Set me free (Urs, Ricky)

[Lyra]

5th of Ash, 120 AS

Lush and green, the faint hazy light from above could just barely be seen through the overhanging limbs and tangled vines. The air was warm and humid, thick as blood after a day cooling on the ground. The territory of Earth was the most explored of the territories in the Otherwilds, yet still, there were many places that few, if any, had seen. The path Ricky, Urs, and their group had taken lead out into an area very few had ever tread. What markings and tracks there were came from animals or creatures native to the land, and unless one were to climb the nearby drooping trees one would have difficulty determining where exactly they were.

Perhaps it was chance, some weird twist of fate or maybe divine intervention, but whatever the case the direction their little group chose would lead them to a large waterfall, a place where the lands of earth and water intersected. Plantlife would steadily change as they approached the mile-wide lake, giving way to more mushrooms and other flora which thrives in the wetter environments. Creaks and groans from the trees above the lake would reveal what looked like hairy frogs, each the size of a small cat clinging to the limbs and staring sidelong at the group as they passed.

This, like other locations they had likely searched, gave no obvious signs that they were on the right trail... not at first. Off to the side stuck between the rocks at the base of the waterfall was a small metal item, a medallion with the symbol of the guild etched into it. The metal was tended, and stains of red flecked the rocks leading up the cliffside to the very top of the waterfall.

► Show Spoiler

Hello! I will be your humble guide for this thread. I look forward to this plot, and what it means for our characters ^.^. The group carrying the artifact was made up of 3 individuals.

Milla was the historian, a woman who did not want to come in the first place. She and her two guards were just supposed to go to the second deep, near one of the base camps of the guild. Unfortunately, things were not that easy. Soon after they arrived they stumbled down into the 3rd Deep, into the White Desert, and there found the artifact. After taking the orb from its resting place the building it was collapsed into the sand and they were forced the flee. Though only a day past in Ransera, several seem to go by for their small group. One of the guards died while leaving the White Desert, and the 2nd Guard was injured as they made their way back to the 2nd Deep. Once back to the Outerworlds the two lost adventurers thought they were in the clear...unfortunately the scent of blood, and something else attracted an unwanted guest. They were stalked and eventually killed.

The rest of the details I leave to you two to help me fill in. Lyra is still in Milla's bag, somewhere with her body. Happy writing!

[Rickter]

Their venture into the Second Deep was not one without a bit of silent admiration, as not even Rickter had ever dared to tread this far down within. And yet here they were in a place that seemed like a new world entirely, a concept that amazed one to the point of sheer confusion as they trod onward. Telion would oftentimes be seen looking around her environment more, eyes alight in a sense of wanderlust now, as she stuck alongside Rickter during the group's hike through the undergrowth. "It's all so pretty!" She admitted to him with a rather soft laugh, giving Rickter cause to slightly furrow his eyebrows when he looked to her once more.

"It's also dangerous, probably even more so here than in the first deep." The wolf reminded her as he wasn't forgetful of that little fact, even if the change in scenery made it seem otherwise. All around them were sounds of the Otherwilds, crickets emitting their chirps as toads and other larger creatures called into the open air. The path to which they carefully walked along winded its way further in, in some ways rising and bowing as the terrain challenged them in their hike.

"Heh! The Reaver's scared o' this place?" Pekr challenged with a hearty turn to look back at them, a lofty grin shot to the pair as he seemed to enjoy the idea.

"You're not?" The wolf retorted with one eyebrow raised to the man.

"I've been down here several times now! Nothin' about the Otherwilds scares me!" Pekr confidently remarked with a chuckle.

"Well, least we know he's a seasoned warrior." Telion remarked as the scenery began to change, with tree shafts being replaced with more of a mushroom stalk theme the further they went. Before too long they were arriving at a lake, with the local fauna consisting of the wetter kind now that they were close to it.

"Caution is key yes," Cizein weighed in as they drew to stop near the lake, "but so long as we remain alert, we should have nothin' to fear."

"Those are some hairy toads." Telion muttered under her breath after she stopped to look above the lake. Admittedly this was indeed a beautiful place to look at, and while Rickter felt more uneasy than anything, seeing somebody like her soak all this in so bravely almost actually tickled him a bit. "Hey Rickter, what exactly is this place?"

"I've only ever heard stories, but the Second Deep is referred t' as 'The Otherwilds.'" The wolf answered as he approached the water, a few skeptical glances shot toward the waterfall as he bent down to dip his hands into the lake.

"They say it's like another world down here," Cizein added further, "and you hear stories about plants and animals all livin' in different regions. Territories that resemble the four elements..."

"Really?!" Telion looked to Cizein mystified. "So we're actually near the water territory then."

"Very clever." Cizein remarked with a slight grin. "While we're still on the fringes of the Earth territory, the water territory spans mostly beneath us and elsewhere throughout the Otherwilds." Rickter dipped his hands into the pool by that point, cupping them together to lap up some water he could wash over his face with. Admittedly it felt refreshing to feel the cold liquid course down from his forehead, trickling through his beard as droplets fell back into the water below. "If our research squad traveled through here, I haven't seen any sign of them, I don't suppose either one of you knows how to track do you?"

"I don't, no, sorry..." Telion eased a sigh out in admittance, leaving Rickter to decide whether or not he could be of any use.

"I've very little experience..." The wolf sighed after he used the cuff of his arm to wipe across his forehead. "Trails I don't know so much about, but if we can find somethin' left behind... I may be able to pick up a scent."

"A scent?!" Pekr nearly bellowed in his own stupor of a surprise. "How can you do that?!"

"Because he's a Rathari you idiot." Cizein remarked without even looking away from Rickter. "I was wonderin' when you'd share that with us."

"Not like y' didn't know already." Rickter tested with his expression still firm, albeit there was almost a sense of mirth in his eyes now.

"I'd already done my research on a couple of you yes," the group leader admitted as he looked around for a moment, "but if we all want to get out of here alive together, then we need to start bein' a bit more forward with our backgrounds." Finally the wolf chuckled with his eyes heavily on the water, the blue orbs watching the surface intimately as he fell into silence once more.

"Well... now we may have a way of tracking them, so all we need is something to track them with.... Right?" Telion pointed out with her hands out in a gestured shrug, leaving it up to Urs and Diamond to find whatever might've lingered within the area.

[Urs Wardell]

The world breathed here.

Urs watched as the uppermost branches trembled as they stretched overhead into a dense canopy. There was no breeze and yet the trees swayed, decorated with green and flowering things that glowed with soft, gold light. The earth smelled like it did after a fresh rain, clean and sharp. A lake lay before them, as blue as the summer sky, as clear as crystal.

"The Otherwilds?" Urs echoed, frowning. All his life, he'd been told stories of the Kalzasi's great arse crack, the never-ending shit hole that was filled with the kinds of monsters that made your own nightmares piss themselves in terror. He'd expected creatures stitched from rotting corpses or things that vomited acid that melted steel as easily as flesh.

Instead, they were in faerie land, with gold grass and stones littered with jewels.

"The name's a bit lackluster, isn't it? For such a pretty place," He said, taking his time as he walked, wondering how there could be so much growth here, without the sun. "Everything seems...it's so different here, than back up top. The colors, all of it, there's --," he paused, fumbling over his words, too excited to speak. "It's like how I See. Nothing's dulled."

It almost felt unfair, that all of this beauty and magic had existed below him, hidden behind terror stories and warnings.

"What if we find them and they don't want to go back?" A thin smile crept over his lips as his power escaped the boundary of him and made the world sing. His spell moved over the others, old news now, smelling like sour and metal. His attention stalled over Telion, her runes still bright and untapped, mildly interesting before he pushed out further tasting the bark and flowers and leaves.

It didn't take him long to find something.

"There's a ring and some crumpled paper behind that rock," he said, pointing "But the paper's moldy and what's left of the ink's faded. Hopefully, the ring is enough."

[Rickter]

In a way what Urs had to say about the world down here wasn't anywhere near wrong, which was probably another reason why Rickter felt so unsettled in being down this far. When one such as him imagined the underground, it was either cavernous or just dirt in his simple mind. Therefore to see an entire world with its own thriving ecosystem underground felt unnatural, even more so compared to the fact he was a half-bred Rathari. "I'll admit the name definitely presumes the region." Telion admitted boldly when they all came to a stop at the pond near the waterfall.

Admittedly the little joke their 'scout' brought up didn't go unnoticed, sparking a brief glance from Cizein and Pekr before they focused on the job at hand. Of course, Telion was nice enough to answer him with a grin, maybe even a small dose of a chuckle as she turned to kneel down near the water. Rickter watched as she sort of followed his lead and cupped her hands also, washing the light sheen of sweat from her forehead with a soft sigh to follow. "Whew, water's really cold." She muttered lowly as the wolf rose to a stand once more, finally with a corner of his lips loosened into a hint of a smirk.

Admittedly Rickter liked her brave sense of adventure, even if were somewhat of a danger to her survivability here. It wasn't that he doubted her of course, just that normally those who treaded minimal caution were easy targets. Blundering about into unknowns such as this place, it was always likely something wild might lash out and make a meal of you. Of course, when there was mention of a 'ring' and paper beneath the waterfall, the rest of the crew looked over towards the base of it, noticing the arrangement of rocks found beneath the briny shower from above. "Well I wasn't lookin' forward t' getting wet." The wolf muttered lowly to himself as he began to move.

"I can help!" Telion offered as she rose onto her feet once again, a bit of eagerness in her tone when she made the offer. However, Rickter held a hand out to gesture for her not to, before glancing back for only a moment and continuing along the bank of the creek.

"No need. It's just water." Rickter assured her as he started to reach the bank's edge, now having to tread into shallow water just to walk the rest of the way over. Cold it was indeed. Ricky felt the insides of his boots begin to soak, as water seeped into the soles and weighed the shins of his chainmail even more. As he drew closer the wolf reluctantly looked up towards the top of the waterfall once more, almost with a rather innate sigh even, before lowering his head to tread underneath its cold trickling deluge. Water began to seep into all of his gear now, making him feel even more weighty than before, as he moved closer towards the location that Urs had pointed out. Sure enough, it was all there, a dampened parchment with a bit of mold covering its outer creases, and what was expected to be a ring turned out to be a piece of metal.

A golden medallion etched with the scholar guild's symbol rested just between a pair of jagged rocks, the surface of its metal still slightly caked with a couple of red stains. Interestingly enough was the fact that it hadn't been washed clean from the waterfall, much less how it got here with the useless parchment floating near it. As he was slower than before now Rickter waded his way back towards the bank, still lowering his head so that the water ran its course over his frame. Droplets of water still dripped from his hair and face as he neared the shore, and returned to the group with the medallion still in his right hand. "Looks as though they were here..." He shared with the group as he looked toward the base of the waterfall once more, only this time his eyes began to curiously scale its height all the way to the top.

"Unless someone hid beneath it, it's likely this," he flashed the medallion to everyone, "fell from up top."

"You really think they went up there?" Pekr inquired curiously aloud, more or less blurting out that very specific thought in question.

"It's a possibility, one we certainly can't ignore." Cizein answered quickly as he moved to scan the surrounding landscape near the waterfall. "Those formations of rocks there," the mercenary pointed towards a section with numerous cliffs and edges to the right, "they look safe to climb up if we want to reach the top. Everyone okay with a bit of climbing?"

"Bleh." Pekr responded quickly with a disapproving grunt, reluctantly nodding to his partner before looking at everyone else with crossed arms.

"I've got no qualms with it." Telion remarked as everyone glanced at the wet wolf next, waiting to see what his answer to the suggestion would be.

"I can manage." Rickter answered them plainly still with a stern expression, giving Pekr reason to obnoxiously chuckle at him a moment after.

"I'm sure you can," the other warrior cracked as he started to move, "you smell like a wet dog by the way!" Cizein merely shook his head and sighed, following after his partner as they made their way towards the slope. Telion moved to stand in front of Ricky with her focus on the slope, and then with a brief twist to face him, she looked him up and down.

"You sure about this?"

"It's just water." Ricky reiterated to her as he started to move, turning a shoulder to avoid brushing against her when he passed to follow the others in turn. Telion seemed to release a sigh of her own from what the wolf could hear, following right behind him as Rickter caught up with Pekr and Cizein. Their squad leader made the first move and began grappling the edges of each cliff, hoisting himself up onto the surface so that he could help his companion Pekr climb up top. Then began the chain apparently, as Cizein lowered an arm to help Rickter climb the first edge, which the wolf took as he attempted to hoist himself up with the man.

"You good?" Cizein checked after Rickter managed to finally scale the first section of the slope, and in response, the wolf nodded before twisting around to lower his arm down for Telion to grab. The bard looked up to him a little surprised, but with a brave face put on she accepted the arm and used the same trick the others did to scale onto the same slope.

"Thanks." She told Rickter after he helped her climb up, which almost wasn't a challenge seeing as how light she really was. The wolf nodded for her to continue climbing as he lowered his arm once more, willing to help Diamond and Urs climb up as they began their climb. Together the squad would work almost equally, with everyone except Pekr helping one another, that is until they nearly made it to the top where he managed to climb. The other mercenary would then proceed to offer his arm to help, except for Rickter who wound up being the last to scale that last section of the cliffs.

"Well well well," Cizein remarked as the wolf reached the top with a few grunts, "looks like we've found somethin'."

And something it was...

[Lyra]

The top of the cliff looked much the same as the bottom. The dense tree and foliage were cut but a swiftly moving river that spilled over the rocky cliffside to pool down below. Here the trees had a bark that was slick and black like tar, and where their drooping limbs touched the ground it looked as if they had rooted once more, creating a series of odd arches with flowering blue petals that served as veils. As they had climbed the croaking fogs below would steadily grow silent, a few quickly leaping deeper into the surrounding trees.

From their vantage point, the party could see the outline of one of the largest basecamp to the west, the place where the historians had originally intended to go and return to were they not sidetrack. Across the river on the opposite bank was lush silver grass, stained crimson in places where it had been tamped down as if something heavy were drug across it. The trail ended abruptly at a body that was mangled, its throat ripped out and missing a hand. A bit further beyond that, another lump of cloth could be seen, a woman with dark hair crumpled in a heap beneath one of the black arches. Her clothing was still intact, and a satchel rested near her left hand, undone with its contents scattered. Papers, quills and ink, and an odd round object that was covered in intricate designs cracked and worn with age.

The water nearest the falls was fast and strong. Sitting at waist height the water threatened to drag anyone who dare crossed to sudden death on the rocks below. A few paces upstream, through several of the living arches, one would find a bend in the river where the path narrowed and the waters were calm enough to wade.

The entire area was quiet. The air was thick with the scent of musk and blood, signaling this was a predator's territory. Most of the surrounding wildlife had learned to avoid it.

Beneath the water, farther into the arches, a pair of gleaming yellow eyes would open as new prey entered its domain.

[Urs Wardell]

The clifftop forest obscured under a thin veil of red. His magic flitted about, a distracted spell. His attention split and split again, tasting and prodding and hungry for everything.

Urs noticed the long, thick marks that dragged along the slick black tree bark. The heavy footprints that weighed into the muddy soil flecked with splashes of vibrant green, saplings and weeds. The blood, both old and new, that soured the air with a stink like rust.

"Dead," Urs said, his magic pouring over the closest body. Male, brown-haired, human. His throat torn out some time ago. Small, white maggots crawling inside the rotting flesh. A dagger, unused, strapped to his left leg. His left arm a stump dyed scarlet with gore. A warm something bubbled inside, life not his, eating away at the body.

What was the word? Decomposing? "For a few days, maybe," again he spoke aloud, knowing he wasn't saying anything the others wouldn't be able to guess on their own. He thought and said as he saw, clipped sentences escaping him as he processed his spell into something intelligible.

Urs looked to the second body, his magic prickling along the stiff flesh. "Dead and -," He stalled, suddenly overwhelmed by something old. Something so steeped in magic it blurred his senses, dumbing him in ways he'd forgotten he could be. It swelled with purple, electric and wild, opposing its container, a circle etched deep with lines and curves made in ways he couldn't read.

He was too interested in this thing, new to him in so many ways, to hear Diamond ask him about the thing that killed the two. He was lost in his own thoughts to hear Diamond alert the others that something wasn't right - one body left untouched and another with only two bites.

"Definitely dead," he echoed, watching the swirl of magic bleed out from the copper circle, the dull hint of something light and strong stirring.

Urs decided to not tell the others about that.

[Rickter]

As Rickter joined the others in the last hoist up the cliffside, his eyes fell upon the same peculiar setting the others did. Trees curled as though their limbs rejoined with their roots, with a black tar-like substance lingering at the surface of their bark. Innately a foul scent the wolf had never traced before filled his nostrils, giving him cause to grimace at how pugnant the substance was; even from across the riverbed they stood at. There was also a body. Not just one but two... The first looked to be a male, likely a bodyguard to the other, as she looked to be a woman before her demise. Blood had dried along the rocks beneath the male, as his throat appeared to be torn out by something. Something large in fact, something Rickter didn't really want to discover.

Yet while the body of the woman seemed intact, suggesting that perhaps she was a more recent kill instead. The very air reeked of that black tar, but Rickter could also trace the musky scent of blood also. Whatever predator lingered here, it was likely bound to linger if not return, particularly what with easy prey like mortals passing through so frequently. That unnerved the wolf greatly, to the point where he realized he'd grown rigid in fact. "Well this is somewhat disappointing." Cizein started with his arms crossed. "I had hoped to at least find one of them alive."

"It... looks as though she'd found something though." Telion pointed out with a finger directed at the orb-like object, leading the others to eye it curiously once she did. Even Rickter's eyes narrowed on the object in question, as he could only wonder what on Ransera would've been worth coming all this way just to die for it.

"So it seems, but we can't get through the river at this point." The group leader observed as his gaze followed the river's path, highlighting the dangerous pull the current likely had for anyone foolish enough to brave its pull.

"Hey!" Pekr called out from further upstream, as he'd already poked on ahead to investigate. As the others looked to his direction, the Slayer had already crossed over some of the gnarling tree limbs, leaning low to look to the rest he'd left behind. "There's a spot up here where the water's lower! We'll have an easier time crossin' here."

"Well that was fast." Telion murmured lowly which caused Rickter to softly chuckle.

"Way to make yourself useful Pekr." Cizein teased his companion with a grin, giving Pekr cause to bellow a sarcastic laugh.

"I've got my moments." He snickered before suddenly flinching around, as though something suddenly caught his attention. "What the-" That was all he could declare before a hissing sound snarled at him, and in just a singular moment Pekr's lower torso was snared by a set of sharp fangs. The mercenary began screaming and crying out in pained desperation, as the group itself barely caught a glimpse of whatever it was that suddenly snatched Pekr.

"Pekr!!" Cizein called out as he drew his battle-axe from over the shoulder, Rickter and Telion were quick to do the same as they brandished their weapons also. For Telion it was only a matter of grasping her staff at the center, standing in a position where she held it close to her body. Rickter on the other hand quickly threw his right arm out and, in one quick flourish, materialized his bastard sword as he held it pointed down toward the ground behind him. More agonized screams reached them from beyond the canopy of tree limbs, followed by another snarl as things suddenly went too quiet. "Pekr!! You bastard!! You still breathin?!" It was evidently clear Cizein worried for his partner, yet he made no advance just yet, as whatever had gotten his companion still waited to hunt for them as well.

"What do you think-" Telion started to ask but Rickter raised his left hand, gesturing with two fingers for her to refrain from asking anything. The air felt stiff and silent and now, the scent of blood permeated it once more, as a trail of red started to flow past them from upriver.

A moment passed and still nothing, yet Rickter couldn't help but grip his sword tighter, anticipating another strike to happen at some point. Was the beast a clever hunter? What were its capabilities? Where was it located? Had it finished off the careless mercenary and left? "Cizein," the wolf started in a lowered tone, "what do you think?"

"Pekr..." The party leader growled lowly for a moment, looking towards the rest of the group before his eyes fell on Urs. "You! You mean to tell me you didn't pick up on that thing moments ago?!"

"We need to plan our next move!" Rickter reminded him harshly as he moved around Telion, more or less to stand between her and the riverbank. "Do we go after him, or do we get whatever the hell that thing is over there, and bolt for the First Deep?" Cizein didn't like his options at all, especially since they were faced with so many unknowns. However, he seemed set on finishing this mission of theirs, yet if there was even the slightest chance Pekr still lived... then why not try to save him as well?

"We need that artifact, if that's what the historian died for. But if Pekr's alive, then I intend to save him!" That much was already obvious to Rickter. "Urs," Cizein started once more in a slightly, not by much, calmer tone than when he addressed the man earlier, "use your power to locate that beast, and Pekr if you can, if that idiot bastard is still breathin' then we'll kill the creature first. You," he looked to Telion next and she slightly jolted, "what can you do with your magic?"

"I..." Telion seemed to doubt herself at that moment, looking at Rickter in a worried manner before focusing on Cizein again. "With Elementalism I can manipulate the elements, maybe perhaps create a way across the river even." That wasn't an entirely bad start, though how she could apply it in terms of combat, well that remained to be seen for Rickter. "And with Negation, I can shield against things. But I have to know what I'm negating first." That was an important detail to clarify, one that Rickter would have to remember for future reference.

"Very well," Cizein nodded and looked to Rickter and Diamond next, "you two are my back up in this, we'll need every able-bodied warrior to kill this thing!" The intensity of his rage was palpable, maybe even on the verge of bloodlust, all for the sake of his companion. "Ready?" He checked with everyone before turning to face the riverbend, in the direction towards where he last heard his partner's screams.

[Lyra]

Darkness and quiet. Inside of the artifact, Lyra stirred, shifting restlessly and pressing against the bonds that held her trapped within the sphere. She felt a bit of her influence slip outside the boundaries of the artifact, and she tasted the air and tried to make sense of where she was. The elf knew she had been carried from her original resting place, and now she felt about herself and got the sense that she was outside, or at least she was no longer trapped within a small enclosure hidden from the world. There had been a person before... a woman. Confused Lyra brushed the surrounding area, small tendrils of black mist sweeping the ground as she searched...

Gone. Lyra thought with a note of frustration. Had the foolish creature dropped her, or perhaps abandoned the odd item somewhere? While they traveled Lyra had slipped small and subtle notes into the woman's melody, attempting to coax her into opening the container and setting Lyra free. It seemed the girl had a stronger will than Lyra had expected.

Inside of her prison, the ancient elf had no true sense of the outside world. The small bits of herself that she could manage to slip past the barrier gave her only bare glimpses. Now, however, Lyra strained, focusing to push more and more of herself through the tiny cracks. The edges of her smoke brushed against something, and with irritation, Lyra realized it was a body. It seemed that her only chance of escape had managed to get herself killed. Then something changed, and a slight shiver racked Lyra's soul as she felt a sensation like she was being watched. She could not tell where it was coming, but the feeling was unmistakable. Magic was at work.

Gathering together her tendrils Lyra braced herself before sending out her essence in a wave. It was light, invisible to the eye. Her smoke carried with it the scent of overripe fruit, yet even that was somewhat muted. With the wave, Lyra cast out a melody, a feeling like nagging curiosity or a lingering desire to know more. She pulled at the minds of those the wave touched, tugging them toward her.

Come, she thought, sending another wave of power, If you are there, come to me.

***

Beneath the waters farther upstream the beast stirred, the wave of influence tugging on its consciousness as well. Its head rose partially from the water so that only its eyes were visible, and it began to make its way toward the shore, in the direction of artifact.

[Urs Wardell]

Urs watched as the copper orb sang.

The artifact was steeped in magic that stank sweet and flowed slow, like tar molasses. Power flashed bright with intent. His own spell pressed against the pictograph-detailed surface and --

He knew, immediately, that something hid inside. Something old, something strong, something magic. Urs cast power recklessly at the artifact, shaping his own magic into something sharp. His spell became hungry and hungrier, snapping up bits of information --

Like he knew now how much the orb would weigh should he carry it.

Like he knew now there were exactly seven cracks broken into the copper surface, each one longer than the last.

Like he knew now that thing inside felt more trapped than hidden. There was more desire past the purple-stained magic and it reached, whatever it was, for the outside. Urs smiled. He threw more power at his spell as it clawed at the cracks, pushing deeper and deeper and --

Urs yelp, stumbling forward until he tripped over his own two feet. "Compulsion," he muttered, his spell already retreating from the artifact. He blinks the magic away, the world falling to the dulled reality of mundane. He was farther down than the cliff, closer to the copper orb, but he pushed himself back up and away - other things would be called too. He'd seen and felt the artifact's magic ebb and flow, an undiscerning wave, one that had even reached him where he'd been atop the cliff.

"Pekr's dead," he guessed, not caring to look, "And that's the -- ,"

Something big and blue and wet surfaced by the artifact, eyes blinking and shining as it watched the artifact, Urs, and the rest.

"The copper orb," he said, his words hardly above a whisper as he slowly moved farther away. "That's what the historian had, before she fell."

[Rickter]

All of this was a bit too strange for Rickter's own personal liking, while he understood the significance of their quarry, it wasn't like they couldn't have turned tail and left things as they were. Really the report of a dead party would've been enough to satisfy the job alone, so that had to have meant the orb as it was had to be something special. Important even. The wolf certainly didn't like this, considering the rising odds that were stacked before them. Urs seemed quick to easily dismiss the survivability of Pekr, which generated a very displeased, if not angry, growl at the fact Cizein actually has lost his partner.

"Alright, Telion! You're up!" He barked as he watched across the river with scornful eyes, leading the bard herself to react by taking a small step near the riverbank. Rickter stuck close to her with eyes fixated on the water, apt to survey for whatever creature might've lingered inside. That's when he traced it, through the moist scent of blood, almost a mildewy sort of tone within the air from across the way. Near the orb was where what had dragged off Pekr, a creature that looked to be large and considerably reptilian, from the looks of the deep blue scales that decorated its exposed body.

"If you will hear me," Telion started off as she knelt into a bow, her head resting against her staff as though she were sending a prayer to some greater power, "will you please help us? We need a way to cross..." And just as her soft voice trailed off the very air felt different, as though the wind stirred in response to her very request. Did she actually ask that? Rickter honestly thought it a little redundant in the beginning, but until he felt the change surrounding Telion; he learned quickly what it was that caused the change. He could not see it but somehow, likely through his own personal Rune, he could feel the aether she poured into the ground, channeling it so that the very earth beneath her would heed her call.

A row of bubbles started to manifest as they floated on downstream, the water suddenly looked to part as small pillars rose from the depths of the river below. Mudstone footholds rose to the surface as the channeling of her aether ceased, and the bard finally allowed herself to release a withheld breath. Had she really been that focused the entire time? Regardless her effort was remarkable, incredible even when one counted the amount of time to cross being cut by half. "Now!!" Cizein ordered as he led the charge across the footholds, with Diamond following after him as Rickter helped pull Telion back from the bank.

"Stay over here, if anything else comes, you run. Got it?" He looked at her seriously as he brought his sword up, resting it over his right shoulder as he waited for her to answer.

"B-but I-" She looked at him concerned, yet Rickter shook his head before interrupting.

"I can't protect you from that if y' caught up in the fold. Stay back and only cast from a distance." He instructed her firmly before moving to follow after the two, timing each step carefully so that he didn't risk slipping into the stream below. Telion watched in reluctance as Cizein was already the first to reach the shore, charging at the menacing lizard that crawled out from the banks. It snarled viciously as it trampled its way out of the water, almost kicking the orb as it closed in on the warrior who sought revenge. Diamond wasn't too far behind him and she, quite honestly, looked horrified at what they were about to fight. Yet unlike Pekr, Cizein was a lot more proactive with his target, pulling back in his dash as to avoid running straight into the jaws of death alone.

The overgrown lizard let out an annoyed whine before moving in for a strike with its claw, Diamond stepping at just the knick of time with her greatsword used to parry the attack. Cizein had reacted accordingly with his greataxe drawn and brought overhead, bringing it down to hack at the creature with a vicious roar, one that matched the hardened cry of steel as it struck stone. Yet it wasn't stone, it was the density of the lizard's own scales, as the blow merely knocked its head aside, causing a brief stagger with the creature snarling. "That layer of scales is tough!"

"Well then we better break it!" Diamond retorted sternly as though there weren't an 'or else' to follow after that. Probably because they were shit out of luck if they couldn't, and it was about that time Rickter himself finally reached the other two. The creature lunged forward with a throw of each claw, hoping to lash out in a couple of forward strikes, only to miss as the group parted from one another; with Rickter on the right flank towards the riverbank and the other two at the left flank near the treeline. "Now!"

Rickter wasn't sure... But when he threw his sword arm behind him he lunged forward, raising the blade into an arch over his form with both hands, hoping to smash it into the creature's body so that it cut clean through its natural armor... only to find that the moment the edge of his blade slashed against it, it felt as though the very earth pushed back against his metal; causing a fierce rattle along the weapon that was felt even in the depths of his very soul. That hurt. Worse than any amount of punches or kicks he's recently endured. Shock filled his eyes as he realized what had happened, when he looked down at his weapon, Rickter noticed he had actually chipped a piece from its edge. It's armor is that fucking strong?!!

He was done for in that moment, he was certain of it after what just happened. Because where he failed without even causing a dent, surely the other two found no success in their endeavor as well. Yet just as the lizard reacted to their coordinated assault, a voice carried over from across the river. A hymn? Rickter hadn't even the chance to turn around and see, as death practically moved to kill all three warriors in one sitting if it could. Yet there was that sound, that distant calling that sounded almost like a lullaby, and then suddenly silence.

The very ground beneath Rickter's feet trembled as earth spikes of stone jutted underneath, impaling the mega-sized lizard within the tail, left forearm, and a couple of places within the torso region. Cizein and Diamond jumped back in awe as the lizard turned over, breaking off the stone spikes as they remained lodged in their place. "Now's... your chance..." Rickter's eyes finally moved, as he wasn't petrified by what was about to happen anymore; instead what he saw now lit a fire in his gut. Telion wasn't just using the staff to commune with the elements, she was using it to hold herself up now that she'd done so. She'd used up a good amount of her aether to help them, and in just the knick of time, her quick thinking spared all three a sudden death.

"He-ya!!" Cizein roared as he threw over his greataxe once more, bringing it down to smash it into the underside of the creature. Diamond joined at the moment when the beast started screaming in terror, the two of them quickly hacking away at its neck until it was finally completely severed. In just one fell moment, everything was over just like that. Rickter had done... nothing. Not a damn thing. He had no real power that allowed him to cut through that armor, and he certainly didn't have any better magic than his Reaving. "That's for Pekr, y' rotten beast!" Cizein spat venomously at the creature as he awaited for somebody to claim the orb. That somebody, however, wouldn't be Rickter.

The wolf instead dematerialized his own sword, and rushed back across to make sure his own partner was okay. "You okay?" He checked as he quickly walked up to her, the bard nodding her head eagerly as she forced herself to stand.

"Just a bit woozy is all. I'll be fine after a while." She pretended to shrug it off as fine, but Rickter knew she'd pushed herself today. Something he would've rather punished her for, but where it not a case that didn't save him, well he certainly wasn't going to chastise her for it.

"When we get back," he offered a hand to her as a means of helping her cross, "dinner's on me." There was no hidden intent behind his words, just a plain promise he planned to keep once they were in Kalzasi once more.

"Sure." Telion remarked a little warmer, at least still a bit amused by his generosity. By the time the two would reach the other shore, the one to hold the orb had been decided, but it was when Rickter and Telion got there that things took a more interesting development after all.