Quest+in+RithundunXanibya

Tmavy sat in the dark room the only light being from the gate. Suddenly, a bright light emerged from the gate and a pale looking man walked out. This man was Nick. Nick glanced over to Tmavy and watched him struggle to stand up.

“Oh, your the man I’m looking for,” Nick laughed, casting a ball of wind that closed around Tmavy, locking him in an air bubble. Just as Nick stepped off the stairs Rielan, Veronika, and Muirun.

“Look what I found,” Nick smiled, “A man in a bubble."

“I left him here after he attack me,” Rielan spoke. He glared at Nick, feeling that his humor was not appropriate for the time.

“There is no need for you two to be fighting right now,” Veronika yelled, “After we finish our mission you two can have at each other, but not a moment before.”

“Well, maybe he shouldn’t make jokes.”

“Maybe he should learn to take a joke.”

“Stop, both of you, we need to stop this war, not __start__ a new one."

“Fine, but how are we even going to start? We can't be in two places at once!” Nick asked.

“We can spilt up,” Rielan said, directing it right at Nick.

“I’m not going to be with him.”

“He can come with me and you can bring Muirun, Nick."

Muirin, who had seemed to forget where she was, looked up. "I prefer to __work__ alone," she said.

"Fine," said Rielan and Nick in unison. They then glared at each other, deeply annoyed that they had anything in common. Muirin chuckled to herself for a moment. They reminded her of her brothers when they got into their little spats. But thinking of her brothers made her sick, and she hoped they were okay. Her thoughts were interrupted by Veronika's high voice.

“So how are we supposed to get out of here then?” demanded Veronika.

“Well since, Nick has the __power of wind__, couldn’t he just fly us out?” Rielan laughed at Nick. “See? I can take a joke.”

Nick whispered something to himself, and then motioned for everyone to come together.

“Everyone put your hands on my shoulders,” Nick said, urgently. Noting his serious tone, everyone, even Rielan quietly obeyed. The three came over to Nick and tentatively put their hands on his shoulders, unsure of what he was trying to do. They waited a few moments, as Nick looked at the ground in concentration. Muirin was about to open her mouth to ask what exactly was going on when suddenly, they were jerked, violently. The stone walls began disappearing and they flipped through the air. Then, almost as quickly as they had been lifted away, they were on the ground again. Rielan, Veronika, and Muirin, not used to this form of __travel__, came crashing to the ground. Nick, more used to this sort of travel landed with ease. With a nod at each other, they split three ways, agreeing silently to meet here again when they were finished.

Rielan and Veronika began their journey to castle. A tension between them was apparent, and for a great deal of time, they walked without saying a word. Finally, Rielan broke the silence.

“Before we get in there, I feel I must let you know that I’m not really liked in Kralovstvi. My uncle is the ruler and his men find me, and ... well, I not sure I’d be leaving alive,” Rielan spoke.

“Well then,” Veronika started, taken aback, and then paused, “Maybe we could sneak you into the Castle?”

“How? There are guards on every wall looking for me to come.”

“They all want you dead?"

“My uncle wants me dead.”

“Maybe I could distract the guards in some way, cause them to leave the walls and you can sneak in.”

“Well how do you suppose we do that?”

“I'll start a fire,” Veronika smiled.

Veronika walked around the front of the castle, trying not to attract attention to herself. Noticing the way was clear, she threw a fire ball about 50 ft. away. It hit the ground with a burst of flame, sending the people running and screaming. It took the distracted guards a few minutes to notice the fire. When they did notice, they ran out of the castle to put out the fire. What they did not realize was that in that amount of time, Rielan was sneaking unnoticed into the castle. A subject pointed at Veronika, rightly accusing her of being the source of the fire. They chased after her, in an attempt to get her off the land. But Veronika was too fast for them, and they quickly lost her. As they looked for her, she had enough time to sneak into the castle where Rielan was. Spying a broken wooden ladder, Veronika quickly ascended into the castle, managing not to be spotted.

Meanwhile, Rielan watched the smoke rise above the buildings. The guards on the wall infront of him turn and run towards the fire yelling curse words. Veronika had done it.

Now was his chance.

He walked over and ran his hands over the castle wall feeling for bumps he could use to climb over. In the corner, he spotted a broken ladder. It seems that he was not the first person to try to get over. Seeing this made him apprehensive, and he felt almost certain that the guards may have also noticed, and be there to guard the entry. He made his way up the broke ladder, being careful not to put all of his weight at the top. Once at the top he peeked over to see who was guarding. One soldier with his back turned. He looked young and weak. This would not be a problem for Rielan to get by him.

Suddenly the ladder gave way and Rielan fell off the ladder backwards and once again smacking hard on the ground. Rielan shook his head and try to stand up. A pain raced into his back causing him to fall back on the ground. He had to make it over that wall. He stood back up trying to ignore the pain in his back. He pulled out two of his knifes and stuck them the soft wall, which had probably been damp for years because of the weather. He pulled him self up, slowly scaling the wall.

The young guard remained unaware as Rielan finally pulled himself over the top. Rielan took a deep breath, spun one of his knife in his hands, and threw it into the guard's back dropping him to the ground. Over Rielan was a window into the castle which he knew would be guarded more heavily than the ladder. He stepped back and jumped onto the wall pulling himself onto the window. He opened the glass picture and moved into the open room. To his surprise, there was no one to be seen.

He jumped down onto the cold floor making a loud thud. He pulled out a knife and looked cautiously around to see if anyone had seen him. He saw the throne room door, but was surprised by the lack of guards. Maybe Veronika had done a better job then he thought. He walked right up to the throne room entrance. The golden door was cold on Rielans face when he pressed against it. He kicked open the door, but he was met with a large hammer. It struck him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. A man in a black cloak walked suddenly towards him. With his head ringing with pain, Rielan struggled to determine who the figure was, but not for long. Rielan realized that he knew that figure, and knew it well.

After all, it was his uncle.

Veronika knew what to do. Swinging her arm around, she conjured a smoldering rope out of thin air. She whipped the rope up to the window and the flames wrapped themselves around the sill, hugging it. Who said there were no advantages to playing with fire?

Once she pulled herself up through the window, the rope vanished, leaving no trace, except for a slight charring around the window frame. She ran down the hall, searching for something, anything that she could use to defend herself. She travelled down the hall, opening each elaborately carved door, looking for weapons and supplies. She found little, until she came to a set of stairs. She began to climb them, but something stopped her.

There was a door to her left. It was tall and iron, but quite plain. She might have walked right by it, had its simplicity not stood out from the other ornate doors of the castle. She used one of her fireballs to break the lock.

“Too easy,” she thought to herself, as she entered the door. She was faced with two burly guards, but her fireballs took care of them too. They fell to ashes at her feet.

The room before her was filled with weapons, some she had never seen before. From every wall, something stuck out menacingly, or glistened sharply. She was overwhelmed, but her eyes led her to a particular sword. It was the same in length as all the others, with the same leather pommel, but there was once distinct difference: on the end of the pommel was a wolf head, bearing it’s small teeth at the stone floor.

Rielan.

She snatched the sword off of the rack, and grabbed another for herself. Not that it would do her much good, compared to her skills with fire, but better safe than sorry she thought. She set off out the door to find Rielan.

Rielan opened his bloody, sweat-filled eyes. A fist came crashing into his jaw, causing him to spew blood on the floor. He fell over, his hands binded and his feet tided. A steel boot swung down and crashed into his ribs instantly breaking two of them. As Rielan lay in blood, his uncle stood over him, throwing blow after blow at Rielan's bloody pulp of a body.

"You thought you could stop this war, didn't you Rielan" his uncle spoke, but Rielan could do nothing but spit up blood.

//Where were his friends? Had they left him to die and had already returned to the forum? Had the Fox sent him on a quest that he knew would ended his life?//

Another blow to the chest, broke two more of his ribs. Rielans uncle had the guards pick Rielan up and hold him steady. His Uncle walked over to his thrown and grabbed the long sword from the holder.

"This is it," Rielan thought. He was about to die. He hung there, blood dripping from his nose, eyes and mouth. The sword was thrust forward, finding it's target into Rielan stomach. A white light had flashed. Rielan was died, or at least he thought he was. He walked through an area of all white. His clothes clean, no scars, just peace. He was home at last.

Rielan was thrust unkindly back to reality, as suddenly he woke up as an arrow came flying down into the knee of his uncle. Rielan watched through his agony, seeing, but not registering that Veronika was firing arrows into the surounding guards. He watched them all scream in pain as the arrows ripped through their bodies. Ten guards lay motionless on the floor, a pool of their own blood forming around them.

His uncle, the last one alive, stood up and tore the arrow out of his knee. Blood poured out like a stream. He limped towards Rielan, sword drawn, ready to end his life. Just then Veronika dropped down and handed Rielan his sword. Instinctively, Rielan spun it around in hands and thrust his forward. The blade ripped into his uncle's neck. He crumpled, dead, at Rielan's feet.

The bell for the death of the ruler rang, and the Guards came racing down in to the throne room. Darkness flowed into Rielan's body. His body began to shake. A shadow, like the one he saw the Fox use fell over him. He eyes turned red. His memories, his alliances were nothing but dust. A wolf man stood were he had layen. He had become his ultimate fear, a werewolf. The wolf form ripped through the guards, as if they were toys. Heads rolled on the floor bathing in the blood of their bodies. One by one the guards were torn in two, beheaded or impaled with claws.

Rielan then remembered something. He was still in the shadow, which was his werewolf form. He wasn't controling it. It was as if the wolf had taken over his body to save him. He was powerless as his body change, and had no control over his impulse to kill. But he was separate from the wolf. Rielan tried to yell but the werewolf let out a growl just as loud. Maybe he did have some control. The werewolf turned and saw Veronika and ran towards her. She pulled out an arrow an shot it right into the werewolf's heart. It fell. Rielan had also felt the pain race threw his body. Then a blinding white light flew over him. He back in the world of dead, but this time a wolf stood across from him. It was the werewolf form that lived inside his body. It spoke.

"We are dying, Rielan," said the wolf. His voice matched that of Rielan's. "This is the end of us."

Rielan looked at the wolf all covered in blood, breathing heavily and wincing in pain. He looked down at himself. He body was covered in his own blood.

"This is our last time together," the wolf choked, "We have failed in our mission."

The wolf was right. He was dead, the mission had been a dissapointment. Veronika and the other were probably dead now as well. What would the Fox do now? Then a new thought ran through is mind.

"What if," he said slowly, "We became one?"

The wolf looked confused at Rielan, "Do you mean we taken our two dead souls and create one living one?"

"Yes," Rielan quickly responded.

The wolf though a moment, and said, "Come to me."

Rielan walked toward the wolf, he felt all of the pain in his body begin to reemerge. He put his hand on the wolf's head. The world he was in began to spin. Him and his wolf form were tossed in to the air, exploding into darkness.

Veronika shook Rielan hard. He wasn't breathing, his body was lifeless. The guards slowly began to close in around them. Veronika pulled out her arrows, and stood over Rielan. The guards came closer, laughing at Veronika, believing her to be weak. Their laughter just angered her, and she shot an arrow into a guards stomach, causing him to fall over backwards. The laughing stopped. The guard reached towards his friends, and attempted to grab is last breath, but he failed and was silenced. They all started after Veronika, thrusting their swords down at her. Arrows began to fly from of her bow, sticking into guard after guard, but when she killed one guard, another just took his place. She was running out of time.

She looked down at Rielan. His body motionless on the floor. She fired her last arrow, which successfully ripped threw two guards, but their were still more advancing. She had nothing to protect herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud slam. An another. The floor began to vibrate with them. A large beast-like human pushed through the crowd, swinging a massive hammer back and forth. Guards were sent flying, as their fresh blood painted the walls. He was coming towards her. She was out of arrows, and all she had left was her fire. She shot flames into the face of the beast, causing it to let out a yelp. As he ripped away the burning flesh he charged again towards Veronika. She sent and another flame at him, but he dodged it. As she began to throw another flame, a guard hit her in the back of the head with hilt of the sword. She crashed to the floor and rolled towards the beast. Her body bounced off the last step sending her onto the blood filled floor. She looked up as the crowd of guards enclosed around her Rielan. The beast walked slowly towards her now. "This was it," she though, "This is the end." Then she heard a loud growl.

Darkness filled the room. All the guards around Rielan fell back, their faces pale and frozen. The werewolf form of Rielan stood, darkness hanging over him. He looked at the beast that walked toward Veronika. He was now in control of his body. He felt stronger, as if he was a new person. He jumped at the beast, and knocked it to the ground, but the beast was just as strong and kicked him off into the wall. Rielan composed himself, and attacked once more, sinking his claws into the beast. It yelped in pain and ran towards the golden doors. A lone arrow raced threw the air and landed into the beasts head. It stopped in it's tracks and crashed to the floor.

Rielan looked over a Veronika as her eyes shut. He fell back into his human form a picked up Veronika. He made his way to the top of the castle and jumped over the back wall. He heard men behind him. He threw Veronika over his shoulder, and as he turned back into a werewolf and started to run. His vision as a werewolf made it easy for him to run through the trees. It was beginning to get dark. On horseback, the guards began to catch up. The weight of Veronika's body was beginning to tire him out. He began to slow to a stop, the guards were almost on top of them. Then, he heard the flow of water. If he could get over the water, he would have a good chance at getting away from the guards! He started to pick up speed again. He crashed through a pile of bushes ahead of him and started to fall. It was a waterfall!

As he fell through the air, his body changed back into human form, and he let go of Veronika. He looked up to see that the guards had also fallen over the waterfall. His body hit the water, but it was not a friendly blow. The force from his fall made the water feel like glass. It sent a punch into his back causing him to lose his breath. He sank under, trying to catch his breath. He then began to panic ... //where was Veronika?//

He began to spinning around looking for her, but she was no where to be seen. His head emerged to the surface, and he began to be dragged downstream. His body crashed against the rocks. He spat out blood, which washed back into his eyes. He closed them, as his body was tossed from side to side. Then it slowed, and a strong current started to pull his cold body towards a sandy rock bed. He pulled himself out of the water and onto the beach. He finger ran threw the warm sand helping his body settle down. Then Rielan did something he had not done in years. He fell asleep.

Rielan woke up covered in sand. Rain blocked his sight. //Where was Veronika?//

The last thing he could remember was tumbling down the waterfall. He made his mind go back and visualize what had happened. He watched Veronika's body fall and get pulled down the river, her body tossed against the rocks.

Rielan came back to himself and stood up. The heavy rain crashed upon him. He walked towards some tall trees to hide from the rain. //Where was Veronika?//

He smelled a fire, coming from close behind him. He looked at his bloodied hands. Was he really now one with the werewolf> He tired to remember where he and the wolf met. Did he really die? He walked towards the smell of fire. He heard men talking and laughing. He peaked around the side of a tree and saw three merchants around a fire. What were they doing out in the middle of the wood? He looked at the fire, and in the fire was Veronika.

Plans ran through Rielans mind. What was he going to do? She was dead for sure. A drop of rain fell from a high branch and hit his head. He had an idea. Darkness fell over Rielan and he became the werewolf. He sank his claws into a neer by tree and pulled himself upward. The rain became heavier the higher he climed. Once he made it to the top of the trees, he looked around. The castle stood about a mile from them. He looked close at the surrounding walls.

There stood one guard who spotted Rielan. He launched an arrow, but Rielan ran, jumping to another tree. The tree snapped and Rielan fell down crashed through branches and leaves. He landed right on top of the fire, and the smell of burning flesh filled his noses. He heard laughter from the merchants, as if the didn't even notice him falling there. He felt the hot flames take over his body. He screamed in pain, as his body transformed back into human form. He looked up. A dark tunnel glowed over him, and the merchants ran away screaming. The Darkness sucked him in and time ran through his mind. He awoke again on the beach where he was before. Rielan stood up and looked around. He ran back to the neer by trees and hid from the rain. He smelled the fire. He walked to the a tree and looked around it. The merchants were there. The drop of rain hit his head. Then it came to him. He had just timed traveled. He remember the stories his mother told about how his father was forced back in time to never return. Was his father a wolf? Rielan shoke his head and came back to himself. He needed to save Veronika. He pull out his knife and grabbed the neer by merchant by his neck.

"If you want your friend to live, take the girl from the fire," Rielan demanded.

The men pulled out their swords and jumped at Rielan. He slit the merchants throat and used his body to block the sword. He whipped the knife into one of the other merchant's heads. The last merchant dropped to his knees and started crying. Rielan pulled Veronika from the fire. Her body had not been harmed. It was almost like the fire had protected her. He closed his eyes. The dark tunnel appeared in front of him, and he knew where he wanted to go. He threw Veronika over his shoulder and grabbed the merchant's arm, stepping into the tunnel.

He entered, looking onto a world much darker than the one he had just left. He looked around. He wasn't sure where he was. He looked off in the distance and saw a light spot. The rushing water raced the opposite way. He waded into the water, and the fast current began to pull them upstream. The waterfall ahead grew closer and closer. It was not the same waterfall as before. As he looked again, he saw that a wall of fire replaced it. He tried to turn around, but the current was too strong. They were thrown into the wall of fire. A bright light like the one that brought him to a different world flashed in front of him. Rielan and Veronika fell onto a cold floor. He looked around, and saw Tmavy in the air bubble. He was back at the gate. He picked up the Veronika and the merchant. He walked to the top of the gate and kicked the merchant down the hole. The beam of light shoot up. He pulled Veronika of his shoulder look tossed her into the gate. He looked as her body was cast out of this world and back into the Forum. The gate finally died. He turned around and walked towards the dark shadow. It was time to find the others.

Upon arriving in Rithundun, Muirin and Nick decided to split up to gather information, figuring that they could cover more ground that way. After they split, Nick began to walk quickly, trying not to attract attention to himself. Not knowing where exactly he was going to begin, Nick decided it would be best to stop and get food while he thought out a plan. As he went to do this, he realized he hadn't any money. In fact, he hadn't even brought anything to sell, besides the clothes on his back, and the gemstone. This wasn't a problem for Nick. Though he was ashamed to admit it, with his air magic, Nick could pick-pocket the shrewdest person without them noticing the slightest thing. Nick spotted his target, an old man with a wallet sticking out of the top of his back pocket. He reached out his hand and the wallet seemed to fly into it. "Too easy," he thought.

Now that he had means to purchase food, he walked to the nearest restaurant. It was an open area, with only a bar separating the customers from the cook. Though it was about noontime (judging by the sun), no one was at the bar. Nick sat down and picked up a menu

"What will you be having sir?" The cook asked Nick.

Nick was silent at first, perusing the menu. "I'll just have the special," he finally said.

"Coming right up!"

Glancing around, and noticing no one was there. Nick leaned into the cook. "I'm a stranger from a far away place. I have heard a war is on the verge of breaking out in Rithundun. Do you know know anything about this?"

"That's a strange and dangerous topic to bring up, Mister. But if you must know, it's about land. We used up most of our resources in the region, and need to expand into Xanibya to survive," the cook replied. The cook eyed Nick suspiciously for a moment, and turned back to the grill.

Nick pondered this news for awhile, before he realized he had no solution.

"What if there was more land elsewhere? Would they go for that or do they hate Xanibya and want to conquer it?" Nick wondered aloud.

Suddenly, a loud bang went off and several men attacked Nick. Nick flew into action, using the gem to duplicate himself. He and his had barely gotten anywhere, when several men blasted the clone mistaking it for the real Nick. They lifted him off the ground, and he was captured. Nick used this golden opportunity to escape. He ducked into the shadows, and as a group of his attackers walked by, he reached out and snatched a straggler in the back. He pulled him silently into the shadows, disarming him and pulling him to the ground.

"So what was that attack all about? I'm guessing you DON'T work for anyone in Rithundun. Tell me what is the wizard planning here in Rithundun? Why does he want this war? Answer me!" Nick shouted

The man looked around and said "I will not speak to you, you wretched alliance DOG." With that the man spat at Nick although he missed.

"Oh no, you picked the wrong man to piss off" Nick hissed. With that Nick brought his palms together and a cocoon of air wrapped around the man. Nick held one fist up that was slightly clenched and started to close it. The cocoon obeyed and constricted the man slowly.

"You still have one last chance to talk." Nick quipped

"Alright! Alright! I'll talk! Our master is the wizard and we were sent here to incite war! A war between these two regions would be marvelous for us because it would have you two destroy each other instead of focusing your attention on helping their own cities or even helping the fight. That's all I know I swear, now will you let me go?" The man pleaded.

Nick seemed to ponder a moment before he grinned evilly and said "No, you already know too much about me, my magic and what I look like. Sorry friend, it's just business." With that Nick closed his palm with a thumbs down and the cocoon crushed the man into a tiny pulp which dropped to the ground. Nick cracked his knuckles and rolled his head and sighed as he walked around the corner and blended into the crowd.

Nick glanced around from the street and realized he had no idea what the surrounding area looked like. He decided to climb to the top of a nearby building to get a view of the section of the city he was in. Nick ducked into and alley and scaled up the wall and over the edge of a building and looked around and spotted a tall and slender building, it looks as if a pencil was enlarged and made to look like a building. Nick judged the distance between him and the building to be about 10-15 blocks away from him. He runs over the the edge and with the help of his air magic, leapt an insane distance and landed on a building across the street. He parkoured over the buildings and within minutes was next to the tower. He half levitated, half climbed up the tower and was standing at the top, gazing out across the city.

"Marvelous," Nick whispered to himself.

He saw the modernized city from a far up perch and saw how much more advanced these people were than his own land. He memorized the surrounding area the best he could before spotting the white house and remembering that he needed to be there. He jumped off the building floating down much slower than anyone else could and landed on library roof with a roll and took off across the rooftops. As he went he wondered where Muirin was and hoped that she was alright and would meet him there. He also went over how to dissuade The Council from war. He came up with no ideas and sooner than he would have liked and decided to wait around for Muirin. He leaned against a wall nearby the white house and tried his best to stay inconspicuous while still being noticeable by Muirin. Nick ended up pacing while he tried to figure out how to solve this problem when he heard someone say

"Hey, Nick!"

Nick looked up to see Muirin walking over to him and walked over to greet her.

After finally getting away from Nick, Muirin breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to get a moment to herself. She looked around for an answer for what exactly she should be doing, or how she could possibly gather information. She'd heard of Rithundun, (after all, that's where Arlyn bought tools for mining from), but to her it had always been more of an idea than a tangible place. She didn't know anything about it.

Imposing buildings rose up on all sides of her, and she felt smaller than ever as she looked up at them. There was nothing like this in Arlyn. The cottages of the people of her homeland were modest, some of them not even having doors. The biggest buildings belonged to the leaders and the garda, but even those were no more than two stories high. But here, here the buildings seemed to stack up to the clouds. Muirin didn't understand how they could even hold themselves up. As she began to wonder if these buildings were indeed safe, she stepped out into the street, though her eyes were still fixed to the sky.

Her attention quickly brought back as she saw two large, black four-legged creatures running towards her, dragging what seemed to be a rather ornate box with people. She had very little time to marvel though, for as she went to move to make way, she tripped and fell face down onto the smooth stones below. Everything went black.

When she came to, Muirin was in the back of the carriage. It had begun to get dark outside. A tall man with dark eyes and dark hair was staring down on her with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked. But Muirin didn't respond. "You're not from around here, are you?" Still nothing from Muirin. "Well, you want to be more careful. not all drivers are as careful to adhere to the speed limitations as mine. You could have been crushed. Besides, it's dangerous for women to be out wandering the streets."

"Why?" Muirin finally asked.

"Because in the face of war, women and children are the first to be taken for bait."

"War?"

"So you really aren't from these parts, are you?"

Muirin shook her head.

"Well," continued the man, "Soon there will be chaos everywhere. I suggest you go back to where you came from immediately."

"What's happening?"

"I think your friend will be able to tell you that."

"My ... friend?"

The man gestured outside. They were at the White House. Nick was pacing outside the gates.

"But how did you ...?"

The put his forefinger to his temple, and said, "Perhaps you aren't as well-guarded as you'd like to think." With that, he opened the door, and Muirin climbed out.

"Well, thank you," she called, "And goodbye."

"Goodbye... Muirin."

Meeting with the council
Nicholas and Muirin meet outside The White House, where The Council gathers every two weeks. They brace themselves as they walk through the doors and are met with several armed guards standing in front of the door.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

“We request to see The Council if possible. We wish to try to dissuade them from war.” Nick states.

One of the guards spoke up “Then enter, be warned that they will be open to your discussion, but they will not be tolerant if your are rude or try to force them into doing anything.”

The pair walked through the grand doors and they opened up to a large, spacious room with a large oval table with men and women seated around it. They seemed to be arguing about something and Nick had the feeling that it had to do with the war.

"We are struggling enough with out own internal strifes without dealing with Xanibya's problems if we win the war! Don't even get me started with how much of a toll the war itself is taking!" One shouted.

"Control yourself Ken! We have visitors." Another calmly replied. "Tell us, why do you seek an audience with The Council?

Nick spoke up first "We are here to speak to you about the war. It must be stopped or else it will help lead the world to ruin!"

There was a pause before most of the members burst into laughter and one of them piped up and said "What do you think we have been arguing about every meeting? There are some who are for it and some who are against it. I am for one, for it. We need land to expand and grow. To leave leave the problems of this land behind."

Nick replied "I know this but do you think that even though you are connected that the disease has not spread to Xanibya? Do you think in fact that it is not in other place around the world? We have problems like this in Grieum. A plague that consumes the people. I have walked your streets and seen that all is not well in Rithundun. Your people are sick, not only from the plague but of this war. They do wnat more land but not in the way that you are acquiring it."

A tall, but plump man spoke up, "Then what do you plan to do about it?"

Nick hesitated as he had no clear solution. He turned to Muirin and asked

"Any bright ideas?"

"We have a proposal for you," Muirin said, nearly inaudibly, to the council.

"Well, what would that be? And for goodness' sake, speak up," a tall Council member said gruffly.

"I have a way to bring you more land."

"We do too," said the Council member, laughing, "It's called taking it, little girl. Now if you're not going to give us any good solutions, at least give us a good show. You're a pretty little thing." The Council began chuckling, and then went back arguing amongst each other, as Muirin tried to explain. She struggled to be heard, among the raucous crowd of men before. Finally, she pulled her dagger out of her belt, and jamming it into the table, she stared at all of them with as much cool as she could muster. Violence was the only thing men responded to. They stared at her in stunned silence.

"Now, if you're quite finished, I DO have an additional proposal, perhaps something you big, strong men had never considered. Are we all ready to listen?" Muirin asked, in a deadly sweet voice. One man looked like he might have something to say, but thankfully for Muirin he was silenced. The untitled leader of the Council gave her a nod.

"I am willing to raise up land for you, in return for peace. I will want a promise of peace in writing, signed in the manner of our ancestors of the Forum. Are you all aware of the consequences of breaking such a blood promise?" The Council nodded, shuddering. The fates of the few who chose to break such a promise had not been forgiving or kind. Muirin knew she had struck a nerve.

"How do you propose to give us such land?"

"I am a skilled earth mage. I have been working for years, and this task is a daunting one. But I know I am fully capable. Such a task will be draining, and I will require a guard to protect me in my weakened state. Given a guard, and one hour, I will give you a land equivalent of Xanibya, but uninhabited, and free for your use. If you do not take me up on my most generous offer, I assure you, the consequences will be deadly."

Muirin was improvising now, knowing full well she had no set consequences for them. However, she had watched enough games of poker between the miners to know that a straight stare and a steady eye made everyone unable of calling your bluff.

She gave the Council members a few moments to discuss her proposal amongst themselves. Finally, they looked up.

"I believe we have a deal."



The Council Members had signed the blood contract, as promised, but Nick had insisted that he be Muirin's only guard. Muirin stood on the precipice of Rithundun, facing the vast, black ocean. She took a deep breath//.//

//Could she really do this?//

But it was too late to think now. The time for fear was over, and it was time to take every bit of strength and courage she had ever mustered up, and put it to use. It had to start. There was no turning back.

She kissed her mother's locket, and suddenly, a calm like she'd never experienced came over her. She knew what she had to do, and she was ready.

With her weathered palms facing the sky, Muirin extended her arms. The sky shifted from blue to gray, and gray to black. A wind strong enough to uproot trees began to swirl around her, but Muirin was seemingly untouched. The wind swirled around her, lifting her hair to the wind, but her feet were grounded.

=The Reunion= Nick half carried half walked Muirin out of the meeting with the council. He looked around and then at Muirin and realized she wasn't going to be doing much for anyone. He brought her over to a merchant stand and bought a blanked and a canteen full of water. Then when no one was looking Nick teleported back to where the gate was. He propped Muirin up against the wall and covered her in a blanket and left her the water. He knew what it felt like to be completely drained of magic, he felt it after the Air Walkers transfered their power to him. He felt weak and powerless and wouldn't wish that upon anyone. He Then transported back to Mor'atha.

Nick looked around and realized he had no idea where he should meet the others. He decided to survey the area Muirin had raised. He flew up into the air and took off over Rithundun. He soared over the new land which Muirin raised and admired it even though it was mostly bare with little trees. He was impressed that she managed to raise it at all. The new land soon led into the old one and Nick found himself soaring over Xanibya. He was looking down when he saw a single person being chased by several well armed men. Nick swooped to get a closer look and found that it was Rielan being chased by guards. Nick tapped his gem and two doppelgangers split off from him. The three Nicks slowed their descent and prepared their wrist blades. They each took out two guards when they hit the ground. The real Nick stood up and took out the last guard with a blast of powerful wind right through the guard's chest. The guard was blasted backwards and died instantaneously.

Rielan whipped around at the sound and threw two knifes striking both of the clones and causing them to dissipate.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's me! Good thing you didn't hit the real me." Nick exclaimed.

"Lucky guess," Rielan observed.

"Where's Veronika?" Nick asked.

"I went back to the gate, threw in a person into the sacrifice chamber, and tossed Veronika into the forum since she was incapacitated."

"Wait you went back to the gate?" Nick said exasperated, "I was there to leave Muirin there!

"So we went the same place but at different times and left before you guys got there to SEARCH for you?" Rielan questioned.

"It seems so. Let's get back to the forum before we get into another fight."

"Agreed. So have you ever shadow traveled before?" Rielan inquired.

"Shadow what no-" Nick started, but Rielan pulled him into the shadow and they went through a tunnel with a dim light at the end, and in no time they were standing outside the gate. Nick teetered slightly but regained his balance.

"That was, strange. You could have at least told me before you did that." Nick stammered.

"Yeah well it seemed better to just jump you with it." Rielan quipped.

"Let's just get back to the forum. I've had enough of this place." Nick emphasized.

Rielan nodded and stepped forward and Nick let down the bubble. Tmavy tried in vain to escape but was grabbed by Rielan.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rielan seethed, “You’re not going anywhere Tmavy!”

“No! No! No! Please don’t! I’ll do anything!” Tmavy cried.

“Anything huh?” Rielan sneered, “Would you also die?!” In a demonstration of his new control over his other half, Rielan let out a snarl and turned into a werewolf. He ripped Tmavy in half as he let out a last cry of agony and threw him into the portal. I glowed brightly and Rielan, still a werewolf, stepped through the gate.