The Eye of Terror: The Labyrinthine Depths of Chaos (Part III)

[Cameron]

Kari arrives as Mary is trying to set Karyl’s legs back into place. He is still mercifully unconscious, but groans in pain anyway as Mary works.

“Dr. Katrea, some of that patented Water Elemental regeneration magic would greatly improve our patient's condition, if you don’t mind.”

Kari nods and raises her hands as she focuses her energy. A mist forms around Karyl’s body. His bones begin to regenerate as his other wounds seem to knit themselves closed. After a few minutes, Kari lets her hands fall and the mist clears. Karyl stirs.

“Unnnnngh, that fucking SUCKED. I haven’t been beaten that badly since that concert on Cecelia Prime when I sang that song about that dude’s wife.”

Karyl reaches to his left until he feels his guitar under his fingertips.

“At least my baby is okay. That’s all that matters.”

Mary smirks.

“You’re an idiot, as always. Are you going to be okay?”

Karyl nods, though he makes no move to get up.

“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. Just five more minutes, okay?”

Mary stands up and looks at Jharm, who is still standing nearby.

“Hey, angel guy. Can you keep an eye on my idiot friend here? He might need help getting up.”

Mary turns to Kari.

“I’m going to go see if Garr needs attention. Go check on the big guy over there.”

Kari looks at Gulgrim, confused. The ork seems fine. Mary follows her gaze.

“No, no. Not that one. The slightly smaller guy. Soul Reaver. The one who’s down an arm.”

Kari shifts her gaze to Soul Reaver and cringes.

“Uh… yeah. That looks like it should be tended to.”

Kari makes her way to Soul Reaver as Mary walks back towards Garr and Sepher. Mary calls out to Sepher as she approaches.

“Hey. Is he alright?”

Kari reaches Soul Reaver and Gulgrim just as they finish shaking hands. She waits for Gulgrim to finish speaking before interjecting.

“I can probably speed that regeneration up a bit, if you’d like.”

Cameron has not moved during this time. He continues to stand away from the others, looking at nothing.

[Veldanya Venalla]

Thank you, friend. When the time comes, I look forward to having you at my side.

The Seraphim visibly nods, though his reponse is only heard by Cameron

And by your side shall I be....I swear it.

Just then he removes the last of the debris from the pile to reveal the unconscious Karyl.  Jharm begins to reach down to examine the Elemental when the sound of raised voices catches his attention.  Looking up, his gleaming orbs of light rest upon Cameron and the elemental called Mary having some sort of argument.  The holy warrior still had no real understanding on most of the Elementals and the one known as Mary made the least sense of all, but Jharm could easily tell that the two (especially Cameron at the beginning) were quite angry with each other.  Sighing softly, the Seraphim stands up, his large gauntlets grasping his helm and removing it, revealing his pure white skin.  Placing the helm on the end of his hammers handle he shifts as he is about to move to seperate the two when the argument ends.  A moment later Mary moves in his direction and with the aid of one of the other Elementals (kari) seems to resuscitate Karyl. 

“Hey, angel guy. Can you keep an eye on my idiot friend here? He might need help getting up.”

Jharm raises an eyebrow towards Mary upon hearing such a....strange designation for him.  He is about to respond then stops.

No....she did not mean any harm by it and there has been more then enough bickering and in-fighting recently to last for quite some time.

The Seraph gazes around the field, seeing the assortment of bruises, cuts, and other injuries the Companions and Elementals had recently endured.  Time was of the essence though and the longer they tallied here the more time Peterson would have to prepare for them.  Peterson.....he had fought with the now horribly corrupted and twisted soldier back before such a dark fate had befallen him.  He had seemed to be an honorable warrior but the creature that had slaughtered Kalana and toyed with her corpse was no longer that same man.  The joy and amusement that Peterson had displayed as he further tormented and tortured Cameron sickened the creature of Light to his very core.  He forces the disgust away though as he seeks to concentrate on his next action.  Dropping to one knee, the plated knee thumping into the dirt below, he closes his eyes as his mouth begins to form silent words of prayer as his hands tighten into fists.  A soft warm glow of light envelops his form, the glow increasing each second until it seems almost as if a miniature sun resides within his armored form.  Suddenly his mouth stops moving as his head raises and his eyes open up.  The orbs within glow briliantly as well, and then the Seraphs arms thrust straight out to each side as the light explodes out from him, washing over all of the Companions and Elementals.  The glow seems to "stick" to each one as Jharms hands remain open, his large form shaking slightly as his mouth begins to move silently once more.  Everyone can feel a veritable wave of warmth and relaxation wash over them as their wounds are healed, their thoughts cleared, and their spirits rejuvenated.  Then after a minute Jharm all but collapses to the ground, the light instantly fading away.

"Th.....thank you....oh glorious Lady."

Shakingly the Seraphim pushes himself up, reaching over to grasp the handle of his hammer and using the weapon to stabilize him.  As he rises his gazes passes over those gathered around him until it finally settles on Sepher.

The other demon-wielder....and that reminds me....

Leaving his hammer and helm where they were, the Seraphim walks over to where Sepher stands.  The heavy armor around his large form glows faintly, almost as if a side effect of the amount of power he just focused through his form.  His glowing orbs settle on the human in front of him, his expression blank.

"Tell me....demon-wielder.  Should we be concerned about you potentially losing control next?"

I also sensed the change within you.......

The angellic knights tone while it has a slight...."judgemental" tone to it, also bears concern within it.  With one of the Companions that dealt with demons already having been overcome by the evil of the Eye.....was the other such Companion a "walking time bomb"?

[Daccio]

As sepher nealt to inspect Garr, he reached out and gently inspected the head wound. It looked painful and headwounds always blead a lot. He was going to have a headache at the very least, but it would be impossible to know otherse until Garr woke up, what sort of condition he was actually in. Garr seemed fairly stable for the most part, however.

He did not have healing powers of his own, or rather, he did not want to try to use the power of his daemons to try to heal others. He instead took a small canteen of water from his belt and began to wash the wound gently. He sighed as Mary and Cameron began to have words with one another. This place was really doing a number on them.

Mary approaches sepher and calls out to him, to see if Garr is okay, and sepher replies quietly.

"Well, as long as nothing is broken inside of him, he's probably going to have a mean nasty headache and a concussion, but head wounds bleed a lot so he's probably going to be okay."

Just then however, a wash of light flashes over them, healing their various wounds. Tension eases in Sepher's chest

"Well, I guess he's definately going to be okay now"

He stood up and gave mary a brief smile before turning as Jharm approached. He rubbed his eyes a bit as Jharm spoke.

"Tell me....demon-wielder.  Should we be concerned about you potentially losing control next?"

Tilting his head a bit at being called Demon wielder, he responds with what he heard from mary ealier, putting particular emphasis on angel guy.

"Well, Angel guy, I think I should be okay. I have better control over them than I have in a while. They are.....quiet." he said that as if it was the most wonderful thing ever. It was obvious, that even in his own head, Sepher was never alone.

[Kitharsis]

The elementals are a little worse for the wear, but it seems that everyone will recover. Cameron and Mary have a back and forth. It seems that Mary knew what would happen, but could not stop it. A heavy burden to carry.

So Danyael lives... Kitharsis frowns slightly. He has an odd feeling about what is happening on his ship.

----

Meanwhile, on said space ship, Kitharsis's skeleton crew is busy clattering about. Their task, while Kitharsis is away, is to scan the multiverse for traces of Tirthandaran activity.  The crew of mages and grunts are happily going about their business until Danyael's seemingly lifeless body pops through the recall portal.

The tiny Mage accompanying him rides his body like a surf board as it skids across the floor. Alarm bells sound as containment spells are cast and weapons are readied. If Danyael were to wake at this moment his eyes would find a thatchwork of barriers and pointy weapons aimed at his head.

The tiny Mage waves it's hands in the air, it's jaw clacking away as it explains the situation. Weapons are lowered and the barrier spells are dispelled just as quickly as they were erected. The skeletons go into triage mode immediately.

Gurneys are hauled out of storage as three teams of skeletons try to assist the wounded warrior. Danyael's legs are dangling off of one gurney while his right arm is being strapped into another. His head is put in traction while another team of skeletons silently inspect the ring finger on his left hand.

New, shrieking alarms sound and the ship goes stock still. They all watch as a skeleton barely a foot tall climbs up Danyael's torso and carefully reaches to the wound on his chest.

You could hear a pin drop as the little bony fingers grasp at a stray thread on Danyael's chest. The skeleton plucks the thread off and the skeleton crew erupts in celebration.

Amidst the celebration the thread is placed into a brown ceramic pot. A heavy lid is fastened onto it while numerous runes activate along the rim. A vacuum seal seats the lid in place as the final rune's light fades away.

The celebration over, the crew of skeletons all sit down facing Danyael. They eagerly await his coming-to.

[Soul Reaver]

Gork and Mork... Soul Reaver recalls having read something of those names in some dusty old codex.  They were the nearest thing these Orks had to dieties.  If Gulgrim was their avatar, it would explain how he was accomplishing those feats during their battle.

When he finishes speaking, Kari appears and offers to help heal Soul Reaver.  The warrior glances down at his arm.

"Yes, that would be greatly appreciated."

He briefly turns back to Gulgrim to complete his conversation.

"Most pleased to meet you, though I must now attend to my injuries."

The weary Soul Reaver allows himself a sardonic smile at Gulgrim.

"And I would say that staying near us is a pretty good guarantee of 'good fights' eventuating."

He then turns his attentions back to Kari.  He pauses momentarily as he scans the wounded, dust-covered elementals standing across the battlefield.  Were they aware how much he was to blame for their injuries?  What good would it do if they knew?  Was it right to keep it from them?  The least he owed them was honesty.

"Forgive me Kari.  I fear that Peterson used my weaknesses against me... caused me to lose control of Blooddrinker.  It was I that delayed Cameron and prevented him coming to your aid sooner.  Perhaps if not for me, Kalana..."

He trails off, then shakes his head.

"...But it does no good to speculate.  All that remains now is revenge."

Behind Soul Reaver, Jharm completes his prayer, and a wave of soothing light suddenly washes over him.  It feels like a balm to body and troubled soul, and it is as though a weight has been lifted from Soul Reaver's shoulders.  He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply as the glow suffuses him.  When he reopens his eyes, most of his wounds appear to have healed.  His arm has regenerated down to just past the elbow - a considerable improvement.  If Kari was still willing to help him, his physical recovery would likely be completed in short order.

[Danyael]

The elementals are a little worse for the wear, but it seems that everyone will recover. Cameron and Mary have a back and forth. It seems that Mary knew what would happen, but could not stop it. A heavy burden to carry.

So Danyael lives... Kitharsis frowns slightly. He has an odd feeling about what is happening on his ship.

----

Meanwhile, on said space ship, Kitharsis's skeleton crew is busy clattering about. Their task, while Kitharsis is away, is to scan the multiverse for traces of Tirthandaran activity.  The crew of mages and grunts are happily going about their business until Danyael's seemingly lifeless body pops through the recall portal.

The tiny Mage accompanying him rides his body like a surf board as it skids across the floor. Alarm bells sound as containment spells are cast and weapons are readied. If Danyael were to wake at this moment his eyes would find a thatchwork of barriers and pointy weapons aimed at his head.

The tiny Mage waves it's hands in the air, it's jaw clacking away as it explains the situation. Weapons are lowered and the barrier spells are dispelled just as quickly as they were erected. The skeletons go into triage mode immediately.

Gurneys are hauled out of storage as three teams of skeletons try to assist the wounded warrior. Danyael's legs are dangling off of one gurney while his right arm is being strapped into another. His head is put in traction while another team of skeletons silently inspect the ring finger on his left hand.

New, shrieking alarms sound and the ship goes stock still. They all watch as a skeleton barely a foot tall climbs up Danyael's torso and carefully reaches to the wound on his chest.

You could hear a pin drop as the little bony fingers grasp at a stray thread on Danyael's chest. The skeleton plucks the thread off and the skeleton crew erupts in celebration.

Amidst the celebration the thread is placed into a brown ceramic pot. A heavy lid is fastened onto it while numerous runes activate along the rim. A vacuum seal seats the lid in place as the final rune's light fades away.

The celebration over, the crew of skeletons all sit down facing Danyael. They eagerly await his coming-to.

So much happening all at once. The campaign. The return. The battle. The betrayal. The sacrifice. And then... what? Everything was such a blur. he was both awake and asleep, unable to do anything as his dearest friend saved and protected him. If Kitharsis would allow him, Danyael would give him anything he could ever want if asked. He heard whisperes in the dark, though it wasn't necessarily the darkness he found himself in. Flicks and glints of light blinked in and out of existence as the faint noises became distinct words, connected to the people who spoke them. He heard echoes of sorrow and screams of misery, eclipsed by howls of rage and bellows of longing redemption. And all the while, Danyael had the deepest of difficulties climbing his way back out of the dark and into the light. And then, all of a sudden, there was calm.  A deep and mourning calm. He felt his friend, Kitharsis, mention the Nephilim Lord not be forgotten - a pleasant deed done, one whom Danyael appreciated all the more. But still, the nephilim lord found it a daunting task to pull himself into wakefulness. And then he heard a voice he'd prefer to sooner forget. Soul Reaver, asking of his status, was a presence he'd prefer to keep his distance from. "All of that rampaging and you dare feign concern?" he sneered to himself, only to feel something slick ooze over his wound. "What is tha-...ew..." though it came with some soothing sensation that put the pain to a calmer note.

And then came the flashes of light that brought not only a change in temperature, but an all around change in energy altogether. he felt feet, small and bony, accompanied by chattering and clicking - communication, maybe? And then he woke up and saw their faces. Small, skeletal faces. All looking at him. OH, this wasn't in the slightest bit creepy. He waited a moment, then looked tot he closest one to him. "Hi." he gave a small salute with his fingers, then sat up slowly, politely, looking to the skeleton mage. "Any chance you could help me... y'know... get back?"

[Kitharsis]

Jharm's healing light is very welcome.  The crystal's protecting his ankles become brittle and shatter into pieces as Kitharsis walks.  His wounds were mostly healed by now, thanks to Jharm's efforts.  His energy reserves were beginning to fill again.  The cleansing of the dark Tirthandaran energy is always amplified when he is touched by Jharm's healing abilities.  Something he should ask the "Angel guy" about, as Sepher calls him.

Kitharsis approaches the two of them during their exchange.

"I believe you may be among more than a few warriors with darkness within them, Jharm.  Although I'm not entirely sure what to make of whatever is aiding Gulgrim at this point..."

He clears his throat, clearly having digressed from his intentions.

"I do have to wonder-"

He cuts off, as if struck by something.

"Excuse me a moment."

Kitharsis hurriedly trots a few yards away to an open space.  He takes the sharp, bladed end of his horseman's pick and carves a wide circle on the floor.  Inside the circle he traces lines from the borders of the circle in a lopsided geometric pattern.  In the center of it all he delicately traces rune. 

He steps outside of the circle and places his left palm on the circles edge.  The tattoo on his palm feeds energy into the pattern, and it begins to glow faintly.  Satisfied, he backs away and crosses his arms, waiting.

--------

Meanwhile back on the skeleton ship, the tiny skeleton being addressed by Danyael stares blankly in response to his question of returning.  The skeleton's bony mouth slowly hangs open, before one side of its jaw disconnects from the rest of its skull.  Quite embarrassed, it quickly reassembles its mouth before hopping off of its perch on Danyael's chest.

The group of skeleton's scatter, each digging through a different compartment within the ship.  Finally, a taller warrior skeleton pulls out a stick of charcoal and begins drawing on the floor.  It is the exact opposite of what Kitharsis carved into the floor, galaxies away.  As the skeleton puts the finishing mark on it, a tiny mage casts a quick spell, illuminating the intricate rune circle.

The skeletons line up between Danyael and the glowing rune circle.  The tiny mage that brought Danyael to the ship tugs on his pant leg and points toward the circle.  It would appear that this is the way back.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphim notices the emphasis that Sepher places on the phrase "Angel guy".  He doesn't seem to show any real reaction though other then a slight nod, though his brow does seem to raise slightly as Sepher mentions "them" being quiet.

"That is good to hear."

He then turns as Kitharsis approaches them and speaks.

"I believe you may be among more than a few warriors with darkness within them, Jharm.  Although I'm not entirely sure what to make of whatever is aiding Gulgrim at this point..."

Something seems to cause the warrior to stop what he is saying and suddenly dash off a short distance and begin drawing in the dirt.  Jharm turns back towards Sepher once more.

"Yes...just about all have some sort of darkness within them.  That is not the darkness that concerns me right now.  The Eye, and those we face within it, has already demonstrated how debilitating and potentially controlling it can be towards some of us.  The last thing we need is for a repeat of what we just faced.  With that said though....you say that you have it under control and I shall believe you.  Though...."

The Seraphims gaze turns towards the large Ork, the most recent Companion to join the group and also the one who was quite willing to enter battle with Cameron without any hesitation.

"I am not so sure about some others...."

[Shadow Chorus]

While the others are busy talking, Gulgrim sets to work readjusting himself. Fixing his hat and putting out a few bits of himself that might still be on fire, even after all this time, Gulgrim realizes what he's missing.

"Oh, zog." Gulgrim says, almost aghast at the idea that he could have forgotten. He looks about, his eyes first finding Soul Reaver. "No, dat won't do." Then he manages to rest eyes on Cameron. "No, 'e didn't even..." He looks across the way to the huge dead mass of the plague demon he had slain. "Nah, too smelly." Then to the....Ashes of the Steelheart he blew up.

"Zog me, wot's an Ork got ta do ta get a trophy?"

There's a flash of green lightning and the Ork appears behind Cameron, speaking loudly into his ear at close proximity.
"Oi! Space marine! Quit yer' mukkin' about an' 'elp me get a trophy off one o' dese fings. It'll give ya somefin' ta do." Without even waiting for a response, Gulgrim turns and proceeds to walk toward the corpses of the plague demon and the Steelheart, determined to get SOMETHING worth displaying on his trophy rack.

[Cameron]

Mary sighs in relief as Jharm’s healing wave washes over everyone. Her wounds were not serious, but the healing does take care of a few cracked ribs and closes a few deep gashes. She is more relieved by the fact that Garr’s head wound has closed and he seems to be stirring. She sets to helping him back to his feet. He is still fairly disoriented.

“...Mary? Were we victorious?”

Mary frowns.

“Not… exactly. But Peterson’s been pushed back for now. Kalana…”

Mary doesn’t finish, but after taking a quick glance around the battlefield, he simply nods in understanding. Mary glances over at Cameron, but Cameron isn’t paying any attention to them at the moment.

“Keep an eye on him. He’s not taking it well. And he certainly doesn’t want me anywhere near him right now.”

Garr nods again and begins heading in Cameron’s direction. Mary makes her way over to Kitharisis, who appears to have opened a portal.

“Anything I can help with, big guy?”

Kari sees that Soul Reaver’s arm has partially regenerated after Jharm’s spell, but it could obviously use some further help. She extends her hands over it. Instead of healing the entire body overall, she focuses on flowing her regenerative magic directly into the part of the arm that is regenerating. It should speed up the process greatly.

Karyl has returned to his feet and is idly tuning his guitar. Amazingly, none of the strings have broken, though he worriedly buffs at a scuff on the back of the neck before realizing that it isn’t a scratch and breathing a comically loud sigh of relief.

Cameron is lost in thought when Gulgrim shouts from behind him. It’s like someone is holding a loudspeaker directly to his ear. He jumps and whirls around a bit too fast.

“What the fuc- Oh, it’s you. You scared the shit out of me.”

As Gulgrim makes his request for help with finding a trophy, Cameron’s first thought is at how absurd the idea even is. With everything else going on, is that really the thing to be worried about? Yet even as this thought crosses his mind, he finds himself scanning the battlefield for something appropriate.

“Hmm. There’s got to be something here. Look at this mess.”

Cameron begins poking around the debris with one of his swords, attempting to find anything that Gulgrim might be able to use.

[Soul Reaver]

Soul Reaver closes his eyes and focusses on restoring his lost limb.  Kari's healing abilities make it far easier than normal - new, healthy flesh flows outward until Soul Reaver once more sports an unblemished hand.  He opens his eyes and wriggles his fingers experimentally, before balling his new hand into a fist.  He looks Kari in the eyes and nods at her.

"Thank you, that is a significant improvement.  And we will need all the hands we can spare."

He gestures over his hand.  There is a brief burst of red light, and his Black Steel Gauntlet reappears in its intended position.

Meanwhile, Gulgrim's frustration at being denied a trophy has not escaped Soul Reaver's attention.  Soul Reaver knows that he will not have any luck searching for any Daemonic remains.  He makes his way toward the Ork, calling toward him as he approaches.

"Gulgrim, why collect a trophy when the battle is not yet concluded?  I was manipulated to distract and delay you all - but the architect of this situation is Peterson, the chaos follower you saw just before."

Soul Reaver's expression darkens.

"The battle only ends when he falls.  It is his head you should try to collect as a victory trophy."

[Shadow Chorus]

Gulgrim is busy overturning boulders to look for remains when Soul Reaver gets his attention. His red Cybork eye glows brightly, almost with mirth, as the dark knight makes his case for hunting Peterson.

"Aye? You'z got a Rukk wif dis git ya want solved? I'z fink I'z ken do dat, if'n ye'z ken promise me 'iz head fer me trophy rack after we'z done. I'z not leavin' dis 'ell 'ole wivvout somefin' new on me pointy sticks." The Ork's grin nearly took in his ears as he clenched his metallic fist and slammed it into the open palm of his Orky hand.

"If you'z know where ta find 'im, point me in da right direction, an' we'll get ta krumpin' 'em."

From somewhere behind Gulgrim's shadow, a lone boy appeared, scratching his head and holding his shoota low to the ground, looking confused.
"Um, boss? Where'd da fight go?"

Gulgrim's metal hand was around the Ork's throat before he could finish the sentence, and as he hoisted the smaller greenskin up to his face, he glared him down as the lesser Ork looked terrified.

"You louzy runts. You lot tryin' ta turn on me an' take me spot as da boss made more of a mess den I needed."

"I'z sorry boss, it wasn't me! I swe-URGK" Gulgrim crushed the Boy's throat with his metallic hand with a noise like a trash compactor compressing a Meat slab.

"All'z forgiven." He said almost sarcastically as he dropped the lifeless Ork runt from his hands. "Least me boyz're back where dey belong."

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphim watches in silence as the verbose Warboss bellows about "needing" to find a trophy.  Jharm had initially been....agreeable to the Ork joining them as Cameron had seemed alright with it.  The knight had never encountered an Ork before, especially a Warboss, but especially after the recent events he found himself having a..."dislike" towards the green creatures.  Almost as if to further cement the dislike, the Warboss spins on one of his "boyz" as he called them and berated him and then in the blink of an eye crushed the soldiers neck, a chuckle slipping from his monstrous maw.  Slipping his helm over his head, he uses the action (and ensuing plate masking his face) to hide his disgust at the utter barbarism the creature seems to revel in. Moving forward he slings his hammer up onto his shoulder as he moves closer to Cameron.

"Yes....a distraction.  It is time we move on and hunt down the mastermind behind things.  Justice must be handed out, and time is of the essence."

[Kitharsis]

Kitharsis stares at the faintly glowing rune circle intently.  He heard Mary's question, but chooses not to reply for some time.  Before long he wrinkles his mouth with concern, tapping the head of his horseman's pick on the ground.

"I was alerted that Danyael wished to return already.  But it seems I may have been premature in opening the pathway."

He points at the rune circle.

"There is a mirror image of this rune on my ship, and when both circles are given energy they open a transport between them.  I dare not keep it open for too long, or unattended, considering our surroundings."

The towering warrior turns and faces Mary.

"You seem to have some kind of foresight.  Tell me, what should we expect from Peterson?"

[Cameron]

Mary frowns when Kitharsis asks her what to expect.

“It’s not really foresight. I just have some advanced knowledge of what happened here. In my time, this all happened 5 years ago.”

Mary steals a glance in Cameron’s direction, but his back is turned. She turns back to Kitharsis.

“Most Warp travelers use their abilities to keep themselves anchored to their own timeline while traveling great distances. It’s how they avoid getting lost. Imperial ships do this too, either with the help of the Astronomican, or fixed warp gates, or more advanced technology. But as a Warp Elemental, I can navigate it without anchoring myself. This allows me to move through both time and space, but is extremely difficult. Even more so than regular warp travel.”

“The problem is that time travel in the warp doesn’t work the same way you’d think it would. There are multiple timelines in multiple planes. Each plane of existence has a multitude of others that are similar to it but have minor differences. Some of these timelines have split off because of the interference of people with abilities like mine. But because of that, we cannot truly change the past. All doing that does is split off another timeline. Another plane of existence. And because they’re so closely mirrored, it is almost impossible to travel between them on purpose. It normally happens as the result of an accident. So if I did split off a new timeline, I would be trapped there. Unable to return to my own.”

Mary breaks eye contact with Kitharsis and gazes at his rune on the ground.

“I was able to come back and do this because I knew I did. My past self, the one from this timeline, who is on Cameron’s ship right now… I go back and tell her everything that has happened here once this is all over. And that knowledge keeps me anchored. Keeps me from splitting off into another timeline. I knew that I could save Cameron because that’s what happened. But I know I didn’t save Kalana. So in the end, saving her would have simply doomed me. And it wouldn’t have helped this Cameron, cause she still would have died here anyway.”

Mary chuckles.

“It’s very confusing. We can talk about it more another time, if you want. This probably isn’t the best place or time to get into it. But to answer your question…”

The sound of heavy footfalls causes Mary to look up. Cameron has finished looking around and is making his way back over to them. Mary looks back to Kitharsis.

“I don’t know if he survives. I was only given certain details about our final fight with him, and no one ever did give me a straight answer on that. But I do know that he is incredibly powerful, completely unhinged, and enjoying every minute of this. You should expect the worst thing you’ve ever faced.”

Cameron arrives as Mary finishes speaking. They make eye contact for a moment but say nothing. Cameron then turns to face Kitharsis.

“Is this going to take much longer? We need to get moving.”

Mary looks down at the rune and then back to Cameron.

“I can stay here and wait for Danyael. The rest of you can go on ahead. I’ll be able to bring him to you once he comes through.”

Cameron nods.

“Fine. If Kitharsis is fine with that, then do it. The rest of us need to get moving. I have no idea what’s happening out there or even how  long we’ve been down here, and it’s starting to worry me.”

Cameron waves everyone over. The other elementals join him and the remaining Companions. Cameron points above him.

“That is our best hope of getting out of here without having to deal with any more Chaos bullshit.”

Cameron is pointing to the massive hole that his meteor attack left in the ceiling. It at once looks very close and impossibly far away due to the Chaos magic still lingering, but the swirling purple maw of the sky can clearly be seen beyond it.

“If we fly straight up, as fast and as hard as we can, we will eventually break through. From there, we should finally be able to reach the base of the Spire. But uh…”

Cameron looks around at the Companions.

“Stupid question, but can everyone here fly?”

[Soul Reaver]

Soul Reaver watches quietly as an ork boy appears and is crushed by an angry Gulgrim.

That ork was not here a few seconds ago.  There was no teleporation or Warp travel involved.  Somehow, reality changes itself near him.  I am not sure if he even realizes he is doing it though...

Soul Reaver's observations are interrupted when Cameron rallies everyone to his position.  After he describes where they are going, Soul Reaver looks up at the hole in the ceiling.

"I can cast a spell that will allow me to take flight.  However, my stores of Mana are low - I do not know how long I would be able to sustain high-speed flight."

Soul Reaver sits down on a nearby chunk of rock.

"I will endeavour to gather as much power as I can before we leave."

He closes his eyes and focuses on the etherial realm around him.  Invisible save for the initiated, the ocean of magic begins to flow into him, like a vortex of water drawn into an endless chasm.  In this place, much of it is tainted and must be discarded, but even so, Soul Reaver's Mana reserves gradually begin to fill.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphim's gaze falls upon Cameron as the Elemental gathers them together.

“That is our best hope of getting out of here without having to deal with any more Chaos bullshit.”

Cameron is pointing to the massive hole that his meteor attack left in the ceiling. It at once looks very close and impossibly far away due to the Chaos magic still lingering, but the swirling purple maw of the sky can clearly be seen beyond it.

“If we fly straight up, as fast and as hard as we can, we will eventually break through. From there, we should finally be able to reach the base of the Spire. But uh…”

“Stupid question, but can everyone here fly?”

The angellic warrior's wings shift ever so slightly as if giving a silent response to the question.

"Such a task is simple for me, and I could carry one of the others....except for the Ork probably."

He watches as Soul Reaver moves off a short distance to rejuvenate his stores of magical power.  Jharm realizes that he is also exhausted his connection with the Light after the recent battle and his efforts at tending to the subsequent injuries.

"While we wait I must commune with the Light, especially as we will certainly be facing many more obstacles before we reach the end of this hellish domain."

Moving back a few steps he places his hammer down and drops down to one knee, his helmeted head lowering down.  Should anyone draw near they would hear the faint sound of the Seraphim prayer to the Light, the words indecipherable to any of them but still seeming to radiate a sense of calm and serenity.

[Shadow Chorus]

"Fly, eh?" Gulgrim takes a moment to look up at the hole in the ceiling. "Lemme see if I'z ken do somefin' about dat."

As the Warboss turned around to face his Warbike that hadn't been there a moment ago, he scratched his chin with his metal hand before seeming to be struck with an idea.

"I fink I'z got it." The Ork began hauling Scrap metal over to the bike and set to work, bolting bits and pieces of metal onto the already massive frame of the Deffchoppa. The sound of welding metal, buzzing blades, and power tools echoed through the area as the Kaptin made his changes.

After what felt almost like an impossibly brief amount of time considering the scale of the task before him, Gulgrim stepped back to take in his handiwork; He had managed to meld a quad set of cobbled together propeller blades to his bike.

"Well, time fer a test run, then." The ork hauled his massive frame into the equally massive driver's seat and kicked the engine to life. A few moments later the four sets of blades began to spin up, scraping against each other at first and getting into speed, rotating faster and faster until they were chopping the air with a ridiculously loud sound of spinning blades.

A few moments later, the bike lifted off the ground, the Warboss being carried aloft precariously by the force of these blades. Slowly rising in the air, the Warboss decided to test his forward mobility by kicking to life the Jet engine on the back of the bike. He began to soar circles around the room, barely controlled as he turned rapidly to avoid striking any debris around the area.

After a short while of fly-testing his device, he set back down with a horrendous crashing noise as the wheels hit the ground hard, though neither the bike nor its driver seemed to take any damage from the impact. Stepping off the seat, the Warboss gave a toothy grin to the git who had asked the question.

"Yeah, I'z ken fly."

[Kitharsis]

Timelines, planes, splits and anchors.  Kitharsis, having no direct means to interact with the warp, can only conceptually follow what Mary is saying.  Having never manipulated the warp with his own power, the intricacies of the warp are beyond his reach.

"So you can traverse backwards within a timeline, but cannot alter the events.  A seemingly frustrating endeavor, the repercussions of which are beyond my reasoning."

Cameron approaches, pressing for time.  He is correct in his haste, lingering here would be foolish.  Mary volunteers to stay back and stand guard over the recall rune.  A generous offer, but one Kitharsis cannot accept.

"I could not leave a direct gateway into my ship open without guarding it personally.  Not discounting Mary's abilities, simply being cautious.  Besides, you are well beyond the duties of a posted guard, Mary.  If Danyael does not return by the time we depart, I will have to collapse the rune."

Cameron goes on to explain his plan for exiting this endless warehouse.  The hole in the ceiling looks to be a long way up.

"Stupid question, but can everyone here fly?"  Cameron asks.

Kitharsis frowns.  Flight is not something that comes natural to him.  With a sigh he thinks on the design for a pair of wings that he hasn't had a chance etch into his back.  The recall rune is open right now, and all of his tattoo supplies are a quick hop away.  But the time it will take to etch the tattoo far exceeds what is available right now.

It will have to wait.

The bone golem shifts behind him.  It is malleable, capable of loosing its bones as weapons, but it doesn't appear to be capable of sustained flight.  At least not in its current form.

"I need to borrow your bones.  We'll be working a little more closely now."

The skull tattoo on his forearm flares into life as he reaches into the golem's chest.  His arm sinks in up to his elbow, the bones closing in around him as quickly as they part.  Bones begin flowing up his arm and over his shoulder.  Kitharsis reaches out with his other arm and the bones begin flowing over it too. 

The bones piece themselves together over his shoulder blades and begin extending outward.  Jointed, bony appendages perch atop his back and stretch out into the skeleton frame of large wings.  Thick, sturdy rib bones curve across his chest and waist to secure the wings to his body.

Kitharsis gives them a test flap, which picks his feet up off of the floor.  As the large wings move you can see a faint membrane of crimson energy stretching between the bones to support his flight.  A dry, hot wind kicks up from the massive wings, reminiscent of a gust of desert air.

The wings fold up neatly behind his back, the crimson energy fading from view. 

Kitharsis nods to Cameron, "I can now."

[Danyael]

He looked down curiously at the rune, smirking to himself over the cleverness of Kith's fellows. Kneeling to the level of the small mage pulling at his leg, he gives it a thoughtful, but awkward, rub over its skull, hoping it wouldn't result in the whole thing falling off. He walked to the rune, but stopped to notice his wound wasn't healing as quickly as it should. "..Cunt." he said his thoughts aloud when thinking of the man responsible for the whole thing, then turned, regained his composure and gave a rare smile to the the skeleton crew. "If he wants it, our friend will be a king in my nation. He deserves no less." He stepped closer to the rune, hearing the sounds of echoing voices that very well originated from the other side. "Much obliged." he said before stepping through. It was faster than he'd expected, as all of a sudden, before he knew it, he was there.

He first looked around, two of his more favored companions standing closest: Kith and Mary. He looked to see his wound was healing far slower than expected, which was an effect of having expending so much power and utilizing so many resources to fight off Soul Reaver. It was foolish and untactful, but he wasn't left with much choice in the matter. And with a gaping whole in his chest, given to him by his brooding frenemy, it was more of a concern than an embarrassment that such ill effects could last for so long. He would have to be far more careful with the powers he'd gained while in exile, no matter how tempting they would be. He covered the wound with his cloak away from anyone to see. He approached Kith, silently admiring the set of ethereal appendages adorning his back, then knelt to a knee in thanks to him. "I owe you much, brother." the bass of his voice reverent in gratitude, "More than I can repay in one lifetime. But you've my word that I'll see it done." Then, without skipping a beat, he stood tall. "Ready to move."