Ren, happening to see the blush, just gave a wink and a smile toward Ix. She went forward with Blossom and leaving a bit of room for Hyena and Ix. It was nice feeling the breeze in her face, and she could tell that her steed enjoyed it as well, who showed it with a whinny. An hour...? Ren thought, sighing a bit. But nevertheless, she kept vigil and let her magic flow around her. It had been a while since she let her magic free; with it she probed for auras and felt life moving all around her. She was so absorbed in this that she almost fell, but quickly regained her balance as the mare shifted a bit to prevent her from falling flat-faced on the ground. She slowed to a trot and Ren whispered a "thanks" to Blossom.

[Hmm...I've been wondering...will there be any villains? :3 ]

[Yes, eventually.]

Hyena was focused on the road ahead, catching nothing of what was happening between Ren and Ix. He gently kicked Nacht's sides, urging her forward even faster. He felt a little tighter to Ix, feeling the rocking motion of the mare's back becoming a little more rough. At this pace it would take them half the time, and the shorter time traveling the better. He could feel malicious presences all around.

(( Wolf is here to save the day. I would be glad to play the role of villans. Sadly, I'm good at them. ))

Cypher was trotting behind them and he narrowed his eye when he felt the others. He whispered something to Dark Shadows and the horse tossed it's head. 'Ride on." he whispered. Then lightly, without a sound, he jumped off Dark Shadows, landing like a cat. Dark Shadows continue to keep the same pace, but made his footfalls harder so that it sounded as if Cypher was still on him. Cypher raced across the ground, keeping o the shadows and seeming to disappear. As he entered the small woods near them, he instantly spotted five men. They were bandits, of course. But they all had odd looking weapons. Cypher grimaced. 

(G2G BB later tonight. )) 

[I also wouldn't mind playing a villain. =) Want to try a hand at it more since I haven't really gone into depth with it.]

Ren swiveled on her saddle to look back. Her magic sparked--there was something, but it was a faint presence. Her brows knitted together, she shot Hyena a questioning look--as if to say, What now? 

[Ahh. Block. Block. Block. @_@] 

"Just keep going," Hyena replied. "Do not worry about them." He glanced back at them, willing her horse to follow them. "We are almost to Saiferr, nothing can stop us now. Do not worry."

[DX That was the worst one yet. BUT I have teh block and I'm on a friend's comp w/o internet on my own...]

Ix felt relief at hearing that they were close to Saiferr. She wanted to get back on the ground as soon as possible. She looked at Renali in confusion, she'd never been good at sensing things, she wasn't sure why but it seemed she just couldn't do it. With a soft sigh she put that out of her mind and focused on her hands once again, the fear from earlier had slowly dissipated but she still wasn't comfortable on the horse.

(I'm sorry, I kinda feel like my fail posting might have been the cause of everyone's writers block... hope it's not true but it's how I feel XD. How was everyone's week?)

[No, it's not, we're just running out of filler ideas. XP]

Nacht bucked a little, causing Hyena to hold on a little tighter to Ix. "Nacht, calm down," he said, frowning. She bucked again, causing him to fall into the girl. He huffed softly, growling. Once more she bucked; he slipped, falling to the ground. He managed not to drag Ix off with him. He rolled a little before skidding to a stop, not moving for a few seconds as he tried to get over his being stunned. Finally he coughed as pain wracked his body.

Ix let out a rather pitiful cry of fright when the horse began to buck and once Hyena fell off she was crying. She held tight to the horse, trying to fall off. "Help!" she shouted in desperation as the horse bucked again. She considered for a moment letting go but that child hood memory came back to her and she held on tighter, remembering the pain of her broken arm. Rather panic stricken she couldn't think of anything else to do or of any way to make the horse stop moving.    

[Oh, okay then ^^ ... I feel bad for Ix XD]  

Cypher returned, grimacing. His hands were covered in blood and there was a small, already scarring scratch under his right eye. "We can go forward now..." He muttered. He hopped onto his horse when suddenly, he felt it. He hunched his back, his whole body trembling and tense. Sweat broke out on his forehead. His eyes were shut tightly closed and his mouth parted slightly in a silent scream of pain. His hands clutched his head as pain like no other seared through him. 

The dark halls, lit only by a flickering light. The man with brown eyes led him forward, speaking of things he didn't understand. Then a bright flash of pain and darkness...

Cypher opened his eyes to find he had fallen off his horse and was curled into a ball on the ground. His body trembled and sweat covered his body. Every inch of him ached like hell fire. He panted, trying to catch his breath. He had been holding it the whole time.

Ren rushed over to Cypher, and then looked worriedly at Ix and Hyena. "He's burning up," she whispered as she wiped the sweat from her companion's face. Quietly, she gathered her sword from air and cut her wrist slightly. The crimson blood dripped to the ground and she whispered a spell--foreign words that she heard her mother say long ago. (Many healing spells required a blood 'donation' for it to work--it was sort of an equal trade for healing something.) Glowing aqua patterns and runes rose from the ground and moved to envelop Cypher. She tried to drain away the building heat and looked for the source of the pain. It was a few minutes afterwards when Renali asked, "Are you okay?" Her voice was dry as she tried to move from her sitting position, but her legs were locked in place with cramps. "What happened?" The question sounded as if it were yelled from a distance, but her hands still moved near to wipe the blood off Cypher.

[Awww. Had to move my clock one hour forward today. :( ]