The orb was enveloped in Pyra's magic a few moments after it landed, pulling it off of the ground and into the air. Neale watched as it happened, narrowly avoided the little black trinket as the careened through the Caravan, past Daelin, and towards the door. Just as it passed the frame however, its casing was breached from within by a web of yellow cracks that covered its entire circumference. Not a moment later, it exploded into a brilliant flash of light, flooding the caravan and temporarily blinding any who were unfortunate enough to be looking in the direction of the blast. The two Myti outside didn't enter straight away, though. Although it was only partial exposure, both assassins were staring at the flash bang
point blank as it passed through the doorway and exploded, not only blinding their already
sensitive eyes, but disorienting both of them for a few seconds.
"Misfire!!!" One of them cried out, loudly enough for all of their allies to hear. Her voice was a panicked shriek, and immediately drew the attention of the archers in the treeline. They saw the situation as it played out, and were just far enough away to neglect the bright flash.
Neale was fortunate enough to have his back turned when the bomb went off, and turned to see the its aftermath. Sparkles of powder and mana were surrounding the doorway, but didn't obscure vision by much at all.
From on top of the cart, Sasha ignored her ally's cry for aid, and pushed her gauntlets even harder into Zay's shoulders.
"I'll give you one last chance to surrender," Zay groaned. The angry expression on Sasha's face was blown away by a fit of uncontrollable snickering. It was too funny, how could she not burst into laughter? This man was a complete fool!
"Sisters, did you hear that?" She sputtered through a few laughs, "He's offering us a chance to surrender! What a
chivalrous gentleman!" The cloaked figures that assisted in pinning down Zay exchanged a look and smiled at one another.
"That offer expires in 30 seconds, ladies."
"
Shut up," Sasha growled. "You'll be long
dead before 30 seconds even passes!" As Sasha finished her sentence, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen and her grip loosened.
"Ah..." Zay quickly freed his hands from underneath him in the moment and pushed himself off the ground, and threw all three of the Myti off of his body with a heavy
twist, before quickly rising to his feet and running to the opposite end of the Caravan. Sasha and her accomplices tumbled away and rose to their feet just above the pilot's area, next to the hatch leading downstairs sat wide open. Through the bandit leader's purple ensemble, there was a silver spine nearly 2 inches thick protruding from just above her right kidney. Zay stared at it and relaxed his posture. "I was aiming for the heart... But I guess that works too." Without any delay, both of the Myti that were uninjured dashed across the cart and attacked Zay head-on. The dual wielder struck low, aiming to cut straight through his thighs without putting herself in danger, and the sword wielder stabbed towards his chest. But while standing straight with nothing to impeded his focus, Zay quickly morphed the metal around his body to
catch their weapons on contact. "Whoops," He whispered, aiming a heavy punch to the side of the sword wielder's shoulder. But to her own misfortune, she was
too quick.
The woman tried to duck under his surprise attack, but merely shifted the point of impact. Zay's fist crashed against the side of her head, immediately cracking her skull
wide open and sending the cat woman flopping to the ground like a rag doll, with a trail of blood following closely behind the newly formed cut in her head. Zay hesitated for a moment before addressing the other attacker, swinging his foot towards her chest moments after his first attack struck home. But the other Myti released her daggers and jumped backward before his kick could connect, regrouping with her injured director while her weapons were crushed by the receding metal that coated Zay's body.
Sasha stared at the ally that Zay had just killed, and stumbled backwards slightly with
bulging eyes. Then she looked at Zay, who was just
standing there with a smirk, and a quivering jaw. He looked awfully
arrogant, but truthfully, he was trying his absolute best to keep himself from
throwing up. Sasha's rage died down almost as quickly as it'd bubbled up after seeing one of her companions
slain. Zay's smirk faltered. She was looking at him now, eye to eye, with a blood curdling smile.
"You seem... Happy?" Zay croaked.
"You're trembling!" Sasha laughed, while effortlessly pulling the spike from her torso with one hand, and covering the wound with her other. "Trembling like a little
kit."
Zay squinted through the nausea that rose. This woman had noticed every last motion his body made. She figured him out almost
instantly. The way he delayed his attacks, how he'd aimed for her ally's
shoulder, his trembling jaw...
She sniffed out the fear in Centaurus' Captain long before the man realized it himself.
* * *
Earlier that evening, 7:28 PMNation of Kel, The Eldan Tower; 3rd Ascent, 25F
Towering high above the cliff-side Nation of Kel, the ever-stalwart
Eldan Tower watched over the
Endless Sea while overlooking its people with an architectural splendor that rivaled even the Ivory Pillar of Arcadia. Despite the comparison though, it was a peculiar structure by Human standards in every facet. There were no walls or pillars to speak of. Rather, the tower supported its thirty floors with a series of magical artifacts, something that only the Eldi could accomplish on such a grand scale. Large spheres with intricate details were positioned at the north, south, east, and west ends of each level, with nothing but
air between them and the floors they held in place. Every disc of flooring - Varying in thickness and material - rotated slowly along the
First ascent, encompassing the first ten floors of the tower. The second and third Ascents were visible from any point in the Nation, contrasting their rotating base by standing sturdy and
still. Against the sunlight, it was a foreboding landmark that cast a dark shadow across the center of Kel with the start of each and every evening that persisted through the nights. For most, it was a beautiful phenomena to behold. But for those who lived in the
Shaded Districts, the Eldan tower might've been a cursed reminder of their upbringing in the unforgiving culture of Kel.
High Chancellor Vella Mil was stuck in her study that evening. Looking out at the Endless Sea was her only escape from the responsibilities that piled in front of her on a daily basis. Despite being the highest ranking and most respected official in all of Kel, life was less than satisfactory. But it wasn't just because of the responsibilities she'd dealt with. It was due to the responsibilities that she had
no control over. Vella was
essentially the Nation's Queen, depending on who you asked, but her authority only went so far in the democratic model that governed over Kel. She was in charge of directing a myriad of things:
Expedition Teams, Kel's new adaptation of the Caravan System that dominated the south; Financing military means; playing a part in the direction of war; and immigration management, to name a few. But her most prominent issues with the city were things entirely out of reach.
The Underworld, a system of caverns and beach-side cities that made up the literal underbelly of Kel were host to unforgivable taboo, and criminal organizations that interacted with the city above them regularly with little recompense.
She wanted it cleaned out. Senator Ilia Ero did not.
The Shade districts were overrun with criminals from the Underworld, but what most plagued the cities in Kel's shadow, was poverty and joblessness. The surrounding districts that were free of the Eldan Tower's shadow only contributed to this, funneling the economy into a whirlpool that benefited only the most respected houses in Kel.
She wanted to narrow the cultural divide significantly. Senator Pyra Nabrillia did not.
And even outside of the Underworld, within the
very foundations of Kel's democracy, magical studies that fell far outside moral righteousness persisted right under Vella's nose in the
Second Ascent. She wanted to
publicize these misdeeds and scrupulous bastardizations of magical study.
Chancellor Marvis Astorian did not.
There was much more on her mind outside of Kel's local issues though, especially in regards to the long standing alliance between all Eldi Capitols, the
Diamond Vigil. Levrial, homeland of Eldi's matriarchs, had not made contact with Kel in over a month. It was customary for all four of the Eldi capitols to report to one another
bi weekly, at least. The lack of an officially tested
Global Caravan System already made it difficult to maintain that schedule, but for contacts to be cut for so long was unheard of. Worst of all, it seemed that the other sister Nation had been experiencing the
exact same silence. Any attempts to contact Levrial directly had ended in failure, as well. So many expeditions had failed to return from the Mother land, that it was enough to incite Nation-wide panic if the news got out. Thankfully Senator Ilia's connections were adequate enough to keep this information hidden. Vella wasn't sure if that was a
positive factor, but speaking out against any of her fellow officials might have lead to an unfortunate accident, similar to the fate that had befallen Kel's previous high Chancellor,
Mayrto Lyea. Vella wasn't brave enough, nor did she possess the power or connections, to make any changes as she was now. That tower could have been a dungeon, and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Laying strewn out across her red velvet sofa in her official robes, she glared at the endless waters with a desire to free herself from the constrains of this dreaded place.
'It wouldn't be too selfish of me, would it?'* * *
8:00 PMNation of Kel, The Underworld; Whispering Cove
Two men stood idly by outside of a water-side shack, leaning against either side of the entrance to
Finnick's Curious Trinkets and Antiquities. The shack was suspended over rising tides, with a small wooden ramp leading up to its entrance. The men that stood guard were Finnick's thugs,
Othozar Belwitch and his brother,
Ophon Belwitch. They were there most days, standing guard to assure that nobody thought it
wise to steal from old man Finnick with their weapons in the open and their cigarettes lit almost day-round. The Eldi dealer was already 190, after all! A lot of people would think it easy to steal from some hunched-over geezer, wouldn't they? Well, not with the Belwitch brothers around. They were some of the best mercenaries that money could buy, even if they preferred to be referred to as
the help. Ophon shoved a finger into his nose and took a puff from his cigarette as some Eldi scoundrels left Finnick's shop with pockets full of gold and various bobbles. "Told you he wouldn't buy those worthless runes," he wheezed through a blanket of smoke. The customer looked back at him with a scowl, but Opon just smiled, revealing two rows of sharpened teeth. His velvet blue eyes were fearsome, the type you'd see on a
murderer or a
torturous bastard. Combined with his
imposing posture, Ophon was enough to scare away most wise-ass crooks all on his own. The customer's eyes drifted across his leather armor towards the long, uncustomary blade at his waste. He peered down at it as well, and then back to the customer. "What, want a closer look?" He grunted. The Eldi clearly
didn't, snapping his entire body away from Ophon and darting towards the maw of a nearby cavern. Ophon scoffed and took another drag from his cigarette. "Boring day,He rasped, while combing back a brown Mohawk with his free hand, and flicking a booger into the sand.
"That's usually the case," Othozar said clearly, putting out his own cigarette against the edge of Finnick's little shack. He was the smaller of the two brothers, albeit only slightly so. Unlike Ophon, his ensemble looked a little more well kept. For one, his
hair was not shaved into such a stupidly belligerent style, and hung neatly above his eyebrows. the only thing that scarred his otherwise
average appearance, was a scar running just underneath his right eye towards the bridge of his nose. Though he didn't have the same threatening attitude that his brother did, what he did possess was fairly rare among Eldi. He looked at Ophon with his differently colored eyes, Blue and Red, sighing. "I can't say I'm any less thrilled than you are." Ophon rolled his eyes.
"At least the money's good."
"Good enough..."
Inside his little shack,
Bobo Finnick was tinkering with one of the runes he'd just bought from the customer who'd entered earlier. The entire place was a disorganized
mess. Literal piles of
junk were scattered from one end of the room to the other. The only way through Finnick's veritable
junk yard was along a few paths there were crudely dug out between the piles. The contents of the piles varied in value, from
worthless to
excessively rare. Finnick didn't care too much about what went where, but he did keep a fine selection of his most...
Difficult to acquire items behind his little shelf in the back room.
Customers were making their way through the store while Finnick hammered away at the little rock, keeping to himself with a pair of enchanted glasses firmly held around his bald head with a worn leather strap. Taking one look at him
immediately explained the need for the Belwitch brothers. Finnick wasn't just an
old man. He was practically a
midget.
