Einar frowned as the man in front of him knocked over his own drink and some of its content splashing onto Einar's pants. He heard Hylar growl at the man, but it was disciplined enough to not tear the man's throat out. At least not until Einar gave him the command. Einar looked the man in the face, examining him. He looked young, at least younger than he was. His robes and staff gave him away as a mage, though Einar could not tell what type since he couldn't see auras anyway. He put down his fork and knife slowly. He took a swig from his own mug before answering the mage, Ambadark, as he called himself. He smiled in amusement at the man's arrogance. He'd put this man down a step.

"Well, Ambadark, first of all you don't look like the most powerful mage in existence. I can tell you the names of fifty other mages, both more experienced and more powerful than you. I've been friends with them, enemies with them, and in the cases I was paid to, killed them as well. So tell me, why would I even want to tell you my name?"

Mundy, seeing the man's smile, smiled back. Proof! He knew for sure now that this man was everything that he thought him to be, but his train of thought was interrupted by the another growl from the wolf. Mundy tried his hardest to hold back a jump, the wolf was rather terrifying, and he turned to the man, his smiling not fading, although the wolf did not help.

"Because, my kind... terrifying sir, none of them have this!"

Mundy looked politely at him and held out his hand as if handing something, and he whispered the words as if for no one to hear.

"Ignis de nocte nostras regni."

Suddenly, fire ignited from his hand, but this fire was no normal fire. It was completely black, it was more of a silhouette of fire, and it cast no shadows, strangely shadows seemed to go towards Grinning like a boy who just out played his father, he bounced the fire back and forth from hand to hand like a ball, and finally he snuffed it out.

"And if you are still not impressed..."

He quickly repeated the words, but this time he made a gesture towards the plate which exploded into black flame. He knew that there was no way for the man to put out the flame, so he grinned happily. He would have either impressed the man or angered him, so he thought of a way to quickly win the fight. His gazed shifted towards the wolf, who still looked just as mean, and he decided.

He would be impressed or he would roast the dog.

Yveine couldn’t help but laugh at his comment, imagining the look on Nefarian’s face, and probably the faces of several other lords, when coming before the king to explain their unwillingness to use their forces. Her expression turned thoughtful as Elterys spoke to her regarding the scout teams. She had considered something similar herself, as she needed to ensure they would be able to get information quickly, and was pleased that this was being implemented so early. It would certainly be more suited to the Lumens skills than marching, though the others would prove themselves in time.
“That won’t be an issue, the sooner we establish a link the better our communications will be anyway.” With a nudge to the horse she trotted towards the group of Lumens, scanning them a moment before calling out “Jonik! Aesar! Rolim! Eloen!” Four Lumens, three men and a woman, soon slid effortlessly out of the group without disturbing the flow of movement. They lined up, each bowing their heads as Yveine approached before stretching a hand out to her. She touched each one individually, looking at them all directly before speaking “Scout ahead covering a three mile radius, Jonik and Rolim will take the left, Aesar and Eloen cover the right. Be alert at all times, connect to your chosen conduits quickly and report as soon as something arises. If you get in trouble, you know what to do.” They spoke “Yes Etoile.” in unison, bowing their heads again before splitting into their allocated pairs and making their way to both directions. Their movements were swift and speedy, still somehow elegant as they dashed across the plains. As they watched the quickly disappearing figures, Yveine turned her head to Althea behind her. “Althea, connect to your conduit and give the command.”
The command was responded with a quick nod. “Corvus.” Althea spoke, her voice ringing clear as she looked up to the sky, drawing on her aura to seek what she needed. Down flew a black raven, cawing loudly as it settled down upon Altheas now outstretched arm. Her eyes stared directly into that of the bird as she let out her command “Servo.” The raven stared at her for a few more moments before giving another caw and flapping it’s wings, quickly returning to the sky where it began to circle over the group, following the movements of them. “He will follow us as we make our journey and cry out if anything approaches.” She said, her head turning to Elterys while Yveine listened with a touch of pride. “That way no matter what occurs we will get warning of it sooner rather than later.”

Elterys nodded at the swiftness that Yveine carried out his orders, and watched with a slight amount of amazement at the speed the Lumens moved to accomplish their task, noting their dedication to Yveine. They marched for a time, then Elterys decided to lend his voice to the Guard's. Thus an hour passed, marching and singing, and another hour, until it was mid-afternoon. Elterys called the column to a halt for a fifteen minute break for a luncheon. With precision everyone stopped marching and began getting out food. Within five minutes every warrior was eating a meal called teloren, or "Ever-Fresh" because it never goes bad. It consists of a piece of meat, wrapped in bread, enchanted with a spell to never go bad. Every single person who has ever had it agrees that it lacks any kind of flavor. Elterys wandered over to Yveine, clutching his own teloren, and said "So what do you think of the fare? Exciting eh?" A chuckle bubbled up from his throat at this, and then he asked "Do you have any ideas you would like to share to get this mission accomplished as quickly as possible? I'm open to any and all suggestions, so long as they make sense and save lives."

Herandyl stared in shock for a moment, then two as his savior walked off, and then he made a decision. "Hey, wait! I'm coming with you! I'm a good swordsman! And I can fly! Surely thats useful?" While saying that he charged into the underbrush, chasing the elusive ranger that was not a ranger and his companion. Branches tore at every inch of Herandyl but it did not deter him. For in him was the blood of the Aina, and he would not bend to some thistles. Forcing his way through, yelling the occasional "Hey! Wait!" he doggedly pursued Ozmorin. Then, it happened. Not being familiar with moving through the dense wood, he ran straight under a branch that was a little too low, and it scraped the top of his head in an extremely painful way. With a quick curse he unslung his sword and begin hacking his way through the wood in a fit of anger, the sharp sword slashing the bushes with ease, and thus he continued his hunt. He would not be left behind. No, no he would not.

Einar looked at the black fire burning on his plate, looking at it. He hadn't had too many encounters with dark magic, but he knew that he hadn't come across anything like this before. He didn't like it when the mage cast his gaze at Hylar. This is when he was pretty sure that his own speed, no matter how fast wouldn't be able to stop this mage casting his black fire at Hylar. So Einar, with little choice, muttered his own words of power, quietly so only Hylar and himself could hear it.

"Terra pugnus."

His aura poured itself into the air behind Ambadark, quickly forming into a small chunk of rock. If it didn't knock him out when it hit, then the distraction would give Einar ample time to draw his blade and finish the dark mage. He looked at the mage again, and spoke. His smile was no longer there, rather a more aggressive scowl.

"Interesting magic, but this seems like you're trying to intimidate me, and I don't like being intimidated. I suggest you go on your way now."

Once the group had stopped, Yveine and Althea got down. The Lumens all joined in the break, even beginning to interact with the guard, yet compared to the warriors they were far more on edge, still continuing to observe their surroundings. Yveine and Althea sat down on the ground, with Yveine lifting Aranea onto a bush to let her get her own food, while Althea found herself eyeing the area like the others.
Yveine looked up, and she smirked slightly at Elterys’ comment. “Indeed, it’s a wonder we don’t serve this at our meetings. As to ideas, I feel the biggest concern is regarding how the orcs are likely to move. From the reports it’s only a few clans causing these attacks, so as long as it remains that way they it should be simple to deal with. Should the entire tribe get involved… that could be a problem. As I've said my Lumens are trained for stealth, so we will need the chance to observe their movements properly to best ascertain how to approach.” Her eyes flicked back to Elterys as she continued “You and your men have had more experience in such matters, what can we expect from them? More importantly, what do you think we can't expect from them?”

Elterys nodded as he listened to Yveine, and said "The orcs are disunited, which makes our job easier. They will move based on clan and tribe, with the strongest orcs or the smartest orcs being the leaders. When a leader dies, chaos ensues as the clan or tribe splinters. That's why when we engage them we need to hit their leadership. Now, as to the unexpected, I honestly don't see any real strategy behind this push of theirs. It seems to me that it is more of a migration of the weaker tribes who have been forced out. They shouldn't pose a serious threat to us, but we must be cautious nevertheless. Also, magic is not their forte. So we will be facing mundane weaponry powered by brute strength. Not much in the way of stealth, your Lumens should be operate with impunity. Have I answered your questions?" As he finished speaking he looked slightly to the right to see the slightest bit of grey on the horizon... Clouds? Or smoke?

Lómëar Tumna Lúhtalócë, a figure in a tattered purple cloak, stalked down an empty trading path in northern Eldanoore. The sun was high in the center of the sky, and he had been walking on for many leagues. Finally, he spotted a pond in a grove of trees a little ways off the path. He walked to it, and rested, looking out at the pond, which was filled with water lilies, spindleweed, lotus flowers, water hyacinth, marshmerrow reeds and he even spotted two Drazroot plants. He resisted the urge to start plucking plants. Many of them have magical or alchemical properties, but he would have no way to preserve them while traveling. He stood and walked closer to the pond, now at the water's edge. He pointed at the pond and muttered "Mórë," the Elven word for "blackness." Suddenly the water grew murky and dark, the darkness spread to the lotus flowers and turned the beautiful white petals black and the center yellow flower purple, it darkened the maroon shades of the spindleweed, it turned the purple flowers of water hyacinth to a darker shade and turned the green black, likewise with the water lilies, the marshmerrow reeds and the Drazroot. Then he muttered "Húna," the Elven word for curse. All of the plants gave off a faint purple glow, then returned to their still colored but non-glowing states. The plants would now all have negative effects where there would be positive, and the water is now poisonous. And lastly: "Ulundo," meaning deformed or hideous creature. The fish in the pond all twisted and shifted, some elongating, others growing spikes, all growing razor sharp teeth and glowing eyes. The fish were now beasts that would attack anyone who put so much as a finger in the water.

Lómëar smiled slightly, pleased with his work. It always pleased him to destroy things, whether it be violently or subtly as the pond is now. He enjoyed altering life for malevolent purposes and pursued studies in such areas, even though it was considered evil. He shrugged at his thoughts. He now wondered what the new effects the plants would have, but he still was unable to test it. The three spells also left him drained as if he had just ran for a league or two. Manipulating energy and the elements was elementary work, easily done by anyone who knew the basic principles of magic. Altering things was much harder, and in some cases nearly impossible, and doing so would kill a lesser magician. Nevertheless, he was quite happy with his new oasis of death. He sighed now, realising his counterproductiveness. He had come here to rest from walking all day, and only tired himself more. He shook his head but stood up anyway. He had to keep traveling, he was close to Eldanoore's borders now. The path lead on place, and that's why it is no longer used. Lómëar just hopes that the man he intends to visit will cooperate.

Stephen Kane raised an eyebrow as the Tellem tumbled down the stairs and landed promptly in a messy heap in front of him. He sighed, blowing air between his teeth, and shook his head at the Tellem's excuse.

"You don't need to try to escape from me, you should know." Seph said to him. "I'm not planning on turning you in. You stole something from me, and even though I noticed, that's commendable." He pondered on whether he should mention that he might have plans to take Latter on as his apprentice, even though the short elf was probably too old. He shrugged, if he could make a good Ranger, then age didn't matter as much. "Anyways, what would you like to eat? After break, you're coming with me t-"

Just then the door to the inn flew open. A city guard stood in the doorway, and behind him a line of guardsmen could be seen marching down the road. The guard barked at the inn's inhabitants; "Everyone! Be at the City Plaza in the next two hours! King Threllen Greyford II will be speaking to the crow-" He stopped yelling immediately upon spotting Seph, a Ranger. "M-m-my apologies, Sire." He stuttered. "I didn't realize you were in here, nor do I wish to issue orders to you, but all Rangers in the city limits are expected to be there to guard the king."

Seph sighed. "We'll be there. Go along." The guard left the inn and Seph turned to Latter. "Well? What do you want to eat? Let's make it quick, we should leave in the next thirty minutes."

As Vussrix accompanied Seadin out of the throne room, Seadin took in his work so far, and he realised that he was not proud but satisfied. Small torches casted light and shadows in the stone halls, making everything ominous and dark, and the occasional undead would be standing aimlessly to the side. He looked at his undead, some orcs and some elves, as the torch light reflected off the metal of their armor, and that itself proved their difference from zombies, a futile attempt to use corpses as soldiers by pathetic necromancers. Seadin’s undead were not hollow shells cursed to walk like zombies were, but were actual spirits able to come back into the living world. They could think like normal humans, however very sluggish and dull, and would fight with swords or any mundane weapon rather than the zombie’s using of only hands to try and kill your enemies. This formed the grunts, but his undead, while completely superior to zombies, were incapable of commanding or intelligent thought. So, to fill his officer needs, Seadin subjugated demons of various types to command his undead, finding how to do that after learning from his own befriended demon Vussrix, and do within months his legion had swept across civilizations far outreaches and built his numbers.

Finally, Seadin came to a heavy and decrepit wooden door that lead to the War Room, and by giving a nod, his giant friend went through to show another myriad of different demons. One was a tall and lanky demon with gray skin, red eyes, and clad in nothing but a loin-cloth, showing a body that seemed nothing but skin and bone, who went by the name of Guldor, and the other was a short and stout demon with a skin complexion no different than that of normal living beings but had purely purple eyes and a purple beard that went down to his ankles who was called Dunder. Both stood around a large black table with a massive and dirty map pinned to the table by four dagger on each corner, and Seadin and Vussrix found places on the remaining sides of the table to begin the conversation.

Dunder began to speak, speaking in a voice that resembled two boulder repeatedly thudding together.

“Dead Father,” he begun, Seadin still not used to the name his men had given him, “it seems to me that the preparations for another march are well in order, and it we did it like the last time, these dirty, dumb soldiers will tear through the orcs as we did the elves. I can hardly wait, to see their green guts spill from their heads! Or however they work, they need not a brain! Our here dumb dirties can probably do better functioning of the brain those sacks of shit! Ah, neither mind that, I tigress or whatever you say to go back, to answer you summonings in short, yes we may move.”

Dunder, finishing his loud chatter, plumptly smiled, and then he tuned to Guldor for his own statement. Guldor shifted awkwardly as he adjusted his long body to address Seadin, and he spoke with a voice that was almost identical to the rasping of a man who had just came from a burning building after inhaling the smoke for hours on end.

“Massster, my scouts show the orcs as disunited and squabbling as ever, but we do have a sssplendid surprise.” Seadin was tad annoyed with the random longevity of certain S’s seemingly at random, but he let the towering stick continue.

“The elves either have no idea of us slaughtering many of their frontier men, or they are more orc than we give them credit for. The only force we have seen leave the capital is a miniscule force, so I sssay we leave them be. They are no threat, we will extinct the elves soon enough. Oh, and one more thing. It seems an elf wishes to travel here and meet with you here, and he is rumored to be powerful. Ssshal we add him to the horde?”


Seadin did not think hard on the subject, and decided almost instinctively his course. Seadin spoke with a voice that seemed to be the sucking of life and all air. and it seemed his words were empty but powerful enough for authority.

“Let him come, and we will show strenght to impress him so he may either fear or fancy. Post one thousand of the undead in perfect columns in front of the gates and command them to stand perfectly still, not moving no matter what, and then order the rest to hide. He should see the hundred lined up, eerily still, and then find empty halls. I will be waiting on the throne. alone.”

With that, he now would wait and see the prowess of the elf.

Lómëar Lúhtalócë continued along the wide trading road, heading farther north. Soon enough he saw a dark spot on the horizon. As he neared, he could make out walls and towers, a castle, as it was far too large to be an ordinary fortress. About twenty minutes later, he noticed something... odd. A dark mass had gathered in front of the castle, and it was then that he could tell that they were soldiers. He raised an eyebrow. How could such a force be here without anyone knowing? Were the Elves? Men?

Undead.

Once he was a league away from the castle, he could tell. They had no auras, yet still possessed a spark. They were not hallows, they were possessed corpses. Friendly spirits didn't posses corpses, it went against their nature, no these spirits were made to be called upon by magic, and he was well versed in necromancy enough to know. The undead stood eerily still, as if a horde of statues guarded the castle. He smiled. Clever little display, but he would not walk in without a display of his own. He flared up his aura, which was so big that it was a globe meters out from his body, and glew a striking purple with raw energy so powerful that the air around him buzzed and hummed and shimmered. As he walked, the ground beneath him was scorched from his aura, and a trail of purple flames followed his wake. He walked in between the legion of unmoving undead, where they were parted at the gate, and entered the castle. He stalked the empty halls, unimpressed, while slowly shrinking his aura and letting it fade back into himself. When he reached the throne room, he pushed open the iron double doors that started with a squeak that echoed throughout the empty castle.

Lómëar walked three quarters of the way to the throne on which the Dead Father sat, placed an arm across his chest, and bowed deeply. After the bow, he placed his right hand across the metal mask covering his face and pulled it off, revealing the features below. He smirked , looking up at the Dead Father through strands of wispy white hair, and said, "I have arrived."

Latter sighed a breath of relief, he had played it off, although he saw through it, but his body tensed up at the site of the guard. He had hated town-guard; he hated them for every friend they beat to death, every time they foiled his plan and he went hungry, and for how they always did it with a smile. Now with a grimace in the inside but still a smile on the outside, he thought on what he wanted to eat, but in all honestly, he was not hungry. He knew he should be, having completely draining himself dealing with that creep, but he just was not and frankly did not feel like eating. No doubt it was all the times he had gone hungry, living on the streets, and surprisingly when he was used to being hungry is when he longed for his old life the most.

“Nothing, if that may please you master. I do not seem to be able to stomach a breaking of fast.” spoke Latter as politely as he could, but he still mixed in a bit of dissentful sarcasm at the end. He did not want to be a ranger’s servant, he had never been anyone’s servant for owning his own shop and all, but he figured square meals until he could slip or build up enough pay for a new shop could not hurt. An honest job could do for a while.

He just realized the actual words of the guard, his hatred temporarily blinding him, and he whipped his head around in shock. He began to speak in a gasp.

“Did you just say protect the king? As in he is under attack… in the capital… here?”

Latter turned to the ranger in shock with his jaw dropped, and thought that he was pretty nonchalant when the king was under attack. Latter stopped himself however, realizing that he did not even like the human king, for he did nothing as Latter watched his shop burn to the ground in great flames. Latter resisted the urge, like a gravitational pull, to fall into one of his terrible flashbacks, so he quickly took his master’s drink and took a sip to put his mind on other things. He looked up at the ranger and gave an awkward sorry smile, and spoke rather carefully this time.

“Shall we be going, we would not want harm to come to the king. First I have to pack… done!” He lifted his arms as in he was giving a finale to a long search, but he did notice he was unarmed while the ranger hopefully did not know he was a mage of sorts. He would try not to use magic in front of him, but he may have to like before.

“May I have a weapon master?” he said as he eyed the knife that had gotten him in the conversation. He knew that they were probably just guarding him from the crowds, but there was no reason to not make it dire, he may have a better chance at the knife.

Yveine listened intently to the information. She was aware that the orcs generally didn’t have a great sense of unity or planning, so with the Lumens focus on stealth they would be able to assist the army easily enough. Brute strength was simple to counteract, and it would mean they would get the chance to focus on the demon rumours.
“I think that’s all we’ll need, in terms of strategy it should be easy to deal with them effect-”
A loud cawing sound broke the conversation, as Yveine’s eyes flicked up to the sky to see the flapping shape of the raven circling them. Immediately every Lumen in the company stood to attention, hands tensely resting over weapons as they scanned the area.
“My conduit.” Althea said to them, her hand clasping the dagger at her belt. Soon the raven was joined in the sky by a small falcon, shrieking itself while moving back and forth between the group and the direction of the grey. “That’s Eloen’s, whatever’s causing it she and Aesar are nearby.”
“Have Aino send a scout ahead to meet them and assess the situation, we need full details of what’s happening.” Althea nodded, making her way over to Aino with the orders while Yveine turned back to Elterys. “Well, I’d say that moving this far into the country is certainly unexpected… if orcs are even the cause.” She murmured, eyeing the grey in the sky.

Roughly seven miles away from the small Elven force, the motley Kregosh tribe was in the process of sacking the lovely village of Menolyn. The raggedy band of orcs number a score of scores, and had quickly overwhelmed the village's militia of twenty seven in a hopeless battle. Yet the orcs had been shocked at the supposedly weak elves actually marching out and attacking them. Weapons they did not have in plenty, but they wielded the very fabric of existence. Stone and fire and water all obeyed the words of the Elda, and many an orc died. Yet these brave few were overwhelmed and crushed. Thus, the village was sacked. Blood crazed orc warriors ran aroud cutting down children, women, all in an orgy of death. The end had come to the ageless. And it was brutal. This was the smoke that dominated the sky, as the now 6 score orcs burned the well built elven homes.

However, all this was unknown to Elterys, but he knew something was up. Quickly whipping back towards Yveine, his eyes narrowing as he listened to her talk to her Lumens. Then he began barking orders. "On your feet! On your feet right now! Leave the fires, we march in three minutes!" Turning back to Yveine, "I need you to send your Lumens in a net five miles wide going out towards that smoke. The Guard will follow. Then stand back once we get there. I will not risk your people in open conflict." Keeping an ear open for a response, he began collecting his belongings, throwing them into his pack, and slinging it over his shoulders, until only his helmet lay on the ground. Picking it up with both hands, he placed it on his head, and thus entered a prince of battle from a bygone age. In his eyes was fire, a fiery rage at those who would dare despoil his homeland. Reaching into that sense of power and magic all elves possess, he murmured "Voce magna" and then he spaced his feet apart, lifted his spear, and yelled, his voice magnified by his spell to be a hundred times louder into the boom of thunder "DEATH! DEATH TO YE WHO STAND BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ELDANOORE!"

Roughly seven miles away, every orc's head snapped up in alarm at the sound of that booming, god-like voice, and they nervously looked around, until their chief, a massive brute whose name sounded like a series of grunts and snorts to those not fluent in orcish, raised his weapon, a massive club, and said "Didn't we just kill some pointy eared elves? Well let's kill some more!"

Yveine listened to him as she stood up.
“Yes my lord.” She responded, indicating to Althea to spread that message around. Her eyes glanced around to the troops, mentally making note of their spread to see what the Lumens could do alongside them. She also didn’t want them in direct combat because that wasn’t what they were trained for, but that didn’t mean they would completely stay out of the way.
“Etoile!” Her face flicked over to the sight of Aino’s scout already running back towards them, stepping forward as he reached them and sank to his knee. “It’s the orcs Etoile! Eloen met me halfway to update me. They’ve attacked Menolyn, the entire village is on fire and we haven’t been able to locate any survivors.”
“Join the formation and follow them out Sudryl.” She said, touching his hand as he stood up before adding “We need to establish--” Yveine froze as Elterys’s voice suddenly rang out in a thunderous boom. And while it may have rallied the soldiers, her Lumens instantly became more guarded and alert. She voiced the thought that rang through all of her people’s minds. “I’m assuming they’re close enough to have heard that.”
“Without a doubt Etoile.”
“There goes the element of surprise.” She muttered, watching as her Lumens spread out in the given formation. While all out conflict was always certain, she had hoped to implement more advantage to their side. The orcs were brutish and slow, but with a big enough onslaught they could be a problem. Then a thought struck her. “Sudryl, send a message across the group tell them to have alternating bursts of bending light around them. It won’t be enough to shield the army completely, but it’ll keep their numbers confused.”
Sudryl bowed, turning to make his way back. The Lumens had already spread out into the net, disjointed in their lining but covering the radius. Aino stood at the centre, patiently waiting until everyone was arranged, then closing her eyes a moment before speaking out-loud “Flectere lux” Around her body, she bent the light making her entire form appear hazy, almost invisible unless you focused intensely. Those words were echoed by other Lumens, creating a fluxing wall of hazing spreading gently across the group until it was nearly impossible to be certain how many were there. As they covered the five miles needed, those that weren’t creating the haze eyeing the local plant-life and reaching for weapons.
Althea had returned by that point, helping Yveine back onto her horse before getting up behind her. Yveine clicked her tongue for Aranea to come back up before turning back to Elterys.
“They won’t break that magic until your soldiers make their move, so until that point the orcs won’t be able to see the full extent of the army. After that, we’ll keep things surrounded so they can’t try any sneak attacks.”
The Lumens all began to move forward, slipping between the trees and along the path at a quick pace. They soon made their way over to the scene, seeing the full state of the devastation and the quickly amassing orcs. Aino made a few motions and the group spread out wider, waiting on edge for the guard’s attack so they could stop holding the haze.