[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/xh8a8v7.png[/img][/center] [i]"You did not have to shout at her, Choukkud."[/i] Conata tried pressing her bundled up bedsheet closer to her chest. Her whole bed was steaming from the iron anger on her skin. There was a sigh from the next room over. [i]"I know, I lost my temper. She is a willful girl."[/i] The volume rose a fraction. [i]"She is our daughter, though. I do not want her to rush out into the dangerous world thinking that all the answers will be out there, waiting to be plucked from the dirt like a ripe harvest."[/i] They didn't know that she could hear them. She didn't know whether she wanted to listen, either. She was still fuming from their argument. [i]"Well, she is not getting any more answers here, isn't she?"[/i] [i]"She will. When she turns seventeen, that is what I told her long before tonight."[/i] [i]"Do you think she will wait that long? She may still be a child to us, but all the refugees streaming in are just rovaick. Even with Majus' departure, they all flock in to join Sularn's...frankly frightening cult. Conata is only seeing things become more restricted with people not alike to her at all. How do you think she is going to last another year and a half without knowing where she came from? And those dreams she has?"[/i] A few stitches of fabric tore between Conata's fingers. They would never tell them. They were too stupid. [i]"This is the fault of that avatar of Toun. It put ideas in her head. I'm willing to believe that Majus meant different things to what Conata said he mentioned."[/i] [i]"Choukkud!"[/i] Wutni's voice lowered to a hush. [i]"You should not blaspheme like that. Besides, I know you. If you want to blame others, there is something to blame yourself for. Come now, what is it?"[/i] Choukkud was quiet for a considered while. The thump of his sizable backside landing on his favourite straw seat eventually broke the silence. [i]"Is it what you knew? Is it that she is growing up?"[/i] Choukkud still remained silent. [i]"She is the daughter of a god. She was never going to stay here and herd goats for the rest of her days."[/i] Conata felt a sting in her eyes. [i]"She is shaped more and more like an adult human woman every day. The traders say so, even if we have never seen a human before. She still speaks to the traders, every single one that arrives. That's what she hears. Her destiny lies elsewhere, not with people she cannot identify with."[/i] A shuffling told of Wutni nearing Choukkud, likely placing a hand on one of his. [i]"She does not belong here."[/i] More fabric was torn. Conata scrunched her eyes shut and bit down on her fist to avoid audibly sobbing. Choukkud's deep voice replied. [i]"I know. We gave her the heart of a tedar, but she will never be one of us. All we promised was to raise her as such."[/i] Another wave of sobbing forced Conata to bite so hard on her rusting skin that it hurt. Conata could perceive Choukkud's stubborn frown without even being in the room. [i]"But she will exercise patience until she comes of age. Seventeen years old. That is final."[/i] When Wutni and Choukkud retired for the night, Conata still had tears streaming down her cheeks. She threw off her linen and stood up from her bed with bare teeth clenched. They had shown love to her for so long. It was everyone else that had said otherwise. Now, the words kept repeating in her mind. Words that she had never expected to hear from her guardians; even they did not accept her now. Conata's whim to travel to Alefpria previously had some false starts. It had taken her long enough to find out from traders which direction to go. Longer still a route through the Ironhearts north. She cared about none of the lost details when she slammed a leather backpack onto her bed and began angrily stuffing her collection of metal cylinders inside. A few tiny sobs were audible from her as she packed to go. To the stone with Choukkud and Wutni. To the stone with those idiotic fawning goblins. To the stone with Rulanah and Sularn's Oath and all these rovaick. None of them cared. None of them knew. The new nightgown was tossed onto the bed. Conata pulled on a tunic and trousers. The leather tabard she used for blacksmithing was also something she threw over her head to wear. It was simply too bulky to keep in a bag. Her final garments were her boots. She pulled them onto her feet so hard that she nearly rolled her ankle. To the stone with them all. [hr] A rhythm kept Conata's drying eyes from flowing further. It kept her from thinking too much harder about what she was doing. Left foot and right foot kept an even, rapid walking pace. Between each cycle of paces was a quick breath in or quick breath out. The dark caverns clapped back at her, empty as they were but for the soft snores of more itinerant rovaick. Even those background sounds were made quiet against Conata's clapping steps. When she wheeled the last corner, the residual moisture around her eyes lit up with a chill. Ahead was an exit to the mountains lit by only the blue nighttime. She passed the threshold without a second thought. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm7j2luaNGg]Crickets textured the windy slopes.[/url] "Aheh-hem!" Conata's determined face opened into a gasp of surprise and she halted in place. She turned to the source of the noise and saw three familiar azibo lit up in a soft white light that emanated from the finger of the female in front. The female pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "North is [i]that[/i] way, Connie." It was Polia's voice. Conata's previously iron complexion paled as it subtly turned to a humiliated tin. She quickly shut her hanging jaw. [colour=Orange]"Polia? What are you...?"[/colour] Her eyes lit up at the two behind her. [colour=Orange]"Gio! Ruvac! I thought you guys were out rebuilding hain villages!"[/colour] Ruvac extended a hand and began to explain. "We were not needed for too long. Hain are very good at..." He stopped to regain his balance as Conata ran up to both himself and Gio and wrapped an arm each around them. She was smaller but strong enough to keep them both pulled towards her as she pressed her eyes into Ruvac's shoulder. Their red oaths were easily seen on the backs of their hands at this height. [colour=Orange]"I was so worried about you both."[/colour] A bright bronze Conata said, eyes wetting again. She was grinning with relief. [colour=Orange]"Those realta things, they...and I thought...I thought I'd lost you."[/colour] Ruvac and Gio returned the embrace after recovering from their surprise. "We know, Polia told us," Ruvac said. "I was deathly worried for my sister as well, and you, not to mention. I heard you saw one up close." Conata's silver skin pocked with magnesium. "We also heard of those that did not survive," Gio added solemnly. The magnesium began to dull into a lead. The four stopped speaking on that note. Conata did not want to continue on that topic anyway, but not even her friends were spared from the tragedy. Conata slid her hands away from Ruvac and Gio, turned copper, and stepped back to speak with them and Polia. She changed back the subject. [colour=Orange]"I still don't understand. Why are you all out here?"[/colour] Polia spread a wide, sharp-toothed grin in the light of her little white spell. "Isn't it obvious, Connie? We know where you are going." [colour=Orange]"What? You do? I mean..."[/colour] Conata's eyes flicked to the straps of the bag around her shoulders. There was no use denying it. She sighed deeply and looked down. [colour=Orange]"Alright, how did you find out I'm going north?"[/colour] Gio answered in his deep, smooth voice. "We were about to come visit you. We only got back today. Unfortunately, we heard you arguing with your father and you were...very passionate about where you were going. We decided to wait until tomorrow, but Polia made a wager that you would be running away from home before sunrise, so we waited here for you." He looked to Ruvac with a knowing smile. "And now she in owed an extra Tounic planing character, authored by her dear brother." Ruvac rolled his eyes and produced a stone from his pocket with a red rune upon it. It seemed to represent the act of flattening or shaving. It only had two lines, in a deceptively simple, yet crisp, pattern. "It took me a whole week to scribe that. I hope you're happy." Conata almost laughed, turning bronze and shimmering some wavy bismuth. "Very. Every time I smooth my tablet with it, I'll think of your sacrifice, dear brother." Polia was understandably smug in her generous appreciation. She quickly closed her lips and faced Conata. "Anyway, it's not just that we know. We're coming with you to Alefpria, Connie." [colour=Orange]"...Pardon?"[/colour] She lowered her brow. [colour=Orange]"Why do you want to do that? I'm going so I can find out who my real parents were and what I am. You guys know both of those things about yourselves."[/colour] "Oh, calm down, you silly girl, we know," Polia whipped the back of her other hand out. "We want to travel! We want to see what humans and insidie look like. We want to see what they have up north. Maybe meet a fire djinni, eh?" Ruvac added. "We also want to help you, Conata. You rush into everything. If you get into trouble, we want to be there to help." Polia put a fist on her hip. "Not to mention, you've never been good at navigating, Connie. You're like to wander the whole Ironhearts three times over before you find Alefpria." "And we are your friends," the tall Gio's voice cut through. He held his hands together. "We all belong together. You have helped us many times, and we shall help you." The corner of Conata's mouth twitched. [colour=Orange]"We all belong together,"[/colour] she repeated. The back of her eyes burned as her skin turned into a bright silver again. [colour=Orange]"Huh...I guess we do..."[/colour] Conata's lips and eyes narrowed as another pair of tears ran down from her eyes. She sniffed and wiped her face. [colour=Orange]"Sorry, I've been crying a lot tonight."[/colour] "Aww, come here," Polia stepped up and drew Conata into a warm hug. "We were never going to hang about in this settlement anyway. Well, maybe Ruvac, but not me." "Hey..." They separated from the hug before an argument could flare. After another deep breath to recover, Conata smiled and looked up. [colour=Orange]"Alright, Polia, if you're so good at navigating compared to me, you lead the way."[/colour] "Hah! I knew you'd be glad to have me around." Polia looked back at the cave mouth. "We don't really have anyone close here, but if [i]you[/i] wanted to say goodbye to anyone...?" Conata curled her lips and shook her head. [colour=Orange]"I don't want to delay."[/colour] "Very well." The party took some steps towards the path down the mountain. They reached the beaten dirt and Conata stopped to stand in place. She looked at the ground in front of her, turning copper. The three azibo stepped ahead before realising that Conata had stopped. They turned their heads and halted. After a moment, Ruvac spoke. "Are you alright, Conata?" [colour=Orange]"Yeah,"[/colour] she said curiously. [colour=Orange]"It's just..."[/colour] There was a circular shape imprinted into the dirt, surrounded in evenly sized square nodules. Conata wondered how she hadn't noticed it before. It felt like it had been there forever. She shook her head and looked up. [colour=Orange]"It's nothing. Let's go."[/colour] [hr] The progress that the four made that night was not especially lengthy. Conata felt that she could trek all night without stopping but it was treacherous to keep up in the night time, even for her. They instead only went far enough that they could get some distance on whoever would come after them. The next day was the true beginning of the journey. Conata had traced a route down the mountains and to the south-western coast of the ocean. They were able to keep up a brisk pace, in spite of the occasional cliff or detour. Conata was well aware that she could get to Alefpria faster on her own. But, it only took her a week to realise how much more pleasant it was to travel in company. There would be long stretches of barren, salted rocks between the various hain and rovaick tribes, sometimes without so much as a bird of visible wildlife between. It all looked so similar that Conata would have been lost on their occasional inland detours three times a week. Polia did have an uncanny sense of direction. Most of the time, the journey was rather uninteresting. Communities were sparse on these edges -- made from fishing and livestock villages or just small groups of independent rovaick. Still, there were few rovaick they saw without Sularn's Oath. White giants were not uncommon on these undisturbed skirts of the mountains. Ruvac had been counting the days. It had been seven weeks since they set out. And now they found themselves on a narrow goat trail up a weathered, slanted rock face. It had presented no obvious path around without a boat. "Why did we not get a boat again?" Polia complained. She was making an active effort trying not to look down and to her right at the crashing waves below. "Because the last hain village said that going up this trail would be quicker and safer," Ruvac responded. "See the rocks? They would chew up a wooden boat like an eggshell." "Don't make me look down at the sea from here!" Polia snapped. Conata had a much more level voice, mostly because she did not sound tired from the rock climbing. [colour=Orange]"Relax, you two. I can fly to catch anyone that falls."[/colour] Ruvac began to stutter in line with his racing mind. "You can...wait, that's right! You can fly! Wait...hold on, why don't you just fly to Alefpria?" [colour=Orange]"Well...I never said I could [i]land.[/i]"[/colour] "Oh..." Ruvac glanced to the void on his right and gulped. Gio spoke, unnaturally relaxed as he usually sounded. "It serves us not to be thinking of the negative. We were lucky that the hain tribe showed us where this trail was and told us of this way. And it was lucky that our approach to the trail could be on the back of a white giant. That was a pleasant ride." "Scary if you ask me," Ruvac said. "Those things used to kill the likes of us on sight without our Oaths." He pointedly raised his marked wrist. "Plus, it was a trade. Conata made those hain some good metal tools. It was a better trade for them, really." Conata turned her red eyes back to Ruvac for a glance. [colour=Orange]"I didn't expect them to help us. They just looked like they needed them. And I wanted to ask them if they knew more about me. It was a shame that they didn't."[/colour] "Did you expect them to?" Ruvac asked. [colour=Orange]"...No. Not really."[/colour] Gio hummed. "It was very kind of you, nonetheless." Conata shrugged. "We're almost there! Oh, thank Toun, we're almost there! I can see the ledge." Polia's stress was increasing. Ahead was a turn into the mountains to their left, between a large cleft separating two small peaks. A tiny waterfall sprayed into nothing down the sheer cliff a short distance ahead. The party found themselves on a broader, stable path once they reached the cleft. To their right was a burbling stream that supplied the waterfall. They were mostly all grateful to be away from the precarious goat trail, though the stream proved to be clean and refreshing as well. Still, that much fortune did not compare to what they found further up the winding trail. They crested the rocky hills and stopped to look in awe. Beyond the hills was a huge, flat plateau, covered in lush green flora, winding streams, and flocks of various colourful birds. The bowl of land was ringed by more mountains of similar height, though they could be traced all the way around from this altitude. The core giants of the Ironheart mountains could still be seen towering above, though another feature was what made it impressive: In the very centre, wrought of black stone, was a tall tower with two horizontal flanges facing apart from one another. Strangely, this serene and fertile land did not show a single campfire smoke, let alone any trace of civilisation. [colour=Orange]"Blackhammer crater,"[/colour] Conata mumbled, bright in bronze. [colour=Orange]"This place is...amazing. Just...huge."[/colour] Ruvac sniffed and rested his palms on the top of his staff. "Don't get too comfortable. Remember what those hain said about those shining spirits." He turned his head to the rest of them. "They called them soot-flints. They cut up any hain or rovaick that they find. We have to sneak through." Polia sniffed as well and frowned. "Seems a shame that such a beautiful place can't be lived in because of such cruel creatures." "Perhaps that is their purpose. To protect this place," Gio mused. [colour=Orange]"Whatever they are there for, we could make it across to the other trail in a few days if we're still careful."[/colour] Conata took the first few steps down. She stopped and turned to grin at her dubious companions. [colour=Orange]"Come on! How hard can it be?"[/colour] [hr] Conata's confidence had rubbed off on the others by the time they reached the verdant crater floor. They wandered along in the sun and under the trees with nothing resembling a 'soot-flint' in sight. Their journey took them all the way to the afternoon. "I'm starting to think they're just an old myth," Ruvac remarked. Where before they had been trying to stay quiet and take an obscured route, they were now speaking and striding casually. Ruvac only said what they were all thinking by now. "I'm a little disappointed, honestly," Polia said. "I wanted to see something mysterious. Those soot-things sounded perfect." They paced on. The grass rustled under their footsteps. [colour=Orange]"Hey, if this place turns out not to be so dangerous, maybe we could have a closer look at that black monolith?"[/colour] Conata gestured ahead of them at the towering mark above the forest. [colour=Orange]"It's not too far. We could get there before sunset if we walk faster."[/colour] Gio turned his head to show a worried frown. "I am not so sure it is worth the trouble. This place seems...odd. It does not agree with my entrails." Conata smirked. [colour=Orange]"That's what you said about the white giant ride, and you ended up enjoying that."[/colour] "At least I did not have to be dragged onto its back like Ruvac," Gio retorted at a ponderous speed. Polia snorted from ahead of them. Ruvac flared his nostrils. "I'd go to the tower if it means you let me live that down. Maybe I can prove that I'm not always the one who's scared." Conata quirked the corner of her mouth. [colour=Orange]"You mean apart from Polia and-"[/colour] "Polia and the ocean, yes," Ruvac clarified. Polia turned her head. "Pshh-shut up." Ruvac continued. "But look, I have been showing reluctance for everything else. I want to start adventuring a little this time. Besides, what's a rock going to do? Fall on me?" [colour=Orange]"That's the spirit!"[/colour] Conata pumped both her fists encouragingly. [colour=Orange]"This might be our only chance, anyway. Polia? Gio?"[/colour] She grinned. [colour=Orange]"Are you going to be outdone by Ruvac?"[/colour] "Not in a million years," Polia said. She showed her own grin. Gio was more reluctant. He bared his teeth tensely and breathed in. "I suppose we should stick together." With the sun lowering to touch the peaks in the west, the group found themselves walking in the shadow of the towering rock that gave the crater its namesake. The immense landmark scaled up and up with every step closer. They eventually had to bend their necks to see its peak, mouths slowly gaping. It was unlike anything natural or constructed, rather it was alien in any conception of how it could have been formed. Polia put her hands on her hips and looked up at the flanges of the tower. "It really doesn't look much like a hammer if you think about it." She gestured to it. "I've not seen a hammer with that much of its shaft poking out the top. Maybe it's meant to be something else?" Conata pulled her iron hammer out from her bag to compare the two. Polia did have a point. [colour=Orange]"I've not seen a hammer made from...I want to get closer, see what it's made from."[/colour] A copper Conata headed forward. Something black buzzed around the corner of her eye as the others followed along. "Did you feel that?" Gio asked. "Hmm?" Ruvac hummed. "There was a rumble in the earth just now." "It's just the Ironhearts," Polia dismissed with one hand. "They tremble all the time." "No, it's..." He closed his mouth and let out the rest of his breath. "Nevermind." Conata spotted another black shape flashing between two trees. They were barely a few steps from the base of the tower when she stopped. [colour=Orange]"Huh, this thing feels like it's made of..."[/colour] She trailed off and lowered her brow. "...What is it?" Ruvac asked. Conata's eyes widened and she took a sharp breath in. Her entire body flashed into a crust of magnesium. In a blink, she spun, bent her knees, and extended an arm. Three ingots flew out of her bag in the shapes of curved blades. The three azibo flinched and shielded themselves with their arms. [i]Clang-clang-ting![/i] Metal rang out against a crackle of grinding stone. The following thuds against the grass peeked the azibo eyes open. Conata shrieked. [colour=Orange]"Obsidian!"[/colour] A swarm of black stones were flying out of nowhere, spinning towards them. Conata took two steps to get in front of her friends and lifted her arms. The metal she had used to initially defend them shot up from the ground as a set of round bars. She twisted her whole body side to side to guide the bars. Chords of metallic rings and sparks flew, swatting away as many of the stones as she could cover. "By Toun's will, begone!" Ruvac's desperate voice sounded from behind her. In his hand was a tablet with a red ovoid symbol inscribed upon it. The red glowed. As if met by an unseen force, the sharp black stones flying towards them were thrown into a deflected flight around them, shying from the tablet and its powerful symbol. The bubble of safety showed the spatter of sharp obsidian chips around their feet from Conata's deflections, but the bigger stones were still flying, turning. A few more ingots floated out of Conata's bag, the metal began to take spherical shapes and gently orbit around her as she looked on. [colour=Orange]"It's all obsidian! What's going on!?"[/colour] "Look!" Gio pointed with his wooden staff. The stones had stopped trying to cut them and were instead coalescing into a whirlwind that grew tighter and tighter. As one began to form, two more whirlwinds formed and coalesced as well. "Soot flints!" They shone in the sun, forming into jagged, glossy black pillars. Two grinding limbs separated from points at shoulder height and one leg separated to step forward into a humanoid shape. The other coalescing pillars followed suit. Pieces crumbled off them where their rubble rocks ground together at their joints. [centre][hider=They were each as tall as a troll][img]http://i.imgur.com/nRbTm71.jpg[/img][/hider][/centre] "Earth djinnis," Polia corrected through her teeth. One step followed another as the creatures paced towards the group. Their hands crackled into the shape of obsidian axe-blades. They held them up, one raised to strike and another forward to defend. Their walk broke into a ground-thumping sprint. Conata turned into iron. She and her friends had their backs up against the tower. [colour=Orange]"We have to fight our way out!"[/colour] Conata shouted, drawing out her glowing ingots into the shape of large spherical maces. The others braced themselves to face the enemy. Polia gritted her teeth and clenched her soul. "Well, we can try scaring them off!" Sudden violet light sprang from her rising hand. One of the creatures closing in swung at her side. She met the razor-sharp hand with her palm and a reactive burst of power shattered the stone limb in a flash. Shards went flying in every direction. The djinni staggered back, rebalancing from its now missing arm. Meanwhile, Gio bellowed into the sky and drove his staff into the ground. A great lavender-coloured thud shook the grass in front of him and sent another creature flying through the air. It rolled to a stop on the grass behind. That left Conata with the final one. She threw out one of her maces before the obsidian creature could get into reach, straightening her arm out with her fingers curled. The metal swung in the air and cracked the creature on its head. A large shard was knapped off, interrupting the charge, but it was still standing. Conata twisted in place and curled her arm. The mace followed to spin and break off a section of the creatures raised axe-hand. She jabbed, another mace flew forth. It [i]kik[/i]ed onto its torso. The djinni stumbled back a step on impact as another piece fell away. Another burst of obsidian stones erupted from the earth and began to coalesce behind the first three. It was joined in turn by several more. "We may have a problem!" Ruvac said with increasing fear. The coalescing creatures were more earth djinnis. They hadn't even destroyed the first ones, and one was standing maimed of its arm. Just as he had counted seven of them in total, two more began to form within a second. Gio echoed the sentiment. "There are too many! What should we do?!" Conata's eyes were wide, but she stood her ground. [colour=Orange]"Get back!"[/colour] She brought her arms up and together, sending all the metal maces up above her hands, twisting together. They glowed and melded into a tighter and tighter helix, and then flattened into a great cleaver twice as tall as she was. The glow evaporated into solid grey metal. Iron alloyed with doping metals, cored with lead, heavy and hard. [colour=Orange]"Let's see them get up from [i]this![/i]"[/colour] Conata lifted up one knee and swung her hand-joined arms to will the blade around. It sped up as she fell onto her raised foot with an effortful yell. Her arms and the cleaver followed through horizontally over the heads of the azibo and sloped down to the djinnis at waist height. The first djinni was struck on its side with a crack. It then found the upper half of its rubble torso bank sunwise, carried by the unslowing blade beneath it. Another crack -- another -- a series of loud knaps struck each obsidian djinni in half within its reach. The felled djinnis' upper bodies crashed onto the ground and crumbled back into the soil. The legs soon collapsed in turn. The new coalescing djinni to replace the casualties suddenly stopped and lowered their axe-hands. Conata slowed her hands to a stop above her head, steadying the obscenely large cleaver above her fingers in turn. She was grinning like an idiot. [colour=Orange]"Yeah! You stay back, soot-flints!"[/colour] A pair of the obsidian earth djinni turned their heads as if exchanging glances. "That seemed a little too easy," Polia said between catching her breath. Gio murmured. "The ground..." It was shivering. It grew to a tremor, and then to a rumble. The whole world took on a low tremble like a colossal terrified animal under their feet. The group had to bend their knees to keep balance and Conata had to lower the end of her cleaver onto the ground. The earth djinni, in contrast, stood stoically without so much as a toe moved to realign. The ground settled rather suddenly. Everything was quiet. They couldn't see anything new, though a careful hum caught Conata's ear, droning thoughtfully for a long and awkward while. It was coming from everywhere and nowhere. The hum was ended by a low, pondering voice that seemed to let out each word in an uninterrupted hum for each sentence. [colour=DimGray]"Mmmany djinnis have challennnged my domainnn before. Nnnone such as with your nnnature, little creature."[/colour] The language was oddly familiar. Conata did not know how she understood it -- she never remembered even hearing it before. By the looks on her friends' faces, they could hear it but could not understand it at all. Conata called out to the sourceless voice. [colour=Orange]"Who are you? Where are you?"[/colour] She brought her hand to her lips, realising that she was speaking its language back to it. [colour=DimGray]"I ammm the lord of this craterrr. You will hearrr my reputationnn and despair for challenging mmme."[/colour] Conata lowered her brow and opened her mouth. She had not come here for that. "You never told us that you spoke the djinni tongue!" Polia whispered. "What to they want, Connie?" [colour=Orange]"Shh, shut up!"[/colour] Conata hissed back. [colour=Orange]"He's a lord, he thinks we came here to challenge him, I think. He's monologuing or something, I don't know."[/colour] [colour=DimGray]"I becammme by adaptationnn. I took up the airrr, and fought, and found not the viscosity to eat anymorrre. I took up the water, turnnning into a cloud, and then a streammm, and I fought, and founnnd not the energy to eat anymorrre. I took up the flammme, turning into a steammm, and then a fire, and fought, and found nnnot the stability to eat anymorrre. I took up the earrrth, and turned into magmmma, and then the stonnne you see before you. I found not the flexibility to eat anymore."[/colour] Polia continued hissing at Conata under the hidden lords' speech. "Tell him that we're just passing through! We're not even djinnis. They can leave us alone, right?" [colour=Orange]"He might think I'm a djinni?"[/colour] Conata shrugged, keeping her eyes on the lesser obsidian djinnis still around them. [colour=Orange]"I'm not, but...he's speaking in circles already."[/colour] [colour=DimGray]"...And it is in this formmm that I found the sharpnesss to destroy interloperrrs. The knowledge to eat aaall. This spire is mmmy charge! A worrrk of the gods and the inspirationnn of my supremecyyy!"[/colour] Conata half-expected the djinni lord to be so distracted that she could start running away with her friends. The ground rumbling once again put an end to that plan. This time, the seismic crescendo was rapid. The ground behind the lesser djinnis exploded in a soaring coniferous ovoid, scattering soil into the air in uniform flying chunks. Two black hooks the length of Conata's whole body jutted out from the base of the explosion and dug into the adjacent grass like their owner was hoisting itself up. A glowing blue face was the first thing visible as the soil fell, revealing the jet black silhouette of a towering obsidian humanoid. [centre][hider=His skin was sharp enough to cut the very courage that seamed their resolve.][img]http://i.imgur.com/aKmyhTC.jpg[/img][/hider][/centre] [colour=DimGray]"I ammm Vitrummm!"[/colour] The djinni lord stood at four times Conata's height. [colour=DimGray]"Dessspair, interloperrr!"[/colour] Unlike the smaller djinnis, Vitrum's body was ornately sculpted, set in waves of shimmering obsidian blades sizing his build. His face was styled of a disproportionate skull with a large jaw and tiny glowing eyes. Protruding from the top of each clenched black fist were the long stone sickles that pulled him out of the ground. Gio, Ruvac, and even Polia had different thresholds of fear. The sight of Vitrum surpassed them all. The three azibo stood staring up at the djinni lord with terrified eyes and a rictus of hopeless panic. Not Conata. She hefted up her massive cleaver again, holding her joined hands to her shoulder and poised herself to strike. Her iron skin grew hot. [colour=Orange]"I'm not scared of you!"[/colour] She shouted. [colour=Orange]"You [i]won't[/i] hurt my friends. I'll fight you if I have to!"[/colour] [hider=It's Been a Long Time Since Conata's Had Some Attention] Last time, Conata had decided that she was going to act upon Majus' advice and go to Alefpria. We join her a time after Majus has left. She's still in Rulanah. Following an argument with her adoptive father Choukkud, Conata is in bed, thoroughly annoyed that he is not giving her permission to go to Alefpria. She eavesdrops on both Choukkud and Wutni while they talk about the argument. It had apparently gotten quite heated and they discuss whether they were being fair on Conata. The discussion reveals a few things. Firstly, there are still loads of Rovaick refugees coming to Rulanah to join Sularn's cult as it grows in power. Next, the issue of Conata not really belonging in a community of mortal rovaick, let alone goatherds such as themselves, has come to a head. Even they think that she can no longer belong. Finally, they believe they have fulfilled their promise to raise Conata to be kind, but Choukkud is still stubbornly refusing to reveal all until Conata is seventeen. This would mean she would stay for another year and a half. Conata is a mix of pissed off and despondent by this combination of information. She loses her temper and begins packing a bag in tears. Before long, Conata has sneaked out of home at the dead of night and is heading outside. She has been planning the trip to Alefpria for a long time now, and although her information is still incomplete and unreliable, she decides that she cannot wait to set out any longer. At Rulanah's main cavern exit, Conata is confronted by her friends; Ruvac, Gio, and Polia, the scholarly azibo trio. As Ruvac and Gio were out during the blinding purge, Conata shares a happy reunion with them. The azibos explain that they were going to visit earlier, but overheard the fight with Choukkud. This included details on where Conata wanted to travel. They want to come with Conata. Conata is surprised and confused. She asks why if they were not searching for the same things Conata was. Internally, Conata was also still angsty about her non-rovaick identity. The friends respond with a few reasons, but the real kicker is that they feel they ought to help Conata out of a pinch. They are friends, after all. Friends belong together. Conata gets emotional due to feeling like people have not been caring about her troubles lately, until now. She agrees to have her friends along, even if they'll slow her down. On their way out, Conata notices Kinesis' gear symbol still impressed into the ground. Her eyes linger with deja vu, but she does not think anything further of it. Skipping ahead several weeks, the journey of Conata and company has reached the coast of the landbridge-separated sea at the south-western corner of the metatic ocean. They have skirted the coast north for some time, seeing samey rovaick and hain tribes, few of which were not marked with Sularn's oath. They even got to ride a white giant for a while. Now, the team is climbing a goat trail up a steep cliff. The ocean is to their rights and a rock wall is to their lefts. They reach the top to find themselves at the plateau known to the local hain as [i]Blackhammer Crater.[/i] A.K.A. The Hilt. It has become inhabited by lots of greenery, but no civilisation. The local hain tribes speak of 'soot-flints,' creatures that cut any rovaick or hain that set foot within to ribbons. Conata's like "Pfft" and leads her friends in. They go a few days without trouble and decide to check out the massive black tower in the middle. They reach the tower and are confused by its shape, as swords with quillons haven't really been invented in the ironhearts yet. To their surprise, the party suddenly is pelted by a sideways rain of spinning obsidian shards. Conata detects the danger and deflects the stones away in the last moment. Ruvac pulls out a tablet with a Tounic character meaning 'deflect' and holds it out, repelling the incoming small stones. The stones then come together into humanoid shapes in front of them all. These shapes are too big to deflect, so as the obsidian humanoids charge in, the party goes beast-mode with Astartian magic and metal manipulation. Polia mentions that the creatures are probably earth djinns. Conata throws together a big fuckoff cleaver and cuts most of the creatures by the waist, although many have been appearing. At this display of power, the creatures back off. The ground starts rumbling and then a voice is heard. Only Conata can understand it. The voice belongs to Vitrum -- a great obsidian djinni lord who owns the Hilt. Much to Conata and the others' confusion, he believes Conata to be an invading djinni and goes on a monologue about how he has been an elemental of every major kind, having defeated many before him. Once he is done, Vitrum explodes from the ground, revealing an imposing body made from loads of aligned, wavy, obsidian blades. The azibo basically brown their pants on sight. Conata is determined, though. She's been training to fight bigger enemies since she was first given a weapon. She gets her cleaver up and ready to swing, telling Vitrum that she won't let him hurt her friends. Will Conata defeat Vitrum, the obsidian lord of Blackhammer Crater? Will her azibo friends survive? Will they reach Alefpria intact? Find out next time on...Divinus! Ball! Z! [/hider]