Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

[Eitan Angevin]

16th of Ash, Year 121 Steel
The Warrens

"Look sharp, Stef." His voice cracked like a whip, though low because there was no telling what might be listening to them down here.

At around noon—according to Brenner's pocketwatch—they had come to a crossroads. Ghostblooms burst forth from corpses, sending trails heading in either direction. Piers called for them to pause and Brenner suggested scouts be sent forth in pairs in either direction. He had taken Albrecht on the left-hand path and left the right to Eitan and Stefan. While he was aware that Stefan could handle himself, Stefan was also his brother-in-law and he wasn't going to return to Zaichaer without him. They were still friends; it was just that being friendly in this situation required a bit of military discipline.

They were armed and armored, and Stefan had rigged something so Eitan could wear his aura glass monocle without looking so out of place. More tactical now, he could keep an eye on the flows of aether, being one of the few people present who had any experience studying them. One path or the other ought to lead them to the Fademire and their goal. He didn't rightly care which of them discovered the way so long as they all reached their goal and the High City safely.

He nodded toward a rather macabre display of subterranean flowers blooming from a corpse who looked to have had a bit of a time dying, its hand stretched out as if to grab. Stefan might have tripped over it if he wasn't careful.

"Please don't develop a taste for the décor, old sport. Neither Delia nor I will approve of it back home."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Eitan's tone snapped Stefan's head up from where he'd been checking the scope on his rifle. The thing had felt loose when he'd pulled it from its protective case that morning. It felt fine now, maybe he'd imagined it. Since the wound he'd taken during the fight with the Fungalions, he'd been tense, over-cautious. It wasn't the fight that had done it, but the line of claw marks that had missed his face so narrowly as to leave a nick on his cheek and one where the bridge of his nose met his brow before racking down over his collar bone worried him. The good doctor had seen to him, stitching what needed it, disinfecting, bandaging, but the pain and the pull of the stitches made him favor his left side now, which could be a problem in future fights.

Glancing around, reminding himself to be alert, he nodded to his commanding officer. There was a lot there now, between he and Angevin, but in this moment, he was in command and Stefan would fall into line without question.

As they came abreast of the first of several corpses, blooming in the near-darkness, part of him wanted to gag, while the stronger part wanted to take a knee and carefully investigate both the cause of death, and the amazingly resilient flora. After the weeks they had spent underground it was easy to see why expedition came down here with the pure desire to explore. There was so much that science hadn't cataloged, so might that might be used in medicine or manufacture. Stefan had no intention of ever venturing back below, unless duty called him to it, but he could understand those who were pulled back into the Warrens again, and again.

He looked over at Eitan, the edged of his mouth turning up at the jest. There was something indescribable rakish and daring about how the half-elf looked. In the eye-patch-like contraption he'd put together for the aether glass monocle, the armored duster coat with the pistol belt around his slim hips and rifle slung over his back. He looked like a storybook adventurer, ready to plow his way into the ruined Clockwork Empire or, well, down into the Warrens. Stefan was wearing basically the same thing, but he would never wear it with the ease and comfort that Eitan did, however comfortable he'd ensured the gear was.

He did not laugh, because sound was a more common resource to locate prey in the dark, but he did answer in the same quiet tone,

"My fascination is purely academic, brother, I assure you."

They moved past the bodies without him being able to easily tell what had ended them. They hadn't been eaten, so, perhaps this was simply as far as they'd been able to make it. The path ahead, if it could be called a path, was more of a natural formation of the rock and plants than anything that looked like it was normally trodden by human feet.

They walked on for a little while in silence as it grew darker. Eventually, Stefan reached into one of his breast pockets and pulled out his aether glass spectacles. They wouldn't help his night vision, but the majority of dangerous things down here had some sort of magical signature. The glasses wouldn't impair his normal vision, not unless the aether signatures became so pervasive as to not allow him to see anything else. If that became the case he would have to rely on Eitan's greater skill at interpreting what the glass showed. The elder of the Dornkirk brothers was learning to rely on his other senses for information, which was as interesting as it felt terrifying.

About ten minutes after they had left the corpses behind he paused, lifting his head, listening, scenting the air. Something had changed, but it took a moment to realize what,

"Do you smell that?" He asked, barely loud enough that Eitan would hear, "There's water near by, old enough to be growing things."

[Eitan Angevin]

"We can pause on the return trip so you can take a quick sample," he said of the ghostblooms. "I'll watch your back for a few minutes and you can take notes even."

Eitan smiled crookedly, intuiting Stefan's desire. He supported it, though; he thought Stefan was one of the brightest minds of their generation after his work on the cloaking engine and various other things, including how he had taken complex subjects and taught them to him and to Brenner without making them feel like ignoramuses. As many samples as he needed, Eitan would try to secure for him; tests and studies could be run back home, and advances might be made for the betterment of the people of their city.

But for the time being, they had to move on. They were scouting, and Brenner would need their swift reconnaissance.

His nostrils flared immediately at the question and he nodded tersely. He made a gesture with his hand that Stefan would recognize from his military days; they were in dangerous territory, so unspoken communication was generally preferable. He took point, assuming the first and most exposed position in their combat military formation. His rifle was held at the ready and his feet crossed carefully one over the other, feeling through the soles of his boots for vagaries in the terrain, his center of gravity lowered on slightly bent knees. He had to be ready for anything because the Warrens could throw anything at them. There was only so much one could prepare.

The smell of water grew clearer as he turned a corner, and then he could hear it as well. He held his hand up to pause their journey, squinting ahead. There was a glow around another bend in the way and it certainly registered differently through his monocle. He couldn't be certain it was dangerous, though; best assume it was. He motioned again and then began a slow approach.

Even the water down here could be magical. Read: dangerous.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Risking a glance back over his shoulder at Eitan, fascinated by how the man appeared in the enhanced sight of the spectacles, he said,

"No need, ghostbloom isn't singular to the Warrens, there has been documentation and study of it already."

Returning his eyes to the front he said, letting a little teasing bleed into his tone, "But I thank you for your consideration, Sir."

Eitan did try and support the science team whenever it was safe to do so. They were so close to their goal now, or, at least, according to Lightborn, they were close to the swamp-like section of the Warrens where their goal most likely was. If it existed at all. Stefan remained fully optimistic, but he was realistic as well. They might not complete their mission, the creature they sought might not exist, or if it did, it might no longer be in the area, or even have gone extinct in the many years since the supposed sightings.

When Eitan passed the gestured order Stefan gave a short nod, unshouldered his rifle, and hoped that if anything came out of the dark for them it would be either magical, or alive in the way that they aether glass could detect. There were creatures in the Warrens that were not alive enough, or magical enough to show up in the spectacles, but could kill you just as easily as those that did.

After a few minutes of silently stalking ahead, a few feet behind and to one side of Eitan, Stefan too saw the glow. Lowering his glasses briefly he could see it with his normal vision as well, a distinct light in the darkness. Replacing his eyewear he tried to study what he was seeing as they turned a corner in the narrowing passage and could see it clearly.

It sort of...shimmered? It was as wide as the passage, appearing just before the water he had scented and now could easily hear flowing. The glowing space was clear and afforded enough light that Stefan could see the path opening up beyond it. The terrain beyond appeared to be a series of pools, shallow, and some plant life, in macabre imitation of trees. Touching Eitan's shoulder for a halt he pulled out a pair of field glasses made for low light settings. They wouldn't piece full darkness, but they helped in anything but. Looking through them, first with his own eyes and then through the aether glasses he scanned the space ahead.

Stepping close to his commanding officer he said in the quiet, voice that did not echo that all servicemen were taught,

"Looks like what we're after, can't see any end to it, swampland for as far as I could see. Here," He pressed the field glasses into Eitan's hand, "Take a look for yourself."

Stefan stood to his brother-in-law's back, keeping an eye in all directions while the other man would be distracted. When the glasses were handed back to him he tucked them into their case.

"I don't know what that is over the passage, but unless Brenner and the Private come back with better news, we might have to risk it." There was a good chance Eitan would have a better idea than Stefan did of the potential danger, being much better used to observing magic.

[Eitan Angevin]

While he knew Stefan was gently teasing, he would be lying if he said that there wasn't something pleasing about being treated deferentially by someone he respected. He hoped it was the same for him when Eitan and Brenner where his students in the laboratory, and for Brenner when they supported his leadership here on this mission. They all liked to make a show of manly self-sufficiency, but people needed people for a variety of things. Validation was one of them.

A tight smile and then they continued. He took the field glasses and surveyed what could be seen from here, letting Stefan watch his back even as he had watched his. Nodding, he handed them back.

"Looks promising," he said, though it certainly looked foreboding in its strange, beautiful way. "With our luck, Brynn and Albrecht have probably found something identical."

But he squinted at the shimmer in the air. There was something about the aetheric flows, but everything was wonky and aetheric down here so he couldn't rightly say what it was.

"I want to approach that glow. Not too close. Carefully. A little reconnaissance in case it's something the unit will have to contend with if we come this way." It was more explanation than he needed to give, but he did want Stefan's brilliant mind honing in on the topic. He paused. "Are you sure you don't want a sample of this water? I wonder what it would look like under your scope." He offered another tight smile and then began to move again for a closer examination of the strange phenomenon. There were no hints that anything was amiss, but there was so much down here that was unknown that it was difficult to know what might be dangerous.

He was happy to note that no matter how many hours Stefan put in behind a desk at the Windworks, he remembered his training. It made it easier to rely upon him rather than focus on keeping him out of trouble.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan nodded as he tucked the cased field glasses back into their specific pocket. Stefan had ordered similar armored coats for everyone who had wanted one, but to his own he had added to the design himself, with each item, he would need to carry with him in mind. Each pocket was made to fit a specific item, and he had memorized the layout, hardwiring each location into his subconscious so he could reach for it without having to fumble about and waste time that might mean his life, or that of one of his companions.

"Knowing Brynn he has probably located a raised road right through the Fademire and is impatiently wondering what is taking us poor sods so long to get back." It was all affection, for Brenner and Eitan both, but spoken in an oddly quiet and tight tone. Stefan did not like the looks of the aptly named Mire. Cold he could handle, but being soaked to his skin for prolonged periods of time...

He had seen experimental notes on men trapped in flooded mines for weeks after a collapse, before they could be rescued. Rescuers now knew to pump the water out and let the men dry before trying to get them out, but the results without such precautions were too awful to think on. At least, Stefan tried to keep them out of his own mind as he peered through the aura glasses at the odd shifting of bits of mote and light across the entrance.

The oddity, though it wasn't so odd for the Warrens, was something he could concentrate his attention on. Eitan's continuation of their jesting helped as well and his tight expression became a tight smile of his own.

"I might, actually." He answered as they began to carefully make their way forward. "For all we know the little beasties we're after are hiding in the water at the very edge of the Mire, with no need to make our way deeper."

When they were twenty feet from the phenomenon they halted again, looking it over. A closer inspection rendered no additional information that meant anything to Stefan. When Eitan began to make a slow progress even closer, the older man kept in formation, glancing to their sides and even occasionally behind them for dangers that might be using the distraction as a lure. The thought that the shimmering spot might actually be only a lure, intended to draw prey had occurred to him, and, he had no doubt, to his current commander.

[Eitan Angevin]

At twenty paces, he could at least tell that the things aetheric signature was contained within itself, and so he continued on, albeit more slowly. The closer they got, the quicker they would have to be to react to changes, and magic was nothing if not treacherous. At five paces, he could see what looked like their target through the light. The aetheric signature of it warped that which lay beyond, and so he took a knee for a moment, trying to get a different perspective, to see if there were bits that were thinner, weaker, or not covering the entrance to where they needed to go.

"It's moving," he noticed aloud. He wanted to stand between it and his brother-in-law, both because he was key to this mission and because Eitan had promised Stefan's wife that he would protect him. "Not fast. Hm."

It had a more discrete edge on the aetheric spectrum than it did to his unaided eye, and that edge rippled and moved, like breathing, perhaps. Just in case, he held up his hand, using his glove as an anchor, and formed a shield against magic. He took his time, trying to match his Negation to what he was seeing. For now, he didn't seek to destroy it, merely to see whether he could move it aside and clear them a path.

"Life responds to stimuli, didn't you say, professor?" They had had many conversations about biology in preparation for this mission, and Eitan had read several books on the subject, both basic and more specific to the flora and fauna of the Warrens. He stood, though his knees remained bent in case he had to beat a hasty retreat. He nudged the shield into the light and it moved around his shield as though it were a solid object. Then he pulled back and stepped back to see if it would resume its shape, remain where he had manipulated it, or react otherwise.

Not wanting to take his eyes off it, he reached back with his free hand until it landed low on Stefan's belly. He kept the shield up between them, ready to spread it wider if necessary, but ready to defend Stefan should the need arise.

"Any thoughts or observations?"

Stefan had been in meetings with Beeman, after all, and she was an expert in things magical.

Then, it shifted.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan kept to his assigned position, a few feet behind Eitan, but, as they approached to within a few paces from the 'surface' of the magical phenomenon it became difficult to remember to keep an eye to their rear.

As his current commander took a knee and observed the magic field it wasn't so hard to remember his duty, but once Eitan began to press it in with his shield of Negation, the older man forgot entirely and concentrated on the effect controlled magic had on the wilder version before them.

It seemed the other man didn't want to speak or look away, a sentiment which Stefan shared, for he put his hand back and felt around until he found Stefan's body. Reassured of his whereabouts Eitan did venture to speak. Taking a long look, Stefan assessed the way the shield's penetration had at first done nothing, but was now causing a rippling sort of effect across the rainbow-colored surface. It was fascinating, but that wasn't the sort of analysis that was being asked for. Leaning unconsciously toward the wall of shimmering color he was opening his mouth to offer something more professional when the whole thing surged forward in one motion so quick that even ready to speak no sound was able to escape Stefan before both men were engulfed.

At first, it didn't feel like anything, as he held very still, not sure if movement might trigger something worse. But as he slowly began to look around he realized that it felt as if everything was moving a fraction too slowly, as though he were under water, but without the added weight. His mind churned like a steam engine, trying to gather All The Data in an instant so that he might save them, if saving was an option.

Moving his head slowly, because slowly was as quickly as he was able, he looked at Eitan, who was looking back at him, then at the area around them. They were still standing in the same spot, yet everything seemed to move a little, of perhaps that was only the effect of everything, including the two men, appearing to be covered in the shimmering, multi-hued light. Taking a little breath in, just a sip of air, he held it, tried to taste it. Nothing happened, so he released it and took a fuller one. If there was poison in the air it wasn't the fast-acting kind.

In fact, far from feeling sickened, Stefan felt good. As though...

He tried to put words to it in his own mind. It was as though the burden of carrying something that had been missing for all his life was suddenly lifted from him. The idea didn't quite make sense, as one couldn't carry something that was missing, but it was how he felt. A voice sounded, not Eitan's, from behind him.

Stefan

It didn't frighten him, for he knew the voice, even though he was sure he'd never heard it before. Turning he saw, what at first, he thought must be his reflection, except that it was taller than him.

No, not taller; floating. As he took a step back to observe this other man who was himself more fully, he saw that the man had massive, flared wings, feathered and tawny, that supported him a little above the ground. The normal prejudice his mind would have thrown at him upon seeing what appeared to be an Avialae was simply not there. He stared up at the face a foot above his own, feeling loved and connected more intently than at any time previous. Even with Eitan. Even with Brenner.

A tiny part of his mind tried to hold on; to the idea of Brenner, what he owned him, the mission, to Eitan, that he might be in danger there, just a few feet away. But he couldn't make himself look away from the creature who gazed down at him with a level of fondness and knowledge that made breathing feel unnecessary.

[Eitan Angevin]

The phenomenon moved impossibly fast. Unfazed by his shield, in enveloped that too. A sharp intake of breath brought no burn of poison into his lungs. If vision through his aura glass monocle was dizzying, it didn't seem to be hurting him. If anything, the strange embrace of the light was calming. He felt connected. To Stefan, who was his brother-in-law, and to everything. It was strange.

He let his shield flicker and die out; the phenomenon did not seem to have any desire to devour the aetheric pattern of the thing. It was not, then, a manifestation of the organisms they sought. He just knew he didn't need a shield in this moment. He heard Stefan say his own name, but his eyes were drawn downward. He moved slowly as though underwater, and it was the water that caught his eye. It moved, but there were things moving within it, flashing like the silver bellies of a school of fish, though he could discern no discrete shapes. The stones beneath their feet too were overlaid with things. His memory caught at the tiny organisms they had seen in the pond scum under Stefan's scopes back in Zaichaer, though that was not quite right.

Hearing the flow of water was nothing new, but now he thought he could hear the stones singing as well. He shook his head, looked up and out, through the aperture that was no longer blocked by the thing that had claimed the space around them. He could see so far now. The song around him seemed to answer yes when he wondered whether they had found the way. He didn't know if Albrecht and Brenner had found another path, but he knew this one was true. If only they could escape, though he couldn't bring himself to hold onto the idea that escape was a necessity in this situation.

Eitan turned back, startled but unafraid of the vision of a winged Stefan.

"Stef..."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

At the sound of his nickname in Eitan's voice, Stefan managed to draw his eyes slowly away from the other version of himself. He wanted to keep looking, but one of the feelings being projected at him the strongest was the idea that he wouldn't be left, wouldn't be abandoned. So he wasn't afraid to look away for a moment.

Eitan was there, as he had been, but not exactly as he had been. The older man blinked at his brother-in-law, not sure if his eyes were being confused by the strangeness of the light inside the bubble. It felt like a bubble, but of water or magic, or both, rather than air.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand he tried to blink away the oddities but they persisted. Eitan's features were sharper; most notably his ears, so expertly cropped before Stefan had ever met him, appeared to have regrown themselves in an instant. It didn't feel real, any more than anything else felt correctly real, so he stepped forward without thinking to ask first, and gently ran the tips of two fingers over one high, elegant point, as one might brush away a rebellious strand of hair. Realizing, only after he had done so, that the touch might be offensive he pulled his hand back and said,

"I'm sorry, I don't seem to be thinking very clearly."

As he spoke the winged man behind him watched, a smile that might have been pride and might have been loving indulgence crossed his face. It was the sort of expression that had never, in all his life, crossed Stefan's own face. Its eyes flickered briefly to Eitan and there was a shadow of the same sort of love in them, as though, by being loved by Stefan, the half-elf was also vaguely loved by this Other. Beyond that, the creature, or person, or whatever it was, looked only at Stefan. It floated closer, without moving its wings or making any other physical effort, as though it moved by thought alone.

When it reached him, Stefan could feel it close behind him, even before it touched. Touch it did, reaching down its arms and wrapping around him, resting its head on his shoulder, holding him at once protectively and needily. It looked, for all the world, like this winged copy had missed Stefan very much, for a very long time, and thought that, even now, it might not have very long to express that.

Stefan's eyes closed all at once, as though seeing was being replaced by something so much greater that he gave it up without a thought. Lifting his arms he wrapped them around the ones wrapped around his chest. The pair looked as though they were swaying, and Stefan nodded now and then as if to someone speaking, though no more words could be heard aloud. Eventually, a frown crossed his face and he opened his eyes, turning his head to see the Other, saying,

"I can't. I can't fly." The Other frowned too, so perfectly mirroring Stefan's expression that it might have been funny to someone not caught in that place. Pulling gently away from their embrace the Other lowered until his feet were on the ground and slowly, as though it were difficult, stepped into Stefan. They were proportionally perfect, so, aside from the impossibility of two bodies existing in the same place, it was an exact fit. The Other's wings disappeared as soon as the rest of it was entirely inside Stefan.

For one long moment, everything was still. Stefan turned to look behind him, finding the copy of himself was now gone, turned back to Eitan.

"I..." He started to say, then the expression on his face darkened; mouth and brows drawing down in confusion, and then pain.