(The ooc thread is located here: http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=69405.0 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=69405.0)<br/><br/>She could hear the metal tip of the arrow slicing through strands of her hair as it zipped past her head, missing by inches. She quickly veered her horse off to the left as its powerful feet thundered against the ground beneath her. She couldn't risk taking a look back to see how close her pursuers were, but by the rapid hoofbeats she could hear, she knew they weren't very far back. If she took her eyes off of the ground infront of them, her horse could step into a hole or trip over a stray log and all would be lost, everything would have been for nothing. Still she urged the horse to run even faster, a very dangerous thing to do in such dark conditions, but she had no other choice.<br/><br/>She could feel tears streaming down her face but she didn't dare take her fingers from the reins to whipe them away, so instead they clung to her skin and began to freeze in the winter air. She had lost two of her closest friends in this mission, but she knew it had been worth their lives. She would have gladly lain her own life down to see that their mission was a success, it was vital to the survival of everyone in Zariah. The Cursed had risen once again, and the only hope to defeat them rested in the large satchel bag slung over her shoulder that occasionally bounced with the rhythm of the horse.<br/><br/>She could feel her heart soar as she saw the light put off from the torches lining the wall of Myrta in the distance. The only obstacle that was left between her and the gigantic city of humans was a mile-long wooden bridge stretching over the rushing current of the Ashn River. She could hear the thumps of her horses' hooves changing from the thumping of its feet on the soft ground to the harsher clacking sound of the hooves slamming against the wooden planks. She could see people, most likely soldiers, at the other end of the bridge, waiting for her to emerge from the other side. They couldn't advance onto the bridge because it wasn't wide enough for their horses and their numbers and it would prove to be more of an obstacle than any actual help.<br/><br/>She spared a few precious seconds to glance over her shoulder and sight she saw made her breath catch in her throat. She had seen the Demons following her from a distance before, and even fought them hand to hand, but to see how close they were on her tail made her turn back quickly and urge the horse even faster. They were nearly close enough to reach out and touch her, she could almost feel their hot, putrid breath on the back of her neck. She realized suddenly with widening eyes that the few seconds she'd took to look back were going to cost her dearly as she watched her horse's front hoof step straight through a small hole in the bridge, one she would have seen had she been paying attention to begin with.<br/><br/>She could hear the bones in the horse's legs snap as she was suddenly sent flying forward from her seat atop the massive war-horse. For a second she felt weightless and the entire world seemed to move in slow-motion around here. She could see the horses wide, frightened, eyes as it pitched forward ad abruptly stopped as its leg was held in place in between the wooden planks. She could also see the Demons on horseback leaping their pitch-black horses over the fallen one. Then she slammed into the wooden bridge suddenly, feeling her right shoulder dislocate instantly. She let out a scream of pain as she rolled forward several times, smacking her head against the hard wooden planks more than once.<br/><br/>In a daze she tried to left herself up but she couldn't get her right arm to respond and her left was clutched desperately to her saddle bag, keeping her precious treasure safe for the moment. She knew that her time was about to come to an end, the rapid thumping of the horses hooves were growing far too close. She closed her eyes and waited for the feeling of a steel sword slicing through her neck.<br/><br/>She had always heard people say that when you died you saw your life flash before your eyes. Maybe it worked differently for each person, but all she could think about was how she had failed in her quest. Suddenly she could hear the air filling with soft, high-pitched screams, and then the sounds of several quick thunks. She raised her head up slightly and looked back towards her left, seeing the Demons sitting on their horses, curved black swords held high in the air, and wide eyes of shock as dozens of arrows protruded from their chests and shoulders. Without another sound they both fell backwards off of their horses and onto the wooden bridge. She let out a sigh of relief and fell back to the comforting embrace of the soggy wooden planks, losing all sense of consciousness.<br/><br/>----------------------------------<br/><br/>Deep within the warm embrace of the Temple of the Heavens, the Holy Mother stood with three of her seven Sorceresses, two of them having died retrieiving the bones of the first Revenant, Asriel Aurelis, and the last in the medical wing of the Temple, having her wounds tended to by the various Healers. Her efforts had been absolutely superb to say the least, she was so proud of the efforts of her eldest daughter, by far the strongest out of the seven. If it hadn't been for her, they would have lost the most vital piece to their mission, the remains of the strongest Revenant to be born, without him all of their efforts would have been in vain.<br/><br/>In a circle around her, with various chalk designs etched into the stone floors, each line intersecting with each other, swirling and crossing over in a very complex pattern that seemed to have taken hours to design. The Holy Mother knew that each element to the design had to be perfect, without any flaw, or it could very well destroy her and the entire fortified city surrounding her. She was delving into very dangerous and complex magic that was of an extremely high calibur, even for someone of her level of mastery. She stepped forward, closing her eyes as she brought her two index fingers forward infront of her, touching them together before lifting her head towards the ceiling, uttering a soft prayer to the Light for protection and the guidance in completing the spell.<br/><br/>Suddenly her eyes snapped open as a bright light seemed to sprout forward from inside of her, surrounding her form and illuminating the room to an astonishing degree, lighting up every small corner of the massive chambers, casting the pure white brilliance over the five caskets surrounding her, the caskets themselves seeming to draw in the light into their pitch-black surfaces, pulling it in with reckless abandon. The Holy Mother began to softly utter words as her hands lifted infront of her, her index fingers leaving aftertrails of light as she etched various designs and glyphs into the air infront of her, moving with a rapid pace as the air around her seemed to be surrounding with the swirling images of light.<br/><br/>The words began to grow louder and with a quicker frequency as the light seemed to grow even larger, the entire room beginning to shudder softly as if undergoing a tremendous earthquake. Immediately following the entire town seemed to be undergoing the same issues, as the very ground itself began to shake and tremble, the various wildlife suddenly screeching in terror and running in circles, frightened by the movement of the earth. People began to run for cover, ducking under wagons and other forms of protection, screaming out in fright, it very much seeming as if the end of the world was at their doorstep.<br/><br/>Suddenly with an ear-splitting scream, the Holy Mother threw her head back, opening her mouth towards the heavens as she held her arms straight out to either side in a crucified position, a pure white beam of light erupting forth from her mouth and shooting straight upwards through the roof above her, punching a clean hole through its stone surface. The light was visible throughout the massive city, ascending from the tip of the highest tower and dissappearing into the cloud-line above them.<br/><br/>As soon as it had started, it suddenly ended, the light dissappearing from the clouds and from the Holy Mother's mouth, sending her suddenly flying backwards a good ten feet to slide into the wall behind her, the four Sorceresses running towards her quickly, kneeling by her side, worried expressions mirrored on each of their faces. Then there was a crash, as the lid to one of the caskets fell to the side and a single figure sat upwards, shoulder-length black hair hanging around his face as he looked towards the women with icy blue eyes, wide with alarm and surprise.<br/><br/>"The first one has awakened...." Came the soft voice from the Holy Mother, obviously weak from the spell, before she passed back out into unconsciousness.<br/><br/>