Ëthan: The Ayalla War (IC)

With the corner of his eye, Leo catched the discrete nod his human master sent him "Please, young sir, be at home." he took the hand of Braus in a friendly shake. As the reminiscent mist of sleep finally dissipated, Leo realized what happened; the glimpse of that poor man running from the tavern came back to his mind, and he presumed the presence of his master, or whoever the old liannon should talk to. "I'm Leocad, mister Braus." He turned to the other, guessing if he should introduce his master as well.

Érberus was already standing close to them, the tired aspect completely far from him, like a shroud he could easily take off. "While we are not disturbed, sincerely, by your visit, mister Braus, I'm sure you will understand if I ask you the reason for your presence at this time of night. I'm sure you made your way easily, passing the helpful but calvish innkeeper." Érberus tone was not humorous, nor was accusatory. He had some sympathy for anyone this forward. "I'm Érberus." he added, as it was of little importance.

Leo, always sprightly, commented "I see you expected something different when looking to my face, young Braus. I'm not offended, but curious; why am I so disappointing?" He was rather interested and could start asking the stranger about almost anything. His contact to his own kin had been very poor, to say the least; but he respected Érberus enough to hold his tongue, and wait for the liannon reply to the main subject first.

Leo's eyes searched for his master's "This is unexpected, to say the least" he whispered, inseccure about waking Braus with his voice.

"You don't need to talk like this. This blossom induces a deep calm and meditative state; only uncommon loud sounds could bring him back - if we presume that our guest is at least a little attentive to the surroundings. One really centered in mind could avoid even this, and stay in the Dream until death." Érberus talked in his normal unexpressive tone.

"This doesn't seem like a good perspective" Leo added, raising on eyebrow.

"Because you value your life more than your dreams. And more than 'the Dream', whose existence you probably were unaware of. The major question is how much our visitor can control or understand the Dream."

"Is it dangerous?" Leo asked, but not seeming afraid.

"Yes, it could be." the answer was simple. "But probably our visitor just want a perfectly private conversation"

"So, I'm going alone" Leo was already picking the blossom from Braus' hand, but his arm was stopped by Érberus.

"This risk is my reason to go."

The corner of Leo's lips curled up a little. "So you CAN go. I don't belive you actually can sleep. After years..."

"Yes, this is a place I haven't visited in a long time. Quick with this, our guest is already waiting us for too long. Don't overdo it, or I won't be able to wake you in a week"

"I guess we are his guests now." Leo inhaled softly the flower, and soon sat close to the bed, feeling the warm sensation of sleep overtaking him. He couldn't see if Érberus used the flower to enter the Dream. At first, Leo could only see himself floating in a dark space, with some little flashes of what seemed to be the room they just left, their bodies resting alone. In a few seconds, a slightly distorted image of Érberus appeared. Sometimes he seemed covered by a thin dark mist, in others he looked translucent, like he wasn't really there.

Leo looked around in complete amazement, his wide open eyes like blue pearls behind the small lenses of his glasses. "Yes, this... may be the Spring! This is the Spring!" his grin was sincere, like an innocent in pure bliss. "This is more... lively... than anything I ever saw. At least anything in the nature, far from the civilized hands." The poor liannon had lucidity enough to notice that he was interrupting the main subject, far more important than his dazzle or curiosity; but he also noticed that, while in the Astral Plane, the thoughts, words and intentions were far more difficult to stop, specially in his vivacious nature.

"Your name is not unfamiliar, mister Braus. My father, like many in his family, is a specialist merchant: he sells rare books. More than once, my father searched for special volumes for the Ygnis family. I believe your father was the valued and choosy costumer he mentioned. In a particular case, I searched and delivered personally a volume at your mansion, probably 60 years ago... My father couldn't do it himself. You probably can't remember, or just ignored the uncommon delivery" After all the talking, Leo could now hold his tongue. He glanced to Érberus, feeling guilty, but after a moment he was plain surprised. Seeming completely distracted, Érberus ignored all the talk, and was just looking around, smiling.

For some unknown reason, the Spring had a special meaning to him. Far from the cold usual physiognomy, he was seeming sincerely happy, in a polite and restrained manner.

"Your informant heard well. I will fight Winter. The man you mentioned is a potential ally. His skills are interesting and useful to me." He still avoided Braus eyes, looking to the grass, trees and colors of this construction of the Astral Plane. "while your habilty to travel and mold the Dream is exquisite, I still need a proof of what you say. How could you prove me you're worth of fighting with me?" Érberus presence, fugacious and indefinite moments before, was now solid real, his baffling and gloomy eyes piercing with intensity. "Say it. Show it. Why?, and How?"

Érberus smile pretty much changed, from a pure to dangerous one. "You're commiting a mistake, Braus. I'm not a master of the Dream. This place don't see me in many, many years. And you already gave me one of my proofs. You're wise enough to feel the evil of Winter and not fall for it. But you're also fool enough to get angry"

A loud noise of wood crashing, slightly changed by the eerie atmosphere of the Astral Plane, interrupted the conversation. Unsure about how he could summon his loyal staff, Leo improvised with a long and thin branch of a tree a new weapon for himself. He stepped forward, determined to defend his master, but the human dismissed the servant with a simple gesture.

"Thank you Leo, this is not necessary." he took the primitive weapon and looked to Braus once again. "While you're confident about your power over this environment, I may say my power over myself is not so predictable." With an unhuman screech coming deeply from his throat, Érberus changed his body... assuming the form of another Liannon.

He was slightly shorter than both his companions, and the fur covering his body was light gray. His clothes adapted to his new body, leaving free the tail and the specially dextrous feet. While his motivations remained unclear, Érberus knew this could also be the opposition between Braus and his people, the same that disappointed him in the past. His mouth opened in a fake grin, with mannered expression, making him and Leocad pretty much alike, except for the eyes, still green and brown. "Surprise me, Tenebraus Ygnis"

Leocad jumped like a ferocious demon and grabbed the stick in mid-air. "You're just half-right, young Braus. It's true that I hate the violence, and I highly dislike seeing blood, specially when I'm the main cause for the harm." the Liannon adopted a different combat position, with his usual smirk "But I like a good fight. Debates, bets, training. All kinds of good sport. And, dammit, I like you, and this is another reason to confront you." This was a peculiarity of Leo's being. He was competitive, and liked these situations; winning and massaging his ego, or losing, and see the appreciation for a friend growing stronger, when said friend proves a talent, both endings were appealing to him.

The older Liannon was distinctly less skilled with this choice of weapon, as he trained only with larger rods, and never with a sword. Only slightly taller, probably thinner and surely older than Braus, he couldn't count with a particular strenght. His unique point was, ironically, a bad experience from the past: the time back when he dealt with a few bad patrons as a laborer, something terrible for his patrician and noetic nature. Heavy hammers and great axes; Leo was both a mason and lumberjack. This was his clue and the stance he used to fight.

"I'm sorry, master Allen, I don't mean to disobey you. I'll stop if you command." The gray liannon that was now Érberus, just shrugged, and stepped out of the way, resting his back on a tree. The servant grinned in satisfaction. "Don't hold back, young Braus, I'm not too old for this. Chon sè!!" he cried, the liannic expression for en garde!, while jumping over Braus waving the stick.

By mere reflex, Leo jumped forward, waiting for the impact; but he was saved by the Dream laws. Without the weight of a real physical body, his ethereal body quickly responded to his intention, giving the time for him to curl and roll like a ball before getting into position again. Leo felt amazing, like someone 50 years younger, without noticing that his back would probably hurt after such a move. He adopted his stance again, filing his contentment for later.

"It's not like I have forgotten this simple lesson. In fact, I just never learn it, for my teachers desperation" Leo's talking could be notoriously less refined in these situations "But, there is something in my favor. You can't wait to see what I'm doing next!"

Feeling better than he had felt in decades, Leo moved quickly once more. When closer to Braus, he jumped again, trying to strike him from one side, and kicking from the other on the last minute. Stranger than that, his foot was holding another stick, grabbed stilly from the ground while he was talking.

Raoul sat in his room, ears listening in to the sounds coming from the many rooms of the hotel. he listened to them all, but focused solely on the sounds from the room adjacent to his own... well, make that the lack of sound. the converstation in the room had completely died off a few minutes ago, and now all Raoul heard was silence. he couldn't have guess that where all in the dream, he being a simple thief with only limited knowledge of magic knew very little of such things... but he knew this new allies would of been able to handle themselves if the situation had become violent, plus the conversation had ended with a more or less neutral tone... so Raoul wasn't going to worry.

"if they are dead by morning then it will not have been my problem" he chuckled to himself as he opened the window and stared out at the still active festival... Thieves knew that the night was their friend, the darkness gave even the less skilled thief a chance to steal without being caught. yet on the night of a rightly lit festival, there is no darkness... yet all the same, by this time many people where more distracted by festivities or quite drunk, snatching a few handfuls of food or money would be terribly easy.

Raoul was not normally one to work in such an easy environment, but if he was going to be travelling with his new allies he would need money and supplies, neither of which he had... he hadn't planned to sleep that night anyway. with that he quietly slipped out of the window and down the side of the building...

Leo had no chance to avoid the impact, specially after landing in just one foot, while the other was still grabbing the stick; with the leg on the air, he regained balance and didn't fall after the impact. "Gah! Why is it always in my back?" Despite the protest, the Liannon was still smiling. He wasn't fast enough to hit Braus still in the air, but he used the time to pass the stick to his free hand, turning again to face his opponent. Using this turning impulse, he shocked his stick with all his strenght, trying to disestablish him or break his guard.

Érberus was calmly waiting by the tree. He thought about telling Leo that the wounds he would get in the Dream could affect his physical body, but he was enjoying this so much that he would certainly ignore the advice. While seeming relaxed, in fact he was tense like a bowstring, his mind darting through all reasons it could raise to avoid the Dream, the same he used through the last years: if I avoid this realm, no one will find credible information about me, but only the oniric rumors; I'm more vulnerable here than in the physical realm, where the reality is harder to mold; I cannot fall for the trap of living back "there"; and, specially My enemy is never asleep.

Aware that his mind could give glimpses of his thoughts to anyone sensitive enough, he cautiously shielded it to avoid both exposion and intrusion. That extra effort forced him to change back to his human appearance, but he stopped the proccess before the tranformation could go any further. Slightly grumpy, Éreberus waited the end of this game, to be sure that his agrrement with Braus was clear enough.

Leo felt the pain in his wrist, and was quickly disarmed. He was still holding the other stick on his free hand; but at that exact moment, he noticed his master again, reclining under the tree. He could easily see under that calm mask - not only for the years of convivence, but also helped by the strange laws that ruled the Dream, making some connections even stronger. He could read the impatience, and felt a little ashamed, noticing how much involved he got during the battle, forgetting his main objectives. With that in mind, he relaxed from his battle stance. "I surrender. You're a great warrior, and your skill impresses me. You could teach a good lesson to my prior teachers, I imagine"

Freeing his wrist, he walked in Érberus direction. "Oh, my back is suffering much before I met you, young Braus" He made a humorous grimmace, before smiling to the other Liannon again.

Érberus stood again with a smooth move, looking to Braus and assuming his role in the conversation. "I must agree with Leocad. You're a reliable warrior. But now, as you invited us to talk in the Dream, I'd like to ask your help. We should isolate this part of the realm, so we can talk freely." Éreberus approached the Liannon. A round wide area around them started to vibrate, the ethereal energy waving slightly.

"As you already know, I will fight the Winter. And I search for an item that could be used as a weapon against it. An item that could fight or destroy an Ayalla."

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An young and cold body lying on a destroyed bed. Anyone could guess it was a dead human, but one attentive enough would see the last remain of collor on his cheeks. Or would use a mirror in front os his parted lips, and see the tiny dim caused by his fragile breath. It wasn't dead yet. But was lying like this for more than two years now, sustained only by a spell.

He was just the last tool used to perpetually search the Dream. Before him, dozens were used just like this, until their death. This boy would die soon, too.

Another person was standing close to the boy. Just as pale, and seeming just as fragile. Maybe even colder. Gelid. And smiling. After centuries, the search through the Dream had at least some useful information. That was good news.

The mind of the boy would be read a little more, at least while he could witness the special events happening on the Dream. After that, he would be discarded, like all the others, consumed by the eternal hunger of Winter.

Éreberus raised an eyebrow, in a subtle gesture of satisfaction. This skill could be useful, and maybe the Dream wasn't so dangerous for them, after all. At least, while Braus was on their side, something he intended to make last long enough. He was sure that the Dream had no clue about him or his intentions, except for the ones he would voice now. Or would, if Leo hadn't shout before the human could open his mouth.

"That was scary! I think every hair in my body is goose-pimply, even in the strangest places."

The stoic human rolled his eyes, before returning to the main subject. "The item I mentioned before is a weapon still unknown to me. I tracked this information from the far East, and the legends are at least some centuries old. Among the mortals, I mean. It seems the Ayalla kept this information from themselves, probably because the hunger for power and glory is well known among us. It would be an unnecessary risk."

"According to most of the rumors, this item was carved by the first Ayalla. The Elementals can't be killed by common ways - or they would be under the risk of getting theirselves killed before the season ended, when they could transfer their power and charge to the next chosen one. The first Ayalla knew that, someday, one of them could deny the sacrifice. Something could go wrong and destroy the harmony. So this weapon was it's safeguard."

"The item was sent to a special mortal, the only one allowed to know this secret, and be it's guardian. The Guardian would also be under the responsibility of preparing another mortal before he or she could die. The mortal should aways be prepared to face the Ayalla rebel, fighting it with this sacred weapon when the time comes. But until now, after six centuries under the tyrannical power of Winter, no one appeared holding the sacred item. The information escaped, and now the secret is another rumor, very hard to track, for it's not yet part of the mortal culture, but still there, for anyone devoted enough. I fear we're not the only group searching for it, now."

"I know Winter also looks for it, but doesn't know where to search. I believe it's far deep into the West of our known lands. Or even far, beyond the Unknown. Maybe it still has a guardian, or the last one died before could pass his or her obbligation. But we must take it to fight Winter."

Érberus knew he should always keep Braus under his eyes, as he was too clever for his own sake. But that was a good point and a factor that could balance his fiery nature, specially his hate against Winter. Part of him wanted to tell that they were not just that lost, but it was safer to keep silent for a little longer.

"This is a good idea. We know we must head West for a long time. But crossing the distances through the Dream is much easier. Would you like to search first, of travel some miles before that?"

Leo, strangely silent for a long time, raised another point. "If I understood well, and I bielieve I did, if we travel through the Dream again, leaving this... bubble? This safe place where we are now, far from the rest of the Dream realm, we must make it quietly. Someone can track us again, when we enter the rest of the Dream."

"Now we have something to work with. The first sketch of a plan." Leo smiled, sardonic. "But I must say that I don't know how to return to my body."

"I will guide you back. I'm sure young Braus is very comfortable with the mechanics of astral projection." Allen looked to the young Liannon close to him, his astral body already pulsing with a strange energy, while fading slowly. "We will work together. Feel free to quit the scheme anytime you want. But if you do, I hope you're wise enough to stay away, and hide. Winter can ignore you if you can look harmless." The human grabbed the wrist of his servant, to the liannon's very surprise. "Before we start traveling, there is one more thing I should show you, but only in the physical realm."

The two started to glow slightly, but in a second only their silhouette was visible. They assumed again the smaller spherical form; but Érberus seemed to ignore the fact they were still in a separate bubble of the Dream. Instead of forcing his way back to the rest of the realm - something we wasn't sure he could achieve - and go by the risk of being trapped in the absolute void around this space, he simply guided his partner back to his body, while forcing the link between the Astral and the Known Lands.

At first, Leo fought back the sensation of his astral body being dissipated; he felt like his very soul and sense of identity were loosing it's limits, becoming vague, stretched and terribly abstract. When this feeling became overwhelming, and he started to wilt... something familiar aproached him. He could feel it was... looking into his eyes. Did he have eyes? It didn't matter. This thing aproached, enveloping him in warmness, picking everything that was spread and placing it back.

"Wake up"

Leo was sitting against the bed, the blossom still in his hand, and the embrace feeling around his body. Also an uncomfortable pain in his back and head. Slowly opening his eyes, he couldn't see a thing. The room was still covered in darkness, and his glasses fell to the ground. But in front of him, he could feel the movement of Érberus turning away.

"Please... do it, young Braus" Surprisingly, it was Leo who asked, almost pulling the jug from Braus hands, hoping the cold water could get him back to his feet.

"After you're done, I'd like to have your attention once again, Braus, to explain another aspect of what we can do and how we work." Érberus was still walking away from the two Liannon, and sat on the only chair of the room. While doing the move, he intoned a few notes of a song with an unknown language; his voice sounded like the echo one can hear when close to a cliff. This little performance of magic changed his body, making him look again like the gray Liannon form he assumed in the Dream.

"Please, don't lose the trust you have on us, even if it's only a little. We are not tricking you. I just want you to know that I can perform this kind of organic magic, for a short period of time. Also... how accurate is your sense of hearing?"