The Demon's Book

[Laraine]

To say that Laraine Lockner Risk was a little tired was a understatement.

Four days....

Four LONG.... sleep deprived, demon dodging and at the same time killer hunting DAYS she had been awake without any sleep.

For normal humans that would boarder on the dangerous to ones health. To Raine however, she was only mildly depressed and annoyed. But as usual, she wore a rather calm and happy expression. After all, her nerves were ready for anything heading her way. Although she was scrambling to find the killer so that she could get the reward and finally eat and sleep somewhere. But at last she tracked the bastard down in this town of Ketra. It was a new sight to her, she had never been this far away before and felt uneasy in a new environment. Biting her lip, she grabbed at the hood of her cloak, pulling the hood more over her hair.

Where she came from, most humans would run at the sight of her hair. A demon they would call her. Although her mother often called her hair beautiful as a child. The color of a blush rose. She should have dyed it, or cut it off. But for some reason she couldn't part with that hair. Even if she hated it. It was still something her mother loved.

Even if it symbolized the demon blood pumping into her veins.

Sighing, she glanced at the people walking past her, no one seemed to give her a second look and for that she was grateful. It seemed that the Risk demon clan had no power here. She might have a chance after all.

But she knew better than to feel completely relaxed.

As she continued to ponder her plans she walked right as someone opened a door to a nearby shop. Slamming her whole body against the wood and glass with enough force to make a rather loud bang.

Ow.

Right on cue she crumpled to the ground and let out a loud "OW!" a few tears trickled from her eyes and she rubbed her face in hopes to stop the red mark from forming. But it was all in vain.

Sure enough a few minutes later she was walking with puffed cheeks, a little annoyed that her kluztiness showed its ugly head. A bright red angry mark across her face in a diamond pattern from the glass and metal pattern on the window of the door.

It was a common thing with her to be this clumsy. Tripping over nothing, knocking into a large display of oranges and watching them knock into a pile of apples and watch the domino effect spiral from there.....she was becoming accustomed to causing chaos wherever she went.

Still the more painful ones were annoying at best. Because of that detour now she had lost track of her subject she had been following. Huffing, she just sighed and then smiled.

Well, it couldn't hurt to ask someone as long as they didn't see her hair....right?

"Excuse me?" She asked a nearby person, pulling the hood of her cloak down a bit more. "You haven't seen a large scary looking man with a scar on his face around here...have you?"

[Zack]

Caillte rubbed his cheek gingerly and cursed at the pain even the lightest touch brought to the thickly pulsing bruise on his face.

Having just come back from an expedition, Caillte had been celebrating with his client when a brawl broke out in the tavern they were occupying. Though he was able to break the fight up before it got too violent, both men were substantially bigger than the stout adventurer and it earned Caillte a few lumps.

He walked as he nursed his wounds, massaging the ache in his back and looking for something cold to buy and hold against his face as he traveled to the first of the book shops in Ketra he meant to visit. Though there weren't as many libraries or tome sellers in Ketra as you'd see in places such as La'marri or Serendipity, there were a couple that Caillte liked to keep his eyes on due to previous experience. And for once, his wallet was nice and fat with spending money.

Luck was not on Caillte's side today, unfortunately.

Just as he thought of money and whipped his wallet out, a large man with a brutal scar carved into his visage rounded an alley and smashed into the adventurer, scattering his funds all over the place. "Damn it! Watch where you're going!" Caillte called to the already distant back of the man, too concerned about picking up his money to give chase.

It took a few moments for him to collect himself and his belongings, but with a contented sigh he rose. With a margin of surprise, he was greeted to a heavily cloaked yet short figure. He listened to her as she launched herself into inquiry, then grimaced. "Yes, actually, the gentleman you're looking for just caused me no small amount of grief. And without so much as an apology."

[Laraine]

Surprised at the others words, she half expected the man before her to say he hadn't seen him. After all, the street was rather crowded at the moment and there were many people. She certainly had gotten lucky today!

"Really?! Can you tell me where he went?!" She said, excitement getting the better of her and looking the stranger in the eyes. Her own, amethyst gaze seemed to sparkle as she clasped her hands together, completely forgetting for a moment that she shouldn't get so close to the man. As it was, a few strands of her rose colored hair slipped from their prison and slipped into her vision. Quickly pulling away, she tucked them away again, face still a little red from her face plant earlier into the door. But besides that, she looked to be a young and rather normal looking girl. The cloak covered her well, but her face couldn't have been more than 20 years old in age and her eyes were full of life and determination.

"Ah if you would please direct me to where you saw him last I'd be most grateful." She said with a slight and nervous grin suddenly. She didn't know if the other had seen her hair but if he did and reacted badly, she'd be ready to run.

Ah such is the life of a hated demon/witch hybrid.

[Zack]

Caillte had no desire to follow the rude man due to the whims of this random girl. He was flustered and just wanted to go browse a bookstore where he would feel safe and at home.

However, his thought process changed as soon as her light eyes latched onto his dark ones. They were a sort of purple hue, and they complimented her rose-colored hair nicely...

Rose colored hair?

Caillte's eyes narrowed, but he made no moves to get away from this girl... or was it woman? She looked young, but Caillte couldn't be entirely sure how young. Maybe late teens, early twenties? Regardless, she hadn't made any violent moves towards him. He clutched at the book-shaped pack strapped to his belt and secreted it under his brown coat, then made sure that his sleeves covered his tattoos entirely.

Caillte paused for a moment, rendering the scene mildly awkward due to the silence, while he thought about the situation. It was possible she came for the book and was lying to him, but usually the magic of the tome just sent people of a darker inclination into a frenzied, berserk state. This girl (Woman? I'm just going to stick with girl, Caillte thought) was perfectly lucid. And Caillte wasn't really happy with his treatment at the hands of the scar faced passersby.

"Sure, follow me. He cut through the market..." He pointed as he walked ahead "This way."

Flashing a guarded smile at the young lady, he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, by the by. I'm Caillte De Na Deithe. Yourself?"

[Laraine]

The pause was a bit awkward for her and she found herself wondering if this was a good idea. He was ready to flee if necessary. But the man didn't seem afraid or angry at her. Instead he was helping her? Blinking, she followed behind him, opening her mouth about to say that he didn't need to guide her to the murderer. Just that she needed the direction he went in. But when he introduced himself she found she couldn't get out of this.

Oh bother, she wondered the man knew that this person they were following after was a dangerous criminal. He certainly looked the part. She blinked at the others name and wondered how she would be able to say it all. "Ah! It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Cailte De Na Dietan? My names Laraine Lockner......" she smiled back at him, not even realizing she butchered his last name rather brutally.

She figured leaving off the last name of Risk was probably better idea. The Risk demons were a large family that gained a lot of power in this world. Although no one seemed to realize it. And while she wasn't sure whether anyone knew of the Risk demons. It was better to err on the side of caution. After all, no matter what place she visited.

Half demons were never welcome.

"But you can call me Raine if you like." She said with a hum. She much rather liked being called Raine anyway. It was the nickname Danny gave her and she wanted to be forever Raine... Laraine...the demons..daughter shouldn't exist anymore.

"I am sorry I bothered you with this." She said with a sigh and smiled softly. "But I have a deadline I need to get to and I need to reach this man before he runs off again." She huffed and as the two passed a nearby building, she spotted a flyer in the corner of her eyes that showed the man they were tailing. It was a wanted poster with a huge reward attached to it. She wondered if she could just keep all the reward even if the man got involved. But...that was wrong.

She supposed it was her demon blood in her. As they made their way closer to where the man had gone, a section of the city that was near the outskirts that didn't house many people, Raine reached into her bag and pulled out a wand made from pure Quartz crystal. She hid it in her cloak and turned to the man once more. "So... Cailte...what are you doing in town?" She wondered. "I really do hope I didn't pull you away from anything important."

[Zack]

Caillte wasn't able to contain the slight chuckle that welled up from her mispronunciation of his last name. "Just Caillte, if you'd like. Laraine's a pretty name, though I think I'll stick to Raine."

Glancing back at her, he noticed her eyes were averted to a building they were passing. Trailing her line of sight, he saw a poster plastered to the building that looked very akin to the man that had bumped into him. Ah, he thought whimsically to himself, a young bounty hunter.

He remained quiet as they made it to the outer parts of Ketra where the seedier dealings and shady folk gathered, but she spoke enough for the both of them. Deep in thought, Caillte was battling between what he was most worried about. It could be the girl, who was likely of demonic blood of some kind or another. It could be the fact that he was traveling to a part of town that he wasn't very fond of. But it was most likely that the man they were pursuing has an astronomical reward attached to his name, which spoke danger on many levels. Still, Caillte had been having a bad day, and shoving a few punches into the man might make him feel a little better regardless on if it were the healthy way to cope or not.

"You didn't pull me out of anything, really." He absently responded after a time. "Just looking for a book or two. There are some shops over here too, so I can get back to my business whenever. I'm more concerned about a young woman like you chasing after a dangerous man like that." He paused and stopped in his tracks, looking back at her for a moment. "I don't pretend to know you, but I'm sure you have to have an alternative way to make money that doesn't involve putting your life on the line."

Not about to launch into a lecture, Caillte sighed. "Then again, my profession isn't the safest in the world either, so I'm not judging you or anything. We should probably ask for directions from one of the people on the street, I haven't seen any sight of him since he bumped into me and we're crossing into a very clustered area of the city."

[Laraine]

Raine was surprised when the other started to speak and blinked up at him, her mouth opened and eyes wide once he spoke of the exact reason she was there! Was she that transparent? Apparently since even a man off the street could see through her and everything she was doing! Oh mannnn!

She chuckled a bit. "Believe it or not Caillte I'm stronger than I look." she grinned, absentmindedly raising her arm to reveal the wand as well as several scars on that arm before the shirt cut a few off. "You don't have to worry about me. I've done this for years, besides..."

He's wrong, I don't have any other means to make money....not with the demons on my back at every turn. She chuckled. "You should know not to trust a book by its cover." She smirked.

"And your right we probably should find someone else.. oh why not ask him?" She pointed to a rather shady looking man. "Oh Mist-" She ran towards him.

But before she could say anything else she tripped, face planting into the ground beneath her with a loud thump. Frozen, she lied there for a second in shock, when the pain started to come.

"Ow! owowowow!" She whined and sat up, rubbing her poor face. It was a wonder that it never got scarred.

The dust settled around her as she sat there, before blushing a bit and gazing up at Caillte. Geez and after all that effort of acting all tough. "Ahahaha sorry! looks like the terrain got the better of me." She quickly stood up and brushed herself off. "Right! let's ask someone!"

[Zack]

Caillte was a little irked at her response, considering that her terminology when it came to not judging books by their covers could be taken quite literally in his case, but bit back any responses he might have. She was young (or looked it), so some degree of hotheadedness would persist in her character regardless of his input on her life choices. He wasn't anybody's father, so he wasn't about to tell her how to live her life. After she had said her piece and she pointed to a man she wished to question, he was all too willing to take action.

That was, before she fell flat on her face.

To say that it was hard to stifle laughter was sort of an understatement. After the grim nonsense of the day leading up to now, a little comic relief was just what the doctor ordered. Deciding that he had nothing to loose, the stout traveler let loose a chortling laugh that could have been described as hysterical by onlookers. It wasn't long before he had to stop and clutch at his face, however. The pain of his previous brawl was taking a toll on his body, and even laughter hurt.

Extending his hand to help Raine up, he was pleased to see her take care of herself in that regard. "The terrain can certainly be tricky on a flat street with no bumps or cracks, better look out for when they're not so tidy." Though this was said sarcastically, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye showed that Caillte was saying it all in good fun, not to criticize the poor girl.

"Let me do the talking." Caillte said confidently, touching upon his bruised face. "I look a little more menacing right now, so I'm more likely to get the information out of these people than yourself." Standing to full stature, which wasn't much taller than Raine, he puffed his chest out and got the stranger's attention. "Excuse me, sir, but we're looking for..."

Stopping in his tracks, Caillte saw the man who had bumped him in the distance. He turned to his companion quickly. "Raine, there he is! If we're quick, we can go catch him right now."

[Laraine]

Raine had to admit she was surprised at the others reaction to her falling. She didn't expect the man to burst out laughing and although it did give a blow to her ego a bit, she smiled back at the others words. He was teasing her and she simply chuckled and rolled her eyes a bit, shaking her head. This new man it seemed had relaxed a bit more around her and that made her happy a bit.

Once he mentioned talking to the man however she sighed but nodded and let him try first.
He was true he might get more out of the man than Raine herself would at that rate.

However, they never got the chance. Caillte's sudden shouting turned her attention to where he was looking. Her eyes widened, seeing the very man she would claim for her next bounty.

"Caillte...thank you!" She said before she took off, running rapidly towards the man who was turning the corner. She followed at break neck speed and soon spun around the corner as well seeing a rather large open area. There was no house in sight and it seemed as if the murderer was there waiting for her. He slowly spun around and eyed her, still cloaked from view.

"I thought I smelled a rat.." he hissed. "Following my every step. So it was you.." His voice was garbled and scratchy. Eyes bloodshot, probably also from not sleeping for four days.

Oh joy this battle will be fun.

"What of it?" She smiled a bit and tilted her head. "Besides, I think the only rat here is you. Isn't that right, Emanial Striber? Wanted for seventeen counts of murder...have quite the bounty on your head...do you not?" She smirked and brought out her wand. "Now come quietly... I don't want to have to hurt you...too badly."

His face contorted into a snarl. "I'd like to see you try, witch."

Raine sighed, then narrowed her eyes. "So be it.."

[Zack]

Caillte cocked his head quizzically at the retreating back of Raine before regaining his composure and heading off after her. The lithe young woman outstripped Caillte's attempts to keep up, however, and the rowdy traveler had to take a moment to slouch onto a nearby merchant stand and wheeze a few breaths. Looking up, he noted with alarm that he had completely lost her around one of the corners of the nearby buildings, so he righted himself and took off in the direction he last saw her at a slower but steadier pace. "Damn it all, she's like a cat..." Caillte muttered under his breath.

Thankfully it wasn't long before he happened across the girl and the rude man whose face was now familiar in Caillte's memory banks. They seemed to have just had an exchange of some kind, with Caillte only catching the word 'witch' being uttered from the mouth of her prey.

That was when Caillte felt a strange shift in the ground beneath him. His eyes narrowed as he looked down and followed the movement of something crawling in the stones. Crawling quickly and with purpose... right towards Raine.

Seeing the bounty hunter ready herself for battle, Caillte called out to her as he made gestures meant to incant a spell that would harden the ground. "Raine, he's not alone!"

Though he was too late to warn her, his spell kicked in right on time; his magic was not strong enough to stop the creature, but it deflected it from hitting her and instead sent it hurtling towards him.

What erupted out of the ground came a monstrosity out of a nightmare. All pincers, claws, fangs, and legs, it looked as if some dreamer out of hell had pieced together all of the most horrifying parts of the deadliest insects into one aberration of nature. Not to mention the fact that it was easily as long as Caillte was tall: with the lengthy body of a centipede, the face, eyes and hairy body of a large spider and the tail and claws of a scorpion, it was all Caillte could do to quell the shaking in his knees and bolt in the opposite direction faster than he thought his legs could carry him.

He was grateful for one thing, at least. The creature had shifted its' target to the stout man fleeing it rather than the girl attacking the bounty.

[Laraine]

Raine herself hadn't noticed Caillte behind her. She was too busy giving the death glare to the man before her. It seemed as if the two were in a rather heated stare off, until she heard Caillte's voice and spun to see the large insect like demon get deflected away. She gasped and spun as she watched the demon chase him around and biting her lip she went to go help him, momentarily forgetting her conquest before her when suddenly a gun was fired off. She spun to avoid the bullet that had barely missed her head and growled.

"Great...I didn't know a thief had friends in the demon world!" Raine pulled out her wand and pointed it at the man. Focusing her magic she whispered. "Lumen ignis!"

Her body began to glow a tinted pink and a blast of energy erupted from the tip of her wand, shooting out towards the man. He hissed and dodged the attack, starting to fire at her rapidly with the gun and finding once the bullets hit another blast of light she fired off, they disintegrated.

Dodging another one of her light spells he smirked. "You are right little witch. But the fact is.. I know exactly who you are.." He chuckled darkly. Brown eyes seemed to twinkle with hatred. "Funny how the bounty hunter is Wanted herself, things like you should never have been born."

A suddenly fury erupted within her as he spoke about her like that and her wand started to spark. She didn't say a word although her expression said it all. But when she heard more noises from behind her, she sighed as she spotted the still rather comedic display of Caillte running with the demon chasing him.

"Caillte! Run I can hold them both off!" She yelled back to him, hoping he heard her. Or at least she thought the other could handle the man with the gun at least. It was hardly a challenge for her. As she glanced back she saw him fire off another round of shots which she dodged quite effortlessly.

Whispering another spell, the crystal wand shone before the gun in his hands literally fell apart, causing her to smirk and rush at him before the man could even blink. "Never mess around with things you know you can't beat!" with that, she kneed him in the lower half of his body and watched him crumple to the ground before turning back to Caillte. "Are you done playing with the demon?"

[Zack]

Caillte wished in the back of his furiously terrified mind that somebody else had bumped into him today.

He also wondered what Raine and the fugitive were speaking about.

However, most of his thoughts were in the category of 'how to save my skin from a savage terror beast hell-bent on killing me in the most nightmarish way possible'.

So focused on thinking was he that he was only just barely able to avoid the stinging tail that came rocketing towards the back of his head, the spiny stinger of the tail glancing off of the cobbles of the street. Thinking on his feet, Caillte grabbed a flower pot on the side of the street and lobbed it at the head/face/whatever the part with eyes was  at the creature, thought it was totally in vain as a pincer lashed out and shattered the pot with horrific ease.

The insect paused for a moment, then began to claw at the ground frantically, letting out a screech of pain. Caillte smiled faintly as he continued to put distance between him and the monster, admiring his work. Small holes could be seen in the thing's soft eyes, red rings around the puncture wounds. Caillte had flash heated the dirt in the pot, and while it wasn't hot enough to sear through the exoskeleton, it was more than hot enough to cause major discomfort to the sensitive areas of the beastie.

Placing his palms on the ground as the thing writhed in pain, Caillte closed his eyes and incanted lowly as he felt through the ground to see what was underneath. His senses stretched outwards underground, feeling around for something...

Caillte's eyes shot open and he pressed all of his body weight into his arms. The dirt gave way as if he were pushing it down, and with a swift motion he tore the ground as if he were doing something as simple as ripping paper. The crag he opened spread towards the now enraged monster, and cut a perfect circle around it. With a sound like a small avalanche, a sinkhole opened in the blink of an eye, and with its' opening so did the creature plummet into the blackness with a shriek that Caillte would like to forget as soon as possible.

Closing the sinkhole as easily as he opened it, Caillte clapped his hands together to get the dirt off of them as he heaved a heavy, exhausted sigh. The creature wasn't dead, and was certainly more than a little pissed off, but for the time being it was buried under more than enough dirt to stall it.

It was then that he heard Raine, calling him, to whom he turned. "I don't know if I'd exactly call that 'playing'. If we weren't in such an open area, I'd have been done for." He glanced over at the unconscious man that had previously bumped into him. "He went down a little more easily than I would've expected. What next?"

[Laraine]

Laraine watched the other, a little impressed. The man it seemed had a bit of magic of his own. Although she wasn't sure what exactly it was. She sighed once the other approached her and tipped the toe of her boot against the unconscious mans head.

"Now, I turn the bastard in and get the reward." She glanced at him slightly. "If you want some of the reward I am willing to haggle...but 50/50 is out of the question. After all.." She stretched a bit. "I've been after this guy for a good week and more..." her stomach growled a bit and she groaned, tilting foreword a bit.

Yeah, that was another thing she'd have to take care of. Traveling around living off little sleep and barely any food..

She was about to crash then and there. She pat her stomach a bit and glanced a him once more, her amethyst eyes curious.

"By the way...that magic..." She hesitated, glancing around him once more before shrugging a bit and smiling. "It was rather impressive. Taking down a demon of that strength is no easy feat." She began to tie the unconscious man up.

[Zack]

Absently rubbing the bruise on his face, Caillte blushed a little at Raine's praise. "Now, now. My magic is rather shoddy and unreliable, to tell the truth. And I certainly didn't take it down." He looked around nervously for a moment, probing the ground with his senses and thankfully finding no movement. "I'd like to put distance between it and myself as soon as possible, if that's alright. I did a pretty good job of angering it."

Stretching his back and rolling his shoulders, he let out a contented sigh. "As for the money, all I request is a meal, a good tall drink, and something cold to hold on my face. You can keep the rest, I'm sure you've earned it twice over."

Rubbing his chin in sudden thought, he looked intently at the unconscious man she was in the final stages of binding. "Do you have any idea why that thing was with him?" he questioned.

[Laraine]

((Sorry I've been MIA for a while.. >.<.. I don't know if you still want to rp with me, but I'll post just in case. I've gone through some tough situations this year so I was very preoccupied and some of the older posts fell by the wayside..))

Raine turned to the man, still gripping onto her bounty and then glanced back at the road before them. "Well let's go then. As for why that... beast was with him. I have no idea.."

Okay it was a slight lie. But she couldn't really come out and tell a complete stranger she was a wanted half demon. She had made that mistake before and it had cost people their lives.

So once they started to walk, Raine pretty much drug the bounty behind her. He was tied up and knocked out anyway so he'd probably not feel anything until he regained consciousness.

"Anyway, I'll be glad to give you some dinner and drink for helping me with him. Oh and something for your face too." She chuckled and smiled, her hood still firmly in place. She had made sure it stayed put as she walked, not wanting to draw any sort of attention.

And once they arrived to drop off the man and collect the bounty, Raine never looked so happy in her life. Finally some money to live off of for a while!

She was so happy and relieved, she turned to Caillte and nodded. "Well lets go get something to eat to celebrate! Where would you like to go?"

[Zack]

((It's totally fine, I haven't been the most active on the site either, mostly because a lot of RP partners were dropping off, but life has also been extremely hectic on my end. I got excited when I saw that you posted! Got me craving to get back into the swing of things :) Hope you stick around, I intend to, and to get my activity back up to par as well.))

Though it felt as though Raine were hiding something, Caillte paid it no mind. She was a bounty hunter of some kind, after all. Most, if not all, of that breed had a skeleton or two in their closet, so to speak.

Caillte looked around, and for the first time noticed that all eyes were on them. It was to be expected, he supposed, but it didn't keep him from feeling a light embarrassment swell in his chest, his palms suddenly feeling clammy and his demeanor in general starting to edge towards paranoia. Magic always caught the interest of others who could use it, and Caillte had used a more advanced spell than he was accustomed to using, causing him to use excess magic and appearing almost like a signal fire to those sensitive to the flow of energy. It wouldn't be an issue if they weren't in such a seedy area. His book...

The book.

Caillte reached at his side and immediately panicked, looking around frantically before his eyes settled on a leather satchel shaped like a book lying on the ground near where he had sealed the beast. Though he felt relief for a brief moment, it quickly turned to panic as he saw a young boy in ragged garments snatch it off the ground, give Caillte the barest of a glance and a wicked smile, and dash off into the streets.

It was all Caillte could do to keep from screaming in primal rage.

Whirling on the girl, he grasped her hand in his in desperation. "Raine! I helped you, so please, don't worry about a reward, just help me catch that boy! That book is incredibly important!"

Not having the time to wait for an answer, he dashed into the crowd as far as his tired, stubby legs could take him.

[Laraine]

Raine didn't notice at first until she saw movement in the corner of her eyes and saw the young boy run off with the item that Caillte had been carrying before. Dread entered her chest and when the other suddenly grasped her hand and looked at her with pleading eyes, her heart dropped. She could barely answer as he vanished into the crowed before them and she stood still, glancing around and then back to where he left. She felt...somewhat...torn.

Forget the reward?! How could she?! She spent how long tracking this guy down and just.. AUGHHHHH! She cursed and spat and then took off after where the other had started to run. Sometimes her humanity really annoyed her. Like in situations like this where she couldn't say no to someone in trouble. Obviously that book was important to him and she understood that feeling. So she wasted no time. Hoping that noone would see her hair she ran down, easily catching up with Caillte since she was used to running quite long distances.

Once she spotted the boy she hoped that he would go somewhere there weren't as many people. Otherwise she couldn't use her own magic to trap him.  "Hey kid stop now!" She yelled, quickly overtaking Caillte and running quite fast. She was catching up to the kid at a speed that obviously wasn't human. But she didn't care, all she cared about was getting that satchel back!

[Zack]

Far past exhaustion, Caillte's body ran on willpower and fear more than any reserves of energy he might have had stored. Though there was an immediate guilt gnawing at the back of his mind over his asking of Raine for help, his panic and worry were powerful enough to push it to a place where it wouldn't disturb him for the time being.

That was when Raine overtook him, and her hair, fluttering out behind her as she sprinted, caught his attention once more.

Caillte almost called to her in a frenzy before he thought better of it. She most likely has some demon blood in her, from one source or another he thought as he tried to pick up the pace, sweat now forming small streams down his face and body. If she so much as touches the book... it could be bad. I don't think I could soothe her or restrain her.

He knew it would cause a host of questions later, but against his better judgement, and with great difficulty due to shortness of breath, Caillte was able to yell out, "Please, Raine, if you catch him, don't touch the book! Just let me take it from him. I implore you, it's very important that I'm the only one to touch it." As if to emphasize this, he rolled his right sleeve up quickly and revealed a portion of the tattoos that covered his body, the brand he received from the tome. She has to recognize some of it, at least, or at least what it means.

[Laraine]

Blinking as the other yelled to her, she risked a glance to his arm and saw the strange markings on them, she frowned. She didn't know exactly what they were, but she felt uneasy just the same. She nodded at the other then continued to sprint after the kid.

Once she couldn't see any people around besides them she pulled out her wand and held it out, with a whisper she formed ice under the boys feet, causing him to slip and slide and land on his rear. Quickly Raine caught up with him and began to help him up, waiting for Cailte to come and take the book from the kid. She made sure she had a firm grip on him though and began to to lecture the boy about stealing things. Once she saw the other though she began to relax and glanced down at the satchel that held the book.

She couldn't help it, she was rather curious. "Cailte.....that book..."