[center][h3][u][color=#cbc66d] Roslyn Wicke [/color][/u][/h3][/center][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vzhDyH3.png[/img][/center][center][color=#cbc66d]"Glad I'm not the only one fighting things bigger than me."[/color][/center][h1][center]Before the War[/center][/h1][sub][center]Location: Ersand'Enise [/center][/sub]
[h2]Girls Night Out[/h2][hider=******] 
Date:Ardanes 5th, DZ55

Another auction had ended, leaving Roslyn to socialize with her friends. Ciro had offered to share one of his recent purchases: a temporal pizza. The first bite was horrid causing her face to scrunch up as she pushed past it. She dreaded a second, but pushed it down and tried it again. It shocked her to find it was much better the next time. As the Revidian took a bit of teasing about milk and pizza, she took a moment to check on her purchases. 

When she looked up again, she spied Xiuyang frolicking in her warm blanket as she joined Sevlin playing with her snowsweeper plushie. Roslyn regretted not getting one. They were adorable and soft looking, but she had limited funds. There was always next time, she told herself. 

Securing her things in her bag, she rose onto her feet. She naturally felt awkward as she rarely had close friends back home. Rumors, gossip and more kept the overcautious villagers away. Naturally stuff like that spread and grew out of control. Lost in her own thoughts, she barely spotted Marceline perfectly belly flop into the snowsweeper plushie. 

Roslyn blinked then commented the first thing on her mind."I think it ate Marceline..."

The only thing that remained was a single, giant fluffy sock sticking out. “I guess it’s not the worst way to disappear, is it?” 
 
Beside her, she heard Laska grumble. "Reminds me of greyspace."

A tiny voice emerged from there. "I'll call you when I'm hungry."

[i]Of course you will…[/i] Roslyn thought while she stuck out her tongue. She spotted Xiuyang slink behind Laska, seemingly locked in debate. Deciding to help her friend out, she smirked and casually walked up behind the nun. She shoved her in. Not too hard of course. Edyta let out a yelp and began to tumble, she wouldn’t be seen for the rest of the day. A little worried about a revenge attack, Roslyn stepped back from the plushie fort.    
 
"Should I bring in snacks? You all look rather cozy." Roslyn asked, hoping the others could hear her. They couldn’t of course. She stepped aside to let Guy dip his head into the fort and inquire about Tekah. 

"Even my brother would know better than to interrupt a bunch of girls in a pillow fort..." Roslyn commented, then watched the fireworks.

"You brought it!" squealed Seviin.

"NO!" shrieked Marci. Instinctively, she reached out with her cripple-no-jutsu and delivered a punch.

"Look, it's good to eat your vegeta-" Guy was punched in the face by a freakishly strong teenager. Reminded him of his days training.

"Oh! Omigods! I'm sorry!" Marceline yelped.

Seviin turned and scowled at her. "In Mother Oirase's name! Why are you Kerremans so violent!?"

"Why the nose, it's always the nose. It's fine, not the first time, Tekah hates being woken up, is she here?" Guy shrugged it off and looked around, "Xuiyang?"

"I thought I saw her," Seviin offered helpfully.

"I'm here. I've achieved enlightenment." Xiuyang called from somewhere inside. 

Roslyn peeked in. "Wow, I didn't know you had a mean punch." She cast a little binding on the Perrench man’s nose, slowing the bleeding. 

"When all you got is arms, they get pretty jacked, you know." Marceline replied. 

"I will make sure never to anger you then. Mind if I join ya?"

"I feel like I've lost it," Marcie sighed, trying to center herself again.

She closed her eyes. "Do enter, one with hair and balls and a crooked nose. I will be watching you with my third eye." 

She opened a second eye instead, though. "Oh, and yes! Come in, Rosy."

Roslyn started to crawl in and smiled, impressed by the fort. "Oh, wow, this is nice."

Xiuyang shared her blanket with Marci. "This. This is the way."

"Bring the buudvuud," Seviin said contentedly.

"Coffee," amended Marci.

"It [i]is[/i], suunei," Marci agreed with Xiuyang. "It is." She opened an eye. "I have the suunei pass," she prodded Seviin, "right?"

"Good for you," he shook his head with no more context needed. He looked over to Seviin, "Ah she probably bloobed out for some reason, she'll be back in do time" He handed her the cabbage as thanks with a knife to help cut it. "Enjoy yourself. I've been trying to grow them for fun."

He was given multiple requests and out of instinct, "Of course." He paused on how his daughter trained him to say yes to requests for food.

Not sure how to navigate the fort, Roslyn became stuck rather fast. Naturally, the other girls came to her rescue. "Whoa!" Roslyn cried as she was helped in, then sank into the soft goodness.

Seviin yawned. "Welcome."

"To the land of snuggles," added Marci.

"Thanks. I haven't done anything like this before. This is nice." She leaned back into the plushies.

"But, I just got the cabbage..." Seviin added in a disappointed voice. She glanced at the other two, fast asleep. She patted the cabbage gently. "Don't worry, little green friend," she said in a soft voice. "You will have your time and we will have lots of fun."

Quickly the fort’s spell began to drift over each of them. Seviin was the only one awake, in the end. Mother Oirase had clearly called on her to be their guardian. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little yanii."

Look at all the huusoi: so small! So warm. You'd almost never guess that they secretly ate yasoi children once in a while. Well, that was what Seviin had been taught once, as a child.

-----
When pillows crashed down, Roslyn shifted and curled tighter into a ball. She mumbled something faint in Hendlish as she resisted waking up. "Na, Garith, gad fi. (No, Garith, let me be.)"

"Well, I don't know who Garith is, but [i]I[/i] won't let you be either," Marceline teased, reaching down to ruffle her hair. The tethered was seated in her wheelchair now, stifling a yawn. "With that much energy in me, I don't think I'll sleep again for hours..." She glanced about, as if looking for some place to go, something to do.

"Ugh, damn it all. I finally get invited to something [i]kinda[/i] like a sleepover, and I do the lame thing and fall asleep right away," Xiuyang groaned groggily. Glancing out at the stars, she looked surprised to see how late it was, even though she'd just checked the time. "We didn't even have time for girl talk. I must have been so exhausted..." She accepted the tea gratefully and took a sip. "I wish I could have made more memories like this before everything got so crazy. People talking about how they feel like they just got thrust into adulthood... I was already an adult. If these times don't stop being so interesting soon, I'll feel like an old lady by next week." She sipped her tea again and looked up. "Uh, sorry. Rant over."

Upon being poked, Roslyn's face scrunched up and her form recoiled. She groaned a bit in protest then snuggled her face deeper into the surface she laid on. In her dreams, her brother was prodding her arm and teasing her. "Naaaaa..." She drew out the last vowel as her mind started to stir. Her vision blurred while her palm rubbed at her eyes, expecting to wake up in her dorm room.

She blinked to find herself surrounded by Xiuyang, Marci, and Seviin? Realization washed over her at what had happened. "I guess I was more tired than I thought I was. Honestly, the best sleep I had for some time." She continued to rub the grit from her eyes.

The dice landed right beside her face just before she sat up, before Marci's hands clapped over them. "Yousawnothing," the tethered squeaked.

Xiuyang giggled in earnest, now, as Marci and Seviin immediately began acting like children, as if they'd all just been waiting for one of them to give the rest of them permission to let go of their worries and have some fun. She thought about thanking Marci. She thought about finally apologizing for not being there for her when she confronted Juulet, but now... this was not the time to be earnest. It was time to have fun.

"Dice of fortune, dice of fate, speak with numbers small and great..." She also took out some dice, and tried to think of a fun question, something that would spark only laughter and joy. "How many... children will I have?"

She was blushing before the dice even hit the ground. It didn't matter what the number was—it simply made her happy to even be able to ask that kind of question.

Marci blew a raspberry and giggled, her laughter echoing in the cavernous expanse of the warehouse. "Well, if it helps, I'm 43." She closed her eyes and hummed mystically. "I'm guessing... seven?" She cracked one open a sliver.

Roslyn arched an eyebrow at Marceline. Impulsively, she shot back. "How do you know what I saw?"

She barely glimpsed the dice before she rose from her spot. Her hands tucked her skirt underneath as she caught Xiuyang's words. With a smile, she made a guess. "Four?"

"Oh my gods," Xiuyang blurted out as she saw the number.

Marci nodded eagerly.

Seviin narrowed her eyes.

"Don't make me say it," she groaned. Her face was beet red.

"You will be very fecund," she replied. "Greatly blessed by Mother Oirase." She nodded sagely. "I say... ten!"

"Come on, Xiuyang. We have to know." Roslyn prodded.

"Yes, just the yanii," Seviin corrected. "I already know." She nodded vigorously and winked.

"Nine..." the girl confessed through her hands.

"Well, better a big family than none at all." Roslyn smirked.

"Okay." Pursing her lips, Seviin shrugged. "I was one off."

Marceline rolled as well.

"Dice of fortune, dice of fate, speak with numbers small and great. How many lovers will I take?"

She clapped her hand over it. "Guess!" she squealed, and her laughter echoed into the night. "It's a sacred number..."

"Five?" Roslyn wagered, making the obvious choice.

Roslyn's head whipped back toward her best friend. That was a really high number to guess, she thought.

"Bruja!" Marci accused. "What sort of harlot do you think of me!?"

Seviin's eyes widened and she squeezed Marci's shoulders from the side. "She is a good girl: pure and chaste."

Marci arched an eyebrow. "I... wouldn't go that far."

Seviin pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Thirty-two," she deadpanned, "brew-ha."

Roslyn couldn't hold it as she burst out laughing.

"Ten," Marci admitted, somehow slightly... disappointed.

Then, she took the dice and tumbled them Roslyn's way. "You, stop fence-sitting!" she prodded. "Your turn!" 

Seviin nodded, all the better that they did not make her roll.

"I'm starting to feel like the only one here that hasn't dated." Roslyn mumbled a bit as she reached for the dice. "But it's what I do best."

She weighed the dice in her hand then considered what to ask. Where to start? "What age will I get married?" She let the dice roll in front of her before flipping the edge of her skirt to hide them.

"We're getting daring now," Xiuyang smirked.

Roslyn frowned then stuck out her tongue, "Give me a break. I've never played this before."
Encouraged by Marci, she lifted her skirt edge and shook her head. She wasn’t sure how to read the dice as she spoke. "Fifteen, I think I missed it by one year."

Marceline tilted her head. She looked to Seviin, who nodded grimly, and then to Xiuyang. "That's uh... seventy-eight," the yasoi replied.

Marci's mouth opened a little bit and she giggled. "Gonna be robbing the cradle, huh? Sugar momma?" 

They looked to Xiuyang for an official ruling.

Marceline blinked, though. "But... seriously, you haven't dated yet?"

Roslyn shifted uncomfortably to reality. Her fingers twisted a bit on top of her skirt, feeling a bit embarrassed to admit the truth. "Truthfully, no boy has ever asked. Besides, I want someone that loves me for me. Not what he can get from me."

Marceline nodded. "Yeah," she acknowledged, "I can appreciate that." She shrugged. "Sometimes I think that any relationship is..." She stopped and shook her head. "Nevermind," she concluded, with a snort. "The idea was not to sound like... thirty and cynical today." She rolled her eyes.

Xiuyang looked unsure of what to say for a moment. "Relationships are give and take. If you plan to give, someone has to take. That's just how it is." She kicked her legs up onto a nearby pile of pillows. "Besides, even if someone comes for what they can get from you, you can make sure they stay for *you.* You can find love, even in an arranged marriage. It just takes a bit more effort."

Suddenly, Xiuyang realized she was sounding older than she was, again. "Uh. That's what my mother taught me."

"Sounds like something my mother would say. Father and her were an arranged marriage. But in the end, they grew to love each other." Roslyn commented, having fond memories when she was alive.

Marci shook her head. "Roll the dice," she said, disapprovingly.

"*You* started it," Seviin admonished, motioning that Marci, as well, should roll.

"Seviin, you haven't had a turn," She pointed out.

"Whaaat? I know it's cheesy, but it's *true.*" Xiuyang batted her dice over to Seviin. "*You* roll, spectator."

Trapped, the Tarlonese took the dice with a mutter, raised them to her lips, and kissed her hands after a little prayer. "Dice of fortune, dice of fate, speak with numbers small and great. How many more years shall I live?"

She blinked. "Well, it's a tad short, but these are huusoi dice." She nodded.

"I dunno. That looks like 99 from where I'm sitting. Live long and prosper, Seviin."

"Yeah, that's a while," Marci agreed, splitting her fingers in the tethered symbol for 9-9. However, Seviin shook her head. "That would be 115 in total. I've known plenty of people who live into their one-twenties and one-thirties."

Then, her eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!" she chirped, eyes going to Xiuyang for a second. "Who's the shortest here?"

Roslyn recalled asking Esmii about life spans once out of curiosity, but she didn't say it out loud. Thinking of her missing friend still hurt and she didn't want to ruin the mood. "Uh... I am not sure. Maybe Marci or me?"

"Probably me," Xiuyang confessed, raising her hand.

"I shall officiate," Marci offered.

"No, you shan't," Seviin countered, rising. "You're too short."

"Bruja!" the tethered shouted.

Roslyn snickered.

"I'm taller than someone? Fuck yeah!" Xiuyang celebrated childishly.

"I might be short, but I am mighty..." Roslyn countered.

"We're not mighty," Xiuyang scoffed. "We're clever. A bunch of clever girls!" she whooped, stretching her arms out.

"Speak for yourselves," Marci countered, flexing and arching an eyebrow. "Truth be told, being rich is the best power anyone could have, aside from the Gift."

Xiuyang flexed back twice as hard. Was it a flexing contest? "That's true, money's always nice."

"Anyway, why did you want to know who was the shortest, Seviin?"

"Well..." Seviin placed a finger to her lower lip. "I suppose just curiosity." Her eyes flicked Marci's way and the tethered rolled *hers* and sighed. Using the Gift, she rose until she was roughly in a standing position beside Xiuyang. "Taller," she said, "see?" She settled back down into her wheelchair and rolled her neck.

Unbidden, she rolled over to one of the wooden posts that held the colonnade up, and took a small switchblade of Kerreman manufacture from yet another helpful pouch. She craned her neck to look up and down it before flipping the knife open. "I think we need to do this," she announced, briefly sensing about for the itinerant guard. He'd made two passes already. She tilted her head and regarded the other three hopefully.

"Eh? I mean, why does it matter? Gonna make the shortest person do something embarrassing or something?" She stood up, though, and walked over.

Roslyn lifted onto her feet as she dusted off her skirt. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not, but considering she had done some stupid things... This was just another she'll add to her list. Besides, if it was something embarrassing, she could always run. She had her compass in her skirt pocket at all times just in case.

Marci could see how they had repainted this old post a dozen times. Likely, it was three hundred years old or more. She found a spot, between the spandrels near the top, where none but the very tallest could reach and the painting was sloppy and hadn't reached it, and readied her knife. "Someone gimme a shoulder ride?" she asked. "We should carve our names into it."

"Sure, why not?" Xiuyang replied, giving Marci a lift as she got swept up in the moment. One more fun, happy memory before what they all knew would happen.

Meanwhile, Roslyn offered to help balance Marci upon Xiuyang's shoulders to keep the girl from falling off.

Seviin had been about to offer as well, but a yanii perched on another's shoulders was a sight worth beholding. Balanced precariously on Xiuyang's shoulders, she dug into the wood with the knife's tip, nearly falling until Roslyn came to support her. She nibbled her lower lip in concentration and the wood came flaking away. "M.H. plus..." She had to be steadied again by Roslyn. "R.W.," she mumbled, "plus S.T. Plus..." She furrowed her brow for a second. "It's an X. I remember!" she called out triumphantly, completely engrossed in her work. "X.S." She finished the initials. "Hah, your initials are excess." She stuck her tongue out, perhaps forgetting who it was supporting her. "B...F...F." She blushed, before folding the knife back up. "Done!" she exclaimed, pleased with herself. "They'll never find it up there," she crowed. "You can let me -"

But they found something else. A guard rounded the corner and spied four little shits doing something to one of the wooden pillars. "Hey you! Girls!" he shouted, and all of them knew what to do immediately.

"Time to run! Get her in the wheelchair, I'll give us some cover." Roslyn said as she turned and drew. Focusing on her favorite spell, she blew causing a thick haze of smoke to billow quickly out of her mouth.

"Excess, that's me! You're totally buying me a drink after this!" Xiuyang crowed triumphantly as she ran, carrying Marci on her shoulders and laughing.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg[/youtube]

"Noooo! Wait!" Marci squealed. "If we leave it behind, it's evidence! They can track meee!"

Roslyn dropped a smoke bomb and was forced to chase after the other two, pushing the wheelchair until Marci half-fell half-dived off of Xiuyang's shoulders and clambered into it with all the grace of some prehistoric fish hauling itself from the primordial ooze onto shore for the first time. At least she was quick. The three then made a break for it. "Gogogo!" shouted the tethered, launching herself over a couple of steps and somehow sticking the landing. "She who falls behind gets left behind!"

"The fine for public vandalism is four magus -" shouted the guard.

"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad," Marceline huffed, wheeling away as fast as she could.

"- and twenty-five hours of community service!"

"Fuck it. Nevermind."

Of course, the 'she who falls behind' they were referring to was Seviin, who'd had an entirely *different* idea of what the plan was. "Greetings, good sir," she began, hoping to put her powers of persuasion to work. "I noticed these reprobates at their dastardly work and, having failed to admonish them sufficiently to get them to cease, I was just on my way to -"

"Pay their fine."

"But I am merely an innocent -"

"Vandal."

"I am a priestess of Oirase. I would never -"

"You forget that this was my third pass, girl. You were with them the other two." he hooked his thumbs into his belt, implacable beneath his bristly mustache.

"Cud."

"Uh, there's a time to talk and a time to run. This is the time to run." Roslyn shouted at Seviin as she spotted the yasoi turn to face the guard. She couldn't help Seviin now without getting caught and she couldn't afford to do the time for the crime.

She turned toward the wheelchair and shoved it after the other two. Her body leaned heavily into the handles as she forced herself to keep up.

"*Fuck,* I do *not* have twenty-five hours to give to *anyone!*" Xiuyang heaved, grinning madly. She wore her inferno blanket like a cape as she fled away into the night like Ersand'Enise's most colorful and silly picture novel villain.

"Hah!" Marci exclaimed, "No shit, suunei." She was actually almost keeping up, courtesy of a downhill, and Roslyn wasn't far behind, though she dared not look back to check. A few turns and bumps and a little uphill later, she could sense Xiuyang slowing and she began to coast.

Marceline's chest was heaving. Sweat pasted locks of hair to her forehead and the back of her neck. Her throat was scratchy and she could feel her heart going a mile a minute. She leaned back against a tree trunk once she caught up with Xiuyang somewhere just outside of the hedge maze, threw her head back, and laughed. Her arms, back and shoulders were somewhere between aching and numb, but it didn't matter. She breathed in the clean cool air and glanced over at her friend. "Were you really gonna run with me the whole way on your shoulders?" she laughed, shaking her head and going back to looking up at the canopy of an overhanging tree. "You madlass." She grinned. She swept some hair from her face, waved hello and shared a hug with Roslyn as she joined the pair, and then she breathed it all in.

This was it: the special sauce. This was the life she wanted to live, and *this* was why she wanted to live it forever.

Though Roslyn ran often in the breweries at home, she began to fall behind here. Her short legs couldn't keep up as Xiuyang and Marceline quickly started to outpace her. She shoved her hand into her skirt pocket until she felt the compass. Snapping it open, she activated it. All around her, time sped up and her speed increased. Her surroundings blurred as she tried to catch up with the two.

When she spotted them catching their breath, Roslyn snapped the compass closed. It was helpful, but it didn't stop her from becoming winded. Her body leaned over and hands rested on her knees. She heaved, trying to fill her lungs, while her hair had become disheveled during the escape.  

"I thought... we were... going to... get... caught. For a moment." Roslyn managed to say, returning the embrace. It felt nice not being a wallflower for once and feeling part of something more than herself.

Marci, seated between the other two, waved a hand dismissively, finally finished catching her breath. "Nah," she replied, "he never had a chance." She could *not* stop grinning. She stretched her arms out to either side to pull each of the other two in closer.  "And now we've left a memento there for all time."

That, indeed, they had.

[h2]Girls' Night Out: Fin.[/h2]

[h2]Epilogue[/h2]
It was Ledpes the tenth and Seviin was scrubbing. She had precisely one hour of scrubbing left. Her hands were calloused, sweat dripped from her brow, and her back and shoulders ached.

The sun hung low and orange in the sky and she had lost an entire week of time that she usually dedicated to good works, studying, and social interactions. It was a small price to pay. She'd had a chance at striking a deal: give away the others and point out what they'd carved and she'd have gotten only five hours.

Idly, she glanced up at the little marking they'd left in that post, conveniently just beyond the tall yasoi's reach: "M.H. + R.W. + S.T. + X.S.: BFF, DZ55" She looked back down and continued scrubbing, working her way through one final section of the colonnade. She had thought about saying something. She'd thought long and hard about her morals as a priestess but, as the clock struck 5:00 H.E. and she packed up her sponge and bucket, she recalled one other lesson that all young children in Tarlon pass around with even greater reverence:

"Snitches get stitches."
[/hider][h2]A Little Wet Behind the Ears[/h2][hider=******] 
Date: Ardanes 8th 

When the ocean's tide rushed up and brushed her toes, Roslyn inched back onto the shore. The ice cold water darkened the sands and left her skin freezing. She frowned at the sensation while she wiggled her toes then dug them into the grit beneath. After Desmond's small pep talk about being prepared, it made common sense to learn to swim. She was going to be sailing a lot and drowning was a hazard she prefer not to fall victim to. 

Xiuyang had suggested a friend named Guy Attard. The only issue she had now was finding him. Her eyes scanned the shoreline for signs of life. Based on her friend's description, he was a Perrench fellow with dark curly hair and rather tall. The description felt like half her classmates if she was honest. 

At spotting only cracked planks, sea rotted ropes, and more ship debris, she resolved to the only solution she knew. Cupped her hands about her mouth, Roslyn hollered. "Guy Attard, are you out there?"  

"Hello?" Guy called out from the rocks. He seemed to be preparing his net and spear, "Can I ask why you is calling my name?" he leaped up using his spear as a boost to greet her.

Roslyn lowered her hands when she caught sight of him. Careful not to stumble over the debris on the beach, she edged closer and replied. "I uh was hoping to request some swimming lessons. Xiuyang said you were a great teacher for it."

He quickly looked her up and down and then nodded his head. "If Xiuyang recommended me, than I must oblige," he shrugged with a wry smile. He started to head to a shipwreck, hopping from rotted plank to broken brow, the oddity was when he stepped on the water and bounced off of it. "Can you handle this?" he gave a wink, egging her on.

Roslyn's eyes followed the man's movements. She partly expected him to slip and stumble, but he never did. Thank the gods for that, she thought. Her eyes lingered a bit too long before realizing it. Instantly, she averted her gaze and prayed he hadn't noticed. Puffing up her cheeks, she forced herself to look up then commented. "It's simple kinetic, isn't it? I think I can handle that."

"A bit of chemical and magnetic to strengthen the surface. Makes it bouncy." He threw his spear into the water and watched it hold and then bounced back. He headed up to the wreck, tossing himself through the hatch. "Come on in when you can."

"My magnetic is a bit... lacking, but I'll have a go at it." Roslyn bit her lip then cautiously stretched out a foot upon the water.  The moment it touched the surface, it began to sink. She tugged it back up. Her mind thought about the ducks on her estate back at home. Their feathers were odd and slick with a coating of sorts. She imagined that same oil on her own feet as she drew from the sunlight. Next came the magnetic repel spell.   

Finally, her foot seemed to hold in place. Feeling confident, she stepped with her other. She smiled when it held then turned to Guy. "Hey, I think I got-"... then she went under.

Guy popped his head back out of the hatch like a gofer. "You could have froze some of the water," he irritatingly heaved himself out of the shipwreck and dove in after Roslyn. As irritated as he was, he understood she couldn't swim. He glided through the water to go check on her. This was a perfect time to start the lesson if she wasn't drowning. Sinking was fine though.

Roslyn regretted not sticking to what she knew best. Her little misstep had the water crashing in over her head before she could take a breath. As she floated there, her vision blurred and chest burned. She fought not to panic, but she was sinking fast. 

Which way was up? She felt disoriented despite having just been stepping on the surface moments earlier.

Guy came in close, using kinetic to speak in her ears, "Hey, hey, I am here." He grasped her hand rather roughly. "Just float for a moment, don't move. Your chest will rise on its own." He simply waited for her to follow.

Her heart pounded in her head, nearly drowning out Guy's words. She didn't like this feeling. Flashbacks threatened to consume her calm as the bog trickled into her mind. The fear shone when her head whipped about. 

She had to remind herself of where she was. In the water, in the school, and complete safe. With a shallow breath, her form began to slacken. She let the water hold her while she floated in place.

*"Good, I'm going to take you to the surface so you can get a new breath,"* Guy took her by the waist to paddle above the surface. When they breached the water, "alright, you can breath now. Didn't know you were afraid of the water, we could have started somewhere less tricky if needed."

Roslyn nodded and rested her arms on his. She closed her eyes to block out the dread as he pulled her upward. They didn't open until he spoke again, telling her to breathe. She inhaled causing her chest to expand and prickle with fresh air. 

"It's less the water and more the sensation. It reminded me of what happened in Viqii." Roslyn shuddered thinking of it. "But, I think I'm all right now. I guess the first lesson is learning to float?"

"Of course, everyone started somewhere." The shore was rocky and tall, it gave him time to process that she was there in Viqii. An utter blackspot in his information, maybe Xiuyang had brought him a gift afterall.

"I was dropped into the ocean by my eldest brother when I was six. I don't think a flower like yourself needs to be taught so roughly." The water was steadied around him, "Watch me for a moment," He lowered his center and gently rested his back into the water like he was lounging on his bed, "Then you stretch your legs out. Give it a try but if it's too scary, I can ease you into it."

"I suppose. Some times I wish I could skip the start and get right to the end." Roslyn mused then took a deep breath. 

"That doesn't sound pleasant at all. Then again, I set my brother's trousers on fire once. Turns out illusion magic is harder than making a spark in wool." She didn't intended that particular outcome, but she didn't fully regret it. Especially since he was right out ass at the time and in the end, he wasn't hurt. 

She watched Guy carefully. The girl  closed her eyes and fell backwards, laying into the water. It was easy for the first few moments, but her figure began to tense and she started to sink again.

He shook his head, smiling though a somewhat humorous conversation, "We all want to skip to the end of learning a skill to show it proudly but you wouldn't have such a great memory if you didn't fail at least once." He got closer to her as she started to lay on her back, monitoring her. 

As she began to sink, Guy laid his hands underneath her, "I'm here, I'm not going to let you go under again," he said with astounding confidence. "The key to floating is relaxing, your body will float if you let it. I'll stay here until you get a feel for it."

"I wish I only failed once. It tends to happen three to four times before I finally get it." Roslyn said feeling herself start to sink. She nearly shot upright until Guy's hands brushed her back. Like a feather on a finger, her body balanced on his hands and her face kept above water. 

She appreciated the reassurance as she just laid there. Listening to the movements of the water around and clinging to the differences. "This is actually rather nice. At least once I get past the fear that is."

"Perseverance through failure is a handy trait," he felt for the hallmark chemicals of fear within her. They gave a rough estimate of someone's fear and anxiety though everyone reacts differently, he could still use it to track her progress. 

"If I had more time, I would float about more often, the weightlessness is refreshing," he tried to reinforce the positive feelings she had towards it. He slowly started to retreat his hands, letting her take more control.

While the fear was still there, it had demised a bit. The conversation kept the girl from noticing his finger tips drifting away. "As long as my head doesn't go beneath the surface, it's not too bad. I think the conversation is helping the most." 

She let herself drift a bit before adding. "Uh, how am I doing so far? With the floating, that is."

Guy was mostly faking helping her right at that point, it was all an act to seem like he was doing a lot to make her feel comfortable. Keep you hands under the water, barely touch so they think it is them, simple stuff. 

"I would say you got it on your second time," he pulled his hand out from the water to show they weren't under them, "Floating is just about relaxing and breathing."

"That's simple," Guy fell to his back and floated, "You just get use to kicking your feet." He started and waded through the water, "It's a little awkward at first but you'll get use to it." He rose back up, "Give it a try and if your struggling we can do some practice."

Taking Guy's advice, her legs started to kick out. Water splashed across the surface before she tried to lower her feet a tad. The force rippled the surface and sent her moving bit by bit. However, there was a problem. Her lower half seemed to tilt her upright causing her to stop, adjust and try again. It took about four times before she seemed to get the hang of it.

"Good, good, I think we can move onto swimming." He crouched into the water before propelling himself. His arms swung in front of him in a rhythmic patern somewhat opposite to his legs. "You got to pretend like your reaching for something and take breaths when you can or you'll grow ragged. You want to give it a try or practice first."

  "I think I got it." Roslyn's voice sounded more confident than she was. 

She lowered herself into the water then pushed off. Soon her toes no longer felt the shoreline beneath her causing the tension to return. She tried her best to mimic Guy, but her rhythm fell short. Her arms didn't move in the perfect union like her teacher's had. Instead, some times she forgot to breath. 

A little winded, she stopped to lay back and float. "Got... any tips for... breathing?"

He went behind her, "May I?" he asks before laying a hand on her.

"Yes, I don't mind." She answered, trusting his judgement and teaching skills

He took her by the wrist and walked her through the motion, "See how your shoulder pushes against your faces?" he drew his hand to her chin and pointed it opposite to the arm, "Here you take your breath," he released her and moved to her front, "It takes time but like with most things, you get use to it."

"As for when you can't take a breath, A bit of chemical magnetic works wonders for creating air underwater."

Roslyn did a few test rounds with her arms to memorize the pattern. Her head turned to Guy when he mentioned the use of the gift to breathe underwater. "My chemical knowledge is decent, but my magnetic isn't. Do you need a high amount or could basics work?" 

She wondered if she had to learn to substitute another school of magic for it.

"Chemical works just fine but a little bit of Ipte's touch helps get it going," Guy steamed some water than condensed it into is hand. "Water is very stable, as you know but it can be broken down into air," he created some air, "though if it was lit..." He sparked the air and it created a small fireball, "It explodes, but it's safe to breath in. I'll keep doing it and try to copy the energy on the water between us."

Roslyn's eyes lit up and a wide grin decorated her face. Her eyes fixated to the display, drinking it in and stood in pure amazement. No matter how often she saw it, the Gift and how people used it always interested her. Especially those of a less destructive nature. 

"That is amazing, Guy." She raised her hand, using kinetic to pull a small amount of water into her hand. Slowly she began to mimic the spell. 

The liquid shivered a bit then began to divide into its main components. It had shattered once or twice, but with each failure, her mistakes lessened. Using magnetic, she attracted the air together into a small ball while her kinetic kept the rest trapped. It wasn't perfect, but she had caught on surprisingly fast for her first experience. "Like this?"

"That's correct," he gave some praise and breathed it in. "It's easier if your mouth is above it that way you can just let it float into your mouth" he handed out another piece of advice.

"My body does it naturally, but I was always curious on how to do it without it." her wrapped water around his arm as it changed states but stayed consistent, "Water is my specialty though plants have been growing on me."

"Last tip, for general swimming," guy rose his finger, "The waters around Ersand'Enise are rather warm though they have been getting colder. Water saps heat quickly so never forget to regulate your temperature. If the water is warm, take it from there. If its cold, convert it from movement." Guy converted the kinetic energy her had been gathering to keep the area steady for them to heat for her.

"Plants, uh? If I need help growing something, I'll make sure to ask you first. I tend to kill them more than help them. I'm better with beer and mana brews. Been branching out to other alcohols as well." Roslyn said as she observed what Guy was doing. "I did something similar when I was in Vossoriya. Never thought it would pay off later." 

Like with the lesson before, she focused on what she knew and adapted it. The water around them began to shift from a chill to warmer temperatures. "Temperature is important for brews so I learned it well. Any sudden drop at the wrong time can turn a batch sour."

"I didn't know that," he admitted, "It's so warm in Djamant that if you stick fruit in a barrel you'll just have wine." He stretched his back, "I think you get the gist of swimming now, all you have to do is practice," Guy turned to the ocean, basking in the sun for a moment. "I came to do some diving and spear fishing, You're welcome to join but it is a little advanced for a first time swimmer."

"We usually need to boil the hops or fruit then let it sit in a charred barrel. I find white oak gives it a harsher bite while dark forest wood adds a deeper richness. I'm still experimenting with it. Maybe I can invite you to join Xiuyang and me for the next taste test?" Roslyn pulled back her enthusiasm to avoid boring him. Not everyone shared the same excitement she did with these small details. 

At the invitation, Roslyn took a moment to consider. "I can use the practice. Now that I know how to create air, it seems a little less scary. It gives me a chance to test it out."

Guy did nod along to what she was saying. He was definitely listening but it was more data collection than general intrigue in brewery. As long as the drink was safe to have at sea, Guy didn't particularly care about flavor. Maybe he could use this as a persona for some undercover work.

"Alright then," Guy stepped above the water and headed to the shipwreck he was in before the lesson started, "My spear and net are in there." He bounded over much in the same way as before. 

Inside of the half broken ship was an oil lamp and small chest. The vessel was half full of water and you could feel smaller fish inhabiting the wreck. "Smaller fish and threshers like to live in wrecks, I like it because it is a little more secure than just leaving things up on the rocks."

Roslyn stepped in behind him. She left small icy floats behind her which helped her keep above the surface. It showed she had caught his earlier comment and learned from it. Once they were inside, her bare feet tiptoed around the busted planks as she pushed onward. The dim light made it hard to see until her eyes adjusted. 

She caught sight of a few silvery scales disappearing into the cracks of the hull. "That's rather clever and makes sense. Last thing you want is to encounter a creature wanting to make you into a meal."  

Still eyeing her surroundings, she then asked. "My first thought is that I need to use the sharp end and stab some fish, but that sounds a bit too easy."

"I mean, if you want the tiny fish, sure, throw the net in and you'll catch some good, small fish." He began to remove his tunic and laid it over the trunk to dry. "But I tend to go under to nab some larger prey, whole party if I get a real big one. They don't run from me because I'm not their usual predator so stabbing with the sharp end is pretty right."

"Quick tip, a dress might get caught while diving so if a tug happens, don't panic and just focus on cutting or freeing it." Guy rolled up his net and attached it to his back. "That or you loose some layers, but that's on you." He waded into the water, "You still want to come?"

"I did say I would and it feels a bit silly to retreat now." She glance at her dress with debate on her mind. "Oh, well, this dress has already been through a lot. Better to lessen the weigh I suppose." 

Pushing down her insecurities of her figure, Roslyn reached up and tugged at the strings of her dress. It didn't take long to loosen the first layer. She pulled it toward the front and off before she wiggled out of the lower half. Noting the dark water stains, she rolled it up and wring out what she could. Her arm stretched out it out to a drier place. 

She was grateful she had dressed practically rather than to impress. This meant she had only two layers instead of the usual three. Most couldn't tell due to small little tricks she had learned to fool others. "I'll dry it better with kinetic when we're done. Do you have another spear or do I need to figure out one?"

He raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised she would go. "Bolder than I assumed," he jested, "The second spear is behind the chest, it's a little shorter so it should fit you well. Do your best to follow and if you feel overwhelmed, tug on me or go up to the surface."

Guy lowered himself into the water, creating orbs of light to help guide Roslyn through the wreck until the could break out of the opening in the side. The opening was a splintered breach that must have sunk the ship. It was large enough for Guy to squeeze through though he had to pull his spear and net through separate. 

Now they were in the shallows of the ocean.

"Trust me, I'm blushing deep down." As if proving this, her cheeks had turned a slight scarlet against her will. Moving on from her embarrassment, she added, "As for my boldness... Lets just say, I'm full of surprises. Most people don't realize it until they spend time with me."  

She pulled her leg back and twisted to reach for the mention spear. Her hand tested her grip against it as she tested the feel of it. "It's light, that's good. Little worried I would need to use kinetic." 

After Guy dipped down, she slowly lowered in after him. The sensation of the water climbing up her caused her heart to race and anxiety to fill her mind. Fighting the fear, she inhaled then forced her head underneath. Her arms pulled her forward as she clenched the spear close to her. The light helped her disorientation while she followed him.

He waited for her to reach the gap and gave a hand to help pull you out, "Can you hear me? It's a trick some eeaiko taught me in the past. It's difficult, past my skill if I'm truthful but I've practiced it for a few years." He spun around her using some kinetic magic and his own movement, "Take your time, the fish this time of year are slow."

He slowly moved away from her, guiding her to the rocks where the fish hid.

Roslyn's mouth open then snapped shut. A small bubble floated upward as her hand rushed up to her lips, stopping anymore leaks. The words were a bit distorted, but she understood them. She felt herself suddenly twisted about to the right direction. Her arms began to pull her along to the rocks, readying her spear for the first fish to appear.

The rocks, reef, and sea grass were well lit on such cloudless days. The colorful nature of the water was now revealed to Roslyn. most fish were silvery in color but some had striking colors and patterns that begged for attention. But they were not here for such pretty fish. No they were here for the large slow moving fish that stalked the grass here.

Guy took his hand and showed around the size of fish they were hunting, from finger to elbow to shoulder was around the size Guy recommended to her. "Small fish run because they are hunted by anything, larger fish have never seen us so they don't run." 

It was maybe 20 minutes before they ran across an Amberjack, one that fit the description Guy gave, around shoulder length on Guy. He looked towards Roslyn, giving her a thumbs up to go for it, "Use some magic if you can"

Roslyn's eyes stared in wonder at the hidden underwater world she approached. Her long hair braid floated like a swaying tail behind her head. The colors, bright and distracting, drew her gaze from side to side. At Guy's gesture, her eyes snapped back to him. She nodded to show she understood then began to scan the area. 

Time passed slowly as she separated water from air and kept her supply going. Her attention zoned in on that slow, shimmer of a large fish. Its side turned to her as she gripped her spear into a ready position. Drawing in the kinetic energy of the waves, she cast Shune-Zept’s Folly for a small, shiny to float nearby. The amberjack swayed with open jaws. The dot skittered away and closer to Roslyn's waiting form. Bit by bit, it gave chase into open waters until...

Swish. 

The spear missed causing the fish to bolt. With a twist of her fingers, Roslyn poured kinetic into her shot causing it to spin about. A soft, dull thump vibrated in the water. The fish stopped in its trail. Blood trailed up as it leaned to one side, suspended in the water's faint light. 

Smiling, Roslyn swam forward and took hold of the spear handle. She turned to Guy with a proud smile to show her first catch.

"Good job on your first catch," he gave a thumbs up as he opened the net for the fish. He gave the net to Roslyn to hold, "The blood will draw some threshers so we should stop hunting for now." 

They weren't far so made use of the time they had to get her used to gently propelling though the water. Going through loops and turns. It was rather playful form of practice that he did when he was young. An age old game of 'Look what I can do, can you do it?'

Unsure how to reply, Roslyn flashed back the same thumbs up. She'd thank him when they went back up to the surface. Her arms brought the spear end closer. One reached out and tugged at the fish stuck fast to the end. It resisted her twice before it finally ripped free. The carcass lazily drifted down into the center of the net. 

She gestured for him to lead the way as she followed him. In her wake, she used her Gift with chemical to hide their scent. The trip back was more fun than the trip out. Every twist and turn, she managed to mimic decently and enjoyed the moment.

They slipped back into the ship, dispersing the reef fish upon arival. Water slid off of him with a trick of magnetic. He was quick to start drying his hair and pants, "You did a good job today, from drowning to diving in a few hours. You sure you didn't already know how to swim?" He teased.

Using kinetic to tug the water off and toss it back into the sea, Roslyn chuckled. Her fingers covered her lips in mock shock as she spoke in a silly, distress tone. "Oh no, you've discovered my secret. Now I'm at your mercy." 

She dropped her hand and playfully rolled her eyes at herself. "I will confess, I forgot the air spell three times when you weren't looking. And I'm still trying to understand the one you used to talk with." 

Her hand reached for her dress and checked it thoroughly before she finished drying it out. "I had a lot fun. If you don't mind, I'd like to tag along on future dives."

"Putting a beautiful woman under my mercy? I would never!" he feigned distress and then winked. 

"Luckily you don't need to breathe at every moment," Guy dissuaded the concerns around it. As for the sonic spell, well, it was rather difficult. 

He smiled warmly, "I'd like that, maybe next time we can discuss ourselves a little more," his eyes gesturing at her arm. They weren't harsh just merely curious.

Roslyn started to see why Xiuyang had suggested Guy and why they were friends. He was likeable and easy to get along with. Better than some of the jerks she'd seen around school at least. 

When his eyes turned to her arm, she realized her mark was visible. "That's..." She paused as if struggling with the right words before settling on the best fitting ones. "Complicated, I suppose. I'm more worried you'll think I'm mad and call the church." 

Seeming to accept her answer, the pair worked together to clean, cut and cook the fish. Shortly after they shared tales, memories and more with each other. The hour of Dami's time approached when the pair parted ways, knowing they will meet again some time later in the week.

[/hider][h2]Burning Sky[/h2][hider=********] 
Date: Ardanes 23-24, DZ55

Roslyn's quill finished scratching out the last of her last sentence on this page. Feeling the soreness bloom across her forearm, she set the quill end into the ink pot. She rubbed the tendons as she cradled the base of her hand. Several sentences of ‘;I will not steal from fellow students’ trailed down the whole page.

She reflected on why she tried to steal from Garsea and she came up empty on answers. With a sigh, her fingers casually rotated the smooth green stone around her wrist. It didn't make sense. A sensation of being watched crept over her skin as her Zeno glared at her. Swallowing down her guilt, Roslyn lowered her head and reached for her quill again. She nearly finished...

When she heard footsteps outside the classroom. Her eyes lifted up from her assignment and spotted the teacher walk past the doorway. Pushing up from her desk, she moved closer and peeked outside. The familiar garb of the Century flashed by her sight. What are they doing here? Roslyn frowned then stepped out into the corridor.

She wasn't the first as other students joined her. After being caught, her mouth opened to protest, but the look her detention teacher shot her quickly silenced her. Damn it, she inwardly cursed.


“There has been a catastrophe in Enth. The Sacred Tree has been attacked.” Arch-Zeno Sigmund Bastañer stated plainly. 

“A fire threatens to engulf the town of Nipton and we have decided to take action. People are dying and losing their homes by the second.” he took in every potential volunteer with his wide-brim glasses, his expression as neutral as the professional voice he adopted. With a wave of his arm, a portal opened to his right. “You are in no obligation to help. But for those that wish to do something, Oraff’s blessings. When it is safe, we will be sending more help.”

The first to step forward was not a student but an elderly man. Zeno Uehara Daigo, walked at a brisk pace with his cane. “A pile of old bones taking the leap should be enough to spur a few more into action.” he partially jested with a chuckle.

Upon learning about the fire in Nipton, she pressed her knuckle up to her lip in horror. Once Zeno Daigo said his peace, she stepped forward next. "I'm coming too." 

Of course she wasn’t the only one to volunteer. Desmond, Ingrid, Rikard, Johann, and a younger boy she had never met before. 

[youtube]https://youtu.be/nMhb8g6wmqI[/youtube]

Upon arriving at the Northwest evacuation camp, fire and carnage greeted her. She stalled at the sight. Horror crawled into her chest causing her breath to fade slightly. Recalling Desmond's advice, she snapped herself out of it and moved. She rushed toward the West, spotting two shapes joining her.
Ingrid and Rikard.

She first spotted the telltale signs of a well just outside a tavern, Scallywags, and an armory. She pointed it out quickly to her companions before she rushed inside. Fearing the alcohol would catch fire first, she immediately drew from the heat. She began to alter the chemicals within to nullify the flammable components. Her eyes spotted two people trapped within. After changing the alcohol to water, she pushed deeper in. Spotting the first fallen victim, she lifted and pulled them out.

Beams cracked then began to splinter. Still, Roslyn focused on getting her victim to safety. She managed them out in a safe place when she turned back to the tavern. The beams crashed down in her path causing her to step back and shield her face with her arms.

Outside, parts of the tavern crashed into the marketplace. It sent people scattering into panic. Screams echoed as bodies disappeared beneath the stampeding people.

Roslyn cursed in Hendlish when the fire roared into a frenzy. Water, snaked from the well by Ingrid or Rikard, splashed out upon them. It didn't snuff them out, but it kept them from spreading. However, the crowd was too panicked to listen to reason. While she still needed to save the second victim person inside, the crowd poised a greater threat. One that needed to be dealt with now.

As she used her chemical magic to calm the crowd, Rikard put out the fires and corralled them with kinetic energy. She gave the young boy an appreciative smile. "Thanks for the help. Crowds are pain to manage."

She focused on directing the crowd outward and keeping it manageable. It took forever before she managed to return to the tavern. Seeing the damage, she expected it to be a grave for one unfortunate man. Her eyes caught the elder Zeno Daigo escorting a half-conscious middle-aged man out. "Take poor Roger with you, would you?"
"Of course. Come on, this way." Roslyn said while taking the man's arm and leading him away.
[hr]

When Roslyn arrived in Northwest safety camp, the mass of victims shocked her. Their numbers poured in from North and West without an end in sight. Tents were overwhelmed until the point they set down on the cobblestone streets. In the background, the fire continued to roar and drown out their wails for help. Healers, binders, and volunteers scrambled to treat as many as they could.

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Roslyn kicked into action. She stepped into the nearest tent. The charred smell of burnt flesh blasted her first thing. Next came the crying for help and sight of burnt bodies. She held her breath as she stepped up to the nearest victim. A young man in his twenties, his fingers now curled and blackened sticks of their former selves.

His wide, green eyes turned to her. Shock poured sweat down his flesh as he held out his hands, pleading with an Enthish accent. "Please, please help me. Please."

Instead of trying to calm him down, she tapped into her gift with chemical magic. The pain began to dull until it finally numbed. His green eyes became unfocused and form slouched back, his mind lost in a light beer buzz. As he settled down, she focused on the blackened fingers. Charred bits crumbled away as new skin formed on top with a fresh shade of pink. They were not the same, but it was the best she could.

More people crowded in causing her to shift to another patient. A hysterical mother cradled her wailing toddle next to her. He clutched his odd angled arm close while he leaned into her. Tears streamed down the woman's face as she cried out for help.

"I'm here. What happened?" Roslyn held out her arms and took him.

"I couldn't get to him- the beam. It came down on him and," She pushed back her sobs as she continued," Please, just help him!"

With a soothing hush, the girl wasted little time easing the pain. She held the arm gently, but firmly while her binding did the rest. The tingling spread along his skin drawing even more protest from the child. Once it faded, she passed him back then ushered them to the side.

She was pulled aside once more. A man laid on a table, covered in bandages and over half his body scorched. A few limbs were missing and cut cleanly through. Likely the only way to free him from underneath a beam before he burned alive. At least, that's what the healer mentioned briefly before removing the cloth. Roslyn pressed her hands to the man's wounds then exhaled. Once more she drew from the heat as her gift rippled through her veins. 

Her teeth gritted and she breathed heavily. She couldn't save the limbs, but she stabilized him.

Not allowing herself to rest, someone called Roslyn over. She pushed past the new flood of bodies as she came to a hegelan woman's side. She suffered several burns along her face leaving her blind and concussed. Focused on the life threatening injuries, she took the bearded woman's face into her hands. The familiar telltale signs of binding began to heal the internal bruising. In minutes, the woman was stabilized.

[hr]
Daybreak

Two hundred and seven were going to die had it not been for these heroes. And hundreds more would have been added if Zeno Marbrand and Desmond Catulus had not been there at the right time. Dozens, if not hundreds too, would have agonized until an unclean and horrible end had it not been for the relentless battle of Xiuyang and Roslyn in the rescue camps. Lost causes were not relegated to callous triage with these two - they saved all they could.

In the end, sixty-four had died. Most of them from the initial attack on the tree, others were simply unfortunate and were caught in the blaze before anyone knew what was even going on. Seven of them were soldiers with enough talent in the gift to make a difference. Nearly all died in an attempt to rescue their fellow townsfolk.

The end of the nightmare that nearly devoured the entirety of this once bustling city had begun when a new portal had opened. Arch Zeno Sigmund Bastañer, along with seasoned century Colette D’Aureville and High Zeno Giancarlo Silvestri, had joined the fight. Together with the current Zenos on sight, the toxic fumes were quickly siphoned into a rapidly formed earthen container and the flames quelled by a collective manipulation of heat to force immediate rainfall. The fire was controlled.

The clouds dispersed and the smoke, while it lingered, failed to hide the sun breaking through the horizon. The long night was finally over. Our heroes could finally rest.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/bVYH6XPNdPI[/youtube]

[hr]
The mysterious auburn-haired student in plain maids clothes turned to Roslyn and smiled. 

[color=orange]"Thank ya, sweetie. You came just in time. They'd have died if you didn't."[/color] Xiuyang resisted the urge to hug her friend. It was true, if Roslyn hadn't arrived, she would have resorted to standard triage. The rain fell, and she supposed the Zenos must have gotten involved. It was a favorite trick of theirs, after all.

"Thank ya, sweetie!" the bird parroted.

As Roslyn finished bandaging the last crispy victim, her head glanced upward. She returned the praise with a smile. Her kinetic severed the strips before she tied it off. "More hands are always better, right? If my best friend was here, I'm sure she would've done a better job."

Binding off the blood, she spotted an expression on the woman's face. It gnawed at her. Where had she seen that before... it clicked. Roslyn inhaled sharply, mentally cursing herself, as she fumbled to correct her blunder. "Oh, shit. I didn't- Why didn't you say something?!?"

It was impossible to stop her voice from squeaking now. 

"Oh shit, oh shit," the bird parroted, flapping its wings anxiously.

[color=orange]"Everyone's stable, so let's get some rest."[/color] Her tone was firm, like she wanted her to drop it. Using the power of the Solari was risky—what she [i]should[/i] have done was refuse the mission as her borrowed persona, then join it as Xiuyang, but rather than burden an innocent woman with the reputation of a coward, she ended up giving her the credit for saving lives. What she needed to do now was disappear before she became the object of gratitude for someone influential.

To that end, she made an effort to slip away into the outskirts of Nipton, out of sight and out of mind. There, she would change her face and clothes and return successfully as herself for the investigation efforts, arriving as one of the "reinforcements."

If Roslyn was anyone else, she might've roasted the parrot for breakfast. Instead she glared at it before she caught Xiuyang's subtle hint. Her eyes flickered about them, noticing their exchange go unnoticed. At least from her point of view. She chose to believe Xiuyang had a good reason to hide even if she didn't understand it.

"Yeah, thankfully." As she watched the woman disappear from her side, she added. "I've got a few tricks for staying up. Not the first time I've worked during the Ipte's hours.... I should check in on the others I arrived with, make sure they are okay."

She departed from the camp to find anyone from the group she arrived with.
[hr]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5598284] Interaction with Ingrid-> King Coal Toad[/url] 
[hr]

Roslyn had been looking for other students after separating from meeting Svitlana alongside the others. Johann was the easiest to find as his large form stood out especially compared to the man beside him. Coming in from behind him and out of both of their sights, she caught the conversation. Her pace slowed as she drew closer and listened. A tension filled the air causing an unease to gnaw at her. What was he doing? Being invisible had its perk right now and she decided to use it to listen in. She didn't want to jump to conclusions after all. 

The older man gulped, feeling like he was being put on the spot. Johann was tall and massive. Extremely imposing. The chemical magic did, however, make this man that was already in favourable to the Kerreman even more pliable. "Of course." he nodded and stared into a button on Johann's top as a point of focus. "I was awake as my inn's clerk. It was quiet. There-"

There was a brief pause as the details were returning to him. "There was suddenly a lot of wind. Enough to make my door open and then slam shut. It was just for a moment." he crossed his arms, his body leaning forward as she recalled more. "I didn't see anything outside when I adjusted the door and right after that, the explosions occurred. It ... Went so fast." he cleared his throat. "Most of them were on the tree, but some of these eggs fell into my inn. One must've hit Mary." he shook his head as if he was snapping out of something. "Mary, I must see her." again, he began to step back.

Johann nodded along, beginning to form a picture of what had happened: a large flying creature. It must've been massive and at high altitude. The tree was, unsurprisingly, the target, but the amount of damage to the town did not feel like collateral either. He knew, in a sense, what had happened, and he knew why. Still, there was one last matter that bothered him.

[color=goldenrod]"Far be it from me to keep a father from his daughter,"[/color] the big Kerreman replied, eyes narrowing slightly. [color=goldenrod]"One final question, though..."[/color] He paused to gather his thoughts on the matter, or perhaps for dramatic effect. Maybe something about this incident bothered him on a deeper level than one might've suspected. 

[color=goldenrod]"Why did you leave her and run?"[/color] Johann shook his head. 

[color=goldenrod]"Were that my family, I'd have risked life and limb for them,"[/color] he lied... or [i]was[/i] it a lie? 

O'Brien froze. Whatever drove him to rush to his daughter was completely halted by Johann's challenge. A thought he had been tormenting himself with all night. "I was afraid." he confessed, looking afraid even now. "And the flames were everywhere." he looked down in regret. His pace was no longer a jog but instead a sad walk of shame.

Johann nodded, seeming to accept the explanation. [color=goldenrod]"Fear is a reasonable response,"[/color] he replied. [color=goldenrod]"You'd have likely died had you tried. Go to her."[/color] His disdain wobbled and he looked away for a moment. [color=goldenrod]"Be her father. Thank Oraff-Zept that you are both still here."[/color]

With that, he turned and regarded Roslyn. [color=goldenrod]"And how long were you going to lurk there, Miss Wicke?"[/color] he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Roslyn didn't freeze like one might've expected. Her eyes looked at him, weighing her words and what she saw. A moment of silence passed before her voice broke it.

[color=#cbc66d]"I'm guessing you saw me from the start?" [/color] Roslyn asked, feeling like he had. Her eyes tilted downward slightly with shame. She shifted her weight from one side of her body to another. Her gaze then followed the man's retreating form toward the direction of his daughter. [color=#cbc66d] "I wasn't sure if I should've interrupted or not. Been trying to find others to share information and see if there were new leads." [/color]

She took a deep breath then added, pointing in the direction she came from. [color=#cbc66d] "Also to be careful. We encountered a King Coal Toad and were lucky enough to chase it off." [/color] 

Johann cracked a smile and shook his head. [color=goldenrod]"Only about ten seconds ago,"[/color] he admitted. [color=goldenrod]"I was just trying to look cool and slick."[/color] He grimaced good-naturedly as the Hendlishman left. 

[color=goldenrod]"Countryman of yours, by the way,"[/color] he observed, his grimace turning sour. [color=goldenrod]"Don't think I needed to be so hard on him. I just..."[/color] 

He shook his head tightly. [color=goldenrod]"We needed information and you have to make people who are hiding something uncomfortable for them to slip up. Always used to watch my brother do it."[/color] He sighed. [color=goldenrod]"This guy had nothing to hide, though."[/color] He didn't seem all that worried about the dragon, for what it was worth. He only nodded at the warning and thanked her for having scared it off. He'd encountered similar creatures back home. They were powerful but cowardly. He snorted at that. Some people said that [i]he[/i] was the exact same sort of creature.

Internally, Roslyn relaxed and returned the smile. [color=#cbc66d]"Well, better late than not at all. As for being cool and slick, you have plenty of admirable qualities. Some times, they are just hard to see by yourself."[/color]

Moving on quickly before she embarrassed herself, she nodded. [color=#cbc66d]"Yeah, I heard the accent. Not sure if he was from my town or not and not eager to find out." [/color] Her voice seemed uneasy at the possibility, but she didn't bother to explain. [color=#cbc66d]"That makes sense. Wish I had my hat on me. I wouldn't need to ask, just pop it on their heads and then take it back. Then I could see what they remembered. It's a bit creepy really." [/color] (edited)

There was something about the way that Roslyn spoke: it was as if she knew... [i]things[/i], and it unnerved Johann. [color=goldenrod][i]Why would your first assumption be that I need reassurance?[/i][/color] he wondered, worried that his offhanded joke had come across as needy. Then, there was the bit about not wanting to find out if the innkeeper was from her town. It seemed designed to pique his interest. Then, the comment about the hat, which seemed custom-molded to appeal to his line of research, which she had no way of knowing... or [i]did[/i] she, somehow? [color=goldenrod][i]For some reason, you are very eager to speak with me,[/i][/color] he concluded, [color=goldenrod][i]but [b]why[/b]? What do you know and what do you want?[/i][/color] Even the initial comment could've been an attempt to cue him into her abilities or try to make an ally of him.

As interesting as the hat sounded, this girl's background bore more investigation before he decided on a course of action, and so polite deflection became the order of the day instead. [color=goldenrod]"It's interesting, you know,"[/color] Johann remarked. [color=goldenrod]"The Veterites have a whole great pantheon of aspects for each member of the Pentad, and they have one who is a goddess of memory, if memory serves correctly. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are all sorts of odd and... uncanny items like that floating around."[/color] He shrugged. [color=goldenrod]"In any event, I believe we're done with Mr. O'Brien there."[/color] He glanced around one more time, and began to turn on his heel, holding out an arm for her to hook hers into if she wanted. [color=goldenrod]"My lady?"[/color]

Roslyn began to realize how little she knew about other religions and pantheons when compared to the Quentic faith. Not unusual since she wasn’t properly exposed until after studying at Ersand’Enise and it wasn’t in depth. [color=#cbc66d]"I’m only familiar with the Quentic faith, mostly. It is sort of odd that someone might worship a goddess of memories… but it makes sense. Memories are considered valuable for many people." [/color]

It took her by surprise to see him offer his arm out. A sense of hesitation flashed in her eyes before she reached up and took it. As they walked, they shared all the information they had learned so far. By the time they regrouped with the others, she fought back a yawn. She'd eventually need to seek out a place to take a quick sleep before she collapsed.

[/hider][h2]A Shadow over Belleville[/h2][hider=*********]
Date: Ardanes 36th, DZ55

Roslyn crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the map of Belleville. Little marks had been placed all over it with small, torn parchment notes on each. History appeared to be repeating itself again. Everyone in the city was on edge thanks to the killings and the authorities inability to stop them. She had attempted to keep out of it until she overheard one of the victim's names. Talkhan. There was some anger there, but his family deserved a bit of peace of mind. It was the least she could do for them.

As the killer got more brazen, more fear spread and more people joined into the hunt. Around the nineteenth kill, Roslyn noticed a pattern. They were spiraling inward to a single point. The place of the first murder way back in Mittria.

She smiled then mumbled, [color=#cbc66d] "Gotcha." [/color]

Grabbing her gear, she headed out.

[hr]
It was an open secret. The killer wanted to be found. He or she was taunting them.

The sun lay fat and pink on the horizon, throwing its light upon the heavenly rings of Sagand. This was the secret element of Nox Arcanum. The rings, usually little more than a thin, wispy line in the night sky, were full and brilliant, shimmering in hues of orange, peachy pink, and magenta.

What a contrast it was: a tale of two cities. If there were worries hovering about Ersand’Enise- the ripples of distant conflicts to be felt, uncertainty over a new administration, anxiety over a reeling neighbour - they had only a lesser impact on the festivities. Pumpkins perched pretty on porches and patios, candles lit the growing gloom, and all manner of ghosts, ghouls, and goblins traipsed from buffet tables to dance to magical displays. Parks were strung with streamers and garlands, halls were packed with people in masquerade. There were viewing parties on rooftops and in gardens and even the rooftop of the Forked Tower, newly reopened, was opened to students, faculty, and one guest each. How they queued!

Belleville, often the heart of the party at this time of year, struck a grim contrast instead. Doors were closed and windows shuttered, the few decorations in evidence fluttering forlornly in the cool evening breeze. Dogs bayed and footsteps rushed before the last of the light disappeared. There was a real ghoul about: a killer of the most terrifying ilk.

The people were tired of it. At three separate muster points, a trio of teams gathered. One, made up mainly of rougher mercenary types, was led by the Collective Union for Belleville. The second was knights and mages, gathered by the People's Front for Prosperity. The third was led by the firebrand Tage Karlsson, who had donned his red robes and blazing staff to match his rhetoric.

They mustered and milled. They went over plans and drilled. Ammunition belts were checked, reagents replenished, and formations practiced. Whatever they had to share, they did. Whatever they needed mist to keep to themselves, they persevered. The sun sunk below the horizon.

That was when they heard the first scream: a woman rushing down the cobblestone street towards the CUB group, her dress  bloodied and flapping in the wind. "They got him!" She hollered. "My son! My son! They butchered him, those animals!"

It was no more than two minutes later, as news of their allies' and rivals' unexpected visitor was reaching them, that they had their own. A young eeaiko man came staggering over, chest heaving with exhaustion. "E fauckeng Senguinaire. She heet aus. They're aull dead." He was on the brink of tears.

Elsewhere, safely away from those who called themselves hunters, waited a real one. Eyes cold, cunning, and ancient looked down upon the struggling city. [i]Godspeed, brother. Godspeed, sister. Time to separate the wheat from the chaff.[/i]
[hr]

When Roslyn arrived on the scene, she heard the cry of an eeaiko man. Her eyes whipped about to spot the man winded and desperate. Clenching her bag close alongside her hand cannon, she quickly stepped to follow him. She didn't question much as she noted another man joining her. One from the church. Father... It took her a moment to recall his name. They met only once during their investigation and got along well enough. Elias! That was it.
Before they followed their guide, Elias insisted they spread out and collect aid for their hunt. Together they found a total of three willing to go with them. Not the biggest group, but the numbers put Roslyn at ease.
 
The eeaiko boy came to a sudden screeching halt. "Weit!" he announced. "Eye cen't doo thees. Yoo're aull goeng too die. Eet's e -"

There was a little splash of liquid and then they could see it: two darts sticking clean out from his eyes, as if they had entered through the back of his skull and nearly made it out. Blood burbled from his throat and nose and he collapsed before them, dead. From beneath the light of the rings came a blink of pure darkness. Then, came the attack.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIWI3NyF9Nw&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=24[/youtube][/center]

The first to be hit was Enena Lalentel, a tyro priestess of Ahn-Oraff. A sliver of something long, sharp, and metallic burst through her abdomen and she collapsed, shrieking and bleeding out.

Elias was already bloodied. He managed a weak smile towards Roslyn but failed miserably to maintain his composure. [colour=4B0082]"Tis only a flesh wound..."[/colour] he muttered, glancing down at his robe, now stained a darker, ominous shade of red.

[colour=4B0082]"Blood Magic, nasty business. Mark of the Wolf, I would wager..."[/colour] His voice trailed off as he coughed up a spatter of blood.

[colour=4B0082]"Recognition of the Forbidden Arts is a mandatory class within the church,"[/colour] he added with a rueful chuckle.

"Looks a lot worse than flesh wounds." Roslyn shot back. Her eyes spotted two party members already looking wrecked. "Not afraid to say this was a stupid move. Might need to consider falling back?" She immediately rushed over to Enena Lalentel to cast binding upon her wounds.

"You would be correct," announced a woman's voice, its bearer quite pleased with herself. "You all reek of weakness," she snarled, "So I'll finish you quickly and help my brother out with the ones who matter." She was tall and beautiful in an eerie way, with long white hair and gleaming fuchsia eyes. These turned to the scurrying Roslyn and she scowled.

"No," she chided, wagging a finger. "No. She dies."

Where Roslyn had just healed, a second metallic spur burst through.

"Oh, and you!" the white-haired woman chirped. "You're used to being ignored, aren't you?"

Roslyn's eyes widened when the wound healed then ripped back open. Suddenly, the white haired woman turned to her and mocked her. Her arm tingled moments before something metallic sliced through her arm. Blood splattered across the ground while she bit down on her tongue to stop her scream, clenching her wound. "Got a bit used to it, to be honest." She hissed.

[colour=4B0082]"The Sanguinaire, a rather callous species. Once human, or yasoi, these beings are twisted into abominations, forsaking their humanity and the grace of the gods for the insatiable hunger of a beast. Though they retain their intelligence, their primal instincts drive them, much like a predator, rendering their actions predictable. It is fortunate that this one took the bait."[/colour] He releases a flare of magic into the night.

"Shame that you're the bait," she replied. She raised her hand. Lightning flashed and sparked at her fingertips. What Elias would've seen, effectively, was his imminent death.

Drawing on her kinetic and magnetic, Roslyn attempted to reroute the lightning. It ripped through her attempts and zapped Elias without mercy. No...[i]NO![/i] She gritted her teeth when the priest hit the ground, writhing in pain and life slowly draining from him. What did she expect when fighting a sanguinaire? Every single one she had encountered felt stronger than her no matter how well she prepared for it.

Then, they felt it.

Then, they felt it.

IT.

The sky darkened.

The air cooled.

The ground began to tremble, as if in fear of what was coming.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo1Z_7r-Yqc[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BHVr3FQZc4[/youtube][/center]

From the distance rose an incantation. "And on the fourth day of creation, he rose in his wrath, wreathed in cleansing flames of red." A fire could be seen, burning into the gloom. It drove away the darkness. "These scoured the land not once, not twice nor thrice nor four times, as Dami stood to witness. Five times hath creation been tested and yet not one who believes was burnt. Let the demon flee, but he shall know no reprieve. Let the wicked cast his fire and fury back, for it is as nothing before the might of our Lord. To hell, on the fourth day, they were sent. In hell, they shall remain, guarded by His fiery sword and his iron might."

From the swirling darkness emerged a red priest, and his power was utterly crushing. One by one, all six of his allies fell to their knees and began to wretch. "I walk the dark and lonely path, but I fear no evil, for the flame art with me and I know him for Eshiran!"

The sanguinaire staggered back, clutching at her temples, before the unfathomable power of this red priest. It was... impossible. Even Jocasta paled in comparison. the very world seemed to shudder and bend. His burning staff flared, or at least it appeared to through their starred and blurry vision. "Disappear, foul beast!" he roared. "Your very existence is an affront to creation!"

Tage Karlsson had arrived.

Elias grinned, blood seeping from his mouth, his body a bloodied wreck adorned with the branching patterns of lightning burns. [colour=4B0082]"Yes, you are right. I am the bait. Eshiran holds my life in her hands; it is not yours to take, beast."[/colour]

The sanguinaire who had terrorized them so shrunk back in terror herself.

Tage Karlsson surged forward. "The supply," he roared, "for your kind in this country far outstrips the demand! Begone!"

The white-haired woman twisted on the spot, hair swishing about, and took off to run. Her fear was existential. The red rezaindian was implacable.

He stalked forward.

Then Roslyn stepped up, blood pouring from multiple wounds, and launched an attack of her own.

[i]Never enough.[/i] If she was able, Roslyn wanted to burn those words up in the wyvern fire and let the wind scatter the ashes. It felt like the story of her life and she hated it. She couldn't help, but she felt a sense of pleasure watching their tormentor turn into the prey for once.

She lifted up her smoking bandit then took her shot. A sticky, glue-like substance flung from the end of the canon onto the woman. [color=#969351] "You're not getting away that easy!" [/color]

Brother Elias Thorn began to rise from death's door once again. Perhaps his life was held in the hands of a higher power. His tattered and bloodstained red robe served as a stark reminder of how close he had come to passing through that doorway on multiple occasions.

He stumbled closer to Roslyn and started to examine her wounds more closely.

[colour=4B0082]"We need to patch you up quickly; we do not want to provoke the beast's bloodlust."[/colour]

The sanguinaire conjured powerful gusts that set the red priest's robes flapping, but they also thrust the haze away.

It began to clear, even as more poured from the barrel of the smoking bandit.

[color=#969351]"Honestly, starting to get used to bleeding around sanguaires..."[/color] She said with a heavy breath. [color=#969351]"Need to catch her and see if we can get more information."[/color]

"Eat shit, monster!" A daggerlike object hurtled through the air towards her. It seemed to be attached to a rope.

That rope was attached to a makeshift prosthetic arm. That arm was attached to a rather makeshift-looking man. It didn't hit. It didn't land. It made her flinch, though. She flinched and the wind slackened for a second. The sanguinaire breathed in hot glue vapour. Her eyes bulged. She hacked and staggered. Two more hunters surged forward, Tage Karlsson encouraging them the entire way. The man with the knife arm pulled a lever on it and the rope retracted rapidly. A huge man leapt for her and tackled her to the ground. He got on top of her and began raining punches. An eeaiko girl with her long hair in a ponytail began chanting, and more smoke poured in towards her foe, pummeling her face, slipping into every orifice. Tage Karlsson urged them forward. "All of you, as Eshiran wills it! Onward!"

That was when she had enough. Her fist met the big man's face and punched clean through it. His body slumped to the side, dead. Great tendrils of lighting spidered aside. "You fucking insects!" she screamed.

Slicing blades scythed outwards towards the eeaiko wind mage. One sliced through her side, carving five or more inches deep, and her intestines looked ready to spill out. The other stuck, point first, into her thigh. She went down immediately. Tage Karlsson gripped his staff tightly and something seemed to have changed with him. He was trembling. It must've been the sheer rage that he felt. A thunderous sound could be heard from his direction. A great thumping rumble. His knuckles turned white. His teeth gnashed. His eyes were wide in what must've been fury at seeing his followers dealt with so!

The sanguinaire was given pause. She regarded that face of fury. She took an involuntary step back. Very slowly, very deliberately, he took a step forward. His staff flared. His fists clenched and trembled. His eyes had not moved from hers the entire time.
[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s9bfnoaasw[/youtube][/center]

He raised his hands up high. So mighty was the power of this attack that it was beyond their abilities even to sense. They simply could not fathom that much raw energy.  

"Ultimate..." he grated.

"Purgatory..."

"Hellfire..."

His teeth grit. The thunderous cacophony coming from his direction filled the ears of all.

"Burst..."

"WAVE...!"

"MOTION...!"

The heat that they could all feel, rising in their bodies, was palpable. The tension was incredible. Tage breathed out, eyes fixed upon his prey. "C A N N O N ! ! !"

Tage Karlsson, red sword of the Eskandish Quentic Church, stood there in all of his fire and fury, an attack to level the very heavens building within him.

His enemy, and that of both Brother Elias and Roslyn, broke and fled. One moment, she was there. The next, she was gone. The Red Priest stood there, impassive, his robes fluttering in the night breeze. He exhaled and, gradually, the thunderous noise of the Karlsson Battle Engine quieted. "See to the injured," he said simply.

"That monster yet lives".

[/hider][h2]Dark Wings, Dark Tidings [/h2][hider=*********] 
Date: Ardanes 36. DZ55

The moment the sanguinaire vanished, Roslyn tensed. An itchiness crawled across her arm causing her fingers to scratch it despite the wound. Why did they have to know temporal? As Elias began to heal her, her voice bleed with anger. [color=#969351]"She used temporal to port out of here. That makes things tricky."[/color]

She wanted to go after the sanguinaire, but Elias reminded her of those in need of help. This tempered her rashness... for now. Her hand curled into a fist then punched a nearby surface. Despite her meager efforts in building her temporal, she couldn't track the sanguinaire. It was better to stick to staying out of the way and at least saving a few lives. 

Elias and her started to head westward.

It wasn't long before they found evidence of carnage. Roslyn saw the impaled yasoi man first causing her to rush ahead of Elias. Drawing from the heat around the area, she began to bind the man's wounds while breaking down the metal spike. As he recovered, he coughed and thanked Roslyn profusely.

 "There's another down there!" he coughed, pointing north. "My wife. She was looking for our kids. That... bitch just went through her."

A bit too focused on ensuring she got all the wounds, Roslyn hadn't heard him. "Where was she last seen heading?"

"North!" he shouted, pointing urgently. "They slammed into her and there was blood and.... "Please. I'm sorry. Hurry!"

"Right," she cursed herself then started heading Northward. Her eyes panned for signs of the wife or other wounded along the way. They stumbled across a badly wounded old eeaiko man with two spines through his shoulder. Applying her binding, Roslyn attempted to heal him too. He wiggled too much causing her to pull back and stop her healing midway.

"Elias, can you heal him? I'm going ahead to see if I can find the wife." The girl said, leaving the father to deal with the wounded.

Her eyes widened as her gaze swept along the carnage around her. Ruined tiles, claw marks upon the edge of a rooftop, and then... A strange magical presence. She focused on the source. The heat in the air sent the hairs on her neck on end.

Something was wrong.

She spotted what she assumed was the wife of the yasoi man. Her arm was broken, both of her legs have been ripped off, and bleeding on her scalp.

Roslyn remained where she stood as her hand reached into her bag. She pulled out the mana prime shot and downed it quick while Elias rushed past her, set on healing the woman. [color=#969351]"Wait-" [/color]

The sound of distinct flapping noises interrupted her. Looking up, she spotted it: a demon descending from the sky on great bat-like wings. It began to swoop down on the gravely wounded woman even as he started to heal her. Once she finished the prime shot in one gulp, she was suddenly on her knees. [i]SHIT! Not now![/i] Her body trembled as she managed not to faceplant into the cracked cobblestone beneath her. Of all the times for this to happen, why now?

Her eyes tracked the monstrous thing. The gargoyle sweeping down on its black wings, claws reaching for Elias, mouth open to release a blood curdling screech. Adam drew upon the power of magnetic. Warping the area around himself a bolt of lightning shot from himself to the winged creature. However it managed to bring its wings up as a shield, blocking the attack.The echoes of the demon's wail reverberated through the misty predawn air, its great wings unhardening and spreading again.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCR7ovEwtCA[/youtube][/center]

The demon's tail whipped about and, from it, leapt a cold bluish ray of light, scything towards Brother Elias once again. Meanwhile, the woman on the ground was bleeding out, the life fading from her battered body. Brother Elias sealed the wounds of the Yasoi woman. Nothing could be done for her purple pants, however, but she is now stable. Roslyn focused around the air surrounding Elias as she raised the temperature. Heat shimmered and burned the air, instantly melting the beam into vapor. Adam channeled Manas for Arcane to use a makeshift light attack on the gargoyle.

The gargoyle paid precious little attention to the three pests below. They were clearly no threat, but they were a nuisance. Its master was calling and that was a call that it had no impulse but to heed with utter reverence. It had gathered enough flesh for the [i]Magnum Opus[/i]. With a mighty beat of its wings, it began lifting off into the sky.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqbtZq03xeQ[/youtube][/center]
A bolt of lightning hit Adam forcing the man to bind his wounds, struggling to not pass out. Meanwhile, Roslyn lifted her smoking bandit and took another shot.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLeYqRkcYzk[/youtube][/center]

Roslyn's attack had struck the gargoyle, and it screeched and writhed, trying to shake the burning sticky tendrils free before they could harden. She had gotten its attention, and it now turned its ire on her. Seeing the baneful look cast her way, Roslyn gritted her teeth and hardened her will. "Come on ugly." 

The anger was palpable as the beast ripped itself free and continued on its way. That glare bore into the bones, fueling her anger. Roslyn hand dipped into her skirt pocket for the compass. With a flick on the dial, her movement sped up. Temporal blurred the world around as she darted after it. Drawing from the light around, she cast gravity to bring the gargoyle down. At first, it seemed to work until it turned.

[color=#cbc66d]"Shit!" [/color] Roslyn rushed to the side.

The claws caught on her dress and dug into the skin. Blood splattered with the force as the beast took back to the air. The demon's grand black wings began to carry it further from the city, on past Miller's Hook and out across the farm fields. Windmills groaned and spun, phantasmal under the light of the moon and Sipenta's rings. Fields of grain, nearly ready for harvest, whispered in the cool night wind.

Despite her best efforts, Roslyn saw herself falling behind with the others. Then, she heard it: a screech.... and another. Her heart sank with dread at what they walked in on. She flicked her head about, but saw nothing. They were heading toward the Godsroad if she knew her lay of the land well enough. She slowed upon realizing the danger they ran into. Quickly she hid from sight.

The roar of Arisztaxa echoed across the fields.

Elias as he stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze flicked between the other two. 

"Humans," he begins, reflective, "are neither the largest nor the strongest of creatures in Sipenta and its Beasts. Alone, we are fragile, vulnerable, and cannot match their fury. Yet, it is our remarkable persistence that has made us formidable hunters. We shall observe, and if we follow them to their nest, we can engage them on our own terms, seizing the advantage. Such has been the way of the church, taking advantage with superior numbers of our hunting choirs."

"Not sure fighting in a creature's lair is an advantage there." Roslyn whispered back, "But not liking our odds here. One was hard enough to bring down, but two?"

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVh-o8A9R9c[/youtube][/center]

The three paused to confer and, some ways above and ahead of them, the demons seemed to be doing the same. The larger of the two smacked its smaller counterpart with its tail and they began growling and snapping at each other until Gorganchak submitted. In the talons or Arisztaxa they could see a pair of bodies. Gorganchak wasn’t looking. Roslyn managed to get out of sight easily enough, but the others were a bit too slow.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedFvpziGqo[/youtube][/center]

Roslyn watched the demon turn its head and swoop down toward her allies. Its tail whipped back and forth, eyes burned with a hungry eagerness. Elias didn't flee or hide. Instead, he stood to face the fierce gargoyle, with his staff held high, as it burned brightly to blind the creatures, to flash-bang them. "I dare you to fly near, you fools!"

Gorganchak, who had previously paid them little heed, turned towards the tiny loud human along with his partner. Both gargoyles came for Elias. The demons, at the last moment, shielded themselves with their wings and continued their death-dive towards the priest. While Gorganchak hurtled in to grasp the man in his talons, Arisztaxa pulled up, unable to attack while her fellow demon had their victim. With that, the gargoyles turned and seemed to be heading for the forest.

[color=#cbc66d]"No, nonono!"[/color] Roslyn muttered. She gave chase. Adam slipped in beside her as they hurried past the Godsroad and towards the great dark looming wall of the Border Wood.

The forest was thick and wild and there seemed to be a trail, but who was to say that the demons would stay directly above it? Their wingbeats began to slow as the very first hint of a deep bluish glow appeared on the horizon. The demons started to descend towards the canopy. They were being followed. They had instructions from their master that this could not be allowed.

The pursuing pair faded into the forest, however, dispersing their energy over a wide area to mask their presence. It was dark there. It was damp. Insects skittered. Small animals made their way through the underbrush before freezing in the imperious presence of the pair of demons.

[i]We should've killed the first one when we had the chance.[/i] Roslyn cursed herself. The mistake was obvious when the first gargoyle met with another. Any odds in their favor to win were quickly ending. No point in pouting, she scowled herself. What was done, was done.

[i]Why did he do that?!?[/i] Roslyn had just taken cover when she heard Adam break a twig from her. His nerve had snapped and drew the demon's presence closer to her. Feeling exposed, she shifted to a new tree trunk to avoid being seen. The loud hiss behind her forced her to twist on foot and draw. She clapped her hands using binding to tug a tree in the way of the attack.

The bark exploded, sending her backwards and slamming hard into the ground. Pain popped and crackled in the back of her head while every muscle tensed, no longer listening to her mind. [i]No... I can't let this happen. I need to move...[/i]

Her body didn't listen as her vision went dark. The last thing she saw was the dark shape of a gargoyle advancing upon her. [i]I can't... die... here...[/i]
[hr]

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtgHRET61I4[/youtube][/center]

The world appeared by torchlight and stone. The place where Roslyn and Elias awakened might've smelled of moss, lime, and mildew had it not reeked of something else entirely: the stench of death. Flickering flames lit the vast cold stone chamber and among the very first things that both noticed was the sensation of being trapped. There was weight on top of them, pressing them down. The floor below them was not a floor. It was soft and irregular and, in some places, hard or pointed.

It moved.

Groans, laboured breathing, and quiet whimpers filled their ears. It was... a mound: a pile of dead and dying people. Both of them were in it. So was Adam. Hands grasped and clawed. Roslyn found a severed stump twitching inches from her eyes. A woman's face hung over Elias, swollen and bloody and, as he tried to make sense of her, she vomited. The cries and pleas rose in their pitiful volume all about the trio:

"Mama..."

"Please!"

"Aloi!"

"I won't say anything."

"Mother..."

"Mom."

It was about then that Adam stirred as well. A hand pushed roughly into his face, pushing its bearer up in the pile and him [i]down[/i]. Roslyn felt an elbow dig into her solar plexus. A young boy grabbed Elias' hair to pull himself up. The mass writhed and shifted and there was no visible sign of the demons - not from their very limited field of view. It was limited, indeed. Like crabs in a bucket, people climbed over each other. They were being buried alive.
[hr]

 When an elbow ground into her middle, Roslyn grunted in pain and clenched her middle. Her eyes rolled open. She stirred as flesh closed in on her, weighed down her limbs and chest. A strangled breath escaped her lungs and panic filled her aching head. She thrashed off to the side before she collided with something thick and warm. It seemed to breathe underneath her touch.

[i]W-where was she?[/i] She nearly screamed, but the sound stuck in her throat.

Horrified by the sensation, she took stock of her surroundings. Above her, an old semi conscious man struggled to the surface. He blocked her path as his foot kicked down, shoving her farther down. Ignoring her conscience, Roslyn reached up her arm and jerked him down. Her body slid over him as she stepped up. She spotted the realization of death in his eyes while she forced herself higher.

Faint torch light filtered in from above the closer she came. She couldn't tell if it was up or down thanks to the injury. Grumbling, she pushed herself higher.

A woman grasped for the light. "Please," she rasped, "my children."

Not willing to let the woman jerk her down, Roslyn moved past. Another pushed down. It took a few moments for the reality of her actions to hit her. With all her strength, she reached back her arm and lifted the woman up with her. Thankfully for the help, the woman mentioned her name. Virginia. The pair continue upward.

"Please, miss!" moaned a young girl with messy brown hair and freckles. "I can't feel my legs." She actually seemed surprisingly unhurt as she pulled herself up. "I think I broke my back, but a mage can heal it... right?"
Wrapping the girl's arms about her neck, Roslyn masked with a brave face.

"First, let's focus on getting out of here."  Roslyn gritted her teeth as she hooked the girl's arms about her neck. The added weight did her no favors on her efforts.

"I'm sorry, miss," says Tiffanie in Hendlish, "I'm trying."

"It's okay," Virginia grunted. "I have the kid."

"I'm... not a kid."

"I told you... I'm NOT a kid!"

"Thanks," Roslyn fought the unease smile pressing at her lips as she slid over the girl. "We just gotta keep climbing."

Along the way they helped an eeaiko sailor in rough shape. His side had been split open and both an arm and a leg broken. Despite all the damage, he refused to give up. The youth, strength, and determination shined through. They were forced to crawl past an old carpenter who had picked a fight with one of the others. He howled when his eyes got poked and disappeared into the mass of bodies.

At one point, Virgina abruptly slipped back down.

"Meine Kinder!" shouted a middle-aged woman. "Their names are Jurgen and Anna Mettrenburg Please!" she pleaded. "Find them! Give them this!" She held out a locket.

Roslyn stopped then reached back to help her. A cocky, cheerful smile cracked across her serious expression. "Nay, how about you tell them yourself instead?"

Meanwhile, another voice rose over the crowd.

"I can't die here!" wailed a young Enthishman. "I won't!" He tried to power through. "Please. A helpin' hand. I'll make it up to yeh. I promise!"

"I'm trying, give me time." Roslyn reached deeper in and found the voice's owner. "Feeling like I will be needing that hand soonish."

Right near the top, able to breathe but too weak to escape, was an elderly yasoi woman. She appeared exhausted. "If I can reach my salves, I can help them," she choked out, through crooked gritted teeth.

Just another soul to save, Roslyn thought. It seemed endless as everyone scrambled to live. Eventually they began to glimpse the light and the weight lessened. With a heavy effort, the student managed to pull the yasoi toward the others. She broke through the surface first as she crawled on top of the wiggling mass. Propping herself up onto her knees, she then tugged Virginia and Tiffanie up next.

Those safely on top took in the horror around them. Tiffanie voiced what they all were thinking. "This is... evil."

Finally Roslyn reached in for the last poor soul, the old yasoi woman. As her hand pulled the soul toward the surface, she felt herself sliding back into the pile. She ignored it as the woman clung to her, hanging on for dear life. She wasn’t ready to let it end just yet. Upon pulling her out, Roslyn sank quickly. Before she was lost in the sea of bodies once more, several hands grabbed her dress. They pulled with all their effort as the two were tossed back on top.

[hr]
A tingling of binding caught Roslyn's attention as her gaze shifted to notice Elias. Her hand rose up, illuminating the place with a faint bauble floating in her palm. Light stretched out across the enormous and windowless stone chamber. Several pillars lined the wall, but none settled in the room's center. At the far end, just past her light, laid a set of massive double doors. Food and drink settled there on display.

The room of dying people surged towards it, piling up there. Roslyn noticed her magic dim a bit as it was strangely muted. She had felt it before, but she couldn’t place where or when.  

"Jath'nan," whimpered Sindrii, "is that what -"

"Scagbiist," old Thantra hissed, face ashen. Now that she was free, she began to patch herself up.

The others were properly crawling on all fours. Karah was resting on her elbows, leaving a blood trail. She breathed heavily. Jacopo had stabbed her at least twice.

"Thet's naut e scegbeest," she grated.

"Lyke aun, boot deeferent."

She furrowed her brow. "Eet's bed."

"Eet's.... Hooge."

Over the conversation, Roslyn’s voice rose. "Okay, let's try to patch ourselves up and see if we can find a way out." All the while her eyes scanned for signs of movement.

"Eet eesn't fraum te wauter, keko," Nahanyel advised.

She shook her head and swallowed. People were grabbing at them all the time, trying to pull them under.

"You're... a tethered?" prodded Tiffanie, hauling herself up beside Keearah.

They manage to hold their own, just barely.

Gertrude looked away, ashamed, but then she hacked up some more blood. "I have... never been ashamed of my people."

"Eye weell naut joodge yoo," the eeaiko sighed, grimacing.

"I judged you," Gertrude admitted, but then the girl was being pulled down and there was only so much her strong arms could do when she was bleeding out. 

The old woman reached for her.

"Not on my watch, Fischmädchen."

It was enough to help the teenager back up, but she could not crawl properly like most of the others. They needed to move, but they also needed to heal.

"Let me show you how, hylelan."

Thantra reached out to heal Roslyn after the girl failed. It was a less than optimal environment, and even the old master found herself humbled.

"We need to move or we'll be sucked down again." Roslyn stated as she began to move. "We need to find some solid ground."

"Agreed."

Nonetheless, they moved.

Bursting free, Georges clambers over. "Count on ze Enthish to leave a Perrenchman behind."

"As long as les enfants are safe."

He reached out with his healing hands towards… Nahanyel. They were trying to move. Progress was slow for some. Then...The doors rumble. The writhing mass of wounded and dying shifted and moaned. Keearah tried to shout over them. "Weyt!" she screamed. "Weyt! Moove too te sydes!" She suited words to action, dragging herself there with impressive speed. "Eet's goeng too -"

Roslyn downed a mana shot as she followed suit, not questioning why.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7xBEsLmklc&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=6[/youtube]

"EEEEEEEOOOOOOAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!"

It was a screeching wail that they could feel in their very bones. A pair of great red eyes irised open. And then another. And another. Another. And another still. They all belonged to the same creature. They were as nothing compared to a mouth that covered nearly the entirety of the colossal double doors.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W1uDR9EOx0&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=7[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lZwy_yGVeM&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=9[/youtube]

Its lower jaw shot out and people began to be vacuumed inside. A second ear-piercing wail reverberated through the chamber.

"W...wailing Leviathan," mouthed Brother Elias Thorne, swallowing.

"A what?" Roslyn shot a look of fear at him.

"A demon of the Sixth Tier." He made the Sign of the Pentad. "Servant of Belthagor."

"Mother Oirase..." gasped Thantra.

"Father Eshiran," countered Georges.

Roslyn went pale upon hearing the name. Her eyes widened and a sick, twisted sensation crawled in her middle. "No, nonononono..."

Virginia, grabbed her by the shoulders, pressing her up against the wall. "No," she commanded, "keep it together." 

"We can escape while it is distracted with the others," Adam recommended.

The screams and wails of the soon-to-die rose around them as more were scooped into the massive demon's bloodthirsty maw.

"D-did you say sixth tier?" asked Liesl in a trembling voice.

Elias nodded almost absently. "A remarkably robust specimen."

"We're doomed!" Liesl wailed. "Make your peace with the gods!"

Roslyn couldn't stop her trembling. No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't stop. Why here? Did that mean the Grand Demon was here somewhere too? She prayed he wasn't. Virginia’s touch jerked her from her fear, "You're right. You're right."

"This is fate," gulped John. "We were fools to fight it." Normally, he was a determined man, but this seemed to have broken him.

"Fauk thet," Keearah grunted. "Eye deedn't caum thees faur, move to te lend auf te kekar, heroo, end tozek, wheel my geempy ess eraund foor nauteng. Eye steel heven't faund my seester yet." She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, where blood had come out. "We geeve fete te meedle feenger."

Nahanyel took a deep breath. "Tere ees noo haurm een tryeng, keko." He nodded. "Baut hauw?"

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vOOL2UttQ&list=PLPJny5xpzQqTziXxHNnu2kiRIfhwaEknj&index=2[/youtube]

She pushed Tiffanie towards the wall, but neglected herself. Gertrude tried to save her, but lost her grip and began to tumble. Liesl went as well. Virginia reached out to try to save little Sindrii and was, herself, sucked towards the demon's maw. Vassily tried to stop her and ended up following suit. Nahanyel dove after Keearah and was lost as well, as was Adam, who tried to save them both. George began to slide, gritting his teeth against the immense force that started to pull him. He went down on all fours. His fingertips dug into a gap between tiles and he managed to stabilize himself, but he was barely holding on.

They needed saving. They needed a hero.

Roslyn gritted her teeth as she used her kinetic to save as many as she could. However, her eyes met Nahanyel as the eeiko was flung away from her reach. "Noo, shit! Hang on."

It was Gallan who came up from nowhere to knock the flailing Nahanyel to the side. "I told yeh. We're stronger together," he barked. "Yeh don't give up on an ally, ever."

The hulking demon began to move forward, the mist around it swirling. As it made its way into the chamber they saw more of it for the first time. A hundred legs clicked and clattered. But there was an opening. If they could stick to the walls and dodge those legs and make a very quick dash at the end, there was a window. Nahanyel gritted his teeth. Branchlike tendrils whipped and writhed, impaling people.

One.

Two

Three, four, five, in rapid succession.

Over a dozen rose into the air on unholy pitchforks.

Some thrashed and wailed. Others hung limp, already dead.

All were brought to Wailing Leviathan's gaping maw and consumed. The demon rumbled forward.

"Thanks." Roslyn said as she watched the tendril smacked away by one of her companions. Meanwhile, Liesl dove for the floor and rolled, blood coming out from her various wounds. Somehow, the tendril missed.

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wailing Leviathan let rip with an eardrum-shattering roar. Thantra saved Vassily for the second time, slicing clean through a tendril with scything kinetic magic and bound stone.
They tumbled through into the darkness beyond: past the lashing slaws and writhing tentacles. 

They tumbled through. They were in a dark wood in the Hours of Ipte. The moons and the great rings glowed beautifully and eerily in the sky. As everyone began to catch their breath, the healers once more focused on repairing what they could. Tiffanie was still crippled at the spinal cord. A bit of doubt lingered on if they could repair it or not, but Roslyn knew doing nothing sealed her fate. With some effort, tissue knitted back to its former state and the bones cracked back into place. It wasn’t perfect and her back flared with pain. Upon feeling the numb and tingling of her toes, the little girl sobbed in relief. Gallan refused any healing, he didn’t need them and picked himself up by the bootstraps. 

They were safe. They were alone in the forest, but they were safe. Dew sparkled on the trees and a cool breeze filtered through their branches. The wails and screams from the underground chamber echoed through the forest, however.

Keearah, held in Natanyel's arms, reached out with her senses, still muted as they were...
Roslyn kept her eyes up. She expected to see those gargoyles again as she ignored her exhaustion and pain rippling through her small frame. If they were lucky, the demons might've fucked off to their master. The screams of those she couldn't save echoed in her head as she struggled not to slam her hands down on her ears. What could she have done? She didn't know the answer and truthfully, she didn't think she would've liked it much.

"Eencaumeng," the tethered said dispassionately. "Poot me dauwn soo yoo cen fyght."

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ord2_E9Teao[/youtube]

Then, they heard it: a cackling cry, like the laugh of a hyena. A pair of purplish glowing eyes opened and, with it, a set of fang-lined jaws. Great black wings spread.

"We get to eat too!" cackled one of the gargoyles.

"Only master's table scraps!" snarled the other, glaring in blue.

"They'll have to do," the first added darkly, stalking forward.

"None can escape."

Arisztaxa swooped down on Tiffanie. She screamed and started to run, but she was slow and her balance was poor. Roslyn stepped in to intercept Arisztaxa as she cast fireball at the horrible beast. Arisztaxa reeled back in the grasp of the boiling flames, letting out a vexed shriek. Instead, she wheeled for Georges. He did what he could to blunt the impact, but the Perrenchman was grabbed and hurled some fifty or more meters. He crashed down out of sight.

Arisztaxa let out another shriek and zeroed in on... "Next victim!" the demon hissed.

Gorganchak's claws extended as he slashed at Keearah. "Eye em naut yoor veectem!" the tethered shouted, reaching up with her hands.

She could not run. She could not best this monster in straight combat, just like last time, just like the sanguinaire. She called upon the capacity of Nahanyel. She didn't ask. She took it. There was no time for pleasantries. It wasn't enough. She was helpless again. How the anger burned inside of her. It was anger at these... monstrosities that just... took! It was anger at those who were more powerful who had done nothing and let the people of Belleville simply be preyed upon. It was anger that she had been born weak. That her body was a broken thing. That her best efforts had amounted to nothing. That Roslyn had chosen Tiffanie.

Her knuckles cracked. Her veins bulge. Her eyes bugged out, bloodshot. "Fauck you, Oraff." "Fauck yoo, Esheeran." 

"And Fauck you most auf aull, Daumee." 

It plowed into her and picked her up like some plaything, and then Keearah was flying, like she did underwater, when she could move freely in three dimensions. She gripped its feet with all of her strength. She gripped the bracelet her sister had left her and she screamed. And she filled it with her hate.

Keearah cast [WARP REALITY]. She ripped the power from its attack and the gargoyle let out a shriek. Keearah was not strong, like her sister. She was not clever, like her grandfather. The demon let go and flung her towards the ground. It flapped awkwardly and roared and darted back towards the others. She landed in a tree and knew that she had a broken rib or two. She landed alive.
 
She rebounded off of one branch, and then another, and then came to rest in a heap. She cried out in pain and rolled onto her back, laying there and staring up the bone white moon of Dandres. She laughed and then cried from the pain that it caused her.

The demons, meanwhile, came in for their next victims. One went for Adam, but Thantra stepped in. Her bound wall of stone smacked it in the wing and it fluttered awkwardly away, screeching. Arisztaxa was impaled in two places with sharpened wooden stakes. They barely pierced her hide, but she roared in anger.

Elias had run off into the forest after Georges. The Perrenchman must've been badly wounded. He would need the help. Roslyn had sent some healing toward Georges, but it wasn’t much. Meanwhile, the screams and wails inside the rocky hump of the hill had died down.

The demons flashed through the sky and, suddenly, there was a third one. There was a fourth. They circled in the exact opposite pattern of the first two. "We have you surrounded," taunted Arisztaxa. 

"There is no hope," hissed Gorganchak.

"We will offer you a deal," said the first.

"You will choose four to die," added the second.

"One to satisfy each of us -"

"For we HUNGER."

"Choose," commanded Arisztaxa, "or you all die."

"Choose four..." He stroked his chin, "We are like breadcrumbs in their eyes, they would not be satisfied. Demons like a substantial meal. If they hungered for strength, it would make more sense for them to eat each other so they grow in power, perhaps enough to even overcome their master. Though, fear keeps them in check from such a deed."

"If you knew our master, stupid human," hissed Gorganchak, the unknown demon to his other side mirroring him, "you would know the meaning of fear as well."

"We are not ssso enslaved to our baser natures as you think," added Arisztaxa and her counterpart. "We work together now and the reward is sssso much greater."

At that, she circled and swooped towards Elias from one side, one of the other gargoyles doing so from the opposite direction.


Keearah could not shout out, she was too far away. However, she could sense and she could help.

Despite Vassily’s efforts, the young boy couldn’t tap into his magical gift. 

"You leave Mister Priest alone!" screamed Sindrii. She let out a small kinetic burst that did precisely nothing to the demon. However, it managed to kick up a cloud of dust that obscured Elias for one crucial moment longer and allowed him to roll out of the way of both attacks.

The demons swooped into it, looking to be on a collision course, but each emerged from the other side, arcing up high into the predawn sky. The two pairs of demons circled back again for another attack. Then, came the counterattack.

"I sacrifice nobody to evil," sneered Gertrude.

"Yoo aur nautheng besyde te pauwer auf te Gods," added Nahanyel.

"Mother Oirase compels you!" roared Thantra.

"Eat shit, demons!" concluded Gallan.

"They are puppets dangling on their Master's string. Imagine the potential to become more powerful than one can imagine, and trading it away for breadcrumbs off master's plate. Pitiful existence. There is more independent thought in a Green Meanie, a delightful little Mycormi slug. Though, don't disturb one, it has its name for a reason."

"I need my magic too!" shouted Vassily, tired of being useless. However, it did not come. Instead, he threw a rock.

"Don't worry, Vassily," shouted Sindrii, "you'll be a great wizard someday!"

Joining forces, Gertrude, Tiffanie, Nahanyel and Sindrii struck at Gorganchak. The Feskan conjured a mist of corrosive chemicals and the demon thrashed and wailed, its stony skin melting. "You know *nothing*!" it roared. "Your taunts mean nothing!"

That left Thantra, Gallan and Vassily to take on Arisztaxa. The beast took a massive stone to the chest, and she crashed awkwardly into the trees. "Sssoooon," she wailed, "he shall come, and you shall die. You fools!"

It was right about then, that Adam received a message. It was sloppy and uncertain, but he thought that he recognized pinch language.

<FIGHT. FAKE.>

However, there came a second message, that all could hear, and this one was from the old healer, Thantra. "There's something coming," she shouted, "something with massive energy!"

<TWO.> the tethered sent. <TWO. ENEMY.> <FAKE.>

Keearah was some ways away and she was average at best with kinetic magic. Simply put, the tethered girl, without her wheelchair, had no ability to make it over to the others.

In the back of Roslyn's head, she knew her mistake. She should've quit when she was ahead. Yet, she never learned to back off. To get help from others when she got in over head and accepted she wasn't enough. What was she thinking? The fact was, she wasn't and now it would cost her everything. Anger billowed up in her chest at these facts. [i]Why... WHY?!?[/i] It was her own fault she ended up here and she had no one else to blame.

Her eyes turned to the others, only to catch Elias' words. She raised an eyebrow at the obvious ploy. It seemed the demons caught on to as they mocked and then went at the priest. That seemed to be the last straw. Immediately, the ex-victims leapt to his defense followed up with retaliation.

[color=#969351] "I think it's time we get the hells out of here..."[/color] Roslyn replied when she caught Thantra's statement.

"We should go!" cried Sindrii.

Feeling a sensation of a pinching feeling on him, he thought it was something like a twitch, but it was a message. Concentrating on it. "We should leave." He mumbled. Looking at the others "We need to get out of here, any suggestions?" He whispered to the others.

Georges was jogging back, somehow not out of breath. He seemed to have healed himself.

"We have the numbers!" he called back. "Get the others who can't fight outta here. I'm itchin' for some payback!"

"I am too, but better to do it on more favorable ground. Don't you think so?" Roslyn said, hoping to coax the man into cooperating.

"You don't hurt Mister Priest!" he bellowed, his little voice squeaking and his fists balled up. 

The light from the rising sun struck the rings of Sagand and they shimmered a blazing gold and orange.

"The Green Meanie is big, fast, and mean, with corrosive sludge. These Gargoyles by contrast are the chihuahua of demon folk, all yap and no bite." 

Sindrii was just as staunch a defender of Brother Elias. She held the remains of her severed forearm tightly against her body, but her good hand reached out in a clawlike gesture and Arisztaxa was wrenched off-course. 

The massive energy drew closer and now they could sense it. 

And then, another signal.

<TWO.> <TWO. BIG. TWO. PLACE.> <MAYBE. ALLY. MAYBE. ENEMY.>

If there was a second, it was too far away... for now.

"We need to go now. I'm laying down cover, you try to head to the trees and toward the town." Roslyn snapped as she began to pull back, drawing in mana. She pulled her fingers to circle her mouth as she focused on her chemical and  arcane gifts, hoping to create a bit of fog.

"When the opportunity comes, let's make a break for it but stay together." He looked at them then back to the Gargoyles then back to the others "if they attack we can defend ourselves."

Brother Elias smiled toward the children, "You would both make for good Red Rezaindians. May Eshiran guide your hand."

"Yeah," replied Vassily, "for her!"

Sindrii shot him a venomous look.

"You get it?" he added, "because 'hand', like one?"

"It is in my experience that being mean to a girl you like is not a recipe for success. It reminds me of a sister who made the most disgusting cupcakes imaginable. She found a boy after he braved one, swallowed it, and said it tasted good. She was smitten."

The demons shrieked and wheeled in the brightening sky, unable to perceive their targets.
"WhAAAT!?" Vassily protested, "Like her!?" He shook his head adamantly. "Gross!"

Sindrii scrunched up her nose and grimaced at the boy.

Fog quickly rose up from the ground around them as everyone scattered toward the trees. Roslyn, held back, ready to cover their retreat from the shadows. Brother Elias gestured for the children to move away, "Argue about it later, now run. We need to get away from this accursed place."

"I'm faster," Sindrii bragged.

"Well duhh," Vassily responded. "My leg's like super-broken." He grimaced, leaning on a makeshift crutch.

Not finding their usual targets, the gargoyles went for another instead. One bursts one of Keearah's eardrums with a sonic attack. She falls back and shrieks. Arisztaxa swooped in, claws extended, to skewer the tethered. 

The puddles on the ground trembled, their surfaces rippling. Curtains of birds took off. A great howling wail burst across the forest. It was Wailing Leviathan. It did not sense them yet. However, it was not alone. 

From the other side came a second massive energy. It burned with atomic fire. A colossal series of booms and blasts echoed through the Border Wood. These covered and protected Keearah from the attack that would've finished her off. Arisztaxa pulled up.

The demon drew back, clearly afraid. "Y-yyyou."

In the clearing by the downed tethered stood A towering figure with blond hair and clenched fists. "You foul fucking creaturesh have had enough fun here for one night, I think."

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-EfMC-xgus[/youtube]

Gorganchak circled about but also kept a respectful distance.

Sven Bjornsson reached out with a healing hand. "You will be healed."

Keearah's damaged flesh stitched itself back together. 

"Will you two fight me or run like cowardsh?" Sven asked. "You will find me more formidable than that brave priesht."

He seemed, in many ways, different from the Sven they had known. There was something almost... proud about him.

"Who said flattery doesn't get you everywhere." He nodded in approval.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFoOZ4z-_ZA[/youtube]

Sven stalked forward. The demons circled. Gorganchak came in with a thousand needles arcing forth from his stony wings to impale the Eskandishman. Sven held a hand up. A thousand needles halted in the sky and hung there. He tilted his head to one side and clenched his fist.

Adam ran over to Keearah, in awe of how much she had been healed in a rapid amount of time. After lifting the tethered on his back he went back to the others.

The demon nimbly dodged away. Arisztaxa swooped in as well.

The Gargoyles clashed with Sven, Roslyn stealthily moved toward the others. 

A heat beam leapt from the demon's mouth. Sven's mouth opened. He sucked it all in.
It came burning back at the demon and Arisztaxa fell from the sky, wreathed in flames.
He stalked forward. 

"Gorganchak!" he bellowed, "show your cowardly face sho that I might tear you limb from limb!"

He caught the demon fleeing. Gorganchak was vaporized in a colossal nuclear explosion.

"LEVIATHAN!!!" he roared. "You're next!"

"Go," Sven shouted at Adam, "I'll buy you shome time."

Meanwhile, the others had an opening. They needed to sneak by the colossal tier six demon. Roslyn, Adam, Tiffanie, John, Keearah, Thantra, Nahanyel, Vassily, and Sindrii had managed to escape its attention. However, Gertrude, Gallan, Georges, Liesl, and Elias weren’t so lucky. As the demon crawled closer, the five individuals ran for their lives. The old Feskan woman hoofed it when she spotted it looming over her. Liesl became a blur as she darted ahead of the others, taking the lead. Georges and finally Gallan brought up the rear. 

It was a series of heroic last stands, to be frank. So many, in fact, that they weren't the last stands at all. When a group of people of no particular remarkability work together instead of against each other, when they save instead of squabble, they can achieve remarkable things.This was just such an action. They had not killed anything, but perhaps that was not the goal. 

As a consequence of the actions of Adam Galahad, Elias Thorne, and Roslyn Wicke, twelve lives were saved. Twelve people would get to live when they otherwise wouldn't have. They slipped out right from under the nose of the Wailing Leviathan.

Sven for what it was worth, recovered his good sense enough not to attack the tier six demon head-on. Instead, he came barreling through the trees some minutes later, as the others slipped free, arms full of various treasures.

"They were guarding a hoard!" he told them breathlessly. He shook his head, still panting from exertion. They reached the white walls of Ersand'Enise just as Ipte gave way to Shune and the sun peered, brilliant and gold over the horizon.

It was mere minutes longer before the area was swarming with Rezaindians. Retroactively, the school administration had sanctioned the entire action.
[/hider][h2]Girl Chat[/h2][hider=********] 

Date: Ardanes 37th, DZ55

Which one to pick? Roslyn mentally sighed while her eyes slid from one section of books to the next. Her fingers reached out and lightly skimmed the spines, trying to decipher the covers. It wasn't even clear if it was the right area for her research. The girl accepted defeat with a sigh then turned to the nearest person. 

"Uh, I'm terribly sorry, but can you help me? I'm looking for books about demons. Mostly information that be can used in defense against them. You couldn't direct me to the right ones, could you?"  

"A book on Demons? How heretical Roslyn," she turned to face Roslyn with a small grin, leaning on the shelf behind her.

Roslyn's eyes widened in recognition. She returned the smirk and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, one has to learn the best way to say no to a demon after all." 

Her arms dropped back to her sides as she then added. "I've been meaning to thank you for trying to save me. Even if it didn't work."

"I always say yes to a cute demon," Ingrid rolled her eyes and walked past her, holding out a hand for her to grab. "Well, I couldn't not try, I died to come back to help afterall. Why are you looking into demons by the way? Looking to summon a hottie?"

"Taking a bit of advice from Desmond. Learn what I can in hopes to be prepare and not be... helpless again." Roslyn said earnestly as she eyed the offered hand. Slowly she took a hold of it as she let Ingrid lead her. "As for cute demons, I don't think I've ever met any."

She guided her up and down the aisle, "Desmond has given me many words of encouragement, I'm sure he gave you some as well." At times she would shake her head and go towards a different direction, "Sorry, the book there was already taken. But I've seen some cute monkey demons and a demon door. Or was it chains."

She grabbed one from the top shelf, "Here this contains some of Giacomo's entries on demons from the start of the Ersand'Enise. But anyway, boys. You got any chasing some hendlish tail?"

Roslyn nodded, silently agreeing. He had even shown her a few tricks in how to direct her shots that were easier to follow than her Zeno's. A look of disappointment came over her face as she bit back a sigh. When the topic turned to boys, she clicked her tongue against her teeth. 

"No, not really. I'm not exactly a 'refine' beauty. I think I'm the only one in my friend group that hasn't dated." The embarrassment was clear in her voice. She took the book and glanced over the cover, memorizing it. Her eyes looked up to spot the high shelf. "I'm glad you're here. I would've never considered looking up there."

Ingrid shook her head, "Consider that I'm as tall as a Yasoi and strong as a warrior, I'm not what you would call 'refined'." Ingrid took her by the hand and did a small twirl on her, "This way, some demons have weaknesses based around what they are, a cloud demon taught me that." She headed off again.

"There are so many ways to fluster someone, to enchant them to you even if you are not this so called 'refined'. The real question is do you want a love story or something naughtier?" she teased the girl with her eyes as she placed another book in her hands.

"I'm small and mouse-like as my brother points out. I don't think that's much better." Roslyn countered as she let Ingrid twirl her. It was clear she was light on her feet and moved with surprising grace. The smile on her face only grew, her arm pinning the book against her. She came to a stop and moved quickly to keep pace with the longer legged student.

Roslyn blushed a bit. "I'm a romantic in my heart. Grew up in a household full of love and affection between my parents. At least until mother died." 

Reflecting on what Ingrid said earlier, Roslyn then addressed an earlier topic. "So... I'm starting to wonder something. Is coming back from the dead a trick people here learn? You're the second person I know that's done that."

"Men— and some women," she gave a wink, "—love small women, makes them feel big and strong, fill the role given to them by Oraff-Zept," Ingrid countered. She stopped at a book of quick counters by survivalist mage and replaced it with the romance book she gave her early, "This may be too intense for a first time reader, maybe after your first relationship." she laughed it off, "I do have one for a maiden at heart, it was my favorite when I came of age."

"Oh, coming back alive? Simply an item that revived me after I died though I do wonder who else you have seen die."

Vel had been the only one to flirt with her and that wasn't with serious intentions. So Roslyn didn't expect anything differently here. Taking the replaced book up into one hand, she tilted it to skim the title. "I don't think I've even heard of this one, but I think I might enjoy it." 

She set it back on top of her growing pile. "Not sure I'll have a relationship before I'm engaged and married off. I've got less... time than most people do." 

At Ingrid's curiosity, Roslyn considered if she should say the name. She came to a final decision as she spoke. "My friend, Penny. It happened a few months ago. I was in shock over it and so a lot is really hazy. I should've listened to her and it might've not happened."

"It's a good one." Ingrid reinforced, "The cloud demon disappeared when I precipitated it with Arcane." With her words formed an illusion of the cloud demon that then fell to snow. Ingrid walked through that snow, "A clever mage finds these and capitalizes on them."

As Ingrid guided her to one last book, Ingrid turned on her heels when she heard that she had less time, "Even more so to look for love while you can. My family is biting at my heels to get married, if things kept going my grandfather would have put on a grand party for me and Niallus." she shook her head disapprovingly, "Your first relationship will be messy, might as well try to have one before you get married so you know what it is like."

Ingrid grabbed some books for herself and stopped when Penny's name came up, "She died?" her heart sunk for a moment, color rushing away from her face before she composed herself. "That girl risks her life like it has no meaning, rolling the dice every time. Don't hold her death on you, Roslyn, it will only pull you to terrible places." Ingrid said solemnly.

A silence came over Ingrid for a moment as she scanned the library, gently pulling Roslyn along. It could be uncomfortable or merely a thoughtful moment but it came to an end when they reached a new section of the library. Ingrid's eyes did not wander on the shelf, she knew exactly where the book was. A book with a yellowish brown cove and a dandelion embroidered on the spine, "Dandelion Amongst the Garden." She said the name with care. "It's a lovely story that I think you will find comforting," she placed it delicately on top of the pile of books she accrued for Roslyn over their time.

"Come on," she pulled her with renewed vigor, "We should get you checked out before the tower falls," she laughed as she still guided her through.

Ingrid help set the books down to check them out, "All this chat has done has proven one thing to me," Ingrid signed her name for which books she was checking out and scooted it off to Roslyn.

"From crushses to friends, both are finite. They will come and go. Not taking the chance to be with them, to repair bridges, to love, it is just far too tragic for someone who says they don't have much time." Ingrid took a deep breath. She never got to repair what she hurt with Niallus, never got to fight with him again. 

"But that's my experience. I'm young, you're young, you can do a lot in a year." Ingrid shrugged. "Anything else you need?"

"Maybe you're right. It's at least given me something to think about." She commented while she scratched the quill across the sign out page. Popping it back into the ink pot, she paused and seemed to question herself. Finally, she drew up the courage to finish what was on her mind. "Actually, yes. I almost forgot. Is there any information over demons seen in portals or from messing with time?"

Ingrid thought for a second, like she was going through her own memories, "I don't deal with portals enough to have heard of that. I'll keep an eye out for it though." She tapped the books flush with each other and placed them in her satchel. "Some of the material there is pretty dense, I have some notes on them if you be interested," Ingrid offered.

"Yeah, from what I heard temporal is not easy to learn. But I have seen others do it back in Mezegol. People other than students or teachers." Roslyn commented as she added. "Ah, certainly. It might save me some time. I appreciate it." 

She gathered up her small collection of books. "Are they here or somewhere else?"

"They're at my dorm, walk me there, would you?" Ingrid asked but already heading to her dorm.

"All right." Roslyn adjusted the books in her arms and moved to keep pace. She asked another question to pass the time. "So, you're from Eskand, right? Which region?"

"The South coast of Eskand Ath, Lots of mines, mountains, and trees. What about yourself? I know you're from Hendland but what part?" Ingrid returned the question. Small talk, the killer of time.

"Ackney, it's near the coastline and closest to the border of Kressia. A small town, but peaceful and beautiful. Mostly rolling hills and few old forests that were fun to play in. As long as there wasn't Skuggvar sightings."

"Ackney," she noted in her head. "I absolutely hate Skugvars," Ingrid rolled her eyes when thinking of the most petty person she had displeasure of meeting. "Being on a coastline made of sand must of been nice. Mine was rocky and black."

They were closing in now and Ingrid decided the fastest way held the most fun. Each step she gathered some energy until she leaped up to her floor and scurried through her window.

"Coming?" she teased.

"They can be pretty... at a distance. Occasionally, you'll encounter one going after livestock near the water. The most dangerous time is during mating season. Also avoid mothers and their young during the spring." Roslyn was no expert on the creatures, but knew enough to avoid trouble. "We weren't directly on the coast, but near enough. The one thing that irritates me with sand is that it gets [i]*everywhere*[/i]." 

She recalled her skirts had a gritty itch to them after every walk along the beach. No matter how hard she beat the cloth, it never seemed free of it until after a few washes. When they arrived at the dorm, her host sped up then shot up in the window. Roslyn blinked in stunned silence. [i]*What are we doing now, playing yasoi?*[/i] 

At Ingrid's voice, Roslyn gave a cheeky smile. "Oh I am. Climbed the Evertree plenty of times so this should be easy." 

Pulling back a bit for a running start, Roslyn inhaled then bolted forward. Kinetic flowed into her legs before she bounced upward. Hands gripped the railings as she slipped one leg then the next into the window. "Hope no one was looking up." She mumbled.

The room was unnaturally quiet, most likely a sonic bubble of some kind, "After all your nerves, I never expected you to be a tree climber." She gave a laugh before sitting on her bed. 

"The notes are over at my desk but if you're interested, I can share what I know of the portal demons. It might cost you though," Ingrid smiled with her eyes closed, trying to mess with her.

"I'm full of surprises. Most people just don't know me well enough to realize it." Roslyn fired back and set the books down on a nearby surface. Her hands then rested on her hips at the mention of cost. She tilted her head while she sized up the tall woman. Eyes flickered in thought over the meaning and weight of that price. 

Trypano's claims poked at the back of her mind, but the evidence was sparse. Even if it was true, Vel had shown her not all Sanguinaires were terrifying. A far as she knew, the woman hadn't done anything to earn any distrust from her. Quite the opposite really. 

"And what cost would that be?"

"Maybe joining me for a bite to eat? I do enjoy fine company from time to time," Ingrid rested her chin on her fist. She could really use another friend, especially one with immense access to good beer.

Roslyn leaned forward with squinted eyes. Her mouth pulled to the side in thought as it seemed she was considering the offer. The words really made her wonder. "It's tempting, I've never tried the famous Eskandish dirt before. And I'm flattered you think I'm fine company." 

She found herself blushing a bit while she remained mindful of the window.

Ingrid smiled wide, maybe a little to wide, "Yes! Let me go prepare some meat then, do you prefer white or red? Or do you prefer beer with meat?" Ingrid bounced from her bed to the door, a few journals floating over Roslyn into her hands, "The notes are in there, take a read and look at the page notes while I cook."

"Oh yeah! The portal demons," Ingrid snapped her fingers as she seared some spiced meat. "They're called 'Knowers', first of all." 

Dinner was under way!

Roslyn half expected to see fangs poking out of Ingrid's smile. The tension faded from her form when there wasn't any. She chided her paranoia as she watched Ingrid prepare the meal. Her stomach growled, reminding her of the time and how late it had gotten. It didn't help she hadn't eaten much of anything today. 

"White." At the woman's encouragement, she came to the desk and picked up the notes. Her body leaned against the edge while she read. At the mention of another name for these demons, she nodded. "I've heard that word before..." 

She bit her lip before it came it to her. "Vel mentioned an incident in ReTan, I think. Some time during Assani? The students, Emperors and many more fought something... big."

"Oh we did, I think it even wiped out a mountain or 2? My memory was hazy because of all the drugs pumping through me," Ingrid answered nonchalantly. That memory was firmly contained, existential dread was not what she needed. 

Ingrid poured a rather heavy glass of wine for herself and Roslyn, "There you are," she took a sip. "It seems those are of true interest to you, can I inquire why?" Ingrid asked as she prepared some roasted roots.

"Glad I'm not the only one fighting things bigger than me." Roslyn commented then set the notes down. She gave her lip another indecisive bite and remained silent for several moments. With a sigh, she rolled up her sleeve to above her elbow. 

"It's a bit complicated. I found out my family happened to encounter them. It left a mark on my bloodline and well, it seems encounters with them is becoming more common. At least based on what I heard from Xiuyang." She stepped forward, stretching out her arm for Ingrid to see. Three long lash marks decorated her elbow as they roped around the width. The coloration was black compared to her pale skin. Her other hand took the glass and gingerly sipped the wine.

Ingrid took hold of her arm, tracing the markings just barely above the skin. "If you told me they were simple tattoos, I would believe you even if it is against your character." Ingrid made some hasty notes and rendition of the marks. 

"As for encountering more of them, that's definitely the case," Ingrid confirmed. "They tend to show up when Temporal magic is involved though I would also assume they would with Dark magic as well," she started to serve the simple meal of steak with roast potatoes. She swirled the glass of wine before taking a leisurely sip, "I added extra dirt to yours."

"If they were simple tattoos, I'd have no reason for research. At least over knowers." Roslyn commented as she let Ingrid examine the marks. 

After the woman was done, she switched her wine to the other hand and rolled down her sleeve. She gratefully took the plate and cut a small bite to try. The knife paused midway to her mouth at the mention of extra dirt. Her eyes studied the 'dirt-like' seasoning on top of it before she popped it cautiously in. Roslyn chewed thoughtfully as the favor filled her tongue. 

"Thank you. It's different from what I ate in Hendland. I can't place the favor, but I can see where it got its name." She said then continued between bites. "Yeah, Xiuyang mentioned people using portals to transfer goods have been marked too. But I never came in contact-that I recall- with a knower." 

She took another bite, chewed and swallowed. "Based on those reports, has anyone mentioned odd reactions to temporal magic?"

"Doesn't surprise me in the least," Ingrid took another sip, "It basically told me to stop doing it so I imagine those who keep doing it are going to be targeted at some point."

"Besides basic temporal pressure, I'm not sure. Usually I just get rewinded and I'm none the wiser, just a really frustrating experience. They can manipulate bodies with some alien energy, could be something like that?" Ingrid finally got to eating her own food. "Everyone's dirt is a little different, usually it's for smoked or dried meat but I been trying it on quick meats."

"I might have to ask for a pouch of this and try cooking with it. It might save my failures." About a third of her food was gone now. 

"Based on the name, I'll take a wild guess that it's a crushing sensation? Not exactly what I'm looking for." She frowned with disappointment. "I'm not sure if this means anything, but my mark tends to itch when around temporal magic. Some times it's easy to ignore. Other times... it's impossible without certain aids." 

She recalled the nightmare of temporal during the Mano e Mano trial. 

 Taking a deeper sip of her wine, Roslyn let it numb her. The idea of having her body manipulated again didn't sit well with her. "I don't like that thought... at all. Save for my grandfather, everyone in my family was born with it. There is another thing it does. It grows. My brother's has progressed farther than mine and it affects his Gift." 

It also slowly kills us, she silently added.

"That's no good but it sounds like its meant to stop you from messing with time, maybe its a curse like that of blood magics?" Ingrid said, clearly in thought, "I don't really have the answers to this but I'll keep an ear out for clues, can't have a pretty girl like you just disappear on me now." She prepared a jar of dirt for her, "Here," she slid it over.

"Thank you and appreciate it." She had finished her plate and took the jar. After reflecting for a moment, she then added. "It could be, but I know a bit of temporal and been using it. Wouldn't that make it worse? And my brother doesn't even know temporal and his trails up his arm and neck. I feel like I'm missing something, but I can't figure it out."

"Besides immutable changes between the two of you, is their a difference in lifestyle between the 2 of you?" She was simply narrowing variables right now. She doubted it would lead anywhere but it was worth probing.

"There's a lot of differences. We both were brought up for certain roles. I was originally suppose to take over the brewery while he was suppose to be here. That naturally led to some harsh feelings. We didn't leave on the best of terms." She knew his letters still held a bitterness due to the lack of warmth and teasing. "Garith can hold grudges for a long time."

"Pretty typical for those who were promised much, don't let it bother you so, all that matters is that you're here now." Ingrid spoke bluntly. "Moving on, he was trained to be an elite while you focused on more artisan tasks. Have the marks been growing at a consistent speed or have they sped or slowed since coming to the school" If he was meant to come to Ersand'Enise, he may received training in the gift and used it more thoroughly.

"I know, but he's still my brother." Roslyn countered, but let the matter rest. She rotated the jar of 'dirt' in her hands as she tried to remember a few years back. "While he was studying with a tutor, I didn't remember any changes. I wish I had paid more attention to it." 

She set the jar down for a moment. "Since we were born, there's really been no change in it. Some time after his birthday, Garith's had reached the middle of his upper arm. It has been slowly growing since." 

She inhaled, "Originally, mother thought it was age based. However..."

Her eyes looked down at her elbow, "I'm not so sure anymore. I'm currently sixteen and mine hasn't changed."

Ingrid clicked her tongue, "I was wondering if it may be tied to the use of the gift but you would have received plenty of practice here." She looked back up from her arm, "Oh, I mean, by all accounts its good that it hasn't changed but it makes it hard to compare. Your father might have more to say on its changes. There has to be some kind of trigger."

She sat back down and opened her notes on the books they grabbed earlier, "We aren't going to get anywhere in one day or else I'm sure you would have figured it out so how about we read instead? Get your mind from one thing to another."

"Don't I know it. Right now, I'm afraid what answers I need are at home. And with tensions rising, makes it a rather difficult trip to plan." Roslyn bit her lip regretted not asking her mother more. Then again a lot had happened and there was no point mopping about it. 

"I agree." She settled in and gently slid the four books onto the table top. Her eyes turned to face Ingrid. "Which one do you suggest I try first?"

"Dandelion Amongst the Garden," Ingrid put it front and center, "It's truly my favorite."

Roslyn picked it up as she flipped it open, "Thanks. Never had a reading friend before."

She twisted to the right and took a sip of her wine, her eyes fixed to the page.[/hider]