[center][b]Ley - Chapter 1: Kindred Spirits[/b][/center]

The night was late, a thick fog having already long since set in over the city of Reawan. With shops closed, their windows darkened and the final rounds of late night stragglers departing the taverns to return to their homes or inns the streets were quiet, faintly lit by rows of streetlamps obscured by the fog. Within one of this bars at a table positioned near the middle of the room, the nearest patron sat no closer than a few tables away sat Ley. The woman sat with legs crossed, quietly stirring the vibrantly colored drink she had ordered hours ago yet hardly touched. When she arrived earlier the tavern was crowded, filled with the towns citizens chatting about this and that. The woman simply watched, listened throughout the night, only occasionally being approached by staff. The tavern now having all but emptied the remaining staff seemed to grow on edge at the prospect of pushing out the remaining few drunken individuals.

An older man who had sat over the night merely nursing his drinks and not yet drunk enough to have lost his sense stood up with a reluctant grunt and headed out from the tavern. Ley's eye followed the man for a moment before she stood up herself, producing a coin clearly minted from a Sphere outside of Bulwark's empire and placing it upon the table. With her drink left untouched she exited the tavern herself, the staff giving a polite farewell to those exiting as they finally moved to rouse the less co-operative patrons.

Outside a cool light breeze ruffled the woman's hair, the beads hung from her neck clattering lightly in the wind. In the distance a silhouette of a man could be seen stepping through the fog, his footsteps heard echoing softly through the quiet streets. Ley's eyes narrowed slightly before she started forward herself, the heels of her shoes sounding lightly against the cobblestone ground. She moved slowly, her pace kept so she would remain always just out of sight of the man she stalked through the mist. After some time she began to whistle quietly, a slow tune which sounded unnaturally, a clearly drawn out bastardization of a much faster upbeat sounding melody.
 
Ignorant to Ley's followed foosteps, the man simply continued on his normal way, body hunched slightly within the confines of his raincoat. His boots clattered on the cobblestone streetways, clicking up tiny flecks of moisture that had condensed onto the ground. For the time being, he remained completely uncaring of Ley; it had been but a few minutes that she was on his tail, and it need not necessarily mean she was specifically following him. Still, he hadn't seen her around before, and so the supposition was hard to wipe from his mind. He kept his wits about himself, but hesitated little in his trek forward.

The man followed the roads towards the edge of town, buildings growing increasingly smaller and increasingly more rural. Space began to appear between the establishments, complete with their own gardens and wooden short gates. It was becoming evident that there was little in the way of seclusion here.

Ley's vision panned side to side as she continued trailing the man through the cities streets. Through his demeanor it was apparent he was aware of her presence, a bit cautious but not overly so. Ley paid little mind as he buildings grew less and less sparsely packed, replacing signs and seats with gardens and gates. Ley began to speed her own pace up, gradually her lazy stroll through through the streets shifted towards a brisk walk. At the same time her slow whistling transited into a sullen hum lacking much in the way of emotion. 

With her pace increased she began to draw closer to the man, her sharp gaze now fixated firmly at his back. The woman now moved with a fixed goal, every step bringing her just a bit closer, humming her stilted tone all the way. As she neared closer and closer a distinct scent would begin to waft through the nights calm breeze. A scent clashing strangely with the cool damp night. A distinctive scent of ash and a rising smell of cinders in the air. Each of Ley's footfalls landing with a light clack against the ground brought the scent closer, the woman's voice beginning to grow more clear. Her tone shifted once again moving from a hum to a hushed song. Each word slow and articulately drawn out but the language distinctly unfamiliar to any known Sphere of the world. Soon the sound of her steps changed to a rhythmic gait not unlike the sound of steps against a dance floor. 

At that point, it had become dreadfully clear, and the man could no longer simply [i]hope[/i] that the woman just behind him was in fact tailing. The smell, however, and the horrible feeling that came with it could only do one thing to his already rising fears, however, and his walking became a brisk jog, and then a full on run. His head was pointed quite directly at a certain house in the distance. Frantic breathing escaped his bearded mouth, and his boots clamored along the pathway, breaking the silence of the outer edges of the town into a drumming of splashing and clacking.

When the man suddenly broke into a full on desperate run Ley simply continued at her current pace, her voice wafting out amidst the mans heavy foot falls. However she soon fell silent. Her eyes narrowed focused on a point beyond the man, directly in his path. Without warning the ground before him would burst into flame, the moisture upon the ground causing the area around the searing fire to sizzle and steam. In the next few brief moments the gap between the man and woman would be closed, the flicking flames blocking the targets path forward.

A final calm step behind the man, the cent of cinder and ash potent in the air, a single swift movement. Ley's grip would come from behind, her palm placed squarely over the man's mouth and nose in a quick practiced motion. [b]”Its not nice to run from people, you know.”[/b] The woman's flat, honeyed voice came from behind as her other arm went to restrain the man by his neck, gripping it between the crook of her elbow. In these moments the unnatural heat of her body would become apparent. Its feeling entirely different than the steady warmth of the human body, rather like millions of tiny heated grains pricking the flesh. Ley's grip over the man's face soon tightened, in the next moment the flesh of her palm began to stir. Soon a stream of ash would be forcing itself up through the mans nostrils and mouth, pushing its way down into the lungs.

The simple man could only gasp and struggle in her arms, entrapped by her nefarious magicks and the grip she held. Where normally he could have physically overpowered her, being of greater brawn and size, Ley's ashen choking sapped the strength from his body. He was simply too focused on breathing to do much else. Soon, his scrambling gargles and coughs were silenced, and but a limp, heavy body remained.

The quiet but peculiar sound of fire had alerted the surroundings homes, however, and Ley would find it quite difficult to continue her work should she stay. A dog began to bark from a home down the ways, and the dim lights of lanterns and candles flickered from the porches of homes nearby. She would be seen.

Ley's grip remained tight as the man struggled for air in an ultimately feeble attempt before his lungs gave out, his body reduced to dead weight. When the life finally faded from the unfortunate victim the witch released her grip, letting the man's body topple onto the damp street with a heavy thud. For a moment she stood staring down at the corpse lit by the warm light of the conjured flame before it. Her expression remained flat, uncaring, even bored as she took in the scene. 

Soon however, her attention would be drawn away from her handiwork by the sounds of hounds barking followed by dim lights beginning to show from various homes. Without a word Ley turned to head back the way she came, her pace a casual gait which stood at odds with the deed which had just been committed, even resuming her dry whistle as she departed. If she would be seen or not mattered little in her mind and she gave not a single glance back at the corpse which was now left smelling of cinder with small piles of ash spilling from the mouth and nose.

With the corpse left discarded for the town residents to discover Ley proceeded back to the inn she was currently residing within. A smaller building not too far from the tavern she had first departed from wedged between two small shops. Entering through the front door the desk clerk would give a generic greeting before quickly returning to their work. Paying no mind to the clerk or anyone else lingering out front Ley simply proceeded to her own room, shutting the door behind her. Inside she would kick her shoes off, stepping over to a cushioned chair positioned near a window. The woman crossed her legs as she eased back into the chair, grabbing a handkerchief from a near by end table, wiping it over her hands. 

And then, a commotion downstairs. The inn remained quiet during the entirety of her entrance, but it seemed just as Ley had a moment to herself, resting and immobile, that the serenity would not last. Through the floorboards and down the hall, Ley caught the faintest sounds of peculiarly loud individuals speaking. It was not normal, this late at night, for anyone to be so reckless with their voices in the inn.

Eventually the commotion was silenced, and replaced instead by the sounds of heavy footwear upon creaking wooden planks... approaching the stairwell. It was almost certain at that point they were headed for the second floor, and given then number of them, and the heaviness that their steps exerted, it did not seem like a simple group of Garude citizens were behind them.

They made their way upstairs and down the hall... up to Ley's very door. For a moment, nothing occurred, but then there was a knock. A rapid series of knocks on her room door, followed by a patient silence.

The woman hardly had a moment for her thoughts to settle before she took note of the rising commotion starting from the lower floor and rising upward with heightened voices and heavy footfalls. Ley's brow furrowed at the noise accompanied by a scoff of irritation at the conspicuous clamoring. Her brow raised when the noised ceased before her door before the pounding upon it came. [i][b]Why bother hesitating if you start out so loud...[/i][/b] She thought while pushing herself up from her chair, dropping the handkerchief and stepping up to the door. 

[b]”What?”[/b]She stated flatly after swinging the door open to stare down the group that had gathered before her, the woman's thin frame certainly not enough to block a view into the room. [b]”Do you always go pestering random women at an inn?”[/b] Ley jeered without actually waiting for a response, her arms crossing over her chest as she glanced over the group.

Ley was met with a group of individuals who looked entirely unfettered by her attempt to turn them away. Sagging black hoods and cloth masks over their lower faces indicated they weren't the type to surrender simply because of a woman's nagging voice.

"Sorry to disturb you," one of them began, their mouth moving under the thin black material, "we receieved word of a disturbance in the area, and were notified that you might have been at the scene. A man was murdered not far from here, in the middle of the streets. Might you have any information on this?"

The woman’s flat expression remained unfaltering even in the face of their questions which arrived irritatingly quickly. She turned for a moment to take a look down the street before turning back to the hooded group, giving them a casual shrug of her shoulders. [b]”I don't know. Maybe the ghouls and goblins did it.”[/b] Ley stated, a faintly mocking tone accompanying her voice. She then sighed a bit, taking a step forward to lean a shoulder against the door frame, long bangs falling over her face.

[b]”Either way I didn’t see anything. Are you sure someone's not imagining things? The lot around here are always going on about ghosts, monsters and whatever else.”[/b] She continued, waving a hand dismissively at the notion of it. [b]”Is that all? The day's been long and I'd like to rest if thats alright with you.”[/b] The woman remarked before standing straight once more, bringing a hand to the door and motioning for the group to leave.

"Right, sorry to bother you ma'am," one of them motioned, bowing his head quickly before turning away and leaving. All four of them trudged down the hall and out of the inn. Ley was left alone once more, the night silent and peaceful. But something seemed amiss. Her room's window looked out into the street outside the inn, and as far as she could have heard, a large group of people never seemed to leave...

The hooded figures were still in the inn, it seemed.

Ley watched quietly as the figures departed down the hall, soon turning away herself and shutting the door. With the group gone she returned to her seat, peering down over the towns street. The woman would wait several minuets watching idly for any activity before signing to herself and retrieving her shoes. [b]”Of course they're going to be trouble... Guess its time to go.”[/b] She muttered to herself stepping back over to the door. Producing the key to the room Ley's fingers began to heat until the metal reached its melting point. When it did she slipped the key into the lock, turning it before further heating it in order to melt the lock shut. Returning to the window and after a final quick glance to the street she lifted the chair and swiftly hurled it against the opposite wall causing a loud crash and clatter to sound through the inn.

After taking a moment to hang her shoes from the sash around her waist Ley sat onto the sill of her window. She quickly spun around and pushed off, dropping down to the street below. The woman landed with a light splash onto the moist ground and began to walk off in the opposite direction of the crime scene. As she did so she kept a careful ear on the front entrance of the inn, hoping the commotion caused by the chair would serve as a suitable distraction.

Her distraction worked... for a few of them. It seemed but two of the four hooded individuals had run up to her room only to find the door permanently locked. The other two immediately threw the inn's front door open to witness Ley attempting -rather poorly- to escape.

"Hey! You! Witch!" they yelled out, immediately breaking into a sprint for Ley. Soon the other two darted out of the inn, practically slipping on the wet streets as they turned to follow suit. With inhuman haste, the group of four closed the gap between themselves and Ley, swords drawn and a clear killing intent printed in their eyes.

Before she got far the hooded figures were rushing from the building and closing in. It wasn’t long before the group was rushing her with blades drawn. Ley turned towards them, her eyes narrowed on the ground in their path. [b]”You should know when to leave things be!”[/b] She called before stomping a foot against a ground causing several bolts of flame to burst up from her position, aimed to strike the front most figures chest.

Afterward Ley turned and sprinted off, the soles of her feet heating to flash evaporate the moisture upon the ground. After she moved some distance she would conjure a smoldering mass of ash in her hand, tossing it over shoulder in the path of the undoubtedly perusing party. Before the mass would hit the ground the particles would scatter, each one creating a small explosion in the air.

Trapped behind the wall of explosions, Ley's pursuers halted advance offered her a greater amount of time to make her getaway. Presumably also partially blinded from seeing her, they'd lose sight of her new direction. Darting into a narrow alleyway, Ley hid herself within the darkness. The sounds of boots upon stone dashing past her position cemented her safety... for the moment. Thinking herself good to continue moving, Ley moved away from the nooks of the alley, only to find herself confronted with someone entirely different than the hooded pursuers.

A young girl, no older than Ley herself, of crimson hair and even redder eyes stood before her exit back onto the main streets. Standing tall, almost [i]proud[/i] in the way, she seemed as if she were showing up to the scene of a mugging, readied to intervene.

"Ash Witch," she announced, "Getting into trouble it seems. Exactly what [i]he[/i] wanted."