The Coming Catastrophe: The Search For The Guardians.(We were a bunch of idiots!

[XIII]

Vulkest' speech made Atauri full of thought, and before Viktor asked the elf, she was constantly looking in a single spot. Her belief in Guardians has just staggered for a little. She always thought that protecting this world is their supreme and utter role. By defining them as the only defenders of the world, people call them whatever bad things happen. And so they treat them as the only ones who can help. People trust them with their lives. And now she hears this. Course, Vulkest could be an exception from Guardians, but after his speech, he doesn't even deserve to be called as Guardian. Or maybe Atauri should let this world burn in fire and reborn in a new epoch, where Guardians wouldn't be the only creatures people should rely upon.

"Yes. I was talking with Vulkest. At least I think so because he knew your name and your past. I'm not sure how does it relate to what we supposed to find in this ruins thought.". Atauri started, looking distracted, so even the death knight could note it. "He told me to ask you a couple of personal questions. Told me that you'd lead me to him. But why? Is there something that Vulkest has for us both?"

[Alessia Starfurr]

'Then how has his story evaded me? Ignitus never told me of his tale, nor of his history or was Ignitus banished from this world before he could tell me?' Spyra asked through a telepathic link to Vulkest she had established while in her trance, half breaking out of it as she heard The Dragon slayer speak of her, eyes popping open as she looked oddly at the dragonscale vest..."You give that to my guardee!" She almost screamed. "What dark things did you do to make this?" she asked silently saying a few magic words under her breath...clensing the vest of dark magic while also attempting to keep it together...

[Romulan_Furry]

Hearing Atauri's words caused Viktor's face to turn slowly from concern to shock. His mouth hung ajar and he looked as though he'd seen a ghost. "You..." he whispered. In the dragon tongue, he said, "... You spoke to him, didn't you? He knows. He knows, doesn't he?" In a completely unexpected move, he suddenly cried out, doubled over, and dropped to his knees, clutching his head as he was hit with a chill he thought he'd left behind long ago.

You cannot run forever, Viktor, a voice said in his head. He felt an all-too-familiar presence, but just as quickly as this started, it ended, and Viktor was left on the ground in that same pose. He immediately leapt up and started, hurriedly, for a nearby exit. His pace was brisk, and he now trembled. He was very tense and worried, even for a Death Knight. "We must go - now. We have lingered here too long." In an aside directed at Atauri, he added in the dragon tongue, "He is here, and he will not let us go without blood."

[Sohdakin]

Jofan snorted at Tristan as he did not quite believe the Vulpine knight."Dark beings are not one for free gifts so even if  the knight did not directly serve this...Defiler....some payment was made and the fact that Tristan was so casual about it rubbed Jofan the wrong way.

"Bah! Dark creature no give for free. Price paid, Foolish Knight serve foul creature some how" he grumble with another snort and said no more.  His attention soon turned to Spyra as she broke out of whatever trance she was in and heard her berate Tristan.  For now, Jofan kept quiet and let the two talk it out, though he would watch Tristan with an ever watchful gaze.

[Tristan Foxalot]

"I'm Tristan." He would return to Ray, standing a little straighter and taking on a proud but friendly smile, reaching out to take the young boy's paw in his gauntletted one, "I'm a Knight." Then, Tristan looked to the sword and crossbow before looking back at Ray, adding, "I don't suppose you know how to--"

Before he could finish, however, the Knight would genuinely startle at Spyra shrill yell at him, not expecting such an outburst as that from the wolfess. Tristan looked up at Spyra, straightened himself, and he was just about to address her concerns when a very sudden feeling of dread would come over him, and he knew, right there in an instant, that the Defiler's gaze had come upon him. His blood would run as cold as ice in his veins, his legs would quickly grow weak and exhausted until he dropped to his knees in front of Spyra, and a dark temptation would start to lick at his senses, his throat drying and almost choking the knight as an old but familiar urge tightens around his heart.

"AL-AR-IN." The voice would come to Tristan, a voice he hasn't heard in a very long time, the Knight looking down to the ground, seeing more there than anyone else here could. Whilst everyone else sees just the stone floor of the temple, Tristan would be able to see past that, past this physical world and into the next, the world of the Defiler, a world a dark clouds of black and yellow, that descend into unknown depths, filled with storms and demons, and out of those clouds would rise up a great eye, yellow and red and black, it's gaze squarely fixed upon the Knight.

"WEAK. PATH-ETIC. WORM." The voice would growl, the ground beneath Tristan trembling with ever word, "YOU. CAN-NOT. ESC-APE. ME. AL-AR-IN. YOU. WILL. BE. MINE. AGAIN."

Tristan, knowing he has but moments before the Defiler's dark influence becomes too great for him to resist, closed his eyes and swallowed hard and then recited a prayer, "Divine, show mercy upon your wayward child for he has--" Before Tristan could finish, the Defiler's voice would split through his mind, forcing him quiet, "YOU! DARE! CALL! UPON! HER! POWER! AGAINST! ME!?!" A dark tendril from the clouds below would be launched at Tristan, hitting the ground below him with a earthly boom, the Dark God unable to reach him but the spite in his voice hurt enough, "YOU! BELONG! TO! ME!!!"

But Tristan would find his voice again, determined not to give in to the Defiler, "--earned the gaze of the Defiler. Gift upon me your Light, to banish the darkness of the Defiler's gaze, to free my heart from His grip and wash away His taint with your Light!"

"TRAIT-OR-OUS! WORM!" The Defiler howled, His tendril slamming against the barrier between His world and the mortal plane, but it would not last. Light soon enveloped Tristan, the Divine's power burning away the influence of Her rival, and, in one instant, Tristan would shine like a star in the night and the Defiler would cry out in pain, blinded by the Divine's radiance, the vision below Tristan fading back to mere normal stone again, and the light, as quickly as it came, vanished. Of course, those around would not see the Divine's Light, all they would see is Tristan's fur changing to from his usual black colouring to brilliant white, and, as quickly as it changed, it faded back to his normal colouring again. Tristan would gasp and pant in relief, the Defiler's gaze turned elsewhere, Tristan finding his strength again before rising to his feet, but even without the Defiler's gaze his temptations flared, and his throat ached.

The Knight looked down again, this time to his hand, but the token of the Defiler, the vest of Dragon Egg Shards, had been reduced to mere dust. The Defiler does not forgive, nor forget, and He certainly does not leave His treasures in the hands of those that betray him. And Tristan, seeing the gift he acquired to protect Ray now reduced to black dust, could not be more upset. "I did everything right." Tristan whispered to himself, his voice dry and hoarse, his eyes just staring at the black dust in his gauntletted hand, "How did he find me?"

Tristan hasn't experienced something like this for many years. He has always been careful, using the powers of the Gods sparingly, but something evidently earned the Defiler's gaze. Tristan could not think of what he did wrong, however. He did everything right, everything. Little would he realise that he was not the one who made the mistake, but Spyra did. Meddling with the relics of the Gods earns their gaze, and their wrath.

The Knight would look up at the wolfess, letting his hand drop and the dust fall into the wind, and he would tell her with a cracked voice and watery eyes, "You don't have to worry now. It's gone."

Then, Tristan's attentions would turn as he heard Viktor shouting, about leaving. The Knight would gaze at the Death Knight for a moment, and taking note of the language used. The language of the dragons. Tristan didn't know it, but he could recognise it. Dragons did usually say something in their tongue before he ended their lives. But Tristan was too weak and too shaken from his ordeal to react quickly, merely staring and wondering what just happened.

[Alessia Starfurr]

Spyra's ears perked as she heard something, turning to Ray she waved her hands in the air one of her hands glowing suddenly ray would be adorned in a light  set of Dragonscale armor, well  the chestpiece at least, before she scooped up the boy and ran after Viktor, placing Ray on her shoulders again "Where are you going!?" She asked  also trying to contact with a familiar presence nearby, trying not to stray too far from the temple as she felt the familiar presence was nearby.

[XIII]

In spite of many actions happened in the next couple of moments, the only thing the night elf cared about is Viktor. His actions and speech on Dovahzul have alerted Atauri quite seriously. Made her worry about the wolf. And this is why she ran after him as well. Spyra' same action didn't surprise the elemental sorceress. Because of the elf' spiritual awareness, the daughter of Cenarius was able to detect she-wolf presence in the spiritual session with Vulkest. Using to call her ancestors to get their wisdom, it wasn't a hard trick for the witch. And if that Guardian wanted to see some blood, Katmai was ready to soak her hands in the crimson color just to save Viktor' mind. She used to do so when it comes about saving worlds, continents... and creatures she loved. Because as the elf says in this case, ideals are peaceful, but history is violent.

"Viktor, wait!". The elf called the Death Knight, chasing him. There were so many questions, and only Viktor could answer them, aside from his past. Upon reaching the ice-wolf, the sorceress added more with her typical calm tone. What happened with Tristan - was an exciting topic to discuss, unfortunately right now it wasn't a proper time. "What did you mean by your last sentence? Vulkest wants to test us?".

[Romulan_Furry]

Viktor suddenly turned to Atauri, with a snarl and growl that was unmistakably dragon. What might immediately strike Atauri was that this growl was not one of anger or aggression - it was one of fear. "It is not Vulkest that I refer to - but someone worse," he said, "I cannot let him find me here. I cannot let him find you. We must go, before he tracks us here!" He briskly resumes course, heading for the nearby forest. His walk, his stance - he knew something about that which had him so on edge. Anyone who knew him knew that it would take something particularly fearsome or powerful to make the ice wolf tremble like a frightened puppy.

[Rayleonarde]

Ray smiled up at Tristan, glad to make a new friend, and grew concerned when the knight collapsed. He was about to ask what was wrong, when Spyra stole him away. As Ray sat perched on Spyra’s shoulders, he turned to look at Tristan, hoping he would follow the group.

[Sohdakin]

Jofan blinked when he heard Atauri yell out for Viktor and suddenly noticed that most of the group had up and left.  He could hear everyone speak but had no clue as to what everyone was talking about "Who this....this Voolkeest?" he hissed, not able to properly form the words they spoke as he thundered after everyone , not wanting to get left behind again.  Jofan looked over at Ray when the small boy looked back to where Tristan was "Mmmmm, fool come soon, no worry" he  said with a smile and turned his attention back to the rest of the group again.  "So, what dragon miss eh? Why old bear say here?"

[Tristan Foxalot]

Tristan's eyes would drift to the boy, seeing the worried look on the young raccoons face would draw the fox back to his senses, watching as everyone disappears out of the ruins, Tristan taking a step after them only to stop and turn back, looking at the spot where he knelt as his old master tried to reach through worlds to the knight. Thinking on this, even as his dried throat aches, a reminder of the price of freedom. Though, ever moment reminds Tristan of the price for his freedom.

The knight turned away from the temple a final time before marching out of the ruins, hand resting on the pommel of his sword, stepping out of the temple before watching as everyone else hurries away, quickly untying Midnight from her place before mounting her, turning his beloved stead around before going after the fleeing party. Something has them all spooked, that much is clear, but Tristan wonders as to what would elicit such a reaction.

They could not have witnessed Tristan's exchange with the Defiler. Could they?

[Alessia Starfurr]

As Spyra caught up with Viktor she asked " Where are you going were suppose to be at the temple ,what has one such as you so afraid?" She asked, full well knowing the boy was on her shoulders, she didn't care if he knew or not it was time to broaden his view of the world anyway...

Viktor and the others had walked out of the ruined temple into a light forested area with a lot of clearings  and a lot of trees ,but very few of the trees were large, almost like a new tree farm except for a couple oddly placed large Oaks or other large trees, many wild animals could be sensed nearby but most were herbavors and what predators were there were likely scared off by the odd group, after all Jofan was a dragon and very few animals even the largest of predators would rarely face a dragon.

[XIII]

Viktor' growl didn't stop the elf. She knows that the wolf needed her. So naturally, the witch wanted to follow after her beloved furry until the end, no matter how dangerous Viktor may it describe. With her experience, there was almost nothing that she was afraid. Of course, except for Viktor and Jofan. And sorceress was about to ask what had made the wolf behave like this, but Spyra was faster. So asking twice was useless. However, the night elf has recognized this part of the forest, and it gave her flashbacks, which she didn't like it all. Not that she didn't like spriggans at all, but those spirits are known for their bad temper. So even mages like Atauri prefer to avoid them.

"We're in a wood, where we may encounter spriggans. Or forest sentinels as we call them. They're harmless until triggered. Afterward, they may turn the entire wood against us. We need to hurry before we can face one of the spirits. And speaking of the forest - why are we here? I doubt Vulkest wanted us to come here.". Atauri said, watching around. The night will come in a couple of hours, and this is where spriggans become more active. Luckily, the elf can sense them as they were spirits. However, she can sense only when they were roaming. Being a single entity with a tree, their energy aura is out of range.

[Romulan_Furry]

"Vulkest's hi... hideout, was beyond this area. A c-cave," Viktor stammered. He seemed exhausted, the more he walked, and the hour grew late - the sun began so sink below the horizon. Viktor finally stopped, panting, and leaning against a tree. He was disoriented, and shaking violently. He panted for several seconds, before speaking in the Dragon tongue, "We have eluded him... for now." He paused again. "We should... probably... stop, for the night," he said aloud, before heaving a trembling sigh.

[Rayleonarde]

Ray watched Viktor from his perch, concern growing in his heart. The strange warrior was frightened, by what or whom the raccoon wasn’t sure. As the sun dipped low, Ray yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m tired. Can we stop?” He tugged gently on Spyra’s ear, hoping she heard him. In the meantime, Ray would crane his neck to either side, hoping to spot Tristan and the others.