[center] [youtube]hGbja6xxM2w[/youtube] The ace of spades tumbled through the air, falling into the center, the intersection that connected the separate circles together. Night fell over the world, as, in two different parts of the world, two different summoning circles were traced with purple light, an aurora of magical energy rising up to hide the walls of the room in amethyst veils. Slowly, the weapons, a gauntlet and a short sword, began to melt away, losing their form. It was as if they were being smelted, talentium turned into liquid form. And then, the similarities ended. In Talze Utera, the talentium became a glowing, viscous liquid inside a chalice of gold. It was a shimmering ambrosia, exuding a sensation of power, life, and energy. Yet it did not stir. In front of the eyes of the man in red, it did nothing. For it was just a liquid, just an elixir. Yet, in Cykes, in the capital city of Dansila, the talentium didn't form a puddle in the earthen ground. Instead, that life-liquid began to rise, changing forms. A reversed 'aging', if it could be called that. The gauntlet and the short sword began to expand and grow, morphing into another form. As it continued to expand, the lady in gray nodded in satisfaction, and smiled, leaving the room before the growth of those two beings threatened to destroy that room. [b]“Thank you for your contribution, mi'lady. I shall be continuing onto the next subject now.” “You're welcome, and good luck.”[/b] And with that, as she ascended the staircase out of that basement, the lady casually waved her hands about, like a conductor, wielding a rapier as a baton. In the hidden alleyways, forgotten sewers, and abandoned buildings of Cykes, black summoning circles glowed, slowly turning clockwise. --- In the Talze Utera lands that belonged to the the Witchmother of the East, the odd family of Lachapelle slept peacefully in their cottage. Aiv had been out on another job, even though he had just recently recovered from his injuries, but Annette was confident in his strength. Maybe not his intelligence, but his strength was something that could keep him alive from pretty much anything. Snoring gently through the night, with Neph beside her, the witch who absolved curses had gentle dreams. Her daughter's playmates, a small dragon and a wind sprite, stood floating above them, in a similar position of rest, as if they were dreamcatchers that caught nightmares. But then, in the middle of the night, in a perfect state of rest, Neph Lachapelle, the demon child of Musphelheim, opened her ruby red eyes. [b]“Mommy, another child has been born.”[/b] But the witch stayed asleep, and the child did not understand why she said that, and thus, feel back to sleep, in the little space of peace that was so coveted in Talze Utera. --- The first incident of that night was in one of Cykes's three major hospitals. Hearing a scraping sound underneath his bed, one of the bed-ridden patients called a nurse, asking her to check out what it was. When she knelt down to look under the wooden frame, she did not get up. The second incident was in the home of a merchant. Wandering down to the basement cooler for a midnight snack, he was greeted by a gargantuan boar feasting on meat. The man had escaped, but sustained grievous injuries as a result, and had requested one of his servants to call for help, before promptly dying of organ failure and bloodloss. The third incident occurred in an amphitheatre during a play, where the 'fake' monster that was to appear on stage was, in fact, a real one. In quick succession, it ate the cast onstage, before turning its attention onto the crowds. Though there were a few in the audience who could take on that hammerheaded snake with granite horns, the panicked stampede was more than enough to impede their combat efforts. And then, the fourth incident... In the mansion of the Seyour family, the sleeping members of the household were rudely awaken by quite an irritating, rasping sound. Like the sound of metal being torn apart, or nails being dragged across a blackboard. As three members of the esteemed family went downstairs to investigate, they found the source of the noise in the ballroom: a tailless, legless wyvern, its wings forced to become its feet as the purple-scaled beast dragged its body across the marbled floor. It was in pain, but more than that, it was in desperation, acting purely on a survival instinct that did not belong to most humans. Upon spotting it, those members of the family promptly drew out their talentium weapons and jumped over the balcony, ready to smite the beast where it stood. Contrary to expectation, the beast did not shield itself. It did not strike. Nor did it dodge. Instead, acting on its instinct, by pain, it lifted its mouth and ate those three Sword Skills users, devouring them whole. For a second, it gave out a high-pitched screech, almost as if it was in pain, but then, it recovered once more. It's body shimmered with light for a moment, and then, it seemed as if part of its body elongated. Almost as if it had 'grown' and 'regenerated' by eating those three. More members of the Seyour family came to fight the beast, ten veteran soldiers from the Dansilan army, every one of them a master of their own fighting style. Yet regardless of how many times they drew their blades and called their magic against the wyvern, it had no visible effect. Even more disturbing was the fact that the rift-beast was capable of consuming talentium, slowly but surely growing more and more complete, while simultaneously disarming the combatants that got in the way of its meals. It was a losing battle, but they had no other choice. If the Seyour family lost ground there, the monster would eventually leave the mansion, causing more damage to the town. Commotion could already be heard outside, as monsters ran rampant. No one was aware what was going on, but they knew that they had to stand and fight, regardless of how bleak the situation was. Surrendering was not an option against a rift-beast who ate Talentium. Such was the stubborn nature of the Seyour family that they were ready to fight on, even when the last member of the household had lost their weapon. Even when they were definitely going to die against this towering monstrosity, they stood, prepared to fight, as the wyvern, for the first time, drew in its breath, ready to roast the interior of the building with hellfire. Rearing back, its long neck curled into an s-shape, before it lunged outwards, the light of flames illuminating the insides of its throat. For a moment, time froze, and memories flashed by. Then, Tanith Seyour arrived, slamming her rapier into the soft flesh under the wyvern's jaw, with such brutal force that it pinned the jaw against its mouth. Hot flames burned the inside of the beast's mouth, as she released her grip on the weapon, tumbling backwards as she drew out another one. The gray-haired lady took a deep breath, as if steeling her mind, before shouting out in a tone that cut through all chaos, removing any doubts in their minds. [b]“I'll hold off the rift-beast! Get out and help the townspeople!”[/b] A valorous statement by someone who couldn't even use talentium, but one that immediately bolstered the morale of the family. If the lady of the house was still fighting, they had no excuse to stop. With that, they rushed out, into the burning, chaotic city of Cykes. Three feet outside, they were ambushed by another half-beast, a dark turquoise being with a featureless head. Shifting in from the darkness, it shredded those weaponless fighters in an instant, before letting their bloody corpses sink into its own liquid body. Yet that wasn't enough to sate it, wasn't enough to make it whole once more. Wordlessly, soundlessly, that assassin melted into the background once more. --- Overnight, due to most of their guards being absent, and the existence of two rift-beasts invulnerable to standard talentium weapons, as well as the Gods of War Khanein and Malune having been on a border patrol, the capital city of Dansila suffered heavy losses. The Seyour family, the main 'reserve' force of Dansila, had been utterly eliminated, and half the members of the Sidosa Board had been killed. All districts had received heavy damage as a result of that night's unexpected attack, and almost all the talentium in the city had disappeared. In the morning, there were no signs of any monsters, and it was determined that the bulk of the attack force had been summoned creatures, beings that were called forth by witches. The two rift-beasts that were invulnerable to talentium, a wyvern and a liquid being, had made their escape less obvious, but Dansila lacked the military force to pursue them at the moment. When Esace and Ellenil returned on that morning, they shared the same expression on their face. For a combination of reasons, they had lost this round, all their fail-safes having been countered. The field agent clicked his tongue. [b]“Fucking bastard.”[/b] --- A cold morning mist woke up Wynnara, slumped against a wall on the island of Frelia. She had waited all night for Moko to come back, but it seemed that the airship captain wasn't coming back after all. And a day had already passed, with not even a single message from Esace, telling her to stop wandering around before she caused any trouble. It was a cold day on that tropical island, and her and Moko's presents were already past their expiry date. She had expected something to happen, really, but then again, it didn't. On an island in the Archipelago of Illiserev, the blue-haired girl made the mistake of thinking that something interesting would have happened while she waited. Nothing fun happened, and her friend never came back in the end. It was cold, and she sneezed, her head swinging forwards. She should be mad, but she wasn't mad. After all, it made perfect sense why she was in such a situation. Amongst all the people she knew, only Wynnara had no actual goal or objective to complete. The Unemployed Maid of Illiserev, pilot of the God of War Derarg, had no family to go to, no job to work in, and now, not even a new destination to travel, for she had already been everywhere that was possible to go to. A deep, long sigh escaped her lips, as she hugged her legs, waiting for the sun to rise and evaporate the sea-side mist, even as the water vapor dampened her white summer dress. It seemed like the sun would be taking a long time to shine. [b]“Wynnara? Is that you?”[/b] A familiar, nostalgic voice caused her to raise her head, looking at a woman with light blue hair. For a moment, Mirelle Keep wasn't quite sure what to make of this, after all the events that had transpired yesterday, but then, she made a quick decision and smiled warmly. [b]“I've been looking for you. Esace told me you were coming over. How bout you come to my place and have some coffee?”[/b] Ah, maybe the sun will be rising up after all.[/center]