Elias wasn’t a man accustomed to losing control. As far as he was concerned that was the old him, the dead him, the one who accepted such things as the inevitable because he had no choice. When he felt the stumbling knot of anxiety and angst creeping up from behind however, followed ominously by the soft hand on his shoulder nudging him aside, he knew it wouldn’t have mattered which ‘him’ it had been in that faithful moment, for all of them would have shared the same sickening feeling deep down within their collective guts.
It was a feeling that let him know that what was about to happen next was going to be well out of his hands.
For his part, Elias at least managed to catch Eva before she went tumbling backwards, her untrained balance lost after so unceremoniously bouncing off the crowbar she’d run head long into, not to mention the unsuspecting woman who’d been holding it as well. By that point however, it was already too late. The pale girl squirmed free of his feeble attempts to keep her upright, and was on the stranger before the Stryfer had time to blink. “Wha-” Was all he’d accomplished before the Nitrozian had unleashed her almost childlike fury upon the poor lady and had promptly fled the establishment, leaving all three of her victims quite petching perplexed as to what the hell had just happened!
Stunned, the soldier’s lips worked themselves into a tizzy, desperately trying to find the right words to explain what had transpired, perhaps even attempt to ‘fix it’ if he was feeling so bold, but in all honesty, it had taken him by as much surprise as it had Tine and the ill-fated customer who’d made the apparently inexcusable mistake of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Oi!” Snapped a familiar, rodent like accent from behind. Elias turned wearily to see the shop keep pointing an accusatory finger in his direction from behind the counter. “Aren’t you supposed to be Ebonstryfe! You can’t be letting shyke like that go on in my establishment. You’ve gotta-”
“Shut your damn mouth, you petching weasel!” The words spilled out of him with a venomous hiss, almost like instinct had taken control and moved his tongue before he knew what was happening. It felt like an impulse within him that raged at the thought of being addressed in such a manner, and by such man like Tine of all people. It demanded such nonsense be squashed before its absurdity spread any further, and so the Caldera obeyed, and he did so happily. “The last thing you want for this wretched hovel you call a shop is anymore of the Stryfe’s attention, I assure you.”
Tine stiffened, back going rigid as his face contorted itself into an even more obscene scowl than before. “Hey now, I pay my dues boy-”
“We both know you don’t pay nearly half of what you owe, old man, and if what she said was true about the Larks, then it seems you’ve been holding out on us more than I think you’d care to let on.” Elias shot an angry finger right back at the dubious merchant, exasperated by his sheer gall. “But maybe you’re right, maybe I should get a few of my brothers and come back to make a proper report. While were doing that, in the meantime I’m sure you’d appreciate a thorough inventory of your goods, just to make certain absolutely nothing is amiss in the wake of such a traumatizing incident.” That shut the petcher up right quick, but the mage continued glaring at him none the less, daring the fool to speak on the matter again, and waiting impatiently until Tine’s eyes were forced downwards to escape his own.
Demeaned and humble, as was his place.
“And you…”
The swordsman spun on the crowbar wielding stranger from before, the one whose odd charm and innocuous babbling about nothing in particular had left the scarred man actually smirking a little in dual parts bemusement and fascination. She’d seemed so enthralled with her reverie it had been almost infectious to say the least. Elias so rarely came across a smile as genuine as hers had been. He doubted she’d still be smiling now though.
His words may have carried over the harshness of tone he’d used on Tine, but when the young man offered his hand to her in hopes she’d accept his help in getting back to her feet, the wrath in both his features and his voice faded almost immediately, as if a switch had been flicked and a new Elias had taken the old’s place. “You must forgive the young mistress,” he pleaded apologetically, “She’s not accustomed to…” His eyes wandered the shop, as if in search of something in particular to help him fill the void his missing words were leaving painfully bare, but instead he simply ended up rolling his eyes, as if trying to encompass anything and everything. It seemed suitably apt.
Once the young woman was vertical again, he would bow, seeking her undeserved forgiveness once more. “My name is Elias Caldera madam, and if there is anything I can do to make amends, you need only say the words and see it done.” Prostrate as he was, it was no surprise to anyone who knew the nefarious bastard for what he truly was to realize that despite all his groveling and excuses, his mind was aflame with his true and dark intentions. He hoped to get her alone, to seize upon her thoughts with his hypnotic influence and corrupt this entire ordeal within her memories until ideally, all she could recall was that she’d taken a stumble all of a sudden, no reason or rhyme behind it whatsoever. That, and she’d found a peculiarly new-found resurgence of devotion to her god and his loyal servants as well, just for good measure. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of time anymore. Evarista, for all her appearances of being a scrawny little whelp, had managed to race off at such an alarming speed the Ravokian was certain the daft girl was already hopelessly lost amidst the plaza’s many alien distractions. He needed to give chase and guide her back to the safety of her mansion lest he face the judgement of her kinsman he so tirelessly worked to impress.
“You need only mention my name at the Vitrax and you’ll find me, I promise.” He continued, feet now slowly backing him away and towards the door. Before he’d managed to reach it however, a gloved hand slapped against one of the shelves with a start, revealing a number of coins left in its startling wake. “See to it this citizen she given whatever she desires!” He barked at the shopkeep, who in turned muttered something under his breath no doubt unrepeatable in pleasant company.
“Until then,” He nodded to the curious woman one final time, then disappeared out the door without another word.
Elias had hoped he could have a moment to inspire his ward after they’d left with a few choice words of admiration, like; how power suited her, or how’d she’d been most impressive back there, and how her family would no doubt be proud, then not so subtly suggest they go get a drink as a reward. Now, instead of all that, he was frantically searching for her aura among a churning throng of thousands, dashing through alleyways and across canals in a hasty attempt to catch her before she ran into any more trouble -or crowbars- than she already had.
Oh, this damn girl… The stryfer groaned as he swerved down another street. There was so much potential there waiting to be unlocked it was obvious why the powers to be had taken such a keen interest. Yet, for all her untapped capabilities, there were so many roadblocks that continued to crop up one after the other that Elias wasn’t certain anymore if he, nor ever the Black Sun, could ever truly overcome them all.
There was one thing Elias now knew for certain however. Evarista Nitrozian was going to be the death of someone soon, all her chaperone felt he could do now was to just make sure was that someone wasn’t him.