Hiro had prepared himself for the battle to come by mentally fortifying himself, and studying what was known about the enemies they were going to fight.  The Twisted were amalgams of flesh and insects.  Hiro now stood at the front lines, looking over the battlefield, at the disgusting creatures he was going to fight.  There were creepy crawlies made of bodies, there were spiders made of flesh and body parts, spitters shooting toxic and poison gas and fluids, and even ones that could pretend to be humans.  Nothing could have prepared him for this.  There was only one choice.

Attack.

Hiro charged into battle, stepping through a blue circle of arch protection that was cast by an allied mage.  He drew Empyrean from it's sheath and sliced through the stomach of a Corrupted foot solider, before moving to the next, and then the next, consecrated flames erupting from the blade as he carved a path of fiery destruction through the battlefield.  There was a young woman with short black hair shooting fire at some of the Plaguers that were spitting toxic goo at them.  Hiro noticed the ground beneath the girl was starting to shake and crumble.  A Centipede erupted from the ground near the girl.  Hiro flew forward by charging mana through his legs and propelling himself forward.  He slammed his shoulder into the Centipede and pushed it out of the way.  The many-limbed monster reared back, it's red eyes glowing in its skull glowing, before diving off.  He considered pursuing it, but decided to check on the girl instead.  More monsters could make their way through that hole if he wasn't careful.

Hiro turned to the young girl.  "Are you all right?  That was a close call, gotta watch your feet.  The name is Hiro Kouen.  You should probably stick together with someone if you're not adapt in melee combat," he smiled warmly at her.  He turned away, and slashed through another monster that approached him from behind.  He had to be careful himself.  They were everywhere.

Before Attie could even process what was happening, a giant centipede monster had popped out of the ground and was coming at her. But another person came and slammed his shoulder into the centipede. Slightly embarrassed that she had made such an error, she grabbed onto her whip to have a weapon and ensure it would happen again. The last thing she needed was to be responsible for an ally's death. If there was going to be a death, it would be hers. And she would make it a lot more epic than just being taken out by an over-sized bug!

"I'm fine!" Attie said with a smile, "Thanks for the save. My name is Attie and I guess you're the person I'm gonna stick to!"

He was nearby and it was convenient to have somebody watching her back. Attie raised up her whip and cracked it at one of the incoming monsters, the tail wrapping around it and trapping it. A burning sensation was building up in her mouth. Flames erupted from her mouth, directly at the beast who she had snared with her whip. The monster burnt to ashes and Attie moved onto the next one. She was using her whip and flames as a way to catch and kill each monsters. But it was her speed and stength that allowed her to pull it off. She was using her bear strength to help take these beasts out. 

"On your left Hiro!" She shouted, seeing an Infestor sneaking up to Hiro, "Don't let it bite you!"

There were no other words that Kiba could find as he stood there just within the shield that protected the encampment. Kaya stood at his side, where he had an arm slid around her waist. His white armor reflected in the soft sun light, which only made him cringe internally. This armor was to only be used in dire situations. Here he was wearing it. Kiba looked down at Kaya before placing a kiss on the side of her head. He inhaled the scent of her from her hair. There was much standing in their way, but now he was not going to allow it to take any of their future from them. He knew this to be true.

The diowolf looked over at Dae. The young man stood in his white leather armor with the hood down for the first time in a while. Kiba was still uncertain of his grandson taking on the art of assassination for a trade. Even if he was unsettled by the concept, it was not for him to decide. Dae was now old enough (in concept) to make his own decisions. What did help the grandfather was that his grandson took jobs that were to benefit those in need. Even so, there was to be a further conversation on all of this. Yes, they would talk in the future. They would have a future. All of them.

Kythe approached to give her final instructions before taking to the skies with the other dragons. He merely nodded in response along with a light smile. It was difficult to send any soldier in to battle under direction, but even more difficult when they were family. The diowolf understood that considering he had had to do it before. He returned Kythe’s hug before she left.

It was then that Kiba turned to Kaya to look at her straight on. With armored hands he cupped the sides of her neck. Forehead rested against her’s as if he was making sure to take in every bit of her features. ”No risks to be taken. That’s an order from your mother and myself.” His tone had a hint of joking in it, though he was completely serious. Kiba placed soft kisses upon her lips, cheeks, and anywhere he could find a place.

When he felt he was ready to lead the charge across the shield he looked over to see that Raith had stopped to say his good-byes to Alairia. Ria was clutching to the man as tightly as possible while burying her face into his chest. She would not hold him back from going, but it was her dearest wish to be able to join him. A heat radiated down the woman’s chest at the passion of her love’s kiss. When they parted, she held back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. ”I will stay in the camp. There will be much work to do here.” Her delicate fingers traced the line of his strong jaw down his neck and chest until they rested over his heart. ”I love you, Raith. Now and forever. Be smart and swift. Show them no mercy for what they dare try to take away from us.”

Kiba smiled at how the relationship had transformed between the pair. The diowolf inhaled one last time before calling forth the armor to cover his features. Brilliant white armor covered his entire body that was decorated in accents of gold. In the helm there were golden slits where his eyes could see out into the world before him. Kiba was ready to go to war again.

Sword was drawn from its sheathe. In a swift motion, the diowolf bolted through the barrier into battle. He could not look back at what was behind him. He couldn’t think about what was going to wait for him when the war was over. The Void that could take over the entire planet that they had called home. No. What he had to do was think about each move to be made in the moment. Even if his entire family was within this fight. Even if there were those he could not dare to think about surrounded by the enemy.

The vanguard leader swung with strength that had not been needed for a time in order to cleave a chomper in half. In the moment that it saw its death, it saw its own fear reflected on Kiba’s helm. On he moved through the newest wave of enemies. His white armor becoming stained with the fluids of his enemies. From time to time he felt the reverberation of a blow hitting his armor. There were a few times Kiba thanked Lokir repeatedly for the strength put into the creation of his gift.

Plaugers were a short distance away; Kiba did not have to see them to know. Their stench was enough to tell him. He saw that they were lumbering their way towards the right flank. A signal was sent up to mark where he needed the rangers to attack. He was sure that Isleen would protect them from that particular attack. Still, he kept an eye out while directing his warriors away from that direction. Magic and ranged attacks were the most effective against those.

Chaos.

Life was apparently chaos and Arelear found herself taking a moment to briefly ponder it.

How she’d gone from being a free bird to someone who had to divest her scarlet feathers in order to wear the browns of the average ranger leather? It was a battle Kavan had won when they received word and the call to arms to defend their world. He had even won on most of her colorful scarves, pointing out that on the field, it was harder to hide as she normally did amongst the trees. The only exception was the one that held her hair tightly back behind her head to keep it out of the way, flashing small bits of red from between the darker brown of her hair. In a way, Arelear felt like a play actor on a battlefield where others were moving the pieces. It was something that strained her free born heart, but as her fingers spread across the bow in her hands – a generous gift from Kythe that she still had no idea how to accept or hold – she’d probably have ran into the trees.

However, she didn’t and she wouldn’t.   With the single gift, Kythe had portrayed gratitude and honor towards Arelear – something that woman had never owed her. Instead, Rel had become part of a greater family and it was odd how she’d gone from considering what it’d be like to put down roots to actually having done the equivalent of it.

Shrugging herself from her thoughts, she found herself glancing at the people coming and going to their varying ranks – a multitude of people she had yet to fully learn the names or stories of, which was something she’d need to fix later when things weren’t so kill worthy.  As Kythe took to the sky and Kiba shouted orders, Arelear found her way towards the archers with her wolf by her side, making sure to drop as many extra arrows nearby as she could. Raising the beloved bow she’d been gifted that was filled with so many conflicting thoughts as Blaze provided guard for her upon the ground, the woman notched her own bow and when the command came, loosed the first of many arrows. The first of the creatures rose up, causing a shudder to shake through her body of repulsion before she grunted. These abominations did not belong here. It wasn’t long before the first arrow was loosed from her bow with a resounding twang.

One after another, creatures began to fall. It wasn’t long before the droll thoughts of what caused conflict from within faded away to something more intoxicating. How many could she take down?

Chaos had become a challenge! Ah yes, and she’d rise to it.

….then demand her scarfs back from Kavan later. Her lips cracked into a faint smile.

Hiro smiled at the young girl.  She introduced herself as Attie, and said she would stick with him.  "All right, I have no problem with that.  Watch my back, and I'll watch yours."  Hiro kept note of how she was performing in the battle, fighting with a whip, and with fire spells.  Was she a pyromancer too of some kind?  Or was that just the most effective type of spell she could use for the situation?

Questions for later.

Hiro thought he sensed some movement coming from behind him, and from the left.  Hiro swung around and slashed through one Infester, followed by a second one, (on Attie's prompting) using consecrated flames on his sword, Empyrean, to power up his blows.

"Thanks, Attie!"  Hiro unleashed a flood of flame from his sword, providing a longer distance attack, on more enemies that were approaching them.  They burned and were incinerated into ash.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently.

"What the hell is that?"  Hiro looked around to see what was causing the ground to quake.  What it iwas, it was getting closer until Hiro saw it.  "Oh shit!"

It was as big as a house.  A huge monstrosity composed of many bodies, surrounded by chitinous armor.  It shook the ground as it rampaged across the battlefield, sending allies flying through the air just by running through them.  He and Attie was directly in its path.  He quickly focused his magical strength into his legs, and into his back, through his armor, summoning a set of fiery, crimson feathered wings.  He quickly swept his arm around Attie, and pushed off from the ground, speeding the two of them right out of the way of the speeding Rhino.

"Sorry, you okay?  Didn't get a chance to explain what I was about to do.  I have winged armor, as you can see," Hiro said, apologetically from potentially scaring his new found ally.  "I'll have to find us a safer spot to touch down, maybe farther back . . . " Hiro looked down at the Rhino, as it continued to rampage through the front ranks of the allied army.  "We're gonna have to do something about this thing though.  That carapace is probably going to shrug off any fire I throw at it.  Any ideas?"

Attie felt glad that she had an alley on the battlefield. It was much easier for her to perform her attacks when she knew she had somebody watching her back. She noticed that his sword had flames surrounding it. After the battle she would ask him about it, as she had never seen a fire sword like that. However, she had seen a weapon like that. A weapon that she left in a safe place and had not thought to bring it into battle. She realized that next time, she would bring it to fight with. Especially since her flame scythe would be able to save her some mana. 

"No prob!" She called out to Hiro

Attie looked to the ground, confused as to why it was shaking so violently. Before she could look up, she was being flown into the air by Hiro. It was only when they were safe above the Rhino that she realized that it was the cause of the ground shaking. Attie looked around with glee, as she hadn't been able to fly without some sort of transformation spell. This was the first time she was flown through the air instead of carrying others on her back. 

"Weeeee!" She said with joy. 

Even if they were in battle, she was determined to keep a cheery attitude. Hiro explained himself then looked around for a safe place to land. But Attie had a little plan forming inside her mind. She reached into her bag and pulled out a medium sized stone. 

"Just one idea." Attie said with a smirk, "I'm gonna need you to drop me on the Rhino. Specifically near its neck. I can make this rock explode but with his tough armor, its going to be hard to crack it. But he roars a lot and if I can shove the rock down his throat, then he will be exploding from the inside out. But I'll need you to keep other monsters off my back while I do this. I know its dangerous but its either this or let the Rhino pulverize the soldiers." 

Attie wasn't kidding about the pulverizing. The Rhino was heading directly towards their guild soldiers and the last thing she wanted was for them to get squashed. 

War. 

He had hoped that he had left all of that behind, after the atrocities that he and his kin had created on their own world, Kavan had hoped to make amends for the past, to redeem himself for the lives he had taken unjustly… he had suffered for his sins in the afterlife, but since he had been given his life back he had hoped to find forgiveness in a life better lived. Arelear had helped with that; he had started to feel as though he had a new purpose to this second life he had been gifted, he could contain his rage and learn to be a better person. 
And then she had arrived. He had barely recognised his little sister, older now and bearing her years. She had spent more time without him in her life, than with him. She was not the woman she had been when their kin had been slaughtered, and he had been glad to see that she was alive, even if the pain and suffering in her eyes broke his heart. The only reason he had known it to be Kythe was her scent - for the woman no longer bore a resemblance to the 'child' he had left behind in his demise. No longer the blonde haired, blue eyed innocent with pure white wings - the only truly recognisable things had been her marking on the left half of her face, and her scent.
He had been glad to find her, though their reunion had been somewhat strained given the time that had passed between them. Kythe had lived for millennia on her own, the last of the Minadrias, carrying the weight of their race's sins upon her shoulders alongside a prophecy she had never asked to have put upon her. She had loved and lost countless times, and he had missed all of it… in truth Kavan would not have blamed her if she had run him through with her blade, but his sister was a better person, she valued family above all else and had welcomed him and Arelear into her's with open arms… even though she didn't know either of them. 

It had been Arelear that had encouraged him to take up arms alongside his sister; she had offered them a place within her Guild, giving them the option to align themselves with her values and become an official part of the family she was creating. They had said no, for the moment, but had promised to consider it. He had sent Tali away; the songbird did not need to be involved in this, and there would be enough death on the battlefield without his companion adding to their numbers. It had taken him some time to convince his lover that her bright red feathers would not serve her well in the field, Ranger or otherwise she would attract the attention of the enemy with flashes of such colour, he had relented to the one in her hair… he'd won the war, she could win that battle. 

They had not said goodbye, his free spirited love did not believe in such things, and even he had come to believe that it would only tempt fate. His heart raced within his chest, hands balling into fists as he sprinted into battle, ducking and dodging through their enemies, gathering his magic within himself, forcing his natural rage to subside. His red eyes glanced upwards at the sight of his sister - there, another surprise, for she had inherited the power of the Triad at some point… how much he had missed in his time in the afterlife, how much he still did not know of who she was now… No matter, there was time yet, and he would repay his debt to her and bring her solace anyway that he could… starting with protecting her Guild. He found himself beside Hiro and Attie, catching their conversation. "You two worry about getting to that Rhino, I will worry about the monsters that stand between you and it."

Battles were an ever heated thing, weren’t they? This was the makings of a story, the kind Bards sung about in taverns.

The chaos upon the field was making itself more evident, and for every Plaguer that the archers took down, it seemed more monsters took their place in alarming numbers. For a woman who made sure to live life as it came, the challenge was raising a fiery passionate part of Arelear’s personality that soon swept away the sulky drear of lacking her bright colors and delicate clothes.

All around, the screams of the battlefield resounded at an alarming pace. The archers huffed as arrow after arrow was loosed, and while shooting the bow was certainly nothing she was stranger to, seeing the people around her struggle to find their aim was at once inspiring and discouraging. Some of the archers were extremely experienced! Some, less so. However, for all their struggles, they weren’t giving up and that was where the inspiration came from – the will of others to not stand down.

Today was to be a fine story, wasn’t it?! Ah yes. A fine story indeed.

Arelear found a break in the arrows she needed to fire for a brief moment, long enough for her to scan the battlefield. Her eyes lit first on Kavan’s form, and while worry took her heart, she knew him to be far more capable than she herself and besides, was that not why they refused to say farewell upon the battlefield?

No, the problem that raised a tremendous amount of ill feeling was seeing Attie on the field. While she knew her lover to be a phenomenal fighter – and frankly was doing her best not to run to his side in a passionate fit of fiery protectiveness such as the firelion she was named for might, she had yet to see something that indicated the young girl was accustomed to combat in any way. While the mage had attached herself to someone else who clearly had skills, it still was difficult to separate her mind from ‘hers’ and what needed to be ‘protected’. A challenge for her was not a big deal. Life or death for another? VERY different. Of course, it helped even less when the Rhino began rampaging through!

Notching an arrow wasn’t going to be fast enough, nor nearly as effective. Swearing to herself, she reached for the elemental arrows on her back that were so close to the normal ones. Adrenaline began pumping as she readied what was ultimately going to be a useless attack when she saw her friend take to the air. This paused her in her tracks, stalling the urge to run forward and break ranks. She found herself sighing in relief, halfway between archers and where her people were at and froze. Someone near Kavan was moving oddly, starting to split down the middle in grotesque ways that terrified her to the core. Kavan’s back was to it and this creature had somehow managed to hide. Taking aim instead at the creature, praying she wasn’t wrong, she let the arrow loose. The creature – something she readily identified as a Chomper now – screeched in its inhumanly grotesque way. As the body burst into flames from her arrow, she shouted ”CAREFUL, KAVAN!”

She then looked up at Attie and the man she had yet to identify, hefted her bow and said, ”I will cover you! Nothing in the air shall touch you!”

Besides, Arelear always had the backup of her own fire magic if worse came worse. One way or another, she'd shoot the dangers from the sky.

Meanwhile, her wolf had stayed with the arrows she had amassed before growling, turning his nose around them. If there had been one sleeper agent in the crowd, there might be more and HE would be able to sniff it out. A glance between wolf and woman and the familiar was soon stalking around the archers, sniffing and scouting to see if anything else had the smell of the Void.

Isleen’s gaze shifted to a dark crimson color as she watched arrows scatter across the sky, plunging into the Plaugers before they could get too close to the first line of troops. The necromancer looked over at the groups of mages. “Wall!” she called out. Then she looked back to the field. Shortly several walls of earth and rock erupted from the ground to slow down those that made it past the arrows. The wolf dug her fingers deeper into the soil and opened her connection to the ley line. More rough magic rushed into her causing her to flinch and whine a little. Her eyes clenched shut as the current evened out a little.She looked forward again and reinforced the arch protection spell.

The dark haired girl released the line and braced herself against the ground. The wolf closed her eyes and focused on evening her panting. She did not want to appear weak but this was a lot to ask of her all at once. Isleen would not sit despite the fatigue that threatened to sink in. She rose to her feet and wiped the sweat from her face. She looked to the sky to see the dragons doing their part. Then she looked to the field. Isleen scanned several lines of people, searching for Ethan. Her stomach tightened with anxiety. Finally, she found him and let out a sigh of relief. He looked effortless out there. With a grin, she considered tapping a line again and helping him but she did not want to interrupt his death dance.

It was not hard to spot her father given his bright, beautiful armor. He was even more magnificent than Ethan due to his sheer might. Watching him gave her strength. She knelt down again and prepared to take in more magic. However, then the unthinkable happened. Limbs of a creature emerged and snatched him up before she had a moment to comprehend it. Her eyes widened as Kiba’s sword failed to free him. She watched his neck snap and heart become pierced within seconds, though it felt like an eternity. A blood curdling sound tore through her throat, caught somewhere between a pained scream and an angry growl. She collapsed forward, reaching out for him. Before she could think, she was shifting and running towards him - two things that did not mix for the hybrid. Isleen’s skin was randomly covered with rust colored fur. Her feet had shifted into her hind paws, cutting through the boots. Her face had animalistic features but not fully transformed. She skid down the cliff they had crafted for the ranged attackers as it was faster than running. She tired to get to him but suddenly her legs gave out and she fell to the ground. Isleen’s head slammed against the ground and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

“Push, keep going!” The smell of blood and sweat filled the air but all that was forgotten as the sound of brand new lungs starting crying for the first time. Happy tears erupted from everyone but the midwife who was now cleaning the babe. The baby was then placed in its mother’s arms. Teu never looked more radiant or at peace.

Isleen woke in a haze, unsure of where she was or how she got there. She did recognize Teu in one of her moments of consciousness. The younger sister tried to reach out but fell back into a sleepy haze.

As they were flying through the air on Hiro's wings, Attie gave a gleeful cheer.  It was unexpected, but she was enjoying the lift he gave her, soaring through the air like a bird.  They landed on the ground, she was fine and uninjured.  She had a plan, which seemed solid enough.  Hopefully it would work.  It was probably better than what Hiro was thinking, attempting to find a chink in its armor, and blasting it with enough elemental magic to level a city block.

"All right, we'll go with your idea, Attie.  I was gonna try brute force, but let's see how your finesse does.  I assume you're gonna cast some explosion spell on that rock?"  A man (Kavan) came up to them, saying he would open a path towards the Rhino.  "Much appreciated, good sir, the name is Hiro Kouen, and you are– watch out!"  An explosion rocked from behind the man, an exploding arrow flew through the air and struck a transforming monster that had appeared from behind Kavan, blowing it to smithereens.  Hiro threw his phoenix cloak over his two new comrades to protect them from the blast instinctively.  The cloak was fire resistant, so any bits of flaming debris bounced off it harmlessly.  "Everyone okay?  That was a close one."

The woman who launched the arrow that slew the Chomper came up to them, saying she would also protect them from flying threats.  "Much obliged, ma'am.  Now, when you're ready, Attie, let's get your plan going."  Hiro's cloak shimmered and melded into his armor, turning back into his phoenix wings.  He lifted Attie up again carefully, bending his knees, and taking off into the sky once more.

Dodging enemies and projectiles flying through the air, they approached the Rhino, he followed any instructions he gave her, and when she was ready, he dropped her toward the Rhino, hoping she would be safe, and that her plan would work.

"Go for it!"