Ain't A Hero

Season 4

Bryan Schuder

Ain't A Hero: Season 4 by Bryan W. Schuder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 InternationalCCBYNCSA

Official Enough Release

Updated 03/24/2025

Ain't A Hero

Season 4

Dedications

Timeline

Episode 40

Episode 41

Episode 42

Episode 43

Episode 44

Episode 45

Episode 46

Episode 47

Episode 48

Episode 49

Episode 50

Episode 51

Dedications

First and foremost... A special thank you to all the crazy humanity loving folks over at /r/HFY ! Out of all the places on Reddit for writing, you all are the most accepting and welcoming bunch of them all. As long as humanity is involved some how and you want to write, /r/HFY will give you a place to call home. I was not only surprised to find people interested in this crazy tale, but people who repeatedly read episode after episode... And still wanted more. I will try to deliver more! Second season down, hopefully a third and more to go!

So, in an inconsistent arbitrary order of me looking through the series posts, thank you to these fine folks that provided commentary (both praises and criticisms) and those who subscribed. (Please let me know if I missed anyone!)

roflmaono
Attamark
Lithuse
KillerKolonelz
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Lurking_Reader
Waspkeeper
bontrose
carpkiller
KahnSig
Shactus
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zarikimbo
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atomic_cheese
Rand__Rahl
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fatboy93
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zymurgist69
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Jonfirst
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Red-Shirt
WandererOfTheMind
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barely_harmless
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Alphamole0
Random-Hats
Applepielord1244
Fieryfight
ccassidyx9
Ghrrum
Thatfurrykid
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Sakul_Aubaris
antonthekiller
pie4155
ragnoraknow
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Shiamu
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LIKE1OOONINJAS
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sic99
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Glaris
vittupaahan
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TRN42
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Repeated_613
Voobwig
Dr_Acen
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nuacc2
sluglie
mortalnine
mheiszler
pennythoughtful
IntelligentDemise
Makyura
minkshaman
Fkn_Ra
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BlessedPatrick
ikbenlike
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Shaeos
garrdor
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AMEFOD
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_Skylos
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Einhanderz
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Zoutpeper
Tinkerbill93
p75369

-40-

Small, blue orbs glow and cast circles of light upon the inscribed surfaces of the old ceramic tiled walls. Spread throughout the area roughly even, each ball of illumination reveals further details of the ancient chamber to Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Adjusting a few small, bright electric torch lamps on tripods, Dretphi aims a beam where Cideeda points a claw tip. After a quick thumbs up, Cideeda kneels down next to a removed access panel in a console of blended tech and magic. "Thanks. Huh. I think there might actually be a proper computer inside here."

Her emerald green eyes open wider, and an eager, toothy grin sneaks out further from the corner of her mouth, "MAYBE... There's data to dump."

Pivots his ethereal form in the middle of the room, Sebastian scans around and nods to Cideeda. "Yeah, that would be nice. Also... Any signs that anyone else has been in there before you?"

Cideeda cranes her head to peer inside the kiosk's maintenance cavity and shakes her head of short, multi-colored hair with a confident smirk. "Doesn't look it, so far! All the dust build up looks even, and no other marks that I didn't put there myself. And..."

Plucking a flashlight out of her vest, she clicks it on and furrows her brow studiously towards the technological innards of the system. "Parts seem original. Markings and design look like they match. So, that's a good sign."

A flicker of bright light reflects off the walls and briefly tints the rest of the room. Side stepping over carefully, Aristespha holds her tablet in both hands up to the various inscriptions upon the wall. She frames up a shot of the inscribed surface on the screen, taps the button icon, and momentarily squints against the flash. She shifts the tablet over methodically, repeats the previous process, and lowers the device with a sigh. "This will take some time to work through."

Sotalia steps over next to Aristespha and presents another tablet to her. "I think I got enough pictures of the platform to stitch together a big complete one. But... The battery is almost dead on this thing."

Glancing down, Aristespha inspects the image on the screen and notices the battery status bar blinking red, with an acknowledging smirk. Sotalia eyes over her shoulder, motions towards an old, dusty energy storage vessel, and cracks a mischievous grin. "So... Do you think ANYONE is going to miss one... or two... of THOSE?"

Slowly lifting a contemplative eyebrow, Aristespha leans back and gazes upon the collection of stray and stacked magical cells. She works out the indecision upon her ivory face, twisting her grimace between deliberations. "I DOUBT it. BUT..."

She shifts her attention back to Sotalia. "I DO NOT want to tempt fate too much. And, I certainly do not want to test the good graces we have earned with ruin raiding."

Debating in her mind, she wanders glances of her violet eyes between reasonable justifications. Seconds later, a tempered, sly smile graces her, and she perks an mischievous brow at Sotalia. "WELL... I suppose the stray ones with recent hand marks, feasibly from Noxian, could be considered evidence worth taking in for... Extended investigation."

Mirroring a similar expression upon her face, Sotalia pivots slowly around and tosses a stray lock of dark red hair over a swept back horn within an air of satisfaction. "I would have to agree. Certainly, such direct evidence is part of our ongoing mission, and it would be pertinent to seize it for now."

Bach flicks out a few more glowing blue orbs off, each floating along a path to different spots upon a far wall. Pausing a moment, he gauges the overall brightness, crossing his arms and straightening his posture. Sebastian drifts down next to his brother, crossing his arms, and shrugs. "So, another thirty minutes before you have to touch them up again, bro?"

Swaying his head slightly from shoulder to shoulder, Bach tugs at the corner of his mouth in contemplation. "Meh. A little longer than that. Tried to put a little extra in these orbs. Maybe it'll free me up to do something more useful than lighting."

Sebastian smirks, chuckles to himself, and gazes over to Bach. "Shit. It's Saturday. A Saturday after a hell of a week, bro. So, don't worry about it. Take it easy while you can. We'll be back to the complicated shit soon enough."

A begrudging groan escapes Bach, and he shrugs his shoulders, relaxing his arms down to his sides. "Yeah..."

In the lighting from the array of blue orbs dotting the old chamber, the brothers stand in silence. Each drifts a wandering stare across the area, observing the work of others team members. Dretphi prepares a clear plastic, white paper backed sheet from a roll and lays it next to a faint footprint in the thick dust. She cuts it to size, and carefully pulls the paper off the adhesive side of the plastic. With deft precision, she gently floats the plastic onto the dusty, flat concrete. Allowing the sheet to rest evenly, she gently pats the plastic down secure, applies modest pressure, and waits patiently. Seconds later, she lifts the entire sheet back up with even tension, glides in the air over to the side, and rests it back upon its original paper backing. Dretphi smiles proudly and breathes out her relief. Guiding back her platinum braids, she inspects the clear, defined boot print outlined in the dust between the sheets.

Cideeda's eyes telegraph her confusion, and her brow furrows with her thoughts, her arm rummaging around inside the console. Reaching far through the access panel, she twists and contorts upper body, searching for the best position. After many awkward attempts to budge something inside, frustration sneaks out upon her light brown face. Pausing a moment, she stretches her arm slightly deeper inside and ponders, the faint clicks of claw tips upon metal sounding out. Tensing her body a moment, a muffled, mechanical pop emits from within the console, and a triumphant grin emerges upon Cideeda. Carefully removing her dust coated arms out of the space, she guides a metal, vented box with a tether of electronic cables onto the floor and eagerly inspects it further.

Sebastian pivots around, and watches Aristespha and Sotalia sort through pictures upon the two tablets. His ghostly gaze notices Aristespha occasionally rubbing her stomach unconsciously, the rest of her focus pouring upon the images on the tablets. Glancing over to Bach, he points towards his brother's pocket. "Hey, what time is it, bro?"

Bach digs a hand into pants pocket, pulls out his aetherphone, and clicks a side button, activating the screen. "Umm, about noon?"

Nodding in thought, Sebastian turns to the rest of the team and ethereally calls out to everyone. "Okay, it's noon. As party leader, I think it's a good time for a lunch break."

He glances over to Bach and tilts his head towards the exit, wrestling an uncomfortable grimace. "Hey, bro, could you go out and get the cooler from the humvee? Probably best we eat in here and keep our profile low right now."

Acknowledging with a thumbs up, Bach walks towards the exit with a playfully sarcastic roll of his blue eyes. "Yeah, a big picnic, midday, in the middle of the restricted area for a dig site... Probably NOT the best plan, right?"

Sebastian sighs in agreement and drifts over towards Aristespha. Cideeda glances down at her grit and grime covered fingers and cringes briefly, her furry ears drooping close to her shoulders. "HEY... Could you bring me cleaning wipes, too?"

Noticing Bach moving towards the exit, Sotalia wanders over towards that direction, glancing over to Cideeda briefly. "I'll go get them. I need to hook this tablet up to the charger anyway."

Squinting his blue eyes, he lifts his hand up towards the light and passes the threshold of the entryway of the chamber in the noon sun. He lets his eyes adjust to the daylight and scans around the vicinity. Seconds of blinks and watching the peaceful, quiet ruins later, he steps out onto the gravel walkway towards the covertly parked humvee between crumbling stonework and overgrown landscaping. With a second set of footfalls upon the dirt, he glances over his shoulder towards Sotalia. "Oh, hey."

Sotalia moves up in pace next to Bach and tucks the tablet under her shoulder. Trains her golden eyes at Bach, she lifts an inquisitive dark red eyebrow. "So... How are you doing? All things considered, of course."

Bach awkwardly scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair and manages a weak shrug, poorly attempting a nonchalant pose. "Well... Um... Okay. Yeah, uh. Apart from certain developments, ah..."

A genuine smile grows on Sotalia, and she apologetically sighs, hints of compassion building. "Listen. I'm sorry for being a bitch the last few days. Old habits die hard no matter what I try.

Flicking her golden eyes over to Bach, she fights a flit of guilt upon her tan face, dark gray edged face. "BUT... You don't need any grief from me."

With a long exhale, tension vents out of Bach, and he relaxes his shoulders. "Hey. It's okay. Quite the major secret to reveal in the most dramatic fucking way possible. So, uh, I get it."

Sotalia laughs and smirks with a perk of an eyebrow. "Certainly not how you wanted to tell everyone, I'm sure."

Biting his lower lip, Bach momentarily averts his gaze from Sotalia, the two walking closer towards the humvee. "Yeah... Since, truth be told, I was really hoping to NEVER need to tell anyone. But..."

He wrestles down frown into a grumble. "That plan didn't survive contact with reality."

Sotalia meets Bach's returning glance with a gentle smile and rolls her golden eyes at herself. "Well... Truth be told, they RARELY ever do."

Drawing a tense breath through her nose, she frowns. "I know from personal experience."

Bach and Sotalia walk down the rough rock encrusted dirt path and arrive at the humvee. A curious grin cracks from the corner of Sotalia's mouth, and she slyly narrows her gaze at Bach. "So... After telling us such a big secret, maybe you'd be transparent with a little, trivial, in comparison, piece of information."

Moving towards the back passenger door of the humvee, Bach pulls open the door and squints a wary glance back at Sotalia, perking his brow. "Oh. Like what?"

Sotalia swings the front passenger door out, places the tablet from under her arm on the front seat, and attaches a charging cable to it. Brightening her tone, she coyly gazes over to Bach with a devious smile. "Oh, a certain important number... One you should have learned when you entered adventuring school... From a certain test."

Bach pauses, blinking, and grabs hold of a handle for the cooler in the middle aisle. "Uhh..."

Twisting her mouth near indignant, Sotalia aims a prying glare and awaits a response, her hands firmly on her hips. Drawing a long breath in, Bach groans and acquiesces into a sigh. "Well, I don't know the exact number.

A flit of irritation lifts Sotalia's eyebrow. Bach tips his head back and wiggles the cooler free from the far back row seat space. "BECAUSE, the system was glitching out from my stupid antics in the test chamber. BUT, it was around the mid nine thousands."

A contented, eager grin creeps onto Sotalia, and she reaches over the front passenger's seat, grabbing a tub of cleaning wipes. "INTERESTING. NOW... Was that so hard to admit?"

Shaking his head, Bach slides the insulated plastic container along the cab aisle to the front of his seat and secures his grip around the other handle. "NO. I'm just fearful of what such knowledge may or may not ENCOURAGE in the future."

Humming to herself in thought, Sotalia closes the front passenger door. After Bach hoists the cooler out of the humvee, she closes the other door and stands in front of Bach. "Okay. Just to be fair, ask me a question about myself."

Bach ponders the proposition, scrutinizing the expression upon Sotalia. His blue eyes search in his mind, he visibly contemplates and focuses back upon Sotalia. Bach's stare drifts up to towards the top of Sotalia's head. A crack forms in her aura of confidence, and she quells a reflexive grimace. A playfully sinister grins flashes upon Bach, and he narrows his eyes upon her. "Are your horns naturally that dark?"

Sotalia's mouth hangs open, a response failing to launch. Amusement, relief, and embarrassment swirl together on her tan and dark gray face, and she shrugs off the hesitation with a coy smirk. "Well... NO. I use a tint to darken them down. They're naturally much lighter. And, the tint helps keep the color even."

Nodding, Bach hoists up the cooler higher and walks back towards the chamber entryway across the ruins. "Okay. I was curious. I just remember Shadeesa always kept a whole collection of horn care products laid out in the dorm apartment bathroom."

Stepping along the gravel path back next to Bach, Sotalia rolls her golden eyes. "Oh! You have no idea. As much as I love my horns, there's some days I totally understand why some people cut them short and keep them filed down. Gods, it's SO frustrating when you find a nick or gouge."

With a chuckle in his tone, Bach glances over and curiously furrows his brow. "Kind of like when you find a bruise you don't remember getting?"

Sotalia exaggerates a nod and laughs with a smile. "Yes! Except the bruise will go away, eventually. With horns, you better hope you can buff it out with some clear polish or know someone who's REALLY good with filler putty."

Cocking his head, Bach pries. "So, ever do the horn carving thing?"

A sigh rushes out of Sotalia, and she shakes her head. "NO. I lived in a town with hard water. No design looks pretty with hard water stains."

The two continue along the gravel route, discussing the intricacies of emin horn and nail care, and soon disappear into the entryway to deliver food and cleaning supplies.

----

Late morning sun shines through the windows in the small bedroom of the ranch style house. From the open door to the hallway, heavy, cumbersome footsteps upon hardwood reverberate into the room. Seconds later, Bach crosses through the doorway threshold into the bedroom and flips the light switch next to the door. Plodding across the room, he swings his draw-string duffle bag off his shoulder onto his bed, bouncing it upon the mattress. He pivots toward the doorway and directs his voice down the hallway. "Hey! Is there anything else I need to help haul in?"

From down the corridor, Dretphi's voice sounds back. "Not at the moment."

Slowly glances back over his shoulder, Bach side steps over, aligns himself to a clear part of the bed, and tips backwards. He flops onto the comforter, sending a shockwave of air through the sheets. Gradually working the rest of his body up on top, he loosely sprawls himself over the surface and sloppily props his feet upon the duffel bag. He quickly works off his low cut shoes, exhales a long sigh, and stares blankly up at the overhead ceiling fan. The blades spin up to speed and a gentle current of air blows down. Minutes passing by, Bach stares distantly and idly, present awareness waning. Between blinks and long breaths, the past rises up in the faint winces upon Bach's face and settles with current thoughts in following grimaces. Focus shifts from moment to moment. Bach closes his blue eyes, and bathes in the breeze of the overhead fan and warmth of the sun, the beams of light sluggishly traveling across the room. Other sounds rise over the background fan hum. Conversations elsewhere in the house bounce around into unintelligible murmurs. With light footsteps barely audible from the hallway, the rest of the world fades from Bach's awareness. Over the minutes, the conscious mind disconnects from current surroundings and drifts within the haze of past memories.

A series of clawtips rap upon the wooden door, crisply bouncing into the soundscape. Bach winces his eyes hard and opens them, focusing back upon the present world. Slowly lifting his upper body up off the top of the mattress, he sits up, blinking, and spots Cideeda waving at him from the doorway. Crosses her arms, Cideeda leans against the door frame and smirks, wagging her long, fluffy tail. An unconscious unease seeps out into Bach's smile, and he waves back. "Oh, hey. Yeah... How are you doing?"

Cideeda pulls a smile across her light brown, perks up her furry ears, and cocks head to the side. "Good... How are YOU doing?"

Bach musters an uncertain smirk and nods slowly. "Well, all things considered. I'm doing okay, I guess?"

Narrowing her stare slightly, Cideeda furrows her brow and parts a toothy grin. "That's good to hear. By the way..."

Flicking her emerald green eyes towards the bedroom window, she lifts an eyebrow towards Bach. "What time is it? I don't have my phone handy."

Retrieving his aetherphone from his pants pocket, Bach clicks the side button and triggers the display on. With a nonchalant smirk, Bach gazes at the time readout. "Um, yeah. Well, it's Sunday late morn-"

He draws the phone closer and blinks in sheer surprise. "Uh... HUH... Um, after noon? Wow."

Processing the unexpected chronological difference, he slides over to a seat on the side of the bed. His attention darts between his phone and the daylight coming in through the window. Sorting through the confusion, he gazes awkwardly over towards Cideeda. "WELL. Um. Quite a bit later than I thought then."

Cideeda calmly steps up next to the bed, places her hands on her hips, and focuses upon Bach. "Yeah. You spaced out for an hour. I looked in an hour ago and saw you staring at the ceiling. So, I thought I'd give you a few minutes to decompress from the ride back. But..."

Furrowing her brow, she tilts her head to the side and narrows her gaze. "There's more going on, isn't there?"

Averting his eyes downwards, he grimaces and slowly nods, his own voice wavering. "Yeah... Just thinking about... Everything..."

He glances up and meets emerald eyes staring right back at him. Cideeda sighs, shaking her head. "Bach. Let's review that whole situation."

Blinking, Bach nods through the wave of tense confusion. "Um. Sure."

Smirking, Cideeda rolls her eyes at herself and waves her hand with her thoughts. "If there had been time to present the options, I would have chosen the blow it the fuck away option. Especially for THAT thing."

She chuckles, bites her lower lip, and works through a bit of past embarrassment in her posture, flicking her long tail. "I MEAN... I DID fling a satchel of explosives at a security bot armed with a minigun and plasma particle cannon, recently."

The brief flicker of a smile tries to emerge on Bach. Cideeda sighs out her nerves and crosses her arms tightly, the past replaying in mind between blinks. "And... We weren't going to outrun that horrible thing. I think you figured THAT out, and made the choice that you thought gave us the best chances for survival. Despite the risks then, I would have agreed it was the best choice."

Rolling her shoulders, she swallows hard and droops her furry ears. "One I would have made myself."

A bit of relief eases the tension building within Bach. He feels Cideeda rest a hand upon his shoulders, and she flexes a brief, familiar five claw tip grip. Waiting until Bach gazes back up, Cideeda smiles with a slight watery glint at the corners of her emerald green eyes. "And somehow... I've gotten another chance at something I didn't think I would ever get. SO, I think you did JUST FINE."

Nodding slowly, Bach draws a long breath in and thinks in silence, wrestling down a grimace. He exhales into an uncertain cadence. "Thank you... Um, really. It's just that... I mean, I'm really happy with the results. But... I'm not sure how to feel about how I got the results?"

Cideeda lifts her hand from Bach's shoulder, holds her chin in thought, and grins toothily. "I think I get what you are talking about. I guess it's about using that elder energy?"

With a long groan, Bach quickly acknowledges into a grumble. "Yes."

Resting her hands behind her on the top lip of the dresser drawers, Cideeda shrugs her shoulders and sways her head side to side, pondering the predicament. "Being an outside observer to magic for a LONG time, I just can't help but to see it as just another tool. For example, I've got lockpicks. I could break into houses like a thief. OR, I can unlock doors for owners without their keys like a locksmith."

Standing back up straight, she gestures with both hands weighing a balance and bounces her attention between them. "I've got a gun. I could hunt food with it. Or, I could mug someone with it. I've got a car. I could drive it responsibly for good reasons. OR, I could drive it like a maniac for all the worst reasons."

Bach blinks with his thoughts and rocks his head side to side in vague agreement. "Yeah... I mean, I can see THAT. But, it's just there's a bit more gray area to it than I've ever really thought about before? It was actually a lot easier when it was just a simple light or dark side thing. It's bad, don't use it. Done. Simple."

Laughing with an honest, warm smile, Cideeda waves off the subject thoroughly amused. "Oh gods. Remind me to tell you some Fvalian fables my parents would tell me. Every last one of them just rolls around in moral gray area."

She gazes over at Bach and smirks happily. "ANYWAY... From what I've seen, magic is just a tool. I've seen it used for both good and bad things. So far..."

Cideeda winks a Bach and grins toothily. "You've been doing good. For good reasons."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Bach dons an awkward smile and averts his gaze away. "Well... I try."

Sotalia's voice echoes down the hallway through the small bedroom doorway. "Cideeda?! Where are you? I got that magic's shop's aethersite up and want to show you the starter kits they've got in stock."

Cideeda grits her teeth briefly, crosses her arms tightly, and flicks her ears back. "By the way, could you do me a HUGE favor?"

Furrowing his brow, Bach nods affirmatively. Bending down close to Bach, Cideeda whispers, side eyeing the doorway. "Tomorrow, could you please come with us when we shop for magic stuff? She's REALLY EXCITED about teaching me magic, and I DO NOT know anything about it, at all, to stop her from buying everything I don't need."

Turning his head towards the bedroom door momentarily, Bach hears Sotalia audibly admiring the inventory of the store and returns an understanding gaze to Cideeda. "YEAH. That'd probably be a good idea, just in general. I need to actually get a few things myself, so I'll have a good excuse to join you two."

Cideeda relaxes her shoulders, loosens her arms, and walks towards the bedroom door. "THANK YOU. Also, you mind helping me with a few data cables for that dusty mess of a computer?"

Tipping forward, Bach rights himself on his feet, stands up, and follows behind Cideeda. "Sounds good to me."

----

In the finely decorated two bed hotel room, the television shows the latest local new developments and flips between clips of the aftermath from the "Hattan Nightmare''. A billowing cloud of faint steam slipping out, the bathroom door opens up, and Tassilda steps out wrapped in an elegant bathrobe. Guiding her damp black hair back over her gray shoulders, she carefully towels off her swirling horns and walks over to her bed. She narrows her light blue on black eyes towards Deedri upon the other bed with a perplexed expression. "Whatever are you doing?"

Pausing from sorting through a towering stack of papers, Deedri finishes jotting down a few notes into a journal and rubs the fatigue around her auburn eyes. "Oh... Just logging the medical work I did during the attack and formatting it in all the correct templates to send off to the guild."

Tassilda gracefully slides on top of her bed, settles up against the pillow stacked headboard, and surveys the collection of documents organized upon Deedri's bed top. "I am honestly curious. What all do you need to send to the guild?"

Deedri stiffly uncrosses and stretches her legs out from underneath her. Lowering her upper body down, she rests her head on a fluffy hotel pillow and breathes out a long sigh. "It's for my public work hours. I try to keep up with my quota so it doesn't build up too much."

She briefly grits her teeth and faintly hisses with a grimace. "Because it's not fun when you get a notice from the auditors..."

Her tufted ears flick over to the side, and she glances over at the confusion upon Tassilda's light gray face. Blinking a few times, she recognizes the lack of context and smiles with an apologetic tone. "Oh. Um. It's a medical mage requirement to keep our licenses when we are part of adventuring groups."

Tassilda curls her eyebrow, leans over down to the floor between the two beds and rummages a hand around in a large zipper bag. "Well. They certainly seem to keep medical mages on a short leash."

She rises back up with a small mirror and a clear bottle with a dark, translucent liquid inside. Deedri shrugs her shoulders and rests her hands on her night-shirt covered stomach. "Oh, it's not that bad. And, it's for a good reason. The guild has an agreement with most of the medical systems of all the different states in the region. They make sure the adventuring groups don't hire out the medical mages without keeping up with their license requirements to practice for the public good."

With a quick twist of the cap, Tassilda sets the bottle upon the middle nightstand between beds and examines her horns through the small mirror. "Ah, I see. Prevent all the talent from getting stolen away for the higher paying adventuring life... Never to be seen again."

Deedri frowns and begrudgingly agrees with a slow nod. "Well... YES. But, the guild not only handles a lot of the paperwork, they also will find work that counts for your quota. So, if you've let your quota get too big, they can help out tremendously. It's so much better than having to go back through relicensing."

Tassilda squints her light blue on black eyes through the mirror and adjusts the angle. Reaching over with her free hand, she lifts the cap of the bottle, revealing an integrated brush, and guides the liquid soaked cap brush to a discolored spot on the side of her horn. With a few careful taps of the fine hairs on the brush, the dark fluid settles and blends out the discoloration. Tassilda replaces the cap on the bottle and perks a curious brow towards Deedri. "Interesting. So, whatever happens to a medical mage that does NOT keep up with their quota?"

Deedri's auburn eyes widen, and she slowly lifts her upper body off the bed. Gritting her teeth underneath a twisting mouth, she fails to subdue a wary grimace towards Tassilda. "Uh... NOTHING GOOD. Usually a guild warning is enough to get most people to take a break and work on their hours. BUT..."

Bouncing a side around, she wrestles against a frown and uneasily chuckles. "It ESCALATES from there. QUICK."

Thinking to herself in the lull of conversation, Deedri's attention settles upon the scuffed and discolored claw tips on her hands. "If it's deemed negligence upon the medical mage, they're put on probation, and eventually will get their license revoked if they don't take steps to remedy their quota."

She glances over to Tassilda with a strained smirk. "If the adventuring group is thought to be hindering the medical mage from getting their hours done, the guild sends an operative out to..."

Furrowing her brow, she hems and briefly stiffens her posture. "FIRMLY and ASSERTIVELY explain the importance of supporting the medical staffs' needs and how it may extensively delay the release of mission payouts."

Tassilda blinks into a blank surprised stare and places the mirror down on the nightstand. "OH, MY. Well, you have my abundant appreciation for keeping up with your quota. I certainly could not stand to have to contend with that much regulation."

Smiling, Deedri nods graciously with a flick of her long, fluffy tail upon the bed. "It's a small inconvenience, really."

A thought drifts forward in her mind, and she levels an inquisitive gaze at Tassilda. "You know, I've actually been curious... Why did you focus on charm and counter magics?"

A sly grin graces Tassilda, and she narrows an amused glance to Deedri. "Oh, it's really very simple. You don't need great attacks or defensive spells when your opponents have no desire to harm you. And, it doesn't matter what spells someone has if they are rendered moot before they can affect you."

Flicking her furry, tufted ears with her thoughts, Deedri eyes follow the reasoning in her mind, and she agrees. She slides her attention upon the clear bottle of dark fluid and glances to her toes. Drawing up her legs closer, she inspects the roughed tips of her toe claws with tinges of annoyance. "Hey... Do you have anything that'll help with this? Running on all the pavement the last few days really did a number on my claws."

Leaning over, Tassilda surveys the scuffs, marks, and wear upon the tips of Deedri's toe claws, and smiles confidently. "Oh! Of course, I do! Do you need anything for you finger claws?"

Deedri flexes her fingers, inspects the points on each tip, and shakes her head. "Not right now. They're okay."

Narrowing a stern stare upon her open hand, she curls her digits slightly inwards and lowers her tone slightly. "But... I have been thinking about sharpening them up."

----

A few shopping bags with a colorful "Miradia's Magic Materials" logo reside on the coffee table in front of the couch. Containers of reagents, packs of thick paper, and a stack of books cover the table space between the shopping bags. In a copy of "The Illustrated Guide to Magical History", a colorful bookmark splits the pages of the novel. Nearby, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia sit around the dining table. With exaggerated gestures and elaborate demonstrations, Sotalia enthusiastically lectures around the magical basics. "Without getting too deep into details, the easiest way to think of your magical flows are On, Near, and Far. On is what magical energies are on you here. Near is magic energy that is relatively near you in the aether. And, Far is pretty much anything towards the Abstract Prism."

Gradually nodding her head, Cideeda maintains blank expression eye contact with Sotalia, blinking her emerald green eyes occasionally. Dretphi glances briefly down at the notepad in front of her, jots down a few notes, and gazes back up, awaiting further instruction. Continuing her explanation, Sotalia pans her gaze between Dretphi and Cideeda with an eager smile. "Now, most of the magical energy you two will flow is On you. It's the immediate source you have to will into your spells. It's limited, but what you use is replaced from Near, the aether, when it flows to On, or you."

Bach's attention rests upon a pad of thick paper and his careful, purposeful strokes of a finely haired brush. Sotalia pantomimes out a simplified process of magical flow transition, in slow, broken down steps. Bach calmly dips the tip of the brush into a small bowl of black ink, next to a sliced lime and a salt shaker. Lowering the brush upon the paper, he inks out a series of branching, interconnected lines. With a calligraphic flair, he adorns the page with a network of lines, forming a simple maze of channels. Pausing a moment, he listens to Sotalia list through a number of techniques for practicing flowing magical energy and glances at the attentive, slightly overwhelmed stares that Cideeda and Dretphi present to Sotalia.

Sotalia stops her lecture and grins excitedly at Cideeda and Dretphi. "So... Any questions?"

Blinking a few times in the lull, Cideeda cocks her head of short, multi-colored hair to the side, puzzling out loud. "Okay. Well. What practice technique should we use?"

Pointing over to the collection of practice focuses on the table top, Sotalia glides her gaze over the assortment. "Well, practice focuses help with getting used to moving a lot of magical energy. So, I would start with that right now to build up your power handling."

Bach places the final touches on another ink maze and slides a piece of paper each to Cideeda and Dretphi with a smirk. "And, it also helps to practice fine flow control."

Examining the papers, Sotalia perks an eyebrow and recognizes the drawings on the pages, her interest piquing. "Those... Look like flow mazes. Oh! I used to do those all the time as a teenager. I had the fastest times in the mages club back in high school."

Cideeda curiously inspects the piece of inked paper, and her furry ears flick with her thoughts. Dretphi turns her head to face Bach and eyes the paper in her hand. "How do these function?"

Leaning over the table, Bach reaches out both hands and directs Cideeda and Dretphi to the large circular spots on the pages, grinning. "It's simple enough. Place a finger on the starting dots and flow some magical energy into it."

Cideeda and Dretphi exchange glances, shrug, and place fingers on respective starting spots. Dretphi concentrates her gaze upon the piece of paper. Seconds later, a faint silvery wave traces along all the inked paths and illuminates the entire network. Narrowing her eyes, Cideeda grits her teeth and strains to focus herself. Slowly, a gradual progression of green creeps onto the lines and overtakes the black markings on the page. The last bit of dark path glows green, and Cideeda releases her frustrations with a triumphant exhale, relaxing back into her chair. "Wow... That's actually really challenging."

Nodding with a sly smirk, Bach lifts an eyebrow towards both Cideeda and Dretphi. "Yes it is. Especially, when you get to the point of just lighting up the path to the exit with no extra branches."

Cideeda's emerald eyes open wide, and she stares down at the flow maze, utterly bewildered. Dropping her head, Dretphi blinks blankly, examines the paper under her finger, and twists her mouth in contemplation. Bach smiles and shrugs with an encouraging laugh. "Ah, don't worry. Once you get the feel of how the energy reacts to you, it gets a LOT easier. BUT, it may take awhile to figure that initial bit out. Took me a while, too."

Propping her head up by a hand with an arm on the table, Sotalia happily watches both Cideeda and Dretphi test their magical mettle against their paper puzzles. With a mischievous grin, she glances over to Bach, reaches one hand over for the bowl of ink with the brush in it, and frees the other hand to slide blank pages over. "So... You up for a real challenge?"

Narrowing his gaze, Bach lifts an amused eyebrow and presents a nonchalant tone. "Maybe? If you can present one."

Sotalia pauses a moment, focuses a competitive glare upon Bach, and turns her full attention to the page in front of her. Picking up the brush, she deftly details out an elaborate array of pathways and lines. She fills the network of confusion with segments of chaos, splintered forks, and feathered branches. In the minutes Sotalia spends upon the construction of her masterpiece, Cideeda and Dretphi continue their practice, and Bach carefully grants just enough assistance to help them out. Placing the brush down, Sotalia blows a gentle breath, allowing the ink to dry on the page, and confidently presents the advanced maze to Bach. "Here you go."

Bach's blue eyes scan the chaotic pathways and follow the routes through a bit of apprehension. Nodding slowly, he smiles slyly at Sotalia and cocks his head. "Okay. Okay... I'll give it a shot. BUT, I think it's only fair I make one for you."

An eager glint sparks in Sotalia's golden eyes, and she props her head upon both palms with a devilish grin. "OH. But, of course..."

Bach guides the bowl of ink back over and glides a piece of thick paper in front of him. Lifting up the bowl, he hovers it over just over the page and pours a blob of ink on the page. Sotalia tries in vain to hide her bewilderment and snarls her upper lip with wide eyes staring at the scene. Bach purposefully presses his finger into the blob of ink on the paper, and a blue glow emits from his eyes. A magical flow of blue brightly illuminates the ink, and a series of thin lines grow from the blob. The charged ink spreads out on its own into intricate patterns and fanciful paths, each branching into complex routes and rejoining prior paths. The maze expands upon the page, and Sotalia's confident grin wanes to an awkward smile, her wavering stare telegraphing her agitation. Cideeda and Dretphi both stop practicing and watch expectantly. Dretphi discreetly hides her smirk behind her hand, and Cideeda awaits quietly with a tight smile.

----

With Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi watching expectantly, Sotalia pours her full focus upon the finely crafted, hectic flow maze on the paper before her. Grimacing and gritting her teeth, she squints at a singular path of golden energy edging closer and closer to the exit point of the maze. Her long nailed finger firmly presses down upon the dried circle of ink. Above the dining room table, Sebastian hovers above, observes the intense progress, and vaguely points at the page with an ill-humored smirk. "Hmm. Looks like it's starting to leak down that branch over there-"

Shifting her attention briefly, Sotalia winces and mumbles forcibly through her lips. "I. KNOW. Sebastian."

The flow of gold approaches the exit, creeps out into the end point, and illuminates the finish place brightly. Sotalia tensely waits a few seconds, darting her eyes around expectantly. Bach and Sebastian exchange glances, and Sebastian calls out. "Clean path! Time?"

Bach taps the button on the screen of his aetherphone. Lifting her hand from the page, Sotalia flops back into her chair, panting out the stress. "HA! Still got it!"

Quirking an eyebrow with a sly smile, Bach reads off the number on his phone. "Fifteen minutes and forty three seconds. Not that bad."

Sotalia's golden eyes spring wide open, and she reaches out for Bach's phone with a frustrated growl. "What?! There's no way it was that long!"

Cideeda retrieves her phone out of her shorts pocket, glances at it, and nods in confirmation. "Yes, it was. It's been about fifteen minutes."

Flexing the fingers on her hand, Sotalia glares at the black ink paths on the thick paper and contorts her light tan face, her frustration revealing itself more. Bach shrugs with a smile and highlights his tone with an honest appreciation. "That's actually a really good time. I put a lot of nasty tricks in that one, so that's quite an accomplishment."

Shifting her full focus, Sotalia aims her inquisitive stare right through Bach with a tinge of a growl. "Let's see how long it takes YOU."

Blinking blankly, Bach processes the context clues and slides his chair back, averting his eyes towards the refrigerator. "Okay. Sure. But... You know before that, we should probably think about... Um... Dinner?"

Sebastian floats his ethereal form back from the table and down upon the floor, nodding in thought. "Probably a good idea, bro. I'll go check on Aristespha. She's probably gotten wrapped up in sorting through all those pictures and stopped paying attention to the time, again."

Drifting through the archway into the hallway, he leaves the team, and Bach warily gets up from the table under the watchful stare of Sotalia and the amusement of Cideeda and Dretphi. Sebastian glides down the hall to the last bedroom door and phases through slowly. The late afternoon sun casts a few rays on the bedroom floor and the document and tablet covered desk. Furrowing his brow, Sebastian tilts his head to the side, noticing the lack of someone at the desk. From the bed, a familiar sigh catches his attention, and he observes a figure under the sheet quietly mumbling a dialect of evuukian to herself. Sebastian floats over next to the head of the bed and waits a few moments. Listening to the annoyed grumbles, he smiles and watches the tips of a pair of long ivory, gray and blue hinted ears poke out from under the comforter. He kneels down and inquires with a gentle tone. "What's wrong, dear?"

The bed covers shift, and an opening lifts up, revealing a pair of violet eyes behind a mess of silvery blue hair. Aristespha groans and exhales into an annoyed moan. Stirring underneath the covers, she glances down to the glow of the screen within the fabric cave and extends her hand with aetherphone out to Sebastian. She presents a prominent section of text within a very long message and grumbles. "This... Sebastian."

Sebastian's ghostly form examines the paragraphs and slowly nods understandingly with a reassuring smile. "Oh. Well... We have been neglecting your hours, dear. Don't worry. We can take some time soon so you can work on them. I think a bit of a break from anything too heavy or crazy is in order, and-"

Aristespha's hand withdraws back into the comfort of the bed sheets. With the screen illuminating her face, she drags a finger up, scrolling the document, and turns the phone back towards Sebastian. "Look..."

Following the lines of the new text, concern tints Sebastian's demeanor, and he musters up the best awkward grin he can. "OH. WELL... I guess we'll take a break this week then, dear. It'll be fine. You just need to work down your quota this week. Then, you won't have to worry about it for a while."

Aristespha breathes in, pauses, and exhales a mixture of annoyance, sadness, and frustration. "Yes... I know..."

Reaching her arm out, she rests her phone on the nightstand and pulls the sheets off her head. Attempts to sort through the chaotic mess of her long hair, she wrestles a frown. "It's just... Right after we find some potentially useful information, Bach revealing his abilities, and..."

She sits up slowly, crosses her arms, and grumbles with a petulant posture. "I REALLY DO NOT want to spend the rest of this week doing clinical diagnostics. If they could postpone it for a month or SOMETHING..."

Pausing a moment, she rubs her forehand and sighs. "But... The Hattan attack has redirected staff from other places to help out. I am certain there is no negotiation room for an extension."

Hovering to a seat on the bed next to Aristespha, Sebastian smiles lovingly to her. "Now, now, dear. You know we are supposed to be trying to be on the heroic side of the adventuring business. And, you should do your part for the public good."

Aristespha rolls her violet eyes and works off the grimace on her face, groaning. Sebastian leans over closer to her and chuckles lightly. "Don't worry, dear. Your research will still be here, all for you to explore. I don't think anyone is going to solve it before you. And, it'd be a good change of pace for you."

Aristespha tries to direct a hard glare to Sebastian, it wavers almost immediately, and a lovingly smile forms. Relaxing her shoulders, she extends a hand out to Sebastian, her eyes glowing violet, and pulls him over for a long, tender kiss. Seconds later, she slowly releases Sebastian, her eyes dim, and she narrows a sinister gaze at him. "Okay, Sebastian. BUT... If I have to treat anything disgusting, nasty, and or stupid, YOU are going to have to listen to every single little detail. You try to hide in that sword, and I WILL use telepathic magics to show you the mental imagery."

Sebastian dons a heroic grin and winks at Aristespha. "But, of course, my dear. I will brave the worst stories for you."

With a playful roll of the eyes, Aristespha slides the rest of the covers off her, flipping the fabric through Sebastian's ghostly visage to his brief shudder. She stretches her back, and guides her long silvery blue hair over with an amused groan. "You do know there is going to be at least ONE incident with someone doing something absolutely stupid with their genitals. That is just how MY luck is."

Gliding up, Sebastian stands in a brave pose and nods to Aristespha. "I look forward to hearing all about it."

A dark giggle escapes from Aristespha. "Oh, you say that now."

Sebastian breaks his act and leans down close to Aristespha. "The rest of the group is thinking about dinner. So, you might want to say something soon, especially since Sotalia is in one of her competitive moods against Bach at the moment."

Contorting his face, he briefly grimaces. "Dinner might be a good distraction."

Shifting her weight forward, Aristespha stands up on her feet, plucks up her phone, and walks towards the bedroom exit. She opens the door, taps through to a list of saved restaurants on the aetherphone screen, and glances behind at Sebastian. "I think I'll vote for a place to order pick up, and I'll take Bach with me to help carry the food."

Floating behind Aristespha, Sebastian gives a thumbs up and nods.

-41-

In the back field near the corner of the ranch style house, Dretphi pants at a slowing rate, wipes the sweat off her brow, and drapes her platinum blonde braids back over her shoulders. Standing under the shade of a tree, she stares out patiently and idly stretches in her workout shirt and shorts. A minute later, Bach staggers up the small hill into the shadows from the full green canopy and stops, supporting his upper body with his hands on his knees. He breathes loudly and slowly straightens his back, noticing the obvious sweat spots on his shirt. "Well... At least, I made it to the base of this hill BEFORE almost collapsing... Ungh... I guess that's progress?"

With a perk of an eyebrow, Dretphi smiles kind and encouraging, resting her hands on her hips. "No wheezing."

Pausing in thought, Bach pays careful attention to himself. Breathing in and out several times, he finds no sign of any trailing whine and slowly nods in agreement. "Huh... That's... Wow. Hadn't noticed that. I guess that actually is progress..."

He pulls his shoulders back in a stretch and blinks with his surprise. "And, I feel tired, but nowhere near close to passing out... Like I have felt."

Stepping over to the base of the tree, Dretphi leans over and picks up a water bottle in each hand. She moves over and offers Bach one. "It takes time. Persistence leads to progress."

With an inquisitive eye towards Dretphi, Bach quaffs down the water and swallows to a smirk. "Well, I think that sounds like another bit of wisdom from your birth father."

Rolling her steely gray eyes, Dretphi dons a reserved grin and shrugs her shoulders. "My mother. Her wisdom proves true."

She briefly furrows her brow and glances off to the side. "In certain situations."

Bach wipes the overflow of water out of his short beard and chuckles lightly. "Well, don't think I'll be beating your speed any time soon."

Dretphi stops drinking her water, memories leaping to the front of her mind. Narrowing an examining stare upon Bach, she straightens her posture and cools her tone, hints of suspicion slipping out. "You have moved FASTER than me before."

Bach freezes momentarily, grimaces uncomfortably, and sighs in defeat. Slowly nodding, Bach meets Dretphi expectant gaze, fighting an uneasy squirm, and cautiously approaches the subject. "YES. Mind you... With A LOT of careful magical assistance, for short periods of time."

With a questioning glance, Dretphi cocks her head to the side, squints at Bach, and idly swings her water bottle at her side. Curiosity guides her towards intrigue, and she studies Bach, meticulously eyeing him over. "I do not believe you have used assistance during training. Why?"

Blinking blankly, Bach mentally gathers himself, struggling to compose a response. Tense seconds later, he draws in a long breath and summons up his answer. "Um... Well... I guess because I honestly want to get into decent shape? I mean, the magical augmentation helps in a pinch..."

He furrows his brow and frowns with a sigh. "But... I've learned from experience that you really shouldn't rely just on that. Magic can fail you."

Shaking his head, he averts his blue eyes away with a tinge of shame. "And, it'd be really nice to lessen certain... contrasts of physique... between my brother and me."

A slight frown creeps from the corner of Dretphi's mouth, and concern colors her gaze. Bach cracks a weak smile and glances over to Dretphi with an appreciative tone. "Also, I thought it'd be really disrespectful to you to not take this training seriously. Really, I probably would have given up a bunch of times if weren't for you helping me along the way."

Fluttering her eyes in surprise with a perk of her posture, Dretphi smiles warmly towards Bach, faint traces of blushing in her cheeks. "Thank you."

Moments later, she refocuses herself to the present and inquires further. "I know of people augmenting physical abilities. Great feats possible. Rarely done. Suspect significant risks involved?"

Bach's eyes open wide, and he exaggerates a long nod with a trailing exhale. "Oh gods, YES. I am sure that Aristespha could go into far more details. BUT, if you don't have the body and focus for it..."

Grimacing with a wince, Bach strains a breath through his teeth and shakes his head. "You can really HURT yourself doing anything more than minor assistance with simple actions."

He scratches the back of his neck and wrestles with an uneasy grimace. "I actually don't like doing it, unless I really need to. I mean, as out of shape as I am, I'm surprised I haven't broken a bone, torn a ligament, or dislocated something."

Gazing over to Dretphi, he furrows his brow and grits his teeth. "While the magic helps your body move, you actually need to have a body that can handle the strain. I've only figured out the basics, AND... It's spooky enough already."

Dretphi's attention drifts away to inside her mind, her eyes bouncing between memories. Returning her focus back to Bach, she nods in agreement and eyes her large flow blade resting against the trunk of the nearby tree. "I will not lie... Those are techniques I have interest in. Risky now..."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, she smirks. "Maybe later?"

She walks over to the tree, grips onto the flow blade handle, and hoists it up. "Need to understand this blade. Then, learn augmentation."

Finishing another long pour of water into the mouth, Bach clears his throat and steps over near Dretphi with an encouraging smile. "Well, actually, that's not a bad plan, at all. The flow control required to empower that blade is similar to what is needed for basic augmentation magic. There's a bit more, but definitely will help you with the basics."

Securing her grip on the handle, Dretphi gazes over to Bach and smiles hopeful at him. "THAT is good to hear. Would appreciate your help. I have..."

She briefly fights a frustrated frown. "Given up... Many times... before."

Rolling his shoulders into a stretch against tension, Bach stands next to Dretphi with his eyes illuminating blue. He aims his gaze upon the blade and grants an acknowledging nod. "Only fair to return to the favor. Now, just flow some energy and I'll assess from there."

----

The old humvee turns right down an entrance roadway leading towards an expansive complex of tall, long brick buildings. The ancient military machine passes by the "Amaranth Valley Medical Center" sign and rolls down the road past a number of other guide posts. Surveying the well cared landscape of closely packed medical facilities, Cideeda stares out into the large parking lot ahead and directs her voice behind the driver's seat. "We're here! Now, the fun part of figuring out where we are supposed to drop you off."

Leaning out from the front passenger seat, Sotalia gazes back at Aristespha with a mischievous grin widening on her light tan face. "Is SOMEONE excited for their first day at work?"

An audibly annoyed groan rumbles out from Aristespha, and she crosses her arms petulantly with an exaggerated sigh, averting her violet eyes to her window. "Really?"

She twists an unamused grimace on her face, squirms with the wave of nervous energy, and fidgets in her seat. Laughing playfully, Sotalia smiles brightly at Aristespha and rolls her golden eyes. "OH, come on! I'm kind of jealous, actually. Most other magical professions don't get the special treatment like medical mages do."

Winking at Aristespha with a sly smirk, she points towards the badge hanging from Aristespha's pocket. "And, you are DEFINITELY dressed nicely for the part."

Aristespha carefully inspects her white doctor's coat, and brushes off her neatly pressed black cotton pants. Tightening the bun of silvery blue hair on the back of her head, she guides clear stray strands off her very long, pointed ears. Some satisfaction arrives upon her ivory face, finishing her checks. With a long exhale, she relaxes her shoulders and wrestles down a frown. "I hope so..."

Sotalia snorts and rolls her eyes. "Are you kidding, girl? That outfit is SO professional... and CUTE."

Rotating the steering wheel through another intersection, Cideeda curiously glances into the rear view mirror at Aristespha. "Nervous?"

Tensing her shoulders, Aristespha draws in a long breath and releases it shakily, hanging her head forward in her hands. "YES. Is it THAT obvious?"

Sotalia quirks an eyebrow and adopts a quizzical tint into her encouraging voice. "Oh, what do you have to be nervous about?"

Lifting herself back into the seat, Aristespha sighs and rests a firm hand upon her stomach. "It's just- I have not been in a clinic environment for close to two years now. It is vastly different in comparison to when you only have to worry about the same small group of people everyday. You never really know what your next patient will be, and what you'll have to contend with. Often with no prior knowledge."

Near a main entrance to one of the buildings in the vast complex, Cideeda spots a series of parking spaces with "Short Term" labels. She navigates the humvee through the clearly marked pathways of the massive parking lot and glances into the rear view mirror. Noticing Aristespha's discomfort, Cideeda projects a confident, reassuring smile. "You have nothing to worry about. I know from personal experience you are an amazing medical mage. This place is lucky to have you for a while."

A reserved smile graces Aristespha, and she closes her violet eyes with a slowly exhale. The humvee rolls in between the lines of a space along the sidewalk, near the front entry. Another stress venting sigh escapes Aristespha, and she stares hesitantly at the automated sliding glass door of the medical center entrance. Blinking, she leans out into the aisle and inquisitively gazes at Cideeda. "That actually reminds me. Has there been any noticeable scarring on your back and buttocks from the bullet grazes?"

Shifting the vehicle in park, Cideeda pauses in thought for a few moments, furrowing her brow with a tilt of her head. She flicks her furry ears, arches her back in the seat, and feels the between the back waistline of her shorts. "Not really. The skin feels a little thick there, but nothing that bad. I wouldn't even call it scarring. I've gotten worse from brushing against scrap metal."

Aristespha nods in thought, her eyes searching her mind, and she settles back into her seat, pondering out loud. "That is good. There are a few simple treatments for that issue. I will check on those later for you."

Seconds of awkward silence pass in the cab in the lull of conversation. Cideeda and Sotalia waiting, expectant stares eventually fall upon Aristespha. Retrieving her aetherphone, Aristespha strains a breath in and taps through a few menus. "Okay. Just... Let me double check the specific procedures at this place and where I need to be-"

Rolling her eyes with a dismissive smirk, Sotalia unbuckles her seat belt, climbs over the center console, and reaches a hand out to Aristespha's seat. She presses the release button Aristespha's seat belt, covers up the screen of the aetherphone, and faces Aristespha's surprise. "You will stop STALLING already?"

Aristespha swallows some of her nerves, chuckles out some anxiety, and puts forth a genuine smile. "Okay. Sorry."

Sotalia smiles and pats Aristespha on the shoulder, a sly grin spreading across her face. "Don't worry, girl. If it'll make you feel better, I'll hold your hand and walk you to the door. Just like I did with my little sister on her first day of school!"

Aristespha closes her eyes hard and reopens them, projecting an unamused stare at Sotalia's ill-humored face with a grumble. Cideeda snorts into laughter and covers her mouth to hide her toothy grin. Shaking her head playfully dismissive, Aristespha groans with levity and fails to hide her smile under a grimace. She opens her door and glances back. "I think I am perfectly capable of walking by myself. But..."

She gazes at Sotalia and cracks an appreciative smirk. "Thank you, though."

Stepping out the humvee onto the sidewalk, she closes the humvee door, brushes off her white medical coat, and inspects her hair bun again. She waves to Cideeda and Sotalia in the vehicle. Cideeda gestures two thumb claws up, and Sotalia exaggerates a wave. Walking towards the entrance, Aristespha's posture straightens, her demeanor calms, and her usual air of confidence resumes, arriving at the automated doors.

----

Loud beeping rings out into the area. Hydraulics strain, and pistons drive a long crane arm from a heavy duty truck. With a winch reeling in the steel cable, the machinery pries loose up a thoroughly flattened wreck of a vehicle from the street surface, chunks of asphalt tumbling off. A few Hattan city workers lift up barricades and carry them off to the sidewalks. Police officers cut plastic caution tape off and ball up the refuse into a nearby garbage can. Nearby from the clean up efforts, Isaac sits patiently on a bus stop bench and peeks over a notebook, spying upon the activity. His gray eyes focus upon the roadway, intrigue growing on his aged face. The wind rustles his graying white hair and blows his blue scarf around. His mind drifting to other thoughts, his stare wanders, and his attention settles upon a young evuukian man.

Approaching the partially cleared perimeter of the cordoned off area, the young man levels a large, bulky camera and aims his shot through the viewfinder. With an indifferent grimace, Isaac dismisses the activity. The young man presses the button, and a prominent mechanical click sounds out. Blinking through a fit of surprise, Isaac fully focuses upon the young man, watching him crank a winding lever. Putting the notebook away into his backpack, Isaac stands up with the bag over his shoulder and casually approaches the young evuukian man. A minute, Isaac stands near the young man and observes the process of setups, clicks, and windings with the strange device. Scratching his graying beard, he hems politely. "Excuse, sir? Sorry to bother you, but..."

He points to the bulky device in the evuukian's hands and perks a curious eyebrow. "What ever is that device you are using? I had originally suspected it was an old film camera. Admittedly, those are quite uncommon these days, so I had to ask."

Shuddering in surprise, the young evuukian quickly regains his composure and turns around, greeting Isaac. "Oh! Um... Well... Yes, it is TECHNICALLY a film camera... But, not quite, at the same time."

Isaac smiles intrigued and arches his brow inquisitively. "Well, you have my curiosity, young man. If it's not too much, I would love to pry at why it isn't quite a film camera."

A spark ignites the viridian eyes of the evuukian man, and excitement fills his face. "OH! It's not a problem at all! Well..."

He wrestles down an awkward smirk and chuckles. "If you aren't absolutely bored to death by the finer details of magical theory... and other long explanations... I'd be happy to discuss it."

Isaac nods affirmatively and motions towards the device. "Oh, don't worry. I am a bit of a magical scholar myself and have done some work with the Grand Library."

The young evuukian's eyes widen in absolute surprise, and he barely contains his joy. "Really! Wow! Um, yes... This is actually a research project I'm hoping to use for my application to the Grand Library. Quite the fortune meeting, I guess."

With an intrigued smile, Isaac directs the evuukian's attention toward the camera. "I would say so. Okay. So, let's try out a short explanation for the paper's brief. Take your time and summarize the key points for me."

The man nods excitedly, shaking his wild, light blue hair. Presenting the device to Isaac, he clears his throat into an explanatory tone. "Okay... Magical imaging has been around in many forms over the centuries since the introduction of magic. While spells such as mage sight have become the most prominent method, there have been historical examples of using photographic devices to capture light affected by magical flow. Despite such practices being relegated towards novelty in the past, I theorize that, with the refinement today's technology allows with many magical aspects, we can augment these methods to allow fidelity and resolution typically restricted to specialized arcane equipment..."

He nods to the camera and turns out around, showcasing prominent features. "In a portable device."

With a thoughtful stroke on his beard, Isaac projects a scrutinizing gaze upon the young man and device. Seconds of pondering later, he nods with an honestly interested grin. "That, I believe, is certainly an avenue of research that deserves a project."

Crossing his arms, he cocks his head to the side. "Do you have any results so far you could possibly share right now?"

The young man nods enthusiastically, lets the augmented camera hang from a strap around his neck, and opens a satchel at his side, showcasing the contents. "Oh, yes! I've been experimenting with different alchemical solutions for every step of the development process, applying enchantments to a variety of lenses, and doping films with a hybridization of techniques-"

With a delighted grin, Isaac presents a hand to the young evuukian and curiously gazes at him. "Pardon my lack of manners. My name is Isaac. Whatever is your name, young man?"

The man energetically reaches out his bluish hand and shakes Isaac's, smiling wide to the blue tints on his face. "Blesk Ziebens."

Isaac thinks a moment and blinks perplexed. "That actually is an interesting name for an evuukian. Not the common style, I have often run into."

Blesk shrugs his shoulders and chuckles into a trailing sigh. "Ah... My family is a bunch of houseless black sheep. We pretty much do our own thing away from the usual insanity of... Proper... Evuukian politics."

Laughing, Isaac releases Blesk's hand and points down another street. "Well, would you allow this fellow black sheep to treat you to lunch as we discuss this further? I know this sandwich shop that is very nice."

Scratching the back of his head and sheepishly, Blesk awkwardly grins over his embarrassment. "Well... As broke as I am, I can't really say no to such a generous offer. And, I can't turn down an opportunity to discuss my project with someone."

Isaac gestures Blesk to follow and walks down the sidewalk. "Good. Let's eat and discuss things. I would like to see samples of your work. And, I'd be very curious as to how the pictures you just took develop. I think we should come back here later, when things have died down a bit."

----

Inside the living room of the two-story house, Chad sits comfortably in a couch chair, showing a bright white smile to Tassilda. "WELL... I think it was my leadership that helped organize the masses and guide them to where they needed to go."

Rolling her light blue on black eyes, Tassilda defiantly flicks a lock of black hair over a horn with grumble. "OH. So, yelling at people and pointing in random directions is what passes for leadership these days? THAT explains quite a bit."

Veevi perches herself upon an arm of Chad's chair and narrows her pink pupil eyes at Tassilda with a wry, sharp grin. "OH. So, wandering around putting up magical barriers that did nothing to slow the Nightmare Geist is what passes for magic these days? THAT explains quite a bit."

Tassilda crosses her arms, sneers at Veevi, and growls low, barely audible. Chad smirks at Veevi, and his arm wraps around behind her, patting the side of her leg. Veevi slyly smiles at Tassilda, and her short haired tail flicks over on Chad's shoulder. Laying on the long couch nearby, Trakenthin momentarily breaks from playing a game on his aetherphone and mumbles. "Did not see any of you haul equipment. Set up tents... Be productive."

A flurry of tense words echo out and bleed into the air space of the dining area and kitchen. Modoran peers over the open refrigerator door, pauses a moment to listen, and shakes his head with rolling dark blue eyes. Examining the two flavors of bottled drinks in his hands, he bites his lip hesitantly and indecisively inspects the other flavors in the fridge. With a sigh, he closes the door and quietly sneaks towards and up the stairs. Another outburst of arguments resonate up the stairwell, and Modoran cringes momentarily. Glancing back down the stairwell, he sways his head in a fit of annoyance and walks calmly down the hall. Stopping next to Deedri's room, he slowly approaches the door, places his long, pointed ear near the door, and waits in near silence. Moments later, he cautiously knocks on the door. "Hey, Deedri?"

From the other side of the door, Deedri's voice calls out over a muffled activity. "Oh, uh, come in."

Turning the door knob, Modoran opens the doorway and glances into the room. "Hey, hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Sitting cross legged on her bed, Deedri shakes her head and motions Modoran to come in with a smile. "No. Not at all. Come in..."

Narrowing her auburn eyes, she wrestles down a sneer of her upper lip. "And, close the door, please? I don't really want to hear them right now."

Pulling the door closed, Modoran walks into the modest bedroom. He surveys the various medical texts and neatly laid out equipment on the nearby desk. Stepping towards the bed, he holds out both drinks to Deedri with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, but I didn't know which one you'd want. Take the one you like the best."

Deedri blinks back to awareness of her surroundings, glances between the two choices, and leans over, happily grabbing one bottle from Modoran. "OH! Thank you! I'm actually a bit thirsty, so perfect timing."

Modoran shrugs nonchalantly and opens the other drink container. "Well, you've been working on paperwork for quite some time. So, I thought you might want something."

A shameful sigh escapes Deedri, and she averts her gaze from Modoran, hanging her head. "Actually, I finished all my paperwork back in Hattan. I just..."

Twisting a grimace on her fair face, she motions towards the direction of the living. "Well... Needed a some time away from-"

The muffled voices of Chad, Tassilda, Trakenthin, and Veevi resound upon the bedroom door, fainting seeping in along the wall against the stairwell, and fade out with the waning squabble. Modoran nods sympathetically and groans, eyes shifting away from the doorway. "Yeah. I completely understand. Had to sneak away myself."

Mustering a weak smile, Deedri scoots over on her bed and pats a clear spot for Modoran. "They've been really... strong willed... since the geist attack."

Modoran settles to a seat on the bed and laughs with a hint of derision. "You mean full of shit."

He watches Deedri roll her shoulders to a slouch and slowly drink her beverage. With a frown, he gazes at her with obvious concern. "Okay, you really need a break badly. You need to get away from this bullshit drama for a bit. I wish I knew where you could go to be free from them..."

Bouncing his glances around the room, he curls his frown with a bit of paranoia. "AND the crew."

Deedri releases a long sigh and shakes her head of loosely braided back multicolor hair, blankly staring down at her legs. "Gods... I can't even go to the forest without a chance of being followed anymore."

After a long swig of his drink, Modoran hums in thought, and his eyes search his mind. "Well, if there was a place they literally weren't allowed to go... But, you could..."

An idea springs to the front of Deedri's thoughts, and her auburn eyes open wide. Her head lifts up and some of her stray long red, blonde, white, and tan hair tosses back over her shoulders. Reaching over to a nearby nightstand, she grabs her aetherphone and swiftly swipes through recent items. With a press on an entry, a guild notice appears, detailing a request for volunteers at the Amaranth Valley Medical Center. Deedri bites her lip, struggling with a rush of emotions. "MAYBE... There IS a possible place."

Perking up, Modoran leans over and peeks at Deedri's aetherphone screen. "So, where would that be?"

With a wavering smirk, Deedri contemplates out loud, her long, fluffy tail wagging. "I could volunteer at the local clinic. The local guild office put out a request for volunteers to assist, since a lot of staff got brought in to Hattan."

Her furry, tufted ears droop, and she sighs. "But, it's only voluntarily. And, my public service requirement quota is very little right now."

A sly grin creeps across Modoran, and he chuckles with a mischievous tinge. "WELL... Does anyone else know those details?"

Pausing in thought, she glances over to Modoran and returns her attention to the phone display. A plotting smile creases her mouth, and she drums her claw tips upon the thick rubber case on her phone. "Um, no. But, how do I convince everyone to let me go work there for a few days?"

With a scheming aura, Modoran lifts an eyebrow at Deedri and cranes his head over, gazing at her face. "Not everyone. Just Chad. I mean, how generous and noble of HIM would it be for HIM to support a fellow party member in their profession? And, for HIM to facilitate the medical mage in providing assistance to the local community in their time of need? I mean, what a wonderful service for HIM and the Flames of the Phoenix to make possible. "

Deedri slowly turns her head and gazes upon Modoran's dark bluish gray face and his dark blue eyes. With a toothy grin, she gradually nods, wagging her long tail. "You know, I think I get where you are going... Could you help me practice saying the right thing, the right way to Chad? I want to see if I can convince him later tonight."

Modoran smiles brightly, winks at Deedri, leaning forward off the bed, and rests his drink bottle on the floor next to the bedpost. "Of course. But, I need to check my tablet in my room. It hung on an update, and I'm trying to see if it finally worked through it."

Deedri smiles excitedly, slides over to the other side of the bed, and unzips a large fabric case. "Thank you, so much! I'll start typing up the answer back to the guild, so it's all ready to go."

The bedroom door opens inwards and Modoran steps out, pulling the knob quietly behind him. Turning immediately towards his room, he moves quickly, near silently down the hallway. He slips swiftly through his door into his room and out of sight. Around the corner of the wall leading to the stairwell, a pair of pink pupil eyes glare harshly towards Modoran's room and shift towards Deedri's. Veevi's fuzzy ears lower, and she grits her sharp teeth. Tossing back her pink hair, she drags a faint groove into the wall with a sharp fingernail. Her eyes drift back towards Modoran's room, and a wicked smirk forms. She slinks down the hallway to her room.

----

Samantha stares out through the windshield of the Next Adventurers of Nexus crew van. Gritting her teeth in sheer irritation, she maintains a low, annoyed tone towards the person on the other side of the aetherphone call. "So... What you are telling me... IS... that we aren't allowed to step foot on even the SIDEWALK with camera equipment?"

A stern voice resounds through the earpiece’s speaker, and Gerald glances over from the driver's seat and watches the developing twinge in Samantha's face. With a long groan, Samantha sighs heavily, shakes her head in defeat, and rolls her hazel eyes. "NO. It's FINE. Yes, we understand. There's no need to contact the guild about this. You have a... Nice... Day..."

Firmly pressing the end call button on the display, she tosses the phone onto the front dash and runs her fingers through her brown hair with an aggravated growl. "GODS DAMMIT. We can't go in. In fact, if we EXIT our vehicles with camera equipment, they will file a HUGE complaint with the guild."

She plops her head against the headrest of the seat and glares out ahead. "So, we'll just have to record what we can from the vehicles."

Rolling down his window, Gerald nods understandingly, retrieves his camera from behind his driver's seat, and braces himself upon the door frame. "Okay. We'll get a few shots, and let the editing guys do their magic. I'm sure they'll be able to stitch something together with a few good clips."

Samantha sinks into the passenger's seat, twists a sneer, and picks up her clipboard. "It'll have to do. What the hell prompted her to do this? GODS, I can't stand the fact that we already can't put a camera in her room."

Shaking his head, Gerald aims his camera towards Chad and Deedri standing on the sidewalk a few meters ahead. "Again, as per our legal department, no recording devices where personal party medical information may be stored and/or reviewed by a medical professional. Howard has explicitly told me to follow that rule..."

A flit of memory contorts his face, and he sighs. "Especially after THAT last lawsuit."

Just to the side of the black sports utility vehicle, Chad stands on the sidewalk, in front of Deedri. Presenting his trademark bright, white smile, he spots the camera coverage nearby and clearly speaks. "Deedri, I hope you have a nice Wednesday at this fine clinic. Thank you again, for trusting your party leader and giving me a chance to support your esteemed profession. I trust your efforts will bring goodwill towards the Flames of the Phoenix."

Deedri dons a nervous smirk and bows slightly. "I'll try to do my best, Chad. For you, and the Flames of the Phoenix."

Chad gazes over Deedri's white doctor's coat, neat black scrubs, professional identification badge, and hair tightly braided behind her head. Moments later, he notices a few large, imposing clinic security staff approach the crew vans. Glancing over at the argument between crew and staff brew, he gazes at Deedri with a genuine smile and calm tone. "By the way, I just wanted to say you look amazingly proper and professional. If what you did in Hattan is any measure, this clinic should be delighted to have you. I would be surprised if they didn't request us to bring you back in the future."

Deedri's furry, tufted ears perk, and her eyes spring wide open with mild surprise. She smiles and graciously nods with her appreciation. "Thank you, Chad. That's very nice of you to say. I- Thank you."

Tilting her head towards the entrance, she takes a step away. "Well, I need to check in at the main desk."

Chad proudly stands tall and grants a nod to Deedri. "Of course."

Deedri walks a few meters away, turns around briefly, and gives a final wave. With a smirk, Chad returns the gesture and eyes the simmer confrontation between show crew and clinic security. From the confines of the front passenger's seat in the cab of the sports utility vehicle, Veevi leers through the windshield with hands supporting her head, seductively lifts an eyebrow, and gives a long sultry wink at Deedri. With renewed purpose, Deedri speeds quickly across the sidewalk and through the automated doors of the Amaranth Valley Medical Center. Passing through the entryway, she releases a long, slow sigh of relief, spots the front desk, and quickly approaches it. The man at the desk glances up and nods. "Welcome to the Amaranth Valley Medical Center. How may I help you?"

Deedri unclips her badge and presents it to the receptionist. "Yes. My name is Deedri Preetta. I'm a medical mage volunteering from the guild."

The man takes the badge, inspects it briefly, guides an edge of it through a scanner, and returns it to Deedri. "Oh, excellent! I'll inform the head doctor. Another guild medical mage started yesterday to work on her quota, too. I think she went to the bathroom, but she should be here soon."

The man picks up a phone and dials a number. Blinking in thought, Deedri contorts her face warily. A particular possibility arrives in her mind... And, presents herself in reality. Aristespha walks up to the front desk, notices the man on the phone, and shifts her attention to the fvalian woman next to her. Deedri and Aristespha turn towards each other. Exchanging awkward gazes, both remain silent in utter surprise for long, tense seconds. Aristespha musters the situational awareness and assembles some kind of greeting towards Deedri. "Oh. Well. I did not expect to see you here. I assume you are working on your quota, too."

Surprise still keeping her auburn eyes open wide, Deedri nods slowly. "Um... Yes. I thought it would be an appropriate time to assist this clinic."

Aristespha acknowledges the statement, searching uncertainly for an appropriate response. Pausing in thought, she draws a deep breath and gradually dons a professional, stoic demeanor. "As did I. It is good that we share a common interest. I do hope we both can benefit from each other's skills and experience during our time working together."

Witnessing the shift in Aristespha's demeanor, Deedri briefly cocks her head to the side. Moments later, her posture straightens, her expression calms, and Deedri meets Aristespha's stare. "I actually look forward to working in the same environment with you and hope we both can be of assistance to the other."

The man hangs up the phone, and notices both Aristespha and Deedri together. "Oh, good. You both are here. The head doctor is down this hallway in the diagnostics and general practice wing. She should be expecting you."

Aristespha and Deedri exchange glances, both nod to the receptionist, and move down the directed hallway together, rigid and uncomfortable.

----

Laying on the dark gray blanket on his bed, Modoran props up his tablet upon his chest with one hand and slowly maneuvers a dagger through the fingers of his other hand. An instructional video plays on the display with the audio just rising above the quiet of the bedroom. Modoran nods his head slightly on his pillow, quietly mumbling to himself in a dialect of evuukian. Pressing the on-screen pause button, he glances over to his knife twirling hand and meticulously works through the steps, paying careful attention to each motion. Step by step, he mimics the blade exercises from the video, and reenacts the maneuver cautiously a few times, speeding up each flurry of motion. Modding to himself satisfied, he taps the play button and studies the rest of the video.

Minutes later, a light knock on the door sounds out into the room. Modoran freezes briefly, blinks in confusion, and ponders a moment. Furrowing his brow, he mouths out his bewilderment in evuukian. He places his tablet on the pillow, rests his dagger on the bed, and slides off the top to his feet. Curiously approaching the bedroom door, he listens close for a moment and turns the knob. The door opens inwards, and the suggestively posed Veevi stands confidently just outside the door frame. She flutters her eyes, tosses back some of her pink hair, and firmly grips both sides of the doorway. "Hello... Modoran."

Modoran glances down at Veevi, quirks a bewildered eyebrow, and eyes towards either side of the hallway. "Hey... Veevi. Um, if you are looking for Chad, I have not seen him lately. He might be outside with Trakenthin, or maybe doing some personal interview with the crew?"

Grinning sharply, Veevi hoists a dark pink eyebrow at Modoran with a low giggle. "Oh... I'm not looking for him. I was actually looking for YOU. I wanted to see if we could do some... Training."

A smug smirk graces Modoran's face, and he snorts, hinting towards dismissive. "Well, if it is more stealth training. I am certain we could do some hide and seek, today. I will even give you all the head start you need to find a good spot before I find you."

With mischievous glint sparkling in Veevi's eyes, she suggestively pushes through Modoran into his room, softly raking her fingers across his tight shirt covered chest and dragging a coiling tail over his upper legs. Sauntering through the room, she surveys the average, modest contents, and locks her attention upon the blade on the bed. With a playful, sultry grace, she wanders over, seats herself near the knife, and glides herself upon the sheets to a revealing pose. She runs her fingers up the handle, slides a sharp nail along the blade, and lightly taps the point. With a devious, hungry gaze towards Modoran, she touches the tip of her finger to her lip, and exaggeratedly licks it. "While hide and seek has been... Fun. I was thinking something more... Personal. Physical, even."

A strong surge of unease and discomfort floods up through Modoran's body. Struggling, he suppresses a nervous twitch in his eye. "Uh, sure. I guess you want to learn more about knife fighting? I do have some spare training blades..."

A reserved smile pulls across Veevi's mouth, and she stretches herself out on the bed top with a playfully disappointed sigh. "I guess that would suffice... For now."

Spinning herself around, she slowly places her feet on the floor and gradually lifts herself up, presenting her figure in the most overt fashion. With each step towards the doorway, she sways her hips, hands firmly upon them. With an evil grin, she purposefully brushes against the utterly perplexed Modoran, slows her progress across his body, and drags her tail intrusively behind. In the hallway, she pivots with a suggestive wink to Modoran. "So... See you in an hour out in the backyard?"

Modoran rigidly nods once with a blank face and empty tone. "Sure... For the knife fighting training."

Veevi struts away, a plotting, sinister smirk growing upon her face with the distance between Modoran and her. Carefully closing the door securely, Modoran takes a few steps away and reflexively shudders. His body twists and flexes in a mix of disgust and horror, ending with him pressing the fingertips of both hands on his temples. He shakes his head and mumbles a strong expletive in evuukian repeatedly, dropping his hands dramatically. Vainly attempting to blink off the horrified stare, he subconsciously brushes off the intangible filth upon his shirt.

----

Bach plants his feet, steadies his stance, and aims the plasma pistol at a steel plate target in the distance. He waits for the wind blowing across the taller grasses on the side of the ranch style house to still. With a gentle squeeze of the trigger, the contacts within click, and the plasma bolt launches out the barrel. The orb of energized gas flies straight over the field and impacts the lower corner of the metal target, unleashing a concussive cloud. Bach sneers his upper lip, glances at the pistol, and holsters the weapon. Crossing his arms, he hums in thought and pivots in place towards Cideeda. "Okay... I'm lost now."

Furrowing his brow, he gazes down at Cideeda and frowns with his frustration. "I can't tell if the sights are off... OR, if I didn't get one of the accelerator stages aligned right."

Awaiting a response, he does not receive one. An amused smile grows on Bach, and he watches Cideeda quietly voice an incantation and methodically gesture through a simple spell. Joy fills her light brown face, and she watches a small bright orb remain steady for a number of seconds over the palm of her hand. Moments later, it dissipates gently into streaks of magical miasma upon the breeze. Cideeda gazes in pure delight at the energy drifting off. Her furry ear flicks over towards the idle quiet around Bach, and Cideeda glances over. Wrestling a bit embarrassment, she nonchalantly plays off her prior distracted moment. "Oh, um... Yes. It all, um, depends on how far off from the target you are."

Her emerald green eyes frantically search for more information, and she sighs with the failing facade. "So, how far off were you, again?"

Lifting an inquisitive eyebrow, Bach chuckles and shakes his head. "Still figuring it out?"

Cideeda rolls her eyes at herself, crosses her arms, and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I... I know I'll eventually get used to it all, and this will seem like boring, trivial things to do. But... right now..."

She smiles brightly and nearly hops in place. "I just find it SO AMAZING and COOL."

Bach catches Cideeda's contagious grin and laughs. "Don't worry. It actually never gets old. You just find new aspects to explore and try out. Sort of like Legends of Nexus."

Pausing in thought, Cideeda curiously eyes Bach with a wary gaze. "So... You mean you find some new army you want to try out of curiosity, take the time to learn the rules, and then spend a ridiculous amount of money to get everything you need to put it together? While you may never even get a chance to test it out on the field?"

Fighting a hesitant, agreeing nod, Bach sighs and shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to his sides. "Uh... Yeah, actually. But, I mean, it's still fun to explore it."

A giggle escapes Cideeda's smile, and she retrieves a practice focus from her shorts pocket. Holding it in her hand, a green glow gradually climbs up the encircling magical inscriptions on the wooden stick, and she narrows her stare. "Still so much more to go..."

Bach quirks his brow, and a sly smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth. Pointing to the practice focus, he summons up a persuasive tone and idly taps upon his holstered plasma pistol. "You know, there's a number of other effects that can be imbued in those wands and focuses... I could easily alter that focus with one."

Cideeda's furry ears perk at the change in Bach's cadence, and her eyebrow arches over her focused emerald green eyes. "Really? Could you give me an example?"

Bach extends his hand out towards the distant steel plate target. A small few millimeter wide pellet of magical energy condenses at the tip of his pointed finger. With a brief flicker of blue in Bach's eyes, the tiny orb flies off at the hanging metal, impacts with a soft steely ring, and puffs into a faint magical miasma. Cideeda slides her focus away from the pellet and settles up Bach. Presenting a calculating smile, she briefly glances at the holstered plasma pistol. "I think I MAY be interested in that."

She flicks her stare up at Bach and narrows her attention. "BUT... At what cost?"

With an exaggerated sigh, Bach hums in faux contemplation and gestures towards his plasma pistol. "Oh, just a small price, really. Let's say, just a friendly shortcut to diagnosing the problems I'm having with this."

Cideeda dramatically acts out her playful deliberation via exaggerated body language, nods carefully, and hands the magical focus to Bach. "I believe I can accept those terms."

Bach takes hold of the wooden stick and waits, both Bach and Cideeda gripping the magical focus. Wagging her long, fluffy tail, Cideeda perks up her furry ears and grins mischievously. "You've been counteracting your adjustments between the sights and the last accelerator stage. You should have gotten a laser bore sight to check the weapon sights..."

She holds up a claw tipped finger to Bach. "THEN, you should calibrate the accelerator stages."

Cideeda lets go of the magical focus, places her hands on her hips, and grins toothily at Bach with an amused pose. "I was actually curious how long you'd go back and forth, before you'd ask me for help."

Shaking his head, Bach grumbles to himself and sighs out his embarrassment. "Gods dammit. Of course, it'd be something that simple. Oh well...

He nods appreciatively to Cideeda. "Thank you."

After a loud snort, Cideeda laughs, combs her claws through her short mix of brown, white, tan, orange, and black hair, and flicks her long, fluffy, tufted tail. "Oh, don't feel too bad. I'm very impressed you got the rest of the stages aligned correctly so quickly."

Rolling his eyes at himself, Bach directs his gaze at the magical focus in his hands, a blue glow illuminating his face. "Okay. I won't feel too terrible about it then."

Cideeda steps closer and attentively watches magical flows twist, turn, and warp around the wooden stick in Bach's hands. Wonderment captures her completely, and she stands fidgeting in anticipation. Minutes later, the magical flows settle and the wooden focus rests down in Bach's open palm. He presents the artifact to Cideeda with a proud grin, elaborate wave, and an embellishing voice. "Behold, your first specialty wand. It's a finely crafted Wand of Really Minor Mage Bolt!"

Maintaining a tight smile in face of the corny, goofy display, she shakes her head and grasps onto the newly minted wand. "As if it wasn't obvious that you've played quite a few late nights at the tabletop."

Bach relaxes his shoulders, chuckles at himself, and smirks. "I know. Just couldn't resist the opportunity."

Scanning around the area, he squints towards the front of the house. "Hey, do we still have any cans or bottles in the recycling bin? The metal plates aren't bad targets, but there's just something about plinking cans and bottles that make this spell A LOT more fun to use."

Cideeda turns herself towards the front of the building and walks casually in that direction. "We should. It seems like the county collects the bins whenever they feel like it. I swear we need to call the landlord and ask what the deal is with that."

Bach follows behind Cideeda and surveys the tall grasses, pushing a path through the long blades. "By the way, are we responsible for the lawn care or does the landlord do that?"

Stopping in place, Cideeda examines the overgrown lawn, scratches the back of her head, and uncertainly grimaces. "I, actually, don't know."

With a thoughtful hum, she directs a plotting voice at Bach. "I think I might have to check to see if any of the people at Steve's shop have a lawn mower and want to make some money."

A sly smile emerges on Bach, and he eyes Cideeda. "Make sure to ask the Legends of Nexus players."

Cideeda shines a toothy grin up at Bach and chuckles darkly. "OH, those are THE first ones I'm going to ask. Miniatures, paints, and rule books don't buy themselves."

-42-

Long rows of back to back benches stretch across the floor space of a clinic waiting area. Desk staff busily guide people through the forms and advise on the many signature requirements. An older woman in neat, professional attire inspects a couple of clipboards upon a desk, each with a metal clip binding together paperwork. Deedri promptly steps up next to the older woman, presents a proper stance, and dutifully hands over a clipboard. "Dr. Blackwell, it was as you advised. Though, it was a particularly advanced sinus infection. Hence, I felt he would be best served with a magical evacuation of sinus build up."

Fighting down a reflexive wince pushing towards cringe, she maintains her proper exterior. "It was... Substantial. But, he was VERY relieved. I prescribed some low-grade antibiotics and recommended some over the counter nasal sprays."

Taking the clipboard from Deedri, Dr. Blackwell flips through the standard forms, scans the detailed notes upon each page, and pauses upon a specific section, her eyes slightly widening. "OH. That IS a substantial amount. I am a little surprised his sinuses could contain that much."

Deedri awkwardly smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "It was, also, quite colorful, too."

The stoic head doctor cracks an amused smirk and sighs with a shake of her head. Casting her gaze over the nearby clipboards, she hovers a hand over the collection and rests it down upon one particular stack of paperwork. She lifts up the wooden back of the board and presents it to Deedri with a slight smile. "I believe you'll enjoy this one, especially after reading up on your medical school publications. I believe it aligns with your expressed interests."

With a curious tilt of the head, Deedri grasps onto the clipboard, lowers her attention to the paperwork, and her auburn eyes light up. With her furry, tuft ears perking up, she smiles graciously and nods with a slight bow to Dr. Blackwell. "Thank you, Dr. Blackwell."

Dr. Blackwell returns the nod and points Deedri towards a room door in the distance. Deedri leaves promptly, and Dr. Blackwell focuses upon the files on the desk before her. Under a minute later, Aristespha steps up with a clipboard in hand, attempts to neaten up her appearance with a free hand, and straightens up her posture. "Dr. Blackwell. It turns out the patient had a rash... extensively on and around the perineum. I performed some basic magical treatments to alleviate the more prominent symptoms and discomfort. Then, I prescribed a broad spectrum topical ointment from the pharmacy to address a few likely causes, until lab work is done to confirm a specific source."

A well-hidden sinister smirk creeps upon Dr. Blackwell face out of view of Aristespha. Promptly picking up a case file, she swiftly pivots, calmly faces Aristespha, and exchanges clipboards with her. "Excellent. Here is your next assignment. It seems to be a common theme today."

Nodding respectfully against her trepidation, Aristespha scans over the first few pages of paperwork. The corners of her mouth contort slightly towards a grimace, her violet eyes reading the detailed notes of the patient's prior medical history. Down a long hallway of doors on either side with medical professionals and patients moving along, Deedri stands outside the examination room door, takes a long breath in, and turns the handle. Stepping through the open doorway, she quickly scans the space inside. A tall, strong man with short dirty blonde hair turns in place and faces Deedri respectfully, with a hint of recognition. An evuukian woman with long golden brown hair and golden highlights upon her cheeks stands up from wiping the face of a four year old boy with dirty blonde hair and golden highlights on his cheeks. With a happy tone, Deedri politely greets everyone. "Hello, I'm Mage Preeta."

The man reaches out a hand and smiles. "Nice to meet you, doctor. I'm Mason Anderson."

Deedri shakes his hand, expressing a bit of embarrassment with a bright smile. "Oh, I am very flattered, but it's only mage. Doctor is a few more years of schooling that I need before I can use that title."

Rolling her auburn eyes at the topic, she sighs lightly and muses humored. "Quite a few doctors get a little particular about that title sometimes."

Mason laughs, shrugs awkwardly, and snorts. "Ah, sorry. Certainly showed my lack of upbringing there. I'll keep that in mind. But, is doc okay?"

Deedri nods quickly with a laugh and turns, facing the evuukian woman. "Of course."

The evuukian woman perks an amused eyebrow at Mason, giggles to herself, and accepts the handshake offered by Deedri. "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Mage Preeta. My name is Lalyanpha, and..."

She glances over at the ever distracted child, resting a guiding hand on his shoulder. "This is Mylo."

Focusing her attention upon Mylo, Deedri waves her hand towards him with a delighted smile. "Hello, Mylo."

Mylo glances up from playing with the toy wand in his hands, noticing Deedri, and blankly blinks his brown, orange hinted eyes. Sitting upon the examination table, he happily returns the wave. "Hello. My name is Mylo. What's yours?"

Deedri flicks her furry, tufted ears forward and grins back at him. "I'm Mage Preeta, but my first name is Deedri."

Accepting the answer happily, Mylo returns his attention towards the toy wand. Lalyanpha sighs with a shake of her head, and Mason shrugs nonchalantly. With a reassuring smirk, Deedri gazes between Mason and Lalyanpha. "So far, seems like normal four year old behavior."

She swiftly eyes the clipboard in hand and searches for a confirmation. "You are here for his yearly checkup and immunizations, if I'm correct."

Lalyanpha nods and points to her eyes with a bit of concern forming up her face. "Yes, but we wanted to check on his eyes, too. He seems to see just fine, but a new orange coloration is showing through."

Furrowing her brow to ponder, Deedri glances over to Mylo briefly and returns her attention back to the parents. "And, you've noticed this recently?"

Both Mason and Lalyanpha nod in unison. Stepping over to an adjustable stool next to the examination table, Deedri sets the height and takes a seat in front of Mylo. She thinks a moment, smirks thoughtfully, and lifts a finger up. With her eyes flickering to a glowing auburn, a rainbow point of color forms on the claw tip, and she directs a playful tone to the child. "Mylo, look!"

Lifting his head up, Mylo searches around briefly and locks his full focus upon the tiny rainbow orb of color upon Deedri's finger tip. He gawks at the colorful display, and Deedri guides the illusion around and leads Mylo's eyes around. During opportune moments, she leans in quickly and squints at Mylo's face with a meticulous stare. Carefully backing away, she swings the colorful glow to another position. She finishes up the examination, the rainbow upon Deedri's finger tip fades, and Mylo excitedly gazes wide eyed at Deedri. "How did you do that!?"

Smiling with a slight laugh, Deedri pantomimes the gestures for a fake spell. "Oh, it's just a simple illusion spell."

She tilts her head to the side and points to Mylo's hand. "I see you have a wand. Can you do magic?"

Mylo immediately nods, fumbles briefly with the wand, and energetically waves around randomly. Colorful fading streams trail out behind the toy's path through the air. Deedri momentarily eyes the wand, familiarity itching her cheek, and glances over to Mason and Lalyanpha. "Well, I would recommend seeing a specialist in genealogy genetics for a proper confirmation, but I believe the coloration is just a different expression of his evuukian traits."

She quirks a quizzical eyebrow at Lalyanpha. "If I may ask, is there anyone in your family with orange eyes?"

Lalyanpha blinks in thought and nods, a reserved smile holding back a spark of joy. "Yes. Yes, there is. My father."

Placing his arm around Lalyanpha, Mason gently pats her shoulder and sighs, playfully rolling his brown eyes. "You do know if you tell him this, he's just going to find a reason to come down again to see it for himself."

With a sly grin and nudging lean into Mason, Lalyanpha chuckles to herself. "Oh dear. My father and mother will come down yet again and spend the weekend capturing our child's complete and utter attention. How ever shall we survive the peaceful moments together we rarely experience these days?"

Momentarily staring out distantly, Mason's brow contorts in thought, and he slowly nods to a swift acceptance. "Well... So, whenever you want to tell him, go right ahead. I'm certain we'll survive another visit."

Pondering a moment, Lalyanpha furrows her brow and directs a question towards Deedri. "Could this color change have anything to do with magic use? Last visit my father was very excited with getting him started on a lot of my old magic focuses. I did not know if that could have been a trigger."

Deedri sways her head slightly from shoulder to shoulder indecisively and sighs with a tug to the corner of her mouth. "That would be very hard to determine at this point. Now, it could be a possibility if there was a family history of a similar magically reactive biological trait. But, he's a bit young to be able to flow enough magical energy to trigger most known traits that react to magic use."

Drawing in the air with his toy wand, Mylo plays with the color vapor trails. Moving around a few times, Deedri glances at Mylo during the brief convenient moments, furthering her study. Mylo stops waving the wand around, and his stare settles upon Deedri's furry, tufted ears. "Why are your ears furry?"

Smiles at Mylo, Deedri guides her fingers along her long, furry ear to the end tuft, and pulls the ear lower. "Oh, it's because I'm a fvalian. We have furry ears, claws, and a tail."

Blatantly furrowing his brow, the little boy thinks and curiously gazes at Deedri. "Will I have a tail when I'm big?"

Slowly shaking her head amused, Deedri chuckles lightly with a smile. "No. Probably not. You will probably have long ears and skin colors like your mother. And, you will probably be as tall as your father. Maybe even taller."

Mylo cocks his head to the side, his eyes piecing together his next sentence, and a bit of excitement hops up onto his face. "Will I grow horns like Nass?"

Blinking in confusion, Deedri furrows her brow briefly, searching for more information, and glances over to both Mason and Lalyanpha. "Who is... Nass?"

With Mason trying to match the name, Lalyanpha perks up and answers readily. "Oh, that's Mylo's friend from the park we visit. She is a little emin girl."

Shaking her head politely, Deedri presents a small smile to Mylo. "No. Probably no horns. Those usually show up early, and I don't see any signs."

Mylo frowns downward with the revelation and pouts within his disappointment. With a faint giggle, Deedri grins and cranes her gaze at Mylo. "Well, Mylo, horns aren't always good. My friend, Tass, has them. As much as she really likes them, she has trouble with them sometimes."

The little boy gazes up curiously at Deedri and blinks puzzled. "Really?"

Deedri softly chuckles, sets up the table nearby with basic medical diagnostic instruments. "Oh, yes! One time she didn't get much sleep one night, and she walked around most of the morning with part of a pillow stuck on her horn."

Mylo's brown, orange speckled eyes widen in amazement. "She didn't know?"

Shaking her head, Deedri rolls her eyes and prepares her stethoscope. "No. I had to tell her."

Continuing the examination, she amuses both child and parents with her stories of getting tails caught in doors, absentmindedly clawing up furniture, and insects flying into ears.

----

Standing with his arms crossed, Bach levels a very unsure and uneasy grimace at Sotalia. Under the shade of the large tree near the side of the ranch style house, Sotalia lifts a prominent eyebrow with an eager grin and rests her hands on her hips. "Well, today, I think it's time for another session of flight training."

Apprehension pulses through Bach, and he forces the sarcasm through an awkward smirk. "Right... Does this training involve a harness, a floating disc, and swinging me into treetops?"

He tenses the wrap of his arms around himself and winces with memory. "Because, I'm not exactly convinced THAT taught me anything... Well... Apart from experiencing which trees had the nicest leaves to crash through... And how many firs and cedars are around."

Gritting her teeth into an awkward wince, Sotalia averts her golden eyes momentarily, a wave of embarrassment passing through her posture. She recovers her confidence, carefully eyes Bach with a prying smile, and cocks her head inquisitively to the side. "OKAY. Yes, THAT was a bit over ambitious. But... Your attitude towards flying has changed from what I heard from your brother. Are you afraid of flying now? Because, it didn't sound like you used to be."

Bach twists his mouth, cringes out his unease, and releases a long sigh, slumping his shoulders. "I mean, it's not the whole flying thing... It's, well, the whole falling from great heights that's become the bigger issue."

With a sway of the hips, Sotalia shifts her weight from one leg to another, and blinks at Bach in honest thought, visibly puzzling. "Okay?"

Releasing his arms to his sides, Bach shrugs and sneers his upper lip lightly . "Well... Before, if the main flight spell failed for whatever reason, I HAD, at least, three other spells I could direct cast in moments to keep me from falling to my death. Now..."

With sharp exhales, he sags his posture and shakes his head in defeat. "I don't have any."

He draws in a long breath, rolls his blue eyes at himself, and fidgets his nerves out through his idle hands. "Now, it takes A LOT of concentration and care to even get liftoff. And, just a split second interruption is enough to get me falling too quickly to stop... nicely, at least."

Sotalia's analyzing stare upon Bach softens to a genuinely concerned gaze. Piecing together the options in her mind between side to side rocks of her head, an empathetic frown appears on her light tan, gray edged face. Nodding her head of dark red hair, she steps forward and stands directly in front of Bach, presenting an honest smile towards him. "Okay. Well, first, I truly apologize for the previous approach. Second, I've gotten so used to having the same options for not falling, that I kind of forgot what it's like not to have them."

Chuckling, Bach rolls his eyes at himself. "Hey, it's cool. I mean, I kind of forgot, too, until I couldn't use all my old spells. So... Puts it all into perspective."

A warm grin graces Sotalia, and she clears the stray dark red hairs in her eyes over her horns. "So, I think we need to try a different approach. Don't worry, it's FAR less intense and more controlled."

She speedily speaks incantations and quickly motions a stream of gestures with her hands. Bach watches carefully and suspiciously eyes her. "Standard hover spell?"

Extending both her dual toned forearms out at waist level, Sotalia flips up her palms with a graceful flair and lifts her eyebrow at Bach with a smile. "Yes. Hover is much more tolerant to additional weight and has all the extra stabilization measures."

Glancing down at Sotalia's arms, he returns his uncertain gaze back to her. Sotalia flexes her fingers and reaches forward towards Bach's arms. "Oh, come on! Hold onto my arms, and I'll support underneath yours. It's what my sisters and I used to do all the time when practicing."

Bach nods slowly and moves his arms up. Grasping lightly around Sotalia's elbows, he rests his arms onto her awaiting palms. "Okay, I'll give it a try. Something slow and easy. Yeah, I think I can get behind that."

Moments of Bach standing later, Sotalia's hands playfully squeeze Bach's forearms, and she patiently awaits with a grin. "Whenever you're ready, flyboy. Whatever height and speed you feel like."

Bach stares at his feet, and a blue glow shines in his eyes. Seconds later, the grass surrounding gently waves along with a silent breeze, radiating outwards from Bach. Stray hairs upon Bach's head lift up into an invisible upwards current. Sotalia watches attentively, carefully examines the phenomena around her, fidgets within the magical flows stirring. Her focus returns to Bach, feeling the weight upon her arms briefly lessen. Bach's head and shoulders gradually shift up along with his upper body. The heels of his boots part from the surface of the ground. And, his whole body floats slowly up, hovering centimeters clear over the dirt. Sotalia pushes off the grass and immediately matches Bach's height, her hands firmly supporting his shaky balance. Seconds of sustained flight later, she glances down below at the ground and hoists a puzzled brow towards Bach. "You know you can go higher if you want. I still have plenty of flight time left, and you aren't shaking around too badly."

Flashing a grimace, Bach focuses his full attention purely upon the distance between his feet and the ground. "Uh... Yeah... I'm okay. This is a pretty good height... for now... I can keep this right here."

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia shakes her head and pierces an incredulous stare into Bach. She furrows her brow in thought, cracks a hint of a smirk, and nods with a genuine smile. "Okay. Here's an idea to try. Have you tried closing your eyes, and not focusing so much on what's exactly below you?"

The blatant hesitation spills over into Bach's tone, and he barely lifts his head in response. "Uh... Well, maybe I tried in the past. I don't know. After the first few flops... upon the hard ground... I never really tried much else. Stuck with what worked, you know?"

Squeezing her long black nails into the thick of Bach's forearms, Sotalia meets his perplexed gaze with a firm stare. "Let's try it."

Bach eyes drift downwards, mulling over the concept. Sotalia pops an assertive hiss. "Stop. Looking. Down."

Bach snaps his head up and notices Sotalia's reassuring smile. "Yeah... Okay."

Tilting her head to the side, she gazes humoring at Bach. "It'll be fine. You close your eyes and focus. I'll keep you from drifting or tilting."

A mischievous grin parts her mouth, and her hands tightly grip onto Bach's arms. "And, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

She winks with a sly smile. "You still know too many spells that I don't."

Narrowing his partly amused gaze at Sotalia, Bach chuckles lightly and closes his eyes with an accepting sigh. He straightens his posture, resettles his balance with Sotalia's support, and calms himself. Seconds pass, and Bach steadies himself gradually, relying less upon Sotalia buffering his corrections. Sotalia flexes her fingers out, opening her hands, and briefly drops her palms slightly away from the underside of Bach's forearms, observing his stability. She replaces her hands underneath Bach's arms and waits. "SEE. You're doing really good. Now, try going up."

Drawing a slow breath in, Bach nods reserved and tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Alright. But, not too high."

Sotalia bites her lip and contorts a guilty grin. "Of course."

With a careful, gradual pace, the distance between the toes of Bach's shoes and the ground increases. Keeping a steady hold of Bach's arms, Sotalia rises up in sync and provides a stable platform to buffer the occasional corrections of balance. She glances around at the nearing branches overhead and the opening between the leaves that both her and Bach float into. Over two meters up with the green canopy surrounding them, Bach's progress fades to a halt, and Sotalia levels off in sync. Bach breathes in slowly and exhales carefully with an awkward smile. "So... I can't really judge right now with focusing on everything, but... We're not too high, right? Maybe a meter?"

Amusement fills Sotalia's grin, and she glances down and stifles a giggle. "Oh. At least."

Bach's head cocks to the side, his mouth twists, and he opens his glowing blue eyes. Studying Sotalia's brightly smiling face, he recognizes the branches and leaves surrounding him, much closer than before. His illuminated blue eyes widen, and he begins to tilt his head down. Sotalia pops a firm, assertive hiss and commands. "Do not. Look. Down. You are doing just fine."

Sotalia's arms shudder from the shakes in Bach's balance, and she glances down at Bach's grip around her elbows tightening. With a calming and confident tone, she firmly grips Bach's arms. "Hey, look at me. I've still got you. Don't worry."

After a few unsteady moments, Bach regains stability, keeping his tense gaze upon Sotalia. "O-O-okay. Y-Yeah, I'm trying to not think about it. But..."

He struggles with the reflexive downwards trend of his glances, and winces back his concentration. "It's, uh, a bit hard to not think about the situation and how high I- Uh... Ah... You mentioned your sisters?"

With a reassuring smile Sotalia nods, and she humors Bach with a comforting tone. "Yes, I've got two of them. One younger, and one older. I'm the middle child. The younger is Talelia, and the older one is Maelvia. Two years difference either way."

Bach nods, swallows down some of his nerves, and thinks for a moment. "Are they mages like you?"

Laughing, Sotalia shakes her head of dark red, shoulder length hair, and sighs softly. "Not exactly. Both picked up magic, but didn't do the whole adventuring thing. Maelvia is a research mage at a magical materials company. Talelia did the medical route and became an alchemical pharmacist."

Bach thinks for a moment and smirks impressed. "Wow. Not a bad choice there."

Sotalia shrugs her shoulders and chuckles to herself. "Yeah, I know. You should see her and her husband's house and their massive pool."

With a tense exhale, Bach searches his mind further, avoiding the urge to focus downwards. "So, um, your nieces and nephews?"

Sotalia's attention turns inwards and a genuine, warm smile graces her face. "Dellena, Taetala, and Merrick are Maelvia's. Then, there's Kalant and Sontaila, and a boy on the way for Talelia."

Pausing in thought, she gazes right at Bach's face and grins appreciatively. "By the way, they all LOVED the wands. Including my sisters. So, thank you very much for making them."

Bach's averts face away momentarily to work out the humble shyness and nervously laughs. "Ah, not a problem. I'm glad they liked them."

Sotalia's muscles tense with the more weight briefly resting upon her arms. Bach straightens his posture and continues uneasily surveying the tree tops. Sotalia quirks a brow. "Speaking of which, Kalant was curious if you could make a wand that shot projectiles."

Hoisting a suspicious eyebrow up, Bach aims a reserved stare at Sotalia. "Yes... But, well, how old is he?"

Sighing with a tinge of frustration, Sotalia shakes her head dismissively. "Seven. Gods, I keep telling him he's just too young for anything powerful."

Bach twists his mouth in contemplation and grumbles uncertainly. "Yeah, I have to agree. But, there might be something I could make. I'd need to test it..."

He furrows his brow and grimaces briefly. "Really don't want to be the one responsible for him shooting his eye out."

Sotalia nods in complete agreement, rolls her golden eyes, and grumbles. "Gods, I'd never hear the end of it from my sisters if it did happen. I have to screen everything I send them so much as it is."

Observing Bach's wavering balance, Sotalia buffers shaky weight upon her arms and grins slyly, watching him fail at playing off the fit. With a light chuckle, she pats the underside of Bach's arm with her hand. "You ready to land?"

Bach pauses a moment, his mid-air stance shuddering, grits his teeth sheepishly, and nods in resignation. "YES. I'm about at my limit."

Smiling honestly, Sotalia gradually floats down and steadies Bach's descent. Bach's full weight presses into the soil below, and he stands rigidly with a slight wobble. Glancing down at the ground, he lets go of Sotalia and eases himself down to a seat upon the grass. Sitting down nearby, Sotalia reaches over into a belt of pouches in a nearby equipment bag and plucks out two small vials. She offers one to Bach and rolls her eyes at herself. "AND, before you ask, I made sure the cherry flavoring was CORRECT this time."

----

Veevi lifts up the training dagger in hand at the wooden post. Nearby in the backyard of the two-story house, Modoran stands off to the side, staring idly down at his aetherphone. He flips through a few evuukian news articles and flashy ads between summary texts, and briefly watches Veevi clumsily strike at the training target. With sloppy form and awkward style, Veevi slams the blunted dagger upon the post, her hand bouncing back from the force reflecting back. She growls, grumbles, and feels her wrist. Seconds later, she guides the loose pink hairs back over her fuzzy, upright ears and trains mischievous her stare upon Modoran. With a sway in her step, she approaches Modoran, a devious grin shining. "I'm sure that this is important training and all... That was... FUN... Yesterday."

Slowly lifting her finger close to her mouth, she bites playfully upon the sharp nail and arches a suggestive eyebrow with a flirty squirm down her posture. "I think I might learn much, MUCH more if our exercises were more..."

She tips her head down slightly. "One ON one."

Blinking in the momentary bewilderment, Modoran lifts his head up from his phone, glances over towards Veevi, and observes the sultry pace of Veevi. Hooking the tip of her training dagger upon the collar of her tight-fitting shirt, Veevi stretches the opening and reveals the plentiful surface area of her tan, brown striped chest. Modoran's dark blue eyes widen in surprise, and he quickly scans the vicinity, worried thought wrestling against his confident pose. Moments with Veevi in immediate proximity later, he flashes a sly grin, slowly nods, and puts away his phone. "Ah. I think I may have an idea of what you want."

A spark of interest flickers up into Veevi's pink pupil eyes, and she places her hands upon her hips with a sway and wag of her tail. "OH. Really?"

Taking a step back, Modoran rolls his shoulders into a long stretch and smirks cunningly, drawing his training blade. "A simple exercise. Try to touch the blade upon my body. If you are successful, you choose how we do... training."

A sinister grin pulls across Veevi's tan face, and she narrows a determined stare upon Modoran. "DEAL."

She sloppily lunges out of the gate with the blunted dagger first and stumbles off to the side on the ground, Modoran parrying the attack. Deftly hopping away, Modoran maintains a relaxed, flexible stance and meticulously examines every motion from Veevi. He stands a few meters away, smiles nonchalantly, and taunts for her next attack. "Well, good effort."

Picking herself off the ground, Veevi snaps her head towards Modoran and grits her teeth, snarling her upper lip. Her eyes widen in a mix of shock and ire, witnessing Modoran casually check his phone. She swiftly scrambles back up to her feet, places her training blade forward, and charges. Spotting the last second feint from Veevi attack, Modoran deflects her dagger and forces her momentum into a tumbling spin upon the backyard grass. He mumbles to himself, flexes his fingers, and steps away from Veevi, closer to the two-story house. Furiously blowing the stray pink bangs out of her eyes, Veevi digs her sharp nailed fingers into the dirt and watches Modoran calmly wandering towards the corner of the back lot. Whistling loudly, he plays with the phone and keeps his dagger loosely in fingers at his side. Veevi slowly stands back up, baring her teeth, and slowly approaches Modoran. She walks patiently towards Modoran and locks her full attention upon him. Off to the side of the confrontation, fresh footprints form in the grass, leading towards the house's sliding glass door. Veevi closes the distance, and her pink eyes spring wide open the moment Modoran turns his back completely towards her. Her boots dig into the earth, and she sprints off. The few meter gap shrinks in seconds, and she swipes out her blade to his exposed back. "GOT YOU-"

The blunted dagger contacts Modoran's back. A triumphant grin ignites upon Veevi's face. It quickly dissipates along with the visage of Modoran. Passing right through cloudy imagery, Veevi blinks in shock, the magical miasma puffing out into the passing wind. She flops upon the grass, blinking in utter bewilderment, and flicks her fuzzy ears towards the sound of the sliding glass door closing. Springing up off the ground, she sprints over to the door and tugs the handle with all her weight. It remains closed. Well within the confines of the house, Modoran hums a smug tune to himself, climbs up the stairs, and listens to the shrill screams of a very angry half-fvalian.

----

In a small medical diagnosis room, Aristespha stands back up straight. Carefully pulling off thin polymer gloves, she presses her foot upon a pedal on the medical waste bin lid and deposits the gloves. "You may redress yourself and take a seat. That is all the examination I need to perform."

A young man dressed in the latest fashionable fads and brands pulls up his pants, zips back up, and sits down upon the examination table with an expectant stare upon Aristespha. "So, uh, doc, is there something you can do? I mean, he's, uh, been down and out all week. And, THAT has NEVER happened to me... EVER..."

Picking up a clipboard thick with medical paperwork, Aristespha retrieves a pen from her coat's front pocket and clicks the tip out with a stoic gaze towards the forms. She carefully writes upon the page, glances over to the young man, and maintains a stern, professional stare. "Mr. Henderson, I have good news and bad news for you. Which would you like to hear first?"

Henderson blinks blankly and gradually opens his mouth with a slow, uncertain twist of his head. "Uhh... Sure, how about the good news?"

With a perk of a scrutinizing eyebrow, Aristespha calmly lays out the situation with proper, explanatory cadence. "Despite your gross misuse of a medical alchemical compound which is typically used to stimulate localized blood flow, that you acquired through less than official means, that can have SEVERE and DANGEROUS side effects... You are only suffering the minor, temporary issues of said misuse. Thankfully for you, since there's no signs of discoloration, swelling, redness, loss of sensation, nor necrosis..."

She presents a smug smirk and faintly amused face to Henderson. With a quiet sigh, she brightens her tone slightly. "The good news is you get to keep it. Sexual function of your penis should return in another week as your body stops overreacting to the residual effects of that specific drug."

A wave of relief radiates through Henderson, and he unleashes the tension in a long exhale, relaxing his shoulders. A moment later, his eyes open wide, and he jerks his head up with a thought smacking into the front of his mind. "Oh shit... A week?!"

He gazes pleadingly towards, furrowing his brow with a fresh wave of desperation and worry. "Uh, um, Doc? Is there anything you can give me to help me out until next week? I got a date in two days..."

Tilting his head to the side, he telegraphs with a shrug. "And well... I want to be READY and ABLE."

Aristespha narrows an unamused glare through Henderson and chills her tone. "SO, you are asking me to prescribe a drug to potentially misuse... to remedy a situation you put yourself into by misusing a drug?"

The young man's eyes search his mind, and he pieces together the logic into his embarrassed conclusion. "Oh... Yeah... Sorry..."

Twisting her mouth with an incredulous hint, Aristespha rolls her violet eyes with a shake of her head. She smiles calmly at Henderson with a supportive tint in her voice. "Admittedly, this is not medical advice but a mere dating suggestion. Why not just have a night out doing the things your partner wants to do? Nice and relaxing. And, will certainly earn you some favor."

Henderson nods at the thought and idly scratches the hair of his goatee. "Yeah. Huh. Well, Robin did mention wanting to go downtown and the park marketplace."

Mulling over the forming plan, he agrees with himself. A spark of memory reminds him, and he glances up to Aristespha. "Yeah, uh, wait, you mentioned some bad news. So... What's the bad news?"

Donning an amused grin, Aristespha shrugs, a tint of smugness sneaking out. "Oh. The bad news is whoever sold you that alchemical compound ripped you off COMPLETELY. If it was as pure as he advertised to you, you would be in the hospital operating wing deciding between prosthetic or regenerative replacement options."

Henderson's jaw drops in bewildered terror tempered by gracious acceptance of the strange luck.

----

Sitting at the table in the dining area next to the kitchen, Tassilda drones on technical about the detailed basics of magic energies and flow. She averts a lecturing gaze away from her single student, Veevi, and turns in her seat, searching a bag for another tome for the menacing pile in the middle of the table. Narrowing her eyes with a sinister smirk, Veevi quietly mouths out a simple stream of incantations and slowly gestures out a series of rough motions with her hands. She winces in concentration, points her finger at Tassilda, and cracks a mean smile. A plume of pink mist smokes out from her finger, gathers into a tiny cloud, and drifts in near Tassilda's head. The vapor looms and holds its position, within the blind spot. Tassilda finds the desired book and resettles herself into the seat, her head swinging right into the awaiting trap. The magical miasma deposits a bright pink hue onto her gray, patterned skin and black hair, brilliantly contrasting the motif. Veevi grins brightly and stiffens her posture pseudo studiously against the slips of amusement. Dropping the new tome in front of Veevi, Tassilda collects herself and dryly lectures. "This particular book with go over the proper, proven methods of refining your control of magical flow and practical practice spells to aid your understanding of casting."

She pauses her explanation and notices the lack of overwhelming boredom radiating from Veevi. Continuing to examine the strangely attentive gaze from Veevi, her cheek twitches, and her face contorts against a growing itch. The seconds pass, Tassilda cocks her head to the side and glares suspiciously. Veevi keeps her strained attempt at innocence upon her face. With heavy footsteps, Trakenthin enters into the room through the archway and starts towards the refrigerator. Glancing up from a book in his hands, he spots Veevi and nods towards Tassilda. With a brief slide of his hazel eyes, he abruptly halts his momentum and squints confused. Tassilda traces Trakenthin's stare upon her and contorts a wary, confused gaze back at him. "What ever are you looking at?"

Blinking dumbfounded, Trakenthin lifts his hand up and motions towards the side of his face. "Pink?"

Pausing in thought, her light blue on black eyes widen in surprise, and her hand yanks out her aetherphone, tapping through many screens in one motion. She holds the device up, squints at the screen, and grits her teeth in a surge of anger, the front camera mirroring her face on the display. Spouting out a series of ireful phrases in a very aggravated emin dialect, she slams her hands on the table and stands up with a furious glare at Veevi. "Where the fuck did you learn of THAT spell!? There's NO WAY you would have the knowledge to have found it on your own!"

Veevi cackles out ill-humored laughter and lounges back in her chair at the table, admiring the result before her. Tassilda quickly gestures and growls out incantations. Aiming the palm of her hand at the pink covered side of her head, she flexes her long nailed fingers out and releases a transparent wave of magical energy. The flow washes over her head and neutralizes the magical pigmentation into faint wisps of miasma, fading away in the surrounding air. Shining forth a contemptuous smile, Veevi narrows her pink eyes at Tassilda. "Well, OF COURSE, I couldn't have found them on my own. I had to seek the help of a proper, proficient mage. One with demonstrable ability. One that DOESN'T need material components to do a fireball."

With a furious light in light blue on black eyes, Tassilda glares down at Veevi, sneers incredulously, and glances out the back sliding glass window towards a distant ranch-style house. She tenses her hands repeatedly, popping a knuckle with each flex, and grits her teeth.

----

The doorknob of the bedroom door turns, and the door slowly opens, revealing a very exhausted Aristespha. Dretphi's voice bounces down the hallway. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

Aristespha glances over her shoulder and calls back. "Thank you."

She closes the door and approaches the bed, each step weighing heavier. Her shoulders slouch, head sways in long rolling stretches, and she yawns loudly. Standing at the side of her bed, she flops forward into the welcoming sheets with a muffled whump, and a rush of air waves out from underneath the bed covers. Fumbling with her grasp, she pulls out her silvery blue hair from the tight bun. Crawling along the top of the bed to the pillows, she buries her ivory face into the fluffy cushions. A long muffled groan resonates softly from Aristespha, and she drags another pillow over her head. Sebastian's ethereal visage forms next to the bed and gazes down upon the weary Aristespha. "So... How was work today, dear?"

Aristespha slowly rotates her head underneath the pillows and pulls back the top pillow enough to peer a violet eye out towards Sebastian, straining out an exhausted sigh. "What do you think, Sebastian?"

Sebastian kneels down next to the bed to Aristespha's eye level and smiles lovingly at her. "Any more rashes around people's junk today?"

Sliding the cushion on her head further back, Aristespha smiles slightly and chuckles softly. "Funny you should ask that..."

A chime rings out from Aristespha's pants pocket. Rolling over onto her back, she tosses a pillow off to the side and reaches for her aetherphone. Tapping through menus and sliding to the right screen, the body of an aethermail message appears on the screen. Aristespha quickly reads through the lines of text and furrows her brow at the new information. Sebastian cranes his head over for a peek, and Aristespha tilts the phone for him to read. Aristespha sighs out in a mixture of relief and frustration, settling her head down on the pillow. "It is from Nash. Looks like the Grand Library higher ups are trying to figure out how to deal with the Orth Ridge coverup and the likelihood that Isaac Huxley is Noxian."

Grimacing awkwardly, Sebastian drifts his ghostly form down and lays upon the bed next to Aristespha. "Well, they probably didn't expect one of their own to become a Dark Lord and go around trying to do... whatever he's trying to do..."

Aristespha's eyes briefly open wide, and she brings the phone down and focuses upon the display in surprise. "What the-? Isaac has had access to the library database systems- Wait, STILL!? Gods! He still has access?!"

Gritting her teeth in the surge of frustration, she narrows her disbelief at Nash's words on the screen. Sebastian searches through the lines of text and traces Aristespha progress. Puzzling momentarily, Aristespha draws a sly grin on her ivory face. "EXCELLENT. Nash is compiling usage logs for Isaac's accounts, and he is going to send us copies of all the data he has pulled!"

Sebastian grins proudly and nods assured. "That's good! Maybe, we'll figure out exactly what he's plotting finally, dear. Maybe, he'll be able to track where Noxian is by tracing the connections?"

With a grumble, Aristespha frowns briefly. "He does mention that. Unfortunately, no recent accesses so all the tracking logs are probably too old to be of great use. But, Nash is sorting through it to create a timeline for us."

A sense of calm washes over Aristespha's face, and she smiles with a long exhale. "And, from what he has heard... They ARE going to keep our group hired on our retainer agreement to pursue Noxian."

Sebastian smiles lovingly at Aristespha. "It's going to be okay. After you get your hours together, you'll have all kinds of research to do. We'll start figuring out his plans and where he's going next."

Closing her violet eyes, Aristespha breathes contentedly and absorbs the surrounding silence in peace. Minutes later, she cracks a devious gaze towards Sebastian with an ill-humored smirk. "So, I am curious... What part of smearing a dangerous alchemical cream on your penis sounds like a good idea?"

Blinking blankly, Sebastian eyes Aristespha incredulously in surprise. "Uh... Like... None of it?"

Rolling her eyes, Aristespha groans into a chuckle. "Yes. You would think so."

----

Lifting her flow blade up, Dretphi concentrates and focuses her full attention upon the sword in her hands. A red glow gradually creeps through the worn passages embedded in the blade. The wind blows through the shady tree above and rustles a chorus of leaves. Dretphi maintains her calm demeanor and struggles to keep herself relaxed. Cideeda's voice carries around the corner of the ranch style house along with another unfamiliar voice. Snapping out her trance, Dretphi rests her sword down and brushes platinum blonde braids out of the way, glancing over her shoulder. Cideeda steps out from around the corner of the house with a young, tall muscular teenager following behind her, scanning around the area. She waves towards the grassy area on the side of the house with the steel plate targets and shrugs. "I wouldn't worry too much about this area. Also, I'd avoid mowing anything near the targets. You're likely to hit something that'll foul your mower blades up."

The young teenager nods understandingly and notices the dents in the heavy plates. "Cool. WOW. Looks like you guys are shooting some serious firepower out here."

Chuckling, Cideeda shakes her head of short, multi-colored hair. "Nothing too crazy. If you find any spent brass or lead, it's all yours."

Stepping forward towards the shady tree, she waves towards Dretphi. "Hey, Dretphi! This is Dace. He's checking out the place out to see what it'd take to get the lawn together."

Dretphi greets Dace with a nod and gazes out to the backyard of tall grass waving in the gentle breezes. "Significant labor awaits you."

Standing in line with Cideeda and Dretphi, Dace crosses his arms and surveys the vast area. Over the seconds, he deliberates internally, nodding in acceptance. "Aww, this isn't that bad. My tractor with side cutters can take care of this. It looks pretty smooth, and I can finish it up with the zero turn mower."

He searches the area, squints his eyes at nearby forest, and turns to Cideeda. "Hey, you need that forest cleaned up? Could bring out my family's forestry mech and make short work of it."

Waving off the idea, Cideeda shakes her head politely. "Oh, that? Not our problem. Just the lawn work for now."

Scanning the scene one more time, Dace glances down over to Cideeda and nods in anticipation. "I think I can do it."

Donning a reserved stare, Cideeda crosses her arms and casually mentions. "One hundred and fifty."

With Cideeda watching carefully, Dace furrows his brow and smirks. "Two hundred. It's not hard, but there's A LOT of it."

Pausing in her thoughts, Cideeda grins slyly and retrieves a plastic wrapped object from her shorts pocket. Between two claw tipped fingers, she holds up a large, blue black dragon scale within a plastic bag, glints of color reflecting in the bright sun. Dace's attention snaps to the artifact. Cideeda smiles smugly and calmly explains. "How about this fine specimen of dragon scale to make up the difference?"

Presenting the dragon scale, she places it into Dace's awaiting hands. Quickly scrutinizing the item, Dace smiles excitedly and reaches a hand out to Cideeda. "Oh hell yeah! I got a friend in college right now who'll freak out when I send him a picture of this. It'll be worth it just to see the look on his face alone."

With a toothy grin, Cideeda firmly shakes Dace's hand. Stretching her arms behind her back, she gazes over the green sea of the back yard and narrows an entrepreneurial stare. "Excellent! Now, since you are here... Are you in the market for artifacts and other items from ruins?"

Smirking, Dace calmly shakes his head and nonchalantly shrugs. "Ah, nah. I'm more interested in making new stuff that's like the old stuff."

His focus shifts towards Dretphi's sword, and he puzzles at blade. "Speaking which, where did you get that sword? That's like the best looking replica flow blade I've ever seen."

Dretphi blinks, hoists the tip of the blade up to the sky, examining the blade, and angles a confused stare towards Dace. "Replica?"

Halting his thoughts, Dace squints at the blade and hangs his jaw open, discovering the error of his assumption.

-43-

In the clinic's staff break room, a television shows scenes from a daytime soap opera. A few medical staff lounge upon the weathered, comfortable couch, and many others occupy the chairs scattered around the surrounding space. Standing in a gathering, Deedri idly chats about subjects ranging from cases to a few behind the scenes tidbits from the Next Adventurers of Nexus episode. Aristespha gazes out into the nearby mix of city and green space surrounding the clinic complex through the large windows along a wall, flipping through her aetherphone. Deedri presents a delighted smile and answers a question from one of the doctors. "Oh, most interesting case so far? I think it would have to be the checkup I did for a little half evuukian boy named Mylo."

Across the room, Aristespha's long pointy ears twitch, and her violet eyes spring wide open, her attention snapping onto Deedri's conversation. Deedri discusses vague basics about Mylo, focusing on typical child antics with a few medical aspects. The wall clock ticks over to noon. Most of the crowd in the break room double-check their various time keeping devices and politely disperse back out into the clinic proper. Aristespha glances over towards Deedri and slowly approaches. Deedri finishes the last bit of coffee from a thick paper cup, and Aristespha clears her throat. "Mage Preeta."

Blinking her auburn eyes, Deedri swiftly pivots and faces Aristespha directly with a blank stare and neutral tone. "Yes, Mage Orienden?"

Aristespha projects a professional demeanor with barely noticeable cracks in the facade against her personal curiosity. "I overheard you performed a checkup upon a half evuukian boy, by the name of Mylo?"

With a slow nod, Deedri flatly responds. "Yes. Check up and routine immunization."

Narrowing her eyes upon Deedri, Aristespha settles into an examining stare. "I have some questions to ask, if I may?"

Deedri nods calmly and presents a stoic exterior against the hints of hesitation. "You may."

Aristespha launches into a systematic series of questions, growing gradually more probing into the case. With each inquiry, Deedri responds properly and carefully in return, her stare scouring Aristespha's demeanor. Continuing her inquisition, Aristespha's tone subconsciously develops a sharper, overbearing edge, each new inquiry inciting a reflexive, minute cringe upon Deedri's fair face. A few minutes later, Deedri grimaces briefly and breathes in deeply, her furry, tufted ears pulling back. Interjecting into the litany of inquiry, Deedri lays out an elaborate, elegant explanation behind her logic and reasoning. Citing into her own papers upon ancient genetic bio-modifications and ancestral genetics, she systematically explains in exacting detail and drives the conversation hard into Aristespha's stunned silence. Maintaining a firm stare upon Aristespha, Deedri perks an expectant eyebrow. "Any further information you require, Mage Orienden?"

Embarrassment rushes up to coat Aristespha's ivory face, and she twists her mouth to an uneasy frown. She shakes her head with a sigh and bows slightly towards Deedri. "No. None at all..."

With a hard swallow, she straightens her posture with a respectful nod. "In fact, I should apologize."

Narrowing her gaze, Deedri's stare softens. Aristespha lifts her head up calmly. "I have obviously made some dreadfully and woefully inaccurate assumptions off of erroneous first impressions. I see that you are quite knowledgeable and were the best professional for that particular case. I apologize for acting so harshly upon such assumptions."

A slight smirk curls the corners of Deedri's mouth, and she nods towards Aristespha. "Apology accepted."

Breathing easier, Aristespha gazes at Deedri with a slight smile. "I believe I have actually read one of your papers before in the past. If I remember correctly, I found it very insightful."

Smiling fully, Deedri rolls her auburn eyes at herself and sighs. "Thank you. I hope it was one of my later papers. The earlier papers weren't my best work in formatting and presentation,"

With a gentle chuckle, Aristespha shakes her head with a shrug. "Oh, do not worry. They never are. I still cringe when I even see the opening paragraph of some of my earliest work. So many times I have asked myself, what was I thinking?"

Deedri narrows her gaze thoughtfully and examines Aristespha demeanor, hunting for the motive. "I have to ask, you seem really interested in Mylo's care. Any particular reason why?"

Blinking in sudden silence, Aristespha furrows her brow contemplatively. "I ran into Mylokia at the convention and wanted to make sure he was doing okay. Talking to his parents, they were doing well. But..."

She fights down a frown and shakes her head slightly. "I could certainly tell it had been difficult for them in the past with... the politics surrounding them."

Nodding understandingly, Deedri perks up with newfound satisfaction. "Yeah, I see. Well, little Mylo is a healthy boy. And from what I overheard, I think things are going a lot better for his parents. I believe the grandparents on his mother's side actually visited."

Surprise fills Aristespha and fades to delight. In relief, she relaxes her shoulders and smiles hopefully. "That is absolutely wonderful to hear."

Thinking for a moment, she widens her violet eyes and averts her gaze briefly from Deedri within a fit of embarrassment. "Oh, before I forget... I would like to also apologize about one comment I made towards you very early on..."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Deedri awaits expectantly. Aristespha pulls in a tense, awkward breath. "About your bell?"

Deedri pauses in thought, groans out in annoyed disgust, and shakes her head, waving off the issue. "OH. It's okay. To be honest, I'm not that thrilled about it either. I'm really glad I don't have to wear the thing for a while."

Aristespha quirks a curious brow and leans slightly closer. "Have you tried... misplacing it?"

With a long frustrated sigh, Deedri shrugs her shoulders with her hands on her hips. She grumbles in defeat and glances over at Aristespha. "SO many times. They either have a crew member dedicated to keeping track of it... OR, they just ordered the things in bulk."

Narrowing her distant glare, she grits her sharp teeth. "I just haven't figured out which yet."

----

Holding firmly onto the wand with both her hands, Cideeda focuses upon a distant stabilized magical energy pedestal with an empty glass bottle upon it. With slow breaths and a concentrating grimace on her face, she aims the tip of the stick at the target. The inscriptions upon the wooden surface glow green. The flow pulsates along the channels and condenses upon the tip. A tiny sphere of magical energy materializes at the end, vibrating in a holding position. Cideeda slightly relaxes her hand muscles. With a twitch of a cheek under an emerald green eye, the small magical bolt launches off towards the glass bottle. In the second, it flies many meters across the tall grasses of the backyard and bounces off the side of the bottle, a crisp ping sounding out. The container wobbles off balance, rolling upon its bottom, and tumbles off the edge of the platform. Falling towards the ground, the bottle halts halfway down the pedestal, jerks back up, and dangles, swinging from a thin filament of magical energy. Sotalia cheers happily and excitedly hops near Cideeda. "You did it! Amazing shot!"

Struggling to keep a humble attitude in face of the claps from Bach and Dretphi and the energetic thumbs up from Sebastian hovering nearby in his ethereal form, Cideeda smirks satisfied. She rolls her eyes at herself and groans playfully. "Yes, it should be a good shot."

Flicking her emerald green eyes towards the target, she grumbles to herself. "It only took me over twenty times to hit the damn thing."

She glances at the target, closes one eye, and aims a wand point at the platform, her furry ears fluttering in response to the breeze. "So... I think I'll stick to the laser pistols for a little while longer. Don't think this is going to replace them any time soon."

With a glint of blue in his eyes, Bach shrugs and curls the end of a finger at his side. "Hey, you'll get there. I mean, the hardest part is the launch with any unguided projectile. Even a little flux in the flow will send the thing off at the wrong angle."

The thin filament of magical energy draws the glass bottle back up to the platform. The container flips over upon the top, righting itself under the tension of the flow wire, and slides back into its prior position. Bach motions towards the target and glances over to Cideeda. "Ready?"

Exhaling out a bit of tension, Cideeda rolls her shoulders into a stretch and relaxes her arms to the sides, flexing her clawed fingers a little. She shakes her head and steps slowly towards the wooden plank picnic table bench. "Someone else can go for it."

Furrowing her brow, she rubs her stomach and glances around in a moment of confusion. "I'm actually feeling hungry... And a little tired."

With a sly, knowing smirk, Sotalia nods towards Cideeda and steps up to the firing line. "Welcome to the best calorie burning exercises a girl could ever want. A few fireballs does wonders to counter a big dessert."

Walking towards the bench, Cideeda eyes Dretphi and lifts a questioning eyebrow. Sotalia pivots around to set up for a spell. Dretphi glances over to Cideeda, and both roll their eyes in unison. Cideeda Takes a seat upon the bench next to Dretphi, and the two exchange wry smirks. Thinking visibly for a moment, Sebastian glances over to Bach. "Hey, bro, anything you can do to make it a bit more challenging?"

Narrowing an internal stare, Bach ponders and hums out his thoughts. "Maybe..."

Brushing back her dark red hair over her black, swept-back horns, Sotalia steadies her posture and lifts a finger towards the target with a dramatic flair. A small bolt of energy condenses in front of her long nailed fingertip, and she guides the orb in line with the glass bottle on the magical pedestal. Moments later, the magical projectile zips forward right for the center mass of the container. A flicker of blue in Bach's eyes and a finger twitch later, the bottle suddenly shifts upon the pedestal, just out of the way of the energy bolt. Narrowing her eyes golden, Sotalia slides an unamused stare towards Bach, placing her free hand indignantly upon her hip. "Cute."

Resuming her attention forward, she prepares another similar bolt and conceals a sly grin away from Bach. Squinting his glowing gaze at the energy orb in front of Sotalia's finger, Bach lifts a curious eyebrow and cracks a smile from the corner of his mouth. Sotalia releases the bolt, and it streaks swiftly across the grassy backyard. The bottle shifts to the side, Sotalia's fingers reflexively flick, and the projectile tweaks its path. Bach flexes his fingers, and a signal pulses down the shimmering threads, following a track upon the ground towards the pedestal. A rectangular barrier unfolds from underneath the pedestal and flips up into a small wall at the front face of the top platform. Sotalia's golden eyes widen with a faint flicker. Her upper lip snarling, she drives the bolt clear at the last moment. It darts out wide, looping back into another approach. Momentarily glaring at Bach, Sotalia presents a competitive grin and refocuses upon steering the magical orb. With each approach the bolt attempts, the barrier flips around quickly, blocking passage, and the projectile swings clear, readying another attack from a different angle. Feverish minutes pass in the ongoing contest. Cideeda and Dretphi attentively watch upon the edges of their bench seats, and Sebastian's ghostly visage hovers around, full focus upon the orb's fight. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Sotalia pants and shakes her head, flinging a few beads of sweat off her brow. The warm sun above glints off her dark red hair. With each failed attempt, she growls with her rising agitation. Bach maintains a constant blue glow in eyes, and his fingers flick and flex, pulses of magical energy flashing down the thin magical control lines.

The bolt swings wide and flies out for another attempt. Noticing the faint shimmers of the magical control lines, Sotalia pulls sinister a grin across her light tan face and gestures with her free hand low at her hip, mouthing out an incantation. With a quick snap of the wrist, a directed pulse of magical energy warps out from her downwards aimed palm towards the energy threads in the grass. Contacting the lines, the wave disrupts the flow of energy and dispels large gaps into the lines. Bach blinks confused, snaps his stare down at the broken lines, and mumbles a few curses. With a smug grin, Sotalia curls a finger and sends the energy bolt right into the bottle, bouncing it clear off the pedestal. Spinning around both hands on her hips, she bows to the amusement of Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sebastian and slyly smiles at Bach. "Again, cute."

She stands back up and sneaks a wink. "But... Fun."

Rolling his faintly glowing blue eyes, Bach shrugs his shoulders. Sotalia pants, wipes the sweat off her brow, and gazes over to the hot tub gazebo. "Well, between that and the sun, I think I need a nice long Saturday afternoon soak."

Lifting herself up from the plank bench, Dretphi glances back over to the house, picks up her practice wand, and steps towards the ranch style house. "Need to prepare dinner."

Cideeda hops up on her feet, stretches out her back, and grins toothily. "Sounds good to me."

Pausing a moment, she flicks her furry ears towards the far corner of the property lot, in the direction of the two-story house. She furrows her brow, puzzling a moment, and starts to walk away. "Quiet over there today. Don't hear Tassilda or Veevi in a yelling match. Must be taking the day off from that."

The group walks towards the ranch style house, and Sotalia snickers to herself. From the thick, obscuring cover of the bushes along the perimeter of the forest, Tassilda squints her glare and carefully observes. She focuses her full attention upon one person, Sotalia. Her light blue on black eyes track Sotalia breaking away from the group over towards the hot tub gazebo and entering. Out of view, a dark grin forms upon Tassilda, and she narrows a sinister stare upon the gazebo. Tapping a long, black nailed finger upon her lips, she visibly ponders. A spark of inspiration lights up her eyes, a low chuckle escapes her, and she slinks off back towards the two-story house.

----

Behind the general diagnostics main desk of the clinic, Dr. Blackwell sorts through the plentiful, neatly arranged stacks of paperwork. Examining documents and occasionally signing off on a form, she stares over the quiet, nearly empty waiting room, her idling desk staff, and a number of medical mages and doctors double-checking case files. The moment of peace settles upon the scene, and a wave of suspicion tenses up the veteran staff. From a red phone upon the wall a shrill chime erupts and an amber light brilliantly flashes. Dr. Blackwell steps quickly over, snatches the phone handset off the unit, and answers the call with a stern expression. "Dr. Blackwell."

Her eyes follow the statements coming from the speaker, and her stoic exterior shifts gravely. Quickly scanning the area, she spots both Deedri and Aristespha, meeting their alert, attentive gazes. "Mage Orienden. Mage Preeta. Rush to the ER IMMEDIATELY. You two have both training and experience with magical trauma. Alchemical accident in a home lab. Multiple people injured, the worst is coming via ambulance in the next few minutes."

She narrows her stare upon them. "MOVE."

Aristespha and Deedri exchange quick glances, pause briefly, and speed off in a fast walk out of the area, down the hall. Watching the two rush off, Dr. Blackwell returns her attention to the call. "Two adventurer medical mages are on their way."

Speeding down the main hallway of the clinic, both Deedri and Aristespha prepare. Both quickly speak fast incantations and gesture out the same set of protective spells. An auburn glow shines from Deedri's eyes, and Aristespha's eyes ignite violet. Entering the emergency bays, they quickly wash hands, cast disinfectant spells, and don both gloves and masks. They present themselves to the emergency room head doctor, and listen attentively to the latest details about the situation. Moments later, automated doors swiftly retract clear of the passage. A swarm of emergency medical techs and paramedics around a gurney pour into the area and spill out in the space. Upon the medical stretcher, a young man lays unconscious. Slow streaks of crimson ooze out upon his red stained skin from numerous glass-shard filled wounds across his chest and abdomen. The crowd closes in, and Deedri winces, sniffing the air. A powerful residual stench of some indeterminable alchemical cocktail floods the area, with complaints sounding out from other observant staff. Focusing her stare, Aristespha promptly studies the physical state of the man arriving into one of the bays.

The group of emergency medical techs and paramedics carefully transfer the patient onto an awaiting medical table, and Aristespha and Deedri enter the fray. Vitals, statuses, figures, stats, and more fly around in a maelstrom of activity. Both Deedri and Aristespha assert themselves into the process, taking command of the orderly chaos. Aristespha projects her voice towards a paramedic maintaining his hands above the chest and abdomen of the patient. "How long have you been magically stabilizing?"

The paramedic maintains his stare upon the injured man, breathes audibly, and only grants a few seconds of attention to the outside world, relaying the needed information. "Tw-Tw-Twenty... Minutes."

Urgency fills Aristespha's tone, and she observes the paramedic's body trembling. Quickly starting a series of incantations and gestures, she holds her hands above the paramedics and calmly, sternly commands. "On three. Transfer stabilization."

She snaps her head, facing an emergency tech, and orders. "Catch him the second he releases."

With the emergency tech nodding in confirmation, Aristespha's eyes shine brightly violet, and she calls out. "One. Two. Three!"

In one fluid motion, the paramedic with his last bits of consciousness backs away clear of the chaos and falls into the arms of the awaiting emergency tech, carrying him away. Visible flows of magical energy swirl around Aristespha's arms and radiate down upon the body of the patient. Deedri quickly and systematically inspects the shards of glass embedded in the body of the man, squints towards many strange discolorations, and inspects the burns upon the body. "Improper glassware. Shards are too large. Chemical burns, and excessive magical energy residue. Secondary reaction explosion."

Nodding with the assessment, Aristespha focuses her stabilization spell upon the man with careful breaths. "Too many wounds to maintain this stabilization field effectively for more than half an hour. I can see other issues, but we need to make sure he does NOT bleed to death first once this field releases."

Glancing up to Aristespha, Deedri resolutely proposes the plan. "I'll perform magical encapsulated extraction of the foreign material. Trauma foam the cavities. We focus on the most threatening and work from there?"

With a firm nod, Aristespha confirms and confidently agrees. "I will adjust the stabilization field as you fill. It will extend the time I am able to maintain it. Please, watch for active alchemical residue. The smell is too strong for there not to be something still active."

Deedri's hand reaches out to a wound near the side of the chest and hovers near an embedded glass shard sparkling just under skin level. With a long breath in, she carefully lowers a stable finger down and places her glove encased claw tip gently upon the hard, shiny fragment. With a brighter auburn flare in her eyes, a flow of magical energy slowly wraps around her finger, crosses onto the glass shard top via claw tip, and infiltrates into the wound. Seconds later, the flow slows, and the field of magical energy condenses to a thin barrier. Carefully and gradually, Deedri lifts her finger away, pulling with a firm, measured tension. A few centimeter long, jagged sliver of glass slides out of the wound, the field encasing the razor sharp edges and containing tiny fragments within a matrix of energy. Glancing around quickly, Deedri spots a nearby nurse at the ready, presenting a metal tray. She swiftly deposits the exorcized foreign material, dispersing the energies at her claw tip. "Thank you."

With a series of hand motions, Deedri instructs the nurse towards the cleared cavity. "Wound foam, please."

Snatching up a canister nearby, the nurse sprays a foaming compound down into the wound and observes the sealing action to surrounding satisfaction. Aristespha gives Deedri a nod and slowly exhales. "Excellent. Let us hope the rest are that simple."

She scans the sheer number of similar wounds upon the man and gathers her composure, presenting a reassuring, confident exterior. Deedri glances at Aristespha with resolve, flexes her fingers, and hunts for the next target. With other emergency patients arriving, emergency medical techs and paramedics filter out from the area, making room for nurses, support staff, medical mages, and doctors. Focusing upon their patient, Aristespha and Deedri work methodically and coordinate their efforts with care and precision. Deedri extracts glass shards into trays. Aristespha augments her stabilization fields, isolating harmful alchemical residues. And, both communicate with support staff swiftly flowing around them.

An hour later, the last glass shard hits a tray, and a final tube of trauma foam expands into the cavity of a wound. Releasing the stabilization field spell, Aristespha carefully steps back from the table and props herself up against a nearby wall. Deedri closely scans over the man, double-checks his current vitals, and clears away towards the same wall. Another team of medical staff fill in Aristespha and Deedri's spots, thank the two for their work, and prep the patient for the next stage of treatment.

Aristespha and Deedri glance over to the attending head doctor. Acknowledging the two of them, he surveys the area full of medical staff working and points them to a few chairs off to the side. Aristespha rocks herself forward off the wall, and walks to the cleaning station with Deedri. After cleanup, the two sit down and receive potions from nursing staff. Passing by between checking different bays, the head doctor pauses a moment. "Rest up a moment. We'll need to swap out a few keeping the stabilization fields up in a few minutes."

The two nod, toss back their potions, and seize the precious moments to recover.

----

Laying upon the living area couch, Cideeda swipes through screens full of text and idly taps a claw tip upon her aetherphone display. "Wow... I can't believe all the pest extermination jobs out there in this area."

Dretphi stretches her legs out onto the coffee table in front of the couch, settles back opposite to Cideeda, and nods. "Seasonal problem. Pests become active. Mating. Breeding. Migration periods."

Relaxing in the extended recliner, Sotalia thumbs through lists of jobs on her aetherphone and twists her mouth more with each title description. "Bandit patrol, bandit patrol, whelp extermination..."

She squints at the listing and flutters her golden eyes in surprise. "Oh, gods. Pig rat extermination..."

Shuddering in her seat, she quickly flicks up a blur of jobs, putting virtual distance between her eyes and the prior posting. With a quizzical lift of an eyebrow, Bach glances over at Sotalia and gazes up at Sebastian floating over his shoulder. "So, there's a story there, I guess?"

Sebastian grits his teeth briefly and groans in slight ghostly reverb, momentarily averting his eyes away from Bach's aetherphone screen. "Yeah. Yeah. You could say THAT, bro."

He shrugs with his hands out to his sides and scratches the back of his head. "Pig rats are some weird mutated creatures that look like the large, hairless blend of a pig and rat. They're fucking mean, have claws, and are nearly blind. But, they have a good sense of smell, and just swarm anything they sense has magic. I don't know if they just like magic, or if it just pisses them off."

Sotalia cringes and squirms in the recliner further, and shakes her head side to side, tensing her shoulders. "Oh gods! Stop talking about them! I HATE those things!"

A wry smirk cracks from the corner of Cideeda's mouth, revealing a toothy grin. "Aww. But, they seemed to like YOU a lot. Never seen anything that fat wobble so fast."

Dretphi squelches an ill-humored smile and brushes a few platinum blonde braids back, keeping her steely gray eyes upon her aetherphone. "Did not know that pig rats could climb trees. Chew through boot leather."

Sotalia sours into a frown and grumbles to herself. "...I really liked those enchanted boots..."

Glancing over his shoulder to his ethereal brother, he furrows his brow curiously. Sebastian rolls his translucent blue eyes and mouths quietly. "I'll tell you later."

Scrutinizing the list of jobs upon his aetherphone, Bach sighs thoughtfully and tilts his head to the side. "Damn. I mean, it just seems like pest control or bandit patrol on the guild job board right now. I'm trying to find anything else."

Sebastian's ghostly visage nods, and he shrugs his shoulders. "Well, Sunday is usually the leftovers from the week. Most governments and businesses only post during the work week."

Crossing his arms, he wrestles down a frown and groans. "While I'm not AGAINST a pest extermination job, it's usually really dirty work depending on the pest. And, we're not large enough of a team to handle any significant group of bandits nicely. Those are best handled by large companies that are geared for that."

Dretphi gazes over at Bach with a thoughtful tone. "It is a... undesirable situation overall. Prefer unique exploratory jobs."

Nodding her head of short, multicolored hair upon the couch pillow, Cideeda switches up her crossed legs with a stretch in between. "Far better loot, too. Usually a lot less trouble most of the time."

Sebastian lowers his head and peers over Bach's shoulder at the aetherphone. "Also, most bandit groups tend to leave adventuring groups alone. Too much trouble for not enough reward. Unless..."

He furrows his brow and smirks. "You have a known history with hunting bandits down. That kind of makes it more of a personal mission for them."

A series of different chimes ring out in a chorus from aetherphones in the room, and a distant series of alerts echo down the hallway from Aristespha's room. Sebastian points a transparent finger at the indicator on Bach's phone. Bach presses the visual notification, and a job listing draws up on the screen. Everyone investigates the prompt on their devices, and reads the new information. Cocking his head to the side, Sebastian puzzles at the text, blinking in thought. "Interesting. A direct bid posting... A search and rescue assignment..."

He squints in a fit confusion. "For a young evuukian teenager?"

Standing up straight, he searches his mind with a distant stare and ponders out loud to the rest of the group. "Okay. So, when Aristespha is done with the clinic, we'll definitely discuss this job."

----

Upon the clinic break room couch, Deedri limply lifts her arms up, rubs the fatigue around her eyes, and eases out a long sigh. "I STILL can't believe those people were that stupid to carelessly mix all those reagents that they got off a random aethernet site."

Lounging in a couch chair, Aristespha pulls a warm compress off her head, gazes over towards Deedri, and groans. "Fortunately, only two other people were nearby when the explosion happened. And, thankfully, they weren't as bad as the first man. I don't think I could have done another stabilization field that involved after that first one."

The two sit in the calming silence of the room, the evening sun weakly radiating the dusk glow through the windows. Aristespha removes the compress completely, places it on the chair arm, and carefully rotates her head towards Deedri. "So... Where did you study?"

Blinking open her auburn eyes, Deedri sighs weakly and shrugs off some embarrassment. "OH. Uh, just a small no name school. No where in comparison to where you probably went."

Briefly laughing, Aristespha snorts and shakes her head. "You would be very surprised. I am the fifth child in the family. I went to a budget adventuring school... That I STILL got loans out for."

Genuine surprise appears on Deedri's fair face, and she focuses her gaze upon Aristespha with honest curiosity. "Really? Wow, I... Um..."

A sly grin graces Aristespha, and she presents her amusement with a chuckle. "Oh, you thought that evuukian ruling houses were all ridiculously wealthy and all the children got the best of everything?"

Pausing a moment, Deedri thinks out her next statement, deliberation plain upon her face, and resigns to quiet embarrassment. Aristespha briefly laughs loudly, stares up at the ceiling, and slowly shakes her head, stray strands of silver blue locks escaping the tight hair bun. "Gods, I wish that was the case. But... it is NOT. Especially, when you are not the first two children. You might get lucky if you are the third. Otherwise, you never much hear about a house's children past the fourth. The resources tend to dry up at that point, and the granted opportunities are REALLY slim."

She frowns slightly and grumbles. "Honestly, I stumbled upon a big find that got me into the Grand Library."

Rolling her violet eyes, she arches her back momentarily and winces. "It was pure luck."

Deedri aims a comforting smile towards Aristespha. "Well even with luck, you still have to know how to make use of it. It seems like you did."

With an accepting smirk, Aristespha nods and lifts an eyebrow at Deedri. "Well, I certainly hope so. I have to ask, what do you plan to do after the show?"

Deedri's eyes spring wide open, and she furrows her brow in thought into an unsure grimace. "I... I don't really know. I certainly want to do more adventuring..."

Flexing her clawed fingers, she wrestles down a frown. "With a more... COHESIVE group."

She glances around her mind and swallows hard. "But, I don't know if I'll have any more applicable experience than what I started the show with. I really don't think I've demonstrated and expanded my skills enough to be better than any other medical mage."

A serious, calm tone overtakes Aristespha, and she stares at Deedri. "You have today, to me. You have the skills. The experience... THAT will come later, in time. But, you DO have what it takes. I doubt you will have any problems getting hired into a good group in the future. If you do not..."

Tugging at the corner of her mouth, she stretches out an honest smile on her ivory face. "I am sure I can convince the rest of my group to let you intern with us until you find your own team."

Deedri's eyes widen in utter surprise. Trying to blink away the shock, she only manages to wet her eyes a bit with each attempt. Turning her head to face up towards the ceiling, she wipes the forming tears out of her eyes and sniffs quickly to clear her voice. "Thank you. Really. I appreciate knowing that."

A relaxing silence wafts into the room. Over the minutes, the last traces of sunlight no longer compete with the break room's overhead lights. Aristespha and Deedri rest, collecting their thoughts in the idle time. The entry door opens, and Dr. Blackwell walks through. Both Aristespha and Deedri begin to sit up to attention, and Dr. Blackwell motions them back to rest. Presenting a mild smile, Dr. Blackwell pans her gaze between the two. "Excellent work, mages. I wanted to come down and personally update you. All the patients are stable, and the most severe are being treated by regenerative doctors."

Aristespha perks her brow and asks. "By the way, how is that paramedic fairing?"

With a professional, proper demeanor, Dr. Blackwell nods towards Aristespha. "He'll be just fine. He's on mandatory sick leave tomorrow to recuperate."

Pausing a moment, she gradually softens her facade. "I also wanted to state that you two have performed admirably in your duties here. I'll be certain to grant a few hour bonus to your quotas. I'll need you to come in tomorrow for some paperwork, but you'll be able to rejoin your adventuring teams for now."

Presenting a proud smile, she gazes out the windows towards the orange red glow of the horizon. "If you two ever need to work on your quotas again, feel free to contact me, personally."

Both Aristespha and Deedri fight against fatigue and nod appreciatively. Dr. Blackwell steps closer to the windows and narrows her stare with a growing grin. Turning her head slightly back towards Aristespha and Deedri with a sly tint slipping into her tone. "Now... I'm not one to encourage anyone's activities off the clock, but..."

She lifts a sly eyebrow. "There's a particular bar hidden across the way in the nearby commercial district that I've heard is quite popular with many of the staff here."

She pivots around and walks to the door. Opening the door, she stops short of crossing the threshold into the hall and glances over her shoulder with a smirk. "I wouldn't be surprised if a few deserving volunteers wander that way in the very near future to settle their nerves before going home for the night."

The door closes behind Dr. Blackwell. Flicking her furry, tufted ears, Deedri slowly rolls her head over towards Aristespha, a tip of the tail wagging out from under a coat. "So... Um... Do you want to go find that bar?"

A moment of deliberation later, Aristespha tilts herself forward onto her feet, cracks her neck, and stretches her back out. "Oh, gods, yes."

----

Down one of the medical center streets, Chad slowly turns the steering wheel of the black sport utility vehicle. He guides the machine into another lane and glances between the light beaming into night from scattered windows. Alone in the cab, he speaks out loud, maintaining an uncertain, contemplative stare out the windshield. "I don't know, dad. Ratings are good. We have a cooperative contract setup for this week with a larger merc company. So, I guess things are doing good."

With an uplifting hint, an older voice sounds out from Chad's aetherphone upon a dash mount. "Hey, that's great to hear. What group is it? I might have done business with them."

Rolling his brown eyes, Chad shakes his head and grumbles with a smirk. "Of course you probably have done business with them."

An unapologetic chuckle rises from the speakerphone. "Hey! That's kind of my business, son. So, come on... Who is it?"

With a slight begrudging groan giving way to a genuine appreciation, Chad swiftly sighs out. "The Chrome Crusaders."

The bright tone of Chad's father shines through into the cab of the vehicle. "Oh! Awesome! They're a really good organization. I've sold a number of armor suits and rented a few of the big mechs to them."

After a long pause, Chad darts an anticipating glance to his phone and groans. "If I need you to check in on the particular division I'm working with, I'll let you know."

Hints of embarrassment slip into Chad's father's voice. "Ah... Well... Dammit, son. You know I just want to help you out where I can."

A slight smile forms on Chad's tan face, and he slowly nods, rotating the steering wheel. "I know, dad. Things are going... Okay. Not great. But, I think I can make it work."

With a careful, supportive tone, Chad's father approaches the subject. "Hey, don't worry about it. Even your grandfather had a rough start to his adventuring career... And, a lot of slumps... that I was around for."

In the awkward silence, Chad grimaces and waits expectantly. His father continues. "As much as you don't want to hear it... You always can work at MERC with your old man for a while. You network with a few people, and you'll be off in your own group in no time."

Seconds of quiet later, he sighs from the other side of the call. "Just know, the offer is always there, son."

The passing streetlights pulse light upon the dash and illuminate the front seats. Chad releases a long exhale, nodding, and appreciatively smirks towards the aetherphone. "Thanks, dad. Really. Speaking of... Have you heard from granddad lately?"

A long groan echoes through the speakerphone, and Chad's father grumbles, mild annoyance simmering. "Not much since he stopped by a month ago and..."

He hems into a pause. "Borrowed... one the humvees off the lot for whatever quest he's on now. If I'm guessing right, I think he was hunting down another mystical magic artifact."

Chad's interest piques, and his excitement slips into his tone. "Really?! Did he say anything to you about it?!"

Chad's father drones, unamused through the speaker of the aetherphone. "NO. Of course not. But... From what other equipment he... BORROWED... I don't think he's going too far outside aether tower and radio range. So, he should receive anything you message to him. Might even answer his phone, for once."

A mix of emotions fight for space on Chad's face, and he cautiously states. "Well... I'll try to contact him and relay what he's doing to you."

A long sigh resonates from the other side of the connection, and Chad's father chuckles appreciatively. "Ah, it's okay. He's your grandfather. And, he's always happy to hear from you, and you should talk to him. Just..."

Grumbling a moment, he lovingly pleads. "Just... Just don't fall into his... Um, nice way to put it... Life philosophy? It works for HIM. But, I think he's the only one it works for."

Rolling his eyes, Chad flips on the turn signal and slows the vehicle to a stop at an empty, lighted intersection. He ponders to himself a moment, contorting his grimace. "I'll be careful, dad. I'm going to make it work."

A long pause later, Chad's father responds pleasantly. "I know you will. Speaking of making things work, how are things between you and Veevi?"

Pondering the question, Chad blinks back to awareness and notices the lights changing to green. Driving the black sport utility vehicle into a long left turn, he uncertainly contemplates and snarls an unsure upper lip with a vague shoulder shrug. "It's... A thing?"

A hearty laugh echoes from the aetherphone on the dash mount. "Ah! No need to explain. I totally understand, son. Despite what you may think, your old man has had a few of those in his early years, too. You gotta have a few flings."

Chad shakes his head quickly and narrows his eyes incredulously ahead, puzzling with a snort. "What?! You? No way!"

A sly chuckle resonates from the phone. "Hey! I've had my own exploits behind the scenes of the mercenary equipment trade. Just because the trade isn't on the front stage, doesn't mean it doesn't get wild. Even have a few flings that I still keep in contact with today. You know Lady Aaveradean? The nice woman who gave you your first training sword?"

Chad's eyes widen in shock and flutter bewildered. "You and her? Wha? I... OKAY, you HAVE to be bullshitting me now, dad."

Another laugh crackles out from the phone. "Hey, I wasn't too bad looking back in the day."

Pressing the brakes, Chad guides the vehicle into a parallel parking spot along the street dividing the clinic complex and a nearby commercial row. He reaches for his phone, lifting it clear of the mount, and rolls his eyes in amusement. "OKAY, dad. I'll talk to you later. I need to figure out where to pick Deedri up at. Coordinates seem right, but... I'm not too sure if I'm where I need to be."

Chuckling lightly, Chad's father brightly answers. "Okay. Good luck finding your medical mage. I love you, son."

Chad smiles at the phone and nods. "Love you, too. Bye."

Pressing the call end button on the screen of his phone, he turns his attention to the evening activity around the area. He focuses towards the clinic complex, squinting between the staff and patients cycling out of different buildings. Claw tips tap upon the front passenger side window. Snapping his head around, Chad watches Deedri wave with a relaxed smile. A quick click of a button later, the vehicle's door locks disengage. Deedri quickly opens the car door, hops into the front passenger seat, and faces Chad with a smirk. "Hey. Sorry about the late pick up. It's... Been a day."

Blinking utterly confused, Chad slowly nods. Deedri hiccups, covering her mouth. Chad furrows his brow, and Deedri loosely puts her seat belt on, swaying slightly in the seat.

----

Stepping carefully along the carpeted hallway of the upper floor, Veevi slinks around past bedroom doors. She slowly approaches the two doors at the end of the hallway belonging to Deedri and Modoran. Her pink pupil eyes focus upon Modoran's bedroom door, and a sinister smile creeps across face. Closing in on the doorway, she adjusts her posture and shifts her nightshirt into a more provocative position upon her body. With her hand hovering above the door knob to Modoran's room, wooden creaks from the stairwell echo down the hall. A series of slow steps sound out and grow louder. Veevi searches around the area, straightens her posture, and projects an innocent demeanor, sliding a meter away from the door. Deedri arrives at the top of the stairs, yawns with a loose sway, and walks slowly towards her end of the hallway. Squinting her pink pupil eyes at Deedri, Veevi studies her posture, mannerisms, and body language. She processes the information, and a mischievous, evil smirk cracks from the corner of her mouth. Her full attention locking onto Deedri, Veevi slowly steps towards Deedri and greets her with a wave. "Hey. You're home really late."

Glancing over to Veevi, Deedri awkwardly returns the wave and continues towards her bedroom. "Yes... It's been a day."

Veevi closes the distance between and casually sniffs the air. A spark of sinister inspiration lights her eyes, and she presents a concerned gaze to Deedri with a sweetened tinge. "Really? Anything you want to talk about? I can be a great... Listener."

Shifting her course away from Veevi, Deedri slides close to the wall leading to her bedroom door. "It's okay. Just a stressful day. I'll be fine. Just need to get to bed."

Veevi places her tan, brown-striped arm upon the wall, in front of Deedri, and gazes at her with a sly smile. "Hey... It's okay. I'd like to hear about your day. It might help relieve some of your stress by sharing."

Deedri squirms and searches for an alternative route, between glances at Veevi's most convincing smirk. Easing closer, Veevi rests a gentle hand upon Deedri's shoulder and lowers her voice to a soft whisper. "Listen. I've had a lot of crazy, stressful experiences, too. And, I've learned a thing or two about dealing with stress. And, I've learned that best ways are sharing with others..."

Veevi's long, short-hair tail snakes closer to Deedri's leg, and her free hand slips in the space between Deedri's arm and waist, under her medical duster, resting upon the back of her pants. Donning a sultry grin, Veevi winks to Deedri and punctuates with a firm squeeze. "And... I've learned the best ways involve a bed..."

Deedri's body stiffens, her face blanks, and she closes her eyes. Veevi expectantly awaits a response. Releasing a long, irritation-strained exhale, Deedri opens her eyes, igniting with auburn. In a fraction of a second, Veevi's confidence vaporizes. Shock overtaking her completely, she unleashes a loud, reflexive yip. She instinctively lifts up on the balls of feet and drops her panicked, wide eyed stare down. Claws curl through Veevi's nightshirt and press sharply onto her soft skinned belly. Deedri swiftly marches towards the opposing wall of the hallway, ushering Veevi along under near-piercing pain and threat of puncture. With a solid thud upon the painted drywall, Veevi lifts her hands away from Deedri and raises them up, trembling in fright. From behind the nearby door, Modoran's voice sounds out a confused quip in evuukian.

Adjusting her spread finger grip on Veevi's belly, Deedri glares darkly right up into Veevi's eyes, the auburn glow illuminating her face. "You. Just. Had. To. Push. It."

She squeezes her hold lightly, watching Veevi cringe and tense. "Let me make this CLEAR. I've had a stressful day and want to go to bed. ALONE. In fact, I really don't want anything to do with YOU in THAT particular way... EVER. And, before you start thinking..."

Lifting an eyebrow, she curls her upper lip into a sneer. "I've entertained a variety of relationships. SO... When I say I don't want anything to do with you..."

She straightens her back, pulls Veevi down, and glares right through. "I. MEAN. YOU. Do you understand?"

Rapidly nodding her head a few times, Veevi remains silent in sheer terror. Deedri maintains her stare and examines the very details of Veevi's face, narrowing the auburn projection. Modoran's door opens, and he cautiously leans out. Halting in utter bewilderment at the scene before him, he quietly observes in awe. Drawing in a long, deep breath, Deedri growls low and bares her pronounced canines. "GOOD. Because... If you pester me with your pitiful attempts to bed me again... I will..."

Claws latched upon Veevi's belly press harder into her soft tan skin, reach the near piercing point of her flesh, and halt precisely short of it. Deedri grits her sharp teeth and focuses her brightly shining auburn eyes upon Veevi's horrified face. "MANUALLY. SPAY. YOU... Understand?"

Veevi nods her head quickly with a pleading tone. "Y-y-y-yes. U-u-u-u-nder-s-s-stood."

In a swift motion, Deedri releases her grip, steps away, and pivots in place. She stops her rotation, noticing Modoran gawking, and relaxes her fury with a few long breaths to a much calmer, slightly embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry. It's- It's been a day."

Blinking his dark blue eyes back to awareness, Modoran musters a comforting smirk and nods in agreement. "Uh. Looks like it. Um, it's okay. I've had... Similar days?"

Deedri returns the nod, turns the rest of the way, and quickly slips through the door into her room. Modoran slowly swings his blank stare over. Standing with her knees touching and supporting most of her weight against the wall, Veevi inspects her abdomen and pats around, finding no blood or broken skin. She slowly lifts her head up, pants unconsciously, and feels her flushed face. Resting a hand upon her chest, she stares forward confused and contemplative, her mind vainly trying to evaluate the situation. Rolling herself away from Modoran along the wall, she steadies herself on her feet and sheepishly walks weak-kneed back towards her room. Modoran bounces his gaze between Veevi's retreat and Deedri's bedroom door, only managing to mouth out evuukian phrases, absolutely perplexed.

-44-

Rays of morning sun slip through the blinds into the bedroom, and a glow scatters out upon the area. Sebastian's ethereal form kneels next to the bed, and he eases his voice into Aristespha's long ear. "Dear... Time to wake up. You turned off your alarm last night. Dear?"

A grumbling mumble sounds out from under the covers, and Aristespha rolls her head purposefully away from Sebastian into a mass of blankets. Smirking with a lift of an eyebrow, Sebastian shakes his head and drifts over Aristespha to the other side of the bed, his visage floating downwards to just above the mattress. He grins wide at the ivory face peeking out from bed sheets. "Well... It looks like SOMEONE had a little too much last-"

A pair violet eyes open to a dim glow and stare unamused through Sebastian. Growling weakly, Aristespha averts her narrowing gaze away briefly and hides a wince. "I am fine. Sebastian."

Sebastian rolls his translucent blue eyes playfully and slowly nods with an exaggerated flair. "Of course you are, my dear."

Returning her tired gaze towards Sebastian, Aristespha sighs and gradually removes the covers off herself. She stares up to the ceiling, rubs the temples of her head, and rolls herself to the edge of the bed. Silvery blue hair drapes over her face, and her hand reaches out and pats around the floor underneath the bed. Sebastian sinks through the mattress, searches briefly around, and gently calls out to Aristespha. "It's up against the wall near the bedpost, dear."

Aristespha's hand slides sideways along the hardwood floor, bumps into a metal box, and instinctively latches onto the top. Guiding the container over just under her view, she undoes the worn locking clasp and flips the aged hinged lid open. With a few pokes into the assorted contents, she lifts up a single vial towards her half-open, darkened eyes. With bite, she pries the cork off, spits out the stopper, and tilts her head back, dumping the clear fluid back into her mouth. Sebastian slips up from underneath the bed, stands up next to the side, and watches Aristespha cringe and cough. "Fine, are you?"

Slowly sitting up, Aristespha places the glass tube upon the nearby nightstand and narrows her violet eyes at Sebastian. "I'm fine... Now..."

Pausing a moment, she buffers a belch and swallows hard. "Soon..."

She works the disgust from her face between winces and cringes, shaking her head. Sebastian mutes his amusement and dons a plain smile. "It never tastes any better, does it?"

Aristespha sighs smirking, and shrugs her shoulders, stretching her neck. "No. Generations of medical mages have yet to figure out how to counter that awful taste. That, or none ever wanted to ruin the effectiveness in exchange."

Lowering himself down to a seat upon the bed, Sebastian sideeyes Aristespha. "So... Do you remember anything I told you last night? Or, do I need to-"

A violet eyed glare strikes Sebastian briefly. A moment later, Aristespha softens her gaze with a slow nod. "Yes. I wasn't..."

She furrows her brow in thought and rocks her head between confidence and indecisiveness. "THAT far gone."

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she recounts calmly. "There is a job about a missing evuukian teenager that was directly sent to our group from a guild ID we've never seen..."

Consciousness returning in full, Aristespha's hand reflexively reaches out to her aetherphone on the nightstand. She quickly taps a side button, and the current date and time flashes up. An exhale of relief escapes her, and she relaxes some of her tension. "Good. Did NOT sleep in too much."

Her eyes squint down at the notification list, and she quickly taps in her security code upon the display. Sorting through on screen menus, she pours her full attention towards a series of messages. Sebastian notices the quick change of focus and slides around, peering above her shoulder. "What's the matter, dear?"

Aristespha curiously scrolls through the messages and glances over to Sebastian quizzically. "Valavera sent me a few messages last night."

Sebastian blinks and scans the evuukian text upon Aristespha's aetherphone screen. "Is she okay? Please tell me she's not the missing teenager."

Quickly shaking her head, Aristespha drags a finger tip up the aetherphone display and hovers over a section of text. "No. She's just fine, Sebastian. Beckerin took her along on a few side jobs on their way back, and she has been at home for a few weeks."

Narrowing her stare upon the text, she cocks her head to the side, stray locks of long hair falling upon her shoulder. "Says she knows the missing teenager and told her parents to hire us specifically to find her."

She slowly turns her head and gazes at Sebastian, a mix of intrigue and concern upon her face. "Valavera says she has information about where the teenager might be and wants to talk to all of us over the phone because of how sensitive it is."

Tilting his head to the side, Sebastian relaxes his ethereal form in thought and twists his mouth. "Did she mention anything else?"

Aristespha returns her stare upon the aetherphone screen and searches the lines of evuukian text with a gradual shake of the head. "No. She's being vague about what she wants to tell us. I guess Beckerin probably advised her on how to phrase it all via a message. He has always been careful about anything written or recorded."

After a moment of pause, Sebastian's eyes widen, memories springing back to the front of his mind, and he sternly watches the display scroll. "It might be something about the Terra Priests."

----

Tassilda stands in the middle of the wrap around kitchen, inspecting a number of glass tubes in wooden rack holders. Grasping onto one with a gloved hand, she slides it up out of the frame and holds it up against the light coming through the window over the sink. A faintly milky liquid swirls within the confines of the glass container. Examining the contents, Tassilda squints her light blue on black eyes and pulls a plotting smirk to the corner of her gray face. Lowering the tube over the larger basin of the kitchen sink, she places her other hand around the glass and her hand, closing her eyes. With slow breaths, she concentrates, straightens her posture, and calmly mouths out careful incantations. Moments later, gradual flows of magical energy glide along her arms and consolidate into a single trail, condensing into the open mouth of the glass tube. The cloudy fluid glows brightly, the magical power collects, and small bubbles form upon the interior sides. With the concoction foaming at the top, Tassilda opens her eyes, waves off the excess magical flow with a hand, and carefully inserts the glass container into another wooden holder at the bottom of the sink. Quickly checking her hands for overflow and spillage, she gazes over to a series of black rubber stoppers and one white wax cork. A sinister spark lights her eyes, and she sharpens her smile, focusing her attention upon the wax top.

An irregular series of wooden creaks echo out from the stairs. Seconds later, a groggy Deedri plods through the archway into the dining area, combing the mess of multi-colored hair out of her view. She brushes the loose fabric of her pajamas against a wall corner, her tail lazily swaying with the momentum. Walking closer towards the kitchen, she rubs her forehead with one hand and feels her grip on a small vial of clear liquid in the other. Blinking in surprise, Tassilda breaks from her task and curiously watches Deedri sloppily navigate to the front of the refrigerator. Deedri slides the hand off her head, roughly opens the fridge door, and side steps with a slight stumble out of the swing path. Grasping onto a carton of orange juice inside, she yanks it out swiftly, keeping it at the ready. Tassilda cocks her head, lifts a very confused eyebrow, and places her hands on her hips. "What are you doing?"

Blinking to a moment of awareness, Deedri draws a long breath in and sighs reluctantly towards a groan. "Ungh. Self medicating."

In a quick series of motions, she claws off the stopper in the vial, dumps the contents down her throat, folds the carton open, and quaffs a long pour of orange juice. Tassilda opens her eyes wide, watching Deedri wince, squirm, and tense all over her body. Dropping the carton back down upon the nearby countertop, she breathes deeply and slumps her shoulders into full awareness. Glances into the mouth of the nearly empty carton, Deedri bites her lip in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. It takes a lot of orange juice to counteract THAT bad taste."

Tassilda slowly nods, brushes her raven hair over her swirling horns, and widens a very amused grin. "I SEE. I was wondering what you were up to last night."

Deedri closes the fridge door, places the stopper back in the vial, and stands back, supporting herself against a nearby counter. "It was a... rough day. So, I stopped by..."

Fighting her embarrassment down to a grimace, she glances her auburn eyes around in feigned innocence, her furry, tufted ears flicking. "A place that many other clinic staff visit after their... Rough days."

She glances over to Tassilda and notices the intrigue and curiosity swelling up on her face. "Uh, so um... What are you doing right now? Making potions? Um..."

Tassilda chuckles lightly and pivots her gaze upon her project, shrugging casually. "Oh. Nothing too complicated. Just making a batch of dispelling charges."

Deedri focuses her semi-groggy stare upon the tubes of milky fluid, and nods. "I see. That's actually a good idea."

A smile pulls across Tassilda, and she turns back around to face Deedri. "Yes, I figured it would be nice to have something to dispel those annoying little bits of magic without requiring our energies at the time."

Frowning momentarily, she grumbles under her breath. "... and counteract any other cute tricks that Veevi happens to figure out without wasting valuable effort..."

Hearing Veevi's name, Deedri tenses her posture and scans around the area quickly. "By the way, have you seen Veevi today?"

Tassilda's focus locks on to Deedri, and she quirks an intrigued eyebrow. "No. I believe she's still in HER room. For once."

Narrowing her stare upon Deedri, Tassilda leans forward slightly. "Why?"

Reluctantly, Deedri sighs and shakes her head. "I, uh, had a run in with her last night before getting to my room and..."

She averts her face briefly away from Tassilda. "Well... I, um... Made sure she knew my claws weren't for show."

A proud smile springs up upon Tassilda, she steps forward in front of Deedri. Lifting her hands off her hips, she places them on Deedri's shoulders and stares Deedri in the eyes. "As you SHOULD. Someone of your talent should NEVER have to suffer grief from someone like that."

Blinking to attention, Deedri presents a humble smile. "Thank you. I appreciate hearing that."

Tassilda releases Deedri, walks over to the kitchen sink, and directs her voice over her shoulder. "You should NEVER be afraid to stand up for yourself."

A bit of hesitation infiltrates Deedri's voice, and she grits her teeth briefly. "I know that. BUT... I'm a bit worried what might happen because of... HOW I stood up for myself..."

Seconds of tense quiet later, Tassilda eases her head over, leading the rest of her body, and faces Deedri with a delightfully curious grin upon her gray face. "OH. Really? How ever did you stand up for yourself?"

Deedri snatches up the carton of orange juice and drinks slowly, stalling for time under the patient stare Tassilda.

----

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia sit at the dining room table, Sebastian hovering overhead, all focus upon the aetherphone upon the tabletop. Valavera's voice sounds out from the speakerphone. "Okay, so Uncle Becker told me to tell you all this over the phone and make sure there's no written record of it, because... Well..."

The unamused tone of Aristespha cuts through the idle air, and she aims her glare at the aetherphone. "It is incriminating of you. We understand, and it is okay. Just relay what you know, so we can help."

A nervous gasp escapes Valavera's side of the conversation, and she sighs long with uneasy acceptance. "Okay. Sorry. When I went out into the woods, I was not the only one that was put on the same type of assignment. My friend Faelatelia and I went out to a meet up with the main guy from the group. We split up after we got our missions, and I was in contact with her until..."

She groans into a stale, frustrated grumble. "My phone broke."

Tension building in her voice, her concern slips out into her cadence. "I... Well... When I got back home, I tried to contact her and find out what happened. Gods, I was hoping she was abandoned like me and had gone back home eventually. But..."

She works through an uneasy breath. "No one has seen her since we both left. And, I have checked with everyone I know and she knew outside the... group."

Sebastian's ethereal form lowers slightly, and he directs his question at the aetherphone. "Do you know where she was supposed to go for her assignment?"

Valavera perks up and promptly responds. "Yes! I told Uncle Becker and he even called in a favor from his friend, Mavian. He scouted the area and found signs that someone had been there a while ago. But... Left..."

Rapping a hand of claw tips upon the table top, Cideeda twists her face into a thoughtful grimace and narrows her emerald green eyes. "The guild mission brief has a huge, vague area that her aetherphone was last detected from a few distant radio towers. Were they able to get anything else from the phone that wasn't on the mission brief?"

Focusing back upon the present, Valavera snaps back out of her idle worry. "Oh, uh, yes? Sort of? Uncle Becker contacted some people he knows from a few of the aether network companies. A lot of messages didn't get delivered to my phone, but they had records of them. There were a few from her..."

Aristespha speaks clearly, firmly at her phone, and interlocks her fingers together, pondering out loud. "What did they say?"

With a drift in her tone and hints of resignation, Valavera answers with a long sigh. "She got accepted into the group. She was given a location to go to, and was told to go there to get taken to the Terra Priest commune. That location sounds like it is within the area they tracked her phone to."

Dretphi nods slowly, processing the information, and sorts through her mind between flicks of her steely gray eyes. "It is a meeting point. For safety. Likely far from the final destination. Heavy forest does not allow useful vehicle transit. The commune could be within walking range. Unfortunately, could be hours, days of travel to reach."

Grumbling within frustration, Sotalia slides the highlighted region around on a tablet on the dining table in front of her. "Gods... So, even if we go to that spot, the real place could be ANYWHERE around here. Probably kilometers away. And, I bet they are keeping an eye on the whole area. Probably just for people like us."

Groaning in agreement, Dretphi shakes her head against the options and wrestles a frown upon her tan face. "Dangerous territory. Likely would be found if we perform a wide search. Ambushed if we get close. Could be left to wander for weeks uselessly. They may leave during. Be gone before we get close."

Tapping a long finger nail upon the tablet display, Sotalia squints her golden eyes at the map, tosses back her dark red hair, and curls the corner of her mouth with a lift of an eyebrow. "It'd be real nice if we had a good overhead view with a good camera."

Bach blinks to attention and furrows his brow, searching his mind. Glancing around the table, he shrugs his shoulders and proposes. "Huh, we might see if Kaleb and Lagi could do a fly over of the area?"

Sebastian hovers over, staring at the tablet display, and tilts his head to the side. "Not a bad idea, bro. But... That's A LOT of area to cover, especially if we want useful photography."

Tugging at the corner of his translucent mouth, he sighs ethereally. "Also... I'm pretty sure if there's anyone there, they'll get REAL suspicious of a dragon flying overhead for so long."

Aristespha narrows her violet eyes, taps her fingertips against each other in thought, and ponders out loud. "So... We need more information to limit the search area..."

Dretphi opens her eyes wide and smirks with a hint of hope in her voice. "We should contact Captain Hackle. He may have information. May be able to get information."

Nodding slowly with a spark in his ghostly gaze, Sebastian smiles at Aristespha. "AND, Hays could be a good one to call up, too. With all the scouting and wandering the woods they've done in the area, they may have seen something that could help. Something out of the ordinary, or check their records for such."

Aristespha gauges the growing agreement between Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia, and grants a reserved smile towards the gathering. "That sounds like the best course of action, at the moment. If we can narrow the area enough, Kaleb and Lagi might be able to get us the information we need without attracting too much attention and generating too much suspicion."

Sebastian crosses his arms and nods with a growing grin. "He could do a single fly over if the target area is small enough. Make it look like he was just passing through rather than sweeping the area itself."

Sighing in thought, Aristespha aims her voice at her aetherphone. "Regardless, that is the best we can do, at the moment. I wish we had more, but give us time, Valavera."

Over the speakerphone, a happy tone shines out from Valavera. "Thank you! Just knowing someone is working on it is good to know. I just hope Faelatelia is okay... It's just... The more I read up about the Terra Priests..."

With the heavy weight of worry in her voice, she continues. "The more... I do NOT think she would want to be part of them."

----

At the head of the dining table in the two story house, Chad stands tall and smiles proud. Camera crew members wedge themselves into ideal positions and aim recording equipment at the gathering. Around the table Tassilda, Trakenthin, Deedri, Modoran, and Veevi sit and watch Chad, waiting expectantly. Veevi briefly glances away from Chad across the table and catches a glimpse of Deedri. She quickly snaps her head away when Deedri's gaze moves slightly away from Chad. Darting his dark blue eyes briefly between Veevi and Deedri, Modoran subdues a suspicious grimace. Trakenthin stares ahead at Modoran until their eyes meet and tilts his head quizzically to either side of him. Modoran shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head slightly, furrowing his brow. Chad hems and addresses the group with a bold tone. "While we may have had some trouble in Hattan, we persevered and aided the town in its time of need. And, with a bit of time to recover and allowing Deedri to assist the Amaranth Valley clinic with her services, I believe we are ready for our next big mission."

Lifting up a tablet from the tabletop, he taps a few on screen buttons and spins it around into view, showing the display to everyone at the table. "We will be providing assistance in patrolling a section of highway with..."

A bright, white grin shines forth from his smiling mouth, and he taps a finger up the display. "The Chrome Crusaders."

Trakenthin blinks hard, places his phone quickly down upon the table, and rotates his head, gawking at the tablet. Genuine surprise fills Modoran's dusky bluish gray face, and he squints at the text upon the screen, cocking his head slightly. Tassilda covers her mouth with a hand and stares at Chad in honest interest. Tensing up in anticipation, Deedri contains her excitement, flit slipping out into the wag of her long, fluffy tail below the table. Veevi slides close to Chad, into the shot, and smirks slyly to the cameras. Flipping the tablet back around, Chad presses a few buttons and finishes with a swift swipe. "I've sent the guild mission details to everyone. We'll be heading out soon. So, take tomorrow to prepare. We'll be traveling for a week with a Chrome Crusader unit."

Staring around to all the members of the team, he narrows his brown eyes, seriousness coloring his tone. "While we should be fairly safe with such a renowned group, we don't want to disappoint."

He pauses a moment and stresses his point. "SO. Be ready."

Various aetherphone alerts chime out. Watching the reactions around the table, Chad sweeps a curious gaze over the team. "So, any questions?"

Slowly raising a hand, Modoran nonchalantly awaits for acknowledgement from Chad and cracks a partial grin. "So... Any chance we get to drive one of their mechs around? Just for a little while?"

With a tinge of humor slipping out, Chad groans and shakes his head into a sigh. "Unfortunately, NO. This particular division uses small personnel mech suits that are customized to the pilot. Only powered armor suits and your average transport trucks."

Trakenthin lowers his hand back down to the table after the answer from Chad and shrugs at Modoran's curious glance. "Same question."

Crossing her arms, Tassilda scrutinizes Chad's posture, narrowing her light blue on black eyes, and curls her upper lip, forming sneer. "If I may ask, what ever are they patrolling the highways for?"

With a tilt of his head of short brown, coiffed hair, Chad grins humored at Tassilda. "Regular bandits that have been hassling commerce. Normal humanoids that are most likely to be affected by a whole host of charm and enchantment spells."

A sinister smile graces Tassilda, and she uncrosses her arms out onto the table, rapping her long black nails upon the tabletop. "Oh. I see. This certainly seems like a fitting mission for our team then."

Deedri gradually raises her hand, watching Chad grant a respectful nod towards her. "Will I need to focus on our medical needs strictly, or are we pooling resources with their medical staff for the length of the mission?"

Blinking in thought, Chad twists his mouth in thought. "Well, I..."

A few moments later, he draws a calming breath and smiles. "I, actually, don't know at the moment. The Chrome Crusader unit will have their own medical staff, but I think we'll assist each other, regardless. So, I would say focus on our group's medical needs, if only to keep us from being a drain on their resources. And, prepare to assist them, if needed."

Accepting the answers, Deedri nods and glances around the table at everyone else. Her eyes passing over towards Veevi, she notices the pink haired, half-fvalian momentarily freeze, the two making eye contact. Awkward, tense moments later, Veevi averts her gaze away shyly and focuses upon her aetherphone, settling back fully into her seat. Blinking in disbelief, Deedri squints briefly at Veevi and shifts her attention elsewhere, puzzling to herself.

----

The bright moonlight from the night sky projects itself through the gaps between the slats of the window blinds. Groggily stirring from his slumber, Modoran summons forth his limited consciousness towards muffled noises slipping in from the hall. He tilts his head, aims his long, pointed ear at the bedroom door, and waits. Footsteps creak upon the hallway floor and faintly resonate. Modoran cracks open an alert, dark blue eye, focusing upon the entryway. Shadows play underneath the doorway gap and fade away. Seconds later, a series of soft wooden steps softly sound out, fading into silence. Gathering enough awareness, Modoran slips out of bed and cautiously slinks towards the door. He kneels down, lowers his head to the floor, and inspects the floor of the hallway for activity.

The careful search reveals no signs of anyone around. He begins to lift his head up, and his ears twitch in recognition of a familiar mechanical noise. Quickly cracking the door open, he aims a long, pointed ear out, and catches the unmistakable sound of the back sliding glass door closing downstairs. He pauses in thought, withdraws his head from the hallway, and seals his door. Gradually, he lifts himself up to his feet, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, and shifts his stare towards the moonlit window blinds. He steps over quietly, leans forward towards the window, and lifts an inconspicuous slat up. Squinting against the shine of the moonlight, he scans downwards to the backyard plot below.

Movement captures his full attention, and his stare locks onto a figure moving across the lawn. In the moments, other parts of his mind awaken, and greater consciousness guides his stare. Bewilderment fills his face, and recognition furrows his brow. In the backyard, Tassilda searches the area around her and secures her tight black pants and long sleeve shirt. Darting along the perimeter along the fence line, she arrives at the corner of the back plot and slips over the low barrier. With a final inspection of the dark, moonlit vicinity, she runs off towards the distant ranch style house beyond the large field. Modoran blinks within his confusion, opens his mouth with the start of a mutter, and stops.

Releasing the window blind slat, his dark blue eyes search his mind for a reason, and his hands clench. With a long sigh, Modoran holds his hands up in resignation. Shaking his head slowly side to side, he closes his contorting mouth. He waves off the whole affair with both hands, rocking his head in defiance, and mutters a series of phrases in grumbling evuukian. At the edge of his bed, he whips up the covers, slips underneath the falling bed sheets, and secures his head firmly on a pillow. Pulling a long breath in, he sighs with a quiet trailing groan and rolls up into his sheets.

----

Afternoon sun glows upon the grass around an old log, propped up vertically. Small shadows fill in the cracks of the decaying wood and darken large gouges into the core. A small hatchet sinks partially into the soft lumber and wedges itself by a corner of the blade's edge. The thick, aged trunk rocks slightly, pressing against the smaller timbers supporting it, and settles back squarely onto the ground. Sebastian crosses his arms, hums with an ethereal reverb, and twists his mouth in thought. "Not bad, bro. Getting the spin right for this distance is pretty tricky at times."

Rolling his shoulders, a faint pops and cracks out from Bach's joints, and he swings out the tension within his arms around at his side. "Yeah... To be fair, I think I released it a bit early on that throw."

He pauses a moment, glances over to Sebastian, and smirks curiously. "No offense, man, but I STILL don't know what use ax throwing is going to be for me."

Sebastian shrugs his transparent shoulders, puts his hands out to his sides, and grins nonchalantly. "You never know, bro. I've been meaning to teach you, anyway. Plus, can you think of anything else to do at the moment that beats throwing axes?"

Blinking in thought a moment, Bach stares back at the log target and walks forward with a satisfied, humored smile. "You know... I really can't beat that logic right now."

Reaching the timber stand, he grips hold of the ax handle, yanks it clear, and feels out the balance of the tool. A solid thud sounds out further down the side lawn from a heavy sac landing hard within the outer limits of a painted ring on the grass. A brief fit of frustration sneers Dretphi's upper lip, and she places her hands on her hips. Studying the missed target with a contemplative stare, a faint grumble slips out from her stoic exterior. Cideeda reaches up, pats Dretphi on the shoulder, and laughs encouragingly. "Don't worry, you're still beating me in weight and distance."

Dretphi sighs and shakes her head of platinum blonde braids with a groan. "Release felt wrong. Do not know what specifically."

Lifting up a smaller sac from the ground by a rope around the top, Cideeda idly swings it and plants her feet wide upon the grass. "Timing may have been off. Getting the release just right is always important."

She focuses forward upon the circular target on the trimmed ground and narrows her emerald green eyes. With a few forceful revolutions, her arm circles the weighted bag up to speed. Seconds of concentration later, her hand opens up, the small sac sails up into the air along a calculated arc. Reaching the apex of its flight, the bag plummets down and solidly hits the earth near the exact center of the target. Dretphi glances down at the toothy grin of Cideeda and nods in agreement.

The hot tub gazebo door opens slowly, faint clouds of steam slipping out in the current. Sotalia steps out with a towel wrapped around her head and another towel covering the bottom of her two piece bathing suit. Slowly strutting around to the side yard of the house, she stands with a slight squirm next to Sebastian. "So, how goes the practice?"

With a simple smile, Sebastian shrugs and glances over to Sotalia. "Well... It's practice. Throwing various things and seeing if we can get near the targets."

Bach arrives in front of Sebastian and Sotalia, with ax at the side, and puzzles at Sotalia with a furrowed brow. "Huh, you're out of the water early today. Is the hot tub not working or something?"

Sotalia twists her mouth into a grimace, rolls her shoulders uneasily, and pounders out loud. "No. It was working fine. It's just..."

Squinting her golden eyes over to the gazebo, she straightens her back and sighs. "Just felt a bit weird being in it today. Couldn't quite figure out what was different, so I decided to get out for a bit."

Lifting a mock accusatory eyebrow at Sotalia, Bach dons a wry smile. "Maybe you've been abusing it a bit too much lately?"

Opening her mouth in a retort, she pauses and averts her eyes away in thought. She grumbles at herself and trails out a begrudging sigh. "You... Might be right. I've never had a hot tub this accessible to me. And... I've never really used one this much."

She bites her lower lip and waves her hand to the side. "Oh, what can I say? I am a bit of a glutton for relaxing in water. Got that habit from my family."

Rolling her shoulders, she rocks her towel wrapped head side to side, stretching out her neck. "We ALWAYS had either a pool, sauna, lake, or tub somewhere around our vacation spots."

Bach glances over to Sebastian and smirks with amusement. "That must have been nice. About the only vacation spot our family took with a lake was one that no one wanted to go in. Well..."

Narrowing his blue stare, he cracks an smug grin. "Except Sebastian."

With an awkward sneer, Sebastian groans ethereally and closes his eyes. "Once. Just ONCE. GODS, I still shiver thinking about it."

The sliding glass door glides along its track, and Aristespha excitedly steps out with a smile and tablet in hand. She quickly walks over to Bach, Sebastian, and Sotalia, and waves towards Cideeda and Dretphi. "Everyone! I heard back from both Captain Hackle and Captain Hays."

A hopeful grin appears upon Sebastian's face, and he motions towards Aristespha, Cideeda and Dretphi arriving nearby. "Good! What did they have to say?"

Taking a deep breath in, Aristespha mentally organizes her thoughts and summarizes. "Okay. Captain Hackle checked with his sources, and they have recent evidence of a Terra Priest group in that area. It is quite a long hike from the meeting point Valavera told us, but it IS a far smaller area they could be in."

She adjusts the brightness of the tablet's display against the plentiful ambient light and presents it out of the sun's glare to the group. Dretphi points out the digital map scale measurement in the corner of the screen, nodding with a slight smile. "YES. THAT is a significant difference. Workable area. Feasible for us to work."

Nodding in agreement, Bach hovers his finger over the screen, tracing a few paths over the area. "Yeah, no kidding. I think Kaleb and Lagi could easily do a few passes over the area without drawing that much attention."

Sebastian leans his head close and glances over to Bach. "Especially if he spaces the fly-overs with a few hours between each. And, maybe do them at early dawn or late dusk?"

Pondering the plans out loud, Cideeda grins and relays the thoughts in her mind. "Definitely should go around dawn AND dusk. That way, it'll just seem like a dragon traveling to and from another location. Any lookouts they have will probably be different people at those times, too. Assuming they've got proper patrols and shifts, they'll probably note it but not be too suspicious."

Sotalia adjusts the towel on her head, lifts a scrutinizing eyebrow at the information, and puzzles with hints of irritation in her voice. "Wait... They KNOW about this group and where it possibly is..."

Twisting the corner of her mouth, she frowns and huffs. "AND, they haven't dealt with it?!"

Aristespha groans and shakes her head with similar sentiment. "I know. The only way I even got this information from Captain Hackle is letting him know about Faelatelia and the possibility of the Terra Priests being involved. It seems this specific group has kept to themselves rather than engaging in the usual activities the Terra Priests are infamous for."

She tugs her mouth towards the side of her ivory face with a brief grit of the teeth and sighs out her own frustrations. "Since this group is also near the border between the GAA and Appaland perimeter territories, everyone has taken a wait and see approach. That might change depending on what we may or may not find."

Sebastian lifts a curious brow towards Aristespha, standing back up straight. "What did Captain Hays have to say?"

Aristespha briefly searches her mind and nods with her thoughts. "Unfortunately, not as much as Captain Hackle. They have been focused on other things since Hattan. BUT, Captain Hays mentioned some strange activity when they were following a group of weird zone animals away from Hattan that led them far south of that area. Faint magical disturbances, odd spirit activity, and strange behavior from the normal wildlife."

Shrugging her shoulders vaguely, she lowers the display, resting her arms. "They thought it may have been caused by the zone creatures, since that is not an uncommon occurrence with having any new creatures in the area. They did note the amount did not exactly match up with expectations."

Crossing his arms, Sebastian gradually tilts his head side to side, and nods with a growing grin. "Okay. I'm thinking this is workable enough and should be worth pursuing now."

Bach gives a thumbs up to his brother in agreement. "I mean, if we can hang out roughly nearby, Kaleb and Lagi should be able to narrow it down for us. Then, we move fast, scout it out, and fall back. Then, we figure out what we need to do further?"

Sebastian gazes over to Bach with a proud smile. "That sounds like a good plan for now, bro. I really don't want to risk too much, but have to get our own eyes on the area. Otherwise, we're just making wild guesses and speculation blindly."

A sly toothy smile graces Cideeda, and she places her hands on her hips with sway, flicking the tip of her long, fluffy tail. "If they're really keeping to themselves, they might leave us alone so long we just look like lost adventurers chasing some bogus ruin to pilfer. We just need to keep a look out for any activity and just play dumb."

With a plotting glint in her emerald green eye, she grins, perking her furry ears, and scratches her chin. "We might be able to triangulate where their base is by noting when they have some scout watching us."

The group tosses around ideas and mulls over possible tactics between themselves. A few minutes later, Aristespha spots something out of the corner of her eye and snaps her attention to a trail of dark red fluid running down the side of Sotalia's head. Narrowing her violet eyes momentarily, she widens her stare in surprise. "Sotalia? Did you injure your head?!"

Sotalia blinks back to awareness and notices the finger point from Aristespha, patting her fingers upon the dark red trail. Squinting at the color upon her hand, Sotalia quickly removes the towel from her head. Locks of fiery orange, wavy hair fall from unraveling the towel wrap and rest down upon Sotalia's shoulders. Unfolding the dark red soaked fabric before her in utter bewilderment, Sotalia spots two blotches of black in the mess. The rest of the group gawks in sheer confusion at the dark brown and tan, swept back horns upon Sotalia's fiery orange hair covered head. Bouncing her stare between the stained towel and the stunned silence of the rest of the group, shock floods Sotalia's being. Her face pales, her posture stiffens, and her hands tremble. Without a further word, she snaps a pivot away from the group and speeds off into the house.

----

A pair of golden, nervous eyes stare into the bathroom mirror reflection of a half-emin woman. Sotalia slowly raises her hand to her shoulder, and lifts a wavy lock of fiery orange hair up. Twirling the strands between her fingers, she lets the hair slip out and rubs the trace amount of dark red residue. Her hands touch the dark brown and tan horns on her head, and follow their swept back path. With a long, shaky exhale, Sotalia lowers her arms, places her palms firmly upon the bathroom counter, and aims her head down, staring at the few dark red spatters in the sink. Drawing a long, slow breath in, she raises her light tan and dark gray edged face up and stares at the person in the mirror. "It's... Been a while..."

A series of knocks sound out from the bathroom door. Sotalia grimaces defiantly and yells firmly. "I'm FINE!"

Her confidence drains, and the strength of her voice fades to a listless mumble. "Just give a few more minutes... Or... MORE..."

A few familiar voices drone outside. Sebastian's ethereal tone rises up from the debate and resonates through the doorway. "It's okay. Just give her some time."

From the other side, he projects directly at the door. "HEY. I'm coming in."

Sotalia blinks hard, snaps her head towards the door, and swats at the ghostly visage of Sebastian. "Gods! Oh, will you fuck off!"

Cringing from the swipes of Sotalia's long nailed fingers through his form, Sebastian floats around to Sotalia's other side, keeping a concerned gaze upon her. "Sorry, Sol. Have to make sure you are okay."

Sotalia draws a long calming breathing in, relaxes her curling fingers, and places her hands back upon the edge of the bathroom counter. "I'm... Okay..."

Sebastian rosses his arms, lifts an inquisitive eyebrow, and stares blatantly unconvinced. Sotalia sighs out her frown and averts her eyes to the sink basin below. "For the most part. It's just... Gods..."

Drifting over closer to Sotalia, Sebastian cranes his head to meet her distant stare. "It's okay, Sol. I'm here. Everyone is just worried, and we just want to make sure you're okay. You darted off on us and didn't seem well."

Nodding her head understandingly, she turns to Sebastian with a weak smile. "I... I know. It's just. Gods... A bunch of old memories of my stupid past self coming back all of the sudden. Ones I was happy to never think about. Never thought seeing myself like this would bring them back so STRONG."

Sebastian nods calmly with a supportive smirk. "Is this the same stupid past self that you always changed the subject away from, back when we first started out?"

A soft chuckle escapes Sotalia, and she rolls her eyes golden at herself with a dragging sigh. "YES... The very same. A really embarrassing stretch of my past that just gets harder to look at the older I get."

With a supportive smile and shrug of the shoulders, Sebastian shakes his head. "Yeah... Well, it always seemed like a touchy subject. I just figured if it became relevant, we'd explore it, then."

Sotalia pulls a long breath of air through her nose and exhales out her nerves, faint trembles in her tone. "And, here we are."

Nodding briefly with a grimace, Sebastian unfolds his arms out to the sides. "Yes. BUT, we don't need to go into full details, right now. As long as you are okay and know that we are all here for you, Sol."

A genuine smile graces Sotalia, and she wipes a build up of tears out of her eyes, traces of tension fading from her. "I know. I know. I'll be fine. Just processing a bunch of old baggage that I've been putting off."

She grits her teeth, focuses her stare into the mirror, and shakes her head slowly. "Behold the face of a vain... Arrogant... Stupid... Over-achieving... Glory hungry... Self-important... BITCH."

Hovering behind Sotalia, Sebastian eases his face into the reflection of the mirror and presents a reassuring smile. He stares at the mirror and glances over to Sotalia, with a reassuring tone. "I just see you, Sol. And, that's all anyone else here will see."

The overhead vanity light glints off the tears welling in Sotalia's golden eyes, and she bites her lower lip with a sniffle. Sebastian furrows his brow, chuckles ethereally, and rolls his eyes at himself. "Anyway, you have nothing on the transparent, arrogant idiot that heroically got his dumb ass at the mercy of a lame magical sword, and almost dragged everyone else to destruction."

Sotalia fights to hold back a giggle. Sebastian simply shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to the sides. "Well, it's the TRUTH. EVERYONE saw it."

Seconds of silence hang in the room. Lifting a hand from the counter, Sotalia brushes her fingers through her fiery orange, wavy hair and laughs. "GODS. To think my hair used to be much longer than Aristespha's.

She glances off to the side and smirks. "I have always missed that."

Sebastian floats nearby and examines the bright locks upon Sotalia's head. "Admittedly, I always wondered if that dark red was your natural hair color or not. I just never found any clues otherwise to what else it would be."

Pressing her finger tip upon her eyebrow, Sotalia drags out a dark red fluid from the orange follicles. She drops the residue into the sink and flashes a sly grin to Sebastian via the mirror. "What can I say? I was always very thorough in those regards."

Straightening up her posture, she rolls her shoulders into long stretches and breathes out some tension. "OKAY. I'm going to wash off in the shower. Then..."

Furrowing her brow, she glances around her mind and hums, tinges of suspicion rising up. "I'm going to take a VERY CLOSE look at that hot tub."

----

Sitting in a booth seat in a small diner, Isaac sorts through a stack of paperwork, taps it into order upon the restaurant table, and neatly lays it in front of Blesk. "It looks like a fine application to me. You most certainly will get some attention from quite a number of people at the Grand Library with your magical photography experiments."

Blesk scratches the back of his head, combs through his wild, light blue hair, and smiles graciously. "Thank you so much. I would have never known about Dr. Malkav or even thought about sending some of my results to him."

A sly grin cracks across Isaac's face, and he chuckles lightly. "Oh, not a problem. Dr. Malkav is a good man. He would most certainly be interested in your research and has a little pull on the application side of things. You will most certainly still need to present a strong portfolio of your research. But, from experience, every little bit helps."

Slowly grasping the application in his hands, Blesk carefully inserts the paperwork into a folder and packs it securely away in his satchel. "Of course. But, still..."

He wrestles down an uneasy frown and sighs. "I feel a bit bad for not mentioning you in all of this. I mean, I wouldn't even be remotely as far along as I am without you helping me along."

Isaac holds up a hand and shakes his head with a reassuring smile. "Do not worry. I have unfortunately had some academic disagreements with a few on the admission board in the past. So, it is best that my name doesn't taint your chances. Anyway, you have more than rewarded me with sharing your knowledge with me."

Glancing over to a camera on the table top, he pats his hand on the device. "I would never have dreamed of being able to take this antique store find and breathe new life into it as a fine magical detection tool."

An honest grin spreads across Isaac, and he bows slightly, respectfully to Blesk. "I actually cannot wait to see what pictures I'll take with this. I just hope I'll be able to capture something astounding enough to repay you."

A humbling surge of emotion fills Blesk, and he shrugs with a bit of embarrassment. "Aw... It's nothing really. Just whatever copies of the pictures you take with a bit of documentation will help so much. Any data and results I can catalog will help my research immensely."

He glances over towards Isaac and hints of sadness sneak into his tone. "I really wish you could stay a little longer. We've done so much in a week, I can't even fathom the possibilities if we had a solid month of time to research together. So much progress. It's so... Thrilling!"

With an encouraging smirk, Isaac points to Blesk. "THAT drive there is why you need to get into the Grand Library. There are so many others that will support your efforts and help you bring your research to fruition. There are people there who have been waiting for something like this to come around. You NEED to bring that to them."

Blesk nods slowly, reluctance slipping out and coloring his expression. Isaac chuckles to himself with a nonchalant smile. "Don't worry. Once you get in, I'll be certain to contact you. But... For now, I need to resume my quest of sorts and see what progress I can make with my own research."

The hesitation disappears from Blesk, and he nods sympathetically to Isaac with a faint chuckle. "I, totally, understand. It wouldn't be fair to keep you from your own projects. But, still...

With a genuine smile, he gazes over to Isaac. "Thank you."

Lydia steps up to the side of the table and places down a sandwich and fries basket in front Blesk with her free hand. "Here you go."

Another basket rises into view from below the tabletop and slides up onto the surface in front of Isaac with a push of a small hand. Isaac glances down at the sandwich and sides, and swings his delighted face over to meet the happy smile of the little girl next to Lydia. "Thank you very much, Leigh."

With a reserved smile, Lydia pats Leigh's head and nods to Isaac. "I really hate to see my favorite customer leave. But... I can't keep you from making your living."

She rolls her eyes and smirks humored. "Otherwise, you won't be able to be a customer. Just promise me you won't disappear for two months straight again will you?"

Isaac gazes warmly at Lydia and sighs with a chuckle. "I'll try... Really, I will."

-45-

Inside the garage of the ranch style house, the door to the kitchen swings open, and Cideeda swiftly descends the few wooden stairs to the concrete floor. Curling her fingers tighter she secures her grip on two metal boxes by their handles and carries them at her sides. Standing next to the humvee, Dretphi inspects the contents currently in the open rear cargo area and checks off items on a paper list. Cideeda stops next to Dretphi, hoists up the painted steel containers briefly into view, and quizzically furrows her brow. "Ammo and batteries. In the back, or the cab?"

Dretphi examines the dimensions of the boxes, glances over to the cargo area, and motions towards the front of the vehicle. "Cab. Keep it easy to access."

With an agreeable smile, Cideeda nods and swings her momentum forward around the back of the vehicle. "Sounds good to me."

She skillfully balances herself along with the mass of the metal boxes, lifts them up through the open back passenger's door, and lands them upon the cab floor. Turning his upper body around to the noise, Bach scoots over from the aisle and meets Cideeda's gaze. "So, where do you want them?"

Cideeda points a claw tip towards the aisle area behind the front center console and swings her attention over to the front of the far back bench seat, circling out another area with a finger. "One in the front, and one in the back. I packed equal amounts of shells, bullets, and batteries in both. That way there's something we can use in either."

Slowly stepping down the garage steps, Sotalia shrugs both her shoulders and slides the straps of satchels at her sides. She steps over to the back of the humvee and rests the bags upon the lip of the hatchway. "Here's the magical detection and test equipment."

Dretphi glances over, nods, and marks down another note on the notepad in her hands. "Good. Should be room in the corner."

With Sebastian floating behind, Aristespha walks down the stairs and quickly covers the distance between the kitchen door and garage opening, narrowing her eyes towards the back of the humvee. She moves to the other side of Sotalia under the humvee's heavy hatch, removes an emergency medical box off the inside side wall, and opens it up for inspection. "Let us see what is still good..."

Sifting through the contents, she counts the number of items in the sections and studies the quality of the supplies. "Okay. Not that terrible. But..."

Furrowing her brow, she squints her violet eyes at a vial of a faded blue solution. "These potions are looking quite old. Sotalia?"

She shifts her gaze over and perks an eyebrow. "Do you remember when we made this last batch?"

Waiting a few seconds for an answer, Aristespha turns her head towards Sotalia and cocks her head to the side, confused. In the noon sun, Sotalia brushes her hands through her fiery orange, wavy hair and twirls the ends between her long nailed fingers with an indecisive sigh. Aristespha stands up, smirks at the distracted Sotalia, and chuckles lightly. "So, are you going to dye it back?"

Blinking back to awareness, Sotalia pivots and meets the curious gazes of Aristespha, Dretphi, and Sebastian. She visibly mulls the idea over between grimaces. "Oh. I don't know. I'm so used to it being dark red..."

She rolls her golden eyes and grumbles. "But, now that the secret is out... The allure feels all gone. I think I'll keep it, but that means I'll need to get my guild ID updated here soon."

Aristespha slowly nods understandingly and sighs. "Yet another thing I need to update, BEFORE they send me a sternly worded warning notice."

Stepping around from the side of the humvee, Cideeda joins the gathering with Bach trailing behind. She reaches into her shorts pocket, retrieves her wallet, and parts it open, gazing at her ID picture. "Yeah... I'm not far behind you. Gods. I've been meaning to get THIS picture redone."

Bach glances down to the image in Cideeda's wallet, stifles a snort, and attempts to play it off nonchalantly. "Hey, that's not THAT bad of a picture."

A pair of emerald green eyes stare up at Bach, and Cideeda lifts an eyebrow with a toothy grin. "OH, just YOU wait. They were really nice to you with your intern ID.

Curling the corner of her mouth, she chuckles faintly. "But, I want to see what picture they take for your full guild ID. Is it going to be a bad angle, washed out colors, bad lighting, or all of the above?"

Bach smiles awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders. "I mean... They can't ALL be THAT bad."

Shaking her head fighting a frown, Dretphi retrieves her guild ID from her pocket and presents it to Bach. "Beg to differ."

Aristespha smirks in amusement, pulling out a lanyard of various official cards and badges, and flips to her guild ID card. Sotalia rolls her golden eyes, bites her lip, and playfully resigns to the ambient social pressure. Retrieving her aetherphone from her yoga pants pocket, she flips it over to the backside of the case and slides out her guild ID, joining the group presentation. Bach surveys the different pictures on the cards and slowly drops his jaw at the bad poses, terrible timing, and poor photography overall. "Wow... Uh... Yeah, um... I just... Gods..."

Tilting his head to the side, he blinks dumbfounded and wanders his glances between the team. "Do they contract the same people who do the driver's licenses in High Alton? This all looks painfully similar to their work."

Sebastian remains quiet and idly floats nearby Aristespha, feigning interest elsewhere. An amused smile graces Aristespha, and she winks at Sebastian and aims her voice over to Bach. "Of course, if you want to see a real masterpiece of photography, I think I might be able to bring up the digital copy of Sebastian's guild ID photo..."

Starting to shift his interest away, Bach notices a particular number on Sotalia's guild card. Below a finger conveniently hiding the birth date field on the ID, he snaps his focus fully upon a measurement. "One hundred eighty three centimeters tall?"

Narrowing his incredulous stare upon Sotalia, his blue eyes shift between the top of her head and points of comparison from others in the surrounding group. Sotalia grins slyly with the attention, raises a hand well over her head, and slowly lowers a level palm downwards, just barely off to the side of her head. Gradually resting her fingers upon the tallest crest of one of her horns, she smiles proudly with her other hand on her hip. "Guild rules state that horns count for the purposes of your profile height as they are inflexible structures that are typically affixed to your person."

Bach blinks, puzzling, and processes the stipulation, furrows of his brow. Aristespha rolls her violet eyes dramatically, steps away towards the kitchen door, and shakes her head with a twisting smirk. "Still such a shameless abuse of the definition of profile height."

Sotalia scoffs jokingly at Aristespha and winks at Bach with a humored tone. "OH, is someone still sore they started disqualifying ear tips above the head for height purposes?"

----

In the main kitchen galley, Bach and Aristespha stand on either side of the large double basin sink. Aristespha carefully arranges a number of vials, tubes, and containers into particular groups and sorts through reagents and materials upon piles of paper. Flipping through a well worn book, she stops at a particular page and hands the tome over to Bach, a finger resting upon a particular section of text. "After checking through our supplies, we need more stamina potions. If you could start prepping this one part, I will work on the other part of the first stage. Consider it a refresher course in alchemy."

Grasping hold of the book, Bach scans over the text and nods slowly, resting the aged leather binding upon the counter top nearby. "Okay. Sounds good to me."

Minutes passing by, the two meticulously go through the intricate processes, cutting, slicing, and dicing the ingredients. Each takes turns getting vials and tubes and using the basins of the sink to fill and wash. Occasionally, Bach tilts the page of the book into view of Aristespha and points to a few lines, Aristespha calmly instructing clarifications. With assistance from Bach, Aristespha lifts up a large copper, green speckled cauldron from the ground, and the two rest it upon a large electric hotplate on a floor stand. Eying the large pot, Bach glances over to Aristespha with a humored smirk. "Nothing like the classics, eh?"

Rolling her violet eyes, Aristespha twists the corner of her mouth and sighs humored with a shake of her head. "It was my great grandmother's before she gave it to me as an excuse to upgrade her home lab. As cliché as it is, it works wonderfully for cooking large volumes. For consistency, it is surprisingly hard to beat."

She kneels down, adjusts the knobs on the hotplate controls, and stands back up, smiling smugly at Bach. "Though, the electric hotplate is my addition."

Nodding at the configuration, Bach turns his attention over to Aristespha with a quizzical lift of an eyebrow. "Induction or radiant?"

A confident grin graces Aristespha, and she briefly assumes a proud stance. "Oh. Both."

With a momentarily impressed smirk, Bach tilts his head to the side, watching indicator lights illuminate the surface of the hotplate and information text updates upon a control display. Under guidance from Aristespha, Bach repeats filling a large measuring cup from the sink faucet and emptying out into the cauldron. Between additions of water, Aristespha introduces scoops of reagents, constantly stirring the heating mixture. With the last pour of water and sprinkling of ingredients, Aristespha and Bach stand back, idly observing the slow bubbling and gradual changes in the concoction. A quiet minute later, Aristespha's posture shifts slightly, and she flexes the fingers at her sides. She slides her gaze over at Bach with an astute tone. "I have been thinking... We should start investigating your abilities regarding your use of Elder energy and-"

A stern, sharp voice resonates out from Bach, matching his resolute stare at Aristespha. "NO."

Blinking blankly, Aristespha gawks bewildered and stumbles over her sentence. "Oh- Um... I know you have been... hesitant to use it before, but there could be great potential. I am certain with time and careful practice we might be able to-"

A stronger tone rises up from Bach, and he narrows down a determined glare at Aristespha. "NO."

Processing the refusal between twitches of her ivory face, Aristespha suppresses the flits of emotion playing out on her face, struggling with maintaining her composure. Stiffening her posture, she crosses her arms tightly. Her violet eyes focus into a cold stare. Her mouth twists and face contorts, containing flares of frustration and irritation. Bach briefly holds up a hand, getting Aristespha's attention, lowers it down, exhaling calmly, and adopts a careful, purposeful voice. "LISTEN... It's been a real crazy ride so far. And, despite how imposed upon me A LOT of this has been..."

Furrowing his brow, he draws in a long breath and fights down a grimace. "I've actually found quite a bit to have been extremely helpful. And, a lot of it, I've needed to do anyway but always found excuses to avoid doing it."

His stare meets Aristespha's demanding glare, motion towards himself. "BUT... For THIS, I've thought about it A LOT longer than you've even had a chance to consider doing."

Narrowing his blue eyes right at Aristespha's violet eyes, he sighs firmly, with an apologetic tinge rising over the frustrated grumble. "THIS is nothing I'm going to explore. I had really hoped to have never used it ever again. UNDERSTAND, I was prepared to live my life as a lame mage just to never risk tapping into THIS again.

With a slow tilt of the head to a shoulder, he focuses his cooling stare upon Aristespha's waning stern demeanor. "Given what I've learned recently and what I've learned before... I think we're both thinking about the same possibilities. The same things that THIS could be used for."

Leaning in close, his tone darkens, and Bach solemnly punctuates. "BUT, given what you've seen... How DANGEROUS it was... How UNCONTROLLABLE it was... How UNPREDICTABLE it was..."

He hisses in a long breath. "Do you honestly think that THIS is anything we should RISK, right now?"

Cracks of terror slip out onto Bach's light tan face, and trembles of fear infiltrate his tone. "Let's be honest with ourselves... Whatever control I TRIED, BARELY WORKED. And quickly fell apart!"

Searching Aristespha's gaze, he shakily sighs out, briefly averting his gaze. "It took EVERYTHING I had to push it back. It was a STUPID risk to use it. But... I just didn't want to find out what would happen if I didn't use it right then."

Aristespha blankly stares back at Bach, revealing a torrent of emotions upon her face. A minute of tense silence stifles both. Dropping her head down in a wince of pain, Aristespha relaxes her arms, exhales her unease, and wipes the damp corners of her eyes. "You... You are right. Oh gods..."

She lifts her head back up and guides her silvery blue hair back over her shoulders and her long, pointed ears. Drawing a long, remorseful breath in through her nose, she softens her gaze with a frown. "I... I sincerely apologize, Bach. I am truly sorry. I just..."

Furrowing her brow, she wrestles down a saddened grimace and sighs. "I have been in this mindset... This, worst case of tunnel vision. Gods. I have been so oblivious. Just so single minded in..."

A genuine smile forms from the corner of Bach's mouth, and he chuckles lightly. "Been trying to find any other answer than the one you got?"

Rolls her eyes at herself, Aristespha nods and smirks weakly. "Yes. I keep trying to figure out the quickest, most efficient, easiest solution and... I keep on finding out that there just are not... any. I keep on hitting the same brick wall and trying everything against it."

She pinches the bridge of her nose, resting her free hand upon her hip. "BUT, this whole situation has changed so much. I am not remotely certain about what to do anymore."

She glances at Bach, a hint of unease coloring her face. "I am obviously well outside the familiar at this point."

Standing back up straight, Bach grins nonchalantly and shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to the side. "Well, welcome to the club. Sometimes life scares you silly, drags you out of your comfort zone, and pushes you into a whole new situation."

Briefly opening her eyes wide, Aristespha bites her lower lip uncomfortably and averts her gaze briefly away from Bach, struggling with the sharp surge of embarrassment and shame. "YES... THAT is another thing I have been thinking about, too. If it is of any value from me, I do truly appreciate how cooperative and helpful you have been to everyone. Despite how insistent and demanding we..."

She pauses a moment and sighs. "I... especially have been. I am sorry beyond my words for our initial meeting and how we handled it. We were not right, in general."

Nodding with an amused smile, Bach laughs. "Well, it does have value to me. I mean, I'm mostly over it by now. But, I still think I'm allowed a few more snide remarks about it all."

He rocks his head from shoulder to shoulder and grumbles slightly. "Not that it excuses anything, but I'm better off now than I was expecting to be."

With a brief squint, he twists out a grimace. "BUT... I would REALLY appreciate future efforts for my betterment to NOT involve kidnapping. I'm actually pretty open to entertaining most suggestions otherwise."

Pondering quietly upon a few thoughts, Aristespha quirks an inquiring eyebrow and rests her hands on her sides, stretching her back slightly. "On a related note, I am kind of curious now. If we decided to not bring you along, what would you have done? It did not seem like you were in a good situation."

With a long trailing sigh, Bach grits his teeth and thinks aloud. "Gods, I don't quite know. I guess... Sell off the furniture for another month's rent? Pawn off magic trinkets at that bar for food? But, that would have only gotten so far..."

Cringing, he grumbles sadly and slacks his shoulders. "Eventually, probably move back in with my parents?"

Aristespha briefly twists her mouth into a frown and sighs understandingly. "That is never the option you want to undertake, especially after being on your own for so long. I have sacrificed much to avoid that myself. So many minimum wage jobs."

Turning his attention to the rolling boil of the cauldron, Bach awkwardly grins. "Yeah. So, oddly, being abducted was kind of a rough step in the right direction. I mean, even if I had gotten away, I had NO IDEA what I was going to do next. Running only works so long as you have a place to run to."

With a slow nod, Aristespha stirs a glass rod in the bubbling mixture and genuine smiles. "Well, I do hope things are still taking steps in the right direction, despite the rough appearances."

She squints at the darkening color of the brew and points over towards the countertop, keeping a constant stir. "Okay. I think we are getting close. Could you help handle everything on the countertop, please? It really helps having someone else sort through and pass things along."

Stepping over at the ready, Bach hovers his hands over the collection of alchemical instruments and glances over expectantly. "Okay. What do I do?"

----

A glint of morning light reflects off the Flames of the Phoenix logo upon the black sports utility vehicle rolling into a large clearing off the highway. In the open area of short grass and old packed gravel, light military vehicles parked around large support vehicles warm in the rising sunlight. Inside the encampment, uniformed personnel wander about, tending to their duties. Chad steers the vehicle closer to the core of the camp and searches the vicinity, bouncing his stare between prominent pieces of machinery, tents, and gatherings of people. Veevi, Tassilda, Deedri, Trakenthin, and Modoran peer out the windows at the mercenary forces, noticing the common themes of iconography. A logo of a medieval helm upon a gear background and crossed swords with the words "Chrome Crusaders" shines upon vehicles, uniforms, and the powered armor suits. Slowing the sports utility vehicle down, Chad navigates into an area that an officer designates with waving motions. Seconds later, other vans for the Next Adventurers of Nexus crew pull into other spots under the direction of the uniformed man. Chad glances over at everyone in the cab and grins proudly. "Well, I think it's time we make our presence."

The group exits the vehicle and forms roughly behind Chad, walking forward towards the main part of the encampment. Veevi quickly assumes a spot right next to Chad, briefly sneaking a shy glance behind at Deedri. Moments later, she resumes her normal outgoing attitude towards Chad. Deedri and Tassilda amble behind, surveying the busy areas surrounding. Trakenthin and Modoran trail long behind and gawk at the impressive equipment and vehicles. The Next Adventurers of Nexus crews attempt to disperse out, seeking the most ideal filming positions. Most retreat back to less desirable positions under the unamused eyes of a few uniformed personnel and the cold stare of the helmet visor worn by power armored troopers. The groups funnel into a central core of the camp. The aroma of breakfast food fills the air, and the peaceful drone of casual conversation radiates over the small mess area. Searching around, Chad squints towards a number of armored mech troopers. "Okay. So, where is the CO?"

Deedri's furry tufted ears twitch, flick towards a direction, and guide her head towards a noise. "Those are some really heavy footsteps."

From behind a long, tall utility truck, an imposing metal figure leans around the corner with the momentum. With each step forward, thickly layered, plated boots sink firmly under the weight into the mix of gravel and dirt below. The heavy form moves with purposeful motion. Different sections of the technological suit work in unison and follow the will of the wearer within. In stark contrast to the well-maintained sheen and superficial blemishes of the knightly metal body, a boldly grinning man's head sticks out of the top of the breastplate. A breeze glides along the campgrounds and blows the tips of graying, short black hair, and the man narrows a brown eyed, curious gaze at Chad, stopping in front of the team. "Chad Bosch, I assume?"

Tilting his head slightly up, Chad meets the eyes of the power armored man and puts forth his hand to shake. "Senior Paladin Maxon, I assume?"

With an amused smile, Senior Paladin Maxon nods. "Unfortunately for some."

He glances down at Chad's outstretched hand, smirks, and grasps it, a powered gauntlet hydraulically sounding out. "Interesting. Most hesitate shaking our hands when we’re suited up."

Chad smiles with a confident, bright white smile, and shakes Maxon's hand firmly. "Well, I just know your particular model of suit has a limiter in the gauntlet to prevent accidental crushing of equipment... and personnel."

Maxon tightly grips Chad's hand, and Chad responds in kind with a determined stare at Maxon. Seconds later, both release their hands, and a loud fit of laughter escapes Maxon. Shaking his head with a brilliant smile, Maxon snorts. "HA! I wondered if you were THAT Bosch's son. Know your father all too well. Could never get that man to ever join us on a mission, though. But, to his credit he always loved hearing about it afterwards."

A frown sneaks out from the corners of Chad's mouth, and he maintains a neutral expression against growing dissatisfaction. Lifting an eyebrow at Chad, Maxon grins slyly and chuckles lightly. "But... Since YOU are out adventuring, I think I'm going to assume you take more after that grandfather of yours."

Chad's brown eyes spring wide, and his mood brightens back into a confident smile. "I'd like to think so, sir."

Maxon swings his armored arm out towards the tables, chairs, and huge tents in the core of the camp. "If you haven't had breakfast yet, please enjoy. We'll discuss our current mission and the most important details to you and your group. Everyone, make yourself at home."

Chad and Maxon walk towards a very prominent, decorated table under the largest, most elaborate tent in the middle of a modest mess area. Veevi attempts to keep up with Chad and grace his side and falls back, trailing behind him in the narrow aisles between tables and chairs. Modoran, Deedri, and Trakenthin follow the wafting aromas of food towards a line of people and the looming mist of cooking food. Pausing in thought, Tassilda observes the activities of nearby mages applying enchantments upon equipment and armor.

From behind, an eloquent, pleasantly flowing pronunciation of a particular dialect of Emin emerges from a calm male voice. In genuine surprise, Tassilda flutters her light blue on black eyes, momentarily blushing. With a slow pivot towards the source and a flattered smile growing on her gray face, she faces a light power armored form standing at attention. Her eyes quickly scan the suited figure, slowing her study upon the excellent points of physique peeking through the softer, flexible parts of the outfit. Gradually shifting her attention upwards towards the helm, Tassilda gawks at the prominent, black horns on the fully helmed head of the man. Moments pass, the man pauses in thought with a slight cock of the head, nods down at Tassilda, and gently asks. "My most sincere apologies, dear lady. I may have guessed the wrong Emin dialect and did not properly relay my intentions correctly. Do you require any assistance?"

Tassilda flutters her eyes and grins with an enamored hint. "Oh, you certainly guessed wrong. But, I pleasantly understood. It is very surprising to hear that lovely dialect all the way out here. As for assistance..."

A sly curl appears in the corner of her mouth, her pose slides towards enticing, and she motions towards the group lead by Chad and Maxon. "I would not mind if someone knowledgeable could explain the layout of the camp as they escorted me towards my group."

Lifting a quizzical eyebrow, she points a curious hand towards the light power armored man. "Would you be able to assist me...?"

The light armored man gradually straightens his posture and nods respectfully. "My apologies again, my lady. I am Junior Paladin Daedrican. At your service."

Tassilda smiles contentedly and awaits expectantly. Junior Paladin Daedrican bows slightly, swinging his arm out slowly towards the nearby aisle. "Your lead, my lady. I will be happy to answer all your questions that I am able."

Nodding graciously, Tassilda turns away, stepping forward past Junior Paladin Daedrican. Suppresses a flash of giddiness on her face, she mutes a spring in her step and hides a near reflexive bite of her lower lip.

----

The thick, forest canopy shields the overhead sun from fully reaching the mossy, vegetation covered floor. Underneath the perimeter of old, tall trees, evuukians walk upon worn paths between ancient stonework structures. Buildings barely reveal themselves between breaks in the thick plant cover cultivated over time from persistent nature. In front of key entry points throughout the area, guards adorned in fanciful, nature inspired attire stand at attention. Evuukians dutifully travel towards destinations out beyond the clearing into the underbrush, foliage intricately woven into their clothing. With bows hanging from their shoulders, they inspect their quivers of arrows and depart stealthily from view. An evuukian woman purposefully steps across the open passages between the overgrown structures, approaching an isolated building far from the center of the encampment. Keeping a covered tray level in front of her, she studies the pair of guards outside the only entry leading in the lone structure. She stops and stares between both the stoic guardians with stern, turquoise eyes. Furrowing the brow of her dark tan face, she throws her head back, shifting her dark green braids. She squints into the darkness past the doorway and questions the two guards in evuukian with a curious, concerned tone.

The two sentries glance to each other and shake their heads at the woman. One inspects around the corner into the space inside, and the other shrugs with a long sigh. Shaking his head, he relays a few answers back in evuukian, hints of concern rising out of the stoic front that wanes in the moments. The woman nods and steps through the doorway. Past the contrast of outside light, dimly glowing crystals illuminate the interior of the ancient stonework hallway. The woman slowly moves to the end of the passage, stopping at a solitary metal door. Balancing the covered tray on one hand, she slides over the small steel cover of a rectangular window. Her eyes search the dark void inside, and she gently calls out into the area. "Faelatelia?"

From one side of the small cell, a thin figure stirs, and a pair of vibrant sky blue eyes reflect back the traces of light slipping into the room. A weak, meek voice barely peeps. "C-c-chelind-d-dia?"

Chelindia's eyes widen, a frown forming around her gritting teeth. Glancing over her shoulder, she checks the path behind her, nothing residing in the hallway. Past the doorway into the bright outside, Chelindia spots only the outlines of guard shoulders and arms on either side of the exit. Returning her attention back ahead, she quietly undoes the large lock and carefully opens the heavy metal door. The ambient hallway light reveals the stonework details of the small windowless enclosure, the crude bathroom facilities, and a thin evuukian teenager shielding her eyes from the sudden change of brightness. Chelindia kneels down next to the rough cot with a shaky Faelatelia. Gazing upon Faelatelia's unkempt chestnut hair and blue hinted face, Chelindia softly speaks with encouraging evuukian phrases against tints of concern and straightens up the teenager's worn clothing.

Faelatelia gradually draws in a long breath, releases a shaky sigh, and musters her strength. Searching around the area, Chelindia finds an uncovered tray of barely eaten food. She gently places her hands upon the young evuukian's shoulders and cranes her head, gazing into Faelatelia's eyes. In between sentences of comforting evuukian, Chelindia directs Faelatelia's attention to the old tray of food and uncovers the fresh food brought in on the new tray. Faelatelia lowers her head down, averting her eyes from Chelindia, and defiantly spits out a series of evuukian curses. Waiting patiently, Chelindia meets the teary face of Faelatelia's and lifts her head back up. A fit of sniffles and sobs prompts Chelindia, and she embraces the scared teenager. Faelatelia hugs as tightly as she can manage in return. Chelindia whispers her concern and passes along hopeful words. Minutes of encouragement later, the two release each other. Faelatelia slowly breathes in, exhales out her nerves, and stares at Chelindia with reservation mixing in renewed faith. Presenting a warm smile, Chelindia hoists the new tray of food and water upon Faelatelia's lap and gently pats her shoulder.

She grasps onto the old tray, stands up straight, and walks out the doorway. Quickly searching the area just outside the cell, she spots an illumination crystal in a nearby sconce, plucks it off the platform, and resettles it into a similar holder within the confines of the cell. With a smile and nod to an appreciative, hungry Faelatelia, she slowly closes the metal cell door, engages the locking, leaves the small window open.

With a nod to both guards, Chelindia exits the prison building, strides out across the area along a path, and travels towards the largest structure in the vicinity. Nearing the structure, her posture straightens, her demeanor stiffens, and her stare develops a cold calculated exterior. A young evuukian man crosses in front of her, notices Chelindia's direction, and promptly stands clear out of the way. He greets Chelindia with a salute and waits patiently, rigidly. Chelindia stops in front of the man, examines him briefly, and holds the old food tray to him. The young man promptly grabs hold of the tray. Chelindia points out another overgrown building, barks out a stern order, and departs without another word. The evuukian man swiftly rushes off without a further question.

Stepping through the main entryway of the largest ancient structure, Chelindia passes a small squad in nature themed outfits reviewing written instructions and exchanging other relevant information. She navigates down the tall, wide hallways of activity and catches glimpses into the many rooms that branch off. Her turquoise eyes squint at the small makeshift armory of swords, bows, arrows, and light armor. Pausing briefly, she watches a few mages apply their craft to wands, staffs, and other magical implements. She walks past the improvised barracks of bunk beds and a few idling evuukians. Entertaining a number of similar diversions along the way, she arrives at the end of the hallway and steps through a towering, open double door. Entering into the cavernous room, she surveys a gathering of evuukians reading materials, sorting through paperwork, studying maps, and writing notes, approaching a raised platform at the center of the room.

An evuukian woman with long, flowing, gray hair, and ivory skin struts proudly along the perimeter of the central platform. Slowing her gait, she pauses occasionally and observes the progress of the diligent evuukians, resuming her plotting pace to the next part of patrol. Chelindia stops at the steps leading to the rostrum, and the woman pivots, facing Chelindia with dark crimson eyes. "Chelindia."

Chelindia bows, stands back up straight, and greets the woman respectfully. "Meredosia."

Meredosia smiles confidently and inquires in evuukian, lifting a curious eyebrow. Chelindia nods and carefully follows up with a simple, quick explanation, shifting gradually into a pleading tone. She calmly elaborates a series of points with hand motions, mentioning Faelatelia by name in the proposal. Finishing her statement, she waits patiently, expectantly. Meredosia narrows her stare at Chelindia, ponders dramatically in thought between rocks of her head, and swiftly spins away. She ambles along the platform, loudly retorts with a stern tone, and glances over her shoulder at Chelindia with a sly grin. Planting her feet exactly upon the central point of the platform, she grips a finely gloved hand around an ornate amulet and proudly smiles. She pivots and stares at Chelindia. With a bold tone, she adopts an explanatory cadence, articulates her thoughts out with a free hand, and quirks her smug brow. Chelindia sighs respectfully, bows her head down, and submits a tenuous agreement. Meredosia nods respectfully to Chelindia, softens her focused gaze, and speaks calmly, sincerity in her evuukian words.

Standing back up straight, Chelindia presents a smile and recites a few requests. Meredosia thinks for a moment, relays her acceptance, and presents a genuine smile. Chelindia respectfully turns away and walks towards the exit. Gripping her amulet tightly, Meredosia aims her focus towards the center of the platform and eyes the faint outlines of ancient script forming a faded circle below her. At the precipice to the hall, Chelindia glances briefly over her shoulder and watches Meredosia. A few fine, barely visible threads of white magical energy drift lightly around the elegant attire and ivory skin of the evuukian woman above the central point of the platform. The strands of magic converge into the crystalline center of the amulet. Returning her attention toward the hallway ahead, a frown creeps from the corners of Chelindia's mouth, and her eyes search inside her mind. Uncertainty taints her grimace despite and wins against her attempts for a stoic exterior.

Behind her, Meredosia pridefully grins, the white light inside the amulet increasing in brightness ever so faintly.

----

Cideeda wraps her claw tipped fingers around the steering wheel of the humvee, twisting her grip, and grits her sharp teeth. "What the fuck is the hold up?! How long does it take to mobilize a convoy?! It's not THAT big of one."

Flipping through the holographic menus of the holoplayer, Sotalia sifts through the different musical track listings and curls an intrigued eyebrow at a particular band name. She peeks over her seat and narrows her golden eyes at Bach with a sly smirk, giggling amused. "Oh. My. Gods. You have THEIR entire discography?"

Bach leans over into the aisle, squints ahead at the mid-air projections, and rolls his blue eyes dismissively away from embarrassment. "Well... You know... They had a few good hits. And their album stuff isn't all THAT bad. I mean, there's a few songs I like to listen to when the right mood hits."

He shrugs and averts his gaze from the scrutiny. "What else can I say? Some days, it just fits. You know?"

Studying Bach's honest review, Sotalia twists a smile on her light tan face and sighs out her genuine agreement. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I like them, too."

She furrows her brow and slides a smirk over. "I just never run into anyone else who has anything beyond their hits."

Sebastian's ghostly form hovers in the middle of the aisle of the cab, exuding boredom through from his far off stare out the windshield. Aristespha flips through menus on the tablet upon her lap and taps the sword at her side. "Sebastian, you should probably return to the sword, for now. Avoid any unwanted attention."

With an ethereal sigh, Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and continues floating in the aisle nonchalantly. "I don't think it really matters right now, dear. The guy they have watching the rear hasn't looked over towards us for the past fifteen minutes or so."

Dretphi squints her steely gray eyes, searches through a side window, and scans the surfaces of the vehicles ahead. A minute later, she spots a small logo on the side of a vehicle a few spots in the convoy ahead. "See a Chrome Crusader emblem. On the side of that truck ahead."

Blinking back the awareness, Sebastian traces the path Dretphi's arm points out and notices the same marking. "Huh. I wonder what they are doing around here. I thought they usually stuck to larger jobs."

An alert chime rings out from Aristespha's pocket. She retrieves her aetherphone, enters a security code, and swipes through the on-screen interface. Tapping on a new entry in the message list, her interest piques, and an intrigued smile grows on her face. "Kaleb and Lagi just got into aether tower range. They are transmitting the high resolution pictures of their early morning fly over."

Lifting her tablet up, she rests her phone on her lap and presses a few prompts upon the large screen of the device. An overhead view of a heavily forested area appears on the display. Sebastian, Bach, and Dretphi position themselves in the cab, getting the best view. Dretphi's eyes spring wide open, and she traces out curious areas with her finger. "Strange. Old trees in a circular perimeter. Canopy gaps in the center of the grouping. Right angle shape?"

She leans closer and narrows her studious stare. "THAT is not natural. Something is there."

Aristespha, Bach, and Sebastian investigate the details closer and arrive at similar suspicions about the imagery. Sebastian grins proudly to Dretphi and nods. "Oh yeah. I definitely agree. Think that's a spot Kaleb and Lagi should fly over a little closer later on tonight."

Returning her gaze forward from the discussion, Cideeda flexes her grip on the humvee's steering wheel and grumbles, meanly furrowing her light brown brow. "OKAY. I'm about ready to drive through the median. I'm sure we can get really close to where we need to be before nightfall..."

Straightening her back in the driver's seat, she flexes her clawed fingers, wrestles down a snarl, and flicks her tufted tail tip. "BUT... I'm not so sure we will, IF we have to wait for these IDIOTS to MOVE."

Her emerald green eyes shift to the rear view mirror. "SO... Any objections?"

Aristespha perks her brow, twists a sly smirk, and shrugs her shoulders. "They are not highway police or military authority. It is not like they can legally stop us. And, I will be happy to file a few complaints to the guild."

Sotalia's head snaps and focuses upon the closest uniformed convoy guard, finally turning around to face the humvee behind the stalled convoy. "Give me a second. I'm going to get this guy's attention and see what the hell the holdup is."

Quickly opening her door, she stands up on the humvee cab floor and waves energetically to the lone rear guard. "HEY! You!"

The man blinks to attention, and Sotalia shouts out. "YES, YOU! Come over here!"

Quickly walks over towards the humvee, the man furrows his brow and cocks his head curiously. Sebastian's ethereal visage fades back into the sword at Aristespha's side. "Finally. See if we can get a hold of whoever is organizing this circus."

With a mix of hand motions and verbal encouragement, Sotalia gets the man to speed up the pace and arrive next to her door. Sitting on the side of her seat, she addresses the man through the open door with a charming lift in her tone. "Thank you so much for coming over here. I just have to ask, what exactly is the hold up?"

In an official enough tone, the man attempts to stoically stand at attention. "We are preparing a sweep down the southern route past the upcoming intersection. There's been some unfortunate delays-"

Cideeda quickly glances back over to Dretphi. After a silent conversation of expressions, Dretphi perks up and recounts an important piece of information. "We take the eastern route at this intersection."

Nodding in agreement, Cideeda flashes a determined toothy grin to the man with an assertive stare right through him. "Well! That just works out. We're not going your way after the intersection, so we can just go around you, then."

The man awkwardly pauses his explanation, his mouth hanging open, and glances over to the convoy. "Uh. Um, I don't know about THAT. I'd have to check with my superior first..."

Flashing a sly grin, Sotalia guides her fiery orange, wavy hair back, adjusts her posture towards alluring, and aims her eager golden eyes upon the man. "Oh? May I ask who your superior is?"

With a brief fit of hesitation, the rear guard regathers enough of his wits. "Uh... Yes... It's Sergeant Matterhorn."

Sotalia blinks in thought, furrowing her brow, and curiously quizzes, searching her mind. "Quincy Matterhorn?"

The man nods slowly in recognition and slight confusion. "Uh. Yes, ma'am."

Sebastian's ghostly voice sounds out from the sword. "Oh. No way..."

Widening a grin on her light tan and dark gray edged face, Sotalia concentrates her golden eyes upon the man in front of her with playfully evil amusement. "REALLY. Could you ask him if he knows anything about a... Duck in Knox?"

The guard cocks his head uncertainly to the side and glances to either side of himself. Reaching for the radio attached to his shirt pocket, he steps away apprehensively. "Yeah.. I'll... See about that..."

The man walks a few meters away and keys up into a conversation on his radio. After a hushed exchange with the person on the other side, he pauses a moment, briefly eyes Sotalia, and clearly states. "Something about a... Duck in Knox?"

The radio falls silent for seconds. The rear guard furrows his brow and stares at the quiet device. A new voice sounds out and surprises the man. Between over the shoulder glances, the rear guard studies the awaiting Sotalia and nods to barely audible prompts. Pivoting around fully, the man approaches Sotalia's side of the humvee and gazes at her, visibly puzzling. "Um... Your group is cleared to travel along the left shoulder past the convoy. And... I've been informed to give you Sergeant Matterhorn's direct contact information."

Settling back into her seat, Sotalia slowly closes the door and smiles graciously with a flattering tinge in her tone. "OH! Thank you, so much. We won't keep you any longer from your work and will be on our way."

Furrowing his brow, the man nods and suspiciously eyes his radio. Cideeda promptly puts the humvee into gear, and the ancient military machine rolls off towards the left shoulder of the road. Idly scanning the area, the read guard turns his attention towards his thoughts. Seconds later, he walks back to his post at the rear of the convoy, keying up the radio. "Uh, sir? Is there something I should know about... Uh... that Duck in Kno-"

The voice on the other end of the radio surges over the static. "Not if you ever want to do anything besides rear guarding the scrap trucks in the foreseeable future."

With a wide-eyed, distant stare, the rear guard nods slowly and promptly drops the mystery. "Understood, sir."

----

People idle around the front of the convoy between the camera crews vans, Chrome Crusader vehicles, and the Flames of the Phoenix black sports utility vehicle. Senior Paladin Maxon stands with Chad and enthusiastically explains the plan with exaggerated arm motions. Chad responds and demonstrates his own understanding with elaborate hand gestures. Veevi attempts to gain the attention of Chad, maintaining a spot at his side, and occasionally glances over to Deedri. Modoran nonchalantly suns himself upon the rear seat of the Flames of the Phoenix ride via the sun roof. Leaning upon the side of the vehicle, Trakenthin awaits outside and keeps a watch over the area. Deedri converses with a few Chrome Crusader medical mages. Tassilda stands near Junior Paladin Daedrican, and the two talk, sections of the conversation switching into different emin dialects.

Along the left shoulder of the highway, a humvee quickly rolls by the standing convoy. The Next Adventurers of Nexus crew aim recording equipment over to the activity. Chrome Crusaders personnel briefly inspect the vehicle. A few glance towards one specific officer in the area. After a signal from him, they allow it through and promptly return to their duties. Spotting the humvee, Deedri happily waves towards the familiar faces of the group and keeps mindful of who else may be watching. With a competitive bright white smile obscuring his lack of amusement, Chad eyes the team. Maxon boldly greets the passing vehicle. Pulling any attention possible, Veevi energetically waves at the group and calls out to them. Squinting through windows of the moving humvee, Trakenthin meets a steely gray glare at him and narrows his sneering stare right back. Modoran lifts himself up from the way back seat, notices the humvee, and returns back to sunbathing.

Pausing her conversation with Daedrican, Tassilda casually pivots around and immediately spots the fiery orange, wavy hair of Sotalia. Her light blue on black eyes widen in surprise, and she parts a sly smile of sheer satisfaction. Sotalia focuses her full attention upon Tassilda and studies her every motion. At the closest to each other in passing, Tassilda flashes a sinister grin, slides her long nailed fingers under her long, raven hair, and fluffs it back dramatically over her shoulders. She reaches into her pocket, lifts up a small vial with a milky fluid inside, and waves towards Sotalia between her thumb and index finger with a smug wink. A hard cringe of recognition nearly closes Sotalia's eye. She frowns into a harsh grimace, individually pops her knuckles on a hand, and mouths silent swears.

The humvee passes the convoy and rides off back on the main part of the road. Observing the exchange, Daedrican tilts his helmet-covered head at Tassilda, a hint of squint slipping out from underneath his obscuring visor. Inside a Next Adventurers of Nexus van, Samantha grins nearly manic, leans out the passenger's window, and calls out to Gerald. "Gods almighty, please tell me you got shots of that!"

Gerald lifts his arm up and gives a solid thumbs up, still recording.

-46-

The thin, reddish glow from the setting sun fades across the sky into the spreading dark blue night. Thick rows of trees border the sides of the gravel road. Off to the side in a packed dirt alcove surrounded by thick underbrush, Cideeda lifts the hood of the humvee and casually inspects the engine compartment. Leaning down to a toolbox on the grass next to her, she opens the lid and picks a few choice tools out from inside. With a contemplative gaze, she stands back up and ponders to herself, rapping her free hand's claw tips upon the front of the vehicle. She purposefully places tools upon a quarter panel, the powerplant turbine cover, and an access panel. Walking around from the passenger's side, Bach studies the scene, lifts a curious brow to Cideeda, and cocks his head to the side. "So... I get lifting the hood up to make it look like we're adventurers with a broken down ride. But... What's with all the tools spread everywhere?"

Cideeda places her hands on her hips and reveals a sly grin on her light brown face to Bach. "Oh! THAT is just to sell the situation better. It's one thing to see a hood up and think MAYBE the vehicle is broken down. But if it looks like someone really frustrated tried to fix it..."

She points to Bach and smirks smugly. "THAT sells the deception."

Sweeping her hands out towards the ploy around her, she perks her furry ears and wags her fluffy tail. "Appraising the evidence here, you could easily assume rather than not."

Bach steps a few meters back towards the road, carefully looks over the presentation, and nods in agreement. "Oh yeah. All that DOES make it more convincing."

Squinting his eyes in thought, she pulls a smirk over from the corner of his mouth. "Maybe a roughed up service manual... Face down off to the side?"

With a glance over to the front of the vehicle, Cideeda nods slowly, a scheming smile forming. "OH. Definitely. I'll see if I can position it... Angry."

Bach chuckles amused and pivots around, scanning the vicinity. Midway through his slow spin, he spots Sotalia off to the side holding her aetherphone up in the air. Sotalia carefully sweeps the device side to side, judging the signal indicator on the screen between shifts. Watching the frustration upon Sotalia's light tan face, Bach watches the fluctuating bar graph on her phone display. "So... Any luck getting a good signal?"

Sotalia frowns with a slight snarl of the upper lip and sighs, resting her arm back down at her side. "NO. Gods. It seems to be about the same no matter where I aim."

Rolling her golden eyes, she shakes her head of fiery orange, wavy hair. "AND, it's no faster at downloading the new images from Kaleb than what Aristespha is getting in the humvee."

She turns to Bach, shrugs her shoulders, and smirks wryly. "Well, if nothing else, it's making us look like hapless adventurers to anyone watching."

Bach nods in agreement and warily eyes the dense forest beyond the clearing, flicking his blue stare between flits of paranoia. "Yeah... Hope so. I mean, Dretphi and my brother think we should be far enough away from any possible big patrols. And being close enough to the main roads, they'll probably just keep an eye on us and nothing more..."

He squints to a far off point in the shadowy mix of canopy and nightfall. "To avoid drawing attention to themselves... In theory."

Narrowing her stare out into the wilderness, Sotalia crosses her arms and rolls her shoulders with a faint frown. "That'll only buy us so much. I don't think they'll be very agreeable once we get closer."

Bach fights an uneasy grimace off his face and sighs, tensing his shoulders. "Yeah..."

A comforting smile appears on Sotalia, and she gazes over at Bach. "Nervous?"

Bach plainly meets Sotalia's attention, blinks, and twists his mouth. "Kinda scared. Actually."

Sotalia nods, biting her lip, and averts her eyes away briefly. "Well... Let's just say you aren't the only one dealing with some nerves. But..."

She flashes a genuine smile over her shoulder. "I think we'll handle it just fine."

Some comfort relaxes Bach's posture, and he gradually releases a long exhale. Silent seconds later, he glances over to Sotalia and lifts a curious eyebrow. "Question."

Sotalia gazes back over to Bach, furrows her brow, and guides her fiery orange, wavy hair behind shoulders. "Yes?"

Bach quizzically eyes Sotalia and carefully forms his inquiry with a respectful tone. "I was wondering what... Um... Irritated you when we drove past the convoy?"

Sotalia draws in a lungful of air through her nose, contorts her mouth, and rolls her shoulders, squirming momentarily. Staring at Bach, she softens her defensive exterior towards a smile and grumbles out her embarrassment. "Oh. You know. Just being fucking angry at that Tassilda. She pretty much confirmed my suspicions about the whole hot tub thing."

Cocking his head to the side, Bach springs his blue eyes open wide in surprise. "Wha- Huh... OH. How the hell did she do that?"

Tensing her arms, Sotalia puffs up her chest, wrestles down a reflexive snarl, and sighs out her frustrations. "She waggled a vial at me that's the same shape and size as the vial that I found in the hot tub filter with that melted wax blob."

She narrows her golden eyes into an annoyed stare and grumbles. "ALSO, that smug look of hers left no room for doubt with me."

Bach grits his teeth briefly and nods, summoning up sympathy with memories. "Yeah... THAT would probably irk me, too. I mean, Sebastian has pulled some pranks on me that I'm STILL not quite over."

Sotalia debates the options visibly upon her face, glances over to Bach, and relaxes her arms. "Well... To be honest... I can deal with the whole hair dye dispelling thing. It's-"

Pausing with a confused gaze at Bach, Sotalia motions with a rolling hand in front of her, piecing together her sentence. "Oh, gods. As silly as it sounds, it's really the whole... Experience of... Um... Well. Being reminded of the past again?"

She squints at her thoughts and sighs. "Gods, there's a Grath word for it. Does that make sense?"

Bach stares into Sotalia's eyes and slowly nods in agreement. "YES. I completely understand."

Drawing in a long breath, Sotalia smiles appreciatively and exhales out her nerves. "Yeah. I guess you would."

She slowly pivots away and stares up to the starry night sky solidifying above. A dull frown creeps from the corners of her mouth and regret tinges her voice. "Well, to save you the terrible details, I was quite the royal fucking know-it-all, arrogant bitch when I started adventuring. Fucked up my membership in a really nice group because of it and practically got my old guild stage name blacklisted. Hence, why I was taking small time escort missions to dangerous towns... ALONE."

Rolling her eyes at herself, she shakes her head and closes her eyes into a cringe. "Dyed, straightened, and cut the hair to try to keep from being reminded of that past self."

Bach nods understandingly and glances over towards the humvee, putting his hands in his pockets with an awkward smile. "Well, I know that's a hard thing to deal with. But, if nothing else..."

Stepping closer to the vehicle, Bach aims his voice nonchalantly over the shoulder towards Sotalia. "I'd keep the hair. It looks really nice."

Sotalia steadies her stare up to stars, keeping her face away from Bach. Her cheeks blush, her golden eyes flutter, and she stumbles back to a semblance of her usual confidence. "Uh... Well, of course. Thank you..."

----

Morning light finds the sparse gaps in the thick overhead canopy and beams down upon the forest floor. Dretphi and Cideeda cautiously lead the group along a narrow, hard dirt game trail. Cideeda's furry ears flick around and meticulously scan the soundscape. Her emerald green eyes search distantly, and she maintains a constant watch of the horizon. Examining the trail ahead, Dretphi inspects the condition of the underbrush bordering the path, squinting at the faintest details, and focuses upon the trunks of nearby trees. She glances over shoulder, and aims a quiet voice back. "No signs of recent activity. The path is used regularly. We should be careful."

Behind Cideeda, Aristespha flexes her fingers, wander her violet gaze around the vicinity, and grimaces uncertainly. "Should I cast the camouflage bubble, again? I should be able to manage a quarter hour without too much strain on myself."

Cideeda briefly turns her head back with a comforting smile towards Aristespha. "Don't think so, right now. I don't hear anything unusual right now."

Sniffing the air with her eyes closed, she visibly deliberates over the odors, contorts her light brown face, and shakes her head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Normal forest scents. And, everyone here."

Bach blinks blankly, and a thought lodges itself into the front of his mind. Lifting up the visor of his helmet, he lowers his nose close to the collar of his duster and vents some air from inside the garment. He satisfies his curiosity and pats his clothing back down. Smirking amused, Cideeda flicks an furry ear away from Bach and rolls her emerald green eyes. Sebastian's ethereal voice gently sounds out from the sword at Aristespha's side. "We should pace ourselves still. They've been here a while and probably have some surprises somewhere."

Flicking her golden eyes between the scenery of the dense woods, Sotalia twists her mouth in contemplation and sighs uneasily. "It would also be nice to make sure we don't trigger any magical detectors... Needlessly."

Aristespha nods, reaches to the side of her pack, and grips a fluid filled vial. Halting with an idea, she leaves the container alone in the pocket and holds her hand back to Sotalia. "Grab hold of my hand, Sotalia."

Sotalia furrows her brow, cracks a small grin, and eyes Aristespha's hand. "Aw, getting a little scared and need me to hold your hand?"

With a dismissive snort, Aristespha grumbles playfully and flexes hand in a gripping motion. "Why, yes. And, someone's big reserve of magical energy would really make me feel better right now."

Sotalia takes hold of Aristespha's hand firmly and leans close with an inquiry. "Okay. So, flow a little or a lot?"

Aristespha glances over her shoulder and smiles calmly. "A little. I figured I would save the potions..."

Rolling her eyes, she smirks. "And, tap nearby resources."

With an amused nod, Sotalia matches pace behind Aristespha and faint wisps of magical flow gently glide across the held hands. Slowly between paranoid stalls, the group continues along the path. In the surrounding forest, the air remains still in the dense buffer of trees. The only signs of wind rustle the leaves in the canopy far overhead.

A sharp, distant, wooden snap echoes out.

The team abruptly stops with the signal from Dretphi. Cideeda's ears hunt through the noises rising up from the natural background. Leaning to the side around Dretphi, she squints her eyes ahead into the distance. Both her furry ears fix onto point. Her eyes narrowing, she angles her head to a target. She hand signals to her ears, directs everyone's attention ahead, and holds up two fingers to the team. Searching behind the group, Dretphi motions towards a thick patch of undergrowth meters back and crouches down, swiftly comparing the woodland covers upon her armor plating to the scenery. The team lowers their collective profile and backtrack next to the abundant ferns and brush. Bach searches for an easy entry, side steps wide off the path, and hides behind a flora coated log. Sotalia and Aristespha follow Cideeda's lead, and all crowd tightly within a thick, obscuring patch of forest cover. Checking in front of her, Dretphi grips her gauntlet around a small bush and muscles it promptly out of the ground. She brushes the dirt trail lightly with the small plant and stirs up the forest floor off the path, leading away from the group. She forcefully replants the shrubbery and tilts in purposefully along with her ruse. Carefully, she creeps backwards down the path, keeping watch ahead, and settles in with the team in hiding.

Two young evuukian men amble along the game trail and point towards their nature themed outfits. During the casual conversation, both maintain grips on the strings of their bows. They approach closer. One points distantly down the path, slowly traces the route up to recently disturbed dirt, and settles his finger point at the tilted bush. The other nods in agreement. Both ready their bows, retrieve arrows from their quivers, and nock them. The two step quietly forward and scan the woods. One inspects the stirred dirt leading off the path and surveys the underbrush leading away.

The other evuukian man cautiously walks up the trail, closing the distance to the thick undergrowth patch. Dretphi secures a tight grip on the combat knife at her side. Cideeda silently raises a laser pistol barrel up and lines up a rough aim at the man. Sotalia and Aristespha ready their hands, preparing for casting. Remaining nearly still, Bach presses his palm firmly upon the ground, his eyes faintly glowing. A hair thin magical wire extends swiftly out from his hand, races underneath the forest floor debris, and flows towards the underbrush opposite from the team.

The evuukian man uncomfortably close to the hidden group stops, turning his head towards the thick patch of undergrowth, abundant ferns, and flora coated log. He squints his eyes into the dense obscuring forest cover.

An unseen force loudly zips along the ground meters from the tilted over bush, rustling the brush and kicking up a flurry of leafy debris. Both men snap their attention upon the chaos. Locking full focus on the motion, both take aim and draw bowstrings. Flows of magical energy rush out from their arms, enter into the bow, and wrap around the arrow. The two let loose their arrows. Misty streaks tracing behind, the arrows rocket towards the same target. Both missiles impact the ground with loud, powerful thuds. Moments later, small bursts of magical energy vent out from the arrow dirt embedded heads. The rustling of forest debris sprints off into a thick grove of ferns, leaves parting along the way. The evuukian men exchange eager, hungry grins, voice one word in unison, and nock new arrows, rushing off to the chase.

Seconds later in the settling silence surrounding, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia release muted sighs of relief. Relaxing his body, Bach glances over between Aristespha and Sotalia and whispers out a question. "What did they say?"

Aristespha lifts an eyebrow and curiously narrows her violet eyes towards the distant evuukian men. "Lunch."

Bach smirks smugly and chuckles to himself. "Well... Hope they packed one."

----

Chelindia settles into the wide pocket in the middle of a four-way trunk split of a tree. Seating herself onto the soft mossy covering, she rests her back against one of the main branches and plants her boots against the opposing branches. She tilts her head up and stares at the noon sun peeking through the heavy leaf cover above. Her dark tan fingers idly twirl her dark green braids, and the shifting light through the canopy glints off her wincing turquoise eyes. A strong wind gently rocks the upper limbs of the tall, old oak along with Chelindia. Closing her eyes, Chelindia rubs her forehead and grimaces against the thoughts manifesting visibly. Over the minutes, her face contorts between shades of conflicting emotions, and she sways her head side to side at each indecisive moment. She grits her teeth, releases a long sigh, and opens her eyes, furrowing her brow with a surge of regret. With a distant stare, she feels the string of the bow hanging from a small branch nearby. A gust calmly sways the tree. Chelindia watches the finely crafted bow swing with the motion and squints at the elegant inscriptions shining in the light. Staring at the writing, her frown sharpens and somber breath slips out. Deep thought pulling her inwards, the world outside fades from her awareness. Her turquoise eyes focus upon the phrases and settles upon the simple signature at the end. Sadness bubbles up onto her face, and she drops her head firmly upon the bark behind her. She gazes into the blue sky above, covers her face with her hands, and sighs deeply.

Different faint voices below snap her harshly back into the world around her, and she blinks back to sharp awareness. She swiftly, quietly grasps her bow, lifts it free, and leans her head cautiously out from her hiding place. Peering down through the obscuring leaf and limb mass of the tree to the ground over thirty meters below, her eyes observe a group of people traversing a game trail. She studies the armor of the large figure in the lead, furry ear flicks of the fvalian, and the silvery blue hair of the evuukian woman. Cocking her head to the side in confusion at the odd, fiery orange, wavy hair and brown horns of another woman, she lifts an unamused brow at the tall, heavier man at the back. Chelindia snarls her upper lip, snorts softly, and pulls out a bulbous headed arrow from the quiver hanging off another small branch. She readies the bow, nocks the arrow, and aims high up through the leafy canopy. Drawing the string back, flows of magical energy spiral around the arrow and sink into the glowing ball tip. She adjusts her posture and the elegant inscription shines, flashing its meaning into Chelindia's eyes. She freezes in place, and uncertainty locks her grip tight on the bowstring. Summoning her will, she grits her teeth, regains her aim, and-

Sotalia's voice wanders up through the foliage and lands squarely upon Chelindia's long, pointed evuukian ears. "...I hope Faelatelia..."

Chelindia's eyes spring wide open, and she instinctively relaxes the bowstring forward. She unnocks the arrow, ceases the magical flow, and holds it tightly, the magical energy gently venting out from the head. Kneeling down, she peers out from hiding and aims her long, pointed ears down below. With a faint sigh, Aristespha softly agrees and glances over her shoulder at Sotalia. "I do hope she is okay. Even if she is part of the group, she may still be approachable. I do hope we can talk some sense into her."

Rocking his head side to side in thought, Bach ponders out a possibility with a shrug. "I mean at this point, she might be looking for a way out. A lot of these groups don't make it easy to leave once you get in, especially after you learn what they're all about. She could just be playing the part because there's no other good options available to her, right now."

Flicking her furry ears around in the drone of the rustling leaves surrounding, Cideeda furrows her brow a thoughtful moment between searching flicks of her emerald green eyes. She relaxes her posture and comments. "Understand that. Really hope that's the case, because that's an easy job right there. Sneak close under the cover of darkness, get her, run back to the humvee, and just drive as fast as possible from here. Be too far away for them to do anything when they figure it out."

Inspecting the trail ahead, Dretphi nods in agreement. "Simple. Effective. Minimal contact with hostiles."

Sebastian's ethereal tone resonates out from the sword at Aristespha's side. "Gods, let's hope it's that simple. But... Probably won't be. I'm really not too sure what we should do if she's really into this whole Terra Priest thing."

Placing her hands on her hips, Sotalia twists her mouth derisively and groans dismissively. "GODS, I really hope that girl isn't buying everything these people are selling."

Chelindia watches the team walking away. The conversation fades into the background forest din, and she blinks blankly, recovering into full awareness of the world. She stands up upon the pocket within the trunk split, guides the quiver over her shoulder, and places the bulbous tipped arrow back in. Tilting the bow into a beam of sunlight from above, she slowly read the inscription. She closes her eyes tightly, bows her head down, and firmly grips the bow. In a moment of silence between waves of wind, she whispers out a gracious, appreciative evuukian phrase and gazes upon the writing on the bow with tears forming. Wiping her eyes, she secures the bow on herself, gestures along with a series of incantations, and silently runs along the long length of a thick branch leading towards the group. With faint flows of energy pulsing across her body, she leaps off, glides through the air, and lands silently onto the next large tree. Running without a sound through the tree, she launches onto the next, trailing the team from above.

----

Bach surveys the mossy carpet surrounding the base of the ancient, gigantic tree and lowers himself to a seat upon the dark green ground. Laying against the trunk of the tree, he flips up the visor of helmet, breathes out his fatigue, and blinks his blues tightly. "Man... That was a tense hike to get here."

Aristespha sits down on a massive, risen tree root, slides her pack off, and flips up the canvas top. Rummaging around the contents, she retrieves a number of colorful, fluid filled bottles, presenting them to the group. "Then it is a good thing I have stamina potions for everyone."

She pulls a satisfied smirk from the corner of her mouth and waggles a glass container. "A few of each flavor."

Cideeda sweeps up a bottle with a light purple liquid, checks the handwritten label, and uncorks it. With a smile, she drinks it back and sighs out satisfied. "Tarot root. Nice."

Settling down prone upon the ground, she crawls up to the edge of the obscuring undergrowth, retrieves a pair of binoculars from her small pack, and dials in adjustments. "Now, I think we should still have an angle to spy into that huge clearing even from here."

With a bottle in hand, Dretphi eases up next to Cideeda, retrieves another set of binoculars out of her backpack, and lifts the full face visor up on her helmet. "I hope. This area seems undisturbed. Far enough away. Plenty of cover."

Bouncing her steely gray eyes between other lesser secluded spots, she frowns. "Few options remain otherwise."

Sebastian's ethereal visage materializes sitting next to Aristespha, and he sweeps his gaze over the entire group. "Okay. So good, so far. Now, let's see what we can find out from here. And, most importantly, if Faelatelia is walking around the place. We need to try to confirm she's even here, first. Then, we'll figure out what we should do."

Cideeda carefully twists a knob on the binoculars, slides herself over a bit, and aims the lenses through the heavy foliage. "Well... It's not much, but I got a decent view of some of the open space between everything. See some people moving around between all those old buildings."

Contorting his face, Sebastian hums in thought and sighs unsatisfied. "It's a start. At least we can get an idea of how big this group is. And, maybe, figure out a schedule for their patrols."

Holding his chin contemplatively, he grumbles, pondering out loud. "Dammit. It'd be nice to get a clear, full view of that area."

He narrows his stare out into the forest towards the huge clearing and sways his head slightly in deliberation. "BUT... We've had one close call already today. I think it'll be best to hang back for now. Take a moment to scout all this better."

Nodding towards Sebastian, Bach stops momentarily, furrows his brow, and glances between the team. "Hey, um... Just an idea... We could try that magical camera drone trick, again. I still don't know how close I can get it, but it won't be any of us getting close."

Cideeda lowers the binoculars, pats a small bag hanging off the back of her vest, and grins toothily to Bach. "OH, I'm up for trying that. I haven't seen any Terra Priests using anything remotely technological."

Lifting an eyebrow, she smirks with an eager spark in her emerald green eyes. "So, I REALLY DOUBT they'd notice a wireless video feed signal, even right inside their camp."

With a smile, Sebastian nods his approval and tilts his head to side, visibly pondering the option. "Not a bad idea, bro. That'll be a good one to try first. Even if they do find it or get suspicious, we'll clear out before they know to start looking."

He glances over to Sotalia sitting upon a partially buried rock and notices her constantly searching the trees above. "Something up, Sotalia?"

Sotalia crosses her arms, tugs at the corner of her mouth, and drums her fingers anxiously. "I don't know. Keep thinking I'm feeling some really faint magic nearby. But..."

She narrows her suspicious stare and wrestles with a grimace. "This forest already has a weird vibe to it. So, it's REALLY hard to tell."

Nodding with a faint, uncomfortable frown, Aristespha closes her eyes. She reopens a pair of glowing violet eyes and scans the immediate area slowly. "I HAVE noticed a lot of leftover, ambient traces from stale magical activity."

Her head lifts up towards the treetop. "Between the Terra Priests, certain types of plants, animals, and possible spirit activity-"

Her swiftly eyes dart around to many points above. "Above us!"

A firm, collected female voice fills the air around the group. "I would like to speak to you all. I believe we have similar goals. But first... How do you know of Faelatelia?"

Cideeda's furry ears search frantically for a source. Dretphi cautiously surveys locations far up in the trees. Aristespha watches the surroundings with glowing violet eyes. Sotalia frowns with a sneering upper lip and softly growls her discomfort. Bach's eyes flicker to blue, he searches above along with Aristespha. Crossing his arms, Sebastian hums with a ghostly reverb and sighs thoughtfully. A few seconds of silence later, he speaks with an explanatory tone. "We are here because of a guild quest directly sent to us. We are to find Faelatelia and exercise our discretion as to what to do once she is found. We think the mission came from her parents."

The woman's tone shifts sharply inquisitive and a direct question echoes down. "How do you know that?"

Checking the canopy above, Sebastian turns slowly and scans the woods around him and the team. "We helped Faelatelia's friend from a similar situation. She recommended us to Faelatelia's parents to perform a similar task."

He narrows his stare up at the dense leaves above. "Her name is Valavera."

The voice above starts to respond and halts abruptly into a lengthy silence. Moments later, the woman respectfully inquires with a softer cadence. "Will you agree to a peaceful meeting?"

Sebastian observes the team, seeking input. With hints of reservation, Aristespha nods slowly. Bach agrees, slightly shrugging his shoulders. Cideeda twists her mouth and sighs out a reluctant acceptance. Dretphi nods respectfully. "If she meant us harm, conversation would be counterproductive."

Glancing over to meet Sebastian's quizzical gaze, Sotalia grumbles and pantomimes out her hesitant agreement with a hand motion. Sebastian unfolds his arms and presents a professional smile. "We all agree. Let's see what we can do."

A minute later, the figure of Chelindia slips into sight from behind a large tree. Carefully approaching the small clearing, she greets Sebastian with a slight bow. "My name is Chelindia. I am the assistant to the leader of this Terra Priest commune, Meredosia. I know where Faelatelia is. And..."

The sliver of a frown sneaks out from her stoic facade, and she stiffens her upper lip with a faint sigh. "I want to get her away from here."

Sebastian relays his understanding with a nod. Chelindia wanders her turquoise eyes over the group and lifts an inquiring eyebrow. "May I see the guild posting?"

Retrieving her aetherphone from a pocket slowly, Aristespha taps through a few menus and presents the display of the device. Chelindia steps closer, leans her head forward, and squints her eyes, reading the text. "Do you all have guild IDs?"

Everyone slides out cards, flips out wallets, and lifts lanyards, revealing guild identification. Sebastian smiles awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders. "I would but my current condition doesn't allow it."

Chelindia nods awkwardly, draws in a long breath, and sighs graciously. "Thank you. I needed some confirmation for your intentions."

Furrowing her brow slightly, she straightens her posture and cautiously watches the team. "To keep things short, Faelatelia tried to leave the group after going with Meredosia on a secret assignment that... I do not know all the details yet. Faelatelia ran away but was captured at Meredosia's request. She is in a prison inside the building on the outskirts of the commune. I WILL assist you in your mission. I only ask we do so as CAREFULLY and QUIETLY, as possible."

Aristespha quirks a brow and narrows a curious stare at Chelindia. "If you will excuse me prying, why do you want to help us to get her away from here?"

Pauses in thought, Chelindia briefly reveals the internal conflict upon her face and assumes a more wary demeanor. "I have known Meredosia since childhood. We joined the Terra Priests together a long time ago, and I traveled here with her to form this new commune under the best of intentions."

A frown manifests upon her dark tan face, and she slowly shakes her head of dark green, braided hair. "Unfortunately, SOMETHING has changed. Things are not what they should be. I know there is much to be done about... THIS situation."

Furrowing her brow, she tightens down a determined grimace. "BUT... The first thing that needs to happen is to get an innocent girl far from the danger she is in."

She lowers her head down, exhales out her nerves, and lifts up, gazing at the group pleadingly. "You are the best opportunity I have to do so. And, I fear you the best I will have before the situation gets any worse."

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia exchange a mix of concern, reservation, and uncertainty. Sebastian mulls over the situation, gauges the feelings of the group, and dons a small grin towards Chelindia. "Okay. Let's talk more about this. I think we should explore this more."

Chelindia bows appreciatively and pulls a slight smile on her face. "Thank you, so much. How about we discuss the patrol routes... And, most importantly, where they are often NOT at night."

----

Dim lamps cast out circles of illumination upon the ground between the ancient, stonework structures encircling the huge clearing. Faint spots of moonlight slip through the thick canopy of old trees and around with the wind and scattered lightning bugs. Ambient sounds of the forest night fill the air and wash the space in a background drone of life. Two evuukian sentries stand outside the entryway of the stonework building isolated from the rest of the main encampment. They idly stare out into the night at the empty pathways in the vicinity. The light haired man groans out a long sigh, and the dark haired guard commiserates with a slow series of grumbling nods.

From behind the cover of perimeter overgrowth, Chelindia points out the two evuukian men to Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia and keeps her voice low. "Those are the only two guards active right now. Night patrols go much further out than during the day."

Shaking her head gradually, she vents out her ambivalence with a vague snarl of the upper lip. "It is so strange that I am now thankful that Meredosia never listens to my security recommendations."

Sebastian's ghostly voice whispers out from the sword at Aristespha's side. "Do you think those two guards would cooperate with you and let us get Faelatelia out of here?"

Chelindia lowers her head, sorts through a flurry of thoughts with her eyes, and bites her lower lip uncertainly. "I do not know, for sure. They were part of the founding group with me. While not as vocal as I am, I do not think they like what is going on either. They are outstanding scouts and hunters. But..."

She furrows her brow and twists a grimace. "Have been relegated to... THIS."

She glances over to the weapons upon Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi and eyes magical items on Aristespha and Sotalia. Lowering her head down, she pleads with an uneasy grimace. "They are good people. But... I can not risk them performing their duties. I DO NOT want them hurt."

From the sword, Sebastian chuckles lightly and explains reassuringly. "Don't worry. We prefer keeping things alive whenever possible. We have plenty of options to do that."

Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, Sotalia turns her head slightly towards Chelindia and poses a question. "So, would anyone, or anything, detect a directed, localized spell in the area?"

Chelindia blinks in thought for a few seconds, shakes her head, and twists her frown. "No. Anyone with significant magical ability is part of Meredosia's inner circle and lives with her in the main building."

Narrowing her stare off to the side, she sighs faintly. "Or... You are the three other founding mages that are probably too tired from enchanting arrows all day to notice anything right now. As for detection devices..."

She wrestles down a grimace. "Another ignored security suggestion of mine."

Aristespha and Sotalia exchange sly grins and signal the rest of the team into a huddle.

The dark haired evuukian sentry lifts his gaze upwards and watches the leaves gently sway, catching glimpses of the moon in the late night sky. His mouth forms an elegant, thoughtful, and insightful series of sentences in evuukian, no sound escaping his lips. He halts in sheer surprise and calls out to the other evuukian, nothing audible leaving his mouth. Turning to face the other guard, he watches the light haired man vigorously rub the bases of his long, pointed ears in bewilderment. Both meet the other's confused stares, attempt to converse, and simultaneously arrive at the same frightening revelation. They reach for their swords. Both suddenly freeze, startled still. The two men slowly lift their hands up away from their weapons, straighten their postures, and awkwardly wait.

An armored gauntlet slides over the shoulder of the light haired guard and firmly grips over his mouth. Shame, unease, and irritation mix upon the man's face. He gawks down towards the other sentry, and all other emotions clear away for sympathetic terror. The dark haired guard's hands nervously curl slightly, and he attentively stares down. Sharp claw tips flex uncomfortably close, threatening a VERY sensitive lower region. The fvalian hand moves away enough and points, directing the man backwards. The dark haired man nods, following instruction with fresh cooperative enthusiasm.

Cideeda and Dretphi guide their captives around the sides of the isolated building and out of sight. With combat knife and laser pistol against prisoner backs, the duo head the evuukian sentries to the back of the structure. Holding out an arm to each captured guard, Aristespha watches the two backpedal their heads into her awaiting hands. With violet glowing eyes, she secures her grip on the back of their heads and releases an enveloping flow of energy. The two evuukians yawn reflexively, flutter their eyes closed, and drop their heads in slumber. Dretphi, Cideeda, and Bach ease the men down to the ground and prop them gently up against the back side of the prison structure. Aristespha breathes out her strain and rolls her shoulders to stretch. "That should keep them sedated for a while. It will be a nice nap for them."

Lifting up a pocket flap on her vest, Cideeda pulls out large plastic cable ties and hands out sets to Bach and Dretphi. Out from the thicker undergrowth, Chelindia and Sotalia walk up to the rest of the group. Grinning triumphantly with a smug air, Sotalia interlocks her fingers and stretches her arms out. "Gods... It's been a while since I used that silence spell. Still works."

Chelindia steps up, kneels down in front of the two guards, and smiles satisfied at their soft snores. "I must say, I am impressed."

Standing back up, she glances over to the group and quietly walks to the corner of the building. "Okay. We should be quick. We have a few hour window before the first night patrol comes back."

Inside the dark cell, Faelatelia stirs in her sleep. Her very long, pointed ears twitch at faint, muffled noises trickling into her room. A loud metallic scrape grinds out into the air from the door, startling her wide awake. The heavy metal door opens, and Faelatelia squints her sky blue eyes against the sudden rush of light into the room. Chelindia steps through, smiles warmly to Faelatelia, and grins, noticing a picked-clean plate. "I am glad you ate. You are going to need your strength tonight."

Blinking bewildered, Faelatelia narrows her confusion at Chelindia’s Americ words and shields the light from her face tan, blue hinted face. Her eyes adjusting, she notices Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and the ethereal Sebastian behind Chelindia and gawks bewildered, hope growing.

----

Pulses of light scatter out into the forest. Fireflies drift upon the gentle breezes, sifting through the densely packed woods. Faint shimmers of magical illumination swirl along branches high up in the canopy. Tiny transparent forms flit into existence and disappear without trace. An ethereal fox slowly turns its head towards the top of a small hill, stares off distantly, and nonchalantly fades away. Chelindia reaches the crest of the mound, surveys the vicinity, and relaxes her shoulders. "It should be clear from here. This land is home to many small spirits. We usually avoid sending patrols through and keep to the perimeter out of respect."

Dretphi nods, sweeps her gaze ahead, and surveys the grove, focusing upon the vibrant plants covering the ground. "Is it safe to cross?"

Sitting upon the ground, Faelatelia finishes off a stamina potion, fights through weight of fatigue, and meekly explains. "Yes... The spirits here are peaceful... Most just ignore people."

Deep, full breaths later, she stands up straight with help from Aristespha and Sotalia and nods appreciatively. "I'm ready again. I'm sorry."

Sotalia smiles reassuringly at the evuukian teenager and gently pats her shoulder. "It's okay. You've only just been stuck in a prison cell for weeks."

The group slowly traverses down the hill and crosses a wide, rocky creek at the base. In the still spaces of the area, colorful flickers of life leave misty trails and disappear into the grasses. Shadowy outlines fade into existence, affix their attention briefly upon the group, and blend into the night. Faelatelia smiles brightly and releases a happy sigh, observing all the activity around. Others watch in awe at the brief sightings of spirits that momentarily pay attention, resuming their normal routines moments later. The party walks along a worn dirt path through the active, busy forest grove. Cideeda's furry ears flick, and her emerald eyes open wide. Snapping her head towards a spot along the horizon, she points a claw tip out. The team halts, drops low to the ground, and waits. Dretphi squints through her helmet visor and confirms Cideeda's suspicions with a nod.

A dozen evuukians in dark, nature themed outfits crouch in wait behind an outcropping of rocks, bows at the ready and arrows nocked. Chelindia narrows her stare, cocks her head in confusion, and mumbles a question to herself in evuukian. Aristespha's eyes flick to glowing violet, and Bach's illuminate blue. Dretphi directs the group's attention into the distance at two people sitting near a luminescent rainbow flower upon a brightly leafy plant. Glints of moonlight reflect off of tools, vials, and carrying cases near the two people. Sotalia quickly casts a spell quietly between her hands, holds her finger points together, and squints through the opening at the duo in the distance. "I think those are reagent hunters. Looks like they are collecting samples from a chromatic chrysanthemum?"

Furry ears twitching, Cideeda tilts her head, furrows her brow, and repeats a few phrases in evuukian. "What does THAT mean exactly? Because... I don't like the tone he used."

Aristespha, Chelindia, Faelatelia, and Sotalia glance at each other in shock. Sotalia grits her teeth, clenches her fists, and growls. "Gods, we need to warn them."

Chelindia frowns darkly, grips her bow tightly, and mutters angrily in evuukian, shaking her head. With a firm grip upon the sword at her side, Aristespha glances over to Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. "They are planning on shooting them."

Sebastian's ghostly visage forms prone underneath the fern coated forest floor off the path, and he immediately stares out at the situation. "What?"

Shaking her head, Chelindia contorts her face with the surges of emotion. "This is NOT right. Not right at all. I do NOT know what is going on here."

She sneers and hisses out. "THESE are people Meredosia recruited."

Stiffening her upper lip, she glares ahead resolutely, reaches into her quiver, and retrieves the bulbous headed arrow. "I cannot allow this to happen. I can make a distraction, BUT you all need to get away from me before I use it-"

Sebastian interrupts with a scheming grin and glances over to the group. "Wait, what does that do?"

Glancing behind her, she lifts an eyebrow at Sebastian. "Um, it is a magical signal flare. It will erupt in a bright light with a plume of smoke, a few seconds after firing."

She narrows her stare at the evuukians preparing for an attack. "Unfortunately, at this distance, if I shoot at them, they will have enough time to clear away from it and guess what it came from before it triggers."

Bach trains his glowing blue eyes upon the ball headed arrow, grinning mischievously, and holds his hand out. "Let me see that."

A sly smile appears on Sebastian, and he winks to Chelindia. "Let me get their attention for a bit, then."

Gliding low along the forest floor away from the group, he circles around in a wide path and silently flies towards the dozen evuukians in hiding. The leader starts whispering commands, signaling out orders, and readies his bow. He grins menacingly, nocking an arrow. Standing up with the group, he takes aim, and-

Sebastian's booming ghostly voice echoes out into the woods. "WHAT INTERLOPERS HAVE ENTERED MY SACRED GROVE?!"

The evuukians clumsily spin around, awkwardly point bows at the floating, brilliant visage of Sebastian above, and reflexively let loose arrows. The missiles zip and tumble through Sebastian's form, disappearing into the forest far from anyone. In the distance, the reagent hunter duo frantically search the area and notice the bright ghost.

A man's voice spits out. "Holy shit! The fuck is that?!"

The other distant figure, scrambles to hastily pack up the equipment, and snaps back with a feminine cadence. "Let's not stick around and find out!"

The evuukian leader curses, spotting the two reagent hunters sweeping up their belongings and escaping into the brush. He tries to call out orders in evuukian, splitting his attention with boisterous banter from Sebastian. Off in the middle of the team, Bach's eyes dim back to normal, and he passes the bulbous arrow carefully to Chelindia. "Okay. It's triggered upon impact now."

Chelindia warily eyes the arrow, nocking it. With extra care, she readies her bow, draws the string back, and takes aim, flows of energy spiraling into the arrow. Aristespha pulls a short grin, grasps hold of the sword, and closes her eyes thoughtfully. Sebastian pauses his random ramblings of forest spirit superiority and annoying, distracting flights around the evuukian crew. Laughing proudly, he spreads his arms wide and grins manically. "Maybe you need a taste of my POWER! ... BEHOLD!"

Chelindia lets loose the arrow. From the center of the evuukian squad, a ten meter radius bubble of thick white smoke engulfs the area in a second. Coughs, gags, and sneezes echo into the forest along with furious evuukian curses. Sebastian's ethereal form materializes next to Aristespha. The group rushes into their escape. Glancing over to his brother, Sebastian smirks, furrowing his brow confused. "Nicely done, bro. But, I thought there’s supposed to be a bright flash?"

Running with the team, he holds his finger up and snickers. "Wait for it."

A bright, blinding flash lights up the dome of dense mist and floods the nearby woods with a white light, beaming out through the gaps between trees. Furious screams of aggravated evuukian swears shatter the peace.

----

The humvee powerplant spins up to life, and Cideeda checks the gauges instinctively through her startup routine. Chelindia stands with Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, Faelatelia, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Stepping up, Faelatelia wraps her arms around Chelindia and softly whispers thankful evuukian words between sobs. With a warm smile, Chelindia embraces the teenager, pats her on the back, and releases her. The two exchange heartfelt goodbyes. Chelindia wipes a tear from her eye and gently commands the young one into the humvee. Faelatelia nods and follows Dretphi's guidance, laying down on the far back seat. Turning to the rest of the team, Chelindia bows graciously and exhales her relief. "I can never thank you enough. I could not have managed this myself and feared I would have caused more harm than good overall in any such attempt."

Sebastian nods with an appreciative smile. "Well, we should thank you, too. As much as I trust ourselves to get the job done, you saved us from a lot of trouble and unnecessary risk. I just hope we haven't stirred up the hornet's nest too much. I don't think that one group is going to report anything good back when they get back."

Chelindia chuckles and quirks her brow amused. "Actually... That may help my plans."

Sotalia crosses her arms and examines Chelindia's expression with hints of apprehension. "How so?"

Drawing a long breath in, Chelindia ponders out loud between contemplatively twitches on her face. "Well... I am certain Meredosia will want Faelatelia captured, again. And... Seeing how all the outer patrols somehow missed spotting her..."

Lifting her eyebrow, she smirks slightly. "I might be able to convince her to allow me to take charge of a search party... Of MY choosing."

A sly smile graces Chelindia's face, and she places her hands on her hips. "Of course, I will pick a team made up of founding members of the commune. It will be a good chance to break the rust off our skills, and..."

She sighs calmly and lowers her head slightly. "An opportunity to talk about things, freely. Honestly."

Nodding in agreement, Bach scratches the back of his head and furrows his brow curiously. "Huh. Yeah. Seems like things aren't going the way you think they should."

Chelindia crosses her arms, hisses in a tense breath, and bites her lip. "A lot has happened to give me many moments of pause. I don't think I am alone in that regard. Most of us are older and wiser now. Seeing how Meredosia has taken to twisted interpretations of the principles of the Terra Priests, and who she has surrounded herself with... I think many of us will take our leave."

Aristespha lifts a quizzical eyebrow at Chelindia and inquires respectfully. "What do you think will happen if you and your group leave?"

A frown weighs heavily upon Chelindia, and she shakes her head slowly, uncertainly. "I do not know. I once considered Meredosia very close. As much as I hoped my constant presence by her side would keep her reasonable and my suggestions would guide her back to the right path... I feel that the situation is beyond anything more I can do. And, I just can't follow her anymore on whatever path this is."

Aristespha nods understandingly, steps over to the open door of the humvee, and rummages around for a pencil and paper. Pulling out her aetherphone, she taps through the contact list and writes out some information on a piece of paper. She holds note out,returning in front of Chelindia. "Here. I do not know what you plan to do after this, but this is the contact info for Captain Hackle of the GAA and Captain Hays of the Borderland Rangers. I do not know what assistance either could provide you, but one of them might be able to work something out for you and your group. They have proven reasonable in their judgment of a few interesting situations."

Apprehensively grasping onto the paper, Chelindia examines the information hesitantly and respectfully stows the document in a pocket. "I will consider it. A few members of the founding group are not welcomed by the law in a few regions. But..."

A faint trace of hope appears on Chelindia's dark tan face. "Maybe, something can be worked out. It might prove better than other alternatives."

Glancing up to the late night sky, she bows to the group and presents a sly smirk. "I need to get back. There is a search party I need to organize. I think we are going to avoid checking the roadways and search other remote passages to old, secluded outlooks that are nice and private."

The team shares a humored moment, and Chelindia departs with a final wave to Faelatelia. Chanting out a few incantations with gestures, Chelindia flows energy down her body and gracefully launches up into the tree tops, leaping off another branch into the obscuring night.

-47-

A very early morning, ambient glow seeps in through the sliding glass door. The dim illumination barely lights up the outlines of the coffee table, recliner, and couch in the living area of the ranch style house. A gentle, quiet flow of air slips through vents of an air conditioning unit upon the upper part of the wall. The soft drone coats an acoustic backdrop over the soundscape, faint flits of idle appliances rising up. Seconds later, the muffled sounds of a mechanical winch rattle from behind the kitchen door leading into the garage. Minutes pass with moments of conversation and movement slipping out into the kitchen. Sounds of equipment landing upon a solid floor resonate out, quickly spiking into the calm air. Sotalia opens the kitchen door and steps slowly across the tile floor. Yawning, she drapes a heavy, armored cloak upon a dining chair back in passing. "Oh... Gods... That bed is going to feel so good."

She pulls the seat out, slumps down upon the seat down, and groans. Placing her foot upon her opposite thigh, she wrestles the boot off. Aristespha walks into the kitchen, waits near the door, and guides Faelatelia's drowsy self up. Leading the young evuukian teenager to the living room couch, she helps her to a spot upon the soft fabric. "Have a seat for now. We will figure out a nice place for you to sleep."

With a tired, appreciative smile, Faelatelia nods, yawns against surging fatigue, and settles into the comfortable cushions. "Thank you. I really don't need much... As I have found out lately."

The motor unit of the garage door opener hums to life and slowly lowers the large, sectioned door down upon the concrete floor. Cideeda steps out from the garage, rubs her emerald green eyes, and places the humvee key fob upon the bar. Slipping out from her open vest, she hangs the garment upon another chair back and reaches behind her back. "It's getting a lot warmer at night around here. Almost had to turn on the air conditioner on the way back."

Lumbering into the dining area, Bach pulls his helmet off, slides his duster off onto the tabletop, and sits down in a chair. He loosens straps holding his kevlar vest and starts prying his feet out of the armored boots. "Well, I mean, it is May. Around these parts, it's usually the last nice month before it just turns plain, nasty hot."

Cideeda pulls down the back zipper on her body suit, breathes out her relief, and lightly fans the collar, circulating air through the chest portion of the outfit. "Then again, we DID run through the woods for most the night. Anyway, I'm getting out of this. The humvee is locked up. We'll unload tomorrow-"

Fluttering her eyes, she pauses in thought a moment and sighs, shaking her head. "Well... Later TODAY, I mean. GODS... I'm tired."

She plods groggily through the archway into the hallway and disappears through the doorway into her room. Moments later, a body suit flops into a pile upon the wooden floor outside her door, and pairs of toed boots and fingerless gloves land on top. Dretphi closes the kitchen door behind her, brushes off her damp, skin-tight tank top and shorts. "It will be laundry day... Today... Later."

Glancing over to Faelatelia fighting off another tempting moment to fall into the slumber, Bach smiles with a exhausted chuckle. "Faelatelia? If you want you can use my bed for the night and sleep on something proper. Honestly, I don't think I'll make it there at this rate... The couch is A LOT closer."

With a reserved smirk, Dretphi eyes Bach and lifts an inquisitive eyebrow. "Have you made it recently?"

Seconds of idly staring ahead, Bach blinks back to awareness, his eyes searching his mind. "Uh... Um... Well... Uh..."

Faelatelia smiles weakly to both Bach and Dretphi and laughs softly. "It is okay. After what I have been sleeping on for the past weeks... The back seat of the humvee was so nice."

Her attention shifting to the furniture underneath, she glides a hand over the cushions of the couch with a contended gaze. Twisting her foot inside her boot, Aristespha moves over next to the dining table, slides out a chair, and takes a seat. She loosens the laces on her long, finely crafted boots, grumbles to herself, and shakes her head, annoyance building upon her ivory face. "I checked these boots before leaving and tightened the laces correctly..."

Tensing her arm muscles, she wrenches off her damp sock covered foot clear. She shakes the leather boot a few times and twitches her very long, pointed ears when a pebble bounces upon the wooden floor. "Yet there is ANOTHER damned rock in them."

Bach loses the fight against a long yawn and grimaces, sleep trying to take hold. He glances over to Aristespha and points to the sword at her side. "Is he asleep?"

Aristespha pauses, grips the handle of the sword, and closes her eyes momentarily. Snorting amused, she smirks wryly and rolls her violet eyes. "Oh. Yes. I think Sebastian fell asleep halfway through the ride back."

With a shrug, Bach pulls off his last boot and shakes his head with a chuckle under his breath. "Long car rides always do that to him... Even now, I guess."

Dretphi taps Bach's shoulder and gently speaks. "I will get sheets for your bed. We will change them. Grant Faelatelia a-"

A snore sharply peaks from the background. Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia gaze Faelatelia, completely asleep upon the couch. She stirs momentarily and unconsciously grips the cushion underneath her head, nestling up against the couch back. Bach smirks and shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah... Can't blame her there."

Dretphi smiles, sighs, and quietly steps along the floor into the hallway. "Blankets instead."

Retrieving her aetherphone, Aristespha sluggishly taps through the long security code and navigates the menus to a message list. She stands up, softly walks up in front of the television, and holds her phone with both hands, aiming the camera at the peacefully slumbering Faelatelia. With a light tap on the device's screen, a faint click sounds out, and Aristespha rights the phone into her hand. Sotalia stretches out her arms, slides next to Aristespha, and curls a curious eyebrow. "Sending an update to the clients?"

Nodding, Aristespha taps out a message. "Yes. I believe the parents and Valavera would be happy to know she is safe and back in civilization once again."

Dretphi arrives from the hallway with folded blankets in her arms. Sotalia grins and winks at Aristespha. "Take a picture after we tuck her in and send that one. It'll look a lot better than her just passed out on our couch."

With examining gaze at Sotalia, Aristespha tilts her head, nods slowly, and sighs. "Yes. It would definitely look more like a successful rescue..."

Sotalia smirks, crossing her arms. "Rather than the aftermath of a party?"

Aristespha glances back over at Sotalia and twists her humored smile slightly. "Yes."

----

The warmth of the morning glides over the thick forest canopy, slipping in through the shifting gaps between the leaves. A slight gust of wind trickles down from the overhead cover and drops down into the passage through the wide highway divide between rows of trees. In a small clearing off to the side of the paved road, Senior Paladin Maxon stands in front of a crowd of Chrome Crusader personnel, with Chad, Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, Trakenthin, and Veevi near the front. Straightening his posture inside his powered armor, he grins brightly to the awaiting masses and orates clearly. "OKAY. All present and accounted for, I believe. Today, we are going to search this stretch of road for any bandits. We've had many reports of bandits halting travelers and robbing them. From the latest reports, our forward scouts have found signs of people camping out near the roads, very recently."

With a proud smile, he glances over at Chad and nods to the general attendance. "It will be a standard search and capture, if possible. From the other reports, this suspected group seems to be small-time criminals that are just interested in easy profit and survival needs out here. So, I strongly recommend capture protocols be exercised first."

Wander his stare over the crowd, he grins encouragingly. "Chances are a few of these suspects are wanted alive by some law enforcement agency. AND, it would be nice to collect those for a mission bonus to everyone."

He motions towards the team with his armored gauntlet covered hand. "To reiterate, the Flames of Phoenix team will be joining us today, and I have discussed with them appropriate assignments."

The different groupings of Chrome Crusaders exchange glances, mixes of reluctance, reservation, and even anticipation rising out of the crowd. Maxon gazes over all, clears his throat, and lifts a eyebrow with a smile. "Medical Mage Preeta will again join the medical squad and assist where needed. I'll leave it to our head doctor to decide any further decisions."

Deedri smiles with relief and waves back to a welcoming medical division. Maxon eyes Tassilda with a humored smirk. "Tassilda will accompany Junior Paladin Daedrican's search and capture group. They will hunt out the hiding spots that the scouts find and subdue any bandits."

Parting a sly, small grin, Tassilda lifts an alluring eyebrow at Junior Paladin Daedrican, and he slightly bows to her. Turning his attention to Modoran, Maxon furrows his brow. "Modoran, you'll join the scouting teams. I think your skills will be best utilized there. Primary objective is to relay information. I'll leave it to the Captain to decide if you are allowed to engage targets of opportunity."

Modoran tilts his head to the side slightly and nods nonchalantly in agreement. "I am not going to argue with that logic, sir."

With a quick slide of his gaze, Maxon grins at the armored Trakenthin and chuckles. "Trakenthin, you'll be joining our heavy hitters today as the special... Cargo... of the bait truck."

An eager smirk draws across Trakenthin, and he nods respectfully, glancing over to a small squad of power armored soldiers and confident mages in light, protective suits. Focusing his attention to Chad and Veevi, Maxon laughs with a smile and winks to the two. "Chad. Veevi. You'll be the center of attention, so to speak, today. Both of you will be driving the bait truck and playing the part of simple traders just trying to get by in this hard economy. We'll make sure to equip you with our stealth..."

Rocking his head side to side in brief deliberation, Maxon snorts. "Safety equipment."

Chad shines a bright white grin and poses proudly. Placing her hands on her hips, Veevi sways to the side and smiles with a sly, cunning twist. Maxon straightens his posture and examines the large gathering once more. "I've already briefed the team leaders with further instructions. You are all dismissed into your individual squads. Be ready to move out by zero eight hundred."

----

A closing door sounds out and stirs Faelatelia. Groggily fluttering her sky blue eyes, she stares out blankly, half-asleep, and darts her sluggish gaze around her environment. She freezes in tense thought and gradually relaxes, recent memory playing out upon her tan, blue-hinted face. Her hand feels the pillow underneath her head, grasps onto the blanket tucked around her, and slides upon the seat cushion. She tips her head towards the sliding glass door, leading out into the backyard, and smiles happily at the bright sun overhead warming the green, grassy field. Combing her chestnut hair out of her vision, she allows a sigh of relief to escape and closes her eyes in a moment of peace. Her long, blue hinted ears twitch, and Aristespha firmly places a glass filled with a thick, orange blend upon the coffee table. Faelatelia springs her eyes wide open and pushes herself up to a seat upon the couch. "Um- Uh... Morning."

Chuckling to herself, Aristespha shakes her head with a humored smirk. "Afternoon, actually."

Faelatelia blinks to awareness and pieces together the timeline quietly between hints of embarrassment upon her face. "Oh. I guess I haven't slept that good in a while."

With an understanding nod, Aristespha directs Faelatelia's attention to the filled glass. "I mixed some nutrition supplements into a fruit smoothie. Purely precautionary. I do not believe you have had the best meals to eat for some time."

Nodding quickly, Faelatelia reaches out for the beverage, her hungry gaze upon it, and enjoys long slips from the glass. She pauses a moment and glances back up to Aristespha. "Thank you."

Sotalia smiles towards Aristespha from her seat, lifts her own glass of the same orange blend off the dining table, and laughs. "Told you she'd like it."

Rolling her violet eyes, Aristespha shakes her head in mild amusement. Faelatelia nods in agreement to Sotalia and drinks more of the beverage. Sotalia returns her attention to the bottom edges of her cloak, pinches her long, black fingernails onto a bur, and plucks the seed clear from the garment. Shaking her head, she deposits the spiky ball into a nearby garbage can. "Gods. I've lost count on how many of these I've pulled off this thing. It must have been when we hid from that one patrol."

Flipping between both sides of the cloth, she groans into a sigh. "Gods. There's another one!"

The kitchen door to the garage opens. One after another, Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi step through carrying individual laundry baskets. Sebastian floats inside with them. The group arrives around the dining table, resting their baskets upon the dining table top, and notices Faelatelia awake upon the couch. Dretphi presents a friendly smile towards the awkward, evuukian teenager. "Did you sleep well?"

Faelatelia stares wide-eyed up at the tall, grath woman, thinks a moment with the smoothie in her hands, and nods appreciatively. "Yes. The best I've had in a long time."

Cideeda snickers, lifts an accusatory eyebrow at Bach, and grins toothily. "Oh, good. We were afraid that SOMEONE may have woken you up earlier."

Bach shrugs his shoulders, holds his hands up, and sighs slightly ashamed. "Hey. I was OBVIOUSLY not awake yet. I completely forgot someone was sleeping out here."

Scratching the back of his head, he pivots towards Faelatelia and briefly averts his eyes with a bit of embarrassment. "So, yeah, if you got woken up by someone pouring a bowl of cereal loudly and complaining about not having enough milk... I apologize."

Faelatelia shakes her head and smiles appreciatively. "No. I only woke up just a few minutes ago. So, no harm done."

Sebastian's ethereal form hovers over next to Aristespha and gazes at Faelatelia. "Well, that's good to hear. Last night was really crazy. I'm just glad we all got clear of that mess before it got too bad."

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia agree unanimously in their own ways, tending to laundry related chores. Moments later, Sebastian crosses his arms and lifts an inquiring brow at Faelatelia. "After you wake up fully and get enough to eat, do you think you can answer a few questions for us? We heard from Chelindia why you were imprisoned, but we'd really like to hear your side of the story."

Relaxing his translucent shoulders, he smiles reassuringly. "If that's okay with you and you are comfortable with that?"

Faelatelia finishes a long swig of the fruit smoothie, and emphatically nods in agreement. "OH. Yes! Of course. To be honest..."

She fights an uneasy grimace and draws in a long breath. "There's something I have thought about on the ride back here, and I believe I should tell you all."

Aristespha lifts a curious eyebrow, awaiting a response. "Well, what would that be?"

Resting her smoothie glass back down upon the coffee table, Faelatelia lowers her head, frowns reflecting, and ponders out loud. "I... I do not know where to exactly start. But..."

She exhales out a surge of nerves and straightens her posture upon the couch cushion. "Okay. Meredosia has been experimenting with some weird magical power. I do NOT quite understand what it is... Exactly. But, I know she's using an odd amulet to store what she's been collecting from a strange circular platform. It's really old and has strange runes all over it."

Aristespha's full attention locks onto the evuukian's words. Sebastian waits in anticipation. Bach halts midway through taking his duster out from the laundry basket and listens motionlessly with wide open eyes. Dretphi and Cideeda exchange glances, silent recognition emerging. Sotalia trains her golden eyes upon the evuukian teenager, reading her every move. Faelatelia draws a long breath and furrows her brow at her explanation. "I do not know what the amulet is really capable of. But... I know where she got it from."

Narrowing her concerned stare upon Faelatelia, Aristespha calmly inquires with a supportive tone. "Chelindia told us you went on a secret assignment with Meredosia. Did she take you to the place she found the amulet then?"

With a growing frown, Faelatelia nods and sighs nervously. "I never told Chelindia all the details of what happened. I was SO afraid of what she might do if she knew. There is something not right about THAT place. I could FEEL it. Meredosia wanted me to draw spirits in to bind them to animate constructs..."

Gritting her teeth, she hisses in a gasp. "That she wanted to imbue with that WEIRD power of hers."

Hugging her arms, she draws the blanket over her shoulders tighter around her, grimaces, and shudders. "I told her I would... Think about it. But..."

Swaying her head of long chestnut hair, she fights a reflexive wince. "I was NEVER going to help her with that. Then, I got caught after I tried to escape. Thankfully, Chelindia and many of the older members were as nice as they could get away with to me, and always helped where they could."

She bites her lip and sighs sadly. "I hope they all get away. But..."

Aristespha kneels down in front of Faelatelia, places a supportive hand upon her shoulder, and presents a comforting smile to the nervous teenager. "But, what?"

Faelatelia shakes her head, draws in a long breath, and struggles with the uncertainty on her tan face. "I do not know what will happen if they leave. They have kept Meredosia... In check? Balanced? They were the few that did not blindly follow her and would question her when she got too extreme. Even if it meant they got practically demoted when they did so."

Searching mind between nervous flicks of her sky blue eyes, she tilts her head slowly. "As much as the newer members thought they were not proper Terra Priests because they questioned Meredosia so much... I always thought they followed principles better than anyone else. It's so weird and strange."

Sebastian nods thoughtfully and smiles proudly at Faelatelia. "We really appreciate you sharing that with us. I'm sure Chelindia and the others will be fine, especially if Chelindia is any example of what they are capable of."

Hovering down to a sitting position upon the coffee table, Sebastian rests his arms in his lap and explains genuinely. "As much as you have to do what you think is right, they have to, too. Sometimes... You just have to get yourself out of a bad situation before you can do anything else. No matter what, you're not responsible for other people's own decisions."

Faelatelia gazes over to Sebastian, nods understandingly, and sighs regretfully. "I know. I just feel uneasy about what might happen."

With a brief grit of his teeth, Sebastian ethereally exhales thoughtfully and nods sympathetically. "That's a normal thing to feel. But, we'll get together later on tonight and get all the details written down. Do you remember how to get to that place?"

With a weak smile, Faelatelia reaches out for the glass, gulps down the remainder of the orange smoothie, and nods. "Yes. It's actually far south from the commune. I will try to remember the exact route we took."

She furrows her brow and squints distantly into her thoughts. "We went up to the top of one of the mountains in the area into an ancient building. Inside felt... Large? It seemed like there was space somewhere further inside with how the air felt. It was always moving. Unfortunately, I don't know much more as we didn't go that far inside."

Gently patting Faelatelia on the back, Aristespha retrieves her aetherphone, sorts through a contact list, and taps an entry. "Do not worry. We know a lot of people and have access to many resources. Anything you tell us will help out, and we can let the right people know from there."

Eying the progress of the call on the phone, she passes the device into Faelatelia's hands, taking the empty glass in return, and smiles warmly. "I have informed your parents that you are here. You should talk to them, and see how we should get you back to them."

A grim reluctance forms upon Faelatelia, and she grits her teeth, the phone call connecting to a video mode. With a final squeeze on Faelatelia's shoulder, Aristespha stands up. "But, I think you will want to talk to someone else, first."

The aetherphone screen switches to a full video feed of Valavera's confused face and a background of teenager's bedroom. Faelatelia's sky blue eyes brighten, and Valavera gasps in joyous shock. Smiling with welling tears, Faelatelia blurts out heartfelt evuukian. Valavera excitedly chimes back in the same dialect. The two teenagers chat away and catch up. The rest of the team exchange uncomfortable glances with each other and process the new information, fighting moments of foreboding emotion.

----

Within the tall underbrush, Junior Paladin Daedrican, Tassilda, and three light power armored Chrome Crusader troopers step silently up to clearing's edge. Tassilda stares ahead with her light blue on black eyes and maintains a watch within the middle of the team. She keeps her hands open at her sides, directed downwards. Armored boots impact the forest debris, and no sound emerges. In the undergrowth of the forest around, the squad stops meters away, behind three rough attired men. Two scraggly people stand, idly observing the nearby roadway. One in a slightly better outfit leans against the trunk of a large tree. Red bandannas flutter gently around their necks in the slight breeze along with the frayed and tattered parts of their clothing.

The Chrome Crusader squad kneels down behind a tall thicket, each member scanning vicinity through their visored helms. Tassilda methodically gestures and softly incants just under her breath. Swinging a hand ahead of her and the other above, she glances over to Daedrican and softly speaks. "The sound buffer is around us, for now."

Nodding his full helmet towards Tassilda, Daedrican turns his visor obscured gaze over the others. "Understood. We should be able to take them down without too much trouble."

He motions towards a part of the forest in the distance. "Unfortunately, the forward scouts have reported that another group is close. They may be alerted if these bandits yell out for any kind of help."

Returning his attention towards Tassilda, he tilts his horned helm inquiringly. "Would it be possible to cast silence upon the area, my lady?"

Tassilda briefly smiles with a flutter of her light blue on black eyes. Furrowing her gray brow in thought, she twists her mouth into an apprehensive grimace. "Yes. I could... But, I believe sudden silence from the sounds of nature will give us away. "

One of the standing bandits yawns, shudders against fatigue, and steadies his stance. Tassilda lifts an intrigued eyebrow, draws a mischievous grin, and slyly eyes Daedrican. "I think I may have an alternative, if you would allow me to try it?"

Daedrican glances back to the three troopers and queries respectfully. "Any objections to some tactical experimentation?"

The three light armor soldiers exchange indifferent shrugs. One shakes his head. "No objections with us. If all else fails, we'll just fall back to rushing and tackling them."

Another nods in agreement. "Yeah. If it gives us an advantage, I'd like to try it."

Daedrican waves towards the clearing with the three bandits and bows his head. Tassilda nods appreciatively to the group and focuses her attention ahead. "Thank you. I'll need to drop the sound buffer, so I can free myself up. So, when I drop it, please keep quiet for a little while longer so I cast a few spells."

Daedrican removes a baton off his belt and presses a button. The end extends out upon telescoping segments, and the prongs at the end arc spark between. Inspecting the three other Chrome Crusaders, he readies his polymer shield off his back. "Everyone. Ready your stun batons and shields."

He inquisitively cocks his fully covered head, glances to the three bandits, and returns his gaze towards Tassilda. "So... What are these spells going to do?"

Tassilda smiles suggestively at Daedrican and winks with a faint chuckle. "Well... The results are simple enough."

The older bandit leaning upon the tree rubs his back against the trunk and rolls his head side to side, pops and cracks sounding out. Lifting a bored eyebrow at the two observing the highway through rows of trees and underbrush, he groans into a sigh. "Anything yet?"

The young bandit staring out crosses his arms, shakes his head, and grumbles. "No. Nothing. Gods, I hope it's not ANOTHER slow day. This shit is getting old."

Leaning himself against a small tree, the other watching bandit checks the battered rifle in his hands. "Dammit. I don't know why we're still out here. Still think we should have gone somewhere else. Why the hell does Red Hat want us to hunt here?"

Stretching his shoulders with a back arch, the older bandit sighs and rolls his eyes. "Shit... I think he's just trying make up for what was stolen last week."

The rifle bandit leans away from the small tree and aims his voice back. "Yeah! That whole situation is pretty fucked up, man. Robbers getting robbed? What the fuck..."

The bandit trio settle back into staring out into the distance and watch the gusts of wind blowing through the forest divide cut by the roadway. Almost invisible waves of energy radiate over the area, fading away to complete transparency. The older bandit blinks a few times, eyes over to edges of his vision, and nonchalantly shrugs back into idle boredom.

Behind the protective barrier of Daedrican and three troopers, Tassilda keeps one hand extended out, grins confidently, and slowly, exactly gestures with her free hand. With a faint light blue glow in her eyes, she ushers energy flow out from her outstretched hand. The wisps of magical power blend into the slow, transparent wave emanating from her open palm. Concentrating, Tassilda narrows her stare and smiles eagerly.

The older bandit yawns loudly, rubs his eyes, and flexes neck. The rifle wielding bandit snorts and laughs. "Aw, grandpa needs his afternoon nap?"

Sounding out a long irritated grumble, the older bandits lifts his head up against the trunk of the large tree behind him and blinks. "Meh. Fuck you. I didn't get any damned sleep last night."

Fighting the reflexive contortions of face, the young bandit draws a lethargic breath in. "Huh. Well, to be honest... I didn't get any sleep, either. All that weird fucking noise last night kept me awake."

The rifle bandit vainly tries to keep his mouth closed against a stubborn yawn and grits his teeth, submitting to the urge. "Gods dammit, you two. Got me yawning now."

The older bandit slowly narrows his distant, spacey stare, and his head tilts down upon his chest. The rifle bandit leans heavily upon the tree next to him. His eyelids droop shut, and the rifle hangs loose by the strap over his shoulder. The young bandit's head teeters lethargically from one shoulder to the other, the rest of his body drifting with the motion. Moments later, a silent wave of magical energy visibly warps over the clearing. The older bandit slides down the large tree trunk into a seat upon the roots. The rifle bandit oozes down against the small tree and sloppily slumps upon the ground. The young bandit stands motionless for a few seconds and drops down to his knees, arms still crossed. His balance surrenders to gravity, and his upper body falls forward unceremoniously onto the forest floor. Puffs of air through his nostrils stir the dirt into the breeze, and soft snores barely peak out from the drone of rustling leaves.

Daedrican and the three Chrome Crusaders step forth, cautiously surveying the area. Arriving behind Daedrican, Tassilda grins smugly and confidently chimes. "Oh, don't worry. They are in a DEEP sleep. You can talk and move them around. It will be quite a while before they wake up naturally."

The tall, armored junior paladin shakes his head, astonishment tinting his tone. "My lady... THAT was quite impressive. What was the process, again?"

The thoroughly amused light armor troops secure the slumbering bandits. Tassilda smiles happily and counts out the first step of the process upon her gray hand. "The first spell helped the flow of energy to establish a route to the targets."

Flicking up another black nailed finger, she curls a satisfied smirk from the corner of her mouth. "Then, you have to gently trickle in a spell to put them in the right mindset and convince them that sleep is allowable, acceptable. The mind can easily will up a very powerful defense against magical strong suggestion and mental effects if the person is alert, especially if there's any perceived threat. At that point, only concentrated, direct application could possibly get through that barrier."

With a smug grin, her light blue on black eyes search into the reflective visor of Daedrican's helmet. "Finally..."

Perking an amused eyebrow, she rests her hand upon her hip and tilts her head of raven black hair. "You spring the trap and release the full effects of the spell. And..."

She sweeps her open hand out to the bound and slumbering bandit. "You can see the results."

Noting the progress with the bandit by his squadmates, Daedrican nods in agreement and relaxes his shield and baton at his sides. "Well. I must admit, my lady, I feel a little bit extraneous at the moment."

With a pleasant smile up towards Daedrican, Tassilda chimes out her appreciation. "OH. Do NOT feel that way. Such magic is a delicate process that can be prone to folly. YOU and your team provided me with the protection I needed to fully dedicate myself to the task to ensure success."

Daedrican cocks his helmeted head, chuckles, and nods to the other troopers. "Well, I believe we all appreciate your ability to make this significantly easier. I think further demonstration of your talents is in order."

Tossing back her long hair over her shoulder, Tassilda poses approvingly and glances over Daedrican.

----

Four men stand in the middle of the long stretch of highway between two forest walls. Three of the red bandanna wearing bandits aim barely serviceable rifles at the windshield of a large cargo truck, slowing to a complete stop. The fourth dons a conniving smile and waves a pointed finger at the two occupants of the vehicle, maintaining a firm grip upon a finely made sword at his side. He draws in a long breath and projects his voice forth in a commanding tone, pointing to a spot ahead of the vehicle. "Okay! If you would please DISEMBARK your truck and STAND over here..."

A sinister grin creeps from the corner of his mouth, and he chuckles darkly. "We can make this quick, efficient, and mostly... Painless."

Both cab doors of the box truck open. In common, drab outfits, Chad and Veevi climb down to the faded asphalt roadway, lift their gloved hands up in the air, and walk in the front of the vehicle. Two bandits on the sides of formation keep their rifle trained upon Chad and Veevi. The commanding criminal taps the handle of his sword, brushes the brim of the red fedora on his head, and lifts an inquisitive eyebrow at the two prior occupants of the vehicle. "Now... Are you two going to tell me what you are hauling today?"

Keeping a neutral stare ahead, Chad calmly recounts, a faint tremor in his voice. "Oh. Nothing. Really. Just dry goods, furniture, and some supplies."

Veevi stares resolutely at the hat wearing man and sneers her upper lip, revealing her sharp teeth. At the side of the red fedora bandit, a scrawny man glances over and glares at Veevi with a lecherous grin. "Hey! Red Hat! You want me to, uh, search them?"

Red Hat glances over briefly, nods in agreement, and crosses his arms in anticipation. "Most certainly, Rat. I'm actually curious what they may be carrying."

With an eager smile, Rat shoulders his rifle by the strap, walks around behind Chad, and pats him down. He quickly feels around Chad's sleeves, checks the pockets of his hoodie and pants, and finds a bundle of paper money. Flipping deftly through the wad, he swiftly shows Red Hat and stows it away. He runs his hands down Chad's pant legs, stands up, and steps around in front of Chad. Glancing down at Chad's big belt buckle, he smirks greedily. "Hmm. Nice belt. Might take that later."

Narrowing his glare at Rat, Chad grumbles dismissively. "Uh, thanks?"

Growing an ear to ear grin, Rat steps around behind Veevi, flexing his fingers expectantly, and performs a similar search of her person. Inspection times slow down drastically with extra attention paid to choice areas of Veevi's hoodie and shorts. After the long holds and pauses during the lengthy pat down, Red Hat impatiently hems loudly and sighs impatiently. With each passing second, ire boils furiously upon Veevi's tan face. Her short-hair tail fur puffs out further with each moment. Rat leers up and chuckles to himself. Veevi instinctively twitches and spits in Rat's face. "You'll feel your broken off hands in your ass if you keep that up!"

Wiping the thick phlegm off his face, Rat stumbles away cursing and scrambles for his rifle. "Argh! Ah, fuck you, damned pink bitch!"

The two bandits at the sides of the blockade snort and laugh. The lecherous cretin stumbles back to his feet and scurries next to Red Hat. After a long, annoyed groan, Red Hat shakes his head. "I take you didn't find anything... Rat?"

Retrieving the money from his pocket, Rat hands it to his boss. "No. Just this money."

Shrugging his shoulders, Red Hat glances over to each side at the other two bandits, and points to the truck. "Okay. Briggs. Mort. Open up the back doors, and check the cargo. If it's any good, let the rest know and get it hauled off."

Briggs and Mort nod to Red Hat, and each approach a side of the truck. The two slowly step along the length of vehicle and pause in the middle of. Both kneel and survey the underside of the machine. Examining the mechanical aspects, each pats choice places underneath and taps suspect parts. After seconds of inspection, both exchange glances and nod in satisfaction. Standing up, they resume walking and reach the back double doors to the cargo compartment. Briggs undoes the locking mechanism and grabs the handle for one door. Mort takes hold of the other. In unison, the two lift the latches and swing the doors open. Turning to face the inside of the cargo hold, Briggs and Mort freeze in place and gawk in abject shock.

A few dumbfounded blinks later, power armor gauntlets swiftly reach out and clamp firm, threatening grips on their faces. Readied hydraulics straining dangerously close to their ears ensures their silence. Trakenthin stands stoically, points a finger at Briggs and Mort, motions to awaiting, eager Chrome Crusader personnel with restraints, and signals for silence with a finger to his lips. Briggs and Mort eye each other through the gaps between the robotically enhanced hands and stare in horror at the two power armored paladins gripping. Within tight tolerances, both nod pleadingly to Trakenthin. Briggs and Mort swiftly disappear inside the cargo hold of the truck, and the doors quietly close back up.

Tapping his foot, Red Hat sighs loudly. "Hmm. It's taking them some time."

Furrowing his brow, he slides a playfully suspicious stare over to Chad and Veevi. "So... Simple dry goods, furniture, and supplies? I wonder. Maybe we got ourselves some enterprising smugglers? Maybe BAD smugglers with some lucrative contraband?"

Shrugging his shoulders dismissively, Chad concentrates his stare upon the lead bandit. Attentions briefly shifting towards an unseen source, he thinks a moment, pulls a white toothed grin along his face, and aims an examining gaze upon Red Hat. "Question. How well do you know how to use that sword?"

Lifting the brim of his red fedora up slightly, Red Hat quirks an intrigued brow at Chad and cocks his head to the side, intrigued. "Fairly well, I'd like to think... And have been told by the many I've bested."

Gripping one hand onto the other, Chad frees his fist from the glove along with his Stalwart Sword, readies the blade at the boss, and sneaks a firm press upon his belt buckle. "Mind if I test your claims?"

Rat leaps back in surprise, aims his rifle at Chad, and nervously blurts out. "D-d-drop it! Or, I'll s-s-shoot!"

Excitement igniting his eyes, Red Hat waves off his underling, draws his finely made blade, and grins brightly. "It's okay! Oh, I do think THIS will be FUN!"

Chad and Red Hat assume combat stances, Veevi side steps carefully away, and Rat maintains an uneasy watch. Chad narrows his analyzing stare at Red Hat. In return, Red Hat eyes Chad up and down, assessing every little detail. He smiles in sheer amusement and chuckles. "Oh my, whoever are you really? You actually know how to use that sword."

A triumphantly bright white, trademark smile beams upon Chad's face, and he laughs out proudly. "Chad Bosch, leader of the Flames of the Phoenix."

Red Hat nods, bows slightly, and brushes the brim of his red fedora. "Pleased to meet you. I'm THE Red Hat. Shall we?"

The two stare intensely at each other, eyes reading every slight flit of body language motion. Blades gradually reposition, responding to hints from the other. Postures shift, and footings slide along the road surface, counteracting the changes of the opponent. Long, tense moments tick slowly by. Both suddenly tense their muscles. Chad and Red Hat lunge at each other, clash blades, and leap back, reevaluating their tactics. The two circle each other, pause tensely, and swiftly approach. In a fast flurry of motion, both combatants unleash multiple strikes, expertly parry, solidly block, and continuously seek the openings to exploit. Minutes of deadlocks, equal exchanges, and dodges later, Chad and Red Hat keep up the duel, awaiting the next assault from the other. Panting, Red Hat manically smiles and stares eagerly at Chad. "OH! This has been quite exhilarating! It's been too long, actually You have my respect."

Chad grins confidently and laughs, adjusting the angle of his blade. "The same. But... I think it will be decided soon."

Red Hat nods, tightens the grip upon his finely crafted sword, and tenses his muscles. A brief moment of still silence flits by. Both approach. Chad swings his sword slightly off. Red Hat dodges and expertly guides his blade towards an unguarded opening. A smile splits Chad's mouth. Releasing his blade, he shifts his footing along with his body and swings his arms, firmly grasping upon Red Hat's sword arm. With a strong pull and the momentum, Chad forcefully drags the rest of the Red Hat's body along a powerful, disarming throw onto the roughly paved road. Both swords clatter along the surface and slide out of reach of both fighters. Laying upon the pavement, Red Hat cackles loudly, gazing up into the blue sky above. With a dark grin, he sits up. "Now, THAT was a proper gods damned fight! OH, you have no idea how long I've yearned for such a battle. Brilliant fake out."

He bows his head to Chad and smirks with a sinister tinge. "Pity... I'll only get to experience it ONCE from you."

Rat levels his rifle at Chad, aims, and freezes immediately. A swarm of red and green dots wander upon Rat's body, gravitating to vital areas. Realizing the surrounding sources, Rat moves his finger carefully away from the trigger of his rifle and raises his hand.

In a sharp spike of panic, Veevi screams out angrily. "H-Hey! Pervert!"

With one hand up in the air, Rat pivots in place and faces Veevi. A bright green beam flashes out from the laser pistol in Veevi's gloveless hand, pulsing into the crotch of Rat's pants. A chaotic, fiery burst of vaporized cloth, smoke, and reflected green light erupts out, the impact rippling out from the epicenter. Rat flops over onto the ground motionless. Seconds later, a panicked wail of pain echoes into the highway corridor between the forests. Rat scrambles frantically around, ripping his pants open. He tears out an object, and flings a glowing, red-hot, dented metal athletic cup, sending it scraping across the roadway. Rolling around with both hands securely cupping his groin, Rat concentrates on breathing against the overwhelming odds.

Chad and Red Hat gawk in terrified horror, unconsciously guarding their respective bits. A chorus of surprise sounds out from the woods, and Modoran's voice briefly becomes audible. "Holy shit!"

Starting out into the surrounding vicinity, Red Hat spots the abundance of Chrome Crusaders stepping out from hiding and catches a glimpse of the laser pistol in Veevi's hand. He quickly raises his hands up into the air and yells out. "I. YIELD. Everyone! Dear gods... I surrender!"

----

In a wide walkway connecting tall, shelving lined rows of the massive warehouse store, Bach and Cideeda stare up at the overhead Merc-Mart signs, reading the outlines of contents down the packed aisles. Scouting the merchandise upon the heavy-duty racks, Bach furrows his brow and directs his voice over a shoulder towards Cideeda. "Well, I'm glad that Faelatelia is on her way back to her parents."

Stepping along the main path, Cideeda weaves between advertising placards and demo stands. "OH. YES. Just hope the parents cut her some slack. From what she said last night, she's been through enough. To her credit, she at least tried to get out there."

Bach nods, rummages around his pocket, and retrieves his aetherphone. "I mean, I count that for something. At least she figured out things weren't right and didn't want to be part of them anymore."

He enters the security code, and the phone screen pops midway through a news aggregator. Sifting through the random articles on the aethernet browser, Bach drags through the continuous feed on his phone display. "Huh. There was an eclipse this morning."

Perking her furry ears up, Cideeda steps up close to Bach's side and narrows her gaze at his aetherphone. "What? Really? When and where? I hadn't heard or seen anything about one."

Bach holds the device lower and chuckles. "Yeah, some time this morning for us... Oh. Up in the Arctic Circle."

Cideeda rolls her emerald green eyes away and snorts with a dismissive wave. "Oh, no wonder. I think I remember reading about that one a few months back. Three thousand seventeen is going to be dud when it comes to eclipses."

Nodding, Bach taps the screen and narrows his blue eyes at the full text. "Yeah... Looks like... Something in November... And..."

He dismissively grimaces and sighs. "It's in the Antarctic Circle.

Shaking her head of short, multi-colored hair, Cideeda laughs softly and flicks her fluffy tail. "That's about what I remember when I last checked. Nothing worth remembering. Just a bunch of confused fish and maybe a boat crew seeing it."

She glances up to Bach and grins toothily. "Not like the last one in three thousand twelve. Dretphi told me that some cult out west stirred up all kinds of trouble because of that one."

Bach shrugs his shoulders and peeks down the next aisle along the main walkway. "Always seems to be the thing. I will always remember the one in o' six. We weren't on the path, but it was close to High Alton. Sebastian and I froze our asses off trying to get a good look at it."

A genuine smile grows on Cideeda's light brown face, and she chuckles softly, perking her furry ears. "I BARELY remember anything about it, but the one in ninety two was the best one for me. It passed right over where I was living at the time."

Squinting into his thoughts, Bach cocks his head and slowly nods. "Yeah... I kind of remember that one."

He blinks a few times, gazes down at Cideeda, and furrows his brow. "Wait, how much do you remember of that? I mean, I don't think you're older than me..."

Resting her hands on her hips, she flashes a toothy grin and snorts. "Oh, I'm not. Honestly, all I really remember was it getting REALLY dark, seeing those shadow snakes on the yard, and..."

She rolls her eyes at herself with a tight smile. "My mom and dad struggling to keep their little girl from taking the welding goggles they fitted on me, so their little girl didn't stare right into the sun."

Bach snorts and chuckles, shaking his head. Signaling Bach to follow down an aisle, Cideeda glances over her shoulder. "Okay, SO on a different subject, we ARE here to get you some new clothes. BUT..."

Lifting an eyebrow, she slyly smirks. "There's another reason."

Bach furrows his brow and suspiciously eyes Cideeda. "Which is?"

Pausing, Cideeda spins around and faces Bach, presenting a toothy grin. "It's Sotalia's birthday tomorrow."

She resumes walking, surveys contents of a nearby counter, and turns at a pathway intersection. Bach thinks a moment and catches up. "Oh! Okay. So, what do we need to do?"

With a laugh, Cideeda shakes her head and nonchalantly stretches her arms out. "Nothing too crazy. We usually gift something practical and useful that you'd never get around buying for yourself. Or..."

A scheming grin graces her, and she winks a Bach mischievously, tapping her finger tips together. "We get a FITTING gag gift."

Narrows his stare ahead, Bach sighs and grumbles to himself. "Oh. Great. I can just imagine the possibilities for me at this point."

Cideeda snickers, rolls her eyes, and smiles comfortingly to Bach. "Ah, it's all in good fun. And, you get whatever you want baked for you as long as we can put candles in it."

Nodding in reserved acceptance, Bach scans the merchandise with renewed interest and examines a display of different types of socks. "Okay. Yeah. I guess that's a pretty nice deal. So, what does Sotalia get usually?"

Cideeda flips through a few pairs of toed socks, glances over to Bach, and smirks with a hint of excitement. "A big pan of chocolate brownies. Dretphi is taking care of it this year."

Bach inspects a few t-shirts upon a table, places them back, and hums with interest. "That sounds pretty good. Especially if Dretphi is making them."

Releasing a long sigh, Cideeda crosses her arms and plots out loud. "So. We're cutting it a bit close with everything else that's been going on. Hopefully, if we can find a good gift today and you can keep her occupied enough during your Monday magical training sessions..."

She wags her tail and tips her head back. "We might be able to sneak this one in."

A scheming smile appears on Bach, and he winks slyly to Cideeda. "OH. I can keep her occupied. I'll just randomly hint at some other spell I know."

Cideeda bows her head understandingly, reads the overhead aisle signs, and grimaces in frustration. "Gods, I'm just not seeing anything that sticks out for her."

Pivoting in place, Bach pans his stare around the area. In the large, open space between massive racked aisles, rows of tables stand with assortments of merchandise. Bright yellow tags cover the normal price tags with the phrase "Clearance" boldly printed. A spark of inspiration arcs in Bach's mind. He closes his eyes, reopens them to a glowing blue upon the sea of clearance items, and smirks smugly. "How about a box of random, cheap magic crap?"

Cideeda pauses in thought, tilts her head to the side, and perks her furry ears in agreement with a toothy grin. "Gods. Yes. I'll enable her habit this one time."

----

Aristespha brushes off the dining table and hoists up a large gift wrapped box onto the middle. Cideeda stands next to the open sliding glass door and glances out into the late afternoon lit backyard, keeping a furry ear aimed outside. Dretphi precisely guides a kitchen knife into the pan of brownies and divides the whole into an equal grid of squares. Sebastian awaits next to Cideeda and whispers over to her. "Anything yet?"

Cideeda shakes her head and smirks satisfied. "Nope. She's still in the gazebo, and the hot tub is still bubbling."

Sebastian's translucent form quirks his brow. "Huh. You think she fell asleep in there? Bach did drag out the training session today."

Stepping up next to Dretphi, Bach examines the tray of chocolate baked goods, sorts through the candles in his hand, and gazes out to the group overall. "So, um... How many candles do I put on this?"

Dretphi glances over, smiles slightly, and places drink glasses down from the overhead cabinets onto the counter. "Twenty six."

Starting to accept the amount, Bach pauses, contorts his face with revelation, and grimaces into a mildly confused stare. "Wha- Huh- Ah... Really? I mean, I, uh... Not one to judge, but..."

Aristespha snorts into snickering laughter, finishes arranging some place mats upon the tabletop, and rolls her violet eyes in humor. "WELL, we have this accidental tradition that Sebastian started when he put in the wrong number candles. Therefore, we all decided if we are going to put any number, it will be the number of the youngest in the group."

Nodding at the concept, Bach swiftly pokes more wax sticks into the brownie squares and cautiously inquires. "So... Who's the youngest?"

Dretphi smiles amused, pivots towards Bach, and raps her fingers upon the counter. "ME. Could you not tell?"

Bach's eyes widen, and he slowly gazes over at Dretphi. Wrestling an awkward smirk, he stumbles over a response. "Uh... Yea- Um- Well..."

Watching Bach fumble about his words, Dretphi shakes her head with a happy chuckle. "Do not worry. I was joking."

Cideeda's furry ear flicks, and she cranes her head out the opening in the sliding glass door. Snapping her head back inside, she whispers loudly to the rest of the team. "She's coming out."

Bach places the last candle. Dretphi sweeps up the pan immediately, swiftly carries the tray over, and lands it upon the tabletop. Cideeda quietly slides the glass door shut. Quickly gesturing out a swift incantation, Aristespha flicks a flow of magic across the candles, and colored flames spring up upon each of the wicks. The group settles and waits around the table.

A minute passes, and the glass door slides open. Sotalia steps through, drying her fiery orange, wavy hair with a towel. Lowering the towel and draping it upon her shoulders, she guides her hair over her horns and gawks at the team. Excitement rushes over her, and she skips over to join them around the table. Everyone cheers out a happy birthday in their favored languages. Sotalia smiles brightly, draws in a deep breath, and blows out the candles. A few re-ignitions later, a stubborn flame gets a dispelling tap of magical energy from a long nailed finger. Bach smiles inquisitively and crosses his arms. "So, how old are you today?"

Sotalia parts an evil grin. Weaving her fingers together, she props her elbows upon the table, rests her head on her hands, and concentrates a piercing stare through Bach. "WELL. How old do YOU think I am?"

Hints of hesitation trickling out, Bach averts his gaze away from the unrelenting attention from Sotalia and awkwardly laughs. "Uh, well, I'm not really good at judging ages..."

Golden eyes focus intensely. Catching a glimpse, Bach swallows hard. "But... Maybe... Late-"

Sotalia narrows her stare and abruptly mutes her smile. A brief wince staggers Bach's voice. "... Twenties?"

A flattered grin emerges upon Sotalia's light tan, dark gray edged face, and she sighs longingly. "Oh gods, I wish. Still, VERY nice of you to say though."

With an appreciative tone, she rolls her golden eyes at herself and shrugs her shoulders. "I was born today, May nineteenth, twenty nine eighty one. Thirty six... years ago. Hence, the oldest of the group."

Sebastian motions for the gifted wrapped box. "Hey, it's just a number. You are most certainly young at heart. Anyway... Gift time!"

The gathering at the table slides the large gift in front of Sotalia. With a thankful smile to Sebastian, Sotalia places her hands on the side of the box. Her focus locks onto the package, and she eagerly inspects the container. "What did you guys get me? I feel magic in here!"

-48-

Scattered piles of data cartridges litter the front dash of the van, only pages of notes separating the collections. Samantha eases the front passenger seat back and props her feet up on the edge of the open door window. Balancing the laptop on her stomach, she types into different chat windows on her screen and leans her head over towards the aetherphone on the center console. "So... Howie... Have you seen the video of our little, psycho starlet roasting that bandit's nuts over a laser beam?"

Howard's voice crackles through the aetherphone with a slight reverb. "OH. YES. I sent that segment immediately to the editing team. With priority. They're trying a few different takes on it and seeing what they can come up with. Hopefully, I'll get the results from marketing to figure out which one to use in our next series of commercials. Personally, I'm leaning towards the slow motion with dramatic music breaks. Though, the meme take is growing on me. Might use that end for younger markets."

Ejecting a cartridge from a small computer, Gerald plucks it out, tossing it into a large sack on the cab floor. He slides into another data cartridge, taps an on-screen button, and sighs, idly watching the progress bar creep along. "My vote is still on the freeze frame and color wash out effect."

He squints at the screen and furrows his brow at the single pixel travel of the status bar. "Holy. Hell. Even with the booster, the radio reception signal is CRAP out here."

Groaning in commiseration, Samantha shifts her eyes between all the conversations scrolling on her laptop. "Tell me about it. But, thanks to Deedri, we had a good main focus for this last episode."

Shaking his head, Gerald snorts and stares amused at the trickling upload meter. "Well, Veevi had it coming. Just wish I had grabbed that footage myself with my camera. That hall camera isn't the best in the world. Still serviceable."

A sly smirk graces Samantha, and she darkly chuckles. "OH, along with all the other clips of the two, it worked out just fine. Right, Howie?"

A long silence looms in the van, both Samantha and Gerald awaiting a response. Second later, Samantha grabs the aetherphone, inspects the call status on the screen, and lifts a curious eyebrow. "Howie? Are you still there?"

The distant voice of Howard sounds out from the aetherphone's speaker, and he ponders out loud with an audible hum. "Yeah... I'm still here. Just thinking about SOMETHING. There's something about these new clips that I can't put my finger on, exactly. There's something different."

Samantha exchanges a curious glance with Gerald, aiming her voice at her phone. "Uh, what clips are you talking about?"

Mumbling through idle thoughts, Howard attempts at a sentence a few times and summons up an inquisitive tone. "The recent clips with Veevi. When she looks over to Deedri... I don't think I've ever seen THAT expression on her before. What IS that? I don't remember seeing that look from her on anything from the other show."

Settling back into the driver's seat, Gerald blinks in confusion and presses a button on his nearby camera. "Wait, I think I know what you are talking about. Let me check something real quick."

Under the command of Gerald, the monitor attached to the camera hops between different segments. A minute of hunting later, a shot of Veevi next to Chad appears on the screen. The clip slowly plays out. Veevi glances over towards Deedri, stares apprehensively, and briefly shows a frown. Moments later, she musters her normal front back. Gerald and Samantha cock their heads inquisitively and closely study the video segment on repeat. Resting her hand thoughtfully over her mouth, Samantha blinks in surprise. "That IS strange. Is she... NO... Not her. There's no way she would... But..."

Furrowing his confused brow, Gerald alternates between examining the camera display and the forming intrigue on Samantha. "Okay... I'm missing something here. What is going on?"

A rolling, dark laugh emanates from the aetherphone, and Howard slides into a near devious giggle. "OH. That's PERFECT. I had NOT considered that a possibility. Her usual manipulative tactics, yes. But... Genuine? THAT is just going to lead to whole new angles."

Samantha grins with a blatantly evil curl. "Howie. Don't you mean... Triangles?"

Howard and Samantha share synchronous cackles of devilish delight, and Gerald slowly processes the information to a shocked realization.

----

The morning sun warns the asphalt of the two lane road in front of the ranch style house. With each passing second, distant rumbling grows louder, and a motorcycle rounds the curve into view. Upon the cruiser cycle, a tall, imposing figure leans into the turn and levels out the bike upon the straight away. Artificial muscles flex underneath a polymer outer skin in both of his technologically advanced cybernetic arms. The muscular man navigates the motorcycle closer to the shoulder of the road and slows the vehicle to a stop next to the mailbox at the mouth of the driveway. The helmeted head glances down at a mounted aetherphone and nods confirming at the mailbox's number. Lifting his military boots off the pavement, the man eases the accelerator and rolls the vehicle down the driveway, parking next to the humvee. With a flick of the switch, the rumbling engine cuts off. Removing his helmet, he reveals an aged, hard-edged face wearing a calm smile. He rests his helmet down upon the bike and brushes off his lovingly worn, sleeveless jacket. Casually walking up to the door, he grants an admiring nod towards the humvee and stops solidly upon the front doormat. Quickly brushing his synthetic hand through his swept-back silvery gray hair, he shakes out some minor nerves and presses the door bell button.

From inside the house, a muffled tone rings. Signs of life stir inside, and the faint echoes resonate outside to the imposing figure. Patiently waiting, the imposing man leans slightly off the top of the landing and tries a peek into a window. Almost a minute later, the rattle of door locks cues him to stand back up straight. The front door swings quickly open. In a form fitting workout outfit, Sotalia glances back over her shoulder, holding a fanciful cup of coffee. "Yes. I'll warn him about the rocks, too."

She snaps her head forward and finally examines the person in front of her. "Hey, I guess you're-"

Her sentence trails to a sharp pause. Tilting her head to the side in surprise, her recognition of the man erupts within her mind and overflows upon her light tan face. She fights a losing battle to maintain her composure. The grip upon her coffee cup unconsciously loosens, her golden eyes gawk starstruck ahead. "C-c-commander Blaureiter?!"

The cup slips from her fingers. Commander Blaureiter's blue eyes lock onto the falling container. His cybernetic arm flexes forward with the rest of his body. In mere fractions of a second, he gracefully seizes the coffee from its descent. Sotalia reflexively shudders at the silent swiftness, and long dormant youthful admiration wins the battle over composure. Covering her mouth with both hands, she fidgets energetically and struggles to keep her pitch from climbing. "OH MY GODS! You're Commander Blaureiter! I- Uh- Um- Oh- Ah- Wow..."

Blaureiter bashfully chuckles, presents the recaptured coffee cup to Sotalia, and smiles graciously. "Yes. Well, I was once. Now, it's just Professor Blaureiter, officially."

He humbly rolls his eyes at himself. "And well... It's mostly just Thomas these days."

Regaining some situational awareness, Sotalia grabs hold of her coffee cup. Thomas lifts an examining eyebrow. "If I'm correct, I believe you are Sotalia?"

Gazing up from the cup in her hands, a flush of pink floods Sotalia's face, and she shyly stares at Thomas. "Uh... Yes. You are correct. Um, how did you know?"

With a gentle smile, Thomas shrugs his shoulders and chuckles lightly. "Well, you are the only one who meets the vibrant personality that Sebastian described in his aethermails to me."

He glances inside the house around Sotalia and notices the gathering group staring towards the entry. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

Sotalia snaps her head back, remembers where she stands, and excitedly steps to the side. "OH! No! Of course not! Come in, sit down! Please!"

Thomas nods, taps any debris off his boots before entering, and eases heavy footsteps upon the hardwood floors. "Hello. Hope I'm not barging in."

Sebastian's ethereal form zips over towards Thomas, both blinking in surprise. "Professor Blaureiter! Holy shit! What are you doing here?! It's great to see you!"

Inspecting Sebastian's ghostly visage, Thomas cocks his head curiously to the side. "It's good to see you, too, Sebastian. Despite the information I've heard, I think there's a lot more you can tell me about what has happened as of late."

Gritting his teeth, Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and sighs, drifting in place. "YEAH. It's a story or two."

From the dining table, Bach snaps a delighted gaze up from his bowl of cereal towards Thomas and hops up from his chair. "Hey, Professor Blaureiter!"

Bach holds a hand out to shake, and Thomas steps closer. Thomas shakes Bach's hand, wraps his arms around Bach in a brief hug, and holds him at the shoulders. "I've been worried about you, Bach. I had promised myself to hunt you down after the semester was over if I didn't hear anything from you."

A sly smirk curls across Bach's face, and he motions over towards Sebastian with a grumbling, ill-humored tone. "WELL, someone already beat you to it. In some fashion."

Narrowing his stare upon Sebastian, Thomas slowly crosses his powerful, cybernetic arms with an unamused glare. "Oh. Did he drag you into trouble again?"

Bach joins Thomas in the stare down of Sebastian. "Oh, both figuratively... And, LITERALLY."

Sighing, Aristespha slumps her shoulders and rolls her violet eyes at herself. "In his defense, Professor Blaureiter, we weren't in the best of mindsets at that time. But, I'd like to think we're making progress in conducting ourselves better."

Thomas points to a chair and gazes around for a confirmation. With a few nods of acceptance, he smiles and lowers himself into a chair around the table. "Well, I'd really love to hear all about it. If it's not too much trouble for you all."

At the entry doorway, Sotalia settles her excitement down and gradually calms herself. Closing the front door, she exhales quietly. With a long sip of coffee, she stills herself and mumbles. "Okay. Keep it together. Don't fangirl out here."

She glances down the entryway towards the living area and cranes her head around the pantry, catching a glimpse of Professor Thomas Blaureiter sitting and chatting with everyone else at the dining table. She closes her golden eyes, bites her lower lip, and excitedly fidgets with teen-aged glee.

----

Scratching the top of his blonde haired head, Kaleb slides through another guild mission listing on the tablet. He lifts the device up from top of the unfinished table and squints at the next quest description. The sound of water rushing from a faucet abruptly halts, and Shadeesa lifts a greasy frying pan out of the kitchen sink. She dumps a few plates of leftovers on the pan and hovers it over the sill of an open window nearby. Moments later, big green eyes rise up into view. Lagi's maw opens, and a long, large tongue lavishly licks the cooking surface clean. Shadeesa waits for the last confirming sniff from Lagi, inspects the empty frying pan, and sinks it completely into the water. "Thank you, Lagi."

Drying her light gray hands upon a nearby towel, she tosses her head of dark green hair back and narrows her gaze upon the large dragon. "Now, you can help yourself to FIVE apples off the tree in the back."

Lagi nods his large head, turning away eagerly. Shadeesa lifts a suspicious brow, focuses a stern stare at Lagi, and snaps her long nailed fingers. Lagi halts to attention. Holding her hand out, Shadeesa flexes all her fingers on a hand. "FIVE apples. I counted twenty eight yesterday on that particular tree. SO, there better be twenty three left."

Tipping her back, she keeps her motherly stare upon Lagi. "Understood?"

Nodding his large head slowly, Lagi waits patiently. Shadeesa warms her smile, leans carefully out the window, and scratches Lagi's chin. "If you need to fill up, there's a new drum of fryer grease from Draco-Burger under the carport."

A low, growling purr rumbles from Lagi, and he quickly departs. Hungrily rushing along, his huge four winged frame bounds around the long brick house. Shadeesa giggles to herself and undoes the apron around her prominent belly. Slowly walking towards the table, she guides her hair over her horns and sits down next to Kaleb. She rests her head on his shoulder and sighs. "Anything good in the guild listings?"

Kaleb leans his head snugly against Shadeesa's and hums in thought. "Well, just the usual batch of flyovers and survey jobs. Nothing that pays that great, but if I can get a few more..."

He lifts an entrepreneurial eyebrow and visibly ponders. "Might be able to work a nice two day run to take care of a bunch in a row."

Tapping his finger upon the map on the tabletop, he traces out a penciled path in between a number of dots. Shadeesa nods and wraps an arm around his. "That doesn't look so bad. Looks like a busy few days, though."

Opening his eyes wide in reluctant acceptance, Kaleb draws a long breath in and sighs hopefully. "Yeah. But, it'll mean just two long days to get what we need for the week."

Shadeesa grumbles and rests a hand upon her belly. "Gods, I really need to pick up the pace on getting the veterinary clinic plan together. I don't want you and Lagi having to fly around all the time. Especially when the baby arrives."

Kaleb slips his arm free from Shadeesa and wraps it around her. Turning his head, he kisses her on the cheek, carefully avoiding a horn. "Don't worry about it. We're on track with the payments here. We've saved up quite a bit. And, you've got a few local, regular clients."

A long eye roll crosses Shadeesa's face, and she lowers her head in disappointment, snuggling close to Kaleb. "Livestock. I'm treating cows, pigs, and a few stubborn donkeys."

Wrestling a grimace, she huffs and playfully whines. "OH, what I wouldn't give to get on the preferred list for one of the weird zone reserves or a dragon rider company."

Kaleb rubs Shadeesa's arm and rests a free hand on her baby bump. "Hey. We have to start somewhere. You did get to treat a dire boar piglet and people keep asking me about Lagi's dedicated vet. You may get those calls soon enough."

Shadeesa sighs and relaxes a bit. "I guess... It'd still help if I had a dedicated place to practice and all the proper equipment set up. Having to haul everything around gets a little tiring."

The two share a quiet moment, each taking turns sliding through job postings on the tablet. Minutes later, an aetherphone chime rings out from between the two. Shadeesa blinks to awareness, retrieves her aetherphone, and reads the caller info. "It's Aristespha."

Cocking his head to the side, Kaleb lifts a curious eyebrow. "Might be Sebastian, too, since he can't use phones at the moment."

Shadeesa taps a button on the screen and holds the device up to her ear. "Hello?"

A mixture of dialog between a number of voices spill out from the speaker, and Shadeesa's eyes light up. "REALLY?! He's there?"

Listening to another chorus of conversation, she smiles brightly. "Why, of course, I think we can!"

She turns and gazes at Kaleb with a happy smile. "Professor Blaureiter is over there with Sebastian and Bach for a surprise visit. Do you think we can go over there?"

Kaleb blinks with a happy grin. "Sure! I don't believe we have anything planned today."

Shadeesa squirms happily and focuses back on the call. "We'll fly over there soon enough, it shouldn't be too long-"

A flash of concern washes over Kaleb. Craning his head around, Kaleb stares resolutely into Shadeesa's bright green on black eyes and shakes his head. Shadeesa quirks an incredulous brow and turns the aetherphone away from them. "What?"

Kaleb sighs and lightly pats on Shadeesa's stomach. "You can't fly right now. We'll drive over, and Lagi can follow us."

Shadeesa sneers her upper lip with an indignant tone. "I'll be fine. It'll take an extra half hour or so driving-"

Moving his head close to hers, Kaleb watches the minute shifts of mood upon Shadeesa's gray, white freckled face and calmly speaks. "Remember what you said last time."

Blinking, Shadeesa pauses in thought. She eases to a calm, appreciative smile and places the phone back on her ear with a tinge of embarrassment. "Oh. No. Everything is fine. We'll just be driving over instead. I shouldn't be flying at the moment."

She listens to a few voices in response and smiles. "Don't worry. Lagi is really good about following the car. We'll see you all soon."

After the call ends, Shadeesa gazes over to Kaleb, wraps her arms around him, and hugs him tightly. "Thank you for keeping me grounded. Sorry for being-"

A sly smirk pulls across Kaleb. "Yourself?"

Shadeesa squints at Kaleb momentarily and rolls her eyes at herself with a grumbling groan. Kaleb sways with Shadeesa in his arms and laughs. In the distant background through a large window facing the back yard, Lagi sits next to a large tree and carefully counts apples.

----

At and around the dining table, the large gathering of Thomas Blaureiter, Shadeesa and Kaleb, and the rest of the team converse. Recent and historical events rise up to the latest, ever-changing topic, all retelling their perspectives. In a lull of the exchanges, Thomas glances over to Sotalia with a quizzical hint to his voice. "I apologize, but I have to ask, Sotalia. How do you know about me?"

Furrowing his brow, he smirks curiously and tilts his head. "You recognized me... But, not immediately. And, I haven't gone by Commander in over fifteen years."

Sotalia's golden eyes open wide, and she briefly grits her teeth. A tense moment later, she sighs with an embarrassed smile. "Well, I think you KNOW how. I was a teenager back, then."

Thomas lowers his head forward and chuckles out a wave of bashfulness. "Oh. I'm actually a bit surprised. Okay. Now, I have to ask..."

He lifts an inquisitive eyebrow and smiles amused. "Which poster did you have?"

Sotalia blinks, averts her eyes momentarily, and bites her lower lip with a coy tone. "All three."

Shuddering his head, Thomas gawks at Sotalia in genuine surprise. Sotalia shrugs her shoulders and crosses her arms. "Hey, I have two sisters close to my age. So, when I took an interest in dragons... We all took an..."

She rolls her eyes at herself and fights a guilty grin. "Internet... In the man riding the biggest, baddest one out there."

She fidgets with a girlish glee and tries to contain her amusement. "When my sisters moved on to other things, I kept all the posters."

Narrowing her stare, Aristespha puzzles between Thomas and Sotalia. "I am missing something here. Posters?"

The last word radiates out to the ears of everyone else, triggering different reactions. Bach and Sebastian reflexively snort and squelch any further response. Shadeesa covers her mouth with a hand. And, Kaleb grins wide. "YEAH. You'll have to ask Commander Blaureiter himself about that."

Dretphi and Cideeda exchange intrigued glances, joining their attention with everyone else upon Thomas. Seconds of gauging the crowd later, Thomas wrestles an embarrassed grimace and groans with begrudging amusement. "FIRST, let me say this..."

Furrowing his brow, he swings an humored stare around the gathering. "When your job description on a contract says other duties as assigned... Make sure there's LIMITS upon THAT."

He gazes up towards the ceiling with a distant, reminiscent smirk. "After the Southern Crux collapsed from all their MANY internal problems... And, the GAA and Appaland States absorbed the fracturing territories, the mercenary group I was part of lost its major government backer."

Lowering his head down, he meets the anticipating gazes around the table and shrugs his cybernetic shoulders. "To be fair, they actually had a decent plan given the situation."

Aristespha crosses her arms and tilts her head of silvery blue hair curiously to the side. "Which was?"

Motioning his hands outwards dramatically, Thomas laughs with a mocking grin. "Marketing, of course!"

He rests his cybernetic hands upon the table and pantomimes with his thoughts. "They put it to us SIMPLY. If you ever wanted to receive your big end of career contract retirement payout, you pretty much had to sign away your likeness rights and go along with their big scheme."

Gritting his teeth, he hisses out a stalely annoyed breath. "And being five years away from the end of my long service contract, I decided to humor them."

He settles back in his chair and sighs. "So, pretty soon my old mercenary company worked out merchandising deals, sold rights to every entertainment medium along with some of us as actors, and the few they deemed photogenic..."

Thomas straightens his postures and flashes a bold grin. "Were marketed as the latest craze for teenagers."

Drumming her claw tips upon the tabletop visibly pondering, Cideeda springs her emerald eyes open in revelation and snaps her gazes over. "WAIT. Is THAT why all the different named heroes got released in Battles of Nexus?!"

Thomas nods in confirmation and chuckles lightly. "YES. Once the idea got out, every group and government that could get away with it wanted a piece of that market."

Dretphi pauses thought. "I believe my mother had-"

Arriving at a surprising realization, she blinks. "HAS a poster of you."

Sotalia sneaks a grin across her face and winks mischievously to Command Blaureiter. "My favorite was the swimsuit edition."

A strong blush of red washes over Thomas, and he works it off his face. Mustering up his composure, he laughs quietly with a gentle smile and faces shyly down at the table. "That's Albert's favorite, too."

Shadeesa smiles, reaches out, and pats her hand on Thomas's. "How have you and Albert been? It's been a few months since we went up to High Alton with Lagi for your class."

Thomas chuckles lightly and shakes his head in good humor. "Oh, he's still wily as ever. I always have to make sure he keeps on the light side of his profession."

Noticing the curiosity, he swings gaze over to Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. "He's a law professor that specializes in patent law."

The four nod in understanding. Thomas crosses his synthetic arms and shrugs his shoulders. "He's currently out in Cali for a few weeks for a big conference. BUT, he specifically demanded I do something other than lounge around the house, since I'm not teaching summer courses. So, I decided to fire up the old motorcycle and travel down here from High Alton to see who I could see."

Getting up from his seat, Bach glances towards the kitchen door leading to the garage. "I thought I recognized that rumble. Yeah, I need to show you my ride, since you are here."

Nodding with interest, Thomas slides his chair back and stands up tall. "Sure. Need to get up and move around a bit anyway. The bits that haven't been replaced get stiff a lot easier these days."

Sotalia quickly springs from her seat, pulls her aetherphone out, and gingerly taps Thomas's shoulder. "Um, Excuse Commander Blau- Um... Thomas. While I'm thinking about it, would you humor an old fan with a teen-aged wish to get a picture with you?"

A happy smile graces Thomas's sun tanned face, and he nods. "Of course."

With a mischievous grin, he steps clear of the table. "Stand over here."

Sotalia slides over next to Thomas and taps her aetherphone into the camera function. In a swift motion, Thomas kneels down, sweeps up Sotalia into his arms, and hoists her up. A startled squeak escapes Sotalia, and she blushes with a wide smile on her face. Anxiously giggling at the attention, she quickly addresses her appearance, aims the camera at her and Thomas, and presses an on-screen button. Sotalia wraps an arm around Thomas's neck, and he assumes a fashionably tough exterior. A bright flash later, the picture appears on the aetherphone display. Thomas gently lowers Sotalia down and back on her feet. Drawing in a long breath, Sotalia exhales out her nerves and fidgets with excitement. "Oh my gods! Thank you SO much! Sorry for being such a fangirl and all. I just never really expected to meet you in person."

Rubbing the back of his neck nonchalantly, Thomas chuckles humbly. Hey. You're just fine. Admittedly, it has all reminded me of my more youthful days. So, this old man thanks you."

The mischievous grin reappears upon Thomas's face, and he inquisitively peeks over Sotalia's shoulder. "So, uh, who are you sending that picture to?"

Sotalia bites her lower lip and smirks with a sinister tinge. "Both my sisters. Gods, I can't wait to see how they react."

Shakes his head in amusement, Thomas watches Sotalia quickly tap out a message. The doorbell chimes out. Cideeda hops up from her seat and walks swiftly to the front door. She opens up the entrance, revealing the tall, strong body of a red-headed teenager. "Hey, Dace. I'm guessing your schedule freed up enough to get to our yard."

Blinking back to awareness, Dace focuses back from the side of the house and gazes down at Cideeda. "Oh- OH, yeah! Sorry, it took so long to get out here. Man, everyone seemed to have something special that needed to be done with their yards... And..."

Leaning back, he cautiously angles his gaze towards the corner of the building. "Yeah, um, speaking of special things with lawns... Um..."

He points to the side of the ranch style house, flexes his hand in different motions with his confusion, and apprehensively broaches the subject. "OKAY. I just looked in the back yard and... Well... Uh..."

Scrutinizing the nervous uncertainty blatant upon the teenager's face, Cideeda thinks a moment and reflexively snorts in amusement. "OH! The dragon!"

A brief wave of relief washes over Dace, and he breathes out his tension. "Okay! Cool! You know about the... Dragon-"

He snaps his head down and furrows his brow. "An actual dragon?"

With a slow nod, Cideeda grins toothily. "Yes, we do."

Dace combs his fingers through his short, red hair failing a calm, collected exterior. "So, um. Yeah, ah... Do you want me to mow around the dragon? Uh, is he bothered by loud machinery? Do I need to feed him first?"

Cideeda snickers, shakes her head, and signals Dace to follow her inside. "It'll be fine. Just come inside real quick, and we'll figure it out. Also, have you ever heard of Commander Blaureiter?"

Dace furrows an unamused brow and grumbles out past frustration. "Yeah, actually. Shallen keeps on using his Blaureiter and Night Terror combo unit to cheese out wins against my Red Gear mechs."

A dark chuckle escapes Cideeda, and she leads Dace inside.

----

Squatting upon a branch high up in an older oak tree, Modoran surveys the forested vicinity with a pair of binoculars. Sweeps later, he wanders his aim down long clear corridors between the trees. In the breeze, Rustling leaves from the canopy above drone out and accompany the minutes of inactivity. Modoran lowers his hands, uncertainly twists his mouth, and swings his gaze down upon a trail below, shaking his head with a grimace. An unseen source grabs his attention, and he presses a finger upon a device in his long, dusky, bluish gray ears. "Modoran reporting. Nothing here. Saw some signs of foot traffic along a trail. But... Whoever is probably long gone by now. Over."

He lifts his finger from the ear piece. Seconds later, he nods understandingly and taps it quickly. "Understood. I will start moving towards the next sector in a few minutes. Just want to double-check the area before I clear out. Over."

Staring out into the forest, he focuses his dark blue eyes at the occasional flit of activity from the local wildlife. In the passing minute, he slumps his shoulders, rolls his head around into stretches, and sighs, hinting boredom. Slowly he unfolds his legs out, balancing upon the large branch high up. He plods over to the trunk and leans his back against the tree. Closing his dark blue eyes, he releases a relaxing breath and eases the tension out of his body.

A distant snap echoes out, and his very long, pointed ear twitches. Springing his eyes wide open, he presses himself into the contours of the trunk. His wary stare hunts around the area, searching.

Along the trail next to the large tree, fourteen evuukians hike in a tight group. All carry packs of equipment, supplies, and other belongings, navigating the rougher forest floor with ease. Their attire shares a similar uniform, natural theme, lacking any obvious markings. Torn threads faintly outline unfaded spots upon clothing, and fresh scrapes obscure original markings upon items. Chelindia glances over her shoulder and bows her head to two evuukian guards, light haired and dark haired. With an apologetic cadence, she addresses the two in respectful evuukian. Gradually adopting an appreciative smile, she gazes up to them. The two guards share a laugh. Both nonchalantly shrug back and mention Faelatelia's name in an inquiring tone. Nodding, Chelindia turns her head forward and gazes down the trail. She relays over her shoulder a comforting, informing sentence of evuukian. Relief washes over the guards, and they nod in agreement. Chelindia brushes back her dark green braids, draws a long breath in, and sighs to an uneasy grimace upon her dark tan face. Pondering out loud, she glances around the group, seeking reactions. The discussion grows between the large group, each member commenting in turn. With in the calm debate, Captain Hays, Captain Hackle, GAA, Borderland Rangers, and Perimeter Weird Zone stand out in contrast against the shared dialect of evuukian.

Minutes later, the large team walks out of view over the crest of a small hill. Modoran releases himself from the tree trunk and slides down to a seat upon the branch. Blinking out of a tense stupor, he furrows his brow and darts his eyes between his thoughts, mulling the situation over. Deliberation blatant, he contorts his dusky, bluish gray face to an uncertain conclusion and presses his ear piece. "Captain... This is Modoran. Reporting... Strange activity. Over."

Pausing the transmission for a confirmation, he squints into the distance. Moments later, he keys up the radio. "Large group of evuukians just passed by me a few minutes ago. I counted fourteen. If I had NOT overheard their conversation, I would identify them as Terra Priests. But..."

Modoran furrows his brow, confusion creeping out onto his face. "They were all talking as if they all... Well... Just quit and walked off the commune. They were debating what they were going to do next and brought up some names and organizations. Over."

He side eyes to the response over the radio and reflexively shrugs his shoulders. "OH. Yeah. My sentiments exactly. I do NOT know what to make of it, really. I believe they are harmless and were heading south west from my current position. So at the pace they were going, they'll be outside the operational zone in an hour or so."

Gritting his teeth, Modoran grumbles and shakes his head. "But... If they are leaving the Terra Priests, that means there has to be a commune somewhere around here. Over."

He pauses for the reply and apprehensively shakes his head of short, white, grayish hair. "Uh. They didn't say anything to indicate where. I know we are out here for bandits, BUT we might catch something else by accident. Over."

Standing back up, Modoran stretches his arms out, rocks his head with the radio response, and quickly taps his ear piece. "That sounds like a plan to me. I'm going to continue on to the next area. THAT group will probably scare off any straggler bandits from coming this way. I will report in, if I see anything else. Over and out."

He crosses arms, stares out into the forest, and gradually sways his head. Tossing his hands up in the air, he mumbles out a few evuukian curses and gestures out an incantation. He steps off the branch, glides down onto the ground, and lands in a darkly obscuring mist, enveloping him from sight.

----

Wandering her stare around the back yard, Sotalia stands with her arms crossed and shakes her head in disbelief. Lagi flexes a slight strength down his body, resettles his head upon Thomas's lap, and happily purrs a low rumble. Relaxing his two pairs of massive wings out onto the freshly mowed field, he fans out his long tail and huffs dramatically. Next to the plank picnic table, Thomas pets Lagi softly and stretches his legs out, sitting upon the end of the wooden bench. Glancing over at the lounging dragon, Sotalia sighs in playful resignation, reaches out, and scratches underneath Lagi's chin. "Gods... I still can't believe THIS is The Night Terror's son."

Thomas laughs and smiles at the attention soaking dragon. "Oh. I think he's turning out just fine. While I'm certain Nachta would have raised him FAR differently, I actually like this life for him better."

Stiffening her upper lip, Sotalia places her hand on her hip and fights against a smirk, watching Lagi's begging gaze. "I- I mean... This IS the child of the Night Terror. The biggest, most powerful dragon to have ever flown in combat in recent memory. The dragon that bit off both your arms-"

Thomas averts his eyes, grits his teeth, and sheepishly remarks. "ACTUALLY, she only bit one off. And THAT was because I was a stupid twenty something that didn't know what the hell I was doing."

Blinking in surprise, Sotalia stares down and furrows her puzzled brow at Thomas. "Huh?! I always heard she took both of your arms?"

Scratching the back of head, Thomas sighs, wrestling embarrassment. "WELL, you can blame marketing on that embellishment."

Sotalia crosses her arms and pivots to Thomas. "Okay. SO... Um... How did you lose the other-"

Grimacing a moment, she glances off to the side uneasily. "If I may ask?"

With a nonchalant smile, Thomas shrugs and scratches around Lagi's bony plates. "It was a farming accident. Trying to get my dad's heap of a tractor working again. I was out test driving it and hit a hidden sink hole on the road. Dumped me out, first. Followed by the tractor flopping onto my arm with all the moving, hot bits."

Rolling his blue eyes, he sighs to a chuckle. "They MAY have been able to save some of it. But, I just opted to pair up the cybernetics with cross skeletal reinforcement. Worked out out for me, at least."

Sotalia blinks aghast and verbally stumbles to a response. "Uh... Wow... That sounds worse than Nachta biting it off."

Tipping his head back, Thomas breaks out into laughter and smiles brightly. "Gods! I would have chosen her to chomp it off over that tractor in a heartbeat. I didn't even realize she had bitten my arm off until after I tried to punch her with the missing arm."

Noticing Sotalia's utter bewilderment and shock, Thomas draws in a deep breath and exhales slowly with a reminiscing grin. "You have to understand... Nachta had a whole different mentality than any other creature. She was proud, smart, and strong. She ONLY respected those she felt were equals, and that happened to be no one. Well..."

He tilts his head to the side and cracks a smirk. "No one until I showed back up and slugged her dizzy with the new arm. After THAT... We had an amazing partnership."

Sotalia closes her agape mouth and covers her astonishment with an admiring smile. "That's actually a far more amazing and cooler than the story they wrote for your bio."

Thomas massages the blue black scales between the white bony plates on Lagi's head and smiles with a light chuckle. "Nachta was a strange girl. VERY jealous, too. When she saw I lost my other arm to the tractor, she left her den, went to my father's farm, and melted the tractor to a puddle of slag. I STILL don't know how she knew where to find the thing. She'd never been out there before."

Across the wooden plank picnic table, Kaleb nervously smiles and shudders with memories rising up in his mind. "I still remember the few times you took me NEAR her enclosure. Gods... That red eyed glare."

A humored chuckle escapes Thomas, and he abruptly halts when a chime rings out from his inner jacket pocket. Retrieving his aetherphone, he taps to the messages and groans with a shake of his head. "Oh gods, Albert."

Shadeesa leans close to Thomas and inquires with a hint of concern. "Is everything okay?"

Thomas presents a smile over his frustration and nods reassuringly. "YES. Albert is just being his picky, over analyzing self again. We've talked about repainting the sun room. I'd just like A warm color. Albert... is trying to divine the exact shade and is conferring with me to the point I think my brain refuses to differentiate colors anymore."

He rotates the phone display out towards the gathering nearby. Sotalia, Shadeesa, and Kaleb squint and study the number of pictures highlighting extremely similar colors. The group deliberates and contort their faces in different shades of indecision. Glancing around, Sotalia grabs hold of Aristespha walking by and directs her attention to the swatches. "Which color do you like better?"

Blinking to awareness, Aristespha focuses her violet eyes upon the aetherphone screen, furrows her brow in thought, and incredulously stares at everyone. "Okay... Is this some kind of trick? They look almost the same to me."

Thomas sighs and shakes his head, continuing to pet Lagi.

----

Inside the large, tall tent, Veevi stretches out upon the sleeping bag, flexing her sharp nailed fingers. She combs through her pink hair and twitches her short haired tail in idle thought. The tent flap unzips, and Chad slips on through. He glances down, and Veevi smiles slyly at him. Chad smirks with a snort. "Don't get too comfortable. We still have individual interviews to record and a daily recap."

The half-fvalian girl sighs petulantly and narrows her pink pupil eyes. "I KNOW. Gods. I don't know what there's to talk about. NOTHING happened Tuesday, and NOTHING happened today. Not like Saturday."

Pointing her finger towards the top of the tent, she curls her thumb and audibly mouths out. "ZAP!"

Chad narrows his glare and tugs uncomfortably at the corner of his mouth, groaning. "Hey. I gave you that laser pistol to defend yourself. NOT to shoot surrendering people in the junk."

He briefly cringes and shudders reflexively. "Gods dammit, that hurt to WATCH. So... Can you AVOID giving the medical staff any more work in the future?"

Rolling her eyes indignantly, Veevi sticks her tongue out at Chad. "Fucking fine, then! It's not like the asshole didn't DESERVE it."

She wraps her arms around herself and presents a pitiful, endearing gaze to Chad with a meek cadence. "But... I am so sorry. I guess I just got a little carried away."

Fluttering her eyes, a sly grin creeps out. "After that AMAZING sword fight, I was just SO worked up and saw him point that gun at you."

With a slight squirm, she gazes up. "I just wanted to help out."

Chad crosses his arms, sighing with a smirk. "Yeah... I agree he deserved it. BUT, fucking hell. Try not to shoot anyone who has surrendered. I REALLY don't want the Flames of the Phoenix to get that type of reputation."

A seductive grin graces Veevi, and she rolls over onto her side. Gliding her fingertips along the length of the sleeping bag next to hers, she flicks her tail over her legs. "Keeping up appearances, hmm? Is that why there's two sleeping bags in here?"

A chuckle accompanies the smile upon Chad's face, and he kneels down upon the sleeping bag. "Well... Not entirely. These two sleeping bags CAN be zipped up together."

Veevi bites her lip, giggles with a squirm, and stretches herself out, emphasizing her figure. "OH. Something we'll try out... Tonight?"

Chad shrugs his shoulders, sitting down. "Maybe. It might be a bit difficult, since you're not exactly... Quiet."

A sharp nailed hand walks over and rests upon Chad's knee. Veevi smiles with a seducing lick of her lips. "Ooo. THAT sounds like a challenge. I'd like to attempt... NOW."

Outside the tent with the Flames of the Phoenix logo, across the other side of the camp site, Trakenthin flips to the next page of his book. Relaxing against a tree, he calmly reads the paragraphs and props his feet upon a small equipment locker. Pouring over the pages, his hazel eyes quickly scan over the text and traces of excitement rise upon face. Eagerly reaching out to turn to the next page, he freezes. His head lifts up, and he aims his ears towards faint noises rising up from the background drone of nature. Hunting around the campsite, he settles upon the tent with the Flames of the Phoenix logo. Bewilderment flashes over to disgust, and Trakenthin recognizes the sounds. He cringes, grips onto a heavy armored boot nearby, and readies for a throw. Moments pass, and Trakenthin grits his teeth in defeat, dropping the boot. Grumbling grath curses under his breath, he surges up from his spot and stomps away from the developing din of carnal gymnastics.

----

Cideeda and Dace stand at the crest of a slope leading down from the picnic table into the open field. Dace traces out the forest border with a hand. "When I do a finishing pass around the edges, I can angle the cutter and trim up the bushes along the way if you want."

Scratching a claw tip thoughtfully on her light brown chin, Cideeda nods and pinches out a small height. "Can you cut it short along the bushes, like you did the target field on the side of the house?"

Grinning confidently, Dace proudly places his hands on his sides. "Oh, yeah, of course. I can cut the grass to the centimeter on that mower."

He points towards the lone, worn, scorched, and chipped boulder in the middle of the field. The wind blows the trimmed grass surrounding the pile of rock chunks encircling the massive stone. Glances down to Cideeda, he furrows his brow to an inquiry. "You sure you don't want me to take care of that huge rock? I won't charge that much to remove it."

Cideeda grins toothily at the teenager. "Won't be needed. Kind of like it there. It's perfect for target practice. So, it might not be a problem given time."

Blinking at the mention of target practice, Thomas notices the Particle Power Blaster secured in the equipment satchel on the sunbathing Lagi. With a hint of playful guilt, he sidesteps over, flips the cover of the bag, and places his hand on the huge pistol. Wistfully smiling, he glances over his shoulder towards Kaleb at the table. "Kaleb. Do you mind if this old man catches up with an old friend?"

Kaleb gazes over, spots Thomas's hand on the blaster, and nods enthusiastically. "Hell yes, you can. I told you when you gave it to me that you could always use it."

Thomas grins wide and eager and deftly draws the weapon clear of its holster. Feeling out the blaster in hand, he walks to the crest of the slope with Dace and Cideeda. He examines the control panel on the device and chuckles. "Up to thirty five percent power! Nicely done, Kaleb."

Kaleb puffs out his chest proudly and beams out with his accomplishment. "Oh yeah! I've gotten up to fifty percent... for single shots. But, keep it there most of the time for convenience."

Shadeesa briefly glares over to Kaleb, reinforcing her sentiment with a stern tone. "ALSO because someone nearly dislocated their shoulders when they accidentally burst fired it on that setting."

Shrugging off the embarrassment, Kaleb weathers the stare from Shadeesa. Dace studies the device in Thomas's hand and blinks in astounded recognition. "Holy shit... That's YOUR Particle Power Blaster!"

He gestures towards the large pistol and smirks at Thomas. "Okay! I GOT to ask how powerful that thing really is. Because, my friend Shallen and I got into an argument about it and the stats in the game-"

A sinister grin parts Thomas's mouth, and he powers on the weapon with a quick twirl of the pistol grip. He expertly flips the blaster around in his hand and presents it to Dace with a sly smile. "Try it out. Brace yourself. Take aim. Squeeze your pinky around the lower grip safety and hold your thumb on the upper safety when you are ready to pull the trigger."

Taking hold of the pistol with both hands, Dace searches around for a spot, plants his feet, and raises the pistol up in line with the boulder. Thomas side steps behind Dace, keeps a steadying hand at the ready, and flashes his greatly amused smile to everyone else. Dace secures his grip, takes aim, and pulls the trigger. A bright orange bolt of charged matter loudly blasts out the muzzle of the pistol, streaks down to the boulder, and erupts into a fiery cloud. The surprise force jerks Dace's muscled arms up and tips him backwards onto the awaiting hand of Thomas. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Kaleb, Lagi, Sebastian, Shadeesa, and Sotalia react in a mix of amusement, surprise, and encouragement. Blinking in utter shock, Dace gradually lowers his arms and stares in awe at the particle pistol. "HOLY. SHIT. That's at thirty-five percent?!"

Thomas chuckles confidently and holds his hand out. "YES. Want to see what it can do at ONE HUNDRED?"

Dace returns the pistol to Thomas, steps back a meter away, and awaits with renewed respect. Thomas flips the power level to full, and an audible hum of power emanates from the blaster. Training his stare upon the distant boulder, Thomas plants his feet, braces his stance, and keeps a free arm out to balance himself. He raises the muzzle of the blaster up to the target.

A flurry of blue-white particle bolts stream out of the weapon, single shots following triplet bursts. Each shot belches out flashes of ionized gas and billows out faint pressure waves upon the cut grass ahead. Thomas's cybernetics buffer the recoil masterfully, and he makes minute adjustments in aim between shots and during bursts. Taking a few seconds to squint at the distant, smoldering boulder, he squeezes one last blast and dons a happy grin on face. "Yeah... I think I still got it."

Plume of dust, smoke, and ionized air lifts away from the boulder into the breeze. Upon the large rock, a collection of purposefully placed holes glow a fading orange-red and resemble a dotted smiley face. The assembled group stare at the display, between uncovering their ears and granting a healthy applause to the spectacle. Cideeda glances over with a scheming grin to Bach. "I think we need to set up the target range today. We have a new challenger."

Gawking in absolute awe, Dace blinks back to awareness and scratches the back of his head reflectively. "Damn. I think I owe Shallen an apology."

Thomas pats the shoulder of the teenager. "Eh, don't worry. They've been debating how many dice my attacks should get for YEARS now. They'll try to fix it in an errata. Then, unfix again in the next errata. Then... unfix the unfix? I TRY to stay out of those fights these days."

Dace nods in agreement. Cideeda rolls her eyes and sighs. "Gods, tell me about it."

-49-

Tassilda draws back her raven black hair over swirling horns and places her hands upon her hips. Narrowing a stare at the cluttered cargo area of the black sports utility vehicle, she scans the packed space and spots a familiar bag. She grips tightly on the draw string, braces herself with a boot upon the bumper, and yanks it clear out of the mass. Stumbling back from the momentum, she flings the sack over her shoulder and steps confidently towards the camp site. Deedri sits upon a foldout stool, sorts through boxes of medical supplies, and taps out an inventory into a tablet. Tassilda stops next to Deedri, cranes her head around, and watches with a smile. "That is quite the daily routine you have."

Deedri glances up, nods, and returns her attention to a kit of medical tools. "Yes. Just making sure it's where I remembered it... If nothing else. Yesterday was quiet, thankfully"

Tassilda sways her hips, narrows her light blue on black glare over towards the tent with a bolded Flames of the Phoenix logo upon it, and sneers her upper lip. "Well, for the most part... Save for certain individuals' nightly activities."

Briefly wincing, Deedri sighs and droops her furry, tufted ears. She pinches her fingertips upon a paper bag in a supply box and lifts it up into view. "Do you want any cotton balls? They worked for me and kept the noise... Bearable."

With a long drawn out groan, Tassilda shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "No. While I do greatly appreciate the offer, I just wish they would take their nocturnal antics out into the woods and leave us alone."

She slides a side-eye over to the logo bearing tent and furrows her gray brow. "They could grant us THAT much of a kindness."

Briefly surveying the forest vicinity, she notices the tall, strong, lightly armored figure of Junior Paladin Daedrican patrolling nearby. Tassilda makes eye contact with the reflective visor of Daedrican's full helmet, and Daedrican drops his head into a bow. A greatly amused grin grows on Tassilda's gray face, and she struts enticingly out towards him with a sly smile. Meters away from the campsite, she steps right in front of Daedrician's path, perks a curious brow, and focuses her light blue on black eyes upon him. "Now, whatever brings you here, Paladin?"

A light chuckle escapes the slight muffle of the helmet, and Daedrican stands proudly. "Nothing terribly exciting, my lady. A very banal patrol around the inner perimeter, before I do a final outer perimeter sweep. Quite mundane."

Tassilda dons an inquisitive smirk, and her gaze wanders around Daedrican's light power armored figure. "They most certainly keep you very busy with all your different duties."

Nodding with a muted shrug of the shoulders, Daedrican tracks Tassilda's interests. "It is something excepted of all junior paladins. With the rank comes responsibilities and duties. I am also expected to put forth the extra work to justify the armor."

With brief eye to visor contact, Tassilda suppresses a brief flit of embarrassment, controls her composure, and projects her confidence. "Yes. While on that very subject, I don't believe I have gotten a chance to see your face fully. It is very obscuring."

Daedrican tilts his helmeted head to the side, ponders a moment, and sighs respectfully. "I do apologize, my lady. It's a bit of a policy for those on active duty to keep their helmet on, especially the head and visor components. There is allowance with the lower face mask. But, unfortunate prior incidents by those of my rank have reinforced that policy."

Tassilda's suspicion twists her mouth to an unconvinced, slight frown. "Interesting. It seems that particular policy certainly doesn't stop Senior Paladin Maxon."

Daedrican gently bows apologetically and straightens his posture with a faint chuckle. "Well. He is THE Senior Paladin. And by his own admission, his hard head serves the task enough that it is rumored the helmet is completely redundant."

A smile grows Tassilda, and she covers a giggle with a free hand. Daedrican relaxes his shoulders and nods his head down with tinges of embarrassment. "But truthfully, my lady... I am still getting used to the suit, and it's recommended to keep the helmet on as much as possible during the initial training phase."

Grinning slyly, Tassilda lifts an inquisitive brow and glides her long, black nailed fingers upon her swirling horns. "And... I am assuming you don't want to be seen without horns on your head?"

Daedrican laughs and shakes his head gently. "OH. There's a little story behind THAT."

Intrigue ignites Tassilda's curiosity, and she gradually lifts her hand up, pointing towards the prominent black horns on Daedrican's helmeted head. "Well, I certainly hope THOSE don't belong to the previous owner of the armor."

Lowering his upper body forward, Daedrican puts his horns within reach of Tassilda's hand. "Oh no, my lady. They are most certainly MINE."

Tassilda attempts to hide the eager bite of her lower lip and firmly feels a solid, long, smooth, keratinous protrusion from the helm. Seconds later, she releases her grip and fidgets out her excitement to a calmer demeanor. Daedrican lifts his visor obscured eyes back up. Focusing her stare up, Tassilda grins slightly, curious. "SO, how did your horns ever end up there?"

With a long sigh hinting pass annoyance, Daedrican places his hands on his sides and straightens his posture. "Well, to use the power armor suit properly, I need to use the helmet that it was calibrated to. So, I decided to have my horns carefully sliced by one of our mages. I kept them in my footlocker, in hopes that maybe the engineers could eventually modify a helmet that might work with my horns after I had them reattached."

Raising his hand, he grips a horn, turns it a quarter way, and slides it free of a precision mechanical mount. Slightly grumbling in a mix of amusement and begrudging respect, he inserts the horn back into the socket with a twist. "Engineering... Surprised me... With a more immediate solution. Which I've come to appreciate, in a way."

Tassilda firmly covers her mouth and vainly contains the reflexive snickers leaking out. Attempting to work the ill-humor free from her face, she dons an apologetic smile and gazes into Daedrican's visor. "I am terribly sorry. I really don't mean to be rude. That seems endearing, in a strange way."

Daedrican slowly nods and sighs with a brighter tint. "I'm pleased you see it that way. I will admit... It took me a little longer to accept it myself."

Bowing to Tassilda, he glances down a path into the surrounding dense forest. "I hate to be rude myself, my lady, but I need to resume my patrol."

He pauses a moment and gazes down at Tassilda. "You are more than welcome to join me on the inner patrol."

Tassilda grins nonchalantly and nods in calm acceptance. "If you'll have me, Paladin. Just one moment."

She calmly pivots, strides over quickly to Deedri, and sets down her bag with a whisper. "Hey, could I leave this with you to-"

Deedri glances up from her chore, flashes a winking grin, and guides the sack next to her. "Go for it."

Backing away from Deedri towards Daedrican, Tassilda recovers her composure and mouths out. "Thank you!"

Daedrican gazes over to Tassilda at his side, and they walk together. Moments later, Daedrican cocks his head and politely inquires. "By the way, would it be too much trouble for you to indulge me in a few particular dialects of Emin, my lady? There's a few I don't encounter a lot that I believe you seem elegantly fluent in."

Tassilda blinks in brief surprise and presents a delightful smile with a wink to Daedrican. "Only if you indulge me."

A quiet laugh later, Daedrican voices a gentle, smooth sentence of an emin dialect, leaving Tassilda fighting traces of blush on her cheeks.

----

In the mowed field behind the ranch style house, Sotalia hovers a meter above the ground, holding onto Bach's arms. Drifting around, she slides the floating Bach around at her same level. "I think you're finally getting the hang of this."

Swaying into a tentative balance, Bach keeps his attention to his shadow directly below, darkening against the noon sun peeking out from the clouds. He grimaces briefly and steadies himself with the support of Sotalia's arms. "Yeah... I guess? It's not so bad at this height. I mean, we're close enough to the ground that I'm able to keep myself up in the air a little differently."

Sotalia glances down, watching the grass wave against an unseen force. Her attention wanders around the circular area of pressed down blades directly beneath Bach, and she inquires inquisitively. "Really? How is it different?"

With his focus upon the ground, Bach leans his weight, countering the force of Sotalia pulling him along. "Well, uh, it's sort of how the hover disc spell works to keep the disc up. It creates a virtual ball of force that acts against the ground and disc. I've got something similar worked up for this height, and it's a lot less draining."

Gradually steering Bach along, Sotalia searches around the top of her mind and hums in thought. "So... There's a limit to how high you can go due to the dynamics of maintaining the virtual force between you and the ground."

Bach gazes over to Sotalia and nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah. For the most part. It starts to get really hard to maintain after a few meters. I'm still having to propel myself to keep balanced on top, but it's a bit easier than normal flight."

He briefly peeks down below and grimaces uncertainly. "And... I'm at the mercy of the ground, since I'm practically rolling along it."

Sotalia blinks, eyes the wooden plank picnic table, and surveys the downwards slope leading into the rest of the field. Examining the terrain, she cracks a smirk out of the corner of her mouth, out of sight of Bach. She stops mid-air, releases Bach, and gradually pivots in place. "WELL, since you seem to have a good hang of this... Let's make it a bit more..."

Leaning forward to Bach, she lifts an eyebrow and narrows golden eyes. "Challenging."

She turns away from Bach and quickly gestures with her hands, quietly mouthing out a series of incantations. Bach cocks his head curiously to the side, narrows his glowing blue eyes, and scans up and down Sotalia's figure suspiciously. Sotalia momentarily bobs down and rises back up, a faint flow of energy swirling the air around her. Bach blinks in surprise and slowly floats away. "Uh, hey. Why did you just change up to a different flight spell?"

Resting her hands upon her hips, she tosses her wavy, fiery orange hair back over black, swept back horns and grins slyly with a glint in her golden eyes. "OH. THIS spell offers a bit more mobility than the hover spell."

With Sotalia gliding closer, Bach warily drifts further away and nervously, weakly chuckles. "Huh. Why would you need more mobility right now?"

He barely catches the mischievous smile, and Sotalia flies past him in a blur, traces of a trail shaking of grass blades leading behind him. A pair of black nailed hands clamp securely down on his shoulders and twist him towards the picnic table. With a strong push from behind, Bach coasts above the ground, holding his hands out for balance. He snaps his head over his shoulder and grits his teeth. "OKAY! What the HELL are you planning on doing NOW?!"

Sotalia giggles with an impish hint and steers Bach's body along through the air. "OH, nothing BAD. I just figured that if you can maintain this comfortably, I could ramp up the difficulty a LITTLE bit."

Bach glances ahead and returns his uneasy stare back to Sotalia. "DEFINE a LITTLE bit."

Sotalia winks with a grin, cranes her head to the side, and nods ahead towards the upcoming slope down into the field. "Well, just a gentle decline to start with."

Snapping his head forward, Bach concentrates his full attention upon the terrain. He reflexively extends his arms out a bit more, adjusts his stance midair, and prepares. With a hint of a smile sneaking out behind a nervous grimace, Bach swiftly rides down the incline, maintains a steady height from the ground, and easily buffers the return to flat earth. Laughing excitedly, Sotalia flies behind and propels Bach forward. "OH, you've done this before! What are you so scared about?!"

With Bach leaning into the turn, Sotalia directs him around the large boulder in the field. Bach aims his voice back with hints of hesitation slipping out. "Well, uh, um, I used to do similar WITH an actual hover disc below me! It handled the vertical, and I did the horizontal. So, this is kind of different!"

a

The wind blows through Sotalia's fiery orange hair, and she loudly sighs with an understanding tone. "Fair enough. Still, I think it'd be good practice to get used to horizontal movement. So, if you still want, I'll gently push you around the field a bit..."

Her golden eyes shift over and stare longingly at the grassy slope upwards. Bach glances back and turns his gaze towards the incline. An adventurous grin forms on his sunned face, and he flexes his fingers in anticipation. "Fuck it. I got it figured out enough for a few more minutes. Give me some speed. Gods, it's been too long since I banked a good turn off a ramp."

Sotalia shakes her head in surprise, brightly grins, and squeezes Bach's shoulders, increasing the velocity. "Fuck yeah! That's more like it! Maybe even some launches up the slope afterwards?"

Bach laughs and snorts. "Ah, one thing at a time."

He examines the slope and traces a path up over the wooden outdoor furniture. "But... Maybe sooner than later?"

A curious smile graces Sotalia, and she follows Bach's stare. "Hmm, so there IS some truth to those stories Sebastian's has told about you two abusing hover discs."

----

In the dining area of the ranch style house, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia sit around the dining table with sprawling collections of maps, printouts, paperwork, notes, and tablets upon the tabletop. Each member slowly analyzes their section of the physical mass of information. Hovering overhead, Sebastian sighs contemplatively. "Gods. Plenty of places Noxian COULD go. But..."

He furrows his ethereal brow and groans. "Nothing that actually points to where he WOULD go next."

Bach settles into the back of his chair and rubs the strain from his blue eyes. "Yeah... It always seems like we find where he HAS been. And, admittedly, we STILL don't know what exactly he's trying to accomplish."

Glancing around the table, he shrugs with a grimace. "I mean, it's definitely not anything good. It'd just be nice to know some specifics."

Resting a tablet down, Aristespha crosses her arms and plays with her silvery blue hair in thought. "I have gone over the list of things in the database access history Nash provided. He is obviously looking into elder energy and information about its use. But... Nothing blatant about what he wants to actually use it for."

Sotalia twists her mouth and props her head up with her hand, staring her frustration into loose leaf notes. Tapping her finger idly, she wrestles a grimace and grumbles. "And for a supposed Dark Lord, he's been really quiet about his ultimate goal. Really bold about getting what he needs for it... I guess..."

Gazing up at a holographically projected display, Cideeda drags a claw tip through the menu scroll bar and watches the list of data files roll on by. She pauses in thought and glances over to Dretphi. "Did you find anything that matches what Faelatelia described?"

Dretphi slides over a topographical map between her and Cideeda. Tracing a finger along one of a few penciled routes, she circles out a peak in the mountains. "Here. Seems the candidate. Route matches her travel description."

Cideeda squints her emerald green eyes, leans closer to the map, and follows the latitude and longitude lines to the outer guides. "Wait. These coordinates. I... Remember seeing something really close to these numbers... Somewhere..."

Standing up from her seat, Aristespha balances herself over the table and spots the point's coordinates on the map between Cideeda and Dretphi. "Let me see if the Grand Library system has anything in that area."

She pauses a moment and blinks her violet eyes, cocking her head. "Now that I'm thinking about it..."

The tablet pops up an entry form, and Aristespha quickly types out the numbers. She sits back down and enters a series of search parameters, focusing fully upon the results streaming out from the query permutations. Bach searches his mind, his intrigue piquing, and he turns to Cideeda. "Wait. We have a printout of all the strange coordinates from that research base Nash translated for us."

Leaning away from the map, Cideeda's eyes open wide in revelation and her furry ears perk up. "That's right..."

She swiftly pulls her knees underneath her in the chair and reaches far over the table top to a heavily annotated printout. "I BET it's on there somewhere! That's probably where I remember it from."

Cideeda flips through a page and drags a claw tip down rows of numeric data. Her hunt pulls in the attention from the rest of the team. A few more pages later, her finger halts under a line right underneath a set of nearly matching coordinates. "OH. That's WAY too close to be coincidental."

A chime rings out from Aristespha's tablet, and she lays it down next to the topographical map, showing the group. She slides through snippets of relevant referenced material for the results on screen and presents the connection to the team. "There are no exact matches. But, I increased the tolerances and extended the search to the historical archives. THAT pulled up quite a number of articles that mention significant activity around the general area regarding a number of old facilities."

Sighing, she rolls her violet eyes with an annoyed tone. "Which, of course, conveniently have no official records that ever documented exactly what went on there."

She hisses faintly with a frown. "Unfortunately, anything the Grand Library has on file is flagged as matching the common pattern for forged cover records. So, nothing official is likely to be correct."

With a commiserating sneer, Sotalia groans and shakes her head. "Well... So nice of them to keep it a surprise for us."

She pauses, backtracks the penciled route on the map, and points to the starting point. "I'm guessing this is where the Terra Priest commune is?"

Dretphi nods in confirmation. Floating above, Sebastian snaps his head downwards and squints below. He gradually drifts down and hovers roughly eye level to the rest of the team, moving an ethereal hand between the map and printout list. Sudden surprise fading into curiosity, he furrows his ghostly brow. "The commune location is on that list from the research base."

The rest of the team slides their attention in unison towards the particular row of numbers. Cideeda sways her head between the map and list and contorts her face between surprise and intrigue. "Holy shit. It is. Okay... What the fuck IS this a list of?"

Gliding back upright, Sebastian lands next to the table on the hardwood floor. He holds his ethereal chin in his hand and searches his mind with a distant stare. "Okay... THIS is something. I think we really NEED to check out the place Faelatelia told us about. There's a lot more to that list from the research base. The Orth Ridge site being on it seemed plausible, since it was a big place with a lot going on. And, it was actually the only big thing we knew of on there."

Crossing his arms, he hums and further contemplates out loud. "But... A recent Terra Priest commune and some possible old ruins that have barely gotten anyone's attention over the many years that they have probably been there? That doesn't quite fit."

Dretphi lifts an eyebrow, tilts her head, and narrows her steely gray stares. "The commune was recent. The structures they use are old."

Bach angles up the list into view and scrutinizes the data. Sebastian steps next to Bach and cranes over, watching the analysis. "So. You got any thoughts on it, bro?"

With a defeated sigh, Bach shakes his head uncertainly. "There's something we're missing. Unfortunately, I think Noxian knows exactly what is it."

Aristespha fights a frown on her ivory face and projects an apologetic tone. "I wish I had more information. But, when Nash translated the coordinates from the data Cideeda uploaded, he checked the locations for anything. Even with the Library database for cross-referencing, it seemed to be fairly random, and he couldn't pick out a pattern that made any kind of sense."

Tensing her posture, she grimaces and grumbles. "Admittedly, there are a few areas in the Perimeter Weird Zone that would be assumed suspect. But... There are far more in completely normal farmland and in populated cities that have never reported anything out of the ordinary."

Cideeda growls slightly, her frustration slipping out. "It's GOT to be the extra info in the data sets. But, WHAT, exactly?"

Aristespha nods and swipes through a few menus on a tablet in front of her with a hopeful smile. "I will send Nash an aethermail with what we have found out. MAYBE, they have made some progress on determining out what that system was specific recording at the research base."

Sebastian grins and shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to the side. "Well, I think we have enough justification to pay this place out in the woods a visit. And until we check it out for ourselves, I don't think we're going to make any headway on deciphering that data."

He gazes over the team gathered around. "So... Enjoy the weekend, and head out Monday?"

The group indicates their agreement. Nodding, Sebastian smiles proudly and sighs ethereally. "Okay. Well, I think we'll ponder this some more tomorrow with our travel plans. Until then, I think we need to see what our..."

He hoists up an intrigued eyebrow and smirks slyly. "FAVORITE show has in store for us."

Sotalia slides her chair out, stretches her arms over her head, and smirks wryly. "OH, that's right. We didn't get to see last week's episode. Well, I need to watch the replay before the new one. I'm ever so curious to see how much Veevi pushed her luck."

Others depart from the table, and Dretphi notices Bach staring at a spot between the map and list. She walks over, cranes her head around, and inquires. "Theories?"

Blinking back to awareness, Bach glances up to Dretphi and shrugs plainly. "Sure. Plenty."

A frown pulls down the corners of his mouth. "None that I'm really happy about."

Dretphi pats Bach's shoulder and nods. She walks towards the popcorn air popper in the kitchen. "Understandable. Thoughts for another time. Let us enjoy popcorn now."

----

Inside the Amaranth's Wrath Game Emporium, customers wander between aisles of comic books, navigate tables of games, and hang out at glass displays, gawking at the latest merchandise. Three people stand around between the tabletops. A tall, muscular red-head teenager shrugs his shoulders and rolls his eyes. "So, yeah. Um, Shallen, you were fuckin' right. That blaster really is that powerful."

Blinking his green eyes, Shallen scratches one of his long evuukian ears and smiles with a hint of smugness. "I told you so. But, still, Dace. Damn... Wish you had called me or something. I would have helped you cut grass to see all THAT."

Furry ears drooping, a fvalian man firmly combs fingers of thick black claws through his wild white hair. With red on black eyes, he stares in disbelief at Dace, holding his hands out. "REALLY! Come on! You KNEW I was back in town from High Alton. Seriously! My FAVORITE professor, SOMEHOW, drops in, AND is hanging out with one of THE dragons half of the whole dragon fandom has been trying to get more information about!"

Narrowing his eyes at Dace, he leans closer and frowns disappointingly. "And you don't even give me a call!?"

Dace shrugs nonchalantly and assumes a moderately apologetic tone. "I'm sorry, Tellerran. It's just I was really busy trying to get the job done. I was already running late and had to put off Cideeda's yard for a few days already."

Fighting down a smirk, he chuckles. "Then... I totally got caught up in the whole situation."

Tellerran slumps his shoulders, straightens his back with a long breath, and sighs with a perk of his ears. "Gods dammit. I mean... I can't really blame you on that one. I don't think I would have kept my cool long enough to get any work done. I mean, I barely kept it together when Professor Blaureiter got Lagi to visit towards the end of this last semester."

Reaching into his pants pocket, Dace pulls out two large blue black dragon scales and fans them out in front of Shallen and Tellerran. He grins smugly with a laugh. "Would freshly plucked dragon scales make up for it? Or should I just keep these for myself?"

Shallen and Tellerran each pluck a scale from Dace. Shallen nods and barely fits the shiny draconic covering into his shirt's front pocket. "Paid in full, man. But..."

He grits his teeth briefly into a grimace. "I just read up on the leaked copy of the latest errata's table of contents..."

Dace smirks and lifts a knowing brow. "Let me guess... They're trying to rebalance the blaster combo."

Groaning, Shallen shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "Gods, you know it. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. I'll just have to find a new combo to cheese."

Dace watches the awe upon Tellerran's face. "Man. Totally worth it just to see your face. That one they let me pull off Lagi, since it was about fall off."

Tellerran carefully carries the dragon scale over to a table next to the group, flips open a binder, and meticulously slides it inside a protective plastic page. "Dude... Thanks... Wow..."

Rocking his head between his shoulders, he narrows his gaze into the glints from the lights overhead and the few beams of sun slipping in around the advertisement collage on the shop windows. "THIS... This looks so much better than any I've ever gotten from a convention."

He carefully presses down the transparent layer down, pauses a moment, and cocks his head curiously towards Dace. "Hey, did anyone say anything about Lagi's parents?"

Furrowing his brow, Dace thinks a moment, scratches the back of his neck, and twists his mouth uncertainly. "Ah... No. Well, nothing I overheard. But, Lagi would NOT leave Blaureiter alone. Almost tackled him, curled up around him, and was purring all time. Also... That dragon ate A LOT of the grass I mowed."

Tellerran's interest piques, and he quickly snatches a nearby mechanical pencil. Scribbling a few quick notes upon another paper page in the binder, he smirks eagerly. "Interesting. Professor Blaureiter would never say anything about Lagi's lineage... I wonder..."

Shallen snorts and shakes his head of dark gray, slicked back hair dismissively. "Ah shit. Do I sense another heated online debate in the future?"

Crossing his arms, Tellerran stands resolutely, flicks back his furry ears, and narrows his eyes facetiously at the other two. "Well, I can't fucking help it when someone wants to be wrong and post it everywhere they shouldn't."

The front door to Amaranth's Wrath opens and a tall, imposing figure steps past the threshold. Thomas surveys the shop proper and slowly steps towards the front desk. Steve sits with his full attention focused upon a small miniature in front of him. With a calm, precise hand, Steve lifts a fine, few hair brush and gently guides a tiny speck of paint along the minuscule detail of the plastic figure. Standing in front of Steve across the front counter, Thomas nonchalantly asks. "Sorry to bother you when you are in the middle of something, but have you gotten in the latest issue of Red Gear Rising?"

Steve reflexively lifts his free hand and motions Thomas to hold, finishing up the fine task. "Sorry. One second. Just need to get the hair highlights in there..."

With a final trace, he carefully retreats the brush. "And... There."

Thomas squints down at the miniature. Moments later, recognition emerges on his face, and he musters up an embarrassed smile. "Nicely painted there. But, I'll admit... There's A LOT more gray these days."

Lifting his head up, Steven smiles up at Thomas and chuckles. "Yeah, I know. But I'm going for the classic, first issue look. Okay, yeah, the latest issue of Red Gear Rising-"

Recognition dawns upon Steve, and he compares the Commander Blaureiter figure to Thomas in front of him. "No way- Holy. Hell. C-Commander Blaureiter..."

Shuddering out of the stupor, he blinks back to awareness. "Um, yeah! Totally! We have a copy of the new Red Gear Rising. So, I'm okay with taking your money... But..."

With a guilty smile, Steve chuckles and sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "I'd really rather take a few pictures and get some signatures. If... That's okay with you."

Grinning with amusement, Thomas nods. "Sounds like a deal to me."

Pausing from the latest rules debate between Shallen and Tellerran, Dace waves towards Thomas. "Oh! Hey, Thomas!"

Thomas glances over and waves back. "Dace! Good to see you. Nice shop you all have in town."

Shallen halts his next sentence, pivots in place, and gawks at Thomas. Tellerran's red on black eyes widen, and he eagerly questions Thomas. "P-Professor Blaureiter?! W-What are you doing here?"

Thomas scratches the back of his head of gray hair with a cybernetic arm and nonchalantly shrugs. "Well, since I'm down here to visit friends for a few weeks, I figured I'd find a place to make sure I don't fall behind on the Red Gear Rising series."

Blinking in stunned silence, Tellerran visibly ponders a response. Thomas sighs with a smirk and points to Tellerran. "By the way, I really liked your final paper for class. Really demonstrated a good handling of dragon biology and genetics. Though... I'd really avoid citing certain forums as resources in the future."

Tellerran nods blankly, and Shallen recovers some of his composure. Dace nudges Shallen with a sly grin. "Hey, ask HIM about THE blaster."

----

A chorus of heavy footsteps from large, heavily armored soldiers stops at the perimeter of an elaborate camp. The team leader turns his helmeted head and nods to the team of other similarly suited Chrome Crusaders behind him. "That was a nice quiet outer patrol. I'm certain anyone in the area will think twice before getting too close to the base camp. You are all relieved of duty for the rest of the Sunday afternoon."

The squad of heavy armor troopers divides up and disperses out towards different parts of the grounds. Watching the unit slowly scatter, Trakenthin straightens his stance in his suit of polymer plate and nods respectfully towards the leader. "Captain. Thank you for allowing me to accompany."

The captain returns the sentiment and bows slightly to Trakenthin. "Thank you for offering to join us for another day. Not many would willingly tolerate us powered armored ruffians for these long patrols."

Trakenthin smirks under his clear face shield and proudly stands. "It was enjoyable."

Tilting his head to the side, the captain crackles a laugh through his helmet's voice box. "Damn. You're definitely a brave one. Hey. After the final stretch of the operation tomorrow and Tuesday, feel free to ride with us on the return trip. Now, go get that armor off. I'm sure you're soaked from the heat without a suit cooling system."

Trakenthin nods and calmly walks off into the Chrome Crusaders camp site. Searching the area, he glances out the corner of his hazel eyes and watches a small Next Adventurers of Nexus recording crew tag along. A young male and female fvalian concentrate on getting video and audio, and an older man instructs the duo around. Trakenthin draws in a long breath and quietly grumbles out his rising frustrations. He surveys the vicinity further and locks his attention upon familiar voices bickering nearby. Sharply turning around the corner of a cargo truck, he spots the Flames of the Phoenix's black sports utility vehicle. He snaps his gaze towards the source of the argumentative yelling and spots Veevi and Tassilda mid squabble. Veevi places her hands on her hips, leans forward at Tassilda, and petulantly mocks. "OH? Do YOU not know the spells yourself?! Because it certainly takes you FOREVER to get to the fucking point!"

Tassilda sneers indignantly and growls out her irritation. "I take my time because I am TRYING to teach you REAL MAGIC. Not some absolutely trite, discount store, toy tricks that you picked up from that GODS DAMNED OLD WITCH!"

Veevi's fuzzy ears lay back and her short-haired tail puffs out. Crosses her tan, stripped arms, she tosses back her pink hair and glares with her pink pupil eyes towards Tassilda. "At the rate you do everything, I'll be an old witch before I learn anything from you!"

A mean smile pulls across her face, and she averts her stare briefly and slides a mocking glare back. "Speaking of toy tricks, did you remember to bring enough copper powder for your fireballs?"

Despite her vain attempts of suppression, Tassilda cringes visibly and winces up a sneer. Her light blue on black eye twitches, her cheek muscles tense, and she grits her teeth. Trakenthin stands patiently flush against the SUV, peeks out from cover, and watches the camera crew trio dart off for the ideal angle of the tense stand off between Tassilda and Veevi. Cautiously, Trakenthin eases over into the small campsite off to the side of the main base and slips quietly into the large tent, distant, opposite of the Flames of the Phoenix branded tent. Resting his sword and shield to the side, he tugs off his helmet, unstraps free of his under armor, and slides off the equipment into a pile. With a long sigh of relief, he shakes some air underneath his sweat soaked underclothes and rests down upon a nicely made, custom bedroll. Staring blankly at the leaf shadows dancing on the tent top, Trakenthin zones out, the ambient sounds of Veevi and Tassilda verbally clashing filtering into the background noise.

Minutes later, he blinks back to awareness with the prompt of an electronic chime. His hand rummages around the mass of equipment nearby, and he retrieves his aetherphone. Holding the device above his head in view, he taps through the security prompt and navigates through a few menus. On the display, bit by bit, an aethernet site slowly trickles into existence. Trakenthin smiles at the title "Shayuri's Study" and scrolls down the page to the latest entry. He stops upon the picture heading the latest entry in the blog. The image shows a young, tall woman with piercing hazel eyes and long silvery hair, excitedly presenting a brand new book with a brilliant grin on her tan face. Trakenthin smiles warmly and reads the paragraphs, delight blatant on his dark bronze face.

At the bottom of the essay, Trakenthin stares at the comment button. His expression wanes into uncertain apprehension. Tapping the aethersite's menu, his hazel eyes rest upon the contact info button. The fingers on his free hand flex nervously, and his face wrestles with a frown. Seconds of visible deliberation later, he clicks a button on the side of the phone. The screen turns off. He releases a long, doubt filled sigh. Resting his aetherphone off to the side, runs his fingers through his dirty blonde hair and shakes his head slowly.

----

Along the rough dirt path, the humvee shakes and bobs, barely squeezing through the narrow openings between the trees in the thick forest. Cideeda leans out the driver's side window and stares far ahead, down the route, grimacing. "Damn. I think this is as far as we can go driving. This path seems to end up ahead, and the trees are just too thick to even try threading this thing through."

Sebastian's ethereal form glides up between the front seats and surveys the scene ahead. Nodding in confirmation, he smiles understandingly and sighs. "Well... Don't worry. You did great to get us this far down this route."

Scouting out the windshield, he tips his head back, and his gaze follows the trail to the far off end. Staring distantly up the steady incline in the horizon, he squints out into the background mass of brush, trees, and canopy. Dretphi inspects a map, checks the readouts from a positioning application on her aetherphone, and examines the features of the area around the humvee. "We are at the mountain base. Good time. We have hours of daylight left."

Sebastian glances back with a proud smile and addresses the group. "So... Stop ahead, get the humvee turned around, and do a little exploring nearby?"

Everyone else shows their agreement, and the vehicle rocks again over another dip in the dirt road. Cideeda grumbles, shifting her focus towards a clearing ahead. "Sorry about that. Gods. It feels flat enough for a few meters, then there's another drop or bump. At least the clearing ahead looks large enough that we can get turned around easily."

Dretphi stares suspiciously and traces the strangely rectangular perimeter of the treeless, grassy opening. The humvee rolls into the flat area. With hard cuts of the steering wheel and a series of direction shifts, Cideeda navigates the large, old military vehicle gracefully and aims the humvee facing towards their path of origin. "That should do it. We'll be ready if we have to leave in a hurry."

Glancing over at the central control console, she presses side buttons and studies the readouts flashing on screen. "Capacitors are charged. I'm going to give the powerplant a break for now."

A muffled, downwards pitching whine resonates faintly into the cab. Sebastian glances over the group. "Okay. Let's check out this clearing first. And, then, we'll judge how we want to proceed."

Peeking out the windshield, he furrows his brow at the dense forest starkly surrounding the rectangular clearing. "Ideally, I'd like to at least locate the entrance Faelatelia told us. But... If there's anything too crazy, we'll return here and figure it out from there."

Sebastian zips up through the roof and floats overhead. Humvee doors open, and the group disembarks. In the minutes, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia fan out a few meters from the vehicle into the clearing. Dretphi stomps the ground with her heavy armored boot, visibly ponders the sensations, and kneels down. Inspecting the soil, she digs into the earth with a gauntlet covered hand and lifts up centimeters of rich, dark dirt. She attempts to go deeper. The plating on her gauntlet scrapes against a hard, rough layer of ancient asphalt. Puzzling briefly, she lowers her head close to the ground and studies the topology of the clearing. She stands up quickly and calls out to the rest of the team. "This is an old parking lot."

Cideeda cocks her head, scratches her chin with a claw tip, and slowly lifts an inquisitive brow. "THAT explains why the path leading here was so odd. It's probably a paved road that's fallen apart and been covered up with layers of dirt from runoff. Oh, I bet the drops are where chunks of asphalt are missing and the bumps are tree roots growing underneath."

Nodding in agreement, Dretphi points to either side of the path leading into the clearing. "No old trees near the edges. Only younger trees."

Approaching the top of the tree canopy, Sebastian hovers high above and calls down. "It certainly looks the part up here. I don't know if this is THE exact place, but it's certainly something."

Walking along the edge opposite to the entrance, Bach notices a strange pile of rough rocks. Leaning closer, he spots a scattering trail leading into the underbrush. Pulling aside a thin patch of long grasses, he reveals a heavily deteriorated pavement stairway. The top of the stairs meets remnants of a decorative stone path, leading distantly upwards into the woods. Bach pivots around and faces the rest of the group. "Hey. I think I found a path up the mountain."

Sebastian floats down next to Bach, scrutinizes the discovery, and nods. "Nice find, bro. That matches the type of path Faelatelia told us about."

Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia join Bach and Sebastian. Sotalia's golden eyes trace the sparse rock route, and she rests her hands on her hips. "Well. That's definitely going to be a hike up."

Dretphi shrugs and tilts her head towards Sotalia. "An inconvenience. We have traveled worse."

An uneasy frown curls the corners of Aristespha's mouth, and she studies the area. Stepping away from the group, she draws in a deep breath and blinks her eyes to a glowing violet. She sweeps her stare around into the dense forest surrounding the clearing. The unease remains upon her ivory blue and gray hinted face. She carefully gestures, clearly voices a series of incantations, and finishes by throwing her hands out to the sides. Shimmering energy expands out into a bubbling wave and swells into the vicinity. With the distance, the pulse of magic fades and disperses. Nothing more happens. The surprise on Aristespha's face sharpens, and she furrows her brow, narrowing her stare into plain woods. "There is absolutely no spirit activity nearby..."

Sotalia crosses her arms, firmly grips her elbows, and twists out the faint anxiety upon her light tan face. "Oh gods dammit. Here I was hoping that tiny, weird feeling I was getting from the ambient magic flows was BECAUSE the spirits were messing with it. Great..."

Bouncing her golden eyes between the perimeters of the clearing, she wrestles down a grimace. "Now, I'm just uncomfortable with this place."

With an uncertain smile, Bach glances over to Aristespha. "Well, we are still far from that one part of the forest that had a concentration of spirits. Maybe they, uh, just don't wander this way often?"

Gritting her teeth briefly, Aristespha sighs with a shake of head. "I thought about that, too. There are no signs they have been here recently. That is typically a bad indicator when there is a huge hive in the area. Often a sign the area is purposefully avoided."

The unease rising up in Bach guides his stare up the scattered stone path into the heavy woods of the mountain. Cideeda's furry ears droop, and she groans, anxiously picking her claws. "I guess it's my turn to add to the creepiness factor... But..."

Flicking her furry ears between different angles, she frowns. "This place SOUNDS different. Even from when we first got on the dirt road. I can hear wildlife, but... It seems really far away. Nothing close by."

With an apprehensive curl to her upper lip, she grips her vest, flexes fingers, and scans the vicinity. "The air has an OFF smell, too. I don't know WHAT exactly. But, it is different."

Dretphi bites her lower lip and sighs loudly. The rest of the team's attention shifts her. Reluctantly, she frowns suspiciously, her steely gray eyes searching the forest, and explains with a regretful hint. "Have not seen animal nests. This area has been undisturbed for a long time. There SHOULD be nests. There are NO animal nests. No old ones. No remnants. No animals to make the nests. This area IS avoided."

Directing her gaze towards the entry path, she wrestles down her anxious expression gradually. "Stopped seeing game trails during transit. Few I saw did NOT lead this way."

Bach grumbles, rolling out the tension in his shoulders. "Fucking hell. No wonder Faelatelia wanted nothing to do with ANYTHING involving this place. We haven't even gotten to the front fucking door, and this place is weirding me out."

Shaking his head, Sebastian crosses his ghostly arms and grimaces. "No shit, bro. Gods. What the hell happened here?"

He pauses in thought a moment and furrows his brow. "I think even the damned sword is on some kind of alert mode. Still trying to feel that one out."

Sotalia smirks at Bach and playfully rolls her eyes. "You know... The perimeter fence outside the Orth Ridge site with all the warnings felt more welcoming than THIS."

Bach snorts out some of his anxiety and adopts a commiserating, humored smile. "I know, right? I mean, I guess it makes it less nerve wracking when you know people tried to dress the place up before they left."

Cideeda grins wryly and stretches out her body suit covered arms. "Yeah. At least you know there were actual survivors, and they were well off enough to post warning signs."

Moments of silence loom over the team. Dretphi shrugs her shoulders and summons up a hopeful smile. "I have not seen any dead animals. Believe that is positive."

A wave of tentative agreement spreads through the team. In the eerie, awkward quiet, from the strange clearing in the middle of the dense forest, the team stares up at the path ahead and the obscured destination, hesitation looming over. A minute later, Aristespha coughs and twists her grimace into grim acceptance. "Okay... I do NOT think we are going to find any more good things about the situation while standing here."

Sebastian nods, assumes a bold stance, and presents an adventurous grin to the party. "You're right, dear. Let's gear up for the hike, see where this path leads, and, at least, find the entrance. Depending on how much daylight we have left, we'll see about exploring further than that."

Gritting his teeth, he contorts a reserved smile. "And... I'm not against just coming back down for the night and saving most the exploration for tomorrow. So, let's take our time getting up there. No need to rush into this creepy mess."

Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia walk towards the humvee and start readying equipment. Standing at the crumbling ruins of the concrete stairs, Bach slowly exhales out his tension and stares at the stone strewn path. Sebastian slides next to Bach and quietly inquires in a comforting tone. "Hey. You okay, bro?"

Bach nods slowly and sighs. "Yeah. Well. As best as I can be. I don't know. I get the feeling this is going to be a strange one."

With a smirk, Sebastian tilts his head to the side and drops his arms to his sides "And, that's different than anything we've done before? But... I know. Gods, I hate to go into this blind, but I don't think we have much choice."

Shaking his head, Bach glances over to Sebastian with a smile. "No. We really don't. I mean... We could just ignore it. But... That doesn't really help us out."

He straightens his posture and grits his teeth. "We NEED the information."

The brothers idly survey the scene ahead of them and return to the humvee to prepare.

-50-

Silent beams of afternoon light squeeze through the thick canopy above and wander upon the rough incline. Crumbling chunks of ancient pavement collapse beneath Dretphi's heavy armored boots. Pausing to pat the ground under the thick soles, Dretphi rubs through the mix of materials in the loose layer of forest cover. "There used to be a walkway... Very... long ago."

Cideeda nods, points a claw tip towards worn, rocky blocks framing a fractured ramp, and motions towards the rusty ring indentations. "This place must have been pretty significant and established. Those look like the anchor points for metal handrails in the concrete."

Drifting back down, Sebastian floats alongside the group and crosses his arms in thought. "That makes sense. From what I've seen above, the width of the path is really consistent. Even with the twists and turns, you can see they regraded some parts of the run."

Bach glances over to Sebastian and curiously lifts an eyebrow. "Hey. Did you see the entrance yet?"

With a squint, Sebastian shakes his head and stares forward. "Not yet, bro. Between all the small valleys, outcroppings, and leaves on these trees, I haven't gotten a clear view up there from here."

Reviewing paragraphs of notes upon a tablet, Aristespha ponders, idly tapping the screen bezel. She lifts her stare from the screen and surveys the area. "I believe we are fairly close. From what Faelatelia described..."

Twitching her very long, pointed ear with a faint breeze, she tilts her head and narrows her gaze into the surrounding forest. "We have passed the last significant landmark she remembered seeing."

She slowly scans the trees and focuses her glowing violet eyes at different features in the surrounding scenery. "There are still no recent signs of spirits in the area. And, the ambient magic feels..."

With hands on her belt of pouches, Sotalia picks at the cover flap for a container and grimaces uneasily. "Weird. It's just off. Gods, I can't say why..."

Tossing her fiery orange, wavy hair back, she combs the stray strands over her swept back horns and sighs into a grumble. "Damn. It just feels odd. Just enough in the background I can't quite pick it out."

She glances over her shoulder at the downwards path behind the team and stares in surprise at the distant difference in altitude. Gritting her teeth, she hisses out her breath. "Anyway... I hope the entrance isn't too far away. Because, it's already not going to be a fun hike back, in the dark, from this high up."

Dretphi briefly turns her helmeted head back, twists her mouth in deliberation, and nods uneasily to Sotalia. "In this situation. Yes. This forest is strange. Will be trying to travel at night."

The team climbs up the ruins of another set of ancient concrete stairs and follows the scattered remnants of a trail around an obscuring curve between two ridges. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia navigate a collapsed brick walled gorge and exit out into a large, cracked pavement covered clearing. Opposite from the group, across the ruined courtyard, a pair of partially opened, massive security doors stand, slips of light highlighting the ages of rust. Throughout the purposely engineered field, piles of debris reside in disarray. Within the years of overgrowth, glimmers of shattered crystal bound by broken stone reflect the swaying sunlight. A breeze blows old leaves around the many incomplete, articulate, mechanical limbs with faded magical inscriptions. The wind shifts the vegetation, revealing broken stone and metal masses resembling midsections, upper bodies, heads, and hips. Aristespha gawks in awe at the scene and blinks back to awareness from her shock. "Oh. My. Gods..."

Pausing with the surge of recognition, she furrows her brow. "These are all golem parts. Extremely old golem parts."

Bach slowly scans the area, releases an uneasy breath, and grits his teeth. "Yeah. Uh, yeah. I mean, there's no doubt. It's a practical junkyard here."

Squatting down, Cideeda focuses her investigative, emerald gaze upon a nearby fractured golem hand. "While I can't comment on the magic side of things..."

Perking an eyebrow briefly, she curls a faint smirk. "Yet..."

She squints at the mechanical pieces and wrestles an unimpressed frown. "None of these parts look like they're... In that great of shape? These look worse than half the stuff my dad would turn away from his scrapyard."

Standing back up, she flicks a claw point over to a bulky, rusted out golem torso. "That. The thing looks like it'd fall apart if you gave it a dirty look."

An uncomfortable grimace rises upon Bach, and he narrows his suspecting stare out into the vicinity. "Yeah... But... Still have to be careful. There could be some residual magic despite appearances. And, at this point, it'd probably be completely unpredictable."

Aristespha slowly closes her eyes and opens them to a glowing violet. Bach blinks to a blue illumination. Glancing at Bach and Aristespha, Sotalia contorts her face in concentration and squints out a golden light from her eyes. The three mages cautiously step forth into a line and cautiously scan the scattered piles in the courtyard. Tense minutes later, Bach relaxes his posture with a relieved sigh. "Well. Good news. I'm at least not seeing anything obviously active."

Nodding in agreement, Aristespha draws in a long breath and rolls the tension out of her shoulders. "I can confirm. I do not see any leftover magical traces. Well, at the very least, in anything out here."

Sotalia blinks her eyes a number of times, the golden glow flickering out. She flexes the facial muscles around her eyes and rubs her temples. "Oh good. I was worried I wasn't doing it right. Anyway, I haven't felt anything new. Just the same weird, eerie ambient feeling as before."

Leaning towards the line up, Dretphi cranes her helmeted head around towards the mage trio in front and furrows a curious brow under her full face visor. "Safe for exploration?"

Bach glances over, rocks his head with the internal deliberation, and nods slowly. "Yeah. It should be. I mean, I wouldn't recommend poking anything too intact without checking it over first."

Sebastian drifts out in front of the team and glances at Aristespha with a reserved grin. "So, nothing I might accidentally set off, dear? Just want to be sure since this all looks like it used to be A LOT of magically reactive stuff."

With a calming tone, Aristespha presents an assuring smile to Sebastian. "I do not believe there is anything out here that would react to you, Sebastian."

Mustering back his confidence, Sebastian floats out towards the middle of the decayed plaza. "Okay. So, let's keep to this area for now and see if we can find anything that can tell us what the actual hell went on here."

The group carefully spreads out across the area. Cideeda's intrigue leads her to a half assembled humanoid golem laid out upon the paved ground. Cautiously kneeling down next to it, she cranes her gaze over into an opened compartment door and angles her stare inside. Moments later, she straightens her posture in thought and waves Bach over. "Hey, Bach! Could you magically double-check this for me?"

Bach quickly steps over, aims his glowing stare at the partial golem, and shakes his head, his eyes dimming back to normal. "Nothing active, and nothing residual. So, no magic to worry about right now."

Cideeda flips up a pocket cover on her vest. "Thank you."

She pulls out a flashlight with a click and shines it inside the construct. "Okay... So, this is really weird here."

Exploring the space within, she points a claw tip to a disturbed section within. "There it looks like parts scraped against each other. Definitely seems like the work of someone who was having a hard time prying pieces out with a.. Screwdriver. Definitely a screwdriver."

Swaying with the view and light, she grimaces and furrows her light brown brow. "And there's NOT a lot of weathering inside here. Far less than the outside."

Rapping her claws upon the mechanical hull of the golem, she turns her head up towards Bach with a wary smirk. "I think someone parted this thing out in the last few months."

With Cideeda highlighting via flashlight, Bach angles his head around the opening. "Holy shit. You're right. Yeah, that seems like what happened. I don't know that much about golems... But... I don't think it should be this empty inside."

Cideeda sits down on the old, cracked pavement, stretching her legs out. Flicking her ears in thought, she uses her clawed fingers and combs through her short, multicolored hair. "Okay... So, I've been meaning to ask this."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, she glances up to Bach and motions at the magical, mechanical husk. "What's the exact purpose of binding a spirit to a golem? Because, these things look mechanically similar to some robots I've seen. Really. It looks like they could work on their own without anything that magical."

Scratching the back of his head of longer brown hair, Bach twists his mouth unsure and ponders out loud. "Well... By default, most golems operate very simply and follow REALLY simple instructions. They need a lot of adjustments and tweaks to keep in working order. And... Are actually really limited in what they can do magically."

He glances around the area, spots Aristespha, and waves her over. "You know, let's ask Aristespha. She'd know more about this."

Aristespha walks quickly over and curiously gazes at Bach and Cideeda. "Yes?"

Shrugging, Bach glances over to the golems parts. "You'd know this better than me. What are the reasons you'd bind a spirit to a golem? I know they do a lot, but I've just forgotten all the details from that one class I took a long time ago."

Crossing her arms, Aristespha searches the top of her head and counts off with her fingers. "Certainly... First, you get an intelligence of some kind controlling the major functions of the golem. That replaces the very simplistic control spells and other devices people use. Second, the spirit typically learns to maintain the structure of the golem with some capable of enacting repairs upon the physical components and magical constructs."

She pauses a moment and furrows her ivory brow. "Third, an advanced spirit can vastly improve what the golem is capable of in general, especially magically. Unoccupied golems have very limited magical effects that are simple enchanted modules with limited power. Without a will or mind, no new magical flows can be manipulated. A spirit can address that."

Resting her hands on her hips, she smiles at Cideeda. "Those are the major reasons. There are a few other minor factors, but those depend on the specific purpose of the golem."

With interest sated for the moment, Cideeda nods and stretches her arms out behind her. "Okay. I see. So, without a spirit, the golem is just a dumb, one trick drone that's prone to falling apart."

Aristespha grins amusedly and snickers with a humored roll of her eyes. "THAT has often been my experience. Hence, why golems see limited use today when you have access to robotics and artificial intelligence."

Cideeda carefully examines the craftsmanship of the parted-out golem's humanoid arm, and her emerald green eyes spark with fascination. "That makes sense. But... Still, there's a certain quality to this..."

Bach glances over to Aristespha with a smile, and both watch Cideeda inspect the golem thoroughly.

Across the way, Dretphi steps slowly towards the tall, massive security doors, and carefully examines the opposing door edges. Staring through the doorway into the darkness, her attention shifts down to the concrete floor around the door tracks. Her steely gray eyes trace many long scratches and deep gouges into the surface. She follows the trails through a path of cleared debris and disturbed forest refuse, walking towards a thinned section of overgrowth. With a firm grip upon draping ivy, she draws back the tattered, natural curtain, and reveals a worn path leading north. She pivots in place, waves with her free hand, and calls out. "I have found recent activity!"

The rest of the team gather around Dretphi's discovery and collectively investigate it. Dretphi ponders a moment. "This is recent. Purposeful."

Visually tracing back the drag marks, she wanders her stare through the cleared path. "Many people have used it. Transporting significant cargo."

Sebastian bites his lip contemplatively, crosses his arms, and ethereally sighs. "That's not a good sign. I just know it."

Bach briefly grits his teeth and regretfully informs Sebastian. "Yeah... That's not the only thing. Cideeda found a golem that looks like it's been parted-out."

Nodding, Cideeda rests her hands on her hips and frowns. "Pretty thoroughly, too. From all the tool marks I saw, they took their time and struggled to get every little thing they could out of it."

Aristespha sidesteps, gazing upon the fresher trail, and visually plots the route. She cocks her head to the side, memory prompting, and retrieves a tablet from her backpack. "Interesting... Where does this lead..."

Seconds of locating their position on the map later, she orientates herself and notices the rough direction the path goes with an unamused sigh. "Oh... Gods dammit... It looks like it is going right towards the commune."

Flexing her fingers, Sotalia stares annoyed into the dark void between the entry doors and groans. "Great... Looks like they found an easier route for hauling off whatever they were looting. Oh, I bet that Meredosia bitch decided to change up plans once Faelatelia tried to escape."

Aristespha shakes her head slowly and agrees in tone. "If she could not convince someone to bring spirits here, she brought what is here to the spirits."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighs into a vague grimace. "I am NOT really happy about the possibilities. Gods. I just hope they are incompetent enough to only be unsuccessful at anything they are trying. I loathe to think what they could accidentally manage."

Sebastian's ghostly visage assumes a stern stance and serious tone slips into his address of the team. "Okay... As much as I'd hoped we would find the place and save the rest for tomorrow, I really think we NEED to delve a little deeper on this one today. We HAVE to at least find out what was taken, so we know what to be on the lookout for."

Dretphi firmly nods. "Agreed. We will need to inform authorities."

Bach sighs to an uneasy grin. "Yeah. I'd kind of would like to know what a splinter group of a bunch of crazy extremists got from here."

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia shakes her head with a grumble. "Oh, I'm certain it's nothing they should have their hands on. Nothing worse than crazy with crazy things."

Aristespha and Cideeda indicate similar sentiments with uncomfortable frowns. Sebastian floats over towards the large security doors, stands confidently, and glances over a shoulder to the team with a grin. "Okay. Let's form up and explore this place a bit more. I'm sure we'll find some answers..."

Deflating to an awkward smile, he shrugs his shoulders. "Whether we like it or not."

The group shares sardonically tinged chuckles and snickers, forming up and entering into the dark void between the massive sliding doors.

----

Walking along an old, mossy cobblestone road, Daedrican aims his fully helmeted head to his left and waves at a pair of lightly armored Chrome Crusader troopers along another parallel walkway. He resumes facing ahead, and Tassilda slinks up in pace next to him. She smiles confidently and perks a sly brow. "It is certainly a nice change of pace to clear out this rest area. Nice, pleasant walks through lovely scenery."

A calm chuckle leaves Daedrican, and he glances over to Tassilda. "I agree, my lady. But, I would still recommend being careful. The main areas of the rest stop receive some maintenance, but the outer park leaves... Quite a bit to be desired."

With a slow shrug of her shoulders, Tassilda grins and gazes out into the tall grasses of the nearby fields. "Yes. I suppose so. But, I am certain there's not much out here that would cause a problem for..."

She flashes a suggestive smirk at Daedrican and punctuates it with a sway. "You."

A long, amused sigh escapes Daedrican, and he shakes his helmeted head. "Oh, you might be surprised. I've had a few troubling moments with the most unlikely enemies."

Intrigue piques Tassilda's attention, and she focuses an inquisitive, light blue on black gaze upon Daedrican. "Oh! Really? Do tell me one."

With a laugh, Daedrican rocks his head momentarily back, a bit of embarrassment slipping out. "Zone Parrots."

Nearly missing a step, Tassilda blinks in confusion and narrows her surprise at Daedrican. She guides a raven lock of hair over her swirling horns and bites her lower lip. Hooking a finger, she tugs uncertainly upon a horn. "Zone Parrots? Those wonderfully colorful birds that have beautiful songs?"

Briefly bowing his head forward, Daedrican sighs and shakes his head. "Yes. I'm afraid so. It turns out, they have an annoying habit of sneaking into tents and vehicles when it is cold at night. Once comfortable, they get VERY territorial. Which leads to rude awakenings by claws and bites. I've had the misfortune of being forced out of my tent to escape the wrath of one."

Tilting his head, his obscuring visor faces Tassilda, and a competitive hint tints his voice. "So... What has been the most troublesome combatant for you so far, my lady?"

Blinking blankly, Tassilda averts her gaze away momentarily, and a flush reddens her gray cheeks. She bites her lower lip and mumbles out a coy response. "Slimes."

She holds a finger up to Daedrican and dons a more assertive tone. "Because... They are absolutely frustrating things. They are resilient to anything short of the right amount of force. After which, they are annoyingly..."

Twisting her grimace, she grits her teeth. "Splatter prone."

Tassilda pauses in thought a moment and aims another query at Daedrican with a happy smile. "I am a bit curious. Why did you ever join up with the Chrome Crusaders?"

Daedrican ponders a few moments, gently rocking his head side to side contemplatively. "After school, I decided I wanted to travel and experience the world for a bit. While I don't come from a small town, I had never left the area I was raised in. The Chrome Crusaders seemed to be a well established group with principles I could agree with. And..."

He chuckles faintly. "They happened to be in the area when I was running out of money."

Craning his head towards Tassilda, genuine curiosity colors his tone. "So, my lady, why did you sign up with the Next Adventurers of Nexus?"

A wide eyed stare overtakes Tassilda, and she struggles for her composure. She regains her confidence and approaches an answer. "Well... Similar reasons to yours. I would like to make a name for myself. Either join a good organization, or maybe form my own group. But, THAT requires you to have a great deal of experience and recognition. And..."

Embarrassed pink tints her gray face to the outer edge patterns, and she briefly grits her teeth. "One of the audition events just happened to be nearby when my finances were not the best. To be completely honest, I was facing the possibility of having to move back in with my mother."

Daedrican warmly chuckles with an understanding nod. A sly smirk graces Tassilda, and she narrows an inquiring stare at Daedrican. "Another question. You're not some kind of heroic orphan, are you?"

Laughing, Daedrican shakes his head. "Oh! No. I have a lovely mother and proud father still together after many renewals of their marriage contract. And, I have a younger brother and sister."

He tilts his head to the side and watches Tassilda, the two walking along the cobblestone path. "So, what family do you have, my lady?"

A faint wave of unease radiates through Tassilda, and she suppresses an overall cringe. Seconds later, she sighs with a staid tone. "I have a wonderful mother and father. They did not choose to renew their marriage contract when I was six. I lived with my mother, while my father remarried. As for siblings, I have a younger... half... sister."

Slightly shifting his stance, Daedrican tilts his head with a bright tone. "Well, I'm certain she's quite the lady, if she's of any relation to you."

Tassilda stares ahead distantly, and her attention drifts elsewhere. Gradually, a warm smile lightens her expression, and she states happily. "That she is."

Daedrican nods and cocks his helmeted head curiously. "Pardon for jumping order, but who got you interested in the study of magic?"

Tassilda blinks back to awareness, reassuming her confident exterior. "Oh! My mother. She is an amazing mage, and she certainly wasn't about to have a daughter who strayed from that path. Thankfully, I thoroughly enjoyed the practice after she pushed me to learn the basics. Admittedly, I hate to think what would have become of me if I hadn't."

A commiserating sigh escapes Daedrican, and he nods. "I know how THAT can be. It took my own mother a few attempts to get me on a good path. Well, at least one that'd result in a career that paid well."

He eloquently recites an emin colloquialism in his dialect. Tassilda relays nearly the same exact phrase in her dialect. Daedrican laughs into a snort. "Of course, THAT saying ALWAYS stays the same."

Smiles contentedly at Daedrican, Tassilda nods with a giggle.

----

Wind blows small flecks of debris across the rough path through the passage of trees, gradually smoothing the loose layer of dirt. Walking by himself, a figure nonchalantly travels down the trail and secures his backpack. Isaac grabs hold of his blue scarf waving wildly in the wind and loops the slack around his neck. With the breeze settling, he gazes up into the green canopy and guides wisps of white hair out of his gray eyes. An intrigued smile appears on his face, and he lifts up the old camera hanging by a strap around his neck towards the treetops. He presses a button to a mechanical click and ratchets a small crank to a stopping point.

With the task distracting, his heavy leather boot steps into a deep depression in the road, and Isaac stumbles awkwardly. Recovering his balance, he glances down at the ground. Pausing in thought, he cocks his head to the side and squints in surprise. Inside the worn pot hole, a clear, fresh impression of a large, tire track contrasts the weathered soil bordering. Isaac kneels down, carefully feels out the impression with his leather gloved fingers, and slowly raises his direly inquisitive stare ahead. His eyes dart between other signs of recent activity, and he gradually stands back up. He sidesteps swiftly off the road and out of sight.

Stepping forward, he moves slowly through the thicker undergrowth and quickly through open patches. Simmering unease tenses his body and sharpens his cautious scans. Minutes later, Isaac arrives at the perimeter of the rectangular clearing and stealthily peers through the vegetation. His suspicion piques, and his stare locks onto the parked humvee. A surge of shock washes over Isaac. His gray eyes darting between a flurry of thoughts, Isaac firmly slides his blue scarf over his face and wraps another loop of slack around.

Noxian stands up, steps out into the strange clearing, and postures sternly. With an assertive demeanor, he walks close to the humvee and glares upon the area. Searching the ground around, he finds two sets of heavy tracks, two sets of lighter boot prints, and the faintest outline of feet with toe claw marks. Noxian traces the tracks and settles his suspecting stare upon an ancient set of stairs through the disturbed vegetation. Walking over slowly, he visually follows the rough trail up the tall incline leading up the mountain. He stands in the quiet surrounding. Noxian crosses his arms and lowers his head in thought.

The eerie silence of the forest looms over. Blinking to attention, his attention wanders, and he searches the woods around. He lifts his head back up and examines the surrounding scenery. A dim glow emits from his gray eyes, and he squints out into the distance around him. Pausing upon sections of the woods, Noxian's discomfort grows more visible across his body, tension building. A few more passes later, the illumination dims from his eyes, and he stares resolutely up the incline. He cinches up the strap of his camera, tightens the harness of his backpack, and steps upon the stairs. Thoughtfully gazing ahead, Noxian draws in a long, determined breath, and sighs with hints of irritation and regret. The blue scarf waves in the wind during the hike up the mountain.

----

A bright, illuminating orb glides up towards the high, rocky ceiling above stone and metal walkways. Spots from flashlights dart around the dome of the cavernous area. Natural and carved sections blend together, and reinforcement structures divide the grand space. Down upon the mix of natural and artificial floor, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia search out into the dark chamber. Sotalia holds up a brightly glowing orb above her head and flexes her fingers, threads of magical flow condensing upwards from her palm. The light beams out further into the surrounding darkness, and the visible perimeter swells out. Cideeda and Dretphi bounce flashlights between curious, shady outlines and cautiously watch still objects emerging from the shadows. Bach flicks out blue orbs of light, tagging distant objects and walls in the murky shade. Sebastian drifts up above the group and squints out into the dim details. Aristespha rests the beam of a flashlight upon a nearby control console surrounded by a protective metal tube cage. "What would THAT go to?"

Glancing over, Cideeda furrows her brow, flicks her furry ears in thought, and slides her attention up. Moments of searching later, she spots a large hook hanging from a massive crane assembly. "It probably controls that overhead crane system. That seems really heavy duty."

The collection of light sources highlight the outlines of partially constructed golems and scattered parts. Each new shape seizes the attention of the group until the next freshly illuminated artifact. Cideeda's trepidation gives way to awe, and she studies a nearby bay of support structures, tools, and parts. "They must have made golems here. Well... They at least assembled them. You have parts, tools, and assembly bays. I would guess this is a full service shop here."

Nodding in full agreement, Aristespha focuses her curiosity upon a small building in the middle of the large, open area. "You are absolutely correct. This had to have been a secret assembly plant. Though..."

Her violet eyes swiftly dart around into the murky perimeter. "I still have many serious questions about the location and construction."

Glancing over to Aristespha, Dretphi directs a light upon the rocky ceiling above and motions with an armored gauntlet towards the ceiling. "Natural cavern. Signs of excavation. Some reinforcement. Some construction. Likely convenient to build upon."

Behind her face visor, her mouth twists with faint dissatisfaction. "Still a strange choice for such a purpose. Space, yes. Hidden, indeed."

Cideeda gradually nods and gazes wide eyed at a large arm of hybridized mechanics and magic secured upon a stout platform. "Yeah. Thinking about that..."

She furrows her brow and narrows her emerald eyes. "How the hell do you even get something this large up the path we took? Especially without someone figuring out what you are doing up here? There must have been another entrance, or something."

Sotalia smirks and sighs with a trailing grumble. "You would think something like THIS would have gotten a bit more attention than a few off hand mentions. To be fair, with a little bit of magic, you could hide moving a few big things."

She slowly pivots and incredulously waves her hands out at the surrounding masses of parts and constructs. "But, all THIS?"

Glancing over in agreement, Bach sends another light orb towards another dark spot at the edge of view. "Yeah... But, I mean, working golems move on their own. So, you could just use visual transparency spells and the cover of night to move one out of here."

Pausing in thought, he shrugs with the distant memory rising up in mind. "And honestly... You don't even need nightfall. A good fog, some heavy rain, or even a good snow might be enough to make it really hard to spot anything clearly from a distance with even a little obfuscation magic."

A sly grin graces Sebastian's ghostly visage, and he floats down next to Bach. He lightly chuckles and softly directs his voice to Bach. "Funny the useful things we learned from our... past exploits..."

Bach suppresses a smirk, rolls his eyes at himself, and whispers. "Yeah..."

The two brothers reminisce momentarily, stopping when inquisitive and scrutinizing attention focuses upon them. Sebastian coughs with an ethereal echo and musters up his composure. Bach rotates his glance through the stares, stiffens his posture, and resumes his previous thought. "Uh... But... Yeah. Hauling ALL these parts up here, that'd still be really rough, even with magic."

Donning a more serious expression, Sebastian surveys the illuminated area. "That is a good point. Also... This is a nightmare of logistics."

Cideeda nods, crosses her arms, and taps her toe claws on a foot, thinking out loud. "There's not just truck loads of materials up here. We're talking multiple convoys. You might be able to pull something like that off NOW if you are really, really careful. But not if you had any civilization paying attention to this place when it was active."

Aristespha rests a hand on her hip and draws a long breath in, puzzling. "Yes. That is the confusing part of all this. This is a large-scale operation in a logistically problematic place. That... That does NOT make sense."

With a comforting smile to Aristespha, Sebastian quirks an eyebrow. "Probably something more to this place, dear?"

With a bit of comfort, Aristespha smirks in amusement and sighs. "Yes, Sebastian."

She focuses ahead to a small building in the middle of the large open area and narrows her stare upon it. "Sebastian. Could you scout that building out? I think we need to investigate it."

Sotalia gestures her hand to the light orb above and focuses a portion of the light ahead. "Now that you mention it... That is weird. Why would you have an enclosed building in an already enclosed space like this? I haven't seen any other buildings around."

Dretphi furrows her brow with a slight frown. "Containment."

A silent, wary acceptance of the possibilities spreads throughout the group. Moments later, Sebastian sighs, dons a brave stance, and grins back to the group. "Well, can't leave it alone now. I'll go ahead and see if I find anything... Or, something tries to find me."

He flies ahead and coasts his ghostly visage near the small building. Circling around the exterior, he glides close to the occasional window and peers in. He flies around the structure to the side opposite of the group and spots a scattered mess of debris and broken containers piled around a compromised, sliding metal door. Peeking in through the doorway, he cautiously assesses the entry. In the very dim ambient light, the flickers of gouges and reflections of bent metal around the lock highlight the door's demise. Sebastian hums ethereally, jets off into view of the team, and waves them on over. The group moves up. Dretphi's eyes catch the glint from deep scratches upon the floor, and she points out the developing trail. "Something was moved."

Illuminating the ground with her flashlight, she tracks the disruptions of the dust upon the floor, impressions of shoes, and hand prints. "These are recent. Similar to outside."

The team gathers around Sebastian and surveys the chaotic piles of refuse. Cideeda snarls her upper lip and rolls her eyes at the defeated metal door. "Fucking amateurs. Gods. They were so lucky no one bothered to trap that thing or there wasn't anything inside there they needed to seal back in."

Bach and Aristespha's eyes glow blue and violet, respectively, and examine the mounds of broken equipment. Sotalia leans closer for a better view of an item in a pile and cocks her head in surprise. "Wait. Those are alchemical containers and... Magical isolation chambers?"

Tapping Aristespha's shoulder, she points a long-nailed finger to the end of an elaborate device sticking out of a haphazard stack. "Is THAT a recrystallizer? It looks like one."

Aristespha glowing violet eyes widen, and she slowly nods in bewilderment. "Yes. It is... That is interesting. Why would they have such a thing here? It would make sense if you were creating magical energy cells, but that would require raw materials..."

Shifting her attention, Cideeda shines a light onto a nearby collection of shadowy outlines. Her furry ears perk up in surprise. The fresh illumination reveals rows of industrial lathes, presses, mills, hammers, and other equipment. She blinks in astonishment and twists a grimace with her thoughts. "Oh. They weren't just assembling golems. They MADE the parts here."

Bach crosses his arms, blinks his eyes to normal, and ponders out loud. "But... If I remember correctly, most golems require specific materials with certain magical conductivity and capacitance properties that aren't easy to find. Unless..."

Dretphi stoically peers down the main walkway towards a massive tunnel archway and into the dark void obscuring the full depth of the passage. "THAT is why they choose THIS place."

Exchanging a confirming glance with Dretphi, Bach forms a glowing blue orb in his hand. He stares ahead and releases the glowing ball down the tunnel. Gliding down the hall, the spell casts light upon the floor and reveals sets of light boot prints in the dust. The team attentively watches the trail continue forth towards the tunnel archway. At the mouth of the entry, sets of huge, exact paw prints litter the tunnel floor and mix with the other prints. Cideeda stares warily at the distant floor details beneath the floating, glowing orb. The orb sticks to a distant doorway, and Cideeda tenses with her nervous energy. "O-o-okay... Something REALLY big has been here."

Drifting ahead of the group, Sebastian spots a branch of foot prints from the thick of activity. Dretphi steps carefully next to Sebastian, kneels down, and inspects the tracks. "Not as recent. One person. A set going ahead. Returning."

Aristespha draws a sharp breath in and growls out. "Meredosia. It was probably her when she first found this place."

With a bit of fear, Sotalia grimaces and contorts her face warily. "Okay. So, what the fuck do those other tracks belong to?"

Uncertainty and worry grip Aristespha, and she sighs out her nerves, regaining some of her usual composure. "I... Don't know, exactly. Faelatelia never got this far in. I would not be surprised if it was a golem given everything we have seen. But..."

She fights against a frown. "I do NOT know for sure."

Sebastian stares off at the distant blue orb upon the doors at the end of the tunnel and ethereally breathes out his worry. "Okay. I think we've explored enough today. We don't need to take any unneeded risks at this point. It looks like the big whatever hasn't gone past the archway, and Meredosia's tracks are old. And, we've got a decent idea of what the Terra Priests have taken."

Glides away, he coasts back towards the distant, dimming glow of sunlight leaking through the gap between the heavy entry doors. "Let's call it a day. We'll hike down, secure the camp, and rest for the night. And... Try to figure out how to proceed tomorrow."

He pauses and pivots with his arms out towards the group. "Any questions? Objections?"

The team shows no contest, agrees, and follows up behind Sebastian. With the team heading out, a powerful force presses against the heavy double doors at the end of the tunnel. Air jets out through every crack, and the pressure pushes open a gap between the join of the two huge doors. An eerie, faint light seeps out into the tunnel. The wave of air rushes out and blows around the team. Immediately freezing in place, Sotalia's entire body tenses sharply. "OH. What. The. Fuck..."

Cideeda shudders reflexively, and Dretphi visibly feels a chill down her spine. Aristespha stiffens her posture, and Sebastian spooks, his visage warping briefly. Halting in place, Bach slowly turns around. The group exchanges awkwardness and turns their attention to the new strange light. Sebastian sighs, bows his head down, and grumbles. "Well... Change of plans everyone..."

----

Sebastian's ghostly form phases through one of the two large doors. Pausing, he gawks in awe. Moments later, he regains his senses and directs his astonishment through the wide gap between the doors. "You HAVE to see THIS."

Dretphi and Cideeda slip in first and instinctively take cover positions behind nearby debris coated crates and rock formations. Searching the immediate area for threats, the scenery captures their full amazement. Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia slink through and stop, beholding the area with glowing eyes. Bach's jaw hangs open, and he blinks in bewilderment. "What... is THIS place?"

In front of the team, a deep, dark hole drops down to unnatural depths under a massive, natural cavern dome. An ambient light paints the space in a dim blend of many hued sources from the starry field of crystalline formations above. Surrounding the over hundred meter wide mouth of the pit, aged flood lamps flicker light upon the huge, carved outer perimeter of rock floor. Enormous girders of synthetic materials jutting from anchor points support a twenty meter wide, circular platform structure above the center of the hole. A single arching bridge connects the structure to the outer rim. Disappearing into the dark, deep depths, a series of thick, metallic cables sway almost imperceptibly with the breezes rising up the pit. The air pressure escapes through the gap between the doors. Sotalia shudders and briefly cringes. "Okay. So, I think we've found the source of that weird feeling I've been having. Now... What the actual hell is it?"

Aristespha wanders her gaze upwards and shakes her head in disbelief. "I... I do not know. It could be many things at this point..."

Focuses her analytical, violet glowing stare at the hole and center structure, she furrows her brow and tilts her head of silvery blue hair. Sotalia aims her golden, illuminated squint down, spots a small blue tinted crystal, and kneels down. Carefully craning her head close, she examines it, thinks a moment, and reaches a cautious hand out. With a bit of concentration, a gentle flow of magical energy swirls around her forearm and eases to the crystal. The mineral specimen lights up softly and shifts under the direction of Sotalia's finger movements. Recognition dawns upon Sotalia's face, and she glances up to the rest of the team. "Gods... They DID get their raw materials here. This feels like it has the right properties."

Bach peeks over Sotalia's shoulder and nods, his blue lighted gaze gleaning information. "Yeah..."

He swings his stare towards the ancient, heavy machinery parked around the perimeter and the industrial safety railing encircling the hole. "I'm guessing this whole place was some kind of mining, refinement, and production operation for golems."

Stepping out from behind a rusty container box, Cideeda cautiously approaches the lip of the pit. She stops at the guard rail, reaches into a vest pocket, and retrieves a small rectangular device. With a click of a button, a red dot appears faintly upon the distant, opposite side of the hole with faint shimmers of red outlining a laser beam path. Cideeda guides the dot downwards, aiming well into the black void below. After another click, she steps cautiously away from the pit's edge and inspects the reading on the laser range finder. Pivoting around, she returns to the group with wide emerald green eyes. "So... That pit is OVER three hundred meters deep. I actually can't get an exact number as the rangefinder only goes TO three hundred."

Dretphi blinks in surprise and surveys the route around the perimeter. "There must have been valuable deposits. It is not trivial to go that deep."

Sebastian hovers in place, strokes his hand over his chin, and ponders out loud. "This actually makes sense when you put all this together. Having a mine out here is useless if you want to keep a low profile. Having a refinement plant is pointless if you don't want to be found out. And, having a golem assembly plant out here would attract a lot of attention. But..."

Slowly spinning around to the team, he waves his arms out to the space with a facetious smirk. "If you have the entire production chain in one spot, then... The whole system is FAR easier to conceal."

Sotalia picks up the crystal chunk, places it in a pouch, and stands back up with a wry grin. "Also, if anyone did figure out what you were doing, I doubt they'd really want to cause you too much trouble."

Resting her hands on her hips, Aristespha tosses back her silvery blue hair and groans. "A golem army tends to have that effect."

Rising concern colors Sebastian, and he glances at Dretphi. "Before we do anything more here... Dretphi, is there any sign of those big tracks here?"

Dretphi searches the area, steps out to signs of wear on the perimeter pathway, and drops to a knee. Thoroughly investigating the spot, she visually traces routes clockwise and counterclockwise around the pit and twists her face in frustration. Seconds of deliberation later, she glances back to the group. "Something large has been here. I can not tell when. The air flow. The environment. Traces disturbed recently. Repeatedly in the past. Hard to discern."

Sebastian nods understandingly with an appreciative smile to Dretphi. "Thank you. I was afraid of that."

Floating towards the edge of the pit, he glances over to Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. "Okay. Gods... I think we're pushing our luck enough as it is."

Bach perks his brow, points towards the center structure, and shrugs his shoulders. "You know, I think that platform is about the only thing worth checking out here. Maybe you can do a quick flyover to see if it's worth all the fuss?"

Cideeda nods in agreement, frowning uneasily. "That sounds good to me. I don't see anything that really sticks out on the perimeter. It just seems like typical mining equipment. So, if there's nothing up on the platform, I'm good with going home."

Dretphi motions towards numerous shady tunnels splintering off from points along the perimeter. "Days could be spent here. Many possible routes to explore. Significant chances for danger. May not be worth it."

Sotalia crosses her arms with a humored grin. "Well... If I was a self-righteous bitch looking for the most important thing in this place, I'd cross the bridge and see what's over there."

Aristespha smiles at Sebastian and dons a lighter tone. "That works for me. If there is anything, we will literally and figuratively cross that bridge. I will be content with compiling this report from the comfort of the living room couch otherwise."

Gliding away from the group, Sebastian shines a happy grin and gives a thumbs up. He spins himself around and jets across the deep, dark pit. Seconds later, his ethereal form flies above the central platform and drops swiftly out of sight from the low perspective. The rest of the team waits patiently. A minute later, Sebastian's visage reforms next to Aristespha. Sighs reluctantly to the team, he slowly nods his head and grits his teeth. "Yeah. We need to check it out. There's a circular, rune covered dais that looks just like the others we've been finding. And, there's other strange artifacts and documents."

A silent, determined agreement passes through the team. Sebastian musters an appreciative smile and leads the way. Walking around the perimeter to the entry point, the team gingerly crosses the bridge to the platform structure. They reach the central point and gather around a circular dais of hybrid materials with uniquely familiar rune carvings. Nearby, a divided wooden box of decayed, broken amulets catches the attention of Sotalia, and she notices an empty spot in the packaging. "Huh. I bet this is where Meredosia got her amulet that Faelatelia mentioned."

Aristespha irritably taps her foot and balls her fists with her frustration. "Gods damn that woman! This certainly explains a lot about Faelatelia's and Chelindia's stories about Meredosia. She has gotten something she has no idea about the danger of."

Hovering nearby, Sebastian slowly shakes his head. "Well, that's DEFINITELY not a good sign. I hate to think what she's planning. Oh well. We'll have to contend with that another time. Okay. Let's grab up what we can and get out of here soon."

The team splits up quickly. Dretphi packs up documents and items. Aristespha and Bach quickly scan the area with their mage sights. Sotalia walks around, taking photos with her aetherphone. Sebastian hovers around the structure and investigates the heavy equipment below. Cideeda starts to examine a control console, and her furry ears perk up towards a single source. Freezing, she slowly turns her head and faces the direction of a low, thumping noise. "HOLD. UP. I HEAR something."

The team halts mid task and watches the rising din. A mechanical beast of stone, metal, and magic stomps out from a branch tunnel onto the perimeter main path. Walking on all fours, a dire wolf shaped golem slowly travels the outer rim walkway. The green glow from the enchanted machine's magical energies illuminate its immediate vicinity. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia settle into hiding behind equipment, structures, and containers. The dire wolf golem stops, lifts its head up, and stares towards the center platform. A bright white light erupts in its eyes, and thin streams of white energy scatter across surface channels in its body, condensing into particular parts. Bach shivers in wide eyed fear, witnessing the magical activity with his mage sight. The sword at Aristespha's side vibrates, and Sebastian's visage warps.

"ACTIVE. ENERGY. DETECTED."

-51-

Spines of metal mesh inlaid upon crystal speckled stone rattle along the back of the dire wolf golem, and it stomps heavily upon the deep pit's perimeter. The thunderous noise reverberates around the cavernous chamber, and a stale echo reflects up, distantly from the dark chasm. A green glow radiates out from the lupine construct, and a bright white pulse highlights the surface maze of intricate channels. The two meter tall and wide, nearly five meter long, quadrupedal form of stone, metal, and crystal marches upon the outer walkway surface, solidly impacting the floor with each step. From the central platform over the dark abyss, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia watch the approaching golem, peering out from impromptu hiding spots, dread blatant upon their faces. Ducking down behind a storage crate, Aristespha calms her breathing, focuses, and carefully gestures out an incantation. A faint layer of magical flow just above her skin ripples briefly to opacity and fades away. Sotalia glances over, drops down, and performs similar motions with worry looming. "Ih, yeah... Good idea. Whew... Check the mage barrier."

With each loud footstep Cideeda's furry ears flick down, and she watches Aristespha and Sotalia enviously. "Whenever I'm able, one of you NEEDS to teach me THAT."

Bach kneels down behind another old steel container, rests the forehead of his helmet covered head on the rusted metal, and sighs anxiously. Readjusting the strap underneath his chin, he smirks weakly at Cideeda. "Yeah. Will definitely do so. But..."

Clenching a shaking hand into a fist, he grimaces and peeks just above the top of the storage box with a wary stare at the golem. "Even THAT probably won't help much against this thing. It's got an Elder Energy core in it somewhere. I can sense it."

Aristespha nods solemnly and grits her teeth. "If nothing else, the damned sword is always accurate in that regard."

Sebastian raises his head high enough, viewing the creature, and frowns sternly. "Okay. First thing. Let's see if we can get clear of this thing. This is not something we want to fight, especially here."

Scanning the bridge connecting the platform to the perimeter walkway, Dretphi grumbles out her frustration, shakes her head, and directs her low voice towards the rest of the team. "Do NOT advise crossing the bridge. Presently."

Her steely gray eyes visibly traces the possible paths, and she shakes her head. "Golem approaching opposing side. Exposed on the bridge. In direct danger on the perimeter."

Sotalia stares right at the entry doors to the chamber and cracks a grin. "Maybe we could fly over? We'd have to ferry over Cideeda and Dretphi, and assist Bach, but it's not that far."

Bach hesitates briefly and musters his resolve. That- That's actually not a bad idea, if we are careful."

Visibly puzzling under her face visor, Dretphi mulls over the concept to a reserved acceptance. "Possible solution. Time our transit. Allow the golem upon the bridge. Lengthen its route back to us after we fly over."

A devious smile graces Cideeda, and she perks her furry ears, furrowing her brow. "Especially, if we leave behind a wad of breaching charges to shake it up when we all get on the outer perimeter."

Aristespha reluctantly sighs and twists her grimace in thought. "Yes. Unfortunately, the problem is that this golem is certainly a machine of war. I would not be surprised at all if it had countermeasures or ranged capabilities."

Sebastian smiles reassuringly to Aristespha and nods in agreement. "That is something we need to make sure of, dear."

Searching the area, he analyzes the architecture with a hint of unease. "Especially, since I can't find a good route that wouldn't put us in line of sight of that thing."

He puffs up chest and rolls his ethereal shoulders. "Okay. Let me test it to see if and how it reacts to me. Might be able to keep it distracted for you all."

Hovering to the edge of the platform, Sebastian zooms out above the deep hole below and flies straight towards the exit. The dire wolf golem halts its progress and waits. Head stiffly sweeping towards the platform, it spots Sebastian moments later and locks on. With Sebastian coasting up higher, the golem's back spines flip forward and crackle with arcs of magical energy flowing into them. Inscriptions glow green, and white energy condenses upon the very sharp tips. Seconds later, a barrage of energy bolts project out from the spines. The projectiles zip straight out and sharply turn, rocketing ahead of Sebastian's flight path. A swarm of white-tipped, green bolts saturates airspace around Sebastian. A few direct hits later, Sebastian's visage dissipates. The assault promptly halts. Sebastian reforms next to Aristespha in wide-eyed surprise and sighs ethereally to the rest of the group. "Well... THAT proved a point I didn't want to be true."

His ghostly form shudders, and he furrows his brow with an uneasy grimace. "Also, those bolts... felt... weird when they hit me."

The team glance between each other, trading uncertain grimaces. Low thumps sound out and bounce around the cavern, growing louder over the seconds. The dire wolf slowly, mechanically marches towards the mouth of the central structure's connecting bridge. Slinking over to thicker cover near the outer ring of the platform , Cideeda draws out both her laser pistols. With the golem stepping onto the bridge deck, she narrows her emerald eyes and carefully studies the construct's simplistic motions forward. Dretphi lays her armored shoulder into large crates and containers and slides them together into a protective barrier, kneeling behind it. Readying her sub machine gun, she aims her attention upon the golem. Over the tense seconds, the magical beast rigidly stomps upon the bridge, the vibrations rattling nearby debris. Dretphi snaps a glance over to Cideeda with a quizzical tone. "It operates simplistically. Does it have high cognitive function?"

Blinking with her thoughts, Cideeda narrows a scrutinizing stare at the golem and flicks her furry ears. "Huh. Now that you mention it... It really doesn't act like it has much going on in the thinking department. It knows something is here, but hasn't done anything apart from shooting at Sebastian when it got line of sight on him."

Carefully keeping a low profile, Aristespha steps up behind a line of crates, peeks out with glowing violet eyes, and cautiously gestures out incantations. With a swift flick of her hand, a small wave of energy radiates out down the length of bridge, pulsing through the golem, and dissipates into the distant cavern wall. Aristespha blinks her eyes to normal and glances over to the rest of the team with a hopeful smirk. "There is no spirit bound to it. So, it must have a control system operating it. Unfortunately, I can not tell if it is a spell or some other device from here..."

She smiles with a hint of confidence. "But I do not believe it could be very advanced."

A sly smirk cracks upon Cideeda, and her furry ears perk with her scheming tone. "Well, if it's a simple program, then maybe we can work within the logic to give us the advantage. Maybe..."

Perking an eyebrow, she grins toothily. "Get it locked up in a routine, and keep it right there."

Dretphi nods in agreement and sighs reservedly. "We need to know the program. Worth the risk to determine."

The dire wolf's heavy steps resonate through the midsection of the bridge, vibrating the entire central platform structure. Debris and junk rattles off the edge of the platform and disappears into the dark abyss below. The team instinctively brace themselves upon surrounding solid infrastructure. Tension visibly surges through the group with each platform shaking stomp. Tightly gripping a steel tube guardrail, Bach peers briefly over the edge, staring into the blackness of the pit, and nervously smiles with a tinge of resolve. "Gods. If we could only knock that thing off the bridge..."

Sebastian snaps his attention over to Bach with a widening grin. "Hey! That's... That's actually an idea worth trying."

Pondering a few moments, Bach slowly nods and furrows his intrigued brow. "Yeah... I mean, you know, as heavy as that thing is to shake this place, I don't think they build it to fly."

Briefly flicking his blue eyes down towards the black void below, he curls a smirk. "And even if it SOMEHOW survives the landing, we'll be long out of here before it has a chance to get to us."

A bold smile appears on Sebastian, and he addresses the rest of the team. "I think it's worth giving it a shot. Any suggestions?"

Cideeda searches through her vest pockets, retrieves a collection of small explosive packs, and a remote detonator kit. She presents them with an eager, toothy grin. "I don't think this will launch it off the bridge, BUT it'll definitely throw it off balance, for sure. And yes, these shouldn't harm the bridge too much being out in the open."

Intertwining her fingers, Sotalia stretches her arms out and smiles with a sinister hint. "Oh, I think I can lighten the load with a strong telekinesis spell. Just need it to stay still for a moment."

Aristespha chuckles confidently and lifts an amused eyebrow. "THAT, I can provide. It might not last long with something this powerful. But... You have worked within those constraints before."

Glancing over to Dretphi, Sebastian points a thumb over his shoulder towards the lumbering magical construction. "You up for helping me distract the thing, Dretphi? Hopefully, it'll stay focused on me, but it might be good to have someone else split its attention."

With a determined smirk Dretphi nods eagerly and inspects her sub machine gun. "I am curious how resilient it is."

Sweeping his gaze between everyone else, Bach ponders a moment and nods with an offer. "I might have something that should help keep it immobilized and maybe help get it over the edge."

Sebastian grins proudly at the team and stirs up his ethereal form. "Okay. You all wait until it is shooting at me. Dretphi, shoot at it. Aristespha and Bach, lock it down. Sotalia, lighten and lift it into the air as much as possible. Cideeda, toss the explosives under it. After that, everyone shields themselves, and we blow the charges."

With confirmations all around from the group, Sebastian jets off into the air, his form flaming brighter. The golem halts its march and snaps its spines into firing positions, tracking Sebastian's ascent. Sebastian flies erratically through the air, and the construct unleashes barrage after barrage of green, white-tipped bolts at his flight path. Stray projectiles drill into the cavern ceiling above, and magical miasma explodes out from the powerful impacts. The energies swell out, and the crystalline specks in the stone briefly flash brighter. Dretphi pops up from cover, steadies her sub machine gun upon a sturdy metal container top, and pulses out bursts of gunfire. Bullets bouncing off, sparks spray out from the surface of the metal and stone creature's body. Solid impacts fracture tiny stone bits off, and lightly dent the metal framing. With a direct hit, a gout of white magical flow jets out from an inscribed channel. The golem shudders momentarily and ceases firing magical bolts. Aristespha stands up from behind a crate, throws her arms forward, and releases a transparent wall of energy forward. The wave glides down the bridge and envelopes the war machine in an immobilizing wrap of magical flow. Standing firmly, she grimaces in a tense pose.

Lifting up his hands, Bach flings out a magical cable from each palm. The woven lines of blue and green strands arc through the air and coast down upon the lupine golem. A visible pulse of energy zips down the lines to the ends, and webs of energy threads rapidly form, wrapping around the limbs and body of the mechanical beast. The golem flexes individual joints against the tension of the magical mesh, and Bach twists his wincing grimace against the struggle.

Standing up confidently, Sotalia quickly chants out an incantation and finishes her gestures with a dramatic throw of her hand forward. A nearly invisible column extends out, contacts the golem, and engulfs it in energy. Gritting her teeth, Sotalia plants her boots upon the platform deck, and her body strains within the magical flows spiraling around her. The torso of the dire wolf shifts upwards, the lift cascading through joints down through its legs.

Balling the explosive material up, Cideeda hops up to her feet, gauges the distance with her emerald eyes, and swings her arm back. With powerful underarm toss, she sends the pliable mass sailing over the bridge deck. With a solid thud upon the metal walkway plating, it lands underneath the chest of the golem. A red blinking glow radiates through the deformed explosive clay next to a prominent, protruding antenna. Cideeda drops down into hiding and flips off the cover on the remote control. Dretphi ducks down, keeping her weapon trained. Aristespha releases her spell, quickly gestures, and wraps her hands around the flow streaming from Sotalia to the golem, injecting a boost of energy into the mix. Bach releases his ends of the magical cables, slides down in front of Aristespha and Sotalia, and throws up a golden barrier, anchoring it into the platform deck. Sebastian gazes down and shouts. "NOW!"

Cideeda swiftly clicks the detonator three times. A powerful, concussive blast erupts under the golem, kicking the construct up into the air. Grinning wildly with a manic, golden glow in her eyes, Sotalia's arms tense with the shifts of the magical flow. The dire wolf drifts towards the side edge of the bridge.

"ENERGY. SURGE. DETECTED."

Brilliant white energy surges through the magical machine, arcing across the surface of the golem. The blue and green magical mesh binding the body violently snaps to shreds. The transparent energy surrounding sparks and crackles, rippling into opacity. The enveloping magic explodes, and the chaotic miasma vents away from the golem. Sotalia loses hold of the fizzling spell, tips backwards, and stumbles for balance, Aristespha catching her. Partially over the edge, the dire wolf drops down, crashes on the bridge frame supports, and crushes thick guard railings. Green glowing front claws of the metal and stone beast sink firmly into the deck. It swiftly tears up onto the bridge surface, ripping metal plating effortlessly, and stands back up. Pausing a moment, it stares ahead with a white haze emanating from the eyes and digs claws into the deck.

Flows of magic across the golem flare brightly, and the construct launches itself forward. Each bound of the thunderous charge shakes the platform violently. Aristespha and Sotalia pull each other out of the way and dive off towards one side of the platform. Scrambling out from behind his golden, transparent barrier, Bach rushes over towards Cideeda and Dretphi falling back from the rampage path. The golem drops its shoulder low and slams into the makeshift barricade. The golden shield shatters into fragments, wooden crates splinter apart, and dented, metal storage containers roll through the air. Hovering above, Sebastian wrestles down his terror and watches the falling debris. He releases a relieved, ethereal sigh, spotting Aristespha and Sotalia hiding on one side of the platform, and Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi keeping low profiles behind cover on the opposite. The magical monstrosity plants its feet securely onto the reinforced metal flooring and slowly sweeps a hunting glare side to side. Seconds later, it shifts its head low and fully opens its razor toothed maw. A rising hum accompanies the condensing energy flowing into its mouth and the green glow pulsating brighter by the second. Sebastian blinks in surprise, points at the golem, and alerts everyone below. "Look out! It's charging up an attack of some kind!"

Five pairs of eyes peek out from behind cover. Aristespha's glowing violet eyes widen in fright. "That's some kind of directed thermal projection spell! Take cover!"

Narrowing his blue illuminated eyes, Bach's tone slides through the spectrum of fear, annoyance, and disgust. "Oh, gods fucking dammit! Of course! It breathes fire! Why would it do anything else?!"

Aristespha ducks down, quickly gestures out a spell, and holds her hands out in front of her, a transparent bubble of energy spreading around her and Sotalia. A few fast incantations later, Sotalia places her hands upon the barrier near Aristespha's and shouts out towards Bach with a dry grin. "Like what?! Frost breath?!"

Bach kneels down, holds his arms out, and rolls his blue eyes with a wry smirk. "Gods forbid people who took time to build a walking weapon to look like a giant wolf stick to some kind of theme!"

Concentrating, he closes his eyes and steadies himself. A fast growing hexagonal grid expands out into an intricate dome, enveloping Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. In the few moments, new layers laminate upon the current shell, individual cells fill in with finer meshes, and the fibers of flow anchor into the flooring beneath. Bach glances over his shoulder towards Cideeda and Dretphi. "Keep towards the front, I'll focus protection there."

Sudden silence stills the team. A roar of bright orange and green streaked flames blasts forth from the jaws of the dire wolf, flooding the vicinity. The torrent of fire jet outs continuously, all encompassing. Seconds pass slowly within the magical barriers splitting the raging river of unyielding, supreme heat. Wooden crates disintegrate into fiery specks that drift off the central platform and drift into the void below, the distant darkness snuffing out the faint embers. Metal containers warp under bright orange white glows, and molten globs spatter upon protective bubbles, cooled droplets rattling across the platform floor. Aristespha cringes, and Sotalia strains against the onslaught, both flowing more energy to their protective, multi-layered field. Flames washing over the protective dome, Bach keeps his hands in place and releases slow, calculated breaths, sweat dripping down his visor-covered face. Cideeda stays behind Bach and slides her feet closer to the center of the enclosed circle of floor within. She winces silently, the heat from the bluing floor softening her thinly soled shoes. Easing down onto her polymer and barrier protected knee plating, Dretphi sweeps Cideeda securely up into her lap. Cideeda pulls her shoes clear of the floor, leaving a trace layer of rubber upon the plating, and sighs with gracious smile to Dretphi. "Thank you!"

The flames stop. The green magical light dims down to a dark flicker inside the mouth of the dire wolf golem, and it snaps its maw shut. Straightening its posture, it secures its footing and cautiously sweeps its watchful stare across the area. Waves of heat radiate off the scorched, reinforced platform floor. Scraps of freshly charred wood and other flammable materials smolder, spouts of fire igniting from the gasses. Dull, red orange glows fade to tempered shades on many of the metallic surfaces. A chorus of pops and snaps fill the background din. Sebastian's visage reforms next to Aristespha and Sotalia. His worry and concern blatant, he examines them. Aristespha summons a calming smile and nods to Sebastian. Sotalia wipes the sweat off her brow and gives a smirking thumbs up. Sebastian snaps his attention over towards Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. Bach nods back to Sebastian, and Cideeda and Dretphi wave from inside a fading dome.

Bach's voice echoes softly over Aristespha's aetherphone from inside her pocket. "So... Uh.... What's the plan now?"

Pulling her aetherphone out, she holds it close to the midpoint between herself, Sebastian, and Sotalia. "Good question."

Sotalia sneaks a brief peek around the edge of a partially melted container and slinks back to Aristespha and Sebastian. "Well. It doesn't look like it's going anywhere. I guess it's... Like... It's waiting for something?"

Cideeda ponders out loud over the radio. "If it is running on a rough program... I'd guess it's waiting for any signs of activity. If I was to program something like this, I'd have it wait first, and THEN go in to confirm that the targets have been eliminated."

Twisting his mouth in indecision, Sebastian grumbles in thought. "So more than likely, even if we try to wait this thing out... It'll probably eventually search for us."

Opposite across the platform, Dretphi nods her helmeted head solemnly. "I concur..."

Furrowing her brow, she blinks and cocks her helmeted head, an intrigued tone brightening her voice. "During the attack... I hit an inscription directly. Energy erupted out. The golem faltered."

Bach glances over his shoulder, ponders a moment, and confirms. "Yeah. I saw that energy burst, too. It must have damaged a flow channel on it or something like that."

Across the radio channel, Aristespha's interest piques, and she thoughtfully replies. "That is an ancient golem without a spirit bound to it. I would assume it has not received proper maintenance in many, many years. It could very well be far more degraded than it appears."

An amused smirk curls on Bach's face. "So... Just throwing this out here... We should shoot it a lot."

He glances over towards Sebastian and shrugs with his hands out to the sides. "At the same time?"

Sebastian darts his translucent blue eyes around his mind and returns a similar gesture. Aristespha hums in thought and squints around the corner of cover briefly. "If we target flow channels, we might disable many of the more dangerous aspects. If we are lucky, we may be able to temporarily disable it enough to get around it and make a run for it."

Sebastian nods in agreement. "Okay. Sounds like the best plan we've got at the moment, dear."

Across the way, Dretphi sighs and shakes her head. "Unfortunately, my weapon did not do significant damage."

An irritated frown overtakes her, and she quietly growls. "Again... The appropriate weapon is not with me."

Pivoting in place, Bach gazes at Dretphi and Cideeda with a hopeful smirk. "Hey, I might be able to fix THAT."

Cideeda and Dretphi stare expectantly at Bach. Holding his hands out, Bach starts an explanation. "Okay. I've thought about the whole weapon enchantment idea, and I might have something simple and quick for your weapons."

Gritting his teeth, he hisses out a surge of uncertainty. "Fair warning... Uh, they probably won't last long and may not work that well-"

Hearing the safety engage, he feels the full weight of Dretphi's sub machine in his hands. Blinking in surprise, he glances up to the eager smile of Dretphi and studies the weapon in his hands. With a slow exhale, he closes his eyes. Faint multi-colored magical flows creep along the exterior of the gun. Coils of magical energy condense upon the length of the barrel and form intricate patterns upon the forward and rear grips. A minute later, Bach reopens his blue glowing eyes and presents the device back to Dretphi. "Okay. Yeah. Simple projectile accelerator in the barrel. You'll have to direct your flow into it to keep it going."

Dretphi graciously lifts her submachine gun up from Bach's hand with a thankful, warm smile and readies it. Bach faces Cideeda, and a pair of clawed hands deposit a laser pistol in each of Bach's open palms. Nodding, he focuses. Meshing patterns encapsulate the hand grips of the pistols and threads of magic sink inside the devices. Only faint glows from the vents hint at the processes happening within the weapons. Bach gives the laser pistols back to Cideeda and sighs unsure. "Um, for you, photon amplifiers help energize the beams. Flow what you can into them to help keep the magic going. Again... I don't know how well it will work in this short of time and-"

Feeling a familiar, soft five claw tip squeeze on his upper arm, Bach gazes ahead. Cideeda grins toothily and winks to Bach. "Perfect time to test."

An appreciative smile appears Bach and widens into a bold grin. He draws his transforming plasma pistol out. Sebastian nods across the way to the magically armed Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. He smirks proudly to Aristespha and Sotalia. "Okay. I think that side is covered."

Fluttering her golden, darkened sclera eyes, Sotalia chuckles, flexes her long nailed fingers, and rolls her shoulders in a stretch. "If it's made of metal and stone, I think I'll see how it likes the cold. So, if anyone sees frost, shoot. Let's see how brittle it can get."

Aristespha nods with a determined smile to Sebastian and readies herself. "I will see if I can disrupt enough around the jaw. We certainly do NOT need another fire attack like that."

Sebastian directs his ghostly voice to Aristespha's aetherphone. "Okay. Everyone get ready. I'll get its initial attention, then... Light it up."

In the lull of eerie quiet in the echoing cavernous space above and below, the dire wolf scans its head side to side. In the sweep, it slows at two points on either side of the platform. Immediately in front of the construct, Sebastian rises up through the platform floor and jets upwards into the air. The golem backs up, lifts up its head, and flips spines towards him. Dretphi pops up from cover, crimson flows filling the channels leading to the barrel of her submachine gun, and unleashes volleys of accelerated, high velocity rounds. The recoil surprises her and leaves a delighted, enthusiastic grin upon her tan face. Cideeda takes her aim and fires blue laser beams at the golem. In a moment, she concentrates and focuses faint flows down her arms. With each rush of energy, the beams color shift towards violet. Leaning out from cover, Bach unleashes charged bolts of plasma. Sotalia quickly gestures, points a finger at the golem, and hoses concentrated, cold streams upon choice sections of the golem. Potent, precise beams of energy from Aristespha powerfully drill into the maw of the war machine. The furious flurry of beams, bolts, projectiles, frost, and energy rattle the armored golem. Molten flecks of metal splatter upon the platform floor, the cooled specks rattling away. Fragments of stone clatter on the metallic surface. Arcs of disrupted magical energy spark out into plumes of miasma spewing forth from breaks in flow channels. Frosted parts shatter violently under well placed shots, and the metal and stone beast stumbles around.

Weathering the unyielding onslaught, the mechanical dire wolf slams down its front claws. Bracing itself, its jaws fling wide open and expose a bright green cloud venting out. A precise beam of magical energy lands right inside, stunning the construct. Volleys of frost, plasma, photons, and high-velocity mass race into the mouth of the golem, and a loud crashing from within slams the maw catastrophically shut. Wandering aimlessly backwards, it drags trails of smoke, and magical energy sizzles out from the dented gaps in its jaws. The dire wolf exposes its side. Sotalia steadies her stance, raises both hands forward, and concentrates a potent frost ray right upon the belly of the beast. The column of cold squarely impacts and freezes over the midsection armor, billowing forth clouds of vapor. Dretphi braces her submachine gun against herself tightly, unleashes a brilliant wave of magical energy into the barrel, and flips the mode switch to full auto. A torrent of automatic fire tears into the frozen middle plate, shattering the armor into a rain of fragments under the deck. Rounds fly through the new opening and ricochet loudly inside. An explosion blows out the belly of the mechanical beast. The golem flings its fractured glare towards Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi's position and charges recklessly forward.

Bach scrambles clear of the oncoming golem. Cideeda scrapes her claws upon the floor and launches herself away. Dretphi spins into a dodge, and the construct crashes through mostly melted containers. In the chaos, the beast claws wildly and thrashes about. A tail swipe catches the sub machine gun and strips it out of Dretphi's hands. Diving away, Dretphi repeatedly rolls from the golem, rights herself upon her heavy boots, and stands up fully. Swiftly drawing her machete from her back magnetic mount, she readies herself. The dire wolf searches around and levels its flickering glare upon Aristespha and Sotalia. Miasma steams through the cracks, and sparks drop out through the holes in its body. Claws sink into the platform deck, and its lines itself towards Aristespha and Sotalia. Loud heavy boots clang upon the floor, and a machete solidly scrapes the side of the construct's head. Sprinting off to the opposite edge of the platform, Dretphi stomps loudly and yells challenges in venomous Grath. The golem's attention shifts fully to Dretphi, and Aristespha and Sotalia scramble off. Spotting Bach and Cideeda waving them over, they slide behind cover. Sebastian jets over next to Dretphi. The dire wolf stands firm, cautiously lining up a charge at Dretphi, often diverting suspicious attention to Sebastian. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Sotalia watch the showdown. Shuddering briefly, Sotalia snaps her confusion upon the golem and points a finger to a white glow within the creation's blown out frame. "Good fucking gods! The armor around the belly came completely off- Is that a power cell?!"

A determined grin parts her mouth, and she holds up a palm, magical flow condensing into a tight ball of fire. "OH... If I'm feeling this right, that's GOT to be holding that Elder energy. Take this!"

She lobs a bright orb of blue flame at the golem. The fireball zips right to the cylindrical, white light radiating cell... and dissipates to a fading cloud. Blinking in utter bewilderment, Sotalia cocks her head. Cideeda lines up her laser pistol and gently squeezes the trigger. A blue-violet laser streaks to the target and refracts into a harmless scatter within centimeters of the energy cell. Squinting with glowing blue eyes at the golem, Bach grimaces with a grit of his teeth. "Shit. Yeah. It's definitely charged with elder energy. It's radiating a tiny amount around it."

Aristespha twists her mouth and growls in frustration. "Just enough to keep a disruptive barrier around it against magics and energy weaponry."

Bach nods, stares at the cell inside golem's chest cavity, and cocks his head to the side. "Well, it may not be protected from physical attacks, especially at that main connection. The field doesn't seem that strong there."

Listening to the radio across the way, Dretphi focuses her glare at the white glowing module within the golem's broken midsection. Stern determination washes over her face, and she calmly calls out. "I think I can hit it. Should I try?"

Bach blanks to the echo of Dretphi's voice over the air and radio, and blinks to Aristespha, Cideeda, and Sotalia. Mustering his resolve, he nods. "Yes. Aim for the junction between the cell and cables. Get clear and over to us regardless!"

Cracking a small grin, Dretphi tightens the grip on her machete and eyes Sebastian's visage. "Keep its attention. I am attacking."

Sebastian nods, flares up his form to a flaming brilliance, and charges at the golem. "HEY! WATCH ME! YOU STONE COLD BITCH!"

The head of the construct snaps and processes Sebastian, losing track of Dretphi. Charging forth, Dretphi swiftly sprints to the construct, swings her large blade, and guides the powerful thrust of the tip right at the join between power cell and cable. A shower of sparks erupts, the machete's edge grinding firmly into the junction. Magical miasma sprays out, the blade scraping against connection. Dretphi pulls out of the golem and escapes. The creature shudders momentarily and continues to lumber around shakily. Dretphi dashes across the platform and slides behind cover near the rest of the group. Pressing her back against a pile of debris, she shakes her head in anger and disappointment. "Sorry. Could not impart the required force."

The golem stomps heavily, slowly towards the far edge of the platform. Each thunderous step shakes the entire structure. Clouds of smoke billow out, parts rattle loudly, internals spark brightly, and the war machine closes in on Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. Sebastian's form reappears next to Aristespha, and he poorly masks his worry with a smirk. "Okay! It's no longer really paying attention to me, and I think it's had enough of our shit at this point."

Peeking out, Sotalia barely contains her fear. "Uh... Um... So... Maybe we can fly to the perimeter. I can carry Dretphi. Aristespha you get Cideeda. Bach, try your best and keep near Aristespha?"

Aristespha swallows hard, attempting to calm her flurry of thoughts. "Magic attacks dissipate. And energy gets deflected... What to do... What to do..."

Observing the fright and panic seeping out of everyone, Bach searches the area and catches the glint of a familiar gun barrel. The weapon rests meters away, past the mechanical beast and near the platform edge. He lifts his hand up, aims his palm at the precariously positioned weapon, and focuses his blue glowing eyes. A woven magical energy cable launches from the condensed energy in Bach's hand, glides to its target, and latches on. With a hard yank, Dretphi's submachine gun hops clear of rubble, bounces swiftly along the floor, and slides right next to Dretphi. Silence halts the team. Sebastian cranes his head around and puzzles at Bach. "What are you thinking, bro?"

Bach blinks in thought, draws a long breath in, and explains. "Really, really high speed projectiles. I overcharge the holy hell out of what I put on there, and Dretphi takes the shot. We just need an opening."

A proud grin emerges upon Sebastian, and he nods in complete agreement. "Okay. Quick plan. Cideeda and I draw its attention. Aristespha and Sotalia, hold it for the shot. Bach and Dretphi... Make the shot."

The golem halts meters away from the last blockade of rubble and debris. Lowering its head, it digs in its claws, and-

Sebastian flies up from the floor at it, waving his arms menacingly. The construct ignores the nuisance and-

Twin beams of blue-purple light carves across its side. The dire wolf swings its head over and watches Cideeda sprinting between cover and pulsing laser blasts. The fracture metal and stone machine attempts to return focus ahead and struggles against a wave of energy enveloping it. An unseen force wrestles, slides, and grinds it gradually against the platform floor. The massive body pivots and exposes a clear view to the power cell within the midsection. The power cell brightens.

"ENERGY. SURGE. DETECTED."

Dretphi lays her weight against the submachine gun upon a metal container and lines up the shot. Closing his eyes, Bach carefully places his hands under the weapon. A flood of bright magical energy flows into the gun's barrel. The golem rotates a few more degrees. A wave of white energy erupts from the power cell and coats the surface of the war machine. Spells upon it visibly fizzle, and it regains freedom.

Dretphi squeezes the trigger of the radiating weapon.

A visible streak instantly traces from the barrel of Dretphi's gun right through the obliterated junction between power cell and cable. Faint shock rings form around the vapor trail, Dretphi rides the gun's recoil backwards onto the floor, and Bach reflexively drops to the deck. The construct steadies from the impact and freezes. It stands motionless. The white energy dissipates into the air, and the green flows throughout its body stop. Dire wolf golem collapses into a heap of stone and metal pieces upon the middle of the central platform.

Dretphi stares upwards in pure astonishment and slowly sits up. Rolls her shoulder, she glances down at the red heat radiating off her gun's barrel and secures the holding strap onto her armor. Sebastian's ethereal form drifts cautiously up to the quiet remains of the golem. Hovering around the still pile, he releases a long, relieved sigh. "OKAY. I think it's fucking down for the count!"

Aristespha seats herself down, resting her back against a container fused to the platform floor, and tries to breath easy. Cideeda plops herself on a pile of debris and recollects her thoughts. Bach tilts his helmeted head against a metal panel and slowly calms himself. Sotalia stands triumphantly, grins proudly, and tosses her fiery orange, wavy hair back over her shoulders. "WOO! Now THAT was a fight... But..."

Motioning towards the cavern exit, she awkwardly smiles with a tilt of the head and sheepishly raises a hand up. "Gods... I think I'm just done for the day. Anyone else?"

Hands rise up from the rest of the team in complete, humored agreement. Sotalia exhales, steps out from behind a partially melted container, and nonchalantly walks over to Bach and Dretphi. She freezes mid step, snaps her head in wide-eyed terror at the golem pile, and screams out. "I-I FEEL S-SOMETHING! LOOK OUT-"

A sharp shrill screech pierces the cavern air, and a massive shock wave of green energy explodes out from underneath the former construct. The powerful tide bubbles out swiftly and launches parts in all directions. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi reflexively dive down behind nearby cover. In the mere moments available, Sotalia braces herself and her close magical barrier flashes visibly around her. The expanding field of force kicks her up into the air. Attempting to balance herself mid flight, a stone armor plate crashes into the thick barrier around her head and deflects off. The protective shell holds. Sotalia's dizzy expression fades to unconsciousness, and she limply tumbles high in the air... past the edge of the platform.

Tilting his head up, Bach watches Sotalia fall from the apex of her arc. Widening his panicked eyes, a brilliant blue glow flashes out. He throws his hands forward, and a maelstrom of magical flow swirls along his arms. Woven strands of blue and green launch out from each palm, jet through the air, and latch onto Sotalia's shoulders. A weave of supportive fibers wrap a mesh harness around Sotalia's body. Sotalia falls out of view, and the magical cables drape over the platform edge. Bach clenches onto each cable and plants his feet.

The slack snaps tight, and the full force yanks Bach forward off his feet. Bach's helmeted head slams violently, visor first, against the reinforced metal plating of the floor. The lines drag him harshly across the rough rubble. His armor scrapes against the platform surface, and he bounces off piles of debris. Bach grinds to a halt, his upper body between the melted remains of two guardrail support posts and his arms hanging over the platform edge. Painfully grimacing, he focuses through the daze and gazes down through the crackled, golden barrier on his visor into the dark void below him. In his locked grip, two taut, several meter long cables support an unconscious, gently swinging Sotalia in a magically woven blue and green harness above the black abyss. Tension spikes in the quiet and Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sebastian snap to full awareness. Sebastian yells out in a panic. "BACH!? SOTALIA?! ARE YOU TWO OKAY?!"

Jetting over to his brother's side, fearfully gawking below. Joy erupts on Sebastian's face, and he hovers to peer into Bach's helmet. "Bro, you okay?!"

Bach stifles a cough and groans. "Yeah. I got her. The lines are stable. Just need a moment and to clear my head... And, I'll get her up."

Sebastian energetically waves everyone else over and nods to Bach. "Hang in there, bro. EVERYONE, GET OVER HERE-"

A cacophony of metal stress resonates throughout the entire platform and the structure beneath. A second of abrupt silence shatters into rumbling cracks of rocks around an anchor point and twisting whines of support structure collapsing. The entire central platform sharply pitches. Cideeda briefly slides and reflexively sinks her claws into floor plating gaps. Aristespha scrambles for a grip, dodging flaming remnants of wood crates. Dretphi bounds over, snatches up Aristespha, and clamps onto a section of intact guardrail. Bach drops over the edge to Sebastian's absolute horror.

The wind rushes around Bach. The pit walls blend into the darkness below and contrast only with the blue and green cables leading to Sotalia. Terror rattles thoughts and panicked chaos freezes Bach in the moment. The edges of the pit rise higher, and Bach stares distantly stunned. Cutting through the fearful deadlock, a familiar spark ignites a torrent in the back of mind and impulses. A wave of determination overwhelms Bach. Gritting his teeth, his eyes flash bright blue, and he clamps onto the magical cables in his hands. The lines snap taut, and a flurry of retracting magical flow reels Sotalia swiftly into Bach's arms. Securing Sotalia with his arms under her shoulders in a tight hug, Bach focuses within. Moments later, Bach and Sotalia's descent slows to a standstill. Lifting his head up, Bach opens his bright blue eyes and flashes a brave grin. The two ascend upwards and swiftly gain altitude. Sebastian spots his brother's eyes distantly below and cheers down. "YES! HOLY SHIT! THAT'S IT, BRO! KEEP IT UP! Aristespha will be there as soon as we get Dretphi and Cideeda on the bridge off this thing!"

Blasting his way up with Sotalia in his arms, Bach continues to gain altitude. The rate of ascent... slows. Bach pants and the speed sharply decreases. Progress stops, and Bach strains painfully to maintain flight. The glow in his eyes dims gradually, and he sinks slightly down every second. Glancing at the unconscious Sotalia, he shakes her around. "WAKE UP! Gods dammit, Sotalia! WAKE THE FUCK UP! I can't maintain enough lift for both of us! Come on..."

He gazes pleadingly. "Wake up, cast a spell... Please wake up..."

Sebastian stares with grave concern, realizing the grim situation forming below him. "BACH! HOLD ON!"

The air rises up around Bach, the illumination in his eyes dims further, and the descent into the black pit speeds up. Desperation overtakes Bach. He stares into Sotalia's face... And winces with tears in his eyes. "Gods... Dammit..."

Bach frowns, cringes, and cries out. "No..."

Drawing a deep breath in, he renews his embrace of Sotalia and closes his eyes firmly. Gritting his teeth, pain radiates through the entirety of his body, and he reopens his blue eyes resolutely. Within the dimming blue glows in his eyes, pinpoints of white flash out. A wave of white magical energy spirals into jets of downwards flow over him. The embedded crystals in the cavernous ceiling flicker brightly with flashes of light deep down in the unending pit, faint sparkles of mineral light emerging from the darkness. Distant repetitious, mechanical clicks echo out into the chamber. Electrical lighting dims out along the perimeter. Sebastian's visage warps and distorts.

"PREVIOUS. FLOW. DETECTED."

Bach stops mid air and firmly holds position. Faint swirling white flows shape beneath him, and he ascends up with Sotalia in his arms. Seconds later, Sotalia stirs, blinking and groggily searching around. Her golden eyes spring wide open, her awareness returning. The dark abyss below spooks her, and she reflexively wraps her arms tightly around Bach. Shivering uncomfortably, she glances at the energy flows near her, and realizes Bach's hold of her. Turning her head around, she peers into Bach's helmet, and notices the distant, strained determination on his face. Bach breathes cautiously, shakily, and trickles of fear crack his resolve. Sotalia summons a calming tone in contrast to the overwhelming concern on her light tan face. "Hey... How are you doing, Bach?"

Barely managing an audible response through strained breaths, Bach visibly twinges. Sotalia stretches her arms out, gestures out a spell, and carefully speaks an incantation. Flows of magic support her body in flight, and she gently eases out from Bach's grasp. "It's okay. I'm okay. Don't worry."

Bach manages an unsteady nod and sways, the flows of energy thinning. Swiftly slipping her arms under Bach's shoulders, Sotalia tightly squeezes him close. She gently speaks into the ear vent of his helmet. "It's okay. I got you."

With a loose arm wrap around Sotalia, Bach's eyes dim back to normal. He nearly collapses in her arms, keeping consciousness against obvious exhaustion. Sotalia hoists Bach up towards the safety of the connecting bridge. Flying up, Sotalia nestles her head upon Bach's shoulder against his helmeted head, tightens her embrace, and sniffs. "Thank you."

Bach weakly chuckles with a tired, happy tone. "You're welcome... Thank you, too..."

Sebastian zips next to Sotalia and directs her towards the bridge exit onto the perimeter. Aristespha flies over and supports Bach opposite of Sotalia, the two ferrying him to an awaiting Dretphi and Cideeda. The team reunites upon the perimeter walkway, Sotalia and Aristespha landing with Bach. Aristespha guides Bach down and steps over, removing her small backpack of medical supplies. Sotalia follows down to a seat next to Bach, wrapping an arm firmly around Bach's waist and her other hand tightly holding his upper arm. Sebastian keeps watch and stares suspiciously at the cavern exit and inspects other areas. Cideeda kneels down, gently claws Bach's arm for his attention, and undoes the straps to his helmet. "Hey, you okay under there?"

Cideeda pulls the helmet off, and Bach cracks a weak smile and lifts his head up. "Yeah... Just a bit... tired... right now..."

Dretphi drops to her knees, removes her helmet, and directs her nervous worry at both Sotalia and Bach. "O-Okay?"

Sotalia gazes with her golden pupil and almost black sclera eyes at Dretphi, nods uncertainly, and contorts her face, hiding forming tears. Dretphi's stare softens, and she wraps her arms around both Sotalia and Bach. Tearful sniffs sound out from Sotalia, and Dretphi gently rubs her on the back comfortingly. Bach softly snores.

-52-

The humvee rolls into a spot upon the worn pavement of an old service station parking lot. The noon sun above heats up the rooftop solar panels of the main building in the middle of encircling fuel pump awnings. A faint breeze hardly moves even a few blades of grass in the empty fields near the lone stop along the long highway. The vehicle stops, the powerplant inside the humvee spins down, and a door opens. Hopping out, Sotalia dashes in a rigid jog around the side of the main structure and swiftly pushes through the front glass storefront doors. Cideeda calmly exits the cab, shaking her head of short, multicolored hair with a roll of the emerald green eyes, and shrugs, casually walking to the entrance. Aristespha steps out of the vehicle, slides her seat up, and clears the way for Dretphi to climb out. Nodding appreciatively, Dretphi catches up to Cideeda at the store doors. Aristespha slides her seat back and curiously observes Bach.

Silently staring out the window to the scenic fields and trees around, Bach sighs softly, maintaining an inner distance from the world around him. Aristespha steps up into the humvee, sits down in her seat, and stares inquisitively at Bach. "So... What is on your mind, Bach?"

Bach blinks a few times out of the stupor, turns his head slightly towards Aristespha, and awkwardly stumbles upon his words. "Uh... Well... I mean... Nothing really. Just enjoying the scenery, I guess?"

Aristespha lifts an unconvinced eyebrow, seeking further explanation with her focused stare. Sebastian's ghostly form appears in the aisle between Aristespha and Bach and levels a questioning glance towards Bach. "Oh, bullshit, bro. You've been spacing out the whole ride back since this morning. Something heavy is sitting on your brain."

He furrows his brow and tilts his head to the side. "What is it?"

Briefly squirming in his seat, Bach hesitantly gazes over towards Sebastian and Aristespha. "I... I don't know. It's well... I... I've just been thinking about yesterday. And, really thinking about... Well..."

He draws in a long breath, pauses in thought, and exhales slowly. "What am I?"

Sebastian cocks his head puzzled and blinks out his confusion. "Okay? Um. In what context are we asking THAT question?"

Bach crosses his arms uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders, and hisses in a nervous breath in. "Well, in the context of me using elder energy from whatever source it comes from for me. Yeah, so, uh, last I checked, people who tend to use that type of magic haven't been viewed favorably for a really long time. Vilified, even."

Glancing away briefly, he mutters to himself. "Especially if the puppet shows are to be believed."

Sebastian smiles proudly with a comforting voice. "Listen. You saved the life of our friend. I SAW you struggle and try your fucking damnedest to do everything else possible. You HAD no other option and did what you felt was the right thing to do. I don't think anyone will fault you for that."

He glances over to Aristespha and back to Bach. "I'm pretty sure anyone in that same situation would have done the same thing, bro."

Bach grimaces uneasily and averts his eyes away, examining his thoughts between flicks. "Yeah. I mean... I know I made the right choice and all."

Unfolding his arms, he grits his teeth, and sways his head, raking both hands through his head of longer, brown hair. "But... Gods... I still worry what thinking THAT WAY could eventually lead to. I mean, think about, how many Dark Lords before were honestly justified in what they did initially? And... How many still felt fully justified when they went off the deep end? And totally never knew how far they had gone?"

Sebastian ethereal blue eyes widen in concerned shock. Sliding around to face Bach from the center console, he cranes his head around and makes eye contact with his brother. "You are NOT a Dark Lord. DO NOT put THAT on yourself."

Reaching her arm out, Aristespha firmly grips onto Bach's shoulder and stares sternly compassionate into his worried blue eyes. "You have to understand that term is not some kind of official classification. It is a term that was born out of fear and the desires for manipulation of the masses. Ultimately, it is nothing more than convenient branding that ignorant masses use and the media and governments encourage."

Bach lowers his head and contorts his grimace, mumbling loudly. "Even so... It seems to have been really appropriate a bunch of times in the past."

Sighing long, Aristespha's violet gaze softens, a gentle tone coloring her voice. "Bach. Just because you have access to Elder energy does not make you some kind of Dark Lord. Or even destined to become one."

With a sincere smile, Sebastian nods in agreement and angles his head to meet his brother's eyes. "Yeah. And, if I have the score right, you've annihilated two Nightmare Geists and saved Sotalia's life with that power. I think you are far from any infamous Dark Lords at this point, bro."

Lifting his head up, Bach musters a halfhearted smile and sighs out his reserved acceptance. "Yeah... I'd like to think that, too."

He stares poignantly at the sword at Aristespha's side, fighting back the hints of dread bubbling out onto his face. "I don't know. In a weird way... Gods... It seemed a lot easier and safer for everyone to just live my life as some kind of lame mage. If I don't use that energy... I can't become something that would require..."

Wincing, he stammers with his inhale. "A special sword to take down."

Aristespha and Sebastian trace the path of Bach's stare upon the sword. Sebastian briefly frowns, and Aristespha pats her hand on Bach's shoulder, calmly explaining. "There has been no properly done research that has shown that Elder Energy has any effect on the minds of its users. In fact many at the Grand Library believe most of the infamous Dark Lords had serious prior issues well before they came into their power."

Sebastian grins reassuringly at Bach and nods with Aristespha's statement. "Exactly! You have the power, and you avoid using it as much as possible. That sets you apart from a lot of people."

Bach summons up a full smile towards his brother and shrugs his shoulders. "I guess. But, as much as I'd like to not use it at all..."

Rocking his head between his shoulders, he twists a grimace. "It might be best to get some idea of what exactly I have. I mean, if only just to not accidentally fuck things up. "

Aristespha leans an analyzing gaze towards Bach and confidently smirks. "I most certainly can help you with that. If you want. The Grand Library has done plenty of research in related fields of study, and I may be able to contact an expert or two, discreetly. I promise we will take it slow and careful."

Drawing in a long breath, Bach exhales out his nerves, relaxes into his seat, and nods appreciatively at Aristespha. "Yeah. That sounds pretty good. Maybe in a few weeks? Gods. Still a little shaken up right now to focus on something like that."

With a final few pats, Aristespha smiles kindly and glances over to the store corner. "Of course. I do think we all need a rest before anything else."

She watches Sotalia round the corner of the building with a large coffee cup in one hand and collection of sweeteners, creamer cups, and seasoning packets in the other. Sliding down off her seat onto the pavement near the humvee, Aristespha places her hands on her hips. "Well. I think I might need something to drink anyway. Do you want anything, Bach?"

Bach thinks for a moment, visibly searching his desires. "Um. Yeah. I guess a milk tea-"

Patting his stomach, he winces consciously of his figure. "Uh, the unsweetened kind."

Sebastian glances over, perks his brow, and rolls his eyes. "Oh, live a little, bro. You've been doing damn good about getting in shape anyway."

Sebastian fades back towards the sword, and Bach sighs playfully with a tinge of sarcasm. "Okay, the regular kind. Live a little dangerously today."

Laughing, Aristespha nods and walks towards the storefront entrance. She pauses after an off step, wiggles her leather booted foot around on the pavement, and mutters Evuukian curses under breath, adjusting her pace. Bach leans his head side to side, stretches his body out in the seat, and works the stiffness in his neck. The front passenger door opens, and Sotalia places her large cup of coffee in a center console drink holder. Dumping an assortment of extras in the beverage, she glances over to Bach flexing the tension out of his shoulders and smirks. "Maybe you should walk around and move, instead of sitting motionless staring out the window for hours?"

Rolling his eyes at himself, Bach reaches for his door handle. "Yeah... Probably not a bad idea."

He carefully steps down from the humvee, walks out, and places his hands on his lower back. With a slow, careful motion, he leans backwards and stretches his spine, brief grimaces appearing on his face. Bach stares out into the tree filled perimeter around a grassy field. Sotalia steps up to his side and gazes over. "So. How are you doing?"

Bach blinks back to awareness, meets Sotalia's golden eyes and darkened sclera, and attempts to nonchalantly shrug. "Well, I'm still pretty sore and got bruises all over. But, I'm okay enough at the moment."

With an amused smirk, Sotalia gradually nods and lifts a curious eyebrow. "Hey, question. How much do you remember after I woke up?"

Furrowing his brow, Bach sorts through his thoughts and twists his mouth. "Ah, well, I guess, most of it. I think? Why?"

A genuine, gentle smile graces Sotalia, and her gaze softens, brushing back her fiery orange, wavy hair over her black swept-back horns. "I just wanted to make sure you heard me on our way back up. I know you risked a lot to save me. From what I saw and... felt."

Shyly averting his eyes from her attention, Bach chuckles awkwardly and scratches the back of his head. "Ah, well, it was nothing, really."

He cringes briefly and groans at himself. "Oh gods. I can't believe I just said that."

With a giggle escaping, Sotalia shakes her head slowly. "Oh. Don't worry. You'll say plenty worse ones, soon enough."

She sidesteps in front of Bach and concentrates her gaze upon him. "I can only imagine what a monumental pain in the ass it was to save me, from everything Sebastian told me..."

Moments of silence fill the air between the two. Sotalia reaches her arms out, slips them underneath Bach's, and leads him into a hug. Leaning down, Bach wraps his arms around Sotalia in return. Sotalia nestles her head upon Bach's shoulder, presses her horned head close to his, and squeezes him. Bach smiles with a happy sigh. Sotalia angles her head and directs a gentle, grateful whisper into Bach's ear. "Thank you again..."

She tightens her embrace. "For being my hero."

In stunned silence, Bach blue eyes widen and fight vainly against the welling of tears. Sotalia feels Bach's attempts to stifle his sniffles, quietly closes her watery eyes, and softly rubs his back comfortingly.

----

Ambient dusk light illuminates the clearing under a reddening evening sky. Within the confines of a large encampment, Chrome Crusader personnel and Next Adventurers of Nexus crew mingle between tables of festive, rustic cuisine. Samantha directs Gerald's camera aim in between bites of a sandwich. Deedri converses with a gathering of medical team members. A bravado filled Chad and energetic Maxon exchange tales to the enjoyment of those around. Veevi attempts to garner some attention with her additions to diminishing returns. Between her antics, she sneaks peeks towards Deedri. Sitting quietly at the corner of a table, Trakenthin slowly scrolls through a familiar aethersite on his aetherphone and occasionally glances up, watching some change of surrounding activity. Modoran nonchalantly strolls through the area, casually spots a card game, and smoothly slips into an open spot at the table.

Next to a roughly fashioned entry point into the area, Tassilda casually sits upon a wooden perimeter fence with her legs crossed. She idly picks at the aged lumber with her long fingernails and sighs with a tinge of boredom, observing the festivities from a distance. Tossing back her raven black her over swirling horns, she settles her balance upon the timber beam and stretches her body slowly in her form accenting blouse and dress. A tall emin man steps up to her side behind the fence and speaks with a clear, calm voice. "My lady. Whatever are you doing all the way out here?"

Tilting her an ear towards Daedrican's voice, Tassilda's interest piques, and she smiles in delight. "Well. After all the excitement this week, I quite fancied a little peace and quiet."

Daedrican rests his dark gray hands upon the wooden fence rail and taps the lumber with his naturally long, thick black fingernails. "Oh. That I can certainly understand. It has been an interesting patrol, so far."

Sneaking a glance, Tassilda's light blue on black eyes follow Daedrican's strong arms to the rest of his physique. Quickly noticing the lack of armor, she distracts herself with his tight fitting shirt and athletic shorts. "Um. Yes. It certainly has been. I do hope our group hasn't proven too burdensome in your team's efforts."

She musters some semblance of composure and calmly aims her head towards the center of the encampment, her eyes attempting to study Daedrican out from the corners. Daedrican chuckles lightly and slowly shakes his head. "Not at all, my lady. You all seem quite capable, each in your own ways. But I must say, I am especially impressed with the skill you have demonstrated."

Blushing slightly, Tassilda attempts to discreetly work the color in her face back to normal. "Oh. You are ever so kind, Paladin."

Daedrican cracks a grin upon his face and scratches his masculine jawline. "Only Junior Paladin... Well, for now."

Resuming her stealthy analysis, Tassilda ponders and swaps the crossing of her legs. "I have to ask, do the Chrome Crusaders usually have end of mission parties like this?"

Distantly surveying the plates of food, gaming, and mingling, Daedrican shrugs his square shoulders. "Our division does at least. I can't rightly speak for any other division. Maxon implemented such events to keep morale up during long quests. It helps to relieve some stress before the return trek back."

Stretching his back out, Daedrican gazes down towards Tassilda with a pleasant smile. "While we certainly cleared out the path here, we still need to be on guard on the way back. We have had far rougher trips back before. So, a little break to release some tension is appreciated by everyone and allows everyone to focus afterwards. Give everyone a chance to breathe."

With a slight twist of her body, Tassilda slowly turns her head and faces Daedrican. She watches the distant lights reflect off his long, straight silver hair. A few locks slip over the cleanly cut bases of Daedrican's thick, black horns and drape down upon his pointed dark gray ears. A suggestive smile widens upon Tassilda, and her eyes trace the shape of his high cheekbones and square jaw. Below silver eyebrows upon a dark gray, evenly toned skin, she focuses her gaze into Daedrican's eyes.

His golden pupil and white sclera eyes.

Tassilda blanks abruptly into a distant stare. She blinks between moments of visible twitches, hinting the mental shock against the deviation of expectation. Daedrican curiously perks his eyebrow and tilts his head slightly to the side, allowing a few silver strands to slide upon his muscular chest. "Anything wrong, my lady?"

Tassilda's posture stiffens, and she directs her empty stare forward at the encampment rigidly. Seconds later, she startles back to awareness and response to Daedrican with a deadpan cadence. "Um. No. Nothing is wrong. I just realized that I am quite famished."

Nodding, Daedrican points over to a specific table with large pans of sliced meat and cooked vegetables. "Oh. Yes. If I might suggest, the venison the scouting team hunted a few days ago is delicious."

Nodding slowly, Tassilda coasts through a mix of emotions. Fighting brief twitches and a trend to grimace, she maintains her neutral composure. "That sounds lovely right now."

She slides awkwardly down off the wooden fence rail and walks uncomfortably to the festivities. "If you will pardon me. I would like to partake in the food... and... see what the rest of my party is doing. Um... Goodnight."

Tassilda continues to meander towards the center of the encampment. Daedrican crosses his arms and cocks his head, puzzling to himself. "Completely understand. Good night, my lady."

Pausing a moment at Daedrican's response, Tassilda awkwardly resumes her exit. Daedrican smirks with amusement and mutters to himself intrigued. "Interesting."

----

Heavy mats cover the entirety of the dining table surface. Carefully probing her claw tips through boxes of spare electronic parts, Cideeda inspects the splayed out components of her laser pistols upon a blue rubber pad. She grumbles in frustrated fvalian and plucks tiny pieces off a controller board into a nearby garbage can. Dretphi removes the barrel out of her submachine gun and shines a flashlight down the bore, inspecting its condition. Her steely gray eyes narrow in annoyance, and she groans a few choice words in grath. Placing the separated barrel down on a heavy cloth pad, she reaches a hand into a metal case filled with mechanical parts. With a wince, she pauses a moment, adjusts the cold pack wrapped around her shoulder, and gently flexes the joint.

Bach steps through the hallway archway into the median between the dining and living areas of the large room. Pausing for a long yawn, he shifts his focus over to the dining table with Cideeda and Dretphi sitting opposite to each other. He notices familiar weapons in pieces upon the table, approaches curiously, and presents a confident tone. "Well, so how did everything hold out?"

Cideeda lifts her head up, meets Dretphi's glance across the table, and smirks out of view of Bach. She sneaks a wink, and Dretphi lifts an amused brow. Both Cideeda and Dretphi slowly turn their heads in unison, sternly stare at Bach, and remain silent. A shallow wave of nervous anxiety washes over Bach. Examining the attention upon him carefully, Bach verbally stumbles with an uneasy tone. "Uh... Okay... So, I guess there were problems... Correct?"

Maintaining a serious tone, Cideeda picks up an electronically encased crystalline tube and holds it over to Bach. "You could say that."

Sitting down at the end of the table next to Dretphi and Cideeda, Bach takes the component from Cideeda and carefully inspects the device. He rolls the tube in his hands, studying a number of blackened spots in the crystal, melted power contacts, and discolorations on the electronic board. He grits his teeth, hints of embarrassment trickling into his voice. "Oh... Yeah... That doesn't look good, heh, at all."

Dretphi offers the barrel section from her submachine gun. Bach gives Cideeda back the crystalline part, grabs the metal part from Dretphi, and examines it. Seconds of searching the exterior for issues later, he eyes down the bore and puzzles at the interior. Thinking a moment, he furrows his brow confused and searches his mind, approaching his suspicions cautiously. "This looks... Too smooth. Shouldn't there be-"

Dretphi stares coldly. "Rifling."

Nodding slowly, Bach stiffly returns the piece to Dretphi. He bites his lip, sighs, and lowers his head, a bit ashamed. "Ah, shit. Sorry about that. It was an emergency situation and-"

He feels a familiar five claw points gently squeeze on his arm, and Cideeda meets his gaze with a toothy grin. "Oh, don't worry! We're just fucking with you. You got nothing to apologize for."

Dretphi lightly pats Bach's shoulder and warmly smiles at him. "No complaints."

With a hint of color in her cheeks, she momentarily averts her eyes. "It was exhilarating to fire."

Bach relaxes and snorts out laugh, shaking his head. "Damn. You had me going. But...

He glances around at the array of parts upon the tabletop. "It still looks like those parts are done for."

Flicking her long, fluffy tail, Cideeda nods quickly with a shrug of the shoulders. "Oh, gods, yeah. That laser tube is no better than a damned laser pointer at this rate. But, it's not the first time I've changed out a laser tube."

She rolls her emerald green eyes at herself, grumbling. "And, well, it won't be the last. But..."

Flashing a sly grin, she perks her furry ears. "This was the BEST use of a tube I've ever had."

Dretphi flips open the lid to a wooden, rectangular box and removes a fresh barrel in a cloth wrap. She unrolls the fabric, examines the replacement part, and smiles at Bach. "Ammunition for this gun is potent. Not gentle to barrels. They need to be changed. Periodically."

She eyes down at the old barrel, quirks her brow and twists the corner of her mouth. "Happened early on this barrel."

Shrugging her acceptance, she glances over to Bach and smiles. "A worthy sacrifice. Thank you for your help."

Bach drums his fingers on the table top in thought and puzzles over the non-functional parts. "Well. Back to the drawing board on those enchantments. I'll try to figure out something a little less destructive on the equipment they're put on."

Nodding in agreement, Cideeda locks replacement components into her laser pistols. Her emerald green eyes gaze prospectively to Bach, and a scheming smirk graces her light brown face. "Definitely work on those enchantments... But... I actually have something I'd like to look into more with your help, if you can."

Lifting his head up from closely watching Cideeda and Dretphi's projects on the table, he glances inquisitively at Cideeda. "Um, yeah, sure. I mean, what would that be?"

Cideeda grins toothily and her long tail brushes purposely along the top edges of a box filled with old tools, raw materials, and crystal infused metal and stone mechanical parts.

----

Sotalia searches through the laundry hamper on her bed with one hand, keeping the aetherphone on her ear with the another. She picks up a shirt, inspects it briefly, and tosses it into a pile of others. Pausing a moment, her focus shifts to the person on the other side of the conversation. She smiles and sighs out her relief. "The trip went... Okay. We got some really good information that we're sorting through right now. And, Aristespha is going to call up her contacts at the Grand Library and see what they can provide."

She waits a moment, listens to the response, and squirms uncomfortably a bit. "Well, yeah, it got a... little... hectic. And crazy. But, nothing we couldn't handle, of course."

Sorting through the contents of the clothes basket, she flips out a few undergarments into respective piles upon the bed and puzzles a moment, furrowing her brow. "Huh? Oh. Yes."

A gentle smile warms upon her light tan face, and she nods slowly, staring inside herself for a moment. "Yeah. He really came through for everyone... And, me."

Seconds of silence later, Sotalia's golden eyes spring wide open and surprise reddens her face. "Mother!? Really?! Gods! You know how I don't like to have conversations about THAT part of my life with you!"

Twinges of irritation distort Sotalia's demeanor, and she grits her teeth, rolling frustration across her shoulders. "THAT was different! It was just the two of us years ago. And, it was just a really nice fling that ended with us still being great friends today..."

She shifts the aetherphone against her pointed ear, straightening her posture. "Mother. Can we NOT have this conversation right now?"

Exhaling apologetically, she settles down to a smile with a calm tone. "Gods, I'm sorry. You know I love you. It has just been quite the week."

She flutters her golden eyes with a faint shudder. "And, gods, it's only Wednesday!"

A laugh escapes her, and she rolls her eyes in amusement. "OH! You've got to send me pictures and videos of that. That reminds me. If you talk to Maelvia and Talelia before I do, let them know I'm about to send another care package for the little ones."

Sotalia grins and stands up proudly with a chuckle. "Oh, you know Aunt Sotalia is not going to let them go without."

With a few nods, she shrugs nonchalantly and snorts with a smirk. "Don't worry. If father is in the shop, he can call me later. Otherwise, he'll just be absolutely distracted the five to ten minutes he manages to stay on the call. There's no use expecting a meaningful conversation from him when he's got a project waiting for him in the shop."

She hoists up the laundry hamper, dumps out a few pairs of yoga pants on to bed, and dons a happy smile, glancing at the aetherphone upon her ear. "I love you, too."

With a faint sigh, she nods slowly. "I'll take care. I promise... Bye."

The phone displays the end of call screen and flicks back to the home screen. Sotalia slides the device into the side pocket of her shorts and surveys the assortment of clothing upon her bedspread. Her gaze wanders, and she mulls over a starting point. Side stepping, she picks up her belt of pouches near the head of the bed. She flips open each pouch after another, inspecting the contents, and snaps the flap back shut. She halts, and her eyes narrow to the dim illumination radiating out of a particular pouch. Pinching onto an object inside, she removes a small, blue tinted crystal with a faint glow. She puzzles the artifact, her eyes flicks through recent memory, and a spark of recognition lights up her face. Her attention falls upon the small crystal, and she places her belt of pouches back down. Glancing around her room suspiciously and cautiously eyeing the doorway, she kneels down next to her bed and reaches a hand underneath.

With a bit of effort, she slides out a finely crafted wooden box, gestures a quick incantation, and lifts the lid open, a faint wave of magical miasma dissipating from the exterior. Inside the normal container, trinkets, baubles, and knickknacks of questionable magic potency fill the interior. A golden disc, a jar of golden fragments, a translucent green plate, a coil of magical cable, a stabilized energy spoon, a practice wand, and a neatly folded mesh of blue and green magical fibers contrast the other contents of the chest. Sotalia opens a pouch on her belt, retrieves a cleaning cloth, and wraps the dimly glowing crystal inside. She places the bundle inside the box and admires the collection.

Curiosity guides her attention towards the magical cable, and she inspects the length in her hands. Losing herself in the examination, she pulls it as hard as she can and observes the fluctuations in the stabilized flows. She ponders, furrowing her brow, and quietly contemplates. Her investigations subside and interest wanders over to the folded mesh.

She lifts up and unfolds out the blue and green weave of fibers, a rough garment matching her figure closely. Comparing the diameters of the pair of cut magical cables at the shoulders, she rotates the magical mesh and holds it next to and over her body. A sensually amused smirk creeps from the corner of her mouth. Awareness of her surrounding sparks with a hard blink, and she quickly glances around her room, a hint of pink in her cheeks. Folding the magical mesh neatly back into the chest, she closes the lid, casts a quick spell, and slides the container back under the bed. Fighting an awkward smile, she stands back up and resumes sorting her laundry.

----

Trakenthin's tall, muscular frame walks past the border of the forest clearing and into the middle of a small circle of tents. Kneeling down, he unloads the bundle of firewood out of his arms and starts arranging the small logs within a makeshift fire pit. Towards the edge of the site, Samantha stands next to Gerald and waves her hand across the area. "Okay. I want you to get a good shot of the camp setup, and, then, see if you can get a few bits of what everyone else is doing."

Gerald resettles the camera on his shoulder and nods, adjusting the lenses. "Sounds good to me. It's been pretty uneventful after that last bandit encounter. Don't know if there will be anything worthwhile."

Examining the ongoing call status on her phone, Samantha shrugs her shoulders and snorts, mildly disappointed. "I KNOW. Still, we could use some filler footage between the main segments. But... I really do hope good things are coming..."

With a flick of activity on her aetherphone screen, she glances down. "Any good news, Howie?"

A voice sounds out from the phone speaker, and Howie ponders out loud with plotting cadence. "Yes. Actually. I have a few options for interesting missions for our adventurers to go on. I'll send over the quest descriptions. I'd also like to get some input from the crews on those."

A sly smile widens on Samantha, and a happy tinge lightens her tone. "Oh, I can't wait. I think the crews wouldn't mind a little bit of action. Or... At least, something entertaining to film."

With a long roll of his dark brown eyes, Gerald groans and shakes his head of short, dark blonde hair. "Well, let's not get too crazy here. I think there's some beauty to the simple and boring. Also, I'd prefer anything I can record from a distance. I do have telephoto lenses, for a reason."

Howard chuckles, dripping with dry amusement. "Oh, why Gerald! I've always thought your best work came from some of your most daring moments."

Gritting his teeth with an upper lip sneer, Gerald loudly grumbles and aims his camera towards Tassilda and Veevi. "Just because it DOES, doesn't mean it SHOULD."

A sigh of faux disappointment resonates from Samantha's aetherphone, and Howard relays his understanding. "True. Very true. That's why I want everyone to review the possible missions and figure out what you all are up for recording. Regardless, I think we can spin anything from those for an episode or two. I'm certain all of you will find those PERFECT moments for me."

Samantha's hazel eyes flash with a sinister glint, a dark giggle slipping out from her. "Oh, you know us too well, Howie."

Howard hums to himself, the sounds of paperwork and keyboard clacks echoing out from the other side of the teleconference. "Oh, I DO. One more thing before I go... I might have a surprise for Trakenthin. Well, once my inside sources confirm all the difficult little details. It's proven a bit hard due to certain complexities of grath houses."

Both Samantha and Gerald gaze at the aetherphone, exchanging curious glances between each other.

In an open area next to the campsite, Tassilda groans loudly while crossing her arms, berating Veevi in a harsh lecture. "You CAN'T cast that spell yet! How do you expect to summon up destructive energies without knowing the basics of proper insulation and protective spell elements?!"

Tossing back her pink hair defiantly, Veevi grips her hips into an obstinate pose and petulantly pouts. "Oh. My. Gods! You keep making this whole magic thing hard! Practice THIS. Practice THAT! And, there's NOTHING that's related to the FUN spells!"

Tassilda narrows her light blue on black eyes at Veevi, sneers her upper lip, and commands. "Once you can DEMONSTRATE a basic flow barrier, you will be taught a safe practice spell befitting of your ability. Until then, you practice strictly what I have shown you!"

Veevi grits her teeth, revealing her pointy canines, holds hands out close together, and curls her sharp nailed fingers around a center point. "Once I demonstrate MY ability, HUH?! Let me show YOU what I can DO!"

Tassilda hoists up a dismissive eyebrow and scrutinizes the faint thread thin flows of energy streaming down Veevi's arms and condensing in between her hands. Her eyes open wide, and she raises a finger at Veevi with an assertive, demanding tone. "STOP. RIGHT. NOW! You are going to hurt yourself trying to cast something like that!"

A rebellious grin spreads on Veevi, and she strains, flowing more into the red-orange centimeter wide sphere of energy in between her palms. Tassilda steps forward, reaching her hands out. The miniature ball shakes and quivers. A brilliant flash of orange illuminates the area, and a bubble of fire billows out from the space between Veevi's hands, dissipating quickly into the air. Stopping in place, Tassilda awaits Veevi's reaction with obvious concern. Trakenthin snaps his head up from building the campfire, searching around confused with a furrowed brow. Stirring in his Flames of the Phoenix branded tent, Chad mutters loudly. "The fuck was THAT?!"

Veevi remains still, only managing to blink her pink pupil eyes. Slowly lowering her stare at her hands, she carefully rotates her palms fully into view. Noticing the reddening skin, her awareness of the fresh pain piques. "... ... Ow ow owowow!!"

Vigorously animated, she cringes, squirms, and whines, tearing up. Her puffed out tail flails in a clueless panic. Attempting to seize Veevi in place, Tassilda barely directs Veevi towards Chad, emerging from his tent. Chad snaps a glance to the frantic Veevi and levels an accusatory glare at Tassilda. "What the hell happened?!"

Turning her nose up, Tassilda firmly places her hands at her hips and growls back. "OH? You should ask HER what she did to HERSELF!"

Groaning in frustration, Chad pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs out his irritation. "Gods dammit. Not now. First things first..."

He searches the immediate vicinity, quickly pulls his aetherphone out, and taps in a few commands, keying up the radio. "Deedri?"

Veevi freezes mid panic, and her posture stiffens. Deedri's voice crackles over the phone. "Yes! What happened? I think I heard Veevi crying?"

Chad rolls his eyes and nods. "Yes. That was her. Something happened when she was practicing magic. Could you come over, please? I think she burned her hands."

Deedri replies immediately. "I'm on my way! I'm not far!"

Worry infiltrates Veevi, and she dons a teeth gritting grin. "U-u-u-uh, I'll be okay. Yeah, um. I just need to wrap them up for a little while. I'll be fine... Really!"

Puzzling at the sudden attitude change, Chad places a hand upon Veevi's shoulder and leads her towards an empty camping chair nearby. "Deedri will be the judge of that. Just sit for now, and calm down."

Rushing out from forest brush, Deedri scans the area. Trakenthin catches her glance and immediately points out Veevi in the chair. In a single fluid motion, Deedri tosses off her apron filled with freshly picked herbs, snatches up the large first aid kit next to her tent, and dashes over to Chad, Tassilda, and Veevi. With a calm, neutral demeanor, Deedri stares directly at Veevi, systematically analyzing her condition. Her full attention locks onto Veevi's hands, and her auburn eyes illuminate. "Mild first degree burns from a magical source. From between the hands, I guess. Okay."

Deedri kneels down in front of Veevi and opens up the first aid kit, beginning treatment. Chad pats Veevi's shoulder and glances down to Deedri appreciatively. "Thank you, Deedri."

Granting a quick nod, Deedri resumes her task. Chad motions Tassilda over and away, towards the black sports utility vehicle nearby. Midway through the walk, he glances over with an annoyed sigh. "Okay. What exactly happened?"

Veevi remains still, cooperative, and quiet through the treatment. Averting her eyes away, she suppresses her reflexive flinches. Deedri cleans the burns, applies an ointment, and casts a spell. On both of Veevi's hands, she places hers around, and flows of magical energy radiate into the wounds. Veevi's discomfort gradually subsides, no longer wincing with every motion of her fingers. Minutes later, Deedri finishes wrapping up Veevi's hands with a thin protective bandage. "Well, good news. You were lucky. The application should keep the swelling down, help heal any damaged tissue, and keep the pain dulled. I'll need to do another treatment to help facilitate healing, but that will be before you go to bed tonight."

Veevi respectfully nods and meekly replies. "Yes, I understand. Um, thank you. And... Uh..."

Pausing a moment, Deedri inquisitively stares at Veevi. A few failed attempts to start the sentence later, Veevi glances swiftly around and quietly apologizes with an authentic, sincere tone. "I just wanted to say... I'm really sorry for how I... treated you before."

Deedri blinks blankly, bewildered. Regaining her composure, she gathers up enough of her thoughts into a response. "Well. Yes. I will accept your apology. But... I'd suggest you treat people with a bit more respect in the future, too."

Veevi's pink pupil eyes wander into her thoughts. Moments of introspection play blatantly out upon her face, and she nods with a genuine smile to Deedri. Deedri stands back up. Veevi hops back up, bows respectfully to Deedri, and walks over to Chad and Tassilda. Stepping closer to the discussion between the two, Veevi dons a smug smirk, summoning up her typical prideful demeanor, and assumes an assertive posture. She quickly slips next to Chad, sparking the debate into a bigger argument.

Staring in utter confusion, Deedri slowly scans around the area. She halts her gaze upon Modoran leaning against a tree close by. Cocking her head to the side, she droops her furry ears and contorts her perplexed stare at him. "Did you... Um, see that?"

Modoran nods slowly, shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to the side, and grimaces uncertainly. "Yes. And, gods, I wish I knew what to make of it."

Deedri sighs, shaking her head, and kneels down, reassembling her kit. Modoran steps on over, squats down next to her, and offers to assist. Trakenthin rolls his hazel eyes away from the fresh squabble and focuses upon lighting a campfire.

----

Dim evening light sneaks through the closed window horizontal blinds of a nicely decorated inn room. Finely crafted wooden details encompass the lodging with a well made bed, table, chairs, and other furniture. Isaac sorts through a number of drying pictures on folded towels upon the bed. Examining one photograph of himself, he closely inspects the prismatic aura with intermixed streaks of white threading through. Scanning over another collection of images, he pauses and focuses upon each photograph. He studies weathered golem parts in a courtyard, heavy manufacturing equipment in a large dark area, debris surrounding a ransacked building, the massive central platform structure over a deep pit, and colorful speckles of twilight covering a tall cavern ceiling. Faint, hazy hues of color cloud surround objects in the pictures, barely standing out from the rest of the scenery.

Isaac lifts up his picture and holds it next to another row of photographs, analyzing them attentively. Examining individual, distantly magnified pictures of Aristespha, Dretphi, and Sotalia, he pauses thoughtfully and focuses upon Cideeda's image. Moving Cideeda's photo above Sotalia's, he closely inspects the similar prismatic auras evident along with Aristespha and Dretphi. "Fascinating... That makes sense now... But, before she never..."

Glancing to an image of Sebastian and his muted aura, he stares at the picture of Bach with a prismatic aura indiscernible from the others. He tilts his head to the side, puzzling out his dissatisfaction, and grumbles quietly. Tapping upon a photograph of the dire wolf golem, he traces his finger along the green aura with specks white. A series of electronic chirps chime out from a wristwatch on the table, and he turns around to turn off the alarm. Upon the table top, a dark red, translucent field boxes in a series of trays, alchemical containers, magically enhanced photography equipment, and rolls of film. Isaac reaches his hand into the magical area, grasps a pair of tongs, and fishes out a blank piece of slick paper from the first tray of fluid. With great care, he lowers the sheet into a middle tub, settling the material into an alchemical bath. He carefully watches the sheet soak in the solution. A knock sounds out from the door, and a man's voice amicably calls from the other side. "Hope I'm not bothering you Mr. Huxley, but dinner is about ready. The wife cooked something special for all of us tonight. She's definitely bribing you for more of your stories."

Startling momentarily, Isaac regains a happy demeanor and raises his delighted tone. "Oh. I will most certainly be down in a few more minutes, Goff. I just need to finish up with the last part of a research task."

From the other side of the door, Goff chuckles. "Understand. The wife was curious if there's any photos you could show us. I told her I'd ask you, Mr. Huxley. But, I know academic research is serious business, so I understand if you can't."

Thinking a moment, Isaac surveys the photographs out on the bed, sets aside the images of scenery, and glances over to an unsealed, addressed envelope. He smiles kindly and directs his voice back towards the door. "I most certainly have a number I can share. And, I would love to take a few photographs while I'm here, too."

An appreciative laugh sounds out from Goff. "Not a problem. A little advertising wouldn't hurt, even if it's just academic. Thank you, Mr. Huxley."

Isaac rolls his gray eyes with an amused smirk and shakes his head. "You may call me Isaac, Goff. Do not let the white hair fool you, I'm not THAT old."

Goff's humored tone grows audibly distant. "Sounds good, Isaac. Come on down when you are ready."

Goff's footsteps disappear into the background din of the inn. Isaac smiles and chuckles quietly to himself. Turning his attention towards the middle tray, his gray eyes spring wide open. He squints through the dark red magical field and futilely searches out the details of the developing picture. Impatience manifests into eager fidgets. He grasps the tongs, hovers the tool in wait above the alchemical bath, and eyes the digits of the countdown running on the wristwatch. After muttering a tense count, he lifts up the image covered sheet and transfers it over to the final tray, settling it into the mix. Quickly gesturing out an incantation, Isaac holds his hand over the solution and releases flows of energy into the bath. The paper briefly glows, the fluid bubbles faintly, and the picture stops changing.

Isaac resets the wristwatch and focuses his full attention to the new image of Bach flying upwards with an unconscious Sotalia in his arms. His eyes search through the discoloring haze of the dark red magical field, and he grits his teeth in anxious anticipation. The minutes creep slowly by, and Isaac tightly grips the tabletop in between impatient taps of his feet and glances to the counting down digits of the wristwatch. A chime rings out, the tongs gently lift up the picture, and Isaac quickly summons a flow of magic. With a quick motion, he swipes his energized hand over the paper, repelling the solution back into the tray, and removes the excess liquid off the sheet. Without sparing another moment, Isaac retrieves his picture from the bed, removes the fresh photograph from the dark red containment field, and grins expectantly, comparing the two.

His face blanks. His eyes widen. His jaw drops. Blinking in sheer bewilderment, he tilts his head in astonishment. Putting both pictures into the grip of one hand, he traces a finger along Bach's aura. The image of Isaac showcases a prismatic aura with threads of white weaving into the flows. The photograph of Bach and Sotalia shows a typical prismatic aura around Sotalia. The picture reveals the faint prismatic outer shell of Bach's aura and the bright pure white the inner aura radiating out from him. Isaac remains speechless, wandering over to a seat on a nearby chair. Squinting, his mind scrambles to some kind of understanding. He recollects his composure, draws a deep breath in, and sighs out his expectations.

Staring at the photo of Bach, he calms down and musters up a mood swirling with wonder, confusion, and eagerness. "HOW?"

Timeline

March 3017

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April 3017

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May 3017

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Episode 39

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Episode 52