88th of Fall, 513 AV
Anna walked through the rapidly darkening corridors of the Quarters, her grey eyes distant and her expression thoughtful. Her hair was pulled back into its normal tight ponytail and her weathered ragged clothing gave her a rather tired and weary appearance. The light dark circles ringing her eyes spoke of lack of sleep, were it not for the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blinking of her eyes one might think her a Nuit. Honestly, if Uldr himself appeared before her and offered to make her undead she might have accepted if it would take away the weariness in her body and the hunger in her belly. Besides, Daren would have a much more difficulty murdering what was already dead.
I'll need to pray for forgiveness from Rhysol for that little thought. Perhaps even make a sacrifice. She admonished herself mentally.
So far she was finding that the solution to the problem that was Daren Marlow was proving to be most elusive, he knew everything about her and while she knew enough about him to assess his threat she didn't know enough to actually kill him. Having to look over her shoulder for the other hypnotist, Maduro, was also tiring. They both needed to be eliminated, the latter was the easier of the two but the former could easily destroy her.
Her plan for dealing with Maduro was actually rather simple, once she acquired the rank of wizard she'd arrange a little 'chat' with the fool in the Dungeons to discuss the favor he owed. From there she'd break him utterly or kill him outright, but it needed to be before he tried to attain apprenticeship on the 40th of next season. Her rank would likely be awarded to her on the 30th, which left her ten days to deal with him. Uldr wouldn't be able to protect him forever.
Anna pushed thoughts of vengeance from her mind and rounded the next corner, deciding to give Rhysol his nightly prayer before getting some shut eye. Tomorrow she intended to start her research in glyphed weapons development, looking beyond simple scrolls and attempting a few more complex designs. She figured that combining the two disciplines of reimancy and glyphing would help better her worth in the eyes of Sahova. Perhaps even to the point of getting a small lab... that was the hope anyway.
The tall woman rounded the doorway into her room and was promptly stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. Her grey eyes widened in shock, all weariness vanished from her body as another feeling set in: fear. Cold, gut wrenching, primal fear.
The small room she called her own had been violated by another's touch. Her belongings were tossed carelessly about the floor, the chamber pot was dented from an impact against the wall, and her mat was torn to shreds. The thing that most caught her attention was the broken stone on the floor, the exact stone were her notes had been hidden under.
The apprentice nearly tripped over herself to reach the broken stones, touching them with shaking hands. She dared to peer into the hole where her link to her memories were held; it was empty.
No. No! She thought, staring blankly at the hole as if helpless.
Those notes had been her defense against Daren, without them she was vulnerable and weak. He could wipe her memories clean and she'd never know. They had possessed everything, her plans, Amaryllis' teachings, the information she'd gathered, all of it and more. It was all gone.
The shaking hand gripping one of the rocks tightened around it, her fearful grey eyes flashing in the purest rage ever seen within the Chaon. She turned and violently hurled the offending stone out of her room, roaring in rage and hatred in equal measure. The act wasn't nearly enough, she wanted to destroy everything around her with power of the elements. She wanted to rip the stones from the Quarters and crush everyone still inside. She wanted to kill any and all those that conspired against her and bathe in their vital fluids.
Her breathing was heavy but slowly her rational side kicked in, very slowly. She looked down at her right hand, feeling a slight warmth in her palms. Res of the purest crimson color pooled in a tiny out in her palm, showing just how very close she had been in giving into the insane desires. Anna rubbed her temples, she needed to calm down and think. Murder could come later, after she headed straight to the Palsa Hydrasa and made Amaryllis very aware of the current development. The apprentice hated having to crawl to the Embalmer now, but right now she was the only one close enough to her to be of any assistance in this situation. Anna knew that she also needed to hide new notes in a much safer location, much, much safer.
Her thoughts inevitably turned to who the petch was responsible for- for this affront. There were several prospects, a few enemies that might have tried to move against her. The most obvious was Daren, though how he would have learned of the location was beyond her knowledge. Powerful though he was, Amaryllis' techniques helped defend against his influence. So if not him then who?
Maduro was thrown out as a possibility immediately, the fool was too stupid and wrapped up in himself to find his own ass with a map and a compass. Anna was certain that any move he made against her would be painfully amateurish and likely would involve another attempted murder. No, he was an enemy but a weak and powerless one.
Then who the petch could it have been? Who else knew her secret?
Well, Amaryllis knew but why would she bother to try something like this? Anna was her instrument in killing Daren, besides Anna was certain that if the Embalmer had wanted her dead she could easily arranged it a long time ago. Perhaps it was some unseen enemy, one that had been hiding until now to strike out at her.
The apprentice shook her head, dispelling the thoughts for now. The Palsa Hydrasa, that was her safe place and likely where she could get more answers. The shaken woman started out of her room, intent on getting to the bottom of this one way or the other.
Anna walked through the rapidly darkening corridors of the Quarters, her grey eyes distant and her expression thoughtful. Her hair was pulled back into its normal tight ponytail and her weathered ragged clothing gave her a rather tired and weary appearance. The light dark circles ringing her eyes spoke of lack of sleep, were it not for the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blinking of her eyes one might think her a Nuit. Honestly, if Uldr himself appeared before her and offered to make her undead she might have accepted if it would take away the weariness in her body and the hunger in her belly. Besides, Daren would have a much more difficulty murdering what was already dead.
I'll need to pray for forgiveness from Rhysol for that little thought. Perhaps even make a sacrifice. She admonished herself mentally.
So far she was finding that the solution to the problem that was Daren Marlow was proving to be most elusive, he knew everything about her and while she knew enough about him to assess his threat she didn't know enough to actually kill him. Having to look over her shoulder for the other hypnotist, Maduro, was also tiring. They both needed to be eliminated, the latter was the easier of the two but the former could easily destroy her.
Her plan for dealing with Maduro was actually rather simple, once she acquired the rank of wizard she'd arrange a little 'chat' with the fool in the Dungeons to discuss the favor he owed. From there she'd break him utterly or kill him outright, but it needed to be before he tried to attain apprenticeship on the 40th of next season. Her rank would likely be awarded to her on the 30th, which left her ten days to deal with him. Uldr wouldn't be able to protect him forever.
Anna pushed thoughts of vengeance from her mind and rounded the next corner, deciding to give Rhysol his nightly prayer before getting some shut eye. Tomorrow she intended to start her research in glyphed weapons development, looking beyond simple scrolls and attempting a few more complex designs. She figured that combining the two disciplines of reimancy and glyphing would help better her worth in the eyes of Sahova. Perhaps even to the point of getting a small lab... that was the hope anyway.
The tall woman rounded the doorway into her room and was promptly stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. Her grey eyes widened in shock, all weariness vanished from her body as another feeling set in: fear. Cold, gut wrenching, primal fear.
The small room she called her own had been violated by another's touch. Her belongings were tossed carelessly about the floor, the chamber pot was dented from an impact against the wall, and her mat was torn to shreds. The thing that most caught her attention was the broken stone on the floor, the exact stone were her notes had been hidden under.
The apprentice nearly tripped over herself to reach the broken stones, touching them with shaking hands. She dared to peer into the hole where her link to her memories were held; it was empty.
No. No! She thought, staring blankly at the hole as if helpless.
Those notes had been her defense against Daren, without them she was vulnerable and weak. He could wipe her memories clean and she'd never know. They had possessed everything, her plans, Amaryllis' teachings, the information she'd gathered, all of it and more. It was all gone.
The shaking hand gripping one of the rocks tightened around it, her fearful grey eyes flashing in the purest rage ever seen within the Chaon. She turned and violently hurled the offending stone out of her room, roaring in rage and hatred in equal measure. The act wasn't nearly enough, she wanted to destroy everything around her with power of the elements. She wanted to rip the stones from the Quarters and crush everyone still inside. She wanted to kill any and all those that conspired against her and bathe in their vital fluids.
Her breathing was heavy but slowly her rational side kicked in, very slowly. She looked down at her right hand, feeling a slight warmth in her palms. Res of the purest crimson color pooled in a tiny out in her palm, showing just how very close she had been in giving into the insane desires. Anna rubbed her temples, she needed to calm down and think. Murder could come later, after she headed straight to the Palsa Hydrasa and made Amaryllis very aware of the current development. The apprentice hated having to crawl to the Embalmer now, but right now she was the only one close enough to her to be of any assistance in this situation. Anna knew that she also needed to hide new notes in a much safer location, much, much safer.
Her thoughts inevitably turned to who the petch was responsible for- for this affront. There were several prospects, a few enemies that might have tried to move against her. The most obvious was Daren, though how he would have learned of the location was beyond her knowledge. Powerful though he was, Amaryllis' techniques helped defend against his influence. So if not him then who?
Maduro was thrown out as a possibility immediately, the fool was too stupid and wrapped up in himself to find his own ass with a map and a compass. Anna was certain that any move he made against her would be painfully amateurish and likely would involve another attempted murder. No, he was an enemy but a weak and powerless one.
Then who the petch could it have been? Who else knew her secret?
Well, Amaryllis knew but why would she bother to try something like this? Anna was her instrument in killing Daren, besides Anna was certain that if the Embalmer had wanted her dead she could easily arranged it a long time ago. Perhaps it was some unseen enemy, one that had been hiding until now to strike out at her.
The apprentice shook her head, dispelling the thoughts for now. The Palsa Hydrasa, that was her safe place and likely where she could get more answers. The shaken woman started out of her room, intent on getting to the bottom of this one way or the other.
