Daedrican peers out from a row of underbrush, surveying the clearing near the wide roadway. Stepping forward, he cautiously scans over the immediate area and searches up towards the highway. "It does not seem like there has been any new activity here, my lady."

Tassilda rigidly moves into the thin grass underneath a large tree and stiffly scans the vicinity, putting blatant effort in avoiding eye contact with Daedrican. Granting a simple, quiet nod, she crosses her arms and straightens her posture. Daedrican gives a final slow sweep, turns back towards the treeline, and proceeds to push away brush in his path. "I must say, your magic is and was exceptionally impressive with those three bandits."

Chuckling lightheartedly, he motions Tassilda ahead, holding back a bundle of obstructive flora. "I still think that was one of the easiest captures of multiple bandits I've ever had. Admittedly, there have been a few easier single target captures. But... Your magical prowess still makes the top of my list, my lady."

A wandering cringe flowing over her face, Tassilda passes by Daedrican, continuing up a hill between the sparse trees. Daedrican follows and hikes up beside her. Pausing in thought for a moment, he turns his helmeted head towards her briefly, studies her a moment, and resumes facing forward. "It will be a light day on patrol. There are only a few other locations to inspect for new activity. Given what we've seen so far, I believe we will be confirming obvious conclusions."

He waits for an audible response from Tassilda. Moments later, Tassilda only grants Daedrican another emotionless, existence confirming nod. Silent seconds pass, and Daedrican sneaks a quiet sigh under his breath, stepping forward into the lead down a narrow passage. The two travel along a winding path through the older growth trees and around scattered clumps of underbrush. The sun leaks through the thick overhead canopy and lights up the forest floor between swaying, leafy outlines. Reaching the top of the hill, Daedrican glances back to the trailing, stoic Tassilda. "The meeting point is nearby. Garret and Yuttin are still a bit of the way out. Both are double-checking the area around another location."

Lifting his lightly armored arm towards a direction, he summons up a smile with a happy tone. "Since, it will take them some time to arrive at the meeting spot... I was curious if you want to take a long route and explore a nearby stream?"

With a chuckle, he shrugs his plated shoulders nonchalantly. "If we are lucky, we might run into your feathered friend from the other day or maybe one of his friends. I don't know how far they travel, but there still might be a chance."

An obvious stirring out emotions sneaks out through Tassilda's stoic facade, and she vainly attempts to firm up her resolve. Her rigid exterior wavers, and contemplation spreads across her gray face. Wrestling down an uneasy grimace into a smirk, Daedrican gently bows a respectful demeanor. "I only thought with the time at hand, it might be a nice diversion to enjoy before we have to trudge back. The choice is yours to make, my lady."

Crossing her arms tightly, Tassilda tries to roll out the tension in her shoulders underneath her light draping top. Curling the corners of her mouth into a frown, her body language loosens and calms down. Her light blue on black eyes search within, darting through the thoughts in her mind. A pleasant smile starts to form, and the stress visibly wanes across her body. The transition halts. Her eyes lock onto something within. Her posture grows rigid. A cold exterior overtakes, and she swiftly reshapes her composure towards chilling. Narrowing her eyes at Daedrican with an icy stare, she radiates a superior aura. Daedrican tilts his head at the sudden shift. With a proper, deadpan tone, Tassilda drones. "No. I am NOT interested. We should go to the meeting point."

Slowly nodding, Daedrican's voice shakes slightly, and he straightens his back in mild surprise. "O-Oh. As you wish, my lady."

Daedrican pivots forward and faces another direction. Tassilda's firm, hard cadence weighs down and compresses the air surrounding them. "AND... I would prefer YOU stop calling me my lady..."

Pausing mid step, Daedrican nods slowly and apologetically extends his genuine concern. "My most sincere apologies. I only meant it as an honorific. If you find it disrespectful, I will immediately cease. Thank you for informing me of my error. I will try to avoid any future mistakes in that regard."

Walking orderly, he points out the direction ahead of him, and a quieter, meeker tone leaves him. "This way leads to the meeting point."

Tassilda observes Daedrican march away in front of her. Lagging behind, she purposefully maintains a distance from him. Beneath fluttering locks of raven black hair, a flit of smugness flashes upon her face, quickly fading into the cold, gray toned background. Following behind the junior paladin, she projects an air of superiority and proper stance. Daedrican glances back, and Tassilda flashes a mean glare in return. Her rigid expression presents an invulnerable, frozen, and defensive resolve. Her light blue on black eyes dart around in moments of uncertainty, telegraphing a will within torrents of doubt, confusion, and worry. Her pace occasionally slows, her thoughts trying to overtake her. Daedrican patiently waits quietly for her to close the distance and respectfully resumes his march .

----

Sitting around the dining table, Cideeda, Bach, Dretphi, and Aristespha watch Sotalia flow magical energies around a small foam ball, suspending it above her palm. Sebastian hovers above the table and idly listens. With an excited smile, Sotalia guides the sphere through the air using a dramatic wave of her hand. "THIS was one of my favorite magical toys when I was little."

The flow wanes, and she catches the ball in her hand, presenting it to Cideeda and Dretphi. "The foam is treated with an alchemical compound that is repelled by magic sources. So, when you flow your energy towards it..."

Waves of colorful flow wrap around Sotalia's forearm and swirl up from her palm beneath the foam ball. The lightweight sphere hops up and steadies itself above Sotalia's hand. Manipulating the rotation with slight flexes of her fingers, Sotalia grins eagerly. "It rides your energy up into the air."

Lifting a confident eyebrow, she twists her hand, the magic spiraling around, and spins the foam orb. Moments later, the flows of power wane, and the ball floats down back into Sotalia's palm. Blinking back to full awareness, Cideeda and Dretphi lower their gazes upon the similar foam balls in front of them and take them in hand. With Sotalia excitedly observing both, Cideeda and Dretphi attempt to will magic flow upon the toy spheres. Cideeda rolls her shoulders, deftly balances the ball in her open palm, and narrows her emerald green eyes upon the object. Grimacing with twitches of frustration upon her light brown face, her furry ears level off to the sides of her head, and she grits her sharp teeth. Seconds later, she grumbles out an irritated growl. "Come on..."

Aristespha's violet eyes light up, and she slips a hand underneath Cideeda's forearm. Patiently analyzing, she furrows her brow and smiles calmly at Cideeda. "Take it easy. You are actually flexing your arm muscles more so than you are willing your energy."

Twisting her mouth, Cideeda snorts out her frustration and sighs. "Gods... It's hard to not think about moving my arm."

Bach blinks out his glowing blue eyes and nods in agreement. "Yeah... I remember having that problem. Bad habit from watching too many cartoons. You might try closing your eyes and relaxing your arm on the table."

He places his forearm upon the tabletop in front of him and opens his hand up palm up. "Just imagine like... water flowing around your arm and a fountain in your palm."

Mulling the idea over between flicks of her furry ears, Cideeda draws a deep breath in, relaxes arm upon the table, and closes her eyes, exhaling slowly. With everyone else watching, faint threads of green magical flow flicker into existence. The thin trails slowly glide over Cideeda's forearm and collect into a haze beneath the foam ball. More flow condenses in Cideeda's palm, and wisps swirl unevenly upwards around the sphere. The foam ball's balance drifts around aimlessly. A stronger pulse of flow bubbles up, and rolls the orb out of Cideeda's hand onto the tabletop. Cideeda's ears perk immediately, tracking the faint noise. She opens her emerald green eyes wide in surprise and smiles eagerly, swiftly snatching the ball into her clawed fingers. "WAIT! I didn't move it! Well... I did. BUT, not physically..."

With a wide-eyed stare, she grins toothily, her long fluffy wagging below her. "Oh... THAT'S. SO. COOL!"

Cideeda quickly resets for another attempt, Sotalia proudly amused. Dretphi aims her attention to the foam orb in her hand. She readies her arm, narrows her steely gray eyes upon the target, and concentrates with faint traces of a wince. Glancing over, Bach perks his brow and blinks his eyes to a glowing blue. He tilts his head and raises a pointing hand instructively. "Uh, you might want to ease it-"

Flows of red stream into Dretphi's palm and collect into a growing bubble under the foam ball. With a sudden surge of power, the swell bursts upwards. The orb jumps into the air, zips through Sebastian's ghostly form, and bounces off the ceiling. The ball drops back through Sebastian's ethereal visage. Shuddering visibly, Sebastian glances uncomfortably downwards at the group. "aAhungh... Gods. THAT never stops feeling weird."

Dretphi catches the ball securely in her hand and darts her embarrassed gaze around at the rest of the onlooking group. "My... Apologies."

Bach subdues a humored smirk and sighs understandingly. "It's fine. Really. I mean, given that flow sword you've been practicing with, you're just used to leading with A LOT more force."

Presenting a genuine smile with awkward tinges, he pinches his thumb and forefinger together. "Just start with the tiniest amount, and ramp it up from there."

Cideeda cocks her head to the side, watches the thin threads of green flow dissipate from her arm, and searches between the mages around the table. "Okay. I've always wondered about this... Why does magical energy seem to be different colors? For example, why is my energy green and Dretphi's red?"

Gazing at Cideeda, Bach pauses in thought, furrows his brow, and shrugs his shoulders. "Because you willed it that way."

Cideeda tilts an incredulous stare at Bach and lifts her eyebrow expectantly. Blinking, Bach struggles with the words and stumbles towards an explanation, falling short of coherence. Aristespha sighs in commiseration and nods with her own dissatisfaction, her long, pointed ears slightly drooping. "That is an unfortunately, very complicated topic. For what you are doing right now... The best explanation is that it is what you are willing the color to be."

With a curious curl from the corner of her mouth, Cideeda slides her attention to her hand and concentrates with her eyes closed. Thin threads of green flicker and swirl into her palm. Seconds later, the flows transition into a reddish color. Cideeda peeks through one eye and immediately opens both, watching the energy colors waver back towards green hues. "I'm not going to lie... I'm pretty sure I'm going to spend WAY too much time trying for different colors."

Aristespha giggles with a roll of her eyes at herself. "Do not worry. Every mage does it. It is just part of the experience."

Holding out her hand, Sotalia showcases a shifting spectrum of flow in her palm, piquing the intrigue of Cideeda and Dretphi. "GODS. It's SO true. A long time ago, I fashioned a whole routine of different color effects to put on some of my spells during my more..."

With a flexing of her long nailed fingers around the prismatic flows, she rolls her golden eye at herself, tossing back a lock of fiery orange, wavy hair. "DRAMATIC era."

Sebastian chuckles into an ethereal snort and eyes Bach, grinning slyly. "Oh, the HOURS some spend on the COLOR of a spell. Right, bro?"

Bach shrugs his shoulders and laughs. "Yeah... I mean, when you are flowing just general magical energy, it tends to react to light and emit light to your... expectations?"

He pauses a moment and ponders out loud. "I think that's the best way to put it? Well, at least, the best way I know since I never got around to taking those really high level theory courses."

Easing into a long groan of past frustration, Aristespha tilts her head of silvery blue hair side to side and nods in acceptance. "Expectation is a good way to explain it. Especially, if you want to avoid getting into long drawn out theories that involve psychology, sociology, and significant amounts of history."

She bites her lower lip briefly and idly taps her ivory fingers upon the tabletop, sorting through her knowledge. "When you are flowing unshaped magical energy from the collective spectrum you receive from the abstract prism, you can relatively will it to be a specific color."

Searching her mind, she carefully constructs a further explanation, contemplation blatant on her face. "When you cast spells or will specific magical energies, the properties of the specific energies can influence any visual phenomena."

Dretphi pauses from manipulating the hue of her magical flow and glances over to Bach curiously. "Is that why your barriers are golden?"

Bach nods back to Dretphi. "Yes. That particular kind of energy tends to just, well, have a gold color with normal light."

Narrowing a contemplative stare at flows in her hand, Dretphi tilts her head. "Similar to mineral compositions affecting colors."

A spark of comprehension lights up Cideeda's eyes, and she grins eagerly. "SO, that's why those magical materials you all were working on were different colors..."

Wandering her gaze between the mages around, she perks up her furry ears. "Okay... So, depending on what energies and properties you are using, it changes how light is affected?"

Sotalia nods in confirmation, holds her palm up with a foam ball in the center, and wills magical energy, floating the orb upwards. "Pretty much, girl. Honestly, it seems more like a side effect than anything. It's not as fantastical and clear as all those old magic color charts would lead you to believe. Not that those weren't fun reads."

Aristespha rolls her eyes in playful disgust and snorts mock derisively. "OH GODS... One of these days I will HAVE to take you all to see the History department's magic categorization chart collection at the Grand Library. ALL of our ancestors tried SO hard to fit everything into a color chart. The arguments they must have had."

Pondering a moment, Dretphi gazes at Bach curiously. "Can you make a red barrier?"

Bach scratches his chin, sways his head gradually side to side, and nods, evaluating the concept. "Yeah. I think I should be able to. I mean... Might take a bit of trial and error to get to just right so the barrier isn't compromised. That's why I don't bother trying for anything special color wise when I'm in a hurry."

Smiling warmly at Bach, Dretphi nods contentedly and resumes her attention upon her foam ball. "I may have a project. In the future."

----

Within the large, wide campsite between rows of parked Chrome Crusader utility vehicles and cargo trucks, personnel flow through food lines and settle at tables underneath lighted tent canopies. At the largest, most prominent table in the center of the base, the heavily armored Senior Paladin Maxon laughs heartily out, grasping hold of a heavy duty cup on the table. "Now, THAT is another story for another time. And... Well..."

He eyes the Next Adventurers of Nexus recording crews slinking around the edges of the assembled mess hall. "One to tell when the cameras AREN'T on."

With a clipboard in hand, Samantha glances up from overseeing the organized chaos and smiles slyly towards the Senior Paladin. Chad dons his trademark white smile and nods in agreement. "I'll gladly take you up on that offer anytime. I am always wanting to hear more about my grandfather's exploits."

Maxon grins amused and perks his graying brow at Chad. "Oh, I know quite a few. But, more importantly, I hope to add more of your great adventures to the list of stories I like to keep around."

With a heavy, gentle nudge of his power suit gauntlet covered hand, Maxon playfully pushes on Chad's shoulder. "I'm still quite impressed with how you challenged that bandit leader, Red Hat. Nice display of swordsmanship. Seems like you never needed that shield belt we lent you."

A smug, bright grin spreads upon Chad's tan face, and he puffs out his chest, swelling with pride. "Oh, yes. Someone of his skill would have never been able to touch me with a blade."

With a light chuckle, he tilts his head to the side, towards Veevi sitting next to him. "Admittedly, I may have needed to block his lackey's bullets. BUT, Veevi here took care of that."

Veevi's pointy, upright ears perk, and she snaps her attention at Chad, smiling appreciatively. Leaning against his arm, she grins with a flutter of her pink pupil eyes in view of the cameras. "Well, I just saw that gun pointed at you and I had to do something."

Trakenthin twists his mouth in between bites of food and mutes a grumble, witnessing the attention-absorbing display from Veevi. Searching around the table of the higher ranking Chrome Crusader officers, Maxon squints at the number of empty seats. He glances over to Chad, puzzling. "Chad? Where is the rest of your group?"

Chad blinks back to awareness from the half-fvalian upon his arm and quirks his brow in thought. "Oh. Deedri was assisting with the medical team. Modoran had something to discuss with your scout captain. And, Tassilda went to change her clothes before dinner."

Maxon nods slowly, accepting the answer, and slides a spoon into a bowl of stew. "You have a good team, Chad. The Flames of the Phoenix have proven themselves quite capable. I am happy to report that all my captains and officers report only good things about them during this mission."

Leaning herself out on the tabletop, Veevi turns towards and faces Maxon with a cute smile, fluttering her eyes. "Even me?"

Maxon meets Veevi's gaze, pauses in thought a moment, and chuckles heartily with a wide smile. "Especially you! Why, we haven't seen such... Entertaining marksmanship in a LONG time. That story is going to be told for years to come."

Veevi grins happily, poses for the cameras, and resumes eating the food in front of her. Chad glances at Maxon, and rolls his eyes with a smirk. Maxon nonchalantly shrugs and smiles in good humor.

A distant, loud wooden crash echoes into the area. Observant personnel, Maxon, Chad, and Trakenthin search around the mess camp. Veevi's fuzzy ears flick towards a spot in the past the treeline. Following the noise, her head turns and faces the source. Another distant chaotic, wooden cacophony bounces throughout the surrounding forest. Everyone, including the camera crew, seek the origin of the latest noises. From different, far away locations surrounding the campsite, multiple flares launch up and burst brightly against the night sky. Radios chime out, and alarms upon support vehicles blare out. Standing up quickly from the table, Maxon snaps his concern to a nearby officer. "Status?"

Listening to the fast paced radio traffic from his ear piece, the officer nods and reports. "Inner patrols spotted multiple quadrupedal, armored magical entities closing in fast on the camp from different approach vectors. A heavy patrol is moving to-"

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A bright flash of light erupts out from deep in the obscuring forest, and a thunderous boom radiates through the trees, rattling the leaves. A chorus of fast, sequential gunfire echoes into a long rumbling roar. Loud metallic crashes merge into hard thuds and heavy wooden snaps. Quickly confirming the situation between each other, Chrome Crusader personnel rush clear of the tables into awaiting vehicles and stations. Chad, Veevi, and Trakenthin leap up from their seats. The camera crews nervously congregate, seeking an escape. The officer blinks to Maxon, processing the stream of voices over the radio. "Heavy patrol is engaging! There are other targets closing fast!"

A nearby armored personnel carrier violently rocks to the side, teetering close to the very limits of its tipping point. Loud, angry crackling swears blare out from the other side of the vehicle and harsh metal slams against stone in slow, solid rhythm. Scrapes rattle through the structure of the carrier, swaying away from powerful forces. Heavy footsteps rumble out. Opposing giants struggle towards the front of the vehicle. Sparks erupting, a huge golem rams a heavily armored soldier through the narrow gap between the front and back ends of vehicles. The loud groans of straining hydraulics and stressing servos flood the air around the fight, the Chrome Crusader Heavy Squad captain grappling with the magical construct. Trakenthin's hazel eyes spring wide open, and he yells, baring teeth. "Captain!"

Trakenthin sweeps up his nearby helmet onto his head, snatches up his sword and shield into his hands, and charges forward. Narrowing his stern stare upon the golem, Maxon lunges forth into the fray, plowing through furniture effortlessly. Chad watches in momentary shock. Blinking back to awareness, jr secures his equipment nearby and rushes forth. Freezing up in near panic, Veevi stares in wide-eyed horror at the monstrosity muscling around the huge, heavy powered suited man. The camera crews frantically splinter up into teams, sharing anything roughly resembling cover, and train their recording equipment at the melee. In the scrambling moments, Veevi shudders back to the current situation, frantically pats around for her laser pistol, and quivers in place with a shaky grip upon the weapon.

Rushing up to a safe perimeter around the captain's struggle, Trakenthin cautiously observes the magical creation. A mishmash of worn, ancient stone and metal parts clatter around in rough function. The over a meter tall and two meter long golem defies its own construction and brute forces the heavy powered armored man around. Flows of green, red, and other energies pulse brightly within the structure and upon the surface of the construct. Yelling out, Maxon's powerful, armored form bounds towards the magical machination. "It's a golem! Look for an opening inside! There's a power source somewhere in there!"

He runs past Trakenthin, slides around the back of the creation, and dives into a grapple of the back half. The partially intact head of the magical monstrosity roars out, distortion warping and twisting. Chad reaches Trakenthin's side, and the two exchange glances. Both raise their shields and ready their swords. Maxon calls out to the captain. "Lift and drop! On three! One! Two! THREE!"

The two powered armored men throw their upper bodies up and hoist the golem into the air, freeing its feet of the ground. A chaotic chorus of servos and hydraulic pumps scream out, and the duo powerfully, violently drop to their knees. With an earth shattering thud, the magical construct crashes the soil. Flecks of stone and old metal fracture off the golem and pepper the shields of Chad and Trakenthin. Searching the construct, Chad and Trakenthin maintain their distance. A glint of glow through loose armor plating seizes Trakenthin's attention, and he points it out. Chad nods in the agreement and readies his blade. "Let's see what's in there!"

The golem sluggishly flails about. With each second, it regains vigor. Trakenthin lunges forward, sends his blade firmly between the outer plates, and pries loose one with all his strength. Inside the chaotic nest of glowing cables, a crude chunk of crystal pulses out energy flows outwards through a rough connector. Focusing his stare upon the junction, Chad charges forth, lines up his attack, and stabs precisely. A plume of smoke swirling with magical miasma vents out, and the golem shakes and spasms. Chad grabs hold of Trakenthin's shoulder and signals him away with a pull. "I hit it! GET CLEAR!"

Maxon and the captain release their grapples, leap up to their feet, and rush away. From safety the team of four watch a final blowout of magical energy, jets of flow billowing into fading clouds and arcs of power crackling to silence. A brief moment of silence looms over. Soon the noises of distant and nearby battles rise out of the background din. Maxon snaps his stern stare upon the captain. "Where the fuck did you find that thing?!"

The heavy armor captain responds through his helmet's voice box. "Found me, sir! I was on my way to gather the rest of the squad to backup the patrol, and that fucking thing jumped me."

Growling in frustration, Maxon nods and scans the surrounding area. "Okay. Summon your squad. And, get your patrol back to camp for defense."

His attention shifts briefly away, and a holographic overlay appears in front of his weathered face. Drawing in a deep breath, he commands, the built-in radio unit keying up. "This is Senior Paladin Maxon! We are under attack! All personnel to defensive positions! Arm up and form up!"

He glances over to Chad with a grim nod. "They should be establishing a defensive perimeter near the center of the camp."

Panting out his nerves, Chad slowly regains his composure and opens his eyes wide with the realization. "OH SHIT! We need to find Deedri, Modoran, and Tassilda!"

Trakenthin nods his concern and readies himself at Chad's side. Chad takes a deep breath, exhales out his nerves, and surveys surrounding forest at the perimeter of the camp. Spotting Veevi still shaking in place, he points to her with a commanding tone. "Veevi!"

Veevi startles back to awareness and stares blankly at Chad. "Y-y-yes?!"

Donning a brave, heroic gaze, Chad motions Veevi's attention to the camera crews. "Escort the camera crews to safety. They're setting up a defensive perimeter at the center of camp."

Blinking out of her stupor, Veevi shakily musters up her composure and nods at the task. She calls out for everyone and signals everyone to follow her. Chad glances over to Maxon. Smirking understandingly, Maxon nods and departs quickly. Chad points out a direction to Trakenthin and the two take off. Samantha watches Chad and Trakenthin run into the forest and glances at Gerald. "Okay! So we need to-"

Firmly gripping Samantha's arm, Gerald ushers her along with the rest of the crew toward the interior of the camp. "NOPE!"

----

Deedri's auburn eyes dart around the forested vicinity tensely, and she keeps her aetherphone pressed against her furry, tufted ear. "Chad?! What's happening? It sounds like explosions, gunfire, and large things breaking from all the way over here..."

Balancing her attention between the dark surroundings and the conversation, she cautiously steps over near a large tree, nervously watching the underbrush at the perimeter of the small clearing. "What?! I didn't hear that last part, the signal is breaking up..."

She narrows her stare and reflexively straightens her posture. "Golems?!"

Pausing a moment, she glances down at herself and sighs out her nerves. "No. I'm fine. I was on my way back from our camp to join you all for dinner. I went there after assisting the medics."

Her exterior grows stern, a serious demeanor overtaking her fair face. She glances around the area, instincts driving her paranoia, and pushes up against the tree. "Yes. I saw her there."

Darting her unease between darker parts of the forest perimeter, she exhales slowly. "I have not seen Modoran."

She tightens her grip upon the aetherphone against her ear. "I agree. I'll see if I find Tassilda along the way, and we'll meet up with you there."

She sighs out her frustration and nods. "I'll see if I can radio call them from where I'm at."

With a quick confirmation, she ends the connection on her phone, closes her auburn eyes, and exhales out the surge nerves. Slowly drawing a deep breath, she halts midway. Her furry, tufted ears flick frantically and quickly settle towards one direction. Pivoting pressed against the trunk of the tree, she carefully leans out, peeking around. Quietly, she observes through the contrasting darkness of the forest, past the clearing perimeter, and spots a pair of yellow, triangular glows swaying rhythmically. The angular eyes grow larger, and the motion syncs to low, thumps vibrating the forest floor.

Deedri grits her teeth and widens her eyes in terror. The faint light from the overhead night sky casts down upon an emerging, mechanically skeletal head. Jagged metal and rough stone cling to an ancient, damaged skull frame. The quadrupedal magical construct stomps through the thick underbrush without a single sign of hindrance, marching across the clearing. Watching in momentary terror, Deedri's mind traces out the meter tall, two meter long, sharp tooth and clawed golem. Her body tenses, and she realizes its trajectory passes next to her. Slipping behind the tree, she frantically scours the area around her and snaps her head upwards. Determination floods her face, and she sinks her clawed fingers deep into the bark of the tree. With quick and careful motions, she pulls herself swiftly and quietly up, claws from her toed boots boosting up. High above, she stares fearfully down around the trunk and witnesses the incomplete outer shell of the magical monstrosity shift with the locomotion of the exposed interior framework. Streams of magical flow pulse from within and animate the golem forward, closing in.

Deedri clamps the claws on her fingers and toes tightly into the tree. Hugging the tree, she presses her form flush against the trunk and freezes in place, only allowing the slightest shift of her chest for each slow, silently, shaky breath. The golem continues along its course, arriving next to the base of the tree. It stops. The head swings side to side in a methodical scan of the area ahead. Deedri pales, the magical machination narrowing its search to her prior trail in the grasses. The construct strafes itself around the tree, and its head slowly follows the fresh, small disturbances in the scenery towards the roots below. Deedri gawks in wide-eyed horror. In a brief pause from panic, she releases a hand grip of the trunk and reaches out and around. Securing a new hold, she eases herself into an opposite, obscuring position from the golem below. Seconds later, the golem lifts its head up and aims its triangular, yellow eyes into the tree above. Holding her breath still. Deedri gazes pleadingly upwards.

Through a gap in the canopy, she spots the fast motion of a tumbling object, arcing low over into the distant forest. The mass drops out of sight. Crashing noises, wooden snaps, and a solid thud upon the ground echoes out. The golem snaps its partially armored, metal animal skull, tracking the new sounds. Pulsing a brighter yellow glow in its eyes, the magical construct darts off in the direction of the noises and flattens the large bushes effortlessly, leaving the area. Deedri keeps her mouth firmly shut and remains absolutely motionless for tense, long, agonizing seconds.

A faint hiss triggers the perk of her furry ears, the hair of the tufts shuddering. The noise occurs again, slightly louder. A hushed voice directs a whisper from below. "Deedri!"

Gradually angling her head downwards, Deedri's eyes lock onto the creeping form of Modoran at the base of the tree. An explosion of relief passes through Deedri, and she quickly pulls air into her lungs. Scouting the area, Modoran gazes back up to Deedri and signals her down. With expeditious maneuvers, she scurries down to the bottom of the tree and braces herself against the trunk. "Oh... Thank the gods... That was too close."

Modoran checks over Deedri with concern, readying to assist. "Are you okay?"

Deedri gazes into Modoran's dark blue eyes and smiles with a sigh. "Yes. I'm fine. We need to get back to the camp. Chad and Trakenthin are heading there. And, I last saw Tassilda there."

Modoran blinks in thought and briefly shakes his head back to awareness. "Uh, yeah! I have been trying to contact anyone, but... I think that damned thing has a radio jammer or something. I had to stay back from tracking it, so I could get a working signal to alert the Chrome Crusaders about it."

With worry and relief swirling upon his face, he grins to Deedri. "When I finally caught back up to the thing, I saw you getting around the trunk."

Searching recent memory, Deedri tilts her head. "You caused that noise in the woods?"

A sly smile graces Modoran's dusky bluish gray face, and he nods with tinges of pride. "Yeah. Never underestimate a well thrown rock."

He peers uneasily around the tree and points out a direction to Deedri. "Speaking of which... I do not think these things are THAT intelligent. But, I think it WILL figure out it was rock soon enough. We need to move."

Deedri rolls her shoulders, shakes off the tension, and gets ready to move behind Modoran. "Lead the way."

----

Hissing in a strained breath, Tassilda grits her teeth, narrowing her light blue on black eyes at her aetherphone. Watching the erratically fluctuating signal bars, she spews forth a series of frustrated curses in a dialect of Emin. With each call attempt, another dialog appears on the screen and chimes out, informing of yet another failed radio call. Growling out her irritation, she tightens her grip on the device and throws her hands down to sides of her outfit with huff. Slowly pivoting in place, she searches the edges of the campsite and stares out into the obscuring darkness deeper in the forest. She rolls her shoulders and summons her composure, easing out a calming breath. Her attention gravitates towards the black sports utility vehicle at the perimeter of camp, and Tassilda cocks her head in thought. Glancing around at the contrasting border of the low light the campfire gives against the dark, she gradually nods to herself and walks quickly to the vehicle. Maintaining a stern facade, her nervous stare darts around, paranoia swelling with each moment. Reaching the sports utility vehicle, she stows away her phone, grips hold of the rear passenger's door handle, and lifts up. The door does not open. Tassilda leans her face close to the window, searching inside. She attempts to open the door a few more times and grits her teeth with another angered Emin phrase.

Tassilda halts her frustrated struggle. A shiver freezes her spine rigid. Her eyes widen at the growing, glowing reflections in the windows. Spinning around, she watches a massive, red-eyed form charge through the campfire, aiming long, sharp horns at her. With a rhythmic, thunderous cacophony of heavy feet upon ground, the red miasma billowing bull rockets towards Tassilda. Absolute shock and fright plain on her face, Tassilda claws along the side of the vehicle towards the back. The haphazardly assembled golem bull adjusts its trajectory. A loud crash upon a chorus of armored footsteps and servo assisted movement interrupts Tassilda's wide-eyed horror.

A large polymer shield slams powerfully into the side of the bull's head with the full weight of the light power armored Daedrican behind it. Fragments of ancient metal and stone rain upon the dirt. The construct stumbles off course and embeds one horn solidly into the heavy rear bumper of the black sports utility vehicle. The over a meter tall form violently twists and turns its roughly constructed head, shaking the large truck frame. Daedrican hops back, raises his fully extended, constantly arcing stun baton, and squats down. With a power armor assisted jump, he drops forward and drives the baton into a plating gap on the back of the magical beast, implanting the baton inside. Releasing his grip, he leaps back and draws a heavy energy pistol from his holster, keeping the shield and himself between the rampaging golem and Tassilda. He glances his helmeted head to Tassilda with a composed, collected tone. "Are you okay?"

Blinking to awareness from her fright, Tassilda quickly nods and backs away from the stuck magical machination. "Y-Y-yes!"

In between the momentary spasms, the bull thrashes about, dragging the heavy vehicle's tires along the dirt. Daedrican backpedals deftly, leveling his pistol upon the golem, and fights the worry in his voice. "We need to move. There's a number of these things around. We need to regroup with your team and get to the defensive line."

Remembering to breathe, Tassilda swiftly draws in air and musters her composure. "Agreed. I'm ready."

Tassilda and Daedrican rush meters away from the black sports utility vehicle. A loud metal groan abruptly snaps and loud stone crackles out. Constantly shuddering in sync to the shocking stun baton, the golem tears the last magically imbued fibers free from the embedded horn, the loose threads dangling from its mechanical skull. It trains billowing red eyes upon Daedrican and Tassilda. It digs its feet into the ground and launches in a full speed charge. Bracing himself, Daedrican watches the golem's approach and calls out. "Keep behind me! Turn with me when I say so!"

Tassilda readies herself into position, quickly bouncing her attention between the charging construct and Daedrican's body language. The bull gets close. Daedrican's body tenses, and he yells out. "GO LEFT!"

Tassilda hops to the left. Daedrican side steps, pivots, and shield bashes the golem towards the right. The bull tumbles off course, sliding into a thick patch of brambles. Daedrican aims his heavy energy pistol, and bolts of blue-white plasma repetitiously erupt out. The projectiles slam and explode in powerful bursts of bright energy. The illumination reflects off the fresh cracks in Daedrican's transparent, polymer shield. His head glances down, noticing the damage, and he sighs. "Our options are running out. I may be able to shield you a few more times. But..."

Mustering up a brave smile, he glances over. "If there's anything your magical prowess can do for us... We need it NOW."

Tassilda stares blankly, her mind racing through options. Second pass on by, and the golem struggles to right itself. Blinking in thought, she feels her shirt, finds the strap of a satchel, and quickly slips her long, black nailed fingers inside the bag. She grips onto something inside and removes three vials filled with a faintly milky substance. With an uncertain grin, she presents the containers. "These are dispelling charges. They're not going to bring it down, but it might hinder it enough."

Daedrican glances back from watching the bull golem and cocks his helmeted head, puzzling. "Okay. How do we use them?"

Tassilda holds one vial forward towards Daedrican's pistol wielding hand. "Throw them hard enough to break upon that thing."

With a swift motion, Daedrican holsters his heavy energy pistol, grasps the small tube, and nods. "Understood-"

The golem flings itself back up, aims its head and single horn towards Daedrican and Tassilda, and powers ahead. The moment the magical beast charges close, Daedrican yells out. "GO RIGHT!"

Tassilda leaps clear. Daedrican steps out of the way and grinds his shield against the assault, sending the golem off course. Pulling his arm back, he flings the vial with all his strength at the construct. The glass shatters upon the side of the magical machine. A wave of transparent energy pulses out, and the red flows of energy along the armored surface of the golem waver and dim. Daedrican quickdraws his pistol and fires three round bursts of plasma. The bolts drill into the dark plates and explode out energized clouds of superheated gas and fragments of ancient armor. A few projectiles slip into the beast, and sounds of malfunction and internal damage cascade out. Barely maintaining balance, the bull golem sloppily stumbles, pivoting the breached section away. Daedrican holsters his pistol swiftly and holds his open hand behind expectantly. "OH. THAT did NOT agree with it."

Tassilda places another vial into Daedrican's hand, collecting her confidence into a forming, eager smile. "If these don't hurt it enough, I can charge up a dispelling blast that might do it."

Daedrican nods, facing the construct. "Excellent! Let's see if I can hit from here..."

He bows his visor briefly at the numerous new cracks in his shield. "Since close range is not working out for us."

The red flows pulse with new vigor, and a wave of energy reestablishes the previous routes along the surface of the stone and metal beast. Taking aim, it launches into a full sprint. Daedrican tightens his grip on the vial, pulls his arm back, and pitches the container. The vial spirals perfectly and splashes milky fluid and glass upon the front leg on the construct. A transparent wave of energy erupts out, and the leg fails, the flows of red halting. The golem crashes down upon the dirt and slides to stop. Reaching back, Daedrican feels the last vial pressing into the palm of his gauntlet. He searches for a target and tosses the container upon the side of the beast. Another wave of transparent energy disrupts the crimson flow. A barrage of plasma bolts from a heavy energy pistol blow out the ancient armor plating. Daedrican fires repeatedly upon the downed magical creation. The assault stops with a warning alarm screaming out from his pistol. Inspecting his weapon, Daedrican holsters it. The golem stirs, and Daedrican braces himself. "Get your magic ready."

Nodding, Tassilda concentrates on a series of incantations and gestures. The grinds and groans of struggle surge louder from the magical construct. After the initial sequence, she bites her lower lip and sighs out her nerves. "I will charge it up as much as I can. I will NEED a clear shot."

Daedrican nods and motions for Tassilda to move back. "Understood. Let us back away as much as we can."

The two backpedal away cautiously. Daedrican maintains his watch of the recovering golem, and Tassilda condenses her magical flows to a growing ball of fluctuating energy. A loud thump forces a plume of red miasma out from the core of the bull golem. Metal and stone scrape powerfully in the obscuring mist, and two bright orbs of red light cut through the haze. The magical mechanical beast erupts from the smokey mass and rockets forth towards Daedrican and Tassilda. Erratic crimson flows jet out from every seam and stream out in raging gouts. Daedrican's body telegraphs his utter shock at the flaming monstrosity. Tassilda peeks around Daedrican, blinks at the situation, and glances at the significant sphere of energy.

Summoning all her courage, resolve, and will, she side steps out from behind Daedrican, hoists up the large orb of transparent, disruptive magical energy, and aims. With the golem ten meters out, she releases the sphere. It jets forth towards the construct. The golem angles it charge at Tassilda and subsequently crashes into the massive ball of energy. A wave of transparent energy bursts out, engulfing the golem. The red flows flicker, dim, and halt. The mass of ancient stone and metal coasts lifelessly forward from momentum alone.

A shrill, high pitched whine screams out from within. An explosion rips apart the back half of the construct. The fiery upper half zooms towards Tassilda. Stumbling from the spell, Tassilda barely manages to lift her arms. Swiftly planting his feet in the way, Daedrican raises his shield and sweeps his free arm behind, guiding Tassilda into his shadow. A wall of fiery debris violently crashes and splashes around, the destructive chorus of scraping metal, grinding stone, and shattering plastic engulfing the area.

Silence flattens the area. Within the ambient darkness and faint illumination of the starry night sky, Daedrican and Tassilda remain standing. Tassilda slowly opens her eyes, searching both debris ridden sides of her in utter astonishment. She gradually pivots, and inspects her surroundings. Dropping the shattered remains of his shield, Daedrican stands and slowly removes a cylindrical device from a waist belt. He points the tube upwards and clicks a button on the side. A flare launches out into the night sky, bursts red, and slowly drifts down, flashing red and white.

Tassilda watches the flare, and a faint breeze blows. In the brighter white illumination, she notices a splash of red upon her shirt, matching the cool, wet sensations. In sheer panic, she pats and searches herself. Realization dawns in her horrified eyes. Following Daedrican's limp right arm, she traces up and spots the tip of a red coated, metal horn poking out of Daedrican's upper right back. Dropping unceremoniously to his knees, Daedrican coughs and sways, his remaining horn on his helmet falls off. "I will not... be able to assist you any further..."

Daedrican tilts back, and Tassilda slides down behind him, propping him up. She eases his transition and lays his upper body across her folded legs, keeping the golem horn point from touching the ground. Guiding his helmeted head onto her lap, she gazes through the visor in absolute, silent shock. In the eerie quiet, her eyes trace the length of bull golem's horn into the pierced right chest and shoulder armor. She pales at the slow ooze of bubbling blood. Modulated labored breathing sound out from Daedrican's helmet. Daedrican fumbles to release the locks on his helm with his left hand. Tassilda feels around and disengages the mechanisms with his guidance. Carefully sliding off the helmet, Daedrican's calm, tired face gazes up and meets Tassilda's frightened face. Staring into Daedrican's golden pupil and white sclera eyes, Tassilda holds his face with her trembling hands. She struggles with words and breaks the silence. "S-s-stay with me... Please..."

Daedrican smiles calmly and gazes up into Tassilda's light blue on black eyes. "As you wish..."

Holding his tone, he watches tears well up in Tassilda's expectant eyes. "My lady."

Tassilda firmly closes her eyes, tears freeing themselves, and sobs, cradling Daedrican's head. Maintaining a calm smile, Daedrican concentrates on each labored breath. His helmet chimes out medical beacon and radio transponder alerts. An aetherphone chimes out, and Tassilda fumbles through her pants pocket and answers it in between surges of tears.