No Gift of Zulrav [Team Sama'el]

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

1st Spring, 512 A.V. As soon as Sama'el was done singing up the sun, the group departed toward Avanthal. Others might have bemoaned the constant travel, but these were Drykas, and wandering was in their blood. Snow and mountains, not so much, but they lived in interesting times, which sometimes called for drastic measures. He rode at their head with his keen eyes, his gift from Syna, and all. The Web was useless here, trailing back behind them but not before them, not until they camped somewhere more than a night and he deigned to create an Origin, which would allow the Web to spread a bit from that point. But they had already crossed that threshold. Horse remembered the snow, even blended in with his silvery hide. Sama'el maintained that there was some Frostmarch in his lineage; not enough to make him overly muscled, but he didn't seem to mind a bit of snow the way an ordinary Windrunner might. Hodei rode the skies above them, tied to him via a silvery cord of Web. This had made her easier to train, for she always came back to him. With that bond there, he imagined she would only fly away permanently if she was grossly mistreated, and he wouldn't do that to the beautiful young kestrel. But one of these days he was going to follow the Web up to her heights and see the world as she saw it, though he had a taste of that when invoking the Inavalti, too. If the weather stayed this nice -- cold, but clear -- they would reach Avanthal in perhaps thirteen days. He was glad of this, because as their goal came into the realm of near possibility, he wanted to be there, to rescue Ragnor's family, and return them to the guardian spirit of the Sanctuary. Sama'el the Hero. He would enjoy seeing Issima's admiration in her eyes. Also, he wanted to be home when she was ready to give birth-- His thoughts were interrupted by the scream of a raptor. She screamed sometimes, that harsh, beautiful call of the wild, but this was -- if possible -- frightened. With a sharp glance to Ronan that spoke volumes, his body slumped as he rocketed out of it, and Horse, well used to this, paused, careful to keep Sama'el's body from falling. Sama'el sped into the sky, testing his little theory sooner than expected. Hodei's horizon spread so much farther than their own with her altitude and keen vision. From the west came a wall of... djed? He was not a sage, and he could not name this, but he knew it was a threat. And it was coming fast. Hodei could see him somehow, and he thought he saw something like respect for the landbound thing that was now keeping pace with her through the sky. But he fell like a stone, stooped like she did upon prey, only to slam back into his body with painful force, the old tingles stabbing him like a thousand knives. "STORM!" he gasped. "Cover!" And though he was clearly attempting to recover himself by sheer force of will, Horse reacted to some invisible signals and wheeled about and bolt toward the ridge overlooking the snowy meadow over which they rode. Yet again, they had to find a cave.

[Ronan]

They had been travelling for a long while now. Ronan would feel relief when they reached civilisation again. Finding caves was becoming rather irksome, and sometimes in the small hours, he despised the closeness. He was not even used to sharing a tent in Endrykas, after all.

Ronan was riding near Sama'el when the raptor shrieked. It was splitting. Otherwordly. He felt a tingle down his back, for no apparent reason. Sam shot him a glance, before his body slumped somewhat, clearly entering the Web to find out what was going on.

They all came to a stop momentarily, Tairell padding softly in the snow. He stroked her mane, trying to calm her. The bird's cry had left panic in her dark eyes.

When Sama'el came to, his voice was stark and choked. A storm? They had to seek cover. Something about his reaction told Ronan this was not merely a thundercloud brewing on the horizon.

"What... what's happening?"

He felt odd. Something writhed around him. Something big was coming, he became sure of it. And in panic, he turned Tairell round. Sam and Horse bolted for the ridge, and so Ronan steered to try and follow with the others. Sama'el didn't get scared for no reason.

There was a low rumbling on the horizon.

The destroyer was coming.

[Denen Sunsinger]

OOCSorry for absence, guys! Finals, moving, etc. All settled in now! Denen had been uneasy all morning, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what was the matter. Perhaps it was how edgy Durno had been. He shifted in his yvas, watching as Sam rode ahead. His teeth set in the inside of his lower lip, breaking the tender flesh there. He kept back near Sandar, who had been complaining of a headache. He'd made her skullcap tea that morning, but it hadn't seemed to quite hit it soon enough. She rode behind him now, her head on his thin shoulder, with her Strider trailing behind them. While he watched Sam, Durno gently patted Sandar's arm, trying to comfort her. He could feel her signing against his spine, and tried not to smirk at the familiarity of such a gesture. “Den, how much longer until we camp?” Denen was about to answer when the air around him grew suddenly thick, and the hair on his arms and at the nape of his neck stood rigid. He didn't have to hear Sam to understand the cue. The moment Horse spun about, Durno followed, with little direction from his thin rider. Sandar clutched close to her uncle, and Denen grit his teeth together as the djed—something he was only recently becoming acquainted with in his own body—plunged toward the earth. Even beyond the Cyphrus Plains, Striders were quick, and as he leaned close to Durno's neck now, the stallion shredded through the snow. “Hold close to me,” Durno signed against Sandar's arm. His own heart hammered in his chest, but he kept his wits about him. He could feel his niece's panic in how tightly she clutched to him now. It would do her no good to fret and worry.

[Leto Sunsinger]

OOCSorry for my absense as well, school had to take precedence for a few weeks

As Sama'el screamed out the words "Storm" and "Cover", Leto didn't necessarily understand what he meant at first, and then the low rumbling could be heard upon the horizon. "What.. what is that?!" asked Leto, and even in all his years of studying the mysteries, he hadn't even imagined that anything could act in this fashion, and cause a storm of this magnitude, other than possibly a master Reimancer. It was almost amazing to the elder drykas, but he knew that he needed to get out of it, so he urged Arias forward and Arias had no qualms in following Sama'el, Ronan, and Denen's leads. Following Denen and his niece closely, he turned his head to look back towards the storm that was approaching. "I hope that didn't hit Cyphrus..." he thought, as he and Arias made their way forwards behind Sama'el's group, trying to keep up with the rest of them, and keeping his eyes out for a cave, or anything that they might be able to take shelter within.

If this storm his their group, it was sure to scatter then, and many thoughts raced upon Leto's mind as he made his way after the rest of the group. Hoping that he wouldn't get caught within the storm, and nothing bad would happen to any of them, he kept the pouch of glyphs close at hand in case he needed to be quick to heal any injuries that might be caused from the panic that was being set forth by the clouds in the distance...

[Ronan]

Ronan followed Sama'el closely, his heart pounding. The sky roared and blackened. This was no normal bout of thunder or lightning, nor a large rain storm. He could feel it in the air. Crackling. Laughing. Something terrible was closing in on them. The others hurried behind him too.

They dashed for a ridge, and he kept his feet against Tairell firmly, willing her to move quickly. This was no time to stall. As the ridge neared, his eyes flitted about the rock. He knew that Sama'el was doing the same. They had to find somewhere. Anywhere.

The rock rose like a wave, and there were hollows beneath. But most were shallow, not enough room for all of them and especially not the horses. He began to move sideways a little, expanding his view down the ridge.

He turned to Sam desperately, hoping him, or one of the others had spotted a cave they could seek sanctuary in.

Behind, the dark storm rumbled.