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Octavio, Lucius, Isadora, and Rhys exited the tunnel. They were close to the campsite of the others, but too far away to know this fact. They came out in the middle of the forest. They had to fight through bushes to get out, but it wasn't too hard. They came out in the darkness of the forest... There were noises in the forest that could not be identified, and the group was rightfully jumpy, but it seemed that nobody was around.

"Well." Octavio said quietly. "It seems that we've made it out."

Rhys merely shook his head. No, with all that just happened, he wasn't tired.

"I can keep going. But... it looks like we're lost. Where are we going to go? It's really dark out here."

He held up the lantern, his face illuminated by the bright glow, trying to see further than a few feet in front of his face.

A map or a compass? ...Ah, crud. I was right there in the library, and didn't think to pick up a map...

"Maybe we should wait for daylight before making a move," Rhys suggested. "The tunnel got caved-in, so it's not like we'll be pursued here, right? They can't so easily figure out where we are, can they?"

Rhys mulled over what Isadora just said... yeah, she had a point. All of a sudden, he'd seen that LONG line of morphs piling out the front door... hell, there might have been enough to burn Eyris to the ground easily. If she could make more... maybe her powers were limitless.

But what could they do? He walked around slowly, taking in their immediate surroundings. Plenty of trees, and the tunnel leading back. They appeared to be in the middle of the wilderness. It was fortunate for them that no wildlife (say, bears or wolves) had chosen this tunnel to settle. Or maybe Fefga was the reason they stayed out for this long...

"Well... the tunnel was reasonably straight, so it would make sense to not to travel in the opposite direction as the tunnel entrance points... I think."

He turned the lantern to Octavio and Lucius.

"You two have been quiet thus far. Do you have any ideas on where to go next? Everything seems like a bad idea..."

It was one thing being an Errant.

But pretending to be a mindless morph would have to be the most boring and tedious work he's ever done.

To begin with, they didn't speak, eat, sleep or otherwise show emotions. That meant Lance had been running around with them for hours without getting something to eat or resting. And Lance had trouble with everything morphs stood for. He hadn't even gotten a chance to eavesdrop in to spy on this enemy they were facing. These morphs had no authority after all, so they never met one that had.

Now, finally though, they had gotten an order. Some prisoners had escaped the house, and Lance was put on the 10-or-so force that was gonna bring them in. Lance and the other morphs was gonna take a shortcut and appear in front of the FEFers presumptive path. and trap them there.

However, since the morphs had no fatigue whatsoever, Lance had hard time keeping up, especially since they were trying to catch up on prisoners. Sure, he could ride a horse, but it still got him exhausted. As they got to an intersection in a valley, one leading up and the other continuing on through, Lance had enough.

That's it! I quit! Someone else can play this spy game!

Carefully dismounting, he quietly creeped out of the formation, and went up the path leading away from the other morphs. As he managed to get away safely, he cheered inwardly. Aha! Nothing can sneak as the Lancinator!

He quickly deemed his new nickname really bad, and continued quickly on the path. While not exactly thin, it wasn't the biggest path around either, so he had to let go of the horse he had been riding. Out of curiousity, he glanced down to see how far away he had gotten from the morphs. Which was where he had another shock laying in wait. The prisoners! Just my luck! I finally think I've escaped and I end up just above the prey we were looking for to begin with!

Lance looked towards the other end of the path. The morphs were advancing at the FEFers, and it would just be a matter of time before the two sides clashed. And anyone could see the morphs would be at an advantage, being double in numbers.

He had to do something.

Looking over the edge again, he analyzed the situation. It was a steep and long way down, but it wasn't a ninety degree slope at least.

So basically, I would be able to slide down the slope and appear down there.

But it would also be suicidal.

...if I'd slide down there, would I look really cool?

...you'd probably fall violently to your death in an embarassing and unsightly way.

But I would look cool, right?

Lance's mental argument didn't get further than that. He would've come up with a realistic view on his whole "sliding down the mountainside" and deemed it silly.

But now he was already sliding down. And it was getting steeper by the second.

"Oh by Tymora's gourd I'm gonna die, I'm gonna di-"

Lance lost all the air in his lungs and his stomach turned when gravity made him lose his footing and end up free-falling.

















So this was it. He was not going to get away with a few broken bones. This was how he was gonna die. Suiciding by jumping off a cliff. It was a poetic end, in some ways. But so pointless as well.

Plummeting towards the ground, his life passed through his head. And in irritated him. It wasn't that much to be seen, since most of it was fuzzy to begin with.

...No! I refuse! This is just too pathetic! I just can't die here! Not with so much still left undone!

As his face got closer to the ground, he noticed he was steering right into the big clutch of morphs about to ambush the FEFers. The two groups just got into eachother's line of sights, and the morphs brandished weapons.

In the last second Lance was in mid-air, all sound disappeared around him. He instinctively stretched out his arms down towards the ground, palms spread open. He closed his eyes, then he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Double Impact!"

The pure magic force pointed downwards made almost his entire earlier speed die out, as a crater was left in the ground. A cloud of dust was whipped up amongst the morphs, obscuring their eyesight completely. Lance himself was kneeling on the ground with his palms in the middle of the crater. That was his strongest impact ever. He had regained a power he thought was long lost.

"Seems like I still got it!" he yelled out, but as the cloud of dust settled, all the morphs that had scattered earlier had come together, all now pointing weapons at him. "Hmph. I still looked cool in the end." He said this to no one in particular, but he turned his head at the oncoming FEFers, and he grinned at them. He stood up, palms ready in his battle stance. "My name is Lance Dartel! I have come from above to deliver punishment from Tymora the Gourd-Bearer! Prepare yourself for power beyond belief!"

At that point, his eyes blacked out, and his body lost all the earlier strength and adrenaline. "Or not. I guess this is good night." With that, Lance keeled over, and he fell asleep, morph weapons still pointing at him.

“Let’s go Triumph,” Evelyn said as she squeezed her heels into the side of her mount causing him to take off running. He was running quickly, but no where near his full speed. Since it was dark out, the Gwyllgi was relying on his nose to find the former captives, not to mention her didn’t want to out pace Mika’s morphs. Morphs didn’t get tired like normal people, but they weren’t godly enough to match Triumph’s speed. “Together we ride,” she giggled; mocking the guild’s motto that dared to oppose the heroes.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take as long as Evelyn thought to catch up to the little group. They seemed a little busy though with a group of morphs that had gotten a head start on going to attack them. Oh well, that just meant they would enjoy her little light show all the more! As Triumph got closer to the group, Evelyn leaned closer to his body as she pulled her tome open to reveal its glowing pages to the darkness of night. In response to the tome she held securely in her left hand, her right started to glow. Small purple sparks jumped to life as they turned into what appeared to be soft petals that seemed to shine a pinkish-purple. “Let’s spark to life… Chizakura.”

As she let loose the name of the tome, the book seemed to shudder and glow even brighter. Petals that had been dancing around her finger-tips shot forward towards the group as she held her hand high in the air. The flowery creations seemed to pop as they hit the escapees’ bodies and fill them with a pleasant sensation; as if they were floating on air. The pleasant feeling would quickly dissipate though, to be replaced by synesthesia. Evelyn giggled again as she remembered what would come next… PAIN!

She wouldn’t give them time to prepare themselves though. Triumph circled around the group and skidded to a stop just outside the group of morphs that had started the attack. The magic that has encircled her hand crackled even more brightly as petals rained down from the heavens. As the magical petals hit the escapees’ bodies, this time though, they turned to blood; as if the gods were displeased by them. She continued laughing as the petals started to circle around the group, traveling faster and faster as they got closer. Eventually, the petals got so close that they completely engulfed the group, sending them into a darkness that was lit by the occasional purple spark of electricity. “Bye bye,” Evelyn chirped to no one in particular as the ball that had formed around them imploded before exploding, causing the sky to light up with purple electricity.

Left and right, Isadora slashed her enemies with her spear. If her spear broke, she would pulled out her sword. Although it was difficult for her to attack the morphs with one melee unit, two magic units, one unconscious unit, and one weaponless unit, she wouldn't let her hope die. They came too far to reach their freedom. There was no way she would be captured or die so quickly.

As she speared the archer, she saw something falling. Was it snow? No, it couldn't be. They were in the middle of the summer. So it couldn't be snow. As it felt down on her armlet, she noticed that it was a purple petal.

Odd... Isadora thought after taking a quick look before blocking the enemy's attack. She didn't remember any trees with purple petals. In addition, spring had already passed.

It wasn't long until Isadora noticed something was wrong. Just as she was about to spear the swordsman, her senses went out of control. She could see well with her hearing. She could taste the steel just from touching. And her sights.... Her sights could only work well by smelling.

What in St. Elimine's name is going on? Isadora thought as she tried to regain her senses. But no matter how much she tried, it didn't work well. Panic of her senses being messed up, Isadora had no choice but to go on defense. If she couldn't attack well with these messed up senses, then she had to take the defense.

Hearing the swings of the weapons, Isadora swung her spear to her opponent. With the weapons made contacts with her shield, she attacks those who made contact. As she tried to go on defense, she felt something slashing her arms and legs.

"What?" Isadora spoke in confusion. When she saw the petal touched her cheek, she felt a slash from it. The paladin winced. It's those petals. Isadora thought. Are these petals the cause of this?

She wasn't sure who was behind this or what sort of tricks the enemy was using. But what she knew was that she had to avoid not only the morphs' attacks, but also the petals.

Isadora tried to steer her horse, but Tuomas wouldn't respond. It seemed that her horse was affected by those petals too. She struggled to get her horse to move away while at the same time, counterattacked her enemies. More petals began to form around her as she struggled to get out. When the petals had created a wall around her, it exploded.

The paladin screamed in pain as she felt the slashes on her arms, legs, and cheeks. Blood were dripping from the cuts were made. Isadora patted. It must be magic. There was no way these petals could explode. Annoyed by this trickery, Isadora had no choice but to force Tuomas to move in the direction she needed to go. She had to find the source of that magic. But where was the magic user hiding? And how would she be able to find this magic user with her senses screwed up?

Lucius looked up at Octavio and nodded.

"Yes, I can use Light Magic," he continued to grip the cloak some while speaking.