Above the Keep, Volume 20

Above the Keep - By Lorelai Silvermoon Volume 20

The day sits cold about the shoulders, as crisp winds blow across Lake Eridanus, bringing the air a slight chill to the otherwise warm season ... nature's eerie sentiment, the mirror of the past few days for those assembled atop the Keep.

The corps meets at an abnormal hour, during the afternoon, upon an irregular day ... assembled as the red-maned young man addressing them felt necessary.

He looks amongst them as they are all brought together once more with the passing of latest battle ... confirming the calculations of each, bringing what they all know into audible word ... that they are fewer than when they began. A sorrowful yet unfortunate circumstance of the endeavor they have undertaken.

Weeks gone now in Tyedu ... they lost Champion Brooks and Parthenia ... closer still the brass' Atalaya and Kisshet with riders Rinedra and Laeroth were brought down in the Wastelands; they managed to save Rinedra, but his prayers could do nothing for Atalaya. Laeroth and Kisshet did not fall, but as they heal their blades and claws stand apart from their fellows ...

Due to the instincts and heart of MJ and Tryphena, they were alerted to the mischief of illusion upon the pyrite isles ... more than half flying south to provide air support for the fleet of men, and to find their missing comrades Bronwen and Pyrena, Katie and Jared. They found battle, and they found their corpsmen.

Cole recounts briefly the fighting above that of the island below, upon the cloud marred battlefield ... billowing plumes of ash and smoke; fire, ice, and acid combining noxiously across the sky ... painting the natural blues a ghastly combination. The forms of their foes ... Gravel, Coal, and Amber ... scything darkly from their illusory cover and through the chaos. Metallic scales glinting, their forces met them in formations of six, holding their attention from those below as best able. Whether bow, spell, blade, claw, or spear ... they managed to throw many a Coal and Gravel down into ruin, and rend the wings from an amber before it could rain hellballs from above. Thirty stones they faced. A dozen they slew, the remainder fleeing the field, and escaping the chase.

Many minor injuries sustained, but in the battle amongst those dragons crashing into the sands and surf there also numbered two of their own. Fallen in battle were Alyssa Lang and Orym Denim, upon Thalassa and Emmerik. Upon the isle they also would find the corpses of Bronwen and Pyrena, alongside Katie and Jared. The Champion pauses a long moment and laments his prayers inability to help them ...

Four pairs then stand from the operations in the southern sea, needing to see burial. To the dragon lost in the Wastelands and the pair lost in the North ... brings them to five and a half tandems lost, eleven of their number. Eleven warriors, eleven who believed in what they are all doing ... eleven that shall no longer touch the clouds.

Eleven lost ... against much more taken from Truth. Twelve in the south, not counting those slain upon the ground ... many more laying dead upon the Tyeduan snow, and five Ambers left rotting in the wastelands. The handfuls encountered and slain near Elysia added in as well ...

And so by numbers, their training ... this ... what they've built here ... works. They have laid foundations of quality, of skill and trust amongst one another. This has equalized their lack of quantity ... because fact remains that they do not know how many dragons Truth has gathered. The dark crevices of the world may very well now lay dormant for her machinations ... and those standing present are faced with these battles of attrition ...

He urges each to remember the fallen and keep fighting smart as the worst yet comes ... he himself will always carry the nagging knowledge of having sent those scouts gone, and leading others to their death ... but to lose discipline now when they next engage would dishonor the memories, and make their losses greater as they add to them. Use any distress as fuel in the next round, but take care that you fuel to purpose, and not purely to vengeance.

Stress is put upon their formation training, and watching each others wings ... such will be the focus when training reconvenes.

Towards the debriefing's end, he raises the thought to Naia and those of Nor'seere of whether there are others who may volunteer to replenish their ranks..that they, or he can speak to ...

For Rinedra at least, who lost Atalaya ... he has not spoken to her, but would think perhaps she has an inkling to help yet ... if Thaylis is paired to Skyla for the most part, if they cannot find another for her to ride with, perhaps she and Seraph should meet and see if they are compatible.

Tyedu, the wastelands, and the illusion isles now have been broken ... it would seem Truth's last holding may be in the mountains of Brekon, though whom can tell. He mentions that he has eyes in the north looking ... and may have some more contacts looking in ... but as yet ... they will bury their fallen, and resume training.

To those aware of his practice, the cord of prayer beads snaking up his left arm toward his shoulder carries fresh etchings once more.