Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 27: War

[Phoenix]

TISME Library Entrance

"... ch- ... cheee ... chi?" the chimera girl tried to mimic the sounds to learn the word.

"It's better than 'chimera' or 'conduit', I suppose," Stephanie noted. She might have had some suggestions of her own and simply wasn't mentioning it.

[eclipse]

An open window caught her attention. PERFECT. She quickly checked her surroundings, then peeked inside. It looked like the room was abandoned. She quietly slipped in, and hid behind the bed. Where were the sheets? The ambient noise level was low, so she scurried to the door and stole a glance outside. No one was in sight. A few moments later, she'd tiptoed down the hall. The relative silence slowly gave way to the sounds of activity. Using whatever cover she could, she made her way towards the sounds. It looked like a group was forming, but no one looked familiar. She found a shadowed corner, and waited. Perhaps her mother was a part of this group?

[Inactive Account]

Beware the Dark Side, you must

Arrin was really beginning to worry about Tiria; she wouldn't have time to go through all the training he'd had to be able to avoid letting his weapon get the better of him. "I know it's hard to let go of anger, but you've got to try. The last time I acted in anger and let my control slip, I nearly hurt my best friend.

"The thing is, if you're going after revenge, you'll destroy yourself before you ever get it. The only way you'll make it to the end of this is by staying calm. Anger can be replaced with purpose. And sadness..." He paused, and looked down for a moment. So many people had died already, and he couldn't say he didn't mourn them. "You don't have to let sadness go. It's not the same force of destruction the weapon wants. What you have to do is not let sadness rule you-- mourn, and move on. Don't get stuck, because that's what leaves you vulnerable.

"I have a few exercises I can try to teach you for keeping calm. They may not work immediately, but they might help in time. Okay?"

[Dark Sage]

Alf

Apparently they were going to go to the desert very soon. Alf had operated near the desert but he'd never actually been there himself. He had heard stories about it and all the possible hazards though, so it wasn't like he didn't know what he was getting into, which was why he felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the news.

It appeared he was not the only one who was familiar with the necessary survival skills in the desert; Kelas had spoken about some of the necessary preparations and later left the room along with Iso and Viveka to go prepare for the trip. When they arrived at the armory, he approached the nomad, standing on her left.

"You seem to know a fair bit about the desert; I've never been myself but I know about some of it myself. You and I probably have the best survival skills of all of us, so I'll help you out, with the preparations and the navigating and everything and if the others don't listen to you or the nomads guiding us, I'll help get them to listen.

Anyway, we should probably all get some winter gear and maybe the knights should get some lighter armor. Those demons'll probably ambush us on the way over and I heard there are a few hostile tribes living there. If there's an ambush, it'll be a lot harder to survive if they don't wear armor."

Reika

The news of their next destination filled Reika with ambivalence. On one hand, she groaned inwardly at the prospect of heading to the desert, particularly since it was the Lord's base. On the other hand, since it was his base, that would mean that if all went according to plan, it would be her final destination with these people.

Just hang on a little while longer, it'll all come to an end soon.

Sadie

The desert? I wonder if we'll encounter any of those weird hunchbacked horse thingys I heard about. Camels? That's what they're called right? I should ask those desert nomads when I meet them.