Suit up? Bollocks! thought Habb, looking frantically through the contentsof his bag. This is a fool's outfit! I am not wearing this until it becomes necessary to do so. He returned the suit into the bag and fastened it to his belt. Seeing that the others got way better clothes than he did, he felt betrayed by the Alchemist; but judging by the shirt Diego himself was wearing, his fashion sense was not something to write home about; so Habb let it slide.
"I am staying with this lady over here," Habb said when Ian spoke up, pointing towards Meryn. "That Alchemist fellow seems to like her, he could be useful." Habb just stood there for a moment, looking at the ground and with his hands clutching his belt. "Oh, and I am Habb, by the way. Nice to meet you," he said and nodded to them all almost imperceptibly before sitting down on the grass.
Jason shook Diego's hand, "Australia huh? Interesting, never met someone from there before." Jason disregarded how unsure he sounded about that, instead focusing on the makeshift ramp that they had to descend to make it to the forest. He didn't bother trying to balance and walk down carefully, instead he just ran down, tripping slightly as he reached ground but making it just fine. Jason made it just in time to see the guy poof away, looking in the bags he saw some clothes, which reminded him he had been in his pajamas this whole time. He looked in the bags and found some clothes that fit, and they weren't half bad looking either. With seemingly everyone down the ramp, Habb introduced himself. "Well, I'm Jason, and I think we should stick together, at the very least until we know more about what's going on." Jason didn't want to sit in case something happened and they had to move quick, but he did lean against a tree to at least try and relax.
Meryn took a step forward and found the bag with her name scrawled on it. Bending down, she plucked a bit of fine green fabric out of her bag. Slowly a mass of heavy, layered cloth lifted up, and she all but scowled at it. She was no stranger to fancy clothing – she didn't mind it when the occasion called for it. But there was no way she'd be able to move in this layered, cumbersome thing. In a strange place like this, she had no doubt she'd have to rely on her agility. Especially since she had zero experience with fighting. Her irritation only increased when she lifted the dress entirely out of the bag to reveal a pair of fine silver heels resting at the bottom.
As she glared between the dress and the shoes, the people around her started talking about what they should do. Meryn was of the opinion that their first priority should be getting the heck away from the castle under siege, but thus far there didn't seem to be any trouble. She hoped everyone had made it out of the room. A quick count showed nine bags, but the Alchemist had said someone didn't have a bag of her own. That meant ten people. Meryn glanced back up to count six others, not including Diego and the queen… leaving three still in the room.
Her eyes widened as her gaze shot up to scan the roof, but there was no movement by the chimney. If they were taking this long… were they coming at all? Meryn's eyebrows scrunched together with worry. What if those Claw people had got to them? Or they'd been dropped in another location entirely? But then she was pulled away from her worrying when one of the men gestured to her, saying the Alchemist liked her.
Meryn just raised an eyebrow at him. If she had the Alchemist's favor, then frankly it wasn't worth shit. All she was to him and Diego so far was a delivery girl and a mute little safe to store all their cryptic secrets in. Her frustration grew as her mind flashed back to the two brief interactions she'd had with the men. This was bullshit. She – all of them – deserved real explanations if Diego and the Alchemist expected any sort of help from them at all. They'd been dropped unwillingly into some dangerous unknown realm, and they were supposed to what? Take orders like good little errand runners?
Dropping the green dress to the ground, Meryn marched to Diego in quick strides. She barely slowed when she reached him. He was a frail looking thing, but he towered over her. This didn't stop Meryn from bringing her hands up to his chest and shoving. She didn't push hard – just enough to force him back a step or two. But she was certain it'd get her message across. She glared up at him and brought her hands down to her sides, palms open in a question. She was tired of this game.
Diego made it down the ramp easily and gracefully, while the princess descended slowly, nearly tumbling down the entire makeshift ramp. They both listened to Ian's idea. After listening, Julia's eyes became purple, "Personally, I don't care whether or not we split up, I'm going to the Crystal Rivers. You may join me if you wish."
After being pushed, Diego gives Meryn an apologetic look. "I don't really know much more than you do, honestly. I'll try my best..."
"Queen Julia," said Diego, "I think you should explain to them what the Crystal Rivers are."
Queen Julia scoffed, "What kind of person doesn't know what the Crystal Rivers are?"
"Julia, have you seen any of these people before? They are foreigners from a distant land. In fact, most of them probably aren't even familiar with magic."
"That's Queen Julia..." her voice fades away as she realizes how out of place everyone seems.
"Uh... fine, I'll explain," she said finally.
Most people aren't born with magical powers, of course. They touch the Crystal Rivers, which are just south of here. Anyone who simply touches the water becomes a Shaman, who can use magical items. However, if one submerges half of their body in the Crystal Rivers, then they become an Enchanter, who can make normal items magical ones. If one manages to actually swim in the Rivers, they become a sage. Most people that get close to the Crystal Rivers are sages. A sage can't just start casting spells- they need to see a spell performed in order to cast it. Plus, they have to have some sort of magical item to help them channel their powers The sage can only perform certain types of magic, based on how their body is moved through the Rivers. You can't control where the currents push you at that point, and nobody knows what type of magic you get from going down different streams. In fact, most people aren't even sure that we have found all the different magic types. They range from control of fire, to creation of living beings. Wizards submerge themselves completely in the water. They don't need to see a spell performed to cast it, they don't need to be aided by magical items, and they can do whatever their magic type allows them. They are only limited by imagination and energy. Using magic burns energy- lots of energy. Wizards can build up magical strength and stamina, therefore many experienced wizards can cast bigger and better spells without having to worry about passing out. Magicians drink the water from the Crystal Rivers. They have control of all of the different types of magic- they don't have to specialize. And finally, the Sorcerers are the ones who put the water into their bloodstream. They aren't limited by stamina. Only by imagination. They simply see themselves doing something and it is done. However, it takes tremendous skill to be a Sorcerer. There are only five, and they stand as guardians of the Crystal Rivers.
Queen Julia stops as her eyes become a dull brown, "if you thought that was complicated... well, it's not even that simple. You can't just go for a bath in the Crystal Rivers. The water is alive. And it's constantly hungry. If it thinks you are weak, it devours you. That's why the guardians are there. They want to make sure that those who enter the water aren't going to be swallowed immediately. You know... uh... yeah...they put you through a series of test." the queen seemed to become bored with the conversation and stared off into the distance.
She accepted the bag of clothes and stood for a moment, observing and listening. This truly was a wildly varied group of people and Jackie couldn't find anything that might link them all together. The queens explanation of their destination did little to to clear up the why of their being here but did confirm to Jackie that she certainly was no longer anywhere near the place she called home.
She took the bag and walked far enough into the treeline to be obscured from view, as much for the sake of privacy as to conceal her from the others. Before butting the dress of she took out the knife that she had taken from the room, cutting the legs of her jeans off halfway up the calf, short enough to be hidden by the dress. She then changed into the dress, putting her shirt and the cutoff portions of her jeans into the bag.
The knife went into the inside pocket of the jacket which Jackie put on over the dress. She looked down and admire the shade of blue while decided to put her boots back on. The shoes that came with the dress went back into the bag, she had seen too often while deployed the misery that could result from doing any sort of walking in ill fitting footwear and wanted for be able to depend on what she was wearing in case she had to run.
Magic Habb was used to resembled mathematics and physics more than the magic queen Julia described: weird people with innate gifts, social outcasts and rejects, would sit for days at the time, studying dusty tomes in some godforsaken hole, trying to master the lore. The queen spoke of living waters that would devour a weakling, of natural forces uncontrollable by man and it was frightening to someone not really fond of real magic, like Habb, who had to learn who to rely on poor old magician's acts due to his lack of insight and talent with the real arcane arts...and of course his need to earn money any way he can.
The thought of visiting such a place was scary, but it was the best chance for him to find a way to go back home.
"Alright, your majesty," Habb said. "I assume you are already familiar with this magical river of your? Is that why your eyes do...the thing?"
Jason listened to the queen and was amazed at what he heard. Magic? Real, bona fide magic? This was incredible, "so you're saying by going in this river we can use magic? What are we waiting around for, we should be going right now." Jason stopped leaning on the tree with new vigor in his step. His life had always been so boring, but now he was in a new place, new people, and he was going to be able to do magic. Some of the others may not be happy with the circumstances they were in but Jason was loving it. He never had the best relationship with his parents, he didn't really have any friends, and he was recently let go from his job. His life before was a crumbling mess, but now he had a fresh start and he was going to use it to the fullest.
Jacque took everything he was told in and weighed his options. Option one was that he could leave everyone and try his hand at picking up where he left off by surviving in the forests of this new land, however the risk in that was that he had no idea whether or not the same rules that applied to the normal world applied here, especially considering he'd just been told that there was a magical river that consumed people. If a river could do that, then god only knew what the rest of this world could do. Option two was that he follow after Queen Julia -whom seemed to either have multiple personalities or was simply insane- and risk his luck with the aforementioned man eating river, as well as the trials that came with them. The concept of magic itself wasn't too earth shattering; his time spent with natives and gypsies had given him a more open and spiritual mind, but the idea of the river actually swallowing him was a bit disconcerting. The woodsman grunted and offhandedly scratched at the stubble that was growing on his face before making his decision. "I suppose i'll just follow after you then, Miss Julia." Jacque stated a tad bit uncertainly. In all honesty, Jacque wasn't quite sure whether or not he'd be guaranteed safety by following after the royal, however her knowledge of the land would at least give him some sort of leg up in this new world, wouldn't it?
"Дайте? Сдаваться?" The massive russian chuckled, gesturing at the cartoonishly huge figures that opposed him."Против этих сказочных людей? Девушка, вы не понимаете, как вы заботитесь о проблемах." He moved faster than anyone of his hulking stature had any right to, drawing and firing a shot into the large, bear-headed man's forehead in a single, smooth motion. Fire belched nearly six feet from the barrel, and Nikolai's voice growled out in tandem the deep boom reverberated around the enclosed room, both noises forced impossibly loud by the constantly bouncing vibrations. "Встаньте на колени нечисть!"
Meryn's expression morphed from irritated to baffled at the queen's explanation. Magic… water? Confusion written plain on her face, she looked from the queen, to Diego, to the others gathered around as she tried to process everything. Everyone else seemed to take this information in stride. Some were already changing into their new clothes, while others were voicing their agreement to go to the magic people-eating water. Meryn had no doubt such water existed in this world – it seemed bizarre enough to fit. But everyone just seemed so… normal about it.
Her eyes were drawn once again to the nine bags resting on the ground. Three people were still left behind. People that the Alchemist had so casually thrown into this strange world filled with mystical rivers and crumbling castles. Meryn turned back to scan the roof again, hoping to see some movement from the chimney, but all was still. What if they couldn't climb? Or didn't fit? What if they'd been left to the Claws of Anarchy to fend for themselves? Worry clawed up her throat as she glanced between the people around her, memories of bloody bodies strewn around the room flashing through her mind. Looking back at the bags, she counted again. Two men and a woman.
Ignoring everyone else, Meryn balled her hands into fists at her sides and pushed past Diego. Her stride turned into a jog, and then a sprint back towards the ramp. She knew this was likely the stupidest thing she could possibly do in this situation, but what else was there? Abandon them completely? The people who'd dropped them all here didn't seem to care about them enough to give real information about why they were here – or even give them a choice.
The ramp was trickier to climb than it was to descend – especially since all the traffic from before had no doubt weakened it. But if there was one thing Meryn knew how to do, it was getting from one place to another as quickly as possible. Soon enough, she found herself back on the roof. The sounds of chaos reverberated from inside the castle (their room, especially), and uncertainty crept through her – but she grit her teeth against her fear. Going back down the chimney would take too long and she'd be dropping down into an unknown situation. And so, she began looking around the roof and castle walls for some other entry point.
Magic man-eating rivers or a fight for survival in a foreign land. It didn't take long for Ian to consider moving with the group. He was going to go with the minority, but it appears that everyone was going to follow this new Queen to certain death. He opened the bag with his name on it, he quickly looked through it and shook his head slowly. Nope, nuh uh, nadda, not happening. I am not wearing these. Ian wasn't going to waste his time if he didn't have answers and unless these ridiculous clothes gave him some amazing super powers, he was not putting them on his body. Ian looked around and examined the rest of the people that had shown up. He couldn't believe all of this people were so open minded about this stuff.
In that exact moment, Meryn, as he gathered, took off towards the castle that was in ruins. Ian didn't think much about it until she began running up the ramp. He looked back to spot three bags, completely untouched. He quickly got up and took off after Meryn. She was going to go on a suicide mission. There was no doubt in Ian's mind that those Claws of Anarchy had already torn down the door and started to seize all live souls who failed to escape. While Meryn went up the ramp with some ease, Ian didn't. He struggled a tad more than she did. When he got to the roof, he noticed the echos of the commotion from within the room bouncing off of the chimney's walls. "Meryn, what are you doing?" Ian spoke quickly, whenever he spoke quickly, it was hard to understand him because of his thick brogue.
Zenia gave a knowing sigh, she had really doubted the Russian would give up so easily and his words proved it. Come on though, Kneel Evil? That was pushing it a little in her opinion, though there was always the chance she was horrendously mistranslating. Given that she stood no chance in a fight what so ever, maybe she could land a kick or two but if her asthma acted up she was done, Zenia opted to jump over the fancy sofa and hope the russian won. After all she couldn't do much one way or the other. It was a shame really, she didn't think there was any way this could turn out well, and she had so wanted to learn more about these 'crystal rivers'. Being captured probably wouldn't even have been that bad honestly. Oh well, all she could do was hide and hope for the best.
"Suicide..." Habb said, almost whispering, as the two dashed up the ramp.
Habb had totally forgotten about the people inside, and when his new acquaintances dashed up the ramp to help them he found it brave, noble, but also perilous. They could have all been dead, slaughtered by the soldiers inside, and lying with the corpses he woke up on. Having been in the army he'd heard a lot of stories about such brave men and women who sacrificed their lives to save their friends, and even comrades whose names they didn't even know. He had never been in a situation where he had to do the same, or when he was the one being saved, but they had all pledged their lives and sworn to protect everyone who fought on the same side as them. Had he forgotten his vows when he deserted? Had he relieved himself of his duty? There was a conflict in him: soldier vs thief. He was obviously trying to convince himself it was a suicide mission, just to forget who he once was. But why now?! he thought. In his thief career he'd never had problems letting people jump in the fire until now. Ah, shit! I am so going to regret this
"Does anyone have a spare weapon?" he said. "We should go around too and see what we can do in the front to help those guys inside!"
Luckily, surprise was on Nickolai's side. Clearly, a mixture of Zenia's reassurance and the unusual circumstances had made an attack seem fairly unlikely. The bear headed man's head snapped back as the bullet punctured his skull, and he collapsed in a heap onto the ground. This made it easy for Zenia to see that this was no fake mask.
"A shaman!?!" one of the men shouts, although it sounded like he was shouting it to someone that wasn't in the room. Quickly, the other men surge forward. One of them charges towards James, who makes a hasty retreat to the corner of the room, where he is pinned against the wall by a swordsman. Four of the other men quickly rush towards Nickolai with their swords raised in the air, giving him only enough time to perhaps fire one more shot before they are close enough to swing at him.
But the green skinned creature doesn't move, and seems to be more confused and he remains glued to the floor. Suddenly, a look of shock crosses his face. "Leh...Отец...leh?" he says in a strange Russian-like slur, his eyes widening. "Leh...Вы не один из двадцати шести братьев... Leh. Leh... Конечно, вы отец Leh.Leh Но ... они мертвы ... leh."
"What are you doing orc! Seize the shaman's tool! For the glory of the Claws of-" his sentence is cut off, as is his head. The orc had easily decapitated the man mid sentence, leaving the others temporarily dumbstruck.
"Leh! Для славы отцов старших! Leh! Для двенадцатом сына! Leh! Для славы оживших огров! Leh! Это не человек, дураки! Это бог!"
*****
Diego reaches into a scabbard and pulls out a chipped sword that he throws to Habb. "This will have to do for now, at least until we get to the Guardians," he says, as he pulls out a blade of his own. However, as the two begin to make their way towards the castle, the forest erupts with a chorus of howling. Suddenly, two dozen wolves large wolves fly out of the woods- literally. The wolves flap low to the ground with large white wings. For a moment, Diego freezes in horror, but then quickly recovers as they fly overhead. "Ah, um... they're just a scavengers. I think. To eat the fallen guards..." he looks at the wolves for a moment, but then his eyes light up. "Habb, see if we can't grab a few of those and ride up to the window. I doubt Nickolai will fit into that chimney."
Jacque shook his head slowly after Habb's request for a weapon and proposition to assist those that were still inside the building he and the others had fled, "I wouldn't recommend going back in there. I admit that it'd be wrong to leave them to whatever fate might be waiting for them, but we don't know how many enemies are in there, nor how well equipped they are to kill whatever happens to be in their way. For that matter-". The following words died in Jacque's throat, he completely forgot the point he was trying to make as a very large pack of wolves flitted out from the forest. Jacque was no stranger to wolves, he'd hunted them, been hunted by them, and even seen a few tribes use them like hunting dogs, under normal circumstances he would have simply found it odd that the pack was so large and either chalked it up as there being plentiful prey or that the pack had yet to splinter. These were not normal circumstances; the wolves had goddamn wings. No amount of strange shit Jacque had seen in his life had prepared him for the sight of wolves with wings.
The corner of the forest dweller's mouth twitched as he tried to find an appropriate response, what came out was a resounding "WHAT THE FUCK!?". The outburst was sudden and Jacque's voice as booming as it was bewildered. He reached up and somewhat cartoonishly rubbed his eyes before he did a double take. The presence of the creatures was shocking enough, what made things worse, was Diego's request that Habb captured one of the beasts. Jacque's face paled a bit as he turned to look at Diego with an incredulous expression, "How, pray tell, are you expecting those things to be captured? Wait a moment, forget that question. A better one would be: What makes you think that a pack of wolves will not only not tear anyone that comes near them apart, but would willingly allow themselves to be ridden?".
jacque's three-word-commentary and reaction to the bizarre scene perfectly summed up Habb's feelings. It took him a couple of minutes of staring at the flying pack of... whatever the ridiculous wolfish creatures were to finally collect himself and start thinking. Instinctively, his first idea was to simply slay them all somehow; but Diego's idea seemed much more productive. The beasts flew through the air, making circles around and howling at them. They are massive! Habb thought, ducking to avoid being decapitated by one of them.
"Say, have you any experience with hunting or studying actual wolves?! Those that, you know, don't fly!" Habb asked Jacque, waving his sword above his head to repel the descending animals. "What is the best way to distract them if you see 'em in the wilderness? Maybe I can come up with something, using my magician's tricks, but I'll need them occupied for a while!"
Zenia glanced over the couch at the sound of someone not the russian speaking russian. To her surprise it was the large orc like creature. He was spouting something about gods, sons, and fathers. Not that it really mattered since it seemed he was on their side. She ducked back under the couch listening for the sound of the solders coming closer, though she doubted they would get through the russian and his friend. Perhaps they would get out of this alive after all, how very fortunate.
"As much as I would love to ride a flying wolf in to battle," Jason began, "can we really be sure that we'll be able to control them. You don't happen to have some magic potion or something that would make them more likely to cooperate, do you Diego?" Jason had really hoped they could get to the river and get their magic before more trouble arose, but of course that wasn't the case. That would have been too convenient, in all honesty Jason probably would have left the others behind. He hasn't made a connection with them yet, he barely knew their names. But everyone else seemed intent on going back to help, and he wasn't about to just go off on his own.
Nikolai jumped forward as the four men sprung toward him, diving in a tackling motion to take out the first man and cause the next three to be too tangled up to make a move. He pointed at the now headless man, and perhaps unnecessarily, belted out with another insult of suitably epic proportions. "Váš otec byl orangutan a tvoje matka tráví své dny se proti zdi s horníky!" His remark stated, the massive russian began to beat the downed man underneath him with the butt of his pistol, grunting with exertion as he put all his weight behind each strike.
Jacque uneasily stood in silence as he realized that Habb was actually considering going through with everything. It was madness, pure and simple, every fiber of Jacque's being told him to withhold information, to lie to Habb that the wolves would not be distracted, and most importantly, to tell him what would happen if he messed up. He frowned deeply before relenting under a combination of Habb's gaze and a sliver of hope that the stragglers inside of the castle were still in one piece. The forest man licked his dry lips and swallowed, "Wolves are opportunistic hunters, generally going for the easiest meal they can get. They operate by staking out a group, normally they try to single out the sickly, the injured, the old, and the extremely young, though if no such targets exist then they'll simply go for whichever prey animal strays far from the group. Now after they single out a target, the wolves will rush in to cause the group to break apart, moving in what appears to be an erratic pattern to keep their prey from banding together. From there they separate the target and corner it to go in for the kill." he stated lowly. "In case be wondering why i'm mentioning all of this, as it stands we're the only group of potential prey here. So unless you've got a parlor trick that can conjure up the illusion of a gimped deer, one of us is going to have to play bait." There was a fair bit of grimness in Jacque's voice, but also an extremely subtle hint of what may have possibly been resignation.
Now instead of telling him to shut up for Habb's sake, Jacque's subconscious was raising almighty cain at the internal debate taking place. He was split down the middle by morality and self preservation instincts, a rather brief but intense battle the outcome of which quickly became evident by the grimace on Jacque's face. "Bait thats probably going to have to be me." he stated in a shaky voice. Running from wolves was never fun nor was it easy, and Jacque could count on his fingers how many times he'd nearly died in the process of doing so. Flying wolves took that difficulty to a whole new level. Still, from the looks of the group he got the feeling that he was the only one that had actually done so before.
