• Graded • The Door of Life

[Kisaik]

Kisaik was at once pleasantly surprised at Maxine's return. Though he didn't know her, she had the look of a dangerous one, and someone who might indeed be able to help them out of this situation. Then, a moment later he was horrified when his tree spirit began attacking her. "Stop! Tree Spirit stop! These two are my friends. Don't attack me or my friends."

So saying, he heard the rumbling and roar from the depths of the tunnel that had caved in. He was filled with a sudden sensation of dread, as he clung to Thysbae's shirt. He whispered to the young man, "Please, follow that woman, I think she seems to know where she's going."

Then he turned to address the tree spirit, switching from common speech to Tree-talk. "Treefriend, I'm afraid I have a dire task for you, and you're welcome to refuse if that is your wish. But at all costs, we must make sure that the fiend that made that roaring noise, whatever monster it may be, must be contained. Come whatever may, please protect us from that creature, but if possible, don't allow our way out to be obstructed.!"

He didn't know how the tree spirit would take to the command, but if he'd truly been sent to assist him, this was what Kisaik required. Then he turned his attention back to Thysbae, "You must use your spirit to cover our retreat through the tunnel, as we follow that sassy woman. And don't let her out of sight, if you can. I'll have to cling to you for a while longer if I may. My legs are too short to keep pace with you tall folk."

[Thysbae]

Watching - but more so feeling - the Naer give up only seemed to place the woman in a more favorable light. Formidable and understanding of their situation; she would be their ticket out of this hole they’d ben dropped in. And even if she wasn’t, Thys gathered that he would have had more of a fighting chance with her than by himself. Certainly with the echoing crack as the landscape shifted. His request for a barrier had changed the space around them more than he’d intended. But it wasn’t all bad, if the voices rejoicing - bouncing around the walls - were anything to go by. In the darkness, his companions would not notice the way his lips twisted up into a smile. What a mess he’d made.

But there was something else that made itself known. Deep in the darkness, but coming closer. And it wasn’t panic that sped up his heart. Thys didn’t panic. That wasn’t his shtick. Jaw clenched,he looked in the general direction of her voice as the woman spoke again. Less than pleased. And threatening. Perhaps there was more of a reason for his heart to race there than before, but the little nuisance-colored thoughts would be ignored as best they could. The last thing this group needed was an unhinged, entirely fearless creature sending them into the depths to be fodder. He wouldn’t put it past Adora to conceive some plan that would end with them all dying a gruesome death.

Thys didn’t like being ordered around, but the little treeman was probably still convinced that this was Bae he was speaking to. The man would comply without hesitance, and so of course, Thys did. He followed the woman as best he could, sticking to her slow pace. He might have heard her say something more, but a shrieking filled the tunnel. It was only a trill - maybe even less than that - but a trill was enough to slip hold of the consciousness that she so desired. That bittersweet sensation of a heart beating so fast it might very well break through bone and skin to truly run away was what did him in.

“Not a problem, Mr. Tree.” Entirely too chipper a tone for the situation. The mortal born’s senses were not as sharp someone as experienced as the woman guiding them, but there were cues that could be picked up. Like hearing the crunch of rock as she pressed up to the wall. Which meant it was now their turn to hide from whatever was coming. There were gaps in the information Adora had of this situation, and maybe she was glad for it. “Rock spirit thing, you heard the Stickman. Do as he says, and make us a hidey-hole while you’re at it.”

Speech | Thought

[Aegis]

Moments before the Sessfiend arrived, the Ishkahl disappeared through one of its portals. Maxine's shadows wrapped around her, around the same time that Thysbae's companion walled up the two mortals in stone. Thysbae's stone companion was within the stone formed, holding it natural, adding to its protection. It had been tasked, and would see to it.

Just as Kisaik's companion had been tasked. The tree spirit stepped into the path of the Sessfiend, only visible to Maxine. The Sessfiend was large, sleek black, oily. Covered in spikes dripping with poison, with a scorpion's tail and claws, with limbs more akin to a gorilla's and the torso of an alligator. It took up nearly the entirety of the corridor, as a spike swiped within a hair's breadth of Maxine's chest, and carved a deep groove in the stone hiding Thysbae and Kisaik.

The beast stared down the man shaped tree, letting loose another skull splitting roar. The treeman knew its mission. Contain the beast at all costs. It was given a directive, both by the mortal it was tasked to assist, as well as by the greater spirit that had sent it. The tree spirit reached into the forest of its origin, tapping into every tree there. It needed every bit of their power. And the trees were willing to give it to help. In this moment of connection, Kisaik would be able to feel that bond, the weight between a tree spirit and the trees it protects.

The Tree Spirit of Makubwa Lori stood fast before the Sessfiend. It didn't balk or back down, for it carried the weight of thousands of trees behind it. The Sessfiend charged, its maw beginning to glow, allowing Thysbae and Kisaik to see what was happening through the groove that had been carved in their hideyhole. Claws and tail rushed for the tree spirit and the spirit did not move.

The claws snapped around the tree man's body, the stinger pierced his torso, the glowing mouth bit down upon his head, rending the spirit into several large sections. The ephemera began to waste away, flowing back into nature, the tree spirit killed in a mere moment before the great being of pure wrath.

Then the trap sprung.

Roots snapped out of every wall, ceiling, and floor, wrapping around the Sessfiend's body. Then, roots and branches impaled the beast, forcing a pained scream through it. Root after root overtook the divine beast until there was nothing left of it that was visible. Nothing but the roots of thousands of trees constricting it, confining it. Containing it.

The path was now cleared.

And back in Desnind, a swath of forest was devastated. Every tree in that section of the Makubwa Lori died in an instant, without readily apparent cause. It would take time to notice, time for the green to fade from the leaves, time for the roots to weaken, time for the bark to rot. But that bit of woodland was sacrificed to protect Kisaik and his mission, as was the tree spirit who'd accompanied him.

With the threat gone, and the pathway cleared, with prisoners above scrambling for freedom, or at least a nicer place in the pecking order, the stone spirit slipped away, floating there with Thysbae. A portal was opened, and Maxine's patron, her real patron stepped through, the Ishkahl behind her. The little girl with pitch black hair, her body covered in runes, a dirty white dress covering her form, stepped forward. "I've never lost faith in you. What do you require?"

!	Message from: Aegis
	If you have any questions, you may ask, I may answer. I may not. I will post again on April 29th.

[Max]

The Ishakahl disappeared with the Sessfiend's arrival. Stones rose to shield the newcomers to Level Seven in a layer of stone, but the ex-convict was left to the mercy of the shadows. She quieted her breathing as she felt the menacing presence of their enemy closing in. It towered over them in the narrow tunnel, taking up and dominating the space it possessed. She noted the spikes that protruded from its oily exterior, those too oozing death like every other trait of the creature's being. Maxine's eyes were trained on that swishing, murderous tail as it came nearer. She bit her lip and flattened herself as best she could against the wall. The creature lumbered forth when the Tree Spirit appeared. It wasn't until one all-too-close spike somehow avoided slashing her chest as the Sessfiend passed, that she felt she had the luxury of watching the confrontation unfold.

Max cringed at the sound of jaws and claws snapping the Tree Man to oblivion. Splinters cascaded upon the floor. Within trills the Sessfiend had rendered the spirit into an inconsequential obstacle in its path toward more prey. Then the forest far beyond the stony landscape of the prison sprung forth. The marked woman watched in awe as the unpredictable foliage shot through the beast as though the roots were merely carving through soft soil. Murdered or just imprisoned, it didn't matter. The path was clear and Max wasn't going to stick around for another demon to block it. It was time to get out.

She peeled herself from the embrace of the shadows. Her head snapped about, trying in vain to get a sense of where the crowds were moving and fleeing. The nature of the level prevented her from learning much. The smallest sounds traveled such great distances. They'd have to continue to proceed with caution. The Tunawa likely the most now that his protector had been vanquished. It had been a stupid idea to come back for those who did not understand this place, and more idiotic still to voice a claim upon them even to initially save their lives. She should've left them and quickly escaped on her own. Max's expression darkened at the memory of her slain self. That hadn't been the first time she'd seen herself like that. Cut down. Dead. She'd gazed upon her corpse in another's vision. Perhaps it was that, and all that it had been connected to, which rendered her less capable of doing that smart, selfish thing. It would be a theory the chaotic woman would never breathe life into.

The stone wall crumbled but it was the boom of a portal that caught Maxine's attention. She watched as a familiar ally stepped through with the Ishkahl at her back. Strangely, a whisper began at the back of Maxine's mind. A riddle. Over and over again. The little girl was as eerie as the marked woman had remembered her, but a twitch of a relieved smile rather than a nervous recoil was how she was received. The black-haired enigma did not arrive with ire. It had not been her who had wrenched the marked woman back into this prison, but someone or something else. Max sheathed her gladius and approached the rune-ridden girl with steeled grit.

"Answers to start if you have them," the servant to this patron admitted with earnest. "A quick way out for certain. If this isn't the work of The Warden, someone has made an enemy of me. I'd like to pay them a visit." She paused. It was...hard to concentrate with that whisper still in the back of her mind. Neither annoyance or compulsion willed what she'd speak next. Strange as she was, the little girl had always delivered when others could or would not. The Ishkahl had been sent to aid her, a gift to see her through this injustice. Maxine would continue to provide in return as she'd promised. "But I'm here now." Her expression hardened and she trained her dark, unwavering stare on the rune-bearing girl as she stepped forward. Max extended her hand, an invitation for forearms to be grasped. "Show me the wooden man."

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Aegis]

Date

The little girl listened to Maxine's concerns, nodding her head. She grasped Maxine's forearm, her own a grip of pure steel, yet given as soft as a kiss. She looked up into Maxine's eyes, "Why not both?" Maxine would be able to feel the girl swell with power, but the Ishkahl screeched. Such an action was quite draining on the girl, in this limited form of hers. But Maxine was not simply a trusted pawn. She was the girl's only trusted pawn. And the little girl had complete faith in her.

And so, Maxine, was vanished from Slags Deep.

But it was her bond with another that made it easier, more cost effective for the girl's power. And so, while Maxine vanished, the one she was bonded with appeared. Sephira was now in Slags Deep, Level Seven, along with the Ishkahl, Kisaik, Thysbae and Thysbae's rock spirit. The girl was gone, and the Ishkahl was now, temporarily, partnered with Sephira, something her spark would be able to recognize.

The swap across space and time was not an uncomfortable one for either Maxine or Sephira, and it was more instantaneous than a blink of the eyes. Maxine would find herself sitting where Sephira had been sitting, and Sephira was standing where Maxine had been standing. And so, the wooden man, Charlie Wood, was sitting right next to Maxine as well. And he was staring right at Maxine with surprise, along with Charlie Barkley, the mouse, on his shoulder. For Charlie knew Sephira. But he didn't know Maxine.

But he knew Maxine's friend too, and could sense her power on the newly arrived woman.

"No..."

!

Message from: Aegis

Maxine has been exited from the Door of Life. She is now in The Lost and should post there accordingly. Sephira has arrived here. Both Sephira and Maxine have the choice to either post solely within their new threads OR may post in both threads depicting the departure and such. The Deadline of April 29th has been extended to May 1st for both The Lost and the Door of Life. However, if all participants post by April 29th, I will post then.

[Kisaik]

Kisaik watched his treefriend throw itself at the sesserfiend. The scene unfolded in the span of seconds, but it might as well have been hours for all the weight of burden it laid on Kisaik's conscience. He'd sent the treeman to his doom, and with it, possibly the bond betwen the spirit and every tree he guarded. Kisaik only realized his error too late, before he could change his directive.

So as the treeman was rent limb from limb by the sesserfiend, as it bound the creature, the trap was sprung, and an avalanche of stone descended upon the beast, trapping and possibly killing it. Kisaik didn't much care whether it was dead or not, or if it'd come back for him.

He found himslef sinking down Thysbae's tunic, losing his grip and sliding to the ground. For a few moments, he merely shuddered, and clutched at himself. He shivered and shook.

"What have I done?" Kisaik said as he viewed the tree spirit's corpse through sappy tears.

Then he remembered what Purple had told him so long ago in the Fairy Circle. How do we defeat evil, when selfishness and injustice thrive unchecked? By never giving up!

The Tunawa jumped up at that, his armor clanking as he ran to the tree spirit's corpse, trying to find gaps in the rock where he might unearth the spirit. He would give every last ounce of sap in his body to revive the spirit. Whatever it took. Kisaik would give up life and the lives of all who descended from him.

If in the end, he couldn't find the tree spirit, he would curl up, finally defeated. How could he live down such dishonor?

[Thysbae]

While the stickman cried, Adora did not. She watched on with glee as the most prominent threat was dealt with - and in no dull fashion. The glow of the beast’s mouth had made it quite clear to see it all. A spectacle, really. The creature was dispatched as quickly as it had done away with the spirit. Encased in roots and forever locked in a natural cage. There was a beauty to it that she’d probably find a name for, and perhaps emulate at some point, when she wasn’t concerned about what might well happen next. And what did transpire in the trills that followed was interesting enough.

She blinked and they were no longer in the darkest of tunnels. They were further up with more light, more chaos. And they weren’t alone again. A girl in a dirty dress stepped out of...a portal? The mortal born cocked her head to the side, confused but intrigued. Her smile hadn’t dropped in the slightest. Was she behind this? Not that it mattered, not that she cared. In fact, there were other things to be concerned about. And perhaps maybe that was why she ought to have paid more attention to what was actually being said.

Gaze intent on the woman who’d come back for them - saviorsaviorsavior. She hadn’t gotten a name, but she would do her best to remember every last physical detail that she could. From the way the grime and dirt only seemed to amplify how breathtaking she was - oh, she was so pretty! A heroine of the underground, the scourge of the darkness. Fitting titles. But she could do better. She would do better.

The woman moved forward towards and the girl and so did she, missing the words that were right there. Every fiber of her being gravitated towards the woman, arms wide in reverence to engulf her in some semblance of an embrace. They had looked to be about the same height, perhaps with some disparity on Adora’s part, but it was not the solidness of a skull. There wasn’t the sweetness of such an impact, the grounding sensation of heads bumping together. Instead, it was soft. Despairingly so. Enough that she opened her eyes and looked up at the much taller woman with a petulant pout.

“Who are you?”

Speech | Thought

[Sephira]

The words of the other Rupturer while well-reasoned did nothing to assuage Sephira’s own doubts about trying to utilize resources of the existing Seekers. While she had time to hear his words the soldier had no time whatsoever to respond. Because in the next breath Sephira had vanished in the blink of an eye and Maxine had taken her place.

However, this was not the first time Sephira had experienced this phenomenon before; and as before she had swapped places with the ex-convict.

Been there, done that.

The mage was plunged into an oily darkness and immediately she felt something new connected to her that her Rupturing Spark immediately recognized somehow. This thing... the creature she could sense was tied to a Rupturing Spark, one which was slightly familiar to her.

Right at that trill someone bumped rather rudely into her and Sephira found her face twisting with an irritable frown as she quickly snapped her hand to Wyvern’s brass hilt in a clear sign for that individual to back the hell off.

“Damn it...” She cursed brazenly, sending ether coursing into her Attunement Spark and manifesting Static along with Omnivision around her in the darkness as she also allowed the ever-curious Spark to lightly investigate the Frequencies in the immediate area.

Her vision shifted; she couldn’t exactly “see” with Attunement but it allowed her to “feel” the world around her in a strangely intimate way. With her Attunement Spark humming happily away she could sense the two individuals near her along with the Ishkahl.

“You two.” Sephira snapped as she drew the sword at her belt in a smooth motion whilst stepping briskly away from the person directly in front of her. “Where are we and was someone else here before I arrived?” Given her past experience she had a sneaking suspicion that the answer might just be ‘yes’.

The Element was very much playing her role as a soldier and Special Assistant. When unpredictable things happened, this was always how Sephira tended to react. Falling into the role of soldier was comfortable and it often helped to keep her and those around her alive.

Just as well, she much preferred this role to that of mage politician. Perhaps it had been good fortune that she had been yanked away from those gaggle of mages who didn’t seem to have much of a clue about the real world. At least a couple of them had seemed to have sense, but so many more than been more than willing to go along with Orrick's plan. She had to find out where she was and where he had gone. If only she had attuned to him while she had been given the chance, but she had let her emotions get the better of her.

The dark-eyed mage stepped forward, examining her new surroundings with care, just as much with her eyes as with her Sparks. They were underground from what she could tell, and there was something nearby which was pinned by several roots and branches jutting from the walls.

Finally Sephira turned her interest to the Ishkahl. It was a thing of shadow and Rupturing. But that was...impossible wasn’t it? Could things beside mortals hold domain magic? Sephira focused her Attunement Spark on the creature, maintaining Static as she did so to obscure her investigation. It’s own Frequency was complex and alien but there was something familiar clinging to it. A Frequency that had been in contact with it that she knew all too well.

“She was here wasn’t she? Max was here.” Sephira asked softly of the creature. Something clicked into place somewhere in the distant corners of the woman’s mind.

Max, caves, a dead creature pinned in the hall...the sound of others above them running for an exit.

The deep impenetrable never-ending darkness. She had heard the ex-convict’s stories.

This was Level Seven.

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Aegis]

Date

Kisaik did manage to find a gap in the stones, roots, and corpse of the Sessfiend. And so his search for the spirit went onward for the little knight. It was a tough crawl, the armor catching on flesh, rock, and wood, making it a struggle to squeeze through. But the knight was persistent and driven and soon, he'd find the smallest of crevices. Just enough space to get his head and arms into.

And there, in the center of the darkness, was a softly glowing acorn. It pulsed softly, weakly, though seemed to brighten just a bit more at Kisaik's arrival. Then, the ground shifted, or rather, the beast contained by the spirit shifted, and a rock fell in behind Kisaik, sealing off the tunnel he'd crawled through. On the far side of the glowing acorn, a single, reptilian eye opened. It was swirling with red and purple with three pitch black pupils, and it was staring right at Kisaik, as the Sessfiend began to stir, to struggle, to try and free itself from the prison.

The Ishkahl turned its eye on Sephira after she spoke to it. One of its shadow tentacles reached out, touching Sephira's cheek, and it conveyed the mental image of Maxine into Sephira's mind. Nearby, there was a large, gaping hole in the ceiling, where a section of stone had slid down, forming a ramp. It was down the way the Sessfiend had come from, forming a fork. Forward through Seven, or upward?

Forward was silent, empty. There was no signs of anything coming from that direction, one way or another. Upward though, there were many sounds of feet, orderly and disciplined, and there were commands being given out. Soon, there were men and women around the hole that had formed. One of whom was lighting the way with fiery hands. To Sephira's eyes, with her service, she'd always be able to recognize the Elements when she saw them.

But these were Level Sixers. Elements that had been locked away. Some of which Sephira would recognize. Some of which, she may have put there. And the flames in the man's hands grew, and light was cast over Sephira, Thysbae, the Ishkahl, and the mess there around them, and the man's eyebrow cocked.

"Well what do we have here?"

!	Message from: Aegis
	I will post again on May 8th

[Sephira]

Sephira started to jerk away as the shadowy creature reached out and touched her face. However she froze as the mental image was shown to her. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Max was alive, at least as far as Sephira and this beast knew.

“Thank you.” The mage whispered in reply to the Ishkahl answering her question. Whatever the creature was, it was clearly intelligent and capable of comprehending her. That was good. Better that the Ishkahl was smart enough to think on it’s own, it might be useful in getting them out of there. If this really was Slag’s Deep, then they were on Scalvoris again, and the Rupturer knew nearly inch of that island. If the doors were open and the prisoners were escaping then perhaps they could simply portal out to the surface.

Before Sephira could test that theory however a voice echoed down from above them. Up above there was a yawning hole that has been cleaved open by a cave-in.

Firelight glimmered above them from the hands of one of the ex-Elements who had been illuminating the way for the men and women behind him. Almost immediately she suspected that the man was a Defier, however in the next trill Sephira was wondering how he ended up in Level 6. Level 7 was where all mages and Marked criminals went. There were a few familiar faces among them. Men who had been involved in the Element’s Cult over an arc ago. Many had been rounded up by Sephira herself and others on the case before being given their prison sentences. Not all of the cultists had been mages if she remembered correctly. Many more had simply been pulled into the cult for others reasons. Perhaps some of them had simply hated women. If that was the case then the Special Assistant was likely in trouble.

Simply instinctually her hand was already on Wyvern’s hilt. Perhaps too often her initial reaction was to deal with problems by using violence. But some of these ex-soldiers hadn’t been necessarily bent on doing harm. Some had just been pulled in by the allure of whatever crime they had committed. The mage had not forgotten the group of Land Troops who had turned on the cultists and helped save many of the women before being killed themselves.

Sephira continued feeding a slow drip of ether into her Attunement Spark to maintain her Omni-Vision and Static. She also began quietly Attuning to the leader of the group with the glowing hands. It would take a few minutes for the process to complete, she needed to keep them talking so she could collect some information.

“I could ask you the same thing.” The woman replied moments after he spoke. There was recognition of who she was in the eyes of the ex-Elements. That could be both a good and a bad thing. Likely it was not a good thing.

Sephira exhaled slowly, glancing back at the remaining member of their group. Apparently the little one had wandered off into the dark and her Omnivision could no longer detect him. There was also no way to know if the person that had ran into her minutes earlier was a civilian or a prisoner as well. There were too many unknowns and that made for a deadly situation. Then of course there was the sound of footsteps up above, as if every prisoner on Level 6 was running somewhere in a hurry. Were they...escaping...were the gates down? How was that even possible?

“I’m afraid you really don’t want to go this way.” Sephira said as coolly as she could muster. She needed to stay calm and keep her head clear while buying time. What happened in the next few moments would decide how this situation went.

“You know, this has been a rather strange trial for me. First I am teleported to a room full of arrogant morons...and now I end up here.” The woman said in dry clipped words.

Slowly the Notes of the leader’s Frequency began spilling into her mind as she and her Attunement Spark examined them.

The Note of Violence stung like hot coals against her skin. This man clearly had no problem with killing. But what else had she expected from a prisoner of Slags Deep?

A split trill later the Note of Desperation snaked its way around her. It’s sound reminded her of nails on chalkboard. Smaller Notes clung to this particular one. He was desperate to escape, and now he was leaping on the chance now that...

This was a prison break. The realization thundered into the Special Assistant as her mind reeled at the implications of all the prisoners in Slags Deep managing to escape into the island.

People would die.

Sephira continued to speak, holding the conversation as long as she could until the Attunement completed.

“So you can imagine how low on patience I am right now.” She frowned grimly at the soldiers above her.

“If this is what I think it is, then we are about to find ourselves at an impasse.” Sephira positioned herself between herself and Adora just as the Note of Magic chimed within her consciousness. The man was a mage. It confirmed what she had feared and also suggested that he may not be from Level six at all. Which also implied that the rest of them could also be mages or Marked.

Sephira had to assume for the moment that the other person with her had been dumped down here just like her, which meant the soldier would defend them as well as she could.

“Walk away from this. You get one warning.”

The Special Assistant gently touched the bond between she and the Ishkahl. If this was about to become a battle then she wanted it by her side.

Dialogue|Thoughts