[color=lightgray] [color=silver][I]I have not narrowed the region down properly, as of yet. But powerful magic was used.[/i][/color] [color=red][i]We’ll need to get closer. Rest, Duuli and I will scout. Carnperra forms.[/i][/color] Salaketh was stern, as far as Inquisitors went. He was the one who they all looked to for stability, and direction in the field. The old Glen stood, while Duuli hid their encampment with a mound of rocks and mud. To the outside, it simply looked like a hill after her handiwork. Once the two had their armor off, Tural laid his hand on each of them. They became a pair of predatory birds with dark green and brown feathers, ideal for blending in with the forest. With their wing structures, it was one of the fastest avians on the planet, hunting at any time it was awake. Perfect for emergencies. Duuli took off first, and Salaketh followed her. Tural relayed directions while they flew. [color=green][i]He thinks it’s the child that ran from us a year ago. What are the chances?[/i][/color] Duuli asked. [color=red][i]Significant. No other enclave in the Ascendancy, Mythadia or the Sovereignty has reported a rogue with his description. Reports are nonexistent, he hasn’t moved anywhere, if at all.[/i][/color] [color=green][i]I find it hard to believe that a child has eluded every Inquisitor in the known world. Either we’re negligent, or he’s too competent. We may be walking into something dreadful, Salaketh.[/i][/color] [color=red][i]Then you’ll keep your wits about you.[/i][/color] They couldn’t shift back like Tural, so all they could do was scout for anything suspicious. The forest was dead silent. Every nocturnal predator gave them a wide berth at the sight of airborne hunters. The woods in this dense valley of an area blurred past them like a day-old hangover. Salaketh wanted this child. He was a professional in all the ways an Inquisitor should’ve been, and more. He slept less than his squad all did combined. He always carried most of the burden when they needed to resist magic. He was the anchor, he was their rock. And right now, he was some bastard child’s reckoning. Duuli caught an updraft up above a clearing and used the moonlight to scan by a river. The rogue couldn’t have gotten far. She saw a light tucked into the hills, and glided down further. She landed on a roof of thatch, clay and timber. Behind her was a dissonantly lush garden, and before her was a young S’tor, carrying a slain rakthir over his shoulders. Walking beside him was a being with the silhouette of an Iriad. But they were wreathed in fire. Salaketh felt Duuli’s confusion, and flew overhead, landing in a tree. The confusion was reciprocated. [color=green][i]That can’t be real.[/i][/color] Back in Bestik, there was an Iriad Inquisitor who told stories of one of their kind who was perpetually burning, citing it as an old legend to keep children from acting out. And Duuli had heard the myth of travelers running into one before. But this was real. [color=red][i]Rogue located. One thrall with him. Heat mage.[/i][/color] [center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/hzWSZBl9zGKBkjcRbuA8svnXvaiQJSRAa2ZKSe3bkCY/https/fontmeme.com/permalink/230828/3480d2b7c759790f845d4698af0e4cd3.png[/img][/center] [hr] Floating forth, propelled by the flames served two purposes for Shirik. The first was to keep up with the group and avoid being slowed down. From here, hanging over the water, Shirik could’ve easily bartered bandits or vagabonds out of sword range. The second purpose, was to take in the area while the rest crossed the bridge. They had to focus on the path ahead, and mind its crumbling state. Shirik essentially had lookout duty for the brief second. A third purpose made itself present, however. Everything around them grew more and more ominous by the second. Trees shook, and the water grew still. This was becoming a running theme- Interlopers signaled by a deafening lack of signs. Everything was [i]too[/i] quiet, until the moment demons sprung forth. They ambushed the group, Silbermine caught on quickly. This was good. What wasn’t good was the tentacled horror that burst from underneath Shirik. They expected this tactic from life mages in the form of predatory marine life. But [i]this…[/i] Floating above the bridge gave Shirik just enough breathing room to make one swift, albeit ham fisted move in retaliation. They thrust their staff down, as if they were shoving a person backwards, and the mirage of heat beneath them because a raging fireball, sputtering out as quickly as it formed. It was, ultimately, an explosion and not a proper spell. And Shirik was propelled upwards, and back to where they started. The blast flung them in the direction of Mallory and Silbermine, dozens of feet higher than they anticipated. While it got them out of the clutches of that abomination, it put Shirik in a precarious situation. The propulsion of Shirik’s magic hinges on how much heat they expelled. And because they were not expelling enough heat to maintain their current height, Shirik sunk like a rock. Silbermine, Mallory and the knights would feel a downward draft of sudden heat as they touched down, stumbling and falling to one knee with a [i]crunch[/i] near the Glen lord. A more keen-eyed individual would note that bits of black, gritty material seemed to fall of of Shirik’s body as they stood up, leaning slightly on their staff. [color=d68300]”The battlefield unifies even the most distant banners. We fight together!”[/color] Despite their differences, Shirik was a soldier at heart, just like the Glen of Silbermine’s house. Even in their seemingly weary state, Shirik steeled themself. Flames erupted from their crackling shell, as the made a swiping motion with a glowing finger. The blazing ring turned, and raced into the sky. With a flick of their wrist, it curved down, and flew like a meteor on a collision course with the creature that they just escaped from. The one Ixtaro was closest to, it seemed. [/color]