Fate - First Reply A Radiant Darkness Upon Us

[Livia Quinnick]

News traveled like wildfire in these parts; whispers turned into murmurs and launching into widespread hums of dispersing through Vel Anir. By evening, Initiates returning to the Academy would continue the fire, stoking the news to each person they encountered on their way in.

"Did you hear? A wealthy traveler abandoned their carriage! That's what all that smoke was from yesterday!"

"The nobleman and his group all ran away! They left all their belongings right there on the path and rumoured to be too distraught to recover it!"

"Surely opportunists and thieves would be going after such a haul?"

By the time the moon began it's nightly ascent, a small group of Initiates had formed a group intent on sneaking to the stables and making devious plans on tracking down this carriage that was only a little more than an hour from the Academy. The wealthy merchant had been waylaid on the road leading to Vel Anir, disturbed by the scene they were met with and fled with their lives to find another traveler on their way. It was then they were brought to safety, and by dawn, their story spreading amongst the people and territories.

With their horses secured and packs made up in quick fashion, an Initiate spoke up after some time debating. "Wait... do any of us know where we are going?"

The question was met with blank stares and heads shaking, and with a sigh, the Initiate paused in their step and wracked their brains, trying to remember if there was a definitive area they needed to see...

"What about Livia Quinnick? She's literally a living compass." Came a voice, and the Initiate waved them off and not registering what was said until that name was repeated by another in the group.

"Wait... that is an idea... she can just find anything, is that right? She was the one that found Joel during the night of the dance!" The Initiate glanced at their pocket watch, weighing their options against time. There was no reason for the noble to even accept their invitation, but having her company would be most advantageous. Who would turn down such an adventure?!

---

Another night was escaping her, yet Livia was perfectly content on her bed and reading in the gentle glow of the candles lighting up her room. Rare for the Initiate to have a calm demeanour once the day had ended, able to ignore the restlessness stirring inside her and allowing her the moment to read a book she had been meaning to start. She was so engrossed in it that the sharp knocking at the door to her room gave her such alarm. She heard voices, more than one, and it was enough to irritate and intrigue her. Quietly, she slipped from her bed and made her way to the door, pressing her ear close to the wood and attempt to make out the voices. They spoke in hushed tones, impatient and worried they would be found, but even Livia knew the Proctors would not be patrolling the dorms this early.

With not a moment to spare, the door flung open and Livia glared at those gathered. "And what is this? Did we lose something, friends?" Thank the gods, saints, and heavens she was still in her gear from her latest mission, intent on sneaking a late night bath later in the evening before bed and unwinding after her return just this afternoon.

"You're the compass? Quinnick?" Livia nodded slowly after a momentary pause that made the Initiate that knocked at her door wince. "Well... we were hoping you would like to tag along with us. You heard about the wealthy merchant? They abandoned their carriage and there actually is a reward for whoever can retrieve their belon--"

"Did you stop to wonder what it was that scared him away?" She inquired, crossing her arms and leaning into the framework of her doorway. For one so pretty, she had quite the withering stare. They were all stumped. The call for adventure was a scent too strong, none had considered the reality of the news. "There. You all have absolutely no clue what it is you plan on interrupting and I am certainly not going to..."

Her eyes fell on a new face, one Livia recognised all too well. "Oh goodness. You are planning on joining these nuisances?"

They're the one that suggested you in the first place!"

 

[Isaac]

Isaac swung the lantern, shifting the projected light through the dark expanses of the forest. A frown pulling at his lips as the sound of crunching leafs echoed behind him. "Would you stop moving for five seconds!"

The Warlock hissed, a loud sound greeting him seconds later.

"Mreow."​

"Yes, I know It was my idea to pose as a merchant." He said, shifting the lantern towards Teekle as the little cat came scurrying up. His fur seeming to shimmer ever so slightly in the kerosene flame. Isaac looked down at him reaching low and scooping the cat up with his free hand. "It was not my intent for other demons to find us."

A hiss echoed from the cat as he was placed on Isaac's shoulder. "I know, I know. It wasn't yours either."

He said with a shake of his head as he stepped over a particularly large root.

"Look, we find the damn carriage, get the fucking thing, and get out okay?" Isaac said with a shake of his head. "Most importantly, we don't encounter any Dreadlords. Got it? Those fuckers are trouble."

"Mreow."​

Teekle replied simply.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

There was no specific moment that stood out to her that lead Livia to agree to play Compass to this group of Initiates, but there she was, leading the group like some messiah as her magic pulled her towards their destination. Intuition told her the carriage had made a detour away from the main road, before inevitably running into trouble.

The group of five made the short journey via horses borrowed from the Academy, Livia being the only one not to double up. She looked behind her for a moment, long enough to see that the other horses kept good pace behind her and that the other Initiates from her year and the year below were now quiet. Their small talk had irked her at the beginning of their journey, but Liv insisted on getting there as quickly as they could so that the entire night was not wasted.

Livia was entirely surprised by the presence of Zephyrine Caddel, the Initiate a year below her that was practically a ghost. No one ever saw her in classes, or in the public areas all Initiates could access. She did not know the red-headed girl existed until she showed up outside Liv's dorm room and inquired for help in locating something she had lost that the Academy needed.

Curious, Liv thought to herself, glancing up to notice the moon now hidden in the foliage above, she was a rare sight and now she is here with other Initiates.

With the action to command her horse to slow, Livia signaled to the others that they were close. Tracks made from carriage wheels could not be mistaken below the hooves of the horses, but Quinnick turned her head to assess those gathered with her.

"Caddel. You are the only one equipped with something, so follow me. The rest of you," Liv quirked a brow and set them with an unimpressed expression, "Stay with the horses until we give the all clear." She knew shit all what the other Initiates could do, memory not serving her well at that moment but Caddel had her blade, and she did not voice her knowledge of the younger Initiate's magic. She saw it once, and admittedly did not pry further.

With both hands she checked her eight knives on her person, strapped to her in places that made it easier to reach, Liv nodded to Zephyrine and lead them both to the carriage, just several feet below the incline in the earth.

 

[Isaac]

"Mreow."​

"What the hell do you mean someone's coming?" Isaac said as he tossed out another book from the chest he had popped open. "Anoted copy of Maester Eldreth's Works on the metaphysics of magic? Why did we pack this drivel, and why couldn't they have taken that."

Isaac threw yet another book behind himself, shoving the rest of his strewn things aside and letting out a quiet curse. "I think they took it."

"Moooooooooow."​

Teekle complained loudly as the Dreadlords came closer and closer. His tail waggling back and forth furiously, as he looked down towards Isaac. "What?"

"Mow!"​

"Shit." Isaac swore, looking around the area he stood in which had clearly just been searched by someone. There was nothing he could really do about it. Any spell would take time, and time he didn't have. "Get down here."

He waved quickly to Teekle, though if the two Initiate's were quick they might catch a sight of his orange and black fur. Isaac caught the cat in his arms, letting out a sigh and cursing himself. This whole thing was going to be a fucking mess.

His fingers snapped, and then he and Teekle disappeared. "Hopefully they don't poke around."

The Warlock murmured, intending to stand still so the spell didn't have to work too hard.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

"You already did your part, Quinnick. No need to babysit us." Zephyrine through a look Livia's way, one she ignored as they descended carefully down the incline and towards the carriage. It had been pilfered through already, but that was not what worried her. It was as if her compass magic worked on overdrive, alerting senses that never allowed her to relax.

Suspicion was high, and finally Livia cut Zephyrine a frown. "How many missions have you been on? This year alone I have been on slightly more than the number you and the other Initiates have been on. I do not doubt your skills... just your ability to work as a team."

Liv walked around the carriage, a hand hovering over every surface she could find and using a morsel of magic to find anything out of the ordinary. When her magic was met with stagnant response, she deemed the situation not harmful.

"Nothing threatening here, but that does not mean you lot should not be careful."

"I don't care why the others are here, I came for the opportunity to find something of value and sell it back to the owner... or whoever offers a higher price."

Liv rolled her eyes and sucked in a breath to keep herself from making a snarky comment. Instead, she exhaled slowly and turned round to the younger Initiate. "There. That. You are not here to be part of a team. If you really want to be taken seriously once you leave the Academy, you are going to have to work with others, whether you like it or not. Team work can be advantageous, you know?" Preferring to keep to herself, Livia also knew working as a team guaranteed a higher survival rate for all. She loathed the idea of taking charge, but there were times she could see the logic right before the eyes of many and run point with it. Not only did she choose Caddel to accompany her to sweep the area for the blade hanging at her side, Livia knew of the significance her magic held. If the carriage had been destroyed? If the contents ruined? Zephyrine could make all that return to their original state.

"I'm not going to worry about that until after I graduate." Came the disgruntled retort from the copper-headed Initiate. "Besides, I only taggged alon--" Her words died in her throat, brown eyes catching sight the same time as Livia's magic whipped her head around to spy the very thing that rendered Caddel mute.

"There are five of them." Livia's magic fed the numbers back to her as only two came into view, moving in slowly on all fours. Fuck. She ceased her use of magic, throwing up that wall to block it from spilling out. Kraits. She was still, watching and observing their behaviour. Never had she encountered such creatures, but their elongated heads were unmistakable from the depictions in the books she had studied.

"What's our play here?" As best Zephyrine tried to sound like a team player, Liv could hear the rising panic in her voice. It was at these times she was grateful for leaning onto non-magical combat since the corruption of her magic, allowing her to think clearly of a plan to quickly diminish the number of Kraits before them. It was no use incapacitating them and leaving them alive, not when their primary need is to siphon magic. And who could tell if they wanted a feast? There was always that possibility they would be killed.

Livia had eight throwing knives on her person, Caddel had her blade and that pouch that occasionally clinked with different pieces of material for recreating weaponry. It was not the best plan, but a plan nonetheless.

After all, when all else fails them, there was that cold, corrupted magic she could resort to and hope she could wield it in the way she wanted to.

"It will have to be only you and I. Forget the carriage and your prize, Caddel, I want to get out of here alive and drag you all back to your dorms safely."