Private Tales Somnum Exterreri (the Nightmare's)

[Gurnam]

Gurnam strode forth into the spruce forest in the mountains. He had no real idea where on the continent this was located, he had ceased to keep track since it has been slowing him down in his tracking the coven that had been terrorising the continent with nightmares that many never woke up from.

Using his more unique form of magic, one based on six elements, earth, air, fire, water, light and dark, he sent his awareness around throughout the forest, the trees and the earth giving him their "ears" for him to hear through. His consciousness faded into something broader, sleepier, but far stronger and larger than he was capable of on his own. He dealt the breath of the earth, the long, slow and continuous inhale and exhale of the earth and trees. The way that the running deer tickled the earth a few miles to the southeast, the way that the earth was slowly shifting in its eternal slumber, and how a spot of earth it he'd furiously at the presence of dark magic. There they were.

He sprang away, taking strength from the earth beneath his feet to add speed to his steps. He couldn't reach the speed of elves, but with the help of the earth he could come close and stay that way for a long while.

 

[Sera Isoletta]

The hooves of her mare trod lightly on the forest for as she rode through the spruce forest. It’s distinctive crispness breathed through the air.
She had heard word of a band of brigands come to terrorize the area, not far from the bounds of her family’s estate. Yet even as she rode on, she could feel something was off. Something strange and menacing. Her sense of what it was couldn’t be defined, but perhaps there was something here beyond merely brigands. Isoletta slung the shield from her back and strapped it to her arm, loosening the sword in its sheath. She would be ready for what was to come.

 

[Gurnam]

He would hardly notice the mounted elf that he passed with near-elven swiftness. It wasn't quite there, but fast enough that no-one would think he was human. And with his hood pulled up and his body protected by toughened leather one might just think he was an elf, despite having no such blood in him. His target was the coven of Nightmares (as he had come to call them) that was two score and one hundred metres ahead of him, and as the sun sank to the horizon, he felt his enemy begin their dark rites.

 

[Gurnam]

( Sera Isoletta )

 

[Sera Isoletta]

Isoletta pulled back on the reins of her horse as a cloaked and hooded figure drove past her, moving faster than most humans, but it lacked the grace and movement of the Elves. Something else? A Half-Elf? Whatever it was hadn't noticed her, which was odd. It was, after all, quite difficult to miss a mounted rider wearing armor and carrying a lance. Perhaps it was very focused on something?

She nudged her horse forward, keeping an even distance behind this figure, whatever it was. Dark magic surged through the area her horse snorted in shock as it too felt the darkness. The young knight clicked her tongue and the horse broke into a canter while Isoletta seated her lance more carefully and lifted the tip.

Granted, wizards and mages could be dangerous, but they didn't usually have the instinctive responses to someone riding down at them with a lance. Hopefully she could catch one or two by surprise and shatter the concentration they were using on the magic.

 

[Gurnam]

The mounted elf would find the hooded figure perched on a tall outcropping of rock, overlooking a small clearing. In said clearing, numerous figures in black robes with a red hand emblazoned on their chests and backs. None of their faces could be seen because of their silver masks, but they were chanting in some magical language, likely one of the many forbidden magics. They were arranged in a very clear but odd pattern. It was in some sort of shape, but not a shape that either of them would recognise. So Gurnam observed the Nightmares do their work, trying to formulate a strategy to put an end to them, he still knew nothing of the elven knight behind him.

 

[Sera Isoletta]

The horse reined in of its own free will as she rode up behind the figure, who still failed to notice her. That was odd. Even the most absent-minded should have picked up on the fact that a mounted rider in plate armor was behind them. Unless there was something else with his attention?

Her gaze moved to the figures in the pattern. Not that she recognized them, but she could feel the evil in their magic raising the hair along her arms. Isoletta lowered the lance and rested it in its position, couching it against the brace. "I know not who you are," she said, "But I am going to disrupt their pattern and chanting. Do as you will."

With that, she lowered the visor of her helm and spurred the horse forward, lance couched against her and shield raised as she urged her mount into a gallop to barrel down on the mages.

Gurnam

 

[Gurnam]

When he heard her voice he turned around, noticing her for the first time. When she announced her intentions, he immediately knew that it would end badly for all of them. He said in a loud whisper, "no stop! You don't know what you are doing. Interrupting a spell with the amount of magic this has will most certainly have undesirable and dire consequences. If you ride in now you could be killed or worse! Wait, and be patient, they aren't going to disappear immediately after this is done, wait just a little while longer, and then you will have an opportunity. Something like this will leave them drained and weak, and you won't be in danger of any unforeseen rebounds. I'm here for them too, but trust me when I say that if you go in now, you will do more harm than good."

Sera Isoletta