Lyn

Only once had Lyn gotten out of bed throughout the night. A nightmare, created by the day’s events, had crept into her mind. It terrified her beyond words and caused her to sit upright suddenly, her voice choked on her own silent scream while tears slithered their way down her cheeks. The image burned into her head, causing her to rise and shift from her make shift bed. Her feet padded to the nearest comfort, a warm and familiar body became a needed comfort. She naturally crawled into their bed to snuggle close and the shivering emotions away. In the morning, when the caravan master awoke each of them, she noticed whose bed she had crawled into last night.

She blinked and noticed it was Alaira’s. It made her smile as she carefully sat upright, aware she didn’t disturb the blankets or wake her chosen guardian. Her bear had waddled from its perch, following her from the bed to the quickly washing, finally breakfast before they both hopped into the wagon. Her legs folded up and under her with her bear held in her lap among the shifted goods. Bottle clattered, boxes rattled, and much more surrounded her compared to the last stow away. This made things much different now that they knew she was along. Though she was rather disappointed her viewing of the scenery was obscured by the tarp which covered her, limiting it to the front or back.

The trip seemed much longer now.

The only thing that made her forget the time was when Ssarak was talking with her. They chattered about her mother, father, and more. However, when the conversation turned to the Elixirs in her pocket and Lucilia’s request she tried something, she thought Ssarak’s mood darkened slightly. That worried her but it soon forgotten when they started to play a word game. One that used the alphabet and went down the line, from A to Z. With each letter, they offered a name of an object, person or animal that started with it. Ssarak had kept a list of the mentioned things and placed them on a paper, absent from their memory and minds which he would read whenever a round happened. They weren’t allowed to repeat a single thing that was on that list. Lyn had won a few times but Ssarak seemed rather good at it, which made it challenging compared to her mother. Though it didn’t help her mother struggled to read and refused help in her own pride. There was a sense of sorrow that came with the thought, and then was quickly swept away during the games and conversation on the trip. Sometimes Ssarak would translate for her to the others. Each stopped seemed just the rest until they came to present one.

When Ssarak’s mental telepathy edged into her mind, Lyn ducked low within the wagon. Her body had curled into a ball, just like Ssarak had told her to do, while she stayed out of sight. Something was happening and the thought made her fidget, unsure what it might be. The worry didn’t help either. Unlike Lyn, her bear’s head peered out to survey the scene. Ironically his face popped up right around the time Darius had shifted by the wagon and caused the little, demonic toy to glare at him. Clearly it was obvious the toy didn't trust him... completely.

-ugh-

Cynn Ellime

Cynn looked down at her scars and began to blush. She had hoped they weren't very noticeable. They might not have been, actually, had she not been constantly trying to cover them up. The term "Streisand Effect" popped into the young elf's mind briefly. She realized that covering them up wasn't going to help anything.

No, she thought, looking Pitch over once more. It really won't; not with this one. He'll only settle for a story. Lucky for him, I love stories.

Cynn smirked in a very similar way to the slightly insane smiles Pitch had been exuding for the duration of their conversation as she began to tell her story. She leaned across the table, resting her chin on her fists. She stared into the eyes of the young man across from her.

"So, you want to know how I got these scars, eh?" The elf's smile widened, impossible as that seemed. "Well, you see, it was in this very dining hall. All the demons had been hijacked by some group out to spill noble blood. The whole room was in chaos, and I come charging in through that wall over there," Cynn pointed to the cracks where the hole created by a rampaging monster had been repaired. "All kitted up in my best. I've got the best breastplate on the Elvish market on, I've got my rapier in hand, and right on the other side of that hole is a demon about as tall as this table is long."

She could tell Pitch was itching to hear about the cuts that caused the scars because he perked up at the first sign of impending harm. Cynn wasn't gonna let him have his sadistic climax just yet, though.

"I know I can't take on something like that, not even with all my training. I'm looking for a way out when WHAM! Alaira...have you met Alaira? I'd say you should, but you probably really shouldn't. Just be glad she's on our side when the fighting breaks out." The girl was getting off topic, so she cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway...Alaira, super strong elf girl, comes flying out of nowhere and knocks him over. Imagine the ruckus that caused in the nearby demons!"

The man's let-down eyes gave Cynn a certain happiness. Another word, schadenfreude, came into her head, distracting her from her story for a few moments. She felt like she should really just give him what he wanted, lest she become a madman like he. She blinked the word out of her mind and started onward.

"So, I run past the distracted demons without a problem. I'm looking around for a target that I can take when I notice a sneaky little assha-...a masked assassin with two ornate knives approaching the nobles that had been attending the feast. Some student or staff member - I never got to figure out which - was holding him off with a sword, but the man was just toying with him. I sprinted over and got in front of him, already en garde. He makes some remark about futility, throws the knife, nails the student or whatever in the head..." The memories were getting harder for Cynn to be faux-eccentric about at this point. Her smile had faded, and she was finding it hard to maintain eye contact with Pitch. "That set me off. I attacked, and he dodged, prepared to toy with me like he had with the newly deceased man before me. I was smarter than that, though. I'd attacked slowly at first, as a feint, and then followed through lightning-quick, nicking him...I think it was in the arm somewhere?

"I had the upper hand for a few moves; I even managed to disarm him and throw his knife across the room. But then...he was so fast... He just flashed over to the knife and flashed back. I couldn't even react. I tried - I really tried - to match his speed, but he just had no limit. The knives swirled, cutting everything they could find. My breastplate, which could stop the finest blades in my home realm, wasn't even paper to them. I felt all my life just seep out of me, as if the knives were pulling out my blood. Then I blacked out."

Cynn sighed shakily, feeling a mixture of emotions. She wasn't in any state to breech the surface of that swirling mess, so she just felt confused. She looked at Pitch.

"I went into a coma, woke up briefly, and fell right back into it. I guess my body just wasn't fully rested the first time... I don't know. I just know that I woke up again only minutes ago. You're the first person I've talked to."

It felt good to get that big piece of information off her chest. Admitting it to this man meant admitting it to herself, and she was happy she had done that. She didn't mention the scar on her neck, though, which had faded significantly while she was sleeping. That could be a story for another time.

Collaboration: Lucius, Fallen Reaper, Cqbexpt - Tyrael, Sam, Baulder

He had to be getting close right? He smelled the rotting flesh before he even left the forest. Demon bodies strewn about like deer.........did he have any deer left? He quickly took his ruck sack off his shoulders and undid the burlap covering. He felt around for deer, well any food really. He was not enjoying his trek through the gray expanse so far. It smelled and was covered in dead bodies. Before he found food in his rucksack whitlist still walking he thought about eating the demons. Yes, maybe depends we'll see, he thought to himself as he resumed looking for food. "Ha!"He found a piece of deer he had dried out awhile ago and salted using some salt off a dead man. Looked nasty, whoever killed them didn't steal their salt. Savages, he thought to himself.

He pulled down the scarf that was usually covering his mouth and bit into the dry meat. He almost liked it dry and salted, or did he? The thought quickly bounced out of his mind as he flipped back over the burlap and returned the sack to his shoulders. His mind quickly wandered back to eating some of the demons laying around, some of it really looked good. But then he saw it. Or at least what he assumed was the college. At any rate it was the only that didn't look like everything else. He pulled his map out of a small pocket he had next to his chest and unfolded it. He checked up at the sky for the sun. Yes that dosen't help, he mumbled to himself. It rather annoyed him that he couldn't gauge anything by the sky anymore. It was one of the first things he noticed on his way in. Disregarding that he continued onward.

The walls slowly began raising from the ground as he continued to walk on his bare feet. Once he got going it was rather hard for him to stop moving. He went a day without eating simply because he forgot not too long ago. He noticed some of the other races wern't quite as able to endure such long walks though he didn't mind, he enjoyed the voices....sometimes. He focused intently on the large door to the walls as he walked the last few miles. Something about it's glorious architecture enthralled him. He couldn't tell what it was though. Next thing he knew he ran into the door face first. Hmmph looked like this one was real for once. He immediately straightened out his posture and his face went blank along with his mind. Then he banged on the door.

"More newcomers eh?"

On the top of the wall was a fairly fat looking guardsman. Not one of the new ones, but one who's been with the college for nearly twenty years now. He didn't abandon the place like the others, though he hasn't really gotten himself in a real scrap in a while. He was eating an apple when he heard knocking on the gates and saw yet another stranger looking for entry.

"Well hey there stranger. Who are you and what's your business here?" The old guard casually chewed on his apple waiting for an answer.

Words? Oh why didn't it accrue to him there would most likely be talking, yes. Oh what was he here for? Yes it was to join the college perhaps? Yes, that seemed like the reason. "I-I" he coughed. It had been awhile since he had talked to anyone the movement felt foreign to his throat. Baulder cleared his throat and yelled out. "I'm here to join the college.....yes that is why I have come here." He said somewhat quieter as he came to the last part of his sentence.

The guard tossed away his apple core. A few other guardsmen showed up, looking much more serious and fit for duty. They asked him what they needed to do but the guardsman just waved them off. "That's all well and good sonny, but you still never told me who you are. Can't just let any fella into the college you know. You have a name at least, yeah?"

Baulder ate the last scrap of his deer meat and quickly swallowed it. Nearly choking on it he called out again. "Yes, I suppose you would my name is....Baulder. Just Baulder." People thought it was weird he only had one name and he could never really figure out why. He had only really known that name he liked it though.

Shrugging his shoulders the guardsman motioned for the others to open the gates. "Good enough for me. Welcome to the College of Twilight Baulder." But before the gates would open a portal appeared behind Baulder. This caught the gaurdman's attention and he stood up to look. A hand reached out to grab Baulder and pull him inside the portal.

When Baulder regained his senses, he'd notice that he is no longer at the college. Instead, he is standing in the Inferno. It was red and barren, with only a few rock formations in the distance and some demons gathered around. The demons came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and ferocity, but they did not attack. They seemed to just be watching, waiting.

"Stand, mortal."

Behind Baulder was a tall and fairly intimating Demonic Orc weilding a spikey club. He looked like he was about to swing it and decapitate Baulder. This was Tyrael.

Baulder felt different, it wasn't the heat that he noticed he actually felt diffrent on another level he couldn't quite tell what that thing was though. Once the words processed in his head though and rattled around for a moment he decided it would be best perhaps. Once he turned around though he noticed the demon. Was it a demon? Baulder couldn't decide before he was overcome with laughter for a moment. The bout nearly brought tears to his eyes.

He bent over his knees as to regain his breath from the good laugh he had just had. Something about club he imagined was what he was laughing at. He quickly looked around and realized he wasn't at the gate anymore. Well anything was possible maybe he was at the gate in any case the demon-thing looked like he had something to say. "Hello." He said suddenly transfering to a blank expression and tone.

Tyrael narrowed his eyes at the mortal. He looked at the scar that ran down the side of his face, questioning it. It looked like a beast had not only slashed him, but burnt the wound as well. Perhaps it was an emergency treatment to staunch the flow of blood? Tyrael disregarded it and focused back to Baulder. "Do you know where you are?"

Baulder breathed heavily out of his nose for a moment and smiled while shaking his head up and down. "Well either I'm dead, I'm crazy or this is the inferno. But really all of those things might be true." His face dropped into a blank one again. He actaully didn't know where he was but from what he had heard about the inferno this seemed like it.

"Two out of three."

Tyrael swung at Baulder and the world went black. But only for a few seconds before Baulder would find himself somewhere else in the Inferno. It was just Tyrael there now, not even with his club. He seemed to be watching something in the distance. From the sounds, it was a great big battle.

Below them were two demonic armies clashing against one another. There was no formations, no order, and hardly any way to tell which demon was an enemy or ally. It was less of a battle between two armies and more like two tsunamis made of demons crashing against one another. The only real indicator that this wasn't a massive free-for-all were the two heraldies flying over most of the demons, or on the back of the biggest. Two separate demon leaders fighting against one another.

"Look at them. Tell me, what do you think of them?"

Baulder cracked his neck left to right and took in the pain in the back of his skull. Oddly enough it almost felt good to him, people don't like pain right? However he quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He watched the clashing of the banners and wasn't sure how to answer the question. A tear rolled out of his left eye but his face remained blank. Turning to the demon he said "Beautiful chaos, yet a collection of pain that I can not understand. But the simplicity of it.."

"It is a waste. Like raw ore beaten into shape. Unrefined and imperfect."

Tyrael turned away and summoned a demon to him. It was a small one, an impling really. Tyrael grabbed it and threw him at Baulder's feet. "You are a demonomancer. Show me what you know." The imp scrambled to it's feet and bared it's fangs at Baulder, ready to attack. Yet it didn't. It seemed like it was actually waiting for him to do something.

Baulder looked at the comparatively small demon with a bit of curiosity for a moment. Then he let out a small chuckle. His face quickly went back to a neutral one then he stared the imp down. "Kneel demon." Baulder would be much more surprised if it worked as opposed to a demon he knew nothing about capitulating to him.

For a long while, the imp just glared at Baulder and growled under it's breath. It began to lower it's body however... And than lunged at Baulder, slashing it's claws wildly at him in an attempt to tear him apart. Tyrael just stood there and watched to see how Baulder would handle getting mauled by the demon. He said nothing and just stood there with his arms crossed.

Baulder was knocked over with the sudden attack of the creature. Though he guessed he should have seen this coming, but atleast he would get to taste imp probably. The demon scratched at his rags and began tearing them away to get at his organ but instead Baulder reached for the imp with his not pinned left arm and punched the imp in the side of the head as hard as he could from his laying position. The imp seemed undettered however as Baulder managed to get his other arm free.

Now with more leverage He picked the imp off of him and grabbed it by the head as it continued to maul him. He extended his own claws and began to push his thumbs into the eyes of the creature with all his might. He was also attempting to get his clawed legs up underneath the imp and gore it on his claws.

The imp screamed as it's eyes were stabbed by Baulder's thumbs. It blindly reached up to Baulder and tried to do the same, clawing his face and trying to grab anything; his ears, eyes, nose, mouth, neck, even his hair. It bucked and kicked, trying to get Baulder off of him, but his claws dug too deep into the imp's chest. All it could do was keep fighting against Baulder in hopes that it could somehow stun or kill him before the pain becomes too much, and it was quickly becoming so. Tyrael continued to observe in silence.

Once Baulder got his leg underneath the imp and with it his claws he gripped it's skull firmer and began digging his talons into it's chest. He the flipped the imp onto it's back and began pressing the demon into the ground with his weight. He continued crushing the small body and pressing into it's head and he yelled through gritted teeth and a smile on his face."Obey me!" At this point the imps chest caved in and his talons reached the other side of the demons skull. This sprayed Baulder in the face with blood as his hands filled with rage. Now going to a neutral face yet again he stood up feeling confident that the creature was dead.

He ran his blood covered hands through his hair before turning around and looking at the bigger demon. "Enough for you?" Baulder said with a slight twitch in his face.

"No."

Tyrael said solemnly. He gestured towards the imp's corpse, and it's wounds were already starting to heal, slowly, but noticeably. Whereas Baulder's injuries remained. "As a creature of the Inferno, even a weak demon is immortal here. Death does not deter it. Command it. Teach it obedience." Soon the imp was fully restored and opened it's eyes. The pain and shock had left it dazed however, uncertain of what it was doing there or what had happened.

Baulder looked back at the demon again. It was beginning to get up, he was right though the imp looked fine again. He walked back over to the demon and looked it in the eyes and through gritted teeth yelled. "Kneel demon or I will kill you until the end of time!" His eyes filled with rage and his body ready to kick the imp down should it disobey him again.

The demon scrambled away from Baulder, not that it got very far. But far enough that Baulder couldn't kick him unless he followed. It did remember the rather painful experience it just had gone through, but despite that the imp just snarled and laughed. "Stupid mortal... I am invincible here. You will die!" The imp once again lowed it's body to lunge, but if Baulder was fast enough it could intercept the demon before it could leap.

Baulder seeing an opportunity and now rather annoyed by the creature ran at the imp as it jumped up at him. He managed to grab it by the face once again pushing his thumb into the imps head and threw it to the ground as hard as he could muster. He heard the imps skull crack as it hit the ground though not taking any chances he began stomping the demon. He made sure to keep his talons out and pointed down as he stomped the demon into less and less matter. "You will obey! I will not tolerate your insolence worm!" Panting he stepped off the imp once again and looked to the larger creature.

"I'm assuming there is a trick to this." He said in a half hearted tone.

"Suffering and diligence." Tyrael said plainly. That's how he did it anyways. But he could guess that Baulder wanted to know the magical trick to it, but Tyrael wasn't about to start with that. "You must prove to be stronger than the demons who wish to command. Even if you slay them, the demons would be filled with vengeance and hatred. They would beleive themselves to be mightier than you. Prove them wrong, as many times as it takes." The imp was starting to regenerate again, and likely it would continue to defy Baulder as it's foolish pride would want it to do. Tyrael continued to watch and observe.

Going blank in all but intention Baulder went to work again this time killing it by ripping it's heart out. When it regenerated again he went through he motion again, though this time he killed it by ripping it's arms off by cutting it's arms to pieces with his claws then flaying it's flesh from it's bone. The next time he held it down and ripped it's organs out piece by piece. This cycle of increased brutality escalated until he was not only stripping it's flesh and muscle from bones but also drowning it with it's own blood. Though not being finished he broke every single bone he could possible find in it's small body. He was emotionless every time and even stopped asking it to obey.

But he was running out of things to do. He was considering ripping out every single one of it's claws and forcing it to swallow them. But he decided to command it one more time before trying that. "I will break you in more ways than you will ever be able to remember flith. Kneel to your greater." Baulder said once more.

The imp was whimpering. At some point it wasn't even fighting anymore and just curled into a small ball as Baulder would tear him apart and hurt the demon. It was starting to get too scared to speak, but when Baulder spoke to it it could only squeak. "Please... Just stop... Leave me alone!" The imp almost sound like it was about to weep. It was trying to crawl away, it's eyes sight gone due to something that Baulder did to it just moments ago.

Baulder cracked half a smile and walked up behind the Imp and said. "Not until you obey. Kneel demon!"

The imp turned to Baulder and prostrated itself before him. It was quiet, but the blood and tears from it's body stained the red dirt. "Leave me alone..." It sobbed repeatidly.

Baulder looked once again at the figure that had brought him here. "Enough?" He said in a blank tone.

Tyrael stood quietly for a moment. The imp continued to kneel in place, bleeding from it's face. He shrugged his shoulders. "Good. Now try this one." Tyrael summoned another demon, this one about the same size as Baulder, but vaguely female and on fire. "Command it. Make it obey you."

Baulder laughed for a moment. He was unsure if he would be able to submit this demon to the same treatment he had given to the imp. As much as he wish he could he once again had to talk. "Demon, I will give you passage into the mortal realm if you will obey me here." He said putting on the best face he could for someone who had just killed another being many times. He knew the offer was greatly scewed but his spent mind could only think of that.

The fire demon seemed to be... Smiling? It was somewhat difficult to say. It had no face, and what served as a mouth looked like a mask. Yet somehow it conveyed a sense of amusement. He moved closer to Baulder, making no effort to weaken it's flames as it grew nearer to him. Thanks to Tyrael Baulder had not yet been consumed by the Inferno's wrath, but the same will not protect him from the fire demon's natural aura. She came very close to Baulder, enough for the flames to lick and burn his skin if he did not put distance between the two. "Oh? And what is in the mortal realm that would interest me?"

The fire was becoming intense as it moved closer to him. The heat would kill him if he didn't move but if he moved the demon would simply kill him aswell. He remembered what the other one had said. "More things for you to burn to cinder than you could imagine." He said suppressing a smile.

"Hmm..." The demon did ponder this. While it loved to set the world on fire, much of the Inferno was already set ablaze. She wasn't really one for sloppy seconds. "Than... How about you? May I turn you into ash?" The demon said playfull, reach out to caress the scars on his face. She traced the scars with her own claws, however surpisingly for Baulder it did not burn. She was still uncomfortably hot, however she was no longer roasting him alive simply by being close to her. "I will hold you to that promise, mortal. However, I believe your master has something to say to you."

The fire demon wandered off as Tyrael approached. "So far so good mortal. But do not make promises that you cannot fulfil. Demons shall always take more if you give them less."

Baulder while able to hide it was absolutely amazed at what had just happened. Hmm that was a new feeling, amazement. He turned around as the demon wandered off to do what ever demons did he supposed. "Who said I don't intend to fulfill that promise?" He thought maybe one day he could bind that demon to himself. Then he could truly command it. He looked over to the imp who had since fallen over due to blood lose and said. "You may leave. Never forget your greater, imp."

Turning back to what was now an oddity to him he said. "So I suppose you are not a demon then. If you were one I assume you would have possessed me and not bothered with this. What are you then?" he said as he had one of his clearest lines of thought in months.

"Your teacher."

Tyrael than shot his fist out and punched Baulder right into the face with the force of a rock of similar size. Baulder's world turned to blackness once again, and when he awoke he would find himself in another new location. Here the painful burning sensation of the Inferno was no longer present, but there was nothing but light. If Baulder tried to move, he'd feel something holding down his hands and feet, like they were encased in stone. Even his head was held back by straps on his neck and forehead.

Oddly, what he wouldn't feel is the knife cutting into his flesh, though he may see this if he could shift his head downwards. There was Tyrael and a few others, vaguely demonic looking beings who wrote things down and handed Tyrael tools. They seem to be saying something but their voices are muffled either due to something done to Baulder or simply being their way of communication.

Baulder moved his eyes as much as he could around in the light. He could see the tops of things he couldn't quite make out. Hoping that his mind was once again playing with his sense for once he yelled out. "Awe and you have me tied down missing all the fun!" His voice descending from a near laugh to anger as he went through his sentence.

The figures looked at Baulder as he spoke, but continued to go to work. Tyrael took his knife and put it to the base of Baulder's neck, cutting a light incision from that point all the way down to his groin. He made another cut, and another, until the blade glided smoothly over Baulder's sternum. Than with surgical precision Tyrael made similar cuts across Baulder's body, until eventually he was able to pull the flesh and fat from Baulder off, exposing his flayed chest and all the bones and organs underneath. It was certainly similar to a human's, however Tyrael and his associates decided to dig in deeper and manually began to take organs out, cutting them from the body if need be. And despite the amount of blood jettisoning from Baulder's body, he remained alive and conscience throughout. Somehow.

The most apparent thing to Baulder was the noise. It sounded as if something squishy was being handled. Cutting something maybe? No, couldn't be he would be dead! Or was he dead? The question made him let out a weak laugh, strained even harder to laugh but something was keeping him from doing so. Just a shortness of breath he couldn't quite overcome. Odd he usually could, especially if it was funny like this was. His laughs were more cracking noises than they were actual laughs at this point but he saw this as an invitation to strain harder against this inability.

The operation continued for what felt like hours. Baulder was cut apart, put back together, and than dismantled once more for a double check. Tyrael was there most of the time, but sometimes someone else came to take over the operation before he came back. Eventually however the operation was nearly over. But before it did, Tyrael went up to Baulder's head and spoke to him. "Betray the college and I will slay you myself. I have carved mutliple runes into your skeleton. With just one word, I can destory your utterly. Betray the college and you will not even get the honor of fighting back. You will not be warned by me a second time."

Tyrael covered Baulder's eyes, once again turning the world black. Baulder may feel a blade digging into his skull, removing his scalp. By the time he could see he was back at the college's gates, laying on the same spot as he was before. The gates were open now and the guardsmen were nowhere in sight.

Baulder immediately dropped to his knees and vomitted on the ground.He couldn't tell if it was the imp he had eaten or bone carving thing. Wait he had his bones carved? He felt his arms and ribs as deeply as he could without straight up ripping them out and looking at them, though that would give him an answer. He quickly jumped up wiping away the vomit from his mouth. He then extended the claw on his middle finger and made a cut down the middle of his hand. When he felt the pain he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He wasn't dead just yet.

He looked around seeing a few people that looked like they had something better to be doing walking across the courtyard disappearing into doors or behind things and never returning. It occurred to him that his plan hadn't carried him past getting to the college. What was he even doing here? Well he had gotten carved up from what he was told but he couldn't feel it. But that wasn't why he was here was it? No that defiantly was not it. Learning yes that was it. He just had to find someone official looking right?

Sam had finished his rounds within the infirmary and he was feeling the result deep inside his aging body. His muscles seemed to squeak a bit while bones creaked, begging to seek somewhere comfortable to rest. His sandals flipped-flopped against the courtyard's stone path toward his favorite spot. It was when the flowers were nearly fully in bloom and emitted the sweetest scent that he could sit among the fragrance forever it seemed. He sighed a bit at the eagerness in he desire. It spurred him on quickly as he approached someone, the face turned away revealing a confused and spooked appearance.

The healer's brow furrowed deeply with worry, his body quickening its pace until he was right beside the man. Slowly and cautiously, Sam spoke while his hands braced to support who he assumed was likely a student. If this fellow was a staff member, then Sam would've known him immediately and not been left so nameless to the face.

"Are you alright? You don't look so well and it seems..." His crow feet eyes tilted down to see the messy sight of where the man had vomited, debating if it was because of blood sickness or something far more concerning. He decided right then it was better safe then sorry. "Let's get you into the infirmary and off your feet, will you come with me, please?"

Baulder looked at the old man in confusion for a moment. He wasn't sick was he? No most certainly not but he did look like he was someone of knowledge. Yes that was why he was here after all. He supposed it wouldn't hurt him to go with the man. He may even tell him how he would join the place he was now at. That sounded fine to him, learn something after all this time travelling. He dropped into a neutral face and tone of voice and looked around before responding. He didn't see the one that had called himself his master. Baulder pushed it out of his mind quickly and responded. "Yes, I will come with you. Though do you know how I join this place?" He said motioning around with his eyes at the courtyard.

Sam was slightly surprised at the stoic expression crossed the man's face when he glanced around, examining his surrounding the healer assumed. It was then the old man spotted the scarred image that was the left side of the student's face. Raw, healed over and much worse causing the worry within his eyes to deepen followed by compassion. Samuel, in all his years, had been a gentle soul with little ill intent to anyone over his nearing years. This student was no different.

He nodded and swallowed his natural disgust for whatever had caused such a wound then gently placed his hands about the student's shoulder to lead him. "So mind telling me your name? And I take it you're a new student?"

Baulder allowed the man to guide him away from the entrance as it started closing behind them. It took him a moment to register that the old man had even said anything. He had to pull himself away from the taste of lingering in his mind. "My name is Baulder, just Baulder." He paused for a moment."I suppose I'm not a student yet but I am new.....here anyways I think." He brought his hand up to his chest and found that his clothing had been ripped up and had gone to holding together to just barely. He supposed he had gone to the inferno after all.

"Alright, take it easy and slow. Everything's alright. When we get you looked over, patched then we'll talk to someone about getting you some new robes or something better to wear." Sam tried to sooth the student, Baulder, as he guided him toward the infirmary. His eyes mostly kept glancing ahead every so often to stop head on collisions with the gathering students, both busily edging into their classrooms to wandering off to other tasks. The old healer had traveled so often along these narrow and twisting paths that he knew the direction by heart to the infirmary. Already they had crossed over the entrance and into the main area for the sick and injured. Beds lined the walls, with a door nearer the opposite end for which opened into a storage room for medical supplies and spare clothes.

They reached the first empty bed which Sam nudged Baulder to and gestured the student to sit on. His aged body then walked to the nearest wooden cart. Several air or aeromancy blown jars were sitting there, covered by clothes and pounded lids, as his weathered hands touched each one. His eyes glanced over their contents briefly, studying each one while he continued to speak. Mentally he was judging, based on what he was told, what to chose for treatment.

"How do you feel? Any pain in a key areas, aches, twinges or something off?"

The question gave him pause for a moment. There really wasn't anything except the scratches on his chest. Oh yes scratches, he quickly brought his hand to his chest and felt the blood but no scratches. He was immensely confused by this and felt his ripped clothes in bewilderment. That surprise quickly turned to anger and he let out a slow breath from his nose rather annoyed at what perhaps his mind had told him. His whole being felt sore though from killing that imp repeatedly. Though there was something else, it was sharp and it felt like it was on his chest bone but there was nothing there.

Sitting down on the bed he said to the old man."Just sore I guess. I've been walking for quite a long time. I suppose that is why I threw up earlier...." Saying it Baulder didn't believe it but however it was the only answer he could give the old man he might understand. "I just need new clothes and some time to rest is all. But I can do that later, if you could just tell me or show me who to talk to about joining the college. I guess that would be fine. Yes, that would."

Sam chuckled. It was not in cruelty or malice he found amusement, but rather at the man's ability to easily overlook his pain and press on to things less important. His registering for the College could easily wait until the old healer was certain Baulder was alright. And that was what he intended to do. His fingers touched a salve, the inside looked a lot like yellowish beeswax with tiny crushed herbs and medical items mixed in. He took up the aeromancy blown jar covered by a cloth and tie. "Wounds are always first, then clothes and finally we're get you settled with the registering. Lucilia or Khan are the ones you should talk to for registering as a student."

He held out the jar to the student while he continued, "Now, since you are still able to move then how about you apply that to where it hurt. Work it gently into the muscle. It will sting at first, then fade the longer you rub being absorbed into the skin. I'll retrieve a water basin, water, things to wash with and clothes. Afterwards we'll head off to Khan's office and see if he's there. If not, Lucilia will be our next stop."

Once Baulder took the jar, Sam retreated to retrieve fresh clothes, water and a basin for the student.

Taking the jar and removing the top came rather fast. He began pulling out the thick substance and applying it to his chest. The stinging made him grin ear to ear as the sharp pain was much more welcome than the dull pain. He had preferred for as long as he could remember enjoyed getting something over with as soon as possible. He hated lingering things that he could do nothing about. Especially dull pain, he would rather be in shooting pain for however long the rest of his life was than most other things. He rubbed the viscous material on his chest and around his leg joints as it had just occurred to him that they hurt. He guessed he didn't tell an absolute lie to the old man earlier.

The relief was rather instant once he rubbed it into his muscles properly. It removed his grin and gave way to a more totally neutral Baulder. The fun was over now, he was just going to be annoyed for however this pain decided to last. Though he was more eager to go and register. To be completely honest he found this exercise fruitless. Well not completely, clothes were an interesting bonus. Yes, maybe it was worth this inconvenience. He quickly put the lid back on the jar and set it down and awaited the old mans return.

Sam went to the storage closet, his eyes spied the man using the salve and fully took in the damage. The man's shirt was shredded as if he had been attacked several times, the healer very familiar with tears caused by claws and long nails. Though he could never tell the source or cause of such things, noting the oddness of no wounds despite the blood staining it. Sam wasted little time to get a slightly oversized shirt, breeches which could be cut to fit (noting the odd and canine like shape of Baulder's legs) him better. Finally he placed a towel, wash clothes and basin over the clothing. The last thing he grabbed was a pitcher of water to fill the basin up with.

He returned just moments after Baulder had finished, depositing the assorted things upon the table at the bedside. "Something to clean yourself up with as well as the promised clothes. They might be a bit big, but should do the trick. When you're done, let me know. I'll see if one of the students can seek out Khan and ask his presence in his office shortly."

"Your helpfullness in this endevour is appreciated." Baulder said to to the man as he took his leave. He quickly took his tattered shirt off making sure to take his scarf he used to cover his mouth off of the point where the blood was now connecting it to the shirt. He then looked at his chest and realized there were no markings. The imp hadn't left a scratch on him. Slightly confused his mind quickly pressed on to the matter at hand. He took some water from the basin in his hands and rubbed it on his chest. Some of the blood that had stained on his skin began to run down him as he then attempted to catch it with the towel for the most part succeding.

He continued this process until he got to his face at which point he simply got his face a little wet and rubbed off the water with the towel. He decided that he would keep his pants for the time being however as he had become attached to them. Besides he doubted the ones the man had given him would stay up at all. He however did accept the shirt and put it on. After buttoning it up noticed it did not have a hood. He supposed he would rectify that later. He wrapped his scarf around his lower face and neck so that only his eyes and above were showing. Baulder drank the rest of the water that was in the basin even though his blood had been put in it from re dipping the rag. He found it added a nice metal taste to the water.

Laying down on the bed he decided that maybe he should sleep while he waited. It had been awhile...

The caravan master woke everyone up rather early, much to her displeasure. She had a hard time sleeping due to her medicine, and what little sleep she had was not veru restful. Because of it she was rather groggy, but managed to look somewhat decent before leaving her room. Still her body felt a bit fatigued due to her lack of sleep. "I guess a bit of moving would do me some good." Meirin did some exercises to limber up her body and shake the sleepiness from her system. It sort of worked, better when she ate breakfast.

Once she finished her morning ritual Meirin geared up and headed out to meet the caravan. She was glad to know that the caravan master was willing to take Lyn along. "Be a good girl now Lyn. Just stay inside and we'll take care of things out here." Though there wasn't really much to do while they were traveling. Just a lot of walking, sometimes Meirin would hang onto the wagon to let her feet rest. This was starting to feel very familiar for Meirin; just her escorting another merchant through Djarkel. It was almost boring until they reached another stop at a toll bridge.

The bridge itself looked finely made, carved from stone and large enough for the wagon to cross safely. But the place reeked of garbage and worse, while the guardsmen looked like they haven't left their posts in weeks. It was a sorry state, but it's not too surprising to Meirin. Most of the barons didn't care for taking care of the roads, which is why there are so many bandits are able to prey on the countryside. But Meirin didn't like this. The smell, the look of desperation in these men's eyes... Meirin had a tight grip on her weapon.

Looking at their emblems Meirin noticed something off. She didn't travel through Djarkel much, but she recognized the emblem of that of a fairly new baron. If she remembered correctly, the baron owned some land near the sea coast. Now what were the men of a sea coast baron doing this far inland? Meirin had to find out. She turned towards one of the nearby guardsmen, the lest shifty looking one of the bunch (It was a very low bar however). "So.... How's Djarkel doing? Anything new with the barons?"

"Same as usual. Bunch of them nobles just trying to play politics and what not. Ain't too violent, but annoying. Has us guys moving all over the damn place."

Tilting her head in curiosity Meirin tried to get more information out of the guard. "That sounds bad. But what do you mean exactly?"

"You know, sometimes we're playing city guard, sometimes they send us to bumblefuck nowhere like here. It's real tedious, I tell you."

"No doubt." Meirin wasn't really getting much good information from these guys. It just sounds like they were complaining so far. She decided to try to go strait to the point. "It must be pretty rough, considering that you're pretty far from the sea. What's someone like you doing all the way out of your baron's lands?"

"Look tits, I don't know what my boss is thinking. We're just sent here and we got our job to do. I don't know nothing else about why they got us sitting pretty here or nothing."

Meirin scrunched up her face. A rather hostile responds, but maybe this guardman simply doesn't know anything more than that. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't want to make the man suspicious of her either. If they did plan for anything... Unwanted, Meirin didn't want to spoil their chances to fight back. She walked away from the guardsman and responded to Ssarak's telepathic message.

"I'm not sure if these men belong here. Their emblems belong to a baron on the coast. A minor one at that. And they don't seem to know why they're here. I'd imagine that they're just doing their jobs as guardsmen, but unless the political boundaries in Djarkel has changed since I left, they shouldn't be here."

Though Meirin tried to look inconspicuous from the way she tensed with her weapon in hand, it was obvious that she was getting ready for some trouble. Four guardsmen poorly armed, but what if there was more? There didn't seem to be any hiding spots like the tall grass from before, but that only made Meirin more suspicious of other hiding spots possible brigands would use.

Alaira Taenn

Alaira had had a fairly ordinary morning all things considered. Unlike a couple of her fellows, she hadn't had much booze the night before (and she was fairly resistant to it anyway), and therefore wasn't combatting a massive hangover. She had been quiet, aside from some occasional whistling or humming as they walked, and like the others she'd sometimes hang on to the cart to have a bit of a rest. Unlike the others, she was more than happy to run into trouble should it arise. Somehow, she'd proven useful in negotiating prices even. When the Caravan master had to discuss things with the toll takers she'd make a point to just, hover around. Guards seemed more than happy to let them through quicker and for a little less if they got the massive half-elf off their bridge quicker.

However, this new bridge was different. Despite the unusual quality of the bridge itself, the men guarding it were a ragtag group of varying disgustingness. Even the very shittiest of barony guards had a little pride. Or at least a sense of fucking uniform. No, these guys looked like bandits to a T. And some of the bandits weren't looking so good, pale skin and bloodshot eyes. She could be wrong, but they certainly looked like vampires to her. And then there was that... smell... by the gods, it was horrible. Even the laziest of bandits would clean whatever was making that smell up if they could, especially considering they had to spend all day lounging around it... And to make matters worse, Meirin had pointed out their fucking emblems were wrong even...

Individually, any one of these things wouldn't be worth getting upset over. Mismatched guards? A new low in Djarken shittiness or a lack of supplies. Vampires? Djarkel was remarkably tolerant of them. Horrible smell of death? Maybe an animal died and they had to hide it under the bridge before they could properly dispose of it. Wrong emblem? like they said, an asshole baron sent them to bumfuck nowhere. But all these things? together, why it was downright-

Wait. Her train of thought was interrupted when the Yarosmerian spoke to her. Unfortunately, he had made the poorest choice of words he could... Don't make a scene? Sneak about? Fuck that! She had absolutely no patience for this bullshit. She knew something was wrong, and any delay in fixing that shit when she could just storm over and take care of it was not appreciated. Also, part of her was just thrilled at the idea of ignoring the man.

She hopped off the cart as she stormed towards the guard Meirin had been speaking to, one of the pale ones. He'd had good cop, it was time for bad cop... She grabbed him by the throat, before delivering a mighty punch straight to his face to daze him as she threw him to the ground, swiftly placing her boot on his throat. One wrong move from him and she'd apply some pressure, she really wanted to hear that crunch. "Bullshit! I'm so sick of this bullshit!" She shouted to the other assembled guards, it was unlikely the one beneath her even knew what day it was now... "I know a vampire ambush when I see one! So just fucking jump us now so I don't have to listen to you assholes talk around in circles!"

Darius was stupefied as he watched Alaira hop off the wagon and approach the guards. He reached an arm out to stop her, but he stopped when he caught sight of that creepy bear toy staring at him. Before he knew it, one of the guards was on the ground and the half-elf had a boot to his neck. Why? Why would she do that with no information at all? He was about to march over to Alaira and rip her off of the guard she was interrogating when an idea occurred to him. He could use her scene as a distraction and search for that gods-awful smell.

As he made his way closer towards the bridge, the smell got stronger. It was almost overwhelming. Readying himself for what he'd find, he looked over the edge, and he nearly gagged. He had been expecting bodies or something of the like, not human waste. Something was definitely not right with this toll bridge. No one with a healthy mind would work in these conditions. Darius walked back to the wagon, shaking his head in disgust and his hand on his sword. He was ready to push Alaira off the man if on the slight chance that there was nothing wrong.

This was going to be a long job.

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

As Meirin was questioning one of the guards, Ssarak was going through their minds, sifting through the various thoughts, emotions, and obscenities going through them for information he felt may be important. There was only one mind he could not seem to read, which was the one of the particularly pale guard. He was not sure why, but what he could hear in the thoughts of the others did provide some insight into their current attitude. Overall, not one of them was in anything resembling a good mood. All of them were hungry, exceedingly bored, and hated the job they were performing. They felt as weary and weakened as they looked.

Ssarak focused particular attention on the guard Meirin was speaking to, especially once her questioning became more direct, and his thoughts were even more frustrated than his words. He thought not only about how much he hated his job, but how jealous he was of Meirin and the rest of the caravan guards. Even with the traveling they had been doing, they looked, and almost certainly were, more well-off than these bridge guards. He also had other, more crude thoughts directed at Alaira and Meirin, but other than making Ssarak angry, they were not as relevant. As soon as Ssarak heard Meirin's thoughts, he responded with his own findings. "It does not seem like any of them want to be here either. They are hungry, and by the looks of things, probably underpaid. They are bored, and in particular, the one you spoke to is envious of us. However, I have not actually heard any thoughts suggesting they intend to attack us, not yet."

Almost as soon as Ssarak sent his message, Alaira, once again, acted out rashly. He had placed so much focus on the guards that he was not able to stop the person who was proving to be the greatest threat to their safety. He shook his head and gave an audible sigh. He seemed disappointed, though it was more in himself than anything for expecting anything different. At least this time, she did not catch anything on fire, so the horses were fine. Alaira was being a fool, but he could not discount the possibility that she was a lucky fool. The guards were suspisious, and may still be a danger, especially now that they had a very legitimate reason to attack.

"Alaira, control yourself!" Ssarak shouted as he drew his weapon and looked at her, his posture hinting at anger just as well as his voice. On the outside, it would seem like an angered reaction, but in reality, it was a calculated move. If the guards had not intended to be hostile, then it would demonstrate that he and the other caravan guards did not agree with Alaira, and did not necessarily want to harm, or even rob them. Second, it allowed him to bring his weapon in hand without increasing the hostility towards the guards.It seemed like he was focused on Alaira, but each of the guards were still within his sight in some capacity, and he was both watching for sudden movements, and listening for thoughts that would suggest they were attacking. Overall, it meant he was now alert and ready for an attack, but still had some possibility of defusing the situation.

At the same time, Ssarak sent a telepathic message to Meirin, Darius, and the Caravan master. "I do not intend to attack Alaira. I used the opportunity to draw my weapon safely, but I cannot communicate this to Alaira, so be ready. Let us try to get her to back down, but watch the guards closely. She has given them good reason to attack, if they were not already."

Lyn

Lyn curled up tighter, her body started to cramp and become antsy with little to occupy her. Her eyes looked up to see her bear still peering over the wagon edge like a sentinel on guard duty. It didn’t trust the others to protect her well enough and took it upon itself to stop any or all trouble from coming her way. She felt herself jarred when Alaira hopped off the cart. It wobbled and jerked, the axel creaked right beneath her, made from the absence of weight on side and increasing awareness that something what was happening outside. Curiosity was a child’s greatest weakness, even with a mental understanding of a child much older.

In a small way, the scene’s noise had attracted her attention.

The first sound she heard was Alaira’s shouting. The wood muffled the volume, but not the words as they came clear into her ears causing Lyn to be slightly alarmed. What was wrong? She thought, looking in the guess direction where her Aunt’s voice was coming from.

“Bullshit! I'm so sick of this bullshit!" Alaira shouted her voice slowly softened from her position changing toward the wagon’s front causing Lyn’s head to raise upright. Her golden eyes followed the words as they continued, the child’s body starting to edge into an sitting position and tried to understand what was happening.

Alaira’s volume increased, followed by a muted thump. "I know a vampire ambush when I see one! So just fucking jump us now so I don't have to listen to you assholes talk around in circles!"

Lyn’s worry started to grow as she knew Alaira didn’t shout, at least in that manner, unless something was wrong. Meanwhile her bear continued to glare at Darius, seeing the man edge toward the bridge side then peek downward. Darius’s face seemed to have been hit full on by the stink wafting into the air, one which would’ve caused anyone’s nose to curl. It was a lucky thing Lyn hadn’t flicked her tongue out or else she might’ve bent over and hurled what breakfast she had. Giving one last glance at Darius, the bear quickly realize trouble was happening and decided to plop back down into the wagon. It landed on its fluffy ass right beside Lyn’s figure crawling to stand on her knees.

She was limited in her sight. Her head dared to edge as far as she could out of the wagon, careful to only allow her head to do so, yet it wasn’t enough. The others were at the wagon’s front and far out of her eyesight, making it had to judge the scene currently playing out. In one case, it was a blissing as Lyn had never seen her Aunt ready to kill someone. Animals, monsters and the like where easy to not get upset over because her mother killed them for food all the time but a person was completely different.

There were times Alaira had lost her temper. Punched, smashed and otherwise destroy things when she was upset but no one ever got hurt enough to die. Now… it was different. Lyn was inexperience with her Aunt outside the College and not as hardy against the truths of life. So the scene that played out at the wagon front would’ve been a true shock for the little hybrid.

Lyn assumed one of the guards had offended her Aunt and so the thump was something being hit. She pulled back into the wagon, her lips slightly pouting, when she realized she was missing the whole thing. Namely being unable to comfort and calm her favorite persona down. Since Ssarak told her to stay in the wagon, Lyn fought between her curiosity and being good. It was hard. Her eyes sought for another way to still complete her desire and show her ‘guardians’ she was able to listen as well as help. Her eyes fell onto her teddy. The stuffed toy looked rather unease at her extra-long stare, and then started to peddle back a bit. It wasn’t quick enough, Lyn’s hand instantly lashed out to seize its waist. Up it went before it was dropped, unwillingly, out of the covered wagon and onto the bridge’s main street. In process it nearly landed into nasty, filthy water causing it to pick itself up.

She motioned for it to walk to the wagon front. The toy shook its matted head; its pudgy arms crossed over its front and simply didn’t want to move. It looked at her for a moment or two then tried to scramble back into the safety of the wagon. A waste of time as Lyn merely shoved it back out. Plop! Again, the cycle repeated until finally, it realized the only way it was going to be able to stay was if another person told Lyn to stop.

Sadly, all the others were at the front of the wagon…annoying the stuff bear to no ends that it was forced to gain someone’s attention.

-Sighs-

Pitch Black

Pitch listened to the young elf's story with great interest. Story's always fascinated him, particularly the dangerous ones. Every time she mentioned a narrowly-escaped attack, he could feel a smirk grow on his face. He'd always wanted to feel the thrill of it, almost being killed and them BAM he dodges the arrow, blocks the attack, dodges the jab, anything. When she reached the end, he felt himself wanting more.

"Wow..." was all he could muster for a while. It was really kind of a sad story. Wonder that she was alive, too. "You know, your awfully lucky to be alive, let alone talkin' to this guy!" he pointed both his thumbs towards himself.

She seemed to be happy about talking about it, and so, he supposed, it was a win-win situation. She got it off her chest and he got to hear it. Then, he noticed something. She hadn't mentioned ever getting severely cut in the neck, and there was a pretty decent-sized one crossing over hers.

"How 'bout that one? You never mentioned it..." he said slowly. Sure, it was rude, but it was more interesting.

Eania mission

Collab: Rtron, Freeshooter, and Fallenreaper- Althalus, Grey and Mar.

True to his word, the child did nothing as Grey rushed him. However, when Grey’s axe went for him, it twisted in the guardsman’s hands, turning the forward motion straight down. The heavy blade slammed into the ground an inch from the boy’s feet. He smirked at Grey. “My, my, had a change of heart have we? Ah well. I guess since you can’t kill me you’ll have to kill yourself.” Grey’s axe suddenly leapt upwards, twisted towards him, and chopped downwards. To make matters worse, his shield refused to obey as well, darting as far out of the way of the axe as it could.

---

Grey cursed inwardly as he felt his weapon suddenly fall downwards, into the ground. Of course, necromancers could animate objects... how stupid of him. He was silent as the boy taunted him, his axe wrenched clean of his hands. He felt a tugging on his shield, but he was strong and the thing was quite well secured to his arm. However, though the force was not significant enough to prevent him from losing hold of it he knew it was suicide to try actually using it... He brought his now empty hand up as the axe chopped down.

From the arc of the swing and the way the now animate axe swung, it was clear the kid didn't actually know the proper way to swing the thing, and against a trained and well-armored warrior this was nothing. He brought his gauntlet to it, angled in such a manner that the axe skimmed along it, the force causing it to slide along his armor rather than bite into his flesh as it sailed into the wooden floor with a mighty thunk. He continued his forward momentum as he reached for his throat...

---

Mar could be quick, but only when she was standing still. Motion and traveling distances were another matter entirely, her tail unhelpful in the attempt to reach the boy before Grey killed him. Logically, she knew she was likely to be too late. She ignored Althalus's steps coming from behind and pushed herself onwards, ending up on the second floor with some difficulty.

She had reached the scene enough to see Grey's hand outreached and stretched for the boy's neck. Meanwhile, the boy seemed to be struggling to focus, his feet backing up to widen the space between him and his attacker.

"Enough." Mar hissed, her voice rippled in a volume not usual for her.

Her chest was heaving slightly, exhausted from her climb and struggle, while she felt her coils tense if the pair chose not to look at her. Noting Grey's axe had moved on its own, her hand raised then slammed down to embed her weapon into the wood. Even if the boy enchanted it, it would take time to move and likely by then, if this didn't work, he would be dead. The thought made her hurt slightly as Lyn, giggling and happy, floated in her mind then replaced with a far more sorrowful image of her daughter.

---

Althalus resisted going up the stairs before Mar, not sure he would be able to resist just killing the little shit and making an excuse to Mar. However, he knew she'd probably kill him for that, not to mention take away Lyn, so he kept his peace. For now at least. As soon as the struggling pair came into sight, he lifted his crossbow up and aimed it at the kid, ready to fire at the slightest hint of insanity or attempting to kill Mar. Grey could take care of himself, as far as Althalus was concerned. It also wouldn't be a bad thing that there was one less person suspicious, at the very least, of who he had been.

The child, on the other hand, kept crawling backwards, desperately trying to simultaneously keep the armor pulling against his assailant while getting the axe to attack from behind. Raw power didn't give him fine, control however, and it was largely an excercise in futility. However, he paused when a loud thunk drew his attention. "I see you couldn't kill me by yourself, so you had to bring your monster and your hired assassin with you, usuper!" He hissed at Grey, before snapping his head to the left and snarling "Shut up father, I claimed this throne by blood right! You were old and infirm! I did what was best for the village!"

---

"Your... life... ends... here!" The mercenary growled through gritted teeth as he reached out, his very armor trying to hold im back as he forced his fingers to close around his neck... It would take a while, but with the armor trying to resist him his fingers were like a vice of impending doom, slowly tightening until the point they'd crush his throat.

He tensed when he heard his ally tell him to stop... Why? He was so close to ending this nightmare, to bringing justice to those that were slain previously, to save his oher allies, and grant this poor deraged child peace in death, should Gaurot be merciful...

He ignoredthe mad ramblings of the 'King' as his grip grew tighter and tighter. "I will not.. be played... a fool... again..." he growled, the sheer effort of resisting his armor keeping him from speaking normally. "He... Must... pay..." He managed to grind out. He was nearly there, just a little more and a quick jerk to the side, and he'd be dead...

---

"Grey, he's a child who's lost everything. Scared, frighten and completely confused which explains why he thinks we were sent to attack. This doesn't..." Mar struggled with the words, uncertain of herself when it came to explaning, her features taking on a softer tone. "It doesn't feel right to me. Something is dead wrong, even you can't deny it and the boy is the only one who can say what it is for sure. Mainly to prevent it from happening again to someone else."

Seeing Grey edge more to the youth, her look hardened. She knew Althalus had his crossbow out and ready, despite the blood lust into the eyes, which only made her more uncomfortable. Before Grey's hand reached near enough her tail struck. It lashed out and came deliberately slow enough for the man to see it, forced into a choice either to continue his attack or back off. She hope it was the later or else the tail would've landed just shy of hitting him. Striking an ally, even while they failed to listen, wasn't something Mar wanted to do. However it was likely the only way to get both of their attentions.

Since it was her tail, she had little worry the boy would've been able to affect it. In addition the attack was aimed more into Grey's direction then the boy's, with a faith the latter would only edge father back and not react.

Unless she was required to avoid something, she turned to look at Althalus, for a moment ignoring the boy's ramblings, then asked him a question. Though her look seemed to warn and remain Althalus he was supposed to allow her to try. "Is it possible, even slightly, the boy can hear the voices of his family?"

---

Althalus only gave Mar a forced smile at her warning look. It was quite evident he wasn't going to stop Grey on his own free will. "I'll stay true to my word. On the voices, I don't know. It's Necromancy, so maybe. It could also just be a by product of madness. You saw the way into this hallway. It was quite...messy. You know how I feel about this whole ordeal, but I won't interfere. You try to talk him down. I'd suggest now, while he can't scream back at you."

The King was evidently trying to say something, but all that came out was a gurgling as words tried to get past Grey's fingers crushing his throat.

"I have to say, I prefer him like this." Althalus commented, crossbow unwavering.

---

"You would." Mar said bitterly, her eyes narrowed and hard, "As for the help part, you won't be helpful enough even if you did want to."

Her instinct, that primal and rather unfamiliar instinct gnawed at her, edging her reaction into restraining Grey for at least time. Time to try to talk sense into the boy or let him be killed. Two sides of herself seemed to snarl and raise, enemy vipers bent on destorying each other even at the cost of themselves which only made her more unsettled. This wasn't how Nagas were taught to be like. She couldn't help but wonder how bipeds could hand the feeling of being tore into half. Namely as it seemed to be ripping her to pieces on the inside.

Since Grey seemed to have ignored her tail, Mar shifted it slightly letting it fall near his feet and slithered forward. It would coil about his foot, then legs and continued higher up in an attempt to pry the two apart, trying to rip the man away before his grip was firm enough to stick. "Grey, let me try. Murdering him only solves part of this mystery and killing him doesn't bring those people back. It only saves him from living with the fact he killed them!"

---

It's us or him, it's us or him, it's us or him, us or him, us or him... Repeated endlessly in his mind. It was easy to think of him as a cold, heartless, child-murderer, but this entire situation was rending him to pieces. His emotions screamed to his rational mind, demanding that he not stain his hands with the blood of a child... But he had no choice. The mangled faces of the villagers, the boy's family, but other things as well. Leith, Coco, Athalus, Mar, even the guide they had just met... To allow this child to live is to allow those abominations outside to slay his friends.

And it wasn't as simple as Mar had thought. The kid would live with a shattered mind, this was beyond mere guilt. He had none at present, but it would set in... Humankind's fragile minds tended to break, the Naga didn't seem to understand this. There was no time to talk either, with the child's power he would soon find an object to murder him or even Athalus or Mar with, and he CERTAINLY thought the child was capable of backstabbing them like that...

He had to die. To bring justice to his victims, safety to those who yet lived, and peace to the poor deranged boy. He did not enjoy this task, but it had to be him. He would not ask one of the others to bear the burden of murdering a child... No, the guilt would be his and his alone. He felt the tail coil around him, and he felt a little sad. You can't stop me, Mar... He thought as everything seemed to slow, it was all in complete focus...

...And he loosened his grip, slightly. His hands were still clasped tight around his throat, tight enough to prevent escape. "If he moves, he dies..." He growled, struggling to both not lose hold of him and not crush too tight. His one eye staring at him in grim determination, projecting every ounce of menace and seriousness he was capable of.

---

Mar nodded her head in agreement with Grey, then turned to the boy. "You attack in any manner, I let him kill you. Understood?"

---

Althalus suppressed a sigh of disappointment as the boy nodded his agreement. Clearly, he was hoping suffocation would happen before they got to this point. Regardless, he only moved to the side so Mar wasn't blocking the kid. It was better to keep everything that the necromancer could move to hurt Mar in sight, rather than expose his back to it as well.

The boy spoke, thought it was hard to hear as there was still a metal hand gripping his throat, "So, what do you want to pry from me before you kill me? If I told anyone esle what your masters have done? If I revealed the secret to an unending well of magic to anyone? What, usupers? I rather die quickly than grovel at your mercy!"

---

Mar's eyebrow raised at the words, something was certainly wrong here. She took a breath then tried her best to reason with the boy. However, if things went terribly, she wouldn't have any problems letting Grey finish what he started. "Killing is debatable as I'm still trying to figure out what you mean by masters. We don't serve anyone but ourselves, though since you're being cooperative. What happened here would be a good start."

---

The boy snorted, or at least, gave it his best shot through the hand on his throat. "That's what the Yarosmerians said to! But I saw through their lies as well. You can't fool me you who-Shut up Father!" His head tried to snap to the side, but merely twitched in Grey's grip. They were lying! And if they weren't they were merely puppets for another of their group! Untold power they promised me! And now they're trying to take it! But I'll make them pay, just as soon as I get these Usurpers out of my kingdom!"

His eyes returned to Mar, still blazing purple. "Everything comes with a price. Especially power."

---

Grey stared, the sheer insanity coming off of this kid was sickening... Still, he had to be patient. Now that he was slightly more confident that the kid wouldn't worm out of this he was more willing to delay his death. "And look where it's got you... surrounded by corpses with gauntlets on your throat.." He said cooly, his stare unceasing.

---

"And why would a boy like you, need it?" Mar stated, her eyes met the boy's without backing down as she studied his body language, "Your judge isn't clear as you've killed everyone and believe the world is against you. Maybe you should listen to someone else for a change. You have the power to easily kill us, that you've proven, yet you still seem to believe we're some sort of threat."

Mar's head tilted to Grey, "He could easily tighten his grip and kill you, but you're still alive. We want to know what happened here. As far as we know, you're the one who's killed everyone. You're the murder."

---

The boy began to laugh. Gurgle, really as the hands on his fingers refused to relax. "Why would I need power? War is coming, you stupid whore."At that, Althalus made an incoherent sound, his finger tightening ever so slightly on the trigger .The boy continued, unperturbed. "I've seen it, and this village has felt its early effects before I even did what had to be done. Survivors spill in with horror stories. Demons are rising, spurred on by their one true master. The lord of the Inferno is coming, and only one power can stop him. Not the Gods, no. Something older. Something much more...powerful. And it's servants came, found me with my magic, and offered me a way to protect my village. But only for a price." Once again his head twitched as he tried to snap it off to the side.

"Yes Beth, you and our parents were a worthy sacrifice! Afterwards, the villagers refused to see reason, and had to be brought to heel! They had to be made into loyal servants. But the treacherous bastards took it too far. They killed when they should have subdued! But I'll have my revenge. Soon enough." He returned to the original subject, as if that outburst had never happened. "Ask yourself, oh brave warrior who is strangling me, how could I have the powers of a master if I had never had much training?"

---

Grey seethed, his hands shifting as he contemplated just ignoring Mar and ridding the world of just one more horror. "I don't care..." He growled, cracking his neck. "Do you hear him?! He's too far gone, We don't really have a choice here!" He wasn't sure he could hold on any longer, both physically and emotionally.

---

"Grey, he wants you to kill him. He's baiting you, if he's not willing to see reason and call off his attack then we won't have any choice." Mar stated while she struggled not to let her emotion override her common sense for much longer. This wasn't working and she could easily see it. Either the boy was far too gone or she would have to switch to something...less Naga in method.

"And you, what was the reason for protecting the village anymore? Your family? They are already gone and dead. To protect the villagers? You failed to protect them from yourself. For a home? This isn't a home, merely a graveyard and those you swore vengeance against are long gone leaving you to slaughter just like them. They likely wanted you to stay here and kill anyone that came along. Staining your hands to be just as bloody as theirs. Now will you stop the attack or will you continue doing what they want you to?"

---

For a long moment, the child was silent. Then he started screaming again. "Fine! Leave! Run into the fucking woods and tell your masters you've succeeded! To the Inferno with this place! To the Inferno with you! I hope Kudd burns you all to death!" From below, the sounds of fighting stopped, replaced by dull thunks as once again dead bodies fell to the floor. "I'm leaving. Try to follow me and I will kill you and send your heads to your masters. You've been spared only once." The boy went slack, eyes glazing over. Grey's armor began to flex with greater force against his will. Iron fingers began trying to peel backwards off of the boy's neck, while his other hand began trying to go up towards his face, matching the boy's movements.

---

Grey certainly felt the additional force on his armor, and while he did say he wouldn't kill him he certainly didn't say he wouldn't harm him. Thinking quickly, he slammed his forehead against the considerably smaller being's forehead, headbutting him as hard as he could (Without slaying him, of course). Needless to say, a blow like that would deal heavy damage to such a fragile person, but that's what healers were for.

---

Althalus carefully laid his crossbow on the ground next to him, before groaning and stretching his arms. "Thank the Gods. My arms were beginning to grow tired. I still say it would have been easier to just let Grey snap his neck, or me shoot him. But hey, having his face smashed in by a guard is obviously better." He chuckled. "Who knew that you could be as good at negotiating as you are with simply beating me down with your tail or your tongue, depending on how public it is." He teased Mar gently, before picking up his crossbow once more.

"So, you guys up for a little trek in the woods? We have to find our 'masters' one way or another."

---

Mar rolled her eyes at Althalus after Grey headbutted the boy, the blood gushed from the nose and mouth where the guard impacted. The boy naturally crumbled unable to stand up against the force behind it ensuring there was not likely to be a repeated of earlier events. It made her relax as she pulled her tail from restraining the human, mentally noting the odd strength compared to Althalus, reminding her of only one other that had similar strength. Tyrael or Karnage, his original name. Her eyes flickered to the man for only a moment then decided it likely best to say something.

There was something other humans did when they did things not clearly right for the situation and so, she tried to mimic it. At least the best she could. "I shouldn't have interfered but... thank you for not killing the boy. That is the right word, isn't it?"

Her body pulled back on her now freed coils, her arm reached for the weapon deeply embedded and tried to jerk it free. Since she lacked strength in her upper body Mar was force to wiggle it out slowly until it came free. She then voiced her own thoughts on the subject. "If the boy was a pawn, and this strong, then the masters will be stronger. This won't be easy. I doubt they will listen so easily if what we learned isn't mad logic."

---

Grey sighed in relief, glad this was finally over. He stood up as he felt the coils untighten, taking a moment to loosen his arms. He frowned, looking at the boy's unconscious form... He was getting off far easier than he was comfortable... He was brought back to reality when he heard Mar's voice. "Yeah..." He said with a sigh, picking up the child and throwing him over his shoulder. "He's a lucky one, in a cruel sense. He certainly deserves it..." He mused, cracking his neck.

He listened to her thoughts on the situation, which to her credit were reasonable assumptions. "Affirmative. Likely too strong for us to handle at this juncture. I suggest we head back, deposit this... scum, then rest and regroup." He said.