The Smith and the Knight

Psyche

Rena's legs argued with her profusely as she crossed the gap to her companion. He was posed like a child who had stolen cookies and he wore the mask of confusion. In his hands was an immaculately carved cube which appeared to be filled entirely with porous holes. She glimpsed the puffiness in his eyes, the redness of his nose. He shed a few tears in her absence and she bit her tongue when the idea of teasing him crossed her mind. Her vision blurred for an instant as she clutched at her right side.

"I'm alright...don't worry about me." She murmured as he approached her.

The device in his hands seemed to quiver as he faced inner turmoil. She recognized his body language of someone who wished to escape into the farthest reaches of Sanctuary and never return.

The air of a deserter.

She shook her head in dismay at the thought and she motioned to the item in his hand. The glimmer suggested a sinister purpose and she had a small hunch as to what it could be.

"We've stumbled upon a Wrath of the Ancients..." He stated.

She gently motioned to a small clearing near the edge of the warehouse. The gargantuan pile of cubes seemed to reach the ceiling and threatened to destroy the foundations underneath. Pillars all about were crushed by the seemingly innocent cubes and fragments of stone crunched against their magical boots.

Rena leaned against the wall, careful not to touch the devices. Gelehrter however seemed too engrossed in the device in his hands to take notice of her fatigue.

It's been a long time since we've been on a mission like this... I wonder if he's grown a little since our last. He was gone for a long while, but I think it is time I confess to him. Nothing of love for him...but for another. I don't have much time left, I think.

Life held loosely onto her. Despite her wounds, she whispered to him. All sources of caution begged her to hold her tongue, but she tossed it all aside.

Before any words could escape her lips, he turned to her and wrestled himself free of the contraption. Their ears rang as they searched for any source of noise, the burst of sound from the entrance nearby startled them. Voices which were hushed in a quick succession of spit, now were accompanied by many figures. They darted about in the dark like animals, their maws hanging about.

Gelehrter hastily established a mental link with Rena.

"They've a means to trap souls in these cubes. It appears as if they are using a ritual to harvest them." She blinked as mental imagery was sent through her memory. The image of a giant hand grasping the body of a man and crushing them, their blood flying about to wet the machine.

They were a few yards away from the scene, the light emitted from the moon illuminating only the entrance and scarce else. Two figures strode into the warehouse and removed hoods from over their heads. Accalia and Targon, both in their respective Sanctuarian Council garb, commanded the scene.

In alarm, she pulled Gelehrter farther into the shadows as he attempted to gain ground, his sword hissing softly as it leaped from its scabbard.

"You've no means to fight them now... We are outnumbered." She hissed through her teeth next to his ear. "And I've no chance against an apprentice now."

"You're wounded?"

"Hush." Rena ordered and he instead moved to across the the way, his back against a wall constructed of cubes. His body seemed poised to strike, but his eyes were focused on the two silhouettes before him.

"I see we are sloppy in our presentation." Targon mused and continued. "You've a mind to overthrow Ovelia and have been guiding her in the direction you please."