The evening air was crisp and clean and the air itself was filled with a light mist coming from where the fall dropped off the edge of the cliff side. A lone figure, a young half-elf, walked out from the trees into the open area where the statue had once stood. She went over to the rubble that had once been a statue.

Even though she looked like Aether Draka for the most part, she wasn't. Aether Draka's Demonic side had taken charge only shortly before arriving here. The demonic side wanted to see things for herself. She wanted to know it and feel it in a way Aether Draka could not.

The differences between AD and her Demonic side were minor things. Nothing like when her Celestial side had tried to manifest and she ended up with wings she couldn't even use. Her nails were now claws and her almost-fangs were fangs much like any hunter would have. The most noticeable thing that changed though were her eyes. Instead of emerald green like they normally were, they had turned a purple so deep it was almost black. They also glowed slightly when the light was darker.

So she circled the rubble as she felt the dark power that still lingered in the stone. The power of the demon who Rothardan had disposed of so nicely. It was this demon's absence that gave room for the Divschatten to rise. It was this demon's home in the Abyss that she herself now called home and it was the gateway this demon had made that they had found and used to get too and from the guild hall.

She was going to have to thank Rothardan for disposing of that demon. It would have no doubt tried to take the guild back from the Divschatten. She would have to think of a suitable way of paying back the valiant paladin. That would take a bit more research or planing... or perhaps just luck.

Fefnir walked without a purpose, dodging between some pieces of rubble and jumping over others. It felt strange here, unnaturally dark and ominous. He felt like any moment a portal to the abyss would open up and spew out a legion of the undead to terrorize the world, or something.

It was a cold day, the sky overcast and threatening to rain on him. Their was a light fog, only adding to the ominous feeling that permeated from every inch of this place. The breaths that he drew reeked of ancient stone and moisture, his skin getting goosebumps every time a fresh wave of mist rolled across his flesh.

His sandy blond hair glistened a bit, giving the impression that it was wet. His eyes, green as grass, shone with a youthful vitality. One could see the energy coursing through him, the curiosity burning within.

It was then, through the fog, that Fefnir saw a figure. It was not large and imposing, though it was not dainty or weak either. It looked strangely in its element, like it belonged in this dreary place. For a moment, Fefnir simply stood there, wondering what he should do. Go to it? Avoid it? Turn around?

Eventually, his curiosity won the internal battle, willing his feet to move forward. He jumped over the rubble, his feet making wet echoes ring through the air.

"H-hello..."

She smiled softly to herself as she remembered the course of events from Aether Draka's own memory. She had been in Cascadia when this demon and those he had pulled forth from the Abyss with him had made their attempt on Cascadia over a year ago. This demon had failed. It was the Divschatten who had caused something much worse, much sweeter to happen. They had done what this demon had been unable to do.

She knelt down and picked up a blackened stone, partly melted smooth with hellfire. Aether Draka herself did not see what they had done as a victory, but the girl was also not willing to give up the Divschatten. Not that her Demonic side really cared what AD thought as long as things didn't get turned against her, she was fine with it. Then she heard something and stood, pocketing the stone and looking towards the direction of the sound.

It was someone she didn't recognize, but he attempted to greet her. She turned to face him and gave a half-hearted smile. "Hello. I wasn't expecting to find anyone hanging about in this beaten up place. I was more surprised by how different it is now though." Her gaze shifted off to her right, where she had come from herself, before going back to him.

"Different?" Fefnir asked, taking another step forward. Her eyes scared him a bit, the deep purple irises seeming to glow from withing with otherworldly energy. "You mean... this happened recently?" Fefnir had assumed that this was some ancient monument, the battlefield where a long-forgotten war was finished or something like that. Towns had this strange habit of memorializing places where that sort of thing happened.

He looked around, seeing the debris laying around. It seemed like years had gone since whatever battle had occurred, as if the ravages of time had taken their tole. But what sort of battle could have caused this much damage instantly?

"Do you... know what happened here?" he asked her, noting her claws. They startled him a bit, his eyes twitching back to them every so often. It was strange, but he got the idea that she wasn't exactly what she seemed, like this place. It looked like an ancient battleground, but apparently it wasn't ancient at all. What could she be?

Probably something vicious... he thought to himself, With claws, teeth, and eyes like those... he almost shivered, almost.

She realized by his actions and his tone that he was more like AD was then an actual threat to her. For now, she wasn't looking for foes. Pawns perhaps, but not anyone to cause her any trouble. Besides, Aether Draka herself seemed to have no trouble with having so called friends on both sides of this war. As that was what it was.

Her smile grew slightly, careful to make sure it was not a snarl and she took two graceful and precise steps forward. "Yes actually. This happened about a year ago. Before then, this place had been a monument to a powerful man, one who had passed away but was still somehow honored as a God. But even now, the Gods of Imythess have once more become mortal. They have all fallen from grace." Her hand gestured out in an arc to encompass the entire area around them. "This was caused by a demon who opened a gate to the Abyss itself and scarred the very land itself. They launched an attack on the city of Cascadia. The city itself was in the midst of a party. The annual celebration of Imythess itself. They were more then able to defend themselves. That is why the city is now up in the air." She rose her hand and her chin towards the sky, pausing for a moment. The city was far above the clouds now. After a measure of two breaths, she let her hand and her chin drop. Her gaze meeting his once more.

"Where this attack and this demon failed, another attack and another demon succeeded. A larger city has fallen and the mark may prove much worse then this one will ever be." The smile was gone then, a serious look crossing her face. She still felt how upset AD had been about it all. More so because Lynthaer had not told her what was happening and she could have been easily killed along with the rest of them.

Fefnir opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to puzzle through the things she said.

"The... the gods are mortal?" he asked, disbelief obvious on his face. If the gods were mortal, wouldn't that have caused something to happen? With their prayers unanswered, surely the devout ones would have noticed?

The swirling fog seemed to quicken its pace, the swirls moving about almost more quickly than seemed possible. There was no wind, the air eerily still with the fog moving left and right with such speed, as if it was alive.

Fefnir put a hand into his sandy hair.

"Wow..." he let out a sigh, trying to imagine what it would have been like. How horrible would it be to be able to do anything, anything imaginable, and then one day find that it was gone? That you could no longer do anything?

"So, it was the demon? The demon was the one that made the gods mortal? But how...?"

She smiled slightly at his reaction and what he had latched on to. The Gods. Such power could be granted, then it could be taken away. The thing was, she was almost sure, that the powers were granted by a more powerful God. So they had to of been taken away by a more powerful God. That made her suspect not a demon like AD herself suspected, but something more... divine. His question seemed warented though so she decided not to voice her actual belief, but more what she knew as fact so far.

"That is what I'm trying to find out. Both were very different demons. This one old and apparently very powerful. The other apparently only a half-fiend. Was it's power different? Could a half-fiend somehow be more powerful then a full blooded demon?" She shook her head. "It's a mystery for sure. There is one way to test the powers of the demon who did this though. It would require a bit of the demon himself. A scale or something. Sadly though, I can't reach the demon even though I know where he is. I'm sure if given enough time I would be able to. Sadly, I don't think I really have the time."

She looked down, as to not give herself away. She knew her gaze was not sad at all and he might be able to tell. A risk she didn't want to take just yet. The bait was set. Was this man a valiant one too? Would he like to help her discover the truth. She didn't care what he did with what they may or may not discover. Perhaps though, she could pay back Rothardan through this one. That might be worth the trouble.

Fefnir furrowed his brow, stepping forward. As he walked, the mist swirled around him, giving the impression of hands attempting to stroke him, to grab onto him, to pull him down... He cocked his head to the side as he asked her a question.

"Why don't you have time?" despite the few things that gave her a strange aura of... danger, she seemed to be a nice person. Though her fangs and claws had put him off, Fefnir found that her eyes held something... something more. It was like she had layers, more than people usually had, and that he could see some of them through those glistening, purple eyes.

"Is there something I can do? Help you search, anything?" Fefnir always felt as if he should help, as if he should do something... Just sitting back and letting things happen weren't his strong points.

It was at this point that Fefnir found that she was really rather pretty... albeit a bit scary at the moment. Her skin shone with a healthy glow, her frame well filled and her hair well kept. Fefnir blushed a bit.

She looked up with a slight smile, her gaze showing she was in fact happy. It had worked. Now to make sure AD would play along too. She put her hand together in front of her, palms together and fingers pointing up. "Oh! That would be very helpful. Here, I'll show you where the demon who did this is. he's not far actually." She beckoned for him to follow her as she made her way across the runes and toward where Cascadia had once been. She glanced back once to make sure he was coming as her hands fell back to her sides.

She let the thought of needing to discover who the demon was creep into AD's own thoughts in a whisper. Her curiosity easily latched on. It wouldn't be a problem. They reached the edge of the tainted area and she paused to look at him. "The air here was a little hard to adjust too. I have some demonic blood myself somewhere back in one side of my family or the other. It might take me a moment to recover once I've gotten into clearer air."

Without hesitating, she walked out of the tainted area and let herself sink back into AD's mind to watch and listen, and whisper bait for Aether Draka's curiosity to latch onto. She wavered as she reached her fourth step out of the tainted area. Aether Draka caught hold of herself once more, what had just happened seeming to be some distant and disconnected memory. The claws became nails once more and her fangs shrank to halfway between what they had just been and normal canines like everyone else. She shivered slightly and closed her eyes tight as the purple faded and was replaced with emerald green once more. What an odd feeling that was.

Fefnir followed her through the swirling mists, noticing how it, more and more, resembled hands grabbing at his feet, his cloak, and even his legs. He tripped a bit when she mentioned that she was part demon, his mind running rampant with imagined scenarios. What did that mean, what could she do as a demon? Could she...

Suddenly, his breaths became less labored. All of a sudden, the air seemed to regain life, moving again with a slight breeze. Though it was still foggy, this mist seemed to move as if it was in the middle of a dance, simply sliding past during its complicated sequence of swirls and twirls. The air was brighter, everything seeming more peaceful and less on-edge.

He saw her claws become nails, the fangs disappear, but he was most shocked by the abrupt change in her eyes. They had gone from a dark, threatening purple to a lush, forest green. It was something he'd seen in a dream, though what else had happened, Fefnir couldn't remember.

"So... If you're a... demon" he said in the most non-accusing way he could manage, "does that necessarily make you evil? I've heard some nasty things about demons..."

Aether Draka regained her footing and heard the voice of someone.. she should remember... She felt a bit dizzy though and she didn't quite understand the question at first. Thankfully, her demonic side was still watching out for her and she found herself answering as the whisper directed. "Part demon. I'm mostly elven. About half I think. Besides, I can summon angels. I'm not evil." She took a few unsteady steps to a fallen tree and sat down. "Oh, my head hurts..." She held her head in her hands, closing her eyes for a moment as she focused on her breathing to make the dizziness go away.

After a moment she felt a little better and opened her eyes once more. She shifted her emerald gaze from the ground to Fefnir, and looked at him as if really seeing him for the first time. She blinked. How odd... She let her hands rest on her lap. "I'm sorry. I've seemed to have lost my focus... what were we doing again?"

Why she had some idea of what was happening, the details of it seemed distant and off center. The something... a demon? What was she doing here anyways? Why did her head seem to be throbbing like this? Where was Turin? Maybe he could help her head stop hurting?

He stepped forward, sitting beside Aether on the log. He embraced the chilly air, glad that he was finally out of that cursed place. Without her, he would have surely wandered around for at least a few more hours before finding the tainted area's outer edge.

"You said that you needed help finding... Well, I'm not exactly sure what, but it was part of a demon I think? You said you knew where it was..." he looked before him, just able to see the moist rocks that sheeted the ground through the dense, swirling fog. "But what I don't understand, is if you know where the thing is, how is it you can't find a piece of it?"

It was strange, but the girl seemed to have changed, more than just the fangs, claws, and eyes could have done. Her voice seemed... brighter, somehow, her wait of walking more lighthearted. Perhaps it was just the effect of the transformation? Or leaving the area? But why would it affect him less that it did her?

"And another thing..." he mentioned, still staring at the gravel, "You still haven't explained why you don't have time to look... What's making you hurry?" For some reason, Fefnir felt that all was not right. If she was avoiding the subject, then it was because she didn't want him involved. Was something going to happen that she needed to find the demon for? Was the demon up to something? Was she up to something?

She looked at him blankly for a moment, then blinked, and looked around. "Oh, you mean the demon that attacked Cascadia. He is in the bottom of the lake where Cascadia once was. I can't swim well enough to reach him. There is supposable a spell or something magical that will allow someone to breath under water, but I haven't found it yet." She sighed and looked down at her hands in her lap. Then she shook her head slightly, feeling it start to clear some. She was glad she didn't have any food in her or she would have gotten sick from... what ever that was.

She got slowly to her feet then and dusted herself off. Her gaze went to Fefnir then. "There are full blooded demons in Imytess again. They are going where they want to whenever they want to. The one at the bottom of the lake knows a lot about Imythess and even though he failed against Cascadia, he still has power. If they find out about him, they might come and free him and use that as a way to make him do something in return for them. I want to see if I can find out how to remove that threat by removing that demon's power. If it is possible with one demon that is immobile, perhaps there is a way to remove the power from others so that they can't continue destroying Imythess.”

Fefnir nodded as she spoke, taking in every word. Demons, usually nasty creatures. They would go around Imythess, destroying homes, killing people, all in the name of chaos and destruction. Killing for killing's sake, a terrible thing. For a moment, he sat beside her on the log, his eyes clouded in contemplation.

"But, if you take something's power... surely it must go somewhere? Where would the demon's power go? It would be much too much to give to any single person..." he stopped again, thinking once more. A way to steal a demon's power? A demon, trapped deep under water... He'd seen a vendor in the city, a strange old man claiming that a suit of armor he had could let people breath under water. Perhaps he would go to see the man later? It couldn't hurt...

He stood, taking a man-of-action kind of tone as he spoke. "So, how are we supposed to take a deamon's power? Kill it? Preform a ritual? You said... you said that you needed a piece of the demon, a scale or something..... What could we do with a demon's scale?

Aether Draka was starting to feel better, though why she hadn't felt well hadn't come up yet. She smiled at him and said. "I go to the Academy of magic. I'm not exactly sure what wold work against it, but I think the professors their might have some idea. The problem is, there are many types of demons. There are often too many to count. If I'm going to make sure that the demon in the bottom of Cascadia's lake, the demon that used to be here," Her hand gestured to the tainted area and what remained of the statue. It didn't look like much... "I need to know what type of demon it is. If it's one that has a particular weakness beyond holy magic, then you combine the magic with more then one caster or fighter who uses that power." She sighed and looked off towards where the lake in question was. "That's the theory anyways. If it doesn't work against a demon pinned like the one in the lake, then I'll know it won't work without risking instant death."

She beaconed for him to follow. "I'll show you what I can. I really don't know exactly where he is though. To test his abilities the professors at the Academy of Magic would only need a small part. A scale or claw or hair if he has any. More then one bit would be the best way to do it though. Then if something does happen and a peace is destroyed or something, we still have something to goo off of without having to make more trips."

AD started walking towards the lake, not following any path what so ever. She wove her way through the forest with a practiced ease. She knew what she was doing. Deep inside her mind, her Demonic side smiled to herself. Her AD was such a good girl. This would not be hard.

Fefnir understood the things she said. Just as there were countless species of dogs or cats, so there were hundreds of thousands of different kinds of demons. What worked against one could not work against another, it all depended upon which sickening pit of the abyss they'd crawled out of.

When Aether started through the woods, Fefnir found it difficult to follow. She followed to path, so the ground was littered with dead branches, leaves, and even trunks. He almost tripped once or twice, but managed to regain his footing before getting left too far behind. Once or twice, he thought that he'd lost her, only to find that she'd just dodged around a particularly large tree.

When they reached the lake, Fefnir was breathless, a small amount of sweat beading on his forehead. How she had walked so nimbly through that forest, he would never know. But looking out, Fefnir saw the beauty that was the lake. It shimmered with unbelievable clarity, shades of blue the boy had only dreamed of found deep in its depths. It glimmered in the sunlight, the mist that coiled across its surface giving it an eerie look. For some reason, he found it hard to believe that there was a monster from the abyss, sleeping away its time beneath the beautiful water.

"So... the demon's in there?"

She knelt down where they stood and looked out over the open expanses of water where Cascadia had once stood. The city was in the air somewhere above them. There were places around the lake where one could even telaport to the city. She wasn't planning on going there though. It wouldn't help her much, or so she thought. The demon hidden deep below these shimmering waters on the other hand... she wanted to know why he had returned. His attack had been a year ago, almost exactly, from the guilds own unwitting attack on Taras. She was no big important demon though. She had tried her best to stay out of sight there.

The lake was her problem now. She could swim, but not well. Even if she was a wonderful swimmer, she had no chance of getting to the middle of the lake and then to the bottom...

"That's how it happened. When the demon was struck by and ancestral blade from the heavens, he was cast down into the waters where Cascadia once stood. In a lake this size though... I'm not going to have much luck finding him. Not when I'm not the best swimmer and there is a lake the size of a city. I have to find him soon. The more sediment washed into the lake by the falls, the more likely it will happen that he will be buried."

Fefnir stood there, weight pushed back onto his hind leg, arms crossed at his chest. He raised an eyebrow as he stood there, shining eyes boring holes into the glimmering surface of the lake.

"But... surely there has to be some kind of magic that could let you get at it..." he thought back to the multitudes of spells he'd heard of, the feats of great power that some people had preformed with the air of powerful magics. They could enchant weapons, plants, people, buildings, anything really... It was fantastic.

"And anyway," he continued, "Couldn't the Ancient Blades, or whatever, just banish the demon again, should it choose to rear its ugly head again?"

The images that flowed into his head were horribly dramatic, people of great stature and build holding a mystical, glowing blade which banished a demon to the deep, dark depths of a lake. He smiled a bit, realizing that the true event was probably much less glamorous in real life. The battle had probably been bloody, the warriors weak with fatigue...

Suddenly, he turned to her, tilting his head slightly. The thought simply sauntered into his mind, catching his attention almost instantly.

"Wait... were you here?"

She stood when Fefnir began to speak. A spell? Perhaps, but she didn’t know where to find one until she had better news. Taras was a bad idea and she could try at the Academy, but… but she didn’t know enough yet. She could try perhaps…

AD also wasn’t worried about banishing the demon anywhere. If she had her way, it would be under her control when she needed it. She had no problems with summoning demons. There was no doubt that she had enough experience with demons, both in killing them and summoning them, even normal interaction… She shook her head. She didn’t need to be dealing with that right now and his last question had drawn her attention.

She looked back over her shoulder at Fefnir. “Yes, about a year ago, I was here. I was in the city itself, locking blades with the demon spawn who attacked Cascadia. The magic that rose the city into the air saved most of it. Only few buildings were harmed and chasing off the edge was helpful. I remember that it was Rothardan that had cast this demon into the lake. He’s the Paladin who had been protecting Taras while the Goddess of Blades planed to go help another nation or such.” She gave a shrug. “I’m not sure what is happening with him now, but if I can prove to him that I can in fact help, perhaps he will give me something to do that will help more.” Aether Draka frowned a little as she looked back out over the water. “Just because have some demonic blood doesn’t mean I’m evil or anything. I wish I didn’t have to keep trying to prove it.”