Heart of the Beast RP (IC)

“Look out!”
Ashur barely managed to duck down as a soldier’s glaive whizzed above his head. It struck the wall, releasing a ball of fire with a threatening hiss. Ashur quickly twisted around and with swift precision drove his sword into the soldier’s chest. He gave an appreciative nod to the long haired man in a sullied soldier’s uniform for warning him.
Not the best decision perhaps, as the moment he turned his head an arrow lodged itself deep in his shoulder. The sudden sharp pain forced Ashur to one knee, as the archer drew another arrow. But just as he was about to release, two different arrows struck him in the throat. The soldier gurgled up blood and slowly slid down to the floor. It seems that the Selkie was still as precise as ever, even with a bleeding gut from the blow she took earlier. Ashur groaned and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, giving a strange look to the red crystal at the tip. Why didn’t it go off?
At the same time, on the other end of the mess hall the barbarian was struggling against a different soldier, locked in a brutal fistfight. He leaned backwards, dodging a wide swing and was immediately met with a sharp left to the gut. The weird metal gauntlet on the soldier’s arms clicked, and with an explosive pop the barbarian, despite being at least twice as big in size was sent flying backwards. The sound shattered the last bits of remaining unbroken glass in the room. The brute struggled back up on his feet and grabbed a stool, bringing it down on the soldier with a beastly roar. However the soldier shielded himself with the gauntlet and, with another pop, the wooden chair was blown into smithereens. The barbarian struggled backwards from the blowback as the soldier landed another punch right into his chest. The gauntlet clicked, but this time nothing happened. The soldier cursed and jumped backwards, ejecting the round casing filled with a row of transparent crystals. His arms shook as he pulled out a different case, filled with light blue crystals and tried to put it back into the gauntlet. The barbarian took this chance and jumped forward, delivering a mighty kick to the soldier’s groin. As the soldier doubled over the barbarian grabbed him and with a sharp motion broke his neck.
During all this, the man in a uniform, who warned Ashur earlier was throwing a mountain load of cutlery at the head of the last soldier. Finally once a can of beans found its target and connected firmly with the soldier’s face, he dashed in with a triumphant shout. The soldier, still slightly dazed tried to swing his glaive at the man, but he was already too close and managed to grab the hilt, stopping the blow. The soldier grinned and pulled the trigger on the handle… but nothing happened. He clicked again, and again, to no avail, as the man, who firmly held his hand on the large red crystal embedded in the glaive’s blade laughed out triumphantly once more.
“That won’t work mooooron!” That said he decked the soldier squarely in the jaw, knocking him out.

With the last soldier knocked out, the only people left standing in the ruined mess hall were the four rebels. Ashur breathed a sigh of relief and slid down to the floor, dropping his sword.
“Thanks for the help, you two.” He bowed his head to the man in the uniform and the Selkie. “Kron, are you alright?”
The barbarian grunted and nodded, slowly walking over to the other three.
“Oh… So your name is Kron huh? Cool name! I’m Zephyr.” The man in the uniform whistled and stretched out his arm, going for a handshake, but Kron only shot him an annoyed look and said nothing.
“Zephyr? Is that like the dessert?” Ashur raised his eyebrow, prompting a loud groan from Zeph.
“Ze-phyr, not zefir you twit! Why does everyone always say that?!” Zeph then turned to the Selkie. “You! …Sorry I did not catch your name, do you think my name sounds like zefir? It’s different, right?”
The Selkie released her tail, which she had kept wrapped around her waist, revealing the only patch of smooth tan fur not stained with someone’s blood, and gave Zephyr an annoyed look.
“My name is Lae’Naya, and I think we have better things to do other than discussing your confectionary choice of names.” She sounded a little hostile, throwing frequent looks at Zeph’s imperial uniform.
“Alright enough.” Ashur raised his hand and with Kron’s help got back up on his feet. “We should get out of here. We can finish the introductions later on.”
Zephyr frowned.
“With all due respect, righteous leader, but what do you propose we do with THEM?” He pointed at the several unconscious soldiers that still breathed among the corpses.
Kron shrugged and moved his thumb across his throat. Lae’Naya sheathed her bow and pulled out a dagger.
“I agree with Kron. We should just kill them before they wake up and cause any more suffering.”
Zephyr grew pale at the words, or at least as pale as a Cauhri can get and looked at Ashur. The man sighed and picked up his sword, sheathing it with a firm hand.
“No. Killing a man in a fight to the death is one thing. But I will not stand for slitting the throats of unconscious people.”
Lae’Naya turned to Ashur with fire in her eyes. “But they are imperial soldiers! They have no honour! Or did you already forget what happened just an hour ago?!”

Ashur shook his head. “I haven’t, and I never will. But this isn’t right. Most of them are recruits, some even from Eriur. I will not execute them like cattle after they have already lost the fight. If we do that… we’d be no better than them.” He then looked around once again. “I say we ask gran-gran for advice. She always knows what to do.”
The remaining three shot each other a few looks and then nodded in agreement.


Thankfully the Garrison’s Fort wasn’t too far off from the village, and in twenty minutes the group was sitting on a carpet inside a spacious room, telling their tale. A tall, thin to the point of frailty, old woman stood before them, only letting out a small sigh every now and then, as she listened to them. Ashur wanted to omit the grisly details of every soldier they’ve slain, but the old Shaman insisted they told her everything to the tooth. It took them some good half an hour to cover the entirety of their fight, from the gallows to the fort. Silence hung in the room once they finished speaking, with gran-gran saying nothing. She slowly walked over to the cubbard and poured herself some tea. The four sat silently, patiently waiting for the elder to finish her drink. She then picked up a small leather sack and sat down before them.
“Well… if you wanted my advice – you should’ve come to me before you went on slaughtering people. I would’ve told you how bad of an idea it was.” She sighed and placed the small sack in front of her. All four of them knew the thing too well. Inside were a few small shards with electric charge and a punch of empty crystals. Gran-gran used to throw this little sack at kids when they were being naughty, zapping them slightly.
The woman took a breath and continued.
“But really… Ashur, Lae’Naya, you two of all people. You should’ve been smarter than this! There is no going back now!”
The Selkie hung her head. “I’m sorry, master.”
The Shaman waved her hand dismissively.
“What’s done is done, no need to dwell on the past. But there is one thing I wanted to ask you four, about the story you told me right now. Ashur,” She turned to the man. “You said you got that injury from a fire crystal arrow that did not go off, correct?”
Ashur paused for a second, confused, then replied.
“Yes. I was really lucky. It would’ve blown me apart.”
Gran-gran’s face got a bit more serious, as she turned to Zephyr.
“And you, soldier boy, you said you stopped a fireglaive from going off by placing your hand on it?”
Zephyr shrugged for a second, before catching the Shaman’s ice cold gaze and straightening out.
“Yes…ma’am. Honestly I have a weird effect on crystals. They tend to not work or suddenly go off around me all the time. That’s the reason I was sent off to Eriur in the first place… ma’am.”
The shaman then suddenly stood up, grabbing the little sack off the floor and threw it straight at Ashur. He flinched, expecting to get shocked but nothing happened. She then pulled out three more sacks from her bag and threw one at Zephyr. He instinctively tried to dodge, but got tangled up in his own legs and ended up catching it straight to the face, falling over backwards.
“Ouch! That hurt!” Zeph rubbed his nose then straightened out, looking at the sachet in his hand. “Didn’t zap me though… Lucky.”
The shaman’s eyes slowly grew wider in surprise, as she threw the remaining two sacks at Kron and Lae’Naya. Neither of them got zapped either. She slowly sat down on the floor murmuring something to herself.
Lae’Naya jumped up and ran over to the old lady.
“Master, what is wrong?”
“Four of them… Four at once…“ The Shaman kept whispering to herself, then jumped up and turned to the group. “All four of you are blessed with the rarest gift of all. You are Nullomancers! Mages capable of controlling the Null Crystals. That is why the arrow or the glaive didn’t go off. That is why the imperial weapons did not work on you! But to have all four of you be born as Nullomancers at once, in the same village…” Gran-Gran started pacing around the room. “Only one in a ten million is born a nullomancer. And only every third nullomancer awakens his powers. To have all four of you be nulls and awaken at once…! This is unprecedented… This is the act of fate!”
Ashur stood up, raising his hands in the air.
“Wait wait wait, Gran-gran, what are nullomancers? What are you talking about?”
The shaman stopped and looked at him.
“I wish I knew, Ashur, I really do! But the art of nullomancy is secret. Only the highest members of the royal palace know of it. I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything… But…”
She paused and looked around in hesitation. Kron and Zeph both stood up, as Lae’Naya carefully asked the obvious question.
“But what?”

The shaman looked over the four that stood before her and seeming gathered herself back up. She took a deep breath and headed over to the other room, hidden in the back, signalling them to follow her.
“…But, there is someone who knows everything there is to know about nullomancy. He was unrivalled in the art back when he still lived. Lae’Naya, I will need your help. The seal is too strong for me to break on my own.”
The Selkie stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the woman in horror.
“You don’t mean?-“
“Indeed.” Gran-gran pushed the heavy doors open, revealing a small room, lit with candles; in the centre of it stood an altar, wrapped in chains. On top of it rested a ring with a black gem in it. “We’re going to wake up Arbos Xell, the spectre and guardian of our village. Two hundred years ago he was a legendary nullomancer and thief, who is said to have robbed the emperor himself of his trousers. He was cursed by the god of the sun, and with my grandfather’s help sealed himself in slumber, waiting for the day when he could regain his human form. “
“And we’re going to wake up THAT?” Zephyr asked with a slanted smile. “Attacking the garrison suddenly sounds like a good idea by comparison.”
“We have no choice. He is the only one who can teach you nullomancy and help deal with the mess you’ve started. Lae’Naya, give me a hand.”

Both women took their places on either side of the altar, put their hands together and started chanting. The lights of the candles began to flicker as a burst of wind ripped through the room, even though it had no windows. With every word spoken the gem on the ring glowed more and more; but not with light. Instead its dark glow sucked the light out, as if it was glowing with darkness. Moments later the altar could no longer be seen, as only pitch black darkness remained. Then the darkness slowly began to take form, shaping a silhouette of tall man in a wide brimmed hat. The details of his clothes and face were blurry, but the eyes were sharp and piercing. The candles finally went out and all five of the summoners rushed out of the room. The Spectre then slowly floated out as well. Slowly bit by bit his body took shape, forming legs for him to walk on and distinct muscular arms. The shapes of many crystals lined his face, but were still too ghostly to make out properly. Finally a line formed, giving him a mouth to speak. And oh boy, did he speak.

“WHY THE FUCK AM I AWAKE?!”
The loud and unexpectedly sharp and natural sounding voice took the group by surprise, causing them to jump back. Only Kron remained standing in his place, seemingly unfazed.
“Oi oi oi, Lilly, why in the seven hells did you wake me up this early?”
Arbos turned to the shaman with a scrutinizing gaze. “Also – Holy shit did you get old!”
The Shaman finally got herself back together and straightened up.
“I’m sorry uncle Arbos, but not everyone is immortal. I aged like normal.”

Arbos scratched his ghostly head with a confused look. “Well… I guess. You sounded younger than you look. Oh well…” He then turned to the four. “As for you four, I heard everything.”
Lae’Naya stepped back in surprise. “You could hear us? How?”
Arbos snickered.
“I was acting as a guardian spirit of this village for over two hundred years, listening, whispering… watching. That’s how I kept up with the world. As a shaman you should know that, yanno.”
Zeph turned to Lae with a confused looks.
“Wait, you’re a shaman too?”
Selkie hissed at him.
“Not now!”
Arbos shook his head then studied everyone curiously with his usual sharp eyes.
“Greaaaat. So we have a Goody Two-Shoes, an Idiot, a guy who thinks the Barber is a kind of animal and a bloody pussycat. Did the idiot gods decide to pull a prank on the world by turning you into nullomancers? Nah… too funny for their shit sense of humour.”

Zeph snickered and poked Ashur.
“Hehehehe, He called you an idiot.”
Ashur said nothing.
Arbos paused for a moment then continued.
“Actually, scratch that, you are ALL idiots. Did you finish off the soldiers in the fort?”
Ashur stepped forward.
“No, they were unconscious so killing them would be wro-“
“Moron.” Arbos interrupted him. “You unconscious soldiers are two miles from the village right now, running for their lives. In roughly three days they will reach the southwest Keep, where the mining HQ is located, and return with a full division of mounted soldiers to slaughter all of you. It’s about a day on horseback, give or take. So… I’d say you will all be dead in four days. Understood? Good, I’m going back to sleep. Lilly, get the seal.”
Before anyone could say a word Arbos turned around and headed back into the altar room. Ashur paused for a second, and then snapped.

“Now wait one god damned minute you asshole! What the hell are we supposed to do now then?!”
Arbos waved his hand without turning around.
“Do whatever. Run east to Raveros, climb the mountain to free highlands, make a stand in the fort – whatever floats your boat. This village will burn regardless.”
“Alright then!” Ashur stomped the ground and drew his sword. “Then we will attack them instead!”
Arbos stopped. He then looked over his shoulder at Ashur.
“You will do what?”
“You heard me you pompous ass!” Ashur then turned to the other three. “We will attack the keep, take them by surprise! Just like we took the garrison!”
Kron looked at Ashur with a disappointed look.
“Too late.”
“Kron’s right!” Zephyr finally shook off his shock. “Even if we head out now we won’t catch up to the stragglers! You three are injured, we won’t be fast enough. And once they warn the army we might as well try to bring down the Jaw Pass with a spoon!”
Arbos turned around with a crooked smile.
“Now this is more interesting. What if I told you that there is a way for you to get there ahead of stragglers?”
Ashur jumped at the spectre’s words. “How?!”
Arbos grinned wider. “If you leave before sundown and cut straight through the Misty Marshes you will get to the keep half a day ahead of the soldiers. If you survive, of course.”
Zephyr shook his head.
“This is madness. Even if we somehow don’t get lulled and eaten by sirens or die from the poisons in the swamp, how do you expect to take on a proper Fortress, Ashur? This is pointless. We should just run east. Hopefully with us gone the army won’t do anything to the village, since we’re the ones at fault. What do you say?”
Ashur paused for a moment, looking at his companions in misery, then turned to Arbos.
“Would four nullomancers be enough to take on an entire fortress with trained and armed military personnel?”
Arbos snickered.
“If the nullomancer knows what he’s doing – I’d say that’s three too many. Especially if said nullomancer gathers some charges in the swamp, hehehehe.”
Ashur sheathed his sword and stepped forward.
“It’s settled then. Teach me how to use nullomancy, I’m going. “
Kron slapped Ashur on the shoulder and also stepped forward, cracking his fingers with a smile.
“Fun.”
“You two are crazy! How will you get by without someone who knows the layout and tactics of the guards in the keep?” Zephyr frowned and stepped forward. “You’ll bloody die without me. I’m in.”
Lae’Naya threw a worried look at Lilly, but the old shaman gave her an approving nod and she stepped forward too.
Arbos clapped his hands and laughed.

“Now now, four fledgling nullomancers who aren’t even aware of what a nullomancer is, two and a half days, a swamp and an armed fortress. This reminds me of Joed’s bachelor party! Lessee what you kids are capable of. And you,” Arbos pointed his finger at Ashur. “YOU will carry my ring.”
The candles in the room flared drowning the room in red light as Arbos chanted a few words and lifted the darkness in the altar room. He then looked over the group once more.
“You’re injured. That’s good. Nullomancers embed the crystals in their body and use their powers indefinitely. Find the crystal with a charge you want to use, place it in your wound and bandage it over. The crystal will stop the bleeding and disinfect the wound by itself. In a day or two they will heal in and you will be able to use them. Simple, right? Well not really. Sit down and I will explain how this shit works. We have some good 10 hours before sundown, so listen close…”

The four nullomancers obediently sat down around Arbos, as Lilly closed the windows and doors, so that nobody would overhear them.
Several hours later the doors of the Shaman’s house opened and four of them ran out, splitting up and running in different directions, off to get the crystals they wanted and prepare the necessary equipment for their journey.

As he was heading back to Eriur, Ashur looked satisfied at the tiny crystals in his hand, three of them total. One of them was more than enough as a monthly dose to keep the hellish pains away. This time he took more crystals with him than one, the pixies didn't like being visited too often. These pixies were rather shy of others, the only reason Ashur was allowed to take their dust was in exchange to not reveal this location. This was not a problem to Ashur, he was gratefull that this was the only thing they asked from him.
He still remembered the time when it first happened. The powerlessness he felt when she writhing in her bed, bearing pain no girl at the age of four should ever have to feel. He could not help but feel that Erios has already handed her over to Thanathos. The disease might not be lethal, but was life worth living if you were in pain every moment?
Even if she could never use her legs again, he at least wanted her to live her life painlessly.

As he stepped into Eriur, he could feel something was off. Less people were roaming the streets near the entrance than usual. Was something happening somewhere else in the village? He could hear his name from the distance. He recognized the face of Feros, running his way with a shocked expression. The boy had not even reached the age of ten, what could he be so scared of that he was looking for him? Exhausted he stood before Ashur, though his pants he uttered "Maluna". Was something wrong with his Sister? "What's wrong with Maluna!?" He said, clearly distressed.

Ashur ran, and ran, and ran faster. Gallows? Execution!? What could his sister have done wrong to deserve that? She couldn't even move outside of their house! As he reached the gallows he could see the captain of the garrison, with his usual snobby expession. He had seen Ashur's approach and had stalled just for this moment. "And therefore you, Maluna Hadukar, are sentenced to death for practicing forbidden magics!" The coward had been waiting for a moment when Ashur was out of town to collect her. The executioner stepped on the platform with his axe in hand. Ashur made his way through the crowd.

He could see the expressions of disgust on the faces of the people around him. But at the same time there was the expression of powerlessness. He would not stand idly by when his innocent sister was about to be slaughtered. All Maluna could do was watch as her brother struggled to reach her. As the headsman rose his axe into the air, she called out to him. The terrified tone in her voice struck compassion into the hearts of even the most coldhearted. The tears rolling down her face washed away a bit of the dirt, dirt from her getting dragged all the way here by these heartless imperials. But this did not stop thanathos from taking her soul as the axe mercilessly cleaved it's way through her thin neck.
That very moment, the usually calm Ashur had lost it. The moment after the blood had been spilled was the moment he stepped on the stage. The commander faced his way with a dirty grin. But even he did not foresee that Ashur had already unsheathed his blade. Before the commander could even react it was his head that rolled next to the truly innocent victim of the day.

The few guards in the area rushed towards Ashur, and the headsman rose his axe ready to defend himself. The guards had been lax, not expecting anyone to have the guts to do this. Many of them were far from the platform, but two of them were already nearing the platform. Ashur was capable, but taking on multiple guards at once with this crowd around? Should he retreat?
A shriek of pain could be heard as an arrow pierced the head of one of the guards close to Ashur from behind. Lae'Naya stood in the corner of his eye, readying another arrow. Her hate for the empire wasn't a secret really.  From afar another scream could be heard from within the crowd. Kron had caught up to one of the guards and broken his arms. Ashur wasn't too familiar with Kron but at least it was good to know that he wasn't the only one fighting here.

"I'll kill every single one of you!" Ashur screamed towards the headsman and the single other guard on the platform right now.  Blood was dripping from his blade onto his boot. His eyes stood furiously as tears filled with rage rolled. The garrison had gone too far, way too far. The headsman was sluggish, he rose the axe as he always did, to chop heads. But as he swung down it was easily avoided by Ashur.
Ashur sidestepped, putting the headsman between him and the other guard, the former had yet to recover from his swing. Ashur retaliated by slashing cleanly through his arm. As the guard worked his way around his ally he wouldn't be able to swing in time. Ashur had already readied himself and parried his strike, disarming him.
But no mercy was given to the defenseless at this hour. One swift slash through the abdomen was enough for for your lessons in anatomy.

It didn't take too long before all the soldiers at the gallows had fallen by the hands of the three warriors. The worst of Ashur's rage had subsided as he made his way back to the platform.  He fell down to his knees next to the headless body of his sister. Had Erios truly forsaken him? His bloodied hand covered his face as he cried. "Why Maluna?" he whispered "Do my prayers truly go unheard to you?"  How could he truly believe in any form of justice in this world when this happens right before his own eyes? Ashur had lost the only person truly precious to him now.

The blood on his blade felt righteous, yet wasted. But Ashur longed for some form of revenge. Would he get it by killing every imperial in this village? Maybe not, probably not. But What other choice did he have at this moment? They had already killed a number of them. Could they truly expect to go on with their normal lives from now on? Was there any way to go from here that would lead to a good out come anyway!? Ashur did not know, and his mind was still drowned in sadness far too much to truly think about it.

While lost in these thoughts, Kron and Lae'Naya had walked upto the platform. Ashur rose up as he looked down once more. A burial would have to come later. He did not have the time now. Action had to be taken now. Was this truly the only option? "Kron, Lae'Naya. I don't know either of you by anything more than your names..." he said as he turned to them.  "But I know of your prowess as fighters. There is nobody else I could ask but you two." His eyes stood pleadingly, yet enraged at the same time "They have truly gone too far this time. I know what I'm asking might be completely unreasonable, but I won't be able to live here as long as the empire is here."

It did not take more words to convince them of his cause. After all, Ashur was not the only one fed up with the tyrany in this village. The three of them decided to launch a sneak attack on what remained of the garrison. Their main building was only a short walk from here. But more than twenty soldiers would be a tough fight for just the three of them if they didn't force the upper hand somehow.  After a short period of preparations the three of them marched to the garrison's main building.

"So how long will I be tied up?" Ashur overheard one of the soldiers saying to the other, who was presumably guarding him. "As long as the commander thinks it's neccessary. It's not beyond him to leave you here untill you kiss his feet. You'd better apologize quickly for hitting him." The soldier's stare turned cold "He got what he deserved, every one of you knew that girl was innocent. She couldn't even stand for crying out loud!"
The rest of the conversation wasn't of importance to Ashur. He could see that this soldier might be a potential ally. One they could truly use if they really wanted to liberate Eriur. More importantly, their reactions seemed to imply that they had no knowledge of what had happened at the gallows.

The three devised a plan to lure the guard away. Taking him out at the main entrance might alarm others before they could untie the last soldier. Therefore they would let Lae'Naya lure him away from his post, then Ashur and Kron would take him out from behind. This plan worked out without a hitch, allowing them to make their way to their potential ally without too much trouble. "We overheard your conversation. If you sided with the girl then there's no reason for me to leave you here." Ashur spoke softly, no one else but them had to know of anything just yet. If everything worked out their chance of victory would rise greatly. "We want to liberate this place, are you with us?"  He then cut him loose and the deal was sealed. Not only that, but the weapons of the guard they had just taken out made him combat ready.

Both Ashur and Zephyr knew this place pretty dang well. It was of no surprise that they picked the poorly guarded back entrance as the starting point for their invasion. The garrison here wasn't particularly well prepared for an attack, but then again not many people in Eriur actually knew how to even hold a weapon. The four of them snuck in, Ashur taking the lead. The back door first led to a smaller hall before they would reach the main hall, where the bulk of the enemy would be. Ashur leered into the hall from around the corner, quickly taking notice of the three guards there before turning toward the rest of the group. With hand signals he made his plan clear: Lae'Naya would take out the furthest guard and the rest would focus on the two closer ones.  They rushed in, taking them by surprise. The arrow pierced one enemy's heart as Kron, Zephyr and  Ashur quickly knocked out the other two.

This naturally stirred up quite the ruckus. They could already hear others shouting in confusion. The quartet quickly took cover near the door, ready for an ambush. As the first few soldiers poured in they were taken out quickly. But that was the end of the sneak attacks. The next group of soldiers had already entered the main hall and spotted their foes.
The battle that ensued was a fierce one indeed, but they persisted.More than half of the soldiers here were trained by Ashur himself. The other half mainly used spears or glaives.

Ashur was never a fool; if there was anything he had learned from his father, it was to not teach them more than needed. His father had done the same in all his years of service. He had left the soldiers he trained full of openings for real combat. Neither of them was stupid enough to let their own techniques bite them in the ass.
"Strike the swordsmen's right!" He yelled as they charged in. While fending off the attacks of the more experienced soldiers they could easily exploit the weaknesses of the local recruits. Eventually the number was maybe only double of their amount. Though this would be where the trouble would start.

Fending of enemies two-to-one was never an easy feat, especially while also dodging arrows in the process. The numbers on either side ceased to dwindle for a short time before one warrior managed to slip by their guard. He then rushed to the Selkie with his knife drawn. He screamed as he plunged it in her stomach, forcing a hiss of pain. But it wasn't the Selkie falling, as the soldier's head would be cleaved in two by Zephyr. The soldier would forever wonder why the selkie didn't burn to a crisp from his fire crystals. The fight dragged on, and soon they would notice the imperial weapons not being quite as sturdy as they had thought. Zephyr's weapon broke  halfway and they managed to take care of some enemies in the same manner. Luckily for them Zephyr proved to be quite proficient with beans.

Eventually the fight drew to a close. Everybody had a few visible wounds, though the most serious ones were probably Lae'naya's and Ashur's. After the mandatory introductions and a flair of feline imperial hatred the group had yet to come to a decision on what to do with the survivors.  No matter Ashur's own hate for the empire, most of the survivors were the easily disarmed local recruits. The only choice that felt right to Ashur was to let them live, enough blood had been spilled for one day. The first drop of blood was already too much, far too much.

Not knowing what to do next. The only way to go was for them to ask the shaman for help. But it was of no surprise that they'd be called goddamn idiots. Their actions would indeed bring great danger to the village. But also great oppurtinity. Nullomancy? They were nullomancers? What the heck was a nullomancer? Well, some questions got answered a little by the ghost coming out of some magic ring. Though many more were added. It seems they would have to learn on their way to the city. But what exactly was there to learn? He had no idea what exactly was to be expected from him. He might get the chance to ask later, as he was the one forced to carry the damn ring. For now, his only mission was to get whatever good crystals he could find

"What the hell's the point in doing that?" The long haired man irritably crossed his arms.

Without even looking away from his papers the captain replied "The point in it is entirely what it should be. People using things they shouldn't might give them ideas, and we don't need issues like those arising."

"What idea exactly, that someone might have an easier time with their life? I've been noticing more and more just how frowned upon that is in this world lately. It's notably absurd."

"That is fine and dandy. It's also not what you're paid to worry about. You aren't exactly smiled upon as it is considering you got booted out here to this place. Shut up and do your job. If your opinion ever matters any I'll let you know. Don't hold your breathe."

Zephyr was doing his best not to become more annoyed by this than he already was. He gave a swift kick to the desk and turned to start walking away.

"Watch yourself peasant, that desk is worth more than your mother's life to everyone in the empire, including and especially a person like me. Now get the hel-" The man didn't finish that sentence, as the long haired man's fist came slamming into the side of his head, knocking the arrogant bastard off his chair and onto his ass.

Zephyr followed up grabbing the man by his shirt and pulled him close: "Admittedly I was arguing for a person I don't even know, but you wanted to make it personal. I will break you in half if I ever so much as come across you on a day bad enough that my shoe lace is untied."

Unfortunately, two guards were just delivering their report, and walked in at the moment Zephyr decided to force feed the asshole his bowl of baked beans. It didn't take long for them to take him away, but he had the biggest shit eating grin as they dragged him out while the captain angrily watched him be removed.

The next thing he knew he was tied up outside. Wasn't much to do but think at that point. He'd probably have to apologize to his parents in his next letter. "Still worth it." he muttered while lightly laughing to himself. Either way there wasn't much left for him to do but try and sleep. Even if his neck hurt like hell.

When he woke up the next day he had a guard hanging around. Must've been a policy for leaving someone there in the daytime or some such. Zephyr couldn't say he recalled if there was one for sure, or if he just didn't notice whoever the hell was around last night.
He also vaguely recalled today was the day that the girl he was arguing for was apparently being thrown to the gallows. Seemed like a damn shame considering anything he had read seemed to just point to her as a victim of circumstances that she had nothing to do with.

He had no real way to keep time but it had to have been at least noon when he was randomly being untied by some person he had never met, along with two others. They went out of their way to do it and while they explained a plan that seemed mildly crazy it seemed he owed them enough to at least join up and help them with that much. It was a helluva fight, and they all managed to make it out alive.

Seeing as how they just beat the crap out of the people he had been lodging with, staying there wasn't the best idea. As such, he followed the other three again. He knew Ashur's name seeing as how he freed him, Kron's was short and simple. The catwoman's name he couldn't remember the first part of, but she apparently answered to Naya happily anyway. At least, as happily as she ever seemed to get, ESPECIALLY towards himself. Must have some vendetta about something related to him. Regardless, they ended up in the house of some village shaman, ended up dealing with some ghostly asshat, and had a short amount of time to waste after being lectured for ages by said ghostly guy.

Gathering that he was some "nullmancer" thing, meaning they would work extremely well with null crystals, they basically had a short amount of time to gather some supplies before going off into danger. Realizing he didn't actually live here, he figured the only place he could really get anything would be the garrison they went to work in. Crystals basically being how assloads of things worked, he tore any of em he could find out of anywhere. A few from a stove or two, a couple from the rather large fridge stocked to feed a mildly large group of people, some from lighting fixtures, and any left from the various weapons that weren't broken or left used out. He also almost tripped and fell on something while wandering around. Then he noticed this was where he was stuck fighting with essentially nothing. Looking down he realized he almost fell because of the can he threw earlier. Staring at it for a moment he thought "Meh. Well why the fuck not." and threw it in his bag. Maybe it would be good luck or some silly bullshit, who knows.

Having filled up a small bag of stuff, he realized there wasn't much else left there. With the short amount of time he had left he went ahead and wrote a letter to his parents telling them things had gone badly for him, asking them to forgive him, but also of him begging them to think about moving to a more remote place with less influence from the empire. At the very least he urged they should pretend they didn't know him, should the empire ever try to get to them for what he had done. Counting that as the last of things he had left to do there, Zephyr walked out with his small bounty of crytals, one of the shoddy halberds just in case, and walked off to the meeting spot.

Lae’Naya walked back into the village, two rabbits and a pheasant slung over one of her shoulders, to find most of the villages gathered together. She quickly dropped off her supplies and joined the rest. The Chief was stood with a soldier a few meters ahead of the rest. She tapped the nearest villager and asked what was happening.
“There’s going to be an execution in the centre of Eriur. They say it’s a sick child” he replied.
At that point, the Chief turned to the gathering.
“I’ve been told that I must attend the execution as the head of this tribe, everyone just return to your homes and wait for my return.”
With whispered mutterings the crowd dispersed, all except one. Lae’Naya glared at the soldier and Chief, her tail moving slowly from side to side. The Chief frowned and walked over to her.
“I told you to return to your home!” he hissed at her.
“This is wrong Aerden, and you know it” she hissed back.
“We’re not kids anymore Naya, I have to follow the Empire’s wishes for the good of the village. It’s about time you got over your childish hatred for them.”
They eyed each other for a few minutes before Lae’Naya backed down.
“As you wish, Chief”
She turned and headed back to her hut. Aerden watched her go for a few seconds before joining the soldier and walking out the village.
 
The door clicked shut behind her. Lae’Naya let out a growl before slamming her fist onto the wall beside her. There was no way she was just going to sit in here while another innocent was killed by the Empire. She curled her tail around her waist and grabbed the long cloak she used for sneaking to Gran-grans with. She placed her hunting bow back on its stand on the wall and picked up the taller recurve next to it. Finally she checked she had a full quiver of arrows before she pulled the cloak on and jumped out her window into the forest behind.
 
As she reached the end of the forest she slowed her run to a jog, and finally slowed to walking when she reached the houses. She pulled the hood lower over her face and followed the stream of people to the centre of the village. She pushed her way into the crowd to get a better look. What she saw made her hiss under her breathe. Tied at the feet of the executioner was the girl. She looked around Lae'Naya's age but she very frail and weak. There were five soldiers guarding her, including the commander himself who was smirking evilly. The girl cried out a name as the executioner swung his axe down on her neck. It was then that Ashur burst into the clearing, unsheathing his sword as he went, and cut the commanders head clean off. There was a moment of shock for everyone before the guards pulled themselves together and headed towards Ashur with weapons drawn.
 
Lae’Naya pushed through the remaining crowd, her hood falling back and her hand reaching for an arrow. She knocked her first arrow, drew back, and fired at the guard nearest Ashur hitting him straight in the head. She could hear whispers behind her as villagers recognised who she was. On the other side of the execution ground Kron had joined the fight, easily breaking the limbs of nearby guards. The three of them together quickly killed the last of the guards before following Ashur up onto the platform where his sisters body was. Lae’Naya looked down with sad eyes at the dead girl, reminded again of an innocent victim from her own life. Ashur turned to them and spoke, but he didn’t really need to. They had gone too far to back down now and she didn’t need any of his words to convince her of what they needed to do.
 
Lae’Naya retrieved all her used arrows and returned them to her quiver. She turned to the crowd before she left, spotting Aerden amongst them. They’re eyes met and she could read the emotion in them. Fear, sadness and anger; most likely directed at her. Without another thought, she joined the other two as they left to fight the rest of the garrison.
 
They reached the outpost and devised their plan. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea but, there was one easy way to get a man’s attention... She left her cloak and weapons with her teammates, undid the top few buttons of her jacket revealing more of her cleavage, and walked out in front of the guard, slightly swaying her hips. The guard gripped his weapons and looked suspiciously at her until she got closer and he relaxed.
“Hey, I need a big strong man to help me lift something in the woods, think you can do it?” she winked at the guard, cursing herself inside for saying such crap.
He nodded eagerly while looking up and down her body. Once they’d got past the tree line again, Ashur and Kron knocked him out from behind. Now with a new ally, they headed into the outpost.
 
Considering their odds the battle went well. There were injuries, only herself and Ashur getting pretty badly hurt, but they had dished out more than they had received. Much to her annoyance, Ashur demanded that they leave the remaining unconscious soldiers alive. She managed to find some water to clean her fur a bit before they left for Gran-gran’s house.
 
After listening to the rude spirits speech, Lae’Naya left the house thoroughly tired and confused. Whatever the seal on that ring had been, it was tough to break it. She was only an apprentice and didn’t have as much spiritual strength as her Master yet. Telling her that they were all “nullmancers” had really taken her by surprise. She mulled over what she had been told as she headed back to the Selkie village. It had made sense, sort of. When she had been attacked by the knife with fire null crystals in it she had stopped them activating when they touched her. This was supposedly one of her powers as a Nullmancer. He also said she should embed a crystal in her wound before it healed up. To her, this seemed like a stupid idea to her but... she could always try it.
 
As she approached the village, she saw a crowd gathered with the Chief at the front. She stopped for a moment to gather her emotions. She walked slowly in and stood before her neighbours.
“Aerden, I-“
He stopped her with a raised hand.
“Wait Naya, let me speak first. You deliberately disobeyed my orders as Chief, this is unacceptable. Even worse you’ve angered the Empire with your actions today! Your personal feelings towards them has caused the whole village, including us, to be put in danger.”
“But I couldn’t just let them get away with killing another innocent! Not after what happened with my Father!” She bared her teeth at him.
“It was a mining accident Naya!” he stepped forward and used his extra height to tower over her.
“It was not!” she pushed him back and turned to the villagers. “You all know it! He was killed by the empire because they saw him as a threat! I’m sick of our people being oppressed by the Cauhri just because we’re different...”
Aerden stepped forward again.
“That’s enough Lae’Naya, you will not speak another word.” He sighed and lowered his head. “You need to leave this village, today. We can’t afford to get in the empire’s bad books by keeping you here.” He lifted his head meeting her eyes. They shone with determination.
“You have until nightfall.”
With that he turned and left. The villagers quickly followed, returning to their homes.
 
It had been her plan to leave tonight anyway but she didn’t want to leave like this... She trudged back to her hut feeling even more exhausted. She packed a backpack quickly with spare clothes, undergarments, food, a canteen, her bow maintenance kit and a spare knife. She moved her bed into the centre of the room revealing a secret trap door. She opened up the door and lifted out the large ornate wooden box. Inside the box was her Father’s, and now her own, most prized possession: the Yggdrasil bow. It was a light colour and had runes carved into it near the hand rest. On the limbs were grooves were blades could be fitted in. It was said to be made from a tree branch from the Yggdrasil tree, the home of Nevael on the Forbidden Isles. She put the string in her backpack and put the bow in its case, tying it around her body. She shouldered the backpack and exited her house. Outside were some of the village women who raised her after her father died. They all wore the same sad look. Seeing them brought tears to Lae’Naya’s eyes. She hugged each of them before quickly leaving the village. She still had one last stop before she went to the meeting point.
 

She reached the empty outpost not long after. She went in the main entrance and noticed that someone had already beat her to it. Zephyr was already inside looking for crystals. Ignoring him she sneaked around to the armoury room. From here she picked up a medium sized empty crystal and a handful of smaller ones, four fire crystals and a couple of crystal tipped arrows for studying. Feeling satisfied with what she had gathered, she left the outpost and headed back to Gran-grans to meet up with the rest of the group.

Note: Sorry the end was a bit rushed coz I wanted to head out to archery!

The morning, the shallow clouds tinting the sky in grey, the cold biting into the skin. The unfitting silence was drawing him out of his crumbling house, raising his suspicion. Kron walked a few steps out, on the street. It was empty, and so were the houses that bordered it, some thirty yards away from his own. This was no ordinary, Kron could tell, something was happening, something he didn't know about.

From behind and away, the rythmed beat of a mallet stroke his ears. It came from the village's square, the characteristic sound of the garrison's soldier building their stage. This early in the morning, it didn't take Kron long to understand what was coming.


Kron, reacted in a shock, sliding his knife in his belt. Kron ran, it was not an emotion nor a sentiment, it was not a decision, it was not duty, it was an urge. His body seemed to desperately try dragging itself begging him to indulge which he did without a thought. The square was near but it fell too far, he ran without panting or stomping when the mallet stopped.


The square was in sight and the crowd of villagers surrounded the stage on which soldier stood aside a large stock. A girl was lying on it, pale, frail, gracious in her misfortune, he knew the girl. It was the daughter of the old swordsman, the sister of the garrison's fencing instructor. He only had seen her a few times but she was not guilty. She couldn't have done anything, she was just an innocent girl, she couldn't even walk on her own.
Kron hit the wall formed by the crowd at his fastest, but it did not suffice to punch through. Making his way forcibly through the crowd, he slid from opening to opening.
As he took his first step out of the crowd the axe fell onto the girl's neck. The head fell, bounced and rolled off the stage. Kron was frozen, his arm reaching out to the girl, out of range. Something, he had to do something. She was still there, her head, her body were still there. There had to be something he can do. The feeling of powerlessness was rising rapidly inside him.His arms felt weaker and weaker as an unbearable feeling of emptiness was growing in his stomach. Nothing, too late, he had to do something, he didn't, she was gone. There was no choice, no option that could undo this, she was gone.
He had no qualms for killing and he wasn't ignorant of the nature of people but despite all of that, despite the fact that he had learned to expect such actions, he failed to understand such gratuitous acts. He was cold, nearly emotionless but a feeling of wrongness was crowding his mind.
This was not right, this had to stop, this had to be... terminated.

What used to confuse him had started to feed a silent fury. His choice was made.

When a soldier who sensed his hostile intentions came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder to stop him Kron grabbed and plunged in a blink his dagger in the soldier's throat, leaving it there. The soldier fell, drowning in his own blood. Another soldier walked up to him from the front, about to unsheath his sword when Kron punched the hand, putting the sword back in place before grabbing the arm and twisting to the point it broke.
The girl's brother had started a rampage of his own and the rageful despair that could be read on his face furthered Kron's determination as he made short work of his opponents.

After the fight ended Kron kept out of the brother's emotional break down, simply stanfing aside, silent.



(Might finish this later, might not.)

He was having a cup of tea and chatting with this – really charming – Lady Nyria when the group of thugs came barging into her house. Being the highly respectable, full of integrity, noble, gentleman he was, he immediately stood up and went between them and the lady, shielding her.


It’s not even sunset, for God’s sake!

“What do you peasants want??”, he said, with all the righteous disdain appropriate to his current station.
“By Aluthea! Lord Arkayne!”, said, whimpering, the very lovely Lady Nyria, with her fabulously gorgeous legs. She got up and went closer to him, filling his nose with her scent, grabbing his arm and putting it close to her, her very firm and beautiful breasts touch—


You’re getting distracted, get yourself together.

Right, he could always come back later anyway.
The big fat, and ugly, one from the group took a step toward him, grinning, like the fool he was, and he punched him. “Lord Arkayne” dropped to his butt, knocking over a flower vase full of water on his way, spreading it over him, and looked at the thug, startled.
“When I told ye talk, ye talk. Now ye shut ye rich mouth up or I put my club up yer arse!”.

Lord Arkayne stared at him.
He was still on the floor, bleeding from his nose. The lady was crying over him, trying to hug him or do whatever a stupid pampered lady in love do in those kinds of situations. The water, with some kind of dirt mixed in it, was splashed on his head, dripping slowly.
He looked completely miserable, pathetic even. But that still didn’t do anything to deter the message he was sending with his eyes.

Death, murder, torture. By just staring at the thug, he gave him a fatal, absolute truth.


I will kill you tonight.

The thug fell down, eyes wide, and started to crawl away on all fours, crying and, well, he wet himself. That gave Lord Arkayne a small smile.

Another more reserved thug gave a signal, and the whole group drew their second-hand weapons.
“We rob this place, and you don’t make a sound, got it?”.

The lady whimpered a little more and pressed herself against me while I nodded to them. They started to ransack the place, breaking everything on their wake, until the lady shouted “No! Please! This is my grandmother’s clock!”.
The thugs gave her a bland look, and returned to their routine. Arkayne got closer to the lady’s head and whispered in her ears:
“They are thugs who just want money, if you just give them the most valuable thing, in money, I could convince them to take it and leave without breaking anything of value to you”.
Her eyes widened for a second, and softened immediately when Arkayne lifted her chin with a delicate hand, and a handsome smile.
 “But don’t worry, I will hunt them down and retrieve it as soon as I know you are not in danger”. She drew a sharp breath and nodded. She told him the hidden location of a vault, with its security password, where she stored a hundred fully charged crystals with the right number of empty crystals to go with them.
Even though he didn’t know why they were invaluable, Arkayne smiled and nodded at her, got up and approached the thugs slowly until they noticed him and stopped what they were doing.

“I have a deal for you scums; I will give you the location of a vault where the Lady’s treasure is hidden. Take everything in it and leave without touching anything else and we’re done.”
The earlier thug nodded and started speaking while the rest of the group surrounded Arkayne.
“And I’m more thinking to torture you and the lady there until you give us the location”
“Well you obviously can’t do that, kid”
His eyes narrowed: “and why?”
“First, because the Lady already triggered a crystal based alarm, the soldier from the garrison would shortly be here. And how do you think they will react when the see the beautiful cousin of this town’s garrison commander threatened by a band of filthy thieves?
Second, while you torture us, we will undoubtedly scream. Very loudly. In fact, we will be so loud that my retinue will probably alert nearby guards.
Third, we-“
“Okay okay!” the thug said, his arms in the air in a capitulation gesture.

They took everything in the vault, and departed, with the sobbing fat thug following them.
30 seconds later, Arkayne turned to the Lady, took her hands in his, and said, looking at her with very emotional eyes:

“Now I will go after them, and I promise you to take back what they dared to steal from you. Fear not my lady!”, he followed his tirade with a small kiss on her forehead, he turned and started to leave.

 “Wait!”, she ran to her room, and came back with a sheathed and slightly curved sword.

“My gift to you. I bought it this morning with the weapon expert. I- “, she looked down, “I saw you last month, against those guards. You had similar a weapon then. And you were so beautiful when fighting them!”

“You saw me?

“Yes”, she whispered.

“You saw when I killed them?”

She nodded, still keeping her head down, but offering the weapon nonetheless.
“But I won’t tell anyone! I promise! I love you!”, Arkayne took the sword and unsheathed it, watching it with “an expert” eye.
“By Aluthea! Lady Nyria, this scimitar is beautiful!”, He looked down and swallowed. “Nobody ever gave me such a beautiful gift, thank you my Lady”, He gave her a hot and sensual kiss. She breathed heavily and pressed herself against him, small moans leaving her throat as her leg went up his own. He hugged her, his arms enveloping her. His right hand caressed her head, neck and began to fall down through her back.



And then he stabbed her. With one of his throwing daggers.



Her eyes widened, filled with pain and horror and incomprehension.
“I’m so sorry, I- I can’t! Even if you did not want to, they could force you. You have seen my face, I- I didn’t have a choice”, Arkayne said, his eyes filled with tears. His body sagged alongside hers.
She smiled, lifted a feeble hand and brushed a tear. She closed her eyes and died, still with this warm smile on her face.
Arkayne got up, wiped his throwing dagger on the corpse’s clothes, and went to her work desk. There he opened every drawer and began reading the papers in it.
That lady died in the hand of the man she loved and trusted.
He sped up a little, only checking the title on each files.
She died right after getting robbed by a group of thugs, led by this same man she loved and trusted.
He frantically looked through the files now, beginning to feel the despair crawling near the corner of his mind.
She died without even reaching her twentieth summer.
He was desperate now, going to the shelf and knocking books over, looking for the most important text in the world. This feeling, a looming fatality, got closer and closer. His hands started shaking uncontrollably. His legs were in the verge of giving way through the pressure.
Her death was unfair.
And then he saw it, a red folder that must have fallen when he opened the first drawer. He jumped at it, took the first file and read through like never in his life.
“HA! HA, HA! FOUND IT!”, he was jumping happily, reading a second time through the file.
--- Execution order n°65 ---
After examining the report sent by the Chief Narlem from the Eriur military branch, I, Lady Nyria, third cousin of Commander Guyen, authorize the summary execution of 5 Eriur citizens.




“Summary execution, right, she just offed 5 innocent people, unfair death my ass”, He dropped to the floor, exhausted and infinitely relieved at the same time.
You still need to verify it though.
He grunted, Eriur was one week away from Sayrn, on horse.
But first, he had a group of would-be thief to visit.
“I hoped they didn’t lose everything”.
Oh right, he wanted to kill the ugly fat one too.
He doesn’t stand a chance against you, there’s no fair fight possible here.
That guy managed to live more than 18 years, with his fat, as a “thief” in Sayrn slums. I feel like he’s already too lucky to be alive.

And he’s ugly.

They hadn't even bothered closing the door. What was once their home could now only be called his home. She was really gone.The void in his heart felt as if it was swallowing him from the inside, slowly growing larger. He stepped inside into a home that looked just about the same as he had left it. He could see she didn't even struggle; not that it would have mattered if she did. He could only imagine how confused she was when it happened, how scared she must've been. Just being here made him sick. 

He said he couldn't live in this village if those imperials were still here, but was that really it? Didn't Ashur just want revenge on those bastards that decided to kill of an innocent girl in cold blood? Did he get what he wish for? His actions had been rash, but were they wrong in doing this? His feelings were in conflict. He felt right having killed those animals, but he had achieved nothing. Revenge didn't gain him everything, he had to leave even more behind.
Even if they managed to take the keep, this wouldn't be over. If anything, doing this might make things even worse. But what choice did they have? Even if they left the village, the empire was sure to wipe out Eriur anyway. He knew they didn't care for fault, they just wanted to show their complete domination. 

"Stop spacing out, moron." Ashur would hear the voice of Arbos coming from the ring. Yes, his time was limited. Every moment he dawdled was a moment lost. It did not matter what was right or wrong anymore. Right now he could only do what he thought was right. Ashur searched the room, picking up whatever crystal he could find. He had a handfull of empty ones, a few fire ones from the stove, a cold crystal from the fridge, electric crystals from his lamps. Whatever they didn't need could be emptied later anyway. After this he packed the food that would be able to last outside a fridge, enough for a day or two. Last but not least he took every last bit of money he owned, he had received his last paycheck two days ago.

Ashur walked towards the door, while taking one last look at what he left behind. Trinkets from his father's travels, musical instruments from his mother, and the bed where his sister had been for nearly her whole life. He still remembers what he once told her to cheer her up. A promise he wished he could've kept.
The two of them had always listened the tales from their father, describing the grand travels of his youth. They loved the stories, so much that they both wanted to become adventurers themselves. That's why after she became sick he could only promise her one thing: "When I leave this village, I will take you with me." He would carry her around the world in his arms if needed, that was the naivety of a six year old boy.

But he was leaving this house alone. How long would he be gone? These thoughts kept haunting him as he closed the door. Ashur then headed to the crystal store, spending every last penny he had on whatever he could buy. The store didn't have that much variety, the usual home appliances. He made sure to also buy enough fire and water crystals especially, those would be usefull even if they were to simply emptied them in the field. At least they wouldn't run out of crystals in the swamp.

Ashur returned to gran-gran, finding himself to be one of the last to arrive. He placed his crystals with what the rest had collected. Other than crystals everybody had also brought the equipment they would surely need. Ashur didn't really have much else than his usual steel longsword, but it got the job done.
The time came for the group to embed themselves with what they wanted to use on this journey. The whole idea still seemed rather odd to Ashur. Placing null crystals in your body? Then again, what other choice had he but to trust in the words of a spectre whose body was covered with those things? He just hoped their power was truly as great as he described. The wound on his shoulder was large enough for maybe two crystals. He would have to cut himself open even more to embed anything else? This nullomancer business wasn't something Ashur would like anytime soon.

Ashur embedded crystals into his left shoulder and left upper arm. He wouldn't want to impair too many places on his body at once, the marshes would definitely prove treacherous. He first embedded one of the three pixie dust crystals. Other than it's function to combat diseases like his sister's, it worked as an anasthetic and revitalized the body. It very much resembled a shot of adrenaline. Other than that he embedded a little bit of everything, fire, water, cold, electricity and whatever else they had enough of to divide between them. It didn't take a genious that the more crystals one had to his disposal, the better. However, the pain of the knife tearing open his gray skin was hardly pleasant, he could only imagine the funny looks of people that would see the crystal-covered freaks. Well, that was for later worry. His arm was covered by cloth anyway.

They finally looked ready to set out, in other words: even more wounded than they originally were and completely patched up. Ashur waved over gran-gran, there was one last thing he had to do before he was truly able to leave. "Gran-gran, can you be sure -" the shaman interupted him "Yes your sister will get a proper burial, I will make sure of that myself."  These words filled Ashur's heart with a little bit of rest, which was so much needed. He wished he could do this, there would be many more to bury. 

After one final check, they set out. The road ahead would be arduous and fierce. But Ashur knew that this was something they had to do. He had said his prayers, mentally prepared himself of what to come. No one other than the gods knew if their path would lead to succes.

It wasn’t long before the quartet was back at the shaman’s house. The determination and sorrow overflowed them, yet did not hold power over their actions. Or at least so much Lilly could see in their eyes. They were different from what they were yesterday, but perhaps… just perhaps… a little bit freer. Free of what weighed them down, and resigned to their fate they stood tall, waiting for an unlikely guide to make his voice heard. The empty room around them – a vague symbol of their coming fates.
Once more the house was filled with shadows, whispers running through the corners, as Arbos took his earthly form.  Not much was different about him from his first appearance. Yet the seven crystals that lined his face, giving him an aggressive look, stood out more; even shining in their ghostly form. He gave the four one more close look, trying to read their emotions from the way they held themselves. What he gathered, however, was for him to know.
“Have you decided on the route?” Arbos’ voice seemed calm, yet the risk loving gleam of an old gambler in his eyes gave him away.
Ashur looked to his three companions, exchanging a small nod, then turned his determined eyes to Arbos.
“We attack them head on. Right through the blasted swamp!” Never once did Ashur’s voice waver in his words.  Arbos smiled and put his arms behind his back.
“And the crystals, have you gathered them?” He raised an eyebrow with a slight tone of snark.

Naya shook her head.
“Obviously enough. Do you take us for unreasonable kids?”

Arbos snorted. “I’d rather trust a child than a few hot headed hillbillies. Sadly there’s not a quartet of four nullomancer children in sight. So I’m stuck with you. Anyway, show me the crystals.”

Everyone pulled out their bags and pouches, showcasing the crystals they managed to gather. Arbos glanced over them with an unimpressed look. That was understandable, however; a dozen basic crystals faded in comparison to the things he’s seen in his lifetime. Or afterlife time.  Although, I suppose, he definitely saw more stuff during his life, rather than after. You know, with him being stuck in a ring for two hundred years and all.
“Alright, that’s better than I expected from Eriur to provide. Now take the knives,” He nodded towards Lilly, who was standing on his side with four small scalpels in her hand. “And make the incisions. You can embed only five crystals for now, so decide yourself how many you need to make and how many you will just shove into your existing wounds.”

A slight murmur of confusion ran through the group. Zeph was the first to vocalise it, however.
“Five? Why five? Wouldn’t it make more sense to embed more crystals right off?” The others nodded in agreement with the man. Arbos sighed and struck his forehead with his palm. Or at least got as close as he could to doing it with his incorporeal body.
“Did you guys learn nothing at all from what I’ve said?!” He groaned. “the nullomancers recharge their crystals with their own energy. What makes you think you have an infinite amount of that energy from the get-go?!
If you embed too many crystals at once, you will most likely eventually end up using them all up at once. And then your body will expend a ridiculous amount of power to recharge them. You will get weak, immobilised or even possibly die if you try to recharge too many. And being new there is no way you could have enough control to purposely stall a crystal from recharging. So pick five that you would be most prominent and stick to them! Don’t worry, the amount of crystals you can have grows very rapidly the more you use nullomancy. You will be alright.”

The quartet shared another look, the Zeph sighed. “I guess… that makes sense. Alright.”

That said, the four of them took a knife each and made the necessary incisions, under the watchful eye of the shaman and the spectre.  Arbos quickly instructed them how to bandage up the new crystals and the group, with shaman’s blessing, finally moved out.
Their road took them straight to the south-west and into the forest. The thick forest surrounded them with an impenetrable wall mere minutes later. Soon they could no longer see or hear the village of Eriur… their hometown… Well, most of them, anyway. The evening sun kept going down with ever increasing fervour, flooding the forest with ever deeper shadows. The, so far, fairly uneventful journey had been on for two and half hours by the time they reached the Misty Marshes. The mists, steam and bog found their place among the ancient trees that ruled the marshland. The strong scent of chemicals in the air was nigh unbearable, much like the faint buzzing of the flies and the seldom heard yawn of a forest goblin.
As the path they took grew ever darker, Arbos peaked from the ring on Ashur’s finger with a calm voice.
“You should make camp for the night and head out at dawn. Marshes are too dangerous to wander at night. Also would help to look around for possible charges. Come the fight in two days you will really want to use them. Oh and don’t make the fire too bright, as not to attract the critters too much.”

Ashur paused for a moment.
“Will we still be able to catch up to the stragglers if we stay for night?”
“Absolutely. I counted on this. As kong as you move out on sunrise – you will make it on time.”

That said, Ashur nodded and waved to the others.
“That’s it for today guys, let’s make camp!”

Kron had grabbed a fire and an electricity crystals for himself in the fort. Though most part of his life had been primal, he wasn't completely ignorant as his father had quite ach on few books about science and basic biology. Not much on crystals however, as it seemed this knowledge was confidential, but from what he understood of Arbos' explanations a crystal's power would be largely harmless to the nullomancer using it, and so he figured a fire crystal could be of use in many situations, also it would probably be less tiring than the other methods of lighting a fire.
The electricity crystal on the other hand would be effective in disposing of enemies silently.
Those two crystals he thought of absorbing although he did not have any wounds deep enough to insert them yet. There wasn't much more he could pick up.
He didn't go through with it yet however. Though he was not afraid of the pain, cutting himself in such a manner felt quite like an unnatural thing to do and so he wanted some confirmation on his choice before doing anything.

After that, he went all the way back to his old house were he picked up and packed his stuff, including his backpack, a long thick hooded leather vest with wide sleeves, a sleeping bag, a number of dumb sheets of cloth and a big knife belt. The belt was over five inches wide and carried a thin pointed dagger, a broad slicing dagger, a hunting knife, a fishing knife, a chopper and a couple of spear heads. Most of the rest fit in a thick single strap backpack.

He took a look back at the decrepit habitation. Nothing more than memories and a few keepsakes tied him to this place, his father's books and carved wood trinkets, his mother's brass and iron jewelry. He knew he would probably not come back for long, if ever and that he would never see any of those things again. As he was about to step through the door, he came back in to look for something, from an old box, he retrieved a pair of pendants his parents wore. One was a stylized wolf rolled around sword, the other one was a pair of antlers supported by two oak leaves poiting up and out on each sides.

Arriving back at gran gran's and after a quick exchange with Arbos, Kron took one of his knives and with his good left hand made a cut all the way through the skin on the inside of his right arm before sliding both crystals under it. With a needle and some wire he was carrying he stitched the wound. His hand did not shake or his determination waver as he operated on himself as he was as used to pain than he was versed in the use of knives.


The bulk of the crystals was visible but hardly noticeable as they were of quite modest size. Kron wrapped his entire right arm in torn cloth. After a thourough check of his gear he was ready to set out with the rest of the group.

After a day's walk, Kron had started to feel weary, he was used to walk long distances but the swamps were different. Each step that they took, their foot would dig deep into the soil, which along with the bumps and pits, forced them to raise their legs uncomfortably high each time, sometimes a foot or both would bury it so deep in the mud that a sealed space would form, opposing suction to any attempt to pull the foot out.

On Arbos' advice, they decided to make camp. Kron was used to tracking preys for days, sometimes weeks and he knew Arbos was right. The soldiers were disorganized, panicked and more than probably didn't pace themselves, this mear nt they were gonna try and keep walking all through the night, slower and slower and would eventually have to camp, having not advanced significantly and being so tired they wouldn't be able to move again without a very long rest. On long distances, the trackers always had the advantage on the trackees.
Settling down in the camp, as much as four people sleeping on the floor could be called a camp, he grabbed a small flask of some strong alcohol and unwrapped the bangages around his right arm.
Although he had stitched the wound pretty decently, he had to check it's cleanliness or it could otherwise fester, he was surprised to find the wound clean and almost closed. After a closer inspection he wrapped the bandages back on.
As he paid greater attention to the crystals he noticed that he was starting to feel them in a different way, the discomfort from earlier was slowly fading, the crystals felt less and less like foreign objects and he started to feel the power that emanated from them through his body. Though he could feel it he couldn't get a feel on how to release it.
After spending some time trying to figure it out, he slid in his sleeping bag and went to rest, only half asleep.

Once everyone was gathered they went into Gran-grans hut again. Lae’Naya dropped her collected crystals on to the pile and surveyed what the others had brought. After Arbos’ speech she was handed a scalpel. From the pile she picked up two fire crystals, a water crystal and two electricity crystals. She took the scalpel and made an incision on her bicep, cringing at the exposed muscle underneath. She placed a fire and water crystal in there then bandaged the wound. She made another smaller incision a little below and placed the other fire crystal in and bandaged it again. She undid the light bandage she had put on her stomach wound and placed the electricity crystals in. Redoing the bandage again she checked that everything was secure. She would have to be careful where she placed the crystals so that they didn’t impede her archery. With all of that done it was time to head out. They left Gran-grans hut, Lae’Naya hugging her before they left, and headed to the forest and the swamp beyond.

It took them a couple of hours to reach the swamp and Lae’Naya wasn’t happy when they did. The smell of the swamp and the gases were making her feel incredible nauseous and light headed. The high humidity made her fur sticky and her legs were covered in mud. The bugs flying around weren’t helping either. The further in they went the worse it got. She was so so glad when they stopped to make camp. They started a little fire and dragged a nearby log over to sit on. She pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around herself, choosing to slump against the log rather than sit on it. She stretched out her legs to the fire and her eye lids drooped. She knew she should stay awake longer but she was just too tired. She nodded off and left the others to do what they wanted.

(because of the crystal limit I'll list Ashur's crystals here for clarification: 2 fire, 1 water, 1 electricity, 1 pixie dust)

The marshes were treacherous, the mud slowed down their every step. The quartet could feel fatigue catching up to them as they strolled further. Today had not been just a day. This day had changed their lives. The mist might've taken Eriur from their sight, but not from their minds. It pained Ashur to leave his hometown behind like this, but there was no other option. This trip might only be the prelude of what was to come. Attacking the fort would not be an easy thing, even if they were able to use their newfound powers.

As the sun hid behind the horizon, the mist only impaired them more. The darkness of nyxis took over the swamp. This combination made even the closest trees hard to see. There wasn't really any other option but to set up camp for tonight. It would be far too dangerous to move on like this. Then again, resting in this place wasn't really the safest idea either. Arbos also reminded him of collecting usefull charges. He could think of a few things, but he also knew they weren't going to find many of them right now. 

The marshes weren't particularly hospitable to their guests, but it would have to do. The comfort of a warm bed would have to be replaced for the cold, dirty ground. But before any of them could lay down, there were still chores to be done. They would need some wood for a modest fire. Ashur also found a mushroom close to the camp. He knew of it's poisonous nature. After a short counsel the four decided to split the tests accordingly: Ashur would look for more mushrooms, zephyr and kron would look for firewood. Naya would set up the materials needed for the camp. Luckily the marshes were rich with vegetation, so the three men did not have to stray far from the camp. It would've been hard to find back.

As everyone prepared for sleep, Ashur had taken the first night duty upon him. Having lived relatively close to this swamp for his whole life, he knew of it's dangers. The swamp sirens were what they had to watch out for the most.
Next to him was a bowl filled with the juice from mushrooms, in which bathed around ten crystals. Even if they would embed them, it was never a bad idea to keep a couple of spares. He hoped the crystals were ready in time for the great fight.

A few hours had passed since they had gone to sleep. Luckily for Ashur it was almost time for the next shift. Taking the first shift upon him might've been a very irresponsible thing for him to do. This was quite possibly the worst day of his whole life. He took a look at the bandages on his arm. What would the result be? He could already feel the crystals slowly becoming a part of him. But how usefull was it really? Could he blindly trust the word of the spectre?

Then again, what choice did he have?

Then suddenly, a great drowsiness started to settle in. Ashur could feel his consciousness slipping, but barely managed to regain himself. The tune tickling his ears could only mean one thing: "Sirens!" Ashur yelled to his companions, hoping they were still able to wake up. Ashur reached for his pockets, taking out something that looked like makeshift earplugs. From the mist six figures would emerge. Ugly, beastly and rather unsettling they were. Their slim, lizard-like bodies slowly crawled towards them. Although these creatures did not even reach to their knees, they were still dangerous predators. If they were to fall asleep now, this quest would be over before it even begun.

But the meal would not prove to be that easy. Ashur stood ready to face them and the other three had awoken from their sleep as well. The sirens looked at them hungrily. They might have not have eaten in days. They lunged, attacking the group with biting attacks. However six tiny swamp sirens were no match for four well-trained fighters. They managed to kill four of them, and captured a fifth. The sixth one decided to do the only smart thing and abandonned it's comrade.

"Well, this might come in handy" Zephyr shrugged as he looked down at the creature, now patheticly weakened. The rest of the group grinned as they gathered some material. Within ten minutes they had made something resembling a ruper. In there they placed stones, to keep a crystal in place. It was time the little siren did a little concert. Through the night they made sure the creature sang, filling more crystals for the group. It seemed their little collection was finally getting on track. Ashur sincerely doubted if they would've been able to topple a whole fort using home-appliance crystals, so he was definitely delighted.

The rest of the night went without trouble. The group enjoyed their well deserved rest until the light of Janur woke, even through the thick mists. They moved further through the bog, watching out for anything they could possibly use. How much longer would it take before they would finally be out of this place?

A lot of things happened despite it only really having been half the day or so, albeit feeling FAR longer than that. With all the exposition given to them, they placed their crystals and left. Nobody seemed to bother with the cool crystals, so Zephyr took one himself, and one each of electricity, fire, and water. Figuring that they would all serve a purpose well enough, he didn't place a fifth in case they came across anything particularly useful on the way. Considering this area they were mentioning going through, it seemed like a reasonable assumption. Either way he should have plenty to work with having all four as it was.

Eventually settling on a place to break, the group fixed themselves a small camp, and doled out some tasks for themselves. (Grim's post)

As the group agreed, Kron and Zephyr were to go looking for some firewood, aware of the dangers of the swamps they left together  the mound they had established their camp upon, crossing a mere to reach a group of trees on the other side. If there was any wood closer to their camp, it was better to leave it for now, in case they were to come short in the middle of the night. Right now, they had to hurry and gather as much wood as they could before sundown.
“This place is nice and exciting. Must be a cool place to live in.”
“This place is wet, it's never good to be wet. Vermin, parasites, infections and the cold. This place sucks.”
Zephyr sighed as Kron failed to notice his sarcastic tone.
“There's mostly wet wood here, lasts longer in the fire but we're not starting one with it.”

Looking around, Kron noticed a dead tree, the trunk was rather thick and not really rotten, but the first branches were out of reach from the ground. Turning to Zephyr, he said: “I'm going to climb that tree, grab the branches before they fall in the water.”
Kron placed his hands on either sides of the trunk, raised his leg, testing his footing before pushing off the ground. The trunk was thick enough that he didn't need to hug it completely to have a firm grip on it, and so  he climbed, not particularly fast but with noticeable ease.
Reaching the first branch, he started cutting off the smaller ones coming out of it and letting them fall for Zephyr to catch them. After cutting off the branches in his reach from the trunk, Kron started cutting the main branch but it was thick and the dry wood was hard to cut; after hacking at it a little he climbed so to have it under his foot. After a few stomps, the branch gave out.
“Wow!”
Zephyr, bored, had let his attention drift when the branch came down on him and he barely managed to dodge it.
“What the fuck was that? Can't you warn people before doing that?”
“Oh... well... look out...”
“Not now! See! branch! On the ground! Before: branch falling! That's when you're supposed to warn people! What is wrong with you? Didn't your parents teach you nothing?”
Kron jumped off the tree.
“Guess not. Let's head back, the night's coming.”

As they were heading back to the camp, Kron grabbed Zephyr's shoulder and whispered  tp him “Don't move.”. Staring at Zephyr's feet, Kron slowly grabbed a knife from his belt before abruptly throwing it on the ground. From near Zephyr's feet, a snake revealed it's presence. It was green with darker brown spots. It was crawling away at it's fastest but Kron's dagger though failing to kill it, had sliced its flank. After a few swift steps Kron dived and grabbed the reptile by it's neck, fetching some cloth from his belongings, he made a makeshift bag to contain the snake.
Zephyr was clearly weirded out by the scene, and probably even more by the idea of bringing it back to camp but did not object.

Back to the camp, Kron grabbed a glass vial from his bag  and stretched a piece of cloth over its mouth. Grabbing the snake from the bag by the neck, he brought its head to the vial and the snake reflexively bit into the cloth, spilling its venom in the vial. After harvesting all that he could, Kron crushed the snake in his hand and decapitated it with a knife.
Once that done, he put two of the empty crystals in the vial. There was barely enough venom to entirely immerse the both of them.
Picking up the snake's still twitching body he impaled it on a branch.
After lighting the fire with the dry wood from the dead tree and a fire crystal he put the snake over it to roast.(K's post again)

"Charming meal." Zephyr didn't say it out loud, but he did realize he'd have to likely get used to doing similar things at some point as well. Just not today. The group took turns with watch and resting, knowing the next day was going to be plenty busy. After a short altercation with some swamps sirens and the acclimation of a couple new crystal types, they got ready and moved out. They still had a good day or two to go.

Lae’Naya slowly opened her eyes. Above her was a clear black sky, the mist had cleared and a thick fog rolled along the ground. She sat up and looked around. The landscape around her was monochrome, devoid of any colour. Their makeshift campsite was gone and her companions were replaced with floating balls of blue fire, two near her and one further away. She stood up and wavered as dizziness overcame her. She closed her eyes and clutched her head.
“Lae’Naya...”
Her eyes snapped open. Ahead of her, in the low-lying tree line, was a misty shape. It could have been humanoid but it was hard to tell from such a long distance.
“W-who... what are you?”
The spirit held up an arm and beckoned slowly. Lae’Naya took two steps forward and collapsed to her knees. She panted hard from the effort, her breath coming out in white puffs. The figure beckoned again and turned to leave.
“Wait! *pant* Please!”
She didn’t know why but she felt she had to follow it. She got to her feet again and took a few shaky steps before she heard a loud singing voice. The voice grew in volume and pitch until it became an intolerable screech. Lae’Naya covered her ears and screamed in pain.
 
She gasped as her body woke up.
“They’re coming” she whispered.
She untangled herself and ran to the sleeping Kron and Zeph, shaking them awake just as Ashur yelled. The sirens were smaller than she thought and were easily taken care of. The left the last one alive to capture its song essence in the empty null crystals they had. Lae’Naya offered to take next watch while the others slept. She couldn’t get the spirit from her visit to the spirit world out of her mind. She had visited many times with her Teacher, Gran-gran, but never had such an experience. The spirit had called for her. Usually it is the Shaman that calls on the trapped spirit.
“If I wasn’t so tired, would I have followed it...?”
These thoughts continued on until Kron relieved her of watch and she finally settled down to sleep.
 
The next day they set off just after dawn, keen to gain as much time as they could. The trip was eventful with attacks from wild and poisonous animals but nothing they couldn’t easily handle. As they were walking along in the afternoon, Lae’Naya could feel the inner power inside her growing stronger every hour. She undid her bandages to check the crystals. The skin had nearly finished healing around them and she could feel them almost as if they were a part of her system. She was keen to give the nullmancy a go but she had no idea on how to activate the powers. She hoped she would have a slight clue by the time they reached the Keep.
 
It was getting dark by the time the mist and swamp started to turn into normal forest again. As they were walking, Arbos suddenly materialized.
“Alright guys! We’re getting close to the fort now. We’ll assault it tomorrow morning. I'd suggest you come up with some sort of strategy.”
They set up camp once again, dolling out the same duties as last time. She has just finished laying out the sleeping bags and blankets when the other three returned with wood and dinner. Kron, after some fiddling and struggles managed to start the fire using a fire crystal and everyone “enjoyed” roasted reptile.

No way. Crystals were used in everyday life; well, at least normal people’s everyday life, not something a slums originated fellow would use. You could store pretty much everything in a crystal, given the right tools. That’s what he read in a book called “applied crystals technology” anyway. You can “create” steam by heating up water past its boiling point, creating vapor. He was probably mixing a fire, or heat, crystal glove with a water crystal glove, creating steam when realizing both at the same time.
That was... pretty smart. Too smart for the fat one actually, Ash must have given him some instructions before handing him the gloves over.
Klein then heard the sound of two crystals falling to the floor, followed by four small clicks.
Recharging?
That must be it. Once the crystals were empty, he couldn’t use them anymore. That meant he must have some kind of stash or belt to store the rest of the crystals. Neat.
Garby repeated the procedure until the steam was over the entire court. Klein got up and walked very slowly toward the center.
“Hey fat one, you here?”, as soon as he said that, he crouched in the lowest position possible, and moved silently to his right.
“He said you come here, and that I kill you alone if I want to become lieutenant. LIEUTENANT! HAHAHAHA”,  he laughed and laughed again, not moving from his spot in the center of the court.
Klein knew the fat one was stupid, but that was way too much.
“Whut? You afraid of me? COME GET ME! HAHAHA”.
He then noticed what was wrong with this picture, in addition to all the coincidences. The sound was coming from below him, and Gruby was the same height, if not a little taller, than him. His laugh sounded strained too.
“Dammit”, he whispered, and got to the center of the court, still silent and crouched, ready to turn and flee.
He found Gurby lying down on the floor, his feet attached, his gloved hands still creating steam. As Klein got closer, he noticed something he wouldn’t have from five meters away: wounds. Gurby had been tortured, way past a human breaking point, judging from the scorched marks on his face, or his missing right ear, or his missing toes, or the blood still pouring away from a huge wound on his hips. Or his spike-pierced eyes.
What the hell?
Klein took a small knife and got even closer to him. Gurby had gotten quiet some time ago, so there wasn’t really anything different when Klein slit his throat silently. He took the gloves off, put them on, there was still a glow from the crystals on each hand, there were not depleted yet. At this time, the steam was already beginning to fade, clearing the view of the court. He located two different stashes on Gurby and took them.
As he got up he saw a man 5 meters away and recognized him instantly. He got to one knee and inclined his head in a bowing respect.
“I don’t believe I called you”
“Ah, but you did, or you would be dead already”.
What? He got up and looked around and as always, the time had stopped. Or rather, from this other book he read, the time had been bended to move ever so slowly, allowing him to think, see and move a hundred time faster than normal.
The steam was not clearing anymore, obviously, but he still managed to see the forms around him. Ten of them, spread in a wide arc, all aiming with range weapons. Some were bows, some crossbows, two of them had a rifle.
“Crap”
“Indeed”
“mmh, I need to be able to react fast enough to create more steam, and I will need to sense them even through it”
The man eyes sparkled.
“Do you want to be omniscient?”
“No way, I want you to improve my hearing enough that I could determine the trajectory of a bullet from the sound it makes when leaving the rifle. I want you to improve my touch enough that I could feel someone moving, and where he is moving, from the disturbances in the steam. And I want to react fast enough to get myself out of harm”
He looked disappointed, but a little bit… proud.
“It’s been so long since you last asked me, I missed you”
“I don’t really think it’s time for chitchat-, well we probably have time, but I don’t want to.”
“Always so cold with me~~. I am inclined to grant you what you’re wishing for; you’re in a hardly fair situation right now. Thus I shall give you superhuman reaction, what is it you always say? Free of charge. As for the rest, it would modify too greatly your body, I’ll need you to ask your Luck.”, and with that, he gave him a 6 digit dice.
“What values?”
“You’re asking for two things. Let’s say: 5 and 6 you have both, 4 you have the hearing, 3 you have the sight, 2 you won’t gain anything, 1 you won’t have anything”.
Klein looked at him suspiciously, and then rolled the dice. He got a 2.
“fucking hell, how am I supposed to get out of here alive”
“Want to try again?”
“No”
His answer was more of an instinct than anything else, he knew bad things would happen, for him mostly, if he were to try again.
“Well then”, he inclined his head as a polite salute, the one you would give to someone ultimately inferior to you but in a way not to crush their feelings and pride, turned back and walked away.
Klein crouched, got his hand, with the gloves, in the same way he saw Gurby do it earlier and waited for the time to go back to normal again, which would be signaled by the steam moving and fading again.
As soon as the steam moved, he reacted impossibly fast, pressing his hands together while jumping parallel to the ground and turning, letting the produced steam fall back between him and the ten people. He fell to the ground, and sensed two bullets go right past his head, while an arrow struck the floor between his legs. He rolled away using his hands and thus stopping producing any steam. He took 3 orange crystals from one of the stack, and placed them carefully on the ground, one at a time, separated by more than 2 meters, while walking silently toward the back wall. He memorized perfectly the location of each crystal, knowing in what direction they were and the distance between him and them.
He began to look around him, until he located what he was looking for.
Click. Chump.
He looked at the wall in front of him; a bolt was embedded in it, 10 centimeters away.
The panic was starting to slowly crawl back from the depth of his memory.
He took an empty crystal in his right hand and two others in his left. With a flick of his right, he sent an empty crystal right to the closest crystal. Upon impact, a brief explosion, accompanied by a flash as the charged crystal touched the empty one.
As he moved through the steam and got closer to the tree he located earlier he continued to throw empty crystals at the ones on the ground. He really hoped that the distraction was enough for him to reach the tree and climb over of the wall. A meter away from the tree, he discharged the rest of the crystals on his gloves and directed the steam back from where he came and slightly upward – just enough to cover the tree.
He climbed the tree, and as he jumped off the tree over the wall, a bullet nicked his face, and a bolt went through and through just under his shoulder.
He fell on the ground, repressed a scream, and got off on a sprint toward his house, keeping the right direction by following the Northern star he had located earlier.
As he got closer to his house though, a pillar of smoke was raising from it.
He stopped right where he was and stared hard. What the hell was going on? He turned in a alley on his right and went for one of his cache.
Turned out that all of them were ransacked, apart from one on the outskirts. The problem is, only a servant tunic was in there, with roughly 20 throwing daggers.
“well, I didn’t have anything more to do here anyway, I don’t have anyone who owed me anymore, Ash burned my house and wants me gone, and I don’t have the means to get back at him”.
Although, it really was weird how Ash went to all this trouble to get came out of town. He could just have sent some assassin and be done with it.. Anyway, time to go to Eriur’s Keep and verify that some innocents dudes got killed by order of Lady Nyria. He would need to steal a horse from Tom stable, again, he almost felt bad for him.
 
 
The lieutenant entered the room and found Ash on his desk, signing off some papers.
“He just left, Sir”
“Excellent, did he take his tunic with him?”
“Yes, sir”
“Did you arrange for the guards to be alerted a week after his arrival?”
“Yes sir. We sent the messenger on a longer route so that he will arrive at the keep in two weeks.”
“Good, you’re dismissed.”
“Sir, if I may –“
“No you may not, leave now”
“As you wish, sir”, the lieutenant bowed and closed the door behind him.
A man appeared from a shadowed corner, or more accurately, the outline of a man.
“Very good, very good.”
Ash scowled, “I’ve hold my end of the bargain, now leave me alone”
“You sure? I have the something else for you: you see I know of every safe you have in the whole fortress but I just want the contents of the box below your bed. Give them to me and you will stay alive, that is my bargain, what do you say?”
Ash got up from his desk, a straight sword on his right hand, and lunged at the shadow, impossibly fast. He suddenly stopped, wide eyes, and cut his own throat.
“You guys never learn, do you?”.

The shadow approached Ash’s dying body and leaned over him, a smile on his dark black face, dark black old face, and gradually disappeared as his soul was leaving him.



(those events happened two weeks before the group arrived at the Keep..)

Arbos flew up above the treeline and looked at the first faint lights of dawn peeking over the horizon. It was about time; 4 am roughly, he thought. He descended back to the ground and with a malicious grin took a deep breath.
“WAKEY WAKEY, MORONS!” His shout pierced the twilight of the morning, instantly shaking the quartet awake. Yet, unbeknownst to the heroes, Arbos’ voice did not go past the first trees, instead swirling up, shaking and dissipating as if hitting a sound proof wall.
“Huh- Wha- Are you insane?! Do you want to give our position away?!” Ashur rubbed his eyes and jumped to his feet.  Arbos waved his hand dismissively.
“Stop whining. Nobody heard us, I made sure of that.  Now get on your feet, it’s time for training.”
Everyone shared a confused look and then stepped a bit closer to Arbos. Given his usual demeanour none of them had any particular faith that he was actually going to teach them something, so this came as a bit of a surprise.
“Alright, first of all I want all of you to show me your releases.”
“Uhm, how exactly DO we release the charge?” Zeph tilted his head to the side with a puzzled look on his face. “Shouldn’t you normally start by explaining that?”
Arbos shook his head.
“You must figure the release out on your own. If I give you conscious directions on how to do it you will be less effective. In battle you will do it tens of hundreds of times and you cannot allow yourself to be THINKING about it. You must do it naturally, just like how you do not think on how to move your arms and legs.  Got it? Now show me the release.”
Arbos put out his hand and a small black ball of shadow appeared in his palm.  “Just like this.”
Everyone quieted down and stared at their own hands in silence for a few minutes, trying to single out one crystal they wanted and release it. A few minutes later Ashur’s face lit up as a small ball of fire appeared in his hand. Zephyr followed suite shortly thereafter with his own fireball.  Next came Kron. Everyone stood for a while waiting for Naya, who seemed to struggle with it a little bit. Finally a minute later she also managed to bring out fire, however unlike the shapely fireballs that the others formed, hers was more like a raging campfire.

Arbos frowned, murmuring something to himself.  
“Alright, now I want you all to release all of your crystals completely, wait for them to recharge and then do it again. Your body must get used to recharging them, otherwise the fatigue will overwhelm you during battle. Also it would be good for you to try and control the release into an attack form once you get your breath back. Oh and if you set the forest on fire – use the water crystal to douse it out.”
Ashur scratched his head.
“Wouldn’t a bunch of fire and lightning kind of.. yanno… give us out?” Kron nodded in agreement.
Arbos smiled.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.”
That said he threw his hand out and formed a fist.
Shadow.
Suddenly the treeline around them faded out of view as if swallowed by a wall of pure darkness. The wall kept growing, up and above the trees until the sky was no longer visible, leaving the group inside a dome of darkness.  Once again the small campfire was the only source of light in the small clearing that they made their camp. Zeph slowly turned his head looking around, his mouth open.
“Holy shit…”
Everyone else shared a similar reaction. Even the usually unwavering Kron seemed taken aback at the occurrence. For the first example of nullomancy they’ve seen it was definitely impressive.
Arbos clapped his hands with a smirk.
“Now that that’s taken care of – get training!”
The quartet nodded and rushed off to separate corners of the dome in order not to get in each other’s way. Moments later even Arbos’ shadow dome struggled to contain the flashes of fire and lightning that danced within…
 
A tall man with short black hair entered the conference room quietly.  His uniform or red and gold spoke of a high status. His demeanour and calm eyes supported that. A small fat man in a black suit stained with dust around on his stomach and elbows rushed towards him, bowing profusely.
“Lord Lerim! I sincerely apologize for the earlier… unsightly fiasco! On the day of your arrival of all times…”
Lerim raised his hand in a commanding manner.
“Enough Graham. One lowly thief is not that much of a fiasco. Nothing a good sword and a strong hand can’t fix.” He approached the big table in the centre of the room and looked over the massive map spread over it.
“Either way, the purpose of my arrival here at the Rowlington Mining HQ has nothing to do with something as... minute as thieves. The Emperor is concerned with the decrease in Null Crystal production from the Venoire Mines. Your company was entrusted with this region on the grounds that you could maintain steady control of this remote area. Was the Emperor… mistaken in his trust?”
Graham paled and rushed over to the table.
“No sir! Of course not! It’s just that we are still having problems delivering shipments from Kathos and Selia villages. Their mountain locations make it impossible to use standard steamcarts for transport – we are forced to use horses or local Cauhri for it. It slows us down immensely. Especially after the recent rockslide. As for Eriur, I’m afraid the recent executions we intended to use to… motivate the workers had exactly the opposite effect. The miners there are lax and uncooperative.  Now if only we could extend the Magnarail to Eriur that would solve our problems. We could deliver the goods from Kathos and Selia to Eriur and from there send them out directly on the Magnarail, increasing our production rate immensely. And the increased Empire presence should keep the Eriur miners in check. I already made plans to have their local garrison fort renovated into a proper keep. All we need now is Your approval to build the Magnarail branch.”
Graham was speaking quickly, swallowing words and losing his breath, but Lerim did not seem to be bothered by it. He glanced over the maps and smiled.
“Bravo, Sir Rowlington. That is indeed a great solution to the Venoire crisis. However constructing the Magnarail is not an overnight task. It’ll take a few months at the least. In meantime we need a temporary boost to productivity until the construction is finished. And I have just the right idea on how to accomplish that.”
Graham gave him a confused look.
“And how would that be, Sir?”
Lerim leaned on the table giving a vicious look to the three villages marked on the map.
“I will personally visit the villages, for motivation.” 
As Graham began congratulating his superior on the great idea a wayward beam of high noon light shot through the window and bounced off several crystals that protruded from Lerim’s skin on his hands…
 
“Who do you think that is?” Ashur asked quietly as he observed a man being led to what looked ike an execution, right behind the massive stone keep. Naya strained her eyes studying the man’s clothes.
“Doesn’t look like he’s imperial.”
The sun was high in its zenith as the quartet was hiding in the bushes, right next to their destination. Their bandages were gone and their clothes were sizzled with fire (especially Ashur’s, he flat out needed new clothes.)
“Should we help him?” Naya turned to Ashur with a worried look.
Ashur took a moment to think then reached for his sword with a look of determination on his face.
“Yes! I’m not going to let the Empire take any more innocent lives.”
“Or yanno.. maybe he’s a serial killer who was caught by the guards and is now getting his just deserves, ever thought about that?” Arbos’s voice reached out of the ring with an unyielding tone of sarcasm.
Ashur stopped, lacking a response.
“….Either way you should help him. He might know the layout of this place, and we’ll need it.” Arbos was nowhere to be seen, but Ashur could swear that he had a smug look on his spectre face.
Zeph shrugged and grabbed a halberd with a cheerful smile on his face.
“Either way it’s only a couple dozen soldiers and we have nullomancy. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?”

Ashur sat down and crossed his legs, as he thought about how to possibly release these things.He could clearly feel the crystals in his skin. He could feel an unity with these crystals, they were truly part of his body now. Would releasing a crystal be the same as just using any other part of his body?
It did not take long before the flames appeared in his hand, which then molded themselves into a small ball. Ashur smiled at his succes. It seemed he was the first one to figure it out. But the others would soon follow, which did not really surprise him. Just releasing the crystal proved to be quite simple, but would the rest be just as easy?

Ashur looked in wonder as the shadowy done spread around them. Was this the true marvel of nullomancy? Would they be able to create these kind of things in the future? He thought of the possibilities. "I hope you'll teach us this trick someday" Ashur said clearly showing his admiration. The spectre's grin would be visible by the dim light of the fire.
The group would release everything they had embedded thus far. They had to be carefull not to accidentally hit eachother with their releases either. Controlling everything proved to be a little harder than just releasing something.  In the end everyone's clothes would be damaged by the fire. Ashur's two fire crystals made the matter a little worse even, basically his whole shirt had been burned away. Luckily for him he did bring some spare clothing, but he had to watch out for this next time.

The group would end up right behind the stone keep. The four snuck around quietly as they approached, finding an execution site. "Exactly what I wanted to see." Ashur sighed, this brought back bad memories. Four soldiers were leading a man to the block, for his head to be chopped of by the big bad axe. This man might be the only one willing to help them, even if he was a possible criminal. Therefore they concluded they had to save him. The group would approach, Zephyr walking in front. Having someone wearing an imperial uniform worked out very well in this case.  Naya would have to keep in her urge to pull out her weapon for a minute longer.
The soldier's were not alarmed by the approach of the quartet, as it was led by one of their own. But they were clearly displeased. "Soldier, you are interfering with our duties, state your business or leave." one of them growled.  The man had reached the block and one of the soldiers was reaching for the axe. They had to interfere now. Zephyr took a quick look at the rest, their eyes told him they were ready. "Well you see, we..."
He did not even finish his sentence as everyone quickly pulled their weapons. Before the soldiers could react Zephyr, Ashur and Kron had already plunged their steel deep into the bodies of the imperials. The fourth one, who was further away than the rest, was quickly dispatched of by an arrow through his vitals.

Ashur released the man from the bindings around his arms, while Zephyr went to work with the bodies. Naya and Kron were on lookout, but nobody would see their actions.  Zephyr used his freezing crystals to keep the bodies in a life-like state, placing them to make it seem nothing was wrong. The five of them would then move away to a place away from prying eyes.
The man introduced himself as Kali-en. He seemed to be grateful for his rescue, but he wasn’t exactly easy to read. Ashur just hoped he could tell them something useful. Luckily for them, Kali-en was able to tell them the locations of several key points in the building. He also knew that most soldiers were going to have lunch soon. This was information they would need to defeat them, especially when he told them there were hundreds of them. “Several dozen, eh?” Ashur glimpsed at Zephyr.
Their plan was decided, they would split up. The first thing they had to do was thin the enemy forces. Kron would sneak into the kitchen, and use his poison crystal to poison the food before it was ready to be served. Naya would do the same, but head to the wine cellar instead.  Ashur and Zephyr would head to the storage room, and see what they could find to create a distraction.  Klein said he had seen imperials many different wares in there. There was bound to be some oil amongst that, or something else explosive. And who knows, maybe they would find something else useful too?
Everyone looked at Kali-en. “Thank you for your help. Make sure you get away from here.” Naya said. But Kali-en refused. Instead,  he wanted to join them in their fight against the fort. It seemed he wasn’t particularly happy with nearly losing his head, but he also mumbled something about “fair exchange”. What he would do, was up to him.

Ashur and Zephyr would be able to sneak towards the storage room without too much trouble. Zephyr didn’t have to sneak at all, wearing his uniform. Therefore he could go ahead of Ashur and lead the way safely. There was one guard before the entrance to the storage room. Ashur hid himself as Zephyr approached. One small lie was enough for the guard to in there with him. Ashur silently approached the room, as he peered in, he could see Zephyr stabbing the guard in the back. That was one soldier out of the way at least.  He went in and closed the door behind him.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.” Ashur looked around; the storage room was completely stocked with different kinds of wares. The storage room was the furthest away from their starting point. Meaning the others were probably already done with their jobs. They would have to act quickly, letting the others wait for too long could lead to their discovery. The soldiers should be eating already. Ashur quickly took the uniform from the dead guard and put it on. It wasn't a perfect fit but good enough. Now he too could move around without raising attention.

They found the oil barrels, three of them, enough for a decent blow. The rolled the barrels into the corridors, then lighting them on fire from a distance with fireballs. The explosions would leave a solid grease fire through great parts of the building. Ashur and Zephyr made their getaway, to not get caught on the middle of a spreading fire. The sound of the explosions would attract the attention of anyone still alive in this building. Though this number would already have dwindled. The corridors contained a decent amount of soldiers, now burning. The cafeteria was filled with the bodies of soldiers who had happily eaten their final meal.

Ashur and Zephyr would head to the armory. The living soldiers had to be stopped from mobilizing.

Getting woken up early in the morning wasn't his thing, but you do what you have to. Zephyr knew that only the worst kind of person woke someone up this early. He had no clue what time it was, but it certainly felt like it was "Why the fuck am I awake o'clock." Specter man decided to wake them up, at least he had a good reason. They needed at least the most minor of practice on the crystal usage before going suicidal on an entire fort, which was the case for the wake up call. The group took turns getting a feel for their crystal release, which took a moment for most of them. Only Naya seemed to have any noticeable issues thus far, albeit she had still managed. It felt extremely natural after getting used to it.

They split up in the darkness ghosty-guy-man-thing created for them. Zephyr started with the fire crystal, making another fireball. He waved it around a little bit, tossed it up and down a little, then accidentally dropped it. It hit his uniform, leaving a small singe, then rolled down the leg slightly singeing most of that too. Oops. He stomped it out before it tried to catch anything on fire and decided to try electricity. He shot a quick bolt out, but this wasn't really specifically good practice. Or rather, he couldn't see the effect of it. He took and placed his can of beans down and used it for target practice. Watching it jolt back a bit showed progress a bit better. He did so again with the fireball to see how well he had control of it, then used to cooling crystal to cool himself off. He wasn't entirely sure what the hell else to do with it.

This gave him an idea though, seeing as how he hadn't used the water crystal yet. "Well lesee if this works then." Focusing for a moment, he held both hands in front of him, palms toward each other. and focusing he slowly released a stream of water, making a short pillar shape. Then focusing on the cooling crystal, he tried his hardest to freeze it. The tip froze a bit, and started to freeze part way down until about halfway when he lost it and it fell to the ground. "Right idea, wrong execution. Guess a little more practice should be fine though." He picked up his can. "Huh, thing took no damage. Was I that weak?" Then he read a line on the bottom of the can: "Anti magic metal! Guaranteed to keep your beans safe and ready to eat!" Zephyr chuckled a little. "That's a hella ironic tagline innit."

Zephyr took a moment to relax, used a little of the cooling crystal as an air conditioner for the hell of it. Seems like they were all finishing up around the same time, and off they went. They finally reached their destination, and just in time to see someone about to be executed. Interesting sight that, and just as they're about to be attacking the place. A short talk later they decided to save this guy. Seems like that imperial uniform of his would be useful for once. Making short work of the group there and picking up a new possibly temporary ally, they split off to do their own detailed works among the fort. Ideally without causing a huge ruckus before the one they were trying to set up.

Zephyr and Ashur went off to find the storeroom, which they did. No guards or anything were running around so nothing had happened. Yet. This was good. Pretending he had to check the storeroom Zephyr had the guard lead him into the storeroom before silently slaying him. They took the three big barrels and used them to set the immediate area aflame, along with a number of guards. He found a smaller one, probably set aside for minor jobs like fixing gears or some such and grabbed it. He asked Ashur for his old ruined clothes as they moved, ripping a sleeve off the shirt and sticking it into the small oil canister he had. Their next personal target was the armory, which was most assuredly being piled into by any guards who noticed anything, or any trying to tell other people something was happening if they had noticed or even possibly just people getting ready or returning from training.

They arrived, and there must have been a good 40 or more people in there. Thanks to the uniforms a few stragglers they had passed in the hall paid them no mind. It made taking them down a lot easier, with the abundance of rooms making good places for bodies. Eventually standing at the door way of the armory would've probably been a huge issue if not for said clothing. A few guards looked at them at the ready, then dropped their guard after going back to trying to get ready for whatever it was exactly they were doing that day at that moment. There was a particularly big group at the back.

Zephyr lit the short cloth, and tossed the canister at them. It sparked up and blew flaming oil all over the place, hitting quite a few of them. If they weren't burning to death they were surely trying not to. That easily took care of about half the people in the room, even if only stalling them for a moment. Zephyr and Ashur readied their weapons and got to work, one on each side of the room slaying whoever came close. Helpfully, several of the guards who caught on fire had panicked and grabbed other guards thinning them out even more.

While he had expected to need to use his crystals for more than just starting a fuse so far, he was glad he didn't. They might always need them later. It took a while, but they managed to take the entire room down with only a few minor injuries, but nothing that would be an issue. "Well this all went pretty so far I feel." Zephyr said it, but he knew bad things usually happened when he thought that way. "I shouldn't have said that." Ashur looked at him for a moment, then replied "Well, job's not done. So let's get moving"

Since everything had gotten this far and to this point, they felt it was very unlikely that the place being in flames hadn't raised any alarm, but there wasn't any way to really be sure. As such, they did their best not to stand out or cause any larger issues. They went through the corridors killing any stragglers they could. Every enemy dealt with mattered, and made a possible all out fight far more manageable if it was forced. There were still plenty of rooms to pop in and out of, and stash bodies in while they kept thinning out whoever they could. The two could only hope things were going smoothly for the others as well as they moved.

Frustration. Frustration was definitely what Lae’Naya was feeling right now. Her companions were looking expectantly at her, fire balls hovering still in their hands. Why was she struggling with this? She could feel the crystals as a part of herself but as she tried to tap it there seemed to be something in the way, blocking her control over the fire. At last she managed to sprout a roundish ball of fire in her hand, not as well made as her companions. Companions? Was that all they were? She liked them all, even Zephyr after she realised he wasn’t so bad, she hoped they’re bond would grow more in the future.

Lae’Naya moved away from the group, giving herself plenty of room. She really didn’t want to hurt anyone while she practiced. She began by sitting down cross legged and clearing her mind just like her Master taught her. Feeling much calmer now she focused on the powers within her. She followed Arbos’ instruction and just released the fire crystal within her. Heat exploded around her, fire completely covering her body. She didn’t bother to try and control it, she just let it all out. As the fire stopped she tapped the water crystal, letting water freely flow from an outstretched hand. When the water crystal emptied she moved on to the electricity. She liked the feeling of this discharge. She could feel the power thrumming through her veins. She even managed to strike a tree branch with a bolt attack, causing it to burst into flames charring her fur a bit. By this point she could feel the weariness caused from recharging the crystals. After a little longer of using then recharging her crystals, Lae’Naya felt more confident in her ability.

Having finished the practice, the group set off for the keep. They hid in the bushes just before the clearing around the keep. It was large, with 3 floors high and possibly more underneath. They shared anxious looks at the size. Movement outside caught everyone’s eyes. A man in chains was being led by 3 guards towards a head block, with another guard waiting with an axe. Clearly this was an execution. They discussed quietly amongst themselves before deciding to save the criminal, he might have some useful information after all. Zephyr, Ashur and Kron headed toward the execution to distract the guards for a few seconds. Lae’Naya climbed the nearest tree and jumped onto a covered branch on the next tree, her tail giving her perfect balance. She drew and knocked an arrow just as Zephyr was questioned by one of the guards. As they drew their weapons she pulled the string back, releasing the string a few seconds later hitting the furthest guard in the chest. Before he fell she had another arrow ready and shot him in the head.

As Ashur released the prisoner, Lae’Naya jumped down from her perch and jogged over to the group. As she reached them, she pulled out another arrow and knocked it in preparation. Zeph froze the bodies in life like positions before they left. They all moved back into the woods to talk to the ex-captive. He was rubbing at his sore wrists when they all turned and looked at him.

“So... what's your name buddy?" Zephyr asked in a casual tone, still keeping his hand near his sword.
Right, they were probably expecting him to introduce himself, and explain why he was going to be executed. He would need a name. Klein would not do, they were not going to let a filthy untrustworthy thief live. Norkael would not do either, why would a servant be executed? And even if he managed to make up a good enough story they would never let him help them. And he was already feeling it coming

They’re waiting...
He jerked his head up, discovering they were all looking at him in a weird way.
He stammered: "wh-what?"
“Your name?” Lae’Naya asked gently
"Oh, um, sorry, I’m a little slow"
As soon as he said that, he realized the meaning those words could have. He blushed and cleared his throat before talking again.
"Call me Kali-en please, and thank you for saving me back there"
Wow. Giving a new identity like that, without any preparation or background. It’s really dangerous, and could be terribly wrongly used. You should be thankful I am not-
The voice felt silent. Kali-en smiled, the voice erred. He now had proof that he was not insane, someone was inside his head.
Disregarding the fact that he was ratted out and almost died, he thought this was a good day.

“My name is Lae’Naya. This is Ashur, Kron and Zephyr” she indicated to each man in turn.
"What are you all doing here?"
Ashur explained to him what had happened only two days ago and why they were standing outside a keep with every intention of taking it down.
"Hum, and so, uh, how are you going to do that?”
“Well we were hoping you could help with that. Do you know the layout inside?” Ashur asked.
"Oh yeah, I spent a week here. I know where all the major rooms are. I can even show you where Rowlington's quarters are"
“Who’s Rowlington?” Lae’Naya questioned.
Kali-en opened his mouth to explain but Zephyr interrupted him.
“He’s the guy in charge of the fort I’m guessing. He owns the mining company for the area; we shipped boxes with his name on all the time at Eriur.”
“Anything else you can tell us Kali-en?” asked Ashur
"Well, there should be around two hundred soldiers stationed here. I think some important Empire guy just came. Anyway, they’ll all be going to eat soon so that should give you some edge on them. I will part with you for the time being, I need to recover my... stuff. But you all saved me from certain death, I'm obligated to help you until my debt is paid."

They began making preparations for the infiltration. Kron and Lae’Naya left together towards the kitchen and wine cellar, while Ashur and Zeph went to the storage to make a distraction. They left Kali-en to sort out his ‘stuff’. They sneaked down the hallways with Naya in front using her ears to spot guard patrols. Half way to their destination, Kali-en started following them, keeping a small distance behind. They would have questioned him but they had to get to the kitchen without delay. They reached it and peered through the door way. 7 cooks were busily making that days lunch.
“We’re going to need a distraction...” she whispered.
“Leave that to me” Kali-en whispered back.
Kron and Naya nodded then headed back up the hallway and around a corner to wait. They didn’t move until she heard the cooks leave the room. They crept down the hallway again and entered the kitchen. Kron handed her a poison crystal and they headed about their business.

She descended down into the wine cellar, jogging nimbly down the stone stairs. It was about the size of the kitchen above, with a lower ceiling. The room was full of rows and rows of shelves, each holding ale kegs, wine bottles and wine kegs. Sat on a table to the right of the stairs were 3 wine kegs.
“I guess these are todays” she thought .
Moving over to them, she spotted some sturdy leather gloves, likely used to move all the kegs around. She put them on her hands, didn’t want to get any poison on herself after all. She held the crystal in one hand and pulled the top cork on the nearest keg, releasing a reasonable amount of poison into the liquid. She sniffed at it before replacing the cork. There was a slight smell but it should go unnoticed to the Cauhri soldiers. She did the same with the other two before she left. She climbed the stairs back into the kitchen and saw that Kron was also finished. They left the room and found Kali-en waiting for them. They set off together down the hallways towards the armoury where they would meet Ashur and Zeph. A few moments later they could hear a loud explosion and the ceiling shook slightly above them.
“Better get ready for company guys...” Naya said, pulling out her dagger with her tail while she gripped her bow with her hands.
She could already hear faint pounding coming from heavy boots heading in their direction.

“What have I gotten into?”, he whispered, before following the cat woman. He was intrigued by her, the way he was when he stumbled upon a book he had never read before. He had never seen someone belonging to the Selkie race before. And she had to bow. Bows are fucking cool. Sadly, he never found anyone likely to teach him.
Apparently, they were going to the kitchen, which should be filled with cooks right now.
He still needed his equipment to be of any help to them. When he discovered that he had been made, he somehow had managed to convince another servant to hide everything he owned. It only cost him half the money he had stolen from a mid-ranking soldier, a sergeant or something, to do it. He went to the room where the servant had agreed to store the rest. Fortunately, it was unguarded and he didn’t meet anyone on the way.
He recovered his crystal-gloves, along with a belt which allowed him to store the “crystal munitions”. He also took with him the five military crystal mines: you could store inside up to four charged crystals, along with an empty one. As soon as someone stepped on it, the charged crystals would touch the empty one and release their charge. You could even adjust the pressure with which the charged crystals would touch the empty one when stepping on it, allowing you to control the power of the explosion. Thanks to a mechanical switch, you could choose between an instant release and a continuous one with of course less pressure.
He then took a shortcut to the kitchen and joined the cat woman and the barbarian. They arrived and saw seven cooks busy finishing the midday meal.
“We’re going to need a distraction...” The cat woman whispered.
“Leave that to me” Kali-en whispered back. That he could do.
He went into the kitchen, unnoticed as every servants of this Keep were, and placed an earlier prepared, and rigged, steam mine near one of the oven. He stepped on it, releasing black smoke and giving the impression that the food, and everything around it, was burning. Five of the cooks panicked and went outside of the kitchen to search for water, or just flee. The two last cooks were the chief cook and a senior. They reacted in a more measured and controlled way: they got to the oven, pushed aside Kali-en, turned the oven off, and threw a cloth on the smoke to stop the “fire”.
As Kali-en was pushed aside, the mine stopped releasing the smoke, giving the impression that the “fire” was stopped. He approached the cooks and, looking down, said:
“Umm…”
“What?”, Said the chief, irritated.
“Sir Rowlington and his guest requested you”, continued Kali-en, sounding nervous and still not looking up.
“What the hell? Why? He already gave us the special menu he wanted”, said the other one.
“W-well, I think he said something about changing the dessert”
The chief sighed and told the other one to follow him.
Phew, that was close. The cat woman and the barbarian soon entered the kitchen.
He left them and went across the hallway to stand watch.
He soon heard 3 gigantic explosions, and shouts about a fire near the armory, and knew that it was the work of the other guys.
He took one of the mines, and put three fully charged rock crystals inside it. He then went in the direction of the shouts for about fifty meters, put the mine down and released some steam from his gloves.
He went back to the kitchen and waited.

Arbos' advice were more than sparse on the way to use crystals but Kron felt he could do it. He could feel the crystals and their different powers through his body. Focusing on its power, he started willing the fire of the crystal to emanate from his left hand. He could feel the power moving throw him and rising. His arm felt hotter and hotter but there was no pain nor injury. It did not take a second before his entire hand was engulfed in flames. The result was not what he aimed for, but, along with the ghosts' advice, let him instantly understand what he had to do. Though the first time he had focused on the crystal and its power, actively thinking about using it, this time he willed for a ball of fire to appear in his hand and so it did.

The lightning crystal was another matter. As he kept willing more power to be released and he felt it build up, nothing seemed to happen. He continued, but his apprehension that the power might blow up into his face grew along with it, until, finally, a tremendous spark appeared around his hand as small lightning slowly ran between his fingers.

Moving on to the poisonous crystal, he realized that though he could distinguish its nature, the snake venom only felt like a bland liquid when controlling the crystal's power. Releasing it from his hand again, it came, to his surprise, dripping in large amounts and as he decided to project it a jet came from his hand.

......

Yet another execution was about to go down in front of them, Kron was starting to pile up quite a bad history with those, also was he eager to stop it way before he knew what was the reason for the beheading.
Along Zephyr and Ashur, he walked up to the executioners without causing much disturbance, while Naya snuck up a tree. As things went sour very fast, Kron  grabbed the right arm of one of the soldiers with his own and threw his left arm behind the neck, grabbing his chin. By pulling on the arm, he forced the man's body to turn one way and his head the other, snapping his neck in a crunching sound.

The arrows zipping around his head got him quite uncomfortable but he chose not to make any comment on the subject.

The man took a suspiciously long time before saying his name but it was not every day someone got executed and Kron didn't think much of it. Naya engaged the conversation with him. She seemed more than willing to think any enemy of her enemy was her friend. Kron was only familiar with the ways of beasts, but he knew that two could share a foe and be foes themselves. He was wary of Naya's words. It didn't take too long for her to blurt out all of the group's members' names. Kron thought that if the man turned out not to be an ally or even tried to walk away, he might have to kill him himself, and bury the knowledge of their names with him.
He contained his unease as Ashur revealed their plan to attack the fort. He had learned that putting too much trust into a stranger could easily get you beaten, quite literally.

What seemed probably the most odd in the man was his eagerness to jump back into the fray barely minutes after resting his head on the chopping block. When he announced he had to separate from the group to “get his stuff”, Kron felt they might be doing a terrible mistake, letting him out of their sight.

Kron and Naya being the most stealthiest of the four, as well as probably the least likely to pass for members of the garrison went on to enter through an open window a few meters off the ground while Zephyr and Ashur simply went through the front door. The climb was easy as the joints between the rocks were deep and rough. Naya had gone first as she was the lightest and was the most likely to be able to take a peek without being noticed. When she confirmed they were clear and rolled through the frame, Kron followed immediately after. He did not seem to have any trouble lifting his own weight. They followed the man's word and easily found the kitchen without needing much sneaking around. The corridors were mostly empty and it turned out the layout he had described them was accurate. The man had joined them half way. If he had not been who he was, Kron wouldn't have noticed him, this was clearly not his first time doing this kind of things, that did not help him trust the condemnee anymore. He felt he had to watch Naya's back for she wouldn't.

When they both entered, daggers in hands, the kitchen was empty. A large wooden door of the dimensions of a normal one led into the wine cellar. Naya opened it to reveal a narrow stairway descending into the unlit room. While she was occupied poisoning the soldier's wind, Kron had blocked one door with furniture and was leaning against the other one after having sprayed all the food in sight with poison. Going down there to ensure their discretion was not an option as if anyone were to enter the kitchen in that situation they'd be forced to stay hidden, cut off from the rest of the group which was not something their plan could afford.

Now that their part was done, they all headed down to the armoury. When the soldiers would realize they were under attack, they would all rush to it, unarmed and unarmored. Easy pickings. After a few minutes of confusion, the soldiers appeared. The crowd movement resembled more a stampede than an organized response.

It was imperative they stopped them before they got to the weapons. Kron hid in a doorway on the path between the refectory and the weapons' holding place, his back against its post. Dagger in hand, he waited for them to arrive. He had to not take them all on and restrain himself from engaging the first one to come. They did not notice him even though he was barely hidden. Letting the majority of them run past him and get to the others was a painful thing to do for him but he had to trust they could handle themselves.

When his time finally came, or rather a bit sooner, he threw his arm out of cover pointing his dagger toward where the soldiers came from. The wild stab hit the upper chest of one of the soldiers. The impact was so brutal that he flipped into the air and landed on his head. Those that were running to his side or even a couple of steps behind him kept running, not noticing anything, but the soldiers a few meter back saw it. Kron jumped out into the fray before they could come to a stop. Holding the blade close to his side he stabbed a soldier that was to bump into his left, slashing through the soldiers. The shock was enough to let him on his feet with remarkable force, using the momentum to stop clean a soldier running to his right with a stab below the sternum.

The steam the other man had spread through the hallway, was serving him well as he made use of his uncommon spacial awareness and keen sight and hearing to navigate in poor visibility conditions. Drawing another knife from his belt, he slashed the thighs of two men running past him.

Lae’Naya could hear the soldiers coming towards they’re corridors and warned her partners. Kron slipped into a nearby doorway while herself and Kali-en retreated further down the corridor. He lifted his arm to stop her.
“This ought to be far enough...” he mumbled. Putting on two gloves, he hit them together creating a large amount of steam. Lae’Naya jumped slightly at the sudden release. This would give them great cover before the soldiers arrived.

Kron felt the first soldiers rush past his hiding place and waited. He had to patient and wait until the right time. Judging that enough of them had passed him, he shot his knife hand out stabbing a running soldier in the chest. The impact and his momentum sent him flipping through the air, landing heavily on his head with a dull thunk. His nearby companions continued on, oblivious to what had occurred, the soldiers slightly behind noticed the incident slowing slightly. Before they stopped completely, Kron jumped into the nearest group of soldiers. Keeping his knife close to his body he slashed out at two soldiers near him cutting they’re chests.  He blocked a punch from a soldier to his right retaliating with a slit throat. He took out another knife and started slashing at any approaching soldiers.

As a large number of soldiers went past the barbarian's hiding place, Kali-en got down on the floor, lying near a corner. He was in no way a fighter. He could not, and will not, stand side by side fighting courageously like them. As they neared his hiding spot one of them stepped on the rock mine he had planted before. Sharp rocks exploded out of the device, stabbing a large number of the soldiers at the front. They fell to the ground groaning in pain, but still alive, managing to trip up the running soldiers just behind them. Most of the group had been taken care of in some way, leaving only the more aware and cautious soldiers. Now lying as if dead, he waited for an opportunity to jump up and stab passing soldiers, safely of course, and continued to release steam to impair their vision, hoping that the cat woman would have the same tactical advantage that it seemed to give the barbarian.

Lae’Naya panicked slightly as Kali-en dropped down to ground away from her and out of her sight. She quickly nocked an arrow and drew, holding and waiting for the first sign of movement. She could hear yells and cries from the attacked soldiers as her companions attacked. With a wild cry the first soldier broke through the steam running head long at her. With quick reflexes she adjusted her aim and shot, hitting him through the throat. She nocked another arrow and waited. The next soldier came running out a moment later. She adjusted again and hit him in the chest. As she gripped the next arrow, three came running towards her. Yelping slightly she quickly fired hitting the middle man in the leg causing him to stumble and fall. The one on the right reached her first knocking the arrow out of her right hand. Dodging a fist, she swung her bow hitting him under the chin, following the momentum she spun slashing out with the knife in her tail. Moving her tail down and crouching, she stuck her leg out taking the last soldier down. Grabbing an arrow she stabbed him through the throat, knocked the arrow and shot an approaching guard through the head.

As the cat woman struggled with the 3 soldiers, Kali-en silently got up and launched one of his daggers at one of them. Sadly, his shoulder was still injured from two weeks ago, and the wound had reopened. Furthermore, he never got time to practicing throwing daggers with those crystal gloves. All those reasons to justify the fact that he only lamely nicked the soldier’s neck. It had the advantage of slowing down enough for the cat woman to dispatch the first two soldiers, but it was still lame.
“Well, no more throwing for the moment”, he whispered.
He looked around and went to the busy task of finishing off every soldier lying on the floor, not forgetting to release a small amount of steam now and then, allowing him not to be spotted by soldiers still rushing by.

The mine had created big enough spikes for Kali-en to take cover behind one of them, allowing him to fully take on the situation. The barbarian was still fighting off every soldier with surprising amount of dexterity and agility, which was even more so stunning when you considered his height and frame. “Barbarian” didn’t fit him that well now, he will have to think of something...
On the other side of the hallway, he caught glance of the cat woman, firing arrow after arrow with her long bow. Even then, some soldiers still managed to get close to her, but she managed to kill them by using the knife held by her tail.
“Her tail?” That was new. And positively awesome.

After a reasonable amount of time hiding, releasing steam, or secretly tripping soldiers and finishing them off on the floor, while the others were doing their gruesome business, the hallway finally fell silent.
Once she took back every arrow that was not damaged, the cat woman joined with them.
“Let’s go see the chief now”, the cat woman said.
“Um… Are you sure you want to go there? I mean, I think he has a very powerful guest with him right now, it wouldn’t be a very very very good idea to disturb them.”,Kali-en was starting to get nervous around the idea of meeting a second time the guy who completely overpowered him less than three hours ago.
“Yes, I am sure”.
By looking at them, Kali-en knew that nothing would stop them.
“Follow me then”, he went down the hallway and took the necessary turns that would lead them to Rowlington.
They arrived in front of his suite. The door was closed, and before entering, Kali-en tried one last desperate time to convince them otherwise.
“Come on, we could at least wait for the soldier and the other one right?”, he said with open arms.
“They will join us during the fight, don’t worry”.
Just then, they all heard it. An ominous growling sound came from just behind the door. They all turned, surprised. Kali-en got close to the far wall and crouched; the cat woman jumped back and nocked an arrow, aiming at the door and whatever – his – name just... ran.
“RUN!”, he bellowed.
By the time Kali-en even processed the word, the guy was already at the end of the hallway.
“What was that?”, the cat woman said once they joined the tall one.
“Um, I might have forgotten to mention that his guest brought a pet with him”, Kali-en explained once they were around the corner.
“You idiot”, were the guy’s only words.
“Hey!”, Kali-en shouted. Both the cat woman and the tall one widened their eyes at that.
“what?”
He then realized his error, as his shout got the attention of the beast back in the room. What was only a growling sound had become a full roar. Terrorized, Kali-en looked at the hallway just in time to see what appeared to be a troll get out of the room. And not by using the door, no, it created another one in the wall a meter from the actual one.
“Crap”

Ashur and Zephyr left the armory behind them, littered with the bodies of their enemies. Most of the soldiers would be dead by now. Ashur only hoped that the others were still alright. The amount of enemies he had seen led him to believe their plan had worked, but what about after that? All he could do was trust in the capabilities of his companions.  He didn’t know if that Kali-en fellow would still be alive, but it had been his own choice to get involved further anyway.  

The hallways were filled with the flames they had created, slowly swallowing everything it could get its hands on. They knew they couldn’t stay in this part of the building much longer. They ran through the hallways, killing the occasional straggler whenever they found them. If there was anything they had learned from Eriur it was that they couldn’t allow their enemies to simply survive, as much as It pained Ashur. He wasn’t someone who actively preserve the life of his enemies, but that doesn’t mean that he enjoyed killing. But they had to, if any stragglers got away it could only cause even more ruin.

They headed in the direction of the suite of the enemy commander, hoping to meet their companions along the way. The enemy numbers had probably dwindled enough by now.  Kali-en’s directions had proven to be an huge help in this fight. If it weren’t for him they probably would’ve been clueless about how to have done this in the first place. It rather pained Ashur to realize how lucky they had been this far, rather than skillful. He could not imagine the future ahead of them to be calmer; lady luck would not save them forever.  But for now there was no other option but to enjoy the luck they’d been blessed with. Though there wasn’t any luck waiting for them at the end of this hallway. Instead, there was shouting, followed by a roar.

“That shout, was that Kali-en?!” Zephyr  said, not running any slower. Ashur turned his head towards him, slightly nodding “think so, let’s hurry.” Whatever was happening there, it couldn‘t be good.   The roar they heard was ferocious, was there anything in this fort that could create a sound like that? Not something they had been informed with, at least. Even more reason for the two to hurry.

(Image for reference, troll: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17q6qz62qgpvpjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg)

The last turn would have them end up in the wall just in front of the suite.  Here they found their companions, accompanied by the ugliest cave troll Ashur had even seen on the other side of the hallway. The beast let out another terrible roar as it saw the two entering the fray.  His eyes stood hungry as it peered at his prey. He breathed heavily as he slightly raised his club, adorned with a few pointy spikes at the end.  The skin was decorated with a large amount of hard looking scales, which didn’t make him look any prettier. On the other hand, the loincloth around it’s waist was done rather neatly for a troll. The hole in the wall behind him marked both his strength as his intelligence.  It seems they had found a real barbarian this time.

Everyone in the group readied their weapons, knowing this was probably their toughest fight yet. “Ugliest soldier to date, think he’d fancy a mercy killing?” Ashur said as he stared at the beast, jokes weren’t his strongest point by far.  Just like you’d imagine, nobody was laughing, everyone was focused on what stood before them.   Naya readied her arrow as the troll readied his charge.  “Are you seriously fighting!? We need to get out of here!” Kali-en screamed. The screaming only enraged the beast further, as he began to charge at the thief.

Naya aimed and shot her arrow, hitting the troll’s shoulder. Unfortunately for our poor kitten the scales of the troll proved to be too thick for a simple arrow. The troll hardly paid any attention to this attempt and continued his charge to Kali-en.  “dodge!”  Kron yelled as he rolled to the side. Getting in  the way of a troll’s charge would be foolish, a suicide attempt.  The troll swung with great force; the club hitting the ground was a deafening sound, but Kali-en had managed to avoid certain death. His heart was pounding as he took a quick look at the club not even 10 centimeters next to him, and then he ran. Distance, he needed distance, more distance. Naya tried to shoot another arrow. Ashur and Zephyr both flung a fireball at the monster. The arrow would once again bounce off the hard scales on the beast’s back. The fire had a little more effect. The heat of the flames would burn the skin of the beast, causing it to shriek in pain.  This did not stop the troll; instead this would only enrage it more.

His next target was Ashur, because Zephyr had been just outside of his vision as he threw the fireball. The beast charged even more violently then before. HIs footsteps struck the floor like thunder. As the  club came swinging down Ashur managed to quickly dive towards the right. For a short moment he would look the beast in the eye. This was where Naya was aiming for next, however she would miss the right one by just an inch. The area below the eyes was less scaly, therefore it did pierce slightly through the skin. The pain caused a shift of focus towards the cat this time.  “Take this!” Ashur yelled as the beast started to charge again; A bolt of lightning would escape his fingertips.  The beast yelped as he was stopped in his tracks for a short moment, then shifting his attention back to Ashur.

What could they do? They couldn’t keep dodging forever.  Ashur had one small trick up his sleeve.  As the beast charged he would wet the floor with his water crystal, and then dove aside. The troll did lose his balance for a second, but it didn’t make much of a difference.  This however gave Zephyr an idea of his own. Zephyr zapped the troll with his lightning crystal “Show me what you got!” Zephyr sounded confident, or maybe just cocky? As the beast ran, Zephyr sprayed water before him, and then froze it.  Zephyr ran away as fast as he could as the beast would slip on the ice, causing it to fall on its belly.  Naya took the opportunity to take another shot at the beast’s eye. The troll had yet to recover and thus was easily stricken. Kron had taken this chance to charge the beast himself, climbing on his head and striking the other eye.  The beast was now totally blinded, and completely furious.  The beast rose quickly, roaring in great pain. It swung it’s club and free arm around, trying to hit something. But everyone had taken the distance.  However, the beast was significantly slowing down. Kron’s poison was quickly spreading through the veins of their enemy, although that would not kill it.

“Come here!” Ashur shouted as he lobbed another fireball at the beast’s side, scorching it’s hide once again. The beast turned towards Ashur.  What he was doing was obvious; he was once again leading him to the ice.  It was too risky to approach it in any other manner. As the blinded beast walked, flailing his weapon, he was slowly approaching the same old trap.  Once again he would slip and fall on his back, leaving his less scaly torso exposed.  It’s club flew out of his hand, landing a few meters next to him.

Ashur, Kron and Zephyr all lunged at the beast, taking this chance to end it. Ashur plunged his sword in the chest, aiming for the heart. Kron aimed for the neck of the beast, hoping to hit an important artery and poisoning it further. Zephyr aimed for the creature’s stomach. The beast roared, shrieked in great pain, flailing his arms around him. It would take about a minute before the beast would fall silent and move no more.

Ashur took a deep breath. What was a cave troll doing in a fort?  Was the empire also using trolls in her army? And even if they did, why would they have one here? Ashur could only wonder, but he did not ask. Thinking the rest would probably not know. He would be proven wrong eventually. “Well, at least that’s done.”  Ashur looked at the rest. Everyone was sweating and breathing heavily. They definitely did not expect having to do this kind of intense combat in here. Ashur was happy enough that nobody got seriously hurt. One swing of that troll would’ve probably left one out of the fight completely. But there was one person whose reaction differed a little from the rest.

“Holy shit.”  Kali-en shrieked, unsure about everything he had seen. “Holy shit indeed, this thing reeks like rotten beans.” Zephyr looked at Kali-en “Not what you meant?” If Kali-en were to ever tell this to somebody, there was no way they would've believed him.  Cauhri lobbing fireballs and shooting electricity from their hands, was such a thing even possible?  
Kali-en was surprised, so surprised that he had almost forgotten something very important. What they had taken out here was only a pet. There was another person here who would definitely prove troublesome.

His master.

OST for the Null fight:

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” Ashur cursed to high heavens as the Troll lobbed a large chunk of the wall at him. Thankfully he barely managed to hide behind the corner and avoid getting splattered. “Hey Arbos, now would be a good time for advice! How do we kill this thing?!”
Nothing.  The spectre did not reply or appear, as if he wasn’t there at all.
“What. The. Fuck.?! Where did this bastard run off to this time?!” Ashur spit on the ground and pushed off the wall rolling out of the way of a giant club that swung his way. Looks like they were on their own for this one.
I don’t think anyone was overly surprised that one measly little troll was no match for four god-damned Nullomancers and the fight soon was over.  
It was then that the shadows started stretching and forming, marking the appearance of the bastard spectre. Arbos sprung up out of the ground with a strangely satisfied look on his face.
“Alright, what did I miss?” He then noticed the giant troll that lay in a pile of ice and blood right in front of him. “Oh.”
“Where the hell have you been?!” Ashur shouted out. “Did you really think disappearing during battle was gonna be a good idea?!”
Arbos only shrugged.
“I had some business to take care of. And stop crying you baby. You all turned out alright. Now stop wasting time, get into that room and kill Rowlington. Last thing you guys want is to have a vengeful petty millionaire out to get vengeance on you and all your relatives.”
The group shared a nod and headed for the last room of the building. Kron shot a glance at the hole made by the troll and then, with a smile, kicked down the actual door anyway.  A small thing, but it was enough to perk up the confidence of others. After all they just fought their way through several hundreds of soldiers and a troll for crying out loud.  If anything they deserved an intimidating entrance. The room itself was very big, obviously designed for holding conferences. The first crimson lights of the setting sun were sneaking their way in through the massive windows that overlooked the warehouses and the small village way off in the distance. This came as a bit of a surprise to all of them. In the heat of fighting the entire battle only seemed a few minutes long to them.

Rowlington was sitting in his chair on the other end of the big room, behind the big table covered in maps. Veins pulsated on his little red face, swelled with anger and decades of pigging out on food and wine.  Yet no fear was present in his eyes. This unnerved Zephyr greatly. His boss was known to be a massive coward for as long as Zeph could remember. Having never thrown or taken a punch in his entire life he was said to fear anything that moves or has more than one pair of eyes or legs. Yet he wasn’t afraid now, what did that…
The second man stood up. It looks like in their concentration on Rowlington the group managed to completely ignore the tall man with short black hair and expensive uniform who was quietly sitting off to the side with his arms crossed.
“Lord Lerim, if you may, please leave the Selkie alive. Selling her to the Imperial Whorehouses would be a good way to recoup some of the losses. Not before the brave souls that survived have their way with her of course. As for the rest – I’d love to see their heads on the spikes of my new keep in Eriur.” Graham spoke through his teeth, throwing a predatory look at Naya and the rest.  Lerim smiled and in a blink of an eye cleared over the table, flexing his shoulders with a smile.

Arbos gave one more look to Lerim’s uniform and paled. As much as a Cauhri Spectre can pale anyway. He then quickly turned to the rest.
“RUN. You won’t be able to take this man on.”
The comment came as a surprise to everyone and forced them to take a step back. Ashur gave Arbos a puzzled look.
“He’s an Imperial Nullomancer. Trained. From his uniform I’d say he’s the housecarl to one of the beastmasters in the Royal Palace.”
Zeph, Kali-en and Naya took another step back, but Ashur and Kron stood firm.
“You heard what the fat pig said. A Keep in Eriur. I’m afraid we can’t stand down here.”
The others shared a look, nodded and stepped back forward. Lerim gave Arbos a puzzled look.
“Now now… You know of nullomancers and could even tell my position from my uniform… just exactly who are you, ghost?”
Arbos looked over the five that stood before him and sighed. He then faced Lerim with a smile and snapped his fingers.
“Me? Oh, I’m no one in particular. Just a tiny little ghost… by the name of Arbos Xell.”
Smile left Lermi’s face as he heard the name, but he didn’t have time to gawk as an arrow whizzed right past his ear, he having barely dodged it in time. As if on command the four rushed at Lerim with Kali-en staying behind on Arbos’ instruction.
Naya quickly shot off three more arrows. Lerim stepped out of the way of the first one and then knocked the other two out of the air with his arms. His reflexes were surely a thing to admire. But that was Naya’s goal all along. Lerim still didn’t know they were nulls too, so the next part should take him by surprise. Zeph and Ashur rushed out from behind her – massive combo fireball in their four hands. Ashur silently thanked the gods that this kind of combination worked and they didn’t set themselves on fire. With a quiet roar the duo shot out the ball of doom at Lerim, who still had his chest exposed from knocking down arrows. His eyes widened as the ball got closer and closer.

…And then he smiled.

In a sharp motion he threw his hands out as if to catch the ball of flame, and then just as it was in his hands, ripped it apart by sharply spreading his again. Not losing the initiative Naya concentrated and emptied her entire electricity reserve in one massive bolt at Lerim.
In one faint motion the null put his right leg forward and a wall of water shot out of the ground before him, blocking and grounding the strike. Before the wall had a chance to drop down several daggers shot right through it heading for Lerim’s vitals. Kalien’s aim and timing were impeccable. But the null took a quick breath and literally blew the daggers out of the air in a massive gust of wind, before they had a chance to connect.
Silence fell in the room as the group’s attacks shattered against the impenetrable wall that was Lerim’s power.
“You’ve got to be joking, right?” Zeph moaned.
“Well well well, that was unexpected…  To have three nullomancer rebels just spring up out of the ground.  Seriously though, what horrible luck for you to have met me here? Just a few more weeks of training and they would’ve become a force to be reckoned with, am I right, King of Thieves?”  Lerim shot a snide grin at Arbos who was… smiling?

Indeed, much to the puzzlement of Lerim and the group Arbos was smiling his widest.
“…Grab the fireball and then direct your wind outwards with your hands, creating vacuum and destroying the attack. – Wind Break. Pay attention to the muscles of the dominant hand and neck for they will contract three times before an electric attack is released. You then step forward and with your foot sideways and release water upward the furthest from yourself you can to form a wall and stop the attack. – Electric Counter: Water Wall.  To stop an incoming projectile in close range blow the air out of your lungs downward and to the left to help quicken your wind release. Spin the wind around your body as if it was armour and deflect the projectile. – Wind Shroud. …Is that it?” Arbos spoke with a sinister smile that only kept on getting wider.
Lerim visibly paled.
“What’s wrong, officer? Did you think that those low level techniques would impress me? Ashur!” Arbos turned to the man. “Scratch what I said earlier. You can take this guy in a heartbeat. Hell, I‘ll talk you through it. Now, Kick. Some. Ass. KLEIN!”

Hearing his name Kali-en smashed his fists together as hard as he could, instantly filling the room with steam.  Lerim stepped back hastily dodging the multitude of knives that Kali-en began showering him with. His shoulder had gotten considerably worse after than one attack so none of them were particularly precise, but that didn’t matter.  Arbos appeared before Naya and gestured her to use her fire. She gave him a confused look – he knows she can’t control it well. Arbos insisted. She nodded and released her fire at Lerim. However instead of a neat fireball it released in one giant wall of flame that would be the envy of any dragon. Lerim cursed and covered himself entire in water, withstanding the attack. The evaporated water made the steam even denser, making it far harder to see anything. Arbos nodded to Ashur pointing towards all the water on the floor.  Quickly getting the idea Ashur signalled others, took a deep breath and then emptied his electric reserve into the water. Thanks to the steam around them Lerim did not notice Ashur’s preparations and screamed out in pain as the full brunt of the attack hit him, sending his body into convulsion of pain.
Sadly the sheer power of the charge further diluted by the resistance of water and stone was not enough to finish him off.  If anything it made him angrier. In a swift motion he circled around himself with his foot evaporating all the water around him and then took a deep breath. Arbos immediately shouted out. “Wind plus fire. He’s gonna use a Fire Blast, cover yourselves!”  The warning gave Naya and Ashur just enough time to raise a wall of water around them with Zeph quickly punching it with his fist and freezing it solid. Lerim’s attack came half a second later. The massive tube of fire blasted around them busting out the stone wall behind them and evaporating their ice cover in under a second. Thankfully it lasted long enough for the fireblast to run out. Naya quickly put out her singed tail and got back into a fighting stance.

Arbos smiled again.
“Looks like you guys need a boost. Time to end this.”  He took a deep breath and then shouted out in an unnaturally loud voice. “HUA!”
The moment the sound of Arbos’ voice washed over them – the group’s fatigue seemed to go away. Arbos then nodded to Naya, who began shooting a volley of arrows at Lerim continuously. Ashur followed suite and started showering the null with dozens of tiny fireballs. Arbos then nodded to Kali-en who smashed his fists together once more and once again filled the room with thick steam.
“Now… in a room filled with steam and with your clothes soaking wet from your earlier use of Water Armour. Horrible conditions to fight an Ice user, wouldn’t you say, greenhorn?” Arbos smiled at Lerim.
“Wha-“
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence.
Zephyr, who was this whole time struggling to contain a blue swirling ball of wind in his hands finally loosened his attack on the Imperial.
“Wind plus cold plus water in the air… Should I call that an Ice Blast?” Zeph turned to Naya with a grin on his face. The massive gust of wind he released swallowed up the steam turning it into a myriad of tiny icicles and then hit Lerim head on. The null, his fire charges still depleted, couldn’t even protect himself. At the last moment he managed to cover himself in a wind shroud, deflecting most icicles, but a good several dozen still found their way through. His clothes froze and the force of the blast blew him along with the furniture and table away and straight into the back wall. Arbos nodded to Ashur who drew his sword and dashed in to deliver the finishing blow. But just as he raised his sword above the seemingly incapacitated Lerim, the bastard lashed out with a punch. Ashur blocked the fist with his sword, but the blade shattered on impact much to his surprise. The force of the blow sent Ashur flying across the room and only by the trio’s timely interference did he avoid getting plastered into the stone wall.
Lerim, bleeding and furious stood up from the rubble.
“Did you really think that would work, Thief King?! As long as I have the pressure crystals none of your little shits stand a chance! So tell me, Xell, was that all you have?! Was that your final trump card?!”
Arbos only smiled.
“Trump card? That was not a trump card at all.”
Just as he said that, with a massive cracking sound Kron jumped out of the rubble behind Lerim and before the null even realized what happened punched him squarely in the right temple. The resulting explosion blew out the remaining glass in the windows as the full release of Kron’s impact crystal quite literally blew Lerim’s head away. As his lifeless body lurched down on the floor, Arbos continued.
“…That on the other hand, was.”


“Crap, what’s wrong with him?!” Zeph kneeled down next to Kron who was laying down on the floor, wincing in pain.
Arbos quickly examined him as best he could then shook his head.
“Impact crystals damage the user’s body with a nearly equal amount of force. He entire left arm is destroyed completely.  Ashur! Get your sparkly ass over here and distribute an anaesthetic to Kron before he passes out from pain. Naya and Klein, you’re with me. We need to find crystal storage; I have an idea on how to fix him. Ashur and Zeph – stay with him. We don’t know if there’s any stragglers still left in here. Not to mention that fat pig Rowlington somehow got away. So keep an eye out.”
Kali-en jumped up.
“I know where it is, follow me.”

The trio quickly went down the stair into the basement, trying their hardest to put out the multitude of fires they started in the initial attack. For whatever reason Arbos kept telling them to do it, as if trying to preserve the keep for something. Soon they found themselves in front of a tightly locked metal door. With no key in sight Kali-en stepped forward.
“No worries, I can pick the lock. Just give me a few minutes.”
Arbos shook his head.
“We don’t have a few minutes. We need to blow this door open.”
Kali-en thought for a second then sighed.
“Alright we can do that too.”
He pulled out one of his last two rock mines and placed it over the rock. As soon as they retreated from the door Naya set it off with an arrow. Massive rock spike mangled up the metal door just enough for them to force it open.  Inside the pitch black store room were rows and rows of shelves filled with various vials. Each vial contained a crystal inside, suspended in what looked like oil. Arbos rummaged through the shelves as fast as he could until he came across a shelf with glistering silver-coloured crystals. He quickly called Naya and Kali-en over and told them to look through the vials.
“Most of these are iron and copper. Iron is magnetic and copper is too soft. We need something proper.” Naya lit up a torch to see better and the du quickly rummaged through the whole shelf until finally, Kali-en reached upon the one and only vial that did not contain iron or copper. Arbos read the label and his face swelled in a massive grin.
“Jackpot.”

Five minutes later they were back at Kron’s side. His arm has already gone completely purple and swelled horribly. Kali-en handed the vial over to Ashur who studied it carefully.
“Tungsten Carbide? …The hell is this? Some kind of medicine?”
Arbos laughed.
“Not exactly. It’s a very rare alloy, worth about ten times more than gold. Only the Imperial Steelmasters know how to produce it. Figures that a fat cat like Rowlington would have some. Okay now, Ashur I want you to make an incision deep into his arm right above the wrist and place the crystal in.”
Ashur opened up his mouth to protest but Arbos quickly cut him off.
“Shut up and do it you goddamn fairy. Naya! I’m going to possess Kron now. Act as a medium and make the process easier on him. I need him to not resist at all or I won’t be able to control the crystal properly. Hurry!”
Naya hesitated for a moment, remembering that nobody in the group was aware of her being a shaman, but it looked like there was no other choice.  She carefully took Kron’s head in her hand and began whispering in his ear. By that point Ashur has finished inserting the crystal. Thankfully Kron was still completely high on pixie dust and did not feel a thing. Arbos instructed Zephs and Ashur to bandage the entire arm up tightly and then disappeared.
It was empty. Too empty. Seriously way too fucking empty. This was far from the first time Arbos possessed somebody.  He used to do it all the time for shits and giggles back in the day, before getting sealed. But this is the first time he found himself standing in an empty desert of a mind. Naya sure was good at what she did. His mind was completely absent and not a single thought floated about, that could possibly get in the way.
“Good kitty. Now, let’s do this.” Arbos clapped his arms together and concentrated – taking control over Kron’s body.
Ashur and Zeph looked on in horror as Kron’s arm swirled and moved about as if it was possessed by an angry snake. The nasty crunching sound it made did not help in the slightest. Half an hour later it finally stopped moving and Arbos appeared again, breathing heavily.
“Finally. Controlling an unhealed crystal through a possessed body was way harder than I expected. I’ll need some rest now… Naya, you can stop hugging Kron now.”
Hearing his words Naya yelped and jumped up, letting Kron’s head make a satisfying “donk” against the wooden floor.  He quickly jumped up rubbing the back of his head.
“Dammit woman, are you trying to kill me?!”
Whatever Arbos did seemed to have worked as Kron looked as healthy as always. Perhaps a little… too healthy? He was clearly still high on pixie dust. Arbos sighed again.
“Easy there Conan. Don’t attempt to move your arm or take off the bandages for the next 2 days, you got me? Whatever is still left in the crystal has to heal in properly for you to use your new arm.  Got it? Now let’s all get a breath of fresh air. This place... smells.” That said Arbos headed out, straight through a wall. If anything that was one perk of being a spectre.
The group soon followed suite, of course it took them longer since they couldn’t pass through walls. However it looked like their hardships were still not over, for the moment they stepped out of the Keep they were greeted by a large group of heavily armed men and women.
Zephyr groaned and, reaching for the only weapon he had left, lobbed his can of beans straight between the eyes of the nearest man, knocking him out instantly.  The man staggered back and fell into the arms of his comrades, throwing them off balance and causing them to fall too. Soon, as if by some twisted domino effect the whole group of potential enemies was on the floor. People tangled within each other’s limbs cursed profusely and struggled to get back up. A pause hung in the air. Arbos then turned to Zeph.
“Uhm… Why didn’t you use that during the fight again? Anyway enough, these are not our enemies. Although Bob might have a few choice words for you when he comes to.”
“Then who are they?”
Arbos smiled.
“Local resistance cell from the nearby city. I went to get them when you were fighting the troll. Took them longer to gather their men than I hoped though. Still, they should be very grateful for the massive fortress we just gave them. They will help us set up camp for the night. Sun has already set if you didn’t notice.”
Indeed, again, somehow neither of them noticed that the sky has long since gone dark.  With the help of the rebels soon the set the camp right at the foot of the keep. For obvious reasons sleeping inside the castle was not a good idea. The rest of the evening was spent partying to high heaven. Thankfully the food reserves of the keep were still intact and Naya managed to leave several barrels of wine unpoisoned – a mistake that everyone was very grateful for. With the first lights of dawn everyone finally retreated to their tents to get some sleep, aside from a few killjoys who did not drink the night before and as such were assigned the watch duty.  Soon the new day would begin and with it, inevitably, a big question would arise – What would they do now?  Arbos stared off into the distance for a while. With the rebels occupying the keep, all connection to Eriur was now destroyed. Even if the Imperial Army came and wiped this keep off the map nobody would trace it to a small village in the north. And with their village finally safe, what would his companions decide to do next? He had no doubt that Ashur would continue on with his quest to destroy the empire. But the others… their decision was yet to be made.

OOC:
- Crystal limit increased to 25.
- Moves of Lerim learned.
- Arm of Kron acquired. Impact crystals used with it will not hurt the user at all. Indestructible.
- Sanbox mode engaged.
- Woooooooooooooo~

The Resistance didn't waste much time setting up make shift tables, mostly covered with alcohol, and large bonfires to sit around. The group of Heroes, for that's what they were having saved Eriur, sat together round the central fire, loud, drunk and dancing resistance troops surrounding them. They had been mostly quiet since the party started, likely tired from the days fights (except Kron who was still pretty high on the pain killer, the alcohol wasn't helping). Lae'Naya sat with her legs crossed, drinking from her mug every so often. She was started to get a pleasant buzz from the drink. She decided to be the first to speak.

"So... What do we do now?" she asked her companions.

(OOC: Chatting time! One liners are perfectly acceptable)