The Tarot Chooses

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona Stevvains sat at the table, her eyes focused on the deck of cards before her. Every so often, her eyes would shift over to her left shoulder and notice the image of the Judgement card burned into her. It was a tradition among the Witches of Berevar to find a tarot card that embodied the very persona of each member of their ilk, and subsequently become one with it. The woman’s hand ran over the welts on her skin as tingles ran up her body when she made contact with the scar tissue.

Raiaera was what many touted as the home of magic itself, and why would it not be? The continent had once been home to the most famous magic school since Leona had read a series about a boy wizard back on Earth. The very thought of that series of books caused the prophet to reminisce about her home planet. How many years had it been since her plane crash landed in the bermuda triangle, and her entire soccer team wound up separated by the winds of fate known as Althanas.

She thought about shy little Margaret, how her lithe frame and quick reflexes had made her a perfect full back for her team. Margaret was always shy when it came to introducing herself, but when Leona looked at the girl’s timeline now, she saw a dramatically different person than the introvert she once knew. Mags had matured, come into her own on this strange planet. Maybe it was because she was so hooked on her role playing games and her Dungeons & Dragons games that she related so well to the creatures here.

Leona ran her hand over the fine redwood of the table, her eyes now focused on the tangles of black hair that covered a womanly figure’s face. The stranger released a loud laugh as she swung a mug of ale into the air. She no longer wore the glasses that Leona go so accustomed to putting on her freckled face. Magaret had grown up, and Leona was having trouble letting go.

Luckily, her tarot deck decided to pull her attention away from her former friend. The cards glowed with a faint blue aura which caused the woman to look down. “A presence? There’s someone here worthy?”

It was hard to imagine that in this half finished bar, Leona Stevvains would come across two souls worthy of the Tarot.

((Closed to Alyssa Snow and Ioder))

[Ioder]

Walking into a crummy old tavern Ioder stopped to think about what his plan was form here. Everything up till now had been a wash, I haven't even made any progress Estelle. He scanned the room of people, Not many people in here, should be a quiet night I guess. Ioder continued and saw a seat at the end of the room, a table away from everyone in the bar. It had been a couple nights since Ioder had waited his time with flagon and flagon of ale, honestly he didn't much prefer it. But having no family to go home to and having his only friend Gavner set out again left Ioder feeling alone.

Gavner had just set out on his own earlier that day, he and his wolf pup Eve had come to Ioder's aid in a big dilemma he had encountered. And seeing as his odds were slim to survive the event alone he feels that Gavner the vampire is the closest thing to a friend he has. As he sits down at the table he realizes he had forgotten to change his form into a more adult body in order to drink without having to work for his ale. There was not age restriction for ale in Raiaera, but the bar keeps are not always so keen to let young ins completely drown themselves. Bloody hell! he thought, something so minute but it could completely ruin his night.

Ioder started to wave down one of the bar maidens, there weren't many costumers in the tavern so the service was pretty decent. Within a couple seconds one of the maidens came to his table, eyeballing him because he definitely looks too young to be in here. But without a drinking restriction that thought was only guided by her personal moral compass, as if Ioder gives a fuck about something like that. "Well aren't you a little young to be in here?" She said still eyeballing Ioder.

"One flagon of ale." He said as he slammed down some coin to show her he was not going to play this game. "Your face will get stuck looking like a troll of you don't stop eyeballing me." He said now with a very stern voice, completely unexpected from a young boyish figure. The maiden left off to behind the bar for a couple minuets, then returning with a large mug filled with ale. After handing Ioder the drink she turned and walked away whilst muttering some hateful words under her breath.

[Alyssa Snow]

"No, no, I insist!" The dwarven bartend chuckled. He held his hands open palmed to the petite girl across the counter as though she had held him up.

“I couldn’t really,” Alyssa replied with a smile. Her brow furrowed sympathetically. “But if you insist… How can I say no to that cute scruffy beard?” She let out a soft laugh. The bartend grew rosy in the cheeks.

“Just be careful with the other lads round these bits. Hate t’see a lass like yourself in a tough situation.” The dwarf lowered his hands only to arm himself with a soapy flagon. Immediately, he attacked it with the cloth at his waist and vigorously polished it dry.

“You got it big guy,” she assured, grabbing the free drink he graciously made for her – a Raiaeran Melot cut with a fizzing apple juice. The bartend nodded to her and with a smile, continued down the bar toward other patrons. While he tried to take an order from a rather salty looking man, the dwarf’s gaze wandered back to her, and a sigh could be barely heard. Alyssa brought the drink to her subtle grin and took a few sips of the sweet, yet slightly dry nectar.

She recently frequented this bar, for the patrons were usually of a higher class and the business was not too busy nor too slow. Being under construction for the past few moons, only a special handful knew of it. This was her escape – her safe haven – from the weeks in the field, the leering eyes of lechers, and the stressors of the day to day. Though some memories she wished she could forget, this establishment was very much her home away from home. Yes, “The Ace in The Sleeve” was her stomping ground – or at least, it would be as soon as construction was complete.

“Your face will get stuck looking like a troll of you don't stop eyeballing me.”

Alyssa placed her stemmed glass down upon the redwood counter top and shot a glare of her turquoise irises to the source of the insult. Luckily, the verbal blow struck at the barmaid hovering over a blonde youth with features far too young for this establishment. She sauntered off, shared words with the bartend, and with troubled faces on them both, returned with an over-polished flagon brimmed with ale. With more zest than Alyssa knew was normal, the maid set it in front of the juvenile, and waltzed back towards her.

“Arrogant, cocky, little midget, son of a…” the barmaid muttered under her breath as she passed.

Alyssa scowled towards the patron before her peripherals caught a faint glow past the boy’s golden locks. Alyssa’s eyes lit up and as though possessed. She snatched her drink from the counter and skittered towards the glow.

“Miss Stevvains!” she chirped, arriving at her superior’s table. “What’re you doing here?”

She offered a respectful bob of her platinum blonde locks. She motioned her glass toward the faint glow at Leona’s hip.

“Would you be mixing business with pleasure this evening or just one of the two?” Alyssa inquired toward the embodied Tarot of Judgment.

[Leona Stevvains]

She looked at Alyssa Snow, her demeanor a solemn face upon her peach colored features. Alyssa had been an agent for the Tarot Hierarchy for several weeks now. The gunner had proven herself to be a valuable asset as both a warrior and a leader on the battlefieldld. It was due to her efforts that the Hierarchy had been able to follow so many leads on artifacts from the time of the Tap. She was also the primary reason Leona was in the Ace In The Sleeve.

However, the size impaired man had also drawn the attention of the prophet. Her eyes darted between both Alyssa and the rude customer, and finally came to rest on the tarot cards. She shook her head for a moment, in utter disbelief that the Major Arcana would choose somebody so abrasive and malicious. That was just the thing with the Tarot, though, they chose their master and not the other way around.

“The cards are in the process of choosing their masters, Alyssa,” The girl spoke without ever again making eye contact with her subordinate, “Unfortunately, it seems that one of the cards seems to be slated for choosing him.” Her eyes shifted back to the shortstack, who had received his flagon of ale, slammed upon the table in a fury, courtesy of the barmaid. Leona’s hand shifted onto the table, her nails dug into the wood as she watched drops of ale swish over the top of the flagon and onto the table of the asshole.

“Alyssa, listen very closely to me,” Leona spoke while swallowing hard, her other hand shifting to lench onto Alyssa’s, “I need you to do me a favor. I have to approach that man; the cards demand it. However, I may falter and become weak, and should that happen, I need you to be there in an instant to support me. Do you think you can do that?”

She opened her eyes just in time to see Alyssa nod, a gesture Leona returned in kind before standing. She stepped towards the rude man, careful to avoid the miniature party that Margaret was entertaining. He steps were deliberate, her shoes clomped against the redwood floor below as she made her way over to her target.

“My name is Leona Stevvains,” She spoke, directly to the point with this conversation, “And I need your help finding a chalice.”

[Ioder]

Ioder stared at Leona for a split second before he really acknowledged that she had spoken to him. Something about this woman seemed familiar to him, but to the best of his attempts he could not determine what it was. "And I need your help finding a chalice." Leona finished as she placed one hand on the back of the chair facing opposite of Ioder. She must have seen the Ioder's child like smile at the sensation of this familiarity. Taking advantage of this smile she sat down and waited for him to respond.

What is it? Im sure I hadn't ever seen this girl before in my life yet, I feel like I know her. His mind raced as she sat down at the table. Ioder leaned back in his seat, letting his legs stretch out underneath the table. He reached forward and grabbed his flagon and began to sip from it, his eyes still seemingly studying Leona. "Awful way to start a conversation. Care for some ale? Maybe even some sweets?" Ioder said as he fiddled around in the holes of his shirt. After a couple seconds of looking Ioder pulled out a crudely folded piece of cloth. Placing it on the table in between himself and Leona, Ioder motioned for her to look at it. She saw the sigh and reached out and grabbed the cloth and opened it, only to see a handful of colorful sweets inside. These were Ioder's secret stash of candies he hides in case of long trips or emergencies, these were treasures to him. "Im Ioder."

"Ioder, I cant take these." Leona said as she placed the candies back on the table in front of him. Then suddenly Ioder saw it, well maybe he didn't see anything at all. A slight resemblance to Estelle, both in features but in attitude as well.

"If not sweets then what? Or is this chalice of yours so important that you need my help." Ioder said as he still tried to peace the picture together in his head of the two's resemblance to each other.

[Alyssa Snow]

"They can choose their masters?" Alyssa muttered. Leona refused to make eye contact. She continued and offered a glance to the young prick before digging her nails into the redwood. Alyssa watched her with a quirked brow, then glanced to the blonde boy, and back to Leona. She furrowed a brow.

"He pissed her off that bad? Am I missing something?" Alyssa thought.

Alyssa took a short sharp breath when her superior gripped her hand. It was firm and vice-like. The young blonde was startled. Then, the unexpected happened. Leona loosened her grip, and muttered a request as though it was a matter of life and death. Heeding her words, Alyssa's bright smile faded. When her superior finished, the blonde quietly nodded. Leona rose, then brushed past her toward the boy.

"Weak?" Alyssa thought.

In all her time spent with the Hierarchy, weak was not a word one used for Leona. She was the embodiment of Judgment - feared, respected, and strong. Leona's words did not settle well.

Alyssa's icy blue eyes watched the two like a hawk and as not to interrupt. A voice at the back of her head urged her to follow, but the choosing of masters sounded like an official affair. Curious, uncertain, and concerned, Alyssa lightly propped herself against the headboard of the booth. She kept one hand wrapped around the stem of her wine glass, and the other on the grip of her .357. Whatever "weakness" Leona spoke of, Alyssa would not let any harm befall her.

"That guy? One of us?" Alyssa scoffed under her breath. "That'd be the day..."

Though the rest of the pub carried on as usual, for the young mage-gunner, the air grew thick with tension.

[Leona Stevvains]

"You do not realize it yet," Leona's eyes shifted towards her hands, careful not to look at Ioder's drink, "but this chalice is something that will change your life forever. Whether it's for better or worse is completely up to you."

She moved her eyes back over to Alyssa. She shook her head as if to tell the other girl that the weapon would not be neccesary today. Leona spoke in riddles thanks to the time she spent with the Berevar witches. She saw things beyond the continents that extended as far past the seas as anyone could imagine. She now supposed in retrospect, she should have been a little clearer in the explanation of her vice. Her left hand reached down to the pocket of her jeans, and gripped the sobriety chip that lay at the bottom. She was her own sponsor now, and she had to act like it.

"My friend over there and I, we're part of an organization known as the Tarot Hierarchy," Leona tried to be more to the point now though her eyes were still focused on her subordinate, "we seek to find items that are heavily infused with magical energies and bring them to our storehouses for safe keeping. This chalice that I speak of, while magic in nature, I want moreso for the purpose of giving my people a symbol. It is always filled with a water that changes flavor depending on whats added to it, yet never dries. If you throw a piece of wood in the chalice, the water has a bark like after taste, if you drop an apple silver, it will taste like apples. Unlike Apple Jacks."

She paused when she realized Ioder would not get the reference. Leona sometimes regretted that she grew up on Earth during the 1990s; pop culture reared it's ugly head whenever she least expected it. She sighed as she finally settled her gaze back on her new 'friend'. A solitary finger rose up to speak the man from talking before he ever began. "Before you ask whats in it for you, it's simple. You give us what we want and I can guide you down the path you most desire. Do we have a deal?"

[Ioder]

Oh Estelle, what am I getting myself into?...Ioder thought as he quickly went over what Leona had been saying. It seemed like a mutual gain type deal, beneficial to both parties. But will it really end that way, can this girl even help Ioder with his goal. He isn't even sure how do that, how could this stranger.

"Leona, if you are willing to have me. Ill find your chalice." Ioder said as he winked up to his new 'friend'. "Now where do we begin?" He asked almost aching to get everything underway. The two continued conversation for a few minuets until Ioder finally turned his gaze to Leona's subordinate.

"Hey where do you fit into this plan, will you be accompanying me on this excursion?" Ioder asked Alyssa with a smile, he did always feel comfortable around women rather then a group of men. Not having to show off for a change was a relief, and after he and Gavner's last adventure he was indeed looking for a somewhat easy time. Though the quest may be rough the company would be pleasant. Their conversation dragged into the late hours of the night, as it drew to a close and Ioder had started to tire they all agreed on meeting in the front of the tavern in the morning.

-Later that night-

Ioder was sitting in the room he had rented for the night, perched on the edge of his bed gazing out the open window pondering his destiny. Asura one of his fellow Seraphim once told him he would soon meet his judgment, was this what he meant. Asura, Estelle what does my future hold? Is this the judgment you foretold? He sat up for a wile longer thinking, thinking about his new friends and where this might lead.

In the end his only priority is seeing Estelle again finding a home.

-The Morning After-

Ioder had been unpleasantly woken by a lone cry of a rooster obviously confused about the hour. The bloody bird started going at it well before the sun had even crested the horizon. One strange fact about Ioder is that he is a light sleeper and once he has woken he struggles to fall asleep again. This is one of the few flaws that he loathed about himself. He struggled to drift back into dreamland but instead lie still in the rough bed for hours. Mindlessly staring at the celling, almost hallucinating about tiny animals running along the surface of the celling, whatever he could to pass the time.

After a tortuous morning the time finally had come to meet up with the others. So as if he was in a rush Ioder sprang to life from his dreadful state. He does this to quickly get his body moving and functioning with the lack of sleep of the night before. After he checked around to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything he quickly opened the door and ran down the hall. He felt especially childish today, maybe it was from him finding a purpose for his time or even just being around Leona. She made him feel like he was beside his sister, made him feel like home.

[Alyssa Snow]

Alyssa kept a close eye on the pair as they conversed. She watched Leona more so than the inconsiderate brat she spoke with. Alyssa began to pick apart her superior as her lips mouthed an invitation to find a chalice. The young mage-gunner noticed Leona's eyes fall to Ioder's drink, hang there for a while, then back to the boy. Then, she began to glisten as though hit by an unknown heat. It hit Alyssa.

"Her vice!" she deduced.

Alyssa tensed. Leona's eyes met hers in that moment, and she shook her head. Alyssa relaxed, and exhaled a deep sigh of relief. Leona turned back to Ioder, and Alyssa took an opportunity to down more of her sweet, slightly dry cocktail.

"Heya miss, y'alright?" The voice was familiar, scratchy, and rough. Alyssa looked toward it.

"Hey, what're you doing on this side of the counter, uh...?"

"Anvil will do," the bartender replied. "Just checkin' on ya. Had signs of fret clear on yer brow." In his hands he caressed another glass pint with his polishing rag. How he did so without shattering it in his massive grip and tree trunk arms was somewhat of a feat. Alyssa smiled. His presence comforted her.

"I'm fine," she replied, but her tone betrayed her words. Anvil's raised brow and shifted posture indicated he was not fooled by the performance. He stared at her with his big brown eyes. It was like they cast a magic, and the girl felt her concerns bubble from the back of her head to the tip of her tongue.

"Alright, stop it," Alyssa pleaded playfully. "I'm just worried. My superior is acting a little off today. Hey," she turned to him, "have you seed her here before?" Alyssa swayed her blonde locks toward Leona.

"Can't say I have," the dwarven tender replied, "Then again, this is a newer establishment. I've yet to get a bead on which faces are regular and which'uns ain't. Well, save for yours, lass."

She smiled again.

"You're too kind."

"Looks like y'be needed," Anvil stated as his beard pushed her attention towards the blonde boy. "I'll see ya'round Miss Snow." And with a few squeaks of a cleaned glass, he sundered off to his thirsty patrons.

"Who me?" Alyssa asked with a finger upon her chest. She missed the majority of the question, but the boy smiled at her on eye contact. For a moment, she curled a lip in disgust, but checked it when she saw the serious demeanor of her superior.

"I swear if he says anything to me like he did to that maid..."

"Uh, looks like it! My name's Alyssa Snow. Pleasure to meet you." The last sentence and the smile that followed were forced, but flawlessly acted. She took a final swig from her stemmed glass, set it down, and swayed her way to their table. Her arrival sparked formalities, a few business related topics and finally, idle small talk until the sun grew weary.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ioder," she chimed. "See you in the morning."

Her first impression of the boy still lingered, but his youthful personality weakened her disdain toward him. She gave the boy a slight bow to which she was surprised he returned, and began her long midnight walk back to her Hierarchy-provided room at the Dancing Jester Inn.



Several warm beams of Raiaeran sunrise infiltrated the curtains of Alyssa's room. The young teen scrunched her eyes and shifted her body in the scattered remains of bed sheets. Alyssa let a soft yawn escape her dry lips as her eyes flickered to life. Then, she laid for a moment to appreciate the fine woodwork of the steeple ceiling. Actually, she hated mornings. The longer she could hug the warmth from her mattress the better.

She sighed. "Time for work."

Alyssa slid her legs from the bed, and her feet hit the floorboards with a thud. She stood, adjusted the strap of her camisole back upon her shoulder and continued her morning routine.

Some rooster crows later, the fully equipped, fully refreshed, and fully determined Alyssa Snow emerged. With a revolver strapped to each leg and a linen wrapped contraption on her back, Alyssa kicked up the dirt toward her favorite pub, The Ace in the Sleeve. By the time she arrived, Leona and the new addition would surely have been waiting. Being late was not something Alyssa stood for.

"No day like a free one!" she hymned as she quickened her pace.

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona Stevvains did not sleep often. Whenever she did sleep, she would only see kingdoms flourish, apocalypses come to be, and the sheer nothingness of the void. It was the downside of being able to see every possible timeline like most people aw squiggles at the corners of their eyes. As such, she spent the night with her Major Arcana, and she tried to determine exactly which one had summoned her to go pick Ioder out of the crowd. The cards never responded in kind, as cryptic as ever, so to the common eye, she was a crazy lady that stared at a table all night.

The call of a rooster jarred her and caused her body to jerk. She wondered if she almost entered the world of slumber before she decided it would be best to get dressed. After all, it would be unseemly if she came back down in the same clothes she had worn last night. Perhaps that was still some Earth habits that never really left Leona; hygiene before all else. She splashed some water onto her face and even got a quick shower (Leona would only go to the inns that had running water -and- indoor plumbing, she wasn't a barbarian). She decided to put on a purple tank top and a pair of green pants with tan draw strings that peeked out the front, tied into a neat little bow.

As she walked out of the room, she quickly noticed both Ioder and Alyssa starting to come out of their rooms. She hurried down the stairs, easily beating the other two do to her athletic physique and training. She grinned as her compatriots joined her, excited for the journey ahead. "Our destination is the Red Forest, and I'm not going to lie to you guys, it's not going to be easy. Now lets put on our big people breeches and move out. Alyssa, you'll take point if we run into danger. Ioder, I want you keeping your eyes peeled for danger, and I'll be detecting the chalice. Ready? Let's go!"

Leona made an about face and headed to the west, towards the danger of the Red Forest. Though usually withdrawn when with people, something filled the prophet with a sense of self-assurance. Perhaps the Tarot did know what they were doing. She would have to make sure she rewarded at least one of the Major Arcana with a companion to be bound to. She had just the girl in mind...

[Ioder]

As the day progressed the group chit chatted about menial topics ultimately avoiding what was most prevalent in Ioder's mind. They had been walking all day until the sun was at the highest point in the sky, and finally they could see it. The Red Forest, the single most dangerous place in all of Raiaera. Rumors of this forsaken forest have spread through all the world and very rarely you would meet a person who has ventured into the cursed place. Truly a terrible place, a den of death and despair.The forest itself is the danger, once a beautiful luscious green forest whose only purpose was to be home to its fauna. But ever since the great dead wars that is no longer the case, it was cursed. Cursed to be the color of pouring blood and cursed to spill the blood of any who enter it. If it wasn't for the mutated animals and magical creature the reside within it, The forest itself is a dangerous and ruthless killer. Between the blood vine and soul blossom the forest was its own weapon.

Leona seemed not to care for the dangers of the cursed forest, rather she was full speed ahead to enter its clutches. What is so special about this chalice anyway? Ioder wondered as he scaled the possible reward to the inevitable danger they would face. The group drew closer and closer to the red horizon, and ever closer to the dangers harbored within it.

As the group crested a hill over looking the valley that the forest lies, the noticed something strange. There was a small cottage just feet away from the edge of the forest, possibly a safe house of some kind. Alyssa spotted it first and signaled to the others, Leona and Ioder quickly stood beside Alyssa on the grassy hill.

"Who do you suppose lives so close to the forest?" Ioder asked the two girls. Every step they grew closer to the red forest Ioder's confidence fell drastically, now his tone of voice was only slightly more than a whisper. The group continued to walk towards the edge of the forest but now in the direction of the building. Smoke was billowing out the chimney of the cottage making it seem inhabited, but by who?

[Alyssa Snow]

The weather in Raiaera was certainly Alyssa's favorite. The way the birds chirped overhead, the clouds lazily crawled across a sea of blue, and the wonderfully mixed scents carried on a mid day breeze, it was perfect. Even while encroaching on one of the most dangerous places in the known world, Alyssa kept a permanent smile softly painted on her lips. She kept her hands locked behind her back, bumping against the upper contour of her bottom with each step. Each step itself bounced with youthful bliss as they carried down the slightly worn path. Every ten paces or so, they passed through a patch of Elfweed desperately trying to reclaim the trampled land. If it weren't for the occasional travelers like the three of them, lush foliage would swallow these lands to leave only a stark contrast of green to the ominous crimson which grew greater into view.

"Yeah, and then Leona found me," Alyssa continued, "If it weren't for her, I would probobly be doing whatever odd job I could find just to eat! She really is a life saver."

The young boy, now known as Ioder, nodded his head and looked to the eldest of the group. Leona, as per her usual demeanor, remained stoic and barely offered the two a glance. This blank, seemingly unamused expression commonly unnerved those unfamiliar with the prophet, however, Alyssa had long since embraced this as one of Leona's best features.

"After that, well, I worked for her. She gave me a place to stay and guaranteed I wouldn't starve. All I had to do was keep doing what I already was, just for her. A no-brainer if you ask me." Alyssa smiled.

"Not to interrupt, but we're getting awfully close to that cabin," Ioder pointed out. Alyssa curled her lip, only slightly upset to be broken from her reminiscing.

"I'm sure it's just some locals," the mage gunner dismissed.

"Alyssa, keep sharp," Leona remarked. Her tone was flat and expression serious.

Alyssa knew from experience that the prophet's words always carried importance. Thus, the mage gunner unsnapped the leather bands which retained her revolvers in their holsters - just one less step to bringing them to point on a threat.

"Yes, Ma'am. Let me scout ahead."

Alyssa's pace quickened and like a feline running up on potential prey, she lowered her stance. Each step became a whisper and the two were left behind at their normal pace. The cabin was small, two or three rooms at best. The logs which formed the exterior looked the typical neutral color expected from lumber. This meant they were not harvested from the tainted woods just a few hundred yards away. As the blonde approached, the cabin's door swept open. Alyssa glanced about to seek opportunities for cover but in these open plains, it was in vain. She slowed her pace and resumed a natural posture. This minimized the suspicion that others, such as the fully armored and equipped elf that emerged, would have towards her. He looked ahead, oblivious to her, as he took a long drag from a glowing cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke.

He spoke aloud in another language that Alyssa didn't quite understand, nor could she hear that well from the distance. What little she did pick up sounded something like what the Dark Elves used to speak when they performed their tests on her. This man, luckily, exhibited a much lighter skin tone. If it hadn't been for him deciding to turn right to go back indoors, he would have never seen the girl and her company in the distance. She watched him jostle, bark something towards the interior, and abandon his cigarette to bring a hand against the rapier at his side. Alyssa's arms maintained their natural sway as she continued to approach, but her finger's flexed, prepared to deliver a deadly payload.

"Tampa! Mankoi naa lle sinome?" he shouted toward her. Another equally armored elf now emerged. This one held a rather massive crossbow, an arbalest.

'Tampa', she remembered that word to mean 'stop'. So, she did. The rest was an unfamiliar dialect, but the risen inflection meant an inquiry. Judging by the polished and ornate breast plates, they were of some formal organization - most likely guards from whatever remnant government still tried to rule these blighted lands.

"Hello!" Her tone was cheery, positive, and upbeat. The one with the loaded crossbow brought it to the ready. Alyssa threw her hands in the air in the universal display of surrender. "We're not here to fight!"

"What's your purpose in Lindequalmë?" he spoke in the common tongue. Their distance closed and they stood just a few yards apart.

"Just taking in the sights!" She attempted to convey. Their expressions remained cold and serious.

"Lindequalmë is off limits to outsiders. For the safety of the general public, no one without a mandate from the Lady General or ranking officer within the Skyknights may pass." His hand remained firmly on his rapier and his companion aimed his weapon square at her chest.

"Y'know, for all this talk about safety, having that thing," she gestured with a nod "pointed right at me isn't doing well for my confidence in that statement."

The lead official looked back to his compatriot and gestured to lower his weapon. The bowman obeyed.

"Can I put my arms down now?" Alyssa asked.

"You may."

"Thank you. Listen, me and my friends are just following up on a lead. A friend of ours went missing some nights ago, and the last we were able to learn was that he went looking for something in the Red Forest. I believe that's what we common folk call your, Lindequalme?" She butchered the pronunciation.

"Lindequalmë and yes, but like I said, without the proper mandate from --"

"Please? I'm begging you! He could be dead in there!" Alyssa pleaded, stepping closer to the guards, "He could be injured! You haven't seen anyone come by have you?!"

"Miss, he most likely is already dead."

"Wait a speck," the elf behind added with narrowed eyes, "What does this 'friend' of yours look like, and why did you bring a child to help you?" He pointed towards Ioder, who was just arriving on the scene with Leona.

"I, uhh," Alyssa stalled, looking back to her comrades. Specifically, she looked into Leona's eyes. She had a knack for knowing the best course of action in these sticky situations.

Alyssa twisted her expression from view of the two elves as if to silently ask Leona, "What do we do now?"

Then, the mage gunner shot a glance to her magnums as if to say, "We can shoot first, and ask later if you like."

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona quickly stepped in front of Alyssa and reached into her pocket. She removed a piece of folded paper and handed it to the high elf that took point among the three. He looked to her for moment before he unfolded the paper and read the text within. His eyes widened as they looked towards Leona, back to the paper, and then back to Leona. He handed the paper to one of his subordinates and hit his knees. Leona herself looked back to see the jaw-dropped expression on both Alyssa and Ioder's faces as if to tell them to look less dumbfounded.

What part did people not get of 'I can see timelines'?

"My Lady! Forgive us for not recognizing you sooner!" The leader pleaded. By now, the subordinate had bowed before Leona as well, and the third getting ready to after reading the letter. Leona offered her hand to the third, who placed the piece of paper back in her palm before bowing himself. Whatever was written on that letter was enough to send three high elf sentries begging a human girl for forgiveness.

"It's quite alright. No harm, no foul. My mother doesn't have to know about this. These two are my bodyguards. The kid may look innocent enough, but he's a seraphim. He can handle himself. Now, if you don't mind, I believe we have a mission to accomplish?"

The elves stood, nodded, and pointed eastward. "Yes, what you seek resides in the Durklan ruins. We were told to protect the ruins and the contents within ever since the Corpse War. I'm sorry again for not showing the proper respect."

Leona waved the dark elf off with a sigh, "It's quite all right, seriously. Thank you, we'll be on our way now."

The guard nodded as Leona began off east, her companions in tow. She could hear Alyssa catch up to her quickly, and before the mage gunner even opened her mouth, Leona began to speak. "I knew after coming back from Berevar that I would have to make friends on Althanas to accomplish my goals. As such, I made deals with several prominent figures in exchange for my services. In this case, I offered an elf named Nalith my soothsaying abilities in exchange for certain services he could give me, like signing a few adoption papers."

"Wait a minute. Nalith? As in---" There was a strange tone to Alyssa's voice, one part rage, two parts utter confusion.

"Yes, I am technically the daughter of the Nalith Celiniel, Lady General of the High Bard Council. Also, now that we're away from the guards we can focus on the more immediate danger." Leona moved some of her bangs from her face as Ioder caught up to the two of them.

"What immediate danger?" He asked.

"The Dur'Taigen," Leona pointed to the four trees that now surrounded them. At the base of the trees were rows of razor shard teeth, as if the forest had set a trap for the group. With their ruse uncovered, the shape-shifting wolves began to take their true form, matted gray fur plastered against patches of torn peach colored skin. Each canine was the size of Ioder's current form, and the quartet of dogs now encircled the party.

"Alyssa, Ioder, can the two of you buy us some time until the Rilserk get here?"" Leona asked, just as cryptic as the cards that guided her.

[Ioder]

Quickly Ioder and Alyssa drew their weapons, Alyssa with lightning fast speed drew one of her magnums from her waist. And the same Ioder flexed his arm and slammed on his gauntlet he was keeping hidden under his hooded cloak. The pair who had never fought together were seeming to move so smoothly together it was unreal. Without any conversation the two put their backs together forming a barrier between Leona and The Dur'Taigen. The four shape shifting wolves slowly started to circle the three of them, each staring down the party like they had just found their dinner.

"Alyssa you got the two on the right?" Ioder said calmly as if not to set of the wolves.

Alyssa giving of nothing but confidence in he body language, needed not to respond, her stance said it all. "And yours if you're not up to it." She said as if to show off in front of her new partner. She slowly raised her magnum up with both hands gripping and was aiming it at one of the wolves circling her.

"Your full of yourself." Ioder gawked as he raised his bladed gauntlet up aiming down the length of it at one circling on his side. The four wolves started to growl louder and louder, waiting for the party to make the first move. "Leona stay back...." Ioder hissed as he leaned into his gauntlet, he loaded a small arrow into the small yew bow he had rigged on the weapon and with one pluck on the string the arrow pierced the air. This was what The Dur'Taigen were waiting on, the first move. The wolf that Ioder was aiming at must have already scene this coming and quickly duck out of the path of the arrow. Simultaneously all of the shape shifters started their assault, two on one for each of Leona's bodyguards.

One of the wolves juking left and right to avoid and other arrows was closing in fast to Ioder, almost to quickly to react to. Within and instant Ioder had to quickly swipe with his gauntlet just to miss the rows of sharp teeth that were aiming for his fleshy arm. Then again and again Ioder was swiping his arm and the wolves jumped in and out to avoid it. Like a dance between the canines and the boy. The sounds of Alyssa fighting behind him gave him courage to continue, this was rough for the wolves were fast. Seems like Alyssa definitely knows how to take care of herself. He thought as he and the wolves continued their dance.

[Alyssa Snow]

As always, the card of Judgment had the answers. Not only that, she somehow managed to get paperwork relating her to the strongest woman in Raiaera! Leona never ceased to amaze, even when she identified seemingly harmless trees as massive wolves. It almost seemed as though she could see the future. Alyssa stirred the thought, and dismissed it as luck or coincidence. At present, the circling beasts with razor teeth were the top priority.

On Leona's words, Alyssa snatched one of her M-Class revolvers from her thigh. Her senses opened. Her eyes darted from target to target as she placed them in a rank and importance by threat level.

"Big one with a scar over left eye - Alpha. Medium with rigid, bark hindquarters designed for lunging - Bravo. Small with lowest posture - Charlie. Last one with barbed, vine tail - Delta."

She picked up a scent mixed in with the stench of feral dog that wreaked of death. It tickled at the back of her mind and reminded her of a man dressed in black. His piercing green eyes and white hair were memorable enough, but the red scarf stood out the most. As the feral dogs exhaled their growls of intimidation, she caught another waft. His dagger - the man from her memory had a dagger tucked in his waist. It had a faint aroma just like the one in the air now. Alyssa grew rigid, took one deep breath, and determined her plan of action with a confident smile.

"And yours if you're not up to it," she quipped back to her short colleague.

Before she could warn him about the poison, he loosed his arrow and the hunt began. Alpha and Delta broke formation and charged. Their paths crossed over one another to disorient their prey. Alyssa braced. Alpha's snarling maul opened wide as Delta bounded with a clawed swipe. Alyssa spun to counter the largest of the two and gave it her back. While the jaws came down, Alyssa rolled her shoulder and sent the large, wrapped item on her back into its snout. The swipe from Delta hissed overhead, only skimming the hairs of her pony tail. Alyssa contorted her body to angle her gun and fired.

Instead of the thunderous roar one would expect, a sound akin to pushing a blade into a grinding wheel filled the air. The muzzle lit with soft blue and after less than a blink, a long prong of ice buried itself into the beast's neck. It let loose a yelp of pain and both assailants leaped back. Alpha shook its head, Alyssa's mystery object thud against the ground, and Delta struggled to remove the prong of ice from its neck with a hind leg.

"Ioder," she shouted in a rush as similar sounds of a skirmish sounded behind, "don't let them open a wound! It's poisoned!"

Alpha refused to let Alyssa listen for affirmation as he lunged again with a feral howl. Alyssa sprinted toward the animal. It lashed out, she drew her knife, and they collided one into the other. The wolf's weight easily overpowered Alyssa's frail body, but the training she received in that awful laboratory boiled to the surface. While it's maw threatened to pry her face from its skull, Alyssa rolled onto her back and firmly kicked with her legs. The momentum carried the beast, in all its slobbering glory, into the air over he head. Two more gunshots and two more prongs of ice found their home in Alpha's underbelly.

"Alyssa!" she heard shouted from the fray.

"Shit."

As she rid herself of Alpha, Delta swooped in from the shadows, both of them now in mid air. The fury in its eyes only matched the panic in hers. She strained herself to act and missed yet another fatal mauling with a precise roll. As its forepaws landed, the mage gunner drove her knife through Delta's skull-sized paw. It loosed a blood curdling howl and tried to pry free to which Alyssa answered with another two shots.

The howl devolved into a gurgle, Delta swaggered, then collapsed on its side. Two tips of ice stuck out from the beast's temple buried so deep, they nearly drove clean through.

"Two down," she mused in between a labored breath. "Keep up, new kid!"

Alyssa tucked her knees and kicked herself back to her feet with fragments of forest mulch fluttering from her soiled garbs. She spun on her heel to assist Ioder only to land right on her back. Alpha's gigantic paws smashed into her chest and stars filled her vision. Her revolver skittered into the leafy undergrowth and out of sight. If it weren't for the lingering adrenaline keeping her from slipping into darkness, the Dur'Taigen would have removed her head from her shoulders. Only her frail arm braced against the beast's throat staved off her immediate demise.

"Little help!" she shouted in a panic.

Alpha gnashed his maw wildly, inching closer to the gunner's face. Thick, warm blood spilled freely from its chest onto her thighs. Alpha had a scar for a reason - he was a fighter, and Alyssa was getting a first hand demonstration. She tilted her head to avoid the flying drool, foul stench, and unwelcoming heat of its breath. Her pale, blue eyes landed on the razor wire coiled at her wrist. If she could a moment's distraction...

[Leona Stevvains]

The wolves of the Red Forest were known for their cleverness. Their ability to shapeshift into trees with teeth provided near perfect camouflage for anyone dumb enough to come into the home of a Forgotten One. Leona's eyes shifted back and forth between both Ioder and Alyssa, with each having a great deal of trouble with their canine opponents. As she watched the two battle, she merely sat on the ground and watched the action unfold. Alyssa, who was now in the process of keeping a Dur'Taigen from making her head a hearty dinner, looked to Leona.

"Miss Leona!" She spoke, each syllable dripped with desperation of her current struggle, "Miss Leona, what are you doing?!"

"Calm down, Alyssa," Leona spoke and reached to her side. She removed her tarot deck from her pocket and began laying the cards as if the vicious wolves were of no concern to her, "they're not attacking me because I'm not the one with weapons at my side. They think I'm not only the weakest but also the least dangerous out of the three of us. They won't devour me until they're done with the two of you."

"Then why don't you prove you're not weak and help us?!" Ioder demanded an answer from the sound of his voice. He was angry, as if he thought Leona Stevvains of all people just lured him into some sort of elaborate trap. The soothsayer looked up to Alyssa and simply nodded, a gesture that was more than enough to fill the mage gunner with the utmost confidence.

"Miss Leona is probably stronger than you and I combined! She has the strongest weapon! Wisdom!"

Leona bowed her head at the end of Alyssa's encouraging words. As she did, a vine as thick as a normal man's arm coated with what appeared to be blade-like thorns, flew out from behind her. The vine shot straight toward Alyssa, who shifted the wolf in her way with a wide eyed expression of shock. The thorns of the vine tore into the alpha Dur'Taigen's flesh, and the beast let out an ear-splitting howl. Sprays of blood shot into the air like a fine mist as suckling sounds began to echo around Alyssa. The thorns of the vines each had small, fanged mouths at the base of them, and while human flesh was the tastier treat, the plant seemed happy to settle for dog tonight.

"The thing about the Ruilserk is that they don't care what they eat, as long as it bleeds," Leona spoke as she continued to lay down tarot cards in front of her, "They also travel in packs, and once one latches on to a target, its buddies insist on eating the same thing."

Leona shifted her way out from under the vine as several more of the strange green creatures launched from each direction and locked onto the wolves. The beasts clawed, bit, and howled their way against the thorny adversaries to no avail. The Ruilserk outnumbered the Dai'Turgen 3 to 1. One unfortunate create had five vines wrap around it and rip it literally limb from limb, like a family fighting over what pieces of the turkey to rip off. Leona closed her eyes at this point, not one with the stomach for visceral gore. Even horror movies back on Earth would get to the woman, though her training with Berevar witches helped her tolerate such things much better than that squeemish girl from back then.

"Let's go," Leona spoke as she gathered her cards and began to walk once more. She did not even grant the two the courtesy to let their stomachs settle before moving on. She walked a path for another two miles before she reached their destination. All around them, the odd colored trees of the Red Forest surrounded them, save for one circular area. The area is question was completely covered in leaves, a mountain of foliage that not even the dangers of Raiaera would get near. Leona turned to Ioder, and pointed towards the twelve foot tall leaf mound.

"I need an arrow launched right at that mountain, if you don't mind."

[Ioder]

Ioder quickly reached behind his back fondling for one of his specially made arrows. His gauntlet's bow was uniquely made to holster a small yew bow on it. It was not the more stylish of weaponry he has used over the years but functional it was. After taking a few seconds to correctly knock his arrow before aiming his arm. He wasn't sure why he was about to waist his arrow shooting at a large bundle of leaves but it wasn't his place to question Leona, she has shown she has sight beyond sight. Unwavering he let loose his arrow, its flight true and without falter. It crested the tip of the mound only rusting the top few leaves.

"Right, so why are we doing this?" Ioder asked as he lowered his arm back to his side.

"Just watch..." She said as she reached for her deck of cards. Her face showed no sense of panic of distress, but her reaching for her cards showed something. She hasn't done that without reason as of yet. Alyssa said nothing as she waited for her superior to finish what she was doing.Only mere seconds after Leona drew her cards the was a rustle in the leaves. Nothing major but a clear show of movement underneath the mound. Ioder took a few steps toward it, feeling like it was no threat. Though he saw no reason he had his bladed gauntlet at the ready just in case. As he neared the pile there was another rustle but when Ioder reached forward to move some of the leaves away Leona yelled. "Get back Seraphim!" And as the words barley left her mouth, the entire pile of leaves exploded up ward. Ioder jumped a couple feet back just out of reach the leaves as the started to fall. There was nothing underneath the mound though, but a piercing sound resonated from it.

"Leona, Alyssa What is this thing?!" Ioder yelled as all of the leaves began instead of falling circulating around a central spot. All in precise rotation around a forming shape.

"Ioder stand back." Leona said, whilst Alyssa moved into position in front of her. Her magnums draw and she in a fighting stance. "Let me look at it." The leaves now starting to stick to the center of its orbit, they started to resemble a skin of some sort. But as a whole it took form as a large and bulky humanoid type figure. Larger than any man and with huge fore arms. Though it had a form there were still a large multitude of leaves circulating around it. Ioder retreated to Alyssa's side and reached for another arrow before knocking it again. Why had she instructed him to disturb this creature?

[Alyssa Snow]

What Leona had in mind, Alyssa could not fathom. In the middle of the most dangerous region of Althanas, the seer instructed Ioder to disturb an unidentified entity. Alyssa had limited exposure to the outside world since her escape from imprisonment only months ago. Though the texts she had read in her captivity provided some information on the outside world, experiencing it was completely different. Right now, the young woman felt a mixture of both childish excitement and fear.

"Leona, what do we do?" she asked her superior with azure eyes and twin pistols trained on the living pile of flora. "Do we run? Do we shoot?"

In the usual manner for which Leona was known, she mysteriously tended to her cards. Alyssa noticed that the seer's expression was calm, yet pensive. She could not resolve whether this was reassuring or further terrifying.

Weapons poised to unleash a magical flurry, Alyssa's lithe frame strafed in front of her benefactor. The construct in front of them released another shrill of what one would assume to be anger. The floating leaves of its body shivered and rattled like that of a Fallien snake. The last time the gunner heard a similar sound, she got to experience a viper's venom. The memory in light of the elemental's behavior forced the hair on her neck to stand.

"Leona?!" she shouted. The creature raised an appendage of leaves.

Alyssa's mind raced. Survival was something she knew and something she valued. Thaynes be damned if she didn't learn to shoot first and ask questions later.

"Ioder!" Alyssa commanded, "Take the flank! I'll keep its attention."

The mage gunner glanced to the leader of the Hierarchy. Leona quietly flipped another card.

"Interesting..." the seer muttered. Alyssa bit her lip.

Screw it.

"Hey, yardwork!" she shouted toward the abomination, "Over here!"

Shring! Shring! Shring!

Her fingers squeezed the trigger rapidly. Three bolts of razor sharp ice spewed from the barrels at high velocity. Alyssa firmed her footing in front of her master. She kept the trigger tension ready to release another volley, hammers quivered at the verge to fire another series of rounds from the crystals in the chambers.

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona sat there and looked at the cards sat before her, her face a steeled expression that revealed nothing. Ioder and Alyssa were busy keeping the monstrosity busy, and usually by now, Leona would have a strategy made for such a creatures defeat. The powers bestowed upon her by the Witches of Berevar allowed her to see every possible timeline with enough concentration, but the foliage fiend turned out to be a different story altogether.

Her eyes darted towards each individual card and her heart raced as if she just ran a marathon. She could still see the timelines of the beast, but something was off, her vision a jumbled mess as though she saw the future of multiple people at once. Leona placed her hands on the back of her neck as her eyes widened; she could hear the monster as it won the battle against her friends. She bit her upper lip as she concentrated.

“By the Thaynes…” she whispered.

“LEONA!” Alyssa yelled from a distance, the autumn time adversary’s way of pulling her allies away, “ANY TIME NOW!”

“I’m seeing each individual leaf,” she spoke beneath the sounds of the chaos. Each of her index fingers was placed on either side of her nose as she rubbed the bare skin. In all of Leona’s years training under the witches, she never encountered such a problem. The fact that each leaf seemed to have its own complicated things my a thousand fold. She sighed as she finally looked up to the forms of Ioder and Alyssa, and with a heavy swallow, admitted the truth.

“I don’t know how to beat it!”

[Ioder]

Save us, why did I ever get involved with these girls? Ioder thought as he revealed and flexed his beautiful white wings. Leona and Alissa both stared with jaws open as Ioder dramatically jumped up and began to soar high up into the sky. As he ascended Ioder’s body began to shin bright and contort its form. He was ageing, in a sense, Ioder stopped glowing and he was no longer a child. Ioder now took on the form of a young man with long blond hair kept in a nice ponytail.

The leaf golem must possess some form of sentience as it too was distracted by Ioder’s flashy display; turning his attention to the Seraphim completely. Ioder knew this would be the best option if he was to protect Leona, Alissa on the other hand needed no such protect. But she was the last line defense for her master, for what her master desires.

Beautifully Ioder swerved avoiding the canopy of tree branches until he broke free of the trees. The golem lifted off the ground as if used the other trees and leaves to move after Ioder. “See that it can levitate!” Alissa said as it moved farther and farther form herself and Leona, chasing the bird into the sky.

Ioder hovered up just above the tree tops waiting, devising some sort of way to fight the beast. Leona couldn’t see it… Maybe she wasn’t as all knowing as she had come off so far. With a great and powerful screech the Leaf Golem emerged from the tree top almost as if it melded with the ocean of red trees below it. “Good you came.” Ioder said as if the beast could hear him. The continuously rotating leaves sped their rotating as if it understood him. “Now let’s play!” Ioder said with a passionate grin cast over his face.

The beast understood and angrily sent forth a rain of razor sharp leaf shuriken at Ioder. They were quick but nothing dominates the sky like a bird. Ioder forced himself upward with his powerful wings avoiding the shuriken. In his wake he left two slivers of radiating white light, both appearing to be shaped like his feathers. “Holy light, spear my enemy with you cleansing essence. Angel Feathers!” Ioder yelled and as he did the slivers of light spiraled forth after the leaf golem. Reaching it and passing straight through it, shredding leaves as it did.

The beast let out another screech as it formed two large fists of red leaves and struck at Ioder as he flew past him entering the forest. It quickly followed him firing off more shuriken. Ioder still out flew the beast and easily maneuvered out of harm’s way. Then he turned and pointed his hand directly at the monster and an orb of white light formed in his palm. Then in a blinding display a ray of light fired from his hand burning everything it touched. The golem’s leaves caught and all that did immediately dropped their rotation and fell to the ground. The rest shifted around the fires and still pursued him.

Strange that the leaves it lost stayed gone and it didn’t assimilate more. “Alissa destroy the leaves!” Ioder yelled at his partner. Hopefully it was all it took but who could really say. Ioder still flew down luring it closer to Alissa who was easily planning a counter attack. He eyeballed a central object inside the monster, something small like an acorn.

[Alyssa Snow]

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Alyssa shrilled back at her mentor. The phrase 'I don't know' never came out of Leona's mouth. Hearing them for the first time out the blonde's hair on end. She directed her attention back to Ioder who had taken flight with the beast. Not only was it massive, indestructible, and angry, it could fly?!

And it flew well.

Whatever acrobatics their angel companion tried, the leaves kept hot on his trail. While Ioder had to bank, roll, and pitch his way to avoid branches, deadly vines, and attacks, the golem just moved. Its leaves passed through trees as would the wind. Whatever foliage got trapped or destroyed from the chase only replenished with more of the umber canopy. Alyssa watched intently as the specks gave chase to one another. She focused, observed, and processed information as quickly as she could while her Seraphim partner bought them precious time. Not only did each passing second put him in danger, but at any moment a new threat could emerge. This was Lindequalmë after all, and The Red Forest didn't only get its name from the color of the leaves.

"Damn it, Leona!" Alyssa swore with her watchful gaze unflinching and pistols tracking the two through the air. "I swear by the Thaynes if this is another one of your tests..."

Suddenly, Ioder banked hard and tucked his wings in tight. His velocity increased exponentially and he dove like a bird of prey where his companions stood.

"Alyssa!" she barely heard, "destroy the leaves!"

She assessed the many swirling, spinning, tumbling leaves in an angry cloud behind him. She only had eighteen fucking rounds and not enough time to replenish more. Did he think her some kind of magical turret that spewed spells like a torrent of water?! The girl bit her lip in frustration, but all the while her thoughts consumed her, she never let those blue eyes lift from her target. Everything has a weakness.

Well, maybe not a flying, living fortress, but how many of those are real?

Alyssa took aim as the angel and demon sped ever closer.

Closer, even closer now...

Swirling, twisting, screaming leaves...

Closer...

So many of them, I can't shoot them all...

Almost...

It has to have a source... a heart...

"ALYSSA! DO SOMETHING!" Ioder shouted within just a few yards, the golem just a few feet behind.

There...

The hammers dropped. Blue-white light crested on the muzzles as her feathered companion grazed by and caught her blond locks in his drag. Ice formed and flew. Two prongs danced their sweet duet for less than a second before their honed, frozen tips bit into one, tiny acorn.

Alyssa turned to bare her shoulder to the oncoming leaves. Though she couldn't see it, the speeding leaves slowed, compressed around the small seed as though trying to patch a hole. A shrill pierced the air and as the mass of foliage readied to impact the gunner, it burst. Alyssa's knee buckled from the blast as it slammed into her body like a mighty gale. Then, a rain of red leaves floated harmlessly to the ground. With them, an acorn missing bits on two sides tumbled to top the pile.

Allysa hesitated to open her eyes, but she didn't hear the beast's cries. She didn't feel its painful wrath. As though she didn't expect that to work, she glanced around the opening as though the golem would pop out from the shadows with spooky fingers and say, "Just kidding! Now I'm gonna gobble your insides!"

But that didn't happen, and for a moment there was quiet. That is, until the forest stirred from the conflict. Lindequalmë did not let the weak rest. Here, you had to earn the right to live. If you failed, you were something else's food.

And the sounds of battle rang the dinner bell.

[Leona Stevvains]

Leona sat there with her eyes upon her cards as if she was a mother who looked disappointed in their child. Ioder and Alyssa seemed to bring down the beast after some quick thinking on both their parts, but with little help from their leader. The prophet merely gathered her cards and stacked them up before placing them back into her pocket. When she stood, she approached the acorn halves that fell to the ground, kneeled down, and quickly pocketed them.

“I can see potential in these,” she smirked at her own joke and thanked Jomil that her allies did not hear it. She moved back to her original position and pointed downwards to reveal what the leaf pile was protecting. A giant hole was now made in the ground, with several stone steps leading down into the dark abyss. “The animals of the Red Forest probably heard the ruckus. I suppose it’s time to seek shelter.”

The witch calmly walked down the stairwell and found herself in a dark hallway. As she looked back for her allies several torches on each side of the ten foot wide hall lit up and trailed downwards. Every few feet there were open doors where different kinds of insects crawled out of the inky blackness and onto the walls. Spider webs dangled upon the roof, its trapped prey entangled forever in gray colored adhesive. At the end of the hall was a small pedestal, where a single chalice laid, a shiny light from the outside upon it.

“Ioder, Alyssa. Welcome to the House of Cards,” Leona spoke as though she had the name planned for the longest time, “and at the end of this hallway is our goal; a cup to represent the minor arcana as well as the new home for the Tarot Hierarchy.” She turned back to the two of them, her eyes closed as though she was remembering her failure. “Would you two like to do the honors of obtaining the chalice?”

[Ioder]

It had finally happened; Leona and her two operatives reached their objective. The House of Cards, the new home of the organization was majestic even if covered by the signs of neglect and age. It was clearly a place with its every brick laid with magic and ritual. Ioder stood in the back of the group behind Alyssa as he was still the newest initiate to the Tarot. Not that it mattered to him, this quest and this group was nothing more than a means to an end for the ageless angel.

“So all this was buried here underneath the Red Forest?” Ioder asked as he moved up to the front of the three man squad. “I had never even heard legend of this place in all the years I have lived.” Ioder eyeballed the prophet; Leona’s was truly a power to respect.

Leona nodded as Ioder walked past her walking towards the Chalice centered at the end of the hallway. It sat atop a stone pedestal in a suspiciously open hallway. Were there traps? Was this a test? Thus far everything had been a test, why wouldn’t Ioder think this was as well.

“Alyssa,” Ioder said before growing quite. He waited for her to come to his side; with mutual respect the mage gunner approached him accepting his challenge even without invitation. “You must feel the same way as I do. And surely wish to have the honor of the first of many artifacts we will collect.” With that said Ioder quickly extended his wings brushing her slightly before pushing off into a glide towards the chalice. He hovered just off the ground avoiding any pressure plates if there were any. “But if you want to show me up you have to deserve it!” Ioder yelled back.

The first to claim the chalice wins! Alyssa obliged and moved for the chalice along side the angel. She was quick and agile sprinting like a well trained operative avoiding the obvious traps.

"Get back here!" Alyssa yelled at the angels back.

"Not a chance I want this just as much as you." He retorted

"Be careful you two!" Leona reminded the two.

[Alyssa Snow]

Alyssa took pride in her stride. After the strange events of their adventure, the mage gunner welcomed a little light hearted fun. After all, traps were much easier to avoid than living enemies. Skipping over pressure plates, trip lines, runic circles, and pitfalls reminded her of a game she saw children play in Beinost.

"Hopscotch" was it?

She moved with the grace of a swallow. She slid on her knees under wires, somersaulted over arcane trigrams, bounded over pressure plates, and parkoured the walls over pitfalls. The angel, well, he just flew like a swallow. Alyssa would be lying if she didn't feel slightly impressed.

However, this little gunner did have the upper hand what wings couldn't provide, size. Where Ioder had to contend with narrow hallways against his wingspan, Alyssa gracefully strode her way through. Finally, in an overzealous display of skill, the blonde skipped and flipped over the pedestal. While Ioder reached to grab for the chalice's polished surface, Alyssa plucked it while mid air and landed triumphantly opposing him.

Click.

Her face swelled with a grin of victory.

Whurrr.

"I win! Maybe next time, initiate!" she teased.

"Uh... Alyssa?" the Seraphim stammered with a pointed finger.

"What?" She felt her heart drop when the clinking of trap-work drifted into her ears. Her eyes widened and pores opened to produce a gloss to her skin. Hesitantly, slowly, she turned to face whatever it was her companion pointed to.

I'll leave whatever happens next to Leona. I assume we're close to the end? Maybe the trap fizzles out or it opens a door to an inner chamber lavished with furniture and goodies? *shrugs*

[Leona Stevvains]

The wall that stood just beyond the pedestal slowly slid open, dust and debris fell lifelessly to the ground as a sword found itself at Alyssa’s throat within seconds of the revelation of the secret compartment. Brown hair and gold, almost dead eyes stared directly into Leona’s own windows. The average height man stood with his weapon drawn as though he were ready to skewer the gun warrior at the first sign of a wrong move. Ioder reached out as if he planned to do something, only to see the tip of the blade dig softly into Alyssa’s exposed throat flesh.

“Leona?” The man asked without ever taking his eyes off of his prey, “How did they do?”

“At ease, my Untapped,” Leona spoke, a smile upon her features. The man instantly lowered his blade and sheathed it at the command of the prophet. Alyssa and Ioder instantly turned around with eyes bigger than any normal person’s should be. How Leona missed the idea of being shocked by some surprise twist; those days were forever lost to the avatar of Jomil. She calmly approached the strange warrior and stood beside him while ignoring the accusing glances of her comrades.

“Alyssa, Ioder,” she spoke with the gentle tone that became her second nature, “this is Tobias Stalt the Untapped, and I asked him to be here for this event.”

“Wait…you WHAT?!” Ioder’s voice seemed to raise with the rage that no doubt swelled in his being, “This was all some game to you?! -That’s- how you knew where to look to find this place?! So was this Chalice thing all a lie?!”

Leona shook her head, her eyes closed. “No, no, no. It is quite the opposite. I sent the Untapped to go fetch the Chalice while I tested the two of you. I made sure I provided him with enough time to place the object on the stand so you felt accomplished. I needed all of you to be here for this.”

“This?” Alyssa asked, her eyebrow perked up in curiosity.

Leona simply pointed to the chalice that her loyal soldier held. Within the bowl of the cup were two tarot cards that represented the warriors very beings; The Moon and The Justice.

[Ioder]

"Merely a test." Ioder muttered softly but loud enough to catch Leona and the other's ear. All three look at the seraphim, all there with different expressions. The situation was odd to say the least but to Ioder it was purely insult. "A game more like it." Ioder said turning his full attention to the mysterious and misleading Leona. This seer, was she mad to play with fire? The wrath of a seraphim was unlike any and the quickest way to witness it firsthand was to mislead one under false pretenses.

"Yes." Leona said addressing the tension between the two. Not a note of discomfort on her face, just calm. Ioder raised and draped his wings over his shoulders like a white cloak. His glare locked on Leona, piecing as he stared past her clam eyes.

"I don't like being lied to, this was nothing other than a knights errand. I and no mere mortal to be played with. Leona, your manipulation was uncalled for if in the future you wish something from me. Be Blunt." Ioder said addressing how he felt. "If we are going to work together we need to respect one another and that mean no secrets."

"Ioder, you may be 'Divine' but even you arnt without influence. Even now I have brought you here by the will of the cards. The moment I saw you I witnessed this, your reawakening by Moonlight." She said passing him up and signaling both he and Alyssa to join her around the chalice. When all three stood in their respected sides of the chalice it began to glow. "And you Alyssa, today you will be reawakened by justice." As she finished both the tarot cards resting in the chalice began to shine bright and levitate. The moon began to rise and circulate around Ioder as he watched with child like wonder, the justice card began to do the same to Alyssa.

"Wonderful." Ioder said as the card stopped it's glow and landed on Ioder's left hand. The picture on the card resting perfectly aligned and in a flash marked his flesh with the symbol of the Moon. It burned for a moment but as the card vanished leaving behind its mark Ioder could feel something, power. It was exactly what he had hoped for. "But what does this all mean?"

[Alyssa Snow]

Startled didn't accurately describe the feeling when her old partner from Fallien, Tobias Stalt, put his dagger to her throat. Alyssa's shocked, crystalline eyes looked into his. Unlike the soft, gentlemanly gaze she remembered, it was cold and calculating. His pupils were not just black, they were empty.

The gunner gulped and the muscles rolled into the knife's point. It forced her to wince as a bead of red bubbled upon the steel.

To Alyssa's surprise, her mystic mentor stayed the man's blade. The blonde couldn't quite wrap her head around the situation. Leona quickly aimed to sate her confusion and meanwhile, Alyssa tended to the stinging prick with her palm. Though she learned the adventure had been a test and some awards were in order, Alyssa's brow remained firmly quirked.

Then, the cards within the chalice lifted. One tended to Ioder, while the other spun in front of her. The card glimmered along its edges while it flipped from an ornate golden backing to the image of a woman upon a throne. In one hand, a shockingly familiar pistol. In the other, a scale held level. The woman's features intrigued her the most, for they were almost identical to her own.

"L-leona?" Alyssa murmured with a waver. The seer gently nodded with a confident smile while stoic Stalt stood arms folded beside her.

The card slowed, stopped, and with the image of justice facing the gunner. The light around it grew, like a lantern in a fog. Alyssa shook her head.

"What?" she asked to no one. Silence settled for a moment while the card crept closer.

"Will it hurt?" again she asked with her attention intensely fixed upon the card.

"Why me?" This time, the card turned toward Ioder, then Tobias and Leona before it faced her again. Alyssa looked to all of them. She wore the expression of concern, and uncertainty. She drew in a strong breath, briefly closed her eyes, and opened them to a new, stern and confident demeanor.

"I accept," Alyssa stated.

The card froze, drew in its light, then shattered into little luminescent motes. They scattered like wolves around its prey and homed in on her left shoulder blade. She winced and her fists tightened to white knuckles until the final mote drifted into her. The young girl released her trapped breath in relief.

"Justice, huh?" Alyssa held her hand in front of her, opened and closed it, then flipped it over. Though the others could not visually see it, the mage gunner had changed. A warmth, yet cool chill steeled within her. It felt as though a furnace warmed her heart, and ice ran in her veins.

She lowered her hand to her side and gave Leona a confident grin.

"The Ritual of Binding," Alyssa remarked to Ioder's question. "We've been promoted."

[Leona Stevvains]

“Alyssa is right,” Leona’s tone seemed to retain the apathy that became synonymous with her persona the majority of this trip, “I know the cards have ideas on who they wish for their vessels to be. However, I, as the card of Judgment, have to make sure that your bodies are up to the task of not only protecting the House of Cards, but accepting the Binding Ritual as well.”

Ioder’s eyebrow raised up as he looked to the seer. “Wait, so you have one of these cards on you as well?”

Leona nodded and closed her eyes. In an instant she had dropped her pants to validate her place as a member of the Hierarchy. Tobias Stalt’s head peered behind his boss only to receive a swift backhand from the prophet that reddened the warrior’s face. Just below her pink panties was the tattoo that depicted three people as they looked up to an angel holding a trumpet. This was the mark of the judgment card, and every time Leona Stevvains moved, she was reminded of her task to Jomil.

“My ritual was a bit more….thorough…” she shuddered at the last words as images filled her mind. The intricate design and colors of the marking hid the burn marks and whelps that came from having a solid steel tarot card smelted upon her flesh. She leaned down and pulled her pants back up, a quick elbow into the ribs of Tobias as he peeked at his boss lady’s bent over position. As she rose, she could see a twitch in Alyssa’s eyebrow, but the Justice card had enough tact to keep comments to herself. For now, at least.

“I have already done the service of having your rooms prepared. Tobias gathered your belongings and moved them close by. Ioder, my precious Moon, you will be one of the first lines of defense should someone come and assault the House. As such, we need to send you on a pilgrimage, and make you stronger. The power that courses through your veins now must be unleashed, tested upon people. We have to know your full potential. Alyssa, you will also be roomed close to the stairs, but we will make sure to set you up with a laboratory so you can run experiments and the like at your own free will. You are both now free to come and go as you please in any room in this House of Cards”

“Even yours Leona?” Tobias Stalt grinned and was quickly answered by a slap that caused his opposite cheek to match the crimson shade of the first.

“And, starting today, no more stupid questions.”

((That’s it guys! Leona requests The Ace of Cups. This is a chalice that will constantly refill with whatever liquid is first poured into it for the day. After each day, the chalice empties itself.))

[Mordelain]

Thread Title: The Tarot Chooses
Judgment Type: Condensed Rubric
Participants: Leona Stevvains, Ioder, Alyssa Snow

Plot: 20/30

An interesting recruitment thread that breaks new ground with an old forum staple. Likeminded people from different backgrounds believably finding common bonds. You wrote in such a way as to give a well-timed sense of development, and the thread was neither rushed nor lingered over pointless twists and turns.

I would recommend that further Tarot Hierarchy threads work to develop links between current events and the events leading up to the Power Group’s formation. A lot of threads fall short because they either do too little, or too much exposition, so be weary with this. Perhaps Leona’s whimsical ramblings could drop hints, or perhaps the characters she recruits into the roles of the cards can gain some sort of flashback or unconscious memory of their predecessors.

Character: 21/30

Leona is unreadable. Ioder is innocent and unwieldy. Alyssa, from the impressions given in this thread, is becoming drunk on the power gifted (or inflicted?) on her by her creators. Each of your characters are breathing, living creations and it’s clear from your writing that you all write with distinct voice. By grace of having read other work, and other characters from the writers involved you’ve taken the time to develop syntax and dialogue and it delivers.

Prose: 19/30

The level of spelling, grammar, and mechanical precision in this thread is generally high. However, once you begin to look at sentence structure – the compound sentences especially, there is room to develop for all of you. Separating clauses in sentences should always begin with the concrete rules for sentence construction.

Speech formatting is a consistent issue during the thread. When the clause following the dialogue is connected, it needs to be formatted as:

“I am a big pink elephant,” she said.

There is occasion where it is written as:

“I am a big pink elephant.” She said.

Run on from speech into description also can slow down a thread. Ioder, be careful not to repeat dialogue in the narrative. This occurs in post 23, for example. Last line.

Wildcard: 6/10

Solid, though I felt a little cheated with your character’s solution to the adversary in the thread. I liked the subtle use of the senses in the thread. The acorn smell, the sense of nausea, and the balance between description, dialogue, and action (in all senses) worked well. Be careful with your technical writing, and you should see continued results with this strong character start.



Final Score: 66/100

Members received:

Ioder receives 1232 EXP!
Alyssa Snow 1154 receives EXP!
Leona Stevvains receives 968 EXP!

All receive 150 GP!

Congratulations!

[Lye]

EXP & Gp Added!