Tread Softly -[Ell]-

[Amur]

He was still fatigued; the trip to this hidden camp had taken him much longer than he had wanted it to. But, there was little he could do about that now. At least for now he was out of harm’s way and would be able to tend to the wound he had sustained from The Elf. Gently, he lifted his hand from the wound and very slowly set to removing his wyvern-skin chest plate; the process taking twice as long as usual, since every movement he made aggravated his wound further.

He had to take a moment to regain his breath, the usually simple action of taking his chest plate off having further drained him of energy. Damned Elf, as much as Solomon HATED to admit it The Elf had actually managed to get in a pretty good hit, and even then that was only because the hit that had caused this broken rib had actually saved his life.

Despite his mood Solomon managed a small smile at the thought, had The Elf refrained from striking Solomon as the Wyvern-kin approached they would have had him. He would have to use that to taunt The Elf with when they next met, though, he would have to word it very carefully, letting them think that this encounter had affected him too much would be unacceptable.

Taking shallow breaths Solomon began preparing the items he would need to dress the wound in order to ensure that it would heal properly. He scowled at the bruising, which was visible even through the puffy flesh –marking a long-healed but significant wound- on the left side of his torso. This was an unacceptable lapse on his part, but the Wyvern-kin’s size had been so unexpected, the growth so rapid that it had triggered a flash back, Solomon sighed –as best as he could- at least it wasn’t a worst-case scenario, not yet. As long as they were unable to piece together anything from the number of times he had flashed back, he would be fine.

“They will pay; I’ll make sure of that.”
Solomon muttered sourly to himself.

“Who will pay?”
The sound had been so unexpected that Solomon had jumped, that had exacerbated his wound which caused him to draw in a sharp, deep breath, which only served to further aggravate his broken rib further. Growling in pain Solomon once more gently raised his hand to the wound, steadying his breathing he felt the amusement of the onlooker before figuring out who it was.

“Aimé...”
Solomon grunted, how that Magnificent Avian Bastard had managed to sneak up on Solomon... Well, it was something Solomon was familiar with; Aimé managed that quite frequently, but never when Solomon had been injured as he was now... Damn, he was going to get quite some mileage out of this one, and Solomon hated him for it already.
---

Aimé hopped down to a lower branch, beating his wings gently in order to control the fall; this certainly was an unexpected sight, a sight so rare that Aimé couldn’t help but be amused by the situation. The great Solomon Latro, injured, he was never going to get another chance like this and he knew it, this would be the one-time that Solomon wouldn’t be able to rebuke everything that Aimé had to say... Well, this was going to be enjoyable while it lasted.

“That looks like a painful injury, what happened? A ‘Commoner-wingless’ was able to match your impeccable abilities? Did it sting?”
He leaned forward and tilted his head to one side, looking at The Hunter curiously for a number of seconds. That got the exact reaction Aimé had wanted, a silent glare of such rage that Aimé couldn’t help but feel an excited glow spread through his chest as he leaned himself back into a more comfortable standing position.

With their beakless-heads the expressions of the wingless were simple to read and understand, and right now the expression of rage was just too much, Aimé couldn’t help but feel happy at his first ever verbal “victory” against Solomon.

“I wonder what-”
He began, only to be suddenly cut-off by Solomon.

“There’s no need to bring this to HIS attention.”
Solomon spat, only to once more cringe and then groan in pain as his wound took its toll on his body. Aimé shook himself, ruffling his feathers in delight, how he would love to just thank whomever had made this moment possible, just to shut Solomon up once was something Aimé thought that he would never live to see. And now that he had done it, well, for now enough was enough, he had seen what Solomon was like when he was enraged, and that was something that Aimé found frightening, best not to push him too far... Aimé didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that rage, not ever.

“Ok, ok, I’m done... Just, justdon’tget-”
Solomon looked away, muttering under his breath. Aimé allowed himself to relax, he hadn’t gone too far, and that was good... After all, the chances were that he would never get this kind of opportunity again, even if Solomon didn’t kill him.

“So, what did happen, Solomon?”
The Wingless Hunter kept silent for a moment longer, tending to his wound before drawing in a shallow –and obviously painful- breath and launching himself into an explanation.
---

-[3 weeks later]-
Solomon hunched over the slowly boiling concoction he was mixing, his rib hadn’t fully healed just yet, but he was well on his way to recovery. He just had to be careful not to overexert himself and his rib wouldn’t cause him any grief, but the Wyvern-kin and its Elf, they would still pay for what had happened that night.

And already his plan was in motion. He had his prey picked out; a small, still developing village situated a short distance from a large trading city. Close enough for the city to notice when something was wrong when informed, but still far enough away that organising and deploying any kind of response would still take several hours.

In short, it was perfect.

He had spent the last several days sabotaging their messenger capabilities, and discreetly contaminating their reserve food-stock with small amounts of an alchemic sleeping compound. Even in his condition Solomon was not to be underestimated, he had planned this little “test” of his very carefully, his plan was to create a situation in which he was in complete control, and he already knew how to go about it.

He stood up, concealing a wince as his rib panged slightly, nowhere near as bad as it had been, he could actually breath normally again now, but deep breaths and even and extended time laughing caused him pain... So, he had to keep the situation he planned to create under control, the slightest hint of weakness, and he was as good as done.

He rolled his shoulders, getting ready to put the next phase of his plan into motion. The sun had long since set and in only a few hours the concoction would be complete and the vials sealed, once that was done, it would simply be a matter of waiting for the rest of the pieces to fall into place... He would show them, make them pay, and he would do it without having to confront them in combat this time.

“Aimé...”
He stated simply, removing from a pouch on his belt a small piece of cloth. He heard the flutter of wings and then felt the additional weight on his shoulder; it shifted indecisively for a moment and the settled.

“I’m not going to be able to move from here for a few hours, I need you to go back to the village and contaminate their water supply with this.”
He spoke as he unravelled the small piece of cloth, revealing the moderately sized, dark blue capsule contained within. This was the largest dose of the sleeping compound he had, the amount of water it would be contaminating would be large enough to ensure that it would be slow acting enough not to arouse suspicion. And at this time of night, it would have enough time to contaminate the water fully.

“Once you’ve done that, remain in the village, I’ll be arriving at the next fall of night to put the last step of my plan into motion. I’ll go over the last few details then.”
He handed Aimé the capsule, making sure that he held it firmly before allowing him to fly off. Well, that was the next step put into motion, all he needed to do now was finish off the tasks he had left to do here. He knelt back at the concoction he was mixing, not much longer now, not much longer at all.
---

Aimé was deep in thought as he flew; the explanation that Solomon had given him had started off good enough, but somewhere along the line had devolved into so much drivel about how he was going to make the “Wyvern-kin” and “Its Elf” pay for injuring him. And then after that he had moved onto saying how his plan would teach the “Commoner-wingless” of this village what would happen when they didn’t take the decision on where to nest seriously. Once Aimé had expressed his confusion on the matter Solomon had simply reminded Aimé that he was not a Hunter, and therefore couldn’t understand.

To be honest, Aimé couldn’t complain about that, not if it meant becoming as crazy as Solomon had obviously become... Which had become another trait of The Hunter that frustrated Aimé, the wingless was secretive far past the point of paranoia that Aimé often wondered what he was so afraid of. What was he so paranoid about that he wouldn’t trust one he considered a friend with? Aimé simply resolved that it was simply one of the ways that a wingless felt it had freedom it otherwise lacked.

He liked Solomon, but sometimes the Wingless Hunter could be so confusing that it frustrated him.

He circled the village, closely watching for any signs of lingering wingless before beginning his descent. The low number of wingless taking a watchful role to protect the nest was shocking to Aimé, how were they going to warn the rest of their numbers when danger was approaching? Something about the habitation habits of the wingless lot –humans in particular- didn’t sit well with Aimé, it all seemed so, chaotic.

He alighted, placing one of his feet on the circular stone wall surrounding the hole-in-the-floor containing the water supply of the wingless. He continued to beat his wings as he slowly edged toward the hole and then, after another quick check for any lingering wingless dropped the sleeping compound into the hole.

He stopped, using his talons to gain the purchase he needed to lean over the hole without having to use his wings to do so. He turned his head to one side, and then waited... He heard the sound of the sleeping compound hitting the water and then hopped back, shaking himself off, that had been easy, the lack of wingless had seen to that... But, now he just had time.

He looked around; if he was to wait here then he might as well make himself comfortable... Or at least as comfortable as he could get perched on a wooden rooftop, which Aimé knew from experience required a very careful eye to identify.

He chirruped cheerfully as he found what he was looking for and immediately launched himself for his new perch. He would wait here as long as he needed to, he was patient, years of being in the presence of Alastor had helped with that. But for now, with not even a single wingless to provide entertainment Aimé immediately fell to grooming, he would not allow his feathers to look messy, that was just unacceptable.
---

Solomon slowly rolled his head as he stood up; finally his task was complete, so all he needed to do now was to wait... After working off the discomfort caused by hours spent in a hunched-over position whilst doing some frustratingly tedious work Solomon was going to get some sleep, if his reflexes were dulled on top of his still healing wound then things could very well take a disastrously wrong turn very quickly, and that was not going to be something that Solomon was going to allow, he drew in a small series of short breaths.

Things were falling into place nicely, so for the time being all Solomon could do was wait, wait and rest... His time would come, he would make them pay.
---

Aimé had spent most of the day on his perch, if he wasn’t grooming, he was sleeping, or just watching the wingless as they went about their daily routines. Astoundingly Solomon had known exactly what he was doing; almost ritualistically the wingless had started their day getting water from the hole-in-the-floor. At first Aimé had almost been disappointed that the wingless hadn’t immediately started collapsing, but then, that would have been too obvious. He had already established that Solomon knew what he was doing, so he would give it time; see what developed from the stupidity of the wingless nesting here.

His patience was eventually rewarded, as he watched to wingless-chicks chase after each other he started witnessing the effects of the compound. At first it had been small things, like them opening that hole-in-their-face widely for extended periods of time –he eventually remembered that the humans had called it a “yawn”- And then, as the day continued to wear on the effects became more obvious, drowsiness, dulled reflexes and silly little mistakes that wingless would not have made normally.

Aimé didn’t envy the wingless, no, it looked like the tiredness caused by the compound was something that they were suffering through as opposed to dealing with. Clearly unable to understand what had caused them all to become so tired, it was amusing; they had no idea, no idea at all. Silly wingless, The Hunter had been right.
---

Night had once again fallen and now Solomon was ready, he had very carefully moved the stockpile of explosive vials from his former hiding place right to the entrance to the small village, and, as he had expected he had found the town completely quiet. Aimé, that Magnificent Avian Bastard had fulfilled his role perfectly, now it was just up to Solomon to put the final pieces of this puzzle together and his plan would be ready to proceed.

The village had an odd set-up to Solomon, the position they had chosen to build it in wasn’t defensible, and they had tried to counter-act that by building a small wooden wall around the perimeter. The interior of the village wasn’t too different, other than a stone-well placed roughly in the middle of the village all of the buildings were constructed from wood with flat roofs, it was the reason Solomon had chosen this place. It would be easy to keep himself off of the ground, and, with the villagers to consider would just place another obstacle between himself and his prey. He was in control, and it was going to stay that way.

Very carefully, he placed the vials he had constructed in the village entrance, keeping them out-of-sight as he began to set to work.

Even though the population of the village were drugged into a state of sleep that would effectively allow them to sleep through an earth-quake Solomon still had some trouble moving the commoners from their homes and out into the street –his rib still proving to be troublesome when it came to heavy lifting- but he managed.

He restrained each commoner individually, before binding them all together around the well in such a way that would prevent them from moving too much... Well, nearly all of them. He had to have some surprises in mind for later if he wanted to keep the situation under complete control. He drew in several shallow breaths as he finished securing the commoners in place, things were coming along nicely not there were only a small number of steps left to complete.

“Aimé...”
---

Aimé had watched Solomon work in complete silence and had already concluded that he didn’t like the direction this was heading in. But, there was nothing he could do about it, not now; all he could do was play the Wingless-hunters game and hope that he didn’t do anything too stupid... Though, judging by what he had done so far it was far too late for such a hope, whatever Solomon was planning, Aimé wasn’t sure if he wanted to know exactly what it was, not any more.

He heard Solomon call his name and immediately left his perch, hovering briefly before landing on Solomon’s shoulder. It took Aimé an extra moment to fold his wings –having to avoid touching the wingless’ head- before he was able to settle comfortably.

“What next?”
The wingless hunter remained silent as he walked back toward the ground-entrance to the nest.

“The city nearby, go there and keep watch... Come back and inform me if the troops there start making their way here.”
Aimé shook himself in frustration, but otherwise followed the instruction he had just been given. Moving from one nest to watching another was not something that Aimé particularly wanted to do, but in this case he wouldn’t complain, he didn’t want to be around Solomon when his plan was in full motion...
---

Solomon started work the second he had felt Aimé leave his shoulder, he knew already that this part of his plan would be the most tedious. But, it would all be worth it once his plan was in full motion, once he was able to show his prey that their last encounter against him had been pure luck, once he had made sure they knew EXACTLY where their place was, then all his work would be worth it, he would turn them against themselves... And it would be glorious.

Setting the vials around the village was, much as Solomon had expected a tedious and frustrating task, placing them at locations which would ensure a catastrophic chain reaction which would ultimately reduce the village to little more than a smoking crater if just a single vial fractured... He would need to drive that point home very quickly, couldn’t have them rushing at Solomon blindly again, that would mean that things had gone very wrong indeed.

By the time he had finished placing all the vials he had constructed around the village the sun had long since started to rise, and the villagers had long since started to stir. However, he still had plenty of time, only some little tasks to complete now and his plan would have started its movement... He would make them pay.

He left the village, creating a controlled fire a short way away from the entrance, this would use the last compound he had for creating The Emerald Pillar, but it would be worth it... It would be worth it.

But not yet, he needed to make sure that these commoners knew the severity of their situation.

He returned to the interior of the village, being careful to avoid his own elaborate trap as he moved to stand in plain sight of everyone he had captured. He heard angry shouts and some –admittedly- not all too bad curses thrown his way as people began to notice him, but for the moment, he ignored them and took a small black case from a pouch on his belt and opened it, picking out one of the vials as he did so.

After placing the case back into its pouch he stood smiling warmly at the crowd before him as threats of death began to mingle with the panicked shrieks and angry curses. And then, in one fluid motion, he turned and flicked the vial at the opening in the wooden wall serving as the entrance, covering his eyes seconds later.

(He had left the entrance and the area surrounding it clear for that very reason, couldn’t trigger everything just yet.)

He heard the explosion and waited several seconds for the voices of everyone restrained before him to die down. He lowered his arm; the explosion had his desired effect of removing a large section of the wall entirely. Once more, all according to plan, the vial had been constructed just several days ago after all.

He turned back to face the –now- deathly silent crowd, the –mocking- warm smile still spread across his face.

“You see that, ja? Your entire village is now filled with the very things capable of doing that, if so much as one of them goes off then the rest will follow, we will all die and this village will be replaced with a large crater. So, I advise that you refrain from moving. Your ‘fates’, if you like, will depend entirely on how my desired guests of honour respond and react to my little test here... So, start praying, you’re all going to need it.”
He sneered at them all, the effect of his words was immediate, the silence became tense as the restrained commoners became fearful of what Solomon had planned, the scene had just become delicious... But it was still missing something, and that was his guests of honour, he had little doubt that they would show up if given the right incentive to do so, and he had just the incentive for them... Like moths to a flame.

He turned and left the village once more, walking back to the small fire he had created he removed a small green capsule of highly compressed compound from its pouch and held it in his hand for several seconds... And then, very casually threw it into the fire, smirking to himself as the fire stuttered and then suddenly erupted into The Emerald Pillar...

He moved one of his plain steel knives from its concealed sheath and thrust it into part of the remaining wooden wall. He then took several seconds to secure a note to the hilt of the knife with a bright pink ribbon.

“Tread softly, for the lives of the innocent are scattered at your feet.
Lots of Love
Well, actually, I shouldn’t need to leave that now, don’t you agree?”

He wouldn’t have long; now, all he needed to do was get into position.

He moved, placing himself on a nearby roof, which would allow him to avoid the vials scattered around the village with ease as he made his way toward his selected perch. The roof of the largest building in the village, he had selected it especially because of its position a short distance behind the well, and because of the way its roof had been constructed. Almost as if it was meant to be stood on in, it came complete with some variety of solid wooden railing around –or at least very close to- the edge along with several tall poles at each corner, the position was to his advantage and the wooden railing concealed the surprise he planned to deploy later-on.

Everything was set, all he had to do now was wait, wait for his prey to arrive...
They were beneath him...
There were forever his prey...
And he would make sure that they knew it.
Once and for all.

[Elloria]

Niko paced the garden on his small estate, restless. Thoughts of the latest failed attempt to teach Solomon filled his thoughts. He didn’t consider himself an obsessive individual. He didn’t let the outer world wriggle in and fester inside of him. He kept himself distanced enough to move about his daily life with little difficulty or frustration. Yes, sometimes he had to deal with idiots or careless fools. But those were easily brushed off. Those things didn’t fill his waking and sleeping hours, driving him slowly mad.

But there was just something about that thrice-damned Solomon that Niko just couldn’t leave alone. Perhaps he did possess the elitist views of his kind. Or perhaps it was just Solomon. He didn’t recall feeling this way about Mchumba – or many of the humans he had encountered in Ilirea. Yes…it was something about Solomon’s supreme arrogance and ridiculous amount of luck that was getting under Niko’s skin.

Niko gave a small scream of frustration. ARASHI!

The dragon twitches from his slumber at the mental shriek from his Rider. Niko has been nothing short of infuriated the past three weeks. Understandably so, of course. The filthy two-legs-round-ears-fleshling had humiliated them terribly – when victory should have surely been theirs, it had snuck in some sort of exploding compound and completely floored Arashi. His mouth is still a little tender, but he counts himself fortunate. His size and mouth’s natural protection from the fire that he can now feel burning in his core are what saved him from further damage that night.

He is confident that they will catch the fleshling soon enough. Now is the time to heal and gather their strength. But Niko is restless and wishes to fly. Perhaps it is fortunate, then, that Melatoth-ebrithil and Salien-ebrithil have been sent on a mission – one which Arashi and Niko were not allowed to tag along on. The dragon gives a mental sigh and rises from his resting place beside a large, flowering cherry tree – mindful of the tree, as it is part of one of Niko’s precious memories. He pads over to the cobbled courtyard as Niko darts inside to grab the simple saddle and some other supplies. At least his Rider understands the freeing nature of flight.

Niko returned with the saddle and had it secured on Arashi in short order. Within moments, he was strapped in – sword and dagger at his belt, enough food for a few days and little else – and they were aloft. The tension immediately left his body and mind as they soared over Ilirea’s walls and went out into the countryside.

Where to, my flustered little Rider?

Tch…I don’t care. North, perhaps? You’ve never been near Du Weldenvarden, have you?

No…last I had heard your pointed-ears-two-legs kind were not pleased with the Riders. Perhaps we may skirt the borders of the forest?

Fine. Wherever the wind takes us.

Arashi hums with pleasure as he turns northward.
------------
Several days later:
The sunrise was beautiful and welcome, warming the two bodies that had been chilled during the night. Watching the black fade slowly through the spectrum of colors to a bright, clear blue never ceased to awe dragon and elf. It was going to be a beautiful day this side of the Spine. Only the satisfaction of defeating Solomon would have made this moment – indeed all sunrises – infinitely sweeter.

And with that thought, Niko once again felt restless. It had been over two centuries since he had last felt so uselessly, so incapable of fighting his own battles. He had not felt so weak since leaving Ellesmera. And he despised it. Despised how Solomon had dug into the elf’s brain and set up camp there. Despised how an unnaturally lucky human had managed to best him through trickery. It was enough to make Niko sick with fury.

He felt Arashi send a wave of soothing emotion over his mind, but it did nothing. He started pacing immediately, mind spinning useless once more. He had been considering stopping briefly in Ceunon to restock his food supply, but now he had no desire to be near anyone but Arashi – and possibly Josk, if his older brother weren’t in that wretched elven capital. He kicked the dirt in front of him, sending up plumes of dust.

He was totally lost in his pointless obsessing when shock suddenly bolted through his mind via Arashi. The elf instinctively jerked around to stare at the source of his dragon’s shock: a pillar of impossibly green fire.

Solomon.

Arashi is saddled and mounted in the space of a few heartbeats, it feels like. His wings spread wide and he launches into the air, gaining altitude with several powerful wingbeats. The fire is not too far away – just outside a small village, by the look of it…which sets off warning bells in Arashi’s head. The Solomon two-legs-round-ears-fleshling does not strike Arashi as the type to enter crowded areas without purpose. He conveys this impression to Niko, who shrugs it off.

Then he is probably drawing us in. But what can we do? Ignore it and possibly risk the lives of those villagers? I think not, Arashi.

The dragon sighs, knowing his Rider is correct. To abandon the village to such a fate at the hands of the hated fleshling would be shameful. The rest of the short trip passes in silence before they land a few feet away from the fiery pillar that burned outside the wooden walls of the village. Arashi surveys the area while Niko dismounts to take care of the fire. As his Rider extinguishes the fire and moves to something embedded in the wooden walls, the dragon catches sight of his least favorite individual and growls. Sssssssssolomonnnnnnn… He tenses and prepares to leap at the offending fleshling. He does not have the patience to wait this time.

Wait, Arashi!

Niko held up the note, reading it to the dragon.

Tread softly, for the lives of the innocent are scattered at your feet.
Lots of Love
Well, actually, I shouldn’t need to leave that now, don’t you agree?

They look at Solomon, hatred and fury flickering like fire in their eyes, waiting for this fleshling’s next move. Twin growls issue from them, the smaller body’s drowned out by the larger body’s.

[Amur]

Solomon waited patiently; after all, he had set up this scene for one reason, and one reason only so it wouldn’t have made any sense for him to get impatient. No, in fact, despite the shock of the last encounter he had, had with the Wyvern-kin and its Elf Solomon actually felt surprisingly calm... Yes, this time he was going to be in complete control of the situation, he would show those amateurs that they wouldn’t be getting the better of him again. Last time they had gotten lucky, and that was going to be the ONLY time that their luck treated them so well.

He smiled absently as he looked at one of the two vials he held in his hand, flipping it over the tops of his fingers one way and then back again only to start the cycle anew. He already had his plan in mind, but it would involve really driving home the fact that one false move would end the lives of everyone that Solomon currently had restrained... Then again, the Wyvern-kin’s lack of self restraint might be an issue in the opening seconds of Solomon’s little gambit here. He would have to see how that played out.

He looked down at his captives –serving more as a collective meat-shield- and smiled his mocking warm smile once more.

“I hope you’re all comfortable, you’ll be there a while.”
He commented in a warm, friendly manner, not that he cared if his taunts went over their heads or not, his best was reserved for the Wyvern-kin and its Elf. Other than that he had no reason to put much effort into mocking the village he had managed to capture with such ease... He watched them, pale-faced with fear, not daring to speak and trying to keep themselves as small as possible in an attempt to avoid his explosive vials. Solomon smiled again... If only these commoner’s knew. If only they knew.

He didn’t have to wait too much longer for his plan to begin moving once again, for Solomon was able to see his prey in the distance. Admittedly, at first he had passed them off as a bird or something, but as they drew closer to him, Solomon was able to see them for what they were... How deliciously predictable of them, flying straight into his arms like that, two failed attempts to rush at him blindly had taught these amateurs nothing... This victory was going to be that much sweeter because of that.

He looked back down at his gathering of little lambs and allowed his warm smile to spread across his face yet again.

“They come. Start praying now.”
He said, still in a warm and informative tone. From then he fell silent allowing The Wyvern-kin and its Elf to get their bearings and then to find him before saying or doing anything further himself. He took note of their actions, watching as The Elf extinguished the Emerald Pillar. He turns his attention to The Wyvern-kin and meets its eyes as it catches sight of him, Solomon smirks and even blows it a mocking kiss.

Solomon noticed the Wyvern-kin shifting, almost as if it was preparing to leap at him. However, he kept his smirk going. His gambit clearly already paying off as it moved no further after that, The Elf looking toward Solomon moments later... He had them where he wanted them, now, it was time for things to start moving as Solomon wanted them to start moving. He spread his arms in welcome, his smirk broadening slightly.

“Wunderbar!” He said loudly, holding the welcome pose. “I whistle and you come running, I seem to have trained you both well.”

He sneered loudly, lowering his arms. Taking a moment to look them over and gage their reactions, he laughed as he took note of what they were doing. He didn’t have to say much to get to them now; he could hear the Wyvern-kin growling from where he was stood –not that, that meant very much. The distance between them wasn’t that great.- he drew in a short breath and shook his head gently, licking his lips.

“Calm down you two.” He said calmly. “You’ll frighten our guests.”
He finished off, gesturing down to the commoners he had restrained and secured in place, he paused for just a moment, to allow them to take note of the situation, in just a few seconds he was going to let them know just in control of this situation he was, he had the advantage this time, not them, NEVER them.

“And don’t think I’m foolish enough to think that just leaving them there will be foolproof. Nein, nein. I’ve got these as well.” He held up the two vials he held in his hand. “Speaking of which Wyvern-kin, how’s the head?”
He sneered; however, he didn’t allow the silence to last.

“These things are scattered all over the village, if just one of them so much as cracks it will explode, and that will start a chain-reaction which will ultimately reduce this entire village to a smoking crater. So you could try to rush me again, but, that will cost everyone here their lives.”
He said calmly.

“And believe me, these vials are incredibly fragile. A gentle tremor, a moderate gust of wind even a rapid rise in temperature will cause them to fracture and then, you’ll be left with a crater.”
He said calmly.

“And then you’ll be left with a lot of Human blood on your hands... Not that I think it’ll bother either of you, after all, what is it that your lot normally refers to us as Wyvern-kin?”
He asked calmly, allowing his smirk to soften slightly, in fact, he allowed it to soften to the point in which it became the same warm smile he had first greeted the commoners of this village with earlier. He wanted the Wyvern-kin and its Elf to know that they were out of their league, that he was their superior. That he was their predator.

“In fact, I’m quite surprised that you didn’t get any to break when you landed here.”
He said calmly, falling silent for just a moment. He more than definitely hadn’t said everything that he wanted to say. Not at all, but he needed to pause every so often. He wasn’t talking just to hear his own voice after all, no; Solomon was talking to show the Wyvern-kin and its Elf that he was capable of doing what they weren’t.

“Regardless, I called you here because; I feel that we got off on the wrong foot. And I knew we wouldn’t be able to talk if we didn’t have something between us to prevent your usual blind rushes at me...”
He said calmly, of course, this was a lie, he was taunting them... These two had already made their feelings toward Solomon very clear, and Solomon was fine with that, if these two amateurs wanted to make something from nothing, then Solomon would be only too happy to give them their request as he stomped their hatred from them and as he crushed their spirit.

They were his prey.

[Elloria]

While Arashi continues to glare and growl at Solomon, Niko looks at the base of the building. He feels his fury escalate at the sight of the villagers trussed up – innocents being punished for absolutely no reason. Did the human on the roof really care so little for its own kind? Think so little of life that it would risk an entire village just to prove a point to a dragon and Rider?

What, then, can they do? It will have to be quick – Solomon is not the type to come to a fight totally unprepared. And this whole scenario stank of entrapment. They had foolishly flown right into the human’s waiting arms. Niko knows he has more sense than that. How has this human so thoroughly gotten under his skin? What to do, then…

“And don’t think I’m foolish enough to think that just leaving them there will be foolproof. Nein, nein. I’ve got these as well.” Niko looks up to see two vials held in Solomon’s hand. “Speaking of which Wyvern-kin, how’s the head?” Arashi’s claws wish to churn the ground beneath him, desperate to leap forward and strike at the fleshling. The memory of that night barely a month ago is still bitter and will forever be bitter. But neither of them moves. Niko grinds his teeth, looks back at the villagers and tunes out Solomon’s babbling. Whatever that human has to say is of little consequence to his thoughts in any case. And if that changes, Arashi will let him know.

If those vials are scattered around the village…and if the compound is stronger this time around than the vial that was thrown at you…No matter how fast I am, I will never be able to cover the distance in time to stop Solomon from breaking the vials. And with you as large as you are, having you fly or try to breathe fire is also not an option.

The fleshling is not particularly adept at magic. Is there some sort of spell you could use? They work instantaneously, do they not?

Solomon has a masterful control over his mind and can defend it as well as any classically trained elf. If he thinks for even a moment that a spell is forthcoming, those vials will be broken and the village destroyed. Even if I could think of one, I do not have the skill to silently cast a spell.

There MUST be something! This cannot be allowed to continue!

I’m TRYING!

“Regardless, I called you here because I feel that we got off on the wrong foot. And I knew we wouldn’t be able to talk if we didn’t have something between us to prevent your usual blind rushes at me...”

Niko looks back up at Solomon, knowing he has never hated anyone in his life quite as much as he hates this human right now. This hatred is so powerful it is almost as blinding as his rage – but what good can that blindness do now? It’s what has led to this untenable situation. No…he cannot allow himself to be consumed with either emotion right now. Now is the time to recall his brother’s calm, collected manner that he once strove so desperately to emulate. How would Josk react to being caught in a position where he can move neither forward nor backward?

Niko begins taking all the scattered emotions he feels and crams them into a small ball, sticking it into the furthest corner of his mind. He allows the tension to melt from his muscles and he relaxes his stance, knowing that he now looks utterly nonchalant. And perhaps a part of him truly does feel that. He latches onto the feeling, crossing his arms as he quirks an eyebrow at Solomon. He will not let this human see how deeply it has embedded itself in his psyche. Even if it wins this day, it will not be so lucky the next time. He will grind it into the ground just as it seeks to do the same to him. But unlike it, he possesses all the time in the world. They will not be broken – not by Solomon, not by anyone.

“Well, Solomon. It seems we have plenty of time for a little chit-chat, then. What exactly did you wish to discuss? It must have been terribly important if you felt the need to go through all this trouble just to catch our attention. I didn’t realize you cared so much.”

[Amur]

Solomon feels only a growing sense of satisfaction as he watches both The Elf and The Wyvern-kin their rage is palpable, even from this distance. This only makes the situation that Solomon has created even more delicious, though, he had the strangest idea that the situation would simply become priceless once the pair of them discovered the full truth of this situation. But, for now Solomon was in control, and he was going to enjoy it.

Enjoy their inability to act.

He drew in a deep breath and then licked his lips as he listened to The Elf’s response, NOW things were going to get interesting. Especially if The Elf was taking the calmer, more diplomatic approach, Solomon could only smirk at the thought of that. Quite the switch from their last encounter, that was for sure. But, it would just make everything that Solomon had in store for him that much more crushing when he revealed what he had up his sleeve, but not yet, no, he had to taunt and mock The Elf and The Wyvern-kin first... That was a must.

But first, he chuckled at what The Elf had said.

“What can I say, Elf? After our last encounter I had some time to think.”
He retorted calmly, his smirk broadening as he looked at the vial he was still spinning between his fingers, down to the crowd he had captured and then back to The Elf. The commoners here meant nothing to him; he would have killed them all before drawing The Wyvern-kin and its Elf here had he not needed a meat shield.

“Amusing, however, that you try to taunt me for drawing you here, when you came running when you saw The Emerald Pillar.”
He paused chuckling.

“I can only assume you were hoping that you would get as lucky as you got last time.”
He stated calmly, continuing to twirl the vials carelessly between his fingers, paying them little mind. He knew he was capable of keeping that up without making a mistake, but The Elf... Solomon just wanted to see how much he could make The Elf sweat before the game truly began. He sighed, allowing his smile to drop.

“Like I said, I feel as though we got off on the wrong foot, Elf. I meant what I said during our first... ‘Chat’, if you will, I really did have no intention of getting violent. If it wasn’t for The Wyvern-kin losing its temper then I wouldn’t have had to defend myself, now, would I?”
He said, still twirling the vials between his fingers nonchalantly. He let those words hang for a moment, and then shook his head gently.

“As for the ‘why’, well, I actually do just enjoy the sharper, more insulting side of discussion. Not to mention I still needed to pay The Wyvern-kin back for its insult during my tirade directed at its highly deluded mentor.”
He stated simply, that time he wasn’t lying... Well, not completely anyway. The pair had made their feelings toward Solomon clear and he didn’t expect them to take the bait he had just set, well, not immediately anyway. His intention was to make it seem as though they had started something out of nothing, and by the time this game was over, he was going to have them blaming themselves. The game was just beginning, and Solomon was going to win.

“However, it has become clear to me, that you’re not simply going to drop your misplaced sense of hatred toward me over that. So, being the helpful man that I am, I’ve decided that I’m going to point out where you went wrong, and help you improve... Just to show that there’s nein hard feelings.”
He said calmly, a small –highly mocking- warm smile spreading across his lips for a brief moment, before he dropped it, clearing his throat with highly over-exaggerated loudness. Feigning a sense of seriousness that he did not feel, not toward these two at least, he already had them right where he wanted them... Now he was just rubbing salt in the wounds.

“Wyvern-kin, you failed to take my stance during your first charge into consideration, failing to knock me to the ground you should have immediately gone for my jugular vein. That would have killed me more or less on the spot.”
He said informatively, the vials still moving between his fingers as he twirled them with ease. He cast his gaze back to The Elf.

“As for you, Elf, you caught me off guard after throwing me into the tree, had you followed that up immediately, you would have had me. Of course, had Wyvern-kin done the smart thing, I wouldn’t have been able to put it on the floor by hand in the first place.”
He said calmly, trying to keep his face straight as he spoke, enjoying the fact that all of this was being stated casually before a crowd. He was succeeding; he was very good at keeping a proverbial “poker-face”, but he couldn’t help but let a small smirk break through.

“Now, our second encounter. Ignoring your attempt to toy with me in the forest, simply because I don’t know where to start with the poor performance I witnessed there.”
He continued, stopping for a brief moment to allow a look of contemplation to cross his features for several seconds. He held it for a moment, and then nodded to himself.

“Now, the part where I was in shock, ja. Elf, you should have just left me as I was, you actually HAD me at that point. But, you felt as though you actually needed to strike me while I wasn’t able to move... Though, I suppose I should thank you for that. That one hit you landed there was just what I needed to snap me back into reality.”
He said slowly, stopping the vials for a second as he looked back at the Wyvern-kin.

“As for you, Wyvern-kin, you hesitated. After your strike, I was incapacitated and in too much pain to stand up. You should have followed up immediately, you left me long enough to collect my wits, which is what ultimately resulted in my putting you back on the floor.”
He finished off calmly, smirking at them for just a brief little moment. Wondering how long it would take them to become enraged when the man that they were trying to kill was giving them advice on how to go about it. The irony of that was delicious by itself, the rage that Solomon hoped it would cause would just be... Well, he had no words, yet.

He resumed twirling the vials between his fingers.

“See, nein hard feelings on my end.”
He said happily.

“So, can we be friends now?”
He asked, feigning genuine curiosity, raising just one eyebrow ever so slightly as he spoke. Of course, he didn’t expect them to believe a word of what he had just said, not at all. No, in fact, he hoped that his intention here was obvious by now, especially since Solomon was giving them advice on how best to kill him... Well, somewhat, he still wanted to taunt them a bit more before it got to that stage, before he started pointing out the mistakes they were making now.

[Elloria]

“What can I say, Elf? After our last encounter I had some time to think.”

Niko listens calmly as Solomon pontificates from his cozy perch, allowing that calm to wash over the mind of his highly enraged dragon. Niko’s mind is remarkably clear right now – clearer than it has been in weeks…months, even. His eyes are transfixed on the spinning vials as he soothes Arashi.

Every word that falls from Solomon’s lips is naught but a lie the human wishes to weave into a web of deceit. It wishes to play games with us. It wishes to infuriate us with every phrase and blind us with each sentence it utters. We will not fall for its mental trickery. Not this time.

And while Arashi continues to be visibly upset, Niko remains as placid as starlight. He even nods occasionally, as if he sees the wisdom of the human’s words. In retrospect, of course, what Solomon says does indeed make sense. And some distant part of his mind was already well aware of his own shortcomings in their previous encounters. But he had not been in full control of his mind before, now had he? He had allowed his instinctive need to protect what he loved overtake his reason. And thus he had made mistakes. Truly he has learned nothing from his childhood, then. And yes he could see how jerking Solomon from its stupor had led to the disappointing ending of their last meeting…though Arashi balks at the idea of conceding anything to the fleshling.

“See, nein hard feelings on my end. So, can we be friends now?”

Arashi’s lip curls away from his back teeth in a snarl that Niko quietly shushes. The elf looks back up at Solomon with a contemplative look on his face – looking for all the world as though he were seriously considering both Solomon’s advice and proposition of friendship. After a moment, he returns Solomon’s mockingly warm smile. “Well, I shall take your advice into consideration, dear Solomon. One should not ignore an opportunity to learn, after all. Next time I throw you into a state of utter shock and panic, I will be sure to not jolt you out of it.” He taps his chin, as if suddenly struck by some fleeting thought. His finger stills as he says, “Though I do feel compelled to note that it was only due to your continued provocation that Arashi felt any need to strike you in the first place. Now I will grant that he should have exhibited better control of his temper. But given that he was still a mere hatchling perhaps you should have taken that into consideration when you felt the need to pointlessly taunt him – especially if violence had not been your goal.” Niko shrugs as if Solomon’s claimed intent is irrelevant – which it is. “But I have long since come to the conclusion that violence is what makes your life worthwhile. That there is basically nothing else in your life worth living for and so you must make some reason for your continued existence. After all, there really is no point to your particular life, is there?” Niko frowns, seemingly saddened by that thought. “That really is a depressing thought. If there is no point to your life, that surely explains why you treat all other lives in such a blasé manner.” He looks up at Solomon again, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “Is that how it feels to be you, Solomon? A being lacking any purpose in life? How have you lived with yourself all these years?”

[Amur]

As it had been last time Solomon noticed that he was getting to the Wyvern-kin much faster than he was getting to The Elf. The order was of little consequence, he would eventually have them both where he wanted them, and if that meant he had to resort to using the “surprises” that he had in store for them, then so be it. But for now, he was enjoying himself well enough, and that The Elf had actually started playing along with Solomon’s taunts.

Well, that just made Solomon happy.

Finally, a challenge.

That was, however, until The Elf finished what he had to say. Solomon felt anger surge through him and for the briefest of moments faltered and stopped twirling the vials between his fingers, his concentration on not clenching his fist. If he broke the vials he was holding then the result would have been disastrous for him, he kept his face straight and closed his eyes gently. Drawing in as deep a breath as he could without aggravating his still injured rib, he exhaled slowly, opened his eyes and once more resumed twirling the vials between his fingers.

The Elf was NOT getting to Solomon, The Elf knew NOTHING of what Solomon had been through, he knew NOTHING of the feeling of coming home to find everyone he had ever called “friend” dead, he knew NOTHING of the feeling behind just knowing that he was the last survivor of an entire way of life.

The Elf, had experienced NOTHING of the hardships that Solomon had endured and survived, finally, The Elf knew NOTHING of true failure, the kind of failure that ends up getting friends killed. Still a child, still naive, The Elf had yet to experience true pain, and it was going to be up to Solomon to teach him such an experience, but not yet.

No, in fact, he smiled back at The Elf, happy to continue playing the taunting game for the moment.

“Du ahnst es nicht welches es beabsichtigen einbüßen an ihrer Zweck in Leben.”
He muttered, almost solemnly.

Solomon was in control, not The Elf.

“Ah, good, at least you can admit that you made mistakes. However, are you not taught the value of ‘if you can’t take being insulted, you shouldn’t start it’? I remind you that I was simply paying it back for its earlier insult.”
He said calmly, once more raising an eyebrow ever so slightly as he spoke.

“If the Wyvern-kin hadn’t insulted me, I wouldn’t have insulted it. It’s as simple as that.”
He stated. Though, in all likelihood that was also a lie, he despised all of these Lizards enough to want to watch them die painfully... He was going to need more powerful explosive compound, however, and a greater distance to use it from first. Solomon was good, but he wasn’t able to flick the vials quite that far.

It was now that he allowed his smile to twist into a small smirk.

“Though, I have to admit I was hoping that you would give me an answer along that sort of thought-path Elf.”
He said calmly, well, he had wanted to save his surprises until a little while later, but he needed to keep his conversation moving at a reasonable pace, whatever distraction Aimé was providing wouldn’t last forever, and Solomon did need to be able to run at a moment’s notice. So, in all reality, it seemed like the perfect kind of time to begin considering using the surprises he had in store.

“It’ll make what I’m about to do feel just that little bit more natural. I have a surprise for you, since you disliked my last present so much, I’m sure you’ll just love this one.”
He said calmly, his smirk twisting even further as he fell silent and let the statement hang. His intention here was to simply allow them to dread what Solomon might have had in store for them, slightly less fun then making The Elf sweat as he had originally intended to, but still fun all the same, at least for Solomon it was.

[Elloria]

Niko gives a quiet laugh as the human briefly struggles with itself. Yes, he will have to one day find out this creature’s history. Between its desire to not fade into obscurity and Niko’s jibes at its meaningless existence, there is surely a rich and painful history to it – a history worth exploiting to its fullest. More interestingly, it is trying rather desperately to not break the vials in its hand. So…the vials in its hand are definitely explosive. But it has no desire to break those while it holds them. It certainly has no problem threatening to do so, but refrains from doing anything more than threaten. So what else is it playing at?

“Well. You cannot expect either of us to follow your advice about taking an insult when you are clearly incapable of doing so yourself. After all, if you were so skilled in taking my dragon’s initial insult then you would have felt no need to insult him in turn. Rather hypocritical of you, is it not?” Niko pauses, as if struck by a sudden realization.

“I suppose integrity did not mean much to the people you were raised by. Because if it did, that certainly does not show in your actions.” The elf carefully tucked several stray strands of hair behind one of his ears as he let that thought hang between him and Solomon. After a moment, he continued as if he hadn’t said anything at all. “So. What sort of exhilarating surprise do you have for us? I am sure I will be suitably appalled by whatever it is.”

[Amur]

Solomon allows his smirk to broaden as The Elf spoke, perhaps if nothing else, he could take some solace knowing that if The Elf ever set foot in Empire Nirvana he would get torn apart. But, even then there was little point in taking anything from that; Empire Nirvana was a fair distance away and even Solomon had little enough desire to return there. He kept his smirk going strong and his eyes trained on The Elf, well he had certainly made a very good point, taking an insult when it was related to his past certainly was difficult... But Solomon wasn’t about to tell him that, no, he had other plans on that front.

He simply sighed gently and repeated.

“Du ahnst es nicht welches es beabsichtigen einbüßen an ihrer Zweck in Leben.”
This time with greater volume than before, knowing that what he had just said would mean very little to the linguistically restricted Elf. That was fine; he didn’t really want The Elf to understand what he was saying. Which is why he had said it in his native tongue, if he had wanted The Elf to understand that statement, then well, he would have said it in a language that The Elf was able to understand.

“Oh, we’re taught, and we’re taught well. That one, however, is a cultural thing. I suppose I shouldn’t take too much of what you say to heart on that front though. You are saying it in ignorance after all.”
He chuckled.

“Well, isn’t this nice, we’re all really growing here aren’t we?”
He sneered casually. The vials he was spinning between his fingers stopped and his smirk softened into a smile as The Elf proceeded to play along with Solomon as he mentioned his “surprise”, oh, how he had been HOPING The Elf would answer like that. This was going to be that much sweeter; he could feel his excitement growing already.

“Calm down, Elf. We wouldn’t want the moment to pass too quickly now would we? And since the thought I put into my last present was spat back into my face, I’m going to be taking greater care with the unveiling of this surprise. So, just bear with me a moment, ja?”
He said calmly, almost teasingly to The Elf. He let the statement hang in the air for a moment as he walked to one corner of the roof, kneeling for only a second as he took the blindfold off of the first child he had hidden behind the solid wooden railing.

She wasn’t too old, probably about ten by Solomon’s reckoning still young enough to be considered innocent, long brown hair reaching the length of her waist, a round face, and a set of amber eyes. He paid little attention to what she was wearing, commoner garb, completely uninteresting. He stood her up, grabbed her around the chest and lifted her over the railing, very gently placing her feet on the narrow edge on the opposite side of the railing.

Taking the cloth out of her mouth he wrapped his arm gently around her neck, just to keep her in place –and to hide the noose-... He didn’t intend to cause this child any harm... Yet.

He smirked, looking back down at The Elf.

“Isn’t it adorable, Elf?”
He sneered, watching the young child’s eyes dart in every direction fearfully. He held her there for a long while, allowing the villagers to see the scene before them as well, as he had hoped this caused angry shouts to rise from the captive audience, however, Solomon merely shook his head and held the vials over the edge of the railing, threatening to drop them.

“Please, commoners, hold all feedback until the end of the event, we do not accept audience participation.”
He taunted cruelly, his smirk once more twisting into a malicious grin as the commoners all fell into a begrudged silence; he gave The Elf a look, an almost knowing look.

“Tell them your name.”
He said calmly to the child. By this point the child seemed to have trouble keeping its breathing steady, its eyes darted constantly, never staying still... At least it was appropriately scared, this was going to be good, and Solomon could feel it.

“S-Sophia...”
The child stammered, its voice making it sound as though it was on the verge of tears. Solomon had to be impressed by that to a degree; this child was doing a better job of keeping itself under control than most full-grown men did. However, that mattered little Solomon had a plan and he was sticking to it, the outcome of this even would depend on The Elf.

“And tell them, Sophia. How scared are you?”
He asked his voice still steady and calm. That question, however, was too much for the child and it began weeping freely as it tried to talk. A whole lot of unintelligible gibberish spilling from its mouth as it tried to answer Solomon’s question, this was going far too perfectly, but, he couldn’t let things happen too quickly, oh no, he had to keep the pace reasonable. As the child continued its weeping Solomon merely looked back at The Elf, his smirk intact.

“Well, I’d say that answers that question wouldn’t you, Elf? What about you, Wyvern-kin?”
He stated calmly, his eyes still watching The Elf and The Wyvern-kin closely, all things considered, this was going very well. This wasn’t simply about taunting The Elf or Wyvern-kin, no, it was also to teach them the value of Unwritten Rule Number Two, to teach them what happened when they disregarded that rule. Forever his prey, he was going to make sure that lesson was well learned before this event drew to a close.

[Elloria]

Niko crosses his arms and waits patiently for Solomon to finish his posturing. With the villagers at stake, there is little else that he or Arashi can do. It is infuriating, but the elf simply continues to pack the emotion into a gradually growing ball in the back of his mind. One day, that ball will rupture and everything contained within will spew forth in a violent explosion of such force and magnitude that the pathetic fool that dares to taunt him from its perch will not even know what hit it. It may never grasp the terrible future he has in store for it, but he will do his level best to teach it. It will take time and patience, but he can wait. He knows that Solomon is too good at surviving to not be there when Niko finally returns for him.

Arashi tears his gaze away from the vile fleshling to look at his Rider. He had noticed a sudden change in Niko’s mind before, but had attributed it to being confronted with Solomon – and once more being in a frustratingly powerless position. But there is something else to it. Something more that Arashi cannot quite place. The young dragon can understand fury, frustration, determination – even hatred. He has felt them all and more at one point or another in the five short months of his life. Those emotions make sense. What he feels in Niko’s mind – that does not make sense. It feels…fractured. Almost as if Niko had severed away parts of himself. Arashi sends a feeler over to his Rider, curiosity and concern filling him. But Niko welcomes him in as if nothing is wrong, sending soothing emotions across their bond in an attempt to alleviate the dragon’s worry. Arashi allows his Rider to calm him.

But of course, any peace they feel cannot last while Solomon is at hand. The wonderful calm that has enveloped Rider and dragon is suddenly obliterated. Arashi whips his head around and they both see the young girl that is Solomon’s surprise.

“Isn’t it adorable, Elf?” The being that is not fit to be called human sneers at them. The child’s terrified eyes dart around, desperately seeking an escape that does not exist. Fury – white hot and nearly uncontrollable – blankets Niko’s mind, dragging Arashi’s gaze away from Solomon once more. He catches random images as they flash through Niko’s thoughts – the girl Mchumba on the day Niko met her, eager to talk to someone like an equal; Mchumba cowering away from her master; Mchumba and Niko planting the cherry tree that still flowers on the estate; Mchumba on her death bed, gently holding Niko’s hand as she slipped away into the Void.

“Please, commoners, hold all feedback until the end of the event, we do not accept audience participation.” That knowing look sickens Niko beyond words. “Tell them your name.”

That child…how dare he do this to her? How dare he threaten a mere child? Someone who is utterly defenseless? Who has so much awaiting her in her short life and who never deserved to be singled out for anything like this? How dare he?

“S-Sophia...” The child’s stammered reply cuts them to the core. A low whine escapes Arashi’s throat. A mere hatchling should never have been involved in this conflict.

“And tell them, Sophia. How scared are you?”

The child’s tears are almost more than Niko can stand. He cannot leave her up there with that madman. He cannot allow her to hurt anymore. But what can he do? His hands are at his sides now and clenched so tightly that his palms are bleeding as he glares at the source of all this vileness. That smirk…

“Well, I’d say that answers that question wouldn’t you, Elf? What about you, Wyvern-kin?”

Arashi growls, but Niko simply eyes Solomon coldly. Somewhere, a line had been drawn in the earth – and Solomon has just traipsed over it without as much as a second thought.

The words fall from Niko's lips as though weighted with his intent – ringing crystal clear, even over the child’s weeping. It is not a spell – not exactly. But the words hold the power of the Ancient Language. Arashi feels the intent in his Rider’s mind – knowing beyond all doubt that this determination was why he chose Niko – and willingly infuses his own power and intent into the words his Rider speaks. “Whatever reputation you hold in your native land, whatever skill you possess, however clever you may be – none of that will save you if you harm that little girl. We will hunt you to the ends of the earth. We will run it to the ground. We will obliterate your sense of worth so utterly that you will be naught but a husk of yourself. You will beg for mercy at the end. You will wish to welcome death with arms wide open. And we will ensure that you are denied that sweet oblivion – that you will suffer on this earth until we decide that your time is up.” The air seems to ripple with energy as Niko finishes. There is no turning back now. They are bound to this oath until they or Solomon dies – and neither elf nor dragon intends to die before this thing does.

[Amur]

And he watched their reactions, their O’ so delicious reactions. NOW, he was finally getting somewhere with them. The feeling of such uselessness, of being so powerless to stop a situation, so powerless to save people, NOW they were starting to understand. In fact, he was just about ready to pull the child back onto the roof. But The Elf.

Solomon’s smirk twisted and once more became malicious, he briefly considered just slashing the child’s throat and ending it quickly... But then, the perfectly usable noose would go to waste, the decisions were endless, and The Elf had presented his challenge so beautifully, it would give Solomon no end of pleasure just to once more crush their resolve, just to make them realise the futility of The Elf’s challenge.

“That very strongly resembles a challenge, Elf.” He said calmly. “And, you know what.”
He said slowly, pausing for a long while, allowing his statement to hang in the air, they were just starting to feel how powerless this situation was going to make them feel, he was now going to push that lesson all the way home. It was worth it.

“Where were the people like this when I needed them?”
Solomon mused mentally. He licked his lips, and then with one fluid movement, released his grip on the child and thrust an open palm into its back. Allowing the child to fall with a high-pitched series of wails, he heard a woman below scream and several angry shouts.

“Challenge accepted!”
He yelled back at The Elf, his smirk twisting cruelly as the rope tautened and the screams of rage from below intensified... The child’s wailing stopped abruptly. Solomon stood in silence staring down The Elf, meeting his intense gaze with a look of defiance, a look daring The Elf to put all these commoners in danger just to charge at him.

”How do you live with yourself!?”
Solomon heard someone shout from below. He broke eye contact for a brief moment and smiled warmly at his audience.

“It gets easier every day.”
He sneered back, the commoner losing his attention only moments later; he looked back at The Elf, allowing his silence to stretch on for just a moment longer.

“Stings doesn’t it, Elf?”
He sneered, laughing bitterly for just a moment; however, he managed to compose himself before getting too lost in the heat of the moment. He drew in a shallow, yet sharp breath, leaning over the railing and hanging only loosely onto the two vials in his hand. It took several seconds for them all to notice, but eventually the commoners were all silent once again.

“Now, you’re beginning to understand...”
He started, cutting himself off suddenly and simply finishing that statement with a twisted smirk... He would pass that off as a taunt later on, but for now, it was best to meet a challenge such as that with defiance, with a challenge of his own.

“See, Elf.”
He began.

“Even in the unlikely event that either of you manage to put me in such a position, I will not beg, not for mercy, not for death. Should I face my end-of-days at your will, I will not flinch; I will face it with defiance, and with a challenge. And I will take pride in the fact, that, should you presume yourselves my Judge, Jury and Executioner, then you would have become exactly like me!”
He said, responding to their challenge with defiance, the chances that either of them were going to be able to follow through on their challenge was slim, Solomon was not concerned about them, they were forever his prey, and he was above them... However, he wasn’t quite done yet, he smirked once more, again twirling the vials between his fingers.

“And take to heart the fact, that you are reason behind that child’s death.”

[Elloria]

If Arashi had thought Niko’s mind was fractured before, he had been quite wrong. Before, the seeming schism had been intentional – the dragon recognizes this in retrospect. Now…now his Rider’s mind is total chaos. Even in his blindest rage, there had always been some sort of order to Niko’s mind. Niko? The young dragon tentatively stretches his neck and gently nudges his Rider’s arm with his snout, reaching out towards his Rider’s mind as he does – and almost instantly recoils.

There is nothing but emotions swirling so violently it is a wonder that Niko can even stand it – that he does not simply tear apart from the force of it. Arashi’s body ripples as a shiver passes through him. He withdraws as much as he can from that contact. Not even his mother’s mind had been so vast and wild as Niko’s now seems. That little girl – little Sophia, may the wind carry her swiftly and safely through the void – was the absolute last straw in his Rider’s mind.

“See, Elf. Even in the unlikely event that either of you manage to put me in such a position, I will not beg, not for mercy, not for death. Should I face my end-of-days at your will, I will not flinch; I will face it with defiance, and with a challenge. And I will take pride in the fact, that, should you presume yourselves my Judge, Jury and Executioner, then you would have become exactly like me!” Silence stretches between the three males as the creature-wearing-the-skin-of-a-round-ears-two-legs twirls the vials of the painful-exploding-fire in its hand. Niko eyes those vials with an fervor that some two-legs might call religious. As if, in this deathly silence in which only the creaking of the swinging rope can be heard, those vials will suddenly reveal something to him. Something Arashi cannot even fathom with all the wisdom and knowledge his mother imparted to him. As the dragon marvels at this terrifying thought, the silence is broken by that same vile thing that had started all this. “And take to heart the fact that you are the reason behind that child’s death.”

Silence returns once more. And then…then Niko reacts. Not violently. Not even with any particular suddenness. In fact, there is such a fluid, light and unhurried air about it that it stuns Arashi. The tall elf cautiously moves one foot forward, setting it back upon the earth more gently than a two-legs dam sets a sleeping fleshy-hatchling in its nest-of-warm-animal-skins. He pauses for several heartbeats…and then he repeats the process with his other foot. Again, there is a pause – in which Arashi stares in horrified awe of what his Rider is daring. A third lighter-than-feather step followed by a pause. The whole world has narrowed its focus to his Rider, it seems. And then he feels it – a wild, thrilling delight rips through him. And Arashi knows without seeing that Niko is grinning at Solomon. But he does not quite understand why. He has been lucky enough to not set off the vials of painful-exploding-fire buried in the earth. What does he think he will accomplish by continuing to test his luck?

[Amur]

The silence that had fallen was deathly, Solomon had gotten to them. He could already taste his victory, and it was sweet, the second child, well, that was just going to be there to utterly break The Elf. He smirked, still twirling the vials between his fingers. The time was just about right to taunt them a little bit more before putting the life of the second child in jeopardy; he drew in a short breath to speak and then noticed something.

The Elf was actually making his way into the village, taking very slow, very gentle, and highly measured steps... But still moving forward, Solomon blinked, surely The Elf wouldn’t be reckless enough to put the lives of these commoners at risk like that. So what was he doing, Solomon narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I don’t understand, what is he-”
It was at that moment that Solomon noticed that The Elf was... Grinning. Solomon’s smirk dropped, no, The Elf couldn’t have figured him out, not yet. However, he made no further action; this wasn’t supposed to happen, not this quickly, he looked over at The Wyvern-kin... It was still sat still, which meant that The Elf either hadn’t told it that he knew, or, The Elf had only suspected that Solomon was bluffing... Either way was not a position Solomon was equipped for, he had no alternative, he had to cut-and-run.

He reached out with his mind, finding Aimé. He didn’t want to do this; he simply had no other choice... He would simply have to apologise to Aimé later.

“Aimé, get back here, NOW.”
He said sharply, He already had one distraction... He... Needed another... Aimé would understand...
---

While his travel to this wingless-nest had originally become boring Aimé had found various ways to amuse himself, this time around he had opted to pick out the simplest looking wingless that he could find and see if he could push it into doing silly things... Not that such a task was difficult, but that wasn’t the reason he was doing it, no, this was for his entertainment.

Very gently he had worked his way into the mind of his chosen wingless and remained there, silently at first. And then, very, very slowly began making his presence known to the wingless, he hadn’t made it obvious, no, where would the fun have been in that? Instead, he just kept distracting the chosen wingless randomly. Constantly making it look into the distance for no reason, putting it on edge and then making it act paranoid around its fellow wingless, before finally gently nudging the wingless to make it spin... And then...

“Behold! I am the voice of God!”
The wingless, shocked, wheeled, trying to ask out-loud who Aimé was. He couldn’t help himself; he ruffled his feathers, now enjoying himself to the fullest extent possible. After several more assurances to the wingless that Aimé was who he claimed to be, he spent the better part of the next few hours convincing this same wingless to undertake, largely pointless and often embarrassing tasks under the promise of a divine reward.

Silly wingless...

He was just starting to run out of ideas –short of having the wingless kill its own kind, but Aimé wouldn’t make it do that. No, he wasn’t quite that amoral.- And was about to have the wingless kneel in the middle of a crowded area and scream as loud as it could for no reason when.

“Aimé, get back here, NOW.”
He paused as he recognised Solomon... Was he in trouble? Had something gone wrong? Aimé shook himself off and immediately discontinued in his merrymaking, withdrawing himself from the mind of the wingless he left his perch and flew in the direction of the nest that Solomon had put to sleep earlier.
---

Solomon matched The Elf’s grin with a small smirk of his own, the fact that he had left his previous smirk drop was a huge mistake on his end, even if The Elf had only suspected that Solomon had been bluffing that reaction would have only confirmed his suspicion. This placed Solomon in a highly precarious situation, how could this have fallen apart so quickly?

“Is that really a chance you wish to take, Elf?”
Solomon asked calmly, the sneer gone... That wouldn’t help matters... In fact, Solomon wondered why he was still here; he had a distraction, why wasn’t he using it? He stood in silence for a long while, acting as though he was simply observing The Elf, still spinning the vials between his fingers... He would probably need to have instant access to what had now become his distraction; he smirked again, calmly walking to stand next to the restrained child.

No chances, no mistakes, he would have to hope that Aimé got here in time enough to at least be noticed to draw some of the attention away from Solomon. He knelt down, taking the blindfold and cloth-gag off of his distraction... He needed it to make enough noise to get the attention of The Elf after all, but first.

He took the final note he had been saving and secured it to the roof using one of the many plain-steel knives... Just because he had been figured out sooner than he had wanted to be didn’t mean that he couldn’t leave The Elf with just one final taunt.

He stood up, taking the male child with him, this time, however, he didn’t need to taunt The Elf; he just needed this child to serve as a distraction.

He held the child up high, a genuine smirk twisting its way across his lips.

“Elf! Don’t think too hard about this one; perhaps you’ll actually be able to save it!”
He sneered, throwing the child over the railing as he finished speaking. However, this time, he didn’t stop to see The Elf’s reaction, he didn’t stop to silence the crowd of commoners; he turned his back to the village and ran. Jumping off of the roof and onto the wall before hitting the ground hard enough to cause some physical pain, but he wouldn’t stop, not yet.

He didn’t stop when his still injured rib began protesting his deep breaths, he simply continued sprinting, running straight at the nearest tree-line... He would stop for breath only when he could be sure that he was safe, until then, he kept a rapid pace going. His thoughts turning back to the note he had left for The Elf to find on the roof... Things hadn’t gone exactly as Solomon had planned them, but the message should have been clear... Should have...

“The deaths that occurred here today are the direct result of your own inability to act. Never forget that, for these wasted lives are on your hands and no-one else’s.

You are forever my prey,
Never forget your place.

Solomon Latro.”
---

Aimé arrived back at the smaller of the two nests just in time to see Solomon hurl a wingless-chick off of the elevated position he was perched on. He cawed in alarm, what had Solomon done? He circled the nest several time, before finally settling himself on a roof where he was able to take in the sights of the entire nest.

That was when he saw it, one of the nests wingless-chicks, unmoving, hovering in the air. He ruffled his feathers and immediately began looking for the wingless-hunter’s mind... He found him... Already fleeing, a good distance away. Alarm coursed through him as he tried to contact Solomon, surely Solomon had made a mistake; he wouldn’t drag Aimé into the middle of this.

“I’m sorry Aimé, forgive me.”
Was the only response he got from Solomon... That did nothing to set Aimé to rest, his mind was spinning and he was alone, probably in a nest full of wingless just looking for someone to take their frustrations out on. He panicked, but he didn’t move, if he stayed still, he may have been able to escape the notice of the wingless.

[Elloria]

Niko continues his slow advance into the village. He knows that at any moment he may be proven wrong. But he knows he is not wrong. And that is why he grins at Solomon. The sudden vanishing of the human’s smirk is all the confirmation he needs and the wild delight he had felt moments ago redoubles. He knew there was a trick to it. And it had everything to do with those damn vials. The ones in the human’s hand – Niko had no doubts those were real. That was why Solomon had been so cautious with them. It was a caution at total odds with the fact that the village was supposedly surrounded with the vials. Why would Solomon risk placing himself in the center of what could potentially be a violent and lethal series of explosions just to get in a few taunts at Niko and Arashi – to prove some sort of fallacious point? No. Solomon was not that stupid. They had overestimated him this time.

“Is that really a chance you wish to take, Elf?”

Niko does not answer, though the grin does slip away. He does not frown, but his face is deadly serious now. Oh yes. He has every intention of taking the chance. Because Solomon has essentially gift-wrapped it for him. But slowly this time. No need to rush…

Unless, of course, Solomon decides to throw in another obstacle in the form of a small boy. Niko does not even listen to what the inhuman thing is babbling. He is sprinting across the distance, all concern for the buried vials evaporated the instant that boy appeared. His heart seems to freeze as he sees the boy tossed over the side with a shriek – knowing that he will not make it in time. Without thought, without words he feels the magic build and flee in an instant – filled with the all-consuming intent of slowing the boy’s descent and leaving the elf nearly stumbling from the larger-than-expected loss of energy. Fortunate, then, that Arashi is still linked to him and pouring energy into him. The loss would have been worth it anyway, because the boy is now drifting slowly down and has yet to stretch the rope taut.

Renewed, Niko leaps over the well that sits before the building and skids to a halt in front of the bound villagers. He withdraws his knife from its sheath and cuts the rope tying the boy to the building’s rail before plucking the child from the air and ending the spell. He gently sets the boy on the ground and kneels beside him to untie the remains of the noose. He can feel the boy trembling and the silent tears streaming down both break and enrage the elf. He knows the boy is slowly slipping away, too traumatized to want to deal with the world. But Niko only projects a feeling of calm as he checks the boy for other injuries. Some distant part of his mind knows that the villagers will be fine for now. But this boy…this boy is not fine – and may never be fine. “What is your name, little one?”

At first the boy doesn’t respond, so Niko repeats his question – quietly, calmly in an attempt to soothe the child’s troubled mind. Eventually, his efforts reward him. “Iaison…”

“Iaison? That is a good name. You were very brave today, Iaison. Very, very brave.”

“Sophia…where’s…where’s my little sister, mister elf?”

Niko pauses and glances up at the small form swinging sadly from the railing. They look about the same age…They weren’t…were they? He looks back at the little boy who is looking at him with painfully imploring eyes. He tries to swallow around the sudden lump in his throat. “Sophia is…I am sorry, Iaison. She has gone to sleep…and will not wake up this time.” The boy’s expression slowly crumbles into abject misery and he buries his face into Niko’s chest with a sob. He gently strokes the boy’s hair and holds the child for some time before remembering the other villagers. Unable to pry the boy away from him, he simply scoops the child up and goes about freeing the livid, terrified, agonized villagers from around the well. Distantly, he knows that Arashi is circling overhead – searching for a trace of Solomon – but Solomon means very little right now in the face of calming this village, ‘welcoming’ the investigators sent from Ceunon, explaining the entire disgusting situation, contacting the Rider Council…and in the midst of all of this, trying to both comfort and hand over to his grief-stricken parents the poor little boy who must now live with the horror of this day, knowing that the Riders did nothing to save his baby sister from a monster that was wearing human skin.

Just before they leave the village to go face the wrath of the Council – for of course it is only wrath that awaits them in Ilirea – Arashi gives to Niko the note he had gingerly plucked from the wooden railing.

The deaths that occurred here today are the direct result of your own inability to act. Never forget that, for these wasted lives are on your hands and no-one else’s.
You are forever my prey,
Never forget your place.
Solomon Latro

Niko stares at that letter the entire non-stop flight back to Ilirea. Day and night, without any sort of rest, he stares at it and burns it into his memory. And then, just as they reach the outskirts of Ilirea, he murmurs brisingr and burns the only physical evidence of Solomon’s direct involvement in this sordid affair. He will take the blame, the responsibility – all of it will rest on him. He can live with that. Solomon, on the other hand…Solomon will soon wish that Niko was not willing to live with any of this.

[Amur]

Aimé didn’t know what to think other than he had never seen Solomon like this, how did the wingless-hunter justify the killing of wingless-chicks? How could Aimé justify even trying to defend an action like that? In fact, how could he even defend an action like that? Not that much could be done about Solomon’s actions now... Which had moved Aimé’s mind to more important matters, while they were all ignoring him for the moment Solomon had dragged Aimé into the middle of his plan, he had put Aimé in danger.

He shook himself off, he may have liked Solomon, but he did NOT appreciate being placed in harm’s way. He didn’t do it for Alastor, so what made Solomon think that Aimé would risk his own life for him. Especially given that Solomon was a wingless, he had already made it clear to Solomon on multiple occasions that he wouldn’t put his life at risk for a wingless.

He narrowed his eyes angrily; clearly the message hadn’t stuck with the wingless-hunter...

He sat in silence and continued to watch as the wingless went about freeing the ones that Solomon had trapped...

And silently contemplated ways to hit back at the wingless-hunter for placing Aimé in potential danger, and, probably for what he did to those wingless-chicks. He may not have been fond of the wingless, but he wouldn’t wish what Solomon had just done on anyone. When did Solomon become so amoral?

He cocked his head and continued watching, managing to keep himself undetected all the while.

He lost track of just how long he had remained perched on the roof he had landed on earlier, but he did note that somewhere along the line further wingless had shown up, and the wingless that Solomon seemed to have some kind of grudge against flew away on borrowed wings –which, Aimé found amusing.- silly wingless.

It was then he noticed that this new wingless group seemed to have some kind of leader... That set an idea in motion, very; very gently Aimé entered the mind of the wingless-leader. But, he remained silent; instead of talking he simply very gently showed the wingless-leader memories of Solomon’s face.

There was a look of confusion on the wigless-leaders face for a moment before he shrugged, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened and ignored it. Aimé narrowed his eyes, how was this wingless a leader if it ignored information that it was being given? Had Aimé not made the message clear enough?

He ruffled his feathers in frustration and was about to try again when another wingless approached the leader.
---

Kaime looked at the state of the village, was settling in this land really easy enough to build villages out in the open? Nevertheless he pushed the thought aside, insulting the natives wasn’t the best way to start building bridges with them, and Kaime wouldn’t damage potential political relations for Lord Morona before he arrived. It was for that reason alone that he had waited for The Rider to depart, though, Kaime did feel bad for not stepping in to prevent the death of that child... But, it had been a necessary precaution.

He just needed to talk to Solomon, stepping into the middle of a conflict wouldn’t have been healthy for Kaime... And he had stuck with his better judgement despite Alexia’s protests when The Hunter had revealed the child. And it was for that reason alone that Alexia was still giving him the silent treatment, but she was still using his eye and ears to be able to interact with the world. He knew that much.

... He didn’t like having to make difficult decisions like that, but sometimes they were necessary.

He approached the leader-figure of the armoured units –possibly a captain, it was hard to tell- and stood in silence as he finished giving one of his men an order.

“Excuse me.”
Kaime said his voice as flat and monotone as ever.

“I believe I may have something to help you in your investigation.”
He continued, taking a folded piece of paper from one of the few pouches on his belt. He handed it to the captain –at least that what he thinks the man is- and stood in silence.

The piece of paper contained a very detailed portrait of Solomon; ever since Alexia revealed her artistic abilities to Kaime he had her draw a portrait of The Hunter, this opportunity had at last been the act that Kaime had been waiting for Solomon to pull.

The Captain unfolded the piece of paper and at once a flicker of recognition crossed his features, Kaime arched his eyebrow.

“I’ve seen this man.”
The Captain said.

Kaime blinked, knowing that Alexia was just as surprised as he was, and then he felt nothing more from her.

“Good, his name is Solomon Latro. I’m from a place not-too-far from here; he’s a wanted man where I’m from. Since he’s clearly become a threat here as well, I think it’s best to alert people of him, and attempting to somehow eliminate the threat he poses.”
Kaime said. It was then that Alexia gave him an indication to look to his right, there was a Nirvanian here. Kaime didn’t let his surprise show, and instead opted to act as though he was stretching his neck as he looked.

He turned back to the Captain, gave him a small nod and then turned and left.
---

Aimé panicked, the one-eyed-wingless had looked at him, and before that he had felt another presence cross over him, almost as if it were looking for something. Cawing fearfully Aimé launched himself from the perch he was on, flying as fast as his wings could carry him, he needed to get away from here, get back to Empire Nirvana, get back to Alastor; Alastor would protect him.

... He was scared.

-[Thread Concluded]-