The Stone Hills. Winter...
Lisell Maera looks back and shouts "Hold on!" as she sends the wyvern into a steep dive when she commands it with a yell of "Down hard!".
The small squad of dwarven warriors on the wyvern with the teenage orphan from the city-state of Brattonbury in the Southlands, hold on for their lives.
One of them has already fallen from the back of the wyvern when he wasn't tied in tightly enough as they're pursued by a trio of wyverns in an army of a Justifier of Belinswae.
As the wyvern levels out over a hill as the nearest enemy wyvern is just a couple hundred yards behind them.
The dwarven warrior Kyne who is sitting directly behind Lis, yells to be heard over the strong wind they're flying in "They not be wanting us going north and west lassie!" the leader of the nine, now eight dwarves riding on the back of the captured wyvern adds "Guess there be something that way they dunny want us to see!".
Lisell Maera nods her head in agreement, as she has come to the same conclusion. The trio of enemy wyverns and the riders upon them, are herding them south, just to the west of Išorkam Uñd.
As Lis and the small squad of warriors with her, who have been searching for the location of any enemy squads. Have been trying to go back north into the relative safety in the heart of the Omban clanhold.
"Left wide!" calls out the teenager from south of the equator, who has memorized all the commands to control a tame wyvern. She uses it in conjunction with the rein work lord Farque has also taught her and Tamric Drubine.
As they go left, she looks back at the pursuing wyverns, who put on a burst of speed as they see the wyvern she and the dwarves are on, circling back to the northwest.
"Definitely don't want us going that way" murmurs the daughter of a street whore, and a sailor, who is just glad that there isn't a spellcaster on one of the three following wyverns.
Behind her in the saddle, Lis can hear the dwarven warriors rapidly discussing something in their own language.
Her grasp of the dwarven language isn't good enough to follow what they're saying. Besides, with the wind that they're flying through being so strong, it's difficult for her to hear anything in the common language, let alone the dwarven one.
"Lassie!" says Kyne as he taps the Southlander on the shoulder, she glances back at him as he shouts "Slow the beastie down a bit and have that nearest one get close".
Lis frowns, then says "Why?" the squad leader "Not to worry lassie, trust me, just do it like" Kyne then adds "Get up a bit higher than the following beastie though".
"If you say so" murmurs Lisell Maera as she pulls back on the reins, which illicits a squawk from the wyvern who knows that the trailing wyverns wants to attack it "Ease!" calls out Lis when it doesn't immediately respond to the pull on the reins.
The wyvern starts to slow down, and Kyne says to her "That's it lassie". As the wyvern slows, the teenager from south of the equator has it slightly climb too. As it does, Lisell Maera looks back to see how quickly the nearest pursuer is approaching.
But she's briefly distracted by one of the dwarven warriors. Berm his name is, one of the trio from clan Omban, while the rest of the squad is from clan Kraelin.
Berm has undone his ties, and is standing up on the saddle as he turns. Lis hears the other dwarves call out to him, she recognises the names of the dwarven gods, Thaxel and Dovarn. Along with the words "Be with you".
Then as the rapidly approaching wyvern gets closer to them, Berm takes an axe in one hand, and a hammer one of the other warriors gives him, in his other hand. Then as he shouts "Omban!" Lis realises what it is he's going to do.
Berm runs a few steps, then leaps off the back of the rising wyvern, he falls down towards the pursuing wyvern that's less than fifty feet behind them. He narrowly misses the head of the pursuing wyvern, which briefly thought about snapping it's jaws at the dwarven warrior shouting and hollering as he free falls towards it.
Instead it ducks it's head, and Berm passes just over it's head, and he smashes into the lead rider of the chasing wyvern.
The lead rider screams in a panic as he's knocked off his wyvern. Berm clips the next Justifier's guard, who is knocked out. While the dwarven warrior passes by the next guard, who flattened himself down when he saw the dwarf come hurtling towards them.
The warrior from clan Omban, slams into another Justifier's guard. Which almost stops his fall. Berm goes over the side. And though nearly unconscious, he has whereabouts to know what's still happening, that he swings his axe, that slams into, and gets stuck into a Justifier's leg.
Berm with a shake of his head, crawls upwards, yelling and shouting obscenities in the dwarven language as he swings the hammer he's still holding, trying to hit anything, and anyone as the wyvern drops down out of the sky.
"Fly lassie fly!" yells Kyne as the other warriors shout and yell in encouragement as they watch Berm on the wyvern that's rapidly dropping out of the sky. "Wings!" yells Lisell Maera who then adds "Haste!" as that's the command in common for a wyvern to increase speed.
The tame wyvern that's been captured from the enemy is more than willing to increase speed now that closest pursuer has dropped away.
Lis looks back and down, and she along with the dwarven warriors still on the wyvern with her see Berm is still on the enemy wyvern that's heading quickly down to the ground as there's no one at the reins.
The last they see of him, is when he tackles one of the Justifier's guards on that wyvern after he brains another with the hammer he's got.
Berm and that guard from Belinswae going over the side as the wyvern drops down between a pair of hills.
The remaining dwarves fall silent when they see Berm drop off that wyvern taking one of the enemy with him.
"All the speed the beastie has got lass!" shouts Kyne, who then adds in a normal tone of voice that Lis just picks up "Don't let his loss be for nought now". The teen from the city-state of Brattonbury in the Southlands, who briefly feels tears gather in her eyes, that's not from the strong wind they're flying through. Nods her head in upstanding, as they fly north and west, with just two enemy wyverns in pursuit now.
Though those two large flying creatures are further back, and are dropping further behind. As they saw what just happened, and because the wyvern that Lis and the dwarves are on, has picked up speed again.
As they fly northwards, Kyne who is looking around the human sitting infront of him, frowns as he spots something in the distance, he sticks his arm forward, and shouts "There!".
Lisell Maera looks to where the squad leader is pointing, she frowns as she can't see anything out of the ordinary there. Even on a clear, sunny, cold winter's day here in this part of the Stone Hills.
"What is it?" asks Lis "A battle!" is the reply of Kyne, who then adds "Looks like some lads have run into the enemy!".
As they wyvern heads that way as quickly as possible, the Southlander thinks she spots what Kyne has seen. Though she does definitely see something else, another wyvern near where the battle is, and Lis loudly says to Kyne "Is that one of ours?" as she points at the wyvern in question.
The dwarven squad leader who has spotted it too, is silent for a moment, then he says "Nay lassie, that beastie is one of theirs". "Great" mutters Lisell Maera who then silently adds, two chasing us, and one infront of us, that's all we fucking need.
Just then a fiery orange ball shoots up from the ground "Fireball!" calls out Lis who immediately recognises what it is that's heading up towards the wyvern in the distance.
The warriors in the squad cheer when they see it clip the wyvern in the distance, that's trying to avoid it.
The teenager from south of the equator can see figures falling from that wyvern that's spinning out of control towards the ground with one of it's wings completely destroyed.
"Hight chief Baedin!" shouts Kyne as points down to where Lis can now see a battle, he quickly adds something in the dwarven language that the Southlander doesn't catch.
The dwarven warriors all start yelling and hollering, and waving their arms about "Dunny want the delver down there to attack us by mistake!" the squad leader calls out to the teenage orphan from the city-state of Brattonbury.
"Good idea" murmurs Lisell Maera, who briefly looks back at the pursuing wyverns, and sees that though they're still following, they're not gaining on them.
"Fuck!" exclaims Kyne in the dwarven language, which Lis definitely understands, and she says "What is it?". "The madman" dryly says the squad leader in common, he then adds "That knight friend of yours, Percy".
The Southlander grins, for though sir Percavelle Lé Dic is insufferable, and totally annoying to be around. She's missed him since she's been here in this part of the Stone Hills, in and around the Omban clanhold.
Lisell Maera has the wyvern drop down in altitude while the dwarven warriors behind her continue to yell and shout, and wave their arms about.
As they do, another fireball comes up from the ground. This time in their direction, though it's going to go wide of them by a good few hundred feet. Lis nods as she sees it's going to go towards the pair of enemy wyverns chasing them.
The teenager who was brought up on the streets in the poorer neighbourhoods in the city of Brattonbury in the Southlands, has the wyvern come around and land behind what looks to be the dying stages of a battle.
A larger force of dwarven warriors, and one large, heavily armoured human knight from the Southlands, have all but wiped out a smaller force of Justifiers guards.
Lis sees another wyvern lying nearby. Dead with a large hole through it's chest. She has the wyvern she's flying, land far away from that dead wyvern.
As the large flying creature touches down with a bit of a thump, there's a clap of thunder in the sky to the south. The Southlander looks back that way in the clear, sunny, early afternoon sky, and spots the two enemy wyverns that were chasing them.
One is dropping out of the sky like a stone. It's a charred ruins, barely recognisable as a wyvern. While the other is spinning uncontrollably as it too falls out of the sky. The Justifiers guards on it are being flung from the saddle as they try to hold onto the falling wyvern.
"Hell" mutters Kyne, Lis looks at him, then she looks to where he's looking, and sees a group of dwarven warriors, who are waving to them, as the warriors on the wyvern call out to them.
"It's that she pig Fomar" quietly says the squad leader, the teenage orphan from south of the equator spots a she-dwarf near a rotund dwarf that she recognises as the delver Barmil Kraelin who she has met a handful of times.
The rather portly she-dwarf must be Barmil's wife, who Lis has heard about on occasion. Not in good terms either. For the delver is like any other delver, not particularly good company. As they're reclusive, and dislike being above ground.
Though she's heard nothing bad said about Barmil in particular.
His wife on the other hand, is supposed to be annoying beyond frustration.
Wonder how she and Percy get along? is Lisell Maera's first thought when she spots the she-dwarf, the Southlander then silently adds in a dry tone, probably the best of friends no doubt.
Lis gets down off the wyvern as does the squad with her as a number of the dwarven warriors rush over to meet them. Wanting to know how they got a wyvern.
The teenager from south of the equator looks over to where the fighting is dying down. And sees that a few of the dwarven warriors are going around killing any of the enemy wounded. While others are finding their own wounded.
As dwarves gather around, Lis hears the warrior Held who she recognises, yell out "Make way!" followed by "Make way for the chief!".
She spots him and chief Baedin Kraelin heading this way. Lisell Maera smiles as she spot sir Percavelle Lé Dic, the heavily armoured knight who has the visor of his full helm up, grins when he spots his fellow Southlander.
Then the knight in the order of Saint Mar-che punches in the gut, the prisoner he's taken. The Justifier's guard who lead the large squad that he and dwarven warriors led by chief Baedin Kraelin have just attacked.
"By Dovarn's hammer, how the hell did you get one of them beasties?" asks the clan chieftain Baedin Kraelin after he yells for everyone to shut up. The clan chief looks at the tame wyvern, who after ruffling it's wings and let out an annoyed squawk, has settled down, and is completely ignoring all the dwarves who are looking at it.
"That's a bit of a long story chief" says the squad leader Kyne who is glad to see his chieftain, and so many of his fellow warriors from clan Kraelin.
"The lass here can tell you" says Kyne gesturing at Lis "You the one flying that thing lass" asks the clan chief who is also a hammermaster "I am" replies Lisell Maera who faintly smiles as she adds "As are others who are flying the other wyverns we've captured".
After a murmur of excitement runs through the gathered warriors, Baedin Kraelin says "I think we need to know what's going on around here" the teenager from south of the equator nods her head in agreement to that . . . . . .
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