Chapter 3: Surviving
When viewing the world through one's eyes, one only saw what lay ahead of them, only the tiniest grain of what the world contained. With eyes, one saw only that which could be touched, that which could be tasted, that which had a physical form. What Teclis was scouring the world for could not be seen with mere eyes. And so, while his body sat in deep mediation, his mind and soul soared ahead on the Winds of Magic. To say that he was seeing the world as he journeyed like this would be a crude and wrongfully simplified way of describing it, but it would have to do.
For he saw more than what mere eyes could see, he saw the innumerable powers that roamed this world. Some so small and insignificant that they barely registered to him, others standing out as powerful practitioners of the arcane, and a few stood as unchallenged titans in a world of vermin. Teclis journeyed far and wide, mind constantly at guard against the foul beings of Chaos that would seek to claim his soul. Yet no matter how far he went, his search proved to be in vain, for he found not that which had vexed him for so long now.
"Where are you?" he spoke to himself in irritation. Unfortunately, he could search no more, for he felt his mind growing weak and tired after sailing on the Winds of Magic for so long without a physical form. Elves might be stronger in both mind and body than the young humans, but not even they could go on forever without rest. So it was, with great reluctance, that Teclis returned to his body, safe and secure in his quarters back at the White Tower of Hoeth on Ulthuan. When his mortal eyes opened again, the first thing he became aware of was the terrible cramp his muscles had developed. It was with some strain that he got himself upright again, but at least he restrained the humiliating groan he was close to letting out.
Aenarion's Curse. Ever did it leave him weak in body like a cripple. Once again, that small longing of having a body as strong as his fellow kin reared its ugly head. It was swiftly dispelled with the same ease a man might swat away a fly. Wishful thinking would never get him anywhere. Better to focus on that which he had rather on that which he never would have. Weak and tired from his long excursion, he hobbled over to his desk, where a plate of fruits and bread waited for him, alongside a pitch of water and a bottle of healing potion. At least he had had the foresight not to order a warm meal, knowing it would have grown cold by the time he was done.
And so he seated himself, or more accurately slumped into in his chair. First to go was the potion, which he downed in one quick go, feeling the warm and bitter concoction travelling down his throat. The bitter taste was worth it however, as stiff muscles loosened up, aching bones were mended and some semblance of strength returned to his gaunt frame. A sigh of contentment found its way out of his throat before he began eating. But even as he savored the sweet taste of an exotic fruit, his mind refused to leave that which troubled him, that which had compelled him to undertake this long search.
"I can't give up just yet. Too much is at stake," he murmured quietly to himself. He had looked far and wide, but concentrated mostly on Norsca, yet what he had sought had been hidden from him. But he would not give up, not yet at least. A sudden knock on his door snapped Teclis out of his thoughts and nearly made him drop his glass of water from surprise. The surprise only lasted a second, and then Teclis had composed himself.
"Please leave. I am in the middle of important work here, and I asked not to be disturbed until I was done," he ordered, having no time for whoever was knocking on his door. Or so he thought at least.
"Now that just wounds me, brother. To be dismissed by my own flesh and blood so callously," an all too familiar voice spoke with a mock hurt tone. Teclis was instantly up from his seat and moving towards the door. Swinging it wide open, he was greeted with the sight of his dearest brother Tyrion. Tall and fair, with strength radiating from his proud frame like an aura, he stood like a complete opposite to Teclis' gaunt and scrawny frame. Nevertheless, no one could ever deny that these two men were brothers, with the way they embraced each other.
"It is good to see you again," Teclis spoke warmly when they parted from their embrace.
"Likewise. It's been far too long, brother," Tyrion answered with a happy smile on his lips. Alas, while Teclis was glad to see his brother again, he knew there was something else going on.
"But tell me, brother, is your visit solely for the sake of family reunion?" he asked. Like that, the smile vanished from Tyrion's lips, and a more somber look came across him.
"May I step inside?" he inquired, Teclis politely nodding his head in consent before stepping aside to let the taller man inside. Once Tyrion had stepped inside Teclis' chambers, he closed the door behind him and turned to face his brother.
"It's partly a personal reason, but also on behalf of the Phoenix King and Everqueen. The news that your fellow mages have brought to the court has made me, and many others, worried," Tyrion began to explain, causing Teclis to raise an inquisitive eyebrow at him.
"And what exactly are those news?" he asked of Tyrion as he retook his seat at his desk.
"That the High Loremaster had barricaded himself in his room for over a week, refusing to come out except when hunger compels him," here, Tyrion paused to take a seat offered by Teclis. "When our most powerful mage does something so uncharacteristic, people tend to take note," a short moment of silence fell between the brothers, as both waited to see who would make the next move. In the end, Teclis did.
"I suppose you deserve to know what's going on," he mumbled to himself before turning his entire focus on Tyrion. "I had a vision, brother. It was short and confusing to me, but it conveyed enough for me to understand the danger we are in," naturally, his words caused great anxiety in Tyrion, who leaned forward in his seat with concern written all over his face.
"What did you see?" he asked, but deep down, he had a good guess what he had seen. After all, there were few things in life that could affect the great Teclis like this.
"I saw death, I saw destruction. I saw the power of Chaos sweeping across the world like a tide of fire and darkness. Brother, I saw the end of all things mortal," Teclis revealed, confirming his brother's worst fears. There was no physical reaction to the news, but Teclis could see the truth in his brother's eyes. He was greatly disturbed, fearing for the life of his people. Rightly so, for this was a danger to them all.
"How is it possible? The forces of Chaos can't have grown that powerful, not that quickly at least," he tried to reason, obviously having a hard time believing it.
"You would be correct, but something has changed. In my vision, I saw what lead the invasion. A human… or creature… shrouded in darkness, radiating pure evil. All that I could truly make out of it were four red eyes, glowing with hatred and malice," Teclis described the monster he had seen in his visions. Silence fell over the brothers, with neither one sure how to proceed from there.
"Those are dark tidings indeed, brother," Tyrion finally spoke, eliciting a short nod from Teclis.
"Yes, but I hope to prevent it from happening. I've spent days travelling on the Winds of Magic, searching for whatever it is that will ignite the flames of Chaos. My hope is to find and kill this power in its infancy, stopping the cataclysm that would have otherwise engulfed us. Alas, it remains hidden from my sight, and so I have made no headway whatsoever," Teclis explained gravelly.
"If not even you can find it, that either means it is either very skilled at hiding its presence, or it has yet not been born," Tyrion reasoned.
"The thought has crossed my mind as well," Teclis admitted.
"Then you will have plenty of time to find it, and prepare for its arrival," here, Tyrion stood up and walked over to his brother to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Whatever this vision of yours entails, we will endure it, as we have always done. Ulthuan will not fall without a fight," he reassured Teclis, who did not share his brother's same level of optimism.
"That may be, brother. But mark my words, something is rising. Something… sinister," he warned gravelly.
By now, Raven had learned three very important lessons about this inhospitable land. Number one, the sun never came forward, so it was pointless waiting for daybreak. Number two, whenever the weather allowed it, you moved onward, for there was no point in staying at one place for very long. And finally number three, you scavenged what you could, when you could. For how many days she had now wandered the frozen wastes, Raven had no idea, but she had not had anything worthwhile to eat in a very long time, and it was taking its toll on her.
Being part daemon made it possible for her body to go longer stretches of time without sustenance than a human ever could, but being part human meant that she had her limits on how long she could keep going without food. Those limits were rapidly approaching her as she struggled on through the snow. 'At least it's not a snowstorm going on at the moment,' she thought to herself. Up ahead, another patch of gnarled trees poked out of the snow, and Raven decided to stop for a while.
She was hungry, and she was tired. After having spent at the very least a whole day walking, or flying when she felt strong enough, she was spent. She needed to rest for a little while. Not to mention that her body was frozen all over. Even her winter gear was not enough to stave off the cold climate here. There was only one thing to do, start a fire. So she set about gathering wood, using small bursts of her power to chop down branches and cut them up into smaller pieces. Sadly, each time she used her powers, her migraine would get a quick spike in intensity, causing her to momentarily flinch in pain.
"Just has to endure it. Pain is much more preferable to death by freezing," Raven grumbled to herself, doing her best to ignore the pain and keep working. Finally, she had enough to start a fire, which was where the next problem arose. Ten minutes later, and Raven sat huddled over a pile of twigs while working furiously to get a fire going by rapidly grinding pieces of wood against each other. It was a slow process, to say the least.
"Come on, please, just work already," she practically begged as she forced her fingers, all but frozen stiff from the cold, to keep working. She needed warmth, and fast. She was starting to lose feeling in her hands and feet, not a good sign. At last, there was smoke. Not much, mind you, but enough to get Raven's hopes to soar.
"Yes!" she quietly cheered for herself, and she began to carefully work on fanning it and really get a fire going. A sudden gust of wind had Raven nearly diving over her work in her haste to shield it. Thankfully, there was still smoke, and after a few moments of work, she got a few twigs on fire.
"Don't go out on me now here. Don't have time to start over," thankfully for her, the need never arose, and she soon had a nice little campfire going. She took a short moment to mentally thank Robin profusely for his insistence of teaching the team basic surviving techniques when alone in the wilderness. She had hated it then, but now she was eternally grateful for it. With a source of warmth at last, Raven huddled as close as she could, tightly wrapped up in her cloak as she vigorously rubbed her limbs to get the blood flowing again.
Ever so slowly, the numbness faded away and warmth spread through her body. Letting out a content sight, she threw a few extra branches on the fire to keep it going. But as quickly as her sense of hope and accomplishment had come, it vanished, and Raven was left with only the dark thoughts that had plagued her for days. What was she accomplishing by struggling on like this? A few extra days alive, if hardly even that? Was there any way to save herself from this frozen hellhole? Was there a light at the end of this dark tunnel for her? Was there another living sole in this land beside herself and the animals?
Were even her friends here?
She should be praying that such was not the case. This was not a hospitable land, this was hell frozen over. It was a miracle that Raven had stayed alive for so long here, what with no food and barely any shelter to speak of. No, being stranded here was a cruelty that her friends should never have to suffer. So why did she wish they were here? Why did she wish that her friends could be with her at this very moment, to give her strength and comfort? The answer was simple; because she was selfish. Alone and on the brink of starvation, she was willing to fantasize about her friends suffering in this land, if only so she would not have to suffer alone.
Did that make her a bad person? Raven could honestly not answer that. She certainly felt bad now, but was it really so much to ask from someone who was likely to die soon? Once again, she could almost hear Robin berating her for even thinking that. This time however, Raven could not draw strength from it. Days of wandering with naught but snow to fill her belly with and the howling wind as her only companion had made Raven realize the truth. She would most likely die out here, lost and forgotten, destined as nothing more than food for scavengers. If the cold did not claim her soon, then hunger would. She knew this, had even accepted it, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth admitting it.
"After everything I've done, is this how it's going to end? After defeating my father, defending the innocent from evil and protecting the world from destruction, am I destined to just fade away out here in the snow where no one will ever find me?" she asked herself in despair. It just was not fair, none of it was. Then again, life was never fair. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes, but she refused to cry again, she was stronger than that. Even if she died, Raven would not show such weakness.
"I can't give up, not yet, not while I still have some strength left in me," she tried to tell herself, tried to find the willpower to keep going no matter what. After all, it would not be the first time she had faced a hopeless situation and triumphed. The demise of her father should have been proof enough that there always was a chance to win. 'But then, I had my friends with me then, I did not stand alone in that fight,' she added to herself dejectedly. A sense of self-loathing suddenly emerged, one she had not felt in many years. 'Am I really so pathetic that I can't do anything without my friends backing me up?' honestly, she felt disappointed in herself, hiding behind the excuse that her friends were not here to help her.
Hope had failed to give her the strength to move on, but anger surprisingly enough gave her that. She was not some weakling that needed help every step of the way. She could make it through this alone, she would make it through. No matter what, she would survive, and she would find her way back home, back to her friends. This, she swore to herself.
No matter what.
That vow of hers would be put to the test sooner than she had anticipated, for her empathic powers suddenly felt something she had not felt in many days, something that sent chills down her spine. Bloodlust, pure and unrestrained bloodlust, and a mindless rage that burned like an out of control fire. 'No, it can't be. They can't have possibly been following after me all this time,' Raven thought in alarm as she hastily flew up on her feet, hands encased in dark energy. She could hear them now, soft steps in the snow, heavy breathing from running for so long, and menacing growls as they had finally caught up with their prey.
The twisted wolves slowly advanced into the light offered by the campfire, displaying their hideously warped bodies for Raven's eyes yet again. Outwardly, she remained as calm as ever, ready for battle. Inwardly, she was a storm of worry. Did she have the strength to fight them? Last time, she had barely been able to hold them off long enough to escape, and she had been in far better shape back then. Now, with hunger eating away at her, she doubted she would be able to remain standing for long. Retreat seemed to be the best option for her, run away and live to fight another day.
But what would be the point? These creatures had tirelessly chased her for all these days, what was stopping them from doing the same thing again if she ran away? The only difference would be that she would be even more tired and worn down than what she already was. No, running away was no longer an option, she had to stand her ground and fight.
"I refuse to die just yet," she snarled out as she waited for the inevitable. The wolves seemed to take her words as a challenge, as with a sudden howl, they charged at her. A blast of dark energy sent three of them reeling back, and a massive fist swatted aside another two trying to flank her. But they were fast, and the rest had already closed the distance. Raven conjured a shield of dark energy in front of her that four of them ran headfirst into. A fifth however managed to change direction and dodged around the shield. Raven swiftly took to the air to avoid its jaws before coming back down straight in their midst like an artillery shell, sending out a shockwave of dark energy as she impacted the ground that sent the wolves closest to her flying away.
Alas, the beasts possessed no true sense of fear or self-preservation, and so just kept on charging despite getting beaten back by Raven's magic. Even as another three were knocked out, they relentlessly hounded her. It was quickly growing to be too much for her to handle. Tired and hungry, she did not have much strength left in her. Already, she was breathing heavily as she blasted back another wolf before creating a barrier to stop another from sneaking around. Yet still she fought on, despite the odds being against her.
"You're gonna have to work for your meal!" Raven shouted defiantly as a crescent wave of dark energy swept away three more wolves. Stretching her arms out, she ripped off several thick branches with her powers and swung them at her opponents, forcing them back temporarily. It was a short-live reprieve, as one wolf slipped past and lunged at Raven. Worn out by the fighting, she barely managed to bring up a barrier in time to shield herself. Sadly, it did not work. Weakened as she was, she could not properly strengthen it, and the hungry wolf smashed right through her barrier like it was glass.
Eyes wide with fright, she desperately tried to dive to the side. It certainly saved her life, but the wolf still managed to strike her right arm with its claws as it barreled past her. Three deep gashes were ripped through clothes and flesh, causing Raven to cry out in pain as she fell to the snow. Unfortunately for her, the smell of blood in the air drove the other wolves into a frenzy and they surged forward, jaws salivating from the promise of fresh meat. Raven swiftly formed a dome around herself, focusing with all her might to keep it up. The beasts would not be deterred however, and so heedlessly threw themselves at it, trying to break through with all they had.
Hissing in pain, both of the physical and mental kind, Raven clutched her bleeding arm with her left hand, encasing it in softly blue-colored energy. Instantly, the pain in her arm was soothed, and the bleeding stopped. Alas, she did not have the strength to fully heal it, and had to settle with that. On shaky legs, she forced herself back up, already feeling the dome cracking under the unrelenting onslaught unleashed against it. 'I can't keep up like this,' she thought to herself in despair. Her headache was just growing worse by the minute, the insidious power clawing at her mind to gain access just as violently as the beasts outside the dome.
"I can't give up, I can't give up. I must survive. I must get back home. I will not die out here," she quietly intoned to herself, bracing for the onslaught about to come. Then, the dome shattered, and the beasts came at her with furious howls. With a growl of her own, Raven sent multiple bolts of dark energy flying at the wolves, knocking dozens of them back, but more kept on coming. Yet she refused to give up, and kept throwing them back with her powers. Unfortunately, she could not sustain this furious pace for very long. One of the wolves had gotten dangerously close, coming at her from the side, and she sent a bolt of dark energy at it. Sadly, the attack was too weak, and did nothing but further infuriate this already rage filled creature.
Seeing the danger, Raven tried to avoid it, but was too slow. In an instant, the beast was upon her and clamped its powerful jaws down on her shoulder, tearing through skin and flesh with contemptuous ease. Raven screamed in agony as her left side became drenched in blood while the creature threw her around like a ragdoll. She could feel the wolf's razor sharp teeth chewing through her flesh, she agonized as it bit so strongly that her bones almost cracked under the pressure. Her emotions reacted strongly to the pure pain she was suffering, and her powers momentarily got out of hand, letting out a sudden blast of dark energy that knocked Raven free from the jaws of the wolf.
But all it did was leave her lying motionless on the ground, the snow rapidly turning red from her blood. It hurt, it hurt so damn much. She did not have the strength anymore to stand, she was spent. Any second now, she would feel those slobbering jaws tearing into her body like it was a buffet. 'After everything I've done, is this how my life ends? As food for a bunch of hungry animals?' she asked herself dejectedly. It did not feel right to her, not right at all. She did not want to die, she wanted to live. She wanted to go back home and be reunited with her friends. Even as she laid half-dead in the snow, she could see their smiling faces in front of her, waiting for her.
A single tear rolled down her cheek as she realized they would be waiting in vain, that her story was about to end here and now. 'Does it really have to?' she had no idea where that thought came from, and had she been in a bit more lucid state, she would have realized that it had not been her own thought. 'The power to fight back is right there. Reach out, take it for your own, and you will live,' never in her darkest dreams would Raven have normally even thought of using such a tainted power. But then again, did she really have a choice? Was death really preferable to using this power? The answer came to her the moment she felt the hot breath of one of the beasts on her neck; no, it wasn't. And so, in a move that she would come to regret within the coming years, she let her defenses down a feasted upon this daemonic power that coursed through the land.
It felt both great and terrible at the same time, burning hot and freezing cold. But above all, it made her feel stronger than ever. With a sudden roar of fury, she sent the wolf above her flying like a missile with a blast of dark energy, shattering every bone in its body. The other beasts paused in apparent shock, if they even possessed the ability to feel shock. It gave Raven time to stand back up on her feet, no longer feeling tired or worn down. An aura of pure darkness pulsated around her like a vile heartbeat, the very shadows around her twisting and writhing from her very presence. Mist-like darkness began flowing around her torn and mangled shoulder, putting the flesh back together, reattaching nerve strings and mending damaged bones.
Despite still having the numbers on their side, the wolves did not immediately attack Raven again, who simply stood there with her head lowered. On some instinctual level, they felt that this was no longer a simple prey, but a fellow predator. Then, at last, did Raven raise her head, displaying her two red glowing eyes. Burning with pure malicious hatred, they glared at each and every wolf in front of her as Raven clenched her hands tightly enough force that her nails dug into her skin and drew blood. One of the wolves suddenly lunged at her again, but did not get far. She simply raised her hand and a spear of dark energy shot out and impaled the beast through its moth and exited through its back.
A part of Raven felt appalled at having killed a living being, something she had sworn to never do. For an empath like her, the death of a living being was harder than for anyone else, for she could feel as its life ended. She could feel its fear, its agony, right before it was snuffed out like a candle. It just felt… wrong. 'It was either you or the wolf, and you know it,' she knew that. By Azar, she knew that all too well, but it still felt wrong. But she had made a promise, a promise she intended to keep.
"I will survive this, no matter what," with that said, she gathered her power and unleashed it upon the wolves. The tables had turned, now the prey had become the predator. But the deformed wolves were not about to go down without a fight, and so lunged at Raven yet again. Kill or be killed, that was the rule of the wilderness.
Having delved deep into his meditations yet again, Teclis instantly felt the anomaly. A sudden spike in Chaos magic, the likes of which he had never felt before, reverberated across the Winds of Magic. Too small and insignificant to truly affect anything, no one would have even noticed it unless they had been looking for it, like Teclis was. Acting quickly before he lost it, Teclis grasped it like a thread and dragged himself towards the source. Closer and closer did he come, sensing the daemonic aura pulsating from whoever it was at the other end.
But before he could reach it, the thread was severed. Whoever this mysterious person was, he was done with whatever foul sorcery he had performed. But it had lasted long enough for Teclis to see two things. Firstly, a rough picture of his location. Norsca. Specifically, the land of the Graelings. Secondly, a young girl with ashen grey skin and violet hair.
"Gotcha," he though in triumph before returning to his body back at Ulthuan.
The fight was over at last, and Raven was the last one still standing. All around her, the rapidly cooling corpses of the wolves littered the ground, their blood painting the snow red. But they had certainly proved to be a challenge. Even with the daemonic power of this land empowering her, Raven had still been weak, and had therefore not escaped the fight without further harm. There were a handful of claw wounds adorning her body, and a really deep and nasty wound was on her thigh. As Raven forced the foreign power out of her again, she collapsed on all four, barely being able stay conscious.
She was now totally exhausted, both physically and mentally. Her battered body almost hurt too much to move, and so she just stayed where she was. Once again, the stab of guilt came back. She had actually killed those wolves. She had felt their emotions vanish, their lives snuffed out. 'You did what you had to do. It was either them or you,' she tried to tell herself that, tried to reason with her own conscience. It did not work all that well. Truthfully, Raven almost felt sick after what she had done. Almost. Like always, there was that one part of her that reveled in the death and destruction she had inflicted, a part of her that desired more. The daemon in her.
Having taken a moment to catch her breath, Raven tried to do her best to heal her wounds. It was sloppy work, for she was too drained to do it properly. Well, at least she stopped the bleeding for the most part. And that was when another problem of hers made its presence known again with a grumble. She was starving, and she needed some food. Without even realizing it, her eyes found themselves drawn to the dead wolves surrounding her. Indecision dominated her mind. Those creatures had been mutated into twisted abominations, was it really safe to eat them?
In the end, she decided it did not matter. She was starving. If she did not find food soon, then she would die from starvation. 'Beggars can't be choosers. Just do what you need to do to survive,' she tried to tell herself as she grabbed one of the bodies and dragged it over to the campfire, that had miraculously survived the battle. 'I must survive,' she told herself as she drew her knife and set to work on the body. And that was what she kept telling herself as she skinned the beast and carved it up while struggling to keep herself from vomiting. 'I must survive,'
The hour was growing late. The stars were shining up in the sky serenely as the moon bathed the land beneath it in its pale light. Just another peaceful night on Ulthuan. Or at least, it was for most of the Elven population. For Teclis, there was naught but worry and anxiety as he struggled to repress the urge to pace in his room. He had finally found the mysterious anomaly, but it was out of reach for someone like him. He would need an entire army to get into Norsca, something the Elven people could ill afford to fund at this time. Fortunately, he knew just the kind of people who did not need an army to get the job done. But therein laid his anxiety as well, because he had no guarantee that they would be interested in helping him. Though dedicated to protecting Ulthuan, they had a habit of being painfully single-minded in their endless war with their most hated of enemy.
"You summoned us, High Loremaster," a dark voice suddenly announced from the shadows. Somehow, Teclis was not surprised that someone managed to sneak into room undetected. If anyone could do it, they could.
"Yes. I need your aid with a dangerous task," he began. There was no response from his mysterious intruder, but Teclis knew that they were still there. The fact that they had not left meant that they at least were willing to hear him out, so he resumed his explanation. "A great evil is growing in Norsca. A powerful sorceress of unknown origins. While still young, I fear that if she is allowed to mature, she will grow to become one of the greatest threats to ever come out of those accursed lands,"
"And how does this concern us?" the mysterious intruder suddenly asked. It was a question that Teclis had anticipated.
"At her current level, she's but a novice, and no match for a true master of the arcane. Problem is, she's so deep into Chaos infested lands that I would need a host of the High Elves finest warriors to reach her," here, he paused in his explanation to look right in the general direction of where the mysterious voice had come from. "But as masters of stealth and assassination, you don't need such might. And so I am asking you humbly to send a squad of your men to hunt down and kill her before she grows too powerful," once again, silence greeted his words. That silence stretched out for so long that Teclis began to worry.
"We are in a war here, Teclis. A war against our ancestral enemies that each day cost men and resources. It's an enemy, I might add, that is a threat right now rather than in the future. So why should we waste time and men on a lone little girl when we have greater threats to worry about?" in all honesty, Teclis had anticipated that answer. Single-minded hatred that bordered on fanaticism.
"With all due respect, Malekith and his ilk have not made a major move against Ulthuan for centuries. For the moment, we are in a stalemate with one another, but this girl poses the risk to breaking the status quo and tipping the odds in the Druchii's favor," he tried to argue.
"You are not on the frontlines, mage. You do not face those murderous bastards on a daily basis. You do not patrol the borders of Ulthuan, wondering if today would be the day that Malekith would return with his army. You can't possibly know what kind of threat the Druchii are," the intruder snarled in anger, but Teclis would not relent.
"No, because I am looking at the bigger picture here. I see a threat that may grow far more dangerous than Malekith if it isn't stopped soon. Trust me, this is something we can ill afford to ignore. So I urge you, put aside your hatred for just one moment and help me stop a great evil from rising," he implored. He was met yet again with silence, and this one lasted far longer than the earlier one. Finally, there was an answer from his guest.
"If High Loremaster Teclis is so convinced that this is a threat worthy of our attention, then we will abide," he finally relented. It brought a great sense of relief to Teclis. 'Maybe now we can get things done,' he thought hopefully to himself.
"I am grateful for that. Your target is currently somewhere in Graeling land, a young girl with grey skin and hair the color of violet. I'm sorry, but that's all I was able to find out about your target," even though Teclis could not see his guest, he got the feeling that he was unconcerned about the lack of details.
"And that is all we need to know. Rest assured, the Shadow Warriors will find this girl, and end her life," and just like that, he was gone, the only sign of his departure being a fleeting shadow at the balcony that vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
Nighttime was upon the land, or at least Raven assumed so was the case. Hard to keep track of night and day when the sun never shone. Seated in front of her fire, Raven just threw away a bone she had been gnawing on to get the last pieces of meat on it. Though even when she had grilled them to the point of almost burning them, it had not been enough to get rid of the foul taste in the meat. Oh well, she now had food in her belly, which was better than nothing. That only left her with one problem to deal with.
Thanks to her limited healing, she had been able to stop the bleeding from her wounds and removed any bruises or swellings. Unfortunately, she was neither skilled nor strong enough to deal with the deep wound on her thigh beyond temporarily stemming the blood flow. It needed to be closed, and fast, before it got infected or the bleeding started again. Unfortunately, she only knew of one method that could close such a big wound when needles and threads were not available.
She was doing her best to steel herself for what she knew was about to come, even tearing a piece of her cloak off and bundling the piece in her mouth to bite into. 'Come on girl, don't get squeamish now. It has to be done if you want to survive,' she tried to tell herself as she looked at the knife lying in the fire, its blade glowing red hot. 'Well, here goes nothing,' with a deep breath, she tentatively reached out and grasped the handle before lifting the knife out of the fire. 'You must do whatever it takes to survive,' biting down even harder on the cloth in her mouth while being close to hyperventilating, Raven did not give herself a chance to reconsider her choice and pressed the glowing blade against her wound. As the unmistakable sound of sizzling flesh began, Raven could not stop herself from letting out a loud scream of agony that echoed across the landscape. 'No matter what, I will survive,'