FallenReaper/Sundered Echo

Darkness.
The first sensation that returned to Auriel was that of touch. She could feel soft sheets under her, something she’d missed since leaving the Eanian capital. Where the stinging wounds had been, now she felt a cold but soothing feeling. She could hear footsteps on stone nearby and soon thereafter she smelled the clean smell of an infirmary. Her body ached - she doubted she would be going anywhere quickly any time soon. One eye flickered open for a moment, seeing only the carved stone roof. It was quite well lit, though it didn’t seem like sunlight to her. She kept her breathing calm and her eyes shut. Her left hand moved slightly to check if her dagger was there - it wasn’t. She tried to stop herself from panicking at being unarmed, and it took all her might to keep her breathing steady. She couldn’t let whoever had her know she was awake. She had to get away. Her heart was thundering in her ears. She’d never been so helpless in her life.

Samuel, or Sam as he prefered, had noted something odd about one of the monitoring bed runes. One of the small, lightly colored stone in the right corner upon the headboard in each bed, had started to flicker. It flashed at the same rate was it’s current patient. Almost in a pattern that seemed to race desperately in an unhealthy manner. The elderly man’s head tilted a bit in confusion. His soft, bright blue eyes narrowed upon the one that currently occupied it. A young Wood Elf form the look of her with her side bandaged up and slightly seeping again, he frowned at the sight, causing him to pick up small jar. It had pasty green goo made from College growing herbs grounded well with additional ingredients. Though the school had it’s own Vitamancer mage, the healers prefered more traditional methods as opposite to calling Lidda for every single wound. Sadly at the end of the day the woman would be utterly drained and in need of medical care herself. 

Sam pulled up a wooden stool while he set the bowl, beside her dagger, upon the table at his side. His hands gently pulled the sheet back and then patient’s already very revealing shirt a little higher, his body twisted back to the bowl and dabbed his fingers to scoop up a bit. Then he generously applied it until it painted the flesh slightly green. Next he reached for the bandages he had stashed under the bed, the white cloth ideal for patching wounds and soaking up blood. A soft, merry little tune crept to his mind while he hummed it. 

Auriel felt her leather singlet being pulled up, but stopped once her stomach was revealed. Right after, she felt the soft touch of a healer, she let whoever it was work for a moment. He, she could tell by the tone, started whistling in short order. Good. He was not expecting anything to happen. He was comfortable. Auriels eyes flickered open the same moment her hand began to move, grasping towards the mans arm. She rolled onto her side so as to make use of her other arm. As she did so she caught a glimpse of naked steel on the bedside table, her weapons!

She reached with her free hand towards her dagger as she twisted the old mans hand in her own. When her hand closed around the familiar, now clean, hilt of her dagger she suddenly found it stuck to the table. Her eyes widened in surprise and her heart raced even faster.

Sam wasn’t expecting anything eventful today but he sure got a surprise when his patient’s eyes snapped open. His teeth gritted when she twisted his hand, the aged tendons seemed to protest and cause his arthritis to flare once more. He was old so anything he could possibly do would’ve not been nearly enough to prevent it. Instead, he bore it, his other hand immediately dropped the bandages as they rolled across his lap and onto the floor. If she twisted any harder, even if she didn’t mean to, then likely she would break some bones. He noted her surprise when she realize her dagger was stuck fast onto the table top. Naturally she didn’t know about the twin runes, a Psychomancy and Electromancy, that read only the intentions of harm and caused the later to magnetize. The weapon wouldn’t move now, no matter how hard she tugged or jerked. 

“Let go of my hand...or you’re going to break it.” Sam said through his twisted expression, his fingers feebly attempted to pry her own off his hand. It didn’t take much strength to beat him, even his seven year old granddaughter could out arm wrestle him, and so he failed in his tries. “You’re not going to be able to slit my throat and run for it, my dear. I was just tending your wounds was all. It started to bleed again…” he couldn’t finish until she had release his aching hand.

Auriel looked at the man in confusion, without her weapons all she had was her nails, and she could hardly scratch her way to freedom. “No.” She said sternly. Another, slightly longer look around the room revealed no immediate danger. “Why.” She said, a little less confident this time. Bits and pieces of what happened to get her here were starting to come back to her now. She remembered a snake and a woman, being carried by someone, voices.

Sam’s teeth gnashed a bite, his breath a little strained as he heard her answer followed up by question. “Just let go of my hand. If you break it, I can’t heal anyone else and I’ll be too busy withering in pain to tell you anything. You need to calm down and let go. I’m pretty sure you won’t need much to restrain a 58 year old man.” 

He took a deeper breath and added, “I much rather not have the Headmaster get the wrong impression. Harming others isn’t allowed in the school and precautions are made to prevent it. Now, please… I’m not as young as I use to be.” 

Auriel untwisted the old mans arm, but kept it firmly in her grip. He was talking about this being a school… Of course! She remembered then. She’d run headlong to the College. The college of [I]mages[/I]. “Damnit! Rhach! Yaru! You’re telling me this is the [I]Twilight College[/I]!” She’d spent years denying her magic, denying this place ever existed. Suddenly, a panic filled her once more. Did this doctor know about her mageblood? She had no clue as to how someone else could tell a mageblood from a normal person until the person used magic. “What do you know about me Doctor!” She asked with a raised voice, trying to sound like she was in control. She had to find out if this doctor knew about her mageblood. If he did, she would likely never get out of here.

Sam flinched a little less after the wood elf, seemingly a little frantic and upset by mention of the school, loosen her grasp. As the pain faded only a little bit, Sam didn’t bother to pull his hand out because he doubted she would release him. This wasn’t the first a student had reacted in such a brazen and threatening manner but it didn’t mean he enjoyed it. The healer didn’t like the fact she would hurt others, him or even herself if she continued to act this way. When she raised, the old man’s ears unwillingly caught every word and for a moment, sat there a little confused. What did she mean? He wondered, his eyes peered at her closely in hopes a hard enough look would reveal the reasons for her fear. 

“I only know you were injured and bleeding. If you keep this up, you’ll reopen that wound and it will start bleeding again.” Sam said in the same calm manner. 

However, another voice, slightly gravelly and sharp seemed to come behind Auriel. “I would suggest you calm down and let go of the old man…nice and easy, then lift your hands where I can see them. “To make sure she got his point, something hard pressed her in the back. 

With a weapon of some kind obviously ready to end her escape attempt quite prematurely, Auriel let go of the old man, holding both hands in the air and open, the universal sign of surrender. She turned to face away from whatever was threatening her this time and swung her legs off the bed before stepping down off of it entirely. They didn’t know she was a mageblood. if she could just keep it that way long enough to get out… “Alright. Fine. You mages and your tricks have got me at a disadvantage. I surrender. Now who are you and what are you going to do with me?” She still faced away from the threatener with the gravely voice, but she assumed he was some kind of mage.

“Personally, if you had done that shit where I came from, I won’t think twice about slicing off your head and shoving it down your throat. Alas, I’m nice guy and you were nice enough to release the old man. As for being a mage… off by a long shot. Nice guess though but I think you’ll have to try again.” The voice said with a little cockiness in it, the speaker clearly smug about the wood elf’s choice. 

When she slide from the bed, the blade followed slightly as a dark shadow emerged behind her and out of her line of vision. It was Zaad, a demon bounded to Khan, his four red eyes followed the little spitfire with as much trust he would’ve held for a crook near an open bank vault. His head tilted a bit to the healer. The old healer had started to rub his wrist slightly once Doll face had released him. He had a slightly relieved look that quickly turned alarmed, his next words aimed to defuse the intense situation. “She’s just upset and scared, Zaad there’s no ne-” 

“No need?” the demon asked, his eyebrow raise in question then snapped, “If I didn’t come along then Doll Face here would’ve snapped your wrist and left you for dead old man!”

Auriel was initially slightly confused by the chatter between the two men in the room with her. Her course of action became clear as gravel voice finished though. She began to slowly turn around as she spoke “Doll Face? Did you just call me Dol-” She stopped quite abruptly as she clapped eyes on her insulter. Apparently she’d almost initiated a verbal sparring match with a demon. The moment of being stunned was very brief however. “Shit! Demon!” She yelled, leaping backwards. “Get away from me Demon or I’ll… I’ll…” She was armed only with her nails and teeth. She didn’t fancy her chances against a demon even with a weapon. Her mind was coming back to her though, and with it her fear was falling away, to be replaced by her usual bravado.

Zaad wasn’t surprised when the Wood Elf turned around and her sentence stopped dead in its tracks. Or fact she started to yell, her body leapt back defensively and seemed ready to attack him. Not that it would do her much good since she couldn’t do much unarmed. The medical staff had done a Rune check after all for any hidden weapons, aimed on removing any surprises, then set all them on the table. His eyes rolled at her quick shift then snapped, “Yeah, yeah, the whole damn demon thing again. And to be honest, Doll Face, I doubt you could do shit right now… You’re unarmed and helpless.” 

The demon couldn’t help the smirk at the last comment, ignoring Sam’s slight glare at Zaad for scaring the poor girl. Both them knew Zaad couldn’t hurt the young woman, not without Khan’s instructions, but that didn’t stop the threat.

This demon had a lot of nerve. Auriel had engaged in insulting matches before though, and wasn’t entirely unprepared even now. Regardless, he absolutely could not be allowed to keep calling her that. “Call me Doll Face once more, demon, and Armed or no I’ll make you regret it. It seems to me you’re a demon of barking, with no bite at all.” In a brief moment of foolish bravery, she followed her taunts by sticking out her tongue at him. “Come and get me dusty.” She couldn’t resist. Angering a demon was generally a bad idea, but it was too much fun.

Zaad’s cocky grin faded a bit, annoyance clear on his face at her remark. If she only knew that he was forced, day and night, to follow his demonomancer’s leash. Then again, it was likely she would’ve been worse. His eyes narrowed upon her with a dark look, his body straightened before he replied. “I’ll bite you when I want to waste time, Doll Face,” he placed stress on the now sticking nickname, “At least I wasn’t foolish enough to have to be sa-”

The two hadn’t been aware that in the bed next to Auriel, their fighting had stirred someone awake. A young intermediate student who had been injured during in his last mission-one that unfortunately left a deep fear of demon within him- had started to wake, his brow dampened and hair sticking to his forehead in a sloppy mess. His sleepy eyes turned just to stop Zaad who immediately froze. He had met the youth before, the novice sent several flames his way, and quickly tensed when he noticed the fear edged to the student’s eyes. 

“Oh shi-” Zaad started but never finished when the boy screamed, sending a weakened flare of fire right at him. The only problem with his aim was the fact Auriel was stuck in between them.

Auriel gritted her teeth at his use of the name. She couldn’t really follow through with her threat, but as she fumed at her powerlessness the hair on the back of her neck began to stand on end. [I]Danger.[/I] What happened next was too quick for her to realise what she’d done. A great heat was suddenly at her back and in a blur she thought only to direct it towards Zaad. Flames roared around her, not her own, she knew, for there were far more than she’d ever generated on her own, not touching her skin or garments once and reforming into a bolt in front of her. It was messy and poorly controlled but pointing in precisely the right direction.

As the flames left her, a satisfied grin spread across her face. The demon would get it [I]now[/I].

Zaad’s eyes widened at the unexpected turn of events, namely the fact the elven bitch was a mage and she had the nerve to toss fire right into his face! The black sand crackled as heat dowsed it, instantly hardened like a stiff mask which fixed his features into a glass mask. His glowing red eyes dulled and took on a faded look while he just stood there. The flames had extinguished on contact luckily which meant nothing else was burning other than a black, smoldering demon. Zaad naturally wanted to snap her neck right then and there. HIs form rattled, the crystal like shard fell away only to recollect once more back into his form. 

“You fucking bitch!” He hollered, seemed intent on straggling the Wood Elf right there. Until Sam’s clapping had stopped him causing the demon to turn and look at the old man, his rosy face turned up in a kind smile. 

“Very good for a first time,” the old man said in assumption, “I’ve been waiting for someone to do something like that to him for a long time. I do apologize for Connor, the poor boy’s been through a lot lately and when it seems from not using his magic, any emotional stress will cause a sudden burst. It tends to happen with some mages when they try to let their magic fade. Instead of it just vanishing, it merely takes a bit of stress and it comes right back to life in a more powerful way.” 

The healer then turned to the boy, still jerking and twitching from the sight of Zaad, to calm him down. Once eased, Sam added a comment to the young Elf, “I’m required to ask you something important but first, I think it might be ideal to introduce ourselves. My name is Samuel and that is Zaad, a demon attached to our demonomancer Khan who is current Headmaster of the College. So miss...?”

“It wasn’t me.” Auriel quickly exclaimed. “It was him.” She said pointing to the mage behind her. “I’m not a mage. No need to introduce yourselves… Can I go now? I’m going now.” Auriel could see this going downhill very quickly after that little display. She glanced around looking for the way out.

“You can leave… but you really shouldn’t lie about not being a mage. It tends not to work with this,” Sam pulled a small carved gem hidden in his robe, the small cateye was a brilliant sheen and very delicate. “You have a choice. We don’t force anyone to join if that’s what you’re thinking. Our role is to merely teach. What you want to do with that knowledge, either to harness the power you might have within yourself or allow it never to be use again is your choice. We only prove an environment that’s safe and built for such learning. If you would like, I will have one of the staff saddle a horse with supplies, and have the Vitamancy teacher heal you before you go. I much rather not have your wound get infected as I’ve seen many died that way before and wish on it no creature.” 

“You mages and your runes...” Muttered Auriel as she began to turn away. ”Fine, I’m a mage. I don’t want anything to do with it though. I hope you don’t want the horse back. Thanks for the healing offer doc, but I can handle myself.” She walked to the table with her weapons and pulled them off quickly, half expecting them to still be stuck down, holstering both the dagger and the axe in their rightful places, then turning to head to the door. She’d gone barely a step before being interrupted.

The man made no effort to stop her, but Zaad on the other hand scoffed at her choice. “Figures Doll Face would be a coward not to stay. I doubt she could even learn to control her magic, let alone stick it out for a month.” 

The demons words cut into her, stopping her in her tracks. Was she really going to let [I]him[/I] be right? She gritted her teeth and thought about taking another step. “Screw you demon.” Not one of her best retorts to be sure. Would it really be so bad to learn magic? At least then she could stop dodging the conscription gangs. A great sigh escaped her as she decided, finally, to stop running. “Alright, fine. I’m not going to lay around any more though. Sorry doc.” She turned to the demon then. “I hope you like being turned into glass, Dusty. Because it’ll be your new pass-time now. I am going to stay. And I’m going to make your existence even more hellish than it is already.”

Zaad shook his head, then smirked, “You wish, Dollie, but you’re not my type and I’m not that desperate. I don’t think you’ll last, mainly since you were so eager to walk out the door not too long ago. I know your type all too well. Independent, hot tempered, and think you know it all. After the Opening Feast, your little ass will be shaking its way right out the front gate before I can say Fire. And that is likely to be a Fact!”

Auriel grinned, this was great! No-one had been able to keep up with her since Ghannos. Better yet, this one looked like she could stab it and keep going. “I’m sure you’d love to watch my ass shaking mister river sand, you really are a poor liar. I wouldn’t go near you anyway, since its obvious even the sand in Yarosmere rejected you and your face of horrors.” It wasn’t quite as easy to find insults when the opponent was a demon from the Inferno. This was actually something of a challenge.

Not missing a beat, Zaad snapped off his own counter, “This is coming from the woman that couldn’t make up her mind if she was coming or going. Which means, you’ll not stick with it!” 

“Since you two are getting along so well,” Sam interrupted with a slight mirth hidden in his comment, “Would you mind taking the conversation outside? My patients need their rest after all.” 

Zaad just rolled his four eyes and grudgingly obeyed. He still couldn’t help but add another thorn into the Wood Elf’s side as his sand floated towards the exit, “It’s not like she’s able to keep up with me anyway.” 

Auriels grin was ferocious as she followed the demon of sand out of the infirmary. “Thats right dusty. Run away from me. I know you can't stand seeing someone prettier than you.”