The man’s smirk faded for a moment as he watched Tirnea smack at the ground, an inquisitive look going through his eyes before he refocused his gaze on Serena and Veronica. The air was dead with silence as he waited for a response. He retrieved a golden pocket watch and stared at it for a few seconds before putting it away. The two women hadn’t moved an inch, still waiting for him to make a move, though an impatient wind began to pick up until he continued to speak.

“Not much for conversation,” he said to Veronica with mock sadness. “I was at least hoping that your masked friend had something to say. We’re practically old friends, you know. I still remember how she froze up when she saw Aegea’s life fade from her eye. She admittedly wasn’t doing her job very well, but it’s not like I could bring myself to defend such a poor excuse for a-” Serena failed to restrain her student as Veronica charged forwards.

“I don’t know who you are,” the knightess shouted, “But you will NOT speak against her!” she leaped forwards, hammer held aloft as she began to swing it down towards the man. He twisted to the side, the hammer sailing past his cape as it collided with the cart, breaking straight through the wooden planks where he was standing moments before and sending cracks throughout the rest of the frame. He wagged a finger at her as he stepped upon the hammer, his boots resting comfortably on the bladed edge of the weapon.

“Now look what you’ve done,” he said cheekily. “You broke your little wagon. How are you ever going to pursue those assassins you’re after now, hmm?” He walked slowly and calmly down the hammer’s shaft towards Veronica, who had paused despite her seething rage as she looked upon the man’s face. He was one of them, was what she wanted to tell him, but she held her tongue as she tried to control her breathing, settling for letting the raging fire in her eyes speak for her.

“The name’s Ashley,” he said dismissively as he looked down at the woman. “In case you were still wondering. Of course, it used to be Lord Ashley Bonne, but that whole Choir business managed to put a damper on that.” He rested a heel on Veronica’s helmet to accentuate his point. She pulled at Maugris, and he made his move, shifting his weight so that the hammer flew up into the air as he pushed off of Veronica’s helmet and followed it upwards, sending her stumbling back. Ashley smirked as he caught the hammer and twirled it for a moment before bringing it down towards its owner with a single hand, his parasol still gripped tightly in the other. Serena took the moment to strike, leaping forwards and kicking him aside right before he could hit her student. He dropped the hammer as he flew aside and landed gracefully next to Tirnea, giving her a wave and a pleasant smile. Serena's gaze shifted for a moment, Ashley's new position and a sudden noise turning her attention towards a shorter hooded figure resting a hand on the muzzle of one of the cart's horses. She strained her vision to get a better look before Ashley snapped his fingers impatiently, drawing the woman's gaze back to him.

Cain stood still as the woman in fur barged past him, chances are she would have gone straight though him were he not flesh and blood.

Regardless he ignored her as if she herself did not exist, his shoulder moving like water back where it was after being disturbed by the woman, the golden lady spoke, an arrogance that was impossible to ignore. Even still he found her terribly annoying, his emotions were stunted and even then he was too professional to fall prey to trivial dislike but her tone left a painful ring in Cain's ears, he did not particularly care about her opinions however and waited until she spoke of potential employment.

He was not overly fond of being paid at the end of the job, chiefly due to the fact that many employers attempted to kill him after, or rather sent someone to kill him. Not that ever ended quite well for them but it was additional mess Cain could do without. He looked as the gilded woman, gazed at her blonde hair and beautifully woven armour with his cold dead eyes, he then shifted upwards to glare at her eyes. He did not trust her. He believed he could kill her. He counted several different ways he could do so right now. He foresaw betrayal. He recalled that jobs were beyond dried up in Falke.

He suddenly nodded, ever so slightly.

"Understanding." He said, his face never changing and his eyes never closing "Payment upon conclusion is satisfactory. Understand you may not need help, thought would offer regardless. Glad deal arranged." Whilst his face, voice and even eyes never shifted from a robotic neutral, his following words carried a cold assurance "Sincere. Hold no malice, but must be clear. Attempt to betray or withhold payment, will have to kill you. Thought would lay that out." He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders as if he were simply explaining a standard trade deal as opposed to essentially making a threat.

He looked over at the strange woman from before "Will gain answer for question perhaps later. Sheepish. Would like to leave Falke now, don't care for me here."

With his eerie velvet tread, Cain walked past the group, never glancing at anyone as he slid by. He stood at the back of the group and gestured slightly with his arm.

"Spirited. Whenever you're ready." He said, staring blankly at the road ahead.

The researcher sighed as she tried to wrap her head around whatever twisted path this woman’s logic was going down. She was looking for an artifact that she knew next to nothing about, and her first decision was to go to the other side of the continent and across the sea to ask around with someone who might maybe know something about it? She clearly had vapor for brains, but then again, she didn’t know of any culture that would just hand out golden armor to the village idiot. The woman with the golem had to either be sincere or very confident in her ability to bluff to even try telling someone something like that in the first place. Rebecca was startled out of her train of thought when the man from before dropped in front of them from nowhere, to the point that she let out a small yelp, holding her weapon in front of her before letting it hang back at her side.

The way that the man talked certainly confused her. Did one of those classified units she kept hearing about manage to make its way out here? Probably not, considering the sheer distance. Rebecca couldn’t understand why Chambala was angry that this man wasn’t trying to kill them at the moment, but after rolling his words around in her head for a bit, she simply shrugged and placed her free hand back on her hip.

“I don’t really care whether he comes along or not,” Rebecca said to the armor-clad woman. “But as long as we’re both heading East, why not stop by Twilight Fields on your way to Nethergate? The Order of the Crescent Sun is pretty meticulous about recording information concerning that sort of thing. They might even let you have a look around their library, if you ask nicely enough and pay them some lip service about using the knowledge for demon hunting or something along those lines.” She joined the man in staring at the road. She was quite eager to be on her way home.

Denise felt watched as she was talking to Calieo. It wasn't that odd. Guards on the walls. The others in their party. Curious onlookers who were interested in their mismatched group. But this one felt odd to her. Denise closed her eyes and focused around her. Taking in the feelings of the people. Caution, fear, anger, pride, and...nothing.

She opened her eyes again and as if by magic the man from before dropped down in front of the group. When he started speaking it almost sent shivers down her spine. Even his voice was devoid. She had seen daemons with more emotion in their voices, officials even!

A deep sigh escaped from her lips. Her father would be so happy if she brought the strange man to him. Which was another reason why she really did not want him to tag along. She contemplated having the golem smash him to bits when Calieo agreed for him to tag along. Neither was she very keen on explaining herself to the man.

"Gods and whatnot be damned..." she muttered under her breath. This was turning complicated. She had hoped for a nice, quiet journey in which she could corrupt this pure soul to become her lover while at the same time follow through with her quest. But now, Denise was not so sure that visiting her father would go very smoothly.

She probably would never be given the chance to slowly turn Calieo into something that would not attack her father on sight, or vice versa. He would probably try to get ahold of the 'void'; and if these two others tagged along? She did not know enough about them or their motivations to be certain of anything.

The golem shifted uncomfortably as well. It was able to pick up on what Denise was feeling. Neither of them liked to kill those that they had grown close to. But just like the blood moon festival....this would probably end up in a similar fashion.

"Fine...whatever... I don't care.." Denise finally said in a angry, yet resigned voice and the golem reached down and put Denise back on its shoulders. "Calieo, hop up or walking, your choice, but I'm not making room for more.." Her eyes went across the rest of them, full of contempt. She wanted to get out of here before more people showed up.

This was absurd... how exactly did such a warge group gather for this journey? Chambala had no idea, she planned for only herself and Rebecca, all those people seemed suited for hte journey through the forests about as much as pigs at a royal court... Alright bad example, from what she had seen about nobles in places she's been many indeed were pigs. Anyhow yeah, the man who spoke strangely seemed to carry no supplies for the long journey ahead. Same was with goldie. The golem woman was probably well supplied since she was a merchant of sorts. The fur clad woman sighed, waiting a few meters ahead of the rest, waiting for htem to get moving.

"Alright people, stop wasting time. We have a really long journey ahead of us." Chambala called the rest's attention as they were catching up to her." There's about 350 kilometers give or take in the roundabout way to reach the end of the iron sap forest on the other side of the river. Since we cannot use any of the crossings that form at the height of winter or summer, we have no choice, but to walk all the way around." She stated, waiting until Rebecca reaches her before starting walking again.

"On a very important sidenote... beside the merchant with the golem there, are the rest of you stocked in supplies in any way for the journey ahead?" She asked, not really planning to use up her provisions for the winter on these people unless she could help it.

[Calieo]

When the man in black leather began speaking again the knight frowned. It was difficult for her to understand what he was saying, the flat and empty sound of his voice being all she could focus on. He agreed to follow, and issued a threat should he receive no payment, that causing Calieo to raise an eyebrow in intrigue. He seemed to have a habit of picking fights with those clearly superior, Denise's horse being another good example of this behavior. He could be first to throw himself at death, a useful quality in Calieo's eyes.

The oddly dressed girl once again drew the knight's attention, her mention of a new location somewhat irritating initially but overall good to know. She spoke of some organization, most of what she said making no sense though the name these people stood under was enough to keep Calieo invested in hearing about them. Before she could ask the girl to better explain herself, Denise raised her voice and commented on the state of their suddenly inflated travel party. Obviously ready to leave, she was soon atop her horse and offered a place beside her.

"You may need a horse to ride upon but I can walk just fine," Calieo commented in a snide tone, somewhat annoyed that her conversation with the oddly dressed girl had been interupted twice now. "You seem to think extra bodies are a bad thing. Bodies are useful," she smirked, hoping to improve her guide's mood by reminding her of that fact.

Speaking of bodies, the one clad in furs had demanded everyone's attention and had started to lead everyone further away from the city. She seemed irritated still but not overly so now that things were in motion. With her and the girl she was with up ahead of everyone else, she looked back to question how prepared everyone was to travel. Not wanting to be addressed over the shoulder again, Calieo quickened her stride briefly until she was caught up with the the two of them.

"I can take what I need as we travel. Nature has much to offer and is bad at defending it," Calieo reassured, all she had needed so far being the flesh of dead things, and water. "On a more important subject; girl, tell me more about this Cresent Sun you spoke of."

[Tirñea]

Tirñea could only watch and wait as everyone stood silently, her eyes shifting occasionally as she was unsure how to act given the situation. She was somewhat relived when the man broke the silence, running his mouth as if he'd casually just happened to meet everyone here. Something about what he said set off Veronica and she dashed forwards, the man gracefully avoiding her swing and preforming a counterattack with a surprising amount of finesse. Even though he was thwarted by Serena it hardly seemed to phase him, and before Tirñea even realized what had happened Ashley was now standing right beside her.

Staff raised to protect herself, she let her guard down briefly when all she received was a pleasant wave. Quickly tensing herself again, the Piñuran girl could only watch with confusion and worry as to what was going on. Ashley turned his attention towards Serena with a snap of his fingers, and Tirñea saw it as a chance to try thwacking him across the back. Jamie had a similar idea, lunging forward in a far less subtle fashion than Tirñea was trying for.

Ashley sighed, adjusting his parasol ever so slightly that the tip managed to catch Tirnea’s staff and stop it mid-swing. He deflected the weapon as twirled to face her, a foot raised with grace more akin to a figure skater atop a frozen lake than someone wearing heels on a somewhat damp dirt path. A finger slid across his parasol’s handle, and he slid the accessory apart ever so slightly, revealing a hint of shining steel that caught Jaime’s weapon. Ashley’s eyes looked over the man. His face, his hair, the way his body tensed against the clash… He licked his lips, revealing white fangs for but a moment.

“It really is a shame we have to be meeting this way,” Ashley teased. “Otherwise I’d be asking if I could see more of those pert muscles of yours.” Veronica renewed her charge, lifting the hammer and sending it sailing down towards him. Ashley shifted his stance once more to avoid the blow, the hammer embedding itself in the ground next to him as his hands shook ever so slightly as he tried to uphold his guard in a more awkward stance.

“You come at me with the all gracefulness of an ox,” Ashley taunted. “Ma petite fraise...” Veronica clenched her fist as magic coursed through her body, her armor, and most importantly, her weapon.

“And you sit there afraid to make a single move,” Veronica responded, “With all the courage of an overly-dressed roach.” Ashley laughed in response. Serena tensed, hoping that her student wasn’t falling into his trap again.

“Perhaps you have a point considering how difficult stomping me out seems to be for you,” He chided, turning his attention back to Tirnea. “You seem awfully out of place here, child of the sands. Tell me, what brings you here with the rest of these Choir cutthroats?” He looked at her with intrigue, and Serena hid a smirk under her mask when she noticed that the earth had begun to protrude ever so slightly next to his feet, a path having travelled there around his blind spot from the head of the warrior’s hammer. She looked to Tirnea, hoping that she could keep the man’s attention.


Rebecca tried to piece together the details of what every individual involved had to say about all of these developments. It didn’t appear that they would all be getting along too well, but hopefully that would change once they had to make their way around the forest. She decided that things wouldn’t get too violent for the moment, and put her weapon back in its case before she stuck to walking next to her friend, abstaining the urge to stay just a small distance behind her. The lady in gold seemed awfully eager to stay near the front and question her. She wished to know more about The Order, which once again confused Rebecca as to where she truly hailed from.

“First off, she answered. “Call me Rebecca; that mercenary is the only person here who wouldn’t answer to “girl.” As for The Order, what you need to know is that they’re in charge of administrating worship of the twin goddesses Calieo and Selinae, as well as Norox, in the Twilight Fields. Their magic destroys demons far better than mortal weapons or more contemporary magic for reasons I’m still trying to figure out, and they were falling out of favor until around half a century ago when one of their mages and her golem managed to defeat an army of demons on Nethergate, back before it had that name. Now they pretty much run the show around there, even with The Choir ruling over them. Life is pretty nice over there, as long as you don’t get on their bad sides. Is that all you wanted to know?” She tilted her head slightly as she looked at the woman and waited for her response.

Cain lingered at the back of the group, catching the occasional glance his way. Not that no one here really trusted one another to begin with but they were quite clearly not fans of him, that was fine, he preferred it that way. Cain wordlessly stared ahead as the group continued on, very rarely letting his eyes wander to the fields at their sides, bathed in the orange hue of the setting sun.

The claw handed woman asked something about food, clearly she did not think very highly of anyone save for perhaps the lady in the large brown cloak. Cain looked at her for a moment and gently tapped the side of his bad in response before once more gazing at the path ahead as he walked. He didn't tend to carry much but he'd packed some provisions, he wasn't a big eater to begin with but if worst came to worst he could hunt with his bow and trap if need be, useful skills acquired from various stakeouts in the woods.

The woman in the gilded armour, Cain had underestimated her. She was far more irritating than he'd given her credit and the journey had barely lasted an hour. She was snide and condescending to her companions, Cain was now quite certain after her comment to the woman on the golem that she was most likely going to try get the group killed, or at the very least use them as meat shields. Cain was loyal to some fault, but if a death blow was heading towards them he knew he'd been getting out of the way.

She spoke with the brown cloaked lady, about religion it seemed. Cain didn't have much time for it usually but their conversation was the most notable sounds provided save for the occasional whistle of a bird and rustle of trees. 'Rebecca' was the woman's name, or perhaps not, it'd do for now in any case. The Order sounded like powerful combatants to hear 'Rebecca' talk about them... 'Life is pretty nice over there, as long as you don’t get on their bad sides' Cain mulled over her words. That was either a possible threat or simple statement of fact, perhaps they paid well too.

That was it, she got roped in with the worst possible group to travel with. Granted it was possible to scavenge supplies in the wild, she was proficient with it since she lived in the wilds, but the Calieo was dressed in heavy armor which made hunting form up close very hard. Maybe she knew how to recognize herbs and other edible plants? Hopefully that was the case, otherwise Chambala was going to have to hunt for these people. What a bad situation she got herself in.” Sigh This is going to be a long journey.” Chambala said to herself as Calieo was now questioning Rebecca about this Order she mentioned.

Now that the huntress thought about it, she did remember those Order guys. She had seen them in her trips to sell off her merchandise in their territory. Always made a point to keep nice with them since she didn't really have need of making enemies in general. That said she had another feeling she didn't like. She felt danger from something or someone. Maybe it was just her paranoid side showing up, it's been like this since her trusted companion passed away, but she had learned to trust those instincts of self preservation. She had to be on guard and keep attention to the situation with the group that was going to develop and locate the possible danger before it has the chance to hurt her. She regretted leaving so many of her tools back at her home now.

They had a long walk ahead of them so she might as well get working on something simple as they walk. She pulled a big fang frog from her bag and a small knife, starting to carve it slowly as she walked. It usually took stability and a time to focus, but she had made those trinkets so many times her body remembered it wihtout her input. As the saying went she could carve them in her sleep.

Hope. It was draining away quicker than alcohol in a crowded bar. She knew that she'd survive. Denise had a golem after all. She knew where they were going. And she kinda knew her father. But despite all her advantages, she was afraid that she might just blow someone up before they got there. Or at least make them leave.

"Aye..bodies might be useful, but they also get in the way, and on your nerves. They also attract attention," Denise said with a gruff voice before reaching into a saddle bag and taking out a bottle of alcohol and took a deep sip. She was probably going to need a lot more of that as time went by. They had barely left the city and she was already tired of this configuration.

She laid down on the golems back and closed her eyes. It wasn't the smoothest ride, but it was comfortable enough and it allowed her to rest and think instead of walk. Always left her prime for fighting if needs be. "Shit..." she said quietly as another realization struck home. Unless she was very discreet about her training, they'd all know. Along with her work in materials. She sighed deeply and decided to train lightly and make them underestimate her.

Denise was broken out of her thoughts as Rebecca started talking about the order. It was a story she had heard many, many times before. It was indeed surprising that Calieo did not know about it. But..the ignorance of this knight was indeed legendary enough to not know anything about the world.

She quickly grew bored though and decided to pass some time, by passing a small fireball between her fingers. Like you'd roll a coin from one finger to the next. Until she grew bored of doing that and decided on juggling a few of them. But even that turned into boredom after a while. So she decided on doing the one thing she had been putting off for ages, carving a few more runes into her gauntlets. It was a fine balance to tread. Too many and the gauntlets might explode, too few and it would not provide what she needed.

[Calieo]

Calieo listened to Rebecca intently, staring down on the woman and nodding her head ever so slightly once or twice. The knight frowned slightly at the mention of the gods they worshiped, but waited until Rebecca was finished to avoid cutting off any information. This Order sounded like a potential asset to her quest. Possible suspects as well; anyone beyond the mountain men worshiping the old gods was unexpected but not unwelcome. Unless they were thieves.

"So people besides the mountain tribes still make an effort to care? Flattering, and though I've never had a twin I'm sure their faults are simple naivety," Calieo snorted softly as a smile cracked across her cheek, and her attention returned to the road ahead. It appeared to stretch on to past the horizon, and beyond it there wasn't much to look at aside from the mountains Northwards. "So much wasted potential," she murmured under her breath, taking in the limited scenery and imagining far more useful things for it. Her grin brightened slightly when she looked away from her companions and down towards the weapon strapped against her hip, the caged ball of fire flickering peacefully within it's confines.

The sun overhead still brought daylight from behind the clouds, the heavy grey blanket having begun to part and drift West to reveal glimpses of the late afternoon sky. For just a few moments she wanted to enjoy the stillness of the situation, the soft sound of marching feet the only rhythm to interrupt the silence of the empty plains.

[Tirñea}

Her weapon having been knocked away, Tirñea took a step back to prepare a counter attack but was met with no such aggression. This man seemed to be merely entertaining himself, and could obviously afford to be so casual with it considering the ease he was defending himself with. He asked her a question, and for a few seconds Tirñea was simply baffled by the absurdity of the situation. She looked to Serena, who stared back behind the empty guise of her mask, then looked again at Ashley.

"I- um," Tirñea began, needing a moment to think about her response. She'd already decided to lie again, but perhaps a bluff might cause this man to reevaluate his priorities. "I come to here for practicing magic," she started, doing her best to sound confident as she tested the waters with that idea. "Yes. Yes, powerful spirits live beneath the earth and I can call upon them with my staff. They protect me, and will harm you if you do not leave." The Piñuran girl smiled sinisterly, taking another step back and swinging her staff downward so she could beat the ground like a drum again. She began to let herself pretend that what she said was true, and by stretching the truth rather than a flat out falsification she found it quite easy to act the part.

Rebecca was happy that this woman was actually paying attention to her instead of simply shoving her around, or that anyone was paying attention to her at all. She thought her response was somewhat odd, though. What did she mean about the mountain tribes? What did she mean about not having a twin? Why did she find her description flattering? What did she mean by “faults?” Who in the world was she that she could speak like that about them, while also acting like she had no idea who they were? She decided to prod more about it.

“Er, come again?” The researcher inquired, her tone indicating that she had heard very well what the other woman said as she erred on the side of nuance this time. She retrieved her notebook as she walked and began to double-check it, flipping from one page to the next as she cross-referenced various research notes, religious lore, and journal entries from the book’s previous owner. Whether she liked it or not she had an idea of what she might be implying, and she thought such a claim would be blasphemous and so absolutely absurd that it would incite amusement far more than aggression, but it was part of her very nature to follow up on such a thing regardless. She assured herself that she wouldn’t have gotten this far if she didn’t. She gave an odd glance to the others travelling with her. Were they hearing this, too?

She supposed it was something that would be better addressed once they got a chance to stop, however. She flipped the pages of the notebook to another section and pulled out her quill. She alternated between pausing to think and writing away, jotting down various notes and equations of physics and magical mechanics as she paid the faintest attention to walking with the rest of the group. She almost tripped a couple of times, but it was no matter. Several pages were filled in a jagged, somewhat legible scrawl until she began to figure out that she had to squint and frown at the page to see what she was doing. The sun was setting, she finally realized, and she needed food. Thankfully they had arrived at their destination.

Or rather, the next town over, but it was an excuse to rest all the same. Unlike Falke, the farming village had no walls, aside from the fenced-off sections of farmland that seemed to stretch out endlessly, filled with either varying crops or animals, the latter of which seemed to be falling asleep. Along the path were wooden buildings on either side, consisting of housing, inns for those passing through and the occasional shop selling whatever supplies one might need before they had to close down for the night, though it was nowhere near as extravagant as Falke's marketplace. Though the path forked a ways into the settlement, Rebecca could see that at its end, almost as if the town as built around it, was a stone mausoleum, sitting near a wooden building that appeared to be a Church of Aramice. It was a recurring trait in Loyalitat's various towns that never failed to unnerve Rebecca.

"So..." Rebecca asked as she glanced around the group. "Anyone know any good places to eat around here?"

Cain wasn't much for religion, actually he wasn't really much for anything, but even he spared a glance over at the golden warrior... Calieo. Cain couldn't exactly give a disbelieving look, or even really raise an eyebrow all that much but internally his curiosity, and suspicion of the arrogant woman grew even more. The hooded lady, now identified as "Rebecca" turned to shoot the rest of the group a disbelieving look of her own, Cain quickly looked back ahead, he doubted she would care but he'd rather maintain ignorance and gather some deal of information his new "partners" before throwing any of his thoughts into the open.

Eventually the group had reached a small farming village, Cain had been here a few times, given its fairly close proximity to Falke it was a good... Meeting spot for any clients Cain went to deal with. That said he hadn't been back for a little while, the last time he "ate" here was when he'd stolen stale bread from the inn and ate atop the church bell tower.

"Explanatory. This is Smaragd Valley, been here a few times. Simple folk typically, should not be an issue if not much attention is drawn to our group..."

Cain paused and looked everyone over for a moment.

"Sarcastic. Which should not be an issue, I am sure."

He looked over at Rebecca "Unsure. There is an Inn.... The Flowing Flagon if memory is correct. Unsure on taste but would not recommend, Inn food terribly easy to poison. Query, perhaps some stalls may yet be open?" The masked man knew these lands fairly well, whilst none of them trusted him to begin with he was quite sure by now they'd clued in to the fact that he was not exactly your average sellsword, that said he maintained to himself that he would only divulge potentially helpful details of the land and from his experience, but never about himself or his work. Even then Cain was not subtle, in speech anyway, better to give them some kind of impression to sate potential curiosity.

They had arrived at their first stop, a village about half a day or so distance from the city. It was normal. Not much to say about it, there was a church, a mausoleum, inn or two. Just hte regular village in a regular place with regular work. This was a farming location and it showed. There were no walls and no real soldier presence to speak off. THere probably were some guards or milita about, but she doubted there was a real garrison here.

"I'd personally prefer to camp out there..." Chambala said, pointing out towards hte other side of the village, where there were some trees just on the edge of the buildings." I prefer making my own food, but tehre was no time today to hunt on the wya here, so I suppose we'd better spend the night in the inn." She added. There was more than enough preserved food in her bags, but she was saving that for her home, these were parts of ehr winter supplies.

"Don't worry about poison..." She said, showing the carved fang she made on the wya here." Just touch this to any of the food you have, and if there's poison in it, the color would change to pitch black." She stated, heading for hte inn." I will ask the innkeeper to allow me to quickly prepare a meal if any of you are so concerned with being poisoned."

“Oh?” Ashley said. “Perhaps you’re like my friend, then? She’s quite in tune wi-” He was interrupted as the ground erupted beneath his feet, an ethereal silver spear rising from the earth under his boot. He was thrown off balance, and Serena rushed forwards, goring the man on her naginata before withdrawing it and letting it fall to her side. Her eyes began to glow a fiery orange beneath her mask as she raised her blackened fist and punched Ashley hard enough to send him flying back into the ruins of the cart, barely managing to protect his face from the light of the sun with his hand before he raised his parasol, remaining in the shade next to the cart as blood spilled forth from his wound. Even drawn from his body, it churned and bubbled, as if threatening to lash out at any who drew near. The glow faded from Serena’s eyes as she advanced, and Veronica charged forwards once more, before something made her stop.

It was the young lady that Serena had seen next to the horses just moments before. She didn’t see her run over in front of Ashley, or jump, or fly. She had simply reappeared there, standing in front of them, holding a hand out protectively near him and shakily brandishing a knife at the band of warriors like she stood even a ghost of a chance.

“S-stay back…” She said hoarsely. She was almost entirely obscured by a strange hooded garb resembling a raven, or perhaps some other sort of carrion bird. The dagger she wielded was rather ornate, a bronze tool that looked more ornamental than anything meant for battle. Traces of black hair could be seen near the edge of her hood. Ashley raised a silver bell from his coat and rung it several times. A purple glow could be seen coming from one of the boxes that fell out of the cart, and a gauntlet-clad hand rose from it, beckoning the two towards it. Ashley smiled.

“Well,” he said. “I suppose I got a little careless there. Didn’t expect the tin can to break out a spell like that… We’ll be taking our leave for now, but if trying to find my boss proves to be a bit much for you, well… Let’s just say I can keep you entertained in Twilight Fields.” He looked at the girl and snapped his fingers, and they both vanished, the purple glow near the crate quickly fading, and the pool of blood on the ground returning to a less volatile state. Veronica sneered under her helmet. They had left as quickly as they came. Serena sighed and took off her mask, while Veronica looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay, Tirnea?" Serena asked, attempting to deflect the attention from herself as her breathing began to return to normal.

Denise was bored. The trip was uneventful. No one to fight. No internal brawls. There was nothing to do. Well, part from inscribing runes onto items. She also played around with her fire every now and then. But she never did play too much...that might cause some 'accidents'. Her fire was unpredictable...and hungry. It was nice it let it loose every now and then..but that always caused casualties.

She sighed loudly while barely listening to the conversations that was being had. Nothing much surprised her about Calieo any longer. Either the delusions or if she was something else. Who knew? She herself was half-daemon, naturally there could be half's or similar on the 'other side' of things. It didn't matter to her though. No one deserved respect without earning it first, unless she could feel the raw power coming from someone. But there was no such thing at the present.

They eventually arrived at the small village. Denise had been here a few times before to trade goods. A real deadbeat town in her opinion. But there was this one lady that she could stay with. Was better that way.. It was cheaper, less crowded and more fun. Also someone to make food for her!

"Personally I'm going to stay with a friend of mine. I'll stretch the invitation to Calieo if my friend agrees. It's a pretty small house after all. Don't want it getting too crowded." Denise smiled a salesman's smile before hopping off the golem and started wandering towards the outskirts of the town.

[Calieo]

As sunlight began to wane and darkness slowly creeped in to take it's place, in the distance what could be distinguished as another settlement sat silhouetted against the twilight sky. Everyone kept to themselves, Calieo only sparing an occasional glance backwards out of curiousity more than anything. Once or twice she saw Denise playing with conjured flame, and each time Calieo's gaze lingered on the dancing light for just a little longer. The way the flames licked and pulsed, they wanted to be more. It was endearing in an odd sort of way, and Calieo looked down to the flame she carried at her side for contrast. Within it's gilded cage the ball of plasma remained peacefully suspended, a calm and even burn satisfied with all that it had.

As the settlement eventually drew nearer Calieo took in all she could before losing interest, quickly deeming the dirty little collection of homes to be beneath her. There were animals, that was all the knight had cared to notice, and animals meant sustenance. The thought of food caused Calieo's gut to twist, and she recalled the last time she ate had been about two dawns ago. The others apparently had similar thoughts, and their conversation drew her attention as they discussed where to seek food and rest. Their ignorance astounded the warrior, and she turned away again to pick out a suitable creature among the numerous in the fields.

Before deciding to go for the largest she could see, Calieo overheard Denise chime in. At the mention of her named the knight spun around again, and listened to what her guide had to say about her intentions for the evening. As she began to walk off with her horse in tow, Calieo looked back towards everyone else and gave them a quick nod, "Find restfulness in your void of thoughts this night. We leave this settlement with the sunlight's return."

Without another word she turned away once more to follow after Denise, her strides long and quick so she could catch up quickly. In a mater of seconds the knight was alongside her original companion, and gave the ash skinned woman a brief glance over. "This friend house," the knight began, taking a second to consider the best way to word her thoughts, "will there be something to kill for sustenance?"

“Yeah,” Rebecca said to the hooded assassin. “We’re quite the crew alright…” Well, if they had managed to avoid attracting too much attention to handle at Falke, they probably wouldn’t have too much on their hands around here. Probably. She nodded at the mention of the inn. She put a hand to her chin as she thought. Clearly this man was either some sort of assassin or had something to do with one, but considering that she was here on something close to espionage, so she didn't feel she had much room to judge. Besides, one of her grandmother's best friends apparently used to do something similar, so Rebecca decided that she could just pretend to make friends and watch her back at the very least.

“So discounting that oddly specific red flag about the poison,” Rebecca said nervously. “Do you want to maybe split the charge for a room or something, Chambala? We could spend the night discussing why Orion’s model for magical stability is way too rigid to properly account for sound-based diffusion! If you’re still up for that academic stuff, that is…” probably not Rebecca thought as she looked at her friend. Well, there was always music, or at least talking about it. Or alternatively, talk about all the other weirdoes they were travelling with.

"Sure, Rebecca." The fur clad woman replied with a smile and a nod." I actually would love to learn more!" She stated as they were heading towards the inn. She was open to learning, doubted she'd understand absolutely everything that her new friend would talk about, but hey even a little learned could help, also one never knew where inspiration might struck. A casual remark from her might inspire Rebecca in the future to reach her own ideas.

"Well, I too have something I want to show you that I think you will find really interesting actually." Chambala said eventually to Rebecca with a sly smile, hinting that she was going to show her something special." I haven't shown it to anyone still, but I get the feeling you'd benefit from seeing it so might as well show you later." She explained as they were entering the inn.

"We need 2 rooms!" She stated to the innkeeper when they were inside." One for hte two of us and one for him." She explained, pointing to herself and Rebecca and indicating the single room was for the suspicious fella with the hood.

[Tirñea]

The Piñuran girl's confident guise slipped from her face as the faint image of a spear shot up from the earth. Her drumming slowed and quickly stopped, unprepared for how quickly Serena was upon Ashley and how quickly she sent him sailing. The way his blood spewed from his stomach twisted a cringe across Turñea's features, her thoughts lingering on how abruptly he'd been dispatched.

Him still being alive was difficult to understand, Tirñea having witnessed lesser wounds prove quickly fatal, but somehow Ashley still had enough strength to hold his little tent on a stick over himself as he bled out. Then there was the girl, appearing from nowhere and offering Ashley an opportunity to conjure some sort of unorthodox escape route. Her staff now held loosely at her side Tirñea watched the two of them dissappear, a baffled expression plastered on her face. It had been magic, obviously, but previously her experience with such things was limited to her own, and what few fire conjurers she'd encountered roaming the desert.

If Serena hadn't called her attention, she could have stared all day at where there had once been two people only a moment ago. "Huh?" she mumbled absentmindedly, shaking off her befuddlement and looking up to face Serena. "Oh, yes I am okay. Just... confused," Tirñea explained, speaking to herself somewhat so she could articulate her feelings. "Why has that happen?" She then questioned, her attention returning to the halted cart and the pool of blood beside it.