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After seeing his attack hit his target, there was something on his face that he would never allow anyone else to see in a million years... A Smile. A smile of accomplishment of his deed... He finally did it. His plan was finally set in motion... And what's more, that irritating Maarick wasn't around to foul it up or get in the way. At last... Things were starting to go into motion.

The true intention for this attack, while sending a message was a huge piece of it, was not exactly the message. He wouldn't think this near Maarick, as the fool had some strange way of seeing everything that was at the forefront of his mind, but there were other intentions behind it... The whole time, he realized that criminals might not get the message or even ignore it completely. He's dealt with them long enough to know that they weren't exactly the brightest or the most receptive of people... But the main goal of this was to evoke a reaction from the criminal underworld, particularly those going after the feather. In essence, he was performing a gambit, making a large, dramatic, conspicuous move that would force those trying to steal the feather to make their move in this lethal chess game. What they did, well... What they did would come to pass when the Feather was going to be moved, or at least, when the ceremony would be taking place to move it... He made sure to be very conspicuous about the feather being moved. If luck served, someone would be stupid enough to blab about it and word would almost instantly get to the criminal underworld that the Feather was being moved. It came out of the mouth of Selael Shalehem and it was in the presence of people who seemed to know him, so it would sound feasible enough, as more likely than not, more veteran criminal guilds and even some of the less experienced ones would have heard of Selael Shalehem at one point or another.

His train of thought, however, was interrupted by a sudden, shocking feeling of cold. He looked at his feet and saw ice, slipping on it. How did he use ice in the desert?! Well, with all the expense the owner of this house went to having as much water as possible to have it look like the Western Region, it made sense. It was almost disgusting how much of the nation's water was in one place, AND it was now being used against him.

Selael looked behind him and saw icicles forming and coming after him. In his slipping, he managed to get his left leg impaled against it. Not damaging it in such a way that it would have to be cut off, but it hurt quite a bit and tore a few tendons. It'd be likely that he'd be forced into a limp for the rest of his life on his left leg. He pulled his leg out, ripping off part of the robe and tying it tight around his leg to hopefully stop the bleeding. Speaking of bleeding, the Glass Spike he hurled earlier was beginning to lose its cohesion. Apparently, the magical fire would only have it stay Glass for so long, as it slowly began to turn back into sand. On the outside, this would appear to be a good thing for the victim, however, the glass spike fading away into sand not only re-opened the wound to allow for profuse bleeding, but now there was sand in his wounds... If the blood loss didn't kill Nigel at this point, the infections he'd get from the sand (if any bacteria were still in it) might do him in.

Selael's smile faded as he tried limping out of the building, occasionally trying to use his Ignus spell to attempt to melt some of the ice, slipping and falling every so often. "Such a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things..."

After returning home, Selael had the people who would hinder him out of the way... Excellent. Now that they were gone, he could proceed with his plan and get things ready... He'd also have to move the actual feather into its new home. He'd probably take care of it the morning before the Moving of the Ark... Or perhaps later. He'd decide at another time. He reached to the Phoenix Ark, grasping the lid for a few seconds... Evidently, he had to touch the Ark to have the magicks inscribed upon it ensure that he was, in fact, of the Shalehem family. Once it was confirmed, he slid the lid off the ark, the golden-plated metal resounding in a loud thud on the ground. Selael then held his hand over the box... Since this spell had his full attention and he had no distractions, he had no need for an incantation and thus produced what he needed... A self-sustaining bit of Flame Magic called the Dancing Flame, which he molded into the shape of a feather. The fire itself would not consume anything or actually exude much heat aside from that of a warm hearth, and would thus survive in the atmosphere contained inside the Ark. Its aura, as he intended, would greatly mimic that of the Phoenix Feather itself, if not appear identical to those using a spiritual or magical form of sight rather than a corporeal sight... To those who would actually be able to look at it, which wouldn't happen until the Ark was opened, it would really look almost nothing like the phoenix feather. Such was the trick... An almost cruel prank upon those foolish enough to pursue such a valuable secret of the Kingdom...

And a grand hint as to who is behind the conspiracy against the family.

He took the feather into his own custody, placing it in a simple box in the middle of the Basement Ward, in the middle of the sand... He did the same for the other on the tower, the boxes both seeming almost worthlessly discarded into the sand, wooden chests of almost minimal value...

The Ark was now ready... All he needed to do is find a company of guards to accompany him and it would be sufficient to perform the rite.

After a rather long time of working on his project, Selael realized that daylight was beginning to spring upon the horizon of Aden... And with daylight, apparently, came the sound of footsteps to his door... Well, not just footsteps. Marching steps, to the rhythm that a heavily disciplined soldier would step to...

Good. For once, people for whom self-discipline wasn't some form of slavery. One of the soldiers then knocked on the door, presumably the company leader. Selael opened it up and looked at the company... Each of them ceremoniously dressed in formal uniforms of Crimson and Gold armor, carrying weapons of the finest quality... Blades crafted with the greatest, most intricate care (even with rubies encrusted into the hilt), and shields emblazoned with the crest of the phoenix, polished to glean in the sun... All this ceremonial, flashy attire, and down to the letter for the ceremony of the Moving of the Ark... And at the center of it all would be the Ark itself, a gargantuan vessel that appeared to be a box of solid gold, but in actuality a metal that was plated in gold yet was far more valuable than the king of metals...

In fact, it was fair to say that in reality, the box was far more valuable than it's contents. Of course, no one would know that... Not even the military were told that the box did not contain the feather. All they knew for certain was that the box MIGHT contain the feather and it's their orders to protect it with their lives.

"Selael Shalehem, we are ready to receive your orders."

"Good. Throughout this ceremony, remember that you are to take orders from no one but myself. You are to follow me in the procession and drive away those who try to get too close to the Ark. If it is a noble, tell them it's for their own safety that they keep away from the Ark, and leave it at that. Send in four of your men to carry the Ark. I have set up rods underneath it so that none of you will have to touch the Ark directly." A necessary precaution, considering that the Ark's Wards were activated upon being touched by any substance except the flesh that belongs to a Shalehem. Four troops sheathed their weapons and picked up the rods holding up the gargantuan, Golden Box, and found that it was lighter than they expected. Selael then stepped out of the way, allowing the four soldiers to walk out the door with the Phoenix Ark, then waiting outside...

The group then went into the formation demanded by the Ceremony of the Moving of the Ark. The soldiers formed a layered hexagon around the four who were carrying the Ark, at the back of this Ark being the company's leader, while at the front was Selael Shalehem, holding out a book that he normally hadn't chained to his body... In fact, it was a book that hadn't been used for centuries; Songs of the Guardians.

A Herald had already told the people of Aden that the Feather would be moved and a ceremony would accompany it, though nothing could prepare them for this... Selael flipped through it, then began reading the chant in Old Adenese... There were few today who could understand it, and even he only had a vague idea what the words meant, though this book and the words that were written on it seemed to have a strange power to them... Perhaps not conjuring any strange magic, but for one reason or another, it seemed that everyone in the entirety of Aden could hear Selael's voice reading the chant most ancient in a voice that carried out throughout the city...

"Eyaaaaaaaa velkhamaaaa scheraaaak veyaaaaaaaaaaan... Charloooooooooooch Adeeeeen himekhleheiiiiiiiiiiiiii weraaaaaaaan...."

The voice he cried out the chant in was borderline eerie... The song was not one of joy or comfort, but one of warning that was meant to disturb those who heard it, and discourage them from pursuing that which was kept dear to the Guardians... It was difficult to discern what the song was actually saying, but the message behind it was clear: Stay away.

The melancholy, eerie tune continued to echo throughout the city.. The Procession had begun, the Phoenix Ark carried in a steady, regal march that would almost be fitting for a King being carried on his throne, but the song made the whole affair look like a burial, the Ark a Golden Casket... The song continued to echo throughout the lands as Selael continued belting it out, the Soldiers keeping their heads held high as they looked around for those who would dare attack the Ark in its procession, save for the four carrying it, whose eyes were fixed upon the Guardian, who their attention was fixated on... This was a man who devoted his entire life to this strange, obscure life, reading of rituals which had been long gone... It was almost unreal to them, as it would be to most of the citizens of Aden, that such an old rite was being performed on this day...

"Kheruuuuuuuv hekhleeeet aaaaahm uuuraaaaaaaaan...
Eyaaaa Aden Olooooookh weeeeeraaaaaaaan..."

((OOC: An idea of what the song might sound like.))