Private Tales The Vicar of Suffering

[Luc]

"A task...." He fired back, tone holding a edge he didn't mean to place but couldn't help given the circumstances. He had parted from Trajan, words that once the did had been completed his part in this... Their part in this would come to a end. Promises were paper thin however.

"Nayella... I..." He searched for the right words to use. "You... You nearly killed us." The thought crossed his mind before he could fire off his own apology and he was stuck between actually being mad and wanting to laugh of the absurdness of it all. "That was how you were going to rescue me? By bringing a barn down on me... Y..." Then another thought crossed his mind. What if she had no designs to rescue him. Nayella was a survivor... like him. "You were trying to kill me... To stop me about.. Telling anyone about you?" He questioned.

The Blight Witch had been hunted as well and surviving was everything no matter what the cost, he knew this to be the truest rule they had to obey if they wanted to live another day.

"The people in the barn back there that you dropped on my head... They asked for my help you see, else my Master.. They will... I've done so much to her already... I can't let them hurt her... So I'm going to Elbion... You don't have to worry, no one will know I ever came across you." He took a step to move passed her and stopped.

"An entire barn..." He turned to allow those bright blue eyes to fall upon her. "I don't blame you... We fight... We survive.. it's what we do... I know what you see when you look at me... A tool... Sure... I'm clumsy... I'm still learning... But I'd never betray you... I could have been useful to you..."

And with that he began to walk off again, believing he knew how the intention behind her actions as he carried Anima off. He'd have to find a small shelter to take care of her, but more importantly he needed distance.

 

[Nayella]

A frown touched the Blight Witch's lips.

She had never considered that Luc would have betrayed her. Not because she trusted him, no, there was never any trust, but because she had simply not thought him capable.

He was a survivor, true, but not a cruel one.

Nayella had known people like him before, had met them and watched them burn. She was a cynical person, as much as anyone could be, but even the hatred that sat at her very core could recognize the intent that lay behind Luc's eyes. Her gaze shifted for a brief moment, lips thinning as she looked back at Luc.

For a moment she stared, then glanced back towards the farmhouse.

She watched figures stand outside it, wander through the muck and debris.

The pale green around her fingers sparked brighter for just one brief moment, a soft pulse of magic ringing out through the rot that had now taken most of the field. She applied the slightest bit of pressure, and spread the blight to what little of the farmhouse remained standing.

As soon as she felt her work set in the Blight Witch turned and followed Luc without a word.

 

[VigiloConfido]

A woman. Approaching them as they were approaching her. From the dead field. An odd appearance. A spark of curiosity.

Another flood of pain broke through. And her eyes clenched shut, and she laughed through her closed mouth and throat. A muffled sound.

And Luc was angry with her. This Nayella. She could almost feel it. Taste it. His anger. But the pain clouded her senses. Demanded her attention on and off again.

It was her. Nayella. Who had rotted the wood of the house and collapsed it. A shrewd move. Lacking remorse. She must have died long ago. Given in. Sister. Welcome.

Who remembered her? Before she became what she is now?

Luc sounded hurt. Betrayed. Was it him? The white star to her black?

Anima wanted to see him. So she dared open her eyes.

There. Look at those blue eyes. Those deep blue eyes. His handsome face. The crow on top of his head.

Her eyes twitched. Her lips. And her body tensed. White hot agony renewed from it.

The crow called. A baleful noise. The herald of the long dead. Its head jerked around in that sudden and precise way of birds. Looking here. Looking there. Looking straight down at Anima. The crow called again. Speaking a truth she had long known. Yes, she had already died. And she was in the company of the dead, Nayella, and the soon-to-be, Luc. It comes for you. Slowly. Patiently. And then suddenly. And the crow called once more. But it never finished. Its upper and lower beak began to peel back. Its eyes bulging. Its very mouth turning inside out, choking grotesquely on the sound of its own caw. Bone and muscle snapping and tearing. And dark fingers, long and slender like a spider's legs, began to crawl up and out from the crow's exposed throat. A whole hand. An forearm. An elbow. And the palm of the hand slowly descended down to cover Anima's face, fingers wrapping all the way around her head. Smothering her.

She couldn't breathe.

Couldn't see.

But she could--

Listen.

And she fainted in Luc's arms after a quick, sudden, and violent thrashing. Her eyes rolling up into the back of her head after a long, fearful, and ragged inhalation.

There was no crow. There was never any crow.

* * * * *​

Trajan found him. Walter. Buried under a collapsed wall with a spike of wood driven through his right leg, but otherwise alright. He extended his left hand out to him.

"He's here, Kha!" he called to the same. And then, to Walter, "I'm sorry this happened to you. Take my hand."

"I probably had it coming," Walter said. And he took Trajan's hand and grimaced and gave a shout of pain as he pulled back up and onto his feet.

Just as the floor beneath them began to groan and creak.

"The foundation!" Claire shouted.

"Everybody off! Now!" Trajan called.

Trajan all but threw the injured Walter to the safety of solid earth as the others searching the ruins leaped for the same. An intense snapping like a tree finally felled by a woodsman, and a great fracture split the thick foundation boards of the farmhouse in two. And the two halves dropped down, forming a jagged 'V' as all the debris and broken wood from the first collapse slid toward the center. Trajan barely had time to thrust the head of the Emblazoned Sun into his left hand.

And his very skin turned to iron. Just as he fell back with into the pit of the 'V' with the rest of the farmhouse. Parts of wall and roof and a table and the whole of the farmer's bed pinned his metal body in. A moment of stillness, and then the 'V' itself collapsed under its own weight and its sapped strength. Hundreds of broken and mangled pieces of structure, furniture, and everything else that once made up the farmhouse all fell with a great clatter into the pit of the basement. There was a stifled scream, suddenly cut short.

And Trajan winced, though he felt no physical pain. A colossal mess. An utter catastrophe. The girl's magic was potent. He expected as much from the daughter of Khorvayne. It even seemed to have left a wake of decay and death in the field of grass nearby, mostly in the direction Luc had gone with her, last Trajan saw. Now, he could only pray that the strength of Luc's humanity might awaken Anima's own, and call her back from the depths of her madness and set her back onto a path of righteousness. Truly, half-bloods had a great and difficult struggle that Trajan would never know, but could only imagine.

He lay on his back for a moment, mostly on top of the farmhouse's remains, staring up at the clouded sky and the rain coming down. His metal head resting directly on a sharp spike of wood. If he was a bit slower, a bit older, it would have been the end.

And a flash of lightning streaked across the clouds. Purple and dangerous.

"Trajan!" Kha leaned over the edge of the exposed basement. Claire standing beside her. A bowmen to her other side.

"I'm alright," he said. Forcing his body, made much heavier by the spell, to stand back up. "Who was that? I heard a scream."

"We lost one," said the bowmen. And he shrugged. "Bigger share for the rest of us, I suppose."

Trajan scoffed to himself. Mercenaries.

He waited until his spell faded and his skin changed back to normal. Then he tossed his warhammer up to Kha and carefully climbed out of the pit of the basement and back onto wet grass and dirt. She handed his hammer back to him, and he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I will stay and take care of things here," he said. "This is your operari, Kha. This is your moment to shine. Take Claire and make haste to Elbion. Both of you deserve to be there when the door opens."

Kha nodded vigorously. "Yes, Trajan. I'll be there. Promptly and on-time."

He smiled. Said, "Never given."

And both Kha and Claire said in reply, "Always earned!"

 

[Luc]

Luc was about to speak once more when the woman in his arms began to thrash, lost in the thralls of a spasm before falling silent. She must have been in so much pain. He hurried his step, determined to put more distance between them and their.. Captives? Partners? He wasn't sure of how to refer to them, he was just keenly aware he made a deal with a devil. And this got Luc thinking about the company he now kept. The Blight Witch was definitely an interesting companion. He felt a level of guilt for snapping at Nayella and wanted to apologize, yet didn't. She did bring a barn down upon him... So a quick apology was not happening. Though still angered, he didn't question her as she followed, only continued onward.

Sometime later Luc marched them through a thicket and into a small clearing, pausing to allow those blue eyes to survey there campground. Satisfied they would be set, he slowly placed Anima down, sparing a moment to touch her brow and feel her temperature before standing upright. "Mind her a moment." Luc instructed Nayella before hurrying back tot he woods they just walked through.

It would take Luc a few moments to gather the material he needed as he thankfully was looking as they passed through. "I need you to burn this.. I need the ash." The half elf instructed the Blight Witch as he handed her a bundle of sticks. While she saw to that, Luc would busy himself with collecting herbs for making a salve. "Nayella... You don't have to come." He finally spoke up. "You're being hunted just like I am... I can't expect you to go to Elbion of all places."

 

[Nayella]

She watched the woman in silence, and for a few seconds considered killing her.

The impulse was in truth just a simple amount of spite. Whatever the boy now needed to do had derailed her own plans, and this woman was obviously a part of that. Yet something stopped her from going forward with that, stopped her from taking the next step forward.

Nayella wasn't entirely sure what.

Killing had never been an issue for her before, even when it was out of the most petty reasons.

Still, she did not act on her impulse and simply waited for Luc to return. Blinking slightly when he gave her an order. Lips thinned, and for a brief second she considered slapping him. After letting it lull though she simply turned and went to start a fire, something that took her no time at all.

When Luc spoke a second time Nayella remained silent.

Return to Elbion? Madness.

Not now when she only had a single piece of her plan, not now when she needed so much more.

The thoughts ran through her mind, and with them came a sudden spike of pain. She winced, a sharp needle driving into her skull and a sudden hiss escaping her throat. Her hand flinched to the crown, and slowly she shook her head. "Perhaps it's time to see what's changed."

Cryptic, but when had she not been?

 

[VigiloConfido]

Anima twitched. And her eyes opened.

She was lying down in the grass. Light rain falling down onto her face and her armor. The cloth of her pants and undershirt already soaked. The tops of trees ringing the very edges of her vision. Gray clouds above. And a low and rolling thunder.

And she laughed. The pain, throbbing and pulsing back into existence in her shoulder. She rolled over onto her side, slowly and delicately, raising her injured side up and relieving the pressure.

And she shivered. The heat of the world hardly bothered her. Where others sweat and strained, she moved unhindered. Comfortable. Even the orange-hot metal of a blade touched to her skin brought less pain than the arrow in her shoulder now, and made for an effective way of sealing a wound. But the cold. The cold was insidious. It crept under her skin easily, sapping her strength without effort, leaving her a quivering mess in short time.

There. The woman. Nayella. The one Luc knew. The one with the blue and black horns in her head. And where had Luc gone? How much time had passed?

"Sister..." she said.

Then Anima heard him. Talking to Nayella. His words making her none too happy. But she got the fire going, despite the damp wood and the light rain.

Anima clenched her teeth and and her eyes and carefully pushed herself up and into a seated position, alternating bursts of white and red behind her eyes. Another quiet laugh. And an awareness of a numbing and a tingling of her right arm. An orgasmic shuddering. Lips and chin trembling with cold and delight.

Breaths. In and out. Steady. And she opened her eyes. Looked to Luc.

Her voice only just louder than the rain. "You saw it, didn't you? There, in that room. Those dark hands. Reaching for you. Your very heart. And you turned away. You've strength yet, don't you?" She winced and grinned. Her left hand coming up to gently grace the bloodied arrowhead poking out the front of her armor. "Cherish it. Your heart. Before you see what's truly in it. Your own dying of the light. The bleeding away of innocence."

A panting and a recomposing of herself. Blood and rain on her fingers. "But you've nothing to fear, Luc. You will be remembered. And your good soul will live on."

 

[Luc]

"... Speaks in riddles this one." Luc sighed as he returned to her side and took a knee. "Thank you..." His words to Nayella were clipped as he risked a glance in her direction. He was aware how his actions could earn her err but took the risk any way and was thankful to see she would help out.

Bracing Anima with a steady hand upon her back, he tried his best to hold her still as he took the gathered herbs and stuffed them into his mouth. His sense of taste was assaulted by a gauntlet of over powering flavors, all fighting for control as to which one would taste the most foul. He plowed forward, jaw hard at work as he chewed the herbs into a fine wad he compacted on the side of his mouth before adding more.

Satisfied with the amount he now had, he continued to chew, pausing to spit every so often though cautious not to release to much as it would be needed soon enough. Grabbing one of the sticks, he began poking about the small fire, brushing over the parts of wood that around turned to ash to expose fresh embers. He did this for sometime, collecting the ash as neatly as possible to one side he abandoned the stick and look to Anima with those bright blue eyes. She spoke of him being a good man... He wondered if she would hold true to these thoughts as he unexpectedly too the length of the arrow protruding fro her shoulder and snapped it before his hand that hand braced her back moved to the other side to yank the arrow free.

Blushed gushed oozed out from the suddenness of the action but Luc paid little mind to her reaction as he removed the wad from his mouth, fingers glazed with her own blood smearing across his fair face. The wad was split into two with each side of her wound, entry and exit, being plugged with the pungent concoction. He then fought against her as he took the ash and rubbed it into the wound. The ordeal was done in moments that possible stretched on longer for her given the amount of pain she should have felt. Grabbing at the cotton shirt he had on, he clawed as it until a strip was ripped off and he used that to bandaged her wound. It was practical but a messing endeavor nonetheless as field craft often was.

And at this point was where it hit him and he twisted from the pair and vomited onto the wet grass, body convulsion witch each heave until he stomach was empty. Hopefully now, the worse had passed.

 

[Nayella]

Nayella said nothing as she watched Luc empty his stomach, her gaze slowly flicking between the young mage and the companion that he'd brought on this little quest.

In truth she did not know what she was doing here.

Long ago the Blight Witch had accepted that certain things were simply beyond her control. She'd been sent off from her home as a sacrifice to Elbion, brought up in the way of mages, and her attempt to break free of them had seen her apply only another shackle.

The crown was more forgiving than Elbion had been. It granted her power, a method to gain more when she needed it. Nayella understood her relationship with the artifact was symbiotic, that it needed her as much as she needed it, but the Witch had no idea why it wanted to tag along with Luc.

Especially if it meant returning to Elbion.

Something was going on that she did not quite understand. "Who were those men?"

Perhaps it would be best for the boy to explain himself, why he needed to return to Elbion. It might give her a clue as to why the artifact wanted to return as well.

 

[VigiloConfido]

His hand. The light pressure of it, felt through her armor and undershirt. A closeness partitioned, much like pressing hands together on the opposite sides of a window pane. There, yet not quite. But they were closer now than any physical touch, weren't they? Their intimacy the shared burden, the task at hand, the sword dangling above each of their heads. Circumstance had spilled the blood of their lives into the same bowl. Mixed it. And offered it to Elbion. The city which threatened to crush the both of them under the weight of the past.

The difference: Fear drove Anima. But something else drove Luc.

Something concerning Lady Eneer.

She watched him. Watched him poking at the struggling fire and gathering the ash. Met his eyes when he looked at her.

What could it be about Lady Eneer?

And Luc snapped off the front end of the arrow and then removed the back end. A glaring pain, a gasp, a convulsion of her whole body, a streak of lightning across the sky to match the one flowing down from her wound to her feet. Her eyes, momentarily losing focus, seeking refuge under the lids and finding none. She pinched them shut. Opened them slowly. Everything coming back.

She laughed. Soft and breathless. A quiver of pleasure born from the pain worked its way down her neck, her body, her arms, her hands, her clenched and rolled up fingers. Nails digging into her palms. A rush of pink in her cheeks.

The pain. Life itself, undistilled. And you are still here, aren't you?

Luc's own remedy, the wad of chewed herb. She'd not heard of it or seen it before, but she'd had no occasion to learn of it until now. A forceful pressing of the ash into the wound. Fitting. The ash. The inevitable state of a thing in ruin.

And he bandaged her. Even used a piece of his own shirt to do so. She reached up with her left hand as he did so. Stole a touch. The tips of her bloody fingers against his hand as he wrapped the bandage. A weak and fleeting gesture. And she looked up at him. Smiled.

But he moved away. Vomited. Yes, he was a good man yet. He still had some innocence, some purity yet to lose, for the spoils of violence--the predatory callousness and inhumanity of the world--still affected him so. The numbing one of many signs of a blackened heart. And she had long since been numb to it. Alive in body. Dead in spirit.

Anima slid a bit closer to Luc and put her hand on his back. A mirror of earlier.

"You are appreciated, Luc."

And she rubbed her hand up and down his back. Gently as his body shook and until he was done and could do it no more. Then her hand glided up his back and her thumb and forefinger pinched the string of one of the pendants around his neck. She carefully lifted it and removed it.

She said, "And you are not alone. Your fate is shared. And is it not a sweet thing? To suffer together?"

She sat back down on her heels. Dipped her head forward. And placed the pendant around her neck. Like a ritual. Drawing them closer to one another. Binding them.

A glance back at Nayella. A question from her, directed at Luc. Anima turned her head back to him. Eyes tracking his every movement.

Watching him.

With a smile.

 

[Luc]

He was... Appreciated. Words he not heard often, dare he believed never. Foreign... Alien... So very much welcomed. As was her touch, a discovery he came to know as startling. They were bound by some odd twist of fate, that much he was able to recognized. What he failed to see is how he welcomed it. He went out of his way to aid her... To care for her. Some stranger he hardly knew. Yet she was known to him. He felt that to be true... And so it had to be, right?

Stomach empty, he recovered just after the second pendant was lifted from his next and came to shakily raise upon unsure legs. He was just now realizing how much carrying her took form him and silently chastised himself for becoming so weak. Lady Eneer trained him to be a fighter, someone to blend both fist and magic... and here was, winded. He shrugged the thought off and focused on a matter of greater importance.

"We have been made to deliver one of these two pendants to someone in Elbion... Once that is over with, our role in their plot is over with... I haven't a clue who THEY are, just that they mean to do something." He answered Nayella, a almost apologetic tone in his voice for having gotten her involved. "But.. She knows..." His blue eyes now fell upon Anima. "Can you shed some light?" He questioned next, hoping she would be able to tell him even the smallest bit of information regarding the people they just departed from. He needn't to know who he was helping for the soul reason that one day, he might not be helping but rather dealing with them in a far different nature. That's if he even survived that long. Something told him the trip back to Elbion would by no means be an easy one.

 

[Nayella]

"Plot?" She parroted, aze flickering towards the pendants that Luc pointed out.

Curiosity bloomed in her chest.

Was it a type of artifact? A signalling agent perhaps? She sensed no magic from them, not now, though that hardly meant it wasn't there. She was no College Master, and the Crown was but a font for one discipline; that of rot. A frown touched the Witches face and her gaze turned towards the woman.

She stared at Anima expectantly.

The journey to Elbion would not be an easy one, and even as she waited for the girl to answer Nayella began to plot out half a dozen different ways they could reach the city.

Both she and Luc were fugitives, and this new girl likely had her own issues. They would have to dodge patrols, mage-hunters, and bounty hunters. Things would not be easy, especially the closer they got to the College. Once they were inside of the city...she had a few contacts, but she doubted they would help her now.

Not after what she'd done.

 

[VigiloConfido]

She stood up as Luc stood up. An imperfect mirror. Her movement a close approximation to his.

The pain was still there, but less so now. Dying embers and a dull throbbing as opposed to a raging inferno and an intense stabbing. The slow release of it, the fluttering away of agony; a pleasure in the inverse. A kind of relaxing, a loosening of savory tension. Coming down from a high. Easing back into normalcy.

Luc's legs shook. As did Anima's arms. Her neck. A closing of her eyes and a slight twist of her head and a slow...slow and steady sigh. The air gone from her chest, she opened her eyes again. Looking into Luc's own as he spoke to Nayella.

Would he have done such a thing for Nayella? Had she been injured in the same manner and circumstance? She yearned to know. To bask in the heights of Luc and the depths of Nayella. But Luc was a man of few words. Nayella a woman of fewer. Luc a door ajar, Nayella a door locked.

And Anima stood outside them. Wanting them, Luc especially, to invite her in. To allow a partaking of them.

A chance for her to see them. Know them.

It would be a long journey to Elbion, wouldn't it? Time enough, perhaps.

And Luc looked to her now. Can you shed some light?

Anima nodded. Thought back. Thought back. And for a long moment, said nothing, as her eyes drifted up and away, searching for spectres of the past as if they were birds gliding across the stormy skies. The occasional furrowing of her brow. Phantom, soundless words on her lips. And in that long moment, she seemed elsewhere. Body in one world, mind in another.

And she said, "You've seen him before, haven't you? He spoke with Mother. One of several such times. And you listened. As you wanted to. Heard him say that Mother could make a difference. For her to forget the College. To come to Vel Anir. To share what she had learned of the dark arts with the rest of humanity. He said the College would cast her out if ever they learned what..."

She closed her eyes. Squeezed them shut. "'We don't talk about what happened to her. We never talk about what happened to her.'"

Anima opened her eyes. Not looking at Luc's face. At the top of his head. As if there was something perched there. A mounting horror and a shrinking of her voice. "There's something in Elbion, isn't there? Something you fear. It...sees you. It knows you. And it waits for you."

Her eyes dropped down slowly. From the top of Luc's head and down the side and rolling over the crest of his shoulder and slithering down his chest and stopping at the center. Piercing through his skin and bone. And she stared. A visage of calm bliss slowly becoming her.

Until she blinked. And blinked a few more times. Eyes back in focus. How much time had passed?

A glance to Nayella. A glance back to Luc. The rain light and steady.

A question, asked as if she had said nothing over the past couple of minutes. "Who is Lady Eneer?"

 

[Luc]

Shedding light on the matter didn't seem to help much as Luc came to find the woman before him as much as an enigma as the situation he was now involved with. He felt uneasy as she looked to him... Past him.. Into him? Her gaze was met with an confused expression and he rlisten to her words and Luc felt as if she bore into his very soul, causing the blue eyed half elf to shift about nervously. Could she see what he wore around his neck. The pendant he carried that he didn't even share with Nayella? And then she was asking about Eneer.

His attention returned to her and all he could do is offer a sad smile. "Someone I dread seeing under such circumstances... Come... We should make haste." He said moving on.

He didn't want to touch bout the relationship with his former Master... The one who took him in and taught him everything. The one he wronged, at least upon the surface. In truth he stole from her to protect her. To protect her career. To protect her image. And to protect her vision. He day dreamed about their reunion... About how he would be able to tell her the reason behind his actions. Explain the whole story to her. But now he found himself nervous at the prospect of such a meeting. Would she believe his story? It didn't help any that they were going to Elbion to possibly cause a scene. Shoulders slumped, he looked to this two travel companions and mimicking the rain that fell, choose to wash his mind clean at that moment.

"We have much ground to cover..."

 

[Nayella]

The Witch clicked her tongue. "That hardly answers any questions."

She made the comment to both of them.

Mention of Vel Anir piqued her interest thought, mainly because of what she knew the city possessed. It was inherently different than Elbion, more dangerous for it's own reasons. Mages there did not shy away from the darker aspects of their craft.

Dreadlord's they called them, the mages of Vel Anir. Men and women who by all accounts were crafted as living weapons nearly from birth. Nayella knew the danger that they presented, but also the power that they possessed. Were they somehow related to the girl? To Luc?

She mused.

No, it didn't seem that way, at least not directly.

For a brief moment the Witch thought about pressing the issue, but after a few seconds she simply turned away and nodded. There would be time enough draw forth what she needed.

 

[VigiloConfido]

Her expression softened when he answered. His smile, a poor mask. An infectious sorrow, even if he only offered a meager portion. But it was a start. Like the first light of day, separating out the shadows from the encompassing darkness of night, giving them a nascent form.

Yes. She would need it. Every piece he was willing to give. It would have been preferable to bask in Nayella too, to draw from them both, but the woman's stoicism made it difficult. The locked door. And so she went with the door ajar, peering in, for she could not force it open. It had to open on its own. And invite her in.

And she felt it too. That dread. Of what awaited in Elbion. A city forbidden to all three of them, yet the city two of them were compelled to enter. And she needed not to see Luc's wan smile, hear his words, to feel it, for that dread welled up from the heart in her chest and leaked up from her throat into her mouth. A sickening taste, like milk on the verge of souring.

But the time for fear would come. Now, they just had to get there. To perform their task for the man from before.

His name...his name...

She pinched her eyes shut again. Pushed away the past. Lest it consume her again.

And she trotted after Luc. The first steps of a long journey. Dull throbbing in her injured shoulder.

A vain effort. To attempt to push it away. For the past pushed back. And she had to say something.

Her voice quiet. Confessional. "You wish it wasn't your fault. You do. But you allowed it to happen, didn't you? And you still see her face. After all this time. And you fear it."

His name...

Her name...

Both forgotten. Each for a different reason.

And she walked with Luc and Nayella.

 

[Luc]

"I fear her opinion on me... The look of disapproval on her face.. I was but a gutter rat but she saw past that... Saw the potential... I allowed it to happen by not speaking up. Maybe I could have fought by speaking my part instead of being labeled as thief. I thought if I endured the taunting of my peers I would somehow prove myself their better. By not allowing their words to get the best of me I would prove that I was every bit as good as they were and worthy of my spot in the college. Pride blinded me to the harsh truth that envy is a powerful opponent... I'm not going to make the same mistakes... I'll complete this task and buy my freedom from Elbion. I'll put the past behind me and look to what ever path my future presents..."

The words served to convince him he was ready for this moment and he truly wanted to believe such. Looking to Anima and then Nayella, he was sure between the three of them they could endure the road ahead. With Nayella's guidance, he was sure they could evade capture and so he would rely on her skills on the matter. For Anima, he was sure with time, he could find a use for her as well given enough time to ponder. Convinced the wouldn't woman was well enough to travel, and being that the Blight Witch did not seem to want to part ways, it appeared they had a proper, albeit odd, party.

"Off we go... Nayella, could you guide us please..." He asked with reluctance. He had looked to her for guidance as she lead him away, but now that they were heading to Elbion, their roles seemed slightly reversed. "The man who took us spoke of a town with a healer... I'd rather not go however as it could be a means just to keep tabs on us... Let's put more distance between us... And in the mean time.. Anima... Could you perhaps tell me more about any skills you may wield... Anything would be helpful... Uh.. Speak as plainly as possible though." The woman had a skill for weaving riddles, given what he heard thus far.

Hopefully she would able to tell him something, and with that information Luc would began to hash out their plan for breaking into a city full of trained mages... It couldn't possibly be that hard... Right?

 

[Nayella]

Nayella simply nodded.

The way back was much easier than the way forward. Elbion was leagues away, but at the very least she had traveled the path before.

Her eyes wandered though as she began to walk, glancing back towards Anima. How much did Luc know about this woman? It seemed that the answer was; not much. Suspicion bloomed in her mind, though the truth of it was she hardly knew Luc either. Just his character really.

This woman?

As far as the Blight Witch was aware she would attempt to slit both of their throats at her earliest convenience.

Not something that she would be blamed for, really. Nayella could understand that impulse at least, though there was no true way to tell if that was even a thought in the womans mind.

Staying quiet, Nayella began their journey, content for now just to listen.

 

[VigiloConfido]

How they both bathed in the words she had spoken. How those words drew them closer together. An intimacy beyond touch and flesh. A melding of being. An indistinguishing. However brief.

Each of them wished it hadn't happened. Each of them allowed it to happen, both through friendship and inaction. Anima, frozen by fear, and Luc, blinded by pride. And both feared her face. Anima, the look of sorrow by the elf whose name she had forgotten, and Luc, the look of disapproval by Lady Eneer.

She felt him. His presence. The heat of his white star. Luc stood before the light, yes, and now, Anima had begun to shape herself to him. Taking on his form in shadow.

She knew nothing of this Lady Eneer. But there was one thing she did. She knew, in that very moment, that she, too, feared seeing the look of disappointment upon Lady Eneer's face. It gripped her heart with all the surety of her own fear. A piece of Luc, hers forever. That tiny facet of his relationship.

A shuddering inside her.

How she loved to know others. To be their silhouetted twin. To be their shadow.

Not much time to bask in it. Luc then asked Nayella to lead them off.

Anima followed Nayella's lead, walking beside Luc.

And she beamed when Luc said her name. Eyes lighting up.

She blinked, smile unfazed, though a momentary confusion. Speak as plainly as possible? She always did. She spoke the truth as she knew it, clearly and precisely. A reminder. Of Mikos. He had said many similar things to her. Hmm. A curiosity. How much alike were Mikos and Luc?

She reached over. Ran the back of her hand down Luc's hair. Slowly. Feeling its dampness. Its texture. Against the cloth of her fingerless gloves. Tingling her skin underneath. Pain from her injury in her shoulder, pleasure from her hand.

Anima cocked her head some. Keeping her eyes on Luc's face. Watching for his reaction.

"You have some, don't you?" she said. "Meager as they are."

She held up her left hand, away from herself and Luc, and ignited a small orb of bale fire above her palm. White at the heart of it, black at the periphery. Still looking at him and not the fire. "Mother taught you this. Her favorite sorcery. It is not meant for killing. But for torture. It brings pain and suffering enough to drop a man to his knees. A tool. Not a weapon. And you don't mind the pain it causes for you as well, do you? For it is life distilled."

Anima extinguished the orb. A sharp feeling, like the bite of a snake, in her left hand for even having summoned it.

And she pulled her right hand back from Luc's hair. Made a motion to reach for something in her left bracer. But her underwrist knife wasn't there. Neither were her boot knives. Or her sword. Yes. The man from before had said her weapons were on the porch of the house. And then...the house collapsed. No matter. They could be retrieved later.

Instead, she placed the index finger of her right hand to her face, where the bottom of her right ear met it. And slowly started tracing the outline of her face.

"Mother also taught you this. The Masquerade, she called it. And it is a delicate thing. To carve off the face from another. Carefully and precisely, so as not to damage the skin. And you may place their face upon yours. Let the sorcery take hold. And you become them. You look as they look, speak as they speak. And you feel as they feel, for they are with you in the Masquerade. Guiding you throughout. All their love and pain and hope and sorrow, all of it is yours when you are them. And you cherish it. Yes, you cherish it. Your chance to become more than what you are."

She completed the tracing of her face. Cradled her cheek with her right hand. Smiled. And said to Luc, "You don't bite, do you?"

 

[Luc]

Her touch caused a sudden warmth to rise in his cheeks and quickly enough he redden. He was frozen in place as she spoke plainly and he realized as he listened, her peculiar way of talking. At first he assumed she was addressing him but realized it was part of how she addressed herself.

She shared her abilities, providing him a idea of what she was capable of and from the sound of it, it seemed he had been pared up with some sort of assassin... She had skills in torture and could wear the face of another from what he gathered. News in hand, his mind raced with how to use it for this venture. Would they even need such a skill set?

He was still pondering the question as she spoke, earning her a odd curious glance. ".. Only if I have to?" He answered, deciding that to be the best answer. Reaching up, he took her hand in his own and moved it free of his damp hair, though oddly enough he found himself reluctant to release his hold. Instead he pulled her along as he followed after the Blight Witch. "We much ground to cover." he said over his shoulder as they set off on the beginning of their adventure towards Elbion.

A Elemental, a Blight Witch, an Assassin... Quite the pairing.

 

[Nayella]

Ared'luin

Nayella came to a stop as the village below came into view. Luc and Anima were directly behind her, all three of them worn by weeks of travel through rough countryside and difficult terrain.

The forest had not been kind to them, but they had managed to make surprisingly good time through their hike. A part of her was pleased because of that, though she would never admit it. Over their travels Nayella had remained as stoic as ever, hardly showing any sign of emotion at all.

It was better that way. "Ared'luin."

She said as the two others came up to meet her.

Pale blue eyes swept over her traveling companions, searching to see if either of them would recognize the name. It was a small town, not really known for much save for the unique plant that grew upon the hillsides. The Luin flower was known for it's remarkable healing capabilities, and many remarkable potions had been distilled from it.

The village was also one of the few who had managed to stay independent of both Elbion and Vel Anir, the two greatest powers nearby. Some said it was due to rumors of witches residing here, though the truth was probably something far more simple; nobody wanted to mess with the healers.

Still, their independence did not mean that Ared'luin did not receive frequent visits from both Masters of Elbion and Dreadlords of Vel Anir.

Two parties they wanted to avoid.

 

[VigiloConfido]

(((Retconned the "seven days" time limit into "until the next full moon". In fairness, I did set the seven days before I really had a grasp on how big the world was. This is more appropriate.)))


Anima stopped alongside Nayella and Luc on the hill on the outskirts of the village. Ared'luin, as Nayella said. Anima had not heard of it, and had no reference on how close or how far it was to Elbion. Though perhaps she had heard of it before, Mother mentioning it or some such, and she had merely forgotten, like names of the man from before and the poor elf.

"Ared'luin," she repeated.

They had come a long way from Lansing. The travel made all the more difficult by the necessary forgoing of the roads. Only scant provisions to be had. Some foraged fruits, some stolen crops from farms here and there, some small game. None of them had bows. Didn't matter. They had magic. Nayella, wisely, used her blight to corral and trap the game, which was often frightened and confused but not quite desperate enough to run through it. Anima and Luc took turns with their own magic. Aim, as it turned out, was Anima's weakness. Yes, she could throw an orb of bale fire and hit a target some ten or maybe even twenty meters away. Beyond that, as the animals often were given their keen senses, nothing was guaranteed. Complete misses were the norm, some partial hits with the explosion, a few direct hits. Luc would often have to step in and use his Wind or his Water, lest they all camp for the night hungry.

The nights at camp. Quieter, than Anima imagined. And colder, as Nayella forbid fires unless the terrain was particularly favorable to hiding the light of the flame. Again, rough going, for none of them had bedrolls or even proper traveling packs; Anima's having been confiscated by the dark-skinned woman and certainly buried in the ruined house like her weapons. Just the ground to sleep on. Anima was no stranger to it, for it was what she did when she had first escaped from her Mother. Still, her injury often ached and throbbed enough to lose her an hour or two of sleep.

But she could dream. Yes, she could dream. Nayella had remained silent and dispassionate throughout the journey. The door remained locked. But Luc. Luc would talk to Anima. On occasion. Small, inconsequential things, said to pass the time and break the dull monotony of endless walking. It didn't happen all the time, but it was enough. And on those dark nights at camp when the three of them would lie down and sleep Anima would inch her way toward Luc, shifting patterns in the dirt and in the grass, drawing closer, such that in the morning her head oftentimes was by his booted feet, and she had only been accidentally kicked once. Fair. She took care not to bring herself too close, lest he pull away and the door ajar became the door locked, as it was with Nayella; he seemed a bit shy. Still, being in his company and partaking what she could of him allowed her to dream. The nights would have been black and silent without him.

And now, here they were. The full moon approaching, but still, they had time yet.

Nayella had kept them unaccosted during their travel, and led them here, this village called Ared'luin. A sizable village, with perhaps the ambition of being labeled a town, but a village. Large enough, perhaps, that word of their arrival would not spread like wildfire, as it often was in smaller villages where all knew the names of their fellow villagers. Or--should they be so lucky--even at all.

Over the past few days, the aching of her injury had mostly ceased. The flesh had healed, leaving minor scars where the arrow had entered and exited her body, but not the tissue within, not fully; still some biting pain if she did not take care when moving her right arm. And, though it was no longer a necessary thing, Anima still wore the bandage fashioned from Luc's shirt. The mere presence of it a reminder. Of what he had done for her. It filled her with solace to wear it, and so she did. An embrace of cloth instead of body, but an embrace nonetheless.

A glance to Luc. Then to Nayella.

"What will you find here?"

 

[Luc]

"Food... Medicine... Supplies... Weapons for you.." Luc answered Anima.

Shy or not, one couldn't argue the air of desperation that befell the half elf. The travels had been rough suffice to say, leaving the trio rugged in appearance and spirit. Well, at least as far as Luc could tell for himself and Anima. Nayella seemed as stoic as ever. Regardless, Luc was aware of what was needed to be done here and with little hesitate laid out the plan he had.

"We have the coin we were given... Should be more then enough to cover what we need... We should be able to slip in and outwith out drawing to much attention... But still new people are noticed regardless if they are doing nothing at all... People have a uncanny ability to notice those who do not belong... You live in the same village all your life, you know what face belongs and which doesn't.... People can be easily distracted however... If questions about this day are asked about anything odd happening, are people more likely to remember the pair of young travelers who purchased items for the General Store.... Or the house that fell and the barn that caught fire?" He posed the question to the two so they had a idea on what he had planned.

"Anima and myself will gather everything we need from the General store... As I am paying for it, Anima will give you the signal to cause a distraction... It needs to be big and opposite of where we are. In the confusion, we'll slip away unnoticed. All anyone will be able to talk about when asked about this day will be what ever distraction you choose."

It seemed like a sound plan, at least Luc had a way of making it seemed such though he couldn't hide the uncertainty in his voice. The last few days traveling with the two ladies had severed to bond them somewhat, but Luc was still reclusive, quiet as ever as he was lost in his thoughts more often then not, save for the moments he tried to seek magical tutelage under Nayella and the budding relationship he was forming with Anima. Those moments were far and few between, but that seemed to the cause of their travel conditions.

A deep breath taken, he was ready to start their plan but looked to the pair, his gaze shifting from girl to the next with those big blue eyes. "Unless either of you have a better plan?"

 

[Nayella]

She paused for a second.

It was a decent enough plan, though her distraction would likely involve killing people. Nayella didn't mention that to Luc of course, she knew that the boy would likely object. The other woman's reaction was equally of concern, though less predictable than Luc's. Part of traveling together, even for a short while, she could read the boy.

"There is only one issue." The Witch said, though her tone was as neutral as before.

Nayella doubted that either Luc or Anima had ever visited Ared'uin before. They had not seemed to know the name nor the significance of where they were.

"This village is known for a healing herb." That would not seem like too much of a problem. "It's properties are...significant."

The Witch paused for a moment, glancing at the village before she regarded the other two. "Because of it this place is frequented by both the Masters of Elbion, as well as Dreadlords."

Another pause, her face constricting for a moment in thought before she added.

"Dreadlords are the sorcerers of Vel Anir." Would either of them know that? "Powerful battlemages all, most stronger than I."

The implication there was left unsaid. She knew that Luc at least would understand what being seen by a Master of Elbion would entail, and she thought her explanation of the Dreadlords was enough to convey the urgency of stealth here.

 

[VigiloConfido]

Anima listened.

Luc had a plan. A devious streak lurked in the heart of his white star, didn't it? She liked that. And his plan. The burning of a barn. The sowing of a seed. A vivid memory of the stench of black smoke and the sight of dancing flame. A memory of Iron Lake. Of the bandit raid. Of Udalof. Of Peter.

Their intense and repressed emotions, given life and set free not by the routine and mundane order of their everyday lives. But by chaos. How she had basked in them. How she missed them.

Nayella harbored a more conservative approach. Warning that the village was often frequented by powerful mages. Caution was her watchword. As well it should have been Anima's, given what was at stake. But she couldn't help herself. The parallel between the burning of Iron Lake and a similar--though much smaller scale--burning here in Ared'luin too enticing to ignore. The lingering threat of blackmail seemed so distant now, and the possibility of potent emotion unfurling seemed so immediate.

Even further in the temptation's favor was seeing how Nayella might react. To Luc and Anima differing on the course of action, if nothing else. To the danger--if Anima should be so lucky--posed by the burning of the barn going awry. A curious thought. Would Nayella's mask of stoicism break under the right conditions? How deep in darkness was Nayella, her sister in fallen grace?

A gentle nudge. A soft suggestion. All that was needed to potentially satiate Anima. A feast awaited. And she salivated at the mere thought of it.

Yes. She could bask. She could bask.

Anima shifted to look at Nayella. Smiling. Cordially. Helpfully. Said, "You need only to make it appear an accident. And who will they blame, if you are gone before the fire truly rages? And you are skilled at avoiding detection, aren't you? Would it not be more careless, as Luc said, to let them remember the faces of the strangers and not the fire in the barn? Those who pursue you seek your description, not some accidental fire, no?"

A slight cocking of her head, eyes on Nayella's. A distinct step back and toward Luc. A clear separation.

Nayella. Alone. But Luc and Anima. Together.

And still she smiled.

Watched.

 

[Luc]

Luc took in the new information provided, his thoughts lost in the danger of the town as oppose to the real threat. The woman beside him was a true viper, fangs hidden under a coy smile though she was filled with venom unseen. He mistook her for someone unfortunate, a causality of the chaos that found them. Little did he knew he was the innocent bunny in this scenario and the two women the true predators here.

"Cause a scene but avoid being caught... It doesn't matter if there are Dreadlords and such here... We move fast...." He looked to Nayella then Anima, confidence raising in his heart. He believed that if he spoke as if they could accomplish this task, they actually could. "After we get collect our supplies you to head north... I'll leave a trail south...." He said next, realizing that they couldn't simply vanish with out a party being sent out to find them. If he laid out a fake trail, they could aid in their get away.

"I'm more then likely the fastest out of us..." He then said to cement his decision. With his control over wind, it would be a matter of propelling himself, a feat he accomplished once before against a mage hunter who hunted him by using his wing magic.

"I think we have a plan now.. Nayella, I will get this herb you speak of... Any other requests?" He said, revealing his innocence as if he were a child on a trip to the merchants for ingredients to back a cake. Only this was no simple trip, and trips to by ingredients for a cake normally did not end in death.