"Damn bandits," Pathos cursed as he spat onto the sand. He tucked his precious flask away. Aye, they did sound like bandits from what the dwarf had said. And Pathos was not leaving! He was here first and he was still in the middle of his fishing. That damned dwarf had no right to come bargaining in an evicting Pathos from public beaches!

Pathos, a once distinguished warrior, tore at the bandages around his neck. They had always been there but he never acted as if he was injured. The man had always seemed at tiptop shape despite his addiction to alcohol. But there was a reason for the bandages on his body in random places. There were runic symbols carved into his skin that glowed with a bright teal light.

"I'll chase yer bandits away wummin," Pathos said to Shayla, who was probably still hovering over his shoulder. He lifted his hands and formed fists. One fist was placed on top of the other. As Pathos separated his hands a magical bow was constructed between the fists. It was similar magic to what Morana had used in Valhaven.

Dejah knew this magic and rushed in front of Molko and Selwen. She notched her arrow into the bow string and took aim. A green glow doused the arrow's head and shaft. Dejah's eyes narrowed...

Pathos drew back on his own bow with an arrow formed from the same mystical matter as his bow. His weapon solidified and became real as the summoning was complete.

Dejah's arrow was loosed from the string. It flew true and fast, faster than a normal arrow and it could travel further than a normal arrow.

The drunken man loosed his own arrow, but his aim was not quite so true as Dejah's. It curved with the wind. A cry surged up from Ta'ku as the arrow pierced into the kit's eye. It writhed on the ground. Tola, Tia, and Tanak'u were outraged. The giant panthers began to charge at full speed toward Pathos and Shayla.

All Tugark could do was wait and watch. And worry. He did a lot of that.

The beast sat down on his haunches and covered his head with his massive hands, looking like he was ready to tear his mane out. The memories surged through him of a time long ago. The day he had lost his beloved friend. The glowing rings around his arms and legs brightened, and his chest was encircled with runes as well.

He had been her guardian, and he had failed her. He had failed her. Many lives had been destroyed that day, and his sword and shield had been tainted by the innocent. His claws dug into his skin as the painful memories bore into him like a kick to a gut. "M'lady.." He whimpered, tears falling down his snout again.

Fang could sense them now too, more clearly at least. More people in his woods. His. His only. No one else should be a part of his Nature. Gritting his teeth, so much so that his gums started to bleed, Fang would restrain himself. He wanted to end their lives right now.

Deep down, there was a concern for his ever growing bloodlust, his avarice, and his willingness to do things he once considered immoral, and depraved. But such emotions were no longer useful for this godling. He'd realized enough time had passed. Enough of nature's suffering, and needless destruction at the hands of creatures such as these. If only he had realized it sooner, perhaps things would not have gotten as bad as they were now.

"When do we attack, Ella? I grow tired of waiting." The relaxed, lazy drawl he had developed over his life was gone for now, replaced by cold words, and an icy glare in the direction of their prey.

Somewhere, on a plane of existence far from this material realm, a woman began to weep.

A look of shock came over Dhaelhel's face as Nid'Ridras pulled out her feather. The look was quickly replaced with an expression of frustration. He wanted something in exchanged for her feather. This man, or dragon, knew information about Dhaelhel's mission and had a critical piece to defeating Naar.

Dhaelhel knew his price would be high.

"What do you wish of me," Dhaelhel said as she turned her eyes away from the Deeps Dragon. She looked over the horizon and towards the woods in the far distance.


"My resources are limited. This world is foreign and new to me. I do not have domain over this earth," Dhaelhel admitted to Nid'Ridras.

"This is your first test to see if your intentions are true," Adella whispered into Fang's ear. "I will not fight in this battle with you, Fang. You must defeat them yourselves. If there is a feather, you must claim it. They are the enemy," the vampire sang in the godling's ear.

"I will wait in the shadows for you, as will Layang. If you need aid all you need do is call out my name," Adella spoke softly in Fang's ear. And then for good luck, Adella leaned forward and placed a cold kiss near Fang's ear. Adella also whispered something else in Fang's ear for no one else to hear.

She disappeared into the shadows in less than a heartbeat as she said she would. Fang was left alone, or so it appeared.

His test had begun.

---

"So, you are in love with her," Kestrad said. It seemed that is was perfectly normal to be in love with someone. His tone was not condemning of Jarlas. Kestrad did not know the reason for a corpse loving a perfect half-elf girl and did not judge.

Kestrad shifted Curtana in his arms taking great care that she was as comfortable as she could be as he carried her.

"Yes," Kestrad answered Jarlas's question. "They guns are an heirloom passed down from father to son. These weapons have been in my family for countless generations. Why would you want to know if they were legendary or not?"

"Well," Nid'Ridras said, a smile on his face. "I was expecting more of a powerful response. You seem almost... submissive." He had a dark tone to his voice when he said that.
"What you can do for me is manifold. First and foremost, I require that you protect the one called Selwen. She harbors an importance that must not be lost." Nid'Ridras began to pace, as if pondering and choosing his words carefully. A thoughtful expression flitted across his face.

"I also require that you bring a message to Lord Keegan." He paused to look at her directly. "Tell him... Think twice before forsaking your homeland. He will find the significance in it."

Nid'Ridras continued his pacing, an almost predatory look in his eye. "I would also like you to kill or seriously injure the one called Jarlas, at some point or other. He had slighted me and deserves retribution."

"And finally..." He smiled at Dhaelhel. "I require blood. High blood, not that of lower folk. Not vast quantities, either... a small flask will do."

The man crossed his arms over his chest, but allowed the feather to remain a glimmer just within sight. He quirked a brow at Dhaelhel, anticipating her answer. "Do I have your word that these tasks will be done? They are not altogether too difficult, you will find."

A wicked grin flashed across her lips for only a brief moment. Pathos only needed a little push, it seems, when he was drunk. Unfortunately, this means his cognition was off. Seeing Dejah also take aim, black mist started to surround the pair of them. Black ooze erupted from the ground, right in front of Pathos, forming what seemed to be a wolf-like creature. The wolf creature would be the one to catch the arrow in the side as it continued to form, causing it to shout in pain. It never seemed to completely form, it's skeletal form showing through some of the black ooze of it's skin and a skeleton of a wolf's head for a head. It turned it's eyes towards Dejah, the souls of the dead howling within them.

Two more ooze patches began to emerge from the sand, beginning to form the same sort of creature to face the panthers. But best of all, Shayla remained behind Pathos, and stared wide eyed at the creatures, as if she had never seen them before. She would try to make those people believe Pathos was capable of that. She then whispered in his ear. "Just keep quiet and they will not harm you..." She murmured, getting ready to get both her and Pathos out of there just in case things started to go down south.

She did not wish to disappoint her new master.

Jarlas was beside himself for a moment. Dude kept coming back to him and Curtana. Jarlas was not about to talk about himself and Curtana. That was not a thing he wanted to talk about.

Fuckin' Maree-Thing was messing with him. That was it. He liked Curtana, but something about how sure she was about his feelings for her, it was like... he was trying to hide it from himself?

Zombies weren't cut out for emotions. Especially not Jarlas zombies.

Jarlas decided to ignore that with a dismissive mumble. "Not that I said anything about it to anybody." If the gunner heard him, hopefully it'd dissuade him from further comment.

"Anyways, your guns. See, I've got this thing. I'm dead," he said. He gestured at his exposed ribs. "But I saw a doctor who said that if I complete twen'y trials, I can live again. Findin' a legendary weapon's the next one I gotta finish."

Jarlas twiddled his fingers for a moment, peering over at the man. "Sooo... mind if I hold one, for a sec? I'll know if it counts or not, then I'll just hand it right back." He smiled at Kestrad, doing his best to look charmingly innocent.

Selwen had been prepared to defend Dejah- and Molko- from the incoming projectile as soon as it had been fired. She had not been prepared for it to hit one of the panthers. The squeal of pain that the smallest of them howled out chilled Selwen to her core, and filled her with a fury towards their opponent.

She knew they were fighting a creature of Darkness when the foul skeletal monstrosities were summoned against them. It only served to steel her resolve and prepare her for the worst of combat. She felt a pang of guilt, having cast aside her armor before, but she knew she would pull through.

Once the first volley of arrows had flown, Selwen called forth her own weapon. A blinding light surrounded her left hand. It was bright even against the sun-bleached sand and expanded into the shape of an ornate, beautiful bow. Once it had formed completely, the light dimmed and Selwen's other hand bore a long arrow crafted of the same.

As much as her heart went out to the Panthers, she could not help them directly. Even with her skill, Selwen could not fire directly into such a fierce melee as would soon break out. No... she would target the ones most dangerous to herself or her comrades.

Molko was close enough to deal with engaging the man and his companion. Selwen's first concern was the dire beast glaring at Dejah.

With a grace that might have shamed an Elf, Selwen held her outstretched arm steady and took aim on the creature. The blessed Light twinkled as the fashioned bow's string was pulled taut. Then the missile was loosed, a shaft of pure light given solid form. Whether or not her strike drove true, the shaft would detonate shortly after impact. Solid shards of light would expand from within the impact point, shredding solid matter and dealing a grave wound to creatures of Darkness.

With her first arrow fired, Selwen unslung her shield and prepared to guard Dejah or herself.

Molko had to rumble out a sigh as projectiles began flying past him. Couldn't be helped, he supposed. He trusted Selwen and Dejah's capabilities would keep them safe from the man's barrage. Molko would be up there disrupting it, soon enough.

The stout Dwarf had gotten plenty of rest during the ride, hard though it was. He was as fresh as he was going to be, and that meant he could afford a bit of speed. Plunging forward into the attack, Molko pulled his shield from the sand and held it in front of himself, while his axe was unsheathed and readied.

Molko made his way past Dejah in short order, cursing under his breath at the failed first strike. It had been a good one, he thought, but unfortunate that one of their opponents controlled... slimes. Molko hated Slimes. Still, it couldn't be helped. He would just have to be careful.

Shouting a Dwarven war-cry, Molko prepared himself to engage whatever fiend first found his axe, be it one of the ooze-made constructs or one of the more alive-looking enemies.

"Healing process is complete, Techno-Engineering Assassin Glixenheimer Bolargian Jibbnoticous, Former Grand-Master of the Thirtieth-by-Fifteenth Largest Under-precinct pertaining to Gnomish and other Underdwelling Folk, in the second Quarter of the Grand Capital City of Nalinathris, Greatest Mountain-home and Elf-land, in which the Gnomish Folk of the Iron Kingdom placed residence Aeons ago and Samara and Tugark," Aurora said. The light constructs winked out and disappeared. The platform remained floating in front of them all.

"Vital signs are stablizing and returning to normal. The elf specimen will need to recover for twenty-four hours, Techno-Engineering Assassin Glixenheimer Bolargian Jibbnoticous, Former Grand-Master of the Thirtieth-by-Fifteenth Largest Under-precinct pertaining to Gnomish and other Underdwelling Folk, in the second Quarter of the Grand Capital City of Nalinathris, Greatest Mountain-home and Elf-land, in which the Gnomish Folk of the Iron Kingdom placed residence Aeons ago and Samsara and Tugark," Aurora stated.

"There are guest lodgings inside of City 18. You shall find them more than adequate for yourselves and for the recovering female elf. The light shall guide you. Welcome to City 18 and enjoy your stay."

Glixenheimer finished jotting down his notes and beamed up at Aurora. "Fascinating! Amazing work! You saved her life, most assuredlikely! Well done, Miss Aurora!" He ran over to Samsara, looking at where the incision and surgery had been performed.

Looking back up at Aurora, Glixenheimer smiled wide. "Will you be joining us? I have so very many questions to ask you! Like- oh! How did you make the Light? Was it via a projectoranimatronatrix? Or was that a latent ability like-but-dissimilar to that of Paladins and Magic folk? Oh! And how did you manipulate it if it was light and not latent? Oh! Oh, and-" he paused, remembering Samsara and Tugark, and the need to get Samsara to lodgings.

"Would you show us the way to our place of temporarifiated residence?" He was practically bouncing in place from his excitement.

Dhaelhel watched as Nid'Ridras paced. She disliked the way he was looking at her with a predatory gleam. Her feathery wings flared out as if to make herself seem larger. He clearly had an advantage and both Dhaelhel and Nid'Ridras knew it.

"Very well," Dhaelhel said. "These tasks seem easily doable thus far. How many will I need to complete before my feather is returned to me?"

Dhaelhel began to pace around Nid'Ridras. Her eyes looked upon him with a predatory gaze as he had done to her. Killing or maiming Jarlas was not something Dhaelhel wished. While he held the attentions of Curtana, Dhaelhel was not the vengeful spirit of her brother Naar. He had done nothing to warrant death from Dhaelhel as of yet. That task would present a problem for the fallen goddess.

Dejah was unfettered by the presence of creatures of darkness. She reached back into her quiver and pulled out three arrows. Each of them were notched against her bowstring.

A green light surrounded all of them creating an ethereal glow against Dejah's skin. Her eyes took keen aim on each of the three shadow constructs. She loosed the arrows and they whizzed through the air towards their targets.

Pathos stared at the bandits. One of them was enclosing toward him while one of them retained their ranged capabilities. The other had taken out a shield.

"These ones really want me gold pieces, eh?" Pathos said to himself and indirectly to Shayla.

"Should give 'em some gold pieces, Shayla," Pathos suggested to the witch woman as he loosed another arrow from his bow. It sheared over the beach toward Dejah's center mass.

The panthers were on Pathos and Shayla now. They descended on the shadow creatures with teeth gnashing and claws tearing away at the oozing flesh.

Tugark looked at the hologram woman then to Lady Samsara. She did seem to have better color now. Gently, as gently as he possibly could muster, he lifted her up from the table and cradled the lady to his chest protectively. "I will make sure she gets the rest she needs.. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.." He bowed as deeply as he could without disturbing the resting woman.

He waited to see if Glixenheimer would lead the way, or if Aurora would. If neither moved, he would follow the light that Aurora had mentioned to see if they could find a comfortable place to have Lady Samsara rest. He was relieved, but not beyond the point of worry, and her health had taken priority over anything right this moment. If the light-teleporty woman thing said that Lady Samsara needed rest, then so be it! He would make sure she got that rest, or it would be the end of him.

The one shadow beast that was shot with the arrow howled pained as it exploded, falling to the ground. But slowly, it began to regenerate itself, and it's eyes moving from Dejah to Selwen and back again. Another shadow beast began to form in front of Shayla and Pathos.

The two shadow being attacked by the panthers met them tooth with claw and claw with tooth. Their 'skin' would ooze over the panthers with every touch, and would feel as though the burns would eat through their flesh to their very bone. And for every damage that was done to the beasts, they only seemed to heal with ooze from the ground.

Shayla was panting by this point. "No.. I think it's time for us to go to a new beach.. One with more fish.. Do you want to go to another beach or do you want to go to another spot altogether..?" She asked Pathos quietly. Dejah's arrows would meet their projected targets, and Shayla would hiss. She had not been freed long enough to gain back her full power. These constructs would last just long enough for Pathos and her to escape. She still waited for his answer before she would force them to be moved either way.

Curtana whimpered in her sleep, and Kestrad could feel her muscles twitch.

In her dreams, they had shifted yet again. The children were kicking her and her one friend. Of course, it was just a oddly colored fox, but they had gotten along wonderfully. "Please! Stop!" Curtana cried, trying to reach out for the fox, but the children would kick her arm away. She yelled out in pain and curled up into the ball she normally did. She soon after found herself standing and fighting back for the first time in her entire life. Pushing, shoving, kicking, punching, she fought no matter how many times they pushed her back down.

The children, frustrated and with broken prides, ran off leaving Curtana there with the now dead fox. She held the limp body in her small arms, weeping and apologizing to it. It was her fault it was dead. If she did not exist, he would have lived a normal life time. The spirits around her wept with her, rain falling from a cloudless sky.

Tears fell down the sleeping Curtana's cheeks.

'It's time. It's time to leave this place little one.' She had remembered that voice, although she could not remember who told her that. 'You are meant for so much more. You must go and find your path.'

"It's time.. time to leave.." She whispered in her sleep.

Selwen stood at the ready for a few moments, prepared for the incoming creatures. The Panthers engaged them first, sparing her from the need. Keeping her shield strapped to her arm, the Paladin prepared to fire another bolt of light at their foes.

Until she spotted the man fire at Dejah. Selwen was too far away to use her true shield. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on Dejah and projected a shield of light, tall and thick, in front of her. It solidified into a pillar after a split second. Selwen could only hope she had launched the defense in time to save Dejah.

With steeled resolve, Selwen returns her attention to Pathos and Shayla, a righteous fury on her face. She raised her bow and loosed a second projectile at them. She had taken less time to aim, but if they did not attempt to dodge- or be protected- it would likely hit one of them, at least.

Molko didn't take his sweet time getting to Pathos and Shayla. Indeed no, he tried to make sure he could get to them and stop them from firing on his friends. And so, coming into range, he charged and swung his axe mightily- only to impact the sludge monster that had just begun to form.

Howling out a Dwarven curse, Molko hacked at the thing while holding his shield up, preparing for its inevitable counter-attack. "Figh' me yerself, yeh bloo'y coward! I dunnae fin' a challenge in yer lil' fat disgustin' creatures!" Molko shouted at Pathos.

He was aware of his vulnerability at the front, especially with the foul, generating monster and its bow-using master. Molko was not one to back down once he had issued a challenge, however.

"All of them," Nid'Ridras replied, a smirk on his face. Dhaelhel had begun to match his pacing, as if she were the one who would devour him. It was quaint.

"However, perhaps I can lay priorities for you. Selwen must survive. If she dies, then I think your adversaries will find this feather to their liking more than yours." Nid'Ridras stopped pacing, his expression turning serious. He would brook no failure on that accord.

"And I will require the blood before you can proceed. Keegan's message and Jarlas' pain... can wait. But I will require them done before you receive your precious feather. Business is business, after all." He smiled at her again.