RP:The Found and The Lost

Note

This is part of the The Obsidian Pool - The First Wave story arc.

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In The Obsidian Pool

Renin blinks against the grit thrown up from some unseen winds gloved fists clenched as he traverses the track-inscribed desert. His drowic senses have all but deteriorated the reason for such consequences obviously a source of bafflement. Every now and again the drow leans over, crouched, to inspect a noteworthy track left by whom he guesses to be Leo, and hastily does he continue. Fatigue not presenting itself as in issue, for his strong will has slowly built up a momentary immune system to this hell. Now, in the distance, Ren spots the shambling form of his ally, a good half-mile away, but his form glows… brighter than any flame one has ever seen. Not allowing this to hinder his forward advancement Renin continues forth, hoping his hasty tracking proved efficient.

Castellian attempted to decipher the nature of the world as it stood now, a malcontented myriad of twisting images and hallucinations. His hands drifted down to his waist and felt the chain wrapped about it, cold-iron comforting in its undeniable existance. He remembered this from before, and thus it remained. It seemed the pool could bend his mind, but not remove the physical. It was now that he decided moving, no matter the situation, would be best. The chances of striking someone by chance were much greater thusly, and so on a fluid stride he began. In the pitch black, his eyes betrayed, the Drow moved. Pressing, steadily, he began to move in a straight line. He heard naught but his own breath and the rigid rattle of the chains he dragged with him.

Leoxander was still in that desert, a mad man wandering the wastelands. The mouth of the cave had opened - not to light, but to such an immense and spacious place, that he swore the tunnel was left far behind. He could see nothing, but he could feel with wind, sand and heat. Different colored eyes squinted, scratched by the dust storm whipping straw colored hair out of his face, to give him no visual protection. The mask, fortunately, covered jaw and cheeks enough to prevent some ache, though already, his throat was parched from the lungfuls of clouted, musky air. Leo didn't look back. Imar had said he would catch up... it was up to Renin to do the same. He had a job to do before he... forgot where he was, and why... Compass still clutched in hand, his feet barely tracked telltale sign in the pale terrain, but his feet -were- dragging just enough for night-piercing ocular to glimpse.

Tenebrae stumbled against the wall of the Great Hall, a sharp sting across the skin of her upper arm as it was grazed by the base-relief arcania carved upon that otherwise polished surface. Pausing, exhausted, she laid her head against the cool stone. Her belly was distended hugely now, making her small frame seem stick-like by comparison. Turning her back to the wall, she made an awkward and painful crouch to lean against it. The baby would be coming soon... and she was all alone. Baby? Her mind rebelled against the thought, suddenly. She was incapable of bearing, let alone unwilling, even if she could. If... She drew her hand up to round a palm against the swollen, drum-tight mound that was her midriff. ..How in the name of Sven had this happened? Brow furrowed in absolute confusion, she closed her eyes, the baby's kicking only increasing that frown. A baby .... Her, a mother? Of all people, it seemed the most improbable thing in the world, the most... her shriek would ring out loud, a banshee wail as warm fluid splashed her ankles, and the terrible pain gripped her spine and abdomen, her fingers clutching uselessly against cold stone as the necromancer's labour began.

Renin was swift; the glowing form of Leo was etched perfectly within his mind. Each step seemed to be planned out even before the drow himself took it, it was mechanical. Within minutes the hasty has recovered impressive ground, proximity of a small field separating them. Sandaled feet sift into a haughty run, within touching distance of his captain. Allowing a small grin to tug at the corners of his lips he speaks from behind Leo, “Lost?”

Leoxander heard the first solid, real voice in... what must have been hours. It made him jump a bit before he turned to face Renin, still clutching the closed navigation devise against his ribs. His right hand dropped for a blade, but it didn't matter which one he used - they were both as dexterous as they were deadly. "You..." Recognition was quick, he knew the Da'Telleson drow. "Where's the other one? We need him.." His eyes, one stained in red, lifted over Renin's shoulder in what he assumed was the way he'd come. Imar could find them mentally, but the environment was going to prove a problem in a place perpetually drenched in shadow. Bleeding fingers slivered in stone from the caverns lifted to his hair again, and a muscle in his neck caused his skull to twitch as he dug blunt nails into his scalp again, feeling that flourescent green dosage simmering beneath his skin.

Renin grimaces as Leo swivels to face him. Sanity, at this moment, seems to slip away yet again- the normally vigilant pirate stands before the drow; convulsing slightly, bleeding, and running mangaled digits through worn patches of hair. “I um… I lost Imar.” Renin arcs his head back, field of vision directed to the same shoulder Leo peers over, “He’s not with me.” Ren shakes his head once more as he assesses the thief, “You- are you in pain?”

Tenebrae had no concept of what to do, and if she did the horrifying pain would blank her mind anyway. Her humanity was something three hundred years past, a mere memory - albeit one she'd fought to keep fresh and alive - and somewhere in her, it evidently had some lingering trace, as instict awoke and her body moved of its own accord to a position that seemed right for the moment. Lips drawn back over ivory fangs, the vampiress' moans echoed through the vast space. And with one final heave, that felt as though her very flesh was torn in twain, and with a last gush of sanguine fluid, the child was delivered to her blood-soaked and grasping hands. Her breath so ragged as to be only a series of hoarse gasps, her frame sinking from the squat she'd taken to the floor as she lifted the baby to her chest, cradling the tiny form. It was scarlet, with blood and new skin, so tiny ... Even Tene knew about umbilical cords, and her eyes shifted to find it... What the hells did one do, with the cord? But a moment later, further thought was stunned from her. There was no cord. The child's gore-smeared belly was completely smooth ... And then he - as patently 'he' was such - opened eyes black as a starless sky, a feeble first wail given. Tene clutched him to her chest, yet more sanguine added to the scene as her eyes welled. "I'm so afraid..." That whisper, drowned by the baby's increasing wails. "Help me...." And, as that cursed building was wont to do, it gave her what she wanted... The shadows that slipped from the darknesses in the far reaches of the room swarmed to coalesce around her, a susurrating morass that seemed to -lick- at her flesh, until it drew back.

"Joliette...." The voice was the dry crackle of a mummy's flesh. "Let me help you." Peridot eyes could hardly stay focussed on the tall figure that stood before her; somehow her awareness kept slipping, her eyes kept shifting to other parts of the room. "Who...." She was trembling, the power in this .. creature undeniable, calling to her own. Hands so pale as to be translucent reached to stroke her brow, a dead chill in the touch easing her feverish skin, and the son of Tenebrae was lifted with much hesitancy on her behalf from her arms. The answer was soft, as the wraithlike Eldritch leant, the tiny child cradled in one spidery-fingered hand. "I am your salvation, pet... Now, name your son."

Leoxander returned his attention to Rennion in time to hear the confession. Lost. Everything was going to be lost. His knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on the compass, though he couldn't prevent a groan of despair that muffled the curse spat into that sound. He clutched the fingers at his hair into it for a moment of angry thought, frantically thinking whether they had time to go back for him. "No.." He answered too quickly, but brushed the subject off immediately. His concerns obviously wouldn't be on something that might slow their search down. "We have to find Castellian. He has the way outta here. How... why did you two ever come, to begin with?" So he slightly yelled the words into that dark oasis of nothing, but it was out of a mindless frustration. But where was his 'want'? Where was his wish granted when they'd submersed themselves into that chaotic well? He didn't want power, this time, he'd only want a successful retrieval of clanmates. Of the Necromancer who was to lead them through battle.

Renin stumbles back a few paces, the once calm waters about him churning. Dust and debris fly up, though this ordeal seems to go unnoticed by Leo. He steps back a pace, eyes wide with fear. Instinctively both hands drop to cup the hilt of his twin daggers, knees bent so that he assumes a fighter’s position. The words of Leoxander go unanswered, though not unheard. Falling to his knees Renin cries out in agony, he is lost, “Why the hell are we here!” His words echo for what seems like minutes, wavering and trembling as they continue to repeat.

Tenebrae stared at the darkness that posed as a man, eyes wide. "Give him to me..." Her fingers clawed the air that seemed to thicken around her even as she did so. "Please." A white face swam into her perception, abruptly clear to her sight, its aquiline features bearing a smile sharper than any assassin's blade. "All in good time, sweet.. What is he to be called?"

Tene was too distressed to pick up on or care about the hint of impatience in that tone. Name? Her gaze locked to the tiny boy in the dark man's arms, somehow clear of blood and smooth of skin. Her son was ... chalk-white, radiant. Tene's arms ached for him, a pain felt more keenly than any other at that moment. "His name is Lucien. The Light..." And then a laughter so evil, so shrill as to have her body cringe upon itself involuntarily. The stranger, so strangely familiar, leant toward her conspiratorially, his words an auditory smirk. "What a good little mother you are ..." And even as the vampiress let out a panicked moan and struggled upward to take back her child, the creature that held her baby stepped back, to the shadows... melded with them, fading in the blackness from whence he'd come.

"No..." The word was unsounded, her throat constricted, the way one cries out soundlessly, helplessly in a dream. And the last thing she saw was the whiteness that was her son .. that was Lucius, fading to nothing. And all was Darkness, once more.

Leoxander was standing before a mirror that reflected the same hopelessness. Renin's skin a darker shade, his appearance different, but his mentality to the torment and abuse of that hell was the same. For a moment, the rogue stared in disgust as he fell to his knees and submitted to the desert that would likely wear their bones as jewels, if they kept things up in such a way. Fighting for his own sanity, Leo was less than gentle when he reached down to hoist Renin up by a shoulder, mindful of the blades the depressed man had grabbed, though he could do nothing for the bits of debris and sand that cut into his cheeks. "Get ahold of youself, soldier!" He hadn't expected to take any authority role on land, let alone a desert. But something in his young mind told him his duty was to his crewmates and fellow brothers in arms. "Now pull it together and think. We need to leave some form of sign for him to follow, but we've... got to keep moving." Mismatched eyes roamed into darkness, still clutching roughly into Renin's armor and shirt.

Renin allows himself to be hoisted upwards by Leo, feet- at first unsteady- plant their spots within the terra. Rearing back with his head he allows a scream to shake the foundations of his being, body shaking with anger, fear, and desperation. This ordeal last some five seconds, but at the end Renin stands, muscles twitching from great exertion and silent does he now fall. Gulping once he allows an arm to be raised, in the process sliding a dagger from its sheathe upon his hip. Without speaking he bends over and thrust the brand within the sand, before pulling himself back to a full stand. For a moment nothing happens, but an incantation-derived word of power leaks from between those lips and in a sudden light show crimson erupts all about. This extreme aura blinds for a moment, but settles back down to a desirable level, though pulsating like a beacon. “It’ll do.” With that he turns to look down at his tracks, and points the arm of right in the opposite direction, “It would be best if we would head out now.”

Castellian moved with an absence of sound, subtly unnerved at the absence of retort when he felt his boot find purchase on whatever he was treading on. He had a sudden appreciation then for the few elves he had seen attempt to penetrate the Underdark, a sudden understanding of what courage it took to continue to put a foot out into the cold darkness and never really know just where it would touch down again. The suspense drew on, each stride followed by another, until finally there was a body before him. At first, disorientated, his hand fell to the hilt protruding from a shoulder. The figure spun, small and quick, and abruptly he felt it latch onto him. Slender arms curled about his shoulders in a semi-familiar embrace, and the weight of a female's body sank against his. He recognized her too late to speak, however, for in that moment... in the terror and hallucinations that this place produced, Tenebrae had sank her fangs into the yielding flesh of his throat.

Leoxander tightened his grip when the man took a breath to scream, and brows raise. Apparently he wasn't the only one losing it, in that nightmarescape. Wincing through the length of the yell, his grip finally released warily when Renin grasped a blade, and he took a step back to admire the knife plunged into the ground. "...I hope he trips on it." The Captain let a wicked grin touch his worn features, but the mask hid it well. We've come from the west... I think..." It was near impossible to see the etched letters through the blast of sand and wind, still cyclone as though they were in a large, gigantic tunnel of sand and stone after all. That would explain why it was so hard for him to breathe.:: "Cover your face, if you've go'somethin', Mate. We're marching east." One last glance at the marker blade in the ground and he sighed a prayer. "Be quick on your feet, Mate." Not that Imar would hear it, but the belongings he still had on him were shrugged higher, and her gave Renin a bit of a rough shove to get him moving. Again, he scratched the back of his neck, the small wound seeming to get... infected.

Tenebrae was starved, this she knew if nothing else at that moment. Like some ravened beast she'd waited, listened for prey to shift, to make some faint noise there in the blackness... The vampiress' need could not have been met more fully than when the large frame of the drow Lord collided with hers. Not that she knew who it was, or cared. Preternatural strength had her lock her limbs around him, bestial lunge taken to the nearest source of life's-blood, the bite rough and needy. Drawing back hard, she murmered some guttural noise between swallows, as gouts of nourishment ran thickly down her throat.

Renin does not allow the ‘heroic’ attempts of his captain to assume a leadership role faze him. He was to tired, to exhausted, to fight about something that could be worried about another time- when he was not in constant danger. Having no garb for his mouth and nose he simply raises the front of the collar of his shirt, stretching it and holding it as a mouth-cover. Not looking back he begins to move, a hunter’s mindset attained. Lengthy strides are taken atop the worn desert, subtle taps of foot carrying him across the terrain like a spectral- almost gliding. His pace is fast, though Leo should be able to keep up, should being the key word, maybe Renin was taking a stand against this leadership.

Castellian debated briefly the way to escape his lover, whose prowess as a predator matched his own in certain facets. And while, usually, his strength could easily outmatch her own on any given day, the vitae she pulled from him was already sapping the strength from his body. His words were cut off, dead against her fangs as they punched deep, and so he spoke the only way he knew how. A hand crept up beneath her skirt, pressing beneath the pleats until the smooth of his palm could run along her bare skin. And, with albeit a great less strength than he usually managed, the Lord squeezed her as erotically as he could manage.

Leoxander wouldn't put it past him, but his heroic attempts weren't all too kind in the first place. The rogue didn't have a whole lot of patience, and honestly, he was well aware that he could move quickest alone. But, after releasing the rough shove he'd encouraged the drow with, the human fell into step just a step behind, following his pace like a well-trained shadow. All the while his mood was getting darker, and his temper more foul. Those subtle jerks and twists of schizophrenia symptoms showed now and then, and then there were other moments he nearly did fall behind, when he stopped to look around as though suddenly confused altogether. Truly worried to be left to his own mental consumption in the middle of no where, he hastened to follow the man he'd meant to order around. The guy had some crazy access to light. "Do you... you think you could... y'know, whip up some spell to give us something to look around with? I.. I keep hearing somethin' followin' us." His eyes roamed back, nervously, but he feigned some casual composure. "Isn't Imar..."

Tenebrae 's eyes, though they'd likely not be seen in that implacable murk, were ghost-pale and edged in a darkness to match thier surrounds. Near-revenant, the necromancer had her fill and more from the body of the man she clung to with such fierce determination. She was primed for such struggle as prey tends to commit, but not for a caress -- and as Castellian's hands stroked her in familiar ways, her mind slid toward recognition of him. Ungently, she tore her mouth from the ebon flesh of his neck, gaze strained in the dark as though she might see his features. "C.. Caste?"

Castellian was himself shocked at the sheer amount she claimed from him, and how swiftly she had done so. Sagging, he felt his knees catch just before his body crumpled to whatever lay beneath him. Wavering, his voice dark and thin, he managed little more than a hoarse reply. "Yes."

Renin plants a foot firmly, both leading knee crouching so to allow his body to spin in place. Panting he acknowledges Leo, his seemingly effortless bound across the terrain taking effect on his body. At the mention of light Renin merely shrugs and grasps the ever-present ivory hilt upon his shoulder. In a melodramatic tug the Telleson remnant rips Zephyr from its sheath in a skywards arc, showering a rather large proximity around the two with light. Feet shuffle and he turns to look upon Leoxander, “Listen if we are going to survive…” His words trail off, something… wasn’t right.

Tenebrae shook her head, tongue running to clear the blood from her lips. "Love..? What's happening?" He voice was very small, a child-like whisper. "I'm .. I've been lost, I think. I don't know where we are."

Leoxander slowed to a stop the moment Renin made a reach for his weapon. The wind stirred and wiped and howled it's fury around them as light began to spill into view, tearing the black void that they had been subjected to for days. Grays and browns penetrated the oil covered canvas of his surroundings, but the land was stone and barren and yielded precious little to sustain nothing. He could see Renin, at last, not but a few feet away, and the spellblade would be able to look up and glimpse Leoxander worn, ragged expression in return. The gusts of reckless air screamed louder, behind the thief. A whisper hissed violently, making him look over his shoulder. Renin would likely see the creation of element at the same time Leo did, though it raised two massive fists of stone and sand over it's head by that point, ready to crush the rogue. An explosion of wind sprayed debris and grain far when those elemental's appendages dropped in a downward slam and made contact loudly against the ground, and the agile thief managed to avoid being crushed into the soil... just barely. He rolled across the ground to one side, leaving Renin to face the creature created from a land of nightmare.

Larewen , by some twist of fate, manages to make her way to the large room with the pools. Her gaze wanders about to those that aren't within the confines of the pool before dropping to said prison. Her face is red, most likely 'cause she's crying, but that's not important.

Castellian replied with that telltale rasp, attempting to find strength in a body that was now lacking the fuel that drove it. How much could she have taken? He was not entirely sure, but it was many times that which she had dared drink from him before. Perhaps she wasn't aware, perhaps it did not matter. Forcing himself to stand, he cleared his throat, fighting off the fatigue and nausea that was suddenly attacking his senses and forcing himself sensible. "We are inside the pool, my darling, and attempting to find our way out."

Aerindir 's ready for combat the moment he appears in the headquarters, quickly racing toward the others and stopping upon seeing the spawned creature. Almost by reflex, he loads up his bows from their quiver, then taking aim at the elemental. In unison they then fly, the sound of string twanging and a hiss the only sounds made as the arrows soar toward their target.

Renin stood before the creature of stone, arm muscles going taut at the sight of an enemy. His motions are a blur, foot of right kicks forwards, only to bend and send the drow in a recoil the opposite way, thus sending those mighty fists of the opposed into the dirt- kicking up yet another maelstrom of debris. Back turned to the adversary Renin finds it odd as he can still pinpoint the location and movements of the elemental, like before- its body etched in ethereal flame only visible to him. The brawl ensues, the nimble swordsman continuing past the beast in a run, though mere feet behind the opponent leg muscles bunch once more, releasing and sending Rennion in a violent aerial flip, feet first connecting with solid material at the nape of the enemy’s neck. Pious flames alight about Zephyr’s keen edge, Telleson immediately thereafter swinging the brand on high, and hoping off the creature the same direction from whence he came. Apex of blade is punched in, causing it to claw within the earthy back of the infernal beast and tear earthwards as the drow plummets, causing the golem to rear in pain and hopefully creating an opening for the thief to escape, or even aid Renin in his plight.

Tenebrae said to Castellian, "The pool?" Her hands stroked stoic features, fingers tracing those familiar lines of jaw and cheekbone. "How....?" There were too many questions, her mind reeled. All she knew was her Lord was near, and she ... "Did I hurt you, my love?"

Aerindir just waits, alert and looking for any sign of trouble.

Jayde raised a trembling hand, her palm touching to her brow, lower lip quivering, and her breath coming in short gasps. It was as if she had seen a ghost, and barely escaped with her life. Her body turned, resting heavily upon the cold structure of a wall that hadn't been there moments before. Thick lashes lowered, hiding dulled gray irises, and resting against darkness that swelled beneath her eyes from a lack of proper sleep. She had been trapped in the maze for a day at the least. Monsters had been hot upon her trail; predominantly of human form. Wicked beings that taunted her, and near made her believe that Leoxander's, and Imar's spirits were cursed, and trapped here, able to ground themselves into human form. Their flesh was mottled, and rotted, hanging loosely from bones that peeked through bits of torn flesh. Cartilage creaked whenever they moved. Leo walked with a dreadful limp, his ankle broken.. and single eye; red, glaring back at her.. leaving her with the unwanted sight of an empty socket. Whenever she had turned from him in fright, there had been Imar, no better off.. his head twisted at an angle that would have been the death of anyway.. his mouth curved in a wicked leer, and arms reaching out for her. Leo had actually touched her, her flesh crawling, and her stomach roiling, coiling fingers in her hair that, when she had jerked, had even pried off a digit that clung to ebony mane. They had trapped her once or twice, and had been close to killing her.. though it had been, no matter how unintentional, the building to save her by building a wall between them. The one behind her now, as she recollected the past day, or so moved, stone grinding, her body slipping, until unceremoniously she was deposited with a hard thud upon the flooring. This room was different though.. and when she rose, she came to the deduction that she had finally made it to the heart of the maze.

Leoxander shoved up to his knees, and then his feet, a faceful of sand preventing him from seeing much more than a watery blur, with a flare of light that symbolized Rennion's movements. There wasn't much the thief could do but stare wide eyed, the light reflecting off his pupils, as the center of the creature crackled and rumbled, impaled with the Spellblade's wrath, and indeed, crumbling into halves and then pieces more. The wind died down, but didn't vanish completely, and Leo was only stumbling forward to stare at the pile of rocks and sand for a moment. "...Well... Nice one. We'd best find Im-..." The earth began to shake. Not the soil beneath them, but those many stones that riddled broken on the terrain. More controlled cylinders of air-flow picked the collection of rocks into massage of replicas like that of the first destroyed element; only many, all much stronger, but equally powerful enough to send either man reeling with a swing of glass and obsidian sharp fists. Renin and Leo had four of them now, And Leoxander drew the only weapons he could reach for fast, which would do much against rock monsters.... Leoxander equipped twin daggers.

Aerindir surveys the room, his gaze settling on the etched stone walls.. Quietly, he formulates a plan, nodding as a half dozen arrows are fetched from the quiver in which they rest. Fetching multiple lengths of rope, securely tying one to each of the half metre objects. One after another they're then placed along his bow's flat edge and fired toward the wall, the strength used helping to ensure they're all lodged within the wall at intervials.

Castellian answered with naught but a stoic shake of his head, curling a sinuousely-muscled arm about the slender arches of her hipbones. He pulled, with strength he wasn't even aware he still had, roughly drawing her to his side. The strides were fluid from the start, sharp and crisp, treading them along.

Renin wheels about, granite eyes alit with energy as he eyes the summoned opponent’s. His back is turned to that of Leo’s, his battle prowess hopefully allowing the two men to work in a useful combination of strikes. Before any more action can be taken by the golem’s Renin’s left palm is retracted from its place on that sword’s hilt. Words of power slip from the dark elf’s being, thus causing a storm of silver to work its way into a rotation about the ship mates. In this blur of chrome Ren shouts the final verses to his spell, chaotic wisps of energy twirling, now, to the blades of the men’s blades. Zephyr, as well as Leo’s two dagger’s, glean with arcane proficiency. “Lets get these bastards.” Is all Ren says, his body once again working into action. Zephyr is held out to the far right as he charges the nearest elemental, edge slicing through the arm as he runs past. His body bursts into the air once more, body spun on a tight rotation, thus causing Ren to stare at the next best eye to eye. Growling Zephyr is whipped in, both silver and gold flames jetting from the blade in a fiery combustion of energies, silver blade lashing through the torrents on a mission, piercing directly through the cranium of the fire-lit beast.

Jayde , for a moment, could do naught but lay there.. the breath stripped from her already heaving lungs, gasping, her chest straining against the tight binding of the corset that made her seem all the more like a Savior with it's pure white wings that arched upwards with a flourish of detailed feathers. They now were soiled, like a warrior, her pale skin smudged with soot. Crawling to her feet with a scrambling of limbs, another deep breath was taken. Horrific images of Leo, and Imar, hurt or worse had brought her here. Was Tenebrae already dead? Was that why she saw no images of her? Who else had been sucked into the pool? She didn't know the specifics, just that she had to help in any way she was able. Could she save those wounded, and revive those so close to death that their soul was already writhing it's way from the confinement of the body? A chill raced down her spine, and her head jerked to glare over the naked curve of her bruised right shoulder.. drawing the cracked and dry flesh of her thick lower lip between her teeth for a firm bite, close enough to drawing blood. She could sense the evil here, even Sadie had been too frightened to venture forthward with her.

Tenebrae , charged with the ancient and noble blood of the goddess-spawned drow Lord, was stronger. But ever mindful of his innate dignity she tried her best not to make it too obvious that she was lending him as much support as he was to her. As they walked in silence, for somehow silence seemed to claim them now, the necromancer's mind attempted to reclaim the foggy shreds of memory that slipped away like the remnants of a nightmare. What had -happened- in that place? All that remained to her was the vague perception of distant fires, a tall dark silhouette and ... There was no picture to accompany the words that sprang to her mind, then. - A child of Light- But they held no meaning for her, adding to her confusion, and she promptly allowed the phrase to fall to oblivion with the rest. All that mattered now was that her Castellian was near, and they were together ... and he was taking her home.

Aerindir now walks around the pool until he reaches the arrows wedged into the wall. In silence, he now crouches, tying additional arrows to the ends of three ropes. Before he throws them into the abyss, he makes a point of whispering, thus activating the magic imbued to them and giving them a brilliant aura of light.

Leoxander stumbled on his usually so sure feet to put distance between he, and these creatures growing more black and solid than their original larger creation, soon sensing the drow somewhere directly behind. A pair of them devoted to each humanoid, two of the stone creatures lumbering toward Renin while Leo was half-circled by the duo that remained. He barely avoided the sudden crumble one, a jagged edged avalanche of deadly arrowheads that came pouring forth, by leaping backward to bump into Renin just as twin knives ignited with power in his palms. Stones scattered at their feet, creating a hazardous flooring, and the area around them seemed to conjure a whirlwind of sand. In another effort to smite intruders, the creature lumbered forward, yet when Leo wildly plunged a blade into the chest of one, expecting to hear the retaliation of steel on rock, he was shocked to feel the weapon dig deep, and the earthen elemental being split, in the same fashion the first had fallen to Zephyr. Stones, a dozen of them, began to come to life in a circle around the thief. To each that fell beneath Renin's quick blade, triplets of smaller, but more dangerous and better armored make were born. They begin to take on the distinct shape of 'Rooks' from a chess-board, defining power. Leo's panicked curse sounded. "No good! We have to get out of here..!"

Renin twists his body mid-flight, feet meeting earth with naught but a small puff of dust. This is quite ironic as the beast that crumbles around him creates a rather large explosion of rock, some tearing into the drow’s body as he stand’s atop the defeated foe. Upon hearing Leo’s words he nods, his weapon of choice swung to his front side to stare upon yet another golem. The blade wavers menacingly, though the left hand of Ren waves for Leoxander to follow him. Issuing yet another growl the drow lungs, but back steps immediately, blade thrust forth and retracted in unison with his steps, the feint sent the almost mindless construct off guard for a moment, but enough time to allow Leo to pass. Renin immediately spins on his heel, his sword of legend held- point first- as he trails some ten feet behind the thief, lighting the way for his ally. He tosses a final glance over his shoulder and sneers as the ‘rooks’ in vain attempt to match the pace of these trained travelers.

Imar's ebony form is supremely relaxed and confident, as he stands silently over the bodies of six drow. His snow white hair cascading down his bare back, the dark elf’s handsome visage is pointed upwards toward the impenetrable black rock of the cave roof. In his mind he watches the others as they struggle against their personal demons, biting and clawing their way ever onwards. He wonders why they try so hard? why not just give in, and accept the reality and the gifts offered by chaos? Finally, the tall drow lowers his head, and his penetrating crimson eyes, glittering with the pure light of insanity, look once more upon the dead. He caresses the hilt of Leo’s dagger, and a smile spreads across his dark visage. He looks up suddenly, his head cocked as though listening, and his smile becomes a laugh, as he feels the tidal wave of illusion rush by, and sweep him away.

Leoxander was running. What -were- those things? Creations of stone as dark as the walls of Eldritch themselves, and the more they fought against them, the stronger and more they had become. In the dark, mismatched eyes darted and searched for Renin. "Stay with me, Re-..." Leo stopped, turning, barely daring to speak louder than a whisper with the terrain beneath his booted feet once more solid - no longer sand. "...Renin?" The drow had been right behind him, the light of Zephyr had shown his way, and now... swallowed by unfathomable darkness again, Leo was alone. The pirate cursed in a way that would have made those of innocence and purity blanch, and abruptly turned to kick a rock, hard. Pain melted onto the rogue's features, his loathe for himself increased by the stupidity of that move, and he crumbled to clutch his foot, feeling his body gladly sink into that defensive, balled position. Solitude brought back company of another type when he heard some laughter, taunting and hissed, from behind. "...No..." Fingers clutched into his head when he moaned the denial of those sounds echoing within that skull.

Imar watches Leo curiously, as the human curled into a defensive ball, finds himself standing on the deck of a mid sized sailing ship, caught in the midst of an angry sea. With howling winds and ice flecked rain hammering at its sails, and towering waves battering at its fragile wooden frame, the cruel storm seems bent on sending the hapless craft and its crew to the bottom of the hungry ocean. The half seen form of Imar steps out from the shadows beneath the bridge house, serenely indifferent to the mayhem about him and gazing at Leo with blazing crimson eyes. With a mind numbing salvo of concussive explosions, thunder booms across the roiling black sky, and bolts of brilliant lightning burst down to strike the ship with fire. Confused seamen, run from bow to stern, port to starboard, glaring at Leo with mingled fear and rage, and calling to their gods for salvation from the nightmare. Even over the noise and carnage of the storm, Imar’s laughter echo’s loudly and his voice is clear and resonant as he speaks “Davie Jones’s locker waits for no man Leo” His open hand sweeps around in an all encompassing gesture “I believe this is yours my friend. Or is it mine?” He laughs out loud, the insanity in his eyes, glittering with every flash of light “I sometimes lose track!” With a sharp crack, and a blinding flash, a blue white bolt of lightning strikes the ships main mast close to its top. The narrow, broken of shaft seems to hang in mid air for a long moment, before slowly pivoting point first downwards, and dropping like a sword strait at Leo, seemingly intent on skewering the would be captain and nailing him to the deck of his own ship.

Leoxander was called to that un-reality by the explosion of voices and fire suddenly surrounding him, a symphony of blaring noise that swallowed the sounds of mental whispers entirely. The scene before him, when his head and eyes lifted, was far more frightening. He pushed to his feet in surprise and stood stable on the chaotic sway of the ship, crouched to balance instinctively in the toss of the angry element. Imar's laughter called above the song of anguish from the men on that ship, and wild-eyed, the human looked to the drow to hear his words. A scowl found it's home on his features, amidst the worry. "Make this stop! I know you're doing this..!" He'd done it before. The illusionist was searching his memories for his paranoia, Imar was inside his head. Fingers clutched into his hair, still. "Get out of my head!!" With his voice came the harsh sound of splintering wood. Leo looked up to see the blazing shape looming, seeming to drop slow motion toward his body. Only time for one step back before he leapt, but not entirely out of the way. The shaft of the mizzenmast was avoided, which would have killed him instantly. However, the wooden bar of the sail prop, having caught fire from it's support like a disease, landed harshly against the back of his legs and dropped his jump to the floorboards like an anchor of weight had fallen onto his back. The wind expelled from his torso in a scream of pain - though he hadn't been impaled and the weight hadn't broken his bones, the pirate felt the heat of the flames eating through leather armor in seconds, into the skin at the backs of his limbs. He clawed into the wood to the point blunt nails left marks on the scuffed upper deck, a gaping hole in the center of the vessel now threatening to capsize the ship... -his- ship! "I'll kill you for this..!!"

Imar strides across the deck towards Leo, his rained streaked visage aglow with dark humour, and his blade hissing at it slices through the flesh and bone of any seamen who crosses his path“Are we real Leo?” Grasping a hapless man by the collar, the tall drow lifts him of his feet “Are they real Leo? will he drown if do this” With a flick of his wrist, the man was sent screaming to the side of ship, and over the rail. He continues toward Leoxander, his body hard, and indifferent to the splinters of wood which fly about the deck in clouds of destruction. He reaches down and plucks Leo up and carries him to a place less under siege. He stares into his companions eyes, amber fighting the crimson for control “This isn’t me Leo, I am not doing this

Leoxander stumbled to his feet, clutching onto the illusionists robes and sleeves, or whatever he wore. He felt pain, real pain, at the backs of his legs, with the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. Leo couldn't open one eye entirely from the fall he'd taken, and he was stunned to hear the drow ask that question, while flinging a person off the ship with his sudden power. Leo could have swore he knew the face of that crewmate... Enno! He jerked forward slightly even as he was picked up, fighting against Imar's hold to try to find someone. Jayde was screaming for help from the hold below, he could hear her! Miradin..! His wide eyes caught sight of the drawf, trapped beneath fallen lines and crates. He wasn't a hero... but he had to help them! A captain... went down with his ship. "Let go!" A roar was managed before hands grasped his head to force a stare into panicked red and blue eyes, and he panted for breathe that came so weakly, it left him lightheaded. The wound at the back of his neck throbbed, pulsing another dose of itch against his scalp, burning into the center of his head, and he dug roughly into Imar's arms with his stare seemingly locked, entranced for just a few seconds, at the mind-magician's vision. Imar... wouldn't do this to him, he had to be telling the truth. But if not him, who?

Imar’s eyes drifting between amber and crimson desperately scan Leo’s expression, and with a sigh, the master of illusion, who some call the deceiver, shakes his head in seeming defeat, “It’s the pool Leo, it uses our memories…it the Lords…” Without warning, the howl of the furious storm is dwarfed into near insignificance by a deep animal roar of challenge, and from directly behind Leoxander, as though dredged from the collective nightmares of countless generations of sea farers, rises the vast amorphous form of a giant squid. With another ear shattering roar, the sea monster grasps the ships rail with its writhing tentacles, and the ship, its timbers creaking under the immense strain, cants steeply to one side, as the beast heaves its bulk partly onto the deck. Its huge black eyes glitter with malign intelligence as they scourer the confused deck looking for victims, and its impossibly long and hooked eagle’s beak of a maw opens wide and snaps shut with anticipation. The hungry gaze of the squid is suddenly fixed upon Leo and Imar, and without needing to shift its vast body, the creature unclasps one of its thick slimy appendages from the ships rail. Curling and writhing with serpentine flexibility, its underside rippling wetly with hundreds of saucer shaped suckers, the tentacle moves steadily toward the two forms. Imar’s eyes widen in shock, and his lips spread wide to expose his twin fangs. The newly made reverent, his sanity somewhat restored by the presence of Leo, hisses with rage, and grasping his companion, tosses him into the shelter of the wheel house. ”Damn it! Did I hear Jayde? Is she here, too?” But before he can do anything else, a great tentacle wraps itself around him, and the vavmpiric drow is lifted of the deck.

Leoxander was dreading to look over his shoulder. Oddly enough, the shock and fear on Imar's features made his drain to something of disbelief and boredom. When he spoke, with a tired drop of his arms, he turned around to the huge, writhing shape emerging from sea water, and moaned beneath his breath with a roll of his eyes toward the stormy sky. "Of course! A bloody feckin' sea monster!" Yeah, the human was going mad, because at that point, he screamed toward a flash of lightning in vocals that cracked, like his mind. "Why don't you just have the ocean swallow us up! A huge whirlpool of black water to take us to oblivion!" Tentacles began to clasp onto the ship, and it's mass tilted to one side with various screams of random, unreal people trapped below. Imar's question of Jayde paused him, wondering if his fears were confirmed real. He drew a weapon, but the man was no longer armed with only blades. On boat, a pirate cutlass exposed at a deadly curve, drawn from his hip. A swipe toward the limb coming advancing on him was given while his steps brought him hastily backward toward Imar. "You came with Renin! She didn't enter the pool, did she?" He wasn't necessarily the one to ask. Already, the infected bite was sealed, holding it venom inside it's prisoner body, taking it's toll on the human's mentality. But it wasn't real, was it? "We're still in the damn pool, aren't we?!" It was hard to remember.

Leoxander equipped pirates cutlass. Leoxander then realized Imar was being lifted, even as he dared to look at the drow. His shout was heard clear into the halls of headquarters, echoing. Leoxander shouted, "Imar!!"

Imar’s bones creak under the pressure the enormous tentacle, and he screams as his bare flesh shredded by the powerful suckers. He grips the unadorned hilt of sword firmly, and slices down with all his considerable strength. The creature bellows with pain and rage, as Imars blade, cursed, and dark with magic, cuts easily, and deeply into the sensitive flesh of its appendage. With a roar of exultation Imar cuts through the last strands of the beasts massive grip, and with a lurch, he feels himself falling. His gaze looks down, and he groans with horror as he looks into the open maw of the Squid. He screams out to Leo “It isn’t real” and his blazes with need to escape. Imar and Leoxander walk the beach, and stare hopelessly out at the enless blue, green ocean. Imar shakes his head, his eyes clear and amber “It doesn’t matter where we are Leo, we have to keep going.”

Jayde had, indeed, been drawn into the pool.. her desire to try to aid those in need with powers she knew they lacked an infliction of her personality. The horror of the situation had been one she had only heard stories of. Killer storms, whirlpools of water that could swallow large vessels whole, monsters that fed on humans and other creatures and beasts alike.. they didn't stand a chance. She was trapped in the belly of the ship, it's roll from the great creature she could only hear sending her into a wall so harshly she would be left with bruises upon milky skin. Again, she beat against the door, hard as she could, wood numbing her hands, and bloodying the fists she pounded with. Her voice was growing weak, and hoarse from yelling, and water lapped merrily, as if she were at the beach, at her calves. "Help! Please, help!" The flame flickered, before it fell into the rising rain, and seawater created from the fallen mast. The water rose, swirling 'round her hips, rising quickly.. screams from above filling her ears, sight lost from the death of the candle. Her mouth opened to scream again, her lungs soon filled with the tang of salt water.. her eyes squeezed closed. But when she inhaled again, it was the rough, grained texture of sand..

Leoxander managed a vicious swipe that opened pale, slimy flesh to pus and ooze greenish-yellow liquid onto the front of his leather armor, burned and soaked through as though he had endured the physical trial Imar screamed wasn't real. The wind screamed in fury, the fire roared and feasted on wood, while the waves of the sea battered the sinking vessel, devouring another boat to it's murky depths steadily. A cooperation of elements. Silver sliced the area in front of him in effort to repel the limb that squirmed his way, and again, Jayde's screams of help tormented his ears. It wasn't real, he had to believe Imar. Unknown to the rogue, he'd infuriated the creature that held Imar above it's... well, what he assumed was it's head, poised to swallow the illusionist at any moment. Another slick appendage slithered entirely around the boat, following the underbelly to crawl over the side behind Leo, the length of appendages it's advantage. Seering pain struck his already burned legs when a tentacle enclosed around his ankle and calf, and taking advantage of the human's surprise, the other closed around his forearm, oozing pus onto Leo's shoulder and back. His features distorted in agony with the burst of pain that came from the stinging suction cups along the inside of arms that grasped him in an affectionate hug, more snakes of squid arms closing in to trap him. At the moment he closed his eyes, his lungs and insides crushed, it all just vanished and left him back first on the sand, in the shallow water of the tide. He began to convulse, at once... and before taking note of Jayde's real presence, or the fact they were on a calm beach, the man began to spasm and seizure, head rolling back with his eyes still tightly closed. He resembled something of a fish in shallow water, especially as he was in the wash of lazy waves.

Imar fingers the bloody wounds which criss cross his body, and shakes his head disgust. Thoughts rithe around head in confused circles *Did that actually happened? It must off, but it seems so long ago. How long have been on this island? and why am I losing control like this? I am the master of illusion, arn't I* At sight of Jayde, his gaze hardens, and crimson momentarily floods the amber hue. He could smell her female scent, and almost taste the warm river of blood which flows beneath the surface of her tender pale flesh. The vampiric drow grits his teeth, and with an effort of will regains control “Jayde! What the hell are you doing here?”

Jayde rolled onto her back, a leg rising to plant a bare foot into the moist sand, abdominal muscles crunching with the roll of her spine, sputtering, coughing up water, and spitting out sand with a turn of her skull. Her cheeks were flushed, and her small frame still trembled. She was no illusion. Carefully, unsteadily, her hands planted to the ground at either side of her body, pushing carefully to her feet, swaying, stumbling back on weak knees.. as if she still lingered on the rocking boat. "I.." Well, she couldn't say she came to help, because even to her that sounded pathetic.

Leoxander went unnoticed for the time being. Down the beach slightly from the pair, he was yet visible, writhing as though still clutched onto by the squid that had held him. Only, he didn't stop shuddering, an the water washed over his mouth and nose as his head rolled to the side with a cough, a gargled sound of pain choked off by the splash of water. He couldn't open his eyes, the searing ache through his structure, suddenly, had them squeezed shut as though blinded by light. Fingers tightened into fists on the sand below him, uprooting handfuls of it that was held onto even as he fell still, and stopped fighting. Sweet blackness draped the human like a blanket - he didn't move, but he'd continue to breathe shallow. Easier if helped by dragging him out of tide, onto the beach, eventually.

Jayde had been left, with soft urgings, to tend to Leoxander, whilst Imar went to perhaps gather wood, or scour the area for food, or help. With his aid, Leo had been pulled from the shallow waters that were only rising with the coming of the tide, laying him out on the dry sand. Occasionally, she was sit on the sand behind him, and allow the back of his skull rest in her lap; as if it was a pillow. Other times, she would roam down the beach a short distance, restless, like a caged white tiger ripped from the wild. She wished she had some fresh water to pour into Leo's mouth, and coax down his throat with a rub of his adams' apple. Oh, sure they had sea water a'plenty; but drinking that would drive a man to insanity. A hand rose, and her fingers pushed back through tousled, damp black curls, stalking back on bare feet to the incapacitated captain.

Leoxander laid on the beach until the foggy sky darkened in colors, bringing a night much quicker than a day in Hollow would. Instead of soft oranges and lavenders, this sunset horizon was red as blood and a dark gray like stone; cloudy and cold. If Renin was there, he was probably huddled for warmth, maybe keeping watch. The tide remained curiously low, like the calm before a storm, and in the distance, a burning ship had been reduced to a few planks, barely alive flames smoldering for their last taste before sea water consumed them. Leo was still as death save a steady rise and fall of his chest, as if in the deepest sleep, yet his skin was burning hot to the touch with a fever. Mouth open slightly to taste the oxygen which, unlike most beaches, seemed smoggy and thick, he was dying of thirst by the time he heard water swaying and lapping the beaches. Thank god... it had all been some nightmare. He was on the coast of Cenril, now, maybe in his little cove that nestled the Eternity. Jack was probably in the distance chasing crabs, and he'd fallen asleep. That was the brief fantasy before he slightly moved in the sand, and those very real seeming wounds on the back of his legs grated into wet, grainy texture. He stiffened with a weak exhale of sound, wheezed through his dry airway roughly. Leo refused to open his eyes yet, because something behind his lids blinded him with ache, causing them to squint. The wound at the back of his skull throbbed...

Jayde, for the briefest moments, could have sworn that his chest was still, lacking the need of oxygen to fill his lungs. Her approach to him was quicker; steps that picked up speed until the distance was closed between them by a run. Sand was kicked up when she dropped to her knees to his side, thankful that his breath, no matter how horrible sounding, was there. A hand rose, and her fingertips brushed up his cheek, to push through blonde hair. The other lowered to press her palm to the left side of his chest, to ascertain how steady his heart beat beneath her palm. She didn't question, orally, if he was alright.. it was easy to tell that he wasn't, and it would have been a waste of energy that he needed to conserve. Desperately, gray eyes darted around, trying to find a small stream, or puddle she had missed that would hold fresh water. She was too nervous to sit down, and meditate, until she was one with the land of the beach, and locate where saltless water flowed plentifully. Perhaps when Leo was more conscious, she would be able to relax, and open her mind..

Leoxander didn't hear the approach, his ears were plugged what had to have been salt water, muffling the noise to make it all so far away. But he felt the hands to suddenly touch his face, soft and gentle, pushing through hair. Images of chaotic nature flashed through his mind with his eyes closed, and his body jerked with a hard twitch of reaction when her palm pressed to his chest, one inked appendage lifting to dig rough fingers into the touch. The feel of her skin was delicate beneath his digits, and in an attempt to ease the confusion of his mind, his eyes cracked open to dark surroundings, while he breathed deeply of the bitter tasting air. The color of the sky silhouetted the woman knelt over him, but her dark hair was damp, lightly teased in curls from the moisture, framing features that were too blurry to justify. Leo's hand, trembling, lifted at once to clutch higher into her shoulder, almost as if prepared to anchor himself to her body to sit up. He couldn't stop the first word he spoke in a whisper, utter relief and affection in the thief's exhausted, and somewhat... empty eyes. "...Te-... Tenebrae..."

Jayde lifted the hand that had pushed back unruly blonde mane, clutching his wrist; her other hand remaining pressed to his chest with the dig of fingers into tender flesh. Her touch firmed though, against his torso, to keep him pressed back, hoping he was too weak physically to fight against soft urgings that he remained still. The whispered name, and the.. relief that reflected in mismatched color'd eyes very nearly broke her heart. The lump that rose in her throat was a tight constriction, making it near impossible to speak around it. His risen hope that Tenebrae was alright, when she didn't even know if the woman still lived, was broken with a shuddering breath, and a slow shake of her head. "No, Leo, 'tis me, Jayde." Again, her fingertips pressed to his cheek, a frown pulling her delicately arched brows together. The plush texture of her lips compressed with the heated feel of warm skin beneath her touch, again sparing a glance around, helplessly. What she wouldn't do for a bed, some blankets, and an endless supply of fresh water. His fever needed to break, she needed to hydrate his body, and tend to any wounds he might have sustained. It seemed she not only couldn't concentrate on coaxing the land to help her, but she must have been so exhausted that she was unable to muster the energy to heal him.

Leoxander risked a heartbreak as real as Jayde's when she spoke in a voice that didn't belong to the vampiress, and his brow etched in confusion with surprise tensing him against the sand. The relaxed pose and grateful look was short lived. It wasn't that he wasn't happy Jayde was alright, it was the fact that she had been... a figment of their imaginations, like Miradin, and Enno, and whoever else was aboard that terrible nightmare burning and drowning in the ocean. The healer alone witnessed the confusion, melting to pain, disappointment, and longing to find the woman who had been his companion and clan leader for some time, now. Tenebrae watched his back, and he watched hers... yet here, the rogue couldn't find her. Worse, the druidess had risked so much to follow her friends into that hell, and now she was trapped here like the rest of them. "Jayde..? ...why are you here..?" His head thumped back weakly on the sand, squeezing his eyes closed. The human shook his skull slowly side to side, a really puzzling thing after awhile when he kept doing it, as if denying the things he was saying, or telling a person 'no' subtly. "Who came with you..?" Still shaking his head, he groaned one last question and kept his vision hidden, aching. The back of his skull was the epicenter of that discomfort. "Where's.. Castellian?"

Jayde could almost feel the emotions emanating off of him, and it only further stole the breath from her lungs with an exhaled sigh. The thick flesh of her bottom lip was caught, and roughly dragged between her teeth with his questions.. her brows once more pulling together in an etch of contemplation. "I came here to attempt to help the wounded." What a wonderful job she was doing, huh? "I don't know where Castellian is. Nor Tenebrae. Nor anyone else whom has been drawn in." Jayde traced her hands down his chest, her touch firm, though not so much so that it might cause him discomfort. Down his body her hands traveled, her touch southward bound. She was attempting to assess how badly he was hurt physically on the exterior of his body.. broken brokens, gashes, et cetera. If he moaned, or cried out in pain, she would know she had found something that needing immediate tending.

Leoxander was riddled in small half circle marks from the tentacles that had coiled around his body, and the mizzenmast sail had managed a job on his legs, but hopefully he could still walk when the need arose. For the moment, Leo wasn't going anywhere, and his head slightly lolled to one side to blink lazily, looking down the beach from his horizontal position. She didn't know where Tenebrae was, or the drow she was promised to marry, also their means of escape. Was this Castellian's plan all along? Now, they were stuck on what would seem to Imar and Renin, from their searches, to be an island. The desert had been mysteriously swallowed by sea water, and it was a long walk to judge how large that single body of land in a vast depth was. Something told him he had to get up; so he did, or he tried, with a slow roll onto his side, and then his stomach, cheek smooshed against the wet soil. He had enough strength to pull out from underneath a touch that might have kept him down, but not enough to stand completely... as she would see when he barely managed to push up to his hands and knees, head bowed. Matted, dark hair surrounded the infected skin that blistered, where he'd been bitten.

Jayde fell back onto her backside when he shifted, and rolled slowly, despite her attempts to keep him still. With a scrambling of limbs, she pushed to her feet, reaching down when he rose onto his hands and knees, in an attempt to aid him, either to rise to his full height well over six feet, or back onto his back. But a gasp was wrenched, audibly, from the separation of parched lips when gray eyes took in the obvious wound at the back of his skull, and the terrible marks on the back of his legs. "Leo.." A hand lowered to his shoulder, the other to the small of his back.. an attempt to push him back down firmly. Whether he complied, or not, she was reaching down, to run her fingertips gently up the length of the wounds. "Oh, Leo.." It was more of a moan of pain, as if she, herself, could feel the sting of pain that he likely felt.

Leoxander didn't go down as easily as she'd expect. He might have been on mere reserves of energy at that point, but when she pressed against him, she only made his locked arms shiver a bit in effort and success to stay up. His palms and fingers sunk into the sand, and his hair fell over his closed eyes with his head dropped as far as it was. He wasn't sure what to do from that point - stand or drop. He lingered in that position until a sudden cough racked his frame, and the mixture he suddenly spit up was, of all colors, green. The bile that escaped his stomach wasn't pretty to look at but if she did, she might noticed the mingled colors were almost... florescent they were so vibrant, though mixed blood darkened the expelled mess. Poor Jayde didn't seem to have the strength to keep her hands clean, but the blister swollen where the spider had latched onto his throat seemed filled with something - sealed over and infected after so many days. His own moan returned was one of anguish when he finally stopped throwing up to breathe. One dirty, sand covered hand lifted, and his body almost pitched him face forward into that puddle, but he tried to clutch onto his shoulder, and then toward his own neck. He could feel the wound pulsing, and each throb drove needled into the back of his skull.

Jayde 's attention returned to the back of his head, and neck, her right hand stroking down the length of his back; an attempt to soothe him while his body heaved, and the contents of his likely empty stomach were emptied there before him. Curiosity had her gaze rising to the green coloring, and her brows only drew more tightly together. "Do not touch it. You will get sand in it." His hand was swept aside when he fingered the wound, her small frame repositioning itself directly behind him, even somewhat straddling his lower back. But it was simply so she could find a good grip underneath his arms, her own appendages sliding forward to encircle his chest, attempting to draw his torso erect. "Come on, let us get you further from the water." And the curious mess his body had rejected. "Are you able to stay alone for a bit? I am going to go see if I can find some water? Have you a flask, or something on your person I can use.. to hold it?"

Leoxander attempted to find his footing when he felt aiding hands under his arms, his grip brushed aside from the blister, a grotesque bubble of enflamed skin with yellowish tint beneath. Large, the size of a nickel, at least, it stung directly into the soft spot above his spine, where the curved shape of bone gave away a vulnerable route to his brain. There was no ignoring something like that, especially so close as he tried to push upright, stumbling and leaning against her hold for several attempts before he seemed stable enough to stand. Dry mouth open with his lips chapped from lack of water in... hours upon hours, his gaze fixating toward the dark sea, waters so black that they reflected the vermilion colors in the sky like obsidian. Leo looked nauseous and drunk. He clutched onto her arm or whatever he could grab of the woman while swaying in place with a few random twitches of muscle that caused him to jerk as though he were balancing on inches of space, and risked falling a thousand feet to his death, even if both boots planted firmly to sand. His eyes remained squinted, head dropped forward with groans of frustration bubbling in his throat, and he tried to touch that sore again, maybe find relief to the constant ache tearing into his skull. "N-no..."

Jayde couldn't look directly at the wound--not so close. She was a healer, yes, and needed to be able to stomach such sights if she ever hoped to be any kind of help to wounded people; on sea, or off of it. But it was yellow, and surrounded by the infected colour of red; bad enough to almost cause her to gag her body's distaste at the hideous sight. Once he was a good distance away from the ocean, and the revolting green mess, Jayde attempted to re-lower him back to the ground, at his new location. "Stretch out on your stomach. -Please- Leo. I need your cooperation if I'm to help you any." If he put up a fight to laying down, Jay' was attempting to force him down, her pressure firm on his shoulders, or back. Though, once he had submitted, whether he did, or didn't.. the petite female was turning, and jogging back with quick steps towards the ocean that remained, it seemed, eerily calm against the beach. On the way, she was gripping the black fabric of her skirt, searching for any tears, or holes that she could widen. And when one was found, she tugged with all her might to peel it back, stretching it around the whole of the hem. She would have to make due with what supplies she had. And the salt water of the ocean was the best thing she could think of to clean his wounds.

Leoxander dropped to his knees easily, in softer sand. But getting him onto his stomach was a challenge, considering he seemed suddenly determined to speak. The breath taken to do so left him in a grunt as he dropped onto his stomach, head turned to the side to crush to the ground, breath fogging in the drop of temperature that only seemed to get colder, with the sky darkening above. Again, irises of mismatched and pale color rolled, as though searching for answers in the air. Opened mouth remained thus, even with sand on his lips now, but white teeth pressed together then. "Ss..." Just a soft hiss was all he managed, so he tried again, and studdered the syllable this time: "S-s-ss..." With his brow furrowed harder than pain alone could cause, his teeth bore a little more in aggravation. Again, Leoxander hissed at the druid, while she likely leaned over to access the problems. "S-s-s..." He just kept repeating that 'S' sound, laying there on his stomach, developing a sudden speech impediment with his expression more angry the harder he tried to speak just a single, simple word. "Sp.. s-s-ss. Sp-sp..." Failed attempt after failed attempt, all the while Leo was looking more crazy, sputtering a hissing sound like a woman in labor doing breathing patterns all wrong, taking gulps of breath to stammer on and try again. "Sss-sspider." The word came like another cough, and relief washed over the annoyance on his worn features. His eyes returned to the distance, nearly pale enough to look different shades of gray, and now, he exhaled that same word in a soft whisper with each breath, wearing that lost look, his hands on the soil at either side of his head... "...Spider..."

Leoxander whispered, "...spider... ...spider..."

Jayde had been given pause before she made her way out to the ocean.. though while she listened, with her slight frame upon her knees, level with his head to listen more intently.. she tore at the fabric of her skirt, to start shreds of cloth from a material that, thankfully, had reached to the top joint of her knees. His inability to pronounce the word, and his difficulty only seemed to beckon her nearer, as if her lowering to his height would enable him to find the ability to speak that troubled sound. When he did finally get it out, her gaze darted around quickly, as if to hastily ascertain that indeed, there were no spiders around. It wasn't until her gaze fell upon the disgusting wound again, that she realized what he meant. "Oh, a spider did this to you?" That must have been a giant of an arachnid. Gray eyes widened slightly, and again, she looked 'round their surroundings. No, no eight legged creatures were wandering. His whisper prompted her to lower, to hear his repeated voicing of the creature. "Do not fear, Leo, there are no spiders, here." With the pad of her thumb, she swiped the digit quickly across his mouth, to brush off the cling of sand. Now, she rose, turning, to quickly run out to the water. Bending, the clothes were dipped into the sea, and without wringing out the access water, Jayde was jogging back up to him, quickly, to return to her spot at his side. This time, though, she positioned herself at the back of his head, so she could tend to the wound most needing of her services, no matter how novice they were.

Leoxander laid rather still for a long time, even if the sand was cold, littered with pebbles and uncomfortable. There was little foliage in that barren place, and none of it was grass, thorns and weeds seemed to span in fields away from the beach of dark, dangerous water. Were they going to die there? His whispers faded, and Leo tried once more to think reasonably and clear. He still had Imar and Jayde with him. They had to find Renin, and Castellian. And hopefully, Castellian had found Tenebrae. It was that chain that would remain indestructible in the center his mind though links of other thoughts and memories snapped and dropping, shattering at rock bottom. One by one these fragile pieces of the jigsaw that was the thief's mind began to break, and as he lay there on the sand, twitching sporadically. It would have been easier to relax had that jagged pain. He was motionless for so long that she didn't likely expect his hand when it lifted, and the tips of digits curled against his palm, clutching into the cause of that agony. His grit teeth grinded harshly, then parted to scream out harshly, a sound the Lords of Chaos probably absorbed like a drug. With his eyes closed the blister broke against the leather fit to the inside of his hand, and as the pirate moaned in relief and sank down against the ground, his hand fell away to trail some of the neon green venom that had festered and poisoned his mind a little at a time in his hair. The disgusting wound now oozed wonderfully for the lady druid; a fluid that looked radioactive, like the chemical mixture stored in the tube of a chem-light (glow stick).

Jayde laid the strips of cloth across the top of her thighs, folding one up in preparation to wipe at the back of his skull. But the sudden raise of his hand beat her to it. Quite literally, when he screamed his agony as he -popped- that grotesque blister.. Jayde withdrew, an arm raising to touch the back of her thin wrist to her mouth. The oozing wound was revealed when his hand lowered, and her body quite literally rolled slightly, clutching a hand to her stomach, her chest heaving, and her eyes squeezing tightly closed. A healer with a weak stomach? Well she didn't admit that she was that experienced. She could endure some sights.. but that.. that was horrid! Her petite frame flinched, and jerked, her mouth opened to gag, longing to wretch and hopefully clear her mind enough so that she could force herself to touch that - thing -. But nothing came up from the hollows of her empty stomach. Gathering her momentarily lost composure, Jayde returned to her spot directly behind him, her eyes squeezing closed, whilst a trembling hand rose. "This might hurt. Brace yourself." Was he conscious any longer? Well she still spoke. "In the count of three. One tw-.." The salt water laden cotton was then pressed to the back of his head, before she even reached three.. though she did finish her count. "-o. Three. There." For a moment, it was held immobile, before she began to wipe at the green ooze. "What in the bloody tarnishes kind of spider bit you, Leo? Pleasure excuse my language."

Leoxander sounded to be in such relief of pain, he buried his face against the sand with his eyes still closed to muffle the moans that revealed just that. The venom covered hand dropped to the ground, and on his stomach, the human barely moved save a twitch when the wet cloth was placed. A little sting didn't compare to the knives that had been stabbing into the back of his head harder and harder since the thing bit him, and now... "Ohh, thank the gods of all tha' is..." Barely coherent, his grateful prayers were lost, forehead remained touched to the ground and it was likely his face would be covered in sand when he actually lifted it.. "A... nasty one..." Suddenly, he shook his head, rubbing his nose in the dirt as he did so. "I... I don't... don't wanna think about it. Don't say anything about it..." Both hands lifted to his rounded ears now, digging fingers firmly into the outside shell of them, and into messy strands of hair, with a shudder coursing through him at the thought. Again, she might hear him whispering that same word, but only a couple times, each studdered just a little.

Jayde rubbed the cloth into the back of his skull, over the wound, folding it several times so a clean side could be used to remove the gunk that darkened usually pale colour'd hair. "Alright, so we will not speak of it." When the last bit of the puss was cleaned away, another clean strip of black cloth was lifted. Carefully, it was pressed to the back of his skull, shifting 'round him until her body was across from his. With careful urgings, or perhaps even force if he didn't willingly comply, Jayde lifted his head, brushing the sand from his brow, so the strip could be wrapped completely around his cranium, tying it firmly into place at his temple; and likely with it a few strands of his hair. "Does that feel any better?" For a moment, she remained in that spot, petting a hand down the back of his skull. Though, she gave pause, fingers lingering against the wound beneath the thin cotton. Maybe if it was healed, some of his energy would be restored, and they could be proactive. Thick lashes rested against the dark coloring beneath lower lids, bruises from a lack of proper rest. Her breath deepened, and her hand was momentarily removed, so she wouldn't attempt to draw energy she might need from his small source. Her breaths deepened.. slow inhales, and exhales that passed through the part of dry, full lips.

Leoxander breathed deeply and merely... laid there for the most part, feeling tender hands finally give something beside pain to feel. His head was just a few pounds, easily lifted by her hand, though when she released it to tie her knot, it was likely that weight would drop down again with a solid thump. That gray barren beach was the first taste of peace the rogue had since he'd arrived, and between elementals, spiders, darkness, giant squids and fire, he was anxious to savor that priceless time by doing... absolutely nothing. Leo was exhausted, and knew the limit on his mortal body to be in sight. But they hadn't achieved anything, and he was failing his clan mistress, who he feared was in a more dire situation even than the four of them trapped on that island. When she spoke, he could only nod, blinking sleepily while staring at the horizon, something he could barely distinguished from waters with the sky darkening, still. It was going to be a terrible, freezing and nightmare plagued night. He was weary just thinking about it.

Jayde's hands touched to her thighs, and her head tipped back of it's own accord, attempting to find a position of comfort. She was centering herself, and concentrating upon drawing energy from the land around them. But all she could grasp was the darkness that the pool provided, something she couldn't easily manipulate. Nor, did she have the desire to do so. When she was sure she had grasped the ability to focus her limited powers to do as she desired, her hand pressed to the back of Leo's skull once more, fingers splayed. Light emanated from her palm, burning a bright shade of red; though nothing happened. Seconds ticked past before the very land they sat upon quivered and seemed to groan with life, sand bouncing, rising as if giant feet stepped upon it. From the very earth they sat upon, the sand rose high.. a blur of creation that twisted, and took shape.. sputtering the grained texture at them, hard enough to sting bared skin. Jayde jumped to her feet, reaching down in an attempt to aid him up. "Get up, Leo!" Because the giant hand, that lacked a body, but had an extra digit to equate to six, was reaching out for them...

Leoxander had finally allowed his eyes to close with the knowledge that Jayde was there, and could watch over him if he just napped for a short while, enough to gather some energy to search on, soon. His body was battered, and admittedly, Leo needed a chance to breathe and recuperate even if the drow didn't (he hadn't seen Imar yet, but Jayde didn't seem worried). Unfortunately, that so-called peace was rudely interrupted when the hard ground he laid on began to shiver and shake violently, causing Leo's faded eyes to roll back open wide, his pupils oddly dilated this time, darting and searching. It was then a cascade of sand rose like a living thing, pouring in a rain of pale grains to remain solid only where thick fingers evolved. Stunned, and uncertain he cared enough to try to outrun death again, the thief stared with a blend of horror and despair. Here stood another creature ready to destroy them, but it wasn't until she yelled and actually tugged on him that he moved, and not very quickly. His legs, in no condition for sprinting, almost buckled when he was half dragged to his feet. Clutching onto the druid for balance, panic seemed to make his breath catch, coming short and fast as though he were ready to cry. And then... Leoxander burst out into loud laughter. He laughed like a maniac, watching the hand loom closer while holding onto J' as though he'd roll in the sand with his humor, if released.

Jayde wrapped an arm around Leoxander's middle, allowing him to distribute all the weight he desired upon her small frame, that was closer to a foot shorter than he. The hand, feet from them now in their, unfortunately slow, escape dissolved.. allowing them to think for a moment it gave in. But when it regenerated, much more quickly than it had the first time, was directly behind them. Leo's laughter confused her, immensely. Had he lost his sanity? This was no laughing matter! "Le--!" She was prepared to scold him for his lack of oral help, to tell her what to do, when the thing reached out again, it's thumb lightly flicking Jayde aside, as if she were no more than an annoying fly. It was more focused on picking Leo up in it's palm, fingers popping as if bone actually held the hand together. It, indeed, seemed intent upon crushing the pirate.

Leoxander nearly stumbled in his laughter, swaying like a drunkard a few steps forward only to be caught up by a hand seemingly made of sand, but as strong as if formed of bark and stone. And when those immense digits curled around his body in what could only be preparations to crush him, what did he do? Well, he seemed to disregard the druid's words, for one thing, because his cackling continued, and now the rogue was snorting his laughter with a few weak words repeated... "Can't... breathe... Haha. I can't breathe..!" And the laughter continued, as if it were the cause of his lack of oxygen and not the huge hand that held him like a doll. His head rolled back to gasp a breath only to crack up harder. What a hell of a way to die! Not to mention funny, for some reason. Squeezed like a bottle of toothpaste in a giant hand in a land of nightmares. Figured.

Jayde couldn't believe her ears. Was he -laughing-? The situation, last time she checked, was far from humorous. Her head rolled back, to stare up.. flabbergasted.. at the giant hand that was preparing to crush her friend. With a sprint of movement, she ran to the nearest large stick, hefting it up, and returning, to thrust it into the wrist of the hand. "No! Put him down! Stop this instant! You're going to hurt him!" Was she yelling at the bad guy, as if it would listen? It appeared to be so. And compliantly, even, it paused what would have been a bone - crushing grip, though remained, like a cage of five fingers, and one thumb, around the human. "Release him, you monstrosity!" Still, it hesitated.. for but a moment. Fingers soon uncurled though, so he was held in the cup of the palm, like a sudden fragile things. Fingers curled, and rubbed at the human, as if in silent apology, and attempting to make him feel better. The sound produced could have even been mistaken for a soft whine of sound. Two fingers plucked lightly at the leather jerkin the man wore, the beast rolling it's wrist to place so that Leo dangled, before he was lowered to his feet. Following this action, and his sudden release, was the tap of a fingertip to his head, an attempt of a pet from giant fingers that were as round, and long, if not longer, than the pirate captain.

Leoxander rolled over into the sandy palm with a deep chuckle and a stare up at the dark, gloomy sky. The sight of it tamed the sound of his laughter to a final sigh of insanity before he felt the hand beneath him, beat into submission by a branch-wielding druid, shift. Caught by his armor, he swayed the moment he was put down, and looked over at Jayde with a grin that made it seem as though he were prepared to start laughing again at any moment. Eyes squeezed closed at the pat to his hair, sand dusting his shoulders and scalp like bad dandruff. In an off pitch voice that cracked, he looked up at the lumbering shape of soil and hiccupped his question. "How'd you do that?" He never noticed the water, with his attention so on the alive piece of land that seemed under her control. But the tide had disappeared, draining far out to expand the stretch of wet beach. As though someone were slowly draining the sea.

Jayde stared at Leoxander, in obvious shock.. her dry lips parted, jaw hung open in shock when the monster seemed to decide against killing the human, and obey to her instructions. When he turned back to her, with a goofy grin that even coaxed one upon her full mouth, her head shook. "I.. haven't the faintest idea." Again, she attempted to give the 'thing' orders.. waving a hand in the obvious 'shoo'ing' motion. "Go! Go back from whence you came from. Please." And like a dog that was intent to please it's master for that treat, the giant hand dissolved into nothing more than a dune of loose sand. Quickly, she raced over to Leo, raising her hands to touch his cheeks, chest, then the back of his head.. to ascertain that he hadn't gained himself any new wounds. "Are you alright?"

Leoxander squinted against the slight blast of sand as the creature dissolved, before he turned his pale and hollow eyes toward the druidess that rushed forward to check on him. Funny, but even though his expression showed dying signs of the laughter he'd experienced, his eyes revealed nothing of joy, and the usual color, even the stain of red was lurid, drained of it's pigment. Small black specks in the center were all that remained of his pupils. "Hey..." He looked more serious as he said it, though clueless for the seconds spent staring into the woman's human-like features. "Have you seen Jack?" Oh, damn! He hadn't seen the mutt in a long time. With that sudden thought, he turned, the backs of wounded legs with leather torn just below the bend of knees faced to the healer when he made a stumble forward toward a forest of roots and thorns, trees petrified and useless... blocking the other side of the isle if such a place existed. He had to find Jack.

Renin is still, his form crouched some thirty yards away assessing the two. His night had been long, and he had no intent upon letting his whereabouts to be known by his allies just yet, for the presence of Jayde still left an ominous question lingering within his mind. Silent steps are taken, carrying the nimble drow through thickets and around trees, both standing and uprooted. His advancement makes nary a noise, and with his back turned he rests against the stump of a downed tree, those emerald green flames flickering within his mind showing the exact movements of those no more than ten yards behind him. Anxious ears listening for any answers to his many, many questions.

Jayde stared for a moment, her brows pulling together, and her tongue finally sliding outwards to swipe over cracked, and dry lips. When he began to head towards the center of the forest that seemed capable of catching a'flame with just a small flicker of flame.. Jayde caught up to him. An arm reached out, and her fingers curled into his wrist. With a fluid twist of her body, if he complied and fell into step with her, she wrapped his nearer arm around her shoulders, and did an about face, an attempt to guide him back to where they had been before. "Jack is safe. He is not here. We have more wounds to tend to on you, Captain. So how about you sit down and allow me to take a good look, hm?" Her voice was light, airy.. an attempt of persuasion.

Renin inhales silently, mind focused now upon a single point, the limiting of his expulsion of breath. Stealth, the key to survival, is called upon in Ren’s next actions. The form of Leo burns brightly in his mind, advancement halted upon some stray noise the drow happened to make, the cover of night fall allows the drow to drop to all fours, limbs splayed across the terra as he propels himself forth army-fashion. His form of ebony rockets from behind the stump to a rock, soon thereafter he tucks into a roll and is once again concealed, but this time behind a rock. He shakes his head, something was wrong with Leo, and he intended to find out, and what was this druid doing here, why did she come? He cannot recall ever seeing her before, Renin’s form slips into total darkness, knees crouched as he leaves the luxury of a hiding space. Then, in a flash, the dark elf is gone, sandalded feet swiftly sliding across the sand as he launches himself at the back of Jayde, twin daggers withdrawn with naught but silent ‘shings’ of metal. His pursuit is completed in two bats of an eye, and there Rennion of Da’Telleson stands, twin brands held against the neck of this newcomer, pressing slightly as he breathes into her ear, “Who the hell are you?”

Leoxander had his back to Jayde, heading toward the forest with determination, when something paused him, and he seemed to go so far as sniff the air. Pale eyes searched around slowly, skimming the gray and black atmosphere, but suddenly there were low whispers ahead in the distance making him keep his eyes forward, and not on the drow that crept up behind the Druid. By the time he turned, steel was pressed against scarless skin in a killing aim. Leo looked surprised, clutched into his hair, and opened his mouth to say something in alarm. His wide eyes looked hard at Renin, then down, in hard thought. Then up at Jayde, with a shake of his head and few stumbling steps forward, and he seemed to be concentrating hard. "R... rrr...." Or... maybe he was growling? "Re-... Ray..." Fingers snapped with another step, and he winced at the sight of the blade at the woman's throat. Yes, Leo was acting... oddly. "Noo... R-rr-rr...ren..." His speech impediment was alive again, though now he seemed confused, trying to recall the drow's name. "Rennion!!" He exclaimed it in triumph when he remembered it, and the studder was gone as if never there. "No. She's... a healer. Rennion. You shouldn't do that. She makes sand people." The serious look came back.

Jayde 's attempts to coax Leoxander back in the other direction was abruptly ceased when she was, quite literally, held at knife point. She had never even heard his silent footsteps, until it was too late. Tension crept throughout her petite frame, and she shrunk back against him; an instinctive attempt to escape the press of the sharp point against the smooth column of her throat. Her breath quickened, and her heart pounded so quickly against her left breast, she was sure Leo could hear it from his position feet away. But when he approached, speaking when her voice failed.. her eyes squeezed tightly closed. Her lowered arms reached back, attempting to grasp at his sides, to try to push him away. One slip of his hand, purposeful or not, and she was as good as dead. Leoxander's conclusion of his previously studdered words had gray eyes rolling heavenward, and a slow breath inhaled, fearing that too deep a breath would press unblemished skin against the blade. "P-please.. release me." She seemed to have inherited the Captain's studder, but unlike his, her's was from fright.

Renin shakes his head at Leo’s managed words. This was all to confusing, a healer? Where did she come from, and if she came in how did she catch up so quick? Tensed arms fall limp, daggers skillfully withdrawn from the meat of neck as he swings both arms back to his sides, weapons seathed in that same fluid, movement. The drow takes a step back, eyes discerning as he looks over Jayde, “Okay, healer.” He points towards Leo, “Heal em’.”

Leoxander seemed to relax again, his eyes dropping with a sigh when the blades were put aside, and away from Jayde's throat. Then he followed an unknown path in the sand with his eyes, toward a bank of soil and up it's slope, just staring a bit stupidly off in that direction before he turned, and started crawling over and up that terrain, not quite heading in the same direction he had been when he'd had intentions of finding Jack.

Jayde stumbled forward with her release, even though he hadn't given her a nudge from him. She feared he might attempt to pull another trick with the news she had to reveal next. Grey eyes strayed to Leo, only to see him turning, and head away from them again. With a heaved sigh of exasperation, like a mother whom couldn't keep their offspring at their side.. Jayde was trudging, barefoot, after him. "If I could heal him, do you not think I would have by now? I have tried, and it did not go so well." Infact, it near did the opposite as she desired..

Renin speaks no more, eyes trailing the departing form of his shipmate. Recalling a simple spell, one of his first, the spellblade lofts an arm, palm facing Leo. A short verse of arcane words are spoken, and from the center of his palm juts three ivory orbs, twirling in vicious rotations about one another until they collide with the earth around Leo in a spray of dust. From these fixated positions small, wire-like strands of energy whip out, forming a swirling pyramid of energy about the thief. With that he nods contentedly to the druid, “He won’t bust out, not in his condition.”

Leoxander barely had time to blink in the stretch of mere seconds it took the talented spellblade to perform the spell, but it wouldn't of mattered. His reflexes seemed a little doused, if nothing else. Forehead hit the sudden angle of wall that trapped him in a seemingly solid shape, but he had little room to stumble back in. Crouching to lessen his height, he looked around him, fear in his cloudy eyes like an animal caged, and not meant to be. If he could see through the shape and speak through that shape, then he looked toward the sound of the voice, at Renin, and then Jayde. The look he wore said the words he did not speak outloud, and his fingertips touched to wiry strands. What was... going on?

Jayde watched with open mouthed horror as the drow lifted a hand, orbs released from the center of his palm.. to entrap Leo in a form of confinement. Turning back to Renin, the normally quiet, patient, and demure druid poked a finger into his chest.. after she had stepped in front of him, of course. "Just what do you think you are doing? Does he look like an animal needing confinement?"]

Renin shrugs, "Sorta'. He peeks around Jayde's shoulder again and nods, "Yes... definitely."

Leoxander looked angry for awhile, fingers curling into fists to punch roughly against his cage once or twice. But the thief was beyond tired, bruised and battered, as though he'd been packaged in that pyramid shape and shipped roughly across distances. He felt the constant pang of hopelessness that he would never see the Necromancer again. At least in that prison, nothing could get to him, and maybe... just maybe... he could close his eyes. That spell was so bright, it had caused him to squint against the light anyhow. Wounded legs slid out from beneath him and he dropped into a seat on the floor, whether soil, or something else.

Jayde 's gray eyes rolled heavenward, and the thick flesh her bottom lip was drawn in between her teeth.. nibbling upon it when her gaze drifted back to the cage that entrapped Leo. She had to admit; it would prevent him from wandering away, and getting himself killed when he had survived thus far. Plus, he didn't seem to be in his right frame of mind.. not that he had been before, but now he was less so. "If he remembers this when we are out of here, I am blaming you, alright?" Though her voice was light, suggesting perhaps that she was jesting.. or atleast, attempting one in a land of hopelessness.

Renin is concerned, Leo did not seem healthy in the least- though caging him up won’t make him any better, it will not allow him to get worse. Renin shrugs and falls to the ground, arms bracing for support as he sits, an utterance of words and wave of hand increases the size of his ‘trap’ and decreases the light, anything for his captain…

Leoxander's cheek smooshed against the flat of the triangled wall, his breath fogging in the crisp cold air of the evening. It would only get colder. "..Jack.." That last word was groaned in a sleepy despair, some part of him determined to find the dog in that chaotic land, for who knew what reason. Finally, his eyes closed; body slumped in an uncomfortable position, his head angled with mouth agape in such a way that the slightest bit of drool was certain to drizzle down his chin, and maybe the wall of Renin's trap of wires.