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As the three walked, Sol saw movement over in the hills.
He quickly stopped Carabia and the Hanged Man, gesturing to the hills.
"Wait- Did you see that? I could have sworn that I just saw movement over behind that there hill. Stay here." He told them, drawing his sword. He yelled out, "Who goes there!" ... No response. He yelled again, only his words were laced with magic. "Who goes there!" The magic causing an untold harshness in his voice, making whoever heard it want to call out in response.

The Hanged Man was utterly torn as Sol darted off, caught between staying put as commanded and following to help. He drew his falchion, its black blade a stark contrast to the king's gleaming silver one. Green eyes shot to Carabia and he gestured for her to get behind him and his massive shield. "Stay if you wish, lady, or else let me cover your advance. I cannot let him endanger himself!" I cannot lose him again! The Hanged Man shivered at the sound of Sol's voice, thickly laced with magic and command. Whether or not Carabia chose to follow, he would slink off after Sol, eyes darting around to all sides for signs of life.

Goodness! So much for finding food to bring back, hoping it would be a smooth effort in rejoining the other members. Then again, perhaps the young ruler was being just a tad naive in thinking this would be easy. "I did not.." She answers the King softly, intentionally lowering her voice with the hopes of hearing anything, crimson hues locked forward in an instant. While she admires his bravery, surely he ought to know that charging off alone is hardly the smartest move! With both gentlemen drawing weapons, she too decides the very same. With a flick of her right wrist, out comes a colourful throwing blade that had been concealed beneath her sleeve. How very ladylike. "Tis' okay. We must stick together." Carabia reassures Hangy, faster steps allowing her to follow onward. Even Dembala, the crimson-eyed black lion appears to be on alert.

Noticing the others still followed Sol turned back and smiled.
"I guess we'll do this as a team then!" He paused before holding his sword and shouting "Sacred Sword!".

Icy blue fire cascaded down the mirror surface as his eyes lit up with the same blue fire. He turned and walked deliberately to where he saw movement. "Onward we go." He said to the a Hanged Man and Carabia. "This could be a creature of the Shadow, or a person. Perhaps maybe an animal. Ah, as there is only one way to find out."

There rose a sound from the hills - a squeal, of sorts, but too ghostly to be called so. More of a moan, almost like the sound of a wounded person. The sound rattled and echoed.
The fire that Ver stood by flared slightly as he turned in the group's direction. His eyes flickered back and forth as he fought to control the fire. One hand rested on the hilt of his sword. He glanced at Aybilla but said nothing, yet.

The Hanged Man shrugged his shoulders to settle the weight of the heavy shield on his arm. The moaning sound made him tilt his head and he adjusted his course towards it, doing his best to keep himself--and his wall of metal--between whatever it was and his new charges. His voice, despite its little waver, was steely as he called:

"I-I beseech you, stranger--be you friend or foe?"

If only those sounds could be made out in greater detail! While the source could truly be from some dark creature of Shadow, they could just as easily be drawn out from an injured stranger. She casts the King a brief smile and determined nod of her head. "As if we would have let you charge alone." The tone on the reassuring side, rather than any level of irritation. The young ruler rather stubborn, downright determined to remain together. Yet even as she stands here, her thoughts are with the pair still by the fire. "Show yourself! Be you another Survivor?" She calls out after Hangy's own words. Carabia still clings to the hope that everyone is alive, but trapped elsewhere. That this group simply survived the fate of being pulled away into that same trap. Her right hand lifts slowly, the colourful throwing blade secure between curled fingers.

"Show yourself, whether you be of light or shadow! No harm shall befall you unless you give us a reason to fight back, no matter who you are." He felt a source of magic the from the fire at the house and so he drew on it, causing it to turn the same color as the fire around himself and flare up violently. This in turn caused a very faint, but still noticeable blue vortex to form around the three heading to the hills.

Aya was pondering her response to Ver when the sound came up and gave her a great shock. She whipped around in it's direction, immediately took a ready stance with her staff, and her known spells came quickly to mind. She felt the fluctuating heat from the fire behind her as Ver's attention also went with the sound. Aya met his glance. 'He really can control the fire?'
"What in the horizon was that?"

After that, there was nothing but silence from the hills. Over the crest, from the source of the sound, was nothing but a pool of a shiny black liquid, settling into the ground, soaking in and turning the grass black. A single bubble rose in the puddle and burst. With the animals gone, the air was eerily quiet.
"I'm not sure," confessed Ver, keeping his gaze straight. "Not like any scream I've heard before." He drew his eyes back to Aybilla. "If you want to go after them, I can put the fire out and follow you, but I can't get it this big again without lighting another house."

For a couple of blinks, the cleric looked at the hills, where the sound came from. She weighed the options. It didn't take long for her to decide what she would like to do. "Let's go after them. If we need another beacon we can figure something out. Flags maybe, or perhaps the smoke will linger for a while? Since I'm sure you don't want to burn another house down. Displace it's owners once they arrive home." She smiled at him then grew serious again "It's done the good it could do for now. Now we need to do what good we can do."

The Hanged Man loped ahead of Sol and Carabia, his shield lofted. Cautiously, he crested the knoll and squinted down its grassy flank, but saw only a blackish pool. His stomach turned as he watched it bubble, and he wagged his shield to gesture for the two royals to join him. "Look," he said, pointing at at the puddle with his falchion. "I've naught to prod it with but my sword, and I've no clue what it might do to the blade ..." The weapon was clearly special, if mundane, with a grip of bone and ebony and a heavy blackened blade. A garnet twinkled in the pommel like a red eye.

The young ruler watches on as Hangy approaches first, that long Scorpion tail curled around one hip, stinger pointed outwards out of instinct alone. It's only when he calls them over that her pace quickens, entire form visibly relaxing with no almighty foe present. "Bizarre.." Formal gown billows out around either leg as she lowers towards the ground, allowing herself to better see this mysterious puddle of black. "I would not recommend touching it with anything. Not with anything close to you, I would hope. If you think we could learn more by disturbing the surface, it may be best to drop something in.."

Carabia answers softly, imagining a pebble or even twig. "I have seen a dark creature's blood that looked like this. But never bubble that way." Dembala, the lion sniffs towards the puddle's direction curiously. With all this excitement, Carabia only just now notices the faint blue vortex that may or may not still surround them. Crimson eyes lift slowly towards Hangy, then towards Sol in silent question. Calmly waiting to see if one of these two are behind such casting.

Sol watched the strange liquid bubble in perplexion, confused yet frightened at what it could be.
"I've no clue as to what it could be. I agree and say we should through something in, preferably nonmagical. Does anyone have anything? He said as he looked around for a rock.

Sol met eyes with Carabia's questioning gaze, and he could tell she had seen the blue vortex surrounding them. His face reflected the recognition in his voice.
"Ah yes, that wierd blue fire vortex. Don't worry, it won't hurt us as long as we are in here. It will simply hide the use of magic from creatures that can sense it, making us reletively invisible to magic." He said to her, looking back down into the pit curiously.
"I wonder..."

The surface of the pool was completely still. No more bubbles rose.

Ver matched Aybilla's smile, reassured that he wasn't the only one who believed it was possible to get the people back. The smile dropped as he turned fully back towards the fire. He dropped his bag beside him, and removed his sword belt, and took in a deep breath, holding out his hands and turning his palms in towards himself. The fire dimmed, but not by much. He moved his hands in circles towards himself, looking like he was holding his breath - when he finally breathed out, the fire flared again, but another inhale stopped it. "One moment," he hissed through his teeth. He kept going until the fire was reduced to embers in the broken pieces of the house.
He pressed his palms together and exhaled, casting his hands up. A rain of embers and flame flew into the air and when Ver spread his arms, it dispersed, and the last remaining fire he quelled when he shut his hands back together. He smiled and sighed in relief and made to pick up his stuff. "Go ahead. I'll follow."

The Hanged Man sheathed his falchion and stooped to scoop up a handful of dirt and grass. He glanced to both of his companions. "Best you should take a step back," he warned, giving them a chance to do so before tossing the dirt into the puddle to see what would happen. Bits of vegetation remained caught in the joints of his gauntlet.

Aybilla watched Ver extinguishing the fire with wide eyes. She let her jaw drop open, seeing the way he worked with it. Too bad about the house, but that was beautiful. She thought about what starting a fire would look like, and hoped maybe to get the chance to see it. When the last of the embers flew, and his hands came back together, she came back to earth and with a nod at his invitation to go on, she started off. She broke into an easy sprint and followed the path that Sol, Carabila, and Crow took together, careful no to get too far ahead of the dragon slayer.

She too begins to glance around the ground, searching for a small enough pebble to start tossing. This is at least what she had in mind, for the almighty King's answer soon steals her focus. "Oooh, so I see! Thank you, that is quite the useful enchantment." Even without the presence of some foe, it was thoughtful of him to shield all three from some possible pair of eyes! Carabia nods a single time to agree with Hangy, gloved hands pinching at the skirts of her gown in order to rise, taking just a single step back. This way, she feels far enough away to observe properly while remaining close enough to step in and help, should this odd puddle of black decide to surprise them. Still oblivious of the pair running to catch up.

The puddle, for a moment, looked like it was about to hold the debris. It dipped inwards as if it were a cloth stretched over a hole. But then the vegetation broke the surface and disappeared completely into the darkness, barely sending out more than one ripple in the thick, viscous liquid. The puddle became flat again.

Ver hastily clipped his sword belt and threw his bag back on his shoulder and hurried to catch up to her. The remains of the fire continued to smolder and smoke behind them. He nodded her on.

Sol watched as the Hanged Man threw in the debree. It appeared as though it were sitting on the surface, before sinking down into it. It reminded him of something.
"Well, that was anticlimactic. I wonder what it is..." He said to the two as he looked into the surface in thought.
"Do you think it could be a portal or something? Some remnant of whatever took these people?"