FallenReaper/SunderedEcho - Marya/Auriel --- Running. Auriel Lavai was running, nay, fleeing. She had been for what felt like an age, every part of her body burning with pain. Her muscles cried out to rest, her lungs seemed unable to draw enough breath. Her arms were wet with blood, a thin sheen coating her pale skin, seeping from a number of thin, shallow cuts. Her long red hair was unbound and flowing behind her, her axe in its ring and occasionally hitting her leg, aggravating a burn present there from a lightning bolt. Her dagger was still clutched in her left hand, and soaked in blood, not all of it hers. Her pursuers had long since given up the chase, but she dared not stop. The moments dragged on with every step coming slower and more sluggishly, her vision blurring. The land seemed to have changed since she’d fled the forest border, not green and verdant, but grey and almost otherworldly. She was trying to make sense of it with her exhaustion wracked brain, but her body would not go on. She stumbled, and managed five more steps before falling to ground. In the last moment before she fell unconscious, she finally felt her body relax. Mar’s eyes took in the strange colorless landscape, so different and alien when compared to the rich gold of the Yarosmere dunes. The strangeness had held the Naga’s attention for a bit now as she’d been left to her devices. Mainly to settle in and explore the territory of her residence...for how long, however, remained to be seen in the Naga’s mind. She had allowed her mind to relax before something moved, fast and unsteady, over the landscape. Her attention was easily ensnared by the unexpected, her head perked upright and body alerted to possible danger. Naturally her attention zoomed upon in an attempt to determine what it was. Mar narrowed her eyes against the ‘afternoon’ sun which was forever fixed betwixt twilight hours. To aid her less than satisfactory sight, her tongue flicked out to taste the scents, the thin tongue snaked exited and retreated. From the scent that reached her, Mar could tell whatever had stumbled into the College grounds was bleeding at least. Wounded no doubt, but by what was anyone’s guess. Her hand went for her scythe, her finger held it tightly within her grasp and pulled it free from the ground. It was archaic and simple: a long, white rib sharpened at the side and tied to a much longer bone which gave her a lengthy reach and wide swept. However it was able to penetrate most beast’s hides easily enough. It wasn’t until the Wood Elf had stumbled for the last time, her feet brought her a few more paces, before her energy gave bring her to the ground. Cautiously, Mar approached. Her muscles shifted and skirted along the ground, the tail wounded its shape path towards the fallen. For several moments the Naga just stood there. Her eyes noted the the shallow breathing as Mar weighed the risk and finally, brought her coils forward. The tail slipped under the lithe form and gently lifted her, ready stop if there was movements. Auriel snapped suddenly back into a waking state as she felt something slither beneath her. Her eyes flicked open, and her fingers tightened around the slick hilt of her dagger. Above her seemed to be a human woman, although something looked off about her. That something was made abundantly clear as Auriels eyes traveled down. This was no human, whatever this creature was was half human and half snake. And carrying a vicious looking bone scythe. Still too exhausted to think properly, her instincts kicked in. Seeing a monster with a weapon before her, she leaped to her feet as quickly as she could, which was far slower than she would’ve liked, and swung her crimson dagger in a reverse grip at the things throat, exclaiming in elven “Ulban!” as she went. At the flash of the blade, Mar’s body reacted. Her torso tilted backwards, placed some quick space between the dagger and her throat as her eyes stayed free of emotion. Her eyes had picked up on the body’s tension just before the fallen Elf had attempted her attack. In that split second it took to register the aggression, she had made a decision that prevented damage. Her coils moved with a mind of its own. It pulled back, slide around Auriel’s middle then pinned the Elf down harshly. Likely Auriel, unless she did something, would feel her thin frame slammed into the earth and weighed down. Once Mar was certain the attacker wasn’t moving, she planted her weapon within reach distance and gripped the dagger hand’s wrist, mindful of any pitiful swipes made at her. She knew words wouldn’t do much good to a wounded animal. Their minds panicked and laced with fear that any common sense had fled them, however, this creature wasn’t a beast. It took on a humanoid form and thus intelligent to some degree. At least Mar assumed. Her voice might’ve seemed cold when she spoke to the Elf, her voice leveled and firm. “Calm yourself...if you can or I won’t release you…” Before she knew what was happening, Auriel was trapped within the coiled tail of the snake-creature. She writhed and wriggled in an attempt to escape, but the constricting coils would not let up, and soon she felt herself being thrown onto the ground. She was briefly winded when she hit, having no way to stop or steady herself and she vaguely heard a woman's voice, catching only the last part of what she said. Was it the snake thing talking? It was human enough that it probably could. When she caught her breath again, a task made slightly difficult with the snakes tail still pressing down on her chest, she spoke, speaking the common tongue this time. “What the hell are you?” Her vision was slightly hazy and contact with the rough scales had aggravated the cuts on her arms. Auriel could tell she was defeated, and at the mercy of the snake-thing. She didn’t expect to survive, and couldn’t even spite the thing as her dagger had fallen out of reach. Mar waited for several seconds, inwardly wondered if she had misjudged the creature’s intelligence level until the female spoke. Winded breath pressed through her lips, the air seemed to have been knocked from her, as she asked a question that didn’t surprise the Naga in the least. Certain the woman couldn’t move out from under her, Mar crossed over her arms against her bare torso and stared at the woman. In her mind, Mar was determining a possible answer. Memories from her earlier journey surfaced within her head until she finally broke the silence. “A Naga… from Yarosmere. Now, I repeat… will you calm down? Or should I wait for you pass out first?” Mar once more asked, the Naga’s head tilted a little towards where the wound had been located on the female, a subtle hint at her meaning. She noted the humanoid had avoided answering her earlier question. At this moment, it was important because it would decide on if throwing the Elf was a necessary precaution to consider. Namely, if this female attacked her again even without her blade on hand. She wasn’t the first creature to attack her in mistake. It seemed a common trait to in for biped ones like this Elf and each time, she had been met with aggression. Very few, unlike the Orc Karnage, hadn’t the foresight not to merely attack on sight then have the common sense to determine if they are intelligent to some degree. She took a closer look at the Elf, had seen only a few become lost in the vast desert on her watch and often forced them away towards the nearest town. Her eyes jerked up to the dull scene tinted in the twilight color though it had just edged to noon. In the background, a loud bell tolled, the only reliable mark for time within the College, and caused her to whip her head into that direction immediately. In the distance a small mass had assembled towards the iron gates. Their old crank faintly clanked and rattled upon being raised to allow the new students flood in, their forms tightly huddled together to disappear behind the stone walls. Again Mar turned back to Auriel when she spoke again. A bell tolled in the distance…. It reminded Auriel of Eania’s capital. It was normally a mark of time, but Auriel had long since lost track of the time of day, and not long after that she’d stopped caring. A Naga? What was that? She thought. She’d never been as far south as Yarosmere, but she’d never heard of half snake people before, and the capital of Eania had every species in existence. Or so she had thought. She had heard hearsay that the Yarosmerians were barbaric and tribal. She’d never approached one to find out, but they certainly looked intimidating. This snake woman wasn’t even wearing anything though, and her weapon certainly looked barbaric. This strange appearance only convinced Auriel further that the end had come. Now the snake-woman, the Naga, was asking her to calm down. “Why should I calm down… Naga? So you can have an easy kill? Why don’t you just hurry up with it, I don’t have all day.” Only one alternative remained to her for any chance of escape. One she couldn’t believe she was considering. She didn’t really want to hurt this Naga thing, but if it was her or the snake-woman, Auriel would choose herself. She’d already used her magic once today. It was too late to deny she had it now. Why not use it if it could save her? She tried to gather her strength for a burst of fire, anywhere would do, but it was hard to focus with the fog in her mind and nothing happened.. “If I wanted to kill you, Elf, then I won’t waste my breath talking to you.” Mar answered, unfazed by the female’s use of her race. After all it was what she was and never once had she told the creature her true name. “Besides, all I would’ve had to do is crush you with a little pressure then what I’ve chosen to apply. I merely don’t intend to allow you to kill me. So calm down and I’ll release you or I’ll wait until you pass out, leaving you to die here on your own…” It was straight and to the point, a painful truth that neither could deny. If left alone, the Elf would’ve likely perished to blood loss. Her body became still while she shifted her lower jaw, realigned the small fangs within the top of her mouth. Her eyes stayed fixed upon the woman and waited for any laxing sign that she was calming, her tail ready to push harder or lighten depending on the reaction. Seconds passed as Auriels groggy mind processed the words spoken by the Naga. From how she was feeling, it likely wouldn’t be long before the Naga’s prediction about her dying from her wounds would come true. If she wanted to live, and she really did, her only choice was to submit to whatever things this beast might do. With a great effort of will, she commanded her body to relax. She was even more at the mercy of the strange creature now than before. “I… you’re right… I’m not feeling so good.” She managed, still half expecting the Naga to just crush her anyway. The moment the Elf relaxed for several seconds, Mar’s tail released the pressure. It lifted and pulled back, once more coiled underneath her and away from the female’s body. Again her eyes broke from the eagle spread Elfen to have her head jerk around her surrounding as if expecting some Ravine beast or other vicious creature to appear. She didn’t out of habit, more than actually believed she was in danger, though her reaction might’ve aroused the wounded female’s suspicions. Mar didn’t reply to the obvious remark made instead she asked the status, enabled her to some what gauge if there was need to aid the Elf back to the College. “Can you walk at all and if so, how far?” Auriel breathed a sigh of relief as the Naga slithered off her. She really was friendly, or at least not hostile… She still seemed agitated though, casting about as if expecting an ambush. A shrill laugh escaped Auriels lips at the sight, thinking the Naga was looking for her pursuers. “You can stop searching… The people that did this to me couldn’t keep up.” She reached then for her dagger, now able to reach the hilt, and grasped it, feeling its reassuring weight. “Of course I can walk.” She said confidently, starting to push herself up from the ground. She stood straight up, her agility intact even if her grace had fallen away several kilometers back. The moment she stood, though, she realized it had been a poor choice to make as her world spun out of control and she fell straight back to the ground with an exclamation, barely avoiding cutting herself on her dagger. She bit at her lip for the mistake, holding her tongue. Cursing the Naga for her own stupidity would not get her anywhere. She thought for a moment then. She doubted she could make it to any town on her own, even if she knew where any were. The Naga wasn’t offering any help… She’d have to ask. She pushed herself to a sitting position and looked at the Naga’s face. “I uh… I don’t think I can walk on my own.” “There’s always other dangers besides the ones you know,” Mar commented, then returned to look at the Elf when she started to move. The biped was wobbly like a newborn Naga just crawling out her egg and it didn’t take long before she started to fall back down. The long tail lashed out and caught the Elf’s side, careful not to injury her, to cushion the tumble. It wasn’t a surprise. One thing the Naga did find it was to be an unsavory turn of events. If this woman couldn’t make it to the College then likely Mar would have to carry her but her expression remained even and unchanged when the thought crossed her mind. No point in complaining was one thing she knew. She watched the stranger sit upright, the only thing she was able to easily, then state what was already clear. “There’s a College not far. They might have healers…” Mar started then added. “Since you can’t walk then I’ll have to pull you along. Get up on my tail and try to stay awake.” Last thing Mar wanted was the Elf dying from blood loss and never waking up again. Carrying a dead body was never a good thing with any species. Auriel felt the blood drain from her face at the mention of the college. So this was Fates big joke for her, she was going to end up at the college after all. For a moment she considered denying the Naga’s offer and just sitting back to die, but it was a quickly quelled thought. Magic wasn’t so bad that she would die over it, and there was always a chance that she’d be able to leave before they figured out she was a mageblood. She sheathed her dagger, slightly surprised the sheath hadn’t been lost in her mad dash and subsequent tussle with a snake-woman, then began to climb onto the Naga’s tail, putting her arms around the woman's waist. “Definitely one of the stranger ways I’ve traveled…” She said softly. “It’s not about to become a common occurrence…” was all Mar said then slithered off towards the College.