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 Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:37 am
Gravel turned to sand beneath the squire. The earth transitioned seamlessly into Saturn - the afternoon blues grew into the deep twilight that pervaded Scholomance, cleaved in half with the presence of the great rings spanning the sky. Beneath their invariable presence, the wonder Scholomance remained encased in its palpable burnt orange fog. The squire found himself close to one of the few terrariums that dotted the campus - a broken old globe whose set of trees withered into stone long before he never reached the wonder.
Scholomance remained hidden in its fog, sprawling to a vastness that no occupant could determine in these darker months. The Observatory stood far to the right, looming in its blindness over the ubiquitous haze. With it came the peculiar ominous sensation that haunted the wonder since Scholomance's initial visit - a vague sense of disruption, of inherent wrongness still tainted the place for all the visits its knight paid. Around the entirety of the wonder, a quietude settled that was so complete and pristine that any untrained ear would strain into deafness for the simplest sound - the sinigle punctuation to sentence that stretched to infinity.
His immediate thoughts, as he recognized the telltale weather patterns of the island, were of Labyrinthite and his starseed. The pain plagued him still as a festering, burning darkness that simmered and scalded his starseed. And yet, within moments, that searing pain evaporated altogether. He drew a breath that soon gave way to a relieving sigh. Labyrinthite must no longer be with him.
Which meant, he supposed, that he needed to kill at least an hour at his unwelcoming wonder for the certainty that Labyrinthite would have left that location. As he sat up, Scholomance closed his eyes and focused on ridding himself of brimming anxiety. Even know, he thought he felt the general's aura, but he doubted the man could have traversed so great a distance with him while lacking a direct invitation.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:57 am
Unfortunately for dear Scholomance, he was not alone in his wonder.
Labyrinthite had not expected the scenery to shift beneath his feet seamlessly, like he'd always been standing on the sand and under a twilight sky. It was enough to startle him, make him pull his hand free and stumble back into the fog that draped itself across them. His hood slipped back, pooled around his shoulders and his fingers curled in and out of the shape of a fist, glove crinkling beneath the ministrations.
There was a hammering of his heart against ribs as he spun in a slow circle, ends of his cloak sweeping across the sand with his movement, before he was certain that he was no longer on Earth. It felt nothing like the planet he called home and suddenly, explicitly he was furious. If the squire that bringing him would save him from whatever choice Labyrinthite decided to inflict upon him, death or corruption, he was mistaken.
The general moved forward, back towards where he was certain he dropped the man, with his jaw set tightly and whiskey-gold eyes narrowed slightly. "Scholomance," rumbled the snarl when he appeared in the man's line of vision. "Where have you taken us?" His tone showed that he was in no mood for dodgy answers, if he hadn't been interested in ending saturn's knight, he clearly was now.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:51 am
You're shitting me.
The knight's blood ran cold upon hearing the dreaded voice - upon seeing the misappropriated energy expenditure of a general instantly standing before him. Scholomance struggled to his feet and clasped a hand around the newly-formed bone cane at his side. He knew, then, that his sole remaining chance at life was through accessing the depths of Scholomance. Survival hung heavily on the surfeit of magical experiments that formed the wonder's legacy. But while Mercury held a wonder that ended the lives of many knights, Scholomance had traversed his without a single trap to bar his path - he doubted the institution harbored such convenient devices now.
"You said it yourself." His response came steeled, guarded behind teeth. "You're at Scholomance." Immediately his mind cycled through courses of action - he could try to run and hope that the thick fog might cover his tracks, though the general would suffer no difficulties in catching up. He could meander as deeply as he could into the wonder and hope for traps, but there was little evidence of that from his travels. He could plead, but Labyrinthite demonstrated once before that barter found no ally with him. Perhaps, then, his greatest asset lay in their great distance from earth. "We're at least half a billion miles from Earth, now. Can your teleportation cover that range?" Labyrinthite's prior plans had been abandoned, though Scholomance was not keen to see their return; he needed certainty that he would not die in such a sordid, malevolent space.
Scholomance considered, briefly, that he could cast his magic upon Labyrinthite and expect him to navigate the pair toward one of the buildings. However, the general knew nothing of his magic currently, and that lack of knowledge held significant benefit. Instead, Scholomance chose to skirt the general while keeping him in sights, and start his own path in preconceived estimation of their location. Scholomance established itself as a vast campus, but it housed basic predictabilities - as it was built in a circle, he knew that any venture while within that circle would lead to an outer path or a building. He could not lose himself amongst the fog so long as he remained keen.
Though, how was he to do so when confronted with a livid general? Labyrinthite's fury quaked in his voice, and Scholomance possessed no self-mutilating curiosity to test its breadth. He started, carefully, in a predetermined direction.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:42 pm
"You brought me to your wonder," he hissed, though the statement was more for himself than it was for the knight. He inhaled sharply, mind a whirl as he tried to process the knowledge. It was first, a new experience that both thrilled the general and worried him.
What would happen if Scholomance perished here? Could the knight abandon him on the wonder without consequence? He didn't know if he was willing to find out, but he was willing to proceed as if he were
"You think I am afraid to find out?" Labyrinthite challenged, undeterred by the idle threat. He didn't know what would happen if he assaulted Scholomance and the squire ended up dead-- or worse -- but he wasn't going to let the man in on that. "You have no idea what we are capable of," he snarled, advancing forward. "Take us back," he ordered as he followed the man's slow movements.
Still, there was a curiosity bubbling within him, something that hadn't truly surfaced since he'd accepted the mantle of general over captain and there was a part, that was steadily growing stronger, that was curious about what the wonder was and what it could offer. "Tell me, Scholomance, what your wonder might offer," he said slowly, eyes attempting to peer through the fog while still keeping the squire in his line of vision. "Perhaps I would find it useful to keep you alive."
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 2:36 am
"I know you're capable of deadly weaponry, starseed seizing and teleportation. If you want to leave, then teleport. You don't need me for that." Scholomance knew his chances, slim as they were, stood bolstered in his wonder. No one but himself or Labyrinthite could reach him here - unless the highest tiers of the Negaverse knew how to traverse space without so much as a thought. It unnerved him to assume so, but Labyrinthite made no call to his peers. No one followed him here. Perhaps they were, well and truly, isolated.
Scholomance hastened his gait when he realized that Labyrinthite had no intention to leave him be. The general spared no attempts at teleporting free of the wonder, which left the squire suspicious of intent. "Make up your mind," he called over his shoulder, "either you want to stay and learn about this place or you don't." Scholomance gave no more explanation for a time, instead walking on in the fog, until he crossed a manmade path that started in a different direction. This path he followed, and with each step, the barest flecks of magic came to life between the stones. It formed the dim glow that urged him further, and he kept on until the silhouette of a building loomed beyond the fog. As Scholomance craned his neck to identify the building, it rose far beyond all sight.
The Observatory it is, he thought.
"Scholomance is a weaponized research institution." Scholomance spared no glance toward his unwilling tagalong. Instead, he searched the old, blackened bronze doors with his hands. "It was something else before. I don't know what. But most of it is either run down or defunct ,as far as I can tell. I've heard stories that the Scholomance campus was alive at all hours a thousand years ago. I imagine most of it won't be coming back. Ah, here it is." Having found the recess, Scholomance pulled the signet ring from his finger and pressed it into the indentation. Immediately the door blazed to life, with glass piping offering a view of the royal blue glow. It laced the door like veins shortly before they opened their portal to the two men.
Inside, a small collection of cold white lights flickered to life like old candlewicks, casting a collection of shadows across the wall behind the pair. The room remained quite dim beyond that, with only a few feet around each of the lights illuminated. Scholomance paused on the marble floor. With a slight smirk, he half-turned to address the general. "If you were a little nicer, I'd offer to do some research on your behalf."
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:29 pm
"Perhaps I do not wish to leave without you."
Were it coming from the mouth of anyone else, perhaps his words would have been sweet, but they were from Labyrinthite and they were hollow like he was. There was, in the back of his mind, the belief that it would be possible for the Negaverse to retrieve him from the wonder if he became effectively trapped but at the same time, there was the constricting fear in his gut that said what if they don't care to?
Potential or not, he was expendable ultimately.
He ignored the taunt, listened to the squire speak with mild interest while his gaze drifted across the structures. He watched, fixated, as the knight pulled the ring and pushed it into a mechanism that opened the door. He followed after immediately, mere feet apart from the other man, in case the door tried to close. "I am not nice," he replied, a casual roll of his shoulders. It was a simple matter of fact, the general had long since stopped trying to pretend he was good or nice in any capacity.
"But I am sure I could convince you to do it anyway." An underlying threat.
"What has your wonder taught you Scholomance?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:40 am
"That might be out of even your jurisdiction, Labyrinthite." Scholomance started down the long path to the winding staircase, toward the desk that held his signet ring some time ago. His footfalls echoed up through the great, yawning darkness of the tower. "I would need to remain a knight, and in full possession of my faculties if I was to engineer anything for the Negaverse. You can't have anyone else that can reach this place, or utilize it - it is my burden and property. So swing your scythe as you might, you risk too much just by doing so." He did not pause to survey the general's response; he detested to see the ire now.
"As for what it's taught me..." Scholomance drew to a halt in front of the desk. His fingers strayed to the old feather pen while his gaze looked skyward in an attempt to pierce the darkness. It did not yield for him, nor for anyone. "I don't think it's knowledge that the Negaverse can use. For me, at least for now, Scholomance is primarily a testament to the past. It's a lesson that always gets repeated in different ways. I think there's quite a bit for me to learn here, and more still from my ancestor, but... Well." He paused, smiled, and cast his gaze down to the pen he held.
Carefully he scrawled over desiccated paper with the dregs of an inkwell at his disposal. He drew his estimation of the campus' presence, complete with the ring of path around it. Proper sketching ensured that a glow became self-evident from the paths. "I learned some time ago that every time I visit, pieces of this place start to come back together. Initially, there were fewer lights in this tower. I remember because I counted them initially. Now, there's more than there were before, and I've never once tried to fix those lights. I don't know if my presence here restores it, or if it's been done by my ancestor, or if my simple existence somehow heals this place, but... I imagine that, someday, Scholomance will return to a functional state. Pieces of it might already be working."
When he finished the drawing, he debuted the piece to the general. "There's a lot of magic here to explore, Labyrinthite. Now, wouldn't it be wise to strike a deal with someone who has access to it all? Or would you prefer to meet the last knight of Scholomance and ask him questions about the research institution yourself?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:44 am
"You assume that I only need corrupt you to get what I want. There are other ways."
The knowledge that the knight would not maintain his wonder was something the general tucked away for later use. At the moment, he did not know if he'd want to return, but it was a curious place with curious uses and, for the moment, he was requited. Which mean good and bad things for the squire.
"Knowledge is power, regardless of it's immediate uses," Labyrinthite responded, cold and calculated-- his prior heat and frustration winding down. He was still very capable of being deadly or intimidating, it showed in the way he held himself; with his back straight and shoulders square, muscles rippling if the need to act arose. Liquid gold followed the careful movements of pen across paper, head tilted slightly as though he was interested, it was hard to tell.
Sometimes, the general slipped into easy actions, feigning what was supposed to be emotion or interest second-naturedly even if it was not the actual case. It came from years of practice as an adolescence and the time following. "How often do you visit?" If the wonder became more and more active the more he visited, then it could prove useful information for his faction.
"There's plenty of magic to explore elsewhere knight." Like in subspace, their research quarters, or within the Rift itself where the General preferred to spend his free time. He contemplated his next response briefly before he strode towards the smaller man, grabbing him by the front of his coat with one hand. The maniac, shark-grin was back.
"I'm sure I could convince you easily, if that's what I wanted."
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:40 am
"Maiming isn't much help either. You don't know how much of this place responds to me alone." Give it a rest. Your posturing isn't much help here, and neither is your violence.
"Perhaps it's of some interest to you that a part of this wonder told me to go to the Negaverse." Scholomance left out the citation of the Code deliberately, for he knew not what type of power it beheld to end him for speaking of such, but he skirted its presence well. "It's also told me that I am a failure of a knight. That it's disappointed that I am the heir of Scholomance. It might be founded for how often I've avoided this place."
Briefly the squire considered proceeding to the deepest reaches of the tower, where the Code piece lay in the bottom of its basin. However, he knew not whether he could maintain the magical power necessary to pull them both to that location. Instead, he decided that the skyward reaches of the tower demanded exploration, for he had with him one capable of crossing great distances in the blink of an eye. Should he find an inaccessible area, then a Negaverse agent would suffice for reaching it for him - or with him. Finally he mounted the wide staircase and began his slow ascension. "It is right, I think, for how poorly I've performed as a knight. If I'm heir to an institution, then I'm expected to carry its purpose forward. I know the last knight to serve here did. But have I conducted a single experiment in its walls? No. That, I expect, is where I've fallen short."
Scholomance reached the second floor in relatively short order. Portions of it lit near him, giving the impression of a circular central area with semi-functional ethereal guard rails preventing a fall to the floor below. Here he paused, plumbed the darkness with what night vision he could manage, and then stepped out from the stairwell toward the curious banister. He touched it, pressed a hand to it, and only once did his hand push through the immaterial wall. It flickered back into use not long after.
"Scholomance," he started as his hands touched the glass crest of the banister, "Has six buildings in total that I know of. It's been the site of some questionable affairs, I think, for the number of bones I've found in the Ossuary alone. The lake surrounding it has even more. I don't know why these things exist, but... I expect when I start taking up the job of a Scholomance knight..." He started to wind his way around the great overlook. "I will start to discover more of this place."
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:17 pm
"Are you sure that wasn't just your lack of confidence projecting itself at you?" Though there was a curious part of Labyrinthite that couldn't deny that Scholomance would, at the very least, make an interesting addition to the ranks of Metallia's soldiers. "Fear is manipulable and often mixed with deceit." Lies were easy to tell when you thought it might get you what you wanted.
Once, the boy behind the soldier had been excellent at spinning them.
He wondered if he could still call upon that ability easily or if it would be like his charisma, fleeting and hardly tangible. "Do you view yourself as a failure Scholomance or are you simply inclined to take the words of that piece of your wonder at face value?" If he knew what the piece was, then the general might have been more inclined to believe the words too. Then again, the Code meant nothing to a corrupted knight who bent his knee to it's corrupt counterpart. "I take it that you are not interested in joining our ranks, or else you would have found one of us."
Not him, why would he pick Labyrinthite when he could find a softer, less ruthless general?
"Are you not curious knight? About the things your wonder could be capable of?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 1:10 am
"I'm sure," Scholomance snapped back. "There's been enough evidence to prove otherwise. There's something else to it." The problem arose that no one knew what the true issue was, or how to solve it. Even with Babylon's intuitions that the Code suffered some kind of malady, there was no proof of it beyond his own personal experiences. Others received similar harsh words, which likely left more damaged spirits in its wake. And what good did it do? Why would the Code choose to alienate its knights? It was, perhaps, a question for a day without a General in his midst.
Internally he couldn't decide whether it was worse to turn his back to a determinate fall, one that would easily break his spine, or if he should remain with his back turned to a General who proved quite adept at starseed seizing. Either way, he would see injury with certainty. After a measure of internal debate, Scholomance chose to trust his wonder over the intrusive presence and braced himself against the guard rail. It held fast, despite its earlier waver. I suppose you're not entirely withholding of your aid, then.
"General Labyrinthite." He spoke strongly as he held the man's gaze, sharp in the face of determined opposition. "Self-esteem notwithstanding, it's fairly obvious that I haven't served as other knights serve. I don't stand against the Negaverse, I don't assist the White Moon, and I've done nothing but run away from my namesake. There has not been much communication of what my duties are as a Scholomance knight, which is the fault of my ancestor. So to answer your question, I can't count myself successful as a knight based on what my peers have done, but I can count myself as a failure by the evaluation I received from the Wonder itself." He steeled his jaw against the self-effacing thoughts that arose in response. Currently, it mattered little that he couldn't puzzle out how to succeed.
His gaze left the general and redirected over his shoulder, at seemingly nothing. "As for the Negaverse..." Cutting himself off, he laughed sardonically. "It isn't disinterest holding me back."
With both hands braced against the rail, the squire followed intricate architectural details toward the arched ceiling, where a surfeit of stone fixtures rendered a hallmark Gothic appearance. For as much as it was an observatory, Scholomance looked much like a cathedral - right down to the stained glass fixtures interspersed at even intervals. "I have some ideas of what it's capable of. Blaine told me as much. But to see it in its heyday... Sometimes I wish I had the benefit of being a reincarnated knight, so I could see those small glimpses of the past. I am curious, yes, but not quite ready. Not while I have to deal with a general that tried to cut my leg off." his pointed glance returned to Labyrinthite. "Those 'things' that my wonder could be capable of will have to wait for a more eligible bidder."
"More company?" A voice behind him drew his attention, and while Scholomance loathed tearing his gaze from danger, he looked due to the markedly different tonal quality in Blaine's voice. Surely enough, the ancestral knight strode toward them in his usual carefully meek fashion. "I don't recognize this one. He doesn't look like any knight I know." The blonde kept friendly red eyes trained on the newcomer, and stopped at a wide berth. Blaine was not unwise to the perception that something was amiss.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:37 pm
Labyrinthite remained eerily quiet, choosing to refrain from speaking or contradicting Scholomance even when the man spoke as though the general was privy to all the things he did. He followed in silence, keeping his hands to himself rather than taking advantage of a turned back.
They weren't battling, he saw no need for cheap tricks when he was confident that he could easily best the squire. His lean muscle structure was impressive without the added strength that chaos afforded him. He lacked magic and it was made up in his physical dexterity.
"The knights have always appeared to be neutral parties when it is beneficial to them," he said after his silence had stretched over them. Though, most of the knights he had met, or knew, where primarily aligned with the senshi. Hvergelmir might have been the exception and even then, Labyrinthite knew where her loyalties lay.
All and all, it always appeared easy to sway a knight into the arms of chaos than a senshi.
"If it is not your own lack of disinterest, then nothing should be holding you back," Labyrinthite said. As someone who lacked personal connections, outside of broken, unhealthy ones, it never occurred to him that what went on in someone's civilian life would keep them from leaving it behind. Or, if he did, he didn't care.
"If I wanted you dead, you would be--" he stopped upon hearing the voice of someone else. Whiskey eyes followed Scholomance's gaze towards the approaching man. "You've never seen a knight like me," he sneered, grinning shark-like at Blaine.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 11:10 am
"He isn't a knight, Blaine. He's a general of the Negaverse - Labyrinthite." Scholomance kept his focus on the man of which he spoke. He did not direct voice toward Blaine; rather, he announced loudly enough that the tones would carry through the cylindrical building toward his ancestor.
Behind him, the man nodded once. "I've never heard of this Negaverse. It sounds Martian. He doesn't look Martian, though - a lot closer to Saturn, wouldn't you think? But I've never heard of a Negaverse wonder on Saturn..." Blaine continued to mutter to himself as he attempted to puzzle out 'Negaverse' and 'generals' in a manner consistent with his frame of reference.
"I'll explain later, Blaine. Now isn't the time." He breathed slowly through his mouth to mitigate some of his frustrations. The tension across shoulders, in arms and legs started to wear on the muscles, and Scholomance knew he would be sore from the nerves of the day. The wonder oppressed even as he was present within it, and current company offered no balm to assuage his worry.
"As for you," he stated toward the general, dropping his voice, "as much as I would like pointed weaponry and convenient teleportation, There's more outweighing it. I have a career that's finally flourishing. I have friends who love me, who would help in any manner possible - and have proven themselves at that - through times of need. I have good memories that I don't want to submit to the losses of corruption. The Negaverse can't promise me equal or better luck in a second life. Besides, there's still more to do here before any decisions to abandon this place."
Blaine waited through the whispers, his presence ever meek and unassuming. He leaned on the section of a guard rail while Scholomance continued to speak. He picked at imaginary dirt under his nails. Finally his patience waned, and he cleared throat to first draw attention to himself. "I apologize for interrupting, but Scholomance, I had something I wanted to show you. You can bring your company along if you like. Perhaps this Negaverse will be interested in contracting with Scholomance?"
The squire's grip tightened. Blaine, you have no idea what you're talking about. To suggest that-- Scholomance ground his teeth subtly and steadily. He finally wrenched his gaze from Labyrinthite and cast it beyond the cracked, dim expanse of the pain spire toward where his ancestor leaned. "Now isn't a good time."
Blaine frowned. "Scholomance, it would benefit you to attend to the duties you're given. As a squire, you must start learning how to operate the campus. I can appreciate the interest in bringing others here and discussing the wonder, but please allow me to expand on the knowledge that you share with them."
This is a terrible idea, Scholomance thought bitterly.
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Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 2:53 pm
"Times have changed, there is much you do not know." A simple, yet vague, explanation. If Blaine wished to know more, he would have to implore that the current Scholomance would fill him in at a later date, as the squire implied, because the general did not look as though he would lend any more information.'
His attention shifted from Blaine to Scholomance easily, expression blank and the man looked bored even as he listened. "Most things can be rebuilt from the ashes," he commented easily. Everything had a cost, it was a matter of determining the value of each decision. It was the soldier's opinion that the squire stood on the wrong side of the war, that he was mixing himself in with company not worth keeping, but it wasn't worth the argument. Not when he was potentially trapped on a wonder he did not know how to leave.
Besides, recruitment had stopped being his strong suit when he'd become a general. The days of the smooth talker he'd once been had long since dissipated. He was merely an instrument for corruption rather than an instigator, though, he mused, it was possible for him to pretend if it came down to it. "Either way," he began before the man attached to the wonder began speaking.
"Yes, Scholomance, why don't we see what Blaine is so eager to share?" A question that was more of a demand.
He knew that the squire didn't wish to really share much of his wonder with him, but the ancestor seemed insistent. Besides, if he was stuck he might as well gather information for the database. Perhaps, if he deemed it worth it in the end he would send someone more eloquent and smooth to coerce the man into using the wonder for their benefit.
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 4:39 am
Breath hissed between teeth sharply as Scholomance looked from Blaine to the much more threatening Labyrinthite. The imperative he gave did not go unnoticed. "If you insist, Blaine." Wedging himself out from between the general and the guardrail demanded ample fear, great care, and a hint of primal exhilaration that he loathed to acknowledge.
While dead, Blaine still fell prey to some of the quirks of the old - he was not so terribly interested in new information anymore, as he felt that he acquired a sufficient amount about the outside world. Surely it could not have changed much from the realms he knew; while Scholomance fell to ruin and the outlying areas fell in population, he would surely find the same interstellar collectives he met before his death. The grim tidings Scholomance brought came only of Earth, a place he certainly wanted to visit again, but as a knight of Saturn, he knew his allegiance fell to these parts. He did not ask further of Labyrinthite or his origins.
"You won't regret it, I promise. You can bring your friend, too." Blaine stepped to the side and gestured forth, indicating his intended direction, before he spearheaded the impromptu group. His footfalls circled back around the great perimeter of the Observatory's second floor. Easily he stepped around cracks, fallen rubble, and remnants of old columns while he approached the far recesses. "If you recall," he started, speaking over his shoulder, "There are a set of spires that attach themselves to the tower here and anchor to the ground. I don't... Quite recall what the original purpose to their interior was, but I do remember that they were constructed around the same time as this tower. They had to build higher, but crosswinds demanded that they secure the building more thoroughly. You recall the buttresses affixed to this building from the outside? That was their answer to nature."
His footfalls proceeded until he reached a grandiose door, with a pointed arch that mirrored the ribbed vaulting of the ceilings in the other buildings. He pushed the door open without difficulty, and the cold starlight of Saturn's rings illuminated a stony aisle connecting the central tower to one of its subsidiary spires. The area was without banister or covered arches, as they had long fallen away to disrepair. In places, the path deteriorated to a thickness of a single stone, requiring caution in its crossing. "Watch your step. I've been watching over this place for a long time, and I can tell you that this path fell away long before you came about, Scholomance. It's curious - it simply reappeared one day, as if called back by your continued presence.
"But I digress. I intended to tell you that there were six spires in total here - one for each building of Scholomance. And in the top of each of these towers is a special device which you may appreciate." With little to obstruct his ghostly presence, Blaine reached the far door to the tower in his easy gait.
This left Scholomance to navigate the long path with Labyrinthite to his back, and he felt quite keenly the other man's presence. "I hope you find it in your good graces to abstain from pushing me off," he muttered over shoulder. Carefully he stepped forth and resisted the dark urge to look toward the distant ground. Vertigo threatened to take hold regardless; his arms splayed outward to counteract the sudden dizziness that endangered him now. The crossing would be perilous, he knew, but more so with a volatile threat to his aft.
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