Private Tales Dignity, Duty and Other Delusions

[Evangeline]

Evangeline could only hope that Kalix hadn't gotten in over his head. She had taken the brunt of this by distracting the main threat -- any enemy Dreadlord assuredly more dangerous than any bog standard soldier -- but that didn't mean that any other warriors among this party wouldn't be potentially deadly to an initiate, even one as battle ready as Kalix seemed to be.

For now, she knew what her own job was: to contend with the loyalist in front of her. She could sense the man's malice, feel his cocky grin even behind the leather mask that obscured his face. Typical of someone adhering to the old ways; he had no idea what he was in for.

In an instant, the bald Dread leapt forward, curved sword held aloft while the longsword was held defensively. He was seeking to cover his bases...interesting. Eva sidestepped the curved blade as the man swept in a downwards, diagonal arc with it, then quickly parried a second, horizontal blow from the longsword. Two steps back.

With a rapid flash, Eva made a counter lunge with her cane sword, aiming for the man's exposed chest. He was fast; the curved sword was quickly turned flat to stop the incoming blade of her cane, and when she struck with her own follow up with the scabbard the man locked it into the guard on his longsword's hilt.

Evangeline had to rapidly pull back when she noticed the man's magic flare to life. A dull red glow appeared as high as the crook of his elbow while his hand glowed white hot; his sword, too, became imbued with the heat magic, and had Eva been slower the scabbard of her cane would've been burned up. Interesting.

The male warrior laughed.
"Try not to get cooked, love." He taunted her before stepping forward and striking again with the longsword. Three more steps back. He was trying to pin her between himself and the wreckage of a carriage. How droll.

"I've already had enough of this." Eva replied as the edges of her form started to blur. In an instant she was behind the man, faster than his eyes could keep up, and she slashed downwards at the man's shoulder blades.
*CLANG!*
The moment the blade made contact with what was flesh, the steel only met stone. Th man's skin had hardened into obsidian.

"Not bad, but that won't work on me!" The warrior shouted, spinning quickly to cut Eva down with his oversized scimitar. Evangeline was gone lightyears before the swipe could've made purchase, the blade cutting through only air and ashes.

Again and again Eva vanished from the Dreadlord's sight, cutting and stabbing at any exposed point she could find, each time meeting only rocky flesh. Step, accelerate, strike. Step, accelerate, strike. Each time, the man tried to counter with a flaming strike of his own, each time going totally wide.

"I thought I told you that won't work! Now stand still and di--" The man had begun to shout when suddenly a large rock struck him square in the forehead at mach speeds. The impact was so great that it left cracks in the surface of his apparently adaptive skin. He shouted in pain and stumbled back, dropping his scimitar so as to grasp at the sudden pain and pressure of the blow with which he'd just been struck.

Eva had been conditioning him the whole time. When a foe believes themselves to be sure to win, it was easy to exploit their habits. Finding a rock among all this ruin was easy enough. Eva had just needed to trick him into thinking she was a one-trick pony. The moment she knew his guard was down she decided to concuss him. After all, her cane sword clearly wasn't effective; where slashing and piercing failed, blunt force trauma frequently had its use.

"If you value your life, I suggest you call off this little raid." Eva taunted the man in return, no worse for wear after all the accelerating she'd done. The warrior glared hatefully at her, rage seething as blood trickled down from the cracks in his forehead as obsidian returned to skin.

"You bitch...you think this will be that easy?" He spat back at her. "You think I came alone?!"

That was the only warning Evangeline had before a volley of darts, each apparently constructed of bone, impaled her. Or, at least, would have if Evangeline used that foolish verbal warning as an opportunity to accelerate away. Instead the darts impacted the ground, scouring dirt in every direction as they struck with a slew of dull thuds.

"Dear brother," A feminine voice spoke out from amidst the smoke, Anirian accent starkly on her tongue. "Is this lone rebel dog giving you trouble? Do you need your little sister to bail you out?"

Two against one. Both apparently Dreadlords. This just got a lot more complicated.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix loved using his personal magic. There was always that rush, a surge of endorphins whenever he used it. As much Kalix was a fan of grappling foes with his own hands or knocking enemies down with his own innate strength, Kalix couldn’t deny that manipulating gravity was fun. Making things heavier or lighter was useful. And while Kalix lacked the innovation of some other initiates who had to work through their shortcomings on their magic, he had faced little hardships in understanding his power.

He may have been dumb and lacked any sort of booksmart, but his instinct and the pure connection he had with gravity was heightened because of that. Or so Lysander had once pointed out. Kalix thought it made sense, sort of.

So with the nine riders surging at him, Kalix was having fun. He got four of the riders with his flying rocks, three of them he changed their density so that they floated high into the sky before letting it go back to normal only to watch them plummet down to their death, and with the last two he increased their density so that they crushed their horses which gave Kalix enough time to bash their heads in with his pernach, laughing as their teeth went flying.

When he looked over at the noble family, the mother was busy shielding her children’s eyes and she looked incredibly disturbed.

“What? This is what you guys pay the academy to do with initiates.” Nearly every noble house gave the academy some sort of donation. He was sure this family had been no different. Regardless, he didn’t blame them for it. Kalix loved who he was in battle. Vicious, ruthless, and a winner! He then looked over at where Evangeline was. A frown soon appeared. Now, Kalix hadn’t faced dreadlords— or if he had, they were fourth level at best. Either way, it made sense for him to quickly rid of his opponents.

Evangeline, despite her injury, shouldn’t she be calling him back by now? Shouldn’t she be done handling whatever it was that she was handling? He went to take a step over to where Evangeline was, in hopes of getting a better view of where she was at and what was going on, but stopped.

Something had wound it’s way around his ankle. He looked down, seeing nothing, but then was immediately flung up into the air. A shout of surprise came from Kalix and immediately reduced his density, an attempt to float, but that did little. For the moment that Kalix was at the peak of being flung up, he was then pulled immediately down into the ground.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

The second loyalist Dreadlord made her appearance now, her armor clunking against itself in a fashion that sounded distinctly non-metallic. It wasn't any wonder why as she stepped over a nearby ridge and into the fray. Her armor was an off-white from top to bottom, looking to be made of bone but fused together in a fashion that made it look neither crafted nor like it belonged to any natural creature. The woman's sword, too, was made of the same material, a long, thin thing resembling a katana. A clawed gauntlet gripped its hilt, and as the dark haired woman stepped forward Evangeline could see another new dart seeming to form out of the enemy's very flesh.

"Cut the fucking chatter and lend me a hand, Nadia." The bald one snapped at the woman, who laughed.

"Never thought I'd see you struggling like this, Oleg," She gave her brother a wicked grin as bone began to wrap around her face, forming a protective mask. "But sure, we can kill this bitch together."

Only a moment later, the field was a blur of violence once again, the brief moment of respite shattered all too quickly. Nadia circled wide and harassed Evangeline from a distance with the darts she was so apt to create. Oleg continued his fiery aggression, lashing out with his heavy scimitar and volcanic magic at every opportunity. Together, the duo was trying their best to pry at Evangeline's defenses, trying to force her to make a mistake. To the untrained eye, it looked like Eva was struggling just to fend them off. By the cocky laughs and grins of her opponents, they believed that too.

Were it any other Dreadlord, they'd be correct. This was Evangeline, however. While she certainly wasn't comfortable with what was presently happening, neither did she feel herself to be in any kind of dire straits. Subtle, controlled bursts of speed saw her safely out of the way of any blow these two were throwing at her, either by dodge or by parry. She couldn't maintain this forever by any means, but she wasn't in any rush, either. She was studying the pair. Getting a sense of their habits. Seeing how well they fought in tandem. All the while she was also trying to determine if the threat was yet greater. If Kalix was in trouble, she hoped he'd be smart enough to call out to her as well. For now she just had to have faith in her student.

"You know, I fought someone quite like you in the Revolution...'Oleg,' was it?" Evangeline addressed her assailant as he tried to cleave her in two, deflecting another volley of darts simultaneously with the scabbard of her cane. Through her earlier probing she was already figuring out a weakness to the man's magic, as well as his swordsmanship. "I must say, you're a sad imitation."

"SHUT UP!" Oleg roared back, rearing his scimitar back for a deathblow. Sloppy.

Evangeline put her plan into action, snatching up one of the fallen bone-daggers and flinging it at the man with her acceleration. Heat and flame consumed the scimitar as the man pumped his magic into his forearms, and in the meantime his face and chest hardened into obsidian to absorb the blow from the dart. In an instant, the dart shattered across the man's torso, and before his coup de grace could land, Evangeline sped out of his sight.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU, THAT WON'T--!" The warrior shouted as he spun to strike where he knew Evangeline would go. She would dash behind him, just as she always had. He'd counter. This time he'd catch her, and then his sister could impale her. His perception of time seemed to slow as he whirled around. In a fraction of a second, fury became confusion, then confusion became horror.

The cane sword impaled Oleg through his unprotected back, blood spewing from the wound, then from Oleg's mouth as he coughed up blood. Evangeline had gotten the better of him. Oleg couldn't protect two places at once if he was using his heat. Instead of accelerating behind him, she had feinted, dashing out his sight and then right back to where she'd been just a second before.

The warrior was utterly shocked. She'd figured him out in just a couple of minutes. Even with Nadia at his back, he'd just lost handily. He felt the blade withdraw, then skewer once again, this time feeling his pulse become erratic as the strike pierced his flesh. Evangeline had stabbed the man's heart.

"BROTHER!" Nadia shrieked from behind Evangeline. "YOU BITCH!"

Eva withdrew her blade and turned to face her, Oleg collapsing to the ground behind her in a heap. One down.

 

[Kalix]

As Kalix came crashing down to the ground he heard frightened screams that could have came from nowhere else but the noble family he was supposed to be protecting. He landed face-first into the ground and even with doing his neat trick in reducing his gravity which often could help him reduce impact and therefore reduce getting injured, he felt his nose break. If it weren’t the loud crack that seem to resound between his ears that alerted him to his nose getting broken then it was the gush of warm blood that bled down in a series of rivulets.

Despite the slight shock that knocked the wind out of his chest as well, the initiate was kick to get back onto his feet and look behind him. His dark hair flew about his face as he pivoted quickly, pernach raised, but saw no one standing behind him. Just those he had killed and the family being pulled towards—

“Fuck!” He cursed, ineloquent as always. Kalix wasn’t sure how it was possible, but it seemed that the one of the guys on horses was a dreadlord of sorts. The tentacle-like presence on his ankle suggested as much as he was also beginning to be be pulled towards where the half-dead opponent was. He tried to slam down his pernach on where he thought that invisible arm must be but the hold on his ankle never loosened and with a strong tug Kalix was flipped over onto his back.

His lungs seized again. A wave of white-hot searing pain racking over his chest as he coughed and sputtered. C’mon, Kalix, get it the fuck together, he thought to himself, holding back a groan as he was dragged along. Another scream from the family. Kalix took a deep breath, and instead of making himself lighter, he made himself heavy. Much heavier than any man his size ever could be.

But that was the thing about magic. With how heavy he was, he shouldn’t have been able to get back up. However, he did, and this time when Kalix felt the tug he didn’t move a single inch. He squinted his gold eyes, trying to figure out who the culprit could be. There was the group of three that he had raised high into the sky before letting them crash down. It had to be one of them. Only issue, which one?

Kalix didn’t have time to find out and began running, the ground shaking beneath his every armored step as if he were a giant. A solid bash in the head with his pernach would hopefully end this before the nobles got hurt. With a grunt he came in contact with the first body. He swung his pernach down. The nobles were thrusted it up into the air.

Shit. Kalix then focused on them, although he should have done this much earlier, but now he was increasing their density, making it so that they too were also too heavy to swing around. He did it slowly so that way no one could get hurt. At least he hoped that were the case.

Onto the next body. The second one was close and once again his pernach was burst through flesh, splattering Kalix with blood, gristle and viscera. But that tug along his ankle told him others. Well, as they said, third time’s the charm. His gold eyes went to were the third body was.

It didn’t even look as if that man were breathing. Was he even alive? Was he even the cause of this? Kalix walked over, raising his pernach over his head, glaring down at the enemy. That was when he saw it: a flicker of eye movement. But other than that, it looked like the man was sleeping peacefully. Kalix didn’t care, smashing his head in.

Upon doing so, he felt the invisible force along his ankle disappear. A sigh of relief. He stopped using his magic and then quickly made his way over to the woman and her children.

“Look, come with me, I gotta get you guys to cover.” Kalix said, and then pointed over at where the carts were. “You’d be safer there than here were we can hide you instead of standing out in the open.” That was when he heard it. A shriek. Brother? He turned his head, catching the final two words: you bitch. The shrill pitch could never belong to someone as gentile as Proctor D’Amour.

He frowned. At this point, he had two clear paths before him: hide and protect the nobles, which was technically the most important part of his mission, or to go and aid Evangeline. He picked up the older sister, carrying her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder before looking back at the mother.

“Try to keep up,” he said, and began heading back to the carts and carriages at a steady jog. Hopefully a suitable enough pace for a noble woman to keep up with in her long skirts. A determined gold gaze that was dead set on finding a decent hiding place for them while also trying to catch sight of his proctor was all that could inform others of Kalix’s decision.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

The air around Evangeline quickly became quite dangerous as a storm of bone darts were slung at her. Nadia, now screaming in rage, no longer needed to worry about causing collateral damage now that her brother was down. The projectiles were going to be troublesome to work around if Eva was going to close the gap between the two of them. What was more, Nadia was another hard-armored target. They could play another game of attrition, but the proctor wanted to end this quickly.

Nadia was already emotionally compromised. That meant that provoking her into making a mistake should have been relatively easy.
"Are you just going to play keep away like a coward, or are you going to fight like a real Dreadlord?" Eva called out between dodging and swatting away darts.

"Shut up, SHUT UP!" The loyalist screamed back, 5 darts erupting from her hand before being tossed in a fan pattern. There had to be a limit to how many she could make, right? Eva didn't want to find out. She darted back and out of range of Nadia's fan attack, then grabbed Oleg's curved sword off the ground. Rushing forward once again, she spun, using her momentum and acceleration magic to sling the weighty weapon as hard and fast as she could at Nadia.

The loyalist had to duck to avoid the thing, and it careened harmlessly overhead. Its purpose had never been to strike her, however, only to give Evangeline a window to get closer. That paid off perfectly. In an instant, Eva was in Nadia's face, rushing her down with advancing strikes of her cane sword. Nadia was quick enough to react with her own katana, parrying and slashing in turn. Eva, quick as she was, was hastily overwhelming Nadia's defenses, but it became very clear to Eva very quickly that Nadia was hardly an orthodox fighter.

Each time Eva struck her blade against Nadia's armor, the armor would twist and warp to absorb the blow. It, like everything else this woman wielded, seemed to be somehow constructed of her own bone. Obnoxious, but not impossible to beat. Eva just had to find an opening. An idea occurred to her: a feint. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

Gradually, as the battling pair traded blows, Evangeline began to slow down. She used her acceleration less and less, until eventually she was fighting at normal speed, albeit with her own brand of proficiency. Then, her footing became less sure, her limp apparent. Nadia noticed, and grinned wickedly. Now Evangeline was being pushed back; no longer the aggressor, Evangeline appeared to be being forced to do everything she could not to be struck.

One more step back, and Evangeline tripped over Oleg's corpse. Nadia seized the chance and slashed diagonally upwards. The bone blade cut through Eva's thin armor and into flesh, sending blood streaking upwards across the wound. Eva cried out and fell to one knee, dropping her cane sword and gripping the wound.

Nadia raised her katana high, intent on finishing Evangeline off. One, great, overhead slash. She'd taken the bait.

Suddenly Nadia felt an agonizing pain shoot up through her leg, and with her left foot spontaneously not able to hold her upright, she fell on her side. She looked down in desperation to search for an answer to what had happened. The bone armor around her ankle had been shattered to pieces, and her actual ankle was a bloody, ruined mess. She screamed in pain. Then she went silent as a blunt force smashed into her head.

Evangeline hadn't run out of magic; she had power to spare. She'd baited Nadia into aggression and overconfidence. She'd taken a blow and feigned defeat, and the moment before she was to be executed, she'd snatched up Oleg's dropped longsword by the blade and smashed its crossguard as hard and fast as she possibly could into her opponent's leg. It wasn't as effective as the warpick she'd used during the revolution, but it had done the job. Eva was quick to finish the girl off; if Nadia could control her bone mass so readily, then Eva knew a broken ankle wouldn't matter for long. A second mordhau caved in the woman's skull.

No sooner had Evangeline finished off the second loyalist did she call out to her protégé.
"Kalix! Are you alright?!" She shouted, instinctually placing a hand on the bleeding gash that ran from her pectoral to the top of her shoulder.

 

[Kalix]

It wasn’t necessarily that Kalix underestimated Evangeline, after all the story she had shared had told him of her resolve to survive. Even now with her injury, Kalix fool heartedly believed that he could be a suitable opponent for her, despite being more akin to the two dreadlords she had swiftly disposed of. However, that was one of the highest praises Kalix ever gave anyone, his god-complex a product of the academy. Every punishment he survived only cemented his reality that he was meant to be great, to survive and be destined for greatness.

After all, his magic, in his humble opinion, was practically god-like. Then again, so was Proctor D’Amour’s and she used her head far more than he ever did. An emotionally driven man, he thought very little of the consequences he could face by bringing the noble family so close to the clash that was just ahead of him. Of course he figured he had a few options in protecting the family, but nothing clear came to his mind. In reality, he wasn’t thinking much of their wellbeing. And he didn’t care.

For in his eyes, Proctor D’Amour had just been struck by some scrawny bitch who seemed like the ultimate nag. Kalix raised his pernach, ready to throw it with all his might at the woman but before he even had a chance to arc his weapon past his head, Evangeline took care of her opponent in a nearly flawless victory.

Kalix slowed down his fast paced jog and looked behind him, seeing the noblewoman many paces behind him and heaving much like Kristen Pirian had when Proctor Magomo first told her to start running. He set the eldest daughter down and realized it was probably a good thing that she had been facing away from sight of the Pirian Proctor caving someone’s head in. Dreadlords and initiates could handle the violence, but the rich? They got squeamish when they even saw a spider.

Striding up to the woman, Kalix grinned, using his hand to wipe at his bloody nose, smearing the blood from his lips onto the side of his cheek. Bleeding, especially internal bleeding, was a major drawback of his magic, especially when he strained himself by accomplishing magnificent feats. Luckily, this was nothing, a minor injury that had been caused by his face slamming into the ground.

Dark rings were under eyes, bright purple contrasting his fair skin and gold irises.

“C’mon, Proctor D’Amour,” Kalix said, rather cheekily, “I told you I’m one of the strongest in my class, of course I’m alright. Although, a kiss might make me feel better.” A tease, accentuated by his cocky grin, his eyes crinkling up jovially. All too soon, however, he became serious, looking at her hand holding back her blood. He then pointed at her gash. “More worried about you than me.” He added, looking around. It seemed the bandits had be diffused, any survivors seemed to have deserted their beaten brethren.

“I’ll find you something to patch it up. Don’t worry.” Kalix said, now entirely forgetting about the family that was gathering behind him. The crying of the children and the mother, the strong words of the father— all of it fell on deaf ears.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Evangeline panted, but allowed herself a relieved smile. Good, her student had come out scuffed up, but no more worse for wear. Ordinarily his sly comment would have likely earned him another swat on the head and a few dozen push-ups, but for the moment she'd allow him to celebrate his victory. Their victory.

"I'm just fine, Kalix. I was only grazed. I can heal this rather quickly, I just--" Her vision blurred and doubled, and suddenly the proctor could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She stumbled and landed on her knees. A moment of confusion quickly melted into grim realization.

"Oh, hells...poison...? I was careless..." She muttered aloud, still in Kalix's earshot. It was likely for the best she hadn't been so quick to heal the wound over. She struggled to lift her head upwards towards her student and began to force out words she really didn't want to have to say.

"It needs to be extracted...I can't reach the wound, Kalix..." She managed, ripping some of the fabric away from the wound and hoping that Kalix would understand what he needed to do, and that he wouldn't be so ambitious as to choose not to do it.

The only alternative was accelerating her metabolism and letting the rot in her veins run its course, and she had no idea what that might do to her. This was the safe option, much as she didn't like it.

 

[Kalix]

Poison? His eyes darkened. There were two poisonous little bitches at the academy, and Kalix only liked one of them. Although at this moment, either of them would have been better suited to extracting poison from the body. Or maybe only one of them could? Kalix never bothered to catalogue their abilities, after all, with one punch Kalix would have been the victor. At this time however, while Kalix felt a surge of dread, and maybe wishing that one of the toxic mushrooms were here to handle such a situation.

With a bovine blink, Kalix looked at Proctor D’Amour, kneeling down as she fought the poison, and then looking at the wound. He took a deep breath. She realized where the wound was, didn’t sure? And sure, sure it wasn’t right where many men would be interested in placing their mouths but it still meant Kalix would have to get close to the proctor. Very close.

“Okay, okay,” Kalix said quickly, clearing his throat a bit to try and clear his head as he knelt down besides Evangeline. “I got it, just… hang on.” He managed to say, putting his hands onto Eva’s shoulders and to hold her upright. When he felt like she wouldn’t flop around, the hand closet to the cut cleared off any remaining pieces of clothing, tearing easily through it and tossing the bloody scraps of cloth onto the ground.

“Right. Okay.” He breathed out, racking the spider-web encrusted parts of his mind. Sucking out the poison. What steps would he need to take? He just had to place his mouth and suck, right? And everything would work out, right? Gritting his teeth, Kalix glanced at Evangeline’s face, seeing the color draining. He needed to act, thinking, even for a second more, was dangerous, right?

Following instinct— and maybe subconsciously some sort of teaching from a class he probably had fallen asleep in— Kalix placed his lips on the deepest part of the wound, where the poison was probably affecting the most. Despite focusing on the task, Kalix couldn’t help but to think that even with the metallic scent and taste of blood mixing with the tang of sweat that came from the proctor, Evangeline smelled… good.

Maybe he had just been wrestling and boxing with too many guys that he had forgotten how a woman—

Kalix turned his head, spitting out a particularly dark clump of blood, his lips a mixture of red, brown and violet. He coughed for a moment, his lips and tongue feeling a bit numb. Damn, how did Evangeline manage to last this long if mere contact was causing a effect already on him?

Unbeknownst to Kalix, the dark clot of blood undulated for a moment, a dark, black worm squirming out to only burn and dry out in the sun, turning into a thin, twisty crisp.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

The vulnerability that Eva was showing to Kalix at this very moment was not lost on her, nor was the...intimacy...one might have been able to presume, given the situation. Evangeline had half expected the boy to refuse, or to offer nothing but a wicked grin and a swing of his mace, but...none of that came. Instead, Kalix obliged, apparently flustered as the request made him. She sat as still as her reflexes would allow as he tore away the remainder of the ruined fabric around her wound and began his dire task.

It was...strange, to say the least, having a student be this close in proximity to her. Up close like this, perhaps a bit delirious from whatever foul thing was coursing her veins, she had a moment to appreciate the boy's build. He was strong, well hewn from diligent training. She had marked him as a bit slow before, but for him to be sparing her this act of compassion spoke volumes to the proctor.

Just then, Eva felt him work his way deeper into the wound, and she grunted and grit her teeth through the pain. It wasn't much longer before she saw him spit some vile creature into the light of the sun and watched it wither and burn away. She gasped as vitality returned to her. Instinctually, her magic pulsed through her body to where the slash mark ran her chest, and in a few short seconds the wound sealed itself up, hardly a scar remaining to give tell that she'd ever been struck.

Panting with relief, her eyes turned from where the worm-like entity had turned to ash back to Kalix. Only now did she realize that her hands had come up to cradle his head, her fingers weaving into his dark locks. She blinked twice in rapid succession, her eyes briefly growing wide before a deep blush washed over her. The proctor pulled her hands free from her student and folded them politely in her lap.

There was a moment of intense silence where she merely continued looking at him, breath heavy, unsure of what to say. Eventually, she broke the silence.
"Thank you, initiate Kalix." Was all she could manage, flustered for reasons she didn't quite understand. "This shall not go unrewarded."

 

[Kalix]

Kalix turned his head back, catching sight of Evangeline as she blinked twice, seeing her eyes widen. His did as well, almost in response to her doing so but moreso because this sight was a near epiphany. She was breathing hard, not rapidly as if she had ran mile after mile, but more like it was hard for her to fill her lungs with air. The deep, slow breaths were reminiscent of something, something he had seen plenty of times before.

Everything clicked when she pulled her fingers from his dark hair, dark tresses getting loose around his face with nothing to hold them back. His stare was hard and heavy as the gravity he controlled, hyper fixated on the way Evangeline’s lips were parted. The shape of them, the color, burning into his mind’s eye.

Like sex. He thought to himself, and of course, a image bloomed forth like a flower that could only open up to the secluded moonlight. This time, Evangeline on his lap, her hands entwined into his hair once again as she breathed ragged gasps into his ear, her pants encouraging him to move his hands to the swell of her hips to help her pick up the pace and—

“What?” Kalix croaked out, leaving his daydream and looking at Evangeline as if she had just spoken elvish or kaliti to him. It took him a moment to register what exactly she had said, that she had thanked him in the first place. He cleared his throat, leaned back and then got up to his feet. Thank Kress for all the armor and padding he wore on missions. He reached a hand down to help her up. “Yeah, yeah… so maybe some answers on the next test would be nice,” Kalix said with a cheeky little grin, one that hardly matched his hungry, devouring gold eyes.

Like a tiger staring down at a lamb— no, that wasn’t right. Evangeline was no lamb. Maybe… a white stag— no, no, no, that also wasn’t right. She wasn’t prey, even if his intense look suggested she was. His grin quirked up into a smirk, once again thinking to himself. If Evangeline was like anything… she’d be a tiger as well. A white one to match her hair.

Equals. Perhaps foolhardy of him to assume such a thing, even if it was inward.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Those moments where gazes met and silence was shared, brief as they truly were, stretched for what felt like ages. Icy blues met warm golds, and in the intermission only heavy breathing of mentor and student served as accompaniment.

Kalix's wandering eyes wouldn't have been lost on a blind woman, much less a warrior as observant as Evangeline. She'd seen that look before, just...so rarely directed at her. Evangeline's life had been all duty, war, politics...she had little time for such frivolities, and even less attention. She could hardly imagine engaging in such activities with a pupil...perhaps it was for the best that she'd broken the silence, before she started imagining.

Evangeline let the young man help her to her feet, rolling her eyes at his comment before taking up the two halves of her sword cane and merging them into one once more. She opened her mouth to reply, but the words died on her lips as she turned back to look at him. That same damn look...desire. So bloody distracting. Gods damn that smile, as well.

The proctor glanced over her pupil, unbidden. Gods, he was a fool, that much was certain, but...strong. Capable. Eager to please. Well hewn. Before she'd even realized it, Eva chewed her bottom lip as she glanced at him. So inappropriate...she was ten years his senior, she was his teacher...but what if?...

Rather than strike the boy with her cane or scold him as she'd been so wont to do in the past, she simply smiled.
"Perhaps something less mundane." She offered, sharing a smug look of her own before stepping onward.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix, oblivious to the nuances of flirting, or rather oblivious to sophisticated flirtation, cocked his head to the side a bit. Her words were, to him, contrasting a great deal from the look she was giving him.

“You mean like… extra credit?” He asked, ready to say more and to clarify on what exactly Proctor D’Amour was asking of him before people began rushing over to them. The noble family they were to protect as well as all of their staff and those choosing to leave their homes for the nobles. The loudest voice of all of everyone was the head of the household.

“I can’t find Cyril!” The father was rushing up to Evangeline, ignoring Kalix completely and pleading to the second-level dreadlord. “My oldest son! I can’t find him!” He then turned as people began speaking, a din of voices that would drown out his cries. “Has anyone seen Cyril?!” He shouted once more, the desperation and animalistic huskiness making the others quiet down and murmur amongst themselves.

Kalix’s dark brows furrowed together. He couldn’t even picture what the eldest looked like, could only remember clearly the mother and her two children that he had been with. But the oldest son… if no one had seen him did that mean…?

The mother began to burst into sobs. No one spoke the word out loud but Kalix was sure they were all thinking the same thing, all thinking the same four-letter word.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

“You mean like… extra credit?”

As slow on the uptake as ever, it seemed. There would be no time to further explore the conversation now, it seemed, as duty was an ever present drain on Evangeline's attention. In an instant, the nobleman that they'd been assigned to protect was in her face, begging for aid. A missing boy. A task better suited to the rank and file than a Dreadlord. That's what the instinct of the old ways told her.

This was not then, however. The Dreadlords were protectors of the people now. Servants, not masters. Perhaps she and her student would get further chance to speak whilst searching.
"Listen up!" Evangeline called out with all the authority of an archon. "To all who are able bodied and uninjured! Spread out and search for Cyril! He can't have gotten far!"

This was true. Either he was alive and hiding nearby, or he was dead or unconscious and fallen out of sight. One way or another, with this many it wouldn't take long to find him.

Evangeline glanced at Kalix and gestured for him to follow.
"We can check the forest." She suggested, before planting her cane into the dirt and ash and pulling herself onward.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix’s eyes widened slightly as Evangeline took charge, seeing how immediately when she spoke she gathered everyone’s attention effortlessly. He couldn’t wait to have that sort of authority one day, to just be able to speak and have everyone listen. He wasn’t sure if it were her tone or the fact that she had raised her voice, but it was evident that it were her words that pulled everyone nearby to action— much faster than the noble man ever could, even if he had all the money in the world.

The servants wasted no time at the proctor’s orders, making little groups of two to three to search around together. Some focused around the debris of their current location, others went to the head or to the back, but it was clear everyone was putting in effort and searching.

Kalix tore his gold gaze from the scene to look over at Proctor D’Amor, and nodded. He was also unable to refuse her order, more than anyone else here. He followed after her, keeping pace as he fiddled with his nose, dust drying onto the red splotches and turning them a muddy crimson. Not that he cared much about appearances, more so, he was just hoping his nose would heal straight enough. When the dreadlord duo was far enough away from everyone else on the way to the forest, Kalix finally opened his mouth to speak.

“You think maybe they grabbed the kid to use as bait?” Kalix asked, speaking of the loyalist raiders. He had thought that maybe they had retreated after the mess Evangeline had made of their two dreadlords, or maybe even realized that Kalix’s magic was far greater than expected. He smirked, mostly to himself, thinking, if only for the hypothetical of it all, how he made quite a good team with Evangeline. Then again, of course, everyone wanted to be on his team.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Evangeline had used the time it took for her and Kalix to break away from the rest of the group to think that very question over. Much as she had indulged in that brief moment of fantasy, something else began to nag at the corners of her mind.
"No...no I don't think that's it. We had them on the ropes. You don't take bait, nor something that valuable with you if you're trying to make an escape." She cogitated aloud, eyes moving between the dirt in front of her to search for tracks, and the trees around them to spot anything else. "And you don't take your quarry so quietly if you're attempting a hostage situation. Something here isn't adding up."

There was no sign, heads or tails, of this 'Cyril' anywhere. There was no outcry, no blood trail or signs of dragging. She turned to look at her student, even as he fiddled with his broken nose. She sighed quietly. Such injuries were part and parcel of being a living weapon, of course, but there was no reason for the boy to suffer with it. She stopped, step back towards him, and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on the bridge of his nose.

"Hold on. This will hurt quite a lot for a few moments, then it will hurt less." She wrenched the boy's nose back into place with one swift jerk, then held it firmly in place. With a small amount of focus, she began to channel her magic from the tips of her fingers into Kalix's nose. In what should have taken weeks, the bones fused back together in mere seconds. He would still feel a dull throbbing for some time, but that would prevent him from needing any kind of surgery later.

"There," Evangeline assured him before smiling and giving him two swift pats on the cheek. The moment she turned away from him, the levity left her. She had a sinking suspicion they were being set up.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix had never done well when it came to figuring out his enemy’s plans. Or rather, whenever Proctor Novgorodoff had given those test to all the seven-years about battles and tactics and if Vel Anir were to be attacked, Kalix had completely flunked the entire class. Even with Lysander doing his best to try and aid him in private, Kalix knew he had only been passed along because he was good at two things at that time: listening to orders and not questioning to do what he was told.

With his magic, as long as someone smart told him what to do, why would he need to think?

So as Evangeline explained her reasoning— and did so in such a way that even Kalix could pick up on all the nuances— Kalix nodded his head. What he was unable to do was to offer suggestions of his own, however, he did focus on her words. So not bait and something was suspicious. Kalix looked around, unaware of the proctor stepping towards him.

Once again they were too close. Kalix felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up as their eyes met, feeling her firm hand on his nose. Her hand was unlike the women who he had allowed to touch him before. Deadly, strong, and yet still appealing. Smaller than his hand but as rough as his were. Hands that had no doubt been drenched in blood, just as his bloody nose thought to drench her fair skin in his crimson.

He hadn’t realized it but he had stopped breathing, unable but to do anything but stare into those limpid blue eyes and—

Kalix winced, breaking eye contact from the proctor. “Hurt quite a lot” was an understatement! He gritted his teeth together, both hands turning into fists as he made sure to make a single sound. Sometimes even grunting would cause the proctors to fly into a fury, to beat the initiates until they had passed out because weakness should never be heard.

Gold eyes blinked slowly, the pain fading. With unassuming eyes he looked at Proctor D’Amour and was brought out of his reverie with the two pats on his cheek. She turned and walked away but for another moment or two, Kalix was still. He raised a hand up, not to inspect his nose but to touch his cheek. His check suddenly felt hot out of nowhere, maybe residual magic? Soon enough, he followed after the silver proctor, slowly losing his daze.

“Thank you,” He began, opening his mouth to say more. That was before an explosion only a few feet away from them went off.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Evangeline opened her mouth to speak a simple "you're welcome," but was promptly interrupted by the sudden detonation. Dirt and fragmented wood sprayed out in their direction, pelting their skin and clothes like shrapnel. It was so unexpected that Evangeline didn't have any time to properly react, only to hunker down and shield her face. She counted herself lucky that whatever had just impacted had missed them...no, that might not have been correct. They might have missed whatever had just exploded.

So which was it? An attack, or a mine?
"Withdraw, take cover!" She snapped at Kalix. Regardless of which it was, this was the correct option until they had the chance to assess their surroundings. Evangeline darted back a few yards and ducked behind a tree, gesturing for Kalix to do the same.

Only once they were both in that relative shelter did Evangeline begin to scan the forest for the culprit. Something. Anything. A glimmer. Her gaze tightened before she instinctively kicked on her magic and darted away to a different tree.

BOOM!
CRRRCCKKK CRASH!

Where once she had stood was now a smoldering stump and a collapsed top of a tree. Anyone else would have been obliterated. She breathed heavily, eyes scouting for details. Another glimmer.

"Kalix, MOVE!" She hollered as she dashed at him, fast as lightning, tackling him out of the way of the next detonation. The duo crashed to the ground, leaves and detritus kicking up as bodies met ground, yet more splintered wood cascading through the air.

Whether or not the first explosion was a mine or an attack was irrelevant now. They'd stumbled into another ambush, and they'd simply been lucky to have not died the first time.

A voice from the woods called out to the student and teacher, seemingly sourceless as it echoed amidst the dying thunder.
"You're really making this much more difficult then it needed to be!"

 

[Kalix]

Of course it had to be some sort of bomb once again. Although, Kalix supposed it only made sense, during the time he had been busy there was no bombs going on. He had figured it was because the bombs were a mine along the road, waiting for their makeshift caravan. But there was no time to worry about that now.

He duck and took cover, his heavy armor clinking loudly but was drowned out regardless as a tree fell over and crashed. The ground shook, Kalix steadying himself, gold eyes quickly moving over to see where Proctor D’Amour was. Only a meter or two away from him, thankfully that falling tree hadn’t separated them.

The initiate readied his pernach, eyes scanning the entire area but picking up no form. His glancing was far too fast and he caught sight of no glimmer, so as Evangeline tackled him to the ground, there was surprise in his eyes. Subconsciously, proctors advice came through, without Kalix having to think back to it. He was bigger than Evangeline, his armor better suited for defense, and more importantly, he could use his magic for better defense.

He had seen it done before, the bigger initiates protecting the smaller ones. Zael with Everleigh or Sable with Meredith, Jaxan with Trix and Edric with Noel. While Kalix had always inwardly thought about how pathetic such a thing was, now he was following in their footsteps— for the sake of the mission. He rolled himself over Evangeline, now on top of her, his pernach still in his right hand as he looked over his shoulder. The debris that would have fallen on them floated up, not even the dirt would cause their eyes to water.

Then that voice, irritating the moment the large initiate heard it.

Where were they?! They sounded to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Kalix gritted his teeth, scoffing for a moment at the fact that it always seemed like he had to be dealing with the “tricky” types. Just meant they were physically weak. And if they were hiding… well, Kalix was ready to give them nowhere else to go.

Like lightning, he stood up and swung his pernach at the nearest tree. A tactic he had used once in the Falwood. The elves had hidden themselves, thinking the thick and lush forest could hide them forever. Acre upon acre, Kalix had uprooted every single tree in sight, smashed others in half with ease. He expected to do the same now as he cut through another tree easily, his pernach a two-ton force. Yet all the while he focused his gravity on where Evangeline was.

Anything that got near her would turn feather-light, like a dandelion wisp that someone had blown onto a gentle breeze.

If this person wanted to try and blow up shit, Kalix was prepared to show them that he was the more destructive force. Setting his sight on a cluster of trees, with a grunt from Kalix, he began to uproot them, changing the density of the tree and even the soil itself.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Before Evangeline could do or say anything to the contrary, she suddenly found herself beneath Kalix, the student using his body to shield his mentor. She might have blushed if their lives weren't in immediate danger. Instead, she was simply and silently thankful, if concerned over the sudden lack of maneuverability such a position offered.

Thankfully, Kalix was up again in an instant, ready to combat whoever was shouting them down. The Second Level followed suit, getting back to her feet with preternatural speed. Her cane sword and its sheath were drawn in an instant, and once again her icy eyes began to search for the source of the explosive assault.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of detritus floating weightlessly in the air around her instead. For just a moment, her eyes fell on the boy. Was he still protecting her? To her memory, there was exceedingly little in his records that matched that behavior. Would that she had more time to appreciate such a gesture of comradery.

Eva watched as Kalix began magically ripping the very forest from the earth, only for a loud hissing and a spark to appear from within the very trees he lifted. The hiss turned to a sharp crack and the shine to a blinding light as another series of violent explosions erupted.

The shrapnel from the eruption was slowed and made weightless by Kalix' field, and was promptly swatted away and destroyed by a cyclone of sword and sheath swipes created by Evangeline. She found herself quirk a smile at her student. Together they created quite the impenetrable wall.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. A cripple and a fool, you two were supposed to be weak! Why couldn't the two of you just lost, or died, or--anything?!" The voice called out again. The anxiety in its tone was abundant. These were the acts not of a mastermind, but of a cornered animal.

"...Cyril? Are you responsible for this?" Evangeline called back, eyes ever hunting. The furious bellow that followed confirmed her suspicions.

"SHUT UP!"

Eight more detonations rocked the earth and forest around them, the ire of their opponent well and truly flaring. The Pirian Dreadlord did all she could to defend them, still thankful for the utility of Kalix's magic. Still, it would only be a matter of time before one of these explosions managed to catch them dead on--and no amount of speed or gravity would save them from that.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix’s brows furrowed together. Damn, calling Proctor D’Amour a cripple and a fool? Made sense why they thought she was weak but Kalix? They must’ve been out of their mind for thinking something like that! With a grunt, Kalix continued, ignoring the pressure that was building up inside his skull. Migraines were normal with using his magic, but it wouldn’t be too long until—

Kalix’s nose twitched, a warmth dripping down to his upper lip. Without missing a beat his tongue swiped up, carrying with it a metallic tang. Ah, there it was. It had already begun. Kalix wouldn’t be able to tear everything apart unless he wanted to go unconscious— or worse, suffer heartaches and seizures. His gold eyes went over to where the silver-haired proctor got rid of the debris that had entered his zone. Yeah, didn’t want her carrying him.

He didn’t miss the direction where Evangeline was heading in, and it seemed she had found the mark. Cyril, they had found him— but instead of running into their arms he seemed intent on blowing them up. White knuckles popped hard as Kalix tightened his grip on his pernach. He didn’t want to risk blowing up his arm again, Marcella was a long way from here.

“C’mon, Cyril!” Kalix shouted back at the hidden boy. “Your family is looking for you! Your dad’s worried about you.”

“No he’s not! Just go away! Die!” Was the reply, close enough so Kalix could hear every word but far enough so he could only have a very vague idea of where Cyril was hiding. In tandem with his shout, three more explosions went off, one uncomfortably close to Kalix which caused him to nervously side step out of the way, his eyes wide. His explosions were getting more accurate. Was he closer? Or was this shouting doing them more harm than good?

“Can’t we just rush the brat, split up and search these woods?” Kalix whispered to Evangeline. “Staying right here is making me antsy. And… I’ve sorta tore up anything for us to hide behind.” He added, which was true, with three dozen or so trees up in the air.

Evangeline

 

[Evangeline]

Explosions notwithstanding, this could have been going a lot worse. Still, there were several puzzles that needed solving at this moment, not least of which involved pinning down exactly where Cyril actually was. She'd leave the confusing question of "why?" for later.

Evangeline glanced at Kalix as he posed his question to her.
"That depends entirely on how much you feel like losing another limb, I should think." She muttered back. "We don't know exactly how this magic works, or if he set up traps along the way. My speed won't save me if I step on a mine, and floating won't help you if Cyril can cause an air burst."

She was already churning through her own mind to find the quickest and safest solution to this problem, but neither was she going to give up an opportunity to help her student grow.
"It seems we must use our heads, Kalix. The boy in question must be captured alive, but is trying to kill us or ward us away from what he believes is a safe distance. What can you do to draw him out, or to buy me time to find him?"

There was momentary quiet that followed their hushed discussion. Given the slew of shouts and explosions that had followed their every move previously, it boded poorly. Perhaps the boy was moving locations himself, or trying to pin down theirs.

Eva's eyes scanned about, searching for signs of movement among the trees, both floating and terrestrial.
"Even in desperate situations, patience and a cool head are key. Think deep, Kalix."