Colin was in disbelief of what Emalia was being put through as he carried her unconsious body up to her bedroom. For how much everyone kept saying that they were talking to her for her own good the toll it was taking on her, and now their unborn child, was very disturbing.
Colin lay Emalia on her bed and stood over her, bowing his head in dismay. Today, once more, Emalia had been pushed to the limit, and beyond. First the unexpected visit from Jessiah, and then immediately afterward, Grobnak. A realization popped into his mind, "That stubborn idiot is still laying out there, helpless."
He took another moment to look at Emalia, noting her steady breathing, before leaving the bedroom and heading back outside to the collapsed Grobnak. He stepped over the threshold to stand over the fallen creature, glaring down upon his hideous form. "What is wrong with you?" Colin spoke aloud to the motionless figure. How could he not see the harm he was doing to Emalia through his insistence in talking to her about these things. "...so blind."
A new thought occured to him now, "Look at him, so helpless. You could put an end to his torment of Emalia... make it so this never happened again." He pondered that idea for a moment. There was a refreshing justice and finality in that thought and Colin was mildly suprised when he realized that he had retrieved his sword from where he had dropped it upon the ground and was now standing over Grobnak with the weapon gripped tightly in his hand. As Colin stood there his thoughts urged him on further, "It's basically his fault she's laying up there right now." Yet that wasn't completely true, was it?
Colin spoke a warning aloud to the unconscious figure, "If you have hurt her..."Or Brin."...or my child..." Colin left the threat hanging. That was right. Brin. Emalia had said there was something wrong with the baby. "Why give him the chance to even recover? It would be so easy. Noone would even see."
"But Emalia...", Colin found himself speaking aloud, "I couldn't." "But she would thank you for silencing just one of the people responsible for the state she's in. He could never betray her again." Colin found himself wanting to believe this but deep down he knew it was wrong. Emalia would never condone a cold- blooded murder like that. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought. "No.", Colin spoke, "I can't."
However, his thoughts would not be deterred. "You can, you just won't. And you call yourself a guardian. A threat lays right here at your feet yet you will not stamp it out!"
Colin pressed his fists to his temples, trying to physically shut out these thoughts which he knew were wrong. "I said no!", he found himself shouting, "Go away!"
Colin stood there, his jaw clenched, heavy breaths coming in hisses through his bared teeth as he fought to control his own mind. Finally, it seemed, the thoughts had ceased. What was happening to him? He was talking to himself, even arguing with himself! Colin took a deep breath and sheathed his sword. Perhaps Emalia wasn't the only one feeling the effects of all this stress. He could probably use some rest as well, but first, there was something he had promised to do.
Colin bent down and easily lifted the unconscious Grobnak off the ground, throwing him over his shoulder like a black-winged sack of potatoes. He set off at a brisk pace toward the Jihad compound, eager to drop his cargo upon their doorstep and return to rest with Emalia.
On The Road Again... (Part I-II)
"Full honesty is a fool's trait...and what a fool I've been. I should not been so open with her..."
Throm walked swiftly down the open corridor of his home, shaking his head. A sudden flutter of wind caused his cloak to billow out, caught in the wind's grasp. He stoppedhard at the sound of a voice speaking out quietly. "I don't believe I've yet to see you this worked up..."
Turning just his head, Throm couldn't see the speaker though knew at once, whose person the voice belonged to. Throm called out over his shoulder still not moving from where he stood. "I had not not expected a welcome home party..."
Slipping down from upon the ledge he had been sitting upon, Lithanus appeared from behind a support column, leaning a tattooed arm upon it. "Troubles with the lady friend father?"
Scowling, Throm finally turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. At first he considered telling Lithanus nothing of recent events save the taking back of the stolen cells up north. Then sighing he gave a small shrug. "Lady friend no more I'm afraid. We've parted ways...I'm afraid I decided to impart some of the truth upon her, maybe too much I'm afraid."
Lithanus' spiked hair of stark white color ruffled as he shook his head. "The truth will serve no purpose outside of our own kind father, we have been raised this way...we know this."
Looking upon the young man with eyes that revealed just a hint of sadness, this time it was Throm who shook his head."No Lithanus, YOU have been raised this way...and for that I am sorry. I am too far removed from our people to believe this now. And speaking of our people, I suppose they will wish for my retrieval to the Valley soon?"
A ghost of a smile played upon the younger man's face displaying subtly that he had not missed the obvious change of topic within their conversation. "The Council has determined that for the moment your...removal would raise questions. Questions that aren't worth answering. I think that if the cells were returned, then you might...for the moment have little to worry about as far as that is concerned."
Reaching into his cloak, Throm pulled out a large canister and tossed it to Lithanus who caught it and held it up to the light, examining it carefully with an expression akin to awe.
"So much trouble for a few drops of the Old Foe. It is rare that I have a chance to see any of the legacy artifacts this close."
Lithanus suddenly cast his glance downwards from the canister, looking at Throm with an annoyed expression. "And what is it you're still doing here? Why aren't you following her up north yet?"
Throm unfolded his arms from across his chest, a look of annoyance casting itself over his own features. The sudden conversation had caught him off guard, however he remembered now the company Sanria had travelled north with. He remembered the person responsible for such company. "Let's talk about our friend and the armor you paired him with."
A look of mock surprise lit Lithanus' face as he spoke in in equal tones of exaggeration. "You're not seriously considering letting her go up there alone with him on the loose are you?"
Now Throm had to stem the feelings of annoyance as they were very swiftly becoming that of full fledged anger. "Thanks to you I may well have to. However she's not alone, Thasmudyan is currently joined with your loose cannon."
Lithanus smirked slightly and shrugged though he took a step back at sight of the look in his father's eyes. "So that's two people you are leaving to the Armor of Escalore...I guess you are more trusting than I am."
His face growing as cold and featureless as stone, Throm glared at his son as he let what seemed like ages of silence pass between the two. Finally, he pointed his finger directly at his white haired antagonizer, breaking the silence. "I'll not be played a fool Lithanus. I'll deal with you when I get back."
Carefully concealing the fact that some part of him was glad to have a reason to go north after her, Throm dissolved into nothingness, his spell casting him back to Torregiano. Lithanus' words fell upon deaf ears. "You'll thank me later old man..." He chuckled to himself, brushing back a wild strand of his hair. "...and might even admit that I know what the hell I'm doing."
"Throm... wh... what are you doing here?"
The fact that he had startled Sanria coupled with the red which shown upon her face, made Throm nearly regret coming. He had upset her further, something he certainly had not wished to do. Suddenly his mind kicked into notions which he usually left unthought. -Who cares. I too am upset- Pushing such thoughts aside, he gave an emotionless nod. "Going north..."
Sanria looked to the ground shaking her head. As if a knife had been taken to his insides, Throm felt a dull hollow sting in his chest. Steeling his resolve, he replied without missing a beat. "Someone has to bring Remus in..."
The rest of his words were cut short as an airship flew low over the Port on it's way to dock. Again his cold response was met with an equally cold demeanor. "I'll bring him back here and you can take him."
Shaking his head solidly, he couldn't help but wonder why it was she was so eager for him not to be around. "No dice..."
The two danced around the subject for long minutes, each firing back reasons why the other should or shouldn't be present for the duration of the journey. The argument continued inside of Sanria's airship, neither side seeming to get through to the other.
Eventually it was brought to light that Sanria indeed as able to feel the very emotions of Thasmudyan as she had recently been healed with his life essence. The thought of the two of them in the same place while she could feel such things apparently wasn't very comfortable for her. Again thoughts rampaged through Throm's head.
-I can't blame her. I wouldn't take comfort in such a situation. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even let me on board the ship.-
He had to admire her honesty, and her determination at that. Yet the two found themselves once again plunged into arguments. Finally it seemed they had both tired of going back and forth. The conversation took tones of less aggressive nature. Once again Throm felt himself compelled to honesty as Sanria asked the inevitable question that he knew must come.
"Let me guess... you love me enough to let me walk right out of your life?" She smiled slighty, and Throm suddenly realized just how difficult a question it was to answer. -It used to be an easy answer...when did it become not-
"If you deemed it best for yourself yes...I would put you above my own wants." Judging by the expression on Sanria's face, Throm realized that this was not the answer she had been expecting.
"You realize that it leaves me thinking you want for nothing... including me?" She stood, walking nearer to him. Was she angry? He couldn't tell. He shook his head as she continued. "I'd love to think, for a moment, that you would trust me enough to show me your own feelings - not those you use to deflect what is beneath."
For a moment, frustration set upon Throm and he wanted to simply spell out what it was he meant, be it for better or worse. Calming himself, he found his words once again. "You are wrong in this sense Sanria. I want many things...including you. However I can't place my wants above those or yours...such would be the essence of selfishness."
Again, he realized that perhaps this was not the answer Sanria had been looking for as she crossed her arms across her chest. Looking at him she spoke quietly. "Then I am selfish?"
Again Throm shook his head. "No...it's just me being me. I think you coined it the protector in me."
The Sanria finally guided the ship out of Port Torregiano, setting to a hover just above the city beacon. She turned in her seat to face Throm. "You don't believe that simply gathering force here to take him down is a better plan?"
Shrugging, he realized he was tired of the charade, perhaps the vision of him wearing himself on his sleeve would never be realistic, but it occured to him that perhaps he hadn't been completely in the right in regards to thinking honesty was foolish at all times.
"I'm not leaving you. Not because I don't think you can take care of yourself, but because I'll be worried to no end while you are away." Shrugging, he strapped the in flight harness about his torso. "And that....is why I am here."
Throm walked swiftly down the open corridor of his home, shaking his head. A sudden flutter of wind caused his cloak to billow out, caught in the wind's grasp. He stoppedhard at the sound of a voice speaking out quietly. "I don't believe I've yet to see you this worked up..."
Turning just his head, Throm couldn't see the speaker though knew at once, whose person the voice belonged to. Throm called out over his shoulder still not moving from where he stood. "I had not not expected a welcome home party..."
Slipping down from upon the ledge he had been sitting upon, Lithanus appeared from behind a support column, leaning a tattooed arm upon it. "Troubles with the lady friend father?"
Scowling, Throm finally turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. At first he considered telling Lithanus nothing of recent events save the taking back of the stolen cells up north. Then sighing he gave a small shrug. "Lady friend no more I'm afraid. We've parted ways...I'm afraid I decided to impart some of the truth upon her, maybe too much I'm afraid."
Lithanus' spiked hair of stark white color ruffled as he shook his head. "The truth will serve no purpose outside of our own kind father, we have been raised this way...we know this."
Looking upon the young man with eyes that revealed just a hint of sadness, this time it was Throm who shook his head."No Lithanus, YOU have been raised this way...and for that I am sorry. I am too far removed from our people to believe this now. And speaking of our people, I suppose they will wish for my retrieval to the Valley soon?"
A ghost of a smile played upon the younger man's face displaying subtly that he had not missed the obvious change of topic within their conversation. "The Council has determined that for the moment your...removal would raise questions. Questions that aren't worth answering. I think that if the cells were returned, then you might...for the moment have little to worry about as far as that is concerned."
Reaching into his cloak, Throm pulled out a large canister and tossed it to Lithanus who caught it and held it up to the light, examining it carefully with an expression akin to awe.
"So much trouble for a few drops of the Old Foe. It is rare that I have a chance to see any of the legacy artifacts this close."
Lithanus suddenly cast his glance downwards from the canister, looking at Throm with an annoyed expression. "And what is it you're still doing here? Why aren't you following her up north yet?"
Throm unfolded his arms from across his chest, a look of annoyance casting itself over his own features. The sudden conversation had caught him off guard, however he remembered now the company Sanria had travelled north with. He remembered the person responsible for such company. "Let's talk about our friend and the armor you paired him with."
A look of mock surprise lit Lithanus' face as he spoke in in equal tones of exaggeration. "You're not seriously considering letting her go up there alone with him on the loose are you?"
Now Throm had to stem the feelings of annoyance as they were very swiftly becoming that of full fledged anger. "Thanks to you I may well have to. However she's not alone, Thasmudyan is currently joined with your loose cannon."
Lithanus smirked slightly and shrugged though he took a step back at sight of the look in his father's eyes. "So that's two people you are leaving to the Armor of Escalore...I guess you are more trusting than I am."
His face growing as cold and featureless as stone, Throm glared at his son as he let what seemed like ages of silence pass between the two. Finally, he pointed his finger directly at his white haired antagonizer, breaking the silence. "I'll not be played a fool Lithanus. I'll deal with you when I get back."
Carefully concealing the fact that some part of him was glad to have a reason to go north after her, Throm dissolved into nothingness, his spell casting him back to Torregiano. Lithanus' words fell upon deaf ears. "You'll thank me later old man..." He chuckled to himself, brushing back a wild strand of his hair. "...and might even admit that I know what the hell I'm doing."
"Throm... wh... what are you doing here?"
The fact that he had startled Sanria coupled with the red which shown upon her face, made Throm nearly regret coming. He had upset her further, something he certainly had not wished to do. Suddenly his mind kicked into notions which he usually left unthought. -Who cares. I too am upset- Pushing such thoughts aside, he gave an emotionless nod. "Going north..."
Sanria looked to the ground shaking her head. As if a knife had been taken to his insides, Throm felt a dull hollow sting in his chest. Steeling his resolve, he replied without missing a beat. "Someone has to bring Remus in..."
The rest of his words were cut short as an airship flew low over the Port on it's way to dock. Again his cold response was met with an equally cold demeanor. "I'll bring him back here and you can take him."
Shaking his head solidly, he couldn't help but wonder why it was she was so eager for him not to be around. "No dice..."
The two danced around the subject for long minutes, each firing back reasons why the other should or shouldn't be present for the duration of the journey. The argument continued inside of Sanria's airship, neither side seeming to get through to the other.
Eventually it was brought to light that Sanria indeed as able to feel the very emotions of Thasmudyan as she had recently been healed with his life essence. The thought of the two of them in the same place while she could feel such things apparently wasn't very comfortable for her. Again thoughts rampaged through Throm's head.
-I can't blame her. I wouldn't take comfort in such a situation. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even let me on board the ship.-
He had to admire her honesty, and her determination at that. Yet the two found themselves once again plunged into arguments. Finally it seemed they had both tired of going back and forth. The conversation took tones of less aggressive nature. Once again Throm felt himself compelled to honesty as Sanria asked the inevitable question that he knew must come.
"Let me guess... you love me enough to let me walk right out of your life?" She smiled slighty, and Throm suddenly realized just how difficult a question it was to answer. -It used to be an easy answer...when did it become not-
"If you deemed it best for yourself yes...I would put you above my own wants." Judging by the expression on Sanria's face, Throm realized that this was not the answer she had been expecting.
"You realize that it leaves me thinking you want for nothing... including me?" She stood, walking nearer to him. Was she angry? He couldn't tell. He shook his head as she continued. "I'd love to think, for a moment, that you would trust me enough to show me your own feelings - not those you use to deflect what is beneath."
For a moment, frustration set upon Throm and he wanted to simply spell out what it was he meant, be it for better or worse. Calming himself, he found his words once again. "You are wrong in this sense Sanria. I want many things...including you. However I can't place my wants above those or yours...such would be the essence of selfishness."
Again, he realized that perhaps this was not the answer Sanria had been looking for as she crossed her arms across her chest. Looking at him she spoke quietly. "Then I am selfish?"
Again Throm shook his head. "No...it's just me being me. I think you coined it the protector in me."
The Sanria finally guided the ship out of Port Torregiano, setting to a hover just above the city beacon. She turned in her seat to face Throm. "You don't believe that simply gathering force here to take him down is a better plan?"
Shrugging, he realized he was tired of the charade, perhaps the vision of him wearing himself on his sleeve would never be realistic, but it occured to him that perhaps he hadn't been completely in the right in regards to thinking honesty was foolish at all times.
"I'm not leaving you. Not because I don't think you can take care of yourself, but because I'll be worried to no end while you are away." Shrugging, he strapped the in flight harness about his torso. "And that....is why I am here."
Unexpected Visitation (1-3)
"Did he forget something?" Emalia questioned as she walked to the door. "Who knows," Colin answered quietly. The face at the door was not that of Jessiah, nor of anyone she thought would be seeing. Grobnak looked at her with a sorrow on his face and immediately, her hostility went into overdrive. If it weren't for the spell Jessiah had cast upon her, it would have been inevitable that she would have faced drastic consequences for allowing herself into this mode once more.
Emalia heard Grobnak explaining both he and Nephesh were concerned, continuing to speak even though Colin attempted to stop him.
"Child, I do not mean to cause you stress. I only wish to educate you."
"I need no education. I've had enough of learning the ways all of you people operate."
"Can you not see she doesn't want any additional teaching right now?" Colin added.
"All of us people?" Grobnak echoed with a shake of his head. "Nephesh said you were angry, but I was not aware of the level of your rage."
"Every last one of you - underhanded liars the whole lot."Suprisingly, Grobnak's face changed into a pained expression. "What have I lied about?"
"To take the time to explain it all would be time too long."
"Please - if you feel anger, let it be given source. For every lie I have told, I will slash my own wrist." Grobnak indeed began to make good on his offer. He lifted his arm, holding it against his dagger.
"I've nothing more to say to you, Nephesh, Crimson, or anyone else."
"When I have paid for these lies, I will happily do so. Now this is a matter of honor. I do not lie."
"You'll pay when the RoK smashes your head in, and I will be satisfied." Emalia walked from the door, her eyes set on the couch, and seated herself with her back turned. Colin barred the way, though Grobnak did not attempt to enter. A few words passed between the two before Grobnak, determined to hear his accusations fully, thrust down a dagger into the ground and began to pray. Emalia didn't turn around, even as the sound of the slamming door echoed into the house.
"What in the world is wrong with all these people?" Emalia asked mainly of herself. "I mean, am I not supposed to be upset by all the "lack" of telling me things? I get the back of grandfather turned on me, I get spies and cronies to follow me... All for what?"
"It's ok, try not to worry about it too much. I hate to see you getting so upset."
"I don't even know what to do anymore." Emalia turned to Colin for a moment, leaning against him in the hopes that somehow, his giant arms would drown out the sound of chanting from beyond her front door.
"I don't know either. At this point I would just love to get things underway. At the least to just get away from here so we can have a bit of peace."
Emalia felt much the same. She rose quickly from Colin's embrace and grabbed the tablet from the shelf, stuffing it into her already full pack. She had convinced herself that they could walk past Grobnak, get on their horses, and ride past him without a worry. As soon as the door opened, however, the chanting ceased. "I seek only conversation. What is the harm in speaking like civil folk? You call me a liar. You impune my honor. Have I no right to know what I am accused of? Or to defend myself against that claim?"
"All of that will not matter soon enough. If anyone, you should see that."
Emalia walked past Grobnak, followed by Colin. She hadn't turned around when she heard Grobnak directing words to one she knew wasn't she. "Faithless, whatever it is that you are! BELIEVE in something! Lest you find yourself at the Wall."
She turned, knowing what had happened before with Colin and Grobnak. She wouldn't have the only person left to her be killed or slain. "You leave him alone!" she shouted. "You will not speak to me. Why should I not give him warning? If what you still seek to do comes to pass, will he not also suffer?"
Emalia watched Colin pass Grobnak by with a mere roll of his eyes. He went to the horses while Emalia glared at Grobnak. "I'm telling you to leave him alone."
"Am I wrong? Am I lying to you now, Emalia?"
Emalia's body began to shift. The anger she felt was being slowly supplanted by the calm. She knew this sensation well, and the drain it had on her. Without knowing how to control it completely, nor how to stop it, she began flooding the area around her with a distinct feeling of neutrality - not at all helping her. "I don't care! You don't need to bother bringing him into this! He's the only one that has honestly wanted to just help ME."
Emalia couldn't help the tiny tremors that began to work their way into her. After several days of this and the several major stresses that came her way, she was ill prepared to handle yet another release of her energy. Her lifeforce was expanding all around her, and as she and Grobnak argued, she desperately attempted to reign it in, to form it, to contain it. Colin stepped before her, trying to calm her, while Grobnak stood back with tears openly in his eyes, slashing his arm.
Colin turned away, sword drawn, and walked to Grobnak. With the latter refusing to leave, Colin lifted him with ease by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "Are you deaf?" Colin snarled.
"Colin... no!" Emalia heard nothing more as she began to move forward, her lifeforce seeming to weigh her down as she moved. Her body was stiff, her movements forced. Each step drained her more, but she was not going to let anything happen to Colin. At last she reached the two, and wrapped her hand around Grobnak's wound.
The shield around her instantly flowed inward, then out into Grobnak's body. As though a dam had been opened, the flood of healing and life rushed through her hand and into Grobnak. Her thoughts were for the moment, fixated on the fact that she was losing herself in this moment. The release was sweet, but to let completely go, could kill her.
As she slowed the raw power, there were instantly things she noticed. Things within Grobnak that she had no prior knowledge of. In his lifeforce were things she could only describe as dark pits, blackness of an unnatural sort. Not quite dead, not alive, she could tell these pits were consumptive - and within Grobnak, they were freely floating, slowly breeding, combining with him to become him... and he they.
All of this took place in a matter of seconds, the obvious pain on Grobnak's face, the release of his arm by Emalia, Grobnak slumping to the ground unconscious, and Emalia staggering back - breathless herself as she attempted to comprehend what she had just "seen."
Colin dropped his sword, gripping Emalia by the shoulders. "Are you alright?"
"Oh.. oh my... m... Colin he..." Emalia tried to speak, but it only came out in sputtering whispers.
"What Emalia, what is it?"
" I... I don't know... I don't know... I don't know..."
Emalia could barely move as Colin scooped her up into his arms. "Why do people always have to do this to you?" he whispered.
"We... we have... have to help him... put him... somewhere..." Emalia said, ignoring Colin's question.
"Wait, what?" Colin sighed. "Fine, let me take you to bed and I will return him to his compound."
Emalia, taking stock of her own well being, then took in a breath. She could feel Brin's lifeforce inside of her, this time, rather than bowing to the pressures, the tiny force flickered like a candle flame. There was no pain needed to tell Emalia she was in danger of losing her child, and that without the deep rest from complete release, it might happen soon. She told Colin, assuring him that Grobnak was not at fault, and then let the darkness of unconsciousness envelop her completely.
Emalia heard Grobnak explaining both he and Nephesh were concerned, continuing to speak even though Colin attempted to stop him.
"Child, I do not mean to cause you stress. I only wish to educate you."
"I need no education. I've had enough of learning the ways all of you people operate."
"Can you not see she doesn't want any additional teaching right now?" Colin added.
"All of us people?" Grobnak echoed with a shake of his head. "Nephesh said you were angry, but I was not aware of the level of your rage."
"Every last one of you - underhanded liars the whole lot."Suprisingly, Grobnak's face changed into a pained expression. "What have I lied about?"
"To take the time to explain it all would be time too long."
"Please - if you feel anger, let it be given source. For every lie I have told, I will slash my own wrist." Grobnak indeed began to make good on his offer. He lifted his arm, holding it against his dagger.
"I've nothing more to say to you, Nephesh, Crimson, or anyone else."
"When I have paid for these lies, I will happily do so. Now this is a matter of honor. I do not lie."
"You'll pay when the RoK smashes your head in, and I will be satisfied." Emalia walked from the door, her eyes set on the couch, and seated herself with her back turned. Colin barred the way, though Grobnak did not attempt to enter. A few words passed between the two before Grobnak, determined to hear his accusations fully, thrust down a dagger into the ground and began to pray. Emalia didn't turn around, even as the sound of the slamming door echoed into the house.
"What in the world is wrong with all these people?" Emalia asked mainly of herself. "I mean, am I not supposed to be upset by all the "lack" of telling me things? I get the back of grandfather turned on me, I get spies and cronies to follow me... All for what?"
"It's ok, try not to worry about it too much. I hate to see you getting so upset."
"I don't even know what to do anymore." Emalia turned to Colin for a moment, leaning against him in the hopes that somehow, his giant arms would drown out the sound of chanting from beyond her front door.
"I don't know either. At this point I would just love to get things underway. At the least to just get away from here so we can have a bit of peace."
Emalia felt much the same. She rose quickly from Colin's embrace and grabbed the tablet from the shelf, stuffing it into her already full pack. She had convinced herself that they could walk past Grobnak, get on their horses, and ride past him without a worry. As soon as the door opened, however, the chanting ceased. "I seek only conversation. What is the harm in speaking like civil folk? You call me a liar. You impune my honor. Have I no right to know what I am accused of? Or to defend myself against that claim?"
"All of that will not matter soon enough. If anyone, you should see that."
Emalia walked past Grobnak, followed by Colin. She hadn't turned around when she heard Grobnak directing words to one she knew wasn't she. "Faithless, whatever it is that you are! BELIEVE in something! Lest you find yourself at the Wall."
She turned, knowing what had happened before with Colin and Grobnak. She wouldn't have the only person left to her be killed or slain. "You leave him alone!" she shouted. "You will not speak to me. Why should I not give him warning? If what you still seek to do comes to pass, will he not also suffer?"
Emalia watched Colin pass Grobnak by with a mere roll of his eyes. He went to the horses while Emalia glared at Grobnak. "I'm telling you to leave him alone."
"Am I wrong? Am I lying to you now, Emalia?"
Emalia's body began to shift. The anger she felt was being slowly supplanted by the calm. She knew this sensation well, and the drain it had on her. Without knowing how to control it completely, nor how to stop it, she began flooding the area around her with a distinct feeling of neutrality - not at all helping her. "I don't care! You don't need to bother bringing him into this! He's the only one that has honestly wanted to just help ME."
Emalia couldn't help the tiny tremors that began to work their way into her. After several days of this and the several major stresses that came her way, she was ill prepared to handle yet another release of her energy. Her lifeforce was expanding all around her, and as she and Grobnak argued, she desperately attempted to reign it in, to form it, to contain it. Colin stepped before her, trying to calm her, while Grobnak stood back with tears openly in his eyes, slashing his arm.
Colin turned away, sword drawn, and walked to Grobnak. With the latter refusing to leave, Colin lifted him with ease by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "Are you deaf?" Colin snarled.
"Colin... no!" Emalia heard nothing more as she began to move forward, her lifeforce seeming to weigh her down as she moved. Her body was stiff, her movements forced. Each step drained her more, but she was not going to let anything happen to Colin. At last she reached the two, and wrapped her hand around Grobnak's wound.
The shield around her instantly flowed inward, then out into Grobnak's body. As though a dam had been opened, the flood of healing and life rushed through her hand and into Grobnak. Her thoughts were for the moment, fixated on the fact that she was losing herself in this moment. The release was sweet, but to let completely go, could kill her.
As she slowed the raw power, there were instantly things she noticed. Things within Grobnak that she had no prior knowledge of. In his lifeforce were things she could only describe as dark pits, blackness of an unnatural sort. Not quite dead, not alive, she could tell these pits were consumptive - and within Grobnak, they were freely floating, slowly breeding, combining with him to become him... and he they.
All of this took place in a matter of seconds, the obvious pain on Grobnak's face, the release of his arm by Emalia, Grobnak slumping to the ground unconscious, and Emalia staggering back - breathless herself as she attempted to comprehend what she had just "seen."
Colin dropped his sword, gripping Emalia by the shoulders. "Are you alright?"
"Oh.. oh my... m... Colin he..." Emalia tried to speak, but it only came out in sputtering whispers.
"What Emalia, what is it?"
" I... I don't know... I don't know... I don't know..."
Emalia could barely move as Colin scooped her up into his arms. "Why do people always have to do this to you?" he whispered.
"We... we have... have to help him... put him... somewhere..." Emalia said, ignoring Colin's question.
"Wait, what?" Colin sighed. "Fine, let me take you to bed and I will return him to his compound."
Emalia, taking stock of her own well being, then took in a breath. She could feel Brin's lifeforce inside of her, this time, rather than bowing to the pressures, the tiny force flickered like a candle flame. There was no pain needed to tell Emalia she was in danger of losing her child, and that without the deep rest from complete release, it might happen soon. She told Colin, assuring him that Grobnak was not at fault, and then let the darkness of unconsciousness envelop her completely.
Unexpected Visitor (1-2)
Shock was the frame of mind Emalia found herself in when she heard the knock upon her door. She expected none, and indeed, didn't believe anyone she had recently turned away with her vicious verbal attacks would be bothing to come visiting. She opened her door to find a Guardian standing there. She remembered him from Colin's interview, barely recalled his name, and really had no idea why he was there or how he had gotten there. "Sir... Jessiah?"
Indeed, it was he. She looked him over for a moment, noting just how young he appeared, before allowing him inside. Colin had come from the upstairs with his pack in hand, noting also the visitor. He set his pack onto the floor and the trio began with a bit of small talk. The happiness at having Colin involved with the Guardians, the lack of both Emalia and Colin in the halls as of late (easily explained, Emalia felt), and the checking up on the "health" of their relationship.
The discussion shifted and the already on guard Emalia found herself growing more frustrated by the moment. "If I may be so bold, was there any particular reason for your decision to leave? Because I would very much like to help, if I can, of course, the business of any family member, is consequently my own personal business as well..."
"Unless you're willing to tell everyone in Crimson that bringing down the RoK is a good idea and is not evil, just like the Apprentice is not evil, then you will have solved the problem. And, Sir Jessiah, as I am no longer crimson and even grandfa... Sir Jayden has turned his back upon me... I feel I am no longer of your family, or your concern."
The familiar hand of Colin rested upon Emalia's leg, a reminder for her to take a moment simply to breathe. She readily gave in, taking a long breath which only served to keep her ire from rising for a moment. "Just because you do not currently wear the insignia of the Crimson Guardians, does not mean that you are any less a member of the family," Jessiah said.
"I believe we differ on that point now."
"A Guardian, is more than a mere symbol. Do you believe that you have not the Guardian spirit, or the makings and will to be a Guardian?"
Emalia felt her anger welling once again. She kept her mouth closed and silent, tensing and relaxing her jaw muscles as she stared at the white-eyed man with little less than hot contempt.
"Colin... do you believe Emalia has the spirit of a Guardian, and a doer of good?" Jessiah's attention now on Colin, Emalia turned her eyes upon Colin as well. The audacity of Jessiah to undermine her choice by asking Colin what he thought, as though he could do anything in order to stop her. Emalia's eyes darkened, almost challenging Colin to dare answer.
"I know Emalia will go to any lengths to do that whish she feels is right."
"Ahh.. and THAT is the very essence of being a Guardian..."
"Well," Emalia cut in. "Jayden seems to disagree with you."
"No one person can ever know for sure what is right or wrong. Not even Sir Jayden," Jessiah answered. "I've known Sir Jayden for a long time, and though we do not always agree on everything, we maintain great respect for each other, and I greatly value his wisdom."
"Then you should make haste to exit just as he did," Emalia demanded. She rose from the couch, her anger very near boiling from her. Both Jessiah and Colin requested her to simply sit and listen, and it was all she could do to make herself sit once more. Jessiah had only asked for Emalia to listen, and even while Colin attempted to defuse the situation, Emalia felt compelled to let the brunt of her feelings be known. "If you've come to preach to me about what a Guardian is, I no longer care. I don't care what a Jihadian is. I don't care about a wide variety of things. All I care about is setting in motion the means to end this miserable, backstabbing, lying population that runs rampant in the realms. To reset balance and restore the natural order of things."
"I mean not to preach or upset you, Emalia... nor do I wish to comdemn you, or even judge your beliefs. It is not my place."
"If you are not here for those things, I'd appreciate knowing why you are here."
Again Jessiah began requesting of Emalia the reasons for her leaving the Guardians. Things, Emalia felt, were of no consequence. These things were mere trivialities in her mind, things that in the grand scheme of things, were only taking up her time. Time better spent traveling to the place that would bring about the end of these kinds of problems. Jessiah, it seemed, had other ideas upon just how simple the matter was. "It is normal to feel betrayed, when someone you respect and hold so dear turns their back on you."
"If you believe Sir Jayden is the only reason for my ire, you are sadly mistaken. Even the whole of the Crimson family is not the cause for this."
"But Emalia... have you ever given thought to the possibility that you might have done so first?"
If any worse words could ever have been spoken to Emalia, there could have been few to compare. The colors of the room flashed with a new vividness as Emalia stood on her feet. Were she a bull, she would have trampled Jessiah where he sat. "You come into my home and ask me to look at myself as the problem???"
Pain suddenly came upon Emalia's abdomen. She knew what this was, but she would hide it from Colin, and from her guest. In the turmoil of the past several days, Brin had been alright... but at this continued onslaught of stress, Brin's lifeforce also suffered. Emalia's very own body begged her to relent, and narrowly did she bother to obey.
The discussion continued with far less animosity and rage, Emalia the whole while disguising as best she could the pains within her. The longer she sat, the less it hurt. Eventually she sat with a tablet in her hands. Jessiah then said something that struck her beyond all else that he had said and she had either ignored of dismissed, "I only wish you to consider with yourself.. if it is fair to bestow a force of such great magnitude, upon innocent people, and dictate a fate upon them, in which they have no power."
Jessiah cast a spell upon Emalia, easing the pains within her and making it easier for her to relax, before he himself left. Her mind spun his words around. It was true, she was doing to everyone in the realms what she felt had been done to her. Deciding for all of them what was going to happen. She looked at the tablet for a long moment, exhaustion weighing heavily upon her now. She slid the tablet on the shelf, set to read it later, after a bit of rest, when another knock happened upon her door.
Indeed, it was he. She looked him over for a moment, noting just how young he appeared, before allowing him inside. Colin had come from the upstairs with his pack in hand, noting also the visitor. He set his pack onto the floor and the trio began with a bit of small talk. The happiness at having Colin involved with the Guardians, the lack of both Emalia and Colin in the halls as of late (easily explained, Emalia felt), and the checking up on the "health" of their relationship.
The discussion shifted and the already on guard Emalia found herself growing more frustrated by the moment. "If I may be so bold, was there any particular reason for your decision to leave? Because I would very much like to help, if I can, of course, the business of any family member, is consequently my own personal business as well..."
"Unless you're willing to tell everyone in Crimson that bringing down the RoK is a good idea and is not evil, just like the Apprentice is not evil, then you will have solved the problem. And, Sir Jessiah, as I am no longer crimson and even grandfa... Sir Jayden has turned his back upon me... I feel I am no longer of your family, or your concern."
The familiar hand of Colin rested upon Emalia's leg, a reminder for her to take a moment simply to breathe. She readily gave in, taking a long breath which only served to keep her ire from rising for a moment. "Just because you do not currently wear the insignia of the Crimson Guardians, does not mean that you are any less a member of the family," Jessiah said.
"I believe we differ on that point now."
"A Guardian, is more than a mere symbol. Do you believe that you have not the Guardian spirit, or the makings and will to be a Guardian?"
Emalia felt her anger welling once again. She kept her mouth closed and silent, tensing and relaxing her jaw muscles as she stared at the white-eyed man with little less than hot contempt.
"Colin... do you believe Emalia has the spirit of a Guardian, and a doer of good?" Jessiah's attention now on Colin, Emalia turned her eyes upon Colin as well. The audacity of Jessiah to undermine her choice by asking Colin what he thought, as though he could do anything in order to stop her. Emalia's eyes darkened, almost challenging Colin to dare answer.
"I know Emalia will go to any lengths to do that whish she feels is right."
"Ahh.. and THAT is the very essence of being a Guardian..."
"Well," Emalia cut in. "Jayden seems to disagree with you."
"No one person can ever know for sure what is right or wrong. Not even Sir Jayden," Jessiah answered. "I've known Sir Jayden for a long time, and though we do not always agree on everything, we maintain great respect for each other, and I greatly value his wisdom."
"Then you should make haste to exit just as he did," Emalia demanded. She rose from the couch, her anger very near boiling from her. Both Jessiah and Colin requested her to simply sit and listen, and it was all she could do to make herself sit once more. Jessiah had only asked for Emalia to listen, and even while Colin attempted to defuse the situation, Emalia felt compelled to let the brunt of her feelings be known. "If you've come to preach to me about what a Guardian is, I no longer care. I don't care what a Jihadian is. I don't care about a wide variety of things. All I care about is setting in motion the means to end this miserable, backstabbing, lying population that runs rampant in the realms. To reset balance and restore the natural order of things."
"I mean not to preach or upset you, Emalia... nor do I wish to comdemn you, or even judge your beliefs. It is not my place."
"If you are not here for those things, I'd appreciate knowing why you are here."
Again Jessiah began requesting of Emalia the reasons for her leaving the Guardians. Things, Emalia felt, were of no consequence. These things were mere trivialities in her mind, things that in the grand scheme of things, were only taking up her time. Time better spent traveling to the place that would bring about the end of these kinds of problems. Jessiah, it seemed, had other ideas upon just how simple the matter was. "It is normal to feel betrayed, when someone you respect and hold so dear turns their back on you."
"If you believe Sir Jayden is the only reason for my ire, you are sadly mistaken. Even the whole of the Crimson family is not the cause for this."
"But Emalia... have you ever given thought to the possibility that you might have done so first?"
If any worse words could ever have been spoken to Emalia, there could have been few to compare. The colors of the room flashed with a new vividness as Emalia stood on her feet. Were she a bull, she would have trampled Jessiah where he sat. "You come into my home and ask me to look at myself as the problem???"
Pain suddenly came upon Emalia's abdomen. She knew what this was, but she would hide it from Colin, and from her guest. In the turmoil of the past several days, Brin had been alright... but at this continued onslaught of stress, Brin's lifeforce also suffered. Emalia's very own body begged her to relent, and narrowly did she bother to obey.
The discussion continued with far less animosity and rage, Emalia the whole while disguising as best she could the pains within her. The longer she sat, the less it hurt. Eventually she sat with a tablet in her hands. Jessiah then said something that struck her beyond all else that he had said and she had either ignored of dismissed, "I only wish you to consider with yourself.. if it is fair to bestow a force of such great magnitude, upon innocent people, and dictate a fate upon them, in which they have no power."
Jessiah cast a spell upon Emalia, easing the pains within her and making it easier for her to relax, before he himself left. Her mind spun his words around. It was true, she was doing to everyone in the realms what she felt had been done to her. Deciding for all of them what was going to happen. She looked at the tablet for a long moment, exhaustion weighing heavily upon her now. She slid the tablet on the shelf, set to read it later, after a bit of rest, when another knock happened upon her door.
The Past (1-2)
The sensation of light broke Emalia's sleep, and her eyes fluttered open to the breaking of the dawn. Again, she would neglect sending a prayer to the Morning Lord, though such duties were far from her mind. She rolled over, nudging Colin awake. The idea of getting underway sent jolts of electricity through her, and she practically leapt from the bed. "You sure you don't want just a couple more hours to sleep?" Colin asked, returning to the sanctity of the quilts.
"I'm positive. As soon as I gather some clothes, I'm leaving. As are you, I assume. Once upon a time you didn't even sleep."
"I know, I almost forgot what I was missing."
Emalia paused in her packing. "You know... I've never stopped to ask you about that. Who were you before... well, before you died."
"Just me," Colin shrugged.
"You didn't have a name? Things you liked to do?"
"Well, I spent all my time in a quest for knowledge, power. In the end it wasn't a very happy existence."
"So how did it happen... you dying that is." Emalia moved to the bed, sitting near Colin as she looked over to him.
"It was so long ago, sometimes I feel like I can barely remember it," Colin answered with a sigh. "A dragon killed me."
"That must have been terrifying."
"Anyway, it was long ago, and I had nothing of what I have now." Colin looked at Emalia with a small smile. "With you I have everything I was missing."
Emalia smiled in return. To be everything that was missing was an honor. She still didn't know how it was that she could be such a thing to anyone, but she wouldn't admit to such an insecurity. The statement turned her thoughts toward her own family. She wouldn't be seeing them again after this, and while she cared for little now, the idea of at least saying goodbye to the Uncle she hadn't seen in ages crossed her mind. "I don't think you've ever met my Uncle Sandorin, have you?"Colin looked on with a blank expression. "You have only introduced me to your father. You were so eager to set off yesterday."
"You'll like him. He's a good man too, though we rarely saw him with his desires to conduct his studies. I suppose he just came into my thoughts... I wouldn't mind saying goodbye to him. I doubt with the way he was he's going to be around after the RoK falls." Emalia looked to Colin, noticing that he had completely turned away from her.
"You either," she added quietly.
"I don't know if this it the time to go about meeting family. Considering the context of this journey."
"Well, this is the only time we're going to have... We're... well... not coming back. And besides it wouldn't be that long."
"You think he will be alright with you going?"
"It doesn't matter. I doubt he would try to stop me."
It seemed odd to Emalia that Colin was attempting to turn her from seeing her family - moreover turning her from something she wanted. "I just think it's best to get things underway, not take the chance of things getting and harder or more complicated then they are already," Colin said. In a way he was right, but the nagging darkness began again. Emalia wasn't about to give up on her right to family - regardless of whether it was a member that she'd not seen since the time she'd just met Colin.
"I don't understand," Emalia said. "Who is to say he won't offer to help... My uncle has never done anything underhanded like those others in any case."
"Does he have the same beliefs as you?"
"No. But neither do you. I guess I just don't understand why you seem so against my talking to my uncle for the last time. I'm never going to see him again, Colin. Everyone else I've at least spoken to in the past, recent. Him... last I spoke to him was when we first met."
Emalia watched as Colin moved from the packing he had begun to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. He bowed his head, staring at his hands. "Emalia, you have never introduced me but I do know of Sandorin, from my previous life. I had no idea he was your uncle, though."
The clenching of Emalia's insides forced her to hunch in the tiniest bit to keep herself in order. "Then there should be no trouble at all."
"We had some differing views though," Colin sighed. "It's complicated and not really something that I would like to rehash."
"What happened with the two of you?"
"I'm not necessarily proud of the person I was. I was quite consumed with the aquisition of power. So was your uncle, to some extent. That is why he came to me, to study under me."
Emalia felt the tremors rising up inside of her. The darkness returned, gripping at her and taunting with the idea that she was about to hear something new. Something different. Something withheld from her. The idea that this was happening, coming from Colin... "Study... but... Uncle Sandorin is a Wizard... not... not a fighter..."
"You forget, I was not always like this. I was once very skilled in magic. Over time, his views changed though and he disagreed with some of the methods and avenues of my studies."
Emalia stared at her lap. For this to be true, something had to be terribly wrong. "What... methods and avenues did you travel? For Uncle Sandorin to refuse study... it..." 'would have to be truly terrible,' her thoughts concluded."I was much different then Emalia. I was consumed with gaining power and knowledge. I didn't shun the ways of death. I was so misguided. My life was so meaningless yet I didn't even know it."
Still, Emalia sat with her innards clenched as if frozen tightly in place. She spoke with her voice barely above a whisper. "Is that how you... came into this body? I... I mean... how... why?"
"That's the irony. It was my mastery of death that allowed me to continue on after my physical demise. And ultimately allowed me to be here."
"Then why can't you do what you used to be able to do?"
"I can't truly explain that. Somewhere in the transition from my previous life I lost my connection to the arcane. But in a way I don't mind. It helps me to focus more on the things that are truly important." Emalia took this moment to continue staring at her hands. Colin continued, "Your Uncle actually helped to make me who I am. Literally. He helped me to make my body."
Could anyone have seen the normally pale woman at that moment doing anything but laying down, they may have wondered how the dead were able to rise. Every ounce of color seemed to have left her, leaving her very light grey. Flashes of heat rose through her and vanished with the presence of the opposite chill that drove in after. She could think of nothing to say, her thoughts were choked in the bottleneck of news. Her Uncle Sandorin had never told her anything of his studies. She knew only that her mother felt they were dangerous. She didn't know who he studied under, she didn't know why, she didn't know how long... but apparently, the being her mother felt was dangerous was the very one sitting beside her in a body constructed by his pupil who happened to be her Uncle-
Emalia rose from the bed amidst Colin's apologies. No, she would think nothing on this. Colin was Colin and - yes - he was Colin. Nothing had changed. No, her world wasn't falling down... only the RoK would once she reached it. Nothing had changed. She walked from the room, carrying her bag with her in order to load their horses, leaving a somewhat subdued Colin to finish his packing.
"I'm positive. As soon as I gather some clothes, I'm leaving. As are you, I assume. Once upon a time you didn't even sleep."
"I know, I almost forgot what I was missing."
Emalia paused in her packing. "You know... I've never stopped to ask you about that. Who were you before... well, before you died."
"Just me," Colin shrugged.
"You didn't have a name? Things you liked to do?"
"Well, I spent all my time in a quest for knowledge, power. In the end it wasn't a very happy existence."
"So how did it happen... you dying that is." Emalia moved to the bed, sitting near Colin as she looked over to him.
"It was so long ago, sometimes I feel like I can barely remember it," Colin answered with a sigh. "A dragon killed me."
"That must have been terrifying."
"Anyway, it was long ago, and I had nothing of what I have now." Colin looked at Emalia with a small smile. "With you I have everything I was missing."
Emalia smiled in return. To be everything that was missing was an honor. She still didn't know how it was that she could be such a thing to anyone, but she wouldn't admit to such an insecurity. The statement turned her thoughts toward her own family. She wouldn't be seeing them again after this, and while she cared for little now, the idea of at least saying goodbye to the Uncle she hadn't seen in ages crossed her mind. "I don't think you've ever met my Uncle Sandorin, have you?"Colin looked on with a blank expression. "You have only introduced me to your father. You were so eager to set off yesterday."
"You'll like him. He's a good man too, though we rarely saw him with his desires to conduct his studies. I suppose he just came into my thoughts... I wouldn't mind saying goodbye to him. I doubt with the way he was he's going to be around after the RoK falls." Emalia looked to Colin, noticing that he had completely turned away from her.
"You either," she added quietly.
"I don't know if this it the time to go about meeting family. Considering the context of this journey."
"Well, this is the only time we're going to have... We're... well... not coming back. And besides it wouldn't be that long."
"You think he will be alright with you going?"
"It doesn't matter. I doubt he would try to stop me."
It seemed odd to Emalia that Colin was attempting to turn her from seeing her family - moreover turning her from something she wanted. "I just think it's best to get things underway, not take the chance of things getting and harder or more complicated then they are already," Colin said. In a way he was right, but the nagging darkness began again. Emalia wasn't about to give up on her right to family - regardless of whether it was a member that she'd not seen since the time she'd just met Colin.
"I don't understand," Emalia said. "Who is to say he won't offer to help... My uncle has never done anything underhanded like those others in any case."
"Does he have the same beliefs as you?"
"No. But neither do you. I guess I just don't understand why you seem so against my talking to my uncle for the last time. I'm never going to see him again, Colin. Everyone else I've at least spoken to in the past, recent. Him... last I spoke to him was when we first met."
Emalia watched as Colin moved from the packing he had begun to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. He bowed his head, staring at his hands. "Emalia, you have never introduced me but I do know of Sandorin, from my previous life. I had no idea he was your uncle, though."
The clenching of Emalia's insides forced her to hunch in the tiniest bit to keep herself in order. "Then there should be no trouble at all."
"We had some differing views though," Colin sighed. "It's complicated and not really something that I would like to rehash."
"What happened with the two of you?"
"I'm not necessarily proud of the person I was. I was quite consumed with the aquisition of power. So was your uncle, to some extent. That is why he came to me, to study under me."
Emalia felt the tremors rising up inside of her. The darkness returned, gripping at her and taunting with the idea that she was about to hear something new. Something different. Something withheld from her. The idea that this was happening, coming from Colin... "Study... but... Uncle Sandorin is a Wizard... not... not a fighter..."
"You forget, I was not always like this. I was once very skilled in magic. Over time, his views changed though and he disagreed with some of the methods and avenues of my studies."
Emalia stared at her lap. For this to be true, something had to be terribly wrong. "What... methods and avenues did you travel? For Uncle Sandorin to refuse study... it..." 'would have to be truly terrible,' her thoughts concluded."I was much different then Emalia. I was consumed with gaining power and knowledge. I didn't shun the ways of death. I was so misguided. My life was so meaningless yet I didn't even know it."
Still, Emalia sat with her innards clenched as if frozen tightly in place. She spoke with her voice barely above a whisper. "Is that how you... came into this body? I... I mean... how... why?"
"That's the irony. It was my mastery of death that allowed me to continue on after my physical demise. And ultimately allowed me to be here."
"Then why can't you do what you used to be able to do?"
"I can't truly explain that. Somewhere in the transition from my previous life I lost my connection to the arcane. But in a way I don't mind. It helps me to focus more on the things that are truly important." Emalia took this moment to continue staring at her hands. Colin continued, "Your Uncle actually helped to make me who I am. Literally. He helped me to make my body."
Could anyone have seen the normally pale woman at that moment doing anything but laying down, they may have wondered how the dead were able to rise. Every ounce of color seemed to have left her, leaving her very light grey. Flashes of heat rose through her and vanished with the presence of the opposite chill that drove in after. She could think of nothing to say, her thoughts were choked in the bottleneck of news. Her Uncle Sandorin had never told her anything of his studies. She knew only that her mother felt they were dangerous. She didn't know who he studied under, she didn't know why, she didn't know how long... but apparently, the being her mother felt was dangerous was the very one sitting beside her in a body constructed by his pupil who happened to be her Uncle-
Emalia rose from the bed amidst Colin's apologies. No, she would think nothing on this. Colin was Colin and - yes - he was Colin. Nothing had changed. No, her world wasn't falling down... only the RoK would once she reached it. Nothing had changed. She walked from the room, carrying her bag with her in order to load their horses, leaving a somewhat subdued Colin to finish his packing.
Well deserved Rest
Emalia laid there for several hours after Nephesh had gone. She had ceased thinking about the RoK, Nephesh, Crimson Guardians, even Colin. She merely lay there thinking of nothing - her mind seemed to have gone into a vacuous state. It was soothing to melt into the blackness of nothing while staring up at the whiteness of the ceiling - it simply offered her a way to be in a state of limbo - wanting for nothing.
"Hey there. How are you feeling?" The sound of Colin's voice brought her back to the present. The two discussed the fresh happenings with Nephesh, and his reason for leaving. Before she could get too worked up, Colin placed his hand on her leg. It felt that more and more, he touched her to bring her back from the brink of the mental blackness that anger sent her to.
"Did you get all the supplies?" she asked finally.
"Yes, I think I have everything we should need. Although if Nephesh isn't coming I have a bit extra, including a pony I guess we won't be needing."'A pony,' Emalia thought. She couldn't believe that Colin had stopped to think of Nephesh. It warmed her heart just a tiny bit. To know Colin was in such disagreement with the boy when they first met, and now he was thinking of him. "Well, I would say bring it just in case, but I suppose that means another mouth to feed."
"I can just return it tomorrow before we set off."
"Tomorrow," Emalia said, looking to Colin. "Oh no, Colin. We must leave now."
"Emalia, no. We need to have a good meal and a good night's sleep before we set off. Especially you."
She could do nothing in way of convincing Colin to leave. For the first time since they had been together, she listened. They talked about Colin's belief system, for, as Grobnak had informed her, his lack of faith was disturbing. Colin could very well miss the rebirth and be forced into a wall for an unknown period of time. Even as Emalia talked to him, she felt the urge to fight. Darkness tugged at the edges of her thoughts and only one thing laid them to rest. "If there's one thing that I DO believe in, Emalia, it's you. I will follow you anywhere."
How anyone could believe in her, when it felt as though the rest of the realms didn't trust her at all, sent her into tears. She was grateful as she laid back on the bed. As Colin walked out to make their dinner, she rolled to her side, drifting in and out of sleep. Only for a moment would she admit that she was truly exhausted.
"Hey there. How are you feeling?" The sound of Colin's voice brought her back to the present. The two discussed the fresh happenings with Nephesh, and his reason for leaving. Before she could get too worked up, Colin placed his hand on her leg. It felt that more and more, he touched her to bring her back from the brink of the mental blackness that anger sent her to.
"Did you get all the supplies?" she asked finally.
"Yes, I think I have everything we should need. Although if Nephesh isn't coming I have a bit extra, including a pony I guess we won't be needing."'A pony,' Emalia thought. She couldn't believe that Colin had stopped to think of Nephesh. It warmed her heart just a tiny bit. To know Colin was in such disagreement with the boy when they first met, and now he was thinking of him. "Well, I would say bring it just in case, but I suppose that means another mouth to feed."
"I can just return it tomorrow before we set off."
"Tomorrow," Emalia said, looking to Colin. "Oh no, Colin. We must leave now."
"Emalia, no. We need to have a good meal and a good night's sleep before we set off. Especially you."
She could do nothing in way of convincing Colin to leave. For the first time since they had been together, she listened. They talked about Colin's belief system, for, as Grobnak had informed her, his lack of faith was disturbing. Colin could very well miss the rebirth and be forced into a wall for an unknown period of time. Even as Emalia talked to him, she felt the urge to fight. Darkness tugged at the edges of her thoughts and only one thing laid them to rest. "If there's one thing that I DO believe in, Emalia, it's you. I will follow you anywhere."
How anyone could believe in her, when it felt as though the rest of the realms didn't trust her at all, sent her into tears. She was grateful as she laid back on the bed. As Colin walked out to make their dinner, she rolled to her side, drifting in and out of sleep. Only for a moment would she admit that she was truly exhausted.
...loco...
Emalia's bed was comfortable as she lay there, hands behind her head, staring at the door smugly. Nephesh had just walked out of it, looking as though it was permanent this time. 'I don't care,' she reminded herself. And partially, that was true. She had just found out that Nephesh was sent by Grobnak and it crisped her soul to a new shade of black. She had tired of not knowing what everyone else knew, and with her exhaustion from continually using her powers (with and without trying), as well as the effects of a child inside consistantly draining her - her nerves were on edge, and she was more a hellcat than a kitten.
'I don't care,' she reminded herself a second time. And again, it was partially true. She was heading north to bring down the RoK. If she was killing everyone anyway, what did she need from them? Friendship was out of the question, since they all wanted something from her anyway. Love seemed only true on Colin's part. Companionship? No, what difference would that make? 'None,' she thought. And again... it was partially true.
'I'll find my way up there, just me and Colin. We have the map, so we don't need anyone else. I don't need anyone else.' Emalia pushed her head back a bit more into the pillows, causing them to fluff around her arms. "You'll all get what you want!" she yelled at the top of her voice, before breaking out into a laugh. "And I hope it hurts! I hope it hurts when it gets you!" Her laughter rung out anew, a deep laughter laced with high pitched hitches befitting of someone completely insane. And again, that was partially true.
'I don't care,' she reminded herself a second time. And again, it was partially true. She was heading north to bring down the RoK. If she was killing everyone anyway, what did she need from them? Friendship was out of the question, since they all wanted something from her anyway. Love seemed only true on Colin's part. Companionship? No, what difference would that make? 'None,' she thought. And again... it was partially true.
'I'll find my way up there, just me and Colin. We have the map, so we don't need anyone else. I don't need anyone else.' Emalia pushed her head back a bit more into the pillows, causing them to fluff around her arms. "You'll all get what you want!" she yelled at the top of her voice, before breaking out into a laugh. "And I hope it hurts! I hope it hurts when it gets you!" Her laughter rung out anew, a deep laughter laced with high pitched hitches befitting of someone completely insane. And again, that was partially true.
In The Mind
Sanria walked away from Throm, leaving him at the gates of the land where he was beginning to build a new house. She cursed herself inwardly - she had lied to him and she detested telling lies, but what else could she do? She had found out from him that Emalia was pregnant, and if Emalia was pregnant, she had no doubt that Thasmudyan knew. She was beyond infuriated with both of them, but that really didn't matter. She just knew two things. One - Thasmudyan and Remus were still in the north, and Two - she wouldn't be able to bear bringing Throm with her to save them.
The beratings began as she marched back toward the airship tarmack. Breaking up with Throm to save her ex-husband... 'though,' she mused, 'there wasn't really a break-up when all we were was just... well, friends.' It seemed in any case, that Throm's life simply wasn't going to allow for her to be in it other than extraneously. 'Horse crap and you know it old woman,' she told herself. She shook her head to her voice inside. "No," she spoke aloud,"I will keep telling myself such a thing because it makes this all easier." The fact was that she was actually upset with Thasmudyan. If he would have just let her die in the snow, she'd not be in the situation of having to keep he and Throm seperate for nothing more than hiding her own feelings. "I'm too old for all this anyway."
Her mind went to Emalia and her pregnancy. A baby she would probably not see if the present was any indication. Who was the mystery man who had knocked up her daughter? She didn't even know. She was going to be a grandmother, and that, too, made her feel ancient.
She arrived at the tarmack and went up into one of the control towers. It took a bit of convincing, but finally the tower allowed her a moment to make contact with the Weave. "Skive - Come in, Skive?"
"Madame Sanria, I read."
"Good. Have you had any luck?"
"No m'am."
"I'm sorry, but I need you to come back for me."
"Madame?"
"Just... sub-ether back here to Torregiano and get me. We'll quickly refuel and get back north."
"Just you?"
"Yes, just me."
"What about the gentleman-"
"Skive, please. Hurry. I'll be at the fuel pump."
"Aye, captain."
Sanria exited the tower, shaking her head. Her stomach was in knots. After all the trouble of finding Throm, begging him to take her with him on his travels, she left him. 'You make absolutely no sense you stupid old fool,' she chastised inwardly. 'You throw away everything at the drop of a hat.' "Well he didn't object to my going, did he?" she muttered aloud. 'Foolish, foolish woman. Now, you're not only stupid, you're alone.' Only the explosive sound of teleportation engines drowned out any further inner dialogue. Her ship descended, and was docked for fueling. She avoided looking at Skive, feeling that to do so, would risk the entire realms knowing just how foolish she really could be. She simply stood with a hand on the hull of her ship, her face growing more red as she tried not to dwell on the fact that Throm did, indeed, know her... hiding in her house... she fooled no one and she knew it.
The beratings began as she marched back toward the airship tarmack. Breaking up with Throm to save her ex-husband... 'though,' she mused, 'there wasn't really a break-up when all we were was just... well, friends.' It seemed in any case, that Throm's life simply wasn't going to allow for her to be in it other than extraneously. 'Horse crap and you know it old woman,' she told herself. She shook her head to her voice inside. "No," she spoke aloud,"I will keep telling myself such a thing because it makes this all easier." The fact was that she was actually upset with Thasmudyan. If he would have just let her die in the snow, she'd not be in the situation of having to keep he and Throm seperate for nothing more than hiding her own feelings. "I'm too old for all this anyway."
Her mind went to Emalia and her pregnancy. A baby she would probably not see if the present was any indication. Who was the mystery man who had knocked up her daughter? She didn't even know. She was going to be a grandmother, and that, too, made her feel ancient.
She arrived at the tarmack and went up into one of the control towers. It took a bit of convincing, but finally the tower allowed her a moment to make contact with the Weave. "Skive - Come in, Skive?"
"Madame Sanria, I read."
"Good. Have you had any luck?"
"No m'am."
"I'm sorry, but I need you to come back for me."
"Madame?"
"Just... sub-ether back here to Torregiano and get me. We'll quickly refuel and get back north."
"Just you?"
"Yes, just me."
"What about the gentleman-"
"Skive, please. Hurry. I'll be at the fuel pump."
"Aye, captain."
Sanria exited the tower, shaking her head. Her stomach was in knots. After all the trouble of finding Throm, begging him to take her with him on his travels, she left him. 'You make absolutely no sense you stupid old fool,' she chastised inwardly. 'You throw away everything at the drop of a hat.' "Well he didn't object to my going, did he?" she muttered aloud. 'Foolish, foolish woman. Now, you're not only stupid, you're alone.' Only the explosive sound of teleportation engines drowned out any further inner dialogue. Her ship descended, and was docked for fueling. She avoided looking at Skive, feeling that to do so, would risk the entire realms knowing just how foolish she really could be. She simply stood with a hand on the hull of her ship, her face growing more red as she tried not to dwell on the fact that Throm did, indeed, know her... hiding in her house... she fooled no one and she knew it.
In The Snow
Sanria and Throm chatted between checking the door for any sign of guards. It appeared that no one had heard the deafening blast of the door hitting the ground, and it could have been that prisoners weren't often kept for long in the cells that no guards were - well - guarding.
Throm made mention of a secret exit, and with a bit of spell-weaving, Sanria found it. The went through the tunnel a considerable distance, the air within growing colder and colder as they moved, until at last, they were out in the open. Outside of the walls of the tower was still unsafe. Minotaur Guards waited with axes, and only through Throm's ability to conjure up a demon (which truly did scare Sanria - knowing he had almost unleashed it upon her), were they able to make a run for it.
The snow and wind chilled Sanria, but she kept up her pace behind Throm. He had to be slowing down for her, she wasn't exactly in the best of shape by any standard. At last, they slid down the cliff to the Bastion, and the empty spot where the Weave was parked. Dread enveloped Sanria. "No... no no no... where's the ship? They're gone, they're gone!" Panic threatened to overtake her and it took Throm's voice to pull her back from its dangerous grasp.
"It's ok, we'll find them."
"I'm willing to be they're off to find us."
"We'll find them," he reassured. "I will," he then corrected, "why don't you return to better climates. I can repair the teleport engine at least and that would get you back south."
"Do you think for a moment Throm uth Bannon, that after all that, I'm going to leave you up here again without knowing you are completely and one hundred percent safe?"
The two talked a bit more, with Sanria gradually growing irritated as she grew to understand what he was asking of her... to wait as he finished his quest. "I'm not asking you to stop," Sanria said. "I'm only requesting that you understand... that if you wish me to be by your side... then I should be by your side. I'll do anything for you..."
"And I for you...this is why I am going to recover the cells from the hands of the Old Foe and then I am yours one hundred and ten percent."
The couple then fell to arguing amidst the snow. Sanria could not understand why he would say such things. Had she not proven that she could manage (almost) going on journeys? She'd saved him! 'Somewhat,' she reminded herself. So it came as a shock when Throm suddenly followed her suggestion, "Come with me... But gods help the person or creature who lays an ill hand upon you. Because if you don't send them to the abyss I shall."
Elation overwhelmed her as she gripped Throm in her arms. For the first time, she felt part of something and someone's life - she knew in her heart, she'd go to the ends of the world for him, and with the air cleared between them, she called to Skive through telepathy. It was amazing that the gnome even heard her call, but the ship arrived and in a flash, she and Throm were in Torregiano. They'd sleep and in the morning... who knew.
Throm made mention of a secret exit, and with a bit of spell-weaving, Sanria found it. The went through the tunnel a considerable distance, the air within growing colder and colder as they moved, until at last, they were out in the open. Outside of the walls of the tower was still unsafe. Minotaur Guards waited with axes, and only through Throm's ability to conjure up a demon (which truly did scare Sanria - knowing he had almost unleashed it upon her), were they able to make a run for it.
The snow and wind chilled Sanria, but she kept up her pace behind Throm. He had to be slowing down for her, she wasn't exactly in the best of shape by any standard. At last, they slid down the cliff to the Bastion, and the empty spot where the Weave was parked. Dread enveloped Sanria. "No... no no no... where's the ship? They're gone, they're gone!" Panic threatened to overtake her and it took Throm's voice to pull her back from its dangerous grasp.
"It's ok, we'll find them."
"I'm willing to be they're off to find us."
"We'll find them," he reassured. "I will," he then corrected, "why don't you return to better climates. I can repair the teleport engine at least and that would get you back south."
"Do you think for a moment Throm uth Bannon, that after all that, I'm going to leave you up here again without knowing you are completely and one hundred percent safe?"
The two talked a bit more, with Sanria gradually growing irritated as she grew to understand what he was asking of her... to wait as he finished his quest. "I'm not asking you to stop," Sanria said. "I'm only requesting that you understand... that if you wish me to be by your side... then I should be by your side. I'll do anything for you..."
"And I for you...this is why I am going to recover the cells from the hands of the Old Foe and then I am yours one hundred and ten percent."
The couple then fell to arguing amidst the snow. Sanria could not understand why he would say such things. Had she not proven that she could manage (almost) going on journeys? She'd saved him! 'Somewhat,' she reminded herself. So it came as a shock when Throm suddenly followed her suggestion, "Come with me... But gods help the person or creature who lays an ill hand upon you. Because if you don't send them to the abyss I shall."
Elation overwhelmed her as she gripped Throm in her arms. For the first time, she felt part of something and someone's life - she knew in her heart, she'd go to the ends of the world for him, and with the air cleared between them, she called to Skive through telepathy. It was amazing that the gnome even heard her call, but the ship arrived and in a flash, she and Throm were in Torregiano. They'd sleep and in the morning... who knew.
In The Fix
Sanria had been slammed down onto the stones with such a force the wind was knocked from her. She swore a rib was broken as she lay there, writhing in pain. "What we do with her?" a deep baritone voice growled out.
"Breakfast?" answered another.
"Breakfast, yes," the baritone laughed.
"What the hell?" A red-caped man strode into the room, his cape billowing behind him.
For Sanria, the only thing definitive was the highly polished red boots that stepped into her field of vision. "Who the hell is this?"
"Trespasser," answered one of the minotaur guards.
"Well how the hell did she get in here? Weren't you doing your job?"
A deep grumble went through the guards and amazingly enough, they remained silent. The red boot then suddenly found contact with Sanria's side in the form of a swift kick.
"What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Oh please... don't... kick me again..." Sanria said gulping for air.
The red caped man knelt down near her, eyeing her carefully. He pulled the communication crystal from beneath her shoulder and tucked it into the pouch at his waist. He was a young man, his chin covered in stubble, his eyebrows thick and set over his eyes making him look permanently irritated. Blonde hair was to his jaw line and he let go of a snort.
"You have no idea all the things we could do to you. State your business here."
"I... came..."
"Faster!" the man snarled.
"I have... no business... I... miscalculated my spell..."
"Well, your miscalculations will find you fetching a fair price on the slave market." The man reached down, taking a fist full of Sanria's hair to lift her head from the stones.
"Yes. Lord Sephiroth always appreciates funding." He let Sanria's head fall to the stones as he stood. "Get her to the dungeon."
"What about breakfast? Let us eat her," stated the guards.
"Typical, always the stomachs. Take her to the cells and she'll be going out with the rest of the trash tomorrow."
It felt as though streams of white hot electricity were bouncing around inside of her body as the guards lifted her without a hint of gentility and drug her, literally, to the cell. They tossed her onto the hard bed that folded from the wall on chains and locked the door behind them. It was going to be a hard night.
Sanria woke without a clue as to the time. It was still dark and lit only by the torches that flickered in from the hallway. The cell was cold, cramped, dank and left Sanria feeling quite worried about her fate. 'Wonderful move,' she thought to herself. 'Couldn't have at least *checked* for the crystal?' She let out a sigh and then turned her focus to healing herself. She was no priest, but she had at least managed to calm the constant pain when the door crashed in. Before her was the last face she thought she'd ever see again. Throm had come... and he looked wild.
"Breakfast?" answered another.
"Breakfast, yes," the baritone laughed.
"What the hell?" A red-caped man strode into the room, his cape billowing behind him.
For Sanria, the only thing definitive was the highly polished red boots that stepped into her field of vision. "Who the hell is this?"
"Trespasser," answered one of the minotaur guards.
"Well how the hell did she get in here? Weren't you doing your job?"
A deep grumble went through the guards and amazingly enough, they remained silent. The red boot then suddenly found contact with Sanria's side in the form of a swift kick.
"What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Oh please... don't... kick me again..." Sanria said gulping for air.
The red caped man knelt down near her, eyeing her carefully. He pulled the communication crystal from beneath her shoulder and tucked it into the pouch at his waist. He was a young man, his chin covered in stubble, his eyebrows thick and set over his eyes making him look permanently irritated. Blonde hair was to his jaw line and he let go of a snort.
"You have no idea all the things we could do to you. State your business here."
"I... came..."
"Faster!" the man snarled.
"I have... no business... I... miscalculated my spell..."
"Well, your miscalculations will find you fetching a fair price on the slave market." The man reached down, taking a fist full of Sanria's hair to lift her head from the stones.
"Yes. Lord Sephiroth always appreciates funding." He let Sanria's head fall to the stones as he stood. "Get her to the dungeon."
"What about breakfast? Let us eat her," stated the guards.
"Typical, always the stomachs. Take her to the cells and she'll be going out with the rest of the trash tomorrow."
It felt as though streams of white hot electricity were bouncing around inside of her body as the guards lifted her without a hint of gentility and drug her, literally, to the cell. They tossed her onto the hard bed that folded from the wall on chains and locked the door behind them. It was going to be a hard night.
Sanria woke without a clue as to the time. It was still dark and lit only by the torches that flickered in from the hallway. The cell was cold, cramped, dank and left Sanria feeling quite worried about her fate. 'Wonderful move,' she thought to herself. 'Couldn't have at least *checked* for the crystal?' She let out a sigh and then turned her focus to healing herself. She was no priest, but she had at least managed to calm the constant pain when the door crashed in. Before her was the last face she thought she'd ever see again. Throm had come... and he looked wild.
Twist of Events
Weeks... no... just days in the guise of longer spans had passed. The whispers from within the Tower had all but kept Throm from sleep. Even his most elusive of concealment spells could not hide him from them. Half cursing himself for destroying the lab from which these voices spawned, he blundered through the strange maze, finding nothing in the way of escape. Voices had transfigured to visions, though Throm was sure by now that this was due to the lack of sleep in which he had been subjected. Over the course of the past few days he had been witness and participant to past battles recreated, past devastations wrought, and past sorrows relived.
"Enough...I have to find a way out..."
Speaking to himself, his voice sounded vacant as if belonging to another. He had stopped to take a brief moment's rest and regain a breath of sanity before thrusting himself back into the chaos of the Tower. Reinforcing his intestinal fortitude, and focusing his mind once again on the task of leaving the accursed place he now found himself, he slowly began walking once again down the corridor.
Throm loosed a small sigh of exasperation as once again, the sure signs of a dead end crept from the shadows ahead. His breath at once caught as his eyes revealed the wood paneling of a door in what he had thought for sure to be a lost cause. imping slightly to the front of the door, he extended his hand and breathed a short incantation causing the very door to burst open inward. Throm peered into the other side of the door cautiously, noting the bare walls and single simple bed might mean that this room served as a cell of sorts. However it wasn't the room that caught his attention, it was 'who' was in the room which made his very blood run cold. Sanria sat within the room, looking towards him with an equally surprised expression. Quickly looking away and further into the room, he gave himself confirmation that there was no way out through here.
"Dead end..."
Sanria stood, moving nearer to him. Throm's mind raced. The thought that there was someone using her image as another mind game to get him to crack caused him at once to see red as anger overtook him. He wasn't certain what he said next, only that it promised death to his antagonist. He felt the narcotic rush of the lifestream flowing through his body as his magic crackled to life. This would end here...no longer was he a rat within a maze, he would take control of this here and now. And then he felt her hands upon him...cool as though to fevered skin. At once the energy of the lifestream drained from him leaving him feeling empty and tired. His defenses crumbled one by one as he realized that he would not be able to do what the greater part of his mind told him he needed to do.
The two talked for a short while before finally agreeing that escape was their best laid plan, and hasty escape at that. Sanria's years within the woodlands proved useful as she discovered a secret exit within the very cell they had been sitting in. The last thing Throm remembered before the chill air of the outside hit his face confirming their freedom was that he couldn't have found himself in better company in such a strange twist of events.
"Enough...I have to find a way out..."
Speaking to himself, his voice sounded vacant as if belonging to another. He had stopped to take a brief moment's rest and regain a breath of sanity before thrusting himself back into the chaos of the Tower. Reinforcing his intestinal fortitude, and focusing his mind once again on the task of leaving the accursed place he now found himself, he slowly began walking once again down the corridor.
Throm loosed a small sigh of exasperation as once again, the sure signs of a dead end crept from the shadows ahead. His breath at once caught as his eyes revealed the wood paneling of a door in what he had thought for sure to be a lost cause. imping slightly to the front of the door, he extended his hand and breathed a short incantation causing the very door to burst open inward. Throm peered into the other side of the door cautiously, noting the bare walls and single simple bed might mean that this room served as a cell of sorts. However it wasn't the room that caught his attention, it was 'who' was in the room which made his very blood run cold. Sanria sat within the room, looking towards him with an equally surprised expression. Quickly looking away and further into the room, he gave himself confirmation that there was no way out through here.
"Dead end..."
Sanria stood, moving nearer to him. Throm's mind raced. The thought that there was someone using her image as another mind game to get him to crack caused him at once to see red as anger overtook him. He wasn't certain what he said next, only that it promised death to his antagonist. He felt the narcotic rush of the lifestream flowing through his body as his magic crackled to life. This would end here...no longer was he a rat within a maze, he would take control of this here and now. And then he felt her hands upon him...cool as though to fevered skin. At once the energy of the lifestream drained from him leaving him feeling empty and tired. His defenses crumbled one by one as he realized that he would not be able to do what the greater part of his mind told him he needed to do.
The two talked for a short while before finally agreeing that escape was their best laid plan, and hasty escape at that. Sanria's years within the woodlands proved useful as she discovered a secret exit within the very cell they had been sitting in. The last thing Throm remembered before the chill air of the outside hit his face confirming their freedom was that he couldn't have found himself in better company in such a strange twist of events.
Incomplete Resolutions
Hues of crimson billowed out into the crystal clear water. Eventually the tendrils dispersed to form a rosy pink solution within the basin. It was from this basin that Throm reached down hand cupped, and splashed his face with the cool liquid upon his face. Drying his face on his cloak, he once again returned to the task of washing the blood from his sword. Casting a glance back at the crumpled figure clad in a black cloak, he noted that this battle was far easier than the last he had experienced with the Old Foe. This one was far weaker...curious he would be left to stand guard on the cells taken from uth Bannon Manor. Finishing his task, he shook the water from his blade, replacing it within it's holster. Throm had made a myriad of mental notes about the lab in which he now stood, though most of what he saw he wouldn't have felt sorry to have stricken from his memory completely. The refined Lifestream of black nature had indeed raised his curiosity, though he was not here to study the Old Foe's experiments.
Walking slowly to the long table sitting central of the room, he snatched a large canister filled with a strange liquid from it's top. Concealing the canister within his cloak Throm extended his arm, palm up. Muttering a series of incantations, bright flames burst from his palms, enveloping the table in a raging inferno. Turning, he walked from the lab musing on while it had not been easy to retrieve the cells, it had been far easier than he had anticipated. Now...he had only to find the rest of them. Throm could still smell the burning of the lab stinging his nostrils when the voices began to ring through his head.
Walking slowly to the long table sitting central of the room, he snatched a large canister filled with a strange liquid from it's top. Concealing the canister within his cloak Throm extended his arm, palm up. Muttering a series of incantations, bright flames burst from his palms, enveloping the table in a raging inferno. Turning, he walked from the lab musing on while it had not been easy to retrieve the cells, it had been far easier than he had anticipated. Now...he had only to find the rest of them. Throm could still smell the burning of the lab stinging his nostrils when the voices began to ring through his head.
Shadow Among the Shadows
Hellstrom watched and listened from the shadows as Emalia gathered her champions for the trip into the mountains to find the temple. Hellstrom knew her intentions, but it no longer mattered. Hellstrom had been following ensuring Emalia's safety from a distance for the past weeks, and he knew more than he cared to. The only thing left was to ensure that Emalia made it to her destination safely. He briefly considered revealing himself to the group when they mentioned his name, but thought better of it. He knew how much turmoil his presence would bring with her pregnancy. Hellstrom sat back into the shadows some more and watched, waiting for them to depart.
Emptiness
Emalia pulled herself together enough to rise from her bed. Though it felt like hours, it had in truth been only minutes since Jayden's departure, and she rose, wiping at her eyes. Her jaw immediately set as she stormed down the stairs, grabbed her pack, and headed out of her door.
As she passed the Jihad Compound gates, the guards this time did not look at her curiously. In fact, it appeared that storming through the gates must have made her look more official, or perhaps, just less lost. She went straight to Nephesh's room, her fists curled and teeth grinding as she moved. "We need to go... now."
There was barely time to spare in Emalia's mind. She would get Westbridge behind her promptly and get things done and the temple found. She walked quickly, never looking back to be certain of Nephesh's following her, and within minutes, they were at the bridge.
Colin was sitting beside the water when Emalia and Nephesh arrived. If her face were to have worn a color, it would have been black, she appeared so determined. "We need to go."
"What's wrong?"
"We just need to go."
"Well, alright... where are we going?"
"North. We're going to find that damnable temple and prove G... Jayden wrong.He thinks he knows me... thinks I'm evil... well.."
Colin's hand rested on Emalia's arm, and she could barely keep herself from bursting into a renewed gale of tears. She scrunched her face and set her jaw even more. "Hey... Hey, what's going on?" Colin's voice asked.
Emalia glanced over at Nephesh's note, asking why Jayden would think her evil, before shaking her head, and answering them both with, "We go now, and he believes I'm evil because I choose to listen to Grobnak and follow the Apprentice."
It seemed to pass well enough. The less she had to explain to either of them, the better grasp she would have on her broken heartedness. 'Where is the woodsman?' Nephesh asked. Hellstrom. Emalia growled inwardly.
"I don't know. Chances are, he isn't going to want to come anyhow."
Colin examined the map Emalia had handed him earlier and looked up. "Well, it looks a good distance away. It would be good not to rush off. We can take some time to properly prepare this time."
She knew he was right. Both of them were, as Nephesh joined in the protest of taking flight. Her face was deep crimson, her fists were clenched. She was worn but she wouldn't dare show it... until Colin put his hands on her shoulders. At the touch of warm hands, her misshapen wall around her soul dropped to the ground and she sobbed.
The party had agreed to set of tomorrow, to at the very least allow for supplies, when the energy of magic brought Emalia to attention. She looked about, "Who is that?" and stood. A man walked from the shadows beneath the trees: silver hair and a trench coat with no sleeves. This was a stranger, and Emalia was suddenly on guard.
"Looks like I found you at last," he spoke.
"You know this man?" Colin asked Nephesh.
"He is one of the faithful," Nephesh wrote, "And a former Guardian."
"It seems like an introduction is not needed, then," the man said.
"Why are you here?" Emalia asked. Deep within, her mistrust set her to using her lifeforce. It began to slip from her and into the air in the form of calm, and having been so drained only a couple days before, then becoming again emotionally drained after he meeting with Jayden, this new development was one she could not handle. Her power was weak and the more worried and irritated and distrustful she became, the more of it leaked out and away from her.
"I was sent here by the Apostle of Ragnarok, Grobnak himself, he seemed to think you would be in need of my assistance."
This broke what little remained of Emalia's trust. This sealed her determination. She was no longer going on this journey for the Jihad - she vowed inside that right then, that tie was broken. She was no longer going to refrain from going because of the Guardians - she vowed after Jayden left her door that she was no longer of them. The only reason she would keep this journey was to bring down the RoK and bring back The Apprentice. Only two things did she now believe in. Colin, and The Apprentice. She would do it for them, and then - the rest of the populace.
Tension rose as the party discussed whether to bring the new member. Emalia had no trust, her guard was up as much as it could be, and she was weakening much faster than times before. Higher and higher spiraled her alert until her body could not take it. Her legs first gave out and she gripped Colin's arm for the second inevitability... Emalia passed out cold.
As she passed the Jihad Compound gates, the guards this time did not look at her curiously. In fact, it appeared that storming through the gates must have made her look more official, or perhaps, just less lost. She went straight to Nephesh's room, her fists curled and teeth grinding as she moved. "We need to go... now."
There was barely time to spare in Emalia's mind. She would get Westbridge behind her promptly and get things done and the temple found. She walked quickly, never looking back to be certain of Nephesh's following her, and within minutes, they were at the bridge.
Colin was sitting beside the water when Emalia and Nephesh arrived. If her face were to have worn a color, it would have been black, she appeared so determined. "We need to go."
"What's wrong?"
"We just need to go."
"Well, alright... where are we going?"
"North. We're going to find that damnable temple and prove G... Jayden wrong.He thinks he knows me... thinks I'm evil... well.."
Colin's hand rested on Emalia's arm, and she could barely keep herself from bursting into a renewed gale of tears. She scrunched her face and set her jaw even more. "Hey... Hey, what's going on?" Colin's voice asked.
Emalia glanced over at Nephesh's note, asking why Jayden would think her evil, before shaking her head, and answering them both with, "We go now, and he believes I'm evil because I choose to listen to Grobnak and follow the Apprentice."
It seemed to pass well enough. The less she had to explain to either of them, the better grasp she would have on her broken heartedness. 'Where is the woodsman?' Nephesh asked. Hellstrom. Emalia growled inwardly.
"I don't know. Chances are, he isn't going to want to come anyhow."
Colin examined the map Emalia had handed him earlier and looked up. "Well, it looks a good distance away. It would be good not to rush off. We can take some time to properly prepare this time."
She knew he was right. Both of them were, as Nephesh joined in the protest of taking flight. Her face was deep crimson, her fists were clenched. She was worn but she wouldn't dare show it... until Colin put his hands on her shoulders. At the touch of warm hands, her misshapen wall around her soul dropped to the ground and she sobbed.
The party had agreed to set of tomorrow, to at the very least allow for supplies, when the energy of magic brought Emalia to attention. She looked about, "Who is that?" and stood. A man walked from the shadows beneath the trees: silver hair and a trench coat with no sleeves. This was a stranger, and Emalia was suddenly on guard.
"Looks like I found you at last," he spoke.
"You know this man?" Colin asked Nephesh.
"He is one of the faithful," Nephesh wrote, "And a former Guardian."
"It seems like an introduction is not needed, then," the man said.
"Why are you here?" Emalia asked. Deep within, her mistrust set her to using her lifeforce. It began to slip from her and into the air in the form of calm, and having been so drained only a couple days before, then becoming again emotionally drained after he meeting with Jayden, this new development was one she could not handle. Her power was weak and the more worried and irritated and distrustful she became, the more of it leaked out and away from her.
"I was sent here by the Apostle of Ragnarok, Grobnak himself, he seemed to think you would be in need of my assistance."
This broke what little remained of Emalia's trust. This sealed her determination. She was no longer going on this journey for the Jihad - she vowed inside that right then, that tie was broken. She was no longer going to refrain from going because of the Guardians - she vowed after Jayden left her door that she was no longer of them. The only reason she would keep this journey was to bring down the RoK and bring back The Apprentice. Only two things did she now believe in. Colin, and The Apprentice. She would do it for them, and then - the rest of the populace.
Tension rose as the party discussed whether to bring the new member. Emalia had no trust, her guard was up as much as it could be, and she was weakening much faster than times before. Higher and higher spiraled her alert until her body could not take it. Her legs first gave out and she gripped Colin's arm for the second inevitability... Emalia passed out cold.
Wrong Turn at Family
Emalia now laid in her familiar bedroom, pouring her soul in the form of tears and screams into the depths of her pillow. She had left Colin dozing on the banks of the stream, promising him she would return in short order, and went to the Guardian Clan Hall to seek out Jayden. Her "grandfather" sat by the healing waters, reading, and appeared more than a little concerned when she requested to speak with him privately.
The arrived through a portal into her living room and she bade him to make himself comfortable. The discussion started well. Emalia was nearly delighted to hear that Jayden seemed not to know where the Temple was. "It turns out... that it is the place where it will be determined whether the RoK falls."
"What was your perception of the Temple?" Jayden asked.
"Just a place... nothing more."
"And this is what troubles you now?"
Emalia shook her head. "If I go, I will have lead everyone to it... If I go, everyone will know where it is... and the only step left then, is to find the sword to bring down the Rok, or destroy it... Grandfather... I would start a war."
"Then why would you wish to pursue this?"
"Because I am torn."
"Torn to what child?" Jayden asked.
"On one hand, I believe that bringing down the RoK is the answer... I... think anyway. And Grobnak tells me it is my destiny."
"This Grobnak person... He troubles me, by telling you such false things.."
Slowly the grip of distrust wrapped it's fingers around Emalia's heart. As Jayden spoke, it clenched its vice tighter. "I am a follower of all that is good and kind...And you are walking down the wrong path child..."
"I don't understand... how... How is it wrong?"
"I try to see past this...but it gets hard with every passing sun.. You are following the dark, when you MUST follow the light. Child... You must not let this happen"
"But... Grandfather, The Apprentice must be brought back... it will stop the RoK for eternity!" Emalia said with exasperation.
"That is a lie! The Apprentice is a joke child..."
Emalia's soul was crushed. She shook her head slowly, "No. He is real and if we don't stop the RoK it will happen again and again..."
"Child I warn you... Follow not in this path, it will lead to you demise, and countless lives will be taken."
Emalia listened as Jayden told more of his tale, but already, her mind was being clouded by the resistance. She believed this with her heart, and to hear Jayden - the one she called Grandfather, the one who had vouched for her so many times - demeaning her beliefs closed her even further. " I don't understand how stopping the RoK for eternity could possibly be evil..."
"Because everything about this tale, everything that has happened points to this evil... This person you think will restore balance will not!"
"He is a God... how could he not restore balance?"
"A God? How dare you speak of Gods as such lowly life forms such as this thing that should restore balance. You are lost child... Find your way...I suggest this...or you will find yourself in a dark corner praying for death..."
Jayden moved to leave and Emalia stood, a sob escaping her. How could this be the result. She looked to Jayden's back in disbelief. "I can't help the unwilling..." he said.
"Unwilling!?" Emalia nearly shouted. The swiftness that Jayden used to turn around shocked Emalia. "You raise your voice at me!?"
"Yes! Because you are wrong!" Emalia shouted over Jayden's shocked gasp. “You're wrong about me. You're wrong... wrong!"
"Goodday child..."
"Mark my words! I'll save the world! AND YOU'LL THANK ME!"
The snap of Jayden's cane accompanied his exit from her home, and Emalia fled up her stairs. So she ended up upon the pillows, sobbing deeply. Though now, her mind was made up. She'd show Jayden that she knew what to do. She would find the temple, and she'd help end the repetitive nature of the RoK. She'd restore balance, like The Apprentice intended from the start. The world depended upon her now... she wouldn't let it down.
The arrived through a portal into her living room and she bade him to make himself comfortable. The discussion started well. Emalia was nearly delighted to hear that Jayden seemed not to know where the Temple was. "It turns out... that it is the place where it will be determined whether the RoK falls."
"What was your perception of the Temple?" Jayden asked.
"Just a place... nothing more."
"And this is what troubles you now?"
Emalia shook her head. "If I go, I will have lead everyone to it... If I go, everyone will know where it is... and the only step left then, is to find the sword to bring down the Rok, or destroy it... Grandfather... I would start a war."
"Then why would you wish to pursue this?"
"Because I am torn."
"Torn to what child?" Jayden asked.
"On one hand, I believe that bringing down the RoK is the answer... I... think anyway. And Grobnak tells me it is my destiny."
"This Grobnak person... He troubles me, by telling you such false things.."
Slowly the grip of distrust wrapped it's fingers around Emalia's heart. As Jayden spoke, it clenched its vice tighter. "I am a follower of all that is good and kind...And you are walking down the wrong path child..."
"I don't understand... how... How is it wrong?"
"I try to see past this...but it gets hard with every passing sun.. You are following the dark, when you MUST follow the light. Child... You must not let this happen"
"But... Grandfather, The Apprentice must be brought back... it will stop the RoK for eternity!" Emalia said with exasperation.
"That is a lie! The Apprentice is a joke child..."
Emalia's soul was crushed. She shook her head slowly, "No. He is real and if we don't stop the RoK it will happen again and again..."
"Child I warn you... Follow not in this path, it will lead to you demise, and countless lives will be taken."
Emalia listened as Jayden told more of his tale, but already, her mind was being clouded by the resistance. She believed this with her heart, and to hear Jayden - the one she called Grandfather, the one who had vouched for her so many times - demeaning her beliefs closed her even further. " I don't understand how stopping the RoK for eternity could possibly be evil..."
"Because everything about this tale, everything that has happened points to this evil... This person you think will restore balance will not!"
"He is a God... how could he not restore balance?"
"A God? How dare you speak of Gods as such lowly life forms such as this thing that should restore balance. You are lost child... Find your way...I suggest this...or you will find yourself in a dark corner praying for death..."
Jayden moved to leave and Emalia stood, a sob escaping her. How could this be the result. She looked to Jayden's back in disbelief. "I can't help the unwilling..." he said.
"Unwilling!?" Emalia nearly shouted. The swiftness that Jayden used to turn around shocked Emalia. "You raise your voice at me!?"
"Yes! Because you are wrong!" Emalia shouted over Jayden's shocked gasp. “You're wrong about me. You're wrong... wrong!"
"Goodday child..."
"Mark my words! I'll save the world! AND YOU'LL THANK ME!"
The snap of Jayden's cane accompanied his exit from her home, and Emalia fled up her stairs. So she ended up upon the pillows, sobbing deeply. Though now, her mind was made up. She'd show Jayden that she knew what to do. She would find the temple, and she'd help end the repetitive nature of the RoK. She'd restore balance, like The Apprentice intended from the start. The world depended upon her now... she wouldn't let it down.
Dawn Breaking and Awakenings
The sun has a way, when it sets, of making things that are bearable into monsters. When it rises, monsters fade under the glisten of dew drops and warm rays. Thus woke Emalia on the dew covered cliff, overlooking the Elven Valley. The beauty of the sunrise caught her for a moment, and she watched the slender fingers of light curl ever so slowly over the tops of the eastern mountain forests. Time stood still for a moment and allowed her the ability to breathe easily as if nothing in the realms mattered. In that moment, she realized just how badly things had gone in the day prior. She pulled from the moment to wipe the collected dew from her face with her moist sleeve, and stood up to gaze upon the majesty of the morning.
It was a precarious walk back down the mountainside. Far to the south was Westbridge - this sight she had seen before. She was not ready to return there yet. After the passage of a couple of hours, she reached the base of the mountains and set off through the plains, toward a path lined with trees that looked ancient. She reached them, strolling slowly until she came to a wooden bridge. Here, the water gurgled and trickled close enough to dip a pair of feet in, and so Emalia did.The water chilled her for a moment, but as she grew accustomed to the freezing water about her feet, her eyes settled on the glimmering surface and her mind began to wander. There was no telling just how long she had stared, but when she heard a pair of footsteps, she immediately looked up. The reflected sunlight had blinded her for a moment, but the large frame belonging to Colin was unmistakable. There was no time, though she tried to get up and put her boots back on in order to leave, she heard his voice call to her, "Emalia. What are you doing here?"
In the moment atop the mountain, when time obligingly stood still for her, Emalia had realized more than a few things. One of these things was her decision to reach out to Jayden when she returned to Westbridge. The other, was that she actually - somewhere in herself - missed Colin. It was more than simply missing however. When she mulled over the minutes of their argument, she realized that as she chastised him and berated him, she was hurting inside. When he wasn't there, for the first time not there, she noticed an emptiness that went beyond simply missing a friend. After all her arguments to the contrary, it took the short absence to make her heart... "Nothing at all."
"Don't worry. I can leave."
Emalia sat calmly, her eyes locked again with the stream as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I know I was cruel to you the other day... and I'm sorry." The tension broke within the air, and Colin knelt beside her.
"I don't understand what I did."
"I guess it is to do with how we ended up together, partially... and that Brin is on her way... and when put with everything else... I just don't know."
"I'm sorry this happened," Colin said, gesturing to her stomach.
"You were no more at fault than I. I could have told you no. I know that much."
Longer they sat and Emalia poured her thoughts out to Colin. Gradually working herself around to telling him the discovery she had made in the still moment of the morning. As though through magic, Colin had forgiven her... and more importantly, she had begun to forgive herself. They sat over a brunch of apples, blackberries, and partially stale bread discussing Nephesh, then Brin, then themselves. Having made up in more than a few ways, they watched the clouds from beneath the trembling tree leaves.
Emalia took in a breath, and again, time seemed to slow down for her. She would seek Jayden for the other side of the story. She would find out what he thought, and weigh them together. If the stars lined up, then perhaps - just perhaps - she would be on her way north. For now, however, just the knowledge that Colin was beside her again, after how much she believed she didn't want it, put her in a calming rest. Her only residual thought as she lay there making out shapes in the sky was to wonder what had happened to him to give him the odd twitch in his neck.
It was a precarious walk back down the mountainside. Far to the south was Westbridge - this sight she had seen before. She was not ready to return there yet. After the passage of a couple of hours, she reached the base of the mountains and set off through the plains, toward a path lined with trees that looked ancient. She reached them, strolling slowly until she came to a wooden bridge. Here, the water gurgled and trickled close enough to dip a pair of feet in, and so Emalia did.The water chilled her for a moment, but as she grew accustomed to the freezing water about her feet, her eyes settled on the glimmering surface and her mind began to wander. There was no telling just how long she had stared, but when she heard a pair of footsteps, she immediately looked up. The reflected sunlight had blinded her for a moment, but the large frame belonging to Colin was unmistakable. There was no time, though she tried to get up and put her boots back on in order to leave, she heard his voice call to her, "Emalia. What are you doing here?"
In the moment atop the mountain, when time obligingly stood still for her, Emalia had realized more than a few things. One of these things was her decision to reach out to Jayden when she returned to Westbridge. The other, was that she actually - somewhere in herself - missed Colin. It was more than simply missing however. When she mulled over the minutes of their argument, she realized that as she chastised him and berated him, she was hurting inside. When he wasn't there, for the first time not there, she noticed an emptiness that went beyond simply missing a friend. After all her arguments to the contrary, it took the short absence to make her heart... "Nothing at all."
"Don't worry. I can leave."
Emalia sat calmly, her eyes locked again with the stream as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I know I was cruel to you the other day... and I'm sorry." The tension broke within the air, and Colin knelt beside her.
"I don't understand what I did."
"I guess it is to do with how we ended up together, partially... and that Brin is on her way... and when put with everything else... I just don't know."
"I'm sorry this happened," Colin said, gesturing to her stomach.
"You were no more at fault than I. I could have told you no. I know that much."
Longer they sat and Emalia poured her thoughts out to Colin. Gradually working herself around to telling him the discovery she had made in the still moment of the morning. As though through magic, Colin had forgiven her... and more importantly, she had begun to forgive herself. They sat over a brunch of apples, blackberries, and partially stale bread discussing Nephesh, then Brin, then themselves. Having made up in more than a few ways, they watched the clouds from beneath the trembling tree leaves.
Emalia took in a breath, and again, time seemed to slow down for her. She would seek Jayden for the other side of the story. She would find out what he thought, and weigh them together. If the stars lined up, then perhaps - just perhaps - she would be on her way north. For now, however, just the knowledge that Colin was beside her again, after how much she believed she didn't want it, put her in a calming rest. Her only residual thought as she lay there making out shapes in the sky was to wonder what had happened to him to give him the odd twitch in his neck.
Fault lines
"You stupid fool. What did you really expect to happen? You knew she didn't love you. How long did you think it would be before she couldn't stand the charade anymore?" Colin's thoughts berated him mercilessly as he sat staring at the engagement ring laying on his smooth palm. It was a beautiful work, the platinum band etched to show small vines of ivy, twisting along the circumference. It mirrored the twisting of his own thoughts, yet his thoughts were not nearly so beautiful.
But how could she have been so cruel? The darkness in her eyes and the things she had said. After all the times he had been there for her.. "No! Been there for you!", his mind countered, "You weren't there for her, you were there because YOU wanted to be. You wanted to get some of that hot little body of hers so just like some kind of addict you did whatever you had to do to get it."
Wait, no! That's not why he had spent all this time with Emalia. Of course he did think she was beautiful, and the moments of closeness they had shared were amazing, but he loved her, he truly did, and only wanted the best for her. "Ha ha ha, the best that YOU can give her. Face it, it's been all about you all along. She told you so herself."
Colin squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists trying to shut out the voice in his head. "NO! STOP IT!", Colin shouted, his voice echoing loudly off of the walls of the cave. For now his thoughts seemed to comply and the nagging voice fell silent. Colin looked about him. Why was he in this cave anyway? Sure he had wanted to be alone, and he knew he was sure to be alone here, but this was not a good place to be. He didn't know where he was going to go but it needed to be away from here.
Colin stood up from the riveted steel box upon which he had been sitting and shoved the ring into his pocket. He quickly made his way out into the daylight.
But how could she have been so cruel? The darkness in her eyes and the things she had said. After all the times he had been there for her.. "No! Been there for you!", his mind countered, "You weren't there for her, you were there because YOU wanted to be. You wanted to get some of that hot little body of hers so just like some kind of addict you did whatever you had to do to get it."
Wait, no! That's not why he had spent all this time with Emalia. Of course he did think she was beautiful, and the moments of closeness they had shared were amazing, but he loved her, he truly did, and only wanted the best for her. "Ha ha ha, the best that YOU can give her. Face it, it's been all about you all along. She told you so herself."
Colin squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists trying to shut out the voice in his head. "NO! STOP IT!", Colin shouted, his voice echoing loudly off of the walls of the cave. For now his thoughts seemed to comply and the nagging voice fell silent. Colin looked about him. Why was he in this cave anyway? Sure he had wanted to be alone, and he knew he was sure to be alone here, but this was not a good place to be. He didn't know where he was going to go but it needed to be away from here.
Colin stood up from the riveted steel box upon which he had been sitting and shoved the ring into his pocket. He quickly made his way out into the daylight.
Emalia sat on the edge of the cliff at the overlook, her eyes riveted on the dead air before her. Only briefly did she think of Hellstrom as she sat down. Her thoughts were mainly on the course of events that had now taken place, and whether or not she had given fate and destiny a chuckle.
She had gone home and told Colin everything and as always, he was there for her, comforting her. She fell asleep in his arms, feeling a bit better and woke the next morning - this morning - dragging Colin to the Jihad compound for a visit with Nephesh. Grobnak be damned, she was going to see the boy now that he was again awake.
The guards should have been her first indication of things to come. The questioning, wary eyes that locked on her as if wondering what she was doing there. After a bit of wandering, they had located Nephesh and all was joy... for a moment. The halfling had been under the impression that the journey had proceeded without him, which triggered Emalia's painful thoughts, which led to her finding out that even Nephesh knew what the Temple was for.
Emalia's mind - snapped. She wanted nothing to do with anyone. In her mind, they were all frauds. The innocents were not at all innocent. She had been duped. She squatted on the ground and let come from her the most soul rending sobs she could muster. Then... then... it happened. The calm.
Like the inside congealing outside, her very lifeforce seeped from her to form a cocoon. It hardened about her - keeping everyone out. From within, she could hear nothing but constant static. There was nothing to see, for the part of her sending for the shield was pure emotion. Only when she realized she was doing it, did she look up and break her focus slightly, right as the boy used his magic to enter her shield.
No sooner had she dropped her force and Nephesh's spell of rejuvenation landed, than the rage within her finally gripped her. She loathed her weaknesses - how could she protect herself if the boy could intrude upon what took her mortal soul to create? If he could get through, anyone with some sort of ability could. Curses upon the journey - for if she couldn't seal herself trying her hardest - she and her child would never be safe. How could she trust anyone to be what they claimed? Her mind snapped shut like a vice - people deserved to die by the RoK, they were vermin.
Her words poured out and seemed to solidify into daggers. She cut into Nephesh with her dark stare, then straight into the heart of Colin when she sent him off with the engagement ring she had thrown at him.
She cast a spell to leave, only to return moments later for her pack. There she saw the effects of her wrath in the form of a sobbing child. Her heart softened a bit, enough to offer an apology. Regardless, if anything else, Nephesh was still a boy.
And so she ended up here - leaving Nephesh to his rest. She wouldn't go home... should Colin be there (which she doubted, but she didn't want to face him). She wouldn't go to the Guardians (no matter that they had no idea of her dilemma and, indeed, may have been the help she truly needed), she wouldn't stay at the compound (she had definitely had enough of finding out just how many others knew about the Temple). Lastly, she wouldn't be going to the Temple, for without being able to protect herself, fate and destiny could shove it. No, she would sleep in the woods tonight, away from people... and everything else.
Still not yet night, she laid upon the grass and put a hand on what would be Brin within her flat belly. She thought of the childs' father and her soul sunk... she had been so cruel. Then she thought of the power she had commanded for the first time. Of all the times she had tried - only once was she sufficiently enraged did it work... what could that mean? She drifted off - the effects of the rejuvenation spell wearing down, her spirit completely drained beyond the spell. Her last thought before her deep, dreamless slumber was hoping that Nephesh would forgive her missing the morning prayers.
She had gone home and told Colin everything and as always, he was there for her, comforting her. She fell asleep in his arms, feeling a bit better and woke the next morning - this morning - dragging Colin to the Jihad compound for a visit with Nephesh. Grobnak be damned, she was going to see the boy now that he was again awake.
The guards should have been her first indication of things to come. The questioning, wary eyes that locked on her as if wondering what she was doing there. After a bit of wandering, they had located Nephesh and all was joy... for a moment. The halfling had been under the impression that the journey had proceeded without him, which triggered Emalia's painful thoughts, which led to her finding out that even Nephesh knew what the Temple was for.
Emalia's mind - snapped. She wanted nothing to do with anyone. In her mind, they were all frauds. The innocents were not at all innocent. She had been duped. She squatted on the ground and let come from her the most soul rending sobs she could muster. Then... then... it happened. The calm.
Like the inside congealing outside, her very lifeforce seeped from her to form a cocoon. It hardened about her - keeping everyone out. From within, she could hear nothing but constant static. There was nothing to see, for the part of her sending for the shield was pure emotion. Only when she realized she was doing it, did she look up and break her focus slightly, right as the boy used his magic to enter her shield.
No sooner had she dropped her force and Nephesh's spell of rejuvenation landed, than the rage within her finally gripped her. She loathed her weaknesses - how could she protect herself if the boy could intrude upon what took her mortal soul to create? If he could get through, anyone with some sort of ability could. Curses upon the journey - for if she couldn't seal herself trying her hardest - she and her child would never be safe. How could she trust anyone to be what they claimed? Her mind snapped shut like a vice - people deserved to die by the RoK, they were vermin.
Her words poured out and seemed to solidify into daggers. She cut into Nephesh with her dark stare, then straight into the heart of Colin when she sent him off with the engagement ring she had thrown at him.
She cast a spell to leave, only to return moments later for her pack. There she saw the effects of her wrath in the form of a sobbing child. Her heart softened a bit, enough to offer an apology. Regardless, if anything else, Nephesh was still a boy.
And so she ended up here - leaving Nephesh to his rest. She wouldn't go home... should Colin be there (which she doubted, but she didn't want to face him). She wouldn't go to the Guardians (no matter that they had no idea of her dilemma and, indeed, may have been the help she truly needed), she wouldn't stay at the compound (she had definitely had enough of finding out just how many others knew about the Temple). Lastly, she wouldn't be going to the Temple, for without being able to protect herself, fate and destiny could shove it. No, she would sleep in the woods tonight, away from people... and everything else.
Still not yet night, she laid upon the grass and put a hand on what would be Brin within her flat belly. She thought of the childs' father and her soul sunk... she had been so cruel. Then she thought of the power she had commanded for the first time. Of all the times she had tried - only once was she sufficiently enraged did it work... what could that mean? She drifted off - the effects of the rejuvenation spell wearing down, her spirit completely drained beyond the spell. Her last thought before her deep, dreamless slumber was hoping that Nephesh would forgive her missing the morning prayers.
Down With Air
Sanria stood in the snow, now cursing her lack of intelligence. She was to her knees in snow, rather far from the tower. With her distinct lack of undergarments, and only a thick cloak above her robe, she found she was at a bit of a disadvantage with the perpetual winter. Quickly she took stock of the area. Her invisibility spell continued holding, and judging from the wandering minotaur guards that crossed near her path, they didn't have the ability to see through it. The trouble, she figured, would be the invisible woman making tracks in the snow.
She waited until the guards were well on their way before she began to chant in a harsh whisper. Soon enough her legs, rapidly chilling in the air, rose above the snow. Her teeth chattered and slowly she floated forward, only feet above the snow covered ground. The grounds around the tower were massive and seemed to be crawling with hulking minotaur guards. Each had a giant gold ring in his snout, and unlike the band that hunted them earlier, these Minotaurs were staggeringly huge. Sanria was almost there. Deftly, from her pack, she pulled a bottle of pass-door, hoping to conceal it quickly within the invisibility spell. She slowly, chatteringly, eased past the outer guard. Even on the inside of the foreboding tower, guards were posted at the door. She had managed to float just past them, when a sound erupted from her cleavage, "Sanria, Are you there?"
All she could mutter as she dropped the noisy crystal to the floor was "Crap." Her concentration dropped for a split second, her body became visible, and all bets were off as the nearest guard gripped her robes in his hand. She was yanked from the air like a rag doll, and hit the ground with such a force that the air left her in a torrent.
This did not bode well at all.
She waited until the guards were well on their way before she began to chant in a harsh whisper. Soon enough her legs, rapidly chilling in the air, rose above the snow. Her teeth chattered and slowly she floated forward, only feet above the snow covered ground. The grounds around the tower were massive and seemed to be crawling with hulking minotaur guards. Each had a giant gold ring in his snout, and unlike the band that hunted them earlier, these Minotaurs were staggeringly huge. Sanria was almost there. Deftly, from her pack, she pulled a bottle of pass-door, hoping to conceal it quickly within the invisibility spell. She slowly, chatteringly, eased past the outer guard. Even on the inside of the foreboding tower, guards were posted at the door. She had managed to float just past them, when a sound erupted from her cleavage, "Sanria, Are you there?"
All she could mutter as she dropped the noisy crystal to the floor was "Crap." Her concentration dropped for a split second, her body became visible, and all bets were off as the nearest guard gripped her robes in his hand. She was yanked from the air like a rag doll, and hit the ground with such a force that the air left her in a torrent.
This did not bode well at all.
Things to Consider
Emalia found herself walking briskly to the Jihad compound. She carried her pack with her and thought about Colin the whole way. At least now she was able to leave the house claiming the need for alone time. The last argument they had was over the ridiculous Vectorian invasion and the danger she had been putting herself in. Then, like an idiot, she had attempted to use what her father had taught her, telling Colin to swing his sword so she could encase herself in her power. When Thasmudyan had done it, he easily deflected her blow. When she had Colin swing at her... she ended up with a cut and an angry red welt the width of his broadsword. Luckily, he had turned the blade flat. Luckily, she was a healer. But the incident had served to knock her down a peg. She was shaken now about her ability to protect herself and her child, and so, after finding Grobnak's office empty the first time, she decided to go back - renewed in her conviction that the answer was action. "Enter."
The hissing voice from beyond unnerved her a bit, but Emalia opened the large oak door with confidence. "Greetings, Child," Grobnak said after removing the spectacles from his black eyes.
"Hello Grobnak. I have to speak with you."
"If this is regarding the matter with the fellow you were with last time, I have offered my apologies." Indeed, that was the whole reason Emalia had avoided Grobnak. After his attempt on Colin's life, Emalia felt unsure about Grobnak's motives, and uncomfortable about the two of them ever meeting again.
"No, it is not in regards to Colin. It's in regard to the Vectorian invasion. Something must be done."
"The Pax Faerunis, who would save the people of the Realms lies back and does nothing while Kefka runs over their people. Yes? This is the hypocrisy I spoke to you of once before."
"Kefka must be stopped."
"We are already in the midst of negotiating with Kefka, in the hopes of alleviating the taxes he levies."
It was a relief for Emalia to hear this, though it left her wondering the extent of the things she didn't know. The Jihad was negotiating with Kefka and she had no idea. Still, it was nice to know that the group she also considered family was making moves to stop the invasion. Still, her thoughts drifted to the people of the realms. "It's terrible. The people need to unite, but no one has made move to do so."
"And you think that the Jihad can unite them? We must operate in shadow, Child. The world at large believes us to be evil..."
"Well we must show them we are not. If we show the people we are not evil, more may join with us," Emalia claimed. It was a stretch, she knew it was.
"All that we do is shadowed by questions because of our beliefs. Our motives will never be thought of as 'pure'."
"Then why will we not operate openly and do something? If we get Kefka out of here, who could say otherwise? People couldn't possibly question our motives."
"And if we succeed, Child? What then? Will the Pax regain control and then attempt to remove us, as well? Or will another tyrant stand in Kefka's place?"
When Emalia heard Grobnak's chortling laughter at her suggestion that the Paxian's might look at them differently, possibly ally with them, she felt a bit crushed. Grobnak admitted he was willing to try, but as Emalia found out, his trying was different from hers. Her thoughts went to what Epson had said about Kefka, and as a last ditch effort, she threw it out to Grobnak. "Kefka has threatened unborn even! I won't let my child be taken if I refuse his taxes."
At last, a reaction. Grobnak's black eyes turned to her, and in them, Emalia thought she sensed shock. "Your child?"
"Mine, and Colin's"
It was not the reaction Emalia had hoped for, but it did spark a discussion about the events that had transpired between Colin and Grobnak. It then evolved into the reasons for Emalia's even coming back to see him. I'm almost ashamed to admit I came here to ask about assassinating Kefka."
"That task would be far too difficult for us to accomplish, I'm afraid," Grobnak hissed. "The lunatic is well protected."
Emalia knew immediately what an assassination of Kefka would look like to the rest of the realms. It would only serve to reinforce the idea of the Jihad as murderers, and if the Guardians only knew one of their own was thinking of assassination... it was something she didn't really want to dwell upon. Still, Grobnak continued. "We have attempted to make contact with Kefka. He has not responded as yet."
Emalia nodded, hoping that Kefka would reply. If so, she wouldn't have to flee in order to save her family. The subject then went to Nephesh, with Grobnak's asking how their journey had gone. "Did you find the answers you sought?"
"I was only told to seek out the Balefire Mountains...And that after much travel and peril." Emalia's head was bowed, but when she looked up, she was a bit taken aback. Grobnak's normally deep green skin was paled, his mouth was pulled into a frown. "Do you know where they are?" Emalia asked.
Grobnak merely nodded, and Emalia's heart lept into her chest. Suddenly, Kefka and the Vectorians didn't matter. Her search for herself was nearer now than ever it had been before.
"You do?"
"I do, I was born there."
Of all the incredible coincidences, Emalia was utterly unprepared for this one. She inhaled a gasp, her eyes wide with excitement. "Then, you can tell me how to go... I mean, how to get there."
"I have not been there since my youth, I'm afraid."
"Mountains do not move so quickly. Can... can you draw me a map or give me a bit of guidance?"
Indeed, Grobnak pulled out a piece of yellowed parchment. Upon it was a map, and gingerly, Grobnak placed upon it a red "X". "You must seek out the ruins of my village. It is a frozen wasteland filled with orcs and barbarians, and other... creatures."
"What should I do when I get there?" Emalia asked with a heightened voice.
"I can't tell you that. I don't know the exact location of the Temple you seek."
Emalia nodded, looking at the "X" again while Grobnak spoke, "Is it any wonder that I, of all people, would be called to serve The Apprentice, when I am the last of my people? And born of these very mountains..."
"You are the last?"
Grobnak nodded as he handed the scroll case to Emalia. She slipped it into her pack, almost wishing she could set off immediately. That soon changed, however. "Child, you have come closer to solving a great riddle than any other since before the Sunite left."
Emalia stopped, turning her puzzled eyes onto Grobnak's face. "... What... riddle?" The question ignored, Grobnak pulled out the ritualistic dagger at his side and indicated his request for Emalia to kneel. Slowly, she did, but her mind was reeling. Riddle?
Grobnak spoke in a voice of officiation, "It would be better for you to throw yourself upon this dagger than for you to betray your family. Do you still believe in this oath?"
Suddenly, all of Emalia's conviction left her. She was there, kneeling on the ground, a dagger to her throat at the question of loyalty. 'What Riddle?!?" her mind screamed. Her face suddenly flushed, her breathing quickened, she swallowed, and her mouth hung open. 'What Riddle!!!?' Emalia's heart pounded in her chest, the rushing blood rising to her ears like the movement of waves upon the sea. "I... I don't know that I can say that right now..."
Grobnak looked upon her, his face clearly angry. Emalia bowed her head, cowed by the look of anger upon the face above hers. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.
"The map, if you will."
Emalia's head jerked up suddenly. "But..."
"We will not send someone out in search of the Temple who is not certain where her loyalties lie. There is too much at stake."
Again, the question of the riddle resurfaced. First riddle, now 'we will not send someone out, too much at stake. "Wait, I undertook this journey to find myself. Am I to understand I was sent for other reasons now?"
"Did I not suggest that you might find your answers at the temple? It was the journey that was important, Child. Not the destination."
"Yet you mention a riddle. What is the riddle. Tell me."
"The location of the Temple."
Emalia stared at Grobnak, shaken inside as he spoke the next words, "I did not lie to you, Child, if that is what you believe." Indeed, she did think that very thing. She reached into her pack and held toward Grobnak the oaken case containing his map. "All this talk of loyalty and betrayal," she whispered. "I thought you were trying to help me. Now I don't know what to think."
"We are trying to help."
"Are you?"
Emalia let the case be taken from her hand. She watched Grobnak slowly set it upon his desk and he calmly spoke, "The Temple of Light holds the power to destroy the RoK and leave it for another generation, or to resurrect The Apprentice and bring about the Rebirth. Would you leave it in the hands of someone uncertain where her loyalties lie, if she was also a member of an organization who would undo what we are working for?"
Emalia's whole world dropped onto her like a giant sack of bricks. She had been completely naive, completely blind, and completely foolish. She thought of Dorian in Luskan and how worried she was about Emalia asking after Keldon, now... it all became clear. She had been used. This, however, she couldn't even voice. Her body was numb, her stomach clenched with the threat of losing its contents. Grobnak went on, "I suggested the Temple of Light because you did not know where you were going, and because you needed to take a journey. It was your idea. I only gave you a very small hint at a direction. I never imagined that you would come close to finding it. I only imagined you would come close to finding the answers you sought."
"Why, did I not know this then?" Emalia asked, leaning heavily now upon the cherrywood desk.
"It should be in the book I gave you, Child."
The book, the damnable book. The one she sifted through only lightly, the one she thumbed through and never bothered to *truly* read. She set the volume on the desk - too weak even to hold it. "What am I to do? If I find this place... I have betrayed one family for the other. To not go, I have betrayed this family in favor of the other... Am I not first a Guardian? Or... or..."
"We are prisoners first to the world, second by the choices we make, Child. Oft because the world thrusts these choices upon us."
"I don't know what to do..."
"You will find the Temple, and you will be the savior of a generation, or of a world."
Emalia's stomach again revolted. Suddenly, her trip meant nothing. Her aim had been predestined, and the weight of the knowledge threatened to destroy her. "Then... I cannot remain with my Guardian family... if I go forth... I... I will have to l...leave them..."
"No, the Guardians would also want you to seek out the Temple. But for their own aims."
"Is that not what you seek?"
"Both the Guardians and the Jihad seek to stop the RoK and save the world. We just don't agree about how to do it. The Guardians are still young. They have not seen the generations and the destruction the RoK has caused when it has been stopped once but not forever. They do not understand Ao's treachery. I truly wish they did, Child. Sadly, it is the nature of time that those who have seen the past grow fewer as time passes, and new peoples take the stage and overrule those of us who have come before."
"It seems my only choices are to refuse and bring anger to both families... or go... and let them each fight for themselves... I will not choose sides... no." Emalia stood staring at Grobnak, her face red. "Do you want me to go, or do you fear my loyalties or lack thereof?"
"You will go whether I wish it or not, Child. That is your destiny"
Emalia had never been so disgusted with the word 'destiny' as she was at that very moment in time. The thought of having no choice, at least that she felt was of her own to make, sent her into reels of irritation and self-loathing. No matter what, death would be arriving in the realms, it only seemed that now she would be the one bringing it. She thought of her child, a poor child doomed to a world where the fate was bringing down the RoK early and possibly coming back, or having the RoK most likely fall altogether. She wanted to cry, but her soul seemed frozen.
Grobnak then spoke of a plane where she could go, where time flowed differently, where she could have her child, and be spared. This, however, only sent Emalia into a deeper chasm. Leave all she knew to spare her child? It was unacceptable.
She had made up her mind then to go to Jayden. He always knew what to do, it seemed, but this idea was thwarted soon after she mentioned it. Grobnak had a point, "There will come a time when you must choose, Child. I will not force it upon you, but I suspect that they will. As before, they will force this choice upon you, as they always do. I am sorry."
Oddly, it made some sort of sense. "Perhaps... you are right..." she whispered. "We are prisoners first to the world, And second to the choices that we make."
Emalia walked out, her steps sluggish upon the ground. Her boots caught on what felt like every branch and limb, every leaf seemed to hold her back. She truly did want to cry, but she couldn't. She felt more alone now - with a child in her, a loving companion, and two families - than she had ever felt in her entire life in the forests of Haon'Dor. Inside, her heart trembled... she was alone and the only thing it seemed that was ready to guide her way... was destiny.
The hissing voice from beyond unnerved her a bit, but Emalia opened the large oak door with confidence. "Greetings, Child," Grobnak said after removing the spectacles from his black eyes.
"Hello Grobnak. I have to speak with you."
"If this is regarding the matter with the fellow you were with last time, I have offered my apologies." Indeed, that was the whole reason Emalia had avoided Grobnak. After his attempt on Colin's life, Emalia felt unsure about Grobnak's motives, and uncomfortable about the two of them ever meeting again.
"No, it is not in regards to Colin. It's in regard to the Vectorian invasion. Something must be done."
"The Pax Faerunis, who would save the people of the Realms lies back and does nothing while Kefka runs over their people. Yes? This is the hypocrisy I spoke to you of once before."
"Kefka must be stopped."
"We are already in the midst of negotiating with Kefka, in the hopes of alleviating the taxes he levies."
It was a relief for Emalia to hear this, though it left her wondering the extent of the things she didn't know. The Jihad was negotiating with Kefka and she had no idea. Still, it was nice to know that the group she also considered family was making moves to stop the invasion. Still, her thoughts drifted to the people of the realms. "It's terrible. The people need to unite, but no one has made move to do so."
"And you think that the Jihad can unite them? We must operate in shadow, Child. The world at large believes us to be evil..."
"Well we must show them we are not. If we show the people we are not evil, more may join with us," Emalia claimed. It was a stretch, she knew it was.
"All that we do is shadowed by questions because of our beliefs. Our motives will never be thought of as 'pure'."
"Then why will we not operate openly and do something? If we get Kefka out of here, who could say otherwise? People couldn't possibly question our motives."
"And if we succeed, Child? What then? Will the Pax regain control and then attempt to remove us, as well? Or will another tyrant stand in Kefka's place?"
When Emalia heard Grobnak's chortling laughter at her suggestion that the Paxian's might look at them differently, possibly ally with them, she felt a bit crushed. Grobnak admitted he was willing to try, but as Emalia found out, his trying was different from hers. Her thoughts went to what Epson had said about Kefka, and as a last ditch effort, she threw it out to Grobnak. "Kefka has threatened unborn even! I won't let my child be taken if I refuse his taxes."
At last, a reaction. Grobnak's black eyes turned to her, and in them, Emalia thought she sensed shock. "Your child?"
"Mine, and Colin's"
It was not the reaction Emalia had hoped for, but it did spark a discussion about the events that had transpired between Colin and Grobnak. It then evolved into the reasons for Emalia's even coming back to see him. I'm almost ashamed to admit I came here to ask about assassinating Kefka."
"That task would be far too difficult for us to accomplish, I'm afraid," Grobnak hissed. "The lunatic is well protected."
Emalia knew immediately what an assassination of Kefka would look like to the rest of the realms. It would only serve to reinforce the idea of the Jihad as murderers, and if the Guardians only knew one of their own was thinking of assassination... it was something she didn't really want to dwell upon. Still, Grobnak continued. "We have attempted to make contact with Kefka. He has not responded as yet."
Emalia nodded, hoping that Kefka would reply. If so, she wouldn't have to flee in order to save her family. The subject then went to Nephesh, with Grobnak's asking how their journey had gone. "Did you find the answers you sought?"
"I was only told to seek out the Balefire Mountains...And that after much travel and peril." Emalia's head was bowed, but when she looked up, she was a bit taken aback. Grobnak's normally deep green skin was paled, his mouth was pulled into a frown. "Do you know where they are?" Emalia asked.
Grobnak merely nodded, and Emalia's heart lept into her chest. Suddenly, Kefka and the Vectorians didn't matter. Her search for herself was nearer now than ever it had been before.
"You do?"
"I do, I was born there."
Of all the incredible coincidences, Emalia was utterly unprepared for this one. She inhaled a gasp, her eyes wide with excitement. "Then, you can tell me how to go... I mean, how to get there."
"I have not been there since my youth, I'm afraid."
"Mountains do not move so quickly. Can... can you draw me a map or give me a bit of guidance?"
Indeed, Grobnak pulled out a piece of yellowed parchment. Upon it was a map, and gingerly, Grobnak placed upon it a red "X". "You must seek out the ruins of my village. It is a frozen wasteland filled with orcs and barbarians, and other... creatures."
"What should I do when I get there?" Emalia asked with a heightened voice.
"I can't tell you that. I don't know the exact location of the Temple you seek."
Emalia nodded, looking at the "X" again while Grobnak spoke, "Is it any wonder that I, of all people, would be called to serve The Apprentice, when I am the last of my people? And born of these very mountains..."
"You are the last?"
Grobnak nodded as he handed the scroll case to Emalia. She slipped it into her pack, almost wishing she could set off immediately. That soon changed, however. "Child, you have come closer to solving a great riddle than any other since before the Sunite left."
Emalia stopped, turning her puzzled eyes onto Grobnak's face. "... What... riddle?" The question ignored, Grobnak pulled out the ritualistic dagger at his side and indicated his request for Emalia to kneel. Slowly, she did, but her mind was reeling. Riddle?
Grobnak spoke in a voice of officiation, "It would be better for you to throw yourself upon this dagger than for you to betray your family. Do you still believe in this oath?"
Suddenly, all of Emalia's conviction left her. She was there, kneeling on the ground, a dagger to her throat at the question of loyalty. 'What Riddle?!?" her mind screamed. Her face suddenly flushed, her breathing quickened, she swallowed, and her mouth hung open. 'What Riddle!!!?' Emalia's heart pounded in her chest, the rushing blood rising to her ears like the movement of waves upon the sea. "I... I don't know that I can say that right now..."
Grobnak looked upon her, his face clearly angry. Emalia bowed her head, cowed by the look of anger upon the face above hers. "I'm sorry..." she whispered.
"The map, if you will."
Emalia's head jerked up suddenly. "But..."
"We will not send someone out in search of the Temple who is not certain where her loyalties lie. There is too much at stake."
Again, the question of the riddle resurfaced. First riddle, now 'we will not send someone out, too much at stake. "Wait, I undertook this journey to find myself. Am I to understand I was sent for other reasons now?"
"Did I not suggest that you might find your answers at the temple? It was the journey that was important, Child. Not the destination."
"Yet you mention a riddle. What is the riddle. Tell me."
"The location of the Temple."
Emalia stared at Grobnak, shaken inside as he spoke the next words, "I did not lie to you, Child, if that is what you believe." Indeed, she did think that very thing. She reached into her pack and held toward Grobnak the oaken case containing his map. "All this talk of loyalty and betrayal," she whispered. "I thought you were trying to help me. Now I don't know what to think."
"We are trying to help."
"Are you?"
Emalia let the case be taken from her hand. She watched Grobnak slowly set it upon his desk and he calmly spoke, "The Temple of Light holds the power to destroy the RoK and leave it for another generation, or to resurrect The Apprentice and bring about the Rebirth. Would you leave it in the hands of someone uncertain where her loyalties lie, if she was also a member of an organization who would undo what we are working for?"
Emalia's whole world dropped onto her like a giant sack of bricks. She had been completely naive, completely blind, and completely foolish. She thought of Dorian in Luskan and how worried she was about Emalia asking after Keldon, now... it all became clear. She had been used. This, however, she couldn't even voice. Her body was numb, her stomach clenched with the threat of losing its contents. Grobnak went on, "I suggested the Temple of Light because you did not know where you were going, and because you needed to take a journey. It was your idea. I only gave you a very small hint at a direction. I never imagined that you would come close to finding it. I only imagined you would come close to finding the answers you sought."
"Why, did I not know this then?" Emalia asked, leaning heavily now upon the cherrywood desk.
"It should be in the book I gave you, Child."
The book, the damnable book. The one she sifted through only lightly, the one she thumbed through and never bothered to *truly* read. She set the volume on the desk - too weak even to hold it. "What am I to do? If I find this place... I have betrayed one family for the other. To not go, I have betrayed this family in favor of the other... Am I not first a Guardian? Or... or..."
"We are prisoners first to the world, second by the choices we make, Child. Oft because the world thrusts these choices upon us."
"I don't know what to do..."
"You will find the Temple, and you will be the savior of a generation, or of a world."
Emalia's stomach again revolted. Suddenly, her trip meant nothing. Her aim had been predestined, and the weight of the knowledge threatened to destroy her. "Then... I cannot remain with my Guardian family... if I go forth... I... I will have to l...leave them..."
"No, the Guardians would also want you to seek out the Temple. But for their own aims."
"Is that not what you seek?"
"Both the Guardians and the Jihad seek to stop the RoK and save the world. We just don't agree about how to do it. The Guardians are still young. They have not seen the generations and the destruction the RoK has caused when it has been stopped once but not forever. They do not understand Ao's treachery. I truly wish they did, Child. Sadly, it is the nature of time that those who have seen the past grow fewer as time passes, and new peoples take the stage and overrule those of us who have come before."
"It seems my only choices are to refuse and bring anger to both families... or go... and let them each fight for themselves... I will not choose sides... no." Emalia stood staring at Grobnak, her face red. "Do you want me to go, or do you fear my loyalties or lack thereof?"
"You will go whether I wish it or not, Child. That is your destiny"
Emalia had never been so disgusted with the word 'destiny' as she was at that very moment in time. The thought of having no choice, at least that she felt was of her own to make, sent her into reels of irritation and self-loathing. No matter what, death would be arriving in the realms, it only seemed that now she would be the one bringing it. She thought of her child, a poor child doomed to a world where the fate was bringing down the RoK early and possibly coming back, or having the RoK most likely fall altogether. She wanted to cry, but her soul seemed frozen.
Grobnak then spoke of a plane where she could go, where time flowed differently, where she could have her child, and be spared. This, however, only sent Emalia into a deeper chasm. Leave all she knew to spare her child? It was unacceptable.
She had made up her mind then to go to Jayden. He always knew what to do, it seemed, but this idea was thwarted soon after she mentioned it. Grobnak had a point, "There will come a time when you must choose, Child. I will not force it upon you, but I suspect that they will. As before, they will force this choice upon you, as they always do. I am sorry."
Oddly, it made some sort of sense. "Perhaps... you are right..." she whispered. "We are prisoners first to the world, And second to the choices that we make."
Emalia walked out, her steps sluggish upon the ground. Her boots caught on what felt like every branch and limb, every leaf seemed to hold her back. She truly did want to cry, but she couldn't. She felt more alone now - with a child in her, a loving companion, and two families - than she had ever felt in her entire life in the forests of Haon'Dor. Inside, her heart trembled... she was alone and the only thing it seemed that was ready to guide her way... was destiny.
Avoidance
Sanria closed the door behind her, having left Thasmudyan resting in her bed. He had saved her from the wound inflicted on her by the Minotaurs and for that she was grateful, but just like long ago, now she could feel his emotions just as he could feel hers. She entered into the elevator and slowly descended to the helm. This could prove to be nearly intolerable. She still did have feelings for him, and now, she could feel that the same was true of him - though oddly muted.
This, she thought, would not do. She sat for a long while in the captain's chair, mulling over her thoughts before calling to Skive.
"Skive," Sanria said, staring at the very sleepy gnome, "I am going to do something incredibly stupid and I know this."
"Captain, if you're planning on going anywhere-"
"I have to Skive. I'm not going to be able to be around our guest for... certain reasons."
Skive gave a low sigh, forcing Sanria to come clean. "Alright, alright. I can feel what he feels and he can feel what I feel. Honestly, it's so juvenile and just ridiculous, but I want no more confusion, see?"
"Captain," Skive said, suddenly yawning, "You need to have someone with you. These mountains are dangerous."
"Don't I know it," Sanria muttered. "I have spells in my arsenal. Besides, the tower is south of here, it has to be the place, we passed right over it."
"And what then will you do once you arrive?"
Sanria stared at Skive, her mouth twisted in a thoughtful, worried glance. "Well.. I.."
"Don't you see, Captain, this is a foolish move? You're just going to get yourself in trouble."
"I might be able to sneak in undetected and, find out where he is, and then perhaps come back and let the others know what I've found."
Skive groaned and put his small head into his hand, shaking it. "Captain, I've served under a lot of pilots, but you have got to be the... you take the cake, Madame."
"I think if I just go and find Throm on my own, as I had planned... well, almost as I had planned, as I had planned in the event that Remus didn't come with me-"
Skive interrupted with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"Well, I was going to do this alone anyway. So... that's what I'm going to do. They'll be fine and I'll leave the ship in your charge. Take them where they wish to go. That's an order. And... if they ask where I went... ah... tell them... tell them I'll be back."
"Captain..."
Sanria stood up, grabbing the heavy cloak that Thasmudyan had lent to her from the hook by the hatch. She swung it around her shoulders and held a finger up to her lips. "Skive, I'll be fine."
With her destination clearly in mind, Sanria began to chant several words. Her spells interwove with one another, and she became invisible even as her body began to evaporate into thin air. She hoped that Thasmudyan wouldn't feel anything - not her feelings, not her magic. Then she suddenly hoped she wouldn't drop herself into a snowdrift.
Finally, the bite of the arctic wind upon her, Sanria opened her eyes to see a tower of massive size before her. Behind her, mere inches, was a towering wall. 'Well,' she thought, 'At least I didn't end up *in* the wall.'
This, she thought, would not do. She sat for a long while in the captain's chair, mulling over her thoughts before calling to Skive.
"Skive," Sanria said, staring at the very sleepy gnome, "I am going to do something incredibly stupid and I know this."
"Captain, if you're planning on going anywhere-"
"I have to Skive. I'm not going to be able to be around our guest for... certain reasons."
Skive gave a low sigh, forcing Sanria to come clean. "Alright, alright. I can feel what he feels and he can feel what I feel. Honestly, it's so juvenile and just ridiculous, but I want no more confusion, see?"
"Captain," Skive said, suddenly yawning, "You need to have someone with you. These mountains are dangerous."
"Don't I know it," Sanria muttered. "I have spells in my arsenal. Besides, the tower is south of here, it has to be the place, we passed right over it."
"And what then will you do once you arrive?"
Sanria stared at Skive, her mouth twisted in a thoughtful, worried glance. "Well.. I.."
"Don't you see, Captain, this is a foolish move? You're just going to get yourself in trouble."
"I might be able to sneak in undetected and, find out where he is, and then perhaps come back and let the others know what I've found."
Skive groaned and put his small head into his hand, shaking it. "Captain, I've served under a lot of pilots, but you have got to be the... you take the cake, Madame."
"I think if I just go and find Throm on my own, as I had planned... well, almost as I had planned, as I had planned in the event that Remus didn't come with me-"
Skive interrupted with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"Well, I was going to do this alone anyway. So... that's what I'm going to do. They'll be fine and I'll leave the ship in your charge. Take them where they wish to go. That's an order. And... if they ask where I went... ah... tell them... tell them I'll be back."
"Captain..."
Sanria stood up, grabbing the heavy cloak that Thasmudyan had lent to her from the hook by the hatch. She swung it around her shoulders and held a finger up to her lips. "Skive, I'll be fine."
With her destination clearly in mind, Sanria began to chant several words. Her spells interwove with one another, and she became invisible even as her body began to evaporate into thin air. She hoped that Thasmudyan wouldn't feel anything - not her feelings, not her magic. Then she suddenly hoped she wouldn't drop herself into a snowdrift.
Finally, the bite of the arctic wind upon her, Sanria opened her eyes to see a tower of massive size before her. Behind her, mere inches, was a towering wall. 'Well,' she thought, 'At least I didn't end up *in* the wall.'
Ice Cold Carnage
My first night aboard this ship was unnerving. What with steps of little feet roaming about the room in preparations for the next day's departure, sleep was far from coming. The enchantments of Escalore would keep me awake for days on end, this I knew...this night I would exercise such a right. Perhaps I might have been a little less unnerving to the gnomes party to the night preparation crew, had I not spent the whole night sitting upon the edge of the bed with my helm on. However being in a new environment I wasn't yet ready to give up the only set of eyes I had just yet.
The dawn had come much faster than I had calculated, and it wasn't long before my hostess carefully entered the room first checking to make sure that clothes were not in short supply upon myself. Chuckling privately at the irony of the statement, I had bid my day to begin. I knew not much of my benefactor Sanria except for the fact that she was heading into territories which had caused her trouble in the past. Quiet and contemplative, she didn't seem to keep much in the way of conversation, leading me to believe that she was more inclined to a thoughtful nature. After naught but a short while, we finally gained the last member of our crew a man by the name of Thasmudyan. A man of frail build, and reserved nature, I found Thasmudyan to be an enigma, though later I would find him a force to be reckoned with. Recounting our voyage to the barren, frigid, and icy wastelands of the north, I remember only the speed at which the vessel owned by Sanria traveled. A journey that might take a conventional ship from days to weeks, took less than a day. Despite the sudden changes that recently have occurred within my life, I still could not help but to marvel at the short duration of our flight. My companions were quiet for most of the journey, but as we approached the territories of Mahn'Tor, we began scouting the ground far below for signs of our target. Finally the shape of a slightly battered, ship appeared as a speck within a field of white. And so it was that we set down a short distance from the derelict vessel in hopes that perhaps the journey upon which we'd found ourselves thrown into had come to a quick resolution. Such a fate was not destined for us however. After a short landing upon Throm's ship we were able to determine that the vessel was devoid of life thanks to the odd abilities which Thasmudyan had began to reveal. Though these findings put the Lady Sanria to worry, I found them to be comforting indeed. Though I have had my differences with our quarry, I had my own private fears that we may well be stumbling into a tomb and would find nothing save a corpse. I am frustrated a bit to say that we did not get far into our travels before we were ambushed by a pack of local minotaur hunters who thought to have stumbled upon a unwitting group of would be slaves. Though we were outnumbered, the hunting party was a group of unorganized ragdolls in comparison to our party. As the red eye haze of battle took hold of me, I found myself wishing nothing more than to use the group of dull witted beasts as examples by cutting down each and every one. A word or two from Thasmudyan disagreed with my notions at this. I normally may have paid no heed to such disagreements and cut apart our attackers, but for a life threatening injury dealt to Sanria in the course of battle.
Gaining that our target may be near an old reactor tower from one of the minotaurs, who was more than eager to crack in exchange for his life our battle was over. Once a safe haven had been established in our former battlegrounds Thasmudyan at once tended to the wound of Sanria, displaying once again his curious abilities. I was relieved to have him as part of the team (a word foreign to myself now for quite some time) as I was little use in the way of tending to wounds in either magical or conventional means. The magic weakened both of them considerably, and though we had made little in the way of foot travel, it was decided to set camp for the night. Electing to stand guard outside the airship, I once again would use Escalore's magic to maintain my vigilance throughout the night.
Little did I know at the time that it was to be this night that those which my comrades might consider enemies would call upon me in peace.
The dawn had come much faster than I had calculated, and it wasn't long before my hostess carefully entered the room first checking to make sure that clothes were not in short supply upon myself. Chuckling privately at the irony of the statement, I had bid my day to begin. I knew not much of my benefactor Sanria except for the fact that she was heading into territories which had caused her trouble in the past. Quiet and contemplative, she didn't seem to keep much in the way of conversation, leading me to believe that she was more inclined to a thoughtful nature. After naught but a short while, we finally gained the last member of our crew a man by the name of Thasmudyan. A man of frail build, and reserved nature, I found Thasmudyan to be an enigma, though later I would find him a force to be reckoned with. Recounting our voyage to the barren, frigid, and icy wastelands of the north, I remember only the speed at which the vessel owned by Sanria traveled. A journey that might take a conventional ship from days to weeks, took less than a day. Despite the sudden changes that recently have occurred within my life, I still could not help but to marvel at the short duration of our flight. My companions were quiet for most of the journey, but as we approached the territories of Mahn'Tor, we began scouting the ground far below for signs of our target. Finally the shape of a slightly battered, ship appeared as a speck within a field of white. And so it was that we set down a short distance from the derelict vessel in hopes that perhaps the journey upon which we'd found ourselves thrown into had come to a quick resolution. Such a fate was not destined for us however. After a short landing upon Throm's ship we were able to determine that the vessel was devoid of life thanks to the odd abilities which Thasmudyan had began to reveal. Though these findings put the Lady Sanria to worry, I found them to be comforting indeed. Though I have had my differences with our quarry, I had my own private fears that we may well be stumbling into a tomb and would find nothing save a corpse. I am frustrated a bit to say that we did not get far into our travels before we were ambushed by a pack of local minotaur hunters who thought to have stumbled upon a unwitting group of would be slaves. Though we were outnumbered, the hunting party was a group of unorganized ragdolls in comparison to our party. As the red eye haze of battle took hold of me, I found myself wishing nothing more than to use the group of dull witted beasts as examples by cutting down each and every one. A word or two from Thasmudyan disagreed with my notions at this. I normally may have paid no heed to such disagreements and cut apart our attackers, but for a life threatening injury dealt to Sanria in the course of battle.
Gaining that our target may be near an old reactor tower from one of the minotaurs, who was more than eager to crack in exchange for his life our battle was over. Once a safe haven had been established in our former battlegrounds Thasmudyan at once tended to the wound of Sanria, displaying once again his curious abilities. I was relieved to have him as part of the team (a word foreign to myself now for quite some time) as I was little use in the way of tending to wounds in either magical or conventional means. The magic weakened both of them considerably, and though we had made little in the way of foot travel, it was decided to set camp for the night. Electing to stand guard outside the airship, I once again would use Escalore's magic to maintain my vigilance throughout the night.
Little did I know at the time that it was to be this night that those which my comrades might consider enemies would call upon me in peace.
The Awakening
The nurse watched over the halfling boy; the lines in her face drawn with fatigue as she exercised his limbs while he lay sleeping. His sleep seemed untroubled; comfortable, even. Anyone looking in on him for the first time would never know that he hadn't wakened for over a month. The woman who tended to him in her priestly robes moved from moving one leg to the other; lifting the child's bare foot and moving it back so that his leg lifted and his knee lifted up, then back again, repeating the exercise several times before letting out a small sigh.
That girl had brought the child here like this, and she hadn't even bothered to come back since that time. Didn't she care at all? Moving quietly about the room, the accolyte lifted a bowl of water from the floor and dipped a sponge into it. Silently, she lifted the boy's sleeve up and dabbed some water on his arm, then began rubbing soap into his skin before rinsing it off with the sponge. At first, she didn't notice when the boy's fingers twitched just a little.
Then his eyes opened and his hands gestured, "Who are you?"
The woman shrieked and ran from the room, still screaming, as the boy stood weakly from his bed, smiling wanly, and followed after her.
That girl had brought the child here like this, and she hadn't even bothered to come back since that time. Didn't she care at all? Moving quietly about the room, the accolyte lifted a bowl of water from the floor and dipped a sponge into it. Silently, she lifted the boy's sleeve up and dabbed some water on his arm, then began rubbing soap into his skin before rinsing it off with the sponge. At first, she didn't notice when the boy's fingers twitched just a little.
Then his eyes opened and his hands gestured, "Who are you?"
The woman shrieked and ran from the room, still screaming, as the boy stood weakly from his bed, smiling wanly, and followed after her.
A Private Message
Our Emperor Lord Kefka,
May it please you to know that the Jenovese hereby offer our support in your rightful claim over the town of Westbridge. As loyal servants of The Apprentice, we feel it is our duty to offer arms and guardsmen in support of the defense of Westbridge against the pretentious Pax Faerunis and their allies.
Though the strength of your forces suggest that you are not in need of our humble supplies, what we can offer you is a secure and remote base from which to run your operations. All that we would ask in return is shared access to munitions and military apparatuses with which you operate.
Rumor would suggest that your wealth is great, so we cannot imagine that this arrangement would be of detriment to you, and one can never underestimate the value of a covert base in a war such as is sure to follow recent events. You may not need us, but we can certainly be of service to you.
If you should agree to this arrangement, you need only look to the RoK above and swear your allegiance to The Apprentice. We will seek you out after.
Ever Your Humble Servants,
The Jihad
May it please you to know that the Jenovese hereby offer our support in your rightful claim over the town of Westbridge. As loyal servants of The Apprentice, we feel it is our duty to offer arms and guardsmen in support of the defense of Westbridge against the pretentious Pax Faerunis and their allies.
Though the strength of your forces suggest that you are not in need of our humble supplies, what we can offer you is a secure and remote base from which to run your operations. All that we would ask in return is shared access to munitions and military apparatuses with which you operate.
Rumor would suggest that your wealth is great, so we cannot imagine that this arrangement would be of detriment to you, and one can never underestimate the value of a covert base in a war such as is sure to follow recent events. You may not need us, but we can certainly be of service to you.
If you should agree to this arrangement, you need only look to the RoK above and swear your allegiance to The Apprentice. We will seek you out after.
Ever Your Humble Servants,
The Jihad
Nagging thoughts
Colin had a contented smile on his face as he sat at the edge of the water, looking out across the still water of the lake behind their house. "Correction," he told himself, "Emalia's house." Well, that was true, but he had living here with her for several months. And that was part of what gave him his smile.
He felt he practically had it all. He was now part of a clan, living with the beautiful woman he loved, and they were going to have a child. Little Brin, growing inside Emalia. They were going to have a daughter and that would most certainly bring them closer.
Yet his smile waned. He just couldn't shake that little nagging voice in the back of his mind, telling him "But she still doesn't love you." It was true. Colin knew it, she had told him so herself. But she was trying. That was the important part. He just had to be understanding, to be here for her. Sooner or later she would come to love him as he did her. "Yes, but how much later?" his mind wondered, "And in the meantime what exactly is she really doing when she spends that time alone?"
More and more often he found himself drawn to just that thought. "Had she found someone else? Even if she hadn't, how long before she might?" Colin's eyes fell to the rocky beach he sat upon, his smile now replaced with a frown. Why couldn't he shake these thoughts? "But after all, aren't they valid questions? Really, why would she have suggested breaking their engagement anyway?"
Colin gave a frustrated sigh and shook his head to try and clear his funk. Why dwell on these things. After all, it's not like he was going to confront Emalia about them. It would only serve to distance her from him and that was the last thing he wanted. He just had to fight these insecurities by doing everything he could for her. Eventually she would grow to love him, she just had to.
"Sure, you just keep telling yourself that."
He felt he practically had it all. He was now part of a clan, living with the beautiful woman he loved, and they were going to have a child. Little Brin, growing inside Emalia. They were going to have a daughter and that would most certainly bring them closer.
Yet his smile waned. He just couldn't shake that little nagging voice in the back of his mind, telling him "But she still doesn't love you." It was true. Colin knew it, she had told him so herself. But she was trying. That was the important part. He just had to be understanding, to be here for her. Sooner or later she would come to love him as he did her. "Yes, but how much later?" his mind wondered, "And in the meantime what exactly is she really doing when she spends that time alone?"
More and more often he found himself drawn to just that thought. "Had she found someone else? Even if she hadn't, how long before she might?" Colin's eyes fell to the rocky beach he sat upon, his smile now replaced with a frown. Why couldn't he shake these thoughts? "But after all, aren't they valid questions? Really, why would she have suggested breaking their engagement anyway?"
Colin gave a frustrated sigh and shook his head to try and clear his funk. Why dwell on these things. After all, it's not like he was going to confront Emalia about them. It would only serve to distance her from him and that was the last thing he wanted. He just had to fight these insecurities by doing everything he could for her. Eventually she would grow to love him, she just had to.
"Sure, you just keep telling yourself that."
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