Closed [The Prairie] Darkness is an Illusion (Noaru)

[Rayage]

Summer 70, 514 AV

The wizard found herself once again the Prairie, the almost lifeless desert looking ‘battle ground’ was perfect for practicing the types of magic she wanted to use. The space was empty, secluded, away from the hustle and constant entrapment of the Citadel. Lately she has felt more of a slave to her work and rank than an actual Master of the island. With such a title came severe and very high expectations. She needed to continue to work to be the best Alchemist, and the pressure was on, everyone in the masters guild was watching her. Qiao has her monitored, she doesn’t know when or if there is a moment of privacy. He assured her that it was for her safety, because if research was stolen from her lab, then someone, somewhere is up to something. That something, if it had to be taken while she was away, is probably not good. There had already been an attempt on her life since she had arrived. Things have been crazy for the nuit…

But here, here she could almost forget all of that. Here she could focus on bettering herself, her soul, and focus on the magics which mattered the most to her at the present time. She was renown throughout the island as an Alchemist, her formulas literally changing the ways people thought about world magic, but she wasn’t renown for anything other than that. She was a great Alchemist, and that was it. She wanted to be more, willed herself to be more. She wanted to be a great Wizard, both of personal and of world magic. She didn’t want to be seen as ‘half-baked’ as the majority of her critics called her. She wanted to prove them wrong.

To this end the barren wastes called to her, and it was from this place that her soul will really start to shine. Her form stood above all else, alone, in this lifeless place. A purple cloak reflected the light which hit it, shining like a steel sword. Black embroidery on the back, a serpent swallowing its own tail, the Ouroboros, the symbol of her once master, Master Karte, who had enlightened her about many subjects regarding organic alchemy. The cloth around her weighed a bit more than normal, the fabric was of her own creation, cloth with the properties of steel. Her hair was raven black, and fell gracefully in waves upon her back, covering most of the Ouroboros symbol. She possessed dark, striking eyes of an odd shade of green, and her features were soft. There no visible sign of undeath on her, in fact, she looked very much alive. Life touched her skin and permeated her form, and although it was an illusion, it made Ray feel special.

She thrust an arm forward and looked at it, directing her attention to her hand. Her fingers were outstretched, her palm facing down, and her mind was converging on the tip of her middle finger. Here she didn’t have to be the peerless Master Rayage, the alchemical genius who strives to solve the mystery of life. No, here she could just be Rayage, a seeker, a learner, a person striving to become better. Here in the wilderness her title in the Citadel held no weight. Here she was free, but her freedom, as with everything else in Sahova, comes at a price.

This place was somewhere where dangerous experiments were tested. Rayage knew that. Mostly of the offensive capabilities of some new weapon… it was partly the reason which the place was so barren, and partly because of the barren region that this place was chosen. The air itself tingled with residual djed and she could feel it upon her hand as she focused some more. The sweet caress of djed thick in the air sung to her in whispers to her mind. It cried to be taken, to be used, to be transformed and transmuted once again. The entire island was rich in djed, but this place was particularly filled. Any wizard could tell you that, but not any wizard could put the djed to use.

She felt it on her skin and saw it in her mind, the djed hanging in the air. She called to it, testing it, trying to tug and pull at it. The djed didn’t quite seem to react to her callings. It was being difficult, but she did not grow frustrated. She was at ease and kept imagining the djed around, simultaneously feeling it brush against her skin. It was like a gentle breeze, but subtler, more mysterious. She could feel it especially around her hand, which her eyes were locked on. It prickled at her, teasing her sense of touch.

She stayed like this, feeling the djed in the air, for a couple chimes. Her body was perfectly still, something nuits were good at. Once she had wrapped her mind around the concept of the djed and had visualized it around it her enough she began to practice with it. She willed the djed to her. She pictured the djed around her forming around her, being drawn to her skin, forming an aura around herself. The djed was blue in nature, in her minds eye, and as she commanded the djed to come she felt the tingling sensation increase. The hair on her arms was standing on edge due to the feeling that sent shivers down her spine.

The feeling grew more and more intense as she imagined the djed melding with her skin, coming into her body, becoming one with her. The tingles made her want to move, to shake off this weird and unnatural feeling, but her mind told her not to. The djed was being pulled from the environment into her providing the wizard with a very small but noticeable gain in djed within the body. If her body was a cup it felt like the cup was full and should be overflowing, since she had cast no spells today. However, the cup did not spill over. Instead the cup gained more and more water, and made the wizard feel uncomfortable. It almost hurt trying to contain the borrowed and recycled djed, but she kept it up.

Her body felt sick wherever the djed entered. She could swear that she could feel the rate of decay on her body quickening with the djed being introduced to her system. This was a cursed and unnatural magic. It taints both body and soul, and she felt it as she practiced, but the price for what is to be considered was well worth it.

x

[Noaru]

e

Noaru flowed quietly through the air, above the sun parched earth. Intense heat rose from the ground below him, giving the surroundings a strange glow. Daylight hours were not favorable to Noaru. In quietude he begrudgingly traverses bright and early days, like this one.

The light exposed him to the untrained eye. To remain unseen; imperceptible was a rule he must abide. Noaru’s gaze was upon something in the distance, upon something benign; it sways like water and trembles in the air underneath the skyline. This shimmering object, he had been following it since sunrise, chasing this mirage he believed was water. Time was a healthy educator and Noaru, after a few bells of pursuit and travel, understands that this was an illusion.

Noaru pauses in the blistering sun and turns his attention to the bone beside him. The skull in his sight had a gaping hole replacing its face. There were many other bones scattered across the landscape, resting soundly in the soil. They were worn, bare and appeared animalistic in nature. Noaru levitates closer to these bones, feeling relief more than sorrow. These creatures whose bones remained here would suffer no longer—their hunger, thirst and fatigue would not linger on to haunt them. Noaru extends a thread of his soulmist and lifts a skull off of the ground. A stream of sand escapes from the skulls hollow sockets, as Noaru liberates it from its sandy tomb.


“Pardon this entity that disturbs your rest.”


He inspects the skull with his soulmist by sliding his threads across the skulls dried and fractured surface. The many cracks on the forehead area and the gaping hole on the side of the canine skulls temple shows to him the cruelty of this land. Noaru gently places the skull back in place to show respect to the deceased creature before him, as all departed souls were to be respected, regardless of their origins. Yet Noaru found no respect for the dead here, only desolation and a deserted area of bones. This place known as Sahova had beauty that appealed to his secretive nature. But there was a strange atmosphere surrounding the island that brought forth a sense of dubiety.

Noaru couldn’t grasp the full nature of his surroundings because of this and remained still for a few chimes. In silence he levitated and watches the wasteland. There were no signs of life that he could see, so saddening. Noaru had spent all of his life in forests and enjoyed the presence of the animals and humans. However, to see no life or movement besides sand and bones, it made Noaru feel empty and almost lonesome. Noaru turns his invisible form to the left, right and then finally in front of him—where he sees a figure standing motionless in the sun.

“…..”


Noaru felt uncertain, this was a person?

The barren landscape was seemingly designed to ensure death. Yet for a soul to be here; certainly, it wasn’t human. Noaru flows towards the figure, expecting it to shimmer and shy away from him but when it maintains a solid form and stands in place, Noaru thought otherwise. He pauses once he was just a few meters away and was tempted by the silence to speak. However, Noaru remained silent and gazes upon the figure. What he found was a person of fair features; she was young and her presence held a hint of pensiveness and longing.

Noaru could only stare at this person; wishing not to disturb her concentration.

[Rayage]

She pulled and tugged at the djed in the air, introducing more foreign and unknown things into her system. Her body found that it couldn’t quite stay as still as she thought she could. Soon a slight tremor shot itself up her back, and if she was alive she would have let out of a gasp of pain. Pain wreaked through her body. Leeching wasn’t supposed to be painful, or at least it wasn’t to her knowledge. The shudder was visible and she dropped her arm looking at her hand, trying to figure out what she had done, what is happening, what this pain is. For right now it was enemy number one. It limited her, and allowed her to take in no more djed, after all she was an overflowing glass of water right now. The energies she had taken in she found she couldn’t hold within her anymore, leaked out slowly. The repurposed djed hurt exiting her pores, it wasn’t like normal djed.

Her personal djed felt good, felt nice, felt amazing when being released after being pent up for such time. However, it wasn’t so with this djed, that sought release. It seemed to surge through her body, her control over the other type of energy, the unrefined, impure power she was tapping into, was very limited. Her spells were harder to control, and the djed was even harder to direct. When it moved by her will she noticed that it responded sluggishly and halfheartedly compared to her own personal djed, stolen djed was not superior to djed of her own, but it could be used, and that was the purpose of her training. This pain, this pain was nothing! It was nothing compared to the lifelong struggle of a weak world wizard. She needed to get better, she needed to be fully baked.

Gaining back her courage, trying to push the pain to the back of her mind was hard, and in the end she couldn’t ignore the almost ripping effect of the djed, but instead found a way to move past it. Her lust for power would succeed over any sort of physical, mental, or spiritual ill. She had to dedicate to the path of the personal wizard. She needed to let go of her fears, and in turn become what she fears most. For when she faces it dead on, she will no longer feel fear, but freedom.

Her arm extended before her once more and she shook her head, trying to move past the pain was difficult, her arm was shaking, but she tried to soothe herself, ”I will become strong.” she said aloud, ”I will become strong.” she said through gritted teeth. Her hand was pointed to the vast distance as she once again started to mentally picture the clouds of djed around her. This island had a unique aura, one could almost always feel the tingle of hundreds of years of magic in this place. The cloud of djed swirled around her like a cloak, wrapping her in the promises of more power than she could ever need, wrapping her in sweet temptations, in sweet lies, in an utterly sweet delusion. Her mind was unused to personal magic. She was, first and foremost, a world wizard. Her personal magic extended to only that of hypnotism, of which she was fairly knowledgeable, but she knew that most personal wizards knew more than one discipline of personal magic. The wizard Miro was a shining example of what it means to be a personal mage, but she didn’t want to be like him, controlling and overbearing. She wanted to use magic to find herself and know herself, both were completely separate tasks.

Her mind clung to the djed outside her. Her body and soul reached for the djed, the wizard once again opening herself up. If she were alive she would take a deep breath and slow her mind down. By now the shaking of her arm subsided. The pain could still be felt, but it could also be controlled, noted, but not as important as keeping control of her spell here and now. Her mind wrestled with the djed about her, her very pores reacting to her intention, and opening as if inviting the djed in. She imagined the cloud about her being pulled in by her force, in to her skin, in to her body, in to her soul. The visualized djed became actualized as she felt the tingle about her body again. She pictured it sinking into her skin, sinking into her body, and being introduced to her djed system. The tainted djed started to come, bit by bit, slowly being introduced into her body.

I will become strong the mantra was almost being sung in her head as she felt for her strength to be actualized. She needed only to pretend and push herself forward until she actually became strong. Fake it until you make it, that was what Rayage was good at. She could very well act the part of an ungodly powerful wizard, and she would, one day, become the person she dreamed to be if only she knew exactly the kind of person she wanted to be. She knew that she wanted strength, thinking that it along would annihilate the fear she lives in…

x

[Noaru]

e

How perplexing. This person had not noticed him.

Noaru flowed around Rayage—his long, sinuous, gaseous form seemingly twisting around her: like a serpent, as he went. Interesting, he had not seen someone so deep into meditation that they could not notice his precious; though, his presence wasn’t all that noticeable—not now, no, not with his current power. Noaru still far from the completion he sought, far too incompetent, unknowing; ignorant to achieve what physical, spiritual and mental perfection he so desires deeply. Yet, all good things come to those that wait. And pursuit was just another form of learning: a way of learning, where one learns to avoid the most tedious doors and steep paths present in life.

Thin strands of soulmist: like spider silk, extend from Noaru’s form—they twist and flick through the air in way that would have one think they all had minds of their own. Noaru stretches one to touch the strange person in front of him, but pauses, pulling the invisible thread from Rayage’s nose: where it was just inches from. Almost like a child who had their finger burned by a candle, Noaru slinks the tiny piece of his form closer to him with the other threads. There was something strange about the air surrounding this person; it felt thin in something places but thick in others.

Before Noaru could think, he found his thoughts disturbed by Rayage’s words of powerful conviction. A grin would have graced Noaru’s form, if it had a face, but Noaru simply remains quiet and listens to Rayage’s words—they were quite similar to his. He also desires power but he learned that with every use of his soulmist—his power grew. Yet, it seems that all creatures grew with the use of their power; physically, mentally and spiritually.That he learned at this moment.

“All who seek power, must avoid being consumed by it. As most things fall to predation. And things that fail to control their power will crumble and submit. Yet, you seem to have pure intention. What endeavors have brought you here to seek contemplation? Oh, quiet one.” Noaru thought while afloat.

He wants to posses this person to hear, feel and see what memories and emotions slept beyond the flesh and mind that encloses them. Bitterly, Noaru waited and with time by his side, it would not be long. Patience was his virtue and impatience he knew partially. Impatience brought forth memories—days of madness and instability: when he was of impatience, oddly manipulative and impulsive. That side of him was gone, he had conquered it some many seasons ago.

[Rayage]

Rayage continued to delve deeper into her meditation. The color of djed she saw gathering around her, pulled to her by her will, in her mind’s eye was fantastic. It glowed around with a luminous light which only her imagination could really see, but the effects of her will were tangible within her body and system. The atmosphere felt thinner as she stood in one spot, her mind clawing at the djed around her. Of course, more djed in the air moved and went to fill the void in the islands aura. There was a constant rush of djed, even in this dead area. The djed wasn’t of anything living, no, it was of experiments long past, the djed she was taking was from the past. It lingered around the entire island, some spots stronger than others.

It was because of this deep concentration and connection she had to the surrounding environment that it struck her when she felt a difference. This difference was subtle, and hard to identify. It was as if something had touched her, but didn’t. She felt this difference go inside her, being pulled and dragged into her body, joining her djed system. The djed felt different than the environment, it was harder to convert to a usable form. It shook her in her mantra, when a thought went through her mind. She was not alone. She continued on, reaching out more with her mind, trying to expand the aura around herself, but with anvil. She could only reach out a couple inches away from her skin, and nothing more. This mode of leeching had its benefits, but also its vices. She wasn’t strong enough yet to expand the djed stealing aura around her, to allow her body to open up more and even more to consume an even broader area around her. She couldn’t yet open herself up. She was still new to leeching after all.

Instead of trying to see who was there by feeling out the areas djed with leeching, she instead decided to halt her meditation and practice to look outwardly. Coming from the depths of her mind the nuit the light of the world greeted her as she moved back into a conscious state of mind. Her eyes scoped the surrounding field, the absorbed djed dissipating from her still open pores. She did not want the poison of practice to delude her body any longer than it should. She closed herself off from the worlds energy and focused on the reality in front of her.

There was something different about the space around her now. It wasn’t just because of the leeching magic, but something else was different. Something is out of place, but upon observation nothing quite seemed out of place. There was feeling at the back of her mind that she wasn’t alone, and paranoid thoughts crossed through her mind. Someone or something is disturbing her practice sessions. The dry and dead landscape didn’t give any clues, but perhaps what she was feeling was the ‘difference’ she had absorbed into her moments ago.

”If you are hiding” Rayage looked around her, turning around and looking in all directions only to be met by the same barren landscape she had seen before, ”then come out. I’ve sensed you and know that you there.” When in fact, Rayage sensed something, but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. During her meditation something had entered her field, just what? Was there some horrible monster lurking in the sands of this lifeless place? An experiment not quite dead… Should she return immediately to the Citadel and resume her projects before she bit off more than she could chew? The wizard stood there, waiting for something, anything to happen. In this barren landscape nothing could sneak up on you. One could see it coming, which is why Ray had chose such a place. However that security was slipping away.

x

[Noaru]

e

Noaru flows away from Rayage in silence.

But only afterwards did he feel a small portion of his soulmist fade.

He had been detected but not discovered entirely. This leaves Noaru with a sense of relief; his powers of stealth had not faltered. In the still air surrounding him—Noaru felt a bit a mischief brewing within him. It had been a long time; years even, since he had last felt impish. Rayage’s anxious response brought forth old tricks and schemes from his past, tricks that would come into play again. Noaru extends his soulmist and dozens of threads touch and wrap around the skeletal remains of a creature, whose living visage could have resembled a hound of some sort, below him.

Noaru proceeds to lift the skull, rib cage and legs of this deceased creature with his soulmist—while his mind filled with apologetic thoughts: for he had disturbed the sleep of a living beings final resting place. Noaru goes on to produce more threads of soulmist: which he uses to stabilize the wobbling frame of bone within his grasp.

The skull facing downwards was raised upwards to face Rayage, giving the hollow-eyed vessel the appearance of a gazing beast. And the empty spaces between these flesh forsaken bones made the act eerie, almost nightmare fuel worthy, if one had a phobia of bones.
But now came the difficult part.

Noaru had not materialized while holding an object with his soulmist before—that or he could not remember the time he did. The task seemed impossible with his limited strength back then—during the time he could hardly lift a bowl off a table. Yet now, with his current power, that possibility could become a reality and reach fulfillment. Noaru holds onto his calcium composed puppet with his soulmist, as he focuses upon his incorporeal form. An odd silhouette appears around the bones: it sways like cold around ice before its transparent body transforms into a shadowy mass of soulmist and djed.

What stood before Rayage would probably be the weirdest things she’d ever seen—black soulmist held onto and surrounded dry and old bones? Noaru maintained the silence and would continue to do so, until his companion, Rayage, responds and looks beyond the guise of soulmist, bones and djed. This could be a unique method of concealment, one Noaru could make as his own.

[Rayage]

The silence only heightened the anticipation of the wizard. She did not know who or what was there, but a creeping sense of paranoia crept up her spine, flowing through her form like a sick poison infecting and destroying her confidence. If she had to fight, she didn’t know if she could win. Her magic was not nearly as strong as Miro’s, the wizard she compared her personal powers too. No, it wasn’t even a match for Evalin, who has had hundreds of years to master the art of Reimancy, which the nuit was just now learning.

Looking, watching, waiting, time seemed to crawl as the nuit was anticipating coming face to face with someone. Another wizard had followed her? She had made rivals before and… her thoughts stood on end as the sand itself shifted around the area, the bones, the remains of some ungodly creature, a mutant of Sahova, began to rattle to life. She visibly stiffened at the sight, standing straighter up, trying to be ‘taller’, to be ‘more’, to the creature as she reached within her mind trying to calm herself down. Her right hand began to sting a little as her thoughts raced, but slowly the pain faded as she looked upon the bones. A cool stillness spread across her, a suave manner encompassed her soul. Though this wasn’t her natural state, a mishap with hypnotism forced this manner upon her, a cool calmness of mind, almost free of fear and urgency.

She stepped back from the creature, watching it, eyes never leaving its form, especially when it ‘lit up’ with the black soulmist. She had no idea what was before her, and so decided to continue to back away, feet slowly moving back, leaving trails in the sand for she never lifted a foot. She made no sudden movements, nothing quick, nothing but a slow, restrained backing away. It was like something from a childs nightmare, this creature, it sent shivers up her spine and repulsed her in ways that nothing natural could.

She tried to stay calm, thinking about Miro, what would he do? He surely wouldn’t have backed away from the creature she was now facing. He would have fought it head on, magic ablaze. He would have defeated this being easily. Surely he wouldn’t have shown the behavior that Rayage has. Her mind was filling with disappointment in herself, Miro would never back away from a challenge, but she couldn’t bring herself to lift a finger against this creature. It was frightening, yes, but was that a reason to want it dead? It hasn’t yet attacked, but that could surely change at any moment. Now she was at a crossroads, and she knew it. She would either pass or fail.

Miro would never back down. Never, ever, and it was from that image that she pulled within herself the djed. She willed it into motion and felt it flow across her body. Miro would never back down. It was her new mantra, something that she could draw strength from when she had none for herself. Her fire was a gift from the wizard, and she did not intent to die today. Though her feet, they wouldn’t stop. They wouldn’t stop backing away, slowly, carefully…

Raising an arm, her fingers pointed upwards, palm faced the creature, and djed transmuted itself to a blood red res. It flowed from the wizards arm and hand in a slow and unpracticed trickle. The tiny streams of res that came from her flowed together and joined into a small ball about the size of her hand, the res rested a few inches away from her palm. She needed to fight, to destroy this creature that dared to threaten her. Her mind found resolve, but as she looked into the dark specks in the creature’s sunken eyes, her confidence waned.

She concentrated on the shape of the res, the ball rounded itself out and became almost a perfect sphere, replicating the image she held in her mind. Its surface ripped with will, and its form was complete as the last of the djed she transmuted joined the sphere. She focused on it, all the while going backwards. Her attention was split between her half-complete spell and the ‘enemy’. A smug smile of confidence spread across her face as she saw the res take shape. Now! Now was the time to strike, and now was the time she would!

Her mind focused on the res flying towards the creature, as she did that she drew her arm backwards, the res following, and like she was going to throw a ball, her fingers curled and she flung her arm forward and down. The res ‘flew’ from her hand, aimed at the creature, the wizard ignited it into its real substance with a thought. Fire spewed from the res, and giddy with success the wizard lost track of her surroundings and tripped over some dry remains of some creatures. Losing concentration of her spell as she fell, the ball jerked in one direction, and then left the wizards small zone of control. The fire and res rained down, but not on its intended target. Instead it caught fire a dry plant that was nearby.

The wizards heart sank as she saw the plant wither in the flames she had conjured up, and looked back at the creature to see if she had provoked a negative reaction, all the while trying to scramble back to her feet in an attempt to get out of dodge.

x

[Noaru]

e

Noaru braces for the incoming magic; he was prepared to dodge, if the ball of fire approached him. But what interests him was the fact that this person knew magic—then the bush to his right was set aflame, and they seemed rather inaccurate. This was probably due to their fumbling.

Noaru coils his soulmist around the bones he levitated upon to further entwine them into his form. The person in front of him was calm, seemingly unperturbed by his display of mischief and soulmist manipulation. However, he wasn't quite done, yet. He moves a bony leg forward, and then pulls another, and then another. The skeletal frame clicks, and clacks as it was sent into motion by Noaru's power; reanimated once more to walk the forsaken lands it had died in.

Noaru extends his soulmist around the skull, having it lay over its dry surface, and fill in the empty eye sockets it gruesomely possessed. He goes on to consume every aspect of the skeleton under his control; enveloping all visible traces of bone, and sand upon his vessel. A soul observing this would see a walking frame of death, gradually turning into a mass of soulmist and bones. Noaru moves the skulls head into its proper place, above the shoulders, and steadies the rib cage to reduce the noise the bones made.

¨Be still, soul. I do not wish to harm you; my will is pure,¨ Noaru said through his puppet of bones. He continues his waltz of death while trying to grasp more elegant and consistent movements with his vessel. Noaru remembers how it felt to move with four legs, during the time he possessed a wolf within The Wildlands. He was trying to achieve those same movements, but the task proved to be quite difficult. A living host had a soul, and mind in which he could possess, and move with grace. However, this vessel has been dead for some time, and its mind, including soul, long gone.

One could not call this possession, and this much Noaru knew. He would have to call this act besetting because the very action involved him covering, and persistently harassing inanimate vessels. Noaru was constantly changing the state of his soulmist from thin, and large—flexible, and firm. In an attempt to grasp a sense of solidity.

The ghastly creation of Noaru's imagination walks; ribs flex from its sides as Noaru had not completely subdued them. He was focused on obtaining symmetry, but had not forgotten about Rayage.

[Rayage]

Horror sank into Rayages heart when the fireball missed, and she knew that if Miro would have saw such a performance he would be disappointed in her. She still needed a lot of practice to even begin to be able to challenge the wizard at a personal level. She considered herself a half-baked wizard, which was mostly true having a specialization in the world magic of Alchemy, but she wanted to become more. She needed to become more, to advance, to be more than she is now, growth and change, it was what she desired. Right now she saw a reflection of her worth ethic throughout the seasons, her fireball was not only a manifestation of her will but her skill, her power as a personal wizard, and it was a sad thing to behold.

The bones, they hadn’t moved from the spot since Ray had shot the fire ball. The woman watched as it further attempted to assemble itself, the things rising in the air unnaturally, just like objects manipulated by Projection. However, it was no such magic doing it. She couldn’t recall a being of darkness, and was at a loss of what exactly she was looking at. The darkness surrounding the bones, the bones themselves, the choice of movements, it all was symbolic of the creatures true nature. Everything was a symbol for something else, such is taught in Alchemy, the Truth is in meaning, and to find meaning one must discern the Truth of something, its true nature. What was this beings true nature?

The nuit didn’t bother to try to get up, if the thing wanted to it could probably leap and attack her anyways. Instead she focused on summoning another defensive blast of fire. Stretching her arm out she pointed at the dark-mist covered bones and summoned more of her djed. It moved slow at her commands, the amount of djed it took to summon the mist-like res was incredible. It was a wonder Miro did so much with it. She felt her magic drain at her soul as a red cloud started to pour of her hand, her concentration solely on creating enough fire so that she might escape.

However in her concentration something broke when she heard the words come from the beast. It spoke! And it didn’t just say any words, it told her that it meant her no harm. Such a scheming creature it was, but those words were so unexpected that it totally broke the wizards grasp on the spell. The res that was summoned under her control faded into obscurity, dissipating in the atmosphere of Sahova.

”You…” The wizard stammered, eyes widening as the creature moved, the bones moved awkwardly its first strides. It was as if the thing did not know how to walk, or perhaps was remembering, but the movements were fumbling and unsure of themselves. She noted how alien it seemed and further questioned the mist in which surrounded the bones. It was a horribly creepy sight that sent a shiver even down her spine, however its movements did not seem threatening at all, even if its appearance did. Was it trying to trick her?

”If your will is pure, why do you look like a being of darkness?” Rayage asked, trying to engage the creature which had the intelligence to talk. Shaova had all sorts of oddities, but even though she was speaking, she tried not to let her guard down. Her eyes watched the creature, watched the bones and their alien movement, watched the dark mist, and the skull…

"What is your will?" The last question was barely a breath, caught by the winds of the prairie.

x

[Noaru]

e

“ There is only one interpretation of darkness, yet many things that assume its appearance. I do not contemplate my visage, nor question it, ”Noaru levitates towards Rayage and his puppet follows behind; its steps having more certainty than before. The leg bones did not rattle as they press against the earth, and the skull had ceased to wobble. Noaru's puppet carried a hint of sentience to its waltz now; however, would never truly be alive in a sense—no matter how elegant and precise its movements became. Noaru pauses in front of Rayage “ However, when uncertain of ones true origins, it is best to take on the form of another, ” he continued.

This person carried an aura of calmness around them—and was quite beautiful—that much he knew. Yet why did she stumble before? Rayage was an odd individual, and Noaru found the things he felt and what he witnessed to be very strange. Yes—his intentions were to create mischief—but to cause fear in some who was diligently meditating was not his goal. “ My will is as I mentioned before; pure,” Noaru places the bones onto the ground, deciding that he had enough of this display of soulmist, and releases his puppet from his hold.

The gaseous form before Rayage descends to the ground and began to change. Soulmist threads that swayed independently from one another converge and move as one to form into a human silhouette. This silhouettes features were blurred by soulmist that swirled like pitch-black ash, and smoke—leaving one to guess if the true nature of this being was that of fire and brimstone. In a chime the features veiled by the soulmist became visible, revealing a semi-human visage. Noaru—who resembles a young man in his current form—was firmly embraced by his soulmist that draped down beyond his feet like a robe.

“ This form may be better, ” dark crimson eyes peer from beneath a dark hood. Noaru could not pass for a human in this form either—he was unable to hide the inhumanity he possessed—yet one would fail to hide that which refused to be denied. Noaru hoped that this form was more appealing than the one he tried to assume before—he was definitely be in for some distrust, considering his actions—but now, it all came down to Rayage.