"Before we go I think you should look at this. I'm sure you are an amazing mage, for what its worth, but I think we should try to find allies. My mother wrote to me. This book... everything in it. Its to help me. Or at least... Thats what the first page says. I think this is a list of their allies. Of Safe houses. But I would like to know you're thoughts on it..." She said handing him the book. She had now told him about her powers... and the books. So much faith was placed in him. She hoped she was right to trust him.

"She packed the book in the bag... I never knew about it until I left..."

He looked over a few of the pages, quite a few of these areas were so far out of the way no wonder they were considered safe houses. "Seems legit enough... though I wouldn't count on all of these places being there if we travel to each one. I'm sure the Queen has her sources and can seek out such information as well." He handed her the book back before thinking over a bit of the addresses. "One is suppose to be here right? I think we should seek out that address first and see where it takes us from there. Probably the sooner we find these places the better as well.. if word gets out that the lost princess if building a army I don't think traveling will be as easy heh.."

"I think the dates would be the last time that they were heard from... My family always got so many letters. Dad would come to town once a week. I thought it was weird, but never questioned it... And yes, there is one right in town. Do you think we should head there first?"
Asui took the book and placed it carefully into the bag. It was their last gift, and it was gonna save her life. She quickly got all of her things together, straighten her hair and clothes, ate a little food, and waited for him to get ready. It was still early. Not many people would be down stairs. It was the ideal time to leave without causing any problems. Her light skin... it would draw to much attention.

"I think it's a good idea, even if the dates were when they were last heard from.. they still might have been targeted. Your parents were killed and im sure the Queen sent men back to check if there was a clue on where you might run to." He smirked a little from his next thought. "Though I don't think she expected you to find someone strong enough to ward off her charms and magic." It took no time for him to get ready as they left the building with no issues. Even once they were outside it seemed the streets were empty, or empty enough. "It should be near the edge of town according to the address listed, if we're lucky its still in one piece as well." His idle thought was it would be a good idea to left her deal with these houses without him being near, even if she trusted him or seemed to, others would not take well to a ex mage of the Queen's own.

"Then lets go." She turned to smile at him after she was a little ways away. If someone in town knew her family, and knew of her. They would know where she should go next. Who to trust. Things might not be so bad.

She hurried down the street looking almost carefree and at ease, but she was paying attention to the movement around her. The people that watched from the shadows, and the people that followed behind her companion. She wondered if he noticed as well... Of course he had. What a silly thought. Yet the ground revealed things to her others would not notice. There were horses closing in on the other side of town. Coming their way. Fast. At least seventeen of them. She doubted it would be good. If it wasn't the Queens men it would be raiders. The town couldn't handle something like that. All the Queens men got called back to the Fort. It had been destroyed. She knew who had done it. The rumors were loudly talked about in the street last night while she had been talking about everything.

The news of the fires wasn't something the town disliked... except for the worry of raiders. She figured that the visit to the "safe house" best be kept short unless they had a place to hide her, but there was only deserts to the East. Or so she had thought... she would be away from her elements. Literally. Water would be sparse and forests... didn't happen much in the desert.

"Are you coming or not?" She called back to him. His pace has slowed causing her to stop and question what had happened.

He seemed to stop altogether when she asked if he was coming. "No, you go on. I'll catch up if things start looking too bad." He had noticed they were being followed, even without knowing about the horses he still could tell the air was tense around the town. Had word spread that the fort was destroyed and there were few to no guards left in this town. She was better off going ahead she needed training still before she was to be useful in combat.

Though a sudden noise to the side of them caused him to force her forward as a black transparent barrier appeared around her. "Go I said!" He hissed before a red glow started forming in one of his palms. The being had taken back to the shadows as Thalion watched it. "Why hide yourself in the darkness... " He smirked a little stepping back a little. "Blood has been spilled in these streets. Do you really think the shadows will save you from the wrath of the lost and forgotten." It was a warning, and it was one that he spoke aloud. Whatever he was planning seemed to be a rather large spell.

"But...!" And before she could say more the barrier was up. She ran off towards the address. The very end of the only road in town. She hoped they would be good to her. That her parents were right about it being safe. She picked up her pace feeling something following her. Roots sprang from the ground making it an uneven path behind her. 'Thalion will be alright... He has to be...'

She ran up the little walk way to the last house and knocked on the door three times and paused a mer moment and knocked another four paused again and knocked once. Her parents had told her to remember it. She hadn't known why. She prayed silently to herself.

The door opened into the house and a man stood there in her way. He looked over her shoulder and back to her.

"Mr. Ciele?" She asked. She didn't know what she was getting herself into.

"By the gods... Come in girl. Now. No time to spare." and the man pulled her inside. When he closed the door he placed his hand against it and said something softly. There was a light glow and then he turned to her.

"Where is your father?!"

The being never left the shadows, Thalion shrugged a little. "suite yourself... the Queen's masses at the front were hardly a challenge." He smiled a bit, though it was a wicked looking one as he moved his hand to the air in front of hm before drawing a quick symbol and then chanting a few odd words. "Now... spirits of the lost and forgotten... aid this town. Release your rage and sorrow upon those who try and decimate your home." With the final words the aura of the surrounding area seemed to change as it drew dark. Sounds were heard as haunting moans crept from the ground and wall. transparent images of beings who once lived here and died here came into view as the being from the shadows let out a sudden cry before it died off from whatever untimely fate he had met with.

He moved from where he was to head towards the address he had sent the girl off towards. He had to make sure she had gotten there and that the building would withstand being assaulted. Though the entanglement of roots around a body along the road told him she was probably fine, though this was further backed as he noticed the aura around one of the buildings. It was a protection spell, and it would do well enough against these thugs.

Though he was distracted once more when the sound of hooves rang out, apparently his spirits weren't enough for some. One seemed to be higher ranked then the others as he smirked before speaking. "The queen wants your head... even if we are bandits the reward would earn us praise in her eyes."

Thalion had to laugh a bit listening to this rabble. "Im not sure you know who your dealing with.." With that being said the horse seemed to rear throwing it's rider before shortly turning and trying to stomp the poor guy as he tried to right himself and prevent a horse hoof from making contact. Once the man was up and managed to run Thalion walked over to the horse and rubbed down it's snout lightly cooing to it a little. "Aw, your alright.. I know that didn't feel pleasant but it had to be done." The beast snorted a little, it seemed to calm down once he had removed whatever curse he had placed on the beast. Though this did solve the problem of not having a horse, though finding a second one might not be as easy.

Asui stammered trying to understand all that was happening. This man knew her.
"M-my Father? He's... dead. I was given a list of people to contact. That would help me..."

"By the Gods..." He removed his glasses cleaning them on his shirt. Worry flashed in deep in his eyes. "So they finally couldn't save you from your fate. Mind it girl for what it is. They loved you like true parents, but they always knew this day would come. They always feared you wouldn't make it to me in time. I'm honestly surprised you have..." He ran his fingers absentmindedly through his graying hair. Placing his glasses back on his face he moved to the window. "Were you alone?"

"N-no Sir. Someone's been helping me. I saved his life. He owes me in kind and says he will do anything to repay his debt.... Why?" She said trying to get her wits about her as she spoke.

" A DARK ELF?!" He voice crept higher and high as he saw the man in the distance. "You've been getting help from one of THEM?"

"The Queen is after him. He's no longer under her rule. I saved him from her men... Like I said. He owes me." She didn't want anyone to think Thalion was the one to worry about here. The one to worry about was The Queen, and her men. Her REAL men.

"You can't TRUST them. ANY of them. This is bad. Really REALLY bad." He spoke as he started pacing back and forth "I can't help you... if you insist on him coming along.. or following or whatever you think is going to happen. I will not trust him."

"Mr. Ciele... Please. He's on our side. How do I prove this to you?"

"You can't. He is a dark elf." He sighed looking at her

"So you would do what their kind has done? Just because he LOOKS different its wrong. He HAS to be evil... and against us. Just because he doesn't have our looks he has to work for the queen?"

Ciele was silent for quite some time just staring at her. She seemed like such a frail thing. Tiny and shaking from all the stress she had been under. He had missed it. The thing that defined this girl. Her heart. The truth that burned in her eyes and her words. He was no better then The Queens' men.

"Mr. Ciele... Please." She begged once more.

"Child you are a treasure. Something that will change this word for the better I have to believe. Your words are sound. I've been no better than The Queens' men. I beg your forgiveness. I will meet your friend, and maybe call him my own. I will not trust him. I can not give you that, but I must help you. As I have sworn to your father, and on his grave I will do my most to help you get to your rightful place." He started around his home picking up this and that as he went. " Will he be wanting to come in?" He stopped looking at the door.

If he knew of half the conversation going on currently he'd have told the other half of his mind. It wasn't like he had a choice in helping or not. he seer from the old kingdom even suggested it. Those were powers he did not wish to test and go against. At the same time he didn't expect much of anything from the list they were to visit. Trust was not something he freely gave nor expected, so anything wouldn't surprise him.

The horse snorted before backing up a little as some more of the Queen's soldiers seemed to make their way to seek the girl out. "tsk.. mindless dogs.." he muttered out before shoving the beast to walk away before he bothered moving. He took a few steps ignoring if the house that Asui had entered had opened or not. The group charging forward never halted once at the sight of a single fighter, this made it all the easier.

"Maybe this till remind her damned highness what clan she destroyed all those years ago!" He growled his words towards the still on-charging men before shooting just one palm out in front of him as a slight aura formed around it. Slowly it took the color of blood red before he spoke again. "Your flesh betrays you, your bones know the truth. Tainted and restrained by the weakened flesh."

Everything seemed to come to a dead stop as all of the soldiers stopped at the same time. A sudden blood curdling scream from one of them seemed to cause a chain reaction. His incantation did just as he said, granted it was spoken in old tongue, this was a sample of what true power he had been holding back. The clan he spoke of was one of the many the Queen had left one or two alive from .. others were not as lucky. But his clan were known to be masters of the dark arts of necromancy.

Control over the dead, and bones of the living. Any level of dark magic was to be rightfully feared in the wrong hands, this is why the Queen had killed his clan, his family. From all of the fighting earlier he was about livid with it all.There were methods of countering such magic but they were hard to come by anymore, the Queen made sure that she had any such users of the counters or magic under her control... though she appeared to have let her guard down with this one.

It was a rather grotesque sight to behold. Each of the soldiers unable to control their very hands and limbs as they killed themselves, most ripping the very flesh free from the bone. One seemed to finish this turning process before the others as Thalion ordered it to come to him. "Give your damned leader a message... she was warned, the girl is not hers..." The skeletal beast seemed to understand before it started to walk off to do as it was bid to do so.

For any of the others that still were half turned or half dying he flicked the same hand before muttering a few words again. "To ash.." There was no need to leave a undead army in the town. As soon as he spoke the words and lowered his hand the group before him seemed to cumbust into a dark purple and white flame. Quickly engulfing the army that once stood and laving no trace of them aside form some dist on the cobblestone paths as remains.

Though all of this didn't seem to have no effect on it's caster as he seemed to pause a moment before holding his chest with one hand. "Yeah yeah... knew better.." He breathed out wincing slightly.

~this is why i don't post in the mornings when the servers are being flaky :P~

The screams alerted Asui that the fighting was not over, but Ciele was spooked by them. Dropping everything he had gathered to the floor and running towards the windows. His face pale with worry.
" The Queens' Men? But how..." And then he saw Thalion "...A controller of the dark arts? You are foolish girl..."

She couldn't tell if he was speaking from worry or fear. All she knew was that Thalion was good. Or well... good enough. They had yet to really get to know one another truly, but she felt that deep in his soul he just wanted to help people. Free them from the queen. Asui stepped over the pile on the floor and looked out the window just in time to see him grab his chest. He was pushing himself again.

"Please... don't judge him. You've yet to meet him." Without a second thought she ran out of the house and out to him. It was a surprise he was standing at all. He wasn't looking so good.

"Wait! You don't know whats out there!" Ciele called to her as she ran down the drive towards Thalion.

"Thalion? Please come inside before more men show up. You're going to kill yourself at this rate..." She didn't want to lose him. He was the only person she could really trust right now. His eyes seemed to be looking somewhere distant. It didn't seem like he saw her at all. Knowing better then to touch someone that could kill her if he didn't know it was her she tried to figure out how to get him in the house. The Queens' Men were turned to ash. There was no more threat that she could see.

"Thalion... Can you hear me?"

"Relax little one." He finally spoke after she was standing there a few moments. "My hearing is just fine." He glanced at her a moment before letting out a heavy breath. "Something I knew better then to do, whatever damage is done will be recoverable." He seemed to shrug off the fact that he could have just killed himself. Though at the same time he probably knew his limit better then anyone.

He seemed to think for a moment before speaking again to her. "Hrm.. no that should be all of them for this area." Noticing the odd look she gave him at his random answer he figured it was fair to explain himself. "We'll just say my earlier endeavor was to the small fort not far from here. Going off of the numbers there.. this was probably the last of them within reasonable distance to try and get you." Well maybe aside from a few that strayed off or decided that going up against one of the head mages was a bad idea... or rather one of the use to be head mages.

Barely glancing towards the building she had come out of he laughed weakly. "Your friend over there looks worse for wear, just let me know when your done here." He wasn't about to go into that building, the markings and protections on it alone made him a little ill just being near it. Though he never mentioned them to her. Aside from that there was no point in upsetting the already disgruntled elf over there. He could take a good guess as to the expression on his face and how Asui had run out here, as to what his thoughts were on all of this.

It was ok though, in the long run he knew his fate already. The odds he would make it through this whole trip were rather slim. But if he managed to get Asui enough help along the way and to the point where she was ready to fight for her home and prepared to do so... he'd settle for that. The dark arts were hardly spoke of anymore, they were old magic. Most of the clans who had control over such arts were dead or hidden away somewhere. Though the tales of what one could do with such powers were reason enough for people to dislike the dark forms of magic... He could hardly blame anyone who looked down upon it.

Asui just stared at him for a moment. Not sure if she should speak her mind or not. She almost decided against it, but in the end couldn't stop herself.
"Why do you always do that? You hide your pain. You hide the fact that you could die any time you do something like that as if I wouldn't know. You are the only person I can really trust. The only one I have left. So stop lying to me..." She started glowing a faint green without realizing it. The ground around her feet started to grow lush green grass where it once was a beaten down path of stone and dirt. All around that end of town things started growing. Trees, grass, bushes, and flowers. The power was so intense, and yet she didn't seem to notice what was happening. As tears seemed to flow endlessly from her eyes.
"...Thalion what would happen if you had died today? Do you really think I would have made it to where I'm supposed to be? Do you think I'd even make it to the next town?" Her voice caught in her throat as her fear and her sadness took control of her again "...D-do you thi-ink I coul-ld make it by my-yself? I've go-ot nothing left..." She fell to her knees covering her face. There was nothing left to say... Nothing left to do. The power surge died down and the glow disappeared. She hear the door open and Mr. Cieles' quick steps coming towards them.

" By the Gods..." His voice full of awe and shock. "How... Did she..." He stopped mid sentence when he remembered how Thalion was and then took a few quick steps back. "Is she gonna be alright...?"

He never answered her as she spoke, she was right and he knew it. Though he also knew his own limits as well. He had lived through more then she would probably ever experience in her life time. Though his attention was drawn to her a little more when her powers seemed to take a sudden change and caused a slight overgrowth in the town. When she seemed to stop talking as she fell to her knees and covered her face he shook his head a little. She had more then she thought, she was just under trained... Her powers from that surge alone were enough to make most back down, and that was just a surge of them.

"She'll be fine." He said answering the man's question. "As to how she did it, that is not a real question." He meant that she has these powers and that was just a taste of what she could do. At her age she shouldn't have that much power over the elements yet they both and whoever else was in the town just witnessed it. After the surge seemed to die off he decided it was a good idea to try to get her to calm down again, while it was going on it could have done more damage then what was already done to the town.

Kneeling down to her he laughed once before shaking his head. "I think you underestimate yourself. Saying you cannot do something is limiting your true potential." Seeing as she still seemed upset he sighed a little before speaking to her again. "Don't you think by now I know my own limit? I wasn't going to die from that, after all I said I was helping you... I think that seer of yours would bring me back from the dead if I left you in the middle of your travels."

He had a point as well, he did agree to helping her. This was hardly the extent of his powers when it came down to it. Though he knew he better not be doing too many magic tricks for the next few days if he were wise. Standing once more he offered to help Asui stand again once she was done being on the ground. "Besides, helping you is allowing me to look for something... though training you sooner rather then later might be a good idea." He figured soon enough she'd notice the greenery that was added to the town.