Around Vereshin's neck, a crystal sent heat through the layers of his clothes, telling him by it's glow that the subject of his pursuit drew near. Trees disguised the road at either side, melding his silhouette with the shadows which they bore and that of the woman who walked ahead, her back now erased from sight. He stopped in his tracks and looked down at the impressions left by her bare feet. The light of the crystal waned the further she walked into the distance. Releasing his breath, which he had been holding for quite some time, Vereshin decided to wait until her presence activated the foci again. He allowed his attention to relax.
Picking up the crystal with the grip of two fingers, he craned his neck to watch the edges of the cut reflect what sunlight bore down on the desolate road. A man approached, disturbing the reflection of the white sky and sending the flashes on the crystal's surface into a flurry of imagery. Vereshin watched, his eyes fused to the patterns, only to draw away from the crystal along a series of slow seconds. He felt the object beat against his chest as he dropped it and looked up to face the man. An auburn beard hid his face in contrast to Vereshin's clean-shaven countenance, a face which the dark mage had been expecting.
"Any luck with your wards?" A question hinted with traces of insincerity. Vereshin's eyebrow rose as he supported Maho's talent as a mage, all the while making the suggestion that they allow those affected to speak to other young people in order to study the way in which the curse spread. "I followed her from her home and didn't see her speak to anybody." Shrugging, he glanced sideways at the road as he offered the little information which he had found. "For a moment there I got excited, but it was only you." Vereshin chuckled.
As the space between Maho and himself dispersed, Vereshin felt the crystal drop to a chill against his breast. He picked up the item again and rubbed a finger over the angles, almost in an attempt to warm it and somehow draw the woman back, although he knew he was simply falling for his own curiosity. As the crystal cooled, a breeze blew through the narrow space of the road, directed by the guard of the trees and drawing the two mages closer to where it had come from. Vereshin strained his eyes and gazed over the point on which Maho stood, repressing the urge to continue his search for the cursed woman.
"Come on, let's go and look for her." Tilting his head towards Maho, Vereshin gestured for the other mage to follow him. He allowed for a moment of pause so that Maho could consider their methods, then strode past him and walked in the direction which the woman the had taken.
The shadows concealed his form as he moved further away from Maho, until he stopped to look over his shoulder and made sure that Maho was following him. Sliding his hands into his shawl for warmth, Vereshin walked along the road and felt the jagged edges of the stones stick into his feet. A wooden fence stood in front of the trees and seemed to be in need of repair. Planks sat sideways, having fallen off their posts as citizens of the village had abandoned their homes over the past few months, leaving buildings to fray without maintenance. The trees became scarce and revealed a horizon shaped by hills.
As Vereshin followed the fence, he pierced the spaces between the trees with his gaze, keeping a look out for any signs of the woman, although the crystal remained cold. By the time they reached the end of the fence, the trees gave way to hills. Judging by the weight of the wind which blew through Vereshin's shawls, he realized that the hills fell off a cliff face close by. He did not need to rely on his foci to tell where the woman was going. At the end of the fence line, an old gate fell off it's hinges and swung in the wind. As they moved, the hinges split the wane of the breeze with creaks. They squealed, almost as though the gate was in pain.
"After you." Placing a hand over the edge of the gate, Vereshin offered a smile to Maho, a charming smile which conveyed a kinship despite their differing practices. He pulled the gate open and it creaked loudly enough to wake the woman from her trance. Pulling a face in dismay as he bared the sound, the dark mage left the gate to sway in the wind as he walked through and placed a foot on the grass.
With the shadows behind him, Vereshin beheld the hills as they rolled into the distance. The face of the cliff carried a fierce wind which shoved the grass over an angle and threatened to knock both Maho and himself off their feet. He placed a hand against his diaphragm and held down his shawl as the wind kicked up air around his torso. Shuddering, he grabbed his gloves from his belt and pulled them onto his hands, welcoming the feeling of warmth they brought. With Maho following behind, he left the stones on the road and walked onto the grass, maintaining his balance as the hill took on a slope.
Still holding down his shawl, Vereshin ran down the hill with a slight jog, stumbling every so often as the slope got the better of him. He ran to the where the hill ended and looked over his shoulder to see if Maho was doing the same, then walked up the slope on the other side. He pulled his legs as quickly as his slight frame could carry them and made his way to the top of the hill. Once he peeked through the grass which blanketed the curve, he could see the field span onto a flat plain, before it ended at the precipice of a cliff. As he stood on the top of the hill, he awaited Maho joining him and braved the wind, looking assuredly at the edge of the cliff.
"I have an inkling this is where she's headed." In a monotonous tone lacking any remorse or concern for the woman's well-being, Vereshin expressed his guess with sick anticipation. He continued to pull his legs up the hill and arrived on the plain, before following the wind to the edge of the cliff with Maho following his lead. The hills sloped and slid into low pits for the two mages to sit and Vereshin stopped at one not too far away from the cliff.
"Let's wait here, I'm sure she'll turn up soon." As he spoke, Vereshin felt the crystal heat against his chest and he looked down to see a feint glow emitted from the surface. His cheeks pulled backwards with a wicked smile and he flung his head around to look at the cliff, hoping for any sign of the woman. She was still nowhere to be seen. His excitement dropped and he let out a sigh, before tugging at the knees of his trousers and pulling them back as he sat on the grass. His brilliant eyes followed Maho's movements as he waited for him to join him.
"I wonder how the curse affects the way the victims perceive their surroundings before they die." Gazing up at the sky, Vereshin mused aloud as he pulled at the grass beside him. The wind dropped to a shrill pitch and whistled through the grass like a pan flute. Vereshin did not mention that he would have liked to replicate his own version of the curse, which remained his intention behind studying the properties and how they worked. "I hope the settlement is paying you well." With a coy rise in his smile, Vereshin winked at Maho as he expressed his support.
"Is the college of Elbion aware? Or has it all been very hush-hush?" His friendly tone dropped to a serious note. He wondered whether the officials had informed the arcane institutes regarding the spread of the curse in the region, or if they were going out of their way to keep the matter a secret, to protect the reputation of the community, he assumed. A pause followed and Vereshin rose to his feet. He walked over to Maho and bent down, before leaning into towards the face of the other mage.
"You can't tell anybody that I'm helping you." He uttered with a hint of warning in his voice. "The college might expel you if they find out that you're working with a dark mage." Looking over his shoulder to check and see if anybody was watching, which was highly unlikely given that the field was deserted, Vereshin turned his head back around to face Maho. "The officials can arrest me for all I care. You can't break the curse without dark magic." He turned his head around viciously and spat on the grass as he mentioned the law.
As Vereshin's knees remained bent, the crystal around his neck hung forward and dangled in the air. Before he could speak again, the foci glowed a deep red and illuminated the hue of the grass. The heat traveled through the fabric on his chest and brought his eyes downward, where he saw the glow. Holding his breath, Vereshin grabbed the crystal and licked his lips. He shot upwards and stood upright, craning his head over the hills for the subject of his study. Beyond the mounds which covered his view of the cliff, wisps of hair hovered on the wind and stood out in contrast against the sky. When he walked to the top of the hill, Vereshin saw a woman standing perfectly still, her movements cast in stone, displaying no other motion than that of a filthy cotehardie which flapped in the wind.
"Don't move." The dark mage ordered Maho in a tone which could passed for a threat. He held out an arm in front of the other man, his fingers twitching in anticipation as he stared, fixated on the face of the woman. Vereshin knew that Maho desired to save the woman so that he could cleanse her of the curse's hold. He did not care. Although removing the curse from each victim at a time saved their lives, it made no progress towards uncovering the source, which was what interested Vereshin the most. The woman stared back at the two men, both of her eyes entirely black. Her bottom lip hung open as she sucked in dry air, her arms hanging limp by her side.
Placing one foot in front of the other, Vereshin pulled his hand away from Maho and reached out to the woman. She did not appear to notice. He walked towards her, each second drawn out by her strained breaths and placed each eye on her forehead, never taking his gaze away from her face. As he walked closer, she began to turn her head. By the time he stood in front of her, the level of her face pierced his chest and showed no sign of conscience, making him doubt that she was in any way aware. Creasing his brow in confusion, he wracked questions in his brain as he waved a hand in front of her eyes in an attempt to trigger some kind of response. She opened her mouth and spoke.
"The Void is benign." The sentence dropped with more weight than her breath could carry. Vereshin's eyes widened as he thought about what the words meant. He felt Maho's presence by his side, although he remained too focused on the woman to notice. As she turned around and walked towards the edge of the cliff, Vereshin did nothing. The wind picked up and carried her hair over the precipice. She stepped onto the rocks and walked over the edge without any theatrics. A crunch, muted by the wind, split the horizon as her bones shattered on the ground below.
Maho Spahawk
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