Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Darius was leaning against the large, smooth rock, his eyes peering into the darkness beyond. His breaths were quiet and slow, and he held his mouth close to the boulder so that the clouds that formed as he exhaled would not be easily seen. It was nigh on impossible to see much further up the beach, especially at such a late break and amidst the incessant twilight of Cylus, but that hopefully meant that he and his two companions were similarly difficult to identify.

The bearded blond pushed his large form back off the rock and turned to the two figures nearby. Water lapped at his feet, the cold Hollow Sea grasping hopelessly at him as he whispered to the others.

"No sign of anyone just yet," he uttered, his quiet words floating on the gentle sea breeze, "but I can see a rowboat on the beach."

His own boat, the Lady Jean, had been brought ashore nearby, before they'd dragged it above the waterline and concealed it in the long grasses beyond. After that, the trio had set up position behind the large rock, awaiting the kidnappers who they hoped to follow.

Like himself, his two companions wore cowls, which would have made it impossible for him to know who was who, were it not for the height difference. But Yeva was noticeably shorter than Balthazar, and it was into the shadow of her hood that he looked next.

"Are you ready?" he whispered. "This ends tonight, I swear it."

Darius could feel the passion in his own voice, even as he hissed the words, and he consciously reminded himself to maintain his composure. He had barely spoken the words, however, when he heard distant footsteps approaching.

"Hide!" he hissed, hugging the boulder once more, trying to conceal himself, but convinced that his pounding heartbeat would give him away.

Darius held his breath. For what felt like an arc, he held his breath. With every passing bit, the footsteps grew ever louder, but as far as the Scalvorian was concerned, they were no match to the volume of his heartbeat.

Yeva was scared. Even in the darkness of Cylus, and hidden beneath her cowl, that was impossible to miss. The woman who was quite happy to wear a snake around her neck was cowering behind a rock...and she was not alone.

It was only when Balthazar asked how many people were approaching that Darius dared to let himself slowly exhale, and with a brief glance towards the mage's golden eyes, he cautiously moved, creeping up the length of the rock once more. He pulled the cowl about his face, so that only his eyes were uncovered in the darkness.

The bearded blond was forced to squint into the night, and to begin with, he could see little more than shadows and movement. But then he heard voices, and he strained his ears to listen. He could not make out any words, but as the conversation went on, he became convinced that he could only hear two male voices. That did not, of course, mean there weren't other individuals with the speaking pair out there in the gloom.

As the footsteps left the dirt path that the trio themselves had used to get to their hiding space, they moved onto the beach, and the combination of sand, stones and shells crunched beneath them. They stepped into the dim moonlight and it was only then that Darius could confirm that there were no more than two men, and as soon as he was convinced of this, he attempted to return to his hiding place. As he moved, his boot slipped on the rock, and the scraping sound caused him to freeze in place, burying his head against the boulder, eyes clenched shut.

If the noise carried as far as the walking pair, they didn't seem to falter in their approach. Darius was left to assume that their conversation - and their footsteps - had distracted their ears. With a silent prayer of thanks to Chrien, he retreated once more, until he was able to hunker back down with Yeva and Balthazar.

There, he rose two fingers in answer to the mage's question, unwilling to utter even a whisper until he was confident the two individuals were beyond earshot.

It was only a handful of trills later that the trio heard the dragging of something heavy across the beach, and he took a deep breath. It would not be long until the rowboat reached the water.

Darius knew that sound seemed to travel more easily after dark. And that made him all the more grateful that the noisy pair who continued their conversation and dragged their rowboat across the sand did so loudly enough to shield their ears from his slip.

By the time his heart rate had begun to settle down, the two quarries were making their way down to the water, and Balthazar was offering up an alternative to their original plan. The idea had been simple, he thought: follow the individuals who had kidnapped children in order to establish where the youngsters were being held. That initially meant following in a rowboat of their own; a cowled Yeva being presented as another captive; and being invited aboard the ship. From there, Balthazar could bring the Elements, and justice could be served.

Darius' gaze drifted between Yeva and the mage. He knew the redhead was nervous. He was, too. Changing plans partway through executing them sounded risky. And when it came to water, Darius much preferred to be in a boat than out of one...

...but he had to admit that Balthazar was right. The same noise of a rowboat being dragged down the beach that he had been grateful for would also give them away. There didn't seem to be an easy way to get the Lady Jean into the water without being heard - unless they waited until the two men were out of sight, and then how could they possibly follow them?

"Aye," Darius eventually nodded, feeling his stomach tighten with anxiety as he did. "I don't know how magic works, so..."

The Scalvorian's voice dropped away, unable to articulate his thoughts. He was nervous, and coming to the realisation that the original plan wouldn't work. He sent another prayer to Chrien, hoping that the new one would.

Doubt was a curious wee thing. It was not a disease in the traditional sense, but it could be contagious all the same. There were animals that could sense it. There were many tales of nervous riders being thrown from skittish horses.

Balthazar could sense Darius' sense of caution, who in turn could tell from the mage's words that he wasn't exactly filled with confidence himself. And the bearded blond was willing to wager that Yeva could sense the hesitation in both of them.

But the two men had clambered into their rowboat and were beginning to row out of the cove. Attempting to convince Balthazar that another course of action would be preferable - and thus changing the plan a second time - was only going to waste precious trills that they could ill afford to lose.

And so it was with a healthy sense of trepidation that saw Darius standing at the water's edge, squinting through the Cylus fog and hoping to keep the rowboat in sight. As a result, he missed what Balthazar was doing at first, and were it not for his constant internal reminders to remain silent, he would have let out an audible gasp as he watched the mage manipulate the currents in a way he'd never thought possible. As a mariner, he had a good understanding of how the currents worked...and this was like nothing he'd ever witnessed before.

Darius followed Balthazar's lead, keeping step with him as they walked onto the seabed without getting wet, and hoping that Yeva might find the courage to do the same. It was difficult to comprehend, and as their bubble moved beneath the waves, it played tricks on his mind. He subconsciously took a deep breath, holding it as long as he could, until he found himself gasping for another and holding it. It seemed to him that the waves might crash down upon them with a watery wrath at any moment.

The bearded blond nodded at Balthazar's instruction, and he strained his eyes as he looked up. Even in the Cylus gloom, he could see the hull of the small rowboat as the moonlight draped around it, revealing its silhouette. Despite the strain that Balthazar was clearly experiencing, they were able to keep pace with the rowboat, and after a few bits, another silhouette loomed. It was much larger than the rowboat, and Darius let out his held breath and pointed.

"That must be it," he gasped. "What now? Do we need to swim?"

Darius suddenly remembered that he was fully clothed, and that his longsword was resting on his hip. He could easily be pulled beneath the water if the bubble burst.

And that seed of doubt caused him to inhale deeply and hold his breath once more.

There was little Darius could do beyond holding his breath in anticipation and praying to any Immortal he could think of. In that moment, as he offered silent supplications to each deity in turn, he had never felt more Scalvorian.

So when Balthazar shushed him, he was happy to oblige. The mage answered his question quickly enough, and the bearded blond didn't have long to wait before they were lifting off the ocean floor and heading towards the surface. The liquid around his ankles was more than a little unsettling, and he worried at first that the bubble might rise without him entirely, sending him to an underwater grave, but then he began to feel himself lifting with the giant pocket of air.

That didn't stop him from periodically taking deep breaths and holding them - as if his supply of oxygen might disappear in an instant - but it did at least enable him to feel a little less panicky about their situation.

It was just as Balthazar was explaining that the bubble would not hold once they reached the surface, that the very thing he predicted came true. Darius looked up and saw the torrent of water rushing in, and he took another deep breath. Balthazar's efforts to get him to the surface were successful, but he found himself kicking his legs all the same.

A giant shadow loomed over him, and he realised he was up against the ship, but within trills, he felt himself being pulled back under the water. His fingers fumbled feverishly, until he was able to untie his belt and let it go. The sheathed sword dragged the leather straps with it as it sank; the absence of its weight enabled Darius to kick himself back up to the surface.

He gasped for air as he looked around. He couldn't see the rowboat, which, he decided, meant it was on the other side of the ship. He began to flounder, unsure of how to board the ship from the ocean. He offered silent prayers to U'frek and Chrien.

And then, just as he was beginning to tire, an answer came from above.

"Man overboard!" cried someone on the ship.

A rope crashed into the water nearby and he clung onto it. Presumably mistaken for a fellow sailor, he had been thrown a literal lifeline. With the initial panic surviving, Darius began to haul himself out of the water, sending a quick glance to where he expected Yeva to be.

And that was when he suddenly realised the redhead was no longer with him.