The clashing of steel echoed in the silence of the forest. Each clash emitted a spark, after each dodge, block, and evade, they quickly attacked back and forth, one opening was all it took.

Jericho with a swift step back, lifted his sword and swung, knocking Carlyle's sword out of his hand no sooner he repositioned his sword and sliced off his gauntleted hand, the bone was showing as a quick burst of blood spewed out.

A gut wrenching scream echoed throughout the forest and further. You could hear his agony for miles,

Jericho showed Mercy and left his sword and sheathe for Carlyle. He unbuckled the sheathe from his waist and dropped it directly in front of carlyle. Knowing he would take his generosity. Walking over to the hand he picked it up and removed the fleshy hand from gauntlet. And placed it on his right hand. A new jolt of energy coursed through his body, now with complete control of the darkness inside of it he could truly appreciate his powers.

Jerichos last sight before leaving was seeing Carlyle doubled over in pain, it wasn't just his hand, he had some gashes all around his body. Once he walked away from the stream the boy he picked up from the castle was alarmed, he wasn't aware of what happened. And so he motioned him towards him. "Go to where I just came from, there is a man who is missing his hand, and is quite likely bleeding out. Don't help him let his old crew find him, just make sure he doesn't bleed out."

The boy took orders with no question, He walked over towards the stream but noticed no one there and ended up following a trail of blood. As Carlyle forced himself to walk with a limp.

"Eep!"
Mathuriel clubbed the nearest guard over the head.
She clearly had more power than was apparent. He shrouded himself in a dimensional cloak, redirecting all of the guard's attacks through the dimensional planes. Elyan fell through another portal and landed hard on safe ground.
He opened up a portal in front of Divinity's tree, and fire from an erupting volcano surged forth to try and burn her to cinders.

Elyan regained his footing and looked over to Mathuriel, knowing that he was responsible for the portal.
"Thanks for the assist."
He then looked around at the guards that were quickly surrounding him. With a confident smile, he pulled out another arrow and called out to them.
"Last chance to surrender, if you're interested."
When one of the guards charged towards him, Elyan turned around and shot him in the neck. Elyan then drew his sword and parried an attack coming from his side in one motion. He counterattacked and struck the guard down in one slash. When two more came towards him from behind, he pushed them back with a burst of psionic power and cut them down while they were reeling from the attack. When the last three charged him all at once from three different sides, he thrust his sword into the ground and stretched his arms out to the sides. The guards stopped in their tracks and began to levitate. Elyan brought the three of them together, still suspended in mid-air, and pulled out his bow again. He loaded three arrows and fired them all at once, hitting all three guards. As soon as the arrows hit, he released them and let their corpses fall to the ground.
"So...do we have a backup plan? Anybody?"
He called out to the others as he kept a close eye on Divinity.

"Impossible to catch?"
Mathuriel took a step to his right through another portal and appeared behind Divinity on the branch, pulling her panties down under her cloak.
"Now THAT'S cocky. Nice panties, by the way."

In his mind, he spoke completely seriously to the others as more guards, reinforcements, surged towards them.
She's something else. No human can naturally be this powerful - something is augmenting her. You guys keep the guards back, I'm going to try and find out how she's connected to all this - and what's she's connected to.

Mathuriel swore he felt his testicles retract into his body for safety.
"If you want what we want, why attack us?" he asked, dropping the perverted act. "Not exactly an endearing way to introduce yourself."

While everyone else was talking, Elyan had made his way back up into the trees to get a better vantage point. He shot down a few more guards before noticing that most of the fighting had now stopped. He made his way through a few more trees and saw Mathuriel, Divinity and a figure that he did not recognize.
"Who's this? And why aren't we fighting anymore? I think I'll stay here for a while and see what happens."
Thinking this to himself, he pressed up against the tree to try to keep himself hidden. He also looked around to see if he could find out how Valeria was doing.
"Where are you...? Are you holding up alright?"
He was just thinking out loud in a whisper, there was no way anyone could actually hear him.

Mathuriel blinked at this new development.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"Yeah. We know each other. He's been trying to murder me and our group for a good while. That gauntlet isn't yours. Where's Carlyle?" His voice was angry.

Mathuriel didn't move for a few seconds, before bowing stiffly and flashing a scowl before stalking out on his heel.
Come on everyone, we're done here, he thought sourly. Carlyle's in trouble, let's move.

Valeria ceased her use of her wind magic upon seeing the guards whom attacked her...or tried to attack her...nearly sealed up in ice, with the acceptation of their heads.
'I have to learn how to use my sister's power, and control it better.' Valeria thought to herself, as she looked around for everyone else, specifically Elyan.

After getting Mathuriel's message, Elyan made his way through the forest searching for Valeria. He soon saw a group of soldiers nearby, trapped inside an icy prison.
"Was this...her new power?"
He looked around some more and finally spotted a familiar presence. Checking to see that there were no more soldiers around, he called out to her.
"Valeria, is that you?"
He slowly approached her.
"You got the message too, right? Apparently we're looking for "Carlyle" now, whoever that is. I saw Mathuriel just a moment ago, so I'll lead the way back if you're ready to go."
He glanced back at the soldiers, although he didn't want to say anything about it. He knew that it might be a sensitive subject considering where these new powers came from.

Valeria heard Elyan and turned around. She smiled warmly, and walked towards him. "I did. Who's Carlyle?" Valeria asked, then followed Elyan's gaze towards the frozen guards. She looked at her hands with little to no expression on her face. "I couldn't control it." She spoke softly.

Jericho gazed down at Divinity since he was abundantly taller. He leaned in towards her and gave her a kiss. Upon pulling away he smiled at her. Taking a moment to embrace the beauty before him. Finally he broke the silence.

"You will be coming with me. I am requesting an absence from service. I have done more than enough for him to be satisfied with me. He does however want me to kill the folks you were just in conflict with, but the king understands there is a time and a place for me to do so." A Brief pause between sentences. "Divinity, You don't want to know anything about the king. He is a piece of shit, plain and simple."

Jericho started to walk in the direction of the castle.

Carlyle was struggling to stand at the point he was at. He was losing too much blood. Jerichos apprentice followed behind him. In that moment he decided he didn't want anything to do with Jericho. As he knew he was the reason for the suffering of carlyle instead he will help the people that rescue him.

Marc, Walked over to Carlyle, Cut off a rag from his shirt, tied up the rag around the missing hand and applied pressure to slow the bleeding.

"He did a real number on you man. I'm Marc, he seems to take no regard for human life. I don't want to live that kind of life."

Marc was sympathetic and terrified at the fact someone could leave someone to die.

"Help is coming. Don't worry friend."

"The names Carlyle. Sorry, not much in the mood to talk. Shut up and keep me alive."

Elyan clicked his tongue.
"Well...it got the job done. That's what's important, right?"
He walked up to Valeria and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it too much. You'll get the hang of it."
He started to walk in Mathuriel's direction, still looking back at her.
"Are you good to go? If you're up for it, we should really get moving."

Valeria sheathed her sword and nodded her head. "Yes." She replied, as she followed Elyan and the others. She closed the umbrella portion of her sword's sheath, though it was heavily damaged, and carried it, as she followed Elyan.

As Elyan and Valeria made their way through the forest, they soon ran into Mathuriel. Elyan called out to him.
"Hey, Mathuriel! We got your message. So, who's this Carlyle guy and do we have any idea where to look for him?"
He looked around the forest a little.
"Wait, first things first...do we know where Allora went?"

Mathuriel started walking west, looking grim.
"He's a good friend. Allora's wolf can track us in this forest. The game has changed with new players to boot. I think... I think the king has Ella."

Valeria's expression turned from inquisitive, to great worry. She looked directly at Mathureil, and said: "Then we need to find Carlyle, and find where the King has taken Ella."