Lynthaer sat atop one of the blood stained wagons, cowl low over his masked face to sheild his eyes from the midday sun. Black clothes reeking of new spilt blood covered his body, a smiling balck masked hid his facial features save for his eyes. They stood out as two red points, flickering like living flame within his sockets. Beside him to his left stuck into the top of the wagon was his Sindle, his sword of drainage. On the other side , propped against the wagon was Scaithe, his bouble blaided scythe. Both weapons were crimson fropm hilt to tip, blood rnning down the handles and blades. In the bright sun, they appeared to be covered in liquid rubies, sparkling and pleasing to the eyes. Or to those of Lynth anyway.

Around the wagon, scattered and torn, were the corpses of those who had been on their merry way before Lynthaer had found them. Four young men, another male in his older uears, three women, one of them barely and adult, and two female children there had been. Now there was nothing but scattered limbs and entrails lying aboutwhat had been a small journeying party. The headless remains of the horse drawing the wagin lay slumped behind him, still hitched to the wooden frame.

Lynthaer was still smiling widely as he sat and stared at his marvelous work. Not thirty minutes ago had these people been moving about freely, blood still pumping through fresh, luscious veins, hearts setting the beat for the song of life. Lynthaer had heard them, smelled them, and was suddenly overtaken with a lust to see the insides of them wide open. To see the heart in it's crimson glory. And he had given into his desires readily without being provoked. He hadn't even been hungry. He had just wanted to kill. The best part was, he had laughed through the entire act of his slaughter, laughing as the children squealed and wriggled when his blades peirced them. Now, he just sat there, giggling at the thought of what he had done.

The Dublin Planes… she disliked the open planes, but she was curious and she had a way to get a shadow way out there now. Not long ago, she had started walking away from the forests and shadows that lingered there to brave the open planes. She just kept walking, she had to not be afraid. She had ways to work around her fears, mostly because she knew she wasn’t powerful enough yet to face what really frightened her.

Absently Aether Draka stroked the smooth back of Turin where he had fallen into a peaceful rest. Her fingertips running over his back in rhythm with her step had caused his to fall asleep quite happily as well as making AD feel more at ease. So she kept walking. The tall grass ended abruptly in a pair of dirt tracks with trampled grass between. A road. She looked up to her right and saw the road was curving back the way she had come, the long way. She could head back now, but she had gotten so far… She looked up the road the other way and saw it was just more open plane. How far could this all go on? She wouldn’t be surprised if she found the edge of the world out here. Then AD noticed a smudge on the road not far from where she stood, but far enough away to not know what it was. She wanted to know though. She broke into a trot as she moved up the road. As she moved quickly along the road Turin woke up and she felt him shift over her shoulder to hide behind her hair at the base of her neck. As she got closer she slowed to a walk. It looked like a wagon stopped in the middle of the road with some things laying around and what looked like someone sitting atop it. She still wasn’t close enough to figure out what she was seeing and the wind was not in her favor. She kept walking though.

Hopping down from the wagon, Lynthaer began to observe the carnage he had wrought up close. Though body parts were everywhere, he had purposely lest the heads intact. He had wanted to see the last expressions on their faces after he slew them. The first one was oddly out of place. It was one of the heads of the children, the first one he over took. He had come from behind, and she was tailing the wagon, a little doll in her hands. One of the women had been with her and had turned around in time to see Lynthaer, sword drawn and flaming. The little girl had turned around as well, her smiling face revealing itself just before his blade removed her head from her shoulders. It still smiled, eyes fogged over, joy of a family trip etched in her now crimson dimples. The rest of her body had been split in into pieces when Lynthaer skewered it and flung it into the wagon.

The wind shifted for a second, bringing the scent of another traveler to Lynthaer's nostrils. Jerking his head up, he turned to face the road behind him. His nose had not failed him, indeed there was another on the road. A single figure this time, and heading towards him. No doubt they had already spotted him, but he doubted they knew the scene he stood in at the moment. Perhaps they would like to add to it.

Standing, Lynth whirled and snatched up his scythe from its resting place, speaking to bring flames from it's blades. Another muttered spell brought a flaming whip into to being in his left hand, which he cracked experimentally. The wind had already shifted, now blowing westward, no longer bringing the scent of Aether to him. He did not know that he was about to attack the one person he trusted yet again, even though he had just caught her scent. Waves of heat rolled off of his body as he stood waiting for the traveler to reach him. The distorted the light around him, giving him a slightly intangible look.

AD saw what she thought to be a person, hop off the top of what was starting to look like some sort of cart. It had to be a cart, right? No one would put a building or something on a road after all. As she got closer though, the figure seemed to blur more and she stopped, the wind had shifted, sweeping past her and off to the west. Fire and blood? There was a smell of death... was this a specter or ghost? Perhaps something else... but suddenly she was certain that what ever was walking toward her right now was no human... She stopped, her body tensing. Turin stirred once more and she felt his tiny head brush against her ear as he peeked around.

She wanted the shadow of the forest then, or a spell for shadows. It was then that she remembered what she did have. She pulled out her wand and took a deep breath. Holding it, she closed her eyes for a second to remember what she was doing, and then her eyes flew open. In the air in front of her she drew a circle and named what she was summoning in fragile looking script. It shimmered clear in the air without the shadows to darken it. Aether Draka wasn't positive it was just right, but she activated it anyways.

It worked and a tree appeared in the road in front of her. She felt better as shadows cast by the tree fell over her. She took another moment to climb it, but as she did, she lost sight of the approaching figure and had no idea where it had gone, what it was doing, or what it was. She just wanted something that could cast a shadow large enough for her to use. AD perched up in the branches of the living tree , a treant, and looked for the dark figure somewhere below.

Lynthaer was still walking forward when a thought ran through his mind. It was a simple thought, one containing only single word. Why? As simple as it was, it seemed to echo through his skull. He blinked suddenly and stopped, his foot still resting in air. Why do I want to kill them...and why did I massacre those in the wagon. Lynth felt no remorse for what he had done. Quite the opposite, he was still filled with a sickening joy over it, but now he was questioning his motives. In honest, he now saw no point in the killing of the peasants. There were no survivors to spread his name, and they had done nothing for him, and would have yielded nothing once dead. His eye furrowed, and he began to search his mind for the Madness. As he suspected, he found him without even having to start.

"So. Now you seize my body whenever it pleases you? Do I need to find a way to punish you as well since you seem to be following in the footsteps of the damned chain devil?" Within the essence of Lynthaer, the Madness cursed silently so that Lynth would not hear him. He had hoped that the killing would awaken something with the body's chief entity. However, it had brought resistance instead of lust. Lynthaer was indeed going down a new path in life, and while old hatreds remained, an insane desire for bloodshed was quickly giving over to a cunning, patient way of pain.

"I meant no harm Lynthaer," the Madness said in its sickening voice. "I felt a stirring within you and rose to the occasion. My apologies for upsetting you." Lynthaer pondered the apology for a moment, then spoke again, seemingly to himself. "It is not like you to sense the stirrings. Where is Shlarthæran? It is he who takes advantage of me at such moments of weakness." Lynthaer prepared to delve within himself again when the Madness spoke suddenly. "He has retreated to the farther reaches of the mind. I hear him plotting, but at the moment he is nothing to worry yourself about." Lynthaer paused in the act of entering him self, regarding what his insanity had told him. Something struck him wrong, but he couldn't sense what it was. Despite this feeling, he decided that perhaps he was being paranoid, and withdrew his probing thoughts. Secretly, the Madness thanked whatever gods had stopped Lynthaer from searching. As the true owner of the body, the half fiend, while in control over the body, could easily delve into the thoughts of both the demon and himself. Luck had lead the fiend away, leaving the kyton's and the Madness' plots untouched.

As Lynthaer returned to the physical, he noticed a large tree had appeared in the road. It truck him as odd, just as it should he supposed. Especially since it blocked his view of whoever the madness had planned on killing. He smirked. A tree was nothing to him. A wave and a word and he could send it flying away in flames. However, that would show him as an aggressor. It was already obvious he was, but he could probably pull off a decent enough lie so that the summoner would allow him to get close. These thoughts flashed through his mind just as a wind blew up again, bringing the scent of the tree to him. That and the scent of Aether. A surprised grin covered his face behind the mask. In fact, it was almost matched the one on the mask for size.

"Aether. Since when have you been able to summon such a magnificent plant on a whim?"

She managed to spot the stranger then and she lingered in the tree, watching the figure. She hesitated on wrapping the shadows about herself as the figure paused. She wished she was closer so she could see who it was, but now, up in the trent she had summoned she could see even less of the stranger’s face under the hood. Then she thought time seemed to pause and she waited, wondering if perhaps who was standing there was waiting too. Then the wing changed again and she felt it on the back of her neck as it raced along faster now that she was higher and there were no trees or buildings to slow it down in this open land.

Then the stranger spoke and she grinned quite suddenly. This was no stranger! “Lynthaer!” She called and promptly leapt off the branch she had perched herself on, landing much harder then she had intended. She bent her knees to soften the landing, but her right hand hit the ground also. She didn’t stop but ran right up to him, skidding to a stop and doing a little hop once she had stopped. With a truly happy grin on her face she answered his question. “It’s not a tree, it’s a trent! It can talk a bit and can move, see?” She turned where she stood and beckoned for the trent to come. A pair of heavy looking arms came forth from where they had been by its sides and with one root-ish foot it took a step forward, then another, and another. Its movements were slow but there was no doubt it was moving.

Turning back to him, she looked up at the familiar mask and said, “I only learned it a few days ago. Seele had helped learn to summon things better so it was really easy to summon it. I haven’t seen Seele in a while though…” She shrugged, deciding it wasn’t that important. “Are you going anywhere in particular? I haven’t gone any further out here then I did when we went to the city to see about making centaurs. I did meet one not long after that though! It was so neat! I wish you could have seen him! But I’m sure there has to be something else out here. There’s so much room, though there isn’t much shadow…” She sounded sad about that fact, but kept on with her little tangent. “Which is why I brought a tree with me!” She then grinned up at him and put her hands around her back. “He has a big shadow even when the sun is right over head! He wouldn’t be much good in a fight I don’t think, but he can provide shadows where there aren’t any, so I learned how to summon him anyways.” By then the trent decided it was close enough and stopped walking. AD also paused, catching herself before telling him about what she was learning to summon next. Would he be mad at her for summoning something like Chel? What if she couldn’t control Chel? Perhaps she should summon something else first, something weaker… perhaps she should try and summon the demon Lynthaer was infused with to make it go away. She hated that thing, as it had made Lynthaer hurt himself…

Lynthaer grinned even wider when AD leaped from the tree and prepared himself for her sudden barrage of questions and comments. Whenever he saw her, she always seemed to revert to an extreme childlike state, mouth wide and words flying. It was one of the reasons he enjoyed her company so much. There were always multiple subjects, and it took a little effort to keep up with her. He was never bored around Aether, she made quite sure of that.

This meeting between the two started off the same as all others. We watched silently as the young lady ran to him, then skidded to a stop. She then began to explain the large tree, or trent as it turned out to be. Lynthaer listened patiently, his own smile mimicking hers. So she had found a centaur after the little escapade into Kellen. he remembered that trip, because it was the first time he had had to injure himself to keep Shlarthæran at bay. His smile faltered for a moment as he remembered what the Madness had just done, but he shoved the subject away. This was not the time.

Lynthaer waited for a moment as AD finished, then spoke himself. There was a genuine tone of happiness in his voice as he spoke. "It's good to see you as well Aether. And no, I am headed no where in particular. I was simply walking down the road being my usual psychotic self." He glanced over his shoulder at the cart again, but turned back, refusing to dwell on the deed. The act was not disturbing him, but the actions of the Madness were. Once more, he had to push that subject away.

"Now, as for summoning, who is this Seele? And what else are you now able to summon." Pausing he decided to rephrase the question. "Actually, what have I missed in general?"

((OOC: AD doesn’t know that Gregory or Seele are Gods yet here…))

Aether Draka was happy, Lynthaer was not only her best friend, but he played the came of questions so well. Only Raven had played as well as he did. Still thrilled she had managed to cross paths with him out here, she nodded. “Seele is a moon elf, he’s about as tall as you are now I think. I met him in Taras that same night I met you. He uses magic a lot and is very good at it. I had been having trouble with summoning things so when he offered to show me how I was glad to accept. I’m not the best at magic after all.” AD paused a moment to think, then she counted out on her fingers what she had learned how to summon so far. “A roc, two hellhounds, a demonic panther, and the trent. I’m trying to learn a few more, but they are harder so I’ll have to try to memorize them before I try to use them.”

AD placed her hands behind her back, rocked back on her heels and then forward before centering her balance again. The was trying to remember exactly what had happened since she had last seen him. “I’m not sure exactly… The Guild Hall is rather quiet… I was going to see if I could find Gregory again, because I think he should apologize for being so rude, but he will probably just be rude and bossy again…” She paused to think some more. “Oh! And there is someone who would like to join the Divschatten! You weren’t there though, so I said I would have to meet up with him later.” AD wrinkled her nose, “Though he isn’t demonic, he wants to become infused with one. Why? Why did you? I don’t understand that. You’re already demonic, and can use magic, and can fly, and are very strong, and can do whatever you really want to. Why did you choose to become infused?”

She looked up at him, wondering if he had been demonic infused when she had first seen him in the city of Taras what felt like forever ago. She didn’t like the demon he was infused with and maybe, maybe if she knew how it worked she would be able to get rid of it and just have Lynthaer. She like him as him, not with some stupid demon thinking he could be in charge of Lynthaer. Lynthaer was her friend, the demon he was infused with was not… Aether Draka’s smile had vanished, replaced with a frown as she puzzled over that question. Perhaps she should practice summoning a demon with Shlarthæran.

So, AD had made herself into a summoner. This was very interesting, as was this Seele she spoke of. A moon elf as well, as was Lynthaer and Gregory. He smiled at the irony that she got along so well with that particular race as it seemed at the moment. He was not at all surprised at the guild hall being quiet, and he planned to change that. Drastically if it was at all possible. If he could arrange the pieces and play the game properly, he could begin to lay claim to Imythess it self. Of course, It would take some time and dedicated members, but he would do what he could.

Lynthaer blinked and Gregory’s name, frowning behind his mask. “You needn’t worry much about my half brother,” he said calmly to Aether. “I plan on having a talk with him soon myself. We still have a little score to settle, and I don’t plan on leaving it be.” He truly didn’t. he was the outcast of the family, the one thrown away because of his inherent nature. Because of this, Lynthaer had felt the need to prove himself more than second best, end he saw the way through Gregory.

AD shook these thoughts away by mentioning Divschatten again. This time it had to do with a member of the guild, or one that wished to be. His ears perked up when he heard that this particular person wanted to become infused since he had no abyssal heritage. He smirked behind his mask. “The Infusion offers one a different sort of power. Power closer and more pure to that of a true demon I suppose.” He thought of the chains that rapped about his flesh beneath the cloth. A natural armor and weapon for kytons that he now had. If only he could do more to control his particular demon. Though his particular demon had not shown himself for a while now. He frowned at the thought, then pushed it away. ‘I suppose I should meet him before the fusion takes place. Perhaps he would like to know what it can really do to you.” Lynthaer stopped for a moment. He knew he owed AD an explanation for his disappearance, but was hesitant to give one. It meant sharing part of his life again, something he only did with reluctance. But she was one he knew he could trust.

“I have also been practicing my own magic. That was why I was gone for so long." Summoning forth the words, he mumbled in arcane tongue. Holding his hand out, he set the grass beneath him ablaze with sparks. The in an instant, he seized the flames with his mind, pulling it upward, out of the grass and into the air. Behind his mask, a smile lit his face. "Example..." he said indicating the floating flame.

Brahms had followed a smell the smell from far. This little family was escaping him. He did not wanted them to escape. N one had had escaped from him yet, so why now?Oka, they seemed to have more cunning then others that may be the only reason of them to escape. They had been withness of the half elf murder, they had to die.

He was rushing throught the plains like an enraged beast he was. His claws strinking in the ground each time making dust behing the werewolf. He was panting, but with the stamina he had he kept going. When this little family would feel his wrath upon them, they would beg him to end everything.

Then he saw the smoke and the smell of blood. How could they have been killed by another then him. Perhaps bandits? Perhaps not. There was only one way to find out. He stopped at the corpses. Not even the werewolf wwould have done something like that, the one who did it is great.

He put his nose to the ground. The family was easily recognizable to the smell of fear, sadness, blood and death but there was another smell. This one was doing the work of the reaper, more a burning reaper. The werewolf had to follow the smell. He slowly followed it, just to be sure not to mix it with another.

He then saw a living three, and two poeple talking to eachother. The smell of of the fire reaper was there and there was another familiar smell. He could not quite figure who that could be but still. He went towards them. His eyes blinked as he saw a member of Divshatten. The imposing form of the lycan was taller then the two human looking beeings. so he transformed back into the half-elf form."Hi, miss Draka. So did you find...?"

He stared at the man. Covered in cloaks, his flaming eyes, hidden face. His two weapons....He is the one. The guildmaster. He kneeled and lowered his head."You must be Master Golthry. It is an honor to finally meet the master of Divshatten. And i thanked you for the family you killed ahead, they were a nuisance, they were about to spread news about me to lower the chances for hunting..."The half elf was really excited. Would he be infused atlast?

((OoC: Okay, Brahms in others of my topic, is infused but not yet a member, he would have to show his prowess and loyalty. And to be sent with Fehade. Just so you know))

((OOC: I sure hope you asked Lynth before posting here! As a side note, she goes by AD, not Aether Draka or Aether unless she decided to tell you, which she wouldn’t do for people outside the Divschatten. So Brahms would be calling her AD, not Aether. I don’t feel like having her yell at him for calling her that, so I’m pretending he called her AD. She is a bit particular about her name…))

Aether Draka nodded solemnly as Lynthaer spoke of Gregory. She didn’t know what it meant to have a family in any real sense, so she didn’t really understand what her friend and Guild leader meant by calling him a half-brother, though she thought she knew. She was still unhappy about the situation, but she found she really wasn’t angry now. Lynthaer would take care of it and she trusted him. Her spirits sank a bit when he didn't answer her question about why he had become infused. It must be something he didn't like to talk about. She felt bad about asking now...

AD listened to him still, her attention focusing on him before turning to the flame he motioned too. A smile broke her face and she said excitedly, “Oh, that is wonderful! That’s much different then the fireball and the other fire magic I’ve seen you do! We should find somewhere to test it! I could even have my hellhounds help, as the fire wouldn’t hurt them!” She looked around them then and paused. “Are there any places around here that would work well for that? It’s all just grass here, which I’m sure will burn easily, but…”

Then she saw something else approaching from behind Lynthaer, her gaze shifting to Brahms. She recognized him as he became a bit closer. AD tipped her head slightly to one side as he approached and let his form shift back down to his elven form. Yes, it was Brahms. He greeted her and started to ask a question, but never finished it. Instead he noticed Lynthaer and addressed him instead. She shrugged at this and spun about to once more climb the trent. Once perched in the highest branches she stood on tiptoe and looked around. This was a road, it had to go somewhere… but all she could see was grass and more grass. It even seemed to swallow up the road after a distance.

(( I wish he would have. Next time, please do. I will let it slide for now.))

Lynthaer smiled wider. "I have spent the last months testing it. It is powerful, but it does have its limits. However, it has become a great weapon, one that I have used often while returning." He didn't mention his true power to Aether. Even though he trusted her, he wanted to keep it a secret, mainly because of its devastating power and size. Also, he didn't want to chance that it would leak, though it wasn't as if he thought she would tell people. Things such as this, though, had a tendency to spread on the wind, sometimes almost literally.

Lynthaer, who had just barely finished talking, was taken by a sudden scent on the wind. The shifting breezes had begun to blow a beast’s small his way. But now it was too late, for by the strength, this creature was about to start talking any moment. Lynth’s eyes furrowed as he turned and found himself staring at a werewolf reverting back to human form. Not a normal werewolf though, as Lynthaer’s demon called out to him. He too was infused, but with what, Lynth could not say, nor did he care at the moment. The only thing that kept him from ripping out his sword was the fact that he addressed AD and them himself, somehow knowing his name.

Raising an eyebrow when the lycanthrope kneeled before him, he chuckled, not entirely unkind. “From your mere demeanor I take it you admire my guild, small as it is at the moment. However, I am not one who takes to bowing, though the act grants you a bit of respect. Get yourself on your feet and look me in the eyes if you want my recognition.” Lynthaer liked it more when he saw power and want of it in people’s eyes rather than reverence. True, those who would bow could be called loyal, but he wanted men and women who were ready for blood.

“And you needn’t thank me for the family. I was merely in the mood, and they presented a good target.” Hearing shuffling, he turned back towards Aether, only to find she had decided to scamper up her trent once more. He shook his head. “See anything of interest?” he called to her.

((OoC: I'm sorry it seems i had misunderstood a PM....It's niot easy when english is not your first language. And as For AD, I did not know since we did not continue our topic in Cascadia.))

From your mere demeanor I take it you admire my guild, small as it is at the moment. However, I am not one who takes to bowing, though the act grants you a bit of respect. Get yourself on your feet and look me in the eyes if you want my recognition.

Brahms slowly stood up and looked in the eyes of the demonic guildmaster. The eyes of the half-elf had seen blood and was eager for it as mch as the dark sparkle in his eyes. Teazon, the Tykon. The lycan was killing and ripping the flesh of so many lives that the demon took him under his wings and grant him a small part of his power. Only to make him cause more disaster.

The demon inside was not awake yet so the lycan had only the demonic mark under his eye. He could not call forth the power of a beeing of the abyss. The eyes were still in those of Lynthear but full of respect. He did not want to offend him so he kept doing what he was asked as long fo as long as it will take time to tell it was enough. He was so excited about beeing demon infeused and soon t be a member of divschatten.

And you needn’t thank me for the family. I was merely in the mood, and they presented a good target.

He nodded in agreement. If the inferno was in the path of the wagon, they could not do a thing, beside dying. He heard the shuffling also but kept his ees as long as the eye contact was not broken, Lynthear made it broke.

See anything of interest?

The werewolf raised his nose to try to find the smell of the 'interesting' thing. If their was nothing he would smell it, but if there was something, he could not be sure that he could smell it since he was in his humanoid form.

Aether Draka shifted her weight back on the branches of the trent as she let her gaze look around them. There was the wagon, smoke rising from it into the sky. Far off to the South there was a dark smudge on the horizon. No doubt a storm and it seemed to be growing. If she remembered correctly, that meant it was probably heading this way. She had traveled from there and wasn’t heading back yet, but… with the way the wind was going out here she wondered if there would be a tornado. Then, she was worried about Lynthaer. She wouldn’t want him to get caught in a storm and fire didn’t do much against wind and rain. She had already had him die on her once; she wasn’t going to let it happen again. Not if she had anything to say about it.

The storm didn’t matter to her though. As long as she had shadows she could go any time she wanted to, just like that. They could go to Kellen again, but that wouldn’t be to far and it was further back along the road. There were other things out here, like farms, right? She tried to spot something else and after a moment she saw something to the North West. White smoke. What caused white smoke? Curiosity grabbed hold of her then and she watched it, trying to see where it was coming from. There was a slightly darker spot and what looked like even taller grass than that around them but she wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was just greener.

When Lynthaer’s question reached her she pointed off toward the white smoke. “There is something over there. I see white smoke.” Just then the wind shifted again, rather sharply this time and she had to shift her weight again to keep her balance. Then she peeked down at Lynthaer with a grin, a bit of excitement in her voice. “Can we go see what it is?”

Lynthaer liked the lycan. He was bit too subservient, but Lynth knew the scent of blood, and this one seemed to be drenched in it. Perhaps Lynthaer could use him. A werewolf to accompany a vampire. The idea seemed comical to Lynthaer, but he was not above anything.

Lynthaer's attention was brought sharply back into the present when Aether called to him. White smoke? He had not caught the scent of fire upon the wind, but then again, it was not in his favor at the moment. However, the chance at catching a fire appealed to Lynth's romantic side, he guessed. Something he could stare into the depths of and truly appreciate. Perhaps he would decide to investigate it. And this time the werewolf could make himself useful as well.

"Why of course we shall investigate. what ever would happen if someone was slowly slipping into the realm of death and we were not there to enjoy the suffering...or make the passage at least a little more memorable. And our new companion can accompany us. What do you say werewolf?" Lynthaer raised an eyebrow beneath his grinning mask. He wanted to test this beast, find his true worth.

((Short and crappy, my appologies. Mind running slow today.))