THEIR journey towards this settlement, took them back through the area Stormrise Manor had been, which was now just a crater.
"Whoa, what happened here?" Ryd asked, "There was a really big house here. I saw it a few hours ago."
"Nothing to see now," Ryan said grimly, as he shoves his way passed Ryd and Jasmine, "Let's keep going."
"Whoa, sorry mate," Ryd said, before leaning into Jasmine, "What's his deal? I saw this place from a hill a while ago, it was still standing. Whatever happened here, it happened recently."
Jasmine lowered her gaze, "we were in that house recently, we got out just before… this."
"Why were you in that house? Whose was it?" Ryd asked,
"It was mine, so can we just go? Ryan snapped
"Ryan?" Mac asked, concerned, but Ryan had already started walking off, "Are you guys coming?" he called without turning back.
As they walked on, Ryd had to ask, "Is there something the matter with him?" Ryd asked Jasmine
"That house had some painful memories for him,"
Jasmine looked at Ryan with concern. She had never really considered how he felt about it about it. She would be in the same state too if she visited her childhood home, if it wasn't already burnt down. How could anyone be expected to be okay after being somewhere like this?
Ryd took hold of her hand, which made Jasmine bolt upright, her face flushed. She looked at him dumbfounded, "huh… wha-what?"
Ryd smiled warmly, "I'm sorry. You looked a little sad, so I wanted to comfort you some, I can see that you empathize with him,"
Jasmine nervously fiddled with her hair, something she hadn't done since she was twelve, "I-I-It's just that, I know what it's like to lose your loved ones at a young age, the pain never leaves you."
"That's gotta be rough." Ryd said
"Yeah," Jasmine said, holding herself "He's actually the lucky one; he was still a baby when his parents died. I can actually remember what my family felt like, that pain… it stays with you."
After about an hour of walking, Ryd suggested they sanctum out for the night. "The settlement is still a day's walk from here."
"Alright," Jasmine said, "Mac and I are going to get water from that river nearby, the two of you boys set up a perimeter."
"Yeah," Ryan said, "We don't want any more intruders."
"Play nice," Mac said, "After all, he is Jasmine's bo-"
Jasmine quickly silenced her and dragged her away, her face red.
"Where are you going?" Ryan demanded, but he was left unanswered,
Once they were alone, Jasmine released Mac's mouth, "Why did you almost say that?"
"I was just teasing," Mac chirped, "I didn't think you actually liked Ryd."
Jasmine blushed again, "I don't like Ryd, I just…"
"Really really like him." Mac teased, "It's so obvious. I wander why Ryan hasn't noticed."
"Do not tell Ryan."
"Why?" Mac asked
"Well, because… he's Ryan." Jasmine said
As they continued their trek the subject changed as they got to the stream, "there was something weird about the blood seal on Ryan's house." Jasmine said
"You mean that it was set from the outside?" Mac said, "yeah, I noticed it too,"
"What about the fact that there weren't any bodies inside?" Jasmine asked, "Like they had been moved out by someone, who then sealed the place,"
Mac's eyes widened as realization hit her "Wait, you don't mean…?"
"It's just a theory, but yes," Jasmine said, "Someone else, other than Stephanie, escaped that tragedy, someone who has a direct blood connection to Ryan."
"There might be another Reins still alive out there?" Mac stated,
… )]≥( …
After they got back, Ryd and Ryan had already made a sanctum fire. Ryan sat opposite Ryd, reading from the grimoire.
"Oh, you're back." Ryd said
"Yeah. We weren't gone too long were we? We got talking and…" Jasmine replied, Mac had to calm her down, "Laying it on a bit too thick. Ease up."
Ryan barely looked at them, his face was buried in the book, "Did you guys get enough water? There're more of us now."
"Yeah." Mac said, "And I have some snacks. Want some?"
"I'm not hungry." Ryan said
"Alright." Mac said, before rifling through her bag some more. "but I got potato chips." She said teasingly dangling the bag in front of him.
Ryan's stomach growled, he popped his head from the book and grinned sheepishly, "I'll take the chips."
"Of course you will." Mac said tossing him the bag, "It's barbeque flavored too."
"Aw, my fave." Ryan said as he popped open the top of the bag and started stuffing his face.
After they ate, everyone went to bed, except for Ryan, who was keeping watch. He didn't dare fall asleep again, since the nightmares were back. He climbed onto a tree branch and continued reading from the book. Every once in a while he'd glance down, Jasmine was curled close to Ryd, and Ryan found that odd.
After a while he snapped the book shut and dropped it into Mac's bag which was conveniently underneath the branch.
"Can you sense it?" Ryan asked
"Yeah," Ryd replied,
Around them, an unusual fog had rolled in, and there was a faint sound amid the ambient noise of the forest, an odd melody that was unnerving and filled them with a sense of foreboding.
Ryan dropped down from the branch, landing on his feet, then, he and Ryd woke up the girls.
"Wake up." Ryan said, nudging Mac gently. "Company's here."
"Again?" she complained as she tossed and turned.
The girls quickly gathered their wits, as the fog that surrounded them got thicker, obscuring everything outside their little campsite. The fog had an odd earthy scent, and the melody was getting much more prominent,
From the fog, several figures slowly came into view, all dressed in dark cloaks had glowing pink eyes visible beneath the hoods. Underneath their cloaks, their bodies were wrapped in thick gray gauze, and they were all female. Deeper in the fog, they could make out dozens more figures, all with glowing pink eyes.
"What are these guys?" Ryan asked, "Bandits?"
"No… I think these are the Muhnk-Rayi," Ryd guessed
"The phantom widows?" Jasmine asked, "I thought they were just legend."
"Correct, young one." came and unnaturally deep male voice as a new figure approached. He stood at about nine feet tall, with a rippling muscles and long deep brown hair that reaches down to his lower back. He wore a loincloth underneath his cloak, and had what looked like a panpipes around his neck, what looked like a water-skin at his waist, and a wicked looking spear at his back. His features were unnaturally handsome, from his chiseled face and bright pink eyes, even with large antlers on his head. As he strode towards them he carried with him an air of superiority. "they are spirits that stalk the forests of this world within their ghostly fog. They are now my loyal and servile concubines."
"Okay, and what the hell are you?" Mac demanded
"I, young maiden, am Amidiezich, the Wandering Lord of the Revels." The man said bowing his head, theatrically, "and this is my domain,"
"You're some kind of fae, I take it?" Jasmine noted, "bound to the mortal world?"
"Quite perceptive of you," the man grinned, his pink eyes flashing, "Yes, I am exiled, cursed to this physical plane, but I now have a bit of the Veil with me, in the fog of the Muhnk-Rayi."
"Noble spirits, what do you want from us?" Ryd asked, addressing the bandaged women, "We have no quarrel with the phantoms,"
The Muhnk-Rayi remained silent, but it was the antlered man who responded, laughing harshly, "But it is we phantoms that have quarrel with you,"
"What did you do to these people?" Ryan hissed at him
"Nothing," Ryd bit back
The antlered man took a step and was all of a sudden behind them, while the bandaged women still kept to the perimeter, silently observing, "I know of your kind," he sneered, "magi; entitled fools that believe yourselves the masters of the Naexis."
"Hey, you don't see us insulting… whatever the hell you are," Ryan sneered back, then the bandaged women around all hissed in unison, their glowing eyes glaring at him.
"I don't think they like it when you talk back," Jasmine hissed at him, her bow at the ready
"We mean you no harm or offense." Ryd pleaded, "we're just trying to get through the forest,"
"When I first noticed your little group, I was in the mood for a hunt," the self-proclaimed 'Lord of Revels' said, "I care not for your kind, intruding upon my forests, polluting my fog,"
Ryan observed him tensely, he didn't look like he could handle himself in a proper fight… but the Muhnk-Rayi were a different story, they radiated ferocity.
"However, my mood has since changed," the antlered man said, "so I give you leave to exit my territory, but, I demand tribute in exchange." he said bluntly
Jasmine's grip on her bow tightened, she didn't like the sound of that,
"Tribute?" Mac asked, "what kind of trade are we talking here; cash or food?"
He smiled, looking towards Jasmine and Mac, "the two of you will do nicely."
"Excuse me?" Jasmine demanded
"You are both attractive enough, and you are even both magi, which I may even have use for at some point." He leered at them, "you will make excellent additions to my harem."
"Hey." Mac growled in protest, "I'm not anybody's concubine, especially not antlered wierdo I just met!"
"That feeling is very much mutual," Jasmine said, with her bow raised and an arrow nocked, "we aren't going with you,"
"I'm afraid you do not have much of a choice," he shrugged, nonchalantly, "my decision has been made; you will join these Muhnk-Rayi, and eventually become spirits yourselves, youthful, eternal, unbothered by the petty mortal imperfections that plague you now,"
Ryan stepped forward, "Listen, Amy-the-zit…"
The man's eye twitched in annoyance, "My name is Amidiezich."
"Right, that's what I said?" Ryan said, waving him off, "Anyway, you're not taking anyone. We'll just be on our way; we don't need your safe passage or anything. How about that?"
The fae man smirked, "Confident, aren't we?" he then put his pipes to his lips and blew in a short harsh note, the bandaged women then became animated and surged forward.
As Ryan had initially guessed, the Muhnk-Rayi were fierce, they weren't experienced fighters, but they more than made up for it with unexpected strength and speed within their delicate figures. Up close he got a good look at them, they were all beauties, except with pale gray skin and solid pink eyes. The most annoying thing about them was their uncanny ability to turn into mist at a moment's notice, completely ignoring most attacks and blending into the surrounding fog, before solidifying and counterattacking. They carried no weapons, but they had wicked looking claws instead of fingers and their teeth were definitely made for ripping living flesh –one tried to take a bite out of Ryan's shoulder, only to have her teeth shatter against his jacket— and they also had a shreik that could momentarily stun anyone directly caught in it.
It was a hard fight, but against trained magi, the Muhnk-Rayi weren't so insurmountable a foe. They may have had counters to physical attacks, but they were still just as vulnerable to magik, and each member of the group had that advantage, even Ryd. Somehow, they managed to push the phantom widows back, driving them deeper into their fog to recover from their new injuries, but the magi weren't unscathed either. All the while, the antlered fae had just been observing their fight from afar, unconcerned even when some of his concubines were destroyed, their essence sent back beyond the Veil.
"That the best you got?" Ryan challenged, having cut through one Muhnk-Rayi with his blade, their body evaporated, leaving only a bundle of bandages and a cloak.
"I am impressed; the Muhnk-Rayi are famous for their ferocity, but I suppose that doesn't fair much against trained combatants like you magi. You are more powerful than I had initially given you credit for."
"So what's your plan now?" Ryd demanded, brandishing a unique looking ivory dagger made from what appears to be bone.
"Unfortunately, it seems that you have rejected my mercy," he said, "so, your men will die here, and I take you women as my concubines anyway,"
"Once again; you're not taking anyone here," Jasmine rebutted
"You have no idea the power I wield, mortal," he sneered
Ryan chuckled, "Right, over my dead body."
"Exactly." The fae smirked, as he blew once more into his pipes. As he started to play, a playful tune filled the fog, but it sounded too high pitched for Ryan's tastes.
"A little too pitchy for me," Ryan critiqued, "I guess telling you to 'go blow it out of your flute hole' would be overkill?"
"Dispose of these lads," the antlered man commanded with a snap of his finger,
All of a sudden, Jasmine launched herself at Ryan, attacking with power and ferocity worthy of a Proctor.
"Whoa!" Ryan said as he did his best –which wasn't much— to counter and deflect her attacks, "Okay, I get it was a bad pun, but really, Jasmine?"
He paused when he saw her eyes were glowing pink, and found himself even more confused to see that her face was flushed.
"Hey Mac, something's wrong with Jasmine," He called, discovering that she also had glowing pink eyes and was holding Ryd in a choke hold.
"Hey, hey, hey." Ryan said backing up from Jasmine as she approached, "What's gotten into you girls?"
Amidiezich laughed, "I have. When I took ownership of the Muhnk-Rayi, I also took control over their fog, I filled it with my pheromones that is effective against females,"
"Eww," Ryan grimaced
"All this time, your women were breathing in my musk, letting my influence slowly cloud their minds," he gloated, "from there, all it took to dominate them was a simple serenade."
"Seriously?" Ryan said as Jasmine tried to grab him, he pushed her back and she made a quiet moaning sound.
"What the hell?" Ryan hissed, confused
Ryd tried to break free from Mac's master lock by dropping her to the ground, she made a purring sound.
"What did you do to them you sick freak?" Ryd demanded
The antlered fae laughed again, "My pheromones possess an aphrodisiac effect to those under its sway. I suspect that they would be quite aroused in this state."
As if to confirm it, Jasmine rubbed her thighs together as heavy panting escaped her lips. She actually looked like she was in heat.
"Ugh, this is all kinds of wrong," Ryan growled,
"Now, before I ravage your women and take them as my latest concubines, we will feast on your flesh." He grinned sickly, "that will begin their transformation into Muhnk-Rayi. Now girls, show me what you can do."
"With pleasure." Jasmine and Mac said together.
… )]≥( …
Ryan and Ryd were in a real bind. Not only had the girls been brainwashed by some creepy fae guy, but they were now trying to kill them.
"Is this really what you want, Jasmine?" Ryan called, "to be ravaged by some freaky pied piper?"
"I can't go against him," Jasmine responded, "my body feels so hot, it's amazing. I don't ever want it to stop."
"It's like a drug," Mac commented from where she was fighting Ryd, "a high we never want to come down from."
"What'll we do, Ryan?" Ryd asked, finally able to break Mac's grip.
"I'll use the move I cast against you, earlier," he said
"You mean the lightning prison?" Jasmine asked with a smirk, "that won't work if Mac and I aren't close enough together." She fired a red tipped arrow. The boys ducked as it zoomed past their heads and impaled a tree, setting it ablaze.
"First off; it's called the electric cage," Ryan said, "and secondly; It's not what I used first."
Ryan held out his hand towards Amidiezich and the glyph glowed over his palm,
"Lightning type; Super Shock!"
A bolt fired at the self-proclaimed 'Lord of Revels' and Jasmine and Mac both rushed to intercept, but then the bolt fizzled out of existence. Ryan grinned, he had managed to get the girls far enough away. He had reached Ryd, so he then stamped his foot on the ground and another glyph glowed underneath them,
"Lightning type; Electric Cage!"
The lightning cage rose from the earth and surrounded him and Ryd.
"What are you doing?" Ryd said, "We're now trapped."
"And they can't get to us." Ryan proudly boasted, Jasmine shot an arrow at them, but it was deflected by the electric cage to prove Ryan's point.
"So what," Jasmine said, "You can't stay in there forever. either the cast fades or you come out, we can wait."
Ryan raised his wand, "Actually, I wasn't planning on forever. Just long enough for one spark."
"What are you-?" Ryd asked, as the wand sparked,
In an instant, the entire cage was engulfed in white-hot flames. Jasmine and Mac backed up, "Whoa, what is that?" Mac asked, shielding her eyes, even through the cage, they could feel the scorching heat.
"Prominence Blaze, a high level flame-type cast that incinerates all it comes into contact with. It's basically napalm." Jasmine explained, "I didn't think he was capable of casting such magik on his own."
"So, he chose to end his life on his own?" Amidiezich sneered, "Pity, he looked rather tasty."
Even with her mind clouded, Jasmine still wasn't sure. The Ryan she knew wasn't one to just give up like that. A part of her should be doubting the legitimacy of his sudden suicide, but that part of her was being suppresses by arousal, so she quickly dismissed all misgivings.
"Aww," Mac said, "I was so looking forward to choking the life out of your boyfriend."
"Ryd is not my boyfriend." Jasmine snapped, "but I understand how you feel, I was hoping to finally turn Ryan into a pin cushion at least."
"Never the less, they are now dead," Amidiezich declared, as the remains of the electric cage began to crumble, "The two of you are exquisite, we may find some other victim for you to begin your transformation, but you are worthy to be my concubines,"
"Thank you," both girls bowed, they were getting restless, he could see sense how aroused they had gotten.
"Now, since you have both worked so hard, let me ease your suffering," he cooed, "remove your clothing,"
… )]≥( …
Ryan was NOT dead.
As the girls began to undress, slowly of course, giving Amidiezich a nice distracting striptease, Ryan and Ryd burst from the ground behind a rock, like the dead rising from their graves.
Ryd coughs up dirt and glares at Ryan, "What the hell was that?" he hissed
"Keep your voice down." Ryan hissed back, "we needed their attention away from us, and the only way to do it was for us to be dead. So I whipped up a pretty convincing cremation, thought it was tricky burying us the second after Prominence Blaze was activated."
Ryd looked at Ryan, what he just did want just tricky, it was borderline insane. Triggering a cast of a completely different nature, while another powerful cast was only just activated is no small feat, you either need master level magik control or an absurd amount of magik in order to pull that off.
"That's pretty smart." Ryd said, "now, how are we going to get the girls back? I'd rather not wait until that creep has had his way with them."
"Don't look at me," Ryan said, "I just saved our asses, why don't you pull some weight?"
Ryd rolled his eyes, "Fine. I'm going to use my specialty, back up a bit." Ryan retreated a few feet, "A lot more."
Ryan did so, skeptical as Ryd removed his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. The backs of his hands were covered in complex magik formula tattooed onto his skin, it ran down each finger and went up his arms to his elbows. He concentrated for a brief moment, then slammed his fists together, as soon as his fists connected, the tattoos glowed a bright green, fusing and creating a complex magik sigil;
"Beast type; Beast Flesh Rebirth!"
His body burst into emerald flames, and began to grow, underneath the flames, Ryan could see Ryd's body reshaping, and when the green flames died down, he was a massive emerald creature with thick leathery skin and metallic spikes protruding from his spine, he had two large reptilian wings and a long tail with a bladed tip. He rested his large claw on the on the rock and roared with force and power, attracting the attention of the leaving group.
His sudden transformation, caught the others off guard, especially since Jasmine and Mac were half dressed.
"What is that thing?" Mac cried, tripping over pants which were around her knees
"I don't believe it," Amidiezich gawked, eyes wide in fear and awe, "…it's a dragon!"
"But I thought dragons were extinct." Jasmine demanded, pulling her shirt back down
The dragon leapt into the air, landing before the group and spreading its huge wings, clearing the fog with a single wing beat.
Amidiezich looked around, the two magi girls were too stunned to be of any use, and most of the Muhnk-Rayi were still incorporeal stuck within their fog.
"If you're planning on attacking, you'd best rethink!" Ryan called as he stood on top of the rock, "That thing's scale is stronger than any armor, good luck getting through pure dragon skin."
"You," Jasmine snarled, "Why aren't you dead?"
"Good to see you too, Jasmine." He retorted, then he raised his hands to the sky, the clouds grew dark as thunder rumbled, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and struck Ryan, then he used all that natural power and fueled his magik, he leaps off the rock and slams his fists into the ground,
"Lightning type; Electric Cages!"
The glyphs glowed under both Jasmine and Mac and then two cages sprang up from the ground underneath, trapping them both.
"Let us out, Ryan!" Mac demanded, pounding on the electric wall.
"Not yet." He said walking up to them, "Ryd still needs to take care of that creep."
Dragon Ryd opened his maw, emerald flames droplets dripping from his fangs like drool and hissing as they pool below him, his wings, scattered the fog that tried to close in on the group, keeping the phantom widows at bay. Then his body starts to burn again away as he approaches the antlered fae, changing back to normal. Ryan, still cracking with electricity, joined him.
"Y-yo-y… how? How is that possible?" Amidiezich stuttered, "You, you transformed into a dragon, and you, you summoned lightning! What are you two?"
"Sorry Amy-the-zit," Ryan said, drawing Draxonn and leveling the dark blade right at his face, "but that's a trade secret. Release the girls."
"I can't." he said, "even if I wanted to, I don't know how to undo my power,"
"I could always go dragon on you again." Ryd threatened
"I have to keep releasing pheromones to control the fog, but the magik of the panpipes can't be undone," he said, half pleading, half boasting
"Hand over the pipes then." Ryan demanded,
Amidiezich hesitated for a moment, but then glanced at the black blade before him, then thrust the panpipes into Ryan's hand. Ryan held up the panpipes, and electricity erupted from him, burning the instrument to cinders with a shrill whistling sound.
"Now scram!" Ryd sneered
"Not just yet," Ryan interrupted, "What is your name?"
"Amidie…" the fae started, but Ryan held up his hand and lightning crackled around his hand and blade, "uh… Amy-the-zit."
Ryan chuckled as the fog had returned, but this time, it smelt different, fresher. the Munk-Rayi also returned, but their eyes no longer glowed pink, but bright yellow.
Thank you, mortalsss, they all hissed in unison, that vile magik hasss kept usss ensssnared for many yearsss!
The closest one glared at Amidiezich, and they let out a snarling hiss
We will take thisss one, she declared, he hasss played with usss for ssso long, now it isss our turn to have our way with him.
Ryan just shrugged, "go for it, but can you let us go?"
You can crossss thisss foressst without fear of usss, they responded, you have our blessing, on thisss sssole occasion.
Amidiezich looked towards Ryan and Ryd pleadingly, "please, don't let them take me,"
Ryan just shrugged, "It's out of our hands,"
"Plus you did try to kill us," Ryd added, "makes it very hard to feel sorry for you."
"No," he cried, as he was seized by several phantom widows, being dragged deeper and deeper into the fog, until only his blood curdling screams could be heard, "NOOOO!"
"Man, I do not want to be that guy right now," Ryan shuddered
"Agreed," Ryd said.
Once the last of the fog had faded, leaving them alone once more, they walked back to the girls, who were still in their cages.
"Shouldn't the effects of the panpipes be gone now?" Ryd asked gesturing to the two girls trying to break out of their cages.
"these cages are airtight," Ryan said, then he looks at them as they glare at him, though their eyes had a dangerous carnal hunger in them, the kind of look that gave Ryan conflicting feelings, "they may still have his pheromones in their systems."
"Should we wait until it works its way out?" Ryd asked
"I can't hold these two cages indefinitely," Ryan complained
"Well what should we do then?" Ryd demanded
Ryan's eyebrows crease as he started to run scenarios through his head, he then smirked, "I may have a solution, it's pretty weird though,"
"I can turn into a dragon and you shoot lightning; I think I can handle a little weird." Ryd grinned
Ryan walked up to the cage that held Jasmine, "I think I have a way to fix you,"
"Let me out of this cage right now, and I'll show you how to fix me!" she demanded in a raspy voice
He pouted, "Not even a please?"
"Please, let me out of this cage," Mac pleaded with a growl, "I'll treat you both so good you won't be able to move for hours."
"Hmm, tempting but no." Ryan said. He held up his hands to the two cages; one to Jasmine and one to Mac, wind swirled around him as two wind-type glyphs emblazoned within his outstretched palms.
"What are you doing?" Mac asked as the air inside the cage began to swirl around her, the same thing happened inside Jasmine's cage. All of a sudden, air was forced down Jasmine and Mac's throats, working its way down to their lungs. Unable to breathe properly, both girls struggled as they choked.
"You're suffocating them," Ryd cautioned
"Hold on," Ryan said, focusing all his attention on the task at hand.
Puffs of pink vapor started wafting from the girls' mouths and noses. Ryan let up and they dropped to the ground coughing up more pink smoke. When no more smoke came from them Ryan snapped his fingers and the cages lost their charge and sank back into the ground.
Ryan bent over Jasmine, who was still coughing on the ground,
"How're you feeling?"
She coughed, "Ugh, I don't know whether to kick your ass for nearly choking me to death or thank you for keeping me from going with that creep," Jasmine said, as he helped her up.
"The way that freak made me feel," Mac shuddered, "I can't believe I was even willing to…"
"It doesn't matter now," Ryd said, "nothing happened, and he's definitely paying for his sick ways. And no hard feelings for trying to kill me."
She nodded, "Still, it felt weird being suffocated by wind," Mac said, "I couldn't get a breath in or out even though my lungs were full of air."
"Hopefully, I never have to do that again." Ryan smirked, he then spoke in a soft whisper, "I almost killed you two doing that, twice,"
"What?" Mac asked
"Never mind,"
Afterwards, they all huddled around a campfire, staring at Ryd in disbelief.
"Is someone gonna talk, or do we all just keep staring at each other, stewing in this awkward silence?" Ryan asked
"That was a runic magik formula," Jasmine said, "that can only be done by magi… but you not one of us."
Ryd took a deep breath, "No, I'm not, I'm… enhanced. My mother was human, but my father was a cryptozoologist of magikal beasts, and she was an anthropologist, on magik cultures, we traveled the world studying them. They wanted to combine their fields of research to create a new kind of magik, he called it the ultimate man-beast transformation technique."
[Hi, Ryan here. Just wanted to point out that I wasn't even aware there were other man-beast transformation techniques for this one to be considered the ultimate.]
"They managed to complete their work, but they were afraid their research would one day be stolen, so they inscribed it… onto me." He looked down at his arms, "This is the sum total of my parents' research."
Ryd showed them the marks across his arms, they were similar to magus runic script, but slightly off. Ryan was able to recognize some of the characters, but others were completely foreign to him,
"Because my mother had old magus blood in her family, I somehow inherited the proficiency for activating magik glyph." Ryd said
"This is impossible," Jasmine said, shaking her head, "inscribing magik formula onto a person is seriously frowned upon; Stephanie still faces a lot of backlash for her own glyph ink. Not to mention the fact that he isn't even a recognized magus and can use such a dangerous cast. This… this is not good."
Ryd nodded, "A few months ago my father and mother went missing. They had gone to help victims of the gypsy war and no one has seen them since."
"Wait, what war?" Ryan asked, it sounded a bit familiar
"It's an internal thing for the gypsies, ARGUS isn't getting involved." Jasmine said with a finality that killed any further conversation into the topic. "Too much politics,"
"I've been trying to find them ever since," Ryd finished
"I'm sorry, I can imagine a little of what you're going through," Jasmine said tenderly touching his hand gently. The way she looked into his eyes made Ryan feel uneasy and he didn't know why.
"Thank you, Jasmine," he said looking into her eyes. She blushed as she peered into his deep orange irises.
Ryan stood up, "Alrighty, let's get going."
"What?" Mac asked
"It seems that every time we make sanctum, there's always some interruption or other, so it's best if we just get to this settlement first."
"But Ryan," Jasmine said, "we're exhausted. Mac and I used way more magik than we thought trying to get out of your cage."
"Well since I got juiced up by that lightning strike I've got more than enough power to spare." Ryan said,
"If only that could be of help to us." Mac sighed
"There might be a way," Jasmine stated,
"Come again?"
"With my eyes, I can see the flow of magik and even direct it, so I should be able to transfer magik between bodies,"
"I don't know," Ryan said, "Sounds painful,"
"Man up, you dolt, this was your idea," Jasmine said as she activated her aurum oculus. Her eyes shimmered as her it turned completely golden with glowing circuits around the organ.
"So that's what it looks like?" Mac exclaims,
"Whoa," Ryd exclaims
"Hmm," Ryan said, "you're sure you don't have laser eyes right? I would hate for your beautiful golden peepers to cut me in two,"
She rolled her eyes, which looked weird to the others in the state she was in, then she looked at Ryan, gazing beneath the surface until she could see his magik web. The quantity of magik he was giving off was far greater than what everyone else had, at least by triple. She often wondered how he had so much magik yet had barely as much command over it as she did, no wonder his aura was out of control.
She could see strings of fate flowing from his body in a rainbow of color. She grabbed one and instantly saw Ryan surrounded by a dark entity that embraced him tightly, almost lovingly. She quickly let go, no daring to see any more.
"Are you alright?" Ryan asked
"I'm fine," Jasmine said, "I just touched something I shouldn't have."
"Huh?"
"Never mind,"
Jasmine steadied her breathing and focused, Vlad had taught her how to transfer energy through the strings, and she had been practicing on her own. Using her own magik, she made contact with Ryan's source cluster and began to direct his magik through the strings to Ryd, Mac and herself. Instantly, she felt better, more energized, although, she had a strange craving for ice-cream and French fries.
Before she deactivated her aurum oculus, she had a quick glance at Ryan's magik web again, there was something near his source, so close it was almost overlooked, but still evident; a second source was entwined at the center of the web cluster.