[color=lightgray]Shirik came back later than they had intended. The forest was growing quieter by the day, and all its creatures followed. They came back with a respectable kill, but that had been left behind when they saw the chaos at home. Their storehouse was ash, the smoker that Velhass used was ruined, and the boy was nowhere to be found.

He was gone, and the only indication that anything had happened was a thin trail of blood and multiple sets of footprints all leading in the same direction. But Shirik did not follow. No, they couldn’t, for they felt a weakness overcome them, and bring them to their knees in the aftermath of whatever had happened. [i]Please don’t let it be true,[/i] they thought, over and over, as they screamed inwards for the strength to move. Shirik was far, far too old to be afraid of death when it came knocking, but he was just a [i]boy.[/i]

They thought back to everything the two had done in their time together, to the mental link they had occasionally used to stay connected. Velhass would’ve used it to contact Shirik if he could. He was powerful, [i]too[/i] powerful for his own damned good sometimes, he would be screaming into Shirik’s skull from the other side of Mythadia right now if he were… [i]Alive.[/i]

The ground gave off wisps of smoke as Shirik came back to reality. Someone had come and killed their son. And there was only one group of people on this rock that would dare kill a child so cruelly.

The realization, the sobering reconciliation between confusion and fact crashed against Shirik as a glacier crashed against a cliff. It burned, not like anything that burned inside them for the last millennium in which they lived. All Shirik could do was [i]scream.[/i] The quiet sanctuary the two had built together was bathed in colors of gold, white and vibrant cerulean.

[i][color=#D68300]“[/color][color=#CE8009]M[/color][color=#C77D12]y[/color] [color=#B87724]s[/color][color=#B1742D]o[/color][color=#A97136]n[/color][color=#A26E3F]…[/color] [color=#936851]I[/color] [color=#856264]w[/color][color=#7D5F6D]i[/color][color=#765C76]l[/color][color=#6E597F]l[/color] [color=#605491]a[/color][color=#58519A]v[/color][color=#514EA3]e[/color][color=#4A4BAD]n[/color][color=#4248B6]g[/color][color=#3B45BF]e[/color] [color=#2C3FD1]y[/color][color=#253CDA]o[/color][color=#1E39E3]u[/color][color=#1636EC].[/color][color=#0F33F5]”[/color][/i]

[hr]

Night had fallen not long ago, so the Inquisitors took to using lanterns to light their way. Dra’kell’s heat magic could have lit their way, but it would have been too obvious. Salaketh took the lead, carrying the dead child’s body over his back. Duuli and Dra’kell followed behind him, Tural circled overhead. Namsterra walked a notable distance behind them.

Everyone knew the dangers of being a thought mage, of being an Inquisitor. They knew the weight that they took on when they hunted rogues and policed the use of thought magic. This child, Velhass as he was called by the Iriad, was just one drop in a river to them. There was not a hint of remorse in the minds of anyone else. Not even Duuli, who had pulled the trigger.

The squad moved in silence, not sharing an audible word between any of them. The forest was dead silent, as if casting judgment upon the murderers. The axe forgets, and yet the trees remembered. Once they got out of the woods, they would all be converted into bird form by Tural, including the corpse, and they would return to their base of operations. Velhass would be reported as officially executed, and-

The sky split open.

They stepped through a clearing, the Inquisitors could see night turn into day as a colossal fireball fell down overhead. None of them moved. Duuli made a motion with her arms, and a boulder of equal size was flung upwards through the trees to intercept it. Waves of heat washed over the boulder and were sent outwards in every direction. The surrounding trees were kissed by the blaze, and were burned.

Everyone took up battle positions. The trees caught fire [i]much[/i] too quickly, as it spread up and down them like they were covered in oil. In only moments, the forest was aglow with the fire.

Tural’s eyes were adjusted to the darkness, so they struggled to find the instigator. But he didn’t need to, because their attacker came out into the open.

Against the golden background of trees ravaged by the inferno, a cold blue glow cut through. Wearing a cloak of blackened leather and clutching a staff, Shirik glared at the Inquisitors. Their flames roared outwards beyond their usual warm hue, fueled by hatred, by [i]rage.[/i]

[color=0831FF]”You… You took him away from me!”[/color] Shirik swung their staff in their direction, and a jet of blue flames sprayed forth like the breath of a dragon. 

Namsterra flexed their fingers as a pair of metal tower shields loosed from her back and blocked the fire like a pair of doors closing together. The shields glowed hot enough to shape with a hammer, but they held.

[color=0831FF]”He was my son! My [i]family!”[/i][/color]

They stepped closer, and their footprints were nothing but ash. The ground rose up and snapped shut around Shirik as Duuli closed in, but it immediately exploded outward as in a ball of heat. Rock and dirt were sent everywhere.

[color=red][i]Formation two.[/i][/color]

Salaketh unslung his halberd. Duuli readied her crossbow, and Dra’Kell’s immediate area began to develop a layer of ice. The Inquisitors moved into a specific formation, while strange shapes began to burn brightly in the sky. 

[color=red][i]Engage.[/i][/color]

[center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/hzWSZBl9zGKBkjcRbuA8svnXvaiQJSRAa2ZKSe3bkCY/https/fontmeme.com/permalink/230828/3480d2b7c759790f845d4698af0e4cd3.png[/img][/center]
[hr]

The mimic beasts were frozen into brittle statues, and thick fog rolled over their battlefield. It obscured the group’s vision, but at least no one else had been killed just yet. This was manageable, as eyesight typically went both ways for creatures on this world. Now, they would have a clear test if that applied to these beasts as well. Shirik gripped their staff and kept low to the ground. If they flew overhead like this, it would only tire them out more but also make them the most vulnerable target. But there were still more of them, as was made apparent by the arms slithering across the bridge.

[color=d68300]”Yes- We need higher ground!”[/color] One of the Glen knights had the right idea, to change battlefields. The fog was a smokescreen that could theoretically cover their retreat, and if they got to more favorable terrain, they could entrench and fight more cohesively. 

[color=d68300]”This way-“[/color] Shirik waved a hand in the direction of the opposite end on the bridge, where they were going in the first place. Biting cold overtook the air, to condense the steam and clear their way a little and prevent someone from falling into the water. But the timing of this was almost comical, because as they began to clear the way, an arm of stone shot out from the mist and struck Shirik straight across the chest. Bit of blackened bark and sparks of flame sputtered outwards as they were flung backwards.

Their staff cluttered towards the edge of the bridge, threatening to be flung into the water below. 

Shirik had the metaphorical wind knocked out of them, as they landed within arm’s reach of Silbermine. [color=d68300]”The cold is their weakness. They move like water, so we freeze them into ice!”[/color] They shouted, and began to weave another spell into the air, somewhat quicker as they stood to their feet. Shirik fired another bolt of freezing, invisible air at the supposed origin of the attack, unable to clearly see through the mist.

They were feeling unsteady on their feet, stunned by the attack.

Now would be a damn good time for Shirik to not be the only heat mage on this journey.


[/color]