Private Tales S.A.P.

[Kiara]

Kiara lowered her head, covering her face with both hands, hiding her tears, while leaning her forehead on Jaken’s chest. She was crying for many reasons, stress, fear, relief, happiness, but mostly for finally getting someone’s approval, although right now the elf thought that she didn’t deserve it.
She spent all her life just try to earn the right of those words. Being the perfect child, not giving worries to Hellius always doing what was told to and what was expected from her, then, a brilliant student, graduating with flawless grades, becoming a prodigious young sorceress, and finally a calm, pondered and responsible young elf adult, but nothing was good enough to win Hellius approval! And now, she had done nothing special or great, she only had done what everyone else would do in that situation, run to save their skin. She basically just ran to survive! It was nothing that deserved to be praised, or to be proud of, this was why she felt that she didn’t deserve to hear those words, but she would take them anyway. Maybe this was only a tiny step forward, but none the less it was a step, she was strong enough to at least came out alive from that mortal chase game between predator and prey.

After some minutes, Kiara was starting to get exhausted, the few energies that she had recovered had been wasted with all this emotional situation. At least, she was finally calming down. Now the elf, was clinging to his shirt, resting her head on his chest, hearing his heart beating, it was becoming steady. That only increased Kiara’s calmness, she felt safer now, protected. She felt that she could relax, that no harm would come to her.
Once both had calmed down, they let go of each other. Kiara wiped her face, erasing the tears from her features, taking a deep breath and letting all out in a long sigh, finally lifting her head again to face him.

"Are you tired?" he finally said "After running away from me... are you tired? Need some rest?" he looked at the sleeping nargacuga "Because I think that we won't go anywhere... again..."

As the elf hear him out, she peeked on Fafurion. Indeed, the creature was still sleeping peacefully, not even being aware of the drama that had occurred. He was just a huge fur ball, snuggled onto himself, his tail covering his nose, while his front paws were under his chin. He looked so relaxed. That bought a smile to Kiara’s face, although it was a tired one. Everything was fine now. Locking once again her eyes with the brown ones of the werewolf’s, she said.
“Yes, I’m exhausted. Not because of all the running, but mostly because of all the crying. It just drained the little energies that I had... So, yes... I should rest, I’m not only tired physically, but I also burned a lot of my magic, and the withdrawals will only end once I’m able to rest properly, in order to regain some magic power back and recharge my magic pool.” She made a brief pause, looking deeper into his eyes, before speaking again.
“I didn’t run away from you, I just ran from that Wolf, I know that he is part of you… but, he is also a separated identity with his owns thoughts and reasons… Sorry, I can’t explain any better… Just, don’t blame yourself for what happened, ok? Because I don't blame you and neither it was your fault. I know that you would never hurt me” Kiara said, getting on the tip of her feet, placing both her hands on his chest, stretching herself, to finally place a little kiss on Jaken’s cheek.
Afterwards the elf climbed back to her bed, saying good night to the bounty hunter, closing her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

During her sleep, the elf was back to that grey desolated forest, the dread silence and the thick fog, once again, taking over the environment, giving it a ghostly aura. Somehow the spellsinger knew that she was dreaming, and this was not the first time she had come to this place. Then the child’s cry echoed once again. She knew what she had to do, help whoever was in distress, and this time she wouldn’t fail. Once again Kiara walked at the cry source as stealthily as she could. And if she was not mistaken then… Kiara stopped, looking at her feet, and there it was! The same little twig that had given her away on her previous attempt! The elf looked in front, the cry still could be heard. Avoiding the twig, Kiara kept moving. Now the cry was right in front of her, just a few meters away, but the thick fog clouded her sight. Even though, the elf could see a silhouette that seemed to be crouched on the ashy ground. She looked around one last time, remembering that black claw that had tried to reach her on the previous attempt. The path seemed to be clear, whatever was the creature that the claw belonged was not there.
As Kiara scouted the area, the cry stopped. At the very second that she was turning her head to the front, facing once again the silhouette, the shadowy figure moved at an inhuman speed, disappearing from her sight. Kiara only had time to feel her heart beating fast, her blood running dead cold, and once again, the same huge, slim, black hand/claw appeared between the fog, right in front of her face!
In a flash Kiara forced herself to awake. The next second Kiara opened her eyes, jumping to a seat position in her bed, her heart was still beating fast. She knew that she had just had another nightmare, but she couldn’t remember what it was all about, but one thing was for sure. It was a vivid one, almost too real. Despair took over her, while her body trembled in fear. Maybe her mind as way more disturbed by the events of the previous day that she wanted to admit. For the rest of the night, the elf couldn’t fall asleep again, only staying lay down on her bed, she didn’t want to wake Jaken up, he too needed to rest. Kiara just waited for the sun to rise and shine, bringing with it and a new day.

 

[Adriwolf]

“Yes, I’m exhausted. Not because of all the running, but mostly because of all the crying. It just drained the little energies that I had... So, yes... I should rest, I’m not only tired physically, but I also burned a lot of my magic, and the withdrawals will only end once I’m able to rest properly, in order to regain some magic power back and recharge my magic pool.” She made a brief pause, looking deeper into his eyes, before speaking again.
“I didn’t run away from you, I just ran from that Wolf, I know that he is part of you… but, he is also a separated identity with his owns thoughts and reasons… Sorry, I can’t explain any better… Just, don’t blame yourself for what happened, ok? Because I don't blame you and neither it was your fault. I know that you would never hurt me” Kiara said, getting on the tip of her feet, placing both her hands on his chest, stretching herself, to finally place a little kiss on Jaken’s cheek.

Jaken did not say anything, not even a breath on her face, the only thing he could do was embrace her one more time, sniffing deeply her hair. "It's alright." he finally, returning a kiss to the elf's forehead "I have no idea how this magic energy work, but I beleive you. Go get some rest. We might need it." he observed as Kiara climbed back to her bed and drifted off to sleep again. The bounty hunter thought on caressing her hair to comfort her, make her feel that he was there... but... not yet... he was not ready... not after what he had done. And even though Kiara forgave him just a few minutes, he still felt guilty. And it destroyed him on the inside. It would be difficult for him to go back being comfortable using his werewolf form.

"Fuck." he whispered once Kiara had drifted off to sleep. He was not sure what to do now. He was not tired, and he could not leave without Kiara, Fafurion was still in the deep sleep the witch had put him under. He could not embrace her in her sleep like all those time where Jaken protected the elf in her sleep, wrapped around his arms, her head on his chest, the relaxing heartbeat. He could not embrace her. There was nothing stopping him, only himself. He was not ready. Not yet. He looked at the door, at the one where his clothes were when he woke up. He though on what was out there. Was there going to be a snowy forest or another room? He had to look around the area to know where they were and find their way out once Kiara had gotten some rest. He opened the door to reveal a hallway. He peeked out of it, on his right, there was what appeared to be the living room while on the other side, there were two other doors. It was a small place. The hallway was about 20 meters.
"Do not worry dear wolf." a familiar voice sounded from his right, the werewolf looked at his right to find the Yyggdmon "You are safe. You are in my cottage where the elf found me." Jaken growled at her sight "I know that you are now at displease with me."
"No shit. After what you made her do. You better be glad that all she got was physical and magic exhaustion instead of a slight scratch, or else, I wouldn't be staying here talking to you."
"I know the elf is not pleased with my actions as well. For that, I offer you my deepest apologies and my hospitality."
"Answer to HER, not to me. You already told me your reasons, and I'm still mad at you, but now, you must tell HER your reasons, once she wakes up, you tell us everything and we will get out of here."
Yyggdmon nodded at Jaken's future actions.
"Are you hungry dear wolf?"
Jaken did not answere to her question. He WAS hungry, he could go out and hunt his own food, but that would mean leaving Kiara alone, he could not do that. He promised he would be there to protect her. In fact, he would switch looks constantly between the witch and the elf. He could always accept the witch's food, but he was so mad at her and who was to say that her foods were clean. What if it had some magical potion bullshit on it? Something that would make him go insane and KILL Kiara. "I'll pass." he said "Listen up, when she wakes up you better be completely honest."
No one said nothing for a while. Jaken returned to the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He looked at Fafurion. Maybe he had some leftover food on his gear. He inspected it, finding some dried meat. It was almost nothing, but that would make his hunger calm down.

A mirror was in front of him. Jaken looked at it. He faced his own reflection. What he was. For a moment, he hated it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He went back to his bed, try to get some rest, rest his sight, his mind and heart. He fell asleep in a matter of hours.

The werewolf woke up slowly. Seeing the sun rising, Seeing the cottage where they were. Jaken looked at his other side, and there she was: Kiara. She seemed calmed, like if she had gotten enough rest. He sat up on his bed, opening his mouth to say something, but he could not bring himself to do it. He stayed quiet.

 

[Kiara]

Kiara was awake for some time, and the sun was not rising yet. From where she was, she could see Fafurion sleeping form lying on the wooden floor. The elf remained on her bed, still unable to sleep. Although, her body had rested enough, her magic pool was not fully recharged. So, while the spellsinger waited for the new day to come, she occupied her time in focusing on regenerating her power, thus increasing the speed at with her magic regenerated.

A few hours later, Kiara noticed that Fafurion was awakening. The creature lifted his head, looking at his surroundings. The elf only placed her index finger on her lips, giving the sign to the nargacuga to stay quiet, Jaken was still sleeping. The black creature exhaled deeply, resting once again, his head on his front paws, gazing with his piercing yellow eyes the elf.

As the first sunshine broke on the horizon. Both, elf and nargacuga, heard some light movements, Jaken had finally awake. Fafurion stretched his whole body, from his front paws until his back ones. Figuring that soon it would be time to continue their travel, the nargacuga sat, facing both Kiara and Jaken, peering at them, while waiting for new orders. In contrast, the elf raised slowly, getting into a sitting position, using both her hands to support her body. As Kiara lifted her head, her long hair fell from one side, the long platinum strings hidden partially her features. Gracefully the elf picked them up, turning her head to directly face Jaken, while tugging her hair behind her long ear, taking this opportunity to fix it, locking it with her beautiful wing hairpin, always keeping eye contact with the bounty hunter. This action only took her a few seconds, but it was enough time for her to realize how awfully quiet the bounty hunter was. Kiara could only try to guess what was going inside of his mind. He seemed somehow empty, distant, maybe was still blaming himself for what had happened, or maybe he just needed some time alone to put his head in the right place.
Definitely the elf would not forgive the witch, whatever were her reasons, nothing justified what she had done and neither how she had done it. But now that was not important, nothing good would come from staying mad, and neither it was worth it. There were other things and people way more important to Kiara to worry about. For now, the elf's biggest fear was if the prior events would somehow damage the relationship that she has with Jaken. If that happened, then somehow, Yyggdmon had managed to success with her plan.

"Good morning" Kiara said in a calm voice, standing up, "Did you sleep well?" she asked, moving closer to him, greeting with a smile, while peering at his face still trying to guess what was going on in his mind. “We are at the witch’s cottage, right? Or am I wrong? And how long we will stay here?” the elf finally spoke what she had been avoiding since yesterday, turning her back at the werewolf. She stroke one of Fafurion’s fluffy ears, trying to remain calm, while glancing one more time at the wooden room. Deep down she knew her answer, but she also had this tiny hope that MAYBE she could be wrong, but if it turned out that she was right about that place, then she didn’t want to stay there more than it was strictly necessary.

[At Elbion]

This was now the third night, that the will-o’-wisp had returned, bringing with it, failure! Now things were getting serious. How could he not be able to find Kiara!?! She was not in the city and neither on the nearest villages! If he had listened to his instincts and just ran, maybe he could have prevented this situation. For sure the werewolf had taken her far away, maybe to another city. The male elf, once again, extinguished the yellowish flame with his hand. Frustration took over his features, the sun was rising. Now, it was time to return, before someone noticed his absence. He pulled his large hood to hide even more his face. As the elf returned, using the narrow dark alleys, he stopped, his green eyes narrowed while he gazed at a certain shop.
<“Maybe the lizarman knows something, but for sure he will not tell me where the werewolf hide her…”> the male elf thought as he glanced coldly at the lizardman. For now he had to return, there was no time, but the night would bring him a new opportunity while providing cover. Everyone knew that at night the dark alleys of Elbion could get dangerous…

 

[Adriwolf]

"Good morning" Kiara said in a calm voice, standing up, "Did you sleep well?" she asked, moving closer to him, greeting with a smile, while peering at his face still trying to guess what was going on in his mind. “We are at the witch’s cottage, right? Or am I wrong? And how long we will stay here?”

"I'm fine." he greeted "Guess I have energies to waste now." Jaken noticed Kiara's body language. Giving him her back when she told him her theory about where they were. He knew something was up. Kiara would always see him, especially when it's questions like these. Those times were Kiara asked questions and did not established visual contact with the bounty hunter were because Jaken was looking away in the first place. That made him deduce that she was uncomfortable, and to hide it, she went straight to pet Fafurion, who purred with comfort as the elf passed her soft hands in the nargacuga's soft hair. "Yes, we are at the witch's cottage, she brought us here to get some rest and be safe while we regain strentgh." he said, still sitting on the bed "But we are getting out of here. Now. I don't trust her. Not after what she did to us. Don't pack anything, all of our gear is right over there." he glanced at the door "We are leaving." Jaken got off the bed.

The team walked out of the bedroom to enounter the witch in the kitchen, across the living room.
"i see that you are feeling better."
Jaken said nothing, glaring at the woman, keeping an eye on Kiara and Fafurion "We are leaving. Thanks for your hospitality." he said in a serious tone.
"I am sorry for what I did, little elf." she said to Kiara "I misjudged you. I thought you were weak, but now I see my mistake. I offer you my apologies, and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me... the both of you."
Jaken remained silent. He already gave the witch a piece of his mind. He had nothing to say anymore. However, he remained where he was, in case Kiara wanted to say something. After everything that has happened, she deserved to express herself. He decided to give Kiara the choice to talk or to walk away from the cottage...

(Elbion)
"Perfect." she said at her creation "This will be all I need." the strong wind hitting her face and her hoody, almost making keeping her eyes open a discomfort. No one was there to see what she had done, but this was enough. The five corpses that she had acquired were laying on the ground with a tentacle piercing their chests, sucking blood, organs and soul out of the bodies. With enough time, the corpses would literally become ashes with enough time. But for now, her creation was starting to be born. Soon enough, she will be back home, even if it meant killing everything and everyone in this world that was not hers.

The witch felt it begin.

 

[Kiara]

After listening to Jaken’s confirmation, Kiara stopped caressing Fafurion. The nargacuga noticed that the elf was uncomfortable, he snuggled his head on her hand, as if compelling the elf to keep petting him, as in an attempt to make her relax.

As the trio walked out of the bedroom, they found the witch in the kitchen. She wasted no time to address them. Kiara’s heart skipped a beat. What was in store for her now? Would the witch try something again? Instead, the elf heard what she never expected.

"I am sorry for what I did, little elf." she said to Kiara "I misjudged you. I thought you were weak, but now I see my mistake. I offer you my apologies, and I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me... the both of you."

Kiara listened the witch until the end, giving her the chance to explain herself. The witch’s words seemed to be sincere. That magic word (sorry) was enough to change Kiara’s heart. It was never too hard for the elf to forgive others. She was too pure to carry with her feelings such as rancour or hard feelings. But that didn’t mean she would let the witch got out of the hook that easily. Although the elf had already forgiven the witch, Kiara wouldn't let Yyggdmon know about it, at least, not directly. And she would still share a little piece of her mind. The elf spoke in a polite and calm tone that reflected her own feelings, but her facial expression was serious.
“No… no. You don’t need my forgiveness, and you are not sorry, you are just trying to be polite. You don’t send others to their death, just to say that you are sorry or you were mistaken in the end. It does not work like that! You could have stopped at any time, but you didn’t. If I had died out there, you wouldn’t even think twice about it, because, deep down, you couldn't care less about me. So please, save your apologies to the one, that you truly sorry and mean it. Next time you try to kill me, you better show yourself and face me, instead of sending the werewolf to do your dirty work. You should be apologizing to Jaken, I know that somehow you care for him. So ask him his forgiveness, for what you have forced him to do. I don’t know what your reasons or motives were, but nothing justifies what you did, you tried to kill me! You threw me to the Wolf, when I did nothing wrong to you.”
The elf sighed, her features softening before she continues “Anyway, thank you for providing us a safe place to rest. But, I’m leaving now. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t trust you enough to stay any longer on your presence. I mean… even though your kindness, in the end of the day, you tried to murder me. So, I will excuse myself.”

Then Kiara turned to Jaken, placing her hand on his arm, trying to gain his attention, looking into his eyes. “I will leave both of you alone now. I think that you two need and should talk, since you share a history with her. I know that what she had done was wrong, but her wrong doing was mostly towards me, not you. Also, she helped you when you were alone and needed the most. I truly think that she really cares about you… even if her way it’s a bit twisted… I will be waiting outside with Fafurion.”
Indeed, as Hellius said, Kiara’s kindness would be the death of her one day. The elf not only found in her heart the strength to forgive her own murderer, but she was also worried about the relation that Jaken kept with Yyggdmon. Who knows, maybe in the future, he would need to return to the witch in seek of help.

As Kiara made her way out, she called for Fafurion. The creature swiftly moved through the bounty hunter and the witch, following the elf to the outside, but not before glancing at the werewolf, as if to say that he would watch over the elf. Once on the snowy field, the spellsinger sighed, while lifting her head, gazing at the infinity morning sky. She then remembered a certain promise that she had made to the bounty hunter ‘I have no intention of dying this young… I would never die in front of you…’ Until now, somehow, she had been able to keep those words, but for how much longer? Maybe she should have not said that, it was a hard and difficult promise to keep. But it was too late to take it back now. She wondered how many times she had managed to escape death in just a matter of days.
Her thoughts were broken once Jaken appeared on the front porch. Kiara could not help it, turning her head to face him, displaying such a bright and happy smile. She was still alive, and the person she loved the most was right there, in front of her. This was what really mattered for now.

 

[Adriwolf]

At the kitchen, Jaken did not say anything, crossing arms and leaning back on the wall, waiting for Kiara to do the final call: speak or walk away. Then Kiara made her choice: she spoke.

“No… no. You don’t need my forgiveness, and you are not sorry, you are just trying to be polite. You don’t send others to their death, just to say that you are sorry or you were mistaken in the end. It does not work like that! You could have stopped at any time, but you didn’t. If I had died out there, you wouldn’t even think twice about it, because, deep down, you couldn't care less about me. So please, save your apologies to the one, that you truly sorry and mean it. Next time you try to kill me, you better show yourself and face me, instead of sending the werewolf to do your dirty work. You should be apologizing to Jaken, I know that somehow you care for him. So ask him his forgiveness, for what you have forced him to do. I don’t know what your reasons or motives were, but nothing justifies what you did, you tried to kill me! You threw me to the Wolf, when I did nothing wrong to you.”
The elf sighed, her features softening before she continues “Anyway, thank you for providing us a safe place to rest. But, I’m leaving now. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t trust you enough to stay any longer on your presence. I mean… even though your kindness, in the end of the day, you tried to murder me. So, I will excuse myself.”

As Kiara spoke her mind, Jaken could not help but to smile at the elf. She was not entirely unleashed, or maybe she was, only that her intensity was not like Jaken's. Either way, she was speaking her mind, and he loved every second of it. He would not restrain Kiara, it waas not his fight for now, this was HERS. Besides, if she survived a bloodthirsty werewolf, she could EASILY rant to a witch. This was the part of Kiara that Jaken was witnessing, and it was one of the most interesting parts he had seen so far.
"I understand." the witch responded to the elf "I cannot make you change your mind or make you accept my apology. However, I promised Jaken when you were asleep that I will explain everything that happened to the both of you for the last days once you woke up. I am a woman of my word, and I shall keep that promise." the witch took a seat "Some days ago, you were attacked, were you not, Jaken? That is how you two met. A woman in a hoody tried to kill you, and you have been enountering this individual for some time. You have fought, she has poisoned you when the little elf was cursed, so many enounters. Little elf, when you were fighting the werewolf, I was able to speak with Jaken, in his subconscious. I told him about an individual, that came from another reality. They landed on a farm nearby your shelter in the city. Theylove flowers, they marked their landing spot with a primitive looking flower. This person felt alone and decided to create a group that they called Shadow Alternative Pack. You may know this group as S.A.P. A group of people with unique abilities, such as dust magic, morphing into more than one creature, copying someone else's looks, curses of powerful intensity. Anything that you can imagine is probably in the S.A.P. The group slowly died, leaving less than 4. The individual made this group to feel at home, but it wasn't the same. You are both familiar with the term 'Altersphere': a ritual that intended to break through parallel realities, as I already told you Jaken. This individual succeeded in their reality, while here, they were not. They got here and want to go back. But the ritual is a complicated one. Breaking through a parallel reality requieres energy. Vital energy. Energy that can be found in bodies. To be specific, in 5 bodies. Their vital energy are essential for the ritual to work. The ritual needs the corpse to absorb the soul, blood and organs of the corpses. There will be nothing left but ashes. Once the ritual is complete, they can return back to their reality. But I know that is not the whole situation. The ritual from one reality to another can be catastrophic. Hell will walk the lands that we know as a result of this ritual, you see, dear wolf and little elf. When the individual crossed to our reality, their reality become hollow, desolated, dead. In order to restore what it is left of their reality, another reality must be sacrificed: ours. Our reality will be a copy of their reality in its actual state. Creatures of the darkness, diseases, necromorphs and demons will walk our reality while theirs will be like ours right now..."
"And it is beggining."

Jaken could not believe what was happening. He knew that the lady was this individual the witch was talking about. She intended to destroy their reality to get hers back. Fuck that! If she landed on this reality by accident, then what a shame, but it was not their fault. They needed to find the lady and stop her... the lady...
"<<The probable reason of why she wanted to kil me was to add me to the body count.>>" he thought. Putting all the pieces together was so easy now. Everything was falling into place.
"Where can we find her?"
"In a deep place. Somewhere that is intense for the both of you. You can find her in the woods near your old house, dear wolf. Where you had once a happy life with your family." she looked at Kiara "You can find her in the woods where your mentor found you wandering on your own, little elf. That is where you can find her."
Jaken's heart stopped. Returning home. A place he hasn't gone to since he got bit. That would be going to his origins, something that made him feel uneasy. The trauma never left, it was still there. It would be difficult, but it is better than living in hell. What would the effects on Kiara be? Would she suffer the same intense feelings as he would? Going back to a place that meant something bad, something that would make you uneasy. How would she react?

“I will leave both of you alone now. I think that you two need and should talk, since you share a history with her. I know that what she had done was wrong, but her wrong doing was mostly towards me, not you. Also, she helped you when you were alone and needed the most. I truly think that she really cares about you… even if her way it’s a bit twisted… I will be waiting outside with Fafurion.”

Jaken thought on saying that they were leaving right now, but... there was something else he needed to ask. Something private. "Go. I'll be out in a second." the elf walked away from the cottage, leaving Jaken and Yyggdom all alone. The bounty hunter turned to the witch.
"Is our love dangerous?" he asked.


Once outside, Jaken encountered Kiara. "We need to go." he said, mounting Fafurion and giving the elf his hand to climb on "We need to end this one and for all."

 

[Kiara]

Kiara only nodded at the witch's comment, seeing her taking a seat. Well, this was the reason why they had come, to understand what was happening and find some clues. Kiara fell silent, letting the witch speak, listening to what she had to say. As the witch kept explaining the last few days events, the elf could not believe what her own ears were hearing.
How could the witch know all that information? And Jaken had been poisoned!? How could Kiara not even be aware of that! The elf turned to face the werewolf, in disbelief. Why he never told her that!?! Then, as the witch mention about Kiara being cursed, the elf's eyes only widened, her head automatically turned to face the witch once again. How Yyggdmon knew that!? Was she spying on them? Or maybe Jaken had told her while Kiara was sleeping? The spellsinger was confused and full of questions, but she kept quiet.
As the witch proceeded with the explanation, all the pieces were falling into the right place, revealing the big picture. The Althersphere being stolen, the dead bodies showing up and all those attacks! The Shadow Alternative Pack was trying to return home! But the worst part was yet to come.

The ritual from one reality to another can be catastrophic. Hell will walk the lands that we know as a result of this ritual, you see, dear wolf and little elf. When the individual crossed to our reality, their reality become hollow, desolated, dead. In order to restore what it is left of their reality, another reality must be sacrificed: ours. Our reality will be a copy of their reality in its actual state. Creatures of the darkness, diseases, necromorphs and demons will walk our reality while theirs will be like ours right now..."
"And it is beggining."

S.A.P intended to sacrifice this reality, in order to restore and return to their own, not even caring about all the destruction that their actions would cause nor the millions of innocent lives that would suffer and would have to deal with the consequences! And for what, to emend a mistake that they had brought to themselves! Now it was a race against the clock, in order to stop them and failure was not an option!

"Where can we find her?"
"In a deep place. Somewhere that is intense for the both of you. You can find her in the woods near your old house, dear wolf. Where you had once a happy life with your family." she looked at Kiara "You can find her in the woods where your mentor found you wandering on your own, little elf. That is where you can find her."

If the elf was confused, now she was just lost… And again, how the witch knew so much about her, even her past, being found by Hellius, wandering alone in the forest!? Kiara thought of asking but that was not important right now, there were other matters that required her attention. The elf analysed and processed all the new information, then something came to her mind, making her head tilt a bit.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, but how can we find her in two different places? I don’t get it… And why the place where Jaken’s life changed and mine started? There is some kind of connection or link with all of this??”
The idea of returning to the place where she had been found did not bother Kiara at all. What would be the difference anyway? She had been in the woods before, of course Hellius never took her to the exact spot where he had found her. She has been there (forest) for some walks with her mentor and also to play with Fafurion. So, what could be different? A tree bigger than the other? Or a bush on her left instead of her right? A forest would always be a forest no matter which part of it you were. Just trees and bushes.
Furthermore, the elf could have already come across with the very spot that she had been found without even realize it. How? Simple, because Kiara had a terrible sense of direction and location in such places, woods were all the same to her, green everywhere, zero landmarks. So, everything looked the same for her. Besides, even if she tried to recall the exact location it would be impossible for her, not only due to by that time she was still a child, but also, back then, Kiara didn’t even understood her own situation, only acknowledging that she had been abandoned after Hellius and the headmaster explained to her what was happening.
<”Hmm… I might need Hellius’ help, in order to find that place. He can guide me until there. This is not bad at all! I will be able to see him again!”> The elf thought, making already her plan on how to find the place. But what would happen once she got there? Although, she was accepting pretty well this whole situation, how would she react when she reached that place? Returning to her origins… but what origins? There was nothing beyond that forest, no previous memories, meaning no life… just, void.

Once Jaken came outside, he wasted no time, mounting Fafurion and helped Kiara to climb on. The elf only nodded at his words. And once again, they were on the move. “Are we returning to Elbion?” she asked.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken noticed Kiara's look when the witch said about him getting poisoned by the lady. His mind clicked: he had never told her about it. He almost died because of it while she was sleeping, regaining strentgh after the curse removal. Both werewolf and elf conected looks when the witch said it. "I'll explain later." he whispered to the elf, still leaning on the wall, arms crossed.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but how can we find her in two different places? I don’t get it… And why the place where Jaken’s life changed and mine started? There is some kind of connection or link with all of this??”

"The woods where you were found by Hellius probably must be near my house." the bounty hunter tried to explain "Somewhere deep in those woods, maybe a cave, or something that is not visible at first glance, which might make the search a lot more complicated than I thought." he started to think. Kiara had a point: why that place, something that had relevance to their origins. Was it fate or was it a bizarre coincidence?

“Are we returning to Elbion?”

"Yes." he responded "We are going to end this once and for all." he helped the elf up and made Fafurion fly with a shriek.

Riding through the clouds, Jaken turned to Kiara "I told you I would explain what happened when I got poisoned." he started "Back at that abandoned building where I met Hellius. You two were sleeping and I had to make guard. Hellius woke up first and I heard something in the back. I checked what was wrong, and then I found her: the lady. She shot me with a wolfsbane bolt. That is when I got poisoned. I ordered Hellius to carry you and get out of the building, seeing that it might have been dangerous to stay there. I knew I had to go to Markl's place. it was the nearest place I had and he was the only one who had what I needed to cure me. I almost died due to the poison. Hellius kinda helped me on moving on, with a healing spell, I suppose. At Merkl's, I managed to cure myself with silver spear. I ended up literally puking the wolfsbane... that is how I almost died due to wolfsbane posion. <<Should I take the chance to tell her what Hellius did afterwards? Paralyizing me and taking her away for a while?>>" he thought "<<No! You stupid animal, that could make Kiara see Hellius differently, and she respects, I can't tell her that! Shut up and keep your eyes on the air!>>" he concluded, shaking his head back to the sky.

(Elbion)
"RISE!!" skeletons started to move slowly, clicking and twitching as they got up. They had been covered in dust for the lasts years. It was time to warm up and get ready to serve their new master "Take what you want. I don't care what happens." the corpses had turned to nothing but shrinked and dried shells of what they were. Their souls were now trapped in the ritual that was infront of her. Their souls would be what she needed to go back. Fuck this reality. Creatures were starting to come out of the portal: demons, vampires, giant insects. but that was not the end. Not too far away, in the cementery, while no one was watching, a hand sticked out of its grave followed by another, and another, and another. All the graves were being torn apart by undead creatures, rising to replace a place in a parallel universe.

Jaken and Kiara where on their way to meet hell on earth....

 

[Kiara]

"The woods where you were found by Hellius probably must be near my house."

The elf only nodded her head in a sign of understanding. For some reason she thought that Jaken used to live in some distant land, but seemed like she was mistaken about it.

As they were travelling back to Elbion, flying through the sky, the bounty hunter explained the day he got poisoned and how it happened. As the elf heard him out, she lowered her head. She felt responsible for what had happened to him. He almost died on that day, and she didn’t know! The reason for that? Because he had to set guard while Hellius worked on the curse removal. If she hadn’t been cursed… if she had taken better care of herself... all that situation would have been avoided.
“I’m… sorry…” she said in a faint whisper. Then a thought crossed her mind. Maybe Hellius was right, the elf did not know how to take care of herself, and worst, she only brought worries and danger to the ones that cared for her. Maybe she was a burden to others. Her guardian kept warning her to stay by his side! Jaken warned her to stay away! And what had she done? Kiara ignored both of them, and as a result, she had not only risked her life, but also, she endangered Jaken’s, not once but twice!!! First, when he fell from the clock tower at Elbion’s college, and now when she got cursed. He kept putting his own life in danger just to save her. Because he was worried and cared about her. Because SHE didn’t know how to take care of HERSELF! Also, Hellius, for how long would she keep worrying him and depend on him? So far, he had sacrificed his life just to watch over her.
The elf fell silent, the guilt clouded her mind. How could she be so selfish? Bounty hunter and spellsinger, still had a long way until Elbion city. But now was not a good time for the elf to start to doubt of herself. Not when both of them were on their way to end this new imminent threat.

(Elbion)

There was this unsettling calm in the streets. Like the calm before the storm. But life was normal in the city streets, everyone minding their own business. Then the city alarm bells rang. Everyone just stopped whatever they were doing, turning their heads to the sky. The skies were changing in color, clouds covered the sun. It was like night had never ended. For a few seconds everyone had been just confused. What was happening? Then it happened! A new era began! Giant insects and vampires filled the sky, launching themselves on people, devouring them. Screams and cries filled the air, people were running in despair, some seeking shelter in their homes, trying to hide from all that evil creatures, but many had perished already.
The city was in a total chaos, turning into a battlefield. But the skies were not the only threat. Some city guards were trying their best to secure the perimeter, holding their positions and maintaining the city's gates closed, but the south gate had fallen. Zombies, demons and other kinds of undead were invading the city. The church sent clerics, bishops and paladins, to aid the city. They were trying their best, healing and helping the wounded, but the injured kept coming! Red was the new color, not only from all the blood that was being spilled, but also from the flames. The city was on fire! Hell had been unleashed on earth. There were fights everywhere, some trying to save their own skin. Others with more noble souls tried to save the defenseless. Elbion’s magic college also took a part in this war. Allowing people to take refuge inside the college. The magic barrier was still up, holding back the vile creatures, preventing them to enter the college’s grounds. And as a counter attack all the teachers and willing experienced students, were sent to the streets to fight.
It was a desperate dark time, but when everything seemed lost, that new lights shined. Something amazing happened! Random people with no name or fame or any special fighting ability nor magic, joined to fight. To defend their loved ones, the city that they called home, the hope for a brighter future! They were the unknown heroes that tales would never remember.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken heard the elf apologizing once he finished his story about the day he almost died due to wolfsbane posiining. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the elf's head bowed down. All these days the werewolf had been pairing with the elf told him that she felt ashamed of herself. Maybe she felt guilty of what happened to him. He patted the elf's shoulder "It's ok." he said to her "It's alright. We are alive, aren't we? That's all that matters." he hugged the elf by shoulder "It was a surprise attack. It happened out of nowhere." he kissed her forehead, then turned back to watch the white skies. But he also started to think on Kiara's emotional state. He was no phsycologist, but he could tell that Kiara would easily be in one side of the emotional plank and at the next second, she would find herself on the other side with one word or an action. Or maybe she was just too tense with the actual situation, Elbion was hanging from a thread. A place that Kiara had been attached ever since she had memory. Elbion saw her grow and develop and all of that could be eliminated in a matter of hours, or even minutes. They had to arrive there as fast as possible.

(Elbion)
People fought and fled. Giant insects were attacking people, killing them and using them as hives for their larvas, vampires were sucking people dry, demons were claiming the souls of the people who were destined to be tortured for eternity, zombies were eating everyone they could find, and even turning other people into zombies with one lucky bite. The lady had achieved what the witch predicted. She brought hell on earth. Not too far from the college, there was a shop that was being lockdown by its owner. He could easily walk out the shop, fight and seek shelter, but it was way too dangerous. Merkl boarded up doors and windows to remain unseen, turning off all lights and grabbing all weapons to defend himself. There were supplies for a month in the basement. That should be enough time for the monsters to kill almost the entirety of Elbion's population, thus, stores and medical supplies should be out there, waiting for Merkl to take them and go back to his safe place.

4 hours later, Jaken could see something from afar. The trio had already got out of Belgrath's cold weathers and their winter clothes were on their bags. Now, they had the clothes they usually wore at Elbion. Jaken saw something black elevating from the ground. He took out his crossbow and looked through the scope of it. It was smoke! Something big was burning. The bounty hunter followed the smokey path to the ground where he could see something red: flames. "Fuck me." he clicked his tongue "We are late." he gave the crossbow to the spellsinger so that she could see for herself what was going on at Elbion "Keep your head down. We are entering a war zone."

 

[Kiara]

For someone that had such a badass look and aura as Jaken, people would think that he was dense, but instead, the werewolf was very perceptive, at least about Kiara's emotions.

"It's ok." he said to her "It's alright. We are alive, aren't we? That's all that matters."

For a moment the elf only stared back at him, her face showing a bit surprised. Then a little giggle escaped from her lips, somehow his attitude was so adorable, the way he tried to cheer her up and assure her. "Where have I heard that before?" she simply said in a warm tone.
Kiara turned her head to the skies, thinking about what Jaken had just said. He was right. She should start to listen her own words, stop being so hard on herself and learn how to forgive her own flaws, in the same way she would forgive others. "Thank you." Her lips curled up in a graceful smile, her mind starting to wander <" His mate will be indeed a very lucky person, having such a caring and supportive man by her side."> She really wished from the bottom of her heart, that one day Jaken would be able to find his special one. She would be happy for him, but it was also true, that this same thought also hurt her.
The spellsinger looked at the skies, taking a deep breath. Such complicated and conflicted feelings, indeed, matters of the heart were so hard to deal with. It was better to listen to her head right now, focus on the next step. Stop the dust lady!

(Elbion)
The casualties were increasing every second. It was impossible to save all those people. All that carnage. This was not a war, it was a slaughter! They stood no chance against all those monsters. Still, Hellius kept fighting, but his efforts were meaningless. As he saved one life, other three were lost.
A small part of the population was safe inside the college, and other secure points. But, there was not enough room for everyone, a large population as Elbion. Many took shelter inside their houses, the unfortunate that were caught outside, stood no chance. There was no discrimination, children, women, elders, it does not matter, they were just targets.
The male elf was covered in blood, the blood of innocents. Also, his body was full of small wounds and bruises, and by now, his magic was running at a dangerous level. He had been fighting non-stop, trying to buy as much time while saving as much lives as possible. Then something caught his attention, a child was in an alley crying. The elf wasted no time, dashing to aid, it was a little girl. As he picked the girl up, he noticed a dead body not too far away, a woman, possibly the child's mother. This massacre was tearing everything apart, not only buildings but also bringing death, destroying families, many wives would become widows and children would become orphans.
As Hellius ran in the college's direction, to leave the child in a safe place, he could see other people dying, screaming for help, he covered the girl's ears. It was a nightmare! And he couldn't save everyone. Then a thought crossed his mind <"I never thought that I would be this grateful that she is not here, at least she is safe and will be spared to all this tragedy"> somehow this brought him some peace to his mind.

The bounty hunter gave her his crossbow. For a second Kiara hesitated, she was scared of what she might see. The moment she aimed to the smoke source her blood ran cold and her heart sank. Elbion city, the place that she called home was on fire!
All the faces that she knew and was familiar with crossed her mind, then her heart skipped a beat, Hellius! Was he ok? He was like a father to her, the elf would not bear to lose him! She would be devastated. That couldn't happen, not to the only person that had been with her since she was a child and stayed by her side no mattered what.

 

[Adriwolf]

The trio was slowly getting closer to the now city in flames and where death was lying in every corner. It would be very difficult to look at one place and not find a dead body. From afar, Jaken could see flying creatures roaming the area, sometimes rising in the sky and other times diving down to catch a prey. "Keep your head down." he ordered to Kiara "It will br a bumpy ride." with that, Jaken hided his head as well, almost submerging it in Fafurion's back. The moment they broke the smoke barrier, they could smell the burning and rotting flesh. They could hear the scream of the innocent begging for their lives or crying for their loved ones. The bounty hunter did not even bothered to look down at the chaos, the only thing that mattered was getting to the forest near his home, find the lady and end all of this madness, or if this damage could not be undone, at least they would have achieved to aboid even MORE damage. Sometimes creatures would fly nearby them, missing them for a few inches, which made Fafurion tumble on its flight. It was almost impossible to see with all the smoke that invaded the skies. The only thing the trio could rely on was on their luck. Luck that did not last long. Something tackled Fafurion from his right side, making his flight unstable. A demon managed to grapple on Fafurions back, digging its claws to the nargacuga's skin and making some blood drip out. The werewolf reacted fast, taking out a knife and stabbing the demon on the head 5 times, killing it and kicking him off their flight. This was only the beggining, the faster they found that forest, the better. Another demon grabbed Fafurion, but this time instead of digging its claws in the creature, Jaken was able to kick it off before it could have done anything. However, the second Jaken kicked him off, the demon used a heavy hammer that e had in his armor to strike Fafurion's wing, snapping it. Fafurion shrieked and fell form the skies, with Jaken and Kiara still on top of him. Even though they were falling, Fafurion tried his best to maintain a stable flight. The bounty hunter took Kiara close to him to protect her from fall damage. Eventually, the nargacuga struck the ground, making the werewolf and the elf to be propelled out of him, rolling on the hard road, getting slight scrathces and some pain. Jaken was not able to hold on to Kiara, separating them by a few meters. Once he regained posture, Jaken tried to look around for the woman he loved. She was not too far away from him. he knew it was her, even though the street was covered in smoke and the red color of the flames. The bounty hunter got up and helped Kiara off the ground "Are you ok?" he asked, he turned to Fafurion, who was struggling to even stand up. That made sense. His wing was also his arm, and since it was broken, maintaining posture would be something difficult. Both rushed at Fafurion's aid, trying to determine the best way to fix its broken wing. But that did not last long. From an alleyway, various zombies broke into the scene. "Help Fafurion up!!" he told Kiara, getting his crossbow and aiming for their heads. One zombie went down with a clean shot. Reload. Another zombie got it. Reload. He slowly backed off as Kiara was attending Fafurion. A third zombie went down. Reload. "I can't hold them for much longer!! We need to go now!!" from another alley at their left, there was a road that Jaken knew all too well. They could use it to reach Merkl's basement. That would be their sanctuary. "TO THE ALLEY!! MOVE IT!!" he roared to be heard amongst the violent fire and zombie moans. He backed off to help Kiara with Fafurion "Keep your eyes peeled. Use any sort of magic to keep monsters away from us. We are going to turn left, go straight forward, passing two rights, then another left. That is where we can seek shelter on Merkl's basement." he indicated as they entered the alley.

They turned left and in front of them was an alley of death. Corpses were lying around, blood painted the walls and organs decorated the scene. Their speed was low due to Fafurion's weight and struggle to walk. Jaken was forced to shoot while helping Kiara support Fafurion. Zombies were slighty faster than them right now, but due to the distance they (the trio) started off with, they had advantage over the undead. The first right: a demon claiming a person's soul: extracting it from their mouths. The soul had a green color, leaving the person pale as snow. The demon did not noticed the small group. Second right: insects resembling a mixture between mosquitos and wasps were harvesting corpses to suck their blood and lay their eggs to form organic hives. They turned left. The alleyway that directed to Merkl's basement was there. The boxes that sealed the secret entrance were still there. The zombies were gaining up on him on one end of the alley while on the other, giant leeches were sucking people dry. Once they arrived at the boxes, Jaken started to push the boxes away asking Kiara for help. The leeches noticed the trio, swiftly slithering to their location. The distance between them and the monsters was almost nothing. Jaken opened the basement and ordered Kiara to get inside. Jaken followed, getting grabbed by a zombie, but he reacted faster, throwing the zombie off but inside the basement. Instead of throwing itself at Kiara, the zombie remained still on the ground due to its lack of speed and body coordination. Jaken closed the door at the exact time the leeches reached their location. After locking the trapdoor, the bounty hunter turned his attention to the zombie, jumping on top of it and crushing its head with a strong stomp. Jaken panted. "BITCH!!!" he roared at the zombie, kicking him with intensity and stomping on his body intensily. Fafurion hissed at the now DEAD corpse. Jaken collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. Fafurion's weight made a big deal, he had to put a lot of strenght to carry the nargacuga and move as fast as possible.

Now they were safe. For now. They still had to go out and find the woods. He looked at Kiara "Are you ok? Hurt?" he said, standing up and sitting besides Kiara.

 

[Kiara]

Kiara did as she was told, lowering her head. She was already nervous, her heart beating like crazy in her chest. But nothing prepared the elf for what was yet to come. The moment they broke through the smoke barrier, a nauseous smell of rotten and burned flesh filled her nose. Kiara felt sick, becoming even a bit pale. It was such a strong scent that her body reacted, her stomach twisted, making involuntary movements to throw up. She covered her mouth with one hand. Luckily, she hadn't eaten anything, so there was nothing to puke.
Kiara made her first mistake, she looked down, to the streets. Shutting her eyes right after, trying to erase what she had just witnessed. All that chaos, the perfect image of a living hell! But the screams won't stop, increasing her stress levels.
Suddenly, something tackled Fafurion, making the nargacuga roar in pain. The elf opened her eyes only to see something being stabbed in the head before it falls. Her brain didn't even processed what kind of monster was it. It was just too fast. Then a second appeared, this one she didn't miss it. It was a demon! Jaken managed to kick it off. But Fafurion's wing received a hit. The nargacuga shrieked as he started to fall from the skies. Trying his best to remain stable and land on the safest way as possible.

The moment the creature hit the ground, werewolf and elf were propelled, getting separated from each other. The elf rolled on the floor, hitting against something, her body ached from the impact and she was a bit stunned. She could feel something warm, and a strong smell of iron. As she managed to sit up, she turned to her side, looking at the ground beneath her. The warm sensation, it was blood! For a moment she froze, her head slowly raising to find a poor man, half eaten, his face displaying the terror of his last seconds.

"Are you ok?"

Kiara didn't respond, slowly turning her head to the person that spoke to her. As if checking if Jaken had seen the same as her, or if it was just her imagination. Somehow Kiara managed to get up. She was in some sort of auto-pilot, her body just kept moving on its own, while her mind was just processing one thing at the time, and right now it was Fafurion.
While the bounty hunter was busy keeping the zombies away. The spellsinger started to work on a healing spell. It was so hard for her to stay focused and not lose her concentration. Her mind just wanted to escape from that place. So, she just kept trying to focus on what she had right in front of her, not even listening or acknowledging all the monsters that were surrounding them.

"I can't hold them for much longer!! We need to go now!!"

Fafurion was almost fully healed, but he would still feel pain. The elf would need more time, but time was something that she didn't have. She started to pull Fafurion to the alley that Jaken had indicated, helping the limping nargacuga to move faster.

The alley they were walking was the definition of apocalypse. An alley of death. Strangely the elf was... calm, or at least that was what it seemed. Kiara just kept walking, helping Fafurion, not even looking back. Then on the first right, she saw a demon extracting a person's soul.
The elf could not avoid, she summoned her staff in one hand, pointing at the demon's direction. An ice spear erupted from the ground, empaling the demon, blood started to fall from the demon, then other spikes erupt for the first one, piercing the demon's body from the inside to the outside, he died. The spell's signature had nothing to do with Kiara. Although it was a quick death, this was not like her style, making such a display.
As the poor greenish soul returned to his body, the person regained his natural color. Only looking at the elf, then back at the now dead demon, giving a slight gesture as thanks, before disappearing through the alley. The elf said nothing, only kept moving forward, taking turn after turn. They were almost there.
Once there, the elf helped the werewolf on moving the boxes. Fafurion entered first, Kiara took this chance to cast a small blizzard at the leeches' direction, freezing some of them. The ones that were caught had been frozen alive, unable to move, falling on the ground with a thud. The ice sculptures broke into pieces, not only shattering the ice, but also the frozen leech's bodies. The ones that were unharmed hesitated for a few seconds before moving again.

She jumped to the basement, landing on her knees, then something fell right after her. The moment she noticed what it was, the elf lost her balance, falling on her butt. There was nothing that Kiara feared the most than the undead, more specifically zombies. The way they moved, their noises, their appearance, it only raised her fear. The elf tried to move, but her body wouldn't listen to her commands, her heart almost exploded in her chest, a small yelp escaped from her lips. The elf was paralyzed by fear.
As a good battle mount such as Fafurion, the nargacuga got between the elf and the zombie. Hissing and growling at it, while swinging his tail like it was a deadly whip. But before the nargacuga could jump to finish it, Jaken crushed its skull. Although the zombie was already dead, Fafurion's fur was bristly.
Jaken stood up and took a seat by her side, asking if she was ok.
The elf didn't react. For a moment Kiara asked the same question to herself, inside her head. Her eyes were still glued at the now dead zombie. She had not moved an inch. Her blood ran cold in her veins, and her heart was still racing. Then slowly she lowered her head, inspecting herself. Her clothes were stained with blood, but it was not hers, although she had some scratches and bruises. She looked at her hands, they were trembling. She felt like she wanted to cry but nothing came. Her breathing was a total mess, the elf had to remind herself on how doing it, something that was so natural, she actually needed to force it. She was in shock, like something inside of her had snapped.

 

[Adriwolf]

He was breathing heavily. He was not in panic, but the intensity of the past minutes made his heart pump fast, besides, the effort he had to make to carry Fafurion complemented the rythm of his bloody organ. The monsters were still pounding on the trapdoor. They had nothing to worry about, soon, the magic that protected the basement should lure them away. They could take a break. They could breathe for a moment. But also, they would have to leave the place and go on their own. The werewolf faced Kiara, she was freaking out. She was shaking, her sight locked on the zombie Jaken killed. Her eyes were as open as they ever were, her hands and legs were shaking. He could hear her heartbeat. It was racing, both of effort and fear. And her breathing was uncontrollable. She inhaled and exhaled through her mouth. If she did not calmed down, she would hyperventilate. He identified what it was: a panic attack. "Hey, hey, look at me." he said calmly, putting his hands on Kiara's cheeks "You are ok. You are ok. Nothing happened to you, you are fine. We are in a safe place, ok?" the elf did not stopped the fast breathing. Hyperventilation was on its way. She might not get permanent damages, but the symptons were not convenient at the time: dizzyness, weak legs, sight problems, muscular tension, among others. The elf needed to calm down or have someone else help her. "<<She just need to hold her breath to calm her down.>>" he connected lips with her in a kiss, making her mouth close, thus, blocking the air's path. The kiss lasted for seconds before finally separating. Jaken made eye contact with Kiara "Are you ok?"

After some minutes, Jaken heard some footsteps coming near. Then, he signaled Kiara to remain quiet and hidden, taking out his knife and getting cover from behind a shelf. When he peeked to see what it was, he saw grey scales on feet coming down slowly. The body showed up later, carrying a bow and an arrow. Merkl was alive.
"Talk about a dejá vu." Jaken said, appearing from behind the shelf.
"Yyyyyyyoooooouuuuu ssshhhhoooouuulllddd have waaaaaarrrrrrrrned me about your prrrreeeeesssseeeennnncccceeeee." Merkl hissed.
"Yeah-see that body over there?" he pointed at the zombie "I did not had any time to warn you about my presence. We had to take shelter here." he looked at Kiara, then back at Merkl "We just need to resupply, then we are out of here."
"Llllllleeeeeeaaaaavvvvviiiinnngggg tooooowwwwnnnnn?"
"No. We are ending this."
"Hhhhhooooowwwwww?"
"It's a long story. The point is that there is a way to stop this." Fafurion had only realized that Merkl was on the scene. The nargacuga hissed at Merkl. Merkl hissed back "You two, stop it!!" he ordered, putting himself between his collague and the flying creature. He first looked at Fafurion "He is our friend." then at Merkl "Merkl, this is Fafurion. Fafurion, Merkl. Now don't kill each other will ya? It's already hard enough to deal what is happening out there, the last thing we need is one more casualty."
"IIIIIII tthhhhoouuugghhhttt these were illlleeeegggaaalll."
"You know me, I have certain contacts."
"None that sellllllll illegal cccrrreeeeaaaattttuuuurrrreeeessss."
"But she does." he nodded at Kiara "One thing I didn't knew about her. Besides, we borrowed it. We didn't buy it." he looked at the nergacuga "He needs to stay here. He was wounded. He cannot go out there. He can barely walk. He might slow us down."
Merkl looked at Jaken's eyes for a long time. The reptilian was considering wether accepting the favor or not "100 gold ccccooooiiinnnnssss per ddddaaaaayyyyyy." the lizardman finally hissed.
"Fuck off."
"Ttttthhhhheeeennnnn ttttaaaakkkeeee yyyyyoooouuurrrr friend." he crossed arms.
Jaken though about it, finally giving his conclusion "Fuck you." he said "100 coins per day." he finally agreed.
Werewolf and reptilian shaked hands.
"I need the map of Elbion."
Merkl brought the map that pointed every location of Elbion. At the upper left corner, there was the woods that Jaken used to live in and the woods surrounding it. It would take them around 9 hours to get there, that would be in a normal day, without the chaos on the outside. With Elbion's situation it would be impossible to determine how long it would take them to reach the woods, plus, finding where the witch was hiding.

"Get ready Kiara." he glanced at her "We need to go out there again once the chaos had decreased."

 

[Kiara]

"Hey, hey, look at me." he said calmly, putting his hands on Kiara's cheeks "You are ok. You are ok. Nothing happened to you, you are fine. We are in a safe place, ok?"

The werewolf cupped her cheeks with his hands. Kiara's eyes switched between him and the dead zombie, as if checking if the undead wouldn't rise again. She couldn't control her respiration, she felt like she was lacking air, her heart was still racing, but now she was starting to feel light headed. Jaken's voice was like a whisper that she barely could hear, the pounding of her heart was just too loud in her ears.
From nowhere he kissed the elf, for a second Kiara flicked, trying to break free from that kiss. It felt like she was suffocating, her chest getting tighter at every second. A few seconds later Jaken broke the kiss, and the elf took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. The moment he made eye contact and asked if she was ok, the spellsinger slightly opened her mouth, ready to argue with him. What was he thinking? That was when she finally noticed that now she was breathing just fine, it was naturally coming to her.
She closed her mouth, turning her head to one side, she almost made a mistake by jumping into wrong conclusions.
"Yes, yes, I'm ok now... Thank you..." she said in a small voice, before connecting her eyes with him again. "I... just hate zombies... can't stand them actually..." she explained.

Some minutes later, footsteps could be heard. Jaken signaled to Kiara to hide and stay silent. The elf took shelter behind some wooden boxes. Then Merkl showed up. The lizardman was alive. The spellsinger revealed herself, waving at Merkl, greeting him. That brought some hope to Kiara, maybe Hellius would be just fine as well, but she couldn't deny that she would only calm down once she had see him.
As Jaken ordered Fafurion to stop, the nargacuga turned his back at the lizardman, moving to a corner, laying down, but not before letting a deep exhale, his tail swinging slightly, showing his annoyance, giving one last challenging glance at Merkl.

"IIIIIII tthhhhoouuugghhhttt these were illlleeeegggaaalll."
"You know me, I have certain contacts."
"None that sellllllll illegal cccrrreeeeaaaattttuuuurrrreeeessss."
"But she does."

Kiara only tilted her head as she listenned at their conversation, she was a bit confused. How could Fafurion be illegal? She didn't even know. She didn't know Gunthor that well, but she was almost certain that the orc would never be on any kind of shady business, otherwise, why would Hellius befriend him?
Furthermore, for her Fafurion would always be, well... Fafurion, not some sort of illegal creature. But one thing Jaken was right, the flying creature needed to stay. The elf promised to take good care of him, and the outside was not a safe place. Besides, even though his wounds were healed, his body still needed to rest for a full recover.

Jaken analyzed Elbion's map, turning to the elf warning her to get ready, soon they were leaving.
Kiara was not excited to go into that hell again, but if that means saving everyone, then she would get through it, a little sacrifice to end all that calamity.
"Do you have a plan?" She asked a bit worried, it wouldn't be wise to just go out there without one, they couldn't rely on luck. What if they end up dying in the two first steps? Failure was not an option, they needed to get prepared.

 

[Adriwolf]

"Yes, yes, I'm ok now... Thank you..." she said in a small voice, before connecting her eyes with him again. "I... just hate zombies... can't stand them actually..." she explained.

"Wish I could say that we will not encounter anymore zombies, but I'd be lying." Jaken established eye contact with the elf "Just stay strong ok. We'll finish this." he connected forehead with Kiara. To make the situation a bit less uncomfortable, the werewolf dragged the corpse away, hiding it behind a pillar. It might help Kiara to get over her fear. Knowing that her fears are in the same room with her. Everything starts with a step. This was Kiara's first step: knowing that a zombie was there but not directly seeing it. Should help, right? Or if not completely erradicate the fear completely, maybe make her used on seeing such creatures. After all, that is how Jaken managed to control himself in front of many creatures. Fear would always be with him, there are some creatures that scared him, but the best way on coming out as succesfull is to control yourself, thus, not being afraid. Kiara would have to go through the same road he had to.

Jaken had the road ready to get to the forest. It might be complicated. They would have to take shelter on buildings to hide or to move faster. They had three options to move in the city: roads, rooftops and sewers. All options were terrible. Being this the start of the apoclypse, there would be chaos, monsters and death at every corner in the roads. The sewers might also be dangerous, there are were giant insects and rodents would hide out. And the rooftops would expose them to flying creatures. However, roads had a direct path to the forest, the sewers allowed them to move unseen by the monsters in the surface and on the skies, and the rooftops would be an almost obstacleless path, what were the odds of obstacles being on the rooftops? Jumps should be easy; all buildings in Elbion were close enough for Kiara to jump over.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yes." he answered "We will go through the roofs. We can get to the roof through some stairs up here, from that point, we must move through woods. I think that is the best way to get through the city and into the forest. Our only dangers would be flying creatures and climbable hostiles. We could outrun climbable hostiles and flying creatures: we can take care of them with some of your magic and some specieal bolts. What bolts do you have?"
"Toxic, exploding, and stun bolts."
"<<I need them all, but I can't affod on paying them. Screw this, I'll have to steal them.>> I already have them." he turned to Kiara "This shouldn't be hard for you. The buildings are way too close with one another. You can jump from one to another, we would have to remain hidden while running as long as we can. Once in the forest, will have to look for magical signs. If all of this is happening due to some magical portal, then there has to be some magical force that comes from it, we would have to track it down, or spot where all hthe monsters are coming from...." he thought on something "...or using.... Blue Lights...." he sighed "If I am able to see shit from parallel realities, then I should be able where it is coming from." he crossed arms and sighed again "Or maybe there is another way to find it. There must be..." he looked down. The concept of turning into a werewolf still made him uncomfortable around Kiara. He was way too gone thinking on it that he didn't realized that his body language and expressions gave it away.

"Any suggestions? If not, we should wait some time before finally going out."

 

[Kiara]

"Wish I could say that we will not encounter anymore zombies, but I'd be lying." Jaken established eye contact with the elf "Just stay strong ok. We'll finish this." he connected forehead with Kiara.

Kiara's heart sank in her chest, as she heard his comment. Her blue eyes showing worry and uneasy. Just the idea of possibly encounter more zombies, she wished that just for this time, he would have lied to her, tell her that there was no more of them, a merciful lie to give her enough strength to go outside. But, no. He was completely honest with her. The elf started to doubt herself. Did she really have to go out and run into more of those creatures?
Then, as Jaken connected his forehead with her, saying to her to stay strong, that they would end all of that, the elf closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, listening to his words. She was not alone, she didn't have to do all by herself. A smile appeared on her lips, indeed, the werewolf had a certain power over her, giving her strength with only a few words, making her to find the courage that sometimes she lacked, he made her stronger, always pulling her up. Besides, what was her sacrifice (fight zombies) compared with all the misery that Elbion citizens had suffered from this attack?
After the zombie's corpse had been hidden, Kiara relaxed, just the simple fact that she couldn't see it made her calm. But deep down, her mind was still conscious about the creature whereabouts, tracing an of limits area around the pillar, and as a result even if Kiara was not aware of it, her body language revealed it, she wouldn't cross that imaginary line, avoiding that area.

As the bounty hunter told her his plan, the elf only nodded her head, agreeing with it. It was a good plan, but something was off. Jaken's behaviour, the way he kept sighing and looked down. This was not like him, he was hesitating. Kiara locked eyes with him, trying to understand what could the reason be?
<" The roofs seems to be the best way, so why? Hmm... the sewers can provide a better cover, but such a closed space... I´m not good at close range combat and in a fight I would only drag Jaken down. On the roads we could use the buildings as shelter, but the streets are infected with monsters... and there is a chance of encountering zombies... So the rooftops are the best option, a fast way throughout the city, although we will be completely exposed to flying monsters, well at least I can be useful with my magic.">
Kiara pause, this didn't seem to be the case so what else could be? <"Blue lights? Maybe he doesn't want to wait until the night to fall, since monsters tend to be more aggressive at night"> she thought to herself, analyzing all the possibilities.
What never crossed the elf's mind was that for Jaken to use blue lights, he needed to transform into his wolf form. Maybe she was already so used to be around him in that form, that she didn't connect the dots. Jaken's wolf form and the bloodthirsty Wolf, they shared the same appearance, the elf's brain had not yet made that connection.
Unable to find what was the source of his trouble, Kiara shook her head in denial "No, I don't have any better ideas. Your plan is perfect." she added. The spellsinger moved closer to him, tilting her head to one side, her eyes locking with his, speaking in a smooth voice "So I don't know why are you hesitating? You are always so sure and confident of yourself... what is troubling you?" she finally asked.

 

[Adriwolf]

"No, I don't have any better ideas. Your plan is perfect." she added. The spellsinger moved closer to him, tilting her head to one side, her eyes locking with his, speaking in a smooth voice "So I don't know why are you hesitating? You are always so sure and confident of yourself... what is troubling you?" she finally asked.

Jaken groaned in frustration at the air. He wanted to lie to her, but he had to be honest. Jaken loved Kiara, and being honest with her was almost his responsability. He couldn't lie to her. But at the same time, he didn't want to tell her that he was still uncomfortable if it meant using his werewolf form, after what he diid to her. It wasn't him on control, Kiara had made him see that, but he still felt guilty about it. He had to confront it. He had to confront his feelings towards the past. Come clean at the elf he loved. Jaken sighed, looking down at the ground "It's Blue Lights. For me to use them, I'd have to transform into my werewolf form. And... I'm still thinking about that... werewolf thing back at the ruins. I just can't get it out of my head. Just thinking on morphing into my werewolf form makes me feel anxious... even scared. The witch may not have control over me right now, but... I just feel afraid that I might hurt you. even by accident..." he put his hand in his forehead and eyes, covering them as he sighed in frustration and struggle to get his thoughts in order "I know that we already had this conversation, but I just can't help it." he groaned again "I think I just need to digest it and get my thoughts straight. God damnit." he deeply inhaled and exhaled. Trying to get everything straight with his thoughts and emotions.

"Anyway." he continued "We have our plan ready. We'll go through the rooftops. Be aware of your surroundings, both for enemies and for obstacles. I'll help you reach high places in case you can't get there by yourself. I have no idea how your magic works, but if it can help you reach high places, don't use it, as it may drain your energy, I think you told me that back at the cottage: magic can be drained. And we might need your magic to shake off dire situations. For now, we need to get some rest. Let the chaos decrease. But all those people that might die....."
"Dddddoooonnnn'tttttt worry about iiiiiitttttt." Merkl interrupted "The ccoooolllleeeggggeeee is offering sssaaaffffeeeetttyyyy to people. Ttttttthhhhheeeeyyyyyy aaaarrrreeeee safe tttthhhhheeeeerrreeee. Tttthhheeeyyyy aaaarrreeee also sending ppppeeeooopppllleee to fffffiiiiiggghhhttt."
Jaken nodded, then back at the map. "In that case, the college is a safe place that we can take shelter in case we get overrunned. We might even resupply there, get some backup for the trip."
Merkl left to fortify the store, he turned to Kiara "Look I'll have to be honest to you. I don't have any special bolts for the trip. I can't afford the bolts now, it doesn't matter if this is the end of the world. Merkl would still charge me for the bolts. I'll have to steal them. So this is what we are going to do: get some rest, patch up and when we are ready to go, we'll go through the attic. It's a straight trapdoor to the roof, from there, we'll make our way. In the attic, there would also be the bolts I need. I'll snatch them, and then we are out. It's not like Merkl will need them anyway. He may have a bow, but arrows are not the same as bolts."

The duo rested in the basement, Fafurion was still laying on the ground. The injured nargacuga would stay here, where it would most probably be safe. They only needed to be fast, not just for the sake of Elbion and its citizen, but also for Jaken's economy. Sometimes, the nargacuga would get awkward pets from Jaken as he (Jaken) wasn't used to give pets to someone else. This was Jaken's first time petting something, so it was a new experience for him. It felt nice, both for him and for the nargacuga. After 3 hours, Jaken gave the order. "We need to get going. I think it's been enough time for the chaos to decrease." he helped Kiara up.
They both went upstairs where they enountered Merkl reading a book with the light of a lamp.
"Lllllleeeaaavvvinnnggg already?" Merkl asked without looking back.
"Yeah. We'll use the attic and block the trapdoor. Good luck Merkl."
Werewolf and elf made their way to the second floor where there was a trapdoor that lead to the attic. On a box neraby another trapdoor that lead to the roof there was exactly what Jaken needed: the special bolts. Toxic, explosive and stunning was right there. The bounty hunter snatched them and opened the trapdoor to the roof. He went first, climbing the ladder and peeking at the outside, making sure it was safe. He climbed up and waited for Kiara to follow him.

Once they were on the roof, Jaken told the elf "Get ready. We'll have to run. If I see a jump that might be hard for you, I'll go ahead of you to get in position to help you. Don't sprint, you'll need your stamina. Only sprint when we need to. Got it?"

 

[Kiara]

As the werewolf groaned at the air, the elf tilted her head a even more in confusion. Yes, something was indeed troubling him. She never left his gaze, waiting for a response, but somehow it looked like he was thinking about what to say. Then he sighed and looked down, deciding to speak his mind and feelings.

"It's Blue Lights. For me to use them, I'd have to transform into my werewolf form. And... I'm still thinking about that... werewolf thing back at the ruins. I just can't get it out of my head. Just thinking on morphing into my werewolf form makes me feel anxious... even scared. The witch may not have control over me right now, but... I just feel afraid that I might hurt you. even by accident..." he put his hand in his forehead and eyes, covering them as he sighed in frustration and struggle to get his thoughts in order "I know that we already had this conversation, but I just can't help it." he groaned again "I think I just need to digest it and get my thoughts straight. God damnit."

For a moment Kiara just blinked, then it clicked in her head, her brain finally making the connection. She saw Jaken covering his eyes, sighing. She couldn't help it but to start to feel responsible for his anxiety, since she was the cause of it. Kiara didn't want to be the reason why the bounty hunter wouldn´t use his wolf form. A form that he once enjoyed. The elf didn't know what else to say to him, but she hated to see him like that, anxious, insecure about himself.
Once Jaken finished his explanation Kiara reached for his hand, pulling it down gently, revealing his brown eyes and once again connecting with them. She took a deep breath before speaking, her eyes didn't wave, she was absolutely sure of her words and her trust in him.
"Yes, we already had this conversation, but I will repeat it again, until there is no doubt in you. It was not your fault, and I KNOW that you would never hurt me, I trust you. Indeed, accidents may happen, no one can avoid or control it, on the same way that you can hurt me by accident the same can happen to me, hurting you with my magic. It also scares me. But I trust in my skills, and I also have faith that, if by any chance, I lose control of my magic, I know that you would be able to dodge it. So please, have also a little faith in me, I'm not that helpless" She said, placing her hand on his cheek, comforting him. Then she smiled before talking, teasing him a bit "Besides, I already have ONE Hellius to be over protective, I don't need another" she giggled trying to ligh the mood.

Once the matter was settled, they resumed the plan, but Kiara was surprised at Jaken's words. She couldn't use her magic to move faster or jump higher! She could only resort to her elven dexterity and ability, well it should be enough. And he was right, magic had a cost, in her case it was magic power, mana as many called, and if she used a large amount of it, Kiara would start to feel the magic's withdrawal effects. She only nodded at him. She should save her magic for dire situation, a caster without magic is as good as a dead weight, besides, they didn't know for how long this mission would take, so better be safe than sorry.

"Dddddoooonnnn'tttttt worry about iiiiiitttttt." Merkl interrupted "The ccoooolllleeeggggeeee is offering sssaaaffffeeeetttyyyy to people. Ttttttthhhhheeeeyyyyyy aaaarrrreeeee safe tttthhhhheeeeerrreeee. Tttthhheeeyyyy aaaarrreeee also sending ppppeeeooopppllleee to fffffiiiiiggghhhttt."
Jaken nodded, then back at the map. "In that case, the college is a safe place that we can take shelter in case we get overrunned. We might even resupply there, get some backup for the trip."

Kiara turned to face Merkl, her eyes widen a bit in surprise. The elf had no doubts that Hellius would volunteer himself to fight and rescue as many people as he could. Even though for many the male elf had a stern look and cold aura. Everyone could also tell that his heart was noble, he would never abandon anyone in need. But the idea of him being out there fighting scared her. What if something bad happened to him? Surely he knew how to handle things and protect himself, but he meant everything to Kiara. The elf could barely hide her anxiety. Her heart would only calm down once she had checked that her guardian was ok. She cares for him in the same way that Hellius cared for her. The good thing was that maybe she would have the opportunity to ease her anxiety, if they really made a stop on the college.

Once Merkl left the scene Jaken come forward and told her that he had no special bolts, in fact he would steal them form Merkl. At this the spellsinger only blinked, then she sighed.
"You really needed to be this honest with me? Now you just made me your accomplice in crime" She looked at him with a serious look. "You know that I don't like the idea of stealing... but I think that right now we have no other choice, the end of the world as we know is upon us. So... I will turn a blind eye, just this time" The elf finally said, turning her back at him, hiding a small smile that had appeared on her lips. She couldn't deny, sometimes he was so adorable and cute, being this honest with her, when he could have chosen to hide it from her by simple doing it on her back. Anyway, Kiara would deal with this situation once they defeated the dust lady.

The spellsinger took the chance to review her grimoir's spells, soon they would be handy. She rested her back in one of Fafurion's sides, snuggling on Fafurion's soft fur, it should keep her warm and give some comfort. She would need to be in the best condition, not only on her magic level, but also physically, on this mission.
Kiara was focused on her studies. Once the bounty hunter gave the order to move, she closed her grimoir, accepting Jaken's help. Then turned to Fafurion, saying to the nargacuga to stay and be a good boy, that soon both of them would return. Going upstairs, they found Merkl reading, Jaken wished good luck to the lizardman, going straight to the second floor. Kiara stopped on her track, turning back to face Merkl.
"Thank you for everything and... take care of yourself. Good luck." she said following the werewolf once again.

Once they were on the roof, Kiara looked at her surroundings, some buildings were still on fire, ashes were carried by the wind as grey snow flakes. There was no screams, only the noises produced by the monsters, but the smell of death still lingered in the air. Such a dread scenery.

"Get ready. We'll have to run. If I see a jump that might be hard for you, I'll go ahead of you to get in position to help you. Don't sprint, you'll need your stamina. Only sprint when we need to. Got it?"

Another restriction, no sprinting. Now the elf was worried, would she be able to keep his pace? Or would she just make him slower? Indeed, her body was not physically prepared as a warrior, so strength and endurance were not on her side. This would be hard, restrain her magic use and control her stamina. The elf looked at the skies, making up her mind, there was no other option, and she couldn't and wouldn't back off now.
"Ok, I got it. I'm ready. You may go whenever you are ready, I will be right after you... I will follow you until the end, so lets end this!" she said, still looking at the horizon, stopping right by his side, turning her head to him, taking a good look at the man she loved, smiling a bit.
There was so much at stake, Elbion city, the citizens' lives, their own lives. One of them could die on this mission or even both. But that would mean the end of this world. If the elf died on this mission, she would only regret two things, one it would be the fact that she never found the courage to confess her feelings to Jaken, and the last would be to not know if her guardian was alright.

 

[Adriwolf]

"Yes, we already had this conversation, but I will repeat it again, until there is no doubt in you. It was not your fault, and I KNOW that you would never hurt me, I trust you. Indeed, accidents way happen, no one can avoid or control it, on the same way that you can hurt me by accident the same can happen to me, hurting you with my magic. It also scares me. But I trust in my skills, and I also have faith that, if by any chance, I lose control of my magic, I know that you are will be able to dodge it. So please, have also a little faith in me, I'm not that helpless" She said, placing her hand on his cheek, comforting him.

Jaken snuggled onto her hand. Her soft hand. He loved her touch, it was soothing. The softness of her skin, the calmness that came to him when he touched him. It made him feel that everything would be ok. He deeply exhaled as he closed his eyes, relaxing in her hand. Like a dog with their master... in a way, Jaken was a dog... in some sort of way. He even supported her hand with a hand of his, trapping the elf's hand between his cheek and his hand. When the hand got away, Jaken kissed the back part of it, like someone kissing the queen's hand. It was so comforting that he even ignored Kiara's mention of the name that belonged to an elf he did not like at all. Right now, it was not worth listening to the name of 'Hellius', what mattered is to keep Kiara safe and bring peace to the place she called home.

"You really needed to be this honest with me? Now you just made me your accomplice in crime"

"In my eyes you are not an accomplice." he said "You are not doing the crime, I am. OR, you could look away when I grab them, thus, you would not have seen me taking them, that does not make you accomplice. Just an elf minding his own business." he chuckled "You can't be an accomplice if you did not see anything. So just, look away." he smiled at her. Kiara's opinion on the stealing plan made him reflect on his actions in front of the spellsinger: stealing, exposing them to danger, using emotions such as fear to get information out of anyone. What would Kiara think about them? Would she think of him as a bad person? Or would she justify his actions because of their current situations? Would everything be ok between them two. The thought of Kiara being his polar opposite made him think about that even more. Before the last days, Kiara had a live of comfort. This drastic change... could it change someone? It happened to that student on his adventure to retrieve a missing shipment. Will it happen to Kiara? Would she become cold and distant? Would the joyful elf that he know be gone after everything that has happened?

Merkl did not answered at any of the duo's 'good luck' wishes. He kept reading his book. The only movement Merkl did was a tail movement, but still, it wasn't for them. He sometimes loved how his tail moved. The muscles on his back, the freedom he felt when doing it. It was something that he loved about his body. The only sound he did was the turning of the page. Even though he did not answered, he wished them good luck. Even though he hadn't seen a lot of what was going on out there, he knew that it was a dangerous place out there. The silence of the outside told him that. 3 hours and the whole city became silent. It would probably take a lot more for the city to become silent. But this speed on chaos... it was something else. It was the end...

"Ok, I got it. I'm ready. You may go whenever you are ready, I will be right after you... I will follow you until the end, so lets end this!" she said, still looking at the horizon, stopping right by his side, turning her head to him, taking a good look at the man she loved, smiling a bit.

"Oh, where is this adventure-like attitude coming from?" he smiled at the elf, standing besides her "Don't let it die. I like it." he giggled, rubbing her hair "Well then, shall we start running?"

Some jumps were simple enough for the both of them to vault over: boxes, vents, random obstacles, leaps from one building to another close building. The chaos had been going down. There were not many flying creatures on the sky, as all of them were on the ground feasting on the corpses. Jaken was glad because of it, if flying creatures were near and spot them, the attention that would bring to them would alert any other flying creature and they would instatnly be on the chase. It was almost a free way through the roofs. However, not everything was simple, sometimes Jaken would help Kiara reach for high platforms: boost her up. Jaken was alright by himself, he could just wall run up the wall and keep moving. Other times, Jaken would jump to another building on a leap that could be way too long for Kiara and find something he could use as a plank for Kiara to cross through. Other times, he would drop at a high distance to find something soft for Kiara to fall on, like a forgotten, dirty (and bloody) matress. They sometimes had to hide under awnings or under platforms that they would use to climb afterwards. The facts that the skies were clear didn't mean that all the creatures were on the ground. They would sometimes enounter a demon flying or a vampire patrolling a certain area. The duo had to hide from them and sometimes they had to put them down due to bolts or magic. These rare occasions (using magic or bolts to get rid of enemies) were because the hostiles would not stop patrolling the same area that they had to go through or caught them passing through, but before he could alert other creatures, it was dead.
Sometimes, they would have to look down before jumping, seeing that in case one of their jumps failed to reach the other side, they would have a plan B to safe themselves, like an opening window, another awning to safe them from impact. But they also saw how could people go insance to chaos. They saw people covered in blood rocking themselves on the corner. Naked people dancing on top of corpses due to insanity. People slashing themsleves while maniacally laughing to themselves. People masturbating to the corpses. People having sexual intercourse (from one on one to orgies) with humans and even monsters, both dead and alive. It was as if, alongside the monsters, the darkest side of everyone was brought to the surface as well.
Elbion was the literal definition of insanity. If they both suceed on bringing everything to what it was before these, what would happen to this people? What would happen to the people that had gone insane? The most probable thing is that they would be locked up in a mental ward. Or could there be a 'sanity-giver' spell? What was going to happen to them?

 

[Kiara]

"In my eyes you are not an accomplice." he said "You are not doing the crime, I am. OR, you could look away when I grab them, thus, you would not have seen me taking them, that does not make you accomplice. Just an elf minding his own business." he chuckled "You can't be an accomplice if you did not see anything. So just, look away."

"No... It does not work like that. Even if I turn away and don't see it, I know what you are about to do. Turning a blind eye does not mean that I'm not acknowledging what you are doing, or that I can ignore or pretend that it's not happening. So, for my conscience that is enough to make me an accomplice." The elf said, still holding her serious look, although, the werewolf's smooth talk made her smile in the inside. Jaken always had something to say. It was quite charming somehow, two opposites attracting each other, one serene/passive always trying to do the best, and on the other end, a fierce/aggressive one ready to take action without hesitation. But the elf already knew what to do. Once this was all over, she would return and pay the bolts, otherwise, her mind would never rest about it.

"Oh, where is this adventure-like attitude coming from?" he smiled at the elf, standing besides her "Don't let it die. I like it." he giggled, rubbing her hair "Well then, shall we start running?"

"Hmm... I don't know... Maybe I always had it on me, but it never manifested until now... Who knows?" she said, gently placing her index finger on her cheek, wondering where that attitude of hers came from.
As Jaken rubbed her platinum hair, Kiara displayed a bright smile to him, giggling like a child. Even though all the chaos around her, the elf was somehow happy. Kiara had not lost her light, there was still hope in her, and while there is hope, there is a chance to eradicate all that darkness.
"Well... If this was not the end of the world, I would challenge you to a new race match. So, don't you dare die, because I want a rematch once this is all over. Oh, and this time, I will win!" she giggled one last time.
How could she be so happy and relaxed? Even when she was about to face a great danger, she was not afraid, in fact, she was serene. Why was that? What was the reason? She wondered while running behind Jaken. The reason was right in front of her. It was him. It was because she had the right person by her side during this dark time.

The elf kept following after the werewolf, trying her best to keep up with his pace. Sometimes she would need assistance to reach higher places or to jump to another building. This was taking her a lot of energy, the strength she had to use to climb all those high places, indeed her body was not used to all this effort. The extra strength she needed to put on her limbs to overcome those obstacles. But she kept running, the longer they took, the higher were the chances for them to get caught. Occasionally they would encounter a monster scouting the area, they would hide from it or put it down, before it would alert others.
So far so good, until the elf saw people's dark side. It was so wrong on so many levels. They were insane. It was scary of how a single moment of weakness and despair, could do to people's minds. Some couldn't accept the lost of their loved ones, inflicting pain on themselves, as a punishment for what was happening. Others seemed to just accept and even welcoming all that hell, enjoying themselves as if life had ended.
At those times, the spellsinger would turn her face, she couldn't face that fact. Most likely many of them would need help and therapy, and many others were beyond the point of return, been completely lost in their own minds. Would she had ended up like them if she was alone? She almost freaked out because of a single zombie, she couldn't even imagine what those people had seen to end up like that. Many didn't have the luck to have someone strong to help them, to tell that everything would be alright, that they were fine. Kiara was indeed grateful for having Jaken around

 

[Adriwolf]

People on the ground were going insane. Hell was walking the earth and people were somehow surrendering to it. Then again, the qustion popped, what would happen to all those people that have gone insane? What were their fates if all of this finishes? But right now, it was not the time to think about it. How could they think about the fate of others once this was over if they did not finished this in the first place. Sometimes monsters would spot them, maybe give a quick shriek but it was taken down by one of Jaken's bolts or Kiara's spells. They were almost an unstoppable force. Jummping buildings from buildings, vaulting over obstacles. In any other circumstances, this would have been a nice run, but no, they had to save Elbion and possible the realm of Arethil. What if Elbions was not the only place marked as target? The witch had said it: for her (the lady) world to be as it was, this one must be sacrificed. Elbion was just the beggining. Other times, monsters would climb to their location and attack them. They would always run and try to lose them or if it brought to much attention, they would just kill it and flee the scene as fast as possible.

They kept running through the buildings, they could see the college very close. The path they had to take was close to the college, so maybe they could stop there to get some rest, resupply and recruit others to stop this. However, they encountered a long jump between buildings. A far one, Jaken stopped dead on his tracks to analyze the scene.
"Should've also snatched the grappling hook." he clicked his tongue "I can't make it that far. Look for something we can use as plank. We can't use your magic, we need your maná for other situations." The duo looked around the roof they were on, trying to find something long and hard they could step on. There was a large plank Kiara found behind some boxes. It had the perfect measurement for them to cross through the gap. The werewolf ttok the plank and let it fall, great part of the plank made it to the other side, and there still was a good part of the plank on their side. However, when the plank reached the other building, it made a great noise, alerting enemies on the ground, who climbed instanly to the roof. They shrieked at the sight of them. There were a lot of monsters, Jaken made the call instantly. "Move!!" Jaken ordered "Go nice and easy. Don't look down." he told Kiara, he let Kiara go first. If they wanted to get out of this alive, there would only have to go one person on the plank, but this situation was dire. Jaken had to move or he would die. Jaken saw no other option than to jump onto the plank as well, following Kiara. But the monster seemed to know what was their plan. Instead of trying to catch up with them on the plank, the monsters decided to push the plank down. For every push, the duo lost balance. Eventually, the duo fell from the plank. Before falling, Jaken jumped to grab Kiara for her to have something to fall on. It was a two story fall. When the both of them crashed on the ground, Jaken let out a roar of pain. One of his legs found itself in a great amount pain. And his back was aching.
"FUCK!!!" he roared. He looked at his leg, it was broken "SHIT!! MY LEG!!!!" he groaned, struggling to stand up due to his broken leg and his aching back. He knew they had to keep moving, even though the mmonsters knocked them down, they would still hunt them down and kill them. Jaken struggled to even walk. "GET TO THE COLLEGE!!" he ordered "Run and fight them off, I'll be right behind you. I can still move, but not as fast as I can."

The werewolf limped behind the elf, shooting bolts at any near monster. Due to his condition, he would sometimes fail to shot. If not the head, it would land on the body, or miss the monster. Every step Jaken took with his right leg (the broken one) would make him groan, it stinged. But he could not give up. They were so close to shelter. Jaken increased his speed, but also his pain for every step. They ran and shot magic and bolts at every direction. Not only to monsters but to people who have become insane and started to kill anything that moves. The gates were in front of them. Jaken ordered Kiara to go ahead and inform that they needed shelter. Jaken had to tell her to sprint. This was the situation that required sprinting.

Jaken jumped inside the college just in time to avoid a giant insect trying to kill him. The insect crashed in the invisible barrier Jaken crashed back when they discovered the guard's dead body.

They were safe.

 

[Kiara]

Sometimes it was really frustrating for the spellsinger the fact that she couldn’t use her magic freely. She only sighed, looking around for something that would help them to cross over. After some seconds she found a plank that was big enough. But, as soon Jaken placed it, it made a great noise, alerting the monsters, who wasted no time, climbing at their location.

"Move!!" Jaken ordered "Go nice and easy. Don't look down."

The elf just obeyed, starting to cross over, Jaken was right behind her. Suddenly the plank moved, making them nearly lose their balance. The elf’s heart almost jumped out of her chest due the scare. Then another push, she looked at Jaken, seeing him jumping to catch her. Kiara tried to cast a wind spell to reduce the impact from the fall, but wind was not her main element. She didn’t cast it on time. Jaken crashed on the hard floor, roaring in pain. Kiara was rather fine, thanks to him, but the bounty hunter was wounded.
“Jaken!!!” The elf called in distress, analyzing his condition, while helping him to get up. Once he was up, she summoner her crystal staff, getting ready to fight off some monsters.

"GET TO THE COLLEGE!!" he ordered "Run and fight them off, I'll be right behind you. I can still move, but not as fast as I can."

For a second the elf hesitated. She wanted to help him by giving him some support, so he wouldn’t put his full weight on his injured leg, but that would mean she wouldn’t be able to keep the monsters away. In the end Kiara ran, starting to clean the path for them.
She summoner sharp ice shards, killing everything that moved and dared to cross their way. The shards would fly in every direction, like a rain of ice daggers, landing on monsters’ vital points, killing them. People were another matter, the elf would keep them away, but not killing them, she was not capable of doing that. Instead an ice dagger would land on their legs, making them slower. The spellsinger would frequently look back, not only to check if the werewolf was keeping up with her, but also to assist him in killing the monsters that were chasing after them.

Once both had reached the college, Kiara went ahead, trying to find someone to help her with Jaken’s wounds. As she ran through the yard a guard caught her by her wrist.
“Well, well. What do we have here?”
“What are you doing? Let me go! You are hurting me!”
Then someone caught the guard’s arm with enough force to make him grimace in pain. Forcing him to release the elf.
“What do you think you are doing? Don’t you dare to touch her!” Kiara knew this voice. It belonged to Hellius. The guard turned to the male elf.
“Professor Chronos! Sir, this one here is a prisoner that escaped from the dungeons a few days ago!”
“She is with me.” He simply said, giving a cold stare to the guard before releasing him.
“I… I will have to report this to the director, sir!”
“Do as you wish. I don’t care. But if you have a problem with her then you come to me first. Are we clear?”
The guard nodded while turning away, trying to find the headmaster to report the situation. The moment the guard left the scene, Hellius turned to Kiara.
“Kiara! What are you doing here? And why now? Are you hurt? Thanks to heavens that you are ok!”
“Hellius!!” the female elf launched herself to hug her guardian. “I was so scared when I heard that the college had sent reinforcement to fight. I’m so glad that you are ok too. Yes, I’m fine, but…” her eyes started to get teary “but... we fell and Jaken, he.. he is injured! Please help him.” Hellius couldn’t stand to see her like that. He released her from the hug.
“Tell me where he is, I will check on him. Meanwhile, go and find a nurse, let the medic staff know that we have a new injured coming that needs assistance.”
Kiara did as she was told, dashing inside the building, while Hellius went to the front gate, meeting Jaken.

As the male elf approached the werewolf, he had a stern look on his eyes, noticing Jaken's broken leg.
“Lift your shirt.” he ordered. Waiting for the bounty hunter to follow his command. The werewolf didn’t seem to be very happy for seeing him, but he reluctantly followed his instructions. Once he had lifted his shirt Hellius got closer, taking a good look at Jaken’s back, remembering what Kiara had said. Hellius could deduce that the werewolf took the fall, protecting the elf, since Kiara had no apparent injuries, on the other hand, Jaken was full of huge bruises. The male elf took a deep sigh, reaching for Jaken's back, touching it. The moment he did it Jaken growled in pain.
“You not only managed to break your leg, but also you have some broken ribs.” he said nothing more. Starting to chant a healing spell, healing most of the wounds, but something had changed. The way he looked at Jaken had changed, also his tone of voice, it was no longer in an ordering tone, it was somehow grateful.
“Before you thank me. I will warn you. Don’t do it. I’m the one that has to say it. I know that we didn’t start on the best way. But... Thank you, for bringing Kiara home safe and sound.” His features getting softer as he worked on the healing spell. “Also, I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I just wanted to protect Kiara. The world can be cruel and I didn’t know if I could trust you. I also know what happened to one of our students, Theodron. I read the report. I was afraid that the same would happen to her. Seems that I was wrong. I’m not expecting you to pretend that what I did it never happened, but I would like to have a new opportunity to start all over. I’m sorry, I judged you wrong. It was my mistake.” The elf said, ending the healing spell, getting up, giving his hand to help the bounty hunter to stand up.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken jumped into the college's safety. The pain on his body did not made the fall any smoother, it made it worst. If walking was already hard enough, feeling stings with every step he took and his back almost giving up on him as every second passed, the fall to reach safety felt like hell. He roared in pain for a second, then grunting. He tried to get up but his body couldn't react anymore. His body won over his mind, this had only happened 3 times in his WHOLE life. He got frustrated when his body wouldn't obey him. It could be a dire situation and his body would not safe itself because it was too exhausted. Not even a push up. His body was almost useless. But he was safe. The monsters were locked up outside, there was no way they could come in. He was ok. He layed his head down on the ground, agreeing with his body to give up. Laying on the ground, breathing heavily but slowly, regaining air for his system, his eyes closed, almost falling asleep. Y
They were safe. Him and Kiara. There were no worries. Unless..... Kiara..... would the guards still arrest her because of her escape a few daws ago? It was the end of the world, were they really going to arrest her? Right now? When injured people like Jaken were coming in from time to time? Would they really be that evil? He did not want to discover it. He looked up, ready to get up, but still his body wouldn't obey him. It took a lot of effort to even stand up. He limped a bit before leaning on a wall nearby. He saw something getting close to him. He identified the elf immediately: Hellius. That son of a bitch was getting closer to him. Jaken did not growled at his sight, but he frowned. After the shit he pulled last time he saw him, maybe it was not the best course of action for the elf to take.

“Lift your shirt.” he ordered.

"Got to hell, old man. I don't need your help, I can patch myself up." he replied, ignoring the elf, limping again before giving up on the ground. He got up again in a struggle, limping while leaning his left shoulder on the wall, but his legs wouldn't move anymore. He knew it wwasn't some type of spell Hellius would put on him, no, it was his body giving up on him again. He heard the elf repeat the order in a tone that was one of frustration due to the wolf being rude at him and by ignoring him. And Jaken hated that tone. Because he was right. Hellius was right. Whatever injuries he had would be visible if he lifted his shirt. He hated when people he despised were right. And this was another situation like those. He hated it. He connected eyes with Hellius, ONLY his eyes, his face was still looking in front of him while Hellius was on his right. He slowly went for his short and rised it. His back did not had the color of a normal, healthy back. His back was a black-purpled surface that would ache each time you would poke at it

“You not only managed to break your leg, but also you have some broken ribs.” he said nothing more. Starting to chant a healing spell, healing most of the wounds

And now he was healing him. He could feel the pain go away. This was worst. Not only Hellius was right, but he was now curing him. He was doing him a favor. Again!! This was not the first time he helped him, back when the lady poisoned him. Jaken did not even looked at Hellius as he chanted his spell. He kept looking forward as the magic made its work.

“Before you thank me. I will warn you. Don’t do it. I’m the one that has to say it. I know that we didn’t start on the best way. But... Thank you, for bringing Kiara home safe and sound.”

"After what you did back there? Paralyzing me and taking Kiara away? After the shit you pulled? I shouldn't even-" he stopped dead on his speech "Forget it." he gave up "It's not the time to fight about this. We've got bigger things to worry about right now. Water under the bridge."

“Also, I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I just wanted to protect Kiara. The world can be cruel and I didn’t know if I could trust you. I also know what happened to one of our students, Theodron. I read the report. I was afraid that the same would happen to her. Seems that I was wrong. I’m not expecting you to pretend that what I did it never happened, but I would like to have a new opportunity to start all over. I’m sorry, I judged you wrong. It was my mistake.” The elf said, ending the healing spell, getting up, giving his hand to help the bounty hunter to stand up.

Jaken did not say anything. He just said he wouldn't fight with him, what was the point on doing it now? It was not the time. He heard the elf and how he misjudged him. In any other circumstance, Jaken would have probably laughed at Hellius, seeing him apologizing to him. It was delightful, especially because he hated him. Well... used to hate him. Even though Jaken can be cold with most of people, he knew how to give second chances, no... a certain elf taught him about giving second chances. "Ok." he responded, accepting the elf's help, nodding "Let's start over." he rised his hand, waiting for a handshake "Jaken Larsten, werewolf and bounty hunter."

"Guess we deserve a second chance. I got mine..." he whispered, thinking on Kiara.... Kiara.... KIARA!! "KIARA!! Where is she? Is she ok? Will the guards arrest her??"

 

[Kiara]

For a moment Hellius got speechless, he was not expecting that Jaken would give him a new chance so fast. Finally reacting the elf reached for his hand, shaking it. "Hellius Chronos, Elemental Professor and Kiara's guardian."

"KIARA!! Where is she? Is she ok? Will the guards arrest her??"

"No, they will not dare, I already gave my warning, so relax she is fine. She went ahead to let the medical staff know about your arrival, you still need medic assistance, I only healed your bones, but you might have internal wounds, so better get moving, let's go, let me help you."

Kiara ran through the college hallways. It was frenetic, nurses and doctors were running from one side to another, healing and assisting people. Kiara could also see that the classrooms had been transformed into improvised infirmaries. Somehow, she managed to stop one nurse, explaining the situation. The nurse only told her to get the patient to the Potions classroom, that soon she also would be there with a doctor to give assistance. Kiara only nodded her head, before turning on her heels to return to Jaken and Hellius. On her way back, the elf found the bounty hunter leaned on her guardian, already coming in her direction. Kiara moved to Jaken’s other side, also helping him to walk, saying to both of them where to go.

When they finally arrived, the nurse and a doctor were already there, with everything prepared to receive Jaken. This classroom was no exception, Jaken was not the only injured there. While Jaken was being assisted by the doctor, Hellius called Kiara, taking her to the hallway.
“Darling, could you come and help me on the infirmary wing? There's lot of people needing healing, but the healers are exhausted, so now, we are taking turns, this way we have some time to regenerate some mana, and there will be always someone to assist with healing magic.”
The spellsinger couldn’t reject such a request. Jaken was in good hands. The elf only nodded her head, following after her guardian.

The infirmary wing was where the worst cases were. People with serious wounds, like missing limps, or deep and ugly cuts. Overprotective as he was, Hellius wouldn’t allow Kiara to come near or even see those poor souls, only giving her the cases that were already taken care of but still needed to receive healing to be stabilized or to stop bleeding from wounds that would reopen. Everything was at its limits, the healing magic was being saved for these worst cases, medic supplies were being carefully distributed, and all classrooms had now a new purpose. Everyone that had the ability to heal, nurses, doctors were constantly moving. The college guards and even students would assist by giving blankets or helping the medical staff, carrying everything that was needed.

Meanwhile, on the Potions classroom, the doctor had already checked up on Jaken, leaving the nurse do the rest of the job, applying some ointment and patch him up. By a coincidence, it was the same nurse that had assisted him when he had fallen from the clock tower.
“Mister Larsten , another fall, I see. If I recall correctly, the previous one was for one of our residents. So, for whom you took this one?” she asked, trying to make small talk. “You are lucky, you are not as bad as the last time, also none of your organs had been punctured, but you have a broken leg and 3 broken ribs, although someone already healed the broken bones. Cat’s fall on their feet, not werewolves, so try to be more careful.” the nurse said smiling.
“All done. I will order someone to bring you some painkillers, to make you feel more comfortable. Rest, your body needs it. Are we clear mister Larsten? I did not forget that the last time we had to sedate you, and right now we need it for worst cases. So please, behave yourself.” the nurse said in a playful tone, while getting up and leaving the room to attend others.

Twenty minutes had elapsed, and Kiara was not returned yet. But someone had come to see the bounty hunter. Indeed, it was a day full of coincidences. It was the same two students that had approached the werewolf on the cafeteria. The elf girl named Erica and her friend. The first one pulling the second by her arm, dragging her closer to the werewolf.
“Excuse us, but the nurse told us to give you this!” Erica said, giving a little push to her friend. “Come on you wanted to see him, and you didn't stop bothering me, until I accept coming here with you, so why are you stopping now!?”
“Don’t say that!” The other girl said before turning to Jaken. “Sorry for disturbing you, but the nurse asked us to bring to you these painkillers” she said, giving the pills to the werewolf, not even looking straight at him.
“What are you doing! First, you wouldn’t stop talking about how hot he is, and now that you have a chance, you can’t even face him! What is wrong with you!?”
“Erica! Shut up!” the girl was all flushed.
“What my friend really wants to say is that she missed you and she wanted to see you one more time. I think that she likes you!”
“Wha… Erica, I hate you!” the poor girl couldn’t take it anymore, grabbing Erica’s arm, pulling her elf friend while leaving the classroom. Indeed, it was quite a scene! The room was full, people were staring at what had just happened with curious eyes. One man even tried to encourage Jaken to pursue the girl.
“Come on man! Don’t let that cutie ran away! Go get her!” he said, moving closer to the werewolf, placing one arm around Jaken’s neck, lowering his voice to make the conversation more private.
“If you want, I can help you to get laid with that student, and if you are lucky enough, you can even have her elf friend! What do you say to that, em? All I ask in return is your help, so I can get my hands on that elf student that brought you here. Gosh, she is a good one to fuck! Do we have a deal, pal?” the man said, without any trace of shame in his eyes or voice.