Ascension - (Alarian Warriors)

Vincent lightly shook Aveyon awake; she’d been sleeping on the floor with him again. She always drifted off on the bed but ended up curled up next to him by morning. He had been given a futon like arrangement by the elves, it made for a comfortable night on the floor, and he was thankful for it.

He concluded Aveyon must have thought the same, as she had once again crawled under his blankets at some ungodly hour of the night. He didn’t mind, it was practically normal now. It felt almost foreign not to have her by his side when he woke.

“Princess, come on. Time to get up.” He lightly shook her again.

He was answered by having a pillow smacked into his face. She groaned, clearly not wanting to get up. Pushing the puffy square to the side he sighed. She was a hassle to get up in the morning. He didn’t blame her though; they barely had enough time for a decent night’s sleep during their training.

“You’ll miss your debut of your magical mind powers.” He teased.

“It is spirit wielding!” She frustratingly responded in a tired tone.

He cackled, mornings like this were his favorite part of the day. A side of her that she only ever showed to him. He cherished every moment of it.

“Your amusement and delight is giving me a headache.” She responded.

“Well get up, then I’ll stop being amused wont I?” He swiftly removed the blankets revealing a well slept Aveyon in a short nightgown.

She groaned again sitting up, rubbing her eyes she looked to him with a tired expression. “They let us sleep in today to get enough rest for the mission.”

“In which you have done, it’s time to get up now. Or would you rather be the last to the gates?” He pulled his singlet off over his head, before turning to rummage through his bags for a fresh set of clothes.

She sighed, finally willing herself to her feet. She followed suit and also got dressed, putting on her battle-ready leathers she had been training in and grabbed a hooded coat that was framed with fur. It was colder outside now, only a matter of time before the snow would fall. She then brushed and braided her hair, tying it at the end, in no time at all she was ready.

Together they made their way to meet the group they were set to travel with. They were headed out with several well-trained elves from the city. Vincent was in much the same boat as she was, taking orders from a much more experienced warrior. Nether minded, they were still training after all.

Once they had received the rundown of the mission, they, along with the three male elves, Thesies, Krytros and Tiareece, mounted horses and guided them outside the city. They were headed to a village on the outskirts of the forest that surrounded the hidden elven city.

Aveyon looked back at the beautiful city; she hadn’t left it for how many moons? But this wasn’t goodbye, she still had much to learn. However, she couldn’t deny the feeling of excitement she had for this coming adventure. What could go wrong?

“It is odd to see you receive orders, instead of giving them.” Aveyon whispered, turning her attention back to the troop.

Her horse totted next to Vincent’s. She pulled up the hood making sure to cover her features as they descended into the thick of the forest. She had been told to bring a cloak to conceal her identity for this mission. It was in her best interest that Ashera not know she were out of the city, and with only four warriors to protect her. It was risky taking her at all, but she was encouraged to come along, needing the real combat situation to better understand her spirit abilities in the heat of battle.

“The elves have much more experience, it’s true I was the head of the sanctuary’s defenses, but not here. Here I’m just another soldier in training.” He responded with a slight smile. “Like you.”

They continued riding in silence for a time until smoke could be seen on the horizon. Aveyon’s heart sank, she knew it was coming from the direction of the village they were headed for. Without a word, the five kicked their heels into the horses sending them into a gallop, they made haste for the small town, praying they weren’t too late.

They burst through the tree line only to be greeted with complete and utter chaos. Homes were alight, villagers were screaming, children were wondering lost and sobering for their parents.

The five got to work quickly getting people out of the burning buildings and moving the children to a safer location. Saving those they could, but it was already too late for so many. Charred smoldering bodies lined the streets, a foul smell in the air, but still they pushed through, smashing through fallen roofs, and working to free those that were trapped within burning homes.

Aveyon coughed as the smoke was beginning to overpower her senses. The elves worked tirelessly, wielding essence infused with air and water to try to put out the flames. It was to no avail; the fires were too widespread. She ran to Vincent; he had just pulled some more people from a burning building.

“What in the world happened here!?” she exclaimed as she helped hold the semi unconscious person upright.

“I have no idea; this is far worse than we thought.” He shook his head. “We’ve had reports of minor incidents, but this... this is a massacre.”

She could feel the guilt rising in him, he felt like they should have been here earlier. Her heart clenched at the sorrow in him, his want and need to have saved these people seeping into her.

“Vincent, it is not your fault. We will find the source; we will stop it.” She tried to sooth him, but honestly it didn’t help.

Putting the person down away from the burning houses, a high-pitched scream pierced through the air. Aveyon and Vincent attention snapping to the sound before glancing at each other. They then bolted toward the anguished cry. Rounding a corner, while avoiding flaming debris they were confronted with a gruesome sight.

A large, furred beast stood in the center of the path, burning buildings looming down around it. It was a hellish scene, something of nightmares. It stood on its hind legs, making it appear larger than it was. It had huge animistic like hands with elongated fingers that were tipped with sharp claws. Blood coated and dripped from its fur; a headless twitching body of a women clenched in its grip. The beast turned to face them, bone crunching sounds escaping its mouth as it chewed on something, she could only assume was the women’s missing head.

Aveyon felt sick, her hands flew to her mouth as she felt the bail rising in her throat. She held it down as best as she could, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end as her mind screamed at her to run. It was too much; she had forgotten what the world was like outside of the safety of the city.

Forcing her mind to focus, she wasn’t completely powerless anymore. She tried to reach for the animal’s mind. She raised her hand, not that she needed to, but it made reaching for a mind that was further away easier. She attempted to take control of the huge wolf like beast. She hissed, cringing as she was blocked by an extremely powerful force. She knew at once, it was familiar, Ashera had something to do with this. It was as they had expected, but they had been too late to save the village. How had reports of missing villagers and slain animals turned into this?

“I cannot get through like this, I need to get closer, or remove what is blocking me. The creature, it most likely has shards embedded in its body somewhere.” She concluded, before adding. “We need to get them out, or I need to lay hands on it.”

Vincent nodded. The three elf warriors weren’t far behind, the same shocked expression showing on their faces that had surely been on theirs only a moment ago. The men moved in as one unit, formulated and well-coordinated.

The beast flung its meal at his attackers, but the elves and Vincent simply twisted out of the way, not slowing down. They surrounded the creature from all sides and attacked with weapons drawn.

The beast, with its concentration locked on the elf in front of him, lunged forward. It roared, mushed body parts spraying his attacker, taking the elf by surprise.

Thankfully Vincent was at the beast’s rear, he plunged his sword into flesh, making sure to not hit anything vital. If they had learnt anything during the last couple of months, it was that these creatures were not willingly committing these atrocities. They were forced against their will.

However, the creature didn’t even flinch. It instead looked over its shoulder, bared its fangs, and with other worldly strength, jerked its shoulders to one side.

Vincent, who was still holding onto his sword, was thrown off with great force. He smashed into a nearby burning house and disappeared.

Aveyon resisted the urge to run to him, she could feel that the impact had hurt, but he was okay. Turning her attention to the beast she concentrated on finding the shards. Maybe she could be of more help than the warriors just poking at it, while trying to find them. The shards possessed ichor after all, if she was able to sense and control the ichor in her blood, she would be able to sense the shards, in theory.

Her eyes widened as she found what she was looking for. She reached for the three elves, no longer having to wait for people to let her through the barriers of their minds. She was powerful enough to slip in and out without resistance from those that did not possessive a means of spirit wielding.

Remove the shards from the creature’s right shoulder, left hip and right thigh. She instructed not as a command; she didn’t like forcing people to do things against their will. She simply portrayed a message to them, then let go of their minds.

It took mere seconds for the elves to attack and slice out the pieces of flesh that contained the shards. The beast fell to its knees as hunks of meat along with flesh blood splatted to the ground. Aveyon acted quickly, she uncorked the veil at her hip imbuing her essence into the liquid she merged earth with her blood and shot it toward the beast. The ooze like substance she had created latched on and anchored the beast wrists to the ground like shackles.

Aveyon took the opportunity to reach out, invading its chaotic mind. Its head flew back as its body could no longer move; she had forced a state of stillness, the restraints a precautionary measure. She hated the feeling of being in control of someone else. It was foreign, unsettling, and repulsive. However, she pushed through her sickened feelings as she needed its stillness.

It was frantic with rage and an uncontrollable hunger. It was best to have it motionless as she worked. She weaved her essence through its mind to find the presence that was hidden within the scattered chaos.

Inside the deepest parts of its mind was pitch black. She could hear a soft howling cry as she walked the empty nothingness, having left her body behind completely. She would save this beast; she would free it from Ashera’s control. This was her purpose.