Prequel: Bansished Bonds

[Midnightmoon]

"I think they have a different idea, this ones not going anywhere. Next?" Vincen thought to her. Alice scowled slightly. "Cloak yourself and sneak further down here. The closer you are the faster you can give assistance if needed. The second quary has disapeared though, so keep an eye out for him." Alice hunkered down deaper into cover.

Lioh blinked at the smoke where the elf had been, at bit surprised and annoyed at the antics. He was too strung up to enjoy the little trick. "Best hurry now, we have to get this over with." The tingling was still pricking his skin as he thought this. Oron had barely gone a step when a slight noise issued fromthe trees. Again, if he wasn't so strung up he wouldn't have heard it. Lioh was sorely tempted to take the caution to check it out, in the end though, he made the decission to continue and pass on the information before the night was out. He'd get Oron to scout it out once he'd been dropped off at the entrance. Oron continued, lengthening his stride, and Lioh let his hand drop to his ball and chain in the side saddle.

[Nohiki]

Now or never. The alignment was perfect. The target was facing the opposite direction, blissfully unaware of what danger lies beyond. Rinzler flexed and got ready for a throw, aiming directly at the earth elf's neck. He inhaled and held his breath to steady himself. 3,2,1... he counted in his head and then spun, releasing the deadly silver ring at the end of the crescent motion.

[Midnightmoon]

(ooc: ok, almost 2 in the morning and it's time for the grand final. or the long waited death of the story at least...)

Lioh thought he heard a soft whirring whistle and started to turn. He caught the blade right at his neck. The blade was so sharp and the cut so clean that the only pain he really felt was when he hit the ground, the momentum taking him out of the saddle. As his mind began to fade he could feal the racking agony of Oron, and the shiver of the ground as he stumbled and fell beside his rider. "Guess our Lady has left us, old friend..." Oron mentally howled in response. Lioh continued, "We have to go..." "We have to finish what we started!" "There'll be others... hopefully, in time." Oron shuddered, then consented, "Hopefully. Onwards then, my old friend..." Lioh sat up and got back in the saddle looking healthy and free of any mental burdens. Leaving behind their weary bodies the pair of them left for a simpler afterlife.

They're gone." Vincen confirmed to Alice. She responded with a mental affirmation in grim satisfaction. It was too bad they had dug so deap into her plans to have warranted this end, but after all the fuss it was the only way to ensure their silence. Alice got up from her hiding place and brushed down her cloths before heading down to the trail, still keeping up the cloaking around the area. "Good work, Rinzler, I believed that worked out adequately. Too bad you didn't get to use your first plan and test out your new abilities in the field, but there will be other opportunities after sunrise. Shall we continue?" Alice waved to Vincen and he sauntered over. "Because of these two specifically I've had to up the schedule and so we have a lot to do in preparation. Our next order of business is to the east." "Are you certain you want to go through with this? There's no turning back." Vincen questioned warrily, showing the first signs of serious concern for what his rider was actually going to go through with. Alice climbed up into her seat. "We passed that point a long time ago, Vincen, that marker is leagues away by now." Vincen flattened his ears in discomfort, but held his tongue; it would do no good now anyway.

~Epilogue~
“Thank you kindly for bringing this to us, Miss, I’m sure the owner will be glad to know this had gotten to us.” Kaspar thanked the young water girl. She gave one last wave and a smile before leaving the Guard Station, the open door letting in the dawn for a few seconds before closing again. The Fire Clan intern looked down at the package in his hands. She said she’d found it in the desert sands and it certainly looked like it had been though a storm or two. The paper was weathered and aged and the edges were even worn. In fact, when Kaspar went to put it down on a stack of papers, it made the tower tumble and some papers actually broke through. He cursed his luck and clumsiness and got up from his chair to collect them all back up. Glancing at them to figure how to sort them again some specific words caught his eye; light clan…alchemy… conspiracy… conversion… On his knees behind the front desk he started to skim through the loose notes from the package when another guard hurried in from a back hall. “Hey, didn’t you hear? We’re all being briefed.” Kaspar jerked his head up, papers still in hand, “Huh? Now?” “Yes now, something about Light Clan disappearing and there’s preliminary evidence that points to Dark Clan.” “Huh?” The guard slouched as he sighed, exasperated, “Jeez, Ferona, you have to keep up with the postings when you get in in the morning. Lets go.” He was gone before Kaspar had stumbled to his feet. Stuffing the papers in a hurried pile behind the desk he headed after the other guard, slowing briefly to glance back at the package with curious dread.

In the end, there was no sign of any Light Clan members and overwhelming evidence of Dark Clan involvement. It didn’t help their cause when it came to light about their acts of alchemy that was widely seen as horrendous and in some cases blasphemous. War issued in the clans persecution and the overwhelming numbers of the other clans forced the Dark Clan into exile into the northern reaches, kept there by the combined magic’s of the other clans and the deadly ocean currents between the continents. Because of their crimes it was deamed that they would be filtered from history, and become less then myths within the remaining clans.

(ooc: gosh, must be my longest post yet, a good page and a half in word and it is now 3am )