Spirits of the Earth

The sound of soft lute music drifted through the air. Aleron's ear perked, listening to the sound. It was peaceful, soothing, and inviting. With night drawing nearer by the minute he decided to go inside the small inn across the cobblestone road. It was a squat building, with clay walls and a thatch roof. But the smell of cooking meats and baking bread lured him in.
Inside was something he had never seen before. The people, all dressed in light trousers and thin dresses, sat around a fire. A woman played an ornate lute in the corner, singing along to her melody in delicate whispers. Aleron approached the innkeeper.
"Excuse me, sir," he said. The innkeeper's back was turned as he cleaned a mug with a woolen cloth.
"Excuse me," Aleron repeated. He leaned slightly over the counter as if to tap the man's shoulder, but decided against it.
He instead sat down on a wobbly wooden stool and closed his eyes. He'd been walking the whole day, not resting, and had finally arrived at a town. He thought back on his journey.
Earlier that day, just at sunrise, he had awoken as usual to milk the cows and check for chicken's eggs. Few others were awake, so he went about business more leisurely. The first sign that something was off had been when he opened the door to the barn. The cows were all lowing nervously, and wouldn't be milked. He shrugged to this and moved on to the chickens. But they, too, were distraught. It was when he heard a scream come from the village that he turned to see the culprit. A horrible creature was running throughout the village, screaming like nothing he had heard before. It was tall and bony, with hollow eyes and gray skin. It pounced on a girl, killing her in a mess of thrashing arms and blood.
Aleron, desperate to remain hidden, slunk into the henhouse and crouched behind a pile of hay.
There he waited, for an hour, until the screams turned to sobs and the cries of the monster faded away. He emerged to find over fifteen people slaughtered. Heart pumping, he searched to see if his innermost fears were false. But alas, they were not, for lying in the middle of the carcasses was his mother. Holding back tears, he looked at the villagers, begging silently for them to do something. To react. Surely they lost loved ones too. But they just stood at the edge, watching silently, emptiness in their eyes. He had switched places with them, and as they observed without word he wept over the body of his young mother.
He left her side after an hour, silent and determined to leave behind the sadness he felt. He returned to his wooden home and gathered as many blankets, clothes, and food as he could. Arming himself with a dagger and wearing his father' sold hunting vest, he left the village. The tears had dried but the emotion hadn't. And when he looked back, one last time, all he saw were the unprotesting faces of the survivors.

He'd walked that whole day, and when the afternoon turned late he found himself at a town. He searched for an inn, and that was where he found himself now.

Aleron placed his hands on the table. He promised himself not to cry; it was a foreign place, where the people preyed on the weak. But he felt no urge to. All he felt was the bitter after taste of remorse. His mother's death had caused great suffering, but in the solitude of the open road he lost all traces of sadness. Instead, his current thoughts were on getting good and a bed.

"Sir," he said one last time. The innkeeper did not turn around. Understanding that the man was simply ignoring him, he did not persist and instead sat near the fire, in an empty table at the corner of the room. He slouched in the chair, using his burlap sack as a pillow. And with the sound of the lute in the background, he slowly drifted off, failing to notice the figure approaching him from the other corner.

Lorin snorted quietly in contempt at the young man sitting at the bar, he was obviously new to city life.  A farmer, most likely.  Though there was something different about him. . .  Aha!  His ears, they were a bit pointed, and he was built similar to an elf, but he had to much noticeable musculature to be one.  A Half-Elf, perhaps?  No, he was too human-looking.  A distant relative could have been an elf, who knows?

Lorin was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, in the shadows.  She was from Arca, but had decided she wanted something a little different from her normal day, something exiting!  Well, actually, her life was very exiting.  She was a thief, she stole stuff.  She was an expert at her craft, but she was still seen on occasion and chased.  She had only been caught a few times in her life, and all of them she had escaped from unharmed.  Well, not completely unharmed.  A bruise here, or a cut there, nothing serious. 

Lorin had traveled a lot as a young teen, and she decided to come to a town called Edersden.  She had been to this town before, and was familiar with the tavern.  The ale wasn't the best, but it was cheap.

The tavern was starting to fill, even more than it had been before, and the lute player and her listeners were forced to move closer to each other for the other patrons to fit.

The young man Lorin assumed to be a farmer sat down at a table in the corner of the room that was empty.  Lorin saw his money pouch and immediately  stepped away from the wall.  She pulled a pair of fingerless leather gloves from her belt and slipped them over her green-skinned hands.  Then the young elf started to make her way through the crowd that now filled the tavern.  She slipped between two mug-holding dwarves and then she was behind the young man.  Lorin was an expert, and she reached for his pouch, effortlessly taking from him.  She was about to step away when one of the dwarves behind her backed accidentally into her.  She stumbled forward and right into the back of the young man's chair.

She swore colorfully.

One of Gen's favorite hobbies was people watching. He found it fascinating how different people spoke and reacted to different things, and it especially easy for him because he was blind. No one could ever tell he was watching them. As he sat, he saw the bartender blatantly ignoring a young man who was obviously troubled. If that weren't enough an elf then tried to steal from him, but ending up colliding with a dwarf.

Gen swiftly made his way across the bar, his blindness being no hindrance whatsoever. He came up the boy and the elf. The dwarf didn't even care that he had bumped into anyone, so he was not a factor.

"That's quite a colorful vocabulary," Gen said calmly to the elf. "I highly suggest you give this young man his money back. If you refuse, I'll have to take it from you." 

It wasn't often someone receive such a threat from a blind man, but Gen was dead serious. He didn't need his eyes to see. 

"Why thank you, good sir.  I really try my best." Lorin said, bowing, and as she bowed she ducked away into the crowd.

Uhg.  Why did that blind guy have to show up?  She would have been able to slip away unseen if it hadn't been for him.  Well, she had slipped away unseen but not unnoticed.  The man had been kind of scary, tall, blind, shirtless, scarred.  She ran towards the door, but in the crowd, it was slow going, she looked behind her but couldn't see the young man or the scary looking one.

Aleron thanked the old man, wondering how he had seen the commotion in his blindness, and clutched protectively of his coin purse. Luckily the thief had given it back before her attempt to steal into the crowd. He turned to the blind man, extending a hand.
"Thank you," he said with a sigh of relief. He smiled genuinely to the man, who returned the gesture.
"The name's Gen," he said. He extended a hand to Aleron, who shuck it gratefully.
"If it means you no offense," Aleron began, "How did you see that lady steal from me? I mean, you are blind, right? So how is it that you, well, did that?"

Lorin chuckled and ran her fingers through her long ponytail of black hair.  She had gotten out of the tavern and was now in the alley behind it.  She tossed the coin purse in her hand, the coins clinking together.  It was always handy to have a spare purse, one that could be filled with other small pieces of metal to replace the real purse with.  Usually the switch wouldn't be noticed until the thief was long gone.

Gen chuckled.

"There are more ways to see than with just your eyes," Gen told him. "Now why don't we see if we can't get that bartender's attention. I'm willing to be that he'll listen to me."

(OOC: By the way. Please don't make my character do things. I will decide what my character does.  ;) )

"Eh," Aleron groaned. "Thank you, but I think I'll pass. I don't want to bother him. Maybe we can set a raincheck for that meal, though. I'd love to hear more about your gift." Aleron smiled at Gen.
He was hungry, indeed, but was wary of the innkeeper's rudeness. Not wanting to deal with those kinds of people, he decided to leave the inn and search for another place to eat and rest. He went to the street and ran his hand over his money bag. It was a close call, nearly losing it. He traced over the familiar leather, feeling the strings. But something was off. He lifted it for further examination. To his horror, he realized that the thief had not left clean. His mother's ring, which had been tied to the string that clasped the purse shut, was missing. He frantically looked inside the purse and realized it was full of odd trinkets and metal pieces. He swore aloud and groaned in frustration. But he knew she couldn't be far. And with that purse being his key to surviving, he knew he couldn't let it go. He quickly whispered a spell under his breath. "Alusiu del rivelo," he said. Bring light to my foe. A small flash of light light the sky to his right, in between two houses. The charm could only be used once, so he sprinted in the direction the light had been at. He was going  to catch her using the one thing he knew best: he was going to practice some more offensive magic on this petty criminal.

(OOC: Hey I'm gonna be leaving for hopefully a little bit. But I might not be able to get on later tonight. Wicked Basket, your free to control what Aleron says so that you guys can continue the story. Just try to remain with his character and personality and don't make him do anything too big. Maybe, since I'm leaving, Aleron gets to the alley and finds Lorin but she knocks him out and he wakes up later in Gen's house or something. And the Lorin goes far away of whatever and when I return Aleron (and maybe Gen) go after her)

Lorin saw that there was a ring tied to the purse, she was just about to examine it more closely when she saw a flash of light.  She narrowed her eyes, trying to see where the light had come from, then she heard the sound of footsteps.  Running footsteps.  She sucked in a breath, great!  She was being chased.  She took off running, sprinting away.  She mentally kicked herself, she had been a fool to look at what she had stolen right behind the alleyway, and now she could be caught.

"Oh, no!" Lorin thought. "I will not be caught, not this elf!"

She was familiar with the tavern she had just left, but the part of the town around it was strange to her, she knew these streets no more than the person chasing her, as she suspected it was the young elf/man.  She turned a corner and skidded to a halt.

"No!" A dead end.  Lorin looked frantically around for an escape way.  Lorin was an excellent climber, but the walls of the dead end were smooth and tall.  There was nothing in the alley for her to climb onto to get over it, and she could heard quick footsteps approaching.

She backed up against the wall and drew her two small daggers.

(OOC: A fine idea, Aleron.  It's up to Wicked Basket now!)

(OOC: Ehhhhh. I'm not very comfortable with controlling other people's characters. Besides, Gen doesn't even have a house. :P He's a wanderer.)

(OOC: I know what you mean, Wicked Basket.  We can wait for Aleron.)

(OOC: Alright, I'm back. Sorry for the wait. I do think that a story of Lorin getting away and Aleron has to chase far and wide after her. Maybe Gen can follow along in search of adventure? I don't know, but for know, I think Aleron should be knocked out.)

(OOC: I think you need to show up in the alley first.  ;D )

(OOC: ok haha. Well I'll brb.)

Aleron ran as fast as he could to the place where the light flashed. If he didn't make it there on time, all his money would be gone. With a great, exasperated bound he found himself in front of the alley. It had grown dark by now, and he couldn't see very well. He waved his hand before him and a pulse of light shot out from him. The alley was narrow, and steep walled. If the thief had entered here, there would be no way of escaping upward. Therefore, he mused, she would have to be somewhere further in the alley.
There were no noises to be heard, and as he headed forward, the hairs on his neck began to tingle. Old, decaying sheets of papers blew past him as small breezes were channeled between the high brick walls. Piles of refuse clumped against the cobble, and rats scurried past him. His ears, toned to hear the sharpest noises after years of solitude in the pastures of his home, mysteriously heard nothing but frantic rodent squeaks and the whistling wind. But suddenly something caught his attention. Breaths, coming short and fast from ahead. He smiled maliciously, which shocked him. For as far as he knew, Aleron was rather gentle soul. But faced against the present menace, he found himself caught up in planning what type of magic he would use to capture the fiend. When he decided he would use his mastery over physical objects--a skill that came naturally to him--he proceeded. The breaths were louder now, and he picked up his pace. Finally, when the breaths and footsteps seemed just feet ahead, he shot a blast of light at the crook. But there was nothing there but a flat brick wall. "W-what?" He stammered, confused. He spun around on his heel, searching for her. He could hear running footsteps, but they were not heading away from him towards the road. As a matter of fact, he could not tell which direction they were coming from. That meant that whatever was happening, she was not leaving to escape. She was staying. He shot bursts of light in either direction but saw nothing. He realized that he was trapped, lost deep in a city alleyway, with a criminal to which he knew not the extent. Regret filled his mind and he spun around in circles, gasping, searching for the threat.
Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and he heard the breaths grow calm. Despite the fact that he was running low on magical energy, he shot blasts of pure force in random directions, hoping to accidental hit the woman. Papers exploded into the air and the stone bricks creaked as his emotions peaked in a horror equal only to what he'd felt that morning. He knew--well, worried--that this was not going to end well.

Lorin heard and saw the young man turn the corner.  He looked around, but didn't see her, backed up against the wall, in the dark.  Lorin was breathing heavily, in fear, but then she realized that, in the dark, he couldn't see her.  He was turning an a circle, trying to glimpse her, then he started to use magic.

Lorin leaped aside as a projectile of force shot past her.  He was firing random shots, hoping to hit her.  She almost laughed, though it wasn't perfect, her vision in this light was better than the young man's, even if he was part elf.

Lorin ran around him until she was positioned directly behind him.  She raised her dagger, and winced, she didn't much like violence, especially against innocent people, but in her job, it was sometimes necessary.  Lorin had never killed an innocent person, though a few other thieves and murderers had met the wrong end of her blade.  Lorin steeled herself and brought the butt of her dagger down sharply towards the young mans' head, hoping to hit him and knock him out.

As Aleron spun in the darkness, he heard the rustle of foot steps focus behind him. But, before he could turn around to counter any attack, he felt a sudden pang of pain and then he heard nothing. His limp body crumpled to the ground with a thud, and the brick walls held still once more. The papers ceased their chaos and the alley fell still. All became normal in the narrow sliver between buildings, all but the quick footsteps of the thief rounding the corner to the city street.

Lorin winced as the young man crumpled to the ground.  She bit her lip, she really hated violence.  She backed away and then turned, running down the alley away from where the young man lay.  As she neared where the inn was she changed course, she didn't want to run into the blind guy.  Though he was blind, he looked tough, not like most of the blind people Lorin saw, small, frail.

Oh, no, this guy had been the exact opposite of that description. He had been more than six feet tall and muscly, not to mention the sword at his hip.

As she ran, Lorin tied the money pouch onto her belt.  She wondered how much the ring was worth.  Then she realized that the ring may have had sentimental value to the young man.  The ring of someone he loved who may have been lost.  At this thought Lorin stopped in her tracks.  She felt a sharp pang of guilt, but then she shook her head.  She was a thief, stealing was what she did!  If she gave back every ring or piece of jewelry, she would be starving or dead.

She shook her head again and started to move again.  She was now in a busy street and with all of the people and horses around, it would be hard to find her in the crowd.

She just hoped that the blind swordsman didn't come after her.

The "woman" who was playing the lute stood up as he saw a series of flashes and carefully put down his borrowed lute onto the ground before quickly running outside. He then heard a harsh hiss in the back of his head and only said,"I know, I know, we shouldn't be out here..." The boy sighed, but continued walking down the dirt path until he found the source of the flashes, a small alley way. The boy cautiously peeked in and saw a person unconscious on the ground. The boy walked towards him, but heard the same hiss telling him to stay away, but the boy knelt down and began to shake the person before saying,"Sir, are you alright?"

Though Gen could not detect light, he did detect the sizzle of the bolts of light as they traveled through the air despite the distance. Gen left the inn and walked to the source of the disturbance. When he arrived at the alleyway, he saw the young man from the inn as well as someone else who he had never seen before.

"What happened here," he asked the stranger.

Aleron slowly drifted back and forth to consciousness, a great pain throbbing at the back of his head. He groaned as he felt his bones aching from the fall. A noise came from nearby, but he couldn't quite hear it. Soon his ears could focus on it better, though, and he could make out words. "Sir. Are you alright?"
He groggily looked around, cracking his neck and cringing at the sudden flare of pain. His only thoughts were of his mother's ring. His money? That could be earned again, with a fair amount of work. He could at least get food that night from Gen the blind man who saw more than Aleron ever did. But his mother's ring was irreplaceable, the only token he had of her memory and his single tie to Hilsboro. He felt a deep and resounding resentment for the cursed thief, with her green skin and black pony tail. He tasted bile and instead focused on what was happening around him.

A face leaned over him, with long black hair and dirty skin. For a moment he feared it was the thief, but recognized it as the bard in the inn. But this person was a man, not a woman. He looked up at the person's face in silent confusion, wondering how he mistook her--his--gender. It must've been the person who asked if he was alright.

Another voice came from the mouth of the alley, which, now that the moon had emerged from the clouds, was rather short. It seemed miles long earlier, and he couldn't quite explain this either.
"What happened here," Aleron heard Gen say. The man's presence, though he had just met him a few minutes earlier, comforted Aleron and he twisted to try and get up. His head throbbed continuously and he noticed bloody scrapes and bruises along his arms. He'd fallen on a small pile of lose bricks from his magical barrage just prior. He tries to hold his footing but stepped on a brick and lost his balance, falling once again. He knew he must've been a pitiful sight.

When she was sure she was safe for the moment, Lorin turned off into an alleyway and leaned against the wall.  She untied the ring from the pouch and held it up.  She saw that it was a woman's ring, and as she looked she realized how sorry she actually felt.  She wondered why, she'd stolen rings in the past and had never felt this kind of guilt.  Maybe it was that the young man had been ignored by the bartender at the tavern, then she had had to knock him out.  She almost never used force, and that must have had something to do with it.

She sighed and retied the ring securely to the pouch.  Then she stepped out of the alley and started to walk down the street again.

She stole a few purses as she walked, unnoticed, and these thefts gave her no guilty feelings.  But even as she stole, the guilt of stealing the ring gnawed at her.  Finally, she couldn't take it any longer.  She walked up to a sewer grate in the street and untied the ring.  She crouched next to the grate and held the ring over it.  She knew she wouldn't be able to sell it, so discarding it would have to do.

She sat there for a whole minute, her hand poised over the grate, unmoving.  Then she sighed and stood up, she couldn't do it.

She knew what she had to do.  She turned around and started walking back the way she had come.  She would have to give the ring back. Not the money, just the ring.  She started to walk faster, and soon she was sprinting through the streets back towards the alleyway.  When she got to the bend she peeked around it, and saw three people there.  The young man who she had taken the ring from, another young man, and-!

The blind swordsman.  She gulped in fear and steeled herself.  Sure, she was scared of him, but she knew she had to give the ring back.

She stepped around the corner and into the alleyway.

"You came back," Gen said without even turning around. "I trust you are here to return this young man's belongings."

Gen turned and faced the thief.

"Why so nervous? We can be civil about this. There's no need for things to get ugly as long as you take responsibility for your actions."

Lorin could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and her hands were shaking.  "Y-yes, you're right. But-but if I give it back to him you have to promise not to hurt me.  And you have to let me leave here."

"You must give all of it back," Gen told her. "If you do, then you have my word that you will leave here unharmed. There's no reason to make this more complicated than what is necessary."

Lorin swallowed. "I didn't come back to give back everything," she said nervously, for even as she said it she wondered why she didn't, just give it all back and get out of there, but she continued. "I came back to give him the ring, not the coins.  I could have not come back at all, then he wouldn't have anything, but I did.  So I'll give him the ring and get out of here.  That's my deal.  Please take it, I hate to fight."

"If you seek peace, then you will return everything," Gen replied calmly. "You came back, yes, but now you must take responsibility for your actions. You will return the ring and the coins. I may be blind, but believe me when I tell you that you will be unable to escape me."

"I'm sorry, I really am," Lorin said, shaking her head, her eyes wide. "But I've had a bad week, nothing I've stolen has had anything of value, even the purses." She was on the brink of tears. "I haven't eaten a good meal in more than a week.  If I give you the coins I'll have nothing, I need them," she wasn't lying, she could feel the pang of hunger in her stomach, and the purses she had just stolen had had only a copper coin or two, not nearly enough for anything substantial.

Lorin had taken the coins out of the purse and put the ring into it.  She had put the coins in another pouch and she now took the pouch off of her belt that held just the ring. "It's in here."  Her voice almost cracked.  She tossed the purse on the ground in front of Gen.

Her heart was pounding madly, and she turned around and started to walk away.

"Halt," Gen commanded sternly.

Gen checked the bag.

"The money too. You must return everything. Don't worry about going hungry, I will buy you any meal of your choice from the inn."

Aleron stirred on the ground beside Gen and the lute player, but he was not waking up. He had been conscious the whole time--it was merely a fall, after all. He listened in intently to the conversation, quietly assessing the situation. Empathy filled his heart for the thief, and as much as he wanted to hate her, his humble village roots got the best of him.
"No," he said. He stood up, brushing off the gravel and wincing. "Keep the money. All I need is the ring. But, if you are to keep the money, there is one thing I would like to know. Why?"

Lorin stopped, and she felt tears running down her face. "I need the money-!" She let out an involuntary sob.  Then she sank to the street, sobbing uncontrollably.  It wasn't just the situation she was in this moment, it was her whole life, she couldn't keep the emotions in anymore, like she had for the past twelve years.  She hadn't cried since she had left the workhouse where her parents had left her when she was born.  She had been six when she left.

The weight of her whole life crashed down onto her now.  The path she had taken was a hard one.  It was stressful, physically trying, and difficult.  Some days, she loved being a thief, the freedom, the adventure.  Other days, when she was starving and cold, she wondered why she hadn't chosen an honest profession.  She really was only a thief for the adventure, and these men were being so kind to her, despite what she did.  Now, as she sobbed on the street, she regretted her decision to become a thief.

She tried to say something more, but she couldn't.  Unable to stop she sobbed quietly, her face in her hands, sitting on the dirty street.

Gen approached the young elf and knelt down in front of her.

"I'm getting the feeling that you're not just another petty thief," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "I've experienced my fair share of hardship. The money belongs to the boy. If he says you may keep it, then you may keep it. However, I still wouldn't mind treating you to dinner. Well, if you wouldn't be embarrassed being seen with a blind man."

Gen gave the elf a warm smile. She had only been trying to eat. All of this trouble for a single meal. Gen knew all too well about such things. He could help her. Even if he were to never see her again after this day, he could help her now.

Lorin looked up at Gen's face, taking deep, shaking breaths.  She shook her head at his question of her being embarrassed to be seen with him. "N-never, I would never be embarrassed." She took a few more breaths. "Thank you," she looked to Aleron. "Thank you as well."

She shakily got to her feet and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry," she lifted her gaze to Aleron's face. "I'm sorry I stole from you."

"Don't worry about it," Aleron said. He couldn't help see his own loneliness reflected in every part of the girl's face. Every bit of her anguish was a representation of his life since his father had died.
"I do have an offer," he said. He looked around; from the lute player, who had stumbled across him first; to Gen, who had helped him and defended him though they were only acquaintances; and finally, to the girl, who cared so much for her next meal. Wasn't that why Aleron had wanted his money back so much? He got the ring back, so that was good, but food. Sometimes the need for survival could turn even the most docile, innocent souls cold and heartless. But this girl had a heart. She'd returned his ring to him on her own initiative.
"I plan on going to Arca and making a future for myself. I know I have little money, but I'm really good with magic and maybe could make a small fortune on the way. But I can't do it alone. If you all are willing to come with me on an adventure, I'd happily welcome you with equal splits of any winnings. I just don't know how yet."
He thought back to that morning, on how his mother had been slaughtered by the horrible beast from the mountains. He thought of the villagers, who did not do anything. They were scared. They only wanted to survive, and it made them heartless. Hatred filled him towards the creatures, and he realized how he--or they, if they wanted in--would make their fortunes.
"We could kill monsters for pay. I bet the world's ripe with them."

"A tempting offer," Gen told Aleron. "However, I'm not a killer. I fight competitively. Any bloodshed I cause is accidental."

Gen looked around at everyone.

"Now who's hungry?"

"I am," Aleron said with a playful grin. He had always been one to avoid sadness. To him, pity or remorse or any other negative emotions always were short lived. He naturally had a happy disposition.
"But let's not go to that one inn down the street. Innkeeper over there is as rude as a badger. Unless, I mean, that is the place you had in mind. Anyhow, sounds like a deal."
Aleron looked at the thief. But something inside him refrained from calling her a thief any longer. And, he didn't know who the lute player was either. It would only be fit to ask them.
"I've never asked. What're your names?"

Inigo looked at Aleron and said,"My name is Inigo..." He then looked at the thief from earlier and walked over to her. He pressed something into her hand and said,"Since you don't have any coins, I think it's only fitting that I give some to you...I can always do a bit of begging or thievery of my own to get 'em back." Inigo smiled and said,"I could go for a meal..."

Lorin wiped her eyes, sniffing. "My name is Lorin, Lorin Silverith.  And a meal would be great." She looked to Aleron. "About your offer about killing monsters for pay, I don't like fighting, but perhaps we could tweak your idea to fit both of us.  Either way, I'll have to think about it."

Her eyes widened as Inigo gave her some coins.  She smiled at him, but shook her head. "I can't take these.  Not now."

"I am Gen," Gen said. "Now then, where shall we eat?"

By the looks of it, he would be feeding all of them, but the didn't mind in the least. He was pretty wealthy in his own right. He had money to spare. Besides, this was important.

Aleron brushed off his shoulders. He smiled at the thought of his present situation: complete strangers, all uniting together--because of a crime! He chuckled. It was just like one of the stories his mother would say to encourage him to talk more.
He considered Gen's request of where to eat, but he didn't know. He did know, however, that he no longer had any money. And he didn't believe it fit to ask Lorin for money either, since he had given it to her as a gift. And, as they all turned down his proposal, he decided that he couldn't kill animals either. Though his hatred was boiling at the creatures, he was far too afraid to return, or face anything else of the sort.
"Are there any inns nearby? I mean, there is the one we just came from, but it looked very full and I for one do not have a place to sleep in this evening," He said.
That's right; he hadn't considered that before. It was after sunset and he had no resting place. No money, no shelter; what was he to do? At least he had a meal for the night, but he had no source of income.
He pondered whether or not there was anything he could do for money. He had never tries his hand at the lute, and it hadn't looked that hard when Inigo played it. He could steal...no, that wouldn't do. Lorin had grown so emotional, and even she stole only out of desperation. Gen carried a sword, so perhaps he was a Sellsword. Aleron had become somewhat good at offensive magic, so he could try his hand there. Ah, but he remembered what Gen had said prior: "I fight competitively." Maybe Aleron could do that.
He groaned from the headache he was developing, and started having regrets on leaving his village.
"Why don't we just eat here," he said, gesturing to the inn they had come from. "I can think about my other issues later. Right now, I'm hungry."

Inigo sighed and said,"No, no, I insist that you take them...they'll be of some use to you." He smiled as he didn't take the coins back and only continued to say,"I can always get some by begging later..."

(OOC: What should our character do after they sort of get used to each other and the stage is set? Any and all ideas are welcome as to how the plot will turn out! But leave it open ended, so we can still have room to come up with it as we go. But a good nudge toward the direction would be great!)

Lorin smiled at Inigo. "Thanks," she slapped her hands together. "Now, let's get some food!"

And she started out of the alley and back towards the tavern, calling over her shoulder. "Race you there!"  Then she bolted off, laughing.

Gen smiled. She wanted race? Very well then.

Using his magical abilities, Gen propelled himself with a mighty blast of air, sending him soaring over Lorin's head. He landed in front of the tavern and turned to face Lorin.

"Did I win," he asked with a smile.

Lorin stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Magic?  Okay, that's fine, but only if it took you some time to acquire it, and it took a lot of work.  If you have a talisman or some other little cheat, it's totally unfair."

She walked up to the inn door and opened it, stepping inside."Plus, you aren't even really at the tavern.  I am.  So I win." She smiled at him, winked, and walked further into the inn.

Gen looked to the other two.

"If I'm not at the tavern then where am I," he asked. "That doesn't seem quite fair."

"You're in front of the tavern, not actually there.  Whatever," Lorin said when she turned back to look at him. "And how did you get your magic anyhow?"

"I was born with it," Gen told her. "Let me think. I'm thirty years old, so..... 23 years of practice."

Login nodded. "Twenty-three years?  That is a long time, so it's fair.  But if you're thirty, how come you've only had twenty-three years of practice?  Did you only discover it at age seven?"

Inigo looked at the two, and took this as a chance to win. A large, glassy, version of himself appeared in front of him. He cautiously stepped into it and turned into his spirit form and quickly ran through both of them, feeling the chill down his spine as he made it into the tavern. He quickly changed back to his human form and took a seat before saying,"Hey, are you two going to come in or just bicker outside?"

"It's not like I knew I was born with it," Gen replied. "I had to stumble upon it by accident."

He then turned to Inigo.

"We're not bickering, she's just asking questions. It's the best way to get answers."

"How'd you find out about your power?" Lorin asked, walking further into the tavern and sitting at the bar.  The place was still filled with people, and there were only a few empty bar stools left. Lorin leaned on the bar, looking over at Gen. "You said you 'stumbled upon it', how?  And what, exactly, is your power?"

Gen chuckled.

"You are a curious one aren't you. Well, it was as simple as me sitting outside and enjoying the breeze, except I was the only one experiencing a breeze. I have the ability to control the air around me. It's also how I can see despite my blindness."

"I am curious, because knowledge is far more powerful than any physical weapon," she winked at Gen. "I may be a thief, but I'm not stupid!"

She listened as Gen told her how he had discovered his power.

"Ooh!  That's really cool!" she said. "So you can see with it?  Like, the air around you contorts around objects and you can sense them?"

She frowned. "So, like, if you were being attacked, could you suck the air from the lungs of your attackers and choke them?  Or wouldn't you do that?"

"I could," Gen replied. "But I have only done it once, and not to any attackers. Two friends of mine were sparring with each other and got a bit carried away, so I literally took their breath away before they could seriously hurt each other. As for my vision, yes. It does work something like that."

Lorin nodded, and then called to the bartender.  He was talking with a few people at the other end of the bar, and when she called he ignored her, though it was obvious he heard her.

"Gods!  Does the man not want to make any money?" Lorin said, irritated. "Excuse me!" she called again, and again, but the man still ignored her.  Lorin slapped her hand on the bar and stood up. "Okay, that's it!"

Lorin vaulted over the bar so she was behind it.  She walked up to the bartender and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, mister?"

The man turned around, his expression turning from surprise to nager when he saw her.

"Yer not supposed to be behind the bar, missy!" he said loudly. "So you'd better get out before I'm forced to take drastic action!"

"I doubt you could hurt me," Lorin said. "And while I don't like fighting for my life, or with weapons, a fistfight is perfectly fine with me."

"I could hurt you!" the bartender protested, a scowl on his ugly face. "You'll see!"

Lorin leaped aside deftly as he took a poorly aimed swipe at her.  She caught his wrist and twisted around, hefting the man onto her back and then flipping him over onto the bar.  He rolled of the other side and got to his feet.  Lorin lept over the bar after him and ducked another swipe.

She kicked under his attack, catching him in the stomach and causing him to fall backwards into a table.

by now the whole tavern was watching, and as the bartender got up Lorin ran around him and onto a table, from there she lept onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Gen got up and pulled Lorin off the man's back.

"That's enough," he said. "For someone who didn't want any trouble earlier you're sure causing a lot now."

Lorin let Gen pull her back, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I guess I let my anger get away from my control."  She walked up to the bartender, and held up both of her hands. "I'm sorry, I was just irritated."

The bartender grunted but he nodded and walked back behind the bar. Lorin picked up the fallen chairs.

The bartender cleared his throat. "So," he said. "What do you want to drink?"

Lorin's eyes widened, and she turned back to the man.  He was still willing to serve them?  He had forgiven her already?  "Oh, uh, thank you!" Lorin said, walking back over to the bar. "I'll just have an ale, please.  You, Gen?  Anyone else want anything?"

"Just water," Gen replied. "I don't drink."

It said a lot about the bartender's character that he was still willing to serve them after what just happened.

"I've been havin' a bad day." the bartender said before he went to fill their mugs. "I shouldn't 'ave ignored you in the first place."

"No, it was my fault," Lorin said, and the bartender smiled at her before he turned away.

"Wow," Lorin said to Gen. "I'm surprised he forgave me like that.  And how come you don't drink?"

"Magic requires concentration," Gen explained. "Alcohol negatively affects concentration. Since I need magic in order to see, I need full concentration at all times. I also don't want my sword stolen while in drunken stupor."

Lorin nodded. "Got it. I've gotten my stuff stolen once while drunk.  It wasn't that terrible though, I only had one coin on me at the time and they didn't even bother taking my daggers.  They took a lockpick or two though.  But I made new ones later."

The bartender came back with their drinks and then turned to another patron. "How good are you anyway?" Lorin asked Gen. "With a sword, I mean."



(OOC: I have no idea where this story is going, any ideas?)

(OOC: Nope! Not at all! :P )

"I would say I'm a pretty adept swordsman," Gen told her. "I can handle myself."

That, however, was a gross understatement. He was actually undefeated champion in several places, but he didn't like to brag.

"Yeah, I'm not too bad with my daggers," Lorin said, and at that moment she heard the twang of a bow.  Instinctively, she rolled off of her stool and to the floor.  As it happened, she rolled right off into Gen, bringing them both to the ground.

And a good thing too, the arrow whizzed right past where Gen's head had been not a moment before.  The arrow lodged itself into the wall, quivering.  Lorin looked up to see if she could spot the archer. 

There!

The person was cloaked in black, and they were now rushing for the door, but they were having trouble getting through the crowds.

"Gen!" Lorin cried, leaping to her feet. "There!"



(OOC: There's something to go on!  No idea what it is though.)

Gen sprung to his feet and hopped onto the counter. He then leapt over the crowded and tackled the archer right out the door.

"That wasn't very polite," Gen told the stranger. "Can't we talk?"

(OOC: Time to improvise I guess. :P )

(OOC: Right-o!  Can you have more than one of your characters in one post?  Just want to know before posting the next part!)

(OOC: You sure can.)

(OOC: Good ;D)

Lorin slipped along the wall to where Gen had the person pinned.  She knelt down next to them and pulled back the person's hood.

An elf man looked up at them, eyes wide.  Lorin raised her eyebrows at the sight of the elf.  He had light blue skin, silver hair, and silver eyes, the effect of it all was rather startling.

"Who in Le'raana are you?" She snapped, quickly getting over her surprise. "Trying to kill Gen like that!"

The elf glared up at them, sneering. "Like I would tell you!"

Gen got to his feet.

"You will tell me," Gen said firmly. "What do you say we fight for it? If I win then you spill your guts. If you win then you spill my guts. Or are you afraid of a blind man?"

The elf got to his feet, and Lorin rose with him, keeping an eye on the elf.  The elf's eyes narrowed, and Lorin saw a silver circlet on his brow, with a light blue stone in the center.  She assumed him to be a mercenary, but a mercenary with a crown?

"What kind of fight?" the elf asked. "Swords?  Fists?"

"Whichever," Gen replied. "I'm proficient with and without a blade."

It seemed that his offer had piqued this character's interest. He also turned out to be an elf like Lorin. Elves were known for speed and fast reflexes, but so was Gen. The big question was whether or not this elf would hold up his end of the bargain if he lost.

"Swords," the elf said. "Or, rather, you can have a sword and I'll use my dagger."

A long dagger appeared in the elf's hand. "Whoever surrenders first?" he asked, unclasping his cloak and letting it fall to the ground, revealing dark blue leather armor underneath.

Gen drew his blade and entered a ready stance.

"That's fine by me," Gen replied. "You're move."

The elf stood still for a second, then leapt forward, feinting a blow at Gen's arm.  He drew back quickly, trying to get a guess at Gen's style of fighting.

As Lorin watched, she realized that this little trip out of Serendipity had been a most life-changing experience.

The elf attacked again, this time really aiming for Gen's thigh.

Gen dodged the feint toward his arm and then simply re-entered his ready stance. As the second blow came towards his leg, he used his sword to swat the incoming attacked aside and then followed through, bringing the sword around into a downward slash.

The elf leapt back, and when Gen attacked he knew then, by how the blind man held his weapon and attacked, that he was a great swordsman.

The elf stalked in a circle around Gen, for by now they had a considerable ring, as the patrons of the tavern had gathered around to watch the fight.  More people from the streets were streaming in, wanting to see what the fuss was about.

Then the elf attacked, quickly darting in and slashing at Gen's arm.

Gen jumped over the elf's head, managing to swing his sword at the elf twice before landing and swinging a third time.

The elf leapt back, but Gen was too fast for even the elf.  The first swing he dodged, but the second grazed his arm, giving Gen first blood.  As the blind man landed and attacked again his sword dug a deep cut into the elf's left arm, the arm he was holding his dagger in.

With a cry of pain he dropped the weapon.

Gen flicked the dagger away with the tip of his blade and stood over the elf.

"Concede," he said. "And this goes no further."

The elf glared at him, but put up his hands.  "I concede.  And I will tell you why I shot st you.  I will not break a promise."

He looked around at the crowd. "But we won't talk here, we must speak in private."

"Very well," Gen said sheathing his sword. "Lorin, get his dagger, but do not return it to him. Not yet."

He then turned back to the elf.

"There is an alleyway nearby. We can talk there."

Lorin nodded and picked up his dagger.  The crowd started to disperse now that the fight was over.  They had no interest in the conversation that was to come.  All they cared about was seeing a blind man and an elf cut each other up, and they hadn't been cut up enough for some members of the crowd.

When Gen mentioned the alleyway the elf nodded. "Very well.". Then the elf turned and made for the tavern door, Lorin right behind him.

As soon as they got to the alleyway, Gen wasted no time.

"So why try to kill me," he asked. "I've done no wrong to anyone. Who would want me dead?"

The elf leaned against the wall of the alley, crossing his arms, and though his posture showed a relaxed person, he was really tense and ready for anything. "Don't pretend not to know why I am here.  I am a traveler, and a mercenary, but a mercenary for good.  I only take jobs that will rid these lands of any evil.  I was hired to kill you on charges of murder.  In the village of Shirri'tak in Adela you murdered nine people.  I was told this by a lord who lives in a city near here, I will not tell you his name.  He described you to me and told me your name, Gen Kaziru.  You killed those people and I was sent to kill you.  To stop you from bringing harm to anyone else."

Lorin stepped back from Gen quickly, worry in her eyes.  She couldn't believe that Gen was a killer.  This elf had to be lying, but Lorin couldn't be sure. . .

"Gen, Gen, that can't be true, he's lying, right?"

"I would never murder innocent people," Gen replied. "I am a man of honor. I fight only for recreation abd self-defense if need be. I would never kill anyone unless I absolutely had to."

Lorin nodded, she believed him, she really did.  For even after knowing him for only a short time she had sensed the great honor and kindness.

"You are lying," the elf said, but somewhere inside his soul he could sense that this man was no murderer, and even as he spoke he was unsure.

Gen's expression became very serious.

"I didn't have to fight you," he said. "I could have have killed you with a mere wave of my hand. If I was the monster you say I am, then this would have been a suicide mission for you."

Gen turned to Lorin and then back to the mercenary.

"I am Gen Kaziru, Man of Honor, Lover of Life, and Grateful Son to a Loving Mother. I have murdered no one, and I demand that you take me to your employer."

Gen spoke with unquestionable power and authority. He stood tall and strong, a fortress of honor and integrity. His honor and his name were being tarnished, and he wanted to know why.

At this the elf knew the man was telling the truth.  As an elf, he was attuned to nature, and humans are a part of nature, he could tell that this man was the noble man he said he was.  The elf bowed his head to Gen. 

"My name is Kilarhas Gindein, and my employer is Koran Thillths.  He lives only ten miles away in the city Corrith.  I will take you there."

"Why would this man want you to be killed, Gen?" Lorin asked. "Do you have any enemies?"



(OOC: I don't know where the rest of our party is, and if they're coming.  Do you?)

"I don't know, Lorin," Gen replied. "But I'm going to find out. Lead the way, Kilarhas."

"My ride should be around here somewhere," Kilarhas said, looking around. "As soon as we came out of the tavern and into this alley she has been watching us, ready to ave me if anything were to go wrong."

Then he whistled, a low, loud whistle, then a large shape leapt from the building behind them and onto the ground.  The dragon had been crouching on the rooftop, watching.  The silver dragon was large and slender, five feet at her shoulder.  She had two large wings, four legs, a long tail, and a slender neck and horned head.

Lorin leapt back as the dragon landed, but the dragon just stood there, watching them with her large silver eyes.

"This is Keyne," Kilarhas said, patting the dragon on the neck.  "Keyne, this is Gen Kaziru and Lorin Silverith."

The dragon bowed her head, keeping eye contact with Lorin.

"If you agree, we can ride her," Kilarhas said. "It will be considerably faster flying."

Gen approached the dragon with childlike wonder.

"Stunning," he said reaching out and running his hand over the smooth scales. "What color is she?"

"Silver," Kilarhas said, then he frowned. "How do you see, anyway?  You must have magic, but of what kind?" As he talked the dragon handed him something that had been in her claws.  It was a staff, long and wooden, and the top was twisted around a blue gem. "Keyne is a Sirrian Dragon.  She is young, only as old as I am.  As a matter of fact, exactly as old as I am.  We were born at exactly the same time, the exactly the same day, exactly the same year.  We are bound together, though we don't always travel together.  If we live to old age we will die together.  But if, say, I were to die of a sickness or a wound, she would live on to the age I would have lived to if I hadn't been killed.  The age I would have lived to to then die of old age.  The same way around if she were killed."

"I'm an aeromancer," Gen told him. "I can see objects by the void they create in the air. However, there are some things I still cannot see, such as color. I don't even know what silver looks like, but I still like hearing the names of colors."

He then turned back to Kilarhas.

"That is quite the bond. It must be very special indeed."

"It is very special," Kilarhas said, laughing as Keyen nudged him with her snout. "But Keyne doesn't always travle with me, or rather, I with her.  She likes to be on her own sometimes.  But lately we've been together more often."  He looked back to Lorin and Gen. "So, you're fine with riding her?"

"I'm fine with it!" Lorin said, then she looked at Gen, and realized that he was a leader, and she felt like he was in charge here.  She respected him. "It's really up to Gen."

"I would love to," Gen said. "She wouldn't even have to flap her wings if she didn't want to. I can just make the air carry us along."

Keyne snorted and nodded her head, then she looked straight at Gen's black blindfold, and she sent him her thoughts.  They were in the form of emotions, feelings, not words.

That would be wonderful. thank you, Master Gen.

Kilarhas smiled. "That is a power of hers, she doesn't have to look at your face, she just thins it's more dramatic!  I can pick up everything she sends, but other than me, you are the only one who recieved that."

"Recived what?" Lorin asked, and Kilarhas quickly explained.  Then he leapt up onto Keyne's back.


(OOC: Should we keep going without the others?)

(OOC: I think we have to at this point. We kinda left them in the dust.)

"Amazing," Gen said before jumping on. "Okay, Keyne, just get us off the ground and I'll take care of the rest. All you need to do is steer."

(OOC: Don't know if this post is necessary, but you're right, we'll have to stop here. I don't like stopping in a spot like this!  We were going back and forth so well!  This was a really good session of post-vollying.  I love post-vollying!  Maybe sometime later we could even set one up, with all the people from this post!  That could get fun.)

(OOC: Indeed.)

(OOC: Well, talk later 8).)

(OOC: Sorry guys!! I was grounded for the internet for a while there, but it's over now. For some reason my iPod won't let me read what's happened since I left! Do you think one of you guys can put on a summary or something? I can read from where Gen sheathes his sword and says "Lorin, get your dagger." Sorry for not being here!

Oh yeah, and a post volley with everyone would be fun. I don't know when we could do it, but if you guys can, I will have the iPod all to myself this after after like five o'clock (Tennessee time. Idk what time zone that is for you but yeah). I don't think I'll be gone like that again. Just PM me if I dot reply for a while, because sometimes my iPod glitches and doesn't show new replies to posts.)

Aleron placed his hand on his palm, embarrassment radiating from him like light from he sun. He had been following them, yes, but something had happened.
He had been walking along when his foot landed in a giant road-apple. He thought he'd stepped in mud, but when he looked down, he found it to be much worse. Quickly to avoid negative attention, he stole away from the group and across the road. He then slipped into an alleyway. He eyed them from around the corner, and then, when they failed to notice his absence, he slipped off his leather sandal and three it away. Blisters had formed on his feet from the day, and as he placed his foot on the ground in the pitch black, he stepped on a couple shards of glass.
"Ow!" He yelled out, breathing heavily and wincing. He grumbled miserably. Hopping on one foot, he emerged from the alley and stumbled to the nearest shop. But as he walked, a scrawny cat darted in front of him, throwing him off balance. He fell to the ground, going unconscious.
He woke up, unsure when, in the middle of the cobblestone road. The shop was directly ahead, so he persisted on. He didn't know how long he was out. His foot throbbed, and he wanted nothing more than an apothecary, or healer. To his greater misfortune, it was a porcelain shop. Aleron burst in, wobbling around on one foot. His head hurt from his fall , and he was having a hard time keeping balance with shards of glass in his foot. He hoped that his constant meeting with the ground wouldn't become a trend. The owner, a balding man with fine clothing, squealed in fear at the sight of the ragged man before him. Aleron tried to plead his case but the owner had none of it. He pushed Aleron towards the door, but it only through the young man-elf off balance and he tumbled further into the store--right into a shelf full of porcelain cups. His eyes grew wide and barely a shriek could escape from the shop owner before it slammed into the next like dominos, and pretty soon all the expensive jade bowls and glass cups and porcelain played were reduced to glimmering sliver on the floor. Aleron completely forgot about the glass in his foot and darted out the door. The adrenaline wiped out any recognition of the pain stabbing at his foot. The shopkeeper roared angrily and burst out of the shop after Aleron.
"You scoundrel!" He screamed. "I'll kin your hide! I'll break your neck! I-I'll rip out your eyeballs and shove them down your throat, so you can watch me tear open your carcass!"
Aleron suddenly heard the shouts of a crowd, and he thought them to be an angry mob chasing after him. Guilt filled him for destroying the dishes, and he wanted to return. But if he did, he most definitely wouldn't survive the night. He set his goal for finding the rest of his group, hoping that maybe they could save him once again from the raging beast behind him.

He meandered breathlessly through the alleys of the city, often ending up in dark corners. The street lamps were his only source of light. He suddenly he burst from an alley and into a main road. He stopped dead in his tracks, a faint wheeze escaping him. Before him was a silver dragon. His stood majestically, and he gawked at it. When he approached it, he realized that none other than Gen and Lorin were on the other side with an unfamiliar elf. They looked as if they were preparing to hop onto the great beast.
"Wait!" Aleron cried out, running to them with his hands waving frantically. "Wait!"

When Lorin saw Aleron come around into the alleyway, bedraggled, running wildly towards them, limping, covered in dust and dirt, one sandal missing and his feet blistered, her first instinct was to laugh.  And she did, but then her face became worried. "Are you alright?  What happened to you?"

But before anyone could say anything else, an angry mob appeared behind Aleron.  There were about twenty of them, all roaring in anger and waving various materials that could hurt a person if they were hit over the head with them.  Leading the people was a man who looked even more furiouse than the others, and he was waving a dangerous looking club.

As soon as they saw Keyne they all skidded to a halt, their expressions frozen on their faces.

Keyne looked over to them serenely, her long neck twisting down until it was even with the shopkeepers face.  She blinked slowly and Lorin assumed she was sending this man a mental message, she looked at Kilarhas and saw him smiling at what the dragon was 'saying'.  As he could understand her all the time.

The message she sent went kind of like this, and it came in words that were like a soft woman's voice this time.

Why are you chasing this man? What happened?

The shopkeeper stared, then frowned shaking his head.  "I-uh, I-oh, nothing!  Nothing happened!"

Something happened, Keyne sent. You can tell me.

"I-uh, well," then the shopkeeper's face hardened and he glared at Aleron. "This bumbling idiot here ran into my shop like a mad man and then knocked over a shelf of my most valuable glassware!  He caused hundreds of gold coins in damage!  Then he ran!  He must pay for what he wrecked!"

Lorin looked over to Aleron, eyes wide, a half smile on her face. "Really?  You caused all that damage in the short time you were gone?  Ha!"

Gen hopped down off of Keyne and faced the shopkeeper.

"How much does he owe for the damage," he asked.

The shop owner smiled malevolently at Aleron and then he looked back to Gen. "Seven hundred gold. . ."

Kilarhas slid off of Keyne as well and walked over to Aleron. "If you do not have sufficient funds, or that will make a dent in the money in your purse, I will be willing to chip in." He  raised his eyebrows. "But I do want to be paid back, when possible."

"That won't be necessary," Gen said.

He reached into his pack and pulled out a sizable bag gold. He then handed it to the shop owner.

"This should cover it."

The shop owner's eyes widened.  He hadn't expected being paid, he had thought that he would have had to arrest Aleron and bring him to the town guard.

"That's-that's very good, sir," the man said, weighing the bag in his hand.  "Well, we'd best get a move on."

Then he turned and walked away, the mob following, looking a dissapointed that there had been no head-bashing (there were a few dwarves in the mob's ranks).

When they were gone Lorin turned to Aleron and explained to him everything that had happened.

"Okay, this elf here, Kilarhas, accused Gen of killing some people and the elf dude was sent to kill him by a lord who lives in a city not too far from here.  Gen, of course, had commited no such crime, and he got Kilarhas to see that he was good.  Then we were all wondering why the lord would want Gen dead.  So we decided to go there and find out.  That's where we were on our way to right before you showed up."  She looked at his bloody foot. "But maybe we could get you a healer first. . ."

"No need," Kilarhas said. "As a mage I know a few healing spells." he looked to Aleron. "If that's okay with you, of course."

Aleron shifted his weight to his good foot and lifted his blistered one, examining it. "You don't even have to ask." He said, wincing. This day had most definitely held for him a strange list if events. He chuckled, but remembered his mother. Eh, he thought. Oh well. her death did not effect him anymore. Within that day he had found a new focus in life. He had received his second chance to live the way he wanted. And he would do so whilst investigating a mystery seemingly out of a fireside story. But first, he had to clean up and heal his foot.

"Glad everything worked out," Gen said.

"Yes, yes." Aleron said. He cracked his neck to the side, and straightened himself. He bent over and gently pulled out the shards of glass, and afterwards he suspended his foot a few ingles above the dirty cobblestone.
"I don't want to interrupt any further. Shall we get going?"

"Let me help you," Kilarhas said, stepping froward.  When he was standing directly in front of Aleron he closed his eyes and raised his staff a foot from the ground.  As he started to whisper the words of a spell, the blue gem on the end of his wooden staff began to glow.  Then, with a flourish of his free hand, he opened his eyes.

The cuts on Aleron's foot started to mend.  Not completely, they just sealed closed.  "You need another pair of shoes," the elf said, looking at Aleron's bare foot. "I actually happen to have a pair.  I got them at my last stop."

He walked over to Keyne and took a pack off of her back.  He rummaged inside and pulled out a pair of boots, then he secured the pack back onto the dragon's back.

"Do you want them?

"Well, with all the walking I bet we're going to do once we get to wherever we're going, I have a feeling shoes are a must." Aleron smiled cheekily. "I'd like some new ones, thank you."

"These are new, never worn," Kilarhas said, holding out the pair of boots.  "I don't need them."

Keyne snorted and threw back her head, blasting ice into the air.  She wanted to get going.

Aleron nodded his head, understanding the dragon's cues. "Uh, yes. These would work wonderfully." He smiled at Kilarhas in gratitude, but hastily tucked his feet into the shoes. They were very comfortable, and all pain had left his feet. He took a look at the dragon, scanning for a place to plant himself for the trip.

"Which seat can I take?"


(OOC: I'm sorry, I couldn't help it haha)

Kilarhas tossed the boots to Aleron, and smiled when he asked where to sit. "She's a dragon, not a carriage," he said. "Anywhere on her back is fine," he laughed, "Anywhere but the front, that's my spot!"

"Sounds good," Aleron said. He looked over the spine of ten dragon before finding a spot just above the wings. He'd never ridden a dragon, and he shivered. The anticipation built inside and he, simultaneously couldn't wait to soar through the sky on the back of a fire--well, ice--breathing dragon, but at the same time he shuddered at the thought.
He bit his lip nervously, but, in a last minute rush of adrenaline, let himself to the dragon. He touched it's cold scales, withdrawing his hand for a moment before petting it more securely.
He pointed at the spot he'd chosen. "Is this place alright?"

"Sure," Kilarhas said, then he looked to Lorin and Gen. "You ready?"

"I am," Lorin said, and she turned to Gen. "Are you ready to go and see who wants you dead, and why?"

"I am," Gen replied with a nod. "I cannot allow these lies to stain my honor and family name."

"Well," Aleron announced. "Let's get going!"
He hesitantly climbed onto the silver dragon. It gave a short snort, and he gently caressed it's scaly back. It was a graceful creature, and any doubt of it's reliability left him. He situated himself onto his spot, then lay his chest flat against the beast, wrapping his arms around it's side. He tied his burlap sack to another, securing it with a few loose straps.

"And so am I." came a odd, but familiar voice. A large mirror of light appeared and Inigo, still in his spirit form, slowly stepped out. The light soon turned back to skin, clothes, and hair as the young man stepped out. Without saying another word he carefully mounted the dragons towards the rear. He was a bit embarrassed that he had hid in that form for so long, but he was no good at fighting so he had to stay in that form.

"Oh, hey!" Aleron said, jumping. The sudden appearance of Inigo startled him. He just noticed how he hadn't seen him in quite a while. He looked around at the dark city, and to the people around him. He didn't know what would happen but he definitely couldn't wait.

Lorin looked excitedly at Gen and then walked forward towards the dragon.  She climbed onto her back in front of Aleron and Kilarhas mounted in front of her, right behind Keyne's neck, the front spot.

"Climb on!" Lorin said to Gen, feeling the dragons scales beneath her, she hesitantly put her hands on Kilarhas's sides, there was no where else to get a hold.  She was exited, she had never flown on a dragon before.

Keyne raised her head high and snorted, ice blasting out.  She stood regally, patiently, as her passengers climbed on.

Gen jumped and landed on the dragon's back ever so lightly as to not harm it.

"This will be quite an experience," Gen said excitedly.

Keyne looked over her shoulder at her passengers and her silver eyes twinkled, and Lorin would've sworn she winked at Kilarhas.  Then the dragon crouched on the ground and pushed off, shooting into the sky at an violent speed, but not enough at and angle for any unsuspecting passengers to fall off.

When Keyne took off at such a speed, Lorin screamed and wrapped her arms tightly around Kilarhas's waist.  The dragon leveled out high above the ground and Lorin quickly let go of the elf and put her hands back on his waist.

Her green skin pinkened and Kilarhas laughed when he looked behind and saw her face.  He of course, had not been surprised in the least by the dragon's takeoff.

Lorin looked down at the city below in amazement, what a view!  She had never seen anything like it!  It was dark, but even in the lack of light she could see for miles!  The few lights of the city, and the deep blackness that was a forest off to the West.  They were flying North, towards another city that Lorin could not yet see.

The wind was fierce, but not unpleasant.  Lorin lifted her face to the wind, looking out and taking in all that she saw.

The feeling of flight was exhilarating. Gen stood up and spread his arms, enjoying the air rushing over him.

"It won't talk long to get there," Kilarhas shouted over the rushing wind. "It's only ten miles and Keyne is a fast flier!" He looked over his shoulder and winked at Lorin. "Though all the extra weight might bog her down a bit!"

But it was only twenty minutes later when Keyne was circling over the city, looking for a place to land.  They landed in a secluded alley and Kilarhas jumped off and looked around the alley, it was empty, save for a few garbage bins and a cat, which fled as soon as Keyne landed.

"Lord Koran Thillths lives only a block from here," Kilarhas said.

"Good," Gen replied. "Let's go."

Without waiting for anyone, he just started walking. Whoever this guy was was about to learn exactly who Gen was and what he was about.

"Do you know where you're going?" Kilarhas said, running after Gen. "I mean, you don't have mind reading powers too, do you?"

Lorin rushed after the two men, and Keyne followed her.  The dragon walked up behind the elf and nuzzled her back.  Lorin laughed and patted the dragon's snout.  The streets were empty, so no one saw the troupe of humanoids and a dragon walking down the street.

"Well if he's a lord then I imagine his would be the biggest and most expensive house," Gen replied. "And possibly with guards posted."

Kilarhas nodded, and pointed at a gilded rooftop sticking up above the rest. "You are correct.  There's his house."

They approached the house from an alleyway, where they were hidden in the shadows, unseen by the guards that patrolled around the house.  They were in the back of the house, and Kilarhas pointed to a small door in the back. "There's the servants entrance, if we want to sneak in, that's the way to do it."  He looked at Gen and smirked. "Whenever I take a job I make sure I know all of the entrances and exits."  He looked back at the house. "But if you don't want to sneak in and do this whole thing that way, then the front door is your best bet."

"Sneaking is not my style," Gen told him. "I'll just knock on the front door and ask nicely. Anything beyond that point will be made up as I go along."

Gen then fearlessly began making his way to the front door in full view for all to see. He wanted to be seen. He wanted the fact that he was coming to be known.

Kilarhas sighed and rolled his eyes at Gen. He quickly told Keyne to stay in the shadows and emerge if he called for help, then she would come in and attack.

"We'll probably be fine, girl," he said, patting her snout. "I just want you to be ready."

Then he sighed again and walked out from the shadows and after Gen.  He felt very exposed, this approach was not his style.  Sneaking was.

Lorin, too, was used to being sneaky and hidden, but she rushed after Gen almost as soon as he left the shadows.

They walked up to the front door, and the guards eyed them suspiciously.

"What do you want?" one asked, holding his pike in a rather threatening manner.

"Well-!" Kilarhas was about to start, but then stopped.  While he could be very persuasive, he decided to let Gen do the talking on this account.  The blue elf looked sideways at Gen, urging him silently to speak.

"My name is Gen Kaziru. You will take me to see your master. If you refuse, I'll just show myself inside."

Gen looked down at the pike.

"Don't be pointing that at me unless you're expecting to use it."

It was a subtle, but very clear threat. Gen was normally a very calm and collected guy, but he was not to be trifled with when angered. And right now, he was very angered.

Aleron was nervous, and he didn't hide it. Breaking the law was not his strength. Though he was tolerant of others who did the act, even empathetic to a few, he would not partake in the act at all. He slunk behind the group, debating whether to join in or not. It was an intruiging mystery, but a voice in the back of his mind persisted. Stay away! it hissed at him. They will drag you down with them! He bit his limp as his mind raced, but nevertheless he followed them.
It was when they got to the gate that he stopped for a moment. He stayed in a cluster of bushes just off from the immediate group, and saw Gen talking to a guard.
He was hooked to the suspense of wondering what would happen, but his fears lingered. He decided to follow a bit behind, off to the side. The manor was large, and there were many entrances. With his many years of silently following sheep and other wildlife, Aleron figured he had reasonably arguable stealth skills. And his magic could make due if the situation called for it.
Coming to this conclusion, he stole off into the darkness, and sought for a place to climb over the mossy stone fence and into the fancy, trimmed yard of their targeted lord.

Kilarhas, also a skilled tracker, and as as elf with superior hearing, heard and saw Aleron steal away, but he didn't do anything.

The guard swallowed nervously at Gen's threat. "I'm sorry, it is protocol." but he lowered the pike.  Then he looked at Kilarhas. "Lord Thillths is expecting you, but who are the others?"

"They are friends of mine," Kilarhas said. "If they can't come in, I won't."

The guard nodded. "You can all come in, follow me."  He opened the door and they walked inside, following the guard.

They walked through a long hallway and when they got to a pair of large oak doors the guard knocked on the wood in a pattern.

There was a call from inside and the doors were opened.  They led into a great throne room, and sitting on the throne was a tall thin man with long black hair and wearing all silver robes.

"Ah, Kilarhas, you have returned at last, but why with this man Gen?" he stood. "How come you have not killed him?"

"I have a better question," Gen announced stepping forward. "Why would you have me killed? What have I done to deserve death?"

"You killed people!" the man said. "Innocent people!  You should be dead!"

Kilarhas stepped forward, putting a hand in front of Gen. "Wait, something is wrong here. . ." he looked closer at Lord Thillths, thn his silver eyes grew wide. "Gen!  This is not Lord Thillths!  He is a very sophisticated look-alike but definitely not the same man!  When we came to the building he must have been warned and knew what had happened, if he knows you are really innocent, and he made a run for it, posting this man as him!"  Kilarhas swore colorfully, and even Lorin cringed, who thought she knew them all. "I hate the honest approach!  Sneaking would have been much better!  We wouldn't be in this predicament!"

Then he rushed up to the throne, pulling out his dagger and bringing it to the look-alike's throat. "Where's the real Lord Thillths?  Tell me!"

"If I were you, I would tell this man what he wants to know," Gen told the imposter. "I'm not a killer, but he is."

The look-alike gulped, but it was obvious that he had been chosen for this position not just for his looks, he was willing to die for Thillths.

Kilarhas considered killing the man, but he knew that that wouldn't tell them where the real Thillths was.  He stepped back, sheathing his dagger, and punched the look-alike in the jaw, the man fell to the ground and Kilarhas kicked him off of the dais that the throne was on. 

He looked to Gen, "He will most likely have escaped out of the back door, let's go!"

Instead of wasting time with doors, Gen launched himself up and out one of the windows to land in the back yard. No one could outrun an experienced aeromancer, and Gen was the best.

Aleron had found a way inside. An unmanned door in a small garden held great opportunity for entrance, and it led him to a vacant kitchen. Strings of garlic and herbs hung from small metal hangers, and the smell of fresh foods filled his nose. Moonlight glinted through the glass windows, and he relaxed. A small bit of banter could be heard from far away, muffled by the thick walls, but Aleron was curious to what it was.
He tip toed through the kitchen when suddenly two ornate oaken doors flung open with a boom. A man with a long, ebony hair fled into the room. Aleron threw himself onto the ground, crouching against a wooden cupboard. The man had a look of panic spread over his face, and his silver robes flourished with his movement. A great thud echoed from further in the house. The rich, fleeing man silently exited the same door Aleron had came in from.
Filled with curiosity, Aleron scurried across the floor after him. He peeked his head out the door. The man was boarding a fancy white carriage, harnasses to four strong horses. He looked back one time--Aleron ducked into the manor--then he closed the door. The carriage leapt to a start and rolled down the road. Aleron checked which way it was headed, then went back into the house. He chuckled, ignorant to the importance of the man. To him, I was just a random noble escaping from some sort of business. In the rush of sneaking around, it never occured to him that it may have been relevant.
He waltzed back into the house, and decided to investigate where the man came from.
He snuck down a couple halls, turning into doorways when a maid appeared, and then finally neared a mother set of great oak doors. They were cracked open.
He peaked through the slit between them, and saw Kilarhas kicking a man who oddly looked just like the escaper.
He entered the room, brow drawn in confusion. He mutely gestured between the man on the floor and the hallway leading to the kitchen.
"That's strange," he said. "I could swear a guy dressed just like this one went speeding away on a carriage not 2 minutes ago."

"WHAT?" Kilarhas yelled as Aleron spoke. "Which way did he go?" But the elf was already running after Gen.  He emerged on to the street and whistled, a moment later Keyne flapped down next to him.  Using their mental link, he quickly explained to the dragon what had happened, it took about two seconds for him to get all of the info to her, then he mounted the dragon and turned her after Gen. "Are you coming?" He called to Aleron and Lorin. 

"I'm coming!" Lorin said, leaping up onto the dragon behind the other elf.  Keyne snorted, ready to get moving.

Gen didn't respond as he had already shot himself forward with a powerful blast of air. As soon as he would hit the ground, he would propel himself again, giving him the appearance of jumping very high and very far over and over. This liar would not escape him.

Keyne darted forward, not flying, but running, very, very fast.  Soon they could see the white carriage again, three strong horses pulling it.

Keyen was soon running next to it, and Kilarhas leaped off of the dragon's back and onto the roof of the carriage.  From there he swung through the window into the carriage.  It was empty.  There was a window looking out the front, and Kilarhas saw that there was no driver, and that there wasn't meant to be only four horses pulling the carriage.  He climbed back out of the carriage and onto Keyne.  One of the horse harnesses was empty.  Lord Thillths must have unhooked one of the horses and rode off on it,abandoning the carriage and letting not run on as another decoy.

Kilarhas couldn't help but be impressed by this lord, he had quite a few tricks up his silver sleeves.

Gen saw that the carriage was a decoy. This man was quite clever, but not clever enough. Concentrating his power, Gen extended his sight to all of the air in a large radius. He detected a single rider in the distance. Without say a word, Gen took off. He wasn't getting away that easy.

Seeing Gen take off in another direction Keyne assumed he had located the lord, and she darted after him, leaving the carriage behind.

Despite being on a horse, the lord still could not outrun Gen. He eventually caught up with the horse and rider and landed on the ground in front of them. Launching a blast of air forward, the rider was knocked from his mount and tumbled to the ground.

"Start talking," Gen commanded. "And I better like what I hear."

The man scrambled back and quickly got to his feet.  There was fear in his eyes but he looked aloof.
A few moments later Keyne rushed up.  She stood next to Gen and Lorin and Kilarhas dismounted.

Lord Thillths held his head high as he spoke to Gen. "Why should I tell you anything?!

"I have a right to know why you would spread lies about me," Gen replied. "And if that isn't enough of a reason, I would like to inform you that no one will be able to hear you scream all the way out here."

There was real fear in the man's eyes now, and he was breathing heavily."If I tell you what will you do to me?"

"If I were you, I'd be more concerned as to what would happen if you didn't tell me," Gen replied.

The man sank to his knees, and he looked quite pitiful.  He must have only been in his late twenties, and Lorin thought he was going to faint, he was hyperventilating so much.  He was sweating and his violet eyes were wide with fear.  He finally swallowed and managed to speak.

"Don't kill me if I tell you what I know!" he pleaded, and Lorin knew that no matter what situation she was in, she would never sink as low as this man was sinking now. "I don't know why you were supposed to be killed!"

"Who does know," Gen asked.

(OOC: Check this out, yes, it is relevant to the plot. http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=18746.new#new)

The man gulpe again. "I-was-hired-by-a-man-named-Sinnith-Gage-and-he-told-me-to-have-someone-kill-Gen-Kaziru." He said it all very fast and in one breath.

"Where does this man live?" Kilarhas said, also disgusted by the man.

The young man's eyes were darting back and forth, and Lorin was kind of getting sick of his behavior.

"Oh, come on man!" she said. "Stop groveling and speak up!"

The man looked at her fearfully but spoke. "If you don't know where the place is you can't see it, it's hidden by magic."

"Then tell us where itis!"  Kilarhas said, exasperated.

"I can't, even if I tell you you won't be able to find it," the man said, and he looked like he was wishing with all his might that he could just tell them where it was and they would find it.  He gulped again and continued. "You can only see it and enter it if someone who already knows where it is brings you there!"

"Well, you obviously know where it is," Gen said. "You will take us there."

"NO!  Oh, no, I-I can't!" the man said, shaking his head, his eyes wide and full to the brims with fear. "I-I just can't!"

A sheepish voice piped out from behind them, quiet but clear. A hint if devious enthusiasm hid behind the words.
"I think I can get him to take us there," Aleron said. "I know a couple tricks."

"Ok then," Gen said to Aleron. "Let's see what you've got then."

"No!" the young man cried, "Don't hurt me!  But-but I can't take you there, if I do, he'll kill me!"

Aleron eyed suspiciously at the man in the cobble. He disgusted him, and Aleron itched to experiment with his newly conceived concepts of torture magic. But he gave in, and went to stand next to Kilarhas.
"What should we do," he said quietly. "Believe him or not? He could very well lead us to a trap, say the location is hidden in a cave when in fact it isn't. Next we know, we'd be food for trolls. I do not trust him."

Kilarhas saw that Aleron was as disgusted with this man as he was, and that Aleron wanted to have to 'persuade' him.  When Aleron walked over to him the elf put a hand on the young man's shoulder and turned away. "He could be lying," Kilarhas said quietly, so that the man wouldn't hear him. "But he is either an extremely well-practiced actor or he is a complete coward and scared stiff of us, and I think it's the latter.  And if he is lying?  I'm up for the challenge, I'm a mercenary for good, and I do not like anyone evil.  I will go out of my way to stop an evil plan, and to me this sure looks like one.  If he finally agrees to take us to the man who hired him, then I'm following."

Kilarhas turned to the man, crossing his arms across his chest. "If you take us, or at least me, to Sinnith Gage, the man who hired you, I'll try to stop him from killing you, what do you say?"

The man looked from Kilarhas to Aleron, then back to Kilarhas, still looking fearful. "You won't be able to stop him, he's to powerful.  I can't help you, I'm sorry!"

 

"No he's not," Gen said. "I plan on challenging Sinnith Gage for the restoration of my honor. He'll be too busy with me to do anything to you. Now take us to him."

The young man looked from one person to the other, and his eyes finally landed on Gen and stayed there. "O-okay," he said. "I'll show you the way."

"Then get to your feet!" Kilarhas said. "You'll get nowhere on your knees!"

The man nodded and got to his feet.  He wasn't a very tall man, but he was thin, which made him seem even smaller, and more pitiful. "Good that's better," Kilarhas said. "Now let's get going, dragon, anyone?"

He motioned to Keyne and then leapt aboard, Lorin right behind him

Aleron glared at Sinnith, but climbed onto the dragon at his original spot.
"Let's get going, then." He grumbled.

Gen jumped onto the dragon was well.

"Let's get his over with," he said.

Thillths shakily walked over to Keyne, who bared her teeth at him and growled.  He squeaked and jumped back, but then stepped forwards again.  He mounted the dragon with ease and sat there, a look of terror on his face.

"B-before we go," he said. "I should tell you my real name isn't Thillths.  Its Kinn, Kinn Dice, and I'm a mage."

"So much potential gone to waste then," Gen said. "But perhaps your youth means you have time to do things over the right way instead of getting mixed up in the wrong crowd."

Kinn kind of half shrugged but he said nothing.

"Well then," Kilarhas asked the mage. "Which direction do we head in?"

"South East," Kinn said. "We're in Tirial now, he resides in the farthest South corner of Ravensway, where the forests grow thicker.  On this dragon it should take us about a week to get there."



(OOC: Look at the map of Serendipity and you'll see what he's talking about!)

"It seems like we'll have plenty of time to bond then," Gen stated.

Kinn seemed to melt in his seat at that.  Clearly, all he wanted to was to get away from here as fast as possible, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"One week?!" Aleron gasped. "Where'll we stay? How'll we eat, where'll we sleep?" He looked off into the distance and thought. This was definitely quite an adventure, for sure.
"Well," he stammered. "The least we can do is sleep tonight somewhere. I've been walking ALL day."

"We'll find places to stay," Kilarhas said to Aleron's question. "Be it in the woods or an inn.  We'll buy food and hunt for food, and I can hunt pretty well, if Keyne doesn't hunt for us that is."

When Aleron commented about walking Keyne snorted and Kilarhas patted the back of her neck. "You won't be walking, you'll be flying.  Doing none of the work.  I think that tonight we will be able to make some progress towards our goal."

 "That's quite true," Aleron admitted. He figured he could catch some sleep on the dragon's back while they flew through the sky, as long as it wasn't too cold.
"Well," he mumbled haggardly, his long day of walking finally catching up to him. "Let's get going, then."
He settled himself onto Keyne's cold, scaly back and leaned his chest against her body. He placed a sack under his head and looked around, lingering a glare at Kinn. It was actually a rather infantile gesture, but as that was the norm for Aleron. Though silent as he was, the young man was just 18.
Despite his distrust for the slippery, deceitful Mage, he closed his eyes. Perhaps their "prisoner of war" would turn out noble hearted in the end. Aleron scoffed at the idea, but accepted it nonetheless. Hadn't Lorin ended up just that way; a thief externally but a struggling young woman inside?

"I sleep under the stars almost every night," Gen pointed out. "I'll have no trouble with sleep."

"Then let's get going already!" Lorin said, she was sitting on Keyne behind Kilarhas again.

"Right," Kilarhas said. "Come on, Keyne!"

The dragon snorted and lifted off. Five passengers was a little heavy for her, but not impossible, she would be able to fly nearly as fast as normal.  They flew above the city and in the direction Kinn had directed them.

The wind rushed, but it wasn't too loud or cold. "So," Kilarhas said. "Aleron, what kind of magic do you have?  You said you had some tricks, and I can sense some magic on you."

Kinn's eyes widened at this, but he said nothing.

Aleron yawned, but eagerly replied. "I'm not sure really," he said. "It's just whatever I come up with. I've been teaching myself though, so it's not that powerful, but I have a couple ideas on what I could maybe do. I came up with a theory a week ago—" he stopped and thought about the experience. It had been back in his village, when he was wish his mother. He swallowed the small bit of pain and continued.
"—I can move things without touching them. I mean, I can do a couple other things, like make light appear for a moment or so, but I'm best at moving things. I'm not sure if that's an official art or not. But as I was saying, I was back in my village and there was a wolf from the mountain going after the sheep. The others went for help, but I stayed hidden. It was . . . terribly horrifying and I was paralyzed with fear. It ended up trying to attack me and as it leaped at me, I covered my face and closed my eyes. But when I opened them, the grass was ripped from the ground in front of me and wolf lay dead before me. I poked it with a stick and noticed how purple it had gotten. Blood was leaking from it's mouth. Looking back to it, I realized I had shattered it from the inside out.
"So I wondered if maybe I was able to do that; break peoples bones and crush their bodies. I tried it on sticks and other non living things, and they all broke, but I could only destroy twigs. So I was planning on, well, experimenting some more on Kinn here."
Aleron cringed at what he said, realizing how despicable it was. He dared not look at the face of the young man for fear he would chuckle at the horror displayed. Instead he looked at Kilarhas and the moon that shone behind his flapping hair. The clouds were so close and the ground so far below; the view was so beautiful he felt as if he were ascending into heaven. He noticed Lorin, and how her ebony hair was fluttering behind her as the force of the great dragon wings battered her with excess wind.
"So yeah," he said. "That's my magic." He chuckled a bit. "Isn't it odd to think that just hours ago, we were all strangers, yet it feels like we've been in eachother's company for weeks?"
At this moment he turned to Kinn. "I am sorry for almost obliterating your innards. Perhaps you are not the con I thought you were. You seem about my age; where did you learn magic, and how good are you?"

Kilarhas's eyes widened as Aleron told them about his special skill, and then the elf's expression changed to one of disgust.  The elf had known there was some sort of torture involved, but this was horrid!
Lorin was feeling the same way, but both elves kind of forgave him when he apologized to Kinn Dice.

The mage, on the other hand, was feeling pretty shaky.  When Aleron apologized he nearly fell off of the dragon, he jumped so much.  Then Aleron asked him about his magic, and to Lorin and Kilarhas, it seemed that the mage was a completely different person.

"I like to think I am a fairly accomplished mage," Kinn said, and there was no trace of fear or uncertainty in his voice now. "I learned at the Academy Carlian.  A mage school.  I lived there from age five to age thirteen.  At which point I left and came to live in a house here.  From there I learned magic my own way.  I basically lived at the library and the nearby apothecary and mage shop.  I practice almost all kinds of magic, except the darkest.  Though I have lived my whole life in Serendipity, I feel I am fairly well-learned of the world.  I could go on and on about anything, but it get's pretty annoying pretty fast, I know.  Last time I tried to talk to someone about it they nearly cut out my tongue.  Literally, I was being pinned to a table, and he had a knife in his hand." Kinn frowned. "Then again, he was half orc, and not a very compliant man. He was quite insane, I think.  He was trying to get me to do a job and he asked about my magic, I told him, but he didn't like my long explanations  I guess he just wanted a yes or no answer to if I was good or not.  Anyways, I managed to blast him back with a spell and escape.  Oh, Gods, listen to me, I'm doing it again.  Rambling.  And with someone who just moments before threatened to crush my guts." Kinn's face fell. "Oh, Aleron, I am very sorry about your village.  I myself have no parents.  The story is-!  Nevermind, that'll take a while."

"My father abandoned my mother and I as soon as I was born," Gen said. "My blindness made me a disgrace in his eyes, so my mother raised me by herself. She taught me how to use a sword and helped me with my magical abilities. She was a truly remarkable woman."

Though no one had asked, everyone else had been talking about their parents, so he decided he might as well join in.

"My parents were a king and queen," Kilarhas said.  "There was a war and they wanted to surrender to the enemy.  I went and assassinated him with a group of followers.  The enemies followers attacked once their leader was dead.  We won the war with few losses but my father was going to banish me and those who had helped me kill the enemy.  They lied and said I had threatened them to help me, even though they had agreed with my plan.  They were spared the disgrace and I was exiled.  I have no desire to return to them.  They cast me out and I wan't nothing to do with a family who no longer loves their son."

"I was left at a workhouse," Lorin said. "My parents didn't want me.  I grew up there but ran away when I was ten.  I became a thief from there."

"It seems that everyone has a pretty sad childhood," Kinn said. "Or in your case, Aleron, early adulthood.  I better tell you my story now that everyone else has shared theirs.
My parents are both extremely rich mages, and they sent me off to the Academy when I was five, and though I came back for three months on the summer every year, we were not very close.  They didn't really care about me, and when I left the Academy at thirteen, they didn't even bother to say goodbye to me.  I later learned that they had disowned me so they wouldn't have to give my any of their money in their will.  They decided to give it all to a distant cousin, who, frankly, is a spoiled rotten brat.  My parents are still alive, I know, but I have no wish to see them again, though I am very sad that they no longer love me.

Aleron chuckled. It was true, that they all had rough pasts. Maybe this was a chance to make new beginnings.
"So you're royalty, Kilarhas?" He mused the concept. "Wouldn't that be something. Was it good having t all? Of course, you left and everything. But do you ever want it back?"
All thought of sleep left him and he was wide awake once more. He stretched as much as he could on Keyne's back, watching the moon reflect from the graceful beast's silver scales. He felt the wind run through his hair. He'd expected his companions to be a little unsettled by his previous, torturous intents, but he was unsure to what extent; the darkness hid their faces, and they said no words.
"So I guess we're all touched by magic someway or another." He said this outloud but to no particular person. It fluttered out of his mouth like a loose breath, taken by the wind and swept into oblivion. He repeated to himself silently, perceiving a deeper meaning but unsure if such a thing existed. He'd grown so much in a day, matured in such short time; he wondered if anything meant anything.
It was getting dark, and he was tired. The thoughts coming from deep and unknown places as if stirred from the bottom of a lake.
It was at that moment that he wondered with a note of glee if he may have just stumbled across some friends. "Time would only tell", his suspicions whispered, and he hoped that maybe time would tell a tale to his liking. 

(OOC: So this thread is actually really good. The story is interesting, the characters are deep, and over all (at least to me...) it is very engaging and I enjoy it a lot. Today I came up with an idea: what if we shared it on Wattpad? It's all up to you guys since all of us are equally the authors. If you don't have that much time, (and you're comfortable with it) I could write your part for you. It'd be based exactly off of what is and will be written here, so technically you'd still be in charge. I think the wattpad idea would be great because we could put pictures on it of our characters, locations, etc. I'm not sure if there is a co-author setting so I'll have to double check, but if not I'm sure we could figure something out. So tell me what you think! I'm sure we'll have some readers out there.)

(OOC: I have absolutely no idea what Wattpad is.)

(OOC: I don't know what wattpad is either, but I would prefer to keep this posting on this site please.  Thank you.)

"I guess I could still be called royalty," Kilarhas said.  "Though I don't know if banishment would strip me of that title." When Aleron asked if it had been nice, Kilarhas was silent for a moment while he thought. "It was," he finally answered. "But I didn't use much of my time in the castle, It was mostly spent in the forest outside the castle walls and away from other elves.  Often I stayed away for days, sometimes alone, sometimes with Keyne."

He patted the dragon and she snorted gently.

Aleron looked off into the distance for a while. The gentle hills of of Edersden and the city they had found Kinn in morphed into rugged rocks at a lower altitude, with desolate pines scattered amongst them. But it was far down, like ladies of grass, and Aleron felt a wave of peace rush over him. It sept into his veins with an effect so calming he almost fell asleep. Any subconscious traces of sadness from his loss—the loss of his beloved mother—was swept away in the wind. He was safe now, and ready to begin anew. He closed his eyes, bading himself goodnight softly in a tone so only Lorid or Kinn could hear.


(OOC: Wattpad is an app that let's people upload their stories chapter by chapter so others can read it. It's free and a great way to get an audience without the struggle of publishing. If you guys don't want to, that's fine. But I will ask: (since I LOOOOOOOOVE writing fantasy novels) when we are done with this story, do I have permission to write a story based off of it? Credits to you, of course. If you aren't comfortable with that, I respect that. I'm not sure if what you said about keeping the post on this website applies to that, JackieCat (Sorry if it seems like I'm asking the same question!). Just wondering)

"I haven't had a home since my mother died," Gen said. "I just wander about, seeing the world in my own way, and sleeping wherever I happen to find myself. It's a very free lifestyle, though sometimes lonely. I do get to meet some very interesting people in my travels though."

"Traveling is the best," Kilarhas said. "I wouldn't want to do anything else!  The adventure of it, not knowing when you may be attacked by a raiding group of goblins who could ambush you and then capture you and tie you up to a tree and then start a fire so they can too cook you alive, but only after they steal all of your stuff and nearly burn your most valuable possessions!"  Kilarhas frowned. "That happened once, it was quite interesting. I was lucky to escape with only the tips of my hair singed, nothing more.  But anyway, the uncertainty of traveling is what I like about it.  One night you could be sleeping in the mud with the rain soaking you to the bone and freezing you, and the next your sleeping in a palace after you helped out the princess.  And your right Gen, the people are extraordinary.  Some of the characters I've met!"

Aleron listened, his eyes closed as he thought over what they said. He wished he could have their adventures, their tales. He had only come from a simple farm in the middle of nowhere. He softly strikes Keyne's silver scales.
But he realized: he already had those experiences. Just that evening he did all of that. What they had done in years he had done in only a few hours. Sure, he had yet to learn the uncertainties they were bound to face, but he had everything else.
Adventure? He had been stolen from, knocked out, chased by a mob, flown on a dragon, raided an escapee, unmask a fraud, and to add onto that he definitely had met quite a collection of characters.
He shuffled to another position, so he could look ahead of him. Lorin was silent ahead of him, and Kilarhas facing back to Gen. Kinn clung to the dragon behind him.
Maybe he hadn't set a good impression—he dreaded that he had put them off—but they were there nonetheless. They all were victims of fate and time, all in their own misfortune but sharing in their emotions. It was almost, at least in Aleron's eyes, a new family.
And what other for a family to do than to travel the dangerous land in search of an invisible castle with an evil, devious fiend wreaking havoc on the reputation of a blind-yet-powerful aeromancer?

(OOC: Could I (or anyone) skip ahead?  As in, "Three days later. . ." and so on?  Just wondering.  But if anyone else was to, I would like to be notified in a post before hand so I can wrap up anything my characters were going to say or do.)

Lorin hadn't said anything for a while, and she just sat, with her hair blowing in the wind.  What strange happenings had occurred over the past days!  If one would have told her three days ago that in two days she would be riding on the back of a dragon with a elf mage, a aeromancer, a half-elf, and another mage as their prisoner on the way to find a man who was tarnishing the aeromancer's reputation, she would have told you do go jump in a lake.  But now, as she sat upon the dragon, looking up into the dark sky, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else.  This was an amazing adventure, and as long as she, or any of the others, didn't die, she would be fine.

(OOC: I'm alright with skipping ahead. But I think a couple things happening while they're on the trip would be interesting. Maybe something big could go down while they stop at a village and like a whole mini-mystery or something happens, or they stumble across an enchanted/evil swamp while hunting in the wilderness. You get the picture. But like you, I don't think we need to detail every minute of their trip. Actually, unless you or Wicked Basket has anything they want to take care of at the moment, we could skip ahead right now to like a couple days later. Because all they're doing right now is looking at eachother and reflecting while riding in Keyne. I'm all done with anything Aleron has to say.)

(OOC: Yeah. Skipping ahead would be good. I'm all out of stuff to say as well.)

(OOC: Got it.)

Three hours later the lights of a town came into sight, and Keyne started to fly down towards it. "She's tired." Kilarhas said. "We'll stay here for the rest of the night, but we only have a few hours left until sunrise.   A suggest we get a few hours of sleep and then move on."

Keyne landed right next to an inn that she had seen on the way down.  Some inns had dragon stables, and this one was among them.  Keyne stood in front of the inn waiting for the others to get off.

Kilarhas leapt down, Lorin right behind him.  Kinn slowly got off of the dragon and just stood there, looking kind of pitiful.

Aleron drowsily slid off the dragon, smacking his lips and stumbling about. He opened his eyes, rubbing his sleep away.
He wandered ahead of the group, figuring he'd look into the inn incase Keyne needed to be situated in the stables. He slowly opened the light, birch door. Inside the fire was only a crackle, but still cast off a heat noticeably different than the cold air outside. The front desk was empty, and soft snoring lulled from the rooms. This inn was wooden, with dark plank walls and tar filling. The windows were drawn shut. He quietly checked each door for an open room, but could not find one. There was one upstairs that was open, near a window to the back. It overlooked the dragon stables. A single hay bed was inside, and a small wooden chest. There was a cow skin rug on the floor and a dead candle nearby, on a small wooden table. Just enough room for two—maybe three—people. This would not do, since there was four travelers.
He returned to the rest of the party. "The innkeeper must be sleeping," he said. "But there's an open room upstairs. It only was one bed, though. There's a rug on the floor and enough room for you three."
He looked past their shoulders, to the hay bale between Keyne and another stall. Horses whinnied in another stable just to the left. "I can sleep in the stable with Keyne. I've slept in hay a lot, so this wouldn't be any different. You guys can stay upstairs, as long if you left a payment or something on the front counter."
Before they could differ, he planted himself in the warm straw. It molded around his body and he sunk into it's comfort. The stars shined above, through the cracks between the wooden planks above the dragon stable. He closed his eyes and drifted into a deep, embracing sleep.

"Well, then," Gen said. "I guess all we have to do is decided which one of the rest of us wants that open room."

"I say shar," Kilarhas said. "I mean, why not?  I'll sleep on the floor, I've stayed in worse places.  Kinn, wherever I go, you're following.  We'll sleep on the floor and Gen or Lorin can have the bed."

"I'm feeling particularly adventurous," Gen exclaimed. "I'm going to sleep on the roof."

Gen then jumped into the air with some help of his aeromancy and landed on the roof of the inn.

"The view from up here is not as spectacular as I had hoped," he called down. "But you can see the stars a lot better."

Kilarhas raised his eyebrows. "Okay then, I guess it's just us three in the room.  I guess you get the bed, Lorin."

"That's okay, you can have it."

Kilarhas shrugged. "If you say so."

They went into the inn, where the innkeeper was now at the desk.  They paid for the last room and went to it.  They all laid down and fell asleep.

(OOC: Skip ahead again?)

(OOC: Yeah. We could just say that they travelled for a day, eating the small supply of food they bought from the innkeeper. We could start off the next day in the afternoon when they ran out of food, or maybe they ran out two days later. Idk)

(OOC: Skippity-doo-dah)

(OOC: 😂)

Two days later they were out of food.  They had gotten some from he innkeeper but as there had been many travelers coming through the inn had been all out and had given the companions the last.

They were in the middle of a forest where they had made camp.  It wasn't dark yet, but the sun was getting low.  Lorin was stoking the fire, Keyne was pacing in circles around the camp, keeping watch, Kinn was sitting on a log near the fire, silent, and Kilarhas was looking into their packs.

"All out," he announced. "That's fine though.  I can hear a stream not far off we can use for water, and food is not a problem."

He pulled his bow off of his back and knocked it.  "I'll get something for us to eat tonight.  I know, Keyne could, but I like too."

"I'll get some water," Lorin said, standing up from the fire, which was now blazing.

Kilarhas nodded and walked into the woods.  Lorin picked up their water skins and started to follow him, towards the sound of water, but she looked back at Gen and jerked her head towards Kinn. "Watch him."

Then she walked into the woods.

Aleron unpacked his belongings, laying hawn down on the soft forest floor. He kept Kinn in the corner if his eye, and whistled softly as he prepared his space. Birds chirped back and forth in the trees, singing farewell songs to the sun as the day began to near the treetops. There was about an hour or so until night fell upon them; just enough time to make a camp.

Gen found it amusing that Lorin told the blind guy to 'watch him'. It was fascinating how quickly his blindness was forgotten because he could still function normally, but he kept the notion to himself. With everyone off doing their own thing, now was a good time to meditate.

When Kilarhas and Lorin left the clearing Keyne saw that Gen was starting to meditate.  She often meditated, though those who found out thought it strange for a dragon to meditate.  Keyne was very connected to the earth and the sky, she could feel the spirits whispering through the trees, and she was very peaceful.  But that didn't mean she couldn't fight when she needed to.

Keyne lay down on the edge of the clearing and laid her head on her crossed front legs and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of life around her.  She sent a feeling to Gen, a thought in the form of emotions.

Can you hear the earth shifting, speaking to the sky?  Can you hear the trees whispering to one another?  I'm sure you can hear the wind, aeromancer, the whispers, the breeze. Isn't it beautiful?

"It is indeed," Gen replied vocally. "Though I am more in-tune with the wind over all else."

Aleron looked up at the sky, kicking his head back. He moved his elbow back, but it clanked into some loose jars and tin devices. He cringed, remembering how the others were meditating. He never could meditate; he'd tried many times before, out in the open hills of his old home, but had given up after failing each time. He quietly stood up, and tip toed out from their camp. He decided to go see if he could help out Kilarhas or Lorin, since that seemed more interesting than lying down amongst a prisoner, meditating aeromancer, and a meditating dragon. He headed into the woods in the general direction that others had taken prior.

Kilarhas was just aiming his bow at a deer when Aleron walked up behind him.  The deer bolted and Kilarhas spun around, falling to one knee and aiming his bow straight at Aleron's chest.  When he saw who it was he lowered the bow and got to his feet.

"Sorry," he said. "But you startled both the deer and me."  He slipped the arrow back into his quiver and brushed his silver hair from his eyes. "And speaking of startling deer, you just scared off our dinner!"

He didn't sound that angry, though a bit irritated, he had been about to take his shot.

Aleron cringed, and put his hand to his mouth. "I'm sorry," he said. He stared at the trail the deer had made, then said with a start, "How about I'll get it back for you."
He darted down the trail the beast had taken, ducking under low branches with emerald leaves and jumping over mossy rocks.
"Follow me!" He shouted over his shoulder to Kilarhas

Kilarhas raised his eyebrows.  He didn't really think that the young man would be able to catch such a fast creature, but the years he had spent traveling had taught him not to underestimate anyone.  For all he knew, Aleron was the most powerful mage in all of Le'raana.

He took off after the young man, darting silently through the forest.

Aleron pursued the creature, turning his head once of twice to make sure Kilarhas was following him. He followed the deer until it came to a corner. They were at a small trickling waterfall that had spouted from a crack in a small, vine ridden rock face. The deer's tail waved chaotically in the air as it searched for an escape route.
The deer made it's bound if escape, but not before Aleron caught up to it. As it flew into the air he grabbed at it with his empty hands. The deer came to a halt in the middle of the air, shaming as the kinetic energy dispersed from it. It bleeted as it tried to move it's legs in escape. Aleron's concentration was at it's fullest and he lowered the paralyzed creature to the ground, still holding his grip.
"Shoot at it!" He shouted. As all his power went to holding the beast still, a trail of blood began to drop from his nose. He began to feel dizzy. The deer's legs began to move as his grip loosened.
"Quickly! Shoot at it!"

(OOC: JackieCat, you sort of have the go to decide what happens. Since I don't know if Kilarhas will kill it or is too honorable to kill it at such an unfair disadvantage, you can sort of decide if Kilarhas shoots it or the deer escapes from Aleron's grasp.)

Kilarhas followed Aleron through the forest, keeping up easily with the other man.  When Aleron cornered and paralyzed the deer and told Kilarhas to shoot, the elf shook his head.

"I cannot," he said, watching the deer as it struggled.  Kilarhas stood there as Aleron strained, and then the deer broke free.  It darted away into the woods as fast as it's legs could carry it.

"I'm sorry you want to all that trouble and then I did not shoot," Kilarhas said. "But I do not think it would have been right to shoot her while she had no means of defense.  I know you were trying to help, but it is against what I believe to be right."

Aleron nodded, wiping the blood trail from his lip and closing his eyes. He'd grown nauseas from  the exertion.
"Alright," he began. "Well, I guess you can go after it or something. I think I'm just going to collect some water and sticks for a fire."

Kilarhas kind of felt bad for Aleron, but he nodded when the other man said he was going to gather water and fuel.

The elf turned and walked away from the other man.

After hunting for another twenty minutes he came across another deer and shot it.  He brought it back to camp where Lorin was heating some water on the fire and Keyne was still meditating.

When the dragon smelled the meat her eyes flew open and she got to her feet, stretching, and walked over to Kilarhas.  She nosed the deer that was over his shoulders and the elf laughed.

"This isn't for you, and you know it.  If you were to eat even two bites half the deer would be gone!" Keyne growled playfully and Kilarhas laughed, pushing her snout away. "Ge get your own food!"

Keyne purred and then took flight, flying away over the trees to hunt for herself.

Kilarhas went over to the edge of the clearing, downwind of everyone, and dumped the deer on the ground.  He pulled out his hunting knife and started to prepare the deer.

AS he did this, Lorin sat back from the fire, the water now over the flames and boiling.  Of course, if it came to it, they would have to drink water straight from a stream, but if they had a fire, they might as well use it to boil the water to kill any germs.

Kinn sat on a log, his head in his hands.  What had he gotten himself into?  Why had he ever acepted the offer from Sinad?  He should have declined. . . 

"Alright," Aleron said as he dropped onto a mossy log opposite from Kinn. He'd found a rather large leaf that had been growing near the spring. It could've, and had, held more water, but in his journey back to the camp most of it spilled out. But luckily, it seemed Lorin had been more successful than him.
A few white birds with bright, emerald crests whistled above and darted through the air. The forest they were in seemed oddly tropical, since the rest of the foliage they had noticed was more atoned to the chilly climate. It was strange, but Aleron was not going to complain. The calm and warmth of this alien place was comforting.
The smell of cooking flesh was building quite an appetite in the young man, and he realized it had been ages since he last ate.

Kilarhas had set the meat to cook over the fire and he sat down next to Lorin, who was taking the water from the fire to let it cool enough so they could drink it.
There was a gust of wind and the leaves on the trees started to blow, Keyne appeared a moment later and landed in the clearing.  A large boar in her claws.

"Eat it downwind," Kilarhas told her. "And possibly out of sight, if anyone will be sickened by seeing you stuff your face into a corpse."

"I'm fine," Lorin said. "I've never really lived int the woods and skinned animals, but I've seen my share of blood and gore."

Kinn didn't really say anything, so Keyne decided she'd better eat it somewhere else, she didn't want the mage to puke.

Soon the meat was ready to eat and Kilarhas took it from the fire. He looked over to where Gen was sitting. "Do you want to eat?" He asked the aeromancer.

"I suppose I should," Gen replied.

Gen took some meat for himself and started eating.

Kilarhas passed some meat out to the others and took a piece for himself.  He sat back on the log and Lorin passed around their water skins, which were now full of clean, cool water.

Keyne flew into the clearing a moment later, licking the last traces of wild boar from her maw and landing next to the fire and sitting down.

"So," Kilarhas said,"now that we've all got our food and I hope we're all sitting comfortably, what's the plan?  As in once we get to this Sinnith Gage guy, what are we going to do?"

"I challenge him in single combat for the restoration of my honor," Gen replied. "Whether or not it will be to the death will be for him to decide."

"That's. . . Kind of strange," Kilarhas said.  "I mean, wouldn't you ask him first why he wanted you dead in the first place?  What if it was just a misunderstanding?  Or he was looking for another Gen?"

Lorin nodded. "I would try to talk to him first, I hate physical battles," she smiled. "But verbal ones are fine."

"He knew my name and fled before me," Gen replied. "There was no misunderstanding. I will not settle for less."

"So you're just going to fight him?" Lorin asked, frowning. "I mean, what if there had been miscommunication between Kinn and then Kilarhas?  I would try to talk with him at least a little bit."

(OOC: Hey guys, I guess I'll just let you know that when I don't respond for a while it's because I have no idea what to say. But it's not like I don't want to continue; we're only at the beginning of out story! So yeah. I'd love to continue but if I don't respond it's because I'm clueless what to say.)

Aleron chewed his food as he listened, nodding his head as he didn't know what to say. An awkward silence had fallen over the group and nobody said a word for quite a while.
"Well," he announced, a tad exasperated. "That was delicious." He went to the water bucket and took a ladle-full of the liquid. It tasted sweet, as if it had been mixed with sugar. He smiled slightly, then returned to a blank expression. A few birds cooed overhead. The sun had sunk past the trees and now the sky was blazing pink, with long fingers shadows reaching out behind the clouds, as if beckoning the night.
Suddenly, a strange noise Aleron had never heard shot from the forest. He jumped, spilling his ladle.
"What was that?" He asked frantically. It came again, louder. He stared into the forest, terrified yet intrigued.
The bushes rattled and a small animal leapt from the foliage. It had matter brown hair and a wrinkled, hairless face. Hands were at the end of both it's front and back legs, and a long tail rose in the air beside it. It didn't attack, but Aleron didn't let down his guard.
It swaggered over to the camp, hooting and chittering playfully as it went. It had a small nose, and almost seemed like a child. Little button ears were at the side of it's head and Aleron realized it was actually a bit cute.
But what Le'ranna in was it?

"It looks like a young monkey," Gen observed. "Perhaps it's hungry."

(OOC: Oh on a side note, does anybody have Elder Scrolls Online for the xbox? Just wondering lol because it's my mission to find somebody who does. And Also the little critter is a friendly creature we are related to and is commonly found in tropics. 😏 But what's it doing in Tirial? Y'all can decide what's going on or if not then I can. I guess it's just something to give us mystery and excitement so long periods of time don't go by where we ignore this—I'm speaking to you, cough cough Aleron cough cough.)

"A monkey? What's that?" Aleron asked. He looked at it suspiciously, then cautiously lowered himself to the ground. He held out a hand to it.

(OOC: The monkey isn't really my character, so you guys can control it too. I even give you permission to have it attack me or anything haha)

"That's that," Gen replied pointing at the monkey. "Give it some fruit or something. Perhaps you can befriend it."

"Hmm," Aleron murmured outloud. His hands scrambled about the area until he found a piece of apple that had fallen to the ground. He picked it up and held it over to the monkey. The little thing chittered and wobbled over to the young mans extended hand. It looked at the fruit, then at Aleron. In a second the monkey's tiny hands grasped the fruit and it leapt about four feet away. Aleron laughed out loud, for the first time in the past days.
The monkey finished the fruit and approached Aleron again. He looked around for some fruit, but couldn't find any. The monkey thoughtlessly turned away and wandered over to Keyne.

The large dragon's eyes widened as the little creature walked over to her.  She sat up and slowly extended her long neck out to the monkey.  It sniffed at her nose, and then they touched noses.  The money leaped back in surprise, but after a moment stepped closer again.

Hello, little friend, Keyne sent to the monkey.  The creature looked surprised as it received the message.

"Can it respond to Keyne's message?" Kinn asked Kilarhas.

Kilarhas's eyes widened. "You can hear her messages even when she doesn't want you to?  She sent that message only to the monkey.  I picked it up, as we are connected, but no one else should be able to hear it."

Kinn shrugged. "It could be because of the magic inside of me-!"

He was cut off as the monkey screeched playfully and leaped forward, latching onto Keynes large snout.  The dragon reared up in surprise, but then she smiled, as much as a dragon could smile.

"It looks like Keyne has made a new friend," Gen said with a chuckle.

Kilarhas laughed. "It seems so, I wonder where the monkey came from, I didn't think any lived around here. . ."

He trailed off as another three monkey walked from the brush.  The elf frowned. "That's strange, how many are there around here?"

Four more monkey's leaped down from the trees around them.  Kilarhas stood warily, this was very strange. . .

"I'm sure it's fine, Kilarhas," Lorin said. "Maybe a circus or something went by and they got out?"

"Possibly," Kilarhas said, but the expression on his face told her he wasn't convinced.

Keyne, who had been playing with the first monkey, suddenly looked up.  She stood and sniffed the air. "What is it?" Kilarhas asked, but the dragon slowly shook her head, still sniffing.  Then she sent a message to everyone in their group.

It, it's magic.

The monkeys' hoots turned into screams and howls so suddenly it startled Aleron, and the glee he was experiencing quickly morphed back into fear. The creatures started jumping about the camp, grabbing bags and shaking them viciously while screaming like...like humans. Whatever a monkey was, Aleron knew it had to be evil. But then he heard a message in his mind: "It, it's magic". He looked at Keyne, the only person—well, being—that could speak through thoughts. She was sniffing the air. He stood up, grabbing his dagger from his belt in one hand and gathering his magic in another. The monkeys were tearing up the camp, and he quickly darted back and forth yelling at them and trying to scare them away. He shot some off with magic but others quickly resumed what they were doing.
And then suddenly they fell still, like statues. Eyes wide, they all looked to the south. Aleron followed their gaze and saw what looked like big, scarlet silk ribbons floating through the air. As bizarre as the sight was (he frowned in confusion), it was quite ominous; the calm, foreboding manner in which they slowly slid through the air was off putting.
A great blackness sept into the camp and the air became cold, just as cold as it was high in the sky. A lump formed in Aleron's stomach and he could tell this would not end well....

Kilarhas immediately started to whisper a spell the moment the monkeys went crazy.  He was about to set his magic when the monkeys froze, and turned to look at the strange scarlet ribbons.  He didn't know what it was, but he knew it couldn't be good.

"It's fine, right," Kilarhas muttered to Lorin, who by now was on her feet, her daggers up and ready.

"Sorry!" the other elf hissed, and then the a blackness spread through the camp.  Kinn, too, was on his feet, and as the darkness came he said a word, and a sphere of light appeared around him, shielding him from the cold and dark.  Kilarhas knew the darkness to be a very strong magic, he was not powerful enough to perform a light spell as strong as Kinn had.  Kilarhas tried to start casting a spell, but he could not move, he was frozen from the neck down.  He looked over at Lorin, who was, too, frozen.  Keyne was fighting the magic, and well, she was a powerful dragon, and though she was moving sluggishly, she was at least still moving.

"Is this you?" Kilarhas spat at Kinn. "Are you doing this?  You're the only one who seems to be in control."

"I have nothing to do with this!" Kinn said. "But I do know that the ribbons are a K'la'teth, an evil being with very powerful magic!"

"Then how can your light spell deflect it?  If you really are that powerful why haven't you escaped from us?" Kilarhas asked, his tone accusative.

"I specialize in light spells!" Kinn cried, and Kilarhas and Lorin could see he was straining to keep his light sphere up.

"Then leave, why don't you?" Lorin said, and her face was now twisted in pain, as the freezing spell felt like lit was crushing her. "You aren't here by choice, we captured you!  Go!"

"I can't!" Kinn said, fear in his violet eyes. "Not while you still are here!"

Despite all the chaos, Gen had never stopped meditating. He simply sat, without moving, as everything unfolded around him. The others began to talk about not being able to move and a great evil heading their way. Perhaps he should do something about it. Despite everyone else being unable to move, Gen stood up just fine.

"I sense great evil," he said simply. "And since Kinn is the only other person who can still move, he is going to help me drive it away."

"Figured that out, did you?" Lorin said, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Me?  Help you?" Kinn said, and he was struggling to keep control of his light. "How?  What can we do-?" He stopped talking and frowned. "Wait, it's dark, I do light magic-umph!"

With great effort Kinn threw a arrow of light from his hands and into the K'la'teth.  The this screeched in an unearthly way and the ribbons started flailing madly, but the it calmed.  Kinn's light had hurt it, but it was still powerful and holding the darkness.

Keyne roared in frustration and leaped forward, breaking from the spell and up towards the K'la'teth.  SHe snagged at it with her claws, and pulled herself onto it, her wings hung at her sides, still frozen.  She screeched in pain as the freezing darkness burned her, and her scales started to steam.

"Keyne!" Kilarhas said, and his face twisted with more pain as he felt what Keyne was feeling. "It's to powerful! You'll die!"

Keyne roared and blew crystal shards at the K'la'teth.  They pierced the thing, but it still held the darkness.  Keyne's scales were starting to blacken, but the dragon kept scratching and fighting the thing, and then Kilarhas realized that it was a distraction.  Kene knew she probably couldn't kill the K'la'teth, but if she could hold it's attention long enough, Gen or Kinn may be able to finish it off.

Aleron yelled in pain as a great force pushed him go the ground. He fought it with all the magical force he could muster but it was no use. Frozen like a statue, he was held against the wet earth, and with a great feeling a dread he realized to was going to push him into the soft ground. He screamed in frustration, but wen he did not move he gave up.
As soon as he stopped fighting, the pressure lessened. He was still being held to the earth—his feet were now inside the cool, moist ground, but he had figured he had time. He stopped resisting. As the time ticked, the invisible force began to die down. Then, with a great yell, he shot two bursts of the most potent radiation he could muster; one at the k'la'teth and one at Kinn.
The radiation was only harmful towards evil magic, but it was beneficial to good magic. Aleron was unable to see the effects it had on Kinn, for he had to look at the evil being, but he hoped to would feed power to the young Mage. Aleron, however doubtful, knew Kinn was their only hope. He trusted him.
Now he looked at the k'la'teth. As the energy hit it it screamed out in a bloodcurdling fashion. Suddenly, the sound of thunder echoed through the forest (OOC: Think of it apparating Harry Potter style) and the ribbons went together into a great mess. They swarmed together until a being of orange energy formed inbetween. It's eyes glowed brighter than the stars above and it was freakishly disproportionate. It screamed furiously as three ribbons bolted through the air at Aleron. As the reached him they wrapped around him viciously, not even leaving him time to gasp. The squeezed on his body so hard the air wheezed out of his lungs.
Then the k'la'teth turned it's attention to Kinn.

Kinn gasped as the radiation hit him, filling him with new energy, he felt the power rushing through his blood.

With a uncontrollable yell he shot another arrow of light at the now firey orange being, but this time the arrow was twice as large, twice as powerful, and it was headed straight for the K'la'teth.  It hit it with a resounding crack, like lightning, and the K'la'teth writhed in pain.  Some of the ribbon floated, scorched, to the ground, and kinn summoned up another burst of power.

Keyne had dropped from the K'la'teth a moment before Kinn had fired his arrow, and she had hit the ground hard.  Sh lay there, her scales blackened and smoking.  She was breathing, but it was shallow and her eyes were closed.  Near her flank there was a gouge mark, and her silver blood was oozing from it.

"Keyne!" Kilarhas screamed, he could feel the life starting to leave her, and tears were running down his face.  The K'la'teth, injured as it was, had unintentionally loosened it's magical hold, and Kilarhas was able to break away and run to Keyne.

He dropped to his knees next to the dragon and lifted her large head onto his lap.  He pressed his cheek to hers, and started to chant.

Aleron gasped as the ribbons pulled away. He fell to the ground breathing heavily. It took some effort but he got his feet out of the ground. Looking around, he saw Keyne on the ground and a worried Kilarhas near her side. Full of worry, he painfully wobbled over to the wounded dragon. He felt utterly useless, since he knew no healing spells, so he watched. He's known the dragon for only three days but already it seemed like part of his family. She was his family, pretty much. They all were; even Kinn. As he kneeled next to the dragon, he earnestly cared for her life.

(OOC: Want to post-volley?)

(OOC: Don't know if I can.  I'll try though!)

Kinn sent another powerful burst of light at the K'la'teth, and it once a gain writhed in apn, but it wasn't yet destroyed.

Kilarhas's chanting got louder, and, almost in a daze, he gently set Keyne's head on the ground and stood, raising his arms up, and continuing to chant.  Purple and silver flames appeared in Kilarhas's hands and started to lick down his arms, but they did not burn him.  The fire spread to Keyne., and then the two were completely consumed.  A tornado appeared over them, and the grass started into silver flames, but they did not burn, they only radiated a slight warmth.

Kilarhas's voice now boomed magically across the clearing, and then it all stopped.

The flames and tornado disappeared, and Kilarhas fell to the ground, unconscious.  Keyne lifted her head.  Her scales were once again silver and all wounds were gone.  She sat up and her eyes widened in fear as she saw Kilarhas.

Oh no! she said, lifting the elf and cradling him in her arms. He used the spell Incendia De Vita, a very powerful spell!  He was not strong enough to perform it!  Now he could die!

Aleron could tell something was wrong when Kilarhas fell to the ground. Knowing no useful spells for that, he decided do the only other thing there was to help.
Gathering whatever power he had left, seeping any energy from his body, his veins began to glow. As the web of arteries along his arms turned golden like the sun, he shot at the K'la'teth with great pulses of power. It screamed and writhed, but it did not die. Aleron was exhausted but the adrenaline flowing through him was stronger than any chance of him giving up. Draining himself, he continue throwing energy at the creature with great swings of his arms. It was the largest spell he had ever done, and even he was surprised he could do it.
The k'la'teth cried out, then slunk into the forest. Aleron bent over, hands on his knees, and gasped. But he knew there had to be more than that.

Kinn joined Aleron's attack with his own power, and then the K'la'teth turned and fled, the monkeys following. There was a moment of silence.

And then the K'la'teth reared back over the trees and swooped into the clearing.  It flew towards Kinn at a breakneck speed, and it hit his sphere of light with a resounding crash.  But the sphere did not break.

Kinn grit his teeth. "Aleron!" he called. "If we combine our forces we can destroy it!"

And Kinn sent a constant stream of light at the K'la'teth, it writhed and screeched, and Kinn knew that if Aleron joined him, the thing would die for sure.

Aleron stammered for a moment, but quickly knew what to do. Though he was weak, and his power reserve almost depleted, he brought any last bits or energy to the surface. Taking a deep breath, the golden light surged fr his body and hit the k'la'teth dead on. The being screamed one last time before it reared it's head up and exploded. Sizzling flecks of matter wafted down to the camp floor, but it was all over. The darkness was sucked into the sky and the starlight was restored. But it remainders cold, suggesting that the artificial warmth was gone as well.
Aleron fell go the ground and gasped for breath.

"Should.....we still......stay here to-.....-night?" He whimpered. "We.....can't really use......Keyne."

We will stay, Keyne sent. Lorin, Kinn, are you alright?

"I-I'm fine," Lorin said. "Just a little sore."

"I'm fine as well," Kinn said, sitting down heavily on a log. "Just-just very tired."  He took a bedroll and laid it out.  He layed down on it and was asleep within seconds.

"I'll take first watch," Lorin said, yawning, but Keyne shook her head and walked over to the fire pit, now void of any fire, carrying Kilarhas with her and laying him on another bedroll. No, I will take first watch, you all need rest, and I need to stay awake with Kilarhas.  You too, Aleron, got to sleep.

"Thank you, Keyne," Lorin said, laying down, and she two was asleep within minutes.  Keyne, though it wasn't her strongest breath weapon, blew a lick of fire into the pit, starting the logs up again and sending warmth flooding around them.
Then she curled up around Kilarhas and put her wing over herself and the elf, completely surrounding and shielding him.

Aleron blindly grabbed about for his bedroll, wrapped himself in it and lay on a thicket of moss. Unlike the others, he didn't all asleep immediately, although he was exhausted, the excitement was too strong. But after what could've been five minutes or an hour, he fell into the warm embrace of sleep next to the crackling fire.

Keyne lay, staring out onto the forest and thinking.  What if Kilarhas died?  He was literally part of her soul, and it would break into a million pieces if he did not make it.  Her heart would shatter, her soul would shatter, she would shatter.  He had known the spell was too powerful for him, but had he cared anything for himself?  No, it probably hadn't crossed his mind that it would matter if he died.

But then again, if he did die, it would have, in a way, been a selfish act, letting her, Keyne, life while he got to die, and she would be the one to live on.

The silver dragon shook the dark thoughts from her head and tried to think of pleasanter things, but nothing really came to mind.  She looked over at Gen.

Gen walked over to Kilarhas and knelt down next to him. He was quiet for a moment, and then spoke.

"He's still alive," he announced. "He his still breathing, but barely. His body just needs time to recover from the strain. If his breathing becomes too weak, I can use my abilities to supplement it."

Keyne bowed her head.  Thank you, Gen, she sent.  If you need rest, you should take it now, I will keep watch all night.  I can go without sleep for several weeks if I need to, and two nights ago I got a very good rest.  I will wake you if Kilarhas starts having trouble breathing.

Gen nodded and laid down. However, it was very difficult to tell if he was sleeping with his blindfold on. What the others didn't know, was that Gen could still "see" while sleeping. It took a long time for him to get used to, but he had a long time to practice. If anything was amiss, he would spot it. Even while asleep.

The next morning when Kinn awoke he turned his had to find himself face-to-face with Keyne.  HE yelped in surprise and scrambled backwards.  The dragon just blinked at him, and somehow he could see amusment in her face.

Sleep well? Keyne asked, and Kinn nodded. "I've never had a better sleep in my life, that was the most exhausting thing I've ever done, what transpired lat night. . ." He lay back down at his bedroll and looked up at the lightening sky. "I suppose that with everyone here we actually might have a chance of defeating Sinnith Gage, if it does come to a fight."

He looked around, Lorin was asleep, and Kilarhas was out of sight under Keyne's wing, but the young mage assumed the elf was asleep as well, considering the power of the spell he had cast the night before, and the effect such a spell would have on a body not strong enough to sustain it.

Aleron, who was under a shallow sleep, awoke from Kinn's yelp. Seeing there was no trouble, he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Morning," be mumbled. He stood, wobbled as the blood began to head to his head, and then stretched and yawned once more.

"Uhg, is it morning already?" Lorn sat up groggily. "So it is.  Either that or we all died in that fight last night and I'm dead.  But I doubt it."  She flopped back down and ran her green fingers through her now-messy long black hair.  "Ah well, you can't have everything in life, or death."  she chuckled and turned on her side to look at Aleron. "So, how'd you sleep?  I slept like a log, or was it a rock?  I don't know."  She smiled.

Aleron chuckled. "I slept like a Lorin." He said, giggling. He looked down and cringed at the horridity of his joke. If anything had died recently, it was his ability at small talk.
Before it got awkward, he said, "So what was that thing? Have you ever seen one before?"

Lorin raised her eyebrows at Aleron's joke, but she smiled. "That was bad," she laughed, but not in a mean way.  To the question about the K'la'teth she shook her head. "Never."

"I have," Kinn said.  "It was a long time ago, and it wasn't trying to kill me then.  It's a demon, and it came from it's realm to talk to me.  It wanted me to become it's tie to this world, I refused and it left, probably to find someone else who would be willing to be it's host.  I'm assuming the one we came across had a host somewhere too, and since being a host to a demon of the K'la'teth's kind, the death of the K'la'teth would have killed the host wizard or mage as well.  K'la'teth need to have a host in this world in order to stay here for long periods of time."

"Wait a minute," Aleron said. "If the k'la'teths die when their hosts do and the hosts die when they do, what if we used that to our advantage? I mean, I'm not an expert but I wouldn't think that a demon would go around looking for random strangers. Maybe you're special or something and they are drawn to you. What if we found a way to manipulate one into connecting with that one guy we're after—I forgot his name—and then use that to kill him. It's wacky, I know, and there's lots of holes and problems but could it work?"

Kinn raised his eyebrows and then got up.  As he talked he pulled on his boots. "That would work, in theory, but how will we find another K'la'teth?  I mean, they're not exactly plentiful."

Perhaps we do not need a K'la'teth, Keyne sent. Perhaps we only need a demon of a similar kind.

"That could work," Lorin said. "But still, where are we going to find a demon?" Keyne shook her head, she didn't know. "How's Kilarhas?" Lorin asked and Keyne lifted her wing slightly to reveal the other elf.

He is sleeping naturally now, the dragon sent. His breathing is normal, I think he will be fine and completely recovered soon.

Aleron perched himself on a overturned log and watched silently. Already four days in and they almost suffered a casualty? This was more seriously than he'd expected.
As he sat on the log a nagging feeling of uselessness bugged his brain. Kilarhas could've died, and he had nothing to do to help out. He'd killed the demon with Kinn, but he could feel the life draining out of him as he'd run out of magicka and continued using high power spells. He silently made a vow to learn more, to become more useful. Not a thorn in the neck. The more times he remembered being a pain, the more his resolve strengthened. Of course, in the back of his mind he wasn't sure if he had annoyed his traveling mates, but he didn't listen. And perhaps that was good; it did, in fact, give him an incentive to become a master.
"Kinn," he piped up shyly. Asking for things was always hard for him, especially when he did not know the person all the way. And he remembered painfully well and full of disgust when he had intended to torture the young Mage less than a week before. Hopefully his attempts at friendship would not fall on hurt ears. "Do you think you could show me some spells, or teach me how to make my reserve magic bigger?"

By this time Kinn had almost forgotten that he even had been captured by these people, and when Aleron asked him if he could teach him, Kinn's frown was a thoughtful one.

"I-I don't know," the mage said, thinking. "I've never taught anyone, I don't really know if I know how.  I taught myself my magic, and much of it comes naturally, like it's in me, but if I think on it for a while I think I could try."

Aleron nodded, understanding. "That's okay," he said in that strange way when you aren't hurt, but you don't want others to think you are and so you try to emphasize that you aren't but everyone begins to think that you really are. It was a problem if his.
He looked over at Keyne and Kilarhas. "When'll he feel better? Like, is he hurt or will he be back to normal?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't try to teach you," Kinn said, starting to roll up his bedroll. "It's just that I'll have to think about how to go about it before I begin."

At Aleron's question Keyne cocked her head, thinking. I think now he is lust extremely exhausted. she sent. But he should be fine within the day, but he will sleep it through.

"Well," Lorin said, stretching and rolling up her bedroll as well. "Since it sounds like we're going to be here for the day, I'm going to get some water.  I have no idea how to hunt, does anyone else know?  Besides Kilarhas, who's asleep, and Keyne, who probably wants to say with him?"

"I don't really know how to hunt," Kinn said. "But I'm sure I'd be able to catch something with magic, in a few hours. . ."

I will hunt if no one else can, Keyne sent, but the feeling's the other got were tinged with reluctance, she did really want to stay with Kilarhas.

"I can hunt," Aleron said to Keyne. "You should stay with Kilarhas. It might take a little while but I'm sure we can catch something."

Thank you so much, Kilarhas and my connection to each other is so strong that in his state I don't know if I could leave him, even for a short time.

"No problem," Lorin said, standing up and looking over at Kinn and Aleron. "Okay, let's try to catch some food!  Note:  The key word is 'try' here, people!"

(OOC: so, will we catch anything or will we return empty handed?)

(OOC: Doesn't matter to me, whatever happens)

Lorin started into the forest, Kinn following. "So," Lorin said. "Anyone have any idea how to hunt?"

Kinn shook his head. "Not a clue."

"Well, I can be pretty quiet, so if I sat in a tree and waited, something would come along eventually.  I'm a crack shot with my daggers too, I'd probably be able to hit it in a vital point, the neck probably, depending on the size.  I'll do that, you continue on."

So Lorin promptly climbed a tree and Kinn walked on, careful to remember which direction the camp was in.  Soo he was out of Lorin's sight.

"Do you know how to hunt at all?" Kinn asked Aleron.

"Well, I hunted just yesterday with Kilarhas, before all that jazz with the demon." He shuddered as he remembered the night prior. "I can hold the deer still for you to kill it, and maybe I could kill it on the spot but other than that I haven't really. I've killed a wolf, if that helps."
He chuckled a little and ducked under a low lying branch. The air was chilly, and the forest had lost it's glow of warmth. He heard some rustling up ahead.
"Hey hey hey hey hey!" He whispered, crouching and putting his hand in front of Kinn. "I think there's something ahead."

Kinn crouched down behind some long grass and looked at where Aleron was pointing.  Indeed, there was something there.  It was a huge buck with a pure white coat, almost silver.  At first Kinn assumed it to be an albino deer, but then he realized it was not.  If was albino, the insides of it's ears and the tip of it's nose would be accentuated pink, this deer was accentuated in silver.  He was also much too big to be a normal buck, and his antlers were muck larger and they were silver, as well as his eyes.  He was grazing, his large, soft, eyes alert and his ears twitching, listening for any sound of danger, but all in all, the deer was considerably relaxed.

"We can't hurt him," Kinn said, putting a staying hand on Aleron's arm.



(OOC: Sorry I haven't posted for so long!)

(OOC: No worries!)

"What is it?" Aleron whispered, mesmerized. Whatever this beast was, it was more than a deer. It was so graceful, and majestic. It stood elegantly in the waving grass, light sparkling across it's silver antlers and white coat. It's eyes looked about peacefully, observing the forest.
It made eye contact with Aleron and he froze. The docile creature stared deep into him, and he felt exposed, as if it was reading him. He did not move and was stuck in an awed trance, keeping the intense link between them alive. Whatever this creature was, Aleron felt it was a force of magic. Whether that was light or dark was a mystery.

"It is a Anima de Silvestre," Kinn whispered.  "A Spirit of the Wood, and a very powerful one at that."

As the creature made eye contact with Aleron it started to walk forward slowly, coming nearer and nearer to where the  two were crouching.  Kinn didn't move, and he motioned for Aleron to stay still as well.  The deer was not even two feet away from them when it stopped.  It was huge, and beautiful.  It looked from Aleron's eyes into Kinn's, and the mage jolted as if electrified when they made eye contact.  He fell backwards and then deer dipped its head to Aleron, and then dipped its head to Kinn.  Then it looked over to the other side of the clearing.  Kinn followed the deer's gaze to a doe standing away from them.  It was a normal deer, and it wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small.  It hadn't noticed them, and it was grazing peacefully.

The buck looked back to Kinn and Aleron and then it started to disappear.  It started to disperse into silver mist that was blown away by the breeze.

"That deer over there?" Kinn said, looking at the doe. "We can hunt her."

"Alright," Aleron whispered. He quietly snuck through the talk grass until he was about ten feet away from the deer. "Can you shoot it?" He asked. "If you can't, I'm sure I could manage to get it."

Kinn followed the other mage until they were very close to the deer.

"I can get it," he whispered, and summoned a ball of magical energy in his hands.  The doe looked up as she heard the crackle of magic, but it was too late.  Kinn fired the energy and it hit the doe right in the chest, she fell without a sound.

"Great!" Kinn said, walking out into the clearing to the deer.  He stood over it. "Now we have to lug it back to camp, I guess I could do a levitating spell, but with all the trees and underbrush and stuff. . ."

He looked up ate Aleron hopefully. "You're stronger and fitter than me, you can carry it?"

"Hey, you guys got anything?"

Kinn looked over to see Lorin walking towards them, the elf woman carrying a large buck over her shoulder. "This thing is heavy," she said. "Let's get back to camp."

"What are we going to do with two deer?" Kinn asked, and Lorin rolled her green eyes.

"We're going to give this one to Keyne, she needs to eat too, you know."

"But she said she could go on without food for days, ah well, I'm sure she'll appreciate it," the mage looked back to Aleron. "Can you carry this one?"

"Yeah," Aleron beamed. "I could give some levitation a try. But if it doesn't work, I'll try to lift it."
He turned and crouched by te deer, placing his hands on it's furry side. Concentrating, he began to fill it with energy that he could lift. The grass around him bgegan to tingle, swirling more as he began to lift. The deer lifted into the air about a foot, the bushes and grass rustling wildly. The grass began to rip from the ground, hovering in the air. Aleron let go of the deer and it dropped to the ground with a thud.
"I think I'll just carry it," he said. He lugged the dead beast over shoulder, wobbled for his balance, then headed off to camp.

When they got to the camp not much later, Keyne was happy to see the buck, and she ate it fairly quickly.  The doe was another matter.

"Does anyone know how to skin this thing?" Lorin asked, her hands on her hips. "I mean, seriously, was Kilarhas the only one who knew how to do any survival stuff?"

Kinn shrugged. "I'm a mage, not a ranger!"

"I might be able to get it done," Lorin said. "But not efficiently, I bet a lot of meat would be wasted.  Aleron, do you know how to skin a deer?"

He shrugged. "Not a clue."
He stared at the dead animal, arms folding across his chest, and pondered. It couldn't be any harder than sheering a sheep; it'd just mean sheering the skin off, too. But like Lorin said, he might waste a lot of meat.
"Could Keyne do it? I mean, she has sharp claws that could maybe get it off." But of course, there was a chance meat would be lost during that process as well.

The dragon nodded. I would be able to, just bring it over here so I do not have to disturb Kilarhas.

Lorin dragged the deer over to the dragon, who, using her razor sharp claws, easily slit the deer open and started to gut it.  Within minutes it was done, and Lorin doubted a scrap of meat had been lost.  The dragon ate the remains that human or elf would not like to generally eat, and then Lorin put the meat on a spit over the fire.

Aleron sat on a stone, not sure what to do. He watched Lorin cook the deer, it's meat simmering oh-so-deliciously. He thought of Kilarhas, who was injured. He didn't seem to be doing good, or at least that was what Aleron perceived.
He wished he knew how to make potions, and how to choose ingredients and mix them to make different concoctions. There had been a shop in Edersden that sold potions. Oh, if only he had bought a healing one! That could've helped out so well now.
But there were none, and he knew nothing about alchemy. They needed a way to find some, though, h thought. Maybe there was a village somewhere nearby? But how would they know?
Suddenly, he remembered the anime de silvestre. It had shown them the deer that they would've never seen otherwise; maybe it could show them the way to a village, or at least a plant that could heal Kilarhas!
He shot forward from his stone suddenly, eyes wide and face beaming.
"What if we found some sort of leaf or potion that could heal Kilarhas? I mean, like how the anime de silvestre pointed us to the deer. What if we could somehow summon it again and it could show us the way to a plant, or, or a village!"

The others looked up at Aleron's suggestion.  "We may not be able to summon it again," Kinn said, now having almost completely forgotten that these people had actually captured him.  "Spirits of the Earth are the most free-spirited and wild of all spirits, the Anime de Silvestre may not like being asked to be summoned."

If it will help Kilarhas, you will try.. Keyne sent firmly, and Kinn nodded.

"It is a very powerful being, and will only come if it wants to, I cannot force it here."

Then Kinn stood and walked over to the edge of the clearing.  Where he started to make a perfect circle on the ground with sticks and acorns and leaves and other natural materials he took from the ground.  Then, using the same materials, Kinn made designs around inside the circle.  Then he knelt down in the middle of the circle and started to quietly mutter under his breath.

Aleron watched, biting his lip. He hoped it would work; he was growing tired of the forest and missed the villages; he couldn't remember the last time he was in one. It couldn't have been that long, but still it felt like ages. And, well, at the very least, Kilarhas needed medicine, and anything that could help would be greatly appreciated.
He watched Kinn give the incantations, and began to wonder how they had met. In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember how he met any of them.
He slightly remembered Lorin robbing him of his coins, of the old, blind air wielder named Gen who sard his money. But how had they joined together, traveling as a single party across the land?
Well, and why were they even traveling? Here was Kinn Dice,  mousy young Mage, yet where did he come from?
And it was then that Aleron, shaken to the core and mouth agape in dread, realized he couldn't even remember where he came from. This was wrong. How had he forgotten it all, with just hazy images of the clouds as they soared upon Keyne and the rich manor he had snuck through?
He looked about him, suddenly the pulsing murmur of Kinn fading into the distance. The world became an overwhelming roar of bird calls and rustling leaves and the breeze. A black crow cawed, and fluttered down like the Reaper himself approaching to his victim, giving him the grim message that death was waiting. It landed on his bag, cocked it's head to the side, and stared at him with a Brady black eye. He could swear he saw the glimmer of a smile grotesquely spread along its charcoal beak.

It was the forest.

This enchanted forest, of which had just been tropical and now as the touch of death; the woods of wandering demons and sicknesses that fall upon its travelers, and roaming Spirits of the Earth.
Somehow,  primal instinct over took him, telling him that they had to leave the forest, for whatever fate awaited them inside the towering trees and shuddering leaves was not good.
"We need to leave the forest," he whispered, then repeating it louder. He looked to Lorin, the thief-turned-friend. "This is an evil place. I think the sickness of spreading, not in the same way, but spreading nonetheless; I can't remember anything."

Lorin noticed immediately the change in Aleron.  She got to her feet, watching him, Keyne looked up when she saw Lorin rise, but Kinn was too deep in his spell-casting to notice.

"Aleron," Lorin said, stepping towards him.  Then a crow landed on his back, and Lorin took another step forward. "Aleron!"

Keyne stood, but then Aleron spoke.  Lorin nodded. "I agree," she said, not asking about him forgetting everything, now they needed to get out of this forest.  She turned to Kinn, to tel him that they had to go, but the mage was standing, and standing in front of him was the Anime de Silvestre, and it was not alone.

With it stood a whole herd of the spectral deer, all large, nearly as big as a horse, and all looking serenely at the companions.

Kinn turned to Lorin and opened his mouth to speak, but then the wind started to blow faster, and faster, and dark shadows started to appear, twisting around the trees and the companions.  Lorin drew her daggers, but before she could act, the deer charged forward, scattering the shadow demons and making a circle around the companions, protecting them from the darkness that had descended over the forest.

"We need to go!" Lorin shouted over the rushing wind, and Kinn nodded.  Keyne stood, positioning Kilarhas onto her back, and one of the spectral does walked up to Lorin and stood next to her, another went over to Aloron and nudged his shoulder.

"They want you to get on!" Kinn shouted, climbing onto the back of one of the other deer.  Lorin nodded, and climbed onto the magnificent creature.  It felt strange under her, not like a solid animal, but not completely ghostly either.

The howling wind rushed through his hair. Lorin shouted, almost incomprehensible. He quickly took to the magical being, climbing onto its back and clutching onto what he could. The shadows, stretched grotesquely across the trees and brush, swirled around the circle of anime del silvestres, howling eerily as they tried to penetrate the wall and harvest their prey.
Aleron looked around, barely able to keep his eyes open as the gusts of wind increased in strength. Trees groaned and leaves exploded from the branches, filling the world with chaos.

As soon as they were all mounted, the deer took off, Keyne following close behind.  The dragon flew after them above the trees, even in the darkness the dragon could see the bright shapes of the deer through the trees.  The sky was dark now as well, covered in black swirling clouds.  They ran on and on, and Lorin looked behind them to see the shadows still in pursuit.  Some leaped up to try and grasp Keyne, but she flew higher, always evading their touch.

Then Lorin saw a light ahead, the edge of the forest.  She looked behind them again, the shadows were getting closer and closer, they had to hurry!

The wind rushed faster, and the demons screamed louder. As they dashed through the first upon their silver deer, the figure of Keyne above, Aleron pleaded silently that they would escape.
He looked forward, eyes struggling to remain open in the gushing wind, but he could see a gap in the foliage up ahead. It was the edge of the forest!
He was filled with new hope. Whether or not the demons stayed within he trees, he wasn't sure, but he could only hope that their exit meant safety.
Suddenly, there was a great groaning sound, and as he watched, his heart sank. Three trees all fell in front of them, blocking the opening to the openness. Shadows covered the fallen timber, swirling about furiously like ants. The dark figures around them now also picked up on the manic dance, clouding around them. Aleron could feel them grabbing at his hair, tugging until they were expelled by the weakening magic of the anime de silvestres.
There was no chance of survival in changing directions; the trees around them were thick and dense, leaving them in a tunnel of impenetrable walls. They couldn't go backwards, for that would be going back into the forest of evil.
There was no where to go other than forward.

Keyne's eyes narrowed in anger as the trees fell, blocking their way.  These shadow monsters would not keep Kilarhas from help, not if Keyne could help.  Making sure Kilarhas was still secure on her back, she dove forward, roaring in rage as she blew her icy breath onto the shadow creatures.  They were not injured, but they were distracted enough for Keyne to rip aside the fallen trees, opening the path towards the edge of the forest.

The spectral deer ran forward again.  The shadows were still following them, but the companions now at lease had a chance.

They were almost to the edge. . . and then they were out.  The shadows disappeared, and the sky was clear and bright.

Lorin sighed in relief, and they slid off of the Anime de Silvestre.  As soon as she and Kinn were off, the spectral deer turned and bounded away into the forest again.

"They've got the forest to protect, not just us," Lorin said, smiling faintly.  Then she turned to Aleron. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said, panting. "Pretty sure."
The sun above them glowed behind some clouds, casting a faint orange glow in the crevices up in the overcast sky. Ahead of them lay an endless, hilly grassland, dotted with great builders and patches of dirt.
Other than the great wall of looming oak trees behind them, going on for miles on either side, there were no trees anywhere, give or take the occasional shrub. A few butterflies floated through the air around a cluster of tall grass, their splash of color almost luminous in the ocean of dirt beige and algae green before them.
But there were no villages nearby to be seen.
Aleron looked around, then back to Lorin.
"Well," he said, his arms held close to his sides, "I guess we'll have to find a village for ourselves."

"Are you sure?" Lorin asked. "You said something about forgetting. . ."

"Did you forget everything?" Kinn asked. "Or what?  What happened?"

Keyne listened as the others spoke, but she gently slid Kilarhas off of her back and sniffed him.  He was still alive, though he had been jostled from the ride.  But he needed help soon.

Climb on my back, the dragon sent. you can talk on the way, but now, Kilarhas needs help.

Lorin nodded and she and Kinn climbed onto the dragons back after getting Kilarhas back on. "Come on, Aleron," Lorin said. "I still want to know about your memory."