Hark to the calling of the road... While tied up.

     The following day, Van remembered Olosses warning about accidentally using powers in front of people before he was strong enough to defend himself. He was looking forward to seeing the outside again after Van had told him of this city, and how the creator was one of the early relic holders. His eyes had adjusted so well to the darkness, he was surprised the door opening didn't blind him. Someone came in with a big pot and ladled a thick meatless stew into their bowls while a shieldman covered the door. This happened twice a day. 

     After 3 days of this captivity, the restraint was already beginning wear on Van. There was no privacy here, and he wanted so bad to experiment and get to know about his new abilities... He still didn't even know what one of them was, and was paranoid he'd accidentally use it in front of someone. According to Oloss who spoke to him in his sleep, this was a very real possibility. He spent the bigger part of those 3 days trying to socialize and learn languages. There were 3 different races of people captive here including some elfen.

     The morning of day 4 their hands were bound and a group of warriors led them out into the light. His companions of the last several days were temporarily blinded by the light after their imprisonment in darkness, but not him. He wondered if his seemingly immunity to changes in lighting had something to do with his undiscovered power. He decided to ask Oloss about it, but couldn't help speculating in the meantime. Fireballs could cause rapid changes in light... maybe he could throw balls of fire...? oooh, better yet, lightning! Lightning would be a blast, and very difficult to block.

     He speculated and daydreamed a bit, of blowing away his captors with fire and lightning, laughing and taunting them the whole time as they approached a section of platform near a tree and without a rail. It looked like an access point. His captors started tying long ropes to them and lowering them over the edge. Before, on the way up, he hadn't noticed how high this city was. However, as he stood on the edge looking down, the height was dizzying. He was shoved over the edge and his stomach flopped for a second but he was never out of control of his captors, and was caught instantly. His descent began.

     Once on the ground, their hands were tied in front of them and they were led in single file, several guards per captive, with most of the guards surrounding those who were more intimidating and impressive looking. Mostly that would be the Eddins. These ones were blue skinned with red hair, but later he'd find out their skin can range from grey to dark blue, while their hair being bright reds to dark blues. Their eyes are very human like and are bright and of blues and greens. Male and females both have decorative horns, the size, color, pattern and location determined by tribe. They are naturally tall and well muscled. However, they are not a warrior culture. In fact they are a sensitive artistic race preferring crafts and trade. The Elfen were concentrating their guards on the wrong people.

     In addition to their own Elfen captives, the others to be concerned of, at least among this group of captives, would be the Brin Mal. There were two of them. From what Van could gather they had been severely wounded and were resting when the Elfen came across them. Brin Mal are hairless, and can have dark yellow to orange to almost red skin. They are hairless and have small, very tough, roundish ears. They are thick boned and have tendons to match. Their height is comparable to human with slightly longer arms. They have grey schlera and orange or red pupils.   

      The pace was painstakingly slow while still in the foliage tunnels. Toward the end of it they stopped while the lead warrior cautiously Scouted ahead. Then they all started jogging. It was difficult for Van, who was the shortest person there, only 5'6. The Eddins seem to be sharing Vans discomfort as well, despite having such long legs. 

     Suddenly there was a bit a of chatter going back and forth by the guards, mostly commands and reassurances such as, "don't speed up!" or "Don't Panic!". It didn't take long for Van to see why. several large shapes were running parallel to them, mostly hidden by intervening trees. Eventually they turned, broke past the tree line and started across the shallow swamp toward the line. They were tall, horse-like but shaggy and their heads were bigger than a horses. Their snouts revealed jagged teeth, and there were two horns arcing back from their head, the front horn shorted then the rear. Just before they were in jumping range two of them disappeared beneath the murky water... It was a defensive measure, a deep trench hidden beneath the swamp waters. However the one bringing up the rear was smart enough to react to this. He jumped earlier then the others, before the trench. He calculated correctly, arced through the air, and snagged one of the Elfen guards, carrying him into the opposite trench.

     Once everyone had passed, half the guards moved to the rear. When, after a few minutes, no doubt after devouring the poor Elfen, the monsters came rushing up behind them. the guards were able to fight them off while the rest of the group moved on. They wore them down at range and after closing, used set spears to finish them. 

     This was a repeated pattern with different great beasts, some alone, some in packs. Most of them were killed by the rear guard as they floundered in the trench. Once, there was an awful racket of roars and screeches coming from ahead of them. The rear guard ran past and ahead of them as a command was given for the captives to slow but not to stop. Soon after the the rear guard fell back behind them again, a few less then before. The command was given to resume the former jog and they soon found themselves picking their way through the carcasses of what could only be compared to Terror birds, and some huge scaled beast they had been fighting.

     After several hours of this a stone wall could be spotted far ahead. About a quarter of the group had been lost, mostly guards as, simply, there were many more of them in comparison to the captives. When they drew close The Elfen leader issued the command to walk, as a contingent had broke off from the city to meet them. They were finally safe again.