[center][h1][color=f26522]Carnatia de Luson[/color][/h1][/center]
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[quote]
As Carnathia rushed toward the white light, the whispering from the phantoms intensified, yet they did a little to slow her down.

When she was already behind those five soldiers, her steps were suddenly halted by the presence of a rider wearing decorated plates and winged helmets. The faceless captain stopped to scan his surroundings, yet he appeared unaware of Carnathia's presence. 
Red were the eyes of his black horse, and as the raider commanded his steed to walk away slowly, it sniffed the night air like a vicious hound. 

Towed behind the raider were two elven civilians, dead now, with bodies disfigured beyond recognition, dragged along with knots on their necks and the ropes attached to the raider's wild mare.
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Looking at the rider with a winged helmet towing behind two elves, Carnatia wondered if she had unknowingly caught in the phantoms' illusion despite her best effort. She was sure that she had discarded the whispers of the phantoms as excess, and had focused solely on the lantern's light, and yet...

Neither Gray Flame nor Vesemir had given any more warnings regarding the phantoms aside from 'do not look or touch' and Carnatia was sure she had avoided either, so was this rider...a real non-illusory existence then? Or had she been unknowingly caught in their illusions through methods she was not aware of?

[i][color=f26522]'...If Sir Gray knew of other methods the phantoms would ensnare us into their illusions and fail to warn us, I swear—'[/color][/i]

She shook her head and calmed herself down. Now was not the time. With the mass of phantoms just at the periphery of her visions and the darkness all around, it was a bit hard to quite make out where the others were. And trying to listen for any signs of the others was an exercise in futility, as the whispers of the phantoms drowned every other sound. Only the light of the lantern remained, acting as a beacon.

And so Carnatia drew her rapier, as she continued forward toward the lantern's light. If the rider was an illusion, then he should prove no real danger to her. If it was real, then she would be ready to fight.