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((Drat- I had my own weather altering spell in mind... oh well. xDD Griffin knows!))

Almost just as she returned to the castle grounds, there was news from Simurgh's spying. She spoke, her voice grave, having been weighed down by the witnessing of a man's death.

The grey-clad mage answered quickly, calculating her next step. She would go to his aid if he was still in danger.

Lamen glanced up, and heard the distant rumble in the sky, as well as the darkening of the clouds.

Upon receiving her orders, the many little birds that formed Simurgh took to the sky and in a shining burst of color, she returned to her original shape. Surely enough, Lamen's predictions came true- the combatant Sai burst out of the window and rode north on his dragon, under the cover of the coming storm he had brewed.

Simurgh swooped down near the tower's entrance, causing the crowd to back off from that zone just in time to avoid the soldiers that jumped out, brandishing their swords. The great bird stood before the soldiers, blocking their way, her long golden tailfeathers whipping the ground all around her in dangerous agitation. Her gargantuan size and faint glow were an intimidating asset to the image of divine fury she wanted to project- it would at least stop the soldiers long enough to allow Lamen to hide in the panic-stricken crowd and mutter a calming spell, causing most of the villagers to focus their attention on the soldiers. Unconsciously, they formed a circle around the guards. Here was a friendly acquaintance on one side, obviously in disagreement- and there was the Imperial Guard, towards which this village expressed a long-suppressed enmity. The situation was perfect, and an air of suspicion and revolt arose around the group who had jumped out to chase Sai (already on his way away from this land.) Lamen did not step forwards, letting the anger of the crowd move on its own.

A big, confident-looking man stepped forwards, arching his brow. "Why are your swords unsheathed? Do you intend to harm the villagers? I think I have the right to know. As one of this festival's organizers, I ask that you do not disrupt our celebrations. If you are willing, we could resolve this peacefully."

"MURDER!" A scream erupted from inside the tower- some youngsters had run inside to check. Always the curious ones. So much for "peacefully", Lamen thought- the crowd erupted into yelling and bellowing, and was closing in on the soldiers. She had wanted to remain inconspicuous, so as not to garner a negative reputation with government, but she could not stay quiet any longer.
"Fools! They are armed! You could get hurt!" It was in vain, however- her voice was lost in those of the people's furious shouts.

((Lamen is not a combatant. ;3; More importantly, I forgot about this. *adds lil' tidbit xD*))

Retreating from the increasingly large and angry crowd which had gone into chaos, Lamen approached Simurgh, who had also taken a few steps back after failing to get the villagers to back off from the soldiers without hurting them. They shared a guilty thought, but the mage quickly got back to business. They had to communicate the situation to Brantalis.

Simurgh sent Kusanagi a summary of what had happened- the murder, the framing of Sai. Lamen also requested instructions on how to proceed from the Dragon Sage- usually she would prefer not to get involved in anything quite as messy as this, but she trusted Brantalis to be right.

((Lamen doesn't know that Sai was framed. All of the evidence that she has seen so far should actually be convincing her that he is guilty.))

"Out of my way, now!" Aruhl commanded to the villagers that had surrounded him and his men with rage and arrogance in his voice.

There was a flash of crimson light from the binding stone set in the ring on his hand and suddenly a bestial creature appeared before him. It was built like an oversized wolf ((50% larger than a normal wolf?)), but with muscles too large than an average wolf, had the average wolf been that large. Its head was boxier and it had a wider muzzle, more like that of a bear and a third eye rested in its forehead, above and between the other two, all three yellow in color. Its fur was solid black, including its lion like mane. The creature snarled at the villagers and they fell back with gasps of shock.

"If you have any questions that you feel must be put an Imperial representative then consult with my second in command, Isaad. He will be representative in my stead." He turned to his men as he swung onto his bound partners back as though it was a horse. "Mount, men! We ride!"

There were five more flashes of crimson light and five more of the wolf like beasts appeared among the crowd of Guards. The five other wolf creatures varied in colors from brown, gray, black, and even a single white one, though none of them matched their commanders creature in size. They each swung onto their creatures back.

Once Gregor saw that his men were ready he spurred his mount as if it really were a horse and it leaped forward in great strides. The villagers fell back and out of the way in fear of being trampled or attacked. Aruhl and his men rode into the night in the last direction that he had seen the young combatant running in, north.

((Griffin, feel free to take control of Isaad, he's very similar to Aruhl except slightly less arrogantly demanding and more courteous.))

((I forgot about all of the little Simurghs...))

Sai seemed to have passed by Kin without a word of any kind, he seemed to be in a huge hurry. Appearing that Sai has no intention to halt, Kin decided to quickly follow behind him, merely keeping a good thirty to forty meters distance from him since he had no idea what was going on or the reasons behind Sai's behavior. I smell rain... Kin though to himself as he looked up at the darkened sky above him with a calm sense of relief. If it rains, the chances of others following us is almost slim to none. Mist after a storm also confuses sense of smell. Vix had himself wrapped around Kin's stomach and right arm since Kin was much faster on foot and keeping Sai within sight was their priority, he was their source of entertainment to come.

((Clarifying something that I should have before: When resealing your creatures into their stones they have to be in a direct 'line of sight' from the stone. I am not going to ask you to alter your post, Raistlin, since I never specified that beforehand, but this is how I would like that aspect of the binding stones to function.))

It had only been roughly ten minutes since Sai had escaped from the castle and the savage and powerful Guard that was there. In those ten minutes he had probably covered as many miles. He had no idea if he was being followed, but he knew that if he had stayed and fought he would most likely have died. He could have stayed and tried to plead his innocence, but without any witnesses and no evidence that it had not been him he would most likely have just delayed the inevitable. And besides, the though of pleading innocence had not even crossed his mind until he was well on his way.

Stratus asked.

Sai responded. He was lying on his stomach on his partners back as they flew through the sky. He was nearly unconscious, He had used up far too much energy for a spell that he barely knew, which made it even harder.





Stratus dipped his left wing and they swooped to the west. He straitened out and they flew a couple of miles in that direction before he searched out and found a large grove, or a small forest. He flew above it for a ways and then dove down into the trees. He landed gracefully and walked up to, and lay beneath, a grouping of several trees together. He tilted Sai off of his back and then curled around him and placed a wing over him protectively.

Stratus said.

((Vilya should have beat you there. She was riding that Nightmare thing. I know Kin is probably fast, but he was on foot, and she was on a creature known for its speed.))

((*Claws her way out from under a pile of books* I was gonna say...
but another thing, what exactly should I be doing with Isaad? He and Brantalis are going to have to face off verbally at some point.))

The rain began to subside finally and, wet, cold and irritated, Vilya slowed her mount and jumped down when they entered the trees.
She dared not make a light, so it was difficult finding her way down a thin deer path that served as the only way further into the forest. If it weren't for Saturn she probably would have gotten lost.
After what seemed like ages of tripping over slimy tree roots and getting hit in the face by wet branches she stumbled into the clearing where Stratus had chosen to rest.
Even in the inky night, the drake's feathers stood out and she could easily spot where Sai was lying.
"Hey, you're not asleep are you?" Now that she had caught up with him Vilya couldn't think of anything better to say. She kept her distance, with one hand slightly behind her back, near the hilt of her blade. All she knew was that someone was dead...and Sai had run away.
Being deep enough in the forest now that a light would not be seen she focused her energy.
A dim, blue light flared out in front of Vilya and rose to illuminate the entire clearing. Her [removed](now visible) was a grave one.
"What happened?" her tone was far from compassionate, but as she was trained to be a warrior, she knew to suspect everything and everyone, leaving nothing to chance.
She only looked away for a split second when Kin appeared at the edge of the clearing.
Slowly stepping so she had both of them in her vision, she waited calmly for Sai to answer.

After his short meeting with the two combatants Brantalis went to seek out Hogan and his small forest dragon.
The dragon had been tailing the main group of guardsmen and so could offer no help when it came to the murder.
"We tried our best Hogan my boy, you may join the others now."
As soon as he had found out what had happened the old sage immediately ordered all his young apprentices into the library and his own guard posted at the doors at all times. He had just shown Hogan through the doors when a massive shadow eclipsed the light behind him.
Tura let out a fierce growl and Brantalis did not need words to know what she said.

The gryphon had drawn herself to her full height, and with her ears laid flat against her head, she looked frightening indeed.
Brantalis took a deep breath and told Tura all that had happened.
The gryphon listened silently, her tail lashing back and forth like a cat with a cornered mouse. When he had finished, she nodded to him and stepped back.
She wished desperately for a scroll and quill, anything to communicate her thoughts. Lacking this however she decided it was best to find the other combatants and hopefully, their companions. Quickly Brantalis moved past her, stopping only to hold something out, level with her eye.
A tiny silver key. Tura took it carefully and let him go.
she thought to herself.