Katrina's own display of mystic arts was quite impressive. The flames felt different to her, but she wasn't able to place why. Sage had not taken the woman as one skilled in such arts. She appeared in all honesty as more of a rouge or thief type. Someone skilled in close combat. Maybe that was a far miscalculation on her part. None-the-less it enticed a smirk on her pink lips. If only Katrina knew just how small of an example of her power that was.

"That they are," was Sage's only response to the woman's jest.

The reaction that the magic show got out of Revna amused her greatly. During their sparing matches she had always wondered what her friend would have said should she have shown her talent. Not that she would have ever dreamt of displaying it within the seven villages. "You could always spar me with them if you'd like." She teased the taller woman. "As for lighting him on fire, I'm afraid it would have felt like hurting a frightened puppy. His words were hurtful, but he's always been only a handsome face. No real strength in his body."

It wasn't that she had never wondered about if she had decided to settle. Hendrick wasn't a bad person, while his views had come to light as misplaced; he had never tried to hurt her. In the years since leaving the Order he had been a loyal friend. He came from a well-off merchant family. Marrying him would have lent to a comfortable life. One that would have been devoid of children but with many friends and companionship. Unfortunately, she had yet to settle her restless soul. Their friendship had been fleeting from the start. Eventually she would have always reached this point.

Sage walked to her steed; a grey dappled stallion named Ghast. He was a temperamental horse, so unruly to anyone but the people he chose to like that he had once pinned Hendrick between his body and the side of her shop. She enjoyed that he had a grand personality however. In a quick motion she mounted to ready for their long awaited departure.

[hr]
These lands were nothing that she had experienced before. Many talked of the lands outside the barrier. They talked of the staleness and lack of life. The once vibrant world had fallen to utter ruin by the demons. Great cities had been reduced to ash. Nobility and the class system hadn't mattered in the decay of the world. No one was safe, be it an orphan child or a prestigious king. They all died one after another by either slaughter, enslavement, starvation, or plague. Those that were lucky enough to adjust either made it to the Seven Villages or now live in hiding. 

No one had talked about the energy though.

The aura of such a place felt suffocating. It was nothing like that villages she was accustomed to. The longer than rode the quieter it seemed to get. It was eerie and uncomfortable. Not even a mother's embrace could warm the coldness of the void. It became apparent to Sage quickly that the villages had sheltered her. She would never admit it to a living soul.

She didn't regret coming on this journey. Just being past the barrier parts of her felt more alive than she may have ever been. The air felt open and unrestricted. It was stale due to the lack of living vegetation but still crisp from the coming fall air. Soon she would be of age. The coming of fall meant she would be fully grown. Mentally she had been an adult for a long long time. It felt strange to recognize that she would come of age in a place she had not grown up.

The song Osric sang, she knew it well. Many people sang it around the villages. His voice had been honed over the years. It calmed her to hear his singing again. It reminded her that part of home was with her. It brought much solace to her. She was glad so many familiar faces were going to be on this journey. She hoped that her and Katrina would come to see eye to eye at some point. They were laying their lives in front of each other after all.

The group started to talk of stopping for rest. Her body unaccustomed to such long riding made her feel like that wasn't a bad idea. Everything felt so stiff. Sage hoped they would be nearing a resting point.