Realms 2: Rebirth of Evil (Official RP)

[GigaRidley]

"Then talk you may, Seth."
Richand appeared at the top of the staircase and quickly made his way gown to stare at Seth on the same level.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? almost 15 years... what's happening?"
-MEANWHILE-
"No... I'm not."
Night started to say more, but stopped. The old man seemed friendly, but Night had learned well never to say more than was necessary.
"Listen, we need to get out of here, now!"
Night grabbed the wrist of the old man and jumped back through the window just as the buildings' load-bearing beams began to crumble. Night wiped his brow with his staff.
"Listen, we need to go now--"
"You're not going anywhere!!!"
The two found themselves surrounded by six heavily armed Destrian soldiers. Night knew he was going to have to fight, but he didn't want the old man to be afraid of him, so he simply took out his oaken staff instead of using his powers.
"You know how to fight?"

 

[ShadwDemon]

A man came into Nero's tent standing 6' tall looking down at Nero. Nero stood up to the man, signaled him to follow and walked out of the tent. The man followed. As they walked Nero talked to the man.

"Are the troops ready to head to base Yamata?"

Nero looked at Yamata. He noddded.

"Good", said Nero. "Solders. Now that you are packed, we must now head to the southern base." He turned to Yamata. "Lead the solders."

Yamata nodded and raised his hand in the air to signal to the troops to follow him.

As Yamata led the troops, Nero looked for Nogeth. He found him and stood beside him.

"Yamata is leading the troops to the southern base like you ordered."

 

[Shadow*91]

"Good. It's time we leave this place." Vent began to walk forward ahead of the group. He knew they'd follow so didn't bother to check.
-Meanwhile-
"That's exactly why I've come. I don't know what is happening. I manipulated everything Destry did for a few hundred long years, all according to the plan my gods had set forth. Everything was done to thier exact specifications. The banishment of Valentine into the void of eternal torture was done exactly as planned. You awoke as the Avatar of Light and Storm fell before you. Everything went exactly as planned. Meaning the peace I promised should be here. These Destrian Shadows, these terrorists, they should not exist. Something has happened that has thrown off my god's plan. My promised peace for Renit will be impossible until the source of this imbalence is destroyed. However there itself is the problem. I have no knowledge of what has caused this problem, nor do my gods. I spoke with them recentky and they have tasked me to rectify the balance. I have come to you Richand, to ask for your help."

 

[BurrHenry]

Still running, Fringe found herself nearing the city, evidently she had been walking incredibly slowly on her way out. She gave her head a quick shake in self disgust. As she began to walk into the city she noticed a fight going on. Two strangers and a group of soldiers...One of the soldiers looked a bit like one of her old friends...

...Well, this was nothing she had any desire to involve herself in. Destroying the city even further? This was stupid. Surely the soldiers would notice the destruction going on and tell the two maniacs that fighting was an idiotic course of action. Especially under the current circumstances.

She walked back into the forest and leaned against a tree, her hand lightly resting on one of her pistols, and settled down to watch the ongoing action.

 

[lbu8]

The carriage came to a halt at the gates of Negliv. Caedus immediately scrambled out of the carriage and through the gates of the city. His shoes hit hard against the stone pathways that served for streets. Hundreds of other people, merchants, and would-be criminals filled every corner of Negliv. It was the super highway of Renit, the central processor for all culture. Caedus noticed many dressed guards and soldiers walking throughout the city. He wondered if they were really ready to go to war.

He found the answers on their faces. They were terrified. Many of the armymen were barely even his age, let alone ready to commit murder and die in battle agaist a seemingly "invisible" force known only as the Destrian Shadows. While most have seen to few winters, others have seen far too many. Elderly folk were also clad in armor. If disease struck the troops, they would be the first to fall, and the last to be healed.

Caedus made his way towards the large Castle in the center of Negliv. He walked up readily to the door, ignored the guard who tried to stop him, and burst in. Many of the upperclass snobs resided within the kingdom, but there was only one on Caedus's mind. He marched through the dining room and through a few corridors with a staircase leading to the grand hall. He went through the opening and entered, his tired feet finally finding refuge on the soft crimson carpet of the Throne room.

Caedus steadily walked straight up to the throne and knelt before Oric Halgern, King of Drosin.

"My King... I need your help," he said slowly.

Oric Halgern stood in his study, starring out the large bay window on the back wall. The window covered much of the wall and provided him with a great view of the castle grounds. He was studing the plethora of brightly colored birds scattered thoughout the castle gardens when a well dressed, strong bodied man caught his eye. His stride projected arrogence and as the man moved closer Oric now recognized him as Caedus Zamikios, son of Richand and Siana.

Oric slowly turned towards the large oak doors at the front of the room. His study was rectangular in shape with large book shelfs running down the two long walls. A large desk sat in the back of the room near the window, papers messily stacked inbetween maps and broken quils. In the center of the room was a custom made table, the map of renuit carved into his face. Across this table sat colored blocks representing battilions. A single black block was placed in northeast New Salfir a question mark engraved into it.

This was the location of the Destrian Shadows last attack. They hit a large walled city named Destiny Post, overrunning it and burning it to the ground in minuites and then vanishing into the forest as quick as they came. The attack had been last night, and Oric had been up throughout the early morning researching, rereading every piece of evidence he had on the shadows.

Oric's train of thought was disrupted by the sound of his study towards being forcfully thrown open. Caedus took a few steps forward and dropped to a knee. Oric smiled and spoke kindly, "Caedus for the last time you do not need to kneel before me. I am no god." Oric grabbed the young mans arm, pulling him to his feet, "What is it?"

 

[The Storm]

The carriage came to a halt at the gates of Negliv. Caedus immediately scrambled out of the carriage and through the gates of the city. His shoes hit hard against the stone pathways that served for streets. Hundreds of other people, merchants, and would-be criminals filled every corner of Negliv. It was the super highway of Renit, the central processor for all culture. Caedus noticed many dressed guards and soldiers walking throughout the city. He wondered if they were really ready to go to war.

He found the answers on their faces. They were terrified. Many of the armymen were barely even his age, let alone ready to commit murder and die in battle agaist a seemingly "invisible" force known only as the Destrian Shadows. While most have seen to few winters, others have seen far too many. Elderly folk were also clad in armor. If disease struck the troops, they would be the first to fall, and the last to be healed.

Caedus made his way towards the large Castle in the center of Negliv. He walked up readily to the door, ignored the guard who tried to stop him, and burst in. Many of the upperclass snobs resided within the kingdom, but there was only one on Caedus's mind. He marched through the dining room and through a few corridors with a staircase leading to the grand hall. He went through the opening and entered, his tired feet finally finding refuge on the soft crimson carpet of the Throne room.

Caedus steadily walked straight up to the throne and knelt before Oric Halgern, King of Drosin.

"My King... I need your help," he said slowly.

Oric Halgern stood in his study, starring out the large bay window on the back wall. The window covered much of the wall and provided him with a great view of the castle grounds. He was studing the plethora of brightly colored birds scattered thoughout the castle gardens when a well dressed, strong bodied man caught his eye. His stride projected arrogence and as the man moved closer Oric now recognized him as Caedus Zamikios, son of Richand and Siana.

Oric slowly turned towards the large oak doors at the front of the room. His study was rectangular in shape with large book shelfs running down the two long walls. A large desk sat in the back of the room near the window, papers messily stacked inbetween maps and broken quils. In the center of the room was a custom made table, the map of renuit carved into his face. Across this table sat colored blocks representing battilions. A single black block was placed in northeast New Salfir a question mark engraved into it.

This was the location of the Destrian Shadows last attack. They hit a large walled city named Destiny Post, overrunning it and burning it to the ground in minuites and then vanishing into the forest as quick as they came. The attack had been last night, and Oric had been up throughout the early morning researching, rereading every piece of evidence he had on the shadows.

Oric's train of thought was disrupted by the sound of his study towards being forcfully thrown open. Caedus took a few steps forward and dropped to a knee. Oric smiled and spoke kindly, "Caedus for the last time you do not need to kneel before me. I am no god." Oric grabbed the young mans arm, pulling him to his feet, "What is it?"

Caedus stood with the King's help. Though Oric said he was no god, in this world he was the closest thing to it. His ornate heritage and skill in combat had won him much respect and had him heralded as the prestige warrior of Drosin, not to mention his magnificent orchestration of armies in the battlefield, gathering much merit for the Battle of Negliv victory during the Destrian Conflict, and Oric's own involvement in the defeat of Storm Valentine.

To the people, Oric Halgern was a god.

"My King... These terrorists, the Destrian Shadows... They have been taking out more and more posts in New Salfir. I tried speaking sense to the officials at the Citadel, but they will not listen. I need your support, my lord. My plan to stop these fiends won't fail... But I need your support. And perhaps, your special collection of troops. The small group that we have been recruiting."

Caedus could tell what Oric was thinking by the look on his face. Suddenly, Caedus's eyes turned a feral yellow, and his voice dropped an octave as he spoke.

"We don't need them. It is my turn now. It's mine! We can take them out ourselvers! think about it... Our names will go down in history forever! We can be even more famous than them! We don't need them!"

He stopped for a moment after seeing the look of surprise on Oric's face. Caedus's eyes returned to normal along with his voice, and he coughed a moment, blinking as if he was dizzy or confused. He blushed, embarrassed by his arrogant forward approach. He regained his composure after a few moments, and returned his gaze to Oric.

"These terrorists can be taken down by us. My parents have been through enough without having to worry about me. Leave my mother and father out of this."

 

[GigaRidley]

Richand glanced at Siana.
"You don't have to ask-- we're commited to stopping the Destrian Shadows anyway. We fought so hard for peace in Renit... I, for one, am not going to just lay back and watch it be destroyed."
Siana turned to Seth once again.
"We were actually planning to go talk to King Halgern-- Oric-- about what he wants us to do to aid him in this battle. Would you care to come?"
-MEANWHILE-
Night was somewhat taken aback by man's brutality. He resisted the urge to argue, for the moment. He knew that angered allies could quickly become enemies.
"You'll pay for that, old man!!! No one crosses the Destrian Shadows and lives!!!"
The one that appeared to be the leader of the group rushed to impale Giles on his sharp spear. Dashing in, Night parried the side of the weapon with his unarmed hand. The soldier chuckled and tried to pull the spear back, but his amusement turned to frustration as Night simply grasped the spear with one hand, and the guard couldn't seem to pull it back an inch no matter how hard he pulled.
"So... you're that terrorist group that's been attacking cities. I've heard about you... you people are sick!"
Another soldier attempted a swing at Night from behind, but he simply swung his staff in a full arc, knocking both the assailant and the leader out cold with his mighty strength.
"Now get out of here! And take your trash with you!"
Night kicked the unconcious bodies over to the remaining soldiers.

 

[ShadwDemon]

"Good. It's time we leave this place." Vent began to walk forward ahead of the group. He knew they'd follow so didn't bother to check.

"Yes sir." He signaled Yamata over to him.
Yamata came over to him. "Sir?"

Nero turned his head to him. "I want you to search the area over one time to make sure no survivers are in the area, then head to south base."

Yamata nodded his head, "Understood."

Night was somewhat taken aback by man's brutality. He resisted the urge to argue, for the moment. He knew that angered allies could quickly become enemies.
"You'll pay for that, old man!!! No one crosses the Destrian Shadows and lives!!!"
The one that appeared to be the leader of the group rushed to impale Giles on his sharp spear. Dashing in, Night parried the side of the weapon with his unarmed hand. The soldier chuckled and tried to pull the spear back, but his amusement turned to frustration as Night simply grasped the spear with one hand, and the guard couldn't seem to pull it back an inch no matter how hard he pulled.
"So... you're that terrorist group that's been attacking cities. I've heard about you... you people are sick!"
Another soldier attempted a swing at Night from behind, but he simply swung his staff in a full arc, knocking both the assailant and the leader out cold with his mighty strength.
"Now get out of here! And take your trash with you!"
Night kicked the unconcious bodies over to the remaining soldiers.

He ran from the group and back into the area searching the ruins of the city. After an hour of searching he heard the yells of fighting and looked from behind a building and saw Destrian Solders fighting strong opponents.

 

[BurrHenry]

Fringe watched the unusual pair slaughter a number of soldiers, she was confused by the accusation made about the soldiers, "Sure, they were bastards...But terrorists...?" One of the remaining soldiers stood trembling, Fringe believed him to be one of her old comrades...They hadn't been good friends, she couldn't even recall his name...But she knew him, and that had to count for something didn't it?

She hastily made the decision that this had gone on quite long enough, she dashed toward the fight, and carefully aimed both pistols, one at the duo, and one at the remaining soldiers before yelling, "What's going on here?! Can't you take your fighting somewhere where you won't do anymore harm?! Like...Oh I don't know...The woods?!"

 

[BurrHenry]

A bullet whistled through the air, and struck the soldier leading the assault. He fell down with a cry. Fringe stumbled back due to the pistol's recoil, and swore. As she recovered herself, she turned her eyes back to the scene, and (as fast as her relatively inexperienced hands would allow her) prepared to fire again, but...

 

[lbu8]

Caedus stood with the King's help. Though Oric said he was no god, in this world he was the closest thing to it. His ornate heritage and skill in combat had won him much respect and had him heralded as the prestige warrior of Drosin, not to mention his magnificent orchestration of armies in the battlefield, gathering much merit for the Battle of Negliv victory during the Destrian Conflict, and Oric's own involvement in the defeat of Storm Valentine.

To the people, Oric Halgern was a god.

"My King... These terrorists, the Destrian Shadows... They have been taking out more and more posts in New Salfir. I tried speaking sense to the officials at the Citadel, but they will not listen. I need your support, my lord. My plan to stop these fiends won't fail... But I need your support. And perhaps, your special collection of troops. The small group that we have been recruiting."

Caedus could tell what Oric was thinking by the look on his face. Suddenly, Caedus's eyes turned a feral yellow, and his voice dropped an octave as he spoke.

"We don't need them. It is my turn now. It's mine! We can take them out ourselvers! think about it... Our names will go down in history forever! We can be even more famous than them! We don't need them!"

He stopped for a moment after seeing the look of surprise on Oric's face. Caedus's eyes returned to normal along with his voice, and he coughed a moment, blinking as if he was dizzy or confused. He blushed, embarrassed by his arrogant forward approach. He regained his composure after a few moments, and returned his gaze to Oric.

"These terrorists can be taken down by us. My parents have been through enough without having to worry about me. Leave my mother and father out of this."

Oric was suprised by Caedus' cold speech. The Drosin King had witnessed Caedus' overly agressive style of debate many times, but had never heard him speak like that. The strangest thing was the way he completely changed tones, twice. Oric decided he would bring it up later and collected his thoughts regarding young Zaminkos' plan.

"The shadow's are gaining more confidence with each attack. There pressence has nearly doubled over the last month. You are right in that the Citadel will not act. They don't see them as a legitamate threat, and this worries me."

Oric turned toward his window, gazzing out to the horizion in the direction of New Salfir. He rumaged though a desk drawer pulling out a folder of profiles and sat them square in the center of the polished wood,

"My team is still not ready, it would take weeks to round them all up and I'm still not sure it is a wise decsion to pull my best men from the field to go after these terrorists. I am commited to stop them, but right now we do not know enough to mount an offensive. I do disagree about the roles of your parents. It would be foolish to not include them, and weather you like it of not you can not keep them out of this conflict. Their wills are too strong."

Oric stopped speaking once again and moved over to the battle map. A small stone marked each of the places the Destrain Shadows had hit. Every attack had come in either New or Old Salfir.

"This attack was different. They usually plunder small outposts or villages. They are growing in size and becoming more bold. We may very well have a war on our hands soon."

 

[Shadow*91]

"Head to Negliv and see Oric? I don't believe it wise if I were to go to Negliv. For those that know of my previous involvement, this entire struggle is my fault. I do not blame them either as the Conflict was my fault. However I still have no desire to head into Negliv just to possibly cause a riot. But I cannot deny the power Oric commands. His help would be a great aid in this. So though I will not go to Negliv, I can tell you everything I know from my spying on the Shadows. I'm sure you'll find all the information usefull." Seth awaited thier reply, he was planning to give them all his knowledge of the Shadows but first he wanted to know what they would say to his refusing to go to Negliv.
-Meanwhile-
Vent led the soldiers following him through a not often used path through the southern forest of the new Salfir. Once he came to a clearing he stopped, as did the men behind him. He knelt down, placing his hand on a rather large stone in front of him. He felt around for a moment before finding what he was searching for, a small indent in the rock. He unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the indent and the ground shook. Suddenly the clearing opened revealing a torch lit path underground. Vent sheathed his blade and walked in. The soldiers followed and split off the seperate chambers for them. Vent himself went to his chamber. Outside its door was two guards. "Tell the other generals that I must speak with them." The guards nodded and headed off to find them. He entered his chambers and looked around. The room was carved out of stone and lit by a couple torches on the walls. There was a bed and a table with a map of Renit. Vent walked forward and place his katanas on the bed. He reached into a pocket on his vest and pulled out a small purple gem. Within the gem seemed to be a swirling vortex of smoke. The gem seemed to have a lifeforce of its own. Finally, Vent spoke. "The city has fallen great one. Your plan is one step closer to completion."

 

[The Storm]

Caedus stood with the King's help. Though Oric said he was no god, in this world he was the closest thing to it. His ornate heritage and skill in combat had won him much respect and had him heralded as the prestige warrior of Drosin, not to mention his magnificent orchestration of armies in the battlefield, gathering much merit for the Battle of Negliv victory during the Destrian Conflict, and Oric's own involvement in the defeat of Storm Valentine.

To the people, Oric Halgern was a god.

"My King... These terrorists, the Destrian Shadows... They have been taking out more and more posts in New Salfir. I tried speaking sense to the officials at the Citadel, but they will not listen. I need your support, my lord. My plan to stop these fiends won't fail... But I need your support. And perhaps, your special collection of troops. The small group that we have been recruiting."

Caedus could tell what Oric was thinking by the look on his face. Suddenly, Caedus's eyes turned a feral yellow, and his voice dropped an octave as he spoke.

"We don't need them. It is my turn now. It's mine! We can take them out ourselvers! think about it... Our names will go down in history forever! We can be even more famous than them! We don't need them!"

He stopped for a moment after seeing the look of surprise on Oric's face. Caedus's eyes returned to normal along with his voice, and he coughed a moment, blinking as if he was dizzy or confused. He blushed, embarrassed by his arrogant forward approach. He regained his composure after a few moments, and returned his gaze to Oric.

"These terrorists can be taken down by us. My parents have been through enough without having to worry about me. Leave my mother and father out of this."

Oric was suprised by Caedus' cold speech. The Drosin King had witnessed Caedus' overly agressive style of debate many times, but had never heard him speak like that. The strangest thing was the way he completely changed tones, twice. Oric decided he would bring it up later and collected his thoughts regarding young Zaminkos' plan.

"The shadow's are gaining more confidence with each attack. There pressence has nearly doubled over the last month. You are right in that the Citadel will not act. They don't see them as a legitamate threat, and this worries me."

Oric turned toward his window, gazzing out to the horizion in the direction of New Salfir. He rumaged though a desk drawer pulling out a folder of profiles and sat them square in the center of the polished wood,

"My team is still not ready, it would take weeks to round them all up and I'm still not sure it is a wise decsion to pull my best men from the field to go after these terrorists. I am commited to stop them, but right now we do not know enough to mount an offensive. I do disagree about the roles of your parents. It would be foolish to not include them, and weather you like it of not you can not keep them out of this conflict. Their wills are too strong."

Oric stopped speaking once again and moved over to the battle map. A small stone marked each of the places the Destrain Shadows had hit. Every attack had come in either New or Old Salfir.

"This attack was different. They usually plunder small outposts or villages. They are growing in size and becoming more bold. We may very well have a war on our hands soon."

A slight grimace found itself across Caedus's face, both at Oric's election to not aide just yet, but also to include his parents. He hated the thought of having to ask his father for help... Again. Caedus slammed his fist against the battle map.

"That is precisely my point! There is no time to wait! Your best men must aide us now, if not then we may have an epidemic on our hands that could make the Destrian Conflict look like a small school fight! we must act NOW!"

Vent led the soldiers following him through a not often used path through the southern forest of the new Salfir. Once he came to a clearing he stopped, as did the men behind him. He knelt down, placing his hand on a rather large stone in front of him. He felt around for a moment before finding what he was searching for, a small indent in the rock. He unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the indent and the ground shook. Suddenly the clearing opened revealing a torch lit path underground. Vent sheathed his blade and walked in. The soldiers followed and split off the seperate chambers for them. Vent himself went to his chamber. Outside its door was two guards. "Tell the other generals that I must speak with them." The guards nodded and headed off to find them. He entered his chambers and looked around. The room was carved out of stone and lit by a couple torches on the walls. There was a bed and a table with a map of Renit. Vent walked forward and place his katanas on the bed. He reached into a pocket on his vest and pulled out a small purple gem. Within the gem seemed to be a swirling vortex of smoke. The gem seemed to have a lifeforce of its own. Finally, Vent spoke. "The city has fallen great one. Your plan is one step closer to completion."

Pain no longer ran through his body. He had left that behind long ago. Now it was just his spirit. He could still interact with the outside world, but for the purpose of simplicity, he only communicated with one individual.

"The city has fallen great one. Your plan is one step closer to completion."

The words echoed in his small confined world for a moment. Completion... How he looked forward to it.The smoke inside the purple gem darkened into the blackest haze, and the gem itself seemed to radiate dark energies. The smoke parted a moment, and two red eyes appeared in the gem. Confined and unable to take physical form, the best he could do was muster the strength to attain spiritual form.

"Excellent work, my General... I look forward to reqarding you once I am part of that world once more... and do not worry, General Nogeth... Once I am free I will unleash my fury upon the known world and it will buckle under my grasp... It will not be long now... Look...

The shadow inside the gem motioned Vent to look towards the group of plants he was holding the gem near. The dark energy the gem was exuding seemed to be infecting the plants... And then it happened. A high pitched squel sounded for all of Renit to hear. But the frequency was too high for humans to hear. Only those acutely attuned to such things would be able to hear it. but, the sound was so defeaningly powerful, it killed. Those who could hear it; dogs, cats, and other animals; they all dropped dead in their tracks.

The source of the sound was seen at the group of plants the gem had motioned at. The air seemed to tear itself open, and a small foot long line of black drew itself in the air. The inside was black, and as it opened, all the foliage, plantlife, and plant group Vent was looking at died instantly, and were then sucked into the line. the last time something like this appeared in Renit was 15 years ago. It was a sign. A new Void had opened in Renit. The gem made noise that sounded something like a chuckle. the shadow then spoke to Vent.

"You see... It has begun..."

The spirit of Storm Valentine then returned to its solice in the gem. the dark energy dissappated, and the void slowly closed itself.

 

[Shadow*91]

Vent gave a small smile before placing the gem back in its spot in his pocket. He sat down next to the map and looked over everything. We started only a year ago and although those in the Citadel try to ignore us, Salfir and Drosin fear us. We are small but we are strong. We have destroyed over fifty outposts and thirty cities, five in the last month alone. The destrians that live in hiding among the salfirans support our efforts. They shout in joy for each of our victories. Drosin, Conud, Salfir... there greatest mistake was allowing even a single Destry civilian to live after they took over our leaderless nation. So long as one Destry civilian lives that hates the other three, the Destrian Shadows will not die.

 

[lbu8]

Caedus stood with the King's help. Though Oric said he was no god, in this world he was the closest thing to it. His ornate heritage and skill in combat had won him much respect and had him heralded as the prestige warrior of Drosin, not to mention his magnificent orchestration of armies in the battlefield, gathering much merit for the Battle of Negliv victory during the Destrian Conflict, and Oric's own involvement in the defeat of Storm Valentine.

To the people, Oric Halgern was a god.

"My King... These terrorists, the Destrian Shadows... They have been taking out more and more posts in New Salfir. I tried speaking sense to the officials at the Citadel, but they will not listen. I need your support, my lord. My plan to stop these fiends won't fail... But I need your support. And perhaps, your special collection of troops. The small group that we have been recruiting."

Caedus could tell what Oric was thinking by the look on his face. Suddenly, Caedus's eyes turned a feral yellow, and his voice dropped an octave as he spoke.

"We don't need them. It is my turn now. It's mine! We can take them out ourselvers! think about it... Our names will go down in history forever! We can be even more famous than them! We don't need them!"

He stopped for a moment after seeing the look of surprise on Oric's face. Caedus's eyes returned to normal along with his voice, and he coughed a moment, blinking as if he was dizzy or confused. He blushed, embarrassed by his arrogant forward approach. He regained his composure after a few moments, and returned his gaze to Oric.

"These terrorists can be taken down by us. My parents have been through enough without having to worry about me. Leave my mother and father out of this."

Oric was suprised by Caedus' cold speech. The Drosin King had witnessed Caedus' overly agressive style of debate many times, but had never heard him speak like that. The strangest thing was the way he completely changed tones, twice. Oric decided he would bring it up later and collected his thoughts regarding young Zaminkos' plan.

"The shadow's are gaining more confidence with each attack. There pressence has nearly doubled over the last month. You are right in that the Citadel will not act. They don't see them as a legitamate threat, and this worries me."

Oric turned toward his window, gazzing out to the horizion in the direction of New Salfir. He rumaged though a desk drawer pulling out a folder of profiles and sat them square in the center of the polished wood,

"My team is still not ready, it would take weeks to round them all up and I'm still not sure it is a wise decsion to pull my best men from the field to go after these terrorists. I am commited to stop them, but right now we do not know enough to mount an offensive. I do disagree about the roles of your parents. It would be foolish to not include them, and weather you like it of not you can not keep them out of this conflict. Their wills are too strong."

Oric stopped speaking once again and moved over to the battle map. A small stone marked each of the places the Destrain Shadows had hit. Every attack had come in either New or Old Salfir.

"This attack was different. They usually plunder small outposts or villages. They are growing in size and becoming more bold. We may very well have a war on our hands soon."

A slight grimace found itself across Caedus's face, both at Oric's election to not aide just yet, but also to include his parents. He hated the thought of having to ask his father for help... Again. Caedus slammed his fist against the battle map.

"That is precisely my point! There is no time to wait! Your best men must aide us now, if not then we may have an epidemic on our hands that could make the Destrian Conflict look like a small school fight! we must act NOW!"

Oric stepped towards Caedus, towering over him and spoke strongly, "I understand that. We do need to act, but we do not now where or how. The forests in Salfir are huge. I will not send an army into unfamiler, unfriendly territory without any idea where the enemy is at or their numbers.

We would be lucky to find anything. All of the scouts I have sent have come back empty handed, the informents have been silent and the Shadows leave no eye witnesses. If you can present any tatical information, I will gladly round up a strike force and lead it myself. But until then all we can do is hope they make a mistake."