Up and Away (Chancelor Aillil)

[GM Viora Noire]

At first Chancelor's attempts at making out bits and pieces of the conversation taking place in front of him were to no avail. All he could hear, no matter how much he strained his ears,  were the sounds of the lake and nightlife around him. As he kept on focussing, however, these noises seemed to ebb away a little as his ears grew accustomed to them and made a desperate effort to make out those sounds that seemed to be far more vital.

It seemed, at first, as if not even this natural growing accustomed to his surroundings would aid Chancelor in his attempt at eavesdropping. Suddenly, however, he was able to pick up a voice: high-pitched, slightly nasal, decisively female. Now that he knew what sound to listen for, Chancelor's task was much easier. He focussed on the voice he had heard, yet not understood before and with all his might tried to make out the distinct shape of words echoing back from the trees. Concentration is a marvellous thing, and obviously so is the human brain: It did not take too long until Chancelor's ears were tuned in to the female voice, and even before he could make out the first phrase he noted another, much deeper and grumbling sound. A male and a female -- did he happen to eavesdrop simply on a forbidden, nightly tryst? Astax' presence, however, seemed to speak different volumes. The raven, undisturbed, still sat on the branch, his yellow eyes seemingly reflecting the insufficient light. No, Astax would not have led him here to intrude into the privacy of two unhappy lovers. There was something to be learned, and Chancelor could not allow his concentration to waver lest he might miss out on even more vital details.

Thus attuned and focussed on what he had to listen for, Chancellor tried his best to ignore all sounds around him but the male and female conversation. He could not hear them well, by all means, but at least he managed to gather a fragmentary conversation.

"...careful. They might ... watching us," the female voice said.
"Hah!" the male answered.
"We must ... careful!" the female insisted.
"How would they know who we are? They don't know ... look." The male had a habit of talking louder than his female companion, making his part of the dialogue quite clearly audible to Chancelor.
"They know! What about the strange man in Na'el?" Her whisper was carried way better than her subdued voice.
"You mean the ... in the Ice Cavern! Pah!"
"...knew...something..."
"What is there to know?"
"Secrecy...important! ... our duty...!"
"Whatever. ...too late now. We can't go back."
"...find...the fugitives."
"Right. We should split up. We can cover a wider area this way."
"...alright. He knows now...shield...mind."
"Makes it more difficult. We will know when we see them, though."
"...hope so."
"Don't underestimate yourself."
"I don't. You know...how important..."
"I know. Take care of yourself. You know how to stay in touch. Don't forget the passphrase."
"...phrase? Thorn?"
"Yes, thorn."
"Alright. ... care ...yourself, too."
"You leave first."

The female did not answer anymore, and neither did the man add anything. Instead, the female hooded figure dashed off quite effortlessly -- luckily into a direction a safe distance away from Chancelor -- and was soon vanished. The man watched her disappear, slightly shaking his head, then he waited for a few more moments before he -- far more loudly but luckily in just an equally safe distance to Chancelor -- vanished into the darkness as well. Chancelor, in the meantime was left alone in the nightly patch of trees, well, alone if you did not count the raven. Astax, now that they were safe from exposure and harm, once more ascended into the nightly sky and landed, as was beginning to be his habit, on Chancellor's shoulder. The raven's weight was strangely soothing, albeit the bird's talons were poking to the fabric of his clothes quite uncomfortably. In any way, there seemed to be much to consider. Firstly, there was the question of what all of this meant. Secondly, Chancelor had to figure out what his next step would be. He was quite confident that he would easily find his way back to the tavern and Lea, and should he decide to do so he would indeed reach his goal without any problems or incidents. In the tavern, he would find Lea -- much to his liking without the displeasing elf -- who would be as eager to talk to him as he was possibly to talk to her. Still, however, he was still alone in the dark and had yet to make up his mind about his further course of action.

[Chancelor Aillil]

As the man and woman wandered, to Chancelor's great relief, in directions away from his own, he could only sit there for moments.

Was everything he just heard true? Did they know of Astax's real owner? Did they know why he was in that cave? Had they been the one's to ransack his home? Then further questions arose, and they were not as simple. They could have been the one's who had originally captured him. They knew of him and his abilities, and a strange man in Na'el...

He was awestruck, and he blocked his mind off to everything. If they knew he could do it, then why not? It would provide protection, and even though it might make him stand out if they started searching minds, it would give him ample time to run.

LEA! The thought rang out, he didn't mean for it to, but it did. Her name burst in brilliance through his mind. He had to get back to her, he had to tell her what he had learned. They had to leave. They had to go now.

He looked to Astax as he rested on Chancelor's shoulder. "Well, I can make it back, keep an eye out for me. I don't want to run into anyone on the way back." Chancelor turned the way he had come from and headed back to the inn. There was too much to think about as he walked nearly blind, through the trees. The entire time thinking of how he would present this story to Lea.

Another thought struck him as he neared the inn, seeing it's warm lights glow, was that stranger, Aren'diel, still there? He grit his teeth in such a way that he bit his cheek and a bit of blood had to be wiped away from the corner of his mouth.

He stood for a moment outside of the door and rearranged himself to make sure that he didn't look as if he had been lying around on the ground eavesdropping on others. He opened the door to tavern and stood, blinking while his eyes adjusted to the light.

[GM Viora Noire]

As Chancelor pushed open the door to the tavern the weight of the raven on his shoulder suddenly lifted, and Astax fluttered into the nightly sky only to land on a tree nearby the tavern again. Admittedly, a raven was a strange pet animal and certainly one that was not necessarily welcomed with open arms in a public tavern -- nonetheless, for a moment the absence of his animal companion felt unaccustomed to Chancelor. More comfortable was what greeted him from inside the tavern. First, a wave of warmth which made him realise that it had become quite cool outside washed over him. Second, a wave of noise -- loud to his ears that were so used to the calm outside, but definitely more subdued than when he had left the tavern in the first place -- followed. Last, his nostrils recognised the smell of food, drink and people, all pleasant or unpleasant in their own respective manner.

It did not take Chancelor's eyes long to adjust to the glow of the arèní globes which tinged the interior of the tavern into a lively orange, a flickering cheerful shine. Within the light, quite unsurprisingly, were a couple of patrons, but Chancelor realised that the tavern had emptied significantly since he had left it -- how long ago? It was not, however, that Chancelor had much of an interest in any of them. Almost automatically, his eyes sought out the striking red of Lea's hair. His search was swiftly rewarded, and Chancelor noticed Lea in the same spot as he had left her. Her head was bent in contemplation and her slender fingers held on to a mug with unknown contents. Luckily she was without company, obviously the annoying elf had left.

As if Lea had felt Chancelor's eyes resting on her, her head suddenly jerked up and a smile began to blossom on her face as she made him out. Immediately, she waved him over and gestured for him to sit down. Should he follow her invitation, Chancelor would find himself back at the table in tentative privacy -- there was nobody close enough to listen in to their conversation unless they talked very loudly -- and a mug of ale almost mysteriously manifesting in front of him.

I am assuming here that Chancelor hasn't changed his mind to talk to Lea, if he would rather do something different feel free to do so and I will edit my post accordingly

For a while they sat in silence, then Lea began to talk. "This Aren'diel!" she snorted and mimicked contempt. "I don't think that he is any threat at all. Apparently, all that he is is a silmy, filthy piece of cow-dung in  search for something to warm his bed. Well, Sir, I am not going to be that something! Once you left,  I tried to find out if he was a threat to us -- strange how he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and you can never be careful enough, don't you think?" She did not pause to wait for a reply, but continued in a similar vein. "He presented me with one lie after the other -- as if it would impress me how much of this and how much of that he owns! And he was a bad liar at that! Who does this poor copy of a man think he is? And how stupid does he think I am?" Lea growled, her green eyes sparkling and threw her hair back, which seemed to cool her down a little bit. "In any way, there was nothing to learn from this...guy. I hope I did not unsettle you, but as you played along with our little charade I assume that you got my meaning. I certainly did not mean to offend you, but am entirely thankful that you went to check out...the raven, of course! Did you find out what happened?" She paused, tilted her head to the side and contemplated Chancelor's expression for a moment. "Dargotten, you look like you've seen a ghost? There I go rambling, while you seem to be quite anxious! Forgive my temper, it sometimes gets the better of me. But will you tell me what happened? Judging from your expression it can't be nothing good." She sighed, twirled a strain of fiery hair and waited patiently for Chancelor's reply.

[Chancelor Aillil]

Chancelor almost didn't tell her. He could have made up a lie easily enough, and Lea would never be able to search him to find if it were true or not. Yet, the importance of this, well, it out weighed his own selfishness and she needed to be told, and he had no idea where, exactly they were headed.

"Lea," he started calmly, a bit too calmly. "We need to leave." He let this sink into her a bit. Astax and I found some people talking off the path. They knew of Astax's owner, and I think they ransacked the house. They figured he ran to the ice caverns. They know of me, and my ability. They even spoke of some other man in Na'el."

Chancelor had hurried through the rest in a hushed whisper, such was his desire to be able to leave as soon as possible.

"Lea, they are looking for me right now. They headed in opposite directions but they could be coming here. I don't want to expose you to this danger, but I won't leave without you."

His voice was hoarse for no other reason than that he was overly excited. He looked around, glad that the voices seemed to be dropping in volume since he had walked in. He thought of telling Lea about how he had focused to hear the two speaking, but he had heard stories where people who were in a dangerous situation could do extra-ordinary things that didn't involve them being special.

Chancelor searched the tavern and then looked back to Lea. "If we do leave then I need you to remember something. I need you to always remember the word 'Thorn'. The two speaking said it was a safe word. It may be helpful later."

He didn't wait but for a few heartbeats before he questioned her again, "Lea, are we going or not?"

[GM Viora Noire]

For a moment Lea just sat there, frozen in place. Her face became pale and cold, unmoved as the features of a finely crafted marble statue. Her eyes, however, betrayed her true state of mind. It seemed as if behind her outwardly calm exterior a storm was raging deep inside the mesmerizing green of her eyes. 'Don't cross me', the green fire seemed to say. Yet, there was more in these eyes -- anger, a hint of sadness, and worst of all: horror and despair.

The storm raged on for a few prolonged moments and then abided just as quickly as it had arisen. The green in Lea's eyes appeared to freeze, the rather frantic expression made place for the one of cold determination. "We are lucky, endlessly lucky, that you overheard that conversation. Invaluable information, to be sure. And you are right, of course, we should leave. Immediately." Lea rose and straightened her clothes. "But sit down for a moment, rest up, have a drink or a bite to eat if you wish -- I will get our things, pay the rooms for another night and bribe somebody to tell lies about our whereabouts. If nothing else, this might give us a bit of a headstart."

Lea did not wait for a reply but stormed off, obviously reminding herself half way out of the room that she should perhaps behave more innocuously. Chancelor, in the meantime, was left alone to enjoy some tense stolen minutes in the relative safety and comfort of the tavern. The warmth as well as the constant ebb  and flow of voices calmed him, if only tentatively. Chancelor was just about to consider having one last meal or drink in the comfort of the tavern -- Dargotten knew that the next warm meal or bed was most likely miles and miles of marching through the wilderness away -- when suddenly the door swung open. Chancelor could not tell whether it had gotten significantly colder since he had entered the tavern not long ago, or if the chill that seemed to freeze the blood in his very veins was simply caused by who appeared inside the doorframe. It was the man he had seen earlier, Chancelor was sure. No amount of mist, no amount of fog, no amount of every other natural disguise could leave but a shadow of a doubt about it. Chancelor had not seen the man properly, not his exact features, but as this very man stood in the door and scanned the tavern Chancelor simply knew that he was facing his persuer. With the instinct of a hind scenting the predator, Chancelor crouched slightly behind the table, tried to vanish into his robes, attempted to be invisible.

For an endlessly long, panick-filled moment the man's eyes rested on Chancelor. A moment long enough for Chancelor to want to jump up and run, his mind contemplating all options for flight simultanously at only a split second. Just when Chancelor thought he could not bear the eyes any longer, however, the flitted on. Then, without any haste, the man entered the tavern and sat down at the next best table. He ordered ale in the same voice Chancelor had heard not long ago, flirted casually with the serving girl and then sat in brooding silence. The man was sitting a few tables away from Chancelor, his back half turned to the young man. The serving girl returned, placed a mug of ale on the table, giggled at some joke Chancelor had neither understood nor could he be bothered with it. The man was here, only tables away. He had not yet recognised him yet, obviously he did not know that Chancelor was here. Maybe, at least Chancelor hoped that this was an accurate depiction of the situation, the man had just come to ask around for him and Lea, or maybe he simply wanted to take a break from the frantic search for them. Whatever the reason, however, Chancelor knew that he had to act. He could not remain sitting here undetected forever. Sooner or later the stranger would begin to ask the right questions, or scan the room more properly, or Lea would reappear with her flaming red hair and her flaming green eyes, and there was no way that the man would fail to recognise her. Chancelor had to leave, and he had to do so now. The question was just how he could do so without getting caught -- or without letting run Lea right into her demise.

[Chancelor Aillil]

Chancelor almost didn't have a choice to eat or begin to feel comfortable, the man had walked in almost immediately and shattered his confidence in Lea and himself getting away safely into the night. He had thought himself paranoid for a moment and almost relaxed out of his crouched position but for the sound of his voice, Chancelor knew he was right.

Moments later the man sat, back to Chancelor ordering ale and flirting with the barmaid. His stomach lurched, it would only be a matter of time before he was found, unless the man was simply playing a game and letting Chancelor believe that his crouched position was somehow hiding him from sight. Chancelor looked around a few times, the stairs were not close enough to get to without being seen, unless he was going to cause a commotion of being in a rush, and that would only give his position away sooner. He thought of doing it casually, but what if the man turned around, he would be spotted. In elvish territory humans stood out like a sore thumb, then again, what if Lea came down, her fire red hair and dazzling green eyes would be noticeable anywhere.

Chancelor sighed, there could not be any way he had not been spotted already, but he had not noticed a barmaid or anyone else talking to him for that matter, and he was sure some had come within arms reach of himself. He took another look around the tavern and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He thought of one solution, then another, none of them were good.

He could pull his cloak over his head and go upstairs casually, if he was caught, he knew how to defend and attack if need be. He could stay and attempt to get into the man's mind, to pull some information then trap him there in his own mind, but that would be too risky, and it would probably leave him drained of any energy. Chancelor heaved a soft sigh, pulled his cloak over his head and stood up slowly trying to look as elven as possible, trying to blend as hard as he could. All the while focusing on protecting himself. The man could have powers of his own, and Chancelor had to be ready. He simply prayed and wished and hoped that he could make it up the stairs in time to reach Lea so they could make their escape before they were caught by... by whomever was looking for them.

[GM Viora Noire]

Whenever we attempt to blend in -- into a crowd, a circle of friends, whatever environment we choose -- we feel, not matter how hard we try, that we are the odd one out and that everybody, without exception, must realise that we simply do not belong. It was perhaps such or a similar feeling that Chancelor had when he got up and attempted to, well, blend in. For a long moment Chancelor, mistakenly, believed that all eyes were set on him, mustering him suspiciously, seeing easily through his not-better-than-makeshift disguise. Particularly one pair of eyes, the most dangerous one, seemed to be glued to the young man's shrouded figure -- which was, after all, impossible as the man's eyes were clearly turned away from Chancelor.

For a split second Chancelor stood, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his hyperactive nerves. It was just a few paces, a few paces through a crowd at that, and he would be out of sight, at least for the moment back in tentative safety. Chancelor took the first step, perhaps reminding himself to not make too much haste, to be casual, to simply belong to the place, to be nothing out of the ordinary...another step, then another, and another. Nobody jumped up to hold him back, nobody shouted or screamed, nobody even appeared to take notice of Chancelor. Internally, the young man relaxed a little bit. He could do it. All he had to do was to keep walking, and reach the door that came closer and closer with every step he took.  Another few steps, and then another, the door was almost in reach and Chancelor felt already tempted to heave a sigh of relief when suddenly -- BANG! He heard a clattering sound, an unladylike curse uttered in a more ladylike voice, the noise of feet hurrying on the floor of the tavern....Involuntarily frozen Chancelor stood still, stiff as a fir tree, rooted to the ground. Even if his overactive imagination had not told him that all the sounds meant that the man and probably his accomplices were already after him, at arm's reach, even if he had admitted himself a considerable chance to outrun them (which he, taking into consideration that he was rather studious than atheltic, probably had not) -- his feet were glued to the ground, his muscles tense, but unable to move.

A long moment passed, then another. Chancelor realised that he had held his breath without even noticing it and slowly, carefully inhaled. There were no hands to grab him. No weapons outstretched to force him. No voices announcing triumph. The sounds shifted back into the normal hustle and bustle, the usual murmur that was to be expected in a tavern. Although something told Chancelor that he should just take a leap for the door and escape, he turned his head to investigate the scene. It was as if some deeper -- and not necessarily smarter -- sort of survival instinct had taken over his body, willing it into one direction or another. What Chancelor saw, however, was a great not only to his survival instinct, but also to himself: One of the serving girls had clumsily dropped a tray full of mugs and cups and plates filled with various contents. There was a big mess on the floor, and the serving girl in question was on her knees with her head bright red, attempting to sort out the mess.

The sight sufficed to let Chancelor take over his own actions again, His heart was beating fast, fuelled by a strange mixture of relief, adrenalin and a terrible sense of danger. Ahead of him was the door into safety. Without further ado Chancelor took another few steps and was swallowed by the corridore that had become familiar to him during their short stay in Myst Lake. The first part of his mission had ended successfully. Now to find Lea.

Chancelor tried to calculate the time which had passed since Lea's departure, as well as to estimate how long she would have taken for each of the tasks she had meant to complete. A few seconds later he concluded that his best chance of catching her was to simply head up the staircase and hope that she was still in one of the rooms they had rented. He figured that if she was still upstairs, there was only one way for her to go downstairs -- and this way was the one he would use to go up. A short prayer was sent to Dargotten or any deity that would be disposed to listen to the desperate plea of a young man, and off Chancelor was.

Although the staircase was lit it appeared to be unnaturally dark to Chancelor. The sound the wood under his feet made seemed to be malevolent and unnatural. Little spots began to dance in  front of Chancelor's eyes and he forced himself to breathe more evenly. He had to find Lea. He absolutely had to find Lea before she walked into the bar-room of the tavern completely unaware, like a fox into a trap laid out by a skilfull hunter. He had to find Lea.

His mind was so occupied by this one thought that he was startled by her sudden and almost noiseless appearance. Suddenly, her slender figure appeared right in front of him. Her green eyes grew wide, but her surprised expression swiftly made place for one of an instinctive understanding. Briefly, she lay her hand on his shoulder and nodded seriously. Then she handed Chancelor's backpack over to him, threw her own over her own shoulders and adjusted the straps swiftly and with ease, then helped Chancelor with his own. All the time Lea did not utter a word, and the whole affair could only have occupied a few, soundless moments. When all was done, Lea gestured Chancelor to follow her, putting a finger to her lips to remind him to be quiet. Not that Chancelor had needed the reminder in the first place.

Very determinedly Lea led Chancelor to a backdoor the young man had not know existed, but  was now eternally grateful for. Silent and whispy as ghosts they slipped out of the door, a cool gust of wind greeting them. It was dark outside, unsurprisingly so, but the streets were lit by a couple of arénì globes and the moons were shining brightly, unimpeded by any clouds. Very briskly, Lea marched on, at first necessarily sticking to the roads, then, on the first occasion, opting to stay away from them. Chancelor could tell that they were making good progress away from Myst Lake as the lake, silvery and calm in the night, became smaller and smaller, until it seemed to be a mere remembrance.

Soon, they had left behind the settlement and were welcomed back into the Lirynn wilderness. Away from the streets and lanterns, making progress became more difficult again, although the moons provided some light. It was a miracle to Chancelor how Lea could move so gracefully even in the face of all adversity, how she simply seemed to hoover above they ground where Chancelor's feet got caught in roots or some grasses, or became unsteady on a hidden loose stone or twig.

Nonetheless, they made good progress. Chancelor had no idea how long the had marched, or rather run frantically, through the wilderness. Nor did he know where they were headed, and he was not sure if Lea knew herself. All that counted for the moment was that they were headed away from Myst Lake, away from danger, only to probably run headlong into their next adventure. The longer they walked, however, the calmer Chancelor began to feel. Where at first adrenaline and danger had been boiling the blood in his veins, now the silence and coolness of the night began to take over. With the calm, however, also came an impression of exhaustion, painfully dense muscles, and general physical strain. Chancelor, trying his best to ignore his painful muscles and the strained feeling in his lungs, kept pace and just kept going and going and going -- until the world faded and went black.

When Chancelor awoke, it was already day. A cheerful sun was tickling his nose, and the wilderness appeared bright and friendly. He found himself bedded quite comfortably on a soft moss, a makeshift pillow of the same material had been propped under his head. He was tightly wrapped into his own blanket which must have kept him warm during the night, but now, at day, made him feel almost uncomfortably hot. His stomach grumbled. Slowly, he took stock of his body -- he felt a few bruises, and his muscles were still aching a little, his mouth was dray, and he was hungry as a horse, but other than that nothing seemed to be amiss. Carefully, Chancelor sat up and was greeted immediately by a black raven hopping up and down excitedly next to him where he had sat motionlessly monitoring Chancelor as he was unconsciously asleep. Astax crawked and, without a warning, jumped right into Chancelor's lap, tilting his head to one side and eyeing the young man.

Chancelor looked around. He was in a forest, clearly, as there were trees around him. The sun was seeping through the canopy. Things were strewn about the vicinity, and Chancelor could see the empty remains of another sleeping place that certainly had been occupied by Lea. Something, some kind of instinct perhaps, or the fact that over the last couple of days he had grown quite accustomed to Lea, told him that the elfess could not be far off. His stomach rumbled again. Relieved that at least for the moment they had escaped danger once more, it was now time to head on to much more pleasurable matters, such as finding Lea, having a drink and breakfast, and whatever else Chancelor decided would decide to be a good idea in a situation like that.

[Chancelor Aillil]

It was almost more than he could take. The feeling, fleeting and cold, like a chill wind in the dead of winter when you had forgotten your coat. That was it, that was what he was feeling. The man's eyes felt as if they pierced him, through him, around him, yet he never looked in his direction. Was it a game? Did he want Chancelor to get away?

Chancelor couldn't move, he knew that to outwardly defend himself would be a mistake that would cost him his life, and that of Lea's his only choice was to freeze, to blend in, and wait until the crowd was itself again. After a pause too long  to be a heartbeat but still too short to actually feel like eternity, he breathed. There were no weapons drawn just a serving girl picking up the tray and seemingly muttering to herself. He glanced at the stairs, he could jump that distance and land on the first step and dash up and disappear into a room, but he wasn't as coordinated or supple at Lea and that would never work. He took the strides at length to make it feel as if he shortened the distance by sheer will alone, and took off up the stairs.

Slight prayers to Dargotten then simply to any god listening, Chancelor felt a flood of relief and a sense of urgency. Where was Lea? In their rooms? Talking to a contact? Astax  would find them eventually, that bird was well, a bird. He got to the top step, finally allowing himself to look forward, it was a miracle he didn't bump into anyone on the way up, and there was Lea. A simple nod showed she understood his desire and determination to go that was clearly written upon his face. His only thought was of how she could know him that well, and how was she always prepared at the right moment? Her pack was ready and she simply slung it on. Chancelor, being in a near state of panic from adrenaline and worry, needed help to figure out the straps after muttering a few curses to the same gods he had just prayed to.

It wasn't long before Chancelor noticed the lake drifting away. He was ever looking over his shoulder because, well, after what he had been through in the recent past, he was allowed to be a bit paranoid. When the lake looked like a mere drop, he finally allowed his mind to focus, and even then he was still loosing footing on rocks, twigs, his own feet. There would be bruises in the morning, but, with all the hiking Lea had done, and all the falling and tumbling he had done, Chancelor was ready for it, and it wouldn't bother him that badly.

Sometime, he knew not when, he was lying down, sun beaming on his face. He never remembered falling asleep, he never remembered that he had stopped walking. As far as he knew he was still walking all up to the point that he woke up. "A dream," he muttered. He knew they had gone far, though not the direction, and it seemed that he must have simply given out and had a dream that they had always been walking. Was he going to have to wander forever? All he wanted to do was reach human lands before he was caught by any elves.

A rather loud "caw!" and the sudden weight on his lap informed him that Astax had either followed or just found him. He smiled, "Hey Astax. You wouldn't happen to know where we are or if anyone was following us would you?" He stroked the bird lightly, then a loud rumbling roar came from his stomach, which caused him to look around. Lea was up and gone somewhere, probably finding food. Chancelor stood up peered around the woods, he didn't recognize them, and headed in search for Lea, picking up dry sticks along the way incase a fire was needed for breakfast. He would be able to think much more clearly after a cool drink and a full belly.

[GM Viora Noire]

Upon getting up Chancelor noticed that his muscles were indeed sore, but that the feeling was not nearly as bad as it had been not too long ago. It seemed like finally -- and Dargotten be thanked -- Chancelor's muscles became better accustomed to the constant strain they had been exhibited to during the past few days. Without waiting for an invitation, Astax fluttered up and quite contentedly sat down on Chancelor's shoulder. The bird briefly rubbed his surprisingly soft, downy head against the young man's cheek and then settled into a comfortable position. It seemed as if Astax had grown quite attached to this spot on Chancelor's shoulder, and it seemed to Chancelor as if the weight of the bird -- in some mysterious sort of way -- had grown quite familiar to him. There was something soothing in the presence of the bird, something endlessly and inexplicably familiar. Maybe, however, the feeling was simply a feeling of bonding which is quite natural if companions -- be they humanoid or animal -- share both danger and relief, sorrow and happiness together.

Thus equipped Chancelor set out to find Lea. He did not have to look long until he spotted her flaming red hair sparkling cheerfully in the warm morning sun. She was sitting casually in front of a berry bush, picking berries and dropping them on a piece of cloth or popping them in her mouth. Chancelor did not have to say a word, for as soon as he was within line of sight Lea, albeit not facing him, chuckled and wished him a good morning.

"You are stomping through the forest like an elephant," Lea noted teasingly, a huge grin on her face. "Come help me pick some berries. There's also a small spring nearby," Lea pointed out the directions, "in case you would like to have a drink, or refresh yourself a little bit."

Thus Chancelor could do as he pleased, and whatever direction he headed first, he would find the spring without any incidents. Should he decide to help Lea pick some berries, he would observe that they were of a reddish colour and rather large, almost the size of full-grown cherries. They had a sweet, slightly tart taste and soothed his stomach instantly. Lea explained that these berries were exceptionally nutritious, albeit a rather rare find, and that they were lucky to be able to save their provisions whenever they could.

The firewood Chancelor had collected thus proved to be quite useless, and Lea, elf to the bone, proved resistant to light a fire anyway, for she did not want to, in her own words "burn the forest and themselves to ashes."

Soon enough the two of them had finished their sparse, yet refreshing breakfast. Once satisfied they sat for a few moments in silence. Then Lea frowned and began chewing on the nail of her index finger. She appeared to think, and think hard at that, and finally she announced: "I must admit, Chancelor, I am a little bit at loss for a plan. I suppose it is clear that we should attempt to get some more distance between ourselves and Myst Lake. Other than that, I am not sure how to proceed."

She was silent for a few more moments, lost in her own thoughts. "Something is very, very wrong," she announced at last with a certain finality. "Years ago, when all this mess started, I agreed to meet with Nor'nain in Na'el. I've never been to Na'el though, and although I have a relative sense of where we need to be heading, I am not sure about the exact route to take. It might be a bit of a hassle getting there," she smiled as if asking for forgiveness. "As I have no better plan, I reckon we can as well go to Na'el. Unless you have any better ideas? At this point, quite seriously my friend, I am pretty much open for everything."

Lea's roguish grin, however, was for once lost on Chancelor, for the moment she had finished her observations the young man felt a tentative touch of another mind brushing against his. At first he thought that it might be Lea testing him, but within the fragment of a second it was painfully clear to him that whatever presence he could feel attempting to breach the barrier around his mind, it was not  Lea's familiar one. This, on the other hand, could only mean one thing: their pursuers were up to them again, this time not so much physically as mentally.

Chancelor could sense a feeling of triumph in a very distant corner of his mind. The triumph appeared to say 'I am in the right head. I found him.', although Chancelor could not quite tell how he would know such a thing. Then the presence began to grope around, attempting to extract a certain piece of information from Chancelor's still shielded mind. Like invisible tentacles the presence began to expand around the borders of Chancelor's mental library, began reaching for one book or another, rather aimlessly, in a manner of frustration that the mind it was trying to invade was, without a doubt, shielded against such an attack. It  took Chancelor only one moment to understand what piece of information the presence was looking for: it was their current location, their future destination. Chancelor's heart began to beat violently against his chest as the last remnants of doubt were swiftly blown away by this realisation. Then, only moments after, Chancelor realised another thing: the presence was skilfull. Even as he was thinking the same thought, the presence moved on to another corner of his mind, then, incredibly fast, to another. It was like whoever tried to invade the young man's mind was running circles, concentric circles, faster and faster, but steadily closing in to the centre where they hoped to find what they were looking for. Chancelor knew that he could not betray this information.
"Chancelor?" he could hear from the distance when he felt a sudden, more violent approach of the presence in his mind. It was this moment that Chancelor, without the shred of a doubt, knew, knew with absolute certainty, that he needed to actively try and shield his mind, to forcefully chase the unwanted presence out of his mind, lest it might find just what it was looking for -- and if that happened, Chancelor was certain, they would be found. What would happen if they were found, Chancelor did not know but the thought alone seemed to freeze the blood in his veins and arrest the air in his lungs. At all cost, he needed to prevent  detection.

[Chancelor Aillil]

The familiar stretch and ache on his muscles were still annoying but starting to loosen him up. He knew he had more energy from being out in the wilds all day. It was simply a question on when, if ever, his body would catch up to his mind.

He found Lea picking berries not long after he started his search, so he scattered the few sticks he had picked up randomly, hoping that if anyone were to come by that they would look, well, random, but not purposefully so.

He took a few berries, noting the tartness of them before going to get a cool drink and splashing some water on his face to help wake himself up. Chancelor stood and looked around at the beautiful scenery, if only the human lands were like the elven, then he would have no trouble fitting in perfectly.

He turned and walked back to Lea who seemed to be gathering berries to add to provisions. Chancelor stooped beside her and decided to help as much as he could, though through clumsiness he burst more between his fingers than he was able to save for later.

Lea began speaking of meeting Nor'nain or Na'el. Now there was a name that hadn't popped up into his head for a while. The man who discovered him, the one who knew more about Chancelor than he did himself at a single glance.

Chancelor only nodded his head in agreement as she talked without ever really hearing what she said. He had picked up that even she, the seemingly endlessly resourceful Lea, had no idea where to go from here. What was it she had said, she knew which way, but not how, nor where. An ironic smile played at the corner of his lips. It was always the case that no one ever knew how or which way, but usually knew the where. This was a nice twist, and allowed for more error, which was always a bad sign in his experience.

She had said something else about "loss" and "Na'el" again, and that wonderful smile she always had, but.... no, nothing registered. Something else was there, something feeling for him. A breach, his barrier, his library. Not Lea, no, he knew her presence instantly now, he could always tell. This was different, and then, satisfaction. No one had ever rejoiced inside of him before, it was foreign, wrong. Someone had found them, well, not them, but his mind. They were still chasing, even after all the running that had been done the night before.

He felt the mind on the borders of his mind, just testing the perimiter, and there was never anything there, just useless shelves of endless books that he had read through the years. Things he had learned that he had all but forgotten, only rarely dredged up if the need did arise. But then, no, they were on the other side, still testing the perimiter, only he had ever moved so fast through his own mind. This was a skilled mind, this was a mind that knew where it was going and what it wanted. What did it want, what were they after?

Then full realization came to Chancelor. He didn't fully know where they were because of his state of panic and blacking out, but he knew in the dark recesses of his mind. They were looking for him, and he held that information. The pattern was easy to follow. Long circles going in never crossing, never touching. The ultimate spot would lead to the center of his mind. It was time for Chancelor to meet the stranger, and he was more excited than ever.

Chancelor started at Lea blankly and then snapped his eyes shut. Concentration was all he wanted, all he needed. The presence was getting closer, and there was some housekeeping to do. He didn't want to completely reveal himself, so he thought of himself as a large raven in his mind watching over the library and assumed a posistion on every shelf, watching the stranger. Slowly, the perimiter started dying away quickly and being replaced, the center of his mind as well, though more slowly. Chancelor attempted to keep wherever the stranger was the same as it was. He was trying to keep reshuffling everything so that the stranger saw only the same things over and over. While in the meantime recreating his library.

The only hope was that Lea understood what was happening and that she could hide them both by whatever means she had available.

[GM Viora Noire]

As Chancelor retreated into his own mind to defend it, the outside world almost instantly faded away. Chancelor was not sure if his eyes were actually closed or if it was simply the amount of concentration he had to utilise whenever he visited his mental library, but the more often he did it, the more effortless the whole procedure seemed to become. So it happened the the Lirynn wilderness was hushed into an inobtrusive, barely noticeable background lull. Chancelor did have neither time nor concentration enough to worry about what would happen in his immediate surroundings -- but he was right; there was Lea, after all, who would take care of any possible danger that might arrive. Asides that, there had appeared to be nothing threating nearby -- the only immediate danger, as far as Chancelor was concerned, was the stranger attempting to extract information from his mind.

As effortless the transition from outside to mental world was, as soon as Chancelor arrived in his library, the task become more difficult. Disguising himself as a raven took the young man a little bit of focus, but eventually he managed to do so and Chancelor became an intelligent mind within the body of a bird. It felt unfamiliar to be a bird, but after flapping his imagined wings for a few times Chancelor quickly got accustomed to his new form -- and, after all, he was no real raven. He was a raven in his own mental realm, and as far as Chancelor had understood it, the only limitations in here were his imagination, willpower and personal, mental ressources.

From his position high above the ground Chancelor had a perfect overview. With his new, sharp eyes he could make out the slightest shift, the slightest movement in even the darkest corner. Whoever was attempting to enter the information stored in his mind was swift, but disoriented. The presence, quite invisible  to Chancelor asides the sudden puffs of dust or movements within the bookshelves whenever the person attempted to access one of the books, more or less arbitrarily jumped from one shelf to the next, randomly choosing one book or another, then randomly moving on. Inwardly, Chancelor might have triumphed: this way it was easy, almost effortless, to keep up with the pace. A movement here, a movement there -- and Chancelor was already at the spot where his reshuffling was needed. Swiftly he replaced the books with books containing the same, useless information -- again and again. Within his mind, stemming from the presence, Chancelor could feel a growing sense of frustration and anger. In the same way the intruder's frustration grew, however, his own amusement might have grown.

Thus the little game of hide-and-seek continued for a while. The presence, while growing more and more impatient, also seemed to get slower. Maybe whoever was attempting to intrude into Chancelor's mind was growing tired. At the same time this thought flitted through Chancelor's brain, the young man noticed that he, although he was on his own turf, could also slowly begin to feel the strain on his concentration.

The game continued a little longer, when suddenly the presence stopped mid-movement. For a short, elating moment Chancelor thought that the intruder was finally giving up, that the frustration that he had felt being built had taken the better of his pursuer. Then, however, the presence began to move again. Much slower than before, but also much more determined and -- much to Chancelor's dismay -- with some sort of a plan. Organisedly, the intruder began to take one book from one of the shelves, then another, then another, and moved on to the next shelf, thus stopping to stop randomly. Still it was possible for Chancelor to anticipate what would happen next and to reshuffle the books as the need arose. The intruder, however, appeared to have gotten an inkling of  Chancelor's strategy and answered with a strategy of his own, falling back into a more arbitrary, but nonetheless organised and determined pattern.

This pattern was much more difficult for Chancelor to keep up with, for whenever the presence moved on it moved on to a spot in the library that was particularly dark, particularly hidden, and usually just outside Chancelor's line of sight. Therefore, it took Chancelor precious moments and a good amount of concentration and focus to re-discover the location of the presence in his mind.

The 'game' continued, Chancelor could not tell how long. Shuffling and re-shuffling, placing the same old books, finding the presence, finding the presence again. Chancelor's task became tedious and he felt that his wings grew heavy, that he could no longer move as effortlessly in the beginning, The intruder, on the other hand, seemed to be re-energised by his new strategy. There was no obvious sign of fatigue in his opponent whereas Chancelor grew more and more tired as time ticked by.

Nonetheless: Chancelor could not give up. He needed to keep out whoever the intruder was. Maybe he needed some sort of a more offensive strategy? Maybe simply avoiding a single thought to be found, Chancelor needed to actively attack the presence somehow? Yet, how could he do that?

Chancelor did not have a lot of time to ponder a new strategy, or a change thereof for suddenly there was a third presence in his mind. It was not Lea, he was instantly sure of that. The new presence felt somehow strangely familiar, yet not quite human at the same time. It was vaguely intelligent, it was, Chancelor was instinctively convinced, benevolent -- and yet it took Chancelor a while to figure out who the new presence was. In fact it dawned on him only when suddenly, on a shelf opposite of his own position, there appeared another raven. For a brief moment Chancelor thought that he could see his raven-self in a mirror, or some reflecting surface -- but as he moved, the other raven remained still and tilted his head to one side, staring at Chancelor with sparkling, yellow eyes.

"Crawk!" Astax communicated, and then again, "Crawk!"

Then, as Chancelor was forced to focus his concentration on the intruder again, while he was once more, endlessly, re-shuffling the books of his library Astax let out a terrifying sound, have screech have something else, and then all Chancelor could hear was the flapping of wings, a sudden gust of wind, another, guttural sound and then he was suddenly envelopped in a cloud of wings, feathers, and wind.

Instinctively, he hopped back to get a better look at the scene. Astax, maybe out of an animal instinct, maybe following an unheard command, was attacking the presence. His beak was pecking towards something invisible over and over again, his talons were gripping something unseen without letting go. It was strange to see the raven fight against something invisible, but nonetheless Astax's sudden attack seemed to be the turning point in favour of Chancelor. Suddenly, there were sounds, painful sounds, decidedly human. The intruder  did not move anymore, but rather appeared to attempt to defend himself against the raven. Astax, however, was relentless and kept pecking and clawing, clawing and pecking. There were sighs and a gurgling sound and then, as sudden as it had appeared, the presence disappeared without leaving a trace.

Only an instant later, Astax himself disappeared again, leaving Chancelor alone in his mind again. Chancelor, however, did not even have the time for a sigh of relief for suddenly his mental image shifted again, and he was thrown back into the real world.

When he opened his eyes again, or when his vision shifted back to focus on the Lirynn wilderness, Chancelor could see only a couple of leaves and branches, a whole lot of green letting in only insufficient light. Lea had reacted, Chancelor realised, and hidden him within the shrubbery. Lea? Where was Lea herself?

As soon as he had thought the though, Chancelor could feel a cool hand on his arm.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Lea asked and smiled. "I think it is quite safe for us to talk, but when you became unresponsive I figured that there might be something going on and that we, well I, better hide. So I dragged you in here," she grinned impishly. "So, what happened? Anything we need to be concerned about?" The last part of the question was, of course, superfluous and Lea knew it, as Chancelor could easily guess from her humourless smile.

[Chancelor Aillil]

Astax sudden visitation to his library was, and was not, a shock. The bird had visited him before as such, but it was a much different experience. What the shock to Chancelor was, was that Astax had come to protect him.

Chancelor had no way of knowing how Astax knew where the presence was, or what it was, but somehow Astax knew it was not welcome, and never supposed to be there. After a flurry of wings, and the valiant effort by his animal companion to rid themselves of the unknown presence, both the presence and Astax instantly rescinded from his mind. Soon Chancelor too, simply became aware of his actual surroundings. Lea had dragged him into some bushes and... Wait, where? And a cool hand touched his burning skin. For some reason he had noticed that he was warmer every time he came from his mind. Lea's touch was the only thing that reminded him that where he was now, was more real, physical. She had said something. What was it? He looked lost, thoughtful for a moment. "They are tracking my mind? My thought?"

He looked at Lea with longing. How could someone track his mind? It left no footprint, no broken limbs, as his clumsy legs did. He would need to practice on completely closing his mind. For his mind, actual thought to be one thing and simply surface things, immediate action another. "Lea, I don't think they know where we are going, but I think they know kind of where we are." A look of panic flitted across Chancelor's face, but now is a good time to start to practice, he thought. He pushed any actual feelings he had at that moment aside and simply attempted to feel where they should go, and attempt to act. The first thing though, he crawled out of the bush and stood up. "All I know is we need to go somewhere we can hide for a little while."