The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Hey, Gilly. Didn't we find something weird on the way here? I can't remember what it was."

 

"Oh? And where did you find this...weird thing?" The elder said, interest piqued. "It surely can't be the orb we're missing, unless..." He looked at Gilly, and her size, and what she was carrying with her. "Maybe it's back at the old temple? Should we go there now? I should probably check on your companions, anyway."

-------

"The big guy checked out. He's already dead. Which means you either need to help me take his head off, or take little Keres so you're not in the way, and leave this to me and the bird..."

 

Dead? Keres thought about it. The lack of blood, the lack of breathing she could see now that she was watching, yes, this was merely a walking corpse. Only something was different. There was no life in them but their eyes showed emotion. Despair and rage. Something had gone horribly wrong with the Orc while he was burying Ayden. Her eyes crept to the mark on his left shoulder, the mark of the curse, and widened. The mark had changed. It seemed to have grown somewhat and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, it looked to be moving. Twisting around ever so slightly. Did the mark activate already, but why? What changed to cause such a drastic response?

 

The bird tried to attack Kha yet again, and Keres shook her head in concern. The bird wasn't trained in using that sword, and Kha had at least been more skilled than most of those bandits. It showed as the Orc dodged the awkward sword swing the bird sent at him.

As she tried to kick him he grabbed her leg, twisting his his, Kha spun and lifted the bird off her feet, slamming her into Lindow before letting her go.

 

Moments later Anis's arrow struck the Orc in the back of the neck. He didn't react to the wound, beyond a slight nod of his head as the arrow impacted. He lifted his sword high to bring it down on the bird and finish her off for good when his arm was stopped by Keres's water.

 

She tugged on the water and pulled Kha's arm back, throwing him off balance.

[Alaina]

As the situation was explained to her, and the fight continued on, the girl couldn't help but look on in horror at the two dueling. She didn't want them to fight, she didn't want them to lose another companion and she most certainly didn't want to see one kill the other. However, it became increasingly clear that the Light Chosen was no longer in his right mind. And as the arrow got lodged into the orcs neck, it looked as though he no longer even had a right mind anymore. Her free hand tightening into a fist in frustration of the whole ordeal that was going on before her, she watched powerlessly as the orc had nearly decapitated the bird mount before being stopped by a rush of water. As the Water Chosen had now joined the fight, her frustrated expression only grew more as she shouted out, "Ackrin!" The tall goat like spirit appearing before her nodded, understanding what had to be done. As the spirit conjured a satellite of rocks around it, it fired them towards the staggered orc. Bashing her fist against her shield to cause a sharp sound, the girl stepped closer, though still keeping her distance from the orc, shouting out, "here!" 

[Hälō]

"That h-happened..." Lindow groaned as she shoved the bird that had been tossed into him to the side and shakily got to his feet. Having been sent tumbling into the far wall by what he could only describe as a feathery sack of potatoes, it was easy to see that Lindow now notably annoyed. With a grunt he spat a clump of feathers to the side before retrieving his sword and sheathing his dagger. 

 

Suddenly, a sharp sound filled the room, followed by the voice of the Earth Chosen who seem to be trying to draw Kha's attention. Watching as the Orc took the girl's bait and slammed his blade down on her shield, Lindow dashed forward as the two locked into a power struggle. 

 

"Didn't forget about me already, right?!" Lindow growled before plunging his blade upwards into Kha's ribs. With his sword now buried deep within the Orc's body, Lindow cocked his hand backwards as bright blue static seemed to dance around his fingers. Without a word, he quickly thrusted his open palm forward, releasing a crackling blade of lightning that ravenously extend through the side of Kha's skull and exited through the other side with a sickening sound.

 

"Got yo-" Lindow began, only to silence himself upon realizing that Kha was continuing to apply pressuring to his clash with Ryia, and was even beginning to force the small girl to her knees despite the magical blade that had impaled him through his head. "Well sheet..." Lindow muttered in a rare case of genuine shock. Hastily deactivating the Third Blade with a flick of his wrist, Lindow placed his hand on Kha shoulder in preparation to try and throw him to the ground before the Earth Chosen completely gave way to the former light chosen's strength. 

 

Though as Lindow's hand landed near the mark that was branded in the orc skin, he quickly noticed the markings begin to move and change color as if they were alive. Could that be it? The source of Kha's sudden transformation?

 

Not wasting any time in testing his hypothesis, Lindow released the grip on the handle of his sword, allowing it to hang lodged in Kha's side as his now free hand glided over to his belt. Drawing his dagger, Lindow raised it up and drove it directly into the center of Kha's curse marking, releasing an inky black substance that began pumping from the wound at an unnatural rate.

 

A shrill scream bounced off the walls of the room, as the smokey silhouette of what seemed to be an avian skeleton appeared in the air above Kha before dissipating into nothingness. As the silhouette faded, Kha suddenly fell to the ground, a true corps without any magic to keep it moving. 

 

Despite the fact the battle was seemingly over, Lindow remained in motion. Allowing his dagger to fall with Kha, the Thunder Chosen crouched down and extended his hand towards the wisp of light that had been lingering at the Orc's side since he had entered and attack. Inhaling with all of his might, Lindow wrapped his fingers around the light and attempted to draw it into his very being.  

 

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Such an abomination..."

 

Anis managed to get herself to stand up, but she still had to lean towards the surface behind her if she wanted to avoid falling over due to her still semi-disoriented state. Her earlier arrow had passed through Kha without doing anything significant, and Ileca had been thrown away earlier easily despite her massive weight. It was clear now. The Orc was clearly one of the undeath. The mere thought of that disgusted her. Creatures she once thought only belonged to legends and scary stories, an offense against the goddess of nature herself.

 

But what could she do now? Anis only understood life and death, not something that lie beyond it. Whether to give life or to take it, but she wasn't able to do anything to something that defied what was natural. Yet, she wasn't able to properly ponder about the question as she had to silently watch Lindow going wild at the undead orc, and after some excessive maneuvers, hit a certain spot that ended up being the key to finally get him down. That was a relief, and Anis believed that it was time to dispose of the body to properly get rid of any corruption on it, but...Lindow then started to approach the light speck that were apparently wandering around the undead orc all this time. What was he going to do? Anis seemed to recall something akin to this...was that the time when Ayden died? She caught some glimpse of it but she wasn't sure on what was he going to do.

 

No, this was wrong. At the very least, Lindow owed some explanation.

 

"Stop what you are doing, or I'll split your head in two."

 

Shirin was strangely silent at this time, yet it still helped Anis to aim the arrow towards Lindow. Something about this, about everything was off. Before anything else could be done, she would have to make sure everyone was in the same page, no matter what.

 

---

[Sethera]

Reiny boy and the old man started to talk, and then his spirit came out to talk too. A lot of it went over Gilly's head. Something about forms, and then life being a burning spectacle, whatever that meant. Unless she meant that Gilly was a burning spectacle. That she could agree on. Though she was more of a frozen popsicle, which didn't sound as neat, but that was the price to pay for being the Ice Chosen. And then they were talking about a curse, the sun, and blahblahblah the halfling started to zone off there.

 

"Hey, Gilly. Didn't we find something weird on the way here? I can't remember what it was."

 

"Oh? And where did you find this...weird thing?" The elder said, interest piqued. "It surely can't be the orb we're missing, unless..." He looked at Gilly, and her size, and what she was carrying with her. "Maybe it's back at the old temple? Should we go there now? I should probably check on your companions, anyway."

 

Gilly came to herself at that. "Wh-wha? Something weird? Only thing weird I can think of was those bandits and their stupid banditness!" she said. Then she thought. "Unless...do you mean that weird shark mouth thing? I thought it was food but then it wasn't," she sighed, opening her bag to reveal the blue stone thing. "I don't think it's what you're looking for though, especially if you're looking for food. Snowy seemed to like it though. Weird bunny," she giggled.

 

Then the elder's words registered. "Ohhh yeah we probably should go back there, shouldn't we? Make sure no bullies came to pick on our friends! Well, Mr. Lindow can probably handle them. He's almost as good a fighter as me!" she puffed out her chest, flexing a slim arm.

[Andx]

Gilly was able to produce the object they had found. The sand shark had had the blue stone lodged in its mouth. Reinaan looked at it curiously as he hadn't been able to get a clear view of it before. The Draken's priorities were very much focused elsewhere at the time. The Elder looked at the gem Gilly produced and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid our shrine's orb is far larger. I've no idea what that is there. " the man said, justifiably disappointed. Reinaan was disappointed too. These people had been really nice to them and he wanted to do something to help them. Ziiyol's talk with the Elder didn't seem to have been what the man was hoping for in meeting a spirit, and now this. There had to be something. The Draken would make it a point to somehow help someone in this village before they left.

 

The Elder had also mentioned checking in on the others. Thinking on it, Reinaan hadn't seen any of the other Chosen moving about the city yet. It seemed strange that they would all simply stay at the shrine. Granted, they were understandably tired from the battle the day before. Gilly agreed with checking in back at the shrine, stating if any bullies had come to bother them Lindow would handle it. Reinaan agreed with the comment though in the back of his mind he had to wonder. Something about last night was still fresh in his mind somehow. Regardless, Reinaan began moving forward while leading Kloqah by the reins. Ziiyol hovered by his side, a tad calmer than before after her talk with the Elder. She seemed to be deep in thought; an odd occurrence to be certain. It seemed the conversation had her mind going strong on the one thought as opposed to her usual excited and passing interactions with everything around her.

 

It was not a long walk to the former shrine of the great spirit of fire. From the outside nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But Reinaan soon had his attention caught by suspicious sounds and smells. Something like a fight must have been breaking out as he could smell blood. "Stay here, something's wrong." he said turning back to the Elder. The man questioned what was happening but there wasn't time to explain. Reinaan then let go of Kloqah's reigns. "You too, stay put." he said to the mount. With a huff she sat down on the spot, content to bask in the sun while the small lizard did whatever it was he was up to. He motioned to Gilly to come with him, keeping a finger up to his mouth signalling the Ice Chosen to remain quiet. His hunter's instincts were acting in full force as the somewhat awkwardly proportioned Draken managed to slowly approach the outer walls of the shrine while keeping his steps and breathing silent. He pressed up against the wall and moved slowly towards one of the entrances. He could hear someone talking now.

 

It was a female voice. Threatening to split someone's head. It sounded like the Chosen of Nature from what Reinaan could recall of her speaking. She hadn't seemed to want to talk to him much at all but he was pretty sure that's who it was. The situation seemed pretty tense. A sudden movement like entering the room might startle something bad into happening. For now Reinaan chose to wait. He attempted to get a glimpse of what was happening inside without revealing himself only to see a body on the ground. He couldn't confirm who it was without potentially exposing some of his face. He was ready to pounce at a moment's notice but waited patiently. He only hoped Gilly had something of a grasp of the situation at hand and didn't go running into things.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

As Lindow slayed the husk that once was Kah, Keres cursed herself for allowing him to be the one to do it. She couldn't be sure but she felt that the way he was fighting so determinedly meant that he had reason for wanting to finish off the undead Orc.

Her theory was given more evidence as Lindow immediately did...something.

 

He was interrupted by Anis, acting much more swiftly and aggressively than Keres would have expected from prior observations. It was a tense situation to say the least but Keres knew whose side she had to take. This Lindow had clearly done some rather disturbing things with the spirits and she felt unsafe in his very presence.

Saying nothing, Keres merely moved towards Anis, making sure she was closer to the older woman than the man.

 

As she did, Flux emerged once again and moved towards the light that Lindow had tried to absorb. "Stop." Keres croaked out, but Flux paid no heed.

 

"What's all this here? Hmm, what's going on?" The spirit hovered near the light and seemed to recognize it. "Kal'bri? They are...dying?" Flux's normally enthusiastic tone was muted. Keres couldn't blame them. It must be a surprise to the spirit, seeing one of their own die. After all, Keres remembered, spirits generally couldn't actually die. The fact that Flux used that word specifically meant that..."Something unnatural." Keres said, looking at Lindow with her usual neutral expression. But with the slightest hint of alarm in her eyes.

As the group squared off, the light that was once Kal'bri began to fade away.

-------

The elder watched the duo leave with a heavy heart. They were good kids. Yet he had to throw them out for the safety of everyone in his city. Truly these were dark times; ironically perhaps due to the constant sun. He should probably finish this up and go to them soon, make sure there was no more problems.

[Hälō]

"Stop what you are doing, or I'll split your head in two."

 

"Hm?" Lindow grunted in annoyance as he shifted his attention away from what remained of the Light Spirit. Met with the sight of Anis aiming an arrow towards him, Lindow's gaze narrowed. Perhaps he should have let Kha kill this one after all... 

 

Naturally, little Keres had made her way over to Anis's side right away, all too eager to appose him as well. Watching as the Water spirit manifested and drifted over to observe the state of the Light spirit, Lindow listen to Flux's words without retracting his hand from the wisp of light. 

 

"What's all this here? Hmm, what's going on?" It's tone made the spirit's confusion clear. "Kal'bri? They are...dying?"

 

"Something unnatural." Keres finally chose to chime in. 

 

"Unnatural?" Lindow repeated as he met Keres's gaze. "Did you forget why we're here already, little Keres?" As he spoke, Lindow's shadow darkened slightly between him and the girls. "Everything about our little fool's errand is unnatural. The Gates. Us Chosen. Hell, even the council seems content with f***ing with the natural order of things at this point... just ask Kha here." He motioned to the corps at his feet before yanking his dagger free from Kha's shoulder and holding it up to show the other Chosen the black liquid that had flowed from the mark left by the council. 

 

"You play with magic, right? Why don't you tell us how easy is it to accidentally raise a corps like that?" 

 

"But who can blame them? With the world at stake and whatnot..." He then shifted his sights back to Anis. "When one of us dies, the spirit they were connected to fades away, just like with the Wind chosen. That means we lose their power. Our strength diminishes, and our chances of completing our objective also dwindle, meaning that we're one step closer the end."

 

"Though I can't say that I'm not a little bit curious about what might happen if we don't destroy the Gates... I think I'd much rather take Kal'bri into my own body, rather than lose her power all together." Noticing that the Light spirit was beginning to fade, Lindow smile also diminished slightly. With his shadow ready to defend him should the other chosen resort to violence Lindow sighed impatiently. "So if you're gonna try to shoot me, can I ask that hurry and get on with it? We don't have much time..."  

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"And why it has to be you? I saw what you did with Ayden and Nocturne.

 

Indeed, this quest is quite peculiar and rife with concerning oddities and suspicion, and I do believe that they did set us up to die alongway this quest. And you are right that losing people would only make our survival chance lessen and lessen.

 

Yet you still did not make yourself trustworthy enough for myself to consider entrusting further deceased spirits to you."

 

Anis' tone was stern. She understood the point that Lindow was trying to make, but she still had zero reason to entrust the Light Spirit to him. Her heart was beating faster. She used her magic a little bit to accelerate her natural body function, enough so that she could start properly walking again towards the Thunder Chosen. She ended up still firing her arrows near where the light was, in an attempt to get Lindow away from the fading spirit.

 

Shirin slithered near her, having grown to its enlarged size by Anis while she spoke. The snake served as her

bodyguard as she approached the light. With it on her side, as she was before the light, Anis knelt before the light, and grasped it as she brought it closer to herself. She took a deep breath, and attempted to focus herself into having the spirit entrust itself to her. She had little idea how Lindow did it with Nocturne, but she tried her best to just do what her intuition told her to, whether it worked or not.

 

"Pardon me for being hypocritical, but I believe that for the sake of this group, I should be the one that attempt to do this now."

 

In the meantime, Ileca rose up after shortly being unconscious, and wondering what was currently happening on the area.

 

---

[Hälō]

Quickly retracting his hand to avoid the arrow that was fired towards the spirit, Lindow brought himself to his feet with his dagger now readied in in a reverse grip at his side. As Anis and her spirit approached, the lightning chosen to a step backwards to allow them to pass, his usual fox-like smirk present despite the circumstance. 

 

"Pardon me for being hypocritical, but I believe that for the sake of this group, I should be the one that attempt to do this now."

 

"By all means, go right ahead..." He nodded before taking another step back to give Anis some room. "I'll simply pick up where I left off if you fail." 

 

Well aware of the conditions that needed to be reached to absorb someone else's spirit, and that this woman hadn't met them, Lindow watched Anis pull the wisp of light closer to herself and close her eyes as if she were mimicking what he had just attempted. Focusing on the light spirit, Lindow subtly began inhaling himself in preparation to absorb the light spirit once Anis's likely futile attempt had failed. 

[Andx]

The young Draken listened to the proceedings inside as best he could without revealing himself. A voice he didn't recognize spoke of the Light Spirit dying in a confused tone. If Kal'bri was dying was that body Kha? Then where were the attackers? Conversation continued between Lindow, whose voice Reinaan knew well enough to identify, and Anis as best he could tell. Lindow spoke of Kha and the corpse he had seen in such a way as to confirm to the concealed boy what he had been thinking. Something the council had done to him. Could it have been the curse? As the exchanged progressed Lindow spoke of absorbing Kal'bri into himself. It sounded very familiar to him. Something was telling Reinaan to be ever more cautious of Lindow, and yet he didn't want to doubt the man. He hardly knew any of the people here, but Lindow had been very friendly to him. The same could not be said of Anis and Keres who seemed to be confronting him at this point. Both seemed distrustful of him yet spoke nothing as to why.

 

As best he could tell, Reinaan did not detect any outsiders present in the shrine. And with Anis apparently going to attempt to absorb the spirit things seemed a little less tense. The boy backed off from the outer wall and stepped plainly through the opening he had been close by. In plain view now was the body of Kha which lay lifeless on the ground. Anis and Lindow were nearby a small glimmer of light which must have been the remnants of Kal'bri. Keres and Ryia were both here as well, the former sticking close to Anis. The Draken's eyes fixated on the corpse however. Another of them dead. As best he could tell the other Chosen had fought and killed Kha but Lindow had spoken of the council being involved. He clenched his hands, his claws only not piercing his palms due to his scales. No matter where he turned, only death seemed to surround him since meeting with the council. Anis was intently focused on the light and yet nothing seemed to be happening. The faint glimmer simply continued its gradual fading away into nothing.

 

"What's going on here?!" Reinaan exclaimed, clearly agitated. Even if they explained everything he didn't feel like calming down. Embers escaped his nostrils as he breathed. It seemed like no one outside of his village even cared about the senseless loss of life. Death was just an every day thing to them. But not to this Draken. The spirits had chosen nine people to help destroy demon gates and yet three were already dead. Every moment that passed made Reinaan want less and less to do with all of this.

[Sethera]

There was a lot happening right then, but all Gilly knew was that the group was...really tense for some reason. Also the boring adult was trying to eat a ball of light, which was odd. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I don't think light is very tasty. I tried it once, just tasted like dust," she stuck out her tongue.

 

Then she noticed the orc's dead body. "Whoa! Did orc dude die? Wait, why did that happen? Did a monster come in and attack him while we were gone?" she glanced around at the others, then at their exhausted figures. Mr. Lindow seemed like he had done a lot of work especially. She went up and patted him on the leg, since she couldn't reach his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mr. Lindow. We can't always beat the bad guys in one hit," she said solemnly.

 

Hob pawed the ground anxiously beside the halfling, ears flattened against his head. He didn't like the atmosphere of this place, nor how everybody was looking at each other. He pressed himself against his owner's side protectively.

[Alaina]

Everything around her was happening so suddenly. The girl wasn't quite sure of what to make of the situation that was unfolding around her. Just as the orc had been felled, did a malevolent looking spirit be released from it. The thought of its origins caused shivers to run through the girl, and the Thunder Chosen's similar notion that this was the doing of the Council did nothing to aid her nerves. However, that was not all that had taken her by storm. The sudden act of the Thunder Chosen, reaching out to the fading light sent a shiver through her and before she could react to stop him, the Nature Chosen had already done so. However, seeing the bow drawn and pointed towards the eye-patched man only caused her nerves to grow even worse. Even if she wasn't quite sure about what to think of the man, watching more of the Chosen kill each other was not something that she wanted any more of. 

 

While the situation eventually seemed to diffuse itself, the Nature Chosen wished to attempt whatever it was that the Thunder Chosen was doing, which the girl couldn't help but feel a small sense of relief when the nature chosen had failed. However, her thoughts were soon broken as the voice of the Fire and Ice chosen had sounded out, causing the girl to look at them, her expression a bit stunned. They hadn't been here. They hadn't seen what had happened. They didn't know anything about it. The girl felt as though she should explain what was happening, but the words were not there to do so. How could she explain something that she didn't even understand herself? The whole situation had been completely unnatural and one that she didn't have a grasp on in the slightest, and even with what she could say all that had escaped her mouth was a few stammers, as the girl eventually looked away from them and back towards the body of the slain chosen. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Unnatural?" Lindow repeated as he met Keres's gaze. "Did you forget why we're here already, little Keres?" As he spoke, Lindow's shadow darkened slightly between him and the girls. "Everything about our little fool's errand is unnatural. The Gates. Us Chosen. Hell, even the council seems content with f***ing with the natural order of things at this point... just ask Kha here."

 

Keres wanted to lecture the man. That's not how it worked at all. Spirits were a natural existence in their world. The spirits gave life to everything else. The unnatural thing was using them in such a way. Their symbiotic relationship was meant to be two-sided.

It was frustrating being unable to express what she was saying. Why couldn't they get it? Wasn't it obvious?

 

The situation grew more tense as Anis tried, and failed, to absorb the spirit. Keres had hoped that woman would have understood but it seemed not.

Reinaan and Gilly had appeared with basically the opposite reactions. She had to get through to them all, but how?

 

"Bodies..not meant for this." She said, towards both Lindow and Anis. That was her best way of explaining the issue here. Hopefully it would be enough, as the Light spirit faded away to almost nothing. Soon they would be gone and the group could move on with the task at hand.

---

"Elder, elder come quick, at the gate, you need to see this."

[Sethera]

Gilly stared around at the group curiously. For some reason...she had the feeling, just a feeling mind, but it was still there. A feeling that people were upset. And maybe not just at Kha being dead. Because they kept talking about spirits and unnatural stuff and that's when she stopped paying attention.

 

Snow hopped to her shoulder from across the room. "Gilly, there was no monster," he told her. "And..." he hesitated before continuing. "You should stay away from that man," he glanced at the thunder Chosen.

 

"Ehhh? But whyyy?" the halfling whined, turning to look at Lindow. "Are you being uhh humanist? Because he's a human? I thought you were better than that."

 

"No," the rabbit sweatdropped. "I am just being careful. I'd advise you to stay away from the nature Chosen as well."

 

"Next you'll tell me to stay away from food! No way!" at that, Gilly edged a bit closer to Lindow on purpose. "Hey hey, what's going on anyway?" she asked him.

[Alaina]

As the girl had only managed to freeze up in the current situation, the water chosen wasn't having any real better a time at explaining these things either. The girl could pick up that whatever the two chosen over the body were attempting was unnatural to a scary degree, and she had some idea as to what it was the Thunder Chosen was doing. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to speak up against him, especially when the more imposing woman of the group was taking interest in his activities. However, as the Ice Chosen had started to question the Thunder Chosen further, the girl looked to the one-eyed man and said, "I-I think it would be bad to try any further." She wasn't quite sure what it was that the Thunder Chosen was doing, but from the title he had alone she figured it was something very bad.

[Hälō]

Lindow watched intently as Anis tried her doomed attempt to absorb the light spirit. Though in that same instant the Chosen of Fire and Ice entered the room and immediately started asking questions... 

 

Glancing down at Gilly as she patted his leg, Lindow gently placed his hand on the tiny chosen's head before addressing her and Reinaan. "In short..." He began as his gaze shifted over to Kha's corps. "Something killed Kha, and it seems the Council's little parting gift to us also served to reanimate his corps so it could lumber back here and try to kill us. That didn't work out too well for him as yo- Oh, all done?" He suddenly halted his explanation upon realizing that Anis was now simply holding the light as it faded. 

 

"Instead of letting his spirit simply fade away, we're going to absorb it so we can continue to use it's power to destroy the gates." Lindow continued before stepping forward.

 

Extending his hand towards what remained of the Light Spirit, Lindow opened his mouth to begin inhaling but stopped upon hearing the voice of the earth chosen.

 

"I-I think it would be bad to try any further."

 

"You have nothing to worry about..." He peered down at the girl with his usual fox-like expression. She was clearly shaken by the entire ordeal... "I won't be trying anything." He wasn't wrong. This wasn't anything like the half-assed attempt of the Nature Chosen. No, this was something that only he could accomplish! "I'm sure Kal'bri will be a lot more cooperative with me..." 

 

Feeling his lips curl into a smirk, Lindow returned his gaze to the wisp of light in Anis's hands. Closing his eyes, Lindow inhaled deeply as he focused on the spirit in an attempt to draw it into his very being just as he had done before. 

[Andx]

Lindow offered some form of explanation. The council's magic had sent an undead Kha here to attack the others. The thought disturbed Reinaan as he simply stood and tried to process what he was hearing. It was no use though, all he could feel was anger at the moment. All the focus seemed to be on what was left of the former light spirit and who should have her power. Kha's death seemed only to be an after thought to them all. The Draken looked briefly at each of the other chosen. Aside from Gilly they were all humans. Was this the human view of death? Nothing more than an inconvenience but at least the departed had left them things they could take for themselves.

 

Without anything but a low snarl, Reinaan walked back out the way he had come. He wanted nothing to do with this anymore. "Reiny, wait for me!" Ziiyol called out as she followed him outside. Kloqah had waited right where she'd been left without any apparent issue, though the Elder appeared to have left. The young Draken went to the mount's side and simply checked over the contents of his own bag as well as those containing the food he had purchased with Gilly. His mind was racing thinking of ways he could just leave and go home. But he knew he couldn't do that. If this curse from the council took his life it might make him attack his village. The thought of a single Draken dying because of him was unbearable. In frustration the boy let out a scream only a reptile could make which would have been audible to those in the shrine and surrounding area. Kloqah and Ziiyol each looked at the boy somewhat alarmed but there was nothing much to be done.

 

"We're leaving." he finally said after seeming to calm down some. The spirit of fire attempted to question about the others stating he couldn't hope to destroy a demon gate by himself. None of it seemed to register to her partner. He knew they'd get moving eventually. Once they were done plundering the dead that was. The Draken fumbled his way onto the lizard mount's back again and after settling into place had her move off at a calm, steady pace toward the gate of the village.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Ryia and Keres seemed to be in agreement that this was a bad idea. Unfortunately Lindow didn't look like he wanted to listen to their advice and Gilly was all for whatever Lindow was up to. Keres ran through her mind how she could stop him from doing this.

Nothing she could say, if she could say anything, would work. He was too intent on this and very clearly had no respect for the rest of them.

The only way that she could keep him from doing this was to use force...and that would cause way too many complications. Especially as they weren't all on the same page about this to begin with.

 

While she was busy contemplating her options it turned out to be a moot point. Lindow continued in his absorption of the spirit. And, as none stopped him, he succeeded. The spirit finally vanished fully, as it was taken into Lindow's own body. He'd feel a warmth in his stomach briefly but other than that there weren't any signs there was anything different.

 

Reinaan meanwhile had stormed off.

 Keres didn't understand. Was it Lindow's explanation? Why was he so upset...was it because they hadn't given Kha proper respect? She was sad to Kha him go like this but she was focused on trying to make sure they didn't experience even more loss. Could that have been a mistake? But then again isn't this an extreme reaction?

 

Still...he was shorter than any Draken she had seen, could it be...perhaps he's a child? Keres realized how bad it would be to leave him like this. But who could talk to him? Lindow and Anis seemed both to be too wrapped in their own problem. Gilly might help but what if she said something wrong?
Keres decided she had to do it herself.

 

Without a word she followed Reinaan out. He wasn't hard to find, riding the lizard as he was, though it was hard to catch up while wearing this cloak. She rushed to catch up to him and tried to get his attention. If he stopped, she'd stand there for a while, working up her ability to speak. "It's...hm. Need you here." She frowned, and a flash of emotion passed her face, frustration at her limitations, while she felt her throat practically close off at her trying to speak in this heat. "Don't understand." She wasn't sure what to say. How was she supposed to explain things when she didn't even know what it was that angered him?

Maybe she should have stayed with her cat at home.

-----

"This is bad." The elder said. He was looking outside of the walls. There were a duo of birds. This would normally not be something of note but the elder knew differently. These were the birds that the bandits used to send messages. Their presence could only mean one thing.

The bandits are coming.

[Andx]

The young Draken's anger seemed to shift as he rode through the town. The heat seemed to back off and be replaced with a strong melancholy. He felt he couldn't stay with these people but was this even the right thing to do? Kloqah turned her head up as she moved along which caught Reinaan's notice. Turning behind him, he saw the Water Chosen rushing after him. It confused him while Keres of all people had come after him. Gilly he could have understood but Keres hadn't seemed particularly keen on being his friend or anything like that. Reinaan had the lizard stop in place and turn about to face the girl, attempting to put his angry face back on a bit. She spoke in her typical short sentences and seemed to be struggling with what to say. "It's...hm. Need you here." and "Don't understand." she managed to say to him. The first he understood well enough. The original idea of their journey was all nine Chosen would be needed so of course they wouldn't want to lose another one. The other had him more confused.

 

"You don't understand?! I don't understand anything about you people!" he eventually said, raising his voice rather quickly. "No one does here" came the concise reply. It caught the boy off guard as he hadn't been thinking of how equally confused the others all must have been. "That's why I'm going. We're never going to understand each other." he said after a moment of fumbling with what to say. Again a short response, "Dying alone won't help." Keres said. With a snarl Reinaan snapped back, "I know that dammit! I can't fight the demons by myself and apparently now I can't even go home 'cuz I could end up killing my whole village!" he yelled, the anger returning in full force and bringing tears with it this time. "But I can't stay with you humans who aren't even bothered by death..." he said trailing off. Keres seemed to focus on one part in particular. "Killing your village?" she questioned.

 

Reinaan looked at her some in confusion. "You know better than I do. Lindow was talking like Kha attacked you cuz of the council's curse." Keres seemed to be struggling to continue speaking but managed to string together a rather lengthy set of words, for her at least. "Brought to life through...own self. Emotions...realized in form." she said. Reinaan wasn't sure what to make of it. If it wasn't the council's magic then maybe he could just go home. The curse might still take him in the near future but if he wouldn't hurt anyone in his village it sounded better than staying on this journey. "W-why did you even come after me? It's not like you know me or care about me." he said shifting subjects away from what he wasn't understanding well. He wanted to continue to feel justified in what he had been feeling but wasn't sure he could the longer he spoke about it. The girl pondered for a moment before speaking again. "I don't have anyone else." she said which really caught Reinaan off guard. She quickly followed with "I will save everyone" before taking a drink and massaging her throat which seemed to be tired from the amount of talking she'd done.

 

She was alone too wasn't she? She wanted to help people but was probably just as scared about everything that had gone down. Tears were building up in his eyes again and he slowly dismounted Kloqah to stand a little closer to Keres. His hands were trembling as he sniffed and quietly sobbed. "I-I wanna help... I'm just..." he continued before bursting out crying more loudly. "I'm scared!" he said somewhat intelligibly through the sobbing. He held his scaled hands up to his face as if he could make himself stop crying. "I'm alone and nothing about your world makes any sense to me!"

[Sethera]

Gilly shook her head, not entirely understanding what was going on, even after the explanation. "Wait wait wait," she said. "So that means...the Council did this?" she put her hands on her hips. "Those meanies! When we see them again, I'll give them a what for!"

 

Then Mr. Lindow walked forward and...ate the light? Light spirit? Wait, that was that bossy elf thing? Or wait, Mr. Lindow said "his spirit," so...he was eating Kha's soul? No, she shook her head, He specifically said spirit, so that's probably Miss I-don't-like-halflings, humph! She was a bit...disappointed though. Kaa-something would never know how awesome Gilly was, would never know how awesome halflings could be, period. And now she was being eaten. Which, Gilly had never tried eating a spirit before, but she wasn't sure if they'd taste good or not. "Hey, Snowy," she turned her head to the side to glance at the rabbit on her shoulder. "Do you know if you guys taste good?"

 

Snow, who was struggling not to jump forward and stop that man, said nothing at first. He couldn't stop him though, and even if he tried, what if he went the same way? How did Gilly not see how dangerous this man was? If he had already consumed the dark spirit, as indeed the earlier conversation seemed to imply, and now the light spirit, well. What was to stop him from absorbing the other spirits? And what had happened to the man's own spirit? Lily hadn't been seen since the group left the tower, and that was probably because...because he had consumed her as well. Three spirits in one body. He could not see how that was natural, how that was safe, for any of them. Eventually, however, he answered. "I doubt that we do," he said quietly. "I doubt we taste like anything, because we aren't actually food," he growled out.

 

"Hey, hey, don't worry, I'm not gonna try and eat you, Snowy," Gilly said, hands held up placatingly. Snowy wasn't usually this emotional. I guess he doesn't like talking about this stuff. "Was just curious, since Mr. Lindow seems to think they taste pretty good."

 

The rabbit sighed and wondered, yet again, what he had done to deserve this.

 

It was then that Gilly noticed that Reiny boy had left. Mute girl followed soon afterward. "Hey, hey, this isn't good," she said, hopping up and down. "Maaaybe we should uhh follow them?" she asked nobody in particular, hesitating briefly with a glance at Mr. Lindow. He seemed fine though, no sudden indigestion, so the halfling left as well.

 

She arrived in their part of town just in time to see Reiny boy shouting at Keres, but he looked more like he was about to cry than attack somebody. She came closer just as he said, "I'm alone and nothing about your world makes any sense to me!"

 

"Your world?" she tilted her head to the side. "Mute girl's world? Silly Reiny boy, Miss Quiet doesn't own a world," she giggled and bounced closer to him. "Hey, hey, if you don't like the world, then the solution's pretty simple," she grinned. "Just remember what you do like, and focus on that. Like me, I like food, so I eat a lot. Simple, right?" she nodded. "And you're not alone! You've got us, silly!" She then reached out and hugging the much taller Draken. "Aww, you're so warm. Is that a dragon thing or a fire thing?"

[Andx]

With tears and his own hands obscuring his vision, Reinaan was confused to hear not Keres' short replies but a hyperactive halfing girl at his side. He was hardly processing what Gilly was saying. But she did mention he should focus on what he likes. The idea seemed impossible given the circumstances. It all just sounded like Gilly's usual silliness but she wasn't done. The girl stated the Draken wasn't alone because he had them, the other Chosen. That hardly felt like consolation but before he could protest the idea he felt arms wrap around his lower chest. His sobbing paused for a moment and he moved his hands aside to look down at the halfling embracing him. "Aww, you're so warm. Is that a dragon thing or a fire thing?" she questioned. The answer to her question was that his scales absorbed sunlight rather well but Reinaan's mind wasn't coherent enough to say as much.

 

"You don't even know anything about me..." Reinaan managed to say as his breathing calmed some. Gilly couldn't possibly understand but then that never seemed to bother her. And for now it didn't matter too much that she didn't know what was happening. The homesick Draken was scared for his life and something like a simple hug helped alleviate his sorrow however slightly. With a fresh surge of sobbing Reinaan began crying again and slowly returned the Ice Chosen's hug. The slightest bit of happiness mixed with the sadness. Kloqah and Ziiyol looked on in confusion and wonder respectfully. The Fire Spirit eyed the Chosen of Water wondering what her response would be to it all. Reinaan continued sniffling and sobbing, thankful that he had perhaps jumped to conclusions about the humans he was with too quickly. Though she wasn't scaled and contact with soft skin was a little odd it reminded the boy of being home. He and his people were much more physical than any of the humans he had met so far had seemed to be. But as he wasn't thinking of that, and in wanting to thank Keres for coming after him first, Reinaan reached out and brought the water chosen into the middle of the hug which elated Ziiyol.

 

"This is true friendship! A wonderful flame indeed!" she commented to Kloqah who had seemed to have no interest in the affair. However did she give something of a suspicious look to both the halfling and the human girl while the awkward group hug continued. 

[Alaina]

As the Chosen of Thunder had gone on to absorb the spirit of Light's powers, the girl couldn't help but watch a bit in horror and helplessness. She could have charged at him and attempted to stop him, but that hardly seemed like a right choice to make nor was she sure what that would accomplish. All in all, she was powerless to do anything once more, and she wasn't even sure what she should have done. While Ackrin had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, she felt a sharp sense of animosity flowing from the spirit. As the spirit had been absorbed, the Fire Chosen merely gave a sharp goodbye, causing the girl to look towards him in a bit of panic. As the Water Chosen left soon after him and the Ice Chosen following her, the girl simply hung her head in defeat. 

 

Her legs wouldn't take her anywhere, as she just stood their, motionless. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do anymore. She had understood that this mission she had been on from the onset was one that was far greater than someone of her ability would ever be capable of. She had known it. But after seeing what had happened the past few days, it was only reaffirmed and drilled into her that she was both powerless and unable to protect a thing. She could hardly protect herself. She couldn't protect any of the other chosen. Hell, she could barely even speak to them. And she had expected herself to be one that would help protect the world? The mere thought was ridiculous. 

 

She wanted to run but running would be pointless. She wanted to help, but who could she even help? She wanted to scream but what would she even be screaming at. The demons? The Chosen? The Council? Herself? Frustrated by it all, the girl started to bite down on her lip as her fists clenched even tighter. She knew that she had to stay alongside the group, even if this group consisted of the Soul Stealer and the one who was curious about trying it herself. Of course, even if she was here and they were about to abandon the mission or about to do something reckless, what could she do? Stop them? That was almost entirely unlikely. With all of her frustrations building up, the girl simply walked back to her gear and sat down, awaiting the, hopefully, return of the others. As she did though, a few tears started to streak down her face before she wiped them off of her face and stopped. 

[Hälō]

Lindow studied his palm as the two girls ran off after the fire chosen. Though he didn't feel any different, he was certain that he had succeeded in absorbing the spirit. Now it was just a matter of waiting for it to take effect...

 

Noticing the state of the Earth Chosen, his smile flickered ever so slightly. Was she succumbing to despair? He watched her silently as she moved towards her gear and sat patiently in waiting for the others to return, tears streaming down her face for only a moment before she stopped herself from crying any longer. 

 

Sighing slightly Lindow shifted his attention to the weapons that were still resting inside Kha's corps. There wasn't anything he could do for her right now, even if he tried. Despite knowing this, a rare fragment of his old self scratched at the back of his mind, leaving small streaks of sympathy it's walls.

 

Quickly retrieving his blades and cleaning them with a worn cloth, Lindow returned them to his hip before moving to grab his cloak and the rest of his belongings. "Well what are we waiting for?" He addressed the two other chosen in the room as he fixed the cloak over his Abyss Watcher robes. "Let's go grab the children before our young Draken friend ends up like the big guy..." Lindow spoke in his usual tone whilst stepping over Kha's body and moving towards the exit. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Anis had retreated to the corner of the room, tending to Ileca. It was confusing, too confusing. The Chosen of Fire and Ice had entered the room and asked questions. The light spirit had been absorbed. The Chosen of Fire stormed off, followed by the Chosen of Water. And the Chosen of Ice too. The Chosen of Earth was distraught. And Lindow...

 

"Let's go grab the children before our young Draken friend ends up like the big guy..."

 

"You still had not given a good explanation why you should be trusted."

 

Rising up from her position, Anis' head was clearer than from before. She whispered to Ileca so the bird would rest for the time being, and turned to see Lindow. His tone infuriated her, as much as she tried her best to remain calm and rational. Was the journey finally edging her too much? She thus followed the Thunder Chosen outside.

 

"Before we continue on our journey, I demand a gathering between us all. I still have no reasons to trust you, but I would rather everyone is in a position to properly judge you, what happened earlier, and our current situation before we move forward.

 

Is that not reasonable enough for you?"

 

---