Don't Fear The Reaper, Tag: Karla Alduino

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

A pale, sickly green light reflected off the damp stone walls of the cave as Kahest continued his ingress farther into the tunnels that ran throughout the mountains southeast of his former home. Now exiled, he had retreated to familiar yet neutral ground in order to settle his still tempestuous emotions, gather his thoughts and plot his next move. To the empty ribcage of his chest he clutched his phylactery in his skeletal right hand, wrapped in coarse brown cloth which hid the secret of its form; the other hand held a globe of magical light, the source of the putrid green light. Finally he came upon the small cavern he sought for, home to several stalactites, stalagmites, small rivulets of water trickling down the walls, and now Kahest Zho Avanae himself. A quick glance around the cave revealed a small pool of water near the center, forming in a depression in the stone where all the water gathered together, which he silently walked to and took a seat near the clear edge of the crystal clear liquid, gathering his thick black robes around him so they didn't get wet. It was then that he was overcome with the hopelessness of his situation, were it that he still had lungs he would surely have given a heavy sigh from the depths of his soul. What now? The thought rattling around in his empty skull.

What to do? Where to go from here? I have nothing. No allies, no soldiers, no home... No, wait, I have a home! This useless, hollowed out, piece of mountain! Oh, yes, from here I will launch a campaign against the Pure, or maybe the Lotunites using rocks and the corpses of the mountain creatures! His mental voice carrying the full strength of his sardonic and sarcastic tone, so caught up in his emotions and thoughts that he didn't notice the faint shimmering of the walls cave, encroaching on the Lich. Or maybe I'll try and wage war against the Beserkers of the Red Moon using snowballs and undead insects, that will show the damn council that I deserve to return to the Va'akar! Despite himself he found the mental image of him chucking snowballs at the Sons of the Red Moon amusing. Kahest shook skull slowly in grudging resignation, purging the anger and sarcasm from his mind. Well, I'll figure out something, I always do. I can't do anything here though, I need to get to a new place, learn some new things. Maybe I'll try to mess with my illusion ring to make myself look like an Iyagoan, spy on Lotun or The Pure of Gorathia... On and on he continued like this, trying to make plans for his dim future as the walls of shimmering energy crept closer.

It wasn't until the anomaly was a mere two dozen feet from him on all sides that Kahest finally noticed. His head jerked up and his sightless eye sockets turned to and fro, looking all around him at the oncoming mass of rippling energy. To his dismay he found he was trapped on all sides, the only exit from the cave blocked by the mysterious event slowly advancing on him. The Lich rose to his skeletal feet and moved closer to the edge of the mass of energy, studying it under his magical light, the scholar part of his personality emerging to try and reason an escape. Some sort of energy, not recognizably magic, at least none with which I am familiar. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be affecting the rock of the cave itself but that could be for a number of reasons. Kahest reached out to a nearby stalagmite and broke off a small chunk of loose stone with an inhuman strength afforded to the undead. He then threw the rock at the oncoming anomaly and watched in growing interest as the moment it touched the edge which cracks seemed to form in the wall and the rock disappeared, the cracks sealing as quickly as the formed. Hmm, maybe things in motion affect how the energy reacts, or maybe it's the fact that I touched it first. What were those cracks? Could it be some sort of dimension-altering energy, like the sort used in dimension-folding or pocket dimensions? Is that rock trapped in some pocket dimension? ... Will I be?

He retreated to his pool of water and the wall of energy slowly followed. Under normal circumstances of being thus trapped he would merely attempt to destroy his body and have his consciousness escape into a another one, but to do so in this case would mean leaving his phylactery behind which he simply could not do. Kahest made a few attempts to throw some of his powerful magic at it, to hold the energy at bay on one front or another, but all his attempts were for naught and he quickly stopped trying. It was not an easy thing for him, but he had to forced himself to resign his fate to whatever lay on the other side of the anomaly. So, he tucked his phylactery into his leather satchel, turned to the nearest wall of energy, and waited for it to come to him with all the patience and calm he could muster. The wall of energy crept towards him, inch by inch, until it slowly washed over him like a wave of the black ocean of Rehnok. As it touched his skeletal body fractures appeared in the surface of the wall, thick and jagged with white light pouring through them. Then he was engulfed in it, drowning in the white light, blinded by it for what seemed like hours or days, then darkness. The Lich fell to the ground , landing on his hands and knees, his sight slowly returning from the traumatic white energy that had driven it away momentarily. He looked down at his hands at the ground beneath it, verdant green erupting from the spaces between the bones of his hands. What? Grass? There's no grass in Va'ak? Am I in Iyagoa, or Larrath? Kahest lifted his skull and gazed at the immediate surroundings. ... Definitely not Iyagoa or Larrath.

All around the Lich was foliage, thick and green, the likes of which had not been seen on his world in decades. There were benches and bushes, trees and lampposts which spilled forth a light that was unlike any he had seen before. The greenery stretched out for what was, to Kahest, an unseemly amount and further beyond where the plants ended, began concrete and pavement roads and walkways, stone and metal and glass buildings of a design foreign to Rehnok, with windows aglow with more strange light. The Lich rose to his feet in shock, his mind taking in the onslaught of new information, trying to rationalize what had just happened to him and where he was now. On pure instinct he threw the hood of his robe over his skull and began walking in no intended direction, wandering through the park, heedless of the few citizens of the city who saw him and quickly moved away, unaware of anyone who might have been watching and not fleeing.

[Karla Alduino]

Karla frowned at the fountain. There it was, yellow warnings all gone. The water was as clear and clean as ever, with only a few leaves from the trees floating and moving on it's surface. It was peaceful, far too peaceful. It was already shut down, given how late it was, so no splashing and no water noise. Just the gentle rustling of the leaves around and the clear liquid. What a contrast from what she last saw. The fountain splashing with red colored water, little droplets of blood from different sources splattered all about, leaving a trail from the creature that had washed in it's waters. The creature also known as Josiah Clacher.

Karla let out a breath, looking around. Why was she here again? Every single clue had been cleaned or taken. Patrolling nights were the hardest, considering how much she wanted to be with Si. Not tonight though. There was someone else watching him like a hawk stalking a prey. A small smile broke her frown as she thought about it. Cerberus was going to use the flower she got from the Magic Man. Now she wasn't as useless, was she? Finally, she did something right. It was bothering her though, to be here and not there. But she knew Si would never fall asleep if she was around. It was like the Dreck could feel her presence even if she wasn't in plain view...

Her thoughts were interrupted and the knight turned but saw nothing but shadows and leaves. It was very difficult to see at night in this place, the dim light of the road, even more so around the trees.

"Who's there?!" She yelled out, reaching for her gun already. "Whoever you are, come out!" Well, that's what she said. To anyone without a translator it sounded like someone making up words. Ky nia!? Mina te lo, Vita vita!

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

At the sharp and loud words from the previously unseen Knight Kahest started and whipped around to face her, his robes swirling around him in the cool night air. His mind, formerly dazed by the sudden intake of his new surrounding, now snapped by to his military trained state of awareness and caution. Within his mind he cursed his foolishness which allowed him to be so caught off-guard by this person he now studied while a finger of fear dug into his mind; the fact that his phylactery was with him was a constant weight in his thoughts. The woman's words, clothing and the city she surely belonged to were as foreign to him as any other but her form looked so much alike to his own people, the Va'akar, that he found his confusion as to where he was growing even more so.

Many thoughts ran through his head within the breadth of an instant, his mechanical-like mind trying to figure out what to do now that he was accosted by what he assumed to be a native. What is it? It looks female. She's reaching for something. Is that a weapon? Could I kill her if she attacks? Even if I kill her, what then? I'll be left in a strange land and be considered dangerous and hostile. Should I run, or maybe try to communicate? Kahest was being overly cautious and he knew it, glancing down at the leather satchel at his side which held his means of life and his enemies means to kill him for good. He had not known the fear of death for over a century yet now it returned to him all too easily.

If I run I can only hide so long plus it might make me look an enemy, I'll have to try to talk to someone eventually, but I don't know her words. What is she trying to say, a threat or a warning? Whatever she's saying it doesn't sound too friendly, but she could just be cautious, nervous.. Her body seems taut, limbs likely strong, perhaps through training. It doesn't seem to be able to see me too well, perhaps eyesight is weak in low lighting. Stance is loose, yet firm, could be equally aggressive or defensive; likely a warrior of some sort. Could she be a...

Mind made up, pros and cons weighed, the Lich decided the best course of action was to make his presence known and hope they aren't the sort who attack strangers on sight. Steeling himself he lowered his hood, revealing his bare skull, and walked slowly towards her. When he spoke his unnatural, hollow voice carried a gentle and firm tone that he hoped conveyed the desire for peace, his words seeming to emanate from nothing and his jaw unmoving. "Qad lo'm Kahest Zho Avanae, Lich zho Va'akar. Lo'sh ka Vaenar? Qad korak modeq sok ka modeq aphax.." His words were the soft yet strong words of the Va'akar, and while he did not think she would understand, he hoped the meaning would get through nonetheless. To one who were listening to the language with a translator, it would come out in a broken but understandable form. "I am Kahest Of Knowledge, Dead of Va'akar. Are you Guardian? I will not harm, except you harm before."

[Karla Alduino]

And just like that, the Grim reaper appeared.

Karla's eyes widened, taking a step back, hands shaking. She'd seen this image before, in one of Si's dumb movies. She had to admit, she'd liked those scary movies, finding the gruesome, gory images amusing, but living it on first hand was such a different story. There wasn't anything funny about the sight of a bare skull loweing its hood and taking a step forward, walking to her as if she was about to be told she died.

Had she?

She looked around, looking for her body, as if she'd been living an extra corporeal situation. Had she been shot? Was she a ghost now? She felt like crying. She couldn't die now! She was so close! So close to finally freeing Si. So close to have him as mate, and not only as partners. So close to helping Cerberus keep his job. All the things she ever wanted to do came rushing through her head and the shaking increased.

"Stay there!" She yelled out, "I can't die yet!" How silly was this? Her hand, still holding the gun, pointing it to the reaper was shaking too much for her to actually land a good shot. And she just couldn't pull the trigger. What was happening? Why was the death coming to get her?

And it was then when it talked.

Karla blinked in confusion, barely making the words. She poked the translator on her ear, as it only managed to get a few words out of the foreign language. "I Ka- something something. I something harm something harm." What the hell?

Karla slowly lowered her gun, obviously understanding the situation far too late. This... thing, it was a folded? Well, the language hadn't been properly translated, which meant it hadn't been filed, which meant this creature, whatever it was, had just arrived... or never registered. Either way, she needed to sent it to the Offices. Gah! Why did all the new comers had to Fold when she was around? She was so bad at charades as it was.

"Stop!" She ordered, still shaking, placing her gun back in it's place, and opening her palms to it, motioning a halt. Okay, how could she explain this. "You," She pointed at the thing, "Are new here." She pointed at the ground. Oh yes, that was understandable. "You," Her fingers changed direction and again, pointed at the not as hooded as before creature. "Need to go..." She moved her fingers over a palm, as if they were walking, "To the..." How the hell could she act out 'Offices of Registration and Regulation'? Gah! They needed an easier name for that one.

"Um... There." And she pointed to the Offices direction. That wasn't going to get her anywhere, was it? Ugh, and what an unfortunate appearance this one had. She wondered if those creatures had mothers, because it seemed like no one else would like something so horrible.

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

The Lich watched silently unmoving, being as like a statue, while he watched with intrigue and unease the reaction of the woman across from him. Her demeanor went from near frantic and brandishing an unknown but clearly discernible weapon at Kahest, to a sort of sudden realization, calming and placing away the weapon she had drawn. At the sight of the gun the icy tendril of fear crept into his mind again, ever so briefly, at the threat of unknown power from the strange device that was her weapon. However, as she seemed to come to an understanding of the situation, though Kahest had no idea how or even much of what the situation was himself, the weapon was put away and a small bit of relief pushed away the fear.

Then came the strange words again, sounds emitted from her mouth and accompanied with simple gestures, as if he were a child. At the unassuming way she made the almost silly movements with her hands he was nearly amused, might have even chuckled were he in the mood for it, but the message conveyed was clear enough to the highly intelligent Lich: she wanted him to go somewhere, in the direction she pointed at, it seemed. She seems to have handled this sort of thing before, but was obviously initially put off by my appearance, much like the unblooded Lotunites and Larrathessa who had never faced the undead legions of my people. Kahest thought, his mental words echoing in his mind. Perhaps strange creatures showing up unexpectedly is something not rare for this land. Where does she want me to go? To some authority figure, to learn about me? Perhaps to a sort of incarceration. Oh well, too late to turn back now. As a means of confirmation he pointed a bony finger to himself, then turned it to point in the same direction as she had indicated, then signified his consent with two nods of his skull.

It had also occurred to him that if everyone else in this land would be as startled at his visage as she had, it would behoove him to don his illusion ring that he may appear in his mortal form, looking nearly identical to those who lived here, if this woman was any indication of the population. However, that would mean going into his bag and considering how on edge the woman was before he wanted to take no chances. He pointed at the weapon of hers sitting in it's holster, then changed the hand to an open palm and pushed the hand towards it towards the gun as if telling it to stay where it was. He then patted the leather satchel at his side and mimed reaching into it and pulling something out.

He blindly hoped the signaled message would be enough to stay her weapon and slowly began to open the bag and reach his hand into it, as slowly and gingerly as a showman sticking his hand into a pit of snakes. His fingers found the pocket where he kept the ring and, just as slowly, drew it from the bag, revealing it to the woman to show it was no weapon of his own, the black, shining metal a stark contrast to the bleached bone of his hand. Whether she had gotten the message or not, Kahest slipped the ring onto the middle finger of his left hand and an shimmering energy extended from it, covering the skeletal frame of the Lich and filling out his robes as if they were worn by a man of flesh and blood. Gradually the image took it's shape revealing the image of his younger self, with dark hair and thin facial hair over pale skin, covered in loose black robes which he drew over his body. He turned his brown eyes with lines of amber leading from the edge of the iris to the pupil towards the woman and raised an eyebrow, as if asking 'better?'

Now that he was of an image more suiting to his new environment he was ready to get going to whatever the woman had in mind for him, and returned to the gestures they had been using to communicate in lieu of spoken words. He pointed a now fleshed out hand and pressed it against the solid illusion of his chest, then brought both pointer fingers together and moved them sideways together, one following the other. He then pointed and her and again to the direction she directed him in the first time, hoping that he conveyed sufficiently the idea of him following her to wherever he had to go.

[Karla Alduino]

The... thing wasn't doing anything. Why wasn't he doing anything? Karla let out a breath, glaring and tapping her foot against the floor impatiently. Well, it was to be expected. The odd mimics weren't all that great, she'd never been great at it, and she's dealt with enough newly Folded to know that they all thought she was crazy. Of course, this was the first time ever she had to deal with who seemed to be brought right out of one of those horror movies Si rarely watched.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't being the knight she should and just maybe she should be taking him to the offices herself, instead of just pointing the way, and just maybe Cerberus would get mad at her if he found out. Not her fault! Remember what happened last time? True chaos. She could see Lexis disappearing in a shadow while she shot at him. She'd tried being nice! Even smiled. Okay, maybe that hadn't exactly been a smile, but she'd tried. Oh smile! Karla forced a smile to the creature, ending up looking like an animal showing it's teeth. She wasn't good at this.

The creature pointed and she nodded, "Yes! That way. Go! Get lost. Come on." And leave! Karla wasn't about to admit this thing scared her terribly, almost wanting to kill it with fire, though she doubted that would help.

The thing pointed at her, and Karla looked down in confusion. What? Her gun? She pulled it out, raising her eyebrows, though she wasn't pointing it anywhere. "Uh-what? What am I supposed to do?" Yes, because talking would get her far with a creature who spoke nothing resembling to her own language and even the translator in her ear couldn't figure out his language completely. At least she was sure she got more words out of it than he did. Then he made another motion and Karla put it back where it was with a frown. What did he want?

He pulled out a bag? Karla took a step back, hand on her gun, still in the belt, ready to pull it out if he suddenly turned to be violent. But nothing of the sort happened. He was doing something and she couldn't see in the dark, but suddenly he started to change. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as the skull suddenly started to grow muscle and then skin and hair. Suddenly there was a person standing there. A man with shaggy dark hair and far too tall compared to herself.

"You could look like that and you still chose to walk around like a freaking skeleton?" She asked angrily, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't understand her. "What the hell is your problem?" She huffed, blowing away the stray hair from her face. Stupid newly folded. Gah! Why did she have to deal with this? Cerberus was going to kill her if she didn't get him to the registration soon though... At least he wasn't as scary anymore.

"Come on." She said, rolling her eyes, using one finger to motion him to join her. "I'll walk you there." Then, figuring he wouldn't understand her, she pointed at him, then at herself, and then made the walking motion with her fingers again. "Got it?"

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

At the woman's gesture to follow Kahest merely nodded politely and began to follow as she led the way from the park to the wherever it was she thought he should go from here. However, when she had turned away from him he fixed her with a flat stare and wondered if he had gotten stuck with an idiot. From the point of his encounter with her she had not showed the slightest bit of rationality or reasonability, on the contrary she seemed everything from showing fear and disgust of the Lich to being straight fed up with him. Also, though he did not know the meaning behind the words she spoke the tone behind it was unmistakably that which one would use with a child; either she was under the impression that he was a bumbling fool or she simply didn't bother to care about his intelligence at all.

Best not let it get to you, he thought to himself as he walked slowly behind the woman, silent as the grave. There are bigger things to concern myself about here than one flippant woman. Like where she's taking me, what I'm going to do about getting back to my world, and what I'm going to do if I can't get back... Kahest frowned at those last thoughts; he didn't know why he was even so eager to return to his world, there was little waiting for him there except for the faint, distant hope of returning to his people. Still, the idea of not being able to return to the world of Rehnok made him uncomfortable and he had to admit to himself that even the slightest possibility of returning to the Va'akar made him want to little else but to do all he could to be welcomed back into the open arms of his people. Well, maybe there's something in this world that will earn my place. Perhaps if I could bring back new knowledge, or even a way to travel between the worlds, would maybe be enough for the council to rescind my exile.

Deep in his thoughts Kahest walked with an natural grace, one afforded to those whose very movements are fueled by magic, following the woman at a reasonable distance as to not make her any more uncomfortable than she already was. Meanwhile, as the two made their way, the Lich took this chance to further study the strange city around him. It was not nearly as massive as the Va'akarotha, the city of his people, yet its architecture made large buildings out of seemingly flimsy material. He saw not a single resembling the squat and solid buildings of the Lotunites, made of huge heavy blocks of stone. More so, they resembled the buildings of the Va'akar but made of softer stone, or of metal and glass; simply from the looks of the buildings one would guess that a wild Carren beast would reduce them all to ruins. Still, he assumed that they must be powerful in magic since they were able to light their city in such a way, though it was of no magic he recognized, so surely they strengthened the walls of their buildings with enchantments of sorts. If, indeed, his stay here was to be for a while then he would have to learn about their magic among other things. For that matter, I'll have to learn their language. This whole 'trying to talk with gestures' thing will simply not do. If I am to learn from them, or even interact with them at all, I'll need to be able to talk with them on their terms.

So they walked, Kahest's mind buzzing with thoughts and ideas, the woman he assumed to be a Guardian leading him to a place unknown to him. The only sound being the sound of bare feet against the ground, falsified by his illusion ring, and the soft rustling of his robes.

[Karla Alduino]

Well, wasn't this lovely awkward?

Karla walked with a deep frown on her face. This was dull, as dull as walking next to Cerberus when he was in doggie form. Hell, at least back then she could kill something in the meantime. Talking about killing, there went a flock of stupidly fat, round birds, probably here to spy on them. Filthy little bastards. She even growled at the sight, desperately wanting to kill a few. Ah, but the stupid Conglomerate would have a thrill if they found ONE freaking dead birds. "A protected specie", come on. The filthy little creatures were spies and they knew it.

"So..." She spoke, though she was pretty sure he couldn't understand it, "Are you always this chatty or am I the special one who gets to hear your voice." Of course this was said with the most sarcastic tone she could muster and she smirked up at him, kind of amused about the whole situation.

"Is that the fashion in your universe? It must be awfully cold there." Yeah, her jokes were getting lame. Blame mister skull next to her, with no translator. It was much more fun messing with people when they could actually understand you.

While the skull/bad boy walked with poise and grace, almost as if he was floating, Karla walked in her own particularly manly way for someone without something dangling between legs. What? You try walking like a lady when you spent most of your time dressed in military clothing.

Another flock of birds passed them by and Karla raised an eyebrow. Wow, those little bastards really reproduced fast! She'd almost killed them all and now she spent a few months occupied with something else and they were taking over town again. Hundreds of tiny eyes shone in the night, making the setting way eerie. As if walking next to a skull wasn't enough to make things creepy.

Just as she continued walking, halfway through the park, a nice dash of dropping fell on her shoulder. The knight stopped walking, eye twitching. Almost as if mocking her, a 'Yawck!' was heard from over her. Looking up she noticed dozens of horrid little fat birds on the cables.

"Okay! That's it!" She grabbed out her gun, fury written all over her, and shot up at one of the fat birds, and she really wanted to think that was the one who'd felt free to release itself all over her nice knight uniform.

Bad idea.

As soon as the bird landed on the ground, devoid of life, the hundreds of birds started flapping around them, obviously ready to attack.

Uh-oh...

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

As the woman next to him talked Kahest barely listened, mostly because he was unable to understand her and made it pointless but also because he got the idea she was mocking him, though there was no way to know since for all he knew her tone could have any inflection in her own language. Instead, he continued to busy himself with visual study of the world around him.

For a while he cast his gaze upon the woman herself, trying to learn a bit about the people who inhabited these lands from her, though there was not very much to glean. Her clothes and other worn items told a story of her tendency for combat, made more so for function than form. The Lich wondered briefly if this was normal for most women in this culture. True enough, the females of the working class in the Va'akar wore garb identical to those of the males, but in their leisure at home and for those higher up the social ladders, long, sleek dresses were more common. Of course there were always exceptions, perhaps she was such a one.

However, what drew his interest more so was the weapon she had at her side, and what other, unseen weapons she might have, such as magic of her own. He sensed no magic from her, but that was hardly any indication. What kind of weapon was that thing at her hip? He sensed no magic from it either but, again, that kind of thing could be masked. She pointed it at me. Perhaps it produces some sort of projectile?

Kahest had begun to dismiss these thoughts when once again her attention was drawn to a flock of flying creatures above, those round aerial beasts that seemed to agitate her to annoyance or frustration. Though they seemed harmless enough, so he merely ignored them. Though, very quickly, things changed when one of them seemed to drop something on her shoulder which Kahest could only assumed to be some sort of excrement. Clearly the woman did not take it well, since she proceeded to shout and draw the weapon he had previously been looking at, and fire at one of them. There was a loud crack noise, something akin to an explosion of a sort, yet a smaller and more controlled one. He saw a flash from muzzle and thought he saw a sort of streak from it to the bird that now lay dead on the ground, mutilated by the bullet. Other than that, he learned no new knowledge about the weapon, but now wondered if it shot lightning of some sort.

Unable to dwell on it, he looked at the flock the dead creature had come from, which now began to swarm around them, hundreds of the same sort of beast who clearly sought vengeance for their fallen brother. A few swooped at him and pecked at his clothes and false flesh, but did little more than pester the undead magic-user. Still, by numbers alone they were incredibly annoyed and could do some superficial damage to his escort. Thus, he resolved to end them.

The Lich closed his eyes momentarily, calling up the arcane power and words that resided deep within him, the cast his gaze up at the flock above and around them. Slowly he began to whisper the words of magic, a hint of sound that echoed on the air, while raising his hands slowly in the direction of the pests. With a final word the spell was cast and four tendrils of sickly green light swiftly twisted up from his hands and ensnared four of the creatures. It took less than the span of a breath for them to begin falling to the ground, leaving withered corpses that looked long dead, the tendrils switching from the dead to the living in a flash. The spell did not usually kill so quickly, but the creatures were small and had little life within them, which drained away swiftly under his magic. In a short minute over a hundred were dead around them, their corpses littered on the ground, which caused the others to take wing and speed away from Kahest and the woman with him. Kahest then released his focus, and thus the spell, and the tendrils of light dissipated in an instant.

Whatever his escort's reaction was, he paid no attention, he was merely glad for the excuse to use his abilities. Crouching, he picked up one of the death, withered bodies off the ground, it's feathers fell off like ash and it's skin was like leather. In the same matter he would when working at the Academy of Life he studied the little thing, intrigued by the physiology and faintly wishing he had cared to catch one alive to dissect. It's flesh was ruined, but the bone structure was intact; so, with a few more whispered words he breathed undeath into creature.

Slowly it twitched into animation, it's movement propelled by magic and not by it's wasted musculature. It stood in his hands and with another few words he sent a wave of light over it which slowly washed over it, causing what little flesh remaining to dry and wither even further until it fell off the bones like so much dust. Still, the little undead abomination stood in his hand, a skeleton standing alone, looking up at it's new master.

He took a few moments of further study of the bone structure, plucking bits of bone off and looking closer, cracking the bones open and finding most of them hollow. Not unlike the flying beasts of my own lands, but they look... fluffier, and far more small. He thought before setting the undead bird onto the ground next to him and finally turning to the woman, unprepared for her reaction despite everything. Right, she's not used to undead...

[Karla Alduino]

Crap, crap, crap, crap.

The birds were coming fast. Karla quickly pulled out her gun, shooting almost randomly. Birds started to fall but it was difficult to shoot them all and she was running out of bullets. Slowly though, almost as magic, her eyesight became clear, until she could actually see through the massive amount of wings and fluttering feathers. Enough to see the little flying rats fall to the ground glowing green or something of the like. She wasn't entirely sure since she couldn't see clearly. That changed in a matter of seconds.

Karla turned her wide eyes to the image of man standing near her, using some sort of magic. She stared at what he did, not even being able to move. The light disappeared and it suddenly felt far too quiet. She could hear her own breathing, almost panting, a smell of dead all over. The knight allowed her eyes go down to the ground, at the many little birds. So many little fluffy dead spies...

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" She suddenly yelled out in the quiet of the night. She turned her glare to her companion, not even caring he couldn't understand her. "Cerberus is going to kill me! Are you happy now? I might lose my job! GAH!" She let out a yell, throwing her arms up. Well, there went the 'protected species' program and the knights reputation. She would at the very least get scolded over this.

As if he could understand her words, the reaper bent to pick up a dead bird and she couldn't hide the disgust from her face. The little thing was all bloody and icky, but that didn't seem to phase the man.

"What? Are you going to kiss it good night?" She asked sarcastically, obviously upset, crossing her arms and looking impatient. Kiss good night indeed. As if nothing, the bird started to... move? She thought it was dead! The most gruesome thing was the loss of feathers and skin, until it was nothing but a moving skeleton, just like the man who was holding it was. Ew. And he plucked a bone out. Double ew.

"You are disgusting." Yes, leave it to Karla to have such a reaction. She still her her gun, weary at the fact that this man could apparently kill with magic. They would need to take good watch over him. Who knew if he got curious and felt the need to pluck out HER bones. Not like she was letting him get any closer.

"You are in SO much trouble."

[Kahest Zho Avanae]

The Lich tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow, conveying clearly a confusion to her reaction. Clearly she did not find the undeath of the bird palatable but there was something more than that in the last thing she said, something about her tone that was almost chiding him. Looking back at the results of what he did, the scene of death and the small undead servant on the ground, he tried to understand what it was about the situation which caused him to be in trouble.

Did I do something wrong? She was trying to kill them too, not to mention they were attacking us. Maybe it was the way I did it? Maybe it was the fact that I raised one? The Pure see it as an affront to life, maybe these people share that view and this is against their laws and beliefs. Maybe it was the bodies of the birds themselves, perhaps she was unhappy about having a bunch of small corpses of the avian creatures lying around. Raising his hands in a pleading, innocent manner, he tried to convey he had meant no offense and was sorry if any had been made. Resolved to try fix the situation, not wanting to leave a bad first impression with the inhabitants of this world, he tried to rectify what he thought might be the problem.

With a quick motion of one hand he dismissed the consciousness of the undead bird which stood near his feet, the skeletal form falling into a clump of bones. Then he spoke a soft word and made another hasty gesture and another tendril of sickly green energy swept over all the bodies, including the bones at his feet, decaying them all in the time span of a minute to the form of little piles of dust which were already beginning to scatter in the light, night wind.

The man could not help feeling a little bit annoyed. Since the moment he arrived here in this new land he had done nothing but what was natural to him and in response had received nothing but exasperation, aggression and disgust from the woman he thought was trying to help him. Still, he knew that here he was the guest, the visitor, the intruder even, and as such he kept his patience where he might lose it under other circumstances.

Raising both eyebrows in an inquisitive look Kahest gestured widely to the area which was no longer littered in bird corpses and looked at her. Is this all right? Is this better? Then he pointed in the direction they were headed. Is everything okay now? Can we get back on our way?