Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 23: Rest and Resolve

[Phoenix]

(Too imposing for a title)

???: Not for you ... you will remain here.

As if to indicate the other figure, the flames on the alter began to bend and stretch aiming at them. The fire emblem itself floated eerily above the alter and moments later it busrt into flame.

???: The distance is ever increasing. My patience is nearing its end. Go west. Find those that have gone astray. Let nothing stand in your path ... bring them back into unity. You will then return.

Edited January 23, 2011 by Phoenix

[Inactive Account]

"So I'm to cover the rest," the taller one muttered. She shrugged. "Anything else for me?"

"I understand," the smaller said simply. Its voice was genderless and flat, and revealed none of the disappointment that was there. "And if I return successfully--" It broke off, merely implying hope for a reward.

[Phoenix]

(Imposing, no title, etc)

???: No. The time has not yet come.

The fires then bent themselves in the direction of the smaller.

???: You would dare make a request of me for one deed? A deed necessitated by the failures of your brethren no less? Do as I command; your continued existence is your reward. Your condition, is an issue for another time.

[Inactive Account]

"As you wish." The smaller turned and climbed the steps of the amphitheater again, heading down one of the dark passages that led into the room, breaking into a tireless, preternaturally fast run once it was out of sight. The tall woman watched as her comrade left, then turned and exited down a different passage, one that led straight out into the heat and light of day.

A network of tunnels spanned a great deal of the continent. They were thickest under what the humans called Elyisima, but branches spread further, growing tighter and sparser. The mice and bats and snakes were content to roam here, but the longer-lived ground-dwellers, the bears and the oldest of badgers would not go there. In many places they were impassable to humans, too tight or full of tainted air.

None of this concerned the small figure as it sped along its tunnel. It moved as a shadow on the floor, and its presence sent the animals fleeing in terror; even aboveground, creatures fled as they sensed the shadow passing below them.

[-Cynthia-]

Tristan scratched his head at Viveka's statement. "Who is this Ixion guy anyway? Csn he just talk through you, or does he see through you or what? Either way, it's pretty creepy." he said, tilting his head in Viveka's direction.

Edited January 23, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Balcerzak]

"No, you definitely have been, Sis. I'm not imagining things," Tessa stood her ground. "When we were about to enter Altenau, you made sure to give advance warning that there might be... corrupted... that would need to be dealt with, and specifically warned 'those of you who might be more delicate', or something like that. It really felt like you were, you know, looking out for me?" She gave a bit of a smile, and hugged the shaman in thanks.

"As far as the apology, though... missing the fight wasn't quite what I had meant for that. But... now that you bring it up, I really am sorry for that. You'd given me the wyrmslayer special for this confrontation, yet I wasn't able to actually contribute at all..."

Sighing slightly, she directed the conversation where she'd originally intended it. "No... I'd meant to apologize for something else. You remember one of our earlier talks, where you told me that I should strive not to let my emotions rule me, right? Well, I don't know if you know exactly what happened... at the end of the templar fight, you were sort of indisposed... anyway, I sort of lost it. Like, really badly. So, I didn't manage to do so well there, and maybe I need more help? How do you always manage to be so... cool and collected about such things. When I murdered her... it was..." Tessa shuddered again, as she recalled Althea's fate. "She really wasn't a bad person, just... doing the wrong things. And then, I couldn't..."

OOC: Helios later. Juggling a few other things, posting something for now.

Edited January 23, 2011 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

Disturbed Pegasus Knights

Viveka: Ixion's ... someone the Zaftrans know I guess. He's some kind of druid. I don't know how he's doing this but it's going to stop. I'm not some druid's little spyglass. (Hmm. Can Morgan get rid of this link? I'd better ask her about that sometime soon. I also need to see if Jasmine's been effected. He could have attached one to her just as easily as he attached one to me.) ... come to think of it ... Damian's probably linked by now too. Whatever. Not my problem.

Out Training

"Here goes nothing." Iso said before climbing up into Francis' saddle. Once they reached the edge of Worthington an empty field came into view a short ways from the main road. Iso couldn't help but smirk a bit at the perfect setting. He quickly hopped down from Francis. Realizing he still had the reins in his hands he wondered what to do with them.

"You're going to stay put, right?" he asked the horse directly. There's no place I can tie him so ... I guess I kind of have to let him wander around or graze or something. And why am I talking to this horse?

"The command is 'tie' but I don't know that he's trained to," Kelas commented, dismounting. "Doubt he'll go too far, though, just let him graze. Oh, take the bridle off, otherwise it'll get grass all stuck in the bit." She exchange her horse's bridle for a halter again. "So. Target practice I guess?"

"Okay, one sec." he said before taking off the bridle on Francis. "Halter, halter, halter." he muttered while looking through the saddlebags for said item. Once he found it he placed it on Francis and patted the horse gently on the head.

"Okay, be good now." he said smiling before quickly frowning at the fact that he'd again spoken to an animal that likely didn't understand a single word he said. Shaking his head he turned back to Kelas.

"Yeah target practice ... err ..." he paused. Looking at a nearby tree he started scratching the back of his head with a sigh. "I don't want to start a fire, not even a small one. Well I do have another method I could use that wouldn't ignite anything I guess. I've got my mother to thank for that." I'm not sure if I'm skilled enough to do it yet though.

"I guess you do... whatever it is, then," Kelas replied. "Not sure there's really a good way to mix magic with weapons... we should probably have thought a bit more about this beforehand. Ah well, I can still get some target practice, I guess." She affixed a scrap of fabric to a nearby tree with one of her boot knives to serve as a target, then backed up to shoot. "Stay clear," she warned, stretching, stringing her bow, and beginning to put a neat cluster of arrows in the middle of the scrap.

Once Kelas began shooting, Iso began to think on what she'd just said. Well I guess that's true, but that's just us not being innovative. I mean there's plenty we could do if we're creative, right? Distraction resistance, skeet shooting, or maybe coordination tactics. I guess either way I should get warmed up first.

He quickly summoned Proxima and used his free hand to form the spell he was casting. Within a few seconds a faint heat disturbance could be seen in the air stretching for nearly fifty feet out in front of the fire sage. Okay I need to be very careful here. Dual casting is nothing to muck around with.

He began fanning his arm in circles causing the mass of heat to spin into a hollow cylinder shape that soon turned into visible crimson flames. The faster he fanned his arm, the faster the cylinder of fire span. Once he was satisfied with its rotation he took steps backward until he was about twenty-five feet away from the end of it. Stay focused. Now that you've got a lane to shoot through, maintain it, and form another spell. Ugh, it would be so much easier if they were similar spell types.

Iso quickly congered a new fire spell into his hand. "Okay ... my target is the other side of the fire tube. I just need to thread this straight through it without it hitting the walls." he said somewhat to himself and somewhat to Kelas if she was listening. He quickly chucked the fireball straight into the fire tunnel! Iso was surprised to see it fly out of the other side without disturbing the tunnel and fade away. He was pleasantly surprised however.

"I don't have a real target I guess ... but as long as I can keep the spell on an exact flight path, whatever my target ends up being, I'll hit it." he explained with a smile.

[Inactive Account]

Through the tunnels the shadow sped, faster than any mortal being could run or fly. Still, by the time it reached the tunnel through which it must exit, it was nearing nighttime. From the color of the sky ahead it could see that the sun must not have set yet. It settled down to wait.

The moment the sun dipped below the horizon, it was on the move again. The shadow stretched and condensed into its humanoid form once more. It appeared to be a short, slight youth, of indeterminate gender. Its hair was shoulder-length and dark, mostly covering a pale face and dull blue eyes. With its ragged, shapeless cloak, it still looked like one of the shadows. Animals fled as it emerged from the tunnels.

From the sun and moon, and innate sense of where its targets were, the creature found its next direction. It headed up a rise, to see that there was an obstacle: a pair of military groups were facing off in the town below. It would have to go through them. Well, it was quite capable.

It sat down in the shadows, waiting for midnight. Waiting, always waiting; it went into a sort of daze until the tiny dying sliver of moon was directly overhead.

The shadow crept down towards the town. The first camp had guards: wise, but useless. Shadows, more than such a slight figure should produce in the weak torchlight, rippled out behind it. "Halt-- who goes--" one of the guards began as he spotted the youth walking calmly toward the camp. Shadows surged forward: the guard and his partner were consumed before they could scream. Horses shrilled in panic, sensing that something that should not exist was near. Calmly the figure began to walk through the camp, shadows engulfing any living being it came across.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan lightly patted Tessa on the back. Such close contact was unfamiliar and somewhat distressing, though oddly reassuring at the same time.

"People heeded the warning little, or so it would seem. Only Heinz and myself were willing to attack those under her control as long as they appeared human, even though they were the most aggressive opponents. These acts of mercy could cause our deaths in the future if we are not careful." Morgan said to Tessa. "As for the wyrmslayer, simply be prepared for the next time we meet her. Contemplating the effects of one's actions can be useful, but too much navel gazing can distract from the present and future."

"How do I manage to control my emotions? It is not the easiest of things perhaps, during our journey I have learned that many individuals lack the ability to surpress unecessary thoughts and feelings. I underwent much mental training as a child, learning to focus my mind on the task in front of me, trying to see how my actions affect all things. Often people act rashly because they do not see the greater consequences of their actions." she said, seperating herself and looking intently at Tessa.

"Let us take the situation with the templars as an example. Perhaps you decided that they were wrong and we were right and that they were willing to kill for their beliefs. Or perhaps you decided that the lives of the people in our company are worth killing for. Either way, you made the decision to kill, whatever the reason. It is for you to decide whether those reasons were sufficient justification for your actions or not. If you are able to think about the reasons why you do something, there should be no need for regret afterwards. It is true that one cannot see the end of all things, but ultimately you must learn to trust your own judgment. If you allow yourself to be plagued by doubt with every decision, you will not be able to achieve your goals."

[Balcerzak]

Charlotte was raising some really good points, Helios realized. He started to get a little excited, before he realized there was at least one flaw, though.

"The main difference, I think, between my case and Dani's is that I'd had a letter on my person, and the people who'd found me before you guys had already gone over some of that. The letter had the name on it that you called me as, so there was an outside second point of contact affirming that I was Helios. Who knows how she got the idea that she was Elle, but I think once seeded, and without something she already owns being able to upset that..." He shrugged a bit in disappointment.

"I'm just afraid it'll be an uphill struggle. And it's kind of... distressing that I'm the one that people have to rely on... that just usually isn't the case. Not anymore... Your idea about hunting down the people who sent her after us is a really good one though! I wish I'd thought of it sooner. Maybe she has other items left behind there that would help, remind her who she is. Or at the worst we can find out how it happened, even if it doesn't immediately help. But, yeah, like you said... we don't even know anything about them do we?"

~~~~

Tessa took in the comments as they came, listening carefully, and responding in turn. "Only Heinz, huh? I... can't say what would have happened if I hadn't gotten trapped away from most of you, but I may have been a disappointment as well. I almost got to wondering if I wasn't being herded away from the action... and combined with what that Tanair dragon said the first time we met her, about removing 'her sister's taint' from me... Why would Helenos possibly be paying special attention to me? It's a little unnerving, and a bit frightening. I'll be doing everything to be prepared... such a foul presence is a disgrace, after all, and there could be no qualm about fighting it, just... will it even be physically possible, I wonder."

When Morgan had moved on to discussing suppression of emotion and how from a young age she'd been trained to do so, the young healer got to some serious thinking. Listening to the shaman calmly break down and analyze the situation was... somewhat disconcerting, but on the other hand, there were results to look at. Morgan was always effective, and never stymied by fear or doubt. Though she did occasionally show too much disregard for herself, that certainly was not a unique trait among the group. Tessa spent another couple moments in thought, carefully making her decision before replying.

"I did decide that defending my friends lives was worth fighting for, but... I hadn't aimed to kill. I was hoping to subdue really, but my aim was... less than ideal. And her dying words haunted me, and then... well. I not only have to please myself, but if I stray to far from the path... what will The Lady think? If I make a mistake... I may no longer be able to heal, and then... then I'll need to..." Her throat tightened, and her voice threatened to leave her, but she wouldn't let herself be stopped, not now.

"Do you think you could do that... Train me, sometime? I know I'm not a child anymore, so maybe it won't work, or it... I don't know. But if... your mental exercises would help, then I would help, and..."

A bit of a pause, and she made sure to add one small caveat. "I can't do it this morning, as I've already promised to go spend time with Beau, and Arrin. But, if you're free... after?"

Edited January 23, 2011 by Balcerzak

[Snowy_One]

"Awww... I... a'nt meaning no arm?" said Henry, his tongue tripping wildly as he tried his best to mimic the other boys accent. "My name is Henry by the way. My mother, Kaileen, dun like animals people go rid'in. Like whyv-*cough* sorry. Wyverns and horses. She says t'ey will 'urt... How do you manage to speak like this... Ummm... What is your name anyways?"

Edited January 23, 2011 by Snowy_One

[Inactive Account]

"I'm Tobe," Tobe replied. "Why t' 'eck're you talkin' like that, anyway?" Henry didn't entirely make sense, he decided, but was still a potential partner in crime.

[Mercakete]

Beau was going to say something to the perplexing, new boy, but it seemed Tobe was distracting him for him. All the same, the mistaken identity was...confusing, to say the least. (I don't see any reason whatsoever as to why this boy would believe I would be as near those beasts for any longer or often than I have to be. Well, Tobe is taking care of this situation. This "Henry" certainly is bothersome. If he follows along, I suppose Tobe can simply keep him out of the way, though I would prefer if this village boy returns to wherever his home is.) The young heir hadn't seen Henry with them until now, so he supposed he was one of the locals who'd apparently come to see the wyverns, what with how enthused he seemed to be about them.

[-Cynthia-]

"Most of the groups that attack us seem to be after the Crimson Weapons or have some political reason. But Dani doesn't have a weapon and if the group would be targeting Jerdonian nobility you think they would go after me instead," Charlotte said, frowning. "I don't have any items of hers, but that is a good idea. Maybe Sir Derek has something, or we can find something when we return to Jerdon," she said to Helios.

"Helenos paying special attention to you is unusual, you think she would focus on the Wielders...I will think more on this later." Morgan said to Tessa, furrowing her brow.

"As for your potential issues with healing, I am afraid I can be of little up to you. Staves are certainly useful, but require a dependency on an external being who can remove your powers on a whim. You may have to alter your actions in order to appease the Goddess or risk being powerless. There are other ways to gain power, but those tend to require a lot of time to train, time you do not have."

"Mental exercises do work better with children, but anyone can benefit from them to some degree, like Damian is hopefully benefitting from his training with Ixion. I would be willing to train you at some point, assuming there are not more pressing matters to attend to." she finished.

[Ether]

"Sir! General Roartz, it's a disaster!" The scout ran into the General's quarters with a panicked expression, panting heavily.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Roartz asked, looking the man over. His face was pale, and his complexion seemed... pasty. His pupils were dilated and there was the distinct scent of fecal matter which told the General that the young scout had literally shit himself in fear.

"Some sort of shadow... moving through the campsite, devouring men where they stand!" The Sergeant yelled in terror, before fainting on the spot.

"What in the hell? Is it a demon?" Roartz stood, his voice raised in alarm. Grasping the Light brand at his side, the General stepped out of his tent, and started towards the direction of the screaming.

**************

"Well Ixion, I am going to prepare myself for your exercise. Excuse me." Damian said, moving towards the exit of the room.

[Inactive Account]

The shadow continued through the camp, keeping the form of the youth only out of familiarity. Behind it lay ruin. Everything its darkness had touched had been sliced cleanly; a few bits of soldier lay on the ground, distressingly neat, as well as slices of weapon, shield, and other things that should not be slicable. The luckier horses had managed to snap their tethers and scattered, completely mad with fear; the unlucky ones had remained with their masters in the shadow's path.

Another light appeared ahead. The youth hissed; it knew that light. If it could get the wielder, though, the light would go out before it could be harmed. It continued to walk forward calmly, sending a flat wash of shadow across the ground in front of it.

[Ether]

"A kid? Is that what is causing all of this? I am sure now... DIE DEMON!" Roartz raised the Light Brand with fervor, and shouted to the heavens, feeling magic power flowing through him.

With a sudden burst of light, the entire area was illuminated, and the wave of shadow advancing towards the General dissipated.

"For the Glory of Halton, and the departed spirits of my men, PERISH!" Focusing his mana metwork into the Light Brand as he spoke with vigor, Roartz launched several bullets of light magic towards the advancing youth.

[Inactive Account]

"You're in my way." The shadows recoiled and dissipated, leaving only the youth to dodge the dangerous lights. It leapt like a cat to the side, and as soon as its feet hit the ground again, another wave of shadow carpeted the ground, faster than before, and began to engulf the man feet first. As the shadows did their work, the youth's unflinching walk resumed.

[Ether]

As Roartz felt his feet being engulfed by the shadows, pain shot through him. It was like countless blades ripping into his flesh, tearing into it and pulling chunks off to be devoured by some sort of loathsome beast.

"INSOLENT CUR! I MAY DIE, BUT I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!" With an enraged scream, the man focused all of his strength into his blade, the Light brand glowing with the strength of the midday sun, if but for only a moment.

With a mighty swing, the collection of light was launched towards the shadowy youth at an astounding speed.

'Even if it does not hit him directly, I saw him recoil earlier... the resonance of light alone will injure that foul beast... my brave men... make use of my death... and slaughter this abomination...'

Roartz ended his thought in a smile, or the closest to one as possible. His legs now fully engulfed by shadow, and his blood pooled at where his feet once were, the proud General knew he was finished.

[Inactive Account]

The youth turned, but could not completely dodge; the light brand struck it in the shoulder. It bit back a scream as its arm disintegrated. "Tch." The shadows quickly moved to envelop the general, and then he was gone, with no trace left behind. As the figure continued its walk through the camp, the missing limb slowly but steadily began to regrow, fueled by that which the shadows had consumed.

Eventually the camp was behind it, and it walked unimpeded for a while before coming to the town. Once more the shadows unfurled, and the screaming began as anyone unlucky enough to be out in the street the demon chose for its path was seized.

[Snowy_One]

"Trying to sound like you. Horses like you, so how you speak to them must have something to do with it!" said Henry, raising his finger as if it was obvious logic.

[Inactive Account]

"That en't got nothin' t' do with it," Tobe muttered incredulously. "'S how you acts round 'em. Like, runnin' an' shoutin'll just spook 'em, so don' do that," he offered.

-----------------------------------------------

"That's pretty damn impressive," Kelas admitted, retrieving her arrows from the tree before going back for another round. She'd used hunting arrows instead of those designed for combat, so they weren't too hard to remove despite having punched deep into the bark.

She continued to practice, eventually going to catch her horse and take running shots. A little while in, her coat became unnecessary, and was left folded under the tree she was using as her main target.

A good while after her arm muscles first began to protest, she decided it was time for a break. Dismounting and retrieving some water from her saddlebag, she sat down under the tree to rest for a minute.

After a few more tosses to make sure he had perfect accuracy every time, Iso dispersed the fire tunnel. "Well, enemies dumb enough to just stand there are history," he said in a joking tone.

He quickly moved on to even more precise training and began focusing on maintaining multiple spells at once. Sitting down to make it much easier on himself, he summoned two individual fireballs and sent them both in a similar orbit around him while he closed his eyes and kept track of them. In a short time one of them began to slow down and the other passed by it quickly circling around Iso's back. Then on his unseen mental command, the idle sphere of fire began to fly in the other direction. Both flames passed each other as they flew in opposite orbits around the sage's body. On each pass it was a wonder they hadn't struck each other and blown up in his face.

"Alright, once you get the process started it's less taxing. Now to add a third ..." he said to himself as a small spark appeared signalling the emergence of yet another spell. Once it appeared, Iso sent it into an orbit around him that was far faster than the other two. He kept his focus on just the three of them for a time, and then added a fourth in a unique rotation and orbit of its own, and then a fifth, and a sixth. Within a few minutes, he was heavily obscured. This is mostly subconscious, or I would have made a mistake by now and accidentally blown myself away. Hm? Crap!

He flinched and one of the faster orbiting fireballs span off and flew away into the sky! He sighed as he went back to focusing on the remaining spells. Speaking of blowing myself away, I nearly just did it. Two of them were about to collide. Damn, I need to pay more attention where they're going. By the time Kelas had stopped to take a break, Iso had finished his exercise and all of the flames dispersed into nothing revealing him fully. He sighed and walked over to the tree she was sitting under.

"Well that must be progress. I couldn't control that many a week ago," he said panting, a little bit.

"Are you sure you didn't just nearly set yourself on fire?" Kelas asked. "Or was that all just dramatic effect? Here," she added, holding out the water canteen.

"I'll be honest, that was pretty close," he said, gladly accepting the canteen. "I was never formally taught how to do that so I'm not surprised I made a minor oversight there. I wasn't paying attention to the exact paths of some of the faster spells so two of them nearly collided. I altered one's path but I lost my grip on it and it just sort of ... flew away. Better than both of them detonating in my face I guess." He took a big gulp from the canteen, wiped his lips with his wrist, and then handed it back to Kelas saying, "Thanks."

"If you blew yourself up and we weren't even in a fight or anything, I'd be pretty damn annoyed with you."

"Uh-haaahehehe ... uh ... yeah, I uh ... wouldn't want that to happen. I'll be much more careful," Iso blurted out bit by bit. Then a thought came. There were some times when he himself was immune to the fires he summoned, but that took either a bit of concentration, or was simply Proxima being rebound to him. "I suppose it wouldn't kill me so long as I was concentrating well enough during an accident. That wouldn't do a thing for people around me though. Urgh." he said a bit frustrated all of a sudden. "Dammit, I really need to find a way to make it safer for people to be around me when things like that happen ... but it's too dangerous to test." Hanging his head he sat down by Kelas, crossed his legs, leaned forward, and let his head hang as far as it could without being uncomfortable.

"That time I accidentally burned your hand ... that still bothers me," he muttered.

"Hey, I'm all right now, aren't I?" Kelas held up her hand, examining it for a moment, then putting it tentatively on Isotov's shoulder. "That wasn't a normal case, either. I guess if you're worried about accidentally hitting people in battle... maybe use smaller, more concentrated blasts when there are a lot of people close by? Looked like you could control size and intensity all right."

Edited January 24, 2011 by Kiryn

[Script]

The 43rd Cavalry Squad of Directus

"Did anyone else here that?" Private Fain said. A good man with good hearing. But you didn't need good hearing for these screams.

"Yeah," Sergeant Cole answered. They had regrouped after night had fallen down one of the streets that lead to the gate the Halton encampment was nearest.

"Oh ho, if those ain't good screams I don't know what are!" That included the spy it seemed. The cloaked man was sitting off the edge of a roof and chewing on an unusually red apple. "You fellas best get investigating!"

The men exchanged glances with one another. If they had been more obviously nervous they would just need to speak. Whatever caused those screams was some sort of special case. A full scale Halton attack would produce a much greater amount of noise. "We wait for orders, moving our position for a possible distraction could prove disastrous."

"Boooooring!" the spy chipped in. "Fine, if you won't go, I will. It can't be that difficult. Just make sure my poor sickly mother gets the news of my grisly demise."

"That won't work on me spy," Cole cut off his distracting speech.

"Boo." The spy shrugged and whistled. A bird came flying down out of the darkness and landed on the spy's outstretched arm. "Good boygirl." He fed the good bird some meat before attaching a message to its leg and sending it off. The intricacies of how the messanger birds worked wasn't something that Sergeant Cole was privy to. Only the higher-ups and spies knew how they worked. It certainly wasn't normal falconry at any rate, as birds normally untrained were used as well. The spy looked back down at the cavalry, sneered and started running off in the direction of the screams.

[Ether]

As Damian wandered throughout the Irvinheim base, he eventually found himself back at his quarters. It was quiet, alone... it would suffice for what he had to do.

'So, I have to do what Ixion showed me... I have to temper my mind against the misconceptions of the world... accept and control my own mind... my own reality.'

Taking a deep breath, Damian entered the throes of his own mind.

Opening his eyes, Damian looked around. The surroundings were dark and eerie, the scent of damp stone heavy in the air, and the distinctive scent of rotting forestry hung in the thick fog.

"Is this the state of my mind? Ixion's appeared as some sort of palace... is it simply a vision created by my lack of experience, or is this my mind's true form?" Damian asked no one in particular, opting to speak, if only to break the dank silence.

Recalling Ixion's words, Damian remembered his statement...

"Because this is my own mind, the laws of the world are determined by me... what happens is... determined by me. In here, I am God, I am almighty... and to this I have to adjust, to tune out the world and defeat my adversary... to wrest back control of my personal world."

Deciding to test it, Damian focused himself. With a luminescent flash, the area was illuminated, and the fog cleared.

"So that is how it works," Damian said, once again to no one in particular, before a rustling nearby caught his attention.

"Damian? What are you doing here? How the hell did that idiot manage to leave me stranded with you?" The fiery voice filled the area, booming from the lithe girl.

"Reika." Damian sighed, it seems familiar faces were popping up.

'I should do this now.'

Walking towards the thief with a confident stride, the young woman backed away skittishly.

"What are you planning, you Halton creep-?!" Reika asked, before tripping on a inconveniently placed root, and landing hard on her backside.

As Damian reached her, his hand lashed out towards Reika. Being unable to find a weapon, or call Calamity, she could do naught but let out a scream-

The sound of a sudden stop, as the throwing knife was caught in midair by Damian, inches from her temple.

"Y-you saved me-!" Reika's words were cut off as Damian jammed the knife into the side of her head, the thin blade piercing into the Knife-fighter's skull.

Shaking his head slightly, Damian continued walking forward, leaving the corpse behind him without a word.

***************

A swathe of bloodshed. The exercise seemed to be going smoothly, as Damian walked past another corpse, this one having been known in life as Arrin.

Damian continued onward, not looking at his own right hand, stained with blood, and dripping the thick red fluid in a trail behind him.

"I do not know your reasoning behind this, and losing a wielder is unfortunate, but it seems I will need to find a replacement for you." The cold voice was easily recognized, as Morgan fired the black shot of the Midnight tome. Batting it aside with his hand, Damian lunged at the druid, catching her throat in his grip.

Squeezing on Morgan's windpipe, ever tighter, the woman began to squirm against Damian's grip, to no avail. Blood dripping down her pale throat and staining her shirt, as she choked and sputtered helplessly, her thrashing limbs bouncing off of the halberdier uselessly.

With a final violent twist, Morgan fell limp and was dropped to the ground, neck broken.

"D-Damian... come on... stop this. What would Aiya think if she saw this?"

The slight stutter was an indication of fear. Irina stood with a defensive stance, now alone, a trail of bodies behind the Lancer foreshadowing her fate.

"This is my path. I must follow it, don't take it personally." Damianm replied blankly, advancing towards the Wyvern Lord with a quick strafe. Readying Gungnir, Damian thrust towards Irina, as she dodged to the right...

With a sickening sound, the lance plunged into her chest, and out the other side, dragging out a lung with it.

"D-Damian... please... why?" A final plea before the Wyvern Lord fell to the ground dead, as Damian watched her body fall. Shaking his head violently, Damian turned away from the fallen corpse of Irina, forcing this body to be the first to fade away... the first he didn't know what he might do were he to look back...

[Inactive Account]

The figure was almost all the way through the town now. There had not been civilians out, but the soldiers in the streets had been in the way. They weren't anymore; only tiny slices remained.

After this, there would be another camp, the youth knew. It doubted they could stop it, and once it was clear of human obstacles, it could run again, at least until daylight. Its targets might at least sense it by then, and it could deliver its messages.