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"The land beyond the mountains is riddled with forested areas but I know this part of the kingdom well, the paths with be easy enough for horses to travel and it would be best for us to conserve our strength instead of wasting it in traveling on foot." She then turned towards the large military structure that dominated the small settlement, like tha gate that guarded the pass the structure was roughly made and constructed of wood.
"Rest while you can, I will return soon."
With that she left Sin there to make arrangements for departure.

~While a stable hand adorned a dark roan and a dappled gray destrier with tack, Issildia waited outside the moderately sized stables with her arms stiffly crossed. The least of her worries was the physical exhaustion that was finally beginning to take a toll on she and Sin from all that had transpired within the last few hours, though paramount in her mind...was their current location and the proximity to the ruins to the north. Issildia had not set foot east of the Heriden mountains since the fall of Anier. No more than a half a day from now she would be in sight of Lake Veldan and the ashen city that it now guarded, and this was no pleasant thought. Though her solace was broken by an all to familiar voice.

"So once again the unwilling are forced by circumstance to go where they do not will...how ironic that you of all people walk such a path now Issildia."

Out of the darkness cast by the building a form began to come into being, Issildia immediatly drew her blade and leveled it at Luin Ryera's neck as he appeared a matter of steps in front of her.

"Luin." she uttered with disgust. "What purpose would the likes of you have here?"

"I am tempted to ask you the same question." he retorted coolly.

Without a moment's warning Issildia flicked her blade forward as if to slit his throat but he countered just a quickly; a stiletto knife appearing in his hand in an unseen instant and caught her sword near the hilt with the slender blade, altering the angle ever so slightly so that the flat of her sword was all that now threatened him. In an idle motion he used his palm to hold off the blade of the sword while the sharp angled cross guard of his knife twisted around the hilt of Issildia's sword, rendering it immobile for the moment.

"I did not come here to fight." Luin warned as he tightened the grip on the stiletto, the fang like cross guard biting into Issildia's right hand which still grasped the hilt of her sword, blood trickled from the cut, staining the stiletto with a red sheen.

"You now walk on dangerous ground Issildia, you know not what you seek..."

"Are you now concerned for my well being Luin? How touching." she retorted, her words dripping in sarcasm.

"He will kill you Issildia, he is no longer himself..." Luin said with venom. "Azrielle never was truly part of Anier, he deceived you all...he can not be trusted."

"I need information Luin, there are to many questions that remain unanswered...and unless you feel like divulging such knowledge then I will have to seek such answers elsewhere. I have no other choice."

"Trenius Sekia is not safe, your father now marches upon it with a declaration of war...yet that is not even the half of it." he replied in a grim tone.

"Why do you want me to know this Luin...why are you trying to help me?" she questioned harshly, her blood continuing to stain her hands along with the stiletto.

"I'm not helping you, I am helping myself." he answered bluntly, his eyes darkening.
Finally he drew back, releasing her sword as he withdrew the knife and ever so carefully sheathed it without bothering to wipe the blood away.

"Go back to your desert Ryera, your words mean nothing..." Issildia stated, her words laced with ice.

A curious smirk then crossed Luin's face as he looked at her, "You choose death as your fate, so be it..."

"Death comes for us all, it is a fate that none can escape...not me or even you Ryera."

"Perhaps." returned Luin as his own shadow began to spiral up his body. "Or perhaps not." at that moment the shadows consumed him and he disappeared as if he had never been.

~~~Merely a matter of minutes later Luin reappeared within the darkened halls of the Tower of Vestain. Jadea stood off to the side looking down at an onyx table that had a single item set upon it. A metal shard that was laced with deep set runes that mimicked the ancient script that adorned the inner walls of the very tower that they stood within. The shard was small enough to easily lay within an open palm and it held a dark allure that glimmered with an unearthly light.

Luin looked at Jadea with an expression of satisfaction as he withdrew the stiletto knife that was still stained with remnants of Issildia's blood.

"What if it doesn’t work...Khastur has disappeared and he was the only other that suited the..." Jadea said, her voice going silent as Luin looked at her.

"There is no point in considering failure, for there is no consideration needed, I have the blood." he answered.

Jadea merely nodded as Luin stepped forward and held the knife at an angle over the metal shard set upon the table. Slowly a single drop of blood trickled down the knife until it reached the tip. It hung there for a single moment before it plummeted down to make contact with the metal shard.

Luin and Jadea looked at it expectantly as all remained silent.

"You must have been mistaken..." Jadea complained as she frowned; the metal shard remaining cold and unmoving.

"Have patience." Luin cautioned as suddenly the drop of blood sank into the dark gray of the metal and the runes carved into the surface of the shard swelled with a weak silver light before once again dying out.

A satisfied expression crossed Luin's face. "Make preparations, we have much to do."

Jadea immediately departed from the room and hurried down the enormous spiral stair that was cut directly into the interior of the tower, leaving Luin alone in the room. "Hopefully she won't meet her end all to soon..." he whispered.~~~