Zay put all of his strength into pushing Sasha back at first, but before long, the struggle to regain his ground turned into a struggle to stay on his feet. The metal casing that covered his legs creaked as it bent against the small Myti's mysterious strength.

"Surprised, little Hyuman?" Sasha growled, "Not often you'll find Myti capable of soul magic. Consider yourself-"

"Can. You. Shut. Up?" Zay groaned, syllable by syllable, as he slowly pushed back against Sasha's might. The Myti was thrown off by his arrogance, but even more when she started to lose ground. Sasha's nose twitched. She looked down at Captain Copp's stomach for a split second, and noticed that the metal around him had thickened. But that's not what put her on edge. Suddenly, she jumped away and let Zay take a wide step forward. Her ally had already left her to deal with the captain, instead deciding to jump down off the front edge of the cart's top half. Sasha glared at Zay, who looked as if he was smiling through it all.

"I didn't think you'd smell it through my armor," Zay huffed. There was a spike protruding from his stomach, just long enough that if Sasha had stayed within range, it would have pierced her heart. The Myti growled and scratched the floor of the roof with her right foot's claws. "Soul magic, huh? Probably shouldn't have said anything. Or, did you think you'd already won?"

This assassination was starting to drift closer and closer towards failure.

Back in the pilot's area, the combined efforts of Pyra and Flin had locked the still conscious Myti in place. But it was only for a moment. This one didn't move, instead protecting her body with a pulse of mana to disturb the control that tried to grab her body directly. But as she freed herself and regained her senses, something impaled her lower abdomen. She flinched, but lashed out at flin immediately, aiming to push him against the wall just behind him, and slash at his throat with her other hand. Around the same time, the Myti from the roof jumped down, clamped to the overhand with both hands, and appeared behind Pyra and Daelin with both of her feet careening towards their heads from behind. Regardless of whether she dealt significant damage, her momentum allowed her to flip in midair and land behind her targets.

Neal looked down at the injured woman and breathed a sigh of relief. "We're under attack," he grunted, placing her down on the nearby bunk. He stood between her, Noru, and the doorway to keep any sneaky attacks at bay. "Hurry up, Noru!" On queue, Noru emerged from the back room with a floating glob of liquid in his hand, similar to the substance he used on Neal.

"Mana supplies are unharmed," He announced, rushing over to Lyullia's side. He placed a hand against her forehand, while holding the amorphous potion in his free hand with a touch of arcane energy. "Don't move. I need to feel your mana."

"Today, preferably, Lieutenant," Neal grunted.

"You be quiet!"

Flin glared at the Myti as she freed herself. During the moment that she broke free and flinched from being struck, he'd already created four arcane shards behind her with his still extended right hand and made them move at her from behind to pierce her limbs and to pin her against the metal wall, each shard aimed for a specific body part to give her a hard time to dodge. One of which was aimed directly for the back of her neck.

As she lunged at him, he responded quickly. He pushed his own body to the left in an angle of 90 degrees with his other hand that was still on the ladder, essentially shifting his body sideways to avoid getting pushed against the wall by her first hand, while quickly pulling his neck out of the way of the Myti's other hand that was aimed for his throat.

Pyra grimaced at the other Myti still being conscious and all, taking advantage of the Myti attacking Flin to lash out with his foot. That said, he barely could sense an incoming attack, and tried to turn, but not fast enough to avoid the kick, staggering back and crying out loudly as it impacted his left shoulder, sending a wave of pain through his broken armor.

He growled, head swimming as spots of black appeared in his vision, stumbling back towards where the unconscious Myti was earlier, but avoiding falling over for the time. "Damn it..." He spits, at the moment a bit too preoccupied to focus on magic for the time

Hi'Wor glanced at Za'Kul while Ju'Kul caught his breath. He stepped past the larger Lok'Sha, and got right in Za'Kul's face.

"Ok, we bargain." Hi'Wor took a step back, motioned towards his chest with his knuckled and pouted sarcastically. "Wor want slaves." Then he pointed to Za'Kul with his thumbs bent inwards. "Kul have slaves." Then he pointed to himself for a moment. "Wor," He spun around and stretched his arms out at the men behind him. Then he spun his head towards Za'Kul again and leaned in close. "Wor stronger than Kul. Kul a disgrace. Wor kind enough to not wipe out pitiful dark skins, in exchange for slaves!" He paused and offered the Kul tribesmen a wry smile. Ju'Kul's lip quivered with an uncommon anger. "What Kul say? What counter offer?"

Za'Kul's pride was truly titanic. But perhaps, those who value their pride above all else could be baited just as easily as those they attempted to lure out.

"Well? What say?"



Marvis was compelled. It was hard to explain - he couldn't even manage a thought of his own - and even harder to deny. He looked to his cousin and nodded without a second thought, but said nothing. He was willing to offer her his ear for the time being. But despite that, there was a feeling buried deep in the pit of his mind telling him to kick her our then and there.

Of course, against his better judgement, Marvin was forced to ignore it.



Finnick was finicking with a little bobble with his head bent forward, his usual state of existence. Vetch didn't quite catch his attention right away. Not even after a few seconds of waiting with his imposing stature towering high over the little handicapped Eldi. But he looked up once as Vetch spoke. Then he looked up again. He locked eyes with Vetch for a few seconds before returning to his little bobble.

"M'lady too prissy teh' com'in 'erself?" He grunted, "Seems I 'aven't seen 'er in 'eh long while!"

Numbers were power, but in the most superfluous of ways. Hi’Wor was almost someone Za’Kul felt he could undermine and outsmart. Almost. Hi’Wor was--as his name not so eloquently hid--a man of conflict, and if that was the language he spoke, that was how Za’Kul would bargain.

“No one in all Smor’Gen’Blok like Wor’Boa. Your father reason for Smor’Gen’Blok pitiful state. Other tribes already plotting against War’Boa.” whether it was true, Za’Kul didn’t know, but the whispers from the outside world trickled into the deepest caves where there meaning could be bent, twisted, molded in secret between the smaller tribes. Corroboration and unity was built in darkness better than it ever was in the light.

“Slaves not what Wor’Boa need, Wor’Boa need Kul. Kul have eyes in deep tunnels. Hear things. Know places in Deep Tunnels even Wor’Boa not know or reach.”

Za’Kul cast his eyes passed Hi’Wor, a subtle dismissal of the oaf--a small play toward his underlings. They were the ones Za’Kul needed to convince with his pitch, not Hi’Wor. Za’Kul continued,

“Kul get to come freely up to higher tunnels, War’Boa get information from Kul.” to risk the welfare of his people on the strength of a lie; it was spontaneous and detrimental. But, he had said what he said, and now he had to stand or die on that lie.

"We're under attack?!" Lyullia said as she was laid down. She was kind of expecting it based on what she was hearing coming from other places in the Caravan, but she had hoped it wasn't the case. "By what? More wild animals?"

As Noru put his hand on her forehead, Lyullia's worries increased. Was she severely injured? What did he mean by feeling her mana? Were the others alright?

"Are the others alright?"

To say Hi'Wor was amused would be putting it lightly.

"You show how stupid Kul are with empty words!" He roared, "Wor never been more respected in all history of tunnels! Lok'Sha bow and whimper before my father! Even great tribes know! Even great tribes know!" He slammed his closed fist against his chest and grunted. "We let dark-skins that have learned this walk our tunnels! You, the Kul, have not learned respect, so you stay in deeper caves! I have nothing to fear from stupid dark skins! They just like rats! You can take offer and drag it back to papa, sooner than later! Come back with Slaves!" He waved the two Kul tribesmen away with both of his hands. "Go now, or maybe I send you back, one Lok'Sha, and one corpse!" Hi'Wor glared at Za'Kul, not giving him or his ally a moment to speak.

"Make sure Kul know soon," He said quietly, "The Wor have no enemy."

Hi'Wor got very close.

"Nobody ever think," he breathed into Za'Kul's face, "Not even for a second..."

He backed away and smiled.

"To attack the great-"

Without any preamble, the ground began to shake. Quakes were not especially uncommon in the deep tunnels. But it served to bring worry to the Lok'Sha, even thick-headed tyrants like Hi'Wor. There was no telling whether a quake could simply shake the dirt, or collapse entire tunnel systems. thankfully, it had been decades since the last collapse, but that didn't stop Ju'Kul from glaring at the ground with worry.

"Stupid earth even know not to do battle with Wor."

It was after that mockery of the tunnels they lived in, that the ground beneath the Wor Tribe's hearth site gave way. It started right there where Za'Kul and Hi'Wor stood. The tent's flooring crumbled and cracked as the earth beneath them began to shake violently. Larger cracks quickly shot across the entire tent and split the earth, swallowing several of the bystanders as the entire tent began to collapse. The ground parted in several places, and began to fall downwards in massive chunks. Ju'Kul didn't have any time to comment. Instead, he tapped Za'Kul on the back, and quickly retreated from the collapsing lengths of leather and wooden supports.

Hi'Wor fell backwards into a crevice that opened in the ground behind him. The ground was sinking and rising at random, leaving the Wor's acting leader tumbling down into a dark hole that continued to grow deeper and deeper.

From outside of the tent, roars and shrieks echoed across Wor's hearth site. A series of smokey explosions resounded from the highest points of the cavern, causing the walkways to collapse. Lok'Sha fell to their consecutive deaths from the highest points in the cave, while those that scrambled at the ground level were left to find themselves crushed by debris, or force to retreat into the deeper tunnels.

In a few moments, the rambunctious crowds that flooded Wor's hearth site were degraded into panicked mobs, fleeing for their lives from the literal collapse of their very society.

Daelin was able to react in time to brace against the hit aimed for his head. He raised his ax against it and wound up getting a nasty claw across his forearm and getting knocked back against the wall. He still clutched his ax and the grapple in his other hand as he faced off against the myti that had jumped down. He kept his guard against the assassin from the roof but he still had a hold of the myti that was assaulting Flin. The loose grappling line drifted lightly across the floor between Daelin and its victim. He hit the return lever and the spring mechanism sparked back, pulling the line sharply. He held onto the device snugly. With the spike still in her gut, the myti was in a poor position to evade Flin's projectiles while being reeled back to the front of the caravan.

______________________________________________________________________



"It makes me happy you are willing to listen." Kanna expressed with a smile. "You may not know it but I have been working hard myself. I've become privy to a nasty bit of information regarding magic extremists in the lower quarters. I couldn't pin down their location with my limited resources but I do know that they plan to do something far more dangerous than they have done before." She warned. Her face took on a serious tone to help convey the gravity. "The extremists are planning to destroy part of the south wall. They were even talking about it in the middle of the day." She shakes her head at the thought. "They're so brazen with their confidence in how lax the government has become. I have this on good report from a friend of mine. If someone isn't ready to stop them or clean up their mess then we'll have bigger problems than just the wall being broken. Something might get in." She paused to let it sink in.

"I come to you with this because the guard wouldn't listen to me. If we can be ready with enough men to make a move on the wall when this happens or even get the information to stop it outright then you can garner more respect as a hero and we can both save lives. Just like grandpa always wanted from us, right Marvis?"

______________________________________________________________________



Vetch shook his head with a groan. "Prissy? A shame you don't know the Lady Kanna like I do Mister Finnick." The wretched looking eld peered around the shop at the various piles of junk strewn about in Finnick's strange style of ordered chaos. "The Lady was very busy today. So much that I haven't had the privilege of seeing her. It was my honor to do the tasks that burdened her beyond a single day." For being normally silent, Vetch was quite talkative with mention of his Lady.

Vetch fished around in a pocket inside his long coat for a jingling bag that he held close to his chest. "If you have the special blend powder from Marrenfell, the Lady has procured the requested payment." He jingled the bag a little for emphasis. "As promised, Mister Finnick."

Flin was just barely quick enough to escape the Myti's assault, but the Myti's natural senses proved more formidable that one might've expected. She used the momentum of he clawing attack to dive past Flin, and into the Caravan, dodging his shards in the process. But she couldn't account for Daelin suddenly pulling his hook shot back, nor did she keep her passed out ally in mind. She tripped over the Myti that Pyra had knocked out, and Daelin's hook pulled at her flesh, tearing a chunk of bloody fur out of her torso after only a moment of tension. A torrent of blood spattered against the floor as she made her move, to her own dismay. It was then that her blood loss caught up with her. There was nothing that the assassin could do to prevent herself from tumbling forward over her ally. Although she was able to roll to prevent further injury, as soon as she returned to a crouch, it became clear that her body wasn't listening to her anymore. But her partner, the acrobatic fighter that swooped in from above, was still raring to fight. Her agility spoke for itself, and she quickly took advantage of Pyra's weakened state. After landing behind him and Daelin, she deftly took the Eldi's back, wrapped one arm around his neck, and pulled him away, putting her back against the wall, and hovering her left index finger just below his chin. Her claw popped out, and she peered over his shoulder, slowly backing away from Flin and Daelin. While she did this, the archer from earlier took aim once again. Flin was still their target, seeing how Captain Copp was careful to keep his body armored, Pyra was immobilized, and Daelin looked much harder to put down.

_{"Prep the Arcane charge. The mission is going south fast. Tell Sasha."}

The Archer who spoke fired another Arrow at Flin. It whizzed through the air towards him, silent as the last, and aimed for his torso. The other Myti nodded as he fired, pulling a psystone from her pocket for a brief moment. Then she put it away, and reached for something else, arming her crossbow with a curiously designed bolt.

Neale stood over the injured Myti for only a second, before raising his foot and slamming his iron boot against the side of her head. She flopped over and went limp, but wasn't killed by the impact. For a moment, the captain considered walking over and finishing the job, but if they made it out of this alive, she would be a valuable... Source of knowledge.

Noru cringed at Neal's display of force and lifted his hand away from Lyullia's head. "You're fine," He whispered, looking towards the Caravan's exit at what he could discern. He only spotted Pyra for a moment before he was pulled away to the right. "Can't say much about the others." He glanced at the unconscious Myti, as if to direct Lyullia's attention as well. It was clear who was responsible for their situation now.

Sasha crouched towards the ground. This Captain was far more troublesome than she was prepared for. That explosion should have done a lot more damage than this. How was he uninjured? Better yet, how was somebody this strong present for such a simple mission? The information she'd gotten after such a drastic change in plans wasn't nearly enough. The sisters were not fully prepared to deal with this kind of magic.

_{"One dead, one missing, one with hostage, Arcane charge prepped. Orders, mistress?"}

The psychic message only served to anger her even further. With a reluctant growl, Sasha took a step away from Zay.

"Oh? Done already?" He mocked with a sudden smile. It was a pretty good bluff considering his condition. Maintaining his full body armor had almost completely drained his mana, his ankle was aching, and he could barely curl his left hand into a fist anymore with the shattered bones in his wrist. He'd only gotten this far on willpower and luck. Even so, he was a formidable presence, despite his lax behavior. Sasha huffed through he nose. There wasn't much of a choice. But part of her didn't want to back away. Her snarl turned into a smile, and she took a step forward. Zay's expression didn't falter, but he immediately regret saying anything.

'...Shit...'

With his life, Za’Kul escaped. Had Ju’Kul not warned him to the peril, he would have ended up in the same ditch Hi’Wor was in. Much as he loeathed Hi’Wor, an endless plummet into the unknown was a fate he wished on no one. No thought of trying to save Hi’Wor ever crossed his mind, though. Scattered Lok’Sha everywhere, Za’Kul soon joined their number in tow behind Ju’Kul.

As he clambered in steed of Ju’Kul, he bumped into a young Lok’Sha and what appeared to be an elderly grandfather. Her grandfather had gotten trapped between a falling rock, nearly flattened beneath it. Za’Kul heard the wails,

“Help! Help!” Wor’Da’Li cried, Za’Kul paused. The tunnels continued their collapse; his hate for the High Wor tribe resisted a similar fate. Lok’Sha were only ever rewarded for their sacrifice in battle, not for aiding enemies. What difference would Za’Kul’s heroics make? It would give him no great name, no prestige for his clan; that it was the ‘right’ thing to do mattered not. The only right was made by blade in Smor’Gen’Blok.

Still, something inside him relented.

“Ju’Kul, go! Make sure no other collapse! Find pa!” a crash. Za’Kul was separated from Ju’Kul; he, Wor’Da’Li and Ko’Da’Wor, her grandfather, and a host of other Wor Lok’Sha were cut off from the fleeing parties. Would time be gracious to them?

The breeze in the air gave a sense of false pleasantness as Ellorei wiped sweat from her brow. Currently, she was staring into the eyes of a maw hound with his pack not far behind him. Ellorei stood in between the hound and a group of human children not even teenagers playing in the meadow. Thankful that the shades of the trees hid her and the hounds from the sight of the children and adults that also had to be close by, Ellorei wanted to attempt to diffuse the situation that was no doubt about to unfold. A life was a life, end of discussion and in this case, she was also protecting the hounds as much as the unsuspecting human children.

Ellorei's eyes never left the maw hounds compelling the creature that attacking these children would result in the death of his pack. Which, was a very real threat, it took very little excuse for an adventuring party to seek out and destroy wildlife that was seemingly a threat. Minutes ticked by as the sun began set changing the light to a more glowing ember. Behind her, Ellorei could hear the children's voices dimming. Meaning they were leaving, returning to where ever they belonged. Still locked in a battle of wills, Ellorei sent one last plea to the creature, "Just go and live, there are other sources of food."

Flin glared at the Myti as his shards missed, and she dove into the caravan. He released the ladder immediately as his shards reached his own body. They spun around quickly, aiming the sharp tips to the opposite side, creating a barrier of sorts as they floated before him. He advanced into the caravan to aid his companions against the attacking Myti, narrowly avoiding the arrow by mere chance as it bounced against the metal wall again.

Flin looked over his shoulder briefly to notice the arrow, yet again reminded of the fact that the sniper was still a very real threat. He tried to keep moving to help Pyra who was taken hostage, but he felt a sharp pain rush through his chest area, and he fell on his left knee. He grit his teeth in pain. He lost his focus, and the shards around him dispersed. The quick maneuver to avoid the Myti's claw just now put a lot of strain on his already cracked ribs, and the pain was taking it's toll. He began to gather up mana slowly. If he wasn't fast enough to react to the sniper, there was a good chance he'd be finished then and there.

A man with a bark mantle and fur cloak set across his shoulders stepped in from the denser forests. He walked right between the two and turned to look straight at the maw beasts. They were slavering, the rows of teeth in their gaping maws were twitching excitedly. The force the poor druid here was using was working but only just enough. He looked at the beast in the front sternly and addressed it like it were another human. "Hungry are we? Well, we aren't an easy meal." He turned briefly to look at the druid behind him. She was one of the youngest druids he had ever seen. "Are we?" He smiled and a transcendent calm settled across the area. A small blue bird found itself relaxed enough to settle on his shoulder even in the midst of the drama. The elder druid turned back to the hounds. Several started to close their maws and look down and around. They seemed to be disappointed. Several of the pack turned away, ready to leave. The man chuckled and pointed off into the forest. "Go back to your grounds, food is waiting." He suggested. It was obvious that he was using magic to speak to them, it seemed like it wasn't altogether necessary for him to even speak out loud but he did it nonetheless.

The supernatural calm started to lift from their senses. The man let out a weary sigh before he addressed the young druid. "Strange circumstances to meet a new person. It's always better when there is peace in a meeting. Then again, a dramatic circumstance makes a meeting like this all the more memorable and exciting." His green eyes practically sparkled when he grinned. He swapped his staff to his left hand so he could use the other, extending it to handshake the young woman. "The name's Rem."

"Grandfather said a great many things, his words don't concern me," Marvis grunted, "But if what you're telling me holds any ground, then it warrants further investigation, at the very least. Still, I have no authority to move Kel's forces of my own volition. Not without attracting the ever present glares of my peers. Unless the high chancellor were to order it, your efforts would be in vain." The middle-aged Eldi cleared his throat. What he said was true. Even while holding the second highest rank in all of Kel's government, Chancellor Astorian had no more authority than a mouthy politician. For him to go to the public for help would likely end in disaster as well. With how on-edge things have been for the past decade, and how tyrannical the government had become, moving as a single machine was almost impossible. It was a matter of listening to those who held the power.

Unfortunately for Marvis, and the rest of the Nation, Titles held very little power when contrasted with malignant desires.

"If I'm to be honest, Cousin, you're addressing a power that has long since lost hold of the reins on Kel. It should be no secret to the politically learned, that corruption runs deeply enough through our nation to taint its very principals." Marvis stopped himself. "You'd be better off finding help elsewhere."



Finnick's hands froze and the counter top went silent. The little old man slowly looked up at vetch with a wry little smile and set his bobble aside. "M'lady never fails to disappoint!" Without another moment of delay, Finnick hobbled towards his back room and rummaged through one of the slightly more... Organized piles of junk behind his counter. A puff of smoke erupted from the crevice he reached into, coating his face with a black substance, but he was able to pull the requested item out of the nook without much trouble.

"I hope yeh' don' mind a lil' soot!" Finnick mused, patting the pouch clean with his hands, and then promptly wiping his face as he returned to the counter. "There we ar', one Kilo as promise." Finnick slapped the pouch onto the table and held out his hand patiently.

Ellorei was getting tired; the maw hounds were stronger than she had anticipated. She was beginning to move to a contingency plan. Perhaps she could start a fire and scare them away as it seemed that reason was not working to her advantage. Just as she began to draw the fire from within her, a sagely man seemed to appear from the forests themselves. Ellorei was about to caution him until she felt his aura full of calm, and power. The newcomer walked in between her and the maw hounds as if he were intercepting a child from her pup.

"Hungry are we? Well, we aren't an easy meal." He turned briefly to look at the druid behind him. She was one of the youngest druids he had ever seen. "Are we?" Ellorei was about to answer but found herself speechless as the pack of maw hounds retreated. As the last hound left their eyesight, the calm aura seemed to return with them. Ellorei was still in a bit of awe and only caught the tail end of what the fellow druid was saying only catching his name. She then immediately placed her staff in it's resting place on her back to take Rem's hand in both of hers, "Rem, hello. I'm called Ellorei. That was incredible, how did you just send them on their way? You're also the first druid I've met since completing my ritual. Gaia's been guiding me of course, but I have been flying by the seat of my breeches. where did you come from, do you live close by?" Ellorei's excitement was palpable she had only known one other druid, the chieftain of her tribe. Taking a breath, she still held his hand and was just barely able to keep from jumping in place...just.

Pyra gave an audible, tired sigh at the feel of the claw underneath his neck, and raised his right arm slowly up in the air, fingers spread wide “I would raise the other one too, but you broke it with that explosion of yours.” He slightly smirked, although he doubted the Myti could see that. Probably in his best interest to not take an aggressive action towards the one with a claw less than an inch from his throat.

"So many questions." Rem commented as he gently tugged his hand free of Ellorei's double-handed handshake. "I wish I could tell you we were close by my home. Then we could sit down and perhaps enjoy a good discussion. One of the things I miss about good, quality interaction. Unfortunately, that is not the case. It is quite a distance further into the dense forest." He brought a free hand up to the blue bird on his shoulder and rubbed beneath its beak with his index finger. "And I am looking for something to help a friend of mine." He revealed. "I can answer your questions if you're willing to walk with me." He offered.

"First, explain to me what you were trying to do. Then I'll explain what I did." Rem started.

______________________________________________________________________



"That is gravely unfortunate Marvis. With people like you having no real say in this matter I suppose it was only a measure of time until the people came to this awful conclusion." Kanna lifted her dress in a curtsy. "I am deeply grateful you listened to me, Marvis. Best of luck to you, we're all going to need it if we can't stop this." She stepped, smoothly to the door. Before she left, poking halfway into the hall she commented. "Stay in good health, cousin. Kel still needs you." The door creaked to a close.

______________________________________________________________________



"Thank you, Mister Finnick. A professional as always." Vetch quipped. He placed the jingling bag into Finnick's waiting palm and took the bag of powder off the table. "You'll be hearing from the Lady or myself soon for more services, count on it. Goodbye, Mister Finnick." He said. He placed the sack into an open pocket in his long coat and turned heel to leave. As he pushed through the door he nodded to the brothers and made his way out.

Ju'Kul reached out towards his ally, but the falling debris cut him off from the Chief's son and forced him away. He didn't hesitate when hearing Za'Kul's announcement. He couldn't hesitate. If he made one wrong move, the cracks that snaked their way across the floor of the hearth site would swallow him whole and condemn Ju'Kul to the darkness below. With a heavy heart, and as much precision as he could muster, the man was able to make his away through the hordes of panicked citizens without falling into harm's way.

The floor beneath the Wor and Za'Kul was beginning to slide deeper into the ground. The earth around them started to rise. Either that, or they were starting to fall. As the axis that they stood on tilted, the rock that pinned down the elderly Lok'Sha slowly began to roll downwards, crushing his upper body and toppling towards his granddaughter and the Kul interloper.

As Ju'Kul reached the edge of the cavern, all was calm. The point at which the Wor's totem of chieftans stood was not shaking or crumbling at all. He turned towards Wor's hearth stone, and watched as it cracked and sunk into the ground below. the roof of their cavern seemed to be relatively stable, despite a few large boulders falling to crush those that stood below. On the other hand, the floor and the pathways that once lined their cavern's walls were falling into the abyss below. This was not a natural quake, Ju'Kul knew it almost instantly. But how could this be the work of subterranean monsters with the raw power of Wor's hearthstone keeping them at bay. He glanced up at the mouths of tunnels that lead to different parts of the Wor tribe, where Lok'Sha stood in dismay as the center of their civilization slowly slunk away into the darkness below. The Kul Tribesman grunted and spun away from the scene. He had to make sure that his own Tribe was in one piece.



Wor'Boa was kneeling before his apparent war-chief, panting heavily while barely able to support his own body weight. Ovor'Pella stood between him and Lu'Li'Po with her partisan muddled in Lok'Sha blood.

"A pitiful attempt," Lu'Li'Po grunted, "Koal'O taught you nothing of subtlety."

"Subtlety... Treacherous tool..."

"A tool that the warlord could have used to bring the Paladins to shambles. Perhaps it is good that you were an influence on his strategies. The arrogant and archaic traditions of our people may have been the only thing keeping the Lok'Sha from becoming a true plague to the world." Lu'Li'Po nodded to Ovor'Pella. "I had hoped we could reason, but the word the travels through the cracks has rung true. You and your tribe are a problem to be dealt with."

"Wor will crush you... We have many ally..."

"You do not know of what you speak."

"Many ally who wish for old way!" Wor'Boa roared, slamming his chest just above where a large red gash ha split his stomach wide open. "Strike down Wor, many follow. You make civil war. You make war with own people. Wor'Boa is... Martyr." The man smiled and coughed up a copious amount of blood. His voice faltered despite the sudden outburst, growing weaker with each syllable that followed. "Body worn by curse of Rajaka. I know this. Never win, I never kill you. But I die for Koal'O. I die for Warlord's belief, for the good of Lok'Sha. You kill your own rule by striking me down."

Lu'Li'Po cringed.

Wor'Boa smiled.

"Subtlety"

The room was silent for a few moments as Wor'Boa continue to bleed out. Lu'Li'Po walked closer to him and knelt in front of the Wor's chief in his final moments. He rose his eyes to meet hers with the same smile painted across his face. But his expression faded when he noticed that she too wore a smile denoting her victory.

"If I were to come down to the deeper tunnels and wipe out your tribe myself with a hoard of warriors at my beck and call, then yes. Yes, your tribe's demise would have brought this nation to its knees. My rule would not hold for even a week." She moved a little closer and rose his face with the edge of her right hand. He didn't have the power in him to fight against her motion. "But, Wor'Boa, what if the Dark skins whom you and your people have oppressed for so long, ended up joining forces to crush your tribe? What if it all took place, naturally? All without an order from their Queen?" Her self-purported title and implications made Wor'Boa recoil with the last of his strength.

"Wuh... Wah...?"

"Subtlety"

Wor'Boa's body went cold quickly. His jaw trembled against Lu'Li'Po's hand and he fell backwards, pulling himself away from the woman as a sudden pang of fear and regret washed over him.

"You... You are... Demon!" He rasped. Lu'Li'Po stood up and glared at him with her arms crossed as the light left his eyes. "D...D-d-dem...on..." In his final moments, Wor'Boa was nothing more than a cowering bully.

"No," Lu'Li'Po whispered to herself, "I am a Queen."

Ellorei flushed embarrassed as Rem took away his hand and began to follow as he walked, "Oh, um, yeah. Sorry about that. I tend to get carried away with myself."She reached behind to hold her staff, an object that had turned to out to be a sort of security blanket for her. At this moment she could not be happier. The day started out with healing an injured fawn and finished with preventing a massacre. By her own standards, she felt as though the day was plenty good by itself, but finding another druid was by far the best.
"It may not have looked it, but I was attempting to keep those maw hounds from attacking the children playing in the meadow. They had just left when you appeared, which was really amazing by the way. Anyway, I would be a terrible person if I didn't help you find whatever you are looking for, right? In the meantime, you have my full attention I am always willing to learn something new. I completed my ritual about six months ago so I am still very new to the craft and I will take any guidance I can get, however brief."

"I think you did an admirable job stalling for the children's sake. I have no doubt you would have figured something out, that is after all what we do." They started heading down an incline as the sun set in the distance. "I think that is part of what drew me to this role over everything else I did in life prior. The power of nature responds differently than sorcery. Nature itself listens when we ask because Gaia put her trust in us to watch over it. That means we can do almost anything that we can see and think of in nature so long as we have good cause to do so." The darkening skies didn't in the least slow Rem down, he moved with purpose. "Have you ever walked the wilds in the dark of night?"

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Daelin stepped his left foot back to conceal what he was doing with his left hand at his waist. "That is the worst stalling tactic you could come up with!" He commented to the myti. "Whose to say that we're gonna even care after what you did to our driver?" He questioned. As he spoke he popped the lid off the monster strength spray and got himself ready. "Your going to try slitting the throat of one of our mages. Then what? Nothing. You'll die like your friend on the floor." He flashed his eyes to Pyra, directing the next part to him. "Don't die, you're going to hate me for this." He drew the spray suddenly and blasted both of their faces since they were in such close proximity.