Quest Once upon a time there was you [Nya and Abashai]

[Nya Winters]

As Maya spoke, Nya listened carefully. She also did not hold still. Quietly padding around the camp, Nya slipped on clothing and carefully began to pack their things. Abashai was careful to remain still, listening to Maya as she revealed the truth of her history.

Nya could not.

Hunger and fatigue filled her. The first would ease the second so she cut slices of cheese from a wheel and added dried strips of meat and bread to the mix. She took food to Abashai then settled at his feet to gnaw at her own. The food tasted odd in her mouth. Most dried travel faire did. But it served a purpose to her human body and settled her mind so she felt sharper, stronger, and far more awake.

Maya spoke on. The truth was Nya didn't want to hear what he had to say. Growing up she always believed death was a rest, an answer, the end of journey and a well deserved break. Her child was dead and would hold no memories of this lifetime, but she knew it was not off to relax or feel respite. There was nothing beyond this life but more fighting. What they didn't solve here, they would be forced to solve later. It was like a prey you could not simply give up hunting with a decision that you were not so hungry as to want its flesh anyhow. You could never decide not to be hungry. In the next life the escaped prey waited to be chased. And then what? You eat it if you are lucky enough to catch it and it dies only to become prey again in the next.

Nya chuffhed slightly in her human form and then halfway growled.

Her head was too full of thoughts. Anger infused most of them. She wanted this done, finished, and Alessa's items found. It seemed to her only then could they have any sort of life and choose a path of their own making. Everything Nya was raised to believe was something of a lie to her. She could truthfully be what she wanted, but if things went undone as she grew, someone would have to do them. They just didn't 'go away'. Nothing ever vanished out of sight never to be seen again. The forest cat didn't realize it, but she was angry and mourning the loss of her innocence and her initiation into a fuller awareness of the world.

Sharp teeth took it out on food that in Nya's mind even as Maya's words fell on her ears. There would be no fighting with the creature in the chamber. There would be a dance of words or a trickery or perhaps even some other thing neither of them were prepared to deal with. Nya wanted the cube, but what she wanted more was knowledge of where the rest of the artifacts were buried. And part of her, a tiny part in a small voice, wondered if they were not indeed safer where they were if the very Gods themselves couldn't find them.

Killing vulture man would solve the whole thing, wouldn't it? No. No it wouldn't. For he'd die and come back and start his search all over again. Slowly, her mind started unwrapping around a new plan. There needed to be a way to break the cycle. There needed to be a way to take a soul completely out of the circle they all seemed trapped within. That was the only way Vulture Man would stop.

And yet... more logic came to her. They had no way of knowing what was in the bloodsink. Nya's eyes watched Maya's cautiously now, predatory, as she gnawed on her cheese liking it more than the bread and dried meat. "Something is there. If not the cube then something else." It pained her to talk. She was thinking like a forest cat again and sometimes the bridge between humanity and beast was a hard one for her to make. "Guardians do not guard empty spaces. They guard dangerous or valuable things. It would have no purpose of the bloodsink was devoid of something important. But it might not be the thing we look for, and instead might be something completely different. It is important that we know. It is important that we keep the scent of our prey and that which we search for. Are you sure of what it guards? Did you even speak with it?" She asked, curious.

Nya finished her bread, half choking on it, and drank deeply from the water in her flask. Her mind was filled with the images it called up in regards to Vulds party loosing its members, defusing traps, and standing at a great door. Nya shivered a bit, glanced at Shai, and then back at Vuld. "Would you know if Vulture Man has tried to penetrate the bloodsink again? It seems with all his followers and all his knowledge he'd be able to attempt again or at least have developed some ideas how to do it. I wonder if hes tried and failed again, and if he hasn't tried why he hasn't." Nya admitted, digging a booted toe into the ground. She wanted her fur so she could thing better, but a voice was required for this dialog, one her Forest cat had no access too.

[Abashai]

As Maya spoke, Abashai scowled. Having dressed and donned his accoutrements, the towering Benshiran stood before the small form Kiphos had assumed. As he listened to the revelation of Shaik's true identity, his own quests, his own string of lives and dealings with the gods, the Benshiran's arms crossed over his chest, his visage slipping from sober to dour. The peace of his commune with Yahal dissipated like the forest's morning mist. Since yesterday, Abashai and Nya's world had imploded, and all he thought he knew had been pulled out from under him. They were beings of intentional reincarnation. Had he once been a man who had free will? Or had he been created for this sole mission? The thought of it twisted his gut. Now, more secrets, more rebirths, more missing flotsam of history. Shaik's own agenda did not concern Abashai, although knowledge of it would certainly play into the trust issue between them. He only cared for what would bear meaning to himself and to Nya. Frustration grew as the man wrestled with the dilemma of their mission, feeling the pieces they needed were being meted out to them like a stingy miser parting with his precious coins. Abashai received the plate of food from Nya and muttered his gratitude. They exchanged a glance before she settled at his feet, a shared expression of irritation and uneasiness. Abashai felt his bondmate's discontent wash over his own, and it made him edgy. Turning back to Maya, morsels of bread, cheese and meat disappeared as the man continued to listen. Shaik claimed to have learned that Bloodsink was where the Powercube rested. How? How did the Vulture man learn of it? The involvement of the Vulture Man, a being who Shai had come to hate intensely, only brought more suspicion and questions. With some effort, the Benshiran's attention honed in on details of the previous expedition. Treacherous, perilous and ending with a foe that could not be defeated. In an instance of synchronicity, as if a reflection of their shared life force, Abashai grunted gruffly at the moment Nya growled. His empty plate was tossed aside and the somber Benshira turned away, taking several paces and looking off into the forest. Everything about it seemed wrong. How were they going to do this? How was he going to keep Nya safe? His typically logical mind was swamped with frustration, irritation and a rising, undirected anger. In the back of his consciousness, her heard Nya's thoughts, her own disillusionment, only serving to fuel his angst. "Hik!" Vanator spat out suddenly. He felt helpless, a pawn of deities that would not help him, doomed to repeat the mistakes of his past, unable to escape to live his own life with Nya. He hated feeling helpless, and it stoked anger. It was then that the kelvic's tenor voice rose. She had found the logical questions her mate should have posed. Shai spun on his booted heels to look at Nya, his stern visage softening only a bit at the sight of her. Holding still until her thoughts were expressed, Abashai's frown was aimed at Maya. Questions, more questions, never answers. They had gone to Tallshade Keep for answers. One dead Nya and one unborn child lost later and only more questions. Abashai's hand, the one that held the suvai that pierced his wife's body and slew his family, clenched and opened unconsciously. Lifetimes spent and not even the first key found. This ancient fool searching for his lost books only offered enough information to entice the weary travelers. "ENOUGH"!Abashai bellowed. In a few long, hasty strides the desert man closed in on Shaik, stopping inches from the womanly form, looming over her. His hand shot towards her throat, jerking to a halt just before clutching her windpipe. The moment hung timeless as Abashai seethed, his eyes fixed on the girl's. His rage was directed at Kiphos, though some distant voice told him that the man was not responsible for their predicament. The raised hand balled into a fist before slowly sinking to Abashai's side. His baleful gaze shifted between Shaik and Nya, his thick, accented voice coming in a hushed growl between clenched teeth. "I don't care what Bloodsink holds if it is not the Powercube. You say you learned it was there. How? You would let us enter there and not know if it is there?* His gaze fell back to Nya. "Yes, has Vulture Man tried to return?" Turning back, his hands moved to his hips in a creak of leather and metal clinks. "Or does he need to, if the work can be done by others! You have been in his employ once in pursuit of your own business. You yourself said you have made questionable alliances, perhaps you are leading us there on behalf of the Seven Robes." Abashai paused, eyes locked on Shaik's. He sighed greatly, turning away, hand raising to run fingers through his unkempt mane. This was not him. He was the steady one, the one who framed practicality around the impassioned Kelvic. He wished they had someone trusted to go to, someone like Matilda or Glav. The words whispered to him by his lord in the chords of his music drifted back to his consciousness. Without you it all fails. Your redemption lies in hers. Abashai turned slightly towards Nya, brushing dark curly locks out of his face. Another heavy sigh escaped his lips as his eyes fell to her feline green gaze, his own softening. The events of their journey since leaving Syliras had worn on his mate, she had suffered much already. Shai felt as if the one he so desperately loved had been stolen from him by this quest. He knew that wasn't true...the task upon her soul had always been there...the benshiran had stolen her from it. His hands returned to rest on the belt on his hips as he turned to face both women. His tone was more subdued, his sudden rage seeping away. The words both man and cat heard in their dream resounded in his head...discover the secret! "There has to be a way to know if it is there for sure, and a way to get it. if it lies there, either the gods need to equip us to retrieve it...or they have to go get it themselves. Unless there is another way to find Tallshade's things." Even as the words passed his lips, Abashai's heart sank at his own blasphemous words uttered in anger.

[Tarot]

The growing tension in the camp did not escape Maya's attention, and the transformed man never fully relaxed while in the company of Nya and Abashai, nor did he partake of any food. He listened to Nya's questions as well as Abashai's outburst without batting an eyelash. "I can understand you don't like your hand, but it was not I who dealt the cards. This world rarely makes sense at first sight; we can only hope to figure it out at the end. I will tell you what makes me believe the Powercube is indeed down there. I haven't seen it, no. The Guardian would not answer questions, either. I have two reasons for my suspicions, and the first was strong enough to convince this Master, too... this Vulture Man, as you call him..." "The first reason is a piece of lore a scholar uncovered in the last century. Her name was Lugzia Averes, a revered seeker of knowledge. She had a veritable obsession with Areesa Tallshade. In a way, she was a lot like the two of you, willing to take any risk in order to find her legacy." And so, Nya's previous life persona was coming back into the picture. "She strongly believed Bloodsink was the key, and wrote it in her journal, but she didn't live to test her theory. She was killed shortly afterwards, in unclear circumstances. Some say a murder-suicide with her lover. The journal, well, it ended up on the collectors' black market as you would expect of such things in our times. I managed to peruse it, though I couldn't make a full copy. Lugzia Averes..." ***Nya had a flash of a pale hand writing on a journal near a campfire. There were dates, fragments, and a big 'How could I possibly not understand earlier!? It was so simple!' underlined three times.*** ***Abashai had a flash of looking into his black blade and seeing the reflection of his lover Lugzia writing by the campfire. The reflection was shining with the glow of impending death. The blade trembled.*** "... and so, as I was saying, I don't think that woman would have made that claim without a very good reason. She's never been proven wrong as far as Tallshade is concerned." Maya shrugged. "But there is a second reason. I suspect you don't really know much about Areesa Tallshade, but what she's most famous for is an item called the Anvil of Souls. Officially, its purpose was to extend someone's lifespan, but she was far more ambitious than that. She... she was trying to create gods in a lab. Probably out of some misguided sense of altruism, to make the world a place without death and suffering. I don't think the item succeeded, even with a mark from Lhex. Lugzia and I both suspect that she created something else, something different. Not a mortal, not a god - an Outling, as Lugzia called them in her journal." Maya stood and spread her arms as he/she spoke. "I don't really know the full details, as Tallshade isn't my primary field of study. But I have always suspected the Guardian was an Outling. And what if there were more out there, trying to lay their hands on the Anvil of Souls for themselves?" He crossed his arms and looked at them thoughtfully. "Now you know everything I do. As for the Vulture Man, he has sent out more expeditions over the years. Less and less frequently, which could mean he's losing hope of ever succeeding. I don't work for him, though; this I can assure you. The man has long crossed the line of how far I will go." The follower of Ionu had just a few more words to share. "I will not have or let you do anything. I am just repaying a debt, no less and no more. I would say you don't stand a chance, but then again I would have said the same about the Relic, and yet you won... somehow. So I will suspend judgment and suggest that perhaps you are already equipped to face what awaits you. Even when it seems like we are just puppets hanging from the gods' strings, there is always a choice. I guess you've met yours."

[Nya Winters]

Nya looked thoughtful. It didn't escape her notice that this name was familiar to her and called to her in a way that made her feel strange, as if Lugzia was an old friend or even a distant version of herself, lost to time and tragedy and just living on as an echo. But somehow she trusted her, not that the words came from Lugzia - instead they came from Maya. But Maya didn't smell like a lie. He smelled sincere and she believed him.

But she laughed, truly laughed, at his last statement. "My Lord would abide no puppets in his ranks. We are not dangled by skeins of yarn like the toys they make for children. I have never thought that. Our actions and words are our own choice. That we follow who we do is our own choice as well. Zulrav is much beloved to me. I follow him because I respect him and have always heard his voice on the winds. I suspect you follow your Gods for the same reason, mage." Nya said, stretching and suddenly looking around.

It was time to get moving. Talking was getting them nowhere. She strapped on her backpack, armed herself, and nodded to Shai. "My winds should be getting back soon to report what they can of the bloodsink, but in the mean time let us go. Words are empty without action. Lets put some action behind our thoughts. If Lugzia thought this was it, then perhaps she was right. She died though, stupidly, so she wasn't always wise. We need to keep that in mind. She doesn't need to die again in the same manner." Nya said, stretching and begining to pace slightly, tired of waiting, needing to hunt even if it wasn't exactly for meat.

[Abashai]

Hands still poised on his hips, Abashai's scowl remained etched in his sand-worn features, but the uncharacteristic anger had seeped away. The Benshiran was frustrated as he attempted to assimilate all that he had learned, about himself, Nya, Shaik and Tallshade. But an eyebrow raised when the name Lugzia was spoken. It was oddly familiar, though he knew he had never heard it before. There was an emotional string that was tugged at its sound, the pull of which grew tighter as the unbidden vision flashed to his mind. He knew the woman he saw reflected in the blade, writing in her journal, though he had never seen her before. Lugzia. He also knew who held the blade. He did...as Ardrem. Abashai shuddered, the blood flushing from his face. In a horrifying revelation, he realized it was the moment in his past life just before he killed Nya's former incarnation. Just as he had done at the keep the day before. His mind reeled, and he uttered a silent call to Yahal as he reached to steady his will and steel his emotions. Not again, he told himself, never again. During his dark realization, the desert man had missed some of Maya's words, but soon focused again on the woman, pushing aside his own musings and the tempting flood of sensations and information that continued to flow across the strange life bond he now shared with Nya. The man turned a furrowed brow to the Kelvic as she laughed unexpectedly. Abashai could not fully agree with his mate. He did feel, to some extent, that he had been manipulated, at least to position him in a place where he could then make those willful decisions to be obedient to his god and hers. But he did not regret being lead to Syliras and to Nya's side. In the end, he too, followed the will of Yahal as his own, because he had devoted his life to the Holy One, had been comforted and empowered by his divine presence, and had trusted his life to his lord, even to the point that he had obediently slain the one person who could rival the god for his love. He pondered, had Yahal's designs been thwarted by Dira's gift of life to Nya, had the god agreed to the plan in order to remove that which could turn the heart of his marked from him? Did he fear he who had been Ardrem would turn his allegiance to the Goddess of Death, as he once had? A sigh escaped his lips. Second guessing divine intentions was neither wise nor fruitful. Abashai hitched at his weapons harness as Nya expressed her anxiousness to get moving, her need to take some action felt within him. He heartily agreed. There had been enough words, and his head swam. Turning away, Shai began securing their gear to the pack horse. He would lead Sus, at least for now. "You are right, enough talk." The Benshiran spoke curtly. He wondered if Nya knew that Lugzia did not necessarily die from a stupid mistake, she was murdered by someone she loved and trusted. Having seen Lugzia and the blade in his vision, that knowledge dug at Abashai's psyche, irritating and disturbing him deeply. "I am ready." He glanced at Nya, having sensed her trust of their guide. His stern gaze shifted to Maya "I believe you Shaik. I believe we all understand the gravity of this task. I also believe you understand I will readily kill to protect Nya and her ability to complete this mission." Abashai's tone was not menacing, but spoken with firm matter-of-fact. "Now, lead the way." Abashai looked to his mate. "Perhaps your friends can tell us more. You know I will not rush into this place headlong." No, he told himself. This time, he will keep her alive. This life, they would finish this thing.

[Tarot]

"Yes," Maya agreed, "let us move. If we are on our way now, we can probably reach the entrance within the third day. The weather seems favorable enough, anyways." Of course it was. The weather was firmly on the Stormwarden's side, as it usually tended to be. Maya glanced at Nya first, then Abashai for a moment longer, perhaps recognizing him as the more dangerous of the two - or just the less sympathetic. And so, they hit the road that wasn't quite a road but just a path that existed in the memory of Kiphos Shaik. Oh, there had been a road here at one time, wide enough to accomodate a marching division - ten abreast and fifty deep - with room to spare for carriages on the other lane. It had been a strong road, but the grass had been stronger and the road faded out of existence if not for the occasional half-buried milestone with illegible digits and letters. Maya was mostly silent as they made steady progress. She had a knack for blending with her surroundings, much like a chameleon, and the duo were left with the lingering impression that she may vanish if they didn't keep an eye on her at all times. Yet Maya did not vanish, and she did not slow them down despite her real body being a bit older than Abashai's and certainly far less fit. They were crossing tall grasslands with the occasional small thicket of woods, the scenery reminding more of a bastardized version of Cyphrus than the full-fledged forests to be found a little further to the North. It was monotonous, but made for a good, convenient march. Nya could not help but notice that something was off, however. Not so much in space, for she had her surroundings under control on all sides, but in time. The sun had long reached its zenith and was now closing the gap to the flat horizon, and her breezes still hadn't returned to her. Sure, she had to allow enough time to cover three days' worth of travel and back, plus the actual time it would take them to explore the Bloodsink. Yet, her intimate understanding of the winds, especially winds as tough as these, told her they should have come back by now, especially since they'd already covered a full sixth of the way there. Finally, an hour before sundown, they returned just when Maya had suggested that they stop for the night on a slightly elevated patch of grass that couldn't have been called a true hill. The winds seemed agitated, and it wasn't hard to figure out why, long before they even spoke. The mistral was missing. Only the zephyr and its retinue of lesser breezes had made it to their camp. "Stormwarden!" the strong west wind blew, "Something down there took my brother the mistral! Taken prisoner... kidnapped. Something made to be Freedom itself, caged! You must be careful, very careful." The zephyr calmed down, and its hisses turned gentler against the Stormwarden's cheek. "We made our way through the passage easily," it spoke as its focus returned on the command that had been given to it, "the cave spoke of old dangers, but gone for the most part, some traps depleted and others disarmed. One of your abilities should not fear the Bloodsink until the very end, just before the great door - there lies the monster. It has no flesh, it just is! It has no eyes, it just sees! It has no hands, it just takes! And as we approached, it spoke to us. Never before had we been seen by someone other than a Stormwarden - seen and recognized for what we are." "And its voice boomed from nowhere in particular and said: 'You carry a most familiar scent, winds. Let me withhold one of you, that your mistress should be compelled to come in person to set you free.' So it said, and suddenly there was... a bubble. A bubble of empty void that caged my brother as he screamed for freedom. We had just seen the impossible come true. We fled at once to come and warn you, for space itself is haunted down there. In our minds, we called that monster Dadja-Nidas, the Rule-Breaker. We felt that it would not move - could not; that it had been planted there like a seed and left to guard the door behind. That, like a tree rooted in the fabric of reality, it fed upon the rules of the world and they became its sap and force." "There is deadly danger, Stormwarden... you do not have to go." So said the wind, and so it had to say, but apprehension for the fate of his brother the mistral hissed through the words. The presence had practically forced Nya to enter the Bloodsink now - yet Shaik had said it was a Guardian, that its job was to protect the door. Why the invitation, then? "I may not be the best person to advise you," Maya told Abashai casually shortly before the winds returned, "but that black suvai you are holding on to... the one old Konrad tried to buy yesterday... I can feel its power even at this distance." It was true. Galannas the suvai, one of the most ancient among its peers, was making sure Abashai could not easily forget about it. The weapon itself was sending mixed messages - Matilda's calm dignity, then the Relic's voracious murderous greed, and the innocence of Nya's blood (of which it still smelled). Three unlikely sources to combine in one weapon. In spite of that - maybe because of that - it radiated a powerful aura and almost reminded Abashai of a living thing, a silent dark beauty that would visit salvation or (and?) horror upon those who dared lift her veil. "It feels like it's trying to enchant itself," Maya said, "it is something Vuld once wrote about - spontaneous Malediction. It rarely works out smoothly, though. You would do well to seek out a mage, a Maledictor, to reconcile the dissonance. Until you do that, that weapon will just as likely kill you as help you. Behind his foolish antics, Konrad was trying to protect you there."

[Nya Winters]

It was never enough that there was one worry. Worries, indeed trouble, came in three fold. To Nya, Maya herself was a worry, for she as a chameleon and someone unwilling to be that which was truly the core. Now, the mistral was taken by the monster known as
Dadja-Nidas, the Rule-Breaker. That was three.

Nya reached out her hands as only a Stormwarden could do and gathered the Zephyr close to her. She twisted the wee bit of wind around her body and soothed the worry from the creature. When she spoke, it as with Zulrav's borrowed blessing in the words of the winds. Kevlics with her abilities shouldn't exist. Her whole race were followers, servants, slaves. Not leaders. But Nya knew her form had its purpose. With it, she was stronger and born again faster to grow up when she as needed and not anytime sooner. Her words spilled from her like the winds themselves, laughter mingled designed to sooth the air infused with spirit around her.

"I would never send one such as you and your brother into danger knowingly, or leave you there trapped. This creatures abilities are vast, but they are not so different. What does a Stormwarden do but trap freedom when we create our gems from storms? But I know too what you are, little sister. I could have easily been one of your kind after death rather than wear this form like I do. The Mistral is my brother too. I would not leave him trapped... not being the one that sent him down there. The information you brought back was bravely acquired and I thank you for it, because it might just save our lives. Thank you for your selflessness. We'll go and see to our brother's freedom. But I'd like you to remain here. Creatures like you should never be caged. Ever. And I promise that we will be careful and move with caution, heeding your advice." Nya said softly, then released the zypher. She set the breeze free with a caress and moved to look at the others.

"We need to hurry. No more delays. No more stalling. The creature has captured the mistral and issued an invitation. We should answer it." She said, then looked thoughtful.

"Shai, you need to decide what to do about the suvai if anything. Perhaps we should have taken it directly back to Syliras after it fulfilled its purpose. There is no time now, but perhaps it will help us against the creature or become something else in facing it. Either we should leave it or bring it and be cautious of it. But a decision should be made." Nya said softly, sincerely. There was no time to seek out a Maledictor now either, not unless one fell upon their path.

[Abashai]

Abashai passed the hours following Shaik through the wilderness in relative silence. He was brooding, processing, praying. He did not bear a grudge regarding the state of his life, would not complain. His had been a life waiting for purpose, made hungry for significance during a decade of solitude in the desert. Two years of honing and shaping as a wanderer learning to follow the cryptic will of a god that spoke not with a booming voice, but a small, still whisper. Abashai had what he wanted, a reason, a cause. How ironic it had seemed when he discovered he had been marked with this purpose from lifetimes long spent. Had the man known that day he met Nya, had someone told him that the kelvic he felt so compelled to bond with, to fall in love with, was the same woman he had spent lifetimes with pursuing this divine task, he would have scoffed. Or perhaps not. Regardless, he knew the truth now, and he threw all he had into it. The benshiran remained alert, using his keen eyes to scan the landscape even as he knew Nya's ears and nose were employed the same. The form of Maya was indeed difficult to discern at times as they traveled, and she would often seem to disappear from the corner of his eye if his gaze fell elsewhere. As time progressed, Abashai felt Nya's anxiety increasing, she was waiting, aggitated. They had not returned. Shai did not probe his bondmate about the delay in the winds' arrival. Her role as a Stormwarden he saw as sacred and, as intimated they were in every thought, the husband did not impose himself into that aspect of her being. Once they stopped and settled into their encampment, Shaik broke the silence between he and the benshiran. Even as the illusionist spoke of Galannas, Abashai's hand raised to touch his garment at the place where the suvai rested tucked in against his chest. He nodded, for he knew well what Shaik was saying. He did feel Galannas. Abashai had in his possessions other enchanted weapons, the frost-bladed sword he called Deasupra and the glass-studded mace Cosmarul. But they did not emanate anything like Galannas. Since he had plucked it from the dirt in the Keep's couryard, he had kept the dark weapon close. He wanted it close, was compelled to keep it near. Shaik suspected self-malediction. Magicks were things Abashai had always been wary of. The desert man saw magic as a wild beast that could be tamed, but never trusted. History is rife with catastrophe and suffering at the hands of men who could not control their dark arts. But Nya, and only she could have done it, convinced him to receive her res and learn to practice reimancy. He saw himself in no way comparable to a mage, for his manipulation of earth was merely a tool for him to use, and the mastery of it was not his aim, as it is in so many who become consumed by their practices. Abashai was weighing Maya's words when the breeze picked up around them, and the swirling of grass and twisting winds indicated the return of Zurav's minions. Watching Nya speak with her airy brothers and sisters was a beautiful thing for him to see and filled his heart with amazement. But the alarm on the kelvic's face and the dismay he sensed in her being gave him reason for concern. Nya's aggitation was not lost on Abashai. The Guardian had captured one of the breezes, and the Stormwarden took it very personally, and therefore, so did Shai. He moved to sit near Nya, his hand resting reassuringly on his mate's shoulder. "We will not let him languish there, and we will see what lies beyond that door." His crystalline blue-green eyes met the moss green of Nya's gaze. It was the look of encouragement, familiar, strong and sincere, one that he often gave her, fueled by the emotional fortitude and willpower only one marked by the God of Faith could muster. He allowed his hand to entwine in her brindled hair, his fingers caressing her scalp. Then he stood. "I will keep Galannas." His statement carried an edge he did not intended. "Until we find a maledictor that can tell us more." Abashai would not give up the suvai, felt almost defensive at the suggestion they get rid of it. If it was indeed developing malediction, and it had tasted Nya's blood, was part of its form, than it would be a most dangerous weapon against her, and he would not let it fall into anyone's hands. The irony that he himself had used it to kill her once occurred to the benshiran, but he trusted no one else with Nya's safety more than himself. "We will get an early start, before dawn."

[Tarot]

"Your wish is my command, Stormwarden," the Zephyr murmured, not without a tinge of relief at the prospect of not having to go back to where the unnatural thing awaited. He did not reiterate the warning, either, for to do so would belittle the Stormwarden's ability and sense of judgment. "May He who Shapes the Rock watch over you," he added, and then he dispersed, having been dismissed. Once Shai was updated on the latest developments in their quest, the three of them made camp for the night. Maya was mostly silent throughout the evening, perhaps having spoken more than enough the morning before. The follower of Ionu must have known countless stories, given the huge timeline of memories he or she could draw from, but shared none. The camp was not blessed with the level of trust of comfort required for the opening of hearts and mind beyond the basic necessities of the task at hand. In time, perhaps, they would get to know this creature better, but right now there was not the time or the motivation to do so. The night passed without further incidents, and Abashai and Nya found that they were getting used to their new condition. Already their deep communion was feeling less and less of an intrusion, and soon enough they would be wondering how they could possibly have lived without it until now. One's dreams reverberated slightly with the other, like afterimages of looking directly at Syna's blazing lights. Maybe what had befallen them was simply what they needed to stand a fighting chance against whatever awaited them in the future. It was not beyond their gods to think so deeply ahead. They all slept little, but Maya slept the least of all three. They were fairly certain she had been conscious and aware the whole night, but she looked as fresh and rested as when she had first appeared in front of them. Whether eyes could be trusted whenever Kiphos Shaik was concerned remained to be seen, of course. Regardless, she did not slow them down the next day and they made good progress through the lonely plains. The ancient road was a little more visible now, if nothing else because a little less vegetation had dared settle on its meandering length. At one point they came across an old ruin - not unlike the old building where Nya had made acquaintance with the Vulture Man, but far more dilapidated. Sections of a long forgotten wall stood nearby like old teeth on a dead giant's skull. "A barracks and gatehouse," Maya explained calmly. "This was Alahea's border after the crushing defeat at Bloodvalley. It was smaller and more defensible. King Kovinus had a wall erected in record time, and as expected of something built in a pinch, Ivak's fury vaporized it instantly. The territories beyond became known as the Cutlands as they had been severed from their historical borders. The people of Alahea swore they would claim those lands back. They are taking their sweet time, all right." Unbeknownst to them, the last sentence was Vuld Shaik himself - his sarcastic self taking over Maya's personality - talking to them. The day passed by quickly and without a lot of excitement. No danger approached them, nor did they approach it for a change, and the crumbled gatehouse was the highlight of the day. Another campfire followed, and Maya informed them that they would be at Bloodsink before Syna's zenith the next day. She spoke the truth. They stepped in front of the entrance two full bells before midday. It was easy to see why it had been called Bloodsink and why legends had been born out of it. A cave in the middle of a large plain (it had been a valley, Bloodvalley, but the Valterrian had nulled the mountains around) just did not seem natural. It was not built against a wall of stone, but rather a tiny, steep hill like a wart on Semele's surface that seemed to exist for no other reason than to be the gateway to the cave. Indeed, beyond the mouth the cavern quickly dived lower underground and lost itself in the veins and arteries of the world. "Tread lightly," Maya said, "for you tread on one hundred thousand corpses who died screaming for each other's blood." Such numbers must sound like legend and hyperbole to the post-Valterrian man and woman, but they were truth; and none of them could even imagine if as many people still breathed across the whole of Mizahar as had died in one day at Bloodvalley. What a sad place Areesa Tallshade had picked for hiding her treasure; yet it looked pleasant enough on the outside. Maya led them to the mouth of the Bloodsink and pointed at the wall on the left side. A skull had been carved in the rock. "The universal sign of mortal danger," she remarked, "Tallshade was a little odd and nothing short of methodical. She would not have placed a death trap without warning the innocent that they were walking to their doom. She was that kind of person. She crafted weapons that could have ended a nation, and yet would not have swatted a fly, herself." Maya pointed a little further into the cave and they saw a skeleton lying on the ground. Someone had not heeded the warning and now there was a skull to match the one carved on the wall. "Garrish, if memory serves," she frowned, "he was the first to fall, almost right away. Tripped a death-wire. You needn't worry about that trap anymore - most of those traps anyways - but you should still be careful. As for me, this is as far as I go. I will wait. If you are not back in three days, I will assume you have died and leave this place for good."

[Nya Winters]

Nya would have liked to have said she passed the next to days quietly, but it was not in her nature. Restlessness rose in her the closer they moved to their destination, and as she stared at the gaping maw in the middle of the bloodvalley, Nya grew distinctly uncomfortable. She listened to Maya's words, and heeded what the mistril had said, but in the end it was Abashai and her Lord that she looked too. The forest cat stood beside her husband, pack firmly on her back, and knew she'd go as a human into the depths. Enclosed places didn't bother her, but there was something about this place that did. No wind blew and yet Nya could still hear the brief echo of a hundred thousand voices screaming at the end of their time: in a war that was not truly a war but something else. They could die here and join the voices, but Nya was determined that would not happen.

She was also equally driven to serve Zulrav's will. And it was to him she prayed before she stepped one foot into the darkness that awaited them. Her prayer was silent, but thoughtful, a thank you in a thankless situation. "Zulrav. We come here and do your will. May we have the courage, strength, and wisdom to not fail you. If this is the end of our time together, know that it was time well spent and without regret. And that if it comes to pass, we will keep trying in this life and next, until we get our tasks right. Know that. And know my love." Shai heard Nya's words in his mind, but otherwise the forest cat did not move. She waited until she sensed he was ready, nodded to Maya, and pulled a torch from her pack, lighting it by striking flint to steel. She lit a second one for Shai, and then when he was ready they stepped into the cave together, pacing carefully, eyes scanning for traps both old and new. Nya knew where she was going, thereabouts, and headed straight for where the invitation was extended. She wanted her mistril free and she wanted to see the creature that captured it and ruined so many lives.