The God's Cry

by Adelette Puddleduck

The world of Midgard is changing. People are beginning to question why, and they find malice more and more often. Its wish and obligation is destruction, and its target is the world of humans. [under revision]

19. Creatures of the Dark

Creatures of the Night

With Kyo seemingly well, the God's Cry decided not to trespass on the prince's hospitality for much longer – they would instead go to Chisel's house, their usual place of residence whenever they came to Prontera.

Taiken took the opportunity of having a word with high priestess Hester – he was decided on their going to Glast Heim; he requested an adequate priest to accompany them, saying he would pay whatever the price.

Hester was surprised they were thinking of such an expedition, although offered to come herself.

Taiken blinked. "Pardon?"

"I shall accompany you," she repeated patiently.

The bard shifted uneasily, and looked to Draco, who was equally baffled. "We would certainly appreciate it, but you must be… expensive. I mean, no offence, ma'am, we wouldn't hesitate to employ you if we could afford it, but…"

"Oh, no, I shan't ask for payment."

He turned bright red. "Ah, now…"

"I have my own reasons to go to Glast Heim, and I had been thinking of organizing my own expedition, but if you're going and are in need of assistance, I might as well comply."

"Well, fair enough… But what could a respectable member of the clergy such as yourself have to do in Glast Heim?"

"One of my acolytes suffered at the hands of the dark priests, the result being that her soul was shattered. If I know what they did to her, then I may be able to help her." Her composure wavered slightly, and she sighed woefully. "I'm glad you have presented me with this opportunity; I should be foolish not to accept. I have noticed of late that… her life is beginning to fade. She will not live much longer if I can't cure her."

Taiken nodded gravely, accepted her help and promised to write when they needed her. They parted ways and set off towards Chisel's home.

Chisel's parents lived in an old, narrow house near the centre of town, by the outskirts of the noble's district, adequately equipped to house a small working family. Chisel's father was a fairly high-ranking blacksmith, with many generations of fine blacksmiths in his ancestry, so the family was quite well to do.

Though not enough so that they lived in a house able to comfortably provide lodging for an extra six people.

Or rather seven, as it turned out.

Chisel had a comfortable friendship with his fiancée, Chundocu, an alchemist from Luoyang, and she had been informed of his coming to Prontera, and although he had mentioned it would be nice to see her but she shouldn't trouble herself, she'd cancelled several previous engagements to come and see him.

"You see, I think it's impossible not to like Chisel," Hawk finished when they had all been welcomed in. Chisel's father Raul was out on business, and his sister Excel had left early that morning for a trip to Payon, but his mother Carmina was there to welcome them. She was well kempt, and, judging by the manner of her treatment to Chisel, very motherly, with exuberant amounts of both bossiness and kindness. She called him Daemond, and was fussing over him as soon as he was inside. She chivvied everyone into the living room and began making tea.

Chundocu was waiting for them there. The first thing Kyo noticed was how brown she was. Her skin, hair and eyes were all very brown. The second thing she noticed was what a nice, full, hourglass figure was wrapped in her plain pleated dress. Upon seeing Chisel, she marched jauntily across the room and threw herself into a hug with him.

Obviously the rest of the guild was well known among Chisel's relatives.

"Taiken! I'm very happy to see you. How are you?" Chundocu enquired in the same enthusiastic manner. She seemed very friendly.

"Very well, madam; I can see you are well also."

She laughed. Her eyes swooped over everyone else, and she shook hands with each person individually, enquiring after their health and pressing them on their most poignant habits.

When she reached Kyo, the dancer felt her face turn red. Chundocu's amiableness wasn't stinted. Kyo bowed as politely as she could. The other seemed slightly surprised by this level of civility, although returned it. "Your name is Kyo, isn't it?" Kyo nodded. "Chisel told me about you; I'm very pleased to meet you."

They shook hands, Kyo nodding and trying to articulate that she was pleased meet her as well. She saw Hawk smiling at her from across the room, and she felt less nervous.

She'd done her best not to talk to him on the walk from the castle; she did feel hurt that he'd told the others about her parents. Although he noticed, approached her, explained himself, and offered a full apology. And thus the resent she'd been trying to harbour dissolved instantly.

"So where will you be going from here?"

"We're staying in Prontera for one more day, and we'll be leaving tomorrow evening after celebrating Taiken's twentieth; and we still need to take Kyo clothes shopping. The stuff Taiken got in Comodo's a bit big…"

"You should have taken her with you, Taiken."

"… Sis?"

"Yes, Ruriko?"

"There was a really pretty new dress in that Tolleranza shop…"

"When was the last time you took a job?"

"Ah, well…"

"You have enough really pretty dresses to last until judgement day…"

"But Sis!"

"If you're going to buy new clothes, let's not make it any more really pretty dresses."

"They are all you wear, Ruriko…"

"That's not true! I have those overalls…"

"You found my overalls?"

"Ruriko!"

"Yeah, Chisel, while we're here, I never go through your stuff when you're away…"

"You big fat liar! I know you go through my stuff. And the rest of you too."

"I don't!"

"Then why am I always finding biscuit crumbs in my jumpers? Oh Biscuit Fiend Taiken?"

"Wait, is it really that obvious?"

"And you can stop sniggering, Draco, I know you steal my shirts."

"But I don't eat biscuits…"

"They always smell of you when I get them back. You or Hawk… Say what you like about Oshi being grumpy, at least he isn't an evil clothes thief."

"I told you we should've put it all in the wash when he came back…"

"Way to go, Ruriko."

Taiken's choice of birthday celebration was a quiet family dinner at Chisel's, a walk to Yuno, and a visit to his parents.

Then followed by an expedition to Glast Heim…

Also, it seemed that "quiet family dinner" was vaguely contradictory. With Chisel's father also, the party would consist of ten people, at least half of them known for being fairly boisterous.

Raul arrived about an hour after the guild had. It was clear where Chisel had learnt his friendliness from, and also where he'd got his… largeness. Chisel, like Hawk, was tall and fairly muscular. Raul was about six foot six with a ridiculously broad frame. He looked fairly frightening, certainly not somebody to pick a fight with. But a deep, booming, jovial laugh and the familiar grin, so reminiscent of his son's, dispelled this slightly. He ruffled Chisel's hair, and Ruriko immediately bounded up to him to be picked up. He didn't wait for an invitation from Taiken.

As shy as she found herself in this new company, Kyo found she enjoyed the evening. Carmina, in keeping with being a good mother, turned out to be a rather proficient cook.

"Most alchemists are great cooks," she announced grandly. Chisel's family were immensely proud of their profession.

They were incredibly friendly. Crammed around the scrubbed wooden table of the cold candle-lit kitchen… She often felt left out by the deeply personal conversations, although Hawk especially made an effort to include her. She finished her meal before everyone else, or so she thought, and Carmina took only a moment to notice.

"There's plenty more; do eat up," she pronounced with a wide smile, gesturing to the rather abundant array of food.

"Oh! Are you sure?" Kyo had always been told to be careful she wasn't greedy.

"Mum always cooks loads whenever I bring everyone round," Chisel joined in, "even though I tell her to not; we don't eat much."

"They're all just scraps! They need feeding up."

Taiken scoffed at this, telling elaborate stories of miniatures of log cabins made from sausages, sandwiches of many hundred layers, and, his own particular favourite, a cake that needed to be climbed.

The usual practice was to sit down to cards after dinner; although everyone agreed they were too tired. And so the sleeping arrangements were discovered to be something along of lines of "pick a spot on the floor of Chisel's room". The general gist of this was that they slept in a pile of dirty laundry.

-X-X-

"Right, I will definitely be asking for the remaining high wizards to be sent to Yuno."

Lord of Death's attack had left the Sage Guild short two professors, possibly three. Canth and Marius, though they had tended Zeta as best they could, had been unable to completely repair the damage done. His life was saved but…

"You're paralysed," Marius explained stiffly. Orius looked at him carefully. The silvery-blue spirit spheres he had summoned to assist him flickered slightly as he said it. When Canth didn't follow the sentence up, he said, "It's likely you won't walk again."

Zeta, tired and still quite puzzled as to the evening's events, replied only with, "Oh."

Orius felt whatever tension was gripped in his shoulders sink woefully.

"Certainly, I will address the high wizards about coming here." Marius straightened. "I am sure they will be glad to help. I'll remain here also to help Zeta become at least mobile."

Zeta still made no reaction.

It was quite late now. Zeta had been taken to his room, and should've been asleep. Yomi, also having suffered some rather grievous injuries, had gone to bed as soon as her wounds were closed. The Retirement Room was silent, save for the crackle of the fire, the atmosphere sunken and dead. Erita was sidling around the bookshelves, pulling out books, opening them and looking at them. Fieri remained still and tense in a chair in front of the fire, the swelling on her forehead wrapped in some kind of herbal paste.

Marius, along with Canth and Arche, had set out to retrieve the armour in order to seal it. Certainly, it would need to be taken to Gonryun to be sealed on holy ground. Or it would need to be cleansed of whatever made it habitable for that strange wisp; or they would need to contact the Blacksmith Guild to have it destroyed. Either way, it should all be over soon. They had various options.

"These creatures…" Erita spoke suddenly. "They are causing a lot of trouble. I wonder how many of them are there?"

"Who knows," Orius replied, somewhat bitterly. "They must be very old…"

"What makes you say that?"

He looked at her directly. "No human can create things like that. Very well, a necromancer can create his own avatar, but nothing like as powerful as these creatures."

"If no human can create them, then how did they get here?"

"The fact that we don't know seems to say that they are of the ancient world. Surely before the Guerre te Muladi, or we would have some record of them."

The accursed war of division had destroyed records of many generations of knowledge. Among other things, an entire city was wiped off the map. And a city of no mean size either – it was larger than Prontera apparently. The most ancient capital, and they had no information on it, not even a name.

Erita hung her head slightly, and continued pretending to read her book. Time passed slowly. What seemed like hours later, a knock on the door broke the dry atmosphere somewhat.

"Enter."

As he hoped, Marius stepped through the door, with Canth and Arche in tow.

Arche avoided looking at him; she seemed slightly distraught. Canth too seemed cast down. Marius' facial expressions came in only two varieties with little in-between: "quite happy" and "quite grave".

"What happened?" Orius demanded in mild panic. Marius was wearing the Quite Grave face.

"Nothing," the monk replied instantly. Oh no… "It was gone."

"Gone?" It felt like a hammer blow to the chest.

"Taken," Marius confirmed, "or wandered off of its own accord."

Orius felt he needed to sit down, but didn't trust his legs to carry him to a chair.

"We must hunt it down," Marius continued after some moments of silence. "I'll wager it will come back; we need to take care of it before then. Who knows what would've happened today were it not for Arche and the others."

The cardinal sage nodded grimly. Naturally, Canth would be one of the party. He may indeed need to apply to the Payonese tribes for a good hunter… He knew someone who would be perfect for such a mission, although there was no guarantee she would comply.

"Canth, I fear your services are required further… unless you can name a more able exorcist than yourself?" Canth shook his head, and expressed his certainty of his taking up the task. "I will apply to Yuuko for her help as well."

Arche sniffed dubiously. She'd always found Yuuko's all-knowing and almost apathetic nature quite trying. Yuuko's sister, Senko, was married to a Morrocan noble. The first two children born into this marriage were a pair of daughters, three years or so apart in age. The elder was named Dariko, and the younger Ruriko. It was Yuuko who was enlisted to help the two become wizards. Dariko was a difficult child, and profoundly set against taking orders. Ruriko, on the other hand, drank in the Language of the Making from her infancy. If there were somebody that Ruriko owed her talents to, it wasn't Orius or any of the other professors – it was Yuuko.

Senko was disposed to object to her sister, what with her husband's disapproval of the sage profession. Since Senko had married, the sisters had not been on good terms. When Ruriko and Draco were disowned, Yuuko also detached herself from her brother-in-law and his wife. Her home had since been in the Payon mountain range. She was a practitioner of the Pursuer lore.

"Uncle, I am perfectly able…"

"No, Arche. It is out of the question," he added when she went to protest.

-X-X-

There was a good reason why Prontera was so well loved by shoppers – the market place. It had to be at least a good square mile, and featured every kind of stall imaginable. And then there were the shops on the streets surrounding the place. There were some shops that just sold cheese, or truffles, or fruit, or lace… Although should anyone want anything basic, they'd have some slight trouble.

Ruriko had been accused of being dopey. She really wanted the dress in Tolleranza that she'd seen yesterday afternoon, but she knew she wouldn't be able to persuade her sister to buy it for her, and she couldn't ask Taiken either, as it was his birthday. It had been quite a while since she'd taken a job, and buying the dress herself would probably clear her out.

Inhabitants of Midgard had very specific jobs, the reason why Ruriko was definitely a sage, even though she was closer to a witch, why Hawk was definitely a hunter, and so on. Job offers were sent to the Cardinals of the different guilds, and the Guild master would send one of their members to take care of it. Occasionally, they might get a request for someone in particular, but essentially, it was up to the Cardinal. Since the death of wizard's Cardinal, Ivas, the better sages (ones adept enough to cast wizard spells) were in high demand.

A very popular scenario was that someone wanted an expedition to one of the deep places of the world – a person may want to go themselves, or they would hire someone to lead the expedition and bring back information. These people were usually alchemists or collectors. Alchemists tended to lead their own expeditions. They would decide whom they might need to go with them, and send requests for assistance to the various Cardinals, usually with descriptions of the qualities needed, and then the Cardinal would choose prospective candidates for the task, and send them back to the one doing the hiring, along with the price of taking such-and-such-a-person. The employer would select their taskforce, and send the requests back to the Cardinal along with their payment. The employees were then sent their job descriptions and ninety percent of the pay. All in all, there was a lot of paper flying around. The Assassin's Guild involved infinitely less complication apparently.

Oshi and Draco worked as a duo, and worked as bounty hunters. Hawk received job offers from the Hunter's Guild, where he was often asked to be a bodyguard. Ruriko was asked to translate lots of old texts, but she didn't receive any jobs that required fighting. This was because she was in charge of maintaining a seal in the area. If the seal weakened, she would notify Orius, and replenish the seal with or without assistance. She got regular grants for this, though Orius knew full well that the others of the guild could make an adequate income, so it wasn't very much. Chisel tended to do his own thing. He was an explorer; he'd take a job of crafting something on request if he needed to. Taiken would be sent music from various theatres and noble's courts, where he would called upon to entertain at banquets and formal dinners.

But today, the only people who were being treated were Kyo and Taiken, the former much to her embarrassment. She wasn't good at accepting the kindness of others. She chose clothes just like a dancer: light and flouncey stuff. And Taiken got bard's presents, like the paper they write music on, some new guitar strings, and even a new harp.

Ruriko was actually the one who got him the harp, sighing slightly as she paid for it. She liked Taiken's harp playing best, and they didn't have one at home.

Taiken was a good grateful recipient of gifts. "Aw, Ruri dear," he said dotingly, "I wasn't expecting something like this. I thought I was just getting more socks?"

"Just promise me you'll play it to me lots. Come on, let's go to the library and get a book of tunes or something…"

Hawk stepped in here. "OK, I'll do that." He was stuck for ideas; he never knew what to get anyone.

"You know what," Taiken suddenly remarked as they stepped out of the music shop, "we seem to have lots of money. Somebody care to explain?"

"I do," Draco said slyly. "After Kyo woke up, I visited the prince to negotiate a price for the culvert job. Also, he happened to let slip of someone escaped from a prison in Morroc. He said it'll be good pay if we put him back, so that'll be mine and Oshi's next job."

"And," Chisel waved his hand in the air, "I used to hide money in various places around my room when I took jobs at home, and I just found a load."

"Squirrel," Hawk muttered under his breath. Ruriko giggled and he nudged her with his elbow.

The sage, having settled her side of the present-buying, told everyone she needed to run off on her own for a very short while, and dashed off without waiting for Draco's approval.

She'd always like Tolleranza. The dresses really were very pretty. There was a service where they made dresses especially for a particular person, although she'd probably never be able to afford it. She stepped through the door, and waved at the shopkeeper as he greeted her with a smiley good morning.

"So which really pretty dress are we looking at?" someone said nonchalantly in her ear.

She startled and whirled around. It was Oshi, frowning and scanning the rows of clothes.

She was about to reprimand him on sneaking up on people, but then actually remembered what he said. She felt her face flail slightly as she caught up with what was going on, then pointed at it – a puffy white one with long sleeves, a hood, and a bow at the back.

His eyebrow rose slightly, then he shrugged and said quietly, "Alright," and began digging around in one pocket.

"Ah, Oshi? I'm not sure you should…"

"That one is in your size, isn't it?" Even as he asked, he was picking it up and holding it up to her. She nodded.

"Oshi, wait…" As desperate as she had been to persuade someone to buy it for her, it now struck what a large favour it was. "You really don't have to."

But he was already at the counter, saying as few words to the shopkeeper as possible. He turned back to Ruriko to check that her favourite colour was pink, for a ribbon for the parcel to be wrapped in.

"Oshi, you really didn't have to…" she tried again, face turning red, as he handed it to her.

"Just don't tell your sister it was me, alright?" It seemed an odd condition, but she had no trouble agreeing to it.

"Thank you, Oshi!"

She was so pleased with this strange feat of generosity on his side that she held his hand as they made their way back down the street.

"So where did you run off to, Miss Ruriko?" Draco said with some degree of sternness.

"Oh?" She was taken by surprise. "Nowhere! Nowhere at all…"

"You're a very bad liar," Oshi whispered in her ear.

Draco certainly didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything else about it.

"Well, it's a good job Hester isn't asking for any payment," Taiken said with a smirk, "or we'd be really screwed."

x-x-x

Kyo gaped at Taiken – he was certainly light-hearted about the day becoming steadily more expensive, what with his presents, her clothes, the necessaries for their journey to Yuno, and also a fairly abundant lunch. She wondered just how much money they'd had in storage to be quite this exuberant.

Hawk saw her face, and smiled. "We're not usually this extravagant," he explained, evidently amused, "but we do get quite a bit for what we do. Oshi and Draco are basically bounty hunters, and pretty good ones too. Chisel and Taiken are usually in high demand, so they get a lot for what they do."

She vaguely took on board what he said, but it still struck her that they should be so rich. "I heard Oshi once say that you don't earn a fantastic amount of money; comfortable, but not overly substantial."

He shrugged slightly. "We don't normally spend much. The only really expensive upkeep is Ruriko's really pretty dress fixation."

But then Chisel was addressing a woman in a brown maid-like outfit, and negotiating yet another costly service.

"Even that isn't so expensive," Hawk laughed still watching her face, "though one could certainly do with using it less."

Kyo squinted at the woman, who was now consulting a clipboard. "Is she… a "Kafra"?"

"Oh! Does Kafra Corp not spread as far out as Arie?"

"No, I've only ever heard of them. What do they do?"

"They're basically public service. They do most things; they're in charge of the bank, post and travel services. You can hire carriages and the like from them, and they also offer a warp service. More prestigious servants to the nobility train at Kafra Corp."

Draco had been following their conversation. "I only wish they weren't so damn perky," she grumbled.

"You're forgetting who your sister is."

Chisel was apparently warping back to their house… cave… thing, to drop off all their parcels. The process took the best part of a quarter of an hour. When he returned, nursing his arms slightly, he handed over a handful of coins, and the Kafra girl stowed it away instantly in a pouch over her apron (did she really need an apron? Surely she didn't move from that spot too often…), and declared in a high sunny voice, "Thank you, sir; please come again!" On this overly cheery note, the guild made their way to the western gates.

It was apparently a week's walk to Yuno, one they obviously made often. The God's Cry did often feel the pain of not recruiting a priest. None of them were particularly good at taking injuries, and Taiken and Ruriko's healing talents left a lot to be desired. There was also this issue of travelling; anywhere they went, they walked.

"It's good exercise," said Taiken dismissively.

It was certainly tiring. Kyo had never walked more than a few miles at a time, but she was now required to spend days at a time just walking. She tended to lag behind the group. They stopped when it grew dark and awoke at sunrise. Being that it was still summer, she certainly felt she could do with more sleep.

And indeed, food. They all ate so little, she wondered if they didn't all have eating disorders. No wonder Carmina was so convinced they needed "feeding up".

"You don't think it would be a good idea to eat a bit more?" she asked Hawk, trying to pretend she didn't have a stitch.

He looked a little baffled by the question. "Well…" he began uneasily, "we have to pace our food." He paused slightly. "I'm sorry; you've never done much travelling before; I'll…"

"No, no, no," she interjected in a rush; he was looking worried suddenly. "I'll be fine."

He nodded, looking most unconvinced, though that evening he did try giving her his share of the food. It took some arguing to make her accept, but he was quite clearly the superior arguer.

The next day was so similar to all the previous days – bright, sunny, and with a cool dry breeze. They hadn't met anyone for quite a while. They were passing some lovely scenery over to their right. Great tumbling rolling hills, smothered heavily in woods into the distance and bright with summer's flowers. In the distance there was the dark blue outline of sharp cloud-shrouded mountains.

"That's the mountain range that houses the Payon region."

"Keep up," Draco added with a smile.

Kyo smiled apologetically and nodded, though still walked quite slowly. She was reasonably transfixed by the tranquil green view.

Something five-fingered coiled around her arm very tightly. She was about to shout out, but another hand clamped over her mouth, while the other detached from her, and an entire arm went tightly across her torso. Her eyes widened. She couldn't turn to fight back, or even see her foe. She struggled against the clamp over her chest. She felt her back pressed against someone much larger than her.

It all happened very quickly. Within a few seconds at most; there was no reason to suppose any of others had noticed.

The person holding her was starting to move away, dragging her with them – she stumbled slightly, but they lifted her from the ground to mask the noise. Her chakrams, usually at her sides, were gone. They must have taken them… Maybe she still had her knife… hopefully… She could move her elbows, though her arms didn't have many places to go.

She watched her view edge away from the group; she couldn't see what she was doing. Suddenly, her hand met cold metal – she clamped her fingers around the knife, and tore it from its sheath. The person holding her tensed more, noticing her unexpected and quick movement. She couldn't aim for the torso – instead she drove the blade into the leg behind her.

A grunt of pain signified her captor to be male. His grip loosened slightly, but not enough for a quick getaway. A clang on the ground – he dropped her chakrams. He took but a moment to recover grabbed her again roughly. Her feet left the ground again, he was much stronger than she was. He twisted her wrist around painfully, and she dropped her weapon.

The grass crackled – someone was advancing very quickly. Something black whizzed past her head with a shrill whoosh, and embedded itself in her captor's shoulder with a loud thud. He grunted again, and the iron clamp of his arm loosened.

She slipped beneath him, a little faster than she expected, and started away.

He recovered quickly too. He seized her arm and yanked her painfully backwards.

She suddenly caught sight of Oshi, but not for long. She landed in a heap, but close enough to her chakrams to grab one. With her free hand, she took up one of her weapons and drove it roughly in the direction of her foe.

She scrambled to her feet and picked up her other chakram, whirling around to face him. Oshi was now dangerously close, bringing up a katar for a good stab.

The man slipped past the assassin, and leapt back. It was hard to see what he was doing; he was dressed in long billowing black robes. He face was also hidden behind a mask. He stood straight and starting hissing out a spell.

Oshi took his place in front of Kyo, and Draco and Chisel rushed ahead of her also.

Ruriko squealed suddenly. "That's a necromancer! He's summoning an avatar!"

"Take them down quickly!" Taiken shouted.

Them? More than one? Had he really finished summoning that quickly?

"Dark priests," muttered Draco darkly.

There were two of them, matted and dark, scars etched across what skin was visible. Kyo focused on one, who stared at her earnestly and steadfastly. They were after her.

Draco and Oshi sprinted immediately after them, and Chisel ran to attack the necromancer. A lot of noise erupted behind them. Kyo followed after a moment's hesitation – her foresight wasn't working. She hadn't often fought without it. It was more than unnerving that she should no longer have that advantage.

Now he had finished summoning; a giant, black bird-like creature had its claws latched defensively onto his shoulders. He was now also surrounded by five glowing red orbs, turning and swooping irregularly.

The first thing he did was throw them at Chisel, who hurriedly threw himself out of the way. The second thing he did was send the avatar after him. It spread its wings grandly and swooped off after the blacksmith. He raised his axe tensely.

Kyo noticed she could ignore the bird. She instead made for the necromancer; his masked face followed her perfectly calmly as an arm reached for a long sword.

She suddenly felt sceptical. He didn't seem to think her capable of a proper fight. He was probably right, but more of a reaction from him would have calmed her somewhat.

She threw her weight behind her weapons and barged straight at him. He met the attack calmly with his sword. She pushed against him, then remembered he was stronger, backed off, and tried striking again.

Despite the stab through the leg and the arrow in his shoulder, he didn't seem at all hindered. He was quick too. He met her attacks effortlessly. She swept about and struck as fast as she knew how, but he kept up.

He sidestepped a high kick. She span around to strike him with her other hand. The attack stopped, not with the clang of metal, but with a deft catch of her wrist. He caught her arm with his free hand, and twisted it while discarding his sword to grab her other arm. She pummelled her knee into his stomach, although all that did was make him wince. As soon as she dropped her chakram in one hand, he began twisting the other. He looked over her shoulder, and adjusted their angle slightly.

The pain in her arm started again, and she dropped her remaining weapon. He tugged her about slightly, trying to gather both her arms into one hand. It was getting very frustrating; her struggles were amounting to nothing.

Suddenly another pair of arms was in the fray. She felt bruising as one of the necromancer's hands was thrown from hers, and Hawk quickly pushed her away from him and punched him squarely in the mask.

Kyo tripped and landed on her back, and sat up quickly. The other man snarled in what was definitely frustration. He brought both fists across Hawk's face. The hunter's head was thrown back and he toppled to his knees more in surprise than anything else. He pulled his bow from his shoulder and had it notched and tensed in the blink of an eye.

"Hold!" he shouted sharply, staring defiantly up at his target. "Or this will go through your throat."

The necromancer did hold; he swayed slightly, maybe sifting through the dizziness Hawk's first punch had inflicted. Then he stopped moving completely. His masked face stared defiantly back at the hunter. There was a heavy pause.

"… Hara?" A voice, deep and strangely soft, spoke.

Hawk's aggressive stance drooped slightly, and his head inclined in confusion. "Who are you?" he said back, bewildered.

The necromancer tensed further. His posture was tired rather than calm now. He took a step towards them, then Hawk remembered that he'd threatened to shoot him and tensed his bow again.

A halt again. He slowly looked over what else was happening in the fight. Kyo turned too – she wasn't sure if they were winning or losing. Ruriko and Chisel were doing quite well against the avatar, from what she could tell. Draco and Oshi were vanishing in and out of sight too much. Taiken was doing something about a gash over Chisel's arm.

She turned back to see if she could discern anything from the necromancer's reaction. He made none. He was still deliberating over whatever it was, very slowly.

He made a move. "… Retreat for now," he called in a firmer voice. The dark priests looked at him, then teleported away, and the avatar vanished in a flash of light.

At the completion of this order, he looked back at Hawk. "Your name is Hara, correct? Hara Avis?" he said, the softer voice back.

"Who are you?" Hawk repeated, each syllable stressed aggressively. He arm holding his bowstring back was trembling.

The other said nothing. With a blindingly quick movement, he drew out another sword from his cloak and brought it under Hawk's chin. Hawk didn't move.

"Your were born is Hara Avis, correct?"

Hawk paused grudgingly, and heaved an agitated sigh. "… Correct," he spat back after a while.

The necromancer didn't move. "I see…" he whispered. He hissed out a spell, and had teleported away also.

When he was definitely gone, Hawk stood up, and replaced the arrow in his quiver. He turned and held out a hand to Kyo. She was surprised to see his face so white. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

She took his hand and stood up. All along her arms were red bruises where she'd been grabbed. "Are you?"

"Perfectly undamaged." He forced a small smile.

She suddenly remembered that she'd just gotten the guild involved in a rather tough fight. She whirled around, quite deeply ashamed not only that the attackers were specifically after her, but that she'd been unable to do anything herself. "Is everyone alright? I'm really very sorry…" she tried imploring.

Taiken cut her off. "It's not like it's your fault."

"But you all needn't have…"

"It's fine, Kyo, seriously." Taiken patted her on the shoulder. He turned to Hawk. "Are you alright? He was asking your birth name."

Hawk nodded. "Yeah. I don't remember anyone who might've known my real name."

"Known?" Draco repeated. "As in… he definitely had it right?"

"He did."

Taiken paused slightly. "You really don't remember any of your childhood? It looks like you're the reason they left."

The hunter was shaking his head now, repeatedly. Alder swooped down from nowhere and perched on his forearm, crooning reassuringly.

"We should get moving," Oshi pronounced away from the agitated cluster. "And keep Kyo in the centre of group."

"Yeah," Chisel agreed, "that was damn close."

Kyo lowered her head and fidgeted nervously with her skirt. Chisel, Ruriko and Taiken took the lead, and Kyo sidled after them. The red marks on her arms ached as though the necromancer still had hold of her.

-X-X-

Payon caves were certainly interesting. Excel was also glad to have the opportunity of not worrying about Hyatt – there was no way the girl would ever be trusted to go on any trip, especially one so far from home.

She even found Ghost was easier to put up with, having discovered this new respect for her. She was just… odd, and there was nothing wrong with that.

"You didn't want to come," Excel said to her suddenly.

"I don't want anyone to come here," she replied nonchalantly, "it's too dangerous. Didn't the school want you to collect some of those?"

"Ah, yeah! Thanks… Well, there have always been monsters in here…"

"It's too dangerous," the acolyte interrupted, completely devoid of aggression. "No one knows just how deep these caves go, or what's in them. It's too dangerous."

Excel didn't have time to make a reply; she was hacking awkwardly away at some oddly rock-like mushrooms, and Ghost had decided to check on the rest of the group. Excel watched her. She moved with neither fatigue nor jaunt, instead clutching her cat doll firmly to her chest. Her fixation with it was so puzzling…

Their party numbered six. Other than Tone, herself, and Ghost, there were three others: Robin's cousin (his mother had named her), a fairly advanced archer who knew the outer caves quite well, and a reforming thief, affectionately dubbed "Pug".

Otono, like his cousin, was an aspiring crusader; he had made it his own mission to protect everyone. He was a complete dork really.

"Pug, did you hurt yourself again?" Ghost asked.

"No, I didn't!" he spat back indignantly.

"Please move your hand."

"I said no, Ghost!"

"Please move your hand now."

Ghost was persistent, patient, and kept her tone of voice the same, constantly. Pug was learning to let her treat his injuries. He had started out very arrogant and defensive about his getting hurt.

"Excel." It was Fern, the archer. "Tone and I were going to investigate the ahead route; we're not sure where it leads."

Excel nodded. "I'll wait for you here."

Otono and Pug, far too eager to be at the forefront of things, invited themselves to accompany Tone and Fern. The elder two shrugged and carried on without a word. The younger two took this for a yes.

Excel watched the light of their lamp vanish down the passage Fern had pointed to, and Ghost lit a spell of sight. She stood with it over Excel's mad mushroom hacking expedition.

"Thank you," she said.

"You've done your hands some harm; you should have worn your gloves. Let me heal them." The acolyte squatted down and held her palms open over Excel's scratches.

"Ghost, it's really fine, it's nothing…"

"I don't want them to get infected."

She closed the slightly insignificant wounds quickly. Excel quickly dug her gloves out of her pouch and put them on, and stowed away what she'd gathered. A crackle on the ground behind them signalled the return of Fern and the others.

"That was quick…" Excel began, rising to her feet and turning. She stopped.

It wasn't Fern and the others. It wasn't any of them.

She had no idea who this was.

Ghost was staring now too. She held out the blue flame right out in front of her. Their visitor didn't drawn back from the light.

Excel gasped and readied her hammer. They weren't human.

"Put that down," she drawled in a high voice.

"… Excuse me?"

"I'm not looking for a fight, put it down."

She hefting a fairly impressive weapon: slung lazily on one shoulder was a long pole, with a heavy golden bell hanging from the end. A bright blonde tail swished down her back, and above her young girl's face was a hood of fur, crowned with a tall pair of fox's ears. She was short and slim, her limbs ending in fur and paws.

She stood staring at them with almond shaped hazel eyes and a fanged frown.

"What are you?"

She turned to Excel. "I have a name."

"Well, OK… My name's Excel, and this is Ghost."

She nodded. "My name is Moonlight Flower." She grinned suddenly, showing many pointed teeth. "What do you think? Isn't it a nice name? It's pretty, isn't it? I picked it myself." She didn't wait for an answer. Her eyes swivelled instead back to Ghost. "Who are you?"

"I am as she says. People call me Ghost."

Moonlight Flower sniggered slightly, the bell over her shoulder clanging slightly. It was surprisingly loud. "You're weird," she said eventually.

"That's not nice," Excel broke in indignantly. She didn't want people thinking of Ghost like that.

"I just mean her presence doesn't feel quite right," replied Moonlight Flower, waving a paw nonchalantly. "I sensed something odd a while ago, but then it left before I could investigate. Then I felt it again, so I came looking, and I found you."

"I did not do this to myself," Ghost said. Excel was about to ask her what "this" was, but Moonlight Flower saw fit to reply to this.

"I figured as much, child," she said. "I can't imagine any human would choose such a fate willingly." She looked over at the passage where Fern and the others had gone, her large ears twitching slightly. "Well, I was sure you weren't a threat, but you're certainly a strange presence. I hope you have fun doing… well, whatever it is you are doing. Although let me advise you to be careful."

"We will, Moonlight Flower," Ghost replied.

Moonlight Flower nodded, and then sighed exasperatedly. "Oh… She's out, and now her friend's out too. That reminds me, you need to watch out for one other. You did encounter her last time you were here, did you not?"

"Who is "he"?"

"I'm sure his name appears in your understanding of the events of her life. But be wary of him. I'm looking for him, but he's a tricky little whatsit. Do not try to fight him. He will kill you. Oh don't worry, precious," she said when she saw Excel gaping. "Just run like anything and you'll be fine. I hope to meet you again…"

She turned and ran, the bell clanging lots, although she must have been able to move quietly should she want to. With a sweep of a pawed arm, she'd disappeared in a swirling of flames. Ghost waved.

"What was she talking about?" Excel asked, somehow short of breath.

"The "she" must have been Munak." Whoa, what! "And if I remember rightly, the "he" will probably be her companion in life, Bongun."

"That's just a fairytale or something though, isn't it? Wait…" She stopped. "Is that why you didn't want us to come? Because you've… seen Munak?"

"Yes."

"Right," Fern had returned, "if we follow that route, we should find some sohees. Are you alright, Excel?"

"Oh… yes, I'm fine."

"Did we hear a bell earlier…?"

"No, no you didn't."

Ghost looked at her.