Private Tales A Monster With No Name

[Everleigh Ebersol]

“I know little about corrupted magic,” Everleigh protested. It was true however, and whatever she did know about one’s magic manifesting in negative ways was sparse compared to what the other proctors must have known. She had never even seen a book detailing corrupted magic, other than it almost always resulted in something mental. And Everleigh Ebersol with her blatant narcissism and constant state of anxiety was no therapist.

“Well it’s not so much as Initiate Livia Quinnick as much as it’s about finding Initiate Vern.” Proctor Goetsch said with a simple shrug of her shoulders. Everleigh shook her head in disbelief.

“You’re risking a lot then, betting everything on one initiate.” Marianne Goetsch laughed, a melodic sound that shouldn’t ever belong to a woman as cruel as she was.

“Oh, Evie, no, no, no, I’m not just betting on her. I’m betting you, my pride and joy.” She smiled sweetly, something that Everleigh recognized her own mother doing during times when she had been a silly child. “On my masterpiece. Go on this mission with Initiate Quinnick, it’ll make you look better if you can help her with her magic. You’re a good little problem solver when you feel like it.”

“Sure.” Everleigh mumbled, looking over Livia’s file. Another noble of the Gilded Class. How fitting for a commoner like her to educate someone of higher status.

---

“So,” Everleigh was face to face with Livia Quinnick. She had never paid much attention to the girl, even when she had been an initiate. She hardly interacted with others and even when she had, it was never with the sorts of people that Everleigh found herself hanging around. “Initiate Vern is expected to be somewhere in the Falwood. Captured, hopefully, although I think the chances of her being dead are high. Regardless, the Academy wants her body at the very least. You’ll be able to find her regardless of her…” Everleigh trailed off. How best to phrase this next part?

“Whether or not she’s living?” Not nearly as eloquent as the purple haired woman would have wanted it to be, but it was the honest truth of the mission. Initiate Vern could very well be dead, her mission in the Falwood could have turned into a stinking shit show that was too late to clean up. The only thing that they could do was, if the odds were in their favor, to rescue Vern. If Vern was dead, which Everleigh definitely considered the girl to be considering she was hardly crazy enough to be a dreadlord, then her body was important.

There were things that the Academy wanted with it, and Everleigh couldn’t begin to imagine what secrets that Initiate’s body held within it to make the proctors uneasy.

“Any questions?”

 

[Livia Quinnick]

It was barely dawn, but Livia liked being early for things such as missions. She had no other choice than to finally peel herself from her bed, to get herself ready and organised before the sun broke over the horizon because her mind was racing with different thoughts that kept her from sleep. There was only one sort of mission she was always tasked with, and her mind spinning into a descent of madness and restlessness was proof enough.

So what did they want her to find this time? Last time it had been a lost heirloom, and a nobleman insisted on enlisting many numbers to find and retrieve it. It took Livia all of two minutes of entering the home, pushing back the settee and returned the polished precious stone like some housewife finding something obvious that the nobleman had overlooked.

When will they trust me with something more... substantial? She thought to herself as she slipped from her room and made her way to the meeting point. Her olivine eyes widened for a fraction of time seeing the Proctor already waiting, and a stray thought cut through to the forefront, doubting her time management skills. There was no determination whether or not either of them were early or on time, not when the Proctor gave a quick outline of the mission at hand.

With her hair braided down her back, her normally hidden face was watching with full attention, not missing a beat. A body. Livia did everything in her will to keep herself from smiling, stifling the glee that she deserved after all this time.

"Well..." She began, adjusting the full quiver of arrows perched upon her back, having been warned to arm herself for this one. "Is this a retrieval mission? Are we to simply locate and alert, or do they expect us to leave it there and report back? That is to say, if they were dead..." Should Livia expect they were alive and well? Was it in poor health that she had little faith in the fellow Initiate and assume the worst? If anyone knew of the little Quinnick history, they would know it was Livia that found her father's corpse. No, not in poor taste, it was the realistic and logical thinking.

Before they could begin to move out and make their way to their transport, Livia held her hand out to Everleigh. "Were you given a personal belonging of theirs? It helps me narrow things down in a large area." And allowed her better focus... hopefully. The corruption had no way of telling before the storm came through her. Did they also brief the Proctor that the only way to settle Livia so far while in that state was to use an anesthetic agent on her?

Livia hoped she did not need to find out.


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

“Retrieval.” Everleigh said and then with a grin, added in quickly, “carrying a dead body is a great work out. We can take turns, I wouldn’t want to hog it all and not give your muscles a chance to get some exercise in.” The humor lingered in her eyes, her lips tilting up. It was easy to look this friendly when she thought of him and borrowed from his radiance. Her posture was still stiff and straight, and it was only when she let the humor hang in the air between them for another second or two that she understood why Livia must be asking about the mission being a retrieval one.

“It won’t rot. I can prevent that.” With a practiced nod of her head, Everleigh gestured for Livia to follow after her. Instead of heading out towards the stables she was heading to the dormitories. They were sectioned off in copasetic rows, with the dorms on the right being reserved for the older children and those on the left being for the little ones. They headed into the dormitory that was known for when the initiate finally got to the double digits.

It was when the coddling stopped and the serious weight of Vel Anir was hefted onto their shoulders. It was the year when most initiates died, usually from missions but Everleigh knew the real reason: initiates turning on each other.

“We’ll find something belonging to Initiate Vern in her room.” Everleigh finally explained, walking up one flight of stairs and heading straight to the room that belonged to the initiate. She placed her hand on the doorknob, muttering a incantation, and the door was unlocked. Runes could be seen etched into the doorknob, arcane light slowly fading.

“Would clothes work or does it need to be something special?” Everleigh looked around the neat yet sparse room. “Initiate Vern doesn’t have much.” And if she did have anything special to her heart or valuable in the slightest, then it would be well hidden.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

The Initiate's room was the opposite of what Livia's was when her mother dropped her here a few years back. Where Livia had belongings and keepsakes with her, Vern had very little. Quinnick was not convinced. She began to walk and pause at random, her boots testing the floorboards until something lifted and Livia got to her knee to pry it loose. "Hidden treasure." She felt a pang at being right, her gift already leading her the right way. What she found were of sentimental value, but nothing struck out strongly to her like the locket crumpled beneath journals and jewelry boxes. Quinnick pocketed it, placing the floorboard back in place lest someone else were to see the irregularity and snoop... much like what they were doing.

"Now I hope she is alive so this mission is not a morbid one and we would have to bury her body with the locket..." If they would even bury a body. There was no indication of what were to happen after they recover Vern dead or alive. They had asked Livia to make quick work of this, and seeing as she were still an Initiate with unknown triggers of her corrupted magic, she needed supervision. Quinnick just did not know what made them pick Ebersol in the place of the Proctor they had stuck her in those extra practice sessions.

"We better get a move on. I am getting a headache..." Livia frowned, not at all helping the dull nuisance starting behind her eyes. It was her gift's insistence, growing in strength the longer she resisted. She knew this mission had some importance to it if it kept her tossing and turning and unable to commit to a full night of slumber. There were many times she woke up, standing somewhere within the grounds of the Academy and clutching something lost by someone of mystery. No matter how severe her headaches became, it was not enough to trigger her bursts of corruption. "Being in this room just reminds me of how shit it was being new to a class. Hazing was perfection." It was hard for her to not be bitter. Would anyone be happy to be torn from their bed and have their eyes blinded with a cloth, dragged out to somewhere far and tell her to find her way back to the Academy?

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

“We all suffer. It builds character.” And as the saying went, what didn’t kill someone would make them stronger, but Everleigh didn’t find that needed to be said. Her point was made and she looked around the room one last time. Her gimlet gaze lingered on the locket in Livia’s hand and she frowned, thinking over Livia’s previous words.

She was like Kristen, Everleigh realized, saying things that revolved around humanity and benevolence and morality that had been beaten out of all the initiates when they were young— far younger than Livia was now. It made sense, she had noticed that those that came later always had these normal notions, and yet, Everleigh understood it was her who had the disconnect in her mind not them.

It wouldn’t be strange for Livia to hold onto such ideals what with her magic being so unsuitable to killing. She was lucky she was of noble ilk, Everleigh thought as she gestured for Livia to follow her out of Vern’s room, because she would end up being nothing more than a fourth level with no future to move up.

“How bad do the headaches get? Do they impair you? Get so bad you can’t move?” Everleigh asked as she began heading away from the dorms. “Oh, we need to pick up our gear then we can get to the stables.” She added quickly. It was a bad habit to assume everyone thought what she was thinking and one she hadn’t yet quite broken even with attempting to fix it over a year ago.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Dutifully, she followed the Proctor out the room and once again back outside the dorms. She wore an expression that made clear of the annoying sensation pulsing below her brow, humming in question as Ebersol asked the first train of thought, keeping quiet to allow her to finish her line of questions. Livia shrugged, throwing her hands uselessly at her sides. "Mostly it is just sharp pains that want me to bang my head to something for relief... depending on significance, I may not be able to ignore the calling." It was still early, yet there were Initiates darting around the place to return to their rooms before being caught, and Livia watched as they tried their best to sneak or simply parade their walk with no shame. "I cannot deny a mission I am asked to participate or else I would be rendered ill. Sometimes I would go into a fugue state and... there is no way of how I end up in a place, lost thing in my possession."

It was the most she revealed to anyone besides the Proctor assigned to her, a useless education if she was to be honest. None came close to helping Quinnick to work past her corrupted magic, only to weaponise it. Some habits did not die after the Revolution. "I barely slept, actually. There is an unkind attraction when it comes to people... but I am positive there may be life in Vern yet." The devastation may hit her at any moment, a temporary lull in her ability to locate if Vern's condition were to change... or if they ran out of time. With the locket safely tucked into her pocket, Livia knew she would have a strong source to channel in order to find their charge. "If we keep good time and pace, then I will be whole and present to lead us the right direction." Livia could not help but grin slyly towards the Proctor. "But if I do blackout and go mad, probably best to keep following me. I may lead us somewhere fun."


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh took mental notes. Almost everything Initiate Quinnick had said was word for word on her file, though there were a few things that did those brief notes justice. Understanding how she felt about the magic would ultimately help Everleigh guiding her and, more importantly, keeping her safe. Initiate Vern was lost, they didn’t need to lose Initiate Quinnick as well.

“I’m glad you think Initiate Vern is alive.” Everleigh said stiffly, her pace brisk. She kept her gaze in front of her. She let the initiate’s offer to get into trouble hang in the air. If Everleigh wasn’t being watched like a hawk she would have taken her up on it, especially when she was an initiate. There was nothing more than she loved than being a menace to society but she had to put a lid on that. Appearances and all that shit.

“If you blackout,” she spoke slowly, such weight in her words that it would be a strong enough anchor to keep a grand ship in place, “I’ll be putting you to sleep. You’re under my supervision. This is a test. Think of nothing but Initiate Vern.” Now Everleigh would look at her, stopping right at one of the many but very small buildings that held supplies and weapons, already wrapped neatly up for the initiates going out on missions today. “Her life depends on it. She may only be alive because of her magic. If that runs out she’ll be defenseless. She’s at the last of her class for a reason.” Everleigh opened the door, wondering to herself when she became such a killjoy.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia pursed her lips and nodded to the grave truths the Proctor spoke. She may be excellent in classes and written theory, but her magical abilities were lacking compared to that of other Initiates. In a way, Livia felt that Vern and herself were kindred, useless without their magic. Without her magic, she was not always a clear shot with an arrow or dagger. Her brows furrow again, momentarily scrunching her muddled eyes as her magic pressed at her temple again. "Believe me, Proctor. I do not doubt that she is giving up on herself in being found." The call was relentless, an annoyance she could not shake. Livia slipped her hand into her pocket, retrieving the locket she had taken from the room and fastening it around her neck. She wore it as a promise, intent on returning it to the Initiate.

Unable to pin point a general direction, Livia rummaged through her pack for that map she was given. "This is going to take a day or two at most if we are going by foot." She could not help but frown at the idea, but it also meant time away from the Academy and her back and forth with two certain Initiates. This mission was a welcomed distraction, a chance to hone her magic despite the corruption. "I do hope that she is still alive when we find her." She left their fate unspoken if they were to retrieve a body. A number of things could happen, but Livia was determined to make good time on this mission. Looking at the packs, olivine eyes scanned for either of their names, grabbing the two larger packs and holding one out to the Proctor. "Please tell me we will get a horse at least." Even a mule would suffice if that meant they would not be trudging home with a body held between them.

Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Inwardly she agreed that she hoped Initiate Vern was still alive. The thought was a depressing one, even if Everleigh kept her face indifferent. Yet, despite trying to be serious, Everleigh couldn’t hold back a grin. It was far less sadistic than usual, finding a bit of a humor in Livia’s words.

“Of course we’re getting horses.” She said, taking her own pack and pulling up on and over her slight shoulders. Despite her frame, Everleigh was strong. The light armor and padded vest she wore hid just how much time Everleigh had spent on her martial training. She hadn’t slacked on it despite being a proctor. “We need to get to Vern as fast as possible.” And neither of them had gifts like Proctor D’Amour, Vance or Silas.

Collecting their supplies was quick and easy and it wasn’t long before Everleigh was taking Livia to the stables. She was quiet and serious once more. Prying eyes were all around them. Everleigh placed her pack down on the ground, going into the stables to collect their two horses. She tied them to a fence and went to get the gear for them. She moved methodically and quickly, having done this so many times and seemingly having a preferred approach in all of this. It was why she hadn’t asked Livia for help with it.

“Right, get on. We’ll head out and go along the main roads for most of the journey.” Both proctor and initiate were off, beginning the mission of saving of initiate Vern.

---

The weather was good weather and with the strong horses of the Academy— which seemed to be the sort from Minor House Umbra for all their stamina and durability— the two of them had made good time. They had passed through Vel Cirak, although it had only looked like a small black dot on the horizon as the two of them headed towards the Falwood.

Everleigh had been quiet, considering options and possible variations of those options. She was thinking of other things, not quite pertaining to Initiate Vern, but also to Initiate Quinnick. She glanced over at her, for a moment memorizing the way her braid flew behind her. Her magic was a unique one, and at the same time, completely unfortunate. Everleigh felt in her gut that she shouldn’t act like that, though.

The proctors before her had always been talking about lethality and might in magic. There were so many other things that went into being a dreadlord. Even if Quinnick was seen as a glorified compass, wasn’t she, in this moment, far more useful than Everleigh herself was? It brought forth many questions to Everleigh’s mind. As if she didn’t have enough already floating about.

“How are you feeling?” She asked instead, glancing over to Livia.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

“How are you feeling?”

The question brought her back to reality, pulled away from her own mind. Livia did not only have a compass leading her to places; during her time at the Academy, she had learned and mastered various ways of locating. Thankful she had a horse and were still journeying to the first starting point, she was able to keep quiet for an hour or two when the light conversation came to a null. She had tried to summon a visual of where Vern could be, only getting muddled flashes of trees and earth, which the Falwood had no shortage of.

"I am fine..." She answered simply. Then she grimaced, regretting the subpar reply she had offered. "The headache still persists, but it is a soft throbbing..." Livia had also been feeling the lack of sleep now that the travel had grown monotonous and quiet. "I have tried to get a glance with my magic of a location but nothing sticks out..." Meaning they will be going in blind soon enough with just that pulling sensation calling to her.

Vern had been captured. What if they locate her but are unable to retrieve her?

"So what is the plan if we find company? All I have is this bow and a full quiver, but... we cannot rely on my magic that is not my inner compass." She really ought to figure a name to encapsulate her unique ability. "Dead or alive, you said the Academy wanted her body back in our hands."


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Initiates were really funny nowadays, weren’t they? Over two years since the Republic was put in place and initiates were asking the sort of questions that Everleigh imagined students at the College must be asking their professors. When she had been an initiate oh so long ago, it was almost expected that every mission would have some sort of resistance against them. That was what made it all so much fun.

“Shit, I hope we find some company or else this is going to be the most boring mission of the year.” Everleigh said, now miles away from the Academy and finally feeling comfortable. She had something similar to Initiate Varian when they were in Cerak. “Trust me, Initiate,” there were still times when Everleigh found herself feeling that word on her tongue to be strange and sour, “but you’re going to want something to happen along the way. You’ll have plenty of boring fetch quests to last you for the rest of your life.

“But if we get brought into a little scuffle? Odds against us and all that good shit?” The grin on her face grinned and she flexed one arm, slapping her bicep and letting the slap ring out. “As a friend of mine said once: ‘that is okay. Because I'm here. And if I'm here, you're on the winnin team.’" Everleigh brought her horse closer to Livia’s and held out her hand. “If you’re worried I can coat your arrows with poison. Would that help you feel more comfortable?”

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

If that were the truth to this mission, then they at least believed in Livia's capabilities... yet that still did not ease her worries. She pulled the quiver strap over her head and dropped it securely into the waiting hand. "Hell, why not? Would not want anyone capable of chasing after us." A grin escaped onto her face, lighting up her eyes with amusement at the very idealistic picture Ebersol painted. Her excitement was infectious, pouring into Livia and slowly filling her with a confidence not normally held with the prospect of fending off enemies.

"I am not that useless with my magic, actually." She admitted, watching Everleigh begin her work on the arrow points. "I can wield it for a little before it fights for control. Sometimes it works in my favour, and most often than not, it just... explodes." The lack of colour at the end of her braid was an obvious reminder, and she recalled how over time it slowly made it's way up the length of her brunette locks. Trauma, at least that was the common assumption. A reaction to the shock of her father's death. "The day I am cured of this hindrance, I plan on putting a noticeable dent into my inheritance." The Initiate grinned, unable to keep the soft laughter from spilling past her lips.

Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh leaned over, taking hold of the quiver’s strap before putting it in between her thighs and having it lean against her midsection. She pulled out the first arrow and her rune activated the moment she started using her magic, eyes glowing violet. She wasn’t going to give Livia anything too dangerous, just in case she did miss her mark and the arrow was somehow used against her or the horses.

Bringing the arrowhead to her mouth, Everleigh used her tongue to spread her saliva along the point with practiced ease; not even the piercing would hinder her. She had done this for so many years, with so many drills, that she was certain she had licked more blades into deadly perfection than she had actually scooped food into her mouth.

“If the Academy is training you right then you shouldn’t be useless even if you had no magic.” Everleigh said and glanced over at Livia as she continued the process. It seemed she picked up a bit more spunk. Good, Everleigh thought to herself, hiding the smile that threatened to show. But Livia did bring up a interesting point about her magic, and the smile couldn’t show on that subject. Even with Livia’s jest.

“Initiate Vern struggles with her magic too. They call it transparency. When she goes invisible she has no presence, no voice, no trail. People end up forgetting about her even when they’re standing right next to her. I don’t think transparency is the right word for it, maybe ‘a big pain in the ass’ works better.” It was why, much to Everleigh’s chagrin, that she had to monitor Initiate Vern over any other proctor. With her hyperthymesia she could only forget about Initiate Vern for a short while.

“But your magic can still find her, to an extent.” Everleigh continued, pausing every now and then to finish her job with the arrows. “Magic is not absolute. It has a end. Therefore, it has rules, you’re just not privy to every rule. You might find something along the way that cancels out a aspect of your ability. There’s always a solution, once you figure out the actual problem, finding the solution becomes that much easier. Sometimes a lil thinking outside of the box, or sometimes it’s so obvious you’re cursing yourself for not figuring it out sooner.” She handed Livia back her quiver. “You’ll get there I’m sure.”

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

She was right, in a way no other Proctor had put it towards Quinnick and her curious case of misbehaving magic. Where most others tasked in aiding Livia in working past the corruption, they always resorted to an offensive route to trigger her magic, to see the corruption at it's very source. It left Livia weakened and tired, bitter that she failed every attempt to fight for some semblance of being able to control her magic like every other capable wielder.

Liv slung the quiver back over her head, adjusting it to sit comfortably once more. "I think I have an idea of what you are saying..." Definitely an idea that did not need the map that she had stashed in a hurry back into the satchel behind her. Her locating ability was easier to navigate when she had a clear picture of what she was after, hence the borrowed locket around her neck. Livia closed her eyes and tried her best at attempting the approach she had done before Ebersol broke the silence.

Instead of the person, the location, Livia threw out her magic once again. It hummed at her ears, pulsing lightly at her skin as it was ready to relay the information being hunted. It made sense now that honing in on a more definite location had been difficult due to Vern's magic. Quinnick tensed her muscles, willing more thought to her magic as she watched the imagery behind her eyes blur, searching, searching... searching.

"She is east of where she was last posted." The pull at her chest was tight, almost choking her ribs and heart with how strong the connection became. Livia gasped softly and opened her eyes. "I could not see her... but I think I can identify her magic lingering." The tightness in her chest did not give her any reprieve, not until they were close enough to finding the Initiate. "Not the result I was after... but a change of perspective is always worth a try."


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh didn’t think it were words that had gotten Livia to produce some results. She figured it was Livia finding a lead somewhere from holding onto the locket around her neck. Such a curious thing, Everleigh thought once again, for Initiate Vern to have. She had never thought the girl to be that much of a romantic.

Then again, Everleigh supposed no one ever thought her to be much of a romantic either. She was a silent one, like sugar melting in black tea. The tea would still be dark, but little would know about the sweetness it carried.

“Good job. That’s more information than we had before, wasn’t it? It’ll be enough. East.” Everleigh said. “So farther from us. I wonder if she got lost.” It would make sense. Everleigh thought over the possibilities. Vern wasn’t the brightest or the strongest, but she valued self-preservation. Of course, if she could run anywhere, it would be back to Vel Anir. Perhaps to get further away from the border and hope that would stop any pursuits.

But did Vern have her compass? Did she have enough magic to form a simple college spell and get her bearings? Or had she been rushed and gotten confused? Or worse, trapped and taken?

“We’re going to speed things up.” Everleigh didn’t sound worried but she was. With her eyes on the road, all she could think were the seconds passing by. Vern could keep moving, whether on her own or some other nefarious force, and how much could she push Livia to find her? Everleigh wasn’t a tracker, although she had those foxes and snakes to scope out large areas, it would be hopeless to do so in the Falwood.

“Have you ever used a resonance rune before?” The rune itself was easy to draw and Everleigh had a particularly fancy piece of chalk to really make the rune take to them. The issue wasn’t connecting the two young women together as much as it was connecting the women to their own horse. Going from human to animal was difficult to begin and even harder to maintain.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

“Have you ever used a resonance rune before?”

If the furrowed brows and blinking eyes that met this question was any indication of an answer, Livia stifled the scoff she wanted to be heard. Clearing her throat, she shook her head. "They deemed runes something I will not be able to master after a few... disastrous results in my first year of working with this corrupted magic." No matter how juvenile and easy the rune would be, Livia was unable to complete one let alone see it in action. Her magic reacted, every time.

"I have no clue what a rune will do for us, but as long as it is not myself using it..." She could not help the sheepish look on her face. Really was nothing more than a compass on missions like this. Liv used to let this bring down her mood, but now... she steered herself to work on it, to be an individual that would be important to the Dreadlords. She may not rise higher than entry level, but Livia knew she was useful.

She just had to believe it despite the drawbacks of her magic.

"Shall we give it a try?" Livia threw a look over at the Proctor, a brow arching in question.


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh pursed her lips in contemplation from Livia’s words. She didn’t like the fact that the girl couldn’t use runes, even the most simple of ones. Resonance was intermediate, if only because of the focus to channel that magic and make the connection. But there were far more practical uses of runes that Livia wouldn’t be able to use, like the dark vision rune. This mission would most definitely be going into the night, maybe multiple.

Her corrupted magic was worse than she thought it was. What other facets would it affect? There was a side glance to Livia that could’ve been missed if one wasn’t paying attention. All Everleigh could think was how lucky she was to be a minor noble and be in the Academy now and not before.

“It’s okay. We’ll skip the rune.” Everleigh decided failure of the resonance rune would be worse. She wasn’t Alistair or Ralene. The only thing she knew about runes was what she needed to know. She had never been much interested in the scientific process of figuring out new combinations or adjusting a rune to get what she wanted. Even though she was confident in drawing and explaining it to Livia, they could be down a horse if things went haywire.

Academy horses were some of the best, but even the best would struggle to carry three girls and their gear no matter how light Initiate Vern was. That brought on the second plan, and if this one couldn’t work then she had a few others waiting to be spoken aloud.

“I’m certain you’re confident in your equestrian skills?” She had to be, Livia was a noble, after all. Everleigh’s eyes began glowing violet. “I’m going to drug your horse. It’ll think it can run faster than Initiate Artesto.” Not the best solution, once they got to the destination the horse would be immobile for sometime. Everleigh wouldn’t mind waiting a day or two for the horse to rest up as long as she had both initiates at her side.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Chewing at her cheeks, Livia tried her best not to feel like a failure at her inability to work with runes. Glorified compass. Even with the Proctor beside her, Liv still felt like the weakest Initiate in her year, the dead weight that could hold her own until she was made redundant... but how many of those in her year could determine the correct course of direction? How many could stay up late and cope with blinding headaches? Withstand the pain she had known since she was a child? Livia Quinnick was no murderous force, but she certainly filled a voice none had thought of before.

"My brothers taught me well." She confirmed, a tiny smile playing at her lips. What she had meant was they terrorised her horse so much that she learned how to hold on tight. Even the ride was to become wilder than expected, Livia had her power to help her keep centred and balanced.

Despite the early hour they had left, the sun was well into it's descent, possibly giving them a little more than a few hours left of decent lighting. Livia turned back and fished for something in her pack, something she had packed in her pocket before shedding that layer as the sun baked them both. "Here... this is um..." She held out a brass compact, circular and engraved with a simple LQ in the centre. "This is a little morbid, but if we separate for whatever reason, then this will lead you right to me. My father made it... with my blood." Livia soured her expression when relaying those last words. She never could recall the time he would have taken her blood, even a light pricking to her fingertip. He had always been insistent that it was her blood and not Quinnick blood, as was tested with her brothers.

"Dose him up, Proctor." Liv would say once bracing herself into the saddle, tightening her hold on the reins in preparation for whatever reaction the steed would have to whatever poison Ebersol delivered.

Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh began to reach out to take the compass. Until she heard Livia admit it was made with own blood. The purple proctor paused, glancing at Livia with a look that said all of her thoughts. She didn’t understand why Livia would even explain such a thing, after all, Everleigh would have taken it if it meant it could lead her to Livia.

“That’s okay.” Everleigh said, leaning back over and not taking the compass. “Sounds special. How about I just…” she wiggled her fingers, as if she were casting a spell on Livia like a witch. Her eyes flashed violet and the sweat from her brow coalesced into a small, transparent lilac spider. It landed on her finger and Everleigh flicked it over onto Livia.

With excellent precision, it landed on Livia’s bare hand and bit her. The bite felt nothing more like a brief pinch. A little mark was made, a circle with two dots with tails that turned towards the other.

“Tracking spell. Just with a twist.” Her hand was going to a hidden pocket on the side of her hip, pulling out a needle. Eyes flashed gold. It was a shame that whenever Everleigh used her own magic her eyes reflected it. She used her own spit and then threw the needle at the horse’s rump. The horse didn’t react, swishing it’s tail and with maybe a quick flinch from the initial contact.

“Right, so in a minute or two. Maybe three.” Everleigh took the special runic chalk and through memory made the rune on the of her horse’s neck and then her own. Channeling her magic into the rune, a minute passed. Everleigh glanced repeatedly over at Livia and her horse. The rune on the horse flashed three times. Success. “Catch up when you can.”

Using the back of her heel Everleigh prompted her horse into a gallop, picking up speed with every step.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Amusement lit up her features as she witnessed the expression the Proctor had in regards to the offered Compass. Fighting a grin proved difficult, even when her eyes followed the process Ebersol took in creating her own locating spell. The spider did not alarm the Initiate, but the smile was gone once it bit her. Liv shook her hand, wincing at the oddness of the spell taking effect as she watched the Proctor produce a needle and administer a poison tailored for the horse.

"I am going to regret agreeing to this..." Livia mused, calmly stroking a hand at her horse's neck as the poison would take it's time in manifesting the desired results. Of course it was no poison, but a medicinal dosage that should not harm the noble steed too badly. She was quick to dig her heels in and chase after Evie, readying herself for that sign of change that would come into effect. Even at a gallop, it was not kind to the gentle headache that now pressed at her skull, digging in a sharp pain behind her right eye.

And yet it felt good to be moving this quickly. To feel the power coursing through the horse beneath her only fueled her delight, and the wind whipping her braid wildly behind her soon became loose, but Liv did not bother to remedy it. Grinning, she encouraged her horse to pick up speed as the ground below flattened out. The enhancement Proctor Ebersol administered seemed to begin it's groundwork, as her horse became erratic, breaking the steady beat that was normal.


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh and Livia traveled a great distance, their steeds short, dense coats were sweat slicked and shined from the sunshine. They only slowed down when they saw a trail of black smoke appear out of nowhere from the horizon. It was so great in size that Everleigh had first mistook the smoke for a settlement or fresh-tilled farmland.

Everleigh signed with her hand to Livia to keep close to her. Normally Everleigh would have ignored such a thing but she couldn’t. It seemed that the smoke was coming from the direction they were heading in. Was this a clue of some sort or worse: a trap? Trying to think positively, Everleigh also supposed that it could be a unrelated to Initiate Vern’s capture. The odds of that were low.

The proctor and initiate would follow the well-trodden path up a great hill. This part before the Falwood was quite hilly with sparse trees and foliage. Farmers had to shave off the top and sides of these hills to grow crops. As the women crested up the hill they could see these unique formations on other hills, yet there was no quaint beauty about these crops. A fire had happened recently, everything looked black and scorched. There was little ash floating about in the air.

“Magic.” Everleigh said. It had to be. It was a fire that was great but had only lasted for a second or two so as not to create winds to spread the ashes about the air. “We should investigate.” Everleigh got off her horse and bringing it to one of the few trees that had somehow been spared from the fire. She tied her horse to the tree. Something fell in the distance and a crackling, crumbling could be heard as the scorched roof caved in.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

She felt the strangeness before their eyes were able to peer over the crest, a feeling she was ready to blame on the rough travel her horse powered through. The scent of burning aftermath reached her nose as her olive eyes fell on the scene laid out before them. It was unnerving, to see such devastation played out and snuffed out so quickly, she had to agree with the Proctor's suspicion.

Livia followed her in tying her horse out of sight, quietly wondering how such destruction was warranted out this far.

"Magic... I feel it now." Goosebumps raise all over her, and the Initiate let out an involuntary shiver as a coldness swept down her spine. "It is strong." Her own magic wanted to respond in kind, to expel the pent up energy she began to feel just being so close to a destructive magic. That uneasiness in her stomach did not go away, and Livia wondered if her body would expel in another way than what her corrupted magic wished to do.

"The air is thick with it..." She said more to herself than to Evie, now turning to face the Proctor with a face of determination. If investigating gave them reason to conclude whether it was worth looking into or continuing on with their mission, the quicker it was done, the sooner they both would be in cleaner air.

Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

There was little cover to hide behind, walking about in this burnt village would make them obvious targets if there was still someone around. It could have been a trap. If Everleigh cared only about the mission or Initate Vern— even her own wellbeing—then she could have ignored this and continued on ahead. A year ago she would have. No, not even a year ago. Months ago she would have.

There was something about the ash left after a fire that made her need to check to make sure it wasn’t him. Burning down some agrarian village? She already had the answer, didn’t she? So why was she so compelled to make sure that no one was harmed here?

Everleigh was moving quickly, gimlet gaze taking in everything and analyzing everything she saw. No footprints, no bones. She kicked down a door to the first home, the scorched wood splintering like it was made of nothing but sticks. If there were bodies, surely they would be here or in the fields.

“I hope you’re not squeamish.” The noble kids never got it beaten out of them the way the more expendable initiates did. Couldn’t have a Great House causing a ruckus about a child unable to carry on the bloodline. Strangely enough, when walking into the home, it was untouched by the flames. Her dark brows furrowed low over her eyes casting a dark shadow.

“Do you feel anything here? Is there anything leading you any which way?” Everleigh asked Livia.

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Ever the dutiful Initiate while on a mission, Liv turned to face Evie and pause in there slow advance into the burned out village. "I have to try..." She answered, lowering herself to her knees and reaching her hands to grasp the light layer of ash and dirt below. The suffocating presence of magic was almost stifling, but down here by the earth, she was able to breathe easier and clear the apprehension that took root in her stomach.
Livia's lips began to move, whispering nothing but silence as her olive eyes shut and the earth began to tremble at her call. To do this type of magic meant unleashing more power than she was ever used to using, in fear of that teetering edge that the corruption would take charge. It was a sensation like one's chair being leaned back too far, that jolt of fear erupting inside her but Livia had grounded herself successfully and worked past the disturbance in her magic. The air around them began to crackle, and if one were to take notice, the falling ash seemed to slow, as if mindful not to disturb her divining spell. Quinnick's head lifted in a hurry, lips parting to expel the gentle gasp.

"There... There is a little church just down the road... Someone is inside."

Livia stopped her casting, the air falling to the earth and zapping at her hands which only caused her to flinch before scrambling back up to her feet. "There is also a number of bodies well beyond this village. They were moving... slowly... but..." Liv chewed at her bottom lip. Her arms began to move, knocking an arrow in place and waiting for Proctor Ebersol to take the first step down towards the church. "Other than ourselves, this being is the only thing here in this village. I may be a living compass, but I make a shit moral compass. No way to determine if a hostile awaits us, Proctor."


Everleigh Ebersol

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

A church? No wonder why this village had fallen the way it had. Perhaps it was her being a proud Anirian, but Everleigh felt it was because she was sent to the Academy at a young age. Why did she need to believe in something else, some higher being or power, when she could just believe in herself? She never understood religion and pitied those that needed it to move forward.

“I hope they are far away.” Everleigh said in regards to the mass of bodies that Livia felt. She figured that Initiate Vern was not the one in the church. It had to be someone else. What were the chances of it being a villager who had been knocked unconscious? What were the chances it of being a villager unable to run? They could be under debris and resigned themselves to dying alone or perhaps waiting to call for help when they heard others?

What were the chances of it being the transgressor of this strange magic?

“And I hope whatever is awaiting us in that church can hold their own.” A frisson coursed through and Everleigh shivered. Her narrowed eyes seemed to shine with something akin to hope as she began to march over to where she suspected the church to be, on a hill for all believers to see. The bell tower was still erect, the bronze glinting in the sunlight.

Everleigh’s held out her hands, making gestures with her fingers before both hands created shadows that looked like snake heads. A dozen violet snakes appeared on the ground, creating a half circle before Everleigh.

“Find them.” Everleigh muttered, arcane residue souring her breath. The snakes were off, heading toward the church, slithering so quickly that they were nearly out of sight. A burst of wind came from the church with such force that Everleigh turned her face away, using her arm to protect her eyes as debris flew at the two women. She felt her snakes get dispelled, a hiss resonating in her ears. In the next moment, a dark gray dome came from one side of the village to the other, blocking the sun and vision of the sky.

It had a dark, oily quality to it, shimmers of jewel tone blues, greens and purples that had a greasy sheen to it. Everleigh looked behind her. Their horses weren’t in this dome. Everleigh pivoted on her feet, making a quick circle and allowing her eyes to see and record all there was. They were blocked in, something told her they were and there was no need to go to the edge.

The church’s roof crashed down, a rumbling that echoed all around as a lone figure clad in black armor seemed to fly towards them. Everleigh unsheathed her sword, expecting Livia to pull out her weapons as well. The black force dropped onto the ground, swinging up a thick piece of dark steel to rest over a shoulder. It was a woman, her head half shaved and limp, greasy hair over on one side. Everleigh hated her make up, finding it utterly egregious and scoffed.

She knew a Edgelord when she saw one.

“I was just starting to get bored.” The woman said and cackled to herself. Everleigh hated her voice more than her dour make up. “Too bad they sent you girlies here to get me. You’re both just my type.” A pink light began to emit from her palm, her dark fingers closing around like the fangs of a wolf.

“That’s funny, I was just thinking I was getting bored myself.” Everleigh said, using the edge of her blade to slice through her open palm. Another frisson, from the nape of her neck down to in between her hips. “Although, I can’t say you’re my type. I prefer blondes.”

“Too bad.” She was grinning. “But you both can’t tell me no when you’re dead. I’ll have my fun with you once your heads are rolling on the floor.” A small ball of pink was tossed over to Everleigh and Livia and like the forceful wind they had felt before, another blast of force that blew out in a circular arc, effectively pushing the two women away from each other.

Livia Quinnick