as he slide his back up against the wall. "This may take longer than I'd hoped." he replied as he began to chant his healing spell;all the while his arm was creeping into a severe state of numbness from the poison. The numbness had now spread up his arm and was almost depleating his hopes in the spell entirely. It had begun moving up his neck just as the spell had started to kick in. The numbness began to fade and he stood to his feet; removing the arrow from his shoulder. He began contemplating over what he knew about the undead.

For one thing, he knew that they really didn't like holy spells. "That's it, " he said just as it had suddenly occured to him which form would work best in this one-sided situation. He shifted himself into a colossal white dragon in hopes of getting rid of these undead once and for all.

He walked through the wall leaving it in a heaping mass as he saw his commrades surrounded by the endless barrage of undead in the distance. "I must get to them no matter what the cost." he said with a jump as he climbed to a safe altitude and took flight.

Katsushiro tried to pick himself up as quickly as possible. Kicking an undead aside, he wobbled, then stood up straight. There seemed to be no way to defeat these monsters. A little to his left he saw several undead fall to the ground.
Katsushiro noted the arrival of another warrior, half dragon by the look of her. He was still cursing the underhanded use of poison under his breath as he sliced heads off the undead. "They might be invincible, but they still need their heads to see!" he told the others, as he decapitated another undead. But the undead were possibly even more dangerous this way. Instead of fighting normally, the headless ones went berserk. "Okay then, I'll take out your feet!" There was the flash of a katana, and the undead toppled over, unable to move. Katsushiro ran and jumped among the knots of undead, taking out legs and heads, before he was hit by another arrow. "Filthy, dishonorable..." He half flew to the back wall were the shapeshifter was, and wrenched the arrow out of his right shoulder...

Her swords clanged as she parried yet another blow. The undead were crushing down around them, obviously the atani girl and the demon were thier objectives. From the mob, the half-dragon shed seen before flew up and half landed, half-cashed against the wall behind her, wrenching out an arrow from her arm. Luckily for Kiara she was small and the undead were all taller than she, so the archers could never get a bead on her.
Her katanas flashed, severeing several arms. She figured if they cant die, why not make them useless.
"There are just too many here." she yelled at the obvisouly expiring halfdragon.
"We either die, or figure a way out of here."
A rusted axe suddenly came out of nowhere. Kiara tried ducking under it but she wasnt fast enough, it cut deep into her back.
She hissed in pain, and severed the arm of the attacker. This opened her defense and a knife came through to cut a deep gash on her arm, while a sword tried to take advantage as well but it ratled off her scales on her arm.
She clenched her teeth in pain, blocking yet another blow.
"We need a plan!" she said.

Katsushiro took stock of what was going on. It was an undead army(debilitated, but undead nontheless) against an atani, two half-dragons, a shapeshifting fox, and a demon. Almost all of them were wounded, and it didn't look like victory could be achieved. He himself was badly injured. He could make one last charge, but that was it. He needed rest and healing. He didn't even know why this army was attacking, only that he didn't leave a fight he entered.
Katsushiro snapped the arrow in half with contempt, and straightened up. Taking several deep breaths, he raised his sword, and ran towards the army. Leaping over the first group, he transformed once more into a dragon, torching several of the undead. Sweeping another group aside with his tail, felt his strength failing. One can only take so many arrows before falling. Desperately, he slashed some more down, flew up, and body slammed a large group, feeling several sharp objects enter his stomach. Dazed, he pulled several swords out of his stomach, and toppled over, a half-dragon once again. Looking down at his wounded stomach, he lost hope of survival. Before falling over, he tossed his katana to the other half-dragon, saying "Find the lich, rip 'em to shreds.". Where was the demon? He had a monster sword. What was he doing?

Kiara slashed down another skeleton or zombie, only to watch it rise once more.
Suddenly the halfdragon wounded behind her jumped into the air transformed in the blink of an eye. A great white dragon stood towering above them. It began to maul a opening in the tide, but only for several moments. Before long it fell, he collapsed to the ground in his original form again.
Kiaras back hurt, and one of her arms was bleeding badly. The half dragon threw her his sword, and said in a weakened voice, "Find the lich, rip 'em to shreds.".
Kiara caught the sword with her good hand and quickly looked around. She smelled the wind briefly, catching the stench of death and it stung her nose, but another scent caught her too. A worse one, it smeled like mold and darkness.
"Bingo." she growled.
She kicked down a zombie and quickly sprinted up the cleared way that the half dragon had made, leaping over his body. Up ahead was a thin line of undead archers. She wasted no time. She took several bounds and leaped into the air. Her powerfull legs making up for her flightlessness, she jumped the remianing distance as the archers fired thier arrows. She heard the whistling of them under her. She landed ina roll on the otherside, the sand biting into her back wound. She hissed in pain but tried to ignore it, running across the sands, following the scent. She was obviously heading the right way as the whole army of undead turned and followed her, or tried, she was far too fast. Over a small dune, she found him, wreathed in dark magic. He seemed to be too distracted with controlling his many minions. He had a few bodyguards, with tall shields and scimitars. She did not bother with them.
Bounding down the slope of the dune, she leapt over them at the last second, and hurled her sword at the man. Never have done this before it was not exactly well aimed, but it sunk into his leg. She immediatly drew her second sword after throwing the halfdragons. The liches concentration faltered for a second, which was all she needed, she cut him down, cutting through the neck and midriff in one powerfull spinning blow from both her swords.
He crumbled into dust and the zombies stood as if stunned for a second longer before collapsing on themselves.
The blood loss finally caught up with Kiara as her adrenaline died, and she fell unconsious on the ground.

*pokes name*

Katsushiro came to, finding himself surrounded by fallen undead. He could see the others across the body strewn field. How long had been unconcious? Why wasn't he dead? He tried to stand up, but his legs failed him. So did his wings. Katsushiro tried sitting up. He could manage that. Draggin himself along, he pulled himself atop a pile of undead to get a better view. The others seemed unharmed, and the other half-dragon was unconcious. Several soldiers were standing around her, mortal ones. It appeared they were discussing wether or not she was dead, although Katsushiro could hear none of the conversation. He tried to find his voice, couldn't. His throat was too dry. He weighted the odds in his mind:If he told them she was alive(but even he wasn't sure), they might kill her. If he told them she was dead, they would leave her out in the sun to roast. Unable to do anything, he tried to catch the attention of the others...

All over his comrades were unconscious, and as far as he knew he was the only one left. Just as Rallika chopped the legs off 3 undead the sky darkened and the entire remnants of the army got down on their knees (those who did have knees). A portal opened and a royal-looking lich stepped out of it. It rose into the air and pointed at Rallika "Get him" The last of the army shifted toward Rallika, leaving the others for dead. The lich saw many of the shapeshifters down and his eyes glared, the sky sharing his anger "I told you miscreants to spare the shapeshifters. The demon is the only one left standing that I want. I will have to take him myself. Get all the shapeshifters into the portal, whatever the cost!" Rallika charged at the lich yelling "You set me up! You tried to kill my friends! I wil not let you get away with it!" "If you haven't noticed, liches are undead also, so unless you have a blood sword or some banishing spell, then your goose is cooked!" "Thank you for the tip!" Rallika sheathed his longsword and jumped at the lich, blood sword faced down. The lich rose into the air, barely dodging Rallika's blow, and cast a barrier around himself.

Upon reaching the battlefield, Raamsees clearly saw that the battle was over. Most of his comrades seemed to have fallen unconsious. As he further examined, he noticed what seemed to be human-looking guards around the half-dragon female. These looked to have the crest, on thier armor, of those that had brought the demon Ralika only hours ago. "Hum," he said as he thought it strange that humans would come back to this place. He quickly changed back to his fox form and upon dropping to the ground with a soft thud; he lay flat on his stomach."Must be more to this than I previously thought." he said as he began crawling closer to survey the situation at hand.

He knew that if something was not done quickly the girl would surely be killed: if she were not already dead. He looked around and noticed that his comrade Katsushiro had begun to come too. He ran as fast as he could to Katsushiro's side --stepping on a few bones along the way; which gave off a nice crunching sound as they cracked. "So,... what do you suppose we do?" he asked Katsushiro as he handed him some minor healing herbs and lowered himself back onto his stomach; each of his nine tails twitching with nervousness and anxiety.

Katsushiro accepted the herbs, pressing them into his wounds. They stung, then felt cool as his flesh began to reknit. Still exhausted, and in need of water, he whispered, for that was all he could do. "I'll draw them off. You grab the half-dragon, and get back to the ruins. I just left Angband. I can pretend I was robbed in there or something. Probably was anyway." He gave a humourless laugh, then stumbled over to where the guards where. "Excuse me, but I've been robbed. Something of great value was stolen from me. If you would help me recover it, I'll reward you greatly." Katsushiro was counting on human nature to help him, although he wondered how he would escape himself later on...

Raamsees went into action as soon as the soldiers were caught off guard. He proceeded quickly by raising the girl to her feet. Just as he thought he was in the clear, he felt the tingle of cool steel against his neck. "One of the soldiers must have thought Katsushiro's story false." thought Raamsees as the steel began to sink in. "Hey guys, it was a diversion!" shouted the man as he steadily kept the sword at Raamsees' throat. Raamsees knew that he must silence this man quickly so he shifted into an air elemental and made short work of the man: leaving him in a pool of blood at his feet.

It was now clearly evident that the others had heard there partners call. Just over the dunes in front of him, he heard the sounds of clanging metal. Raamsees did the only thing he could for the girl and gave her a few healing herds presuming that should close her wounds and revive her within seconds. He drew his katana once more and ran towards the ever-growing dunes in front of him. In his heart he hoped he would not be to late to help out his dear friend Katsushiro.

"Blast, it didn't work!" Katsushiro hissed as the other three came at him in a triangular attack pattern. Not only that, but the unconcious half-dragon still had his sword. Leaping high in the air, he bounded over the guards, and ran to where the other half-dragon was. Grabbing his katana, and hers, he turned to the closest guard, and sliced him in two. The other two guards saw that their two companions had been quickly killled, and decided to try and organized retreat. "Sorry, but you'll return with reinforcements," Katsushiro told them as he lept at one, his katanas flashing in the sun. The guard blocked one with his shield, and thrust his pike into Katsushiro's left wing. "Pikes!" he cried as he fell to the ground, slicing the feet out from under his adversary, and rolling out of the way of another pike blow. The sand stung as it entered the wounded membrane of his wing...

Upon reaching the top of the dunes, Raamsees watched as his friend Katsushiro flew by him and then proceeded back towards the guards as he grabbed the two katanas near the other half dragon and made short work of one of the oncoming guards. "Two left," he thought as saw the other two advancing. He watched as Kasushiro cut one down to his knees. "I'll get the other one." he shouted as he shifted back into his air elemental and with blinding speed and precision made short-work of the last remaining guard.

He shifted back and went over to Katsushiro to figure out what they were going to do next. "Were too?" he said although he knew that Angband was the nearest city around for miles.

"Regroup with the others, see to this one's" he gestured to Kiara, "injuries, as well as the whole groups, and then, get some water" The sweat was glistening on Katsushiro's scales, and now that the heat of the battle was over, he was exaughsted. Straightening up, he flicked the blood off his sword, and sheathed it. He cleaned Kiara's likewise, and slid it into its sheath. Scanning the horizon, he saw no more signs of movement. The took a gulp from his waterskin. He still had quite a lot, since he had just left Angband. Kiara was still unconcious, so the sloughed a little water across her face, then took another gulp of water...

Kiara groaned as she came back to painful consiousness.
Deffinitly painfull.
She felt something like a plant quickly pressed against her wounds, and it helped to dull the pain, as it healed a bit. Her wounds were deep though and no herb was going to heal them quickly. Then she felt cool water run on her lips and she gulped a little bit of it and opened her eyes. The other half dragon was sitting nearby along with the fox. They both looked pretty roughed up.
Kiara dragged herself up a bit to lay her shoulder against a stone, so she was propped up, her legs tucked under her.

"So, did I make you two bored finishing the fight back there?" she asked with weakly with a faint grin, pushing her hair back. Even after almost dying she kept her sense of humor.

Katsushiro wordlessly handed her back her sword, and then leaned back on another rock. "So, what was this all about?" he asked, closing his eyes. He was exaughsted, bruised, and cut all over. Once he got a few answers he would sleep. But first he had to know why he had been assaulted. A vulture overhead landed at Katsushiro's feet, and pecked at them. Before it could take off, it was spitted on Katsushiro's sword blade. "Feh, I'll eat you later." As he waited for an answer, he began picking feathers off the dead bird...