[center][h2][color=Blue]Investigation, Part 1[/color][/h2]
Day 2, morning

[i]Wing Wild, Themerlinhawk[/i]

Akime, Master Markov (Urthar)[/center]


Akime was pulled out of her sleep by the distinct feeling that something was wrong. She didn’t remember waking up or even opening her eyes, but suddenly her heart had skipped a beat and then she was awake. The confusion that would normally follow was absent from her mind. Her perceptions  were crystal-clear, a by-product of always keeping her essence sight open and hundreds of years of practice in doing so. By now, she was so used to it, that she could sleep while still keeping an eye out for anomalies. 

And this was a big anomaly. Somewhere to the west a kind of magic had entered the world that she’d never felt before. It bore some similarities to someone she did know, yet seemed just as alien at the same time. 

Quickly, Akime jumped off the bed and opened a map with flourish, spreading it out on the desk. It depicted the entire world, through and through, in enough detail to warrant its huge size: over three meters on each side. Taking a moment to find the red cross that marked the position of the Tower of Stars, Akime put both index fingers on it and closed her eyes. As she recalled the feeling, she started judging the approximate location of the disturbance. Her left finger started creeping west of the tower, the unease growing in Akime’s gut until it reached its peak. The woman’s eyes opened as her nail came to a halt over Sun’s Rest. Finally she called out to Ibuki, waking her companion with the request for a tape-measure. The latter rose with a low grumble and measured the distance soon after. The sight of his bedhead would have drawn a smile, were she not so worried. Akime waited patiently for him to calculate the distance with her arms crossed and her eyebrows drawn. 

“A hundred and thirty miles west, approximate latitude and longitude: 48.9539300 and 4.3672400.” He took his eyes off the map and looked at Akime. “Is it bad?” 

“Quite. I can’t know for sure yet.” She paused, then continued. “It’s alien yet it seems to have resonated with one of the new recruits. Her aura has suddenly altered, whether it’s possession or simply an awakened power I don’t know, but at least it seems like Markov has already approached them.” 

“So he has noticed as well. Has he alerted Shard yet?”
“No.” Akime shook her head, already stripping the pajamas and slipping some daywear on. 
“Alright then. I’ll give him a call. Are you going after it?” 
“No. I’m not sure what it is and what it’s intentions are, if it’s even corporeal. I’ll go talk to Markov as it’s partially similar to his essence, he might know more. We might need to take action quick so before you report to Christian, go wake Cole up and ask him to find me a statue of anything with wings. When you’re both done, head out to the top of the tower and I’ll meet you there. Noon’s coming soon so I’ll be able to see quite far, let’s just hope it won’t be too late.”
Ibuki nodded and sized her up. “Are you panicking?”
“No.” Akime snapped and stormed off.

“The master of Words” was a title that to Akime felt too humbling for what Markov really was. She didn’t truly know the man, and sometimes wondered if anyone ever will, but she knew that if Christian trusts him, then so can she. Her steps were heavy and rushed as she made her way towards Adela’s room, hoping that the old man wouldn’t be half as worried as her. She started speaking to him as soon as he came in sight, raising her voice to overcome the space still separating them.

“Master Markov, good to see you. I felt something slip through the Outer Door, I’m not sure if it was sentient or just an echo of whatever’s going on beyond, but it’s something I’ve never felt before. You’ve felt it too, haven’t you?” She came to a stop and gave a goofy smile. “Please tell me I worry too much.”

Markov turned on her and frowned. “Mistress of Sight, I see that you’ve already felt it. I should have known that you would feel the tremor. I assume you felt Adela’s awakening. Which would be why you are here I assume?” Markov shifted his walking cane from the floor to his left hand. Abandoning the pretense of frailty he had cultivated. “The Outer Door is open. Well, it’s mostly open. That was the first shove so to speak, Galendar’s magic pushed back on the door. I need to see it to determine what will need to happen in order to seal it.”

Adela. A girl then. Already dealt with, by the sounds if it. “The first shove? Are you sure nothing came through? I'm prepared to investigate it and normally I'd have left for the location if the disturbance already but I don't know what we're dealing with so I thought I'd consult you first. Can my powers be of any use to you, Master?” 

“Yes, and yes. It was only magic, that or it was a lesser servant. If something of my power came through I’d have felt it. Your magic will be useful, you have a void shard, we’ll be fine. We can open a way it will get us close to Sun’s Rest.” Markov nodded down the hallway. “Don’t call me Markov, Call me Urthar. I’m the High Priest of Therax, and unless you really want to lose part of your mind don’t look at me too closely.” With that he started walking down the hallway. “I need a Gateway in order to do this. And they are in the basement so if you feel like taking a walk then let’s get going.” 

Akime gave a soft chuckle of relief, amusement and a pinch of nervousness. In all those years she had sternly avoided anything to do with the Tower’s foundations. The woman reached into her pocket and produced a mobile phone, which she stared at for a few excruciating moments before managing to call Ibuki.
 
“You and Cole are dismissed, I’m off on a field-trip with the Master of Words. You two play nice and stay out of trouble.”  She chirped and hung up. She had no idea what void stone she was supposed to have but if… Urthar said she could help, that was good enough for her. It was a pity her meeting with Lazarus had to wait, but there was always tomorrow… hopefully. 

Urthar lead them down to a set of innocuous stairs. They were carved into the bedrock of the tower. There was no door to them, the walls were layered with the same marble as the rest of the wallway. Urthar looked back down the hallway. His devoid eyes looking from her to another door further back. “You could go back.” He stood at the top of the stairs looking back down at the black. “Of course then you’ll never know what lurks in the dark.” With that he descended the stairs.

And while Akime was perfectly fine not knowing some things, she knew sometimes not knowing was just a temporary state of mind that had to be overcome. That, or maybe it was just her  wretched curiosity. This despite her aversion to darkness, she followed without a moment's hesitation.

The stairs descended for a ways before finally leveling out into an open room. It was filled with dozens upon dozens of cases and displays. The artifacts and objects within them extruded strange energies and whispers of a dark past. “The lower levels are a mirror of the Obsidian Tower in the Wastes beyond Galendar. This is where Shard keeps the artifacts he has collected that can’t safely be stored in the display rooms above and need to be locked away somewhere. The Vault isn’t safe enough so we bring them here. And yes, the stairs are much more deadly than they appear.” Leading her through the room and further down the stairs. They pased through strange rooms filled with objects for torture and experimentations. Rooms filled with vats of strange liquids and rooms filled with beings frozen in stasis before Urthar finally lead her into a wide circular room with a series of circles set into the floor they were made of various metals and were set at different depths leaving channels in the floor where one ring was set deeper than others. 

“Welcome to the Way, The Tower’s best kept secret.”

As they progressed, Akime found it hard to keep her hands of things and her curiosity at bay. She could extend little flames from her own aura and let the flick around the items they passed, feeding her information about their history or composition but she had to resist. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d first faced Christian and his mercenaries and the memories were suddenly vibrant and fresh. Back then the men and women were housed in a completely different part of the city, yet their power was made obvious by their possessions even then. She had felt a few artefacts on her way down the halls and even come unpleasantly close to one- a gateway to Yishreenok’s realm that Lazarus had warned her to not even look at. Thus as she followed Urthar further into the tower’s basement, she kept both her hands and her senses close to herself. 

“And who makes use of that secret?” Akime inquired as the Master of Words announced they’d reached their destination. Her foot ran over one of the metal circles, wondering why she’d never heard of a teleportation device if they’d been created already. Then again, there were those gateways between worlds, so perhaps it wasn’t all that impossible for channels to exist linking locations of the same world. “I didn’t know we had such a thing in the Tower. How does it work? Who invented it and when?” She asked curiously, momentarily forgetting the urgency of their situation. 

“It requires an Avatar’s power to make use of it. Lucky me don’t need that, the Way is one of the only things in existence that can connect two places in Galendar together. It acts like a worm through an apple; burrowing through space. It was created by the Dust Coven, atleast that is what I’ve been told. They used it to send their Walkers to defend sections of the Waste. It made use of the Lord of Waste’s power to open such portals. It's much different from traditional translocation magic with simply picks up a piece of space and moves it somewhere else, deposits the person and then moves the piece of space back. That sort magic is taxing and dangerous. This however has its own problems. It requires incredible amounts of energy; however in the end it means you can strike anywhere and there is almost no defense against it.” Urthar walked to the center of the rings. “Any other questions?” There was no impatiens in his voice, he simply stood patiently.  

“Wait. Strike?” Akime asked surprised. “Do you know what we’re striking against? Or are you just using the expression in broader terms?” Her curiosity was piqued and she’d definitely have to ask how the Tower’s master acquired such a thing, but now wasn’t the right time. If Urthar wanted to invest monumental amounts of energy to reach the disturbance spot ASAP, then he must be worried about it himself. 

“Broad terms. Once upon a time we used the Way to assault Lord Morrowblade's compound in Galendar, he was so dug in a frontal assault would have cost us dearly. So we opened a way right into that bastards inner sanctum. He was surprised to say the least.” With that he turned and walked to the edge of the room. With deft practiced hands Urthar touched a handful of symbols carved into the walls of the room. After which he began tracing lines on the floor. Wherever he touched pale green light began to emanate from the symbols and lines. 

“I didn’t know you had anything to do with Lord Marrowblade’s assault. But I suppose everyone in this tower has a history, especially a man of your calibre.” She shrugged, positioning herself on the opposite end of the circle. “What do you want me to do?”

Urthar pointed at the center of the circle. “Stand there. We’ll use my magic for this. No need to involve Shard, he’s been up at night a lot so I think it's best if you and I take care of this.” Finishing his lines Urthar walked over to Akime. All pretense of frailty gone. “This is going to feel strange so just be ready.”

Akime smiled. She had to agree, Shard [i]had[/i] been up a lot since Raven came back. She walked to the center of the circle and crossed her arms, unsure what to do with them. It wasn’t often that she’d interacted with the tower’s “old man”. She’d seen him when she first came to the Tower, and then many times since, shadowy figures drifting along the bricks and creeping along the hallways, barely seen but distinctly felt at night. Yet, even after she became a regular visitor, the man had avoided her. He was old by any definition, but for the frail human one and she had been curious as to what made him settle exactly here but she didn’t pursue or press him into talking to her. Like Crow, this man had a knack for disguise and as usual, she couldn’t help but wonder why. Today would be a rare opportunity for both some adventure and getting to know him a bit better. 

Urthar walked to her and settle his walking stick on the floor, standing upright he looked at her for a moment. “Do not be startled, my true form is usually unsettling. With that Urthar threw back his arms and the muscle and skin rippled and tore apart, beneath the skin was a rubbery pale blue flesh. His stature increased until Urthar was well over six feet tall the lower half of his face erupted into four tentacles and his head contorted to alien proportions with solid white eyes that seemed to see into a world beyond anything anyone in Galendar could see. The last two fingers on his hands merged together and long talons erupted from the ends of them. Urthar’s voice resounded in her head Now lets go find some answers.

With that the aberration pressed his hands together and a pale black light emanated from between his fingers and with a jerk he thrust it upwards. The rings set into the floor snapped up surrounding them. With a pop and a gut wrenching pull the whole world seemed to shift sideways before snapping back into place. 

They stood in the middle of a blackened circle of vegetation, trees hung with centuries of moss crowded in above the two of them and the world seemed to watch. It was as if time flowed thick like blood in this place, no animal sounds, no constant breath of life, just the slow growth of a forest as old as the world. 

“Don’t worry, I quite like unsettling.” Akime stole a glance at the master’s real form before the world lost its shapes and lurched at her. It stole her breath and she staggered but it was over before she fell, so she managed to catch herself and land on her knees instead of landing on her face. Standing up, she dusted herself and walked out of the circle before it decided to do something else evil to her.

“Now here’s a place where I haven’t been before. This wormhole is handy, I wonder if Christian will let me use it for tourism.” She joked and looked back at Urthar while extending her aura in the nearby area. Her essence senses tentatively touched the trees around them while her eyes explored the alien creature next to her.

The world seemed to warp around Urthar, he was exponentially more powerful than the first time they had met. Radiating a strange alien magic that tugged at the world and played with Akime’s senses at the edges of her vision. It was all too clear that the first time she had seen him, Urthar had been lacking in his magic. Now however he was clearly at his full power. “It takes an awful lot of magic” the statement was the truth but judging from Urthar’s magic it had barely scratched his capacity. “Now to find the Door...it’s been so long.”

“That won’t be too hard, you’re giving me enough ground for comparison. I just hope if anything slipped through, that it wouldn’t be able to feel you. Saying that, I can’t feel anything living but the plants within a kilometre radius so we’re probably safe.” Indeed, with all the magic he was exuding she didn’t have to look very hard to see his essence, as alien and unusual as it was. “That way.” She pointed at the slope of a hill to the north. The trees seemed to be spaced out there, receding to form the edge of either a meadow or the forest itself. “You’ve gotten stronger.” She started as she headed in the pointed direction. “Not to say that you haven’t always been strong. I remember how you completely shut down my essence sight the first time we met. I’ve never met anyone capable of doing it before. I have to admit, it’s somewhat unnerving to think that someone can rob you of your core abilities so easily. Will the new recruit be able to do that too?”

Urthar make a wet repetitive sound that was clearly a laugh. His voice was raspy and guttural “No, she won’t be able to do something like that. And yes, the opening of the outer door refreshed my magic. I can’t draw on magic the same way others can. I store vast amounts of it and only gain more magic from the places beyond the outer door. I cannot use Galendar’s magic” Urthar started walking towards where she pointed.

The path he took continued into the depths of the forest. Leading in silence he brought the two of them into a clearing. Within it were the ruins of a city. The spires were coated in vines and the forest was clearly trying to reclaim it but yet the stone work stood strong. “Ah, it's still standing even after all these years. I am rather impressed to be honest with you. But then again my kind are always good at building things to last.” Picking his way through the ruins Urthar lead Akime further into the ruins. 

The woman followed, light on her feet, few branches snapping under her. She enjoyed nature but the lack of wildlife in this specific forest made it less pleasurable and served to remind that they were on a mission. It was interesting to see those buildings but she was always a tad more interested in people than architecture. “I didn't know your species had ever settled in this world. In fact, I don't even see why you would if you can't use your magic here. Even if you can charge yourself up, I personally prefer to have my magic always at hand. What made you come here, Urthar? If you don't mind me asking, of course.”

“To bring this world to its knees.” Urthar pressed onward leading her into a massive temple in the heart of the city. Strange architecture curled along the inside of the temple. Like writhing tentacles it climbed the inside of the structure. “I am the High Priest of Therax. I was sent here to kill the Titan Orieon.” The suggestion that Urthar had made was that he was almost as old as Galendar itself. “And kill him we did. This place was our foothold in Galendar. In the end we slew Orieon and cast him into the earth. His body created the abyss and with his death he slew all of the beings I had brought with me save for the generals. They are scattered throughout Galendar now hiding from the light. The problem is that they probably sensed the door opening as well.” Urthar descended a spiral staircase set into the floor. “Orieon also sealed the Outer Door and limited our power in so doing. In Galendar I am only a fraction of the power I am beyond the Outer Door. Although now I doubt I can ever go back to that. Galendar has corrupted me.” 

“And I'm glad it has.” Akime scoffed. She had felt a chill run down her spine when he confessed why he'd come. “It seems I prefer corrupted men, judging by you and Christian. Besides, I'd like to think you’ve also found plenty you like in this world. I was exiled myself so I know time can dull the pain somewhat.” 

She followed this strange being confidently, the knowledge of his superiority and the trust she had in him sitting beside each other comfortably in her chest. Perhaps if she'd met him under different circumstances she'd be nervous of both his leadership and his revelations but with time she'd come to trust Shard more than most and if he vouched for the man, then she'd follow him without fear.

“Shard is hardly corrupt, Shard is the most pure manifestation of Galendar’s ecology I have ever seen. He’s a dragon at heart and he acts like it every day. What you might see as greed or corruption is simply his nature. I guess that says something about Lady Raven’s choice in companion but it still remains to be seen how Raven actually feels. Christian was hurt when she left which is close to when I joined him.” The stairs opened into a massive underground cathedral and at the far end against the wall was a massive double door set flush into the rock. The runes that covered it when looked at straight on seemed to writhe and skitter making it difficult to actually get a good look at them.

“Of Course we will see if what both of them are made of eventually.” Urthar turned on Akime. “You’re a True Fae are you not?” 
 
“So they say.” Akime responded with a shrug. “Though it always struck me as unpleasant to call others ‘fake’. And for the record, I didn’t really mean Christian is corrupted, I was being sarcastic since you said our world “corrupted” you, which seems to be what makes people human in my opinion. ” 

The woman stepped forwards to stand beside Urthar and ran a finger down the door in front, watching for any change in the skittering runes. In her mind Ibuki screamed in outrage but in reality the room remained blissfully quiet. The babysitter was miles away, just how she liked it.

“Can you feel what is behind it? The empty space. The hunger. The reason I am corrupted is because everything I am is from behind that door.” Urthar looked over the door slowly “It’s come loose, the seals aren’t attached anymore.” Urthar settled on his walking stick slowly. “The door isn’t open but it’s close. I think it was slammed back shut but I can’t tell if anything got through…”

“Well, I can.” Akime smirked, her finger now running close to the gap. She didn’t dare put it right over the gap as the essence oozing from beyond were already giving her the chills as is. Her finger felt colder by the second but touch was an even more efficient way of feeling essence than pure sight, so for the time being she had to put up with it. As the sensation build up on her finger she let it penetrate her and reach her heart where she analysed it and memorised every little detail of it as a sample for later on. As she worked, it became more and more obvious just how much in common Urthar had with the space beyond, and how much was different. She was simultaneously taking fingerprints of both the void beyond and the man in front, both of which could prove useful in the years to come. From now on, she’d be able to track down the Master of Words wherever he went and have no difficulty recognising him even among a swarm of creatures from beyond.
 
After a minute, the woman expelled the alien essence with her next breath. You never knew what it could do to you to taste other people’s souls or magic, and especially if it doesn’t come from this world. She reached into her pocket and handed Urthar a small pearly vial. “Could you extract some of the air and magic drifting through the gate? You never know when that might come in handy and you seem better suited at attempting it than me.” She spoke as she looked around the room. Something [i]had[/i] gone through and it was massive, its essence fleeting but tangible, like a subtle mist that lingered in the room. “And I’m afraid to say something has slipped through. Huge, definitely bigger than you. Friend or foe, I couldn’t tell you.” She looked back at him. “What do we do? Stealth or an all-out assault?”

Urthar frowned “A breaker. Interesting.” Taking the vial he drew from the void and sealed it into the vial. The essence swirled within the vial. “Be Careful with that, it is volatile in Galendar.” Turning Urthar placed both his hands on the door. With an effort Urthar began to draw more magic through the doorway filling the all but bottomless well that was his magic. Urthar’s form filled out more, thickening his muscles and lengthening his form more. The color of Urthar’s skin darkened and then two additional tentacles sprouted from his lower face falling several inches lower than the other four. 

For the first time in centuries Urthar felt like the High Priest of Therax. The world began to bend around him ever so slightly as he finished filling his magic to its highest capacity. Turning to Akime he nodded. “It’s a World Breaker, and I don’t know where it is going. Galendar is lucky in that it has the Outer Door to protect it. Therax armies use World Breakers as shock troopers to soften worlds before the invasion begins. I’m still not sure how they plan on opening the door though.” Urthar stroked one of his tentacles thoughtfully.

Akime smiled at the man. It must feel good to sate your hunger for magic after so many years of fasting. The news, however, were far less pleasant than the sight. “Seems like we have to warn Christian after all. We can play rock-paper-scissors for who knocks on his door to deliver the news, I don’t want to witness anything unsightly.” She giggled, then became serious. “And this ‘world breaker’… if I seek it out, can you destroy it?”

Urthar frowned. “I don’t know, I don’t have all of my tools anymore. The Death Scythe is powerful but I really wish I’d been able to recover more.” Urthar considered further before turning, “We can try. Between the two of us we should be able to bring it down. Do you want to take up the trail from here or shall we return to the Tower?”

Akime shook her head. “It’s easier from here as the trail is fresher. Being as Cole isn’t with us, I’ll have to create golems to give us an aerial view but it shouldn’t take more than half an hour. With them being winged, it should--- wait.” She stopped herself and grinned. “You can fly, can’t you? This should make things easier.” 

Urthar nodded. With that he flexed his shoulders and a set of rubbery wings sprouted from his back with that he gestured towards the door. “Let’s go, the longer we wait the harder this will be.”