Grim Recollections II

[Idrial]

Idrial stood silent as she watched in Malithar give orders out to those underneath his command, following his orders without questioning his athourity. Something she was use to seeing since she came from a place that thrived and disipline and without it you would be forced to stay in the same level for years. She waited patiently as Malithar was finished giving orders which directed his attention towards Idrial.

She listened carefully to Malithar as like he said they were now alone, she nodded her and there giving each thought that the man was coming up with to stettle in head and slowly started to work out the details. She slowly placed her hands on her hips with a face that was in thinking mode, she wondered if she should go with this she barely knew. The only reason she is with him now is they where chasing the same man. Either way she could enjoy the company since these missions could get terribly lonely.

Idrial looked at him with percieing blue eyes, "I accept I\'ll accompany you on this journey, it gets a little lonely when it only you and the thoughts in your head." She looked around too see the four elders he had mentioned slain, like a hot knife throuthgh butter they didn\'t stand a chance and without her help they surely would die within the first hour of battle.

Idrial slowly stuck in her two cents into the conversation, "Your army we may not need for a while at least, bringing that big of army with would not only make alot of noise but it would also slow us down. Finding your Prior first wold be you best bet but we have to hurry for time is against us." Idrial bowed her head before giving a slight smile, in front of elven eyes she transformed into a black timber wolf only three times the size of a normal timber wolf. She walked over to where the Prior was last seen and stuck her nose into the dirt, his scent was still fresh.

She looked towards Malithar and gave a small bark towards him before dashing into the forest, her paws pounding the ground with intensity, she never bothered to look back as she assumed Malithar was right behind her keeping up with her rigorous running.

[Reaver]

Racing after Idrial, Malithar knew if he fell behind Idrial would keep the Prior intact until he got there. It was strange, but he was beginning to actually trust someone outside of the Order. It still pained him that his cousin was dead, but he knew that Idrial had done her best to help. If the Raven hadn\'t been occupied, Malithar would be among the dead, along with Besazaal and the scouts. Perhaps even the Prior.

Malithar couldn\'t help but wonder. His cousin had been one of the few to know his true identity as Tahliten. It had been difficult to change his entire way of speaking and moving when masked. Koravel had to have seen through it. Thankfully, his cousin had kept silent. Koravel knew the important of secrecy. If the Order knew who their Tahliten was, it would save some grief. No one would be able to wander in wearing a mask claiming the title. Of course, certain codes and sigils were inplace to ensure that didn\'t happen, but if anyone could change the seals on the sigils, upset the magic, the rest would be easy enough to learn or change. So the danger of masking the Tahliten was great, although currently protected. The benefit was that no one could assassinate him in bed, the only time he was defenseless. Excursions like this were increasingly rare, and it took someone of the Raven or Heretic\'s power to kill him in battle. If the Order lost its Tahliten, it would be finished. The Order was too small to cope with such a large loss. Even today meant they had a Marshal to replace.

It had been a mistake from the start. Hunting a heretic was important, but he should have used someone else. Instead he had gone after him hiself, and had brought his best warriors with him. He could have brought his best assassins, they would have ended this very quickly. But he hadn\'t known where to send them, or what he would have been sending them into. Not he was sure. No one could go up against the Heretic alone. They needed stronger allies.

The Prior hadn\'t gone very far, but the choice didn\'t look to be his. His flayed corpse was hanging from a tree a few minutes from the cave. Whoever he had served was obviously upset with the way the day had progressed. It would be an interesting sight for the pair to stumble upon.

[Idrial]

It was strong, the smell of terror that was ingrained into the path that she followed with dedicated ease. Terror was never a good sign and her soon dedicated ease became caution as her she slowed to a mere trot, her nose no longer to the ground as she sniffed the air. Jovan had been here as his oily stench filled her nostrils, disgusting creature whom which a low snarl emitted from the depth’s of her throat. It was more than disgusting she thought, it was vile; it was simply unnatural and worse Jovan was fused with the twisted, lying shadows. Never could he return to being human, it would have to be slain with the utmost care.

She heard it first, the wind blowing slightly as she heard that awfully familiar sound that seemed to echo through the woods. The eerie creaking of something heavy that swayed in the wind, she knew that sound; that sound of life now no longer on this earth. When she would see the Prior she changed back into her natural human form, she was cautious she never did like hanging bodies. It was clear that he had been toyed with as she could see the ground had been disturbed up to the very tree that sadly where he ever said his last words, let alone breathe his last breath. She took a close look at the body, eye’s wide in horror as he most likely realized that the creature saw fit that he was no longer needed. His silence a fitting end to a mystery yet to be understood fully but many puzzles to a clue that may undo the silence of the dead; and who said the dead couldn’t speak it was a matter of asking the right questions.

Along ahead she noticed a cave, instinct took over as it insanely screamed high alert in her head. She stepped back to grab a stick and giving it a good toss towards the mouth of the cave, she almost jumped herself as something snatched it up into it’s own version of darkness. Then it was like it spat or tossed it out of annoyance, as if it was wanting something with a little more spunk; a little more juice with a light twist of something called a soul. It was hiding in the dark sanctuary, even her eyes couldn’t see the depths of the cave and with that she felt a little too close taking a step back. Leaving the Prior still hanging as she was unsure if his body was connected in any way to the demon of the dark.    

She looked at Malithar with concerned eyes, “It’s too dangerous, in my opinion your men should wait till sunrise. If only it weren’t a cave, enclosed quarters it could easily crush us in the darkness. I would also leave the body until sunrise it might be a trap.” Could never be too careful, once the sun rises it would be safe to remove the body without worry. It was one thing when the Heretic was in human form, but in this mist like darkness form it was better to wait till sunrise. The only advantage they had was it couldn’t move as a mist, only in human form; or the thing that resides in the  empty shell of a human.

[Reaver]

Malithar circled the tree, inspecting the ground while Idrial finished her search. He kept a good distance from the cave, and made sure not to get too close to the body, either. This was an interesting find. It either meant that the Heretic couldn’t travel far using his magic, or he had chosen not to. The first would indicate possible weaknesses and limitations, which were always a good thing. The second indicated either great strength and a probable lack of exploitable weaknesses, or sheer arrogance. Each possibility branched off into a multitude of others. Malithar didn’t like having so many possibilities. It made planning nearly impossible.

“Waiting for dawn or light means more time for me to find a new Prior and gather all my priests. They’ll have a better chance against the Heretic than my traditional warriors will. Of course, an elite file of those will keep anything else he has busy.” Malithar nodded thoughtfully. A file of scouts would also be ready to keep anything from escaping, and carry messages to well placed reserves. In case things got out of hand. Of course, he was mostly counting on Idrials talents to counter or destroy the Heretic, but he decided she should come up with that part of the plan. “Hopefully we can finish this here. Every moment I spend chasing the Heretic, others go unhunted. Of course, most aren’t nearly as dangerous as this one…”

Of course, he had already given the orders. The way the scouts were ordered to convey their messages was in fact the message itself. Their arrival in the barracks and Fortress would bring the Orders’ elite troops and priests to the Tahliten’s position. A new Prior would have to be named when the Priests arrived, but as only the best would be on their way, all the candidates would be present for the naming. However, there was no need to tell all of that to Idrial. She had likely surmised as much.  

Slipping his helmet on but keeping the visor up, Malithar took a few wary steps away from the tree. “One of us should keep watch on the cave while the other sleeps. My men will be tired after a full march, but the priests can restore their strength without issue. The priests themselves will have various ways to ease their own burden of travel.”

[Idrial]

Idrial took note of Malithar’s thoughts as they became words, a sensible man that spoke fountains of experience under his belt with sinister men running amuck in his lands. Although his experience in the dark arts she wasn’t sure of, but neither was Idrial. It was a touchy subject from where she came from, the book that was concealed n the pocket of her cloak gave her insight. Dark insight that she was not allowed to read but then again Raven wasn’t suppose bind human and shadow together without a a tying Master to control it. Fuck sakes came to mind quite clearly, but her fingers also itched for the bloody book.

“Fuck it,” she whispered as she took the book out in clear sight, she stepped back a little more from the increasing disturbing body. More like the sound it was making, she flipped through the pages looking for anything that might shed a little light on the situation. The book was old it’s pages yellow and some writing no longer readable but it was minimal damage. She felt like she was holding a dangerous object in her hand, she knew how to manipulate shadows but this book was talking about something more than manipulating shadows, it was controlling the dangerous element.

She hadn’t flipped far when she found something that resembled a time line, PRIMA NOX (dot) QUARTR, which she believed was Latin for First night to fourth; a clue in what Raven said, In two weeks he would no longer be human and only the animal would remain. Shadow Demon, the worst species of demons and it literally made her blood boil, she didn’t understand why the Academy kept such dark majickal arts and now she had to deal with it.
As she read the detail’s a smile curled on her lips, it was weak and would need to posses a victim once a night for four nights in order to survive. Additional souls would only feed if anyone or anything living got too close, and Jovan (or who use to be Jovan) be forced to travel as a human in the daylight she took in note. “Interesting” she said in a teasing tone.

Some good news she thought, the only bad news was who would it posses next and where more importantly. In so she picked up a long stick and without warning tapped the hanging man on the head, the eyes opened first in which she saw was pure white in which milliseconds later a blood curdling scream emitted from the mouth and a voice emerged vociferously, “MALITHAR, MALITHAR, MALTHAR, MALITHAR.” Then silence as Idrial delightfully laughed as she seemed un-phased by the event. “We have a jumper such a delight, good news it will be weak for the next four days and in light he will be forced to travel in it’s human form but still able to use majick just weaker though still deadly. Bad news is it will have to posses a victim for the next four nights, in which we will be blind in trying to figure out who is next.” She shook her head in disgust at the last part, what a bloody mess.

 She walked over to Malithar standing somewhat adjacent to him asking a direct question, “Was that the voice of your cousin or Jovan himself.” She didn’t mean to bring up the death of his cousin so soon but it had to be asked, it was important whether to determine whether it was manipulating voices. It would be better if it wasn’t which would mean it was weaker but not by much. They would be safe for the night as long they didn’t go past the possessed body. The undead talking through the dead, eerie she thought although she was compelled to tap the thing again, but not now maybe later. She somehow knew they had much to talk about as it would be a long night.

[Reaver]

Malithar paused thoughtfully. "The Heretic\'s voice. I\'m not sure what that means, but Heretic is still near, yes?" Likely in that cave, which wasn\'t where Malithar wanted to end up fighting. He saw what the Heretic could do in the open. He could only imagine a cave, the darkness, and hidden traps. His priests could be here soon enough but he had to assume the Heretic would expect them. What traps could he lay for magic users to protect himself? He knew he should ask Idrial, but he decided to think on it first. Malithar was sure that she would be thinking the fight through as well.

Of course, there were other problems. Malithar had never left Lyquis alone for this long. He needed to end this soon so he could make an appearance, raise peoples spirits. Also, who knew what rebelious ideas might have spawned while was away. The fort could be full of heretics and the Order would be blind to it without his direction. They never suspected their own, it was a constant failing of theirs.

Irritated that the whole situation wasn\'t making sense, Malithar crossed his arms across his chest and sighed. "I should be embassed, an elf who doesn\'t know how to use magic, but what exactly did you just do?"

If Idrial had tricks like that up her sleeve, and whole books, for that matter, Malithar wasn\'t sure what to expect. He was happy they were allies, if even for the moment, but allies could be more dangerous than enemies. Allies had enemies of their own, and secrets. It wasn\'t that he expected her to betray him, he just wondered what her connection had been to the Raven. Did the Raven have other associates that knew Idrial? Were they involved with the Heretic? Sighing again, Malithar tucked on the straps of his armor. He wasn\'t without his own tricks.

[Idrial]

Idrial thoughtfully nodded her head, so it was Jovan’s voice talking though the dead. Good it meant she had more time but unfortunate it was not enough to prepare properly for this abomination. Her hands that lay at her side become loose fists, not in anger but more in aggravation since this was not part of her assignment. The academy would be fools to think that she was not getting paid ten percent more than what she agreed on after this mess, almost spitting on the ground but she decided to retain her almost calm image.

She could sense Malithar’s uneasiness on the situation and had to hold back the look of surprise when he told her he didn’t know how to use magic. She had many tricks up her sleeves when it came to magic, tricks that she had acquired over years and years of practice. The house of Veneficus sought after her when she first joined the academy long ago, almost forcing her into the house. In the end she chose Confuto, the art of silence and manipulation of shadows. Idrial couldn be happier with the choice, why go into a house that literally didn’t call her name.

At first she was little hesitant about telling him about her lineage, Shape-shifters as she knew were almost extinct same with werewolves. What was a little more uneasy was that her mother was a witch and came from a very long line, and she was the last of her mother’s line. She took an unfathomable breath as she tried to explain what she just did a moment ago.

“I am not what you think or what most people think when they see me; long ago we were abundant in numbers. Over the years we have been hunted by mortals and now I fear only a few handful of us exist anymore, living in fear. I would not be surprised if I was the last.”

Disgust covered her face for the human race, they killed what they did not understand and in turn they wiped out the only family she ever knew after her parents died. She almost had to pause for a moment unsure of what he would think when meeting a race that few knew nothing about. She got close to ear and whispered what exactly stand so close to him, low enough so that only he would hear her words.

“I am half shape-shifter and half werewolf, I was born as a shape shifter but later they were killed by a rabid werewolf and thus it turned on me. I changed into a bear and killed it but in the end I was infected with the curse. As for the magic my mother came from a long line of witches of which I am the last.  If you want to learn more walk with me Malithar you may ask what you seek to know.”

She then started to walk away from the others to the outskirts of the camp, she hoped that Malithar trusted her a little and in turn would follow. Her walk unthreatening and showed Malithar that she could be trusted that she wouldn’t execute him when she got him to the edge of the campsite. She was not a threat and never would be a threat as she felt a sort of bond with Malithar to which she couldn’t quite explain yet. Maybe it was the wash of trust that was crawling all over her skin or maybe it was something else.

[Reaver]

Malithar followed in silence, motioning for his approaching men to stay where they were. He had donned his mask the moment his ring had begun to warm, telling him that people where near. He hoped that Idrial would realize it also meant he was now the Tahliten, not Malithar. He breathed a sigh of relief that she began to move away from his men before saying his name, but he still wished she would be more careful.

As to what Idrial was, Malithar was surprised. In his years and vast stores of information he hadn\'t heard of such a thing. He knew that such combinations of races and racial disease had used to be more common, but that one had eluded him. Malithar took note not to tell Idrial that his Order used to hunt such things. Even in his own time as Tahliten the transition from hunting what they called fiends to hunting what they called heretics had been strained. To most of the Order, they were still one in the same. Now humans were the most common among the dead left in the Order\'s wake.

Glancing back to make sure they were a good distance from his men, Malithar adjusted his mask and rolled his shoulders. He wanted his men to see him at ease, with an ally they could trust. He couldn\'t let his own doubts fill them. Malithar needed them at their best. Stopping in mid shrug, Malithar decided he had been silent long enough. "I hadn\'t heard of such a thing. If I haven\'t, I\'d reason that most people haven\'t. So long as they don\'t find out what you are, and it seems like only a handful of people could make such information available, then you should be safe." Pausing thoughtfully, "A pity humans are in charge of so much these days. Their fear of such things has led to much bloodshed." Malithar was actually glad that his Order had ceased to hunt things they called of the dark. It had made a valuable ally available to him.

[Idrial]

Idrial couldn’t shake the eyes of Malithar’s or Tahliten’s men, their eyes nervous as they exited to the edge of the encampment. She did not blame them, she too was cautious of the men that followed Tahliten’s in his Order. Idrial was not quick to trust but in this case she was more than forced to trust someone, her instincts of course always lead the way. She would not have told Tahliten of her species if she didn’t trust him, it was better to get some secrets out of the way than being found out later. In every case everyone wanted an explanation on the spot, bad for Idrial because both Shape-Shifter and Werewolf were hunted to the death by humans and some elves. A pity, werewolves were true noble warriors despite their rage and shifters could come in many forms both beautiful and ugly.

Bringing her steps to a standstill as Tahliten stopped suddenly; she smiled as he never heard of her kindred. It meant that she was still under the radar and she would remain that way and only a handful of people she had told in confidence. When other’s asked she told them she was an elf, thank god for her pointed ears due to the werewolf blood in her veins. Although old ancient texts were plenty on her kind, but sadly when they were found as a precaution they would burn their texts so that they would not fall into the wrong hands. Particularly humans, secrets of old told how to recognize a werewolf or shifter which was used eon’s ago. Not even Idrial knew what secret that was and she probably would never find out.  

She gave a heavy sign, she looked weary and tired from the ordeal but in reality she was sick of the close mindedness of the mortal herd. Rubbing the side of her neck roughly she looked at Tahliten with a hardened look, “My home town is no longer on the map therefore it doesn’t exist it is a ghost town to kindly say …… Years ago when I thought I was the last I came across a safe haven for my kind. They became family to me; it was within the blood of the shifter, something abnormal. I guess I was the lucky few to have the honor, we few half breeds” she chuckled a little with a smile on her face, “We were respected by all but it was gaining their trust was harder.” Just like now, she thought only now it was different on many different levels. Different levels of trust meant higher access to someone, knowledge she knew well. Never reveal all your secrets at once just little by little, when the time is right.

But just as quickly the smile faded, unhappiness with what they had done after she had left the safe haven, “Then the human’s came, thousands came for the slaughter of my kindred.  Three hundred souls gone like the dust in the wind, they burned the bodies and tilled the ashes into the ground. The generations of noble men, woman and children is now lost because of their ignorance.” She literally turned her head and spat on the ground which she was pretty sure she could feel a few eyeballs gazing into her backside. No matter she had not moved her arms the entire time, which was the important thing. She was sure one of his jumpy people she called them would love to stick a spear through her with ease.  A pleasant thought sticking someone with a cruel shaped spear but not that pleasant if she was the so called stuck pig on the end.

“Would you like me to show you what it feel’s like to have magic flow through your veins, Tahliten?” A simple question of course, magic for Idrial couldn’t be explained it had to be felt. It was like trying to explain the color red to a blind person, couldn’t be done and it would give in a little insight of her abilities therefore making the man a little more confident that Idrial could handle her own. Less for Tahliten to worry about on the battle field and more on his men.