Carantathraiel

Wanderers

Ysaryn only clicked her tongue. "People learn." The elf insisted. "Chieftess, too. You Emp-eress learn, and you are to learn that this is different." Ysaryn gestured broadly. "This is happening many places. Magic blossom. We know is not you fault, to lose grasp of control." She shifted her weight again, lowering her blade to appear less threatening. "The Lyta girl, she is to spend time with others like her. Like you and me. To learn how to control it. To make sure no harm comes of her. Or of you. If you are not harmful before magic, I see no reason to fear that you will be harmful now."
Her wolfish smile returned as she sheathed the second blade, placing her hands on her hips. "I am danger long before magic. Is the way of my people. But I still know not to harm people who do not deserve. You not deserve harm. Well, maybe a slap on wrist, but no blades."

Following the woman back to Narda and Daryll, Ysaryn peered around as the spell wore off, watching the other villagers wake and try to make sense of it. She wondered, as Narda grumbled her orders to the woman, if the magic could be controlled to target specific persons. A handy tool it would be in a fight, though grossly unfair. Silent for a moment, she considered the ramifications that would follow magic abilities such as these, randomly spawning in civilians. Kire had already anticipated such a reaction in the power hungry, no doubt, but Ysaryn made a note to remind her, either way.

Once inside the mayor's home, Holly, she learned the name, admitted to her husband that they were caught. As she confessed that it happened more often the more anxious she felt, Ysaryn glanced at Daryll, sure he noticed the connection. It wasn't until Holly mentioned Lyta that Ysaryn hissed, glad Daryll answered before her. Glowering, though deciding not to chime in with her own, far less polite response, Ysaryn kept quiet, watching Daryll and Narda. "We are to leave her here?" Ysaryn asked. "The waking messengers, they will not cause harm? Should we to bring Wyvern soldier here to protect?" Her fuchsia eyes darted to Holly for a moment. She understood the woman's fear of being singled out. Even if Narda echoed her own reassurance that she wouldn't be, leaving the pair in the center of a city freshly released from a spell seemed cruel.

When the matter was decided on, Ysaryn returned them to the edge of the forest. Leaving Narda and the others to relay their news to the empress, Ysaryn wandered over toward Ruli, who was using his finger to mark the dirt. Runes. Ysaryn tilted her head, her limited knowledge of the symbols preventing her from understand. Practice, perhaps. Or problem solving.

"More than the Lyta girl in Daryll's vision have magic." Ysaryn said.
Ruli only grunted.
"They will need help to understand it. Like Envy helped me. He would not want for you to let these people suffer, Rulitus."
He turned his head to glare at her, his bright eyes narrowed. But whatever was on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed, and looked away again. "Envy first. The others will live."
It was Ysaryn's turn to frown at him, exhaling through her nostrils before she turned and wandered back toward the others.

Wanderers

Ysaryn took in the strangeness before her. It was getting worse. Aside from her own two companions who grew drowsy and barely coherent, the guards and locals were glassy-eyed. Lost in their own other-worldly dreams. "No." She said, agreeing with Daryll. It was not Lyta. Somehow, it hadn't effected Lyta and her family within the confines of their own home. The girl was so sleep deprived she looked like one of the strange nocturnal creatures who harassed chickens in the night.
Magic sensed magic. The source of this must be weaker than Lyta's own power. Her terror would have drowned out the desire for sleep.

So why hadn't it effected her mother and step-father?
About to insist that they go and seek the married pair to question about their own suspected powers, the gasp behind them made Ysaryn turn. Her fuchsia eyes narrowed as the figure ran. Never mind them, then.
On Narda's instruction, Ysaryn took off in a paced run, drawing her blades as she tore around the corner and after the mayor's wife.

Only to find the chase disappointingly anticlimactic. The woman turned around and raised her hands, kneeling before Ysaryn as the elf approached. Keeping her blades drawn, Ysaryn tilted her head and grinned, flashing her sharp canines. The fear on this one. She could smell it earlier in their home over tea, and had assumed it to be a reaction to Narda's and her own appearance. Now she knew better.

The woman wouldn't stop talking. So much she offered, and so freely, that Ysaryn sheathed one of her two blades and set her hand on her hip impatiently. Spineless woman. Such cowardly acts in her tribe would result in an ended life far too quickly. "You have a mistake in you assumption, woman." Ysaryn spat down at the kneeling woman. "It is not those who have magic the Crown dislikes. Gem-en-ai are cruel bastards who torture and bleed for their own profit. That is why they are hunted and sentenced. People like me," She gestured to herself, raising her chin. "offer services to you chieftess. Guidance. We are not seen as enemy. The girl, Lyta? She will be helped. Taught. As would have you. Maybe still, if you put an end to the sleep and confess you fears. Emp-eress is hard as blade, as we all must be as chieftess, but she is also understanding."
Ysaryn shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her eyes wandering down the length of her still-drawn blade. "You are to come to the Lady Narda. Put end to you sleep magic. Confess. Yes? Or, no. And we will see how understanding Crown is when foreign chieftess makes target practice of sniveling house wife." A flash of her wolfish grin, and Ysaryn stepped back to invite the woman to walk back toward the others.

ℭαrα's Uniquely Titled Art Gαllery

Ysona Wolf-Blood

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Wanderers

Ysaryn was still quiet, her eyes focused on the ground as her mind churned her thoughts. Absently, she chewed on the inside of her lip, only looking up when someone mentioned her name. Her fuchsia eyes landed on Narda, who seemed to be speaking about the Lyta girl. Immediately after, Kire looked her way and asked about the Gods. Ysaryn blanked, blinking at her.
"I can take you to the priests." She offered, reminding Kire that she was to speak with them in Úvano. "They will know. As for others, the Moon God, perhaps the Raielwen will know?" She offered thoughtfully.
Here, though. She wasn't sure who would know about the Gods on this side. Perhaps she could question Ed. Warriors often found purpose or solace in deities.

Ysaryn cautiously followed as they approached Ruli, who knelt in the soil near the edge of the forest. He stared ahead, frozen, as if trying to listen. Or, perhaps, to see through the invisible fog to find his foster father. As he heard them approach, he blinked, turning his head slightly to listen.
As they explained their thoughts, and Kire's rather short but enormous list of requests, Ruli shook his head. "Tracking him is far fetched." Ruli said. "We would need something with his signature. Something strong. He isn't connected to anything." Each word he said made him feel more and more helpless. "A lock of hair. A drop of blood." They had access to nothing that would help them.
"What of pillow?" Ysaryn asked. "Long hair slips onto pillow and bed in sleep."
Ruli's shoulders shrugged, as if to say they were free to look. Ysaryn glanced at Kire, her expression promising to go back to Úvano shortly and hunt.

As he was asked about blocking them from the Goddess's sight, he again shook his head. "Hiding magic from magic users is one thing. Hiding three figures from an deity is another. Especially since we don't know the extent of her power here. Even if you were invisible in the woods, she could use the husks to watch you."
"Husk?" Ysaryn questioned the word.
Ruli gestured to the villagers Solaralai was using to protect her stolen earth. "I would offer to just make you invisible, but, magic senses magic."

Turning his head, his pale gaze landed on Kire. "What did you see when you went in there? Minutes ago?" He frowned as she retold the scene, shaking his head before looking away again. Nothing useful.
Ysaryn stuck out her jaw, watching him. "Good for nothing pain in the arse, you are." She grumbled at him. "You think on it. Yes? We're going to investigate something. When we come back, so help me if you don't have anything to offer I'm tossing your stupid little plant in the ocean, and you with it."

Huffing, she turned around and faced the others. "Who is going to sleeping town?" The elf demanded, holding out her hand.

Once there, she released their hands and folded her arms, visibly annoyed. Her eyes were dark as she surveyed what was before them.

Wanderers

A Wyvern. Lyta stared, then looked away, trying not to be rude. Even when Elva came to sit closer to her, Lyta only glanced her way for a few seconds. And then she revealed that the man who had given Lyta funny looks was also a Wyvern. And he'd offered his kerchief! Lyta realized, feeling guilty for having ignored him. The idea of smacking him upside the head was far from Lyta's mind, and then even further when the soup was brought in and the aroma of it embraced Lyta.

This time, her stomach really did growl audibly. Embarrassed, Lyta tucked her arms around her middle, eyeing the food longingly. Elva continued to speak, and Lyta didn't dare reach for the tantalizing meal, listening to the kind words she spoke. However, the moment she invited Lyta to help herself, Lyta went to eat, slowly putting a spoonful to her mouth, than another, until, once she realized it wouldn't be taken away, she hurried through it, clearing half the bowl before she looked up.
"Are you going to make it go away?" Lyta asked, her stomach so warm and full of the thick soup that she felt the heaviness of it creep through her limbs. "The magic?" Not her magic. She'd never asked for this.

"I hurt my mom." Lyta admitted, explaining why she didn't want it. Not that she felt that was necessary. Who wouldn't want this curse gone? Her eyes welled with fresh tears, now that she had the energy to produce them. "I didn't mean to. And I don't want to hurt anyone else!"

Elva's kind reassurances, even if a little on the firm and wise side, soothed Lyta only a little. Lyta tried to stifle her tears, but as she drank the cocoa at last, and ate a little more of the soup, her exhaustion hammered her down to a blathering mess until she curled on her side and fell fast asleep, her raggedy stuffie cradled against her chest.

---

Ysaryn's eyes roamed the camp, noticing the new numbers, as well as the strange, vacant look in their faces. As Kire approached, Ysaryn froze, hearing that Envy had gone missing. Her fuchsia eyes zeroed in on Kire, studying her troubled expression as the empress explained. That Envy had just vanished inside the forest. No trace. Ysaryn raised her head and sniffed, trying to catch any scent of the Kartaian in the air.
Nothing.
She ignored the portion about Gavin's vision, shifting again when she heard that Ruli was insisting on remaining in the forest, to wait. Or mourn.

"Ransom?" Ysaryn repeated the word, looking between Kire and Narda. Her mind sounds into action, trying to sort out Kire's question. Why Envy? Why not Ruli, whom she'd already appeared to? Had she always wanted Envy? And what if Envy didn't come back?

For minutes, as Daryll explained their own slight victory in finding the young woman, Ysaryn was still, silent, thinking.
"No one returns to Úvano." She said at last. "Ruli to stay. You." She gestured to Kire. "You go through, not say anything, yes?" Ysaryn said, looking thoughtful. "No one to know until," she glanced toward the forest, to where Ruli waited. "just, not yet."

Wanderers

She calmed, watching the healers like a hawk as they set the small gash in her foot. After cleaning it in what was, thankfully, a painless way, they applied salve and wrapped her heel, leaving her alone. As Elva approached and explained more, Lyta hoped her stomach didn't audibly growl at the promise of soup. She swallowed, glancing around the room. "We're in the North?" She asked, twisting to look at the nearest window. She'd never seen snow before. Barely, through the thick panes, she could she the white world beyond.
North! Lyta inhaled, looking around the room again. Sure enough, her clothes were thinner than most of the items worn by the residents. Aside from Ysaryn and the other two.

Lyta's dark gaze fell over them for a time, from the male who kept looking at her oddly, to the unusually tall woman, and the ... other one. "What is she?" She asked quietly.

Hearing the question from Lyta, Ysaryn grinned without turning around. "We let her decide. I think she has had too few deciding, lately." She said to Narda. "I will take both to Kirai, then, and then we'll continue on to Lyta village. Perhaps we take along Envy or Gavin to assist." She offered, figuring Ruli would not leave his bedmate's side.

After a pause, hearing Elva answer Lyta's question and Lyta's stunned response ( "A real elf? Like in the stories?" ) "Wench will give confidence, yes. I hope she chooses this." Ysaryn turned back toward Lyta, amused at the look Lyta now gave her. "We are to leave you here. You rest, yes? And when you're ready, you decide where to go?"
Lyta nodded, slouched against the raised back of the bed like she was having trouble sitting upright; finally comfortable and relaxing. "You'll come back?"
"As often as able." Ysaryn promised. "You in good hands. That one." She pointed to Elva. "She will fight off anything scary with a look. Wyvern eye." Ysaryn gestured to her eye and winked.
Lyta's head shot around to Elva. Wyvern? As in ...?

Ysaryn turned back around, gesturing to the other two to take her hands. "Come. We will go. Back to chieftess."
And a moment later, they were standing in the camp. The shift in temperature bothered Ysaryn more than anything else. Loosing Daryll and Narda's hands, she turned in place, looking around for the others.

Wanderers

Ysaryn kept smiling at Lyta, who seemed to calm at the idea of food. The elf wondered if she had refused food, or had been refused it. A weaker daughter is a more compliant one. Its what they did in the underground system in which she'd been captive. So many of them had been weak.

"What is?" She asked, pointing to the thing Lyta clung to. Her brown eyes went down, her arms shifting so she could peer at its little face.
"M-my dad," Lyta whispered. "he m-made it for me."
Ysaryn only nodded. "Is important, then." She hoped. Again, sentimental items were lost on her.
"What ... uh." Lyta began, looking nervously about the hall.
"Yes?"
"N-nothing." Lyta withdrew again. Ysaryn grinned and straightened, just as the attendants arrived.

"She's skittish." Ysaryn mentioned in elvish, before recalling there was no one here to understand her. She grunted, even as Elva approached and introduced herself.
Sure enough, the idea of having to pick between the infirmary and her own room seemed to pin Lyta into the corner, so the dark haired girl looked infinitely relieved when Elva made the choice for her. "Okay." She said quietly, though she tensed again when the attendants moved forward to help her.
"Aye. I will go find Kir-"
Lyta's sudden strong grip on her wrist stopped Ysaryn. The look of desperation in the girls eyes seemed achingly familiar. "-later." She finished a second later, smiling at Lyta. Her grip lessened, but the elf followed anyway. "And I return to village with you?" She asked, glancing backwards at Narda. "If sleep is still there, I cannot to leave you alone."

In the infirmary, Ysaryn sat beside Lyta's bed, close enough to give the girl some semblance of comfort as the healers circled her. They reached for her foot, and Lyta withdrew it, wide-eyed. In fact everytime the reached for her she shrank away, looking uneasy. "Lyta." Ysaryn cooed. "They are to help. Is safe."
"What if I hurt them?" Lyta asked, tucking her legs to her chest, her feet out of view.
"Only breathe." Ysaryn said. "They treat em-purris." That word sounded too foreign on her tongue. "They have been flung. Swore at. Treated far worse than cut on foot. Yes?" Ysaryn turned her gaze to the nearest apprentice, who nodded with a kind smile. "Only breathe." Ysaryn repeated, looking back to Lyta.

Hesitantly, she extended her leg, offering her left foot, though her hands were drawn uneasily around her face. Even the hot chocolate offered by Elva didn't seem to relax her. Nor did the idea of speaking about herself. As Elva asked about her family, Lyta looked her way, seemingly at a loss for how to answer. "Uh." She stammered, thinking. "My da-er, father. It died with him." Lyta answered, glancing down at the strange stuff-less animal pinned between her stomach and knees. "I don't know ... about relati-ow!" Lyta gasped, drawing her foot back against herself. The instruments on the table shook, a tense silence fell over the group.
"Lyta?" Ysaryn said calmly, watching the girl.
With her hands over her ears, Lyta breathed as instructed, her eyes closed. "I'm sorry." She insisted, curling herself into a ball.
"You are safe. Remind you self of that." Ysaryn said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the bed. "You know I was almost sold. Like you?"
Lyta turned her head to glance at her. "You were?" The instruments ceased their rattling.
"Yes." Ysaryn nodded. "I was captured. In a cell. Starved. Hurt by men." Lyta didn't notice that Ysaryn had gripped her ankle and extended her leg toward the healer again. "Days. Hurt. They cut into my belly, tried to place a curse in my skin. Only I am saved."
"By who?"
"By friend." Ysaryn grinned. "He loosened ties and let me escape. I ran until I find friends. Taken home and now, I will never be taken again." She reached out, settling her hand over Lyta's, her own dark skin eclipsing Lyta's. "You are saved. We are friends. You trust us, yes?"
Lyta's eyes scanned the faces in the room, then on her foot, which was still being tended to, and nearly finished. "Yes." She breathed, inhaling. "But what if i-"
"You will not hurt us." Ysaryn said. "You hurt when scared, this is true? Then tell them when you are scared. Nothing will happen. Not until you are not scared."

Lyta was, at least, quiet for the duration of her check up, the healers explaining each task before and during the action so Lyta was prepared. Ysaryn, confident she was collected, left the bedside to stand near Narda and Daryll, eyeing the male. At least he wasn't ogling her anymore. "I can leave to see Kirai, and then swing by town. At least inform you if sleep still present. Where am I taking you?" She asked to Daryll suddenly, firmly hinting that she would not be leaving him here.

Wanderers

As he spoke about the empress, Lyta looked back to Daryll, suddenly wondering if he could read her mind. Or, as her mother often said, her face was that see-through. Her arm tightened around the thing she held, and when it shifted, Ysaryn caught a glance of an embroidered eye, and realized what it was. A stuffed animal. Possibly elk, with the small antlers it bore, its body little more than a scrap of blanket. It looked old, but well cared for. In a room where her uncontrolled magic had destroyed everything, somehow, this trinket was spared.

"Hm?" Ysaryn turned her head when Narda looked out the window. She stiffened when she saw that everyone had lay down, relieved when she sawa they still breathed.
When Daryll glanced at her thoughtfully, Lyta retreated, her brow knitting. "I'm sorry!" She whined, and a few ceramic pieces on the floor rolled over.
Hearing the sound, Ysaryn turned her head, looking the girl over again. "Lyta, deep air in lungs." She instructed, inhaling to coach. Lyta took a deep breath, hugging her doll. "We do not think you do on purpose. If at all." She passed a smile as Narda left, and the elf followed just to stand in the doorway, wall aware of the awed looked Daryll kept giving the girl. She would feel uneasy, after hearing your parents tried to sell her to some horrible house of pleasure, so she decided not to leave Lyta alone with the male.

"I take all?" Ysaryn asked, tilting her head. "You both seem awake inside here. Can it not reach? Or is Lyta protecting you?" She glanced at the perplexed Lyta again, and winked. Still, taking only Lyta and Daryll to whereever they wanted, then to leave the girl alone with Daryll, who still ogled, didn't sound wise. "Where we go? To Kirai? Tower?" She wondered, approaching Lyta again.
"My magic?" She said, standing before the girl. "I can take people with. You. Like fast travel." The elf grinned, noting the way Lyta's eyes flit to her teeth. "Is cold, an a little ... uh, what is word. Head spin?" Ysaryn drew her fingers in small circles. "But is safe. Just breathe, yes?"

After a bit of deliberation with Narda and Daryll, Ysaryn offered Lyta her hand, insisting that Daryll hold Narda's and not Lyta's. After a bit more coaching to the visibly uneasy girl, they were gone.
Seconds later, they reappeared in Elva's entryway.
Lyta wobbled, and Ysaryn released Narda to help her, muttering to her in elvish to calm her down while the other two went to fetch the mistress of the manor.
"We are here to see Elva." Ysaryn explained. "Elva is healer. Medicine. She will look at you foot, and make sure you are not hurt. And feed you, too. Food here is very good."

Lyta only nodded, pale and speechless, her eyes wide as she took in the new surroundings. (Completely new. Had they not been standing in her bedroom?) She held the thing in her arms closely, finding some level of comfort in it. Being the unsentimental type, Ysaryn didn't understand, but so long as it kept Lyta from flinging dishware, she could do as she pleased for now.

Wanderers

Lyta's eyes followed the kerchief as Daryll set it down and retreated, listening to his offer. She could go anywhere. Anywhere she wanted. Even if the idea terrified her, the choice was there. She had no idea how to live on her own. And really no idea how to live while being some freak who sent things flying.
But she wasn't the only one. Were they gathering all the others? Collecting them? Her brown eyes went from face to face, her brows knit together in horrified concern. Their faces seemed genuine. But that simply meant they were far better at hiding lies than her mother and step-father.

"Lyta!" Speaking of whom, her mother called from downstairs. The pink-haired woman turned her head, her eyes pointing in that direction. "You're staying! You're not going with them!"
"Why, because you not get money for her?" The pink-haired woman shouted back.
"How dare you!" Her step-father snarled.
"Women not for sale!" Her teeth were bared, revealing sharp canines, like cat.
What is she? Lyta wondered.
As her parents muttered and grumbled, the pink-haired one slipped out of the room, standing at the landing to argue with them. Lyta's gaze went to the tall woman, then the man, who had yet to stop staring at her.

"Okay." Lyta said quietly. Somehow hearing her answer, the sharp-toothed one reappeared at the door, glancing at her. "O-Okay, I'll go with you. If you promise," She repeated with emphasis towards Daryll. No lies.
"Do you have to pack?" The strange woman asked, and Lyta looked around her broken room.
I did all this. Lyta remembered. Not really having forgotten, simply in fear. If they put her in front of the Empress, what would happen?
They're going to help you. Lyta inhaled, sighing. They're going to help you control it.

Slowly, she stood up, leaving the kerchief on the ground, Sideways, she moved towards the bed, her limp slight as she dug into the mattress, a tear long ago made so she could hide things rom her parents. What she withdrew was a ragged ... even Ysaryn wasn't sure. It looked similar to a woolen knit sock, though on each end were two thin brown hangings, and at the top something bulbous. She tucked it against herself protectively, then nodded, still looking incredibly pale at the idea.

ℭαrα's Uniquely Titled Art Gαllery

Fantastic artwork!

@Stormflyx

Thank you sincerely!

Hello stranger,

Saw a response to this on the front page so I took a look and wow. Really cool artwork.

Someone on I believe the second page mentioned how cool it was to see you get better as time goes on, and as someone who just saw the stuff you've posted here for the first time all at once I just want to second that. You were good on the first page (Sindri in the OP, the Snow Lady with the Staff, and the Antlers lady) and you got a good bit better as time went on. Those last two. Yes.

The sort of Barbariany lady with muscles and sword. I really like the detail in the little hair decorations and the armors and the shading all around. The last one, with all that great shading and the gradients in the clothing and her eyes and the feather earring and that decorative thing in her hair with the bone thing on it and the embroidery on the cloak and the wings.

I live Tijoon and Tsaruna too. Excellent work. Cheers and Happy New Year!

@BangoSkank

And thank you! As I said to the person who made the initial comment, these are horribly out of order. I randomly picked and chose which ones to bring from the old guild, or from my folders. So they don't really get better or worse, sometimes they are just better or worse, hahaha. But i'm glad to find they're pleasing to look at. I enjoy doing them, and love role playing because of the inspiration it gives me. Almost every one of these was inspired by a story or a partner.
Thank you so much for taking the time to look through them and appreciate them! It means alot!