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

  1. #21
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    Foxdagger smiled at her offered meat. "Oooo Titan Serpent, been a long while since we've had that thank you." Placing the meat on a stone table by the cauldron he began chopping it up nice and small using a normal steel knife instead of his MagInk this time.

    Wolfblade watched the Darklighter take her weapons and shoes off and found herself smiling inwardly. This woman had better manners than most Inkkin they've brought here. She poured some fresh water from the oasis into a pair of ceramic cups and brought them over to the sitting area handing on to the strange guest before sitting down in a slenderly carved stone chair covered in white fur of some kind.

    She giggled lightly leaning back in the chair crossing her legs over each other comfortably. "I know, quite the interesting set up. Was used by Inkkin colonists as an outpost before their numbers were more unified under the Pillar and early Beacon. Inkkin with Earth elemental powers carved this entire tunnel system out eons ago when we were still part of the ancient bloodlines. Since then it's been an on again off again hideout for soldiers and wanderers. But I know you didn't come here to talk architecture, but before we tell you our story pleases tells us more about yours." The pale woman took a sip from her cup of water. "Like how you not only came across Forcebreaker and lived to tell about it, but managed to talk with him long enough to learn about us. He's not exactly a man of tact and conversation."


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  2. #22
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    "Forcebreaker's kill." Narcerena felt compelled to add at Foxdagger's reception of the meat. She was glad to have it to share, but it seemed wrong somehow to leave any impression that she had killed the great beast. She wondered idly if she could, and she thought perhaps so... Certainly going after it submerged in its cool aquatic home with nothing but a blade was not how she suspected she would go about it.

    "Thank you." Narcerena accepted the cup of water with both hands, inclining her head slightly. She held it in her fingers and listened intently to the history Wolfblade shared, waiting until her hosts drank before lifting the water to her own lips. It was cool and refreshing, a welcome draught after the dust of the silty tunnels she had traversed.

    The Nighstrider knew next to nothing about the ancients. She found a relic here and there in her wandering. Some she kept cached in her little troves and some she took to the Clergy for study. Most seemed non-MagInk-related, though she was far from an expert in such things either.

    Eyes dropping to their reflection in the ceramic cup, Narcerena supposed to herself it was natural to explain herself at least a little. Still, it felt odd enough to speak to so many strangers in such a short span at all - let alone discuss herself or make an effort to recruit them to what was tantamount to treason.

    "Well," She started, uncertain of exactly where to begin or what to share. Fortunately, Wolfblade offered some direction on that count and Narcerena obliged with relief easing the rigid lines of her shoulders. "He does not seem fond of people, that seems true. Least of all Darklighters. The People are not mindless monsters. I am... not an ambassador by trade, but I believe that he saw the truth of that, at least, in our conversation."

    Taking a breath, she continued with a little more confidence.

    "I am difficult to kill, but even so," She thought to their skirmish in her pilfered cave. "From my point of view he owed me a debt. The possibility of allies was simply repayment."

    It was likely, even probable, that Forcebreaker himself might not see it so. She was thankful, and she found it honourable of him - if unexpected. Maybe, she thought, he had sympathised with the delicate position the Fighters were finding themselves fallen into... Whatever the reason, however, she felt perhaps mentioning the theft was poor etiquette.

    "He did me the favour of hearing my request, but declined to aid my clan himself. He suggested there were some Inkkin not beholden to the Pillar or Beacon who might find my offer worthwhile."

    Spoiler: Completely Unsolicited, Contextual Praise Definitely not Acquired via Torture 

  3. #23
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    Wolfblade smirked sipping her water. "All valid reasons, but knowing F.B. you simply made him curious." Foxdagger soon approached giving the women each a bowl of the thick stew and a carved bone spoon. "Well, the last time we got Titan Serpent meat was a kill from him. So glad we can keep that tradition going."

    W.B. picked up her bowl and began slurping it down quietly mulling over her next words. "As for your proposal about some kind of alliance between the Inkkin and Darklighters...that's a delicate matter. Ya see I was Captain of the Aurora Guard for about ten years and F.D. well..." She chewed her lip uncomfortably glancing at the man as he carried Coypup to the sitting room area and plunked her down in a child sized chair with her own bowl before he sat next Wolfblade stirring his stew slowly. "I was an Indentured Ink Master for the Beacon. Not exactly the best life. Wolf and I grew up together, but my family had ticked off the Church so they took me as payment."

    The woman nodded again. "And if it wasn't for Forcebreaker I never would've found him again. My and the best of the Aurora Guard were sent into the most ancient parts of Nyx to try and find the Sun. But unbknownst to us the Church had sent it's own group to do the exact same thing. And it was that madman that lead our groups to the center of the ancient's capital where stores of forgotten knowledge were left to turn to dust when the ancients fled. We didn't find the sun, but with F.B.'s help we found each other and our freedom."

    The tall man smiled and gripped his wife's hand fondly. "We owe him a lot, so we're willing to hear you out, but we hope you have some other choices to go after for help and a good plan. 'Cause we don't exactly have the luxury of suicide missions anymore."


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  4. #24
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    "Not much to be curious about. I'm just a..." She hesitated, then looked Wolfblade in the eyes. "I'm a warrior. That's why I've come. I need others: those who can Channel, but are not corrupted by it."

    Narcerena smiled faintly, accepting the food from FoxDagger gratefully.

    "Thank you."

    It smelled amazing and she inhaled the scent with a sigh. She couldn't remember the last time she had had hot meals so close together on an exploratory journey. Maybe there were benefits to speaking to the natives of other parts. She ladled a little into the spoon and allowed it to cool a moment as she listened to Wolfblade speak of her past. It was uncomfortable, the admission of her past life sending Narcerena's lips into a thin line. The Auroras had likely killed more of her kind than she had ever rescued. She wondered vaguely if any of the corpses she retrieved had fallen to those MagInk weapons and found it difficult to reconcile such brutality until she considered what she herself would be willing to do to defend the Darklighter stronghold.

    She relaxed the grip she had tightened around the bone spoon and shifted her attention to the man returning from situating the little girl. She had done enough scouting to have some idea of the broad strokes of what the Ink Masters were. They did not seem the sort that the Inkkin leadership would willingly let go. If his former occupation was part of the reason they were so well hidden away, she was a little surprised that Forcebreaker had sent her here to them. Knowing they had something to lose even in the meeting made her feel a little less exposed. It was silly to feel that way in the first place, perhaps. It was unlikely anyone would know of what she said or did in the lands beyond the Darklighter borders unless she told them or led someone to their door intentionally. Why was she so on edge?

    Blinking, Narcerena shoveled a bite of food into her mouth and slowly chewed to give herself a moment to work through what had been shared. There was so much she simply didn't know. Swallowing, she tucked one leg beneath her, balancing the bowl in one hand. Questions about the ancients, about the repository they found burned, but she doused them knowing there were more important things she should address first.

    "So your family gave you to them willingly?" She pointed at FoxDagger in disbelief. It was unthinkable, abhorrent even that such a thing could be done. Darklighter numbers were few compared to the Inkkin in the rest of the Nyx, but even beyond that they went to great lengths to preserve every life - even the newly Changed. She felt a stroke of true sympathy. She could not imagine separation from her clan.

    She turned to look at the child again, frowning, then set the bowl at her feet and her foot on the floor, leaning towards the couple.

    "How much do you know about Darklighters? How we came to be?"

    Spoiler: Completely Unsolicited, Contextual Praise Definitely not Acquired via Torture 

  5. #25
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    Fox's face soured a little as the Darklighter asked at how his family could give him up to the Church. Putting his bowl down he sighed looking at Coyote who had finished her stew quickly and was moving a left over bit of meat with her spoon trying to pick it up to finish it off. He licked his lips gently trying to pick the right words. "Inkkin society is...difficult." Is all he said before finishing his own food. Putting a smile on his face he flipped the girl's bowl so the meat fell onto her spoon before he scooped up the child and the bowls. "But come on pup it's time for your bath and bed."

    The girl gobbled up the meat then made a soft growling sound as the word bath was mentioned. She tried to flail away, but her father easily hooked her leg and tossed her over his shoulder. "I Fire Elemental! You can't bath me! I'll turn to steam and die!" F.D. snorted. "Nice try kid, but like me and your mom, you're part of the Creation School not the Element School. Water won't do anything, but help you not smell like a foot." The girl barked and bickered all the way into the room with an underground hotspring.

    Once the pair were gone Wolfblade sighed putting her bowl down. "In Inkkin Society, the Church and the Monarchy are in constant conflict. Part of the accords...or peace treaties....or whatever allows the Church to find...creative ways to square up debts...and in Fox's case. His father was a Lightbringer who had lost a valuable asset for the Church. So to pay that dept they allowed Fox to become an Indentured Servant, his natural artistic ability pushed him down the path of being an Ink Master and learn the secrets of MagInk. At least the Secrets the Church wants believed...."

    "But we learned the real secret of it." Foxdagger finished as he returned wiping his hands dry the sound of Coyote laughing and splashing in the hotspring. "Though what we learned about Darklighters aligned pretty well with what the Church says. Seems our ancestors created your ancestors the same way. When an Inkkin uses up their MagInk they burn up their soul and become husks, unable to use the Ink. And usually unable to control themselves after too long."


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  6. #26
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    Narcerena made a sharp huffing sound that might have been amusement as the little would-be fire elemental was hauled away, though her face didn't show any trace of it. The child was a complication Narcerena had not foreseen. Asking people to risk for their own sakes was easier than asking them to draw potential harm when they had their own family or clan to protect. Maybe they had been warriors, maybe still were, but they had clearly chosen to remove themselves from that life. In Narcerena's eyes that made them essentially non-combatants.

    Perhaps that was actually to the good? She wanted them for what they had the potential to do more than what she actually thought they would need to do. Even as part of her mutiny, it was protection and defense she would wish for, not for them to make direct offensive runs on the Nightcallers. That would be the cost to the Fighter Clan, to pay whatever blood necessary to redress the imbalance threatening The People. That much was not for outsiders to trouble themselves over, should it come to it. She needed to be certain, however, that they would not be experimenting with Ink. More power for the Clergy or even the broader Nightcallers would only complicate the already difficult situation.

    "Foxdagger's father was a 'peasant'?" She asked, not entirely understanding the clear negative implied by the tone of indentureship coming herself from a society hinged on communal clans and crafts that accepted indentures also. "What of your family? Were they all Auroras?"

    It seemed unlikely that if they knew the whole plan she had concocted they would agree to it. She would tell them everything, but she told herself that she would force herself to do it in pieces in the slithering manner of the Nightcallers. Getting them to meet with the Clergy - or their representative - was paramount. Once they had a chance to make their own assessments, no doubt they would have questions. As Wolfblade spoke, though, Narcerena could hear echoes of her own troubles in the conflict between the Church and the Monarchy. Maybe, she realised, the Fighters had always been intended by the first Darklighters to keep the Clergy from becoming the Church, but the balance was failing still.

    "Close enough to the truth," Narcerena replied to Foxdagger as he rejoined them, in reference to the origins of the Darklighters. Pausing a moment to choose a starting point and wishing for the hundredth time anyone but she was sitting there, she added, "There is one difference from what you believe that is critical to know if you choose to do business with us. Not all Darklighters are incapable of Channeling through MagInk. Some can still turn it to their purposes.

    "As you can see for yourself, we are also not all mindless husks. True, many do not survive having the power burned out of them. Most. And it isn't just the Inkkin ancestors causing it. When Forcebreaker and I spoke, I told him the same. I have seldom been able to save those I find in the Inkkin lands, but well into my lifetime it is still happening. I can prove it to you, if you decide to form a contract with the Clergy. Speak with one of those I pulled starving and Ink-sick from the tunnels myself."

    Her voice had the same bitter note that Forcebreaker's had when he spoke of the skinned Darklighter who had ripped apart the Inkkin child.

    "Or simply inspect his own armour." She wrinkled her nose a moment before continuing.

    "As with your Inkkin Church and Monarchy, we have the Clergy who rule the Darklighters. There are three paths for The People." She held up three fingers and pointed to the first. "Civilians, families and first generation Darklighters who elect or are otherwise incapable of joining one of the two Clans. Forcebreaker called them 'peasants'."

    She folded over one finger.

    "Next, the Fighter Clan." She thumped her chest indicatively. "We protect the Darklighters, guard the secret of our locations, and some of us become Nightstriders who lead our Clan and co-operate with the Nightcallers in the day-to-day decisions that guide our people. We carry out the will of the Clergy, but we are equal to the Channeler Clan."

    Folding down all but her remaining finger she listed the most pertinent Clan for this meeting.

    "The Channelers are Darklighters with the ability to access power through MagInk. They serve and protect the Clergy who make all final decisions for the people. Healers, keepers of our history. Like the Fighters, they have Nightcallers who have proven themselves and co-govern day-to-day matters alongside my Clan. Out of their greater number the Clergy is raised from the best of them internally and then serve as our ruling body, holding their seats until death.

    "We have been isolated from the Nyx for too long. The Clergy seek to extend their dealings to other residents of its systems. For obvious reasons, it would not be possible now to build trade agreements with the Church or Monarchy. There is no contact, and until the Lightbringers cease the practices that create new Darklighters, it may not be preferable either.

    "Most of us never venture beyond our borders, but the Clergy believe it is time for a change. They sent me specifically to guide back a Channeler with the abilities or potential of a Fighter. It is imperative that the first who open the door of trade with Darklighters have the ability to Channel - both for their own safety and to garner the respect of the Clergy. I can guarantee that if you are with me, I will protect you to the best of my abilities. Still, nothing of the kind is ever without some risk. Just as you have your own priorities, I have mine."

    Shifting her eyes between them, she asked, "Well?"

    Spoiler: Completely Unsolicited, Contextual Praise Definitely not Acquired via Torture 

  7. #27
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    The pair listened to the woman speak following her every word each battling with their own thoughts and questions. As she finished though Foxdagger was pulled back into the spring room by the sound of Coyote getting out of the water and trying to sneak past him despite being dripping wet and naked. He smirked and chased her back into the washroom leaving the women to speak alone again.

    Wolfblade sighed her shoulders slumping somewhat. "Your government sounds a lot like the Inkkin one. The Aurora Guard are a lot like your Fighter Clan, and your Channelers sound a lot like the Lightbringers." Leaning back on the stone couch she pushed her chest out a little and looked down her cleavage. "Wonder just how similar they all are though. Fox's dad wasn't a peasant he was a respected Lightbringer high up in the order, but he lost an important artifact from the ancients. A runic sword that acts like an external power source of MagInk to any who use it so they don't burn up their own soulfire. If you met Forcebreaker you probably saw it, we're not sure how he got ahold of it seeing as Fox's father lost it when Force would've been a baby, but he appeared with it one day. Either way after losing the sword Fox''s dad was stripped of his rank, position, and thrown out of the Lightbringer Order. He racked up many debts and fines with the protection of the Church no longer behind him. And when he couldn't pay them all back Fox was taken away and raised by the Church as payment." Sighing once more and straightened her back looking at Narcerena again. "As for me, my family were actual peasants working as farmers and blacksmiths, I joined the Guard on my own and worked my way up to Captain."

    At the woman's proposal for her deal to link the bridge between Inkkin and Darklighters though Wolfblade could only chew on her lip in looking back at the sounds of Coyote and Foxdagger playing in the spring hearing the man beginning the long process of getting the slippery young child to stand still so he can dry and dress her for bed. She had much to lose with this deal, but also she supposed much to gain. As much as she loved their little hidden home in the Oasis, Coyote was five years old and has barely ever seen another child her age let alone interacted with one. She was growing up very wild and isolated, and despite her and Fox's best efforts the mother could see their daughter turning into another violent and antisocial brute like Forcebreaker and one of them in Nyx was enough. But just as she was about to tell her guest they would sleep on it and see if they can come up with an answer tomorrow a loud howling began whipping up outside. Wind whistled through the holes in the rocks peppering their faces with dust and dirt. Standing up Wolfblade quickly moved to a small window in the rocks and moved a rattling bit of bone and hide from it sand dashing her in the face before she quickly closed and sealed the flap the wind still howling around the imperfect seal.

    Jumping down she sputtered brushing the sand off her. "Well seems any answers and plans will have to wait until tomorrow. A sandstorm's kicked up we won't be leaving the house tonight at the very least." Picking up her and Narcerena's bowls she took them to the sink still spitting out sand.
    Last edited by SikstaSlathalin; 01-13-2021 at 04:05 PM.


    Xbox One Gamertag: Free Today56 just say who you are first.
    Breath deep as the snow falls around you. Let it fill your lungs and purify the fires of doubt within you.



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  8. #28
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    Perhaps Forcebreaker had inherited his sticky fingers from his father, Narcerena considered as Wolfblade explained a little more about the familial backgrounds of herself, Foxdagger, and the other Inkkin. She considered what it might take to be thrown out of the Fighter Clan in the way she described the Lightbringer Order. They had their ways of sussing out potential, but dismissals were nearly always a result of finding a candidate unsuitable to continue without harm to themselves or other members of the Clan. Mistakes were dealt with, but even with a great loss it would be unthinkable to treat one of their own in that way. Still, though, perhaps if their number were greater that cultural aspect would have been more similar. She was afraid, however, that Wolfblade's assessment was correct. The parallels were impossible to deny.

    Her estimation of the other woman rose at the description of her joining the Guard. Narcerena had been assigned as most children were, and excelled amongst the Fighters. Nonetheless, she respected those who created such paths for themselves. It was not often that older Darklighters opted in to the Clans, and there was significant testing to overcome, but the few who were successful were forces to be reckoned with... at least, that had been the way before the Nightcallers and their meddling began.

    The howl of the wind whistling through the rocks caused Narcerena to rise when her hostess did, and she trailed behind her to the window, furrowing her brow as the woman was blasted in the face for her efforts.

    "Tomorrow?" The Nighstrider echoed her words leerily. She did a half-step backwards towards her shoes and shook her head faintly at Wolfblade's back. "I should go when it lulls. I can return for your answer."

    That wasn't the plan, and it was a generous offer, but a meeting with outsiders was enough for one day. In fact, it wasn't until that very moment that the Darklighter had even considered that in order to guide them to the Darklighter stronghold if they agreed, she would need to travel with them. Her eye twitched faintly as she stared off into the air, but she stopped her backpedaling and forced her feet towards the kitchen to hover awkwardly nearby. She felt like she should offer help, but beyond basic cookery and survival she was fairly useless when it came to domestic life. She pondered whether or not it would be appropriate to offer tea, quietly debating to distract her from her other thoughts.

    Spoiler: Completely Unsolicited, Contextual Praise Definitely not Acquired via Torture 

  9. #29
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    Wolfblade smile walking to a small alcove pulling out some furs and placed them at the foot of the large stone couch in the living room. "Well I don't know if it'll lull enough for you to leave tonight, but best get some sleep until then. Have a good night Nightstrider." The woman smiled and snuffed out some candles around the room before vanishing into her and Foxdagger's bedroom to prepare herself for bed.

    "Night." Narcerena replied, eyeing her staff before wrapping herself in a fur and sitting on the couch with her legs tucked up to her chest. The sandstorm whistled outside the shelter, but she kept her eyes on the ceiling of blue until her exhausted eyelids drooped. She'd have to thank Wolfblade in the morning.

    Hours rolled on by the sandstorm continuing to abuse the outside of the rock shelter. Now anyone well-traveled in the land of Nyx keeps their ears tuned to their environment even from inside an underground bunker. Now at the very height of Black Night the sandstorm quieted it's formally constant wailing, the silence after so many hours of wind would be deafening and enough to wake all but the deepest of sleepers. The rock shelter became like a tomb with only the sounds of soft breathing and the occasionally drip of water breaking the stillness.

    Eyes shooting open, Narcerena tensed and remained still. Something was wrong. Her mind spun a moment to free itself from the cobwebs of uneasy dreams that had plagued her as she slept. She had not meant to nod off at all, but the combination of the journey and the weight of what she was plotting had sent her right off anyway.

    Narcerena consciously slowed her breath and lowered her lashes to maintain the illusion of sleep. She heard the usual sounds of life in the stillness. The stillness - that was what she had noticed. The strange feeling of being woken without knowing the reason abated some at that realization, and she unfolded herself from the couch to go to the window Wolfblade had opened at the first indications of the sandstorm. Standing on the tips of her toes, she peered out into the dark.


    Out beyond the small window, Nyx seemed to be frozen in time. Nothing moved, not even the air, Nyx has always been a warm land even being totally underground away from any sunlight that might have existed. The way the Inkkin dressed bordered on scantily that's how warm it usually was, but with no wind the air felt heavy and thick. Like you had just stepped into a volcanic vent or hot spring, sweat stuck to the Darklighter's skin and taking in a breath was like breathing hot coals from a fire. Unpleasant, but not deadly as long as you kept moving it might've just been how the Oasis's geography affected the air so as soon as you were past the canyon you'd be back in the wind and able to breath freely. Either way if he woman wished to leave the cozy little cave without disturbing the family inside now would be the time.

    Glancing behind her into the empty room, Narcerena considered her actions. Shuffling back to the stone couch, she neatly rearranged the furs and placed half of the dried meat she had brought from the Darklighter stronghold into a small pot by their cooking fire. How should she indicate her plans to return? Half-drawn dagger pressing back into its scabbard, she sighed, realizing that the child might find it first. Well, the meal and the conversation with Wolfblade would have to do, she supposed. She teased a small, smooth pink stone from one of her pouches and dropped it beside the pot. Safer than a dagger, at least.

    It took her only a few moments to equip herself again with boots and staff. As silently as possible, she crept up the stairs and gave one last look to the impressive ceiling before fumbling with the mechanism for opening the sealed mouth of the hideaway. She gave equal care to closing it properly again and went to the waters of the oasis to wash her face and take a moment of peace before raising her veil to obscure her features and trotting off through the sticky, close atmosphere.

    If she made good time, Narcerena hoped to find the third of Forcebreaker's potential allies relatively soon. She could only hope that the meeting was as blessedly uneventful as that with Wolfblade, Foxdagger, and the little Coypup. As she moved beyond the great stone outcroppings where she had met the unusual couple and back into the more familiar pathways of the Nyx, the airflow increased and she let out a thankful breath. With a little luck, perhaps the storming was over as well.


    Though it took a couple of hours Narce was well on her way to the Emerald Canyons to the East by the time storm made itself known again...and it came with a sound and fury that could make even the most hardy Nyx traveler stand in awe. Like the sound of an earthquake the huge walls of sand rushed over the flat plains obscuring the view in every direction. More than a mile ahead of the stormhead small sandy needles began pummeling the lone woman. Could she find shelter before the storm hits her?

    Alas, the Nighstrider's hopes were in vain. The first indication that the storms were resuming was the sound. The stillness, the faint whisper of drafts whistling along the crevices became a hiss. Plumes of smoke-like sand whorled in the air and pushed small pebbles along the stone walkways, clattering in crescendos until it was an echo through the tunnel systems throughout the region.

    Scowling, Narcerena wound her head scarf more tightly in layers. The air was closer, but it helped to prevent the sand beginning to whip up from lashing across her face or into her eyes. She poured a little water into her hands and dampened the veil before bowing her head into the elbow of a raised arm to help ward off the worst of it. She pressed on until it became clear that the flurries would not abate before they became a full-fledged storm. She started to sigh, but stopped herself from the deep inhale and considered what to do.

    None of her caches were close, but there was a branch of the tunnels that lead into a dead end with a small rivulet one might generously call a stream flowing through it from a natural aquifer below. It was risky, since the animal life liked to seek refuge there during storms and other shifts in the environment, but if she could make it past them and manage to make her way down into the lower passages she could hide in one of the caves that bordered the water table. Even if she was delayed a couple of blue nights, it should be possible to rough it there in relative comfort. The sands should pass above with little chance of reaching her.

    Shrugging against the itch of the grains of sand permeating her armour and clothes, she consoled herself that the stop over might also mean a chance to shake out the irritants and give her outfit a thorough cleaning. Maybe she would even have a moment to patch the hole she had torn on the back of her shoulder in the scuffle with the treasure-thief. All the better to present herself to Firegale looking less the 'wastrel' Arsenthia often accused her of being when she tried to present herself to the Clergy without adorning herself in the more traditional gowns or robes such occasions merited.


    Moving to stay ahead of the sandstorm, the Darklighter woman found her way to the small trickle of water she had been seeking, but as whoever controls the fates of Nyx's dark-dwelling residents seems to have a sense of humor Narcerena would be the first, but not the last woeful wanderer to find the safety of the small cave.

    As she had settled down to strip off her worn clothing by the small caveborn brook, the sound of slow, heavy, footfalls echoed from the mouth of the cave and a single voice sounded behind it. "Fuckin' Sandstorm." It was Forcebreaker's voice again, Nyx surely has a darkly humored whim.

    Crouching beside the small stream, Narcerena's moment of relief as she pulled off a sand-filled boot was short-lived as she heard the thud of footfalls near the mouth of the cave. Snatching up her things quietly, she set her boots and belt out of sight. Her staff was heavy in her familiar grip and she held it parallel to the floor, as she blended into the deeper shadows and rock outcroppings with her eyes wary and glittering above the veil she still gave a moment to winding to cover her face. While she missed the protection of her leather footwear, shedding it did grant her a measure of stealth she otherwise sacrificed for comfort in her travels. She stalked nearer the entry to her little hideout, padding silently until "Fuckin' Sandstorm" reverberated through the space.

    Tugging down her veil, she let out a sigh, rising and recovering her things.

    "Wolfblade and Foxdagger seem impressed with you, but how is it you've managed to survive announcing your presence like this." She greeted irritably as she set her things a little too forcefully back by the water and upended one of her boots in a hiss of dust.


    As he heard the voice he stopped brushing himself off and chuckled. "Well you've seen me in all my glory surely you're just as impressed." Going back to brushing his clothing off he shook sand from his hair then pulled his cloak off giving it a few good shakes obscuring the cave for a few seconds. "As for my surviving out here. Animals usually let themselves be known before I make myself known so I can avoid them. And aside from you it seems, Nyx is mostly barren and empty so Inkkin have no reason to come out here that's why I instructed Wolfblade, Foxdagger, and Firegale to high-tail it out here if they wanted to escape the Church and Lightbringers."

    Once he was properly dusted he tossed his travel pack onto the floor and placed his sword and shield next to it before tossing the cloak over all of it and sitting down watching the woman with a smirk on his face. "So how'd you like meeting Wolfblade and her kid? Little Coypup is a spitfire ain't she?" He chuckled knowingly.

    Rolling her eyes in response, Narcerena sat and wondered if the animals just thought the Inkkin was simply one of them. Instead of sharing that thought, she just set about cleaning up her footwear and weapons. Shedding her armour piece by piece, she lined them along the little rivulet neatly as she set about her work. Those well-washed were placed atop a thick slab of stone that jutted beside a stalagmite nearby her.

    After a pause, she finally responded. "You did not tell me they had a child."

    It was not a complication that would stop her from setting her plans in motion, but it did give her a moment of hesitation, of course.

    "You were right to send them into the Nyx. Maybe trading with the Darklighters will be good for them. And the child." Her jaw ticked, but she only shrugged. It was strange enough to see Inkkin not intent on murdering everything in their paths, set aside inviting them into her own territory.

    "Was Firegale one of the Aurora Guard also?" She paused her work to toss him the pouch of kindling from her belt and gesture for a fire. "Nothing worth eating in this cave. I'll go later to find something holed up like we are."

    Tossing a second pouch, she shrugged. "Dried meat, mushrooms for tea."


    Catching the two pouches Forcebreaker pulled off his own boots tossing them with his other stuff to begin working on the fire. "Wasn't sure of your intentions, if you planned to betray them they could kill you just as easily as I could, but as is common with women. I figured knowledge of a child being present would make you change your approach and you could easily lie about it if you knew ahead of time. Granted going with intent to hurt my little night-daughter(similar to goddaughter) would get you killed just as easily so wouldn't be any of my concern either way."

    As she mentioned Firegale being a guard like Wolfblade the wild man dropped the firetools falling backwards with laughter at the very idea. "Firegale being an Aurora Guard? HAHAHAHAH, you might as well put me in the Beacan's Robes and call me her replacement!" It took the large man a minute or so to recover, but eventually he got back to his knees and made the fire. "Hehe, no Firegale is basically a female version of me. Closest thing to a sister I've ever had, though sister is just a term, we're not related in the least and have done...things siblings should never do." He gave a low chuckle bringing the fire to full life before sitting back bringing the needed items for tea to the fire. "Firegale was born in a Inkkin merchant caravan and never spent much time in the towns themselves. And once that caravan and her family got wiped out in large cave-in when she was around eight she never went back. She hates the laziness of Inkkin in the safe towns and usually worked as a caravan guard. We met a few times and nature always won out if you catch my meaning." Another low chuckle followed as he set the teapot to boil.

    His repeated assumptions that she was easy to kill were similar to the taunts the Darklighter often heard from other Inkkin through her adventuring life. It was a novelty that one had the opportunity to repeat it in the way he did which, she decided, she rather liked less. Nonetheless, being underappreciated had its benefits. She needed every benefit she could muster. To that end, she simply scrubbed the last bit of armour a little more forcefully than entirely necessary and placed it with the rest to dry. It was hard to say what bothered her more, though: the presumptions or the niggling feelings of loathing that accompanied the practice of deception. Well, not that hard. She found lying distasteful in general.

    Glancing over her shoulder, she poked two fingers through the ragged edges of the hole she'd shorn open against the cave wall. Flexing them to feel out the size of the damage, she sighed and turned pale eyes to him calculatingly.

    "Let's hope Wolfblade and Foxdagger live long and healthy lives, that being the case."

    Startled by his laughter, she bent her knees slightly as if to lower herself for a fight. When she realised he was just amused at the idea of the mysterious Firegale being an Aurora, she quirked up the edge of her mouth uncomfortably in an effort to share the good humour. She took her time answering as she always did.

    It sounded like the woman would be harder to negotiate with than had the prodigal couple and their Coypup. If he had declined her offer and they were really so similar, she wondered if the journey would be wasted. Then again, the opposite might hold true: if she could convince Firegale, perhaps Forcebreaker would reconsider his position. No pressure, then.

    "Well..." She squatted beside the fire thoughtfully, staff propped against her shoulder. "Maybe she won't shy from a fight. She has merchant experience, makes her a good fit."

    The warmth was welcome despite the heat she had traveled through to arrive at these tunnels. She rested the side of her face against the comforting, worn haft of the weapon and blinked into the flames.

    "I should go check the traps."

    She didn't make an immediate move to go. She couldn't exactly have said why. The cache-thief was egotistical and stubborn, with interests that clearly differed from her own. Still, he was a soul who lived in the tunnels of the Nyx outside the settlements, beyond traders and true refugees. That was something she had never known in anyone of the Inkkin she had met, nor the Darklighters who were her own kind. Even of the scouts she had known as she had grown, she had been further and mapped all she had seen, kept secrets in her own mind. There was so much beauty in the Nyx and she ached to know that someday soon she would have to give it up. He'd joked about being put in the Beacon's robes, but in a way that's how she felt. To be bound to the Clergy, beholden to the Darklighter Church with just enough power to be paraded out in front of her dwindling Clan - or Night forbid, forced to preside over burgeoning ranks of young Darklighters who would die before they ever stood in the ceremony as Nighstriders. In those stupid, stupid robes with that ineffectual dagger.

    Her gaze fell into the heart of the fire. Even if she prevented the Nightcallers' meddling and her plans succeeded, her people would need to rebuild. There would be less and less time for these sorts of forays. This was a swan song in a way. The end of an era, of her in some ways. And there was an Inkkin present she couldn't kill. Then again, he was helping her despite that...

    Blowing out a breath slowly and sniffing hard, she thrust herself up to her feet and stormed toward the exit of the cave to check the traps she had laid in the small forks around their tide-over spot. Busy hands would keep her occupied until the sandstorm blew over... her jaw clenched.


    Forcebreaker chuckled again though this time it was much more controlled. "Oh getting Firegale to fight won't be a problem. Getting her stop fighting would be the trick." Stirring the mushroom tea slowly he took a chomp of dried meat chewing it thoughtfully as his cavemate wandered about doing busy work with her gear and traps. "You see many Inkkin of the Elemental School of MagInk like Firegale have personalities and natures that reflect the essence of their Ink. Firegale controls the elements of Fire and Wind, obviously. And she is the living embodiment of their chaos, picture that sandstorm outside, but replace the sand with intensely hot flames. Then picture how you would stop that once it got going. That is basically the woman I sent you to find in the Emerald Canyons, would be quite amusing to watch honestly." Pouring two cups he placed down by the woman's clean clothing and sat back against the wall taking his first sip enjoying the earthy taste of the mushrooms.

    Most animals wouldn't come out in this storm so he expected her traps to empty and like before she was stalling him for some reason. And here he thought he was bad at social interaction, but with a shrug he leaned back place his tea on his knee still watching the woman bustle about. "So tell me what exactly did Wolfblade and Foxdagger decide? I don't see them here so I assume that said no?" It was a grasp at conversation, but maybe he could learn some more about this woman and her intentions.

    "You did say she was your mirror image. Guess that follows." Dropping a handful of brittle straw fibre constructed cages with stones threaded through them on the floor, Narcerena sighed at her bad luck. The sandstorm had not sent small game her way as they looked for safety, likely due to her own late arrival ducking out of the winds.

    Taking him seriously, Narcerena did consider how she might stop such a thing, and felt she had a reasonable idea of what she might avoid. Considering she might have a need to enact them if Firegale was as militant on first meeting as he had been, she chose not to share. One thought did occur to her, though.

    Biting her lip, she snagged up some of the braided organic fibres and cut them free of their constructs, moving towards the mouth of the rivulet that flowed through the cave.

    "When we first met," she ran her fingertips along the cool divots and pits along the stone wall and dipped her fingers just beyond the lip of stone through which the water flowed, "Was there anything that would have stopped you from Channeling before we spoke?"

    Feeding the fibres along her fingertips one by one, she slipped them up and back into long holes bored into the stone, letting the lengths of the plant materials trail in the water like lines. Cocking her head as one of them twitched faintly in the water, she thought over the encounter at the oasis.

    "Wolfblade seems to feel there is benefit to it. Useful for the girl. I will go back for their answer: a yes, I expect." A faint flicker of an idea crossed her mind. "Shame you don't want to see your night-daughter meet the other children."

    Several of the fibres began to shake along the surface of the water and they consumed her attention. Curling nimble fingers along the moving lines, she kept her other hand on the surface of the stone face until the vibration cued her. With one swift movement, she ripped the fibre lines and out into the rivulet popped several long, slick silver tubes looking something between snake and fish. Hissing and baring sharp fangs at her, they were no match for the blade that quickly severed there heads and left them flopping in the shallow water. Scooping them up triumphantly, she rinsed them and plopped them near the fire with a gelatinous squelch before retrieving the heads and carving out the venomous sacs before dropping them with the rest of the carcasses. Tiny black and yellow lines ran the length of the bodies.

    She set about looking for a flat rock for cooking as they spoke, but her mood had already improved. She hadn't gone luring in ages, but there might be enough for a few days if they were lucky.

    Swigging the mushroom brew he had made, she lifted it towards him. "To good eating!" Dabbing her lips, she set it aside to continue her preparations. "Thank you, for the fire."


    His face twitched lightly at her mention of not wanting Coypup to meet other kids. It was likely the reaction she was looking, and he gave it to her. "I want nothing but happiness for that fiery little girl. But Inkkin society isn't exactly kind as you know already. She'll be of the Creation School same as her parents, it's rarer and potentially more powerful than the Elemental School. And I'm still not sure it'll be any better for her among Darklighters, she'll be even more of an outcast among them then she would among other Inkkin."

    Shaking the thoughts from his head he watched the woman lure the Cave Leeches up from the depths of the Tide Pool despite himself he was impressed with how easily she did that. He was skilled like no other in hunting big things like Glozards and Titan Serpents. They just needed a big enough punch to be killed most of the time. But tiny things like those Leeches were utterly destroyed if you hit them with too much force. Finesse was never something he mastered. Watching her curiously forgetting his tea for a few seconds as she gutted and devenomed the leeches in a matter of seconds. "Very impressive madam, never seen anyone handle Cave Leeches so easily." He returned her cheer unable to stop a smile smile from creasing his otherwise grim locked face. "To good eating and good company." He added surprising himself with that last part as he took another sip of his tea.

    "Darklighters give as they get. Never been trades established with outsiders, so it would be impossible to say what will happen. I promised them they could see the 'peasants' for themselves if they agreed. Darklighter civilians are non-combatants. They have no need to be otherwise. Among them, she would be safe. Welcome... uncertain. We are by nature from diverse roots, however. I think she would have nothing to fear from the other children. Might even impress them with her MagInk."

    Waiting for the flat rock she had found to heat on each side, through and through, she carried her cup back to the fire and folded her legs to sit. Sipping it, she did watch his reaction. While civilians were passive - and had no real reason not to be - what the Clergy might do for leverage, she could not say.

    Another point in his conversation about the girl caught her attention. Between what she had seen of the family at the oasis and in her own fights, she had known there were different sorts of MagInk. How they were selected for the individual and precisely what all of them did though, she had not a clue. That was Nightcaller business. It was good to learn. She might need that knowledge later. It started her thinking also, could the Darklighter Church's Clergy Channel all MagInk, or did it take on forms of its own when siphoned through the markings of an Inkkin?

    Her hand reflexively touched her shoulder where Arsenthia had healed her and her skin crawled, remembering the charm. Shivering, she pushed the memory away.

    "Wolfblade knows it as well as you or I do, how the Inkkin behave. Power, MagInk, corruption. Seems like a Church may be a Church anywhere. They'll know what to expect."

    Her mind flashed once again to the chained Inkkin and she swallowed.

    "Besides, I gave them my word of protection as far as it can go. We do have some... etiquette." Arsenthia would be so proud.

    Smiling awkwardly in return, the Nightstrider slapped one of the Cave Leeches on to the cooking rock with a sizzle.

    "Apprentice favorite. Low rations, easy hunting when other game is scarce. Good when mushrooms and algae grow thin." She shrugged off the compliment, but her smile remained. A dry sound that sounded a bit like a laugh croaked out of her.

    "Just after our first trials, one of the other Apprentices and I thought we'd raid some of the Nightcaller stores. There was a rumour that they cached Tunnel Viper steaks in one of the cooling caves just outside... well, not too distant a walk. We thought we'd liberate some for the Clan. Sandstorm, lot like this one. Lured with his fingers, got bites, too. Fingers swollen up like one of the leeches. Heh.

    "We thought he'd die. First antivenom I'd ever made." She paused to flip the leech, shaking her head. "Caught a glozard calf and wrangled it braying and angry in the cave several blue nights. Lucky it cured him. Was as likely to kill him. Glozard wasn't fond of it either. Clanmaster pummeled him more than the calf. Me, too. Still have the scar somewhere."

    She laughed again, more openly, skewering the leech with her knife and extending it to him with the knife-tip up and the handle inclined towards him.


    Forcebreaker nodded lightly listening to her talk. "Heh, Tunnel Vipers and Glozards now those I know how to hunt. Cave Leeches have always been too...well slippery for me to catch. Never got bit by one though. They always got away before I annoyed them enough to bite me." He quieted down and thought back on what she said about protecting Wolfblade and her family if they joined her little coup. He was sure the woman had many skills, but protecting his night-daughter should fall on him and her parents not some Darklighter rebel looking to potentially overthrow her people in some half-baked war.

    Finishing his tea he placed the cup down by the fire and looked up at her his face growing more serious. "Tell me in full truth and honesty. How exactly you will protect my Night-Daughter and her parents if they join your mad quest?"

    Flipping the next leech on to the rock, she nodded amicably as he discussed hunting larger prey. She could fell them, but rarely engaged in direct combat unless there was no other recourse to be had.

    "When you can rip the jaw from a glozard, might not feel the need to trap and struggle with it, I guess?"

    It was curious that he circled back to Coypup. In some ways he was a study in contradictions. Insisting that he was separate from the world he knew and making enemies of their enemies, he did seem to retain a core that revolved around found family and was perhaps less self-involved than he would lead people to believe.

    Settling back, she scratched her thumbnail along her jaw thoughtfully.

    "Darklighters have no children of their own. When a child is born, the lineage is important and the Clergy record it so they can track the 'spark', the likelihood of MagInk affinity. Those with it are sent to the Nightcallers and raised until they are old enough for the Trials. Pass, and they become Apprentices. Those without the spark from Fighting lines or likely temperaments get sent to the Nighstriders and follow a similar path. Those who wish to may leave the Clan before becoming Apprentice. After the Trials, Apprentices train for the Culling. If they succeed they become a full member of the Clan. Many of us never learn who our parents were. The civilians do something similar for those unfit for either Clan, but their Apprentices learn other skills to maintain us.

    "Coypup is still young. If the Clergy take a liking to her and her parents wish it, they might offer some sort of training. A ward of the Church maybe. I believe that the Clergy would see her invaluable to a joint future, and protect her.

    "Alternatively, if either Wolfblade or Foxdagger wished to make the journey alone, the child would not need to come into it at all. They do seem..." She twisted her palms towards each other as if holding two halves of a whole that could not be separated.

    Removing the cooking rock from heat and leaving the remaining leeches to cook in the embers, she delicately flaked some of the meat away from the cartilage and ate. Some Apprentices liked to grind them and mix them with spices into a sort of cake, but this had always been her preference.

    "If you want a more direct answer, there are only a dozen or so Darklighters who would raise a hand against a guest of mine. Perhaps half of those might be a real threat. As a guest of the Clergy themselves, you and your guests should be well treated. My word is my Clan's word - they will protect those I protect, even if for any reason I could not fulfill that obligation.

    "I have been wondering where to put them, though... The Clergy will probably offer to stay where all new arrivals do. I would rather keep them close." Squinting her eyes, she continued. "Barely remember when we last had anyone in those rooms. More like to find Apprentices sneaking off there."

    Snorting at the foolishness of youth, she collected her cup from where she had left it to warm at the edge of the fire and drank from it.

    "We all have our own priorities. My responsibility is to my Clan first, to The People second. Part of that is upholding our customs. As for Wolfblade and Foxdagger, you seemed confident enough they could kill me. Is there more of a concern for other Darklighters?"


    Forcebreaker couldn't help but crack a sardonic smile as the woman talked in her usual roundabout way without actually answering his question. So very much like talking with a Lightbringer it was almost baffling how two people who have never crossed paths in any way that didn't end in a fight could wind up so similar to each other.

    He studied her closely as she rambled and milled about with the Leeches. As he had interrupted her bath and cleaning of her clothing he could see her body more easily under the thin blouse and trousers she wore under her armor. Her body was as dark as her face with faint grayish tattoos running up and down her legs and arms. They looked to be very good renditions of Earth and Wind Elemental marks, but obviously without MagInk infused in them. But she was still very fit and curvy, with some imagination he could picture her with the pale skin of an Inkkin and dress her in the more casual robes of a Lightbringer. Though his imagination made the outfit slightly more skimpy and impractical than it would actually be, but all and all yes she could easily look like any other Lightbringer complete with their blind devotion to their Church.

    She unpacked a lot in a short time of rambling, but he had paid enough attention to answer a few of the unasked questions. Rocking on his backside he smirked. "Ya know would've been easier to just say, I have no plans aside from letting my bosses decide what to do. Telling me about how much weight your word and reputation carries does very little to comfort someone whose heard those same promises most of his life and had them stabbed into his back later. I can tell you right now though they wouldn't leave Coypup behind, she has no one else to look after her. I can also tell you Foxdagger will as politely a possible tell your Clergy to take their offers of training and shove'em where the wind don't blow. He was made a ward of the Church himself you must remember. And like me he won't trust your Church anymore than he trusts the Inkkin one. If you're plan is to ultimately offer up my night-daughter and her parents to be some kind of prizes for this Clergy of yours to show around for political clout, abandon this idea now and leave them alone otherwise you will have three very pissed off Inkkin in your little city quite set and ready to tear it down around your ears or die trying." Leaning back more he shook his head in thought. "No, I can't risk it, you may think you can protect my family. But I know I can, you mess this up you'll have four very pissed off Inkkin in your precious little city set and ready to tear it all down around your ears. Suppose we'll be going to see Firegale together once the storm passes, and in all honestly that's probably the only you'd win her over. Using my name would save you from getting turned to ash upon first meeting, but having me there will ensure she listens to your scheme...assuming she doesn't remember what happened the last time I visited her." He laughed low tapping his chin lightly in thought.

    Something else she said struck him as quite odd. "So the Clergy view your people as basically cattle? Those with the spark are valuable and the rest are left to their own devices? What happens to the unluckly few who have no spark and can't learn a Civilians skills well enough? Don't any of you ever wish to meet your biological parents and be around them? And how do you know you won't accidentally bed your brother or father looking for a mate or whatever you Darklighters call it?"

    "It did seem too much to hope they intended to bring the child, yes." Tipping her cup, she looked at the remainder of her tea. "Doubt anything I say will change your assumptions. Like most Channelers you only see through the scope of your own power. Channeling does not make you invincible, no matter how much you think that it does. Always someone stronger. Always someone more powerful. True of all of us.

    "Still, it's not me you need to impress. It's the Clergy, and the Nightcallers likely to succeed them. Can't say what that battle might look like, but I can say not all of you would survive it."

    Despite the certainty in her words, Narcerena's face was stoic. The prospect of needless death brought her no joy, be it Darklighter or Inkkin. Even those who were by turns relatable and insufferable. She pursed her lips. She wanted to protest the potential for the Clergy to manipulate his found family for 'clout', as he'd put it, but she doubted the good it would do. Having him - or his proxies - interact with the Clergy and give their insight was the first thing she truly wanted from them. She could only hope the others weren't all as sharply biased as Forcebreaker was... although she faintly understood when she took a moment to place herself into the shoes of a Darklighter asked to meet with the Beacon.

    "If I am injured because of past poor performance on your part, I'll help her kill you."

    She was joking, of course. Mostly. It was hard to say at this point if his accompaniment to visit the remaining Inkkin scattered in the Nyx was a pro or a con at this point, but despite his mistrust neither had lifted a weapon against each other at their past two meetings. She supposed that was progress.

    Snorting and shaking her head, she waved off his questions about how the Clergy saw her people and their customs. She did not intend to answer at first at all, but then considered that if he cared enough to ask it might not be the worst idea to encourage interest in said customs if he might actually adhere to them once at the stronghold.

    "We are hardly viewed as cattle. We survive together and everyone has a path to walk and a role to play. None of them are more, none of them are less. Nave, spokes, felloes - all pieces of the same wheel, all integral. Lose one and the rest are useless. Fighters are what the Lightbringer Church lacks, a balance to the power. Those who can counter the Channelers without being able to wield that power themselves. It would be too dangerous to leave that sort of ability fully unchecked in a society." She trailed off a little, then murmured, "That's why they must remain separate."

    What Forcebreaker was, ultimately, might be problematic to that concept, but that was a problem for the future.

    "Those with the spark lead us, develop their power and skill for healing and other things to build up the civilians and Nighstriders. Should the need ever come, they would fight with us with their MagInk." Narcerena was blissfully unaware that the markings she had on her own body belonged to any element at all. If she had, she might've known they marked out her ancestry beyond just bloodlines.

    She did look at him as if he were a bit daft when he asked what happened to those who could be neither Fighter nor civilian. "Impossible not to learn a civilian skill. Everyone has a place. It is only a matter of discovering it."

    Thinking a moment, she shrugged at his question of biological family. It was hard to miss what you had never had. The Apprentices who had cared for her as a child alongside her adoptive brothers and sisters and the Nightstrider Trainers who had prepared her for the challenges of The Culling had all served custodial roles that had never seemed out of place to her, so she shook her head. "We have large family within our Clans, as do all Darklighters. I am sure any parents would be happy to know we excel just as we would of any of our own children." Her mind drifted to Wolfblade again, something of an oddity to her way of thinking. Fighters did not have children, and birthing was one of the few exceptions to the rules that governed the dismissal of one after the Culling had been cleared. They could choose to become civilians or return to fight after the child had been passed through its first rites. Which led her to the answer to his other question.

    Barking a rusty laugh, she grinned. "Clergy bless all troths. They maintain birth records and family histories, so it makes sense that they disallow such things. Still, we come from a handful of survivors into the great numbers we are today. We don't take 'mates' in the sense of your friends at the oasis. Too distracting from our duties." Sipping her tea thoughtfully, she added, "Bit of a prude about who you bed for a man who makes a habit of straddling Titan Serpents in the nude, aren't you?"


    He snorted at her own assumptions. "And you continue to confuse confidence and experience with arrogance and those with MagInk thinking they are invincible. You have seen me kill some of the biggest and most vicious animals in Nyx using only my MagInk on two separate occasions. You've seen the complex Wolfblade and Foxdagger live in that was made entirely with MagInk you'll no find tool marks anywhere. And you've experienced the size and power of the Inkkin people, I could just as easily drag you before the Pillar, make you spill the secrets of your Darklighter stronghold and they'll have your people wiped out before the week is out. And from what you've told me the most you have are some quick stealth fighters and what equates to Half-Powered Inkkin from dying bloodlines to protect your lands. A few more generations and they will die out leaving your entire society devoid of Channelers. That's why you're even out here trying to recruit me and the others because you know your people are dying. So please spare me in trying to assert that you or your Clergy can control us if we do not wish to be controlled or protect us when someone stronger wishes to harm us. Four Inkkin might not be able to actually kill all your people themselves, but they will take most of you down before you can mount a defense and if there are only a couple dozen of you that can pose a threat to those Inkkin then once they're gone the rest will fall soon there after."

    Standing up he rubbed his scruffy chin pacing lightly. The reality of what he was allowing his Night-Daughter to walk into firing him more and more with each attempt the dark-skinned woman made to defend her people's ways. "And you seem to put far, far too much faith in the integrity of your Clergy. Do you honestly think they are all pure saintly beings who will always and will only do what's best for your people? They control who breeds, they control where the kids go, they decide who is valuable and who to make your Nightcallers and Nightstriders. And considering Darklighter biology anyone they see as a powerful Channeler like myself or Wolfblade could very well be captured and sapped of their MagInk, chained up like some wild beast and bled dry. Sane or not that is the basis for Darklighters and even by the ancient records our combined ancestors the Atlantians kept. Your lofty ideals can't change that."

    He shook his head looking at her somewhat pityingly. "No wonder the idea of a man and women living alone in a cave haveing a child never crossed your mind. You don't even know your own parents. I started in an even worse place than you and I can understand the importance of a mother, father, and close blood related family to a child. I was abandoned before my eyes were even open." He smirked some pieces from his past interactions clicking together finally. "Have you never had a troth of your own?"[/QUOTE]

    Fingers tense around her cup and jaw ticking madly, Narcerena did not respond to his tirade. She wanted to challenge him, to teach him that he was wrong in the only way he seemed like he might understand: combat. What she would risk was too important, though, and involved the lives of her Clan and other people beyond her. It might feel good in the moment to wipe the certainty from his eyes - but the penalty for it would be more than she could afford to pay. She gripped her free hand into a fist to still the tremble of anger.

    He was panicking, worried over his family. He was also as much a self-aggrandising idiot as she had initially thought. Why she had ever second-guessed herself, believed him more than a belligerent thief was beyond her. To make matters worse, he of all people might've seen the truth that not all Darklighters were the 'scum' the Lightbringers made them out to be. Instead, he swallowed their propaganda whole.

    Rising at her leisure, she flung the dregs of her tea into the fire and collected her pouches, pointedly crossing the stream to be near her weapons. With her back to him, she replied in a measured tone, "If it eases your worried mind, consider my offer to you withdrawn. If Wolfblade and Foxdagger find my terms acceptable then that is for them to decide and I will honour their choice regardless of your opinion on the matter. If not them, I will find someone else."

    She hoped that she would find someone else, but she had come this far into her interactions with these blasted Inkkin and was too stubborn to back away from it entirely now.

    "You understand very little about my people. No one is perfect, but as I have told you before - if you look for enemies everywhere, then you will find them everywhere. You are letting yourself get carried away in what might be and what isn't, rather than what is. Threatening the People will not make you any stronger when it matters, and I will not lead you to our door until you gain control of yourself."

    Annoyance skittered through her actual anger despite her even tone. She forced herself to check her armour as if this were all routine, despite the seething lines of her body.


    Hearing the sand storm raging outside their little cave, Forcebreaker simply smiled and let the conversation die down to be picked up later.


    Xbox One Gamertag: Free Today56 just say who you are first.
    Breath deep as the snow falls around you. Let it fill your lungs and purify the fires of doubt within you.



    Spoiler: The stories I've written x50 



  10. #30
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    Not awake and not quite asleep, Narcerena spent the deepest hours of the night slumped against the wall of the cave, pale eyes gleaming out of the dark and watchful. Her reverie was broken by the dropping sound of the wind, and when the sandstorm had blown itself out, she slunk away to finish her bathing and mending, returning to fit herself out in her armour again feeling much refreshed by the recovery time out of the storm.

    Fishing out two more of the fat leeches they had enjoyed the prior day and banking the remnants of their cooking fire, she remained pointedly silent through her final checks before departure. It was hard to imagine Firegale would be worth her time, but the potential of stabbing someone did sound appealing. Still, she rolled around the odds in her mind. If he did still intend to accompany her, it might save her the wasted time and energy of a fight - no matter how appealing it might sound at the moment - or delay her if they both decided keeping Wolfblade and Foxdagger away from her was worth removing her from the picture.

    Two meetings with new Inkkin and already you are deciding which want to kill you most. Huffing what could have been a laugh or a resigned sigh, the Nightstrider secured her staff and folded her arms, eyeing the mountain of a man who had shared the cave with her down her nose.

    "Well?"

    Spoiler: Completely Unsolicited, Contextual Praise Definitely not Acquired via Torture 

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