Mageria Talsheir's Story

Luckas took the letter from Mageria and just stared at it for quite a bit of time, his expression blank as he read and reread the words. Slowly, all the events prior to his little breakdown came back to him, one by one. He continued to stare at the letter all the while Mageria spoke and a few moments more after she was done speaking. His silence was interrupted first by a small choking sound that soon turned into a fit laughter. "That's just... PRECIOUS!" He exclaimed, laughing like a lunatic where he sat, tears forming in his eyes from all the laughter. "Ha, that's hysterical!"

Luckas giggled for a few moments more before he managed a deep breath and a more serious tone. "Fair... Now that's a funny word." He mumbled. "Fine, Captain, for you troubles, but... I will make myself very clear on one thing; I am trusting you with this, and I may not be able to do much against you now as is, but betraying my trust gives me more than enough reason to get creative." He crushed the letter into a ball and tossed it aside as he leaned back against a tree; his head still aching, but he ignored. "About, uh... Five years ago or so, Lena tried to save a guy I had attacked. It didn't work, but she managed to unlock his memories and she saw my face. She had been very interested in Matthew, in studying him, but much like everyone else she couldn't get much out of him. She started asking questions in the orphanage, and she found out who I was... When I heard about it I wasn't very happy, because I really had no interest on letting anyone know about me so I tracked her down... I attacked her... And that didn't end very well for me." He made a pause to groan, reaching for his right temple and closing his eyes. He continued to speak however. "She turned my illusion against me... It didn't last long though, and so I ran away. Wasn't long until she caught up me though... Two days later. I just woke up in the plains one day. Lena said she wouldn't call the guard for me if I stayed and let her study me. Then... She mentioned the fact that I could remember anything before I was nine, not even vaguely, and even so... My memory was blurry at best, and my dreams were a whole different level of empty... She promised she could retrieve those memories if I wanted. I actually left, she let me leave, but... I was intrigued by the whole thing and I returned the next day." He opened his eyes with a weary sigh. "I've never met any other telepaths before, I didn't quite know I was one either at the time... They never explained to me what..." He stopped himself and snorted out in anger. "I let Lena study me, test my limits to see just how far she could mess with my head and how long it took me to recover... That included her own enlightenment as well some really fun experiments with hallucinogens. Those went on for months before she seemed to come to some conclusion and tested my blood. Did you know there is a test, Captain? To determine if a person has enlightenment in their blood? Well, there is... And I don't." The statement was followed by a moment of silence, but Luckas didn't let it linger for long. "Lena told me that it was likely someone had granted me the ability somehow, and it was possible that person had also messed with my memory. Unfortunately, my 'gift' in itself was stopping her from retrieving the memories and she said that trying anything more than what she had already tried would be too dangerous, but that she would find a way eventually. She made a promise that she would find out how to give me answers, with the condition I wouldn't kill another person using my ability; when she disappeared three years ago she made it clear that she would come back eventually and that I better keep my word." He snickered softly. "She was not pleased to come back and find me toying with Xypher's mind; she knew that I was going to kill him if she hadn't stepped in. Still bothers me that I didn't, but then... I have better things to do than to hunt old men. She said I didn't keep my end of the deal, so she wasn't going to help me anymore. I argued about it with her and eventually she gave me a task, said she would do as she had promised in return. I went to the plains... To collect. When I got there, though... Well, she pushed me... Repeatedly, and I won't deny I did attack her. That said: I have no clue how that may have caused her death, or what exactly happened to me, but... My memory is... Better." He suddenly exploded in another fit of laughter. "Ain't that funny?"

Once he managed to stop laughing again, Luckas heaved a deep sigh and rose to his feet, finding it hard to keep his balance at first, but recovering rather quickly. "Well, Captain... Not that I dislike the company, but... I think I should get going... After all, my arm kind of hurts right now and I think I should have a healer check it out." He choked on more laughter as he started to walk in the general direction of the White Shadows camp.

Mageria sat leaning against the tree, listening to Luckas. She watched him closely, a bit worried about the way he was laughing. It didn't seem . . . healthy. Still, there was no denying that he was coherent again. She didn't move as he got up, just continued running her fingers through Tala's fur, debating something with herself. It wasn't the best time, but with Luckas, would there ever be a best time?

"Luckas." She turned her head just a little, enough to catch him out of the corner of her eye. "When you were younger, did you have a sister named Samantha Johnson? That you were separated from years ago, who had reason to think you were dead?"

----

It was still very early in the morning as a young lady made her way through a particular path as if she knew exactly where to go. One could imagine that if she did know where she was going, and she had walked all the way there, she had walked a good distance in the dark by herself, and even though she seemed to be only a delicate young lady, this wasn't something a normal delicate lady would do. She kept walking, pacing slowly until she heard a voice, softly, yet firmly, approach her. "Excuse me Miss, I believe you are lost. Perhaps you'd like some help finding where you're supposed to be?"
The young lady slowly pulled back the hood of her dark blue cloak, pulling her long black hair from under the clothing, her bright green eyes curiously examining the two men who now stood in her way, before locking on the man who had spoken, her lips forming a sweet smile as she replied in a soft tone. "You are very perceptive, my kind sir... I am indeed lost, in a way. However, this is not a matter of where, but a matter of who, and I'm afraid I'd need to speak to the person in charge of your camp for aid in this particular matter." She opened her cloak enough to show she carried no weapons underneath it and added. "I am alone and unarmed, as you gentlemen can see, and only wish to talk. Would it be too much ask for a moment of your leader's time?"

The men shared a glance before looking back at the young woman, their tone still polite but firm. "And why is it that you wish to be speaking to our leader? It's rather early in the morning and they're very busy. And why is it that you are so sure that only our leader can help you on this matter?" They were clearly not going to attack right off the bat, but she was going to have to convince them to let her through. There was also the fact that neither one of them wanted to be the one responsible for waking up Mageria.

The lady chuckled softly at the questioning, in simple amusement, before replying. "Well, sir... When one goes to a place with the intent of asking questions, I believe the best thing to do is first speak with the person in command first, no? They tend to be aware of everything. If this is too early or if I come in a bad time, I apologize. I can always wait, or come back at another time, however I would much rather resolve this soon. As for how I'm sure that your leader, or anyone here, may help, well... I'm not sure, only hopeful, and that is a rather personal story, but since it is rather foolish to demand anyone's time without explanation, I will say that I have lost a person long ago, and said person has been recently seen entering this encampment. This person is very important to me and this is the first I've heard of him in years so... I'm afraid there are only two ways to get rid of me, and one of them would most likely lead to someone else bothering you in the future due to my unfortunate... Disappearance." She stated. Her tone was calm and gentle all the while, as if discussing the weather conditions and not trying to convince two armed individuals to grant her access to their encampment. "Please? I promise that, whatever answers I get to my questions, this is the last you'll see of me."

The two men shared one more glance before one nodded and jerked his head. "Come along then. I'd tell you not to try anything funny, but you look like you can figure that out on your own." He lead her down a path through some tall hills and suddenly cut to the left, opening a door that seemed to grow out of the side of one of the hills.
"Through here." He tapped one passing soldier on the shoulder and asked him to get the Captain, before leading her to the side and to a common room that was lit with candles.
"Take a seat, it'll be a minute or two." Around them there were several people eating breakfast, all of whom eyed the newcomer with curiosity.

A couple of minutes later, Mageria entered the room, wrapped in her new coat and with her hair cascading over her shoulders. "Thank you, please give a bit of privacy, would you?" She only had to ask softly before everybody in that part of the room cleared away, giving them a wide space so that as long as they spoke softly, nobody would be able to hear what they had to say.
"Sorry about this, but any place more private is already in use. At least this is out of the wind." She folded her hands on the table in front of her, carefully looking over their newest visitor. "Now, the guards said you were looking for somebody?"

The young woman followed the man quietly and without questions to where she was asked to wait, she took her seat not seeming bothered for having to wait, or by the curious glances of the people around her. She smiled sweetly at a few people as she waited, seeming not at all uncomfortable with being left in a room with strangers. Wasn't long before she was joined by a woman who was unmistakably the one in charge. She took a few moments to observe the woman's face before giving a slight nod and speaking just softly enough not to be overheard. "It's quite alright, Ma'am. First of all, thank you for your time and excuse me if I am being disruptive in any way with my visit. My name is Samantha Johnson, call me Sam if you rather, and yes, that is correct; I am looking for someone. He's a skinny, pale, young man... Black hair, black eyes... Answers by the name of Luckas. I'm afraid he was last spotted entering this encampment although the person I've hired to find him has lost track of him since." She ran a hand through her hair and heaved a small sigh. "It's... Very important that I find him."

Mageria tilted her head to the side. "Might I ask why you are looking for him? It's true that we know him here, some of us not so happily as others, but still. I'm sot the sort to give away information about somebody for no reason."
She kept her face calm and slightly questioning. While it was strange that somebody was looking for Luckas, considering the boy's past it wasn't out of the question. And why the hell was she protecting him considering what his brother had done to her and what he himself had done before Lena chained him?

Because damn it, everybody deserves a second chance.

Fingers lightly tapping the table in front of her, she waited for the other woman's answers.

Sam smiled, a little more nervously now, at the question. "Well, this is... Rather personal, but you sound like you know him enough to care what my business is..." She took a deep breath before answering the question. "Well, Luckas is... My little brother." She admitted. "I was told he and his twin, Matthew, were dead, but after my father passed away a few years ago, I found out that... That was a lie. I have been searching for them ever since. I hired investigators, but they lost track of the two at the Newhaven orphanage. After a lot of digging they picked up a trail again when Matthew died. Apparently, he was killed in prison, but still no sign of Luckas; he simply vanished.." She paused a little and lowered her head a bit, fixing her eyes on the surface of the table before her. "It was a little shocking to discover what Matt had become, what he did... He was such a sweet boy, how I remember him..." She stopped talking for another moment as if forcing herself to stay on the right topic. "As I was saying... No sign of Luckas, until recently. He was spotted in Blackpond, and followed here, but my people lost him once he entered you encampment." She raised her eyes and smiled faintly. "They were unwilling to enter your territory, so I decided to come all the way here myself. Figured, someone here might know something... I haven't seen Luke and Matt since they were six years old... I know nothing about Luckas; who he became, I... I don't think he would even remember me... Hearing some of the things Matthew was known for doing... The thought of him being the same frightens me, but I can't stop looking for him, I can't give him up. I have no other family left." She finished her statement in a clear tone, as if determined not to show any weakness in front of the other woman. "Even if you don't know where he is, or where to find him, anything you tell me, I will appreciate."

"Luckas is . . . complicated." Mageria looked into the middle distance for a long moment, thinking hard. "And I'm sorry, if you care for him the way you seem to, I truly am. But I know him and I don't know you. I'll be happy to pass on a message for you if you like, but I'll not tell you where or when to find him. Just that the message will be passed on, I promise. I hope you understand my position on the matter."
She looked straight at the young woman, evaluating what she had said. If Luckas and Matt were her brothers, then there was a good chance that she was Enlightened as well. Such things didn't necessarily follow family lines, but sometimes they did. So it was possible she was facing someone who had a similar gift to that of Luckas and Mathew. Which made it dangerous to upset her. But at the same time, if she was truly their sister, then she had the right to know the truth. And if she wasn't, well, Mageria couldn't see how it would make a difference.
"I'm afraid that there is no easy way to say this; and definitely no easy way to hear it. But it will come out eventually, I'm sure. Your brother Mattew was killed in prison, during a riot. And I was the one who struck the blow."

"Sure, I understand... That's... Only fair after all..." Sam nodded quietly, listening to the woman speak, her eyes again aimed at the surface of the table as she thought of whether she should leave a message and what to say, hands resting over the surface of the table before her. She was in no way prepared for the statement that came next.

"I'm afraid that there is no easy way to say this; and definitely no easy way to hear it. But it will come out eventually, I'm sure. Your brother Mattew was killed in prison, during a riot. And I was the one who struck the blow."

The words caused a flare of anger on the young woman so forceful that it caused her to abruptly raise from her seat, but it only seemed to last long enough for that and she sat back down soon after, forcing herself to breathe deep a couple of times, a hint of yellow momentarily flashing behind the green tone of her eyes. "I'm sorry, Matt's death is still rather recent for me... I know he was no saint, I've heard the horror stories, but... I..." She heaved a heavy sigh, running one hand through her hair in clear frustration. "I still can't see him as that monster though." She took another deep breath, and forced a smile. "If anything, I appreciate the honesty. As for leavign a message... When you next see Luckas, please tell him he has family and let him know where he can find me... I live just outside of Blackpond, it's a big, rather creepy looking, old house. The paths are hidden in woods, but not so hard to find if you are looking for it." Again, the young woman rose from her seat, this time slowly and carefully. "I think... I must have taken enough of your time, no?"

Mageria nodded, a hint of sadness crossing her face at the young woman's reaction. For all the hell that Mathew had put her through, very nearly driving her to insane suicide, somebody had loved him. He had family, somebody to mourn him. "I'll make sure that Luckas gets the message. I'm sure that he'll be glad to find that he had family, it's a hard thing to believe that you're alone in the world." Mageria held out one hand in a beckoning gesture, calling over one of the nearby guards. "I wish I had been able to give you better news, but perhaps that is in the future, no?" To the guard, "Would you please show our guest out?"

She watched the young woman leave, then carefully followed her. That flash of yellow in her eyes; she was Enlightened. Perhaps like her brothers were. Which meant that it was useless to hope that she wouldn't have some influence over the people in the camp. So far, everybody was astounded that she had any ability to resist Luckas. And she wasn't quite ready to reveal that she had earned that ability. So instead, she followed Samantha from a distance, watching to make sure that she actually left the camp.

I'll tell your brother about you, but are you going to welcome the boy that walks up your front walk someday?

--------------

Mageria didn't move from where she was, still watching Luckas. "I only ask, because she came looking for you the other day."

Luckas stopped walking immediately as he heard Mageria's question; his laughter fading as he felt a chill run down his spine at the name she spoke. Sister? What was she talking about? "Sam..." He whispered, closing his eyes as he tried to remember her.


The six year old boy simply watched with tears running down his face as the one person who had ever shown him kindness was broken down before his eyes. Once the man left the basement, the boy crawled as close as he could to the girl without crossing the line drawn on the stone ground, but he couldn’t reach her. After a moment of hesitation he crossed the line completely. Sitting next to the fifteen year old girl the boy struggled against yet another rule, reaching out his hand and withdrawing it before it touched her face. Her eyes were open, two green lights in the dark cold room. Her breathing was soft and slow as if breathing alone was just too exhausting. He couldn’t. He didn’t have the courage to touch her, but he needed to get her attention somehow. He needed her to know he was there. It took a lot of effort, especially after being silent for as long as he had, but he managed to get his voice to sound just loud enough to be heard, never above a whisper. “S-Sam…” He stammered, calling her name like she had always asked him to do.

The girl opened a faint smile, her eyes closing slowly. “You spoke… Lukey… I’m so proud.” She whispered. “D-don’t let them… Decide… Who you are… Y-you’re stronger… Remember? T-they fear you.” She managed to mumble, reaching for the boy and gently brushing a few strands of black hair away from his eyes.


Luckas felt his mind wander back to reality in a shaky breath and shook his head. "I don't recall ever having a sister, or being told about one... And I don't know who came to you or why, but the only Sam I knew is dead." He stated, starting to walk again without looking back.

Mageria shrugged and started to saddle her horse, shaking out the blanket that Luckas had been wrapped in.
"So that's a no on meeting her then? She seemed very determined to find you again, something about hiring people to track you, walking into Raven camp just on the chance that she could find you. Either way, you might want to watch your back. There's eyes out on the roads, looking for you." Mageria pulled the straps tight, swinging up and settling in. Luckas was walking resolutely away, headed down the path that would eventually lead towards the White Shadows.

Mageria sighed, annoyed at the fact that after everything she had just been through, including keeping the idiot from getting pinned to the wall with a crossbow bolt, he didn't seem to care. But what did she expect?
"She's living in a house outside of Blackpond, if you want to talk to her. Big spooky place, is what she said. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

She'd passed on the message, like she'd promised. The rest would be up to him. She pulled her horse's head around and headed home, chilled to the bone and hungry for the breakfast that she'd never gotten. Maybe the rest of the day would be better.

Like the Twins would allow that to happen.

She got about thirty feet down the road before she pulled up, grimly tapping her fingers on the saddle bow before her. How could she be sure that he wasn't going to go insane again, maybe worse this time? She swore softly, before turning around and following after the retreating figure.

"You might get where you're going a bit faster with a ride, you know." She smiled a bit wickedly. "I've already pissed off the White Guard, why not chance the Wolfpack and anybody else we run across, huh?" She waited a bit while the two of them plodded along the path.
"I'm not going away, Luckas."

Luckas snorted out angrily when Mageria mentioned the house. This wasn't funny at all. When he got back there, he would find out who the hell was behind this and make that person very sorry. He kept silent however, thinking of how impossible it all was... He'd seen her die. She was dead. Someone had done this to mess with him; that was the only answer and he wasn't going to consider any other, because it couldn't be true. He'd realized Mageria rode away as he thought all of this, but honestly he didn't mind. He'd much rather be alone, he'd much rather not show his confusion any further. He was tired of acting like goddamn scared kid in front of others, he'd walk alone and take the time to shake all the feelings off until there was just nothing left to show by the time he reached the plains.

At least that's what he thought.

He hadn't gone too far when Mageria caught up with him; the woman's voice slightly startling him as he was too lost in thought to notice her approach. He didn't react much to Mageria's words, aside from looking up at her a moment and then looking back at the path he was taking. After a moment or two he mumbled. "I'm in no hurry to walk into an encampment filled with enlightened after attacking three of them and killing their most beloved leader, I'm in even less hurry to face the woman's daughter, and I have no interest in having company for whatever results from that. I won't be hallucinating any further, I think... And even if I was, I'm unarmed and way too spent to harm anyone now... If that is your concern, Captain." Knowing that reasoning wouldn't be of much help, he simply changed his path from the one that led to the plains to one that led back to Mageria's own camp, heaving a slightly annoyed sigh. He'd get her to go home one way or another.

Sham sighed as she turned down the final path on the way to the camp. It had been a irritating long journey, with the two newbies giving her odd looks the entire time. She didn’t really care though, so long as they kept their hands to themselves. If they didn’t . . . well you could live with just one hand. Just not very well. Anyways, they were almost there. Tipping her head back, she whistled shrilly, letting the trail guards know that there were friendlies incoming. They would be cranky enough just seeing that there were strangers, she didn’t want to push it.

A horse shout answered her, with one figure leaping from concealment to wrap his arms around her. It was Devin, a training partner and friend.
“Sham!! You’re back woman! What the hell have you been doing, holing up somewhere cushy while we slog through the mud?”
Sham smiled till her cheeks hurt, wrapping her arms around Devin in return. “Nah, been on assignment. No cush job, not no how! Was there with Jake, he had other things to take care of and left me with these two. Says I need to introduce them to the Cap’n.”
Devin looked the two men up and down and sighed.
“Well good luck with that. We’ve had trouble plenty around here, but maybe you’ll catch her at a good time.” He waved them through with one hand.

Mageria had been putting her new recruits through their paces when she heard voices raised at the path into the camp.
“Swords down, walk to cool down. Then I want you to visit the other instructors for testing.” She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and walked over, peering over a couple of heads in curiosity. Suddenly a delighted smile broke over her face.
“Sham! Welcome, well, not back. But welcome to Raven Camp.” She snorted at Sham’s look. “We had some time on our hands, ended up naming some things, having a couple contests, killing a couple monsters. It’s been fun.”
Sham nodded. “Aye. We’d been having fun as well.” She quickly filled Mageria in, hitting the important bits. When she was done, Mageria turned and gave the two men a good look up and down.
“Well, and you two are?”

Mageria smiled and bowed slightly in return, noticing the slight glow in the man's eyes and not about to take the hand he was holding out. She had been around far too long for that and given the look Sham was currently shooting him, she had to guess that it was a trick he had played on her already.
"Well, I'm glad we could help you out of a rough spot. I'm afraid that we're not in a good one ourselves, things are still really rough. But if you don't mind that there's no floor to the rooms beyond the dirt and treat the furniture carefully, I think we'll get along alright." She paused for a moment. "No, really. The furniture still tends to fall apart if you jump on it." She shrugged slightly. "We're soldiers. Good at the blowing things up and waving of swords, not so good with the building of things."

"But either way, welcome. Do you want something to eat or just to rest first?"

[Somewhere close to Raven's Nest, present time]

Moving air, yes, the wind is an incredible thing, something of such importance for the nature. Not only the one that makes pollen travel long distances, eventually bringing it to his partner, and then creating a new plant, but it is also a destroyer. Responsible for breaking the hardest of all trunks in the fiercest storms. The one that gives life and takes it, while being in complete silent. Hearing the wind is almost like looking in what already happened, what is happening, and what will happen, and yet, such force is completely ignored by the ones that should use it. Vane was sat on the ground, not in his usual relaxing position, but in a rigid one, the legs in the most precise position he was once taught; his column kept erect. His eyes were close, and the breathing became rhythmical; the dry sound of the wind moving the leaves and the moving water slowly moved away the man's thoughts, cleaning his mind.

The thoughts of the environment slowly melted through his thoughts; the sounds of the winds, the birds and the flowing water fading into nothingness, until there was nothing left but a void inside the man's mind. As a thunder crosses the sky, his voice found it's way, echoing.

Flow.

-

[ Northern Forest, a few weeks ago ]

Cold air blew through the trees as the birds kept their routine normally, the pallid snow still on the woods' ground, hiding well the once green grass. Indeed a beautiful sight, be it in a warm spring or in the coldest winter, and it would truly be an unusual day, if the lonely, black figure wasn't slowly walking there; it's very existence abrupting the white scenery, and yet it, somehow, disappeared and reappeared from the trees' shadows. Vane walked with the heavy, black jacket closed, black trouser and the boots, trying to be as silent as possible as he hunted a deer. He drew an arrow, making it ready in the bow he held in the left hand. As he was almost ready to shoot the animal that stood less than 10 meters away from him the creature lifted it's head, carefully inspecting the surroundings, alarmed. Vane froze in that position, waiting for the deer's next movement. An arrow was shot from nowhere, missing it and soon making it flee. Vane slowly pushed the string, putting the arrow in the quiver as his back met a nearby tree. The right hand reaching the dagger's grip as he heard two men speaking.


"Idiot! You shot too soon! You . . ."
"Shut up, I didn't see you drawing the string on your bow."
"That's because I have the sense to wait until I have a clear shot."
"If that's what you want to . . . Quiet."

There was a sudden stillness to the area, as if the other two men had withdrawn their presence, allowing silence to echo through the trees. Suddenly, branches snapped on either side of Vane, revealing two men in rough dark dyed leathers, both of them holding weapons. The one on the right held a series of knives while the one on the left held a sword.
"Listen friend, not to sound cranky, but we've laid claim to this area. You're going to have to move on."
The sword carrier raised the tip of his weapon. "We might have missed the deer, but your more our usual target and we sure as hell won't miss you."

"As far as I know, pal," Vane held the dagger firmly with the right hand," anyone in this land is free to roam in it." Vane opened a grin, almost inviting them to fight. "Lucky you..." he sighed as he started walking, allowing both to watch his back as he took four steps, speaking lowly, "that cannibalism is not my kind of thing." He took yet another pair of steps before speaking again, turning so his right shoulder would aim the duo. "So who's the one that proclaimed this land, if you don't mind answering me?"


"We need it, is all. We've had to move on from our former location and we've got a lot of mouths to feed now." The man on the right, the one with the knives was the one who spoke, it seemed as if he was in charge. "As for who we are. . . That's somewhat up in the air right now."

Faintly, but easy to see if one knew to look for it, each of their weapons held on it somewhere a black crescent moon. The symbol of the Black Guard of Newhaven.


Black Guard? So they are here..., were the words that crossed Vane's mind as he saw the usual symbols. He knew that the Black Guard had problems around a month ago, Zein spoke that to him a few days after they reached Newhaven, but knowing their location was something far more interesting than only knowing the news. . . Vane released the dagger's grip, a more friendly grin showing on his face. "Guess we started with the wrong foot, eh?" Vane passed the bow to his right hand, showing the left one and moving his head as if he wasn't interesting in fighting.

The one in charge smiled briefly. "Yeah, well. We really do have a lot of people to feed. And as you can see," he gestured off the way the deer had fled. "We really are not good at the whole hunting four footed creatures. So if you don't mind, we need to get to it." The two of them turned and started off following the trail the animal had left behind, both pulling out bows that they nocked arrows to.

Vane nodded, "Don't worry. I'll be out of your territory before the sun rises." He took a few steps, holding his bow now with the left hand. Hope to see you two in less than three hours. The tall man checked their trail, almost making a straight line; he quickly moved through the trees to his camp, the freezing air cutting his face. Destiny offered him a chance to meet the Black Knights, it wouldn't be polite to deny such offer.

The sun settled in Valcrest, and Vane walked, wondering why so many people thought that the darkness were menacing. Yes, they had that mysterious nature, the one that makes almost everything that's easily seen in the day, invisible in the night, and that was incredible. A small refuge for those who do not wish to be seen. Vane hoped that the trail made a line to their camp, he really wasn't willing to find wood to make a campfire in the night. Sounds quietly moved through the trees, and the man could bet that they became louder after a few minutes walking. He smiled, those sounds were not made by bugs, birds, but were made by a very specific animal. Humans.

He moved more slowly, kneeling once he was in the outskirts of the camp, eavesdropping a conversation.

"Where the hell are we going to get one of those?"
"Where else? Steal it maybe."
"Oh, that'll go over well."
"Yeah, but what choice do we have?"
"Hey, we could always earn the money the old fashioned way. We could probably get a good fist full of silver for you for a night . . . So long as they were half blind. And drunk."

From behind Vane came a slightly tart, amused voice, accompanied by a sword blade resting on his shoulder next to his cheek.
"Much as I''m not thrilled to find a stranger looking in my windows, if you dare go in there, you'll find yourself mauled. By a six year old with absolutely no mercy."
The person the voice belonged to slowly walked around Vane until she could see his face.
"That being said, I do believe that you might be better off explaining things to me."

Interesting... the man silently moved, although he was crouched, he kept his distance from the lights, being sure that the darkness wouldn't allow anyone to see him. He checked the camp, calmly analyzing it, being sure after a few minutes that they were indeed the Black Guard. Vane decided to follow his intuition, exiting the shadows and moving to a nearby house. He didn't had any reason to do it, he could easily reach the camp by the morning and announce who he was, but right now, entering that house sounded like a better idea. He checked the house's surroundings, the dagger held by his right hand, the blade itself hidden inside his jacket's sleeve, when a sound came from the place he least expected.

A small grin appeared on the man's face, "well, first... back in my days the Black Guard stepped a little bit louder. But thanks for telling me why I shouldn't go in there, I'll keep that in mind."

Mageria tilted her head to the side, raising one eyebrow as she looked the man up and down. "Back in your day, huh? A thing or two has changed since then, I"m afraid. For one thing, we don't take kindly to strangers any more. Especially one's who wander in unannounced. So perhaps you want to explain what your doing here before I throw you to the non-existent mercy of children who need a nap?" She gestured ever so slightly with the sword blade. "Now, who are you and what are you doing in my camp?"

Your camp... Vane looked to the blade, he knew that person. "Well... since your men, Cap'n Mageria Talsheir, made my dinner ran into the forest," he emphasized the words 'your' and 'my', "I decided that it would be kind of you to offer me something to replace it. Since times have changed...", he raised his right arm, showing the dagger being only held by his index and middle fingers, he let the blade fall, it's tip easily perforating the soil, "I'm not really in the mood of fighting, especially with you."

Mageria sighed. "Well, if they made your dinner run off, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer in return. We've too many mouths to feed and next to nothing to put in them. I can offer a place by the fire, but that's about it at the moment. And as for the rest," she hesitated a moment and then sheathed her sword. "How do you know who I am?" She looked him up and down but he didn't look familiar in anyway. "Have I threatened you before?"

"I haven't been threatened by you until... well, now; I guess times didn't changed at all, did they? You were sort of famous around three years ago Cap'n, in the siege... maybe, no, surely we weren't presented before. Maybe 'Vane Ross' or 'Daemonos' makes you remember something?"

"Hmm. Daemonos eh? I seem to remember somebody earning that name during the last siege of Newhaven. They saved a couple of my people from unfriendly attentions, so if that's really you I'd say I owe you thanks at least." She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Which would seem to imply that you were with the Guard for a while. Before you vanished, of course." She shrugged. "Not that I can say anything about that, given my current conditions. But still, Vane Ross. What brings you to this neck of the woods? Specifically, why are you sneaking around my cabin?"

"Ah; it's your cabin... I'm sorry for that..." the man exhaled deeply, trying to think in the next phrase, "maybe the Twins are just playing with us, or it's just a random coincidence, choose whatever you prefer, all I know is that I had a small guess than I should be here a few weeks ago, and another hunch a few minutes ago that I should look at this... cabin. Again, believe in what you want, this is my side of the history." Vane's face and hands also showed his lack of knowledge about the subject. He was, sometimes, a bit skeptical about the Twins, but something he learned was that coincidences do not exist. "And then here I am. Mind if I get my dagger? Little thing saved my life more than once and has some... sentimental value."

Mageria shrugged and gestured with one hand. "Go ahead. And I suppose . . . the least we can do is offer you some dinner to make up for what you lost. If you'd like?" She wrapped her coat more securely around her and turned towards the barracks house, leading Vane in. Once inside and settled at the table, she raised one hand and quietly asked for food for two. The man she was talking to nodded and returned in a few moments with some bread and stew. Mageria thanked him and dug in without a word, obviously as hungry as the other people around her. From where they were sitting, it was possible to see that there were in fact a couple of children living in the camp, they sat a table over with their own food. It was also easy to see that they were the only one's being given full bowls, and that everybody else's stew was on the watered down side. But no one made a comment, instead simply eating everything that was available and cleaning the bottom of the bowl with the bread.

"Vane? I was wondering, while you've been in the area, have you seen anything really strange?" Mageria's voice was soft and causal, as if she wasn't really concentrating on what she was saying.

The man swallowed the stew without speaking a word, his dagger already inside the sheathe. He analyzed the barracks carefully, noting the conditions, wondering if those conditions were from the recent change to that camp. "Well Cap'n, it really depends on what you consider strange. A type of bird may be considered strange, maybe an animal... even a person can fit in that category. It's... quite subjective." Vane ate a piece of bread after sticking it inside the stew. Definitely not the best stew or bread in the world, but food is food, at least for him. Vane quietly laughed for a moment, lowering his voice as the laughter ended. "But let's quit those games Cap'n, what's happening and what are you hunting?"

Mageria raised her gaze to meet his, eyes dark and grave. "A Demon."

She looked back down at her stew and carefully ate a few more bites, before planting both hands on the table and leaning forwards to keep her words between the two of them.
"During the siege of Newhaven, Daniel Zimmerman called on a forbidden magic. I don't know why, but it was to give him the strength to protect those around him. From what I found afterwards, he thought that he had altered the ritual enough that he could call on one of the Twins and not pay the price. It worked, for a short time. But afterwards, the Beast took over. I fought it," her hand reached up and absently traced the claw marks over her left eye. "And it fled the field. It's been gone for three years now, off doing the Twins know what. But now . . . " she fell silent once more.

"Now I hear it in my dreams once more. It's here. Somewhere."

Sighing, she drew her gaze back from the memories of the past and looked at Vane with one raised eyebrow. "So, what say you? Am I insane as well as a disgraced exile?"

As Mageria spoke about the battle, specially after she touched the claw mark Vane's own scar started to hurt, as if it was lighted on fire. The man tried to remove that from his mind, although the pain persisted. "I've heard a few rumors back in those days... at first I thought that war got way too deep inside someone's mind and forgot about it. But now," he looked to the woman's scar for a few seconds, once he blinked his gaze met Mageria's, "I wouldn't say you are insane Cap'n... if you are, then I'm glad to say than I too lost my mind."

"Found a few days ago some... interesting marks in a tree along some... unusual footmarks. Looked like something hit it with claws of some sort. Never saw an animal big enough to cut that deep or that had claws that would do that... kind of damage; does that tells you anything?"

A fey smile touched her lips and fled, along with an odd light in the back of her eyes. "It means that the plans that I've been making for the past three years are finally going to be put to use."

It's time for one of us to die.

With a gentle sigh, Mageria stood up, pushing away from the table. "Thank you for the information, Vane. But if there's nothing else, then I'm afraid that there's somethings that need to be taken care of. I won't ask you to take part in a battle that you have no part of, so you may want to clear the area for a little while. But for tonight . . . there's room by the fire." With that Mageria turned to leave.

Vane raised his eyes, speaking calmly. "Destiny doesn't roll dices Cap'n. I'll be around if your hospitality allows me to." He sighed, knowing that he was about to enter something bigger than him. As if he knew that darkness lied on the horizon. "Until then... I'll see if I can add some... extra food to your men's plates," he now smiled, "a small way to pay your hospitality."

A genuine smile shone on Mageria's face for a moment. "That would be most appreciated. Thank you." She tipped her head in a nod and ducked out of the room, calling on a couple of the Guard as she passed. It was obvious that she really had been planning for a while and was starting to put those plans in motion.


-

[ Raven's Nest, a day after the archery contest]

“Really? So you are the guys that Cap'n sent to me?” Vane was sat on the cold ground as he saw the men he was supposed to train; his bow rested on his leg and a sympathetic smile was pressed on his face. Five men, all of them had won incredible results on the contest and every single one of them apparently had the will to learn something and Vane could almost hear their bows' strings calling their hands. Vane stood up and his back met a tree's trunk, he was the oldest from the group, which was something good. Respect is something very important when you're hunting with someone else at your side. He looked at the men, all of them with clothing that would protect them from the wind, yet none of them wore heavy armors. The tall man wondered if Mageria told them not to do it or they chosen that for themselves.

“All right, you're the best of everyone in this camp with the bow, and this is something that we cannot allow to go unnoticed. I've been hunting on these woods for the last few days, some of you may have noticed that the cookers added some meat on your dinners. Not much, but enough to breathe some new life in that stew, am I right?” All men nodded immediately, Vane's grin grew, they really had the will of hunting. “That's good. Before entering those woods,” he pointed to the forest with his right hand's thumb, “I will tell what's going to happen. First: For an hour I'll show to you all trails and how to find them. You all will need a keen eye to find them, but that will be easy after you all found those targets in the woods,” laughter filled that clearing for a few seconds, being only interrupted when Vane raised his voice. “Second: Once that hour is gone, we're splitting the group. Since it's yours first day we will be hunting in duos. That's something tricky, because you all will need to trust your partner with your life, so if any of you had a fight or argued at least once, I want it to be forgotten.” Vane emphasized the following word, “otherwise you can leave and go back to the camp. Right. Now.” His face grew serious and no one moved, within time the usual smile reappeared. “Great, I want you all to choose your partners, the last one will team up with me.” Vane waited for a few minutes, once one of the group got close to him and nodded he spun on his right foot and looked behind. “Let's go then, and be quiet.”

--

[Raven's Nest, present time]

As the images and sounds disappeared, the void filled Vane's mind, yet with it came another sensation; one that he didn't felt in a long time. Some would have called it strange, something that it's hard to feel without have a keen conscience while living in a city's haste. A quick, strange and dramatic feeling, something that Vane called inner peace. His eyes opened, and the tall man stood up. The sunrise happened a few hours ago and he should gather some men to hunt, after all, that was the very reason Mageria allowed him to stay. Smiling, he unsheathed one dagger, holding it dearly with his left hand as he walked back to the camp; some sips of dry blood laid on the silver blade, yet that didn't remove the smile on Vane's face. His mind clearly knew the way, so the man allowed himself to check the dagger for a few more seconds; he mused in his thoughts until he collided with something. Vane was brought back to reality rather quickly, thinking, at first, that he had hit a tree but once the phrase “Sorry. Rough night sleep.” sounded through the woods, he knew who he just met. Quickly, he sheathed the dagger, and scratched the back of his head with the other hand. His usual friendly grin appeared on his face as he started to speak.

“Good to know I'm not the only one that had a though time sleeping last night. Are you hurt?”

Crys recognize the person she had run into as someone who was in the tournament, but she couldn't identify the man any better that. She frowned slightly thinking about the man's question before smiling softly. "Well friend, it depends on the nature of your question; I am not injured, if that is what you mean, but... I'm afraid I am just as hurt as everyone else. We are all hurting in one way or another, isn't that so?"

Vane laughed for a few seconds, wondering why she had that phrase in her mind. The man crossed his arms as he spoke; a serious expression crossed his face but soon disappeared. "Now that's a tough question to answer, specially at this time of the day." He smiled again as thoughts crossed his mind, being hungry makes it quite harder too. "I guess we weren't introduced to each other. Name's Vane, what about you, my friend from the Crimsons?"

Crys tilted her head slightly at the sound of the man's laughter, a curious expression in her face as she snickered. "You think I'm one of Dastan's people? Now that's precious..." Her expression turning a little more amused as she added. "Vane? You're the guy who took Indrani's horse!" She laughed. "You best take it back unscathed because you'd not like to anger that woman, believe me. I'm Crystal, Crystal River. Very nice to meet you, sir."

"Well, I took a horse from the camp, but I have no idea who Indrani is," Vane scratched his head again as he faintly smiled, hopefully Zein will keep it in one piece. "So you're really from Dastan's camp, wasn't really sure about that... Truth is that I saw you speaking with Cutey Eyes a couple times and your skin tells me you've been through a dry and sunny land for some time." The wind blew again, the trees' leaves following it's direction; Vane distracted himself for a while, when he returned he saw Crys' smile. "And there it is! A smile makes everyone's day better, right m'lady Crystal?"

Crys chuckled softly at the man. "I'm not from Dastan's camp, I'm from the forest, my friend. I have been living in the desert however for that past three years or so. So your assumption is accurate... And you saw me talking to who now?" She asked, laughter escaping her as she knew exactly who he was talking about. "Have you actually called Allison that to her face? And she didn't made a pin-cushion out of you? Well, I have to say I'm impressed." She snickered. "I don't know about smiling, but this has certainly made my day."

When Crys stopped laughing she stood silently for a moment or two. "How about you, Mr. Vane? From Newhaven, most likely... You don't sound like one of the Blacks though, even when they're polite they tend to have a more casual tone, much like the Crimson too, but not you... You sound a little higher up the nobility scale, even while casual. White Guard, or Knight maybe, but not currently or I would've heard of you before... Have you come for the contest, or do you have friends here?"

Vane raised an eyebrow, "Must say that I'm impressed m'lady; I was born in Newhaven and spent all my left there, except for these last three years." The man smiled as he closed his eyes, speaking as he opened them, "everybody needs some time to think about his or her life one day or another." Vane took a couple steps toward the camp's direction, looking over his left shoulder to face Crys as he stopped. "Now how I saved Ali and managed to survive after calling her that, plus how I got in this camp are some laughable stories," he laughed for a few seconds, "it seems like you and I could use some food, and I have to pick some stuff in the camp to hunt. If you're willing to follow me for a couple minutes I'd happily tell you some funny lullabies." The tall man smiled as he waited for the answer.

Crys hesitated for a moment at the offer to go with Vane. She should find Ali and let her know of what was going on, but... She doubted there was anything that could be done at the moment, and she wasn't sure of anything quite yet anyway. She sighed, a slightly saddened smile appearing across her face as she nodded slightly and answered, walking along through the path towards the camp. "Suppose I could spare a couple of minutes... I have some things to take care of, but honestly... They're not going anywhere and I'm in no hurry to get to them."

The man smiled, "it's a bad idea to meet your problems with an empty stomach, no one ever told you that?" Vane started to walk once Crys was near him; he laughed again as the recent memories of how he got into the camp walked across his mind. "Gotta say it's a funny story how I got in here. Actually, I wasn't even searching for Mageria's people or knew they were near here, but her hunters' arrows managed to scare my dinner away. Quite a rude thing, I was ready to eat like a king that night and then my dinner just runs, anyway, after we had a very nice and calm talk the middle of the woods..." Vane kept his friendly tone, always laughing when he spoke his ironies, sometimes exaggerating his voice to make it sound a little bit funnier. "Then a couple seconds after that, we were eating some stew in the barracks! Didn't even looked like Mageria had a dagger on my neck a few minutes before. Funny how life is sometimes, isn't it?" Vane stood still for a few seconds as he watched the Nest's early routine, smiling as always. "And we're at the Nest, maybe we still can find some food, and I'll be able to bore you less." The man laughed as he took a few steps towards the barracks, keeping a keen ear to see if his conversation partner followed him.

Crys listened to Vane with interest and amusement, even though she kept silent on their walk. She was anything but hungry, but she wasn't going to argue with the man that it was best to get some food. "People are many things, friend, but boring is not one of them... Not really. My father always used to say that we don't get bored of people when they are uninteresting, but when we're not interested to see them. Me? I'm a lot of things at given times, but I'm never bored." She sighed softly and smiled taking in the sounds and feels of the camp. People were whispering amongst themselves, excited, curious, and concerned over the fact that Mageria had left in a hurry, for what she could understand. A slight frown crossed her expression, but she brushed it aside. "So... You said you saved Ali? Is that so? She told me is that you stole her bow, and yet you survived that as well..." Crys added playfully, absently slowing her pace as they approached the barracks.

"I didn't exactly stole from her, my guts told me it belonged to Cutey Eyes and so I kept it for the bow's own safety." Vane looked behind, noticing that Crys walked a little behind him, "I too have a precious bow, wouldn't enjoy to see it shattered after an uncautious soldier stepped on it. Plus I'm sure no one would ever see the soldier after that." The man laughed as he entered the barracks, holding the door open until Crys walked across the portal. "As how I saved Cutey Eyes' life isn't a funny story, quite bloody if you ask me. I'd love to tell you that everyday when I meet old friends I manage to kill two dozens of strangers while helping people I've never seen in my life and I also save a lady, but, sadly, that only happened that day." Vane gestured to a worker as he sat on a chair, asking for two plates with something to eat. "But that girl really has some will to live; I've seen some people dying with smaller wounds... or maybe there are some great healers at the desert. And what's your story Crystal? Looks like you have lots of them to tell."

Crys smiled kindly at whoever had brought them food and chuckled softly at Vane's words. "Allison is... Foolishly brave and annoyingly stubborn. She almost died a few times in the ten years I've known her, but honestly... I think Lady Death just doesn't want to deal with her." She stated playfully. "As for stories, well... I have my share of them, yes... but I if told you half of them I'd have to kill you, and the other half you just wouldn't believe." She stated. "My story in itself is quite simple; born and raised in the Wolfpack, became Alpha a little over three years ago and lost the clan within months. Word got around that the current Alpha killed me, so I kept quiet in the desert and let my name die. As it turns out playing dead didn't help for long so... Here I am." She sighed heavily beginning to fiddle with her food, but not eating. "I'm a little glad to get out of the desert; the air in the forest is much more... Alive, don't you think?"

"Alive? Have to agree with you but I could live better without the bugs every now and then," Vane laughed softly as he ate a small portion of his food, resting the flatware as he started to talk once again. "Now it's pretty much a surprise that you were an Alpha from the Wolves, plus it doesn't sound right that you would be killed by Sean." He ate another bit os his food. "But that's my guess, I could be wrong. And maybe you should try to tell me one of your unbelievable stories, since the beginning of the month I've heard and seen lots of things." The man looked at Crys while he ate again, almost ending the food on his plate.

"Is it surprising that I was the Alpha? Why is that? Do I seem too nice to run an assassin clan?" Crys chuckled. "I'm not sure whether I'm flattered or insulted now... Huh..." She stated, starting to eat slowly as she thought about it. "Oh, Sean came very close, very much indeed... He's not the best fighter of the two of us, but then... He's not one to bother with things such as fair fights." She smiled. "He doesn't have this though..." She stated, pulling a silver chain that hung around her neck, which held two rings. She showed one of them to Vane. "You see, all the clan assassins have a ring like this, but this one has a little 'alpha' engraved on it as well... And is only worn by the Alpha. Sean was supposed to have taken it from me when he challenged my leadership, but Ali intervened before he had the chance to do that, or kill me for that matter, so... I left with it. There hasn't been one Alpha in the clan who ruled without it. I know he still wants to take it. He knows he needs to take it... We'll have our fair fight someday. Sooner or later." She slowly chewed on some more food before adding with a grin. "Now THAT... That will be one hell of a story." She stated, hiding the silver chain and its two rings on the inside of her shirt.

"Come on, don't be offended because that was pretty much a compliment. An old saying tells us that appearences can be very deceiving; now an assassin that doesn't look like an assassin is indeed way more," the man emphasized the following word with a wide grin on his face, "dangerous than an assassin whose scars tell his whole career." Vane ate the remainings of his plate before his speech restarted. "Now a battle for a ring which is an unique sign between a very strict group of people indeed sounds like something worth of songs and legends. I wonder if that ring was the reason the Wolves attacked Dastan's camp, or maybe there's something more...?"

Crys shrugged. "Sean had threatened to attack the Crimson if Dastan didn't turn me in, but... For what I heard, he claims someone acted behind his back, and I partly believe that, because Sean was never one to deny being a psychotic asshole, but then... He could be lying because he is a psychotic asshole, so... Yeah." She chuckled, finishing her food before speaking again. "Well, I'm flattered that you find me dangerous, Sir, although I do have my scars... Now, don't we all?" She asked with a little smirk. "I think Sean wants to kill me more for the kind of threats he thinks I may pose other than for the ring... He thinks he won't have peace as long as I'm out there... Poor idiot doesn't understand that he'll never have peace either way." She sighed softly, slowly finishing off her food before speaking again. "As much as I would love to sit and talk all day about Sean and the many things that make him an idiot, I'm afraid some problems tend to throw little fits if you don't pay attention to them soon enough." She said with a little exaggerated sigh. "So I should get back to where I was going."

"Ah... problems; lucky are we who have them, since we might learn something as they are solved by us." The man's smile widened for a few seconds, "on another note, who am I to prevent you from sorting your troubles, m'lady Crystal?" Vane's elbows met the table, his fingers crossed themselves as the hands united; his face kept the grin as it almost touched the fingers. "Even I have something to deal with, which may or may not be related directly to Sean and the Wolves” At least I can't figure a direct connection with them right now... "Might be something interesting, or then maybe I reached a new level of paranoia." The tall man laughed for a second. "But who knows, eh? But... in case it is actually related to the Wolves, I'll try to keep you in touch, if you do want to acknowledge something about that subject, of course..."

Crys smiled gently as she rose from her seat. "Well, Mr. Vane, I'd like to say all problems can be solved, but unfortunately some things cannot be fixed, only dealt with. This seems to be one of those. Still... It's best to deal sooner rather than later." She stated with a little chuckle. "It's been very nice meeting you, friend. I'm sure we'll have better opportunities to talk soon. I'd be more than interested in anything you can tell me, Wolf related or not." She she said, bowing her head slightly as a parting gesture as she started to leave.


The man smiled as he saw Crystal leaving the chair, "I do have a feeling that we will meet again, and soon m'lady; hopefully I'll have something interesting to say, right?" Vane still smiled, wondering what would be his conversation partner reaction. "Until then, I wish you good luck at dealing with your things, my friend." Vane saw the woman walking across the door and he rested his head on his hands. Still recalling the archery contest day and the unknown traveler and his unique trail. Maybe it's time to return home... just maybe.

Mageria nodded at Irvin. “Well, we are a bit short of space, but there’s a corner or two we can tuck a spare bedroll in. If you want to head that way,” she nodded towards the barracks, “and ask anybody, they’ll find you a spot. Sleep as long as you like, we’ll find something for you to do after that.”

She looked at Darren. “As for you, we do know quite a bit about codes and breaking them. I’d be glad to look at whatever it is if you want, or you can just give me a sample. Whatever you’re comfortable with. The food is at the end room of the barracks, and then somebody will find you with the chores. We’re not shy about asking for help around here.”

She shrugged slightly then turned towards Sham. “And what happened that took you so long to break out? I thought for sure that you would have been here weeks ago.” She eyed Sham up and down. “Are you loosing your edge? And you obviously didn’t get enough to eat.” It was true, Sham was at least a size smaller than she had been and she was on the small side to begin with. “Come on then. You can give me your report along with a good hot meal. We’ve finally got enough meat in the stew for you to chew. Makes all the difference in the world.” She clapped Sham on the shoulder and steered her towards the barracks and their kitchens, waving for the two newcomers to follow them.
Sham sighed and followed helplessly, it was pointless to argue when Mageria was in this sort of mood. Better to just keep your head down and endure.

Mageria tilted her head back and grinned wickedly, her eyes lightening to a brilliant green. "Actually, Jake's one of mine. But if you play your cards right, you can join the club." She kept walking. "And no. You couldn't handle us."

A muffled snort could be heard from Sham's direction, but she just kept walking.

“....Ebony....” Ess breathed, the color from her irises draining to a dull grey before flashing an iridescent violet, shadows circling her eyes. With a subtle pat, Shockwave had turned about, so that they faced the three figures directly, coming to a halt, staring long and hard from Xypher toward the haggard older woman. When Ess had heard her name called out, her form went rigged, recognizing the man’s voice yet not believing her eyes that either of them were standing before her. Ess absently glanced over the tall man in full armor, her attention focused mostly upon her old Mistress. It wasn’t possible. How was she found? Most importantly: How the hell was Ebony still alive.

“Lady Death spit you back from the bowels of hell, hmm?...Mistress...” Essence spat mockingly, her tone low, still soft as always but with an icy edge. She remembered the day the woman was found, gurgling and vomiting her last breaths...or so she thought. Ess saw the woman, wide-eyed and motionless hanging off her bed and she couldn’t understand what she did wrong. Over and over her mind retraced the steps she took in researching, preparing, and administering the poison into Ebony’s dinner. She had given more than was necessary for death, basking in the lengthy and torturing amount of time it took for the woman to pass...”...Guess I have ghosts haunting me as well, Luckas..” Ess mumbled to herself, sliding off the horse who was neighing and stamping uneasily, his head lowering as if listening to the group. Without a second thought, Ess drew her dagger and matching sword, the relic blades reflecting off the light, shining a beam across the trampled snow, a reflection of the strange markings written upon the white. Holding the blades in a relaxed position at her sides she took a step forward, noting how time and the aftermath of Ebony’s ‘illness’’ had only been fittingly cruel. The woman dressed as always, showing off the wealth she had accumulated from the slums of her business, her form pointy, the skin falling off the bones practically matching the skeletal appearance of her sunken in turquoise eyes. “Since you lost your way, I’ll be more than happy to send you in the right direction....about six feet that way..” Ess gave a short laugh, nodding towards her feet, Shockwave snorting an agreeable whinny.

Ebony lit up like the stars, clapping in her excitement. “Seems Lady Death couldn’t handle me, aye Birdie? I know....about your involvement, and Derrik and I had agreed to keep my...recovery a secret...you understand...” Ebony’s eyes narrowed, her amused expression fading as she stared at the weapons in Ess’ hands. “Those...are not yours, Pigeon....” The hag’s fingers clenched as the realization of her brother’s death came clear. “..So YOU thought you could take out our entire family....and steal from us? You still belong to me....you may believe you’ve changed..” Ebony gestured to the woman’s attire and black feathers dangling in her hair, “..prancing around like...a ...warrior? Only fooling yourself. Honestly, can’t blame you though.” Ebony’s voice hissed like a snake, “Revenge...seems rules us both...I took your family from you..and you took mine in return...”

Ess glanced from Xypher, to the man beside him, and back to Ebony, raising the blades higher at her sides. Her eyes flickered side to side, as she stepped forward thinking on the woman’s last words, not quite understanding. “You stole my ability to have a family...yes..”

Ebony suddenly laughed, interrupting Essence. “Oh! You still don’t know? How delightful....” Ebony slinked closer to Xypher and his guard as she continued, still smiling menacingly. “He didn’t die that day, Birdie...but what does it matter, hmm? You’ll always be a whore!”

Essence felt like someone had just hit her in the head, her knees shaking a bit, taking a step back as the memory came back to her. After her encounter with Luckas only earlier that day, her patience was in no mood for riddles or games. “No...you lying...bitch..”

~ 17 Years Ago, BlackPond~



“Puuush, Essence!” Jodi cried. “I can see the head, keep pushing!”

Ess was scared shitless, since she was only twelve years old and having a baby when she was still practically one herself. Living the life of a ‘working woman’ in the body of a child had not weighed lightly upon the young girl. This may have been her first child but she had been pregnant three other times and was either forced to end the pregnancy or it didn’t last through the second trimester due to the stresses of her profession. Not knowing what to do or what to expect, she did know that she wanted this one to live. The ideal of becoming a mother, even in her ignorance, gave her a new found hope that she had thought she lost over the years.

Ess gave one final push, sweat pouring down her neck, curly locs matted against her skin as her head fell back against the pillow. ‘In cleansing breath..and out...” She recited to herself as the midwife cut the cord and took the baby across the room to Ebony. Ess closed her eyes, listening to the sudden silence. “What is it? Why isn’t it crying? Is it ok?” Her eyes peeked open in tired slits as she continued to mutter questions in exhausted whispers.

The baby didn’t cry. It didn’t appear to move as Jodi began smacking it along it’s back, her eyes fluttering from Ess to Ebony with an empty look on her face. Ebony took the tiny baby from the midwife, wrapping it in a white cloth, now spotted from the after birth, and disappeared out the room with a sadistic smile curling her lips. Jodi came over to Ess, resting a hand sympathetically along her shoulder. “I’m so sorry darling...he didn’t make it.”

Ess’s eyes widened, her purple iris’ glistening as tears began leaking across her face. “He?...Where...is Ebony taking my baby...?” She whispered sadly, almost in a whine, gradually her tone growing louder as the realization that she would not be holding her baby finally seeped into her. “Where....is that BITCH taking my baby??!! Why can’t I see him?!” She began screaming and thrashing in her bed, Jodi pressed to hold her down afraid she would injure herself. When her screams and pleas faded into wails, she had managed to slip away from Jodi’s grip, falling onto the floor, her pale flesh stained with a rust like color. “Why....is she doing this to me? Jodi?!”

Jodi hugged the young girl close, gently rocking her back and forth. “Shh...now sweetie. It’ll be ok. Shhh....rest...I don’t want you bleeding out.”

“I don’t care....” Ess muttered between sobs.

Some time passed before Ess ran out of tears, her body still trembling in her despair. “Essence...what would you have named him?” Jodi whispered soothingly into her ear. “What name do we send with his soul to the Twins to watch over?”

Ess narrowed her brows as she thought through the few different names she had chosen, but that when she got to see the baby she thought one of them would speak to her. Now, she wasn’t sure what would be fitting for her son; that she had no memory of. With a sigh she muttered, “Aldwin...he could of been an Aldwin....”

~Present~

There was no warning, no hesitation. Ess didn’t even realize she was lunging at Ebony as she screamed in a hellish fury, darkened veins pulsating around her eyes as they darkened spreading out like branches across her cheekbones. “I AM NOT A WHORE! TELL ME WHERE MY SON IS?!! I’LL KILL YOU....KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!”

~~~~~~~~

RAVEN'S NEST

Darren followed the Captain, keeping in stride with Irvin, he playfully pushed back against the boy’s nudge and snickered. He couldn’t hold back his series of chuckles at the boy’s comment and simply nodded as the chuckles continued, his eyes trailing after the red head curiously. Leaning towards Irvin, his attention still in front of him he whispered, “...I dunno about trying to handle that one, buy hey, there were a couple more I saw in Jake’s head...maybe you’ll run into them here too?”

Darren didn’t realize how hungry he actually was until he began spooning the stew between his lips, a satisfied grin curling his lips. He waited til he got a few bites in before rummaging in his pack for his father’s journal, waiting for a moment to grab the Captain’s attention.“M’am? This..here was/is my father’s, which Irvin here and your man Jake was able acquire for me. Maybe you've heard of him? Asher Hearst?... I can only assure you..I am nothing like the man. I did not take over the family business...involving in his war profiteering or the people he involved himself in.” Darren took a breath, his expression serious yet his gaze was still soft, pushing the journal towards Mageria. “I know he’s involved in more than the obvious..and everything is in that book. Transactions...his own personal thoughts...and last up to date ‘inventory.’” Spooning the last of his meal into his mouth, he tilted back the bowl to drink the broth. “All of that is encoded. As you can see, each section is encoded differently and the bits I’ve started, I discovered are of his personal logs. I would be willing to share any and all information discovered within those pages in exchange for your assistance.” With a sigh, the young man absently began cracking his knuckles. “I believe I’m in well over my head...”

Mageria took the journal and started flipping through the pages, eyes scanning the pages rapidly. There was a pattern there, clearly a code that could be broken. It would take her some time, but she felt confident that she could break it, given time.
"Looks like a challenge. I'd be glad to help, gives me something to think about. It's been a bit boring around here lately."
She took a bit of bread and wiped the last of her broth up; it was too good to waste at this point. And the addition of fresh meat meant that they could chew it without risking a tooth.

Besides them Sham was busily working on her third bowl of stew, normally it would have been a glutinous waste, but she had lost enough weight during the past month that she needed it. Without replacing that, she was going to fall on her face the next time she tried to use her ability.
"Cap'n" She mumbled a bit around a chunk of some kind of vegetable, honestly she was eating too fast to tell what it was. "How much did you manage ta bring with? We makin' do or doing well?"

Mageria looked over and shrugged. "Somewhere in between, really. It was bad at first but we're getting better at it." She gave Sham a measuring look. "And I know what you're thinking, no we do not need to go 'acquire' things back at Newhaven. Don't even ask." Sham just shrugged and looked as innocent as she could. Mageria just shook her head and turned back to the two newcomers.
"So, is there anything else you can tell me about what's happening at Blackpond?"

Mageria’s gaze grew a bit distant as she absorbed Irvin’s information. “That sounds . . . unpleasant. We should. . . .” She abruptly bit her lip, looking down for just a moment. “I mean, if I was still in Newhaven, that sounds like something we should look into.” She clenched her jaw as the reality of what happened hit her again. She still had all of her ideals, but none of the power. If she allowed her mind to dwell on it, she would go mad. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her mind back to where it belonged.

It did sound like something that she would have been looking into, had she still been with the Blacks. Yes it was good that the illegal element was being shut down, but it was the wrong way to do it. And that bit about children . . . she had a very bad feeling.

Sham speared her Captain with a glance and shook her head. Mageria had that look in her eye, the one that meant she felt like she was on to something that needed to be fixed. It usually showed up before events of great chaos, and never boded well for those that got in her way. She shook her head and polished off the last of her stew, glancing over at Irvin’s bowl. He was pushing the vegetables around like a fussy child and it didn’t look like he was going to eat them anytime soon.
“You gonna eat those?” She gestured with her spoon, hoping for a little extra to eat.

Mageria glanced over and shook her head, smiling just a tiny bit. “I would like it if you could draw out that map. You’re right, it could come in very handy.”

Darren sighed, retrieving back the journal from the Captain and as he listened to Irvin and the Captain speak; again the visions from physical contact with the journal, flashed across his eyes. An ominous and somewhat foreboding chill crept up his spine. Anyone looking at Darren would notice his sudden frozen stare and a curious, almost familiar violet-blue glow emitting from his sockets. It was as if his hand was glued to the journal for a few moments before his free hand forcibly pried his own fingers off the leather. Again, he witnessed the many faces of children; specifically two girls: Both young, fair skinned, one with red curly hair and the other with ear-length, raven locs. As their faces faded, a nauseating wave passed, thankfully quickly, but not before he pushed aside his empty bowl. Feeling sudden eyes upon him, he forced a tiny smirk.

“I have a horrid feeling...Irvin...those rumors of missing children....” Darren swallowed hard, pointing at the journal, “...have more truth to them than we may realize..” The young man wasn’t sure what he would find, once decoded; if there was a list of those responsible for his visions, a connection of some sort..or maybe at the very least, a clue. It was only the icing on the cake, as far as he was concerned and granted he was reaching in the dark at this point, yet still he trusted his gut and his gut was internally screaming. Leaning into his arm, he rested his head lazily upon his open palm, propping upon an elbow, turning his gaze towards the Captain once again. "I suppose I should tell you a bit about myself..." Darren's smirk faded as he went into vivid detail on his enlightenment, explaining a quick summary of how he ended up in the prison to meet Jake and Irvin. He kept his tone low, so only those sitting at the table could hear him. When he'd finished, he added, "It's...like always having a mystery to solve...without a timeline..."

Sham grabbed the bowl of leftover vegetables and almost ate them whole, finally slowing down a bit towards the end as she stopped to chew. An early childhood of never knowing where her dinner was going to come from had taught her that the best place to stoe food was where no one else could get at it. She glanced at Irvin as he walked away and then peered over at Mageria, a slight sideways grin on her face.
“Cap’n, I’m fairly certain that the club he’s talkin’ about, an’ the one you were talkin’ about, don’t happ’n to be the same thing.”
Mageria grinned briefly before looking back at the journal in her hands. “Why Sham, I don’t know what you mean. What could I possibly have said that would give him the wrong idea?”
Sham shook her head and got up, ready to seek out her own bedroll for the night. The Captain had the oddest sense of humor sometimes. . . .

Mageria leafed through a couple of the pages in front of her, face falling into somber lines as she thought about what it might contain.
“Darren, I promise you that if these rumors you’ve heard about the children are true, we’ll do something about it.” A hard smile slashed it’s way across her face. “Truth, it’d be harder to keep people here than get them to go, everybody here is used to solving their problems with a sword blade, we joined because we felt that we needed to, otherwise there were better ways to earn a living with a sword.” She looked him in the eye, her own slowly darkening to onyx. “Children are to be protected. Sometimes people need to be reminded of that. It’s not quite like what I did last time, but this is a different situation.” She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax, looking at the young man with a sharp assessing gaze.
“But if family was involved,” she gestured a bit with the journal, “are you going to be able to do what you have to?”

Darren folded his hands upon the table with a heavy sigh, a somber stare went through and past the Captain. He didn't answer for a few minutes, nodding slowly, but to what, was locked away momentarily in his mind. It wasn't until recently Darren had taken his first life, just before his seventeenth birthday. He'd avoid it at all costs, until there was no other resort, no other way to survive. Even when he'd taken coin in exchange for a 'favor' or two, he'd try to find another way to resolve the situation in less blood shed. Of course, it never ended that way. He could give reasons for his decisions, but when it came down to it he found no honor in it. Down to the person's last breaths, Darren made sure to fight fair, especially when they didn't. He'd always had a choice and in those choices he was trying to live an honorable life and was struggling along the way. When he failed at taking down his father's business, cornered in a battle of the powerful, only then did he realize there was something bigger than him. Suddenly he snapped back into reality, realizing he had been asked a question. Slowly he smiled.

"...I hear....Family...isn't just blood.....Family is some dream of loved ones built on trust and sacrifice. So this man, who is technically my Father is very far from that." Darren took in a deep, cleansing breath, focusing his blue-lavender eyes upon the Captain. "I'm old enough to know that sometimes we just need to do the necessary evil, to salvage any good left in this world. I may not like it, but if normal justice is out of reach for Asher, I trust myself to do what is necessary." A slight smile widened upon his lips, a subtle wink fluttered from his right eye. "If you can't trust yourself at least, then WHO can you trust, no?"

Pushing himself away from the table, Darren stood, backing away toward the exit. "I'm going to make myself useful, if it pleases you Captain. Have a run there at that journal and I'll stop by to find you later to throw some ideas at you?" With a bow he waited politely, as if for permission to move on.

Mageria bowed her head slightly with a brief hard smile on her face. "If me and mine are involved, it won't be normal justice. But the debt will be paid, one way or another." Her eyes flashed black briefly before returning to normal. "This is something that we do very, very well." She stood up and held the journal gently in her hands, the way one might catch the head of a posiones snake. She could tell that there would be answers contained within, but that they were not going to lead to anything pleasant. But she had been walking in the sun for a good long time now, living in a safe little bubble here in the woods. Yes, it had been difficult, but only in the way that could be solved with hard work. This, she know would lead to those kind of actions that left her with sleepless nights and uneasy dreams.

Time to walk in the shadows once more.

Journal in hand, she went back to her cabin to settle in for a good long period of studying.

It had been dark for some time when Ess finally strolled back into camp, taking a roundabout route to make sure she wasn’t followed. Passing through the narrow path, she heard the familiar greeting of the hidden guards and gave a wave, a voice shouting down something along the lines of, “Damn horse wouldn’t let anyone touch him...think he’s at the stables...” Ess chuckled at those words, first confirming the Stallion was taken care of and settled for the night before making her way towards the medics cabin. People were still up and about, although the air was quieter than expected. When she entered, several individuals greeted her with a once over, shaking their heads. Sitting down beside a fire, chilled down to the bone, a gentleman appeared by her side, a basin of clean water and bandages to dress her minor, scattered wounds. He worked silently, taking extra care at the slice beneath her chin, muttering, “No worries..this shouldn’t scar, at least.” Nodding a bit Ess gave a sad smile in response, “Pity...”

“You need me to get the Captain...?” He asked curiously. Ess smiling her answer, the man nodded as he gestured to another to find her.

Mageria had been working on deciphering the journal when she received word that Essence was back in camp. It took her a moment to pull her mind away from the dance of numbers and symbols, when she did she nodded and stood up. The journal was valuable enough that she didn't want to leave it just lying around, instead she tucked it into a cupboard in the wall, locking it and drawing a panel over it so that only somebody who knew it was there could find it. That was what paranoia did for you, there were secret panels even in a place where you normally only planned on staying for a couple weeks.

Heading out of the cabin, she swirled her coat around her shoulders, running her fingers down the new seams. She wasn't sure how she felt about something so flashy, she had the horrible feeling that someone was going to give her a ridiculous name based on it. But it was warm and they didn't have the materials to make an entire new one. She'd just have to hope that no one got a bright idea while she was wearing it. With a sigh, she dismissed those thoughts as she came upon where Essence was sitting near a campfire, getting a couple of cuts tended. She reached out and turned the young woman's face a little toward her so that she could see the full extent, then shook her head and smiled slightly.
"Well, I hope that the other guy looks just as bad. My reputation as a trainer is going to suffer otherwise." She somehow shifted from friendly to in charge without raising more than an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Ess greeted the Captain with a smirk, holding back a grimace as her neck was turned, purplish blue finger sized bruises appearing along her throat. “Well.....wasn’t just one....but i’m still standing..with both my eyes....so I must have done something right.” She began with a wink. “Long story short....Ran into Luckas after you two got back into camp..he was on his way out...we...uh...got into an argument...hit a nerve...so went out riding..to think and cool off away from people...” She leaned back in her chair, fidgeting as her chin was bandaged awkwardly, stretching her jaw uncomfortably. Motioning to the empty chair at her side she sighed. “I ran into....some unexpected...friends...Woman I thought was dead, the one I told you about...my first kill...with Xypher...a few miles from here..” Ess growled...”They had been looking for me...and Xypher had a White Knight ...uh..Dominic...with him. He apparently knows you?” Ess quirked a brow, an amused smirk crossing her lips. “He’s pretty strong...” She muttered, rubbing her neck absently. “If it wasn’t for the fact Xypher admitted to trying to overthrow the Queen and that I had interfered with his plans...I don’t know if I’d be standing here...Dominic let me go and took off with Xypher back to NewHaven, I presume....leaving me to take care of Ebony...who...I lost because some highway nutcase robbed us...well Ebony...I didn’t carry anything..but some more men were in the woods...I watched from afar...they took Ebony...I don’t know who they were..” She remembered, her stare moving back from Mageria to the fire. “Oh...” Ess added, as if she was forgetting an important detail, when really she was still in an amount of shock from it. “I have a living son, I thought was stillborn...all in all an eventful day....How about you?” She snorted.

A hard look flashed through Mageria's eyes at the mention of Xypher trying to overthrow the Queen, for an instant fully the Captain of the Black Knights once again. She'd deal with that soon enough however. Right now there were more immediate things to deal with. She settled down in the chair next to Essence and leaned forward slightly.
"A son? I assume from the fact that you're here that you weren't able to find out where the boy is?"

Essence rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “I was testing out some...’methods’, trying to find out that information, but...all I know is that he was brought up by his father in Blackpond. Guess...” Essence cleared her throat. “I can start there, but last I heard...he was in prison...” She smiled wide. “And rightly so...a rat bastard...I was only a child....” Ess felt her fingers tense, bending them back a bit to crack and loosen. “Speaking of which, hear anything new on our little... ‘side project’ yet?...I’m hoping to track down my brother soon enough..maybe find something out from him..” She shrugged, reaching for a glass of water.


Mageria tilted her head to the side slightly.
"I've been getting some crumbs, but I have to be careful. I don't have the shield of Newhaven to hide behind, so I can't leave any trails that lead back to us. However," she paused. "I've got a person who just got back from Blackpond, she didn't get any further than the prison kitchens, but she might have something to tell. She'll give a full debrief in the morning, after she get's a few more good meals under her belt. And there's a very interesting journal that's come into my hands, but I've just started to decode it." She reached out and rested one hand on the girl's shoulder.
"I promise you, as soon as we have something to move on, we will. We would have whether or not we were still at Newhaven, but if it get's out that we knew about this and didn't move, there wouldn't be a soul left in camp."

Essence smiled at the gesture. “I know Captain...and I trust you, obviously. I haven’t nor will I discuss this with anyone in camp, until you give the say on whether or not it’s time to move. I agree this is a very delicate situation and needs to be handled carefully.” Ess paused, looking over Mageria slowly, her smile closing slightly. “You...Okay Captain? What happened today?” She inquired, thinking the Captain looked like she need some sleep, same as Ess felt truth be told. Stifling a yawn, she drank some water, looking sourly at a bowl of stew that was suddenly placed before her, not sure if she felt like eating.

Mageria smiled. "I know that I can trust you to keep quiet about this. It will happen, we just have to plan ahead." She leaned back and sighed. "As for things happening today, well, things have been 'interesting'. I heard a curse once, "May you live in interesting times." That is this, I guess." She loosened her shoulders. "As for what, exactly, happened. I had to make an unexpected trip into Newhaven, just barely avoided running into a few old faces. Not what I planned for when I woke up."
She glanced over at the bowl in front of Essence and smiled. "And do go ahead and eat something. We've managed to get something that actually tastes good finally. And there's real meat in it!" Her voice was falsely light for a moment before she leaned back, stretching out her legs toward the fire, her eyes falling half closed as she relaxed for a moment.


Ess’ stomach twisted, feeling slightly nauseated by the sight, but nodded slowly, pulling the bowl onto her lap as she started to eat. It was good, having more flavor than she had recently become accustomed to, but she just wasn’t sure she’d keep it down. “I feel our future is just going to be full of surprises, only getting better..” She muttered with a hint of sarcasm. Ess didn’t press the Captain further on her day, her mind wandering momentarily to her fight with Luckas, a bitter chuckle escaping her. A few moments of silence went by as she ate in peace, only finishing half of the stew before standing. “I’m going to share with Tala...don’t think my nerves can take much more food right now..See you in the morning Captain...Maybe you can show me how to get out of a choke hold by someone more than twice my size?” She smiled before turning to find her wolf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Consuming Fire

Ess hadn't been able to sleep. Was it the aching in her body from her continued training? Was it the fact that Aiden was everywhere she went lately when all she wanted was to avoid him? More than likely the revelations of her day and her fight with Luckas was what weighed heavily upon her. Lying on her back, Ess stared up at the cloth of her tent, the painted picture of a white oak tree burning, but never turning to ash, was draped up above. It had only been a week or so, she couldn’t' remember, but there was no new information on her brother, and even though Ess was usually quite a patient woman, this was beginning to gnaw at her insides. The very idea of that monster out there, made her heart race, her breathing fast and inconsistent. But this wasn't anything new as of late. Ess couldn’t also forget the sudden news, if that wretched woman was telling the truth, that she had a living son to find as well. ‘What next?’ She thought. ‘...Tomorrow we’ll find out dragons are alive and well and burning down Valcrest!’

The fire was dying, and the light was dimming, causing the shadows to dance around her painting as if to bring it to life. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and reopening them, Ess attempted to slow her heart. Her fingers felt ironically along the blankets for her journal, yet when she found it she simply squeezed her hand around the bind. A single thought came to mind, her free hand wiping at her cheek at something wet that tickled her skin. Her face scrunched up as she focused her violet gaze at the painting, thinking she saw something fall from it. Lifting her head off a pillow, she slowly tried to get a closer look. Had she been crying? For a second she swore tiny flecks of grey ash were floating down from the picture. Her eyes widened as the glow of her orbs ignited in her disbelief. She was dreaming... She had to be dreaming. Ess spoke in but a whisper, the sound shaky, “Sometimes Blue Eyes...I don't miss you as much....but I do miss you every day.” Ess forced her eyes shut, breathing in through her nose and out her mouth, her heart still pounding in her ears as her thoughts shifted. “I'm going crazy...Luckas...maybe you'd laugh...maybe you'd understand. Wish...” She never finished her sentence as all fell into darkness.

Opening her eyes, Ess was standing in an open space, not understanding how she got there from her tent. It was warm, the light emitted from the sun as it sank behind the horizon. Before her, a thick brown fog rolled along her feet so that she was unable to see more than a few inches. Stretching her arms out to feel blindly ahead she listened carefully, one step at a time. Gradually the fog opened in an eerie manner, her eyes just catching the figure of a small boy running across her field of vision. “Hello?” Her tone was above a whisper, soft and gentle as she was answered by a series of giggles that seemed to come from all around her. Again, the streak of a running child passed her vision but this time she ran after him. “I won't hurt you...Please...” She thought it very strange she did not hear footsteps except her own as she wandered further.

The open space seemed to never end as she was lost in the fog, until a great white oak tree appeared before her. It was lush, green, and full of life as the branches rustled in the breeze that came from nowhere. Ess came to a halt, smiling suddenly as her fingertips reached out to touch the bark upon the trunk. “Are we playing a game?” She asked out awkwardly to no one. The second she felt the bark beneath her fingers, it began to crack and break. Startled she backed away to discover the branches were now bare of any life, appearing old and stripped of nourishment. Wisps of smoke found her nostrils, tiny flames sparked within the branches, as the boy she had been chasing appeared by her side, watching with Ess as the oak began to burn. She tried to see his face but it was blurry; his voice however haunted her. “Sometimes...the hardest one to love...is the one who needs it most...”

“Noo...!” She screamed, turning back towards the tree as it began to crumble, suddenly overwhelmed with despair as the flames grew and surrounded her. She could almost smell burning flesh as she screamed again, thrashing awake, finding herself soaked in sweat still screaming before she realized she was in her tent and it was still night. Ess' body shook violently in her fear, but of what she was not sure of. Her skin burned as if she were on fire, yet there were no wounds upon her flesh. “Just a dream...” She tried to reassure herself. “Luckas....” She found herself calling out again. Absently she wiped at a bit of blood that appeared as tears along her cheekbones, Tala coming into view as she came to focus on the wolf who was attempting to clean her face. Ess snuggled herself into Tala's fur, calming gradually but never falling back to sleep that night. Usually the best way for her to relax was to sing to herself as it would calm her, odd as it was; but tonight she could barely speak, much less sing. Even though her body stilled and she was no longer shaking, she was still most certainly afraid.

[Raven's Nest]

Mageria sat on a ledge upstream of camp, hands clasped before her as she stared down at the swirling water. She had woken up in a troubled mood. Dark shadows had haunted her dreams, forgotten faces that came to the forefront of her mind, speaking to her and reminding her of past actions that she wished she could change; moments when her life could have gone one way if she hadn't taken another path. The question was, would she be any happier if she had gone along another path? More comfortable, she acknowledged wryly, shifting a bit and digging a sharp stick out from under her leg.

But still.

I think I would still have made the same choices. I don't think I would like who I might be otherwise.

Leaning back, she sighed slightly, breath pluming upwards, dragon-like to rise among the bare branches of the trees around her. This was one of the very rare moments when she had a moment of peace, away from the never ending worries that went hand in hand with leading a group of hard-headed, battle ready, constantly on edge fighters. She'd have to start sending them out on jobs soon, or she'd wake up one day to find them at each other's throats.

Still this moment of peace was . . . . over.

A wry grin twisted her lips as a slight footstep alerted her to the fact that the weight of the world had once again landed firmly on her shoulders. The day it left for good, would be the day that they lead her to her pyre.

Jake had ridden all night without rest. Not the he cared much about rest nowadays, any excuse not to think about his inability to fall asleep was not only appreciated, but more than welcome to him. Shadow had rested well while in the Plains and there would be plenty of time for him to rest more once they arrived, so there was no hesitation to push the horse to fasten its pace. It was Jake's plan to stay around camp, make himself useful, maybe stay out of trouble for a change, and work with Irvin as he had promised. The kid had a lot of potential, and plenty he needed to learn... About of lot of things in life... And Jake felt that it was his responsibility to make sure he learned, just like he had learned himself not too long ago. Just like he was still learning now, admittedly; there was a lot he still didn't know... About life.

Shadow snorted loudly, as if meaning to break Jake out of his thoughts, as they neared the encampment. It was morning already, had been for a little while, and Jake could tell it was beginning to warm compared to the freezing cold mornings he'd experienced before going to Blackpond; a subtle sign of the season's advancing towards its end. Near the entrance of the camp he dismounted and walked in leading Shadow by the reins. Not too far in, he was greeted but an amused voice. "We were betting on how long it'd take you to come back this time."
Jake chuckled softly as he greeted the guard with a friendly handshake. "I'm surprised you weren't betting on whether I would get myself killed."
"Nah... Sham had your back, now didn't she?" The man retorted. "Listen now, you better have the coin you owe Aiden, you know he hasn't forgotten about that."
Jake laughed at the warning. "Yeah, I wouldn't have expected him to. No worries though, I'll find a way to pay him. You know I'm good."
The man simply nodded at that statement, shaking his head in amusement. "Course you are."

It was after making sure Shadow was settled and wouldn't cause trouble, and chatting a couple of other people, that Jake was directed to where Mageria might be; wasn't too long of a walk before he spotted the woman where she sat, watching the waters of the river and he made his way towards her, trying to be as quiet as possible. But after noting the change in her expression he was sure she already knew he was there. He chuckled under his breath as he spoke. "Captain. You know one of these days, I will manage to sneak up on you." He continued to walk until he was standing right next to her. He paused a moment scratching at the light stubble forming itself upon his face, before speaking again. "So... I know I've been locked up for about a month or so... And I know a lot of things happen in a month, but... Uh... That I know of, people coming back to life were never on that list of things, so..." He sighed. "I have to assume Grim is not actually dead and... Did you know about that?" Jake asked the question a little wary of the woman's reaction. In case this was somehow news to her, he didn't expect it to be good.

Mageria laughed. “Relax Jake, I already knew.” She motioned for him to sit and looked back out at the river. “I actually found out about a month ago, not long after you went to Blackpond. Of course, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind then.” She sighed. “In fact, you could probably say I was rather drunk. One thing led to another and well . . . Getting into a brawl that led to me beating Grim into unconsciousness with my bare hands was not the way I wanted to leave Newhaven.” She laughed slightly. “But then, what other kind of impression can the Black leave behind?”

She glanced over and Jake and shook her head. “I have to admit Jake, I was wondering if you would come back. It’s not as if I can offer you what you signed on for this time around.” She raised one eyebrow. “That is, if you’re not just here as the bearer of good news. Either way, I need to know what you can tell me about that prison you were in. Sham couldn’t tell me much beyond how many ways she thought up to kill somebody with a pot of water.”

Jake didn't mask his relief at the fact Mageria was already aware that Grim was alive. He didn't bother with asking how that was possible; he wasn't quite sure if he'd be able to handle any more complicated stories than absolutely necessary, and he felt this story would be a unnecessarily complicated one. Sitting next to Mageria, and letting himself relax for a moment he sighed. "Well, the healers have him at the moment. He got into a fight with some Wolves it seems and they poisoned him, they say a young woman he was with didn't make it, maybe you know her? Either way, Annie's with him and I'm certain he made it to her in time, so... He'll recover, but I thought you should know." Jake went silent for a moment, absently pulling a little golden dagger from the inside of his boot and looking it over as if there was something written on it with invisible ink. "Why wouldn't I come back?" He asked, looking from the blade to Mageria with a sincerely surprised look. "I know I haven't been the most... Uh... Consistent... Guy to ever join the Blacks, but it's not like I'd just up and vanish... Again..." He chuckled. "Okay, I see why you'd think that. Don't worry though, I think this is still exactly what I signed on for. I might have some personal things on my to-do list, but I plan on staying nonetheless."

Jake put away his dagger, and scratched the back of his head as he thought about his time in the underground prison. "That place is..." He paused and heaved a sigh. "Frightening. Not that it's a bad place to be, it's not, and I guess that is what's frightening about it. In a few words: The place is a heavily secured... Labyrinth. After a month I still often got lost down there and I couldn't recall exactly all of the one hundred steps in our escape plan if I tried. Overall, it's a much cleaner, more peaceful, safer city than Blackpond ever was. People don't want to leave because they have everything they could possibly need or want down there and their appreciation towards that... Lamya woman is... They worship her. Most of them believe they are following her to dethrone Rick and restore Blackpond to its former glory and they won't hear otherwise, but even the few who don't buy that will pretty much do anything just so they get to stay there where it's safe. That woman has an army down there, and there is no actual way to know what she really plans on doing with it, because there's just no way to read her... She'll tell ten or twenty different stories and you'll never know which of it is true. And I think the simple fact she locked me up there instead of killing me proves she's just insane." He shuddered slightly, trying to shake off the eerie feeling creeping up his spine at the thought of her. "Anyway... I spoke with the City Commander while I was there, she told me her name was Rita, but wouldn't give a last name. She is someone who could one day pose as an ally maybe. She was close to Hastings, she's still genuinely distraught by how he died and she despises the King. She mentioned that... This according to Lamya... There is someone else behind the king and the assassins, calling all the shots in Blackpond, and that this individual would be the person to go after. Whether that's true or not... I really want to get rid of Rick. Something in the little time I was face to face with the man tells me he's going to cause me trouble soon. That's why I..." He sighed. "That's why I went to the desert looking for Crys... I might have let something slip to that telepath guy and... She wasn't there though." He paused for a moment, fixing his stare at the waters as he thought, finally an amused chuckle escaped him. "So, you killed Morgan, huh?"

Mageria was silent for most of Jake’s story, simply cataloging away information as he brought it up. This Rita woman, she might be useful as an ally in the future, that was true. She’d have to have a couple of people looking out for her, maybe move in to make contact at some point. Something to thing about, anyways. Either way, that Lamya woman needed to be taken care of. An insane opponent was far more dangerous than a sane one, because you could never predict what an insane person would do next.

“There’s a woman I need you to talk to later, by the way. She’s got a son being raised somewhere in Blackpond, whose father might be in jail. We’re trying to track them down. I don’t have all the particulars, but she might be able to give you more information. And you just missed Crys, I think. She and a friend of her’s were here a day or so ago, but I think that they left. I’m not sure where they went, sorry.”

She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead, face twisting in a remembered pain. “Yes. I was the one who killed Morgan. It’s . . . . not something I care to dwell on. Evil as he was, he was still my commanding officer. I still broke my oath to him and Newhaven when I killed him. And I drug the rest of you down with me when I fell.” She shifted slightly. “Honestly though, I’m surprised it stayed quiet as long as it did. I expected to pay for my sins a long time ago.”

Jake nodded quietly when Mageria said she ask him to talk to a woman about finding her kid. "Sure... I'll be glad to help with that. I think that if she can give me the name of the father or something else to go on I might be able to come up with something. Where can I find her?" He asked simply, raising an eyebrow to know Crys had just been there. "Oh... Crys was just here?" He mumbled, frowning as he thought for a moment. "Wonder if I keep missing her by accident or if she can tell I'm coming. I don't put it past her." He scratched his head with a little sigh. "It's alright I suppose... I'll find a way to catch up with her some place. Valcrest is tiny after all."

Jake sighed, taking in Mageria's words on Morgan's death. "Well, Captain... I'd say that...There are far worse sins and more shameful ways to fall than ridding the world of a murderer, but I might not be the most impartial in this case when said murderer killed someone I knew." He stated with a small shrug of his shoulders. "I was also brought up to believe that a person's character shouldn't be judged by what lines they cross as much as by why they cross them." He smiled rather softly and added. "That, and 'always trust your gut'." He paused for a second, letting his gaze wander around for a bit before a slightly curious expression crossed his features and he turned his eyes back to her. "Out of curiosity though... How... Did this information get out... Exactly...?"

Mageria shrugged. "I'm not sure about the exact chain of events. But one of my enemies saw me doing something that they didn't like and so they sent some information to the Council. There had been a third party present there when I killed Morgan, and they told someone else. I've made a lot of enemies over the years, one of them found the information useful. Then they used that information at a moment when the Council wanted to get rid of me. A lot of them never really forgave me for forcing them to let me take care of the children of my Guard."
Idly, she scratched the back of her neck. She knew damn well that taking Jake on and dealing with the rest of the Wolves that were with the Crimsons in the desert was what had triggered the incident; she also knew that if she let on to Jake what had happened, he'd go off on a rampage. She wasn't about to give him the fuel for that particular fire.
"It was particularly stupid of whoever it was, really. That was the only bit of leverage that they might have had and now it's gone."

With that she got up, brushing off her coat and twisting slightly. She held out a hand to Jake and smiled a little bit. "Come on. There's something to be said for knowing that the one thing you've worried about has come true and the world hasn't exactly ended. We've been doing a lot around here, even got a few new recruits. I'll show you around."

Jake chuckled "Well, I think it was Lena who told me that the more politicians hate you, the more you know you must be doing something right." His smile momentarily faltered as he needed to remind himself once again that Lena was gone, but it never faded completely. He knew Mageria probably had more knowledge on how the information reached the council than she was willing to tell him, but he also knew that persisting on the matter would just be pointless. Getting up on his feet Jake gave the woman a slightly suspicious, yet amused, look. "This isn't another excuse to drag me to a spar, is it? Because I'm still getting complaints from the guys who bet on me last time. And speaking of new recruits... Did the kids I sent over manage to spend the day without causing trouble?"

Mageria huffed a laugh. "Why yes they did. They were very polite actually, once you ignored the flirting. Right now I think they're sleeping somewhere, but all in all they didn't cause any trouble. I expect that to change soon, just because they're in a different environment." She started down the path toward the center of camp, frost covered leaves crunching under her feet. After only a few feet, she stopped, leaning against a tree. "One thing though, I'm starting to hear rumors about children in Blackpond being stolen and put into some sort of slavery ring. Have you ever heard anything about that, either when you grew up there or when you were in prison?" She rubbed her nose a bit. "I have to say, if we get any solid information about it, I'm going to have to move on it. It's just something that needs to be taken care of." The flat tone of her voice left no doubt to what she would do when the time came.

Jake snickered softly as he followed Mageria down the path. "Only flirting? Why that's a lot more politeness than I expected from Irvin, I thought that Sham would've had to break some of his fingers on the way here." He stated, shaking his head in amusement. "He'll go back to normal soon." He snickered softly under his breath. His amusement faded though as Mageria mentioned disappearing children and a slavery ring; something twisting inside his stomach, the feeling extending to his expression and he suddenly appeared as if he'd been forced to swallow something bitter. "I've heard things about child slavery... When I was a kid..." He sighed. "My sister tried to keep me from hearing it, but I know this was somewhat of a constant subject of arguing between her and my father, and with our godfather once he died... Jesse wasn't fond of people telling her that there's nothing that can be done, even if she often said the same to me. But the truth was still that the City Guard had no intention nor means to out an end to the whole thing. I never heard anything about children missing from the city though, that's something I've only heard of recently although it seems to be going on for much longer than that in minor scales, he White Shadows have mentions of child disappearances in their records that go as far as twenty years back; but nothing substantial there either. Only that some kids turned up dead at the time, and then it stopped altogether..." All the while he spoke Jake fiddled with the locket around his neck, a bittersweet smile slowly crossing his features as he went silent, fading soon after. "Most recent word I had was last year, before I went back to Newhaven. I didn't manage to find out much though, I couldn't even find anyone who actually had a child in their own family go missing, only rumors here and there." Jake nodded quietly. "Have you heard something I haven't? Either way, I'll see if I can find out more. I do want to see an end to this."

Mageria sighed heavily. "One of the men you sent me, he apparently had some family connections that he believes might link up with such a thing. There's a journal that I'm decoding, might have some information in it. Either way, it seems to be a far larger operation that anyone outside of it knows about. I get the feeling that this is going to be just the chill breeze that precedes a storm." Her face was troubled for a moment, before she snorted softly. "And Krander used to tell me that I worry too much, that I need to let things happen as they will. But this is one thing that I'm not going to let go. Children shouldn't have to be afraid to live their lives, their parents shouldn't have to worry about them disappearing. We'll find out what's going on. And we'll make sure those bastards regret whatever it is that they're doing."

She started walking back towards the camp and looked over her shoulder, a dark smile crossing her face. "You might want to run a few drills though. Things are going to get interesting and you'll want to be in top shape."

Jake chuckled softly under his breath, nodding his agreement to Mageria’s words. “Twins forbid I miss the interesting part.” He whispered to himself, realizing that his ideas of staying out of trouble had gone out the window in some moment of that conversation... But then who was he trying to fool with that anyway?

-----------------------------------------------

[The Manor]

Luke awoke next morning to the sound of a familiar humming; the same melody he’d hummed the night before. He groaned and rolled over on his stomach to try and get more sleep before he realized that the voice not only seemed to be humming softly in his ear; it actually was, and he wasn’t dreaming. His eyes snapped open and he planted his palms on the soft mattress to push himself up, but a warm hand on his back stopped him half movement.
“Easy now, love. You don’t want to kick the sheets away, I might see something.” Sam’s voice told him, her breath warm in his ear… Was she lying next to him? How long had she been there?
“Sammy… What are you…? This isn’t… I’m not…” He mumbled.
She giggled softly. “You’re adorable.” She stated, one finger slowly tracing the lines of the tattoo-like scarring on his shoulder. “You’re not decent, that’s what you were going to say? Lukey… When are you ever decent?” She taunted. “I only just got here, and I’ve seen nothing, don’t you worry about that. You were taking forever to wake up, however, and my time is rather scarce.” Her weight disappeared from the bed in an instant, and Luke was surprised to find her absence rather cold. “I’ll wait outside while you make yourself…” She giggled. “Presentable. Hurry up though, I have much to explain.”

Luckas waited for the sound of the door closing before pushing himself off the bed and finding his clothes were clean, dry, and folded on top of a chair; not how or where he had left them, and he quickly made a mental note to never, ever, sleep without them again, no matter how damp or dirty they got. He also found that his boots had been replaced with new ones, but that didn’t seem to surprise him as much as it should; it was a lesser invasion all things considered. As he stepped out of the room to the hall, Sam was standing there. This time she wore no cloak, but a plain green dress, simple as something one would wear in the comfort of their home, her long jet black hair falling loose past her shoulders, a warm smile on her face… Luke had to shake his head a couple of times to bring himself back to reality and remember what he was doing there in the first place. “I’m sure I locked my door.” He said, frowning at her.
“It’s my house.” She replied simply. “I have all the keys.”
“That’s comforting.” He muttered.
“You were sleeping late.” She shrugged, beginning to walk down the hall. “Follow me.”
“Where to?” He asked, beginning to walk after her.
“We’re going to my room.” She replied. “I have something I’d like to show you; something personal of mine.” She said.
“Oh…” Luke mumbled, not sure what that meant exactly. “I thought you were going to explain things to me.”
Sam looked back at him from over her shoulder. “I am, why? What else did you expect to do in my room, Luckas?”
Luckas scratched the back of his head and chuckled. “That’s not what I meant…” He mumbled. “I mean I thought we were going to the library.”
“Bad Lukey.” She snickered softly. “Business before pleasure, hun… And no. I have a little bit of personal history to share with you. I don’t keep those in the library” She stated a bit more seriously. “I’m assuming Ezekiel explained, to a certain point, what the Order is and what we do, yes?”
“Yes.” Luckas answered.
“However, he didn’t quite explain why exactly, right?”
“No, that he didn’t.” Luckas replied, stopping beside her as they entered the room.
“That’s because I asked him not to. Wanted to do that myself.” She replied.

Sam’s room was on the opposite of the Estate; on a whole different wing from the one the Branded and ‘pure’ Prospects were allowed to live. It was a very large room that was divided into a common area; where there was a square wooden table with chairs and two other, comfy, chairs near a fireplace, a study; where there was a desk, writing supplies and two shelves crammed with books that took up one entire wall each. The third area, Luke imagined were the sleeping quarters, since the area of the room was concealed behind dark blue drapes. Sam motioned toward one of the comfy chairs by the fireplace and he took a seat while she walked to the office and got a book from her desk drawer. She then sat in front of him and opened the book in her lap. “This is my family history, per se.” She stated. “Most of it is just journals and other documents that are rather boring, not to mention personal, but this…” She flipped the pages until she found a loose letter amongst them, which she then placed in his hands. “This is a piece of Valcrest Myth that has been erased from most mythology books and forgotten by the population thousands of years ago.” She explained. “This is the beginning of my story so, please, go ahead and read it.”

Luckas looked at the folded paper in his hands, it seemed very old and as he unfolded it he found a handwritten Mythology story he had never seen or heard before, which slightly surprised him since, in his time with White Shadows, he thought he’d read and heard them all.

Terra

Mother and Father didn’t like the way that the Twins had gotten themselves involved into the human’s lives. The different conflicts between every human weren’t something that Mother and Father liked seeing them get involved in. The Twins were sent to Valcrest to give guidance to the people and nothing more. They didn’t physically involve themselves and never use their enlightenments to the human’s benefit. It just happened way to often so Mother and Father finally had enough.
They decided that the only way to stop the Twins from ever being involved was to make them break the rule that had been told to them when they were sent to Valcrest. They were not to have any children with anyone but another Twin. This rule was the only way to properly remove the Twins from Valcrest without creating imbalance to what had already been created.

The only way that they would ever be able to make them break the rule, which the Twins were so vigilant to keep true to was to create a being that would be irresistible to even a god.
Mother and Father conceived another child. She was one being far different than any that had come before her. She didn’t have a twin, nor did she appear to be like a god. She didn’t carry with her any of the distinct features of any of her other brothers or sisters. The only thing that was special to her was her red hair, which no other human or god in Valcrest possessed. With no other real distinction, she looked like any of the other humans. She was even given a human name: Terra and she was made almost completely irresistible to the eye of any man. She was made to be sought after by anyone who saw her. The most desirable of people whose name would quickly travel, even to the most remote of places in Valcrest.

Emerging from the waters she came into the land. The wolves were the first to see her arrival. From there she traveled across from city to city with a mission. She was to find the most stunningly handsome of men in Valcrest. Only he was fit to have a child with Terra. She went to every city, thrice before she could find the right suitor. By this point the word had reached even the deepest crevices of the most beautiful of woman looking for a man. Duels were fought and many died, but not even a duel could settle it as she found a man more handsome than them all. Duncan, a fair noble man from Blackhurst found his way to Terra on the day of her third visit to the city. Not only was this man a handsome one, but he was also had great integrity and honor. He was the true gentleman’s man.
When the word finally got to the Twins, they were relentless to find her, but neither Duncan nor Terra wanted to be found. The two hid themselves in Blackhurst in places they believed that not even the Gods could find. For Terra, a war erupted between all of the Twins and Valcrest was torn apart as they searched.
Eventually, the most sinister found them. Greedy Life had searched Blackhurst for days looking for her. He was the only of the Twins clever enough to avoid the war between the Twins and instead slither past unscathed.

With the rest of the Twins out battling each other and the only thing in his way being the noble Duncan, Life concocted a dastardly plan to win the love of Terra. Life challenged Duncan to a duel. The winner would receive the love of the desired Terra. Duncan, unaware that the man who challenged him wasn’t a man at all accepted the challenge out of honor.
Duncan was the better dueler, but every cut of the blade that he made on Life was quickly recovered as Life could never die. Even when Duncan took the stab right to Life’s heart, Life simply smiled and stabbed Duncan back, leaving Terra’s suitor dead on the sandstone floor.
Terra abided by the rule however. She didn’t complain or even mourn as she hadn’t been created to truly love anyone. She held onto whoever was best fitted and because Life won the battle, he stole away human’s chance of gaining the powers of enlightenment strait from the source. Her giving abilities would have to be done through Life.
Not much more than a year later, Terra had her first and only child. Mother and Father got what they wanted and the Twins planted their enlightened seed amongst the humans. In the meantime as the chaos of the Twins’ loss of power over Valcrest occurred, Life and Terra raised their son.

When her son was old enough to take care of himself, Terra, still with the same immense beauty as she did so many years ago decided that she had enough of what Valcrest had to offer. She wanted to see new lands. She headed South to what is now a land called Terra. Many humans who praised her like a god for giving them the enlightenment followed her into those lands, but after passing the mountains all enlightenments seemed to stop working. When they realized they couldn’t use their enlightenment anymore, some of them left her, while others stayed with her to colonize the new land of Terra.

It is believed that Terra never had another child. She lived the rest of her life dedicated to the man she had a child with, even if he was an evil man. Although she never saw the man again, she kept true to the arrangement made out on the day of that duel.


Luckas finished reading and was unable to speak; he simply looked up at Sam with inquiring eyes as he folded the paper again and returned it to her, watching as she carefully and lovingly returned it to the book.

“It’s surprising, huh?” She asked, in a small whisper, looking as if she had shown him a page of her personal diary. “It contradicts the part of the Origin Myth that speaks of how Enlightenment came to be. Mother and Father set a trap for the Children, because they were losing themselves in the Human Realm, getting too involved.” She smiled sweetly holding the book close to her chest and heaving a sigh. This Myth, the somewhat ‘official’ version you just read, states that Terra never had another child. Not even after leaving Valcrest. However, there are others who see things differently than what is written here.”

“By others you mean the Order?” Luckas asked, leaning back in his seat.

“The Order came later, I’m talking about my family and how we came to be.” She told him. “See, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, my forefathers came to Valcrest from the Southern Land of Terra. Not too long after their arrival, they were surprised to discover their youngest child to have an unusual ability: The ability to grant Gifts to others. They sought the Blackhurst Elders for their opinion, but the Scholars were unable to explain how the seventeen year old outsider suddenly gained an Enlightened gift. The named it an anomaly, but the family never gave up on finding an explanation, and after extensive searching they came across this piece of Myth. From it, they concluded that, despite it stating otherwise, Terra must have had other children in the South, and that we descended from her. From that, they also came up with other theories, and one of them was that Terra was sent not only to take the Twins back to the Afterlife, but she was also sent to choose humans worthy of being granted the gift of magic, to protect the Land once the Twins were gone. It was never Mother and Father’s plan that all the Twins broke their rule; it existed for a reason. Instead they sent her to choose the ones best suited to bear the magical gift. It was all very calculated… Only it failed when Life challenged Duncan and killed him. Yes, now Mother and Father could take the Twins home, but the Order they had planned to leave in Valcrest, the balance, was shattered in the moment the Twins spread their seed throughout the Land. Humanity was not prepared for such a Gift, and the Gods were soon forced abandon them; leaving them to cope with the gifts of magic on their own.”

“The Order…” Luckas mumbled under his breath. “You are saying we exist to right the wrongs of the Gods? That’s just a little arrogant, huh?” He didn’t know if it was less or more offensive to play that out as a joke, so he simply raised an eyebrow.
Sam chuckled. “It is arrogant. You don’t know the half of it.” Her tone was slightly bitter as she spoke. “See, my… Followers, seem to believe that not only I descend from Terra, but that I am her.”
“They think you are the reincarnation of a Goddess?” Luckas tried, but couldn’t help a slight tone of laughter in his voice.
“I am the only female to ever be born with this Gift, and from the moment of my awakening, I have been different. Despite the fact that, for what Legend tells, I physically resemble her in nothing… Yes, that led some people, starting with my father, to believe I am the Goddess herself. It all started with you and Matthew, in fact. My father had systematically failed to imprint children. All his attempts led to failures, until he had me do it for him. Not only children, but we have horses so fast in our stables that you would travel from Blackpond to the Desert in a matter of minutes in one and not even tire the animal. All of which my father could not do, nor could anyone born with the Gift before him. I was unaware of this, until that day I was caught in the basement and my father decided my life was bad for his health.”

“You... You said that memory was fabricated…” Luckas muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“No, love. I said the memory of my death was fabricated. I was severely punished for my rule breaking. I thought I was going to die, but no. That’s when I overheard one of my father’s advisers warn him that taking my life would anger the creators, that I was a part of their design and all sorts of things. My father surrendered to his reasoning, but I knew he wouldn’t hesitate again. I decided I should take matters into my own hands. I slowly began to turn the brotherhood against my father, and the next time he tried to lift a hand in my presence, they killed him without thought. That was five years ago.” She smiled. “I’m no fool, Luckas, as to blindly believe that I am a Goddess, whether that assumption is true, or simply convenient, is up to the Gods to know, but as I said: I believe in the cause. Valcrest has been troubled for too long because of the hypocritical and selfish acts of infants put on this Earth with no understanding of how fragile it truly was. Their presence, and those tainted by their blood, should be wiped from this plain of existence.”

“You are talking about the Twins?” Luckas asked. “I never believed all that much in the Gods, but… Of all the Myths I’ve seen… Of all the crazy interpretations… This is by a far the craziest.”
Sam snickered, although her eyes made clear she had taken a slight offense. “Is it, now?” She asked. “Don’t your beloved Healers believe their Leader to be sent by their Goddess to aid them? Maybe that is crazy as well, but is it a coincidence then that every Spiritual Healer ever known was born in Blackhurst or within the clan of the White Shadows? The first King of Blackhurst was known to be one; a true descendant of Peace herself, some claim. Is it a coincidence that the assassins foolishly believe Wolves to be able to communicate with Heart even in the Afterlife and they are not found anywhere else in the Land, but their forest? Perhaps, that’s just coincidental as well. There are many, many, other examples, but I think you see the point I’m trying to make. Is it also a coincidence that the only one of the Twins’ children who wasn’t consumed by his power was the son of Terra and Life?” She asked. “All the others were corrupted by their Enlightenments and terrorized the humans.” She smiled. “If you think about it like this, tell me: Doesn’t it make at least a bit of sense?”
“I suppose it does.” Luckas admitted, with a rather confused expression on his face. “But... What about all the chaos that wiping out all Enlightenment would cause, it means... Mass murder, Sam, and people tend to respond terribly to things like that. How is that supposed to salve Valcrest?”
“Well, Luckas... Sometimes things are beyond salvation... Sometimes, the only way is to burn it all down and rebuild. So yes; there will be chaos, and people will revolt... Valcrest will fall. There is one thing though, one very important thing, about the human race that you seem to overlook; it always survives... It feeds on illusions, it sees hope where there is none and just keeps moving forward by will alone. So in time, people will forget. They will erase the ugly from their minds and replace it with their hopes and dreams... Valcrest will be born again from those hopes and dreams and stand proud and beautiful, in a way it has only been described in legends. It is likely no one in this lifetime will get to see it, but this land will be everything it was meant to be and more. I believe in that.”

“Sammy, you... You are enlightened, right? Wouldn’t ending all of those who descend from the Gods also mean...”
“That I should die myself?” Sam finished his thought with a little smirk. “It is unclear, if the goal of the Order also applies to its Masters... It is... A subject of fierce discussion amongst the Brotherhood for centuries, with no actual conclusions drawn, only opinions here and there and those opinions have differed greatly from one another, depending on who was in command of the Order in that moment in time... Some Masters, my father obviously one of them, believed they were an exception to all the rules. I personally see things a bit different, I think... It is a great possibility, and it would be an honorable Death if there ever was one.”
“You’re not afraid to die?” Luckas asked, smiling at her with a bit of admiration in his tone.
“Luckas... One thing in this world we can all be sure of: Everyone will die. We are all going to die one way or another. Why fear the only thing that’s certain? I personally find the thought of Death comforting.”
“You’ve already told me this once...” He chuckled. “Haven’t you?”
She smiled brightly at him and nodded. “Yes, I have... That was a long time ago though. I wouldn’t expect you to remember even without any outside interference. You were so little back then...” She paused, simply letting her eyes examine the young man before her, still smiling cheerfully. “It’s almost unbelievable to see you here. For a moment, I think, I almost gave up the thought, but... Here you are.” She sighed softly, averting her eyes as she realized she’d been staring for a bit too long. “I know, and I’ve said this, you may not understand... Truth of the matter is that you and Matthew were the closest I’ve had to family; pathetic as it may sound. I think that, all things considered, if it weren’t for that I wouldn’t have survived... I wouldn’t have the strength to face him...”
“And we would both be dead right now.” Luckas stated, staring into the woman’s green eyes and finding amusement in the fact he had never actually spoke to her in those few years of childhood they shared.
“Exactly. Funny isn’t it? In a way we saved each other.” She stated, leaning back in her seat and leaning her head back to stare at the ceiling. “So, what else do you remember?”

“I remember the song... You used to hum it... And the pictures on the walls... And I remember you told me you had a brother, but you never said what happened to him.”
“My brother...” Sam heaved a small sigh and stood from her seat, wandering towards to office to put the book away. As she went through her desk, apparently for the sake of keeping busy, she replied. “He turned twelve and didn’t show sign of being a Gift bearer… Dad killed him.”
“What about your mother?” He asked.
“I don’t know. My father never spoke of her, he was horribly mad whenever I asked… One day I stopped asking.” She answered walking back slowly to sit before him by the fireplace. She went silent after a while, watching him intently as if trying to find out what he was thinking. “I wish I knew a better way to make you understand things…” She mumbled. “I know I sound like some lunatic raving about fixing the world and purging the Land, but… I do believe it’s for the best.”

Luckas sighed. “Well, I’m not sure what I believe right now, Sam.” He rubbed his eyes, still exhausted from the night before. “Suppose that doesn’t make me the best of followers, huh?”
“Can you believe that I am your friend and that I will never betray you? That’s all I ask you to believe right now. I have enough followers; I don’t need that from you.” She leaned forward and reached for his hand. “I know I promised to take care of you and, for the most part, I failed, but I won’t leave you again.”
Luckas winced slightly at the words, and stood up turning away from her. “Don’t…” He silenced shaking his head in anger.
Sam stood up as well and paced slowly after him, she rested her hands on his shoulders and whispered. “Don’t, what? What’s the matter, Luke?”
“You know... I could have stopped them. I WANTED to stop them, but I didn’t… I just let them hurt you. I could have done something. I should have protected you… I could have!.”
Sam sighed softly. “Luckas… You didn’t know that. You were a child. You were a small child and there was nothing you could have done for me. I would never have asked that of you… You…” She paused for a moment or two before finishing the sentence in a whisper. “You were innocent.”
Luckas laughed at the words. “Innocent.”
“You were innocent... Everyone was innocent once, love.” Sam stated simply, her tone was gentle as if she still spoke to a child now. As if nothing had changed. “We do what we must to survive, Luckas. I don’t hold it against you; I’m glad you survived. I’m glad you are here, despite your reasons.”

Luckas sighed, turning to face Sam and slowly walking past her and back to his chair. He sat and ran both hands over his eyes wearily. “My reasons.” He repeated, a bitter laugh escaping him. “I don’t even know what that means anymore.”
“I understand, and I wouldn’t blame you for hating me, or even wanting me dead, if it is the case…”
“No.” Luke replied quickly. “I don’t want you dead.” He sighed, looking down at his hands. “Not now at least.”
“Okay. That’s good to know.” She replied simply. “Are you alright?”
“I don’t know.” Luke mumbled, idly rubbing his temples as he felt a headache beginning to form itself. “Think I need to get some air, are we through?”
“No, we’re not, but you can go.” Sam replied.

Luckas left the room without another word, feeling a bit of relief as he found himself out of Sam’s sight. Things had gotten a little more personal than he would like; way too personal considering what he had gone there to do. Sam’s logic was sound to him, but sound as it was; Luckas honestly didn’t care about what the Gods did or didn’t do, and he certainly didn’t care about the fate of the Land. All things considered he could probably find it amusing to watch Valcrest burn, wasn’t for couple of little, previously insignificant, details; such as the fact he gave Lena his word. Stupid little details... Stupid little promises...

With all of that on his mind, Luckas didn’t really look, or mind where he was going, so when he finally bothered to look around it surprised him to a point that he was heading towards the courtyard with no recollection of ever intending to go there. Shrugging it off he kept walking until he saw movement and absently headed towards it, the sight of a woman standing at the gate doors becoming more clear as he let his attention fall on her and noticing right away that whoever she was, she didn’t belong. “Oh, lovely, another redhead... No way that can go wrong, right?” He snickered under his breath, realizing that whoever the woman was, she was somewhat blocking his path. “Hey you.” He called. “Are you trying to open that with your mind or something?” He asked, slipping his hands into his pockets as he stopped to stand next to her, facing the gate himself and tilting his head. “It’s a pretty gate, but I’ve seen prettier ones...” He mused. “So what are we waiting for?”

As Essence was coming around the path towards the training grounds, Mageria was standing in the center of the clearing, lightly balanced on the balls of her feet, twin long daggers in her hands. Surrounding her were four opponents, three men and a woman. They were armed with a variety of weapons, clearly whatever they were most comfortable with. There was a moment of stillness, abruptly broken by a sharp cry as one of the challengers charged forwards, sword held low. Mageria twisted slightly, knocking the sword to the side and delivering a sharp kick to the back of his knee. A second man took the chance to attack, swinging a mace in a vicious over hand arc. Mageria danced inside his swing, turning so that her back was to his chest and bringing one elbow back in a vicious jab. Then she kept the spin going and faced him, only to smash her head forwards in a brutal head butt. The move cost her time however, because the woman darted in with a pair of hand scythes, bringing them around in a slashing motion at her torso. Mageria couldn't completely duck them, and they shredded her shirt along the rib cage. Taking a step back, she instead managed to lure the woman into attacking in the direction of the last attacker, using them against each other to trip them both up.

It only took a couple of minutes for Mageria to defeat the four 'attackers' and then a couple more for her to give crisp instructions on what they could have done better and what they should do next time. It was only when she looked up to see Essence waiting for her that she seemed to realize that her shirt had gaped open. Her hand made a slight move, as if to cover up something, before she began to tie it closed. However that couldn't hide the line of burns marching up her side, deliberate marks, not something that could have happened by accident. Walking over to a nearby tree, she grabbed a tunic off a branch and shrugged into it, walking over with a wry smile.
"Well, now that I'm warmed up, shall we get started?"

Essence stared out from tired eyes, severe dark circles encompassing her gaze showing her lack of sleep. Holding back a grumpy groan she shrugged off her cloak, letting out a long sigh. She stood momentarily unsure, as if she was clueless to what was about to happen. Folding her arms she nodded when the Captain readied her blades, and instead of mirroring her she began to speak, her voice still a bit hoarse from the bruising along her throat. “Who are they?” She gestured to a few approaching from behind, no weapons in hand, instead they appeared strangely non-threatening. Ess’ brows scrunched up, lips in an almost pouty expression, feeling a bit uneasy on that appearance, knowing things must not definitely what they seem, especially with the Captain.

Mageria smiled gently. "Well, one of the things you need to get used to is that you may be fighting Enlightened as well as regular people. The problem with this, is that you aren't always going to know what they are capable of doing, nor will you know right off the bat what it is that is needed to counter their abilities. So, today's lesson includes how to read your opponents ability and figure out what it is that you can use to fight it."

Essence nodded, her mind clinging to the word ‘Enlightened.’ She was contemplating the night before, her nightmare leading to into her lack of sleep, and especially her lack of control in her gift. Miraging a mirror image of a ghost was certainly not something that comforted her. Taking a deep breath she muttered, a bit of annoyance in her tone. “...Least they can control it...I thought I could...somethings off with me, Captain. I don’t get what it is. I’m having nightmares now...waking not myself but as someone else. I have always...had an issue with emotions triggering the change, but never like this and not for quite some time.” Ess scowled, stepping forward to push herself to focus on her current lesson, glancing from one to then next, an awkward smile crossing her features.

Mageria stepped forwards suddenly, fingers under Essence's chin, forcing her eyes up so that she could look into them. She frowned, searching the other woman's face, finding stress and strain that should not have been there, even for a new recruit. And there was something else, a slight hint of fear, as if something that Essence had always counted on was suddenly failing her. She turned, looking at the other fighters she had assembled for this little 'training exercise'.
"Have any of the rest of you experienced anything like this?" There were a couple of looks between the group, before two of them admitted to bad dreams and uncertainty in their control.
Mageria bit her lip, thinking hard.
"Right then. Cancel this then, I want you all to work on your control exercises. Meditation where ever you feel comfortable, and that's an order. At least an hour, maybe more." She glared slightly. "That's an order for every Enlightened in camp, so pass the word." She waited as they all nodded and split off to go their separate ways, before she turned to Essence and crossed her arms. "Have you ever learned meditation techniques? They're a bit difficult to get a handle on to begin with, but they should help with your emotional control, if nothing else."

Ess groaned again, crossing her arms along her chest. “Meditating? Is this kinda like anger management or something? Because that never worked for me.” Glancing over Mageria’s shoulder she watched the others wander off, a bit disappointed at not seeing what ‘fun’ was in store but also happy she brought it up. “I read about some breathing techniques that can help calm a person, but I don’t know if I did them wrong...or what..” Ess gave a wry smile, quirking a brow, stubbornly stepping back as she shook her head. “I take it, like you said, this will be an order for all..” Ess sighed. “So...if I do this...If you show me what I need to do, can we go back to you kicking the crap out of me?” She teased.

Mageria arched one eyebrow and smiled sweetly. "If I find out that you've been willfully ignoring the signs of serious trouble and not doing anything about them; I'll do more than kick the crap out of you." Her voice was light and gentle, the glare she sent Essence's way was not. "As an Enlightened, you need to be in control of your ability, no matter what it is. Especially given the fact that Enlightenments take a physical toll. Any Enlightened that loses control becomes a danger to themselves, if not the people around them. And given all the work I've put into you already, that's not something I'm willing to put up with." She reached out one hand and snagged Essence's shoulder gentle but no nonsense grip.

"Now. You can come along and listen to me, or you can find out the consequences for losing control. Which I can guarantee you won't enjoy. Come along."
With very little apparent effort she pulled Essence along behind her until they found a small smooth ledge above the river. It looked natural, but sitting on it proved that it was far too comfortable to be made by anything but someone who could shift earth and stone. Mageria leaned back against the bluff and crossed her legs, looking out at the river and waiting until Essence settled herself as well.

"You said that your emotions are triggering your changes. This is something I've seen before, not people changing, but getting so caught up in their memories that they don't know where they are or who they're with. It seems to happen mostly with fighters, reliving past battles where something terrible happened to them, although sometimes it happens with City folk too. But always where something so terrible has happened that it's burned itself into their memory. There's a way to get past that, it's certainly not pleasant, but it's possible. What we're going to try with you is something similar."
Mageria took a deep breath and shifted slightly, stretching sore muscles. "What I want you to do is to call up those emotions that are threatening your control. Bring them to the front of your mind, along with the memories that trigger them. You may change, you may not. The thing to remember is that you are completely safe here. Nothing can get to you up on the ledge and nothing is going to get past me. So once you have those memories in front of you, you let them go. Feel them to the fullest, then remember that you got past them and that you are still alive. Then do it again. And again. As many times as you need to."
Mageria glanced over at Essence and quirked a smile. "Do this for about an hour and if you still feel like it, we can go back to weapons practice."

“Trust me Captain, I have had my share of ‘spells’ with the side effects from using my gift, but I’ve tried to refrain from using that little talent and improve on other skills. Last night was the first time I experienced the nightmare and this random lack of control. I was honestly hoping that using it less would not result in a reaction of sorts.” Ess sighed heavily, letting herself be led to a serene spot, looking down below at the river. She mirrored Mageria’s position, absently fiddling with the end of her braid, her eyes locked upon the running water, listening intently to both the soft rapids and the Captain as if they were one in the same.

“I’m afraid of that...one day looking into my reflection and seeing someone else and losing myself entirely; mind, body and soul.” Ess trailed off, nodding, letting her eyes close, breathing in slowly through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. As if her mind had been blocking out the other sounds around her, she smiled when she noticed the birds echoing each other in the trees around them; sounding so close she could swear they were dancing next to her upon the ledge. Her shoulders relaxed, her mind searching for those melancholy memories, her smile widening as the image of her father appeared on the back of her eyelids. The smile was suddenly wiped clean off her face when the sweet smile of her father was replaced by the vision of his silent, bloody scream; antlers speared straight through his center, impaled against the kitchen wall. Then the image of her traitor brother, grinning with a sort of mockery, filled her mind. The first time Ess’ Mirage was triggered, she had taken on her brother’s form, but she had thought him dead; a ghost. Her heart then had cherished his memory. Now when she opened her trademark lavender eyes, she had changed out of pure hatred that shook her entire body, fists clenching and unclenching as she grinded her teeth in her fury. Ess appeared with slightly darker skin, covered in freckles, and short fiery red hair when the illusion settled in her brother’s form. An almost menacing laugh escaped her as she tried to focus on what the Captain specified: Some things were past and she was indeed alive. She just couldn’t grasp how she could move on without facing her problems dead on, and she couldn’t let go of the hate.

Mageria sat quietly while Essence's form changed, simply watching as her flesh shaped itself into someone new. Absently, she memorized the face now in front of her, if it was someone that could cause this sort of reaction, then it was someone that needed to be watched for. She waited as the other woman clenched her teeth and laughed, some dark emotion seething under the surface. But even though she waited, Essence couldn't seem to break free of it.
"Essence." Mageria leaned forward. "Essence. Who are you? What is it that you are remembering?"


Ess’ eyes snapped open, staring over at Mageria uneasily, before glancing down at her hands that were not her own. She gasped, not feeling the change but then again she should have known it transpired because of the intensity of her feelings, but it wasn’t always so. Her fingers lightly traced along the contours of her chin and the point of her nose, both not her own. “...Ian...” She whispered, knowing even by feel, the features painted a picture in her mind of her older brother. “I remember the night my father was killed; the same night my village burned to the ground; the same night I was taken by men because of treachery and sold like cattle.” Ess pushed to slow her breathing, only just realizing how heavy her breaths were becoming. A sudden thought crossed her mind, as if it was falling into place, always belonging but never taking the time to see it in a different light. The idea, strangely calmed her, her features one by one fading back to her own. “...If I hadn’t been taken that night...I’d be dead...just like everyone else in the village...”

Mageira leaned back. "That's right. Remember, you've helped people too. What would have happened to them if you weren't there? If you were dead, who would remember the names of the dead?" She gently reached out, laying one hand on Essence's arm. "You've used that past to find the strength to help others in the future. You're going to be the difference that helps other children stay safe."

"You feel that pain still? The anger burning inside. That can burn you alive or you can harness it."
She leaned back and watched Essence measuringly.
"Which is it going to be for you?"

Essence nodded, smiling slightly at the Captain. “I know what I want...I just get so angry, it’s overwhelming...How do I harness it without losing control? I keep finding out more things that make my blood boil, and I know it’s not going to end. What do I need to do?” She whispered, looking almost lost, searching for the answer in Mageria’s eyes as she stare intently. “Every time I think I’ve gotten past it...”

Mageria was silently still for a long moment, eyes hooded as she looked into her own past. Then she pulled at her shirt, moving the hem so that Essence could clearly see the line of burn scars that work their way up her flank.
"You see these? Given to me by somebody I should have been able to trust above all others. And the thing is? I still trusted him after that. I thought the world of him. . . until the next thing that happened. And the next . . . and the next. I came to realize that by trusting him, I let horrible things happen. I still blame myself for some of them. Until the day where I couldn't let things happen anymore. And I took action, I did something that still haunts me to this day. And you don't really get past it. You draw a line in the sand and you say, "This far, and never again. So long as I draw breath, it won't happen again. And you feed all your pain and anger to that thought. You want to scream and hit things? Imagine what would happen if you lost control, use that thought to aim your blows better. You want to rain down destruction on the people who hurt you? You wait till you have them in a position where they can't get away, where your actions won't hurt anyone else, and you show them no mercy. Channel your anger, your pain." Mageria drew a deep breath, tucking her shirt down to hide the scars. "You wait, you stalk them until you are absolutely sure that you have every single one of them, every bit of information you can wring out of them . . . then, and only then, do you take them out. But you don't lose control, because that's when you are vulnerable."

She quirked a small smile. "Of course, the White Shadows would have something different to tell you, about forgiveness and moving on. But that never really worked for me."

Essence sighed, the smile that spread across her lips mimicked her thoughtful understanding, lightly patting Mageria on the shoulder. “Not all can be forgiven, nor do they deserve such kindness...” Tilting her head, one brow rising she continued, “...Forgiveness I think..is just as much a selfish act as it is for other’s benefit. When we need closure, we grant ourselves the ability to move on by forgiving...” Ess’ brows came together, eyes narrowing, a sullen smile widening as she shifted her position to stretch out her legs. “...Once Ian is dead...maybe then I can forgive...but most likely not...”

Resting her hand on her chin, Ess moved to speak again, “...Captain...do you think...” Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by a vocal intrusion, her body straight in a rigid tension.

“To all those interested, there will be a Gala Ball in Blackpond Castle within two days. Everyone is welcome.”

Essence simply groaned, holding her head as a dull ache ran across her forehead. “Noo....more voices...and that one most definitely isn’t...Luckas...” She sighed, an annoyed growl vibrating along her lips, a slight comical tone of hysteria in her voice. “...and now the voices are inviting me to a ball...a freakin’ tea party...” She mumbles, glancing at the Captain abashed as she realized her murmurs were outloud.

Mageria only responded with a raised eyebrow, leaving no doubt that they would be talking about that admission in the near future.

"I'll have to see about that invitation, somehow I just don't get the feeling that it's on the level." She just barely restrained the urge to roll her eyes. "But for now . . ." She stood up and started off back down the path. "You need to work on your hand to hand still."

Ess rolled to her feet, jogging a bit to catch up with the Captain with a comical pout on her face. “Wait...you heard it too, right? Are we going to a party? Can we go to a party? I get to come, right?” She sighed, nodding at the mention of more training, moving quickly to comply.


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

Essence collapsed at the base of the fire pit, leaning back lazily along the log. With an annoyed sigh she began striking flint amidst some kindling to reignite her fire that had been cold for some time. Her muscles ached from the exercises the Captain put her through, relentless more so lately than when she first began. She took it lightly, more as a sign she was ready for bigger challenges, her mind hungry to absorb as much as possible even if her body was slow to keep up. That would change soon enough. Ess growled, realizing the sticks and moss were damp, not wanting to light.

“....I can help with that.....” A voice whispered almost timidly behind her. Ess quirked a brow, turning her gaze slightly.

“...I really can....” The voice spoke louder this time.

Essence smiled, staring up into Jason’s green eyes, messy black locs falling along the bridge of his nose. Her mouth opened to give a soft protest as the boy closed his eyes and breathed slowly, focusing quietly, fingers outstretched towards the fire pit. Jason’s fingertips seemed to light up and as he exhaled in a sudden huff, a tiny burst of flames leapt forward in an impressive sphere, cracking through the wood. He seemed equally surprised, relieved, and proud all at the same time at his display of control. An amused giggle escaped Ess’ lips as she watched in awe, where the boy was now missing a finger from his encounter with Xypher, two tiny streams of flames twisted and twirled together as if to fill the vacant space before disappearing entirely.

“...You’ve gotten better Jason...been practicing, yes?....Just be real careful, especially..” Ess trailed off, snickering at herself. “What am I saying, you already know what you need to do...and in time it will come as naturally and easily as breathing.”

“That’s basically what Mageria says...that I need to keep practicing so that I can control it and not be afraid....no ‘accidents’.” Jason sighed, sitting beside the fire as he remembered Mageria’s words: "When a man throws rocks at a herd of horses, do you blame the horse for what it does when it's frightened and hurt? It's the man's fault, because he's the one that wanted to cause harm. Your ability, your gift, is like that herd of horses. When they're frightened and hurt, they're out of control. But at the same time, they can be trained to work together, if someone with enough patience works with them.”



“....What happened in the Castle, wasn’t an accident, Jason. It was self defense....” Ess playfully poked the boy in the side, causing him to smile slightly. “Maybe...it got a ‘little’ crazy, but served Xypher right for what he did.

Jason nodded slowly, staring off into the flames in a silent trance. “...They said he was...sick...his mind had left him..” He muttered before falling into silence again. Ess sighed, mulling over the boy’s words for a moment, choosing how to answer his statement.

“Yes...and no...I believe he was aware of what he was doing...and even for a moment..IF he didn’t, It does not make it better or ok that it happened...you know that right?” Ess whispered softly to the boy, quirking a brow. Jason shrugged, still staring into the flames as Ess spoke again. “Jason...the world is a crazy place and sometimes it’s hard to make sense out of it all, so just....remember to believe in yourself. Sometimes...it’s all we have.”

“I understand..” The boy whispered, finally looking up at Ess curiously. “I just wish I understood why the world was so...dark..”


“We can try to understand the why until our ashes migrate upon the winds of time...and we still won’t understand it all...” Ess paused, gently patting Jason along the back. “You believe in the Twins, no?” She smiled as the boy nodded again. “....People were created to be loved, things were created to be used. The reason the world is in Chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.” Essence turned away to place a kettle over the fire. “Not everyone is like that, you know. Not everyone places money and power higher than friendship and love.”

Jason smiled, green eyes twinkling slightly. “Yea...I know that.”

“Do you want some tea, Jason?” Ess smiled warmly and nodded as the boy politely declined and stood to leave.

“...I better go...Mageria did say all enlightened had to practice control.” Jason smile softly. “..Even though I have to do that every day anyhow...” He stated with a slight chuckle before wandering off back into the center of camp.

Essence spent some time relaxing her sore muscles, quietly sipping her tea. She let her mind go silent, which of course didn’t last long as it was shattered by a stray thought if she had anything else of importance to do for the day. Never liking to remain idle for too long, Ess believing laziness was like a leech that would suck her dry, she finished her second cup of tea and found herself walking back into camp. The ground suddenly shook, accompanied by a loud crash that simply changed her direction, her legs moving to follow the commotion. Glancing up she noticed several of the guard in trees, using rope to hoist up materials; wooden bridges crossing between a few. “What..are they doing...?” She gawked.