one by one

[Paragon]

“I am.” Caden spoke honestly. Though his eyes remained trained on the depths ahead of them, there was a hard set to his jaw. His grip upon his sword tightened. The subtle shift to his wings made it apparent that he was uncomfortable. Once the twins expressed their readiness to delve into the deeper reaches of the Warrens, he nodded, letting out a heavy breath before stepping forward.

“It is to teach us humility. To teach us how to fight in close quarters with the disadvantage of restriction from flight.” He spoke matter-of-factly. It was a well known tactic among the training of the Sky Guard. As much as the Avialae were taught to use their ability to fly to their advantage, they were also taught how to fight while grounded. Their wings were mighty but they were also a vulnerability. If broken, it was painful and could leave them open to assault from the dark creatures that sometimes swarmed up from the deeper reaches of the Warrens. A grounded Avialae was a dead Avialae, at least that was the thought behind taking down their wings.

“I cannot say that anyone has. I want a family of my own one day but I am still young. With time to spare.” He managed a smile, which had the effect of easing some of the tension around his shoulders. With a deep breath, he pushed forward leading their little party into the depths of the First Deep of the Warrens. They walked past a group of aspirants fighting a small mob of shamblers. Caden watched the group for a moment, tension clearly in his jaw as his hand reached up for his sword. When it was clear that the group was fairing well against the creatures, he pressed on at a more steady pace.

Deeper into the Warrens, they continued. They passed yet another group of aspirants that was in the midst of battling a more ferocious looking creature. One of the young Avialae cried out in pain, distress clear in his voice. Caden tensed, his wings flaring as he stopped to look clearly at the situation unfolding ahead of them. They stood on the upper ledge of a rocky pathway. Below them was an open platform that looked like it once might have served as the grand staircase for some marvelous structure. Such was the nature of the Buried Empire. Two Avialae warriors were fighting against what looked to be a larger amalgamation of flesh and crooked bone. One of the young warriors was sliding away from the creature, his leg impaled by a bone spike.

Caden looked from Kala to Kaus.

“I...I cannot leave him.” That was the only warning that Caden gave before he was vaulting over the ledge, spreading his wings and gliding down to join the other warriors in their fight.

The choice was now in the hands of Kaus and Kala. By the traditions of the Warren March, it was expected that each warrior hold their own, to be able to fight and defend themselves or perish to the horrors of the Warrens. It was a practice that had fostered in the Avialae the reputation for being such fierce and formidable combatants. The survivors of the Warren March were those who could hold their own against terrifying odds. But what was lost in the face of such a tradition? What was gained?

The path ahead remained clear of monsters with only the horrifying creature and the, now, three Avialae facing off against it.

[Kala Leukos]

Kaus and Kala assessed the situation and didn't even have to make eye contact before they too leaped into action as well. Kaus' wings unfurled not long after Caden's, and he swooped down to join the fray. Meanwhile, Kala began to leap down from boulder to hewn stone, descending agilely enough for not having the advantage of wings.

The monstrous creature had cut one Avialae down only to have two more appear in his place.

But the wingless Avialae made her way to the injured young man, no older than she or her twin. She wormed her way under his arm and took some of his great weight upon her slender shoulders, urging him away from the fight.

"I've got bandages in my pack," she insisted between gritted teeth. "Let them hold it off. We'll see to your leg."

She was already staring at his wounded leg with the help of her rune, looking for anything that might help her give effective first aid. She was no healer, not even a medic, but she could tie a bandage and give him one of the potions she had purchased beforehand. Or, if worse came to worst, she could cauterize the wound with Fire, which might at least stabilize him until he could get proper treatment. And he seemed too dazed to fight her, which was all for the better. She didn't know if he was one who would sneer at her presence or one who would cooperate with her. Regardless, she hoped he would see sense lest his lifeblood pour out of him today.

He bled upon her as she tried to take up as much weight as she could so that the injured leg needn't incur more damage, and she at least got him a couple of dozen feet farther away. A glance back saw Kaus impale the thing with his sword, the silvery light shining in her augmented vision from his pact weapon. She sensed only elation from him along their bond, the heightened battle senses. She ought to be fighting at his side, but she couldn't leave this one to bleed out. She eased him against a boulder and then knelt beside him, doffing her pack to pull out the things she would need, efficient and cool.

Then she carefully took both sides of the rent in his trews and yanked them apart with a wet ripping sound so she could get a better look at his wound. There was no time like the present to put her theoretical knowledge into practice, it would seem.

[Paragon]

The young man in Kala’s arms was briefly startled by her appearance. He shuffled away from her before realizing that she was not an assailant but a savior. When that became clear, he did what he could to assist her in getting to a spot away from the main clamor of the battle. When he was laid to rest against the boulder, he let out a pained groan. When Kala torn open the cloth covering his wound, the spike jutting out of his thigh looked to have pierced deep into the flesh. Several cuts were already present on his face and it was clear that one of his wings had been injured.

“Thank you.” His voice was breathless as he regarded her. Fear was evident in his eyes even as he clenched his jaw, doing his best to sit still to allow for Kala to treat his wounds. There was neither objection nor sneering as Kala lent what aide she could. In short order, the leg was bandaged up enough to stem the bleeding. He was not a large Avialae, not as far as their typical builds went. This young man had the wings of a sparrow and was clearly built more for speed than for brute strength.

The roar of a beast interrupted the brief moment as the creature being fought by the wounded young man’s partner, Caden and Kaus, thrashed violently. Kaus was darting out of the way of vicious swipes that likely would have sundered the young man. The younger Leukos twin then spun into action, landing clear strikes to further wound the weakening creature. Caden swung his greatsword, the swipe coming down on one of the creature’s arms, cleaving it open and dropping the beast to its knees.

Finally, the third Avialae swooped in to pierce through the creature’s skull with a mighty lance that brought the monstrosity down. With a thud that sent debris billowing out from the ground, the monster was slain. As the cloud of debris rushed forth, the wounded Avialae shielded both himself and Kala with his uninjured wing. After a pause, where silence reigned, the three Avialae stepped away from the fallen creature. It was then that the third warrior trudged his way over to Kala.

“Idiot! What were you thinking?” He was leaner in build, with the wings of a falcon, but still sturdy as far as Avialae went. He stood at just below seven feet in height. His dark brown hair was matted with sweat, brown eyes wild with concern. He knelt down, using the butt of his spear to aid him. He examined the wound, a heavy frown on his face. Looking at Kala and then to his companion, the falcon winged Avialae sighed.

“We’re leaving. You cannot continue in this condition.” The sparrow winged Avialae went wide eyed.

“Honor demands--” The falcon shook his head, grabbing the young man by the collar.

“I don’t give a shit about honor. I give a shit about your life, dammit! And I am not losing you to this damned place, do you hear me?” There was a tense silence between them.

“The Warren March is meant to teach us the dangers of the Warrens. It is meant to show us the reasons we both fear it and respect it. I would say that lesson has been learned.” Caden walked up, his voice soft despite its baritone pitch.

“But the dragonshard--” The falcon winged warrior shook his head.

“Screw the dragonshard.” With that, he helped haul the sparrow to his feet unceremoniously, ignoring protests. He looked to Kala, Kaus and Caden. “Thank you. We owe you. If you’re ever in the Low-City and happen to need a hand, ask around for Ceran and Indric!”

Caden watched the two of them go. He turned his attention back to Kaus and Kala after a moment.

“Shall we continue?”

[Kala Leukos]

"Thank you," she replied when the boy shielded her with his wings. Having studied them her whole life, she knew that in some ways they were stronger than they appeared, but in others more vulnerable. But she didn't have long to perform her first aid before the beast was slain and the sparrow's companion returned with a will to get him the hells out of here. She offered him a rueful smile as she rocked back and stood up. He didn't seem to be bleeding so quickly that she ought to cauterize his wounds with Fire, and if his friend thought it best to expedite retreat over treatment, she wasn't going to gainsay him.

"Get out safely, Ceran and Indric," she said. Kaus nodded gravely at them in agreement, for once the seriousness of their situation dimming his normally everpresent smile. When they quit the adventurers' presence, Kala gave a quick once over to her brother and their companion. They looked unharmed and so she slung her rucksack back over her shoulders and wiped her hands a bit cleaner than before.

"I'm ready," she said to Caden and Kaus nodded once more.

But as they departed, Kala experimented with something. Kaus glanced at what she was doing for a moment, then let his gaze roam around seeking out potential danger. It didn't take him long to intuit what his twin was up to. Holding her hand palm-up in front of her, she began to manifest her aether, watching through the power of another rune to see where it went, how the local flows picked it up and moved it. At first, it was just undifferentiated aether, but from time to time it pulsed with elemental power of one variety or another, and she studied it to see how each one reacted differently.

She didn't know if it would work, but the mages of Starfall fostered innovation and creativity even while drilling hard-won and ancient wisdom into students. All she wanted to know was if she could study the aetheric flows around them well enough to suss out where the good dragonshards laid in wait. On the one hand, she would be happy just getting all of them out of there alive with any dragonshard, but another part of her wanted to honor her House, her family, and her people, all those who had invested in her and in Kaus, and bring back a prize more worthy of her lineage.

"Any luck?" Kaus asked. They shared elemental magic between them, but he had opted for Reaving while she had opted for Semblance. It had seemed a wise course for them, thinking they would always be together and that he would be better equipped to physically protect them while she figure out what was going on. This Warren March would certainly be telling as to whether their strategy was efficacious.

"I'm not certain yet," she murmured. Then, for Caden's benefit, "I'm just wondering if a little creative application of aether to the environment will help me find us our shards quickly and expeditiously so we can also quit the field and earn our adulthood."

[Paragon]

A world of different senses opened themselves up to Kala across her aetheric senses. Into her awareness several things presented themselves. The first of those things was the damp earth that formed the caverns of the Warrens themselves. On the surface, it was clear that the rocks each told their own story but unfocused as Kala was, those stories remained mere burbles upon the outskirts of her mind. Brushing over the rock and earth there was an entire layer of activity from the insects and vermin that skittered around in the dark, to the sheer weight of the Warren’s oppressive presence. It was there within those dark caverns, on the edge of all things that she perceived through her Semblance. It almost seemed to give a sense as though something were lying in wait, merely watching for the opportunity to invade the lives of those that dared traverse its halls.

After sorting through the noise of that which was not important to her, it would present itself on the edges of her awareness. A faint smell of ozone, the tinkling of raindrops on glass, and the vague sense of electrical excitement that made the tips of her fingers tingle. Focusing on it at all would bring the sensation into greater clarity. Before Kala’s eyes the ghostly trail of a jagged current made itself known. It was weak and seemed to have faded with time, a vein devoted to the electrified dragonshard known as Stormgem. The weak vein was hardly worth plundering but there was certainly the chance that it could lead to something much more powerful.

“That is a brilliant idea.” Caden, with dawning realization as to what Kala was doing, gave a grin. He took up a position that allowed him to more comfortably shield the young sorceress from any potential danger as Kala worked her magic. Once her examination was finished, upon her return to the realm of the physical, Kala’s senses still retained a vague awareness of the direction of the stormgem vein. It lay to the left of them and deeper into the Warrens before fading from her consciousness.

[Kala Leukos]

"She is rather brilliant," Kaus opined quietly when he was certain she wouldn't hear him, her mind wrapped up in a light trance. He smiled tightly, longsword held at the ready. When he wasn't training to fight alongside her, he was training to protect her. This was nothing new. Caden seemed to fit into their flow rather easily, which boded well for surviving this thing. Kaus was no coward, but it was a reality check to see other able-bodied young Avialae go limping back with their tails between their legs. He wished they would have soldiered on with them—strength in numbers, after all—but the one had needed more medical attention than they could provide, so if he lived to fight another day, he could attempt another Warren March.

"There is a lot going on here," Kala said when she came to, licking her lips and tasting something acrid, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. "I think if we go left here at this fork, we will eventually come to a stormgem vein. It probably won't be anything mythical this close to the city, but we just need three shards and we can be grown-ups, right?"

Her tight smile echoed Kaus', but they both looked to Caden for his approval. They might outnumber him and democracy might not be the most effective in a dangerous situation such as this, but the twins thought unanimity was worth a momentary pause. With Caden's blessing, they took the left, Kala pulling out her curved daggers and keeping her senses filtering through her rune in case it would give her any further guidance or warning, though she couldn't risk a trance again just yet, only if they got lost.

"Don't tell the blademaster of Starfall," she joked quietly, "but I will use these to carve dragonshards out of the walls if I have to."

[Paragon]

“Lead the way.” Caden inclined his head. He rolled his shoulders, stretching his wings briefly before tucking them in closer to his body. The passage ahead was tighter for one his size. He would have to be more mindful of his movements as they made their way forward. The journey into the Deeps was quieter than that initial encounter. The occasional scuttle of some underdark creature mixed with the deafening silence of the caverns. The path that guided Kala was one that eventually led them to an underground lake. Falling from the rocky wall ahead of them was a waterfall that churned and bubbled, creating white foam in the otherwise crystal clear water. Beneath the surface was the end of Kala’s path. Shimmering in the water was an electric blue outcropping of crystal that flared, sending ripples of electricity into the water around it. As one of the arcs of lightning current speared through the water, Caden carefully lifted his boot from one of the lingering pools.

“There is your stormgem.” He looked around and frowned. “I do not think that we will have so ample an opportunity to collect what you are looking for if we go elsewhere.”

Stepping forward, Caden picked up a nearby rock. He tossed it into the pool of water. As soon as it disturbed the surface, currents of electricity ricocheted through the water. He looked at Kala and Kaus.

“I have powers in Negation. They are not powerful, but I could shield myself and dive down to collect a shard for each of you. I have enough skill to sustain a concentrated shield on my own body but one that I place upon another…well…you would have to be very quick.” He sheathed his sword then rest his hand upon the pommel.

“Either of you wouldn’t happen to be a storm elementalist, would you?”

[Kala Leukos]

Kaus was used to following his sister, and with Caden's approval, she did take the lead. Kala wasn't the sort to demand a leadership role, but if she felt as though she were best suited to lead in a situation, she would at least put herself forward. Many people looked at her diminutive form and assumed she was incapable; they were wrong, but she wasn't vindictive about it. There were many reasons why she meditated so much.

Now, her size was an advantage. Even Kaus, who was taller than her, was small for an Avialae, but he did not appreciate the growing claustrophobic nature of the cavern. All the same, it was a Warren March and he would press on with the same fortitude as his sister. When they came to the wider room, they marveled at the beauty of it hiding in the depths. This was a dangerous beauty, though, surrounded by other dangers of the underdark.

Caden's experiment yielded predictably shocking responses, but he also had solutions.

"A valuable rune," Kala murmured, then looked to Kaus.

"We are both elementalists," he said, "and Air is my element." He looked around. "There's Water and Earth here... I could blend some storm magic, certainly." He considered the electrified lake. "I've never tried this precise use, but I think the elements would show enough deference that I could make a dive and come out unscathed. Mostly. And Kala's smaller, so if you can shield her as well, then we can all three get our own storm gems, and get out quickly."

"I might be able to..." she murmured thoughtfully, then looked up. "Kaus, do you remember stoneskin?"

"The armor... oh!" He looked thoughtful too.

"It's worth a shot," she said. "There are types of earth that shield from lightning and others that draw it. If I can make stoneskin... Then we can all protect ourselves and all be available to help anyone whose protection fails."

They both looked to Caden, then both began to channel their aether. Kaus was stronger; the Air loved him so quickly, probably because of what he was. But he had sort of plateaued and Kala was still slowly growing in power. While he began to crackle with a storm energy, she let her aether slide over her like a second skin, phasing it carefully so that it would move with her, but also such that it was earth enough to do its job. Of course, she was slower than Kaus, who was doffing his sword and his pack, and then his boots. He didn't want to slog back out of the Warrens sopping wet.

Kala followed suit, and then put all their things close to the edge of the pool in case anything came calling while they were diving for gems more precious than pearls. Then she looked to see how Caden's ward was coming along. She wondered if she would ever acquire that magic. If she couldn't be a winged warrior, at least she could be a powerful mage.

"Ready when you are," she said, and stepped toward the pool. Kaus kept pace with her.

[Paragon]

P A R A G O N

Caden observed the twins for a moment as they seemed to work in sync with one another. He gave a nod when he realized what they were doing. When it was clear that the two of them intended to dive down into the water themselves and brave the electrified field, he began pooling his aether together. Bringing up his hands he formed them into a circle as he furrowed his brow in concentration. The makings of a Negation anchor took shape as he conjured the protective magicks. As Kala and Kaus wove their elemental power, he instilled into the growing ward the ability to repel electricity as much as he could. Once both Kaus and Kala were ready, he stepped forward.

“I can grant a barrier to one of you as further protection. I will stay topside and make sure that nothing more dangerous comes crawling out of the darkness.” He looked to the twins. When one of them assented to his offering of protection, Caden would press the anchor to their chest carefully followed by a few simple gestures that began to spread the shielding over the expanse of their body. Once that was finished, he stepped back and drew his sword before crouching down and resting the flat of the blade over his thighs.

“Be swift. You can do this. I will keep watch.” With that, Caden nodded toward the pool so that the twins could dive in and retrieve the precious aether gems that would prove their worth.

The pool of water shimmered in its clarity but with that clarity also came the currents of electricity that arced through it. Clusters of storm gems glowed brightly beneath the water, occasionally sending up short bursts of energy that then dissipated. No other obvious threat seemed to present itself within the depths of the waters and it was clear that the pool extended deep enough to see even Caden’s considerable height completely submerged.

[Kala Leukos]

The twins nodded to Caden and dove in. He seemed a doughty enough warrior and trustworthy companion for this endeavor, and it set their minds at ease that he would be watching over them as they did the more complicated magical work. Kala could feel his warding juxtaposed with her elemental field and while the water prickled against her skin, it was firmly an extreme discomfort rather than a pain. Kaus seemed less fazed than she, perhaps because his wings pulled out the strength of their heritage in him. Her worry over him assuaged, she pulled out her belt knife and began to chisel carefully at the rock upon which a shard of lytirisyte grew.

Wishing she had thought to bring proper tools for this, she did the best she could. Extending the field of her elemental field around the dragonshard, she attempted to absorb any aether that might escape from any false move on her part, but hoped that chiseling into the rock rather than the crystalline structure itself would prevent such.

In different circumstances, she could have sliced through the stone like butter with elementalism, or created a bubble of air about her head to breathe, but she was not adept enough to maintain that many complicated workings at the same time. In ten years, a Warren March like this might not be a challenge at all, but for now, it required teamwork and ingenuity, and... air. She surfaced, gulped a few lungsful of air, and then dove again. She tried to chant a litany in her mind to keep her calm, but she could feel the storm gems' power leaching energy from the ward and the field around her. Slow and steady, but not too slowly—when finally she had one shard, she surfaced again. Kaus came up right after.

Not needing words, she knew he had one for himself and one for Caden, and she could also feel his growing suffering. They had to get back to the shore even as energies coming through were making their limbs occasionally seize.

"We got them," she managed through teeth chattering with both cold and the shocking power of the subterranean death trap. Kaus shook out his wings like a wet dog, at least aiming it as best he could back into the water so as not to wet their defender. There wasn't a lot of time, so Kala began pulling on the rest of her clothes over wet skin, getting her feet back into her boots and her dragonshard into her rucksack. Kaus did the same after handing Caden his spare storm gem. If the man quit their presence immediately, it wouldn't be unexpected, though he seemed the dependable sort.

"Right, let's get back to the Shokaze," Kaus said, platinum hair dark and slicked to his head. He grinned.

It certainly hadn't been simple, and there were dangers to face between them and their liege lord, but they had accomplished what they set out to do. They had only to bring the proof back to the surface.