Fantasy ~The Lords of the Magistone~

[The Wizard]

Ethan followed behind Ein as the town came into view. His wisp had lost sight of Skyre and returned to Ethan when he approached. His breathing was rasp from the running but his eyes where in shock at the sight that lay before him. Bodies of individuals clasped in black armor spread around the town. Unsure what he was seeing Ethan was taken back before Ein called out. Turning his head to the right Ethan saw Rederick staggering and a young woman laying in the mud.


Barely waving back in response he hurried to the two his knee's slamming into the mud as he stood over the girl who looked to be losing conscience murmuring to herself. Turning to the pale hunter "Rederick! whats going on!" as Ethan picked up the girl carefully setting her on the grass. The sign of blood loss was extreme and the cut above her eye looked older but unattended. If Ein was right about this one then she was already wounded yet was caught in this mess. Ethan could hear Rederick's heavy breathing as he held unto Naraya. Attempting his best he reached into his satchel removing a wrapped ball of bandages. "Hold on you two..." as Ethan took a breath attempting to gauge them and treat them quickly.


No time for tonics or elixirs Ethan dug into his satchel grabbing the folded papers of leaves throwing them to the group. Looking to the woman "Apologies madam no time for modesty..." as he ripped her cloth from the side to look over the wounds. Her sides where riddled with scratches and the sign of broken branches where still embedded into her back. A deep cut on her arm was bleeding out and was his primary focus. Pulling the dark leaves he began to stuff them into his mouth chewing them quickly. The sour taste was extensive but with no time to mill them he needed to get them crushed. Removing some from his mouth he spread a portion on the wounds on the side, stuffing some into the deeper cuts as he plugged the bleeding. Unraveling the bandages he wrapped her tightly keeping a watch of her breathing. The bandages would hold for now and using the paste like substance he made he spread a bit on the deep cut above her eye before wrapping her head.


Going to Rederick he looked to Naraya letting her know he wouldn't harm him. Holding him up as he straigten the top of the pale hunter keeping his legs straight on the ground. His breathing was heavy and partially erratic, as Ethan held him he found what the cause was, his hands stained from a deep cut in his chest. The bleeding suggest it wasn't fatal but had caused him to collapse his lung from the puncture. "Wish you where not conscience to feel this but bare with it..." as he gave Rederick a wrapped stick to bite on. Stuffing the cut with the remaining broken down leaves he wrapped and supported the hunters chest carefully. The bleeding now stopped it was only a matter of time to see the full extent of their damage. Taking in a sigh of relief he chuckled a bit "Guess it wasn't a good day to go sight seeing eh...?" as he fell to the ground to rest a bit beside the two.


While he caught his breath, his hands covered in blood, he motioned to the wisp which pulsed and flew towards Ein to check for any others. His thought lost on what the group had encountered and what they had gone through...his eyes wandered to the soldier figure that lay a few feet from Rederick. Though his curiosity rose a part of him felt a deep fear of what it was, not wanting to know he kept watch of the two injured before him and worried for the others.

 

[EinRaikou]

When Ein approached Clara he reached into his pack and pulled out his last remaining bandage, the last bit of supplies he had received from his brother that dark night one month ago. 'Spencer would be happy to know this stuff got some good use.'


"Here, use this to bandage yourself up. It won't stop the bleeding, but it will reduce it," He said as he handed her the bundle of bandage, while eyeing Desiree and Skrye over his shoulder. " If need be, I can irrigate the wound for you later with my magic, once we make sure everyone is alright. And if it's too deep we can get Ari or Ethan to take a look over it."


Ein walked away and crouched down over the two 'lovebirds,' as he was beginning to refer to them as. One he saw that Skrye was still breathing he began examining Desiree first for any major wounds, due to her being on top of the boy... " My brother taught me some first aid when he was still alive, " Ein spoke up to Clara, trying to include the girl that was clearly in shock. " He was a knight in the royal army, rather high up too, he focused on defensive and support tactics in combat, including healing." He checked the girl from one end to the other, making sure to check each bone for fractures, and her skin for cuts and bruises. As far as he could tell her fatigue was of the mind, and nothing had been seriously injured on her. " He didn't even like using his healing magic that much, said that it pushed you out of practicing actual first aid. Desiree is fine, she just needs rest."


Ein then carefully slid her body, still full of life off to the right, just as Ethan's wisp flew over head. " Clara.... What happened here?" He glanced around the battlefield, bodies laid all about and the worst part, mostly human. " These people.... They're human," he stated to the girl as he prepared to check Skrye for the extent of his injuries.

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Clara numbly took the bandages when he offered them to her, ripping away the sleeve of her shirt to reveal the area where the sword had sliced through her forearm. It stung more then anything she had felt before and still bled. Seeing the blood, Clara had to close her eyes for a moment as she tried to stop her vision from spinning. When she was sure she wasn't going to fall, pass out, or throw up the food she had eaten at lunch she was able to wrapped the wound as tightly as she could. He was right, it didn't stop the bleeding but it did slow it. She turned her eyes onto the man who looked over the others as he began to speak, though she didn't respond at once.


"It's my fault." She stated, her hand squeezing her arm over the wound despite the fact that it stung. It was the pain that kept her sane, keeping her mind on the present instead of the tiredness she felt. "They were almost out of view when I fell, then... fighting was inevitable." Clara let her voice trail away, her eyes locking on the closest soldier crushed by the ceiling. Human, they had most certainly been humans at one point. Now, however, Clara felt they were more like zombies controlled by some unseen force. She shuttered at the thought, realizing the Shadow King was more powerful then she thought.


"I'll be over there." She stated, staggering over to a short wall and pulling herself onto it. She then let her shoulders sag, her eyes flickering closed as she tried to remain conscious. The guilt of pulling everyone into such a situation was enough to keep her from falling into blackness. Somehow Clara felt like perhaps the other's wouldn't have to kick her out, that she should leave first before something like this happened again. She swallowed the lump in her throat and let her eyes slowly open. "Sorry..." She muttered to no one in particular, seeing as more of the survivors were unconscious or out of ear range it was a pointless apology. "Really sorry..."

 

[Shura]

Rusar snapped out of her shock and scowled having a plethora of mixed feelings about seeing Warren again, that piled on with chaotic anxiety from the battle. She shoved down needless emotions and glared over at Warren. "Keep your jokes to your self. We can catch up later but for right now just help out." She barked as if years of separation between them and a war had never happened.


The huntress moved passed the man noticing several dark clad soldiers laying on the ground in various states. She looked around realizing several of the helmets had been knocked off in the fray and the so called shadows were no different then herself or any others in the group. A sharp stab of guilt was felt in her stomach just adding to the rest of emotions she didn't want to deal with, way more that she was used to. She gagged softly when the smell of burning flesh reached her. Why did it bother her so much? She was a hunter, killing is what she did on a regular basis. Why did it bother her so much? Because they were human. The sharp moved to her chest as she was remind of memories from training in the dark arts she'd rather leave forgotten. Rusar took a deep breath ignoring the smell of blood and death and cleared her head.


Now was not the time, many of her group mate were bad shape and needed to be helped or else their sizable group would start to shrink. With emotions locked away once more Rusar pushed forward ignoring the dead and focusing on where or who she could help.

 

[Cookie]

To be perfectly honest, Ari had spent the last few moments of the battle evading attacks. She was spent; there was hardly a grain of energy left in her. No doubt, she would have been more of an obstacle than an asset if she continued to fight. But just in case, she maintained some of her magical energy. Just enough to pull one last ace move if it came to it. It hadn't, which was good because Ari was absolutely certain it would have killed her that time.


Ari dragged herself over to where the others had gathered."Some of them...the soldiers...could be-" Ari's knees crippled beneath her and she fell forward. She found herself on her hands and knees, threatening to spill from exhaustion. "...could be...alive." She thought about it for a second, not knowing what she hoped to accomplish with that information. Most of the living ones probably fled, but it's possible that there are a few left among the--


Ari blacked out. Her arms buckled and she fell onto the ground, unable to complete the thought.

 

[EinRaikou]

Ein listened to Clara as she blamed the situation on herself. He wasn't sure exactly what happened, but reassured her it wasn't her fault. He then began to check Skrye for injuries. The human soldiers around him lay lifeless yet their faces in death, so full of fear. 'Why were the humans fighting for the Shadow King.... This thought bothered Ein.... the soldiers appeared to have been from varying ages, races and even genders.


He continued his examination of Skrye. It had become rather evident that the boy had been crushed by something, by the bruises beginning to form on his torso. There were also small fractures throughout his body, but nothing that would cause too much pain. The worst the boy would have, in Ein's opinion, was a bad headache and some minor difficulty breathing, due to a bruised rib. " For the most part he's fine. He will live, and he seems to have avoided the worst part of it. It wasn't your fault," he advised Clara as he laid Skrye down next to Desiree. 'Cute couple' he thought to himself with a grin on his face.


He walked over to Clara, once again to reassure her all was fine... But the only though on his mind was... 'Humans.. The shadow king kept some alive. Spencer....'

 

[The Wizard]

The wisp pulsed and hovered a moment, the images of Ein and the others looked good, their voices where slightly muffled but Ethan was glad to hear they where in good condition. With three more now accounted for Ethan worried for the remaining others. The wisp floated out of the building and began to search the remaining part of the town. The light spread from its center as it hovered over the dead soldiers, Ethan could make out a figure at the far end, two standing and moving, with more focus he was able to see it was the hunter from before with a large figure standing beside her.


She didn't seem hurt and showed little sign that the stranger beside her was a threat. Taking a sigh of relief he stood up breaking his vision for a moment. The wisp had caught the sight of a familiar figure laying on the ground. Refocusing his attention to get the vision back the wisp flew closer before it stopped over Ari. He couldn't make out if she was alive or breathing leaving him to worry. Getting up and grabbing his remaining supplies he looked to the two now stable then to Naraya "Keep an eye on these two I'll be back quickly." as he rushed away.


Following the point of his wisp he ran to the short hair girl. Putting his hand near her he could feel the slow push of her breath. A smile broke from him as she was still alive. Looking her over there didn't seem to be any injuries but a few scrapes. Assuming she had exhausted herself he lifted her carefully before walking back to Rederick and the stranger. The girl was lighter then he thought and for a moment he hoped she wouldn't wake for fear she would scorn him, a light laugh as the wisp hovered above him.


Reaching the two he noted how Naraya never left the side of her friend, petting her gently in respect. Setting Ari down gently next to the stranger Ethan pour some of the water from the waterskin and placed the cool cloth on her head. Counting in his head those who where found he noted that the elder was not near the young girl companion nor was the child or Lapis. Ethan didn't have time to search but worried for them. Hoping for their safety all Ethan could do now was await and gather the rest. Tossing his hand towards the house the wisp flew to Ein once more. Breathing slowly Ethan spoke through it "Ari, Rederick, Naraya, and the female companion are safe but I wont be able to move them for now. Bring the rest back here when you can Ein." The wisp pulsed back after the voice ended then trailed off towards Ethan.


His only thought through all this as he wiped Ari's forehead and checked the bandage of the others "What happened here..."

 

[Effervescent]

Pain ripped through Rederik's chest as Ethan stuffed a dark mash of herbs in his wound. A grunt escaped his throat as his teeth clenched the stick Ethan had placed in his mouth. The pain subsided to its manageable dull, and his comrade wrapped the wound. He kept his breathing simple and slow while resting next to his feline companion. It appeared as though the fight had come to a close, and it was now just a matter of tending to the injured.


"Thank you," he said quietly to Ethan as the man rolled onto the ground. He looked worn, and the amount of blood he carried on him made him appear as though he was more a part of the fight than Rederik.


"Keep an eye on these two," Ethan said as he jolted from his resting place, "I'll be back quickly." The mage rushed away with his satchel of supplies, which caused the pale man concern. Momentarily, he hung his head, the disheveled mess of white-blond hair falling forward in front of his face. Eventually, Ethan returned with Ari cradled in his arms, and Rederik looked in the direction he approached. Judging by Ethan's expression, Rederik could tell Ari was alive.


Naraya's head lowered somewhat from Ethan's hand. At first it would have appeared as though she were shying away from the touch, but it was more of an inclination. Some could argue the action was just typical human nature imposed on something so incapable, but then she began to pur.


"I'm not entirely certain what caused the soldiers to strike," Rederik began, "but it was not their original intent."

 

[SkyGinge]

FREE POSTING is now Active


/////////


Magicians and scholars had never quite discovered why magic effected dreams in the way it did, perhaps because they were far more occupied with studying much more important things. They knew that magic energy was a fourth state of matter, a state that flowed freely through all other kinds of matter, including into the human body. In training, mages learn to store up this magic energy inside their bodies and stop it from fleeing back into the atmosphere around them, with a better mage able to store more magic energy - hense the term magic efficiency. It was then by rapidly expelling ammounts of this energy that magicians could manipulate this into different abilities and attacks, effects which occured due to this sudden rush of magic energy.


Magic energy flows around the human body naturally, even in those not profficient with magic, but only in larger quantities does it have inadvertant effects such as effecting ones dreams. This is because, after reaching a certain flow of magic, the magic energy starts to flow around parts of the mind that are normallt dormant. The human mind cannot remember every single moment at every single point, but the magic energy finds these moments and forces the magicians to relive them.


As such, in passing out in complete exhaustion of magic energy, Skyre discovered more about how magic affected dreams than any scholar had in the hundreds of years before him. His dream was natural.


///////////////


Skyre is sitting in one of the round, spherical lecture rooms of the university of wind magic. In the middle, a man he does not know but recognises as a teacher is addressing the group, but Skyre is focussed on other things. He is feeling anxious; he has a meeting that he suddenly remembers about, and his fellow students turn to him, echoing his thoughts. As the lecture ends, he finds himself dashing from the room, trying to run, but he can't, his running is half the pace of everybody else's walk. He feels like screaming, but knows he is being pathetic. A flock of doves fly down the endless corridor and he grabs onto one, steadying himself, before continuing.


Skyre finds himself in Lyram's throne room, and the King turns to face him, only he sees his own face on the King. "You must flee, for the safety of the Kingdom,' He hears his own voice ring out, but doesn't see it as confusing or strange. He tries to argue, but the King/Skyre orders him. "Go! Run!" Turning, Skyre heads to the door, but the voice calls out again, changing. "Yes, run, for it is all a part of my plan." Spinning round, confused, he sees that Lyram's robes are turning grey, and then gradually black, and before he can do anything, Skyre finds himself lifted into the air by an arm of darkness.


"Did you honestly think you could defeat me?" the Shadow King scoffs, though his face is strangely blurred, his voice omnipresent. Skyre looks around and suddenly the room has extended, and all of his campmates are also suspended in the air, struggling with similar arms of darkness. Skyre is lowered right into the Shadow King's face, where he can make out a sneer despite all the blurring. "How long did you think you would last? A second? Maybe two?"


Then suddenly the Shadow King is Modrin, dressed in oversized robes and fuming. He reaches out with a onyx sword to strike him down, but suddenly he is hit round the head with a teacup as Ari swoops down. Growling, the Shadow King/Modrin calls out "Get them!" And suddenly Skyre is set free, but several shadow warriros begin to flood into the room from all angles, their heavy boots tramping loudly. His campmates are still all imprisoned, but he knows that there is nothing that he can do, and so he runs past them into the corridor, a corridor that seems to last forever. Occasionally, he glanced back, his legs feeling groggy and like stone, and sees a sea of warriors behind him, fast gaining. He knows he cannot outrun them, and turns, vengeful.


Then he is in the rive once more, and a see of dark water floods uselessly down the stream, slowly but harmlessly approaching him. On the rocky beach, Desiree is removing her boots once again. She is now in her undergarments, and he finds himself in his, and she drops into the water, eyes locked onto his. For a moment they simply stare at eachother; they say nothing because there is nothing for them to say. Then she leans forward, and he finds himself doing the same, and they lock together in a passionate kiss, arms wrapped around eachother. He lets go, grinning, and finds that she is doing the same. The dark water flees when it sees her beauty, escaping up the river and carrying the Shadow King/Modrin with it. For a moment he watches her, and then they kiss again.


/////////////////





Skyre began to stir slowly, feeling unconfortable rocks digging into his back. He wriggled for a second, and then his eyes flashed open, looking up high into the midday sky. He head a throbbing headache, and felt his forehead with a narrow hand, discovering a nasty bruise, a bruise that suddenly brought back to him what he had done. Images of the rocks falling towards his face filled his mind, and he smiled wryly. Had it not been for his quick reactions, he'd have been completely crushed; instead he found himself only with a headache and several bruises.


Gingerly, he rose to sit up, and was surprised to see a complete scene of devastation. Soldiers lay, often in piece, on the stone floor, the grey plateau now painted a lurid browny-red. Scattered throughout the village he noticed that various comrades were also injured, some worse than others, Ethan and Ein rapidly attending to them. There was a deathly, almost painful silence.


How did we fail so badly? Skyre pondered with a frown. They had been so full of hope, so full of confidence that now they were a group, they could finally do some damage to the Shadow King. But look what had happened. They had struggled against only a small batch of barel trained soldiers. Morale will be shocking after this one. But we cannot give up hope.


Rolling over, Skyre found Desiree beside him, and concerned, checked her for injuries. Thankfully she was ok, and he let out a sigh of relief. Images of the sweet end of his dream calming him down, Skyre suddenly realised what he had dreamt. That was interesting. No memories. Lay there beside him, it was almost as if they had climbed out of the water together and simply gone to sleep on the stone sands, stone that was now the rubble of the house he had destroyed. Staring down at her sleeping face, Skyre wondered why she was so pretty to him. Overcome with bizarre confidence from his dream, he quickly checked around to make sure that no-one was watching, then leant down and kissed he warmly on the forehead, eyes never leaving her sleeping eyes. He then remained sat down beside her, vacant.

 

[Macaberz]

Modrin squatted at a few paces from the main group and mindlessly stabbed the ground with his dagger. After having killed the one soldier, the fight had drawn to a close and he had distanced himself from the rest to give his mind some peace. The sheer incompetence of the survivors had surprised him, but so had his own actions. He hadn't meant to save Helia. It had been her fate to die, and he had intervened. But he had given Death another life in return. It had felt good to kill, to see the life seep away out of someone, to know that you had overpowered them. He stared down at the dried blood on his hands and marvelled at the artistry of the splattered strokes.


After having cleaned his dagger with some dirt he bounded over to the survivors. None seemed to be fatally injured and for a second, Modrin was relieved. Then he reminded himself they were his enemies. He unceremoniously kicked over a dead soldiers body and began looting the corpse. The man's pouch was empty. "Cheap shithead," Modrin muttered under his breath as he moved over to the next one upon who he found a satchel of dried meat. Since he had no sword of his own, he took one from the dead. It was a light blade, thin and only slightly too long for someone his stature. Fortunately, the inky black metal it was made from matched his hair and Modrin grinned sheepishly at his latest toy. He walked over to Skyre, blade in hand. "Taking a nap?" he tested the pointy end of the blade in the ground next to the red-headed mage.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

From the spot she'd climbed up to after waking and finding her wounds treated, albeit her body still aching, Helia watched Skyre awaken from his own sleep. Sticking to her preferred elevated position, Helia made her way over towards the man, who, after appearing to whisper something to her, was now idling next to the woman that had pointed at her just before the fight.


Reaching a decent spot it took only a lightly tossed wood chip to gain Skyre's attention before Helia spoke.


"Hey, you're awake. How about that. I wanted to thank you, by the way, for not leaving me in the street when those soldiers first arrived. And for protecting me when the fight started. That said... we all messed up pretty bad."


Silence greeted Helia, and whether it was because Skyre was mulling over her words or ignoring her was unknown. Fishing out a knife, Helia began to scour random shapes into a rotten wooden beam as she continued.


"I shouldn't have been in that fight. Not in the sense that it wasn't my fight, but because of my state. I should have let someone else save the fire mage and kept myself out of the way. Instead, I made myself a target when I couldn't defend myself, and forced you and other's to protect me when they could have been doing something more productive."


Silence greeted Helia still as she thought of how to continue. Her knife dug and furrowed the wood just as her mind dug through the memories she held of the fight.


"The fire mage blames herself. I figured I would talk to her about it. Your girlfriend there seems to blame her for what happened to you. Aside from that, really just the lot of us got chewed up and spat out. If we plan on staying all together, we're going to need to learn to coordinate. Like how the other street rats and I used to steal from the bread stalls. Give everyone a job they can get done right, and we work as a team to support the whole. So... yeah..."


It was about this time Helia turned and faced Modrin, who had been sitting off to the side.


"And you. You helped me out when you didn't have to. I'll remember that."


Her peice said, Helia began juggling three of her knives as she awaited a response.

 

[PicaPirate]

Warren sat on a rock rather bored. He wasn't really sure what to do as everyone looked occupied healing people he didn't know.


Besides, why should he care about them? The only person he knows here is Rusar. Which he certainly didn't expect to meet. Looks like she doesn't just throw inanimate objects at him, but explosive arrows too. Well at least teasing her would be fun, even if he did have a real interest in her as a kid and possibly now.


He was disappointed at their sorry state fornhsving killed humans. What, just because they are humans and not something else they should feel pitiful? Feel pity for what is trying to cut you in half? Tomfoolery. You hesitate to em, they'll kill you. He learnt that the hard way from cutpurses and bandits throughout his life time. He may be a pessimistic sod, but life made him that way.


After a while it was too much.


"OK mates. What is it you lot find so hard about killing? If you don't kill them, your throat will be cut open. That girlie who I saved and saved you Skyre be PRIME example for dat. I dunno about you, but I've had to kill people because they've put a knife to me throat to take me purse, or cos raiders wanted all me belongings."


He walked off looking around muttering "Get a bloody grip of'yerselves..."


He looked over to Modrin kicking the body in frustration. "At least that guy understands it."

 

[SkyGinge]

"Well, of course," Skyre gave Modrin a lighthearted grin, although his glance was slightl suspec after seeing Modrin as the Shadow King in his dream. He wondered why that had been the case - perhaps his aggressive outburst earlier had caused it? "Because a fallen house is the perfect place to take a rest."


He was about to ask Modrin about the others when a small wood chip caught him in the face. Wheeling around, he found the woman who had fallen from the sky earlier coming to approach him. He let her speak at him, distantly taking in her words for a while until she was complete. She was right of coursel they had messed up, very much so. But he still kept some hope.


"Things only went badly because we were unprepared," Skyre stated, rubbing his eyes, "and also because we didn't expect the enemy to be... well, like us. In the future we'll have full battle plans and such to avoid this. For the most part though, it looks as if people at least survived relatively unscathed. You shouldn't scold yourself; you really helped out in the battle, even supporting us even though we didn't know you. I'm really grateful for your help." He gifted her a smile, although it was a little vacant.


Too tired, and thoughtful, to be bothered to correct her 'girlfriend' jibe, he simply asked: "With due respect, I still don't know your name."Then another stranger's aggressive voice rung out, but he couldn't be bothered to address the speaker's pessimism. Well, you can keep your attitudes, and I'll keep my humanity, thanks.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

"Oh, yeah, that's right, between my reintroduction with the ground and why I don't get up close to people that don't like me, I realise I haven't mentioned my name. Helia Heartstone. And preparation would be best. I take you your crew has only met shadow hounds and the shadow leapers then?" Helia inquired, an easy grin settling on her face now that she knew she was welcome.

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan was changing out Rederick's bandages when he noted the stranger getting back up and heading to Skyre. A bit flustered at the thought of her opening her wounds again he quickly tied up the pale hunters cloths tossing the old ones to the ground. Checking on Ari who still was asleep he poured the remaining of the water on the rag once more and folded it gently on her forehead. The wisp was still searching the town attempting to locate the old man who had joined the group and Lapis. As he walked across the road he noted the young boy, and though it left him somewhat relaxed for the boys safety he was too agitated with the girl who felt eager to bleed out to care.


Before walking into the group he overheard their conversation. Her words and apologetic voice felt heavy, while the sound of someone new spoke and explained how the real world work. Ethan gripped his hand into a ball a bit angered at them, but he could not deny that whatever happen here cost the group heavily. As Ethan entered the room he saw Skyre who was now awaken. "Hows your head?" he spoke in calm voice knowing that the young man looked to be okay minus a few bruises, his chatter and energy was slowly returning so left Ethan with little to worry about. As he turned to the girl who was fiddling with her daggers speaking her name. Grabbing one of the hilts Ethan slammed it to the wall causing the blade to stick to the wood slightly.


"I don't know who you are Helia nor do I care right now..." as he pulled the girls arm that was bandaged "...are you trying to kill yourself or do you find red your favorite color?" as he removed the now loose bandages. The wound was still fresh and though the leaves had kept it clean he could see it was beginning to bleed again. Wrapping her arm once more he ensured the abrasions where tightly braced and tied the cloth near her wrist. Ethan looked at the girl then back to the arm "...there..." he said in a soft calm voice different from when he was scolding her "...you want a job then for now your job is to relax." as he smiled though his face showed his sorrow and fatigue, the blood of his allies stained on his shirt and hands showed how much he had seen and how close he was to losing them.


Ethan did a final look around the room, glad that Ein had provided them aid he walked out and with heavy feet returned to check on Ari and Rederick. His mind still wandering as the wisp still hovered through the buildings for the remaining missing party.

 

[SkyGinge]

"Helia," Skyre smiled, eyebrows then dropping in thought. "Your name sounds familiar, actually, I think I may have seen in written somewhere are magic university. In terms of our group, we've only just met ourselves last night in combat. That's probably one of the reasons why we didn't fare so well this time; lack of trust. However, that we were willing to risk our lives for others shows dedication. I know we'll make a good team in time."


Skyre offered Ethan a grateful smile as he approached. "My head's fine," he lied, "there's much worse off people than me who could do with your attention. My, I'm glad we have a medic." He chuckled slightly, but it was a hollow laugh. We need to heal up quick and get out of here. There's a very high chance that Marek will realise that he's missing a large portion of his crew and return here to find us. We can't take that risk.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Cocking a grin at Ethan's antics over her arm, Helia had to concede that he was most likely right.


"Gee, he sure is friendly," Helia joked to Skyre as she jerked her knife free from the wood.


Once the blade was free, Helia hopped down from her spot and pulled an extra skein of water from her bag. Jogging to catch up to the man as he walked away, Helia gave Ethan a light tap on the arm to get his attention, proffering the skein.


"You look like you could do with a bit of a clean up. I keep at least five full skeins at a time, so I can spare. And sorry if I've been difficult to treat. And thank you for treating me to begin with."

 

[The Wizard]

Ethan turned when he felt the light tap, to his surprise it was the same girl who he just told to relax. A little irk of his eyebrow as he thought "Was it this difficult for father?" though he was shocked when she offered him the skein. He held the bag as the water swirled inside it. At first a smirk and then a smile finally a laugh escaped him as one of his eyes teared up from the outburst. Taking a moment to catch his breath he looked back to the girl "Apologies Helia, it would seem I was more forward then I should have been." as he removed a thin strip of cloth from his satchel "...please try not to over exert yourself for me, most of the wounds where minor." as he poured some of the water on the clean cloth and gently cleared the pasty dried leaves from above her eye revealing the cut now closed but still fragile "...but some will take longer and I would hate to know that you would be left with a scar." as he gave her the cloth gently placing it in her hand while showing a warm smile. Patting her hand gently "I best follow your advice now and clean up." he joked as he turned back around towards the others.


Returning to Rederick and Ari he checked back on their recovery before slipping behind the corner wall. Ethan looked over the stained and sighed as he removed his shirt. There was not enough to clean it and not knowing when they would depart it was best he hold off on it for now, the blue shirt a gift of his mother was dotted and stained but folded gently. He found an old wooden bucket its handle broken but the container still solid and viable. Pouring the skein's content he dunk his hands in and began to shift through the cold water. His fingers tossed and scrapped as the water slowly turned copper then red. Cleaning his face and checking for anymore he dried off dumping the blood dirt water into the grass. He turned to bucket over and sat down upon it letting the sun dry his skin as his back leaned into the wall. The sound of birds could be heard in the distance and the light purring of Naraya on the other side gave Ethan a calm expression. Knowing everyone was still alive he couldn't help smile as he hid his eyes from the sun "Guess now I know why you do it dad..." as Ethan rested feeling the warm sun's rays upon his chest.

 

[Kharmin]

A dream ...


Desiree was seated in one of the smaller lecture halls at the university. Mahogany walls enclosed the class in dark silence and the table she shared with another first term student was stained with the ink of decades of use.


She leaned on her elbow on the table with her chin in her hand and tried to focus on the class. Her free hand absently picked at some old splinters along the edge of the table. She wondered, for perhaps the millionth time, why she had to listen to these lectures as her talent with air magic had already exceeded what they were trying to instruct.


Yes, I know, you focus and feel out with your inner sense. Yes, I know that you don't tentatively pull at the air, but grasp it firmly. Yes, I know that you bend it to your own will and then manipulate it in the way that you want.


She looked aside and caught Decker Hagen's eyes mooning at her. The boy was relentless in his attempts to bed her. It wasn't that he was unattractive; he was quite fetching. But Decker had a reputation for abusing his 'girlfriends' and then discarding them when they no longer met his fancy. Desiree didn't want to be another statistic, another notch on his proverbial belt. Still, Decker's father was a professor of wind magic, so she didn't want to completely ignore the boy.


She rolled her eyes in boredom at the lecture, and he grinned in response. Desiree forced a smile that brightened her blue eyes and summoned a light wisp of air to gently brush her hair from her face.


"Miss Tanner," the lecturer interrupted her enticing flirtation with Decker, "if you are through playing with your hair, would you please release the air around you and return your attention to the rest of us? I'm certain that Mister Hagen would be happy if you would stop interrupting his focus."


The class giggled. Great, Desiree thought, now they all think I'm going to be one of his willing conquests. She released the air and with obvious effort, sat up straight in her chair.


"Sorry, Professor Tydings," she said meekfully.


The lecture continued, but Desiree ignored it. Her blue eyes lost their luster as she fumed at her display. She was more angry at having been caught. She knew that Professor Tydings was a strong mage in his own right and that her brief manipulation of the air would not escape his notice. She had enjoyed her brief communion with the element – after all, air was her specialty – and after such a brief interlude with it, she felt hollow.


Megan Sterrich, a promising ice mage who happened to share her table, whispered, "Good for you, Desiree," as she nodded toward Decker. "He's a fine catch. I wish he wanted to date me."


Yeah, a promising ice mage, Desiree thought, but a complete idiot. Why anyone would willingly want to be with 'Mister Hagen' was lost on her. The boy was a creep and got away with things that no one else would because of his father's tenure at the university.


At long last, the interminable lecture came to a conclusion. As one, the students' chairs scraped loudly as they were pushed back from their tables across the antiquated hard wood floor. The students filed out, many tittering amongst themselves about how they planned to spend the remainder of the afternoon now that the final class of the day was over.


Decker caught Desiree by the elbow. "Hey, Dez," he intoned low for her ears alone, "wanna meet over by the pond? I'm sure that you can practice your art there without interference."


She knew what Decker really meant, but the opportunity to work with the air without repercussions was tempting. She smiled sweetly and before she could stop herself, she said, "Sure, let's go."


The two of them chatted about their classes while they walked. Decker did most of the talking with Desiree responding kindly when necessary. In short order, they arrived at the pond. Decker indicated a stand of trees and shrubs along the west side of it. "We can go there and no one will see," he suggested.


Indeed, Desiree thought. And I'm sure that's been your plan all along. But she agreed with a nod.


Decker watched as Desiree summoned her air and used it to brush things around, run ripples across the pond and shake some early, summer acorns from the oak tree. She glowed with a happiness that came from within and became even more beautiful as she toyed with the air around her.


Without warning, the ground around her feet rose up and grasped her firmly by the ankles. Surprised, she dropped her contact with the air and glared at Decker. She should have known he would have used his earth magic to capture her. If only she had more training, she could have used the air to suspend herself from the ground earlier and his earth-grabbing trick would not have worked.


Decker had a wicked smile. "Your air tricks are nice, Dez," he said, "but I didn't bring you here for a simple magic display."


"Decker," she pleaded, "please, you really don't want to do this."


He scoffed at her as he began to remove his shirt, "Oh, yes I think I do."


Desiree summoned her air to protect her, but Decker used his earth-grab on her to knock her to the ground. More clumps of dirt rose and held her wrists down, and pinned her into place.


"Relax, Dez," he said, "and I'll make sure you enjoy this."


She didn't enjoy it. She didn't even marginally like it. She detested it and she hated herself for being allowed to be put in the situation. She had known and had ignored all of the warnings.


When Decker had finished, he rolled off of her to her side. He rubbed his hands lovingly over her smooth, lightly-tanned skin. "You're better than I had thought," he said as he smiled at his handiwork. "We'll have to do this again."


Over my dead body, Desiree thought.


Decker leaned over and kissed her lightly on her forehead.

 

[EinRaikou]

'Will do Ethan, ' the man thought to himself as the voice of their medic came through the floating orb of light aside him.


Ein then listened as Helia, the new boy in their caravan and Modrin as they all spoke their pieces to Skrye. His assessment of the boys injuries were fine. He has awake, and aware so that was good, and it seemed Ethan was getting a handle on Ari, Helia and Rederik.


"So, baring blaming herself for everything that happened, " Ein glanced to Clara over his shoulder sitting atop the broken wall, " I didn't get any information on what actually happened. " Ein walked towards the hole in the house wall, arms crossed and with an absent look on his face. "The people you fought, appeared to be regular humans. "

 

[Cookie]

Ari had a dreamless sleep, a blackout in earnest. Her mind was too tired to conjure up a musician's memory or even a simple dream.


She woke in a burst of adrenaline; one second apparently unconscious, the next bolt upright with her knives in her hands and ready for action. The cool cloth that rested on her forehead fell to her lap.


Ari took a moment to register her surroundings, sheathing her knives as she did so. Many of the allies whom She didn't see during battle were back; Ethan was tending to the many injuries (she could only assume that it was him who had put the cloth on her forehead). Ari gave a nod to Rederik and Naraya.


Her head began to throb and Ari laid back again, replacing the cool cloth on her forehead. At least she'd sustained no physical injuries, not that she knew of anyways.

 

[Shura]

Rusar hung back out of the way until she was needed. She wasn't much help with healing, no where near as good as the brunet who she figured out was named Ethan. Thankfully no one has died in the small skirmish, though some seemed to have gotten very close to deaths door. However more than half of the group was injured or out of commission in some way shape or form. She looked over the ruined town over the battle field noting the corpses that littered the street, remaining her all to much of the first raided only this time it was the shadow littering the ground instead of innocent. Strangely enough in the aftermath the two looked the same. Isn't this what they were talking about though? Trying to fight the shadow king, taking down the whole empire? Surly fighting other humans was expected, she knew there was a whole school of dark magic who would have gladly joined in the fight if promised an ounce of the power the shadow king had.


The whole idea of fighting the shadow kings army which seemed improbably now was now a impossible far fetch idea now, fifteen low rank shadow men and nearly half the group was wiped out. Who knew the horrors that lurked in the shadow they've yet come across. If the group didn't fall apart, they would need to do some serious planning as to what the next step would be one everyone was healed. Rusar looked forced her gaze away from the field looking over instead to the survivors and scowled at Warrens less than tactful input.Irritation stired up in, her over shadowing the rest of the miserable emotions and she focused on to it. Annoyance was a much easier feeling to cling to deal with. "And I thought I was bad at socializing" She thought to herself before glaring over at him. "Warren, now is not the time to be a tactless idiot." She hissed.


@PicaPirate

 

[PicaPirate]

"Pah, its what I'm good at. May as well be an honest man to learn from mistakes!" He mocked positively.


He cracked his neck and stretched his arms, stiff from the fighting and being basically blown up.


"Besides, I would call nearly blowing someone's face off tactless!" He laughed in his deep gruff tone. In honesty he was happy to see Rusar again. He enjoyed being in company with her.


"I'm that kind of guy who has no skill in word smithing, so I stick to my two fists!"


He bumped his two fists together in exaggeration, though his fists were sore from punching steel so it was probably a bad move.


He changed to a stern serious expression, "Seriously though mate, you may be fine but this 'team' nearly got themselves killed. They shouldn't fight if they are gonna be sitting on Death's terrace each time.", his expression changed to a slightly mocking one, "Unless you put up a tent there because you enjoy it so much like me!" He laughed again. He noted on the latter at his enjoyment for a good fight and loves the feel of working off your last breath.


Tapatalk is for scrubs. I use Tapatalk. Why are you talking to this scrub?

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

The forest around Magnus was chillingly silent, his body to tired to search for any sign of his granddaughter through the use of magic. He had known that the constant use of his magic during their journey would wear him down and he was now finally seeing the side effects of this. He was at a point of physical exhaustion when Clara had collected him from the ruins of the house to put him in a safer location. Traveling had probably been the last straw, he could no longer sustain the level of helpfulness that he knew the group of younglings would need. Still, as Clara settled him in the clearing he would stay in for the next several hours, he managed to spout out one last piece of advise to his granddaughter before she left.


"No magic." He wasn't sure why he was so set on her hiding the power resting within that small body, perhaps he knew that the use of her fire magic would bring nothing but destruction and emotional distress to the girl. She hadn't used it in combat before, she didn't know what it was like to burn a man to the point of death. The stench of burning flesh would no doubt be burned into her memory for the rest of her life and all Magnus wished for was to be there to comfort her when it finally was. Clara appeared stubborn and blunt on the outside, it was a mask she had put on since she was a little girl so that she didn't have to worry her already burdened father. She was actually a surprisingly sensitive girl, her heart stung more then others and she quite often took her guilt and buried it in a deep place so that it could fester dangerously. He had seen it happen time and time again, her gentle and innocent eyes that could be read as openly as a book turning hard and closed. The brown didn't hold the same life in them anymore and it pained Magnus a great deal.


As he watched her form disappear into the trees he prayed for her safety, knowing that if she was with the wind mage and other that Clara would hopefully be safe. It was a hard task for him, watching her go. He had clung to her so tightly since the collapse of Valia that it was an unnatural thing to release her from that grip. There was no helping it though, he was already slipping into unconsciousness from the exhaustion and could find no strength to go after her. He wished he could, wished he could beg her to stay in the clearing with him. For some reason her departure gave him a cold feeling in his spine, one he only got when bad things were to come. Magnus was unable to do anything though, slipping into a restless sleep.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

​

How much time had passed? There was no way for Magnus to be sure as he shifted his weight around and peered drowsily at the sky. It wasn't much farther then when he had fallen asleep, perhaps it was closer to the horizon by a few hours but it was nothing that he deemed significantly wasteful. The nap had done him a world of good, refreshing his limbs and filling him with a new rush of strength. As he stood, arms reaching over his head to stretch, he noticed the delicate glowing orb that was drifting through the trees. He couldn't quite place where he had seen such a thing before, his mind running through the various memories he had until he remembered the lad for Skyre's group that had been traveling with a collection of those orbs drifting about him. It meant that the group was nearby, or at least the boy was.


Magnus approached the light, studying it curiously as he stretched out the muscles that had become stiff from his rest. Perhaps he had been sleeping for longer than a few hours. It was just a slight thought moved across his mind, though it didn't cling to the forefront of his mind as he finally stopped in front of the light. He wasn't sure how it worked, he wondered if he talked to it like a living thing or if it would simply guide him to the group without having to do anything. Magnus waited for a moment, watching the ball bob gently in the air.


"I'd like to be taken back to my granddaughter." Magnus said, curious to see the reaction of the light. It paused for a minute in the air before swirling around him and shooting off to wait in the tree line south of Magnus's clearing. The old man followed, his steps quicker and lighter then before because of the deep sleep he had use to recharge himself fully. Not wanting to waste his energy he didn't reach out to the animals and plants around the town, deciding to wait until he got there to see what had become of Clara and the group of survivors.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

​

Clara shifted her weight around on the wall, her body aching from the long period of sitting, as she finally come out of her deep thoughts. She hadn't been sleeping but it was close to it, her body shutting down everything except for her mind and senses so that it could recharge itself. She was no where near fully recovered but at least she now had the energy to fully take in her surroundings. The town that had once been just a mass of crumbled buildings was now a blood soaked battleground. Bodies of the fallen soldiers lay spewed across the streets, laying in their own puddles of blood. The mix of black armor and red liquid reminded Clara eerily of the day of the raid, when the shadow king had massacred thousands of innocent people in the streets. The black had not been of the King's armor back then though, it had been of the chard remains of buildings burnt to the ground and scorches left on the bodies of the dead from the fire that had claimed their life.


Fire that Clara had such an easy ability to use. She was the cause of this destruction, the deaths that didn't need to happen. Though she had not ordered her comrades to attack she had basically sealed the agreement that a battle had to happen. Her falling had handed the lives of so many over to the God of death. She had even assisted him in claiming those lives but burning the flesh of men that seemed to have no will to fight. Her eyes wandered around the helmeted men as she stood from her spot on the wall. Her destination was the soldier whom had died in her arms and as she reached him, she sagged to the floor and rested her back against the wall next to him.


She wanted to apologize to his family, seek out their forgiveness like all good Mages did when they took the life of another despite the fact that she hadn't been the one to kill him. It was a sad thought to realize he probably had no family, they had probably been in the massacre and he a hostage forced to fight. As she ran her fingers over his eyes, closing his eyelids to the world, she knew that she needed to seek forgiveness from someone; even if it wasn't his family. Clara let this thought consume her, pulling her knees up the her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she tried to helplessly close herself off to the world around her.


What a fool... she thought to herself. A fool that will be the cause of her companions' deaths.

 

[SkyGinge]

"Let's just say enough happened," Skyre said, looking around the camp vacantly. "We need to move, and quickly, though I'm not sure how well everybody is at the moment. Even somebody who just blindly shouts like that Marek will realise that he's lost some of his crew members and return. We can't be here for that moment or we'll almost certainly have to fight again." Skyre stood up, wincing a little with the multiple bruises he had earned. Ethan is a good medic, but we could really do with a light magician. Somebody who can dedicate themselves purely to full healing. Then we can fight like this and not have to face a fierce repercussions.


"Ein, if you could, help me to gather everybody up and explain why we have to leave so fast. Once we're about ten minutes away from here we can stop to rest a little longer, but we can't stay somewhere so obvious." At this point, his trademark smile had all but abandoned him, leaving him with a serious, determined frown. His usual friendly apparel had been disgarded for something a little more forceful and aggressive. "You, Warren was it?" he called across the plaza, "I know you've only just met us, but you help him out. If anyone's too weak to move then carry them." His ears were pricked, listening out for the sound of distant marching, but he heard nothing.


Kneeling back down, Skyre gently prodded Desiree in the side. "Des, you need to wake up. We have to go." he told her calmly.