[center][h2]Hyznia[/h2]
[sub]Throne Room[/sub][/center]

	Thrallmor looked as if he were about to urge Sulfrax to stay once again, but as Rem spoke up, the King caught his tongue and looked away as the two mages left his throne-room in a hurry. Luke kissed his teeth. "Told ya he wouldn't listen," Luke gawked. Thrallmor let out a long, wheezing sigh in response. "What's all this stuff regarding Illon, [i]kingsly[/i]?" Thrallmor glared at Luke as he used that [i]repugnant[/i] nickname to address him. But he didn't call the Diver out on it. By now, the king had had his fair share of conflict. Albeit reluctantly, the King's lips parted, but no words escaped at first. A few seconds of silence passed. Luke's eyes widened, expecting an answer.

	"Illon's role in all of this is... Complicated," Thrallmor insisted.

	"Hit me. Until Alvios meets with us, I'm not goin' anywhere," Luke rebutted. Thrallmor Sighed, and began to explain the details of Illon to the curious Diver as concisely as he could...

[center][sub]Castle City Square - The Holy Steps[/sub][/center]

	Sulfrax waited until the two of them were completely outside of Thallmor's keep before he offered Rem any sort of response. "I wouldn't call it a scheme, Rem. I've merely a favor to redeem from an old [i]friend[/i] in Illon. A war is not won merely with courage and hope, after all," Sulfrax explained. He paused as they reached the bottom of the holy steps and looked out into the city square cautiously. "Thrallmor will not hear out any of my [i]'schemes'[/i] if I stay with him and his counsel, but truth be told, without the Aid of another Nation, a war with Arcadia will be short, and costly. The king would not like to acknowledge this, I'm sure."

	When he stopped speaking again, he gestured Rem to follow closely as he darted his way into the crowding of civilians as a group of CMAS officials made their way towards the two of them. "I don't doubt that the CMAS already suspect insurgency, either. Look around. Even with so many CMAS traitors, there still remains a handful of loyal [i]peons[/i] eager to relay even the slightest [i]hint[/i] of treachery to Sydney. Eugh.." Sulfrax darted left, then right, then right again, trying to fade into the crowd seamlessly. It proved to be rather impossible with Senna following so closely behind. "Perhaps you should have left your beast on the outskirts. Curse my poor foresight!"

[center][h2]Xena Rock fields[/h2]
[sub]The Wrecked ATV Clearing[/sub][/center]

	Midge looked for Jenso behind the rocks, but the man proved far too fast for his exceptional aim. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! I can't lock onto him!" She whined, darting her gun from left to right. She fired two shots, both of which tore through stone but didn't even come close to hitting Jenso. When fireballs starting rising, she pulled her gun back. "What in blazes?" Before she or Dom could react though, flames encompassed their crows nest and completely blocked their vision. Dom was hit dead on, and his arm was overtaken by fire.

	"OH MY GOD!" He squealed, dropping and rolling in a panic. "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I'M ON FIRE OH MY GOD"

	"Quit yelling Dom!" Midge insisted. But Dom kept squealing like a useless hog.

	Just then, as the flames engulfed the plateau, Brian nudged Yvette's shoulder. "They're surrounded by some kind of magic!" He whispered, "Flames, I think?" Yvette nodded, and inched towards the front window. She slowly moved past Cecil's corpse, and took aim at the large protruding rock-face. Just as Brian said, it was covered in flames. "I should have noticed them sooner, I'm so sorry!" Brian apologized. Yvette hushed him and aimed her weapon carefully.

	"It doesn't matter now," She whispered, pulling the trigger of her gun. "They're dead."

	The barrel of Yvette's weapon let out a single sphere of swirling blue energy at a high velocity. It shrieked loudly as it tore through the air, heading towards the rock that Dom and Midge were camping from. What kind of weapon was that? Well, everyone nearby would find out in a few seconds, if they weren't [i]dead[/i] by then.

	Meanwhile, nearly a mile to the southwest, Alvios was sprinting through the rockfields, attempting to find Yvette in the hellish terrain of rocks and gravel.