Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 24: The Schism

[Phoenix]

Ursibus

Kamilla: We were, kind of outnumbered.

Kamilla thought about the other details and most of what was there were her own struggles against the fliers. First Viveka's assault on her, then the most painful attack ever unleashed on her in the form of a body slam, and then the retreat. She knew Althea went down at some point during that time.

Kamilla: I didn't get a very good look when it happened but several of them were working together to fight her while the rest took on the cavaliers. Two of their fliers nearly killed me before Henry defeated one. But the other defeated him and we had to run.

Burgosas

Nikolai: You see this?

He said pointing to his nose, which was now bleeding again thanks to Daneka's precision door slamming.

Nikolai: This is from that bastard Peter! Last night he was acting like a wannabe badass, feelin all up on you AND that colonel bitch. Oh the horse shit that came outta his mouth before we told him to cram it. Soon as we told him he was acting like an idiot he slugged me.

Peter: (I punched Nikolai? And I'm sill breathing?)

Nikolai: Let me in. I know he's in here. This is the only room left and I'm going to show him what happens when little punks try to act tough.

Peter: (I guess I've gotta take my licks ... but please let me get some clothes on first! Oh crap oh crap Oh crap!)

Peter dropped the blanket and began scurrying for his garments not caring if Xenia turned around or not. Chances are she already saw anyway ... or something. Either way he had to get dressed.

Worthington

Irina: That's probably a good idea. They just keep talking down here. Uuuugh. I'd still like to see how the purchase goes though. Oh well.

She slowly got up from the table holding onto her head with one hand, and scooting the chair in with the other. The stairs looked like they were a lot farther away than they should be. Her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Irina: Heinz, how far away are the rooms? I don't want to ... walk to far. Uuuurrrg. (Oh my god, this headache. Someone make it stop! I can't even think straight anymore.)

Makar: Alright, then eighteen hundred it is. We'll pay you the total amount on all four of them once individual pricing gets handled. Bulk purchase and all. Chek, you writing this down?

Chekhov: Yep.

Makar: So then, onto the next wyvern.

Martin: ... no one is going to take this little guy off my head?

In Morgan's room, Ixion expounded on the issues at hand.

Ixion: Hmm, yes that's about as much as Lev knows. What was only decided on recently is that Irina will need more incentive to come along. No matter what is said, the fact of the matter is that Irina won't be wiling to cooperate without Isotov coming along, and forcing her to come without him could have extremely violent results, primarily from Isotov himself. As as solution Miranda has offered to disguise herself as him until there is no longer an issue with her rebelling. I suppose the important thing to note is that there cannot be two of the same person seen wandering around during this time, so the real Isotov must be incapacitated for a short while ... which Miranda is most likely already tending to. I'm simply letting you know this so that you don't feel the need to argue for him to stay. After all, it won't be the real one going.

[Mercakete]

"Alright." It was probably safe to pick the little wyvern up, but he preferred leaving her on the table. "This one doesn't have a name yet. She is a female mountain wyvern and again, has unusual coloring. As I said before, most mountain wyverns have dull, brownish colors, but this one is pale yellow. She has standard coloring otherwise, but the fact that she is a female mountain wyvern should price her high enough as it is. She's too young to tell any unique traits other than that yet, though. Mostly, she just eats and sleeps," Tas explained before asking, "So, what is your starting offer?"

Edited March 27, 2011 by Mercakete

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan

Morgan sighed as Ixion told about his issues. Siblings have a natural tendency to protect one another, I have should have foreseen this. "Do you think it is truly wise to trust Miranda with such a task? She is a demon you know, and despite her assistance with Proxima earlier she is not to be trusted. Is Irina really so important to your mission? She is useful certainly, but she is ultimately just another mercenary."

Xenia

As Nicolai retold the events of the previous night to Xenia she burst out laughing.

"You got punched out and disrepected by the tactician and he woke up without a scratch? What kind of mercenary are you? And for that matter, why is your nose bleeding? Did the barmaid just floor you?" she asked, before going back to chuckling heartily.

[Phoenix]

Ixion

Ixion: She's a blood relative of Ivanko's. Given the position he'll be taking soon, that makes her rather important in the long run. Once the battle is over she won't have the kind of anonymity she has now, and Zaftran royals outside of Kalten have a habit of dying. Isotov being a crimson weapon wielder has no choice but to remain here but Irina does not. As for Miranda, I'm only giving her this task to assess her overall usefulness. If she fails to disguise herself as Isotov, I will simply have to incapacitate both of the siblings myself and that will be the end of it. I would simply like to avoid such a measure if possible. I know they've both made ... friends in this group and I don't want to cause more injuries to this group's members than necessary. I'm not your enemy after all.

Transaction

Makar: Starting from eight hundred. Unusual color; two hundred. Female; three hundred. Any other outstanding features or should we leave it at thirteen hundred and get to the eggs?

Morning Troubles

Nikolai: The ... first hit knocked me out. L-look it's not what it sounds like. He was wearing your damn gauntlet when it happened, alright?! Don't you remember any of this? Oh forget it, what do I care what you think, just let me in so I can kick his ass like he deserves.

Peter: Oh crap ... (I think I'd better ask Xenia if I can borrow her gauntlet again if that's what happened.)

[Mercakete]

"Mountain wyvern. fifteen hundred," Tas simply stated. (Don't try to price her like she's a plains wyvern. Mountain wyverns are harder to get. I may be new, but that's common knowledge.)

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan

"No, I suppose you are not our enemy," Morgan conceded. "Very well, let us proceed with your plan. But be forewarned: demons are not the tools of humans. They exist to serve only themselves. To forget this is to invite death upon yourself," she said, rising to leave and enter the hallway.

Xenia

"Of course I don't remember Nicolai, I got drunk off my ass like a proper Zaftran. No need to get your skirt in a twist just because you couldn't get a girl to tame your wyvern last night," Xenia said, subtly sniffing her gauntlet. Where the hell was this thing anyway?

"I guess I should let you boys get to it though. Try not to break him Nicolai, it's handy having a tactician around," she said, stepping out of the doorway at last.

[Phoenix]

Burgosas Inn

Peter: Uh oh.

He had found and put on his pants but he was still missing everything else including his other sock. Xenia had just stepped out of the way too. He didn't have Xenia's gauntlet so he would have to improvise. Fedor revealed his head from the pile of blankets and moaned. The first thing he saw was Nikolai stepping into the room threateningly.

Nikolai: There you are you little bastard!

Peter: Gah!

The next thing Fedor saw was Peter reach for the first thing he could find. Picking up the goat and holding it like a battering ram, Peter began shooting back at Nikolai.

Peter: Back off man!

Nikolai: ...

Goat: ...

Fedor: ... *snrk*

Peter: Don't make me use this!

Nikolai: Where did that goat come from?

Worthington

Makar: ... fine. Fifteen. We got a deal, then?

[Mercakete]

Tas nodded, "And since the eggs are plains wyvern eggs, how does 800 gold each sound?" (I don't want to sell them for less than 500 gold each, but I can't point out much for raising their price; best to start the offer higher than what I'm really aiming for.)

Edited March 27, 2011 by Mercakete

[Phoenix]

Makar and Co.

Makar: Eight hundred sounds good. They only tend to come cheaper in surplus. Alright so eighteen hundred for the little red conqueror up there, fifteen for the girl, and sixteen for both the unborn plains, that about right? Forty-nine hundred total.

[Mercakete]

Tas was surprised by Makar's readiness to accept the price, which was 300 more gold each than he expected to sell them for, but he wasn't complaining. He just didn't know what he would do with all that gold. (I...guess I have enough to feed myself and Namid for a while... And when I meet up with Father, we can start up our new ranch or maybe even just live off of what we made with what we sold. I wonder how much he got for his eggs and hatchlings. Wow... 4900 gold... Ive...never made any gold before. This is a bit of a shock...or maybe it's the hangover... Oww... Why did I remind myself of that?)

"Yes, that's right," the courier replied, "You'll need to provide your own nest for them so I can take my blanket back. It's getting colder and I'll be flying around." Then the question struck him, "Do you have the gold with you or do I have to go get it somewhere else?" This had never happened before, but then again, he and the others had always escorted the wyverns they were selling to the buyer directly: they had always had their payment easily accessable to hand off when their order arrived. This case was different since the hatchling was rather nondeliverable and the buyers had to go to Tas himself directly. Since they were discussing prices, it was logical to assume they didn't bring the payment, or at least not all of it.

[the_whistler]

Doran:

The templar remained silent while the young girl talked, fuming to himself. Outnumbered? The reports say they're a wild group, previously chased around by the Elyisiman authorities. More than enough numbers should've been brought along to protect them from a potential hostile attack, he thought, clenching his fists angrily.

"How many were there in the Crimson Weapon party when you attacked them?" he asked tersely. There are only.... eight, no nine Crimson Weapons aren't there? They must have had several allies to aid them. "On my pride and honor, I swear by the Godness that I will bring these fiends and killers to justice," he growled.

"So your name is Henry, boy?" he questioned. "Good to meet you and the young miss, I am glad for your escapes. My name is Doran Hauptus, a templar from the Augustine branch until I was sent here quite recently," providing a short introduction for their benefit. "Recruiting numbers strong enough to defeat their force may take some time, so I choose to start now. Nevermind all the actual paperwork, the Grand Cleric isn't here right now anyway. The forms will be completed after the force returns," the druid spoke confidently. And if I don't come back, someone else can fill out the forms. Not my problem, he thought, impatient to begin.

Heinz:

"Not too far away," he replied unhelpfully. "A couple of paces." Simple enough if she were sober. Wonder how she got upstairs yesterday? Doubt the others left her down here, mulling to himself. Stabilizing her unsteady walk with one arm, they slowly arrived at the bottom of the steps.

"Think you can make it up those?" Heinz asked, overhearing a few prices named. Suppose I could just ask the courier later, if she doesn't feel better by then.

[Ether]

Commotion had surrounded what should have been a warm, simple reunion. Loud noises pulsed through Damian's head, as he snapped out of his reverie and noticed that a good deal of people had gathered around them.

The bloodsoaked tunic still clung to Tessa's body, but she was still living, still breathing. Damian let out the breath he had been holding slowly, and looked back at Tessa. The blood was gone, and she appeared as normal, except concerned, and... scared?

"Tessa... I'm sorry... are you okay?" Damian asked, his complexion returning to normal from the pale shadow of it's normal self.

[Phoenix]

The Inn

Makar: Martin ....

Martin: Right.

The wyvern rider kept his head straight while loosening the sack tied around his waist. Once he had it free, he set it down on the floor causing the distinct sound of gold to sound off throughout the room. Makar gave a quick and somewhat confident explanation.

Makar: If we ever need to make pick ups ourselves, we bring a bit more that we feel we'll need; because you never know. Fifteen thousand. Forty-nine hundred of it's yours.

Meanwhile ...

As Ixion began heading back downstairs he saw Irina and Heinz standing in his way.

Ixion: Is she alright?

Irina:

Peter VS Nikolai

Nikolai: Goat or no, I'm going to beat the stuffing out of you for that crap you pulled last night.

Peter: I don't even remember any of that, man!

Nikolai: Well then allow me to make a pretzel out of you. That'll jog your memory, won't it?

Peter: Gaugh get away from me!

With a quick thrust Peter rammed Nikolai in the stomach with the goat's head. Normally that wouldn't have bothered him too much, but his stomach was still sore from the dance Peter and Daneka had done on top of him as celebration of his victory. With a loud cry, Nikolai stumbled back. Peter then followed up by swinging the goat at him, all four of the legs smacking him in the face.

Nikolai: Fuuuck! Fight like a man!

Peter then launched a kick with his left foot that struck Nikolai's groin and floored him.

Nikolai: S- ... sh-shit.

Placing the goat onto Nikolai's back for some reason, Peter quickly found his shirt and put it on. Next he came up to Xenia.

Peter: I-i-i'll be in some place with a lockable door if you need me

[Mercakete]

Tas was somewhat stunned as the sudden, loud sound accosted his brain. Now that the negociations were donewith, this was the last phase in the official exchange. Thusly, his proffessionalistic, hyperfocussed objectivity was fading somewhat, allowing his headache to resume. He did his best to ignore it, however, and continue with the final bit of the exchange, "Is that your entire 15000? Should I count the money or do you want to?" (I want to check on Irina and thank her and Lev for all their help. I wonder what I should do next... Maybe I should fly stright to Halton when I'm done here...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a while after the bishop and the monk had caught their breath, they remained outside, simply allowing their minds to recover from the strain of their spar in silence. Once they were both calm and their heads had recovered, Raemond quietly broke the silence. "You really dedicate yourself to whatever you put yourself to, don't you?"

Beau was quiet for a moment before replying, "That is something I was I was conditioned to do. It just occurrs naturally now."

"They way you say it, it sounds like you've had decades of hardship."

Beau shifted to look at the monk from where he was sitting. Did he really sound like that? "I've only been alive for 13 years. ... Though I'll admit that Father is...quite difficult to appease." He looked at the ground again, breathing in the fresh air through his nose then slowly letting it out.

("Appease?" Not even "difficult to please?" His aim has been to simply...satisfy his father?) Raemond looked up at Beau from where he'd been sitting.

As though reading his thoughts, Beau replied, "Noble children have high expectations placed on them from their parents. Such has been my experience, at any rate. It only serves to prepare me for when I have to uphold the Bellmire name without my father's protection." He was silent for a moment longer before concluding, "Perhaps I should not have run away, bearing this in mind. I admit, I fear what will happen when I return home... Though I must be a rebble considering that I am glad that I left. I've never enjoyed myself more -- my time studying light magic under Sis- Sister Raechel excluded, of course. I've met valuable aquaintences and have even made a friend. In addition, I've seen the world with my own eyes and experienced it more than I ever could have learned from a book or a tutor. How can I regret an experience such as this?"

"You make it sound like you'll be returning to Bellmire Estate soon," Raemond noticed. He also noticed how serene Beau was when he was talking about his time away from the place as opposed to the hardened obediance expressed when he was speaking about his duty to his name. (I...think I might see what Raechel was seeing... He's still a child, no matter how strict his responsabilities are...)

"No," Beau denied stubbornly, "I still haven't found Sisrae." As soon as he said the name, his expression changed from determination to mortification, then he shifted back to being stubborn -- if not embarrassment -- and turned away. (How can I still be using that childish nickname?)

Raemond only smiled at this, though, getting the sense that their conversation was concluded for the time being. He was about to start humming again when a question came to mind. "Beau... Where did you retrieve my shine tome from?"

Edited March 28, 2011 by Mercakete

[the_whistler]

Heinz:

"Just a bit hungover from last night with a headache," he explained. "I was trying to help her move some place where it wasn't quite as loud," nodding his head towards the other occupants of the room. Though it's dying down somewhat.

[Phoenix]

Upstairs

When a knock came from the door, both Viveka and Jasmine stood up. Viveka went over to answer the door herself. It was none other than the person they were discussing, General Conrad.

Viveka: Um, yes, Sir?

Jasmine: (Whoa, timing.)

Downstairs

Makar: Both. We count up forty-nine hundred, give that to you, and you recount it, just to be safe. By the books.

Of course Martin had already begun counting up four thousand nine hundred gold while Tas inquired and Makar explained. A moment after Makar replied, Martin was finished.

Martin: Four thousand nine hundred total. (And and extra ten if you get red here off my head.)

By the stairs, Ixion grimaced ever so slightly at Heinz's explanation.

Ixion: Irina, you don't have any tolerance to alcohol to speak of, and yet you continue to indulge? I'll give you half an hour to rest. No longer, after that, return downstairs. We have very important matters to discuss.

Irina: It was an accideeeent. I'm sorryyy.

Ixion: (I know of a way to dull the pain of her hangover, but I would prefer not to test any new techniques on her when a half hour of rest and some tea could cure it altogether. Though in this state she might also be less resistant to what she must now do. I'll make a final decision after I speak to Levski about that wyvern he captured.)

[Mercakete]

Tas nodded. That was a plan he could easily agree to. Once the gold had been counted the first time around, he refocussed his mind and worked on counting it for himself, attemping to tune everything else out, especially his headache. (This is where those counting lessons come in handy...and the test for true gold and not fake gold. Though I trust them enough that they wouldn't do that. And they are mercenaries. I doubt they'd let somone fool them into accepting fake gold as payment.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think I should return it to Morgan or Heinz?" Beau asked, "Or do you want to keep it?"

Raemond opened his mouth to reply before closing it again. (If I keep it, I'll have my tome with me, which is beneficial to a degree. But if Beau took it without permission, then it will look like I'm acting against this group...and then...) "Yes, please do return it," the monk answered, getting up again and walking over to Beau.

The 13-year-old met him halfway and took the tome from the older light magic-user. (Maybe I should keep this with me. If Morgan or Heinz have any qualms about it, I'll return it to them, but in the meantime it is a more advanced tome than the one I possess. It will give me something new to read as well.) "I will speak with you later, perhaps, Brother Raemond," he replied before turning and reentering the inn with both tomes. (I'd better put this in my bag in my room. It will make it easier to carry.)

Raemond himself remained outside. The peace and quiet was nice and he wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. (It will help me to clear my mind. All these crimson weapons have demonic presences... If a demon were nearby, I might not have a clue simply because of the presences of all these weapons... Learning to negate their energies will be vital.)

[Dark Sage]

"Heh. Seems like whatever training he's done isn't quite complete. I mean, I know he's stupid and I know he's crazy even without the spear, but stuff like this is beyond what I've seen of him. If you're not done fixing your sanity, then go back with that guy and don't show your ugly mug until you do. Given your level of competence though, you'll probably never come back. Which would be far preferable than what we have now. At the very least, I won't have to have to deal with you overhearing your poor attempts at wooing multiple girls at once. Whore," Reika said, smirking as she did so.

[Phoenix]

Downstairs

As Ixion walked by Irina and Heinz he overheard some of the conversation going on. It was less background noise than before as he approached Levski at the table.

Ixion: Beyond what you've seen? You must not have seen very much, little girl.

Turning to Levski, he began again.

Ixion: That pink wyvern outside ...

Lev: Yeah?

Ixion: Can Irina ride it into battle yet?

Lev: Not yet.

Ixion: That won't be a problem. I would rather not have to do this, but she didn't have enough time properly train the wyvern so I'll have to work around it.

Lev: Ixion, don't mind screw Pinky.

Ixion: Little choice at this point. Kiev is not an adequate mount for what's ahead.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Phoenix

[Inactive Account]

Arrin had slept soundly, even managing to sleep through the thud of the wyvern landing on the roof. He awoke still slightly giddy from the previous evening's events: after being forbidden to go out, Tessa had instead suggested that they just go out to the stable to see the horses. Arrin had been glad to visit Francis after a few days of riding in the carriage, and the gelding seemed to be happy to be visited, especially when given a few sugar cubes Arrin had taken from one of the tea services were presented.

He'd gotten to thinking; it couldn't hurt to go on just a short ride. Kelas' tone had certainly hinted at some deadly threat, but it was still nearly light out, and they wouldn't be gone for terribly long... furthermore Kelas hadn't provided any alternatives, and she'd reacted badly to him hanging out with Tessa before... it was possible, though unlikely, that she just didn't want him spending time on his own with Tessa. He doubted that was the case; Kelas' concern for his safety was sincere, he knew, but... once the thought had occurred to him, he wasn't quite able to make it go away, and so he found himself rationalizing that a short ride through town could not be all that dangerous. The ride had indeed been short, but full of the thrill of defying orders, as well as a little guilt at doing so. As expected, nothing bad happened, and they returned to dinner to find that Kelas had apparently already gone to sleep. It had been a full day, though not strenuous, and Arrin was able to go to sleep fairly early himself.

He wasn't sure what to do now that he was awake, though. He was hungry, but he didn't really want to go downstairs yet. Instead, he took out his teacher's recovered book and began to set about picking up decoding where he had left off. So far it had only been a basic description of the functions of the Crimson Weapons and some details on the principles that allowed them to work; the next section he wasn't quite into decoding yet, but it appeared that it would be significantly more interesting, and perhaps relevant to the group's goals. As he pored over the tome, re-familiarizing himself with the code, the morning flew by.

[Mercakete]

After he'd put the tomes into his bag, Beau took a quick inventory of his items. Yes, there was his goldpouch, his tomes he'd just set in place, all three of his staves, his extra set of clothes, his kerchief... He could find rations and a waterskin if he wanted to. Inventory was fairly easy to keep. Checking his sacrf again, he found the remaining signats he could give to allies within its folds. (I've already given one to Arrin. One is for Sisrae... I wonder who I'll give the last one to. Or maybe I'll just return it when I go home.) Returning them to their hiding place, Beau slipped his bag's strap over his head so the bag rested at his hip again. It was heavier than before, but it wasn't a problem. (I wonder if now is an opportune time to talk to Arrin... ... Even if it is, I don't really want to talk to him right now. Not for gathering his eyes and ears, at least. I'm content with Sadie and Tobeis' offering to help me for now.)

With that in mind, the young heir set his bag off to the side, took off his boots, retrieved the shine tome from within the bag, laid down on his rented bed and began reading. Several notes were written in the tome, sometimes even negating what was already written inside. Beau's brow furrowed in confusion. (Did Raemond write all of this? His notes match up with what he gave me when we first met...) With that thought he reached over and pulled the bundle of notes from his bag. They corrilated with various parts of the tome. "The power of light comes from praying for the protection of the goddess..." Beau read from the tome before his eyes shifted to the notes in his hand and written in the book's margin, "The power of light comes from taking power from Ziatani's 'Zia' and Oraisunyou's 'Orai.'" He continued the comparison.

According to the tome's original text, "Such power is accessable by those who the goddess ordains." According to the notes, "Such power is accessable through intensive study on the flow of this magic so that it may be tapped in to, just as any other form of magic. Oraisunyou and Ziatani are living resources of great power. Thusly, they are to be respected, though they have such a vast overflow of power that light magic can be channeled without their permission. Indeed light is found as fire in the sky: Zia and Orai, and are just as natural as wind, thunder or darkness, if reached for. The main belief is that the so-called 'goddess' must grant the magic to an individual she deems worthy of its use, however, this is not necessarily the case and explains why even those who do not worship her can still use staffs or light magic."

[Balcerzak]

The unexpected praise had caught Helios by surprise. While he'd known Charlotte at least seemed to tolerate him, it was almost sounding as if she respected him a little there, and he hadn't had that sensation from anyone in the group since his falling out with his subordinates. Taken off-guard he wound up scratching the back of his head a moment before replying.

"It's not like I feel have to do this. Well, I guess in a way it is, but it's more of a 'have to' for me than a 'have to' for you, and aaaah, that doesn't really makes sense does it. Well it doesn't much matter, either. Nobody else is forcing me, and that's the main point."

The sage was a bit worried by the tone the princess had taken when she discussed dying in the attempt. Such fatalism didn't suit her... no doubt she was still scarred by the recent betrayal of her trusted retainer. There wasn't much he could think of to say in response. At the end he came up with nothing more than fluff.

"It's far too early to speak of dying just yet. But we probably better ought get downstairs, I'm sure people are itching to get moving after the rest, and the sooner we manage to pitch the destination and put down support for it, the better a shot it has, right?"

~~~

Morgan had helped shed some light for Tessa, indicating that the situation was just as bizarre as she had thought it seemed. Soon thereafter, a small crowd had formed, some supportive of her, others heckling Damian. Count Altair had stepped in to keep things from getting out of hand, making sure there was even breathing space so that the lancer could have time to answer and to explain, and she was grateful for that.

When Damian finally spoke though, most of the questions were left completely unanswered... "Yes, I'm fine. It was more surprise and confusion than anything than anything else. I'm more worried about you for now. Just... what happened right then? Are you alright? Should I go fetch Ixion?" Morgan had suggested the dark druid might have some insight, but as soon as he had arrived he had spirited the shaman off for a private conversation.

[Snowy_One]

"That might be a good idea Tessa. I cannot help but shake the creepy feeling that, somehow or somewhere before, I have seen that look." Esphyr tried to come closer to the pair, sliding her hand between the two as she tried to pry them further apart. It was true, she did have the feeling that she had seen a look like it somewhere before in her past, though from where she could not recall. "Damian, what just happened now?"

[Ether]

"It was nothing... just... a bad memory came back to me for a second, it caught me off guard." Damian said, trying to wave the situation off, almost more for himself than the others.

"I'm fine, it just took me by surprise is all... but are you sure you're alright? No bruises or anything? I can get some anesthetic herbs ready if you're in any pain." Damian said, trying to reassure those around him. Flashes of his training appeared on the faces of everyone there, blank, dead stares, wide eyes, and many other morbid scenes. He shook his head slightly, opening his eyes again to clear the images.

'This isn't good... I need to get over this...'

Edited March 30, 2011 by Ether

[Balcerzak]

"Mmmm?" Tessa leaned forward a bit, looking up around the intervening Esphyr, trying to judge the situation. "A bad memory? About me? Sis said it hadn't happened earlier..."

Unable to draw any further insight though, she straightened and stepped back. Damian was asking after her health, and she nodded and rubbed her shoulder a bit, where he had clamped down. "I should be fine, I don't need anything. Well, except maybe some breakfast... I'll go do that, then maybe you'll be feeling better and we can sit down and have a nice, long talk."

She smiled a bit, as she stepped away, still a little concerned, though the lancer had done his best to reassure her. Picking her way through the common room, she noticed that Ixion seemed to have just returned. It couldn't hurt to stop by and double check. She trusted Damian, but experience had shown the healer that often people tried to hide when they were hurting, to keep people close to them from worrying. She'd seen Kelas do it, and she'd even done it herself...

The dark druid had made his way over to Levski, and they seemed to be in a conversation. Well, she would just have to interrupt, and hope it wasn't anything important. "Um... excuse me a second... but everything went just fine with Damian's training? No problems?"