As the day drew long a trio of figures were making good time across the quiet tundra. Darks Lone Shadow was easily leading Xing Lei and Osilliaice though the kobold had been complaining much of the way. Much like His Shadows Match, this kobold saw little of worth about this freakishly big kin. So what if he was the general's father? He'd not been fighting these wars, he wasn't sent to the shit holes of this place to kill overconfident bastards. No, he got to prance around in the outside with a female!
Darks Lone Shadow took a furative glance over his shoulder, while he didn't give two shits about Xing Lei, he had to admit the lizardess in the patchwork gold and silver armor was very easy on the eyes. Who knew? Maybe this freak had lured her away from the tribe before she had met any real prime examples of her kin. Yeah! That was it! This over grown kobold wasn't special, just cunning. Once they got back to the tribe she'd see him fir what he was. A freak.
Xing Lei coughed watching the sneaky kobold stealing glances at his mate and with each glance grew more surly, he considered smacking the assassin but if the little lecher ditched them they'd take even longer returning to the tribe. So for now he clenched his jaws and pushed down the urge to hang the little bastard from the nearest tree by his eyeballs. Now, once they reached the tribe he fully intended to take up issue with the runt but for now he suffered the stares at his mate in growing irritation.
Osilliaice paid the dispute between the pair little mind, she had eyes only for her mate and that was that. While she too could easily see their guides longing looks she really didn't put it in her mind. After suffering Grull and Gruck's advances during her kobold years she was more than accustomed to blowing off such wanton stares leveled her way... and if he pressed his attraction she WAS a Lizardfolk, no matter how trained he was she'd use him to practice her spiritual pressure.
The trio's journey was a march of uncomfortable silence, it made all three glad when Darks Lone Shadow lead the pair through a narrow pass. As they walked the temperature noticeably jumped becoming warm and dry. The mountain pass exited out onto a rocky plateau that stretched off to either side while straight ahead they could see the rough and rocky ground just seemed to stop. Leading them closer Darks Lone Shadow cursed.
As expected the edge ahead was indeed a cliff, a smooth grade descended towards a lower ground which, as it happened, was currently occupied. Two large seas of soldiers were currently crashing together far below. Bronze colored Lizardfolk were clashing against Redscales, copper and white scaled Lizardfolk helped either side respectively making the land below a veritable mosh pit of open combat. Cones of fire and ice crossed paths with those of fire and lightning.
Darks Lone Shadow then glanced up and cursed even harder. Xing Lei and Osilliaice followed suit and spotted a large crimson dragon darting around a smaller bronze. The big red was washing the latter in great gouts of flame while the bronze ineffectively fired off bolts of lightning from its bleeding maw. All in all, while the Bronze army below seemed to be holding their own, their leader the bronze dragon was being toyed to death in the skies above.
Xing Lei watched the duo fighting and crossed his arms. "Seems the bronze joined the gold alliance."
Darks Lone Shadow gaped and looked at his larger compatriot, "What drivel, if join they had where is the gold leader?"
Xing Lei glanced over to one side pointing further along the ring plateau that rimmed the battleground, "There."
Darks Lone Shadow looked over and tilted his head, there was nothing there! Did this freak get a knock on the skull? Looking back to Xing Lei's confident look he turned back and frowned. There was nothing there, just a small group of trees. Wait. Trees? There should be nothing on the plateau, it was in essence the viewing stands for the fights, it was neutral ground where factions could watch unmolested, why were there trees there?
Staring he saw the trees suddenly waver, the illusion magic breaking as a large gold dragon man lifted a staff high. Beside him a beautiful silver haired human woman raised her own staff. From the formers staff a line of scarlet energy lanced out swiping across the red dragons chest spewing a great deluge of blood into the air. The womans staff emitted a green glow that hugged the wounded Bronze dragon, his ragged scales mending as the blood and battle wounds vanished under her empowered healing magic.
Darks Lone Shadow cursed and started running to the left, "Come on we need to get back. The alliance is breaking the cease fire."
Xing Lei and Osilliaice jogged after but he was more watchful of other locations that began to distort, more dragons began to shimmer into existence as the formal fight became an eight way brawl. Spells and dragon breath tore through the air, even the plateau wasn't spared. Neutral ground? Ha! If you're visible you're a target! Copper, bronze, silver, gold, blue, red, white, dark.... eight factions stormed into the battlefield. Oddly enough Destorianaxe and her forces were absent as were the Greenscales and light dragon armies.
Xing Lei pulled up short when he saw another person sweep out into the battle from behind them. Riding on a snow raptor Alustriea flew through the skies blasting everyone with ice. Between long spears of frozen death and great blasts of sleet the frosty elven woman rained frozen death down on the Lizardfolk beneath her flight path. Seeing this latest entrant the copper dragon leapt into the sky and made a dash for Alustriea yet as the dragon was bearing down on her it seemed to collide with something!
Even from here Xing Lei could hear the crunch as one of the copper wings twisted the wrong way and the dragon spiralled back towards the ground. His eyes watched Alustriea as she seemingly paid the wounded dragon no more mind than had she flicked away a mosquito. He could hardly believe what he watched, Xing Lei had wondered what a mage cultivator might be capable of but watching her lash out with impunity with her spells while an obvious globe of Spiritual Pressure absorbed what was hurled her way truly surprised him.
Even more shocking was her control. The sphere seemed to fluctuate, not out of inexperience but rather under full direction of the elven mage who made it grow and shrink as needed. Osilliaice had clenched her fists watching her sister, with her innate status she had rushed into being on the border of mastering the use of qi manipulation, yet here was her sister doing things that only Xing Lei should have been capable of, what made her even more sure of Alustriea's grandmaster status was her fly by was accompanied by a row of death beneath her cloud. Those who found themselves beneath its shade were seemingly crushed into the ground leaving a trail of blood and gore in her passing.
Darks Lone Shadow pulled at an arm of either yelling at them, "Hey ya gobshites, keep moving! If open war is declared we gotta go!"
Reluctantly Xing Lei followed after the kobold guide who had abandoned stealth for speed, his short legs pumped faster as he ran full tilt along the plateau's outer mountain wall. Xing Lei wanted to rush out there to reclaim his wife but at the same time he watched as bolts of lightning and great gouts of flame washed over her protective shell and she charged forward instilling a great sense of terror into the armies below her path. She was truly an icy angel of death indiscriminately slaying those around her.
Swiftly another pass opened before the trio, though unlike the couple they had passed a rough fort with a gate house blocked this entrance. Darks Lone Shadow pulled out a whistle and blew a series of quick notes. From within came a similar sounding series of shrill tweets. Xing Lei cocked his head listening and observing as their guide tucked away his whistle and approached the gate, the kobold had only touched the heavy door when it shuddered and slowly started to rise. "Come on, we can't have the gate open long."
Ducking beneath the slowly rising portal Xing Lei was unsurprised that within a troop of heavily armored Lizardfolk awaited. He marvelled at how much speed and range of movement was lost to encase these kin in plate armor, even if he was only starting body tempering this scene would be just as comical as it was now when he wouldn't even need to physically touch these louts to send them flying, still Osilliaice seemed impressed, studying the armor design with interest.
As much as she was cultivating Osilliaice took interest in anything that empowered their people. She had though bringing the elven design for armor back but seeing these plate wearing guards it was to be expected that the Lizardfolk had their own blacksmiths. Xing Lei only gave the armor a passing glance, they were decorative in his eyes, against the other armies this armor likely gave a leg up, but against himself, it may as well had been made of thin sheets of paper.
The surrounding Lizardfolk glared at the freakishly large kobold and the female Lizardfolk wearing what looked to be a half suit of gold and silver armor. None here recognized the duo, and for a mutant greyscale kobold with a Blackscale lizardfolk to come in from the warzone likely meant these were outcasts that fell prey to one of the other groups. Now they came slinking back in hoping the Mistress would shelter their baggage? Nothing irritated these followers of the Mistress more!
The armored lizardman crowded in around the pair, those that pushed in around Xing Lei were more interested in showing the freak his place in this, their domain. The ones closing in on Osilliaice were of a different interest, female warriors were rare. To have one wasted escorting a kobold was simply wrong to them such to the point they were practically climbing over each other to attract her attention. All the while Darks Lone Shadow watched the guards crowding his charges with a dark look, being given a babysitting job was far beneath him. Better these two learn their place now...
Xing Lei glanced over noting the almost casual disinterest their guide showed in breaking this foolishness up. The thug like guards were already pushing his bottom line by trying to get a rise out of him, the fact others were pestering his mate while he was being 'distracted' made him want to really throw these idiots around. He silently hoped their escort would have chimed in, but when one of the bigger guards dropped a meaty hand on Xing Lei's head attempting to push the freak kobold to the ground, Lei had had enough.
As if his legs had taken root beneath him Xing Lei felt the Lizardfolk shoving down hard but could not understand why this freak didn't topple. Leaning on the kobold with both his strength and weight, he was sure the runt would be pushed to the floor, yet this little bastard moved nary a bit. Though that was a bit of a lie. The brute of a guard watched the kobold casually reach up, slender fingers wrapping around the wrist of the hand on its head. In the next blink of an eye the brute was wailing in agony.
The few who were watching waiting to see the runt getting bullied felt their jaws rattle on the floor as the kobold reached up and yanked their brothers arm to the side and off his head. A deft twist of his own wrist and a loud crack erupted before their brother howled in pain. This little runt had twisted the offenders arm till it literally broke. And the kobold wasn't finished. Pushing the offending guard back a bit, the runt ignore the larger Lizardfolk howls as a leg swiftly came up and lashed out kicking their brother in the mid section sending the brute flying and crashing into a few others behind.
As Xing Lei lashed out, Osilliaice looked apologetically to her surrounding admirers before she struck out as well. While she didn't pull the spear from its harness on her back, her body itself was a weapon of incredible danger. Her time amongst the elves had not only taught her command skills and a variety of weapon styles but most of the weapon classes had included hand to hand fighting in the event you were disarmed. Sadly for these fawning guards, they would learn first hand that a female like her was not some gilded lily, she was every bit as dangerous as her mate in some regards.
Unlike him, her victims did not go sailing, rather her unlucky opponents soon learned their hefty armor was full of exploits that she used to tie them up with, often bouncing the guards off each other when they made a grab for her. A few particularly unlucky guys quickly learned their armor was protective but not enough that a cultivator knee to the armor shielded sexual organs of a Lizardfolk still hurt enough to take them out of the brawl permanently.