As usual Holding Seniority will determine priority within a category. Multiple announcements will be held with the first applicable category.
- Announcement of Passing the Wall
- Announcement of Fully Awakened Heir
- Announcement of Fully Awakened Descendant
- Announcement of Territorial Expansion
- Announcement of New Holding
- Announcement of Partner
~ * ~
Seb caught his blade as it flew back to him and spun to meet the next goblin. He'd gotten bogged down in the newest batch of reinforcements, a strange sluggishness overtaking him whenever he tries to pull away from the pack. He knew Anya was just as occupied, the intensity of her thoughts evidence that he was on his own for the time being.
He was not the inexperienced confident Awakened who had nearly died to a variant over a year ago. He knew how to face these foes, how to turn their numbers to his advantage. Rolling under a wild swing he found opening after opening for the lightest of touches. Even were these goblins his own level they would survive the blows, fighting two levels up ensured they would keep struggling.
With each lingering flame the mob grew more chaotic, the flicker of flames distracting his targets while his Bladesong left them weakened. Following his instincts, or perhaps a note in the song, he singled out the sole hammer-wielder, doing his best to dispatch it before the others could drive him back once more.
A weight lifted from his feet as it fell, his movements free of their unnatural encumbrance. Anya's relief flowed through the band without words, whether she had been affected or simply worried about his discomfort was besides the point, the battle would soon be in hand.
The final goblin proved to be the most challenging. Not because it was any more dangerous than the rest, the dagger it held was too short to let it come into range as long as he paid attention, but because every scratch he left, every flame he sparked, vanished within moments. Even skewering it on his blade did little good, the creature kept clawing away, trying to reach him despite a wound that should have left it dead within seconds.
It took Anya coming over and crushing it with a few well placed blows to finally eliminate the danger.
That was, he began.
odd, she finished for him.
Their thoughts on the matter were in agreement, their words simply filling in the knowledge both already held. More and more often they found themselves in synchrony, not needing to explain or expand for the other grasp intent.
Fay knows something.
Fay knows plenty, he sent back.
We told her the monsters were weird, she continued.
And she told us that it was to be expected, especially once we started fighting level nines.
Which we have for the last month, she finished.
They finished collecting the Energy fragments then looked at each other. The fight had been more than the warm-up they had been looking for, the first pack of reinforcements somehow pulling in three more groups before the first even fell. They had nearly retreated and given up on the cavern, only for the screams bouncing off the walls to keep pulling their focus back in.
Seb recognized the attention draw, his Bladesong had a similar effect in it's own way. He'd felt Anya's anger surge as the demand for combat trapped them against foes they would have otherwise avoided. Her anger had spurred them both on, their movements closer than even their strangest of training ideas ever required.
He'd felt her trust in him each time his strike passed less than a hair from her skin, he had tears in his shirt from where her claw-like strikes had shaved his arms. They'd thinned the mob in record time, only to see a final two waves come racing around the corner.
Splitting up had kept the chaos manageable while still testing their limits. Lacerations were testament to the ferocity of the goblins, the bruises he'd have tomorrow a mark of every impact he'd failed to avoid. All their finesse and skill meant nothing when a horde tried to pile on top of them. The precision of his blows gave him the opportunity to pick off anything that was out of place but the numbers remained in their favour.
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Anya could stand head to head, face their blows head on, parrying and dodging the worst while her robe at times seemed to force a blow out of the way in mid-air. Her bruises were often worse, only the knowledge that she could repair the worst of their injuries in a handful of days enough to keep them from falling back each time they woke up in agony.
Seb?
He shook his head, he'd gotten caught up in his thoughts once again and she was waiting to go.
What was that anger? he asked.
Anger? he felt her momentary confusion. Oh. It reminded me of Clyde, of his words in my head.
A compulsion?
A need to do as the scream said. To fight, to bleed- she started.
- to destroy, to face the enemy and not stop until it was gone, he finished.
It wanted anger and combat. And it was imposing that desire, she sent with a frown, a hint of her own rage returning.
It's gone now, he sent, seeing her eyes widen in recognition.
Sorry, she answered as they left the cavern. Something about the imposition just-
I know love, he sent. He didn't not fully, but he had felt her reaction, felt it in a way he had only partially noticed when Clyde had nearly torn them apart.
Never again Seb, she sent. Never.
~ * ~
"Can't you tell us something Fay?" Anya asked.
Seb focused on his coffee and let the moment play out again. Every time they came back for a visit Anya would ask about the weird creatures. Every time Fay would tell them that they'd have to figure it out on their own. Every time the conversation would devolve into the two of them teasing one another.
"Anya, I told you. I can't-"
"Their Energy," he interrupted. "It flows differently, it shapes itself differently."
"Yes," Fay began.
"I hadn't seen it before, or maybe I hadn't looked," he continued before turning to Anya. "The goblin a few weeks ago, the one that wouldn't die?"
"It died," she smirked. "You just needed my help."
"Its pattern was chaotic, building on itself, rushing to fill itself over and over."
"The one that set my robe on fire," Anya said, her eyes going distant for a moment. "Its was hot to the touch when I punched it."
"The-" he began only to pause when Fay cleared her throat.
"Yes."
"Yes?" Anya asked, leaning forward as though she was about to argue.
"Their energy is different," she said as though it explained everything. "Shaped to what they are."
"They're creatures," he said.
"Yes," Fay agreed. "But they aren't identical."
"Can't you explain?" Anya asked. "Make sense?"
Seb could feel Anya's frustration at the vagueness of the answer.
"I could," Fay said, lifting her hand the moment Anya shifted. "But I won't."
"You. Won't?" Anya nearly growled.
Seb frowned as well, this wasn't avoiding details, this was Fay saying she outright wouldn't help them.
"Remember the Notes?" Fay asked.
"For our Path Selection?" he answered.
Anya, I think she has a reason.
She always has a reason, she sent back.
"And how if you knew the Note couldn't appear?"
"You mentioned that," he said.
"This isn't a Note, but being told makes the outcome weaker."
She- That- Anya sent, her frustration nearly boiling over.
"You could have said that!"
And there it went.
"You could have told us why you weren't telling us anything. Could have-"
"- spent less time with you?" Fay interrupted. "Cut our meetings short?"
"No, that isn't what I-" He could feel Anya fumbling her way to a good answer.
"Thank you for explaining what you can," Seb said.
"One last thing," Fay said, her tone serious. "Everyone's energy shapes itself to who and what they are. You just have to find your answer."
"The wall…" Anya said. "My mother, all the years."
"Yes," Fay said. "When you figure it out you can tell her, help her. Or give her a hint. No one can't stop you."
Seb? Anya sent. Should I?
We have to figure it out first, he sent back. But, maybe?
"I'm going to miss these visits," Fay said when Anya didn't answer immediately.
"Miss?" Seb asked.
"After you hit level eight," Fay said. "You can't go to the tenth level, the creatures are all past the wall."
"What does that have to do with the visits?" Anya said.
"Best way to find your answer is to remain focused," she answered.
"Other than breaks to avoid burn out, if you need them." Fay paused to look at them a bit more knowingly than last time they had brought their training ideas up. "Best to keep focused until you're at the cusp of level ten. Focus on your understanding."
"But," Anya said. "Our coffee visits. Our dinners?"
"I'll be fine," Fay said. "I managed for years. I can go on dates, I know what the Claires are like now."
"Just be careful," he said. "Claire was-"
"She was seven months ago Seb," Fay said sharply before visibly focusing on her breathing.
"I'll be in less danger than the two of you," she continued. "I'll make sure nothing happens to your Holding, or to our home."
"We know," Anya said softly. "We know you'll take care of everything for us."
"Special dinner in a few months?" Seb suggested. "Once we hit level eight and are going to isolate ourselves?"
The smiles on both their faces, mirroring his own, were all the confirmation he needed that the dinner would be one to remember.
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