Rhenn's face twisted into an incredulous look as he danced Senaia sideways around the healer. "It's going to wake up dead." He said simply, before he resumed his charge.

The healer's face fell. So for doing no more than you yourself have done thousands of times -- kill to eat -- you sentence that creature to death. Wordlessly the healer watched them go.

Kassus heard Jardanth's shout from within the shrouding fog, and glanced at each of the downed Wyverns in turn; one dead, the other incapacitated, at least for the moment. He pressed his lips to a thin white line, brow furrowing in thought, then, with one swift move of a hand and a single short word, he ended the fog spell, trusting Jardanth's judgement on the matter. If he could get through to the wyvern, all the better than risking lives trying to kill it. Still, as he settled himself for a brief respite, he held his hands ready to recall the Fog spell and hide the horses once more. Trust was not foolishness, and it was possible the beast would be too enraged or confused to be reasoned with.

Khevar turned, watching the two fallen wyvern. He hoped they were both dead, but wasn't willing to take any chances. Hearing Jardanth's cry, he shrugged. He was pretty sure the healer was too late. He wasn't going to kill them on the ground, but he was ready. So long as they stayed down, he was willing to wait. If they started to attack again, he was taking them down.

As Rhenn rode away from her, Mari sighed in relief. She watched as Duras heaved and Rael comforted him, wishing she could take the latter’s place. Time seemed to stop and she looked around at the mayhem. One dead wyvern in front of her, another quite possibly in the same state, lay unmoving as her companions converged on it, 5 horsefriends ran into the plains behind her, and she felt completely useless. Her mentor’s words came back into her head as Para pranced under her. There will be times when you don’t know what to do, and the answers will not come. Just hold, inspiration will strike. The Bard’s heart is true. Sometimes the brain needs a moment to catch up to it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and exhailed slowly, centering her mind.

Slowly, almost inevitably it seemed, the other wyvern stirred.

Rhenn and Senaia charged into the slowly rousing beast, burying the point of the lance into the wyvern's dark-scaled hide, this time barely managing to break the scales. With a shriek that split the heavens the beast came to full raging consciousness, bared fangs flashing toward Rhenn and Senaia.

Click here for Phase 3 map.

What happened next was a blur of sound, blood, and motion. Khevar's two arrows hit the wyvern as it attacked, ricocheting off the tough shoulder scales.

The wyvern's lethal muzzle slammed into Rhenn and Senaia in explosion of red. The ferocity of the blow knocked Rhenn completely out of the saddle and threw him fifteen meters (7 hexes), where he crumpled into a heap and did not move.

Duras pulled the spear out of the dead wyvern, and turned to observe. He saw Mari preparing to do... well, something, he wasn't sure just what. Rael and Rhenn and the others were much closer to the wyvern, so the choice was easy.

He moved towards Mari, quickly, so he could protect her if need be, keeping his eyes open for any possible threats to her or the others.

The shriek of the wyvern brought Mari out of her reprieve. In an instant she knew what to do. Elena had told her all those years ago. She calmly turned to the posturing beast and began to weave. Her hands moved gracefully around themselves, fingers delicately knitting her spell together. Her voice sang out clear and strong, and the illusion was (hopefully) magnificent. From the clouds above them a colossus red dragon swooped. His scales shimmering in the sun, wings spread wide as he soared through the air, teeth bared. His shadow swept over the ground in front of the smaller wyvern. As he began his dive, flames shot out through his open mouth, faster he dove, over the heads of the horses and people, strait towards the largest living carnivore on the ground.

The wyvern looked up into the sky, screamed a brassy challenge -- and, to the incredibly brief mystification of everyone else present except Mari (and possibly Jardanth), it crouched low to the ground, eyes fixed on the sky in an attempt to protect itself from... something.... but what?

Cady stopped cold in her tracks as Rhenn hit the ground, unable for that moment to tear her eyes from where the big plainsman lie upon the ground.

Rael watched Duras leave then moved quickly to the entangled beast, his katan brandished and ready. The Riverrunner's courage left a mark upon the Sun Yani monk. It was a mark that would be forever with Rael. Each step the monk took was designed to avoid attack as well as confuse his opponent. He knew that the creature had been disoriented, but that he was more dangerous than the last one. Rael watched as the wyvern dove into its protective crouch, waiting for it to expose a vulnerable section where he could whirl and plant a deathstrike upon the creature.

Click here for Phase 4 map.

A grimace of pain marred Cady's face when she realized that Rhenn wasn't getting up. She felt a tight knot in her stomach and cursed herself for it, she felt frozen with indecision, wanting to go see how badly he was injured. She could tell from the attack that it could have easily killed a lesser warrior... the idea of him perishing right then and there made her angry. "Urilia!" She clutched the symbol on her chest as she screamed. Her call was mostly drowned out by the Wyvern's battle cry, but it echoed in her ears loudly enough to focus her thoughts as she realized that his fate was out of her hands. "Save him, my Goddess."

Her green eyed gaze swung to consider the Wyvern, and every ounce of her fury was directed at the beast. Of course she had absolutely no weapon or power that could conquer him. With her rope in hand she began sprinting towards the beast. "Kassus! Do you have another rope spell in you?"

Cady darted to the rear of the beast, throwing caution to the wind, totally unconcerned about compensating for her own defense. She saw Rael look at her as she approached, trying to keep the Wyvern's attention on him. She remained intent on the beast as she closed with it, anxious to feel the mighty power of the wyrm course through her when she touched it. She wondered if the scales were soft or leathery, were they hot or cold, slimy or dry, she shuddered at the exquisite taste of her anxiety. Would she live or would she die today?

Rael placed himself between the beast and anyone else that might attempt to close with it. He moved constantly to keep the wyvern from getting a clear shot at him.

"Jardanth," he yelled to be heard over the din of combat. "See to Rhenn immediately."

The monk knew he needed to force his opening as this creature was not one to bare it's belly willingly. He lunged to strike in a manner that would cause the creature to extend itself. At the last minute, Rael planted and spun around to bury the katan in the now exposed throat of this massive wyrm.

The beast's eyes remained locked skyward, only its tail twitching to indicate it knew of Rael's presence. He could sense it tensing, its muscles bunching, readying itself for something....

Their attacks had infuriated the remaining wyvern. It was now screeching its rage and defiance. Even its fear of dragons wasn't going to drive it away. It would fight to the death, theirs or its. And he'd rather stupidly asked Kassusi lift the fog, believing they'd let him talk to the beast. So much for negotiations, he thought glumly -- and the horses. Now that they were able to see the wyvern, their minds were racing with fear. They'd bolt any minute. In any event, he had to bolt now.

Kassus heard Cady's call, saw her scrambling toward the spine of the beast, and saw what she wanted. He stood again, restored a bit by his moment of rest, but he could feel the fatigue, coiled next to his spine, ready to strike. He wouldn't be able to keep up his spellcasting much longer; already, this was the greatest number of spells he'd ever cast in such a short period of time. He was a bit surprised by the depths of his reserves. He felt a quiet glow of pride, of satisfaction, even as the wyvern screamed its challenge, sending a thrill of fear up his spine. He grinned wildly as his magic rose to his command yet again, still willing, and he spread his legs, stabilizing himself as he stretched his hands out and began to call the spell once again -- and nearly swallowed his own tongue when he realized how close he'd just come to entangling Cady in the spell, not the wyvern!

The coarse rope wound about Cady's arms before it leapt out of her hands, almost the moment she threw it. Kassus' magic danced on her skin, something like a lover's caress, something like the thrill of terror. She tossed the contraption toward the dragon and it was just barely enough to save her from getting caught in the spell herself. They'd never practiced this before, the timing was off, but the rope snarled around the back leg and base of the tail, something the wyvern apparently declined to notice...

Khevar cursed as the wyvern turned and moved. Mari seemed to have distracted it somehow, but that didn't make its scales any less thick. He needed a vulnerable spot to fire at. Readying his bow, he waited for the creature to open its mouth. Like Rael, he could sense it readying itself to strike -- but at what?

Phase 5:
Suddenly the wyvern let loose a bellow that nearly deafened Rael, Cady, and Khevar. With speed unmatched by anything they'd ever seen, the creature leapt upward, lethal talons extended, fangs bared and reaching for the throat of something none of them -- except Mari -- could see. To her eyes it was a thing of beauty, the arc of the swooping red dragon, the reach of the wyvern's talons, the scream of defiance, the roar of the fire....

It was all Rael and Khevar had been waiting for. The moment the creature exposed the softer portions of its underbelly they struck, Rael's kattan slightly out of position from his feint, but striking for blood nonetheless. Khevar's keen marksmanship planted both arrows right near where the wyvern's heart ought to be....

...and once again, there was another awful moment as the screaming defiance was strangled into the final silence, then the gigantic beast toppled over to the side, dead.

Cady resisted the need to cover her ears from it's defening scream, and instead placed a hand on the beast as it crumpled to the ground. Her face was serious, it's death brought her no pleasure, only relief. Under different circumstances she would have tried to capture it's essence as it died, but just now, the only thing pressing on her mind was Rhenn.

The silence was nearly as deafening as the roar of the beast had been. When Jardanth had started his sprint toward Rhenn he couldn't even hear his own footsteps from the noise of the battle. As he slid to a stop by the fallen warrior the grate of his feet on the ground suddenly extraordinarily loud.

It looked awful. But experience told the healer that looks rarely matched reality. He quickly cut away the straps of Rhenn's armor -- or what was left of it -- and peeled it back. Fortunately the armor had stopped all but the fangs from getting through. But it looked like there was other damage as well. A quick touch. A moment of concentration, and he knew. In addition to the puncture wounds the crush of the wyvern's jaw had fractured several ribs. And he'd hit the ground so hard he had a mild concussion as well. Amazingly, none of his limbs were broken. Probably because he was unconscious when he hit the ground, he thought to himself.

He had to stop the bleeding. But he couldn't do it here, or now. He needed a fire and hot water and clean linens and tools. And by the time all that was done, Rhenn would be dead. Let Ch'dar take care of him for awhile. The death state: He put a hand over Rhenn's heart and collected his entire body into his mind's eye. Every beat of his heart, every ragged breath, then... Willed everything simultaneously to stop.

"There," he murmured to himself. "Now you'll keep till I can get things sorted out."

Jardanth barely heard Cady's hurried approach, but when he turned his attention from Rhenn he saw her there staring down at the injured warrior. Her eyes were brimming with concern, but other than that she appeared normal, or at least normal by her standards. She seemed to have more patience for battle injuries than she did for the barbarian's seizures.

Cady wanted to kneel down next to Rhenn, but stayed standing in case Jardanth needed her help retrieving anything. As she waited for Jardanth to tell her what he needed, she realized that the mighty warrior's chest had stilled and her blood went cold. She felt the icy creep clench first at her throat and then shiver down the length of her arms and then her legs, an altogether unpleasant numbing sensation devouring her as she stood powerless to stop it.

"Damn you!" Cady's voice was a harsh whisper as she cursed Rhenn's still body. If there were any strength left in her knees she would have kicked his lifeless form, but instead she sunk next to him on the ground, defeated. Her nose stung with grief and her green eyes glistened with unshed tears as she turned them towards Jardanth. She was surprised by how calm he seemed, considering that his patient lay like death before him.

The savage beauty of the scene before her brought tears to Mari’s eyes. Her mind caught the image and she knew she would remember it always, two eternal enemies, forever fighting the other. As the wyvern’s dying cry rang across the plains, Mari’s mind felt the creature’s death. One moment there was a consciousness connected to hers and the next there was nothing. A small cry escaped her own throat in loss for that life, for the emptiness. The tears that had welled in her eyes fell and she looked down at Duras. With a deep steadying breath she held out her hand to help him onto Para’s back and said, “Come, help me get the horses?”

Duras' eyes were on Jardanth, tending to Rhenn. So much had just happened - two magnificent creatures, powerful and alive, like nothing he'd seen before... now dead, one because of his direct action.

He saw that Rhenn was in good hands; Jardanth was administering to him, and The Emissary was right there, to help. Duras knew that there wasn't anything he could do - he'd just be another body in the way. So, he took Mari's proffered hand and gracefully mounted Para, wrapping an arm around Mari, pressing his chest to her back. His heart was pounding in his chest, and Mari was only one reason for that...

Once Duras had settled behind her Mari touched her heels to Para’s side and they galloped after the horses that had panicked and run off. His chest pressed against her back and arm around her waist was comforting to her. She pressed her shoulder blades back to touch him with every part of her body that she could. Eventually they drew closer to the run away horses, and Mari pulled up next to the one that was in the lead.

Khevar glanced over and made sure Jardanth was tending to Rhenn, then he moved around, retrieving his arrows. Once done, he went over to the closest dead wyvern. He wasn't sure there was anything useful about them, but wanted to check. He didn't relish eating them, not only would they probably taste terrible, but they might be poison. He briefly considered skinning them, but realized the skin would be too heavy for the chase. With nothing of real use coming to mind, he settled for prying off a loose scale and cutting out a tooth as mementoes.

Rael had stood over the fallen body of the second wyvern, it's lifeless form now silent before him. Blood and ichor coated the monk's arms up to the elbows, and his still passive face was spotted and splattered with crimson. Rivulets ran down his arm and into the runic channels on the kattan to pool at his feet. Silently, the Sun Yani cleaned the katan and resheathed it before he turned and walked towards Jardanth and Rhenn.

"Will he live?" he asked the healer?

Cady's head was bowed in a silent prayer to her Goddess when Rael came to check on Rhenn. She didn't allow her prayer to be interrupted, but her posture lost some of its stiffness at the sound of the monk's voice.

"Him?" The healer pointed to Rhenn. "Oh, he'll fine. Nothing that can't be fixed. Fractured ribs, some pretty deep puncture wounds, internal bleeding. But I need better conditions than this to fix him up, so I gave him to Ch'Dar to keep until we get settled."

Cady's eyes swung up to regard Jardanth. She looked hopeful but confused, "...is he still breathing?"

"Hmmm?" He murmured, looking around for the first time since the battle started. "No, no. He's not breathing. Nor is his heart beating. I stopped them so he'll keep until I can work on him." He turned back to Rael. "I sent one of the mares after the younger horses. They should be coming along any time. Anybody else need tending to?"

Rael nodded in admiration at the healer's quick thinking. He turned to survey rest of the group. He knew that Duras was the only other that had gotten close to the wyverns, but didn't believe anyone else was injured.

"We have not the ability to dispose of these two bodies, so we must put distance between us and the impending carrion," Rael said to everyone. Rael knew that they needed to react quickly, and he wasn't certain how many of them were prepared for after the fight.

"Cady, help with the horses. I need to clean this off of me or the smells will spook our steeds. Once clean we will gather all of our things. Kassus help Jardanth prepare Rhenn for travel."

If the Emissary heard Rael's request, she made no move towards helping with the horses.

"If we're going to leave then let's do so quickly," Jardanth supplied. "Keeping Rhenn under tasks me, and the longer I have to do it the less able I'm going to be to help him or anybody else when we stop."

Cady's brow creased in concern, she'd been quietly thinking on Jardanth's words and wanted to trust them, but it all seemed unnatural to her. "I'm not a healer and my intent here isn't to be argumentative. ...but I do not understand why we can not spare the time to heal him before we leave. What do you need that we don't have at our disposal right now? Who knows what further perils may lie ahead of us...and moving an injured person will slow us down more than taking the time now to wrap him up."

Her green eyes regarded the healer soberly as she waited for his response. "Besides, it will take some time to clean up our mess here and for the horses that you sent for to get back and calmed down."

The plainsman regarded the foreigner for a heartbeat before answering. "The horses will be calm enough when they return," he assured her finally. "The mares I sent to collect them will see to that long before they get back to us. As for him," he nodded a the inert form of Rhenn. "You're right. I could heal him right now. In less than a minute, I'd wager.

"But he'd never be able to draw a full breath again with his ribs askew that way. And with the saliva and poison of the wyvern's fangs in his body he'd die of infection within a week, even though I'd knitted every wound perfectly. For him to fight again his ribs must be reset so that they line up with his rib cage. In order for him to not die of infection I must clean out those puncture wounds. Not an easy matter even with a clan. Ten times worse here where we have no wagons for barriers and are short on linens and other basic supplies needed for cleanliness."

"We'll need him breathing." Cady said as she stood back up, she was still uneasy but knew that Jardanth would take care of his own. "Let me know if you need anything."

The healer looked around at the sky. "Time is against us," he said to Rael. "We must move quickly. Hunters will be coming to feed on the scavengers. And the scavengers already smell the dead. The clans will be warned by Ch'Dar's messengers. We must leave. Now!"

"I concur," Rael replied. "Perhaps your words might spark Lady Cathridge to see the need for expediancy where mine have apparently failed. Khevar, can you take up perimeter guard position until I am cleaned and ready? Jardanth, will you be needing assistance in transporting Rhenn to safety? Let me know if you will." With that, the Sun Yani left to wash himself and change his shirt. Once done, he returned to assist in the preparation for departure from the area of battle.

Cady's eyes and posture were insolent as she listened to Rael, but she didn't say or do anything in reply. Instead she just watched him as he walked away, still a bit numb from everything that had and was happening around her.

After having some difficulty helping Mari get the horses back under control (and thankful Jardanth had done his bit to get them to come back, mind), Duras separated himself from Mari. "I think the odor of the beast is too much for them," he explained to her as he dismounted, "Let me go wash, while you finish up." Seeing Rael heading off to do the same, he suspected he was right in his speculations. Once cleaned, he returned to the group to assist in getting ready to depart as soon as possible.

The Emissary remained near Rhenn as the others went about their tasks, or as close to him as Senaia would allow. It occurred to her that the only person she really fit in with at all was in some sort of death state at the moment, it didn't make sense to her. Even then she still preferred the still Barbarian's company over the others, she knew that her posture was off putting at the moment, but she also knew that it wouldn't have mattered. Right now she felt the heavy burden of being the outsider and she felt completely out of her element.

Jardanth spent several long moments talking to the mare once she returned to her master. She kept bowing her head and whiffling and snuffling his unmoving form. Finally, it seemed as though she was able to comprehend, in some equine sort of way, what the healer was saying, and move off several meters, tail swishing impatiently.

"You'll need to help me with him," he said to Cady. "At the moment he's as ungainly as any corpse, only more delicate, since we intend to put him back together again. Senaia insists on carrying him, of course. But that won't be easy in the state he's in."

Cady nodded at Jardanth's request, and waited until he was ready.

Having wrapped his trophies carefully, Khevar nodded to Rael. "No problem. I'll keep an eye out for any trouble. Get everyone ready to travel as soon as possible." With that, he moved to the best vantage point he could find and watched carefully for anything approaching, whether animal or human.

With all the horses back together, Mari solemnly started prepping them to ride out again, something Rhenn usually took care of. She hoped that Jardanth would be able to make the man better, and understood the need to get away from the dead bodies as quickly as possible, but she was concerned.

Rael returned and gathered his belongings before he moved about the camp seeing that everyone was ready to go.

"Jardanth." he said to the healer. "Are you ready to move him? If so then we must take our leave from this place of death. Khevar, can you guide us out of here and towards a place of sanctuary where Jardanth may minister to Rhenn in relative safety? I shall take the rear guard in case of pursuit."

Rael waited for their responses before turning his horse to take up his position.

"Help us drap him over Seinna. He must weigh five stone," Jardanth grunted. "In his condition wasting time on a litter is of little benefit to him, and only increase our danger."

Cady helped Jardanth and Rael heft barbarian's considerable weight onto Senaia. She was surprisingly stronger than one might have guessed from looking at her. As the other two secured Rhenn into place, the Emissary took a few moment's to console the beautiful large mare.

Kassus stood where he had been during the battle as the others moved about him, taking to their tasks quickly, almost frantically. He understood their urgency; at sea, it only took minutes for the sharks to gather after a battle, and to retrieve the wounded from the water before then was always a nervous proposition. Once the princes had come to take their tithe, nobody would return from the bloodsoaked waves. The scavengers here were perhaps slower to attack the healthy, but no less a threat for their caution. Kassus recited these facts as he stood and shook, knew he should help gather the horses or offer his aid on the watch, but he felt so drained that if he were to move, he thought he might just topple over. "Nerves... shock.", he told himself, as his strength gathered slowly and he moved to stand with the group around their injured companion. "Nothing more.". He knew he would have to get over this reaction, though, to the use of his magics, to the violence of land battle, if he wished to stand any sort of chance at all against the Hunter, who would have no hesitation in tearing him and all his party limb from limb.

Khevar nodded to Rael. "I'll see what I can find. Our best bet is to travel with the river further. We should be able to find a grove or other shelter soon. No promises." He looked over at the still form of Rhenn. Khevar hated to see the big man down like this. If he had been quicker with his arrows, or fired straighter, this wouldn't have happened. The small archer silently vowed to protect the group as Rhenn would until the big man was back on his feet.

GM OOG: Color codes removed-- I think I got 'em all -- in preparation for closing this chapter and opening Chapter 6.