Reshar Xendir's Story

Reshar sat by the dimming camp fire as he closed his eyes and hummed listening to the world round him. The place was at peace now. He was right to take the detour in this direction. Though it did put him a bit behind schedule as long as he produced results there shouldn't be any problems from the leader of the Earth tribe. It hadn't even been a week since he set out from Shadowfen on his mission, but he was always prepared to be sent away so it mattered not to him.

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Reshar had been busy concentrating on the bowl in front of him as he placed several ingredients one after another into the brownish powder. He had a delighted expression on his face as he was care not to inhale the faint powder that floated upward. He wasn't particularly worried about inhaling it but it was more out of practice.

'Apparently there seems to be some movement in Imos that requires my gentle touch' Reshar had thought to himself when a piece of paper was given to him as he was trying out a new "recipe". The paper was quite long, which of course it was a long list of names. And with no more thought he left Shadowfen and began his mission.
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Reshar washed his utensils as with the water he had just boiled at the now dead fire. He it into a small pocket in his coat and stood up and stretched his legs. He looked at the damage that had been done by the fire and shook his head silently. He covered the fire place with dirt and he dropped a seed into the dirt and chanted softly. Soon a bush grew from the fire place and the undergrowth had been restored. It would take a bit of effort to find this campsite and that is the way Reshar wanted it.

With the camping spot no concealed he grabbed his rucksack and started walking towards his first destination.

"Good bye and thanks for the cooking utensils." he said cheerfully. No sound came from the two corpses that were on the ground with similar bushes sprouting from their mouths. Reshar softly chanted as he walked away and behind him any marks that were made were quickly healed so that he left trace behind. "Hmmm," he said as he pulled out the list of names. "I suppose Lakeshore would be a good place to start. I can just make a loop and after the deeds are done. I can make my way back to Shadowfen."

Reshar continued to travel through the deep parts of the forest as he entered Lakeshore. The scouts and boarder guards were nothing to laugh at for the average member of the earth tribe. The land had many streams running through the land giving the water tribe perfect locations to set up defenses. Though Reshar knew the land through his countless visits to all parts of Imos his earth sense whispered to him of places of earth that had been dried out. Possibly due to training or battles. So he adjusted accordingly shifting his direction and slowed his pace as he began dropping seeds and making the plants grow at an alarming rate.

Reshar figured there was no harm in planting some poisonous berries for any tribesman of Lakeshore. Though this was not needed for his infiltration, the thought of it killing a few water tribesman as they did their rounds could come in handy. So he patiently skirted along one of the rivers keeping out of view while planting the seeds. He so far had been undetected due too the fact he slept within the trees which kept him warm and out of sight so he had no need for a fire to give away his position.

He decided, like any other sane person, he would cross the border come nightfall.He now had to decide whether he should try to get by without raising any alarms or kill the guards at their posts and leave corpses behind and let the Lakeshore tribe get frantic of the possibility of an intruder. But for now he would rest. He had three targets to dispose of here in Lakeshore. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Reshar had opted not to leave a mess in his wake. Better that they simply get chastised for falling asleep at their posts rather everyone looking for him. The shadows had lengthened a satisfactory amount and he slipped partially out of the tree he was resting in and glanced down at the forest below for any signs, the coast was clear in his vicinity but the earth told him something was in the distance. But since he couldn't varify from such a distance he left it as hoping it was animal but decided not to waste any more time just in case he was wrong.

The rest of Reshar's form emerged from the tree as he began his approach on the guard post.

The trees were his friends, even in Lakeshore. They gave him adequate cover as he melted in the trees when he needed to hide and out when the coast was clear. He didn't like how long it was taking but he started putting guards to sleep too soon they would get suspicious.

He had reached his last hurdle as he could clearly see the Water tribes individuals. There were five patrolling and an annlyingly sized group of four in the camp. He continued to memorize the cycle of the patrollers and thanks to the way the world works, some one left to relieve themselves in the woods.

'One down' he thought to himself as he left the guard there. The powder worked well in close quarters but for the othe-

"Hey Tsuul," came a voice directly to Reshar's right, he slipped into the tree that was being marked earlier and slid up the tree and then looked down as the second guy had found his sleeping comrade.

"What on earth are you doing you idjit," he said. "Ugh, you got pee on yours- " he got some dust in his lungs and coughed slightly and rubbed his eyes. He looked up to find nothing but just as his gaze fell back down on his friend his eyes began to feel heavy and he soon collapsed in his friends mess as well.

'Two,' he mentally corrected. He kept himself from laughing only due to the fact this situation was not very likely. 'As if two people would fall asleep at the same time in the woods in one's piss. Reshar pulled out a small tube and pulled out two small needle darts and dipped them in the appropriate poison and made his way back toward the camp.

With no more time to waste he calculated the angle and wind and concluded it was more than possible and with a first blow carefully aimed he hit the first target and with a better feel of the distance and wind he quickly placed the other dart in and shot just as the second guard, a female, got up to check what had stung her friend in the back of the neck. Another neck as she approached, checked her neck and after take the dart out fell asleep.

Reshar dashed further into lakeshore territory and was rewarded at the sight of the city itself and all it's inhabitants.

"First up is," he told himself softly. "The lady merchant, Siana Razil." He moved through the outskirts and streets until he had reached her shop. The information from the earth spies seemed accurate so Reshar followed the directions to her house.

In he went with a double pointed needle like knife climbing through a window and navigating in the dark until he came upon her bedroom which she shared with her husband. Reshar approached and slipped partially under the bed and carefully lifted the covers and jabbed the point into the sole of her foot causing it to bleed and injecting the poison into her bloodstream.

"Ouch!" Siana cried out as she woke up and Reshar slipped all the way under.
"What is it, Sia?" asked the man who woke up from her sudden yelp.
"I don't, my foot is bleeding. I think some thing bit me." She paused as she was feeling the effects of numbness spreading up her leg. "Olzin! I c-can't feel my leg!" Fear was apparent in her voice and soon her body started to sway but the man caught her.
"Sia? Sia!" he exclaimed. "Somebody help me!" he screamed as he picked her up and headed out of their room.

Reshar waited for the sound of the outside door to close and he slipped out. "Nothing like an emergency to stop someone from examining a room." He said quietly as he opened their bedroom door and slipped back into the night in search of the next name. "Boraz Hilk, well respected warrior." Reshar found pleasure in killing skilled fighters, he also enjoyed the fact that anyone that examined the would find it similar to that of a snake bite. Reshar smiled inwardly as he made his way through the town as the screams of the husband called everyone toward the house and away from his current location.

"Seize any suspicious characters, in case this 'serpent' epidemic is nothing more then a murderer on the loose. If it is, I want those responsible not only in chains, but with legs and arms broken. If it is a foreigner's then I will be even more angred. Oh, and wear your shin guards." Zianro said to some of the guards who walked out immediately to inform the soldiers. He had heard of what had happened, and he had to send for the healers to try and save lives before it was too late.

"You damned fool!" He said to himself. "If it is the work of the other tribes what can I do?! I had offered them love and peace, and one of them dares reward it with murder in the night, to wipe us out?! Wait..." Zianro stopped his ranting and half realized several things as he stormed towards the dungeons. He knew he had to see one man and one man alone for suspicions like this.

Upon reaching Vinicius's cell he simply used his own set of keys to unlock the door and walk in, slamming the door on his way in. He looked at an ice cold bucket of water and used his magic to wake up the prisoner. "Wake up Zotar. We are going to talk, more like I'm going to talk and you answer me when I'm done." Zianro stated as he sat on his bucket. "Something is out in my city this very night attacking my citizens. If I find this is a ploy of some kind by some loyalists of yours to try and rescue you and challenge Zaheed I will be very mad. Because I want to help you, really I do. But your hatred for other tribes has got to stop first and realize Imos needs all tribes. Otherwise, I cannot speak for your freedom. I could even make you a slave with a new name. Or I could torture you again and again."

Zianro then smiled a most chilling smile, a smile that also matched the dragon part of his title. "He banished the girl you know. The one you were with. To my lands of all places. Looks like the new King, yes King not Lord, wants all loose ends tied. If Zaheed has his way everything that our forefathers envisioned for us will fade away like moths in a flame."

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Na'ari was riding through the Water lands in silent patrol, seeking out the Exile his lord was telling him about. Though, he was unsure of where to start, or how to find her. Long had he pondered on how to find her or whom to turn to. He knew of one other exile who was actually a friendly type of person, so maybe it wasn't a bad idea to find and pay him a visit if he was in town.

'Reap what you sow,' Reshar thought to himself as he looked at the dead body of Borz Hilk. A skilled warrior to be sure, those were always tricky to catch off guard, especially in situations like this when one's guard is naturally high. Reshar removed the dart from the dead man's neck. It was a more visible than he would have liked but there was something he could do about that. He chanted softly and made a cosmetic affect and simply healed the skin over the wound while leaving the poison inside the body.

The man before Reshar had single handedly be the cause of several deaths from the Earth tribe. Nobody Reshar was close to, but he wasn't really close to anyone. He hid the body in some bushes nearby and caused it to over grow to conceal the body a little easier.

'This person is rather thorough,' Reshar thought as he couldn't help but admire someone that would still consider the killer being an actual person. Reshar considered the need to kill someone this skilled, but remembering the list, knew that orders were absolute. If the name wasn't there, then their life was extended a little longer. Death was simply part of the cycle. Reshar was just one that sped that cycle up for certain individuals.

'Now to wrap this up and head to the land of the Air tribe.' Reshar thought as he began to plan his escape. Should he slip into the crowd or simply disappear into the woods. The last target was a young woman. She had noble blood and her name was well known. With this the quota will be complete. An influential merchant, a famous warrior, and soon a noble born. The message will be clear that no one is safe and shall serve as a way of keeping the countries in check. Though personally the collection isn't the same without a Royalty dead as well, but apparently the Warden doesn't wish to escalate things too far too fast.

Reshar watched the scared young woman moved with her guards and they were quite skillful.
'This was going to be a little annoying,' he thought to himself.

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"Very well, the servants can give you a tour of the palace including the library, but for me now, I must harvest military plans."

While the king spoke Deborah only granted him a short glance, she didn't give him a nod in agreement or a proper answer. Why? There wasn't a good reason for her to act like that, it was not like he had said anything to offend her in that statement. She had already known that he would leave as soon as he had gotten this over with. The reason for her to act that was simply because she was a sullen person. And it was sort of a silent statement that she could do whatever she wanted to and if it was to ignore him then so be it. It was not like he had time to argue because of such actions at times like these and Deborah knew it.

She listened to the footsteps on the stone tiles as he left the room with her back towards the door but as soon as he left she turned around and was just about to leave the room. It wasn't like she believed she was allowed to leave the room but neither did she think that she was a prisoner, they hadn't locked the door. But with the hand on the doorknob she stopped to listen to the discussion outside instead. Hearing the thud from something dropping to the floor and the couching Deborah made sure to at least try to make a mental note about what could happen if she try to take up to much space and authority. But somehow she believed that the note would disappear in the mist of thoughts with time, or perhaps it would be gone tomorrow.

Hearing the footsteps get more distant out there in the hallway she opened the door again and walked outside, not to ask the servant how he felt or if he needed help. No, the only thing she honored him with was a silent look. Not even of concern but of derogatory. With that she simply left the room, deciding by herself that she was going to be her own guide. It was not like she needed someone to show her around. How hard could it be?

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Eirene had spent all evening and probably most of the night inside her basement making notes on what she had discovered, not something new for the world. But something new for her. And that was mainly what mattered, she wanted to learn new things. She wanted to gain more knowledge, as long as she discovered something new every day it was a good day. Not that this day had been bad even without it. No, she believed that this day had been an extremely good one even without the wonders of what a human’s body could hide.

When she was done she washed her hands and the equipment’s in the bowl of water she had prepared beforehand. She let all the candle's flame dies out so the room fell in complete darkness, but even if the room itself was like a pitch black hole around her and the single candle she held in her hand. With it she left the room by walking up the stairs, while she locked the door to the staircase she noticed something however. Even if it was faint something could be heard in the night, screams. In wonder Eirene walked over the grass and to the front of the house, gazing out into the night, wondering why it was such a ruckus outside this night. It didn't seem to be full grown panic so it couldn't be an attack, but what could steer such emotions then?

She was just about to walk out the gate as someone grabbed her shoulder so sudden that she dropped the candle in her hand. The little flame started to burn the grass surrounding it, but the small fire didn't have a chance since the one who grabbed her scooped water out of the ocean by only his will and made it travel to the small flames. The one who had grabbed her was no one else but her oldest brother, Eden, he had not moved an inch while executing the little quenching assignment, "Father wants you to come inside, it's not safe out there."

Eirene wrinkled her forehead as she watched her older brother, she found it odd that he were there. He had his own house with a wife and kids, he should be with them at this time of night. And even though she wanted to go out to see what was happening she followed him inside the house again while glancing backwards, out at the night, with longing eyes.

When they arrived inside she saw something even stranger, everyone was awake. Even her father who would need to get up early in the morning to return to the palace and his duties. Somehow she started to wonder if it was something she had done, nervously she started to fiddle with the dark blue dress she wore. But what could she have done? A thought that jumped around in her mind was of course the body she stored down in the basement, but if they knew about it and didn't like it, shouldn't they have told her before?

While she stood there and thought to herself her father started to speak, declaring why everyone had been gathered. Well everyone but one. It struck Eirene as she looked around the room that Embla, her older sister by two years, was missing. She wondered if it could be so that she had run away from home since she had just been promised to a man Eirene knew Embla disliked. It was not that he was a bad man, it was because Embla were in love with someone else but their father would gain more by giving him to the other.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted once more by her father explaining that Embla had left the house earlier this evening, father had seen her himself but decided not to stop her since he felt like she would escape home if he had done so. But this night was a dangerous night to be out in, which was why Eirene had been stopped as she tried to leave. Words had been told that an assassin had gotten inside the city and was out there. Embla was still out there and no one knew where she was.

As soon as their father had explained it all he told her older brother's that they needed to join him in the search. The four of them left the house, leaving Eirene and her younger brother alone. Both of them stood in the doorway watching as their family rushed out into the night to find the lost member.

Reshar watched the woman from roofs as he his practices of traveling from tree to tree back in Shadowfen. He recalled a list of noble women on the list that he had looked at. They had brief descriptions next to the names. It was the description that gave the woman's identity away.

'If I remember this one's name is Embla deSoleh.' he thought to himself. She seemed rather flushed from the excitement of the town as well as being in "this" man's arms. She was at age where marriage either has or should be taking place. Could this man be hers. He had a fair face and his body seemed slightly sturdy as well. Reshar was forced to slow down as the two stopped and seemed to be getting agitated. He inched closer and scanned the area for a good location to hide, and possibly strike from the shadows should the opportunity present itself.

Which it always did.

Reshar listened in and found that the guy was attempting to convince her to leave the town until it was safe and she seemed to have some love and responsibility to her family. The man continued trying to persuade her talking about their future family together. She seemed so torn, tears began to build up in the corner of her eyes. Reshar didn't really care one way or the other. If they got out of town they would escape into the woods which was Reshar's favorite hunting ground. But if they split up then she would be easy pickings. The problem was if anyone else came to join them.

The argument was going nowhere and the longer Reshar waited the worse it would get. He readied the dart and blowgun once more and dipped it into appropriate vial and then grabbed a second dart and placed it in a different vial. He then took aim and exhaled sharply into the blowgun and sent the first dart flying.

"Ouch," the young man exclaimed as he reached to the back of his neck and felt something sticking out. He pulled it just as he heard Embla let out a 'Ow', herself. He pulled the dart out of his neck with little concern for what it was until he found something similar in her neck too. "Arl yuul alllight?" he mumbled as he tongue stopped working. He then saw Embla grasping her throat with terrified eyes as she seemed to have trouble breathing. Just then the man slumped down unable to move his body or talk as he watch his love suffocating before his very eyes.

All this was missed by Reshar, for his job was done and he had rushed the job more than usual due to the huge request that was given to him.

Reshar watched the woman from roofs as he his practices of traveling from tree to tree back in Shadowfen. He recalled a list of noble women on the list that he had looked at. They had brief descriptions next to the names. It was the description that gave the woman's identity away.

'If I remember this one's name is Embla deSoleh.' he thought to himself. She seemed rather flushed from the excitement of the town as well as being in "this" man's arms. She was at age where marriage either has or should be taking place. Could this man be hers. He had a fair face and his body seemed slightly sturdy as well. Reshar was forced to slow down as the two stopped and seemed to be getting agitated. He inched closer and scanned the area for a good location to hide, and possibly strike from the shadows should the opportunity present itself.

Which it always did.

Reshar listened in and found that the guy was attempting to convince her to leave the town until it was safe and she seemed to have some love and responsibility to her family. The man continued trying to persuade her talking about their future family together. She seemed so torn, tears began to build up in the corner of her eyes. Reshar didn't really care one way or the other. If they got out of town they would escape into the woods which was Reshar's favorite hunting ground. But if they split up then she would be easy pickings. The problem was if anyone else came to join them.

The argument was going nowhere and the longer Reshar waited the worse it would get. He readied the dart and blowgun once more and dipped it into appropriate vial and then grabbed a second dart and placed it in a different vial. He then took aim and exhaled sharply into the blowgun and sent the first dart flying.

"Ouch," the young man exclaimed as he reached to the back of his neck and felt something sticking out. He pulled it just as he heard Embla let out a 'Ow', herself. He pulled the dart out of his neck with little concern for what it was until he found something similar in her neck too. "Arl yuul alllight?" he mumbled as he tongue stopped working. He then saw Embla grasping her throat with terrified eyes as she seemed to have trouble breathing. Just then the man slumped down unable to move his body or talk as he watch his love suffocating before his very eyes.

All this was missed by Reshar, for his job was done and he had rushed the job more than usual due to the huge request that was given to him. He was told to do it as fast as possible. Reshar didn't argue. He showed results. The city was in too much of a fuss. The forests were littered with lights and people stomping around. He realized to his chagrin that he was going to have to try to lay low he quickly pulled a small bottle and pulled off the cork and sniffed it and instantly pulled his nose away before he got too close.

'That will do'he said as he closed the bottle and he slid to the back of the house. When he was comfortable with the safety he dropped back to the ground and rolled to distribute the weight. He got up and opened the bottle and made his way to the nearest tavern. He had left his coat on the roof and took only the bottle he had with him before. He started to drink it and made sure to drip it down his front. He came out into the street swaying and tumbling and muttering loudly, complaining that everyone was too loud. When people passed by they smelt the alcohol on him and veered off because they had bigger things to worry about other than a drunk. But instead of going into the tavern Reshar went to the back street and "collapsed" against the wall and let the strong drink try to takes its hold on him. Relunctantly it was hard for Reshar to get drunk, but he had watched drunkards and learned to imitate them as he just let himself lay on the ground and as he let his mind relax, he told himself that he must sleep.

And there he lay for who knows how long.

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In the darkest hours just before dawn started to disperse the night sky the rest of the family returned. When they did Eirene and her younger brothers were still awake, there was no chance that one of them could fall asleep in the middle of this. They had just been sitting in the living room area in front of the fireplace and stared into it. Neither of them had spoken a word, there was nothing to say. Sure, they could sit there and pat each other's back, try to make each other feel better, cheer each other up with pretty words. But the words got stuck on the way up, neither of them could lie like that. Neither of them wanted to bring it up, the topic was too heavy to even think about. Even though Eirene wanted to think about something else, and she tried so hard to change the pictures in her mind she couldn't. The thought of Embla always snuck back and screamed inside her head. Screamed at her that Embla was out there when something like an assassin snuck around.

But as soon as Eirene and Eli's father and older brothers returned they quickly got up onto their feet’s again. Just about to rush out to the main entrance to welcome them all back and Embla as well. They never got the time to do so though, the four men wandered into the room without even taking off their coats. As they did both Eirene and Eli searched behind them with their eyes, looking after Embla. But she never showed up and the youngest children could understand what it meant even before their father tried to explain it with a cracked voice. Even though he tried to act strong in front of them they both could see that his heart was filled with sorrow.

After their father had told everyone about Embla's death every one of them was sent to bed. Well, her oldest brother was sent to the couch since neither of the other family members felt like letting him walk through the city by himself to his own house. Once inside her own bed, tucked down carefully by her father Embla lied there and stared up into the ceiling. She found it a bit odd that her father had been there to tell her goodnight, it been had aged since he had done something like that. She was an adult now so there was no need for such things. But she guessed that it was the shock from losing his oldest daughter that made him act like this towards her. She was his only daughter left now.

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Time had continued to go forward like it was cogwheels that hadn't been oiled in a long time, it moved slowly, creakingly and stood completely still at other times. Cailu wasn't being himself, he felt more hated than ever. He was hiding inside the leader's mansion most of the time, inside his room, in his bed and refused to go out of bed. He was like a sulky child, feeling bad for himself for something he had brought upon himself as well. It was as if Ara somehow had spoiled him with just her presence and now he was being like this. Servants or other's came to knock on the door from time to time and asked him to perform his duties as the leader. It was a funny thing however since he wasn't the leader and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. It was Ara who told him what to do, now he was like a lost puppy.

In the end the servants gave up and the only thing they did was bring him food. After a while they stopped doing that as well since they just got so angry with him. They knew it was his fault that Ara had been sent away, it was his idea. And of course they all disliked him for it but they just tried to act nice, but in the end their friendliness had a limit and they had reached it. So he was all alone in the big mansion. Listening to the noises from the outside, there life carried on but in there - in the cold, empty, dusty mansion it was only silence. Silence and Cailu's groans of agony. He was not a strong person, not by himself, not without Ara. He needed her to show the way first.

In the end he reached his limit as well, he couldn't go on without a proper meal. His stomach was so empty it felt like it had started to eat itself up. So since Cailu himself couldn't cook at all he swept his cloak around himself, covering this face. He knew it was a simple and probably failure as an disguise but he just didn't feel like showing his face to the townspeople. He didn't want to see their either. He just wanted to be left alone and be without their dark gazes.

So out he went, in his so discreet disguise. Even though he couldn't see them he knew that everyone was looking and that everyone knew who he was. But at least he didn't have to see them and that was all that counted. He walked over the trampled dirt paths, he knew where he was going. The only place he could get a cooked meal as long as he paid them, the inn. There was only one in the small village Airedale. But at least there was one.

When he reached it he pushed the heavy oak door out of his way and walked as far into the inn as possible, sitting down in one of the darkest corners. There he waited for someone to just take his order and then go again, leave him alone so he could sulk in his solitude.

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The castle life wasn't as fun as Deborah probably had imagined it to be while still living in the slums, being there and gaze towards the castle you imagine that their life was easy. Carefree. That somehow disaster didn't strike them at any time. How now that could work since everyone dies, get sick, wounded and so on at some point in life. But being on the outside you just can't imagine things like that, at least Deborah couldn't. But even though Deborah didn't care the slightest about the dead queen or king the rest of the castle seemed to care an awfully lot. Even though time moved on most of the people still seemed to mourn like there was no ending to it. Not that Deborah had gotten time to think about such things much, she had been busy reading. Not being the best at it she had to put all of her focus on those strange curlicues to understand what they tried to tell her.

Deborah had spent almost every day since she had moved into the castle inside the library doing something she would rather not do. She flipped through book after book, eyed parchment after parchment. There was no end to it. So many books and so little that were relevant at all. It had gotten so far that she had started to see letters haunt her in her dreams when she was asleep, they were everywhere.

But one day it happened. As she tiredly eyed through yet another really old parchment something captured her eyes. Or at first she was just about to miss it and put the parchment with all the other's that she was already done with when some words stood out a little more than the other's. The Element stones, the parchment itself didn't say much. It was basically just an old fairy tale or myth. Or so it seemed at first when she looked at it. It told the story of four stones or jewels, they each held the ability to control one of the elements by touching them. As she read it over and over Deborah started to wonder if it really just was a fairy tale and why it would be kept in the library if that was the case. It just seemed odd, even though it was old and had probably been lying there for ages, why? Why would someone even put a fairy tale in here, she had always thought it was supposed to hold the history of the Fire tribe and Murtovaara intact. So something about the fairy tale just seemed so... strange. Even though she wasn't sure if it was something she should bring to the king she decided to do it. It was something, better than nothing. And if he also thought that it sounded unlikely that the library would keep myths and bed time stories intact perhaps she was right in her suspicion.

So when she left the library she brought the parchment with her, dead set on showing it to him when he had time over to come down to her room. And there she waited for him while reading the lines over and over again. Thinking, or at least trying to think about it.

When he finally arrived she rose from her chair and held out the parchment for him to see, "I found this today. At first I thought it was just a myth or perhaps a fairy tale but then I realized that it was very strange that your library would contain something like fairy tales. So what do you think?"

Reshar was rather pleased with the all the happenings going on around him. There seemed to be quite a few people getting arrested instead of him, which was just a bonus. He had slowed his breathing and closed his eyes as he let his mind become one with the earth as he used his tremorsense to feel the chaos of everyone running all over the place. there had a couple close calls of people near the alley way but he had "collapsed on the otherside of the trash retainers as if he had stumbled and simply fallen asleep. He went over the list in his head of the people of the other tribes. He doubted he would be able to get his cloak and poisons anytime so he would have to head back to Shadowfen and resupply. Not really a problem and was sometimes the case on a job.

He had business there as well so he decided to give it a little more time and if he wasn't a suspect he would fill his drunken role little longer before leaving the tribe. If he was suspected it would be very amusing and difficult to find any proof or connection to any of the murders. How could a drunk silently and skillfully kill a skilled soldier anyways, or sneak up on a careful merchant.

He layed there and conintued breathing as if he was asleep as he "felt" and waited.

Reshar had been laying in the alleyway for some time now. He figured he could feign a chance of waking up and work his way to the bar and find out what is the status of the search is going. And if it is there is word that it is calming down then he will find his way of the town and make his way back home so he could gather his supplies for the next jobs.

He entered, with an unimpressive stumble as he fell to the ground and his half empty bottle rolled away from him on the floor, spilling some of it's contents as it spun.

"Nooo," hollered with a heavy slur as he crawled along the floor to stop it from losing any put a smile on his face when someone had stopped it's journey along the floor and picked it up. "Ah thanks you, sir" he slurred his appreciation as the man sniffed the contents and pulled his nose away after getting a whiff of the strong alcohol. The man handed it back and looked at the messy and equally smelly Reshar and left the drunk holding the bottle as if it was a baby. Most of the people couldn't stomach looking at the disgusting display and went back to their topics as they tried to avoid contact with Reshar.

Reshar made his way to an occupied table and as he feigned having trouble sitting down he asked if he could sit with them. He nearly collapsed on the table which caused some of the drinks to spill slightly. With indignation the man and woman left without talking but sent withering stares his way. He left his head on the messy table and just laid still.

"Sir," came a deep voice, either the owner or some hired muscle, but Reshar didn't even bother to answer. "You are going to have to leave this establ-" he started to say as Reshare pulled out a small pouch and gave it to him.

"I want the strongest thing they have, you can keep the rest of that if you let me drink in peace." he stated as he held the pouch over the man's hand waiting for his answer. About 3 seconds passed as the man extended hand out and Reshar dropped it in the hand and let him go. It didn't matter whether they brought the strongest drink not. I was now a customer and someone just got a bonus.

The bottle was dropped at the table as Reshar continued to leave his head on the table and listen to the story of the Lakeshore. It had seemed people were still being apprehended and thrown into jail, so Reshar figured he would wait it out here in his "drunken" stupor. They seemed to be arresting foreigners specifically.

'What a paranoid leader," Reshar thought to himself as he finally grabbed the new bottle and lifted his head to see what was brought. A decent brand, but not very strong. Either the person had a horrible stock of alcohol, or they had just ripped him off. Either way they were in a good mood, most likely, and Reshar was now playing the dupe on the stage of this tavern.

Reshar had been awake for the last hour and according to those around him he had only been asleep for an hour. It would have to do. It was no good for assassins to get comfortable and complacent. Death was rather fickle and spontaneous so those in business of dealing death tended to be wary of such habits.re

The streets were filled with stories of those that had been killed and but none were as talked about as the noble daughter that Reshar had killed last night. More so than the daughter but it seemed the whole family was quite the topic over all. Whispers about the father and his children. Reshar went over the information in his head and compared it to what he was hearing. All the way scanning the room casually for guards.

He stumbled to his feet and shambled slowly and deliberately over to the tavern owner.

" 'cuse me," Reshar slurred. "I, ... - "he held his head in mock pain and let his head wobble slightly. Is - is there anything nice and hot and ready to eat? I feel as if my stomach is full of nothing but what I drink and very soon i'll be heading -" he paused as he looked for the restroom, -"there ... to relive myself of that, and will become even hu-hungrier."

The owner, though repulsed by Reshar, smiled warmly and with his professionalism at stake nodded.
"But of course, sir, we have some freshly boar that is cooking as we speak. Why I wouldn't be surprised if the smell started seeping out of the kitchen." The owner was already aware of this drunks purchase of the expensive alcohol. It was not uncommon for people to throw their money away on their vices, and the owner was more than willing to accept their generosity.

"Why is it so loud, in here?" Reshar asked. "It was very loud last night as well. Is there some sort of festival or something going on?" Reshar couldn't let his 'character' remain oblivious to the situation that he himself caused, so he decided to find out what the common knowledge was and current situation is. Barkeeps, and tavern wenches were great sources of information. Almost as good as traveling bards, but no tavernwench or bard were insight so...

Apparently there were advisers that had been spotted leaving early as well as people spotting siblings of the girl that Reshar killed meeting with the one charge. The owner talked about siblings a bit, at least whatever was common knowledge, and Reshar drank in the facts wondering what was going on in there. Perhaps an apology to the siblings, but then where was the father. Reshar liked rumors but he preferred facts.

"I'm gonna be at - at the table," he cut in. The owner was a chatterbox it seemed. Probably proud of his information network. "Have the food brought to me as soon as possible. I have ten coins extra. Every minute that goes buy i reduce this bonus by one coin." And with that Reshar stumbled back towards the table as he heard the owner dash to the back, probably to check on the boar.

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The first thing Eden did as soon as him and his sister left the palace was obviously scold her for not acting like a lady of noble birth should. In his opinion she should had learnt that by now and if she continued this act of hers she would just embarrass her family. His family. Eden didn't want that, to be known for something other than being great in every way possible. Which was the image the deSoleh family strived after.

The second thing he had done was go home to tell his wife and kids of the glad news that brightened their presence in these dark times. The expression on his wife's face had been just like he had imagined, she looked so happy that he himself hadn't been able to conceal his true emotions. Of course their children hadn't understood what it all meant but they looked glad anyway while Eden had swung Yvette around the room in his arms. How horrible it might sound but it was as if they all had forgotten about the loss of Embla. They were all too busy being happy for Eden's success. It wasn't until after the happiness had settled down that Eden once more came to think of it, his thoughts got once more clouded by dark thoughts. Which this time was mostly directed towards himself for being so happy about something so terrible.

With these thoughts swirling around his mind he left his house, he couldn't stand himself at the moment. He even despised himself slightly for it. And when being in a bad mood there was one place he always returned to, mainly because it was one of his oldest friends that owned it but also because he did have an habit to drink away his problems.

Inside the inn, which was crowded as always, he placed himself at his usual table and it didn't take long before his friend came to greet him. They talked a little about this and that at first, avoiding the heavy topics even though they both knew what had happened. But it was like neither of them actually wanted to approach it, so they both felt like it was for the best to just leave it be.

"Guess who's going to take place in the palace for the deSoleh family now," It was after a few drinks that the sentence just happened to pop out of Eden's mouth and even though he in a sober state would probably slice himself for pieces for it he now didn't even care. He just felt like bragging about his new position, without even mentioning Embla or his father.

"You?"

"Damn right! I am! I'm the new adviser to our great leader, me, Eden deSoleh! I'm going to be the greatest adviser alive!" While talking Eden was violently gesticulating, he wasn't acting like his usual self at all. If Eden had a drinking problem? Yeah. But he would never admit it, he just pointed out others flaws while refusing to look at his own.

"How did you get that position? I thought your father was going to cling to it until the day he died? He isn't dead right?" In a mumble the owner mostly added to himself, "At least that's what you've been complaining about for the last couple of years."

Eden just shrugged, he hadn't been told the reason. He just knew that his father had resigned and to be precise at first he was too happy to even think about it and now he was too drunk to even care about it. "Who cares? I just know that it was my freaky little sister who by some unknown reason is all buddy-buddy with Azura now. I don't know how she did it and I don’t think I want to know either, if I knew I would probably be too ashamed to even leave my house."

For the first time in that conversation the owner showed some sort of surprisement, "You mean to tell me that Eirene has been able to even meet the leader?"

Once again Eden just shrugged, not amused by the direction the conversation was taking. He wanted to talk about himself and only himself. "Yes, I don't know how. Who cares?"

"Well, I guess she took the news about her only sister pretty bad? How is she doing?"

Eden was losing patient with the man and let out a loud sigh, "No, she seems fine. I don't know! Ask yourself! She's probably in that disgusting basement of hers doing her 'research' like always."

"Goodness me you haven't been fed in awhile. Maybe some food is what you'll need to get a coherent response from you." Zianro stated as he left the cell again and ordered his guards to make sure plenty of food was given to his prisoner. It would not do him good if Zotar wasn't alive and healthy to take on Zaheed if he decided to leave his company,with the girl.

---

Na'ari walked into the bar, since he had returned to townhe had found that there was a tense chill in the air. He didn't know what to think of it. So he ordered a drink and watched the area, wondering if something was going to turn up. It did in the form of Eden DeSoleh entering, beaming at first and then he began to order drinks. It seemed he endured some loss then gain in his productive life. His eyebrows twitched as he heard him mention Zianro and then his sister.

The conversation he was having seemed to be turning away from what he wanted so he listened in. He felt his hand twitched at how drunk that Eden was at saying his assumption of Eirene. Had he not been Eirene's brother, Na'ari would've killed him, but that would stain him as the Lord's Right Hand. But he had a feeling that wasn't the only reason his hand twitched. No. Na'ari felt there was another individual in the bar, one who might be dangerous...foreign even. His mind went on the alert.

Reshar was having quite a good time in the bar. It had gotten quite lively as it seems a brother of the young woman he murdered seemed to be trying to celebrate his rise in the political world. Reshar was pleased that his food arrived just in time for the "show". He listened in and was rather interested in this sister and her "experiments".

'Eirene', Reshar thought to himself as he kept his eyes mostly fixed on his food as he pretended to still be suffering from a hangover from the night before. Of course his constitution held strong, and he downed some alcohol as if that would wash away his pain. It was weird how drunkards continued to drink regardless of their ailments. Reshar continued to scan the crowd as he swayed slightly and slumped forward. There were more people coming in and it was annoying to have to keep track of all of them. There are two kinds of people in bars. Talkative and silent. Reshar took note of both types in the tavern and began to cross reference his experiences and scanned the crowd casually as called out for another ale.

"Another ale here please, I'm starting to remember my headache again!" he sounded annoyed and obnoxious which was standard he used this time to look at everyone's reaction to see if anything seemed out of place, and of course he through in a slight drunken sway in the performance as well.

Reshar watched the owner's face scrunch slightly before he got up to grab a bottle. Apparently he enjoyed talking about Eirene for some reason but the promise of coin was always the greatest of words to businessmen.

'Basement' he thought. 'I wonder if i should take a look before I go,' he thought as he went back to his food.'Disgusting experiments' could be anything and putting my curiousities above the mission is not my way. Though his thoughts were along those lines he was curious about this Eirene, who seemed to fascinate the owner and others in the tavern. He recalled the name and her discription. She had not been out last night, but the additional information on her was quite scarce, just rumors and such.

Reshar finished his food and slid his plate away as he finished off his first ale just as the second one was placed on the table. He held on to the bottle and pretended to glare at everyone as he explored their reactions to him once more as he mulled over the thought of searching for this woman while he rested his head on the table and let his eyes drift from face to face randomly as he pulled his drink closer as if to protect it from thieves.

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People came and left the tavern while Cailu still was seated in his dark corner, hiding from the outer world. Sulking like he usually did. Even though he didn't have anything to actually be depressed about at the moment he was still sitting there looking as if his world was falling apart while drawing circles with his fingers on the table. But even though he knew it was his own fault he couldn't help but dislike it all, if it wasn't for the fact that Felicity had shown up and slapped his mind back to reality he would probably be on his way to Northpass by now.

He was deep in thoughts when the strange man approached him and even though Cailu did notice the movements in the corner of his eye he didn't care enough to look properly. In his head he just assumed the man was searching for somewhere to sit, Cailu didn't care. But when the chair's legs could be heard scraping against the floor Cailu looked up at the stranger for the first time, furrowing his eyebrows when he noticed that it was a foreigner. Like always in Airedale it wasn't hard to tell the locals from the rest, they lacked the white hair. At least the younger ones.

"Hey there. Sorry to bother you but you seem like you need some help. My name is Bellistrad Indorial, spiritual guide of Imos. Might I ask your name and occupation.?"

The name sounded familiar, but Cailu couldn't really remember why. He just had a feeling that Ara probably knew who this man was, he had a faint memory of her mentioning the name. So he just guessed that it was something that made the man stand out from the crowd apart from the hair.

It took a while for Cailu to answer the man, he just sat there quietly while watching him. He was hoping for the man to go away and leave him be again, but since that wasn't happening he just mumbled out the answer, "I'm Cailu Elre..." He didn't think it was worth mentioning his occupation, even though the man was foreigner and hadn't seen the Air tribe's leader's face before Cailu just assumed he had at least heard the name.

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The conversation continued to go on once the owner returned to the table when everyone that begged to be served had gotten what they wanted. It wasn't much of importance that got mentioned, it was mainly Eden who was once again bragging about his new position once more. But this time even louder, as if he wanted the whole inn to hear it. Which obviously was the case. He wanted the whole wide world to hear his announcement. That he stood above the rest. When drunk all of Eden's bad traits he hid so well while being sober got exposed, it was as if he turned into someone completely different.

As time went by nothing turned for the better, it in fact got worse. It got to that point that not even Eden's oldest friend could defend his behavior and tried to calm the man down while putting his hand on Eden's shoulder while trying to convince him that he had probably had enough to drink. That only led to Eden getting even more annoyed and without lifting the cup itself he splashed what was left in the owner's face.

"Don't dare to speak like that to me! Never tell me what I can or cannot do, I decide when I've had enough!" By now when speaking Eden's voice had gotten low and languorous, he couldn't speak correctly anymore.

The owner didn't say anything more after Eden's outburst, he just wiped his face in silence while Eden continued to talk about this and that. Eden didn't even acknowledge the fact that his friend had stopped answering him. He was happy just talking to himself. After a while of more talk about himself Eden sluggishly placed his hand over his mouth while looking as if he was trying to figure out the mysteries of the world. He was thinking hard, not because he was usually stupid but because he at this point had forgotten everything because of the daze in his head.

"I heard a rather strange tale yesterday when I was searching for Embla with the others..." Eden began but seemed to sink down into deep thoughts again, thinking so hard that he got more wrinkles all over his face. "My younger brother... Uh... I don't remember which of them... They look so damn alike... He told me this strange thing... Uh... What was it... Oh yeah! Apparently our family home got visited by some palace guard yesterday morning, they were accompanied by Eirene. You won't believe what they had with them! According to... Uh... Ee- Whoever it was of them, he said that they carried a body with them. And when they left they didn't carry it with them anymore. Can you believe it?"

Na'ari pondered over Eden's words and slipped a coin towards the bartender. "Make sure he gets cut off and a decent escort home. We wouldn't want him to make an embarrassment of himself before he starts his first day as adviser." He whispered in the bartender's ear. It would be kind of hard to miss Na'ari Aurelis in a crowd. He was tall for a water tribesman. He just didn't want any ears listening in on Eden's drunk ramblings. As the Right Hand, he had to shield Zianro of slander, and assassins if need be. He would have to keep his eyes open, there were many people at this inn.

And he didn't like the way some of them looked if it looked like anyone listened in. He had to watch very carefully on who behaved suspiciously about Eden's ramblings. Danger is easily afoot.

Reshar looked through the man talking to the bartender and focused when he started to speak and read his lips before taking a bite of his food and looking around again.

'Security?' Reshar thought to himself. The odds of him being in here were probably thirty percent. Making his rounds and such. 'This tribe is rather cautious,' he bemused in his mind as he took another bite. 'Atleast after a crisis. Had they been like this from the beginning it would have been quite harder to get it accomplished'.

It amused Reshar slightly that this man (Na'ari), bothered having this guy protected. Reshar got up uneasily after finishing his food and drink and staggered towards the door.

"Well thanks for yo-your hosssspitality," Reshar slurred. "I'm going to go looook f-for my friend because heee... did NOT show up for our little escape from the ladies of the house, last night. He was supposed to split the bill too" He stumbled out the door and paused and made a theatric about deciding which way to go. Reshar knew where the house was already, but perhaps he would take a peek at this basement. He was drunk after all. Nothing odd about a drunk getting lost or even being curious about a story he heard in a bar. At least his cover should hold up still. After the peek he'd leave lakeshore and and then make his move on the next targets for the next tribe.

Reshar turned in the opposite direction so he wouldn't arouse suspicion and he'd just make his way back to the "basement" casually, as he looked around for something he could use as a weapon along the way.

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There was always such a strange satisfaction filling Deborah's body when someone reacted like she wanted them to do when she provoked them. A warm feeling that filled her stomach and spread, close to the feeling of butterflies because of the tension in the situation. She couldn't put her finger on why it was like that, if she got nervous because they prepared to talk back or if it just was the thrill of the moment that made it feel like that. Either way she enjoyed it to such an extent that it did border on too much.

“If someone expresses gratitude towards you it is at the very least polite to acknowledge them. Were you never brought up with manners?”

The last comment just made Deborah laugh, a cold mocking one. She found it hilarious, that the tiny lady complained about her manners of all things. But sure, she was right, Deborah couldn't care less about such trivial things. With a mocking grin she bent forward towards the woman, like she tried to get on the same level as her but it was in fact just a demonstration of the fact that she indeed towered over the other one, "Well, can't you ask your gods why I wasn't brought up with manners? Or why not ask them why I had to raise myself? They are 'gods' right, they should be able to answer those questions." With a cold voice she added after straightening her back again, "Well, I suppose I forgot to teach myself manners, so terrible of me."

Once again the woman was talking but somehow Deborah didn't feel as if the woman spoke to her, but neither anyone around them since it seemed as if she actually answered someone but no one had said anything. This did make Deborah slightly confused which could be seen in her face, as always she was like an open book to read. Her eyebrows that was already furrowed because of anger changed direction slightly while she eyed the woman from the tip of her feet’s to the horns on her outfit. It indeed was a strange woman, probably not from around here - she didn't exactly look like anyone from Murtovaara. But Deborah couldn't say where she came from either since she had no experience from outside of the city, she had never felt like traveling and neither had she had the money needed in her possession earlier.

After Deborah had realized that the woman was actually talking to herself she got a bad taste in her mouth, she hesitated for a short moment. She saw the woman as crazy and the thought of crazy people did make her a bit uncertain. They had a tendency to be unpredictable and she didn't fancy it too much. For a short moment she did think about leaving before it got ugly but her pride stopped her, both her heart and head told her that even though the woman was crazy she didn't need to fear her. Deborah knew that she was strong, she knew that if it turned for the worse she could take down the woman even without her special abilities.

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In the middle of his rampage he felt how he was lifted up from the chair and in rage his rampages just got worse. He cursed the men that dragged him out of the tavern and he cursed towards his oldest friend as well, but it was always like that. The man was used by now, he knew that tomorrow morning he would find Eden at his doorstep apologizing for his behavior. Everyone that was a regular knew that it always was like this with the oldest deSoleh son.

When he had gotten dragged out from the place he wouldn't try to get inside again, instead he would wobble home instead. His wife knew about it as well and she would wait up for him to return so she could help him get into the bed. It was the usual procedure. I was somewhat of a must, no one felt the need to change it. The owner and friend of Eden made a lot of money on his drinking problem while his wife knew that he would return home at almost the same time at night since they would close the door for him at almost the same time every day when it happened.

So while he started to make his way to his own house he didn't notice the other drunkard that left the tavern and headed sort of the same direction. To tell the truth he was too busy focusing on where he put his feet’s because it felt as if he was walking on a ship in the middle of a storm, everything just swayed around him.

'By the Goddess, this is a joke, right?', Reshar thought thimself as he realized the person that he planned on avoiding was following him. Going back to the information in his head; this man, Eden deSoleh, did live in this direction. Good news is his cover waqsn't blown. Bad news the man had someone walking a distance behind making sure Eden didn't hurt himself. Physically or Politically.

Reshar wasn't worried about the wobbling Eden. Reshar's mind was more focused on the sober individual that was being annoyingly observant. After a few moments of wobbling went by Reshar let out sigh.

'That meat was good too,' Reshar thought. Without another second he dashed awkwardly to an 'alley' between houses and got to his knees and with his back turned to Eden and the other person, Reshar shoved two fingers down his throat and withing seconds caused himself to puke up his breakfast. Reshar let his gag reflex take over as he did it again and puked more out giving Eden and his chaperone a chance to walk passed him

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“The Gods are not wish granters, they keep the balance of the worlds, not the people.”

Deborah had never understood why people choose to believe in such things as gods or some sort of magical force controlling the world and what happened. Why would people put their faith and wellbeing in things that couldn't be proven to exist? It puzzled her but not in a good way, it annoyed her. She found those sort of people extremely frustrating, priests and priestess of all types. They all just preached about the same things - making people believe in foolish nonsense to get some sort of control over them. Or their money.

Without Deborah even giving the woman an answer she once more snapped and complained about someone or something calling her little one, Deborah found her crazy talk extremely unpleasant. So her upper lip twitched once more but this time in disgustment, revealing the teeth's for s split second while she wrinkled her nose. If the woman’s appearance and crazy talk wasn't enough there was another thing that Deborah had noticed. While she had stood here talking with a woman a single raven was circulating above them, she knew that people kept birds as pets but she found it rather creepy anyway. Not the crow itself but the fact that it was still up in the air just flying round and round.

“I demand your apologizes for insulting not me, but my gods who had so graciously given you their gratitude. I refuse to leave you alone until I have received a genuine apology.”

Once again Deborah just responded with a cold laughter, "Apologize to you gods? Kid, I am not apologizing to anyone. Not you or your gods. And clearly there is nothing you can do to force me to do it either. I advise that you stop with your foolishness because people that makes me angry usually end up blind. Do you want to become blind, child?" As she spoke you could notice how the space between her tightly grasped fingers started to glow more and more, a bright sharp light shine through them. It wasn't that Deborah lost focus and let her emotions take over, it was all a demonstrations of her power.

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As he made his way towards his house he heard the sound of someone else throwing up and it did make his own stomach make backflips, he felt how everything he had drunk under the evening was coming up again. It was an unpleasant feeling but somehow he was able to keep it down and just continue his wobble.

It didn't take long before he reached his own doorstep, with a weak hand he pounded on it to capture his wife's attention and like always he did. After a few seconds she opened it for him and helped him inside. Eden's own house was not nearly as fancy as the family house where most of his siblings that wasn't married yet still lived but he liked it anyway since it was his own. But of course he lived close to the mansion, his father and deceased mother wanted to keep their family members close to them.

Once inside his wife helped hem upstairs to where their chamber lied, once there she helped him get out of the clothes and wobble to the bed. Once his head hit the cushion he fell asleep immediately. She however continued to stay up for a while to just clean up after him, but soon she lied beside him as well.

Whilst Eden was having a proper escort by the guard home, Na'ari kept his distance to keep an eye on a man he spotted leaving right after the conversation. He was drunk, or actually looked the part, Na'ari couldn't tell. But he knew this much. This man saw or heard too much from Eden. That made him all the more suspicious of the character. He walked for a time, but then noticed Eden and his escort passing by as well. Na'ari regardless watched the man as he puked on the streets.

That's when he had an idea to try and trip the man up if he wasn't all he says there was. He quietly walked towards the man, keeping calm and acting like he had a destination in mind. However, his hand was trained to his sword. If this man was dangerous he'd make sure to be ready on the defensive. He then saw that the direction he was heading to was the DeSoleh household.

"Curiosity can kill cats you know drunkard. Perhaps you should spare yourself a breaking and entering charge by leaving those poor people alone. They suffered enough." He said, calling the man out. Probably not the best move but Na'ari had a job to do and aimed to do it, regardless if he had permission from Zianro or not. He was also thinking of Eirene's safety if a drunk managed to enter her home. He slowly drew Draconil calmly, just to make sure he had the weapon in hand. "So how about I take you away from this part of town, unless you want an ejection from the town altogether?"

"Curiosity can kill cats you know drunkard. Perhaps you should spare yourself a breaking and entering charge by leaving those poor people alone. They suffered enough." came a slightly new and familar voice from behind Reshar. It was that one guy from the tavern.

Reshar was a little let down that their paranoia didn't allow him to get to this wondrous basement, but in a sense it was what he wanted. Or at least what those who gave him the order wanted. Reshar's eyes widened in both real surprise as well as exaggerated, as he finished wiping the bit of spit and puke that probably remained on his lips on his sleeve. His job cared not for appearance, or honor. It was about discipline.

"So how about I take you away from this part of town, unless you want an ejection from the town altogether?" Reshar allowed his body to shake slightly as he propped himself up against the wall as if he was shaking in fear.

"Whash wrung wish thu people here?" He slurred his outrage. "Drarring a shord on shomeone jush becaushe they are curioush?" Reshar pointed his finger at [Na'ari] yet about a meter to the left of the actual person. Reshar was supposed to be drunk after all. "Y-you know what? Forget it! I was tired of this crazy place anywaysh. Firsht my friend doeshn't show up for a drink and now thish! D-don't think i'm shcared or a-anything" He threw his hands down in [Na'ari]'s direction as if saying he was done with it all. "Just point me to the exit so I can leave this crazy place."

Na'ari sighed and ordered several guards to escort the drunkard out of the city, he didn't want to bother with him as he had another question to deal and get an answer for. He had to talk to Zianro. He walked back to the palace where The Water lord was now by himself on the throne.

"Ah, there you are old boy, say did you arrest people?" Zianro asked him, sounding like he learned of certain details.

"I only went to gather information about the girl and my informant made a harsh accusation...to you. He said you captured The Fire Lord so that Zaheed would become the Fire King. Tell me that isn't true.." Na'ari gave a reply as he gripped his blade.

Zianro stared at His friend and sighed. "Dear dear Na'ari, that informant of yours escaped. And if he has this accusation and hands it off to someone else the safety of the Water Tribe is Compromised!" Zianro drew his swords and rose from his throne. "You betrayed me! Indirectly!" Zianro shouted as the two warriors clashed with swords, not using their water magic. No, this was a battle of honor between two experienced soldiers.

"Did you not do the same thing by doing this accusation?! If it is true we are in deep trouble!" Na'ari retorted as he swung Draconil at a horizontal angle but The water Lord Blocked and bound him with water. "What is this?!?"

"You know too much Na'ari and your accidental bumble with your 'informant' has compromised the safety of the Water tribe as a whole." Zianro rubbed his face angrily trying to think of what more to say. "You're to take a vacation. To the Air Tribe. Away from me for the next month!" Zianro pushed Na'ari away. He had something more sinister in mind for his Right Hand's foolish bumble.

"I'll use my friend...as a scapegoat for my next plan. I'm sorry for putting it on you Na'ari. But my vision of peace on all four tribes must be maintained." Zianro thought as he walked to visit Zotar yet again and to try and nurse the Former Lord back to health. At least that was part of his plan.

---

Na'ari was walking out of the Palace in shock, why did Zianro do this to him? He didn't do anything wrong. He felt confused, but he knew he had someone to possibly blame for it. Belistrad is going to answer a lot for the newfound friction made between the friends. But he was forced to go to the air tribe. How can he do anything there?

Reshar stumbled as the guards tossed him just outside their boundaries laughing at how disgusting he was as a person. He didn't mind one bit, because he was out now. It had taken longer than he had planned but he had escaped with very little trouble. Reshar was wondering about two things as he walked along the public path leading away from his latest job. First was of the enigmatic Eriene and her basement. The second was his cloak and all his weapons and poisons that were left on that one roof. Well he would just remember where it was incase he had to enter the village unarmed next time.

Reshar knew the forests well. He not only had a incredible memory, his spatial awareness was also off the charts. It allowed him to lessen the time of jobs as well as less evidence to be found on him. His cover for most parts was a travelling apothecary. Knowing exactly where he was he adjusted his course to lessen the time by half but leaving the road and trailing through the woods. It also doubled as a good way to lose any tails that were not aware of his destination.

Reshar adjusted again as he attempted to point himself passed his village incase anyone might deduce where he was from or where he was going. His paranoid mind was a deadly weapon and shield that made him one of the highest in his specific organization.

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General King Zaheed

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King Zaheed stared intently at his hand, as he had been doing to many parts of his body over the course of the last few weeks because things have turned to abnormalities. Muscles that surged down the whole right arm had enlarged and swelled up five times the regular size. The same as went for his hand with fingernails ascending out like a short sword blade from the long menacing fingers. Yet on his left, his arm remained the same. And as for his torso, it grew at an unhuman state of volume as his back formed him to hunch over with the spine poking through flesh. He had also morphed taller, his legs heightening as if he were a giant, but he looked more than that of one, instead, he looked like a monster.

Zaheed was the clear example of what happens when a man hungers for more. He care not for balance, all he desired was to devour. After he was heated and saved by Deborah when he misused his powers, he felt that he revealed to his mage a weakness in himself. That day Zaheed told himself never again, because now he was ready to show all of Imos who he truly was. For once, he was going to stop the games and strip off his mask.

Zaheed discovered something in his time of finding powers of a god, as he were absorbing heat, he started to sense another essence deep inside a vessel body, he found power, the magic all of Imos bear. So he did what anyone would expect Zaheed to do, he robbed them of their gifts, leaving victims powerless. Though he would not be able to bend other elements, he would be able to feast upon the very extract of magic. Their magic energy would course through his veins, making him stronger and more deadly, yet the question Zaheed lacks to be concerned about is, how much more power can he absorb before his body refuses to take anymore. Are there limits to his madness?

Zaheed heard something fall behind his causing a great disturbance to him, thus he turned around to have seen his raven friend, Icarus. The bird had flown in such a hurry he lost his stability, but it was for Icarus had urgent news.

“Zaheed! Zaheed!” he squawked, a noise only Zaheed could understand, and only was it Icarus permitted to call on the King by just his first name. “I-Its about Bellistrad!”

“What did he do, run away?” Zaheed questioned, stepping closer to Icarus, to which then the bird backed up, noticing what Zaheed had become. But instead of asking questions about Zaheed’s body, Icarus decided to stay relevant.

“Much more than that, I’ve been spying on him just as you ordered, and Bellistrad seeks to free your brother… And he got the air tribe involved.”
There was a pause, Icarus was afraid what may happen next. But Zaheed only laughed. “So the boy wishes to help out little brother. I doubt he be successful, but perhaps it would have been better that I had killed him. Yes, that is what I should of done.” Zaheed snatched the bird by its neck. “I will have you know I commanded he find the shape shifting tribe for you!”

“Zaheed, I know! I know! You wished to find some way to undue the curse, so you hoped on finding the ones who form animals, perhaps to find a way to break the spell. You wanted me as a man once again, I know. Could you comprehend how dearly I covet my old life?”

Zaheed held the bird up higher, tightening his grip. “My friend, your words portray you as a weakling. I shall make the weak strong!"

“W-what are you doing!” Icarus squirmed as he felt something surge through his soul, he felt something he had not felt in years- magic. Zaheed transferred his magic to the body of the bird once man. And as this power grew inside of Icarus, so did his physical being. The black wings swoop out in large stature, as his beak sprouted through greater lengths in a point. Icarus looked as twisted as Zaheed, yet Zaheed saw Icarus as a worthy opponent against his enemies and a pleasant and menacing sight to be displayed against his bulging shoulder.

“I will stain Imos with my existence! So you said Bellistrad wants to free Zotar? Heh, well I better let baby brother know what it means to truly be in control. We attack the earth tribe at nightfall! Zotar will blindly love me for it.”

Just as Zaheed had ordered it, soldiers surrounded around the earth tribe at nightfall, though in secret. Archers were prepared and ready to fire their flaming arrows against the tribe dominantly surrounded and constructed of trees. Since Zaheed had been king, the military of the fire tribe has advance, though even when he was a general, the fire tribe had always been known for its great stance military wise. But Zaheed has drafted all boys of the tribe of age seven, the amount of training without rest has proven to be brutal but effective, but yet his men were ready as they will ever be.

Zaheed stood slightly in front of his men, though he wore not armor, for his body had emerged too large to fit any longer. Besides, his body was not the only thing growing bigger, it was also his pride, his belief that his body had sunk image to that of a god, thus no longer did he need things of mortals, such as armor or even weapons. Instead Zaheed wore a pair of trousers and a deep dark crimson cloak with its hood lurking over his black locks. Against his shoulder perched his grisly pet bird.

Zaheed brought Deborah along with him, he wanted to show to her his greatness, that he was not weak and what vision he promised when he first met her was coming true. “Are you prepared to witness reality molded by my hands, Deborah?” He looked down at her, for his height reached above all others. It was a surprise to everyone else of what creature Zaheed had turned into. “Experience it, be immersed in my eminence, all of Imos will be.” Zaheed suddenly with great force sung his arm up signaling for the archers to fire, and then it started. A wave of flames soared against the great black sky, reaching for Shadow in a fiery fiendish embrace. And when the first arrow struck into the bark of the tree village, all hell fell upon the nation as it burst into flames.

“Slay those who decline their salvation, and deliver it to those who surrender through their capture as slaves!” Zaheed commanded his men as the arrows flew over them. “Today I shall deliver the children of fire into warriors strung to the call of glory!” As soon as the arrows fell onto ground, infantry fled Shadowfen, and Icarus jumped off of his master’s shoulder and launched into the night to screech battle cries, to intensify the earth tribe’s fear. Zaheed also entered seeking the head of the leader, with power and pride blinding his eyes. He wanted to be worshiped, but above that, he wanted to be feared, so much so, he spared a few so that they may cry to the other nations in message of the horror Zaheed has wrecked upon them and that he will not stop here.

“Ah… I never sought out fire so beautiful, not until it was forged in my name,” He spoke to Deborah. Zaheed stood before the Shadowfen’s grand tree which held the leader’s home, but now burned in an inferno. It was the aftermath of the battle, the earth tribe was destroyed, though not extinct, no Zaheed surely would put his new slaves to work in an army against the rest of the tribes of Imos. “I wonder what nation I will burst into flames next, perhaps the air tribe, yes.” He acted so causal when it came to destroying tribes, because he did not see it as destruction, he saw it as a game of conquering. “Will the fire tribe praise for joy, their god has arrived? No, not just this tribe, but all of Imos will see my godhood. Yes, I put death to the old myths of divinities by pronouncing it illegal. How does that sound, Deborah? The lawbreakers be beaten into submission of my worship.”

He saw himself as a god, and would force others to as well, but little did he know, or more like, accept the many flaws that hindered him. Such as flaws in his physical body- unbalanced, heavy, and in will of recklessness, and no one mustn't forget the flaws in that sinister mind of his for there was no strategy only a hunger for pride and power.

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Lord Vinicius

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There he stood, wrist stretched and bounded by chains as they were from day one. He was being fed, but only to the very subsistence in order to keep him as Zianro toy, or so Zotar felt. Another cruel joke Zotar witness Zianro play was the candle. Whether or not Zotar was a fire bender, he was a human, and all people need some type of heat to forbid them from death. So Zianro's men put a candle inches away from Zotar's reach so that he could have only poor ounces of the warm, but also enough to mock him, enough to give him a false sense of hope.

But Zotar did keep in thought, how much longer does he have to live, before Zianro gets bored? He was surprised he has been able to survive this far, but when does the day that ends his misery- when does that day come? Will it ever come? It was as if the thoughts Zotar did conceive were either concerns and worries mixed in with confusion and questions. He knew he was never going to surrender, Zotar was too stubborn for that, even in his weakest moments, he was not going to surrender to Zianro. Instead, he hungered for an escape as he did from the first second he was imprisoned, but now, he had only believed that escape would come out of death. And he would take it if he could.

Though it was not until this moment that forced a change of mind. Something came over Zotar, no it was like he came over it. Zotar felt his veins be filled and his body consume an energy so long ago he had felt. It was heat, real heat, no mockery, no tease, no joke, this was real. But did Zotar believe that at first, that he was feeling something more than grief, that he was alive? Of course not, it was unimaginable. So, as soon as he felt the first thread of heat, he told himself it was a dream. Sure he will go along with it, but he trusted he would wake up to suffering all over again.

Zotar felt the heat in his veins, but he concentrated all the power to the shackles latched to his wrist. And by that, he was able to demolish the metal by melting it. And as soon as the cuffs were off, Zotar felt the wrist, he rubbed his finger on the bone, for the shackles hugged on so tightly, the skin and flesh were crushed beneath the metal. Zotar stepped to the candle, he stomped his foot against the wax, feeling the flame burn into his heel, and he loved every second of it. He dipped his fingers into the hot wax, toying with it, but though he told himself again, it was only a dream.

Zotar looked to corner of his eyes, a light, like footsteps. Maybe the dream was trying to tell him something, so he followed it. He pressed his hands against the wooden door meant to lock him in, but he burned through it, to chase the light. Zotar knew he had to hurry, he did not know how much time he had left before guards smell the smoke from the door.

The light let him through tunnels and out of the dungeon. He was on the surface, but that had not yet hit reality to him, still in thought this was a dream. Zotar was also not observant of his surroundings, other than not be caught, for he was not sticking around to admire anything, instead his mind focused on the light. Even when he made to Zianro's palace, he did not try to bring up such a thought, to him, that would be insane, freedom does not just show up one day, or does it?

The light let him to a person, this was when Zotar started to believe this was real. He stepped closer to what appeared to be a blue haired young man. All Zotar's eyes were stationed on was him, for the light follow this one person and no one else. Zotar doubted the stranger would recognize Zotar, for the once strong healthy lord, now closely resembled a skeleton with a thin mask of skin. Zotar's hair grew longer, so did his beard, and because of the stress and worry, he looked slightly older. There was one part about him however that could identify him as a former ruler of the fire tribe, it was the brand marks from the day he wore the traditional arm guards of lords generations before.

However, as soon as Zotar stepped close enough to the man, Zotar touched his shoulder. He wanted to know if this person was real, or was it just a hallucination? If he was not dreaming because a dream would not possible go on this long and make a bit of sense, then Zotar questioned if he was delusional. But as soon as Zotar laid his fingers on a stranger, feeling that this was a real person. A person that was not Zianro or one of his heartless guardsmen, someone that was not going to hurt him.

Zotar immediately then wrapped his arms tightly around the man, never wanting to let go, determined to never be alone again and to never let solitude bite against spine and into his mind. It was an embrace that expressed the amount of desolation Zotar were strangled and suffocated with. Sure the face was familiar, he did not know who this was, he did not know this was Bellistrad Indorial the exile he wished arrested, nor did care. An abundance of emotion flooded Zotar, it was something he could not let dwell inside, so Zotar wept in joy with his head buried deeply inside of Bellistrad's shoulder. Zotar was known to be a man who acted on emotion, but not like this. He never cried in public, even when his father died, he knew he had to be strong for his people, especially when he found out he was going to be lord.

But now nothing else mattered to him right now, but this moment, that he was actually in contact with someone. He ached for many things he lost when trapped inside of his cell, one of those things being utterly the ability to know you are not alone. He felt the heat of another soul, and it was enough to bring him to tears and his voice into sobbing.

There was something that had always been intrinsically comforting about the fact that a forest was always buzzing with life. The fact that everything was alive, and that even the inanimate and the dead played a vital role in existence and nothing was not essential. The idea that a forest contained everything that it should and all went where it should be created the greatest sense of belonging. Even as the small girl treaded along a well-worn path, she didn’t feel out of place, the hum of the forest floated along the breeze in bars and measures filled with the nostalgia of being played for millenniums.

The girl ran a hand softly across the moss-covered bark of a tree as she continued on her way. Deer trails were not the most reliable source of travel, but the experience of being away from human touch brought the brown haired girl closer to her gods than any ritual could possibly achieve. In the back of her mind a soft melody was being sung, it was quiet and whispered along with the forest around her. Her gods were pleased for the moment, their voices twinkles and rumbles that danced the edges of her conscious, itching for greater horizons and the leg room to stretch.

She hummed along to the faint melody, barely able to discern its tune from her surroundings. Even with her closeness to the gods, their arts and culture were still barely within reach of Meka. The tune was unmistakable though, something that the voice had been singing since it first made its presence known all those years ago. The voice had been unnaturally compliant since leaving Murtovaara, and Meka could understand why. Dark and mottled bruising still ran up and down both her forearms where the tall woman’s fist had connected. The bruises were dark and were barely yellowing around the outsides of them despite being days old. She had other bruises from skidding across the ground, though those weren’t nearly as severe as the ones on her arms. She had multiple gashes along her skin too, but she luckily had anti-infection remedies at the ready to stop them from turning into anything dangerous. The worst of her cuts appeared right above her eyebrow, it had gone unnoticed at the fight, but as the blood began to burn into her right eye she had to put it as her priority injury. The haphazard stitching done in the reflection of a puddle had not been her best work.

“If you weren’t so reckless and just let it go none of this would have even happened.” The voice suddenly snapped after days of unanswered and whispered lullabies in the back of her head. The short temper that had been lost since leaving the city suddenly gushed forward, with the force of a broken dam, that caught her so off-guard she lost her footing and nearly fell.

“Why do you scold me for defending you? I am more loyal to my gods than any we have met, I should think you’d be proud that I defended you.” Meka huffed as she stepped over an outcropping tree root. She pressed her staff into the ground for support as she moved along the path. The voice didn’t respond to her, it fell back into the soft melodious song that had been ebbing her mind for the days she had travelled.

She distracted herself by looking towards the ground, searching the undergrowth for something useful to add to her collection. The path was mostly bare of anything helpful, a patch of lemon balm grew in a wide expanse between the gap of two trees and she bent to pluck the plants from the ground. She had used the rest of her dried lemon balm in a tea for a fevered old woman; she needed to replenish her stock. The brown haired girl rummaged her satchel and produced an empty glass vile. She carefully pressed the leaves into the container making sure not to crush them with practiced fingers.

“Mekaisto, I was circling the area and there is a collapsed man on the main road not far from here.” Meka looked up as her raven perched itself on a branch level with her height. Its dark eyes were cloudy with a blindness that came with aging animals, and his feathers looked sparser then usual. Although Crow would not die until she did, as the rules of her tribe’s bond with nature, time still took its toll on her bird. It did not complain, but time was wearing away at her soul animal, and he was trapped in life until her own time came.

“Lead the way Crow.” The raggedy raven squawked and took flight in the direction of the main road. Mekaisto picked up her pace, barely able to follow the small form of the bird through the tree line until she found herself out on the large main road that lead to Airendale. Further up she could see a figure lying on the ground, the man Crow had seen, and ran forward to assess his condition. The worst of his injuries appeared to be an arrow in his shoulder, Meka considered the man luckily that when he collapsed he hadn’t fallen the wrong way and pushed the arrow deeper.

“Little One, the forest is not whispering.” Meka knew that the voice was right, that there was something else out there, but saving the injured man would have to come first. She pulled a well kept surgical knife from a pouch in the satchel, running it along the fabric around the arrow. It wasn’t deep in his shoulder, it could be pulled out and cleaned without risking serious damage to the man laying in front of her. The girl adjusted herself so she was sitting cross-legged and peered her eyes at the arrow.

“I know, I noticed the moment the forest went quiet.” She reached back for the knife, hoping the man would not wake for this moment as she pulled a jar of alcohol from the flask strapped to her hip. She poured it around the shaft of the arrow and knife before pressing it against his skin. Making the wound larger was essential to the proper removal of an arrow. She squinted her eyes, concentrating on the careful incision as she gently wobbled the arrow, testing the looseness of the arrowhead. Arrows never came out of a body easily, and she was forced to hold the wound open with two fingers and she slowly pulled it from his shoulder, feeling the tension as flesh snagged at the arrow’s barbed edges.

The stitching went smoothly though, her fingers steady and moved quickly with practice from spending years sewing wounds closed.

Mekaisto felt herself let out the breath she had been holding as she cut off the last stitch from the spool and leaned back until she was laying with her back against the road. Her antlers pushed forward so the entirety of her wolf pelt covered her face and she flexed her sore fingers. She was trying to think of something to cover the wound with, something to prevent infection, and was reluctant to use her comfrey salve since its healing properties ran the risk of sealing an infection in the wound. She sighed, bringing her hands to rub her eyes over the wolf pelt.

“Comfrey is no good… What do I use? Barberry… no. Goldenseal…” Meka sat back up so quickly her vision blanked for a moment and the world spun. Her antlers slid on her head and landed beside her as she dug into her bag and pulled out a dark colored container. She barely had any of her goldenseal oil left, but it would have to make do.

She carefully dressed the wound, “You know Crow, this guy was looking pretty bad, but I think he’s going to be ok.”