Many of the villages in Bohar Plains had heard of the incoming abominations from The Void. However, Attie knew that there were many small villages who didn't have the best organization or the best news system. The word needed to be spread all around the Bohar Plains before it was too late. People needed to start evacuating to saver places. The Void wasn't as much of a concern since the bug attacks drove most people away. But she knew that the Plains were still filled with plenty of people. The Eldritch monsters were probably already bleeding into the plains and many villages would probably already be under attack. However, she still had to spread the word that they needed to leave now. 

Her regular form was a human but she had managed to use a transformation spell to turn herself into a bird. As a bird, she was harder to see and would be able to fly farther than walking. Her feathers were a deep blue as she had chosen the form of a blue jay. Every second counted so she didn't allow herself to rest unless she absolutely had to. Finally, she managed to get to a village and landed on the soft grass. Everything seemed peaceful but she knew that in a matter of weeks or perhaps even a day, this field would be covered in blood from battle. 

Attie began to grow and morph into her human form as she looked at the village to see if there were people there or not. Unfortunately, there were still people there. Apparently they hadn't gotten the warnings yet. She bolted over to the village waving and shouting for the villager's attention. Times were desperate and the faster that they escaped, the easier it would be for the gods and the warriors if they didn't have to worry about rescuing as many people.  A farmer who had been busy picking produce saw her first. He stood up and waved back to Attie in a friendly manner but stopped halfway through. He saw the desperation on Attie's face and his eyes widened with concern. Attie managed to approach him, slightly out of breath, and began explaining the situation. 

"Sir, I need" She let out a breath of exhaustion, "I need to talk to your leader. Right now! Its involving the safety of the village!"

The farmer nodded and quickly led her to the village leader. Once she explained the situation to him, he began to start organization of evacuation right away. Many other villagers were disgruntled as they were expecting the gods to be able to keep the Eldritch at the Void. After all, weren't the gods supposed to take care of that sort of thing? It was only until Attie described the monsters and their massive armies that all of the villagers were willing to leave.  Attie decided to stay to help them work on evacuation and packing, as she was too tired to try to fly all the way to the next village. 

She began helping with the organization by gathering the carts and carriages that the village had along with horses and assigned them to each house. Once that was done, she began helping some of the villagers pack up the stuff that they needed for the trip. Attie had emphasized how they had to leave behind most of their furniture and supplies and only take what they needed for survival. Despite this, there was a lot of people to help pack even though they were only taking necessities for the trip. If only they had a few more hands to help. 

Trafalgor could only thank his many, many years of extensive physical training for his excellent stamina as he soared over the last few trees along the southern edge of the Laeto Rainforest. He had not been flying for very long, but his day had also not been a short one thusfar. When the call to arms had come down and the battlefields of Revaliir determined, the leadership of Gulu convened to decide what to do. It was quickly decided that Gulu would fully mobilize in support of the coming war. The active duty guardsmen and hunters quickly organized hunting parties to gather food in preparation and train every able-bodied man not already employed in a craft into a functional militia.

While that was going on, the many craftsmen in Gulu began to spin up their productivity to prepare materials for the war. The potter and his apprentice were turning out dozens upon dozens of small pots while the blacksmith began to turn out spears (being the easiest weapon to train for a civilian's use) aplenty. The bowyer and fletchers were hard at work turning out new bows and arrows and the women of the village were hard at work turning out cloth products in bulk. The local supply of Cotton Reed had been ordered to be completely depleted in order to meet the demand. Blankets, clothing, towels, and clothes of various uses were being made in droves. Not least of which being produced were pre-made bandages, medicinal salves, and antiseptics for use by Trafalgor and his apprentice Tor when they joined with the healers' faction during the battles.

Trafalgor had left Tor to organize things on that front while he Gated to Mamlak to seek an audience with the King. It took some doing, and a personal promise of a favor from Trafalgor, but within an hour, he had secured a large area of land outside the gates of Mamlak for refugees from the Bohar Plains. It would just be up to Trafalgor to get them there. Thankfully, he had long ago mastered Gate Travel… which he then quickly used to travel from Mamlak to the Iron Woods in Laeto.

A quick explanation to Daphne, an embrace and kiss later, and Trafalgor was airborne, heading south towards the Bohar Plains. 

He could already see signs of battle in the distance, his improved eyesight in this form allowing him to identify many skirmishes going on. He noticed one caravan of refugees dangerously close to one such battle and banked hard to intercept the caravan. A quick landing and transformation back to his natural form had him running down the road towards the caravan. He managed to flag the lead cart down and get them to slow so that he could give a rushed explanation and offer. The group quickly took him up on his offer causing Trafalgor to open a large Gate in the middle of the road and waved the caravan through quickly.

Within five minutes the entire group had safely made it through and Trafalgor closed it behind them. He transformed into a raven and flew directly through the battle nearby. After spotting someone that looked like they were in charge, he landed quickly once more and changed back, rushing over to catch the woman's attention while sending a few bolts of lightning and fire into the distance towards some of the larger monstrosities making their way towards the line of Rosenites.

Once he had informed the commander that the caravan had safely been transported to Mamlak, he bid the commander farewall with an abbreviated bow, turned and launched one last bolt of lightning into the center of the enemy horde, then transformed and flew off to find more villages to evacuate.

He repeated the process of Gating a half dozen more caravans he came across before he came upon a village that hadn't already been evacuated. They seemed to be in the process of doing so, however he could make out some people fussing about consequential things from high above. He gave a mental shake of his head and dove towards the center of the village with a cry. He landed on the ground, a few people stepping back from him in surprise, before transforming back into a human and turning to look for who was in charge.

Instead of a village leader, he spotted a familiar mop of hair and smiled broadly at the woman.

"Hail, Attie! Is this your village or are you doing the same as me and helping with the evacuations?"

Attie was busy helping an elderly woman pack her things. She was only taking a change of clothes, some old personal items, and her cleaning items. After putting all of this into a bag, Attie helped her down the stairs of the house and out the door to one of the wagons. The elderly and children had priority seating due to them being generally weaker when it came to travelling. Suddenly Attie spotted a man who was having trouble carrying one of the crates of food that they would need for the trip. She rushed over and held the opposite side to steady the balance of the crate. They worked together to carry the crate over to one of the wagons. She then went to the next house to rush one of the men who was trying to take all of the furniture. 

"But I made all of this. I can't just leave it behind!" The man insisted. 

Attie tried with all of her might to resist rolling her eyes. 

"I understand that you put a lot of effort into them." Attie said, "But which is more important? The safety of your children or your furniture?"

At that, the man surrendered and stopped trying to add the extra furniture to the carts. Attie made sure that he got over to the wagon then went to check a few other houses. By the time she was done, four out of seven houses had been cleared out, not including the village head's house. There weren't many village houses but there were large families that lived there. She was standing next to one of the carts when she spotted Trafalgor among the villagers and ran over to him with a big smile.

"Hi baldy!" She teasingly said, "No this isn't my village. I'm just here to help. The village head is busy helping getting the fifth house cleared out. They are almost done. These guys don't have a good news system and are far enough from the battle to not know. So I gave them a warning and decided to help them out. What about you? What are you up to? Oh, are you gonna be in the battle? I am! I got a book about war and battle and everything!" 

She knew that war was going to be hard and rough but she saw it in a particular way. She could either be sorrowful and gloomy or she could try to put on a smile to cheer others up. Attie decided to go with the latter. It seemed more useful. 

Trafalgor gave an easy chuckle at Attie's nickname for him and her exuberant personality. He was glad that she was still the same cheerful ball of inquisitive energy he remembered from many months ago. Even the short tirade of questions and explanations from her were a welcome normality in the craziness of the last several hours.

"I see you have things well in hand, Attie," he commented as he looked around at what had already been done. "Good work. I've managed to transport several caravans already escaping to Mamlak using Gate Travel. One was dangerously close to an ongoing battle with a Rosenite contingent. I will definitely assist in any battle we come across, but I feel that my efforts would be best utilized evacuating villages in the dangerous areas as quickly as possible."

He turned towards the northeast as a rumble could be heard in the distance. "I saw another village about ten miles to the northeast. There was a battle going on a bit further beyond it, but I didn't have a chance to check the village." He turned back to Attie and gave a nod to her. "I'd like to get this village cleared out as quickly as we can so we can check the one to the northeast." He finally took in the full appearance of the woman and narrowed his eyes at her. "Attie… when was the last time you took a break?" 

The woman didn't look… haggard, specifically… but the signs of exhaustion were beginning to show if you knew where to look. "I think you should let me finish up with getting everyone here ready and take a rest. Twenty minutes should be enough, okay?" He reached into the pouch at his hip and pulled out a small bundle of cloth, holding it out to her. "Here, it's jerked meat from an antelope. Eat some while you rest and I'll check you over for injuries once the villagers are cleared out." He then turned and quickly made his way towards the fifth house that had been indicated to him by Attie a few moments before.

"Hail! Attie sent me over to help. Remember, just get the essentials. There's a battle going on about ten miles away and there's no telling when they'll move this way. Yes, miss, let me get that for you. You can grab the extra clothing." Something from the next house over caught his eye, causing him to turn. "Sir! Please leave the shelf! I can assist getting you to safety quickly, but it's paramount that you not waste time with trying to load down the carts to capacity! Food, clothing, medicines and bedding only! Animals and pets, too, but nothing else!" He dumped off a load in the cart and turned back to verify the fifth house was clear before moving to the sixth.

In just under the twenty minutes he'd estimated to Attie, the entire village was ready to make way. He jogged up to the front wagon and knocked on the side to get the driver's attention. "Okay, everyone's ready to go. I'm going to open a Gate right ahead of you, just steer your carts directly through it and you'll be right outside of Mamlak. Don't stop when you get through, either. Keep moving so that everyone behind you can make it through. There will be guards with further instructions once you all get through, okay?"

He got an affirmative response and then turned to concentrate. Quickly, a large, tall and wide Gate opened up about twenty feet ahead of the lead wagon. Once it was stable, Trafalgor turned and called out. "Okay, forward! Make sure to keep moving once you're through." The wagons began moving forward one after the other and Trafalgor made sure to count them as they passed. When the final wagon was approaching, he gave a wave. "You're the last one through! Fair winds and safe travels!" The driver waved back and was then passed him, then just as quickly through the Gate. A few seconds later, Trafalgor allowed the Gate to collapse before turning to where Attie was and walking over.

"Okay, let's give you a quick check over, then we can go. Anything hurt? Arms? Legs? Head?" he asked, giving her a thorough once-over with his eyes, but not actually touching her. She looked a bit tired, but there were no obvious injuries. He knew that Attie was very self-sufficient, but if they were going into a potential combat situation, he wanted to make sure she was as healthy as possible before ending up in said combat situation. "If anything is hurt or sore, I can heal you. The food I gave you should have given you some energy back."

After making sure Attie was ready to go, he gave a nod and turned to the northeast. "Okay, our next target is about ten miles that way. If you have something you can transform into that can soar using air thermals like a hawk or falcon, you'll want to use that form. We're going for endurance over speed here since there's a lot of villages spread out. Let me know if you get tired, too, so we can take a break."

Attie listened as Trafalgor explained what he had been up to during the war. Apparently he had been going from caravan to caravan, using his Gate Travel to help them all escape to Mamlak. He mentioned a Rosenite contingent which made Attie wonder how long they had been fighting in the Basin. It couldn't have been for too long as the war had just began. She then listened as he talked about another village northeast and ten miles away from here. If there was a fight near it, Attie knew that they had to get down there to help all of the villagers escape. Trafalgor then asked a question about when she last took her break.

"Oh uh….some time ago?" Attie said nervously.

Her hair was a bit of a mess and her limbs were tired from all of the carrying and flying that she had to do. When Trafalgor insisted that she rested, Attie knew that it would be illogical to refuse. If they wanted to get to that next village, she needed to have full energy to help out. Her eyes widened at the sight of the jerked meat and she quickly snatched it. She had forgotten to eat that morning and felt as though she was starving. Claws formed from her nails and her teeth morphed into the jaws of a bear. Attie tore into the meat with her powerful jaws and started to gobble the meat down like a wild animal. 

When she looked up, Traflagor had already left to help out the fifth house that she had mentioned. Attie found herself a pile of hay and flopped down onto it, curling up into a small ball for a short nap. She slept for a while, leaving the rest of the organization up to Trafalgor and the villager head. Minutes passed as Trafalgor worked to get the village cleared out. By the time Attie woke up, he had gotten everything cleared out and was asking her about any injuries.

"I'm fiiiiine." Attie said with a yawn, "I flew most of the ways so I didn't get into trouble."

 Her mind was still sleepy but she was standing and looking around, trying to get a sense of the area. It seemed that Trafalgor had taken care of the village and gotten everybody evacuated.

"I'll transform into a blue jay. Having a smaller body while flying makes it easier to fly." Attie explained, "Lets go. We gotta get there in time." 

Attie held out her hands and a bright light began to glow from them. The light grew larger and began to swirl around her body until the magic covered her like a cocoon. The light faded away to reveal a small blue jay instead of a human. Attie, now with beautiful blue feathers, began to flap her wings and soar into the sky. She checked to see where Trafalgor was so that she could follow him. 

In enough of a hurry to be willing to take Attie at her word, he turned to the northeast. "Very well, let's go." With that, his body became covered in his own glow of magick that slowly shrunk as his body transformed into his falcon form. Once complete, he glanced over to ensure Attie had changed as well and, seeing her ready, opened a Telepathic link between them. He probed at her mind's edge with a soft imaginary tap of a finger against the 'wall'.

*Attie, I've opened a temporary mental link between us. You can just direct a thought at me and I'll hear you fine, but the rest of your thoughts will be private. I'll get us pointed in the right direction, then get some altitude. I want to check for nearby threats. You just keep on the bearing I set and I'll catch up in no time.*

With that, he launched himself from the ground, flapping furiously to gain altitude until he could comfortably soar for a few moments. He then oriented himself towards the distant village and focused on locating the tell-tale rippling of the air that indicated a pillar of warm rising air he could use to quickly ascend. Thankfully, there was one almost directly in their path. He glanced over at the slightly faster blue jay and sent another message.

*Okay, keep on this track. I'm going higher.* A few seconds later, he caught the edge of the thermal and began a slow bank to stay along the inner edge of the pillar of warm air as he ascended rapidly. Within a minute, he had a much better view of their surroundings. A few seconds of searching easily found Attie and he followed her line of travel with his sight. Many miles in the distance was the town he had seen before… and further beyond that he could just make out the sight of a small cloud of dust being kicked up from some large group moving across the plains.

He couldn't tell what it was at this distance, but his gut told him it wasn't anything good. Having now gotten a better idea of the situation, he banked out of the thermal and drew his wings back slightly to begin a slight dive. As his altitude decreased, his speed increased, allowing him to quickly catch up with the smaller form of Attie. He flared his wings a bit with a cry (to announce his presence) to slow his speed as he finally caught up with her, still about a hundred feet above her. *Okay, it looks like the village still hasn't begun to evacuate. I counted ten buildings, but one was a barn of some sort. There was some sort of large group moving in the direction of the village a few miles beyond it, but I couldn't tell what it was. I'll check again as we get closer.*

They flew onward, Trafalgor going up a thermal for a better view twice more along the way. The second time, they were nearly to the village and Trafalgor's gut clenched as he looked beyond the village to identify whatever the group approaching was. As he'd feared, it looks like a small horde of creatures from the Void were moving in the general direction of their destination, but not directly towards it. They were still a few miles out, but he had no doubt that they would change direction as soon as they noticed the village. *Attie, the group beyond the village is not friendly.* He thought hard for a few moments, then grimly continued. *I believe a change of plans is required. I need for you to start evacuating the village and get them to gather absolutely only the essentials while I go delay the enemy. Once I've bloodied their noses, I'll fly back and open a Gate to let them escape… We'll decide what to do from there after they're all safe. Okay?"

He didn't wait for her response before banking out of his current thermal and tucking his wings back sharply to dive off in another direction so he could keep their focus off of the village as long as possible. As he selected the best place for him to attack the small horde of about four hundred from, he noticed an unexpected sight in the distance. An… odd and damaged looking airship was flying a mile or so beyond the horde on the opposite side from him. He didn't know what, if any, help it may be able to give in this instance, but he didn't feel that relying on it would be prudent. Putting it out of his mind for now, he completed his dive, flaring back to land atop one of the many loping hills in the area and transforming back into his natural human form.

He glanced over his shoulder and could make out the village about a mile and a half to his south, then turned his eyes eastward to the small army of abominations from the Void about the same distance and angled more towards the village then him.

Well, he couldn't let that stand at all.

He quickly summoned his bow from the aether and called forth his full core of magick. For Trafalgor's normal spell usage, he usually did not need to call upon his entire core. Instead, he would gather magick from his surroundings and only use a bit of his own magick to set his desired spell into motion… letting the gathered magick from the world fuel it. However, when he needed to perform much more powerful spells… well, his magick always worked best with a bit of self-hypnosis.

And so, in his mind he called forth his mental image of the core of his magick… an enormous hourglass… and with a thought, he turned it. And with that, Trafalgor opened his eyes, his body now a conduit for the magick within himself and the surrounding area's natural flow. He called forth a spectral arrow and drew back the string of his bow, taking aim at the distant army with an impassive mien. He imbued the magical arrow with the power of holy light… then flowed even more magick into it and his bow… the arrow grew brighter and brighter, but Trafalgor's eyes did not blink, nor did they stray from his target - the largest grouping of abominations near the center of the formation.

Suddenly the arrow's head seemed to splinter slightly, giving it a crystalline look, and Trafalgor's eyes narrowed slightly. He drew in a slow breath, held it, then released. His lungs emptied and, in the space between heartbeats, Trafalgor released his attack. 

A streak of light cut across the landscape, digging deeply into the earth exactly where he had intended it to with an explosion of light that would have temporarily blinded anyone looking directly at it. Thankfully, Trafalgor was prepared for it with his eyes already closed, knowing without a shadow of a doubt his aim was true. He opened his eyes to the sight of a very upset horde now trying to cross the intervening mile between them as quickly as possible. He would have time for one, maybe two, more shots before he would have to abandon his ranged attacks and make his escape.

He manifested another arrow and drew his bow back once more. A few moments later had another streak of light reaching out to kill another dozen creatures near their right flank… and then he repeated the process on the left flank to winnow their numbers down further. Hmm… It seemed his overestimated their speed a bit. With a small smirk, he nocked another magical arrow and began the process of charging it up as he drew his bow taut one final time. There… right in the center of the formation was a group of grotesque bulging forms that didn't look like good news for anyone native to Revaliir. He exhaled, waited for that precise moment between heartbeats, and loosed his last attack straight into the lead meat sack. When his vision cleared, he dismissed his bow and mentally turned his internal hourglass back onto its side with no further need to draw on his full core.

He gave a nod. "That should keep their attention on me. Time to lead them on a merry ch-…" he trailed off as his attention shot into the sky. The air ship that he had noticed before seemed to be coming directly towards him… in fact, it looked as if it were on a crash course! Trafalgor braced himself and prepared to transform and escape if it looked like he needed it, but his original plan was now shot. If anyone survived this crash, he couldn't in good faith leave them to fight the abominations by themselves.

Spriting from the lower to half of the ship towards the deck was one of the few remaining members of the mercenary group that once owned the airship. Kneeling over and out of breath, the merc looked towards the cockpit at the group of an orc a wood elf and an odd pale human. "Were losing altitude"! Silence came over the entire deck as the group of adventures spanning from human to merfolk looked towards the Orc at the helm.

"I thought you said you could fly this thing"!?

"Well it's flying ain't it"?

"No, we're currently gliding, preparing with our future date with the earth"!

"I thought you elves liked Nature"?

Rage winked the Elf's smooth features as the Orc casual dismissed their impending doom. Too flustered to respond to the Self Appointed Captain anymore he looked to the Pale Young Girl, "Deal with him before I put an arrow in his head"!

Tilting her head in confusion at the Blond Elf as she probably knew less about airships than the Orc. Time was not on there side as the ground grew closer and closer with every moment. Looking up to the crow's nest, "Do you see anything that could be used to soften are landing"?

An Owl Kenku swivelled his head along his body as he surveyed the area around them. "There are a few rivers nearby along the plains that could be used to soften the landing if we come in slow enough. Also further head was tons of those Void beasts who seem to be marching on a nearby town" Bopping his head the Kenku refocused his vision, "A line of Women most likely Rosenites by the sheer number of women fielded appear to be acting as a line of defence".

"Well then are best bet is to slow down and..".

"Full Speed ahead"!

"What"! Snapping her head back to the Orc, "Korg we can't crash the ship into the ground we'll die"!

"No it will be fine Lixue, you can do your magic and protect us"!

"I can't envelop an entire ship in a protective spell"!

"Actually" A few of the other members of the adventures entered into Lixue and Korg's conversation, "If the young lady and all of us worked together we could very well place a protective spell over the ship for a small time". Focusing on the group of mages while refusing to look towards the Orc as no doubt the man was beaming at her. " If we cast the protective spell on the moment of impact it should reduce a majority of the damage to the ship's hull".

“See it’ll all work out you’ll do you little magicy tricks and will squish some monsters in the process”! Excited that his plan would actually work out Korg gripped the ship’s wheel tightly creaking the wood as he set his focus forward. Lixue would have protested this idea, but the other adventures onboard with the exception of Ahriman who was still scowling at the Korg cheered at the idea of entering the battle with style. While Lixue wanted to protest the reckless idea the Undead Prostess could not argue with using the ship as a makeshift battering ram against the void beasts.

As the Ship sunk lower the Owl Kenku kept their heading while the adventures on deck look over the railings peering at the tongs of Void beast while announcing their current elevation. "One hundred feet, fifty feet, brace for impact"! Holding onto the rails the adventures braced for impact. As soon as the ship was about to make contact with the ground Lixue and the other Mages onboard casting an archprotect around the ship. As the ship made contact a protective layer of magic protected the ship and the crew from suffering major damage. However, the void beasts below the ship were instantly crushed as the earth cried out from the impact. Clouds of dust and Void beast parts obscuring the ship as it slid forward with it's remaining momentum. Continuing to slide forward going slicker with Void Beast blood unaware of any potential allies within its path. Perhaps it was an act of an unknown divine being or pure dumb luck but the ship's charge halted mere inches from Trafalgor flicking loose ichor in the Shapeshifter's direction.

"Perfectly Landing! Alright lads and of course lasses, let's get to know them on a more personal level"! Roars came from the now downed airship as an Orc dressed in nothing but a leather loincloth adorned in all manner of trophies jumped from the ship drawing his warhammer and facing it below his body as he came down upon one of the Void Beast crumpling its form drowning the Orc in ichor. While the dust settled more and more adventures from all walks of life flooded out from the ship. Some staying on the ship to take advantage of its elevation raining down magic and arrows onto the beasts

While their entrance was currently flashy, their placement could have been better. The adventures were not trained soldiers as such no defensive lines were made only pockets of skirmishes dotted the frontlines as each adventure showed off their unique talents. However, the beasts would begin to overwhelm and kill a number of adventures despite their talents. With a majority of the adventures now flanked they would either be broken or entirely wiped out.

As the adventures' battle looked dire pale blue magic circles formed around pockets of the beasts. In moments deafening explosions echoed across the battlefield dotting the field with ice and frost. Bits of ice and snow, as well as frozen Void Beast parts, rained down from the sky giving the adventures a path of escape. "Fall back"! The voice of a young woman echoed out from the ship as the adventures retreated leaving the ship behind to meet up with the defensive line. While Lixue managed to provide an escape route for the others the mana it cost her put her dangerously low. As the Pale Presitess retreated with the group she could feel her hunger growing more and more fiercer as the moments passed.

Attie suddenly heard Trafalgor's voice inside her mind as she flied through the air. He was informing her of the mental link that he had opened up and how the rest of her thoughts would be private. He was going to check up on any nearby threats while she traveled towards the sky. Attie was fine with this as she suspected that Trafalgor was far more powerful than he looked. 

"Okay! Be safe in the high altitude." She mentally responded back. 

She continued to fly towards the village, enjoying the feeling of wind flowing through her feathers. It was much easier to enjoy flying when one wasn't dead tired. Attie's small form allowed her to be faster than Trafalagor but he was far higher than she was. She then got the mental message that he was going higher up, probably to scout any flying threats or maybe to ensure that they were going the correct direction. Suddenly, she heard the cry of a hawk and saw Trafalgor catching up towards her. She listened as she explained what he saw and especially at the part about the large group moving towards the village. As they approached the village, Attie could see that it was a horde of Eldritch abominations as Trafalagor explained their next plan. 

Attie wanted to help him in battle but she knew that the villagers needed the help. Instead of going with the hawk to battle, she swooped down to the village. The villagers were running around and in chaos, terrified of what was happening. They heard the battle in the distance and thought it was all over. Landing on the top of the village well, Attie transformed into her human form and put her fingers in her mouth to create a piercing whistling noise. This got the attention of everybody. They looked to Attie with eyes filled with fear. 

"Everybody! Go to your homes and grab as much as you can carry!" She shouted, "We don't have time for caravans so grab any food and supplies that you can. NOBODY is to bring anything that isn't useful. This is a matter of life or death. If you don't do this quickly, you WILL perish. Once you are done gathering your stuff, gather in the center of the village. A portal will be opened up for you to send you to a safe place. Do I make myself clear?!"

The villagers all nodded and scrambled off to their homes. Attie could hear the sound of Trafalgor making his first strike in the distance. She went to every house to ensure that they were taking only the necessary items. In a matter of moments, there was a crowd of villagers waiting in the center of the village for the portal to open up. Attie realized that Trafalgor was going to take longer as she heard another strike. She sighed and took a mage's stance, holding her hands up towards the center of the village where people had parted to allow her to do what she needed to do. This was a spell that she had used but was not the best at. She couldn't open gates as large as Trafalgor had. But she could open them up for people. Wagons and carts wouldn't fit but people would. Her hands glowed as a bright blue oval gate opened. The portal would take the villagers right to Malmak where many other Bohar villagers were. Villagers quickly began to pass through the portal as Attie worked to keep it open. In a matter of moments, all the villagers were safely away in Malmak. The villagers left a lot behind, including several personal items. However they were escaping with their lives which was much more important than any one item. 

Attie didn't waste anymore time. She took out one of her mana potions from her bag and chugged the bottle of liquid. After that, she transformed into a bird and flew to the battlefield. What she saw, astounded her. There was an airship that obviously crash-landed, though it looked pretty put together for something that supposedly crashed. A group of Rosenites had joined the scene and more were coming via teleportation and gate magic. Magical blue circles were appearing and ice was dotting the field. The adventurers from the ship were fleeing to the Rosenite defencive line. But there was one issue.

Where was Trafalgor? 

From Attie's perspective, all she could see was the airship and the adventurers. The airship hide him from her sight. She landed, transforming back into her human form, and held out her hands towards some of the approaching monsters. Her hands glowed with a bright read as a sphere of light appeared in the group of monsters. The light expanded then exploded, sending flesh of the Eldritch beasts flying. The monsters were either burning or had been obliterated in the blast. Fire erupted from Attie's hands as she focused on protecting herself while finding Trafalgor. 

"Trafalgor!" She shouted, "Where are you?!"

She knew that he was too strong to die so he had to be around here somewhere. Attie burned the monsters with fury as she desperately searched for her friend. 

Trafalgor reached up with one hand and wiped the bits of ichor that had splattered onto his face away, flicking it to the side before leaning to his right just in time to see the insane crew of the ship disembark with various battle cries and immediately launched themselves into the fight.

"Well, that's one way to make an entrance…" he said as he stepped away from the bow of the grounded airship and surveyed the battlefield. A glance back towards the village caused him to freeze in surprise. "When did the Rosenites show up?" he asked no one. Well, that changed his entire battle plan. He looked back towards the adventurers and estimated that they wouldn't last more than a few minutes. They showed no cohesion amongst themselves, even though quite a few of them seemed very skilled on their own.

Enough.

He could already see some falling to the enemy. He had no more time to waste. He closed his eyes and firmly turned the hourglass upright. "I come to you with empty hands," he recited as he lowered his stance and placed each of his fingers on their opposite, forming a temple with his hands. "I have no weapons," his magick flowed throughout him as he began pulling in the magick from the air around himself. "But if I am forced to defend myself," he slid one foot forward, "my principles," the other slid back, "or my honor," both hands formed fists and came together at his navel, "should it be a matter of life or death," left hand raised in a high guard position while his left drew back as if to strike, "of right or wrong," he inhaled deeply, held it… and released, "then here are my weapons." 

Trafalgor's eyes snapped open, alight with holy magick as his entire body become nothing more than a conduit for his will and magick.

"Empty hands."

His hands opened, aglow with bright light and then Trafalgor moved.

He felt, more than saw, the explosions of ice and force as he blurred forward into the fray, stopping through chance in at the edge of the pathway the mage had cleared towards the village. He didn't see the blast from his young inquisitive friend that laid waste to a large swath of the enemy. No, he simply recognized her magick from familiarity. He did not hear her call his name or the orders being yelled out across the battlefield.

He felt the wrongness of the enemy all around him. One attempted to attack him and was backhanded into oblivion out of hand by Trafalgor as he turned his attention to the largest concentration of the abominations, crouched slightly and called upon his magick to form dozens upon dozens of spectral blades, imbuing them with holy light magick as he went… and then willed them to strike out like arrows at every abomination still in direct contact with the adventurers.

"GO! FALL BACK TO THE VILLAGE!" he bellowed out as he aligned his hips with his objective.

And then he dashed straight into the horde, body shining like a beacon, arms blurring as he struck each abomination he passed… and when he reached the other side of the horde, he slid to a halt, and dashed back through the largest concentration, lashing out with a fury that he refused to let himself feel. Only once he had made it completely through the enemy once more did he forcibly knock over his mental hourglass, his magick almost completely spent and body nearing exhaustion from the extraordinary feat he'd just forced his mortal body to perform. Still he remained on his feet and allowed himself a moment to get his bearings.

In his body's state, turning back to the enemy would only lead to his senseless death… and so, without turning his head back towards the horde, Trafalgor forced his body into a limping jog back towards the Rosenite lines only a few hundred yards away. He knew the enemy was behind him, but he felt no fear. He had done his absolute best to save as many as he could. If he died, he would die knowing that he had given his all for the safety and survival of Revaliir. He had no reg-… No.

He had a few regrets… but Daphne would understand if he died here. She understood where his Path would lead eventually. And perhaps he would regret not having the courage to find out the truth in Ataiyo… but still, it didn't matter.

He just needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He could see the Rosenites ahead…

While looking for Trafalgor, Attie was busy trying to protect some of the adventures. She spotted a Chomper that was trying to kill one of them. Using her flames, she sent a column of flames towards the monster, burning it to a crisp. She held out her hand to the man and lifted him to his feet before sending him to run to the Rosenite lines. But instead of running there herself, she continued to help other adventurers and to continue searching for her friend. 

She didn't have to search for very long. A booming voice caught her attention and she looked up to see Trafalgor shining brighter than any beacon. He was dashing into the horde, causing waves of destruction to the Eldritch abominations. She watched as he destroyed masses of the monsters faster than anybody could imagine. Yet, she knew that he was spending up his magic. She couldn't see it visually but she could guess it. After all the portal opening, transformations, and other magical feats….his time had to be running out. Attie quickly snatched another mana potion from her bag and chugged down the liquid. Magic overwhelmed her senses as she tried to concentrate. Flames erupted from her body as she made her way over to a now exhausted Trafalgor. She had to get there before the monsters did. 

He was limping over to the Rosenite lines and was so close but the Eldritch were getting even closer. Attie's emotions began to boil over as she realized how close to danger that her friend was. She would not let another friend die! Rage burned throughout her body, soul, and mind as a bright light burst from her chest. The light swirled around her body and covered her like a cocoon. Suddenly, a dragon flew from the cocoon and headed directly towards Traflagor. Attie had transformed into a dragon. Her scales colors began at the bottom of her tale with a shade of purple that slowly turned to a bright orange as it went to the head. Attie's scales were the colors of the dawn itself. 

She blasted flames at the monsters who threatened to catch up with Trafalgor before she swooped down and attempted to gently pick up Trafalgor. Attie didn't know if he would recognize her in the dragon form and she wished that she had a way to tell him. But her mouth was different and she couldn't form human words with it. Until she remembered the connection that Trafalgor had made earlier. 

"Hi Baldy." She mentally sent to Trafalgor as she carried him over the Rosenite lines, "Seems like you were having a rough time so I decided to drop in."

Attie gently put him down far enough from the battlefield so that he wouldn't have to worry about running as much. She landed next to Trafalgor and turned back to her human form, exhausted.