by Elias Caldera on July 8th, 2014, 1:44 am
It had been something that had dawned on him early on during the boat ride. From there, it had only continued to grow more and more prevalent amongst his other thoughts, even while he continued to banter with the morpher. By the time they had reached the shore, the unanswered question was truly starting to bother the young mage.
His eyes fell upon the Nitrozian as she gave them all a curt greeting and equally unsavory explanation of what had went afoul here. He didn't know Amanda in particular, and never had he truly heard of her exploits either, but he knew of the family, and so the mage showed his respect none the less with a courteous but restrained bow of his head. She was likely more inclined on resolving her embarrassing break out than concerning herself with a stranger's politeness, so there was little need to make a proper or elegant scene out of their already wordless introduction. He did however, graciously accept the assortment of leather leashes handed to him by the pair of handlers under he command. It wasn't long before they were all conveniently looped and secured around his belt, as he had little where else to store them. He could have outfitted Redd with a few as well he pondered, but Elias was fairly certain the fact that she was still human was just a courtesy at this point. It was hard enough to keep her out of her wolf's form when there wasn't call for it, gods forbid he ever manage to keep her a regular woman when came a serious and dire need for her other half like there was today. Nevertheless, there was an unfortunate amount of concern surrounding her ability to restrain herself while she hunted in her feral figure, one her master wasn't quite certain she would ever overcome as quickly and as smoothly as he would have preferred. Disappointing surely, but not nearly as disappointing as when the ex-apprentice learned that the bulk of their task would keep them squarely indoors as well. He had come expecting escapees fleeing all across the rolling hills and through the dense forests. It was there that his bestial slave could shine, not cooped up in the dingy, sterile hallways of the research institute itself.
Frowning, he also relented to the fact that the bow and the quiver full of arrows he had brought along were also handicapped. Regrettably, Elias just wasn't nearly good enough for his shots to start turning corners, not yet anyway. Still lamenting over its early retirement, the bow had remained in the boat, untouched in the rucksack. His longsword however, had already found its place firmly at his side, sheathed but almost eager for action. He respected the lead researcher's request without any hidden reservations of course -they had clearly been brought in to contain, not exterminate- but that still didn't mean the ravokian was going to get himself killed wrestling an alligator or playing chicken with a bull. These were just animals after all, no matter what the price tag on their collars, or the scientific value of their blood, and Elias refused to endanger himself or his own property more than necessary just to see their poked and prodded hides thrown back into the cages they were born in. If he had to kill, he would.
That unflinching truth was what had led the young man to the issue that continued to plague him even after reaching the shore. It came back to the question he had originally asked himself; 'why me?' As he studied the rest of the motley cleanup crew Acolyte Grey had assembled, it was easy to find reasons for most of the others. In total there were five among them who were actually associated with the forces that ruled Ravok. Trained in combat and other useful talents no doubt, but Elias knew it was the masked apprentice in particular who would likely play the largest role in the coming capture and reclamation of the research center. Fear, more than anything, was likely the weapon of choice right then and there. There was Inoadar's poison, naturally, but unless he had another half a dozen or so blow guns hidden away in his pockets, there was little else as reliable in the delivery. No, Elias was confident it would come down to a few awe inspiring fire shows here, a couple of wandering, fear filled thoughts there, and just a general sense of overwhelming hopelessness in the face of a mage and his magic that would prove the deciding factor in this little round up of theirs. That being said, with his resources already limited as they were before having even entered the fray, Elias wasn't above accepting a few does of the Wildleash 'Parnell' was handing out. He gave the man a cold and neutral nod while taking a few and stuffing them gingerly into his pockets. It was accompanied with a steady glare in the absence of words, that if it could have translated, would have said 'this better work.'
Aside from the Sun and the Stryfe and the supply of wildleash, that just left Daegron and Elias, the two of whom seemed particularly out of place amidst the roll call of others they were grouped with. Was this a test, or was it just the powers that be deciding that whatever awaited them within those secret filled walls was not worth wasting the lives of real soldiers on? He had spied more than a few of the facility's staff milling about or stationed as lookouts in order to spot any further attempts at escape by the creatures trapped within what was once their place of employ. While there were indeed more than a couple magic users among the small group, what was it they could do that the large staff of fully trained handlers couldn't alone? He stared at the fenced buildings for a long while as Amanda answered the questions of the group, with an obviously excitable Daegron's list in particular covering a wide variety of topics right off the bat. Their numbers and the layout of the battle zone they were about walk into would indeed be helpful.
While the others talked, Elias took the time to beckon Redd over with a commanding twitch of his finger. "Remember what I said, Redd." He said, his hands falling the young slave’s shoulders. He had warned her once, had had warned her twice, but still, today was important to Elias, and so she would receive a third. Removing the kelvic's gifted scarf to reveal the collar hidden beneath, he continued. “It is likely to grow hectic in there, but I am confident you can handle yourself, all you need do is keep your emotions and your priorities in check.” He leaned in close then, close enough that his breath washed across her ear. "Let the wolf guide you, never control you. Loyalty, obedience, restraint.” Said the djed in the end, pulled from the depths, then shaped and molded as is flowed from the tip of his tongue to where they would eventually bury themselves amidst the deepest parts of her inner thoughts. Simple and weakly executed suggestions on their own, but to Redd, who hung on her master's wisdom, their impact would still prove suitably substantial enough. With a click of the key, the locked contraption fell away from her throat, freeing the shape shifter from the bindings that denied her transformation. This would likely become her most important test to date, and though the brindled hair slave was only newly marked, Elias was still thoroughly convinced it would not be her fidelity that would waver, even in the face of seeing her kind caged and experimented on. Instead, he feared something else entirely would give way first. "Make you master proud."
With that done, unless the conversation eventually broached on the subject on its own, Elias only had one question in mind for the Nitrozian woman at the time, and he voiced it as soon as he had the chance.
"How did this happen?"
