Talaitha was relieved to find Pitt arrive with his sword ready to act. The merchant reacted desperately in order to not go through the amputation, but it was something that had to be done. Talaitha felt horrible in light of the man's protests, but she understood the purpose of it. When she was younger she had witnessed her fellow caravan members develop rotting on limbs due to damp conditions in a few of the wagons. If it wasn't caught in time, the limbs would rot away and grow until they began threatening the rest of the body.

Wrestling control of her disgust and fear, she resolved that she had to quit crying. She realized that the strength she once possessed back when she dealt with those who hated her kind had disappeared the moment she was forced into this misadventure. She had been broken by despair, but why did she let that affect her now and never when she was threatened earlier in her life? It was time for her to act like the adult she was. Taking control of the situation, Talaitha forced the merchant's left side back and took the cloth Pitt gave her and shoved it in his mouth. Glancing at Lucia to look at her grip on the merchant's right side, she noticed that she was on the verge of tears.

"Cry later! Hold him down tightly," she called to her before crouching down next to the merchant. "Otherwise we could hurt him more than that gangrene will."

She used a free hand to rub his head and began to speak to him softly in an attempt to get him to relax so Pitt could make a clean cut.

"It appears I misjudged you, sir." Andreu light-heartedly scoffed at Errauts' sudden outburst. "I had never thought you to be so straight forward. Perhaps you're not as fickle as I once thought you to be."

For a great while after initially speaking, Andreu remained silent and for some time it seemed almost as if he weren't going to acknowledge any of Erratus' questions, that is, until the sudden and harsh noise of a throat being cleared echoed throughout the darkness of the slowly changing prairie.

"As far as what happened to you in Gennenberg... I'm afraid I really can't give you any real answers. I know that whatever is in the box is somehow tied to both Pitt and this 'titan' creature but it appears that the only one who truly knows what's inside is of course Pitt himself. As for the girl, it appears as though she wasn't who we were lead to believe. You see, this country is a lead by a faceless council of nobleman and religious figures who claim to be descendants of the commanding knights who helped to found this country with His Holiness the Immortal King. In truth it's impossible to know who really sits on that council and what their individual goals really are, all we really know is that they're currently ruling over a monarch-less state which is falling into decay through plague and war. Kane is the king of these lands, but the holy scriptures say he no longer resides in our world and instead speaks his will through the council, a council which has no face and rules through religious intimidation and hidden magics they call miracles. But when half the country starves and our cities swell with infirm refugees do you think the people care about some faceless group which rules locked away in a forbidden paradise-like city called Sol Erra? Of course not... but perhaps the masses could be placated by a crown, a holy crown which has only sat upon the head of some Holy King. Simply put, she was a puppet. The council found some girl, perhaps of some sort of noble birth and prepared to fashion her as Holy Queen, some matriarch like symbol that could put the peasants' and nobles' troubled minds at ease. She was probably raised to be a figure head and so I'm sure the council invested at least a decent amount of time into her upbringing, but she's replaceable. Ostarius must have caught word of her existence and somehow was able to get her out of Sol Erra where he abducted her and sent her east. Along the way Pitt must have figured out what was happening and planned to use her as a hostage so that he could send people into Gennenberg's ruins to look for a treasure only he knew of. Somewhere along the way Ostarius' men must have been attacked by soldiers from the west, soldiers who had no clue we had taken the girl. If the council was willing to put the girl's life at risk to remove some vermin it meant the girl was of no value to begin with."

As the two spoke the night grew deeper and deeper and the air began to grow frigid and cold. No longer was the ground of dirt and yellowed grass, instead it had slowly shifted to rolling hills of sand and sediment. Though not visible through the darkness, the rising sun was coming soon and soon Erratus would be reunited with his compatriots.


"There's also the question of whether or not Ostarius is actually alive and if he is, why is he attempting to do battle with the country he helped create? I've been told it has something to do with an old grudge of sorts and that the Lord of the Forsaken isn't quite stable after being alive some thousand years, it just all sounds suspicious to me... Now... as for the magic you've asked about... This is purely conjecture on my end but..." Andreu stopped to regroup his thoughts, after all what was about to say was in essence just a theory he had created based on his own knowledge.

"Pitt isn't normal. I've never seen him use magic before but I know he has an impossibly high mastery and knowledge of magic. 15 years ago he was able to identify that I had a small gift for magic that not even I knew about. He put me through a test and found out that I had a natural affinity for elemental magic and that I was in fact a geomancer, an elementalist that can bend and reshape the earth. I'm terrible at performing magic, I just don't have the stamina for it, but that's not the point. The point is I've been trained on how to use my abilities, both my geomancy and my energy control. Only once someone has successfully learned to control their inner energies can they really start to understand how magic actually works... Your friend has natural ability but she lacks energy control... She shouldn't be able to see or feel people's auras... and yet..." Andreu's hands gripped tight at his horse's reins as he attempted to fight off a shaking feeling that was beginning to form in his finger tips.

"She could feel that man's aura... She could feel that enormously abundant pressure that his aura creates..." He stopped once more to regain his composure.

"And you... You could see a faint white light being emitted by two Seldori- With your own eyes you were able to see someone's aura and then later you subconsciously generated your own aura to enhance and protect your own body, how odd." Andreu's began to trail off and mumble to himself as he mulled over what exactly he just said.

"Oh.. Of course." He snapped back to reality quite quickly after losing himself. "You asked about the Captain and Pitt... I know not of Pitt's true intentions... He has only expressed his will to few amongst us. Gonye though-


Twenty years ago there was a massive peasant revolt out in the eastern provinces of Aestaria, very few westerners know much of it. It started small, a few villages here and there began to revolt against their local lords. The peasants were afraid they would starve in the coming winter and feared that the plague in the north would spread uncontrollably from the recently evacuated Gennenberg. They took up arms and attacked mayors and barons, they captured their food caches and overran property that was held in the local nobles' names. Before long the news of these successful revolts spread and peasants all across the north east were beginning to revolt in towns and cities. The highest authority in the north east, The Duke of Garrist, raised his armies in an attempt to quell the revolts but found out quickly that his armies were not large enough because the towns and villages from which his conscripts came from had all turned to revolting when faced with killing their kin. Like fire the revolts continued to spread until the Duke of Garrist was forced to flee his castle and head south, but behind him the peasants followed and with them came the revolts. Soon every county east of the river Main was in open revolt against their lord and none of the nobility could stop it, the revolution was born. Somewhere in all this mess there was a city called Delkirk where myself and Gonye were from. The city was once a wondrous center of mercantilism and trade companies from all across the kingdom had branches there, but over night the city turned into the center for the revolution and the men who became leaders of the revolution made its halls and churches their head quarters...

The fighting was brutal during the first months of the revolution and eventually the Kingdom's standing army had to get involved... and when that wasn't enough for the first time ever the Seldori were let loose on peasants... Over a period of five years the eastern country bled and bled until there was nothing left but smoking ruins... Gonye and myself... We weren't revolutionaries, we were just caught up in the crossfire... Delkirk fell and was occupied by forces from the west but the occupiers weren't welcome. The streets became a new type of battleground, at night men set buildings on fire and assassins who roamed the streets looking for officers on either side drew blood almost constantly. People were killed in the streets in broad daylight and by moonlight their houses were destroyed by men who wore no uniforms. There was so much hate... so much anger... the air was so thick with blood lust, you felt like you were underwater the second you walked outside your home... Eventually a battle broke out in the city between the peasants and the occupying forces and almost every peasant in the city was put to the sword. The official story was that occupying soldiers were attacked by revolutionaries and eventually the small skirmish escalated into a massive city wide battle, but in reality occupiers were just blowing off steam. They were far from home in some enemy land trying to keep the peace in an city filled with the enemy, the enemy that killed their comrades, the enemy that forced them away from their wives and children for years, the enemy that threatened the stability of the entire country and their own ways of life..they saw enemies, not people. Gonye had a daughter and a wife, both of which he couldn't protect when the soldiers came to his home. They killed his wife and his five year old girl and left him for dead.... Those of us who escaped the massacre had nothing left, no family, no home... we only had each other. Eventually we were hunted as revolutionaries and we were forced to form together to protect ourselves from assassins and hunting parties which roamed the ruins of the east looking for us. Gonye and I both ended up in that group and eventually Gonye rose to a position of leadership within. He knew best how to survive in the wilderness, he knew exactly where to hide from patrols and when we were starving and in need of weapons he lead daring raids against isolated military camps. We survived, but only just barely. Every day I thought to myself 'today is the day they'll find you'. but each day passed and every time we narrowly avoided certain death."

By now Andreu's voice had grown frail, but behind it there was a sense of seething anger.

"We were vermin... we crawled around in mud, we ate scraps... IT WAS HUMILIATING!" His voice exploded into sudden rage.

"For three years we lived a life of humiliation, people died, people joined us, some betrayed us... but eventually we were driven into a corner with no way out... That's when a man with a mask approached us and told us he could help us, but at a price. He told us that he could free us from our eternal hunt and get us revenge for the ones we lost and for the endless hell we were enduring. All he asked in return is that when the time came we would act as his army to help carry out his own agenda. Gonye agreed to his terms and the masked man helped us to find proper weapons and armour and then he lead us across the desert to Variya. He told us that we could make a living in Variya as a small mercenary company and that over time we could easily grow into a force which could exact our revenge. He told us that he would leave us in Variya and put in a good word about our company to some local nobles, then it was up to us to make our own fortune but in time he would return to us and lead us back across the desert to our home. Years passed and our company grew in size and riches and eventually Pitt arrived in our camp just before a battle. He told us that he was an incarnation of a great mage and that the man who had guided us across the desert years before was in service to him. He told Gonye his side of contract had to be fulfilled before our side could begin and so we packed up and left the battlefield without as much as swinging a sword. Our group of one-hundred and fifty or so survivors had grown to over a thousand and although not all the original members were still alive their will was still with us... Though now that he has the five of you it seems that perhaps Pitt has made an art of scooping up the desperate and handing them opportunity... You'll have to forgive my outburst." He inhaled deeply as his voice returned to back to a calming state. "I did not mean to become so harsh. Have I made things clearer though?"

Speaking of past, even vaguely, had brought up sea of terrible emotions inside of Andreu. He didn't trust Pitt, but he trusted Gonye with his life... but what was his life? That day some 15 years ago everything he had was lost and his reason for living, his actual life, was smashed into tiny inconceivable fragments.

Am I living purely for a chance to seek revenge? Is that all I have left inside this old body? But then...that's right isn't... Deep pain filled Andreu's eyes yet his face remained stoic. I really did die that night, during the revolution.
________________


The merchant's body fought and flailed against Talaitha and Lucia's hold, all the while he screamed and shouted until Talaitha stuffed the cloth deep into his mouth.

Carefully Pitt drew his sword from his hanging sheath and lined the blade up just above the man's knee. In a sudden motion Pitt forced the blade deep into the man's skin and against his bear bone.

Almost immediately the merchant threw his body back and a horrible, muffled screams of pain tore through the air.

Quickly Pitt pressed against the bone and applied pulling pressure through it until his sword had successfully cleaved straight through.

The man's leg bloomed into a bloody mess and his body began to spasm about as Pitt began to tear again through more muscle and bone. Pitt's face was determined though, he showed no signs of distress as he hacked away through the thick, leathery flesh and into the rubbery, moist muscle. His eyes were focused and his hand was careful, he didn't once turn away until the leg was completely removed.

Pitt dropped his sword into nearby sand and pushed away the now loose limb as he reached for his canteen. First he poured his canteen across the fresh wound and then he poured the remainder of it on his hands. Next he grabbed a large folded cloth from his bag and tore it into two smaller sheets. He wrapped the man's bleeding stump with the two sheets and then tightly retied his belt around the sheets to keep them in place.

All throughout the procedure the man yelled and howled out ungodly noises from beneath the rag which had been tightly secured in his mouth, but now his throat had gone hoarse and his body had gone limp.

"It's done, you can release him." Pitt took what was left of his cloth and used it to clean his sword before sheathing it back up, without a belt he'd have to carry the sheath in his free hand for now.

"Talaitha, go find a group of survivors for him to go with... There's no telling if any of these people will make it west, but his chances of living will definitely improve if he's with someone else."

Talaitha closed her eyes and turned her head away from the scene as Pitt began to hack away at the man's leg. Though she had witnessed frontier medicine before, she still did not enjoy watching it play out before her eyes. She finally felt the merchant stop fighting and knew the procedure was nearly done, releasing him from her grip. As Pitt had asked, she turned around and quickly ventured out to the other caravans to find any groups that could take the merchant with them.

Although Lucia had refused to the watch the scene, shutting her eyes ever so tightly, she could still hear the horrid sounds of the sword hacking through flesh and bone. Her fingers tightly squeezed into the man's shoulder as she endured the ordeal. It was almost as though she were going through it herself. When she finally heard Pitt say that he had finished, Lucia realized that she had been holding her breath the entire time and exhaled slowly.

She was quite ill-prepared for the sight before her. Instinctively her head had turned to the now severed limb, and immediately she felt herself become weak at the knees. Within a matter of seconds she collapsed to the ground, quite overwhelmed by the experience.

Erratus gave a nod. It was honestly more than he could possibly have hoped for, and certainly far more than he had come to expect as of late. Andreu was much more unflappable than he had given him credit for, having barely registered surprise in the face of his garbled torrent of facts and queries. In contrast, the thief’s own thoughts cascaded like rapids through the rocky channels of his mind. Perhaps most shocking of all to Erratus was the revelation that he himself may have latent magical abilities. Being middle aged, it concerned him that he was displaying traits similar to the Seldori, but he pushed those thoughts aside. No point in fretting about something he couldn’t control. Instead, he focused on what else he had learned.

Hearing about Gonye’s past was very enlightening, its harshness surprising given the man’s typically carefree disposition. However, while Andreu’s explanation had told how the mercenary band had gotten to where they were, it didn’t shed much light on their leader’s intentions. The answer, he suspected, laid with Pitt and the mysterious box. Mostly because the mad had just said as much. The role of the infected in all of this, assuming there even was one, was still unclear, but there would be time to ponder that later. This was all much bigger than Erratus had first thought, and he had a feeling that things would soon be getting very interesting.

“Thanks for humoring me. I’m sure this information will be helpful.” The thief grinned. “I hope I was able to help you learn something too, or at least get something off your chest.”

With the exchange concluded, he returned his attention to his riding.

Pitt was quick to notice Lucia's frailness had gotten the best of her, but from his current position he was unable to do anything for her until she had already collapsed.

Pitt brought himself to his knees beside her now collapsed body and gently grasped his fingers about her shoulders. "You're far too frail for these things." He spoke softly as he lifted her from the cold desert sand back to her knees.

"You won't last long out here unless you can get past this softness of yours..." Pitt's words might not have been able to reach Lucia in her current state, but it didn't appear as though he cared, if anything it seemed like he was willingly speaking to himself.

"What are we going to do with you if you end up like this every time something harsh happens?" He laughed quietly to himself as he sat down next to Lucia and allowed her to slump against his side for support.
_____
At first Talaitha had a difficult time convincing any of the groups she encountered to take on the wounded merchant, after all he was an outsider to most of these foreigners and he was part of a group that was responsible for monetarily exploiting many of these desperate people, but eventually she found a small group of incredibly tall, snow-skinned, bald, emerald-eyed men who agreed to take on the merchant.

The men followed Talaitha back to the amputation site where Lucia and Pitt were resting side by side. The tallest of the pale-skin men approached Pitt and carefully scanned over him and Lucia before turning to the merchant.

"I would stand to greet you but I'm acting as her support for the moment." Pitt gestured with a short c*** of the neck towards Lucia.

"You saved this man?" The seven-foot giant spoke as he looked over now barely-conscious amputee.

"Indeed I did." Pitt answered in a matter-of-fact style.

"Perhaps this is the gods' way of giving this man whose heart had once fallen to greed and contemptuousness a second chance." The giant's deep voice boomed as he lowered himself to a knee and plucked the wounded merchant from the ground. "May the Mother of the Skies watch over your travels." The giant bowed his head to Pitt before returning to his brother's.


"Fine work, Talaitha. Though, you found quite an odd group to look after him." He couldn't help but laugh to himself as he watched the lumbering group of bald giants vanish into the veil of night.

"We've done all we can for these people..." Pitt turned towards Lucia and carefully lifted her from the ground and into his arms. "Most of the fires at risk of spreading have died down by now and there's not much we can do for these people medical wise. Besides, Lucia here is quite at her limits and you seem fairly exhausted yourself."


With Lucia in arms and Talaitha in tow, Pitt ascended the hill which overlooked both the caravan and the camp the group had set up. Upon ascending and then descending the hill, he took immediate notice of the still knocked out riders which were gathered about each other and tied tightly.

"What happened over there!" Nero popped up from the ground and scrambled towards Pitt and Lucia. "Is she hurt?!"

"Just a bit of fatigue, that's all." Pitt assured Nero as he walked towards the tent and gently lowered Lucia into the dug-in structure. "She just needs to sit for awhile, perhaps she'll even find some rest." Pitt shrugged as he looked over Nero and Nadya's handiwork.

"Keeping them here is quite a problem... We'll be staying here until Gonye returns and if we leave them like this we risk catastrophe."

"Are you suggesting we kill them?!" Nadya immediately interjected.

"Are you at variance with this?" Pitt remained composed as he looked over each an every rider with his hawkish eyes. "Do you intend to free them as well? Or do you intend to leave them here to die of sunstroke after we leave?"


Nadya stood silent, she had no way of answering Pitt's appalling inquiry.

"Well then, what do you believe, Talaitha? Nero? Do you believe we should rest for the night with these dangerous men so near to us, or do you believe we should just remove the risk all together righ-..."

Pitt paused as he spotted in the distance a pair of approaching riders.

________


"You're pretty c***, aren't ya'?" Andreu smirked as he looked back towards Erratus. He wasn't sure why but he felt a connection to the thief, a kind of kinsmanship only close allies could feel.

"I'm gettin' to soft for this stuff." He mumbled as he looked ahead and then towards the moon. "If we pick up the pace and push the horses past our current speed we'll reach 'em a good while before sun rise." Andreu gave his horse a quick set of kicks and like lightning he shot off ahead.



After riding at a high gallop for nearly an hour, Andreu and Erratus began to take notice of a fire burning just over the sandy dunes ahead of them. "Looks like trouble..." Andreu slowed his horse to canter and warily began to ascend a nearby hill to get a better view.

"Looks like a caravan up ahead got hit by desert raiders. Seems like the raiders are gone though, I see lots of people grouped together, but no raiders and no panicing." Andreu maintained his perch as he continued to scanned through the silhouettes in the darkness until he noticed a small fire just south of caravan.

"Looks like the group stopped early, we've already caught up to their camp." Andreu roused his horse forth from the top of the hill and started towards the lone fire. "Looks to be that we'll be parting soon Mister Khast." Andreu forced himself to frown deeply as he began to tease Erratus. "I was just beginning to like you too, what a shame." Though Andreu was hamming it up quite a bit, he was truly sad that he would have to part ways with his new riding companion so soon.

As the pair approached, the camp became clearer and clearer and the figures of Nadya, Nero, Talaitha, Pitt and quite a few tied up captives became clearer as well.

_______

"Well well, quite a bit early." Pitt remarked as he watched Andreu and Erratus come to a sliding stop through the sands just a few feet before the camp.

"It would seem everything did not go as planned then, right Andreu?" Pitt eyed the older mercenary carefully as he awaited an answer.

"They wouldn't trade a guarantee of safety for the girl." Andreu answered.

"I suppose that means the Kingdom is after us now then as well..." Pitt crossed his arms as he returned his gaze back to the prisoners. "You're just in time Khast, we were deciding what to do with these raiders who attacked us and a nearby caravan."

As Erratus and his newest buddy drew close to the campsite, it became clear that the group had been caught up in the raid Andreu had mentioned. The thief was impressed that they had managed to dispatch so many men. In fact, it seemed almost impossible. He knew how raiders operated, and there was no way there had been time to make a plan or set up traps before they attacked. Magic must’ve been involved, and he was fairly certain Lucia wasn’t capable of something like this. No, this could only have been Pitt’s handiwork.

When they arrived, Erratus was relieved to learn that nobody had been seriously injured. He stood by and listened as Andreu explained the situation to Pitt, noting the mage’s wary demeanor. The tension between the two men was almost palpable, despite the brevity of the exchange. Abruptly, the moment ended as Pitt unexpectedly addressed the thief.

“You’re just in time, Khast, we were deciding what to do with these raiders who attacked us and a nearby caravan.” The man said.

“Ah, fantastic. Passing judgement on the unrighteous. My favorite pastime.” Erratus responded quickly, then paused.

On any other day, he would’ve recommended killing them on the spot without hesitation. After all, they had been aware of the risks when they decided to become brigands and start attacking travelers. If they had been killed in battle, nobody would care, and this wouldn’t even be a discussion. However, maybe it was because Pitt had been the one to pose the dilemma, or perhaps it was because the thief was being so uncharacteristically introspective today, but that didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t say with certainly what he thought they should do, and suddenly he wished he hadn’t arrived until they’d finished deciding.

“What right does a thief have to decide the fate of criminals?” He finally continued. “Do what you will. I withhold.”

Talaitha looked over to Nadya and was unsure of what to say. Her elder seemed unwilling to do any harm to those who tried to kill them, which was the opposite of her own belief at the moment. She wanted to respect her elder's decision, but could not give up her own opinion. She turned back at looked at the raiders, growing angry at what they did so many other people.

"You may do what you like, Pitt," she said with fists and teeth clenched. "But I will not be the one to kill them."

With that said she walked away and tried to put her mind on other things, approaching Nadya and to suggest they retreat from the camp for a small while. She began to realize she had not washed off her body and her face and hands were still covered in blood, and wondered if there was a river nearby that she could clean herself up.

"It seems everyone is disheartened by the idea of dirtying their own hands." Pitt stepped away from the raiders and turned his attention towards Andreu.

"Gonye is currently riding on the border of the Twilight Desert, ride ahead and alert him that he's no longer safe that close to the enemy. Have him return to this camp as soon as possible... Afterwards you may return west and join the others in the south until the Captain calls upon you next."

For sometime after receiving his orders, Andreu remained completely still with his eyes locked on Pitt. It wasn't until Pitt spoke again that his eyes turned away.

"These are our Captain's orders, remember that."

Andreu begrudgingly nodded and kicked his horse into a full gallop eastwards.



"It's best if you each get some rest with what little night we have left." Pitt motioned towards the dug-in tent as he uncrossed his arms. "All the commotion has left me feeling a bit restless, so I believe I'll stay alert for now and watch over the camp."



_____

Nadya took immediate notice of Talaitha's odd behavior and quickly took to her side to help her clean up her wounds and guide her towards the tent.

"You need to rest." Nadya's disappointment in Talitha was immediately set aside by her overwhelming concern. "Even if you can't sleep, at the very least come sit for awhile before we have to move again." Nadya stepped down into the tent and guided Talaitha in after her so that she wouldn't fall or cause harm to the still unconscious Lucia. Once inside the tent, she wet a small rag with water from her canteen and began to wipe down Talaitha's hands and face.





Nero had decided that he would remained awake and stay somewhere where he could watch Pitt. He wasn't entirely sure how alert he'd be able to remain in his fairly tired condition but with some luck he hoped he be able to at the very least relax a little while whilst also making sure Pitt wasn't doing anything odd.

_______




The night passes and the sun begins to rise over the horizon...



After all was said and done the group only had but two or so hours to rest before the sun had began to rise. During what was left of the night Nadya had drifted off into a light sleep and Nero had recently begun to nod off as well.

Kechts Udyde had of course departed during the night as he was only hired to accompany the group for so far.

During the night Pitt rose a few times to check on the captive raiders but for the most part the group remained silent and dazed from the earlier attack. Once morning had arrived he set about waking up each of his companions and giving them a bit of breakfast, a dried piece of beef and a fairly solid slice of bread. Afterwards he gathered up the group and prepared to explain the next leg of their journey.


"It's going to get quite hot again today, in fact it'll be so hot that by midday the horses will have to travel slower than a walking pace to avoid dropping due to exhaustion. Thankfully it's quite humid out which means we may see some rain. I intend for us to stay here until the temperature lowers, by that time- just after midday, we'll start riding again. If we keep a good pace we'll reach our destination by early morning tomorrow. What we're heading for is a portion of the desert held by soldiers who are loyal to an individual that calls itself Ostarius. Whether or not this individual is who it claims to be is not really important, what is important is that he more than likely knows what the infection might end up doing to you all and why the Council in Aestaria wants to recollect you."

Pitt cleared his throat as he prepared to change the subject of his speech.

"That aside I'd like to take a moment to make something clear. The men loyal to Ostarius do not view us as friendly or even neutral, they view us as a threat and will treat us as such until I am able to prove to them that we mean no harm. At present I have no way of keeping his men from attacking us since it seems we failed to trade an asset we acquired from Gennenberg to them for a guarantee of safety. You five must be ready to defend yourselves from harm when the time comes and that means you need to learn something quite important. I need to teach you all the basics of magic so that you're not sitting ducks when trouble comes. I assure you that each and every one of you is capable of doing what I'm about to explain to you, it's just some of you might find it easier to do than others... Now then!" Pitt firmly placed his hand just beneath his chest and gripped loosely at his skin.

"Everyone has the ability to use magic to some degree, this is because everyone has energy inside their body right here. This energy slowly leaks out of your system and becomes part of the ambient world and through this leaking energy most aspiring mages learn to use magic. Eventually through quite a bit of practice, novice mages are able to fully unlock this well of energy called a gate and spread it throughout their entire body. Once this energy is released they are capable of controlling the elements and bending existing energy to their will. Of course there's only a select few people who are capable of even making it this far, but it would seem that through your infection you five are beginning to greatly adapt to your own, or should I say man's own, innate magic ability. Of course unlocking your inner gate is only a small part of magic, taking your inner energies and refining into aura is the true concept of magic. Aura is the ultimate key to magic and through aura one can learn what their natural magical ability is... Unlocking one's inner gate takes quite a bit of time though and learning to refine energy into aura takes even longer, sadly this is time we do not have, but luckily I believe your infection may be a blessing in disguise. Over the past two days I've watched you and I've heard reports from my men about you. In particular it was Lucia who first showed signs of this odd magical adaption. As one who has used magic before she was already accustomed to using her energy and through the infection she has become more and more proficient at it. She's even successfully unlocked her inner gate and has on one occasion refined her energy to aura, though I'm sure she wasn't aware of it."


As Pitt spoke, Lucia, Talitha, Nadya, Nero and Erratus began to notice a faint white light begin to glow about Pitt's body. As he continued to lecture the light slowly grew clearer and brighter and its shape, that of a fire which enveloped his entire being, began to emerge from shapelessness.

"What you see around me is a portion of my energy being turned to aura. This aura to me is like a set of armor. You could strike me with your fist or even a sword and I would receive minimal to no damage. I can use this aura to enhance and augment my own strength and stamina and of course I can use this aura to create... You see, a person's aura has a natural tendency and can be placed into a certain category... for example, one who has been identified as an alterer is capable of changing their aura to mimic or become another non-elemental substance. If you don't quite understand it I suppose I could give you an example of an altering power. Ah yes, there was a famous Alterer who lived quite some time ago in the far north. They say he was able to make his aura take on the properties of an incredibly powerful magnet and when attacked by bandits or traveling knights he would pull away their weapons or send them flying quite a distance away by repulsing the metal stuck to their person." Pitt closed his eyes tightly and began to run his fingers through his hair as he mulled over the idea of aura types.

"I suppose explaining the aura types isn't pertinent to you all right now though, what is important is teaching you to unlock your gate and refine your raw energy into aura... This campfire we've had burning since the raid last night-" Pitt pointed behind him towards the barely burning embers of the fire. "I want each of you to sit around it and concentrate. I want you to meditate in front of the fire and find the energy deep inside you. I want you to feel it swirling and moving about, I want you to summon forth that energy no matter how long it takes and use it to control the fire. If you focus on the fire and then focus on your own unrefined energy you can exude that energy from your body and use it to force the fire to rise, fall, move about or even burn brighter. If you're capable of moving the fire by will and capable of doing it consistently, I will then teach you how to refine your energy into aura... Just remember, before you sit down and try to just move the fire by force of will, first sit and meditate. Find a state of perfect balance where only you exist. Block out everyone and everything that isn't you. Only once you've done this will you be able to locate the energy inside you and feel the swirling mass. Once you've done this you can focus on releasing the energy... You have to abandon all doubt and allow the energy to flow through you like a river. Focus on moving the energy inside you from the very tip of your head to the very end of your extremities. Eventually you should feel like your body is surrounded by dense air or perhaps even light fluid. Once you've reached this state you should be able to reach out and force your energy to encompass the flame. Whilst your energy is in contact with the fire you can control it and bend it to your will, but should you lose focus your energy will become unstable and your grasp over the fire will immediately fail."

Pitt removed himself from the path between the fire and the infected and sat down in the sand to relax. He allowed his aura to fade as well and closed his eyes so as to make it appear as though he were resting.

"Once you can move the flame multiple times using your energy I want to sit and focus on releasing your energy from your body for as long as possible. It'll be just like moving the flame but instead of putting your energy towards a goal you'll be just burning it off your body. You only have so much raw energy within you so once you start to get tired, stop. If you wear yourself too thin you'll exhaust yourself completely. Oh, and Lucia. There's no doubt this will seem strange to you since you're used to performing magic a different way but I assure you this new method will make sense in time."

Talaitha sleep soundly following the events of the day before. When she awoke the next day she was still a little shocked, but tried to suppress any thoughts that caused her to dwell back on what had happened. They were all called together by Pitt at some point in the morning to hear something he had to say about magic. Pitt's long winded explanation left Talaitha a bit confused. She was not necessarily ready to hear news that them slowly dying also gave them some silly magical powers. To her, even as an enchanter of all things, magic was all nonsense. There was no possibility of any magic more powerful than basic enchantments for weaponry and armor, that she was sure of. However, Pitt was their leader at the moment and they were not going anywhere until he was satisfied, so she threw her arms up in defeat and sat by the fire and focused her gaze upon it.

Upon centering herself, she closed her eyes as Pitt did and tried to do something, unsure if she was doing anything right or wrong.

Lucia did not stir until the middle of the night when Talaitha and Nadya were already sound asleep. She rationally assumed that the others had brought her to rest in the tent after her ordeal during the day. She shuddered at the memory of the man, whispering a silent prayer on his behalf. Had she not worried about disturbing the other two women in the tent, Lucia would have loved to see the stars in the desert sky. Instead, she resolved to fall back asleep, already feeling tiredness calling her back into the darkness of sleep.

The next day, Lucia realized that they had all the raiders who had survived the onslaught tied up. She took care to avoid them, not entirely comforted by their presence in the camp, and carried on with the tasks of the morning. Soon, Pitt rounded up the group to presumably discuss the next leg of their journey. Lucia hoped that they would soon be departing the desert, mildly wishing that she had spun herself a shawl of water before they had entered it.

As Pitt spoke, she listened closely, quite interested in the sudden turn that the topic had taken. She didn't know how exactly she felt about this infection augmenting her own natural abilities of magic. At first she thought that she was mastering the abilities that she had been born with but now it seemed there was yet another aspect of magic that she had to understand. It was always two step forwards, and one step back. It did explain why she could sense and see auras, and fortunately it was no longer as overwhelming as the last time that she had felt the great power.

Lucia sat down in front of the fire as instructed, ignoring everyone around her. This meditation was not new to her, recalling her adventure at the academy and how she summoned forth the powerful gales of wind. It was with Gonye that she had accomplished that feat, so she didn't expect Pitt to know that she had dabbled with this type of magic before.

Closing her eyes, Lucia quickly found that secret place deep within herself. It seemed so long ago that Gonye had taught her how to find it, and feel the energies swirling inside the very core of her being. It took her a mere manner of seconds to accomplish this, becoming quite acquainted with the task. She began to focus on releasing her energy, this she had learned to do with much more control, having suffered the nauseous effects of releasing too much energy on more than one occasion in the past. She realized with wonder, that she could see her presence, the energy she leaked into the atmosphere making it feel rich with magic. Lucia watched as her energy enveloped the flame. Her energy seemed an extension of herself, like another arm or a hand, and she did what came naturally; she spun.

Lucia attempted to pull at the embers of fire, raising them higher and twisting them into a spiral as she focused on manipulating her energy around the flame. While it did not come as easy as spinning physically with her own hands, she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity between the two magics, and yet, they were not the same.

Lucia's prior experience with magic coupled with her natural talent gave her a large advantage over her non-magical companions, within minutes she had already found her center point and was steadily expanding the energy within her all across her body. As the energies flowed through her she began to feel an odd sense of warmness, a tingling just beneath her skin and overwhelming sense of power, but despite these feelings she never lost sight of her true goal. Before her were the burning embers of a fire that she had to bend back to life and with her prior experience and talent at her side the task would be simple. Carefully Lucia focused her energy and projected it outwards from her body towards the flame. She enclosed the fire in her energy and carefully began to pull at the tip of the embers as if she were preparing to spin them into string. The meek light of the fire danced and twirled under the influence of her energy and as she continued to pull, the fire began to rise and spread across the kindling.

Though Lucia had successfully controlled the fire she found herself unable to spin it with energy alone... She tried once more after her initial attempt but found that she was still unable to perform the feat. She was close though, she felt as if she were incredibly close to spinning the fire but she was missing something integral yet minute. Spinning the fire would have to wait until a later time, for now she needed to focus on the next task given to her by Pitt, releasing energy from her body for as long as possible.

Once more Lucia sunk down into her own world of seclusion and then she began to release a steady stream of energy from her body. At first it seemed quite easy but as she continued to drain herself of her energy reserves she began to feel her focus slip away. What once felt natural was slowly becoming unnatural. She could feel the energy inside her fighting back as if it were agitated and eventually she found herself pushing the energy from her body rather than simply releasing it. As she continued to force her energy away from her form, she began to feel her body succumbing to fatigue. Her arms began to feel heavy and her legs gradually started to shake, soon after this her breathing became heavier and beads of sweat formed on her forehead and raced down over her face. After seven minutes straight of releasing her energy Lucia was forced to stop as her exhaustion had grown too great.

____

While Lucia was excelling in her magical endeavours both Talaitha and Erratus found themselves struggling...


Talaitha struggled from the very start, no matter how tight she closed her eyes or how hard she focused she was unable to find the swirling mass of energy at her center that Pitt had told the group about. To her the whole thing seemed like a falsehood, some fabrication that Pitt was attempting to sell to the group for one reason or another. In truth the magic Pitt spoke of was real but Talaitha's disbelief clouded her own natural ability. She lacked faith and understanding, will, determination. To her the task was impossible and so her doubt lead to self fulfilling prophecy of failure until something amazing happened.

A crackling began to sound through her ears and the heat of the air began to grow. Talaitha's eyes opened wide and before her the smoldering ashes of the flame had risen into a large fire which was twisting and turning about in the air as if it were being controlled by a wild marionettist. It was impossible to tell which of her four companions were the ones controlling the flame, but at the moment that didn't matter. Seeing was believing and if one of the others were capable of doing this, so was she.

Talaitha settled her fluttering heart and inhaled deeply before shutting her eyes once more. There was no doubt in her mind this time, she could do it; she could find the energy inside her and she knew she could move the flame. Talaitha's determination was immense and even after meditating for over an hour she never lost sight of her true goal, her will never once wavered... and then she began to feel it- deep down inside her abdomen she could feel a flowing power moving about inside her. A shiver raced down her spine as the water like sensation began slowly break away from the center of her body and spread to her every extremity. Talaitha's heart once more began to race as she tried to keep herself from being overpowered by this potent energy that was now filling her entire being, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't overcome this feeling of intoxication. She felt light yet durable... she had never felt so taken by anything in her life.


Eventually the high she was feeling began to fade and her own reality began to set in; she had done exactly what was asked of her! She had overcame and conquered the primary task that was given to her and now all she needed to do was control her energy and extend it towards the fire. Timidly, Talaitha reached out with her right arm and began to push her energy towards the blaze. She could feel her energy encircling the flame and she could feel it becoming one with the fire, the whole ordeal felt natural to her despite being anything but. It was almost as if instinctively she knew what to do. She pushed her energy away from her body and then began to control it as if it were an extension of her arm. Using her energy she pushed about the fire and even caused the flame the jump a few times into the air before she began to feel her control over the flame fade. Experimenting with her power caused her to expel quite a bit of her energy, so much so that she was only able to release energy from her body for about three minute before she nearly fainted from exhaustion.


______


Erratus found himself in quite a difficult position, he had zero experience with magic and the practice of meditation was especially vague and foreign to him. For some time Erratus simply sat with his eyes closed and mind numbed while he waited for something 'magical' to happen, but as he sat and waited no such event of otherworldly-ness ever occurred. The whole situation was profoundly frustrating, but just Erratus was preparing to quit he thought about something Andreu had said....


you subconsciously generated your own aura to enhance and protect your own body


He had used magic in the past, or at least he had according to Andreu. Aura, energy, magic... It was all confusing and vague, but somehow he had used energy or aura- or something when he was fighting Kiliment... He just had to remember what was going on in his head then, he had to remember what exactly he was doing.

Erratus remembered running towards Kiliment, he remember pouncing atop the knight and holding him down, he remembered his jaw getting walloped by a wild swing... He was so focused on the opening he was given at the time, he ran so swiftly and the punch... it barely left a bruise. He was fighting for his life, he was so focused on winning and surviving, from getting away from the assassin... He remembered something, deep down inside him he remembered a feeling of power coursing through his veins; he remember what it felt like to tap into his center...

Erratus wasn't just remembering what it felt like to use his energy, he actually was physically releasing his energy without realizing it. By remembering what he was thinking, feeling and doing during those few crucial moments during the battle, he was able to find his center and immediately spread his energy about his body. For a moment Erratus simply basked in the power he was feeling, it felt weaker than what he had awakened during his struggle but at the same time it still felt incredible. He felt his limbs growing almost weightless and the atmosphere about him began to grow energetic despite him being quite tired from the previous day.

Eventually Erratus calmed his nerves and set out to move the flame with just his energy as instructed. Sheepishly, Erratus reached out with both hands and began to apply force to the tips of his extremities, almost as if he were flexing the muscles in his arms. To his surprise his energy began to creep forth and surround the fire and soon he was able to move about his energy with his will alone and cause the fire to turn and spin. Before releasing his hold over the fire, Erratus clasped his hands tightly and allowed his energy to push down on the fire and extinguish it back to tiny embers. With a smirk he let go of his concentration and the energy which he was exerting broke away from his form and became a formless part of the air.


As instructed, Erratus then moved onto releasing as much energy from his body as possible. He moved himself back into his previous state of mind and began to freely allow his energy to flow from every pore on his body. After about nine minutes he felt an uncontrollable amount of stress build up on his body and an odd burning sensation began to overtake his stomach... he felt like he needed to vomit...


_____



Nero and Nadya seemed to struggle with the idea of controlling their inner energies as well but eventually everyone in the group found the ability to control the flame and bend it at will.

Nadya was able to release energy from her body for about two minutes and Nero was able to perform the same task for about six.

_______

"Feel free to rest when you're done." Pitt yawned and opened a single eye as he watched over the group slowly complete the task at hand. "We'll start on aura later. If you're capable of moving after burning off your energy you can come over to me and ask some questions about what exactly you just did, or perhaps maybe you have other questions." Pitt smirked as he closed his eyes back up. He fully expected no one to able to move much after this.


ooc: So order of completion would be... Lucia(a few minutes), Talaitha(just over an hour), Erratus(about an hour and a half), Nero(about an hour and a half), Nadya(Almost two hours).

Also, oh no, I wrote a bunch more than this, particularly for Lucia but I guess I deleted it all at some point when I was editing.

Feeling the exertion of her energy begin to excessively wear on her physically, Lucia pulled back. She had overexerted herself on too many occasions before, and she wasn't about to do it to herself again. Still, she was disappointed that she could not release her energy as instructed. Her exploits in magic have largely been experiments on her end, and so far, most of them have gone in her favour. Moments before, she had thought she was invincible, having spun solid wood into string, and yet she could not successfully release her energy in a natural manner. It fought against her. What was it that stopped her from releasing her magic naturally?

Lucia opened her eyes and exhaled, unaware that she had been holding her breath. She felt drained, but not as empty as she had felt before, she knew that in time she would be back to normal. Looking around, she realized that the others were still attempting to manipulate the flame. She recalled Pitt's reminder would ask Pitt a few questions, but she needed to rest, feeling too weak to move at present. She closed her eyes to meditate as she had been taught by the tome from the academy, and sat in silence.

Over an hour later, Lucia heard the fire begin to crackle to life once again and she opened her eyes. She could sense the energy being expelled by Talaitha with what looked like ease. Lucia couldn't help but feel jealous that the gypsy was able to accomplish what she could not. The hour of rest had served her well, and she thought now would be the best time to ask him questions, before the others soon accomplished his task as well.

Struggling to her feet, Lucia nearly stumbled as she stood up. She realized then, that perhaps she had exerted herself far more than she had originally thought. Nevertheless, she wanted to answers, or at least, something. In truth, she was not sure what to expect from Pitt, he was always so cryptic, leaving her with more questions than answers. It was also against her nature to approach him so brazenly. However this was magic. Magic was her life; it was the reason why her parents were ripped from her as a child; the reason why she had to leave her own home at such a young age; the reason why her hair was marked with silver. Magic, or rather the understanding of who she was and her abilities, was the sole reason that Lucia was still alive.

Lucia had crawled towards Pitt with determination and spoke even softer than she usually did:

"Wh-What's wrong with me?" she asked, "Did Leto curse my family's bloodline before he abandoned us to this cruel world? I'm sure you could sense the struggle within myself as I tried to let my magic flow outwards, but it rebelled against me. Why?"

Erratus began to grow frustrated with his fruitless efforts. A quick learner, he hadn’t thought it would be difficult to do as Pitt had instructed. After over an hour of sitting in one place, he had changed his mind and was beginning to grow antsy. Focus had never been his forte. His mind wandered frequently as he tried to harness his energy, rendering success almost an impossibility.

Because of this, when he finally did succeed, it was all that much sweeter. The thief began to feel almost giddy as he released his energy through his body. While his attempts to mentally control it had met with only failure, recalling the fight with Killiment had allowed him to do it almost effortlessly. The emotions invoked by the memory provided more clarity than any amount of concentration he would ever be able to muster. Once the energy began flowing, he almost wished it would never stop. Absorbed in the moment, he continued to exert his power perhaps longer than he should have, and what goes up must come down.

After several minutes, Erratus found himself unable to continue. Suddenly, he found himself on the brink of exhaustion, feeling more dead than alive. He fought his sudden urge to evacuate the contents of his stomach, thankful that it was mostly empty, and then curled up on the ground. He briefly remembered Pitt’s offer to answer questions, but he opted instead to roll over and groan quietly. He had recovered enough to sit up by the time Nadya had finished.

"Cursed? I'd say it's quite the opposite." Pitt pulled himself up from his lounging position and began to dust off the arm he was using to support his head. Afterwards he positioned himself into a cross-legged cross-armed sitting position. "You have an incredible amount of power stored inside you but you lack the experience and training to control it. When you you were purging your inner energy from your body you unknowingly tapped into this previously untouched source and in response it became agitated and it resisted your will. You're a natural born mage with what I can only assume is quite a sophisticated lineage. You have great power within you, you need only learn to use it and become familiar with it before you reach your true potential."

Pitt reached forward and offered Lucia a hand so that she could pull herself off the ground.

"There's nothing wrong with you, I promise. Some people are born with more energy than others and because of that they run into a few bumps along the way. It's easier to learn to swim in a small pond than it is in an ocean after all."





ooc: I'll make a post for you lg once whim posts since you two are roughly in the same time frame