When the silver had come around the bend, the mystic came abruptly back to himself; jolted out of his observances, he formed a nervous fist with both hands. As he turned his head to her, the bangs which hung in a thick grey curtain between his eyes swayed gently. It was a young woman. Scratch that. Angel. She had greeted him somewhat timidly, and because of that, he tried his best to soften his intense expression. There was no danger here.

"Have you come to punish me for Gerard?" He asked this in a knowing voice, as if he had known all along she would come here. His gray skin was cracked, like an old porcelain doll, and he was holding a long staff. A blade was strapped to his back. He noticed her looking at what little clothes he wore. A patterned cloth with sleeves wrapped around his chest, leaving his stomach and shoulders exposed. They both looked like they were made of clay, shaped into human form, and marked by more of those same cracks. The long skirt that he wore, which was held on by a belt, wrinkled in small folds about his feet, with the exception of a place where a section of his naked thigh was visible, and part of his leg.

"Well? Are you going to answer me?" She stammered that she didn't know about Gerard. She was looking for a man, she said. A vampire named Maximilian. The gray man's lips curved pleasantly, managing a small smile.

"I know him, I know him." She was ecstatic at this, practically doing backflips in her mind. This made him smile more broadly, and as he reached to adjust the brim of his long hat, she embraced him with a warm hug. Nearly falling over, he told her that his name was Ja'gan, and if anyone could find him, he could. As she smiled back at him, he noticed her fangs. So, she was like him. No surprise there, he thought.

Moments later, they were sitting by a stream, and Ja'gan had removed his hat. Without it, he suspected he looked much younger. Instead of enjoying their comfortable position, however, Mariana looked impatient. He could see it in the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to wait the night before they went to find him, even though when Ja'gan had suggested it, she had thoughtlessly agreed. So, it was obvious she would regret her decision. To see such longing, and in some way, contribute to it, was impermissible to him. When he rose to his feet, Mariana quickly copied him.

"To find him, I'm going to need to invoke Hræsvelg. This is a guardian of the Western winds, which I believe is the Patron Saint of Seekers. Don't be frightened if it comes near...It doesn't like loud noises." With a gesture, he shooed Mariana from him, and she came to a rest beside a large boulder.
He lifted his hands to the sky, and began to stomp. Once southward, once north, once east, and the final two, west. He repeated this several times, slowly gyrating his arms and crossing them over one another in a graceful pattern. Almost immediately after his last stomp, a huge explosion a small distance away sent rocks and chunks of wood in their direction. One of the former grazed Ja'gan's cheek, but he bled only slightly. He didn't even flinch, his eyes locked on the approaching vision of talons and huge, beating wings that swirl and distort their surroundings.

"He who fans the flames, moves the seas and cools the brow! HAIL!" Ja'gan submitted before the figure, falling to his knees. After his brief show of respect, he addressed the being once more, this time with an air of business.

"Lord Hræs...Sympathizer of those who seek but cannot find, this angel needs her love! His kiss is memory, his body lost, where can she rest her weary eyes?"

The air around them became very still as the guardian thought. Even the leaves ceased their falling, and nearby particles of dust suspended themselves in the air. Shortly after, the spirit began to reply.

__________________
Some said I was wrong to dream that way,
and some made light of death and sorrow,
but death is glory...now.
[The Lineage][The Poetry][The Reminder][The Serenity]
True revolution is in mind; remember that, and all else shines...