Seluumiel sees, just before taking what cover could be garnered from the forest, Tenacity and her steed, Diligence take a lightning bolt to their hind end. The flying beasts were attacking. In retaliation, Seluumiel let loose a barrage of four balls of magical energy, hitting the attacker without error, hoping to bring it down. Her attack hurt the Hawk-like creature, but only slowed its accent.

The attacker, though it got the drop on the party initially, is now reeling from its wounds and trying to regain flight control. The other three creatures followed suit and began to dive and attack.

The second creature to attack hit Xavier with electricity, but it all but bounced off of him, miraculously barely scorching his tunic.

"oof", went Xavier then he sort of chuckled," that didn't hurt!"

The third attacker hit Camille with much greater force and efficiency, almost bringing her to her knees,
"Ahhhh!" screamed Camille. Her hit staggered her a bit but she recovered quite quickly.

Xavier didn't care. His sister had been hurt. "Hit me again you blasted beasts! Come on, I'll give you a reason!" Xavier ranted as he readies his shurikens for the next pass. He looks to his sister to make sure she's still alright.

Tenacity had ridden back to the party, after the attack on her and her horse, arriving just in time to see Camille being hit. She hides Diligence, getting him out of the fray and takes her place with the others saying more to herself than to any one person in particular, "Fat lot of good mounted combat will do me! Till they get close enough, I guess I'll just have to stand here and look tasty!"

As smoke drifts away from a scorch mark on Camille's clothing, she readies a spell. She fires off two scorching rays, hitting two of the creature's four wings, dropping the one Seluumiel hit earlier, shrieking as it fell, the fall kills it.

Chiron had seen the attack on Tenacity and her horse and his main concern was for the two. Knowing that Tenacity was up walking around, she couldn't be hurt too bad. So, he headed over towards the horse. No sooner did Tenacity finish her sentence, Chiron took a hard bolt to the back, staggering him slightly from the pain, but not enough to break his stride on his way to the steed. Once there he fully healed the horse, then turned back to the party, fully intent on doing the same for them when the time came.

After each attack by the flying beasts, they returned to their vantage point, high in the sky, readying for the next dive.

Seluumiel loosed four balls of magic energy, having no problem hitting with each one. The arrowhawk reeled back in the sky righting itself in mid air before its offensive dive.

Another dove in behind the arrow hawk that had been hit almost as if to say,"I've got your back!" and attacked Seluumiel with its electric tail, the shock knocking the wind from her as she fought the urge to drop to her knees.

It avoided its attacker considering her to be too powerful to be prey, and settled for the pale, weak looking one. One bite was all it took for the "bird" to back peddle with disgust at the taste of dead blood. It was too late for the creature to turn its beak up at this meal for Xavier let fly a expertly thrown shuriken that lodged itself deep into its neck with a profuse gush of blood. This one had enough and tried weakly to retreat.

During the first attacker's retreat another of the beasts come down from the sky and bites at Tenacity drawing forth her blood to mingle on its tongue. It was sweet and it wanted more. The creature had yet to pay for its first taste though, and pay it did. With a slash from Tenacity's sword, she dealt a severe blow to its two right wings.
With that, she yelled to the group,"Get behind me! We'll make it harder for them to target you directly."

The wound to the creatures wings greatly impeded its ability to fly right and it was only able to make it twenty-five feet up. As it tried to "limp" out of range of any further punishment, it witnesses one of its companions being seared with a ray of fire and drop from the sky.

As if a bit of foreshadowing were apparent, shortly after the fall of its comrade, Tenacity's attacker takes an arrow to the breast as a second zings too close for comfort for the winged beast and it retreats as the radiance of the Fractal Zone begins to light the night of Genesica.

These creatures the group did battle with are not dim witted in the least, just hungry, and they know when they've bitten off more than they can chew. So, in full retreat and empty stomachs they disappear over the ever dimming horizon.

Not even a day is spent in this new world and this stalwart band of adventurers are already considered prey.

As the bird like creatures flew off into the horizon Seluumiel exhaled deeply and lay a hand on her stomach. The memory of the electric shock still lay with here in a tingling pain. Closing her eyes the moon elf called forth the power of Sehanine Moonbow and soon felt the healing power of the lunar goddess rush through her. Soon strength returned and all physical memory of the pain left her. The fight was over and it was now time to begin healing.

The priestess turned to Tenacity first, "You would have taken the pain of their attacks on yourself and I thank you for that. Allow me to offer you healing."

((OOC: Assuming she accepts))

Reaching up Seluumiel took the human woman's head in her hands and lay a kiss on her forehead. Once again the divine power of the Daughter of the Night Sky filled her, but this time it flowed through her and into Tenacity. In but three breaths the spell was finished. Offering the knight a smile she turned to face the others.

"To each of you I offer healing if you will accept it."

((OOC: Casts Cure Moderate Wounds twice, once on herself and once on Tenacity. Since combat is over I'm assuming this can all be done in one post.))

"Thanks very much, Seluumiel. I trust your magical energy will replenish when we sleep? If there's no need to ration it, then I see no reason not to make sure we're all back to full health."

After watching the priest tend to the others, Tenacity tended to Diligence's grazing situation by examining the grass nearby for anything that might be dangerous if swallowed.

"I don't expect those birds will want to test us again anytime soon. We should make camp under the trees so that maybe the canopy will keep use from being so distracted by that sky," Tenacity said. She stared up at the seemingly-impossible flickering, trying to open her mind to the mysteries of the cosmos, but it just wouldn't happen. The strangeness of the backdrop only solidified how alien their surroundings were.

She rolled her shoulders and shook her head before turning back to the party. "We should definitely take care that we communicate our whereabouts to each other and that we don't poke our noses into anything unless we have at least one other person to watch our backs. Right now, there's no telling how far away help--or home--might be or what else might want to eat us."

With that, she sat down near her horse and started to clean her equipment.

"I can tend to Xavier, Camille and myself, Seluumiel. No need for one of us to completely exhaust our energy." The paladin examined the siblings as he spoke, bringing them both back to perfect health as he laid hands upon them. He then started a surge of healing within himself that could have healed much more than the minor wounds inflicted by those troublesome birds.

"We'll definitely need to set up some watches, and until we're more accustomed to the perils of this world I think it might be wise to have two of us awake at any given time, if we can figure out a rotation that won't keep us from fully recovering each night. What do the rest of you think? We'll be able to make a little better time tomorrow, Prajna will be able to join us again."


((Lay on Hands for Camille and Xavier. Expending a daily use of my Healing devotion to start fast healing 1 on myself.))

"I only need a couple hours of actual sleep, so I can take the first and third watches," Tenacity said, responding to Chiron's concerns. "If you need unbroken rest, which is something I think I remember hearing once."

She finished putting a fresh edge on her sword and sheathed it. Then she retrieved a spool of thread and a handful of tiny, copper bells from her left belt pouch and began marking a wide perimeter for the camp. "If anything comes too close, these bells will tell us when and about where. Be careful where you step during your watch."

The moon elf nodded in agreement at the suggestion to make camp. They needed rest and time to gather their bearings. This place was alien to all.

Moving cautiously Seluumiel made ready for rest. It was odd to look up into the sky and see an unending sun. How could one tell which was night and which was day? She shuddered at the thought and turned instead to what she could wrap her mind around.

When the old guardian passed she had felt something change within her. An awareness and understanding she had not possessed came to her and it was time to use it. Pulling her spellbook from her haversack Seluumiel began to leaf through its pages.

Looking up from her studies Seluumiel addressed the others, "I will take last watch. First I have need of time to study and replenish my magical energies and both require uninterrupted rest."

"...And that leaves me to take the second watch." Chiron said as Seluumiel finished. If Camille needed an escort to cross through the country to get to Leaphaven, he wasn't sure she could hold an effective watch, and the paladin didn't trust the girl's brother not to run off into the night because he saw something interesting or, worse yet, just because he was bored. "No, neither of those two would be responsible for a watch," he thought, but he was unsure how to let Seluumiel and Tenacity know his feelings without sending Xavier into a rant.

"Xavier, Camille, you can join any of the watches you'd like, though I would caution against both of you being up at the same time. It might encourage an attack during one of the later, 'undermanned' shifts." He hoped that would be sufficient for now. At the very least it would give him enough time to get the others' feelings about the two siblings.

As the watches go throughout the night, very little was noticed in the contrast of pitch black of the forest and the uncharacteristic light of night outside of the forest caused by the fractal zone in the heavens, or the Abyss, depending how one looks at it. Very little sound was made besides the whispering of the strange pale twins.

Just as easily as the twin's whispered conversation started, with a devil's wind it ended just as quickly.

Chiron sat atop his bedroll leaning against a tree. He stared out at the grassy field he'd spent most of the previous day trekking through and replayed the events that brought him to this unfamiliar place. The two von Richter siblings chatted away somewhere behind him, whispering in the night.

The paladin was thinking about events that seemed like years ago, wondering if he'd acted rightly in handling a drow that wanted to play at being a surface-elf. An unusually warm gust of wind blew through the camp and pulled Chiron from his thoughts. Pushing himself to his feet he grabbed his sword and peered into the windward darkness. Maybe winds like that were normal for this place. Maybe not. Better to be cautious.

Nothing appeared to be moving out there; he couldn't hear anything either. That wasn't right, there should still be some noise. Where were Xavier and Camille?

***

"Tenacity, wake up." The paladin shook the knight's shoulder to rouse her from her trance. "Camille and Xavier are missing. I checked everywhere inside the tripwire you set up. They were here talking and then just gone. If it was only Xavier I wouldn't worry, but..." Chiron's voice trailed off and he scanned the poorly lit perimeter again. "In the time you spent with Camille, did she share her brother's penchant for wandering off?"

"Huh? No, we never had trouble..." Tenacity roused and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't hear the bells, what do you mean 'missing'? Where were they sitting before you noticed their absence?"

When Chiron indicated the site, she drew her sword and moved to look closer. There had been too much ordinary activity inside the area of their camp for her to note any unusual footprints.

"We can check their belongings to see if they took anything with them, which might indicate what they were planning. If nothing is missing, then it was almost certainly against their intentions," she said, searching through Camille's things and waving Chiron to Xavier's. "And if that's the case, it must have been powerful and quick, since neither one noticed nor had time to call out."

"I'm not really the type to stealthily pursue the abductor, so my next course of action is going to be to shout their names. If you have a better idea, let me know."

Tenacity went about checking the twins' belongings and when she reached into Xavier's pack, she finds the food bars and a note which reads,

Sorry for the departure, but our job is a foregone conclusion to put it mildly. To be brutally honest, I was only in it for the money, and I never really liked having to work with a paladin. We have our reasons for leaving, and I nor Camille are about to explain ourselves to you now. Let's just say, things would definitely get complicated if we continued together. We are going to find a way home or at least a way to get somewhere a little more familiar than this. If we find a way I'll try to get word to all of you, but I see no reason for the affliction my sister and I have to slow you all down. Don't try to find us. We are much faster than we let on, and we can always use the shadows better than most, so between her magic and my agility and strength will get us through.

Farewell Comrades,
Xavier and Camille
Tenacity can also make out on the ground what appears to be two lines of upturned grass and dirt leading what could be considered north and out of the forest.

Tenacity stopped voicing her plans when she found the note. She read it quickly and quietly before handing it to Chiron.

"How could they think we'd even consider that? They'll die out there. It's all well and good that they think they might find a way home working independently, but what happens if we find one? How would we let them know? There may not even be one, and if there is, what if it doesn't allow for that kind of arrangement to be made? The way here certainly didn't," she said. Her mind filled with concerns and she needed to stop before her breathless speech became completely unintelligible.

In the darkness of the forest, in view of that strange, abyssal night of the fields outside, their group of the only familiar things in this place had just been split in half. The sword sheathed, she moved to her horse and stood there, listening to the familiar rhythm of breath. The smells of saddle-leather and Diligence's blankets filled the air around her as she leaned close and allowed some time to pass.

"If they think it necessary, it might as well be," she said to Chiron, turning back to her bedroll. "I don't see that there's anything we can do about it except try to let them know when--and if--we find a way back, also. This might be where some of the things from the house originated, so a portal home wouldn't be something we could just leave open.

"I don't know. I should sleep before we can actually figure any of that out. Goodnight."

Chiron nodded in agreement with the knight's wisdom and resumed his watch in troubled silence. What kind of horrible secrets were those two hiding that they preferred walking alone into a hostile night over traveling with me? Whatever it was they must have believed it to be beyond all forgiveness and feared my reaction when I finally found them out.

Chiron believed he was very open-minded compared to most of the people that shared his tenets and training. He still carried the truth serum he'd purchased to test the intentions of a drow when he'd discovered her masquerading as a surface elf. He knew many a man who would have unleashed a holy wrath upon her the moment they saw the true color of her skin. But he had listened to her story, and believed enough to give her a chance to earn more trust. She refused and fled into the night. Chiron wondered if he'd been right in believing she might be trusted. And would her reaction to his trust color future interactions. Would he have listened to Camille if he found out she'd been a murdered? An image of that quiet little girl laughing as she plunged a dagger into some unknown victim flashed through Chiron's mind. It didn't fit, but there had to be some reason they'd left.

But he was out of time to throw new theories around. His watch was ending and he desperately wanted to let his mind switch off. He gently shook Seluumiel awake. "Your turn for watch." he said, once she was out of her reverie. "Some unfortunate events occurred earlier tonight. Xavier and Camille are convinced they would be better off alone, so they left this note and left us." Chiron held out the note for her to read and explained that he and Tenacity had decided a search in the morning might yield something, but it would be fruitless to go out tonight in the dark.

Seluumiel stirred from her reverie only moments before Chiron Po came to nudge her awake. Sitting up she regarded the man before her and then moved to overlook their camp. The elf blinked a few times before returning her attentions to the paladin.

"Your turn for watch," he said plainly. "Some unfortunate events occurred earlier tonight. Xavier and Camilly are convinced the would be better off alone, so they let this note and left us."

Seluumiel took the proffered note from Chiron and nodded in agreement as he explained the he and Tenacity had decided to try a search again in the morning. She didn't think they would find any sign of the pair but it would be worth the effort. There were spells she could cast that might help to discern their location but the moon elf was unsure if finding them was a wise course of action. Once Camille had shown up her trust in Xavier had wavered. There was something odd about the man and that oddness had only increased once his sister had shown up. Now the two had run off into the night and that action only cemented her distrust.

Once Chiron had gone to his bed roll the moon priestess unfolded the note and read. It did little to quell her suspicions.