Skirmish struggles.

Nuria coordinated the attack from a position not too far from the action. Seizing a stronghold like this would be beneficial to their efforts, but the plan didn't seem to be working as intended. But she was hearing reports of concentrated efforts to put out fires. "I want those positions concentrated on. Burn them all to ash." She orders, putting a helmet on and grabbing her spear. "It's time, order the troops to jump the walls and start clearing out the enemy forces."

Market would be by her side at the time of the report, and so he made an assessment of his own to share while erecting a barrier to block oncoming artillery explosive rockets in advance. "Could be a munitions depot among those spots. We set fire to it, we might just end this with a bang... Let's just make sure we don't get caught in it ourselves..."

The troops would certainly have an easier time hopping low over the walls, but that didn't meant the opposition was give up just yet. Between spears and tower shields at their position, the Minotaurs were putting up a tough resistance still near the ground. Either someone had to get in close and personal to risk their life for causing chaos, or a different but thorough tactic was taken to destroy the key positions.

Nuria nodded at the suggestion and got another idea. "Have the artillery fire on those positions if they can." She said. "If they're going to defend it, then they can die with it as well." She gave the locations of the depots to a runner and had him take them to the artillery commander who was a ways off.

She herself hopped over the wall as well and made her way to the front, breathing a thick wall of fire and encouraging her warriors to do the same. The heat of the flame would surely keep the minotaurs from seeing well and hopefully push them back and stagger their formations.

It would be a slow, but ultimately successful push when Nuria's entire front-line worked together to force the Minotaurs into defense as even they had a hard time using their own artillery with the fire bombs falling around them, and the hot wall of flames made it damn near impossible to advance even with their large shields. To top it off, Market put all of his focus into elemental magic as his horn shone a golden brown, and forced the trenches in their path to collapse upon themselves, burying any foes that stubbornly remained under, and allowed their ground forces to move with more ease and less opposition.

When the bombarding went on, a very large and loud explosion would follow along with rockets firing all over randomly. "Take cover!!" yelled some of the commanders, while Market moved right over to Nuria to deflect any rocked coming her way from a distance...

Nuria turned to look at the explosion for only a second, then returned to battle, charging a Minotaur while he was distracted and breaking the defensive line, stabbing him straight through the skull as he was foolish enough to let his shield drop. With the line broken, her warriors would then start to easily overpower the minotaurs, taking strides across the battlefield and rushing their enemy without mercy

While things would continue to go well for Nuria and her troops, the panicking of the Minotaurs was one thing, but the fireworks left a lot of damage in their wake as smoke built up quickly and fires began to spread through the settlement by the minute. From time to time, lingering rockets lit up and loud bangs and sudden explosions at random were sure to cause some disorientation now and then. The battle was almost done, but getting carried away might cause some trouble in the chaotic battleground...

Nuria shields her own eyes from the bright explosions. Her ears started to ring as they wracked her senses. But soon it was clear that she was winning. She smirked and breathed flame at another group of minotaurs, attempting to either set them alight, or to push them into the already forming flames.

The ranks of the enemy were thinning, and she orders a final push to finish them off. The air would be soaked with blood and smoke if she was going to have her way with it.

... And have her way she would. Nuria's forces would in fact come out on top of their first major victory some time later. What started off as a highly volatile and bright battlefield was now a crater filled scorched terrain all around. The fires had gone uncontrolled and there was little to salvage from the location aside from some basic supplies that survived. When the fires did die down, it left a dark and quiet settlement of fallen bodies. Many of Nuria's forces would now anxiously look upon her, some scarred, some bloodied, and some full of lust for battle for what followed.

Market quietly stood by her side, armor never giving away his expression...

Nuria stepped through the black powder of the battlefield, her expression stoic and cold. She felt no remorse for the minotaurs she had laid waste to, nor any regret in her decision. She ordered a quick comb over for useful supplies and was soon on her way to meet with her commanders about what move to make next, and to find out how much further she needed to march her army.

Two Commanders in particular stood forth and began to brief Nuria as needed. The one on the left began. "Your Highness, if we keep going straight ahead, we'll likely find another settlement much like this one and reinforced opposition. Taking the North route will take us to the great hill fortress. Mostly those bit grubbing griffons stationed there. Defeating them might just allow us go through the open plains with more ease."

Then came the one on the right to speak almost instantly and with more vigor. "Your Majesty, if we go East we can take on one of their greedy crude dragon dwellings in the mountains and take down a good chunk of their muscle! If we can beat them, we can annihilate all of them no matter what routes we take!"

Nuria weighs the two options and thinks about the consequences. Taking out a stronghold of griffin would make travel across the plains easier, yes. And they could take the stronghold easily with their superior strength. But taking out a hold of dragons would be just as, if not more beneficial. And her army's numbers were still strong.

"We will take the dragons. But we must be cautious." She says. If there was anything a Kirin knew better, it was not to take dragons lightly. They were large, mean, and vicious when they wanted to be. Normally her kind lived in peace with dragons, but these had been corrupted by their greed and we're no longer considered friend. "I want you to send someone to scout the path ahead and find the best route. If we're going to do this, it must be quickly and with little mistake. It would be best to set the ballistae outside of the hold to hit it if it tries to fly away. Get our best operators to use them."

It would take some time, but as the army marched on afterwards towards the mountainous dwelling of the dragons, a report would come back in the early morning of the dark night. The report would indicate that unlike the griffon fortress, the mountain provided a superior defense overall for the dragons both big and small. The only notable feature was the lack of symmetry of the terrain and caves, and paths would more likely be unpredictable for those approaching it than those coming from it. There were always at least a dozen dragons on flight patrol at any one time over the wide area overhead; Patrols within the wall of the mountains was unknown. The only thing would appear to be a quick and easy path was to call them out all at once, as the other alternatives lacked any definitive results yet. The final decision and judgement rested solely upon Nuria once more...

Nuria stops her army in a safe position and had them ready the balistae and artillery. She would have them begin by taking out the patrolling dragons, which would hopefully lure them out. "Be cautious." She advised her warriors. "You know how dragons are. Watch yourselves and the warrior next to you."

She strip herself of any heavy armor. It would be almost useless against the dragons and she would need any mobility she could get. She advised her warriors to do the same. "Ready the artillery." She said once more. "... Fire when ready."

To an extent, the plan would work when it came to the luring as when a few of the dragon patrols did in fact start chasing after the ones they did spot, but that also meant their own signal went out as their roars and shrieks pierced the night, and slowly but surely, echoes of roars would traverse the mountainside... It had begun: The fight had been taken to the dragons themselves. One by one, drakes would come out to join the hunt for the spotted foes, but it was clear much of the mountain still concealed a large number that was on stand-by. Quickly, the dragons would chase after those they hunted. As to where they followed, they were not yet fully aware... for now.

Nuria had the ballistae aim at the nearest drakes first, launching gigantic bolts at the beasts with deadly precision. She readies herself for the first of the drakes to arrive. It was somewhat surreal. Standing there, naught but the scales on her back and a spear, waiting for the enemy to meet her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. This was what the warrior part of her craved. What the warrior part of her wanted most. She reaches her spear out as the first drake lands right in front of her, aiming to pierce it straight in the heart.

((Heavy weight champs.))

There was success in the initial luring and sniping of the enemy drakes, even the one she attacked was not expecting such resistance from a mere hunt, but not all drakes and dragons in the area had been struck simultaneously, and word of a skirmish rather than a hunt would spread. The mountain rumbled with roars of fury and lust for battle as more drakes appeared by the dozen from the caves, followed by a few mid-sized ones as well.

This time, the ones that came to fight were much more aware and alert for what was going on, and as a show of their might and cunning, several of them would dive at Nuria's forces with rock and stone in their grasp, protecting themselves better as they approached to pelt their foes and devices hard, while others focused on lighting up the battlefield better under the night sky with furious flames coming their way.

Nuria yanked her spear from the drake's heart, having slain it quickly, and moved on to the next. The call of the dragons made her spine shiver. But she avoided the dragon with the stone and rock and moved closer to where the dragons were landing, taking her shield to guard against any flame sent her way. She left the working of the ballistae up to their respective officers.

Tough the shield would aid her well, it would be of minor comfort once some of the drakes got close enough for a tackle as they had no problems bashing their naturally tough scaly bodies upon the Kirins armor and weapons if it meant making things up close and personal. That also likely meant some of her soldiers would be forced off balance even if they got a hit in as the dragons in general where hardly hesitant about fighting head on even if it meant taking direct piercings from spears to get at their foes.

Such was their bloodlust and greed for victory that they did not even fear death as the fight was brought to them. And so did one of them, nearly twice the size of Nuria, swop down right at her with a rock in his grasp as he roared to take her down. The rest of her troops would probably start off well taking down some of them from a distance, but many protected themselves well with the stones they carried, and once they were fired at, they dropped and tossed the boulders at her troops, rolling and falling onto the ground and her artillery little by little and reducing their anti-air effectiveness while forcing them to break formation, or break their bones.

Nuria found herself knocked to the ground and injured from a hard hit. She only bled a little, but the sting kept her from pursuing further, putting her on the defensive. Most of the balistae teams abandoned their equipment, lest they be crushed by stone, but some were not so lucky. Several lines of Kirin were crushed by the rolling Stones than barreled through the battlefield.

"Take it to the skies!" One commander shouts. "To the skies and fight them!" At the order, warriors would being to take off from the ground and start fighting the drakes in the air. The manueverability was much greater there, with no threat of being crushed.

Another dragon would come towards Nuria, but this one would be shot down before he got any closer by none other than Market with a focused raw energy shot that pierced through its chest with a small blast before he moved to her side to heal her wounds with magic. "Sheesh, their tactics are more brutal now than ever! I've never seen them this bloodlust..." He was referring to the dragons. Whether their own greed got to them or an outside force, none would ever really know with how far the battles have come.

With their ballistae no longer as effective against the brutal cunning dragons, the fight would be taken to the skies, though Market remained with Nuria for now as he watched for more oncoming threats. "Ma'am, I can't really Float very fast normally in a battle like this... I'd have to hitch a ride if I'm supposed to keep up with you."

Nuria shook her head and stood. "No, remain here on the ground and use your magic!" She says. "I'll stay with you. We still have penty to deal with here." She grabs her spear and confronts another drake on the ground, hissing and growling back at it. He takes her spear and throws it violently, piercing the drake and then running up to finish it off.

"Very well! Haaah!!" Market would fight alongside of Nuria as fierce as any of her own warriors, not hesitating to start by forcing thrown rocks to fall upon the heads and paths of the enemy forces while she and her kin fought valiantly against the dragons.

It would start off as a slow uphill battle, but her forces were still going strong, and her aerial forces proved to be a superior match against their own having discarded armor for mobility. Nonetheless, it seemed the dragons would only keep coming from each cave time and again; Fire, roars, and stone raining hellishly from the skies, even Market could not prevent many of them from falling over the allies of Nuria still on the ground as he kept her safe instead while fighting on. It was almost as if they had picked a fight with a living volcano monster.

In time though, a sudden burst of a wall of flames would emerge from the larger caves as a familiar sight appeared: The survivor of the giant trio of dragons had come forth to gaze upon the battle, its voice booming over the battlefield. "You miserable fledgelings think you can beat us!? You've left your land, and now you've come to be devoured!!" With a frighteningly ear shattering howl, other larger dragons would emerge from behind the mountain as they climbed and flew above it with more reinforcements, their tactics once more relying on brute force... as they simply bundled together in large groups and sent wall after wall of flames in their collective effort as they always sought to go straight for the biggest bundle of Kirins they could see all at once and force them to break formation, or suffer a head on collision with pure muscle as it was hard for the orders of Nuria's commanders to be heard over the roars of the dragon leaders themselves.

Nuria looked on as the larger dragon revealed itself. He heart sank into her stomach as she saw the other dragons coming over the mountain like a river of scales. "... They never end..." She says with a look of despair. She now felt the fatigue in her muscles and how winded she was. Her body ached from battle and her mind was clouded.

"What have I done?.."

"Nuria!? Nuria!! Move!!!" With a frantic yell, Market had to be very quick and precise in jabbing and stabbing several drakes with levitated weapons that were about to harm her as they began to get surrounded slowly by them. "Nuria, get a hold of yourself! Gah!!" He was then forced to block a wall of fire with a magic barrier, Nuria's hesitance in the middle of battle likely about to cost her rather deeply as three more drakes came for her, one from above with a rock, one from the side, and one charging from straight ahead. Without order being restored to her troops soon, the tide of battle would begin to turn in favor of the dragons this time on their turf.

Nuria snapped back to reality and looked around at the dire situation. She raised her spear again, looking fearful and defensive. "Dammit!" She shouted at herself. She lunged at the dragon to the side, trying to regain her courage. But she still felt the fatigue in her muscles, though she tried to block it out.