Act 1 - Part 3

At the east-side of the manor up on the rooftop, 3 human male figures cloaked by the night sky dashes across the edge of the roof with their backs low.  They come to a stop by a horizontal rectangular attic window.  The window is in the style where both sides of the window would open right and left respectively.  The window is also locked by a hook lock in the interior side.

Moonlight shines through them past the window.  All 3 of them are male; each wear a skin tight, black suit with dark red outlines at certain parts. They also have a short white cloth that hangs over their left shoulder.  Holding the cloth together from the front is a small shield-shaped plaque.  On that plaque is a crimson colored side head of a crow with the letters "BC" in a diagonal direction at the bottom right corner.

One of the three is a red-head with jagged hair tied in a low ponytail by the name of Darius. He is 5 ft. 11; has a more angular, youthful appearance despite being in his mid-20s, plus he has a revolver in a holster at the side of his hip.  He and one other Blood Crow are on one knee in front of that window.

Darius glances at the last guy in their group; Naiven. He is 5 ft. 9 in.; his appearance gives off emo vibes; pale skin, short black hair with white end tips that covers the majority left half of his face. Unlike the others, Naiven has a white pouch attached to his belt around his waist; opposite of that is his shortsword  Darius eyes at Naiven and nods at the window.

Naiven partially pulls his  sword from its sheath that’s on the opposite side from the white pouch. Wind swirls close to the hilt then blows from the sword to the middle of the window, through the slit in the window.  It pushes the hook lock up.  The other 2 push their way through and hops into a rather dusty attic. Naiven is the last to hop in.  The wind blows the window shut. It also blows the dust off the surface of boxes and other items in the attic.  Naiven coughs not very loudly into his hand. He glances over at Darius and the other Blood Crow on one knee on both sides of an attic latch.  Darius lifts the latch open slightly and peers down. Below them is a hallway with a row of windows on one side.

"Alright. The coast is clear." Darius leans back up then he opens the latch up all the way. "Everybody remember the plan?"

"Yeah, yeah."  The Blood Crow says like a child that hates being reminded by their parents.  He hops down first.  When he does, a Guard who was patrolling the same hallway

Over to Riley, Atina and the Guard, they're walking along a different part of the hallway somewhere on the first floor; with Atina at the back center of the 2 guys. The interior of the manor is mostly white. White marble tiles on the floors; white walls and ceiling.

They come to a staircase perpendicularly to them.  They hear a metal clang followed by a scream of agony at the top of the stairs, causing the 2 guys to take out their swords and rush up those steps.  Atina follows after them.

Darius and Naiven drop down from the attic in time to see their Blood Crow peer stand over a fallen Guard’s chest with the Blood Crow’s sword sticking up from the Guard’s corpse. The Guard lays on their back on top of a pool of blood; their lifeless eyes wide open. Other Guards, having heard the noise as well, surround them on the front and back side with their swords drawn.

The Blood Crow eyes both the number of Guards on both sides of them. He takes his sword off the corpse and speaks in an angry complaining tone. “Darius, I thought you said you mapped out their patrol route!”

Another Guard comes at that Blood Crow, sword raised and yelling. The Blood Crow diagonally slashes that Guard down. “This is why our boss ordered me to lead the group.”

Darius gives a shoulder shrug.

“I was off a little, that’s all.”

A couple of the Guards do the similar thing as what the previous Guard did. Darius takes out his revolver and aims it in between 2 of them. He starts to press on the trigger. He side-glances at Naiven and the Blood Crow. Both of them have their backs facing him. Darius tilts the nozzle of his revolver slightly downward and shoots. The bullet hits the floor in front of the Guards’ feet and it goes off like a couple of firecrackers. Those Guards immediately stop and move their feet up and down rapidly; as if the floor is made of lava.

The Guards on the other side charges at Naiven and the Blood Crow. Naiven does a horizontal slash. Darius lets out a sigh. Not the first time he gets one-upped by a fellow Blood Crow; especially Naiven.

The wind continues to the back of the guards, Atina, Riley and the Guard accompanying them reach the stairs. Riley positions himself in front of Atina and she gets up close behind him.

A powerful horizontal wind blows; shattering the window glasses, leaving cuts on every guards' swords and bodies in its path; causing them to scream in pain and knocking them away. Some of them scream as they get sent flying out the broken window.

The razor-sharp winds also come at Riley, Atina and the Guard with them. Riley and his colleague slashes at the winds. However, the wind leaves chip marks along their blades, in addition to leaving cuts on their arms, torso and legs.

The sharp winds go away. Riley lowers his sword arm straight down, clutches that arm with his other hand and winces. A clang of a sword’s blade hitting the tile floor momentarily takes Riley’s eyes off of what’s in front of him to his colleague beside him. The Guard colleague falls to the floor on one knee. Multiple cuts on his bodies as well from the razor sharp winds going from their legs to head. He clutches his other arm, opposite than Riley’s, and whimpers in pain.

Riley looks toward Atina. Thanks to him shielding her, she receives the least amount of cuts on her legs and nowhere else on her body fortunately. The few Guards that are left standing, help the other up by using their shoulders then start to slowly take a step back.

“It’s true what they say. The Blood Crows are monsters.”

Riley speaks to his sister in a commanding voice. “Atina, take the wounded to safety.”

Atina looks at him and opens her mouth, about to speak. However, Riley already sprints off after the assailants.

The 3 Blood Crows notice Riley is about to be in close range at any second. The Blood Crow sees that as a challenge and starts to sprint at Riley. Strong gusts of wind blow against that Blood Crow, stopping him in his tracks. Riley is about to swing his chipped sword down at the Blood Crow. Wind swirls around Naiven’s broadsword, covering the whole length. He holds his shortsword as it comes up from the perpendicular right side of the Blood Crow’s face. Naiven swings it up then slices it through Riley’s sword.

Riley leaps backward one time. The tip of Riley’s sword shoots up by a few inches, dips diagonally downward then embeds into a wall. The Blood Crow straightens up then glares at Naiven.

“Again, Naiven?”

Darius approaches the Blood Crow from behind and places his hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s finish the job, alright?”

The Blood Crow lets out a “pfeh” then jogs the other way. Darius follows after his Blood Crow peer.

Riley glances at the broken sword he holds in his hand. He routinely keeps his sword in peak condition. But for it to be damaged and sliced that easily, only one thought comes to his mind.

“So this is the power of a Conduct.”

Having no use for the sword anymore, Riley tosses it to the side, takes out the large dagger then charge-yells as he dashes at Naiven. Light blue sparkles come out of the large dagger and flow straight to the cuts that are on the upper body of the Guard closest to Atina. The sparkles float down onto the cuts then the wounds fade away.

Ice starts to coat the blade part of the large dagger. Riley swings his dagger upward. Naiven swings his wind-coated sword broadsword and swings it vertically downward in retaliation. The 2 weapons collide and bounce off each other. A strong gust of wind combined with cold air spread across the hallway they’re at. Atina puts both arms up to her forehead, turns her head away and slants her back to shield her head.

Darius and the Blood Crows continue running. Darius stops when the cold air blasts past him.

"Woah!"

He straightens up as his body shivers from the sudden change in temperature and puts both hands over opposite elbows. He glances back.

Riley leaps backward and swings the large dagger diagonally before his heel touches the floor. Horizontal shards of ice materialize mid air then zips toward Naiven at bullet speed. The blade portion on Naiven's and Riley's weapon glow, in a pulsatile manner, a gray and pale bluish color respectively. Riley and Naiven seem to be unaware of their weapons’ glowing. Those colors fade away. Darius gets a dreaded facial expression from seeing that.

"Crap.  If he finds out about this..."

Ice shards, from the dagger dart horizontally at Darius. He leans his head far to the side, avoiding it and resumes running ahead.

Naiven and Riley move back and forth and clanging their blades one after the other. Atina stares at them until a groan from the Guard colleuge beside her snaps her out of it. She recalls Riley telling her to ‘look after the wounded.’ She lifts up that Guard by the shoulder and walks in the other direction while praying for her brother’s wellbeing. Riley could hold his own against him…right?

Later, Atina makes it back down to the first floor and goes to the front entrance. There, she sees that area has been converted into a makeshift clinic area. Bodies lay perpendicularly along a row against a wall; each with blankets on the top and bottom, covering the entire body. The Guards that are wounded either lay on short cots or sit on the tile floor. They’re being cared for by the town Clerics, middle-aged women in white garbs, who are in the middle of casting healing magic on their wounds using wooden staffs.

A Cleric approaches Atina and takes the wounded Guard she’s holding, following up with taking them to an available spot with the others. Atina is about to follow them until another pair of Guards, each one having their arm over the other’s shoulder, slowly walk past her.

“I was flying out the window and thought that was going to be the end of me. Next thing I knew, wind swirled right under me and I landed on my feet.

“That happened to you too?”

“Wait. You as well?”

Hearing that makes Atina stop in her tracks. Atina continues looking around the area. The number of dead bodies is slightly greater than the number of those wounded. She recounts back to the spot of the hallway when she was with Riley and that other Guard. Sure, the cuts the Guards received from that wind attack range from minimal to severe; but nothing to die from. Therefore, she deduces that those deceased came from the opposite end of the building.

She ponders the observational information she has gained for a couple of seconds before she turns around and jogs back the way she came.

Over to the fight between Riley and Naiven. More blade clanging ensues. In one of the blade clangs they did, Riley does a thrust maneuver. The ice that coats the blade extends from the tip by a few centimeters. Both blades grind against each other. Naiven leans slightly back. The icy tip leaves a tiny cut on Naiven’s cheek. Likewise, the wind that swirls around Naiven’s blade leaves a small cut on Riley’s other cheek. Riley rotates the large dagger then uses the base of the dagger’s hilt to do a hard pound against Naiven’s chest.

Naiven takes a few large steps back and coughs into his hand. Riley holds the large dagger close in front right below his chin, not letting his guard down. Naiven’s coughing isn’t letting up. The longer this continues, the more internally confused Riley gets. Sure, he hits Naivens with such force; but it’s unknown to him for the cause of Naiven’s continuous coughing. Part of Riley wants to use this opportunity to cut down his opponent then go after the others. But his own strong sense of justice opposes that desire and wants to help Naiven.

Naiven does a quick side-glance at Riley then runs in the same direction as Darius and the other Blood Crow before Riley can come to a decision. He lets out a brief gasp and begins to pursue Naiven. However, Naiven spins around and does a diagonal swing of his shortsword. A strong gust of wind appears, blowing past Riley. It’s not strong enough to send him backward; but just to hold him in place. He holds both hands diagonally in front of his face and flinches. Naiven uses this time to continue running away while the wind holds Riley back.

The strong wind gradually dies down. Riley lowers his arms slightly. Naiven isn’t anywhere in sight. Riley jogs ahead as Atina, a bit out of breath, comes up a few feet behind the spot he stood on before.

It’s very rare for Atina to see him this frustrated. Whenever that happens, it’s like Riley becomes fixated on that problem more than her until it’s resolved. That sinking feeling in her gut, ever since she saw those shadowy figures dash through the alleyway, hasn’t vanished either. Nevertheless, she goes after him.

At the far back center of the manor is the room where the Noble elders gather for a meeting. It’s now been turned into something out of a horror film. Inside the room is dimly lit. Lifeless bodies of the Councilman slump over a circular table. A few made an attempt to escape the room but weren’t able to make it out on time. There’s a large slash mark on their backs as they lay on the floor on their stomachs. A commonality those corpses have in common is that their heads have been detached from their necks.

Riley arrives in time to see Naiven, Darius, and 4 other Blood Crows, 3 of which are from the opposite side of the manor, have the heads of the Nobles they killed hanging by the hairs and strapped to their hips. On their feet are massive pools of blood from their murder spree that goes out of the room and into the hallway.

Naiven does a horizontal slash. Wind slams against the window-side of the hallway, creating a large hole. The other Blood Crows make their way out through there. Naiven looks at Riley with his eyebrows lowered to nonverbally say ‘don’t pursue us.’ He leaps out through that hole with the others.

Riley stares out that hole. He hears footsteps come up behind him followed by a splish-splash sound. He turns almost 180 degrees to the source and swings the large dagger in an upward diagonal direction. An ice shard shoots out from the path of the dagger swing. It zips in a straight line towards Atina. She flinches by shutting her eyes tightly.  The ice shard evaporates into blue sparkles floating up before it 

Riley stammers a bit at first from the awkward tension before finding the words to say.

“A-Apologies for that.”

Has he gotten so uptight over the Blood Crows that he mistook his own sister as one of them?  Riley closes the gap, sheathing the large dagger and puts each of his hands on Atina upper arms.  He examines her face.

“You're not injured. That's a relief. Let's head back”

Atina simply stares at the gorey scene behind him with a slightly curious expression. Riley looks over his shoulder at the blood puddle and the large hole in the wall. This scene is obviously not suited for the eyes of an innocent girl like Atina. 

They walk side-by-side all the way to the foyer of the manor. Riley glances at the same makeshift clinic area it turns into like Atina had. They head out the front door and continue going through the town streets under the night sky.   Something about the way how Riley behaved against that Blood Crow Naiven and him seeing that gorey aftermath didn't quite feel like the Riley she's familiar with.  Atina slightly turns her head to look at him as they walk, wanting to double check something.

“Are you really the Riley I know?”

He finds her question rather odd, but goes along with it anyway.

“What brought this on? Of course there’s only one me.”

Atina faces straight. He doesn’t sound like he’s lying to her, so she takes his word for it.

They make it to their home. Riley opens the door and Atina steps in. Thunder roars in the close-yet-distant sky. She turns her head to the sound. She also expects him to be a step behind her. When she rotates around, he’s still standing outside the doorway.

“I think I see a friend beckoning to me. Why don’t you go tuck yourself in? I’ll return momentarily.”

He releases the door and it swings to a close. He dashes off. Atina stands where she is. She reaches her hand out but stops partway. She looks in her other hand that still holds Riley’s dagger that he lent to her before they entered the manor. She hasn’t put that to use since getting it; so what’s even the point of having it then?

She places her hand on the doorknob and about to turn it; but the knob won’t rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees.  She tries again.  No dice. That’s because, right before Riley dash off, he sealed the front door with ice from his Conduct; his way of reassuring himself that she’s away from harm.

She heads up the stairs. She spreads open the window on the second story. Below is an alleyway. She vaults over the window then lightly lands on one knee on top of a stack of crates up against a wall.  If there’s one thing she has learned through her sparring with Riley, it’s being quick on her feet.  She hops off those boxes and her feet touch the ground.  She looks both sides and jogs in a certain direction to search for Riley.

Darius and the 4 Blood Crows casually walk through the town streets. Naiven, with his broadsword back in its sheath, follows at the back of the group. They’re closing in the town’s entryway. Two pairs of large flapping of wings can be heard overhead, making the Blood Crows stop in their tracks.

One pair of wings comes from a bulky crimson dragon by the name of Vulgan. Its scaly body looks black under the cover of night. The other pair of wings comes from a more 4-legged-serpentine, dark blue dragon by the name of Kythe.

Sitting on the top base of Kythe’s neck is the boss of the Blood Crows, Zar; a highly muscular, 6 ft. 1 in., middle-aged man with sideburns and a tuft of hair on his chin. In his right hand, he wields a long scepter. The handle has vines that extend and spiral from the top and down to the bottom. Instead of an ornament of some sort at the top, it contains these 4 metal pieces that bend outward at an almost 45-degree angle. A dark violet rose-like flower hovers inside a violet orb that's also hovering above where those metal pieces are.

Both dragons descend down. Kythe softly plants both of its feet on the town street without damaging the structural integrities. Vulgan, on the other hand, lands on top of the buildings adjacent to Kythe’s spot. The building collapses under Vulgan’s weight. Muffled screams can be heard coming from the residents inside it.

Zar dismounts from Kythe as it cranes its head slightly downward. Zar notices the heads of Nobles on the Blood Crows’ waist.

"Excellent work, my sons."

"It was a cinch, father," says one of the Blood Crows.

"It would have been over quickly if a certain someone hadn't screwed up," adds another Blood Crow as he glares at Darius. Darius turns his head to the side to avert the gaze. When he does, Naiven is nowhere in sight. That’s because he slipped away before the dragons came into view. Darius looks between where Naiven once was and the other Blood Crows. They don’t seem to notice at the very least.

Vulgan spots something sparkle from a distance behind Darius and begins to growl. It turns its head and lets out a large stream of fire from its mouth. The flames go past the buildings in its path, setting those ablaze, then to the Blood Crows. They leap in opposite directions up onto the building rooftops that are not burning. The flames advance to Darius. He isn’t fast enough to evade it on time; so he leans his torso away from it. Darius straightens back up. He realizes the flames singe the edge of the cloth hanging out from his emblem and bits of ember remain on it. Darius uses both hands in a sandwich formation to pat out the flames in a subtle hint of panic.

Soon after, ice shards dart past Darius; narrowly missing as he finishes patting out the fire on his cloth. He stares at it with wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights. The shards fly through Vulgan’s flames without melting. Zar’s eyes twitch once at the incoming ice shards.

A black giant thorn emerges from the orb’s surface on Zar’s staff. It meets the shards head-on then swats away those like flies. It was only for a couple of seconds, but the orb glows a purplish color before the glow fades away. The thorn retreats back into the orb.

The Blood Crows turn in the direction the shards come from. Each of them has their hand on the hilt of their blades; ready to strike at the one who dares to attempt at their boss’s life. They stop only when Darius holds his hand up at a 90 degree angle.

“Leave this to me!”

Darius sprints off. He has a hunch on who the individual that fired those shards is, but at the same time, he hopes his hunch is wrong.

Rain begins to come down. Another wave of ice shards come at him the closer he gets. Darius aims his revolver straight forward. He pulls the trigger twice. Each of the bullets collide with 2 of the ice shards, creating an area of thick smoke. Darius leaps into the smoke and meets a familiar face; Riley. Darius aims his revolver forward at his opponent’s head then fires. He purposefully misses as the bullet whizz past Riley’s head by a few feet.

The bottom nozzle of his revolver grinds perpendicularly against Riley’s large dagger; getting into a weapon lock. Darius is first to speak but in a pleading tone.

“I beg you. Turn back now, pretend you never saw us and go be with that little girl of yours.”

Those last 4 words hit Riley like a strong reminder. However, is it right for him to let the Blood Crows go after what they’ve done? He weighs those options in his mind. The smoke area they’re in begins to split in half from the rain that begins to increase in intensity.

Riley mentally arrives at his own decision. He takes a few steps back. Darius fires another shot at Riley. But like before, he misses on purpose. He lowers his arm that’s holding his revolver a bit then Riley does the same. Riley continues walking backward and dips out of view in the alleyway off to the side.

Darius exhales a sigh of relief. The smoke parts away more till it's no longer visible. Darius walks toward Zar and speaks in a fake, apologetic tone.

"Apologies, sir. He got away. Shall I pursue him?"

"There’s no need."

Zar’s eyes move over to Vulgan. It lowers its nostrils and slowly takes a couple of steps forward; like a dog sniffing the ground. Its eyes move from side-to-side as it walks across the rooftops, crumbling those down in the process as well. It comes to a stop, raises one of its feet, then slams it down. A large portion of the structure falls downward. A massive ice spike shoots up from the ground, reaching higher than the original buildings’ heights, pierce through the pieces of falling debris. Darius glances in that direction and is speechless that Riley didn't do as he suggested earlier.

The spike explodes into tiny sparkles, raining down. Riley leaps high up into the air, ice coats along the blade rim of the dagger. He swings his large dagger upward against Vulgan’s leg; but his dagger just grinds against it.

Vulgan lifts up that same leg then does a flicking motion with its toes at Riley. It sends him flying backwards. He slams into the brick column of a chimney, knocking it down. Riley lays on the roof, closes his eyes tightly as his head aches strongly from the moment of impact. The next time he opens his eyes, a large stream of flames comes at him. He swings his large dagger in an upward arch. An ice dome materializes where Riley stands, shielding him from the flames as it goes past him.

Riley’s heart pounds hard one time suddenly. He clutches his chest from the pain and with one eye open. The dome fades away from Riley’s fading concentration. He opens his other eye partially, bracing for himself to be burned to a crisp from Vulgan’s fire. But the flames went away. Vulgan takes flight toward Riley and about to slam one of its feet on to him. Riley places the spine of the blade of his dagger on the roof’s surface. Ice coats a large portion of the roof in an unformed circle. He slides backwards along it, out of Vulgan’s reach. Part of the building crumbles under Vulgan’s weight when its claws come down.

Atina, having heard the commotion, arrives at the part of the alleyway in time to see Riley do a backflip across the width of an alleyway above her head.

Riley lands on his feet on another roof. He takes a couple of heavy breaths as he still clutches his heart. He glances down at his chest. He’s always been a healthy person. For his body to behave like this, “was this what mother warned me about before? The Mana Withdrawal?”

He looks up when he hears a rumbling sound. Vulgan already pounces again at Riley with its mouth open with the intent to bite down on him. Riley bends down in an attempt to leap out of the way; but his body makes him fall on his back instead. Vulgan’s sharp teeth close in by the second.

Zar slams the base of his staff on the ground, stopping Vulgan with its teeth a few feet from Riley.

“That’s enough, Vulgan.”

Vulgan pulls its head back. Zar uses a pair of large thorns to hoist himself up onto the roof Vulgan and Riley are on. Vulgan takes a few steps back to make room for its master. The thorns go back into the scepter.

Zar leans his scepter against one of his arms and does a slow clap.

"I commend you for lasting more than a minute against my pet here. Most would have been burnt to a crisp in a few seconds. Tell me, young lad, how would you like to join my army?"

The heart pounding in Riley gradually reduces. He . He exhales, raises to his feet, lowers his hand that's over his heart down to his side. He holds a stronger grip on his dagger and ice coats along the dagger’s blade; sharp edges of ice extend a couple inches from the dagger's tip.

“My answer is obvious."

"That's a shame," Zar says sarcastically-yet-unsurprised by Riley’s response.

Riley dashes to Zar. A large thorn springs out from the top of Zar's scepter then zips straight at Riley. He leans away then slams his ice-covered blade into the spike. The blade grinds into the thorns with such resistance but doesn’t make a large enough cut. The force of it makes Riley wince. Riley’s heart resumes pounding hard against his chest. Riley’s large dagger and the orb on top of Zar’s staff glow in a pulsating light blue and neon green colors respectively; like how it did with Naiven’s short sword. Zar’s eyes look at the orb hovering on top of his staff and at Riley’s weapon. Zar’s eye glances at that. His thoughts, confirmed.

Riley slices through that thorn, but his arms sag; feeling too heavy for him to lift up as he continues to pant deeply. He feels something bump him from behind. He slowly looks down.

A thorn protrudes in front of his chest. The tip of that thorn curve then impales through Riley’s heart from behind. It lifts him up; Riley drops the dagger onto the roof then the thorn flicks him off the building. The thorn starts to retract to the orb.

At ground level, Atina still glances upward, unable to see what transpires.  Riley falls, slamming his back on the cobblestone ground, his head up against the wall, not too far behind Atina.  She turns around with a horrific expression then runs to him.

The tip of the thorn curls around the hilt of the large dagger, then drops onto Zar’s outstretched hand before it goes completely into the orb.

Zar admires his own reflection along the blade of that dagger.

"Just 3 more and soon Ultimatus will be mine," he says in a low tone to himself.

He mounts back on Vulgan.  It takes to the sky, then flies out past the town. The Blood Crows, except Kythe and Darius, take that as the order that it’s time to leave. They leap after them. Kythe and Darius look away with their eyes closed. Kythe ascends and goes in the direction Vulgan goes. Darius leaps off.

An expanding pool of blood is under Riley’s body from where the stab wound is. Atina comes to his side and kneels down.  She puts both hands over his chest; but its a futile attempt. Riley spats out blood from his mouth.   

She holds her hand out close to him, but her mind freezes on what to do.  She lifts her head up and glances around for any townspeople.

"Someone help! Anyone?"

No response from the townsfolk. Either they are dead from the collapsed building Vulgan caused, her voice get drowned out from the sound of the pouring rain or they're too shaken up to lend her a helping hand.

Riley shakily raises one hand in the air. His vision goes blurry and unblurry. Atina sees his hand up and gently wraps her hand around his.

"I'm the worst, aren't I?" Riley asks softly and weakly.

Atina slowly shakes her head with her eyes open. If anything, she blames herself. For not being to do anything significant when they were at the manor; for being unable to stop him from pursuing the Blood Crows and most of all, she blames herself for own weakness.

Riley's breath shakes, he lowers his eyelids halfway. He wanted to say more to her. To apologize to her for his actions.  If he could go back in time to undo this whole mess regarding the Blood Crows, he would.  More than anything, he wants to say those 4 words again.  However, no more words come out of his mouth.

The light in his eyes fade to a dull and lifeless color. His hand slips from Atina's grasp and falls to the ground with the palm-side of his hand facing up. Atina lets out a gasp.

"Brother!"

She gradually closes her mouth into a frown. After their mother’s passing, she vowed never to cry again. Whether she actually is or not with all the rain is hard to tell.  She puts her hand horizontally across Riley’s eyes then lowers them.

Naiven coughs softly a few times as he comes up to the corner of the wall at the end of that alleyway.  He leans against it then glances at the pair.  More specifically, at Riley. Yet another life snuffed out by the Blood Crows.  That ticks Naiven off; not at himself but at Zar specifically.  The numerous lives lost to the Blood Crows must come to an end. Naiven lowers his gaze then slowly limps off.

About a week after a funeral was held for those who had fallen, including Riley,  Atina comes up beside the area that Vulgan destroyed. A repair operation is already underway for the area. Atina carries a basket of fruit. She comes up to one of the workers to hand one of the fruits to; which they accept graciously.

She smiles at them. But it’s a fake one. She continues handing out fruits to other workers. When the basket is empty, she heads home. On the wooden table is Riley’s belt with the smaller dagger in its sheath. Riley’s broken short sword is next to the belt. She glances at their family portrait. Her eyes move over at the empty weapon stand where the Conduct once rested. Despite Atina having returned to doing her everyday task since the incident, with Riley gone, Atina hasn’t felt that sense of inner comfort she once had.

By the next day, Atina, equipped with that same belt of Riley's, stands at the outer perimeter not too far off from the side of the spot she and Riley usually have their sparring. She glances there then up at the bright sky then mentally prays, "Mother, please take care of brother for me."

Up till this moment, she has never gone any further past that point. As the saying goes, 'nothing ventured; nothing gained.' Quite literally and figuratively in Atina's case. She takes her first step on a new path ahead.