Kazeira continued the route, but he soon sensed something was wrong, his divine blood sensed.....great heat at distance, and smoke in the sky! In direction of the village! Kazeira quickly barked to his men; "Legionaires, arm yourself for battle. There seems to be trouble mixing up in Emerald's Rest!" Kazeira started ride hard and his men during the move drawed out their bows other hand and guided their horses whit knees and holding reins other hand. They all weared short swords and chainmails, target shields strapped other side of their saddles and sturdy spear along whit it. Whit thundering hoofs the mercenary band headed towards the village.<br/><br/>When they arrived, they saw village was in ablaze! Houses were burning and women and childrne screamed and curse of farmers! The mercenaries saw that there were bandits everywhere! Chasing women or cutting down farmers who try defend their homes!<br/><br/>"Reel, lead three to the east of the viillage, Jaco lead three to the west. Talya, you go to north but be prpeared ride support any of my men in need. I go to middle and head south! Ragned first but when bandits close melee, draw them out of the village and gather back north side! Lanya, do your worst in northern side then. GO!" The men followed Kazeira's command, he is sure Vermillion Legionaires can handle evne half dozen of bandits and Lanya an be a sorceress but she is well capable use her staff in combat.<br/><br/>Kazeira unmounted from his horse, making frontal backflip and falling gracefully into ground. Sametime his body sets up into burning flames when he called out activate his gift of the red dragon to cover his body into flames. Kaz started run towards the one group of bandits, he holded his shield forward but he holded past it the tip of his glaive formed tip of his direlance. He started yell sharp and loud howling warcry and bandits startled and turned around....to see one fo their fellow be skewered half by ten feet long direlance's blade!<br/><br/>The bandits attacked Kaz, foolishly so, thanks the flaming aura each bandit get badly burned by flames which surrounded Kaz before he cleaved all the rest four bandits, wounding them seriously and all falling into ground badly bleeding, some alive and some not. In distance he saw other bandits get peppered by arrows and bandits turned return fire, but bandits were clearly more used to melee than ranged combat so their return fire was near pitifull example of bownmanship. In northern side bandits screamed and runend in horror, yelling soemthing about sorceress and Kaz saw a lighting bolt strike the poor bandit down.<br/><br/>Soon Kaz felted his gemstone warn him about impending danger, so his shield hand quickly turned near reflex alike and deflected a well aimed arrow away from path hitting his head! He saw one of the roofs a man who weared red/deep green leather armor and holded a green jade bow. Around the man was a green glow and green swirling essence leafs danced by invisible wind.<br/><br/><em>"Damn! A rogue dragon blood, he gives already bad name to the already thrice cursed power hungry careless dynasts! Empire does not these kinds of thugs hang around and lead bandits!"</em><br/><br/>Kaz walked forwaards to the wood aspected dragon-blood, he focused on his essence and soon flames around him lookded darker, like in hells themselves and many pahntom images of warriors walking towards the wood aspected warrior appeared and Kaz loudly shouted to the dragon-blood (whit riverspeak) while he pointed his glaive towards him; "HEAR ME DRAGON'S BASTARD! CALL YOUR BANDITS ATTACKS NOW OR I SURE CUT YOUR DOWN ALONG WHIT THEM!"<br/><br/>The wood dragon-blood did not listen Kaz, he instead showered hail of arrows at him as reply and that was reply enough! Kaz raised his shield again and his uncanny fast reflexes dodged the arrow or were deflected by his well made dragonwing shaped metal shield. Whit growl Kaz runend to the archer and he jumped onto the burning roof, seeting it greater blaze whit his aura and clsoed in to the archer! During his climb and charge the archer shooted one arrow, the arrow whistled past Kaz, nearly nicking his straw hat off!<br/><br/>Kaz made a powerfull horizontal swing towards the archer, but the archer agilely swayed under the blow and dodged it and stepped back out of direlance's reach. The archer jumped a long jump to other roof and fired arrow in midair but that one Kaz deflected whit his glaive, expecting the wood aspected dragon blood is not surely staying melee whit him and continue use arrows.<br/><br/>Kaz taked a few steps back for running start, but his jump falled bit shorter so he managed get grip on the roof's edge where wood aspected dragon blood had runend into. When Kaz got up, he was greeted again by arrow and this time his hat DID fly off his head and whit curse Kaz rolled onto the roof and again the wood aspected archer had jumped off!<br/><br/>"Damn annoying bastard arent you? You actually make me work for killing you."<br/><br/>The chase continues troughout the village, the bandits have been succesfully drawed out and the fight had focused onto northern side of the village. Then suddenly there is loud crashing sounds and alot of screams, screams of bandits. Lanya had used her most destructive spell in her terrestrial circle sorcery, the obsidian butterflies! The obsidian butterflies teared both flesh, wood and rock in whole northern village area, cutting down houses and bandits into shred and also wide gap of the woods aswell. But Lanya has trained in use of sorcery enough so that she did not make the miles extending spell go trough the village, merely scrap it's northern side while killing the rest of the numerous bandits. The rest any surviving bandits were running likely by now, so it was Kaz's task to cut the head of the snake!<br/><br/>The wood aspected archer fled into the woods after seeing all his men to die in one go, Kaz in his tail and forest setting into blaze after him when his burning aura both continues protect and burn the forest around him. He lost trace of the bandit, and Kaz killed off his burning aura and he moved seek traces. He saw a teared cloth in a bush and he headed that way, he soon heard a loud man's scream in ahead of him, so Kaz rushed forward and then he saw oddest sight ever.<br/><br/>He saw that the wood aspected warrior has been knocked out, face literally smashed, land laying against a tree while a woman, some blood in her right fist, was crouched over the wood aspected warrior. But most disurping was her golden arm shields, and her golden shining chainshirt. Kazeira had seen such metal before, it was Orichalcum, metal of the gods and used only by anathema! If that was not enough, when woman turned her forehead had constantly blazing golden symbol of cursed anathema!<br/><br/>Kazeira growled at her and said; "Should had quessed, not even rogue dragon bloods fall that down whitout some dark influence. Prepare to die Anathema!" Kazeira knows it is near suicidal attack anathema alone, but hsi men and Lanya are far away and he surely does not let anathema get away now she is on his sight! So Kazeira can only wish that dragons smile on him today and his skills are enough defeat this direst of threats what Realms possess to any hero fo the dragons. So Kazeira spinned his direlance around his head and flexed his muscles and taked a stance, a northern speardancer stance whit his shield and direlance. He holded the direlance blade back while shield forward.........preparing to charge.<br/><br/>His body started burn by small fires now and his only ruby red eye glowed like small crimson sun in his eye socket and his skin looked scaley alike, covered by essence scales and flame motis flying behind him formed faint image of pair of wings, to person whit good imagination he appeared to be a crouched dragon, readying to charge.<br/><br/>OOC: I rolled nat 1 whit d10, but still my iniative is 24 (think botching does not apply to iniative). Anycase I have burned 2 essence for using my fire aspect trait (not active now), then 2 for Gracefull Tortoise Technique (not active now), 1 for Phantom Fire-Warrior Horde (not active now) and 5 for Crimson Pentacle Blade Form (active now). So 5 peripheral essence in bandit encounter and 5 now in this encounter.<br/><br/>Iniative (24) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=444442)