The charred waste that they had to make their way past didn't bear well with Aaron. It felt like failure, but he tried his best to hide it. He was glad when Daley set them on a different path, away from the scar.

Once at the cave, Aaron set about to making camp, satisfied with Daley's assessment of the situation. At the howl Aaron paused, eyes gazing into Arden's shadows outside the cave.

Looking at Luke, he frowned, shrugging.

"Just trying my best to manage what we can, here. It wasn't easy." He shook his head, setting his sword and what little gear he had against the cave wall, where Aaron sat beside it.

He gestured to the cave entrance. "At first, the redskins and Amber's forces here were pretty evenly matched, from what I could gather when I showed up. I spent two weeks alone out in the green, performing guerrilla strikes against them by myself, to test their capabilities." His eyes took on a wistful look. "Mostly hit-and-run stuff. Only once did I take on a larger group of them alone, and I've got a few new scars to prove it."

Aaron nodded to Daley. "I came back and met up with Callan and Arden's defenders after that. With their help and what I'd learned from my own experience, we were able to start making a dent in their advance." He shook his head. "Then they started burning us out and we had to order the men back to stave the losses. I should've seen it coming, honestly." He chuckled. "I have too much respect for Arden. I shouldn't have assumed that my enemy felt the same."

Reaching into his pack, Aaron pulled out a skin of rich red wine. He took a short pull, before gesturing it towards Luke. "Not the cheap stuff," he said with a half-smile. "What have you been up to?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Thu 05 Sept 2013.

While Aaron and Luke discuss their recent activities, Daley sets about hanging a blanket inside the cave entrance to muffle any sounds from inside, and block the firelight.

Then he steps outside, returning a little while later and grabbing himself a bite to eat.

"Still there." he announces quietly, waving a hunk of bread in the general direction of the back of the cave, "Snuck up the 'ill an' seen the fires across the valley.  Reckon as we'll be there round 'bout middle of the mornin'.  All bein' well."

He pauses for a mouthful of the bread, then continues, "Not meanin' to tell you 'ow to do your jobs, but you should make sure as you get a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow's like as not goin' to be busy, an' you'll need you wits 'bout you."

The night passes in relative quiet, save for the occasional cries of animals.

And as dawn spreads its misty light across the forest, the trio set off up the hill and down into the next valley.  Daley knows exactly where he's going, and soon finds his way onto a game trail which makes travel a little easier.

At the edge of a small pond, he stops and crouches.  "They've been 'ere.  See?  No other bugger wears boots like them."  He indicates a strange bifurcate print.  "It's on account of their feet, see?  Only got two big toes on each, with a gap between.  Like this."  The scout holds out his hand, with the thumb and littlest finger extended and the others folded into the palm.

"Makes it bloody easy to spot when you're tracking one of 'em."

Standing, he looks down at the print before lifting his head, "Print's not fresh.  Most likely as it's from yester... bloody 'ell!" this last an awed whisper.

Across the pond a creature has stepped out of the forest, moving quietly on delicate hooves, it's hide shining white in the morning light.  It dips its head to drink, as if completely unaware of the three men, and a sunbeam lancing through the canopy makes its single horn seem to burn.

It drinks its fill, then raises its head to look directly at Aaron, before turning to walk back into the forest.  Just before it disappears from sight, it stops and looks back at the men.  Then it continues walking...

Gazing down at the print, Aaron nodded in agreement. At Daley's awed whisper, Aaron looked up, his eyes widening at what had stepped into view before them from the depths of the forest.

Aaron slowly rose to his feet, his own eyes meeting that of the Unicorn itself. Time stopped, as it was wont to do in such impossible situations, before the animal turned and went on its way.

"I'm not a fan of portents," Aaron said after a time, "but I'd count that as a good one, if anything at all. We have to figure out a way to stop this assault, if just to protect the likes of that"

Daley can only stand, shaking his head in disbelief.  "An omen, yeah.  That's right.  I've 'eard of it, but I ain't never seen it before.  An' if some bugger told me as 'e 'ad, I'd've named 'im liar."

"It's you, Sir.  You've brung good luck to Arden."

The scout grins and claps Aaron on the back before starting to move on.

A short while later, there is a faint smell of smoke drifting among the trees, and Daley signals for quiet as they approach the camp.  The forest itself seems to comply with the instruction.  The air is still, and there is no bird song or other animal sound to disturb the quiet.  "'Ware now.  We're gettin' close."  The trio move onward, and Daley leads them away at an oblique angle before pushing aside a screen of alder.

For the second time that morning the man murmurs a shocked oath, "Bloody 'ell!"

The camp is there, but the fires are no more than smouldering ashes.  The troops who would be, under normal circumstances, at work or rest among the fires are there, but they do not look as if the present any danger.  Instead every one of them is laying, sprawled awkwardly upon the blood stained ground.  Lifeless.

All of them apparently dead...

Aaron scowled as he took in the broken forms before them. "Someone beat us to the punch, Daley," he said quietly.

He gestured to Luke and Daley to stay put. Slowly, carefully, Aaron made his way through the brush, keeping a keen sense of his surroundings and the awareness of his sword's own danger-sense.

Aaron did his best to keep aware of the situation as he approached the closest body, hoping to glean some sort of information as to what had killed so many. Even then, this setting itself could have been a trap for him, but Aaron couldn't simply leave without investigating.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Tue 24 Sept 2013.

Aaron examines the nearest body, one of the red skinned creatures.  It doesn't look like an animal attack.  There is a single clean, deep wound - a cut running from shoulder to abdomen.  Across the ribs, or what passes for ribs, he can see that whatever, or whoever, the attacker was, bone did not stop the weapon.

Something extremely sharp, and used with a lot of force.

The body is still fairly warm, and the copious quantities of blood still wet, so what happened here was probably recent.  One of the horns has been removed.

Nearby he can see the larger horned creature that Daley had described, also looking extremely dead, with its head on the ground a couple of yards away.  Again a clean cut, apparently made with a keen edge.

Most of the dead are armed, or at the very least have weapons nearby.

But not all who were here died here apparently.

There is at least one set of tracks, bloody footprints leading a short distance to the edge of the forest, fainter with each step, until they fade away completely.

Aaron became deadly still when he spotted the tracks. He turned, beckoning Daley and Luke to approach out of the undergrowth. Once there, he outlined the scenario.

"Someone hit these redskins hard and fast, and very, very recently. They also took out that big one you mentioned, Daley." He pointed at the decapitated corpse with his thumb. "It looks like there was at least one survivor, and the tracks are extremely fresh." He nodded his head towards them. "Let's go."

He hastily began moving in the direction of the tracks with Daley and Luke in tow. Something about the way these ones had been killed was nagging at his brain, but he did his best to focus his awareness on their surroundings. Whoever had done this was more than likely still in the area, so caution was important.

"Pleasant."  Luke paced in Aaron's wake.  "Brintizzi?  Jonnee Kay?  One of Amber's own?  Someone with heft and skill, to be sure."  Pursing his lips, he reached ahead, his presence expanding as if to fill the void of possibilities - places he might have been, or would go to in the future.

"I should be able to pick out any ambushes," he muttered.  "Though I'm sure your Lady could do the same.  She's been awfully quiet of late, of course."  Luke showed his teeth in a grin.  "Everything all right between you two?"

Where the bloody tracks end, Daley crouches to examine the earth.

"This ain't the redskins, nor their big friend." he announces, after a few moments.  "More than likely as it's them what attacked 'em.  Looks more like regular shoes of some kind.  Long strides, so going fast.  Reckon as 'ow I can track them easy enough.  More prints there, comin' together an... "

He is interrupted as Luke suddenly hisses and drops into a crouch, holding his head...

"Get away," Luke snarled, his eyes staring into nothingness.  Fear, an unfamiliar emotion, swept over him, to be met by rage.  Tapping his well of strength, he forced his spiritual shields to hold in the face of the assault.  "My mind is my own," he grated in a voice like cracking granite.  "I am free, and will give you NOTHING!"  The last word came as a laboured shout, and he pushed himself to his feet, bowed as if beneath a terrible weight.

Bowed, but not broken.  Not yet.

"Ilse... Arianne," he corrected, "is with her own people again, last I knew." Aaron slowly unsheathed his blade, preparing, looking ahead into the forest. "This sword is a free place, now." A free place, or an empty shell for something new.

His assessment of the carnage had been wrong, though. Looking to Daley, Aaron grit his teeth. "Who could have..." then he stopped as Luke probed outwards, and was struck upon in return. Aaron rushed to his side, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. Aaron applied his own talent at bridging, so familiar to him through his Sjardring training, and his experiences with Cyan and the rest of the group. He reinforced Luke's psychic defenses with his own.

"You will not face this alone." Aaron set his blade hard into the earth, supporting them both. "Who... what... is it?"

Hissing through gritted teeth, Luke seems able to hold his own against whatever is attacking him.  It seems to take some effort - the man is sweating profusely and the colour has drained from his face.  Daley watches curiously as Aaron moves to assist his friend.

For a long moment Luke doesn't answer Aaron's question... and then his face relaxes and he opens his eyes.

Daley moves ahead to scout a little way along the trail, while Aaron pulls Luke to his feet and makes sure he's feeling all right.  Luke, as it turns out, is recovering quickly from the attack.

When Daley returns he points back in the direction he'd been exploring.  "'round 'bout thirty yards down there the five or six of these new fellah's that came 'ere ran into a bunch more.  P'rhaps another twenty.  They're either dead quiet, or the big group only got 'ere after the redskins was all done for.  There's no sign as there was trouble, an' the redskins know their way 'round a forest.  Not seein' 'ow they could miss a couple of dozen people that close to their camp."

"I'm guessin' the second one - it don't seem right as anybody what could be that quiet in a bunch would be thick enough to leave a clear trail like this."

OOC - Sorry for missing this.

IC -

Luke shrugged away from Aaron almost savagely.  "I don't need your help," he hissed, taking a few steps away from the other man.  "I..."  Reaching up, he rubbed his face with his hand and breathed out slowly.  When he finally turned back to face Aaron, his expression had calmed.  "I'm sorry, Aaron.  Old habits.  Thanks for the assist."  An awkward thanks, but true.

Another deep breath.  "It was...a gestalt of some kind, Many minds as one.  Reminiscent of my father, in fact, at least in his current form, and quite a bit more than I could handle.  Had they pressed their assault, or been in closer proximity..."  He grimaced.

One eyebrow cocked, he peered at Aaron askance.  "They said they'd find me.  And that my...'sister' is helping them.  I wonder.  The Archons - Harbonah - took something from Cyan, used it to make hunters.  We've never actually encountered these beings, but they're out there, searching for us.  I can't think of any other 'sister' I might have hereabouts, though it's stretching the definition."

He rubbed his forehead again, wincing.  "At least it's not Abby.  That would be a disaster."  A motion toward Daley followed.  "Sounds like they might be closer than we might hope, as well."

Aaron pulled his hand away sharply at Luke's response, but he waved off his apology. "It's alright, friend. I don't blame you."

As Luke described what he was able to gather from the assault, Aaron's face turned stern. "If what you're saying is right, wouldn't that mean that these 'hunters' are under the command of someone else, given our uneasy truce with Harbonah?"

He shook his head. "We need to pursue this, but I'm beginning to prefer your idea of informing our allies more and more." He looked to Daley, nodding at his assessment of the situation.

"They pushed you, Luke, but only enough to let you know we weren't alone. I hate being manipulated, but we've definitely learned more than I anticipated."

His teeth were set on edge. This felt too much like that time, so long ago, standing at the edge of the burned out husk of a skeletal city, surrounded by cratered, radioactive desolation. A grim shadow of the worlds closer to Amber. He remembered his sword ringing in the back of his mind. Danger... Danger!

Yet he heard, felt, nothing now, and that alarmed him more than if he had.

"We're leaving. Any objections?"

Daley might not understand most of of what his companions are talking about, but he does pick up on some of it.  "If'n it's the same to you, Sir, I reckon as 'ow we shouldn't stay 'round here longer than we has to."  The scout is clearly getting nervous.

"Seems to me as we's got one or two unknown parties out here.  There's the one that made so much pain for 'im, even if we didn't see 'ide nor 'air of it, an' there's the one as did for the red buggers.  Now, they might just be the same folks, in which case we can't say they's our friends, just 'cause they killed all them enemies."

"Or it's two different crowds.  Which case we know one don't like us, an' we don't know what the other one thinks of us, cause we ain't met them yet.  Either way, we need to move."

For a moment it looks like he's finished, and then he adds, "I jus' thought.  After they'd finished with them red boys, this crowd didn't make no job of 'idin' their tracks.  Clear enough they managed to sneak up on the camp, so they' knows their way 'round a forest, but then they went an' left a trail that even a bloody Rupert could follow... no offence Sir.  It's like they didn't care if'n some bastard followed them.  An' that makes me a tad worried."

Aaron nodded at Daley's observation.

"That's what bothers me the most. This entire situation is starting to feel like a setup. Daley, we're dealing with individuals here who are on a different level from what we've been facing so far."

He stood up, cast his eyes about the morbid scene. Aaron realized that he felt something he hadn't felt in years, a sort of giddy anticipation. The threat was significant, but not astronomical... at least, not yet. Enemies he could face, enemies who would test him.

Yet he was bothered by the obviousness of the immediate scenario. It wasn't just the situation, it was him. He should've seen these things, the grand carnage, the attack on Luke, he should have read them all instantly. The anticipation immediately left him and Aaron felt surreal, like he was facing in the wrong direction. He frowned.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

"Harbonah's hunters might not have gotten the word, yet," Luke muttered.  "They're supposedly autonomous, capable of tracking across the worlds.  Maybe some of them have turned up here, looking for you, Aaron.  But yes, they could be under another's command."

His eyes narrowed as he dropped into a crouch, and Luke ran one finger along the grass; it turned to ashes where he touched.  "They were made by Harbonah to be strong enough to deal with us.  Now, Cyan isn't so much a problem for anything that doesn't feel like matching steel against her, but given who hangs around with her, I don't like the sound of that."

Again the wintery smile.  "And...I think you're both right.  This stinks.  We're being pressured to react in a way they see fit.  Obviously the smartest thing would be to get out of here, but that puts us back to square one."  Slowly he stood, stretching.  "Mike would say that the best way to deal with an ambush is to break it.  Smash through it, or turn it around on the ambusher.  I don't think the former is going to work, here.  But the latter?"

He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.  "Maybe there are ways we can have a look, you and I.  Daley...might be dangerous for him to come."

Aaron nodded. "Yes, I agree. It feels right to want to leave, but if we have an opportunity to gain something from this mess, we should try."

He gestured for Daley to approach. "Make it back to camp as fast as you can, but take no chances. Tell Callan to instruct the troops to stay away from this area until Luke and I return. Let him know what you've seen so far."

Aaron waited for Daley to set off. After a few moments, he fared Luke with a feral grin, his eyes glittering.

"Ahh, it's been too long since I've felt this kind of risk." He sighed, pushing his hair back from his eyes. The fire in his dark eyes died, and he placed a look of firmness upon his comrade. "What's really going on, Luke? Do you really believe you're related to our enemies?" He shook his head. "I've been out of the game for too long. There are pieces missing that I'm unfamiliar with."

It was mostly a question of getting to know what he was about to face, but Aaron knew that he had neglected so much with his fellow wanderers. He had walked with them, so far, for so long, but he truly knew only a few, small things about each of them. It burdened him that he trusted these people, and yet barely knew them, called them 'comrade', but never truly 'friend'. Perhaps he could remedy that, but he knew it would take time.

He tried to take everything in their situation into account, throwing things against his mental wall and seeing what stuck. "What's your plan?"

Daley nods his understanding of Aaron's orders, "You can count on me, Sir."  And then he turns to leave, gets about ten yards, steps around a tree, and seems to disappear into the undergrowth.  Leaving Aaron and Luke alone, in a part of Arden which is unknown to both of them.  Still, at least the tracks of the mysterious killers are clear enough.

The pair set out along the trail, cautiously checking for signs of an ambush, and Luke fills in Aaron on some of the details he may have missed in his travels - how Cyan was captured by the Archons, and how part of her had been taken, a tiny fragment of her persona, nurtured and reproduced by Harbonah's  minions, and placed into the minds of some new creation.  A creation designed to hunt for Cyan, Berd, and any of the other questers they could find.

A creation which, so far, none of its quarry have seen...  To the best of their knowledge.

Andafter a couple of hours they come to a ravine in the forest, perhaps fifty yards wide, and with a fast flowing river crashing over the rocks in its depths.  There is a bridge, a structure of split logs and twisted rope, swaying in the wind which blows up from the abyss.

And on the far side, a thing stands guard.  A creature, bestial in appearance, but shaped like a woman, with a hide of scales and horns, and matted hair.  She holds a sword which is close to six feet long, casually, in one hand, and watches the bridge with one eye, the other a mess of red scar tissue...

"Related..."  Luke laughed, a hard, broken-glass sound.  "I have said similar things from time to time, yes?  But no.  We share certain naming conventions, no more.  Also, they came from some other place, Berd and I came from Outside."  He ponders for a moment.  "There are physical resemblances, if one stretches things somewhat, I suppose.  But by and large, no."  His lip curled into a brief sneer.  "Worth the occasional ironic comment, nothing more."

Then his eyebrow rose.  "MY plan?  I'm following you, Aaron.  Breaking the ambush was nothing more than a suggestion.  I have no clue what this attack might entail...was rather hoping you or your sword might be able to figure that out, since me flitting 'ahead' of us just gets me in trouble."

From there, it was a matter of travelling, and Luke explaining about the Hunters.  Such as they knew of them.  Occasionally the dark man toyed with a fragmented hilt of a sword, one familiar to Aaron.  And then, finally...

"Well.  Look at that." Luke blew out a breath of tension. "Not exactly what I was expecting, but then...we're sort of in the dark there, anyway."  He squinted, holding up his hands to frame the creature.  "I suppose if you looked at it from a certain angle...at night...under a new moon...you might think 'Cyan'.  What do you and Arianne think?"

Still watching the creature, he frowned. "Arianne has been rather quiet, now that I consider.  Anything wrong with you and her, Aaron?  Spat?  Lover's quarrel?"

Aaron snorted and snickered, grinning out of Luke's view. "Arianne and I have parted ways, a while back. I freed her of the burden of putting up with my crap, delivering her back to an old world we both loved, once."

He patted Ilse's hilt over his shoulder. "This one and I still walk together, but we walk alone now, save yourself and the rest of our friends. This sword is an empty vessel." He shook his head. "I pray it doesn't get filled with something untoward."

Aaron ran his fingers across his stubbled chin, getting a good, long look at what awaited them ahead. He squinted, nodding a bit at Luke's description.

"There is... some resemblance, though she lacks our dear Cyan's depth." He chuckled. "I'm pretty familiar with only having one eye. Perhaps I can strike up a conversation with her." He looked over to Luke, smiled a bit, then proceeded to step out of the denser wood, in full view, eventually stopping at the opposite end of the bridge.

"Ho there!" His voice carried hard across the roar of the river. "Is there some sort of toll involved if I want to cross here?"

He knew there was madness here, but Aaron had always been one to take the weirder path. No point in living unless you actually live, after all. Then again... he'd actually have to survive to make that ideal stick. Aaron stood there and tried to look relaxed and nonthreatening.

The guardian of the bridge roared... with laughter.  "You think me a troll, little man?"

A shake of the horned head, "No, I say.  No troll am I, though I have indeed been set to guard the way."  Her good eye narrows, and she peers at Aaron before continuing, "Though perhaps there could be a toll, I suppose."  She smiles, revealing teeth that would not look out of place in the jaws of a shark.

The tip of the blade scrapes at the wooden bridge, and then the monstrous creature clears her throat, and bellows a challenge, "You shall not cross this line in one piece, unless you pay my toll, little man.  And that toll, is... a kiss!"

Luke rocked back and forth on his heels, lips pursed...in thought, not invitation.  Finally he spoke.  "Well, go ahead.  You DID ask, Aaron." Oddly enough, his tone was clear of sarcasm or even amusement.  "Or me.  I'm not caught up in your ridiculous preconceptions concerning beauty, nor do I have issues with hormonal drives, and her straightforward nature is attractive in a curious way.  Your choice.  Or maybe it's a kiss from each.  Whichever."

He cocked his head to one side, consider.  "Colour me curious as to your decision."