It was as if the single syllable set the sentinel free to exercise his nature. The Mira were bred for this, and had never had truer cause. Blood for blood. So it had been, so it always would be. There was no warning for his intended target. The male might have no magic of his own, but he understood its use, and the intended directive given by the female who seemed to be in charge. The sound that escaped the beast of a creature was feral in nature, and in his spring he seemed less humanoid, than cat for the baring of fangs that dropped white against the darkness of his fur. Ears laid back, and there was no weapon in hand as he leapt to close the distance to Talos.
At the back of the group himself, Dorian was quick to react to the strike. With a burst of speed and force that propelled him into the air, the wood elf struck Saryth mid-flight, and though his form was far lighter than the Mira's it was enough to put a stop to the pounce before Talos was threatened. Quick as a flash, his twin blades were in his hand and readied defensively as he spun upwards into a low fighting stance moments after the two landed.
Upon hearing the order from his father, Myst's great blade whispered from it's sheath faster than something that large should move. And the somewhat indecisive rage was replaced with a more solid fury. Instead of the more feral pounce employed by his compatriot, Myst's approach was a measured build up to a run, blade in an odd position behind him, but one which allowed flexibility in the approach to the actual attack. Wielding the two handed great sword with easy confidence, the young Mira moved to cover the flank not assaulted by the Sentinel Captain.
All across the group of outsiders, weapons were hastily drawn and spells readied - though they were outnumbered, they needed but stall for time until Talos' portal opened. "Form a line, keep Talos safe," Emma was barking, "We need that portal open!"
“Stop!” Fiera's voice cut out across the din as she separated from the crowd of gathering Mira. “Haven't there been enough dead already, Goliath?”
The weight of the elf was not quite negligible, there was enough contact made there to deflect the trajectory of the Mira sentinel mid launch, unfortunately for the one who had chosen to sacrifice himself for the cause. Saryth did not fall out of the air so much as land, forearms extended to make stabalizing contact with the earth under him, and for an instant the Mira was in a four limbed crouch as a dark head whipped around to pinpoint the source of interference.
It was near instantaneous, the drop back onto his haunches that halted the Mira's forward progress. There were one, maybe two voices in that society that would have the power to cull the sentinel's lock on a kill in blood lust, and Fiera's was one of them. He wouldn't move from his stance, but the lips remained peeled back from fangs, and the wrinkle of the skin over them in his muzzle would betray how much- how very much the sentinel wished that hold to be lifted.
Myst paused midstep, like a frozen statue. The greatsword dropped inch by inch, until it's point was sitting neatly amongst the dirt to the left of the young Mira. His head turned to stare at his mother's order to stop. The two authorities of the Mira village, the Shief and the Shamana, had never really clashed in his memory. Not publically in the least. And them being his parents made the encounter even more shocking.
Standing almost slack-jawed, he waited for his father's response. Deaf to the words of all others.
Goliath turned at the sound of his mate’s call, his eyes seeking hers throughout the chaos. His frown was evident, brows furrowed in thought as he beheld her. “There will be more, Shamana, if their lot are allowed to continue to bring destruction upon our heads! They’ve done nothing but cause foul things while they’ve been in contact with us.”
He turned back towards the group, a low growl erupting from him. “The gravest error I’ve made is when we didn’t slay them to a man when we first spotted them.”
"Charming..." Emma muttered. "When your greatest regret in life is not ki-" the blood mage was interrupted by a sharp jab to the ribs from Ruan, and quieted into vague, incoherent mutterings.
Meanwhile Brent seemed unimpressed by the change in events. "Best keep that portal coming," he muttered under his breath to Talos.
“The spirits have spoken," Fiera replied to Goliath. "They foretell of two paths that lay before us, one will lead to our destruction, the other to our salvation. Are we to question the wisdom of Le'thorian in bringing us together? What is done is done, we must put aside our losses and look to the future of the Mira.”
Saryth was of the opinion held by his shief, in this instance, despite the respect held for the shamana, but his place was to follow orders and hers had been the last given. Until Goliath saw fit to counter it, if he did, the sentinel was holding his line. He did concede however to rising to his full height again, and turning to face the direction of the conversation between the two taking place. When he did speak, it was in a manner that might support both their causes.
"Their presence is trouble. Let them be gone, or die." At this point he found himself caring for nothing, save that this plague be removed from their lives. The Mira had made sure however, to retain that flanking position that would allow him influence over the collected bodies still, if that final order came.
“It is not so simple, Saryth,” Fiera replied. “Groth lies slain, and our borders are unprotected. A time of great change is upon us, and sending them away will not divert that now. Our way, is the way of the Mira. We must honor our debt to Le'thorian, and to the forest. The Mira will accompany the foreigners on their journey. Such is the will of our ancestors.”
Goliath’s eyes darted to Saryth as he spoke, and then back to his mate, pondering her words and actions. Despite his desire to destroy this group of people, and despite his instinct that they were nothing but a group of leeches, he knew he could not disobey the will of the Ancestors.
Finally, after some time, the Shief spoke. “It will be as you suggest, though I cannot allow for our dead to go unredeemed, Shamana.” He stated. “These will have their lives, and their Mira escort. And we will discuss what is to be done with the offender. I won’t see him go unpunished.”
Emma sighed, "And so we go full circle. I assure you, I have nor did I ever have any intentions of letting the one responsible go unpunished. But it falls to our justice system in cooperation with your own to decide what that punishment will be, and for the Light's sake, we should at least let it wait till we're not all under imminent threat from the void."
Goliath cocked his head, his straying from his mate to reach a halfway point between Emma and the Shamana. “He slew Mira, and so he should be subject to Mira laws. However, I find merit in what you say. His punishment and a full discussion of crimes committed can wait until after we complete this journey.”
He turned to fully face the leader of the outsiders. “Do you find this acceptable?” It was a weak attempt at sounding diplomatic, true - but the Shief got the sense that the blood mage didn’t much care for diplomacy either.
The blood mage turned to Talos, "Drop the portal. Turns out we're hanging around after all." she said, before looking back to Goliath. "Once we're done with this all, you have my word that he'll see justice that both our sides find appropriate."
Fiera nodded her assent. “Then it is decided. The fate of the foreigner will be postponed.”
Though clearly reluctant, Talos nodded, and the opening in the air closed with a flash. He just hoped Emma knew what she was doing around these ... volatile people. He somehow would have prefered to have Ciela here for dealing with them. Emma had a tendency to mix poorly with those easily angered.
Nodding at the group, he gave a jerk of his head to his scouts, signal enough for them to fall back. “Saryth, Myst? Come.”
He turned on his heel, striding back towards the village, expecting the group to fall in. His path took him past his mate, where he gave her but the barest of glances before continuing forwards. “We must discuss travel arrangements.”
As much attention as the strangers had had from the sentinel up to that point, it was as if they ceased to exist after one last hard look. A smooth, feline prowl took Saryth through whatever bodies were still clustered in that group, toward the shief who stood on the other side. He had a feeling he knew the direction this was headed, and he wasn't sure he was thrilled about it. The hard, low flick of his tail might have betrayed as much. Goliath's final words confirmed his suspicions, and the shief would suffer the sound of the low grunt of displeasure that escaped the male. Beyond that, no further protest was made.
If worse came to worse, the strangers could be left to fend for themselves if they forgot in whose hands they were choosing to place their lives, and got difficult.
Shaking his head once, Myst twisted the blade around and placed it carefully back in it's sheath. Having put away his weapon, he walked around the group of outsiders, making his way over to where his father and the others were leaving.
The tribe hadn't sent anything beyond the boundries of the land protected by Groth in as long as the young Mira recalled, and for the first time, he wondered what kind of place was the origin of the motly party that caused such misfortune...
And then he shook the thought from his head as he fell in step with the rest.