Completed All I Ever Wanted

[Orion Michaels]

50th Day of Spring, 514 AV
Throughout the City
15th Bell

NoteRad's permission given

The thwacking of wooden blades and shields rang out throughout the training grounds as squires and knights alike honed their skills in combat. Countless quantities of blood, sweat, and tears had been shed on the rooftop practice area. Orion knew this quite well, having contributed more than his fair share to the count over the previous year. For the elder squire, the particular day had been no exception.

"Why did I bother teaching you how to use that thing, Michaels?"

Miriam Antinous, Syliran Knights Weaponmaster. The youngest to ever attain such a prestigious rank. When it came to daggers and spears, she had no equal. Amongst the weaponmasters she was an excellent teacher as well, spending much of her time working with younger squires. An exception to the norm was made for the blue eyed man, Orion Michaels. Intrigued by his rapid growth, Miriam had taken to training him in her ways of warfare. As quickly as he had picked up the sword and shield, the spear was not following suit.

"Don't worry, Miriam, I've got this." Orion by no means had anything under control. When he'd picked the longsword, he had no bad habits to overcome. With a broadsword in hand, he was able to take what he knew about his primary blade and apply it to the cavalry weapon. When it came to the spear, however, Orion had no idea what he was doing. Beyond 'stick them with the pointy end', the squire was at a loss. Spar after spar with Miriam had left him in awe of how agile she was with her polearm. She maneuvered, deflected, and slapped away at any attacks thrown her way, displaying an ease of movement unlike anything Orion had been witness to. Even Dinah, Captain Knight, had little chance against her might.

Pretty good for a scrawny twenty some year old.

Orion's digits wrapped around the spear, borrowed from the various training weapons available for use. His grip was too high, one hand about two thirds up the shaft, the other a third from the base. If he'd taken time to examine it, he'd have realized that this choked up grip was limiting the natural advantage of the spear; its reach.

Miriam would show him just how fatal his error could be.

The tips of the spears were filed down to be flat, preventing any serious injury in training. Nasty bruises and cuts, however were the norm. The squire had a few already, but the weaponmaster, while covered in dirt, was unscathed. Orion took a few steps towards her, lowering the tip of the spear in order to drive it at her body. His arms extended fully, awkwardly leaving a large amount of the spear wagging wildly behind him. Even in the small, straightforward attack, the thrust was uneven, inaccurate. Miram parried his blow with the side of her own weapon, wood hitting wood as she thrust through his own stab, using her correct form to display his mistake. The flattened tip rested against his throat, leaving the squire speechless.

"You didn't remember a single lesson, did you-"

"Orion!"

A moment of confusion crawled across the weaponmaster's face as a voice very different than her own said the name she was about to speak. Spinning around, the brunette woman sought out the soul who would dare to interrupt her training.

Orion raised an eyebrow as Dinah made her way purposefully towards him, plated boots clanking loudly against the stone floor. She was in a hurry, almost panicked in her expression. "Sera Lorene," Miriam began, resting her spear against her shoulder, "I'm not finished with Orion's training. If you could forgive me, I have a lot more work to do."

Dinah bowed her head in apology as she came to a stop by Orion. "I beg your pardon, Weaponmaster. A situation of the utmost urgency has arisen. I require Orion's presence. By your leave."

As suddenly as she'd arrived, the redheaded woman was leaving, dragging her protege behind her.

"Dinah?" Orion jerked his sleeve free of her as he tossed the spear he'd been carrying off to the side. "What's going on? Talk to me."

Green eyes briefly flashed back at the former doctor, uncertainty apparent in her gaze. "Emily has gone missing and there's a note..for your eyes only."

Orion's heart jumped up into his throat, his eyes widening in shock. Missing? His tongue failed him, leaving the squire able to simply follow his patron, dumbfounded. She'd gone missing before, running off due to her inquisitive spirit. He'd been worried enough dealing with that, but there was a note this time. Presumably people would have thought it to be a 'running away from home' letter, as kids were sometimes known to do. The only problem: Emily didn't know how to write.

Silently squire and patron made their way to residence where his daughter had been staying. Only a few dozen days before had she been taken in by one of the Brock family, easing the burden of caring for the young girl in exchange for being able to groom her for future knighthood. As far as Orion had been able to tell, Emily had loved it there. She had purpose, she had children her age to play with, and she wasn't stuck with the same old nanny every day, season after season.

How had she gone missing? There were so many Brocks in the city, not even mentioning the absurd number of knights patrolling the citadel. It seemed entirely impossible that she could have been taken, but Orion couldn't think of any other explanation. He wanted to be angry, if it were so. He wanted to tear into the foster parents, ask how they could let such a thing happen. Yet all he could do was wordlessly enter the apartment where his smiling child had been playing just the day before.

A knight whom Orion didn't recognize placed a note in his hands almost as soon as he entered the room, gruff voice quietly coming forth. "It's glyphed. Only to be read by you, or it'll be destroyed." Dazed, Orion unfolded the paper and began to read.

[Radiant]

The apartment where Emily lived was clean, no signs of violence or disturbance at all, it was as if the girl disappeared into thin air or was plucked when she was outside the abode. The only thing different was the appearance of the Glyphed scroll, a particularly strong one that would only react when touched by one named "Orion Michaels".

As Orion took the paper, he could feel his very mind hitched a bizarre scene played in his head, overriding his vision, he could see nothing but black, pure black, but then... in the midst of this Void-like vision, a strewn of letter, seemed to be written in crimson ink, slowly wrote itself in front of him "Aylasa Caves, Tonight. Come alone, she lives. Tell Knights, she dies." Only Orion saw this vision, the scroll was empty, note a word on it, The Knights round him couldn't see anything and gave Orion worried looks, one of them gently shook his body, "Orion, Squire Orion, what happened?" As the man must looked like he was hypnotized for a couple of ticks.

[Orion Michaels]

oocI covered a lot of ground here, just didn't want to have you deal with a lot of menial things. Let me know if I made too much happen and I'll edit.

Orion’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head as the letters spelled out in his mind. His exposure to magic was almost nil; those powers were unknown to him. Yet true as he was standing there, the words, and more importantly, the threat made themselves known. Who would do such a thing? he wondered to himself. He couldn’t understand what would possess someone to take Emily. The child was innocent, and yet she had been made victim in a situation which she had no part in. What made it even worse was that he’d only recently placed her in the hands of a powerful knight and still she was taken. It had to be impossible, but he couldn’t escape the reality of what had occurred.
 
He didn’t reply initially as the inquiries and shaking began. What did they really care about it? It was, after all, their fault she was gone. Orion wasn’t sure who or what the writing was from, and he didn’t know if the unknown force would actually bring harm to his daughter if he were to inform the knights. He wasn’t strong enough to do anything on his own, was he?
 
It was the knights who had prevented her kidnapping in the first place.
 
”It’s nothing,” he lied, holding up the blank page for all to see. ”It would appear that whoever decided to take Emily out from beneath your noses didn’t think to write anything on the inside of this note.” His lip furled into a snarl as he crumpled up the paper and threw it into the middle of the room. ”Thanks for your consideration.” He quickly turned on his heels and exited the room without a word more. His mind was racing, and he felt like screaming. The squire’s vision almost blurred as he stumbled away from the apartment, his rage barely contained.
 
He felt stupid. He felt lost. He felt betrayed.
 
Emily was gone, but he would get her back. Without the knights help, if that’s how it had to be. It would only prove to him his own capability when he returned her to safety. A long day sat ahead of him, one of preparation and one of deceit. He had to make use of the knights, or rather their resources, if he was to do this successfully, and that would mean lies.

-------------------------

The squire spent the rest of the day gathering up his gear with the time he could find between bouts of furious pacing around his dorm room. He was thankful that he had his suitemates seemed to be on different schedules. That allowed his the freedom to seethe in privacy, and more importantly, to plan without interruption.

”Do I storm in, filling the place with arrows?” He voiced his inquiry to the empty room, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Blue eyes fell upon the mess of gear he'd gathered, both a combination of his own and that borrowed from the knights. Rations, as though he was going to be more than a few bells form from the city. Medical equipment. Swords. Bow and arrow. Bedroll. Tent. More rations. To the observer, it would appear that Orion was moving into the wilderness, not staging a foolish rescue of his daughter from the clutches of...

"Of what? Of who?" Slender fingers made their way through the fine hairs atop his head, giving way like tall grass in the wind as he struggled with a surge of barely contained emotion. He was going to lose his mind if he didn't act, and it was still several bells until nightfall.

The squire set about organizing his equipment better, trying to think rationally on what he would actually need. It wasn't so far that he needed a tent and bedroll, so he would leave them behind. Longsword and broadsword, as well as a shield. He didn't wish to be hampered by the heavy plate mail, so he'd don his personal leather armor he'd purchased a few years back. It had seen nearly no wear, outside of absorbing a few blows from his friend Tourmal's hammer. It would serve him nicely. Shield. Bow and arrow. Food and water, if he found an appetite. Medical kits, for him, and if the worst happened, for Emily.

Yet all the supplies in the world would do him no good if he couldn't get them there. For that he needed a horse, and he didn't own one. Borrowing from the knights was always what he did in the past, but it was for knight related work, and with Dinah's blessing. He would have to obtain one, and buying one was out of the question if he could avoid it.

With he equipment now neatly organized, the squire set off to the stables to see about using a horse for his own little crusade.

When he arrived at the Windmount Stables, he sought out at the first stablehand he could find. "Pardon me," he said, calling out to the worker. "I'm Orion Michaels, squire to Captain Knight Dinah Lorene. I have a mission outside of the walls and require a horse." If it had been a less serious situation, Orion would have been able to chuckle at his own words. It was his favorite way to lie, a lie of omission. He didn't feel bad about it, but it was usually effective. State two seemingly related things that aren't actually tied at all, that way he could feign innocence if caught. All he could do was hope that the stable worker wouldn't ask questions.

[Radiant]

OOCGotcha, Orion. Thanks!

The Knights were dumbfounded when the doctor-squire waved off their urgent questions, they couldn't say anything as Orion threw the seemingly empty scroll to the ground. "Orion, wai-!" Dinah tried to stop him, but the squire was too caught up in his emotions, he left before Dinah even finished.

"What should we do?" The other knight turned his head at Dinah, she was his patron, she would know what to do. Dinah tore at her mind for about ten ticks before she nodded, "Get a Lykata here, we-" Again, she was cut off, but not by man, by the very scroll instead as it magically burned itself to ashes, destroying any hope of recovery, Dinah was, again, left in horror, but she shook her head to calm herself. She was a Knight, Sylir marked her for a reason, if she couldn't handle this, she would fail Orion, her family, the Order, and ultimately, herself. "I'll follow him myself, discreetly." Dinah nodded then she raised her hand to silence whatever objections the other knight might had, "I will take full responsibility for my actions, Ser." Without another word, the female knight stomped out of the room.

Orion would find himself all cleared to gather his weapons, equipment, and mount. However, even as went about his own personal vendetta quest, Dinah was silently following him from behind, wearing inconspicuous civilian clothes with a dark blue hooded cloak to cover her features, she could only hope the keen Squire wouldn't notice her. Petch, if he did, she would say right to his face that she couldn't leave him alone, but the former would be best. Dinah mounted an brown Kavinka Paintedmount horse, riding a Tiaden would obviously gather Orion's attention as she followed him outside, keeping her distance not to spook him.

If Orion didn't notice Dinah, he would find the way to the Aylasa Caves rather event-less with traders and knights traveling back and fro the Kabrin Road, hunters frolicking in the Bronze Woods, searching for game, all accompanied by the breezy afternoon spring winds.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion was so blinded by his anger and frustration that he failed to notice such a familiar face was following him so closely. Dinah had done well to rarely allow Orion to see her out of her armor over the past year. Thanks to that, all it took was a simple cloak obscuring her face and the squire didn't recognize his own patron.

He was pleasantly surprised with how well his tiny bit of subterfuge worked. Squires weren't allowed to borrow horses unless on official knightly business, but his lie seemed to be plenty successfully as he was given a dun colored mixed-blood to ride off into the wilds. After donning his leather armor, strapping his swords to the side of his mount, putting his shield on his back, and loading up the rest of his equipment, Orion was ready to depart the city. The caves weren't horribly far away, but if he left now he would arrive a bit after nightfall. With a deep breath and a prayer to whoever was listening, the blue eyed man made his way out of the city.

The calm Spring day betrayed the emotions boiling within Orion. Those he passed were content with their lives, unaware of the challenge the warrior faced. Hunting, trading, patrolling; it didn't matter. At most, they gave him a curt nod in greeting. Most simply ignored him, a stranger armed to the teeth wasn’t worth the trouble. A vacant look didn’t help his case as he stared forward in a daze, mostly unaware of his surroundings.

When he arrived at the cave, Orion dismounted quietly, tied his horse to a tree, and set about retrieving his equipment. His dagger was at right thigh, and his long sword sheathed at his left hip. His shield remained as his back, and just below it was his quiver, placed at the small of his back. With a bow in one hand, and a torch in the other, Orion walked towards the entrance of the dark caves.

He didn't know much about them, but he had a feeling he was going to become well acquainted with their depths this day.

[Radiant]

The Doctor-Squire finally arrived at the infamous Aylasa Caves, former dwellings of humans during the aftermath of the Valterrian, it had been abandoned ever since, serving as a reminder that humanity would survive through anything, the wrath of a God. Inside, however, the caves weren't exactly abandoned, there were many rumors surrounding it being inhabited by horrors from the depths, mysterious creatures told in stories, ancient artifacts hidden beneath the bowels of the earth, but one thing for sure, Orion's daughter was inside... or at least, that was what the scroll said.

Just about fifteen ticks after Orion entered the caves, Dinah arrived, a worried look on her features when she gaze upon the gaping cavern maw, but her squire was inside, evident by his mount tied to a nearby tree, calmly grazing. Dinah herself dismounted her Kavinka, then tied the horse to a tree near Orion's, she checked her equipments and weapons, a longsword, shield, and dagger, she didn't wear any armor, only inconspicuous casual clothes. There was no going back now. With a huff, Dinah lit up a torch, Dinah ventured into the dark as well.

Inside, Orion would feel only silence accompanying him, with the exception for the flicker of his torch and his own footsteps. The caves had branching corridors every once in a while, leading to rooms used to be living quarters and kitchens, further proving that the Caves were indeed ancient dwellings abandoned for centuries. As the squire walked, suddenly, a rumble could be heard behind him, and rocks began falling as if triggered by his presence alone. One might expect the ceiling would come crashing down, but it wasn't so for the rumblings only lasted for about three ticks before it all went silent once more... for a brief moment.

Whispers then echoed inside the squire's mind, delivered through unknown means, perhaps magical, "Squire..." the voice echoed, androgynous in nature, "Choices..." It spoke one ominous word before leaving Orion's mind, in the far end of the particular corridor, Orion's keen eyes would see a dim glow of crimson light, if he investigated it, it turned out to be a dagger, a bloodstained dagger lying on the ground, but something was off with it for its blade was glowing crimson accentuated by the fresh-looking stains on it. The squire would feel a repulsive feeling emanating from the blade.

Behind him, Dinah was inching closer, trying her best to follow Orion's footsteps and torch light, she was getting worried, something was definitely off and the Knight contemplated if she should have brought back-up.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion's steps were careful, as he tried to remain as silent as he could to try and let the light be the only thing which betrayed his position. Flickering flames danced about atop the torch, illuminating cracks and crevasses throughout the cave's paths. Time and time again Orion nearly dropped his torch and reached for an arrow, the shadow's lingering between light and darkness a seeming threat to his well being. Orion swore under his breath as he dismissed another shadow as his mind toying with him before peeking into another section of the cave.

The squire had never been to the Aylasa Caves, though he had heard mention of them. He wasn't privy to the history they held, nor the events which had transpired within their depths. A struggle for survival had occurred within the stone corridors as the remnants of civilization tried to weather the storm which was Ivak's wrath. The lives lost, the lives began. Friendships formed. Loved ones found. Families created. So much was lost to the passing of time, leaving whispers of their existence for souls such as Orion to stumble upon. Mostly barren 'rooms' were discovered throughout the cave. Time hadn't been kind to that left behind in the cave. Rotten furniture, cobwebs, dust, all scantly disturbed. Anything of value had been looted many years before. Orion wasn't there to find relics from the past, beyond the child he sought to rescue.

The rumbles began. Orion turned his head back for a moment, fearing the worst. It would be his luck to crushed within the caves while trying to do something selfless for a change. Needless sacrifice, walking into the trap of Emily's captor. He could finally let his breath go when the shaking stopped, but still he lingered a few moments. He listened for the crashing of rock. It never came.

What he did hear, however, was quite surprising.

Eyebrows furrowed as a voice spoke directly into his mind. Cryptic? No, that wasn't doing it justice. It was useless. Stating what he was and saying choices? Someone was playing a game with him, and it was quite bothersome that they could speak directly into his thoughts. It was like they were teasing him, magical notes, magical voices, but no physical manifestation of that which tormented him and his life. As he turned to keep searching the caves, thoughts stampeded through his consciousness. There had to be something he was missing which could clue him into just who the kidnapper was. Was he such an enemy to someone that his innocent daughter was a fair target?

His steps paused for a tick when his gaze caught the faint red glow of an object further down the path. Moving towards it, the squire cautiously circled around it as he identified three different and important facts. It was a dagger, it was bloodstained, and it was glowing.

"What is this sorcery?" Orion's growl echoed throughout the cavern as he stared down at the weapon. It taunted him. Teased him, and cried out that it was Emily's blood. Yet he couldn't know that. He hadn't seen anyone since he entered the cave. Whatever magic it held, he knew the knights had magic of their own. If he couldn't find the captor, if he couldn't rescue Emily, maybe one of seers could divine something from the crimson stained blade.

Orion reached down and grasped the hilt of the dagger.

[Radiant]

As Orion picked up the dagger, he could feel... nothing, as if the dagger was indeed an ordinary dagger save for the glowing blood-stains marring its glinting edges. However, upon closer inspection, Orion's keen doctor eyes would find etched engravings on the dagger with surgical precision, the words were written in ancient tongue, if the Squire had any knowledge about it, the words written were 'Recha' which meant 'red, blood, and rust', but of course, he might not know it.

The repulsive feeling was dimming down as the dagger was grasped in his hand, whether the Squire decided to keep it with him or throw it away, nothing would happen at a first glance. It appeared to be an ordinary dagger with fancy alchemical glowing property, the blood was rather old, Orion's medical expertise could deduct that this wasn't used recently, perhaps an abandoned item in the caverns. The possibility of it being Emily's blood still stood though, but quite unlikely.

As he proceeded further, the squire would find himself to be at a T-shaped branching corridor, if he looked to his left, the silhouette of a figure could be seen standing on the far end. If the squire was any less observant, he couldn't have noticed it, if he looked to his right, another figure could be seen, but in the odd shape of a... child, much smaller than the left one. A silent choice, if he took too long however, Orion would hear the footsteps of another shuffling behind him, approaching, it was his patron of course, she was catching up to him.

[Orion Michaels]

Well that was anti climactic.

The squire hadn't actually expected anything to happen when he picked up the dagger. As his eyes focused on the dagger, he began to pick it apart and discern the properties of the weapon. First, the blood. Dried, old. Very old. It was unlikely to be anything that happened since the whole ordeal took place. In fact, Orion was certain of this. He'd seen plenty of fresh blood in his line of work to recognize when it was something else. It seemed to have a decent edge yet, and although the glow was off-putting, he still intended to bring the unusual find with him.

His vision lingered on the words that were carved into the blade, but only for a moment. It didn't take him terribly long to determine it wasn't a language he understood, not that he really had an expansive language set. Syliras hadn't thrust upon Orion a need to understand more than the common tongue.

Sighing, the squire tucked the dagger into his belt, reacquired his bow, and set on down the corridor, his torchlight betraying every step. If this were a trap, he was highlighting himself in the darkness. The Aylasa Caves had so many hidden turns and nooks that someone could have been following him the entire time and he never would have noticed despite keen eyes. The sharpest of senses could be undone by darkness. Orion relied heavily on his great vision, and felt quite exposed falling back on his other senses. Onward he trekked.

Torchlight alerted him to a split in the path. Orion cursed softly as he carefully worked his way towards the edge of the left path, placing his back against the wall, much more noisily than he'd hoped. He wasn't exactly light on his feet, unless it was combat. Silent moving was another battle all together. Scuffling his feet, the would be hero peeked around the corner, dipping back around quickly as he caught the visage of an adult sized body down the corridor. They'd surely seen the flickering of his torch and knew he was there. What he couldn't understand was why they were standing there in the dark. His mind must have been playing tricks on him.

As he sat there, determining his next move, he glanced down the other path. His chest tightened as he saw the outline of a child. Emily!? Jumping to the conclusions, the squire quickly cleared the distance from one wall to the other cavernous wall. Just as he did with the left side, Orion peeked around the corner. This time, however, he didn't retreat, instead slipping around the corner letting his torch illuminate just what was actually before him. He couldn't be so lucky that his daughter had escaped from the clutches of her kidnapper, right?

Between the sounds of his own sloppy movements, and his tunnel vision on the task at hand, he still remained oblivious to the presence of the woman who stalked his every movement. Dinah was more skilled than Orion would ever truly realize, and unarmored it wasn't terribly difficult for her to silently follow the bumbling squire and his flickering light.

[Radiant]

The Doctor-squire took the right path, as he stormed off into the corridor, this set an alarm for Dinah, the female Knight immediately assumed something was wrong. She grabbed the hilt of her longsword then dashed following Orion's trail. Orion! You foolish bastard! The Stewart Knight screamed in her mind as her non-armored feet carried her forward, he saw his shadow just as he turned from the corner, when Dinah was about to call him, another rumble could be heard and... rocks fell, blocking the path. Now Orion could only go right and Dinah could only go left or return.

"Ki..." The Knight gritted her teeth, she was this close from reaching him and the caves just decided to play tricks on them. Something was not right, was this deliberate or merely forced coincidence? Dinah was firmed to believe on the former. Some crazy mage must be orchestrating this, or one of Rhysol's agents, no doubt, those Black Sun cronies would pick the Knights off one by one, but why Orion? The Squire was adequate in skill to be a Knight, but Sylir didn't deem him worthy to truly join the Order... yet. Dinah was at a dilemma, would she take the alternate path or would she return? Choosing the former would be risky, she didn't know where the path would lead, but the latter would make all of her efforts moot, if she was getting back-up, she should have done so in the first place. She froze, one of the rare moments where her leadership and tactician skills still weren't enough.

"You have chosen." The previous Androgynous voice spoke once more to Orion. The silhouette of a child before him came closer and closer... until... he came upon his daughter, Emily, looking unharmed and unscathed. The little girl fumbly walked towards her father then slumped in front of him, she would fall if Orion didn't catch her. Upon further inspection, the Doctor could see Emily was not as healthy as she seemed, her body was shivering, her bluish veins were pronounce, and the most off-putting of all, she got a the mark of a hand on her forehead... painted by blood.

The girl was shivering, trembling, and her body temperature rose to unhealthy heights, "She shall die in the stroke of one bell." The voice spoke, it paused for three ticks, before continuing, "Unless, you feed her the heart of a Sylir-marked." And then... silence. A tear fell from Emily's right eye, signaling the unbearable pain of unknown source, if Orion inspected her, the source was most likely poison, but... magical in nature, specifically concocted to affect the girl. The child's tongue was frozen, she couldn't speak, she could only look at her father with horrified eyes, it was clear she heard the voice as well.

Behind him, behind the blocked road, Dinah was pounding at the rocks, "ORION! YOU BASTARD! ORION! If you are in there! Answer me! Come on! Don't do this to me!" The Knight tried to sound authoritative and strong, but it was clear in her voice that she was scared, not for herself, but for her squire's safety, she didn't want to fail him, no, after all they had gone though.