Mage Hunt: No More Options


 * Verdigris: Forest Wilds 


 * So named for the distinctive blue and green hues that the leaves of the monoecious deciduous Verdigris trees that grow only in this expansive region of the Wildlings, the Verdigris Forest is at once archaic and resplendent, and home to all kinds of durable flora and fauna that, at times, put even the most astounding forests of Fastheld to shame, shattering the illusion of the Wildlands being bleak and evil places.


 * Verdigris is a place where time seems to stand still; a waking dream of the ancient days before the Cataclysm that would bring about new and dangerous times for the greater world around it. A place of untold beauty and ancient secrets. Of Wildlings, Drakes, and the Arcane...


 * Deer can be heard sneaking through the bushes that blanket the shadows of the verdigris trees around them. Flowering violet blossoms can be seen among the shrubs. The ground is covered in a carpet of leaves and grass, broken only by the occasional stream of crystal water that cuts its tireless way through the forest towards whatever river welcomes it. Something large and black juts out of the forest to the north.

Wolf runs beside wolf, one carrying a slender hunter, "Meian...I understand why you did what you did..."

It appears that the river has deposited Kallyn on Fox's doorstep. Well, not literally, but close enough. The redhead is laying surrounded by foliage near the river's shore. The arrow from her calf has been yanked out, but the mage girl has not made any attempts at removing the others. Especially that one sticking out of her torso, that could do bad things. She just lays there, on her right side, awake and trying to keep her breathing quiet while her mind races.

An unhappy whine from the violet wolf, as she keeps pace with Velvel. "But you are still unhappy with me..."

Blackfox searches the riverbank for signs, looking for any trace of someone having left it, looking as much for signs of blood as for someone dragging themselves along. Eventually she spots what she is looking for, slowing her pace and dropping her voice to answer. "Aye, but...it does not mean..." her sentence goes unfinished as she brings Velvel to a halt. "There," she says softly, pointing to the track and following it with a gesture.

The mage girl's not going anywhere. It's miraculous that she's made it this far, survived for this long. Kallyn just lays there, waiting for Blackfox. After all, what else can someone so injured do?

The wolf's pale eyes follow Blackfox's point, an unhappy whine escaping the beast as she pads that way. "...Kallyn?" the familiar yet distorted tones growl.

Blackfox slides off of Velvel's back, holding back as Meian goes forward.

"No, I'm Serath Valoria, just in a really good disguise," Kallyn replies, her voice low and a bit strained, "Even stuck myself full of arrows to make it more realistic. Think her hidden allies will find it convincing enough to trust me so I can find her?"

The weak sound that escapes the wolf might almost be a laugh, but it's hard to tell apart from any other growl. "You... I didn't know they would Lessen you."

"I didn't either until Fox told me," Kallyn says, "But I really liked your idea... That was genius, Meian, really... A shame Fox saw through it, hm?"

"I tried to see if you had repented. And you didn't fight back," rasps the wolf. "...I should have known I couldn't fake killing you good enough to fool Fox." She sits down on her hindquarters, silent a moment. "...It changes everything..."

"Only the way I view the Cult and the Empire," the redhead says, "Still not fond of the idea of dying... But only because I don't believe death and Lessening are my only options." Kallyn shifts a bit, trying to sit up and lean on a nearby tree, "You know, Blackfox... you can keep your promise without killing me /immediately/..."

"You're in too bad shape," growls the wolf, tones pained. "You won't survive without extensive medical help. Far beyond what we could give you. And no one else will."

"I know," Blackfox says quietly, "It was not an easy thing for me to decide to do and I did not wish to lose my resolve."

"I understand, Fox," Kallyn replies, nodding, "And... I can survive this. Most of it won't heal /right/, but... I think if I'm lucky enough not to get infected, I can... Although, this one in my chest here, this one... I don't like where it's situated..." The redhead sighs, "There's no way to bribe Taran into it, is there?"

"Not likely," rasps the wolf, voice sharp with grief. "I don't think so, Kallyn. I don't think you -can- survive on your own."

Blackfox lapses back into silence then, watching and listening.

"Not on my own, probably not... not like this," Kallyn agrees, "But I refuse to think I'm out of options. Not yet..." She sighs and swallows hard, "Meian, Fox... I know I don't deserve it... and I hate to ask, but I need your help. A place to hide... someone who can remove this Mark, and Lady Celeste, if she's willing... She can make the wounds close, so they won't get infected while I'm healing..."

"Don't you know what you're asking?" the wolf snarls brokenly, the quills on her neck standing straight up. "Anyone who aids and abets you is committing treason and could be hanged themselves for it, no doubt. I have already tried and all I have earned you is a slower death. And the alternative, a Lessening..."

"I know...," Kallyn replies, her voice pained, "That's why I don't like asking... If any of you get caught, I'll say I took control of your mind. They don't have full knowledge of the Shadow, no one does. And they have no way of knowing whether or not I'm capable of such a thing..."

Blackfox shakes her head, "I am sorry, but I cannot. If you stood falsely accused or were being hunted simply because you were touched, I would stand by you. But...is there aught they say you did that you did not?"

"If you could survive I would let you go," the wolf's rasping voice whispers. "Lady Ailith is here. In the Refuge. She will be coming this way soon. If we do not..."

"I don't know what all they've claimed of me," Kallyn points out to the huntress simply, "I left when I knew they found out about what I did to Meian." She lets out a breath at the mention of Ailith, "So, the Canoness is finally getting around to coming for me. Is there not anywhere hidden in all of these lands where I could heal?"

"Not if they were to ask Sandrim or Taran to find you," Blackfox says quietly.

"You will not heal from this alone," the wolf whispers. "Kallyn, I... I came here to kill you."

"The Silent Forest, then," Kallyn replies to Fox simply, "The Shadow does not reach there. The way the Empire seems to think of me, it's the last place they would think to look, and neither Taran nor Sandrim would be able to pierce the silence to find me." The redhead looks to Meian with a frown, but waits for Fox's response before delivering her own.

"Aye, but then they will know that that's where you are," Blackfox replies, "It is how I knew to look for you there before. Taran could not find you and so he knew you must be there."

"Even then," the violet beast falters, "your... your wounds..." A low, unhappy whine escapes her.

"So it is a large area rather than an exact location. It is better than nothing," the redhead replies to Blackfox. "And yes, Meian, I know. My wounds... Can you not even consider my thoughts or must you dash every hope I have left?" Kallyn lets out a sigh, her mind again working, "I know the prospects are exceedingly slim, and that I am more likely to die than anything else as things stand. But I cannot help but feel there is another option out there that I just haven't thought of yet. There is Light there, and life, and... I can reach it, Meian, I just don't know how yet..."

Blackfox bows her head, shaking it slightly as she listens.

"Do you think I want this?" growls the wolf, tones edged. "I cannot let them Lessen you, Kallyn. And there is nowhere you can survive out of their reach. Not like this." Her shaggy head shakes a vehement protest. "I... can make it quick..."

"Of course you don't want this," Kallyn replies, "I'm just..." She thunks her head lightly on the tree she is leaning against and sighs, "I'm just bitter, is all. I've had a lot of stress today, between being ambushed by marauders, losing..." she trails off, rubbing her stomach as tears well up in her eyes, "They... I was... At least I thought, I wasn't sure..." Her eyes close, releasing those tears, before she continues, "I've been through a lot today. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... to snap."

"It is time," Blackfox says softly, "The longer you delay, the harder this will be."

Pink eyes look to Blackfox's, the wolf whining unhappily. "I..." No further words, as again the animal's lines and lineaments deliquesce into a hulking shape of Shadow, reforming to the slender mage within.

"All right," Kallyn says after a long moment's hesitation, nodding slowly as she lets out a sigh, "I get it... no more options..." The redhead adjusts sitting up straighter and looking between the women, "Let Nihanin know that I love him, I didn't get a chance to mention that before... And tell Milora that I understand why she told Ailith about my intentions before and that I'm not upset at her for it... And apologize to Taran for me, too... I was a complete bitch to him, he didn't deserve that..."

"I shall see to it that your messages are given," Blackfox says softly.

Meian looks down at Kallyn, her thin lips trembling, but nonetheless she reaches for the knife at her side. "I... I'm sorry," the girl whispers. "I really wish there was another way. And maybe we could buy you more time, a day or two, but it would just be to die from these wounds or at a Lessening. I... it will be gentle, aye?"

A nod and a smile, "Do not apologize, my friend. I know you're doing the right thing. My only regret is in tossing aside the love of my friends the way I did." Kallyn lets out a sigh and closes her eyes, leaning her head back against the tree. A prayer, similar to the one uttered upstream earlier today, followed by a second with well-wishes for those she loves.

Blackfox stands back a short distance from where Kallyn lies, the mage peppered with arrows, Meian crouched by her side. She bows her head in silent prayer, one hand resting on Velvel's shoulder.

Quiet tears spill over in Meian's pale eyes, running down the girl's cheeks and distorting the lines of her Mark. Her kukri's drawn from her side sheath as she shifts position, taking Kallyn's head into her lap. "I'm sorry, anyway," she chokes out almost defiantly, then adds more softly, "Are you ready?"

And from the north! Sandrim rides in on his horse's back, with Mareten sitting behind him in the saddle (and a dozing Lucius sharing the wagon with Varal). Jei, another timber wolf, rides in as well, with Nihanin on his back.

Varal, in a moment of childishness, asks Sandrim, "Are we there yet?"

Mareten blinks as he rides along, arms around Sandrim's waist. "Ummm aint sure me Lord!" He calls over his shoulder.

Nihanin pulls up the rear of the small group, his young wolf pacing up to settle near Purga. "There seems to be people ahead." A very wise declaration that, as he pulls slightly ahead of the group to inspect.

"Yes, I'm ready," Kallyn replies softly, calmly, "I feel... warmth... inside me, like... like the Light is getting ready to welcome me." A thought crosses her mind, then, and a few tears stream from her face, "Perhaps I can get to see my father again... Wouldn't that be something?" The sounds of people catch her attention, and her eyes open to regard the approaching folks with a frown, "Looks like there's going to be an audience..."

Sandrim narrows his eyes as he looks over toward the riverbank, then frowns. "Ahh," he says quietly, for Mareten, Varal and Lucius to hear. "It's Kallyn."

"Oh?" Varal says rhetorically, springing from the wagon - throwing in a flip for good measure. He hits the ground with a somersault. Once he's back on his feet, he sprints with almost superhuman speed towards the trio.

Meian spares only a quick glance to the approaching figures, promising Kallyn with a thin layer of softness over her steely determination, "They will -not- take you in. Light... Light embrace you, Kallyn. We'll m-meet again." One hand gently reaches to tip the mage's chin back, and the other aims to draw her kukri's sharp edge across the throat- retracing a shallow line already cut there, but if is unresisted, it glides with deadly depth to do its work swiftly.

Mareten just stares..... and stares..... "Me Lord Varal be da greatest!" He beams.

"Huh." Lucius says, jumping off the wagon, but not making any drastic moves to join the group by the riverside. He just walks towards them briskly.

Sandrim stares blankly. "Varal is... impressive," he says, before turning his head away. "I don't think I want to watch this, though."

Nihanin and Jei flinch away from Varal's movements, an element of surprise. Though, if there is something to be said, he doesn't. His head whips toward Sandrim, and then he slips off his mount and quickly follows behind Varal. Well, quickly for someone that isn't enhanced by any magical means.

Blackfox raises her bow as Varal charges, shaking her head, "Please...stay back, Varal, and let there be an end to this."

Varal puts his hand in such a way that Meian's wrist can't flick towards Kallyn's neck without some unnatural movements. He takes a moment to recover his breath before he looks at Meian. "I understand why you want to do this. I do not think it should be you."

Pale eyes glance up to Varal, calmly. "My lord," Meian acknowledges, tone barely sufficiently polite. "Remove your hand. I will do this and I will do it now. I have already killed men. There is no one this should be more than myself."

Mareten blinks at the bow being raised at his Lord and tries to slip off the saddle behind Sandrim as quickly as a giant smith in armor and a lack of fancy powers can... its... umm a work in progress.

Lucius doesn't appear to be in tip top shape. He walks with a slight limp, but when Fox raises her bow at Varal, this movement seems to do it for him. Off of his back comes a leather covered shield; from behind the shield, a bronze thrusting spear is removed, its point facing forward. He moves to sprint now, towards the riverside. "Lower that bloody bow, Fox!" He yells, adding further to the confusion.

Sandrim hops off quickly as well. "It's alright, Mareten," he says. "No one is going to hurt Lord Varal."

"I made a promise, Lucius," Blackfox says, "I do not wish to bring harm to anyone, but Kallyn deserves a swift death and not the Lessening your empire would inflict upon her."

It's clear Nihanin doesn't quite know what to make of the situation and the potential of several bubbles popping at once. Instead, he moves into the niche across from Meian and Varal, going down to both knees, dirty boots tucked under his rear end. "Fire?"

Kallyn does not resist Meian, her eyes squeezing shut and waiting for that blade. It does not come, and the injured mage looks up to Varal with a quirked brow. And then more chaos. She yells as loudly as her injuries will allow, "Everybody just calm down! Does this need to be a spectacle?" She sighs, then, and looks between Meian and Varal. "Varal, Meian is the one I tried to kill to get the law after me. It will be Meian who delivers my merciful en-..." She stops and looks to Nihanin as he drops down, "Wind..." She is torn. Happy that she gets to see him, but upset that he has to see her like this. The first thing that comes to mind is to give him her mesage herself, "I asked them to tell you this, but seeing as you're here, I've been meaning to tell you that I love you."

Varal's hand grasps Meian's wrist. "This is not killing. It is an execution. It is different, Meian. And, it is not what i want to see that stuttering, rain-soaked girl I met one night having to deal with. My psyche is battered enough to handle this." His eyes flicker towards Blackfox. "And I am in favor of a mercy kill. I wouldn't lessen Kallyn here." Still holding Meian's hand, he begins to unlimber his sword. "And, if you are really going to insist, at least do with the bloody proper weapon to get the job done right. It looks like you've botched it heroicly already, which is an utter disgrace to both you women. This is torture /like/ a Lessening." He seems content to ignore Kallyn, before driving his sword into the dirt.

"I did not botch, I did exactly what I intended," is all Meian says in reference to the thin cut already present, her voice very calm and even even as tears continue to slowly trickle down her cheeks. "I am sorry, Lord Varal. You will want to let go of me now, please, so that I can do this. It -will- be quick. If not... I am sorry, but I will make you let go of me."

"She's sentenced to death. Nothing about Lessening. Maybe if she was captured alive. Who said anything about capturing her alive?" Lucius asks, moving to his liege's side. "Crashhammer, get up here now!" He calls without looking over his shoulder. Still, his large tower shield is held up and the bronze spearpoint, reflecting the very sparse light, faces forward. "Lower your bow, and I will lower my spear. Until you do that we'll be in a standoff. I won't make the first move." Meian gets an odd look. "I'd think it's also in your interest to not start something hostile, Meian. I consider myself a friend of yours. Let's keep it that way?" This is left open ended, but he looks back at Fox.

Mareten nods his head quickly and his kite shield and his sabre comes out. The young smith seems to be pretty scared at the moment as he tries to ignore the goings on and focus on Blackfox. "Howdy Missum Foxlady.. right nice ta see ya.. aints nobody should be hurts.. right sorry.. right sorry if stuff happens. Aint ones to likes hurtin folks.. please don't shoots ayup?" He calls out sounding fairly unsure.

"This is ridiculous," Sandrim grumbles, before, with one easy motion, pulling out his sword and... throwing it. Except it isn't thrown in a straight line, whipping around the others there to go for Kallyn's head.

"It was the raiders who did much of this," Blackfox explains, "I tried to finish her quickly, but Meian arrived and thought to spare her until I told her of the Lessening." She lowers her bow halfway, not quite willing to put it away, "Celeste told me that was their intention, and I did give her my word to grant Kallyn a swift death should the opportunity arise. I bear her no ill will, nor do I wish harm upon any here, on this you have my word."

Nihanin ignores the others, even Meian and Varal's efforts to determine who gets to do what. He just offers Kallyn a pained smile. "That's just alot of steel pressed into your stomach and good bits making you stupid." He leans down and kisses the woman, and if blood is tasted? It's accepted as a natural course that is nothing he can do. "You are being denied your right to live, but the saddest thing of it all, no one is realizing that this event isn't about us, though we're all doing our best to make it so. Just name the one you want it to be, Fire. The rest of us will make sure of it. None here will see you turned into a beast, despite what some distant man on a distant throne has decided." A long pause, eyes closing, and he leans back down in to whisper something before peeling away forcefully for the sword Varal lodged in the dirt.

Well, things that catch a person by surprise are bound to get a kneejerk reaction. Kallyn lurches forward, groaning halfway through the surprisingly swift movement as the sword flies past her head and sinks into the dirt. She gives Sandrim a /look/, before returning her attention to Nihanin. The kiss he offers is returned passionately, and the girl smiles, "Poetically, it would be proper for it to be Meian. But I have seen the pain it causes her to have to do it and... I would not wish that on someone I love." That whispering causes a brief closing of her eyes and a few tears, along with a widening of her smile, "May the Light be ever with you, to keep you safe and happy... That is all I wish..." When the man goes to Varal's sword, the girl lets out a sigh and says, "Meian... if you truly wish to be the one that does this, I will not deny you. But I would be willing to allow Varal or another if it will spare you the pain."

"I am going to ignore that threat, Meian, as a personal favor," Varal says, letting go and stepping back. "But do it right. Decapitate her swiftly and cleanly." He points to his sword, and then turns towards Sandrim. He doesn't say anything, letting a murderous glare do all his work. He even goes so far as to take one step forward before stopping himself and moving himself between Nihanin and his sword. He wags a warning finger at the man. He then turns back to look at Meian. "Make your choice, Firelight."

Other than a soft and surprised gasp as Meian instinctively leans away from the sword, the girl says absolutely nothing. Once flying weapons have flown by, she bends down to softly kiss Kallyn's forehead, a tear slipping off her cheek. Nihanin does receive the shadow of a grateful smile, and then the broad kukri arcs downward. This time the blow doesn't aim to cut the throat, but to follow Varal's instruction and do exactly what it was designed for: decapitate.

"I don't know whose intention it is, Fox. It's not important, whoever's intention it is relies on Kallyn being captured alive. She's not going to be." Lucius keeps carrying on as if Kallyn was an inanimate object, and not worthy of any degree of pity. He also lowers his spear, mirroring Fox's movements. He shrugs at Nihanin, first grunting, then saying, "Sounds reasonable enough." His eyes shift to watch what goes on, sending a brief shocked look at Sandrim before returning to watch Meian swing her kukri down.

Mareten blinks at the flying sword and slowly looks to stare at Sandrim for a moment before grumbling something. The young smith shrugs his shoulders and goes back to watching Blackfox wairly.

Sandrim shakes his head as the sword misses its mark, letting his hand fall to his side and the sword clatter to the ground. "Just make it quick, no more bickering over it," he murmurs quietly.

Blackfox nods to Lucius, "That is all I wish," she says quietly.

Nihanin doesn't even pay Varal's finger wagging even a moment of his time, cause as soon as he moves into his way to block, the man's next move is to swing his shoulder in and move past. His destination does change though, dictated by the sound of steel whispering through flesh and cutting deep. Instead of the sword, he goes to walk down the riverbank and away from the group.

A clean slice ends Kallyn's life quickly, her only reaction having been to close her eyes when she saw it coming. The look on her face is rather peaceful, her pain ended, her sins forgiven by the few people from whom it mattered. Kallyn Lake passes on to the Light, residing in this life no more.

Varal leaves his sword where it is, taking his kahar from its sheath. "You all might want to look away," he states simply as he walks towards Kallyn's fresh corpse.

Meian sits back, not bothering to try and avoid the inevitable blood that soaks into her chemise and beads on her armor. She looks up at Varal slowly, the tears having stopped their flow now, her expression set and fixed with a distant glaze to it. "What are you going to do?"

Lucius Nepos watches with indifference as Kallyn's throat is slit. His spear is poked back in its place, the spear thong behind his shield. He nods at Varal, moving to follow. "Her head, m'lord?" He removes his shortsword from its scabbard, the steel form's painted runes almost invisible in the low light.

Mareten looks down at the ground and kicks the ground as his sabre goes away. The smith chuffs and glances over at the dead woman for a moment before looking back down. "Folks aints suppose ta..." He trails off and his flexes and closes his right hand quickly.

"Nah, it does stink, doesn't it?" Sandrim asks Mareten, before he heads out on a roundabout route, to pick up his own sword.

"Can you not just take her body back whole?" Blackfox asks with a frown.

Nihanin has moved some distance away from Ground Kallyn, sitting at the beachhead and watching the river run it's course past him.

"The Regent wanted her Lessened. We should give him his trophy as he desired it," Varal states blandly.

"There is no need," Meian says sharply, a muscle in her cheek jumping as she rinses her blade in the river. "Kallyn Lake could not be taken alive, so she could not be Lessened. It is that simple, aye?"

Lucius Nepos stands by Varal's side, waiting for the deed to be done with his sword out.

Mareten shrugs over at Sandrim and goes to join his lord like a good lad is suppose to. The man tilts his head to the side and blinks as he looks at the woman. "Ay... dats da nice girlie... dat helpeded me.." He murmurs softly as he stares at the dead woman. "Wellz.. me Lord knows best.." The teen tells himself after a few moments.

Sandrim picks up his sword, sheathing it, before he returns to the group, standing a little bit away from the... funeral.

"Aye, she is dead," Fox says, "Grant her some dignity in death."

Nihanin's legs pull up, his face plants down on the sharp bend of the limbs, and hands bury deeply in his hair. Varal's effort to complete a mission isn't noticed, nor any agreement or disagreement about it.

Varal puts the katar away with a grunt. He picks up the head. "Well, this needs to get the Fastheld Keep before it smells too badly. The body ought to be burnt."

Meian nods slightly, leaning over to the river to wash her hands. That same frozen, glassy calm remains on her expression, even with tears dried on her cheeks. "Could you all," she says softly over her shoulder to no one in particular, "go find some wood?" That said (and hands cleaned) she rises, drifting over to add at a whisper just for Nihanin: "I'm sorry."

Lucius Nepos slides his sword away. "Aye. That way it can return to where it came from." Agrees the soldier. "There are ways of preserving it, m'lord. I did that with the head of a Dark Wildling chief, some years ago."

Mareten looks up at the head and watches it for a moment before shrugging. The smith grumbles something to himself and kicks the ground. The young smith starts off to go towards the bushes and trees.

Sandrim nods, starting to follow Mareten. "We'll get some firewood," he agrees quietly. "And it is Wildlanders who are called barbaric," Fox just shakes her head and turns away, melting into the forest, head bowed in sorrow.

"She made enough mistakes that she could not be protected from someone striking back because of them. You were closer to her then I was. You have little reason to try to comfort me. I hardly know you." Nihanin says, rising his gaze. "There is nothing to do now but to push on from where we were. We..." Voice cracks, coughs, and continues. "We came to hunt those that have been raiding these lands. Have you seen any sign of them?"

Meian closes her eyes a moment, though her expression doesn't flicker. "Aye," the girl softly agrees. "Five of them, a bit further southwest. The largest single group. Once they are handled, only four groups will remain, with probably about fifteen among them. The leader may be in this group, as well."

Sandrim returns a little while later with firewood. "We should move on once we've finished," he says. "Find a better place than just sitting here."

"It is as safe a place as any to camp for the night," Blackfox says over her shoulder before she and her wolf vanish into the dark of he forest.

Mareten is out wandring around getting wood still it seems. Thinking things over more then likely.

"Good.." Nihanin says, standing up finally. "Looks like it will have to wait."

"Aye. We can cross the rest of the distance tomorrow," Meian agrees mechanically, turning towards Sandrim and extending her arms. "I'll take that, thank you..."

Sandrim nods to Meian, reaching over to give her the pile of wood, though his eyes are on the woods, following Mareten's location, even when he can't actually see him. "Alright," he says.

Nihanin returns to the clearing where the body lies, making a concious effort not to look at it. "This is where we are setting camp then?"

"How... how about, can you find the nearest clearing?" Meian settles on softly, doing the exact opposite- she moves to settle her armload of wood down, arranging it around and under the body.