Fukayna Muidrehd's Story

Astrid gave a cheeky little grin and a little salute. Back to Skyfall? Happy days, no more walking. Walking was slightly worse than a slow painful death being eaten by a really nasty dragon. Well. That's what Astrid thought. She had never suffered a slow painful death being eaten by a really nasty dragon but she used her imagination. But what did her superior mean by Lethandrill is regrettably, gone? Surely it couldn't just be gone. Cities don't just disappear. Astrid grinned at the thought of a city just going "poof" and it vanished, like a magician's trick gone large scale. And then some. Stephano just rolled his eyes at his companion.

"Aye aye, Miss Jennifer, ma'am!" She turned on the spot as the mage took off with Talon on the back of her horse. Astrid winced a little at that. Maybe she should have offered to let his ride with her and Stephano. It would have been a much smoother ride. But then she shook her head. Ha! Talon had fought in the great war! He'd be fine! Just fine.

Wouldn't he?

The assassin distracted herself from these disturbing thoughts by trying to figure out where her little scaly friend had gone to. Because he was not on her back right now. As she turned to find Stephano, she giggled. Aw, her dragon. Such the gentleman.

Stephano had obviously noticed that this 'Sheep Fur' person (Astrid couldn't even hope to pronounce that name so "Miss Sheep Fur" it was) was struggling to get back on her horse and had gone to lend a hand. It was actually kind of cute. Stephano wasn't all that bad, she supposed. Unless he was being whiny. Which was often. So really, Stephano was all that bad.

After both the horses had gone on their way, Astrid bounded over to her dragon who looked up at her.

"All abord the Stephano express?" Astrid asked, her eyes wide and pleading. The sandy brown being rolled his large eyes and spead his large wings out to allow Astrid to climb onto his back.

"Well, are you just going to stand there all day? I'm pretty sure we have work to do." Stephano drawled, his voice laced with sarcasm. Astrid hopped onto his back and hit Stephano's side sharply with her bow.

"Yeah, smartass. We got work to do. Now hustle. I don't wanna be the last one to Skyfall because of your mediocre flying skills." The assassin remarked, grinning as she sat in her normal position, knees against the wings joints and hands braced in front of her.

"Fine then." Stephano took off with a large whoosh noise as his huge wings forced him into the air. He moved with a grace that you wouldn't imagine from a dragon that was so clumsy on his feet. His large wings spanned the sky and before long, they found themselves way above Jennifer, Sheep Fur and the other two, one of which was still not looking good. Astrid leaned to the side and Stephano obeyed, tilting his wings so that they moved over to the left. There. Now the sick guy was in the shade of Stephano's large wings. Maybe that would help him. It was a rather uneventful journey until Stephano stopped dead in the air, hovering a little.

"Oh, Riena..."

"What? What is it. Steph-Oh Riena..." Jennifer was correct. Lethandrill was gone. It was wasn't totally gone but it was near enough, in Astrid's opinion. The ruins of a great city stood among the destruction.

"Something bad is going on here. Something very not good." Astrid whispered, hands fluttering to her collarbone. Stephano nodded before carrying on to catch up with the rest of their company. The dragon glided down towards the others a little, feeling his assassin's need to know they were OK. Apart from Talon and the sickly looking guy, the rest of them seemed OK. She hoped. Stephano felt this little bit of worry leak through their bond and he pushed it away, trying to reassure her that they were fine. Everyone was going to be OK. The sandy brown dragon flapped his wings powerfully rising in the air before gliding down closer to the others.

"So. We should play a game."

"Really. And what should this game be?"

"Oh, it could be "Tell Astrid about the weird ass dragon deal" or "Jennifer baiting" or even I Spy!" Astrid said, crossing her arms. She needed something to take her mind off the current events. And what better way to do that than by annoying Stephano?

"Ok. No, hell no and don't even try. And in that order."

"Yay! I spy..."

"No."

"With my..."

"Stop it."

"Little (although incredibly accurate) eye..."

"We are not playing this game."

"Something beginning with..."

"Astrid, I'm serious. Not after last time."

"Hmm...something beginning with S!" Astrid finished, leaning back, feeling smug. That dragon was NEVER going to get this one.

"I despise you. I really do."

"I know that. Now guess!"

"Fine, fine. S? Salt?"

"Don't know where the hell you're seeing salt, dragon boy, but no."

"Sand?"

"Again, god knows where you're seeing that and hell no."

"The sun?"

"You can't look directly at the sun, you idiot. Therefore, I cannot spy it."

"Fine. I fricking give up. What the hell is it?" Stephano grouched, trying to concentrate. Oddly enough, he got a wave of deja vu. As long as she didn't start on again at the puppies, he'd be fine. He wouldn't kill her.

He hoped.

It would be slightly awkward to explain to Jennifer why one of her assassins was now in a billion little flaming pieces.

"It's sheep fur, you silly!" Stephano's brain froze for a few minutes before he sighed heavily.

"Wolf. Fur. it's wolf fur."

"Nuh uh. Sheep fur!"

"Wolf. It's wolf. Ask her yourself if you fricking want. It is WOLF FUR. Stephano yelled, his eyes wide and jaw squared. Astrid stopped for a minute before falling back with laughter.

"I...I..." The assassin gasped for breath, laughter streaming out of her mouth. Stephano rolled his eyes and took on a wicked grin of his own.

"Let's see how funny you find this." With that, the dragon pitched down, forcing Astrid to lie flat on her stomach as Stephano shot down and down and down. He almost reached the ground around a metre or two in front of Jennifer and then shot back up again, twirling as he did. Astrid screamed, laughter piercing the terror.

"Stephano! Stop it!" The assassin called to her dragon, not really meaning it. Her long red hair flying around her as the dragon flew up into the air again. She wasn't worried. They had done this kind of thing before, until much deadlier circumstances. But the thrill falling through the air gave her was still phenomenal. Unbeatable. Stephano arched his back as he went to loop the air and Astrid fell. Again, she didn't worry. She didn't need to. A few seconds after just falling in the air upside down, she flipped herself upright and landed square on Stephano's back again. The assassin giggled, eyes screwed shut, hands reaching the air as Stephano carried on dancing through the air.

Who needed a horse when you had a dragon anyways?

After a while, they decided to cease their aerial display for now and glided down until they were above the others again. Then Astrid decided she wanted to meet the new recruit, properly this time. Stephano agreed, also wanting to meet this new person civilly now instead of being attacked by her later for something Astrid had roped him into. The dragon and his rider soared down until almost eyes level to the woman wrapped in fur.

"So! Who are you?" Astrid asked, her hair flying around her face and eyes shimmering from the adrenaline of their flight. Stephano rolled his eye and just carried on gliding gently beside the poor woman Astrid was probably going to scar for life.

Skyfall – Afternoon

Jennifer slumped into her armchair, sighing and allowing herself to rest after all the time she had spent removing the crystals. The furniture squeaked as she thrust herself careless upon it, her lithe body folding into the seat’s cavity as though she lacked any semblance of a backbone. Her heart hammered in her chest, her breath hitched in her throat. Somehow, she’d succeeded, but it had taken a considerable proportion of her necklace’s powers. The experience left her utterly exhausted but her concerns where already focused elsewhere, on the events in Lethandrill. It was the indistinct dread that forced her minor asphyxiation. Torak’s gauntlet had haunted her memories ever since she’d returned to Skyfall, disturbing the events from forty years ago. It wasn’t quite right to call it Torak’s gauntlet though, no, that wasn’t right at all. By now she was certain that it was Domieen’s. There was also the mystery of the third figure, the man with the stone gauntlet. After the chaos she'd seen no sight of him and believed him killed, but she knew better than to assume.

“Jennifer! How is Lord V’lyn?” The gruff voice of Sebastian, a seasoned veteran, called from beyond the entrance.

A fist pounded violently at the door, startling her. Jennifer only rose when she heard her name called a second time. She edged past the flat, silver table which worked as a center piece to her lab. Talon’s unconscious body laid face-up on the block, shirtless. His tanned skin was marred with numerous scars, some old and faded, some raw. Paradoxically, like the distinctive scar on his handsome face, the markings along his body afforded him a gentle, almost vulnerable appearance. Pity swelled into her chest as she remembered being unable to prevent more than one of those of those wounds, and now there was one more to add to that list.

Before she could part ways, Talon’s eyes snapped open in so fast Jennifer expected to hear thunder. A deep reaching breath filled the room as the assassin sucked the life back into him. The change in scenery made him instinctively go for his knives, which of course, weren’t there. “Talon!” Jennifer yelped, equally surprised to see him awake. Drawing his attention with her voice, Talon relaxed at her presence. The door knocked a third time.

“Where are we? How are the others?” he asked in a state of confusion as Jennifer went to retrieve a glass of water.

“Skyfall,” Jennifer replied, carefully feeding him the clear liquid. “And care more about yourself first,” she reprimanded, her sharp features showing irritation once more at his lack of self-preservation.

Talon ignored her of course. His mind was a haze but there were more pressing matters. Torak, and more specifically, the gauntlet. “Ro’ell,” he said, his jaw muscles working like crazy to formulate his ideas, “You need to…research…the gauntlet…”

He fell into quiet slumber before uttering another word.

“Jennifer! Are you there?!” the voice behind the door banged again with an undertone of urgency.

The door flew open in front of Sebastian, revealing the mage behind it. She looked ever so slightly bedraggled, not having the time to even straighten herself out since arriving back at the order, but that only seemed to augment her profound beauty. “Send a message to our contacts in Ro’ell, Alistair Fenix and Isaehn Raxieyl of the Order of Vyldi. Arrange a meeting, request both of them to research for information regarding Domieen’s gauntlet,” Jennifer ordered immediately. Sebastian’s ember eyes narrowed perceptibly at the mentioning of ‘Domieen’s gauntlet’. Sebastian was old, forty-five now, so the war had occurred when he was only just five. Yet even he knew of the infamy surrounding the old black dragon. That the mage had decided to acknowledge it suggested the matter was dire indeed. “And summon Fukayna and Astrid to the briefing room.”

“And Lord V’lyn?” Sebastian stuttered, suddenly remembering his original purpose.

“He’s fine,” Jennifer huffed, storming out of the lab room, “The foolish oath would sooner die of his own vaunted chivalry before any infection would even have the chance to become lethal…What?”

Sebastian still lingered by the open doorway, giving off an apprehensive aura that didn’t suit the middle-aged assassin at all. “A man by the name of Khrae Var has also requested to speak with Lord V’lyn,” he informed her.

“Well, you can go ahead and tell him that Lord V’lyn is unavailable due to unconsciousness,” Jennifer retorted with a flippant wave of her arms.

“He wants to discuss the events in Lethadrill, he’s accompanied by a younger man and a…humanoid drag…” Sebastian’s speech stopped, his voice caught in his throat by the expression that the mage greeted him with. He looked tremendously disturbed to see her standing in the hallway, smiling. “I’ll tell Mr Var to wait in the main courtyard and then get to mailing those messages for you...”

There were still so many duties to attend to.

Path to Skyfall - Morning

Fukayna adjusted herself on her horseback, her eyes flitting over to the horse riding next to her that was supporting the weight of both the elves. Now that they were away from the odd group, she was beginning to feel more like herself and her shoulders had relaxed from their previously tense position. The journey was moderately paced and it gave her a chance to evaluate what happened as they rode. Lethandrill had fallen, a city that had once stood so firm and so proud. All of that had been decimated in mere minutes thanks to the frightening power that the steward wielded.

The power hadn't seem to come from the man though... The pulses of magic had come more from the gauntlet than it was coming from his own efforts. And there was something troubling about that. Her eyebrows furrowed, her bottom lip jutting out as she tried to ponder the possibilities. She felt she had seen that gauntlet before, perhaps somewhere in texts--there was something familiar... Before she could focus any more thought to the idea, a whoop and a flurry of air hit her face, bringing her out of her reverie effectively.

It took her a bit for her eyes to focus upon the sight. It was the red-haired girl upon the lovely creature, the dragon doing twirls dangerously close to the ground before rising up and coming to settle next to Fukayna's horse. She jumped, reeling back just a bit as the woman grinned over at her. "So! Who are you?" Her voice was peppy, excited, jumpy--like the personality she seemed to radiate. Fukayna was a little lost and glanced at the dragon, who rolled his eye. She fumbled a little and tapped the side of her horse to slow it down a little.

Feeling it safe to feel around inside of her wolf furs, Fukayna pulled out her notepad and pen, jotting (somewhat sloppily due to the up and down movements) on her parchment. "I'm a new recruit, chosen to accompany V'lyn and Miss Jennifer through a spar match." It seemed like a proficient-enough answer but the woman was looking at her expectantly. Sighing, she scribbled a little more on her paper. "My name is Fukayna Muidrehd." The girl finally seemed satisfied and giggled, proudly introducing herself with puffed-up bravado and way too much arm movement.

After finally sorting out left from right, for the wild way in which she spoke made it difficult to pay proper attention, Fukayna finally got that the girl's name was Astrid and the dragon was indeed Stephano. A look of pity came across her face, though she wasn't sure if it came across all the way. Who on earth would name their dragon Stephano? Perhaps when they had some time to themselves back at the Order of Riena, Fukayna would get the chance to ask him if that was really his name. And if that tie was worn because it made him looking more dashing or because it was forced upon him by the the girl with the boundless amount of energy.

The trip continued by in much the same fashion. Astrid blathered question after question--but unlike Miss Jennifer, the questions were borderline rude and rather disturbing. What did asking her if she had ever tried to put giant cloth diapers on sheep have to do with her life? She kept her responses minimal, still unsure how to take this character. Maybe when she was a little less tired, the conversation might make a bit more sense. Maybe. An hour or two more passed by before at last they came to the Order.

Skyfall - Afternoon

She hadn't been able to find time to take a nap after all. After they had arrived at Skyfall, Fukayna had followed after Miss Jennifer a few paces before the mage had told her where to take the elves to rest. She had been adamant about making sure both made it to the infirmary. She eventually had to be told to leave, for her fretting was doing ill for Armen's rest and the dark-haired elf sleeping a few beds from him. As she was leaving, she was approached by an older man appearing to be in his late forties, one whom looked wizened with experience and sights of war--given the haunted look behind his eyes.

"Ah, you must be Fukayna?" She nodded hesitantly, unsure who this man was. He smiled a bit as if to put her at ease. "My name is Sebastian. Jennifer requests your presence in the briefing hall." She nodded to indicate she understood what had just been told her. The man nodded back before turning, heading off in another direction. She paused, choosing to cut through the courtyard to get to the hall quicker. She yawned as she rubbed at her eyes beneath her bangs. Gods, she needed a nap.

As she walked across the courtyard, she caught sight of the same strange individual she had seen earlier on the path. She froze in her steps, now wary. 'What is he doing here...?' She nervously gripped at her furs again as she forced herself to keep walking. She didn't want to be late for a summons by Miss Jennifer and shyness around strangers seemed like a pretty poor excuse. Fukayna walked to the other side, only glancing to her right once to look at him once more. She met the gaze of the older male and immediately looked away, hurrying towards the briefing room. There was an intensity in his gaze, though gentle, there was something in it that commanded respect--perhaps power? She shook her head; now was not the time to have her mind on the man.

She came outside the door, knocking quietly twice before letting herself in. She peered around, not spotting anyone inside. Perhaps Miss Jennifer was delayed? The room was the same as when she had last seen it, except not so cram full of new recruits. She found herself drawn to her original seat that she had taken when she had been first listening to the words of V'lyn. It was hard to believe it really hadn't been that long ago at all. After her experiences, such a speech seemed so long and distant in the past. And there were still so many unanswered questions. She sat down, placing her hands in front of her on her lap. Well, she may as well wait. Miss Jennifer would surely be here within moments.

Astrid pulled back her draw string and watched as her arrow flew and hit the target. Without skipping a beat, she threw herself sideways, rolling on her shoulder to fall in a crouched position. There she let another arrow fly, hitting the target with a sound thunk before she leaped backwards. She soared through the air and hit the target on the ceiling with ease. As she landed, the assassin had a smile on her face.

"Hell yeah. Beat that mister 'I'm-such-a-great-recruit-I-can-taunt-the-assassins'. Read em' and weep."

"You do realise said recruit is no longer here. And highly likely will never return."

"I never knew he had such a low pain threshold."

"I am sure, dear." The dragon stretched his limbs as he lay on the training room floor watching his companion practise. The long fly back to Skyfall had tired the young dragon out and he was happily relaxing as the assassin brushed up on her archery. Astrid turned to face Stephano as she unsheathed her throwing knives.

"Yeah, yeah. So what do you think of that new recruit?" Astrid asked, thinking back to their journey back to Skyfall. She had taken an interest in the mysterious person. Who didn't talk. Which was fine as Stephano had always stated that Astrid could talk enough for five different people.

"Fukayna?" The dragon asked, examining his claws. There was nothing more he hated than dirt underneath them. Many experiences had taught him that dirt was not so good for him. And it was icky.

"Yeah, Fuk...Fo...Fa...nay...na.." Astrid paused for a moment. "Yeah, her." Stephano looked up at his companion with a seasoned look of frustration.

"Can't take you anywhere, can I? And as for your question, I think she is very promising. And she doesn't talk. After spending any amount of time with you makes silence golden."

"Yeah, well. Duct tape is silver. Wanna see?" Astrid let a little sugary sweet slip into her voice. Stephano suppressed a chuckle.

"No thanks, dear, I think I'll be fine." The assassin shrugged and spun on her heel. She let out a barrage of silver that streaked the air and made quick work of the training dummy in front of her. The young woman then skipped over to collect her knives and started the whole procedure again, her large eyes taking account of the "kills" she was getting in.

"I think she'll be fun." Right in the chest

"If a bit quiet." Plan a funeral, buddy

"Nothing wrong with quiet." Stephano added. Damn it. Astrid shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess. I just like to talk." Bam. Try having children now, you stupid dummy...If dummies could have children...

"Yes, we all got that actually. Have no idea how." The yellow brown dragon replied, his voice coloured with some amusement. The assassin replied with a hand gesture that made Stephano gasp in mock shock.

"Really now, how vulgar of you. A young lady such as yourself..."

"I'm about as ladylike as you are entertaining." Astrid mumbled under her breath. She stood with her back to Stephano but wasn't too surprised when she felt a head on her shoulder and a body encasing her waist.

"I am deeply hurt. Truly." The dragon had just uttered his expected response when Sebastian walked into the training room.

"Oh crap. It wasn't me this time! It couldn't have been me! Really! Just ask...Stephano! Wait, don't. He's a lying bastard...ask Jennifer!" The man just shook his head.

"For once, Miss T'Vali, it would be the case that you didn't have a hand in any mishaps. I never thought this day would come. Miss Jennifer has summoned you to the briefing room." Astrid made a face at this. She didn't want to be told off for following the group to Lethandrill when she wasn't supposed to. That would be a lecture. And they were boring. And she got enough damn lectures from Stephano without Jennifer and the rest of them chipping in too.

Sebastian caught the look on the young woman's face and he rolled his eyes.

"And for once in your life, do not waste time." The older assassin finished off, turning his back to the duo. Astrid stuck her tongue out at the man's retreating back when he called out behind him.

"And if you don't keep that tongue in your head, I will personally cut it off." The younger assassin instantly retracted her tongue and scowled. Stephano didn't even bother hiding his laughter.

"I hate you Stephano. And how did he know I was doing that?!" Astrid asked, picking up her bow and making her way towards the door.

"Well, your immaturity isn't exactly anything new, dear. They've had a good long time to get used to you." The dragon responded. His companion scoffed as she fixed her hair, pulling it up into its normal bunches rather than the tight bun she had for training.

"Much better. And I am not immature!"

"You put cling film on all the toilets in the city two months ago."

"Oh, I remember that." The assassin giggled as she cut across a courtyard.

"I still don't know how you managed to get the entire city covered in one night."[/b Stephano mused, eyes picking up every detail around him. He nodded towards the group of assassins as Astrid carried on her rambling.

"Hey! I know people who know people who know people." The young assassin answered, eyes flickering to her companion. The dragon bumped his head against her cheek and they carried on their way. At the door for the briefing room, Astrid paused.

"I don't wanna go in."

[b]"You have to."

"I really don't wanna go in."

"You don't have much choice in the matter, dear."

"Oh, Stephano. You don't seem to understand. I really do not want to enter this room and be shouted at."

"Oh Astrid. You don't seem to understand. I'm going to get a bollocksing for your stupidity. Now get in there."

"But moooooooooom."

"I will fry you where you stand, mortal. Now build a bridge and get over it." Stephano grumbled, tired and moody.

"Fine. But I don't want you to organise my funeral."

"No problem. Pink sparkly unicorn themed funeral it is."

"I fucking hate you Stephano."

"I do believe we've heard this before. And I know, dear." With that, Astrid pushed open the door, albiet with the minimal effort needed and found...an empty briefing room.

Well, almost empty.

"Fuka! ...Fooka...Fuky...Uhhh..." Astrid started and Stephano fought the urge to hit his head against something rather hard. Several times.

"I believe you mean Fukayna?"

"Yeah! That's what I meant!" Astrid exclaimed, hopping to sit on the table, her feet on a chair. "So. You in trouble too?"

"I don't think Fukayna is as stupid as you are and probably wouldn't get in same trouble you would." With that the dragon gave the other woman a little smile. The young assassin ignored her dragon's barb and carried on thinking out loud to herself.

"Oh. So I'm not in trouble! Well, that's good. I thought Sebastian was just being annoying again." With that, Astrid turned to the recruit and gave her a blinding grin.

"So, how's every little thing?" Stephano rolled his eyes and hopped off his perch. He landed on the table and lay down, eyes wide. He watched as his assassin tried to have a conversation with a mute.

Well. She had done strange things, Stephano had to say. The dragon moved forward until he was sitting beside his companion before turning his gaze to the new recruit. He was sure she had questions about Skyfall or even them. Most people had questions about Stephano and Astrid after meeting them. Therefore the little being plucked up his courage. The dragon decided to help out the other woman by asking her something in a very shy voice, a shadow of previous arguments with Astrid. Well, at least this recruit couldn't laugh at him. Out loud anyway.

"So, Is t-there any t-thing I can help you with? Any q-questions?" The dragon asked, his large gold eyes staring at the shiny table below his feet. Astrid couldn't help but smile. At least he was trying to talk to other people now. It was better than she being his bloody mouth piece.

The other assassin shook her head and tried to hide her ever increasing impatience at being kept waiting.

Because, my god, did she dislike waiting.

Xandur

"Finally. Hopefully now I'll get some answers." Xandur said ass Skyfall came into view. Getting here had been no small feat, especially after that bright light from Torak. Mainly, he needed to exchange a few words with Jennifer. He.....sort of understood why she threw a boulder at him. What he didn't understand was how she threw it at him.

[RECAP]


V'lyn had rushed the Steward and it seemed the two were having a battle of strength, skill, magic and will. They seemed to goback and forth. Xandur was about to step in and help V'lyn, until Jennifer landed directly in his path. “Too bad for you, at this stage I don’t care about your intentions,” she smiled an oddly innocent smile and proceeded to materialize and launch a boulder the size of a carriage at him.

Like a reflex, Xandur's stone arm flew up and the markings grew bright. The boulder landed squarely in his stony palm. The shock of the hit caused Xandur to slide back a bit. The slide put unneeded pressure on his injured leg and forced him to his knee. His face twisted with pain. It felt as if his leg bones were staring to catch fire and melt his leg from the inside out.

In reaction to his pain, his gauntlets clawed finger began to dig in to the boulder. The sound caused him to look up from his leg, and realize that the boulder blocked his view from all. Xandur then remembered what was happening at the moment. That mage woman and her strange yet intriguing powers had stopped him from helping to save her Lord. He understood she was playing itself, but a boulder, truly?

The symbols of the gauntlet flashed suddenly and purple cracks filled the once empty space of the large rock. It then shattered, sending rock shrapnel everywhere. Still kneeling, Xandur surveyed the battle.

It seemed that Jennifer was exercising the better part of valor alongside V'lyn. He then looked over to Torak. He seethed with power, it seemed the very air around him to be distorted. He felt his Sight tugging at him, telling him there was more than there appeared to be. Even so.......it was nothing Xandur wished to See.

Well, this attempt to help a stranger had apparently landed him in situation where he was 20 feet from an Elf with enough power to level a city and half a mind to do so. While his own energy levels were rather lower and he was fairly certain he couldn't move his leg. So, in short, he was standing next to a massive time bomb with a broken leg at the top of a staircase.

He had hoped he would learn that going out of his way and helping people would only bite him in the ass, but he apparently never got the message. He assumed he was just one of those people. The vagrant didn't understand why, but he started laughing. First chuckling to himself, then it grew to a deep hearty bass laugh flowing from his diaphragm. Light, blinding light then filed his sight. The next moment, Xandur was surrounded by nothing except the sound of his own laughter.

Xandur's eye suddenly shot open and he sat up. He looked around and found himself to be on top of a smal hill in a clearing of trees. He quickly stood up and surveyed the area. Xandur then froze.....his leg, it no longer hurt. It was definitely sore, but beyond that, it seemed fine. He fell to his knees in utter bewilderment.

He was alive and unscathed. He thought he would've died in that.....whatever you want to call that blast of light from Torak's bracer. But, how? Just what had happened?

It was then he noticed that his shirt had a burn hole in it the same shape as his amulet....along with his flesh. He eyed it curiously. He then looked into the distance. "Who am I?"

He decided such profound questions were better thought on elsewhere. Now he had to decide, where to go from here? He had assumed that Jennifer and V'lyn had escaped. They seemed to know what the hell was going on. And Xandur was most likely certain that he would explode if he didn't figure out what exactly had happened back there. That meant going to Skyfall.

So......how would he find it. He wasn't even sure where he was now. How would he find them?

A thought surged through his head like a lightning bolt. You caught the boulder the mage threw at you with your gauntlet, that boulder she created. Use the residual magic to find her. Xandur held his head a moment in surprise at how fast the thought came. He looked around. "I can do that?"

Xandur lifted his stone gauntlet up and focused on Jennifer's magic, remembering the taste from earlier that day.......well, he hoped it was still the same day at least.

The gauntlet glowed and a purple energy floated up from the gauntlet and began to spin. After a few minutes of concentration, the longer end pointed off to his left. The one eyed man looked that way. "Well, I suppose it's a start. Which is more than I've had in awhile." With that, Xandur set off to find more answers.

[END RECAP]


Xandur had finally made it to the doors of the order of Riena. He took a deep breath and knocked three times. After awhile, the door was opened by a tall man in remotely formal attire. HE could tell just by staring at this man, that he was prepared to kill Xandur if necessary. Not that he would expect much else from an order of assassins. "Can I help you?" asked the man.

Xandur smiled."No, but Jennifer might. May I see her?"

The mans eyebrow raised slightly. "I'm afraid Lady Jennifer is rather busy tending with the recent events. If she is the only one that can help you, I'm going to have to ask you to come back later." The man said, attempting to shut the gate on him.

Xandur's hand shot out and slammed against the door that it surprised him. He sighed a very heavy sigh. He truly did not feel like talking his way in after the day he had. Neither was he going to cut his way through. He would have to resort to less than friendly abilities. He hated doing this.

He looked up at the man. "Actually, perhaps you can help me, I'm rather desperate." Xandur lifted up his hand and took off his eyepatch, revealing his scarred eye, closed.

"Oh?"

"Yes, it's my eye. Could you tell me if you see anything strange about it?" Then, his eye shot open. It pupil seemed to spin and whirl, the sclera suddenly glowing purple.

The second the man looked at it, his eyes went dead. After a few seconds, they lit back up. He shook his head, then looked back at Xandur, who was re positioning his eyepatch. He smiled. "Welcome home!"

Xandur smiled back at him. "Good to see you too, brother!" The two then hugged.

The man, who's name he now knew was Tiber, walked him into the Order. "You weren't due back for months! What are you doing back here so soon?"

Xandur then played worried. "Trouble I'm afraid. I can't tell you anything now. I must speak with Lord V'lyn or Lady Jennifer first. Though, you look tired, I think you should sleep."

"Sleep? Nonsense, I feel fine."

"Trust me.......sleep."

Tiber then yawned, licked his lips for a moment. He stumbled over to a bench and passed out on top of it.

Xandur sighed, he hated invading the minds of others, but he was just not in the mood for anything else at this moment. He distinguished the location that Jennifer might be, their conference room, which Xandur know knew the location of. V'lyn was most likely recovering from his duel with Torak, probably eating in his room. Xandur had decided that he should not trouble him.

Xandur made off for the conference room and found it within a minute. He had put up a mental barrier around himself to make any who looked upon him to believe that it was perfectly normal for him to be there.

Xandur casually opened the door to find, of all things, a Dragon laying on the conference table. It was a small thing, rather well looked after if the creatures rim middle was any indication. Their was also a girls who's hair had been touched by flame. Along with Fukayna, all sitting at the table. He put on his best smile and closed the door behind him.

"Hello there, Fukayna. Good to see you made it out of there in one piece. Am I assume young Armen and Fay X'san did as well? Good." he said casually as he walked over to the left of the room.

He then turned to the red haired girl. "Here's a face I do not recognize." he then looked to the dragon."Two faces actually. I'm Xandur. A pleasure." He said with a small bow. He then looked back and forth betwen them. "Now, could any of you tell me where Jennifer might be? There are some things I would very much like to discuss with her."

"Now, could any of you tell me where Jennifer might be? There are some things I would very much like to discuss with her."

As if on cue, the double doors to the conference room burst apart as though they’d been rammed by Barthomel himself. Striding swiftly towards the stage, boots creating a clatter which echoed within the unoccupied chamber, came Jennifer. It wasn’t a walk so much as it was a march. Any faster and the mage would have broken into a run. Jennifer crossed the empty expanse towards the lectern, carved in the shape of Riena, and glanced idly down at the trio of people as she approached the center of the room.

“If you’d be as kind as to remove yourself from the table dear,” Jennifer gestured towards Stephano. The dragon scurried away, quick on the uptake as a small mountain of documents was dumped on top of the slab. The mage huffed, flexing her aching muscles as they were released from the strain, “Phoo. Look at this mess, it’s like I’ve become some bureaucratic desk sucker,” she frowned at the papers, hands at her hourglass hips.

“It seems we have an unexpected guest,” Jennifer smiled, observing the surprised and cautious expressions of Fukayna and Astrid with wry amusement. Like her words, the smile was devoid of any warmth. She waved to inform the duo to stand down. Poor Fukayna looked as dead in her seat as Jennifer felt, the dark complexion of her face so wane no amount of make-up would’ve concealed it. The contrast was especially stark next to the utterly exuberant character of Astrid, whose fiery enthusiasm gave even Jennifer pause.

The unexpected guest, named Xandur, inhabited the right outer most portion of the room, closest to the main entrance. His appearance was identical as it had been in Lethandrill. Young, but no older that someone in his mid-twenties. His presence was impossible to ignore however, tall and well constructed in ways a malnourished beggar could never hope to be. He nursed an eye patch and carried the faint aroma of dry winds. More concerning to Jennifer was the runic gauntlet which sheathed his entire left arm up to the elbow. Jennifer leaned over the table with mock authority, her dark eyes glinting maliciously, “You have a bad habit of being in the right place at the wrong time, Xandur. Maybe this time i should throw an even larger boulder...” she pondered in cheerfully clipped tones.

Jennifer ignored him for a moment. The information she was about to deliver was common knowledge anyway. “Lastra is in anarchy. As of sixteen hours ago, half of Lethandrill’s population was killed in a discharge of energy, magical in nature,” she started, nonchalantly flipping through the pages in one of her ledgers, “As Lethandrill’s neighbouring city, Skyfall will have to prepare themselves for an influx of refugees..." The report snapped shut with a flick of her fingers, the mage's other hand forming a beak and mimicking her words as she quacked it derisively, "This city is to assist in Lethandrill’s aid and recovery blah blah blah.” She never liked presenting, not in the martial prowess of Talon’s style anyway, “But, as the Order of Riena, this isn’t our primary concern.”

“I’m sure you’re all aware of the restrictions being pushed upon mages by the Order of Vlydi themselves. The political backlash of this recent disaster is huge. People haven’t seen this much destructive power since the last war. They’re scared, heck even I am. They will want closure, so we need to resolve this before things get even more out of hand. That will be your mission,” she concluded abruptly. Staring up from beneath bangs of blackest brown hair, occupying Jennifer’s gaze was the stranger again, “Now. Invading my conference will certainly get you my attention, but not the attention you’re hoping for. I’ll give you one chance to explain why you’re here.”

The doors were pushed open and Fukayna immediately looked up, expecting to see the form of Jennifer but was instead greeting with the figure of Astrid and the lovely creature that was her dragon. The assassin's face was lit up in a wide grin that was the most prominent of her features. The silent girl shifted a bit awkwardly as the loud bantering of the girl bounded off the walls of the briefing hall. The volume of it all was enough to make anyone think the room was full of people, despite there only being the two of them. The blabbing continued and she did not even attempt to follow it. She was catching on fast that Astrid's mouth moved a mile a minute and the meaning of silence was lost to her.

The flame-headed girl focused her attentions on the smaller of the two, plopping down across from her with a larger grin. "So, how's every little thing?" Prompted by the wide-eyed gaze of her sister, Fukayna took out her pad and wrote slowly, carefully. She was taking her time intentionally, wanting to sneak looks at the cute creature perched upon the desk. Well that and she felt so awfully tired, it was hard to concentrate upon the parchment. She held up her response, her furs making a rustling noise as she moved her arm.

"Waiting for Miss Jennifer. I suppose you were called as well? A quick nod confirmed the question and Fukayna put her pad back down on her lap. Unexpectedly, it was the beautiful, brown dragon that spoke to her next. His voice was a bit faltering, oh! He could be adorable as well when he wanted to? How simply wondrous!

"So, Is t-there any t-thing I can help you with? Any q-questions?" Eee! Fukayna's cheeks warmed up with a blush of adoration for the dragon. She was so entranced by him, his wings were absolutely magnificent. Astrid didn't seem to appreciate him that much, given the way they bickered. Though... A quick gaze at his somewhat rounded belly indicated otherwise. If she didn't feel like she was about to pass out, she would've rushed to wrap her arms around the dragon's neck. He just seemed so intelligent and warm. Definitely cuddle-material. Fukayna made herself scribble on her pad faster this time, holding it out in front of him.

"Only one. Is Stephano really your name?" The dragon took a breath to answer but was cut off as a man walked into the room. Fukayna stared at him, his beggar's attire seemingly out of place. He was handsome, she supposed, but she couldn't really tell that well given what he was wearing. He smiled warmly at her, which caught her a bit off guard. She didn't have the faintest clue who he was.

"Hello there, Fukayna. Good to see you made it out of there in one piece. Am I assume young Armen and Fay X'san did as well? Good." Her breath hitched; how did he know her name? She furrowed her brows as she observed him cautiously underneath her bangs. His smile did not waver as he turned his attention to Astrid, who seemed to be muttering to herself under her breath. "Here's a face I do not recognize. Two faces actually. I'm Xandur. A pleasure. Now, could any of you tell me where Jennifer might be? There are some things I would very much like to discuss with her." For once, it seemed Astrid and Fukayna were in sync for the two looked at each other in mutual confusion and apprehension. They were saved from answering when the doors burst open with such force, it made Fukayna drop her notepad.

This time it really was Miss Jennifer who strode in, beautiful hips swaying as she made her way over to the desk. Her voice was pleasant but taxed, an edge of strain in it. “If you’d be as kind as to remove yourself from the table dear,” Stephano complied and trotted over to lay next to Astrid. A look suddenly came across the girl's face, as if some shocking realization had come over her belatedly. The flame-headed girl shot up, putting her hands on her hips and loudly yelling at Xandur from her perch.

[L] "You just HAD to interrupt. Stephano was talking to...Fuu...Faa...Fuck it, Sheep fur lady and you just BURST IN. Like, you know how often he talks to other people? Never! I admit, he's not going to get much of a vocal response but STILL." [L] The response was totally late, the proper moment for it had already passed the instant Miss Jennifer had walked into the room. The mage's look of reproach was so intense that it made Astrid pause and sit herself down properly, if in a pouty fashion.

Fukayna's eyes flit over to Xandur and for a second, she was sure she had seen doubles of him. She rubbed her eyes, swaying a bit. Her hand was shaking a little due to exhaustion but she needed to force herself to stay awake. Just a little longer until the briefing was over. She failed to hear what Miss Jennifer said to the strange man who identified himself as Xandur but when she listened in, it seemed the mage was already moving on.

“Lastra is in anarchy. As of sixteen hours ago, half of Lethandrill’s population was killed in a discharge of energy, magical in nature. As Lethandrill’s neighbouring city, Skyfall will have to prepare themselves for an influx of refugees...This city is to assist in Lethandrill’s aid and recovery blah blah blah.” Fukayna managed a weak laugh. The mage had an interesting way about her, going from chilled tones to blatantly casual ones so easily. The woman lowered the hand she was using to make childish talking gestures with as she finished up her briefing.

“But, as the Order of Riena, this isn’t our primary concern. I’m sure you’re all aware of the restrictions being pushed upon mages by the Order of Vlydi themselves. The political backlash of this recent disaster is huge. People haven’t seen this much destructive power since the last war. They’re scared, heck even I am. They will want closure, so we need to resolve this before things get even more out of hand. That will be your mission,” If it was thought that her complexion couldn't have paled anymore, Fukayna proved this wrong as all remaining color left her face. Vyldi...? They were going to have to go to Vyldi?

She made to get up in protest. She couldn't go back there, she couldn't possibly... She had to tell Miss Jennifer, but what was she supposed to say? She hadn't told anyone what she used to be and was pretty sure it wasn't on any of her records. Her mind raced with thoughts but her exhausted body wasn't able to take the additional strain of her worries and she trembled a bit. Her vision tinted at the edges with black and she winced as she tried to remain upright. But it did her no good as she stumbled and her legs gave way, the girl already passed out before she reached the ground.

RECAP

"Fly?!" Dante exclaimed happily. "You can fly me?!" The boy's face was lit up with enthusiasm at the idea of actually getting an express route to Skyfall, one that didn't involve running, a bumpy ride on horseback, or whatever other means of transportation there was. No, instead what was being offered was something that wouldn't otherwise tax him physically, either with exhaustion or aches that would haunt him later. The idea was brilliant, especially if it meant he could escape Khrae, if only for just an hour or however long it would take. Any time away was time well spent. One look at the older swordsman however, who was already shaking his head, made the boy's elated smile twist around and into a frown. His next face was one that looked far too practiced to be genuine sadness, as if he'd used it, which he had, millions of times to try to merit some alternate outcome from his mentor.

"But Khraeeee..." Dante complained.

"If you truly think that face will work," Khrae said stoically, not even looking at the boy, "then that simply shows how much knowledge from past experiences you retain, and explains wh---"

"Explains why I don't learn anything because no matter how much I'll study I won't remember it because I don't blah blah blah!" Dante interrupted, his expression once more transforming, though this time into one of irritation at the man's constantly being so repetitive.

"If you've memorized everything I've said, maybe I should--"

"Maybe you should read to me!" Dante proclaimed, once more finishing his mentor's statements while throwing his hands up into the air defeatedly and sighing loudly. "Really?!" The boy groaned, kicking a stone towards Khrae, though missing terribly. "What's wrong with me flying?" Dante questioned, losing the previous voice of irritation for one of simple curiosity towards the man's logic. "Seriously, you can fly! What's wrong with me doing it?"

"There's nothing wrong with you flying," Khrae began, still not even bothering to look to his young ward. "bu--"

"Then why can't I?"

"To further enforce what I've been trying to teach you, you cannot because you've yet to sit down and for once meditate longer than fifteen minutes, thus your ancestors haven't granted you such-"

"Nooo," Dante protested loudly. "Why can't Capella carry me?"

"Because I'm not going to waste my time gathering food for your new friend simply to have you airlifted when you're perfectly capable of walking." Khrae said. Of course he was also aware of the time restrictions, and while the idea was tempting, he wasn't about to let the person he was tasked with protecting and maintaining an eye on be literally swooped up and carried away. No matter how annoying. Not to mention that if he did attempt to keep up to the Dragoness for the entire journey, either using his speed or ability to hover on his wings of fire, he'd surely die.

"What if I get the food when we get there, and then promise to meditate for the entire time you're meeting with... Uh, what's his name." Dante snapped his fingers several times, looking around as he dug through his head to find the name of Lord V'lyn. "The leader.." He finally finished, having given up on the strenuous activity. "What about then?"

"It takes the bribe of the prospect of being able to fly just to get you to meditate and pay for yourself?" Khrae questioned, slightly intrigued now as he looked at the boy. Then as an afterthought, and with a smile that could almost be interpreted as amused if anyone could see it from behind the cowl of his cloak, he added, "You don't even have money."

Dante was becoming quite hopefully as he gave a thumbs up to Capella. He knew his rouse was probably working, and once Khrae sat down to meditate himself, he'd be up and gone. Though, at the realization of the fact that he held nothing to pay for food, he put on his best act of innocence. "Uh, Khrae... could I borrow... like.. ten silver coins?" Smiling at the man as he held out his hands, he knew if worse came to worse, he'd simply steal whatever it was Capella wanted. A moment later however, when the man's hand came out to him and dropped the wanted monetary donation into his palms, Dante had to admit that at times, when Khrae wanted to be, he wasn't so bad.

"But!" Khrae knew that the single action would probably cause the worst of heart-attacks in his student, and he was right, because as he looked to Dante, he saw all the boy's hopes suddenly die as he winced, waiting. "I expect you to be meditating by the time I get to Skyfall... And Capella, I will be keeping an eye on you."

Sighing with relief, Dante towards the Dragoness. "Right!" he said looking back once more to Khrae. Beaming triumphantly, as if what he'd just done was something not even the most skilled of negotiators could accomplish, he approached Capella and whispered, "Don't worry. We'll get the food and do whatever. We've got like... time."


SKYFALL

Khrae watched as the man left, bringing his message to whomever it concerned, probably Jennifer, that he was here and wished to speak with V'lyn, as well as introduce himself and the clan. That done, he turned back to Dante who was sitting cross-legged in the center of the courtyard, one eye peeping open at him, and not at all meditating like he said he would be. Of course it didn't surprise Khrae, but even so the man's arm came out as he walked around the boy, impacting hard on the back his head.

"Concentrate!" Khrae snapped, somehow harboring a commanding and harsh tone, while still maintaining the same neutral one. How he did it, Dante didn't know, but quickly he shut his eye, mumbling under his breath something about it being difficult to do such things when the man was always talking and hitting him. Of course that simply merited another thump on the top of his head, though this time from the pommel of the man's sword, so the boy sighed and shut up. He hated having to sit around and do nothing, especially when it cost him the loss of feeling in his leg, but even so, the experience of being able to fly was more than exhilarating, and well worth it.

Glancing up, the older swordsman let out a long exasperated breath. Pacing around, his bare feet were silent in the courtyard as he shut his own eyes, relaxing momentarily. Currently with all that happened, now would be a perfect time for meditation, but because he knew that Dante would only take that opportunity to sneak away and cause trouble, the man would have to wait. He couldn't risk that happening whilst they were here on such terms, especially considering he knew that at any moment, the order of Vyldi could be watching to ensure that the clan truly meant no harm, or if anything went wrong, he or Dante could be dead without anyone knowing it. These people were a force Khrae didn't wish to contend with, not in the city of assassins itself.

Opening his eyes, the man was surprised to find one of said skilled nighttime marauders before him. She had stopped as she crossed through the courtyard, their gazes meeting momentarily. The man felt no need to acknowledge further, as it was obvious she knew he saw her, and instead put his mind to work calculating everything about her that he may have missed from their previous encounter. She seemed just as shy and nervous as before, clinging to the furs that hung about her, probably for comforting reasons to keep her moving considering she'd just stopped dead as soon as the man made visual contact. He then watching as she continued on, seemingly in a hurry to either get where she was going, or to simply escape from his scrutinizing stare, though she glanced back one more time before disappearing. Khrae simply maintained his usual apathetic composure as his eyes fell upon Dante, whom was hopelessly lost in looking towards the area the young girl had once occupied before she'd left his sight.

Sighing again, the man removed his hood and pulled down the cowl of his cloak as he shook his head and once more hit the boy with the pommel of his sword. No words were necessary, as Dante knew what he'd been doing and what he was supposed to be doing, so the man simply rolled his eyes and continued pacing. Perhaps if the boy could've gotten a girl back in the clan, she would've made him concentrate. It took just that to even get him to consider meditation, albeit though in return for being able to fly, but then again, no one from the clan would've considered someone so careless and troublesome, it simply wasn't worth their time.

Armen Sorien

"Hello there, Fukayna. Good to see you made it out of there in one piece. Am I assume young Armen and Fay X'san did as well? Good."

He looked up sharply at the voice and didn't recognize who it was that spoke. The man was about his height with a stone gauntlet over his entire forearm, an eye patch and a kind of aura hanging around him that put Armen on edge. Since coming to Skyfall, he'd had his wounds treated and had something to eat and drink. He still felt sore all over and a bit on the exhausted side, but he held on to staying awake for a while longer. He'd been summoned to see the woman who was the shadow to the order of Riena and he was intrigued about her.

At first he'd wondered where the man was, the 'Lord V'lyn', but didn't ask. Instead his concentration was torn from the stranger who had burst in, to the woman who came right after him. Her sharp gaze pierced everyone around the room and Armen felt a cold chill in his bones. She didn't seem all that pleasant, how did the Lord V'lyn love a woman like that? The elf shook his head slightly and decided it was none of his business and concentrated on her words.

His eyes shifted to the red haired woman with the dragon as she stood abruptly and began yelling at the stranger who had walked in. It had been several minutes since he'd made his presence clear and Armen wondered what exactly the girl was thinking. However, a sharp look from the woman, who could have only been the Lady Jennifer Live that nearly everyone knew about in Lastra, quieted the girl. A second after and the briefing began, though it was clear that Lady Jennifer wasn't accustomed to doing such things, nor did she seem to have any interest in it either.

“Lastra is in anarchy. As of sixteen hours ago, half of Lethandrill’s population was killed in a discharge of energy, magical in nature. As Lethandrill’s neighboring city, Skyfall will have to prepare themselves for an influx of refugees...This city is to assist in Lethandrill’s aid and recovery blah blah blah.“But, as the Order of Riena, this isn’t our primary concern. I’m sure you’re all aware of the restrictions being pushed upon mages by the Order of Vlydi themselves. The political backlash of this recent disaster is huge. People haven’t seen this much destructive power since the last war. They’re scared, heck even I am. They will want closure, so we need to resolve this before things get even more out of hand. That will be your mission,”[/b] Jennifer finished and looked up at them all. Her dark, but beautiful, gaze swept across them once more.

Fukayna, who had rescued him from the dungeons, stood abruptly and made to go towards Jennifer. However, the young assassin didn't make it in time and promptly collapsed onto the floor. Armen jumped forward and rushed around the chair that he'd been standing behind to reach the girl. Kneeling next to her, he gently lifted her up into his lap and felt her face and neck. The poor thing was exhausted, much like himself. He looked up at Jennifer and offered her a slight smile.

"Just, tired," he said slowly, unsure of how to act around the powerful mage, "Perhaps we should all get some rest before we leave?"

Fay X'san

Her eyes widened at the end of Jennifer's statement. They were going to Ro'ell next. The things that she could obtain there... the knowledge about her power, the knowledge about her kind and how they came about... everything was there. Fay couldn't have been more excited in her life. She was more determined than ever to prove to the entire world of Lastra that the Navile were of no threat to them at all. Oh, how she wished her clan could have been there with her. In time... in time, she thought to herself.

Then the girl with white hair stood and collapsed. In a matter of seconds the young elf named Armen was next to her, concern driving his actions. Fay had even started forward to tend to the girl, but realized there wasn't much she could do. Instead, Fay stood next to the chair where she'd been at during the entire meeting. Her eyes settled on the stranger who had joined in at the beginning quite suddenly. She didn't even remember seeing him in Lethandrill, but for some reason he'd known her name. She wasn't sure how to go about that.

After being reassured by Armen that the young assassin was alright, Fay turned to Jennifer, "I agree, Lady Jennifer, we should rest before we start for Ro'ell, though I'm anxious to go myself," she said gently, bringing her fingers together before her, each slender finger slowly curling around one another as she stood there, "I'd like to see the rest of your grand Guild, if that's alright?"

The door opened a third time then and before her stood the tall man whom she'd first seen in Lethandrill. It was the Lord V'lyn and he looked utterly worn out. How he was still standing, Fay didn't know, but her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in a small 'o' of surprise as he stood in the doorway.

"I appreciate you're taking care of this, Jennifer," he said gently to the mage, his tone holding the thick layers of his pure affection and love for the woman. His gaze was soft on her as well. However, that all changed as he turned to look at the rest of them. His lips pulled into a deep frown as he set eyes upon the red haired assassin, though he didn't say anything to her. Lord V'lyn's steely grey-blue eyes turned towards Fay.

"You may look around as you please, just take care as to not get lost or get in the way of anyone," he said and stepped aside from the doorway, allowing the lithe Navile passage through.

"Thank you," she beamed at him, her curiosity overtaking her once more. She looked around to everyone, feeling a bit embarrassed as to leave so suddenly, but she didn't think she could stay cramped up in that room for very much longer. Not to mention she had nothing else to add to the current situation. It was all pretty clear to her at the moment, their next objective was Ro'ell. From there, they would figure things out.

Fay left the meeting room and immediately went down the stairs. The first place she wanted to see was the courtyard. She'd seen it from the window of her guest room and had witnessed several new recruits sparring out in the yard. It had warranted the highest part of her curiosity. However, when she got out there, no one was there except for two men, one was on the ground, cross legged and looking terribly inconvenienced. The other was pacing. As she gazed at them, she finally recognized them to be the two men that had been in the forest of Lethandrill right when she'd been fleeing the city with Armen on horseback.

The young boy was most intriguing to her, especially since every now and then he would open his eyes, give the taller man a sour look and then promptly get smacked in the back of his head. The taller man hadn't even had to look at the one seated to know what was happening. It must have been happened often enough. Fay moved swiftly, her body carrying her lightly across the courtyard until she was right in front of the boy. He was obviously trying to meditate and he was failing miserably at it.

So, Fay sat down gently in front of him, her legs crossed as well, her back straight and her arms resting over her knees. Her eyes watched the boy carefully as she waited for him to open his eyes once more. Fay turned her head ever so slightly, the strands of hair loose from the top half being pulled back, fell off to the side to gently sway across her bare shoulder. When the boy opened his eyes she beamed at him.

"You're meditating isn't very good," she commented with a slight laugh. Then she leaned forward, coming very close to him, "Would you like me to show you?"

Talon V'lyn

He woke up groggy, his head felt like it was going to explode from the amount of pressure that was building. However, he couldn't have stayed asleep any longer. Glancing down at his form, he noted that he was shirtless and laying stretched out on a table in the center of his room that he shared with Jennifer. How he'd gotten there he didn't remember, all that came to mind was the fight in Lethandrill and what they had to do next. Ro'ell was their best shot and figuring things out, especially about the gauntlet.

Pushing himself up he moved as quickly as his tired body would allow and pulled on his leather shirt that held all of his weapons. Tightening down the long sleeves, he turned to the door and exited. His elder assassin, Sebastian caught sight of him and ushered towards him. The man eyed the Lord up and down before frowning.

"You shouldn't be walking around."

"There's a lot of things I 'shouldn't' do that I still do. You should know by now that I'm not one to listen all that well, Sebastian. Where is my lovely mage and the rag-tag group that we met in Lethandrill?"

"She gathered them together and is having a meeting with them right now, my Lord, there is another party that wishes to have your attention. Your esteemed mage turned them away quite nicely, or at least put them off for a little while. You should speak to them if you're up to it."

"Who are they?"

"Two men from a clan named the 'Phoenix'. They wish to have an audience with you as soon as possible."

"Then they need not wait any longer, damn that woman... Why didn't she wake me up for this?" Talon complained as he straightened his armor.

"My Lord," Sebastian started.

"Talon is just fine, Sebastian, stop calling me that... I swear by Riena.. we've known each other long enough."

The old assassin sighed and then gave him a sly grin, "You know damn well that should anyone have disturbed you after that injury, Jennifer would have incinerated them on the spot, Talon."

"Sometimes that woman drives me insane."

"You're no spring chicken anymore, Talon. A hit like that could have very easily killed you," Sebastian commented sharply.

"You're not getting any younger either, old man. Besides, she's got nothing to worry about. I'm just fine, we both should know that well enough."

"Keep pushing yourself like you are and I won't be surprised if she locks you in a dark room for the rest of your very long lives."

Talon laughed to this and waved his hand at Sebastian, dismissing him officially, "Training tonight, Sebastian. Lets see if your still as sharp as your tongue," the Lord V'lyn opened the door to the meeting room just as it was ending and caught the last portion of the Navile's question.

After giving her leave to run about the Guild halls, he turned to Jennifer once more as he spoke to the rest of them, "Astrid, you know what you should be doing right now. Elf, take Fukayna to her room, it's just down the hall," he waved his hand in the direction, "Jennifer, I know what you're going to say, but I-" he stopped mid sentence after the elf had left with Fukayna and Astrid had scurried away with her dragon. There was one person left in attendance that he hadn't noticed standing at the back of the room.

He raised an eyebrow and the recognized him as the man who'd interfered in Lethandrill. Turning slightly to face the man he crossed his arms. With a sigh of frustration he looked back down at Jennifer, "Sometimes I wonder if my work will ever end. I have company downstairs I suppose, two men from a clan of Phoenix as they've called themselves. I'll bring them here and we can deal with both of these... guests, in one shot shall we?" Talon said as he leveled his cool gaze at the man across the room. With that he left to seek out the other two men who required his attention.

It was sound that first alerted her to Fukayna’s predicament, the sound of wood scrapping against marble as someone’s seat drew backwards. Her attention flickered from Xandur to the source of the interruption and within that moment she saw the dark woman lurch precariously, knees quaking. If she could have seen the assassin’s eyes, Jennifer was positive she would have seen whites for she knew what to expect already. Fukayna transformed into a blur of mottled gray, her wolf pelts trailing after her as exhaustion gripped the young initiate.

Before she could hit the ground, Jennifer’s arm extended out, a hushed whisper escaping the mage’s red lips, “World Fractu-”

The elf prisoner burst forwards before she could act. Jennifer’s eye twitched madly at the intruder. Where he’d come from, she didn’t know, but seeing as the Navile woman had simultaneously materialised alongside him, both must’ve snuck in together. The elf’s firm reach arrested Fukayna’s fall neatly, levitating her supple form a dozen centimetres above the hard ground. Jennifer grimaced as she suppressed the rest of her powers, an uncomfortable tingling sensation rippling up the entire length of her out stretched arm. If Talon hadn’t of shared his brace’s magic with her the other day, she might’ve been the one to faint. Thankfully she didn’t, Fukayna on the other hand looked deathly pale, sickly almost. Perspiration iced the surface of her chestnut skin, but before the assassin collapsed Jennifer was certain she saw a different emotion expressed within the initiate’s trembling features. Jennifer was certain she saw fear.

"Just, tired. Perhaps we should all get some rest before we leave?" the elf suggested after some initial observation. His hands pressed gently against Fukayna’s brow and neck, checking for temperature and heartbeat. First Talon and now Fukayna, why am I always the one left to clean up? Jennifer scratched the back of her head, lamenting over the unfathomable fact.

"I agree, Lady Jennifer, we should rest before we start for Ro'ell, though I'm anxious to go myself.” Fay interjected, drawing her ire immediately. Jennifer’s almond eyes snapped at the Navile dangerously, like a scope locked onto its target. Scowling, the mage lowered her hands to the table, fists clenched white. “I'd like to see the rest of your grand Guild, if that's alright?"

“Look, this isn’t some touri-“

"I appreciate you're taking care of this, Jennifer,"

Jennifer’s eyes widened at the voice and her back straightened instinctively. All words dropped from her thoughts as flustered concern and then fury became etched within her sharp features. Why wasn’t he still resting? The mage started to speak but staggered as her dark eyes met with his gaze. As Talon stared at her, his scrutiny seemed to pierce the faded light of the conference room, preventing her from looking away. If Talon noticed the effect of his words, he did not pause.

"You may look around as you please, just take care as to not get lost or get in the way of anyone," Talon responded.

“You’re going to trust these people just like that?!” Jennifer protested, the mage finally finding her voice.

"Jennifer, I know what you're going to say, but I-“ Talon hesitated as he detected Xandur in the far side of the room. Xandur had remained unnervingly motionless throughout the sudden exchange, or if he had made a move Jennifer hadn’t noticed it. Like a statue, he stood as if his entire body composed of the stony substance which made up his gauntlet. "Sometimes I wonder if my work will ever end. I have company downstairs I suppose, two men from a clan of Phoenix as they've called themselves. I'll bring them here and we can deal with both of these... guests, in one shot shall we?”

Jennifer gave a hollow laugh as Talon stepped away. “You know what I’m going to say yet you ignore it anyway,” she smiled with a slight shake of her head, “I hardly see the purpose in me remaining.”

In spite of her words, the mage sashayed herself over to the closet seat. Arms folded, it appeared she couldn’t leave the assassin alone, no matter how much he frustrated her.

Astrid took off out of the room and made her way out to the corridor before she was hit by a sudden thought. A sudden although very important thought struck her. Such of great importance was this thought that she stood still in the middle of the corridor, uncaring of the assassins who complained as they bumped into her.

Talon said she should know what she should be doing.

She had no idea what it was that she should be doing.

None.

Absolutely nada.

But she couldn't really go back inside and ask. Who knows what could be going in there? Astrid frowned. She had been there before. She had had the unfortunate experience of encountering certain...assassins in compromising positions. She shuddered. That experience gave a whole new meaning to the word spar. So instead she turned to her scaly companion.

"Steeeeephaaaano."

"Oh god. What do you want?"

"What was I meant to do?"

"Talon said you'd know."

"Talon also thinks I know how to do calculus but we both know I can't do any of that shit." Astrid replied flippantly, her red hair sweeping her shoulders as she unpicked the ties holding it up. Her long red mane fell in a crimson curtain down her back before she moved to put it back up. The assassin loved her hair but my god, was it high maintenance sometimes.

"Yes. I believe everyone knows that Astrid T'Vali cannot do maths and thus, tried to rid the world of mathematics. That story is still being told to children all across Lastra."

"Ah, yes. I am a child's hero! Really, I am! Maths is despicable and evil. I was really doing the world a favour."

"Indeed. Now, what are you going to do now?" Stephano asked, leaping off his perch and onto the marble flooring without a sound. He proceeded to walk beside his companion, stretching his legs.

"Ohhhh."

"That is never a good sign."

"I know what I'm going to do!" Astrid replied, grin spreading across her face as she walked. Stephano shook his head and sighed.

"That is not a pleasant expression to be wearing. What is it now?"

"I'm going to conduct a wake up call." With that, the young assassin took off, completely forgetting about her scaly friend. Stephano just blinked before turning towards their flat. Well, he couldn't just hang about the corridors all day. He might met people and they might ask questions and then he'd have to talk. And that would not be fun.

The dragon sat in a corner of the Order, unseen for a while, wondering what he should do before he remembered how Fukayna had fainted. He also recalled how he never got to give her an answer. So the little dragon decided to brave the masses to see how she was doing. Just in case. He worried when people fainted. Astrid fainted sometimes and he did not like it. The little sandy brown being made his way to the new recruit's room, trying to avoid being stood on and silently wishing that Astrid was about.

Purely so she could carry him, of course.

He didn't mind being separated from her.

Really.

The little dragon reached the door to her room much quicker than he would have liked. Stephano had to try and pluck up the courage to knock on the door when he swished his tail and knocked by accident. The companion sat in shock as he couldn't decide whether to run away or not.

...

Elsewhere, Astrid was causing mischief. Again. She made a face. Well, she couldn't let Sebastian be too shocked. I mean, her not being in trouble for a whole day? She didn't think his heart would take it. Anyway, she snuck back out of the kitchen clutching two big heavy pots, one in each hand. The young woman smirked as she made her way to the quarters of the newest (and easiest to bother) recruits. And at least her mischief making would get rid of some of the energy that was making her bounce like a balloon.

When the assassin reached her destination, her smile went feral. She lifted the two pots above her head and clashed them together with a satisfying crash.

Ahh, nothing could beat the noise of annoyance in the late afternoon.

She carried on bashing the pots together, walking up and down the corridor, not a care in the world or a tune in her head. She started singing tunelessly, making even more noise. This was fun. It was also a diversionary tactic. Because, if all the newbies' attention was on her then they would start poking about in the affairs of the people visiting.

So really, she was doing this for Talon and Jennifer's sake.

Not that they would see it as that but anyway.

A particularly irate looking young man poked his head out and glared at Astrid.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Wake up call!"

"It's the afternoon! Not the morning!" Something stuck Astrid.

"If it's the afternoon, then why were you asleep?" The young woman asked, innocence coating her question which was teamed up with a cutesy smile. The recruit made a face and stopped. As he tried to think up a reasonable answer, Astrid started banging the pots together again. She was stopped as the recruit behind her grabbed her hair.

"Oh hell no." The assassin snarled, turning on her heel to hit the guy with one of the pots. As he fell to the floor grasping his stomach, it was obvious to the young assassin.

It was time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Dropping the remaining pana nd bokking it down the dark corridor, Astrid let out a peal of giggles, tears coming to her eyes as she laughed. Who needed to go out when you had all the entertainment you needed right here on your doorstep. Astrid eventually stopped to breath, leaning heavily against a nearby wall. As she tried to catch her breath, she couldn't help but cough violently.

"Damn it to hell. If Stephano gets wind of this..." She would never hear the end of it. Ever. So, she got sick quite a bit. It was fine. Besides, it was just a stupid little cough, nothing major. Hell, if it got worse, she knew what to do. Anyway, they were going to Ro'ell soon, she could recover on the journey. She had all medicines and stuff for her chest!

She just couldn't tell Stephano. He was a blabbermouth at the worst of times. She didn't want him telling Jennifer or V'lyn that she was sick. They would force her to stay behind and that was no fun at all. Astrid lifted her head, clearing her throat and as she turned to leave, she bumped into someone behind her. The young woman, clearly surprised, let out a tiny squeal of shock before falling back to the floor. A little dazed, she looked up to see who had thought it was a good idea to sneak up on the sneaker.

A small figure walked in between bookshelves, trying her best to maneuver through the library and not drop the large stack of books she was carrying in her arms. She shifted, seeing the desk out of the corner of her eye. However, the hem of her long cloak was caught beneath her foot and she tumbled forwards. Her eyes squeezed shut as she braced for impact with the ground, expecting to hear the clamber of books. The sound did not come and she opened one of her eyes, surprised as something seemed to steady her. She fidgeted as she felt someone holding her up by the back of her collar and turned around. A taller man than she was balancing her weight, the books she had been carrying mysteriously lying on the desk in front of her. He helped her up and she blushed a little of of shyness, smiling a little up at him from beneath her bangs.

"Thank you... I hadn't meant to be so clumsy." The man's lips upturned in an amused smirk as he observed her. His expression was difficult to interpret as she could not be sure if he were amused by the situation or just inwardly laughing at her. He waved his hand casually in a dismissive manner.

"Don't take so many books the next time, foolish girl." Her smile faltered a bit. She was hesitant and did not know how to best go about the situation. He turned to leave and instinctively, she reached out to grab the corner of his sleeve. His eyes snapped on her coolly and she flinched, not having expected such coldness. The moment passed and his stare relaxed to the way it had been. He did not say anything and she rushed to speak, feeling silly for stumbling over her words.

"U-Um, could you tell me if I at least took out the right literature? I was trying to research a bit before the next lesson..." She trailed off weakly, this man really did know how to make someone feel unsettled. Her hand dropped a bit but he surprised her defeated expectations by turning fully to face her before walking over to the stack of books. In a bored voice, he addressed her.

"What do you need Tiribyl for? That is only for those that practice the arcane arts." She nodded faintly to show she understood, the heat rising to her cheeks again. He skimmed through each book, chastising her for her poor choices up until he reached the last one, which seemed to catch his attentions properly. He turned the book over a few times and cracked it open, skimming through it quickly. He closed it with a snap and spoke to her over his shoulder. "This one should do. You're training to be an illusionary mage, correct?" She started. He cut her off before she could respond, actually glancing over at her with a growing smirk. "Before you ask, it's very simple. The cloak you wear combined with your colored bracers give it away."

Oh, she had forgotten... Each mage type was given different colored bracers to make them easily identifiable to those around them and it also helped to find others in your range of study. He was a quick study, to pick up on it that fast though, given he hadn't been looking at her that long. He laid the book down on the desk and she sensed she was about to lose her chance to introduce herself. Gathering her courage, she looked at him straight in the eyes, trying her best not to falter. "My name is Fukayna Muidrehd. What's... yours?" She tried for a smile but was sure it came off rather shy. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, pausing for several seconds as if in thought before answering smoothly.

"Mine? It's..."

"It's time to wake up, little one."

Fukayna started, a clear voice ringing in her mind as she shot up in bed. She looked around, confused as her breath came out unevenly. She looked around in apprehension, the voice had sounded as if it had been nearby, as if it had been right in her ear. She tried to relax a bit as she took in her surroundings. The features of her room came into focus, the wrinkled covers messily strewn over her legs. Her furs had been laid carefully at the edge of bed, weapon against the far wall nearest her window. She frowned, trying to figure out how she had gotten here and, furthermore, how long she had been out. She felt rather well energized, so she must've been sleeping for several hours, at the very least. A figure positioned in a chair some meters from her was sleeping soundly, head tilted downwards. It didn't take her long to register the familiar appearance of Armen.

'What's he doing here...?' Then slowly it dawned on her. She had fainted in the briefing hall. Fukayna couldn't really remember much beyond the announcement of the Order of Vyldi but it seemed safe to assume that Armen had brought her to her room. She adjusted, sliding out from her covers and gingerly testing her weight on her legs. She was able to stand without much faltering and went to approach Armen, a finger already reaching out to prod one of his cheeks in order to rouse him.

A knock on her door made her jump and she straightened, lowering her arm. Attentions now diverted, she instead wandered to the door. Perhaps it was someone checking up on her? She opened her door slowly, expecting to see someone standing in front of her. Instead, she was met with the scaly form of Stephano. She smiled instantly, touched that the dragon had come to her room all by himself as, from the sounds of it, Astrid was not nearby. Taking the chance she hadn't gotten earlier, she leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck. She pulled back a bit to silently mouth the words "thank you" to him before gesturing for him to follow her inside. She stopped to point at Armen, who was still sleeping peacefully in the chair, somehow not having awoken at the knock. She walked back over to her furs, pulling out her notepad and pen. She held up her question eagerly.

"I'm glad you came, Stephano. Though I'm sorry that our earlier conversation got interrupted. Did you come to check up on me?" The dragon seemed to hesitate, just as shyly as before. Oh, so cute! Her dream now forgotten, as well as the strange feminine voice she had heard, she jotted down a further few sentences on the paper. "It's okay if you didn't, I like seeing you just the same!" She smiled at him as she sat back down on her bed, patting the mattress to signal it was okay for him to come over. She was curious as to why he appeared and perhaps now she'd find out if his name was actually Stephano.

Stephano froze as Fukayna wrapped her arms around his. He had no idea what to do in such a situation. He had no idea. That was one of the reasons that he liked to have Astrid around. She was a bit of a social buffer. As the young woman moved away, Stephano tried to kick his brain back into gear.

It wasn’t working.

Stephano’s brain was frozen and not working.

Astrid might have said that he had a dud battery sitting in there.

Stephano shook his head to rid himself of the Astrid voice (which was currently pointing out that he was really quite chubby and should be careful not to bump into Fukayna and knock her over with all the flab) and trotted over to the bed, mindful of the sleeping man in the corner of the room. He moved almost silently on the pads of his feet before hopping up onto the space Fukayna had gestured to.

Yes, Stephano knew he was rather chubby around the middle. He knew and accepted this (mostly). But he was still a young dragon and had a bit of “puppy fat”. Add that to the fact that Astrid keeps bringing him food because she secretly worries whether or not the food he got regularly was enough and he was a little podgy. Just a little though. Really.

He landed carefully but was still careful not to hit Fukayna with his tail. He knew that he could hurt someone quite a lot even if he wasn’t trying to. The dragon sat on the bed, looking up at the young recruit with big gold eyes.

”So, how are you feeling? I mean, after fainting like that...” Stephano shuddered, remembering all the times Astrid had collapsed with almost no warning. He did not like it when people fainted. At all. The dragon winced and stretched his wings before looking back up at the recruit. He watched as she slowly started to write. He didn’t mind talking to Fukayna. She didn’t talk back. That sounded mean but if she couldn’t talk back, then she couldn’t make fun of him.

(E.)Mm... I suppose the rest helped. How long was I out? The dragon frowned a little and ducked his head to the side a little.

[b]”Well, I’m not sure. I wasn’t really around all that much. I was sitting with Astrid trying to keep her out of trouble. You may have only known her for a little while but I’m sure you have noticed that she isn’t very good at keeping her mouth shut.” The dragon sighed and shook his head.

”But I’m sure you’ll be fine!” Stephano added on with a little flair of his wings and a flash of a grin. He hoped that that didn't scare her. He knew it scared some people. Mostly recruits. That was the odd thing about those new recruits. At first, they thought Astrid was normal and that he was the psycho. If they lasted long enough, they got to see just how wrong they were.

”I bet you’re wondering where Astrid is, huh? Well, truth be told, I have no idea. She went to go cause trouble. Or a wake up call. I know, a wake up call in the late afternoon. I may be bonded to her mentally but even I have no idea what is going through her mind sometimes. I don’t even try to pretend in case I actually do understand and go insane.” The dragon grinned a little, revelling in the fact that his horrid little stutter was gone for the most part. But that may have been due to the fact he was talking to his feet more than to the young woman listening.

”You never did get to ask your question, huh?” The scaly yellow companion asked, his large lamp like eyes searching Fukayna’s face. His eyes fell to her hand as she started to answer.

(E.) I was wondering, is Stephano your real name? The dragon blinked and could not help but let out a giggle. She wanted to know whether Stephano was his real name? Usually people wanted to know whether Astrid had some sort of mental problem or whether he was partial to a little human munching.

Not that he was.

Humans were rather crunchy.

And, dragon he might be, but Stephano did have morals.

And eating people was kinda bad in his book.

”Um, no. Actually, Astrid gave me the name Stephano. My real name is-“ Stephano’s speech was interrupted by a loud crash. He turned quickly and hung his head with a sigh. Because there stood Astrid, eyes wild and hair tangled everywhere.

“Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.” The assassin exclaimed as she stepped into the room and began searching for something.

”Such language. Really. Dreadful." The little bragon ignored the hand gesture he got in response. "What have you done this time?” The dragon asked, his head still hung low and his voice coloured with irritation. He could practically feel all the emotions emitting from his companion as she tried to get out of a prank gone wrong.

“Well, Sebastian is pissed. And I mean, really pissed. I think he may be inclined to turning me into teeny tiny little Astrid flavoured cat food munchies. So, I need to hide and I could tell you were in here so...I’m hiding in here. Hope you don’t mind!” That last comment was directed to the startled looking Fukayna. Astrid ignored her look of shock as she tried to find a hiding place, any hiding place. The red head suddenly hid behind the sleeping guy in the corner, trying to make herself seem as small as possible.
Stephano chuckled.

”That is most definitely not going to work.”

“Screw you, meat on legs. I don’t see you helping out.”

”Try under the bed, maybe?” The dragon offered, conscious of the audience of Fukayna behind him. Astrid stopped and thought about it before hastily making her way over to the piece of furniture. As his companion slid under the bed and cursed to herself in almost every language under the sun, the dragon turned to the silent young woman with an apologetic shrug and a little smile.

”As much as I’d like to say that she isn’t always like this...she is always like this.” The young dragon swished his tail and chuckled but was silenced as the door opened again.

Talon V'lyn

He moved out of the room swiftly and down the stairs. Talons sharp ears caught the sounds of someone banging around in one of the corridors. He felt his blood pressure rising and was thankful that Jennifer hadn't accompanied him out to get the two men waiting for an audience with him. Astrid wouldn't have lived to see another day should Jennifer hear her doing that one more time. Even so, he was certain the young assassin was bound to be nearly killed by the other assassins in place of Jennifer.

"ASTRID!!" The loud gruff yell could only have been one man and Talon soon caught sight of the elder assassin as he came storming down the hall in search of the red haired woman.

"Sebastian."

"My Lord," the assassin said hardly covering his angered tone, "Have you seen that red haired brat?"

"No. But when you find her, bring her to see me," Talon ordered. He held back his smile, keeping a stony face instead. At the back of his mind he was deviously thinking of what he was going to do to terrify the young red haired assassin. Many things came to mind, he even mulled over the thought of handing Astrid over to Jennifer to allow the mage some enjoyment in tormenting the younger woman.

"Lord V'lyn," Sebastian replied, bowing his head and then hurrying off in search of the girl. There weren't too many places that Astrid could hide, and there was also her dragon Stephano to think of as well. Bribe the dragon, find the girl. It wouldn't have been the first time of course.

Talon proceeded to exit the building and moved into the courtyard where he caught sight of the Navile woman and the two men who wanted his attention. However there was another woman, or rather, dragon like creature, that was baring her teeth at the half startled elf. The Navile stood up from her sitting position in front of a young boy and backed away cautiously. She put a smile on her lips and raised her hands.

"I meant no harm," she stammered softly, tilting her head off to the side.

Lord V'lyn moved purposefully into the area, gathering the attention of the tall man with long white robes and twin swords. He turned his steely grey eyes towards the strange woman as he stood there. From the lack of surprise and caution between the tall man in white and the much younger boy sitting on the ground, Talon figured that this woman was known somehow between them. Though, she did look vaguely familiar. Perhaps he'd seen her right before his loosing consciousness back in Lethandrill. Even so, he didn't like the fact that she was there and trying to pick a fight already with one of his guests.

"Enough," his commanding tone was backed by a bit of magic from the bracer on his arm. Dragon, half dragon or no, Talon was hardly intimidated by her presence. It took a lot to intimidate him these days, especially since the War. After getting his point across and making sure that all knew their place especially seeing as they were in his jurisdiction, he turned to the man in white.

"I assume you're the one calling for an audience with me? From the clan of the Phoenix? I am Lord V'lyn, if you'll come with me I'll see you now. I've got another to speak to as well, so I hope you don't mind sitting in to a long meeting," the assassin explained as he turned slightly lifting his arm to gesture towards the Guild. Talon led the two from the clan back into the house, but before entering he turned to the dragon woman.

"You would be wise to stay out here and out of sight. Cause any trouble... you'll have more than just me to deal with," he cautioned her firmly.

He closed the door gently and took the lead before the two men. Bringing them up the stairs for the final time, he reentered the room with Jennifer and the man with the stone gauntlet. Gesturing to the empty seats, Talon folded his arms across his broad chest as he leaned against the table in the front of the room. It was Jennifer's desk where she worked at, but he also used it at times too. Once they were all seated he spoke.

"We'll start with the clan of the Phoenix. State your names and business for being here."

Armen Sorien

His consciousness seeped back to him as he slowly woke from falling asleep. It had probably been a few hours and it was a small commotion that woke him. With a soft groan he slowly lifted himself forwards in the seat that he'd drifted to sleep in. Running his hand through his hair he looked about the dim room and spotted Fukayna sitting on her bed. Next to her was a dragon and a second later something or someone slipped underneath the bed. Armen was awake then, his eyebrow coming down in confusion as he looked up to the dragon and Fukayna.

"Um..." he started, unsure of what was going on or how to even begin. First off he hadn't even really meant to fall asleep in Fukayna's room, so that alone was awkward.

"I... Who was that just now?" He asked, deciding to keep it simple as he pointed towards the underneath of the bed.

Before he could answer, the door opened and a very angry looking elder man glared into the room as he filled the doorway. It must have been someone who lived in the large home, another assassin from the looks. His armor was much like the Lord V'lyn's, except it was black and with more buckles and attachments than Armen thought humanly possible.

"Astrid! I know you're in here you little..." The man growled as he stormed into the room. He glanced around and folded his arms over his chest. Turning to Fukayna he narrowed his eyes.

"Hand her over miss Fukayna. I've checked everywhere else, there's no place left but here. You can't fool me, Astrid. Lord V'lyn wants to see you... Now..."

Armen's face flushed as he felt the atmosphere in the room darken. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, so he was stuck sitting in the chair watching the drama unfold.

Ruins of Lethandrill : Torak

His finger thrummed against the arm of his throne. The silver tipped claws of his gauntlet scratching into the stone as he drummed them. His city was empty, void of any life and only smelt of death and dark magic. However, this didn't seem to phase him in the least as he sat there, deep in contemplation. Lord V'lyn had managed to take the elf that was a threat to his position, not only that but he'd been highly interested in Torak's gauntlet.

Slowly his fingers curled into a fist as he sat there. That damned assassin was after his power, just like everyone else. All of the Orders were after power that shouldn't be theirs. Especially the Order of Vyldi. They put up a front of locking down their mages, keeping them under hook and chain, but in reality they wanted all the power to themselves. They were putting everyone under their thumbs. Torak had always known the mages were just putting up a front, all so that they could bring themselves into higher power and rule over everyone else.

As if he'd let that happen. It was bad enough that the Order of Riena worked in the shadows and everyone knew that the assassins held the true power in Lastra. It didn't matter if the cities had Kings and Queens, it didn't matter that there were Orders in place to keep the balance of power. No, Lord V'lyn had already taken all that power, he'd tipped those scales long ago. He had too much power, in Torak's opinion. Now he wanted to take what little power Torak had gained away from him! The audacity.

"Fuming in darkness again I see."

Torak lifted his head to see who had spoken. The soft sounds of boots across his marble floor alerted him that the intruder was coming from the front entrance. How very bold. Lifting his clawed fingers he let his power rush out and the torches illuminated the throne room. Orange light flickered and danced, bringing to light the tall marble pillars that lined the room. Their polished surfaces reflected the flames and it made it seem like the room was on fire.

Standing in the middle of it was a hooded and cloaked figure, the only thing giving him away was a single symbol of silver etched on his chest. The symbol was that of a dragons claw curling around nine rings. Torak relaxed in the chair as he stared at the man whose face he'd never seen.

"J'haren. It's been a while. Couldn't get away from the Nine?"

Though Torak couldn't see the smile, he felt it. A slight chill crept up his spine as he glowered at the man before him. Slowly the Nine made his way up towards the throne where he stood at Torak's right side. J'haren folded his hands behind his back as he let out a soft sigh before speaking.

"We're very busy you see. The Order of Vyldi is fighting desperately with the Order of Riena on the matter of social display of power. Of course, I must agree with Lord V'lyn on the whole matter of showing magic to the public. Keep it hidden any longer and it'll be forgotten by those who are not gifted. That will ruin everything."

Torak gave a snort of irritation, "As if the Order of Vyldi will consent to that."

J'haren shrugged, "They won't have much a choice the way I see it. We all know how much power that assassin wields. The Nine are not much farther behind. We too agree with him and the more we pressure the mages, the more they will bend, until they break."

"They won't break soon enough."

"Perhaps not. But all it takes is a push," J'haren leaned down to whisper the last part to Torak. The elf slowly sat up as he turned his beady gaze upwards to look at the Nine. No matter where he stood or sat, no matter what light was in the room, he could never see under that dark cowl of the man who stood next to him. Torak frowned as he slowly put his arm back up on the throne chair and rested his chin in his hand.

"You're saying I should display some power? Huh, already done that."

"To V'lyn. Probably the worst person to reveal your power too. You're too hasty, Torak. That is where rulers fall. Patience is key."

"I've no patience left."

"Then you'll die," J'haren's sharp reply caused Torak to suck in a deep breath and look sharply up to him.

"You're an annoyance as always, J'haren."

"And yet, you still keep me around."

Torak rolled his eyes as he turned his gaze back to the front of the empty throne room. Silence issued between them and soon Torak was back to his brooding. J'haren never moved, and it was almost unnerving to sense the man's presence right next to him but not hear him at all. There wasn't even the sound of breathing filling the air, only Torak's steady thrum of fingers on the throne chair and his heavy breath in and out of his nose.

"The elf. What did you do with him?"

"I'd kept him in the dungeons, but V'lyn's bitch managed to break him out somehow."

"Careful there, Torak. I wouldn't advise invoking the Lady Jennifer's wrath. Of the two dangers, she's the worst. Though both of them hold the power of the Old God's, Lord V'lyn's body can't withstand the power. Thus he has to share it with her in order to continue living, dragons blood or not. Because she is a powerful mage, a prodigy even, she can handle both her own Godly power and his. With the dragon blood in her system as well, she is more than a match for you as you are now, Torak. Should that woman so wish, she could level all the cities in Lastra in a single day," J'haren turned ever so slightly to put his unseen gaze on Torak, "And she wouldn't even sweat while doing it."

Torak felt another chill spread across his body. His hand clenched into a fist once more as he sat there, glaring at the door and refusing to make eye contact with the Nine. That woman... was a serious problem to him.

"How do I get rid of her?"

"You don't."

Torak growled in frustration, "You're damned helpful."

"I'm speaking truthfully. Lady Jennifer isn't someone you just get rid of. Nor is she one whom you can use people as leverage against. She'd much rather kill you painfully than deal with you in the long term. No, she's much to smart for that, too dangerous to meddle with and far too cunning than a woman should be. I suggest leaving her alone as much as possible. That includes the Lord V'lyn. Harm him and you'll bring down her wrath. But, enough of those two powers. We'll deal with them when the time comes and when you're much stronger. Our problem still lies with the elf. Should anyone realize his true identity then the game is over. Should he realize his true identity, the same applies. Though I've received word from Ro'ell."

"About what?"

"Apparently Lady Jennifer is sending some of her assassins to speak to the Order regarding a few matters. I assume that our elf will be going there as well. If I were him, I'd be looking for some answers as to why I was thrown into a dungeon cell."

Torak's lips pulled into a smile, "Well then. Perhaps its about time that man felt the power of the Nine."

J'haren shifted his body ever so slightly, the same chill from before coursing through the stewards back told him that the Nine had a cold smile on his lips once more, "Perhaps."

Fukayna had been leaning forwards in anticipation, already on the edge of her seat as the adorable dragon went to tell her his real name. Of a sudden, the door burst open and in the frame stood the wild figure of Astrid, who did not look pleased in the slightest. Her hair was a mess and her eyebrows were furrowed, eyes widened. The girl slammed the door shut behind her loudly as the red orbs beneath her bangs moved around the room. Fukayna was unsure how to take this appearance but Stephano seemed as if he was used to it, for he shrugged it off with a casual comment. She was not sure how to interject so she did not, merely observing the banter of the two.

The demeanor of the scaly wonder had changed, turning more sarcastic than he had been when he had been addressing her. But perhaps it was naturally to be expected, considering the eccentric way Astrid acted. Fukayna did not know if it was a good thing she was already becoming accustomed to this odd behavior and decided not to dwell on it for overly long. The flame-headed vixen scrambled about before trying to scamper behind the chair Armen was resting in. The movement seemed to jostle him and his eyelids fluttered. She would've tried stopping Astrid but her sister assassin was determined in her quest to find a place to hide.

Taking the cute bundle's suggestion, the girl dived under Fukayna's bed in an exaggerated manner. Stephano turned to her, his voice even. ”As much as I’d like to say that she isn’t always like this...she is always like this.” She was at a loss for words so just kept silent, deciding to ignore the fidgeting under her bed as Astrid tried to bury her way deeper underneath like a mole or something. She looked back over at Armen, who was now fully awake and wore an expression of pure confusion. She felt the exact same way and shrugged her shoulders at him. He frowned, pointing downwards at the figure that had finally disappeared under the bed.

"Um... I... Who was that just now?" Fukayna went to reach for her notepad when her door crashed open a second time, this go-around displaying the older gentleman she had run into earlier. However, in contrast to his earlier attitude, he was utterly livid as he gazed around her room and spoke in a highly annoyed voice.

"Astrid! I know you're in here you little..." His stare fell on her and though it softened just a bit, he was still just as scarily firm. "Hand her over miss Fukayna. I've checked everywhere else, there's no place left but here. You can't fool me, Astrid. Lord V'lyn wants to see you... Now..." He ended on a growl as if to emphasize his words. Fukayna frowned as she took her pad in hand and began to write, as always. There was an irritation in her pen strokes, not for herself, who had at least rested--but for Armen, who had been rudely awakened by all this ridiculous activity. Huffing out slightly, she held up her finished product.

"I will bring Astrid to V'lyn... I must speak with him and Miss Jennifer anyway." The man named Sebastian did not look like he was going to budge and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose beneath her bangs.

"Miss Fukayna, there is no reason for you to defend her. She knows perfectly well what she did and knows that she will be punished for it. Do not get involved her ruckus; just tell me where she is." Fukayna tensed up, noticing Armen's uncomfortable posture in his seat. He must've also sensed the atmosphere for what it was but was smartly not interjecting. She paused a moment, then jotted a few sentences down on her parchment with faint hesitation.

"I understand, but her dragon has provided excellent company. If for that reason and no other, allow me to show my gratitude by making sure his rider gets to the Lord and Lady personally." Sebastian considered her words and his temper seemed to decrease, if but slightly. His narrowed gaze skimmed to the underside of her bed, where there was a bit of jostling from Astrid. He shook his head but let himself out of her room gently without a further word, though he cast one last look at Fukayna before leaving. As soon as he did so, she released a breath she had not been aware she had been holding.

She got up off her bed, bending down with one of her notes at the ready. "Come out, he is gone. I must keep my word, though, since I'm sure he'll be back to check up on us." Leaning up and waiting for the girl to crawl out from the space, she turned around, hair hitting the backs of her legs. She laid her eyes on Armen, who seemed to be trying to process what just happened. The way his brow furrowed in thought was kind of cute and she couldn't help but give a small smile at this. Now that he was cleaned up and had finally received some nutrition, he did not look as gaunt as he had before and the haunted look in his eyes was less prominent. Actually, the way his hair fell over his eyes was almost... He looked up at her, however, and she instantly dropped her stare to her notepad so that he couldn't see her expression. She jotted down a few quick words and held them up for him.

"I'm sorry about all this trouble. Perhaps you would like to accompany us as well? I'm sure there are things you need to discuss with V'lyn and I am curious to hear your story." She went to retract her paper, paused, and added one more sentence. "I'm glad you're recovering. At least you won't make Miss Jennifer's nose wrinkle anymore. She lifted her face so that he could see her amused, silent chuckle at this. She didn't have to see her bed to know that Astrid was wriggling out from under it, the loud, struggling noises and stream of cursing making her effort apparent. Sighing, she offered a hand to the boy to help him up. Somehow, she had a feeling this walk to V'lyn's office was going to be an... excitable one.

Fukayna returned to her bed briefly to pick up her furs, wrapping them comfortably around her, as always. Stowing her notepad and pencil inside of her furs, she gestured to the others that she was going to leave. She made sure Armen was following before leaving the room with Astrid and Stephano in tow. The walk to the head assassin's office was not a long one and they arrived before long. From the pattering noises, it sounded as if Astrid was trying to make a quick getaway but Stephano held her firmly, smiling apologetically at the Elf and the young woman. Fukayna raised her hand and knocked gently on the door, waiting for V'lyn's affirmation for them to enter.

Xandur laughed out loud when he heard Jennifer say she would have to throw another boulder at him. He could tell it was mostly in jest, though he felt that she would not hesitate to perform such an act if she felt it was necessary. He remembered very well her odd abilities in Lethandrill. He wasn't entirely sure what she did to Torak, but Xandur remembered how she generated a boulder from nothing and tossed it at him as if it was a child's ball. He had never seen an ability such as hers. He desperately wanted to inquire her further about it, but he understood he would half to explain himself to her and V'lyn why he broke into their Order and why he interfered in the duel with Torak.

Apparently Xandur had, once again, gone off into his own thoughts and had missed a rather odd series of events. Though he did remember something about going to the Order of Vyldi. Apparently young Fukayna had fainted and the young elf Armen was helping her to her room. V'lyn had emerged from wherever he had been prior to the meeting and had indirectly suggested that he wait here for another guest so it would easier on his psyche to take it all in one sitting instead of dragging out information.

Jennifer apparently was apparently a study in contradiction as she stated she shouldn't wait for him, yet sat down and waited for him. It was then Xandur realized that not one aspect of his body had moved.....again. When he became lost in thought, his body tended to freeze to a stillness like that of a statue. Another mystery that he cared little to solve. Xandur had decided that he stay still until V'lyn returned with his guest. Whoever this guest was, he seemed to have been invited.....unlike Xandur, who had broken in here like a common burglar. Well......maybe not common. Due to this fact, he decided to not make himself comfortable. He wasn't sure how offending a guild of assassins would go, but he was fairly that it could only be bad. So, he stayed standing and decided to stay near an exit, just in case things went south.

Minutes later, V'lyn returned with two men. Well, more like a man and a boy. The man was tall, erect, almost jaded in his expression. A man who seemed to have much discipline. He was armed with two blades of a curved style that he somehow felt he had seen them before. The boy seemed to be deep in thought and looked very introverted at the moment. He looked pensive....if not a little sad. He sat quietly in the seat next to older man. The man began to speak.

"Again I thank you, Lord V'lyn, and Lady Jennifer, of course, for being able to see us. I realize the events of current have been rather hectic and time may be short, so I don't think you'd mind if I dispense pleasantries? I am Khrae Var, representative of the clan of the Phoenix, and this is Dante, my student. As you know now, we come from the Clan of the Phoenix, a rather old society, but fairly reclusive. Only recently did we decide to make our presence public, and have been accepted into the Order of Vyldi. We were then commissioned to proceed to all the other Orders to alert them likewise, however it seemed that while on our way to Lethenadrill, we had been diverted elsewhere. Seeing as how Skyfall was closest without backtracking to Ro'ell, I decided we make our way here. I'd like to offer any assistance that you may need as well, because I'd be lying to say that I am not myself curious as to what conspired within the now fallen city. Apparently it was rather substantial. Excuse my curiosity."

Khrae and Dante, huh? And the Phoenix clan, somehow he felt that that name sounded familiar to him, but he felt he was nowhere to placing it. Yet, according to Khrae statement, their clan had just recently made their presence known. Maybe he had heard the name in passing in a tavern something. Still, their was something about the man that, well...stirred him. He wouldn't know what else to call it.

After that was done, it seemed V'lyn then looked to him. Jennifer seemed to do the same, they both seemed to be waiting for him to speak. It was then he decided to move. He began walking towards the table but stopped a good ways a way from it.

"I guess it's my turn now. Well, first off, you may call me Xandur. Though, in truth you may call me whatever you wish for you have free will and I have no reign upon you, though that is neither her nor there....nor anywhere in truth. " Xandur paused for a moment to think. He then shook his head and readdressed the party before him.

"In any case. I'm sure you wondering who I am and why I am here. Which are very fair questions that you deserve the answer to. I am afraid, however, that I must disappoint you. For, I do not know who I am. I know nothing of myself, not even my true name..." It was at this point where he removed his hood and showed them his strange hooked ears."..or even my own species. I am one who is lost, for which is the reason I call myself Xandur." He paused once again to collect himself.

"This now brings me to the reason I am here. You see, I have been wandering this world more either years, months or weeks. In all honesty, I cannot recall. I have spent this time trying to find clues to who and what I am. I have spoken with many people about both my ears and my arm, but none know hat either is or means. So, I am purposeless, as you saw I make my living as a beggar. I do this because once some saw my abilities, they tried to use me for their plan or design. But, I belong to no one and no one is my lord or King. Not the Nine, High or not, not Torak, not the mages and not you, Talon. These are not statements of pride, they are simply fact."

Xandur itched at his eye-patch for a moment, feeling irritation coming from it. Xndur then resumed his speech. "So, I wander form place to place, and no one pays a second glance to a beggar, so I may move freely and unhindered. So, that day in Lethandril, I overheard your conversation with Torak in his chambers. So when I saw you and Jennifer battle Torak, and once I saw the......darkness, madness, whatever you wish to name it, within him. I felt I had to act. Then after I had awoken from surviving Torak's attack, I decided the next best bet was to seek you out. So, I am here to help you and your companions to defeat Torak and bring justice and balance back to the land, or at least some variation upon that statement. In any case, if you wish to take anything away from what I just said, be it that i am here to help."

His smile then got warmer and his eye lit up slightly. "Whether you like it or not."

Muahahahahahaha!!!! *Draws sword and chops double post into itty bitty pieces*

Talon V'lyn

He listened intently to the man named Khrae as he explained their situation and why they'd come to Skyfall to seek an audience with Talon. His eyebrow lifted at the finish of his speech and he sighed heavily as he brought up his arm to his chin, fingers curled slightly as he rested there. It seemed that he was not the only one curious as to what transpired at Lethandrill, though for better or worse, this new group was going to get involved. Talon figured even if he denied the man's request they'd somehow be dragged into it anyways. Might as well grant it that way he knew what the two men were doing and where they were. Something he'd begun to be a bit of a pessimist about.

He didn't answer the man's thoughts though, instead he turned his attention to the other man standing at the back of the room and waited patiently for him to introduce himself and speak about why he was there. It took the other man a while, but soon his name was given and afterwards an explanation as to why he had jumped into the fight with Torak amongst other information. Xander seemed to be at a loss for really explaining himself, especially as to what and who he was. Even to Talon as he removed his helm and showed his strange ears, he was unsure as to what race this man was. In all of his years he'd never seen one quite like Xander.

"I wonder where I've heard that before," Talon muttered, his gaze shooting to Jennifer at Xander's last statement.

With another inward sigh Talon pushed himself off the desk he'd been leaning on and steadily moved towards the door where the knocking had issued after Khrae had finished his explanation. The only reason the assassin hadn't answered was because he was in the middle of listening to the two men. He pulled the door opened and witnessed both his assassin's as well as the young elf that they'd saved from Lethandrill. He nodded to them, but to Astrid he frowned deeply at her before turning sideways and allowing them inside.

"Take a seat," he ordered them all, his voice soft but firm. Once they were inside, he closed the door and walked back to the desk where he seated himself, one leg up off the ground, the other balancing himself whilst sitting there. Talon crossed his arms over his chest and looked about at the group in the small room. Finally his gaze settled on Jennifer for a long while as he thought things over. He knew that she hadn't wanted the strangers to know of their intentions to go to Ro'ell and get answers, but it seemed that there was no other way around it. With a shrug he finally turned back to them and started talking.

"It seems that keeping things under my own jurisdiction has become impossible," he started, "Torak has indeed invoked a lot of curiosity from all of us it seems. No matter what I say to you, I feel that you're all going to get involved one way or another," his eyes settled on Xander for a few seconds longer than the others, "I suppose having more than just my two assassin's dealing with this would be helpful. That'll include the Navile woman as well," his eyes dropped to the floor as his thoughts swiveled to the dragon woman who'd threatened him outside. His lips upturned wickedly as he eyes narrowed, a dangerous aura slowly welling up inside him, "And the insolent dragoness outside too, I suppose," he muttered.

"Khrae, it seems that the dragoness is somewhat attached to your student. She's your responsibility, I suggest making it clear to her that should she threaten me again she'll find living to see tomorrows dawn a difficult prospect. Dragon or not, unless she's one of the Old Dragon God's... she doesn't stand a chance," his eyes narrowed further, the silver bracer around his wrist pulsed lightly. Turning he looked to Jennifer, "Don't go picking a fight with her either. She's yet to actually attack me or someone else within the Order. But keeping a close eye on her would be wise," he finished quietly, "My guild is not going to become a battle field, not if I can help it."

Talon took a moment to visibly calm himself from that irritation before continuing, "Ro'ell is your destination. I'm sure Jennifer has already sent word ahead of you. You should be expected once you get there. You're to look into the whereabouts of Domieen's gauntlet, what kind of power its capable of and any other information you deem fitting to gather. That'll include anything about your own heritage," he spoke directly to Xander for that, "I'll be sending Sebastian as well. He's your leader, you'll do as he says. Especially you, Astrid. Once you've gotten everything you need, return here and report back to myself or Jennifer. One or both of us will be here. We'll figure things out from there. You leave as soon as you're all ready, meet at the entrance with Sebastian, he'll get everything else ready for you."

Talon stood up off the desk, his signal that they were all free to leave. Once they'd gone he turned to Jennifer as it was only her and him left in the room. He offered her a smile as he moved and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "I suppose now would be a good time to go get some rest hu? Preferably before you decide it's a good idea to tie me down, yes?" He rested his head against hers and let out a deep sigh. He was utterly tired, "I'll retire to our room if you could let Sebastian know of his orders?"

Fay X'san

The loud call from the Lord V'lyn startled her, but she was happy for his intervention as well as the taller man's course of action as well. She'd never seen such a creature before as the one that stood before her. The shorter woman was covered in scales in various places of her body and she looked almost like a cute child who was having a temper tantrum, except her fit was a bit more scary than most. Fay stood up from her place on the ground and watched the dragon-like creature curiously. As Talon was leaving with the two men, the dragon cursed at the man and Fay's eyes widened.

The assassin didn't reply to the woman and Fay felt it was probably a good thing seeing as they were in his territory. Her eyes jumped between the dragon girl and the Lord V'lyn. When they were alone, Fay put a finger to her lower lip and leaned forward as she gazed at the girl before her.

"You know... I don't think its wise to threaten a man of his standing... especially since we're in his home you know..." Fay's cheeks flushed slightly as she realized that the girl before her was absolutely adorable. Her earlier startlement faded away as she smiled fondly at the dragon-like human and she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the woman, "Oh! You're so cute!" Fay cuddled the dragon creature close to her her hands fondly running through her blue hair as she cooed to the girl, "I've never seen anything like you before, you're so adorable! What's your name? I'm Fay. Oh! Cute!"

Her back straightened at the sight of Talon as the assassin opened the doorway silently. There was a soft clatter of footsteps as the two men she’d rebuffed earlier filed in closely behind Talon, their entrance heralded by a slight draft of icy wind which made her shift uncomfortably. Expressing some simple courtesy, Talon waved for both of his guests to take seats as he shut the door, securing their privacy. Jennifer smiled mirthlessly as she kept her supple arms close to her chest, reflecting the posture her assassin adopted. She made one subtle passing as the eldest individual, the man she assumed was Khrae Var, nodded respectfully to her.

“Sorry for the delay Mr Var,” said Jennifer, her tone serious enough to leave one questioning whether she being sarcastic or not.

Where Khrae's subordinate dolefully sat down, Khrae and Talon feigned to accept comfort, both men, like Xandur, apparently preferring the awkward position of remaining upright. Jennifer was hardly one to object and a wave of her index finger like a wand. Magic effortlessly dragged Khrae’s unoccupied seat towards her until it stopped dead just at the perfect distance for her to rest her feet upon.

“Hope you don’t mind me using this if you’re not,” she said sweetly, kicking her boots up. Her dark eyes twinkled with mischievousness delight. Jennifer listened and watched the man intently as he started to speak, Khrae’s confidence echoing his posture of a stiff dignitary. In a way, Khrae reminded her of Talon. Uncompromising, duty bound, regal. His stern expression seemed permanently etched into his face from a lifetime of repetition. The contrast was all the more profound as she studied his companion. Aside from the ink jet hair which cascaded down Khrae’s back, Dante also lacked a noticeable foundation of discipline. He sat there fiddling uncertainly, a mere boy compared to the figures represented in the room, consumed by his own musings.

Jennifer’s attention returned to Talon as Khrae offered his assistance, her earlier nonchalance dropping completely. She gave the assassin an expectant look, imploring him to end this farce. Abruptly, fists rasped against the wooden door, briefly interrupting the flow of the meeting. After a minor pause, Xandur chose his time to speak then, drawing their attention. Her ebony eyes narrowed as Xandur recounted his ambiguous past. Jennifer was having trouble determining if the man was being genuine, or if he was just an excellent actor. Xandur's explanation, or more precisely, lack of thereof how he escaped Torak's magic nuke only increased the number of questions. She became increasingly skeptical towards the conclusion of his story, eventually muttering a curse under her breath, “Oh good an amnesiac, an infant and a she-man. Because clearly that’s the perfect counter to the gauntlet, why didn’t we just do that forty years ago?”

Talon moved to the source of the knocking and beckoned for Fukayna and Astrid to enter. Accompanying them was the elf prisoner, but it was the appearance of Astrid which piqued the mage's amusement. Astrid's crimson hair was lightly ruffled despite recent efforts to conceal it, suggesting the youthful vagabond had spent sometime since Jennifer last saw her cooped up in a tiny compartment. Probably the result of another prank. Jennifer was sure she would hear all of the details from another of Sebastian's complaints later. Jennifer had cause for a small sigh of relief. Thankfully, it seemed that Fay had not accompanied the quartet, meaning she'd be spared from the Navile's naivety for a while longer. Fukayna was leader of the little entourage, the chocolate assassin looking a little worse for wear. Jennifer remembered the odd reaction the younger woman exhibited earlier in the day and mentally filed a reminder to question her about it later.

With everyone gathered, Talon’s steely eyes crossed to Jennifer readily, betraying his intentions. Unable to give voice to her protest, Jennifer managed only to roll her eyes, deflating her chest with a slight huff of disbelief. Her frustration at constantly being ignored was beginning to scrap at her already dubious composure. Talon knew her stance was opposed to this, yet he continued in his blind judgment to trust these individuals. Just what was he thinking? Eyebrows falling into a frown, her stare evolved into something smouldering as he cautioned her about the dragoness. What the hell happened in the brief time she allowed him to retrieve Khrae and Dante?! Jennifer disregarded the cold feeling of dread that coloured the conference since its inception. The prospect of dealing with Domieen’s gauntlet again wasn’t enticing for anyone, but her primary concern at that moment was Talon. As soon as the meeting dispersed, she made to yell at him and stood up, fists clenched and wrinkles on her forehead deepening with annoyance.

"I suppose now would be a good time to go get some rest hu? Preferably before you decide it's a good idea to tie me down, yes?" said Talon, stealing the initiative by nestling his head beside hers. An long-winded breath escaped past his pink lips and she lost the heart to reprimand him, swallowing down the harsh words instead. "I'll retire to our room if you could let Sebastian know of his orders?"

“Don’t give me any ideas. Can I at least trust you not to get caught up in any more Armageddons before reaching our bedroom?” she laughed before clearing her throat, “Leave everything to me.”

Without further word, the mage pulled away and turned on her heel briskly, dismissing herself through the arch doorway.

Fukayna could hear voices from the other side of the door, though it muffled quite a bit of the sound and she could only make out definite male voices from inside the room. She raised her hand to knock again but found there was no need to, for V'lyn himself opened the door, those wise eyes passing over the small group before nodding. There was a deepened frown as he looked at Astrid, but this did not come to Fukayna's surprise--the girl did cause an ample amount of trouble. He motioned for the four of them to enter, gesturing to the seats that seemed to have already been laid out for them.

She tensed a bit as she saw that the strangers were once again in the room, taking more immediate notice of the older man whom she had glanced at in the courtyard. She gazed at him steadily this time, finding it a bit easier now that the intensity of his stare wasn't on her. He certainly had longer hair for a man, though it was a nice blend with those eyes of his... Dashing, even, definitely the eyes of someone who was wise. At his side was a boy that looked a bit younger than she, though his expression was dazed at best and he did not seem to be apt for paying attention. Her eyes were then drawn to the man she had seen in the briefing hall, the one who had introduced himself as Xandur. She did not feel as uncomfortable as she ordinarily would have around strangers, perhaps because Miss Jennifer was in the room and she also had the scaly wonder not feet from her person.

"Take a seat." His voice was not weak-sounding, at least it was good to know he had made a recovery. The last time Fukayna had seen V'lyn was when he was in critical condition, having been caught by the beautiful Miss Jennifer that now occupied a section of the room. The younger girl smiled at the woman briefly before sitting down. She had taken quite the liking to the mage and although the elder did seem frightening at times, there was a privately gentle aura that she possessed that Fukayna enjoyed. V'lyn sat down, speaking in even tones to the group once everyone had settled.

"It seems that keeping things under my own jurisdiction has become impossible. Torak has indeed invoked a lot of curiosity from all of us it seems. No matter what I say to you, I feel that you're all going to get involved one way or another. I suppose having more than just my two assassin's dealing with this would be helpful. That'll include the Navile woman as well... And the insolent dragoness outside too, I suppose," Fukayna paused. Dragoness? There was a dragoness here, in Skyfall? Why had she not met this lovely creature yet? A blush settled on her cheeks as she tried to imagine what this dragoness looked like. Ohhhh, perhaps she was as cute as Stephano? Or perhaps she had adorable, pouty cheeks that puffed up when she got upset... Or perhaps... She shook her head, silver locks tumbling about over her shoulders as she did so. Now wasn't exactly the time to be entertaining such thoughts, especially with the situation the way it was. She focused on V'lyn once more, the blush fading off her cheeks as she listened to his serious tones.

"Ro'ell is your destination. I'm sure Jennifer has already sent word ahead of you. You should be expected once you get there. You're to look into the whereabouts of Domieen's gauntlet, what kind of power its capable of and any other information you deem fitting to gather. I'll be sending Sebastian as well. He's your leader, you'll do as he says. Especially you, Astrid. Once you've gotten everything you need, return here and report back to myself or Jennifer. One or both of us will be here. We'll figure things out from there. You leave as soon as you're all ready, meet at the entrance with Sebastian, he'll get everything else ready for you." Fukayna's complexion once again paled but she couldn't do anything about the orders they had been given. At least not without arousing any suspicion. Hanging her head in defeat, the girl nodded and departed from her seat after V'lyn signaled that they were dismissed.

As she left, she clutched at her furs, debating what to do with herself. In all the activity when leaving, Astrid had disappeared, taking Stephano with her. Fukayna didn't doubt the fiery red-head would pop up some time later but at the moment, she was left to herself. The walk to her room did not take very long at all, the only thing she need retrieve was her halberd, which was leaning against the wall as always. She took the familiar weight within her hands and turned it over, shifting it to her preferred left hand before leaving her room. Her eyebrows furrowed beneath her bangs as now she was once again left with her thoughts; walking towards the entrance as an unsettling feeling clawed at her stomach. Ro'ell... she had not been there in quite some time, but the very idea of returning... Her stomach lurched and she held it, shivering in place. She forced her eyes closed in an attempt to calm herself, trying to take deep breaths.

Returning to that place... to the Order of Vyldi. It meant she would see him again. Part of her yearned for it, the chance to speak with him once more, to receive one of his rare, complimentary smiles. But the vast majority of her dreaded the journey. Fukayna did not know why he had not hunted her down yet or what games he was playing--the man always had a penchant for them. Whatever the case was, she was more than certain she would have to face him once more when they got to Ro'ell. And all the effort she had put in to keeping her secret would be undone in that instant. She trembled at the idea. She did not want to lose her friends whom she had just so recently made... But what respect would they have for someone who had not even told them to full truth in the first place?

A stream of yells snapped Fukayna out of her fear as her ears picked up the sounds of a rather frustrated female nearby. "...I really will kill you! I'm not 'cute,' 'adorable,' or any similarly condescending adjective your puny mortal mind might possibly come up with! So stop that! Stop looking at me like that! In fact, stop looking at me altogether! Stop acting like I'm a child, and above all else, STOP TREATING ME LIKE SOME KIND OF PET!" Fukayna blinked and frowned. Huh? What was all that about?

Deciding it best to find an excuse to distract her mind (else she'd fall into an absolute state of panic), she walked through the hall, approaching the courtyard she had passed earlier. Standing in the center was the woman that could be none other than the Navile, a faded blush on her cheeks and slightly widened eyes. And next to her looking absolutely infuriated... could... could it be? No, there could be no mistaking it! The delicate yet strong curve of those wings, the sleekness of the talons, the vibrance of the hair, the entrancing scales of the tail... This had to be the dragoness she had heard V'lyn speak of! Fukayna gasped, albeit silently, as she processed this. The girl was much more magnificent than she could've ever even imagined! Though more human-like than Stephano, that did not take away from the grace of the dragoness' appearance.

Fukayna paused, wondering if it would be a good idea to approach the two. The dragoness did not look pleased in the slightest but all that anger seemed to be directed at the Navile. She hesitated for a few moments. Perhaps it would be best to wait, she did not feel like getting in the middle of a spat. Though in all her intrigue, the silver-tressed girl did not take into account that she was standing in rather plain sight and appeared to be frozen on the spot.