Completed Nights like this

[Kol]

"Are they now?" Amusement seemed to flash over Lukas' face, as though he already knew something that she did not.

Briefly his eyes glanced over towards his palm, his chesire grin growing.

Then suddenly there was a massive burst of light from his palm. A searing haze of illumination burst from the brackish liquid upon his palm. The light exploded outwards like two suns held between his fingers, bright enough to blind Zana and anyone else looking their way.

As soon as it burst forward Kol ducked away from the sword at his throat, ducking low and bringing his own Rune Knife forward as he tried to grasp the woman and hold the blade to her neck.

 

[Zana]

The light caught her by surprise and she cursed herself, turning her face away and shutting her eyes. But like she had said to 'Lukas', Dreadlords shouldn't be bothered by whether they fought in the light or the dark. They would be prepared to keep on fighting cut down to the last of their limbs if they had to for their people and this man was proving a threat to those people. Her lips twitched when she felt the blade against her own neck and this time it was for her to use her own magic.

Her fingers moved almost lazily as the knife shot from his hands and into the nearest tree with a satisfying thunk. With it just being his arm around her throat she threw her weight forward, her other hand reaching round to push upwards in a gut punch to the kidney to help on his way over her shoulder so he would land hopefully in the dirt at her feet.

"Please tell me if there is some mistranslation here but I believe the term 'Watcher' indicates no contact with the people he is observing."

 

[Kol]

As her fist connected with his abdomen and he was about to be tossed into the ground Kol's entire form suddenly seemed to explode into thousands upon thousands of shards of solid shadow.

His entire being seemed to rend apart into an uncountable amount of pieces, ripping itself to shreds and tearing away from any grip that she might have attempted. A breath later The Sorcerer reappeared, the pieces of abyss coming together in his true face.

The visage of Lukas was utterly gone, replaced by the face of a blonde man that was scarred so badly one might have questioned how he still even lived. His clothes appeared ragged, furs and leathers stained with blood.

He stood a few feet before Zana, the odd brackish liquid dripping from his palms onto the floor. "I needed to know more."

Kol offered by way of explanation, the rune knife stuck into the nearby tree seeming to flake off into the same abyss before coming to form once again within his hand.

"After seeing you slaughter those 'Elves'." There was an inflection to the way he spoke now, an odd sort of guttural pang added to each word.

 

[Zana]

A wariness crept across Zana's eyes as the man literally disappeared beneath her hands and reappeared a distance away. She rose from her crouched position where she had been planning to throat punch him whilst on the ground and instead drew her sword to her shoulder, resting it casually as if this were not a serious conversation in the least. Of course it was. His magic was dangerous and it smelled foul. Dark works. She had mostly Apprentices here to help her - perhaps five other Dreadlords proper. Her mind was calmly calculating the possibilities of her own death and whether the others in her group would be able to handle themselves if that were the case.

"You know, most people just ask rather than murder someone, take their skin, and try to get away with it," Zana's voice was stony but there was a hint of amusement beneath it. She could appreciate the guts it took to do such a thing and the power it took.

"As you have my name, may I enquire who I am actually fighting?"

 

[Kol]

"Perhaps in the North we simply do things differently." Kol did not let a hint of weakness slip into his voice.

The blood dripping from his palms was of course his own, quickly set into place to allow him a means of escape from this woman. Behind her he could still see that Chesire grin growing wider and wider, the Dark Gods taunting him.

He had made a mistake here, taken a misstep that had displeased his patrons. Or was this something else? Where they leading him somewhere?

The grin seemed to grow.

"I am Kol, Twice Bloodied." He answered slowly, more watching the smile behind Zana than the woman herself. "

 

[Zana]

Zana wanted to look behind her but she didn't like it betray her. Instead she actually looked rather bored, as if she could be doing a million better things with her time than talking to this Northener.

"Charmed, I'm sure," her eyes drifted to his palms and the oozing blood. Blood magic didn't work the way she had seen him work, this was something different. Something more primal? That was the best way she could explain it in her mind but then perhaps she was just making assumptions on his attire and what little she knew of the Northern Plains.

"As I said, Kol, your battle is not with the Dreadlords," in that she was content. This man was not a threat to her home or her people. Therefore it was a waste of time to keep entertaining him. "Please leave before I have to wash my hair again when I get your blood in it," a dramatic sigh.

 

[Kol]

He smiled. "If my blood was in your hair, you'd be dead."

Cryptic words, but Kol did not let them linger.

"The Dark Gods have brought me here." He had told no lie when he'd called himself a Watcher. The Dark Gods had lead him south to the Portal Stone, and from there they had brought him here.

These lands were strange, foreign, but already he knew there was much he could take from them. "Grant me what I seek and I shall happily leave."

 

[Zana]

"I doubt it," Zana almost purred the words, her lip twitching up in the corner slightly. But a part of her would like him to try. Other Dreadlords would have probably killed him on the spot - Ania sprung to mind specifically - but she had seen what many of the others could do on the battlefield of Vel Istra. Zana preferred to think about what she could get out of it. A potential ally perhaps for House Luana? Someone with his magic might be useful in turning the tide.

She seemed to muse it over a while before sheathing her sword and folding her arms loosely over her stomach.

"What do you offer in return for knowledge?" Because knowledge came with a price always.

 

[Kol]

Kol's fingers slowly flittered across the knife in his hand.

She put her sword away, and the temptation to strike grew.

The teeth behind her were now an open grin, seemingly ready to speak. He watched them in silence for a moment, his gaze slowly panning towards her.

There was an odd detachment to the way The Sorcerer peered at Zana, as though she were only a figment of a fragmented mind. Eyes lingered for a brief second, and then he finally spoke up. "You seek power, yes?"

He had heard the whispers, watching her people throughout the last few days. They had often spoken of their strength, their need to climb higher and higher.

"A way to...climb the rungs?" He had heard that expression spoken by one of the men in her company.

 

[Zana]

"Perhaps."

The feeling something was behind her was growing and it was taking a lot of control not to draw her weapon and fling it behind her. Even still she kept her magic near to the surface ready to use should she need it. She didn't need to touch her sword for it to be of use to her after all. She needed to focus on the opportunity in front of her in this man... Kol. Names were important things to remember.

"An alliance may be of interest between my House and your people. Information on our enemies. Power for myself. There are many bargains to be struck I am sure. What information do you require?"

 

[Kol]

Ah, a House was her tribe.

An odd way to to refer to something like that, but these Southerners were very strange in their ways. He supposed that was why the Dark Gods had sent him here, to observe and learn. To see how they did things.

"I do not know." He answered truthfully.

It was always difficult to see what the Dark Gods actually wanted. Blood and Chaos were at their core, but how was that related to this place? These people knew how to kill, how to slaughter even, but so did the Nordwirr.

There had to be something more.

"Your magics." He asked. "They are all different?"

In the north the Shamans all drew their powers from the Dark Gods, and magic among the other people of the Tundra were incredibly rare. Here it seemed more common, and far more varying.

He wondered why that was. If he could use it somehow.

 

[Zana]

"Let's walk and talk," Zana slid her hands into the pockets of her leggings and pushed past him to keep them on their forward tract of walking around the walls. She didn't like to stay still for too long when a conversation like this was happening - she never understood why negotiations were done sat around a table. It was why she was the soldier not the leader, perhaps, and she was content with that.

If he decided to follow her she began to talk. She of course wouldn't tell him anything that wasn't public knowledge.

"Yes, we all specialise in a different power. We are trained from a young age to be battle mages and as we progress through the Academy we learn different magics, then once we get good at a particular one we get a Mentor and focus on honing that one gift into perfect. We can still use other spells but most of us tend to rely on our strengths, it makes the most logical sense."

 

[Kol]

The temptation to slit the woman's throat grew once more as she walked past him, but the smile that had remained behind her seemed to slowly shrink as the thought ran through his mind.

After just a second, the Sorcerer turned on his heel and followed after the woman. His knife remained in his hand, the odd carving within the curved blade seeming to catch what little light the moon had to offer. "And these 'Houses' control you?"

Something that made absolutely no sense to him.

Why would someone with power allow themselves to be controlled? In the Nordwirr Tribes, strength was what mattered above all. Most of the time that meant physical violence, the ability to overcome the brutal environment, but when someone was blessed by the Dark Gods like him...

More often than not they rose to the top.

In truth though, the Houses mattered little to him. The magic was more important, the variance to be found there, and the possibility it offered to the Dark Gods.

 

[Zana]

Now wasn't that the question?

"No," Zana said with practised ease. Sometimes it was easier to believe the lie than look beneath the surface and begin to question things. "When a Dreadlord graduates they pick which House they want to serve. It's usually dependent on a lot of things, like which House offers the most incentive," in theory. "You move if someone offers you something better, or if you are a loyal person perhaps you stay. It is a job after all, it would make little sense for us to stay where we are not appreciated or utilised properly."

Easier not to mention the politics of the Houses; he didn't seem particularly interested in that. Which was interesting in itself. If he was planning on attacking that was what he should be asking about, what she would have asked about.

"You are not a Bear, so what are you?"

 

[Kol]

"Why not simply create your own?" Kol countered quickly, somewhat confused by the concept of joining something for simple 'incentives. With his own people, one only joined a tribe if they were too weak to create their own.

Zana certainly did not seem weak.

The Sorcerer's face twisted slightly, still not entirely sure how she knew of the Nordenfiir. He suspected there was something else about her, something that he had not yet been able to see. The Chesire grin within the darkness once again grew, now hanging to the side of the Dreadlord.

"Something close." He told her truthfully. "We share many aspects, save for perhaps the greatest.A cousin, I believe it is called in your language."

His frown deepened, but he continued. "Instead of embracing our inner selves, the beasts lingering there, we reached out for something else."

Another smile suddenly split the night air, appearing directly behind Kol this time.

 

[Zana]

"History, heritage, laziness," Zana shrugged her shoulders. "I personally do not want the stress of running my own House. I prefer being amongst the soldiers. Once you get too high you have to stop thinking about your job but about other things too and it seems pointless to me. My talents lay on the field," blunt, honest. But still a half truth. Let him think there could be more and that they were merely different units. The power each one held and their unique ways of controlling the city and its people were too complex to explain in a short conversation anyway.

She was much more interested to hear about what he was. Cousins of the Bears, interesting. In truth she knew little about the people of the North - why would she need to know about them unless they became a threat? But they had cropped up occasionally in recent history when the New Queen had sought to retake a throne. It had interested her because it was a break from the politics of Vel Anir.

"Dark magic - does that mean you could turn into Bears still?" Zana said bluntly. It's what most in the south would label what he did. It seemed like blood magic but she hadn't seen blood magic work quite like this did, it spoke of something more. But, if they could still turn to Bears if they wanted maybe it was his victory she had seen on the field.

 

[Kol]

"Some." Kol answered bluntly. "Though it does not sit within us like it does for our....cousins."

It was said that thousands upon thousands of years ago Nordwirr and Nordenfiir had been one. That the people were the same, and the only difference between the two was that one lived upon the Lost Isles and the other in the central Tundra.

Over time, those on the Isles began to change, and a pact was made with the Dark Gods. In exchange for another sort of power the Nordwirr lost their Svalen, giving it up for something greater.

Shifters still existed among his people, but they were far different than the Nordenfiir.

"Your mages." Kol redirected the conversation.

"You are taken as children?" A concept that was not too unfamiliar for him. "To where?"

Both grins began to widen.

 

[Zana]

Interesting. Zana kept their pace along the walls and despite the conversation and the threat the man beside her posed she couldn't help the instinctive sweep of the walls her eyes made, the part of her attention that was on the area beyond listening for any sign of further attack. She had had no more visions and was confident there would be no more but then this had been a surprise so who was to say.

A soft sigh as he returned the direction to the Dreadlords.

"Yes. When a child shows the promise of magic they are taken from their parents, who are given compensation, and taken to the Academy. It is there they live and learn to control their gifts.

Why does the South interest you so?"

 

[Kol]

The Academy, interesting. The two cheshire grins roamed around him, looking down as they read his very thoughts.

He would have to find this place.

"My people have fallen into stagnation." There was no need to lie here. He doubted very much this woman would ever find the Lost Isles. "We need to...step forward."

There was no denying that anymore.

"I was lead here, to learn, to see." He stopped for a second, his scarred and broken flesh peering towards Zana. "To find something that will help us."

Now he knew why.

The magic of these people, of the children at this 'Academy'. It could help him. That was why the Dark Gods had brought him here. "Tell me, what is it you want?"

He asked, knowing his path forward.

 

[Zana]

Nobody had ever asked Zana what she wanted. It caught her momentarily off guard. She didn't have a particularly bad existence; do the job, get paid, serve the people. Why would she have ever really thought beyond that?

The silence dragged on for a while.

"I think... that perhaps we want the same thing," Zana mused after a while. Funny that when the question had been posed to her the first thing she had thought was not of herself, but about how things within Vel Anir could change for the better.

"For our people to move forward."

 

[Kol]

A smile touched his face. "Is that so?"

He considered for a short time just what this all meant. The Dark Gods had sent him here for a reason, had lead him to this place. The mages had to be the reason, he just had to find a way to get to them.

Kol glanced at Zana for a moment, then to the grin behind her.

She wanted the same thing as he, or at least so she claimed. Yet that did not necessarily mean their goals were in alignment. Still, he could find out.

"This…'Academy'." That was what she'd called it. "Can you take me there?

A third Grin suddenly appeared behind him, widening. He caught site of it, and knew that he was taking the right steps.

 

[Zana]

The question buried deep into her mind like an annoying earworm and kept repeating itself over and over in a quiet whisper. What did she want?

She did not want this man near her Dreadlords, that much she felt certain of though.

"No," blunt, any amusement was gone from her face. "The children are off limits." They went through enough: he could never understand that. The realisation she cared about them was another shock. On the field with her fellows she didn't, at least, she didn't think she did. It was always the Apprentices she looked out for. Once they were Dreadlords they could make it on their own but there was a sympathy in her for those still going through the process. They had been the worst years of her life.

"What exactly do you want," to protect them, Zana realised, she would rather give herself.

 

[Kol]

Pity.

It appeared that he had misjudged the woman. She was yet another weak lap dog hoping to simply do what was best for her masters. The three grins floating around them seemed to shrink slightly, though none of them yet disappeared.

There was still a possibility. "Magic."

He answered her plainly, deciding that it was time to be forthright.

"The Ritual would be simple with a child, though I suppose I could do the same with someone older." His fingers fluttered in place for a moment, a strange nervous tick as if he were reaching for something. "A piece for me, a piece for you."

He offered. "Fair is fair."

 

[Zana]

Zana's stance softened a little when he didn't press the matter on the children. Small victory.

"What does this Ritual even do, if we are speaking plain?" she tilted her head and folded her arms over her stomach loosely. "Is it to take someone's magic to use for yourself, or are you in need of a certain type of magic to aid in your own wars?" Because there could be ways other than blood magic to get such things. Even if she were to get something out of it it made her uncomfortable thinking of it. Though, of course, there were a few Dreadlords here today she wouldn't mind seeing the back of.

If it came down to it.

 

[Kol]

"It is not the magic itself that is important." Kol stated simply.

The ritual was not overly complex in it's results. It took the soul of the mage whom endured it. The soul of a mage was a powerful thing, stronger than those who could only be considered ordinary. With that soul one could do quite a bit.

"If you wish for more magic, that can be provided." Kol answered. "If you wish for more power..."

He trailed off and shrugged. "Life and Power are not easy to come by in the Lost Isles, so I must take it from elsewhere."

Kol offered by way of explanation of his desire.