It was easy to imagine people going missing in the Ash Lands to not be considered significant or surprising. Danger is as inherent to Darkveil City as the ash that falls from the sky. It was a place many disappeared into, never to be seen or heard from again. Cirice had heard a lot about just how rough and dismal the city could be from her friends, listening to them retell their stories of scraping together lives on the streets. Her beloved godfather, Cyran, had been doing his best to help children in similar situations find a place to call home, but there were still countless people suffering alone in the shadows.

Or at least, there had been.

Whisperings of people going missing had spread out from the slums and shadows into the upper echelons of the criminal underground and it was becoming more and more apparent that something unusually sinister was going on.

And it didn’t seem to be confined to the ashen borders.

All over Charon people had been going missing. Slowly at first, those that wouldn’t be missed. Beggars, urchins, the downtrodden and the destitute all disappearing without a trace. But it didn’t stop there. As the poor began to notice their numbers thinning they began staying together in meager groups for as much protection as they could muster. Then random citizens started to vanish from the streets at night. Anyone walking alone under cover of darkness was at risk of being taken. City to city the disappearances spread, until all of Charon started to feel anxious and afraid.

Something had to stop the madness.

Cirice takes a sip of her Liquid Moonlight and sighs. She’d finally made her way to the Rookery, just to find that there was work to be done. Traps to be laid and plans to be thwarted. Luckily a wonderful friend was there to help! She smiled over at one of her most unusual friends. Taki was quite the standout here, an enticing target for kidnappers since orochi are almost never seen in this part of the world. The snakewoman was beautiful in a fashion all her own, athletic, vibrant and kind. Cirice looked forward to getting to spend more time with her friend, even if it meant diving headfirst into danger. Together they could handle it, she was sure.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Fuel for the rebirth!
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere in Charon
Post Requirements: 6 post per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown, +1 Mystical Archive Ticket
Description: Random citizens have been going missing, kidnapped by mysterious cultists. We believe they are being taken to Mount Drakolt for some sort of ritual. You have become entangled in one of these kidnappings. You can go about doing this a multitude of ways such as having one PC be kidnapped while the other mounts a rescue, or both PCs could witness a citizen getting kidnapped. Whether or not you succeed or fail in rescuing the kidnapped PC or civilian is up to you and your writing partners.

Taki had just completed another adventure here in the Ash Lands, and was about to make the journey by sea home when she crossed paths with Cirice once again. Rumors were spreading across Charon about people going missing in great number, and she'd come to investigate. As a shaman, the spirits had brought her similar news in recent days. She agreed to help, to meet in one of the many establishments near the base of Mount Drakolt. Taki was reluctant to not bring her gear, but the powerful magics she could wield and proximity of her faithful companions gave her comfort.

The plan, according to the prior days' conversation, was to get kidnapped and taken to the site where they could mount a rescue. She carefully packed and secured her gear within the spacious leather quiver she carried for her bow. Bringing a pile of weapons would be too conspicuous, especially since she already stood out like a beacon so far from home. She left Yukina with her gear on the outskirts of town, the massive white owl perched atop a boulder that offered shelter from the worst of the ashfall.

At Taki's call, her companions would track the pair through the mountains and deliver their gear when the timing was right. With her preparations complete, the shaman strode into town like an oblivious tourist out to see the wide world for the first time. Her attire was outlandishly bright for such a place, resembling the fanciful patterned kimonos of the Crescent Isles' elite. Featuring a pattern of lotus blossoms in bright pink on a white silk fabric, and tied with a sky blue sash about her waist, the outfit was something to draw the envy of a court of nobles.

She took a seat at the Rookery, ordered a hot tea and a snack, and waited for her friend to arrive. Looking around, there were a few unsavory characters already slinking in the darkened corners. Whispering to themselves, and hiding behind darkened cloaks, the spirits gave them wide berth as did the other patrons. Taki was in the right place, and her guardians' nervous behavior only solidified the understanding for the shaman. It would be as simple as leaving with her friend and making the 'wrong' turn for this plan to work it seemed.

Cirice was sad that she doesn’t have a chance to speak to Zarius before they leave, but there isn’t time to wait. Giving Taki a wink as a signal, the pair get up and start heading out of the bar. She stops and hurries back to the bar and sets some solars on the counter, reaching behind it to grab a bottle and some papers. Returning to Taki’s side she stuffs the stuff in her bag and takes a quick glance around the people in the Rookery as they exit, a bright, innocent smile on her face.

“You look really pretty today,” Cirice compliments her friend, making small talk “will you show me where you got your outfit when we get back to the Isles? I need more traditional outfits and accessories. I don’t tend to wear them as I travel.”

It’s easy to tell they’re being tailed. The figure skulking in the shadows doesn’t exactly melt into them like she and her family could. The girls turn down a small side street, enjoying the warm night and the relatively little ashfall. The shadow follows them.

This was going to be easy.

“My wagon shouldn’t be too far from here, I don’t think… We can head home in that at our leisure.”

Taki smiled, enjoying the company and the cool night air. She strolled beside Cirice, giggling and pretending to be tipsy.

"Of course, I would enjoy showing you the tailor's shop that inspired it's design. To my understanding, the company is fairly well known amongst the court nobility and uses only the finest of silks and dyes. This is my own, far less costly approximation of one of their most popular patterns."

They turned into the 'wrong' alley as planned, heading towards her awaiting carriage. All the while, followed by several hooded figures who were poorly attempting to hide their movements. About midway down the alley, another member of the group stepped out of the shadows. Taki turned, making it seem like she was startled and going to run. The others fanned out, boxing the pair in.

"Come along quietly ladies, don't make us get rough with ya."

"Aye, wouldn't want to have to tear up yer pretty dress, snake lady. Too bad though, you'd fetch quite a price in certain markets... not many of your kind come out to civilized lands."

The group laughed, amusing themselves with hushed, crude jokes and lewd gestures. It was clear who was in charge when a pair of heads were cuffed soundly by the largest of the group. Taki couldn't see their faces, but his build was imposing.

"Enough, the lot of you... bind their hands and cover their heads, we don't have time for your amusement." He states, approaching the shaman with a sturdy length of rope. She says little, glaring at the men as they try to figure out how to bind her four arms. A thick fabric bag is placed over her head and cinched tightly from behind. With a grunt, several hands scoop up the shaman like a sack of grain and tossed onto stiff floor of a cart. She let out a soft whistle, signaling her companions to follow.

They rolled out of town in one of the quietest carts Taki had ever been around, and she could sense the winding path was climbing gradually up into the hills. The smell of ash and the warmth of heat gave her clues about their location, but she did her best to be a kidnapped damsel instead of a well prepared warrior on the hunt.

“Oh I’d love to go there sometime! Your work is quite beautiful I’d love to see the inspiration!”

The men approach and box them in, sneering and leering menacingly at them and making jokes.

“Really… You have no manners.” Cirice said in mock horror, “Who are you, what do you think you’re doing?!?”

She swats at the men as they come and tie them up, playing up her fear as the bag goes over her head. It smells like moldy cheese and stale wine, likely the breath of their last hapless victim. They’re loaded into the cart and she scoots closer until she can find some of Taki’s hands with her own and she squeezes them.

Every bump and rock in the road is felt under the cart’s wheels as they traverse the rocky side of the mountain. Soon the heat of the volcano can be felt as they near the top.

The cart stops and the pair are removed and stood on the ground. Rough voices bark at them to move and they’re marched into some echoing chamber that sounds like some sort of cave. The sound of confused, scared voices greets them as the bags are removed and they’re pushed into a large iron cage populated with roughed-up prisoners. They made it.

Taki stumbled into the cage, feigning a bumbling tourist just long enough to see their captors leave. The iron cage was full of people, battered and bruised, looking like they could all use a hot bath and a hearty meal. The shaman did her best to quell her rage at such incomprehensible conditions. She whistled sharply three times in a deep and reverberating tone that carried off the mountain top and echoed for several seconds. She could tell her companions were close, and that they would wait for the opportune moment to deliver gear to the pair of adventurers. 

A couple of people tried to knock Cirice down and take her things, but Taki upended one poor sap and grabbed the other, a barrel of a man, by his neck. She shoved them aside and glared with hellish intent at the group. 

"Don't go getting all feisty, not when we're going out of our way to make sure you all get to go home... or so help me... I'll see you all sent to the fiery pit of the volcano with the rest of these bastards. Calm yourselves or I'll do it for you." She said, daring any of them to try their hand. One of the guards outside peered through the doorway to see what the commotion was about, but did nothing. She helped Cirice up, sighed heavily and waited by the front of the cage. Trying her best to not just stare out the doorway, the shaman took stock of the situation. Closing her eyes and slowing her breathing to a steady, even pace, she entered slid into a trance and examined the layout of the area with the help of the local spirits. They pointed out the various positions of the group, avoiding their malice like a disease. At least 10 of their captors awaited them outside, and there were close to 30 people inside the cage.... this would be a mess from start to finish, but one she felt more than capable of handling with the help of Cirice and her companions. 

The cage was cramped and full to bursting with bodies. As Cirice is taking stock of her surroundings, a few of the prisoners tackles her to the ground and tries to take her things. They manage to get one of her gloves off and knock her circlet askew, but Taki warns them off and helps her up.

“Thanks.” She snatches her glove back and straightens her jewelry. “Well. Other than being grabby and hungry it looks like most of these people are fairly alright. Going to be difficult to get them all out of her without getting hurt.”

She watches Taki’s back as she meditates and reviews their options. Taki’s bird might have her bag with her items, but Cirice is never without her magic. Their captors clearly thought very little of their prisoners, time to make them regret that.

“Taki, you stay here with the prisoners, I’ll go see what we’re dealing with.”

Cirice holds her finger over her lips towards the others and gives them a wink before she blinks out of the cage and slips into the shadows^1&2. Whelmed in the shadow’s dark embrace she is completely invisible and untrackable and she creeps out towards the entrance of the cave to see how many of them there are. Before she gets all the way out of the cave there’s movement and she freezes.

One of the men that captured them walks into the cave and heads towards the cage. He comes up and looks them over.

“Well, you are quite the specimen, aren’t you?” He says to Taki, “Exotic. Never seen one like ya. He’ll be pleased.”

---

1 blink
2 shadow dancer: pass without trace

"Tell me, dear sir, whatever it is you desire... perhaps we can... bargain?" Says the shaman as the man approaches, letting her accent make the words sultry and tantalizing. She fixated on his gaze, letting her crimson orbs sway the man into a lull. She bobbed back and forth gently, like a viper mesmerizing prey. As she did so, Yukina buzzed the cage, low and fast. Her silent wings made hardly a hushed sound but the heavy bags of gear she was carrying slammed into the man's back and sent him toppling into the cage. Cirice's gear landed a few feet from her stealthy position, Taki's just behind the man. She grabbed the collar of his shirt with with two hands and slammed him face first against the cold wrought iron bars, once, twice... a third time. He slumped in her hands, the bars ringing loudly.

"I'll bait, you flank." She told her companion, fishing the keys from the man's belt and opening the cage. She left the others inside, slamming the bolt home as she walked out. Knowing full well what the pair had come to do, the others were safer here until their job was done. Taki scooped up her gear, drew her blades and waded out into the camp like a bright blue beacon of chaos and mayhem. Her outfit shifted as she did this, changing from a lovely and delicate outfit to a 'nude' body suit that matched her colors and patterns. 

"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE THIS NIGHT!! COME FACE THE BITE OF THE OROCHI AND KNOW THAT YOUR GODS HAVE NO POWER!!" Shouted the wild eyed shaman, making a spectacle of herself. After a few startled seconds, the alarm rang out through the camp. As the first note rang out, she began to hurl her daggers at anyone foolish enough to be standing out of cover or hesitating to meet her challenge. Each flourish was followed by movement, Taki picking her way around the camp to draw the gaggle of miscreants away from the cage and the folk inside. One man had gone down already in a hail of steel rain that returned to the shaman's hands before he'd even hit the ground. All over the camp, people were pouring from their tents with barely a weapon and their knickers on, while the night's watch scrambled to respond to her threats and flying blades.

From the shadows Cirice watches Taki skillfully take out the guard and easily get the keys and let herself out. Her mesmerizing dance was really pretty and Cirice was glad she was enshrouded in shadow as her cheeks blush furiously at the display. She hops out of the shadows and grabs her bag from the ground, tying it back on her belt. No time to fangirl over her friend, they’ve got work to do.

“Bait? What are you-” She starts to ask as the orochi confidently strides out into the middle of the camp of enemies and shouts her challenge. “Oh…”

The first living guard Cirice sees running out of a tent with pants, no shirt and a maul. Her eyes flash with lavender light and she points at him. The man freezes in place and lets out a primal scream¹. Behind him another man starts coming to face Taki with a wand in hand only to be smashed in the face savagely with the first man’s maul. After the mage crumples, the maul-wielder gives another crazed scream and runs towards the next person he sees, one of his former allies. With one of their own attacking them the kidnappers are confused.

“Kill the mage!” Comes a growled command. A few of the men break away from their hiding places and turn to try to come after Cirice.

Giggling, Circie summons a copy of herself and that copy summons another Cirice until there are four of them2. The Original Cirice summons her blade, Crestfallen, into her hand and unfurls it into its bladed whip form.

“One of you go and protect the prisoners.” She commands as all four of them blink into different directions.

One goes and creates a wall of light at the mouth of the cave, another appears between two men, touching them both and casting a spell, the runes on her arms glowing brightly violet. One of the men drags his axe through the duplicate, making it fizzle out into magical sparkles, before burying his axe in the shoulder of his companion⁴. The other, similarly enraged, begins clubbing his fellow.

Original Cirice takes her place at Taki’s back while the last duplicate goes into the deepest part of the crowd and releases a massive violet wave of magical energy out from herself for twenty feet in all directions⁵. The weapons of all those caught in the wave disappear, leaving many of them defenseless.

“This is almost unfair. For a secret, underground society kidnapping people, they're pretty lame.” Cirice jokes to Taki as they fight the men coming at them.

---

1 Whispering Madness
2 Duplicate
3 Blink
4 Infuriate
5 Disarming aura

Leaping up into a watchtower, Taki quickly dispatched it's occupants. The first enjoyed a pair of blades to the back of his neck, the other was hurled up and over the edge to thud against the ground with a heavy smack. She took a quick survey of the area, noting the movements of those shouting orders. On the other side of the camp was a narrow pathway, the only way in or out Taki could see. Several of the men barking orders seemed to be making their way towards it, trying to escape.

"I've learned a great deal since our last encounter Cirice, and I imagine I'm not the only one, but yes... it is curious they way this is being handled. Alas, I'm not one for passing up an opportunity to try new things." Said the shaman, who jumped high into the air from the edge of watchtower as arrows peppered it's outer walls. She slammed the ground with all four fists, causing the ground to shudder. At the entrance to the camp, a huge spike of solid stone burst from the ground, tossing the guards into the sky in a shower of debris. At the same time, a pair of golems appeared at her side and launced themselves at the nearest foes. These roughly medium sized serpents of stone and dirt wrapped themselves around the nearest combatants attempting to engage the shaman.

Her newest skills, born of a tragedy and trial she'd recently gone through, gave her a tally and location to enemy movements so long as she was in contact with a solid surface. It was yet another overlay to reality, along with her ability to see into the realm of spirits, the shaman's awareness of the battlefield was supernatural. She fought along side her companion, dropping foes with ease until only a few skittish and half asleep men remained to stand beside the commanders.

"Either this is an ill designed joke, or their leaders weren't anticipating being discovered, let alone assaulted. I must say, this is quite lame indeed... I feel like I should put them out of their misery like a workhorse with four broken ankles." Taki said, walking out into the center of the camp. One arrow flew past, striking the ground beside her. She returned the gesture with one of her Kunai and a sharp whistling note. The flying spike of metal cut the guard's bow string and struck his arm as he was drawing another shot. In the next instant as he struggled with the surprise of it, Yukina snatched the man from his perch. She carried him over the boiling magma and let him go unceremoniously. The Snowy Owl let out a sharp cry, banking wide over the camp and landing on the opposite side of the camp, well out of reach of the responding arrows and bolts.

With their numbers thinning, most of the common soldiers began to lay down their arms, not wanting to square off with the pair of assaulting mages. Only the three commanders approached Taki, wary and with weapons drawn. One was a mountain of a man with what looked to be a studded log for a weapon, the second a grisled veteran with many scars and a pair of wicked curved blades. The last was an elf, though Taki had trouble discerning their origin for a moment until he moved into the light of a torch. His pallid skin, gaunt features and bright red eyes told the shaman he was very likely a Vampire. Brandishing a long, narrow tipped spear, the man all but pushed his fellow commanders into the camp commons to square off with their assailants.

---

Crystalline Shard
Ninja Stars (Returning)
Cat's Grace
Stone Creation
Geomagnetic Sense

“OH THAT’S SO COOL!!” Cirice squeals and stops fighting long enough to clap excitedly. She’s gotten a bit stronger too, maybe they can show off, just a little. “You know? That sounds fun! Kick ass!”

Shadowy brambles erupt from underneath a pair of the underlings still stupid enough to try to fight. They scream in pain and writhe in their bindings, trying to escape and shredding their skin further¹.

The battlefield has quickly turned to show the overwhelming power of the pair versus the camp. The minions had started surrendering but their bosses wanted to give them a shot.

“Oh wow!” Cirice chirps, “Are you a vampire, sir? I’ve never seen one before! Taki I call dibs on him, okay?”

The vampiric elf bares his fangs in a snarl at his unfazed junior, insulted that she thinks of him as some sort of plaything. In a blink with blinding speed he charges Cirice, meaning to spit her like a pig upon his spear². There’s a flash of blue-white lightning and suddenly Cirice is behind him, shadows clinging to her form as she turns back to wave at him^3&4.

“Too slow!”

The vampire growls, “What did you… Ack!” A deep gash opens up on his shoulder, gushing blood⁵.

“You might want to get that looked at, if you survive. Which is really unlikely honestly. Whatever you and your creepy friends were trying, it’s over.” She bares her own fangs at him in a wicked smile as her blade retracts into is shortsword form. “No more kidnapping the innocent.”

“I do as I fucking please, mortal bitch.” He spits through clenched teeth. He makes another run at her, but this rime he turns his spear quickly, using his raw, inhuman speed to vault over her head. As he lands he shoves the point of his weapon right through Cirice’s stomach, lifting her up like a pike, impaling her. “What were you saying about dying?”

Cirice coughs blood as her body slides down the shaft towards his grasp. He grabs her by the hair, forcing her to stare him in the eyes. She tires to pull away but his grip is iron and as their eyes meet she watches as his sparkle and mesmerize⁶.

“You’re mine now. OBEY ME!” He laughs.

Before freezing as the blowback of his spell hits him⁷.

Cirice spits in his face and wrenches herself and the spear out of his hands. She pulls the weapon out of her stomach with a scream of pain, then covers the hole left behind with one gloved hand. Soft silver light spills out from between her fingers as the weapon heals, leaving a bloody hole in her nice corset⁸.

---

1 Stinging nettles
2 Vampire: Raw Speed
3 Bullet Dash from Socket's ring <3
4 Fiend: Abyssal Infusion
5 Gerhart's Final Strike 
6 Vampire: Beguiling Charm
7 Circlet of Mind Shielding: resist charm and paralysis on the caster for a post
8 Massive Healing

Seeing her friend get skewered by the abomination of an elf, Taki flies into a fury. Without hesitation, she leaps at the mountainous man as he tried to bring his maul down on the shaman. Unbalanced by the heavy weapon, the shaman easily side stepped the pounding blow. She used the opportunity to drive a pair of blades into the pit of his arm. Her step barely slowed as the well honed Kunai opened up the major artery in his arm. She kept advancing, not so much as looking back at the mass of muscle as he raised the weapon overhead for another blow. The strain on his torn sinew, combined with the rapid loss of precious blood saw him fade from consciousness before the weapon could start it's swing back.

She looked over at Cirice, who was wrenching the spear free of her gut with a shout. THe silvery, swirling moonlight that bathed her torso was something Taki recognized. Letting out a sigh of relief, she smirked wickedly, enjoying the idea of betraying someone's sense of fatal wounds. Crouching low, she hissed at the veteran with his curved blades. As she took off in a charge, the serpent launched a flurry of flying blades at him. He managed to turn three of the four projectiles aside, though one embedded itself in his forearm.

He batted it down and shouted his own warcry, meeting the shaman's charge head on. She let her breath out, forcing the air from her body just before the pair collided. The cold metal bite of his blades dove into her flesh, each carving a vicious path through her body. She ignored the powerful panic and pain coursing through her nerves, wrapping all four arms around the man and locking him into a bear hug. While she didn't have the strength of the average fighter, she was well toned and used to gripping drawn bows for extended periods.

Staring wild eyed into the man's panicked face, he tried with all his might to extricate his blades from the shaman. Too late, too slowly did he realize her plan. Rearing back despite the biting steel that ground against her ribcage, she sank her long, retracted fangs into his neck. A great gush of red burst from his neck as the pressure in his veins was released into the world, further exasperating his expression.

Taki shoved the man away, which wrenched the weapons from her body as he'd gripped them for dear life in the panic. The shaman called her guardians to her side, took a sputtering, bloody breath and roared her fury as a brilliant stream of magic flowed into her body. The wounds stitched themselves together almost as quickly as the shaman had made them. Flustered, sore but alive, she turned to the remaining Vampire.

Her crimson orbs narrowed their slitted pupils, and she held out her hands as her blades returned to them. Cirice was too close to risk throwing them from this distance, so Taki shook off the ensuing ache and moved to flank him. All around, most of the underlings stood agape as their weapons fell from their hands. Their best hope now was surrendering before it was their turn to face the reaping.

"Reckless... why are you like this?"

"Next time call us first..."

"Heh, then it wouldn't be much a surprise now would it?"

"If you were anyone else, you'd be on the ground, bleeding with the others."

"Maybe, but that only works because I am who I am."

"You still shouldn't make a habit of it miss, it's not good for you. Death is not to be feared, but it also shouldn't be rushed... We want to see you live a long life."

"Alright... but after this is done."

While her magic wasn't quite as potent as Cirice's spell, it was more than enough to seal up the worst of the damage. As she approached the opposite side of the remaining leader, her guardian's passive aura finished stitching her body back together. As the misty, swirling energy enveloped the vampire, he slumped for a moment. The aura was caustic to any and all magical effects from her enemies, drawing much of their potency away before they could even begin. He whirled on the shaman, spear shaking slightly in hand. She backed away out of his reach, dancing along the edge of his range as he jabbed the sharp blade at her to try and gain open ground.

The vampire turns to handle Taki as Cirice gets herself together, but turning your back on an angry adventurer is a bad idea no matter how small they may look.

“Hey asshole!” She shouts, “I’m the one you're fighting!”

Shadows spring from below the vampire, catching him mid-strike and holding him completely immobile¹. The vampire tries to snarl and break out of the binds but he can’t even move a muscle. With him frozen Cirice calmly and deliberately digs in her bag and pulls out a crystal vial Astrid had given her at some point². She undoes the cork and gives him a smile before dumping the contents over his head. The effect is instantaneous, his flesh sizzling as if lit aflame. The vampire’s eyes bulge in his head but for the time being the shadows hold him fast.

Cirice goes to stand next to Taki and looks her over. “Are you okay? Do you need any healing?”

---

1 Halt Undead
2 Holy Water

Watching the spectacle of Cirice dispatching this poor Vampire made Taki laugh maniacally. She winced, sides stitching themselves back together. As the moon elf gets close, she is bathed in a gentle, misty light that eases her aches. She held her arms out, showing the wounds healing over quickly.

"I'm doing quite alright, and I'm glad you're full of surprises my dear friend. That was masterful indeed." Said the shaman. Stretching, she looked around the camp at the situation. "Should we find out from some of these underlings what was going on here? Or is that a job we leave for more official forces?" Taki asked, unsure about how they might escort such a large group down from the mountain safely.

Examining the many stunned and confused faces, the shaman wondered about how all this had come to pass, and what was going on. She was just about to start rounding folks up when a panting Shuna came running through. Taki caught her companion, who hadn't noticed them yet. Poor girl looked out of breath, scared and exhausted.

"Calm down Shuna... deep breaths sweet one... easy."

"Yuki... sent help... phheeewwww. There is another, running away. Yukina is tailing them down the mountain. She sent me to deliver the message."

"You've done well Shuna, rest up, drink plenty of water. We'll take care of it." Replied the shaman.

"How should we handle this Cirice?" She asked, concerned for her companion. While Yukina was an experienced hunter and used to tracking things without being noticed, she was currently doing so without backup. It wasn't common for Taki or her companions to work alone... that was something she tended to be adamant about.

Cirice smirks, an idea forming. “I have a way for us to get them all to Darkviel. We can take the underlings to the authorities there.”

Taki’s companion comes running up out of breath and upset. The pair of adventurers listen to her explain the situation. “We can use Hitia to chase them down! If your friend can stay here with the prisoners.” She looks over at the scant few still alive. “I don’t think they’ll cause any more trouble. If they know what’s good for them. I’ll leave a duplicate of myself here to help so she isn’t alone!”

Cirice seemingly splits into two, one going to stand next Shuna and give her a wide smile¹.

Original Cirice snaps her fingers and in a flash of violet light the strange, ethereal reindeer appears before her². She hops onto his back and offers Taki her arm to climb up. “I think it’d be awesome to see you shoot them from mid-air!”


The pair soar off on Hitia’s back to hunt the last of their prey.

---

1 Replicant
2 Summon Mount