Vitmori POV/Orwis Memories Continued

I stood in the memory of the frozen burning forest, my throat tightening as I looked among the still flames that engulfed the trees and brush. Looking around at the fleeing spiderlings and spiders, I could see many were already wounded from the flames, yet they continued to move as they converged to where their core should be. I wasn't sure what to say or what to think; though glancing over at Reyvyre, she appeared to be the most distressed among us as she watched the dungeon we observed growing up suddenly be destroyed before our very eyes. As for Rita, I could see her absently clutching her shoulder as she stared at the charred corpses of spiders that had fled from deeper within the flames.

"Well, Reyvyre... Is it normal for scorched earth tactics to be used on a core's territory and the local village when a core is slated to be cracked?" I asked as I looked at the two mages, I was laying it on a little thick but the years of memories we had seen showed no signs of anything which would call for the blue core to be cracked.

Reyvyre did look a little indignant at the question, but she sighed as she shook her head. "No Vitmori, it's not normal..." She stated before looking around us some more. "We... We should keep moving and see how things played out." She said finally, having been unable to glean any more information from this point in the memory. Rita and I had nothing else to say against that, so we collectively focused on the moment as the flames roared back to life.

Orwis could feel the panic roiling in her stomach as the flames devoured her precious trees. She's faced delvers who used forms of fire magic before, and fallen to the flames more than once in direct combat. However, she's never experienced anything like this, such careless and pointless destruction. Many of her spiders were dying, and she could feel so much energy flowing back to the core as flames released the mana stored within the trees and brush along with the excessive deaths of the spiders and spiderlings.

Through their bond, she could feel her core calling her back to their chamber, they were frightened and unable to do anything else in the face of these flames. They wanted to protect its scions and monsters and hopefully just ride out the flames until it was all over.

Orwis couldn't help but feel that this was not something they could just wait out, but she wasn't about to disobey as she let out a bestial shriek, rallying her spiders and passing out the orders given to her by the core. She felt the shift in the air as her spiders and spiderlings were unified under the direct order and began pushing for the core chamber en masse. She skittered away from the brunt of the flames as she guided her spiders to safety, her feet sinking into the fairly deep snow that had yet to melt despite the nearby flames.

It wasn't much longer until they came to the hidden entrance of the pathway that led to their core's chamber in the middle of their territory. Waiting there was her fellow scion, Guardian of the Lake, the Steamer Frog, Buffo. He croaked a deflated greeting, watching the flames in the distance before looking at Orwis curiously.

Orwis chattered her response to Buffo, relaying the orders she got from the core as the massive frog bobbed his head and body in response, having gotten his own orders too. The duo then stood guard at the entrance, ensuring all the remaining monsters made their way into the tunnels that led to the core chamber. The entrance was a half-submerged tunnel in a hilly area close to the lake. It was hidden with overgrown evergreen foliage and filled with webbing that littered the top half of the tunnel for the spiders, whereas the frogs traveled through the water along the bottom half; the water being lukewarm despite it being the height of winter thanks to Buffo.

As the last of the stragglers made their way in, she noticed one of her spiders was particularly injured with blade wounds, an odd knife with a jewel of some kind stuck out of it while the spider itself seemed to move at an angle, off-balance and disoriented. The spider kept going though, climbing into the webs above the water and making its way further through the tunnel. Taking a look over at Buffo, it was clear to both of them that there was nobody else remaining outside.

With a shared nod between them, Orwis made her way inside, maneuvering through the thick, damp webbing that filled the upper half of the tunnel. Buffo soon followed, swimming through the water of the tunnel, however, he stopped short, looking to the tunnel entrance before croaking out a heavy blast of steam that shook the earth and stone, causing the entrance to collapse.

The duo proceeded to make their way further through the tunnels, passing by the spawner rooms, store rooms, and crafting rooms. Before long, Orwis and Buffo finally arrived in the core chamber, the room being illuminated by her core's brilliant blue light. The spiders and frogs all huddled close around the core's pedestal, just resting and relaxing after all the chaos the fires had brought into the once quiet evening.

Despite the calming blue light, she could feel her core was still frightened and worried. From what she could tell through the bond, the core could see that people were emerging from the flames and they were all converging towards the hidden entrance somehow. This alarmed Orwis as she thought hard about how they could have known where the entrance was; but before she could think on it for too long, she suddenly sensed something shift in the room, the mana in the air swirling as it was quickly pulled from the air. Turning to look, it was the injured spider from before; the blade that was stuck in its body was glowing with runes that had been painted onto the metal, and there was glowing coming from other open wounds.

Before she could figure out what was going on, Buffo reacted first, firing off his massive tongue which grabbed the spider when he suddenly swallowed it whole. Even as he swallowed, he quickly turned and started hopping out of the core chamber, carelessly crushing other frogs and spiders in his path. Just as he made it into the water, his body suddenly erupted into a massive ball of fire and steam. The shockwave launched the core, Orwis, and everyone else to the far walls as everything went black.

I step out of the moment, standing in the murky darkness of Orwis' unconscious memory. "I've seen enough." I say simply, glancing over at Reyvyre and Rita as they follow me into the pitch-black. "Or do you want to keep watching as things unfold into what is obviously a massacre?" I feel my voice coming off harsher than I intended. But I just can't help it... I'm furious over everything I've just witnessed, and there's nothing I can really do about it but inform the proper authorities about what we've learned.

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I could feel Reyvyre flinch at my rage, though she managed to remind herself that it was not her I was angry with. "No Vitmori, I believe it's time for us to wake now so we can start doing what we can to repair this cooperative core. Let us hope it is mentally well enough despite the trauma it suffered all those years ago." She said softly, and I could feel her eyes on my back as I seethe to myself.

I sigh softly, running my fingers through my imaginary hair before looking between the two mages, after a moment I settled on Rita. "When we wake, head to the Haven and let Joli know what we've learned. Feel free to join us again when you're done with that."

Rita nodded respectfully. "Will do, Vitmori." She said as she flared out her wings to flex and stretch before suddenly realizing she wasn't in her physical body, pulling them in close again while feeling only mildly embarrassed with herself.

Reyvyre then conjured a glowing doorway, making a way for us to safely exit as we stepped through the light.

Isaak POV

After a chilly bath in the river, a rather refreshed Isaak found himself approaching the clearing of the Haven with Joli at his side. The half-elf kept tossing him glances, looking increasingly amused with each passing moment for whatever reason. After a few quiet minutes of this, he was finally annoyed enough to speak up as he met her gaze and quirked a brow. "Is there something on my face?" He asked in a soft whisper before looking ahead of them again.

Joli chuckled at that as she looked over at him again. "Not exactly, but I can tell you're nervous. About what in particular? Well, I'm not sure but I think I have a few ideas." She mused mischievously.

Isaak mulled that over for a moment, he considered saying something snarky in response but his overall curiosity won out as he looked back over at Joli. "How can you tell?"

Joli seemed clearly delighted by the question as she stopped walking, looking Isaak up and down before gazing into his eyes. "Well for one, I can smell your nervousness just wafting off of you." She mused before stepping closer and poking at his chest. "Secondly, your heart is beating faster than what's normal." She explained rather matter-of-factly before pulling away, though upon noticing Isaak's still confused expression she decided to explain further. "In his later years, First Drakewarden Davey Mcdougle had produced a manual on how to read people, revealing tricks and signs one can use to deduce others' emotions without the use of magic. They aren't completely reliable, but they are accurate. You'll be learning these arts of reading people soon enough once you understand your own body, so just be patient."

Isaak blinked with surprise at that but nodded intently. However, he then wondered why an order of warriors would need to have a manual on reading people. Looking back at Joli, he decided to just outright voice his thoughts. "Why would an order of warriors need a manual on reading people?"

Joli just shrugged a bit, turning to walk again before glancing back at Isaak. "Because we aren't an order of warriors... At least, we're not just an order of warriors. We wear many hats and do many things. Sure we fight for the sake of others, but we also gather information, collect secrets, and root out potential evils in order to prevent calamities and disasters." She then flashed another smile back at him. "As for what you'll be doing? Well, we'll have to figure that out as we continue your training." Isaak nodded at that again and felt like he needed to think on that some more. Though before he could say anything else, Joli piped up once again as they drew close to the Haven's clearing. "Anyhoo, enjoy your break, and be mindful of yourself." She said as she poked his shoulder. "You need to acclimate to being around people again and it definitely won't be easy... Have fun!" She enthused, breaking away from him as they crossed the treeline into the clearing.

All at once, Isaak felt almost overwhelmed by everyone in the clearing. It was one thing to catch their scent on the wind and hear them in the distance, but now that he was here and they were that much closer, it put him on the back foot, almost reeling from the sensory overstimulation. The shrill shrieks of children playing games and running around the clearing. The sound of animated and cheerful chatting and laughter of people talking about this and that. The smell of wood smoke and fire mixed with all sorts of foods coming from the longhouse while another set of wood smoke and fire mixed with a sort of woody, herbal scent also hit him from the other end of the clearing. There was also the smell of animals all over the place, which was a distinctly different scent from all the beastkin around him. Isaak wondered if Joli and the other drakewardens were aware of all these scents and sounds and were just used to it, or if this was just something that he was overly sensitive to and aware of due to his body not having fully settled down just yet.

"-aak? Isaak, is everything alright?" All too suddenly, he was aware of Miriam who was right beside him, he hadn't even noticed her approach. Her small hand gently touched his shoulder as she looked up at him with what seemed like genuine concern.

The moment he focused on her, it was like he was able to tune everything else out. Had she always been so short? Her eyes looked even more blue than before, her hair seemed almost more golden blonde than he remembered, and her smell... "You smell really nice... Are you wearing a perfume?" He asked before he could stop himself, his cheeks flushing as he suddenly realized what words just came out of his mouth. Why did he just say that? Why was that the first thing he said after days of not seeing her?!

Miriam's cheeks flushed at his words, and he could hear her heart rate pick up suddenly. She stammered for a moment, clearly needing to collect herself after he had blindsided her with his stupid question. Her hand pulled away from his shoulder as she ran it through her hair, anxiously toying with a few strands before brushing it back behind her ear. "I... I um... Yes." She finally said, averting her gaze as she brought her hands together and anxiously began twiddling her thumbs together. "F-Farah has been trying her hand at making perfumes with wildflowers and other things... They're not real perfumes of course, but she's asked me to try wearing some." She explained, not quite looking at him until she finished talking, at that point looking back up to him as she anxiously met his gaze. "D-do you like it?"

Isaak swallowed, doing his best to measure his words and voice while being keenly all too aware of her. "Y-yeah, I do. It's uh... A really nice scent. It... It suits you." He said as he offered a smile while scratching the back of his head.

The smile that she had when he said that just brightened her face in an almost blinding way. She seemed to collect herself a little more as she started looking him over. "Thanks, you... Um... You look better. I-I was worried about you when I saw you a few days ago. But I'm happy to see you doing fine." She said as her eyes trailed along his exposed midriff. The two of them suddenly realized just how ill-fitting his clothes were now as his cheeks flushed while she averted her gaze all over again. "Yeah... Fine." She said as she absently scratched her cheek.

An odd silence fell between them as Isaak casually tried pulling his shirt down a little more with no success. "A-anyway... Is uh... Is dinner ready? I'm starving." He admitted, patting his stomach to emphasize his point before trying to pull his shirt down again.

Miriam bobbed her head, glancing over at the longhouse before looking back up to Isaak again. "Y-yeah I think they're about to start serving." She said as she took a step away towards the longhouse with all the others.

Isaak took a step to follow her but hesitated as he was all too aware of all the noise and smells coming from the longhouse itself as people started to gather for the meal. "A-actually... If it's not too much trouble, could we eat alone? J-Just the two of us? I erm... I don't think I'm ready to be around everyone yet." He admitted sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Could you also bring the food for both of us? A-again... If it's not too much trouble."

Miriam looked back at him, taking a moment to consider his request before flashing a little smile. "Sure, I'll be right back."

With that, Isaak was left to his own devices again as he watched Miriam walk off towards the others. It was only then that he spotted Joli watching him from the longhouse doorway, smirking seemingly with amusement at his expense before stepping back inside. He couldn't help but roll his eyes before settling down beside a tree at the edge of the clearing. It was only then that he finally allowed himself to relax, enjoying the relative quiet as most of the noise and smells was contained to the longhouse itself. He almost zoned out while he waited, the sound of flapping wings bringing him back into focus as he watched Rita glide down into the clearing before hurrying into the longhouse with the others.