Aeverlest: Legend of the Crystal Flames

Alaz tried desperately to condense the wall of sand he was working into something that could hold a beast such as this, working it as fast as he could. He was frantic, for he remembered the great legends of old, when his land was still a swamp, of the great monster that now charged forth at them. He remembered the horrifying wounds and gruesome deaths witnessed by those few that had seen it and lived. And when the sand wall burst, revealing the creature, Alaz had only enough time to realize he was about to die.

What happened next was a blur to Alaz, all he remembered was the smell of rotting flesh surrounding him, a sickening crunch, then the feeling of flight.
And the pain. The unimaginable pain.

When Alaz finally regained conscious thought (or, the closest to conscious thought one could achieve in such a state) his first sight was Spickla, rising from the ground beside him and letting loose a wail of despair. Alaz lifted a trembling hand, attempting to sooth the animal. He attempted speech, but only managed a ragged gasp.

Then he remembered the pain.

He let out a cry and looked shakily upon his wounds. His entire abdomen had been crushed, his exoskeleton torn and puncturing his flesh, and several bits of broken glass littered his wounds. He then lay his head down, waiting for either a divine being to come from the heavens or the black shroud of death to engulf him.

 

"My Sword!" shouted Rainin running after the beast.

Rainin stopped short as he realized he was being quickly outpaced.

"Damn!"

Surveying the torn landscape he turned to Zeb, the only remaining member insight. "Well, I was wrong, the southerner got it first. But I told you that the girls would be among the first to go."

Rainin started to make his way up the trail again. He stopped near the spot that Ali had been consumed. he picking up one of the larger shards from her broken sword "Shame though, that one seemed to be worth her weight."

Placing the shard among his other things he again turned his attention to the mountain. He seemed to have no concern for the fallen or missing in the group. "Aren't you coming Zeb?"

 

Neil swore. These two birds were harder than they should be. Something that large should be an easy target, but these? These were far quicker than they should be by any regard. And they were smart too. They had already knocked out Trucido with a well-aimed rock thrown with their talons, and they seemed to predict almost every shot he could take. But perhaps if they were slower...

"Hey, Juniper! See if you can use one of those ice spells to..." His sentence was cut short by the talons around his neck.

He gasped for air, dropping his bow to pull at the claws, but the more he struggled the more they dug into his flesh. The ground fell away below him, and with a sickening burst of clarity he realized that the eagle was trying to hang him with its feet. Frantically now he began tugging, but to no avail. The eagle was too strong.

A red mist clouded his vision, and all strength left his body. So this is what it's like to suffocate, to die, he thought, his consciousness fading.

A burst of arctic wind. The pressure around his throat vanished. Air, life, coursed through his lungs again. He coughed violently, expelling the old air as fast as he could, taking in as much of the new as possible. Then he was struck by another sickening realization: he was falling. Quickly. And the ground was very, very close.

He struck it hard.

````````````````````````````

Thydore looked around at the carnage and whimpered. "Not continue. No, not go on. We go back. Now we go. We fail, yes. We tell master we fail. Alaz have die. Ali have die. No more have die. We go back."

````````````````````````````

Aaliyah, for a while you are erratically jostled about in the creature's belly as it leaps up the mountainside. As it slows to a walk, the jostling is replaced by a calmer rocking, then stops altogether as the creature comes to a halt. At this point, you hear muffled voices outside but are unable to tell what they are.

Then, the creature vomits you up.

You find yourself lying at the feet of two figures. The first is a human man, dressed in brown wizarding robes, his long beard tucked into his belt. He holds a straight, red-hilted sword, which he is pointing at you. The second is a male Flett, slightly taller, with black fur and green and yellow marbled eyes. The human is the first to speak, his voice dripping with fury, "Tell me, and be quick about it, why you have trespassed on my mountain and murdered my familiar."

 

"Aren't you coming Zeb?"

"Rainin we can't leave them there to die, be a man defend the weak if you dare." Zeb stared at Rainin hoping his taunts would prod him to action, but his only action was to continue on leaving their new comrades behind. "Well somebody has to have some backbone between us guess it has to be me."

Zeb mad his way over to where he believed the others had been carried off to hoping he would find someone and that they could pull this band back together.

 

"Tell me, and be quick about it, why you have trespassed on my mountain and murdered my familiar."

Aali glanced around, trying to gain her bearings quickly. She was covered in the monster's vomit and her sword had been broken into pieces.

"I am not trespassing on your mountain, I was merely passing through on my way to another location." She slid her hand to her boot, appearing to be straigtening it, when in reality she was deftly sliding the knife she hid there into her sleeve. "As for your familiar I am very sorry about your loss, but I didn't kill it. Now I really should be leaving, my companions will be worried about me." She began to stand up hoping she cuold elave without a fight.

 

"I am not trespassing on your mountain, I was merely passing through on my way to another location. As for your familiar I am very sorry about your loss, but I didn't kill it. Now I really should be leaving, my companions will be worried about me."

The old man scowled. "Don't bother with the dagger. Do you take me for a fool? Very well, if you shall not say your business to me, I shall say it to you.

"You are a small armed band here to forcibly take the from me the location of the Red Crystal. You were hired by one calling himself Seja mon Ich, who has learned from his past attempts sending his masked freak that stealth is no use here. Once on the mountain, you attacked my familiar despite the warnings Binnacorn surely gave you that it would not attack unless provoked.

"And before you make any attempts to deny this, the signs are clear. You wear mon Ich's damned pendant! You travel with mon Ich's damned monkey! And you climb the mountain far too early in the day to have stayed anywhere else but Binnacorn's damned inn!

"Now, fortunately for you I am about to leave this place and am in too much a hurry to deal with you properly. You may return in a few days and scavenge what information you can out of what's left behind; gods know I've been doing that for years. Or, if you prefer, you may return to mon Ich and tell that bastard that while he has been playing stooge to the royal family for all these years, some of us have been keeping our duties, and I will be rotting in hell before I allow him to just waltz in and take the fruit of my labors out from under my nose!

"Now get out of here, or you'll be going back in the Lagomorph. And I assure you, this time you won't be getting back out the front end."

 

"Don't bother with the dagger. Do you take me for a fool? Very well, if you shall not say your business to me, I shall say it to you.

"You are a small armed band here to forcibly take the from me the location of the Red Crystal. You were hired by one calling himself Seja mon Ich, who has learned from his past attempts sending his masked freak that stealth is no use here. Once on the mountain, you attacked my familiar despite the warnings Binnacorn surely gave you that it would not attack unless provoked.

"And before you make any attempts to deny this, the signs are clear. You wear mon Ich's damned pendant! You travel with mon Ich's damned monkey! And you climb the mountain far too early in the day to have stayed anywhere else but Binnacorn's damned inn!

"Now, fortunately for you I am about to leave this place and am in too much a hurry to deal with you properly. You may return in a few days and scavenge what information you can out of what's left behind; gods know I've been doing that for years. Or, if you prefer, you may return to mon Ich and tell that bastard that while he has been playing stooge to the royal family for all these years, some of us have been keeping our duties, and I will be rotting in hell before I allow him to just waltz in and take the fruit of my labors out from under my nose!

"Now get out of here, or you'll be going back in the Lagomorph. And I assure you, this time you won't be getting back out the front end."

Aaliyah eyed the man warily, but decided not to push her luck, he was letting her go without difficulty. She would find the group and perhaps come back when they outnumbered this strange man.
"Thank you." She said then backed away until the man was out of site, then she sprinted down until she found a small clear outcroping. Looking down from it, she heard the faintest of voices and ran towards them.

 

Rainin was disappointed at Zebs attachment to the rest of the weaklings in the group. As far as Rainin was concerned those that were not dead already were as good as dead considering how they had managed the beasts on the mountain.

Parting ways Rainin continued up the mountain while Zeb went to look for the others. He led his horse along, still carrying the petrified and protestant Thydore.

"I'm not quitting this early. Quite your blubbering Thydore and come along!"

After just a very short way Rainin grew tired of Thydore's jibbering laments, and decided to take a break. He paused on the edge of a clearing and left the monkey creature to calm its own nerves while he surveyed the young tree growth at the edge of the field. Finding a suitable sapling, he made quick work of it with his dagger and began to fashion it into a staff.

Just then Thydore gave 'tigwili' of surprise as Aali appeared from beyond the clearing, looking rather slimy and exasperated, but otherwise unharmed.

 

The group had been riding up the moment relatively peacefully when a large rock flew out of the sky from far above and struck Trucido in the head. Now, Trucido is a pretty good assassin. Really good. If it was an arrow, he probably could have dodged it. If it was a throwing knife he definitely could have dodged it. But not even Trucido could have anticipated and dodged a rock flying out of no where and knocking him out.

"Trucy!" Scarlet yelled as Trucido slumped over when the rock hit him.

"Trucy!!!" Scarlet sreamed even louder when a giant eagle swooped out of the air and scooped Trucido up. A similar eagle scooped up the only other noble man in the group.

Meanwhile much of the rest of the group had been attacked by an odd creature that resembled a cross between a rabbit and a cougar. But Scarlet didn't have time for that. She leaped off of Trucido's horse and grabbed the nearby noblewoman whom the other man had asked for help from before being lifted away.

"You're coming with me!" She yelled as she clicked her heals together. As soon as the heels clicked together an array of odd, ancient, and foreign symbols, circles, and inscriptions appeared around them and the jewels in the shoes lit up. Flames sprouted from the shoes and lifted Scarlet and the girl up into the air. Rather than just flying or running in the air, Scarlet actually moved her legs in a fashion similar to ice skating. Pushing forward rather than back. She skated on flame after the birds and quickly caught up with them.

"Take the one on the left!" Scarlet yelled as they approached the eagles. The noblewoman let loose a blue fire spell on the eagle carrying the nobleman while Scarlet hurled a fire ball after the other. Luckily, both spells hit their marks and the two men were dropped. Luckily Trucido fell into a fluffy bush; unluckily, the other man hit the ground hard. Luckily, the bird carrying him hadn't been flying to high, so he would live.

Scarlet quickly skated down to the two injured men, and was followed by the black cloaked man. He flew through the air and landed with a crunch not to far away.

"This mission isn't going well..."

 

Aali picked her way down the mountain trying to flick the disgusting creature vomit from ehr body, not that it was working very well. Out of all the things that had happened to her, this was probably the most disgusting, but the fact that she came out with only a sprained ankle and some cuts and bruises made her a little happier. she finally came out into a clearing where she was greeted with Thydore's odd 'tiwilli'. Looking up she saw Thydore mounted on a horse looking upset, with Rainin pulling it, his expression irritated and determined. Better than no one at any rate. he looked up at her when he heard Thydore's note of suprise.

"Rainin, where is the rest of the group?"

 

Neil groaned. Am I dead? he wondered. No, death wouldn't hurt this much. His whole side was severely bruised at best, and his right arm was clearly broken. He was alive. Unfortunately. An archer with a broken arm was just short of useless, and he could tell just by poking it that this wouldn't heal properly on its own.

He sat up painfully and looked around. He didn't see anyone, but with this rocky, uneven soil it was difficult to see very far while sitting.

"Hey," he croaked out. "Anyone else not dead?"

Hearing an answering groan, he attempted to get up and walk over to its source; and when that failed decided to simply crawl. It turned out to be that man who always wore that cloak. Alaz, was it? He was lying in a pool of what appeared to be blood (though it was black for some reason), and his many perforated flesh was coated with the contents and remains of several broken bottles.

"Man, you're in worse condition than I am. Are you okay?"


```````````````````````````

"Tgiwiliw! Aali! Aali!" Thydore jumped off the horse, galloped over to her, and threw his long arms around her legs in an attempt to hug, chattering with glee all the while. "You not et! You not dead! I much glad! Much glad! Tgiwiliw!"

"Rainin, where is the rest of the group?"

Thydore's chattering suddenly stopped. He untangled his arms from her, took a few steps back, and hung his head in shame, stuttering ashamedly as Rainin explained. "They...uh...er...they...we...they..."

He suddenly extended a pointing finger at Rainin and loudly interrupted him. "He made me! I not want go, not want abandon! He made me!"

```````````````````````

CURRENT GROUP GOALS:

*Regroup (if your character cares)
*Find a way to heal/patch up those who are injured
*MAIN OBJECTIVE - Learn location of Crimson Greatflame from Higgen L'lyagi

 

Zeb came into a clearing where he saw Rainin pulling a his horse along and Thydore perched on top chattering wildly and pointing a finger at Rainin. Beyond them he saw the young girl that had been snatched up and somehow released, a story Zeb was not sure he wanted to hear.

Zeb advanced towards Rainin quickly furious at the man who had left the others behind and now stood before him once more.

"Rainin you cowered! You did leave them and curse what gods led me to find you instead of the others!"

 

"Ugh... What just happened?" Trucido asked when he came to.

"You and Neil were attacked by a giant bird. But me and Juniper saved you." Scarlet said with a smile. She had her hands laid over Trucido's head, a glowing and humming light exuding from her palms.

"Ugh, where are the others?"

"Neil landed nearby, I'm going to find him in just a minute. The man in the black seems to have been thrown over here too. I don't know where everyone else is. We were separated when you were attacked. Last I saw they were attacking some demon rabbit thingy."

"Demon Rabbit Thingy?"

"Shh. You should rest. I can patch you up a little, but I'm not great with white fire, you know that. I'm going to go find the other two."

"But--" Trucido was cut short by Scarlet. She put a finger on his lips, telling him to be quiet.

"No buts. Sit." Trucido sighed, but he obeyed. He knew that he wouldn't be much help in this situation anyways. He specialized in killing people, not helping them.

"Hey," he croaked out. "Anyone else not dead?"

'Neil must be okay' Scarlet thought to herself. She ran over to where she found Neil kneeling by the black cloaked man. Neil was in pretty bad shape, but the black cloaked man was a mess. There was glass and blood everywhere.

Scarlet ran over to the injured man and knelt down by him. "I can help, I know a little white fire magic." She explained. She moved the man's cloak away from his body so she could see the wounds, but she didn't find what she had been expecting. Rather than soft flesh, the man had hard, chitinous plates. The plates had been shattered in many places and had massive punctures in them. Sticky black blood oozed from the gaping holes.

"Oh my gods." Scarlet said and raised a hand to mouth in shock. "Neil, try to clog up some of his wounds with his cloak. We need to stop the bleeding. It won't do any good if we heal his body and he's already dead."

Scarlet opened the satchel on her side and brought out a few gems. She got up and placed them in a star formation around the odd man's crippled body. She then bent down and began to connect the gems with a circle that she drew with the man's own blood. It probably looked like an occult ritual to the untrained eye. After placing the stones and drawing the circle she inscribed a number of odd and foreign symbols along the edge and drew additional circles and stars around the stones.

Once she finished she stood up and took a step back. "Step back Neil, and you may want to cover your eyes." With that Scarlet began to wave her arms in sharp calculated motions while chanting her own name.

"Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro Ignis Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro Ignis Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro Ignis"

It was an odd sight, a young, pretty girl clothed entirely in scarlet while chanting and waving her arms and standing above a broken and mangled body surrounded by gems and an odd, mysterious circle made from blood and covered with strange symbols. It really did look like a dark, occult ritual. That is, until the magic actually started.

The circle, chanting, and gems weren't just for show. Each was specifically designed to improve the effectiveness of magic. The circle was to concentrate and direct the flow of magic; the gems acted as catalyst to help the magic flow effectively, their position even furthered their effectiveness, pentagrams are natural catalysts; the waving of the arms was part of an intricate dance that helped ones magic to flow out of their body; the chanting helped to focus the caster's mind on their objective and helped them direct the magic through each of the other catalysts, one of the reasons why the names of families such as the Fabre and Ignis are so long and strange is because each part of the name is actually a word of power. Just saying the name has no effect, but when the full name is repeated and magic is flowed into the words their effect is monumental.

After a few moments of chanting a faint point of light appeared over the man's body. For a few moments it just hung there, glowing and humming lightly.

"Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro Ignis Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro Ignis Scarlatinitia Aestus Incendia Exuro Aduro IGNIS!"

Scarlet shouted the last word of the chant and the light exploded into a huge mass of light that engulfed the injured man. The light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and winked out of existence. The result was a nearly fully healed Scorpion Clansman laying in the middle. His broken shell and punctured flesh and been sealed up, leaving only some internal bruising and a few scars. He'd would probably ache all over, and would be exhausted for a while; but he'd live.

After the spell finished Scarlet fell to her knees, exhausted and breathing heavy. "That should do it..."

 

"He made me! I not want go, not want abandon! He made me!"

Rainin shot a dirty look at the little imp.

"Listen Zeb, if the others can't keep up that's not my problem," Rainin didn't like being criticized or being called a coward, but his respect for Zeb made it difficult to ignore him.

"I'm in this for action and for money, not to risk my life for the weak. However, I don't have any interest in competing with you or the others, if they survived as miraculously as Aali did. I'll stay with whatever of the group is left, but they had better not get in the way again."

Rainin rummaged in his pack and pulled out the shard of Aali's sword.

"Here," he said, tossing it to her. "You put up a good fight. I was going to use this as a spear head since my sword is also lost, but I think you deserve it. You didn't see my sword anywhere up there did you?"

 

"Tgiwiliw! Aali! Aali! You not et! You not dead! I much glad! Much glad! Tgiwiliw!" Thydore threw his arms around her legs in a makeshift hug. As soon as shye spoke to Rainin however he stepped back looking ashamed. "They...uh...er...they...we...they...He made me! I not want go, not want abandon! He made me!" Aali looked at at Rainin then at Thydore. The fact that Rainin had left the group behind was not something she took kindly too. however before she could respond, Zeb came riding up.

"Rainin you cowered! You did leave them and curse what gods led me to find you instead of the others!" He seemed furious at Rainin. Aali was surprised at the amount of anger Zeb had, he always seemed so calm. Despite that, Rainin seemed to be very calm when he answered; only shooting at dirty look at Thydore.

"Listen Zeb, if the others can't keep up that's not my problem," Aali snorted in irritation. Men and their egos! "I'm in this for action and for money, not to risk my life for the weak. However, I don't have any interest in competing with you or the others, if they survived as miraculously as Aali did. I'll stay with whatever of the group is left, but they had better not get in the way again."
He then searched around his pack, pulling out a shard of her broken sword, "Here, you put up a good fight. I was going to use this as a spear head since my sword is also lost, but I think you deserve it. You didn't see my sword anywhere up there did you?"

She caught the shard and smiled cooly at him. "Thanks. I haven't seen your sword at all, sorry. Now lets go find the rest of the group, shall we?" She turned to put the shard in her pack then looked up at Zeb, "You don't happen to know what happened to Jensen, my horse, do you?"

 

Everything was beginning to blur. Alaz became less and less aware of everything, his mind more and more foggy. He dully acknowledged a dark shape above him, then two. A creeping darkness began to replace his vision.

His consciousness slowly faded, and with it his pain. He was slowly engulfed by the darkness, and began to see memories of times long past. He saw his birth, shadowy figures taking him away from his mother, who was just a blur to him. He saw his infancy among the Shvvlakcarr, his training and schooling, the discovery of his magical ability, the appointment of Kov and Spickla, his appointment as a full Shvvlakcarr member, everything that had happened in his life up to that point suddenly flashed before him, then it reached his current state, and the black void he slowly fell into...

Then, he saw a white light, and heard chanting. Though it was not like anything he had heard before, these words seemed to thrum from the very fabric of reality, an echo so powerful and so subtle that the very universe seemed to obey them. He felt them pull him gradually toward the light, getting closer and closer until...

A flash of white.

Darkness.

Alaz felt hard earth beneath him, and a throbbing ache permeate everything. His brain was sluggish and he felt confused.

Where am I? Am I dead?

He tried opening his eyes, but found that it took too much effort. Suddenly feeling exhausted, he began to sink into unconsciousness. Suddenly, he felt dirt fall on top of him and something beside him moving. A series of low, repeated clicks came from above him, finally encouraging him to open his eyes and see what it was.

He saw the plated face of a sand horror above him, surrounded by a bright blue sky. Within its mouth-pincer Alaz saw a bundle of green herbs, which it was rubbing against his carapace. At first, he thought it was Spickla, until he noticed a small, distinctive scar on its forehead.

"...Kov?" Alaz said in a rough, ragged voice.

Suddenly, she stopped clicking, backed away from Alaz and stared at his face. After a few moments, she dived at him and wrapped around his body, making a loud chichichi sound. Surprised, Alaz patted her back. A few seconds later, another sand horror rose from the ground a few feet away, which Alaz knew immediately was Spickla. After a few moments of staring, he dived at Alaz and joined his sister.

 

Scarlet was startled when she saw two massive centipede looking creatures jump out of the ground. She almost hurled a fire ball at them; Scarlet was a girly girl, she didn't like bugs. She would have incinerated the bugs if she hadn't been so tired and if the first thing they did wasn't bring some herbs over to the cloaked man. I made sense though, bugish person with bugish pets.

"It seems they like you quite a bit."

 

"You don't happen to know what happened to Jensen, my horse, do you?"

"Last I saw him he was running for cover with were the others." Rainin pointed down the hill. "He seemed like a good horse, I'm sure he's not gone far."

Rainin didn't speak to Zeb, or Thydore on the way back down the mountain, but set a steady pace back down the ancient trail up which they had come. He only spoke to ask a few questions during Aali's telling of her eskape from the lagomorph and her encounter with L'lyagi.

Though he had concern over women being on the mission, Rainin had been taught proper manners and respect. He offered Aali his only spare tunic that he carried, so that she wouldn't have to continue to wear the rather befouled garb she had been wearing upon being consumed by the lagomorph.

Soon enough voices were heard, and the party encountered the recovering half of their troop just below the site of the dangerous battle. It was clear before getting too close that several of them were severely injured.

Rainin shot Zeb an unpleasant look, as if to say, 'I can't believe you're making me stay with these people,' and turned his horse off the path.

"I'll go round up the other horses, looks like we are going to need them." He was sure he was the best tracker in the group, and he needed some space to cool off.

 

"It seems they like you quite a bit."

Alaz only dully acknowledged this statement, his thoughts elsewhere.
Although most of the memories he had just seen had already begun to blur and fade, one memory in particular stayed clear. His birth, and the shadowy figures taking him away shortly afterward. He tried to think more on this, though his brain was sluggish from exhaustion and shock. Deciding to mull it over later, he fell limp onto the back of his sand horror (ignoring the rather uncomfortable position) and fell asleep.

His horrors who, after realizing he was just asleep, retreated into the earth just below him. After standing guard over him for awhile, Kov eventually decided to go hunting in the immediate vicinity while Spickla tried to find something to do without leaving his watch over Alaz.

 

OOC: (this looked fun, I had to join in.)

Name: Morius Brood

Age: 23

Sex: Male

Height: 5'9"

Appearance: A slim Alfar male, with golden, tanned skin, and huge eyes of a beguiling silver colour with long, feminine lashes. Long, wavy, and shiny black hair falls down to his shoulders and seems almost weightless. He is clothed in a long, worn and tattered black cloak with red embroidery etched along the edges. He wears an extremely revealing, ripped cloth shirt, showing off his toned physique and tight black leather trousers, held up by a multitude of belts and complimented with high leather boots for his somewhat small feet, with various different straps. He has several runes tatooed on his arms, chest, stomach and shoulders, and a definitive scar cutting vertically across his left eye, which is covered by a black, lined tatoo, with points at each end.

Background: Not much is known about Morius' early life, for he prefers not to reveal it. However, it is speculated he comes from ancient Alfar nobility, although no one can prove this. He is a lone wanderer, who tends to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. He is however, known to have a thirst for romance, and prefers neither men, nor women. He is infamous for an affair he had with one of the princes of the Alfar kingdom, four years ago. Both having been sentenced to death, Morius was unable to save his lover and fled.

Personality: He is extremely confident, cocky, stubborn, and arrogant. He mainly looks out for himself, and keeps his own interests at heart.

Weapons/Armor: He wears Ancient Alfar, silver, gemmed wrist-guards, a great repellent to magic. Also wears several necklaces, and rings gemmed to enhance dark magical performance. He doesn't really carry around any weapons.

Elemental school: Black Fire

Socioeconomic status: None, or unknown.

 

Hidden inside his own shadow, Morius watched the party climb the mountain, and combat against the beasts. His mind drifted especially to their lack of magical prowess.

He finally dispelled his cloak of darkness, which whipped away in a shimmer of dark flame. Now, he was standing above the black-clothed Scorpid creature.

"My, my Alaz, you seem to have grown weaker. It disappoints me."

A thin smile spread across his face.

 

From beyond the realm of dreams Alaz heard Spickla chittering quietly underneath him, then faint footsteps, then a strange voice above him.

"My, my Alaz, you seem to have grown weaker. It disappoints me."

He was reluctant to awaken and dive back into his aching body, though if there was one thing he had ever learned from the Shvvlakcarr it was to never turn your back to strange people. Especially if they knew your name.

His eyes cracked opened and gazed upon a strange elf, obscured by illusions that Alaz could only barely tell were there. He glared back, attempting to recognize the face, though failing. He took a moment to consider his options. This elf was an obvious magic user, Alaz couldn't see how that could be made any more clear. Though he could only guess at the elf's chosen specialty, the excessive amount of black gave a less-then-subtle hint. The elf carried no weapons. A pity, they made great opening moves and the face made when one's own weapon is turned against him was priceless. Alaz took another moment to mull it over...

Suddenly, the dirt beneath the elf's feet jerked violently, throwing him off-balance even though he was expecting it. Alaz had noticed that doing so was a bit more difficult then he would have expected and, going on a hunch, punched the elf in the chest instead of knocking him down with sand. The elf fell to the ground with a thud and Alaz's tail was at his throat before he hit the ground. Alaz then struck a fighting stance designed for combating magic users. The whole ordeal took less then five seconds. He then began to speak;

"Who-"

Before he could finish, Spickla shot out of the ground beside the elf, wrapped himself on top of the elf, and sliced his razor plate-teeth threateningly in his face. Alaz's only sign of acknowledgment was a momentary pause.

"-are you?" He finished.

 

As they walked back to the rest of the group, Aali expained her little adventure to Thydore, Zeb, and Rainin, who asked a few questions but otherwise didn't speak. About halfway down, Rainin offered her his spare tunic, which she took gratefully, glad to have something other than her disgustingly filthy clothes, even if it was quite a bit to big for her petite frame. Eventually they reached the rest of the group, many of whom appeared to be injured, where Rainin shot a look at Zeb that clearly displayed his irritation at being rejoined with the group. Aali felt her eyes narrow, Rainin's self-importance and independant thing was really starting to get on her nerves.

"I'll go round up the other horses, looks like we are going to need them." She was tempted to go with him and make sure her horse was all right, but she was pretty sure that as of right now, that would completely push Rainin over the edge so instead she called at his retreating back,

"Make sure you find Jensen!" then went over to rejoin the rest of the group. Surveying the group she did a double take when she noticed a stranger standing over Alaz. Before she could figure out who he was Alaz had pinned him down and taken a defensive stance. She sprinted over to them, not sure if Alaz needed help or not, but thinking it was better to be safe than sorry. She reached their side her hand gripping the dagger still concelaed in her sleeve.

"Whats going on here?"

 

While Rainin searched for the horses and Alaz spoke with the newcomer, Neil fashioned himself a makeshift splint from some nearby branches, but soon opted for a sling when a little practice with his bow revealed that his arm was still useless. When Rainin returned, the party set out again with Aaliyah leading the way. She brought them to the spot the Lagomorph had deposited her, and nearby they found what must be the monastery mon Ich spoke of.

A large section of the mountain had been cut away -- it looked like it had been melted -- leaving a triangular ledge of igneous rock backed by a hundred-foot cliff. Upon this ledge sat a cluster of interconnected buildings. Like the village, most of them were dilapidated and unidentifiable, but some showed signs of halfhearted maintenance. A pathetic-looking garden, occupying a small corner of an old, overgrown field, grew a measly supply of fruits and tubers. The nearest side of the complex was bordered by a wall of similar design to the one encircling the village, branching out from the cliff wall.

As they approached the wall's massive gate, Thydore suddenly leaped from the horse he had formerly refused to dismount and scurried up a tree, stubbornly refusing to set even one foot inside the enclosure.

 

"Who-"

Before he could finish, Spickla shot out of the ground beside the elf, wrapped himself on top of the elf, and sliced his razor plate-teeth threateningly in his face. Alaz's only sign of acknowledgment was a momentary pause.

"-are you?" He finished.

Morius almost felt the Centipede Guardian's teeth slice into his skin, and anticipated the blood which would flow with absolute relish. The devilish smile he had when he first acknowledged Alaz was still plastered on his face as he glared at the Sand Warrior from his apparently defenseless position.

"Whats going on here?"

He could see the girl without having to turn his head and look at her, as a black globe, representing an eye with a white pupil floated by her side. "A scapegoat" he thought. He then noticed there was a dagger concealed in her sleeve, and knew his next move would be difficult to execute - or perhaps not.

In a matter of seconds, Morius' physical form had melted away in a dark, thick ooze from beneath Alaz's seemingly inescapable hold, and materialized from the floating globe behind Aali's left shoulder. He placed his hand swiftly upon her shoulder, and a half moon pendant let loose a strange ringing sound from around his neck as it began to reverberate and float gently.

A droopy black liquid, similar to the ooze he had been replaced with on the ground, flowed from Morius' eyes and ran down his neck, twining impossibly around his arm, and spreading to Aali. She gained a faint black glow, and her facial expression froze, not allowing her to even blink or breathe. He kept a tight grip, but let his stare fall coldly upon Alaz, whose expression was unreadable as he was clothed fully in black, but Morius expected him to have at least a little a hint of surprise.

"It seems I was wrong," Morius' voice was hollow, and seemed distant from the dark fire he was implementing, "but don't try anything fast, or I will end her life." Morius felt the girl try to squirm and fall away. "She's stronger than I thought," he spoke absently in his mind to himself. "I am Morius Brood," he said, and as if by habit, he flicked his hair elegantly with his free hand, "and I know you Alaz, but you don't know me. Although, if I choose to reveal how, it may prove..." and with this, his eyes studied the group nearby cautiously, "...compromising."

"I ask for one thing," Morius changed the subject immediately, and the overly confident tone had also returned to his voice, "allow me to join in on your quest. I have very little interest in the main objective, and I doubt mon Ich would refuse the protection of a Warlock if he offered himself as selflessly as I am."