The Plight of Ostentero

((now what's been happening? *sigh* maybe I should just drop out...I've fallen so far behind))

((am I allowed to get up and check out the disturbance?))

Aneirin rolled over in her sleep, tangling her silken blankets around her legs. "Uumph." she muttered, waking up. She saw that it wasn't time for the ceremony yet, and she had to remember that strange dream that had flashed through her mind, so she fell back asleep.

Zalika woke up after the dream. What Mathonwy had said unnerved her. She dashed off a quick note, berating herself for being such a coward.

I regret that I can't come with you. However, I will meet you as soon as I can. Look for me. Watch for me. Pray for me, as long as your prayers are not directed at Chama.
Farewell,
Zalika

Grabbing her pack and changing into a tiny sparrow with her magic, the faerie was off.

((Hope that's OK. I don't know when I'll be back, it may be months. I just needed to keep Zal occupied. Adios.))

((character name's kuillia, but no harm done. and who's going to play the assassins?))

Kuillia awoke with the instructions fresh in mind. Instantly he began to feel afraid. He said this is an assassin who can cause me to lose my will to live ... how can I defeat someone in body who can defeat me in mind? But then he ran through the Scriptures imprinted within his mind.

The truth shall set you free.

He clung to that, allowing it to dwarf the growing fear in his mind and to calm it, as he suddenly heard a strange noise from Mathonwy's room - the assassins? He opened the door and rushed into the hallway, alert.

Ulf yelped in terror as the blue light came from the eyes of his prey. He soon went limp and his eyes shut as he went into the dream state, enduced by Mathonwy. However, instead of just Ulf listening, or just Vili listening, both stood there in the dreamscape. Once the message had been delivered, the two glared hatefully at eachother.
"So." Ulf began. "Kill me because you do accident? I not let you." he growled savagely, foaming at the mouth as he lowered his great canine body to the ground, ready to pounce at Vili.

"You exist only because I created you! And now I am ending your existance, as is my right, and my duty! I have hunted you for far too long to give in now!"

As the two prepared to fight, something unexpected by both of them began to happen. They were about to leap at eachother.... but some strange, supernatural force already pulled them together. Slowly, they came closer and closer, now struglling to try and get away, each thinking, in their moment of panic, that this was some evil magic of the other. But their struggles were in vain.

All was dark after the two bodies came in contact. There was silence, darkness, sweet, serene, dreamless sleep. When Vili finally opened his eyes, he found himself back in the courtyard, where Ulf had been knocked out by Mathonwy. He sat up and scratched his head, but the movement felt most odd. His clothing felt tighter, and he felt very awkward as he moved around. He shuddered and closed his eyes, rubbing the sleep from them, until he discovered something. His brow. It was more rigid! He felt along it, and there was no doubt about it. His eyebrows had also gotten a bit thicker as well. Trying to figure it out and avoid having a panic attack, Vili scratched his beard in thought. It almost felt thicker, and longer, but he paid it no heed. This was strange... very strange... He stood up and tried to stretch out, and then found out why his clothes had felt so awkward. He was almost a foot taller! Not only that, but he was more muscular than the old, wimpy, by Ordki standards, Vili had been. Now Vili was really beginning to lose his nerve. He was still himself, but at the same time, he looked so different! He grabbed ahold of his pony tail, only to find that his hair was longer... and it had already been long enough that he could wear it down on one sholder! In fact, the rest of his body seemed slightly harrier too.
"What happened to Ulf?! Where is he? Why did this happen to me?" he wondered frantically, before howling in confusion and desperation. Howling... wolf style... that was NOT an ordinary way that Vili used to express himself. Although it was strange to him, what happened next was far stranger. His body, his clothing, skin, everything, began changing and shifting. Just as it had every time he went to sleep since he had been cursed.... He became Ulf again... but only his body! It was still him, Vili, just in Ulf's body! "NO! I wanna be human again, I wanna be human again, I-" he then slowly morphed back into a human. Immediately afterwards, he fainted, not in exhaustion, but in terror.

Vili's eyes opened when he heard voices. He let out a shout, remembering what had just happened as a nightmare. But the shout came out more like the bark of a dog. He clapped his hand over his mouth and looked down. His nightmare was real. He stood up and looked around nervously. "Please do not ask me what happened... just tell me what that strange noise is, please!" he said shakily.

Aneirin ducked out the temple, the sound of chanting apprentices floating on the air around her. She had told the Priestess that she was cold, and needed another cloak, because she thought she was getting sick. The Priestess, she could tell, hadn't really believed the story, but had no choice but to let Aneirin go.

Shaking with fear at being caught, Aneirin darted into her room and shut the door softly behind her. She grabbed her pack and took a deep breath. Starting across the room toward her terrace, she ran back suddenly and grabbed her cloak. At least then she wouldn't be lying to the Priestess! She padded softly out onto her balcony.

The whole Temple grounds were surrounded by a huge, white wall that gleamed in the moonlight. There was no way out of it, except for one gate that was guarded by four alert guards. Therefore, the fact that a large oak tree that was on the outside of the gate grew over the wall and hung over Aneirin's balcony. Grabbing the lowest branch, she managed to carry her pack and shimmy down the tree at the same time. She hit the ground hard, but broke instantly into a run. She was free of the confines of the Temple! She had done it! In a few minutes she reached the palace, and took the servant's back entrance into the garden.

She burst into the section of the garden where Mathonwy was, breathless. "What's happening?' she asked, panting. "What is that noise?

Kuillia rushed to the garden. He was not sure when or how the assassin he was to take would come, but for now it made sense that if they were after Mathonwy then he should go protect him.

Aneirin shook her head. "I don't know, Mathonwy...something tells me these assassins will need to be destroyed not only with magic, but with wit and common sense as well. The High Priestess knows of your skills and would not have sent something that could easily be destroyed with magic." Still, she closed her eyes and readied herself. About the magic she knew that could help them in this fight was her power to call down fire, but she wasn't sure how much that would help.

((I'm gonna try to jump back in...))

Kayden stood nearby listening to what they had to do.

Aneirin was completely freaking out. Never before had she felt such potent power- and hate- at such a close range. She stepped back behind Mathonwy, trembling. In all her years of training as an apprentice, nothing had trained her for this...