[color=lightgray] [color=cornflowerblue][i]Left. Ahead, fifteen paces.[/i][/color] Shirik stalked up the river, following the directions in their mind. Velhass climbed higher into the tree far on the other side. Hood down low, Shirik’s flames were all but nonexistent from the beast’s perspective. Especially since it did not know it was being hunted. [color=cornflowerblue][i]She is drinking, eyes to the sun.[/i][/color] It was setting over the mountain, Shirik was behind the beast. It stood on six narrow legs, had coare fur that flared in hues of red and green, to ward off some animals. Two eyes like kaleidoscopes darted into a clearing and down to its feet while it lapped up water from the river. Velhass recalled Shirik referring to the strange animal as a rakthir. They were solitary things, prone to running from conflict. Shirik also said that the more important thing about them was that they had more meat than most creatures in the area. More to be harvested with less killing. They taught him that this was how they respected the world and what it provided for them, and Velhass scouted this specific beast out with that in mind. [color=cornflowerblue][i]It will leave soon. You should-[/i][/color] [color=d68300][i]Quiet.[/i][/color] It was strange, hearing Shirik’s voice in his mind. Even the fact that Velhass [i]could[/i] hear it spoke volumes of how capable he was becoming, but Shirik’s voice felt like hot coals against his mind. It crackled, and it left smoke to linger with his thoughts. Shirik gently raised their spear above their head, using their opposite hand to aim the tip directly at the heart of the rakthir. They wanted the beast to die as quickly as possible, lest it suffer in its last moments. Silence stretched out of the dim, dusky forest as the rakthir raised its head to the setting sun. Just as it turned to walk off into the trees, a thousand ancestors threw a spear into its heart, their wisdom and experience all working through one ever-burning descendent. The rakthir fell silently to the ground. Shirik whispered words unheard by their son, who came clambering over stones in the water. [color=cornflowerblue]”How… Did you kill it so quickly? It didn’t even twitch.”[/color] [color=d68300]”It was not done by me, Velhass. It was done through me. We Iriad remember the deeds of our ancestors. All but the earliest of mine were hunters. The oldest ways of the hunt live through me, as they do in the Myriad.”[/color] Velhass’ awe was written on his face. [color=cornflowerblue]”One day, I want to hunt like you.”[/color] If Shirik could smile, they would have. [color=d68300]”One day, boy. One day.”[/color] [hr] A bird with feathers darker than a Tekeri’s streaked across the sky, over trees and hills, through the countryside of the Ascendancy. Its eyes lazily scanned from side to side, from the pink hue of the sun to the rising greater moon. In this form, Tural was best equipped to patrol the widest area of his team. Every squad of Inquisitors had an expert for all forms of magic, even Stone, albeit not of the Sovereign variety. But every life mage Inquisitors was therefore naturally the best at recon, able to take forms that rogue thought mages wouldn’t expect. This was the last known location of the child they chased. He ran like a fool from them, unaware he would’ve been spared if he simply surrendered. Salaketh had Tural patrolling this area constantly as of late. It had been almost a year now, and they were still looking for him. No other inquisitor in the Ascendancy, Sovereignty or Mythadia had even caught a glimpse of the boy, so he couldn’t have been moving much. He needed to stop and rest from flying so long, so he perched himself in a tree and reverted back to his natural state. Still staring out at the forest, the idea that he could be here, of all places seemed all but- [i]There.[/i] Down in the biggest forest in the area, something pricked against Tural’s senses. Thought magic was being used somewhere. It was too wide to pinpoint where, but he had a trail now. Somewhere, down below, there was a thought mage. And so, Tural turned his mind inwards, ringing a metaphorical bell. [color=silver][i]I’ve found something…[/i][/color] Intrigue. Approval. Concern. Ideas were conveyed back to him like heat from a fire. Tural became a bird once again, circled back into a valley, shifting back into his Tekeri form upon landing, putting his mask on before anything else, and then his armor. There behind him was a Glen, two S’tor, and Driisu, all dressed in their Inquisitor armor. Not a word was said, but a conversation was held. [hr] [center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/hzWSZBl9zGKBkjcRbuA8svnXvaiQJSRAa2ZKSe3bkCY/https/fontmeme.com/permalink/230828/3480d2b7c759790f845d4698af0e4cd3.png[/img][/center] [hr] [color=d68300]”Bridges do not collapse on their lonesome. It may be different on Earth, but our bridges stand for centuries. This… This was sabotage,”[/color] Shirik had likely crossed this exact bridge hundreds of times over the millennia. There were things older than them that were just as unbreakable, and someone broke this. [color=d68300]”Listen to the world. This place we are in, it is home to predators that would swallow a Glen whole. A warband is only rations for the cold to them. We are not alone. Silbermine, your scouts would be wise to spread thin,”[/color] they warned, just before Ixtaro started jumping across the ruined remains of the bridge. They laughed their usual horrific, demented laugh. [color=d68300]”She is right to press on. There is foul play here.”[/color] But they began weaving a circle of flame into the air, first. Wisps of glowing heat became strange symbols in the air, forming something not unlike what Shirik used to communicate with the humans on the day of their arrival. It oriented itself perpendicular to the ground, and slowly spun in place. [color=d68300]”I am going with her. If you are ambushed, remain near this. I will use it to incinerate your assailants from afar,”[/color] Shirik instructed, before trudging forth and leaping off of the cliff. And they floated up, rather than fell. Thick waves of distorted air shimmered underneath Shirik’s feet, allowing them to loosely remain at a steady elevation and push forward at a pace somewhat quicker than Ixtaro’s. They caught up with her a few seconds after taking off. [color=d68300]”I have seen the faces of gods, and left them weeping in their graves, and I fear your bravery!”[/color] They joked, clearly amused by Ixtaro, as the two scouted ahead. [/color]