AHM

The walls of Varesh were a magnificent sight. In fact, Varesh itself was a sight of it's own, if not for the constant warfare raging throughout it. A tall, lengthy wall that separated the outer region of the neighborhood as it was built originally, with a curve over the reach from Orgol to Iram on it's left and right respectively. Behind the crescent of the massive wall, farther than it's three parallel levels, connected by stairs, passages and the occasional tower, lied the doomed castle. In it, the Nobles fought to secure a superweapon of some sort, that has only been alluded to with the passing of ages.

Yet, after a fierce battle, they were thwarted. Upon the wall itself, and the thin slice of land on it's outside, live the descendants of the warriors from the surface of Dormina, locked in conflict with the ones in the castle beyond. Atop a mound of earth, built with a set of four towers, and the heavily shielded interior, protected by strange beings lived the minor Noble families, who were bound to the duty of enforcing the Nobles' power, warriors from birth.

However, what few knew outside of Varesh was that seven years ago, the conflict between the two sides was shaken by a third force. The representatives from Downtown had tried to bring order. They were succeeding too, until the man in charge of the armed detachment in Varesh seemingly lead a coup, to take the power from the appointed governor and into his own hands. The man in question, Guillermo Anaconda was recently released and more than just that, made an Avatar.

How could that be? A traitor of renown, to be pardoned so easily and even elevated in prestige as some would see it. Soon, he was accepted by an important guild, Spiderweave, and then ascended to the top of their ranks. In the process he revitalized the guild and managed to bring it to the top of the Avatar scene. Still, for him to have made it off so easily... It was troubling.

Atop the wall, overlooking the castle a visitor from far away quietly observed. A mysterious hint had brought her here, a letter that sought out the finest of her order and apart from the grandmaster herself, she was their best bet.

Eloise never really connected with Ano as a world. She liked many of the people she encountered, and she had many happy memories of it not to mention the sense of fighting for a higher cause here. However even so, it felt like a transient phase to her. 'I'll leave this place at some point in the future. I will say farewell to everything here.'

Such conviction meant that everything was like a dream to her. There was nothing that truly anchored her to Ano, and that made her happy in a sense. That transience meant that her being could not be reached. To reach everything, but to be unreachable by oneself. The very point of her Crest, and a less concrete manifestation of her unique state.

The hint in the letter. It spoke of precisely what she was observing, a shadowy group traversing an unbeaten path off the side of the castle, from below the wall, and into the rocky formations surrounding the main hill. It said that these people had ties to the incident from seven years ago, and that it was in her best interest to intervene. To properly instill the sense of gravity the situation held, the letter also contained a direct reference to the threat to be unleashed.

The Ring of Golvola. A terrifying artifact of the pre-Auran era, where a thousand Incarnates willingly threw themselves in the Cradle of Aether, never to reincarnate again. With their deaths, a thousand curses sprung forth and assembled, to form an object of power, the ring of Golvola. What was worse, was that the Ring fell in the hands of a  powerful Incarnate, otherwise known as Tyrant.

Tyrant used it's power, total invincibility to wreak havoc among the five lords and their forces. Even Aura could not dispel the power of the ring. In this situation, Eleus rushed in, and manifested his Mantle of Flames, a power that the five shared among eachother. But while the others could simply coat themselves in pure power and use it as a reach for their abilities, Eleus' mantle manifested as a magnificent, monstrous warrior, a destroyer and the inspiration behind the idea of Avatars.

Eleus fought the Tyrant for a month, during which they exchanged blows of tremendous size. But even with Aura loading five of her Arrows and allowing Eleus to fire them, Tyrant still remained intact. It was not until a small bird, flew over to his hand and plucked the ring from his finger that he was defeated, and that took a week for the destroyer to manage on his own.

In the end, the ring was lost. There was a rumor that the nobles had learned to harvest it's power to affect the Aether field of Dormina, the domain of Eleus' seven chosen Administrators. However...the rumors were merely so, rumors. It was not until the Auric circle investigated Varesh, after the highly suspect Anaconda Conspiracy. The discoveries were shocking: there  were indeed traces of precisely one thousand 'cursed' signatures, a clear hint at the Ring.

Eloise kept observing the strangers for a while, but as they were about to leave her sight, she decided there was no more time for sitting pretty, and headed on. Leaping from the height of the wall, she found herself ready to collide with a tower. Bracing for impact, as her eyes glowed white for a second and an aura of similar color like smokeless fire emerged and she managed to change her direction mid air and slide off the side of it, her momentum carrying her forward.

Once off the tower, she was left in free-fall for a good while, making her way to the bottom of the wall. But before that could come to be, she held out one arm and with the other, whistled loudly. Atop the wall, something whirred to life and rushed forth, bouncing off and as fast as it could trying to reach Eloise. The aerodynamic shape of the white spear would likely help it make it there faster, in fact within a few seconds, as Eloise gripped it as soon as it was within her reach.

The tip hit the ground, and Eloise used her greater speed and reflexes to pole-vault over it and a few rocks ahead of her, sliding through a declining path and then into the ground. From the speed she had accumulated while falling, it took a few moments for her to stop, and her legs dug into the mud until they almost reached knee-level. Once she stopped, Eloise took a deep breath and looked around.

That had been dangerous, but necessary. Any other path would take too long, and using her powers earlier than necessary would get her spotted by the ones she was chasing. Her spear was left behind, so once Eloise pulled herself off the mud (with some effort), she went up the slope, to pick it up from amidst the rocks. And then...it was time to run. Through the treacherous night and the difficult terrain she ran as fast as she could.

Despite the armor she wore, her running speed was quite something, and she covered a couple of miles within a minute or two. At her rhythm, it was understandable that she'd reach the strangers before they could do anything dangerous.

She had to take a few leaps across rooftops and walls, and it is where she stopped, as she noticed the strangers. On a rooftop, with several other buildings near it, she was well hidden and able to observe the events going on. The men were headed by a masked stranger. Dressed in black, with bits of armor around the forearms and a strange black mask on his face, multiple holes on it, arranged in three circles of diminishing radii.

A design that did not tell of the fact underneath: was he human? Did he only have two eyes, or one nose? White hair, left in a messy state came off the back of his head, behind the mask.

The other entities present looked to be mostly automata, with an odd design. Armored from head to toe, very much taller than the average human, with an odd 'face', a full helmet, that had vertical openings in the front, going the whole length from the top of the helmet to it's bottom. In their hands, small glowing discs, with a rapidly rotating Aether blade. Advanced technology, even if nothing to gawk at.

However, something still felt off. Next to the masked man stood a stranger in a cloak, with their arms folded, so that not even their hands would be visible. Someone trying to hide their body to the fullest, definitely suspect. Were they not human wanting to pass for such, or did they perhaps possess a terrifying secret, Eloise could not guess. All she knew, was that she had to act as quickly as possible.

Before the strangers, stood a sealed doorway, and beyond it a large hall. That is where the Anaconda Conspiracy truly took place. In that hallway which she had only heard of, something of great importance stood, guarded by ancient automata. Something that even the Nobles feared and would never approach. Whatever had happened that day, heralded catastrophic consequences in the future. And now these people were trying to open the gates again.

No. She  would not allow it. Gripping her spear, and then making for the edge of the roof, she leaped with full force, landing on the ground a few meters behind the strangers. The impact was quite noisy, and the sound of metal hitting metal was loud, yet neither cracked. Eloise's armor was very well made, and the underlying structure of Dormina was unbreakable.

"Whatever you think you are doing, stop. You know it isn't right."-she said, her spear out, yet not pointed at anyone. She did not want to fight if she could avoid it, but this one looked bad enough. Still, she had to abide by her principles.

The automata immediately turned to her and without a word, begun their assault. She was a foreigner. They were sworn to the defense of Dormina and Dorminans, to each and every citizen, but foreigners were something else. She had a weapon, she was not of this world. She had to go.

The automata split in two groups. One attacking with their bare hands and using the discs as melee weaponry, the others aligning at the back with their discs now thrown off, to fly in the spaces between the first formation (which had already surrounded Eloise) and attack. But Eloise was a knight of the order of the Great Wheel. She would not be so easily felled.

With spear in hand, she swung to deflect the first few discs, and then lunged at the nearest automaton, piercing right through his helmet. Blue flames erupted, as the automaton fell backwards. The others rushed in to attack her, while the automata on the outside had the discs return to hand and then threw them upwards, to fall on Eloise's head.

As if! She swung her spear forward, gripping it with both hands. And then immediately, another swing. The attack took out two of the automata, and she did not relent, sidestepping one of the discs, and then putting her spear through, flinging it at one of the other automata near her. Their formation broke. She kept up the attack, and soon enough there were none near her. She was free to dismantle the surrounding ones, which she did in a few seconds.

Watching her move was quite something. She could well keep up with a speeding vehicle and in close quarters combat, channeling her unique Aether helped her speed up even more. Destroying the automata with ease, she made for the two strangers, but...that is where things went wrong. She had realized the cloaked man was the most frail of the two and with her spear readied she charged forward, ready to end him right there and then. Perhaps some city officials had to simply arrest people like these, perhaps some Acriman knights could simply detain people under authorization.

Not her. Not today. She had been made well aware of how dangerous the situation was and wasn't about to let up, so as she charged forward, her spear struck with intent to kill. The tip was just about to enter the guy's heart, as he put his hand up with frightening speed, catching even Eloise by surprise...and then gently pushed forward with it. The air blew past her, and then sparks appeared, of electricity...not like hers, no...this one felt somehow...wrong. The burst of energy had her flung back a good deal, while the man advanced forward.

She was left on the outside now, to face the masked stranger. Recognizing the threat perhaps, the stranger took out his sword, and held it with both hands. Eloise got up, dusted off her armor, and lunged once more. The man's sword seemed to 'click' for a second, separating into segments, and as Eloise got to him, he held the sword in only one hand using the other one to grab her shoulder, and push just for a moment. Swinging the blade and further separating the fragments, revealing it's nature as a particularly heavy and large whip-sword, he hacked away. One strike, two strikes...Eloise was already being pushed back.

But she refused to yield, charging a burst of her own Aether and then, closing her eyes she took a deep breath. One breath. Two breaths...three...The azure cover of Aether flared up and became even brighter. Within the span of a second it had turned completely white, and the man now gave her some space, as she lunged forward. A blinding flash of light, and following that the sonic boom. As Eloise planted herself in the ground, the pavement shattered and a crater appeared almost spontaneously. This once, she bashed the man's torso with her shoulder and went to bring the spear right onto his face. There was little time to do much...

Until the man bent back, and then with his body bent like that spun to the other side, now having Eloise's defenseless back in front of him. Before he could deliver a fatal strike, the girl kicked the bottom of her spear, and charged it with Aether, directing it's trajectory as it was flung behind her. Once in the air, she commanded it to strike the man, a blind attempt but nonetheless with very little opportunity to miss on it's own. The man had to dodge, but his attack persisted. Eloise had turned around by then, and leaped atop her spear, impaled in the ground.

From her position, she gripped the spear, and pushed forward, both feet aiming to kick the man's face. Arms up and crossed, the man defended by channeling as much Aether as he could into his body. He was pushed back a few feet, but did not neglect to counter attack. Pointing his sword at her, the segments 'launched' forward at an even greater speed, striking her abdomen. Caught for but a moment out of breath, Eloise made sure to pick up her spear and charge forward. Zigzagging through the field, so that the enemy couldn't get a good hit on her, she swung her spear at him once in proximity.

Deflecting it with his sword, the guy dashed right ahead, and lowered himself, ready to deliver an uppercut with his free hand. But Eloise was ready, bringing down her elbow on the man's readied fist, just as his whip sword wrapped around  her spear. Pulling tight on it...he lowered his fist, and made to the side, ready to deliver a punch to the face. As that was deflected, he had to settle for a kick to the ribs, and this one got her. Once more, she had to pull back, and immediately pointed her spear at the guy. The fact he wasn't using any technique for this..unnerved her. Just where did this amount of vigor come from.

Technique was one thing, but the ability to keep up with her at this level of physical performance was inhuman. She gritted her teeth. "...Who are you? Where are you from?"-she asked. "I've never..."

But the man did not answer first. Instead he took his mask off his face, and revealed his face. A scar ran below the jaw. As he shook his head, the hair settled some, grayed out it seemed. He wasn't anywhere near as old as that hair color would suggest...stress? Or perhaps it was natural wherever he was from.

"I'm human, relax."-the man said. "...As for where I'm from..."-he did not answer that one. He simply swung his whip-sword at her from a distance, and once she deflected it, he charged forward. The one second wasted in blocking the attack...was enough for his straight lunge to almost reach her. Eloise gripped the spear with both hands, and blocked his blows, one by one, each pushing her back a bit more. Removing the mask it seems had made him fight even more ferociously...and she wasn't sure how to handle this. The guy had to have a trick up his sleeve that he had yet to manifest.

And Eloise knew just how to get it out of him. Holding her hand out, she produced the same lightning-like White Aether from before...and just so, behind her came a sigil. A wreath of white flames, with spears poking out from the center, a blinding sigil of her ability...of her inner fire. The power to 'Reach'. Her Crest would allow her the ability to reach anything...anywhere. Her next dash was much faster, and she managed to even surprise the stranger for a moment as he had to block.

Once more, behind him, she struck out, and once more her opponent narrowly blocked. A kick to the face that he had to react to by grabbing her foot and trying to push it off. Her assault halted for a moment..Eloise smiled in satisfaction. Another job well done. She'd get this guy. Maybe dead, maybe alive...but he was messing with some really risky matters, and he couldn't be left to do so anymore.

If only she hadn't forgotten...

The man held out his arm as well, and sent out a beam of blue. Behind his back too, the air begun to reverberate and from the smallest of particles, a Crest was formed. A circle, with a line going through it, that seemed to suddenly 'split' and 'opened up', revealing itself to be an eye. It immediately sent out a vibration, that reached Eloise's  own Crest...it seems that both understood the situation. A conflict between Crests.

This once the game had changed. As Eloise tried to attack from the side, she found herself thwarted, the whip-sword blocking her advance, and then immediately it's direction changing to attack head on. Eloise barely blocked it, and the man kept on attacking. The sword swung left and right, alternating directions, and it seemed it's movements had changed too. Eloise became convinced of this, when the man had the sword strike between her legs...and then it's tip shoot upwards, towards her face. Eloise blocked that one, holding her spear horizontally at level with her chest...but the impact pushed her back a bit.

With an unsteady footing, she could only watch as the man darted behind her and with an incredibly fast swing, went for the head. The sword would dig itself right through and end her life as it is. But Eloise wasn't about to give up. She moved forward, leaving her spear in place. Before it could fall off, her leg was already in front of it. Raising her heel, she kicked the spear up. An attempt at her luck. If the spear was kicked in the right trajectory, it would deflect the sword. If not, she would die right there and then.

A moment that expanded into infinity, a single breath that brought with it the weight of a lifetime and a warning of death at the end. The sound of metal clashing against metal rings through Eloise's heart. Before she can even realize what is happening, she turns around and takes stock of her spear's position. Gently kicking it to move it from the falling position to a horizontal one, pointed at the man... and then a more fierce kick to shove the spear ahead. Charged with Aether, the long range attack would surely force the stranger to react.

However she did not rely on it's range. Eloise ran forward as fast as she could, to grab the spear before it could get to the man...and then lunged ahead. A strong attack, that the man had to restrain his sword for, the fragments linking together again. The attack did not break his guard, but he disengaged right there and then, to un-link the fragments and regain his range. Eloise knew that she could press the attack here.

But unlike before, she decided to think it through. Even if she could attack him, she'd have to obtain an advantage significant enough that it would stick for the rest of combat. If the man could safely move his sword to whip-move again then any advantage would be rendered null. He would eventually kill her, and she would die accomplishing nothing. So Eloise turned around...and made for the interior of the place.

If the man had to stop her, then she had the advantage now. She ran ahead, with full speed. The Crests range wouldn't reach her, which meant both would be given free rein over the surrounding  environment. Once she was far enough, she activated the full power of her Crest...and had it channel through her. She ran ahead like a flash of light, even leaving behind a trail of white lightning and flame as she entered the forbidden interior of the castle.

"HALT, MISCREANT! By the authority that I possess as Knight captain of the Order of the Great Wheel, I demand that you sto..."-nobody interrupted her. The man she was fighting had just followed her there, but he stopped too as both stood in awe of their surroundings.

A massive statue of a woman in a robe full of precious adornments, yet with a thorny and uncomfortable pattern, very long hair and bowed on one knee. One hand held out, and atop it a pyramid. The surface over where her heart would be was purposefully hollowed out, with one hand clinging off it's side. In front of her, a statue of a woman standing tall, with a large orb in one hand, the arm outstretched behind her, and the other pointing at the woman. The woman wore a large feather cloak, and even as a state the eyes glowed with the light of Aether.

There was no mistake, those features, that design... the statue was a representation of Aura. Behind the other woman, stood a stranger figure, with his hand placed on her back. The other hand held out a sword, and his body was covered in heavy armor. Long hair, and fearsome eyes but a gentle smile. A peaceful look, with a menacing aura. The man's features were more difficult to tell apart, as there was no real figure that looked like him. But the chest-plate of his armor was forged like the upper half of a face, a beastly face, with wild eyes, sharp teeth and a crooked nose, an opening in the head that reflected white light, whereas the lower jaw hung around the man's waist.

"Eina, offering the Master Key to Aura."-the masked man's voice broke the silence and the trance the two were in. Eloise didn't know which of them came to her senses before the other, but the one to speak first was her. "...Eina as in...the daughter of Aura?"-she asked. In Acriman myth, Aura had many children, mostly adopted of course. Mistraias was her firstborn, and in the early ages served as leader of the executors of Aura's will, the Aurates. The Moon was adopted by her, Oroom was a fearsome warrior, born of Aura according to the tales. Many powerful creatures of the sky as well, the feared Bird of the North for one, were hailed as children of Aura as well.

Eina was regarded as one of her naturally born daughters, who searched the world for treasures that Aura could adorn herself with and that would add to her great glory.

"Indeed. One of the few that she had a hand in making, even if she was an artificial being. A creature that was unique in it's kind, that Aura made when she tried to channel the Mantle of Fire, as Eleus did. But Aura's ability to destroy was limited, so she only called upon a little flame, in the size of a mere human. She nurtured it into life, and Eina was born. And...thus, Aura chose to name her an 'Avatar."-the man explained, as he looked upon the pyramid.

"Unfortunately, what we are looking for is not here, as I suspected."-he added, shaking his head. "Let's go, Ym."

"Hmm..."-the man only frowned, and put his mask back on in response. "Very well."

"W-wait a second! You are NOT leaving like that! Not without telling me what it is that you want! Why did you come here? What did you want to take from this place?"-Eloise shouted rapid-fire questions at the man, who did in fact humor her this once.

"Hmm... Eina's name and history is not found  in Dormina, even if most of her activity was centered around this place. Her greatest finding was discarded by Aura. Eina traveled to the celestial tower, Sharam and retrieved a pure Node from it's top to add to her own. And then she made for the other two towers, a journey that took her very far."-The man explained, but...

"Wait a second. There only ARE two towers."-Eloise shouted.

"...Oh?"

"Yes. Sharam that connects the pure realm of the stars, of Aura, with this one. Ethrest, which connects a mythical, perfect land to this one, and is a direct continuation of reality..."

"And a third, far away."-the man interrupted. "Which connects the real world to the Sea of Nyss, and serves to keep her asleep."

"W-"-Before Eloise could even process, the man proceeded.

"With the three Nodes she obtained, Eina formed a pyramid. She reshaped her 'soul Node' into a pyramid. This 'pyramid Soul Node' composed of four connections...an everlasting core of an Avatar...this is what is called a 'Master Key'. Aura discarded it, but the other Lords, Han especially, picked it up and begun to fiddle with it. So did Callain, and together they connected the Master Key to the Cauldrons, and of course Dormina too was one. This allows people to use Nodes, or else the branches of their Tree of Souls would simply pierce the shell, and allow the pure Aether inside to flood their system. A painful death for everyone."-the man explained.

"But the master key is not here. And the ones who sealed Eina away once she realized Aura would never notice her...and sought to free all Avatars from the service of Dormina...well...look around you."-he said. And indeed, Eloise had neglected it.

Multiple men in large cloaks, tall hats and masks, statues at this point, one arm thrown over the shoulders of the man next to them and the other one holding out a stone orb...at least..it had turned to stone now. Their soul Nodes.

"They used to vibrate. The ones of the still living Seekers of Kalymon still do... even if they go by a different name now. That vibration is what seals Eina here...but...hmm...it seems we were too late. At some point she escaped. And the Master Key is now gone too."-the man shook his head, and begun to walk out.

"Wait! WAIT! You can't just-"-and he wasn't just going to. Eloise activated her Crest in a flash...and then charged forward. Her aim was to incapacitate the man and hold him at spear-point. What these people sought to do couldn't be good...it could even spell the end of all of Dormina. She didn't knew many Dorminans (that is to say she could count the ones she knew in the fingers of one hand), but she could not just ignore the situation at hand.

However once more, she found herself held back, as her spear thrust towards his chest...that same aura from before impeded it. It seemed to grow in force now, producing even more Aether, as the man moved a hand away from the sleeves to reveal what was inside. In the ring finger of his left hand, the blackened artifact of ages ago exerted power still, as if it were new. A thousand curses that speak out against the mankind which the lords elevated.

The Ring of Golvola rested there, supplying the stranger with power, and as he held out his hand, Eloise felt the force lifting her off her feet...and when the palm was fully out, and the arm properly extended she was flung back, smashed into the orb in Aura's hand, a depiction of the nascent Aether Sun. A perfect opportunity. Kicking off, she lunged forward, into a straight trajectory. Her spear readied, she aimed to go beyond the man and instead hit his follower. She wasn't sure he was truly invincible, but she was not about to take her chances either...

So with the spear readied she went for the kill. It did not go quite as she had planned however. The man, Ym, activated his Crest again and the sword lit up with blue fire. A single slash was enough to intercept Eloise and throw her back. Knocking her head on the ground, Eloise passed out. She could make out the blood from her chest as her armor was torn up...and her spear was out of reach. Even though she wanted to stay awake and fight....

Her eyes closed on their own. Darkness and cold.

...

Eloise awakened, some time after. Her Crest gave her unnatural regenerative abilities. While she hadn't died in the first place, without care she wouldn't have survived...yet the huge amount of Aether she had, as well as it's extreme purity had helped keep the wound from getting infected. Her Crest had handled the rest, helping her recover enough so that she would wake up on her own. She had lost. That was her first thought...

...but she was also alive. The second thought. And as long as there was that...she could fix this whole mess. Eloise forced herself to stand up, and picked up her spear nearby. She would need it, as a crutch to walk ahead and make it out of this place. It was difficult, and whatever had left that wound on her was quite powerful. Normally if she hadn't truly died, the regeneration would have had her fully recovered at this point.

Eloise stood in place and slowed down her breathing, closing her eyes and keeping her body steady. She begun to slowly make the Aether in her body flow to the injured area, but restrained the amount to a very small flow. This would cause it to disperse. There were no other cases in Ano known for having fully white Aether and normally it was highly poisonous to even be near it. Normal Aether could present a life hazard as it were, and most Avatars would catch fire being introduced to the white variant.

There was someone on the Council called Spartholon who could ignite his own Aether, but he needed a cooling Node, so she had been told. Eloise never questioned her gift. It was the award of supreme purity that she could sustain herself on this type of Aether, and suffer no ill effects. It also made her quite powerful, combat-wise. She wondered how that fight would have gone if she had gone all out. The other man...that stranger was not from Ano. She could feel it in the way he fought, or walked, or breathed. She recognized the same habits, the same...

She wasn't sure what to call it. He wasn't from her world too, but there was a similarity. Was he here because his home was gone? No matter, he seemed strong. In control, always. In a way, the amount of effort he put in displaying just enough power to appear stronger and faster than her, just by a tiny bit... Was he mocking her, or was it his style? She could not tell, and deep inside she was glad that the fight had ended there.

A more extreme form of combat would have ended with one of them dead, and the other...well.. she wasn't going to guess. The likelihood was that the dead one would be her. Eloise shook her head, moving out of her trance. The wound had recovered some more. She used the spear to help her take a few more steps, and then a deep breath. Ready. Prepared to move on, towards the door. She stopped however, realizing that the wound was still at risk of opening.

She stopped, and once more applied her meditation, to speed up her recovery. This once, her thoughts were quiet, and this once she would wait properly. Once she made sure that the wound was closed, Eloise went ahead. She was to stay around for a bit more...returning to the knights would take time. And she didn't want to do that even if she could. Her master must have known of the towers... and she suspected that she knew even more of the secrets that the man with the ring of Golvola spoke of.

Why hadn't she been told? The first and foremost of the order... There was something off with all this. And while others may have held onto these secrets and lies for so long, that was not her. When she took the oath as a knight, when she swore to live a life of justice, integrity, truth, honor, purity... Eloise still meant each and every bit of it. It was, in her belief, the reason why

The people of Varesh would at least offer her some shelter, being that she was a neutral figure in their conflict... Yes...

Then she could begin scouring Dormina for those two. She would find them. Securing the spear, she made an attempt to stand and then breathing heavily for a bit, using all of her strength, she took one step forward. And then another...and a third...

The doorway was right there. She crossed it...and made sure to leave the doors open. There were too many secrets in there. The world could use to know a few.