The two men one grumpy and blonde, the other young and wielding a fierce gaze sat around the camp fire, too tired to continue. If they were champion level Channelers then they would be able to walk for hundreds of hours effortlessly without rest, but even Colin was just at the apprentice level. So they were both cold, and both sleepy. The fire was one of Colin's tricks, it was a life fire. And needed no wood to burn. It also didn't damage the mushrooms it sat on. Colin could make one with fifteen minutes of heavy concentration. It would last about six hours. "You know Colin I'm tired of your sour attitude." Gabe said looking at the man with a sigh. Colin had his arms crossed and was just staring into the fire. "You are really something you know that." The man snarled, more hateful aura coming from him. Gabe gritted his teeth as he felt it. He could order Colin to do anything he wanted him to do, even kill himself if he wanted. But he couldn't control how the man felt.

"You Selfish scum." Colin grumbled. A long time ago Gabe had said that he wanted Colin to speak his mind freely, he was beginning to regret that decision. Colin spit into the fire. "You dog hearted brat. You almost got us killed today!" He nearly shouted. The hate coming off of him increasing just a bit. Gabe wasn't scared, the man was his servant. He could complain all he wanted to, but he couldn't do a single thing against him. If he even tried the rune drawn on his neck would kill him in an instant. "I saved us three months worth of travel!" Gabe fired back. His answer only enraged the man. "Travel to where Gabriel! We're not going anywhere! We're less then half way there!! And unless you've got a couple cultivation pills up your butt you'll be dead by then." Gabe stood up and looked down at the sitting Colin with a hateful aura of his own. He could beat the ungrateful man to a pulp and Colin wouldn't be able to fight back, or he could order him to eat something that would make him suffer for days. But Gabe knew he would never do such a thing, he would never even suggest it. Colin had raised him... brought him up from six years old. Ever since they were both disbanded from their family. "Maybe so, but what better plan do you have huh?!" Gabe asked. "Stay in a safe little cave while we slowly die?" The man looked up at him but his expression didn't change. "I've followed you this far and I'm willing to go all the way if we can make it. But you keep taking chances we don’t have to take! You keep risking your life! OUR life!!! for nothing more then a few days short cut. Heck if the Rightsong Family discovers were traveling through their Forrest were done for!" Finally Colin's anger began to cool down but his hateful aura stayed like a thick unavoidable smell in the air. "Even if we head in a straight line, it would still take us another ten years of travel to get to the Yellow belly mountains." His voice was dark and lost as he once again stared into the flames. Gabe was still angry but didn't answer as he sat back down. What could he say. He had been taking more and more risks lately, from cutting deals with dragons to sailing high rapid rivers on a pair of logs. And Colin had been forced to take those risks with him. But they'd all paid off, at least most of them. "I'm sorry Colin.... but I have no other choice." Gabe turned away from the fire and bit his tongue, wrathful words were better avoided when with friends. He let Colin stew alone and found a small area where he could lay down. Against his will Memories of him as a small child forcing the tall bearded man to lead him west surfaced in his mind, he knew he had always been a bit of a brat. At the time he got thrown out of the Hellvine family he'd been overcome with fear, barely able to walk. Most of the way Colin had carried him in his arms. And it was only by great fortune that they had made it this far. There were just too many dangers in the world for two weak channelers to face.

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For a second Gabe couldn't help but lay there and worry, what if it had all been for nothing. What if the Yellow belly mountains was just a lie. He reached up his right hand in front of his face and looked at the circle of runes on it. The circle was pale white only a shade lighter than his skin meaning he was a Fear Channeler, and in the middle was a crooked and faded rune that stood in for the number nine. This was his Channeler's mark. It was given to him the moment he bonded with a beast. It could never be removed or tampered with. The runes used to make it were heaven ordained.

With a thought he closed his eyes and projected his soul into the mark. entering a heavy meditation He was immediately inside a pitch black room, with nothing but his translucent soul and a small Ship in a bottle. The ship in the bottle floated above the floor, hovering while it faced him bottle neck first. The ship inside the clear glass was a beauty, with six masts and offwhite unfurled sails. The wood was shiny dark brown, and looked very well maintained. But around it was a dark gray mist that seamed unnatural if you stared at it. The mist moved and flowed around the bottom of the Ship and gave the whole thing a haunted look. Sometimes out of the corner of your eye it would take a shape that looked like tentacles reaching out to strangle you. "Sisfar." Gabe spoke flatly his voice echoing slightly in the small spiritual place. He stared with an unreadable expression at the bottle. "What?" The uncaring and nasty toned voice answered, the bottle muffling the sound and making it even more eerie. This was his Soul beast... a ship in a bottle. A haunted ship in a bottle. In Gabe's eyes it was without a doubt the Bane of his existence. He crossed his transparent arms and looked sternly at the ship. "Sisfar tell me the truth. Is there really a treasure chamber in the Yellow belly mountains?" The bottle shook with anger, and an aura or fear erupted from it. Engalfing Gabe In a pale cloud. The fear surrounded him and tried to scare him into leaving. Gabe just stood there unmoving. After years of being terrorized by this nasty cloud he had become immune to Sisfar's attempts. The ship grumbled. "Are we really going to do this every night?" Gabe clenched his jaw, reached out with his mind, and grabed Sisfar with his will. The ship resisted him. But Gabe was stronger then him now. He forced the dirty soul beast to submit. "Answer me Sisfar, is there really a treasure Chamber there?" Under Gabe's power the ship sucked back in its fear cloud and answered with a strained voice. "Yes, as I've told you one thousand times in the past. I sealed away treasures in the Yellow belly mountains when I was still a demon. Stuff from even the other two continents on Primeway. There is plenty of pills there to take us into the tyke Level in a matter of days." Gabriel could feel that his control over his soul beast had grown just a tiny bit since the night before when they did this same routine. He was fairly confident that the ship was telling the truth. Still.... until he had absolute control he couldn't be sure. "Thank you for your honesty Sisfar." The bottle nodded it's tip up and down. "You are welcome. I'm always glad to help you out." The raspy calm voice still gave Gabe the chills sometimes. "Say, is there anything else I can help you with?" Gabe thought about cultivating but he was just too tired. "No, I need no help from the slimy likes of you Sisfar." Gabe told him. The bottle clicked its tongue. "Now now, there’s no need to throw names around. We're in this together. Honestly! you only scare a kid one time and he thinks you're the devil!" Gabe clenched his teeth. "You ARE the devil." He said before leaving his mark and going to sleep.