Snippet #2692197

The smile that appeared on Altian's face was an icon of the friendship he and Emry-Shu had developed together. Through thick and thin, they traversed every obstacle and surmounted it, sometimes with Emry's raw power, sometimes with his own knowledge, sometimes with both. Altian wasn't scared for Emry's sake when he took the Mind Obliteration spell, although he was slightly annoyed. If Emry had purposefully known what was going to happen when he did or if he'd legitimately fallen for it, he would never know. Nor did it matter. At this stage, they were more than prepared to deal with these goons. They just didn't know what they were getting into when they did. Altian had gotten after Tam about alerting them, but maybe it was for the better to draw them out of the shadows. The element of surprise was all the opposing side had and once that was gone...it was a cake walk.

Altian then turned towards the Lopid, who had his partially complete dagger drawn and at the ready. The lanky figure had become extremely volatile during this fight, showing his true colors to everyone else as he did. He had memories stirring within him, Alt could feel it. Memories that brought out this side of honor...this side of courage out of Mac. And the boy wasn't going to deny it, it was admirable to witness, especially for a figure he'd questioned the ideals for from the very beginning. A minuscule part of Altian wanted to let Mac charge forward and decimate this individual. But he'd for more than proven his own worth today. Mercy was the option that would reign supreme. Emry-Shu knew this as well, even though he didn't hold restraint in his punch.

There was no need to take a life today.

"Something about this forest caused my magic to be more volatile, powerful, and harder to control. You noticed it too right? Some spells were way more out there then normal. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Altian could feel it too. Emry-Shu's magical abilities had been increased, but it seemed like all this extra energy couldn't be contained within him, letting loose extra bursts of energy with each spell his friend cast. Perhaps this was why the bubbles lasted as long as they did. At the same time, this spike in magical energy was unpredictable and volatile, meaning it was only a matter of time before it would turn against them. Altian wasn't sure whether it stemmed from the bite he'd received eaarlier or from the mist itself. Altian agreed...they needed to leave as soon as possible.

But...

"I know," Altian replied in the same tongue, "But we need to check on that bite. Make sure you're completely resistant to it. While I'm thinking it's a combination of the two, I don't want it to be a burden on you later. That is something we need to fix right now. Once we do, we can leave."

Altian turned towards Willow, "You follow the ways of the Almighty Flow, meaning you know where the highest density of magic is in this forest. Can you take us to it?"

---

A couple hours later, the group of five arrived at the location...a surprisingly serene setting among the jungle of wild and crazy magic. Perhaps it was the stillness of the lake they saw, the water reflecting the canopy above them in mirror-like fashion. Or maybe it was the small island at the lake's center, perfectly symmetrical despite the laws of nature. But Altian would describe it as a presence of atmosphere. One didn't need to be hyper sensitive to magic to tell it was all around them, leaving it's imprint on this setting.

"There," Willow pointed to the island, "That is the epicenter of magic in the Misty Woods."

Altian nodded, "Then let's get started. For starters, no one touch anything. This setting has to be as preserved as possible. Mac, Tam, I need you two to keep an eye out for the Aknara while we set this up. Emry-Shu, you stay here and focus on keeping you energy contained. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention. Willow, since you're the most familiar with magic than anyone else here, I'll need your help setting up this specific circle I had in mind."

With that, Altian touched the Crotayin, a magical pulse flowing through the two of them, and suddenly they teleported to the island.