Drakos put most of his concentration into the fight, laughing at the insanity of it all and at the thrill of the odd scene, hearing battle picked up around him. His blades found and sliced into the soft underbelly of his foe and he flicked his wings, pulling himself easily away from the creature as it fell dead on the beach. He spun to the next threat, taking in the scene around him as he did so.

As the second Cassaei died under Byzan's blades and the remaining initial four were engaged by the Vayans, two additional creatures slid out of the water toward the group of them. They didn't have the experience the Rulin did in battling the creatures but seemed otherwise capable of holding their own. He was just about to jump towards the encroaching additional enemy when he heard a yell, seeing a flash of flame and brilliant colour fly overhead. It seemed that someone else was beating him to the punch.

"Remember your blades!" Princess Veranandein yelled and it was then that he realized the flames were coming from the metal of her swords. She had somehow infused power within them, letting them spark and burn brighter than any torch.

As he leapt forwards to join her, he saw more flames spark up around them, realizing that the Vayan blades were all capable of this additional attack.

Clever little magic wielders.

As he dove in and blocked the second Cassaei's attack on the Princess, he could only allow a small portion of his brain to appreciate the ingenuity of it, laughing again and yelling over the din of battle. "Byzan, help her!"

His General would have flown to his aid by reflex but he didn't require it and he wasn't completely confident that she did not. In addition to not knowing how well she could fight, he didn't know magic and was unable to assess how much of her other work had taxed her ability to fight until he stepped away from his fallen opponent. He kicked its head free of its body as he ripped his blade from its neck and glanced away from it. The four Vayan had dispatched their opponents and the Humans were standing beyond them looking shocked and somewhat useless.

It was then that he realized that the Princess stood nearest to him, somehow nearly coated head to foot in the thick black blood. Unperturbed, she merely tapped her blades together three times to extinguish their flames. Byzan stood on the far side of the Vayan Princess, the signs of battle high still in his eyes, blades dripping with dark blood.

He ignored the tense stance of the Vayans, letting their hackles raise in panic as they realized there was nothing between their Princess and their enemy. If only to be difficult, he smirked ever so slightly to the small woman beside him. "Is it at all possible for you to fight a Cassaei without rolling in its carcass?"

She blinked at him, then down at herself, her nose wrinkling. "Don't think I can stand the stench of this... they just have... a way of making a mess."

"Only for you." He grinned, glancing around at the others, most of whom were only lightly splattered with the black, viscous liquid. "Is it because you're so little?"

"Or perhaps its because I fight with more heart." She shrugged dismissively, though there was the slight hint of a grin on her lips.

Byzan barely covered a barking laugh, giving the other Vayan's a look as they shifted dangerously. His General kept his blades low, prepared for an attack. But Drakos laughed, shaking his head in amusement of this small fighter beside him, still mostly ignoring the others. Let them wonder a moment longer, he wasn't so old that he didn't enjoy causing a little lighthearted distress to a Vayan or two when he could.

The Princess glanced at Byzan and then her Guard and he half expected her to change her stance or expression when she realized her position. Surely she would be disconcerted from fear or even mild appreciation of threat.

When she shrugged again, in that same dismissive way, he wasn't convinced that she hadn't known the entire time, merely nodding to her tense guards. Expressions dark, they all tapped their blades together three times, extinguishing their own blades and lowering them.

Relaxed but still ready. On both sides, it seemed that no one knew how not to be ready to battle one another.

She turned to him then, her brilliant blue eyes catching the fires of the village beyond, sparkling brilliant as she captured him with her gaze. "You provided us assistance, when you did not have to."

"We don't normally turn down the chance to kill us a few Cassaei" He shrugged and sheathed his blades, raising a brow as he watched her do the same.

It took a long moment for him to pull his eyes away from hers, looking first to the Vayans, and then to the humans and finally the Feysha beyond, the two small forms sitting, half dazed on the beach.

"Still." She said, offering another shrug. "Thank you."

Drakos blinked and looked back to her, raising a curious brow and offered a dark grin. "I suppose you owe me then, yes?"

Her expression became unimpressed, hard and unbending, but there was still that small, amused curve of her lips, though they now exposed her sharp canines. "You were nearly encroaching on Vayan territory and I suspect watching us, despite your reassurances that your Kingdom wants peace with Vayana."

"Luckily for you." He smirked wider, before nodding to the dead beasts scattered around them. "To be honest, I've never seen them do that. Attack so close to the Feysha. Usually the scent of them sends the Cassaei running. You must realize that they are very drawn to the scent of the Winged Ones, as your humans call us. I would recommend more guards posted farther out from wherever you are. Granted, the Vayan's have a distinct disadvantage of not being able to to smell or hear nearly as well as you can."

She nodded carefully, glancing at Byzan and then him. "I do not like debts. You have assisted me, and those under my care. Name your price, King Drakos."

He watched her for a long moment, battling with several thoughts running through his mind. Some of them were downright suicide, others far too generous for him to consider and keep any pride about him. Finally, he settled on something simple. "Your blades. That's a neat trick, with the flames."

Princess Veranandein laughed and nodded, holding out her hand, accepting his sword when he drew it and offered it hilt first to her. He watched her run her fingers lightly along the hilt, and then once down the centre of the blade, before she returned the blade to him and repeated the process with his second one.

She then did it again again for Byzan's two blades.

When she was done she drew her own blades, spinning them easily , before she raised them to cross in front of her face. After meeting his eyes once more, she tapped them together three quick times, letting the air ring with a beautiful sound that was eerily closer to music than the sound of battle.

Her blades flamed to life, she spun them easily, before tapping them three times again and sheathed them as the flames guttered out. "They will maintain themselves, unless you use them faster than they can replenish. If they stop working, you will need to wait for them to gather enough power to feed the fires again."

He nodded before pausing for a moment, realizing that he didn't doubt her intentions for a moment and found himself wrestling with the oddness of it. To trust a Vayan's word was not something that came easily to him.

Drakos paused for a moment, then nodded towards the south. "Keep to the coast and to what you're doing with these ships. We will watch and we will not tolerate any abuses of our trust in you, but we will not interfere with... this. Rulin does not condone what the humans have done. We were not aware of it until now, but its cruelty is beyond even our history of violence with Vayana."

She froze then, surprised. Her eyes widened as his words knocked her off balance.

Perhaps it was the rawness of her grim task, or a reduced energy to hide her thoughts, but he watched emotions shimmer over her eyes, which looked dangerously lose to watering, before she blinked. The emotions cleared rapidly until he only saw peace so strong and complete that even his warrior's soul felt a creeping serenity. "Thank you, King Drakos. You don't know what that means."

He cleared his throat, shaking his head and taking a step back away from her, his voice gruff with emotions he had not thought possible. "I'm sure I do, Princess. I'm glad to see that you're wearing armour now, and try to stay out of any trouble with Sailors you don't trust."

With that, he snapped his wings open and launched himself into the air, not even turning to see if Byzan followed him. He headed back to the safety of his rough, unforgiving lands, away from haunting blue eyes and the bewitching powers of the Feysha.

Through it all, Byzan flew silently beside him and barely batted an eye when he growled out orders to leave him alone once they were within a Rulin stronghold.