The Shadows Move With Us

Chapter 4

Smoke was swirling around him now, forcing itself into his body via his mouth and nose now as it was absorbed much more aggressively, whipping his hair back and forth now as he did so. He was clam now, his pain gone much like his exhaustion, each muscle seeming to fill up with energy, each cell almost getting supercharged in a way. One might have called his expression serene.....if the eyes weren't filled with enough power to level everything around them if he chose to.  When he was done, the excess began simply coiling itself around him, draping from his arms and biceps while it clung to him when he turned his head to look at the one who had attacked him. He clenched his fingers again, sword forgotten as one hand rose up and opened slowly just to have a ball of his magic coalesce in that open palm. The sight of him calmly doing this sent a shiver up her spine, his monochrome eyes watching her oh so intently. The hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end from the look alone, her heightened senses telling her brain that whatever was in front of her wasn't human and that she should be doing everything she could to get away from him. This time it was her on the defensive, sprinting full tilt off to the side as he unleashed a volley of the pent up magic inside him. Fast moving orbs of near black mist sped towards her, each impact it had with the surrounding buildings leaving small craters from the detonations. Shards of stone flew through the air as debris was blasted this way and that, his focus on her completely now as he followed her line of movement. His sword was sheathed and his other hand made a gesture, a clawing motion made in her direction as if he were taking a swipe at her.

Claw marks rent the wall following her, the guts of the building ripped from the inside as more and more smoke belched into the sky from the horrendous rip in the stone. This happened several more times before he choose a different action.  A vaugely formed hand tripped her up, forcing her into a stumble before tugging her back. She had her leg pulled out from under her, tucking herself into a roll that allowed her to pop back up to her feet to keep herself moving.....but it was too late at that point. Her eyes landed on him just as he thrust his arm out at her, his magic already released upon her with concentrated intent. His eyes were a swirling constellation of power as he attacked, all that excess energy being put into keeping her down for the count so she couldn't pursue anymore. It was a massive wall of black smoke, blue motes of light swirling around inside it as it launched itself from his body and howled through the air to slam into her body with enough force to fling her like a ragdoll. Her body was flung backwards as all that magic hit her, the pendant on the collar of her chest piece lighting up like a lantern as she was flung through a window and tumbled to a stop against the opposite wall. The window itself was caved in, much of the front of the house now sagging as he turned away from it and crouched, launching himself into the air with a mental command and a bit of concentration to channel his power. As soon as he cleared the buildings, he dissolved completely, becoming a black streak that floated over rooftops and moved like a dark cloud as it disappeared into the distance.

Later that day when the citizens who lived there came back to look upon the aftermath, they would find that the buildings in the vicinity of the fight were riddled with holes with chunks and pieces missing from most of the front facing sides. The building that all this had started from was nearly totalled in it's entirely, flames licking at the insides with tongues of heat spitting from small cracks and the various holes, threatening to spread to other buildings. Errden was gone, no evidence that someone had been there other than a trail of destruction leading back to the window and a small puddle of crimson lifeblood that she had left behind. The ground outside was pitted and broken, arrows sticking out of various locations. The bow that Errden had dropped earlier had disappeared with its owner, only a faint outline left in the soot raining down from the burning building. The knight Marcus was there investigating at that time, moving around the Lympha as they created several symbols with their hands and used their magic to douse the flames with streams of water curling through the holes higher off the ground and blasting through one of the windows of the lower floor and heading towards the large impact crater was located. He circled it slowly, crouching to touch one of the stones upon in the center that had dried spots of blood upon it. He let out a quiet hum, his eyes drawn towards a broken arrow that seemed to be tossed not too far from the hole. Upon picking it up, it was clear that it was used in subduing creatures similar to humans, or at least the same size. The tip was coated in sharp barbs, designed to hook into flesh and drag it back no matter the pain it caused. The shaft was made of hardened wood, though it was snapped messily about a third of the way down. He figured it was due to the impact of the crater behind him, his fingers running along the rope that was braided through the end of the shaft just behind the fletching. 

"So she did catch him.....and lost him. Stupid elves. Always getting in the way." He grumbled softly, putting the arrow away in a pack strapped to his belt before continuing his investigation. He found several more arrows, these tipped in a strange green stone that seemed to radiate some sort of tranquilizer. He could feel it even without it puncturing him, having to blink several times while handling them before tucking them with the first one. That was when he caught sight of the silvery hide of the beast they had been using to track Ozul, approaching it to assess the damage. It's side was ripped open, it's inner workings smashed and jammed with pieces of debris from the wall it was half in/half out of. One of it's legs were missing, the paw sticking out of a larger piece of rubble not too far away. Tugging the body to further examine it, he noticed that it's head had been smashed into the neck almost completely. He shook his head lightly before he wrapped his fingers around what paws it still hand and hauled it upon upon his shoulders. Marcus exited the scene now, taking with him all the evidence he needed to get approval for their more advanced members involved now. As he left, he didn't see crystal blue eyes tracking his progress from around a corner, nor did he hear the little patter of feet as the watcher disappeared in the direction that Ozul had last directed himself. 

The King was immediately alerted to the commotion going on in the lower areas of the city, organizing a tighter watch upon the city as he wracked his brain trying to figure out just what the best way to drag this man out in the open. Thankfully, thanks to meeting with the Commander of the Order and being brought up to speed on the new information obtained just a couple days prior, he had a solution that was less than tasteful but much more effective. Soldiers were sent to the market he had been identified at, each vendor questioned on who they had sold their wares to in the past couple days. The woman in charge of the flower stall was more than happy to divulge who had bought flowers from her, though when questioned about a dark skinned man in dark robes, she hesitated. A couple minutes later, she was hauled away in cuffs and her stall was shut down, a parchment nailed into the wall of her stall stating that she was in violation of one of the laws of the city and would be reprimanded. She was taken to one of the sargeants waiting for a report, a nonassuming man of fair looks and build. This was Arnold, one of four sergeants in charge of the normal rank and file of the order. The woman, Willona, was sat in front of him looking a little worse for wear over the course of the journey. 

"Miss Willona, is it? You are rather remarkable. You gave a couple of my boy's something to remember you by." He said, leaning back in his chair as he looked her over. Her dress was ripped at the shoulder from when she tried running, her lip split from where she had been hit when she had broken several legs and dislocated a couple knees with a foot coated in stone. "Your boys got a little handsy. I told them all I know. I don't know no Shadow." She spat at him, hatred burning in her brown eyes while he watched her passively. "That is alright. You don't need to. We don't need you for information after all. We just need you." He said, lifting himself out of his chair and circling around his desk to her. She recoiled from him as he got closer, leaning back in her chair to keep herself as far from him as possible. "What could you possibly want with me?"

"Why Willona, haven't you figured it out just yet? Why would we need you but not the information you don't wish to share?" He asked, his patronizing tone gently prodding her with needles of fear and confusion as he laced his fingers together in front of him with a subtle smug smile on his thin lips. "Why were you singled out? Why would we need you to get to our little terrorist?" Her lips parted once but closed once more as the realization dawned on her, spitting in his face in an act of defiance. "You can use me as bait all you want. He won't come for me. I am no one but a flower grower. Surely he has better things to do." A silken handkerchief showed up in his hand, tugged from a pocket so he could wipe his face clean before he answered her. "You are not the bait, though it amuses me that you thought yourself so important. But no. That is not why you are here." He leaned forward a bit, a glint in his eyes as he continued.

"You are the sacrifice."