Aeyre || Eventide || Fighting Monsters
At first, Aeyre could hear the silence before she felt the disruption. Lying in a sleepy barn just off the outskirts of the docks, she felt a lurch; the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. A coppery taste in the air and a tightness in her chest. Almost immediately, Aeyre knew something was wrong...
Dark mist clouded her vision as she stood up, becoming faint. The world flashed by her brightly in chaos and terror; patches of white across the ground and the sky, constantly swirling around at a dizzying speed. Fabric being ripped in twain, forcing holes through the cloth. The smell of burning, and the screams of men and women. And finally, three serpents. Aeyre rolled onto her stomach, retching as her food tried to force its way back up her throat. She vomited onto the dry straw and, trembling violently, groped around for her staff in the half-blindness of the aftermath of a vision.
She hadn't had a vision so powerful in years...her body convulsed as she retched again, spilling a pathetic puddle of bile by her feet. She knew that something was going to happen, and soon; so, in a bid of escape, Aeyre grabbed her belongings from the barn and half-staggered, half-ran outside and across the fields towards Eventide. The sky was already overcast with thick, bulging clouds, casting the village into dim light. Much to the confusion of the villagers, who started retreating into their homes as the clouds started to spin...
Aeyre looked up at the sky hopelessly, her tail swishing in agitation; this was the site of her vision, not the barn! Cursing her own foolishness, Aeyre turned to leave back over the fields, only to see the fog emerge. It wasn't like a usual mist, which slowly draped itself over the landscape in a cooling embrace. No, this fog looked as if it was poured unto the land, twisting and bulging out and slowly enveloping the city. Eventide began to panic; civillians, rushing all around, screaming in their bid to escape.
The monsters began to appear from the portals - the rips in the fabric, the holes...it was starting to click together now. But what of the serpents? Is there deception within Eventide? Was she to be ambushed, poisoned? Aeyre's breathing sharpened with fear as she moved slowly towards the chaos, uncertainty filling her heart. It was worse, much worse, when a vision preludes her actions; a paranoia settled deep within her body and adrenaline coursed through her veins; she half expected to drop dead any moment now.
In the panic, Aeyre ran blindly, evading the creatures to the best of her abilities when she felt another jolt in her stomach and stared in shock as one of the portals was forced shut from within, pulled to a close by the hidden magic-users scattered throughout Eventide. Despite herself, the bitterness in her throat did not come from the bile which previously washed over it; no, she spurned the hypocrisy of man. How dare they call upon us on their time of need, after shunning us for so long? A part of Aeyre sympathized with whomever opened the portals; perhaps the people of Eventide deserved this little reminder. They needed to learn that they couldn't simply toy with those who are stronger than them.
Aeyre's attention was quickly diverted as a talon appeared out of nowhere and nearly ran her through. She smacked it back with her staff and raised her hand up, the grass on the floor rapidly elongating and broadening into thick, razor-sharp whips, slicing the creature in twain and then into quarts. Were it not for the magic infusing the blows, Aeyre was certain that it would've simply got up again. Again, her thought returned to the opener of the portals; unleashing creatures onto Eventide to thin out the non-magic users, or to show the ungifted why they need us?
Immediately, Aeyre rushed to the nearest portal; the one near the docks. Halfway, she felt her spirits lifting and the world start to brighten - another portal must be closing - and with renewed vigour, the Sylvan rushed forth with full speed into the throes of the darkness. She eventually caught up with the Company, her shawls and bags billowing behind her, skirt lifted to around her knees to ensure she wouldn't trip.
Her eyes settled upon the three silver serpents of Arabella, and her mouth opened a little in shock. Was she the one who would die? Is she a saviour? Or...did she open these portals? Aeyre's mind raced with the possibilities. Almost instictively, her staff-wielding arm moved in an arc, and a shadowy creature was suddenly lashed down by thick vines and crushed into nothingness again as she ran to catch up with the other woman, panting from the extra effort...she wasn't a good runner.
Well, she certainly wasn't the opener of the portals, because she wouldn't be rushing to close them; nor would she seem so angry about the situation. The inky darkness bulged to their left, as another creature leapt in the air, determined to land on either Arabella or Aeyre but the witch took no chances. "Careful!" she snapped, a mixture of urgency and irritation in her tone as the very plant-life itself thrust into the air and impaled the beast before it landed on the pair of them.
"Wh-...what's going on? Are you alright?" asked Aeyre, to Arabella. Her expression was one of concern, her dark eyes glancing repeatedly towards the human whilst also scanning the surroundings. Her trinkets clicked and rattled as she moved, and the pelt of the lupine creature over her head gave the Sylvan a mysterious, wild look to her appearance. Her expression was surprisingly calm, albeit very solemn, at the sight of the shadowy creatures; it gave an impression that she may have once encountered them before.
Meanwhile, her mind was practically falling head-over-heels in the speed to which it processed the situation...she couldn't tell this woman that she saw her snakes in a vision; that'd instantly mark her out as an oddball and the last thing Aeyre wanted to do was alienate someone to which her future may be inevitably tied to. Just as equally, however, she knew nothing of the lass; evidently Arabella was younger than she, and certainly seemed a lot more brash and temperamental judging by her attacks and her movements. But aside from that, Aeyre couldn't figure out her purpose, or anything else about her. Simply another magic-caster with some significance to her life.