don't be afraid.

[Caelum]

Black humor found Alander's borrowed face, every nuance of emotion unbefitting of the innocence and youth it had worn when Kendall had claimed it. "You saw him in my sins, Sondra? Black eyes, black hair and a face that could cause the Ukalas to weep. That would be Caius Delucia, Kendall's half uncle." There was a beat while she watched them rise and to Hadrian's magically enhanced vision her aura seemed to brighten, the sick storm sky green of it crowning with a golden glow. If he tried harder, there would be deserts visible in the pockets of Alander's soul, crumbling marble and tarnished gold built with blood and bones of many armed gods. Though the exterior layers of the aura seethed dry as sand tossed by the wind, it was of a sudden most clear that the seed of this creature was neither blackened nor twisted. It was, perhaps, merely beset on all sides by the shadows against which it struggled. "And he is not our enemy," he stated this as if he wanted to believe it, but made no effort to hide that effort by tone or delivery. "But he is not our ally in this either. Not in this re-exchange of bodies. He wants to keep Dastik's partnership for some while longer yet, after all." The chair creaked as if beneath a far greater weight than that her body bore when Alander shoved it with force back under the table. Antony was scrubbing spidery fingers filled with nerves back through his hair, eyes darting from person to person. "You," Alander continued, regard settling on Kendall. Disappointment or disapproval churned in desert born vowels. "He would be disgusted by. He has little patience for cowards and fools. You are a petching god-marked Zaital, child. Stop sniveling and take back what is yours. Antony --" She made a sweeping motion with her hand, "Get the book. We're moving." Alander swiveled on her heel toward the garden door with a sweeping look that made it plain she expected the three to follow. The scar faced Antony disappeared again in to the corridor at a dead run, foot steps sounding as though they were chasing themselves. They were not steps into the green shadows and heady blooms of the grotto when a scream tore through the whistle of the black water wind. It came from within, from the direction the animator's apprentice had disappeared to, and it was crumbling with shock and horror. Alander whirled around, curls bouncing down her back, and steel was suddenly gleaming in her hand. "Jin!" A new voice bellowed from within the house, that of an angered, educated man. "i know what you've done!" Alander's expression rippled before going smooth as glass. Her hand tightened to knuckle whites on the handle of a long dagger. All along the ivy strewn walls of the grotto, statuary began to creak and groan with gravel voices. They stirred the air as they began to move. "Dastik," Alander told them with the weight of an eerie calm. "That is our enemy. Aelius, Sondra, you both bloody well reek of Sylir in your dreams. I suggest if this goes poorly, you be certain to destroy anything you may have on you." She tilted her eyes to Kendall, somewhat thoughtful. Whatever it was she might have said, however, never got uttered as a nude Alahaen dignitary with a mouth of marble finished waking from his statue-sleep beneath the animator's hand and lunged.

[Hadrian]

Time had progressed with this faux-Kendall, and it had been time enough to delve through many onionskin layers of Jin's soul to find a core of something good, or something so embattled that it might actually reach out a hand in alliance. Of course, the people he said to fear might be made up entirely; the only truthseers Hadrian knew were back in Syliras, knights sworn to service and Tyveth. But enough of what was said matched what he sensed, and Jin was worried for all the mature urbanity of his features. Kendall as herself had never looked so composed. He had forgotten how much he missed that original Kendall, though it was the one that had never given him the time of day. But more to the point, Caius Delucia and Dastik the Animator, in cahoots and in pursuit, perhaps, but there were weaknesses in their relationship. Perhaps they could be exploited as MaeClair had taught him. Not long in Ravok and already jumping out of the pan and into the fire; if only she were here as well, or one of the more competent knight-whisperers. He almost stepped in front of Kendall when Jin turned on him, but he was not wrong. Hadrian protected Kendall, but eventually Kendall was going to have to stand on his own two feet. Hadrian might die, or any number of other eventualities, and then there would be nobody upon which he could depend. Then it was a matter of the fittest surviving. Once they were on the mood, Hadrian fell into a sort of tunnel vision as the rest of his brain began to churn with such a fervor that he might have Fluxed djed into it. First the scream, then the voice, and so they stopped. Only then did he notice the latent patterns in the statue's auras, hidden intelligence, hidden mobility. And Jin wanted to talk? Hadrian gathered himself instinctively, saying one word backed by the hypnotic power of his aura, to pierce three minds with a sudden thought, as if their own minds were in agreement with his word: "Go!" He spun Jin around and pushed her forward, turned just in time to pull Kendall away from a sleepy, halfhearted snatch by a marble hand. With none of his usual tenderness for the blond boy, he shoved him after Jin. Then he was holding up the rear with Sondra. He was so glad she had that big freaking hammer, and he laughed harshly, nervously. "We'd be faster if you hadn't shoved dinner into your pockets," he said, unconsciously falling into the sort of fond meanness that passed for love in the Aelius home. But his hands were glowing as the res began to gather. These things might be dangerous, but they were made of stone. A geomancer knew how to deal with stone.

[Kendall Saarinen]

A shiver ran through Kendall as Jin spoke. It wasn't fair. Sondra got to see this Caius… the blond's connection to Ivak. Everyone else seemed to know things. Hadrian had his auristics that saw into people, Sondra had her gift from Avalis, and these other two, the seemed to know everything. Everyone knew something. Everyone but Kendall. It left him feeling helpless and weak. He was depending on the words of everyone else. The words that came after seared into Kendall. The child of fire had been burned, just not by fire. Kendall stood up, forcing himself to stop the tears. It could be seen on the blond's face that the words had hurt. They had really hurt. More importantly, they got to him. Jin was right. Ivak did not need his Azenth to fall apart in times like this. He needed people to be strong because road to freeing him would be even harder than what was happening now. He wouldn't just be allowed to stroll into the mountains to free the imprisoned God and he would not do so by being scared. "You're right…" The words were spoken with what seemed like a voice void of emotion. "I am the last person who should be letting emotions get the best of them." A few tears still escaped from his eyes and a few sniffles could be heard from him but he was standing firm. He would take back what was his no matter what. The emotional control, or attempt of it did not come from just letting himself he would be better. Kendall had to push himself mentally to a calm. Behind those mismatched eyes the blond was forcing himself to hear the waves off of Zeltiva in his mind. It is what calmed him more than anything. While this mentally forceful sort of meditation seemed a bit out of place in the current situation, Kendall had been embarrassed and Gods help him if he continued the behavior that caused it. Of course, one would hope the Gods would help him with the marble hand reaching out to him. "Home will always be here, unseen, out of sight. The wake shall hide the shores of familiar ground. The call of lands so far off speak to me. The waves, Laviku pray they don't end until I reach the end of the sea." Kel had always been a brilliant poet but they family never knew. These were the only words of poetry he had ever spoken to Kendall but it stuck with him. The blond's brother had been a secretive soul but it was nothing the Saarinen's had noticed. He never admitted he wrote those words himself, that they were part of a much longer and intricate poem. He did not want to be home. He had craved the chance to leave long before Kendall had left. He had tried to tell Kendall this when the words were spoke but he the girl never understood. Now as he tried to place himself on the shore of Zeltiva he felt Kel standing with him. Just when Kendall could have sworn he heard the waves of Zeltiva crashing in his ears, he felt a shove from behind him. Letting out a short yelp he looked behind him to see Hadrian pushing him away from a statue, a moving statue. "Wha…" He was not sure what to do. His fire would do nothing to marble and neither would his sword. His skill in shielding would be useless here as well. For now, he would have to hold up the front of the group with Jin and Antony. If anything came to them he hoped to the Gods he could fight it off.

[Sondra]

Read his sins? Bastard knew full well what she'd been doing after he inundated her with his presence. He'd taken her up on the offer, and since she rarely bluffed, Sondra seized the opportunity. Caius Delucia, then. for being a purely neutral entity, he looked a bit of bad news. The pretty face and neat appearance only made her all the more suspicious. A grown man with no scars was not a person to be trusted. Sondra thought Eunoe was a curse, but Kendall’s relatives seemed truly “charming”. Finally, they were moving. She couldn’t have sat at the table and pitter pattered verbally for another instant. Antony’s sudden screech was the transition between imminent and present danger. Her hands were already reaching for her hammer, and her fingers were adjusting around the grip. At Hadrian’s quip, Konti fell into the expected role between them, the gruff answer to the pithy jibe. “Petch off, Hadrian. I’m hungry!” An inelegant but heartfelt battle cry as she propelled herself into the fight. Here was something she could almost understand. Since Avanthal, she’d given up on complicated plots. For all their threads, most games of power still ended in the crude simplicity of violence. Statues didn’t have much by way of guts and blood, so her usual brutal tactic of going straight for the head or chest, wasn’t going to yield the same drastic results. Bobbing under the grasping arms and sliding to the left, she aimed to swing her warhammer at the side of the nearest automaton’s knee. Whether it worked or not, at least she wasn’t sitting on her white ass waiting for marble fingers to close around flesh.

[Caelum]

Alander Jin was not accustomed to being protected. This was an individual who took care of himself (or herself as the case happened to be at present) and had long, long before ceased to consider the possibility that anyone else ever would bother to try. Thus when Hadrian shoved him back, urged him ahead to flee, he not for a moment thought it was an action of preservation for anything but the body he habited, a body belonging most rightfully to Hadrian’s lover. It had been with the same reasoning he approached the trio for assistance – he needed help, and so did they. It was a business brokering and little else. Of course, that was the kind of thinking that happened when you accidentally formed a friendship with a man you were supposed to be taking down. Especially if that man was of the likes of Caius Delucia. “JIN!” Came the bellowing again, full of unreleased fire. Its source was a shadow in the windows, a tall, black shape striding through the dining room they had recently vacated. All the candles on the table had gone out, leaving the grotto drenched in the star’s elflight alone. Jin’s heels skidded to a halt, a hand lashing out to snatch Kendall’s elbow, hauling him to a halt as the wind shifted in warning. A heartbeat later a scar-slashed, ebon-skinned man rounded the corner with naked steel in hand. He was out of breath, the whites of his eyes showing as he took in the mayhem. He waited a beat, eyes latching onto the shadow of the approaching Dastik, and seemed to come to a decision. He charged. OOCI trust y’all. Feel free to write the battle as you will. There are three attacking golems and one man with a khopesh trying to move through you. Do not write Dastik. He is not yet in the battle.

[Hadrian]

They were beset on all sides, it seemed, but Hadrian could not be everywhere at once. He had to assume that Alander Jin had some things up his sleeve, even if it was only that guessed at Projection. Kendall had a sword and Ivak's own fire. He could only hope that they could take care of the dark-skinned man and his sword, survive against who he supposed was this Caius Delucia, long enough for Hadrian to help Sondra with the golems. The last time an automaton had attempted to kill him, he had been in over his head on the isle of Sahova, but these were hardly as sophisticated as the work of Master Rela, may she rest in peace. But he had been unformed back then; now he realized how much he had grown in the year and more since they handed him that certificate at the University of Zeltiva. He had learned mostly theoretical, experimental magic there. Out in the world, he learned the practical disciplines, honing them to a higher degree of power and skill. In Sahova, he had only known the power of Water. Now he had a couple more up his sleeve. Unfortunately for the walking slabs of marble, Earth was one of them. With an aggressive flick of the wrist, a rope of green, glowing res flung out like a wary viper to fence with one of the approaching golems. Its 'head' split into four, hydra-like, and each snaked around a major joint, shoulders and hips, until the monster was cuffed in his energies. Then with a twist of his will, the hungry res shredded the marble within their bounds, toppling the golem, tearing it limb from limb. It may not have been completely destroyed, but it certainly was no threat to them now. But Hadrian was already sweating. This was quick and powerful precision work, but that is what he had spent all that time training for, and now danger was well and nigh. Breathing heavily, he turned toward the other golems that were closing in on Sondra.

[Kendall Saarinen]

The voice made shivers run down Kendall's spine, although it would have been strange if it didn't. This had been one of the most frightening events the blond had been faced with other than the obvious happenings in Zeltiva. He was unsure of how to react but there was not time to be unsure. This was the time to act.

Kendall felt a tug at his arm as the candles all went out. The lack of fire, as well as light made him more than uncomfortable. Things would keep worsening though. Why would they not? Kendall always knew that the horrible things that had happened to him could not have been the last. He tried not to think about it but in truth, the accident had always seemed a bit too well thought out to be just that, an accident. He did not want to believe anything was going to come from it but here he was, deep in trouble once more.

The sight of the knopesh was unsettling to say the least. Kendall was not very skilled with his sword but with the man charging forward with a weapon of his own, he had little choice but to pull his sword out and try to at least block the swing. He was more comfortable with magic but the only magic that would help him now would be shielding and there was no way he was going to be able to defend himself with a shield. He was not skilled enough.

"Get back." He could not help but be protective of Jin. The man was in Kendall's body after all. Kendall pulled his sword out, putting all of his focus into making sure his arms would be sturdy enough to hold back a blow from the man's Knopesh. Kendall's time working at the stables had earned him a bit of muscle but he had to hope it would be enough to hold the man back with enough time to get his res released and create fire. With the candles out, he had much less of an advantage.

Kendall's mind retreated back to training with Jaelyn. She was much better with weapons and for good reason. She was a squire after all. He readied himself as the man ran into him, using all of his strength told the man back with his own sword. There was a hitch in his plans though. He could not let go of the hilt of his sword without letting the man swing through and hurt him. The plan of using reimancy was seeming to be less and less likely.

Kendall knew that he could not hold the man back forever, nor would the man keep in his current position for too much longer. He needed to think of something else. His teeth clenched as he he thought. Then it came to him. He had seen Ethan release his Res from his chest and back when he had started his trek to Syliras he had been able to release it from his mouth. Granted, the release from his mouth had been a complete accident but he could attempt to use it now.

The man pulled his knopesh back once more to ready himself for a swing. Kendall watched carefully, although he was not fast enough to block the second swing. He tried to dodge, jumping out of the way, but the blade skimmed across his side. The blonde fell to the floor, holding his side tightly. The wound had not been too deep, which means it would not kill him, but it still hurt and bled. The man was getting closer and Kendall did the only thing he could think to do. He released his Res and ignited it. Focused the fire forward, toward the man in an attempt to knock him back or at least falter him enough to get a good swing in with his sword. Sadly, Kendall had not been in too many fights. He was running completely on instinct.

[Sondra]

Stone did not give as well as flesh and Sondra felt her blow jangle the bones in her wrists. The marbleI’ll have you know I looked up a density table of marble vs. iron cracked but it wasn’t a spectacular obliteration. Shyke, this was going to take a while. Sondra let the swing’s initial momentum fling her to the side as a pendulum. The golem tilted and stretched for her as she scrambled away, before turning outright. Its off kilter motions put pressure on the cracked joint, exasperating what her hammer had begun. Her shuffle could only move so far from its reach, as one of its mates was moving ponderously closer. The hobbled golem fell forward but was undaunted in its purpose. It raked the ground, pulling itself toward her. Behind her she heard the insistent thud of another golem. Mercifully the one to her left was being torn asunder in a style she could only envy. Petching mages, able to stand apart from the mess. If her enemies weren’t made of bloodless stone, this would have been a lot easier. Making a quick call, she fled the crawling golem and met the ambling one head on. It was slow but its tells were obscured by its artificial limbs. The predictability of muscles and gestures was a brawler’s best friend. Here, the subtle wind-ups and direction of the eyes were lost. She didn’t have the luxury of letting the golem get in a single blow unless she could live without a skull. Run it, veer left. She raised her hammer across her chest, without stopping her charge. Passing the golem on the left, she used a braced leg as a pivot for her diagonal swing to the back of the golem’s knee.

[Caelum]

Kendall ignited the courtyard with his reimancy, throwing the shadows of flames across moss slathered stones. Flames licked the khopesh-wielding Gibran with stolen tongues, soliciting a strangled, high pitched cry from the massive man. He stumbled backwards -- abruptly clumsy -- and thwacked at the scorched air with his sword. The dizzy gesticulations spun him toward Hadrian and through the moisture leeching marble dust of the golem the wizard had dismembered and destroyed. When Kendall fell bleeding to the ground, Alander moved. It was with the flip of the dagger in her hand while a golem screamed with marble’s mouth (statues were ever seamed with scars). A knee hit the flag stones, head bowing in a tumble of dark hair, and with a swift, driving motion so precise it was remarkable in a body not rightfully her own, she slammed the pommel into Kendall’s temple. Dastik took shape in the dining room door way, broad shouldered and tall, long, dark haired silvered and braided. His expression was one of increasing outrage, and as it grew so did a scurrying and snuffling in the underbrush of the grotto in a insect song not unlike that of cicadas. “Down!” Alander cried. She did not mean get down, but rather look down for from the fours corners of the grotto came dozens of mechanized, metal bugs skittering and scuttling. The passage of their multitude legs rang like rain on a tin roof and beetles and spiders, ladybugs and centipedes surged toward the outlanders programmed with a life principle of death.

[Hadrian]

His mastery of Earth extended to metals, too, so he figured he could yank the khopesh out of the man's hands, or send a wave of distortion through the bug things and make them inoperable, but he was tiring quickly and didn't particularly want to slip into the throes of overgiving. Of course, he didn't particularly want to die either. Down, Alander had said. Well, he would thank him for the tip, but he wished the man would do something. Hadrian couldn't fight the feeling that they were being put into crisis to be more easily led, but he couldn't follow the logic too far while fighting for his life. He wasn't exactly a battlemage. But extrusive globes of greenish res collected about his fists in preparation for some sort of decisive effort. How many waves of attack he could manage, though, he wasn't sure. "Do you have a plan?" he asked sharply, turning his head toward the man in Kendall's body. That's when he noticed. "Kendall?"