Sutoratosu

The spider had to practically gag her own mouth to prevent from screeching in rage as yet more fucks emerged from the woodwork, and a good amount of them just as inedible as the skeleton and armored being from the looks of it. She already knew damn well numbers would complicate things greatly if she couldn't isolate the weakest links; loading up more only made the issue that much worse. She was never going to nab one of them unnoticed at this rate... She stayed there, in the shadows high on the cliff wall as she watched them all. Voices, heartbeats, introductions. If she hadn't had more pressing concerns, she admittedly would've been even more curious about this lot than when she saw the first... a large serpent of some type, yet another person made of metal, a white... thing with many eyes, a shit ton of more fleshies... "RRRRRRRrrrrrrr....." the growl was quiet, so soft nign none would've heard it save for those standing in the very back of the group. Not that the spider much cared at this point, even if they tried to find the source, they were unlikely to find her while so totally concealed in the shade. She needed a plan, a better one than she was currently wasting her time with... but nothing was coming to her. She could feel her fangs grinding faster in frustration by the second...

"Uh, climbing, I think. And thanks..." Rei managed as she emerged through the shaft. She took a moment to look at the other girl and instantly took a step back in surprise. She looked more or less like one might think a Dryad would, well...if Dryads had massive juggernaut arms. Pushing down her moment of shock though, she turned her eyes instead to the structural weakness she'd pointed out, still stealing the occasional glance at the other being out of pure morbid fascination. "Well, if I can apparently make footholds out of the stuff, I guess this isn't too crazy a use for it..." She began, "definitely worth a shot..." and with that, she again closed her eyes, once more focusing on all the things that reminded her of the blistering cold. And just as only moments before, the cryoaura cloaking her lithe form began to expand outwards, snaking towards the aforementioned breach in the wall as the other girl stood behind her, Rei having stepped in front of her just before the experiment began. She still felt sure that the girl was just a figment of her mind, conjured up by the memories of her studies, especially given her... peculiar appearance, but even so... she didn't really want to risk freezing her solid by accident.

so was going to do this after the next update, but seeing as how it may take just a wee bit longer to type and actually get out than I would've liked... https://discord.gg/wVz6Y4T This is the discord link to the official sins of avalon discord server. If you lack a discord account, get one. It's a thousand times better than using skype or showdown for these types of things, and the service is entirely free, so you literally have no reason not to. also, we will be moving on soon, so don't be surprise if I begin to wind down certain interactions a bit faster than expected. At this point, I've let this thing sit too long, it'd be nice if we could get into the actual meat of the story, as fun as this little set up and exposition phase has been... reminded of PSS's intro, to be honest.

"Heh..." this was going better than she thought. She'd been hoping to maybe freeze whatever the black stuff was, but... this was good too. At least now she had a way out... she thought. Climbing the ice couldn't be much harder than climbing a tree, if she just... put her mind to it like she'd been doing. She was just about to put her weight onto the frozen surface and begin the ascent when yet even more madness was introduced to her dream; "H-Hey! Down there! You have any idea what's going on?" "Another girl? Is she just a figment? No, she has to be... how could anyone else be sharing the same dream?" "Uh... not really" she called back up, rather sheepishly. "I think I'm just as lost as you, but I've got an idea to get out..." with that said, she leapt onto the icy surface, taking yet another stab in the dark and willing the unnatural ice and frost to reform itself around her hands and feet, give them a tight grip, and lo and behold, it actually worked. She reached a bit higher on the wall, the ice expanded to accommodate her as she kept her intention of using it as her medium of climbing up and out of here clear. And she did it yet again, and again, the ice expanded beneath her and formed a new hold for her to grasp. and yet again, and again and again. The plan was working like a charm, her progress actually surprised her. She looked back up at the girl in the distance though, making sure to keep at least some small part of her mind focused on the task so the hand holds didn't unform beneath her. She honestly had moved close enough that neither of them would have had to shout so much to be heard anymore "Uh, hey, you don't happen to see any of that weird black ink stuff where you are, do you?"

"Damn...so much for that" she had bigger concerns at the moment though. She could sense the growing ice on her, though... more with a sense of vague awareness than actual pain or discomfort, the exact opposite of all her past experiences in the snow. Yet another oddity conjured by the random firing of her neurons, she supposed. How was she supposed to stop it though? That was the real question...and then it hit her. She was aware she was dreaming. Which meant... "I'm free." Nothing happened. The darkness and ice alike continued to grow. Rei pouted, trying again with a bit more force behind her voice, only to find yet the same results for her efforts. Yet something else came to her though, as she turned her attention to her frozen palms and shins. A silent beckoning in her mind, a raw impulse... the spark of a single idea, a single concept. And with that idea, came thundering forth her voice with every ounce of intent she could muster, eyes narrowing on the expanding ice "HALT!" And like that, the stuff instantly ceased it's march. Rei smiled. Good, good, at least something was responding. But this was still definitely the strangest lucid dream she'd ever had. And the only one, really. She willed the accumulation to dissipate, and like a loyal hound, it followed suit. Soon enough she could flex her fingers yet again. "Good... if only I could do the same thing to that black stuff over there. Though...huh..." Yet another impulse, the words Bruma briefly flashing in her mind, something she knew from her classes to be the latin equivalent for Winter, and the memory of her own hands immobilized in ice just moments earlier accompanying it. It was worth a shot. Rei took a short glance all around at the inky expanse thus far, and closing her eyes and concentrating on... Cold, she guessed-anything that reminded her of the sensation: Snow, Ice, Rain, Overdraft Skies -and took a stab in the dark. Within moments, the fog surrounding her dissipated as the molecules forming the very gases of the air itself ground to an absolute halt, the aura of utter chill spreading towards the walls as the very color itself seemed to be sapped from her area as it expanded.

what cat?? there was a cat? how big was it? was it fat? The spider seriously needs food...

The Brumal Girl Rei slowly got to her knees after the rough ejection, eyes scanning the strange white interior. There in the corner seemed to be... god only knew what creeping along the edges of wall, like someone had spilled a vial of ink onto some fabric and just let it run. She had a feeling that whatever the hell it was, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to get too close. She again let her eyes wander the otherwise empty space as she stood fully... and only then caught an actual glimpse of her hands and her clothes. Skin tinted blue, frost covering every inch of her dress, in fact, every few seconds she caught a few wisps of fog curl up and fade into the surrounding air. And then there was the opening in the ceiling, far, far above her head. To be honest, it reminded her of one of those Bottle Dungeons she'd once read about. The mere thought of that coupled with all the other oddities was enough to finally make her question "Am I... am I dreaming?" Yes... that would've definitely explained alot of it, and the very last thing she could remember was drifting off. But damn if this was already shaping up to be one of the strangest dreams she'd ever had before. She could pick it all apart and analyze what any of it meant later though, for now... she just wanted to get out of the cell. The ceiling was much too far for her to reach without any help. The walls... were already covered in a nice amount of black...whatever. With little other options available to her, she picked up a leg and stamped it down hard on the white floor, listening for the resonance... hopefully there'd be some sort of space or room beneath her, somewhere to drop down into. How the hell she might even get through to said space if it existed, well, that could wait...

In the eyes of Bora "We won't ever speak about that again..." "It's alright if you're still afraid... a lot of them are... the ones who made it out..." "It's different for me you fool, I'm supposed to be the master, the strongest... the one who'll defend that place with my life if I have to. If they ever knew a mere building was enough to undo me like that-" "What, you think they'll shun you? Shame you? You really shouldn't keep thinking about this like we're still children, they've all learned since those days. None of them would dare question your leadership, regardless of some phobia. And like I said... there's no way in hell at least some of them don't have it too. But You've proven yourself time and time again, put your life on the line too many times for them to start doubting you now" The bear's temper only grew more disgruntled as he lay there behind the girl with the mouse and eagle on her shoulders, the former two's entire conversation relaying over his own link. Bora eyes lingered from one passer by to the next as they milled through the entrance, and for once, not a whole lot of them bothered to stare back. Perhaps that was one of the benefits of being invisible- you had the absolute element of surprise... the mouse was annoying, but damn if his extensive knowledge of magic didn't have it's uses. The rodent was easily a sage in his right... much like Old Fox. "I... suppose you're right... how did you... get me out though?" "Honestly, I'm not too sure... I can remember breaching my way into the moment, running down the halls, sniffing you out. Then I found him, or rather, he came for me, I cast a rune in defense, then a few more when he kept moving, but they didn't seem to much more than injure him. Then the next thing I knew, there was a flash... and it was over" "You killed him then?" "No, no... I would've sensed it if he went down in there... no, he just, just vanished, couldn't find a trace of him... and well, after that, I kept looking for you. I don't know where the fucker went or what he's going to do, but for now... you're free." "For now, yeah, sure..." the bear finally grumbled over his own link. Both of them turned to stare at him, though to any onlookers, they'd simply be looking at empty air. He truly was beginning to appreciate all these little piddly ass runes the mouse knew "you teleported him out of that moment in time, you clumsy ass. I was on my way to fucking obliterate whoever was causing all the disturbances I felt from her when the thing popped up right near me in the streets. You didn't do jack shit to him mouse, all you did was give him the escape route he'd been looking for..." "What in the seven hells do you mean" Des called back indignantly "That... no, that could NOT have been him, that... that was simply a bad memory that kept haunting her, Fox sealed the real bastard awa....by the gods, I'm a damn fool..." "Good, you finally realize you're not hot shit. It doesn't matter that Fox sealed him, hell, even he was unsure if it would work when he did it. And that fucker already made it clear he could flaunt time and space if he wanted..." they both felt ripples as he began addressing Lucy instead. "and you. You've never remember shit like an ordinary being... everything you see and here is literally frozen in time, a cut and paste from that moment... hell, if someone wanted, they could probably time travel just by poking around in your head. Hence how that old, wrinkly, evil old corpse was able to leap out of your pretty little head and out into the here and now... Des opened a door into that moment in time like an idiot, the lich jumped through and rode our links like a river until he found one far enough to get away... me. And he tasted like shit by the way, just saying. We'd better be getting food after this mess." They both took turns glancing at back and forth in disbelief... Despero by the fact that he'd for once been outfoxed at his own game and Lucille that the bear had spoken so articulately for once... most of the time he'd simply stuck to grunts or groans of annoyance or short verses, if he bothered speaking at all... though... wait... "Bora... y-you ATE him!?" "No, I shoved him up my ass and squeezed till he was begging for the sweet mercy of a second death... yes Lucy, I ate him. Like I said, the bastard was trying to get away, so I just charged and Swallowed his darkness and malice whole, felt just fine afterwards. Just like I'll fucking eat anyone who dares challenge you back home. No shut up and get to searching the crowd, the sooner I can maul whoever the hell wants to start another war, the sooner I get to wipe his taste out of Elder Lich outta my mouth..." "Are you... sure you're alright?" "Why the hell wouldn't I be?" "It's just..." "All of this is quite different than what we're used to from you, ya hairy arse." The bear thought about it for a moment. Perhaps he did feel different. Ever since that night his mind had felt... almost clear. Like the fog he'd been wading in all these years had finally lifted. But he gave it no mind beyond that. He wasn't about to turn into a Dire Bear Litch, if that was what the fools were insinuating. Hell, it had already been two days, and he really was fine as far as he could tell. "Meh, nonsense... now let's shut up and find whoever needs to be ripped a new one."

A grin as menacing as sin incarnate graced from one ear to another as she dashed her way over to the corpses of the beasts, ignoring the singing she heard of idle conversation, even the vibration of other living heartbeats that were carried through the earth and air. All she could think about was her prey; the demons... the masked ones. But just as quickly as she had closed the ground from the other side of the clearing to where their bodies lay, a mere blur of black and silk as she practically glided atop all eight legs, so too had her hopes of eating been crushed by the scent assailing her. It was... horrid. Putrid... and not in the purely biological breakdown sense, oh no, no... she'd eaten rotten things before without issue. No. Now this, this rot... it went beyond the mere flesh. She leaned a bit closer, not that it was needed. But sure enough, something in the back of her mind began to stir... something in her spirit recoiled against the very idea of consuming them as they were. These beings, whatever they'd been, they were tainted down to their very essence. And honestly, as hungry as she was, expelling the energy to try and drive some of whatever had taken hold of their existence away... there was no way she wasting anymore than she already had. This entire fucking hunt had been bust. She simply stared down at the ruined remains, unable to will herself forward. She'd finally found it, the prey not even she would consume. But no sooner had she accepted that fact than her eyes drifted up to the strangers... yes, yes the strangers... the fleshy ones. They were heading through a chasm, weren't they? A dark place, somewhere that would've provided excellent cover... a place one of her kind could've easily called home. It would make a nice hunting ground indeed. The change in her eyes was subtle, but quick. Like a vat of color breaking forth from it's container, so too did the silver of irises expand to fill the entirety of her eyes, smothering whites and irises alike... nothing like in their wake but pools of inhuman quick-silver, and with it, so too did her sight change. Sharper, far more intense, the vibrations the humans gave off no longer simply relaying to her through her legs and ears, but radiating outwards from each and every last one of the specimens as pulsating waves. The twin mandibles she'd been hiding thus far deployed with little preamble, barely a subtle shifting of hair as she backed into the shadows of the cliff and out of sight, practically becoming one with the shade... venom dripping from the razor sharp implements at the ready before her primary jaws... "........"

"Please, as if Braith will fucking let me do anything to them...he kept your ass from getting roasted just now, afterall..." she muttered, as the fool took his attention off her and put it towards the two demigods instead. "By the gods, he really is clueless as a rock..." "Coreators, you damn lug..." she sighed at his question, crossing her arms. "Can't you feel them, if you somehow picked up me? The one with the dark hair is Marius, the other one is Aqui, savior of the north. You missed the introduction, not that the speech that woman gave was much of one...but apparently they've decided to help oversee the training. right now they're taking questions... and apparently we're free until noon or something- I didn't really care enough to listen that far." "Well, beggars can't be choosers" "OH shut up, I didn't fucking beg for this, you did..."

Yet again, Aurora's eye seemed to flash with that otherworldly light as the same brawler she'd propped up with her power earlier found some of his wounds resealing. Yes... so far this engagement seemed to be going to plan, they kept pressure on the beasts, and all she had to do was ensure none of them croaked before the job was done. And it's not like waiting the extra length compared to doing it herself was a bother either; whatever she might've gained in expediency for the task, she would've undoubtedly lost more of in energy wasted... that and patience seemed to be a virtue that whomever she'd been before, she'd definitely learned. Hells, who knows... if the beasts ended going out smoothly, well... maybe she could even make a habit of this type of thing... Mending Ray on Heo

"n-nani?" again, she found herself stuck in disbelief at the boy's words, averting her eyes. Worried...worried? What, did he fucking take sympathy on her? She neither wanted nor needed that bullshit; if the she and Braith could not carve out their own destinies with the dancing radiance of flames, then they'd just die trying like the scrappy mutts they were. That was the only way out of the mess that was their current life; they weren't simply going to be handed the solution to all their issues because some sap felt sorry for them. Hell, in fact, the only thing she fucking wanted right now was to tear Roy a new asshole and ensure he'd know his damn place from now on, sympathy wouldn't get that done- "Would you stop thinking about the damn windcaller for a minute? We can deal with him in due time....gods, I already you not everyone is our enemy anymore...it's actually possible for some people to mean what they say." "Fine..." she sighed, finally returning her gaze to the oaf, still glaring a bit. he could've noticed just the slightest tints of red on her cheeks though, more out of her previous exasperation than anything else. "Yeah, I'm angry..." she said, voice softening despite those words... though her tone was still obviously very much miffed. "If Braith hadn't stopped me when he did, I'd be screwed, you lug... ya could've damn near killed me with that little stunt just now," the statement wasn't entirely accurate, chances were even if she hadn't stopped in time the Flame would've taken direct control himself to minimize the damage. But still, it got her most pressing sentiment on the situation across. She turned and glanced at the Northern boy briefly "And then there's that cunt Windcaller with the sword... he's the most infuriating bastard out of anyone I've seen here. But look, why the hell does it matter one way or another what I feel? I told you already, I'm always fucking angry... breaking a wall down over it all of a sudden, is like freaking out just because the sun is shining. Seriously, they're going to have your damn head this...and maybe mine too, with my damn luck."

"Halt." She sensed the approaching rise of energy just as his words filled her mind. It felt... familiar... like during the southern boy's boasting yesterday... right on the other side of... shit. The sudden explosion of dust and debris right in front of her was still enough to make jump back a few paces though, even with advanced warning, a few startled expletives flying from her that were easily drowned out by the down of ruined mortar and stone, and this time it was all braith could do to stop what few embers had already been conjured on sheer reflex from igniting into a full force conflagration. Soon enough though, the dust finally began to clear... and there standing before the hole was all the confirmation she needed of who'd been responsible. "What.... the hell... ARE YOU DOING!?" she almost immediately hollered, still catching the breath from her moment of shock with a hand clutching her chest... and doing a rather poor job at it as she glared at Felis "the doors were RIGHT... FUCKING THERE, you idiot...gods, there's gonna be so much shit over this...why the fuck...was any of this bravado...necessary?" In and out... in and out. Slowly but surely, her breathing began to calm, the flame's influence in her lungs with every expansion and contraction. her pulse was already beginning to steady... but none of it could mitigate her agitation at the stunt that had nearly fulfilled the very same roundabout death sentence her father had been hoping for.

"I... see then..." she managed, slowly turning her attention back to the Coerator. So that was it. It was all just consequences of the mess the great war started, had far more to the do with the sins of the southerners than anything any northern child of ashen complexion had ever done. She didn't know whether or not she should've taken solace in the newfound knowledge... on the one hand, she'd never truly believed their accusations that it would be an Albino child who'd somehow triggered the storm or would someday bring it back. On the other... if she had, this would've been all the invalidation of her countrymen's fear and prejudice she could've ever hoped for. And yet, somehow, knowing with absolute certainty now that the storm had indeed had nothing to do with those of her kind...if anything, it only made the memories burning in her heart all the more bitter in their venom. If she had ever feared herself a monster... the revelation would've been great. But all it could do for her now was confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt that each and every last act of abuse she'd suffered as a child, was indeed completely unfounded and pointless in the motives behind them. She'd been put through hell and back time and time again... for literally... fucking... nothing. "Thank you...I...appreciate finally having an answer." with that said, or more muttered really, she turned and took her leave from the stage, gaze again fixed on the halfwit Windcaller as she passed. The fool was damn lucky the Coerator hadn't seen fit to make him pay for his fucking disrespect. Regardless though, one thing was absolutely certain to her; Roy had just fallen to an entirely new low in her mind. The fuck boy was impudent, arrogant, made threats he could not possible fullfill... overall deluded himself as being something greater than he truly was or ever could be... and he held nothing sacred, not even the very entity who, without the intervention of long ago, neither him nor her, nor any of the other northerners here, would've been fucking born to begin with. They and all their ancestors since then quite literally owed their existence to the Falcon...and roy had addressed the bird as if he were nothing more than the same indignant scum he himself was. She didn't do or say anything further to him though. Braith would not allow it. All she could do was fix him with the menacing light of her ire, rather than that of the hellfire she wielded. Besides, they had over an hour before they were required back. There was something he wanted to show her...

She said nothing as she watched the three of them pick up the pace, eventually heading over to tend to Ecquis; it was really the only thing she could do aside from attempt another wild shot with the damn Sleep gem... which she really didn't feel like, considering the whole passage of the battle thus far had begun to bother her. There had to be someone on the march here, from some other outpost or garrison nearby; these troops didn't fight anything like Maris, coming at them aggressively, meeting them head on... no, instead, they took a passive advance,stayed put until their line drew close enough and struck opportunistically where they could... defeating them wasn't their priority...that much was obvious now. Only bloody them and buy time till they could be crushed. "There's definitely someone on the way to back them up..." she said as the light mended the fairly shallow wounds the rider and mount sported "They're stalling us ecquis... They've been doing it since the very beginning of this mess..." Move to E15, Healer do on Ecquis

"well... she was almost murdered by the insurgents during their initial uprising," the girl answered. The story came to her mind easily, only one of the many tales she'd memorized "after that, it was more or less all downhill as more people defected to them and further split the world into opposing sides-" "Screw you and your self-indulge vagueness. you know most of us weren't born at that time yet, so let's hear it, Savior. what the fuck is a Maia and what really happen during that time!?" "..." She didn't have to turn around to know who the fucking idiot who just shouted was. The edgelord from yesterday, not a doubt in her mind. She knew from her own encounter that the Wandrought was easily the most impudent peice of shit she'd ever met, but... to so blatantly disrespect the equivalent of the god for an entire's continent people; his own fucking continents people... "You're... not that bright, are you?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder as a single eye burned directly into the boy, the glint of her crimson so intense it could've bored a hole in his soul. Braith was the only thing keeping her body temperature in check... and her tongue civil. And it was honestly like holding back a floodgate... all things the girl wanted to say and do to the fuckwit windcaller for what he'd just done, trying to break free in a torrent, but the flame's influence wouldn't be overpowered so easily. The gates held, the tide forced back out to sea... "why don't you show some respect for once, Sorner? You may think you can speak like that to someone like me, but if you're really crazy enough to dare do it to the one who saved your ancestors' worthless lives along with everyone else's..."

"...they... they're actually" "Well... this is... unexpected..." Rame stayed where she was as the announcement, brief as it was compared to the wait, came to a close. There he was... the very being she'd spent the better part of her childhood hearing so much about. The being who had single handedly held back a storm of extinction level proportions, with nothing more than flapping wings and the unbridled conjuring of winds... The same storm she'd always been accused of being the one to someday bring back. Whatever excitement she might've felt at the prospect of meeting the one who was quite literally revered as the saviour of her land quickly took a backseat to one question and one alone as she stood. She'd never expected to get an opportunity like this. She wasn't going to waste it either, fangirling like the meek one over there. "...excuse me..." She paused, just in front of the platform, not really sure how to address the being before her. Braith interjected soon enough though- they'd never bothered to show much regard for titles before, no point bending over backwards trying to find the right one now. All she had to do was put some actual respect into her voice, as rare as they did that... "Aqui... there's something I've... always been wondering about the north. what caused the great blizzard that you stopped? Where did it come from?"

But at least a few of them I presume? Perhaps some boss encounters?

so wait, does that mean all the monsters are really just girls from the past who each found books and fully gave into the dark side?

we're essentially soldiers in basic training here, not little school children. Get over it bruh. Dem quarters might be called dorms, but really they're just barracks... besides, with valor gone, I doubt anyone besides maybe karen would have too much interest in Tessa

We time skipped to the next day IC. Everyone is to gather in the auditorium by 10:30. Just have your pc arrive and take a seat as they wait for the announcement to begin.

...I'm not even going to ask what the fuck was originally in that post. Moving on to why I'm even posting though: @Shiri- You might wanna set up a Lightgivers Server on discord to uh... replace the showdown room that got nuked into oblivion with just about everything else on the server. Or I could do it and just share the link for everyone on here for you, if you want. would certainly help with quick communication and general chat and what not if the RP had an actual back channel again...

Rame The white haired girl took one last look at the carved wood, as she stood before the open doors. The wind did nothing against the heat of body despite wearing little more than pants and the T-shirt from yesterday. From the looks of the empty seats, it looked like no one else had arrived yet... aside from the timid girl from yesterday. Not surprising that the rest of them were taking their sweet ass time, really. She stowed the slip into her pocket, walking in and taking a seat in one of the back rows. Not being able to hear was never something that'd been a concern of hers, hell, her ears had been far sharper than most to begin with, and they'd only grown better over the years as she'd started using that hearing to memorize and replicate notes...it was the only way to learn up north for those who used instruments, really; only the denizens of the ports had ready access to any type of sheet music or manuals. That and she didn't really want to be anywhere near the rest of them once they started to shambling in... The conversation with the fool still hung on her mind, a super-heated puff of steam billowed from her mouth as she sighed in annoyance. Braith said nothing about the exchange, past what he'd already... rather, this morning he'd been more concerned with getting her to read the notice distributed to all of them and ensuring she didn't simply brush it off. She had started to pick up long ago that whenever the Wolf went silent or changed a topic, there was something he was hiding... but seven hells if she'd ever been able to pry it from him. But that was even less surprising than the fact that the others weren't here yet, really... given his legend. Braith, the scourge. Braith, the red fang... the most fearsome of all the wolves, tearing a path through the snow ladden earth, no matter how deep, taking from the hands of impudent men what he so pleased; fresh kills, tools, hunds... wives, first borns, even entire homesteads and all the property both within and without in some cases, giving what he stole from them to those of a better nature. Yes, Braith the undying, Braith the unyielding...Some said he had been the indignant wrath of the north given form, others that he was simply a dire wolf that'd been allowed to grow far too large and get far too close to humans. But they were all wrong... for Braith had indeed been a wolf, true, but... not in the literal sense everyone attributed to the old tale. No, no... for Braith had simply been an ancient word to describe the inherent nature of Flames. The element that could just as easily seize as it could give. There had been no attacks from massive wolves who took what they stole and gave it to the less fortunate... only arrogant clansmen who'd not given the hearth the respect it deserved and found it growing beyond their mortal control. And just as in the old legends for which she had named the entity, where mortal men could not force flames into their bidding without some type of eventual backlash, so too neither could Rame truly force Braith to spill whatever he held from her... only request to be told, and nothing more. And he was denying those request now more than perhaps ever.