Never Alone

[Logan]

Premonitions.

The kinetic manipulator hadn’t experienced one in quite some time. The last one being shortly before Silence Sei released him from the demon’s grasp many years prior. Yet there he laid with covers pulled up near his neck, eyes searching the wooden rafters for something he knew wasn’t there. A few minutes later he drifted back to sleep.

An owl screeches in the midst of the snow blanketed tundra, caught in a hunter’s trap. Off in the distance from just beyond a line of snow-tipped evergreens come the howls of a pack of wolves. The crunch of snow beneath their paws slowly begins to pierce the silence, followed by the frantic flapping of the bird’s wings in a desperate attempt to escape.

The pack nears the ring of trees surrounding the small clearing, and within moments one approaches the defenseless owl. The wolf growls clawing at the snow nearby the owl. A screech from the scared owl comes just as the snarling beast leaps into the air poised for an attack.

Thwuck, comes the sound of an arrow as it sticks into the fur coat of the wolf. Blood begins to pour from the wound, staining the snow beneath. The owl screeches in fear as the form of the hunter appears bending down before her.

“Shh. Calm little one.” The bird continues flapping as the hunter works to free her wings.

“Easy girl. Easy.” The owl’s eyes meet the hunter’s and the flapping ceases. The hunter’s hands envelops the owl as he inspects the damage.

“Looks broken. You’ll need to spend some time with me so it can heal properly.” The owl hoots and blinks it’s eyes at the hunter’s words. The two already have some unspoken bond.

Logan awoke from his dream, blinking a few times as his mind spun from dream and into reality. Pale hands rose to his eyes, wiping gently to relieve the strain.

”Save her.”

He scanned the room frantically. The telepath knew there was nobody else in the room. He’d taken the extra precaution of locking the door.

”Protect her.”

There was the voice again. The soft spoken words echoed in his mind as he slipped from his bed and neared his swords.

“Who…who’s there?”

“Guide her.”

[Oracle of Jomil]

It wasn’t the cold that bothered Eisa. It was being alone. She’d never been alone in her whole life until a week ago. Coddled by the priests, always guarded by someone, or at the least accompanied by Galas. But they were all gone now. All the Oracle had left was her Goddess, her visions, and miles of snow almost as deep as she was tall. She trudged through the heavy drifts of snow, trying to stay in the sunlight whenever possible.

Those frightening creatures, half-spider, half-faceless elflike creature, they always stayed in the shadows as if afraid of the light. Eisa shook her head and opened her eyes wide looking up at the sky where the sun struggled to break through the snow clouds. She hoped she could make it into a village by nightfall. Ever since they had attacked the temple, just as the Oracle had foreseen and warned the priests they would do, the creatures had followed her, always staying beneath the trees, sliding eerily from shadow to shadow.

The first night, Eisa had found an old hermit who shared his tent with her, keeping the beasts away by the light of his torch. He’d thought her an imbecile child, but fed her nonetheless, for which Eisa was grateful. When the morning came, she snuck away, hoping to make it even further from the temple. She’d barely slept that night, finally crying herself to sleep sometime after midnight. She was frightened, a feeling she’d never had before. It left her heart racing and she trembled uncontrollably every time she caught a glimpse of one of the spider-like creatures out of the corner of her eye. The morning after her brief night in the hermit’s tent was the worst, and she’d stumbled breathlessly through the deep snow, her tiny form sinking frequently into snow drifts. She prayed almost constantly, wondering why Jomil had punished her faithful so harshly, unable to fathom why she had left her favored one alone.

Last night she’d stayed in a stable with two horses, an old cow, and a goat. The goat had cuddled up with her, sharing her body heat and its hay with her. The horses hadn’t minded sharing their oats and she was glad of their graciousness. She was within a day’s walk of the Salvic border, and the barn was warmly lit with several lanterns, so Eisa was actually able to sleep well that night.

For the first time since the massacre at the temple, the Oracle had a vision. As she trudged through the snow, she pondered what the Goddess had shown her, unable to make sense of the images within her dream. She kept an eye out on the trees on either side of the path she walked. The only way she had known it was a path at all was because the trees had been cleared and the snow had sleigh tracks in it and fresh dog prints. The paw prints made her think again to her vision, trying to remember every bit of it.

She’d been standing in the snow, unable to move because it was too deep and her feet had stuck in the ice below. In the woods on either side were dark shapes moving through the shadows, but they were not the all too familiar shapes of the spider creatures. These were lower to the ground and instead of the strange jolting gate of the arachnids; these had the fluid grace of a feline. They stalked closer to the edge of the woods with every second, and Eisa tried to scream but as always there was no sound. She had no voice and could not hear where the creatures were, and she cursed the Goddess for her deafness. Suddenly, there was a wolf, his coat silver and thick, and his eyes a piercing blue; the Oracle knew she was to die. But instead, as the large cats in the forest suddenly left their retreat within the woods, the wolf attacked before they could reach Eisa. She cowered in the snow, afraid even to look. The nudging of a wet nose behind her ear forced her to flinch and look up. With a tilt of its head, the wolf pawed at her, then dug at the snow, finally giving up and leaning against the diminutive Oracle. As if he had spoken to her, she knew to wrap her arms around his neck and he pulled her gently from the snow, her feet no longer trapped in the ice. Once freed, she climbed upon his back and he carried her away.

She had awakened less frightened than before. It was a confusing dream, but it gave her hope that somehow there would be something or someone who would help her. She just didn’t know how long it would be before Jomil saw fit to send her savior.

All Eisa could do was keep pushing forward, hoping to make it to the Salvic border and find a village or another barn before the sun set.

[Logan]

The delicate voice echoed throughout the mind of the mentalist. The soft, flowery nature of the voice certainly had no relation to the voices of the demons locked away in his mind. Replaying the melodious phrases comforted and soothed his very fragile mind and soul.

There would be no doubting the lucidity of the dream, especially once the voice and phrases were entered into evidence. Whether what the psionic experienced was a dream, premonition, or even vision still had yet to be determined, but he knew the only way he could find out lay solely within the advice of the old guru in the high peaks of the Berevian Mountains just north of the Salvarian border. The wise, old man would know what direction Logan should take next.

The remainder of the day filled with purchases of provisions for the week's journey to the mountains as well as the necessary transportation. Worn out from haggling in the market, the telekinetic laid down upon his bed once more. Sunlight faded to darkness and slowly his eyes fluttered closed.

”Find her.”

As the words invaded his formless slumber, the dream took shape once more. The dream wound down and his eyes opened. The room slowly took shape around him. There would be no delaying the trip. Not after the second night with the dream, and so Logan set off for Berevar only a couple of hours later at the first hint of dawn on the horizon.

Days passed without much incident, but the nights were filled with restless sleep. The dream was replayed night after night, but things only became more hazy and confusing. He had to talk with the man of the mountains, and the sooner the better. The drive and determination to know for sure what the next move should be in relation to the dream kept him pressing onward.

The next day passed quickly. His horse seeming to pick up its pace at his mental prodding. Hours passed, and finally he could see the snow-lined peaks in the distance just at the edge of the horizon.

”Just a little further, girl,” he coaxed his transport as the ground became thick with fresh snow drifts. So deep the packed drifts, the mind manipulator hopped down and led instead of riding. An hour trodded by, each step ticking off the time, just as he noticed the path up ahead. There really was only one choice.

”It's your path to follow.”

[Oracle of Jomil]

The sun was lowering in the sky; probably only another two or maybe three hours before it would set. After that the light would be gone quickly, no long twilight when the clouds ate any remaining glow that might attempt to linger. Eisa wasn’t sure how much further she would have to travel before she reached the border, much less a safe place to take shelter for the long night ahead. There was no chance she’d survive the darkness to come if she didn’t find somewhere with light and a lock on the door.

Her dream from the night before still echoed through her thoughts and the oracle tried once more to sort out the symbols within the premonition. She mentally checked off the different images: a silver wolf that saved her from three black panthers when her feet were frozen deep within the snow. She was more than a little confused, having never been required before to translate her own prophecies. It had always been so simple; she told Galas what she saw, and Galas told the priests. It was up to them to record and then interpret her prophecies, and she was rarely if ever involved beyond the visions themselves. The only utterly clear vision she had ever been granted was the one vision the priests had chosen to ignore at the cost of their own lives.

Eisa didn’t even have the chance to start crying about the horrific massacre again. The shadows in the woods were moving closer to the edges of the trees as the clouds thickened and the hidden sun slipped closer to the horizon. They were no longer vague shapes anymore, but could be more clearly identified as the same terrifying creatures that had ripped all she had ever known away from her in a few short hours.

The girl tried to pick up the pace, tried unsuccessfully to run through the deep snow, but only managed to stumble more. One of the creatures slipped past the shelter of the trees for a few moments, like a swimmer testing the temperature of the water before diving in. Another did the same, remaining in the brighter light out from under the trees for longer than the last. Eisa whimpered pitifully as she tried to push herself to move more quickly down the path. She cursed the Goddess for her small stature, for leaving her alone, for not protecting her from these monsters that stalked her. It did not matter; it was obvious that Jomil had abandoned her servant.

The smallest of the spiderlike creatures stepped from the woods but this one did not turn back to the shadows, it continued its jolting walk toward the oracle. Even though it had no face, Eisa could feel its eyes on her, could imagine it smiling maliciously if it had a mouth. As it stepped effortlessly through the snow, its long jointed legs propelling it forward ever so slowly, the girl realized she could not run.

Her body was frozen, paralyzed with fear, her copper skin glistening with sheen of sweat, her dark curls clinging to her face, her golden eyes wide with fright. She managed a scream but did not even have the comfort of hearing her own voice as it shattered the snowy silence of the Berevan wilderness.

[Logan]

Due to the combat in this post, the length of time for the post is longer than normal (it spans what would typically be two posts). Just clarifying for the judge.

The path had only encouraged him to press himself harder. Sunlight lapped at his skin as it reflected off the glimmering precipitation upon the ground. A small sunburn began to form across his nose and his neck, a slightly painful reminder of the journey. He paused for a moment, having followed the path for a solid hour or two, as he looked up and ahead.

In the distance not far off dark figures seemed to weave between a tree line just barely visible from where he stood. The spider-like creatures seemed to move as quickly as possible from the darkness of the shade of the trees to the areas of sunlight and back again. A solo female nothing like the spiders came into his field of vision running toward him.

Silently, Logan rooted for the girl to run faster, move faster, but then she paused. Was it the spiders or something else? He couldn't tell; until her scream. It broke through the directionless void of his mind. For few days all the telekinetic could do was think about himself, but now he had some direction and some purpose.

”Help her.”

Well, if he had ever needed a cue to do something, the phrase echoing in his head was most certainly it. Hopping back onto his horse, he kicked at the animal's sides and lured it into a full gallop. The Spider Maji looked up from it's prey, something had disturbed it.

A moment and a few quick thoughts later, and the indentions on the head of the telekinetic began to pulsate a light blue. He'd devised a plan in a matter of only moments, and there was only one real hope of saving the poor little girl. The ice and snow around the feet of the spider-like beast melted into small pools of water.

”Run girl, RUN,” he shouted telepathically to the cowering little girl.

She didn't move, and the psion could ill-afford to wait around for her to do so. Turning his attention back to the little spawn of the dark, Logan unsheathed his blades giving the creature a once over.

The lower extremities of the small spider were frozen solid in the ice below, but it had enough wits about it to claw and scratch in an attempt to free them. He'd have to do something about the free limbs while it was distracted with the imprisoned ones. Slicing down at an arc, the telekinetic caught the creature off-guard and soundly sliced one of the upper limbs clean off.

Thank the gods for Prevalida!

There wouldn't be much celebrating, though, as the spider-elf had snagged Logan's arm in a web, tangling both blade and wielder in a hopeless mess. He hadn't long to escape, so he used the free sword to slice through the extremely tough thread.

”Little bastard,” he allowed himself to shout outward from his mind. The burning of his arm and wrist would prevent much of his normal tactics with the weapons. Psionics seemed the only way he'd best the Maji. Just as he'd thought of a way to defeat it, the spider mumbled some incoherent babble firing off a ball of energy at him.

Quickly, he swung his blade in front of him, twirling it almost hypnotically, as it sliced through the spider's orb. As the telekinetic did so, his arm screamed in pain. The acid had climbed higher and was threatening his shoulder and chest.

Clenching his fist, he screamed out audibly. The indentions pulsated faster, mimicking the rhythm and pace of his quickening heart. The snow and ice between the Spider Maji and Logan melted and then formed an encasing around the creature. As the markings on his forehead became a steady glow, the encasing encroached upon the spider as it frantically clawed and scratched at the quickly freezing surface.

The liquid curled around each extremity followed by it's head and torso. Instantly, the movement of the water stopped as it froze. The Spider Maji's movements ceased as it's last breath came and went, suffocating almost immediately.

[Oracle of Jomil]

The voice in her mind was loud but it was not the voice of her goddess or the voice of her visions. Eisa looked away from the darkness of the arachnid to see a man on horseback riding toward her with his sword drawn. Her mind flew for a moment to her vision and she suddenly had clarity of what her prophecy meant. The smallest of the creatures was for now focused on the stranger and Eisa glanced to the tree line to see where the others were. They sulked in the shadows but came no closer, for which the oracle was grateful. But she could not run for the shelter of the trees because then she would be more vulnerable than she was even now.

Instead, the girl took one step after another backwards, and then after a few steps she sank down into a drift of snow and buried herself in its frozen safety. She prayed to her goddess that the maji hadn’t seen her disappear into the snow. Of course, if they didn’t see her, then the warrior who had come to her aid probably hadn’t seen where she went either. She desperately feared that the battle would come toward her and she would be trampled beneath his horse’s hooves.

Worse still would be if he defeated the one creature but then left her alone to the quickly deepening shadows and the evil creatures which thrived in the darkness. Eisa knew she would not survive a night in the open with those creatures.

No, that would not be the worst though. The worst possible outcome would be if the spider-maji were able to overcome the man who had come to her rescue. If she emerged from her snowy shelter to find him in the same horrible condition as the priests at the temple, and the maji still there to kill her as well…

Please, oh please, Goddess, you must help him. He cannot die trying to help me. Is he not the wolf from your vision? Eisa cried out silently to Jomil, as earnest a prayer as the oracle had ever made.

After what seemed like eons, Eisa carefully pushed her head out of the drift, her dark curls matted to her forehead with melted snow. The girl looked around and still saw the larger of the creatures slinking around in the woods. But the smallest one, which had intended to attack her, was frozen within an icy cage, its featureless face and spindly legs now stilled. The girl still feared to move and draw the attention of the other spider-maji, and watched the man on horseback to see if he would leave now that his foe had been vanquished. She could not tell for certain from where she hid, but he appeared to have been stricken and wounded by the maji he had encased in ice.