Torrent505

@@Shadow Dancer @@RunsWithSquirlz Indicus took off sprinting, he ran from the dead end and the dead creature taking turns at random in the hedge maze. He didn't even see it as the leaf maze but instead a blend of back alleys from past towns and jobs. This lasted until he came upon a new dead end with a young girl and a red lizard sitting in it; Ashford and the hedge maze reasserted itself to his vision and mind, he couldn't hear the creature behind him anymore. Instead they heard a yell, "Whisper if you want to catch up with us we're going to go hear stories at the tavern!" **************************** @@Dji Clarke nodded at Helena's thought, though he said, "but how is that possible? I don't understand... How could our entire lives be lies? I remember growing up with you, Abigail, Adrass and Indicus; I remember how much work Father and Mother spent raising us...." He stared at Helena's face focusing and looking hard at her, "... You said that thing looked like me, I recognized it as being my real dad... Helena, none of us look like Mother or Father, we're supposed to look like our parents right? They are really powerful mages, do you think they did this too us?" He slouched into his seat and stared at the books around them, "I wish there was some clues about Ashcreek and the fog but I've check so many books." ******************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ Abigail nodded at her little lordly sweetheart, "yeah I'm sure Whisper will be fine, but if you're so worried..." She turned back to the maze and cupped her hands to her mouth, shouting "Whisper if you want to catch up with us we're going to go hear stories at the tavern!" She smiled at Dresden, "there." She took ahold of Robert's elbow and practically dragged him through the mansion. They only stopped for a moment for her to curtsy to her Father who was at a desk teaching her eldest brother Adrass. "Father," she said respectfully, before trying to hurry past, truthfully she didn't like her eldest brother much. @@Sanctified Absence

@ Father gave one of his hearty laughs and was beaming from ear to ear under his thick but well trimmed mustache. The ruffled Adrass's hair, "a fine beginning son, crude but effective!" He rapped the ice sleeve with a knuckle, to test the strength. "Never forget that simple tends to save more lives than flashy in a pinch." Father held his own hand forward with his palm up and gentle waves his fingers a globe of white light formed to brighten the room. "So now I, like you, have a base to work from. For elements like ours gathering it is the hardest part, a heavy drain on our magik; but that means this next part can be easier. You decide what you wish to do with it, see it in your minds eye and will the element to follow. You already have all the magik concentrated there in your ice, you need only the will to shape it. Believe that." The globe of light about father's hand turned to a glowing silver and stretched out to form a floating dagger as an example of this lesson. **************************** @@Shadow Dancer The gravestone rumbled and quivered as the name on it shifted to Indicus Vencule; a grown man pulled himself from the dirt with a self-fulfilled grin, he was rotting with his belly spilled open and some intestines hanging loose, his left arm half torn away with shattered bone exposed. A haggard husky voice spoke, "Did you think we were done, assassin? Think you can just keep burying me?" Thick black ichor bubble from his mouth with each word. "Now look at you, you don't even remember who you are and you're in a place were the past can kill you... Just a helpless little boy, this time you die and I'll live for sure." The living corpse reached out its one good arm for him meaning to drag him down into the grave too. **************************** @@Dji "Of course you aren't the only one thinking that Helena..." Clarke turned his glare to stare at the table now that the librarian had gone, as if it might give him answers. "... That, that was really fucked up okay." His voice cracking at the end as he tried to wrap his mind around what had happened. "The adults in town are lying to us Helena. When I was out in the fog I met people that thought they knew me and... And I felt like I knew them too. Then that t-thing... I recognized it... Helena, I don't think Father is our dad cause that thing I saw, it, it made me remember my dad's face." He was clutching his temple like he was having an intense headache. "I don't know what's going on, what else is lies?" **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz The girl in Whisper's dream grinned widely, "Thank you. I'm glad you agree." The girl was upon her now, a hug that was too tight, it was crushing and draining at the same time. She whispered into the princesses ear, "We can save everyone, but it takes sacrifice and I've sacrificed so much already. Now you have to sacrifice and I am taking everything. Thank you for understanding." The girls grasp got tighter and tighter, Whisper couldn't breath, her vision was fading and full of sparkles; all she could think of was the image of a snake coiled around a mouse and squeezing it before swallowing it whole. ******************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace Abigail started to hum happily as she led them to the exit of the maze, the smell of cookies was in the air. "Oh! Mother must have made ginger snaps! They're my favorite. We'll have to get some when they're done, but first the tavern... Oh too bad we didn't see your sister Whisper, maybe she's lost in the maze? I'm sure she'll find away out sooner or later though." She gave her bell like laughter. @@RunsWithSquirlz Whisper woke in the maze, she was groggy and felt weak... had she fainted? Memories came back to her lowly, sluggish and muddled as if they didn't want to. She was in Ashcreek for a visit, the oldest of three siblings... But she wasn't special... She was shy, quiet and hated creating a fuss... She wasn't very interesting and she knew this... But she was happy being a normal boring little girl. A hiccup stirred Whisper from these strange overwhelmingly bland thoughts, a little red winged lizard laid in the grass close by. Well maybe little wasn't the right word for it, the thing was the length of her forearm but it's head as too big for its body and wobbled as it tried to look about. It stood only to lean unsteadily back and forth before siting back down, it hiccuped again and let out a little puff of smoke. The strange sight awakened the rest of Whisper's senses, she could smell fresh baked cookies in the air and she swore she could hear her brothers just around the hedges. The little lizard thing let out a little meep like cry. @@Sanctified Absence

@ Father sighed shaking his head before resting a heavy hand on Adrass' shoulder and kneel down so he was face to face with the boy. "Son you know Mother and I only push you so hard because we want the most for you. Both of us were Venerators and their is no more noble a calling for a Mage. You have to prove to the hunters you are pure and controlled, incorruptible. A focus of defense punctuated by cold precise assaults. They have high expectations and will only train you if you meet them." He squeezed Adrass' shoulder reassuringly, as he stood then gathered his magic and with a gesture suddenly five of him were in the room. All their lips moved but the voice came from the one in the middle. "As a master light Venerator I can manipulate what you see, an excellent defense for the middle of a battle... With Mother's mastery of Sound and my illusions in battle our enemies never even knew what was reality." He allowed the others to fade away, "You on the other hand have to use your ice for a more direct defense. Try and focus, water is in the air use it, something simple like an ice wrist guard." Through all the coaching by Father something tugged at Adrass, some foggy memory of the Venerators. **************************** @@Shadow Dancer Wandering toward the noise in the maze Indicus moved deeper and became more lost; rounding a corner he came upon a dead end. Dead end being more literal than possible for the hedge maze as a grave sat before him. The name on the tombstone was a man's with Indicus' last name, it stirred memories of someone raising him other than Father and Mother. The rustling was coming from here, the grave's soil turning and rolling as if something was struggling underneath. @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace Abigail glared a little at Dresden, "don't ever imply that I'm not a noble, I don't 'play' noble, Tulla does. I PLAY that SHE is noble." She humphed before turning and batting her eyelashes at Robert, "so the tavern it is!" She lead them into the maze, she seemed absolutely confident that she knew where she was going. It was almost as if the hedges moved for her. @@Dji The librarian rushed to Helena's side and insisted on resting Clarke on the nearest table, which unfortunately was inside the basement. Clarke seemed to regain consciousness as they moved him and began to glare at the Librarian. The old woman seemed unnerved, "Oh umm are you alright lord Clarke? You seem perturbed..." Clarke said nothing merely continuing to glare at the woman. She squirmed a little nervously, looking to Helena, "umm well I'll go get the apothecary, keep an eye on him please my lady I'll be right back..." She backed out of the room looking anxious to escape Clarke's stare. @@Sanctified Absence @@RunsWithSquirlz

@@RunsWithSquirlz The girls voice giggled at her, "Stop? No, I'm not going to stop. I'm going to make the world better, and I my world they'll all love me and everything will be perfect. Mmmmhmmm". Whisper could feel the hand rub up and down her side lovingly but not see the owner. "So much life in you, so much power. With your magic fueling mine we can change the entire country; we can save them all Whisper. Help me save them all, this entire hateful country." The sinking and draining feeling entered Whisper's dream, if felt like being slowly pulled down a long dark hole. @@Shadow Dancer Indicus came to a fork in the hedge maze, in one direction he could hear rustling of something and in the other he smelled fresh baking cookies wafting through the air.

@ The heavy ruler slapped down on Adrass' wrist, snapping him to instant alertness. In front of him was a book with a bit of drool dampening the page and next to him Father glared down holding the ruler. "You're almost twelve Adrass, I won't have you falling asleep in your studies. To be a proper Mage you have to learn and be in control; you have to be able to prove you are just and good. You don't want the world to fear you do you? Don't want hunters knocking at our door in search of a dangerous Mage?" He tapped the ruler on the desk in expectantly awaiting his reply. **************************** @@Shadow Dancer Indicus came to in the hedge maze, he was ten and Abigail's older brother, only Adrass was older in the family. He had gotten mixed up in the maze and feeling lost he had tried to cheat by climbing a hedge; he must have slipped and knock himself out in the fall. He wondered how long he had lain there, he was supposed to be meeting Abigail and making friends with the visiting nobles. Where were they? What was the proper way out of this place again? @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace Abigail smiled, "I'm glad you're so ready to see my city. Don't listen to Tulla, she dreams of the wild forest as excitement and hates that the fog keeps us here; she'd rather be with the animals." She giggled at her teasing, she couldn't help but continue her gossip, "But don't let that fool you, she'd never say it but the only other thing that gets her attention is the thought of being a princess! Sometimes we play that she's the noble, and she's really pretty good at it!" Abigail stuck her tongue out at her best friend playfully. "Now you know so we can all play nobles together too." "Umm as for where we can go, there's the saw mill to show off, Ashwood is amazing and our best... umm I forget the word, but we sell it out of the woods; then there's our soldiers barracks, they are the best around; the apothecary makes tasty drinks for us sometimes, he calls one a root beer and it's sweet and only for kids! The tavern has all sorts of visitors with stories and the bath house has runes that give hot water like hot springs! We have all sorts of things and can always play games too." Something looked dark and hungry about her for a moment, "I especially like hide and seek, or tag." @@RunsWithSquirlz In Whisper's dreams the girl had stopped singing and spoke, "why are you still outside my town? How come you can resist me? Are your powers like mine? Can I use you?" @@Dji Clarke managed to shift the door back in front of himself as the hand shot out at him. It slammed into the door hard sending him sprawling back into Helena so they both fell on to the stairs helplessly staring up at the monster. The door bounced off the wall so hard it swung back slamming the door in the creatures face, but the lock didn't catch and it slowly opened again to reveal that the gear monster was gone and the pristine library basement shelves sat perfectly normal in the torchlight. Clarke began to weep, "Dad?... Why? Why did it have dads face?" He looked at Helena through confused teary eyes, "it had my dads face... But no... Father? Not Father, Dad? Why?" Clarke's eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and he passed out into Helena's lap. She knew that whatever Clarke had been trying to say, that monster certainly didn't have Father's face, it looked more like an older Clarke. It didn't make sense. @@Sanctified Absence

@ @@Shadow Dancer Rage lit up in the girl's eyes, her spirit didn't even bother with the illusion of walking as she flew face to face with Adrass, "DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT! NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN OR YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!!" She screamed at him. She was now close enough that they were inside the strange distortion that surrounded her. The magic was more overwhelming than any they had sensed before, it was like the Iron Maiden's presence but as if condensed down and trapped in a marble. The magic raged over their bodies and it was like time had become fluid on their physical form their bodies aged and reversed becoming young at random and in streaks; such as withered wrinkled brows over babies cheeks or gnarled fingers on a child's palm. Her eyes flicked to Indicus, "I want to save you. I want to save everyone, no more pain or sorrow or fighting. Just peace and play. Why do so many adults fight it? Like they seek misery and hate... I want what's best for you." **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @@Alex Kennedy Abigail exited the tree fort looking radiant, her golden hair in prefect curls down her head and neck. She was still humming the song, but stopped as she reached the others A and jumped to hug Robert tightly. "I'm ready! Let's go see the town! I'm sure we'll find Whisper and the others shortly too!" @@RunsWithSquirlz The sounds of a little girl singing began to intrude upon Whisper's dreams. @@Dji Clarke nodded at Helena and took comfort in her hand ready to pull him back. He turned the knob and slammed against the door wanting to throw it open and catch enemies off-guard; instead he bounced off the door and blushed. "Oh right, it pulls open..." He looked sheepishly at Helena. Then yanked it open as hard as he could. His plan backfired as the monster at the door was ready and caught them off-guard. Two arms constructed of gears and springs shot out one reaching for Clarke, the other for Helena's red book. Behind them was a steamwork horror of metal and flesh, the steel rods and piping lead up to a haggard face similar to adult Clark. It screeched strange clicks at them as it made the assault. @@Sanctified Absence

@ @@Shadow Dancer The little ghost girl looked a bit confused at the two of them, "you're just going to ignore me? Pay attention to me!" She stamped her foot angrily and the fog swirled around her with the void of draining magic and life surrounding her. "Pay attention or I'll make you pay!" She whined. The rest of the bodies had now risen an where not head towards Ashcreek in their staggered walk. All except whisper's who still dreamed peacefully and Clarke who's body was to weak to rise. **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @@Alex Kennedy Robert entered into the ground floor of the rather lavish tree fort but found the stairs were locked. The singing from the other side stopped and Abigail sounded rather upset from the other side. "Don't just try to barge in! I'm... I'm combing my hair and getting ready to show you and your brother and sister the town! I'll be down in a second, wait with them please!... My sweet Robert..." She resumed singing. Dresden and Tulla awoke in the garden at the center of the hedge maze, they could hear Abigail's singing and see Robert through the window of the tree fort. Dresden was a little lordling of 7 and the younger brother of Robert. He had come to Ashcreek with his brother and his sister Whisper to help cement the friendship between their own noble father and the Lord of Ashcreek. He didn't know where his older sister Whisper was, maybe she had wandered into the maze. Tulla on the other hand had also grown up here in Ashcreek, the 8 year old daughter of the manors maid and a soldier. She was Abigail's best friend, and had found a knack taking care of the lords rare animals; currently a little fuzz ball chimera cub was nudging her nervously. She remembered Abigail telling her to play with these other new children and show off Tugg but they must have fallen asleep. (Whisper is not yet in Ashcreek, merely stuck exhausted and somewhere on the edge of dreams, nightmares and being awake.) @@Dji Clarke stared at Helena, nothing she had just said made any sense. "Are-are you trying to play a prank on me? Cause it doesn't sound funny..." He thought about it for a second and shook his head, Helena had never looked this scared before and then there was what happened to him on the woods. "And I had something really scary happen to me out in the fog... I... Let's take a look..." He began back toward the basement door, but hesitated, "can you hold my hand? If something is there pull me back? And if this is a joke and Abigail jumps out then I'm going to tell mother and father!" @@Sanctified Absence "Little lord?". Before Zaddion's terrified eyes the woman holding him slowly changed to the horrible corpse like things he had seen before. No one else around him seemed to notice, one of her hands had slipped up around his neck and began to choke him, the life slowly being drained away.

@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer Robert was the first to collapse, he had been following the group half asleep for a while already; he simply tripped and fell and didn't rise but instead fell into the deep sleep like the other unfortunate victims. The ghostly girl also chose this moment to step out of the fog ahead of the group, she grinned at them. "You all look so sleepy! I can help I know where you can stay in these dark spooky woods, but You're heading the wrong way though! Ashcreek is that way and we have plenty of nice comfy beds!" Her voice was sing song in tone. **************************** @@Alex Kennedy Robert woke up in a beautiful garden surrounded by hedges, and with a spectacular tree fort on one side. He remembered falling asleep here, under the warm sunlight listening to comforting bird calls and beautiful singing. He was the son of a lord in Illia, in a town outside the forest, but he was visiting Ashcreek because he had an arranged marriage to the daughter of this towns lord. He could hear his sweet betrothed Abigail singing from inside the tree fort behind him, she was 7 and he was 8. @@Dji "Helena what's wrong? Settle down you're okay, you're okay! You're not a thief, I've never seen you steal anything your whole life!" Clarke hugged his sister, as they were stuck in a heap, trying to calm her down. "What happened?" @@Sanctified Absence The woman stared at the boy zoning out in her arms "young lord are you alright?"

@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer As the group moved out into dark forest away from Ashcreek the fog began to grow thicker and thicker swirling around them until they had to press in tight to keep each other in sight. Something moved around them in the fog, light airy laugher came every so often with the sounds of a snapping twig or rustling leaves, it always came from a new direction as if they were being circled. Despite their brief rest none of them seemed to have recovered any energy, they felt weak and tired. Each step ached and offered temptation to collapse and sleep. This was beyond normal fatigue something was draining them. **************************** @@Dji @@Sanctified Absence The woman holding Zaddion looked at him quizzically, "Well young master, see anything you want? Or should I set you down?" Clarke moved past the market place lost in thought, not looking about or really even seeing most of the world around him. He continued on and entered the library trying to think of where he should search next for the knowledge he needed. The elderly librarian stirred him from his thoughts calling to him, "Oh Clarke, there you are! Your sister Helena was just here looking for you. I think she went down to the basement, you might want to go see what she had wanted." Clarke brightened at the news, he thought his older sister Helena was very cool. She knew how to fight and no one in town ever called her nerdy. Maybe she'd listen to his story an help him look too! "Okay I'll go find her, thanks Ms. Hendricks!" He started toward the stairs. Helena used all her might to smack the hands gripping her arm. They released her sending her stumbling back away from it; it shook out it's hands before placing them on the ground and crawling after her with a thump, thump, thump as the bag like body tried to spring itself forward in hops. The fang lined opening now snapped open and shut urgently, giving up on swallowing her whole and merely wishing to bite off any pieces it could catch.

@@Sanctified Absence Clarke walked slowly back through the town gates and down the cobble road, his eyes were downcast and his features were glum as he tried to think over what had just happened out in the fog. He just couldn't understand, it had to be the evils of whatever lurks out beyond and around the town. He needed to know more about it, and why he was having these flashes of some other... Clarke. He decided his best course of action would be to search the library again so some sort of book on the fog or the super natural. There had to be an answer. **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer Zaddion's body didn't struggle against Dresden or Indicus as they moved him back to the cart, he resisted slightly still trying to rise or push in the direction of Ashcreek. As Adrass urged them to break camp and get moving a fog began to settle in around them. **************************** @@Dji The TheifsPurse kept its on the little girls slightly struggling arm, pulling toward the open maw meaning to swallow her whole. Among the heavy breathing, grinding coins there was a hundred whispers in hundreds of different voices... "Thief." "Thief." "Somebody stop her." "Thief." "You little Thief." "Wait, where'd my coins go?" "Thief." "Brat when I get my hands on you." "Pickpocket." "Thief." "Come back here." "Hey you have to pay for that." "Thief." It dragged itself forward toward Helena between the weak half broken shelves around them, the surface of the bag squirming like it was already half full of small bodies. It wasn't quite strong enough to pull her in but soon it would be upon her.

@@Sanctified Absence The woman nodded, "Okay little one, up you go." She hefted him up so he rested against her waist and could look over the fruit and vegetable stands. Subconsciously Zaddion's mind still struggled with the inconsistencies, the woman seemed bright and warm but her touch was cold and her skin was clammy. The produce of the market all looked amazingly fresh and delicious, except the fruit and vegetables at the edge of sight and underneath were rotten and molded but wherever he examined or focused they were once again fresh and pristine. **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer Zaddion's body continued to ignore, Tulla's calls and wandered further from the campsite. Finn gave Whisper's face a lick before he nudged a bit under her forehead to act as an impromptu warm pillow. **************************** @@Dji Helena pulled the THING lose from the debris and her mind went to war with itself. The thing was a human sized coin purse, the pale arms were its draw strings and huge teeth lining the bags opening with two eyes shining like gold coins from the darkness inside. But it wasn't any coin purse, it was her coin purse from when she was an orphan wandering the streets picking pockets to make a living, she could remember it clearly how she would hold it close full of ill gotten gains... But no she wasn't an orphan, she had Mother and Father. She wasn't a thief, she was a good well behaved girl. Her thoughts spun round and round as the TheifsPurse tightened it's grip on her arm. Hot breath smelling of metal and grime washed over her as it continued it's heavy gasping, now the sound was joined by gurgling and the grinding sound of rubbing two coins together. It's pale arms pulled her towards the opening; half her mind screamed at her that she had stolen so much in her life and this THING was revenge, it was here to steal her life.

@@Sanctified Absence As Zaddion tried to stab at the corpse of this nightmarish place everything shifted once again... Only this time it was different, there was an air of finality about it and he could feel the shift had changed him as well. He now stood in the happy little town with a small hand outstretched and tugging on the woman skirt in front of him. His was a child of six, the Krystal mark not yet gracing his flesh and his connection and control to his magic barely awakened. The woman turned and smiled down at him, "oh little master Zaddion, I didn't see you there. Did you have a question? Want me to lift you for a better view of the fresh fruits? I'm sure your father would buy you any that you wanted." **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer Back in camp Zaddion seemed to be the only one that would not wake through all the commotion. But suddenly his body sat bolt upright then slowly rose to his feet. He ignored the confrontation between Adrass and the others, his eyes were glazed and his face was vacant. He started a slow stiff legged walk in the direction of Ashcreek. **************************** @@Dji The heavy breathing seemed to be coming from where the room descended into total darkness, the shelves here where completely collapsed and the books had become piles of ash. The only light came from holes in the roof where instead of the first floor, there was a night sky and moonlight shining through. From the wreckage a pale hand reached out from the debris, puffs of the ash rising with each breath.

@@Dji, As Helena wandered deeper into the basement the stacks of books seemed to look more and more dirty, beaten and unreadable. The air smelled of mildew and charcoal, was it a trick of the flickering torchlight or was the floor covered in ash? The sound of cracking wood and collapsing stone came from the stairwell. Heavy struggled breathing seems to come from deeper in the room, the firelight flickers and is dim there, the stacks seem to have collapsed into burnt ruins. Could it be Clarke back there trapped in the wreckage of the shelves? Deep in the shadows a small book bound in red leather seems to catch the light and shine for Helena. @, @@Shadow Dancer, @@Flying Ace, @@Alex Kennedy, @@RunsWithSquirlz, When the gun lined up with Whisper Serafinno let out a warning hiss, puffed up to spike his scales and bared his still toothless maw. He didn't understand what had happened but he certainly wasn't going to let anyone threaten Whisper for any reason, this obviously wasn't a game the humans were just plain going mad. (Dresden are you waking the others?) @@Sanctified Absence (Is Zaddion strong enough to wake himself up? If Dresden tries to wake him does he shake out of it or not? I need to know so I can write you as in the alternate Ashcreek or not.)

@@Sanctified Absence The thing in the dark shadows moved out into the light, an abomination of a skeletal dwarf with the misshapen head, limbs of different lengths and deformed body. It looked as if the creature had been burned and still carried open sores and charred wounds, the ribs most have been broken and reset back together as possibly were the limbs. Despite all that it's watery eyes called for attention, they were a sparkling sapphire and beautiful. Zaddion's magic flowed from him in streams, out and down the monsters throat each time it opened its mouth as well as into its wounds. It spoke to him in a hoarse croaking voice, "you taste like Father but with more flavors. I like that, you could stay and be my brother." The thing lifted it's arms and the world around him began to flicker and warp, he could sense magics at work but they were too muted and he was to numb to tell what they were. He could see the other living corpses now, they were all about the town stumbling around. The town seemed to shimmer, for a moment the buildings were whole and every corpse was a person, it flickered back to a charred ruin full of undead. Except for one, Helena looking a bit pale but as alive as ever walked trance like down the center of the town toward a collapsed mansion. The world shifted, the night of the horrible ruins inverting again to become bright day light shining on the pristine town, in Helena's place a little girl of some resemblance was skipping along. The shifting back and forth between these realities seemed to pick up speed blurring the two, moans of the others changing to become voices and conversations. A horrible reality becoming a sick lie. The thing in front of him had sprouted golden curls and the broken body became more complete and beautiful by the second. Her voice had become like a twinkling bell, "Come play with me, Zaddion, play with me forever and ever and ever." He could feel it now, the heavy weight of some unseen force dragging him down. Zaddion knew that he had to find the strength to awaken or this place was going to claim him as it had Clarke and Helena. (Hope everyone could at least kinda follow the weird supernatural stuff happening in this part) **************************** @@Dji "Oh the studious little Clarke, hmmm I haven't seen him for quite a while now. I'm certain he's not here on the main floor, but perhaps he might be on the second floor or in the basement? If you wish I could go check one or both or would you rather look by yourself? If you looking to surprise him do try to not be too loud." The librarian kept her own voice to a whisper.

@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer @@Sanctified Absence The boy claiming to be Clarke barely stopped himself from lunging forward towards Adrass's revolver and whined, "Hey! That's mine! Give it back I was making that toy for..." A puzzled look came over his face, "for... For someone?" He looked confused and then concerned as he started to look around nervously. "It's not done yet... But I never brought it out here... I don't have a cart..." He was starting to look more and more distraught, "this is all a trick! I-I shouldn't have come out here, there was a path in the fog and, and, Mother and Father say there's evil tricky things in the fog... You're some of the evil things messing with my head and wanting to steal me away!" The boy turned scrambling away towards the tree line. **************************** @@Dji The library was a rather dark and musty smelling building, it's first floor and basement being made of stone and lit with torches, the second floor was more brightly lit being made of wood with large glass windows to let light in. An elderly woman as skinny as bones and with snow white hair tied into a bun greeted Helena cheerfully, "Afternoon little mistress, here for some studies or is there something else I can help you with?"

@@Dji Father furrowed his brows to glare at her, "because you know how dangerous it is, it's not safe, you need to stay here where you are protected, with a good home, people who love you and Abigail to play with of course. If I hear about you going out in that fog once more this week you will be grounded!" Mother patted Father on the shoulder to calm him, "Dear please, there's no reason to lose your temper. It's natural for a girl to get curious, but Helena darling you know how the saying ends about curious cats; so do listen to your father. Dark things lurk in those woods." Abigail pushed away from the table, only bones remained on her plate "I'm done! Helena I'm going to go play in the hedge maze, come find me when you're done!" She rushed from the room giggling. Mother finished the last of her pie and tutted, "that girl never clearing her plate. Oh Helena not to interrupt your play time when your done up if you could be a doll and include Clarke with you two? You might have to find him in the library." (You can of course go do whatever you want these are just requests from NPC's, the town is very open world) ******************************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer @@Sanctified Absence "Ummm my name is- aaah!" The boy jumped at the appearance of the new pretty women and small dragon over the cart. His face flushed and he stood, backing away a little, "How did you know my name? Serafinno had gotten up with Whisper to see what al this commotion was about, but as he watched he got more and more confused. Adrass had his metal slingshots drawn on nothing and everyone was talking to empty air. Just now Whisper had just called Clarke's name but he was still taking his long sleep on the cart next to her... Were they all playing some sort of game?

@@Dji Abigail grinned, "I thought it seemed like you kept trying to hide! But the fog is supposed to be out of bounds when we're playing hide n' seek." She reached on to the table tearing off a chicken leg then piling her plate with mashed potatoes. Father's spoke from over his plate of salad with his 'you better listen' tone, "The fog should be off limits for all games. This town has lost far too many little ones to careless wandering out there." His tone softened and he reached across the table to pat Helena's hand, "I worry about you being out there, I'm glad you got back but you know me and your Mother have lost others from them wandering too deep and we're lucky to have been blessed with as many children as we've had. To lose you or Abby or Clarke to the forest would be devastating." Mother had already started on an apple pie and spoke between mouthfuls, "Speaking of Clarke where is that boy? I swear he refuses to come out of the library, half the time I think he wishes he could live there. The food Meredith slaved over will be ice cold. I'll have to have Jeeves fetch him... You didn't see him out near the fog when you were coming in did you Helena?"

@@Dji As Helena moved through the front gates to the town she was greeted by a town that wasn't busy or bustling with life but for a village in the middle of a forest it was surprisingly lively. Near the barracks armored men sparred while decorated officers discussed tightening defenses and further taming the forest once the fog cleared; in the market place women gossiped and debated over fresh veggies and herbs; teens were seen taking care of chores such as gathering water from the well in the bathhouse or being studious near the library and temple; the loud sounds of travelers sharing stories drifted from the tavern. And at the end of the cobbled main road was an immense Mansion, outside it stood a rather well dressed man who appeared to be waiting for her. "Miss Helena, so good that you arrived before lunch cooled or the rest of the family has finished. I was worried any longer and I would be sent out to search for you, then you most certainly would have been grounded and punished. I'll escort you to the table." The man, whose name came to her mind as Jeeves, took her hand and lead her to the dining room. Making a comment to himself about "hoping young master Clarke would return soon as well". Pushing open the door they were greeted by a heavenly smell of lunch, a feast, buttered corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, freshly roasted chicken, fresh fruits and on a small table to the side several types of desserts. A young girl with golden curls sprang up from the table, running over and clasping Helena in a tight hug. "I was so worried! You have to be more careful when we play tag near the fog!" Helena remembered this was her sister Abigail and there at the table were two other familiar faces, a kind rotund woman with short cut hair, Mother, and a stern faced man with sharp trimmed beard and mustache though underneath laid an easy good humored smile, Father. Abigail tugged on her arm towards the table, "come on sit down and eat, then we can go play some more!" ******************************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer The little boy scrambled back away from Adrass and Dresden, he tumbled landing hard on his bottom throwing his hands in the air as tears welled in his eyes. The tinkerers mug remained near the cart and Adrass' feet. "I-I'm not a w-wretch! My family is really wealthy!" One hand slid down to rub his bruised tail bone, "I just am really thirsty... so I wanted some of my hot chocolate... I didn't mean to bother you, I don't want to be bad." He looked genuinely sorrowful and guiltily couldn't look the two men in their eyes. "I would have been done and gone already but it won't work and I can't fix it... But I can always fix everything! That why they want to send me away... I can't figure it out though, I made the drink but I can't drink it, it just keeps spilling. I-I don't understand..." He covered his face with his hands and began to cry into them. ************************* @@Sanctified Absence Zaddion dreamed of an unending death, where his body became a corpse and began to rot but was never allowed to rest, a spirit blocked from passing on and locked into its body. He wandered a burnout husk of a town, he could hear the moans and stumbles of other souls suffering like his. Something stalked him from the shadows, a pair of bright but misaligned eyes tracking his slow movement, the head deformed with a slash of a mouth revealing a worm like tongue licking over black stumps of teeth as if in hunger.

@@Dji Stumbling in the fog towards the sound of the town Helena soon found a path that made walking easier. The fog started to thin somewhat, enough to see the shapes of trees and a large shadow of a building ahead. The whacks of an axe on wood coming from close by. Suddenly she stepped out of the fog into a clearing, looking back she could see the fog remaining still and stretching up into the sky like a wall, it curved around the settlement before her. A huge man stood wielding an axe to work on an oversized Ash tree, but after only two swings he seems to sense someone watching and turned to her. "Ah! Little Helena wandering out in the fog! Missy you shouldn't keep exploring out there, if you lose you're way you'll be lost forever." His tone was familiar and gentle chiding, "Now I'm sure mother and father must be worried sick about you, be a good girl and run along to the manor. I bet they have lunch all ready and waitin too." The man acted she should know who he was and seemed to think she knew him, though something tickled her mind that she did know him. His rebuke and treatment of her though prompted Helena to look at herself and she realized she didn't have any of her possessions, she was dressed in a simple white dress and the most disturbing was her hands were small and not as they should be, so was the rest of her body. The realization that the man and town wasn't huge but instead she was a child hit her hard. ***************************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Sanctified Absence @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer The group had gone to sleep around ten, Finn curled protectively in Whisper's grasp, and the first four hours passed uneventfully. Unknown to most something swirled around Zaddion's Krystal marks, it was not dark magic the hunter might have sensed a dark magic, instead this was an absence of magic, a void that seemed to settle in and feed on the mans own natural connection. It was during the fifth hour when Dresden was on watch and Adrass was still awake that their was a disturbance. Clarke's cart sputtered, gears seemed to turn and their were several clanks and beeps as something messed with the Tinkerers private compartments and the carts systems. Finn stirred slightly at the noise and gave a curious squeak, sniffing the air he couldn't smell anything out of ordinary so he settled back down thinking it might only be something the strange machine might do. On the far side of the cart out of sight until someone investigated crouched a young boy that seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated while messing with one of the tinkerers mugs.

@@Dji With a giggle the girl was in front of Helena, there was no flash or slow fade into reality, one second the air ahead was empty the next the spirit's long golden curls shimmered while framing her grinning porcelain face and mischievous eyes, right arm outstretched. Mid jump It was impossible for Helena to fight her momentum, her chest colliding with the ghostly right hand. They seemed to stop like that in the open air, Helena experiencing a weightless surreal floating feeling. "These woods are mine, I'm everywhere in them; I don't need to be fast to catch you. I just enjoy the game..." She gave a bit more of her light bell tinkling laughter, as her hand began to sink into Helena's flesh. It was wasn't violent or physical, it simply merged into her and felt like she had broken through ice into arctic waters face first. "But you're IT now, Helena," the girl's eyes shined with unnatural light, "I WIN." The hand in her chest twisting and clenching on to something at the very core of her being. The two of them where drifting towards the ground now, the malevolent spirit slowly starting to pull it's hand back out; it seemed to be holding on to something shimmery and dragging it out of Helena. As it pulled the shimmer further from her body Helena sight dimmed more and the feeling of freezing became more intense. By the time their feet touched the ground she didn't even feel it and the last light of the world faded to black.... .... She awoke in pure whiteness breathing warm humid air, the reassuring feeling of rich warm earth fresh with morning dew beneath her body and comforting smells that reminded her of her childhood wafted past. Distant sounds of a lively village reached her ears, if not for this fog that was so thick she couldn't she her own hands then she certainly would have been able to see the clock tower that's bell chimed noon. **************************** @@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Sanctified Absence @@Flying Ace @ @@Shadow Dancer The group was cold and hungry, but especially tired. They'd been setting camp for a nights rest when the werewolves had attacked so they'd had no sleep as they'd ran from the howls of wolves all night; to cover the distance to get so close to the town they had traveled a full day, though it hadn't felt like such the closer to the town they got the more time seemed to distort and lose meaning. As they set to make camp the sun had just disappeared once again beyond the horizon. (I'm going to need to know what you guys do for tonight, if you choose to sleep I need to know who takes guard duty and such. It's also possible to say screw sleep and take the rest of the four hour trek into Ashcreek, if you choose that though the exhaustion of your characters will be pretty damn bad.)

@@Dji "Hey! You're really fast!" The spirit swung herself right-side-up and dropped down to start after Helena. The girl followed Helena's path through the trees, she was unnaturally fast and seemed to float or drift exactly the distance to the next branch with ease. The branches didn't shift or bend under her weight but they creaked and crackled turning black and dead. The spirit kept her hand outstretched in Helena's general direction. "You're cheating! I said I wanted to play tag; not hide N' go seek tag! I can sense you though, I'm even better at hide N' seek than tag!" She wasn't gaining on Helena but she wasn't losing ground either as they bounded through the tress. Her outstretched hand began making a beckoning motion in Helena's direction. Helena could feel a tingle running down her back and she began to feel weaker; the leaves all around her began to change from green to autumn colors then to brown drying up and dying. The ghost could suck the life and energy right out of the air.