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The four of them were separated. Put into different cells, though they were all within eye-sight of one another. As soon as they were in their cells, except Rulu. Gurak attempted to throw the mother of all fireballs at the guards, but nothing happened. It didn't even fizzle. It was like there was no mana within him or the air around him. The bars around him glowed for a split second though.

The guards laughed, before departing, leaving the orc in the cell. He heard Zamdor, and Wukin nearby. Gurak spoke up once the guards weren't in eyesight.

"Are you guys okay?" The orc asked.

Zamdor answered first. "Aye lad, though this damacite is making it unpleasant to be in here. Either the bars are laced with, or made of the stuff completely. No small feat either way."

Gurak replied. "I don't know what that is."

Zamdor hmm'd softly and spoke up. "It's a metal known for inhibiting mana. Making it nearly impossible to use magic. You'd need to be able to produce more mana than the metal was capable of absorbing. I've never heard of anyone being able to do that. Not even in fairy tales. But you can see it activate when you try to use magic. The metal glows faintly when it absorbs mana."

Gurak sat back in his cell, letting out a sigh. "How about you Wukin, are you okay? Have you seen Rulu since we were separated?"

The monkey looked at the walls and metal bars. "I am unharmed. He was taken to another room. I already tried shadow slipping, but, it was no use. The damacite is inhibiting my ability to do so."

Several rooms away, far from the others. Rulu was all on his own. He was in a lush room. The bedding was soft, and the tables were nice, if they weren't beneath the sewers, he might think he was in a palace, or castle with high nobility.

As Rulu sat, people brought in food, drink, and other various 'gifts' that he ignored. Jewelry, fine clothing, armor, and shields too, even a few weapons that looked incredibly ornate and well made. Probably from rare metals, no less.

It was some time before the person he was waiting for came into the room.

She was dressed much nicer than before. Silks hanging off of her body, the softest material, hanging and accentuating her natural curves and beauty. And there was no mistaking she was beautiful. Rulu couldn't see it, not for his anger, and not for their blood relation, but to any other man, or woman who was so inclined, she'd catch, and keep their eye.

She came and sat at the table, while Rulu walked around the room, either in annoyance or some attempt at protest. She took a glass, poured herself some wine, and motioned to the second cup. Rulu just grunted in annoyance. She was doing her best to be pleasant and cordial.

"You should try the little cakes Rulu, they're much better than anything I made for you when you were small." She said as she took one. It was bite-sized, and she popped it into her mouth in one movement. A delighted little smile on her face as she savored it. Rulu was all the madder for it, however.

Rulu hissed at her and grunted. "HOW COULD YOU!?" Was his reply. She expected this though and sighs.

"So, no pleasantries, no small talk. You want to do this immediately, fine." She stayed seated and leaned back in her chair. Watching as Rulu fumed around the room. "I was young, stupid, and in debt greater than I ever saw a way out of." She says simply.

"I knew we couldn't outrun the ones hunting me. I was going to sell you. I could always have more children, after all." She states plainly. Rulu stopped in his tracks and he glared at his mother. "Your father, however, had other plans. He wanted you to live, to escape a life of slavery. So he hid you from me. When I asked him where you were, he refused to tell me. So I sold him instead." She shrugs her shoulders softly. "He didn't fetch as good a price. But that was hardly relevant. It was enough to get me out of debt."

Rulu's demeanor changed, he moved to sit. The lizardman's anger hadn't left, only been replaced with the pain of losing his father a second time, at least for a time. Knowing the true fate of his father made the pain all the worse. His mother continued. "I looked for you for months. But I never found you. It wasn't till almost a decade later, I saw you with another caravan." She watches his face. "I saw you smile like when you were with us."

"I thought about approaching you. Running up and telling you how much I missed you. But, I knew you'd react, like this." She gestures to Rulu. "And you have every right to be angry with me. What I did was monstrous. When I realized that. When I took a look at who I had become, I knew I had to change, to grow from the woman that was going to sell you, to a woman who deserved your love."

Her face contorted, in anger, or sadness, it was hard to tell. "I realized what a fool I'd been. I destroyed our family. For money." She looks at her feet. "I looked for your father after that. I spent years hunting him down. But, by the time I found him, he was a shell of his former self. He didn't look at all like how I remembered. He didn't recognize me either."

"I found him, about two years ago. He was sick, poorly. The healers couldn't find what was wrong with him. Let alone cure it. He'd been there for almost thirteen years, sick for the last two months of it."

Her eyes were on the table, unable to look Rulu in the eyes, for the shame she felt. "I bought him, despite that, and his last few years with me, have been peaceful, at least. It was the least I could do, what he deserved after the hell I'd put him and you through. No healer has been able to help him, however. No potion, no reagent, nothing helps. He's just...wasting away."

"Is he here?" Rulu asks softly. His mother nods.

"He's just in the other room if you'd like to see him." She replied as she looked at him, the most she had the whole time they'd been in the room together. However, her eyes never went above his shoulders. The shame she felt was too deep and the anger at herself was too present.

Rulu nodded, she got up and the pair walked through the guild's various rooms, till they came to another lavish room. Adorned with a painting of herself, looking regal and important. The bed was covered in light fabrics, and in the bed was an older male lizardfolk. Some of his scales had chipped away and his coloration was paler than Rulu remembered. He was a dull gray, rather than the sleek black both Rulu and his mother had.

He approached slowly and sat beside the man. His eyes peeked open and he smiled. A smile Rulu remembered from his youth, the smile of his adoring father. "Oh...oh Rulu. You're well." The old man rumbles out softly. "I'm so glad that you are okay. I was so worried. After I hid you in the secret floor of our old wagon, your mother was so cruel." The old man's face twisted up as he started to weep. Rulu shushed him and shook his head.

"It's okay father. It's okay. I turned out just fine." He smiles warmly, and his father smiles too.

"I was taken in by another caravan. A sweet family of beastkin, lions, took me in. Treated me like their own son. I had an older brother. Towen, he was the kindest, most loving brother I could have ever asked for too. And his parents were just as kind as you and mother when I was little."

Rulu's eyes sparkled almost, as he told his father everything. "They taught me to barter. The guards taught me to tend the animals and to use a sword. Though I'm not very good with it, honestly." He smiles, and his father nods. Sitting up just a little, listening intently. "I met a friend, Gurak. Orc fella. Very kind. He saved Towen from bandits and me too. He has such a big, kind heart."

His father grinned at that. He looked into Rulu's eyes. "You love him, don't you?"

Rulu's face would've shown blush if he could. "W-what?" He tried to play it off, waving his hand dismissively, but his father wasn't going to have any of it.

The old lizard grins. "You don't have to hide it from me. I saw the signs when you were young. I don't care who you love or who loves you, as long as they treat you well."

Rulu smiles then and nods. "I do. I love him with all my heart. We also met two other, very dear friends." He whispers and smiles. The older man nods.

"Treasure them. They're the only treasure that matters in this world. Friends, family." The old man coughs softly, before laying back into the bed.

"I'm so glad, little Rulu. I'm so glad you are safe and grew up healthy." The older man's hand lifted, and Rulu took it. Pressing it to his face. The older man smiled so wide. "You grew up to be so strong and handsome. I'm so proud of you, my sweet little Rulu. If you see your mother, please don't tell her that I'm here." She was only feet away, and his poor father had no idea that his mother was alive and well. Let alone caring for him.

Rulu smiles and kisses his father's hand tenderly, nodding. "I won't father. You rest now. I'm glad I got to see you again. You don't know what it means to me, to get these precious moments with you." The young lizardman's face was a mix of complicated emotions. Anger at his mother, and love for his father.

After the conversation, his father drifted off back to sleep. Rulu and his mother left the room and quietly walked back to the room Rulu had been in before. Once they were back inside. She sat back in her chair, and Rulu sat in the chair opposite her. Ready for a long conversation.

She gestures to the room. "I've been looking out for you as best I could. I thought if I was in a position of power if anything ever happened to you, I could intervene."

Rulu's hands were balled up in fists as he felt anger overtake him. But he stayed still, and silent for the time being. His mother continued to speak. "Those slavers in Vrose weren't part of my group. When I heard about them, I had my guys move quickly. They'll never hurt anyone ever again." She nods as she looks at Rulu.

"Between your orc friend burning down their base and me cleaning the scraps off the table, there's nothing left of their organization now." Rulu's hands are unclenched as he sighs. Anger wouldn't help him, not here, not now.

"Are the others okay?" He asked softly. Looking up at his mother's face. She still couldn't look him in the eye. "They are precious to me, and I'll never forgive you if you hurt them."

"They are in the cells for now. Damacite, so they can't do anything. Your little orc friend has a hell of a reputation. Ever since he left his village, he's carved a swath of destruction across the continent. The inquisitors want him." She sighs and looks at the table. "They wiped out Whetstin. The whole city."

Rulu's rage abated suddenly and looked at her, confused. "W-what do you mean?" He asked.

She repeated. "Whetstin is no more. The inquisitors claimed they found traces of creeping black death. So they, with their authority wiped out the whole city. Killed everyone, and burned it to the ground. No one questions it, no one ever does, they just believe the words of the church and that's the end of the conversation."

Rulu's heart sank. The dwarves they'd saved. The wolf man and his wife, their kids....

"They can't do that!" He growled out angrily. They were innocents, not to mention, that Gurak had cured it. Right? And left several doses of the cure for the dwarves if anyone needed it.

His mother looked at him and hissed back. "They are the inquisitors, they can do anything they damn well please." She hated it. She hated the elves, she hated their authority and privilege to commit atrocities at will. But it was beyond her power, beyond her control. Despite all the power she'd gained here, it meant nothing across the continent as a whole.

She sits quietly for a few moments. "My spies within their church told me that it wasn't the disease, but some information they came across. It seems, whoever got sick with the creeping death. An orc found a cure, made several doses, and gave them out. It was easy to replicate too. Instead, the truth was that some enchanter had discovered some new way to enchant items to having two enchantments. They couldn't risk this information leaking anywhere else, so under the guise of creeping death, they purged the city." She watches Rulu.

"You see, the elves guard their secrets tightly. Whoever figured out this method, must have either found how out how the elves did it, that....elven enchanter in the history books, or, figured it out on their own. Which is wild to consider, since it was some beastkin in a backwater port city."

Rulu's anger returned, though no longer directed at his mother. "And you sat back, did nothing?" His fist balled up, she had all this power, all this under Halfsea, and she didn't do something!?

She looked at Rulu, for the first time since she'd sat down. Anger is clear on her face now. "Done what? I can't go against the elven church. I'd need an army. I have a handful of thieves, incompetent thieves, at that." She sighs. "They couldn't even find YOU, in the city over top of my own damn head! I couldn't fight a war on the other side of the continent. I can barely get anything done here." She relented. She wanted power, to be in control, and she was, but none of those under her employ were of any real talent or skill. Fools and idiots, the lot of them. She's done all she could to manage them. It was a miracle word of a black-scaled lizardman reached her within a day of being seen in the city.

Rulu looks down at his feet. "You have to let us go then." He asked almost. But less a question, and more a demand.

She shakes her head. "I'm never letting you go again." She had no intention of losing her son a second time. Last of all to some damnable elves.

Rulu slams his hand on the table. Making her jump, the door slammed open and three guards came in, weapons ready. Two with bows, one with a sword drawn. She lifted her hand and waved them away. "You have to." He repeats, softer the second time. Less full of anger, and more with the need to do something about it.

She shakes her head again. "You're safe here." Which was relatively true. She ruled the underbelly of Halfsea.

Rulu looks at her and shakes his head in response. "You aren't though." He points out. "Gurak is the one who discovered those secrets to smithing, to enchanting. If they destroyed Whetstin, because of it. If they....got information out of the poor man Gurak shared his discoveries with, they'll be coming here next. You, all of Halfsea are in danger, because of us." He pleaded. It wasn't the beastkin who had discovered it.

Her demeanor changed as she put the pieces together. "Gurak....he figured it out? It wasn't the beastkin man? It was Gurak, gods be damned, he's doomed us all!" She stands up and rushes towards the door, leaving Rulu in the room by himself.

Rulu was left sitting, baffled, he got up to follow, and the door was locked. He banged on it, and the guards outside shouted at him to keep it down. The dark lady was taking care of something and would be back soon.

She wasted no time, making for the cells, coming in, and shoo'ing the guards out. She stood before Gurak's cell. Still in her long silk shaws and elegant apparel.

"ORC. Tell me true. Did you share what you discovered, enchanting-wise with anyone in Whetstin?" She damn hear shouted at him. Causing Gurak to jump in surprise at first. Wukin and Zamdor got up and approached their cage walls, looking out to see her as best they could and listening.

Gurak looked up from where he sat and he snorted at her. "Fuck you. I'm not telling you anything." She'd been nothing but cruel from what he'd seen of her so far. He couldn't believe this woman was Rulu's mother. He was too kinda and pure to come from this wretched woman.

She almost growls at him. "This isn't the time you petty little bastard. DID YOU!?" Her voice strained, the fear was unmistakable. Whatever she was afraid of, it was serious, even Gurak could detect that in her voice.

Gurak was caught off guard at the anger in her voice as well, he relented finally. "Yeah. A beastfolk I'd befriended. Darion. He taught me the basics, so when I discovered the secret to applying two enchantments, more or less, to a weapon, I shared that information with him."

She looked decidedly dejected. "Gods, what have you done, you damn fool." Her hands were on the bars, but she took several steps back and slumped against the far wall, an empty cell's front.

Gurak looked at her, confused as could be. "What are you talking about?" The orc was honestly confused, he had no context for her outburst.

She looked into the cells. "Whetstin is gone. Destroyed. The Inquisition burned the whole city to the ground because of what you shared. Everyone is dead. They're claiming Creeping Death, but my spies confirmed the truth of it. Someone had discovered the secret to dual enchantments. A secret deeply held and regarded by the elves as their own."

Gurak's heart was in his stomach. W-whetstin was gone? Everyone was dead? But....but...

"But there were innocent children....hundreds of people who had done nothing wrong..." He tried to plead, but it wasn't something she had any sway over, it was already over.

She hisses at him again. "And all dead, because of you! NOW, they march for Halfsea, because of you. If that man gave your name, where you were going, they'll be chasing you down." She growled out. "Rulu will be in danger, because of you."

Gurak's heart ached, Darion, his wife, and their kids. The dwarves he'd met. They'd done nothing wrong. He felt his head thrumming with pain, with anger again. His hands gripped the sides of his head, as he felt the throbbing.

The bars started to glow, unable to contain the mana leaking out of the orc now. They sagged and fell away, the metal unable to keep up with the amount of mana pouring out of the orc now. Wukin moved the fastest. Moving to shadow-slip in, grabbing Gurak and escaping to parts unseen. Zamdor stayed where he sat. Trusting in Wukin's decision. The bull wanted out just as much, but Gurak's safety was important.

Gurak wasn't just in danger, but a threat right now. There was no telling the harm he could cause if his mana were to become uncontrolled. All of Halfsea could become victims. Zamdor understood how much mana the orc had, and if he ever lost control, it'd be like no magic catastrophe they'd ever seen before.

Gurak and Wukin were outside, in the woods not too far from Halfsea now. The sun was still up, but it was working its way downward. There were maybe a couple of hours of light left.

The orc's face is torn between anger and despair. Wukin couldn't do anything for him, but hug him tightly. For the first time, Wukin held and consoled the orc as he cried. Tears of anger and rage, of lives lost to something that wasn't worth killing over. Wukin had never been in this position before. He'd never had to hold someone as they cried. It was a strange, foreign feeling for the monkey, and he didn't care for it. But he didn't let Gurak go.

The monkey held the orc for as long as it took. Wukin held Gurak and stayed with him. The emotional toll on Gurak had been rough the last few weeks. Losing his home, and now Whetstin was gone as well, all because he wanted to help, he wanted to improve life for those living there. It was just like his home village, all over again.

The orc fell asleep at some point, Wukin used his shadow slip to pop into the Resol tavern. With Brun's help, they took Gurak up to a room to sleep. Wukin explained the situation. The leader was Rulu's mother, the lizardman and bull were still down in the guild's clutches, and Whetstin was reportedly attacked. Brun nodded softly, he'd heard similar claims since the group had left. Practically after they'd gone down into the cellar. The city had been turned to ash.

The monkey patted Brun's shoulder. "Can...can you watch over him? I need to go confirm it, for myself, for him." The rhino nods his head softly.

"He'll be in good hands. Go do what you need to." Brun said as he patted the monkey's shoulder gently.

Wukin nodded and slipped into the shadow behind the door. Surprising Brun as he did so, by himself, his ability to shadow-slip was unmatched by any others in the assassins he was once part of. He was at Whetstin within what would be considered about 90 minutes.

The sight before him took away all words. Elves everywhere. Demolishing the city. Bodies piled up in a mass grave, burned beyond recognition. The monkey was glad Gurak wasn't here. He'd do something reckless. But he saw what he needed to do. The claim was true, the city was razed to the ground and nothing remained of it. The Inquisition had wiped the city out.

Wukin slipped back to Halfsea as quickly as he could. He got back just as the sun was setting on the horizon.

Brun and the others were sitting in the tavern quietly, as the monkey slipped out of the shadows once more. The simian looked exhausted like he'd been pushing himself to his absolute limit with his ability.

Alarming most of the folks in the bar, but Brun's grunt settled them down. "And?"

Wukin nodded his head softly. "Whetstin is rubble. Elven inquisition, they made a mass grave and were burning bodies." The others in the bar took the news with quiet reverence. It wasn't an easy truth to accept, but the monkey had laid eyes upon it himself.

Brun sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I had friends there." He grumbles. "Gods damned inquisition."

Wukin looked at the table and sighed. "There's a good chance they're headed here next," Wukin warned.

Brun sat up and looked at the monkey in surprise. "Here?" He asked, surprised.

The monkey nods. "Rulu's mother said as much. They're hunting Gurak, most likely. We only found out recently that they were after him. We never imagined they'd raze another city looking for him." He said softly.

Brun looked at the monkey. "Another?" Wukin gently nods.

"The village Gurak grew up in. He'd been figuring out new techniques with magic, being more creative, and teaching the orcs there. Elves caught wind, got angry, and sent an inquisition team there, Gurak was in a dungeon when it happened, he had no idea it was going on, till after everything. He was convinced to flee south to the nearest orc settlement. Then chose to go on his own. Where he met each of us, one by one." Brun hadn't been privy to Gurak's history.

Brun nods his head. "Fuck. So the settlement to the far north. That was wiped out a few weeks ago with no explanation from the inquisition, was hunting that young man? Well then, we need to decide, if we're staying to fight. Or if we're running. The human city to the north isn't so bad." He reasoned.

A grunt from the stairway got the monkey and rhino to look over. Gurak's face was puffy and his eyes were swollen from earlier. He didn't look like he was going to run any longer, however.

"No." He states simply. "No more running. No more letting them hurt people." He sits beside Wukin. "I'm so sorry for causing all of this." His hand rested on Brun's shoulder. "I swear to you, I won't let anything happen to Halfsea, or anywhere, ever again."

The rhino grunts at him. "Hey, you didn't do anything wrong." He reminds the orc.

The orc nods. "I know." He smiles gently. Remembering Rulu's words. "I acted with love." The rhino canted his head, he didn't get it but wasn't going to pry.

"But that means, they are coming here. Probably in two weeks, give or take." The orc continued.

Brun nods his head. "Then we prepare to fight."

Gurak shakes his head. "No." He smiles at the rhino. "You've done enough. All of you. This is my battle. They've been hunting me since my home village, I just pretended it didn't have anything to do with me. I believed I could outrun the destiny foisted upon my shoulders when I was a child." He looks to Brun. "I am Gurak. Son of Naguk, blessed by Agan, void itself. I am the man who is going to change the world."

Brun's face lit up at the mention of Agan and void. Such a claim was wild, but he had seen the difficulties surrounding this orc. There was something about him, something that wasn't easily put into words and there was no denying he was special. As to whether or not he had the void element, there was no way to know for sure.

He looks down at the table. "But I can't keep running. Rulu was right, about making the leader of the guild leave him alone. I have to make them realize I'm too dangerous to mess with. I have to inflict so much harm they never, ever come after us again, or die."

Gurak turned to kiss Wukin's cheek, his hand kneading the monkey's neck tenderly. "I need you to look after Rulu for me. I promised Towen I wouldn't let anything happen to him. But I can't do that and fight the elves at the same time." His eyes looked sad, mournful almost, as he regarded Wukin, the monkey watched him a moment.

Wukin looked confused and was about to interrupt, saying the four of them could all go together, but his words didn't come. Electricity sparked through him, and with his hand touching the monkey, he channeled the same paralysis magic he'd used earlier, though to a lesser degree. You didn't need an incantation if it was small enough and you were close enough.

Gurak smiles. "I'm sorry Wukin. I can't risk it. Risk you, Zamdor and Rulu. If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. I have to do this. Please forgive me, and know that I love you more than I can ever put into words." He looked sad as he said it. Because his love for the three was beyond any words he could find.

Brun watched the orc. He put his hands up defensively, but Gurak shook his head. "He'll be fine in a few hours. Make sure he looks after Rulu and Zamdor. Please."

Brun nods his head softly. "He's going to be pissed." The rhino said softly.

Gurak nodded his head. "I know. But he'll be alive, to be pissed. That's more important to me, right now. It should only hold him for a few hours, that's all I need." He countered.

Gurak heads out of the tavern and into the street. He talks to a few folks, asking about the thieves guild. Repeating his questions, till someone recognizes him and takes him down into the place. They seemed trepidatious to do so, but the leader had been looking for an orc who escaped, and the guy thought he'd get a bonus for bringing him in.

The orc was met with suspicion at first, but once he was recognized, they allowed him entry. He spoke with Rulu's mother publically. In the main chamber, he and the others had been caught in. The guards in the room were all at the ready. Most had bows drawn. Spears leveled in his direction, or swords and axes drawn.

He smiled at her though. "I'm not here to take Rulu. I need you to keep him safe. I just want my gear." He said simply She nodded and waved a hand to one of the men working for her, who departed to go get his things. "I'm going to Whetstin. I won't let them get away with what they've done. They destroyed my home village, and now Whetstin. All I've ever done was try to improve things, make their lives a little better."

She listened for a moment, before replying. "You know, Rulu won't like it. The bull either." Gurak nods his head.

"I know. But that's not as important. Their safety is paramount. Even if it means being safe from me too." She watches him carefully. Nodding her head once. "If I saw them now. I'd be swayed. They'd convince me, the four of us should go together. We can do it, together." He looks at Rulu's mother. "I don't want them to see the things I'm truly capable of. The anger I've kept at bay all these past weeks after losing my home. I tried, so hard to let it go, to move on....I see how I was never going to be able to. So I will face it. Like I should have back then."

"You are a monster, you know that, don't you?" She said finally. Gurak nodded.

"I know, I have to be, to do what needs to be done." He replies. "It's the only reason I know I can do this. The only reason I know I have to leave them here. Because once I let go, I can't guarantee they won't get caught up in it. I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to send a message, loud, clear, and repeatable. I'm not to be fucked with, ever again."

Rulu's mother blinked, listening to the orc, watching him and his demeanor. She believed him. She'd heard stories of what this orc had done from across the continent. From the first reports of an orc attacking a slaver outpost alone and burning it to the ground to reports of an orc curing the creeping death, even rumors that the whole of the Umbral Blades from the capital was decimated by a single orc who had a target put on him, by the inquisition. Only one elf survived, and he almost died from blood loss losing an arm. The wild claims of magic and traps that took out his allies were beyond belief.

All the reports, one after the next. This orc was dangerous. He'd even put out enough mana to warp and overpower the damacite in the dungeons. She'd never seen anything like it. She'd seen the metal glow a little when several mages tried to escape, but never so brightly, or with such intensity that it melted. If she hadn't seen it herself, she might not have believed the claims.

The man returned, the human who Gurak recalled sitting upon the seat in the main room. He offered up the backpack, axe, and shield. Gurak knew the backpack was safe, no one but himself could open it. As was the way of things, of enchanted gear from dungeons.

She spoke up. "We have no means to get you there." Gurak shook his head after she spoke.

"I don't need anything else. Don't let Rulu follow me. Wukin, my monkey companion will come down in a little while." His eyes laser focus

on Rulu's mother. Watching her. "If you harm any of them. I'll come back. In a much worse mood than I'm leaving in."

Her face belies her sudden fear, but she nods. "They will be treated as honored guests. I swear on my life, no harm will befall any of them." She said softly. But Gurak felt a twinge of dishonesty in her voice. A lie of omission.

He nods his head. "Brun's group too. They were only doing what they were paid to. No retaliation." A wave of magical energy pulsed off of him making the room itself shake.

She winces but nods. "The rhino and his crew won't be bothered either." He nodded and turned to leave. Heading up the path he came in. Escorted by a few of the members to make sure he found his way out.

She slumped back in her seat, her heart pounding in her chest. She'd never felt such rage and bloodlust. orcs were a different breed. But even the orcs in her employ never exuded so much malevolence as she'd felt from Gurak. She pitied whoever encountered him. He was deadset on this, nothing anyone said could change his mind.

Gurak was led out to the streets. He opened his status window, and spent his SP, boosting wind magic up to S+ rank, as high as it would allow him to. The magic wouldn't disobey him now, he tried earning it the proper way, being worthy of it. But it was out of patience now and he was going to do what he wanted. He sheathed his axe and focused on the magic. Air rippling off of him like it had when Rulu calmed him down when he found out about his parents.

"Blessing of wind, gales of Anemabe, swirl around me, grant me speed, grant me flight. Fly!" Around Gurak, winds surged suddenly, like a small vortex. His feet left the ground and he launched into the sky, dusk was just setting, but he didn't need much light, his vision was just as good at night as at day. The people nearby shouted in surprise dust blew in all directions, they'd never seen someone do something like that before, after all. Besides, he just had to follow the coast to the east. It was practically a straight shot to Whetstin.

It was no time at all before he landed near Whetstin. The fear of windburn, of causing himself harm was mitigated by his anger, by his rage. His face hurt from the wind, from the speed, but he didn't care, his anger was greater. He impacted the ground a bit harder than he intended, and his legs were sore from it. His face bore marks of windburn.

But the elves were still there. The bodies were thrown into the mass grave where the fires burned.

Gurak's rage took hold. He recognized one of them, Darion's daughter. he recognized the dress she wore. Tossed carelessly among the others, and burning. She'd done nothing to deserve this. None of them had. They were innocents, caught up in a twisted game of elven superiority. That ended today. No more, never again.

He didn't hold it back, when the pain thrummed, he gave into it and let the energy out. He put his hand out and a blast of magical energy, he wasn't sure what kind erupted from his hand, the elves hit by the blast weren't just killed, but he wasn't sure how to explain it. They, the elves, turned to ash. Not burned, there was no heat, but no longer alive, nothing remained of them. The rage he felt wasn't quelled so easily, however. So he made his way through the swathes of elven clergy. Shouting at him and pointing. The words "T'Calen raugh" were repeated as he approached and attacks were thrown his way.

Blasts of various elemental magic and different kinds of ice attacks of various forms were thrown his way, but they all turned to ash as well. Whatever he had tapped into, was burning everything away. It was like it hit a barrier around him and just evaporated. It wasn't just ice though, any element, even arrows, and spears thrown at him, all of them turned to ash, like nothing.

Gurak walked towards the city. Kneeling over the hole, full of corpses. Offering a prayer to Anemabe, and Balanos, apologizing for causing so much destruction and death with his carelessness. These people didn't deserve this.

He wasn't too far from their favorite campsite. He could see it just over in the tree line. Where he, Rulu, and Zamdor spent time, enjoying each other's company.

He finally approached the biggest cluster of elves. Inside the city proper, where the elves were still destroying buildings. One of them shouted something in elven. Gurak couldn't understand him, of course. They all attacked in unison, the constant barrage of ice magic getting through whatever barrier he had managed to erect. Ice shards embedded into his shoulder, his thigh, and his left arm.

He unclasped his axe, loosing not one, but both of his axe heads with his right arm, the first planting itself deeply into an elven chest, the man who shouted at him earlier, the second deflected by a barrier of ice, by a woman to his side. Gurak took his staff and planted it on the ground to brace himself. He was getting tired, it was harder to focus. It was practically night now.

He loosed balls of fire, arrows of flame. Called down lightning from the sky to strike his enemies, the power of which charred their bodies beyond recognition. Flashes of light blinded his foes as he moved closer and closer to the center of town. Fire mixed in with wind, creating cyclones of fire around him, they carved through buildings and homes just as bad as the elves had done.

Small balls of light sought out elves and lightning from the sky crackled as it streaked downward and found its target. But there were so many, hundreds of them, and his strength was waning.

He couldn't emit the beams like he was before. There wasn't enough energy left in him to. The barrier wasn't keeping up. More ice shards embedding themselves into his chest now. Red blood soaked into his dress shirt, spreading outward on the fabric, which was ruined by the cuts and blood now.

Gurak shut his eyes and focused all of the energy he had left. Every last bit he had in him, and let it erupt from him, like a volcano.

Miles away, on the other side of the continent. People in Halfsea claim they saw the explosion that day. Even at night, the blast of magic was visible. Mages felt the magic ripple across the continent as a whole. The mage's school wrote papers and whole books on the subject. The wave of destruction that overtook Whetstin, rumors of a purge by the inquisitors gone wrong. A devil summoned by the dead of Whetstin come to avenge the innocent.

The town, once razed was now nothing more than a crater. The whole of the elven inquisition was killed in the blast, not a single body was found, not a single victim of the inquisition either, only a staff, planted at the epicenter, where the ocean waves came rushing in and filled the void. Only the tip of the staff was visible, barely above the water's edge, from time to time. No one ever dared step into the waters, fearing they were cursed.

No trace of elves, dwarves, or even a rumored orc was ever found there. Only a few scant remains of buildings and the staff were left behind in the center of a water-filled crater.

Truly, a miserable way to end one's birthday. Miles away, short of breath and covered in sweat from exhaustion, stood a lone figure, a monkey who'd done everything he could to come and help his dear friend, but all he maanged to do, was get a front row seat to the biggest magical explosion in centuries. He returned back to Halfsea sometime later, with the bitter news.