The sound of an enemy howl rising over his lands woke Eligos from his sleep in an instant and he rose, nudging both dogs roughly. He stepped out of his cave and sent up a howl of his own that echoed through the ravine and beyond to call together the noncombats and instructed them to go to the predecided safe place - the deep caverns midway down the ravine wall that could be easily defended by one or two wolves. When he lowered his muzzle again, he turned to the dogs. "Kida, Cypher," he said sharply. "Gather the noncombats. Pyrrhic's pups must be kept safe." With the two dogs to help, the pups could be transported to the caverns quickly. He could not know what the invaders wanted, but he would not risk his brother's young.

As they took off with a set of yips in stereo, he turned to climb the steep path to the cavern to be certain it was ready for them. When they had arrived, he would set out to confront the raiders at his warriors' sides.

OOC: any wolf not participating in the raid should be posted here.

At the sound of a howl, Riva grabbed her bag, and grabbed her pups. Her bag, this time around, was too full of herbs to fit the vastly growing pups. Her smallest, and the one who had been sickly earlier in life, she would carry in her maw. Deus, she herded gently before her. She would not let her little energetic ball of fluff be distracted today.

As she moved towards the ravine, the dogs that followed Eligos found her, and she smiled, though distracted, at the both of them. “Kida, Cypher, is it bad?” she asked them as she let them lead her and pups in. Once there, she would begin setting up pelts and premade salves, prepared for cuts and broken bones, and the types of injuries sustained in batte. "Deus, give me a hand with this" she directed, placing her smaller pup on one of the pelts, and directing her larger to help snap out the larger bedding.

Deus was simply too happy to be somewhere he could call home to worry about the fighting going on next door, and as he was herded forwards the young pup made every attempt to veer off the path to explore. He could tell his mom was worried, but how could he just walk by all the new sights and smells without investigating? Eventually the malinois puppies appeared, and their presence was enough to keep Deus attentive to where he needed to go. He followed behind them happily, occasionally pouncing at and missing their long tails.

Once they'd reached the cavern the pup was ready to keep playing but the only one here was his uncle. He bounded over to the man, aiming to grasp one massive foreleg in his tiny paws and hug it tight. "Can't you stay and play, Uncle?" The boy asked, rubbing his face into Eligos' leg fur if he let him.

His mother's voice reached his ears and he grumbled an unintelligible sound, but eventually relented. Releasing his uncle he padded dejectedly over to the pelts and grasped an edge with his tiny jaws, struggling to help unfold it for his mother. Once the pelt was prepared he peered up at her. "Is Dad coming?" He asked with a frown. "I miss him, maybe he'll come play with me." A glance was given to his sister too, but he'd been told enough times not to play with her when she wasn't feeling well.

The call of intent echoed in Fel's ears. They were being invaded. A second call in a more familiar tone came shortly after. All those not fighting were to enter the caverns. Fel was still rather emaciated and weakened from her extensive travels. The dark woman would do no good in a fight in her present state and she knew it well. Soon though, now that she was surrounded by blood, soon she would return to her former glory. In the meantime she would stand as a line of defense between the invaders and the non combative members of the pack.

As wolves began to filter into the cavern, Fel took her place on a higher level near the entrance. From her vantage she would be able to see who was coming and going. She would also be able to hear clearly if a call of warning was given by those on the field.

The chipper, excited voice of a child met shadowed ears and Fel cringed slightly. There wasn't a mothering bone in her body. She could only hope that the pups would stay far away from her. Producing a family of her own wasn't something that she had ever wanted. The silver streaked fae was a support character in the story of Abraxas. She was more than accepting of her role.

Garnet eyes locked upon the land before her. She didn't know what these invaders wanted, but she offered up a silent prayer that her family would return unscathed. There was naught to do now but wait.

Saren awoke sharply to the sound of a howl. It wasn’t a tone he was quite familiar with but he could tell what it meant and it wasn’t anything good. The pack was going to have to fight and when wolves fought that meant wounds. As a healer he always prepared for these days but he hadn’t yet been thrust into action like this. It would be a good chance for him to practice healing under pressure, he wasn’t the only healer in the pack anymore so at least the entire burden didn’t fall onto him. Riva joining the pack had been a welcome addition, he was always on the hunt for healers he could learn from. Her pups were cute as well, he enjoyed the presence of pups as it made the area a little bit more lively.

Saren began to gather the herbs he knew would be useful, still not having a bag to carry them in he carried them in his mouth as well as having Silph carry some. The tiny lemur had come in handy plenty of times since they had met.

He made his way to the area that would serve as the center of operations for the healers, he would defer to Riva on healing matters this day. Upon arriving he found her trying to make preparations with her pups, one of which seemed to want to play rather than sit still. He set his herbs down on the ground and directed his words at Riva “what can I do to help?” It would do no good to have the two of them doing separate things as opposed to cooperating. Glancing down at the pup he said “If you’re good and help your mom and I I’ll play with you later.” He stopped to think for a moment “If you’ll have me that is.” He smiled let out a small chuckle. If he got the pup on his side then the chances of them getting in the way later were at least lessened, plus he wouldn’t mind having some fun after the inevitable stress of healing.

The tension in Eligos eased as Riva and the pups came into view, led by the malinois pair. He could see others trickling in, Saren and Fel. He was glad Fel had chosen to come here instead of joining the defenders - he knew that she had the benefit of training with Malleus when they were young, so she woukd be able to guard the caves from anyone who might attempt to bypass the battle to penetrate deeper into their territory. He glanced down as Riva and the pups entered the cave, and Deus threw himself onto Eligos to cling to his leg. Eli' grim expression softened, and he lowered his head to press his cheek to the pup's. "I am afraid not. I am going to join your father once you are settled. We will be back soon, I promise. Help your mother, now, and be strong. You are an Abraxas. We all do our part." He included the other pup in his words, and pressed his muzzle into her fur as well before sending Deus on his way to his mother's side with a pat.

"Riva. Thank you." She wasn't an Abraxas, and had only joined thr pack for Pyrrhic and her pups, yet when the time came she was matter-of-factly setting up her things to take care of the wounded while also taking care of her children. Pyrrhic, it seemed, had chosen a stromg woman. He'd chosen well. Eli could envy that.

Saren and Fel entered then, Fel immediately setting herself to guard, and Saren moving to assist Riva. He gave them each a nod of greeting, and considered their numbers. He was unsure if Loviat, the final member of the pack who was not a fighter, would choose to help the defenders or retreat here - the latter, he hoped, simce he had no reason to believe that she had ever fought and to do so now would be far too risky - but he couldn't wait here for her any longer. Though he trusted his pack in his absence, Aerie's warriors were too few to do without him for long. With one last long look around at the gathered noncombats, he stepped out of the cave with the malinois at his heels.

-exit-

Asmodeus tried to be strong at his uncle's words, even when he was told his father too would be participating in the fight. The gentle affection was relaxing and he leaned into Eligos' cheek before being sent on his way. Saren - a wolf he'd seen in passing but had not quite met yet - came along next, offering to play with him when he was done helping mom. "Okay." His sad reply came, though quickly the mood vanished and tail began to wag once more with anticipation. "I want to play... tag!" Deus decided after a minute, moving to rub up against his cousin. "You're gonna be 'it' first." The pup looked over at his sister, grinning. Hopefully she'd feel well enough to play, too!

Another thought crossed his mind and he moved to his mother, scratching at her leg with a paw for her attention. "Is dad gonna be okay?" He had spent most of Deus' young life in a sick bed, and the pup worried how Pyrrhic could possible do battle when some days he couldn't hardly play.



"Speech"

The trip from the den to the meeting place passed in a drowsy fog for the tiny sleeping Abraxas girl. She was so used to being carried around that being picked up barely registered. Any jolts or bumps caused her to stir, mutter, and kick a bit but then she'd go limp again and faded off into dreamland, her mouth parted just far enough to let out small whistling snores. It was only once she was set down that she jolted awake and stayed awake.  

Dantalian settled down on the pelt for all of two seconds before an energy she hadn't possessed pre-nap perked her up into an upright, sphinyx-like position. Like her father she was sick often, but unlike him, her good times were really good. And right now was one of those times. She felt great. Like, run around in circles, climb walls and/or mom and paint the ravine with mud great. She would not be swathed in blankets anymore today! Nope, on her good days it was almost like instinct demanded she make up for lost time because she raced from new thing to new thing, exploring every inch of her surroundings with wild abandon.

A small gaggle of relatives soon converged on the spot and Dantalian's attention darted from face to face as she tried to understand why they were gathered. She vaguely remembered a howl of warning rousing her some time before her mother picked her up. Another dim memory, this one of her father saying something about joining the defenders, surfaced. There was fighting? Immediately her thoughts flashed back to her father's stories. While sick, she'd often snuggle and commiserate with her father. He'd entertain her for hours with stories about valiant Abraxas heroes subduing backward heathen hordes, and it was with those stories in mind she watched as uncle Eligos walked away. Dantalian puffed out her chest. Like those olden tyme Abraxas it was her duty to fight too!

After twisting a pelt around her like a cape Dantalian leaped excitedly after Eligos. She was gonna fight the heathens.

-exit unless stopped-

Fel didn't like children. She would never be a mother unless it was requested that she further their line. They made her uncomfortable. They were small, breakable little idiots that were loud, smelled funny, and were a leech upon those around them.

From her perch up high, Fel watched the interactions between the pack. She was a woman apart having been gone for so long. Being near the rest made her feel like a stranger. She was envious of the affection that Eligos had shown the pups. He certainly hasn't been happy to see her upon her return. When her brother turned to leave, she didn't say a word. The silver striped fae merely sat up high, eyes on the world outside the cavern.

Movement from below caught her attention and Fel looked down just in time to see a fur caped pup making her way out of the cave. Wrinkling her nose, the dark woman considered letting the little rodent wander off, but Eligos had shown such love towards the creature that she couldn't do it. With a sigh, Fel dropped from above, placing herself in the child's path. "Go back to your mother. The warriors won't be able to fight if they have to keep you safe." She deemed that explanation enough. With one paw, she aimed to turn the child around and send it back onto the cavern.

Dantalian skidded to a halt as Fel blocked her path suddenly. Her ears fell back at the sudden intrusion, but she was only dismayed for a second. She could get around this obstacle, she just needed to think. It was for that reason her surprised expression quickly shifted to a thoughtful frown. The small pup, made all the more tiny looking by the goliath blocking her, was quiet for a second as her mind scrambled to come up with a good counter. Before a reply could come to her, Fel's paw began to steer her back towards the others. Affronted by this, Dantalian resisted the push, her paws skidding through the dirt as she fought to not lose ground. Her mouth opened in protest but nothing came out immediately.

Finally, in the hopes of stopping the shove she was losing against, she cried, "No, wait, let me explain!"She just wanted to help! If Fel would just let her talk she'd promise to do her very best and not get in anybody's way! "I'll be sneaky! I'll wait until the heathens are diser-diser-dis-er-acted and then I'll bite them on the butt where they can't get me and when they're dis-er-acted the good Abraxas can chew them up and, and, and..." Dantalian ran out of things to say so she just peered up at Fel pleadingly hoping she'd understand. She just wanted to help!

Riva had just finished laying out her salves, greeting the wolves that came in, and ensuring the coats were held down, when she heard a conmotion. She looked up in time to see Pys sister (Fel?) As she dropped down before her smallest pup.

Riva was quick to rush forward, givin Deus a stern look in passing - she didnt want him getting any ideas, either - and went to grab her pup.

The little one was trying to tell the warrior guarding their safe house, why she should be allowed out. "Thank you, Fel. need your help HERE little flower" she said gently. Perhaps if she gave the tint girl something to do, it might be more fun and appealing to stay. Not that she was about to allow her to leave. She went to grab the girl by her scruff, so she could take her back to her spread mats.

With One Fel Swoop The child tried to offer reasons that she should be let out into the world. Garnet eyes narrowed at the girl and Fel simply said, "No." Thankfully the rodents mother came to collect it and take it elsewhere. The woman thanked her by name and the silver streaked woman merely nodded. She didn't know the mother's name, but she would surely learn it eventually. With the child taken care of, Fel leaped back atop the slab of stone where she'd been standing guard. She wanted to know what was happening out there. She wanted everyone to come back in one piece. Once more she offered up a prayer to the Fallen God. Others worshiped in different ways, but Fel had always had a more personal, one on one relationship with her deity. She hoped he was listening. "Speech"

The pup that Saren offered to play with later gladly took him up on it with the intention of playing tag. Saren waited for any form of direction, but it seemed that Riva bypassed him entirely as she went to go collect the small pup who had wandered off trying to leave. He understood that being a parent wasn’t exactly easy and that she was probably distracted with her children enough that she couldn’t really focus on him, knowing that didn’t stop it from hurting though. Saren wanted to be ready to help people when the time came. He was fine with keeping pups busy, but he also wanted to learn and be a part of the action. He couldn’t just let somebody else do the job he wanted to be doing while he was relegated to daycare. Saren had to think, there had to be something for him to do. This was a serious battle, what kind of injuries would there be? Most likely the small stuff like bruises and bite marks, but there was also the possibility for more serious stuff. Broken bones and deep cuts would hopefully be the worst of it, maiming was a possibility but he hoped that wasn’t something they would have to deal with. He didn’t quite know what he would do if somebody came back missing something. The first step he decided on was getting water. They would need water to clean blood off of wounds so they could see what they were doing better. He was about to head for his den to grab a clay bowl when it occurred to him. He couldn’t just walk up to the lake and grab water, that was where the fighting would be taking place. It was doubtful that they would just let a healer walk in and walk out unscathed. What on earth was he supposed to be doing here?! He got a lot of his healing resources from the land around the lake since it was dirt and grass as opposed to stone like the ravine. They better not trample any of his herb plants or else they’d have another problem to deal with. Why didn’t he have the forethought to have everything he needed down here with him already, man was he stupid. He’d stumped himself. He wanted to be of use but he didn’t know what Riva was thinking about and due to his own stupidity he’d left himself unprepared. He just had no idea.

NEVER LOOK BACK

It was slightly funny to her that she had just come to Aerie for it to be subjected to a raid. Not that Loviat figured she would be involved at all. Not only did she lack the training but she was also a hunter so when the call rang out she made her way as fast as she could. There though was a lot of unfamiliar faces. The scared female tried to stay back giving everyone their space through the worry and the panic. Eligos was quick to leave probably to support the other fighters. Loviat almost was overwhelmed, but she refused to let herself become reserved in such a situation. It seemed that there were pups here that needed to be wrangled. The female would stand closer to her fellow pack mates. "Excuse me my name is Loviat, I'm new but if you need me to do anything let me know." babysit the pups? Sure she could do that. Get some food for the children, that too. Either way she refused to be utterly useless.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

Riva, with her pup in tow, returned to her first-aid setup. She smiled at Saren, she had had a chance to greet the boy briefly at his entrance, before she was forced to run after her little one. “Sorry Saren, I fear i’m always kept on my toes these days…” she apologised. “If I can have your help assessing the wounds as the warriors arrive, that would be appreciated. I don’t want to overlook something that can fester if things start to get busy” she explained. She was surprised that the established healer would look to her, but she would take it. She had spent her entire life learning this trade, and knew to take whatever resources were offered to help those she could. She had no doubt that Saren would be a valuable resource.

When a stranger approached her, she smiled at the woman, “I’m Riva Nightingale, thank you. Are you a healer? If not, I would greatly appreciate it if you can help me keep an eye on the pups” she suggested.

"Speech"

Asmodeus had been watching his sister intently, secretly cheering her on as she attempted to chase after Eli to help the Aerie wolves defend their home. At the woman's interruption of her plan, Deus frowned. He had to help Danta, but how? There were so many adults here, how could he take all their eyes off the door long enough for his little-big-sister to sneak out?

It occurred to him suddenly, and he wandered aimlessly around the cavern until he found a crack in the walls. His nose he stuck into the crack, and then with a loud and startling yelp fell backwards away from it holding his paws over his tiny nose. "Ow! Ow!" The pup cried out as loud as he possibly could, throwing himself onto his back and kicking at the air in the most dramatic fashion. "A big thing, it bit my nose! I can feel the blood going into my brain!" The pup continued his flailing, sobbing, occasionally sneaking a glance towards his sister to see if she'd made an escape or not.



"Speech"

The healer was jerked away from Loviat as her largest son began to thrash. “Grab Danta, check her for snakes or bugs!” she barked swiftly as Loviat, and had to trust that her or Saren would jump to do so. If there was one, there could be more, and Dante was her smallest, weakest child. She would always be crazy protective of the girl.

Before she had finished speaking, she was already jumping forward, grabbing Deus and pinning him to the ground with her shoulder, she grabbed at his nose with a paw, and pushed a claw into his nostril, widening the entrance to see what she was dealing with, and... would find no evidence of blood or that an insect had passed into his nose. Reaching into the bag about her shoulder, she grabbed for some peppermint and pepper, pressing them into a cloth, and holding it to her pups nose, and waited for the violent sneeze that would surely erupt.

Though it didn't appear she had, if Dantalian had any chance of getting through to Fel her hopes were dashed as her mother was suddenly on the scene. For reasons the girl simply couldn't fathom, her mother too was against the idea of Dantalian doing her very important Abraxas duty by helping the fighters. What was so wrong with her going? She was helpful! She may not have been big or strong but she'd heard lots of stories about fighting and she knew how it always played out. The righteous Abraxas guys always won and the baddies had to be their prisoners! If her daddy was going to crush skulls and take prisoners then by god she was going to as well!

"But, but, but-" she protested as she was picked up by her scruff and hauled away from the entrance. "Daddy needs me!" Dantalian sighed in exasperation. Fine. She'd help mom with the boring plant stuff. Because duty or whatever. But she wasn't going to like it! The day the plants learned to fight back was the day she'd be interested in them, but until then, if mom asked it of her, she supposed she'd help just to be good.

She was plonked down suddenly as her brother began to yell about something biting him. Like her mother, Dantalian was instantly consumed by concern for Asmodeus. She forgot about helping their dad. If something got Asmodeus then she was going to go after whatever had gotten him and bite it back on his behalf!

Intent on avenging him, Dantalian followed closely on Riva's heels. That is, until she caught her brother's eye. He was her only sibling and for that reason she could read him well. It took her all of two seconds to realize what he was up to. She skidded to a halt and then looked around in a panic when her mother sicced the healer goons on her. Neither were yet moving in her direction.

Thinking on her feet, Dantalian cried, "I'm okay! I'll sit up here where nothing can get me!" She quickly scrabbled up onto a short outcropping and sat down obediently. After that she fell quiet hoping no one would pay her any more attention while Asmodeus was so clearly the one who needed all eyes on him.

NEVER LOOK BACK

Loviat was quick to react to being told what to do. She didn't know if it was because of her old occupation or not but she leapt forward to gently grab the pup on his scruff if she could. Nosing the thing with her nose to look over his body. "Where did it bite you?" she had heard something about his nose but she wanted to be sure. Searching the rest of him through his fur for any bugs, it didn't seem like there was a snake but one could never be too careful. It was dangerous to not be sure though. Loviat looked for some help through her fellow pack mates and those who were here. She was no healer and the best she could do was offer support not answers. So far she couldn't find anything but another set of eyes maybe would help deduce what had happened.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN