|M| {The Light within the Dark} |1x1| Alura x Siks |

[SikstaSlathalin]

The warrior laughed and licked some water from his lips. "A true warrior is always looking for the fire of battle while he awakes." But despite his words he was glad for the breather, he'd been fighting that beast for nearly an hour before he finally managed to kill the blasted thing. That was the third time the snake had surfaced long enough for him to take a few scant breaths before they dove back under the cold water. But Forcebreaker would be damned if he'd let the monster take him under a fourth time.

The rest of his items and his clothing were safely hidden in a rock crevice up the wall of the cave some. Using his cloak to dry off before putting on his kilt, warm leather trousers, boots, and heavy cloth shirt, the man swing his pack and shield upon his back and returned to the woman's soaked little campsite. "If you do not come to fight me woman than what could possibly bring you this close to Inkkin territory? You know the town of Luxim is not even an hour's walk to the west? I dare say we may see the glow of Lightbringers or Aurora Guard before too long." Dropping his pack and shield down he lifted his sword and went to retrieve the body of the Titan Serpent.

[Alura]

Pausing from blowing gently into the tiny flame she had finally managed to get going, she fed in a few scraps of dried fungus and fur, shuffling on the far-side of the nearest boulder to bring back the driest kindling she could find.

"I am not a warrior." She replied simply to his observation.

Though she typically did not carry unnecessary items with her on such far journeys, she produced two beaten metal bowls and arranged them on a stone over the fire. Tipping clean water from the skin she then closed and slung back with her belt, she waited for the liquid to boil, adding a little more kindling and sitting back thoughtfully to stoke it.

She watched him from under half-lowered lids when he returned, suspicious that he could carry on a conversation without trying to crush or stab something. Nodding her understanding of their proximity to the Inkkin town, she continued.

"If they glow, they can be avoided." She looked after him curiously, lifting her eyes as he began to walk away again. "Or do you fear them?"

Lifting his sword he began chopping the great snake's body it easier to carry pieces. "Ha, by the time you see their glow it's generally too late, especially if they have Beast or Wind Caller MagInk. Quite hard to escape someone who has supernatural senses of smell or sight." The heavy blows from his sword sprayed more blood over his body and clothing while he spoke. "As for my fearing of them? No, I've killed enough of them to be as unafraid of them as I am of Glozards and Titan Serpents." Once he had managed to butcher about half of the snake's stretched out body he stabbed the sword into the remaining carcass and used his MagInk to carry a few large chunks of snake meat over to the woman's fire, seemed he was willing to at least share a meal with her.

Taking out a smaller blade he began slicing thin slivers of meat off the chunks placing them on rocks or skewered through sharpened sticks to roast. "You claim to not be a warrior, yet you carry weapons and fight like one. Albeit a very flashy warrior, unless you mean to tell me you people waste time and resources training peasants as such." He glanced at her tossing some of his own dried kindling into her fire so the meat would cook quicker.

Shrugging amicably, she smirked faintly behind her veil. The Lightbringers and Aurora Guards often felt they were nearly impossible to overpower also. Such a sentiment made her work easier if it came to it. Still, disappearing was her preference when possible and the open breadth of the cave was not the best environment for that. He was right, of course, that it was not ideal terrain for evading or fighting ranged, murderous fanatics. No one and nothing was unkillable, but Channelers were almost always complacent in the presence of those who could not leverage MagInk. The preternatural counter of Nightstriders was predicated on exploiting the belief that no one without MagInk abilities could contend with one who could Channel.

So you kill them, but do not fear retaliation. You move about in the open near their towns and settlements. What are you?

"I have not seen an adult Titan Serpent killed by a single person. A wonder you did not drown." Reaching for her belt, she reached into a pouch to remove the mushrooms there, but hesitated. She was not certain how their properties would fare for the Inkkin, so she opted instead for the dried leaves of a savory, withered tree that managed to grow in a few sparse spots in the Nyx and crumbled two little tufts of a dark green, dried algae into the bowls. "Warriors make war. Fighters protect The People, maintain balance."

Sliding her blouse off of one shoulder, she used the excess fabric to cover her hand and insulate it from the hot metal as she gave the boiling water a few swirls to help dissolve the powder into the bitter brew. It took on a rich green colour and she removed them, rising slightly to set the Forcebreaker's before him and settling back to take hers and set it on a small flat stone at her side. Shaking her sleeve back on properly and adjusting her blouse, she inhaled the bitter scent of the drink as it mingled with the serpent's meat cooking over the fire.

Blowing on fingertips pink from the heat of handling the metal bowls, she tilted her head at the Inkkin. "What is 'peasants'?"

The Inkkin snorted at the woman's distinction between Warrior and Fighter. "Around these parts we call those guards and if that is what you then you have much more in common with the Aurora Guard and Lightbringers than you think." He watched her carefully as she added things to the tea. The man knew of many poisons those skilled in the craft could make with the simplest of ingredients. he recognized the algae and leaves from his travels further East.

Even in his uneducated savagery he was carefully piecing together where this woman came from. The plants were a good indication as were he seemingly ignorance to what Lightbringers, Aurora Guard, and most Inkkin know of them and their duties. She was very likely some far reaching scout of whatever counts for civilization for the Failed Race of Darklighters. Maybe as the Inkkin control the Northern and Western Reaches of Nyx, this woman's people controlled the East and South. And here Forcebreaker had thought he had traveled over every speck of dirt and black rock of Nyx. He eyed the tea carefully letting it cool some before he lifted it to his lips and sniffed it gently before taking a small sip. It was quite bitter, but it cleared his sinuses and gave a pleasant burn down his throat. It tasted a lot like Black Seed Mead, though somehow more bitter. He doubted there was any alcohol in it though, maybe adding some would make it taste better, but he would experiment with it later. If it was some kind of poison he should ingest as little as possible until he found out this mysterious woman's intentions. She could still be out to kill him over his reclaiming her little gemstones the last time they met, but she herself said she's a guard not a warrior or an assassin at least not as he would call an assassin. That would be a better explanation as to why she had stumbled upon him twice when most people never see him more than once out in the Darkness. The first time he could call chance, but her sudden appearance in the same cave he was fighting an actually quite rare Titan Serpent cannot be chalked up to another chance encounter at least not entirely. She went to seek him out this time and picked a likely place of resources. If he wasn't here she likely would've left after a Blue Night or so and just repeated this experiment until she got results of some kind. Either his presence or his undeniable death.

The question still stood, if she wasn't here to kill him or protect her people from him why was she seeking him out? Curiosity? some order from whatever counts as a Darklighter King? Or maybe she was simply a lost and lonely woman looking for someone to share affection with. The last possibility made him chuckle as she had just seen him in all his glory and fresh from a battle. Her face was hidden by a veil so he couldn't quite see if she blushed like a maiden or was as shocked as an old bitty at his indecency. The smell of cooked snake brought his attention back to her last two comments, like her he shrugged. "Titan Serpents are easy to kill if you can keep away from their coils, they have no venom, and while a bite will end any fool too slow to outmaneuver them that is avoided by simply staying behind their head." He stabbed a bit of meat with his knife and slipped it into his mouth chewing it thoughtfully before reaching into his pack and pulling out some salt to sprinkle over the rest of the still cooking meat. "And peasants are the easily fooled masses that aren't skilled enough to be a guard or warrior. The peons...the people you feel the need to protect from...whatever it is you feel the need to protect them from."

Considering what he had called her, she supposed she was a guard in some ways. Apprentices usually guarded the borders, but when possible a Nightstrider set to train them would walk the lines and keep touch with them. They did not have the same system for patrolling as the Lightbringers and Aurora Guard kept, but they did have their own ways to maintain their borders and warn each other of dangers approaching. Scouts were a rarer breed these days. Fewer and fewer Nightstriders survived and an even smaller number ventured far beyond the Darklighter stronghold. She was proud of the exploring she had done, but, she reminded herself soberly, that was also because she was one of a dwindling number to have the ability to do so.

"Sometimes we guard." She agreed stoically. For a moment she reflected, then added, "You do not know us, to call us alike. You despise us without knowing what you despise. That is like the Lighters."

She watched him through the flames of the little fire, pale eyes alert. She supposed this was going relatively well. She could not yet tell why precisely he disdained her people more than the Lightbringers, but he seemed open to conversation. His description of peasants clarified enough for her to understand. She unwound the veil from her head in a single practiced motion and draped it over her armour to dry. Smoothing back her hair she lifted the warm bowl of tea into her hands and drank deeply, immediately feeling a bit better as it warmed her inside the way the fire warmed her cold toes. Clearing her throat lightly, she folded her legs beneath her and tried to continue the conversation. How much was safe to tell? If the Clergy were convinced he might be a benefit or else too dangerous to leave alive, she supposed she should be forthright. But what if he decided to simply run to the Church and share all he knew? She did not even want to consider what a true war would look like... or rather a likely massacre.

"We do not have peasants the way you describe them. Some do not Fight, but all contribute. We Fight if we can, but the others..." She smiled, thinking of the lives of those who thrived even in lean times behind the combined protection of the Nightstriders and the Nightcallers who served the Clergy. "They are not fools. It is an honour to protect, but it is no shame to be set on a different path."

"There are others, not civilians also." She stated nervously, thumbing the edge of her metal bowl and sliding her eyes back to the Inkkin's face. "Channelers who do not belong to the Church. If you do not belong to the Church, then perhaps you are alike."

Narcerena could not have explained why her pulse jumped at discussing these things out loud, in this open cavern, with the man who had just felled a Titan Serpent for the apparent glory of it as much as the meat. Knowledge could be dangerous, and what she shared could have implications beyond her recall if he decided to affirm the popular opinion of Darklighters anyone outside of her people had always shown her. She recalled the pleased look he had had as he smeared its blood. Perhaps the Clergy were right, and he did have a brutal streak in him. Was she signing the warrant of her own clan if they succeeded in courting him as an ally? Or was he more Fighter than Channeler?

Breaker couldn't help but snort around the chunks of salted snake meat between his teeth listening to the woman. He wondered if she heard herself when she talked, she spoke of her people's peasants and protecting them like she was reciting some kind of military oath rather than giving her honest thoughts. If it wasn't for her black skin he'd think he was actually talking to one of the Pillar's guards or the Beacon's war dogs. Idealist sent out to be the arm of her people's government, no he was suspecting her purpose for being out here as something far deeper than simple lust or curiosity.

He always knew the Darklighters were a small dying group of failed Inkkin, but the way this woman speaks it seems they aren't even quite as large as he would expect. The only way for an entire society to really contribute enough to be counted is if they are all crammed into a single place. That small size could also be why neither he, nor anyone he's spoken to has seen a sane Darklighter or found a city of theirs. And that makes far more sense for how they've stayed so well hidden rather than just being so skilled at stealth so as no one can see them.

Once she finished he gave one more chuckle and shook his head wiping juice from his mouth with his hand. "You're an idealist as well as a guard, that girly, is a Lightbringer in a nutshell. But with how easily that similarity seems to be lost on you I feel you know as little about the Inkkins on this side of Nyx as you say I know about you Broken Inkkin in whatever little hole your people are hiding in to the East. And since you are so like the Lightbringers I know exactly what you are and why I despise your people as much as I do them." Finishing the tea in a single gulp he pulled the remainder of the snake meat off the rocks and skewers and placed them in the metal bowl before handing it all back to his dining companion so she could eat her fill.

From there he skinned new slivers of meat and salted them to be saved for later. "I despise the Lightbringers because they are the mindless attack dogs of the Inkkin Church and it's power-mad cunt of a leader the Lady Beacon. At least the King's attack dogs, the Aurora Guard are left with their minds free. But not the Lightbringers, they are brainwashed into thinking their clergy and the Church are infallible, and that everything they do no matter how...twisted is for the betterment of their people. Torturing dissenters, raping of men and women married or no, stealing away children, forcing families to raise a Lightbringer's unwanted child at the expense of their own. And I refuse to believe that whatever cult or higher power you Darklighters follow is any purer. They have skeletons in their closest that they keep from the masses no doubt."

He grew silent for a few seconds as he turned meat over on the rocks double coating it it salt to begin the preserving process, his mouth moving slowly like in prayer. But his obvious disdain for religion making that hard to believe. Once he had finished salting the meat he spoke again half to himself, but loud enough to be heard. "There is one thing I've seen Darklighters do that even the worst of the Lightbringers have never done...rip a lost child apart with their bare hands and teeth before trying to devour them whole and steal their MagInk...that monster made good leather covering for my shield though." He said poking idly at the fire with his dagger as if lost in the memory.

Much as she was unaware of the silent comparisons Forcebreaker was drawing, Narcerena did not care much for his tone. Still, she was well acquainted with dealing with things she disliked and kept her annoyance to herself. She was not a diplomat and had no designs to become such, but she knew enough not to drop hints about the location of the Darklighter stronghold. He could hint at landmarks, directions, even perhaps names of well-explored caverns and the more rare bodies of water to be found and she would do her best not to indicate if he were hitting 'round the mark one way or another. She was no diplomat, but neither was she a fool.

Or am I? Guardianship was not something she understood when spoken in the tone he used, nor was the concept of holding ideals. He could not know her thoughts, but something wriggled in the pit of her stomach as she listened. The small voice she had shoved away as she had stormed from Arsenthia and the Clergy. The voice had followed her even through Brasciel's farewell, well beyond Darklighter borders. For the first time she allowed herself to assign a name to it, giddily and quietly she realized that she had known what he said to be true without the ability to frame it yet.

The Fighter accepted the bowl of meat thrust towards her. "Thank you."

The image of the Inkkin chained to the altar flashed through her mind and for a moment she forgot the Inkkin still seated before her. Arsenthia stood in her mind's eye with her fingers wrapped around the skin-wrapped charm. It was a point of contention between the Nightcallers and Nighstriders that the Nightstriders were not meant to be an army for the Clergy's ends. They were for defense of the people and, just as Narcerena had offered this Inkkin seated with her the food from the trove he had raided, the Nightstriders protected and repelled before they attacked. They did their best not to draw first blood, even while participating in The Culling. She wondered, though, could the Nightcallers say the same?

Coming back to herself, Narcerena focused on what the tattooed man was saying about the Church. Plucking at the meat he had shared with her fingers in an effort to be polite, she placed some in her mouth. It might have been ash for all her nerves let her taste it. She had often joked with the dwindling number of her clan about the pretentious nature of Channelers like Arsenthia and her ilk, but she had never voiced her true feelings regarding the Clergy. That they mirrored so closely his own sentiments on the Lightbringers filled her with dread. Was she a heretic? After all this time? She must trust that the ways that had kept the Darklighters alive had purpose, that the Clergy worked in the best interests of them all. She must.

But, she realised... I do not.

Sniffing faintly, she took another bite of the meat, savouring the salt he had added though unfamiliar with the spice. Making a face, she decided she liked it. She licked at her lips like a little cave lizard, but it clung to her tongue. Coughing in embarrassment she set the bowl aside and took another drink of the tea.

When he spoke of the treatment of the people who lived under the Church - the so-called 'peasants', she supposed - it was with conviction. He had ideals also, whether or not he believed so. And yet how could he dissent himself without being subjected to the same things someone like herself would be. He was strong, but there was no one so strong that a large enough, skilled enough force could not best them. How had he survived them, particularly in the wider Nyx or smaller settlements where it would be so easy to abandon a body.

She should know. Her most familiar trails near Inkkin territories were those she had forged specifically to find survivors of the Church. More often than not it was bodies of the starved or abused. Occasionally a young one. Of those who survived, most did not survive the journey to the stronghold. While the Darklighters had children and carried on their traditions, fewer and fewer joined their ranks from the Inkkin lands. It was no kindness or abatement of the creation of Darklighters that spurred it. They had simply become more efficient at reducing the number of survivors.

She had watched him as he had watched her, noting his appearance that was in contrast to that of the Aurora and Lighter forces. He spoke in a heretical fashion himself and seemed to disdain them, if not as much as the Darklighters. She felt that her ability to court his interest in the Clergy might not be equal to the task. What if, instead of aiding the Clergy, however, he could pose as the Nightbinder they believed he might be? He could not be, but he seemed to be as proficient with his arms as he was with his magic. He might actually be able to deceive them.

On the day you decide to tell a lie, you would tell such a lie? She chided herself mentally. Leave the politics to the Nightcallers, Narcerena. They outnumber you. They are smarter. Besides, they would surely kill the Apprentices first. Send more unprepared to The Culling to die. Their blood would be on your hands. Her throat felt tight again and she lifted a hand to her throat reflexively, hardening her jaw.

"No leader is faultless, but... Without the sins of the Church, we would not exist at all. Good is difficult to define, but worse?" She shook her head. "No, not worse."

Her ears strained to hear what he said as he worked to preserve his catch, but she made out nothing of his thoughts or prayers until he raised his voice again. Her eyes slanted to his shield sharply and her legs tensed for a moment as if she might spring to her weapons. That was not the purpose of this meeting, however, so she relaxed her posture intentionally and filled her hands with the bowl.

"Cruel before clever." She repeated the accusation she had made at their first meeting, though not directed at him now. The Church and King ruled the others and the Clergy ruled over the Nightcallers and the rest of the Darklighters. Both were willing to do terrible things to preserve their way of life. Narcerena had some inkling of what that way might be for the Darklighters... but what was it that could motivate the Church?

Torn between abandoning her little fire and the overture of peace and remaining to try to convince this Inkkin to hear the Clergy, Narcerena struggled with what to say. Setting the bowl aside again slowly, she steeples her fingers and propped her elbow on the knee she raised before her.

"If we are monsters, we have not always been so. I have seen such things as your shield, among the Channelers. We are not innocent of these things either. Have you not wondered, though, Inkkin, why you do not find us in the middle territories? Close to the Lightbringer settlements, we may be weak or hungry, mad, dying. Why? Why not further, if we bring ourselves to the settlements. The Nyx is full of game. It is a long journey just to die alone in a hostile territory."

After considering for a moment, she decided if she was in this far she might as well explain a little further. "Some of us do journey through the Nyx, at least once, into the settlements. Not to die. Most die. Some are lost."

Lacing her fingers together she thought of the day she and Brasciel had stood to receive their ceremonial daggers. The day they had been acknowledged after passing their Culling. Arsenthia was there also, along with a half-circle of other Nightcallers. The two Fighters had stood alone as the newest Nightstriders. How many more such ceremonies would be held before the Fighters could no longer prevent the Nightcallers from recruiting green civilians into Fighter ranks? Until the balance was irrevocably lost?

"I have found seventeen new Darklighters since I became a Nightstrider. Four of them have survived. Three more lived through the journey; but two did not thrive and the third..." She remembered the swinging profile through the veiled door of the room they had given the young man. He had survived many Blue Nights before he could no longer bear his separation from MagInk, ending his own suffering with the twisted blankets he had asked for to ward off the cold. Narcerena licked her lips. "He did not thrive, either."

Stop stalling, Zolykur.

"If you wish to know if our leaders are corrupt, you should speak with them yourself." She offered. "They would be eager to meet you, I think."

Without her even realising the seed of revolution sprouting up, she wondered to herself if his own stronger awareness of such politics as the Nightcallers dabbled in would lead him to a better assessment of the Clergy. If he accepted and found them beyond reproach, she might reaffirm the necessity of their rule. If he still felt that they had designs as dark as that of the Church, perhaps she might allow herself another think on the relationship between the Nightstriders and the Nightcallers. He was a Channeler, and therefore not to be entirely trusted. Still, he had developed himself into a considerable warrior and hunter despite having that ability by all appearances. Perhaps it wasn't all bad. For a thief and an outsider. She could not imagine a better opportunity to have an outside opinion than this. She almost felt she should warn him, but ultimately decided that there would be no need. She would guarantee the safety of any she brought into Darklighter territory as far as she could, but could make no promise of that security when she knew that a meeting with the Clergy could have mixed outcomes. They might even tell him the origins of their people…

“None but The People have seen my city. Perhaps there is trade for you there.” Tapping her hand into her opposing palm, she rested her chin on her knee and watched him at his work.

The man was taken aback by the woman's words, but then let out a short sardonic bark of a laugh at her proposition. Now her reason for seeking him out becomes clear and by her own admission in a sense. She was not curious to his no doubt unheard of existence between the worlds of Darklighter and Inkkin being of the Inkkin people by blood alone and with only his control of MagInk separating him from the Darklighters...or at least the lost and broken Darklighters according to his dining companion.

The Darklighters he's encountered and killed being some kind of mad animals makes much more sense if they are simply ill or failures of creation rather than an entire race of raving lunatics made solely by one of the Inkkin burning off their soul beyond repair. If that was all they were he'd expect to have seen much more of them than he has. She wished to take him home to her people...as some kind of oddity or curiosity...show him off to this "Clergy" of her's, the very idea made both his stomach flutter in nervousness and his blood boil with annoyance. Reaching into his pack he began pulling out a varied selection of vials, flasks, bottles, and hollowed out bone containers. "You wish to take me home to your people? Now that'll be a riot to see, me in some cage like a wild animal while you husky skinned wretches leer at me like a freak." He snorted setting the many containers out before him beginning to pull the slivers of dried out meat off their heating rocks and load them into the containers along with small smoking coals. It was a traveler's tricks for smoking meat that didn't tie him down to any place for very long, he could do it with fire making materials too.

His face darkened and his voiced hardened slightly as the idea of being paraded up and down the woman's city as a prize of some kind.
"And do tell me Darklighter, how do you plan to convince me to go with you? I don't need to meet your leadership to know they are corrupt. Power corrupts and absolute power, corrupts absolutely, and from I've gathered your Clergy are quite close to that corrupts absolutely part. I've no reason to go there anymore than I have to go into the Inkkin capital of Torchlight. The Inkkin powers know they could never hunt me down and bring me into their walls so they leave me alone and I do my best to leave them alone. It's an unspoken treaty if you will. They let me trade and hang around the smaller cities and towns without harassment or capture...and I don't skin their Guard Captains or Lightbringer Lords and stake their heads on sharpened sticks along their patrol routes. Luckily I only needed to do that once to get them to listen. And I don't look forward to teaching your leadership the same lesson. It's a great deal more bother than I wish to deal with if I needn't."

He frowned now more dangerously than before as he began another round of drying and salting meat his rankles rising up his spin as to the woman's intentions fully cycled themselves through his barbaric mind. "I'm my own King...my own Beacon...my own family. My freedom is all I have and I will never let anyone take it from me." His eyes began to glow amber with MagInk as he moved just his eyes up from the fire to look at the Darklighter. "That includes your Clergy, woman. If they dare to take my freedom, I will bring them to heel like I did the Inkkin."

Narcerena sat with her chin on her knee and watched the reaction to her proposal unfold. It was quickly clear that it did not appeal to the Inkkin, but his temper grew the longer it rolled around his thoughts, maybe. So, after all, though he had no love lost for her kind, his arrangement with the Lightbringers and the other forces who wielded MagInk was one of convenience rather than loyalty. She still believed that there was no one who could outmatch an entire army, but he did not seem to be fearful when he spoke of challenging them. Truthfully, why should they risk the losses in order to "deal" with a man who would be willing to finish off their mistakes and hide their sins for them, even if unaware that was what he was doing?

Though she doubted her people were particularly fond of actual cages, she did take his meaning and deeply understood his apparent aversion to captivity. The problem was, his freedom might someday lead to her own death or captivity. There might be no bars, but there were chains. The Apprentices, Brasciel, the dwindling Nightstriders, the civilians who might be unadvisedly forced into service, and the fledgling Darklighters who might die if there was no one to recover them from the places the MagInk forces liked to deposit their cast-offs. It was not in her nature to want to harm because she could harm. He had her in that she knew there was significant risk to his person. Still, even her own life might not be enough to save her clan. She had convinced herself of that before she had articulated it to herself, something she now added to the tally of revelations this meeting had drawn to her thoughts. It was not a life for a life. It was a life that still might be saved for the dearest of her people and the least able to defend. Guard them. Perhaps she was what he said. Despite that, Fighters and guards and anyone else strong enough to raise a weapon could become a warrior if the cause convicted them, no? Perhaps... This was her war.

Watching him still, she did find herself curious what had happened to his family. He must have had father and mother. Did he know them? Was he cast-off like a Darklighter? How was it that he had MagInk if he were not under the Church? There was so much, for all her scouting, that she did not know.

The questions seemed unfit for the moment, so she swallowed them and kept them. Another time, maybe.

Sliding a hand along the back of her neck after a long moment still considering, she finally answered him:

"You are right to think there is danger. I would not deny it." She nodded to herself as much as to him. "Mm, for Darklighters you are of The People, or you are not. There is no in between. I do not know what that would mean for you. Exclusive trade, at least."

Not for nothing. Nothing for free. But you already know that, Thief.

Shrugging her shoulders faintly, Narcerena rose onto her heels and began to clear away the meal as he packed his meat. "If you only look for enemies, you will only see enemies. Maybe not all who seem like enemies are."

Though it is as hard to believe for me also, Outsider.

Cleaning and drying the beaten metal bowls and flipping them through the fire to sterilize them, she continued to tidy things.

"Peace treaty, war treaty. All must be signed by those who stand to speak for themselves. You may find either war or peace, but only if you appear to propose or hear the proposal of either. I am surprised, though, that you fear the 'light sick', 'inferior', 'husky' darklings so greatly that you cannot 'bother'. After all," She said, the hint of a smirk tugging up the corner of her mouth as she turned her back to him to put away the bowls and take up her leather jerkin, " 'A true warrior is always looking for the fire of battle while he awakes'."

The man snorted at her attempt at using his own words against him. "I fear not you Darklings, simply the fear of wasting my time cleaning the blood off my sword and shield. I've no need for exclusive trade with your people or anyone. I am not a merchant, just a hunter who does not like to see anything go to waste. If bringing this beast to a town." He lifted a scrap of dried meat into the air and waving it about gently for emphasis. "Allows me a night of indulgence with alcohol and a soft woman that's good enough for me." He slapped the meat back down to continue drying it out. "As for war and peace? Such things are transient and cyclical, a treaty either way will mean little to me. If the Darklighters want war with the Inkkin then you can go declare it yourself without my aid. And if the Inkkin want peace with the Darklighters then you lot can go through the long messy ordeal of exposing yourselves to them and sparking off a war the likes of which no one in this hell of eternal night has experienced or even heard of outside of the earliest history tomes." He chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe some of you will even survive it. But after all that if anyone survives things will eventually return to how they are now, such is nature."

Having smoked and packaged enough food to last him awhile he too began cleaning up and setting himself up for travel. "Now if you have no other tricks up your sleeves Darklighter. I have a night of fine dining and fine women ahead of me. Thank you for the tea and the company." He gave on final chuckle before he pulled on his weapons, pack and used his MagInk to surrounded and pick up the remaining chunks of Titan Serpent for easy travel.

"Hmph, only breath without meaning to you then, 'true warrior'." Narcerena made a disparaging sound as she finished pulling on her armour and tugged on her boots. Breathing deeply of the free air of the cavern, she strapped her staff to her back and began to wind her veil about her throat and the chainblade around her waist. "Well... I suppose if we Darklighters do not kill each other, the Lightbringers may some day try to do that for us more aggressively than they already do. They cannot afford to have outliers, though, Titan-hunter. One day, you will face that fight yourself. Perhaps when my people are dead. Perhaps when you do not kill enough of us. I wonder how you will fare when they seek to harm you in earnest."

She looked off the way she had entered the cavern and thought about it, but really could think of nothing useful to say. In fact, this was more than she had said to anyone as far back as she could remember.

"I suppose it was too much to be hoped that you were less self-interested than other Channelers, in any case. Fighters forge bonds with their clan. We guard, as you said. What do you have worth guarding? A fire and a woman who are not yours by any true bond." She shook her head. "This is borrowed time. A dream, to be accepted into their settlements. There is only temporary reprieve in fear. They will not forget how you won it, and some day you may not live to enjoy the freedom you have won. This is peasant's life, eked out because it is easier."

"Yes... I thought I saw honour in you, but the MagInk pride infects all Channelers. Even you. Not even glory outweighs it, it seems."

She paused a moment and swallowed, flexing her jaw and blinking against the heat that suddenly sprang to her eyes. "Freedom is an illusion. That much I do know for certain."

"Well. Thank you for the meal." With a nod, Narcerena began to walk away. At the edge of the mossy patch between the two nearest boulders she paused and turned to call back to him. "If you see others like me," She tapped her cheek where the white tattoos still sat among the golden piercings, "Do not approach them. Even if they appear injured, weak. You have refused them, but I would not trust that that is an end to it. The veil can hide many things."

Her dark skin paled and she looked tired for a moment. "I doubt our paths will cross again. I hope not." The Clergy was clear. I hope you live a long life, and a free one. But I do not think that that is possible, for outsiders - from one, to another, Thief.

But she did not say the last, because it did not matter. If she were to lose her own freedom, it was a pretty thought to think someone was out here still, roaming the Nyx. Perhaps he would find other troves she had left behind, when she was gone. Oh, stop wallowing, Zolykur. This has always been your duty. Do it, and be thankful for the role you play for your people. For your clan.

They should have sent Arsenthia. She offered herself one last silent complaint as she tread the way back towards the entry point she had taken to the large Knife-Wing cavern.

As she said her final thoughts Forcebreaker couldn't help but smile and shake his head at her naiveté. "Ah there's that Lightbringer condescension, I was beginning to miss. Because I do not believe what you do or do what you wish I am without honor and I am self-centered. Because I am not yolked to a belief system or government you think me without principle or compassion." Bringing the pieces of the snake above him spinning them idly about his head. "Most of that is true, but it's not the way I was born, it's the way I made myself. I was born alone and screaming into the abyss. My body ablaze with this unknown MagInk. Pain was my only companion and fear my cruel bitch of a teacher, I sought out comfort and guidance at first...as any scared little boy would. But if I wasn't being attacked by Darklighters or Glowbeasts I was being driven out of any Inkkin settlement as an unnatural freak of nature." As his emotions began to get the better of him the air in the cave became hot and charged with power. "Compassion was denied me so I denied it for most of my life. When the entire world is out to kill you or drive you away you learn quick to dig your feet in and make anyone against you rue the day they tried. When a Darklighter came at me with gnashing teeth I learned to rip them in half, when a Glowbeast hunted me for lunch I turned them into dinner. And when my so-called people the Inkkin drove a cold and starving young boy away with swords and sickles because he glowed funny he becomes a man that they would learn to fear and use as a scary bedtime story to keep their own children in line. And that legend is what will keep me safe as it always has and as it always will whether you Darklings kill yourselves or let the Inkkin kill you."

The air visibly crackled now his MagInk becoming almost a burning white. "But not all Inkkin fear me as the Beacon and Pillar do. Seek out Wolfblade and Foxdagger at the large oasis to the South of Luxim, or if you wish to get closer to your Darklighter lands, look for Mistress Firegale in the Emerald Canyon to the East of the cave where we first met. They may be more open to being your Ambassadors, but go openly or you will be killed especially with Firegale. Luckily for you they all owe me for freeing them from their former lives so tell them...Forcebreaker sent you and if they meet with you all their debts to me will be cleared." Those were his last words as he left the cave the air cooling and losing it;'s charge as he vanished around the corner back into Nyx.

Despite his words to her retreating back, Narcerena believed that he knew - or would someday come to know - that what she said was true. To speak about a thing and not live it was the sort of thing outsiders did. If he behaved as an honourless, selfish outsider then that is what he would always be. Perhaps in that, her temporary uncertainty had also been a character flaw. The Clergy did what was best for the people, as did the Nightcallers who served them. They were not perfect, and at times their methods were cruel. Still, the Nyx was cruel and their people were on the backfoot purely because of what the Lightbringers, what the rest of their hierarchy had done to the Darklighters. This was just a lapse, nothing more.

What was your actual plan, Narcerena? Recruit a Channeler who can fight to pose as a Nightbringer, though he is not of The People and then... What? Did you think you could fool the Clergy? That they wouldn't know? Arsenthia is arrogant, but she is no fool. She would have seen through you from the beginning. Would you really go so far to put off your own responsibilities?

Her own thoughts accusing her and biting at her heels as she allowed herself to follow her feet, she slipped into a small, cool niche in one of the tunnels. Pressing her back to the stone, she let her body sag. Had she really done it all for fear of her own desire to roam? Her own want to remain free of the confines of the Darklighter stronghold?

They will kill them. They will let them die. Civilians, Apprentices. What happens when we finally disagree?

Was that the truth? Were her motivations genuine? Or had her purpose been clouded with her own intentions? Was Arsenthia right? Had she been shirking her own responsibilities?

She hit her head back against the wall of the little alcove, and the little jolt of pain and colour somehow felt right in the swirl of conflicting thoughts. She did it again, and again, until her eyes swam a little and there was a dull ache in the back of her skull that muted the warring internal voices. Sinking towards the floor into a crouch, she blew out a hopeless breath and studied the wall in front of her for answers that were not to be found.

She wished that she had a mentor the way the Nightcallers had the Clergy. As much as she loved her clan, they were already decaying. She had not wanted to see it, though she saw what was happening. Somewhere it had already begun as the old guard Fighters were lost or aged and leaving fewer and fewer behind. They had tried this, she realised. They had tried to adhere to the laws of The People, to be faithful to their clan, and to do what had always been done. Realising that was not self-interested even if some of her own wishes aligned with rejecting the Clergy's hold on the two clans. Somewhere along the way things had become unbalanced. Fighters were stronger, but they were not to wield that strength against the people. They were to protect from external threat and because they were so indoctrinated not to look inward they had missed it. She had missed it, for so long.

Running a shaking hand along her hair, she asked herself again if she were justifying her own ends or if this was the truth. For a long while she sat, catatonic, weighing that question.

As sure as I can be, I am. Something must change, for the clan. For the people. But how? Who are you, Narcerena Zolykur? Of all the Fighters, the Nightstriders, the Darklighters. Of all The People... who are you? How can you do this thing when you cannot even begin to form a plan for it?

Gasping in frustration, she banged her head back against the wall again, the trail of a tear escaping the corner of her right eye. She did not want to be a leader. She did not know how, and any way she remembered those who had trained her and taught her. Why had they not acted? They had been so much stronger, so much better suited to the thing.

The dais with Brasciel flashed into her mind again. The two of them with an ornamental dagger beside nearly four times their number who could wield MagInk of an Inkkin. Their "balance", their equality had been an illusion as much as her freedom had all this time. They were given status to make it seem as though they were equals, but until the Clergy told them that they were assigned the right and responsibility to lead they were just... "Guards."

That word sounded more hollow to her now. Holding her breath for a few heartbeats, she expelled it shakily. So then, now what?

She reviewed the interaction with the strange Inkkin over in her mind's eye again. He had been a little unsettled here and there. At the end, angry. Indignant, maybe? He had spoken more about himself then than he had the entire meal. The entire world was always out to kill everyone in the Nyx, it was just a matter of those who were aware of it and those who were not... but if she allowed herself to wallow the same way then she too would be going through the motions of a life without any real purpose or honour. If that day came, she told herself she would be better dying near the Lighter lands. His legend would not hold him safe forever. Even great beasts and cave-dwelling creatures of legend eventually fell to an enterprising person with a sharp enough sword or strong enough magic. If he thought otherwise, truly, she hoped that he survived the lesson to the contrary when it came.

Something else he said plucked at her mind. "...whether you Darklings kill yourselves or let the Inkkin kill you."

They had fought off the Lighters and hidden themselves away to regroup and build themselves up. At some point, hiding had become a habit. Still, she suspected the Clergy and their Channelers would seek war of some kind eventually. Bolstering numbers for defense when they had never been found or invaded - or even visited by a stray merchant or explorer - made no sense. She cared little what happened to the Lighters, if she was honest with herself. Still, just as they had Darklighter civilians these civilians or peasants of the Lighters might not have any stake in such a war. Civil war in the Darklighter stronghold would only weaken them.

Drumming a gloved hand against the chest of her jerkin, Narcerena tried to play through each option, but all of them ended in death and blood. If the people she was trying to preserve were going to die, it was better on their feet. Still, survival was the goal. The Fighters could leave the Darklighter stronghold, but it would leave the civilians weak and make an enemy of the Clergy and Nightcallers. Some of the Nightcaller Acolytes might come over to their side, but that was a large chasm to cross. Perhaps if the Apprentices could draw them to their cause. Still, that left them divided if the Lighters ever became a more aggressive threat.

That was it, though. She could not fight through while their resources and leadership were so thoroughly integrated with the Channelers amongst the Darklighters. The civilians would be at risk, but if the Fighter clan held to their word to protect those who came to their side, it would allow them to choose where they wished to be. Something of that magnitude, however. Finding a new place, starting over... There would be enemies everywhere.

If you look for enemies everywhere, you will only see enemies.

Rocking slightly, she realised that perhaps that was what all of this scouting and exploring had been for... All this time, she had gained knowledge of the Nyx that no other Darklighter could boast. There were maps, some of which she had made herself. She could destroy them. She was not convinced that she could trust the strange glowing Inkkin who had killed the Titan Serpent, but if he had meant her harm there were many more direct routes than pointing her to potential allies and forgiving whatever debt he held against them. He had lost some of his control when they spoke, but he had restraint enough not to attack her. It had always been a possibility of this meeting, but she had not feared for her life even though that might have been sensible. Maybe he was not an enemy. Perhaps he was not entirely self-interested.

Her plan had not been good, she admitted, but perhaps that is what Ambassadors could offer. While the Clergy was scheming to move on the Lightbringers and the Church, she would gather the Nightstriders and their Apprentices and begin to recruit silently. If they were caught, it would go badly. She could not see a better time to begin than when Channeler eyes were turned outward.

Swaying to her feet with new resolve, the Darklighter tightened her jaw and straightened her spine. It was heresy then... It was time for change. She would have to trust those more familiar to the Lightbringer lands to act in the interest of her people. She must approach them like a devout Fighter beholden to the Clergy and win their support even where she had failed to win over the Forcebreaker. She would begin with the two oasis-dwellers and then head for Firegale. It would be a difficult thing to convince the Clergy to reveal themselves to three outsiders, but she suspected letting them speak for themselves might do her more good. If any of them were not suitable Ambassadors, perhaps she could strike some sort of trade. Cartography and metalwork for the promise to safeguard civilians and young would-be Apprentices if things went very wrong.

You will need to make a better plan than this if you do not wish to repeat the same conversation with the Inkkin thief.

Rubbing the back of her neck in irritation, she whipped the veil at her throat back around her head. She would do that, and enlist the help of her own clan, but first she would go to these people, openly, alone. Everything in her reviled the idea of intentional exposure, but she did not believe the Clergy or Nightcallers had alliances in the settlements. She would be surprised if any of them had developed ties with the very people they attacked to attain their status. If she did nothing, it was as good as a death sentence for those who came after. Captivity. Those before her had not done it, though it would have been better for greater Fighters to have done... something, before their numbers had so sharply declined. She would do what she could for as many as she could. Even if not all survived, she now believed it was the only way. If she must resign herself to living in the shadow of the stronghold, to deceive about her intentions or cooperation then she would. A deception, a lie, had been a bad way to begin. She was not skilled in such things. Perhaps, if these potential Ambassadors were worthwhile she would learn from them.

The Clergy had told her to prepare herself. In that at least, they had been right. If she could not recruit a leader then she would have to become one herself. Stepping back into the tunnel path, she looked to her left and right. She could survive out here, in the Nyx. Never return. They would give her up as lost and it was doubtful any would pursue her when she was assumed dead. She looked both ways.

The Fighter turned down the path that led to the oasis below Luxim.

Her progress was slow, but determined. The Blue Night was nearly at an end when she arrived. She was tempted to slip about until she found one of the contacts, but she took the thieving Inkkin's words to heart and after a nervous stutter step moved into the oasis as though she were simply out for a stroll.

[SikstaSlathalin]

As Narcerena moved closer to the oasis the Black Night came on like a cloak over the land of Nyx. The soft blue glow of the luminescent water filled the sky filling the already shadowy area with even more shadows. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the subtle shift of movement among the high rocks along the path. A flash of black fur there, the glint of red fur between a pair of boulders.

Then the sounds of whistles and howls filled the air as if a whole pack of glowbeasts were running among the rocks. And with each step the sounds grew louder and the feeling of being watched soon followed the howls. Luckily the rocky corridor was opening up now and as she crossed the last threshold before the actual Oasis a pair of large glowing canines ran out their bodies glowing with MagInk. One a large black furred wolf, but around it seemed to glow a silver light. It's eyes and teeth glowed a bright silver almost white color. It was nearly the same size as the Darklighter woman herself. Next to the wolf was a fox that glowed a fiery red all over looking to be made of fire as much as the wolf looked to be made of darkness. Despite not being the same size as the wolf the fox was still far larger than a normal dog looking almost like the size of a young wolf itself. Snarling in unison the two ethereal canines began prowling closer to the Darklighter.

[Alura]

Seeing the shifting forms amongst the boulders on approach to the oasis, Narcerena carefully and slowly reached back to ease her swordstaff from her baldric. She had not intended to approach with a weapon in hand, but surely these contacts of the Inkkin would understand knowing such creatures were lurking.

The blue glow of the water kept the path ahead alive amidst the outcroppings of stone and she leaned on her staff like a walking stick, leery of being cut off the way she had come by more of the hard-to-glimpse creatures. A pack of some sort, she had thought, until the wolf and fox loomed ahead, shadowy forms limned in blue shadow.

Something was odd about them. Well, more odd than a giant wolf and fox hunting together. She wondered if other creatures were drawn to the oasis. The edges of blue night might invite them to the water, making easy prey for these beasts. She did not intend to be one of those creatures. The MagInk that emanated silver and red, pushing back the shadow that still tried to cling to their frames gave her pause. She had never encountered a wild creature in the Nyx with such markings. In fact, it brought up many questions. Perhaps this is why the pair were called by the names their were. Were these their companions, rather than some strange magical pack come to feed at the oasis?

Clearing her throat awkwardly, she lifted her voice in the hope it could be heard beyond them, to the masters she assumed were out of sight somewhere closer to the water.

"Wolfblade and Foxdagger," she began, realising as she did so that calling a debt might not be the best way to begin. "I have come to make an offer."

[SikstaSlathalin]

The spectral canines stopped in their hunting steps and studied the dark skinned woman with an almost sentient intelligence. As one they looked back at the Oasis and gave a pair of short barks before two more figures...well two full grown and a much smaller one strapped to the back of the larger figure. As they came more into the light of the Oasis the identities of the figures became more clear.

A man and a woman both obviously pure blood Inkkin. They were both pale with silvery white hair, like most of their kind. The larger figure was the woman obviously a solider at one point if the way she held the long sword in her right hand that glowed with the same light as the wolf was any indication. But she also sported a very muscular, but also very feminine body. The smaller figure was the male, but he was only smaller weight wise because he was half a foot taller than the 6 foot tall woman besides him. In his hand was a red bow with notched arrow that mimicked the fox's aura. While he still had muscular physique it looked to be more like a runner build all long springy sinew.

The figure on the woman's back began fussing and poked it's head out of the backpack it was stuffed in. A girl child of five or so with long wild white hair and eyes that reflected her parents one was the burning silver of the mother and the other the smokey red of the father. Seeing someone new made the girl curious and she climbed more out of her hide bag the small coyote pup MagInk on her belly glowing orange under the small cloth wrap over her chest. "She looking kinda funny, I say we lets Wolfy and Foxy eats her!" The little girl said with an adorably bloodthirsty lisp before her mother flicked her forehead and pushed her back into the bag. Looking back at the newcomer she spun her MagInk sword around her hand and walked a few feet closer to the Darklighter aiming the sword at her while her man maneuvered around so he could shoot Narcerena in the back of her head if needed the pairs spectral canines mimicking their motions their voices still low warning growls. Once the woman was sure of her child's safety in the pack she looked the Darkling over her eyes narrowing. "What offer could you possibly have for us? And how do you know our names?"

[Alura]

Sliding a foot slowly behind her and shifting to move her back towards the rocks that lined one side of the path rather than the archer, Narcerena, glanced between them.

"If you intend to shoot me, then have the decency to do it where I can see you." She said pointedly to the Inkkin with the red eyes.

Why were the Inkkin always so ready to kill? Well, she supposed if she lived in a murderous society that drained its own citizens she might be more willing to do the same. Especially with a little one into the mess. With another look over the growling beasts, Narcerena answered the speaker, letting her spear fall into the crook of her arm and adopting a relaxed stance.

"I am looking for Inkkin who can fight, who can Channel. Those not beholden to the Lightbringers. I offer trade and perhaps an alliance of sorts." She made one last mental wish that this was truly an earnest help and not the Titan-serpent slayer's way of offing her second-hand. She thought not, though. He seemed the sort to do his killing himself if he were so inclined. "I was told by the Inkkin who calls himself Forcebreaker that you might be open to such a proposal."

[SikstaSlathalin]

Foxdagger snorted at the woman's first remark. "You look the fighting sort I'm sure you know what an arrow going into someone's head looks like."

Wolfblade rolled her eyes lightly, but kept her blade at the ready. "An alliance between Inkkin and Darklighters? You might just be one of the maddest Darklighters yet." But as she mentioned Forcebreaker's name her whole demeanor changed. She lowered her sword and with a silver glow she placed the weapon into her arm where it turned into a black blade that swirled up her entire left arm. She then let out a whistle and the wolf whimpered lightly and returned to her side sitting obediently down at her feet. "Relax F.D. if she knows that name then she might be legitimate. You know F.B. loves his anonymity, though why he didn't kill her upon first meeting her seems quite the mystery."

The man let out an annoyed sigh and like the woman he pressed the bow and arrow into his body, this time pressing it into his back. "Well she doesn't look too bad from the back, maybe he thought she was too pretty to die. How many times did he make a pass at you W.B. before we had the pup that is." He clicked his tongue and the fiery fox let out a huff of indignation and trotted along side the tall man. Reaching over her pulled the bag off the woman's shoulder and slung it playfully over his own listening to the giggles of their daughter inside. "Maybe we can feed her this lively little catch I just got." Joining the young girl in laughing F.D. walked around to a well hidden alcove in the rock wall near the Oasis.

Watching them go Wolfblade shook her head smiling at the pair before she looked back at the strange woman. "Well, if Forcebreaker sent you I guess that means you won't send any of your MagInk hungry countryman after us quite yet." She put a more friendly smile and held her hand out to Narcerena. "I'm Wolfblade if you hadn''t already guessed. This is Silverfang." She reached a hand down and actually patted the black and silver wolf's head eliciting a pleased whine from it's otherworldly throat. "That was my husband Foxdagger and Firewisp, and the little one is our daughter. She's not old enough for her second MagInk so you can just call her Coyote or Coypup as she likes calling herself."

[Alura]

Foxdagger was not wrong, though archery was neither a particular skill of Narcerena, nor something often employed beyond guarding borders. For certain it had its uses, but it was not a particularly favoured weapon in general. Some of the Apprentices and even a few of the more enterprising civilians who were inclined to hunt around Darklighter land often employed slings as their ranged weapon of choice. Just as with salt, wood was a commodity difficult to gather in any great quantity in their piece of the Nyx.

The tension in the air seemed to immediately shift when the strange duo heard Forcebreaker's name. It was so abrupt that Narcerena simply watched dumbly through most of it, not even responding to being called mad. The disappearance of the weapons was baffling. They had seemed solid, the knocking of the arrow sounded as real as the growls of the beasts. What sort of strange MagInk trickery was this?

Making a faintly exasperated sound at the insinuation that she would eat a child, the Darklighter watched the father and daughter - or at least the bag that contained her - depart. She studied the woman she presumed was Wolfblade's profile as she also watched them go. True affection, family.

When the other woman spoke, she spoke wisely as well. Narcerena did not control the Nightcallers, but she also had no intention of revealing more about this journey to the other Darklighters than she must. Still, the woman understood by her phrasing that the way something might be now might not always be. When she extended a hand, the Fighter hesitated a moment, looking from her hand to her face and back again a moment before tentatively extending her own in return.

"Call me Nightstrider, for that is what I am." Narcerena replied. She was curious what the difference was between a first and second MagInk, but the woman spoke as if this was a common piece of knowledge so she decided to observe and discover rather than to reveal she did not understand what must for them be well known.

Reaching up, Narcerena unwound her headscarf and let it fall across her shoulders so that they could regard each other face to face.

"I do not wish to you trouble, but that does not mean there is no risk in my offer." She glanced after Foxdagger and Coyote, frowning a little. Forcebreaker had said nothing of a child. Turning back to Wolfblade she scuffled a stone with her toe. "You do not live in Luxim and you do not seem offended at the idea of separation from the Lightbringers... Why?"

[SikstaSlathalin]

Wolfblade squeezed the other woman's hand testing her gripe strength. As she suspected the dark skinned woman was a warrior. Even more odd that Forcebreaker would let her live, he loved testing his fighting prowess against anyone or anything that might give him a challenge. Glowzards, Titan Serpents, Rock Wolves, even the occasional Lightbringer or Aurora Guard that strayed too far from the walls of Inkkin towns.

She was attractive even for a Darklighter, so maybe F.D. was right and F.B. wanted to bang her. Though this Nightstrider didn't look the type to roll in the dust with some random bastard lurking about the wasteland. And Breaker has the whole brooding charm thing going, but the more intimate situation leading up to sex and afterwards are totally lost on him he takes each chance like a mad man trying to break some wild beast. That might work for equally blunt and forceful women like Firegale, but most women Wolfblade could think of would keep the big man at arms length.

Deciding to worry about it later, she led their new guest into the hidden alcove built into the cliffside. It was an ingenious use of camouflage and architectural engineering. A rigid panel of some kind was affixed to the rockwall, it's shaping and color matched the natural rock perfectly. It was on a rail system of some kind because as they approached Wolfblade pushed it aside with one hand showing that the alcove was actually a doorway that led into an underground compound of some kind. The door was shaped and colored like the rock as well and it was only from the smallest indication that you could even see the door. Once again with remarkable ease Wolfblade pulled one of the daggers off her underarm and popped the hatch to the mountain house. "Heh, our opinions on the Lightbringers is a bit of a story come inside where it's safe to talk."

She ushered Narcerena inside the cleverly hidden door before she quickly pulled both the panel and the door firmly shut. Once inside the soft glow of blue gems filled the air with a pleasant light that seemed to fill the mind with peace and contentedness. The door opened up into a winding carved staircase that led underground about fifty feet before opening up into a large room carved from the rock like everything else. It broke off into multiple passages, all but three of them were block off with rocks though. Foxdagger and Coyote were in the center chamber, the young girl was wrestling with the Fox creatures the both of them growling playfully admist rock furniture covered in animals furs for padding. The man was hunched over a cauldron of sorts stirring a thick stew some bread was browning in a stone oven at the back of the kitchen area. Looking up he nodded to the women. "Come in and make yourself comfy, we were about to have dinner when you arrived."

[Alura]

Shifting her weight awkwardly under Wolfblade's inspection, the Darklighter took another glance around for hidden others. None seemed to be lurking. When the other woman began walking, she fell into step behind her through the hidden alcove with one last glance behind her. Still nothing out of the ordinary.

When she looked back, Wolfblade was removing a dagger from her skin and as much as she studied the woman Narcerena could not see the trick of it. As nearly as she could tell it was no physical sleight of hand. She was truly removing weapons from her body. She had thought Forcebreaker's value was in his ability to fight as a Channeler, and she found herself wondering if he also possessed a similar power.

Plenty of places to hide an armoury on that one. The thought amused her a little despite herself and she stretched her jaw to wipe it from her face and nodded to the Inkkin when she turned to address her. As she stepped through the entrance she took the time to look around the door. It was ingeniously concealed, for certain. The care that had gone into preparing the rock face alone showed detail and impressive craftsmanship.

When the door slid shut behind the panel, a tiny bit of warning sounded off in the Nighstrider's mind. It would be strange to invite someone into your home to harm them, but she was outnumbered two-to-one. Assuming Inkkin children were not imbued with some sort of offensive MagInk meant to safeguard them. It seemed unlikely they would remain a danger, but spiders had such nests to funnel their prey also.

Brushing away those thoughts for now, Narcerena looked around her. The gems were beautiful, like the insides of the geodes she loved to collect. Blue ones, too. Pulling her eyes from the ceiling to the pair below, Narcerena moved with silent steps down the carved stair and into the light of the cauldron fire below. She noted the rocked off sections of the room and assumed they were placed to disconnect these caves from the tunnel systems of the Nyx at large. Such an intricate place near an oasis was a rare find. She wondered if they had built in the natural formations or had had to carve the caves out of the rock themselves.

The air smelled pleasant and warm, the glow of the stones above lending a dreamy aire to it all. When her feet touched the stone floor below where the girl played with the MagInk creatures, Narcerena slowly unfastened her staff once again and set it against the wall at the base of the carved stone stairway, sitting to remove her shoes also. When she had finished that task, she fished the pouch holding the remainder of the meat she had been given from the Titan Serpent from her belt and offered it to Foxdagger as her contribution to the meal.

Stepping back, she perched on the edge of one of the fur-covered stones and took one more glance at the ceiling before regarding her hosts.