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Marten noticed the tension in Karasu's muscles and reached out with his mind. "It wasn't him, Karasu. The man who took her was of much slighter build and in cultist garb." He didn't mention the damage to Yousei's brain yet; as angry as Karasu was she would likely go berserk if she felt she had failed to protect her ward. "I think Hile, the tall guy next to me, interrupted the kidnapper before he could do serious harm"

The guard scratched his head and ook another bow, "I'll see if he has any my queen." He kept himself facing the queen as he walked backwards and then finally turned at the door. After a few more minutes he came back to his original post to speak to the elf. "The queen would like ta know if yeh got any proof of yer exploits."

Witium frowned at the request and checked his pockets for anything. All he had on him were blood stains that almost made his wore-drobe red. He narrowed his eyes in frustration, "Doubts and expecting deceit as usual human." The elf quickly put his hand on the guards chest and tensed as hatred spewed forth from his hand. Soon the man's armor had rusted and turned to dust. Witium pulled his hand back and clenched it into a fist as he roared in the guards face, "I have payed the price for killing off that foul cult! I have paid with my life and soul; I certainly will not have you human's deny my reward for this." With push he shoved the guard aside and gave the other one a murderous look as he passed by.

After some time of marching through the castle, Witium had made his way to the guarded doors of the throne room. A well armored guard looked at him sternly, "Do you have proof?" The elf ground his teeth, "Definitely, although it may not be of one she'd agree upon." The elf opened the door's and marched through without bowing or even blinking an eye as he stared dagger's into the queens eyes. His attire now looked severely ragid. His armor had deep dents in it, gashes, puncture holes and chunks that seemed to have been ripped off. The cloth's he wore all showed blood stains that weren't protected by armor. His once long, beautiful hair was now soaked in dirt and sand. The elf's eyes glowed a deep purple as he spoke coldly, "Greetings Queen of Opalescent City." He finally took a small bow before crossing his arms.

Not the slightest hint of a reaction could be seen on his face as Karasu landed. He had dealt with dragons once before, so he was well aware that the slightest display of fear or surprise could get you killed. He assumed this was another member of the odd group, because none of the others seemed too terribly surprised. Although he was fairly certain they meant no harm to the girl, having a dragon on their side would make it much more interesting should that assumption be false.

[Sorry for the delay, guys. Parents dragged me down to Atlanta to visit family. Shouldn't be any more interruptions for a long while, though.]

Miles glanced up and back towards Opalcent, frowning. Something had happened, he was sure of it. "How did Witium make it back there so quickly? It took us months of just sailing to get here," He frowned, going over different possibilities.

"Wha?" Miles rolled his head around to face Marten. "You say something?" He questioned, his arms hanging at his side. His fingers twitched as he looked things over in his head.

"Yeah, I think that's the way," Mirado answered blankly. He, too, was thinking everything over in his head. This Brother-Leader person was not in the hut like Hile said. Mirado looked at his feet, allowing his black hair to drop over his eyes. Hile could not be trusted, atleast not yet. He would have to keep a close eye on him.

His gaze then shifted to Yousei, who lay in Marten's arms. She was quite fragile in her current condition. She would have to be guarded safely.

Marten noticed Miles' glazed expression and rolled his eyes. Whatever Miles saw in that god forsaken wasteland he would never know. "I'm taking Yousei to Opalescent for treatment. Have Kraid or Karasu take you there once your brain comes back." He walked over to Hile, willing the shadows to open as he did so. Suddenly, traveling through the darkness felt like second nature. The three of them sank silently into the blackness as the sun set.

Nothing felt like it should. Kraid may have had some way of navagating in the inky nothingness that surrounded him, but whatever it was eluded Marten. Feebly he tried to locate the city, tried to find it's direction, and went racing off. Before long he was simply lost, trying desperately to find something he knew, somewhere to come out where he could rest. A patch of light suddenly loomed up, and unable to swerve in time the group crashed into it. Reality suddenly snapped back around them, and the group was sent flying out of the portal and into a snow bank. Marten curled tightly around Yousei, cusioning the blow with his own body. He felt his wings snap under the impact. A bright fire burned in the center of a snowy clearing, apparently he had clipped it's edge. He struggled to his feet, watching as the portal closed behind them. Several men had detached themselves from the fire, heavily built with massive weapons, and were advancing on them. One of them assumed a fighting stance, with what looked like a heavy mallet in his hands, while the other stood unarmed with fists like anvils.

"Speak, demon, or we will cut you down where you stand!"

((Before someone starts complaining about this, take it up with Faelan. This was more or less her decision to separate Hile and Yousei from the main group.))