[Quest] In Time We Trust (Aello)

[Paragon]

Aello was overwhelmed by the avian mass that flitted about behind the Spire's walls. When she came to the door, she made the decision to sneak in. It was clear the answer to Kaledon's clue lay inside the building. The door opened with a minor creak, but no one seemed to be inside the reception room. White feathers floated freely in the air, and the sound from inside would engulf the huntress suddenly. So many birds. So much noise. The words of the note reverberated in her mind. White birds. That much was obvious. The seventh zone. It clearly referred to something in the Spire. A level perhaps? The Spire itself was one of the tallest buildings in the city, stretching over twenty five levels of dovecotes and administrational offices. Effigies to Priskil also confronted Aello, the Goddess of radiance staring at her as if questioning her intent. Would she whisper to her kin? Would she tell her ancient sister of time that the huntress sought her out, here in her Spire? The room had a desk in the centre of it, a large wooden one, covered in files and paperwork - and feathers. Suddenly footsteps came down the stairs, and a shadow drifting along the ground. The Spire was certainly not off limits, but Aello's dark stance and daggers would provoke questions. She would have to think fast.

[Aello]

The resonance echoed; a hollow, wooden sound creeping across the floor, alongside an elongated shadow. Aello's breath caught in her throat a moment, as she followed the curvature with her eyes. As far as she could tell, the shadow belonged to a man, but it was difficult to tell with the way the light filtered through the building. She could see it growing larger as the subtle sound grew to be a gut wrenching, sickening ring. Inwardly, Aello flinched as her heart thundered in her chest, and her thumb began to dance over the hilt of the dagger. The aurist glanced around the room, there was little there but beams of light, and areas cast in shadow. Uncertain as to whom this being may be, Aello stepped back, fading into the darkness. Only the whites of her eyes standing out starkly. There at the edge of the spire, the aurist waited. Wondering who approached, and thinking, constantly, of just how she would word the idea that crept into her mind, if this entity proved pure.

[Paragon]

Sidling into the shadows, Aello watched the darkness as the figure descended the final step, moving into the room. She would feel slightly at ease, since the man did not appear harmful. He was a young man, his hair a shaggy mess, and stubble covering his jawline. He had youthful eyes, but he seemed to be daydreaming as he walked. In his hands he held papers, and he walked towards the table to add them to a pile of unorganised reports and letters. In actual fact, his name was Farren Loftus -- the proprietor of the Spire and the dovecotes. He was no evil soul, but to Aello the huntress, her enemies had eyes everywhere. Who knew what move she would make next?

[Aello]

Aello's eyes leapt over Farren's features. They seemed soft, familiar. She was certain she had met this man before, if not recently, when she was far younger. When he hadn't yet developed the distinct lines of older age, which crept around the edges of his eyes, and his lips. Thinking herself safe, at least for the moment, Aello released the breath she had been holding in. Her heart rate began to slow, returning to a state of normalcy. And within a single moment, she had crept out of the shadows, and placed her dagger before her lips, carving them in half, urging silence. After he had acknowledged the glimmering metal, she'd pull it away, and whisper. "Don't be alarmed, for a good spirit has been delivered to you by the lady Maria, after a troubling message came by the wings of a dove," Aello explained. "It seems as though there has been a disturbance here at the Spire, and as such, I have been dispatched so that this problem may be put to rest. Do tell, dear stranger, have you seen anything peculiar of late? Or does all seem to be well?" Aello would pause, allowing herself to listen intently to the man's words. Nodding when she felt it necessary, shaking her head when she thought it appropriate. When he had finished, she'd say thank you, and even if he assured her that all seemed well, she'd insist on having a look around just to be sure. "It may be best if you simply stayed down her for awhile," Aello would explain. "Just in case things should get ugly. There is no need to mar the light and grace of one of Priskil's chosen." With that, she'd smile and offer a slight bow of her head in supplication. As soon as her head had risen, she'd tighten her grip around her dagger, and dart to the other side of the floor, before taking the flight of stairs up, into the upper portions of the building. Hoping always, that the dark hadn't found her yet. That time hadn't run out, and Kaledon was still quite alright. Or rather, as alright as someone could be after an attack by fire reimancy.

[Paragon]

Farren gave a start when the girl came out of the shadows, something feral in her eyes. Then that glint of metal. A dagger. A knife? His eyes widened momentarily, but he remained silent, dropping the last few papers he had onto the desk. "M... Maria?" he stuttered, before shaking his head. She was a girl. Surely she could not be lying. "Nothing unusual, if there is a normal after the storm." When he was instructed to stay downstairs, he narrowed his eyes again. Something was not quite right, and he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Who was this woman to simply turn up out of the blue, brandishing her weapon? Stunned for a moment, he thought better of challenging her. After all, she had a dagger, and he had a few musty papers. A chorus of birdsong drifted from up the stairs. In a moment, the girl had swept past and ascended the stairwell. He watched, shaking his head, and sitting down at his desk with a pulsing heart. Aello rushed up the steps, Kaledon's clue firmly in her head. The Seventh Zone. What did it mean?

[Aello]

Even before she had gone, and without the aid of her magic, Aello could sense Farren's unease. It didn't matter to her. He should be uneasy. Something was going on, and she was the only one capable of doing something about it. Or trying to, considering how well things had gone over earlier in the day... Shaking the unpleasant thought of failure from her mind, the girl wore on. Basking in the light that filtered through the building, although she tried to keep to the shadows. Marveling at the sound of endless coos, ricocheting off stone. Funneling through her ears as her feet marched. Her heart pounding as she began to make out the sounds of others- voices. Off in the distance. They must be farther up, Aello thought, hoping that it wasn't simply her imagination getting the best of her as she continued up the length of the spire. Her breath becoming all the more shallow as she continued to swing her arms, creating a forward momentum to help propel her forward. At the top of the next flight of stairs Aello stopped, allowing herself to catch her breath. There was a door built into the central spine. A door which led where? And why did it sound like there were people nearby? In the place where the door led, of all things?

[Paragon]

Leaving Farren behind, Aello inched ever close to the next phase in the events that seemed to plague her life. A life unordinary, a swirling tempest always turning around her. Always. A door confronted her, built into the central ascension of Priskil's Spire. She could hear voices inside, but her auristic sight would lend no trace of Kaledon or his captors. When she listened closer, she could tell it was simply staff talking to the birds and each other. This was the first such door she had come across, but the note had said the 'seventh zone'. Though it became obvious only innocence waited beyond this doorway, could the seven refer to the numerical order of the central doors? If that was the case, Aello had more stairs to climb yet.

[Aello]

Dismayed, Aello grit her teeth as she backed away from the noise, from the door, and continued her ascent. Her boots clicked angrily against the stairs, as the light rattled against her skin; lost to her shadow for but an instant before she pushed herself on. Her eyes darting against the slick marble, waiting for a break, the sign of another door. But none seemed to come for another few spirals. It was only then she stopped, caught her breath, pressed her ear to the door. She could hear little, save for the flapping of wings. The occasional call from one bird to the next. She doubt this could be the right door, but with how it hung ajar, releasing a tendril of light, which crawled across her path, with how worn the knob seemed, in that it hung loosely, and so silkenly smooth, she couldn't help but kick it open. Only to release a flutter of wings, a cacophony of sound as several birds flew past. Buffeting her bare flesh with their soft feathers, as they darted up and down the steps; cooing their strange song. Aello spat as she covered her face to the best of her ability, and took a step back, closer to the wall. As much as she loved birds, she didn't want them all coming to her at once. Shaking her head a little, Aello looked ahead, into the depths of the opened room. There was nothing there. Growling as her fists tightened around her weapons, she glanced down, to where a single feather was sliding back and forth across a bed of air. Like a hammock swaying in the breeze. She watched it fall, until it landed silently by her feet. She bent down, and forced the tip of her dagger underneath, scraping, until it rested on metal. Slowly, she rose, the feather draped across the end. "Is this how we shall find time?" she wondered. "Swept under wing?" The girl smiled weakly as the light filtered through the fronds of snowy white. For a moment, she watched it, before flicking her hand nonchalantly, casting the feather into the air. This time, Aello ignored it as it sank, eventually sinking into its bed; its marble tomb. Kaledon must be farther up within the tower, she thought, as she mounted stair after stair, continuing her search, until she reached another door, several flights up, from behind which she could hear several people talking. Aello's breath caught in her throat. Maybe this was it.

[Paragon]

In a flurry of white feathers, Aello continued up the Spire. When she finally came to the door with voices behind, she stopped. Though she wouldn't realise it, this door was the seventh of such in an upwards fashion. This time, she listened. The voices were fervent. One was muffled, as if gagged. It became quickly apparent this was more than likely Kaledon. But how had he predicted his own capture location? If the huntress stopped to listen, there were at least two other voices in the room. She would have to consider her entrance carefully if she didn't want to be killed. Aello still didn't know just what it was she was dealing with. This had begun with her desire to learn more about Tanroa. Bringing her to an acolyte of time, fate had now conspired to drag her into something much more dangerous. A cat and mouse game across the city, and up a tower. It was now or never. Fight or flight. A single white feather danced through the air before her.

[Aello]

Aello looked up and watched the feather fall. The wispy shadows cast along the spiraling wall. The sprawling stairs. She lifted a single hand, allowing the feather to dance along her fingertips, before settling into her palm. "Be light as a feather," she whispered, as she brought her captive a little lower, so that her dark eyes may dance over the delicate curve of it. A soft crescent, fading to a sliver. "Remember to twirl, then cut before swinging the other way." There was a pause, as a single finger unfurled, and brushed the delicate fronds, extensions of the central stalk. Her skin tickled, shying away from the touch as the entity rolled over, exposing the soft bristles of its underside. "Or roll, and hope nothing compresses," she finished, as she returned her finger to the hilt, and lifted her hand rapidly, tossing the feather into the air without a second thought. Her muddied eyes followed it until it hit the floor, and it was then she knew what she must do. The aurist took a single, deep cleansing breath, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. She could feel the warm air slipping through her lips, bouncing off the cold, stone walls. Lost in shadow against the central spiral. Seconds later her eyes were closed, as she pictured a slick, lavender colored gel oozing from the sole of her boots. The ooze congealing as it slid against stone, welling around each end of her footwear. Like mud after a long day spent out in the forest, on a hunt. She pictured this ooze as though it were that mud. Wretched and smelly. Crackling as it caked itself against fine suede leather. Of an earthen tone far softer than it, now that the color had drained from ware. From the heat of the sun's bake. Causing it to boil and blister; split at the seams. She imagined the shield of crackling, uneven purple mud blocking out all sound. When she was done making this image as strong as possible, as clear, she opened her eyes, to find two half-baked shields. But it didn't matter, she didn't have time. They would have to do. It was then that Aello took another deep cleansing breath, before stepping forward, and opening the door with her shoulder. She was just about to step into the room when a ball of flame came forth. It rolled through the air, gathering in both speed and size as tendrils of thick grey smoke wisped away from it. As it crackled, and spat molten red sparks at the floor. Sparks which sizzled as soon as they touched stone, causing the brightness of the vibrant orange and yellow torch to seemingly heighten as it sailed near. Frightened, Aello backed away into the frame as the door went up in a pile of smoke. Shards of enflamed wood littered the floor as the structure split, a pillar of smoke circled the air, clouding her vision. Her eyes stung. She could hear people coughing. See the small candles of flame that still littered the battlefield, even as her eyes began to tear, to ward away the heat. The way the fire stripped all moisture from her beds. From her very flesh, making her feel both old, and wizened. As twisted as her personality. It was not long after the door had burst that a thunderous flap of wings could be heard. At first, it was a low drawl. An idle buzzing, which grew into a much more insistent vibration. A constant humm, like the wave of a storm sweeping across the land. Inwardly, the girl shook as the birds swept past, frightened by the fire. Willing themselves to be free. But how could they, after the first of the elements had hit? When they needed an answer? A middle, before they could be drawn to an end? Charred bolts of blue light shot forth. They seemed to ricochet off the walls. Lick every stone as they made their way towards Aello. It was lightning without a sound. Light without a visible source, even now that the smoke was beginning to clear. Billowing out the window at the far end of the simple, circular room within the tower. It was in that moment, as she watched the lightning crawling towards her that the girl remembered a time in the forest. A time when she was fighting monsters alongside a crazed man she saw as little more than one of them. It was in that moment that she was convinced she was going to die. That her heart stopped, her palms released the last of her sweat, and her dark eyes grew wide. Her body tensed as the fattest bolt, the one that moved the quickest neared, only to hit one of the fleeing birds. The stench of burning flesh encased the door's frame as the bird screeched. Its wings extended. Feathers fanning out beautifully just before it was encased in flame. Before its soul emerged, as the creature itself was cast into a heap of ashes, alongside its brethren. Purities which soon fell to the black. Disgusted, Aello exposed only her profile as she stood there, over fallen bodies of winged creatures. Her nostrils flaring; sizzling too, as they welled with the putrid stench. "Enough," Aello managed to choke as another bolt was released, only to miss her by no more than a foot. "You fools are going to take the whole place down," she whispered, as she came forward, past the sprawling stone loosed by a most infernal, cursed magic. She could hear the very structure itself rumbling angrily at its abuse. Creaking as marble was ripped from walls, only to allow it to come crashing to the floor. Breaking over bodies. Dusting that which was already made to ash. To be scattered to the winds, when the last wisps of smoke cleared. "We must end this now," she whispered. Or we shall all be out of time. With another measured stride taken, Aello began to run for her enemies. Her daggers held high as several spurts of water sailed past, quenching some of the fires which refused to relent. Snuffing them out in a silent instant, which left only more smoke in their wake. But even this element was gone as quickly as it had arrived, to be replaced by something more sinister. Another, far larger ball of fire, directed towards the girl's head. It was thankful that she was well versed in the art of warfare. That she was nimble, and light on her feet. For she managed to duck quickly enough to escape the release. A most certain death, although, the edges of the sphere managed to lick at her hair. Singeing some of the edges. She could smell it burning even as she ran. Could smell it more than everything else. Even the bodies of the birds she tread upon. The rubble she walked. "Enough!" Aello screamed, as her full weight came barreling into the male reimancer, who stood just in front of his charge. The fallen keeper of time. She could hear his shoes scraping against the stone as he tumbled back, loosing another bolt from his fingers, which hit the ceiling. Loosing more rubble upon their soon to be broken bodies. She could see his arms sprawling, darkened robes fluttering in his whirlwind as she drove him back, over Kaledon's body. Kept so close to the ground. As he tripped over flesh, Aello followed, circling her daggers back from their upward loop into the low. Into his flesh. She stabbed him just before his head cracked against the stone. Leaving his body bleeding, and disfigured. Sprawled against her own charge; limp form cascading over Kaledon's back. The aurist licked her lips as she got to her feet, and turned to face a gust of wind, driving her back, towards the window. She tried to brace herself, lest she trip over the fallen too. Sorry Kaledon, she thought, as she dipped her head a little, trying to provide less of a target for the wind to get at. I don't know if I can take two, her mind added, as she caught sight of a long, deep red braid. Golden colored eyes, and a dress that seemed as though it were spun silver. It was haunting, how beautiful her opponent was. Yet how strained she seemed to be, when using her magic. How her pale fingers reached for Aello, and yet retracted. How, much like she, dust lined her arms; her face, her skin wherever the fabric had split from the fall of the spire. How small rivers of blood too lined flesh so pale, Aello couldn't help but wonder if she was more of the moon, than of this earth. It almost stung for Aello to look at her; just the way her flesh stung from the wounds already inflicted. To try to brace her fingers against her weapons, now that her hands were slick with both blood and sweat. But she couldn't give in. Not yet. Time was hers.