The moment Willo removed the tile that had ‘Everything’ carved into it, the rune sent a pulse of light whizzing across the wall which left the room. It [i]did [/i] seem to do something. The glow of the rune however persisted.

[color=a187be]“The barrier persists.”[/color] Lazarus responded, his voice barely audible through the long hall as he didn’t even bother to raise his voice.

Silence, and more slience, followed by a sudden high pitched screech resonating through the entire castle. It sounded other-worldly, in-human, unlike any other being or plagued creature alike. Some[i]thing[/i] had obviously been disturbed . . . or released. The shriek came from the door to which the blood trail lead. That something was now likely on its way and Willo was now obviously under a time constraint to either try and solve the puzzle still, or prepare for whatever came next.

[hr]

In Kiruth Jonathan was just arriving at the scene of commotion after passing through a mostly deserted town, which was not surprising, really, due to his arrival being long after dusk.

It was no surprise that there would be a crowd just outside what seemed to be a pub. However the congregation had other reasons for being there. The road between the pub and the opposite building was scarred with gashes, obviously due to recent combat.

“Please remain calm and maintain your distance. This does not concern you.” A voice said.

The words clearly had no effect on the mob, instead bringing about even more backlash, people demanding answers.

As he was sat on top of his trusty mount, Jonathan could easily see over the mass of people. At the center two fully fledged hunters. 

The younger of them, possibly recent graduate, was preoccupied with keeping the large crowd at bay, his attempts mostly ending in failure. The fact that he didn’t look quite as formal as most graduate hunters do, didn’t help. Green spiked hair, so long in fact, that it just [i]had[/i] to be held up by some form of Vitae spell or Exicus rune, in addition to oversized pants and a mere open jacket with nothing else underneath. Not quite the hunter role model indeed.

All the while the other one, was inspecting two bodies. He, on the other hand, looked like a seasoned hunter. Long dark hair bound in one long braid, a barely visible stubble and coat that made his protective equipment a matter of guesswork. Just as he stood up and glanced at the crowd Jonathan could finally see his face as well. Definitely a seasoned hunter, if the scarring over his velvet eye was any indication. 

Both bodies laid in large pools of blood, one scene more gruesome than the other, with one of the bodies having glistening white spikes protruding from its chest. Ice maybe? It wasn’t a pretty sight.

The seasoned hunter went over and inspected the second body which had a deep gash in its neck, possibly made by a sizeable axe.

“[i]Please[/i], remain calm.” The young tried again as the crowd continued with their gripe.

[hr]

Not too far from Coalstrike at the sawmill, the four tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. With both Sapphire and Imgor debilitated, the situation had the potential of going sour really fast.

Imgors familiar dug his way underneath the Wyvern and popped back up on the other side of the sawmill. Right on cue the ground underneath the Wyvern collapsed along with a portion of the sawmill itself. Sounds of movement came from the whole as the creature was now clearly awake. However the sound of scuffle turned into yelps of what seemed like pain from the creature.

Moments later the group of four was enveloped in literal wall of darkness, together with a large portion of the forest. It looked like dome of perfect blackness which interestingly let the light of the sun pass through it but nothing else.

[color=8882be]“Of course it had to be one of the more elaborate traps.”[/color] Joshua affirmed before continuing [color=8882be]“Don’t touch the darkness!”[/color] he finished redundantly as the dangers of touching whatever the barrier was made of was pretty much common sense.