Keigharia felt as though her lungs had been sealed shut, as the wizard broke through her power, cutting off her flow of air, and she heard herself wheeze, trying to draw in the sustaining life-breath. The world about her started spinning a bit, and she blinked, commanding her eyes to focus. If only she could focus on something, anything, other than the pain that ripped through her at the loss of oxygen, she'd be able to snap out of his power. From below her, the raven-haired young woman heard the high Wizard laugh.
"My dear, did you honestly think that, without your brother beside you, that you were more powerful that I??" he mocked her, enjoying her agonized torment. He flicked his fingers, and her body bent at the waist, sending her head to her ankles, bringing on a heavy wave of dizziness. She let out a silent gasp, for there was no air to expel, and her vision blurred, struggling to hold on, and knowing that, unless Jae, Varus, and Jarre were able to exit the planet's pull of gravity, what she was doing here would hardly be enough to help them. Her mind bent with the absence of oxygen, and nearly shut down, with only a hint of a thought brushing over her air-deprived mind. Cats don't give in.
The thought flew about with such urgency that she was forced to focus at least a part of her brain upon it, and her body began to react, grappling to make muscles full of carbon dioxide move, not remain locked up. At the last possible second, when she felt her last bit of oxygen run out, she heard a voice that put everything back into proportion, though whether it was only a thought to that person, or an actual question, she was unsure. Alright, how did I do it??
Jae!! her mind surged, pushing out a last thought, as if it knew this was something necessary, in a world that made no sense without proper oxygen. ~All you have to do is see what a leopard sees, want to see and be just like that, and then let it happen.~ Her mind shut down, her body gave into the painful waves of defeat, and she crumbled, the fight leaving her limbs, squeezed out. The anguished fight had lasted a good fifteen minutes, for in that first ten or twelve, she'd fought back for all she was worth, shoving her gift against Umrinc's heavy-handed, magical grasp, just enough so that she could keep breathing. However, it was as if he were feeding off her frenzy to keep air, devouring her fear, for he'd become stronger, and she weaker, until finally his refined, black power had burst through her raw, untamed white shield, previously weakened by the earlier stand-off, more so than she would have ever realized. However, to hold the man off for an hour, that had taken more energy that she normally used, for typical portations only required quick bursts, not continual streams.
Tears released from her eyes, held back with the last of her gifts, as the struggling ceased, and Umrinc released his grip upon her throat, lowering her to the ground, where he lay her gently. "I suppose that she will not be going back to her parents after all," he mused, an eyebrow raised at the thought of the promise he'd made, that they'd be back in the Lao Daemian year's time, almost twenty years ago his time. "Pity, I don't think that she was able to say good bye to her brother... perhaps I should send him a message as to what she might have said." Unlocking the door with a flick of his hand, he summoned a guard in, though not before assuming a grieving position. "Her gifts... she ported her brother out of her before the power overwhelmed her... I cannot imagine how this happened..." To all the world, he appeared as a lamenting guardian who had cared for the young woman as his own daughter, and had he truly been, none of what had transpired would have done so. However, had one looked closely at Keigharia's throat, they would have seen the bruising that appeared as eight intertwined digits...
Ijael made it to the dock, crashing through the doors, as he felt a snap within him. Stopping, he collapsed, not responding to the com unit, which buzzed, Varus in regards to the alarm that had gone off through the docking bay. The blonde man of twenty-four had only been able to guess that Ijael had gotten through, since the plan had centered around the alarm being the signal of safety. However, when he and Rojarre hurried to the entrance of the loading bay doors, they found a very different sight from the one they'd expected.
"Jae!! C'mon, snap out of it!! We've got to get going!! What's wrong, did you get a muscle cramp?? Just tell us where, we'll see what-"
~It's no use!!~ the leopard screamed out, his mental thoughts so loud that it sounded as though he had spoken aloud. His body unconsciously shifter back to human form, and he lay there, sobbing, unable to tell the other men what was wrong, though they had a feeling it had something to do with the only person ever able to sway the ebony-haired man's emotions.
"Ari??" Jarre breathed, his lungs tightening, as the realization hit. Numb, he helped Varus scoop Ijael to his feet, carrying him out of the pathway. When they were in a empty shuttle dock, they set him back down, still wailing, his body wrecking with each intake of breath. Both brothers knelt beside him, holding on, linked by a courageous young woman who had more guts than any of them had had, or it would have been them there, dead, instead of her. Both the tall, Swedish-looking men felt tears flow from their eyes, as they clung to each other, not believing that it was possible, that the fourth part of them was gone. However, it was impossible to argue with the feeling of emptiness that Ijael felt, that he unknowingly broadcast upon the other two.
The painful lamenting continued for nearly an hour, though how the three were not found was a mystery to them. Varus finally was able to stop long enough to pull himself, or at least his outer appearance, together, and stood. "Guys..." his voice broke, and he swallowed. "We've got to continue, we've got to get out of here, finish this once and for all." Ijael and Rojarre looked at him as though he had lost his mind. Jarre sucked in a breath, and asked, anger filling his voice,
"Is that all that matters to you?? Getting out of here?? Don't you even care that Ari..." He found he couldn't finish, for the lump in his throat. Ijael shook his head, unable to speak. The loss of Keigharia had ripped him apart, left everything out in the open, and he hadn't the heart to do anything else by sob, though those were silent now.
Varus hated to be the one to do this, but he knew it was necessary. "We... if we don't finish this... if we don't get off planet... Ari... she gave her life for us." He paused, drawing in a breath, composing himself. "If we don't do... she wanted us to get out of here so badly... her gift... it'll be in vain... this is something we have to do." Rojarre stood, his temper rising, as he cried out,
"Really?? Is that what you think?? Is that all that matters?? She's gone, Varus!! Nothing we can do will bring her back. We don't have any spells or incantations, we don't have the ability to go wherever it is she went, and bring her back. How can you think-"
"Listen to reason!! If we just go back to our lives, mourn her without finishing this, than her life, she will have given it for nothing, you hear me, nothing!! She didn't hold Umrinc off just so that we could get her, and then give up!! We've got to somehow get out of here..." Varus turned to his best friend, his ‘other' brother, and knelt before him, looking into his eyes. "You know I'm right, Jae. If this were you, you wouldn't have wanted to give your life up, for it to mean nothing, right?? Her last thought was to help you, not a cry for help, not a plead to come get her, right?? It was to further us, to help us get out of here!! I'll be darned if that's going to go to waste!! Jae, we've got to do this, you've got to do this, for her!!"
The sky was strangely full of what could have only been called a sort of clear, viscous haze, if there were such a thing. The night sky, clear of the sunset that had been on its way out as Ijael and Keigharia had left their living quarters, seemed, while it possessed the usual softly glowing copper-brown stars, almost seemed darker than normal, with only Yileun, the petite, apricot moon, and Yunimul, the tiny, pale cerulean moon, visible in the evening spread. The darkness should have seemed normal, and on any other occasion, probably would have, though tonight, with the haze, the sky appeared to be in deep thought, perhaps mourning, perhaps trying to figure out what the commotion was about.
Elements were like that, they hadn't truly minds, common sense, or anything of the sort, however for one to look at them, that person could almost see the emotions playing upon the celestial bodies above. The air seemed charged with energy, yet a strange, almost lagging sort, as though there were too much in the atmosphere, and nowhere for it to go. Change for Irayleu'minmuy was on its way in, obviously, though no one would have suspected such... no one, that is, but a man. The man had the look of a vagabond, and yet, there was something to him, something that kept others away from him, though none ever knew why.
The busy streets cramped his style, and he knew that, if not for the impeding disaster with the alien craft on the outer reaches of the planet, all would be home, most enjoying the better part of the evening, as timing here was vastly different than on most planets. The sun stayed on for at least sixteen hours, and work had been scheduled so that those wishing time to enjoy the sun and its rays could do so, without the worry of missing work in the process. Sunset didn't occur until around the twentieth hour, in this twenty-five hour day, and sunrise would hit around the fifth hour of the new morning. This didn't give the man enough time to work, as he preferred night to day, but then, in the line of work he did, there were never enough hours.
The woman had been very clear, and yet, it was more than evident that she was not alone, though she was the only one standing before him. Whether she had a com unit within her ear, or she simply spoke with her mind, he didn't know, but he knew one thing, her desire was real, had been for the past two days. She couldn't walk about the planet during the day, for she too was different... though not in an alien way. More or less, it was her mannerisms, the way she moved, as though she knew that she didn't belong, and yet was trying so hard to fit in.
Her blonde hair, he had dyed brown, a lovely chestnut color that worked well with her brown eyes. She wasn't tall, but the brown hair helped, as he only knew of a few very well known families that possessed the honey colored mane. She had a nice tan, and her build, while certainly not of the highest femininity, was muscled well enough that, under loose clothes, she could be mistaken for a athletic coordinator, instead of, well, whatever she was, as she refused to tell him. All that he knew was that she was from another place, seeking two people, though whether they were children or adults, she didn't know.
"Women," the man muttered under his breath, his eyes glowing strangely amber-green beneath the sunglasses he wore. Most people would have found that strange, especially at night, however, it was the only way to ensure that he was left alone. "She doesn't even know the names of whoever she's searching for. This is madness... however, money makes it all worth it." He smiled at the large amount of currency she'd given him, the thought of how he would spend the money growing in his mind.
He shook his head at the horde of people within the space port, all shoving, trying to break through security. Unless he was mistaken, sources had told him that the mob had forced their way into the port over a quarter of an hour ago. He's waited until he was sure that every available guard was at that space port before he'd left the dark alleys for a bit easier trek through the city. The pieces of cloth that he carried with him, supposedly from the two that he was looking for, the young woman was looking for, the scents pulled him in two different directions, and it took a moment to decide which was more pressing. One pulled him to the east, towards the space port, another to the northwest, though why he was unsure. Sighing, he headed for the northwest, walking at a brisk pace until he was out of the view of the space port.
The moment he had left the large building's radar, he turned that brisk walk into a hurried run, sprinting through the severely depleted city, thankful that the depletion was due to most of its residents swarming about the space port. His long, dark legs conveyed him through the city at breakneck speed as he moved around this and that, feeling the pull of a spirit on his own, and grasping it mentally with all the might he could muster.
The dark man had overestimated his guess, as he rounded a corner and ran hard into a guard, knocking the large man and guard to the ground. The dark man was up first, as though he had never fallen, and scooped up the prod the guard had dropped, zapping the pale fellow in the back of the neck, rendering him unconscious. It was then that he looked up, realizing where he was. Great Father in heaven... he thought as he stood, gazing at the large dome that rose out of the ground, a good ninety-five or so feet into the air, the bottom a steel thicker than anyone else on the planet would ever hand need of by at least three times, and that thick, impenetrable glass. Inside, he could feel the spirit, grasping at something, anything, not wanting to die, and yet, not being left a choice. At the last instant, he raised his hand, shooting an invisible net into the room, thanking his great Father that it passed through the glass, and latched onto what it sought.
Alright, Fuinraug, now comes the hard part... waiting. Only, how long should we wait?? One would have thought he was talking to himself, and yet, it was as though there were someone there with him, and then again, their wasn't. His eyes could see clearly in the night's lack of light, and he began muttering, chanting if it were, pleading with the sky, the earth, anything that would hear him, and help him keep the soul that was trying to hard to give up and get out. Don't die, my dear, don't. Stay with me, don't give in, just go to sleep. That's it's sleep. He'd stop the chanting to reassure the spirit in that way before he'd pick up where he left off, going only so long before again issuing the reassurance. Just hang in there, lass, just hang in there.
Can you no more fall
