Magically Appeared (TFF Royalty RP)

[Musicmuse]

The short, wavy red locks of hair grew slowly past her shoulders. As they lengthened, the color deepened to a chocolate brown and the curls evened out into a sleek, straight style with one fluid motion. The growth stopped at the small of her back, and Niah ran her fingers down through her new hair as she flipped it over her shoulder. She secured it into a loose ponytail with a thick mahogany barrette and rose from her wooden stool to finish dressing. She slipped out of her beautiful silk robe and folded it neatly over her dressing screen, its ornate design glimmering in the candlelight. Her night had come to an end, and now Niah had to leave all of her beautiful things behind and return to reality.

Her boss had once asked Niah why she always regressed back to the same appearance every night when she could be a new person at whim. Niah's response had been that it was nice to have an identity. Sure, she could be whomever she wanted, but after pretending to be everyone else it was refreshing to regain her sense of self and return to some form of familiarity. Mother Luna, as they all affectionately called her, had smiled at Niah's response and bid her goodnight. Tonight, however, Mother Luna seemed preoccupied as she sat in the corner counting the revenue that had been brought in by her girls.

Niah slid her scarlet woolen robe over her slender body and tied her thick black leather belt across her waist as she studied her boss' expression. For a moment Luna glanced up at Niah and then flicked her eyes back down to the piles of coins before her. Niah smirked as her eyebrow lifted, and she walked over to where Luna sat.

"What's on your mind, Mother Luna?" Niah asked gently.

Luna shook her head dismissively and waved her hand as to suggest that this was a silly question. "Just thinking," was her reply. The coins clinked as they were stacked, and Niah stood patiently at Luna's side awaiting a more sincere response. Luna begrudgingly shifted her gaze back up to meet Niah's eye and exhaled slowly.

"I really shouldn't be saying anything," Luna started, "but you know how fond I am of you. Jut know that I'll probably get into a lot of trouble over this." Mother Luna's thick fingers continued to sort the money in front of her, but the stacks were now uneven and it was clear that the motion was only a nervous habit. Niah's gentle smile faded and washed away from her face, replaced now by a hardened concern.

"It's that man again, isn't it?" Niah inquired.

Luna nodded wearily. "I think he knows, Niah. He's been in here almost every night for a week, and he keeps asking me about you. I've tried to avoid the conversation, but tonight he pressed me about your brother and sister."

Niah felt her jaw clench and her shoulders tensed up immediately. "You didn't tell him anything, right?"

"Oh, of course not," Luna answered with a hiss, "but I don't think it matters. He knows something -- I think he might work for Pilner."

The coin stacking had stopped, replaced with a heavy silence that suffocated the pair. All of these years in hiding had been in vain.

"I told him you weren't even around that much, and since I saw him coming in I sent you to the back room to entertain tonight..." Mother Luna's voice trailed off. "He knew about Orion."

Niah's body visibly buckled as this information hit her. She might as well have been bludgeoned over the head with the way her head began to pound. She felt queasy and weak and had to prop herself up by clutching the nearby counter-top, and Mother Luna rose from her chair to assist her.

"When you disappear, they'll know it was me who tipped you off," Luna continued, "but it's a risk I'm willing to take if it ensures your safety." Luna was moving toward the dresser across the room now, her large figure waddling across the floor, but she didn't stop speaking. She slipped open the top drawer and fished out a little brown satchel from underneath a few silk robes. "I've been anticipating this would happen for some time now," she explained, "so I set aside a few coins for you. I've also been in contact with my dear friend Artifus in Lothua, and he's expecting you."

Niah sat listening in a daze, still trying to keep herself from fainting. As she steadied herself, Luna crossed back over to her with the money bag and put her meaty arm on Niah's trembling shoulder. Niah managed to utter a feeble 'thank you' as she took the satchel, and Luna hoisted her up onto her feet again and looked her warmly in the eye.

"I know you'll be fine," Luna reassured her. "Just make sure you leave right away. Don't tell anyone where you're going, and for the gods' sake please be careful!"

Luna ushered Niah out the door and tried to hold back tears as Niah stumbled weakly toward her home. She shook her head to regain her senses, and scurried across the dark village to where her sleeping siblings waited, unaware of the journey they were all about to begin.

[Aerif]

The queue stretched far past the doctor’s office and around the library, it went as far as the weapon shop and then stopped, but at the rear of the weapon shop there where large crowds arguing whether they should take their chances and join the queue, after all, it was only an hour or two’s wait. Many did not see where the queue ended, the narrow avenue that the queue led into was usually too congested by paying customers and those who had nothing better to do but waste their money, the ones who did not see the beginning cared not however, just as long as they eventually arrived at the front was all they wanted.

Many of those who waited in the queue had no idea what to ask or what to say too the man who was standing at the destination of the queue, many even forgot why they where queuing. But the one thing they always, always knew; was that they wanted to reach the front at all costs. It could mean eternal happiness for them.

His expertise was well known throughout the town, his every word was taken seriously and those who encountered him where in awe of his abilities, Igentile always took advantage of this. His motto was too take advantage of every paying customer he had, nobody in the village ever doubted his powers and that was how he made his money. By performing Psychic arts.

“Ah! Kasumi-fem, I have been predicting your arrival…”Igentile spoke slyly, as if he was calculating the exact words to speak for the next few hours.

“That is quite remarkable Igentile-profe, I had been told of your gifts and decided only a few hours ago that I wanted to see you.” Kasumi responded, amazed.

“So… Gullible…”

“Kasumi-fem, I am aware that you recently suffered a loss… I believe it was your husband, Ryu-son?”

“Yes, that is amazing, how did you…?”

“Gossip travels fast" Kasumi seemed to be gullible beyond belief!

“The all-seeing do not reveal their secrets to just anyone Kasumi-fem, it is and explanation that literal minds cannot hope to understand. You do understand Kasumi-fem, don’t you?”

“Er…” She sounded unsure.

“Of course you do, now why are you here?”

“Don’t you know? I thought that you where psychic Igentile-profe?”

“Kasumi-fem, if you found someone’s diary you would not pick it up and read it. One does not delve into another’s mind without prior consent.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Igentile-profe. Well you see my problem is…”

Appointments like this took place in Igentile’s office, a small room in a friend’s house; this was to avoid the public learning where he lived, and to avoid unnecessary interruptions. However, during that particular appointment with Miss Kasumi-fem, there was an interruption. Igentile’s wife, Natsume.

“I’m sorry about this, Hayate-fil, but something terrible has happened…” Natsume said hurriedly

"Shouldn’t Igentile-profe know that already?” Kasumi interrupted

“Be quiet Kasumi-fem or you shall be charged extra!”

[Victoria]

Kisara opened her eyes and stared at Matsuri. She cleared her throat and twirled her rod. It pressed against the ground with a thud as Kisara spotted a figure. One of their arms glowed as if on fire. She shook her head and sighed.

“I'll come back for you, stranger.” she thought to herself as she concentrated her focus upon Matsuri again.

“Matsuri, you know what to do, right?” she queried.

“Hmm... It's been a while, I'm not sure if I remember correctly.” she scratched her forehead and closed her eyes and attempted to ponder.

“Focus on a location you want to go to, remember? I don't know where the Lothua underground is located, so that's why I need you to focus on it. Then I will focus on your mind, and we'll get there in no time.” She walked in front of Matsuri and held her hand.

“I almost forgot. You have to touch me for it to work.” She added.

“Oh, right. I remember now. Thanks for reminding me.” Matsuri took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Her mind's eye recalled the scenic area of her underground residence. The stone sidewalks and wooden buildings. Several skylights to let in the sunlight and fresh air. The main thing she focused on was her own residence within the underground. A two story house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. One story of her house was dedicated to keep her body in the best shape at all times with exercise equipment.

She put her hand on Kisara's shoulder and nodded. Her mind was focused on where they needed to go. Kisara nodded and closed her eyes. She concentrated on Matsuri's mind as the atmosphere around them transformed to that of a surrounding of Matsuri's neighborhood.

A few people made their way along the path as Kisara looked around the scenery. Matsuri patted Kisara on her shoulder and pointed to her house.

“Right on, we warped right in front of my house.” Matsuri grinned.

Kisara glanced at the house and looked up at the second story.

A second later, they heard a large explosion nearby and noticed a lot of smoke.

“Quick, let's see what happened!” Matsuri suggested. “This can't be good!”

The two ran toward the explosion in an organized panic to see if anyone had been hurt or injured, but when they arrived, they saw someone they had searched for...

[Aerif]

Kasumi-fem was about to protest, however before she had the chance to open her mouth Natsume had closed the screen door over. Igentile observed that his wife had closed over the door with an unusual sense of urgency, this unnerved him, it must really be something terrible.

“Natsume-fil… What’s the matter?”

He did not get an answer right away, but he waited nonetheless, when Natsume finally spoke she did so with a shaky and nervous tone.

“Doctor Kawashima-profe… He abandoned his patient, calling out your name for advice. Apparently he says he’s going to the nearest city for psychological help unless he receives your help!”

“Why me? I know nothing about medicine!” Igentile exclaimed.

“Read the Kawashima-profe’s mind then!”

“THAT’S IT! KASUMI-FEM, YOU’RE GETTING CHARGED FOR DOUBLE PEAK TIME!”

Kasumi made no more complaints.

“He says it’s something to do with witchcraft or something… And since psionics are connected to the paranormal…”

“So you’re saying that Kawashima-profe is going to lock himself in a mental institution if I don’t help him?”

“That about sums it up… Yes…”

“Summarised, I don’t have a choice”

“You only have yourself to blame, Hayate-fil,” she lowered her voice, “the whole psychic scam is going to far!”

“Well… Anything that puts the food upon the table, and pays the people to cook it, catch it and serve it, has to be a good thing right?”

“You’ve gone mad for money!”

***

They made Kasumi-fem pay the bill, thankfully she had forgotten why she had came to Igentile’s office, she had also forgotten that no treatment had taken place. The bill was a few days salary for her, however she didn’t seem to mind the steep price.

Natsume took her husband to the doctor’s office, the doctor, a round and balding middle-aged man was also a popular person for visits in the mountain town. He received a lot of customers, almost as many as Igentile the psychic or Nakamura the farmer, and this was the first time in his 20 years of medicine practice that he had encountered a serious problem.

“Ah, thank you for bringing your husband Natsume-fem, now I’ll show you both how urgent the case is.” Kawashima spoke with a firm yet friendly tone, their was a sign of bewilderment in his eyes.

He took the two into the back of his practice, there was a strong smell of blood mixed with medicines in the air, Natsume wrinkled her nose.

“Ayame-fem, are you decent?”

“I am doctor!”

“Well come out from behind the screen then”

As soon as Ayame stepped out from behind the screen it was obvious where the smell of blood was coming from, the teenagers face told the surgery’s visitors that she was in pain, though apparently it was a pain that she had become accustomed too as she didn’t seem to be crying anymore. There where two scarlet fountains coming from her wrists.

“I just don’t understand it, Igentile-profe. She’s been bleeding for hours, she’s lost too much blood yet she still stands!”

Natsume made a movement towards Ayame, as though to put her arm around her, she took a step forward and froze looking down at her feet. The part where Ayame was standing was at a slightly lower level, as Natsume took the step down she found herself standing ankle-deep in a pool of crimson. There was definetly something wrong.

“Ayame-fem, did you cut yourself with suicidal intentions?”

Ayame’s eyes filled up with tears, she sniffed then spoke in a barely interpretable manner,

“N-No, I woke u-up this m-morning with a p-pain in my wrists. I-I didn’t cut myself, s-someone d-did it when I was sleep-ping!”

“Kawashima-profe, have either of you notified the detective?”

“I sent Joy-fil as soon as Ayame-fem came in. The detective arrived and questioned Ayame-fem, then he left to try to find the culprit. He came back an hour ago and was just as surprised as me to find Ayame-fem still with us.”

“This is all very peculiar, Ayame-fem, might I see your wrists…?”

[Andromeda]

The trail had gone cold quickly, a little too quickly for someone that should be too inexperienced to travel across the open wild. Wihnem had tracked the last steps of his target to the edge of the village. However, it suddenly disappeared completely as though she had leapt in the air to fly away. He did not believe that to be the case, but simply disappearing was no explanation either. It left him stumped for hours leading him south with out direction beyond the last heading she was going before she vanished.

That had been three days ago and now he was crossed over into the Jumin border into Pilner for nearly no reason. He made stops at ever tavern and village along the road trying to gather clues on his mysterious ghost. But no one seemed to know of anything of a woman using lightning. Wihnem had been tempted to turn around and search in a new direction, but had continued down the road. Now he was glad that he had followed his instincts.

Those instincts had led him to a border village on the north side of the Jumin-Pilner line. The village was peaceful for being on the line after the two-year war between Jumin Pilner a few years back. There were few signs left that had the markings of war, only the observant could see two-patterned construction on houses or walls. Even if the war was gone the people could still remember it clearly as well as the Pilner that would stare at them from the other side. Many of the people in Pilner were eying the villages along the border for subversion into their religion. It was a constant threat to keep out the fanatics.

It was that talk that had him interested this time rather than ignoring it as unnecessary. The tavern was busy for so early in the day with merchants on border crossings and caravans passing along trade routes. They brought in the most wide spread news from the four kingdoms. Wihnem would usually buy them drink to encourage and loosen their lips. “You were saying?”

“Ah…yea, tha’ks fer that. One o’ them Pilny temple. Ya know, those…those…”

“Yes, I know of them. You were saying something about their temple?”

“Ya, ya, I hear tha’ som’ne attacked it.”

Wihnem had become interested in this when he over heard them speaking about it before. The details were few, but sudden attacks by magic could not be overlooked as insignificant with the birth of a new magic user. “Who attacked it?”

“Dunno, but I hear tha’ they were burned in a huge flame.”

“Thank you.”

“Tha’ks for tha drink!”

That was a day ago and now in the Pilner side he could see that this was not caused by the woman he was seeking. The temple, church as the Pilner people seemed to be calling them, was mostly in one piece still. There was small damage to the windows where the ‘divine’ had appeared before all of those worshipping in the building. From what he had gathered from the few that still stayed around the priests were all killed by a flaming bird that was the ‘divine’ come to speak to them. But that seemed to be only rumors according to those that spoke to him. It was clear to him that the woman had not been this way, but someone had been.

It had him more concerned what he had heard from an underling of the new priests passing by. According to the young man it was the act of a rebellious magic user in league with Cormenyr or Jumin. There was not an official word from the government, but Wihnem doubted with the state of reconstruction that Pilner’s military was in that they would use this as a reason to attack. But Pilner’s military was in better shape from the reports he had seen meaning that Jumin could be facing a two front war if they wished to spin this as a call to war. The young man was already denouncing the rumors of the divine bird as evil magic to concerned townspeople idly talking about the attack.

‘Pilner is already in damage control and these weak minded people will believe it. Knowing them they’ll just spin the whole thing into something positive to gain even more followers. Its quite sad to see someone’s work being twisted in such a manner.’ Wihnem began to walk away from the church returning north before his fake Pilner accent could be discovered. His lead was a dead end and all he could do now was follow his gut to the next destination hoping for better luck. This woman was going to be harder to track than he thought. ‘Could someone being giving aid to this woman already?’

[Musicmuse]

As Niah disappeared into the night, Mother Luna watched with growing sadness. She didn't understand why people hated these new powers people possessed; to her it seemed they were miracles for an ever-evolving world. Niah had indeed become one of her favorite girls, and although tipping her off had been a bold move, Mother Luna felt confident that Niah and her siblings at least deserved a warning.

Niah turned the corner and faded from sight, and as Mother Luna turned to retreat back into her abode she caught another figure trailing Niah from the corner of her eye. Immediately she realised that the curious gentleman had been waiting for Niah to leave the whole night.

"That sleazy jackal!" Mother Luna cursed under her breath as she stepped out onto the street. "Creeping around like a --"

"Please," a coarse voice rasped from behind her. "I have people who creep around for me."

Luna spun around and came face-to-face with the inquisitive man. His handsome face was marred by the smear of wickedness that crept across his features. His dark hair was a reflection of his motives, and the greasy texture was a clue into his character.

"Now, Luna," he started, "I thought I was very clear about our deal." He advanced on her and she stuck out her chest defiantly.

"You don't intimidate me Joseph," she snorted angrily. "That girl has done nothing to you, and she happens to be close to me."

The sinister sneer on Joseph's lips tightened as his eyes narrowed. "Then I hope she was worth your pathetic life, Luna."

He drew a dagger from somewhere within his layered clothing and swung at Luna's large figure. She dodged the attack with impressive speed for her weight, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it at an odd angle. Joseph cried out painfully as his body was pulled close to Luna's, but he retained his grip on the dagger. He cursed her, and in response Luna cackled in amusement.

"I've dealt with worse ruffians than you, Joseph," she taunted. Joseph's wrist was trembling now, and Luna grabbed him by his collar and lifted him closer to her. She almost seemed to be enjoying torturing this evil man, but he was far from outmatched. His grimace transformed into a chilling smile, and he closed his eyes and let his body go limp as if he were concentrating intensely. A moment later he had vanished from sight -- seemingly wiped from the face of the planet in front of her eyes -- but Luna could still feel her grip on his wrist and clothing.

She gasped in surprise and softened her grip out of confusion, letting Jospeh wriggle free. He taunted her now that he had the upper hand, and Luna spun around wildly as his voice seemed to be constantly moving. He was now a bodiless voice hurling insults, and Luna was shocked and immediately furious. Joseph was one of the very people he was trying to destroy, a hypocrite through and through. A dagger appeared out of thin air and whizzed straight at Mother Luna's back. It found its mark and plunged deep into her flesh causing her to screech in agony and fall to the ground. Joseph materialized in front of Luna once again, and his cold chuckle cut her as deeply as his blade.

"Not only have you damned the Prentiss children," he hissed, "but now you've dragged whomever this Artifus man is into the equation. I'll see to it that they're all destroyed at the hand of Pilner."

Mother Luna shouted a fearsome response, but it fell on deaf ears. Joseph had already disappeared again in pursuit of Niah.

[DragonHeart]

"Well, dinner for starters," Farore said with a smile. "I'm sure your stomach will be waking soon enough. After that, we'll see. Take your time and explore, see what we can offer you here. Haven is a place for the Gifted like us; I expect you'll find you aren't as alone as you think."

She took Aega's reins and led the way. The walk wasn't a long one, and she was glad of the chance to stretch her legs. The open gates were a welcome sight, as was the black-clothed form who approached them just as they reached the threshold.

"Welcome back, great Lady," He said, bowing and lightly kissing her hand. "All is well, as you can see, though the children missed you dearly."

"My thanks as always, Jareth. Good to see you made it back safely from your mission."

Farore turned to Eris.

"Jareth was the Watcher who discovered your plight while Seeking. We don't always wait for news of the newly Gifted to reach us. Often I send my Watchers out to look for hidden talents. Jareth here is one of the best."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you at last, gentle lady." Jareth announced, kneeling to kiss her hand as well. "It is so rare indeed to find such beauty unspoiled in this time of ugly souls."

He tipped his hat, a purple-plumed monstrosity, and took Aega's reins, calling for pages to tend the needs of their beloved Lady and her guest.

"He spends a bit too much time with the bards, I'm afraid, but he's a good man."

One of the pages, the same boy who'd given her the original message, came trotting up to them. He too bowed politely to both Farore and Eris, awaiting instruction.

"Ah, Remi. Would you be so kind to escort our guest to the baths and have the kitchen prepare her a good hot meal? Attend to her as you would me and see all her needs met."

"Of course, my Lady. This way please, we'll get you fixed up in no time." Remi said cheerfully. He walked a few paces and glanced back, waiting for her to follow.

[Aerif]

Igentile's examination of Ayame took many hours, the spectators to the check-up and the patient herself thought that he was simply looking for paranormal signs. The truth was he was just doing it to look good.

A cleaning lady from the inn had been called into Kawashima's office to mop up some of the blood, however despite the poor woman's best efforts the depth of blood in the room remained constant. Ayame was bleeding more than ever.

"What could be the source of this strange curse?" Kawashima-profe was the only one brave enough to break the silence.

"There could be many reasons for this infinite flow of blood. Of course, all of them are theoretically impossible but nowadays all sort of unusual things are happening. And none of them can be coincidental.” As Igentile talked, Ayame raised her head with a new sign of interest, her facial emotion gave off the impression that she was exceedingly pleased. Obviously she had forgotten the fear of death.

”Igentile-profe? What do you mean?” The feeling of salvation had given Ayame, a rather strange change in vocal tone.

”The Mountain of Lajap, it was seemingly a dormant volcano just to the south of the Yves Range. It erupted five days ago, destroying the majority of the Arispae community, with only the fountain caretaker’s family surviving. Something physicians would claim to be an impossible occurrence, so why did these things happen? Could it be the increase in earthquakes? Or the strange behaviour in the winds? No, all these things are compliments of each other. The four supposed divine elements, and Ayame’s case seems to be related to the supposed fifth element, the element that Kawashima-profe’s occupation is based around. The element of Healing.”

There was a grand pause, the cleaning lady seemed to have abandoned her task to listen to Igentile. After all, he was supposed to be the most paranormal connected man in the whole of the mountain range! Natsume, who was standing in the corner forgotten seemed to be withdrawn in deep thought, she wasn’t sure if Igentile was talking with intelligence or with an eagerness to prove himself.

Kawashima seemed to be the most confused, he really didn’t have any contradictory thoughts on Igentile’s basic theory. If all of this business was associated with the unbalance of the elements, then surely what was to be expected would be worse than an uncommon eruption or a rare and unheard of medical dilemma? Surely Igentile was not suggesting an apocalypse?

“Hayate-fil and I should be leaving now. If Ayame-fem needs any psychic-related assistance then she should visit Hayate-fil in his own habitat. My husband and I, aren’t trained to deal with medical matters. Good day to you.”

[Andromeda]

Eris walked through the large gate into the city of Haven. She was taken away quickly by the boy Remi led off to a house where she was apparently going to be tended to. The thought of having a bath was a warm welcome for the number of days that she had gone without. She had been asleep most of them not even realizing that she had been in lack for a proper bath.

She did not get a chance to look around the city much before she was taken inside. It left her curious to know what sort of place this was and how different it was from her village. She had never had the chance to travel or see anything outside of the fields. The whole area was foreign, yet it did not seem that far distance from what she was used to. She wondered how the people lived in Lothua.

The house looked to be large, much more than her home or any in the village. She wondered if it was even a house, but something completely different. There was even stairs going up to a second floor. She had never known a house to need another floor. It made her cautious as she followed Remi up thinking that it might collapse on her. There must have been a great weight on the first floor to hold it up without falling over. She wondered how people lived knowing that they could be squashed in a moment if something happened.

Eris waited out in the hallway as Remi had told her while he went to speak to someone. When he returned there were two women with him. They pushed Remi along past Eris. “Go along, Remi. We’ll take care of her. This is no place for boys.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting downstairs then.”

“Now then come this way, dear.” Eris looked at the two of them a little uncertain, but followed their motion into a small room. It was the bathhouse, but it looked like it was actually its own room and there was only a single place to soak in.

“This is small, will I fit in it?”

“Of course you will. Now then, lets get you out of these clothes. Do you normally dress in like this? They are awfully revealing for a young woman such as yourself.”

“Huh? I don’t know. I don’t think I was wearing this before. I can’t remember.” She looked around at the clothes as the two women helped her out of the clothes. They were correct in their assessment of the apparel. She could not remember putting them or where they came from, but they were very embarrassing. ‘I don’t remember…why am I wearing them? Ugh…’ There was a sudden sharp pain in her head breaking her concentration. She brought her hand up to her forehead out of instinct even though she could not do anything to relieve the pressure. It eventually faded away allowing her hand to return to its side. ‘I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. Not like I’m going to wearing them anymore.’

Eris was helped into the hot bath water and then left alone. She tended to cleaning herself as the women went off to find her more suitable clothes to wear. The water and soap were as welcoming as the feeling of being clean again. There was dirt and red spots caked on her that gave her trouble, but eventually came clean. She spent the rest of the time waiting working through her hair. The horse ride had completely destroyed her hair filling it knots that were painful, to say the least.

The door creaked open signaling Eris to the return of the women. “Oh dear, you should have gotten out already. You’ll be all wrinkled.”

“Sorry, it felt so good. Thank you for the bath.” They handed her a towel and helped her dry off. She was then handed a dress that looked far too expensive for her to wear. “I can’t wear this, it must cost so much.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, dear,” one of the women said with a laugh. “I wish we had something better for you. Unfortunately, all we have are these hand-me-downs.”

“Really? But its so full of color, the amount of dyes and threads that must have been used. Are you sure?” She had never had the chance to wear anything so beautiful before. All she had were white or brown dresses. The fieldwork that she helped with had her in others clothes most of the time. It meant that she was too busy to spend the time to make anything fancier. The practicality of the dress was all that had mattered to them. She felt like she did not want to even let a speck of dirt touch this dress.

After a little more insistence she put on the dress and the women fastened the straps in the back that brought in the loose cloth neatly around her figure. Then they helped her straighten out her hair and let her free to leave the bathhouse, bathroom. She had decided to leave her hair down rather than tie it up. There was no fieldwork that she was planning on doing so it would be more comfortable to allow to be free. Eris walked down the stairs hearing the wood creaking around her making her uneasy again. Remi was at the foot the steps watching her.

“Miss Eris…”

“I feel so embarrassed in this dress. I feel like I’m pretending to be someone else.”

“Don’t feel like that, it suits you well, Miss Eris.”

“Remi…” Eris reached the bottom of the stairs and looked to Remi for guidance. He was the one that knew the city and she could not do anything other than wander around lost. However, before anything else could happen her stomach suddenly spoke up for the two of them. Her face reddened slightly and Remi knew exactly what he needed to do next for her.

“There is food already waiting for you in the next room.” He walked off towards the room that he had pointed to letting Eris follow up behind. She could feel the pain in her stomach quickly growing forcing her legs to move faster. There was a small meal resting on a very large table that looked like it served dozen of people. It made her feel so small to sit down at it.

“Aren’t you going to have something as well?”

“No, I’ve already eaten.”

“Oh…” She quietly plowed through the food in front of her. It was gone before she realized that there was nothing left. She was glad to have a meal having trouble recalling when the last time that she had eaten something. Now that she was bathed and fed Remi guided her outside with intention in his step.

But before he was able to take her to wherever he was going an explosion shook the ground. A large cloud of smoke quickly followed the ball of fire that bloomed into the sky. Those that were closer to the source were knocked off their feet, but Eris was a long distance away from it. All she had felt was a thick wind running off the shockwave that kicked up her hair. She stood still uncertain what to do as others were screaming or running in the direction to learn what had happened.

(OoC: Well I caught us up to Merlin’s post since you had not made any mention of it in your post DH. I’m not sure if Merlin was waiting for that or something else.)

[DragonHeart]

The only warning she had was a change in the wind, sucked away as though a giant were inhaling. One moment of complete stillness. Farore braced herself. It was all she could do. A massive explosion rocked the city, the shockwave strong enough to shake loose stones from some of the buildings and upset anything not secured.

As soon as the tremor passed she pulled off her cloak, throwing it to Jareth as he rushed to her side.

"Orders, my lady?"

"Assemble the Watchers and post sentries. Shut the underground down and put a call to arms out. Keep everyone calm and start an investigation as soon as possible." Farore said. Haven may be peaceful, but she made sure it was well defended. She took to the air, ignoring the smoke rising in the distance. Her first concern was her people.

She put the Watching Post to her back and flew along the wide central street, called Firefly Lane for the lanterns kept burning at all times in the front of each building. This main avenue had no homes, but instead presented shops and, at the midpoint, a sprawling marketplace filled with carts and stands. As she passed over the people, she called down both commands and reassurances, sometimes in the same breath. Her own large residence lay at the end of Firefly but she ignored it. She wondered if Eris was settled yet; all guests stayed there until they recovered from their experiences in the outside world.

She angled her wings, turning down the serpentine Watcher's Circle, a road that made a complete, if somewhat wobbly, circle of Haven. The blue lamps were out, she noted with approval. Those cold flickering lights were a sign for any non-Watchers to stay off the road until the danger passed.

As she made her way around the perimeter, Farore watched for any signs of disturbance on the outskirts of Haven. Nothing unusual, though she saw some loose livestock. She made a mental note to have them rounded up later.

Finally assured of their safety, Farore sent a warm wind through the streets, the signal for all clear. She did not, however, blow out the blue lamps. They would remain burning until the morning. Just in case.

She knew she had to check in with the Watchers, but she was suddenly so very tired. Using her magic had drained the last of her strength. She flew directly to the balcony of her private chambers and sent Jareth a message to keep an eye on things and let her know if anything came up. Then she slipped into bed and finally let sleep claim her.

[Lady Rika]

Aubrey let the candles that kept his small hut lit fade out, their ashen wicks spewing out wispy smoke until they touched the wood ceiling.
Yet he seemed not to need them, in truth he hadn’t really needed them for days. He also hadn’t really needed to light them yet he did so anyways; but light continued to burn brightly in the corner of the house, near the fireplace.
‘Is this real?’ he asked himself, ‘Truly real.’
His eyes watched intently; golden yellows and brightly passionate reds dancing along his hands, up and down each finger and across his nails.
Yet instead of pain it was a warm heated tingle that ran through him, exploding through him like wild stallions.

It had been a while now since he had been out of his house, sewed, or even ate all he did was stare, gape at his hands, where the flames seemed to live.
Aubrey couldn’t feel the hunger brewing inside him, he couldn’t see that the people of his town were worried and discussed his absence frequently.
You would almost think they were worried about him, worried that he had grown ill with fever or had gotten wounded from a hunt in the woods.
But if he had thought of it on a deeper level he would clearly see that they had been so suspicious of him ever since the town murdered his mother.

Though all of these thoughts could easily come crashing down over his head and maybe even end his life he felt nothing to them. Instead he felt only the nothingness of the happy flames bursting and grinning as they moved up and down like wild claws.
Aubrey flicked his fingers-- the first time in a while he had moved his hands, expecting the magic concocting in his body to disappear. But it didn’t.
Instead it moved along with him, leaving a heavy smoke behind in its small path.
‘Is this what you did mother?’ he asked himself, eyes growing wider. ‘Stare and watch, and gaze and wait…for something to happen?’ But he never knew of his mother to act strangely but maybe he just never acted strange around him and her customers because she knew that she had something to hide? This he didn’t know, but the flames told him tales of mischief and excitement that he never would have thought could exist. The way he gazed out at a full, fat moon or when he sewed something of true beauty that his talent exploded and came to life; all of that was nothing compared to what was happening now.

‘I wonder why it is that I don’t feel any pain, or much heat?’ he pondered, shifting around on the small wooden stool. The aged wood made an annoyed creak as he moved around, changing his position ever so often, trying to see every detail of every curve of the fire.
Aubrey only took in small whiffs of air through his nose and let even less, what would happen if he accidentally blew out the fire? And it didn’t come back, then what?
‘I would most likely go mad.’ He admitted.



Jeroff Mcdaniels sighed as he walked slowly down the curve of the dirt street and towards the woods. His bare feet were covered in filth and decorated with small cuts that were given to him with much pleasure by the thorn bushes growing close to his home.
Why he hadn’t burned those bushes to the ground was beyond him, but he couldn’t afford to go barefoot anymore his tattered feet couldn’t take it.
In his arms he held his old shoes, the leather looked as if it had gave way long before Jeroff was ever born. The ends were so frayed and rugged it was a miracle that they were still able to grip together and hold on.

“Hate payin’ good money to fix my damn shoes!” he grunted, scratching the side of his neck with his free hand. Letting his nails run over the few blemishes that lay their and decapitate them before they grew worse.
“But…I can’t work with them there shoes! And I can’t afford new ones so…”
Jeroff knew what he had to do, he had to fix them, pay the brat, and go about his life.

‘That Andain Kid…little whelps lucky he’s so good at his job or the village elders would of tossed him out long ago.’ Jeroff let his mind tarry off for a while longer until he finally reached the small house. The moss on one side of the house had grown slightly out of hand, but it gave the hut a more beautiful look, though the house itself looked rather old and poorly thatched.

Jeroff banged on the door, his feet surging with pain as the pressure he was putting on the cuts surfaced more. The dirt had already began to mix into the wounds and made the younger man flinch in pain.
“Aubrey!” he yelled, banging hard on the door once more, “Open up!”
Yes, he knew that nobody had seen Aubrey for a while, but Jeroff was determined, he thought the kid was just lazy and thought of himself as too good to work in the fields or in the forest like many other of the Cormenyr young men.

Aubrey whipped his head around, eyes owl-like as the knocking grew louder––angrier. He opened his mouth to try to silence the knocking but his voice only cracked as he tried to speak. The fire that rested in his hand only continued to grin wickedly.
Jumping up off the stool, Aubrey rushed to the door, “Wait…please…” he whispered so low that he could barely hear himself, let alone another hear him.
His heart was beating so loud he found it odd that the stranger behind the door didn’t hear it as well.
“Hello!” the voice called once more, “Open the door Andain I have a request!!”
“Hold on!’ he cried out lightly enough to make the banging stop, “Just a minute.”

Jeroff glared angrily as Aubrey opened the door, the boy’s ebony black hair was greased over, its usual sheen gone. His clothes were ragged as well, he could tell from the deep wrinkled coat of dust that covered them. But strangely he seemed as cheery as ever. But this time it seemed a little fake, as if he was forcing his optimism.

The smell that lingered in the house smacked Jeroff in the face when he walked in making him almost fall over it was so heavy. But he just couldn’t put his finger on what it was, though it was oddly familiar.
“So…sorry…” Aubrey gasped, breathing hard, his hands behind his back.
Jeroff scoffed, “What took you so long? Where have you been?” he demanded, stepping closer to him. Aubrey grimaced but attempted to stay strong.
“Well you see I have been sick and haven’t left bed for sometime now…” he lied, watching the man smooth back his own jet black hair and rudely drop the old shoes on Aubrey’s bed.
“Fix my shoes!” he growled, deep brown eyes like pits.
Aubrey watched impassively as the mud and grime that encrusted the worn out shoes splattered along his bed. Dark and light smears in heavy clumps stuck to the thin linens; “Yes sir…it might take some time so would you like to come back later?”

He groaned, “Go? Without shoes?” he asked sardonically, “How foolish.”
Aubrey went silent again; nodding he carefully picked the shoes up off his bed and went over to a tiny table near the floor.
There he began to pick at the expired leather, dirt clung to most of the deep curves but Aubrey could see past all of that.
‘How long has he had these shoes?’ he asked himself, pulling the bottom off. He was amazed how easy it broke off; normally it would take at least a little force from a tiny hammer or at least the cutting of the leather.

Jeroff watched, eyeing the boy working quickly but carefully, as he pulled the leather off piece by muddy piece. A few minutes passed, all that time he watched, eyes never leaving Aubrey’s fingers as he placed another piece of new leather where the old piece had been. Though this piece was much bigger than need be; the boy wrinkled his brow and fished around for a tiny cutting knife. Jeroff took a step back, ‘He best not try anything.’ He thought.

Aubrey measured out the amount of leather that was needed and sliced it off slowly, he lay the remaining leather to the side and proceeded to attach the sole of the shoe with the thick, dark colored thread specially used for shoe mending. He sunk the thick needle in and out of the opaque hide until it finally knotted together.

He patched up the other shoe, just as he had done to its equal, Aubrey also repaired a few holes and other notches that might have caused trouble later.
It had been a solid twenty minutes, but he finished the shoes and they looked brand new, rather nice if he said so himself. He stood up off his stool and handed the newly fixed shoes to their owner. Jeroff’s faced twisted into a very forced smile, “About time.” He said as he took the shoes from him.
Aubrey looked upon the man distastefully as he pushed his dirt and blood streaked feet into the leather shoes. ‘How sad they must be worn by such cruel feet.’ He thought to himself, hoping the man didn’t take notice to his facial expressions.

“Well the fit is a little tight but I guess it’ll have to do.” He reached up to scratch his head, little pieces of dirt fell from the dirty locks. Though Aubrey couldn’t say anything, he hadn’t washed his hair in a while either so why bother talking bad about him.
Sometimes he was thankful for his cozy home, and useful job. Others didn’t always have that luxury, they actually had to work very hard to eat and live every single day of their difficult lives. And he knew many people disliked his for that exact reason.
But he was humble and knew that he should appreciative what he had, because there was always someone who longed for what he had, just as he longed for what others had.
‘Yes…I would give up breathing if I could just have my mother back’

“I guess your wanting a payment aren’t you kid?” Jeroff jeered at him, his shoes out shining him in many ways beside appearances.

Aubrey bit his bottom lip, he wasn’t sure what to say no one ever asked him such a question before they would normally just throw a few coins on the bed or table and leave.
“Um…well, yes I do need more material so that would be nice.” He tried to smile for the man, but he knew that this wasn’t going to end smoothly.

“Is that so…well how about I come back when I have money okay. I’ll pay you next time your in town, okay Andain?”

Aubrey knew it, this man had no intention of paying him, and his question was just out of cruelty. Not that this was new or anything, he had experienced this many times. Not including the soldiers who would come through town. He tried to put that into the category of good deeds for the needy. But this wasn’t a needy man, and he wasn’t really ever going to pay him back so why he pondered the subject was beyond him.
“Alright…I guess that’s fair.” He lied through his teeth, oh how he hated lying, it was lying that got people curious and those who were curious usually found secrets that would certainly lead him to his demise.
This man was curious Aubrey could tell just by looking at him, yes it was true that his shoes were in desperate need of repair but he could of left. He could have sat outside or took a walk near the woods but instead he watched him. Waiting for him to do some thing ‘peculiar’ just as he was now. Waiting.
Jeroff smirked but didn’t respond to him, he slowly turned around and walked out the door, shutting it slowly behind him.

Aubrey felt some sort of relief by the man’s absence, but he knew he wasn’t truly alone. The magic that pulsed through him longed to break out and soar around the room. But its transparent wings wouldn’t be gliding anytime soon. Knowing him it would bust out and burn his entire house down with him in it! So he did nothing but stare down at his palms.
A few strands of black hair fell into his line of vision but he paid it no mind, he could still see where the fire lay dormant until the time was right for it to awaken on its own.

Jeroff knew something was up with that kid, something very strange and he knew if he left he would be missing out on something very important.
So he stood near the side of Aubrey’s house, near the emerald green moss that looked even prettier up close. Its soft velvety appearance taunted the man to touch it, but he didn’t dare. He wouldn’t give into this houses tricks, he just wouldn’t.
So to take his mind off the mocking green moss he stared into the tiny window nearly covered by moss and other foliage. He could see in slightly, just enough to see what the boy was doing.
‘Did he cut himself?’ he guessed, why else would anyone gaze so deeply into their palms? No, he quickly threw that idea away. His eyes hold so much passion its almost repulsing, what could be so interestingly beautiful? He wondered, ‘I want to know!’

The man soon got his answer, when the bright golden light erupted from the middle of the room.
‘Did he light a candle?’ Than Jeroff realized that it was no candle making the light, it was Aubrey and he knew he wasn’t seeing things. That was devil fire in that child’s hands, he grimaced and he pulled back away from the window as fast as he could, but ended up tripping over a slick rock and falling to the ground.

The large sound outside made Aubrey jump, he closed his hand into a fist to make the flame leave his palm.
‘What could that of been?’ he wondered, rushing outside, only to see a gasping Jeroff his face blanched.
Aubrey felt an ice cold dagger run down his spine, he knew that the man had seen him. The look on his face sold him out.
“You…I knew it….” He gasped, looking up at the boy from the ground.
Aubrey couldn’t speak, words just wouldn’t come out of his mouth. All he could do was look at the man, look at him and wonder what to say or what to do.
Finally they came to him, “Please…let me explain.” He tried to say, while reaching his hand out to help the man up. Jeroff let out a yelping sound and jumped back while on the ground

“Don’t touch me!” he screamed, “You’re just like your mother! I knew you could do it too!” The man got up from the ground and stepped away from the boy.
“And like your mother…your going to burn…burn away with the fire you love so much!” he cackled.
The man…he’s mad, Aubrey thought, “Wait…Jer–
“DON’T YOU SAY IT!” he screamed some more, grabbing a stick near the ground and pointing it viciously at him. Attempting to keep the boy away.
“Don’t try to bribe me with your sweet words. You may look so innocent but your nothing but a demon!’ and with those last cutting words he ran. Ran, as if wild dogs were chasing him to his death; Aubrey knew he was going to tell the town. He knew it all too well, as it was nearly the same story as what happened to his poor mother.
They would come for him, swiftly with clawed hands and piercing weapons. They would burn him, he could see it now, flames enveloping him as his screams bled out the ears of the grinning villagers. They would let the fire eat him, eat him right down to his bone marrow. The sky would smell of fire and flesh once more, but he wouldn’t let it be his skin this time. ‘No, I’ll leave.’ He decided, looking towards the woods.

“But where would I go?” he asked the awaiting trees and their highly perched leaves; they too the color of rare emerald stones. Was he to hide in the forest and live off of berries and other forest goods? He knew he could do it but should he risk it? Would they come after me? He asked, this he wasn’t sure of. His mother didn’t run, no…it was as if she waited for her death. Waited for it to become her all the way.

But he couldn’t wait, he didn’t want to burn, he didn’t want to die.
‘So…is it the forest? Or the flames?’ He chose the forest. Being that was the only choice that involved hi living. ‘What about my stuff?’ he questioned about grabbing some personal belongings. But the only thing he had that meant anything to him was a tiny bangle made of pure silver beads. His mother had made it, but he kept it hidden in his house, under the floorboards in case of a break in.
‘Everything else I can afford to lose.’ He told himself, as he ran back inside his house and retrieved the silver armlet.

So this is how it goes, he thought running from his house and towards the forest. Luckily for him it was still early or he would worry about the darkness, or animals. He would worry over them later but now he was focused on one thing: escaping.
As soon as he reached a large tree surrounded by much smaller, younger fruit trees Aubrey’s heart began to beat loudly. He felt the beating all around his body, in his chest, his throat, his eyeballs. Everywhere.
‘I wonder if they can here it?’ he asked himself, looking around. No one was following him; there was no sound of people at all.
Only the sound of the forest, the many birds that hid in the trees above him; chatting about this and that, or maybe even laughing at this boy who ran in fear instead of facing the demons who chased him. The wind blew sweet smelling woodland scents of timber, grass and soft sun-streaked animal pelts.
Aubrey knew he wasn’t alone in these woods, there were more things than just animals in these woods. And he figured that he better get settled fast in this vast forest or find another home because Cormenyr wasn’t going to be welcoming him back soon.
‘And food…this time of year it should be plentiful.’ He slid down the bark, now below the huge tree; the lime-colored grass tickled his fingers as he reached over to grab a piece of fallen fruit. It had one large bruise on the side of its pretty crimson bottom, but it still looked good, and he would have ate it regardless if it was good or not.
‘Hmmm…a pomegranate…you eat the seeds out of this fruit right?’ he asked himself as he pulled the fruit apart. Light rose madder stains formed on his fingertips as he stared at the many red seeds on the inside of the fruit. They were lovely, to him at least. They hid from the world, hoping they wouldn’t be seen because no one would ever understand them. Just like him. And his mother, and who ever else out there in the world who, like him were burdened with a rare gift.

[Andromeda]

The explosion in the distance finally settled down, but Eris was still not able to move. Her legs were frozen with her frightened body questioning what was happening. She had just arrived in the city not knowing what the situation was. All she knew of Lothua was not at war, but the explosion made it seem like someone was attacking. She was familiar with the sounds having heard the echoes of the front from her village time to time. However, once the single bloom of flame faded away there was nothing that followed it up. It seemed a little strange that they would stop after a single attack unless they were interrupted.

Eris tried to move again still finding her limbs to be stiff. She looked around to see that everyone else was leaving finding their place to be emptying out the street. It left her alone and even more scared than she was before. Everyone else seemed to know something and what to do, but all she could do was be terrified. Eris pushed at her body again finally breaking free of the threads that bound her to the ground. She nearly collapsed face first into the dirt when she was suddenly allowed to move again. Her right leg managed to catch her fast enough to prevent her from falling over, but it pushed her forward into a skipping stumble. Eris bounced several times on her toes until she thought that she had her balance, but found that it was only a ploy to drop her guard. She had leaned back too much to counter her forward motion that she was now slipping under her feet falling on her butt kicking up a small cloud of dust.

“Ow ow…” Her hand rubbed the pain away from her rear before standing back up. This time she had her footing and slowly walked forward. Remi had disappeared sometime during the chaos leaving her completely alone and unfortunately unattended in the city. She knew that the house where she had come from was behind her would be safe, but there was an urge gnawing at her to go forward instead. It was that curiosity that she decided to follow.

She found herself going towards the towering column of smoke. The city was unknown to her, but the location was easy enough to follow, even if the city spun around on itself it seemed. Roads turned around and winded around seemingly taking her away and towards it. After more than twenty minutes of aimless wandering she found herself nearing the area. She knew it was by the state of ruin to the houses. It was a short walk to the epicenter of the blast that left a burnt crater in the area.

There were a number of people gathered around clearing out the debris. She was part in awe at how they came together to work in a single task so quickly. It was no different in her village she realized, but there was something about these people not being a village born into the community while still having the bonds of a community. Eris approached the edge of the circle debris trying to look into the mess. She did not know what she was looking for, but knew that she would know it when she found it.

She watched intently keeping her distance as they continually removed more debris from a seemingly endless pile. There seemed to be nothing but rumble left. However, they were still looking to make sure that there was no one or if there was if they could possibly be alive. She could not believe that anyone could survive something so destructive, but there seemed to be hope in the eyes of the people.

“Hey! I think I found someone!” someone shouted grabbing everyone’s attention. Several of the nearby workers moved quickly to the position to confirm. It was indeed a person, but with all of the dirt and burn marks it was hard to know under the pile of debris anymore than that.

“Are they alive?”

“Quick get them free.”

[Aerif]

The couple left the surgery as quickly as possible, Natsume was not enjoying the barrage of questions that came from the many witnesses to Ayame's condition. Igentile was not enjoying the blood.
Once, they where out of earshot and sittin comfortably on a bench with a view of the town's fountain, the questions began.

"Hayate-fil! What do you think you where playing at?" Natsume shouted in a hushed tone, however a few villagers turned their heads towards her in surprise. It was not common for Natsume to explode with rage.

"What else do you want from me?" Her husband replied, "I have no idea at all why Ayame-fem was bleeding from the wrists!"

"But you sounded so professional, as though you had some contribution to the violent reactions of the divine elements." Natsume's reply contributed more to the conflict than any amount of swearing or divorce suggestion could have.

"I'm not a professional. Just because I have 'profe' in my name. You might not have noticed, but I can be a bit of a scholar at times. I'm just observant, I've been thinking the things I declared in the surgery for days. It wasn't spur of the moment. It was rehearsed." Igentile seemed defensive.

"So what do you really think is wrong with Ayame..." Asked Natsume.

"Well... I think that she may have been a suicidal teenager who happens to have the healing element in her soul. Something that ancient scholars might call 'mag-ick'."

They had abondoned the bench now and where heading home. On their way they passed a long line of people, this queue gave Igentile a funny feeling. The feeling that he had forgotten something important. He let the idea slide from his mind, after all, his main concern at the moment was a suicidal teenager who's body refused to give up.
When they arrived at the front door they found a messenger boy waiting for them, he wasn't a very tall boy and didn't look much older than 13, he was carrying a scroll of parchment which he presented to Igentile.

'Igentile-profe,
Earlier today you used my ground floor office as a psychic surgery. I appreciate the business it brought my seamstress as many of your customers also paid patronage in my home. I gracefully accept the renting payments and have given you a discount due to the profit that I've made of your business.

Yours truly,
Bella Donna Humet
Arispaen Seamstress

PS: I disbanded the queue just before I sent this note, also Kasumi-fem will be expecting double peak-time charges for 3 additional hours. I hope you don't mind, but it was the only way I could get rid of that air-head.'

[Merlin]

The once-peaceful night air was tainted by the stagnant smell of smoldering wood and other debris. A black cloud of smoke hung ominously over the small hospital, choking out what little light there was from the moon far above it. A small group of villagers were crowded around the remnants of a single room, once used for non-critical patients, but now nothing more than a pile of blood-stained stones. The damage was peculiar, to say the least. The outer wall was completely destroyed and part of the roof had collapsed, but the rest of the building was left intact. The villagers cared little about such details and were more concerned with saving the lives of their alleged brethren. Little did they know what they had gotten themselves into.

“Hey! I think I found someone!”

The monotonous digging and shoveling of debris came to a halt, all eyes focused on the voice. While the majority of volunteers had gone home for the night, the select few who remained quickly stopped what they were doing and rushed to the aid of the caller. After a few short moments, they managed to clear away the debris around three individuals. The scene was grotesque, causing two of them to turn away from what they beheld with their eyes.

“Oh my god… their limbs…”

When the villagers gathered to help their kin, they really hadn’t pondered the devastation that they would bare witness to. Its not every day that one sees human flesh torn to pieces, arms and legs nowhere to be found.

“Look, this one doesn’t seem to be injured as bad!” The villagers knew it was wrong to pick and choose, but they also knew that there was little they could do for the serious injuries the other two individuals had suffered without a doctor. They feared not even a doctor could possibly repair their misshapen forms. Two of the villagers carefully lifted up the young lady from the debris and headed off towards the center of town. They knew not what to do in a situation like this, but they hoped that their knowledgeable leader Farore could aid them in their time of need.

The remaining villagers pondered what they should do. They had already sent out a call for the doctor, but it hand been some time and he never showed. They had no idea how close he really was. Like the brutally murdered nurse Sizuru had discovered many hours ago, so was the fate of the local doctor. The killer wasn’t known for thinking ahead. The time in which she needed help most, was the time in which there was none to be found.

Suddenly, a swirling blue vortex of energy culminated overhead, three individuals magically appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Needless to say, the villagers were dumbfounded and bewildered at the spectacle. The explosion had already shocked them to the core, and now strangers were invading their peaceful town right in front of their eyes.

“Ugh. I’m so disappointed. I was expecting to be greeted by the Lothuan Military, instead, all I see is magic trash.” The voice was distinct and unfettering. Sizuru and Alastora were equally seriously injured, but they both knew that sound by heart. Falaris of the Frozen Storm.

Alastora weakly glanced at her, but focused her gaze at the man standing next to her. She smiled at him and called out, “Papa!”

The man’s appearance was clean. Everything about him seemed professional. His auburn hair was cut short and neat and his facial hair having less than two days growth. He was garbed in a beautiful white and black robe, which covered his entire form including his feet. One would think the bottom edge of the robe would be dirty from touching the ground, but it seemed to hang ever-so-closely to the surface without actually touching it. Even as he approached Alastora, his stance and gait seemed effortless, as the very ground he walked on was made of air. He bent down before her and placed one of his large, warm hands lovingly on her forehead, saying, “My dear Sarah… what did I tell you about playing with strangers?”

Alastora’s eyes filled up with tears and she choked for a moment. “I’m sorry Papa, I’ve been a bad girl.”

“Yes you have.” The man’s voice was eerily calm and soothing, yet at the same time there was something else. “All of these poor people had to witness something they shouldn’t have… and now, they’re going to have to die.”

“Wa…wa..wait a damn minute! What the hell?” It was too late. In an instant, the few villagers who had remained to help out were encased in blocks of ice. Falaris approached them one-by-one, striking their helpless frozen bodies with her claymore, shattering them into dust.

“You see what you made me have to do Sarah? They hadn’t done anything wrong, but we can’t have them telling all their friends about us, now can we?”

“No Papa, I’m sorry… I was just playing with Sizuru and…”

“Its all right Sarah, I’ll take care of everything.” The man moved in closer, wrapping his arms around her and placing her head on his chest. The ‘hug’ was only momentary, carefully laying her on the ground before him.

Sizuru looked on in fear. She had no idea what was going on or why Alastora was being called by a different name. She had used up the remainder of her power to protect Gwinnyn from injury and was now helpless, unable to do anything but watch. She had never seen the man before, but he seemed strangely familiar nonetheless. One thing she was sure of was that his power level was far above even Falaris. Even if she had all of her strength and limbs, there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him.

At the moment it seemed as though the trio hadn’t noticed her, or simply didn’t care. They seemed fixated on her friend at that would at least spare her for a moment. She watched in horror as the man grasped Alastora tightly and laid her back down, a small dagger protruding from her chest.

“Rest now, Sarah. The pain will be over soon and you can play with all your friends again.” The man’s smile was sickeningly sweet, almost too perfect. He turned his gaze to Sizuru, noting her look of disgust and anger. “I’m impressed you made it this far, Sizuru. How many times has it been? Five? Six? I lost count.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What did you do to Alastora, you sick bastard?”

The man laughed at the hate-filled questions and approached her, once again effortlessly. He had just murdered a young lady but there wasn’t a stain of blood, not even one speck on his robe. “Oh my dear Sizuru. You’re still fantasizing about your lost friend I see. How many times do we have to go through this? Your friend betrayed you. She ran away from the organization years ago and left you all alone.”

“Shut up, asshole! Don’t talk about Alastora like that!” Sizuru thrashed wildly, not wanting to hear another word. The effort was in vain, because she was completely helpless. “She might have had a few issues, but she was still my friend, no matter what!”

“You mean her?” The man pointed at the limb body of ‘Sarah’ a few feet away. “She was a mentally unstable convict in a medical prison. You keep assaulting my facility and breaking her out, claiming she’s your long-lost friend Alastora. We go through this every time. After a few hours, you’ll remember everything.” He turned away from her and approached Falaris, whispering, “Its worse than I thought. She’s completely engrossed in her fantasy. I figured removing the target would help, but even that had no effect.”

Falaris stared down at Sizuru with concern. “Perk up soldier! Our country has the best medics around and we’ll get you back to normal in no time, so don’t you quit on me!” Falaris might be a tough leader and often very gruff, but deep down she cared about her subordinates. Seeing Sizuru with such extensive injuries was discouraging. She knew the girl would pull through it physically, but psychologically Sizuru was a mess. Falaris turned to the third individual who had arrived, saying, “Myrii! Take Sizuru back to headquarters. Once you do that, come back.”

“Yes Captain.” The mysterious man picked up Sizuru and vanished in a flash of azure light.

“Is there anything we can do for her, doctor?” Falaris stared blankly at her companion.

The doctor replied, “I’m really not sure. Her power of illusion is one of her greatest strengths but also her greatest weakness. She doesn’t even realize when she is using half the time anymore. How many people were affected by it this time?”

“I know of at least three. More importantly, what do we do about this situation?”

The doctor surveyed his surroundings. “You were once a Cleaner, correct?”

Falaris shrugged. “I’d rather not remember those days, but yes.” She thought about it for a moment and continued, “I understand. I’ll ensure that there is no trace of our presence or theirs. I’m thinking, accidental explosion of chemicals, perhaps?”

The doctor was staring off into the distance, not really paying attention to anything she had just said. Not far from their location was a young girl, quaking in her boots, staring at them with a look of complete terror. “How long, do you suppose, has that girl been watching us?” the doctor asked Falaris.

The captain focused her gaze towards the direction he was looking, noticing the girl as well. “Shall I take care of it?”

He raised his hand to stop her. “Wait. Such a venture would undoubtedly be unsuccessful. Can’t you feel it?” The doctor raised his hands into the air slightly and grinned. “The very air around her is changing polarity.”

“I beg your pardon? I don’t understand your technobabble.”

The man laughed at the response. “While the girl herself is rather uninteresting, there’s a powerful beast growing inside of her. I wonder… will she be able to tame it before it consumes her?” He seemed lost in thought, proceeding into an endless debate with himself. “Her frail body is being tormented by the weight of it, yet oddly enough it seems to be protecting her from the brunt of its energy. Frankly, I can’t place my finger on it.” He turned to her and continued, “I’m going to go introduce myself. I suggest you work on the task at hand.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me. I’m not sure what’s going on inside that delicate frame of hers, but her combined power level isn’t much higher than yours.”

Falaris looked disgusted at the thought. “That puny-ass bitch has more power than me? Bullshit. I’ve squashed bugs with more strength than her!”

Once again, the doctor seemed uninterested in her comments. “In any case, you have work to do, don’t you? Your ‘secret’ organization wouldn’t be so secret if it made headline news.”

“Dammit.” Falaris kicked the ground in anger and headed into the hospital’s interior.

The doctor, with a few light steps, seemingly vanished from his position and reappeared directly in front of Eris, who had been standing quite some distance away. He reached out his right hand to her smiling warmly, in an ostensible act of good faith. “Hello, young lady. My name is Doctor Silverhand. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

[Andromeda]

When everything had seemed to be going well another disaster struck them as though fate was dealing them continually poor cards only to slap them further in their misery. There were three of them dealt to the people and the immediate presence of them made Eris fall back to the ground. She did not know what it was about them, but she could see in their eyes that they were serious. Her legs were thankfully willing to move as she took cover away from everything behind a house.

Eris watched them barely able to look around the corner seeing the horrors happening before her eyes. It was like when the soldiers from Kithur and Jumin would come through her village. They had the same presence as though everyone else meant nothing to them and only stood in their way. Yet, these people were not looking to take advantage of them. It was a simple and cold as death to be handed out.

She had to hold her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming as the woman slaughtered the townspeople. They were all dead now and she could be next. ‘I need to run…tell someone.’ The pounding of her heart was threatening to crush her chest. It was like watching Shoojol, the God of Death, walking among the living reaping those whose time had come. ‘But who can stop them?’

The gaze of death from Shoojol was enough to trap your shadow and devour your soul. No others would stop Shoojol for they knew it would mean their end as well. Even the other gods would not dare to step between Shoojol and his prey. It was such the fear of his presence. One would not smell the rot of flesh or the cracking of endless souls breaking. His was more magnificent beyond words, such as gods were. There were no words necessary and no sight needed, even the blind knew Shoojol, for his omnipresent penetrating aura poured through all. And one look was enough to know your doom was already had.

Eris could barely breathe her air being cut off from the pounding in her chest. She could feel the sweat slowly pouring over her face. ‘What do I do? There must be something…’ Her hand slipped from the corner of the house roughly scrapping her palm and knocking her into the open. The vulnerable spot that she was in did not become apparent to her as all her energies were wound tightly on her frightened body.

“Hello, young lady. My name is Doctor Silverhand. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.” The voice had seemed to come from nowhere, but there was a body attached to it. In her mental state it had seemed like he had not been standing in front of her while speaking. But it replayed over in her mind for a moment catching her up.

She stepped back taken by the surprise with the sudden appearance of someone. However, if anything it returned her body to a more even pace that was more manageable then what she had been. The man’s was still holding his hand out at her with a warm appearing smile on his face. Eris did not know what to make of the man remembering that he was with the others that had just appeared in the town. ‘What do I do now? They found me…are they going to kill me like the others? Is that why he is here? But greeted me. Why would he do that if he was going to kill me?’

Eris stared at him longer not certain what action she could make. There was not much that she could do and if he was like the woman she had no hope of a struggle. However, he seemed or at least appeared not to be interested in killing her. She prayed that it would stay like that.

The man was still holding his hand while she had made him wait. “H-hello…I’m Eris…” She stretched out her hand a little uncertain what she should do. However, when her fingers were nearing the doctor’s hand a spark jumped between them. Eris had felt nothing, but it made the man retract his hand shaking it a little. “I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Just a little static. No harm done,” he said keeping the smile that was still painted across his face.

Eris retreated her own hand holding it against her chest. ‘Is he upset? He doesn’t look it, but it was bright…where did that come from?’ She tried to look the man over to know how he was feeling, but there was nothing for her to see. The doctor did not seem to change expression continuing to have the gentle, friendly appearance that he started with. “H-how come you came over here?”

[Merlin]

When Eris had reached her hand out towards the doctor. he felt as though someone had probed his mind. The sensation was only momentary, but it was enough to make him jerk his hand back. He knew it hadn’t come from her, but she had conveniently made the perfect excuse for him to shrug it off. He was hoping to finish his conversation up with her quickly and leave the town, but now his interest was peaked. There was someone being nosey and he was determined to find out whom it was.

“H-how come you came over here?” Her question seemed to fall on deaf ears. She felt as if the doctor wasn’t looking at her, but through her. The sensation was disturbing, sending a chill throughout her body. On the outside he had a warm expression, but deep down Eris knew there was something seriously wrong going on.

“You’re quite the popular young lady it seems, Eris Kiur Rhiemiu…” Doctor Silverhand had simply ignored her question.

Eris was unsure of herself, her surroundings, and more importantly, uncertain of the man’s intentions. Everything about him seemed peculiar, off somehow. She was too scared to think straight, wishing she could simply run away, but something was grounding her in place, unwilling to let her go. Eris was slowly getting used to her occasional loss of motor control, but this was unlike anything she had ever felt. The very presence of the man before her was like a heavy weight upon her shoulders, pressing her downwards. She stared at him in confusion, responding, “Have we met before?”

His smile slowly faded away, his expression becoming more serious. “Your reputation precedes you, young lady. You’ve got two countries sending their best operatives out to search for you.” He shrugged and looked off into the distance towards the town. “I doubt you realize just how much trouble your in.”

“But I haven’t done anything wrong!”

The doctor returned his gaze to the girl’s face, raising his right eyebrow in a questioning manner. “Oh really?” He thought about it for a moment, discerning whether Eris had really forgotten everything or was simply lying. From the evidence at hand, it was more likely her mind was blocking out the bad memories. He continued, “Nevermind. It is not my place to explain it. In any case, your life is in danger here. You must leave immediately.”

Eris was shocked at the statement, a tear slowly forming in the corner of one of her eyes. “I-I just got here! Why are you saying these things?!? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Doctor Silverhand patted her on the head comfortingly and replied, “My dear girl… you simply don’t understand. Even if you don’t know yourself, you have a gift… one that many people would like to get their hands on.” The doctor glanced back towards the hospital for a moment, checking to see if his transportation had arrived. After concluding that Myrii had not returned, he returned his attention to Eris. “Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. There are spies for both Kithur and Jumin throughout Haven. If you do not leave this town, you will die.”

[Andromeda]

Eris could feel her breathing pausing suddenly with infrequent intervals. Her throat was closing up as questions boiled around her mind with fear and confusion the spices to a terrible stew. She did not know what to make of the doctor’s words or why he was telling her such things. “Why are you telling me this?”

Her eyes looked around thinking on his words and wondering if he was being truthful. He seemed to know more about her than even she could recall. There was certainty that she could feel in the words, but it was frightening to consider. She wanted to dismiss what he said immediately as a stranger that knew nothing. Yet that was nothing of the case, he knew too much. The doctor’s words were eerie as they passed to her. ‘What am I going to do? I shouldn’t trust him so easily, but he knows so much.’

“My time is short. You have power and there are many that seek it or will kill you because of it. You can’t be ignorant of your gift or position.”

“But I…I didn’t…” Eris just wanted something to make sense to her, anything at this moment. However, she was not getting answers that she understood or replies to her questions. She felt like she was being led in the dark to be thrown away to find her own way back. The fear paralyzed her reducing her legs to shaking sticks as though she was cold. ‘I didn’t do anything…what is going on? Doesn’t anyone have answers?’

‘Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. There are spies for both Kithur and Jumin throughout Haven. If you do not leave this town, you will die,’ the doctor’s words echoed through her mind. She feared what truth could be in those words. The recent events that had happened were all so sudden that she did not have any time to react.

‘Who can I trust? Can I trust Farore, these people, him? Are they all out for me?’ Eris’ eyes darted around again trying to see her environment. She felt out the area tasting the bitter cold fog of paranoia creeping through her veins. ‘Where could they be? What am I going to do?’

‘If you do not leave this town, you will die.’

‘Leave…I have to leave…’ The town was huge, greater in size than her village. It was overwhelming her and the mounting paranoia only made the menacing houses around her warp in height further. The paranoia made distortion bent her world around until she felt like she was fall to the sky only to be slapped into reality when she fell over a cart placed outside the house.

The doctor grabbed her quickly before she fell to the ground. He lifted her back up to an upright position even though she still felt like the earth was shaking around her toes. She caught a stare of his eyes while she was close to him. They had such strange awe and mystery with a knowing look that seemed to pierce. It made her feel more certain that he was speaking the truth. The confirmation for her worried her further though as the branching fears were becoming consolidated and narrowed. ‘…you will die…’

“I-I don’t want to die…”

[Musicmuse]

Niah had no idea how she managed to get back to her street. Her mind was flooded with worries about her sibling's safety and thoughts of how their new life had come to an abrupt end. Mother Luna's warning was of course appreciated, but at the same time it was an unwavering testament to the trouble these new "gifts" brought to her family's life. She was sure Kyra and Hacmed would be sleeping soundly at home, and they would undoubtedly be saddened or angered by the news that once again they had to flee for their safety.

A rouge scraping on the otherwise empty street focused Niah's attention, and she glanced over her shoulder as casually as she could. No one was visible, yet Niah couldn't shake the feeling that someone was lurking in the shadows. She quickened her pace as she turned her gaze toward her little home. Before she could reach the handle, though, she felt a pull on her scarlet robe. At first it just stopped her from proceeding forward, but in an instant the unseen force tugged her back and a pair of invisible arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen. Niah cried out to Kyra and Hacmed but was quickly silenced. A man started to materialise around Niah, starting with the hand that was now clamped over her mouth and ending with the snide sneer of this hostile stranger.

"It's all over for you, Miss Prentiss," the man rasped wickedly. "By the hand of Pilner, I'll see you and your demon siblings wiped from the face of the planet!"

The front door to the Prentiss residence creaked open, and Kyra stood in the doorway peering out at them. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene, and Niah managed to wrestle her mouth free of her attacker's grip and she instructed Kyra to get Hacmed and run.

"Almost too easy," the man mused as Kyra slammed the door. "I had almost hoped this would be more of a challenge."

An instant later, the front door splintered into millions of pieces as a large object hurtled through it and right toward them both. The man threw Niah aside as he dove to the left, and she stumbled to the ground in confusion. The object slowed its pace, and as the splinters settled Niah saw that it had been her kid brother, Hacmed. He had fluctuated his weight and become a human cannonball, simultaneously saving her.

"You little brat!" the man shouted. "You're a fool to think you're any match for me. All you've done is prolong your doom!"

Kyra and Niah rushed to Hacmed's side as he flashed a lopsided grin. His scruffy hair sat messily atop his head, and his deep blue eyes flashed with excitement. He had been practicing his new-found power, and being able to use it was just about the coolest thing he'd ever done. The menacing stranger, however, seemed less impressed. He spat and drew his sword, ready to dismember and destroy.

[DragonHeart]

Unfortunately for Farore, leading a town (and a sprawling underground) often meant sacrifice.

“Lady Farore, please wake up. We need you!”

She woke to Remi tugging on her sleeve and pleading with her to get up. She did, rubbing at her temples. The white wings she was renowned for were gone. She'd dissolved them subconsciously to conserve what little magic she had remaining.

“What's wrong, Remi?”

“I'm sorry to rouse you Lady, but some of the villagers have come to ask for your aid. They found a survivor...”

“They didn't wait for the Watchers? Jareth should have his team there to investigate by now. Never mind, it's probably just as well. I'll see what I can do for this survivor. You see to the others.”

“Yes, Lady.” Remi bowed and left. She could hear him running down the hall, calling orders to the staff. He'd be a good Watcher when he was old enough. She wondered if she'd be around to see him as an adult.

Now's not the time for that.

She stood, wincing as her joints protested. Farore wasn't yet forty, but already her body betrayed her with its weakness. Even so, she didn't have time for laying about while her people depended on her.

She listened carefully for several moments. Nothing. Everyone had gone downstairs to tend the wounded and the weary. With practiced ease she pulled open a hidden compartment behind her night table, revealing a small bottle of plain white capsules. It was half empty.

Shaking two into her hand, she quickly returned the rest to the secret stash. She knew how severe the effects of long term use were, but she had no choice. She swallowed the drugs with a grimace. The aftertaste always made her nauseas. They took hold immediately, restoring and boosting her magic.

With only a pause to change clothes and wash her face, Farore headed downstairs to continue working. She'd had only an hour of sleep.

[Victoria]

The two women stopped in their tracks as they laid their eyes upon Eris, the girl who Kisara had searched for after they had been separated in the Cormenyr mountains. She spent hours in the mountains in search for clues that led toward Eris' direction. With no luck by herself she decided to stop by Lothua's Haven village to employ the services of her childhood best friend, and now the two stood before her out in the open.

Kisara took a step to hug Eris, but Matsuri stopped her in her tracks and stood in front of her. She nodded her head in the direction towards the man that had Eris' attention. Matsuri's warrior instincts instantly detected that he was powerful, and also not someone to ignore.

The two glanced at each other and took a deep breath.

Matsuri made the first move and 'appeared' between Eris and the mysterious man. Kisara stood in her battle stance and channeled her energy to be on standby in case a battle were to start. Their unspoken plan was to use Kisara's ability to blink matter from elsewhere to where she needs it and Matsuri's wind ability.

Matsuri glared at the man and looked back at Eris. They may have interrupted the conversation, but it was for the better, Matsuri thought. The man appeared to have vibes of malice.

“How dare you try and kidnap Kisara's pupil!” she said with aggressive vigor, in her stance and ready to land a punch at any moment.

[Merlin]

The doctor glared at the newcomer standing before him. He was intrigued at her willingness to interrupt something she knew nothing about, but at the same time disappointed with her complete lack of forethought. His piercing eyes locked onto hers as if he was looking right through her. A smile formed across his lips as he said, “It is quite rude to jump to conclusions, especially when you haven’t even properly introduced yourself.” He reached out his hand and moved in closer, in a seemingly friendly manner, saying, “Let me do the honors. My name is Doctor Silverhand. I was just informing your friend of how dangerous it is to wander around. It seems the higher-ups in several countries would love to see her dead.”

Matsuri slapped away his hand, unwilling to trust the mysterious man. She knew something was seriously wrong and had no intention of letting him continue his scheming. “You take one more step forward and…”

Doctor Silverhand interrupted her tenacious statement with one of his own, saying, “I was hoping to keep this civil but I don’t like to keep people waiting. If you’re that eager to die, I’ll grant your…” His own sentence was cut off midstream as he turned hard about, placing both hands in front of him, his fingers intertwined and his palms facing away. “Iron Curtain!”

Suddenly, the doctor’s body was engulfed in a brilliant white aura as massive metallic bars materialized at his sides and encircled him. The bars increased in velocity until it seemed as though it was one solid piece of metal, then vanished into nothingness. Silverhand grinned as a massive bolt of ice attempted to strike him head-on. The once-visible wall absorbed the magical attack, neutralizing the bitter cold instantaneously. If he had delayed but a second more, his chest cavity would have been the object taking the hit, not his defensive spell. Soon after taking a defensive stance, more frozen projectiles came from the direction of the hospital, each on aimed directly at him. He had first thought that it was by accident, but it was quite clear at this point that he himself was being targeted and not the new arrivals.

Falaris emerged from the distant darkness, her hands illuminated with an azure tint. “I’m afraid your scheming days are over old man,” she yelled, drawing everyone’s attention to her arrival. “It seems as though High Command doesn’t like you experimenting on my subordinates. Quite frankly, nor do I.” She grinned wryly at him and continued, “Therefore, with the power invested in me as the leader of the M.C.T.U, I will carry out your punishment personally!”

Falaris approached the nearby Kisara, continuing to launch increasingly more powerful ice bolts at the doctor. While Silverhand was distracted trying to block the onslaught of spells, Falaris grabbed hold of Kisara’s outfit and said, “I thank you for your willingness to help, but I kindly ask you to take your companions and leave. You stand no chance of defeating him once he becomes serious!” Falaris pointed at Eris and continued, “Get her out of here before its too late for all of us!”

The once-calm doctor was becoming increasingly more agitated by the annoyance of simply defending himself. He wasn’t expecting to have to fight unexpected guests, let alone the head of an elite assassination squad. He might have insulted her skills only a few hours past, but in reality, he had no idea what level her magic really was at. The M.C.T.U members were trained in masking their energy so that they would not be detected by their target. The only thing he was sure of is that she had the ability to create ice clones of herself which had the exact same energy level that she currently had at that moment, making it near impossible to decipher which was the real and which was the fake.

Doctor Silverhand’s mind was made up. His plans would have to be postponed until the newest annoyance was eliminated. He had no interest in harming his new toy Eris and her friends were but bugs on the windscreen. In his eyes, they posed little to no threat whatsoever… not even worth the few moments it would take to kill them. Falaris was by far a more serious threat, one that he simply could not ignore. He collected his senses and looked dead at his target, stating calmly, “No need to whisper sweet nothings into her ears, my dear Ice Queen. They may leave… but you…” In that momentary pause, the doctor had crossed the distance that separated him from his target, appearing only inches away from Falaris’ face, the palm of his right hand placed squarely on her chest. The grin on his face was sickeningly sweet, an obviously forced smile.

“Shit! Get out of he….rr…ee….” Her voice was undistinguishable from the explosive burst of energy that had been emitted from Doctor Silverhand’s forearm. She was blown backwards, her legs trying desperately to slow her speed to no avail. Her body struck the outer edge of the hospital like a rag doll, most likely fracturing multiple bones in her body from the impact. She struggled to get to her feet, refusing to give up until the very last ounce of her being had been destroyed.

“Oh? Defiant little bitch, aren’t you. No matter. Your resistance is a futile effort. You will die soon enough.”

[Imposter]

The crunching of twigs, roots, and leaves underneath the slab were the only sounds that seemed to reach the ears of Ezhno. The rugged chain tightened with the weight against his arm as he pulled his monument through the forest. His steps mechanically moving onward one after another, despite the burden that followed each of them. Finally he paused, and began to swing the slab in front of himself, a groan ruptured from the man as his muscles contracted until the slab reached its destination. At the release of the chain the slab fell against a massive cedar, the crack of the tree echoed throughout the forest trying to find its way out of the maze of trees. In response birds fluttered away surprised by the noise.

Ezhno’s fingers ran over the list of names on the slab as his body slowly moved to the ground until resting in a sitting position. As his mind sifted through the names, his expression became solemn as only a few brought back any memories. Is it true that all these names have played a role in my play? How many more will it take to fill my Dramatis Personae? I only know that the light is missing. ‘My darkness?’ What foolishness. I am doing this for them. His eyes reading over their names on the slab, they were the first, his comrades.

“A light I have not found yet…” The words came out raspy and slurred. It had been quite sometime since Ezhno actually spoke. Clearing his throat he looked around his surroundings, the beauty of the forest failed to captivate him. To Ezhno it was nothing but a background of the stage he now found himself on. He could not be enticed by it; after all it was for the audience. His mind stopped short, as thoughts conflicted with each other. Life is not just a play fool, live it to its fullest as it is the only one you have. Heh, of course you should live it to its fullest, that is the best show for any audience…is it not? Ezhno smiled as he found himself tapping his fingers against his head as the conflict carried on in his mind.

Stretching, Ezhno let himself fall back hitting the crushed twigs and leaves below him. His eyes closed slowly until he slept. It was still early but he had been traveling for quite some time. His body adapted to the slumber, his muscles relaxed themselves. Ezhno however found himself somewhere else. It was all too familiar to him, an area between Pilner and Jumin. His comrade’s dead bodies around him and the corpse of the Alter still on his blade Ezhno pulled his blade from the Alter’s remains. Rage, guilt, and sadness flooded through his body as he looked into the cold dead eyes of his comrades. With sounds of battle in the distance Ezhno turned from his fallen friends and proceeded towards the battle.

“Why are you in such a rush Ezhno?”

The voices cooed in unison, they were so familiar that chills ran up Ezhno’s spine and he froze. Quickly he spun around; the sight caused him to drop his weapon. Ezhno gazed upon his fallen comrades their bodies torn, seared, and disfigured but now risen they glared at him. Ezhno’s fingers started tapping his head. “You are all dead, yet you walk and stand.” Before Ezhno could question the bodies spoke, their tone displaying anger.

“Why are we here? Ezhno you brought us here, you’re becoming the very thing you swore to kill. Think of them all, all the Alters who died in our name…you will soon be just like them. Quite the twist for your play, wouldn’t you say? Will you be able to bear facing the dead?”

The voices mocked as the bodies enclosed around Ezhno, their arms flailing out towards him. The smell of blood from their tattered bodies reached Ezhno’s nostrils. No longer was he tapping his head but instead now he was holding it in his hands, laughter erupting from the thought of what was transpiring. His thoughts mingled with the smell, becoming an alluring fragrance. Once the bodies were upon Ezhno his hands lashed out breaking and crushing the bodies around him all the while his laughter rang in his ears. When it had ended Ezhno looked at his bloodstained hands and spoke.

“Fools, I will put the dead to rest seventy times over if I must, I vowed to you all that I would get revenge and this is how I am repaid? I will continue to search out the light. You have only strengthened my resolve. Now your names bear their rightful place on the monument, one’s who fell by the hands of Ezhno Gyre!”

Ezhno awoke and sat up, his mind scrambled to collect his thoughts and separate reality from dream. He arose and gripped the chain attached to the stone slab. Lifting the chain over his shoulder he proceeded to continue his journey. The sounds he had heard earlier soon made their way to his ears once again as he pulled the slab through the trees and foliage. The events within his dream had took preeminence over everything else in his mind. Ezhno had almost failed to hear another sound in the forest, the sound much like his own, moving throughout the forest quicker then his methodical steps. However he couldn’t tell if it was coming or going. What is written in the script for today? Will I find my light? For a moment Ezhno’s face displayed a sincere grin.

[Andromeda]

Eris looked around at the suddenly changing events that she had become involved in, even if only as a bystander. A familiar looking woman had appeared in the street acting like she knew her, but her mind was hazy in its recollection. However, she was quick to dismiss it as the situation turned dark with the doctor she had been talking to being confronted by one of the women. She took a slow and careful step backwards feeling the freezing fear envelop her once again. Eris thought that she had escape the danger, but a new threat was revealed with a sudden burst of ice from behind.

She collapsed to the ground holding her body in her arms, as vicious attacks were unleashed upon the kind doctor. The doctor was behaving strangely as well with a change in demeanor that confused her. He had seemed honest, but now there was a much darker emotion over his features that made her heart run cold. Her body could only shake, unable to attempt any sort of movement.

The person that had been trying to kill the doctor disappeared in the dark of night out her sight once the doctor struck back. All Eris could hear were the sounds of things breaking. She was not sure who was the enemy anymore and whom she should want to win. Eris tried to keep her body small and away from the crossfire finding partial comfort between two vendor booths, closed for the night. She closed her eyes not wishing to see what was happening, but hearing it only made the unknown more ominous.

A sudden grab at her wrist shook her out of her paralyzed state. It was the woman that was pretending to be familiar with her pulling at her. “Come on, you need to get out of here, Eris!” It was her name that caught her more than anything else. She could not remember this person and was confident in that she never met her before. However, the woman knew her name and that worried her.

‘Who is she? She acts as though she knows me, yet I-I…’ Eris shook her head back and forth not wanting to listen anymore. ‘No, I shouldn’t listen. What if she wants to kill me?’ She ripped her arm free, whether fearing her life or fearing the woman was anyone’s guess at that point, and pushed the woman out of her way. The sudden burst of strength that she gained catapulted her away from the fighting as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Wait! Eris, where are you going?” the woman shouted as Eris disappeared into the winding streets of Haven.

The words fell on deaf ears as all she could think about was getting away from the fighting. She had to protect the life inside her as well as her own. The thoughts intertwined as one. She did not second-guess her selfishness to live. Unfortunately, the streets of Haven were confusing to her, especially when she did not have a direction or goal. This was simply escape rather than reaching something. Anywhere would do for her, so long as there was not fighting and no one trying to kill her.

‘Who were all those people? Are they all after me like he said? What am I going to do now? Is there anywhere safe for me?’ Air forcefully exhaled from her mouth after running for ten minutes. She could feel her lungs pounding to be allowed free from the confines of her body and the aching in her legs. Her muscles had been protesting her for the last couple minutes. However, she had been able to push through it fueled by fear. The powerful motivator suddenly ran empty when she heard a familiar voice.

“Miss Eris?” the voice said out of the darkness as she passed by.

The familiar voice and lose of energy made her trip on the cobble road. She slid across the stone coming to a quick halt. The figure in the shadows came out rushing to her side revealing themself to be Remi as she had believed.

“Are you hurt, Miss Eris?” he said giving her a hand back up to her feet.

She patted down her dress worried that she ruined something so beautiful. “Oh, Remi. I’m not hurt.”

Remi looked around the street with a puzzled expression in his eyes. “Why were you running, Miss Eris?”

“There are some strange people fighting down by that explosion earlier.” Eris clung against Remi for support. The unusual proximity of a woman to Remi made him blush a little wanting to have some distance. However, Eris’ grip on Remi was far too strong for him to fight against. He barely had enough room to breath naturally.

“Miss Eris…maybe you should go see Miss Farore,” he said hoping that he might be free to move again.

The mention of her made Eris tighten her grip on Remi even more with panic washing over her. ‘She could be in it with rest of them. She did find me. Oh, what should I do?’ The words that the doctor had spoke were echoing through her mind. He looked different now, but she did not know if she should trust him or not. There were so many things she did not understand in the world. She did not want to think that she was important enough to be hunted down by several kingdoms. However, she knew that they were after those with magic like she had. ‘Who do I trust?’

[Victoria]

The mysterious man reached his hand out to her as he introduced himself in a false kind manner.

“Let me do the honors. My name is Doctor Silverhand. I was just informing your friend of how dangerous it is to wander around. It seems the higher-ups in several countries would love to see her dead.”

Matsuri slapped his hand and scoffed at him.

“Oh? Well fancy that, then. A lot of guys want me dead, too. You don't see me running away,” she cracked her neck and cracked her knuckles. Her warrior instincts tingled through her body and signaled to her that perhaps Erin had already fled the scene. “So if you take even one step forward, I'll have to--”

He had the gall to interrupt her. All she had to hear from him was this:

“If you're that eager to die, I'll grant your--” and then his turn for interruption came. He turned from her and activated one of his techniques. Seemed to be a steel barrier of sorts that negated a lot of attacks that were to come his way. The wall vanished, however. So in the end Matsuri pondered if the steel property stayed throughout and just went invisible, or just a gimmick. If it indeed did stay throughout, she had a chance.

A massive bolt of ice headed his way futilely and smashed against his barrier. And then several more. A woman appeared with an azure aura about her. The woman approached Kisara while her onslaught maintained its barrage. As Silverhand was distracted, she took the opportunity to persuade Kisara and her partner to take Eris and leave. The woman named Falaris pointed at the location where Eris used to be located.

“Excuse me, but I hate to interrupt you, but... where are you pointing? Nobody is there. I believe Eris has already fled of her own accord.”

That was when Silverhand broke the routine of defense and in a moment, his speed seemed to mimic Matsuri's. Did he have super-speed as well? Out of the corner of Kisara's eye, she could see Matsuri give a fiery glare as he ignored her.

“They may leave” he said..

Did he just underestimate us? Kisara thought as a dark aura emitted from her as her eye twitched. She watched as the woman took the brunt force of an energy blast and flew from her position. The outer edge of the hospital absorbed the impact from her body as it most likely broke several bones in the process of negating her velocity.

The dark aura surrounding Kisara had awoken her mind. She blinked herself behind Matsuri and turned Matsuri's ear toward her lips. She whispered a phrase into Matsuri's ear that caused the fiery glare to erupt. A mesh of orange and green had surrounded young warrior girl.

Matsuri's hair flew in the wind tunnel of her aura. Her bangs changed color; one to orange, one to green, respectively. A battle cry soared through the air as her aura exploded. She had unlocked the seal she put on herself a while ago before she started fighting under Haven's arena. She had to. She was a fair fighter and the other fighters were normal martial artists, with a few that had powers like her that sealed themselves as well.

Removing her seal meant that her opponent required her ultimate strength and wasn't some average chump. With what she had seen earlier and from what Kisara had whispered to her, this Silverhand man was no ordinary foe. Kisara always knew how Matsuri worked. They were two girls made for each other.

Matsuri's image flickered and before it disappeared, Kisara touched her shoulder and whispered a few more things in her ear. Matsuri nodded in agreement and smirked at Kisara before her image faded away.

Within less than a second, Kisara's lips moved in a quick pace as her fingers tightly gripped her wand. Matsuri had to distract and lead Silverhand to a precise location at a precise moment for this plan to work. She believed in Matsuri's skill that had been pushed to the limits in her childhood and trained to endure the harshest weather. She was a born warrior.

Matsuri's hand made its way to Silverhand's shoulder, but his defense seemed to have been moved to his rear. So she decided to speak up to Falaris as her eyes concentrated on Silverhand.

“You know, I find it kind of ironic that the one who told us to flee didn't take our own abilities into account. Though... how could you when you know nothing of us?” Silverhand's eye twitched as he spun his body around and launched his arm in a haymaker attack.

Matsuri grabbed his wrist before it was able to land and her fingers had a tight snake-like grip. She pulled him into her personal space and flicked her flare switch on. So as she tightly gripped his wrist, it burned ever so slowly from the fire that erupted from her hand. In a few seconds, she enflared her right knee and drove it into the bottom of his chin and sent him backward as he stumbled to regain his balance.

He sighed as his irritation grew more apparent. Her slightly new appearance intrigued him, but it wasn't enough of a difference to alarm him. Though her skill had raised its level in his list of things to watch out for.

“What is this, interrupt Silverhand day?” his eye twitched and gave sign of stress. He rubbed his chin and smirked. He cleared his throat and eyed Falaris from behind.

“I do hope you won't go anywhere. I have yet to be done with you, wench.” he focused his vision back to the new girl who had appeared earlier.

“That was some trick, and you caught me off guard,” he scoffed, “but I will assure you that it won't work again. Though I do suppose I still have that death wish to grant you from earlier.”

“Though it won't go as easy as planned... No matter.” he thought to himself as he peered toward Matsuri.

His body vanished in a second and appeared behind Matsuri's faded image. He eyed behind him to see her image reformed. He moved his head to the right as a blaze of fire in the form of her fist veered toward him.

Just wonderful. If I hadn't had to crack my neck, I would have been struck. Lovely. It seems I have to be serious with this lass. A pity, really.

Kisara's eyes sparked with electricity as her incantation continued. It had already been done halfway. Matsuri had led Silverhand near the planned location. Just a few more meters to the east. The speed battle was quite the spectacle to see. Kisara witnessed the so-called Iron Curtain, but she was confident in her abilities to crack the wall if it ever appeared.

[Andromeda]

Her mind was twisting threads around itself making it difficult to think straight. When it was not twisting it was darting from worry to the next worry unable to hold still. There were too many things happening all at once for her to comprehend fully. She did not know what to believe anymore. Running seemed like the only safe thing to do right now for her.

“M-miss Eris…I can’t breathe…” Remi said softly through the pale embrace of Eris’ body. It took another moment for it to complete register through Eris’ panicked mind before she released him from her clutches. Once freed from his captor he drew in enough air for the rest of his life. Remi coughed from the intake finding the ground to be a suitable place to recover.

Eris knelt down to Remi checking to see that he was still alive and that she did not cause any permanent harm to him. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“No, I’m feeling better already.”

“I’m glad.” The distant sound of fighting that she had fled made Eris jump to her feet. She looked around the empty street trying to find if there was anyone following her. It was just a barren street though. The same as all of the others in Haven that she had seen. There was no one that she could find hiding in the shadows waiting for her. Emptiness did not stop her eyes from darting around paranoid about every slight noise that she heard. Her tense body began aching from the stress that was building up.

Remi looked up at Eris a little confused by her mannerisms. He waited for a minute hoping that she might explain it herself or return to the normal Miss Eris that he knew. “Umm…Miss Eris? Is something wrong?”

“Huh? What?” she said continuing to jerk her head around not bothering to look at him. There were too many sounds for her to keep track over, as the night seemed busier than she remembered. The fact that Remi was nearby her escaped her thoughts now making her feel alone. However, she felt that even though she was alone there was a crowd of eyes maliciously watching her waiting for the moment that they could kill her. The pressure poured on her squeezing out sweat from every pore of her body nearly instantly dropping her body’s temperature for a moment.

“Are you looking for something?” Remi knew that he was not reaching her and stretched out his hand taking her hand. The sudden sensation of another being shattered the crippling paranoia that was quickly imprisoning her. He had her attention, if but for a brief moment. “Miss Eris? Is something wrong?”

“Wrong? I-I…” She looked down at Remi as he began at stand up while she was contemplating her answer. ‘What do I say? I don’t even know what is going on anymore.’ Eris swallowed roughly prolonging her response even more. “I need to go somewhere away from everything.”

“What do you mean? But Miss Farore-“

“No!” Eris tried to pull back her voice, but she was already shouting. “No…somewhere else. A place where there is no one and nothing.”

“No one? I know of a place. Did you want me to take you there?”

‘A place with no one…’ Worried eyes panned the street reiterating the feeling that she was not safe where she was at the moment. The thought of being somewhere safe was enough to make her heart jump. She wanted to be freed from all of the fighting and people. A moment of peace was all she wanted like she had known when she was in her village. “Yes, take me there please.”

“Very well. Follow me, Miss Eris.” Remi kept a firm hold on Eris’ hand and took off down the street. Forced to keep up with Remi surprising speed all of her troubles were being left behind her. She was fleeing, but it felt like freedom to her. The difference hardly mattered if it meant peace of mind.

The darkened alleys and streets of Haven twisted around taking the two further away from the increasing intensity of the fighting occurring further in. Black tunnels in the night burrowed forth leaving Eris in a bewildered state. She never had a sense of direction in the town to begin with and any remote concept of the theory was lost to her now. It did not matter if she was never able to return now. Border houses broke in front of them placing them at the very edge of the town with nothing but solid void in the heavy night air.

Magic was thick in the field from the heavy concentration of magical emissions of the combat taking place in the inner part of Haven. The drawing of magic left an eerie mist only notable to those with the power. It’s ominous presence set Eris heart ajar from her body for a moment. She pulled away from Remi grip bringing her hand close to her chest. “What’s going on? There’s something wrong with this fog.”

“So you noticed, Miss Eris…it is only something us magic users can see as magic becomes so concentrated that we can visibly see its draw lines. The excess waste and expelled magic in focusing disperses into the air until it coalesces once it reaches its critical limit. It is a magnificent sight to behold.”

Eris stepped away from Remi hearing a change in his speech from the kind soothing tone to a cold course matter-of-fact speech that sounded familiar. “Remi? What’s wrong?”

The young man that she had known turned around facing her with a dark expression covering his face. His eyes were narrowed with a faint glow. “I guess it’s about time to drop the charade.” A smirk curled around his lips as he took a step towards Eris.

“Remi!?” She did not know what had happened to him taking a cautious step away from him. His approach kept them an even distance.

Remi continued to move forward slowly watching her with predatory intent in his eyes. The awkward dance pressed on forcing Eris away from the town. “Miss Eris,” Remi said suddenly changing his expression to the innocent boyish façade he had been wearing.

The change was enough to make Eris falter breaking her step allowing Remi to close the distance as paralysis overtook her in fear. “Remi…” She tripped over her malfunctioning legs collapsing to the ground with Remi looming over her. “Stay away!” Eris shouted thrust her open palms out at Remi praying that her hidden magical powers would come to her. However, she was left staring at the backs of her hands until Remi quickly took one of her wrists in hand.

“Now Miss Eris, is that any way to treat your Remi?” he said with a dark smile taking pleasure in screwing with her emotions and mind that was already fragile. The hint of the old Remi’s voice laced through his words breaking Eris. ‘Too simple…’

“What do you want? Who are you? Are you with Jumin? Are you hunting me?” Eris said franticly remembering the words from the doctor that she had met earlier. There were supposedly people after her wanting to kill her. Her eyes widened when she met the horrific eyes of death locked in Remi’s head.

Her frantic questions nearly made Remi laugh, but it was actually the delusional self-importance that broke him into laughter. “Oh my dear Miss Eris. You’re so insignificant. I can’t believe that you’ve deluded yourself into thinking that there are actually people hunting you down.”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing so grandiose as in your mind, Miss Eris,” he said making sure to hit on her name slowly pealing each of her layers back. Now satisfied with the results Remi initiated a green glow around him as the magical energies in the air suddenly streamed towards him.

A warm pulsing energy flowed through Eris’ arm from Remi’s hand. It was making her limb numb quickly traveling up to her heart and head. The sensation overcame her before she knew what was happening causing her to go completely limp to the ground. Her eyes were beginning to lose sight and the surroundings trickled away. “What…are…hap-pen…me…”

Once Eris lost consciousness Remi let go of her hand laying her out straight on the ground. He looked her over a final time before he would begin concentrating. “Ah, youth is wasted on the young.” Remi stroked her cheek with the back of his hand pushing aside a strand of her hair. His face betrayed the gentleness with the malice that poured back into his eyes as the green glow grew brighter completely surrounding him. “Now then…”

Remi knelt down reaching out his hand to Eris stomach as thin strains started to wrap around his arm flowing from Eris into Remi. His face smoothed out with a calm as it entered his body. ‘What unusual life force as though there is a second…’ However, the feeling was short lived as the threads were suddenly cut fraying out. Remi pulled back feeling a sudden spark in the air in advance of a bubble that formed around Eris’ body. “What’s this? A shield…that’s not enough to stop me. I can feed even through magic.”

His hand pressed up against the barrier igniting sparks of electricity along the surface of impact. Remi’s hand remained unscathed as he forced his hand into the barrier causing it to warp around. The opposing forces struggled with each other as the sparks became fiercer the more he pushed.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning thrust down from the clouds nearby cutting into a tree. The loud snap that bounced off the border houses of Haven made Remi pause for a moment losing his focus. He quickly lost his ground struggling to fight against the barrier. Another bolt of lightning struck down at the edge of the houses singeing the roof. Several more strikes occurred in quick succession in the surrounding area. The lightning did more damage to the town than anything else as there seemed to be no direction in the attacks.

Remi monitored the lightning seeing the radius that it was hitting in. The strikes were continuing to move closer to him as though the first ones were just a warning shot. “Unless you wish to kill yourself as well you won’t hit me while I’m this close to you.” However, the lightning was hitting even closer to him searing the ground that it contacted. He remained undaunted by the attempt at intimidation.

The lightning came to a stop with the final strike three feet away from Remi. A small trail of smoke bloomed from the site as the clouds began to roar. There was an ominous thunder lighting the clouds up brightly. Remi stared at the clouds knowing what was happening and smirking. “Your barrier could not possibly survive such a direct hit.” The air around Remi suddenly changed as massive amounts of charged particles poured out in prelude to the coming attack. “You can’t…”

A white beam of light shot down to the ground in an instant connecting with the barrier. The lightning warped around the barrier engulfing Remi. The ground wept under the force forming a crater up against the barrier leaving Eris untouched. Smaller tendrils from the lightning wrapped around the barrier sparking off to the nearby ground and homes. Debris flew up from the epicenter of the strike twisting into a cloud of dust broke down to fine particles.

Finally, the vibrating of the ground came to an end with the draining of the lightning away. As the dust cleared away a second barrier was shining next to Eris hiding Remi underneath. Once the last of the sparks ceased the barrier came down letting him stand up. “Such a bold and reckless move. And yet-“

His words were cut off by a lightning bolt from the barrier itself. It jumped over the ground at Remi, but he dodged the strike causing the house behind him to discover a new hole. Another bolt leapt from the barrier at the point that Remi had landed. He effortlessly jumped out of the way forced to keep a defensive position as sequential strikes came at him. “Hmm…this is more focused. The strikes have advanced beyond the necessity of nature as a critical component. How is this possible in someone only a week awakened?”

A series of new strikes reached out for him missing still against his reflexes. However, unlike the previous lightning bolts these were not fading away once thrown. Remi found him in the middle of four bolts that were quickly twisting together around him. He leapt out at the last moment taken by surprise in the change of tactics. Once the lightning twisted together a light burst from it briefly before it jumped. In a fluid motion akin to a whip it lashed out at Remi. Each miss meant more collateral damage to the town as Remi dragged it through alleyways testing its limits with a smirk the whole time.

[Merlin]

~~~~ The Previous Night ~~~~

On a fallen tree, deep in the forests of Lothua, sat Tyrbane and Yuuna, staring up at the night sky. Although the temperature was fair, Yuuna shivered under the heavy cloak that Tyrbane wore during the day. For the last several days she had become increasingly weak, having to pause for several minutes at a time to gather her composure. Although she claimed it was nothing, Tyrbane could only fathom what was really going on. For someone capable of healing critical patients with little trouble, for her to be suffering so much was extremely odd.

Tyrbane glanced over at his sister and gently rubbed her back. With a concerned look on his face he asked, “Are you sure you’re all right? We still have another day or so before we get to Haven.”

Yuuna grimaced, trying to cover the fact that she was in pain. A useless effort, since he was quite aware of it despite her best efforts to mask it. “Say, are you sure all of this is really worth it, Tyrbane?” She had completely changed the subject. She looked at him questioningly, continuing her line of thought. “All you have is some letters allegedly written by Gwinnyn, handed to you by a psycho who’s been trying to break the two of you up since you got together. Can you really trust what she said?”

“What are you saying, Yuuna, that we shouldn’t even bother? What if its true and Gwinnyn’s been here all this time waiting?” He sighed, patting her gently on the head. “Don’t you think its worth investigating?”

Yuuna’s head jerked away from his hand and she turned away from him slightly. “That’s not what I’m saying.” She looked towards the ground, swaying her feet back and forth and said, “You really aren’t thinking about this clearly, Tyrbane. You’re so absorbed in finding her.” She turned around suddenly, grabbing him by the face and screaming, “ Don’t you remember everything that happened? Don’t you remember seeing her body in the dirt with the townspeople beating her? Don’t you remember burying her?!? SHE’S DEAD Tyrbane!”

He ripped her hands away from his face and pushed her away from him. Her arms flung wildly as she grasped in the air for something to support herself from falling. Unable to find her balance in the dark, she struck the back of her head against the log and collapsed to the ground. “How dare you?” Tyrbane had no intention of letting her talk about the woman he loved so candidly. Tears formed in his eyes as he struck the log hard with his fist. “You think I could forget something like that? I remember it every time I wake up and every time I try to go to sleep. But the whole thing struck me as odd. There’s been a lot of strange things happening lately that I cannot explain. Alastora and Sizuru were with her that whole day, yet when I asked them what happened, neither one of them could give a straight answer. When they finally did, it was obviously fabricated. What about Alastora? Alastora always loved her sister with all her heart, yet she starts losing her sanity and trying to kill her? That makes no sense! The Alastora I knew would never act like that. The whole thing wreaks. So yeah, if there’s even a glimmer of hope that something else happened, I’m damn well going to look into it!”

Yuuna stayed on the ground, looking at him in shock. She curled up into a ball, unwilling to even look at him. Tears poured out of her eyes uncontrollably, rolling down her face and onto the cloak that was once again wrapped tightly around her body. “Stupid…” She mumbled the phrase, but it was still audible enough for Tyrbane to hear it.

“I… I’m sorry Yuna.” Tyrbane kneeled down beside her, picking her up gently and wrapping his arms around her midsection. He couldn’t believe he had pushed his own sister to the ground, the girl he had promised to protect and never harm no matter what. He really did feel stupid. “You’re right, Yuuna.” He shook his head in dismay as sadness welled up in his heart. “I really am stupid. All this time you’ve been looking out for me and all I do is think about getting Gwinnyn back. I never noticed that you were hurting too. Its not easy taking care of me, eh?”

She gently pushed her way out of his arms and sat defiantly, saying nothing at all.

He smiled warmly at her. Trying to cheer her up, he said, “Hey, you know Haven’s a big town. Once everything is over, how about we all go out and have some fun? We might even get lucky and find you a boyfriend! You are a grown-up now, even if you don’t look the part, haha!”

Instead of cheering her up, his words caused her tears to come at an increasingly faster rate. She was tired of covering up her feelings, hiding away behind a smile and a cheerful expression. Looking like a child had its benefits, but the perks were overshadowed by the limitations by far. She no longer wanted to be his little sister. Yuuna fought the tears back as best she could, pulling a small medallion from around her neck and holding it tightly in her hand. “Why do you think I did all that, stupid? I… I wish I wasn’t your sister. I really do.”

“What are you saying? I know we’ve had our problems together, but we always overcome them. I’m sorry I pushed you away Yuuna, I really am, so please don’t say things like that, ok?”

“You really are stupid!” She stood up with a huff, throwing the cloak in his face and slamming the medallion onto the log, shattering the necklace into fragments. “I’m tired of it all.” Yuuna turned away from him, her arms clasped behind her back. “I don’t want some other guy Tyrbane. All I want is you.”

Tyrbane peeled the cloak off of his face. Unable to find the right words, he watched in confusion as she dashed off into the depths of the woods. The last words he heard came right before she disappeared into the darkness: “I’m in love with you, idiot!” He would never forget those words. How could he? The girl he had spent the last twelve years with had just confessed to him. He thought he knew everything about him, but in reality, he had no idea what was going on inside of her heart all this time. He picked up the remnants of the medallion and looked at it. He instantly recognized the piece of jewelry. It was the necklace he had given her many years ago, when they promised they would be together forever. He had done so to make her feel welcome into the family, nothing more. When they first met, she was a lonely child that had just lost her parents. He did his best to make her happy. The day he gave her that necklace was the first day he saw her smile. Ever since then, she always had a joyful, positive atmosphere about her.

It finally donned on him. Until he met Gwinnyn, they were inseparable. They did everything together, no matter how meaningless it may have seemed to others. To Yuuna, Gwinnyn was never her brother’s girlfriend, she was Yuuna’s rival. He wondered why she never mentioned it before… why she bottled it up inside of her and simply accepted Gwinnyn and his eventual engagement. The whole time she was suffering and said nothing. The whole time she wanted nothing more than to be with him and he was blind to it. The person that was closest to him all of those years was the person he understood the least.

Tyrbane stood up and began gathering their belongings. Luckily, Yuuna had already packed up everything but a few odds and ends that they would need in the morning before they left. He paused for a moment, realizing that she had taken her bag with her. Although he took the liberty of carrying much of the load, she had stored away her own personal belongings in her own bag. He didn’t have time to think about it, he knew he had to find her before she collapsed or worse. The woods were no place for anyone to be wandering around alone in, especially in her condition.

Suddenly, the quiet night air was pierced by the sound of a shrilling scream. The sound was unmistakable to him. It was Yuuna. Before he had a chance to react, his whole body went numb. He struggled to remain standing as an immeasurable, invisible force was pushing against him. In the distance, the forest was lit up by a brilliant rose-colored aura, illuminating every facet of the flora and fauna with its eerie glow. “The hell… What’s with this huge magical aura?” He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but he definitely knew someone with an extremely high magic level was nearby. Whomever it was, it was in the direct path that Yuuna had went. Tyrbane rushed into the darkness after her, hoping and praying that she was all right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doctor Silverhand was growing impatient with his opponents. The one insisted on hurriedly rushing around trying to pound him in the face with her mixture of elemental melee attacks. The other seemed content to mumble to herself in the background, undoubtedly preparing some sort of spell. He had little time to worry about it at the moment, because the main focus of his attention was turned towards the heavy-hitting female who was becoming more accurate with each attempted hit. For the time being he had been content with simply dodging her attacks, but after releasing her true power, it was plain that it would no longer be that simple.

Unfortunately, he also knew that his attacks would never land on her either. He could easily create an impenetrable defense, but striking back against someone who was easily keeping up with his speed and clearly a trained fighter would be a fruitless endeavor. In the end, he was simply buying time. The longer the two of them continued their relentless assault, the less likely they would be to realize that his plan was coming to fruition right underneath their noses. The orchestration, the timing… everything was nearly perfect. The release of Matsuri’s limiter was a slight miscalculation on his part, but well within the contingency plans he had set up. Honestly, he was hoping the Lothuan defense army would have shown up to defend their town by now. Haven was a key city in the country, yet not a single Lothuan soldier had arrived. It was as if they were simply letting it happen. Either that or they assumed the local task force could handle it. He wasn’t sure if his opponents were protectors of the town or simply friends of the girl he had talked to, but it really didn’t concern him much. To him, they were nothing more than pawns to be toyed with and eventually eliminated once their usefulness ran out.

While his mind was sidetracked with such thoughts, Matsuri landed a punch aimed squarely for his nose. His Iron Curtain automatically blocked the attack with no effort on his part. Even so, the hit pushed him backwards, forcing him to return his attention to the battle in front of him. In the split second it took him to regain his footing, Matsuri had already closed the gap again, landing another five successive hits towards his midsection. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the woman’s accomplice looking dead at him, muttering something inaudible to him.

He never expected that the two of them would be able to synchronize their attacks so perfectly. Matsuri’s attacks were indeed useless against his defense, but they served a purpose nonetheless. His Iron Curtain defense, a defense strong against ice and extremely vulnerable to lightning, was being forced to stay at full active, giving Kisara a clear shot at him in the comfort of her position far away. It was a stupid mistake. All he had to do was switch his defensive spell after dealing with Falaris, but he didn’t. He was wide open and he knew it. “Son of a…” his words were never completed.

The air around Doctor Silverhand grew thick as electrically charged particles surrounded him. With a flash of brilliant white light, the place where the Doctor was standing was instantly obliterated by a massive burst of lightning. Matsuri blinked away at that same moment, narrowly missing being a target herself. It was imperative that she keep him occupied to the very last moment, something that was more than a bit risky to her own health. She stayed on guard, not sure of what to expect. Although the blast would have killed a normal person with ease, she wasn’t about to take chances with this man.

Matsuri and Kisara stared intently into the debris cloud that had formed from the electrical explosion, looking for any hint of life. After a few moments they could see the form of a man struggling to his feet and dusting off his clothes.

Doctor Silverhand coughed momentarily, clearing his throat of dust. “Haha. I have to hand it to you. You actually saw through my defense.” He rubbed his forehead, clearing away the blood that slowly trickled down his face. He turned his head towards his left shoulder for a moment, taking notice of the raindrop that had landed on his dirt-covered clothes. His hand was shaking slightly as he brushed off the raindrop, a side effect of the lightning blast. He grinned wryly at them, saying, “Unfortunately for you, the fun and games end here.”

As if on queue, the skies opened up, unleashing a torrential downpour upon the area. The storm seemed peculiar to Kisara and Matsuri. Unlike the typical thunderstorm, there was neither lightning nor thunder. Not only that but the storm seemed localized to the area, leaving the town of Haven untouched by water. Matsuri regrouped to Kisara’s position, unsure of what was going on.

The air became bitter cold, the moist breath of all, freezing as quickly as it exited their mouths. The rain itself froze at once, floating in the air momentarily before transforming from harmless water into deadly arctic projectiles. As the visibility dropped, Kisara motioned towards Matsuri, indicating that she would teleport them out of the area. The effort proved useless as both became frozen in their tracks. It wasn’t the biting cold that kept them from moving but the sudden formation of a strong magical presence emanating from the hospital.

The doctor grabbed his head in pain as the hospital began pulsating cerulean blue. He raised a stronger defense, bracing himself against the onslaught of sheer power. He had underestimated how effective his plan would be. In fact, he simply had no idea the effects would be strong enough to affect him. Of course, he was full of himself and would never admit that even he had been trumped.

Kisara gazed at Matsuri confused, and asked, “What’s going on?!?”

“Tch. The doctor was just a decoy. The real battle is just beginning.”

The hospital transformed into a colossal block of ice, shattering to icy powder thereafter. The silhouette of Falaris could be seen accented against the backdrop of ice that glimmered like diamonds in the darkness. Her massive claymore was propped on her shoulder, her free hand glowing blue.

Kisara and Matsuri looked on with a mix of confusion and shock. They had made the same mistake as the doctor, writing off Falaris as a near-death fighter, not someone who posed a threat.

“I believe you know my collegue.” Doctor Silverhand motioned towards Falaris as she approached him from the rear, snow falling all around her. “Falaris, the Ice Queen.”

Falaris grasped the hilt of her sword with both hands, swinging it cleanly towards the doctor’s head. His defensive shield shattered in that single blow, sending him sprawling forwards and onto his knees.”

“What the HELL are you doing? I command you to do what I say!”

“Nobody kills one of my subordinates and gets away with it.” She shouldered her blade, pointing her left hand towards him. “Enjoy your frozen hell, asshole.”

Doctor Silverhand panicked, realizing his fate had been sealed. “Dammit! Do as I say!” His attempt to yell was silenced as his body was surrounded in solid ice. The last thing he saw before his death was the sadistic smile of the woman he had failed to manipulate. His calculations were wrong. His plan a failure.

“Myrii!” Falaris called out for the man who had teleported herself and the Doctor to Haven. He materialized a short distance away, walking towards her nonchalantly. “What’s the prognosis?”

“Sizuru’s injuries have been repaired. She will make a full recovery. In other news, I have the documents giving you permission to terminate the…” Myrii glanced at the remains of Doctor Silverhand and grinned. “I see you already took the liberty of solving the problem.”

“The shithead killed Alastora. What the hell did you think I would do? Wait around for permission from a bunch of hardass bigwigs? Screw that.” Falaris stomped defiantly on the remains, grinding her boot into the doctor’s cloak. “Lets go.”

The mysterious teleporter turned towards Kisara and Matsuri and tossed a small package towards them. “Give that to Lady Farore. It should cover the damages.”

“How did you know…”

“We’re the M.C.T.U. We know everything.” With that, Myrii and Falaris dematerialized into the darkness.

[Andromeda]

The lightning whip thrashed through the edge of Haven destroying all houses in its path as it mercilessly sought out Remi. Each time a house fell there were drowned screams. Many of the people were fleeing out of their homes hearing the destruction. The weaker or slower citizens were quickly caught up in the lightning. There were some that attempt magic as a defense, but the time required for them to gather enough meant that they died easier.

Remi avoided detection from the townspeople moving too fast for most to even see him and otherwise keeping a darkness spell cast over him to make him impossible to recognize. He had been easily avoiding the attack from the unconscious Eris, but it was quickly becoming more accurate starting to pick up on the constant magic emissions from the spell he was maintaining. ‘This is becoming curious…’

Dozens of houses were now leveled with a semi-circle forming from the limit that the whip could reach. Those that were inside area were dead already with the survivors fleeing away to safety where ever it could be found, in other words as far as possible from the fighting. The abandoned section of Haven left Remi and the unconscious Eris free to duel.

The darkened figure of Remi’s masking spell flickered in the wind as he stood up looking down at Eris in the distance. ‘There is something that does not make sense about her. Unconscious and attacking with this accuracy. That strange life force I sensed…’ He watched the lightning whip undulating in anticipation of the next strike. When the attack came Remi was already finishing preparation extending his palm out sending pulsing waves away from him in direction of Eris. The whip continued undaunted by the harmless waves taking the final blow against the man. The ground exploded around Remi as the lightning struck before a brilliant light burst from the whip dispersing it into particles.

As the dust settled Remi was standing calmly with a frontal barrier up protecting himself from the debris. The lightning whip was gone, broken down by the waves that Remi had produced. Each wave caused the magic forming the spell to lose its bonds and focus creating progressive degradation until it could no longer to be sustained. Now that he was freed from constant assaults his defensive stance could be changed. A burst of speed brought him within reach of Eris once again as a barrier went up around her.

Remi placed his hand through the barrier shattering it without an effort. “All magic has been disrupted, you’ll need a lot more concentration if you expect to fight me. Though it makes it difficult for me, there is no more needless resistance from you.” His hand touched her stomach starting the work that had been interrupted. The threads began to flow into his arm draining out of Eris. However, he suddenly stopped turning his head towards the town staring through his narrow eyes. “The fighting stopped…whoever the victor is will undoubtedly investigate the magic used here.”

Retracting the hand, Remi walked away from Eris stopping for a moment looking back at her. “You’re a curious one. Perhaps allowing you to live will be more fruitful.” Parting with those words Remi disappeared from the site of destruction. Silence returned to the field as two figures appeared near by.


The dirt road led into the west as one of the last trade routes along the Jumin border. This land had exchanged sides countless times that there were numerous roads undulating north to south through the war zone. It made travel difficult for directions, but easy as it was almost impossible to block travel.

Marching soldiers from the northern region were making their way to west. The growing border tensions with the Kithurans staring from their side were making the king uneasy. They were already losing the war in the north barely able to keep a defense together and now they were being threatened on a new front. Everyone believed that Kithur’s forces were too focused in the north to attempt a second front, but their displays of force on the border had everyone second-guessing that belief.

No one knew what was going on in Ithure anymore with all contact cut now. The last report that was received from the agent investigating the incident said that was it a magic user that had awakened in the village that did the destruction. The message came down from the intelligence division, but it was difficult to believe that it was a single individual that caused it all. Magic was used that was all that was completely clear and the formations of Kithur were looking suspicious.

General Ulric Qui Fonbre knew the strength of magic from the battles in the north. He knew far too well how powerful that they were, but those were military trained mages. The level of destruction that was said to have been witness would have to be that of a military trained mage. He had never heard of an awakening user to cause such devastation. Even so, he would prefer it to be the case as much as he hated the thought. They could not keep up a two front war with Kithur with their military strength as it was currently.

The fourth army had been on the march for the last day after camping to the north of the village waiting the arrival for their magic attachment. Ulric had been able to avoid the need for mages in his command since he took over the fourth army, but it was becoming standard for military mages to be assigned to the standard military. He had protested the decision fervently, but they simply told him he was living in the past. The words held irony as he was praised in his battles against magic users as being the most adapt in changing his tactics against magic users. Fighting with magic seemed inelegant on the battlefield almost barbaric, but he knew that he could not survive the battlefield with that sentiment. The technology of war was advancing and he would be left behind if he remained stagnant like the other generals who still thought that they were going up against normal soldiers.

Once they reached the outskirts of Ithure the men halted. Ulric could see smoke rising from the village in the distant creating an ill omen. ‘I don’t like the looks of this. Something is not right.’ He signaled for his scouts to advance on the village to determine the condition. Before he sent the scouts ahead he had one of the mages from the attachment go with the scouts. The unknown was ahead in the village and it was already attacked by magic once, the support could be necessary.

Using the tree line at the edge of the fields of crops as cover the scouts quietly approached the edge of the village. Kethyir Ghiyon was drawn as the support for the scouts from the attachment. He was not pleased to be leaving his unit since much of the men had not accepted him. The scouts were the same ignoring him and leaving him behind if he was too slow. The thick foliage before the field made it difficult to quietly approach. He could not hear a sound from the village.

It was almost night with the sun dipping below the horizon. The coming darkness was not being fought back with lanterns or fires in the village. Ithure was still, far too silent. Kethyir could see the expression on the others in the scouting party. They were all thinking the same thing as him. However, they were soldiers and could not let that cloud their judgment, the squad leader rose up from the ground to his feet while keeping close to the ground. Everyone moved closely around him to receive orders.

“Groups of two,” he began, explaining who would be in the pairings. “And magic boy with me. You’ve got your orders, meet in the center of the village. Move out.” The others nodded and quickly disappeared into their separates directions. There were two other groups moving to enter the village from the north and south while Kethyir and the squad leader went straight through the eastern fields.

The two slowly walked through the fields using them for cover until finding it end abruptly. Everywhere before them the crops were bent over or burned down. There were even parts of the field that still burned faintly. “This looks recent…” Kethyir said softly. The squad leader was remaining quiet moving forward cautiously. Neither of them knew what was going on, but the uneasy feeling that had been a light veiled fear began to grow stronger. It was becoming clear that not all of the destruction was caused by a single magic user.

Kethyir reached the first house of Ithure or where the first house would have been a few days ago. All that remained now was ash and crumbling wood. As they walked in further dead bodies began to be found out in the road. Their blood was spreading through the dirt. As far as Kethyir could see there was no one left alive in the village. Something had happened to everyone; someone or thing did this to the village after the incident a week ago.

At the center of the village the other two groups eventually met up with Kethyir and his squad leader. They all looked at each other with the same eyes and expression. “Report.”

“It appears that everyone is dead and nothing of the village was left standing.”

“Same as what we saw.”

“Alright, team two go back and make your report to the General. We’ll stay and check for any survivors. If anyone is still alive we will need answers from them. And magic boy!”

“The name’s Kethyir, sir.”

“Can you see any traces of magic use?”

He had been looking around the entire time and while he skills in seeing the magic particles in the air was not as refined as others there was nothing to be seen. “Depending on how long ago the attacked happened the magic might have dissipated to the point that I can’t see it. The smaller the spell the less of a magic signature it is going to leave behind. If they did use magic, it was very sparingly. This looks like it was done mostly with standard weapons.”

“The Kithurans…” one of the others said.

“We don’t know that yet,” the squad leader said trying to keep rumors to a minimum. “Everyone split up and look for survivors. If you don’t find anyone in an hour meet back here at the center.”


Pilner was slowly coming to an end with the border only guarded by the mountains before him. Wihnem wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked upward at the mountains in the distance. He had picked up a lead from someone traveling south that there were strange lights and sounds in the mountains recently. Whenever someone saw something strange these days it was usually the result of magic being used. He knew that it could have easily been a landslide or some campfire, but there was nothing else to go on at the moment. The thought of trudging through snow did not appeal to him; he was barely wearing warm enough clothes for a hike in the mountains.

He pulled the collar up close to his neck suddenly feeling a cold draft from staring at the mountains. There were still several miles in front of him before the mountain began its steep climb, but steps of the mountain were already introducing themselves to him. His breathing was still calm waiting for the exercise to begin. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the glimpse of two figures on horseback.

The sunlight shining off their armor made him realize that they were Pilner knights. He would have preferred to take cover and avoid being spotted, but the land was barren but for wild grass that proved to be a poor cover. Wihnem continued to march towards the mountain pretending to ignore them. However, he could see that they were not ignoring him. The knights had changed their direction looking to intercept him.

Knowing that he could not avoid an encounter he prepared himself for them. Once they reached a distance that he knew any normal person would have taken notice he looked over acknowledging them. Wihnem slowed down his pace allowing them to meet him. In his best Pilner accent he greeted them warmly, “Good day!” As they continued to approach he took careful notice of a third with them. He could not see them well hiding behind the two, but it was clear that they were not a knight like these two before him.

“Good day, citizen,” the woman knight said. She looked over at the other as though signaling him.

Wihnem remained calm hoping that they were not here to cause trouble. He could see in their eyes that they had a motive for the appearance before him, but he did not know what it was. When the second knight turned it was then that he saw the insignia on the side of the armor, the mark of the Holy Knights. They were a part of the magic hating religion that was flourishing in Pilner. ‘Must be inquisitioners to be out here alone. Not what I needed.’ However, when the third figure he had seen stepped forward in worn tattered clothes he became confused.

The young woman stepped forward looking at Wihnem for only a second before having her eyes suddenly roll back. Her knees gave out on her as her body quickly collapsed to the ground. “He has the strongest…gift…I’ve felt…” she said before passing out on the ground. The two knights quickly drew their weapons pointing them on Wihnem without hesitation.

Wihnem stepped back still confused by what was going on. He did nothing to the girl, but they were acting as though it was his fault. He could not use magic against them and risk the chance of being seen or alerting other knights that might be with them. They had him at a disadvantage as he barely had something to call a weapon on him. His small dagger was all he could afford to take with him and still look like an innocent traveler. ‘Magic may be my only choice…’

“Nature Heretic, by the blessing of the gods I shall strike you down,” the woman said taking a swing at Wihnem followed by the male knight thrusting with his lance.

Wihnem was able to dodge the attacks, but his skill was quickly revealed to them as a result. ‘Nature Heretic, but how did they know? This doesn’t make any sense.’ He was left with no recourse now, but to fight and end it quickly. The two knights charged at him on their horses taking up opposite sides. He was able to avoid getting hit seeing the charging animal coming well in advance, but it made it difficult for him to do much to them. There was little time to focus a spell at the speed they were coming at him. If he tried anything one of them would have run him through before he had time to finish. ‘There is only one choice left, guess I’ll have to risk it.’

The charging horses came for another round against him the first one was already past him as he missed. The woman was next and he was ready for her. She was held her sword out wide knowing that he would be avoiding it again. All she need was a glancing blow, but Wihnem was not moving this time. She narrowed her eyes pushing the horse faster. When the horse was within feet of him he rolled over in front of the horse clearing to the opposite in time making it impossible for her to reach him. Wihnem brushed his hand against the horse’s thigh as it galloped passed. A moment later the leg of the horse had a spasm and in the full sprint tripped over itself throwing the woman from her horse.

The other knight approached the woman to see her condition. However, Wihnem did not wait and began to focus for a quick lightning spell. He thrust his palm out throwing a thin bolt of lightning from his palm that hit at the ground startling the horse. The horse threw the knight off and darted off leaving to the two knights laying on the ground in their heavy armor. Wihnem gathered electricity in his palms as he walked over to them making the hair on his arm stand on end. He placed his hand on each of them sending enough electricity through the metal and their body to knock them out. “Now I can take my time…” Wihnem withdrew his dagger from his back kneeling down with the first knight.

Before he could slit the woman’s throat the girl that had passed out charged him knocking him down. The dagger flew out of his hand and the girl fell on top of him looking down at him. Wihnem looked into the girl’s eyes. All he could see was an empty void with life barely present in them. “Why did you stop me?” The girl had no response. She just continued to stare at him.

He did not have time for her and easily removed her from holding him down and searched out his dagger. When he found the blade reflecting the sun he bent down to find the girl clinging to him trying to hold him back. Wihnem sighed quietly and threw her off his leg trying not to completely kick her away. He walked over to the woman to start again, but caught a glimpse of someone on the path in the distance. ‘Out of time, have to finish…not again.’ The girl was leaning on him again stopping him from killing the two and now he was out of time. “Fine, I won’t kill them. Can’t stay any longer. I’m going to regret this, I know.”

Wihnem ran off towards the mountains leaving behind the scene. Once the knights woke up they would come after him again along with the strange girl. He looked back to see the distance he covered to see the girl following him. Wihnem pushed himself harder to put more distance between them seeing the girl disappear into the horizon. Once he felt it was safe he rested at the foot of the mountains. He would need his rest before trekking up the slopes.

He was ready to continue when nightfall hit. Wihnem looked up the dark forest that lined the foot of the mountain trying to eye his path. There was only moonlight to guide him now, but he started regardless. However, there was the sound of a branch snapping behind him alerting him to a presence. He turned around to see to his surprise the girl that had caused him so much trouble. “You again…how did you find me? You a tracker?”

“I followed you.”

“So you do speak, but your answer is too vague. Who are you?”

“I followed you…”

Wihnem signed out loud. The empty voice of the girl seemed to match her empty head. He did not know how far he was going to get with her. It was either an act that she was putting on or she had the dumbest luck he had ever known. “Yes, we’ve been through that already. It still doesn’t answer the question if you repeat yourself.”

“I followed you…by your magic.”

“My magic, but I was not using any. That’s impossible. There is no trail to follow.”

“I can feel your magic…I followed you.”

‘Great…she is making even less sense.’ He could not be certain that she was not a threat to him, but if she had actually followed him as she said there would be no getting rid of her. There were only two choices for him and he did not know which he preferred. They both held risk of the unknown.

[Andromeda]

It burned, but there was nothing. She was sweating, but the heat drew away the moisture before it could give comfort. All around it consumed the air choking at her throat. The very life seemed to be drawn out of her body. A scream of pain for any release attempted to escape, but all that was managed was a pale wheezing. It was crawling through her skin now leaving nothing to rest or comfort. ‘Please help me! Someone!’

“No. There is no help for one like you.” The voice came from nowhere until a body alit in the flames that consumed her walked forward. Her eyes remained keen allowing the sight to drive the terror into her heart and mind. The flesh was already melted away leaving a frightening body of muscles and bone stepping towards her.

Another figure appeared burning as well continuing a pattern until she became surrounded in a mob. They were not attacking her, but physical efforts were not required. The mental damage was enough to break her down leaving tears to steam from her eyes. “Remorse will not save you. You can’t turn away.”

‘No! I didn’t…it wasn’t me…’ She had recognized a few of the faces as citizens of Haven. After her mind recalled it was only a moment later that she knew the reason for them. They were all of the ones that she had killed in the town at her hands. It was the power that she had in her that had caused this and they wanted her to suffer. But she could not take the sight anymore trying to close her eyes finding that her lids had been burned away. Nothing would shield her from the horrors of her own hands. ‘This wasn’t me…’

“You can’t run from it. Blood does not wash away. Never.” Blood burst from several of the burning townspeople erupting them into a pool of blood that filled around her. It soaked into her skin and through her body permanently becoming a part of her.

‘It wasn’t me…wasn’t…’ She could not see the blood, but it was there crawling under her skin pouring out through her pores. Her nails clawed at her arms trying to release from insider her. Nothing was working only more pain coursed through her nerves. ‘Not…me…no…’ The horrors finally reached her limit overloading her mind causing her to fade away. ‘I didn’t…no…it was…it was the man…yes, I saw him. He killed my family. I tried…tried to stop him. Why did he leave me alive? He’ll pay for this…’

“You’ll pay!” Eris shouted throwing herself forward from her supine position bringing her bed coverings to her lap. Her sweat filled hair wrapped around her cheeks sticking and clinging to her skin. She could barely breathe feeling the strain against her chest as though something had been pounding repeated at the bone and muscle. The feeling permeated through her entire body leaving a sore aching sensation.

Her eyes poured over the room that she now found herself in until it became familiar to her. The cracking walls and wood floors with the sparse furniture that looked better than she had ever known, but had been told it was just hand-me-downs. This was the home of Farore where she had first been given a bath and food after her long journey that she had slept through. When Eris finished looking around she found one of the women that had assisted her before trying to use the corner for hiding. The look of surprise and uncertainty was clearly carved into the woman’s face, no doubt from Eris’ sudden and disturbing awakening.

After a minute of staring between the two women words were finally exchanged. “You’re awake miss. We were so worried that something had possessed you. I’m glad you’re well again.” The woman had slowly come off her position approaching Eris calmly regaining her composure. She put a half empty basin of water, the other half was on the floor, on the aged wood night stand. A worn towel was pulled from her pockets and placed into the water letting it soak up as much as it could hold. The woman proceeded to ring out the towel and lightly press it to Eris’ face clearing away the strains of hair as she cleaned her face. “You’ve must have had such terrible nightmares. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to wipe the sweat away and change the sheets.”

Eris had let herself be placed back against the pillows feeling a little safer, but she did not know what the woman was talking about. She did not recall any nightmares or dreams. All she could remember was standing at the edge of the town. “What do you mean? How do you know it was nightmares?”

An answer did not come immediately as the attention seemed to be more on cleaning Eris up. Once she was finished she turned straight at her no longer distracted by her work. “You were crying and shouting the entire time. Only the strange woman could enter the room for the first day. Anyone that tried was sharply attacked by some magic. She said she could enter because she was not affected by lightning. Since then you’ve been moaning and speaking to someone. I’m glad you’re awake, Lady Farore will be pleased.”

The amount of information that Eris was getting overwhelmed her a little trying to put everything into its place. Unfortunately, she was finding that there did not seem to be a place for anything. She could not remember any of what the woman was talking about, but she had been asleep so she let herself have the confusion. “I…I don’t remember…” Eris’ mind wandered for a moment to the night that she could remember and the man that attacked the town. The struggle that she had franticly trying to use her powers that she knew were inside, yet remained out of reach had left her unable to protect the town. “That man…I’ll-“

“Miss? Are you feeling well?” The woman put her hand on Eris’ forehead checking to see if she was warming up from the illness that had taken her for so long.

A moment of caution from the night made her draw back from speaking out loud. ‘He attacked my village and he was here recently. I can avenge my family now. I must find out where he went and what happened afterwards.’ Eris looked at the woman leaving her silent moment behind her needing more information. “The town, how is it?” She knew that the destruction that must have occurred took the lives of many. The window in the room was facing away from everything leaving her with a view that pretended all was still as it was before.

The woman pulled back from the bed standing up and looking away. She picked up the basin carefully walking back to the door. “Your friends are waiting to see you. I’ll tell them that you’re wake.” The door closed behind her quickly before Eris had the chance to object.

Eris had tried to reach out for the woman in the haste, but the soreness persisted halting her. Alone in the room again she was drawn away to the window looking for an answer. She could not find a reply and feared that there never would. The scenery outside held her partly entranced, but mostly numb allowing the time to pass. A polite knock on her door tore her away uncertain who would be coming through the door. “Yes?”

[DragonHeart]

Farore perched on the roof of the Watcher's Tower, surveying the devastation with dismay. Over half of Haven, gone. Two separate, intense battles had leveled both homes and the people she fought so hard to protect. She could still see the lingering mist in the streets, a painful reminder of her failure.

Many of the survivors were leaving, heading for their home villages or the capital to seek new lives once more. Twenty years to build, only one night to destroy. She'd disbanded the Watchers earlier that morning, their last task being to pass along the underground and spread the news of Haven's downfall. There was nothing left for her now. Her name was already a curse on the lips of the Gifted.

Only one thing left, really. I hope Eris will forgive me my weakness, but I can't protect her. My power isn't strong enough to compete with the new generation's. Best to let them forge their own futures.

With a heavy heart she rose, turning away from her ruined city. The wind brushed against her, a welcoming embrace. She opened her wings to meet it, letting it carry her where it would. Free to seek out her old Haven among the clouds. Farore never looked back.

[DragonHeart]

An apparition stalked in the lingering mist, the last remnant of the two great battles responsible for Haven's destruction. To the normal citizens, nothing was there. To the gifted, intermittent glimpses revealed a horned white direwolf with crimson eyes, roaming freely throughout the ruins. Head lowered, it sniffed here and there, pawing occasionally at a piece of debris.

With a growl it looked up, suddenly aware of a presence. Human eyes would have seen a young man, but the wolf's piercing gaze saw the dark force lurking behind the facade. Hackles raised, it stood, wary but unafraid, yielding no ground.

Remi smiled, amused at the beast's defiance. He could destroy it in an instant, should he desire to do so. He knew it was an avatar, even knew who it belonged to. For that reason alone he let it live. They had a history, Enki, and he. If the man was still on his little revenge quest, they'd meet soon enough.

"Tell your master Remi says hello," he said and disappeared, his laughter ringing in the air.

The wolf looked around in bewilderment. Disturbed, it lingered for a moment longer, then it too vanished into the mist.

*****

Enki opened his eyes, rubbing at his temples. He'd been too late after all. Haven was gone, and Remiel had resurfaced again. Remi...how many times did he have to kill that bastard before he stayed dead? Though, something felt different about him. He sensed that the former arch priest of Pilner was more than he seemed. No, this wasn't the same man, not anymore.

"Guess I'll just have to kill him again...always knew he was a roach but I never thought it in a literal sense. Damn, that means he survived Skoll. I might actually need help this time," he said.

Beside him, the ever-watchful Orthrus whined, pushing at his hand. He stroked the sleek black head reassuringly, understanding the wolf's anxiety.

"I know, Orth. Our pack is strong, but this prey is even beyond us."

The wolf gave a quiet bark in reply.

"Call Fenrir? Well, maybe he'll have an idea of what we should do."

Enki raised his gauntleted hand, his gray eyes darkening. Orthrus vanished in a swirl of smoke. Miles away, the white wolf Surma did the same, much to the astonishment of the hunters who were chasing him. A vortex of wind and mist rose before Enki, intensifying until with a chilling, primal howl, Fenrir appeared.

The giant, four horned wolf snorted, looking directly at Enki for a long moment. His eyes were golden, not crimson, glittering with the spark of sentience. Eventually he spoke, his voice like the wind itself.

"So, he still lives. That man is beyond even my comprehension. You need power greater than what the pack can grant to you." Fenrir said.

"That is why I called upon you. What could possibly be stronger?"

"There is a power, hidden still from your sight. Remiel seeks it also, but was thwarted by...unexpected developments. Find this new breed of magic and turn it to your cause, if you can."

"And if I can't?"

"Best not fail. Remiel cannot be allowed to succeed. Even I cannot guess at his motivations, and that worries me. Make haste. This darkness must not spread further." With his warning issued, Fenrir returned to his slumber, leaving Enki alone to think. It would be a long night.

*****

He woke early the next morning, preparing himself as quickly as possible. He'd called the entire pack forth, something he didn't do often. They circled and paced, feeling the tension. Only Surma, ever patient, stayed calm, regarding him with an almost pensive expression. Not for the first time, he wondered at the white wolf's thoughts.

"All right, this is important so listen well," Enki said, more for the sound of his own voice than the actual need to issue commands. "We need to find this person Fenrir spoke of. Haven's not far from here, so we should start as soon as possible. Spread out, lay low, and above all, avoid confrontation at all costs. If you feel someone with a strong aura, have Surma take a closer look and come find me. If you find Remi, back off. Now go."

The pack had stopped to listen; now they turned as one and raced into the shadows, all moving in silence as they faded into their smoky, ethereal forms. Only Orthrus remained behind. Enki patted the wolf's shoulder, then lightly hopped onto his back. They followed more slowly, as Orthrus had to stay fully manifest to carry him. No matter; he fully expected to reach Haven's edge by the sun's zenith.

He only hoped they could find the new breed before Remial returned to finish what he'd started.