Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 3

// So is all this going to be non-canon then?

(At least the parts that don't make sense. We probably get another post to see what's real and what's not.)

// One too many videogame / youtubers / anime references XD



(Twilight, Rogue, Radiance)


"..I perform my interrogations with a sledgehammer" Echo quietly smirked:

"But if you want it done elegantly, you must study the person before you and try to understand his mindset.
See the world from his point of view. Understand his motivations, his needs.
Show empathy and try to speak with him on the same wavelength. You will be able to convince him more easily.

It is also important not to begin your argument with an insult. People tend to focus on that and tune out everything that's being said afterwards."



The grandfather slowly sighed and looked at his grandson. For a while, he remained silent before he closed his eyes and nodded:
"I understand. I don't want to loose my family.. and I don't want them to see violence. If they get hurt because of me.. I will never forgive myself"

He looked at you with a pained expression: "..you don't have to say anything else. We will go on our own. You do not have to worry about us anymore"


His daughter looked at him for a brief moment, then nodded as well.

The three began slowly getting out of their ropes, when the front door opened, revealing Ursula and Twilight on the other side.



Ursula zeroed in on the grandfather immediately and began angrily marching towards him:
"This? Again! I thought we've talked about this!"


"Say no more" the grandfather lifted his palm, calling her to stop: "Your friends already convinced me to leave. You don't have to say anything else"


"Seriously.." Ursula slowly exhaled, crossing her arms: ".. I can't believe you tried to tie yourselves to the house."
Judging by the uneasy looks the grandfather was exchanging with her, you get the feeling this wasn't the first time they had this conversation.



Watching the three family members untie themselves and finally begin to pack their few belongings, Ursula looked at you:
"..sorry to burst in like that.." she uneasily rubbed the back of her neck:
"Its.. probably nothing. My nerves have been acting up lately." She chewed on her tongue for a bit, looking away:

"..me and my mom split up by the cemetery. I.. asked her to pick up something from my home, but she's been gone a while.
I probably just missed her or.. she's still there or maybe she's by the market.

Its probably nothing.. I'm sure there's a perfectly normal reason-.." she absentmindedly kicked a small ball of dust on the floor:
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to get you guys worked up. I'll swing by my house, she's probably there."



"Want us to come with?" Johan quietly asked.

Ursula looked down. She seems hesitant to ask for help.

(Rain)


Squiggles' breath began slowly normalizing. He slowly stopped crying and weakly repeated:

"..you're... you're right... He can't kill us yet.
He's going to keep us alive until she comes, and then he will kill us.

Which means... we still have time. We still have an opportunity to do something." he slowly looked up at you. His cheeks wet with tears, but eyes beginning to catch a spark of resolve. He reached out and took your hand.



"...cooperative slaughter.. was it.. hehehehe.." Squiggles released a small, quiet laugh as his eyes began to catch more and more focus:
"Alright. Lets do it"


He used your hand for support and slowly got up from the cold, grey sand. His eyes zeroed in on the burning text, floating above ground and representing your stats.


"14 Mana.
Two spells.
Maybe three, if the third one will be Dance of the Swallow."



He looked at you firmly:

"Rain. We will likely be allowed to wake up, just before the final moment.
If that happens, we will have a narrow window of opportunity to do something.

We have to plan this to perfection.

And once that moment arrives, we will execute our plan, immediately and without hesitation"





He looked off, at the gray horizon of the endless desert around you:

"First, we have to write down every possible scenario, that we might wake up to.
Then, we will write down a counter plan, for each of those scenarios.

We need to try to consider everything. Every possible predicament, every detail.



If we prepare well, then once we wake up, we'll only need to assess the situation, pick the plan that suits best and execute it immediately"


Squiggles released a small, evil grin. His eyes still slightly red from tears but he still grinned:
"Shall we begin?"

Internally: "Some people need to be given a blunt uncensored answer. Feelings can heal, lives can't. If I save a life but in the end they hate me, I'd take that over a corpse. Though I agree that tact and charisma are normally the way to go."


"It's never just nothing," Radiance answers the nods to Jonas indicating his agreement to come along.

"Im thinking if we are tied up. if we lightning the rope and then strength sap him we will have plenty of time to start with the bow." Rain rests her arms on her chair, "That is of we are tied down. If not we start with the strength sap and then point blank him with a lightning spell to the back if the head." She smiles, "if he is facing toward us I'll flash him, if he isn't then see plan A and B. If he turns around at any point, I'll flash him."

Rain smiles, "No fear squiggles. From here on out me and you. Its not just "Rain and Squiggles... nono, We are one... we are the storm." She takes his other hand, her smile becoming somewhat unsettling, "We are justice, We are vengance and we are the law." She takes a slow deep breath, "...and any in our path we will cleave through. It will be a grand show!"

Kaylee Brown wrote:// One too many videogame / youtubers / anime references XD



(Twilight, Rogue, Radiance)


The grandfather slowly sighed and looked at his grandson. For a while, he remained silent before he closed his eyes and nodded:
"I understand. I don't want to loose my family.. and I don't want them to see violence. If they get hurt because of me.. I will never forgive myself"

He looked at you with a pained expression: "..you don't have to say anything else. We will go on our own. You do not have to worry about us anymore"


His daughter looked at him for a brief moment, then nodded as well.

The three began slowly getting out of their ropes, when the front door opened, revealing Ursula and Twilight on the other side.



Ursula zeroed in on the grandfather immediately and began angrily marching towards him:
"This? Again! I thought we've talked about this!"


"Say no more" the grandfather lifted his palm, calling her to stop: "Your friends already convinced me to leave. You don't have to say anything else"


"Seriously.." Ursula slowly exhaled, crossing her arms: ".. I can't believe you tried to tie yourselves to the house."
Judging by the uneasy looks the grandfather was exchanging with her, you get the feeling this wasn't the first time they had this conversation.



Watching the three family members untie themselves and finally begin to pack their few belongings, Ursula looked at you:
"..sorry to burst in like that.." she uneasily rubbed the back of her neck:
"Its.. probably nothing. My nerves have been acting up lately." She chewed on her tongue for a bit, looking away:

"..me and my mom split up by the cemetery. I.. asked her to pick up something from my home, but she's been gone a while.
I probably just missed her or.. she's still there or maybe she's by the market.

Its probably nothing.. I'm sure there's a perfectly normal reason-.." she absentmindedly kicked a small ball of dust on the floor:
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to get you guys worked up. I'll swing by my house, she's probably there."



"Want us to come with?" Johan quietly asked.

Ursula looked down. She seems hesitant to ask for help.

"Woah" Rogue says whilst blinking, "I just had the trippiest daydream right there. There were multiple Kaylees again. The Tardis showed up, but no Derpy or V'tara. Twilight had a zipper on her head. People were speaking Swedish. Now I don't remember smoking anything, but whatever it was, it must've been quality merch..."

Radiance wrote:Internally: "Some people need to be given a blunt uncensored answer. Feelings can heal, lives can't. If I save a life but in the end they hate me, I'd take that over a corpse. Though I agree that tact and charisma are normally the way to go."


"It's never just nothing," Radiance answers the nods to Jonas indicating his agreement to come along.

"I can go check the market again for you if you'd like, knowing her she's probably just got distracted by some weapons or something?" Rogue suggests to Ursula.

"Rogue, you sure you should come along?" Twilight said unnerved. "It might be better to have some rest, get whatever causing those hallucinations to leave your body. We'll take care of it."

She ponders. "We should check the house, I have a bad feeling about this..."

Disgruntled purple wrote:"Rogue, you sure you should come along?" Twilight said unnerved. "It might be better to have some rest, get whatever causing those hallucinations to leave your body. We'll take care of it."

She ponders. "We should check the house, I have a bad feeling about this..."

"No, no, i'll be fine. Besides, some fresh air would be good for it" Rogue assures Twilight.

"Okay, but if any of that comes back, I want you to pull back immediately." She says sternly.

"Actually, let's make that a rule for all of us. If you feel sick or if you feel like you're hallucinating, tell the rest. Pushing yourself while on empty will only hinder our mission. No tough guy acts either."

(Rain)


"The Storm.. hehe.. I like that" Squiggles grinned for a moment, his eyes catching a spark.
Then he froze up, falling in thought:

"..w-wait, Rain, we can't cast Lighting on our rope. If its tied around us.. its too close to your body.
The electricity will bounce to us, inflicting the full damage.

We will die instantly.."


He looked down: "We'll.. need to think of an alternative"











(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


Ursula bit her lower lip: "...n-no... its okay. I'm worried that if we split up further, we'll accidentally loose track of someone else.

Lets stick together for now.. swing by my home real quick, she's probably there."
She released a small nervous smile:

"..I'll.. show you guys how I live. Come on" she waved you to follow and began heading towards the door.


Outside, the village streets were all but empty, only a handful of people still hastily wandered about. Judging by the cacaphony of voices outside the village walls, most of the villagers were already at the carriages.



"Mm.. I guess the convoy is moving out soon, we better hurry" Ursula said, rapidly walking down the street and heading toward an old wooden house with a blue roof. You could make out a faded bullfinch drawing on the front door.




Gingerly walking up the steps to the door, Ursula took hold of the door handle and opened the door.

A tiny entrance hall and a living room came into view. The curtains on all the windows were closed, shrouding the entire home in darkness.


"Mooom?" Ursula called, squinting: "....that's odd.. I don't remember closing the curtains.." she quietly said, walking in:

"Oh god, what is that smell?.." Ursula suddenly coughed and immediately went to move the curtains and crack open the nearest window.
Taking a deep breath and letting fresh air in, Ursula held her nose closed for a few moments, before letting go.


With the curtains open, a ray of white light fell into the room, illuminating most of its surroundings.

Ursula blinked a few times as her vision adjusted, then her eyes fell upon a small box by the kitchen counter:

"Hey.." she quietly called: "..that's.. the box I asked mom to pick up... I guess she never made it to the house-.."




"..Ursula" Kaylee called, in a stiff, quiet voice.

"What is it?" Ursula asked, turning around.

Kaylee didn't answer, just pointed at the dining table in the living room.



With the suns light somewhat illuminating the surroundings, you noticed two objects laying there.


A letter, written in very clear, neat text. The words were in Soren:






'The one you cherish most, is waiting for you, at the end of the marble stoned path'





All emotion drained from Ursulas face.

Next to the letter, laid a cybernetic eye. Its surface and the table around it, were covered in drops of blood. But you could still make out the text on its surface:
'BrightLight systems - Flashbulb'

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rain)


"The Storm.. hehe.. I like that" Squiggles grinned for a moment, his eyes catching a spark.
Then he froze up, falling in thought:

"..w-wait, Rain, we can't cast Lighting on our rope. If its tied around us.. its too close to your body.
The electricity will bounce to us, inflicting the full damage.

We will die instantly.."


He looked down: "We'll.. need to think of an alternative"











(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


Ursula bit her lower lip: "...n-no... its okay. I'm worried that if we split up further, we'll accidentally loose track of someone else.

Lets stick together for now.. swing by my home real quick, she's probably there."
She released a small nervous smile:

"..I'll.. show you guys how I live. Come on" she waved you to follow and began heading towards the door.


Outside, the village streets were all but empty, only a handful of people still hastily wandered about. Judging by the cacaphony of voices outside the village walls, most of the villagers were already at the carriages.



"Mm.. I guess the convoy is moving out soon, we better hurry" Ursula said, rapidly walking down the street and heading toward an old wooden house with a blue roof. You could make out a faded bullfinch drawing on the front door.




Gingerly walking up the steps to the door, Ursula took hold of the door handle and opened the door.

A tiny entrance hall and a living room came into view. The curtains on all the windows were closed, shrouding the entire home in darkness.


"Mooom?" Ursula called, squinting: "....that's odd.. I don't remember closing the curtains.." she quietly said, walking in:

"Oh god, what is that smell?.." Ursula suddenly coughed and immediately went to move the curtains and crack open the nearest window.
Taking a deep breath and letting fresh air in, Ursula held her nose closed for a few moments, before letting go.


With the curtains open, a ray of white light fell into the room, illuminating most of its surroundings.

Ursula blinked a few times as her vision adjusted, then her eyes fell upon a small box by the kitchen counter:

"Hey.." she quietly called: "..that's.. the box I asked mom to pick up... I guess she never made it to the house-.."




"..Ursula" Kaylee called, in a stiff, quiet voice.

"What is it?" Ursula asked, turning around.

Kaylee didn't answer, just pointed at the dining table in the living room.



With the suns light somewhat illuminating the surroundings, you noticed two objects laying there.


A letter, written in very clear, neat text. The words were in Soren:






'The one you cherish most, is waiting for you, at the end of the marble stoned path'





All emotion drained from Ursulas face.

Next to the letter, laid a cybernetic eye. Its surface and the table around it, were covered in drops of blood. But you could still make out the text on its surface:
'BrightLight systems - Flashbulb'

//Soundtrack

"Does this guy literally not have anything better to do with his time?" Rogue asks "I mean, everyone's just packing up and leaving him in peace?"

Rain frowns, "Mmm I have a diffrent idea then." she takes a deep breath, "...we are going to talk, not in a sarcastic or agressive way. Just... talk." She takes Squiggles hand and puts her palm over his, "Orrr..." she pauses getting up from her chair and standing over him, "...I let you take over for a little." she glares at him her gaze peircing, "If we follow through with number 2 you have to give me back afterwards! But I believe this will make us one, two souls... one body..." she grins wide, "I'm the Rain, Your the wind... both converge to make the storm." She Raises her brow, "Im making a deal with the devil here squiggles you better decide quick before I come up with something better."

A switch flips inside Radiance's head. Something about the conversation with Echo had brought it out and the former detective side of Radiance takes over.

"Alright, before anything let's figure out what we know and what is reasonable to assume.

Rain wasn't taken too long ago so we know that she has to be within a short walk or short flying distance. We can be almost certain that the person who wrote this note belongs to the group that threatened us, only they know about Rain's flash bulb.

The note also gives us a starting point to begin the search, and based on how they threatened us it's almost certainly a trap."

"Except this note, it isn't just similiar, it's identical to..."

Something clicked inside her head.

"... NOW it adds up... They're working together, for some reason, or Alder's in his employment for something he can offer, but it's clear..."

She clenches her fist. "Carvos has Rain in his grasp, Alder took her to that parasite."

She looks outside. "We can't warn other witchers, it would take too long to mobilize, win their trust and move out. We can't recklessly move in as well, they outmuscle us or sneak off to the evacuation site. We need something to pull Rain out of there, before they realize, then flee with all we got."

She looks around. "Anyone got something for that?"

Disgruntled purple wrote:"Except this note, it isn't just similiar, it's identical to..."

Something clicked inside her head.

"... NOW it adds up... They're working together, for some reason, or Alder's in his employment for something he can offer, but it's clear..."

She clenches her fist. "Carvos has Rain in his grasp, Alder took her to that parasite."

She looks outside. "We can't warn other witchers, it would take too long to mobilize, win their trust and move out. We can't recklessly move in as well, they outmuscle us or sneak off to the evacuation site. We need something to pull Rain out of there, before they realize, then flee with all we got."

She looks around. "Anyone got something for that?"

"There's no proof that it is Alder and the other rogue Witchers, or Carvos for that matter, all we have is a note on a table which resembles a previous one, and a missing comrade." Rogue says,

"If this is a plot by the same individual that wants us dead, they may have other forces to call upon; Alder could be seen as too emotionally involved in this now that he's lost a friend to us, and a bunch of rogue Witchers can't exactly be too easy to smuggle in and out of a busy settlement anyway, even without having to carry another unconscious Witcher with them.

And the circumstances of Ursula's mother's death can't have been that secret in a small close-knit village like this, so the letter could be a duplicate created solely to get her angry, stop the most powerful member of our group focusing.

To be honest, the alternative, that Alder and Carvos are working together, just seems like too much of a coincidence to me to be plausible?"

(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


Kaylee looked down:
"Mmm, you may be right.
Alder did became emotionally compromised at the end of the battle. If I was his employer, I wouldn't trust him with an infiltration and kidnapping mission, where the slightest mistake would result with him standing in the middle of the village, with every Witcher in the vicinity barreling down on him.

Maybe it wasn't him afterall.



And, if this was a tactic to emotionally compromise our strongest team member, this would do it.

If we follow the marble stoned path, we might just walk into a heavy ambush. But its also the only lead we have.





If Rains kidnapper recreated the note, he might have also recreated everything else from that day.

He may be waiting for us at that waterfall, where Ursula and her mother used to spend time.
He will probably have Rain tied up, on her knees and a knife to her neck.

And the moment we come close enough to see her, is the moment he will cut her throat."




Kaylee stayed silent for a moment, then firmly looked up:
"This will be a hostage rescue operation.

We have to analyze every possible scenario, our options, our available resources and plan this op to perfection.
The slightest error can result in Rains immediate death, and likely the deaths of others.


I don't know if the other Witchers can help us, but I know I saw a Calibration Stone in the wagon.

We can change our current spell list to better suit this operation.
Maybe even assign special roles to each one of us"



Kaylee took a step forward: "Our opponents will likely be waiting for us, somewhere along the marble stoned path.
Possibly holding Rain hostage with a knife to her neck.
The moment we see each other, is probably the moment they cut her throat.

We need a plan to stop them from doing that. Get Rain out of harms way and counter the ambush.

Ideas?" She looked at everyone.



Ursula released a shaking sigh and stepped out of the house. Her face was ghostly pale, footsteps unsure, stumbling.
When she stepped out through the front door, she covered her face with both hands and started to cry.
















(Rain)


Squiggles looked up at you and released a sad smile:
"...I appreciate the gesture.. and the trust you're placing in me.. but even if I wanted to, I'm afraid that's impossible."


Squiggles slightly sighed:
"The Glasgow Synergy is a very powerful seal. Once established, it cannot be easily broken.

Even if you will yourself to pass the controls to me, you can't, on a physical level. Your anatomy won't allow it."


Squiggles looked down: "For example, you can't will your heart to stop beating.
It beats on, regardless of our wishes, controlled by the autonomous parts of our brain.


The same goes for the Glasgow Synergy. Some part of your brain or soul.. prevents you from passing control, prevents me from seizing it."



Squiggles looked up at you again, his eyes sad:
"The only way to break the Glasgow Synergy, is to reduce your Sanity to zero.
And if.. god forbid.. you pass me the controls at that moment..."

Squiggles' expeession became serious, grim:
"You'll die.
The autonomous parts of my body will take over... and your soul will be digested and consumed, whether I like it or not.

I won't be able to stop it Rain, just like you can't stop your heart from beating"



Squiggles blinked:
"...so if your Sanity ever drops to zero.. don't even think abour passing controls over to me... I don't want you to die.."

He looked down: "..I don't want to see my friends blood, on my hands"

His eyes began wattering again, when the gray desert around you syddenly shoock, like a brief earthquake passed over and vanished.


Squiggles looked up in alarm:
"Rain!... I think you're waking up...
You'll be awake soon, we have maybe 60 seconds.
Its our last chance to come up with a plan!"

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


Kaylee looked down:
"Mmm, you may be right.
Alder did became emotionally compromised at the end of the battle. If I was his employer, I wouldn't trust him with an infiltration and kidnapping mission, where the slightest mistake would result with him standing in the middle of the village, with every Witcher in the vicinity barreling down on him.

Maybe it wasn't him afterall.



And, if this was a tactic to emotionally compromise our strongest team member, this would do it.

If we follow the marble stoned path, we might just walk into a heavy ambush. But its also the only lead we have.





If Rains kidnapper recreated the note, he might have also recreated everything else from that day.

He may be waiting for us at that waterfall, where Ursula and her mother used to spend time.
He will probably have Rain tied up, on her knees and a knife to her neck.

And the moment we come close enough to see her, is the moment he will cut her throat."




Kaylee stayed silent for a moment, then firmly looked up:
"This will be a hostage rescue operation.

We have to analyze every possible scenario, our options, our available resources and plan this op to perfection.
The slightest error can result in Rains immediate death, and likely the deaths of others.


I don't know if the other Witchers can help us, but I know I saw a Calibration Stone in the wagon.

We can change our current spell list to better suit this operation.
Maybe even assign special roles to each one of us"



Kaylee took a step forward: "Our opponents will likely be waiting for us, somewhere along the marble stoned path.
Possibly holding Rain hostage with a knife to her neck.
The moment we see each other, is probably the moment they cut her throat.

We need a plan to stop them from doing that. Get Rain out of harms way and counter the ambush.

Ideas?" She looked at everyone.



Ursula released a shaking sigh and stepped out of the house. Her face was ghostly pale, footsteps unsure, stumbling.
When she stepped out through the front door, she covered her face with both hands and started to cry.

"How about approach the problem from a different direction, literally?" Rogue suggests, "We could all fan out and head towards the site from different directions, defeat their ambush by surrounding them?"

(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


"Hey.. That's right!" Johan nodded, smacking one of his fists against his other palm:

"We don't have to follow the marble stoned path at all. Ursula knows where the path ends, at the waterfall!
We can just approach the waterfall from the opposite side.

Approach our enemies from the back!"


He looked down: "But according to what we know, its right in the middle of the forest. A lot of places to hide there.
How will we spot our enemies, before they spot us?"

"Between my naturally enhanced hearing and smell combined with the sense enhancing spell I should be able to detect pretty much anything. Keep on talking, I'll still be able to hear you."

Radiance comments then steps out the door to check on Ursula.

"My best idea is to summon the bow and hope it cuts through the rope when i sumon it. Hope it misplaces the materials or the force slices through or burns the rope quick enough for me to break out of them." She frowns. Or open the shield im sure that has enough force when deploying to slice through any rope." She frowns, "Pretty sure im disarmed but I do have a shorter saber hidden under my armor. If i can draw that, it should pass through the rope like butter." She shrugs, "I dont know what I have without feeling any weight."

"We have to keep every possibility in mind, even the implausible. After all, if one recalls what we've done to get here, you'd call it impossible as well if you haven't seen it yourself."

She ponders. "Thing is, they didn't want us dead. They wanted us alive. And that's actually something I noticed about what Carvos did to "Diana"." Her eyes get heavier. "He didn't punish the 'insolent child' with death, he deliberately set up a situation that to her felt worse then death. It's a repeat of that day."

She then began to think at the task at hand. "We should have another scout, Radiance's hearing and smell are good, but some things have to be seen as well. Hmmmm, perhaps if we can hide someone's presence, they can fly away with Rain. There's probably a spell for that here."

After that, she looks at her own wing. "Fly... Fly... That's odd, actually..."

Disgruntled purple wrote:"We have to keep every possibility in mind, even the implausible. After all, if one recalls what we've done to get here, you'd call it impossible as well if you haven't seen it yourself."

She ponders. "Thing is, they didn't want us dead. They wanted us alive. And that's actually something I noticed about what Carvos did to "Diana"." Her eyes get heavier. "He didn't punish the 'insolent child' with death, he deliberately set up a situation that to her felt worse then death. It's a repeat of that day."

She then began to think at the task at hand. "We should have another scout, Radiance's hearing and smell are good, but some things have to be seen as well. Hmmmm, perhaps if we can hide someone's presence, they can fly away with Rain. There's probably a spell for that here."

After that, she looks at her own wing. "Fly... Fly... That's odd, actually..."

"Well I heard that there is a spell stone here, so we can check that out to see if there are any new spells available" Rogue says "Now I have my shield, I don't need the shield spell anyway..."

(Radiance, Rogue, Twilight)


Johan stepped out and went to see Ursula as well.
Kaylee remained and continued with a grim expression:
"Okay.. Radiance and one more person will be in charge of scouting the region.
We need to be careful with flying though, there's no cover up there and if we get spotted, Rain will die instantly. We won't have time to react.

If this really is Carvos, he'll make sure we get a brief glance of Rain, just before killing her."



She bit her lower lip: "Unfortunately we don't know any spells for hiding our presence. We'll have to rely on old fashioned cover and camouflage.

We do have spells for running on walls and on water though, perhaps we can do something with them.
Hopefully the Calibration Stone will have something new, but it might be the same one we used at the Witchet stronghold.




Now, if our scouting run will go as planned, we'll be able to get a clear picture of the enemy numbers and placement, without getting spotted ourselves.


At some point, we will likely find Rain. She will likely be under guard, probably with a knife to her neck.

The next questions are, how do we rescue her.
And if we're spotted and combat begins, how do we stop her from instantly dying."




Outside of the house, Ursula stood with her shoulders slumped and cried, hiding her face in her hands. There was nothing left but despair in her voice. It was unbearable to hear.










(Rain)


The gray desert began vibrating around you, before a black hole materialized in the ground and swallowed the world.

"Get ready" You heard Squiggles call before you woke up.




The sound of falling water was the first thing you heard. It sounded like a small river or a waterfall was nearby, somewhere a few centimeters ahead.

Your knees pressed against soft sand, strangely warm to the touch. A small breeze ruffled the leaves nearby, some old trees released a few cracks. A bird chirped in the distance.


These sounds kept coming through, yet no picture showed up. A few moments later, you realized you were blindfolded.

You could see nothing but darknees, sitting on your knees in a patch of warm sand.



"Rain! We have a problem!" Squiggles suddenly called and you felt something warm, dropping down from your eye and onto your cheek. A moment later, you realized you were missing an eye.
The eye socked where the Flashbulb used to be, was now empty. The wound was messy, blood slowly dropping down your cheek and onto the sand.


You also realized you were missing the weight of your armor and gear.
Everything was taken. It feels like you're wearing only your shirt and trousers.



"Rain!" Squiggles called again: "We have a problem!!!"

You suddenly realized you were holding some sort of ball in your hands. A bit larger than a tenis ball in its size, very sturdy.
It was grasped firmly between your palms.

You felt a rope pressing on the skin of your hands. It tied your hands and your palms so closely together, that you were seemingly forced to hold the strange ball between your palms, unable to release it from your grasp. You couldn't even really move your fingers.



"...Rain.. to cast even the most basic spell, you need to draw a special sign in the air. We can't do it if our fingers can't move!" Squiggles nervously exhaled:

"And we can't summon our bow either. The space around your palm needs to be empty, so the weapon will have room to materialize.

But if your palm is occupied, the weapon won't manifest!...
He completely disarmed us!!!"




Before you could respond, the cold steel of a blade suddenly pressed firmly against your neck and you felt someone firmly holding you, pressing hard against your shoulderblades and the back of your head, restricting movement.




"...try anything.. and you die..." a calm voice spoke from behind:
"Do you understand?" He spoke decent Soren, with a slight trace of accent.