(((OOC: mate i dont know whats your definition of darts, but unless you throwing nails, Dino will see them flying. I know u used darts because at the bears i was on the sideline watching. It would be natural for Dino to see sudden movements. Unless Aq specifically tells me to change it, i stand by my point.)))

Dino finished his dish and refilled the drink. He politely bowed to one of the soldiers sitting at the table and stood up, grabbing his cup on the way.

"If you would excuse me, lad. I have to do my routine." He stated with a smile on his face.

Dino walked over to his cross. While casually sipping on more ale, he grabbed it and went a bit deeper into the woods, away from unwanted witnesses. When he considered he was far enough, he vigorously planted the cross in the ground. With a gentle move, he grabbed the center cross and turned it, being careful that nobody saw where the mechanism was.

Suddenly all the hidden compartments of the device opened up, revealing Dino's complete arsenal. It consisted of a multitude of handguns and sub machine guns, ranging from low caliber Beretta's to .50 cal handcannons and shotguns. A couple of compartments were dedicated to stacked mags and loaded barrel loaders. For a gun-a-holic such as Daniel, that was paradise.

"Hellooooo ladies! How are you doin'!?" He excitedly stated, sipping yet again from his mug, before placing it on the ground, next to the cross. With a vigorous kick, the Irish man opened the ammo box at the bottom of the cross.

"Let's have a talk..."

Dino began checking every single weapon, magazine and bullet. He meticulously controlled that everything was in order, fully functional and ready for any inconvenience.

Lo Bok shook his head, "There's better solutions than drugs my friend. I have seen many a good man ruin their lives with opiates." Zu Won and Gyo Sung nodded.

Sun rolled up his sleeves and pulled out a few talismans, flipping through before choosing three which he attached onto Nox, one on the man's forehead and two against his neck. "Here let me cure you of your addiction. I will try to purify and cleanse your chi and energy channels." Tendrils of energy grew out of the ground and connected with the talismans and Sun concentrated. What was to happen was that negative energy and chi (lingering residue that infect the soul and body and create withdrawal effects.) was to be drawn out of the neck on either channel while the talisman on Nox's head was to regulate his health as to keep him safe and unhurt from the operation, replacing any loss chi and energy. However the channels on Nox's neck didn't change colors, indicating that it wasn't drawing out any toxins. Sun looked at it confused and then furrowed his brow, focusing harder as to empower the operation. After a while, as sweat dripped down his forehead, Sun released the channeling in defeat. "I'm sorry, it seems that whatever is infecting you isn't housed in your body... and I cannot rebalance your yin and yang, no one can but gods." He opened up his medical pouch and pulled out some dried, bundled herbs. "Here are some herbs that'll assist your rest, simply brew them in tea and you should sleep well. I cannot in good conscious give you any herbs that contain hallucinogenic properties or depressionary functions."

The man took a leaf and crushing it in his hands, sprinkled it into a pot of hot tea. He let it sit for a moment, slowly mixing it about before he poured it into a cup and handed to Nox. "Here you go, drink this and go to sleep." He went back to sit by the fire and sipped his tea in recluse. Lo Bok patted him in the shoulder, counseling the medic and telling him that he did what he could. Gyo Sung poured him some more tea and Zu Won tossed the medic a dried persimmon. They were all there for each other. The other soldiers had drinken and eaten their fill, already retiring back into their tents. Fey, Lee, and Sang bid Lilith good nights as well as the captains before going to their own private tent. Zu Won sat in front of their tent, guarding it. Lo Bok stored away the leftovers of the meat and went to dispose of the entrails and bones a safe distance from the camp, so that wild animals could feed on the remains and not assault the camp and lose their lives. Gyo Sung poured Nocturn another mug, he himself simply drinking tea. "I noticed you only came to drink, do you not need to eat my metallic friend? Perhaps due to the same reason you look the way you do." The Dragon guard looked at him. "Now the we know you do not come from this world, I'm sure it's safe to assume what infects you, and perhaps your friend over there." He indicated to Nox. "Isn't confined within the laws of our world. Seeing the Great Dragon will help I do believe, perhaps he can send you back to where you belong."

Lilith, already marked by a slight, healthy blush from the alcohol she drank, immediately sobered up as Abra made his appearance. Her gaze was shifting all around him, and the area, never really resting on him. Smile once more disappeared, and a deep frown replaced its place. She couldn't really see Them, in the common sense of that word, but she knew They were here; countless souls chained to one person, never allowed to leave to the afterlife. The very definition of torture upon the dead... Meanwhile her partner couldn't see, what she was seeing, but what he could see however, were Abra's actions.

"Im getting tired of this nonsense..." Walter mumbled from behind Lilith's back, and began to make his way towards the wizard, taking off his gloves. He was immediately stopped by the woman's arm outstretched right in front of his chest.

"Don't... Nothing we can do about him right now...This...Thing... is a "Collector"..." Lilith sounded almost disgusted, and if someone else was able to hear her whisper, he could hear her voice breaking here and there. "...He's on his territory, and remember I have close to no power in this realm..."

Walter only groaned in the response crossing his arms, idly watching yet another "performance" of the magician.

"...How can one deprive his own humanity to such level..."

When Abra disappeared, Lilith exhaled deeply, not weighed down by the presence of so many condemned anymore. The mood was sure ruined for that evening.

Now, seeing one of her group members writhe on the ground, and the medics making their shenanigans on his body, nor Lilith, nor Walter got up to help.

"Did this fool really just tried to poison us..." Lilith slowly shook her head. "When will you guys understand that you won't make it alone..." Lifting the glass to her mouth, she emptied the whole remaining beverage on one go. "...That goes to you as well Walt..." She added seeing him making his way towards the "traitor" already.

As Nox drank his tea, he saw the skeletal companion to the pale woman walking in his general direction. It appeared that the wizard had harmed his position more than from a weaponry standpoint. From the look of his walk, Nox could tell that he had heard Abra's words. Keeping calm and reasonable, Nox sat still as the skeleton walked up. Before the skeleton could raise a fist, he ran up to the skeleton and began an attack. Not with his bat, but with logic and what he hoped was a convincing enough argument.
Nox whispered in what should have been the skeleton's ear, "Before you attack me, I would like to put forth several points. I do not care what happens afterwards. First off, I am indeed a user of poisons, and yes, I was attempting to poison this camp, but not with the intent of everybody's death, but my survival. That is all I cared to do. Your deaths had the opening for my survival, so I took it. I had hoped to entertain the wizard enough to escape, but apparently, he is more in our heads than the CIA.
Second, you were not my primary targets. A simple dart to the windpipe or the jugular would have sufficed to kill everyone in our little "party". I was attempting to kill the entire camp besides all of you. I know that I need your help to survive. And if you didn't survive? Simply collateral damage. These people around us seem to be simple pawns, they could not hear Abra, but you could. I theorize that they are simple figments of his power, and that all of this around us is a giganic spell. But I digress.
Next point. I have no way to defend myself against you. My poisons are gone, and from what I can tell, neither my plain darts or bat will cause you enough harm. I could run, but I would rather take my chances with a being that can think logically, rather than what could live in the wild. I pose no threat at the moment, and once we leave this group of lovely people, you will need all the help you can get. Already, two of those that were with us have died and one has left.
Finally, I have recently drank a tea with sleeping herbs in it. I believe that I should fall asleep soon, so I will not be able to defend myself. I only have one good point there, but nevertheless, I have told you all I must." He withdrew from the skeleton and laid down on the ground, waiting for death. Even the most resilient of men must know when to concede. Perhaps this time, I won't survive. I suppose I've lived long enough.

Walter listened to everything Nox had to say in silence, with his arms crossed, cracking his knuckles from time to time. It was probably fair to listen what he had to say in his defense.

When the man laid down, the Skeleton suddenly grabbed him by the shirt with one hand, and lifted up to his face with no problem what so ever. In that position Nox didn't really had his moves restrained in any way, but his toes were barely touching the ground.

"Now let Me tell you something you lil' shit..." If his voice could be described as cold and disturbing before, now muffled by the mask it sounded even worse. He turned his head to get a short look at Lilith then locked his "eyes" back with Nox's. "We are your survival...You wanted to entertain that masked maniac so much, you clown? Then tell me...Did you ever tried to play chess, without any figures? Probably not...but let me tell you, that its ain't much fun... You see, it may come as a surprise to you, but you're a pawn in that game as well, and without us you'd be dead within the very next hour. Whether it would be from Wizard's hand, or one of his toys." Walter cracked his neck and moved around his shoulders, slightly readjusting his position. "Now, I could break a couple of your bones to give you a proper lesson, or kill you right where we stand, but that would put me on the same level as you are. So I propose an agreement instead... Im letting you go, you're starting to cooperate, but the next time I see you doing something suspicious, Im taking you down on sight. Are we clear on that?" As he was talking his hand was becoming hotter and hotter, almost burning Nox's skin by the end of his speech. When done, Walter simply loosened his grip, letting the man fall back on the ground, turned around and walked away coming back to Lilith.

The party went to their tents to sleep and silence fell upon the lands. Then as the sun rose, so did the soldiers. Everything was quickly and efficiently packed up and they set off for the mountain again, Lilith given a spot in the carriage to ride in with the priestesses. As they crossed the foot hills, they found a collapsed figure on the ground at the top of a hill, a horse sitting calmly next to it. When they reached the horse, they found Grant, still pieces of dead horse stuck to his clothing. "What in the world?" Lo Bok walked over and knelt by the unconscious man. "What happened to him?"

Sun got off his horse and checked Grant's pulse and temperature. "He seems to have fainted from over-exhaustion, perhaps he didn't rest as much as he should have." Lo Bok picked up the sleeping boy and put him on the back of his horse, then got on.

"Then we should let him sleep more, but we must still continue on to the mountain, it is still a long ways away."

Dino completed the full checkup after 2 hours. Overall everything was well oiled and ready for action, safe a couple of empty magazines. After putting back everything in his place, Dino's hand slowly rose towards the center cross, gently rotating it back. With slow movements he pushed each and every compartment back in place, sealing the cross.

"Aaah, it was nice chatting with you. Goodnight, baby girl." he quietly said, his voice rough and tired. Moments later he sat next to a tree and fell asleep.

The next morning Dino overslept. As his eyes crept open, he immediately remembered about the camp. He quickly stood up and grabbed his cross, making his way out of the forest and back at the campsite. But the caravan was already gone.

"Shit."

Without a second of hesitation, Dino sprinted down the road, trying to catch up with the rest of the group.

Nocturn slugged behind the caravan, monitoring the electrical fields of everyone in it. He clicked his jaw and then the gears of his spine whirred to life. The virus was at work again, probably to fix something. Maybe the click of his jaw.

Damn, he had gotten to like that part of him.

Footsteps alerted him to someone catching up to them. He turned to take a look and saw it was one of his party mates. He stared for a moment before finally turning back to move with the caravan again.

When everybody went to sleep, Lilith still remained by the fire. No matter how hard she would try, she just won't be able to fall asleep anyway. Ailment of hers...

Instead, she spent the whole night keeping small fire up, trying to get a conversation with rather quiet soldiers performing the night guard, or just simply wandering around the camp. It was a long and boring night, as Walter didn't seem to be up for a conversation either, disappearing sometime during the night... Hence she was glad when she saw the sun rise again, and camp waking up to life again. When offered the spot in the carriage, Lilith agreed for it with no hesitation what so ever. It was obviously better than walking, and she wasn't a big fan of horse riding, so why refuse yourself a little bit of comfort.

Intrigued by the caravan stopping, she got out of carriage to investigate and stretch her limbs a little.

"Looks like someone had more fun over the night than I did..." She stated smiling, seeing the Silver-Head kid in bloodied clothes, unconscious.

The mountain loomed before them, a spiraling path carved around it like the grooves on a screw. "It'll take the rest of the day to climb, I hope you gentlemen are ready." Lo Bok got off his horse as did the other soldiers. They were going to have to keep the carriage under watch as one mistake could send it toppling over the edge.

"You can ride the horses if you want." Zu Won offered the party.

However before they could begin, a voice boomed. It resounded in their heads, but it wasn't aggressive or intimidating, rather it was calming and protecting, like that of a good father or guardian. "No need to climb, I've been waiting for you." Yellow clouds flowed down from the skies and lifted the entire party up, sending them into the sky. They broke through the clouds and reached the peak of the mountain. They were set down on a plateau that sat at the foot of a giant cave and they could feel warm air being expelled from it. Breathing it in they could smell the world, loamy earth mixed with the scents of trees and flowers. It felt like they were standing alone in the Gardens of Eden. "Aah, General Lo Bok, General Zu Won, and General Gyu Sung, it is a pleasure to see you all." They were snapped out of their illusion to see the Great Dragon standing before them. Most of his large body was still hidden in the cave but they could get a picture of just how massive the beast was by just the size of his head and neck. A silvery-white mane flowed about, like a giant cumulonimbus around his neck, framing the great majesty of his head. In the center of his forehead was a large cobalt orb, shouldered by two giant antlers that branched and arced into the sky. His scales were a lovely hue of emerald that sparkled in the sun and his eyes were an amber gold, his pupil slits a deep black like the cosmos and his irises sparkled with wisdom and power. If he opened his mouth, he could consume the entire carriage and its horses. His arms were the size of a full grown man, but in proportion to his body, they seemed small. "I'm guessing the carriage is for me?" His talons twitched and the carriage opened up, the cow was extracted out from it and he popped it into his mouth, licking off the beef with his tongue and crushing the bones with his teeth. "I do enjoy the food you bring me." Then the priestesses came out and danced for him and he hummed along with the music. "That was wonderful," he chuckled, "All of this simply for a bountiful harvest? I am flattered, so do not worry, it'll be done. Now to address our otherworldly guests. But first you must be off." He picked up the convoy in a golden cloud, "I will send you back to the forest's entrance." The golden cloud picked up the 17 soldiers and they waved their farewells to the party before it took them back down to the surface.

"Now then, tell me. Why are you mortals here? Beings from a different dimension?" He growled, the atmosphere growing darker and colder, clouds brewing overhead and covering the sun.

When the dragon revealed itself, Lilith's mouth opened slightly in amazement.

"So they do exist somewhere after all..."

Her gaze was shifting all around the visible part of that huge creature, trying to somewhat comprehend what it really is. How much would she give to get a closer look...like, a much closer look... In her world maybe she would even try and take her chances, but here? Quickly snapping out of this thought she looked around, noticing the change in the atmosphere. Seeing that the rest of the party was rather reluctant or simply unable to answer, she took two steps forward, while trying to recall anything useful she has read about dragons.

"Time to find a difference between myths and truth I guess..." She courteously bowed low, however it was still hard for her to peel her eyes off the beast's scales.

"We mean no disrespect, the One known as Great Dragon..." She slowly straighten back up, slight smile again present on her face. "...We're simply "guests", travelers visiting this realm, forced to do so by Twisted Man's game..." Trying to carefully choose her words, Lilith continued. "...Our little group here joined this pilgrimage thanks to a kind invitation of people, that you just sent back down... All we're looking for is our way out, so that we can come back to our respective worlds..."

Still staring at dragon's scales, Lilith slightly bit her lip considering whether she should come up with her rather bold request or not... For now she awaited a response from the beast, or someone else from her party to speak.

Dino stood in the back, hands in his pockets and cross on his back. When Lilith moved ahead and spoke, he also took a step on the side, showing himself apart from the group. He took off the cross from his shoulder and planted it in the ground. Dino slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. After lighting it up, he leaned on the cross, upholding his head with his hand.

"What the 'oh so respectful' lady is trying to say is that some crazy cunt called Abra forced us to fight for our survival just for his entertaining. Quite sickening if you ask me. Now if you would have a chance and send me back to Ireland, I'll be grateful. In case not, then any insight about a possible solution to our situation is appreciated."

He took a puff from his cigarette, speaking as jovially as always: a smile on his face and gestures with his free hand.

Nox looked from the group from the dragon. He couldn't do an insignificant amount of damage to the dragon, even if he tried. Even working together, he was sure that they could do nothing other than anger it. He decided to simply bow to the dragon and say a few words of respect. "Greetings, Great Dragon. I wish no harm to you, nor the people who you protect. I am simply here to serve an entity with power over me. That, along with survival, is my only task."

"No harm?" The dragon's eyes glinted. "Wise decision. Now to send you back to your own respective dimensions will be hard, but give me some time and I will find a solution." He flew out of his cave, curling around the spire of the mountain as the clouds cleared away to shine the sun down on them. Green energy began flowing out of the ground and began inscribing a sigil into the ground around the party. More energy began creating a caccoon around them, but suddenly everything stopped. The energy began receding back into the ground as the dragon stopped chanting and looked out into the distance, towards the forest. "This man..." He whispered, "This entity... He's approaching." He collected clouds into his claws and casted them at the forest and as they traveled, they billowed larger and crackled with electricity. He flicked a talon down and the clouds stormed down green fire and bolts of electricity, decimating the ground below it. His body unwrapped and he glared at the storm. Breathing in, he roared, streaking his mane back as he breathed emerald flames at the same place the storm was striking. His talons collected balls of electricity which he shot at the storm as well, making it grow bigger and more violent. The storm was locked onto Abra's presence, and despite the onslaught, it kept moving forward, reaching the base of the mountain.

That's when everyone began hearing music, it was the song played when someone wound a jack-in-the-box. The storm kept on raging but whoever was under it kept climbing up, that music just taunting the dragon. "It reeks of death and evil." He growled and swept the party into his coils, shifting them away from the plateau and he watched the path. The storm grew closer, and with it Abra. Soon they could see him coming, riding ontop of a giant elephant. On his lap was the jack-in-the-box and in his hands an umbrella made of cards, a gigantic tent that shielded them from the flames and lightning, the furocious elements rolling off the cover as if they were nothing but harmless rain drops. The Great Dragon tried another salvo, roaring a tornado at the magician, a mixture of tempest winds, electricity, and fire.

The box dinged, and a head popped out, taking the brunt of the attack. The wind blasted the umbrella into the air, and as it touched the storm above it, they both dissipated into a cloud of sparkles. The head sagged about, lolling to the side and they could see that it was Sun's head. "Why hello everyone." Abra jumped off his elephant. "Was looking for ya, was looking for someone to ask and what do you know? These nice people dropped out of the sky, a gift from god really. They were all polite, until I "accidentally" let it slip I was the one who brought you guys here. Three tried to do this fancy magic stuff and hurt me. Rude right? But I must say, the convoy had some wonderful clothes." The elephant turned to the side, displaying the armors and dresses. "You don't know how troublesome it was to kill them all without dirtying the clothing." The dragon rushed at the madman, catching him in his teeth and flying into the air. "Funkfreed take the kiddies to the lake! I got this!" Abra laughed as he was carried off, using his cards to keep himself from being eaten.

The elephant trundled up to the party, picking them up with its trunk and placing them on his back. Then it simply jumped off the mountain, landing in the forest below.

Nocturn sighed.

Of course, this man killed the caravan they were with. Their party is basically a walking plague. The elephant ride however, was new. He had never ridden one before, or one strong enough to lift him. Fortunately, it seems this thing was magical as well as it landed safely to the forest.

He simply got down the animal and waited for the rest to do the same. He didnt look back, he knew Abra was dealing with the Dragon, not the other way around. He grabbed his steel rods in case of a sudden attack.