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"W-whoa!" Jaren said as Ephraim pushed him down and another arrow whistled over head. As he fell down his sword went into the sand dousing the flames. Rolling forewards off of his face towards a bandit that was running at him Jaren brought his sword up into the mans crotch. Hearing a satisfying squek of pain Jaren turned back towards Ephraim.

Seeing that as Ephraim was demolishing a hapless mage he had exposed his back Jaren ran to cover it. Just in time it seemed as the archer who kept fireing arrows at Jaren finally connected into the mrymidons left arm. "Ahh!" He hissed as he quickly pulled the arrow out.

"Archer Mr.Blue-haired guy!" If the man wouldn't tell him his name that was fine... Jaren would just make up a nickname. Hearing a whistleing sound without actually seeing the arrow Jaren grabbed Ephriam from behind and dove to the side this time as two arrows flew... it seemed the archer had a pal.

Scrambeling to his feet as falling on the battle field surely ment death Jaren swung his sword horizontally catching a theif who was moving to stab the sprawled Ephraim in the cheek. Ducking another arrow he said. "I'll be right back!" Remembering that he still held the cowsuit in his injured arm. Jaren was forced to drop it as he ran towards the pair of archers.

Spinning to the right so if they fired they would miss he stumbled into another bandit and grabbed the man using him as a sheild against another pair of arrows. Spinning out again from behind the man Jaren closed the rest of the distance between him and the archers. Jumping in the air and dispatching them both with a quick succession of whacks. With a big grin on his face he looked back at Ephraim. "I GOT THEM MR. BLUE HAIR" Not noticing the very large man coming up behind him.

Joshua nodded as the women ran off. "Ahili who is this guy?" He asked the tactian noticing for the first time the mage beside her. "Hey you two look alike. Oh! And your the one she gave Excaliber to!" Joshua exclaimed as he saw the tome dangeling from the mans waist. "You take good care of that. I'm in as much trouble already for being here let alone giving away one of the sacred twins...."

Ali let out a low growl as he glared at her. Her? Giving him mercy before? Never! To think of giving pity to someone who was trying to kill another? That woman should know her place that it was the fierce that thrived this sandy land.

"You b***h!" He growled as he charged at her. The bandit tried to slash her, which she parried. However, it won't be long until her weapon would break from his sword. He was foolish before when he tried to subdue her. But now that she was back, there was no way she could win against himself.

Ali narrowly dodged from the swing of the lance the Halberdier gave. He then bent low and grabbed a handful of sand. As he dodged from another blow, the bandit threw the sand into Deborah's eyes.

"Got you!" He yelled as he raised his sword to slice her. However, when he brought it down, it was blocked by another female warrior. A short golden brown haired woman. Ali growled more. How dared she try to stop his revenge on the woman. Well, if that little girl wanted to die, then so be it.

The battle waged on for minutes until the temperature of the terrain began to change. Winds starting to form up as the top of the sands began to move. Those who had lived in the desert knew what these signs meant.

As Ali swung his sword to attack the two females, he heard a call from one of his fellow bands. When receiving the message, the bandit cursed before shoving the small girl to Deborah. He then turned around and ran.

"Retreat! Cease your fighting and retreat! If we're unable to outrun, take cover!" Ali yelled.

Those who were battling stopped their attacks and followed Ali, leaving the group in confusion. Why were they running away when the battle was not won yet? It was unknown. There they ran over the dunes, away from the group before they were out of their site.

However, the answer to why they ran away came in. The wind had started to become stronger and powerful. It blew the top surface of the sands. Harder and harder the wind blew. Suddenly, the group's vision was becoming hard to see clearly, making them unable to see where their group was. Cries of their location were shouted, but were unheard. The sandstorm had blocked their voices and lessen their visibility.

(( Please read this post before continuing your adventure.))

The three heads perked and immediately proceeded to toss about and snort. Their maws snapped at the air, slavering more than ever, and they clawed restlessly into the sand to leave behind grooves that continuously filled in with more sand. Soren jolted at the disturbing movement. He sat up somewhat in the same fashion as before, and then the beast suddenly lifted up, its powerful legs pushing its massive body into a towering stance. The mage instinctively grabbed at the furs on the nape of its neck, not wanting to topple off.

This behavior perplexed him. Without warning the beast was hurtling down the dune, leaving a trail of heavy clouds laden with sand, taking Soren along for the ride. He quickly straddled the behemoth's back and leaned down, reassuring himself that he would not be thrown off. He had not issued any requests (he could not command the beast, it had more intelligence than that) and he certainly did not see any reason for the beast's behavior.

They were approaching the battle at a speed greater than a tiger's. Perhaps this was due to the creature's general size, providing its legs with more length and strength than any beast laguz's. Soren silently tried his best to shrink against his companion's neck, seeming to tremble with an empty heart thudding in his ribcage. This was not part of the plan! Getting involved in some domestic conflict was not on his list of things to do.

Soren raised his head and realized they were aimed for two strange men. He began to wonder what had piqued his companion's interest in the stranger, the beast's body lurching beneath him with every loping step. He quickly ducked his head again as he felt another movement: the creature launching forward, using its powerful legs to leap for Jaren. The three slobbering heads snarled as the beast's thick front paws aimed to slam down upon Jaren. At that point Soren dared to take a peek, and then he saw what had provoked the creature so.

The man was bleeding. He knew the beast was hungry, but had it picked up the scent, or did the sight of it simply send it into a frenzy? This man had also been nearest them. Perhaps his companion had merely snapped after being tempted into feasting for such a prolonged period of time.

The winds picked up, the sands thickened. He lifted his arm over his head, his sleeve shielding his eyes from the atmosphere. Soren then fully comprehended what exactly was happening. His companion had grown impatient and wanted to snatch a meal before the sandstorm fully hit them. He smiled a bit, somewhat sympathizing with the beast's need for feed, and he patted the creature on the shoulder.

Cerberus roared and charged for Jaren, its three heads seeking to seize some part of his body so the beast could carry him away. The sands intensified with the moment and Soren decided it was an inconvenience, so with a wave of his hand the storm began to bend around his location, leaving their immediate spot clear of atmospheric disturbances.

"Come now, we must hurry home before this storm sweeps us away."

Cerberus decided to oblige. He whipped around, his girth kicking sand everywhere, and the beast bounded back up the dune with the mage's robes flapping behind him. If Jaren had been fortunate enough to dodge the beast's jaws, Cerberus would be running home empty-handed.

Follow the doggie, Soren silently willed in his mind, glancing over his shoulder to the caravan that they were abandoning. Despite the magic he'd worked for himself and Cerberus, the sights beyond the spell's range were embroiled in utter confusion through the storm. Come, follow the doggie...

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Abel was busy fending off brigands who were trying to get at Aidan. They weren't very hard to subdue. He had weapon advantage, speed advantage, and now he was strong enough to match their strength. He wouldn't allow any one of them to get passed him. Thankfully, Blossom soon came and took Aidan to a safer location. "Good... he's ok."

Abel looked around a moment, to see where Alihi was. She was back by her brother. "..She's okay, too. Guess that means it's time to clean up!" He grinned.

Turning around, he saw one lowly bandit coming at him. "Sorry, not a chance!" Abel smoothly dodged, and slashed the poor guy, and the bandit fell to the ground. He then felt something odd. It wasn't an attack, but it felt like something had bumped him. When he looked down, he noticed that his vulneraries were gone. "W-what the-?!" He looked around, and saw a thin man running swiftly away from him. "Hey! You dirty thief! You give those baaaack!"

He quickly ran after the thief, but thieves were fast and slippery. "You won't get away!!" He then swung his sword, and released a blast of wind at the thief. The guy could only look back with a horrified expression, as the wind rammed into him and cut him up very nicely. Abel ran over, and picked up his vulnararies. "Ha! Mine! Nya~" Abel stuck out his tongue at the thief on the ground.

However, once he looked up, he quickly grew a look of horror, himself. Standing in front of him were three really big men with axes. "Eh... heh... sorry 'bout your.. friend... uh... ..." He looked around nervously. "...Bye!" He quickly ran off, yelling like a little kid, as the men chased after him. "H-hey now! Can't we talk it over?! Wah!" Abel ducked, as an axe was swung, and went over his head. Abel thrust his sword up, and slashed the axeman's hands. "You should really be careful with those things, you know!"

Abel turned around, as the other two were getting closer. "Yoo-hoo! Over here!" He teased. He ran behind a sand dune, and vanished from the men's sight The axemen hastily followed and went around the same side Abel did. However, the hero wasn't there. "Say.. what are we looking for, guys?" The axemen shrugged, but then turned around, when they realized that the voice was not familiar to them. "Seeee yaaaaa~!" Abel swung his blade around in the air a few times, then swung it with great force into the sand. A small tornado erupted, and picked up sand, as it was hurled toward the the axemen. It then vanished, leaving two very cut up corpses.

"Woo, alright then! Time... to... go....." Abel had turned around as he spoke aloud, and saw a great wall of sand and wind coming at him from not too far away. ".....AAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" He ran in a very animated fashion, in an attempt to get back to the group.

By the time Roy was done with the three bandits that had dared say those words in front of him about his mother, they were nothing more than puddles of blood with limbs and guts cast about. The young lord was breathing heavily, blood staining his cloak as well as covering his face. His gloves, usually blue, were a deep shade of red. He reclaimed his rapier and cleaned the blood off both the blades with some precious water he had saved. He then splashed a little water on his face to cleanse it of blood before he shook his head furiously to dry it off. Half of what was left was used to wash his parched throat.

The combat was too fierce and rough. No doubt Darko would be awake and annoyed that his slumber was disturbed. Well, Roy had his reasons for what he did. He was surprisingly unscathed, though then again, he did end up disarming all three of his attackers by severing their limbs from their bodies.

But what mattered to him now was that his Mother was safe. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The weapons the slain bandits had used were put into the wagon for storage, just in case someone's sword happened to break in combat. The young lord apologized to his mother about his language and for going a little overboard before he headed out of the wagon to go check on the others.

Everyone else was still fighting. Roy was itching for another fight, but the bandits were being a little more cautious now. He wondered why. Then, they began to retreat. He blinked in surprise before he realized why the bandits had fled. A sandstorm was coming.

Mother...

Remembering Alihi's orders, he spun on his heel in the sand and started to run back to the wagon. However, the sand pelting at his body began to hurt, despite the cloak protecting his head and body. He had to get back to the wagon, to protect his Mother.

He wasn't going to make it.

The young lord groaned in annoyance before he too ducked down for the ground. If they survived this, the first thing he would do was go check on her to see if she was okay.

They're retreating? Then did we win? Charice flew higher, letting the bandits go. Not that she had a choice; they were fleeing en masse, and were thus a bit tough to pick off without the risk of getting trampled by the horde.

Plus, the change in winds alerted her to the coming sandstorm.

Oh, BLAST!

Wind magic was bad enough to any flying mount. It could toy with them and throw them completely off course. Here, there would be REAL wind toying with them. The robes would help keep the sand from bothering Charice for too much, but not for long. In addition, her robes wouldn't protect Aphrodite, either. They needed to find shelter, and fast! But how? The sandstorm was moving quickly now, and they couldn't see far enough to return to the caravan. The wind was pushing the two of them about now, and Charice was forced to guide Aph down towards a nearby dune. This wasn't good! At this rate, they might be...

Hang on! What's that, by the base of the dune?

The wind was getting stronger. The wind picked up the top of the sands, blowing them around. In doing so, Charice could now barely make out a greenish metal lying in the sand. She'd already hopped off, and by the looks of things, there was nowhere to hide, but as she leaned down to take a look at the object (anything for a desperate grab at salvation!), she noticed at last...

It was a sword.

A long, greenish-edged Sonic Sword! An amazing find! These things were rarely manufactured--they took ridiculous amounts of blacksmithing skill to work--but they were blades capable of controlling the very air around them! Sure, she hadn't started out with swords as a pegasus knight, but she'd had time and training with them since. They were SAVED.

She concentrated, trying to will the sword to keep the winds away from herself and her pegasus. She wasn't sure it was completely effective, but the sandstorm seemed to become just a bit less fierce. Not perfect, but better than nothing, she thought, as the pair managed to slowly work their way behind a sand dune to better weather the storm.