The Vagabond frowned, looking over to where Artemis had indicated. He sighed, pulling off his bag to hand it to Artemis, but not before pulling a few daggers from it, using his gravitational power to ave them float around him. He walked confidently to the front of the alley, one of the daggers that floated near him shooting towards the wall in the alley, sticking into it and staying in place.
"If you have come as an enemy, then attack us let me see you fall." He said triumphantly. "If you are an ally or wish to leave the city, i urge for you to leave the alley slowly and peacefully. I will not stand for tricks." He left whoever was in the alleyway the ultimatum, knowing well that if they attempted to leave the alley ready to attack, they were within his range enough to incapacitate them.

It only took Marcus a few moments to weigh his options. The man that had suddenly walked up at him was tall and had half of his face hidden, much like Marcus' own. More importantly was that there were daggers floating around him, one of which he had somehow shot a few inches away from Marcus. No doubt another one would strike him before he'd have a chance to kill the man with Sang Min. He could try to run, sure. But it would no doubt take the man only a few moments to catch up with him or shoot a second dagger at him. Besides, the man had somehow managed to see or guess that Marcus was hiding in the alley, after all the effort Marcus had put into staying out of sight. The final drop was that the man had said that Marcus could leave the city in peace which was exactly what he wanted. So he surrendered and slowly walked out of the shadows with his hands stretched out to his left and right, making sure that the man would see that it was now impossible for him to draw his bow.

"I have no intention of hurting you. I'm only looking for a way to leave the city. No doubt you are as well, so could I come with you?" His voice was but a high-pitched whisper and if he hadn't been so tired, Marcus would most likely have cried. This day that had started out so beautifully had turned into an absolute nightmare.

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER THESE WALLS YOU BLASPHEMOUS WRETCH!?"

After the inital shock of getting water thrown at him and being yelled to at the same time, Typhus scowled and grunted at the man in front of him. Refusing to take off his helmet, Typhus instead put his hand on the hilt of his sword before talking, an act that wasn't unnoticed by the holy knights behind him. Speaking in a quiet but gravely voice, Typhus said "I don't see the issue here inquisitor. From the looks of the now empty bounty board and the sack of coins I have in my possession, I'd say I did this miserable city a favor. Besides, it's not like I've been trying to convert others from your weak god."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? HOW DARE YOU! YOU HERETICAL WHORESON!"

Seeing the look of flustered rage radiating from the inquisitor made the inevitable fight worth it and hey, maybe he will be a worthy battle. Giving a hidden smirk, Typhus said with unhidden malice, "I say it how it is Inquisitor, if your god accepts these weak willed fools than he isn't worth taking people from him. Besides, only cunts build churches." With the last insult put onto the heritical cake, the inquisitor drew his sword to strike down Typhus.

However, quicker than one could dream of a man of his size doing, Typhus rocketed his fist forwards and collided with the inquisitors face. Causing a fountain of blood to spray from his nose as it shattered under the force, with a smirk Typhus saw teeth fly out as well. Before the holy knights could react, Typhus threw his the massive weight of his shield into the body of a knight as he withdrew he sword. With a thump of power, blue energy exploded from the surface of the blade once it connected with the knight and with a satisfying shower of gore the knight was left as a pile of scrap and viscera. Continuing with his ram, Typhus pushed the knight pinned between his shield and the wall until the spikes pushed through the armor, bringing unpleasant death upon the holy man. Admiring his work, he was rocked out of it as a heavy sword met with his shoulder. Giving a grunt, Typhus twisted his body and turned to face the now unarmed knight as his weapon caught the large horns of his armor and flung from his hands. With a single strike it was over.

Soon after the final knight was struck down, the inquisitor regained his bearings. He tried spouting religious nonsense but a flood of blood and teeth fragments stopped him. Giving a dark chuckle, Typhus said "Come Inquisitor, how can you make me face justice if you can't fight. I'll even make it easier for you." Dropping his shield, Typhus grasped his sword with one hand and said "Now fight little man. Lets see your god protect you now." as he finished his sentence, Typhus brought his sword down over the inquisitor's head. With a block the inquisitor began to go on the offensive. Swing, slash, stab, swing, slash, stab. The pattern went on and on, it was getting boring. With an effortless block, Typhus shoved the blade out of his way before giving the inquisitor another punch albeit weaker than the first. This little dance continued for about five minutes before the inquisitor broke under his own weight.

With a disappointed sigh, Typhus said "I was hoping more from you, you know. I was hoping that you would bake up your claims and make me face the wrath of your god. However I let my hopes go to high. Tell you god that Typhus sent you their when you see him." With that, Typhus plunged his sword into the inquisitor's chest and watched as the life drained from his eyes.

Thora did not realize that though she saw no observers when she checked after feeding, she had been observed earlier, during the feeding. She ran through the city, winding through the crowd with far more ease than she should have had. She had never before been in a crowd as dense as this, let alone one in mixed panic and confusion. It was as if she knew where people would move before they did. Not long before, but it allowed her to plot out the ideal route through the crowd.

Even as she ran, she could feel the newest blood beginning to affect her. She had tasted something different about it, but had not been able to figure out what. The itchiness of growth came from her fingers this time. She held one hand before her, and thought she could see how her fingernails thickened and sharpened, even though the changes were so subtle that they ought not to be noticeable. Had Thora been able to see, or sense, it on a cellular level, which of course she could not, she would have seen the cells of her nails twisting into new shapes, the very stuff they were made of recombining into stronger elements, their structure becoming more durable. Through that microscopic process, her nails kept looking virtually the same, yet became so much more.

Though that was the most significant change, it was not the only change. She could feel herself being stretched even more. The more she changed, the more stretched she felt, as if her soul no longer fit her body. Or maybe it was the other way around? It was impossible to say. Suddenly she came out of the crowd, where large groups of strangely dressed soldiers were moving in organized fashion. They surrounded groups of panicked civilians, worked to calm them down, then led them away. In dealing with the civilians Thora was surprised to see that not a single weapon was lifted. Still, she felt that there was something strange about it all. She did not like it. She turned about, running the opposite direction.

Climbing up to the rooftops again, Thora found again that that route was even quicker. Only when she neared the inner walls did she jump back down to street level. As had been the case for a month or so, she had no trouble landing with ease even when jumping down several times her height. Unfortunately, just as she reached the inner walls, she saw to her horror that the gates slid the last bit closed. She could hear the loud thunk as the crossbar was set in place. She was trapped outside, like so many others. She could also feel the thirst once again starting to build. Her body had burned through the blood of the foreigner quickly, and it wanted more. Trapped as she was, she feared she had few options.

Elsewhere
Slavómir nodded once to the Empress' agent. He dared not take the darkness down completely, instead letting a single flash of light pass out through it. He was no fool, though. He made sure that the flash was centered well away from his hiding spot. Even with just a brief flash, the darkness would need a minute to recover fully after it, a result of the truly wide area it covered. He personally would have preferred if the Imperials had used one of their pet evokers for the task, but of course he did not decide imperial policy.

The vagabond nodded, and gave a small bow to apologize.
"I am sorry for the aggression, i do not mean for you to be afraid. But we must take the utmost caution if we wish to leave the city. Follow me." He slowly walked towards the boat with Artemis, waving for this man to follow.
"I am known as the 'Starry Vagabond', and me and this relic scholar are leaving the city by boat. We will likely be unnoticed when the main invaders are inside the city or near the main gates. If you wish to come, hop on board." He said, slowly stepping into the boat himself, grabbing his shoulder-bag and turning to Artemis. "We are Bringing another member, if you do not mind. He may be of use.

Relieved that the man apparently wasn't just a brute but someone with kindness and manners, Marcus bowed back. "I can quite understand your behavior... with everything that's been happening today." Obediently he followed the man to the boat where the man's companion was waiting. "I am known as the 'Starry Vagabond', and me and this relic scholar are leaving the city by boat. We will likely be unnoticed when the main invaders are inside the city or near the main gates. If you wish to come, hop on board." Marcus could see where the man had gotten -at least part- of his nickname from. His eyes were fierce and seemed to shine like stars in the only part of his face that wasn't covered in cloth. Curiously he looked at the other man. His posture and glasses confirmed that he was indeed a scholar. "Relic scholar". Would he have somehow noticed that Marcus was a relic user? He quickly abandoned that thought, it was impossible. If that sort of power really existed, there would be no living evokers left.

Marcus quickly descended into the small boat. He dropped his bag and bow in as well and shoved the arrow back into its quiver, all in utter silence. After he had finished, he took down the cloth covering his mouth with one finger and extended his other hand, figuring that'd be the polite thing to do. "Pleasant to meet you. My name is Marcus and I can row, cook, hunt and make shelters once we're off the lake and in the wilds, so yeah I hope I'll be allowed your company." His accent was barely noticeable and a small smile crossed his face. Marcus quickly pulled the cloth back up, rather not being told that that smile looked oddly feminine.

King Aral Otharion
The Royal Palace

Aral sighed with impatience as palace servants rushed to finish buckling on his armor, his people were likely dying with every second he was forced to wait. Everything had happened so quickly, these invaders had chosen a time to strike during which all of the kingdom's eyes were focused inwards. It was ruthlessly cunning. He could not imagine how they had mobilized so quickly. Fort Madaris would have sent word if they had come through the open passes, and it would be preposterous to assume they had circumvented the mountains entirely while still managing to arrive at the perfect date. That only left one logical solution, they had suffered the costs of forcing their army through the higher passes to the north. That meant if he mobilized the local garrison at Riarson he could find and sever their supply lines. However, that depended entirely on whether or not he could hold the capital here and now. If he fled, an option that he left open for consideration, he would not be able to hold Riarson with mountains on one side and their forces on the other.

With the final clasp of his armor tightened, King Aral swung the doors before him open and entered the war room. Most of those present were from the Knights, but there were officers from the Relic Constabulary, and other branches of the military, streaming in as well as runners to carry messages to those in the field and relay their relative positions. There were over half a dozen torches lit to combat the darkness and the heat had become stifling, but the officers didn't seem to notice as they focused on a map of Amaryth which lay stretched across the table. They hardly even seemed to notice he was there, but after taking a deep breath he stepped into their midst and prepared to do his best. "Sir Estyn, bring me up to speed."

"Your Majesty, now that you're safe perhaps it would be best if you allowed us to-"

"Sir Estyn, bring me up to speed." the King repeated, a spark of annoyance at the insubordination which was punctuated by the boom of nearby thunder. Odd, the sky had been blue before.

"Very well your Majesty. By sealing the gates we have cut off communication from our forces in the outer city, which we consider all but lost," he knocked down several red figurines on the map, which represented the troops left outside. "The darkness is making it impossible to survey the situation out there, but all gates to the inner city have been secured. Pikemen from the City Guard have been deployed to form up around the gates for when they break through, if they can maintain this darkness indefinitely it is only a matter of time-" at that precise moment the darkness seemed to lift, but just as the officers began to rejoice the gloom began to settle in once again. "Well, either their evoker is weakening or that was some sort of signal. Let us hope it was the former."

"What of the Relic Constabulary?" King Aral asked, looking to several Constabulary Officers situated around the table.

"We have four battalions situated within the Inner City, and six outside. We have divided battalion three to cover the south and west gates, battalion two guards the north and battalion four the west. Battalion one is securing the Palace grounds as we speak, they doubtless have evokers capable of infiltrating our defenses." Aral surveyed the map with a fervent determination to make himself useful to his country, but there was little he could do.

"We have been forced onto the defensive, but now that we are fortified within the inner city we can do battle on our own terms. They will not catch us off guard again."

Altim darted into an alleyway on a street just off his own, and he peeked behind him around the corner, observing people rushing away from the scene in all sorts of directions. Bloodcurdling screams filled the cool air under the darkness, and through the dark he tried his hardest to make out events occurring on the other street corner. Killing was going on, obvious to Daror and many others from the screaming and the bodies of dead guards. His heart pounded with fear and fatigue while his breath heaved. There he waited for a few minutes, spent regathering his stamina and resting, hands on his knees as he panted. Thank the Goddess he fled the arena in time to save his skin, but more running would soon be necessary to assure his survival.

The closer Shin got to the woman, the more familiar she seemed. He was sure that they must have met before somewhere, but that was almost impossible...Was it? Shin had carefully moved himself to stand almost next to the strange woman when suddenly a beam of light appeared out of nowhere and pierced the darkness as if it were a sword. Blinded and taken aback for a moment, Shin lifted one of his hands towards his face. "What by Fen's face.."
His focus had broken and due to that, his twin swords, lower arms, feet and head were visible. As soon as the beam of light had disappeared again, the mask on Shin's face functioned as a beacon of light. It would have been a funny sight under different circumstances.
She knew he was there, when the flash happened. She didn’t know how she knew he was there before hand she just did. Though the flash of light happened and she raised her hands over her right shoulder and with one hand grabbed her weapon and pulled it around, as soon as she was able she grabbed it with her other hand and pulled down with all her strength from high right to low left in an attack that if not stopped would cut right into his shoulder and kill him instantly.
Just before the blow hit him, Shin dropped all the energy he put into manipulating the light around him and instead he forced all of his energy into increasing his speed. It wasn’t enough to dodge the attack, but it gave him enough speed to set one step aside and bring his twin swords up into the form of a cross, effectively blocking the blade of the Sovyna just before it hit him. It took him a lot of strength and the Sovyna’s momentum made his arms feel slightly numb but he managed to halt it. If he hadn’t worn the mask, a smile would have been visible on Shin’s face. This woman was good.
He moved up to block, and she had to admit he was fast, and strong. She stepped back and pulled her left leg back and swinging her body round, using the tail end of the Sovyna to try and butt him in the back of the Knee with all of her strength.
As soon as she moved, he moved as well. A quick step to the side let the Sovyna miss his knee, but it still grazed the side of his leg. He let one of his blades descend on her neck with medium strength while he held the other one in a defensive stand close to his body.
The blade swung to her neck, a predictable counter attack. She ducked down below the blade and swung the Sovyna up and placed the blunt end directly in front of his arm, so that his wrist would go directly into the pole of the weapon briefly incapacitating him. While she did this without moving the weapon she began swinging her legs round to take his out from under him.
The Sovyna hit Shin in the weak part of his wrist. He barely managed to keep holding on to his sword. As he noticed what she was doing, he quickly dropped to his knees before she hit them and placed the blade that he was still capable of holding to his side. If she wasn’t careful or unable to stop her momentum, she’d impale herself on it.

The ladell, as he took to a knee, she pushed her leg down however the blade scuffed off her armour plate bruising her underneath and she felt the blow. Or she would, she was too busy now. Instead she placed both her feet onto solid ground before spinning the Sovnya counter clockwise with the blade headed for him, as she built momentum she dropped her other arm to pull her dagger from her boot which she then brought up towards her target.
Shin barely managed to avoid the blade that was coming directly at him. As he dropped flat to the ground, he felt the dagger grazing his side. Blood streamed out of the relatively small but nasty wound and Shin quickly decided that his best chance to survive this encounter was to end it now. He stopped the energy from enhancing his strength and instead made himself invisible again. Now invisible from top to bottom, he quickly rolled away in case she’d try to stab at his invisible self, which she no doubt would.

---

Tyrell just shrugged as he fired off two more bolts at the women, one was struck in the chest while the other continued with a downward slash, he stick his arm on front and the blade barely chipped his rock hard skin, though it still hurt. Simply instead of removing his arm it cut him. He slammed his arm up against the foreign weapon and then placed his other hand directly in front of the chest piece of the assailant and sent a burst of flames at it, like those said to come from dragons however it only lasted a couple of seconds and she fell back, she was still moving however. He turned to his new companion. "We should get out of here-" The flash of light occurred over head.

"We should get out of here right now, the problem is they have likely blocked off the inner city by now."

---

All over the city, the Two Vocators chasing their foes sprung from the shadows. With three rules. Capture, Contain or kill.

Artemis huffed, looking forward as he took the oars of the boat. "Why don't you invite the rest of the city aboard while you're at it?" He asked sullenly, but despite his attitude he pushed the boat away from the dock and started rowing, heading for the eastern shore.

After a silent ten minutes, where the only sounds were the boat oars splashing in the water and the distant sounds of chaos in the city, Artemis looked sideways at the newcomer.

"So when were you planning to let us know about your Relic? I'd like to know a little bit about the people I'm revealing my secrets to."

Myth nodded, strolling forward a couple steps towards the exit, agreeing, "'Probably right, whoever these invaders are would've already surrounded the city and taken the outer, though I don't think such a sneak attack would allow them to bring ships, so I think we're okay by going through the docks. I'm not the best swimmer, but as long as you don't use any stone, we should be fine in a boat. Come along, then, let's be off before any of the other ladies try to swarm us!" With that, he took on a fast walk, moving at a pace that proved his calm and normal demeanor to be fake.

Marastus Kane & Typhus
The Outer City

Marastus Kane could hear the shouting in the distance, followed by the clashing of steal and screams of the dying. That fool Jardin, Inquisitors like him almost convinced Marastus that the Order valued zealotry over intelligence and tact. He had been responsible for orchestrating religious upheaval across the south, and yet in one day all his plans for Othea seemed to be coming to ruin. First this boy-king was less amenable than he had been led to believe, and now the Inquisitions true presence had been exposed by that simple-minded fool. They would likely face legal sanctions and be expelled from Othea, if that boy-king didn't try to have them executed. The Senior Inquisitor rounded the next corner, expecting to find a dead evoker and perhaps a handful of innocents caught in the crossfire, but he stopped short in time to see the last light from Jardin's eyes faded and he fell from the twisted fiend's devilish blade.

A few seconds of silence passed as Marastus evaluated the scene. All of those dead were from the overzealous rabble that Jardin had recruited amongst the local peasantry, the type of men that were attracted to the violent power of passing judgment on others and not the virtue and faith of the Order. They were no loss to his efforts. Behind Marastus, a half-dozen true inquisitors in full battle regalia arrayed themselves behind their commander in formation, they held aloft glass flasks of a noxious mixture meant to incapacitate their foes. Ready to throw on command. Marastus did not give that command yet, he was not even sure this man was an Evoker. The man was clearly a heathen and likely a vile and honorless marauder as well, but his concern was with evokers alone. He raised his hand to halt his men, and approached to survey the scene in front of the guardhouse.

Unfortunately, the street had cleared and no witnesses remained to testify against the monstrously armored man. Without making any threatening moves towards him, Marastus stepped around the carnage and glanced into the guardhouse. Ah, the guards were looking through the door with shock plain on their faces. Pointing at one, he asked a simple question. "Did you notice anything unusual about this man?" he asked, tipping his head in the direction of the heathen once again. The guard seemed to open and close his several times, unable to vocalize his response. "Speak up now, I don't have all day."

"H-h-he...fights like...like a monster," the guard stuttered. Great, useless information.

"Literally, or metaphorically?" he asked, expecting he knew the answer already.

"W-What?" As he had envisioned, useless.

He turned back to the carnage, examining it further. He could see the battle unfolding before his seasoned eyes, and from the looks of it all the wounds had been conventional. Thank the Father, Marastus would have hated being obligated to do battle with that...thing. Well now it was a simple matter of erasing the evidence of their involvement, he tore the insignia from the priest's robes and gestured for the other inquisitors to do the same with Jardin's thugs. "Take Jardin's body as well, the Prelate would appreciate it being returned to Idris," he gave another look at the heavily armed and armored titan. "We have no interest in non-evokers, I'll leave your crimes with the city guard-" he was cut off as he saw the growing wall of darkness spreading outwards from what looked to be the district surrounding the Theatre, he glanced at the heathen but it was too distant to be his doing. What unholy judgment was about to be passed on this city?

The atmosphere in the cramped boat was more than awkward. It was obvious that The Vagabond's companion didn't appreciate Marcus joining them. Fortunately the man seemed to have enough appreciation to at least not throw Marcus out of the boat. After ten minutes of silence, her suddenly asked Marcus a seemingly casual question. "So when were you planning to let us know about your Relic? I'd like to know a little bit about the people I'm revealing my secrets to". He couldn't help himself from looking at the researcher in a mixture of awe, astonishment and fear. How on Azukhar could the man know that he had a Relic? He opened his mouth to ask just that, but soon closed it again. Even if it hadn't just been a lucky guess, there was no way that the man would tell him, a stranger, how he knew.

Screams echoed on the water, kindly reminding Marcus that these two men had just saved him from a certain death, without asking anything in return but his truth. He decided that he'd at least share part of it. "I'm quite curious as to how you figured out how I poses one in the first place, Relic Researcher. But you are right." He halted a moment to take Sang Min from under the cloth that had been trapped around his waist and showed it to them. "This dagger enhances my fighting abilities. Only with this specific dagger though. I'm not sure if it possesses any more abilities, the legends say it does. But well... With all these people from The Order walking around, it seemed best to me to not experiment too much..." He carefully placed Sang Min back under the cloth. "Now that I shared my powers, I'd be glad to know if you poses artifacts as well. It's obvious that you do Vagabond, but what powers does it grant you exactly?" He first looked the Relic User and later Vagabond straight in their eyes. He had spoken the truth and expected them to do the same.

The Vagabond hums, with a small grin hidden behind the mask covering his mouth. And so we meet another. The vagabonds belief was proving nothing but true, relics found their ways to each other, their users in tow. The research he did those ages ago with those scholars was showing its truth. A shame they were evokers themselves, or starry might've let them keep their relics.
"Now that I shared my powers, I'd be glad to know if you poses artifacts as well. It's obvious that you do Vagabond, but what powers does it grant you exactly?"
The vagabond did not respond, instead choosing to show him. Small droplets of water began to float upwards around the boat, staying in the middle of the air, eventually falling back down as they moved out of the vagabonds modest range. "I suppose that would answer your question." He said, giving Marcus a glare, especially opening his eyes, attempting to offset Marcus with the mans strange eyes. "As for my friend," He said, gently poking Artemis' back with his staff. "His ability let him see your energy. I bet he pegged you as an evoker the moment he saw you." Starry laid back in the boat.
"Notice i did not mention what our relics were." He said smugly. "While i am happy to tell you my powers, it is not wise to tell your enemy exactly what they need to take from you."

Marcus looked down, feeling rather ashamed of himself. The Researcher's comment that he'd share his secrets with them had led him to believe that they'd all play the game with open cards. How could he have been so naïf? The first thing he should have learned after he fled his home as an exile was to never trust anyone again, but he hadn't. He suspected that the Vagabond's ability was something like telekinesis but he wasn't sure and he was sure as Honomi not going to ask the man again.
As he looked up again, he was slightly taken aback by the man's glare. But he soon manned up and clenched Sang Min to his waist. The Vagabond had proved that he wasn't in friendly company and Marcus decided that he wouldn't show these two any weakness from now on.

He shifted his gaze to the researcher who was doing a surprisingly good job at rowing. The man didn't have the body to prove it, but it seemed like he was used to exercising like this. The ability to spot evokers, eh... That at least made Marcus certain that these two weren't involved with the Order of Idris. If they had, they'd have left him on the docks to be killed by the black clad women... or by other things, wouldn't they? A chill went down his spine and Marcus looked up at the Vagabond again.

"Why on Azukhar did you save me then, if you consider yourself my enemy? You could have just as well left me there on the docks to be killed by those black clad women." Anger and indignation were slowly winning from fear, shame and shock, giving him enough courage to look deep into the Vagabonds strange starry eyes. "And you, researcher. How many evokers did you kill by betraying them to The Order or another authority? Or do you two perhaps work together, you spot them and he kills them? If that's what you're planning now, please just throw me into the lake right here and now so that I can at least drown and meet my gods properly." He realized that he might have said to much, but he nevertheless continued to glare at the two men.

The Vagabond chuckled, then gave a soft laugh.
"Do you really think we're your enemy? Why would i show you my powers and bring you on a cramped boat if i wanted you to die?" He sat up, stretching his back a bit.
Or do you two perhaps work together The vagabond couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, boy." He said, rolling his eyes at Marcus' aggression. "Let me tell you. We have only met today, and only an hour or so before the invasion started. We are not going to kill you. We have our own goals, our own journey. We were being gracious when we let you on this boat, and if you really wish to die, we can throw you back into the city." He said, getting more annoyed with this boy. "I am not your enemy right now." He pointed back towards the city. "There is your enemy." He brought his hand back to point down at the boat. "Here is safety."

He was getting more and more confused as time passed and his anger disappeared as quickly as it had welled up. His thoughts were tangling over one another inside his head and he sighed as he tried to gather them. It was reassuring to know that the Vagabond and Researcher weren't friends. It'd make it less likely that they'd turn on him together. The Vagabond's tone was rather condescending but that was understandable, seeing how he was no doubt older than him and Marcus had spoken out of turn when he should have been grateful to be alive. The thing was that Marcus had stopped caring about his life a long time ago, not-dying had simply become a habit. Or that at least was what Marcus told himself. He let out a second sigh and frowned. A headache was forming and he started massaging the temples on both sides of his head as he talked.

"My apologies. I spoke rather harsh and out of turn. You both have my thanks for saving my pathetic ass out there but I hope you can understand that it's been a long day and I can't help but feel suspicious as to why you decided to spare me. Only because I'm an evoker? Because I'm afraid that I'm not really good for anything besides the things I told you about earlier."

He looked at them again, all hostility had disappeared from his face and only a frown remained as he was looking at them. This was the only question that he wanted to be answered for now. He'd gladly go to sleep or at least stop talking once he had his answer. He was already talking a lot more than he usually did, but he wouldn't be able to rest before he knew what price he would have to pay these men for saving his life.

The vagabond sighed a bit, thinking over the boys question. It was clear he had calmed down, which was good, because Starry didnt feel like having a fight on this tiny boat.
"Your apology is appreciated but ultimately unnecessary." He said finally, after a moment of silence. He kept silent for a bit longer, letting the subtle sounds of the water against the boat and the movement of the oar fill the silence. He looked up between Marcus and Artemis. "Are you familiar with the idea of 'Evokers String'?" He said after a long pause. "I had already discussed this with Artemis, however briefly." He took out a piece of cloth and a quill, making a drawing in it as he talked.

"It was an idea proposed by some of the first relic experts. A theory that the connection between an evoker and their relic is also present between other relics, between other evokers. It is faint, not the lifeline that requires one to be near their relic, but it is strong enough to pull them together. From this string, is the idea of 'destiny'. Evokers are intertwined, connected. They form a chain of fate, as they are destined to meet." He held up the finished drawing, which seemed to form a web of sorts. "Evokers are all connected, and the center?" He said, pointing to the middle of the paper.
"The center is the first relic."

"Hmph," Artemis said, barely even glancing at the cloth. "Wishful thinking by hopeless romantics. The First Relic is nothing but a fairytail. If it really existed, it surely would have been mentioned in one of the texts I've translated." The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the boat scraping against sand.

"We're here," he said, jumping out and splashing in the shallow water. "Help me drag the boat onto shore and hide it, then we head east."

-