Aranthor's hand flew to her sword and unsheathed it in a split second. Before she could think about it she swung her sword over her head, but hesitated on the blow...

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

(Woops. Sorry...)

Estelle gazed at the room in fascination. "Yes, Devarion." she added. "There must be a reason you chose to bring us here. I highly doubt that the portal you opened led us here by chance alone." She grew silent then, her thoughts drifting back to Asmundr. He has grown more powerful than I remember. she thought bitterly. Anger filled her as memories of their recent encounter with the Elder God flooded her mind. With her sword now strapped securely on her back, she could only wince at how she had nearly failed to block the god's last assault. She knew deep in her heart that had he chosen to finish her off at the moment, he could have easily overpowered the magic of her Sword of Truth. Estelle sighed, disgust at the thought of the Elder God filling her. I hope the others are alright. she thought as she lowered her gaze. It will take the strength of both god and mortal to stop the Him now. Shaking her head to banish such dark thoughts from her mind, she turned to look at Kena. Slowing rising, she walked over to the messenger goddess and sat beside her. "Let me see your wounds." she softly, noticing the myriad of scratches on the goddess's arms.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Absentmindedly Kena unfolded her arms to reveal the profusion of tiny cuts, insignificant by themselves but painful in their current numbers. "My compass...it broke," she said almost to herself, and abruptly shook herself out of it. Forearms resting on her knees, and feet on the step below the one she sat on, Kena looked up at Devarion with a perplexed air, too concentrated on what she was doing to resist Estelle's ministrations.

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Estelle's palms glowed a faint golden light as part of her energy passed from her finger tips to Kena. She ran her hands down the wounds, allowing her power to flow into them. As her magic touched each cut, her power healed them, making it as if they had never been. "I am sorry about your compass." Estelle said quietly, not knowing what else to say. "Perhaps another can be crafted?" she asked.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Aranthor silently fought with herself, He is my friend!!! He just asked for it!!! He is just mad. Why are you making excuses for him!!!! The other side of her mind fell silent for a while. Because I like him, I love him. Aranthor shocked herself with her own answer. I love him??? Aranthor made up her mind. She brought down the sword with such power, that when it went a hair breadth away from Azra's head, it slammed into the ground and stayed there. It was so hard stuck in there, she had trouble getting it out. When she sheathed it, then walked over to their home, and slamed the door behind her.
She sat down, Why do you love him? she asked herself trying to get it straight. You need to open your eyes, how much is he like you? She thought about it. Alot. Exactly!!! But why do I love him!!! I don't know. She was getting frustrated.

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

"Then the others should, too," interjected Kena, rising. "We can't know what he's planning, and to strike at them is not beyond his power."

She came to stand by him, and looked up as if to search the darkening sky, blacker with every star that slowly winked out. Almost unconsciously she winced, putting a hand to her temple as though remembering the alien presence there, and looked away, wrapping her arms about herself as if to ward off encroaching cold. "I would not call anywhere safe from Asmundr now," she added slowly, as if thinking hard.

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Kena looked at the tiled floor, gaze tracing the swirling patterns. Sleep did not seem a welcome thought in her current state. As a Goddess she needed none - but in a mortal body she could even now feel fatigue making her eyes heavy, telling her in no uncertain terms that rest, if not wanted, was needed. Her lips twisted in an expressed of frustrated discouragement.

Taking a breath, Kena glanced at Devarion next to her, and briefly leaned her head on his shoulder. They were nearly of a height, but the few inches he had on her made it comfortable. "Aye," she reluctantly agreed. "Wake me if anything...happens, won't you?"

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A smile traced Estelle's lips as she watched the pair depart. At least both seemed to have a small sense of peace in this chaos-a peace that she did not want to disrupt. Closing her eyes, she remained where she sat and entered into a meditative state, trying to sense any new ripples of destruction in the balance.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Kena sank onto one of the beds when Devarion had gone, exhaustion making her collapse thankfully onto the cushions. She closed her eyes briefly - and opened them again with a start when images of roiling clouds and lightning lancing down into the trees danced before her. Shuddering slightly, the Messenger Goddess buried her face in a cushion and was asleep in seconds, curled like a child among the pillows.

Her dreams were perhaps not as pleasant as could be wished.

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Estelle's eyes snapped open as Devarion spoke and she turned to face him as he sat beside her. "Of course not." she replied quietly as her eyes fell upon the wound. "Your injury is deep." she said softly. "But will pose no trouble." With that she summoned her magic once more. A faint light glowed as she traced her fingers down his wound chanting a spell. The energy flowed from her fingers to his wound, its power healing the gash that had once been present. Estelle sighed as the soft glow dissipated, feeling a slight exhaustion in her limbs. "You care deeply for her, do you not?" she asked Devarion tenderly, a warm smile tracing her lips.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Azra watched her go with surprise. Why hadn't she hit him, true, she couldn't kill him but she could definatly do damage....for that matter why hadn't he draw his sword aginst her...she was a goddess for the Balances sake

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Made by Lembas

[quote="Lasbelingur"]Aranthor silently fought with herself, He is my friend!!! He just asked for it!!! He is just mad. Why are you making excuses for him!!!! The other side of her mind fell silent for a while. Because I like him, I love him. Aranthor shocked herself with her own answer. I love him??? Aranthor made up her mind. She brought down the sword with such power, that when it went a hair breadth away from Azra's head, it slammed into the ground and stayed there. It was so hard stuck in there, she had trouble getting it out. When she sheathed it, then walked over to their home, and slamed the door behind her.
She sat down, Why do you love him? she asked herself trying to get it straight. You need to open your eyes, how much is he like you? She thought about it. Alot. Exactly!!! But why do I love him!!! I don't know. [quote]

Aranthor was very confussed when the answer came. I don't understand.

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

It was such a rare sight that every time it happened the villagers gathered in front of their houses to stare at the old man passing by, out of respect and pure interest Nolgos guessed. Yet this time he created pure fear in them, wearing his armor he and full combat gear that included a flexible chain mail protection alongside with a helmet. Some of the villagers thought that a long dead warrior had risen from the grave at first, but recognized the old sage after a while to staring. Nolgos made his way trough the village main street, the only street to be exact, to the town hall.

As Nolgos pushed the door open he was greeted by the rather shocked stares of the mayor and the head of the militia, who were apparently holding a meeting of some sort. Nolgos walked up to them and greeted politely.

"Mayor, I must apologize for the intrusion and... my set of clothing, but there are more pressing matters at hand and I believe the militia has already known that for a while."

Nolgos said with a strict tone, appearing as official and serious as he could.

"No need to apologize sage, you are more than welcome here as you are the only skilled healer in the valley. What matter brings you to the village?"

The mayor inquired as the head of militia examined Nolgos quietly, but before Nolgos could answer, the question was already answered by another.

"Bandits, they have been hounding refugees and travelers long enough, but we do not have the means to wipe them out of the mountains and we need to focus to keep them out of the valley."

The militia head, Haeg said with a grin as he admitted that he could not act as he wished. Nolgos nodded and gazed at the mayor.

"I would like to take part in the militias work to keep the village safe and to wipe out the bandits, I believe that my experience will prove more than useful in wiping them out. Actually I would ask your permission to inspect the militia and to take a few out for a small mission."

This request did not obviously go well with Heag whose authority would have no effect, if Nolgos received a permission from the mayor. The mayor realized this, but seemed hesitant to oppose either of them as both had an important role in the villages survival.

"Why not... it couldn`t hurt, but about this idea of yours you should really get Haeg`s opinion and agreement..."

The mayor said before stepping back as the two older men, Nolgos and Haeg were left to stand there, they had both long ago worked as mercenaries in the same unit. Haeg had done it for the glory and the money as where for Nolgos it was the only thing he was ever good at, thus it was about having a place in the world. They both had retreated to this distant valley, they hadn`t ever fought each other, but never got along too well. Nolgos hmhed quietly with a shrug and Haeg simply smirked as the mayor disappeared into his chambers.

"So `healer` what really brought you here?" Haeg inquired.

"The fact that bodies began to pile up, more wounded come in every day and the graveyard just besides my house makes me more of a grave keeper than a healer. I`ve grown sick of it." Nolgos said with an irritated tone, concealing his true reasons.

"Aye... I see where you stand... well lets see what we can conjure up for these bandits together shall we? The plan you mentioned, I might as well hear it all tough I have already probably considered it." Haeg said, continuing the inquiry.

"I need the best huntsmen or scouts the village has in order to pinpoint the location of the bandit camp or camps..." Nolgos explained.

"Tried it, they move around and are impossible to get by surprise..." Heag protested.

"Come now, even these bandits have a base camp where they keep most of their supplies. Have your scouts ever spotted crates or possible supply containers in these camps?" Nolgos asked in turn.

Heag grinned. "No" And Nolgos raised his index finger with a smirk. "These aren`t just traveling rabble, the damage made by them is too great for them to be unorganized. If they weren`t organized then they wouldn`t have proper knowledge of the caravans or refugees coming in..."

Heag sighed and cursed quietly as, if he would have been in denial of that fact, which Nolgos thought was obvious.

"Let`s hope that you are right, it might be a greater risk than we might expect. I will assemble the scouts and instruct them to use great caution."

Heag said in exhaustion, hoping that Nolgos was right. Nolgos nodded as Heag left him alone in the hall and Nolgos gazed around quietly, but his eyes stopped to stare at a carving in a wooden column supporting the roof. It had a name carved on it, Asmudr, Nolgos blinked and ran his fingers on the wooden surface of the carving. Nolgos turned to gaze at the rest of the columns and he realized that the hall was of older origin than he had thought. It had been built by someone who believed in the gods, even worshiped them as each column had symbols relating to each god and their names were carved in them.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Estelle smiled slightly as she watched Devarion depart. "Good night." she whispered to his retreating form though she knew he probably did not hear her. Sighing she stared around the room once more before entering her meditative state again. Yet, she could see nothing-feel nothing. It was if some force was blocking some of her power. Sighing in frustration, she struggled to keep from cursing. Glancing around the room once more, she gazed up at the deepening night, sadden that the stars themselves seem to have vanished, knowing that this itself was the work of the Elder God. After some moments she made her way down from the dais and walked in the direction that Devarion had gone. Finally finding the sleeping quarters, she entered to find each god occupying a single bed. Shutting the door silently, she walked up to the only free bed and quietly sat the down. Taking off her weapons and setting them beside the bed, she stared for a brief moment at nothing. Lying down, she gazed at the ceiling for some moments before finally rolling over and shutting her eyes in an attempt to get some rest.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Estelle awoke as the morning rays of the morning lit the heavens, banishing the gloom of the day before. Stretching for a brief moment, she saw that Devarion was already up, no doubt in the Chamber of Stars. Quietly climbing out of bed, she strapped her weapons to her back and silently exited the bed chambers. She walked to the Chamber of Stars and stood silently at the entrance of the chamber where the three had gathered the night before. She glanced swiftly at Devarion when he slammed his hand on the stone, slightly startled. "What is it?" she asked, as she entered the room and walked quickly over to the dais.

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AWESOME set by the AMAZING Lembas!!!

Azra sudenly staggered as realisation hit him. Forthe last our he had walked though the forests trying to work out Aranthor's and his own behavior. The answer at last presented itself, as much as he hated it, it was the only the fitted.
I love her?

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Made by Lembas