Quest Into the Heart of the Kierra Doma

[Celeste Arumen]

Celeste walked slightly in front, visibly wary of the fog. Her eyes flickered hither and yon, nostrils flaring, straining to catch any foul stench on the air. She didn’t seem very interested in small talk with Annalisa; no, this was not exactly a social invitation, not for either of them. However, she did feel the need to ask: ”So is this a part of the plan you mentioned? The one to undermine Daren’s support?” As she remembered, Anna had said something of that before, though she’d been intentionally vague on the details. Perhaps this was why. For all she knew, it was Annalisa who’d recommended she accompany her into this valley of despair.

’But I thought she was your friend,’ Illia said quietly, somewhere in the back of her mind. The familiar hiccupped along behind them, keeping watch where she could. ’I don’t know about that, Illia.’ She replied. And truly, she didn’t. What else was there to say?

The shadows that played about the walls made her tense. Celeste didn’t like the thought of a veiled enemy. But in the thick fog, that was precisely what they’d be. It was especially uncomfortable that she couldn’t see her feet. Thoughts of things that slithered and crawled began to torment her, but she did her best to ignore them. Fear was a greater foe than anything they’d manage to encounter.

Light caught her eye, winking out of the darkness. She turned to look at it. But the moment she did, it was gone. That was odd. Celeste kept walking, scanning what little could be seen of the area. Whatever it was, it’d reveal itself in short order. And sure enough, the occasional winking turned into a steady gleam. ’Silk?’ She thought just a tick before realizing. There was only one sort of creature that produced silk and spun webs.

”Egh,” she groaned as they walked further, walking awkwardly upon the strands. They left her unsteady, forcing her to pry up one foot at a time. It didn’t seem to have a real consequence as of yet. And strangely, Celeste could only think of what a substance like that might do when broken down in a philter. It could be a useful component in an adhesive material, like glue.

Clicking. Slowly, warily, Celeste turned to look behind her.

Nothing.

They kept walking, though a sense of foreboding began to take over. Those sounds were made by failbeasts most likely - ones keen on staying out of sight. The young girl raised a brow in agitation and slowly released a terror-laden breath. ’Stay calm,’ she thought in silence. ’It’s going to be fine.’ But the sound began swelling and in turn, she began to grit her teeth.

Wait. Were they speaking? Amidst the noise, there was… A pattern?

She peered up at the first voice and nearly jumped out of her skin at second, turning to face the giant spider. It seemed to be intent on her.

Oh man. This was going well. ’Pity I can’t turn into a spider,’ she thought sarcastically.

”Kierra Doma,” she said, raising both her hands peaceably. ”We’re here to see Kierra Doma. We’re not here to hurt you.”

Unless of course, they had no other choice.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna resisted the urge to draw res to blow away the mist slowly enveloping the pair, feeling an eerie chill creep up her spine as she gazed up into the sky. The light of the sun was filtered down in a reddish tint, making this seem like a descent into such a horror beyond all possible imagining. Amaryllis wanted her to become the initiate here? In this place where reality seemed to fray on the side of insanity? What kind of person lived here, what kind of person could care for such a place?

Celeste’s voice brought her to reality once more, her grey eyes darkening slightly and her gaze purposely avoiding the initiate’s. How could she even bring herself to explain this whole thing? To explain this tangled web she was weaved into, this plot of Amaryllis’ and her regret that Celeste was the one to follow her into this domain? The words caught in her throat in a lump, her resolve coiling away from her heart and sorrow clutching at it like a vice. No, Celeste was owed an explanation, petch Amaryllis’ word about having no friends. Celeste was the closest thing she had to one.

“Yes. It is. Amaryllis wishes me to attempt to become the initiate to Kierra Doma. I-I didn’t know she was intending on you being the one to escort me, Celeste. I’m so sorry our association has so damned you.” Anna answered, still unable to look upon the girl.

Silence fell between the pair once more and Anna actually felt worse for it, feeling as though the girl was silently accusing her for being torn from the loving arms of her Mistress. What had happened to her resolve? Where was the preparation to end the girl’s life if need presented itself? She hadn’t felt this bad since she had betrayed Velia, stealing her work and feeding their friendship to the fires. It appeared that solidarity was her curse, that she was destined to destroy the lives of those around her.

As they continued to walk Anna noted a strange shimmering sticky substance glistening in the red light, vanishing from view as she walked and reappearing every now and again. She focused upon it, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the substance. It looked like silk, much like what made up the material of her robes. What was it doing covering the walls? Why was it there?

The silk stuck to her footwear as they walked ever further, actually requiring Anna to put some effort into lifting her feet in the motion of walking. What the petch was this silk doing covering the ravine? Why was it even here and more importantly, what had made it? This was beyond bizarre; it was starting to cause the hairs on the back of her neck stand on in. She suddenly actually did not want to know what had made this substance. Part of her was actually curious as to how easily it could burn, discarding the thought for another time and place.

“Well, this is odd isn’t? Maybe whatever made this isn’t around anymore?” Anna suggested, her tone overly optimistic.

Soon clicking filled the air all around the little party, causing Anna to glance around warily and with narrowed eyes. That sounded decidedly not good for them, this mist was far too obscuring and she really wanted to just try to blow it aside to see what was out there. She held back again, reminding herself that she needed to conserve her Djed for actual threats rather than childish fears of the unknown. She needed to be strong.

The clicking stopped and was replaced with some strange kind of rudimentary speech, they sounded to be formed like an inquiry. The dark haired sorceress followed the source of the question when it was repeated, grey eyes slowly widening in the sheerest terror as she beheld the sight before her. A large spider crawled out from the mist, its legs as thick as Celeste’s arm and its eyes gleaming in a strange kind of intelligence. Its mouth parts moved grotesquely as it articulated its speech to the Morpher, its attention upon her.

Anna’s muscles seized up in a form of fear induced paralysis, her expression one of wide eyed terror at the sight before her and the realization of what was probably all around her. Those clicking and voices… they had walked into a nest of massive spiders, right into their clutches. She couldn’t have drawn res into her hands at the moment if she tried, she was too afraid.

When she had been a little girl she had stumbled into a web and gotten a large spider in her hair, the incident while harmless had enforced a certain crippling phobia of spiders. Now she felt like that little girl again, not the powerful sorceress that could destroy armies with a flick of her wrist but that little child sobbing into her mother’s arms. She was surrounded by the creatures, stuck in their web like a fly and thus she was trapped.

Celeste’s words drew her slightly from her stupor, but not entirely. She tried to find her words but they caught in her throat, only escaping as an undignified squeak followed by a shaky nod of her head to confirm the girl’s words. Intelligent giant spiders, clearly Lhex was laughing uproariously in his office and wiping tears from his eyes in mirth. Cruel bastard.

[Mirage]

From the darkened tunnels all around more glittering eyes could be seen. More spiders began to make their presence known, all of various sizes though only a few were as large as the one that spoke to Celeste. They crawled out of the tunnels, creeped down the walls, and some even began to scramble from the fog at their feet as well, scrambling up the wall to get a better vantage of the scene.

The spiders clattered to one another once more, the name of the Heartlands Warden seeming to excite them. After they had quieted down somewhat the largest spider spoke slowly, the clicking sounds resolving themselves into very broken, and hard to understand common, "Krierra Dokmma... S-seknt youks...?" More excited chattering around, the spiders on the walls slowly creeping down lower, "Shek not senkt upwalklers in many sunks. Thraknaka not tastke upwalkler feshk in many sunks." The creatures clattered furiously now, eagerly coming closer, ready to feast on the meal that they believed the Warden had so graciously sent them. More and more began to file out of the caves and crawl down the walls. Enough that should it come to a fight, Anna and Celeste would be overwhelmed with sheer numbers.

OOCNow thats what I call a "sticky Situation"

[Celeste Arumen]

If Celeste had an opinion on the matter, she didn’t say. The truth ran deeper than Annalisa realized. She’d damned herself for starters, so there was no need to lay the blame elsewhere. And thanks to her close relationship with Riyanna, she was as good as dead. No, it was not the Heartlands that her Master had been afraid of. It was Kierra Doma. She’d slaughtered an initiate before; who was to say she wouldn’t do it again?

As for the spiders, it took a second to register just what they had said. The apprentice stared for a tick before her eyes darted to Annalisa. Gods. Now was not the time to be paralyzed by fear. She was suddenly reminded of a mouse frozen by the gaze of a snake. Not to say that she blamed her. At the mention of “upwalker flesh” her blood ran cold.

”No, she didn’t send us to you.” Celeste gestured broadly and slowly, hoping to make them understand. ”We’re being sent to her. If you eat us now, before we see her, she might be mad.” She took deep, languid breaths, hoping to slow her pulse. After her recent flirtation with death, it was better safe than sorry. Now was certainly not the time for a heart attack.

”We need to find Kierra Doma. Can you help us? If you ask nicely, maybe she’ll let you eat us. Otherwise, she might come and burn down your webs.” She looked at the spider closest. Sure, she might be able to take that one, but there was no way in Eyktol they could handle them all. Especially not if Annalisa was going catatonic over there.

Illia, cheerful as always, sat by her side. ”Why would you want to get eaten, Master?” The cat blinked, clearly confused. Celeste winced. ”Illia, shush.” But wait – there was an idea. Didn’t Kierra have a familiar too?

”See? I am like Kierra Doma.” She jabbed a finger at the purple ball of fluff. ”That is my familiar, Illia. We are alike.” She held up her bronze apprentice’s ring. ”See?”

Ionu help them if her ploy didn’t work.

[Annalisa Marin]

So this was how she died eh? Devoured in a nest of spiders, talk about inglorious. She still was having difficulty forming coherent thoughts, her mind freezing up as the creatures crept closer with the intent to feast upon her flesh. Her magic was non-functional for the moment, as it was not death that so scared it but the idea of dying like this certainly frightened her. She, the powerful reimancer who could rend the natural world to her whims was reduced to fear at this. Then again, who wouldn't have been scared in the face of this kind of demise.

As Celeste started talking Anna focused upon what she was doing, trying to get them out of this mess by explaining the situation. Something she should be adding her own tongue to the task, yet instead she stood still and frozen in place with widened grey eyes staring straight ahead. The tall dark haired woman felt something tugging at her mind, something willing her to move to action. It took a moment for her to realize what it was, it was the knowledge that if she died here she would fail Rhysol. No... she couldn't fail him, that prospect was far more frightening and soul numbing than a nest of giant flesh eating spiders.

She didn't fully regain her composure however she did have some wits about her, already realizing how poor their situation was as she glanced around. Theoretically it might have been possibly to create an inferno that radiated out from her body and consumed everything around her, however the strands beneath her feet were probably flammable. Even if they weren't overwhelmed they would probably burn to death, so really talking was the only way out of this.

A ghost of a smile played at her lips as Celeste used her familiar to complete her deception, so Anna opted to add her own knowledge into the ploy. Kierra was supposedly a very powerful reimancer after all, so perhaps the spiders might back off a bit more if they noticed one of their victims controlled that power. Her mind was still a bit in turmoil, but it was clear enough for the tiniest of draws to display some control over reimancy. Anna tugged at the tapestry of her being, unraveling a small strand from it as she lifted a finger.

Purple translucent res formed at an ungodly fast speed, coating the digit in the vital liquid near the tip. Anna forced the res upwards and willed a quick transmutation upon the outer layer just above her finger. A small flickering purple flame was born, no larger than a candle light. Still it would serve its purpose well enough to serve as a deterrent. Hopefully.

"Indeed. I rather doubt the Warden would like our 'Upwalker flesh' being spoiled before we reached her. She might be... displeased. She might even want us for herself, probably not a good idea to rob her of two potential meals." Anna said, her tone a little shaken still but she spoke quickly to aid Celeste.

The Sorceress let out a silent prayer to Rhysol, hoping that their little deception would get them the petch past this trial. She hadn't come this far just to die in the literal front entrance, she still had work that remained unfinished in this life. The tall woman still had yet to regain the full measure of her composure, but she appeared more prepared to actually contribute to getting out of here. Whether that was fear driven desperation or courage was another matter entirely.

[Mirage]

e
The biggest spider seemed to give Celeste's words some thoughts, though that did not stop the others from slowly advancing. Nervous and excited clicks came from all around them, the creatures closing in, creeping closer and closer until...

The big spider clacked furiously, gurgling and waving away some of the smaller spiders that were about to crawl up Celeste's legs. Then it turned its attention back to Celeste, its mandibles rubbing together as he contemplated its response, "Kierra Dokma... Not sendk yoku..." It seemed to be processing all of this information, taking quite some time to form a complete opinion on the matter. It eyed Illia with its many glossy orbs for a moment before continuing, Not wankt angerd Kierra Dokma... Not wankt to takek her foodk. Webs takek lonkg tikme to makek." Around them the spiders clattered furiously, obviously upset that they might lose a meal. Looking around him the lead spider said, "Butk childrenk hungerk for Upwalkler feshkt." Some ticks passed as the creature continued to think and ponder this seemingly impossible situation. On one hand he did not want to risk angering the Warden, but on the other his children were hungry. If he did not feed them there was a good chance they might eat him instead. Finally he seemed to come to a decision, and he crawled closer to Celeste, "We letk yoku pass... Butk yoku mustk do somethink for Thraknaka. Bringk back food for children from Heartlands... Bringk back food, or we eatk yoku insteadk."

That seemed to be the last of the negotiations, and the spiders then began to pull back. They crawled back into their holes and up the canyon walls, disappearing in the mist once more. Thus Anna and Celeste found themselves once more owing a favor to someone else. This time it was to bring back enough food for the spiders of the ravine, or risk becoming a meal themselves...

The rest of the journey would be a peaceful one, relatively. The webs were still present, and from time to time they might notice a gleam of eyes or a hairy leg, but they would not be bothered again. As they drew closer to their destination though, an odd feeling would begin to sweep over them. Celeste would notice it only slightly. A soft pressure on her shoulders, her limbs were a bit wearier than they should have been, but beyond that it could easily be ignored. For Anna, however, every step that she took would begin to feel exhausting. Her body grew weaker, her limbs heavier. It even became harder for her to breath. It was like something was eating away at her, and the closer they got the stronger it become. Finally the cliff walls on either side widened, opening up to reveal a dense treeline. Before them was a foggy forest of evergreens, the trees standing tall and proud in the red light. The woods seemed healthy, and full of life. Insects buzzed, and there even appeared to be a bit of wildlife, small rodents that scurried through the brush. Before them were three trails leading into the woods, completely identical in every way. One headed to the north, the next headed to the east, and the final one headed south east.

Standing in the grass of the Heartlands Anna would feel as though she had suffered some severe illness that was only just beginning to pass. Her body was heavy, weak and sluggish, and there was a dull throb at the back of her head. Strangest of all, if she tried to use her reimancy at all she would find it nearly impossible to draw on her res, and what little she could draw too considerable time and effort. Before her eyes her res would be sucked away, slipping through her fingers, making it so that no matter how much she produced she would only have access to about half of her usual amount. Her power was cut in half in this pace, somehow devoured by the Heartlands itself...

The two would be left with but a tick or two to ponder their decision, two paths before them. Celeste, for whatever reason, would move to the path on the left. She paused at the at the entrance, slowly sticking her head into the darkness as if to look around, and in a blink she was simply gone, vanished as though she had never been there at all. There was no trace, not a wisp of hair remained. Where she went, no one could be sure.

Anna was left alone. Would she take the path after Celeste, or would she take the right path instead? One was obviously dangerous, the other offered some small amount of security. The choice was hers.

OOCSince Celeste has not responded to PM's, or logged on, or posted in more than a month we will be continuing on with this quest without her. If you come back please feel free to PM me Celeste and we will reinstate you
e

[Annalisa Marin]

It was over then; this was where she was going to die and how it was all going to end for the Chaon Sorceress Annalisa Marin. She had always hoped that her death would be something glorious, a blaze of chaotic fury that would further Rhysol’s goals in this world. Instead she was to become spider food, petching spider food; there was nothing glorious about that only a sick and cold irony. She was already pondering her chances of bringing the rocks tumbling down around them, just to escape this petching place or at least die with some dignity intact.

However that seemed to no longer be an issue as the spider waved off its fellows and Anna breathed a sigh of relief that it fear for Kierra Doma outweighed its hunger to a degree. She intended to personally shake the warden’s hand if she lived to meet her… possibly without a friendly little curse for all the trouble she was going through. However it appeared that she and Celeste were not out of the woods yet. These things wanted some kind of compensation on the way out, a tribute that they could feast upon in place of both Celeste and Anna. The sorceress only all too eagerly nodded, agreeing to this condition. She’d burn down half of the Heartlands if it meant she could walk out of this alive.

The spiders cleared the way and allowed the pair to pass, which Anna wasted no time it doing with her steps slightly more rushed than before. She kept her mouth shut and would respond to any mockery from Celeste if it came with a frosty glare. The glistening webs and the clacking were still there as they travelled but Anna tried to pretend they were indeed not there. Which became all the more easy when a wave of exhaustion suddenly slammed into the sorceress, causing her breath to come in short gasps and her vision to blur a little bit as she held her stomach when she walked.

It didn’t seem to affect Celeste, but for Anna it was awful and every step closer to the exit of the ravine was like one hundred similar steps. It was like something up ahead was literally unraveling her energy and sucking it dry, siphoning off of the dark haired woman. It wasn’t painful per say but it felt petching awful, enough to where she had needed to stop a couple of times and hold up a hand to stop Celeste from going too far ahead.

“Something, ah, is not right about this place. I-I feel drained…” Anna said, her speech starting to slur and she could swear there were spots dancing before her eyes as she forced herself forward.

Finally they exited the ravine and before them were a few paths to choose from leading into the forest beyond, vibrant with wildlife. Anna had to admit that in the red light shining down it was beautiful, something so alive in a place normally so very dead. Magnificent, though that didn’t solve her problem of feeling utterly and completely drained to the degree that she could barely form a coherent thought. It was worse than it had been in the ravine, her body sluggish and slow and a dull throb aching at the back of her mind.

In an effort to clear her head Anna rose up her hand and focused upon the pool of Djed within herself, that tapestry that defined her being. She tried to will it to unravel, but rather than the normal ease that was almost as easy as sneezing this time she had to actually put effort behind the drawing. Her face became a mask of concentration as she pushed the Djed out from her body to form a purple translucent gas that bled out from her pores. Almost as quickly as the little bit of res was formed it was sucked away in the air of the Heartlands, causing Anna’s eyes to widen.

That-that shouldn’t have been possible, she was being sucked dry of her res and denied its power by the very land around her. It was something that essentially crippled the tall sorceress, like removing one of her arms. It was her primary form of offense and now she had to concentrate heavily just to draw enough res to form a simple firebolt, which most certainly boded ill for the pair. Fortunately Anna noted Celeste seemed somewhat unaffected by this place, for whatever reason.

The girl would move off to the path on the left and Anna moved slowly to follow her, opening her mouth to let out a witty remark about their situation. Then, before the tall woman’s very eyes, Celeste simply vanished into thin air after reaching out to the darkness in the path. It took a tick for the disappearance to properly register in Anna’s brain, but when it did it was all Anna could to do to stumble back away and fall upon her arse as she did so.

“C-Celeste?” Anna called at first, fear lacing her normally confident tone.

No response. No sign of Celeste ever having existed. She was still gone.

“Celeste! Celeste!! Where are you!? This isn’t funny, please come out!” Anna cried, her tone taking on a near frantic edge as she scrambled to her feet and approached the path where Celeste had disappeared.

There was nothing, her companion was gone and it was like she had never existed. The tall woman checked the ground where the girl had stood, wondering if she had perhaps somehow switched forms into something tiny instantly. There was still nothing and Anna was left simply staring where the girl had been, grey eyes wide with fear and her mind starting to fray. This place was completely and utterly without logic or reason, it was as though she had stepped into the nightmare of a long maddened mind.

Anna was torn, she wanted to pursue Celeste, to toss aside Amaryllis’ teachings and search for the girl that she was supposed to be the friend of. She wanted to prove to her soul that she was not so wholly evil, that she was capable of something good to stave off the nightmares. However she was also afraid that if she did the same she would vanish as Celeste did, to an unknown fate. Anna swallowed hard and glanced at the opposite path as she literally reached a crossroads in her journey. To be loyal to a friend, or to continue the mission.

“I-I I’m sorry Celeste. I’m so sorry, please forgive me.” Anna said, her tone sounding small and weak.

Tears threatened to sting at Anna’s eyes as she was torn between the two choices, knowing full well that within her cowardly heart there could only ever be one choice. The mission, it was her only chance to survive upon Sahova any longer and if she abandoned it then she was as good as dead. So once more Annalisa Marin bit at the bittersweet fruits of betrayal, her feet heading towards the path away from the one Celeste had disappeared down. Her sluggish movements were ponderous and made her look far older than she really was, but still she continued on with sorrow crushing at her heart. She was alone now.

[Mirage]

As Anna moved down the opposite path the the trees around her seemed to press in, and within a few chimes she could no longer see the path behind her due to the brush and foliage blocking it from view. The trees themselves were odd. Their trunks were black and their leaves varying shades of red or gold. Large roots jutted up from the ground, crossing over the worn trail in many places, and the roots of different trees often intertwined, forming connections as if they all stemmed from one plant. There was a faint whisper in the wind, the sound strangely similar to voices calling back to one another. Sometimes the trees would sway slightly, or a branch might move and shakes its leaves, causing waving shadows to scatter over the ground. The odd part was that at times when these sorts of things happened there would be no wind at all.

The sense of time in this place was completely nonexistent. The lighting never changed, the weather, the surroundings, everything was starkly unchanging, identical from tick to tick. A chime might have felt like a bell, and one could easily think they had been walking for a few bells and instead find several days had past. The only true indication was the level of fatigue and hunger that would eventually crowd the mind.

Over time Annalisa would find she could walk more easily. Her breathing would begin to return to normal, the terrible weight that before was crushing started to lift. Her body was beginning to become used to the environment, but there was still a level of fatigue and weariness. Her reimancy though would still be affected. She could not draw on as much power as normal, and at best she could perform competent spells with extreme focus.

Eventually Anna would come before another divide, and three paths would lay before her. At the mouth of each path there was a sign with a cryptic message:

Left Path

Doubt others, question yourself.

Right Path

Talent is born, not created.

Middle Path

Strength and Power are an illusion. There is only victory.

Annalisa would have to choose one of the three paths to continue. Which spoke to her more?

[Annalisa Marin]

The press of the foliage was stifling to the tall woman as she stumbled along the path, fighting back the tears and trying to focus upon her goal. She would survive, she would defeat this place and return to the Citadel and have all those that doubted her stand in awe of her ability. Daren’s blood would warm her fingers as she would offer his pathetic heart to Rhysol, she could not fail her lord and master when she was so close. Celeste was no longer with her, but she was not alone really, she was never alone so long as she possessed Rhysol’s blood upon her flesh.

The Heartlands were strange, maddening really if Anna were entirely honest with herself as aspects of its existence seemed to defy the outside world. The path behind were was swallowed up and the passage of time seemed almost non-existent to the woman as she walked, strange and faint whispers filling the air and then vanishing just as she attempted to hear them. Nothing changed about the terrain; nothing gave any indication of how long she had been travelling in this particular direction. It had only felt like chimes but for all she knew it could have been bells.

One thing Anna did know was that her body was slowly adjusting to the Heartlands, her fatigue slowly wearing away as she walked along through the thick press of black trees. She still felt that calling upon her res would take a great deal of effort, meaning that it would be even more vital for her to conserve her spells. She likely still possessed access to all elements; it was just the amount of power she could field that had been stunted. It wasn’t a large comfort but it was something at the very least as it meant her options were not terribly limited.

As her steps carried her along, much more smooth than it had been before the sorceress strode into another divide with signs marking each path. Upon each sign was a cryptic saying and the tall woman felt her eyebrows rise by a fraction, not having expected signs to be found in the place outside of time. It was clear that Anna had reached another choice that needed to be made, another path that needed to be chosen for her to advance. The question was, were these signs meant for her personally or did they reflect someone else’s beliefs?

The woman looked at each sign in its turn, drumming at her tight idly as she pondered her proper response in regards to what she would chose. The first her eyes moved over was the one that spoke of Strength and Power having no meaning, with Victory being all that mattered. Anna’s mouth downturned slightly, her mind attempting to make sense of such a statement. Strength and Power were means of achieving Victory; they were tools and thus served an ultimate purpose in Anna’s mind. Her magic for instance had given her the Strength and Power to succeed in her Examination.

Next she looked upon talent being born and not created and that seemed odd to her as well, her eyes closing as she pondered it. Talent, that was something Anna herself possessed but it was also fostered over time and through that passage of time she became more talented than many. She had been born unremarkable and common, nothing out of the ordinary about her. Nothing magnificent or glorious, a simple quite origin that had grown into something more over time. She had not been born with the talent she now possessed; she had carved it out for herself overtime.

The last sign possessed a saying Anna found resonated well within her mind and soul after having spent time upon Sahova, indeed having spent so long as a Wizard. To doubt others and to question herself, she very much doubted others and their motivations. As Amaryllis had often told her, she had no friends, only tools or allies and she could not afford to trust anyone. She questioned herself, her true ability and the extent of how far they went. She had once questioned who she was, and in some ways she still did. In that she was ever learning, out of all the signs that one bore the most truth to the tall sorceress. With this in mind the tall woman chose the left path, her steps moving in that direction and down that path to whatever lay beyond.

[Mirage]

The path was just like the path before. Unchanging, uninteresting. There were not distinct markings or landmarks that Anna could use to find her way back, though since it continued on in a straight line that was little problem at all. Eventually she would find the path opening up into another clearing which was roughly 20 feet in diameter, and a perfect circle. The fog here was thicker, completely covering the ground and somehow flowed up the trees to create a twisting wall of smoke that blocked any other possible paths out.

A rustling sound would come from behind Anna, and the path she had come from would suddenly be gone, fog covering where it might have been but there was no way to tell exactly where it had been in the first place.

"You're a murderer." the voice came from behind her, and when she turned she would see... herself. A perfect copy of how she looked this day from her attire to her hair and voice. Misty fog clung to her clothing and as she walked in slowly to the side she sneered, "Your pathetic, and afraid because you know how powerless you really are. You have no friends and no allies because you betrayed them all. The only thing you have to look forward to is death to end your miserable life that is just a lie. You hate yourself more than anyone else. Pathetic weakling."