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"Alexiel!" A grey-haired woman growled in frustration, but her only audience was the air. She had told the girl, her girl, to stay inside today, but Alexiel had vanished earlier in the night. Alexiel was very unpredictable, obedient and quiet one day and chasing boys or butterflies the next. Tonight there was no room for childish foolery. Father had told them very little, as always, but a lockdown was always for their own good. With the spattered raids coming down from Feretris and the occasional resuce operations that followed, these lockdowns were common but necessary. Alexiel was old enough to understand that when she was in her right mind.

The grey-haired mother couldn't search far for her daughter. After she had adopted Alexiel from that foreign, blonde-haired woman, her role in the Anjts tribe had expanded exponentially. That meant that today she was clustered with several other mothers and children of over half the total tribe, and generally in charge. But because of the Anjts' nomadic nature, other mothers and children were in lockdown heaven-knew-where. She only hoped that Alexiel had found one of these cells to spend the remainder of lockdown with.

Somewhere between the children and Feretris, a group of make Anjts clustered at the base of a few outlying trees. Some of them were the fathers of the raiders, disapproving of the risk their sons took but painfully proud of their misguided bravery. Here they waited for the raider's return, as well as whatever prisoners they might release from Feretris. They had already acceped a long defecting gaurd led to them by the raiders earlier that night. They waited for something more substantial, perhaps knowing that the raid must be in progress at that very moment.

It was still dark, and they could only wait there, mounted on their horses.

As a bonfire-bright-light burst into the invisible night sky, a scout caught a glimpse of Alexiel in the bushes. This was a woman on a horse, so it was possible that she was an Anjts tribe member or a Feretris slave-driver. In Feretris, only specialized calvary rode horses, unlike the horse-centric Anjts. Either way, Alexiel could be in serious trouble if she was caught.

"Hold!" the woman commanded as pulled closer to Alexiel. The light behind the woman was steadier now, so that flickers of fire caught at the outlines of things. Her voice was stern and confident, but there was no telling whether she had any useful sort of weapon aimed at Alexiel.

"Stand up out of there!"

"A child," the woman hissed to herself. "What are you doing here?" Never mind that. "Get up behind me!" The woman swung her horse around in the unsteady, distant lighting, and pat her beast's rump for emphasis.

She seemed to think that Alexiel would obey her, despite the look that the child was giving her just a moment before. And as her horse danced sideways and forewards in a hasty turn, thick-lined paint shown in circles on the rump. An Anjts.

Her rescuer rode fast through the darkened trees so that it seemed a miracle that they did not go splat against them. It was not long before they reached the spot she intended, where Lilith and the sound of several horses awaited them. There were more horses than before the attack had begun, by the grace of the Anjts. Warm impatient snorts greeted them.

"Do something useful," she commanded as they slid to an abrupt spot. "Help this woman."

A light appeared behind them as a torch came to life. Lilith held the torch high, so that she could see the new comer, and so that the new comer could see what they had at hand. "Chose a heavy horse. Mount," she commanded. "Injured may need help riding back, and I suspect that they will be here soon."

The older woman waited in impatient silence. Their horses were still compared to the woods around them, which was suddenly filled by the excitement not just of regular beasts of the night, but also of otherwise dinural animals woken from their sleep, not to mention the beasts of legends that could be lurking within arm's reach.

“Come closer,” she whispered to her charge, nervous because of the tingling feeling spilling down her back. “Are you strong in the touch?” she asked, meaning magic. Although most Anjts had some appreciable amount of magic good for day-to-day or emergency use, those with stronger talents could sometimes feel the presence of other magics close upon them. But for the inexperienced with this ability, the regular nervousness of the body could confuse the sensation. With an even lower whisper, she explained, “I think a fae may be watching...”

Flickering fires in the distance through the shadows of trees across each other like a basket weaving by a blind hand. What might appear to be movement near by was just as likely to be a trick of the nerves and of strained eyes.

The area around the Chimera light up like festive lights blazing on a holiday. A solid thunk could be heard before each earth shaking blast. In total six bursts could be seen, then nothing.

A dark figure dressed in what looked like a makeshift armor arose from the ground nearby. "There that blasted thing is!" The stranger exclaimed as it tossed something to the ground and whipped a massive object to his side. He then grabbed a similar object that was hanging from his belt and jammed it into the strange object.

(Okay, I think I waited a decent time for Dark to post. I'll just make due.)

Tesunie stumbles in, tripping over a rock as his horse plodded near him. He was backing up when he tripped though the bushes. He now laid there, back against the ground looking up at the other people from the ground. His good clothing were all dirty and dusty now. "Um, hi!" Was all Tesunie could muster to say at the moment.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Tesunie jokes, smiling at Prothel. He starts to lean forwards, getting off the ground. His hand goes for the back of his head, checking to see if he cut himself or something. "That certainly wasn't a pleasant trip."