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1 Cylus 720
Like his had been.
He shuffled the thoughts from his mind to refocus on the Land Troop walking with him. Balthazar had volunteered to help patrol the Dusk Festival on the beaches of Almund because it made him feel a little better about his inability to reunite the families, but also because he had not given up on his investigation and an event like the Dusk Festival could provide a beast like the killer of children an opportunity to take another victim. Balthazar wouldn't allow it, not within the area they told him to patrol at the very least.
Balthazar spent all the sunlight of that trial walking up and down the length of his sector. There was the beach as well as a few shops and homes within his patrol route and Balthazar knew he wouldn't be able to cover them all at once but he'd keep a quick pace on his feet to make sure he didn't give anyone significant time between his visits. He remembered that when he'd been a smuggler with Morgan- or Isabella as he'd discovered she was calling herself last season, he had always waited for the guards to pass and used portal to get in and out of the buildings within the five minutes it took the guard to perform his lap. Balthazar wouldn't be fooled so easily.
While he walked the route, familiarizing himself with the buildings and the tenets who he greeted kindly and informed that he would be on patrol for the festival, Balthazar also familiarized himself with the etheric signature of the locations. He wanted to be able to conjure a portal at a moments notice even though he realistically knew it would still take him some effort. He would still be better off having done the footwork than ignoring it and spending the time trying to center himself and connect to his ether. While at times that was the way to go, it was not when it came to Rupturing. Rupturing was a magic of movement and you could only really get a feel for distance by traveling it.
By the time the sun set on Almund, Balthazar was certain that he had walked the land enough that he could write a map from memory. Naturally he would not have been able to if he sat down and attempted to do so but his familiarity with the etheric signature filled him with earned confidence. Balthazar's first call of the night was one that felt almost like a joke for the Defier. He'd been down near the beach when he saw that the citizens were struggling to light the bonfire for the celebration and he, glowing as he was, was called over to help. Balthazar walked down the beach to where the great pyre had been built, ushered everyone else to take a few steps back, and then widened his stance slightly.
Balthazar thrust his first forward, propelling a ball of blue fire that engulfed the pyre completely, igniting it. The fire turned slowly from blue to orange as the source that fed it shifted from Balthazar's ether to the wooden kindling and Balthazar- after receiving many thanks and being offered many drinks, made his way back to his patrol route. Almund celebrated into the night and the dutiful Balthazar watched from the perimeter, to protect them.
The first fight he broke up began a few breaks into the night. One man who'd drank too much kissed the wife of another man who hadn't drank enough and the wife, who had drank enough, grabbed the man kissing her by the rear which encouraged him only further. Balthazar pulled the brawling men apart and then the sober one tried to wallop him with a club but the faster Balthazar avoided it. When the man came at him again Balthazar caught his wrist and flipped the man over onto the ground. Balthazar coaxed the earth up around the man's wrist to lock him in place until he cooled off and Balthazar dismissed the other drunk to return home.
Then Balthazar left the situation in the hands of the other capable land trooper who had heard the commotion. There always seemed to be another land trooper around these days... for some reason the security around the islands had tightened and Balthazar who'd only worked with the Elements for a short time had a vague idea why. If he hadn't been investigating the missing children it wouldn't have been as clear but Balthazar was certain that killer was the reason the guard had been increased.
Balthazar broke apart a few more drunken brawls that night before he was officially relieved of his watch by another trooper beginning theirs. The sun wouldn't rise for a few breaks more so Balthazar made his way back to the beach and sat down on the red sand in front of what remained of one of the bonfires. It's flames had been near their end when he arrived but they seemed to grow in size and intensity when the mage reached the fire. He thought back to his initiation and how Xanax had chosen to immerse him in the earth rather than in flames. At the time both had seemed like such wild ideas but not anymore... now being immersed in flame did not sound like the hazard it was.
Balthazar was not alone, there were dozens of other Almund citizens sitting on the sand quietly enjoying the bonfire that grew when Balthazar showed up. A few applauded him before returning to the reflective silence they'd all come for. Yet Balthazar found himself repelled by the thought of reflecting on his last season and instead found himself passively scanning the faces of the others in the crowd. He let himself become astounded by thoughts of what it must have been like in their minds and suddenly he was astounded by something else.
Sitting among the crowd, looking at the flame, was Morgan- no Isabella (he needed to get used to that change), and she seemed to notice him at the same time he noticed her. They both stood in slow shock, garnering the attention from those around them before Isabella suddenly turned and began sprinting off down the beach. Balthazar raced after her, kicking up sand as he gave chase. Morgan waved her hand in front of her and an ingress formed a few meters away from her. Balthazar began looking around for where she'd formed her egress and when he saw it, he surrounded himself in his ether, sparks beginning to dance around him before he blinked to her egress, appearing right beside it just as she passed out of it, but she was faster and managed to slip passed his grip.
When Balthazar went to continue the chase, he suddenly felt a vacuum pulling him towards Isabella's portal. His feet slipped and Balthazar was nearly pulled in but- thinking quickly, he conjured his own portal in front of Isabella's with an egress above her. The pull from her portal dragged Balthazar into his own and he dropped right on top of Isabella. In the fumble she kneed him in the stomach, pushed him off her, and rolled to the side as it to keep escaping but Balthazar slammed his palm onto the ground, softening the floor beneath Isabella enough for her legs to sink in and be trapped before he hardened it.
Balthazar stood slowly and Isabella looked around for a way to escape but she couldn't get the momentum for a blink portal so instead she picked up a rock and threw it at Balthazar. Instinctively he lifted his arm to block the rock but it ever hit his arms, instead it hit him in the back of the head. Balthazar looked around to see who'd helped her when he realized that no one had. He didn't often use snap-shot but he remember it being Isabella's favorite- but he didn't remember it applying to objects so dull as rocks... then again Isabella had already displayed more ease at creating portals than Balthazar who could feel the strain on his body from just the two.
"Ow! Not cool!" Balthazar shouted before Isabella threw another rock. This time Balthazar just blinked to the other side of her so that her snap-shot thrown rock would miss him. "Cut it out! We need to talk."
