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Aldyne was preparing her gear as she stood on a previously undiscovered island on the outskirts of the abyss. In front of her was a rather large rift portal, large enough to fit most Balaur through it. The two (now dead) Draken guards that had been along the portal's edge proved their involvement.

The Asmodian templar had been sent here by the Shedim lords upon discovery of this rift, with the mission of discovering where it went. Her armor was glowing purple with the energy streams which -at some points visibly- ran through it. The sword and shield she had taken from a Mau command leader named Kasika were strapped to her back and thigh. Her white hair hung loosely down her head, and in the back of her neck went through to the long manes and running down her spine that clearly showed she was Asmodian. The claws on her hands made clicking sounds as she nervously tapped them against her armor.

Right then... A familiar rush went through her as she summoned her wings and the Aether in the Abyss flowed through her, providing her with the energy to do this. She elevated herself off the ground and went through the rift.

~

When Aldyne woke up, she was lying on the ground. Wherever she was, it was night time here. Although day and night where not to be seen in the Abyss, she knew that it was only morning when she left Pandaemonium and she hadn't been travelling long. How could it be night already?

Upon looking around, she found that the portal nowhere around her. The ground around her was scorched and several trees were burnt down, yet there was no trace of fire. She walked over to one of the trunks and held her hand against it. It was cold, which means that whatever caused it, she had nothing to do with it. None of the geography proved that she was in Elysea, and neither was she in Asmodae. Balaurea? No, that wasn't it either. Then where was she?

One... Two... Three! Griffon thrusters the ball of light forwards towards the larger campfire in front of him. To his dismay the ball went only several inches from his hands before dispersing. "Gah I'll get this trick sometime," he muttered to himself. Griffo decided he tried enough at improving that skill for today an it was time for some shut eye, so laid back onto his pack, the soft earth underneath him, and looked at the sky for a second. That's when it changed.

Griffon looked at this and was awestruck until it disappeared. Bells went of in the story teller's head, he ha to go check that out! He grabbed up his cutlass and strapped the sheathed weapon on as he ran towards where it was. His left hand held a small blue ball of light so he could see, the other remained free to grab his life life should danger lurk here. He burst over a hill and found... Well found something that looke like it Gould not be trifled with. He slowed his run but lost his footing. The man tumbled loudly down the small hill and landed at the base a bit away from the trees, the peculiar burnt trees... And earth.

Aldyne had been investigating the clearing when Griffon rolled down the hill, alarming her with the noise that accompanied it. She quickly drew her sword from its sheath and the shield was swung over her shoulder to her left arm, easily dropping herself into a defensive stance. The Templar's eyes started glowing red as she looked over the edge of her shield to where Griffon had fallen.
"Ejr'a zihsh!?" She shouted, not realizing that Griffon probably wouldn't understand her.

Griffon hopped up onto his feet and took a couple of steps back as he brushed himself off. When he saw the threat he drew his own sword. The recently polished steel cutlass reflected the full moon above them as he recreated the ball of light in his left had. "Lay down arms!" Griffon yelled at the one who could probably end his life, despite his skill with his sword.

Aldyne was slightly surprised atthe fact that he spoke the common tongue, and as such she adapted her own speech. "A Daeva of Asmodae never lays down their arms, human." she replied, her red-glowing eyes boring into his.

"And a Pardoner always lives to tell his tale," Griffon responded, not knowing if she would know of them. She might be from that thing in the sky after all. His left foot took a half step backwards as he twirled the sword once. He paused for a moment, "What the heck is a 'Daeva of Asmodae'?"

Aldyne was amazed at how this man couldn't know about Asmodae. That probably meant he didn't know about Elysea or the Balaur either. "What is this place?" she asked, slightly lowering her weapons, but not completely falling out of guard.

Griffon followed suit and dropped his arm to his side, but continued to hold the ball of light that danced in his palm. "Well you're on the edge of a forest on some hills. Apart from that you're in Halken ((Hail-kehn)) Valley." The story teller raised a brow at the 'Daeva of Asmodae' before him. He was very, very curious.

"Halken Valley?" Aldyne repeated softly. A shock went through her as she realized, and looked up in the sky. Sure enough, the rift was there. Elevated high above them, it's red and yellow glow lit up the night sky... which was undotted with Asmodae's or Elysea's lights. It was just completely black, with some stars visible from where the clouds allowed them to be seen. Aldyne suddenly realized she wasn't in Atreia anymore.

"Do you know of the Balaur? Of the Draken?" she quickly inquired. They must've come through the portal before her.

Griffon looked up at the sky when she did, becomiing lost in the strange thing above. He was brought back only when the female asked him a question. "What? Um yeah Bellar," Griffon said it as he thought he heard it, "he runs the Inn of the last town I stopped by. I don't know anyone by the name of Draken though, sorry."

Aldyne sighed. "So that's a no then." She replied. Wherever she was, they couldn't have been here long. A small amount of Balaur could already do major damage in an area with people who didn't know about them. The fact they hadn't moved yet must mean there's only a few around.
"Have you seen any strange, even savage markings? Claw marks on trees, particularly large footprints of lizard-like shape?"

Griffon gave a strange look to her. "Ummm... No not that I've noticed. I'm just passing through though. I can show you to town and you can ask around there if you'd like." He looked at her again. "Or I could do the talking." The man sheathed his sword, he was far enough away and felt little enough threat that he could do so. "You could spend the night and my 'camp' if you'd like. I don't have anything worth stealing so I don't mind sharing my large area of comfortable ground."

Aldyne was almost insulted at his suggestion that she'd steal from him, but she didn't speak of it since it might happen more often in this strange land. "Very well then, take me to this town." she sheathed her weapons now and gathered a quick sample from the tree trunks. The scholars in the Temple of Artisans could study that when she got back.

"You want to go now?!" exclaimed Griffon, "It's the middle of the night, all of my stuff is still at my camp site." He watched the lady collect her samples, he wondered if he ever looked like that. "Um if you are done sampling trees for a syrup farm, we can get going now." He waved his arms I the direction he came, perhaps being a bit too trustful. What could he say? He loved a good adventure, they made great stories.

Aldyne was amazed. "You really have no idea about the threat that is upon your people even now, do you? The Balaur are vicious, and if you really don't know anything about them you'll never stand a chance!"

"Tell it to me over a fire then," Griffon reasoned. "Rushing around late at night does nothing for anyone." He started off to his camp, stopping at the top off the hill. "You coming?"

Aldyne sighed. "Fine," she replied. After all, she might need this human to guide her. She hesitantly followed. her shield was strapped to her back again, but her sword was in her hand all the way to the camp.

With the blue light guiding the way through the grassy hills, it was a little bit of a walk until they came upon the smoldering embers of what remained of Griffon's fire. "Dang it," mumbled the light bearer, "I just got that going." He let the light go out and the moon shed it's own over the peaceful landscape. Griffon walked over and moved his pack to the other side of the fire under the hill's alcove. "You can have the bedroll," he said, "I've slept without one plenty of times."

Deciding not to complain this tim, Aldyne sat herself down on the bedroll.
"So, what do you want to know?" she asked, looking at him.

"Right now?" asked Griffon. "Well right now I'd like to know how hard it is to get some sleep." Griffon spoke with an upbeat tone as he finagled his bag into the right position before sitting down and threw some kindling onto the fire. "I'll get the fire going real quick."