legendofdragoon | Through the Bog

Stopping in Hoax had been a practice in patience and Albert was glad they were on a mission otherwise he might not have been able to extricate himself from Hoax for days. He would have to remember to go back at some point though because the commander of the fort had brought up some legitimate concerns. But that was for another time. Now they had fresh supplies that Albert had not been able to acquire in Bale without raising suspicion and objection from Minister Noishe on his leaving on yet another questionable journey, and they were on their way.

Only the bog now stood between them and Lohan, the gateway to Tiberoa. Albert had heard a few unsettling things about the bog while in Hoax, and knowing Lloyd the Wingly had heard them too, perhaps even investigated further than Albert had been able to. The most alarming of these rumors was that there was something living in the bog, something that had moved in rather recently, and made getting through the bog somewhat difficult.

"Perhaps we should have gone through the prairie," Albert mused aloud. "We would have gone a few miles out of our way but we might have been able to recruit Dart in Seles."

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Whatever it was was obviously protecting the bog as well, irritating. At Albert's questions he just stared at him in flat annoyance, fortunately he could barely hear him or he'd have said the same thing. Too much headpain, he'll gripe later.

Lloyd just grunted, unable argue, and unwilling. This was not a place he could feasibly get through. Honestly he was lucky he was still conscious. Yes to the dragging, let's get out of this mess king.

No, no! No, no! Don't leave! You're fun! The Faeries chitter chatter at Lloyd. They positively giggle at the retreating backs of the Wingly and his Human.

It would become painfully apparent that the Faeries of the bog are not necessarily restricted to said bog. They continue to bombard Lloyd with their power, following him out of the bog to do so, and it's not just sight and emotion they bombard him with now. The power begins touching gentle brushes of pure, searing magical energy press against his retreating back.

Poor Albert, he's probably never seen a Wingly completely lose his mind, but all that chattering and bombarding with magic was far too much for Lloyd. Especially once it became clear that it would continue to follow him even out of the bog.

Suddenly he pulled himself away from Albert, roaring in rage as he began to unleash all of his most powerful spells at the bog. Just... completely unrestrained. Those skills he'd reserved for their last fight, where Dart had gone for the killing blow at the end. Yeah, all of that. And he'd keep at it until he expended every bit of energy he had and passed out.

Sorry Albert, clearly traveling with Winglies is a bad idea.

Albert stumbled back a bit as Lloyd pulled away and just went...insane... The man just stared at the Wingly for a moment. He had never in the tenure of their acquaintance seen the man really lose it. It was...terrifying.

The king looked to the forest. The Wingly's assault didn't seem to be doing much damage as whatever magic was plaguing Lloyd now expended itself in protecting the trees, and that Albert could see. Like heat ripples in the air wherever Lloyd flung his energy blasts.

This was futile. It was obvious now that the Faeries weren't going to be leaving Lloyd alone. Albert closed his eyes and steeled himself. He hadn't done this in a long, long time. His Dragoon spirit burst into light against his chest beneath his breastplate. He was embraced by the ethereal winds created by the spirit of the Jade Dragon. His wings flapped lazily to keep him airborne and Albert had a moment of self reflection where he realised just how much he had missed this, but that could be reflected on later, for now he could sense in a way what was going on, but even as a Dragoon the magic only touched the periphery of his senses.

There was really only one thing he could do at this point, and he hoped to Soa it would work. He called upon his own Dragoon magic and focused it at Lloyd.

"Rose Storm."

The wind picked up, unnoticeable at first, but it grew quickly into a maelstrom surrounding Lloyd in a bubble of wind. There were rose petals whipping about in the air around the Wingly. The spell took quite a bit out of Albert, he flapped his wings tiredly, but hopefully the power of Rose Storm would protect Lloyd from the power of the Faeries.

At least the onslaught allowed him to clear his mind, since the magic was forced to turn its attentions to keeping him from burning down their precious bog. The Dragoon magic helped further, though Lloyd did cast Albert a surprised glance. He'd never been on the receiving end of beneficial dragoon magic, so that was very strange to him. Even out of practice it remained powerful, enough to help curb the edge of it.

"Fall back!" Lloyd barked, now at least able to think somewhat clearly. Already he was making a swift retreat, and hopefully Albert wouldn't be far behind. Okay, bog was out of the question. There was no way they were making it through there.

"Lloyd- Gah!" Albert's protest was cut off by the power of the Dragoon spirit dispersing. He hadn't been prepared for it, had thought he could hold out longer, but no. It caught him off guard and he fell to the dirt on his back, his elbows jarring against the ground. The king grimaced and pushed himself up. Lloyd had already made his retreat and so the King broke into a sprint to catch up.

"Lloyd!" He shouted, "Lloyd, there's no other way!"

Lloyd hadn't gone far, just far enough to hopefully be out of range of the stupid faerie attacks. Until he could get his wits about himself. Okay so... focusing exclusively on offensive magic continued to prove to be poor planning on Lloyd's part. He knew this, but there was no getting around it now.

When he stopped he was finally winded, mostly due to the exertion of using so much magic, more than the run. Sorry Albert, just going to need a moment here. "I will not survive entry through that bog." He grumbled, glaring darkly down the path they'd come from.

Albert rubbed his elbows and frowned at Lloyd, "You can and you will. We cannot go back, it will take two days at least to back track and three more to go by way of the prairie. I will help you. Rose Storm can protect you from the brunt of their attack. Besides, those malevolent little beasts need to be dealt with, and there is still the bog beast. We cannot let this bog get the better of us."

Albert was right, but you can bet that Lloyd was stubbornly glaring. This was like asking him to go waltzing around Mayfil, not going to happen. For any reason, ever. Except he kind of had to go through the bog and seriously fuck the bog. Bogs are now at the top of his list of things to destroy mercilessly. He took a few more moments to try to calm down and get his senses to stop burning, augh this headache.

"...I am going to burn this bog to the ground." He growled out irritably. Yes Lloyd, that's the answer. Maul things. B| You don't learn do you? "You're right, we have already lost precious time. Very well." He's been through some dreadful things on his travels, surely this won't kill him. Maybe.

"Okay," Albert said with a nod. He turned back toward the bog. "We will move as fast as possible and be on the look out for anything suspicious. Rose Storm should last a while, but tell me if you feel it begin to fade and I will recast it. Hopefully, you won't need me to, transforming without the insanity of battle is much more difficult and...draining."

Albert gives Lloyd a brief nod and marches rapidly back toward the Bog, giving Lloyd no time to answer or change his mind. He enters the bog warily but doesn't slow down, though he checks over his shoulder discreetly to make sure Lloyd is in fact following.

"I doubt we will be without battle for long, in there," Lloyd drew his sword, mentally fortifying himself as well as he could as they approached once more. He did not have magical defenses of his own, but now that he knew what to expect he might be able to force himself to focus through it, especially with the help of Rose Storm. "Still, I will let you know."

Lloyd wouldn't leave him to deal with the bog on his own, even if he was loathe to go back in. Still the fairies tried to torment him, but Albet's spell held for now and he was able to at least not be completely overwhelmed. Bah, disgraceful.

Through the Bog

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