"What happened to you was unfortunate, but if you're suggesting it was intentional then you're wrong. Our people died that day, we would never knowingly send our own to their deaths," Nymira replied, her voice calm though a clear strain was in it, like she was biting back anger. She couldn't be underestimating the threat when she wasn't even certain what the threat was. No one was explaining what they were fighting today only that it was a trail of sorts for her, Ethan and Asta to complete. Being made to undergo some battle to earn the trust of Taliya and her people was annoying enough and now Kensen was lecturing her as though she were as naive as Ethan. But she would bite her tongue and not snap at Kensen as she might like for there was a time and a place, and right now their focus was on whatever awaited them in the woods. Letting her breath pass in a shallow sigh Nymira withdrew her blades and held them loosely in her hands, nodding silently at Kensen. Fine, she'd let him play the instructor and she'd do as they were asked, but she'd not be spoken down to like that.

"If something so dangerous is this close to Mutebo why wait until now? That's what I'm not getting," Ethan voiced as he took his own weapon from its sheath. The only blade he was ever accustomed to was his stolen machina sword and thus an actual blade proved to be awkward for him. It wasn't a large weapon though the weight of solid metal threw him off, making the simple act of even swinging it more trouble than he'd bargained for. Yet they had insisted everyone be armed and without his own weapon of choice he'd had to borrow one.

"The big ones tend to make others appear, they seem to give off some kind of signal that calls smaller beasts to the area. We haven't killed it because we've been dealing with the little bastards that have shown up instead," Gage explained, peeling back his open jacket and revealing a holster on his chest. Unclipping the holster he pulled free a harpoon gun of sorts, though one which was far more advanced than the typical sort a fisherman might wield. Clearly stolen much like Ethan's blade was and of a higher caliber weapon than what most had, it was curious as to just what the tool did. "We've culled the Vazra and other lot that've appeared, now we're going to kill off the source. If we kill this thing the rest ought to run off."

So that was it then, the beasts were emboldened by the presence of a larger creature. At least now they had the knowledge that they were dealing with a much bigger animal than those they had encountered already, which also helped to explain why Kensen had become bothered when she'd questioned the size of their party. Four Magi all told and each of them armed and ready to fight, or perhaps three, given Ethan's typical reluctance to do battle. Still they had a fairly capable group which only further sparked Nymira's curiosity: just what were they going to fight?

Under Gage's lead the group forged on deeper into the forest as Kensen remained above in the trees, their scout in the sky. Where there had been an abundance of wildlife earlier there was now nothing to speak of, not the song of birds nor the rustling of small creatures skittering through the leaves. An eerie silence had befallen the forest and the whistling of wind through the limbs of trees only added to the atmosphere. Moving along still the air itself seemed to become notably different as well, heavier and almost humid, as though a storm might be passing through. Despite a clear sky above fog then began to roll into the area, slowly at first until their field of vision became rather poor, seeing only two dozen meters in any direction from where they stood. Silently Gage raised a hand to signal everyone to stop, turning to the group and putting a finger to his lips. They had found their prey and it had found them in turn, a standoff would ensue until either they or it made a move. With a gesture to Kensen then he signaled for his compatriot to ready himself before undoing the safety on his weapon.

The deathly silence carried on for several moments, the fog neither growing thicker nor fading. As they stood among the trees Ethan became increasingly aware that another presence was here with them and Nymira seemed to acknowledge this as well as she held her daggers at the ready. With the hair on the back of his neck standing on end he looked around for any sign of what was coming but the fog made it impossible to see too far out. Swallowing back nerves he debated on trying to use magic to displace it and give them their sight back, though with such limited energy after yesterday he didn't want to use what he had on such a thing. Unless Kensen or Gage told him to he'd keep his magic under lock and key until the fighting started. At this point he almost wanted whatever it was to come out and attack, the tension was only making it worse.

Where was it? And why was it taking so long to strike? It was clear that the beast knew they were here so why was it biding its time? Clicking his tongue in annoyance Gage slowly turned on his feet and tried to peer through the fog for any movements, his jaw tightening when he saw fog part and leaves rustle just a few meters off to his right. It seemed to be circling them perhaps trying to find the best angle to strike. Smart bastard, it knew charging in on them recklessly was only going to get it killed.

"She's here... Keep light on your feet..." The words had no sooner left his mouth when a low whistling sound began to fill the air similar to the sound of air escaping a burst balloon. What began as a soft noise soon grew louder and the trees before them began to shake, gradually at first until the trunks themselves were twisted back and forth, limbs snapping and flying free from their homes. Over the howling wind now assaulting their ears Gage had barely managed to shout "Get down!" before a gale tore through the area. Smaller trees were torn from the ground and thrown aside, larger trees were partially uprooted and bark stripped away, limbs torn and violently whipped around, snapping and smashing into other trees behind them. The gale was brief but violent and as the air settled trees continued to shake and collapse, the air raining leaves and sticks upon the group and the ground itself stripped bare as a visible scar dug into the soft earth.

At the mouth of the scar was the beast itself, silently hovering above the ground, its wings slowly beating to suspend itself. The air around the creature appeared to be in some kind of turmoil as the fins upon its back fluttered back and forth, like a small vortex surrounded the beast itself. Eyeing the group with two blood red eyes sat beneath a black brow it slowly lifted itself up, spreading its wings to its side and lifting its head, emitting a piercing howl before lowering itself and darting straight for the group. Gage was immediate in his reaction and fired a harpoon at it only to watch as it turned to smoke before their eyes, the harpoon lodging into a tree trunk and missing entirely. Dropping to the ground to avoid being tackled by the beast as it became physical once more he rolled onto his back and kicked out his legs, managing to knock it further along and off balance.

Just what was this beast? Never before had Nymira seen a creature that could turn to smoke like that or one that could tear apart trees with only its voice. Now she understood why Kensen and Gage had been sent along, and why Kensen had seemed so uptight about their task. This thing whatever it was posed a massive threat and she didn't dare to think what might happen if one of them were struck by its howl. Trying to follow up on Gage's failed attack she dashed forward, leaping up over the beast as it soared past and spinning her body in an attempt to slice the fins upon its back. Only she found her blades did not find flesh but air instead as it assumed an intangible form once more, avoiding her entirely and continuing on its path, aiming at Kensen now.

---

Cecil's damage was not terribly extensive which was fortunate. However his entire system had shut down as means of preventing further damage and it would not reboot until all the ruined components had been replaced. After placing his frame in a hold and connecting his memory banks to a computer for storage they could begin to work on the body itself. Limbs were partially melted by some highly acidic liquid, his joints had suffered damage as well and his gauntlets were partially destroyed. It was a curious design and unlike anything any of the engineers present had ever seen before, a combat Machina clearly though one of higher caliber than they were used to. In order to be certain they didn't make any mistakes they had called in a favor, an expert who would be far better suited in helping their case. He wouldn't arrive until the next day however and so instead they had spent the first evening cleaning up what they could, removing damaged components and salvaging what they could for the repairs later. Their help wasn't slated to arrive until later that afternoon, so until then their hands were largely tied.

For all the good his inventions did there was still no place for them in Adelon yet. Norman enjoyed the luxury of traveling faster than any steed might on his motorized vehicle and yet arriving at Mutebo presented him with a big problem; horses were able to travel the streets of most larger settlements, they had been designed for such yet nothing could give his vehicle room. The noise it emitted made it an issue as well and so he'd been made to store it at the stables alongside the horses of other travelers instead. He'd worry about it possibly being stolen if he thought anyone might be capable of even piloting it, though just in case he took the ignition key along with him. It was odd to be back in Mutebo after almost a year away and stranger still he'd been called in to help with a Machina. The engineers here were defectors of some rather prominent companies and should have plenty of expertise for routine maintenance, more than enough to do their job without him being there. He had an inkling that there must be something unique about this particular Machina though he didn't know what, the message he'd received had been rather vague.

When he had arrived at the shop where he'd been asked to provide help and spotted a familiar young lady outside banging on the door he knew immediately why he'd been asked to help. What had the kids gotten themselves into this time he wondered, shaking his head and smiling as he approached the building. Wyth was the first to notice him and he addressed the moorcat with a wave, winking at Amuné when she too noticed his arrival.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes Amuné, though I guess I know what I'm doing here now," Norman said as he glanced at the door, hands on his hips as he arched an eyebrow, "Cecil's in there isn't he? What's happened now? I got a call to come help repair a Machina and I'm assuming that'd be our friend, am I wrong?"

There she was being all defensive again, like it mattered anymore. What was sent on that mission had been way less than they should’ve sent, but no they were Dimurans, they were strong and fearless and could take on anything. It was the overestimation of the century, thinking a single race was as powerful as these beasts just because you belonged to it. Maybe one day her father will be able to get over that and not see these allies he was gathering as a means to spread his influence because that’s all that he saw it as right now. Maybe one day she was going to see it, but then again she was already proving to be really stubborn and was probably still contemplating how to get Mutebo on her father’s side, even if it was never going to be a good idea for the city as a whole.

From above he could see everything, his goggles only enhancing his vision. He rarely took off his goggles when he was outside and typically kept them on when around people he didn’t know very well. He just didn’t like revealing too much about himself around strangers and when out in the wilds they were just too handy to keep off, especially if there was danger around. He could see all the way into the forest and passed the trees, the lifeforms that existed within and where ever they moved. It was pretty high technology he carried on his head, something pretty advanced that was developed once he was recruited. With his ability to fly he was the best person for using the goggles, there was nobody else quite like him in the city.

Using his enhanced vision he could see nothing moving, not even a single heat signature. This was the sign that something was nearby and they had to be quick with dealing with it, or rather the newbies had to show them they could be quick with dealing with it. Looking to Gage briefly he reached for his back, looking around cautiously as he held his position. If he was going to be useful in these woods he was going to have to stick to the tree tops, he wasn’t entirely made for ground combat. Keeping very quiet he moved his other hand out in front of himself, his tail keeping a hold of the tree trunk before, eventually, the threat decided it was going to show itself.

Swinging his hand around that was originally behind his back he held a fair sized kunai that sliced through the blast of the attack, splitting the gale and sparing the tree from a majority of the damage until he leaped off the tree, taking to the air. So it was this big guy that was causing all the trouble, but it being a wind creature meant he had an advantage too. He could counter it, but his ability to fight wasn’t what was important here. He knew what was important here and if he killed this thing too soon then there was no point on bringing the others out here. Flying on the spot he watched its trail, looking to Gage when the attempt to damage it was made but failed completely. “Don’t waste your resources! You should know better!” Well this was just great, the beast was just going to get all cocky now. Growling lowly he watched as the beast became quite hostile again which meant it was his turn to start flying fast, speeding away with a burst of wind. This thing may be practically air but he could harness the wind and was fairly well experienced with it, only thing was it wasn’t his job to act as bait. “Well what are you all waiting for?? Use your magic on this thing!”

Just use magic and all of their problems would disappear, was that it? Easy for Kensen to say when his body wasn't ragged and still recovering from a battle just the day before. Of course magic was an option but it was a liability right now, Nymira knew that much. If she used even a handful of spells and they had no effect then she'd only tire herself out and become helpless. And for whatever efficiency Ethan might boast with a sword his magic had never exactly stood out so relying on his was a moot effort. All that aside Kensen was right, their traditional methods weren't going to work against this creature when it could turn into mist like that. Magic may not even work but at least that had a better chance of causing damage.

"Fine! If you insist!" Training her sights on the Rökorm and preparing a spark of flame in her palm Nymira kept it a soft red, following the beast as it gave chase to Kensen. Waiting for the right moment and leading it slightly she unleashed a fireball that flew straight and true while striking the creature in its side. A satisfying sizzling sound and a pained howl confirmed she'd hit it, but not content in resting on her brief victory Nymira charged another blast and fired it as well, scowling when the creature emitted a gust of wind and snuffed out her flames. Taking to her daggers again instead she dashed forward as the Rökorm came down upon her, attempting to throw her weapon at it in place of another spell. Again a burst of air was released to knock it away and Nymira had to scramble and dive to the side to avoid being run down by the beast.

Right, he had to do something to help out, he couldn't leave all of the fighting to Nymira. His specialization of speed magic was probably not going to be of much use in this fight if their enemy could fly though which left... Gusts of wind? It wasn't much but it was all Ethan had, he'd have to make it work. Waiting for the Rökorm to clear his friend he aimed his open palm in its direction and braced a foot behind himself, channeling magic and unleashing a strong gale from his hand in its direction. For a moment it seemed to be rather effective and caused the creature to tumble in the air, flailing like a fish out of water until it canceled his magic and righted itself. Then it turned on him, its fins spreading out and eyes trained on him while emitting a loud screech that made him recoil. Alarmingly the air around the creature became visible and flashed a green color before it was fired at him, and in an effort to preserve himself Ethan unleashed another blast of his own. An audible pop followed the two gusts hitting one another until his own was overtaken and he was knocked off of his feet from the attack, thankfully falling over however kept him from being thrown too far away. Hearing it preparing another blast he lifted his head and prepared to attack back yet again, only this time Nymira countered. A blast of flame engulfed the creature before it could finish its attack and it took off higher into the air to escape the flames, some of its body visibly singed. So they could hurt it but they had hardly killed it, and Ethan doubted it would get any easier.

"I'm really thinking these whelps are a waste of time..." Gage grumbled, watching as Ethan and Nymira tried to fend off the Rökorm. He'd tried to lend a hand by binding it and found it moot, he'd leave it to them then. "We ain't out here to let them kill themselves, and if we leave them to it they're gonna die," he continued, glancing back over his shoulder at Kensen, "You know that right? They're hopeless." He wasn't sure what Taliya was even thinking sending them out against a creature of this caliber, even if they weren't worn down these kids probably still couldn't kill one as hard as they might try to.

---

"Well... Machina don't really get sick, and they don't really die. They're machines, machines don't die," Norman clarified over the sound of bolts being undone, "They sort of... Shut down. Its kind of like how people sleep when they're sick, rest helps them get better. Machina rest to keep themselves from getting more damaged." That really wasn't the best analogy but he didn't know how else to explain it. Essentially when a Machina sustained damage that could compromise its systems it would power down to prevent anything from happening, until it could be repaired again. There was also the distinct possibility that Cecil's power cell had somehow been damaged in this scuffle of theirs and that was why he wasn't working. Until he got a better look at the damage it would be impossible to say, though regardless of what had been done he was confident he could repair it.

The workshop was impressive if cluttered, if anyone from a proper shop ever saw this place they'd have a stroke over the violations. Tools were laid out haphazardly over tables and chairs, spare parts littered the floors and walls and containers of grease, oil and various gels lined the shelves. Cecil was not the only Machina in the shop either though the others were much more typical, scarcely human in appearance save for a crude face and physiology. Sticking out like a sore thumb in the back of the room was Cecil, and Norman didn't even need to get close to make a quick assessment. A lot of joints had been damaged and showed signs of wear, the shell and some inner components had been compromised and there was a very good chance his energy cell would need replacing.

"I'd be a lousy excuse for a machinist if I couldn't repair our friend here, don't you worry sport," Norman reassured with a kind smile to Amuné. Crossing the room with her in tow he waved aside the engineers currently looming over Cecil and leaned in for a closer look, his fingers delicately manipulating the scraps of his arms and hands. The gauntlets were largely in one piece save for the corroded shells and his arms appeared to be largely in working order. Excessive joint damage, doubtless plenty of wiring had been ruined in the process, and there was still the matter of his energy cell. There had been something curious about Cecil however the last time he'd worked on the Machina and naturally Norman had to take a second look. Removing the tattered clothing from Cecil's body he peeled back the chest cavity to reveal an intricate series of cogs, wires and various other components within. What he was namely concerned about was a small casing right in the center of the chest where a heart might be, a clear case that held a refined shard of Demacite crystal. Not wholly unusual for a Machina to draw power from Demacite, but that wasn't what had Norman's interest. No, it was the element of the crystal itself, Luminous. Life magic as some called it.

"Yes... I imagine our friend will be just fine..." Norman muttered as he leaned in further, his brow furrowed as he ran a finger along the casing. A strange chill passed his spine as he touched the container and with a sigh he backed off for the moment, returning his attention instead to the damage on Cecil's outer extremities. "I'm going to need some tinsten polymer for the casings, and we'll need plenty of copper wire to repair the damaged connections in his arms and legs. I'll also need someone to go to the blacksmith here and see about getting us some iron. We don't need much, a few ounces at most, I want to reinforce the joints around the gauntlets and the gauntlets themselves." Inspecting one of the hands he noted the wear on them, the furnish had been scrapped off and in some places bare metal was exposed. Clearly Cecil had used these a fair amount of times before so all the more reason to give him a slight upgrade. "Also see if you can find me a spring, the heavier the better. I want to try and install a compensator for the gauntlets, there's probably a lot of recoil when he fires these."

If he was going to end up getting injured in this mission then he was going to be rather angry and unforgiving for the rest of the week. Kensen knew he couldn’t take these beasts lightly, he knew there was always going to be injuries when out on these types of missions and he knew how strong these things could be; however, when he was only leading this for reasons that didn’t ultimately concern him as a whole he was naturally going to be pretty displeased if anything happened to him. Already he was being chased by this thing because he was the most capable of harming it, the beast would’ve noticed his ability to bend the wind due to the nature of it and would’ve seen him as the biggest threat. If these two really were proper Magi they would be able to combat this thing easily, but their inability to come to the decision that magic might be the way to go first completely bewildered him.

If an enemy was made out of some sort of smoky substance and used a blast of wind as its initial attack then of course it wasn’t going to be able to be hit by normal weapons. Now because of them he was having to fly around to get rid of this thing, hoping they might attack the creature without trying to use their weapons again. Not wanting to make himself even more of a target by using magic he focused his energy on flight, watching the others for when they might attack. Luckily the Princess proved to be somewhat useful for once and decided to help, despite sounding apprehensive at the same time. That was hardly very kind, thinking his life was barely worth her time. Spinning away once Nymira had managed to hit it with something he made a dash away from the beast, turning in the air just as fast as Ethan also decided to join in.

Maybe they will be able to do something useful, but their abilities were pretty weak. Just looking at their basic abilities made him wonder if they ever practiced or at least tried to strengthen their magic. Feeling pretty disappointed he quickly flew down to the ground, landing lightly and looking back to the beast, his eyes moving to Gage who decided to make a smart alec comment. “You’re hardly useful yourself, firing at it like that…” he spoke, spinning his kunai around on his finger momentarily, “I’ll help out if I think they need it, and right now they’re doing okay against this stupid thing so stop judging and actually think of a way you could be useful yourself without wasting ammunition…”

"Yeah well... There's a difference between that and how living people die. When a machine dies its battery dies, but you can replace it and its good as new. If a person's heart dies then you can't replace that. The heart is like our battery and you only get one, thats the difference, see?" Any more complicated than that and it would probably fly over Amuné's head entirely. Come to think of it why was he even trying to explain such a concept to a child in the first place? With an exasperated smile he moved as if to begin dismantling Cecil only to be stopped by Amuné's sharp demands of washing his hands. Letting out a laugh Norman conceded with a nod and found himself a sink, washing up before returning and showing off his now cleaned hands. "There we are nurse, ready to operate!"

They would need a handful of materials to properly repair Cecil, most of which was likely in the shop though some would need to be fetched from Mutebo's stores. Norman had scarcely finished the list before Amuné was out the door and heading goodness knows where, leaving several perplexed faces staring after her. Shaking his head he turned to one of the nearest engineers and sent them after her, assuming Amuné wouldn't even know where to begin looking for any of what he'd asked for. Once the aide was gone Norman got to work, meticulously dismantling the pieces he'd have to work on to get a closer look. Frayed wires aplenty which would need to be cut and then new wire would need to be soldered on and bound to retain the energy flow. Wires aside the internal integrity of Cecil was intact and the majority of the work would be cosmetic, repairing damaged shell and body structures to make him look whole again. Easy if not tedious, especially if they wanted to repaint and restore Cecil to pre-damage conditions.

Amuné's return had been awfully quick given all they needed to retrieve and it appeared he had the local engineer to thank for that. The pride in which the girl took for such a simple task was adorable and Norman couldn't help but smile as she presented him with the small cast of iron. "Well done Amuné, we should be okay to begin now. There's going to be a lot of heat and some molten metal, so if you're going to watch stand back. This shouldn't take me very long at all." Having already fetched himself a pair of smith's gloves and a face guard Norman went ahead and brought the iron to a small furnace in the shop, igniting the coals and setting the iron in a melting pot to reduce it to molten ore. Once that was prepared and melting away he returned to Cecil and lost the protection as wiring would be much more delicate work. First he used a pair of wire cutters to snip away at the damaged lengths and then he found a soldering gun, making sure to measure out the wire down to the millimeter for the repairs. Since the parts of Cecil being repaired did not have a shell it meant he could operate and put everything back all at once, only moving it wasn't ideal until there was something to hold it all in place.

---

"I was proving a point Kensen, don't you be giving me any lip now," Gage warned, spitting aside and turning briefly to watch Ethan and Nymira blast the serpent again to little effect, "They shouldn't need help killing this thing even if its a bit bigger than we thought. Done it before without you fancy spellcasters helping us, it should be a joke for them. Fact they ain't killed it yet doesn't exactly build confidence." How he hated Kensen sometimes, the little brat had been in their group perhaps less than any of Taliya's regular men and yet he got her ear, even over a long time member like Gage himself. Kid strutted around like a damned bird showing himself off and giving orders and he'd tear the Dimuran down a peg if he thought he wouldn't have Taliya on his ass in a heartbeat. Sighing to himself he reached into his coat pocket and took out a canteen, taking the cap off and chasing down his boredom with a healthy helping of the whiskey within. They were going to be here for a while weren't they?

"Stop just pushing it away! I can't hit it if you do that!" After watching the Rökorm be knocked off course by Ethan's wind yet again Nymira's patience was wearing thin. Wind did little more than to disrupt the beast and they needed her fire to actually harm it. Trying to make up for the mistake she took aim and unleashed another quick fireball only to curse when it missed and ignited a fallen tree instead.

"I can't do anything else, I'm just trying to help!" Ethan shouted back defensively, watching as the Rökorm easily evaded Nymira's magic. How in the world were they supposed to hit something so quick? Even if they got close it just turned to smoke, so what gives? Again it turned on them and its fins began to vibrate violently, a telltale sign by now for them to take cover. Both dove to the side as another compressed blast of air ripped through the area, throwing limbs and stone around violently in its wake. "Have any ideas?! Unless we just hit it til it dies!"

There was a solution to their problem and it was her magic. Ethan could only use gusts and that was obviously ineffective, they needed her flame to even injure it. Yet any time she attempted to strike it down it either dodged her attack of snuffed it out, they somehow had to catch it off guard. An idea finally occurred to her then and there may just be a way for Ethan to be of some use here. This was all dependent on just how much energy he had left and for how long he could maintain a spell but if it worked she had a good chance of causing some serious damage to the beast.

"Ethan! Distract it for me, use your speed magic!" Nymira demanded as she began to gather her magic into her palm. Swirling flames formed an orb and began to compress, the heat of the flame rising and taking on a white glow as before. "Don't let it near me!"

"R-Right! You got it!" So he was playing bait? Ethan didn't love the idea but he couldn't say it didn't sound like it might work. Smiling nervously he knocked his heels into the dirt and channeled his magic to his legs, making his body lighter and hovering just a few centimeters off the ground. To get the Rökorm's attention he picked up a rock and simply threw it at the beast's head, turning and wagging his rear at it tauntingly. With an infuriated howl the beast began to chase him down then, its body swelling to unleash another blast of air. With his speed magic Ethan was easily able to dodge the attack and dashed to the side, making sure the Rökorm was still giving chase before cutting back and teasing it again. If Nymira had something in mind he hoped it worked, otherwise this creature was going to kill him for this!

Ethan was quite effective as bait as it turned out but all of it would mean nothing if her attack didn't work. Eyes trained on the Rökorm she followed it as it darted about, her magic swelling until she finally cut off the flow. In her hand was a white ember whose heat alone could turn a many things into ash, potent enough to melt metal on the touch. Waiting for the perfect moment she watched as Ethan darted to the right and the Rökorm had to stop temporarily to pivot itself, and there was her chance. Cocking back her arm like she was to throw a ball Nymira launched her attack and guided it to the beast, letting it explode as it made contact and engulfing the creature in a white flame. There was a monstrous howl and before the flames had even faded there was visible purple blood seeping into the ground, the spell had clearly done some damage.

The Rökorm had been utterly blindsided by the spell and had sustained quite a bit of damage as a result. Not fatal much to the chagrin of those present but certainly crippled. In addition to having its side severely burned one of the fins on the back had been nearly torn off entirely, a bloody, quivering stub left in its wake. The damage had been done and the Rökorm went as far as to settle on the ground even, its body writhing furiously as it let out repeated screeches. There was hope that the beast might be permanently crippled, though any hopes were dashed when it slowly rose back into the air. Whats more it began to emit another howl now only this one was deeper and more guttural, wholly unlike anything it had made before. Just what was it doing?

"Ey kids... You've got company!" Gage shouted as he gestured to the wood line. Seemingly out of nowhere a pack of Vazra had burst forth from the woodwork, racing towards where the Rökorm was hovering. Their target? The two young Magi currently opposing it as nearly two dozen blood red eyes were trained on them, a chorus of infuriated howls signaling their approach. Readying his weapon Gage looked to Kensen once and slapped the Dimuran's arm before taking aim and firing his weapon. The link cut off two of the Vazra and caused them to trip and stumble. "Let the brats handle the snake while we get the mutts. Get yer ass in gear kid!"

Kensen waved off Gage’s little threat, mostly because he knew he wasn’t going to actually do anything just now or bother remembering later. It was hardly anything malicious, but it wasn’t as if Gage wouldn’t try to beat him up if given the chance. His status protected himself from these things, not until Taliya decided to hit him instead. She never really did though, at least not to intentionally cause him pain or distress whereas Gage would happily do so. He understood he wasn’t particularly liked in the group concerning how long he had been around and what status he held, but that was for them to decide on how they dealt with that without resorting to violence. He was too valuable to them to lose, he doubted any of them would know what to do if they lost him when nobody could do what he could do. He didn’t want to think of it as pride but rather being glad he found somewhere he could belong finally, even if they hated you and wanted to punch your face in.

For now he was able to sit back and not be the centre of attention in this battle, he could simply be an observer. If he had to jump in he would, but for now he didn’t see how it would help judge them if he was right there doing all the work. One was a user of air magic and the other a user of fire magic, but neither were exactly adepts at it. It was funny too, considering one was the Princess of his old clan and the other had been seemingly taught by Cedric. Maybe he shouldn’t judge them so harshly, he was a bit of a special case himself in that he seemingly had a talent for magic. To say he was good at magic was an understatement, but one thing was for sure he hoped Taliya didn’t just give him the position because of that fact. He probably shouldn’t be growing all concerned for his life while this was going on, he was supposed to be watching them and making sure they didn’t die. It just happened sometimes, his mind would trail off and he would become paranoid that he was the victim after all.

Gasping lightly when Gage shouted out, his eyes quickly being directed in the direction he was pointing in. Well this was pretty bad, that was a whole mess of ugly mutts if he ever did see. “Oh great, reinforcements, huh?” Easy enough to deal with but a pain in the ass to kill because they were often pretty quick. Raising his kunai he looked to Gage who instructed him to fight the creatures, sighing lightly. “Don’t worry, I got them! Just don’t hit me with that thing…” Spreading his wings he quickly gained a burst of speed as he flew straight for the creatures, flying low before he let loose a spiral of flames at an oncoming pair of Vazra, sending them yelping as their bodies caught fire. That certainly got a few of their attention, but as he flew up he was quick to make a turn away and fly around to keep the distance between them as they were quick to jump and try to pull him down.

Running an operation as large as theirs was a headache, one Taliya never would have taken on if it hadn't been on Cedric's behalf. So many whiny bastards came to her asking for this, that and the other thing and they all expected her to help in some way. It wasn't a matter of if she could help that was the issue but more they expected someone to do their work for them. Some didn't, there were plenty that were within their ranks who took on work that fit their skills and no more, no less, those people she liked. The few idiots however who bit off more than they could handle and came crawling back for help she had no use for. But as Kensen had reminded her repeatedly she couldn't be kicking out people left and right or they would have no one left, she had to practice 'patience'. Because that was something a woman like her was so renown for. If one more person came through that door she was liable to throw them out of the room, she had enough shit to do today without someone else adding work to her list.

Ethan had noticed the Vazra arriving and it was all the more reason to keep up his dashing about. If they were going to finish this fight this way it had to be soon as his magic was steadily running dry, and reserves were already minuscule at best. Things were changing though with the arrival of the Vazra and the serpent didn't seem as nearly inclined to chase after him. In fact it had utterly turned away and ignored him now in favor of going after Nymira instead, leaving him to contend with two Vazra on his own. He had a little bit of magic and a sword he scarcely knew how to use and was effectively on his own. Swallowing nervously he watched one of the beasts take a leap at him and dashed aside to avoid being tackled by it, aiming at the same creature to blast it away. A snarl nearly in his ear reminded him he wasn't only fighting one and he rolled to avoid the second, blasting that one instead and managing to make it tumble away though little else. It was prompt to get to its feet again and shake off the disorientation, his spell had done little more than annoy it.

This was not ideal, not ideal at all. The one benefit to Ethan now was he was able to lure away the Vazra that had arrived but that still left Nymira to fight the Rökorm on her own. Its movement had been slowed thanks to searing off one of its fins and yet so had her own, her ankle wound becoming agitated from moving about so quickly before. Favoring her left leg as she leaned on it she spun a dagger in her hand and waited for the Rökorm to inevitably come after her, throwing it at the beast's head and watching, predictably, as it turned to mist to avoid the weapon. It had to materialize again though and as soon as it did she prepared a small fire ball and let loose, managing to hit it dead on and quickly diving away as it barreled past her, writhing and howling in pain. A satisfying if brief victory as the Rökorm was far from finished, and though its eyes had been partly blinded by Nymira's blast it still trained them on her with ferocious precision, its body vibrating as it released a gale attack at her. Out in the open ground and with nothing to hold onto she braced as best she could only to be lifted off of her feet, tumbling aimlessly through the air before awkwardly landing on her feet and nearly collapsing from her bad ankle.

"Much as I'd like ta I'm not gonna!" As if Gage had the luxury of shooting Kensen right now, they needed him to get through this mess alive. Hastily reloading the harpoon gun again he trained its sights on a Vazra charging headlong for him and grinned, firing the round at its chest and watching as it drove deep into the cavity, causing molten liquid to spill on the ground below. Grabbing hold of the line he then gave it a harsh pull and swung his body and the weapon, pulling the Vazra off of its feet and swinging it around right into another before releasing the harpoon and sending both tumbling. Another was upon him in a heartbeat and had jumped up perhaps in an effort to tear out his throat, teeth gnashing furiously as it went for its mark. Lifting an arm he caught the beasts jaws on his forearm and held it up as it thrashed about, a taunting grin plastered on its face when it noticed there was no blood nor screams of pain from him. As the skin melted away from its jaws there was a faint shimmer of metal beneath, revealing an artificial limb disguised to look real. Momentarily confused by the turn of events the Vazra howled and finally released its prey when a knife found its home deep within its throat, and with a tear the blade nearly decapitated it, falling to the ground and squirming fitfully before passing on. Like hell he'd kill Kensen, this was much more entertaining.

Had she not JUST gotten through saying she'd toss out the next person to barge into her room like that? Taliya stayed her hand if only because that person happened to be Amuné and she'd catch far too much shit if people found out she'd thrown out a child. Whatever was bothering her had her in all sorts of distress and for all she knew someone had died given how frantic the Ydran was. When she finally did muster her voice and explain the situation Taliya addressed her first with a blank stare, wondering if perhaps the girl was insane for proposing such a thing. Then she laughed, not a taunting laugh but one of amusement, as though Amuné had just suggested the most absurd thing in the world.

"You're shitting me right? THAT is why you're here?" Taliya asked through her laughter, beaming as she looked down at the Ydran girl. Pulling her hand from her shirt she shook her head, reclining back in her chair to retrieve her flask from her coat. "Kensen is there kiddo, so is Gage. Whatever is there they can handle it, so relax. We know whats out there and it ain't nothing they can't handle." If things had gotten really bad they would retreat, Kensen and Gage knew to do as much. If the situation deteriorated then they were to save themselves and the brats over completing their job and no one had seen them yet, so it was under control. "Besides... What are you basing this off of, huh? Just a gut feeling?" Taliya pressed as she leaned forward, arching an eyebrow, "Or did you 'see' something, huh? Is our little kiddie here a special snowflake?"

"Even if its an alpha they'll be fine! Kensen and Gage know what they're doing even if your little friends don't!" They had known full well prior to going out what was out there even if they hadn't told Ethan or Nymira, as if they would blindly send anyone into battle. Even if the Rökorm was an alpha variety it was nothing her people couldn't handle. More important than any of the girl's hysterics though was the blatant fact that somehow she knew something was happening. There was raw intuition and then there was something more altogether and Amuné appeared to fall in the latter half. But could the little Ydran girl really possess such an ability? The overbearing look of guilt on the girl's face said yes even when she uttered a meek no, and Taliya was unable to hold back the laughter that followed.

"Relax squirt, I don't give a shit if you've got Sight or not! That ability is hardly useful most of the time anyways!" the woman laughed, getting up from her seat and moving towards a bookshelf, "Don't you know how your own ability works? It's things that might happen, not things that are happening. Of course they might somehow die, but hell, you can die on the shitter! Stop being so hysterical and pretend like you have some faith in the people around you. To me it sounds like you doubt they can do anything." Sifting through the few books on the shelves she found a worn, leather bound journal, its pages frayed on the ends and several sticking out. Setting it on the table nearby she flipped through the pages until she found the entry she was searching for, waving Amuné over and pointing to the page.

"This is what your friends are probably fighting right now, they're known as Rökorm. They're crafty bastards that manipulate air pressure and currents but its nothing too serious, killing them is easy enough," Taliya explained, pushing the book closer for Amuné to see. The written text was scrawled and hastily recorded and a mediocre albeit accurate illustration of the beast accompanied the entry that filled an entire page in of itself. "Cedric made a journal of beasts he encountered, to get us all up to speed when we fought. There's an awful lot of shit out there in the world you've probably never heard of, lots of shit way worse than a Rökorm. If you're so worried about a damn snake then you're not cut out for this girl."

How was she ever supposed to know that air magic could be so troublesome? Without Ethan distracting the Rökorm it was easily able to snuff out her flames before they ever got close enough to harm it and even then she couldn't muster up another high heat blast like before. How long could Ethan keep up his chase until he grew tired or the Rökorm lost interest? They needed another way to fight this beast before it had a chance to strike back. The Vazra around them didn't do anything to help the situation either. There had to be something she hadn't considered, some way to cripple the beast and make killing it easier. Kensen and Gage were not going to help them and she accepted that, it was left wholly to her and Ethan to figure this out.

Crap. Crap. Crap. How long did Nymira plan for him to keep this up?! Ethan liked to think she had a plan in mind but so far all he'd done was run in circles with a giant serpent monster at his heels. The Vazra showing up too meant he was cutting corners hard to avoid not only the Rökorm's attacks but them as well and he was quickly running out of energy. Kensen and Gage were helping a bit by taking some of the pressure off of them but the big concern was still the Rökorm and the fact they had no way of killing it. Sliding on his heels as a Vazra nearly ran into him Ethan had to drop to his knees and slid right under it, scrambling and diving again to the side when the Rökorm threw a gust of wind at him. "Nymira, now would be an awesome time to kill it!" Ethan shouted frantically, back on his feet and running again. "Seriously, do something, please!"

"What do you think I'm doing? Just keep moving!" There had to be some way to kill the Rökorm, a way to cripple it. Yes its attacks were troublesome but the real issue was just reaching it, with how it moved and flew about they were at a terrible disadvantage on foot. Scanning the environment for any kind of aid they might use Nymira saw a handful of trees still standing in the aftermath and promptly came up with a plan of action. What if they could pin it beneath a fallen tree? If even for a second it might give them the window they needed, like luring a hunt target into a trap. "Ethan, take it back towards the trees!" the Dimuran shouted, racing towards them herself. Behind her a Vazra howled and was hot on her heels and she'd have turned to fight it had Gage not skewered its hind leg with his harpoon gun and dragged it off of her, nodding gratefully before continuing on her way. If this didn't work she'd be officially out of ideas.

Well this was turning into a whole bundle of fun now that these guys had popped up, standing around was getting a little boring anyway. If there was action going on Kensen was pretty happy to be a part of it, but since they were supposed to be giving these guys a test he had become somewhat reluctant to feel energised. With the Vazra showing up it meant he could finally be part of the action and fight his own fight, Gage of course joining in too. These things were pretty common and with them being as aggressive as they were it was easy to confuse them when something out of the ordinary happened even if it made them slightly more dangerous. Setting a pair on fire not only confused a number of them but distracted them too, allowing him to very quickly gain the advantage without having them be on his tail. He had got the drop on them and immediately proceeded to slice the head right off one of the distracted beasts.

Meanwhile the fight against the Rökorm was just not going well at all as the pair were practically dancing around it without any real progress. Nymira was getting all caught up against the Vazra while Ethan was running around like an idiot. It was very close to ending up with Ethan being left to deal with the big guy himself which wouldn’t do at all. Nymira had to fight that thing too whether she wanted to or not. It shouldn’t be that hard, but somehow she was managing to make it difficult for herself by practically panicking around the Vazra. Maybe someday the pair would get that same feeling of routine that Kensen had, but he didn’t count on it happening anytime soon. If it came down to it he would have to kill it himself, but maybe eventually they will learn that they have to work together to get the job done.

Spinning around in the air he took another dive down at the Vazra, dodging one making a leap for him only to tear his kunai through its body. The moment he hit the ground he caught himself with his hands and feet, his knee on the ground as he waited for the Vazra to get close before flying up in a spinning tornado, sending them on their backs and stunning them. “Hey! You two should try combining your magic, maybe??” he called out to them as he stopped in the air, the wind magic dissipating around him, “You’re wind and fire, right? So why not fire tornado!” As if to show off what he was capable of he suddenly threw his hand downwards, the wind immediately spinning into a tornado before he threw down his other hand, the ground lighting up in flames before they were dragged into the tornado, creating a fire whirl that he dragged through the Vazra as they once again grew confused and disorientated by the strange display of natural elements combined. He knew Gage was only going to get annoyed at him for being a show-off, but annoying the old man was fun sometimes.

"Oh so your ability is really useless then! You can't even fucking control what time you see! What good does any of that do?" Taliya snorted as she rolled her eyes. "No one needs to know the past, the present is obvious and the future can change. I never got what the big deal was about Sight and Seers anyways, I see shit all the time too," she grumbled before adding, "Although that's usually after a few bottles of ale..." That was interesting though and might provide some answers to questions she'd had about these kids. Amuné herself had been told by her own father to be wary of other Magi and the man was right to warn her; trained properly and culminated Sight was a very useful skill, albeit a skill which took quite a long while to master. There was a reason most seers, or oracles, were so old. Very few managed to master their skill early on in life and fewer still enjoyed any kind of freedom, the Church saw to that. If this kid's special ability was already known then there was a good chance she was never going to live a peaceful life as long as the Church had their grubby little fingers in everything.

It was high time that they put Amuné's hysteria to rest before Taliya got a migraine listening to her. One more peep out of the girl's mouth and she'd go mental. Rökorm was the prey for the brats and it could be a nasty beast if you didn't have a clue what you were doing. Kensen and Gage were present though and would tell them if they were royally fucking up, no reason to worry. It's not like they tried getting potential recruits killed on their first trial mission.

"Ones in suits? You mean those stiff dicks from the companies? You've seen them around too? Bunch of bastards, they're just as bad as the Church's dogs," Taliya spat, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she slammed a hand down on top of the table, "Listen kid, they're going to be fine! Vazra are pack animals, they're dangerous but they're as low as you get, they're the Void equivalent of rats. Gage could kill a pack on his own and he ain't even a fucking Magi, and with Kensen there those mutts are as good as dead. If there was any reason to worry I'd have sent more people out there but there isn't, so chill. Take a deep breath and fucking relax before you make me want to bash my own skull in." Shit she wanted to just drown herself in liquor right now so she wouldn't have to listen to her whining. She hated kids so fricken much...

"Hate to break it to you kid but those stories of Magi being these noble saviors are just that, stories. Even back in Adelon's earliest days there were Magi who were criminals, was that way then and its that way now. Whoever told you all Magi are these glorious fucking heroes spoon fed you a bunch of crap." Sitting back on her chair Taliya again took her flask out and took a long, much needed sip, sighing and wiping her mouth. Now what did Amuné want to do? "Sure, do whatever vague crap you have in mind. If you go running off after them though I'm not chasing you. I'm not babysitting some crazy kid either, so do your thing and get out of here."

The success or failure of her plan entirely hinged on Ethan's ability to evade death long enough. Why wasn't she exactly filled with confidence? The imbecile couldn't find his way around an inn let alone in a forest, and she had to wonder if he was even remotely aware of where he was going now, or if he knew where the trees were. Nymira watched in mild amazement as Ethan did in fact head in the proper direction and much to their fortune the Vazra were now more concerned with Kensen and Gage. If her plan should succeed it would cripple and prevent the Rökorm from moving perhaps long enough for them to land a fatal blow. Her magic was wearing dangerously thin because of yesterdays trials and Ethan had to be getting close to his limits as well, they would have one shot to get this right or everything would fail. And perhaps it was pride but she refused to have to rely on Kensen to save them from this creature. She was the daughter of Hákon and in line for the head of her clan, she'd be damned if she couldn't do something as simple as slay a single beast on her own.

Though he wasn't meant to help them it appeared like Kensen had some suggestion for them to try. Impressive as his display might be there wasn't a chance in the world they could replicate what he had done; magic for both Ethan and Nymira was scarce and they had never tried to really fight in tandem before, much less cast a spell together.

"Of course, just distract it while we learn how to cast such a spell, won't you?" What an absurd suggestion in the middle of a fight, why expend the last of their magic on something that could very well not work? At least her plan wouldn't require such a large amount and they could quickly react if it did fail. "Ethan stick to the plan, I'm ready as soon as you are!"

Right, the plan. Draw it to the trees and then... What exactly? Nymira had fire and he couldn't imagine what she might plan on doing aside from burning a tree down. Hardly fit to ask questions as he was busy just trying to breath he continued dash along, glancing back over his shoulder and ducking in a panic as a blast of air soared over his shoulders. "R-Right, you got it!" His job was easy, just run in circles until he got to a tree and then avoid getting killed, easy! The trees were coming up awfully quickly and he still wasn't certain of what to do when he reached them or what Nymira had in mind. But he trusted her and figured it was their best shot at killing this thing so he'd do whatever he had to for it to work. As soon as he reached the trees he skidded to a halt and waited for the Rökorm to catch up to him, dashing around it and back the way he had come, waiting for instructions as he circled the tree.

"Ethan, duck!" There! Releasing her fireball as a white-hot flame she hurled it as hard and as quickly as she could towards the tree, aiming for the lower section of its trunk just above the roots. As if the timing was perfect the flame passed well over Ethan and smashed into the tree several meters ahead of the Rökorm which still pursed Ethan vehemently. As she'd hoped her fire hit the tree trunk and due to its high heat its simply bore right into the wood and nearly out the other side before the wood ever caught flame, the tree creaking loudly as it began to collapse in on the impact point. In an almost perfect fashion the tree began to topple down just as the Rökorm passed beneath it, and in less than a second it should be smothered beneath the trees immense weight. Until it passed beneath harmlessly, turning into mist in the process. Of course it would have done that, why had she expected it would not.

That probably wasn't the plan. In fact Ethan was positive that hadn't even remotely been supposed to happen. Because he had since stopped to watch the trap ultimately fail the Rökorm was now extremely close to him, much too close for him to even consider trying anything other than darting away again. Turning on his heel and promptly casting his speed spell and trying to dash off into safer spaces. At his back he could hear the wind suddenly pick up and the Rökorm inhale, trying to cut to the right in a hasty effort to avoid its attack. He narrowly escaped the blast but in cutting like he did the Rökorm caught up and simply used its body this time, knocking its head into Ethan's side and throwing him up into the air. All but helpless he flailed and tried to right himself, managing to do so in time to see the Rökorm mustering up another blast to try and blow him away right out of the sky. Gathering magic again he cast a burst just a second before the beast could and knocked himself well off course, falling away helplessly and crashing into the ground with a pained yelped as his shoulder rolled uncomfortably.

Packing the bandages into the small pouch at her waist, Adrianna confirmed that she had all she needed before checking her satchel as well. She might not be departing that day, but the magi started every morning ensuring that she could run that day without feeling like she had left anything ‘behind.’ In truth, Adrianna was tired of being alone. Though work on the ships was hard, she had at least been around people. She didn’t talk much, but she enjoyed listening to their stories, especially about the stars. It was from them that she learned a fair amount about navigation, at least at night. During the day, on the open ocean, the task was a great deal more difficult, but the ships she had served on all had half-decent Sailing Masters…even if some of them had been forced into servitude among more unsavory company.

Still, her time on the ocean had passed, and Adrianna found navigating among the trees, mountains and valleys to be a far easier task. Besides that, the maps were a great deal easier to read. Adrianna traveled on her own for quite some time, occasionally joining the company of another to share in the burden of catching their meals and preparing camp. Adrianna wasn’t really going anywhere in particular, she was jut exploring. It had been years since she had been to any of the major cities, or home, and the magi was rather confident that she had been forgotten by most, if not all, of her former associates.

Habits were difficult to change, though, and so Adrianna used a small pair of scissors to cut another inch off of her hair, letting the clippings fall into the grass. Once, the magi had long dark hair, stretching most of the way down her back. She used to braid it, and her mother would help her pull it into more intricate styles when she was younger, teaching her how to hold up the mass with clips, sticks, and pins. She had taken pride in her hair, and in keeping herself looking neat. Times had changed, though, and traveling alone as a woman was…no easy feat. Now her hair never stretched down much farther than the nape of her neck, and her fingers had grown a bit calloused, a permanent layer of grime beneath her now very short fingernails. Some of the changes had been instantaneous, and others had occurred gradually, but no one questioned the identity of the someone scraggly-looking teen boy. She had even gotten quite a few remarks that it would be okay, and her ‘voice will drop before you know it.’ Somehow, she doubted it.

With her items together and her appearance confirmed, Adrianna went to get a bite to eat. She had spent the past few weeks in Mutebo, having come across Taliya and a small crew just outside of Chetigol, a town a few miles away. Adrianna had stumbled upon one of Taliya’s underlings after an unfortunate mugging.

If there was anything more substantial going on, Adrianna was oblivious to it. She had simply been on her way to an inn and heard the sound of a gargle coming from an alley. Though it could have easily been a trap, she entered to find a man leaning against a wall, having been stabbed. The culprit was long gone, but there was still real danger for the man. He was applying pressure to the wound, but it needed stitches, and preferably some magic. Adrianna could sense that the blade that tried to gut him had perforated some of his internal organs. She could stitch the outside, but he would likely die anyway if she didn’t do more.

“You’re gunna be okay.” She said, kneeling down beside him as she began to pull his hand away from the spot.

The man chuckled, though it turned into a cough, and shook his head. “Doubt it, kid.” He replied. Before he had even begun to speak, however, Adrianna was pulling out some of her supplies, causing the man to raise his brow. Maybe he would live through the night.

With a sigh, she started to wipe away the blood with his clothing. If he lived, he could buy more later. She used her water to clean the cut as best as she could in the alley, and then dug through her bag until she found her needle. Fortunately, as she began to sew through his skin, the man groaned and passed out. After checking his pulse briefly, Adrianna confirmed that the man was still alive and used her magic to summon an orb of light. Guiding that to his wound, she could see what she was dealing with much better, and removed the needle. Looking up at his face once more to ensure he was still out, Adrianna placed her palm over his stomach and concentrated on her magic, drawing it from her body.

Healing him didn’t take terribly long, but once the majority of his wounds were handled, he began to stir. Adrianna got rid of the orb and pulled the bandage she had with her, securing it on his side. “So you live!” She remarked as his eyes opened.

The man assessed his wounds, and then looked up at Adrianna curiously. The pain shouldn’t have gone away so completely—he knew that the kid in front of him was not just a medic. “You did a really good job, kid.” He said.

Adrianna began to pack up her things, shaking her head a little. “Not really, it was just a surface wound.” She said. Before she could get away from him, though, he grabbed her arm with surprising strength.

“No, it wasn’t. But…I’m not upset. I’d like to thank you…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins. He handed them to her, and released her arm, having only used the strength to ensure she wouldn’t run. “But more importantly, there is someone I’d like you to meet. Are you staying in town tonight?”

Though hesitant, Adrianna confirmed that she was going to be in town. “Good.” The man continued. He gave her instructions of where to go in the morning to meet a friend that could ‘help.’ Adrianna wasn’t going to even consider going, and her mind was roaming over whether she had enough supplies to skip town that night, but then the man performed a small magic feat on his own, a tiny little vortex of air appeared over his hand, swirling about for a few moments.

Adrianna bit her lip, and didn’t say anything to the man before departing. He could have been a hunter, but he probably would have killed her after she healed him if she was. He hadn’t mentioned anything about the church, and she doubted a hunter would really be all the way out here, and interested in recruiting. Still, she was wary the next morning when she surveyed the area he said to meet his friends, looking for any signs of church followers before entering.

Mutebo wasn’t going to be her home, though. Really, no place could. Eventually, Adrianna would be unable to pass for a teenage boy, and hopefully by then she will have found a nice city to settle in. It was hard to imagine life beyond wandering about on the road. Would she work as a medic? Would that be too obvious? She didn’t have a lot of other skills. Adrianna made sure that her staff was secured on either hip, the pieces twisted apart to provide her with two smaller batons. It was easier to store, since she didn’t have to carry it around all the time, but they were still within easy reach.

Today, she was telling Taliya that she was leaving. She didn’t own these Magi anything. They had given her some supplies, food, and water, claiming that they were a safe haven for Magi...and they were, sort of. Taliya was also rather…adamant that people find a way to earn their keep, and Adrianna felt like in a way, it was trading one prison for another. Adrianna didn’t mind using her gift, but to continually heal people so they could get into more battles, knowing they would be healed again after, it felt…repetitive. Surely there were other ways to make a difference.

“Taliya,” Adrianna said her name as she entered the woman’s quarters. Taliya looked to be in a bit of a sour mood, but that was basically all the time. Through the few interactions she had with the woman in charge, Adrianna learned that there was no point in sugar-coating what she was about to say, or beating around the bush. It was better to be straight-forward and direct.

“What do you want? Can’t you see that I’m a little fucking busy?” Taliya looked up from the desk, tapping her fingers rapidly against the table.

“I’ll be quick.” Adrianna said. “I just wanted to say thanks for letting me stay for a while, but I’m going to be heading out, probably today or tomorrow.” She said.
Taliya, naturally, did not take the news well. "You whiny little bitches are all the same! You want things to change but don't want to put any work in yourselves! Fine, just stay out of my way.”

Frowning slightly, Adrianna felt like the woman was talking about a whole lot more than just her, but she nodded. “Right… Well, if you hear of anyone else heading out, feel free to send them my way…if they want any company.” She would inquire a bit as well, but Adrianna felt a little weird trying to pose the request to strangers. ’Hey, are you leaving Mutebo by any chance? I was thinking of going, but I don’t want to travel alone.’ Yea, because that wouldn’t make her sound weak and incapable of fending for herself.

With an unenthusiastic shrug, Taliya replied, “Sure, whatever,” and then looked back down at…whatever she had been doing. Adrianna excused herself. As she made her way down the halls to leave, a small child nearly knocked into her. Adrianna stepped to the side as she passed, the brown-haired girl clearly intent on getting somewhere fast. Adrianna watched her disappear before turning away and continuing. She had her own journey to begin.

Just what was it Amuné was hoping to achieve? Taliya had already told her that her efforts were moot, her visions unreliable and finicky at best. Why was the child so damned insistent on ignoring her and trying anyways? Far be it from her to keep the Ydran from doing her thing but if Amuné passed out from using her magic too much it wouldn't be on her. She had assumed that they were looking for more insight on a Rökorm and how they were supposed to kill one. If that was all Amuné wanted though then she could have just asked, Taliya knew more herself than what was written on those few pages. The girl's expression took a decidedly grim turn however which was obviously not supposed to happen, was it another vision of her friends? No, whatever she had seen was something else entirely and scared the girl enough to go utterly pale and nearly land her on her ass. The first words she uttered hadn't been lost on Taliya either, she had clearly seen something other than what she had intended.

"You're asking the wrong person kiddo, I haven't got a fucking clue honestly," Taliya admitted with a scowl, "One day we're saviors and the next we're burned alive for just being Magi. Like I said whatever is going on in the Church has shit all upside down now, they're in bed with those fuckers in the companies and they're leaving us in the dust like broken tools. And the Church paints anyone who ain't with them as scum too, we're basically criminals and violent people who just want to watch the world burn."

"And they're not completely wrong there, place would be better off with less people," Taliya added with a curt laugh. All this fighting was because Adelon had grown so large, there was no form of cohesion anymore. It was a lot like how her brigade of bandits had been at one point until it split in half, the less people there were the easier it was to manage. Probably the same with Magi, there were just too many of them now and they had outlived their usefulness. An axe whose edge had dulled or a sword blade snapped in two, even if not really broken they were cast aside. "If you even have a shred of smarts in that head of yours girl then you know why you don't see Magi everywhere anymore. You know why entire towns are raided and people are taken away. I've never exactly been on the right side of the law but there's a fucking line you never cross, there are just some things you don't do. Taking away children, killing entire villages, imprisoning folks just because of what they are, the Church has done all this shit and then some to people like us."

Her voice grew steadily louder the more she spoke and it was all that Taliya could do was to keep from shouting. She was visibly angry though as her jaw was taut, a vein popping in her neck and her fist clenched hard around her flask, denting the container. "When a bandit's got more honor and conduct than the people running this fucking kingdom that's when you know the world's gone to shit. Suddenly the people who were criminals are the lot trying to save it, and the people who are supposed to lead us are trying to kill us." Slamming her flask on the table she broke through the table and crushed her container, spilling its contents all over her hand and the floor beneath as she threw the ruined item aside. "So to answer your question runt, you're right, Non-Magi are bad, and Magi. Don't matter what walk of life you're from, bad people are everywhere," Taliya said with a grin, "But there's thieving bad and then there's massacres, the shit the Church does. And that's what we're here for, to keep those bastards in line and remind them they can't just do whatever they fucking want with this place, this kingdom. If you're really planning on looking for your folks then buckle in for one hell of a ride because shit's only going to get worse from hereon out for you. Hell..." she paused, leaning back and wiping her hand off on a stray shirt, "It's probably going to get worse for all of us."

-----

Ethan didn't know which way was up or down for a good moment as he lay on the ground, clutching at his shoulder and biting back shouts of pain. Was it broken or just dislocated? Whatever he'd done it hurt like hell and the pain was making him lightheaded, or maybe that was the fatigue from using so much magic so soon. Matters were only worse as he heard the Rökorm nearby inhaling air and preparing another blast, lifting himself up to see it aiming yet again at him. Crap, what was he supposed to do now? He didn't have much magic left in him and his arm was pretty much useless, should he just try and run again? Extending a hand and trying to muster up magic in defense he let it patter out when a heated dagger embedded itself in the Rökorm's side and caused it to stop, howling and writhing as the weapon clearly burned against its flesh. Nymira was quick to follow up her own attack and launch another fireball at it that was again evaded, the beast again turned to mist to avoid the attack. They were never going to actually kill this thing were they?

"Six seconds! There's a six second window!" Six or five seconds, it was hard to count exactly when she was so focused on attacking. But that seemed to be roughly the window in between when the Rökorm could turn into mist and avoid attacks. So if they could just time their attacks right, or rather, if she could time her attacks right then they would be victorious. Ethan looked to be utterly out of it now which left her to fight it on her own, assuming Kensen and Gage were still above actually fighting the Rökorm. By this time the Vazra were nearly wiped out and they had made it look easy yet she doubted that meant anything for their fight. She needed her daggers back, one of which was goodness knows where and the other on the ground near the Rökorm which had now since materialized and was preparing an attack. She'd have to take a chance and get her dagger back, otherwise she was stuck casting magic until she ran out of energy.

The Rökorm's body swelled up as air was gathered and compressed and Nymira began to run towards it as it did so, headlong into what was perhaps certain death. A loud hissing sound signaled it was releasing its attack and she waited until she saw it begin to deflate, jumping into the air and twisting her body around. With less than a few centimeters of margin she managed to jump over and avoid the blast entirely, landing as it shattered a rock behind her and sprinting ahead. Two seconds. Gathering a fireball in her hand she threw it as quickly as she could, hardly worried about its potency as she simply tried to drive the Rökorm back. One second. The fireball hit the beast and caused it to writhe and try to distance itself, giving Nymira plenty of opportunity to retrieve her weapon and prepare another attack. Flipping the dagger over in her hand she saw the Rökorm's tail swing around to try and knock her off guard but she was quick enough to react, heating her blade and slicing through the tail, taking off a good length of it and splattering the ground with a thick purple blood. Hissing furiously the Rökorm turned to mist and began to move away again, doing everything it possibly could to keep away from them.

-----

Should he have gone after Amuné? Taliya probably wouldn't do anything to her, rough as the woman could be even she wouldn't hurt a kid. But what had Amuné so riled up in the first place? She was acting like something bad had happened but how could she possibly know anything? Norman chalked it up to another Magi quirk and let it rest seeing as he was too busy to even consider chasing after the girl anyways. Cecil was far from destroyed but there was a lot of delicate work that needed to be done for repairs and he didn't quite trust anyone else here to handle it. Combat Machina were a bit more intricate than your typical types, their machinery had to be more durable and well made to endure the rigors they were exposed to. As such everything down to the simplest of wiring was of a higher quality than most, and while simple copper wasn't terribly good on its own he had just enough scrap in the shop to create an alloy for his uses.

Forming the wires and soldering them together took mere minutes, and with the wires formed that meant the conduits throughout Cecil's body were now repaired. The shell itself would take a bit longer as he had to cast the pieces, let them cool and probably paint them to make it look like Cecil was as good as new. Making certain the wires would hold Norman found the power cell in the Machina again and activated it, watching as it came to life and power began to cycle through his body again. Satisfied that the most complicated part was finished he stepped back for a moment and gathered everything he'd need to form the shell, directing two engineers present to begin setting up everything for a cast. Just in time too as he could hear the scraping of metal against a wooden table, Cecil was coming to.

"Easy there friend, I wouldn't move just yet if I were you," Norman warned as he gathered a measuring tape together and a pencil, placing the latter behind his ear as he returned to the table. A benefit of being a Machina he supposed, even while wide open there was no pain, its what made operating on them so much easier. "Looks like you took quite a beating wherever you kids were, did a number on your body. Melted shell, frayed wires, compromised conduits in a couple of spaces, not to mention you'd more or less fallen apart completely. Putting you back together was like a puzzle, I'm actually surprised these people did it right." Using the table measure around Cecil's intact arm he took rough estimates of the sizes they would need for the replacement parts and called them out to the other engineers. Clearly none of them had ever worked on a combat Machina before as they seemed clueless, so with some curt directions from Norman they were sent on their way to get to work.

"You've caused one heck of a stir being here, there aren't many of your model around this area," Norman chuckled, scratching down measurements on the table where Cecil was propped, "How are your memory banks? Do you know what happened that put you in this mess?" They would need some idea for the future, maybe so he could work on a fix to prevent similar damage in the future. Leaning a bit closer he spoke in a lower tone this time, enough so that no one else in the shop would hear. "Also... We're going to need to talk about that crystal in your chest, but we'll wait. For now just sit tight and let me fix you up."

It had been a silence that felt like it lasted an eternity, yet also the shortest as if it was simply a blink in time. Cecil had been switched off for so long without a constant power source and to go from a battlefield to staring up at a foreign roof had panic set in almost immediately. Where exactly was he? Cecil didn’t have any recollection on how he got from and how he got from one reality to the other. So much had been lost inbetween that the moment he was reactivated there was an immediate panic that set in. He couldn’t move, his body felt like it had been partially cut off from the rest of his control centre. There was an immediate sense of panic, he didn’t know where he was and the familiar voice of Norman didn’t help matters either. He didn’t know the guy fully, it wasn’t his fault that he was immediately panicking at the sight of him.

“W-What? Where-“ His voice sounded a little distorted like there was feedback, his power cut bringing on a slow reboot of rather than an immediate regain of everything. His body was still booting up, his resources still taking a moment to awaken and boot up themselves. Nobody else was around him other than Norman, he didn’t know where anybody else was either. Trying to look at his body he couldn’t really see anything, he could barely move his own neck to tilt and look up. Listening to everything that had happened to him he didn’t know if he even wanted to see what had happened, it sounded like he was near destroyed. “These people? Who? W-What’s going on??”

Norman wasn’t really explaining anything, but then again he was the one who hadn’t just woke up after only remembering destruction. It wasn’t fair for him to be treated like barely anything happened and this was just a minor inconvenience. It was an awful state to be left in but it wasn’t as if Norman was going to understand, he functioned differently than him and wouldn’t exactly have a memory capable of understanding how he got to where he was. None of it was fair to him and with Norman acting so casually over it everything simply sounded as if he was owned by Norman. Now thoughts of him being sold off to Norman was going through his mind, especially when nobody else was around and he didn’t know where they had gone off to or how long he had been switched off for. He was under a fair bit of distress and the others weren’t around to help him understand what was going on.

“What…but I-…w-we were fighting and I was helping! I helped, right??” He didn’t know if it was because they had all died that they were missing, or maybe they just had better things to do. Who knew really, he wasn’t being given much benefit of the doubt that he was indeed successful in accomplishing something big and had successfully defended his friends. Norman probably wasn’t concerned with telling him much, probably because this was just all work for him at this point. Hearing him mention a crystal in his chest had him confused, he couldn’t even look to see what he was meaning. “What? No! H-How did a crystal get there?? Is it a foreign thing? I don’t know what’s going on, why don’t you tell me first??”

The sound of the breaking flask made the girl wince, but she didn't mention it. "You were a bandit?" Amuné hadn't completely missed the frightening implication that lurked in the woman's words. "But that's...." Instead of saying it was bad, she let the condemnation go unspoken, frowning as she ran her hand through Wyth's shaggy fur. It was a lot to take in.

"I want to help." She climbed slowly to her feet, using the table for support. Though her voice was soft, her gaze was solemn and direct. "I know I'm little and I don't know much, but...I can learn." Saints, she felt so very weak. "I mean...I could tell where the worst of the ice was going to be so Wyth and I could avoid it, and I knew the men in suits were coming before they arrived. And I'm learning to be a healer like Mommy -- I don't have that kind of magic, but even a non-Magi healer is useful, right?"

The girl was pathetically eager to contribute somehow, even with her meagre skill. "Taliya...do you think there's someone who could teach me? I wanna be able to use my magic right, and there's a lot more Magi here than in Pinesgrove. There's gotta be someone who can, right?" Amuné dropped her gaze. "I don't like not being able to do anything," she added in a small voice.