[h3]Darius [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2798916]→[/url][/h3]	[@Laue]
	[i]Thank. God.[/i] John decided to pull some weight on his own, and that took some burden off Darius. What John had told the elves seemed at least momentarily convincing, turning confrontation into conversation—a change that Darius exuberantly accepted.

	Then, he himself was addressed.

	[b]"But what about your friend? Unlike you, he shows no signs of corrupted Life magic, as far as I can see."[/b]

	[b]"I feel pure elemental magic from you... boy."[/b] The leader of the trio was surely convinced. Pure elemental magic, eh? Darius understood that to mean that he possessed a power that was untainted by the moral compass and an art unto itself, something that couldn't arise out of good versus evil and emerged merely from nature. [i]He must mean the whole...[/i] Darius stared at his hands contemplatively. [i]Ice and water... thing.[/i] That realization set to work in the elves, and their body language softened to the normal vigilance of any warrior. Anything crazy could still get John and Darius killed, but the elves and the demigods had reached at least a delicate agreement.

	Sterling nodded along with John's words, staying true to the facts of the matter. A few ideological differences between him and John showed through, but Darius declined to bring them up or fight them. A petty squabble anyway, considering the current state of affairs. John offered to demonstrate his abilities to the elves, an act that Darius felt ambivalent towards and anxious about, mostly for the reason that it was John's corrupted Life magic that the elves found so wrong between them and that a display thereof could break down the level of diplomacy they had just achieved. Darius, however, kept his mouth shut.

	The demonstration was finished, but before the elves could react, and John could get to the next matter, Darius interjected, [b]"I suppose I will demonstrate the power I have been given."[/b] The wording showed humility, but any wise man would recognize that Darius intended to clear the air of suspicion or at least reduce tension by delivering a testament to the truth. [i]For the sake of posterity,[/i] he reasoned. The young man stepped a little further away from John and the elves to allow himself room to show what he was capable of. From the earth he shaped ice into a column a little shorter than himself, something of a parlor trick but indicative of a higher power. It nonetheless lent itself to what Darius could do, and from there, John carried on.