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Fantasy Descension (C.DEX x Notorious)

As the barmaid reached the room she seen Gunnar bleeding out on the floor. The thought of someone that intimidating and rough could be laid out like that with so much blood without even as much of a scuffle heard outside was horrific. Even more so was what the wounds that had been inflicted upon him, or so she thought anyways.


"Hun? Are you... Are you dead?" She whispered as she walked over to Gunnar and prodded him with her foot. When he didn't stir she took a knee and reached for his pulse, only to not find one. With a long, disappointed sigh she began to stand up. "Poor... poor man." The barmaid whispered, "And here I thought you were tougher than that. Guess I was wrong. Sorry there big guy, didn't know you and now that ain't gonna happen is it?" Although she had enjoyed her banter with Gunnar and most certainly would have enjoyed getting to know him despite his looks or roughness. Now that opportunity was gone forever.


Gunnar was dead.


Hours had passed since the men had taken Orin and not one person had came to remove Gunnar. The barmaid was too weak to take care of him and the men downstairs didn't want to invoke the wrath of those intruders so they all zipped their lips shut and ignored the massive dead guy upstairs in room 3. Soon the night turned into day as Gunnar's body simply laid dormant, he truly was gone. Or, so they thought. While the mana had been sucked out of the room that didn't mean Dio had been, not completely. He laid dormant just as Gunnar did in a sleepless but conscious-less state. When the mana returned to the room as soon as the mana eating creature left Dio slowed Gunnar's heart down and began to heal him from the inside. The bar maid had checked too soon, while his pulse wasn't there by touch he was definitely alive.


With a jolt Gunnar screamed as he stood to his feet, to him it had been merely a second since he had nearly bled out on the floor. He was enraged, so enraged that someone would have attacked him and Orin.


"ORIN!" He shouted, his eyes darting around the room like a mad man. When he seen that Orin was missing he let out an even louder roar, flipping over the nearest bed and completely trashing the room in one go. He was like a wounded animal, one that had been backed into a corner and now had the perfect opportunity to strike back. "WHERE HAVE THEY TAKEN HIM!" He shouted at Dio, rushing over to his armor he began to strap it on ignoring all of the blood caked on him.


"I do not know... I have only been able to stay with you or you would have died. Permanently." He added, "The intruders think you're dead. As evidence of you being alive now. I can't bring you back if your head was sliced off or the wound too grievous. We have to find Orin."


"I KNOW THAT!" He roared, strapping his armor on fully and darting his eyes around the room for any belongings they left behind. Orin's robes were behind as well as his coin so Gunnar scooped all of his things up and placed them in his own bag, he certainly didn't want to give the Inn folk anything extra for letting this happen to them. In fact, it even could be them. Gunnar tore down the hall, kicking open the locked door of his room and stomped down the stairs. Everyone was recovering from hangovers or worse as they stood in the main hall of the Inn at the bar. The barmaid from the night before was working early, standing at the counter. When she turned to see Gunnar starring back at her she screamed, alerting everyone in the bar.


Thankfully, Orin wasn't there to see this.


Gunnar reached over the bar and grabbed the woman by the throat and lifted her in the air. Many men jumped up to rescue her but Gunnar was too enraged, too powerful. He kicked a hungover human that was dashing towards him and generated a spectral dagger out of thin air and held it to the woman's throat. "WHERE IS ORIN!" He shouted in her face, holding her hostage in front of all the bar's patrons. He cared not for what they thought or what they did, he was going to save his friend even if he had to slaughter the whole town to find him. Dio seconded his thoughts. "TELL ME WHERE BITCH! YOU LET THEM IN! I DIED!" He roared, only for another man to smash a chair into Gunnar's back. He didn't budge as the wooden chair splintered in the man's hands. Gunnar turned and grabbed that man by the throat as well but he wasn't as tender as he was with the bar maiden. He then bashed the man's face over his knee, knocking out teeth and sending him to the ground. He let the bar maid down but kept his grip on her neck. "Next person who attacks me the bitch gets it... Followed by every single one of you." He snarled before turning back to the bar maiden. "If you are innocent in this I'll let you go whore... But if not you'll be the first on my long list of people I kill today. TALK!" He thrashed her against the bar counter, "Who were those people?... Why did they take the boy I was traveling with?..." He paused, gritting his teeth. "Why did you let them in?"
 
"It - it - it-" the barmaid stammered, sobbing. She didn't know how the man was even alive, let alone healed enough to be attacking her and holding up a blade to her throat. She attempted to claw at his hands, but to no avail. "They- they aren't with us, we- we've been trying to hold them off, but... they only asked that we just, pretend everything is normal! They wouldn't harm any locals, just as long as we let them take who they want! It's not our fault, please! We didn't do this to you!" She sobbed, entirely unsure if she'd be killed right then.


"Hey now, buddy." The Patagiian bartender said, slowly sidling up to where Gunnar and the barmaiden had been. His voice was raspy, but calm. It was a characteristic trait of people of his race; he'd seen the situation, and wanted to descalate it. "Miss Thess doesn't have anything to do with those Islesmen. She abandoned her post to go up and check on you after you left. We don't have anything to do with them, either. Not the people whose throats you need to be grabbing, okay?" He said, hands flat on the table, attempting to make himself look as nonthreatening as possible. "Now I'm the bartender. I hear a lot about the goings-on in this town. Now, I hear they got a caravan outside of town. Can't be terrorizing the locals without a base. Don't know exactly where it is, never met anyone who was suicidal enough to mess with them folk and come back alive. Hear it's near the river, though. If that's the route you want to take, then go ahead. I won't stop you."


"I t-thought he was ... just your client?" The woman asked, eyes shooting sideways to the bartender.


"If it's a paid job, call it that." The bartender said. "We've seen their demonstrations. It's not worth going against them. You're going to go get yourself killed. We'll put you up here, if you want, give you a few days to heal. Just... be calm. Thess said you were bleeding everywhere, nearly dead. Now, I doubt they took your coin, either. Just ... have a drink, get your stuff, and move on. Everything on the house." He offered, wanting nothing more than to have his small tavern return to its normal state. While he and the barmaiden had been talking to him, another patron had stood to move behind Gunnar. The bartender saw this, looking behind the massive, enraged human, and held up a webbed hand to signal him to stop.
 
"You'd put me up after threatening this... nice woman and nearly attack you all?" Gunnar was dumbfounded. He had been so paranoid of the townsfolk when they arrived it didn't even cross his mind that they could honestly be good honest folk who just wanted to live peacefully and away from Central and the Blazing Isles. He looked down to the bar maid who had a look of pure fear on her face the entire time but noticed Gunnar's features had softened. He felt regret, targeting the wrong person. So much so that when he let go he helped her to her feet and bowed his head. "You all are too kind. I am sorry I came down like that but... He is not just a client. He is one of my closest and only friends. I'd do anything for that man and I failed him." Gunnar waited for a moment, making sure that the one behind him wasn't going to attack before he reached to his pocket.


"Please don't hurt me..." The barmaid whispered, still frightened of Gunnar as she reached up to hold her neck from the pain he inflicted on her. He then grabbed her again but this time was a lot more preferable as the next thing she knew a massive bag of coins was forced in her hand. "Wha-... Who... Why?" She stammered, unable to comprehend what was happening.


"Open your own inn. Take shit from no one. If someone gets near you like what I just did again, kill them. And if I'm around, I'll do it for you." Gunnar said, the regret in his eyes telling the woman everything she needed to see. "I am so sorry Miss Thess... I had sworn you all were to blame, now I see that I was wrong. I-" He let out a long sigh, if Nora could see him now she'd be very disappointed. At the first chance he had reverted back to what a typical Veldard man would react. "There should be enough there so you can stop doing what you do, live happy. I can not take any more from any of you so... That free food and drink I don't deserve it barkeep." He reached into yet another bag and pulled out several bigger coins and placed them at the bar. "For the damages... and a round on me."


Gunnar left before Thess or the barkeep could say anything to him, they didn't have much words for the man that nearly killed Thess then all in one go gave her a future brighter than she had ever asked for before. He sulked out of the inn and began to walk through town towards the river they had spoken of. If Orin's kidnappers were there than Gunnar would swiftly be there too. There was only one problem however.


"How am I going to kill them when they have the ability to rip the mana from the room?..." He asked Dio, calming down after the incident at the bar. "And why did I get injured so badly after that happened? It doesn't make sense."


"I heal your wounds but when I am unbounded all of that healing disappears. You are simply a human then. Most humans can not heal injuries such as you or endure pain and punishment like you. They also aren't as strong or fast as you as I enhance every facet of that. You are formidable on your own but you are just human." Dio said grimly, "You will not die if we are unbounded for some time but it will be extremely painful and you may very well bleed out. I can keep you alive even in a manaless state... It is just rough on the both of us."


"Okay... And the creature?"


"That... I have no answer to. I have heard whispers of a being able to eat mana but that is as far as my knowledge go."
 
Gunnar's trek through the city wasn't one of silence. As he exited the tavern, voices seem to hush and eyes turned toward his direction. It wasn't too often that someone such as Orin and Gunnar had come through town. A blind man and his human. If they hadn't already been targets enough, a particular set of eyes had been turned upon them. Ones of Lamian descent. While the race didn't carry any inherent allegiance to it, their proximity to the Blazing Isles had set a target upon their backs that they truly wouldn't understand until right then. After all, not too many travelers deigned to stay in Hatchment long, let alone ones carrying purses of Sol. So the events of the night previous had made their way through the lips of the townsfolk, and when the supposedly slain human had left the tavern, all eyes were on him.


They had both made their exits ceremonious. Orin had been dragged through town kicking and screaming, unsure of what was happening and why. Thrust into a place of darkness, but long since gone since Gunnar had awoken. Gunnar himself was covered in his own blood, pale in the face and accented by red, but looking meaner and angrier than when he had first come in. He looked crazier than the very dregs of society that had inhabited the horribly rough town. So, when he made his way through the town, he seemed to part the wave of people who looked on him in shock. All except for a few.


Gunnar had nearly passed the man. The same man who had approached him the previous night; the human. Miles was his name. He proceeded on happily talking to another of his type, with a mug in hand that he'd apparently taken from the tavern itself. That was a small crime, but the guilt that had played upon his face when he had turned around to see Gunnar taking toward the exit of the town was enough to make the Viking stop in his tracks. Miles fell deathly pale; perhaps the same, bloodless shade that Gunnar had been, in that moment, and let out a yip of surprise. He'd gotten news previously that Gunnar of Veldard had died when the small team had come, but there he was, marching with a bloodlust in his eyes that wasn't really comparable to anything else the considerably smaller human had seen.


"O-oh! Sorry, sorry. That's my fault." he said, meekly, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself than was necessary. He stepped aside, letting Gunnar through. His eyes were wide as bright white orbs, terrified of the man he'd sworn off so easily the night beforehand. "S-saw yer partner gettin' taken out the South entrance. That help?" he asked, nervously. Then, his fear betrayed his intentions. The mug slipped from his hand, shattering on the ground, as his other hand reached up and grabbed the human woman he'd been chatting up and pulled her down. He took off into a run, feet carrying him surprisingly quick, but partially drunk.
 
Gunnar caught the woman that Miles had cowardly pushed down just in time before she hit the ground, looking up at the fleeing Miles as if he had killed Orin himself. He helped the woman to her feet who seemed awfully confused why Gunnar wasn't running towards Miles who had just used her as a distraction. The viking held his hand up into the air, a throwing axe forming out of thin air appeared in his hand. He gripped the spectral blade tightly, confusing the town's citizens even more as to how the man even possessed such an ability. He then hurled it as hard as he could at Miles who was foolishly running in a straight line.


"AGHHHHHH!" The drunken fool screamed as the axe pierced his spine. He lost function in his legs almost instantly, whether that be from the pain or because Gunnar paralyzed him with the precise throw. He began crying in pain as the axe deteriorated, blood pouring out of Mile's back as he tried to crawl away desperately as Gunnar silently walked up to him. "I DIDN'T.... I DIDN'T DO NUTHIN!" He cried out, his face caked with mud after falling so roughly into the ground. "I 'AD.... I DIDN'T DO-" Miles screamed again as Gunnar turned him over then slammed his boot down in the middle of Mile's chest. The pressure alone was enough to crack his ribs which he felt were crumbling underneath Gunnar's boot. "I'M INNOCENT!" He pleaded as the pain was becoming too much to bare.


Gunnar was just getting started.


As the townsfolk questioned whether or not to help Miles, the people from the Inn watched as Gunnar had finally found the obviously guilty man that had caused all of this trouble.


"The Veldard vikings are trouble huh?" Gunnar said, starring down at the trembling tramp. "You give humanity a bad name, Miles. Pointing those people in my direction was the worst mistake you ever made... Talk. Who are they?"


"I'll nev-" Miles squealed like an animal giving birth as Gunnar put his full weight on the broken man's chest. "OKAY PLEASE STOP! I BEG YOU MISTER STOP THIS!" Gunnar continued, regardless of his pleas. He didn't stop until Miles looked like he was about to burst, the homeless looking man groaning as he no doubt had internal injuries accumulating now. It was only a matter of time before Gunnar went too far. "They... They come and go along the isles as they please... They... take people from Central and... That's all I know..."


"We're not from Central." Gunnar revealed to the dying man, dumbfounding him completely. "That boy I was traveling with is from the Blazing Isles, returning home before things get bad in Eye." He lied a bit, causing Miles even more mental pain now as all of this was for nothing. "WHERE ARE THEY!" Gunnar said, stomping once more.


"I ALREADY TOLD YOU SOUTH!... SOUTH... GODS BE DAMNED!" Miles was bleeding from his mouth now, "Please... I don't... deserve this... It's... It's all I know... I'm sorry..."


"You may have killed an innocent boy who's been through enough already... All because you didn't like me? Or is it because you don't like Ifritians?" Gunnar frowned, "A petty reason might have got him killed. That same reason... got you killed." Before Miles could even scream Gunnar stomped in his head, his skull caving in from the force of the blow. Most of the townsfolk found it justified while others were horrified everyone was allowing this to happen. However, after seeing what Gunnar was capable of it was better to stay silent than deal with him. He began to walk south, trailing Mile's blood through to town from his boot.
 
Gunnar had a trek ahead of him. Unfortunately for them, they had chosen a particularly mountainous area in which to take residence. Of course, neither Orin or Gunnar could have predicted what was going to happen to them. Sure, assuming that the townsfolk had it out for them would be easy enough, but that meant nothing compared to what had actually awaited. To make it worse, rainfall had started up, causing the ash-laden ground to become patches of slick, blackened mud mixed with slippery grass. The uphill trek was something hard for even Gunnar, made only more difficult by his injuries.


While Dio had helped him, there was only so much that the spirit could do, especially after having the mana robbed from them. Taken away like the snap of a finger, by a creature whose features were hidden by the cover of darkness. The concept of going against it again was a deathwish; one that the Viking had apparently been eager to take on. So he made the journey, with the slightest hint of where he would even be going at all. There was a river, apparently, and that's near where it is. Who even came up with such information? A blind man?


The thought niggled at the Viking, before the muted sound of rushing water had come to his ears. Tunnel vision subsided only slightly for him to sharpen his senses and listen in; had there been any rivers, they would have settled at an elevation far below them. The ocean itself sat a great amount below the elevation in which they were at. It was especially confusing to the man who had descended from the skies themselves, an area so rich in humidity and moisture in some places that humidity and moisture seemed to appear out of thin air, at times.


But he'd heard the sound, and that meant that he was at least close.


...


"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I'M NOT FROM CENTRAL!" Orin screamed, so violently and brashly it was as if he had been insulting his interrogator himself. He was enraged, having put together the pieces by their conversations with each other that he'd been taken because they had thought he was a valuable target. But they didn't believe him. Perhaps it was because of job experience. After all, who willingly admitted that they were from the very same faction that their kidnappers had probably intended to kill? The Lamian man who stood in front of him went into thought.


"Male Starseers aren't blinded on the Blazing Isles ... the townsfolk may be too stupid to realize what you are, but -" He reached forward, grabbing Orin by the jaw with one hand and then prying his blackened Seer eye open with the other. "- you have either have origins within Central or you've traveled to it, but the former is the most possible case. We know of your culture; male Seers are taken at birth and blinded, other than the very rare instances in which affluential people are allowed to keep their children, trading the very same blindness for the ability to remain untouched within society." he concluded. Orin pulled his head back. Everything had made sense, and perhaps his disguise was too good for his own liking. But there remained one last piece of the puzzle. One that the Lamian couldn't figure out.


Orin heard the telltale sound of a blade sharpening itself against the inside of the Lamian's holster, being pulled out for reasons he'd be horrified for.
 
"He better be alive. I'll kill them all if he isn't." Gunnar said, huffing as he followed the sound of the river. His people lived in mountains so he understood that rivers could form in mountains but he was just hoping they were near the top and that he wouldn't have to head down a mountain to find Orin. Every second that he spent searching for Orin was another second he could be killed. Another second that the thing that nearly killed Gunnar could suck the life from him. It stressed out Gunnar beyond belief as he continued on the trail, the poor town he left in shambles long since behind him. "If he is alive I'll still kill them all..."


"You have to calm yourself, Gunnar." Dio said, trying to stay rational. "If we slaughter them all it will put Orin in danger. He could get caught in between it all. You must calm yourself... Now." He instructed, doing his best to calm the enraged viking down.


"Orin is our friend... It is normal to care for your friends Dio. I will hurt all of them if they even lay a hand on Orin..." Gunnar spat, "Do not tell me to calm down. You know better than anyone that I am better when I'm mad..."


"I wish you weren't that way..." The wraith trailed off, worried how this was all going to turn out.


...


"Fuck me." An Ifrit donned in black armor said, standing with arms crossed next to the raging river. He stood next to a Lamian woman who shared his expression. They were on guard duty and it was the worst end of the deal. Bugs and all sorts of other pests were bothering them and they were confident in the fact that they hadn't have been followed. No one attacked this strike team, it was always the other way around. "Once that damn kid is dealt with and the others in the cells I'm taking a vacation."


"Oh... To where?" The Lamian woman questioned, looking for any sort of conversation to pass the time.


"Maybe to Pyrit's Peak. I hear the food there is incredible. On account of the altitude... Plus the women there, can't beat them. No offense."


"Always a pig, aren't you Vasiz? You need religion. Pray to a higher power... Think long and deeply on what you do. Let the holiness of something greater than you fill you."


"Sounds like we're talking about the same thing!" Before Vasiz could continue his vacation plans he took a swig of his canteen. He had an odd look on his face as he looked to his fellow guard. "Water tastes like piss. Did you fill this up?"


"I did! And luckily, it's not piss." A cheerful voice called out, startling both of the guards. Before Vasiz knew it he was on his knees, choking on his own throat while he watched in horror as the Lamian woman he was on patrol with had her throat slit from behind. Out of the woods came a masked man, one who donned a hood and tight fitting robes. "Hello friend.... How is that drink of yours?" Vasiz began to choke louder, grasping at his throat. "I imagine it isn't very pleasant. The muscles in your throat are contracting, completely asphyxiating you. Within moments you will choke to death on your own throat. How's that for creativity huh?" The assassin placed a webbed, gloved hand on Vasiz's shoulder. "You really should listen to your friend back there... Before her throat got cut anyways. You really should look into a higher power. Do you know why?"


Vasiz choked and sputtered, trying his best to communicate with the assassin but nothing would come out.


"Because in seconds... you will meet one. Or perhaps you won't... After all, you wouldn't be meeting me if your actions were just." The figure smiled underneath his intimidating mask before patting Vasiz's shoulder encouragingly. "Alright then! Good meeting you Vasiz. I'll have to check out the sights at Pyrit's Peak when I get the chance. Thank you for the recommendation." And with that, the assassin disappeared into the woods as Vasiz collapsed to the ground and joined his comrade in death.
 
"What's your name, then?" the Lamian interrogator asked, pressing the blade of the knife to Orin's throat. "It's not really all that often I have to interrogate blind fellows." he admitted, voice so laissez-faire that it had chilled the Seer to the core. "I'm actually at a disadvantage. I can usually draw blood, intimidate, do something visceral, but... there isn't really that factor with you. Just touch, smell, and sound, and the latter two aren't feasible or good. Which means I'm going to have to expedite the process. Which ... is unfortunate for you." he admitted, though whether he'd actually been perturbed by the fact was up in the air.


"O-Orin." Orin replied. In turn, the interrogator withdrew his blade. Then, he slammed the hilt into the poor Seer's forehead. It left him with a gash and he screamed out, filling the air around him with a short, loud disturbance. Birds shot away from the treetops, signalling to the approaching intruders that something serious was going down. And where.


"I didn't ask for your pet name. I asked for your name. The sooner you realize that the more information you give me, the better off you're going to be. Now, unless you're Sang'rok, which I'm fairly certain you're not, you don't have one name." he said, staring down at Orin.


"Orin ... Ellyre." he managed, shaking due to the pain. "I'm ... not ... from Central. I'm not anyone you want." he said, desperate to give the man a reason to stop.


"Well, it's not like we just return the people we take because they're not 'what we want'. Maybe you're not from Central. You're a bit stupid, aren't you?" he taunted. "Dumb and blind aren't a good combo. Maybe I should lop off another sensory organ to complete the trifecta. How are you alive, again? The useless brute couldn't have been keeping you alive; he died the moment we came into the room." the interrogator stated, causing a sharp gasp to come from Orin.


"NO!" Orin yelled, overcome with anger and sadness."No no - he's not - he's not dead. He can't be, he's - he's from Veldard." the Seer replied, defeated.


The caravan itself was nestled into the trees overlooking the fall; it was a relatively small thing for the operation they had been carrying out. Several massive, lizardish beasts of burden stood awake, tongues flitting out of their mouths as they jumped at the disturbance. An Ifritian coachman sat boredly in the front of the caravan, occasionally shouting out a command for the poor souls hosted in the back to quiet themselves, while the Sang'rok that had hosted the recent attack stood nearby, propping his axe into the dirt below him and sharpening it with a whetstone. His eyes flitted to the sky as the local wildlife left them, and then snorted a chuckle.


"That was quick."
 
Gunnar was very much alive, to the dismay of the dead caravan guards he had begun to slaughter on the outskirts of their camp. He had been trekking through the mountain side, stomping through the forest and slaughtering all that stood in his way. He didn't stop to ask questions, he didn't stop to check to make sure they were even with the caravan. If they were armed and on this mountain side he considered them hostile as he slaughtered parameter guard after parameter guard.


"Wait." Dio said out of no where as they continued to follow the river. Gunnar stopped in his tracks, his eyes darting around to see what Dio had been talking about and sure enough there were two bodies ahead that they hadn't dropped themselves. "Look... One of them has their throat slit, the other..." Dio floated over to the corpses, the ghostly apparition clear as day in Gunnar's eyes as he watched the spirit examine the other body. "Poisoned. A special kind, one that instead of killing slowly upon consumption this man's throat closed." Dio rejoined Gunnar, his voice getting louder as he returned. "It seems that we're not the only ones wanting these criminals killed."


"Good." Gunnar replied, stepping on the corpses as he walked right on by. He had no concern for their fallen, if anything he was happy to see it. "Maybe we have someone helping us then." He commented, axe and sword still in hand as he pushed forward through the trees. "Maybe we-" They passed by another guard corpse, this one pinned to a tree by his own blade. "Wow." Gunnar said, dumbfounded even in his rage. "Creative. Gotta give them that." While Gunnar was amused by the kill, Dio was now a bit skeptical of what was going on now.


"This feels to convenient." The Wraith commented. "It seems as if we are being led to them by bodies now. As if someone is clearing a path for us directly." Dio let out a ghostly sigh, his cold breath filling the air around them as he was deep in thought. "Perhaps whoever is killing these people is planning on using us as a distraction. That's what I would have done."


"What you would have done huh?" Gunnar asked, keeping his eyes peeled to the trees. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."


"I..." Dio paused, "I'm not sure. It just feels right to me. Let's continue on."


Continue on they did, following a trail of bodies in creative and brutal patterns. Soon they had set their eyes on the caravan along with several tents placed among the trees. They had finally found the base. The trail of bodies had long since ended, though they had spotted a few stretching out in different directions all around the perimeter of the base. Whoever or whatever was helping them was intricate and finished the job properly, they just didn't know if they would be the next one on this person's bloodbath or not.


"Let us wait a moment... Look at who is around. Then, we charge in." Dio said, taking in their surroundings. "We will use your brutality to our advantage BUT... we must be smart about this. If another is assisting us with taking out the guards in the trees maybe they are leaving us to take out the bigger guards in the base? Look." Dio pointed out the same Sang'rok Gunnar had seen just before he blacked out from his injuries. "We are in the right place. Which means whatever drained all the mana away is also here."


"Good."
 
"Veldard? Your bodyguard was a sky savage?" the Lamian man asked, laughing. It seemed like he was able to get more ground simply by shooting the blind Seer's hopes down. Orin looked completely and totally defeated, with his head hanging low and a deep, unrelenting frown on his face. The thought of Gunnar having died destroyed him completely, as he'd blamed himself entirely. Why had it even happened? All he remembered was waking up and then being ripped out of the room with not a clue in the world as to why. Then, the frown turned deep, and his brow contorted into anger. Still, the interrogator didn't relent. "He bled out on the floor as soon as we entered. Sucked the mana out of his animated corpse. Was keeping him alive, I suppose. When I took that away, he died pretty quickly. Did he gather those wounds defending you?" he asked, keen.


"Fuck you." Orin spat. Really, the man's words had gotten to him. They weren't entirely untrue. Gunnar had still been recovering from dealing with the golem, and tearing into the combatants at the church when they had first met. He hadn't extensively thought about it, really, and he hadn't been able to see the state Gunnar had been in, either. Should he have pressed it? He thought about what Balor and Sinna would have done. Rested more, for sure. Played it safer. His thoughts were apparent by his face, which was contorted in pain and worry.


"I've killed devils before, Sang'rok, dwarves, gnomes... never a human. And never that disappointingly. Should have seen the look on Nasher's face. He was itching for a fight. Really, this all has been disappointing, because if you're not important ... Well, it's not a huge trade to walk to town to kill a boy and his mutt." he said. "Unless you say something that'll give me motivation to keep you alive. Lie and I'll kill you quicker."


"And what happens if ... I tell you who I am?" Orin asked, teeth gritted.


"It's a matter of when. You'll be alive longer." he replied, mouth pursed. It seeemed as if, for a moment, they had actually been getting somewhere. For a moment.


"Then kill me, motherfucker. Eat a bag of dicks and hang yourself." Orin replied, defiantly, dashing his interrogator's hopes. A loud sigh trilled out of his chest, before the Seer screamed out once again.


While Gunnar sat in the trees, the orcish man looked up from his axe. He seemed to sniff the air for a moment, as if he could smell the blood on it. They had taken every other precaution; or at least, the assassin had. With the corpses hid, their deaths completely silent, what else could he have done? But Nasher was a Sang'rok; a beast of war and blood. It was only fair that he could smell it on the air. He stood from place, eerie blackened eyes scanning around him. Then, he approached the caravan-driver, stabbing his weapon into the ground below him and causing the lizardic beast of burden to rear back, and the driver to hold tightly to the lasso.


"By fucking Arkas, can you please not do that?" the Ifritian driver asked, irritated. "They're temperamental."


"I don't care. Do you ... feel like it's too quiet?" the Sang'rok asked. "I'm going to check on them." he said.


"Because it's a really good idea to leave the prisoners and I alone in a forest? Of course there's blood on the air, dumbass." she replied, "What do you think the point of this whole thing is?" she said, irritating the Sang'rok more than he could manage in words.


The two of them continued arguing, while the few others in the caravan stirred restlessly. They slept in shifts, several of them still slumbering inside of the caravan tents themselves, while their other forces divided themselves between being perimeter guards and staying with the goods.
 
"Now is the time." Gunnar grunted, standing up from where they had been hiding only for Dio to immediately shout at him to get down. Gunnar however didn't listen, feeling his blood boil as he looked at the familiar Sang'rok from the ambush. He recognized him as well as the driver and his hatred blinded him. Gunnar foolishly left cover as he completely ruined his element of surprise by strolling right up to them. None of the other perimeter guards noticed this act miraculously but what did blow his cover was ridiculously gruesome. One moment Nasher was speaking with the Ifritian driver only for the next moment to notice she was now missing her head. Gunnar hacked the woman's head off in one clean strike, even startling the otherwise stoic orc. Her head bounced off her seat and at their feet, the Sang'rok's eyes following the decapitated head until it hit the ground before truly realizing what was happening. Soon he too had a deep pain in his shoulder as Gunnar slammed his axe as hard as he could at the warrior's neck only for Nasher to move just in time to avoid a fatal blow.


With a massive leg planted firmly on the ground, Nasher kicked forward and sent Gunnar skidding across the ground with a devastating kick. The viking almost planted his feet firmly as he narrowly avoided tipping over. Reaching for his weapon that had been stabbed into the ground, he ripped out a weapon of such ridiculous proportions Gunnar in all of his rage wondered for a moment how Nasher was even able to hold it. A long iron handle the size of a spear connected to an even more massive axe head, one that was so large it could barely even be considered a battle axe. The head of the axe was heavy and frightening looking, the shined metal showing plenty of signs of battle. Scars and indentations littered the metal with wounds much like the Sang'rok holding it. Gunnar barely had time to jump back in time as the massive axe went swinging down and plummeted into the ground, cracking the earth around it as it sent a shockwave of energy straight towards Gunnar. The viking dove out of the way just in time as the ground he was standing on suddenly detonated beneath him.


"His sign is Stand! He can manipulate the earth itself to fight against you Gunnar." Dio called out, surprised to see such a magic user among Orin's kidnappers. "It seems he can only do so with his axe he-" As if Dio jinxed him, Nasher held his hand up in front of him towards the rubble before them as he reset his axe and swung it up on his shoulder. The ground he had hit began to fire bits of rock at Gunnar. It looked as if the orc was psychic with the way he was manipulating the earth but that was just what they were capable of. Stones struck Gunnar over and over again as he attempted to defend himself against the Sang'rok's onslaught. He wasn't able to defend from it alone, nearly no one could against a trained manipulator of the ground. Within the blink of an eye several shields generated in front of Gunnar, all floating in thin air as they bobbed and weaved in front of the magical onslaught. Gunnar squinted his eyes, seeing several spirits wielding said shields as they continued to defend him.


There was no time to question the phenomenon as they were running out of time. Everyone in the caravan was waking up or getting ready for a fight, the entire camp alert as the sound of the Sang'rok' warrior fighting the viking was plenty of warning enough. Gunnar charged right through his own shields and jumped high into the air, slamming his axe directly into Nasher's neck causing orcish blood to squirt violently out of the man's neck. Nasher ripped Gunnar off and swung his axe down sending the viking away once more but now he too was hurt, underestimating what Gunnar was capable of.


"You... Possess dark magic!" Nasher roared, "And here we thought you were just a corpse animated by the dead... Without mana you sure die quickly human. I will still kill you with it."


Reinforcements began to come to Nasher's aid, only for several of them to be taken out by an unseen force. Many ran into various traps and other surprises, several of the agents crying out in pain as they ran into a bear trap or others being cast into flame by fire bombs they tripped. Their unseen assailant was right above their caravan, smiling down at them behind his horrifying mask. He chuckled to himself as he watched all of these bad people burn, not out of cruelty but out of the sheer fact that his actions were making the world a better place. Although it was rather unsettling with him grinning at such a grisly display of violence, he was keeping an eye on the prisoners specifically. Waiting for the opportune moment to release them, refusing to let a single one of them be a victim to the caravan.
 
Before Nasher charged at Gunnar again, he looked to the Viking with a particularly fiendish grin on his face. He'd had something in mind, and the fact that Gunnar's cover had been blown was something that could only detriment him. The fearsome Sang'rok drew something from his belt; a conical-looking device with a rune enscribed on the side. It was of a God that Gunnar himself didn't recognize. Like most runes, considering the Viking hadn't had much in the way of a formal education. He blew into it, causing everyone around him to flinch at the enhanced, bellowing sound. If the animals of the forest hadn't already been disturbed, they were surely on the far way out. That wasn't the purpose, however.


As the sound travelled through the forest, shaking the leaves and the roots themselves, Orin flinched at the sound. He was still alive, though an inkling of him had wished he wasn't. Now, he'd felt a particularly bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that matched the pain in his head. That horn had meant bad news for him in particular. And it seems that the caravan-goers had come prepared. As the sound died down, he listened for something, anything that could indicate to him what had been going on. But all he had heard was the sound of a blade coming out of its sheath. The horn had been an order. Tie up loose ends.


The interrogator didn't say anything as he'd gone to dispatch Orin, but as soon as he'd drawn close, Orin had thrashed just enough for his head to meet the interrogator's chest. He'd tried to use anything; any sort of magic in order to get himself out of the situation, but he still found that there had been a distinct vacancy. Except in him. Inside of the interrogator lied a deep well of mana; a stolen stream. The fact that he hadn't mutated from it was amazing in itself. In that split second, Orin had done as his sister had, voiding him and disappearing that particularly large mana well in a fraction of a second. The Lamian man emitted a piercing, horrible, inhuman roar that almost seemed to match the volume of the horn from beforehand. He staggered back at the shock to his system, trying to comprehend for a moment what had happened.


Then, Orin's bindings had broken. Of course, he had hoped they would do so when he'd quipped at the man to eat a bag of dicks and die, but his dramatic exit hadn't happened as soon as he would have liked. There was a deep chill in his bones as he'd practically launched himself off, taking off into the woods in the moment that his interrogator had tried to put together the pieces of what had happened. Orin's hand came up to his chest, feeling wetness, but unsure just how badly he'd been injured in the numbness of the adrenaline rush.


Nasher lowered the horn. "You know, the kid might'a had a chance of surviving if you hadn't come. But now..." he dropped it, placing his other hand back onto his axe.


Then, he swung it, piercing the air. A once hidden insignia of Stand highlighted itself on the middle of the double-edged blade. He continued spinning it, and with each iteration, the ground rocked like waves in water, forcing Gunnar to fight to keep his balance and rocking the caravan itself to a swell. It almost seemed as if he were ignoring his injuries. If there was one thing that orcs had been known for, it was fighting until they had lost every drop of blood in their body. Then, he slammed his axe into the ground, parting the ground like he'd split a sea, the earth violently separating itself in Gunnar's direction. If he didn't move quickly, he'd be stuck in a crumbling chasm, with his fate being crushed and buried alive.
 
With a display of power he hadn't used before Gunnar leaped over inhumanly high as he leaped straight over Nasher's attack. The Sang'rok could barely comprehend what he just seen, no human he had ever faced before possessed such powers especially ones that seemed to do well against the mighty power of Stand himself. The earth continued to split behind Gunnar as he landed, the mountain side itself beginning to crack as Nasher's mighty power was upsetting the balance of nature itself around them. The remaining Caravan guards had began to mount their beasts and quickly began to corral the prisoners into their cages but soon we're faced with an enemy they hadn't seen until now.


"Hello friends!" The assassin called out, standing on top of one of the caravan cages. "Friends... may be too strong of a term actually. Being the fact that friends don't kill each other's friends and well... I've killed a ton of you today." The earth shattering divide passed by the caravan and exploded in the distance yet the assassin didn't flinch. He held out his arms open wide, "And that's just the start! You see... corrupted individuals such as yourself imprisoning those you see fit is an unforgivable crime. Imprisoning you back would be too predictable and cliche. It's why the majority of your people are now meeting Necras!" The assassin began to laugh, his tone a stark deference to what his actions were. "So... I am going to let my human friend over there deal with your muscle. Those who are trying to go help that Sang'rok however will meet a swift end. Or, well, a painfully slow one. Depends on how many of you-"


Suddenly the majority of the caravan guards went rushing forward to assist Nasher with the main problem out front. The majority of them had been briefed about the human that had died back in town only to come back to fight them meant some dark magic was happening. Especially with Nasher not being able to deal with him swiftly meant he looked to be the bigger target than someone standing there and taunting them.


"-Wow! You all didn't heed my warning? Why does that always happen?... Is the mask not scary enough? Am I being too nice?" The assassin laughed, "Alright. This is gonna hurt." He paused, "For you guys! Not me. Figured I'd clarify that first." With that, the assassin jumped straight into the rushing caravan guards. While he worked much better with the element of surprise his speed was unrivaled as he jumped straight into the mess of guards and released dual weapons the type that none of them had seen before. The closer they seen the assassin they realized his arms weren't armored, but rather they were wrapped in a dark black chain. The assassin whipped his wrists around and two sickles that had been sheathed behind his arm came flinging down and landing on the ground. "Brace yourself!" He said gleefully, "This is gonna suck!" He laughed before unwrapping more chain then flung his right arm forward, the sickle attached to the chain flying out and slicing one of the caravan guard's necks. "Ooo... that one hurt!" He then used his left arm to hit yet another who tried to block with his shield but the sickle simply went around the guard's defense. "So close!"


The assassin then began to swinging the sickles wildly, if the guards weren't struck by the sickles themselves it wasn't long until they were hit by the chain causing them to be disoriented from the sheer strength of the blow. With momentum on his side the assassin began bouncing all over the area, dodging arrows and magical attacks as his devastating weapons cleansed the battlefield of his enemies. Gunnar was having less of a fun time, gridlocked with Nasher who had slammed his axe down right onto a spectral shield Gunnar was holding. The Sang'rok was forcing a lot of pressure down, desperately trying to shatter the shield in order to kill Gunnar. Nasher gritted his teeth as did Gunnar, the two proud warriors locked in battle. Finally, Gunnar left the shield suspended in air and dived to the side as the massive axe came slamming down completely obliterating the spectral shield.
 
As the axe dove into the ground, so too did the power of Stand. Nasher had slammed it down with such force that the axe's power combined with Nasher's had sent the axe into the ground so deep that it almost seemed to disappear apart from the handle. Then, unexpected to the Sang'rok wielding it - and in turn, wielding a power that he had been far too careless with - the ground shattered beneath him. Underneath his feet, Gunnar's, and everyone around them, the earth suddenly caved in on itself, practically exploding inward with Nasher at the center. He'd dropped his weapon in the fall, and Gunnar had to fight just as well to stay on solid ground. Then, he lifted his hand, attempting to stop what was going to be an inevitable rebound from the earths around them.


A voice split the treeline.


"FUCKING HELP, THIS MOTHERFUCKER IS TRYING TO KILL ME!" Orin shouted, voice muted by distance. He wasn't sure who was there, and he'd never attempted to run toward the sound of fighting before, but he knew well that it may very well be his last hope. The manaeater was gaining on him, and it was only a matter of time before he'd run into something, vision completely blackened.


And then he did.


Crashing violently onto the forest floors below, a root had tripped him up by the foot and sent the poor blind Seer facefirst into the forest brush beneath, adding insult to injury by cutting him. Surely enough, his interrogator had caught up with him in a fraction of a second. They had taken to the ground, with the blade eerily close to Orin's throat as he'd tried with all of his might to fend it off.


"WHAT DID I EVEN DO?!" he shouted, sharpened teeth gritted as the blade hung a fraction of an inch away from his throat. His attacker didn't deign to answer, fighting himself to finish up and not let his responsibility slip away. The prospect of losing a blind kid in a forest isn't one he wanted to face up to, and the horn had already been sounded. His fate was sealed. Blood was drawn as the blade pushed into Orin's neck, making his circumstances particularly dire.


However, they were getting closer and closer to the fight. As they did, the manaeater's field of influence did as well. Suddenly, as Nasher went to prevent his doom, nothing happened. The earths below them moved like a wave once again, knocking Gunnar off of his feet but culminating in the true middle of the area. Like the ocean, the earthen waves had swallowed Nasher up whole, leaving him there one moment and gone the next. All because of a little mana. A pit where he had once been had been formed, emanating out and causing the caravans that had held the prisoners to teeter toward the middle as well. Suddenly, the focus was shifting; while they had to worry less and less about their defender's numbers, their people had been placed into more escalating danger.
 
As soon as the prisoners began to teeter towards the chaos the assassin immediately stopped his unrelenting assault on the remaining caravan guards and rushed straight for the carriage. He leaped and bound across the battlefield, moving in an unorthodox movement pattern that allowed him to dodge any projectiles towards him. While he was rushing towards the trapped prisoners he passed right by Gunnar who was heading in the opposite direction. He had heard the one thing he had been desperate to hear this entire battle: Orin's voice. He was alive!


"ORIN!" Gunnar roared, his voice piercing the battlefield as he began running toward him unknowingly heading right toward a Strix. Dio had already felt the effects of the mana being eaten but even he had wanted to do nothing more than to save Orin who was in a terrible position. They seen the blade being placed to Orin's throat and both of them had begun to feel the effects of their bond being severed again.


"Gunnar, quick!" Dio hissed, "Strike that man before we our severed once more! The mana eater is going to stop us again..."


That was all Gunnar needed to hear as he dropped his other weaponry and held out his hand, a spear fabricating into existence until it felt heavy in his hands. He reared his arm back and got into position, not wanting to accidentally strike Orin with this last ditch effort to save the boy. With a mighty roar the viking threw the spear but it began to fade as it got closer and closer to the Strix. The Strix was unknowingly eating Gunnar's weapon before it even arrived, it disappearing bit by bit until it resembled a mere arrow. That flimsy arrow struck however, embedding itself into the Strix's arm right before he sliced Orin's throat.


"RUN!" Gunnar shouted hoarsely, his wounds beginning to reopen as Dio's influence began to fade away once again. "LEAVE ME!" He shouted, falling to his knees, "HE CAN NOT KILL ME!" He said defiantly, "NO ONE CAN!"


"As amusing as that sounds friend... I think even you can die." The Assassin from before said, walking up to Gunnar as if everything was normal. "I mean, did they even hit you and you're bleeding like that? That's... that's pretty fucking hilarious. I'm sorry-" The rogue began to laugh at Gunnar's expense but quickly offered him some much needed mercy and began to drag the viking back a few paces where the influence wasn't as strong. "Crawl out of here, friend. You have done a good thing today by helping me free these people. That Strix over there is siphoning your mana and it looks like without it you're a dead man so I suggest you run."


"I don't run... I need to... Save Orin..." Gunnar groaned, feeling less vulnerable a few paces away but still beginning to bleed badly once again. "Help him... Leave me..." At his request, the Assassin nodded. His usual joyful demeanor gave way for a sigh for just a moment however as he heard the request.


"You're one of those self-sacrificial motherfuckers aren't you? 'Save my wife... leave me behind!' Sort of thing? Damn..." The Rogue shook his head, "All life is precious friend, even your's. I make it more precious by weeding out all these assholes!" He began to laugh as he walked forward, "I will help your fleeing friend. I suggest you find us once I kill this Strix. I'm not going to babysit a blind boy." How he knew Orin was blind was a bit suspicious, though it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he had scouted the area first before acting. "Now then! OHHHH STRIX!" The assassin called out, rushing forward and leaving Gunnar alone as he marched forward back into battle. "Leave the blind boy! You already lost him, which is fucking HILARIOUS by the way, but... All laughing aside I can't let you live."
 
"GUNNAR!" Orin shouted, in disbelief. His voice had been unmistakable, but pained. He could tell that his friend had been in trouble, even as the spectral arrow pierced the Strix's shoulder.


The blade had been stopped right before it had sliced Orin's throat, spectral arrow embedding itself in the Strix's arm and then fading away once again, leaving him with an open wound. Orin felt the pressure he had been placing down on his neck give way and he took the opportunity, putting a great deal of force back. The blade fell into the grasses beneath them, and Orin reared his hand back to punch the Strix in the face. At such a close range, the attack had landed. He sent another, and then another, frantically wailing on the vampiric man until he was able to free himself. He scrambled out, running toward Gunnar's voice. As he climbed to his feet, however, the Strix made a move that wasn't the graceful finesse that the Lamian had been known for.


He kneed Orin in the face, causing a fountain of blood to shoot out from his nose, covering the front of his shirt. Then, the Strix wrapped his arm across his neck, bringing him up to use him as a shield for what had come through the treeline.


"All of this for an illegal Shade?!" The Strix hissed, pushing Orin forward. He'd felt the same energy as he had in the room; it was unmistakably the human from earlier. Knowing that he was retreating, the Strix moved, wanting to end them both once and for all. Little did he know of the carnage that had occurred near the caravans themselves. "Regardless, another move forward and he dies."


"You're the one that -" Orin started, cut off abruptly by his throat being squeezed. His hands shot up to pry the Strix from his throat, talon-like, Ifritian nails drawing blood the further they had sunken in. In a second, the Strix's prospects had gone down tenfold. He didn't relent, however, knowing that if he had gone for his weapon that it would leave him vulnerable to attack. Instead, he continued on, all the while while Orin thrashed at the lack of oxygen. He had to move quickly.


"You're going to back away and let me leave or I'm going to break his neck right here. All of the effort will be for naught. Understand?" he asked, calmly, and seemingly unphased. He stepped toward the caravan site, knowing what had lied just on the other side. "If I see a fraction of movement other than stepping out of my way, he dies."
 
"If I see a fraction of movement towards his neck, you die." The Assassin said, circling around the Strix so he could move towards the caravan. He didn't want Orin to die but he certainly wasn't going to let the fact that the Strix was holding a hostage stop him from doing anything. "I would do much more for an illegal shade, I had no idea the blind one was one. Interesting." The Rogue said, smiling underneath his mask as he now followed the Rogue through the caravan. All the prisoners had been released during the conflict, all spread out through the woods passing by dozens of bodies that had once watched the perimeter. The strange masked man had made sure that they got away safely and that their captors had been slain with not many making it off that mountain alive. Even with a Strix the Rogue seemed to operate just fine, albeit slower than he had normally been moving but it seemed he didn't rely too much on his magic just encase situations such as this happened.


Gunnar clutched his chest as the wounds had reopened but being this distance away from the Strix was just enough for him to be able to remain conscious and move. He seen the assassin pushing the Strix through the Caravan and out the other side, or rather letting him dictate where they would go. Gunnar didn't trust that the masked man had Orin's best interests in mind so he too walked through the caravan yet far enough away from the Strix just on the edge of his influence. With him distracted by the assassin he most likely couldn't sap all the mana from Gunnar as well or keep an eye on him.


"I'm going to kill... that... motherfucker.... for hurting Orin." Gunnar groaned, the scar on his face dripping blood down his mouth and chin which stained his beard. "Hang in there Dio, this is almost over."


"Be... ful... We... risk... too mu..."


"Dio? Damn..." Gunnar replied, hearing that Dio's connection to him was weak at best now. He felt weak, having such an exploitable weakness just waiting to be taken advantage of. A proud warrior, one that never backed down from any challenge could be immediately killed by a mana eater. Fortunately they were rare but the fact that he was able to be killed so easily was devastating, a hit to the viking's morale. "Rest, friend. I will... I will flank them. If the assassin doesn't help then we'll come up from behind and attack the Strix." It was a desperate plan from a desperate man but it was all he could do for Orin now.


"I'm curious." The Assassin said, backing down the Strix more and more until he heard the sounds of a raging river behind the monster. The Rogue smiled underneath his mask, it was predictable. A desperate plan from a desperate man. He had been dragging his chained sickles behind him ever since they had began to walk, an option for him to lash out and dispatch the Strix at even the slightest hostile movement. "Do you think holding a hostage is doing you any favors right now? Let's think this through, shall we? You snap his neck, I sever your's. You throw him into that river back there I drown you in it. If you too jump in that river I'm Caelila, you would make it half way down before I adapted back to the water and you'd immediately be in my element with no where to run." He seemed to be growing impatient however, his usual happy taunts beginning to fade for something far more sinister. "Now then... 'friend'... Release the boy, and I let you live. A life of sucking other people's mana out like a wanton whore. A pretty pathetic existence but hey, I'm not one to judge. I kill bad guys for a living... and let me tell you now... the pay SUCKS!" He chuckled, "Really it's just for fun. And because I kick ass at it. Now then, Mana Sucker. Whadda ya say? Live... or die?"
 
"For an assassin, you talk a lot." the Strix said, eyebrows quirked at the Caelilan. Still, he seemed to hesitate for a moment. It wasn't as if he didn't have a point, but it wasn't as if the Strix man was particularly hurt. His arm had been punctured, but what was that in the grand scheme of things? He traveled with a group of thugs, those of which he'd already seen the decimation of as he'd worked his way toward the river. He'd been through worse. In fact, the assassin had a point. If he'd released his hostage, he'd be able to grab for his main arm, sitting nicely on his side.


Whether the assassin would 'let him live' or not was a moot point. In fact, his words had been an insult. A scowl had appeared on his face, accentuating eerie, fake-looking features. "Acting like that may have benefitted you earlier when you've killed those who don't expect it, but it won't help you here. But if you're forcing me to choose one?" he lilted, grinning, and lightly letting up on Orin's neck enough for him to speak. Maybe it was a mercy. But probably not.


"STOP GIVING HIM OPTIONS THAT INVOLVE KILLING ME!" Orin shouted, what seemed to be his last words particularly bad as he'd felt himself falling, shoved backwards over the cliff side. He was in front of them both one moment, and then gone the next. Still, while the Strix's actions had been predictable, they weren't for nothing. The assassin had the option of fighting him - a possibility that he'd prepared for as he'd pulled his real blade out of its home - or potentially saving Orin, whose descent into the water hadn't even been heard under the rampaging noise of the raging river.


"Drown me." the Strix said, smirking slightly. A crazed look had taken place in his eye; while his visage had been particularly Lamian, there was something behind his features that didn't settle quite right. As if they had been wrong. Inherently wild, as if through no matter of fancy clothing or calm demeanor could he shake the deadly drive to survive. "Or save the kid. That was a particularly high drop. Time is ticking. That river leads off into the ocean. What do you say? Does he live, or does he die?"


The Strix stepped to the side, allowing the assassin a path in which to dive into the river himself.
 
"You're... kidding right?" The Assassin asked, watching as he shoved Orin off the cliff and into the water. "You... threw away your only bargaining chip off a cliff? That's your big bad guy move?" The Assassin started to laugh to the Strix's horror. "I don't even know who that fucking kid is! I do however know how long I can hold my breath. Let's see how long you can hold your's!" With a swift dive forward the assassin pushed the Strix off the cliff, hanging on to the fake Lamian grinning underneath his mask as he did so. The Rogue glanced to the left and seen Orin getting swept away, keeping a mental note where he was at all times as they submerged in the water.


"Hey friend!" The Caelilan said clear as day under the water forcing the Strix deeper into the water and not allowing him to rise for air. Even as he felt the mana leech sap at all his mana it mattered not as his natural born ability was not fueled by mana. "Wow, this shut you up? I should have tried drowning you a long time ago!" He laughed as he forced the Strix deeper into the river while they were being pulled by the current being forced down the mountain rapidly whilst bouncing on underwater rocks and other debris in the water. "Shame that blind boy is gonna drown, least you'll be joining him!"


Gunnar had no intentions on letting Orin drown. Back on land the viking had been running alongside the cliffside, seeing Orin be pushed off the cliff and into the water with his own eyes. Him and Dio both had begun to regain their strength and that sight alone had rattled them to the core. Although Gunnar could barely swim (being there wasn't huge bodies of waters in the Isles of Arcadia) he was going to try his damnedest to rescue Orin as best he could. Diving off the side of the cliff edge Gunnar went soaring straight down into the water, putting a body in between Orin and the two fighting upriver.


"This is crazy!" Dio called out, "Swim Gunnar, Orin's life depends on it!"


Gunnar didn't respond, instead opting to try and wave his way through the water. He spotted Orin struggling, the rapids forcing the Ifritian boy to bounce from the surface to the deepest depths the river had to offer over and over again. Reaching out Gunnar finally managed to snag Orin, the Viking acting as a weight to keep Orin afloat while Gunnar's head was submerged because of the raging river. Finally after a brief struggle both of them managed to float to the surface, Gunnar holding on to Orin as they plummeted to who knows where.


"Orin!" Gunnar roared, "Keep your head up or we're gonna drown!" It seemed like such an obvious statement but in the chaos it was warranted. "Wasn't going to let those bastards kill you! I'm glad you can't see either cause-" Gunnar paused for a moment due to a mouthful of water. Spitting the liquid out he finished with, "-THIS IS FUCKING SCARY!" Soon, they hit the first of many waterfalls on the mountain side, plummeting a ridiculous distance down to the next portion of the river that miraculously seemed to rage faster. "OH FUCK!" Gunnar exclaimed, trying to stay strong for Orin but he had never been swept up by a river like this before.


Back up the river, the assassin was unrelenting with his taunting toward the struggling Strix. "Do you suck air out of people too? Fuck do you take a long time to drown!"
 
Orin and Gunnar tried their best to hold onto each other, the raging rivers had tried their best to separate them. For a moment, as water tore at the both of them, muddling blood in the water, the river took them both underwater. While Gunnar was happy Orin couldn't see, the blind Seer was quite the opposite. In fact, the horrendously violent combination of water trying to force its way down Orin and Gunnar's throats, the endlessly loud current, and the thrashing that they had been taking from being in it was a confusing assortment of senses, indeed. The confusion that the poor Seer had amassed from the entire situation had instantly outweighed his happiness for Gunnar and himself both being alive, survival instincts kicking in. They had been slammed against a particularly jagged rock, soon finding themselves pinned underwater.


Orin kept anchored to Gunnar, finding himself able to free himself after a moment, but Gunnar hadn't budged. Now, at least, with the distance they had found themselves from the Strix, he was able to see Dio. Orin's hands wrapped around Gunnar's wrist from under the water, almost painfully so, adrenaline coursing through his veins in light of the situation. Planting his feet on the rocks, he pulled on the viking. However, their air was quickly running out. Especially due to the panic, they had both found themselves lightheaded, slowly fading from cognizance to unconsciousness.


The Strix's eyes stayed wide open, even under the water, a look of pure hatred on his face. While the Caelilan held him down, his own wrists wrapped around the assassin's, grip frighteningly tight. While it was true that he couldn't help himself back out of the water, there was one thing that he could do. Before the assassin's very eyes, the face of the formerly Lamian man began to shift and contort, wide gashes on the sides of his face appearing where there was once smooth skin. They seemed to shift inwards, and right before he had started on the ebbs of passing out, the Caelilan saw him take a deep breath in.


And then grin a sharp, toothy, shark-like grin.


It had taken a bit out of him, but the assassin wasn't the only one that could adapt. Using his own mana against him, there was a frightening visage of the grotesque mid-point of a Lamian and a Nepras in front of him, never accomplishing either side quite the way he should have. Still, that wasn't the point. With the danger of drowning retreating in light of his new form, the formerly Lamian man struggled again with the assassin, his strength quickly becoming overwhelming. Then, the Lamian-Caelilan interrogator reared forward, slamming his head into the Caelilan's mask. The mask itself didn't crack, a runic inscription showing up on the side of it as it distributed the force back into the assassin's skull.


He disengaged, newly water-adapted eyes looking toward Orin and Gunnar. Then, he kicked off against the riverbed, suddenly shooting hard against the current.
 
As the Strix went against the current he was quickly going the opposite way of where Gunnar and Orin were struggling. The Assassin had to make a split second decision, either let two innocents die or let a single evil get away. He was torn for a moment, knowing he could catch up to the half morphed Caelilian given the chance and could put a stop to him but at the same time the cost just weighed too heavily on his heart. With a huff, the Rogue turned his back to the Strix and darted down the river towards the drowning Orin and Gunnar.


They were both desperately struggling to break free of the jagged rock that pinned Gunnar down. While Orin was trying to help his viking companion he began to push Orin towards the surface, denying his help as he wanted nothing more than for the boy to live. Then, they felt a third finally assisting them as both were on the verge of drowning. Quickly, the Rogue forced Orin to ascend to the surface his strength unparalleled underwater so the blind boy didn't have a choice in the matter.


"Look a little stuck there buddy!" The Assassin said to Gunnar as he was struggling to break free. All things considered he seemed a little too calm given the situation. With a sigh, the rogue grabbed Gunnar and carefully removed his arm just as he was losing consciousness. He then kicked up with his feet, dragging Gunnar behind him and surfacing a little ways from Orin. The current was still dragging them along on a wild ride so the rogue had to swim down stream a bit to catch back up to Orin. "Are you two just stupid or suicidal? You just costed me my target." He said, although he didn't seem too upset about it. "Usually when someone costs me my target I chop their hands off but you two... Look like hell." He said with a chuckle, "Well Blind Boy and Human... This river is pretty hellacious even for me so hang on, we'll be thrown out to the ocean in a few minutes. Then... you can thank me once you catch your breath!"


Both Gunnar and Orin couldn't believe what they were hearing. Here they were, struggling to stay on the surface and fighting for air while this strange masked man was simply floating next to them without a care in the world. His tone was the most eerie of it all, he actually sounded happy to have lost his target. Perhaps it was because it meant saving Gunnar and Orin but they didn't get their hopes up. While they struggled to even say a word to one another from the raging rapids the rogue continued to speak.


"The name is Sirius by the way! And seriously guys, if it wasn't for me you'd be seriously dead!" He said with a cackle before gripping the two tightly for whatever reason. Then, moments later they fell down yet another waterfall. This one was so high up they felt their insides shift upward from the force until finally they crashed right into their destination. The current continued while they all struggled to surface for air, Sirius silently guiding them upwards back to the surface. When they breached the surface and began sputtering for air they realized how calm the water was now: they were in open ocean. "Ahh Salt water! How I've missed you so. You two look fucked up." He tilted his head when looking towards Gunnar. "Do I get a thank you? Usually people in my line of work don't but I'd really like one."


"Thanks, Jackass." Gunnar said spitting water out of his mouth and feeling a sense of deja vu being thrown into the ocean like this. "You... said your name was Sirius huh? I'm Gunnar-"


"Of Veldard, yes. And you're Orin something or other. You two were way too loud in the bar. It was as if you were trying to get caught!" Sirius laughed, "You made for great bait though. Without you two getting caught by those hunters I would have had a harder time finding the other prisoners. Great work." It dawned on them that the assassin used their misfortune to find not only the other prisoners but help guide Gunnar to Orin, it was clever albeit a bit cruel but it all had worked out in the end. "So... do you two end up in this sort of trouble often on purpose or are you just that clumsy?"
 
Orin gasped for air, unbelieving that they had all survived the ordeal. He, too, took a moment to cough and sputter what water he had swallowed, salty brine of the water making him gag now that he'd had the chance to calm down. Well, relatively. They had still been in open ocean, and both Gunnar and Orin had been so tired from struggling to stay afloat, let alone stay alive, that they were both nearly too exhausted to keep themselves going. That said, the assassin's taunting comments didn't garner an answer for a little while. Before Orin had even spoken on the subject, he addressed Gunnar.


"Holy fuck." he said. "Didn't know I could get in so much trouble for fucking existing. Well, I did, but ... kidnapped and interrogated? Usually it's just for -" he paused to cough, spitting water out again. "...Just for ... being a Shade, but I guess I can't really ever hide."


Orin seemed to look toward Dio and Gunnar for a moment. It was hard to smile or laugh, but the sheer fact that they had both been alive - in relative terms, for the former - and had come for him was something of amazement. Even if all Gunnar had done was find him and then try to bleed out again. Orin jerked toward Gunnar suddenly, giving him a hug. With his arms not moving, the ocean attempted to drown him again, so he'd made it brief.


"I thought I got you killed." Orin said. "So fucking glad you're not dead, dude." he said, relief in his voice. Despite the fact that they were both actively hurt, with Orin bleeding from the chest, throat, and nose, and Gunnar's old wounds reopening only moments earlier, he was happy. "Holy shit, I thought you were dead. That's what I get for not having faith, I guess." he said, suddenly laughing. He laughed like he'd laughed after they had killed the golem, filled with exasperation and disbelief. Then, he looked to the Caelilan assassin. He was dutifully unaware of his appearence, mask and all.


"Well, by the interrogator's own admission, he liked me for my looks. Creepy fucker." he said. "Just being a male Seer was enough, apparently, because there isn't already a long list of things that people want to kill me for. Next time you use someone as bait, consider rescuing them first, because if I didn't Judo-headbutt the guy I would have been dead already. He stabbed me." Orin said, bringing alarm to his travelling companions. Surely enough, he'd had a gash in his chest where the interrogator had attempted to dispatch him quickly.


"...Where are we?" he asked, hand gravitating toward his wounds. "Judging by the taste of the water ... we're not near land, are we?"
 
"I'm glad you are alright too, Orin. Not even death was going to stop me from saving you buddy. Ended up nearly bleeding out after that Strix started sapping my mana, poor Dio even felt pain. He says he's 'elated that you're okay'. The hell does elated mean?" Gunnar said, slowly finding a way to float properly in the salt water. It was much easier than dealing with fresh water thankfully but without Sirius guiding the both of them this trip to the sea would have been ended abruptly by sinking to the bottom. "And the interrogator liked you by your looks? Hell, I'd kidnap you too I guess if I swung a different way." He said laughing, causing Sirius to burst out into laughter as well.


With everything that had just happened, the laughter of relief was contagious. Although they were rather far away from the shore and were in the arms of an unknown protector who had only given his name things were beginning to look up after their temporary bout with being captured and nearly killed.


"At least both your spirits are up... I hate rescuing negative people. 'Waaaah I lost my arm.' 'Oh woe is me, my child is gone!'... 'Why didn't you save my family Mr. Assassin?' I like to save people but my ultimate pet peeve is people being pussies. Smile a little. You're alive!" Sirius exclaimed, kicking his feet quickly in the water acting as a life raft for the two of them. Within moments they had reached the shore again and both Orin and Gunnar crawled into the sand and crashed into it. It felt indescribably good to be back on dry land again. "We're on land now but no where near where we just were. We fell quite a ways... Gunni, how about you tell him?"


"I have to strain my neck up to look how high we were..." He grunted, looking up at just how far they had fallen. He started searching his person and sighed, "Most of our money got washed up or taken by the way. Your fancy robes got torn up... which might have been a good thing."


"Was a big fat target on you." Sirius said joyfully, walking down the beach searching for any signs of life. He was surveying the land, trying to calculate just where exactly they were. "This way is deeper into the Blazing Isles, that way is toward Central." He pointed in each direction, showing Gunnar just where they had been. "I lost my target so I'm probably going to venture around for a bit, looking for work. You all want to travel together until the next town? Looks like you both could use a friendly face."


"We can't see your face." Gunnar commented, "What is that supposed to be exactly?"


"A demon!" Sirius exclaimed, the mask staring back at the two of them blankly. "And this is my face. No offense, Orin. To not being able to see my face and the racial slur... " He said cryptically. "Or one of my many faces. I have others back at my home and on my person when it is time to switch them. For now I shall keep this one on, it allows me to see in the dark as well as look pretty spooky! If you'd like you can feel it Orin but I warn you, those who have tried to remove it have had a rough time doing so."


"I'm sure Orin here isn't going to rush to touch your face, Sirius." Gunnar said with a chuckle, finding the strange Caelilan interesting to say the least. "Thank you for saving us, Sirius. We might not be showing it well but that's just mine and Orin's style."


"I like it!" The Assassin replied back, smiling underneath his mask at them. "I can tell you both are good people. You'd have done the same for me. I think. Hopefully."
 
"I'll pass on touching your face." Orin agreed, nodding. "All faces feel the same to me, anyways, and I've already got enough problems without adding face oil to my life." he said, still smirking slightly. "No, really, thank you. It'd be a fucking anticlimactic ending if we both just drowned. Maybe even more anticlimactic than if we had drowned in a puddle." he said, turning his head toward Gunnar. While Sirius scoured the sandy beaches, Orin laid flat on his face, hands still covering his wounds. Though he didn't show it, there was something particularly painful about getting seawater in open wounds. "I would like to say that I would have done the same, but I'm not sure how good I am at swimming. I might pull a Gunnar and drown myself."


After a while of laying down - an almost annoying amount - Orin slowly climbed to his feet. He was bruised and beaten, as Gunnar had been, but he was alive. He felt his clothes; they were tattered. Even if they had made it into the next town fine, there wasn't really any way they'd pass as anything but street vagrants, apart from perhaps Sirius. There was no telling what people might think of him. But one thing was clear; they had some newly developed hurdles to cross. That was if they could even find a town.


"Any towns that are going to be around here are either going to be like the first one we found - glassed, with everyone killed - or they're going to be like the last one we're in ... corrupt. Bought by either Central or the Blazing Isles. Which means neither of us are going to be safe. And apparently Sirius wears a mask, which despite what popular fiction says, doesn't actually help you blend in at all. Maybe we can lie low out of town...?" he asked, pursing his lips.


"I may or may not just be done with people for a little while." Orin surmised. "I want to find a nice, dark, damp cave and just lay in it until coming across a mana-vampire doesn't make Gunnar explode into blood, and I'm not getting dragged out in the night to get my nose broken." he said, raising his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, drawing back in pain when it had hurt to the touch. "What do you think, Gunnar? Anyway, what does it look like around us? Do you know where we are other than cardinal directions?" he asked, walking along the sand.


Suddenly, his foot caught something, causing him to trip a bit, and then catch himself. As they had walked, jagged structures had come up in their view. Pieces of metal, shooting up from the lands like distorted mountains.
 
"What I think?" He grunted, "I think that if you're that bothered by this then you aren't actually ready for this adventure. We asked for it, and we got it." Gunnar hadn't spoken to Orin that way before so it came as quite a shock. "This is what traveling is like when you're hunted. It's how it has been my entire life. As it has been your's. Balor and Sinna have protected you from this side of the world but they aren't here anymore. Crawling up into a cave and hiding isn't the way to man up and get stronger. Each encounter like this we run into makes us stronger, makes us harder to kill." He was being firm with Orin but not enough to the point of rattling on like Balor or Sinna once did to him. He was talking to him without a filter and treating him as his equal and not as someone he was protecting, even after the entire ordeal he went through of getting him back. "You haven't been exposed enough to the dangers of this world and the evils it contains. Your instinct is to go into hiding cause it's what Balor has taught you-"


"Gunnar... Go easy on him." Dio interrupted. "He's just complaining about what happened. It's natural. He's hurt."


"We aren't going to hide anymore, Orin. We're going to face off against those who hunt and pursue us and destroy them. We're going to work smarter too..." He said, a scowl on his face. "I've never experienced the amount of pain that Strix did to me before. I'm feeling it too brother... But... Avoiding people and curling up in a cave won't solve our problems. The things you're able to do Orin surprise the hell out of me especially without sight. What we're going to do is rest up for the night and pa-" Gunnar tripped over a piece of metal too, the fog around them hiding their surroundings. Sirius instinctively hopped over the piece of metal and let out a chuckle.


"While you two are being all serious, I think we just ran into something incredible." The fog began to clear, giving way for Gunnar to see what was happening. When he did, his heart sank. Sirius continued to speak, "You sky folk fall from the skies quite often... So much so that the debris gathers on the Bridge of Fire. Well... Looks like we've found an Airship Graveyard."


"I don't... believe it..." Gunnar said, seeing familiar sights for the first time since he had arrived on the surface. "If I survived that fall I might... we may see some familiar faces here!" He exclaimed, the excitement in his voice contagious. Even through his wounds he was ready to charge in but then he remembered Orin was hurt as well. "Sirius... Do you have any medical supplies? We need to rest before we explore this place fully."


"I'll patch you two up." The Rogue said, crossing his arms as he looked out to the ship graveyard. "We'll spend a day and a night in that debris over there. Looks like that airship remained relatively intact, we can stay in the cabin, patch you two up, eat, drink... Be merry that you two are alive and then we explore this place. Let's get moving." And with that, the trio all made their way into the ruins of a crashed airship seeking shelter for the night.


End of Chapter 5 - Now Leaving: Hatchment
 
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