OOC: Finally.

BiC: Tarathiel did not even feel anything as he was swept away from the battlefield only to be let down unto the parapet tower. Thoroughly shocked by the sudden void in his mind and soul, Tarathiel could not even begin to move an inch.

"Hey, you...." The summoner who had followed him nudged him in the shoulder. "Are you alright?"The summoner asked. But Tarathiel did not respond, as his mind was somewhere off reality.

Quezacotl! Tarathiel searched the depths of his mind for a response.

No answer.

Was the demigod................dead?

The shocked elven summoner called out the demigod's name again. But still no answer. He tried to rise, but his muscles and body felt numb, as if his mind refused to send any response to the nerves of his body. And suddenly, Tarathiel felt his strength go weak, and he fell onto the floor.

The last thing that the elf saw before the darkness came was the face of the other summoner reaching out to him.

The Paladins all gathered around Gabriel, cheering and raising their swords and shields into the air. There were very few casualties in the Paladin ranks, which was very good, considering a large number of the Paladins there were simply Paladins-in-training. They had been in their first battle.

And Gabriel knew from experience, every adventure they'll have for the rest of their lives will be compared to this day.

"ArchAngel. Let's go home."

"Yes, let's. I feel a need to be back at the church. I sense...I sense that something is wrong."

Gabriel looked into the sky in the direction of the church.

"Really? Well then, let's hurry."

Angelith opened the door for Kelvin, having bathed and changed her clothing. After years of substandard washing and far too much wear and tear, the robes were barely appropriate wear for even a peasant village's church.

The clothing Angelith wore now wasn't bad at all. "A gift from a friend" was what she had called it. It was mostly just leather and cloth, kept together with laces, and while Angelith didn't exactly look innocent in it, she did look charming in it, as though she was made to wear peasant clothes, even ones as revealing as these. She looked a little tired, but was no less aware of her surroundings. "Yes, I'm awake. What's going on?"

"Seems to be a church gathering. I'm going to check it out, if you want to come then let's get moving. Though last time I checked, there was someone threatening the church. So I'm going more for protection reasons rather than religious." Kelvin then started to head out, though he stopped for a second. "Your welcome to pick up something to eat first though, I'm sure nothing has happened."

Two-Moon had been sitting under the rotting roof of a long abandoned cottage that lay just in the forest surrounding the crest of Camenport. It was there he had seen a strange winged shape swoop over, one that had quickly materialized into a strange multiheaded creature. A creature that had suddenly vanished, leaving naught but two figures standing in the half-light. From under the dappled forest canopy Two-Moon had watched them walk up towards the town. At least one was a summoner, how else to explain what he had witnessed, the other so far was inconsequential. Yet if he could turn a terran summoner to the 'True Faith', oh how he still revelled in that ingenious deception, he could strike hard at the very heart of this land. If the summoner wouldn't join him? Then that problem would have to be...erased

Angelith stared out after Kelvin from the door, then nodded. "Just a moment." She ducked her head back inside her room, then quickly emerged, staff in hand. 'Threats' sounds a lot like 'bloodshed' and 'fighting' to me, so I think I'd better go along, if more because I owe you than because I simply want to help people."

"Good, let's get going." Kelvin said as he lead Angelith out of the inn and ontop the road that lead over the hill and too the church. As they walked, he got a good look at his surroundings. The day seemed peaceful, but something was off about it, though what it was, he couldn't place it.

Chimera, something seems off.

I believe it is because you don't here anything coming from the forest. Your probably expecting to hear maybe a bird chirp or a squirrel run. But all that greets you is silence.

Any ideas why the forest would be quite?

It usually means trouble. But it doesn't nessicarily mean trouble for us.

I'll keep that in mind.

After his short conversation with Chimera, they had reached the church. Kelvin goes up and creeps open a door, gazing at the sight within.

OOC: Lumaes, I don't know if your 'holy angel' is still there or not, so would you be so kind to describe the sight for everyone.

Catharsis swept back her midnight blue hair and wondered what to do. It was obvious that this elven summoner is suffering from major exhaustion and is in such a vulnerable state that he may die to further exposure. She snatched at the sleeve of a frantically scurrying elf guard.

"Excuse me, sir, but I believe this man needs assistance. Is there a healer nearby?"
The elf's eyes widened as his eyes fell upon the unconscious Tarathiel, and he rushed off immediately, calling for a healer.

He is severely weakened, Catharsis, but he will live. The one he calls, the one he commands, it too is weakened. I have tried to contact it, but it makes no reply, Darkwraiven commented as he cradled Tarathiel within shadowy, solid wings. He looked at the elf with eyes so dark it seemed to drain the light from its surroundings, before turning those endless pits to Catharsis.
It seems you have saved the life of an important figure, friend. I sense royal blood in his shaky aura, he added as the healer, attired in traditional white, arrived.

~~Mikay~~

Kithar has never seen Mikay so tired. He knew it was the after-effect of using her ability to both summon and use the earth to a phenomenal degree, but normally, her opponents were swept away usually in her first attack. Now, as she leaned heavily on her spear-tipped staff, watching the withdrawal of the Gaian troops through sleepy eyes, Mikayarashka looked twice her youthful looks.

She noticed the concerned glance from Kithar.
"You shouldn't drain yourself so," he commented after a moment. Mikay didn't reply immediately. When she did, it was a carefully worded reply.
"Every time I push myself, I make myself stronger. To be stronger means to win our lives. The lives of our world. If I fail to win myself in the process, it will merely mean my return to the cradle of my element." Mikay stopped, as if finished. But Kithar knew, and waited. The elf started again, "This war, Kithar. I'm beginning to doubt our ways. In battle, I am surging with adrenaline, full of battle-readiness, and hence ignorant of the woes, but now, while I am drained, I feel that what we are doing isn't right. I am wavering in what we have committed ourselves to. This crusade begins as something righteous and then turns into a slaughter. Yes, I believe that if we do not do so, then it will result in our destruction, but... I believe I am not the only one that is contemplating our motives. Besides that, the destruction of the denizens of this world would not mean our world's salvation. It would only postpone the slow decay of the Well for what? Another millenia before more Well-users spring forth and begin the drain again? Will we have to repeat this... purging again in the future? And what if this world isn't what is draining our world? Wouldn't that mean this slaughter is for nothing?"

Save your talks, Mikay. You may not enjoy sacrifices as much as me, but slaughter feeds me and my lesser kinds.

You only think about your stomach, Manda. There is no way I can argue with you when you only consider us as dainty morsels.

Pah! Elves are too stringy. The ones I swallowed were mere skin and bones. Give me plump humans any day, Manda replied goadingly, causing Mikay to smile a bit at the sheer single-mindedness of her summon.

Kithar's reply hints that he has thought about this issue himself, "The Summon Spirits uphold and guard the Well of Creation. While they do not lie, they do not volunteer information either. However, they have told us that the flow of energy from the Well has decreased and is no longer sufficient to sustain two worlds. Our sages and mystics own tests have also shown this. To save one world, its twin must be sacrificed."

"How could there be some malign will behind this change? It would have to be able to evade the Summons Spirits' awareness and influence the wellspring upon which creation itself is founded... It would have to exceed the gods themselves in power!"

Kithar is silent for a few moments as he composes himself, "The fate of two worlds hangs upon our heads. It is only natural to hesitate. But we must remember that if something is not done, it will mean the end of both worlds. We are not on a path of glory nor of honour. We are on a path of survival."

There is a bleakness to Kithar's tone that shows the resolve he has to accomplish this if necessary. He hides his own reservations that gnaw endlessly at him deep down. What if there is an implacable will behind this decline? How could mortals hope to stand before something that the gods can not. Deeper still is the treacherous thought of what if this is the fate of the world - doomed to die by the hand of an uncaring creator. And deepest of all, locked away in recesses where hopefully it will never surface from, is the awareness of the possibility that even if a entire world is sacrificed - by his own hand no less - that it will not avert the final doom of Gaia.

Josh looked up at Andrew from his book, hearing his question and sensing his ability. He smiled, "Well if you cant tell by now", he said while pointing torwards Gabriel, "Then I dont think you ever will". He watched as Gabriel took off for somewhere, probably the church. "I dont know where the army is headed but I assume where they came from", think of the summoners that were in this battle he thought if this could possibly be an enemy, even though he didnt seem to be, "May I ask you name?".