[h3][color=teal][center]~~An old terror~~[/center][/color][/h3]
[@Mag Lev][@BurningDaisies]
[hr]

The hug was welcome, even if it wasn't entirely shown on her emotionless features. Even a brief hug would have given Nara a small coating of slime, or at least an unpleasant clammy feeling. Why? Iva couldn't fathom why she was always so nice to her. Annoying even, though in a good way. She was glad Nara was here after all. Someone to talk too, even if she never was able to say much. Someone that didn't make fun of her. Someone she could be her normal awkward self around. It didn't show on her face, but she was happy.

Shaking the thought from her head, she focused back on their predicament. It seemed as though she had quickly come to the same conclusions as she had as well about their predicament. Whether they liked it or not, they weren't in Yggdrasil or even on earth any more from the look of it but before they could theorize further the earth began to rumble. Before Iva could make her own move, Nara moved faster. She pulled her aside, taking a defensive posture and readying a spell. It seemed as though she intended to protect her as well.

Huhu.

She really was glad Nara was here.

Not far from them, a large, lumbering creature seemed to pull itself from the ground. It looked like a rock, some sort of large stone. Patches of leaves vines and putrid wood seemed to weave around the stony frame. Some sort of golem? The answer quickly became apparent. Cracks formed on its chest, giving the thing an impression of a mustached face with a long wooden nose. A troll then? How tiresome. She'd let Nara handle it. Trying to communicate with it would be tiring and headache inducing. 

The way it spoke quickly reinforced that opinion. The troll spoke with a long, heavy accent using words that made her question its IQ. Trolls were notoriously stupid, but this was ridiculous. It hurt her brain even trying to understand what it was saying. She did at least gather it was telling them to get lost. She could do that. She wouldn't mind leaving. She wasn't looking for a fight, after all...though. how did troll brain taste? Probably tough and bland, just like their personalities.

As Nara spoke with the troll, Iva contended herself with with simply idly listening while keeping quiet. She cast a glance to the dark sky, the stars twinkling beautifully above. Honestly, she could care less about the troll, but if Nara could get useful information out of him she'd let her. Easier than fighting with him at least, which would be the only option she could've done successfully. So while the Troll made its reply, she lifted herself off the ground, lounging in the air as if sitting on some invisible chair.

The troll went on to list the dangers to humans. Wolves. 'Grendel' - what was this, Beowulf? And of course, trolls, but at least it gave them a direction to travel in. Beyond the river it seemed was their destination. Ah, they could've already been there had this troll not took so long to say a single sentence.

[color=teal]"Your voice is annoying..."[/color] Iva complained. [color=teal]"Your brain is slower than-"[/color]

Iva's complaining was cut short, a wail echoing trough the air, ringing and echoing off the sides of the mountain and shaking the very earth itself as the brilliant aurora retreated in fear. It was followed by a impossible event. Reality itself seemed to rend and tear, a ripple of impossibility spreading across the mountains. Iva's concentration was thrown off, her levitation ending and sending her onto the ground, landing on her butt as her attention immediately moved from Nara and the Troll, head and body turning towards the mountain she had previously descended. Whatever this was...she was certain of one thing. She and it, were of a similar nature.

The temperature began to plummet as a massive mountain moved in the distance. Uncountable black objects flew into the sky, disappearing between the stars and the terrible, foul cry trailed off into a pitiful lonely whine. The foul wind hit Iva, a blast of clearly psychic energy burrowing into her mind. The whine echoed, lingering and ringing against every neuron, every nerve and every cell in her mind. Red blurred the edges of her vision, pain ebbing and pulsing at the edges of her eye sockets.

A single, primal urge welled within her mind.

[b][i]Consume.[/i][/b]

She understood. Understood all to well. The hunger, the urge. The [i]call[/i], but just as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone.

Iva blinked, the pain quickly subsiding. If she had been of a lesser mind or her mental faculties had not been as strong, she might not have been able to resist. Even in her current state, she could feel it. A little urging at the back of her mind. A feeling in the pit of her stomach. An unnatural [i]hunger[/i]. How tiring. She had just gotten involved in something extremely bad, hadn't she? Standing up, she turned to Nara and walked over.

[color=teal]"...are you alright?"[/color] Iva sighed, giving her friend a light nudge. She was able to ward off most of that psychic attack, but that was likely only because she was good at resisting mental interference. [color=teal]"Whatever that was, scared the forest."[/color]