Outsiders: Fire Emblem

Yay!
SMEX!
It'll be just like RaNDM_G, but with SMEX instead of tactics!
I'll go let GFAQs know about your vote.

Alrighty. SMEXy-sama's D wins. Let's fight dirty.
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Meeting the woman's eyes, you smirk and advance, shooting off a Nosferatu charge in front of her. She responds aggressively, rushing past the area of effect instead of stepping back to dodge, which is fine for your purposes, giving you the perfect opportunity to drop the spell you readied. She tumbles to the side to dodge it, but you've already dropped a second instance of the spell there, catching her this time. She winces, starting to stumble out of the dark, but you're already running past her towards the bodies lying near the center of the arena. You’re surprised when she nearly hits you with a swing of her blade despite her obscured vision, but keep moving regardless.

Jumping over a knight groaning on the floor, you turn to pick up the Armorslayer lying next to her and look at your opponent. She is not noticeably annoyed, but is rushing at you full speed, apparently taking you more seriously than she was before. Struggling with the weight distribution of the Armorslayer in your left hand, you swing it horizontally at her. Your slow swing keeps her focused on you, feeling confident enough to go around your swing to your left, right into the Nosferatu you cast. Still maintaining another charge in the air, you bring the swing full-circle, which she barely crouches below, swinging her sword at you as she gasps for air. She cuts your gut, but the finishing Nosferatu rejuvenates you, aiding in your overhead swing.

She blocks the strike, the shield and her arm make a sickening crunch as the metal dents inward. Having stopped the attack, she pushes back, deflecting the sword to your left and nearly taking you with it, so you decide to drop your charged Nosferatu to stun her. "A busted shield still makes for a fine bludgeon," she says in an elegant voice before backhanding you to the ground. The Nosferatu dropping down on her heals your stomach wound completely, but her dropping the Steel Blade into your abdomen made things worse. You gasp, using your left hand to try to lift the blade out, while using your left hand to keep your tome open, but she kicks away the tome and rests her weight on the hilt of the blade, clearly tired. "You're quite skilled. Very smart, not afraid to fight dirty. I'd recruit you, had I the authority. Regardless, I've won here. Someone clean these women up! Unless you think I've more to do to them?!"

The attendants quickly complied, admitting her the winner of the brawl. You were one of the easier ones to get up, only needing the blade removed from your gut and a mending to make sure you didn't die or anything. As you returned to the stage redressed, you were surprised to find yourself crowned winner, thanks to your apparently excellent performance in the talent section. After the short ceremony which mostly consisted of you parading around the arena with the wedding bouquet in hand while the other girls spun around and clapped, a crowd was upon you, full of men confessing their undying love for you, and plenty of people who had apparently heard you were running a mercenary troupe, and wanted in (you couldn't help but wonder how they found out).

Looking past the crowd, you notice the woman from the arena atop a horse, riding down the path with a man next to her. He looks exhausted, holding what seems to be a short Killing Edge in its sheath, but smiles as he talks to her regardless. She seems as serious as ever, but you notice her braid twitching as it lays over the sword on her back. After pondering what to do, you take action and...

A) Go talk to the girl and her companion. They seem neat.

B) Try to recruit from the crowd in front of you. Never know what you might find in a random crowd.

C) Head to the festival. Leave now, and you should be able to visit more of the attractions before it all ends.

D) Write-in option. You are supposed to be a tactician, after all.

Not sure if I other already, but A.

A wins, go figure. You guys sure do like recruits.

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Pushing your way through the crowd, muttering things like "Uh huh, thanks" and "That's very sweet of you, excuse me", you approached the woman you fought in the arena. Neither her nor her companion made you any mind until you got closer and spoke to them. "Hello? Um, you two?"

Turning to you, the man inquired "Yes? Wait, you're the girl Sarane fought. Bad luck for you, eh? Need something? Looking to apprentice yourself to such a strong woman?" His smile was strong, disarming even, and his short, blonde hair and common clothes all strongly contrasted his companion.

"Fool," she says, not removing herself from her horse, "don't make promises I have no intention of keeping, and you know we can ill afford to." She appeared quite dark, now that you looked at her closely, though more of an earthen brown than most Feroxi.

"And who says? He's not exactly here to tell us we can't."

"You know as well as I do he would not approve of us wasting resources on strays."

"Who says we have to waste any? Just let her follow along, hunt for her own food and all that stuff. You show her how to be awesome, and everyone's happy, especially if she turns out to be worth keeping around. Even Jasmine agrees," he says with a shake of the blade in his hands.

"Until he agrees, we're not training or bringing along anyone, Medicus. We don't have time to waste."

"Oh, then why were we putting you in a beauty pageant?"

"Stop playing daft, you suggested it to get his attention."

"Pardon me for intruding," you say, leaning forward with your eyes narrowed, "but could you talk like I'm actually here? Be considerate and all that, it's something people appreciate. I'm not here for training, I'm here because you seem interesting. Now who is-"

"Watch your tongue, girl, or I'll beat you agai-"

"Oh, shush, Sarane, she's got spunk, and she was good enough to give you a challenge. I like her. Please, continue."

"As I was saying, who is this 'he' you both keep mentioning?"

"Our lord. We've been separated, and know he would appreciate us returning to him as soon as possible."

"You got separated? That's- whatever. Shouldn't you be more worried about your lord? He could be in danger."

Both of them laugh at this, though Sarane barely did so for half of a second. "You haven't met him," she says, "he's far stronger than either of us. We worry not for his safety, but whether he'll cause too much trouble. He's still young, after all."

"You're not exactly old yourselves. Where do you hail from?"

"Far from here," Medicus tells you. "We've yet to meet a soul who's been there. And though we may be young ourselves, we all compliment each other rather well. I'm the calm, cool, rational one with the plan," Sarane snickers at this, and he ignores her as he continues, "she's the considerate one with common sense, and he's the action, the fire, the leader. As it is now, the two of us have little to do, aside from finding him, and we often find ourselves struggling to stay on task or figure out what he would have our priorities be."

"I see. I'd figured you for mercenaries, honestly. I have my own group of mercenaries I'm still growing, and if you'd like to join us while we travel, we'd be happy to have you along."

"I'm afraid not. We can travel faster alone. Good to meet you though, miss..."

"Adena. Would you like me to keep an eye out for your lord?"

"Yes, please. Though, have you any idea how we would contact each other?" Scratching the back of your head, you find yourself at a loss for words, grasping at mental straws for a way to keep in touch with these likely influential people. "It's fine, I figured you wouldn't. Here," he says, handing you a pink scroll, "we bought these from an Anna after we lost our liege. She called them forum scrolls. We bought three, and apparently the magic in them links them to each other, meaning what is written on one is written on all three. Once the page is filled, or, as we've found out, has had its entire vertical length written on, they erase! Wondrous magic, isn't it?" Seeing you nod, he continues. "Anyway, we must be on our way, but if you do see our lord, let us know."

"Wait, you haven't told me anything about him!"

"Haha, you'll know him when you see him! He's a monster in a fight, his red hair and white armor can be seen from a mile away."

"One last thing," you say. "I've seen her fight, but I haven't seen you fight. I'm curious as to what strength you possess to make yourself worth keeping arou-"

"I don't think that's a good idea," he whispers, resting his chin on your shoulder from behind. As you start to look back, he's next to Sarane again, walking away and waving goodbye.

"What the f***?"

"You seem troubled, love," Allie says from behind, wrapping her arms around your waist. "C'mon, there's an entire festival to enjoy, let's enjoy it."

"Sure..."

"So, who were they? Failed recruits?"

"I guess. What's there to still do with the festival anyway?"

"Plenty of festivities! Riki and I found some nice, shady folk to hang out with, play cards, fight, drink, and all that. Jean, Sky- oh, hell," she gasps, looking off to the side.

Turning your own head to look past her, you see Guillame in the middle of a ring, shirtless, challenging a bear. "I swear to Elimine I will cut off what remains of your d*** if you f***ing touch my lemonade, don't you dare!" Looking closer, the bear did indeed have its paw close to a glass, though you couldn't be certain at this distance what the glass was filled with.

"Welll, I guess Guillame found the circus. Might be your kind of fun, I dunno. Anyway, Jean, Skylar and Hei'yu found some fancy restaurant to eat at, so there's that too. There's plenty to enjoy, so whaddya wanna do?"

You tell her you'll be going to...

A) The darker places of the festival with her.
B) The circus with Guillame. Wild times, wild nights.
C) The fancy restaurant with Jean. So hungry...
D) Write-in option. You are supposed to be a tactician, after all.
___________

Need I even mention the potential for supports with each choice?

D.) Its evaluation.... I mean tactician time.

First we see if the bear survives being in the ring w/ Gilliuam. Hen we explore some of the darker places w/ our good for I end Allie. She owes us after passing out like that in the bar. Then after some Smex?? let's go get something to eat w/ Allie and Jean.

You should know anytime is Smexy time. 

"Gimme a minute to follow you, I wanna see how this thing with the bear goes down."

"Oh, I was worried I'd be the only one," she mutters as she leans back against a building to watch.

The crowd gasps audibly as the grizzly falls onto its paws to lap from the cup of lemonade, never breaking eye contact with Guillame. Guillame, on the other hand, laughs. "Oh, hoho! I like you, you've got guts, testing your luck like that. Well, I guess you must know the old saying, 'if it might get you killed, it will get you laid.'" The bear stands back up, and the crowd's silence was noticeably sudden as they bated their breaths. "I just hope the three seconds it takes you to finish will be worth it when you're in the ICU."

"What the hell's an ICU?" you ask aloud as Guillame drop kicks the bear in its chest, knocking it to the ground.

"No idea," Allie replies. "Might be an acronym, but I have no idea what for. Immediate cure... umbrella? Eh, whatever."

Guillame had already pulled the bear back to its feet, and was repeatedly headbutting its chest and neck. After throwing it onto its back, he grabs a torch and jumps onto its back as it rolls over. "Blaze it, bishie!" he yells as he jabs the torch's handle into its mouth and proceeds to ride the bear around for a rough lap. After the lap, the bear bites through the torch and stands on its hind legs, leaving Guillame dangling sideways, though he doesn't seem to mind. His abs must be killing him to stay up like that, you think. Confirming one of your previous thoughts, Guillame states "constipated man, no give a crap," and pulls himself up to hold the bear's neck, and drags the both of them to the ground. Their combined weight makes for a solid thud on the ground, and you're amazed to not see Guillame's guts go spilling out from underneath the beast.

The lunatic simply rolls the bear off of himself and sits down in front of its face. "Listen up, bishie," he barks as he slams his hand down on its snout. "I'm the alpha around here, m'kay?" The behemoth makes no movements, and Guillame smiles after a few seconds. "Now let's get down, and get funky!" He proceeds to dance to a tune only he seems to hear, and after a few seconds the bear does the same, much to the amusement of the crowd, and to the astonishment of the bear's tamer over to the side.

A lanky clown comes walking over to you as Allie steps next to you, and states "You're one of that brat's friends, right? M'boys say they saw youz guys coming into town together. How much you want for him?"

Shocked, you reply "'Want for him'? He's not some product for sale."

"Finez, finez, how much do youz want me to pay you for him, and what payz am I gonna have to give him to stick around?"

"You really want him in your circus?"

"Hellz yes. Taming skills like that, along with the strengthz of a giant, he'll make me much moneyz."

"Well, he's still not for the taking. We like him too, and more personally than you."

"Well then, I'mz gonna need some compensation for minez bear. He's not going to listen to anyone else now, not without some expensive therapyz. I could let you buyz the bear, since it's not as useful for mez now, but I'll still be needing youz to compensate for this."

"Hmmm, bear... Aside from the deliciousness, it would certainly make for a powerful ally with how Guillame can teach it," you say, looking over at him torch-fighting with it. "How about you keep him as entertainment for the night, while I think this over?"

"No skinz off my bones. 5000z if you want the bear, 2000z otherwise," he squeaks and walks away with a wave.

"I'd really like to kill him," Allie claims.

"Not important, take me out."

"I thought you'd never ask." She takes your hand, and drags you off into the side streets. You can barely count the turns you took, and within a minute you're being pulled into a door. The smell of blood, beer and sweat hit you all together, with the shouts of the spectators reaching you just before you fully take in what you're seeing. Riki, standing atop a square ring, taking on challenging swordswomen who simply hop up on stage, and get dragged off and healed after being knocked out. You quickly realized the crowd was betting on each contestant as they hopped in, making for a fast-paced system, with small bets being the standard. Allie walked over to one of the men, a beaten one, and asked "How's my money doing?"

"G-good. H-h-here," he stammered before running off.

"Yeah, they may all be idiots around here, but beat 'em in a fight and they'll do whatever ya need," she said with a smirk.

"So if I beat you in a fight, you'll do whatever I need, is that it, Allie?"

"Are you kidding? I could never lay a hand on this face without stroking it."

"Then how about you tell me when we can have fun?" you ask, sliding closer to her.

"S-seriously?" she replies, pulling away and looking embarrassed. "T-tonight? I- uh, I really wish I could, but they're almost done with the fencing stuff, and I'm gonna be joining in for the fisticuffs..."

You stay quiet for a few seconds, glaring into her eyes. "Are you f***ing kidding me? You pass out on me in the bar, and now you're going to be too busy fighting to have sex?!"

"...Yes, much as I hate to say it. Look, we can screw around any time, but I can't beat the s*** out of these guys any time." Taking your hand in her's and looking you in the eyes, she says

"I'll make it up to you, I swear."

You swat her hands away and tell her "Make sure you bring your earnings to Jean," before walking out with the intention of sating your hunger. It doesn't take long to find out which restaurant Jean and the others went to, thanks to them looking rather odd for the area (what with Jean and Skylar looking slightly noble, and Hei'yu looking half-dead). You surprise them as you sit down at the table, and simply acknowledge them with "Hey."

"Hello. I procured the weapons successfully. We now have a triple stock on basic tomes, including Flux, with a new copy of each El tome. I also bought you a Ruin spell after hearing about your talent with dark magic, and made sure to supply the rest of us with proper weapons, steel, killer and such."

"That's nice. You got our winnings from the arena contests, right?"

"Yes, two large bullions, a Wedding Bouquet, and a Bolt Axe. I spent a fair bit of money buying the weaponry, and the food for the caravan, but thanks to Skylar's skill with bartering, we still have eighteen thousand gold, counting the bullions."

"Yes, let's call it bartering. My mother taught me bartering. Sure."

"I think I'd rather not know more, Skylar," you giggled.

"Darling, the things I could teach you about taming men would knock you senseless."

"Anyway," Jean interjects, "We should consider what we'll be doing tomorrow morning. Obviously, we'll be heading up the mountain to find this manakete, but should we head out first thing in the morning, or try to pick up more information first, maybe see if we can find a villager who survived its attack?"

"Y'know," Hei'yu said, "If the dragon's been a problem, we might be able to find some people who want to join us for the fight."

"What, so we can share our reward with these plebes?" Skylar snorted.

"No, so we can stand a better chance against a dragon. They're legendary creatures for a reason, right?"

As you take a bite of your octopus, you decide to...


A) Head straight up the mountain in the morning. Might be able to get the f***er while they're asleep.
B) Try to gather info around town before heading up the mountain. Might not be able to learn anything, but anything you do learn will be worth it.
C) Try to recruit some people for the fight before heading up. Surely anyone stupid enough to join you will kill or die well enough for the split reward to be worth it.
D) Write-in option. You are supposed to be a tactician, after all.

1) Buy the bear from the clown for 5000 gold. Guillame seems to like it, and it might be useful.
2) Pay the clown 2000 gold to compensate for Guillame's interference. The bear's too expensive when you include what it'll take to feed it.
3) Ignore the clown's existence. Who cares if you make a circus hate you?
4) Write-in option. You are supposed to be a tactician, after all.

Looks like outs that time again. Dons the waiters get up. (The gym leader from Pokémon black and white w/ the green hair and has a pansage as his partner).

Its Evaluation time.

D.) Basically, C but we walk over to Allie tell her what the hell. Slap her then lay the biggest kiss we can then walk away and gather more fools.... I mean recruits.

4.) We buy the bear from the clown and right after we give him the money and the bear is on our side. We murder on that beat..... I mean we do away w/ the clown b/c clowns are evil and we will surely be doing everyone a favor and maybe even get rewarded.

Fina-f***ing-lly! I've really been wanting to do this update as much as you guys.
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"I was thinking that we should do our best to sneak up on the dragon. Manaketes aren’t really tough in human form, and they can only destroy the things that they’re aware of. So it works out if we can actually manage to escape detection."

Jean looks at you curiously. "That seems to be a very risky plan. Any small mistake, and we've got a dragon right in front of us."

"Yeah, well, it's plan A. If plan A works, then we don't need plans B and beyond, which account for there being a full-grown dragon right in front of us. My father and I both always practiced making plans for when other plans go wrong. We'll see if this works out, and if it doesn't, I'll tell you what to do from there."

Jean sighs, and Skylar shrugs, but they all seem accepting of your "plan". The three of them head off to start packing while you go to inspect the new weaponry Jean acquired. Hopping into the wagon where Hei'yu had already been loading supplies, you find Jean had organized the weapons into a couple of crates. One with tomes, a decent supply of E-rank tomes and El tomes, and a couple of heal staffs. Another with plenty of iron weaponry for all of you, most of which came from Allie's hideout, along with a couple of javelins and hand axes. The final held the newest, best weaponry. The Bolt Axe you got from Guillame's tourney victory, killer weapons for Riki and Allie, a longbow, a blessed lance, a Wilderwind tome, Nosferatu tome, and a Balmwood staff, along with a Hammer, a Beast Killer, an Imposing Axe, a glass sword, and... a Wyrmslayer? Jean's more thoughtful than you thought, which really says something since you already figured him for the most thoughtful.

You step out after you finish taking inventory, and are surprised to see Allie walking out of the inn, stifling a yawn. She comes over, stopping when she finally opens her eyes and sees you standing there. "Oh, uh, hi..." She still has a black eye from her fighting last night, since she stayed out until after Jean had already fallen asleep, and everyone was busy for now.

You close the distance calmly, lazily gazing into her eyes, and ask plainly "What the hell?" just before you slap her. She opens her mouth to speak, but you grab her chin and pull her lips in close to yours before she can fully react. This seems to catch her completely off guard, perhaps shocking her, as she doesn't resist or react to your tongue slipping in between her teeth. Noticing her knees weaken and arms begin to move, along with your own self-control beginning to fail, you pull away. "I wanted fun last night. Our kind of fun, not their kind of fun. Keep that in mind, next time." The satisfaction you feel upon walking into the inn and closing the door is almost immeasurable.

Jean walks by, and you manage to ask "Hey, does Guillame use dark tomes? I was thinking, and I realized I have no idea what he could do with a Flux, Nosferatu, or Wilderwind tome."

"He refuses to. He may be able to, but he refuses to, says it's 'not available for his class.' I myself am unsure of what he could do with a Wilderwind, and I've seen from experience that he won't cast it on request, but I suppose if it turns out to be impotent then you could make use of it at least."

"Alright, thanks."

The way to the mountain is uneventful, as you sit in the wagon going over what everyone should carry into the situation in case it devolves into combat. Everyone gets the special weapon Jean got for them (killer weapons for Riki and Allie, a longbow for Hei'yu, a blessed lance for Skylar, a Wilderwind tome for Guillame, Nosferatu tome for you, and the Balmwood staff for himself), and you thought it wise to have Riki bring the Wyrmslayer as well. As you look over the armaments, you can hear Guillame and the odd man from Chon'sin singing songs which the man seems to be learning on the fly. His voice is not deep, but it seems to carry weight to it, as though every word he utters is a force on its own. The wagon stops abruptly after the singing does, and you can hear groaning and mild concern from Jean and Guillame. Looking out, you find that you've already made it a bit up the mountain, though not much. Glancing about, you find the reason things have stopped: the man is kneeling on the ground, coughing and vomiting in turn by the roadside. "Ghaaaah, I shouldn't have been willing to try sushi from mainlanders, rookie mistake..."

"First casualty recorded just before noon. Odd man collapses at roadside vomiting. His sacrifice will not be in vain. Let's keep moving, guys."

The man looks back at you, eyes wide, though it doesn't seem to be with anger. "You what? Listen, wait up, I- Ah, damn, here we go aga-HHRRRGHT!" The others seem fairly fine with leaving him behind, except for Guillame, who insists on climbing up the mountain instead of taking the trail winding around. You wonder for a second if he'll get in the way, but your inexplicable faith in him, the unlikelihood of him being able to climb all the way up very quickly, and the fact you were going to leave him behind for the stealth keep you from objecting. You and Jean share a single, knowing glance, indicating your agreement on the matter.

As you near the top, where the snow is falling, and more importantly where this dragon is said to reside, you all arm yourselves and begin walking manually, leaving behind Umaro, Skylar's horse, Guillame, and the convoy. You've armed yourself with Elwind, Elthunder, Nosferatu and an iron sword, Jean has his Balmwood and Rescue staffs, Hei'yu has her two bows, Skylar has his blessed lance and a javelin, and Riki and Allie have both armed themselves with their killer weapons. It amazes you that Allie can handle this cold despite her lacking thick clothes.

You start to round a corner, and pull back behind the rock wall after realizing you've found the summit, which is an effective crater in the top of the mountain, with several, large-mouthed caves visible. "Alright," you whisper. "Seems Guillame hasn't made it up here yet, so that's good, our cover's not blown. There're... four caves, from the looks of it, but splitting up too much is a bad idea, since we need to make sure none of us go in alone, but also that there's no chance of the bastard catching us off guard by popping out of a cave we're not looking into. So, I'm thinking-"

"Come on out, kin! I can feel your presence around the corner!" Peeking out, it's not hard to see the source of the voice. A dark-skinned man, seemingly around his forties, mostly clean-shaven face with a long black ponytail whipping about behind him. His manakete ears are what catch your attention though.

You decide to comply, motioning for the others to remain hidden. "Hello!"

"No pleasantries. We both know this can't be good if we're meeting face-to-face." He twists his head to the side, seemingly confused for a moment as the two of you stop with only a few meters left between you. "Hm. You... You must be one of Grima's kin. That explains your slow ascent."

"Y-yes, actually. You can sense me?"

"Only as well as any skilled manakete, dragon, or adept magician could. You're young, but you'll learn in time. Why are you here?"

"I-uh, heard there was a dragon up here..."

"You heard correctly. I hope you are not foolish enough to expect any favors simply because of our shared heritage."

"No, I simply hoped to... get to know you. I'm Adena." You offer your hand, though he merely stares at it.

"I am Tolkar."

"So, I, uh, heard you ravaged a village recently."

"Yes. They sought to kill me in their deity's name, so I ended them. I don't leave this mountain often, but they were foolish enough to send a scouting party that was willing to give up information."

Looking around at a pile of bones, you simply respond "Oh. So, they were Naga worshipers?"

"Perhaps. I care not for who they worshiped, only that they sought my death."

"That's... reasonable, I guess. You said you don't leave the mountain often? How often do you mean? Cause to my knowledge, Grima hasn't been around that long..."

"I did not have to leave to know of him. His power swept across the land like a plague. Even now, it haunts in tiny corners and patches. Patches like you. His power was rather unique, and difficult to forget. Yours is unique, but close enough to be recognized."

"I see. You wouldn't happen to have any advice on how I could control my power, do you?"

"No. While you are more or less a fellow earth dragon, you are too different. It would be as though I was a man with two arms telling a man with three how to use his appendages."

"Earth dragon? I thought Medeus was the only earth dragon to comply with the need to take human form? Do you have a dragonstone?"

"A darkstone, yes. And Medeus was simply the only one in the nation. There was a small village, for a time, but they moved on, to foreign lands. Enough small talk. You are armed, and towing others, however faint their presences may be in comparison. Bring them over. I assume, with your knowledge of my razing, that you came for a bounty, or perhaps justice? We shall settle this sooner rather than later, since I admit to my crime, and have no remorse."

"Fine. You will be missed," you say, flipping out your dagger with your right hand and working on unsheathing your sword with your left. "Go!" Before you can blink, you're being shoved forcefully backwards, his strong arm pushing most, if not all of the air out of your gut. Jean barely catches you, and as you look up you see Tolkar has already transformed, his black scales giving off a dim, purple glow, and his four thick limbs seeming to weigh next to nothing. Allie and Riki rush forward, and everyone seems to have a battle cry.

"Nobody hurts my girl!"

"I hope you taste as good as you look!" Riki yells.

"Come on, let's dance!" Skylar demands.

"Jean, keep Adena safe." Hei'yu begins firing with her longbow, though it seems the shots aren't especially effective.

"Allie, take center, focus on blocking and protecting!" Each word hurts as you try to regain your breath, and Jean sits you up so he can help. "Riki, Skylar, support from the flanks! Hei'yu and I will support from distance! Jean, I need you to keep healing, but also make sure to use that rescue staff defensively, get us out of tight spots when we need it." Jean nods, and everyone else seems to already be following orders. You stand up, and as Tolkar lands and fires a murky breath blast at the melee trio, you send your own Elwind spell to help Allie block it, seemingly successfully. Riki manages to get in a few gashes on his side, while Skylar barely whiffs his jabs at the beast's face.

Getting closer. Hei'yu's arrows seem to land with a solid thunk, and you manage to successfully land an Elthunder cast. But you get concerned as Riki gets swiped down, slammed into the ground forcefully, with plenty of blood flying skyward. Skylar and Allie manage to put Tolkar on the defensive again, for long enough to keep him from finishing off Riki, and Jean rescues her out. The behemoth swipes at the two with his tail, barely being stopped by Hei'yu and Allie both rushing forward to stop the blow head-on. Their feet skid along the snowy ground as Skylar hops onto Tolkar's back and jabs into his shoulder blades. Roaring, he flies upwards and sends Skylar flying to the ground off-balance, while rather painlessly knocking Hei'yu and Allie off his tail. Jean begins healing Skylar next, who appears to be unconscious, and you and Hei'yu attempt to keep your opponent from landing by repeatedly firing. Unfortunately, he seems almost as fast on the ground as in the air, and after landing away from you, charges.

You , Allie, and Hei'yu all dash to the sides, Hei'yu to the right and the two of you to the left, but Tolkar halts himself and turns to focus his shadowy breath on Hei'yu alone. You start to act, but Riki comes over to plunge her Wyrmslayer in his back, and then drag it along for a couple meters as she jumps off near the nape of his neck. The injury is enough to distract him, and he seems surprised at seeing Riki back in the fray, but Hei'yu already seems significantly injured, with large amounts of flesh torn away from the skin she left visible. A lone eye of his looks back towards you, and he turns, obscuring Hei'yu and Riki from your vision as he rushes forward, breath fuming from his mouth. You move away, but Allie charges directly forward with her armor up front, nearly jumping directly into his mouth. After his breath fades, she stands there heavily injured, but you realize that she did so to keep him from rushing down Jean, who's still in the process of moving away Skylar and using rescue on Hei'yu. You move to charge in, but he turns yet again and slashes Riki with one of his claws, sending her flying directly into one of the caverns nearby.

You run up next to Allie, who seems to still be standing and battle-ready, and cast Elthunder, hoping to hit the dark dragon in one of his existing wounds. You do, but he seems more agitated than hurt. "Damned vermin!" Allie charges in, and he attempts to meet her with more of his dark breath, but between the two of you, you are able to safely disperse the blast again. Allie manages to maintain her momentum and slams her axe straight into his jaw as he attempts to close it after his breath attack, and you combo it with another Elthunder. Then, seemingly unfazed, his tongue swats Allie to the ground, and he tramples her on the way over to you. "I shall see to it none of you walk again!" With that roar, he turns away from you, and towards Jean, who barely dodges the claw slamming down. Jean is less fortunate dodging Tolkar's teeth, however, and is promptly flung back towards you. You're still amazed by the bursts of speed such a hulking creature could produce, but you don't let that stop you from catching Jean.

"Gh, fool, focus, on... it..." is all Jean can manage before he falls slightly limp. The manakete's shadow looms over you menacingly as he opens his mouth to release his breath.