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Post by Daegan on Feb 17, 2008 19:21:24 GMT -5
The sensation made Daegan want to vomit. He despised the darkness, as it had a habit of devouring his own element. He felt even weaker within the void, and it was terribly silent. He tried to force energy into the Arc of Death, tried to harness the Soul Fire that plagued his being, but he could find no strength. No light would avail him.
As if being smacked in the face, Daegan felt his body being ripped from the darkness. He groaned and winced as he felt his body sink; waiting for the sensation the impact would leave him with before utterly taking him from consciousness. It almost puzzled him as he felt as though suspended in water, like floating in a giant cold pool. He shuddered slightly, barely able to hold onto the two Arcs as he began to move towards his Tower.
It was a painstakingly slow process, but the Sage of Shadows made his way through the tower. He moved up the many curved spiraling staircases and soon found his quarters. He was too tired to tell Zinerva where to find a place to rest for herself, wanting nothing more than to feel the shadows in his antechamber. His shadow bath that would ease his exhaustion and usher him into slumber.
Creaking, the doors to Daegan’s chamber inched open, the Sage’s form stumbling inside. His eyes barely took in his surroundings, and it took him almost a full minute to realize what he had just witnessed. By the time the image of Lasius wearing one of his dressing robes in the center of HIS bed with the naked forms of Malkate and Lomes, he had almost made it to his antechamber.
He stopped in mid stride, and stared blankly ahead, desperately trying to determine if he was hallucinating or not. Almost hesitantly he glanced backwards and decided instead to continue forward into the antechamber. The shadows snaked out to him as he approached, tendrils of the inky substance wrapping around his arms and legs in an effort to pull him in faster.
Soon he was completely immersed within the element, the Soul Fire well burning overhead. Shadows washed over his body, smothering him like blankets and sheets. He sighed deeply, sinking down into the large velvet chair. It was as if he melted into the fabric, the Arc of Death and Shadows falling from his limp hands. A soft smile spread over his face as his element caressed his body, grazing over him like a lover would. Slowly, his body began to relax and in the little effort it took he was whisked off to blissful sleep.
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Post by Lomes Artelias on Feb 23, 2008 15:27:51 GMT -5
Her lips parted and air sucked in sharply as her eyes popped open. It had been some time since she had been awake, but she could still feel something was dreadfully wrong with the world. Her pale green eyes slid to Lasius laying next to her with the naked human woman with fiery hair. Las' words to her while she was healing had penetrated her sleep so she knew that he had lost his immortality. At first she thought that was the problem she was sensing.
Slowly she sat up, her eyes looking down at the damaged skin of her right side, the cracks leaking revealing the aether below, the shimmering gold of the Arc of Life which while stabilizing her had not restored her to her former state of perfection. This was curious to her but there was no pain in her injuries any longer so she paid it no mind. Her eyes scanned her surroundings thoughtfully, it took her a second or two to identify her surroundings as the Tower of Shadows. She could make out the dim outline of a person in a small chamber at the back of the quarters, and so she rose off the bed, getting to her feet.
Slowly it dawned on her the real source of disturbing wrongness that flowed through her. She could usually sense all the Sedi, having been given the task of protecting the race by Lasius she felt them in her mind at all times. Most of the time she blocked it out, too much emotion and thought for her to process while concentrating on other things. But that was not the case now, her mind was quiet, only a relative few voices and feelings flowing through it. The Race was almost gone. Her eyes widened in shock.
She was eerily silent as she crossed the floor tot he small chamber where Daegan rested. She couldn't make out his face but knowledge of the tower, not to mention the soul fire and shadows left it unlikely that anyone else was occupying the chamber. She studied it thoughtfully for a second. The chamber called tot he death and shadow elements of her, and she decided to enter. Before she stepped forward however she held out her left hand and the Arc of Dreams flashed across the room and into her fingers.
Stepping through the Archway she was able to make out Daegan's features, the man was seated on a large velvet chair, only a few inches in front of her, the shadows flowed around them both. Her pale green eyes played over his features and smiled softly, The Lord General at rest, and with two more gathered Arcs no less.
Gently not enough to awaken him, she brushed a stay strand of blood and sweat soaked hair out of his face. He was like a child to her, all the Sedi were, the brief contact light as a feather let her delve his body and mind with the Arc of Life. She hissed softly at what she found there. Hatred and insanity sitting like a malignant tumor on the mans mind. Desire for vengeance and death of Sitherack had consumed him utterly, and underlying to it was massive pain and loss.
She thought for a second gripping the Arc of Dreams she forced the mans mind into a deeper sleep, and used the Arc to halt all dreaming leaving him in a blank and perfect state of unconsciousness. Once certain he would not be able to awaken she sat on his lap and crossed her legs resting her chin in the palm of her right hand, the Arc of life sparking in the light of the soul fire as shadows wreathed their forms. She soothed their faintly panicking forms, she was of them as he was and there was nothing to fear, they got the message and relaxed.
This would not be an easy task to say the least, yet if the race was to survive it would need its champions to guard them against threats, it would need all of them. Sighing softly she moved the Arc of Dreams to the hand that wore the Arc of Life, closing her hand the Arc condensed down shrinking and spreading across her skin covering the right hand, like a second skin, slipping between her and the Arc of Life, merging their abilities. Satisfied with the result she closed her eyes and pressed the palm of her hand lightly to Daegan's forehead. Using the Arc of Life's abilities to heal and restore, and the Arc of Dreams abilities to tap into the mind she set about restoring his powers, rebuilding his energy and healing all his injuries. That was the easy part, after that was completed and he was in perfect physical condition, she turned her attention to the hatred and insanity that had crept like a vine around his mind.
She worked inside his mind beneath his consciousness to restore barriers, build up walls and mental discipline once more. Completely restore the ability to use reason over emotion, increasing his tolerance for pain, emotional as well as physical. She was basically healing him mentally as she had physical. It was slow work, hours passed with her focused on his mind, and him in a dreamless state of unconscious renewal. When she was done she was sweating and exhausted. She collapsed forward onto him arms draped over his shoulders head resting on his shoulder her thin frame trembling slightly.
He would wake almost immediately, completely physically restored, all his powers at peak efficiency, and his mind would wake as well, coming out of the pain and insanity of the past weeks though from a bad dream. He would be aware of the events, aware of everything that had happened, angry still at what he ought to be angry at, but able to control himself with an incredible mental discipline it would normally take a person centuries to develop.
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Post by Daegan on Feb 24, 2008 18:36:11 GMT -5
Air rushed through his nostrils for the first time in ages, or so it felt like as Daegan’s eyes flashed open. The shadows seemed to pulse with the sudden waking of there Sage, responding immediately to his mind once more entering the realm of thought. The clung to his body like a second skin, snaking over him lovingly as his eyes slowly blurred back into focus. Something felt different; it was as though a great dark cloud had been removed from his head. Like he had been reborn.
His eyes flashed as they darted down to the lithe frame of Lomes resting on his lap. Aqua fire burned around his iris, tiny licks of lime green fire intermingling with the Soul Fire; the Necromantic energy from the Arc of Death. Daegan shuddered as the events flashed back through his mind, sliding his eyes closed for a second. As if in fast forward, the events blurred past the Sage, his eyes once more snapping open. A slight smirk spread over his face as he glanced down once more.
Daegan took the figure of Lomes in more this time. His eyes played over her curves, the smirk growing slightly. Laughing to himself, Daegan turned his gaze towards the archway to his antechamber. His pupils seemed to quiver for half a second, tendrils of shadows bursting from the chamber. They screamed across Daegan’s quarters, surging towards his armoire of clothing. Once more his pupils quivered and in another moment the tendrils of shadows had returned, bringing back one of Daegan’s dress shirts.
“Here, Lomes. You shouldn't be trapsing around naked. You'll give people ideas. You rest here. Let the shadows bathe over you, you'll feel right as rain in no time.”
Once more Daegan chuckled as the shadows draped the shirt over her trembling body, Daegan shifting and standing. He wrapped the shirt around her body, his eyes taking in its secrets one more time and laid her down upon the lush chair within the antechamber. Softly he kissed her on the forehead and smiled down at her resting body, the Arc of Life and Arc of Dreams still in her possession. He glanced upwards and made a small gesture with his hand, the Soul Fire well responding instantly as it began to burn a bit brighter, more shadows dancing along the black tile walls of the antechamber.
Slowly, Daegan backed out of the archway, once more holding both the Arc of Death and the Arc of Shadows. Pausing for a second, Daegan glanced back into the chamber, his eyes locking onto the golden bracelet and rings that adorned Lomes’ hand. His right eye twitched as he took in the Arc, wanting to pluck the artifact from her possession and continue his conquest against Sitherack.
Instead Daegan turned and continued through his quarters, and for the first time in centuries it seemed, the Sage was able to suppress his rage. He had always walked a thin line between stability and insanity, the profession of his choice often driving many of his ilk insane. The dreaded crazed Necromancers that were known to wreak havoc upon small outlying villages before being claimed by there own minions.
He walked with a certain pride across his quarters. While he knew, in the back of his mind at least, that Lasius would want him crucified for losing the Arc of Lightning, Daegan was still at least content. For once, it showed on his face. He had accomplished something Sitherack could not. While the destruction of Tarthia was catastrophic and the casualties of Terra Centilina immense, the inevitable was prevented by Daegan’s hand. The ravaging Undead were halted and now, with the aide of the Arc of Life and the skill of Lomes, they could be reborn once more. Daegan hoped that it would give Lasius some solace; and that he’d be able to keep his head upon his shoulders.
The smile quickly turned into a frown as Daegan’s eyebrows knitted together, his eyes taking in and comprehending the scene that he had witnessed upon entering his chambers after Zinerva had taken them from Tarthia to Cyrida. His eyes, like with Lomes, played over the naked form of Malkate, the frown pulling into a smirk once more. Never a dull moment with Lasius around. Daegan’s pupils pulsed once more as the shadows snapped out, washing over the red mage like some sort of murky sheet, concealing her body as Daegan moved around his bed.
Sinking down into a chair near the bed, Daegan rested the Arcs on either side of the chair, glancing over at the sleeping Lasius. He sighed softly, bringing his hands up to touch the bridge of his nose. He rubbed his eyes gently, as if trying to gather his thoughts before sitting up once more. The shadows swirled around him as he watched Lasius, knowing full wealth that despite the anger Lasius would feel; the rage of the Sage of Darkness would be upon them very soon.
“Lasius, old friend… You aren’t going to be very happy when you wake up. I hope those are some calming dreams you’re having.”
He smiled softly, bringing his gaze away from Lasius as he hunched over. Resting his elbows on his knees, Daegan lowered his head slightly, bringing his gaze down to the lush fur rugs at his feet. Tiny licks of green fire danced across his shoulders every now and again, the aqua ring around his eyes glowing softly. Tendrils of shadows snaked around his form as the Sage sat quietly, waiting for Lasius to awaken so he could tell him the recent events.
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Post by Lasius on Feb 24, 2008 19:21:58 GMT -5
His Dreams were filled with Darkness and terror. The fate of the Sedian people weighed heavily in his mind, so few were left and so much destruction had been wrought. At times he questioned their right to exist at all. Creatures that brought as much destruction as his race had would have been hunted down and killed in the old days when he was still young, yet despite it all they were his people. He winced in his sleep once more as he saw the look on his brothers face when he had been forced to condemn his people to death in an attempt to find the Arc of Life.
Time was passing, he could feel it, couldn't quite measure the span of it but he knew that it was moving along, even while he was dreaming, he strained to wake but his body was tired, the ordeal of freeing Lomes had placed strain on him. He stirred n his sleep, yearning towards consciousness but fell short once more. The eternal storm raging inside him fueled rage and bitterness at his own frailty, not too long ago he had never been tired, never needed rest or felt pain, now he was no different than any other Sedi walking around, and yet he still felt the burdens of godhood. It was maddening in its own way to feel limits like this placed upon him after so long, but he pushed that to the side. Selfishness could not be abided in times of great need such as this.
The Sage of Light inside him screeched in his mind the power of light was fading over the world whilst he slept. The Sage of Darkness held the Arc of Light for too long, and his vengeance against Lasius was slowly spreading across the world. Yet another responsibility for him to endure, and he lay here sleeping peacefully in the bed of the Lord General of the Sedi who last he knew was crippled and on the brink of insanity.
Helplessness was a feeling he had experienced all to often since his fall from godhood. It was not something he was accustomed too and certainly not something he was enjoying. He felt movement next to him but wasn't able to respond, voices spoke things changed energies washed over him but through it all he remained unconscious his body stubbornly refusing his minds demands to awaken.
He resolved to find some way to strengthen his soul once more. His people needed him and he would not let them down. It took time for his energy to be replenished and his internal wounds minor as they were to heal. About an hour after Daegan sat beside him he woke from his slumber slowly, the world blurringly coming into focus around him. He could feel the warm heat of Malkate's flesh near him that told him she had not been disturbed, but Lomes was not there.
Suppressing a yawn he sat up slowly and painfully, pulling the robe around him his eyes searching the camber till they landed on Daegan's waiting form. He squinted at he man trying to peer through the shadows, he thought he could make out the Arc of Death, excellent acquisition that it was. And shadows, they were covering his friend no sign of that aura Sitherack had inflicted upon him, thankfully perhaps the man had even vanquished his brother. He wouldn't be happy but he could accept that it needed to be done.
“So what'd I miss?”
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Post by Daegan on Feb 24, 2008 19:57:26 GMT -5
Daegan’s head shot up with Lasius’ words, and a certain fear swept over the man. His own eyes lingered on those of the Sage of Light for only a moment, a certain feeling of shame replacing the feeling of pride. He sighed softly, and once more brought his hand to the bridge of his nose, shadows wrapping around his arm like vines of a tree.
“Sitherack has merged Darkness and Light into some twisted monstrosity of a sword. He’s also claimed Lightning and I can only imagine he’s after Fire and Earth next. Tarthia was virtually destroyed, again, and the Undead have been released from there servitude. Zinerva is here and demands extreme payment for her serves, Dierdre is lost to Death once more.”
The Sage’s eyes narrowed only for a second with his last two thoughts, the words of the Daughter of Darkness clanging through his mind. Once more he cut his eyes to Lasius, his dark eyes locking onto the steel gray of the Lightning Childe.
“I think that about sums it up. Lomes is in my antechamber resting, Malkate is right here, I have no idea where that infernal pirate is and I’d imagine Wynne is probably lost now too.”
He brought his head down again, resting his elbows on his knees. Shaking his head, images of Sitherack danced through his head, pulling the Arcs away from his Raeghan before casting her to her doom. He could see the darkness cover all of Terra Centilina until nothing remained but the Sage himself.
“Once Lomes is rested, I suggest we return to Tarthia and reanimate those that were claimed by Darkness. We can return them here though the Shadows and let them recover, at least then there will be more than just a handful of living Sedi alive. Then, well, then we need to find your brother and stop him before he reclaims any more Arcs.”
Daegan sat back in his chair, his finger tracing the hilt of the Arc of Death as he once more closed his eyes. Green fire danced along his forearm as the daunting task before them became all too real. With closed eyes, Daegan continued to speak.
“Of course with our luck, he’s already claimed all of the other Arcs except what we have here and is probably a mile outside of Cyrida gathering the Darkness to crush us like some sort of insect.”
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Post by Lasius on Feb 25, 2008 14:56:17 GMT -5
Lasius looked down at the robe he was wearing and rolled his eyes, somewhere somehow he was going to have to re establish himself a respectable wardrobe. He wasn't fashion conscious by any means but this non stop state of undress was getting particularly annoying. He knew there ought to be some of his clothing left in the Sedian High Keep back in Sethia but that was quite a ways from here. His attention was draw towards Daegan as the meanings of the mans words began to dawn on him.
He was very careful to keep his face expressionless as Daegan spelled out the situation to him, it was more than a little irritating to say the least. But at least the man appeared to have a grip on himself once more. Still the loss of Lightning was devastating, his mind raced with the possibilities, none good. Different scenarios played out in his mind, he tried to find some sort of advantage for himself vs. Sitherack in this situation but kept drawing a blank.
Thunder rumbled outside in night as his concentration wandered, and storm clouds gathered. “So let me just see if I understand this properly, bare with me now, after all I did just wake up. We retrieved the Arc of Life in the nick of time, I put myself through risk of death to save every living thing from oblivion, and while I was recovering you took off and faced Darken alone, at a disadvantage and lost my Arc that I had given you for use while your powers had failed.”
He held up his hand as he paused to signal Daegan that he wasn't finished yet “On top of that he now holds access to all powers that I can bring forth, and worse immunity from them. Making me utterly useless in any encounter with the man.” He was seething inside but his voice was dead calm, his face still expressionless. “Lomes has recovered but has performed some task that obviously requires rest from her, your daughter is trying to blackmail us, The Pirate is off wandering about with the Arc of Water just waiting for Darken to pluck it away from him, Wynne is probably still in Sethia where the Illusionist ought to either be awake by now or waking up soon, and the single shining point of good news affecting us at this point is that we have the means to bring back a good portion of the Sedian populace, while Darken gains close to ultimate power and destroys us all out of vengeance anyway.” Thunder from outside shattered the quiet that followed his words like some incredibly pretentious period.
He turned toward the man, and rather than a look of fury on his face as one would have expected there was only a highly amused smirk. “Well unless I missed anything it appears we have some work ahead of us then.”
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Post by Daegan on Feb 25, 2008 21:50:29 GMT -5
“Well, I mean, it wouldn’t be any fun if it was easy, would it? AND! I’ll have you know that the dressing robe you are wearing is some of the finest silk in all of Terra Centilina. I’ll thank you not to scoff at it.”
Daegan chuckled softly, an obviously wave of relief sweeping over his tense form. He winced with the first explosion of thunder and, truth be told, was waiting for Lasius to rip the Arc of Shadows from Daegan’s side and behead the Sage of Shadows. Certainly, at least how it appeared from his actions of late, that’s what Daegan himself would have done. The air of amusement quickly vanished though as Daegan brought his eyes back to the Lightning Childe’s.
“I’m sorry Lasius. I’ve never had any sort of a family. Having one for so short of a period of time and then having my daughters ripped away was more than I could bear. But I’d imagine your little Avian has some part to play in, well, I guess my sanity. However, in light of recent events… I have to resign my position as Lord General. It’s only fitting, anyway, now that you’ve returned to us you also reclaim your throne.”
He sighed and sat back in the chair facing his bed, the shadows still swarming over Malkate’s nude body. His thoughts lingered to what had happened over the past weeks. The destruction that never seemed to end. The torment and anguish that constantly plagued all of the Sedi.
“If it’s any consolation, your brother almost perished in the Shadow Realm. I wasn’t going after him; I was trying to save Dierdre. And, of course, having the wretched timing that I do he arrived in Tarthia at the exact time I did. By the time I got to her, well, it wasn’t pretty. He completely ravished all of Tarthia, sucking it into some sort of black hole. I didn’t see what happened to Dre, and I only managed to escape because of the Shadow.”
Daegan closed his eyes, the scene of Tarthia playing through his mind once more. He watched the swirling mass of darkness and then the transition into the Shadow Realm. And even there, the blackness was stretching. It seemed everything that Daegan held dear, the dark was mere steps behind.
“He was almost defeated there, but with his last ounce of strength he cursed my Realm. Even now Darkness encroaches within. I can only imagine how fun it’ll be when I come across a pocket of it.”
The Sage frowned as he opened his eyes again, knowing full wealth that it was bound to happen sooner or later and not knowing exactly what or how he would be able to react to it. Existing in two worlds at once at times proved to be a great advantage, but this time it could ultimately lead to his destruction, without the Sage even knowing it.
“I completely forgot the pirate was in Sethia, but I doubt highly your brother will have any desire for that Arc. Those wretched water beasts held it for who knows how long and – at least how I remember it – no one else had ever touched it before save the Gods themselves. He’d have no use for it, and quite frankly, I’m shocked that scoundrel of a sailor can use it. Still, our list of allies is quite thin and we’d do well to pluck him before he gets plucked.”
Once again Daegan chuckled, shaking his head slightly. Green fire danced silently across his shoulders as his eyes burned softly with the Soul Fire, tendrils of shadows wrapping more and more about his body as he traced a finger over the Arc of Shadows.
“So, Lord General, what’s our course of action?”[/i]
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Post by Lasius on Feb 26, 2008 23:02:59 GMT -5
Lasius flinched at the title, it implied that there was a Sedian population to lead. And while it was fine to talk about restoring them to life, it was only putting them in jeopardy of more pain and suffering. There had to be a way to safeguard the Sedi long enough to re establish a culture and meaning behind his peoples existence other than mere survival. But there was no answer to this with his brother wandering around in possession of at least three Arcs, possibly more.
“There's no need at this time for leaders Daegan, we need heroes, and in that titles just get in the way. It's time we faced facts Daegan. I'm pretty much powerless compared to Sitherack right now. Our people, assuming we can bring back enough of them are going to need safeguarding against him, because his first act upon learning that we brought them back will be to inflict the same pain on us we inflicted on him when we condemned Tarthia to death.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. It was a long shot but there had to be some way to strike back at the man keep him off balance long enough to bring back the Sedian populace and get them somewhere safe from his reach.
“We are too weak to directly assault him, his Arc's out balance ours in terms of power, Its likely he is going to seek out the other Arcs, so moving after them is just asking for a confrontation we cant win yet.” His eyes drifted to the sleeping form of Malkate. It was entirely possible he would be killed in this confrontation, Daegan too, and the last hope for the Sedi could very well fall on her shoulders. She would have to be protected along with the rest of the Sedian population, but of course she would never allow it, he would have to keep her asleep until the confrontation was over.
“I can't face Sitherack, I would be useless in that endeavor. You can, but more than likely he would succeed in defeating even if we equipped you with every Arc in our possession. He has advantages ion experience, Arc powers, and he has nothing to loose, where as you would need to safeguard the Sedi during the fight.” He sighed, things were never simple, never. “So naturally a confrontation is out of the question.”
He stepped close to Malkate and slipped his hand under the shadows, feeling gently along her Thigh till his hand closed on the hilt of the Arc of Magick. He removed it from its sheathe there and took it out from the Shadows. “I'm going to need to borrow this my dear, I'll do my best to return it to you promptly.”
Turning he smiled deviously at Daegan. “What we need is a diversion. We might not be able to beat him head to head, but if I piss him off enough I might be able to draw him away from where you and Lomes will be working. Of course if my Diversion fails you will have to protect her while she ressurects the Sedi. You should try to get them to Sethia once the resurrection is complete. Cyrida is too obvious, Once there they will need protection, i'll try to meet you there so we can ward the city with the Arc of Magick.”
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Post by Daegan on Mar 3, 2008 13:10:29 GMT -5
Daegan frowned slightly – just where he wanted to be again, the wretched City of Darkness. And with the infernal blackness spreading through the lands and within his Realm, the Sage wasn’t too excited. He sighed softly and nodded. Daegan and Lasius had been together through many endeavors and the Lightning Childe had always guided Daegan through. Now, at least the Sage hoped, would be one of those times.
“Getting in and out of Tarthia is going to be… interesting. For me at least. Hopefully I don’t come across any Darkness in the Shadow Realm or Lomes might be alone. At any rate, I’ll go there now and secure the area. Make sure she has enough strength to get everyone back to Sethia. I don’t want a bunch of freshly resurrected Sedi being torn apart by Darkness in my Realm.”
Daegan closed his eyes for a second, his hands wrapping tightly around both Arcs in his possession. Immediately the green Necromantic energy from the Arc of Death burst around his entire body, like some ghastly aura that made Daegan look like he, too, was undead. As his eyes flashed open again, the Soul Fire overtaking his eyes completely. It burned with a sort of silent fury, the nether energy dancing with the green fire from the Arc of Death.
Shadows snaked around Daegan’s for, wrapping upwards around his legs and torso as he looked at Lasius one more time, eyes completely overtaken with the aqua fire. A small smile spread over the Sage’s face as he bowed to the Lightning Childe.
“It’s been an Honor, Lasius Riley. Hopefully I’ll see you in Sethia.”
It was as if Daegan’s body was suddenly sucked from existence, his form completely vanishing as the shadows overtook him. The green and aqua fire remained for a split second before winking out of sight. There was only a rush of air in his place and eventually that was gone as well.
(Continued in Tarthia)
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