<span style="font-style: italic">Red, blazing eyes flashed open and the mage looked furtively around the spirit-realm she would walk this night. All was dark. Grey and white ashes filtered sporadically through the gloom. A silver half-moon glinted far in the skies but provided no illumination. Standing, Kykysh looked around. Behind her was a bottomless chasm and she stood, alone and chilled, though it was not cold, on a promontory that jutted out from a large cave mouth. She stared into the darkness within even as the call of a hound reverberated from somewhere behind her - a distant howl, yet alarmingly close. </span><br/><br/>This... This is a path of Shadow. What trickery is this?<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Never one to back away from the face of adversity the sorceress stepped into the cave to the welcoming sound of laughter; harsh, devoid of humour, implying something... sinister. She walked through a narrow tunnel, constantly alert though she could not see a damn thing. Eventually a blue glow began to emanate ahead of her, she approached the ledge cautiously and peered down. Bright glowing mushrooms, all veins and bulbous tumours, of varying expanses provided the illumination.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">With a startled yelp, she jumped back as the ledge crumbled away beneath her. A flash of light cut through her head. Blazing eyes burned bright as the ground crumbled away beneath her. She fell only a few feet before her powers instinctively kicked in and glided her away to safety.</span>Floating. Mind is dull, eyes are blind...<span style="font-style: italic">She felt cold stone beneath her bare feet as she found clarity once more. The laughter sounded again, she spun to see a figure suspended above a sea of lava.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">A marionette without strings hung in the air, small and fat, with a painted face and stick-thin limbs. Kykysh heard a voice in her mind: "Your failure... Is inevitable..." But before she could challenge the wisdom of that, the puppet, accompanied by ever more laughter, began to spin, fast and ever faster. As the laughter pitched to a deafening crescendo, the puppet shrank to a speck before vanishing with a blinding pop.<br/><br/>A flash of light cut through her head.</span>Floating in darkness, mind is dull, eyes are blind...<span style="font-style: italic">The black-burning became intense and Kykysh could feel her brains begin to boil, her flesh began to peel from her limbs as her blood dried in her veins...</span><br/><br/>Regained consciousness. Feeling overwhelmed... In distress. Dead eyes awake, focus returns. I'm paralysed, and floating... floating through inverted spheres.<span style="font-style: italic">The creatures face materialised in an instant above her head, floating with evil expressions bleeding through. Kykysh was the puppet, and the slow, unmistakable visage of a Devils face peered through the glass like the window of her soul.</span><br/><br/><br/>Nightmares - or visions - were an all too frequent occurrence for Kykysh, though she simply stored them away in her inner psyche never to be violated by them. Her slender limbs dangled and blew in the sodden wind, the dew-scented rain drops pattering against her face and torso were as if someone had spilled heaven and it were falling upon her flesh, caressing and nourishing her. The thick branch on which she slept was comfortable, she had melded with it before closing her eyes for sleep. And now she was waking.<br/><br/>Smiling, Kykysh stretched, then rolled backwards from the branch to fall smoothly onto the leaf-strewn forest floor several dozen handspans below. Landing smoothly, she bowed and blew the tree a loving kiss, thanking it for allowing her to sleep peacefully in it's protective embrace. She rubbed a palm across her bald scalp before turning about and sauntering deeper into the forest. If memory served, she was nearing Methodil, which she understood to be a human settlement.<br/><br/>She walked slowly, without any particular purpose, relishing the feel of the rain drops bouncing gaily from her head and face, which was one of life's smaller pleasures. The wind glided across her skin like a benediction and she felt a keen sense of calm...<br/><br/>Soon enough, a startled voice penetrated the calm serenity. "Goddammit OW!"<br/><br/>Kykysh stopped, this was the first voice she had heard since... since leaving home. She panicked slightly as several thoughts ran through her mind like petulant children.<span style="font-style: italic">How long ago was that? Phew, a long time ago, perhaps a year? Should I help? Of course you should, silly girl! What manner of creature was it? No elf, not sure, possibly an elf but not from my village, oh a potential friend! Whee! Was this a battle or an accident? Go help, go help, and see for yourself! Is there a person alone, or perhaps, involved in some fancy romantic tangle? Oh, that would certianly be interesting, hehe. Was it feminine or, no, must have been... male. A male! One wonders if he might like a cup of tea?</span><br/><br/>The mage began to run towards the sound fully intending to render whatever aid may be required of her to render. But the next sound stopped her again. "Върни се спи." The sound was so unearthly and alien it hurt ears, though she immediately understood it to the voice of a demon! A demon, here? This time fear and anger clouded her thoughts, and all she could think was her new potential friend might be in danger! She spurred herself onwards!<br/><br/>The foul demon continued to speak but it felt so unnatural to Kykysh she couldn't really understand the import of the words. As she reached the location of the voice a small group of figures were slowly becoming visible as she flung herself towards them. A third voice was speaking, "...damage will take longer to heal. It will probably still hurt to walk for a while. Call me Callie, you sexy beast!"<br/><br/>The hurtling mage was almost upon them when she realised the group were not hostile towards each other, that they were... what? Kykysh just managed to pause at the edge of the path several feet ahead of the group, though they seemed not to have noticed her as they were busy either introducing themselves or attending to a sore foot, nevertheless, she didn't feel ready to announce her presence and set about straightening her robe and checking the contents of her satchel still remained in her satchel.