[Ruckus Fox]

Scaf has a point to prove once he's removed from the rubble. He approaches the felled Reknosk and continually smashes his monstrous sword into the demon's chest. He had some pride issues, and wanted to make sure that the restless soul could feel his anger.

Once finished, he would retreat with the Frionian soldiers. Getting a fierce looking dog-creature on a horse would be difficult...but he would manage.

Scaf spat as he reared his horse. "The things I do for a challenge..."

[Cspace]

Dinadan quickly looks around at the exhausted knights of Aderon, as well as the unlikely allies among them, and nods in acceptance.

"Don't waste any time! There are enough horses for everyone, so mount one if you need it, and let's get out of here."

One of the paladins lifts Flansburgh across his horse, still unconscious but breathing. The paladins begin to charge out of the market toward Frionia, with some staying behind to wait for the knights to get up onto their horses, and to lead the rest of the horses back to their kingdom.

[Darkness]

OOC: I hope you don't intend for all of the player's characters to leave, because... mine likely won't... XD

[Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin]

Aether didn't even get a chance to attack before the Arbiters' destroyed the reknosk. He sighed and put his sword back in his sheath. He waited around for a bit before realising what was happening- they were leaving. Aether shrugged. No point in denying it- when those creatures come back this place will be overrun by the flaming entities. He began to walk towards the horses.

[Cspace]

OOC: I hope you don't intend for all of the player's characters to leave, because... mine likely won't... XD

OOC: It's up to you.

********************************

About twenty seconds pass, and the knights manage to reach the horses and regain their balance as the tremors become unending. The last of the paladins and knights leave Maldenar to the north, just as the fiery reknosks enter from the south. They don't follow, for their prize has been left undefended... Whatever they seek in the town is waiting for them to take. Looking back, an escaping knight can see the fiends towering above the buildings, smashing structures and looking for something that may be inside one of them. The tremors don't seem to concern them.

Well, at least until Maldenar begins to shift in two opposite directions. The ground seems to break, and a widening crack runs right through the center of the already ruined town. It continues to widen... And continues... And grows quickly in a north-south direction well beyond the town. It would seem to be coming right toward the knights and paladins, but perhaps by luck or intervention, it moves just far enough to the east to spare all who were defending Maldenar. There is a loud cracking sound, as if rock is shattering in all directions as far as the horizon. It doesn't seem to stop, and is leaving an increasingly wide chasm splitting the town in two halves. Sand and rocks fall into the fault like a waterfall.

It is a strange thing how long this keeps happening. The riders stop to watch, now far from Maldenar and the reknosks. The gash must be splitting the entire desert in two by this point... No geomancer can possibly cause this fortunate catastrophe to happen. What's going on?

Then it stops. All is silent but the wind. It almost sounds as if words are being carried by the wind, but they can't be understood by any of the knights. The reknosks seem to understand it, though, and belt out a tremendous roar that can probably be heard by a ranger in Zolandor. A brilliant light shoots from the depths of the chasm, from horizon to horizon, illuminating the desert and seeming to shred the clouds above. The voice on the wind becomes a shout, as the light becomes even brighter and the knights are forced to cover their eyes to prevent blindness.

Then it all stops, and the wind becomes a comfortable breeze. A sandy breeze, but certainly welcome after the torturous battle. Slowly the knights and paladins uncover their eyes, and adjust to the sunny day that replaced a week of night. There are no reknosks. No undead. No lightning. No wall of sand.

But from the wake of the battle, a great canyon remains. Strange green light dances up and down the stone walls, seeming to be writing words in an arcane language.



"A powerful ally, indeed!" yells Dinadan to all the knights and paladins, "and it would seem that you can't return to Aderon without first enjoying the hospitality of Frionia! Well, at least unless someone here can jump a mile to the other side!"



The canyon does happen to be between the knights and their home, so they ride with the paladins back to Frionia. The other adventurers are welcome to go on their way, but most would probably want to rest in the cold but safe lands to the north before leaving.

Any who stayed behind, however, will probably have an interesting story to tell later about how they survived. If they didn't make it... Well, nobody will really know for certain. Only time will tell...


********************************


OOC: The timeline of DS is about to move forward by a year. This is the conclusion of the event that started months ago, and is intended as one of a few back stories in the plot. It will pick up soon with a minor event, and will hopefully give a basis for some characters' stories. I'm intentionally doing this so everyone fills in the blanks themselves, for their own characters, to lead to individual storylines.

[Nate]

OOC: Uh, would my guy basically be screwed since they're Paladins and he's Undead?

[Darkness]

OOC: ... And what happened to Malachi, Ethan, and Gero?! XD

[Cspace]

OOC: Uh, would my guy basically be screwed since they're Paladins and he's Undead?

OOC: It's not necessary that your character went with them, so you're fine. You'll probably want to come up with a story for how your character survived in Maldenar, if that is what indeed happened. There will be opportunities later to tell the story as a flashback.

OOC: ... And what happened to Malachi, Ethan, and Gero?! XD

OOC: We shall know soon enough.

[Darkness]

OOC: We shall know NOW!

[Cspace]

OOC: We shall know NOW!

OOC:

[Zziggywolf5]

Ziggy watches the bizarre destruction of the reknosks and wights with the knights and paladins. He wonders about its cause, but he'll think about it later. He approaches Aether and gives his ally a small emblem depicting a stylized wolf and phoenix. "This may be helpful to you if you ever come to Trabia," he says with a smile. Ziggy then starts to travel to Frionia with the paladins.

[Ruckus Fox]

Scaf also journeys to Frionia with the paladins. A man with a pelt could hardly be kept down by cold weather.

[Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin]

Aether accepts the gift from Ziggy with a gracious nod. "Thank you," he says.

Aether stays behind, as he has no desire to go to Frionia. He gives the horse to a paladin and asks him to lead it back to Frionia. When asked why, Aether throws a grin at him and says "I have no need for a horse."

What now, Aether? He asked himself. What'll you do now? Aether knew that he'll stay in Earthia for a while. This place has such a mysterious power about it! The reknosks... that bright light... the creation of that canyon... the fall of Maldenar.

He was desperate to know about the force that did this. "I think I'll continue to travel," he said to himself. "Maybe I'll pick something up." As he said this, he saw a glint of metal near the canyon. He grinned, realising what it was, and started running towards the M62.

With a great push, he turned it over. There was a few scratches where wights obviously clambered over it, but at least the reknosks didn't step on it. Looks like Aether parked it far enough from the city for it not to be swallowed by the canyon as well. He hopped in and activated the ignition key. To his great surprise, it turned on with no faults.

"Oh yes," the Aphorite grinned. "Aether has transport."
He hit the accelerator and sped off down the side of the canyon, going who knows where.

OOC: I edited my first post in Knights' Fortress for this to fit.