Rift » Places

         

"She's a mage, just like you."

"Just like you."

"like you."

The words echoed in Jacia's mind as they were walking to the Abbey. Really? What sort of ass-backwards life would one have to live to be so idiotic!? Jacia hadn't even met the priestess, and she already knew they were nothing alike. Without even going into the differences between healing magic and the superior magic that Jacia wielded, there was just no way they could be even remotely similar. She was, after all, a genius, and she knew from experience that there were no geniuses in the priesthood. Closing wounds with her mind? That was the feat that so astounded the farm boy? Jacia had to remind herself that most of the people out here were not as intelligent as she, but it still vexed her. If only he knew what magic was truly capable of!

Jacia returned to reality, finding herself with guard, who was now labeled Iridian Valka, the farm boy, Kai, and the product of the rift, who, after proving to be impossible to accurately label, was grudgingly accepted as Flynn Rowe by Jacia. These people were not used to the structure imposed by scientific inquiry, so she was left with no choice but to abide by whatever they deemed appropriate. Such a shame, too.

The group was within the first steps of the abbey. Jacia made a mental note to stop spacing off and lose track of her surroundings. Such actions lead to catastrophes. She glanced at Flynn, speaking with Iridian about leveling the abbey. Iridian must be either very trusting, or very dense. Or deaf.

And then Jacia wished she were deaf. Kai, who appeared to possess fewer manners than a cow, decided that the best way to get the attention of the priestess was to shriek as loud as the human voice would allow, mere feet from Jacia's ears. She let out a disapproving "hmph!" and turned back to Iridian. He was being polite to Flynn, but remained stern. Iridian, she observed, had no patience for jokes when his dead countrymen were the punchline. She wondered if she could get the man to laugh at least once today. Laughing was healthy.

Although Jacia deeply wished to be studying Flynn like a child studies ants, she figured it would be better for everyone's nerves if the priestess were to examine him first. The wait, however, was killing her, and her feet were killing her. There was a bench, and Jacia had tried sitting, but could not keep still for longer than fourteen seconds(she counted), and so took to pacing the perimeter of the foyer, running one finger along the wall. Feeling the imperfections and bumps along the wall, she soon figured out the pattern. It was barely there, and most people might have considered it truly random. However, Jacia was not most people, and she was able to memorize the pattern. She removed her journal, using the wall as a surface and wrote the pattern down, drew a flower, and then wrote a short poem about the sun.

As it had now been exactly three minutes and twelve seconds since arriving at the abbey without moving forward, Jacia let out an audible, "UUGHHHHH", bunny hopped twice, then calmly walked over to Iridian and Flynn and spoke, "Iridian, would you believe me if I told you that I have read over one thousand books in my lifetime, that I have sat through lectures on spellweaving that lasted nearly six hours, and yet nothing I have ever done has ever been as boring as this?" She put her index finger on his chest and pushed, but he was too heavy for her to even budge and so instead she pushed herself onto her heels and further, to the point where she began to fall. In an attempt at catching herself, she grabbed desperately for Iridian's arm, but she feared her momentum would topple them both if he grabbed her.

How come genius always came paired with awkward?

         

In the brief silence that followed Kai's question, Jacia decided to ignite one of the torches that Cole had left, but not by any conventional means. A spell soon had the torch burning with a green flame and spitting sparks in all directions. Kai considered the safety of lighting the torch in such a fashion questionable, but he knew better than to argue with Jacia.
“Perhaps we should first discover where this tunnel leads.”
Kai wanted to point out that he didn't mean it quite so immediately, but Iridian spoke first, telling the group that plans for later may be rendered useless. Kai agreed with him, but he still didn't want to leave the tunnels with no idea of what to do.
"Well then, sounds like we ought to get going." Kai stated.
With that, Kai raised his torch and began walking down into the tunnels.

The walk was hardly pleasant, water continually dripped from the ceiling onto Kai's head, and he almost slipped over multiple times. At least he didn't have to fear for his life down here; the discomfort in the tunnels was nothing compared to the terror on the surface. Still, that didn't make the experience any more enjoyable, just slightly more bearable.

To make matters worse, the group soon arrived at a fork in the road.
"Well, isn't this just great." Kai grumbled.
He held out his torch down each tunnel to see if he could see anything that might suggest which way to go. The path to the right yielded no results, but the tunnel on the left had something much worse. The butt of a musket swung from the shadows, and its wielder soon followed, along with others of his kind. More Garian soldiers. Kai quickly raised his torch in defense, which proved not be be such a great idea. The torch lit the gunpowder inside the musket, firing its round into the cave's ceiling. The round exploded upon impact, causing stones, bricks and flaming debris to fall down, creating a wall. Looked like they were still beneath the abbey. Fortunately, one soldier had been crushed beneath a state of Sol, but not so fortunately, four of Kai's companions were on the other side of the wall. He didn't have time to look at who was with him and who was on the other side of the wall before he was slammed against the wall with the barrel of the musket being pressed horizontally into his throat. Struggling for breath, he reached for the dagger he had taken earlier and plunged it into the soldier's stomach. He recoiled and released the musket, giving Kai the chance to drive the dagger into his neck. The man fell to the floor with a sickening thud and Kai felt his stomach heave; he had just killed someone. He was inhaling loud, exasperated breaths and struggling to stand while he attempted to come to terms with what he had just done. He took some consolation in the fact that it was a kill-or-be-killed situation, but the fact of the matter was that he had killed a man. However, he knew in order to survive he may well have to kill again, so he raised his axe and waited for the next strike to be made.

         

&

Sir Valka had made the right call- though his distaste for the last resort was visibly hard for him to swallow, he must have known deep down that a villages' worth is not in the land it occupies or the buildings it sports, but rather with its inhabitants. Flynn aimed to provide aegis to them primarily, cutting any other losses out while they still had the opportunity.

As the guardsman fled to round up additional villagers, Flynn noticed that he had left his lance behind. Quickly glancing between the Garian sword he pilfered and his ally's weapon, he immediately traded, preferring the lance's reach and weight. Clasping the lance in one hand and his stolen crossbow and another, he quickly dashed towards the main road to execute his plan.

He arrived briskly at the main cobblestone path- a lone force amidst impeding invaders and retreating villagers. He positioned himself next to a burning abode, as he would need the flames to kindle his vial of oil. He placed Iridians lance and his shield at his feet- the heaviness of his arsenal was beginning to take its toll on Flynn's focus, and he would need an ample supply of it to perform this task.

Igniting an arrow, he took a moment to size up his position. The invasion force had begun to move noticeably faster, though this was probably adrenaline and not so much a tactical decision. They had entered the heart of the village and began pillaging as much as they could.

There was thankfully enough debris strewn about that would cause a fire to spread quite nicely- a move that these invaders had probably intended to be a boon to themselves. Taking aim, Flynn aimed to the right and let loose a flaming arrow, striking the heart of what had once been a humble shop. Lighting another arrow, he fired at a building nearly adjacent to it, and another at a building directly to his right. The flames would soon engulf both their targets and the surrounding wreckage, rendering the entire left side (from the invaders perspective) un-breachable.

Someone in the ranks must have caught on, as the soldiers began to break rank and look for the source of the fire. Fearing he had little time before they caught on to his actions, he quickly lit three arrows and aimed for similarly placed structures on his left. The wreckage was even worse on this side, so he wouldn't have to stick around long to confirm the kindling.

Quickly glancing to make sure that no villager was within eyeshot, he emptied the rest of his oil around the area he was standing, dropping a burning tinder into the puddle to impede the invaders from pursuing him along the main road. He fired a few potshots into the approaching army before throwing away the crossbow. Retrieving his shield and lance, he quickly made way for the abbey, eager to help the remaining villagers escape.
~~~~~

Cadbury had accompanied the two ladies up to the entrance of the abbey, stopping to help fortify the main doors. Though his duty was to protect the princess, he reasoned that the only danger posed to her resided on this side of the abbey- naturally, he would stand guard and help usher as many villagers into the building as he could before re-joining the princess and the priestess.

He had helped to usher one last wave of villagers before seeing Sir Valka bringing up the rear. He hurriedly dashed to meet him.

"Sir Guardsman, I have ushered as many villagers as I could," Cadbury began, "However, the Garian scum are approaching rather rapidly, so I suggest-"

His words were interrupted by the rapid razing of several buildings along the village. His face became pale with horror- that is, until the visage of Flynn came into his sights.

"The fire's been set," Flynn informed Iridian, nodding to the old merchant, "If you've finished your business, then I suggest that we take our leave as well..."