"Well, that does complicate things," she admits slowly, yet reluctantly, eyebrows raising until they almost reach her hair. It's a rather scandalous bit of information, frankly, and she is aware that it will draw a great deal of negative attention towards Inan. Yet, for her the matter is simpler. The warder bond it's a great means to monitor a warder and wardee, and she has sensed the worry behind his words: Inan does not mean to betray her, and until that changes, she will not treat him any different. "For you, more than anything. We are both aware that public opinion is a fickle mistress, but I will not forbid you from meeting him if you desire."
"It's my brother, he's a drow. I think he might be the Court's spymaster: Somniar." Inan had brushed against him only briefly, but the man had not been far from the warder's thoughts since. "We haven't been in contact, save for one brief altercation before the war began, but I couldn't in good conscience continue on without telling you about the association." Many elves knew drow by virtue of their life cycle, but few were connected to those who'd ascended as far as the Court.
A sense of disgust and self-recrimination settles in the back of her throat every time she thinks of Lain. Their encounter had been inevitable, it had been a reminder. For all the lycan was fun and interesting, he was mortal as they come. Alive one moment, gone the next. A passing fancy that could not grow beyond that for the pure and simple truth of inevitable with death. She knows that it is inevitable that she will mourn him when his time comes, but she cannot love him. Not when his lifetime will be the blink of her eye, and she needs to ensure she is a source of steadiness for her people.
It is this truth that stays her hand, that keeps her from seeking Lain as soon as the war ends. But their encounter is not inevitable, so when her clairvoyance tells her of his attempt to contact her, Robin does nothing but sigh and follow the direction her magic takes her towards. She gets close enough to hear his attempt to manifest her from thin air, and she cannot help the giggle that echoes through the woods as she steps into the clearing that Lain had found himself in. Her brow is raised as she takes in the lycan, but she shows him her hand to show him that she is not going to attack.
"That is one way to summon me, dearest wolf," she mentions, fondness undercut by the quiet apology on her tone. "What would have happened if I had not been on my way to meet?"
For: @thegoodfellow
Where: The Forest, outskirts of Lupercal
Notes: sorry I tried to kill you, can we still be friends at least?
He had selfishly avoided this confrontation for weeks. The elves were a capricious bunch, it was possible that Robin might decide to finish the job her changeling had started the moment she saw his face. But it was worth a shot. She deserved closure, as well as an apology for his actions. As terrible as Lain saw himself, he drew the line at hurting the few people he cared about. Species that lacked the heightened sense of smell that lycans were gifted with could have easily gotten lost in the expanse of the wilderness, but Lain could easily visualize his own scent trail that would lead him back home. He kept rehearsing what he was going to say to Dawn chancellor when he finally found her, but knew that there was no way he could articulate his feelings as perfectly as it all sounded in his head. “Robin!” The lycan called out, “I just want to talk!” He stopped walking, focusing on listening for the faint indicators of any signs of life that were not his own that the sound of the leaves crunching under his feet obscured. Lain could pick up on the quick thrumming of multiple heartbeats, but all of them sounded far too small to belong to anything humanoid sized. Likely just a rabbit or a squirrel. Fuck, where was she?
Robin loses control of the situation before she figures out the source of Lain's loss of sanity. Lain moves, a
nd with him come the changelings, rusted weapons reaching beyond what their body would make seem possible as the blade dug far into his skin, the sound wet and all the more revolting as she realizes that it is nothing less than a kill shot. Panic sends her heart racing as she crosses the distance and multiple quick steps, hands stretched before they retreated hesitatingly. She could heal him, she knew this, and yet. And yet she wouldn't. There is far too little magic on her, and healing him would scrap the bottom of her reserves, and she cannot do that. Not when the war is barely beginning, and there is work to be done. A pained expression crosses her face as Lain speaks, a keening hurt as she realizes this is it, she has killed her wolf.
The Fall Chancellor is about to open her mouth to reassure him that she knows, that she is ore than well aware that under normal circumstances he would never betray her as he had done.
But she is too late.
Between one breath and the next, Lain is gone, and she is left blinking out his blood from her eyes, the sticky substance smattering her face and clinging to her eyelashes.
It's not a sight that she will forget any time soon.
He wanted nothing more than to give up and run. But he had no control over his body anymore, the Drow had warped his mind beyond reason. The only thing that manifested in his thoughts was kill. The wolf charged at Robin once again, only to be intercepted by one of her changelings. For a split second, Lain managed to wrestle back some semblance of control over his corporeal form. He could have easily evaded the fungal changeling’s blade, but he did not move. The sword pierced his stomach, the tip protruding from his back. Pain bloomed through his midsection and it was enough to snap him out of his rampage, his body shrinking back into his human shape. The room started to spin, he was losing so much blood from a pierced artery, he collapsed against the nearest wall.
“Robin, I’m so sorry,” He managed to gasp out, blood dripping from his mouth. His shaking hands clutched the open wound on his abdomen, trying in vain to hold back the ichor freely cascading from the gash. Tears welled in his eyes, he glanced down at his wound then back at the fall chancellor. He would be dead soon, but that fact had not dawned on him yet. “I-I didn’t mean to-,” He couldn’t even finish his sentence before his body exploded. Splattered red viscera was all that was left of him. His lifeblood painted Robin’s clothing, the changelings standing guard, the walls, everything.
Maybe the world would be a better place with him gone. This was what he always wanted, right? Death.
"Would you believe if I say that my current courage is thanks to your actions?" Robin coos almost playfully, eyes cold and death as she faces the human she had once trusted and taught but had done nothing but betray her since the moment they met. There is no denying that she had been a naive fool, far too fascinated with humanity to see the vipers hidden beneath the shape forged by Prometheus to look just like them. The once perfect vessel to the gods, reduced to cockroaches at Eden's fall. They could not kill them all, but there was no need to. As enterprising and creative as humanity could be, their deaths were as easy as plucking one heart string and watch their entire circulatory system collapse as a result. Perhaps there was good amidst their kind, but Wade had always been a hypocrite, willing to put the blinders on and ignore reality just to adhere to his stubbornly idiotic viewpoints. Perhaps humanity as a whole was rotten, and there were individuals that were good, but no matter how many delusions Wade filled his head with, the truth was simple: he had long since lost the right to call himself a good man. All that was left of the young man she had once helped trained had suffered a slow suffocating death since he reached Rome, and died as his knife sunk on her side. "I must thank you really, if weren't for your betrayal, I wouldn't have gotten the idea of my Autumn Boon. Did you not like it? I made it specially for you, so that you knew what it felt to have a dear friend stab you in the back."
who? @wadecalhoun where? killjoy's notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got i shot cupid by stela cole
"Oh, dear. Are you alright, Wade?" Robin wonders mockingly as she sits next to him at Killjoy's bar and sends him a faux concerned looked as she takes him in slowly. There is something different about the human, danger blaring on her sense as she sits next to him, but she does not knot it comes from her boldness at entering a hunter friendly establishment or something more. Regardless, she has paid precautions, having mentioned of her desire to purview the establishment to one of the vampire marshals and Davheira, and with the new laws, she doubts any hunter would risk to attack her all too openly. And if they choose to do it in the dark? She will be ready and grinning, knowing they took the bait. " You look a little yeasty, as if you had just battled a fungal infection."
Decay it's an eternal cycle of life and what comes hereafter. A constant movement in the flow of eternity, it is not hard to lose oneself to the rot if wandering outside the chosen path. Slowly, carefully, she wades through the bogs, her magic keeping her muck free as she wanders through her domain, eyes narrowed as she looks around for any sign of cracks on the foundation. Her song had been strong and sure as she built the Dusk Court, but one can never be too careful, when her people are the ones at stake. Routine check ups across her court serve to calm her, as well as to get to know more of her people as she wanders.
This time, however, she is heading deeper into Trickster's Bog with Inan by her side, her head tilted to the side in consideration as he awaits for him to breach the silence with whatever that is bothering him. A sigh swells int he back of her throat for a moment as he once again chooses formality to create a barrier betwem the two of them, but keeps it to herself as she sends him a curious look. "What is it, Warder? "
@thegoodfellow location: Dusk Court notes: creepy
Travel between the fey forest and the realm of the elves was simple, Inan had taken to patrolling the borders and living beyond the Moon Gate for its ease. His home was already among the trees out there, a small farm that he didn't wish to uproot. Their power had grown, some exponentially, but if the common-blooded fey had weak magic to begin with, multiplying it didn't increase it as significantly as it did for the noble elves. Inan had become stronger, certainly, but the gap between the two bloodlines only became more distinct. It was not hard to understand how one had come to subjugate the other so many years ago.
Robin was safe within their Court, something that Inan hadn't truly felt since Titania reigned over the Otherworld. Here they were though, wandering amidst the muck of the bogs, the stirring decay and mysteries beneath their feet as Inan's footfalls carried him lightly across the surface. "My lady, there is something I feel I must tell you." Keeping secrets from the chancellor wasn't in his nature, but if she were to keep him as her warder then he needed to be honest with her.
who? @zahryaofspring where? Laurelin, Audulë notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got emperor's new clothes by panic! at the disco
"I admit, it is rather impressive to have named yourself a god of fertility and have your Court accept it without complains," Robin admits idly as she comes to stand next to the Dawn Chancellor. Impressive, but ultimately rather annoying too, to see his delusions reach higher and higher everyday. Alas, they do need his expertise, so she can't help but hope that his delusions solidify into something more solid than his own children. It is all good to see more of his children running around, but they need an overall population boom as well. "I will not be praying to you, but I nonetheless hope that your will manifests in a boom of children in all courts."
who? @wintersaurora where? moon gate, Audulë notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got super villain by stileto, silent child and kandyle page
"I think we are overdue some mimosas and sweets," she says as she offers the Lunar Chancellor her arm to escort her out of the Fey Forest and towards A Grazie a Brunch. She had contacted the dark elf in charge and managed to reserve them the perfect table for some gossip and snooping. Perhaps if she poked the other enough, she would admit about her apparent taste for members of the Dusk Court, current and past alike.
who? @wadecalhoun where? killjoy's notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got i shot cupid by stela cole
"Oh, dear. Are you alright, Wade?" Robin wonders mockingly as she sits next to him at Killjoy's bar and sends him a faux concerned looked as she takes him in slowly. There is something different about the human, danger blaring on her sense as she sits next to him, but she does not knot it comes from her boldness at entering a hunter friendly establishment or something more. Regardless, she has paid precautions, having mentioned of her desire to purview the establishment to one of the vampire marshals and Davheira, and with the new laws, she doubts any hunter would risk to attack her all too openly. And if they choose to do it in the dark? She will be ready and grinning, knowing they took the bait. " You look a little yeasty, as if you had just battled a fungal infection."
who? @farenduil where? the last bean notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got my type by saint motel
"A little bird told me that Aurora's favorite beverage flavor is pumpkin pie, do you think it's accurate?" She muses loudly as she falls next to Farenduil in line, a smirk of mischief on her lips as she glances up with a wink, making abundantly clear of what she had meant, but not breaching the topic openly for the new human's benefit. "Although, I must admit, this place have quite the delicious winter brews."
who? @meryasek where? Laurelin, Audulë notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got raise hell by dorothy
"How is the wedding planning going?" She asks as she settles next to the fey'ri in one of the Laurelin's branches, offering a cluster of juicy grapes as she uses her magic to occasionally pop some of her own cluster into her mouth as she keeps her gaze wandering around the Laurelin branches and beyond, into the glimpses of the courts that they can catch through the leaves. "Did you set a date?"
who? @chancellorxlaer where? Laurelin, Audulë notes: doing the randomize top songs thing and got de selby part 1 by hozier
There is no denying the wonder she always feels as she sees the Laurelin standing tall above all the courts. A stalwart reminder of everything they had fought for, everything they had survived, and everything they had suffered over the past year, and what they would have suffered had the future not changed. Titania had sacrificed everything for them, and she guesses the other five had too, and for that and that alone, she had lifted her curse. Peace is required for now, but the Dusk Court will not forget. Their kind long life lends for long grudges, and Robin will ensure that her people are not endangered by the Eye once more.
She will make sure of it.
"How fares your Court? Have you finished building it?" She inquires as she feels the Sun Chancellor approach, the shimmering heat of the deserts that have begun to grow bordering her territory.
strike me, again…
( my wounds heal over with STEEL )
( my bones mend into STONE )
strike me, again, and your hand will b r e a k
( my body is no longer only flesh and blood )
strike me, a g a i n, and you will learn…
i’ll feast on my fear and swallow it down, deep
i’ll rip the sorrow from my eyes
if that’s what it takes… i’ll let the beast inside WIN
and claw my way through this
"No need to thank me for the barest of courtesies, Fire Bearer," Robin waves off his thanks as she flips through another page on her book. It had been a while since she had reacquainted herself with Laer's travels, and with the Otherworld in disarray, she thought it better to brush over the possible dangers. "Nor do you owe me anything for wanting to remember and avoid repeating the mistakes you once did." Still, she closes her book and glances at him thoughtfully. "Although, my court will not say no to a few history lessons. Our elders might have survived, but their perspective of the Elvhen Empire likely differs to yours, and it is better to know all sides to the equation."
Time: When things have cooled down Location: Audele Characters: @thegoodfellow & @prometheanpiero Notes: you're a real one
Reliving the memories that he wanted to keep tangible was not enjoyable. But he had asked for this, he had wanted them and the Dusk Chancellor had been kind of enough to let him into Audele. "Thank you, Chancellor," Prometheus murmured, coming out of the room where the elves had helped him collect his memories. "I don't ask for charity; if there's anything I can do to repay you... my mother was a dusk elf. I'd be glad to lend a hand to the new elves here."
title: the hunt continues when: post the tinkerer where: rome, Audelë, more trigger warnings: usual stuff
Agony.
Tamlen’s death had been painful, the drainage that followed a rip on their plan. But Tamlen had come back to them against all odds, and the relief had been overwhelming.
Inan hadn’t.
His death feels like being unraveled, like losing a part of herself that she assumed would always be there. The second heartbeat behind her chest is gone, the thread of devotion and steely determination rotting away as death came to take her warder’s hand. Somewhere, a drow is being born. In Rome, Robin’s warder dies, an unfinished melody, a hunt cut short.
She hadn’t even been able to convince him to call her by her name.
Lain’s death had hurt, the growing care she had felt for the lycan, a sharp stab to her chest, but she had not loved the wolf. Not quite, not yet, and now never for he is gone, and she knows that even if Death was the one to collect what was due, she had played a part in that game. It is a tragedy, a story unfinished.
It was not love.
Inan was her warder, she had welcomed him in and invited him into her soul. Loving him was not unlike loving a part of herself. She had kept that emotion at bay, well aware that she had done nothing to earn anything from him but his loyalty, suppressing it to prevent any more awkwardness between the two. Inan’s story with Fen’harel is well known, and she would not push through his boundaries after that betrayal.
Would not have.
But in the end, it did not matter.
Her warder is dead, decay spreading through Rome as Thanatos collects his due, and all Robin can do within the Titan is sink her thoughts with her fellow Chancellors and fall upon the song of destruction they are weaving until they cannot do so any longer.
The Titan falls, and with the fall, their end is marked.
There is no opportunity to fight, no magic to summon, no song capable of stopping the Great Old Ones as they fall upon them like predators upon their prey.
The next fifteen years are spent in the ground, all thought lost beneath the agony of the song of decay and rot, of the end and the beginning.
The darkness is a familiar call, the pain an old comfort, akin to the ritual that had seen her confirmed into her role as Fall Chancellor. A legacy of the Dusk Elves that they once were, the ritual recalled costumes of old, and it is now the only reason Robin does not lose her mind to the slow movement of rot, slowly spreading through her body but keeping her alive to keep their nutrients. It’s a song of fungi, beautiful on its ugliness, on its destruction. She doesn’t lose herself to it, doesn’t break down and lose hope, but it comes close. Were it not for the familiarity of the torture, she might have.
She doesn’t.
She awakens to the astral bombs falling and to freedom that tastes as sickly sweet as the rot that had settled on the back of her throat over the last decade. There is no hesitation when she joins the other Chancellors into a song and they come together to become the Titan once more.
For one last time in this timeline.
Robin dies in the battlefield, only to awaken in a Rome that has not yet been Forsaken.
The battle is set aside, more pressing matters coming into the forefront as they find themselves changed. The Chancellors’ retreat, the war pushed back and with it their destruction of Rome, far more important things to do than to deal with the mortals that destroyed them and saved them alike. The world changed one more time, and Robin changed with it, working with the four other chancellors to create Audelë, a new home, alike the Courts that sheltered them for so long, but something new altogether in the same breath. As the dust settles, she finds Inan, brings him forth into a hug despite his arguments against it and laughs before letting go, polite distance that he is so fond of falling upon the two once more.
Peace fell upon their kind once more, a deal with the dark elves set in place. And the Courts? The Courts protected once more.
It’s not enough.
It will never be enough, but her people deserve the rest. Dusk has fallen upon them, and with it comes a new world they need to learn for themselves. Ignoring it all in reckless rage would be foolish, and the tricksters that hide in the shade are anything but that.
They will wait, they will watch, and they will be ready.
The hunt is eternal, and so are they.
A key portion of the lycans have begun to act oddly, and her concern for her very own wolf has increased every time she has encountered yet another bloodthirsty member of the Lupo pack. The math had been simple, that of equating those who had been filled with bloodlust with those who had been given Zahrya's forsaken blood fruit. Unfortunately, that did mean that Lain is likely to be affected, as she had counted him amidst the number when the blood fruits had been offered. Her fears are manifested when she runs into her wolf, her rotted ones just beyond reach dealing with a wave of bothersome drows. As she sees the lycan that she had begun to like begin shifting, the Autumn Chancellor feels unbearably tired, knowing this encounter would only end one way.
Running would be a mistake, with her magic half-drained and her desire to keep it for extreme dangers only, so she doesn't, falling instead upon the training she had gone through at Rainer's hand and attempting to evade the running lycan's attack.
She is not entirely lucky, a long swipe cutting through the flesh of her arm, but it is enough for her to get out of the way and reach for her blades. Falling into position, she allows her eyes to flicker to the side and she relaxes as she sees her changeling approaching. They are far enough that she is still in danger, but she is sure she can manage for another few minutes.
"Lain, listen to me," she asks, voice calm and level as she looks into eyes she can no longer recognize. "Listen, please. Don't make me do something I cannot take back."
for: @thegoodfellow
Where: Ruins of Rome
Time: Day 9, before she gets back in the fey megazord
Notes: the drug addicted dog came back but he bites now :(
Thanks to the power of the bloodfruit, for the first time since Lain had been bitten, he felt like a proper lycan and not just some sorry excuse for one. He had never tasted raw power until now, his wolf form doubling in size and tenacity. But like every other good thing in Lain’s life, it did not last. How could he have known that the magic imbued fruit that he had consumed a week ago could be so easily manipulated by the Drow? The corruption coursed through his veins, constricting his mind and bending it to their dark will. Fate was cruel. Of all the eladrin that would cross his path at this time, of course the person standing before him had to be Robin. One of a select few that it would absolutely destroy him to hurt.
“Robin,” He breathed out, his skeleton already snapping and shifting. “I can’t make it stop,” his voice was a deep, distorted growl. Another violent shudder passing through his body, bluish-grey fur sprouting on exposed skin. The changeling heart he had come to rely on so heavily was malfunctioning, the unstable lycan no longer had that crutch to lean on. There was no stopping this, the transformation was inevitable. “Run!” When his new body fell into place, he charged. He leapt at the fall chancellor, blood stained claws slashing at flesh. When the two of them had been entwined, Lain had always hid this side of himself. But now against his will, his true nature was on full display. There was no coming back from this, he feared.
"Get a grip, we are at war. I know sex is all new and novel for you, but it will still be there after we defeat the drows," Robin calls out, rolling her eyes at Zahrya's incredible sense of timing. There is a time and a place for everything, and the middle of the battlefield is surely not the time for sex, unless he had the audacity to think they were losing. But if that were the case, she would be more pissed about his lack of faith on their abilities than his desire for one last desperate fuck before he died. "Frankly, I couldn't give less of a fuck of your hot date, considering that we have yet to defeat any drow of importance. "
Between the Chancellors being inside of each other and the sensation of crushing the earth beneath their combined power, Zahrya fell out of the Titan leaking nectar like it was the height of spring in spite of his exhaustion. Luckily he didn't fall too far before being scooped into an enormous, scaly bosom which he happily found comfort in. "Chancellor, His Majesty is giving us a wonderful soundtrack for what the mortals call a hot date," Zahrya responds from atop Alastor, barely turning his head to acknowledge Robin. Zahrya's magic reached explosive magnitude when he and Alastor came together, so he was irritated that he had to remove demonic scales from his lips to speak. "I cannot believe you'd interrupt our couple's time for something so trivial. Clearly, I have more urgent matters to attend to than the locations of the others," Zahrya continues, never halting his stroking of Alastor's horn for a second. Yes, Mery's continued destruction of Rome had him feeling incredibly fertile. He never knew war could be so erotic.
"Now you are bragging," she huffs in amusement before nodding in acquiescence to the silent order. She is capable enough as it is, but it is far better if she allows herself some time to recuperate before they join back into the Titan form. "I will attempt to find Zahrya with the aid of my rotted ones, and I will bring him this way if I do."
Rolling her shoulders, she begins walking away from Aurora, turning her head to the side and waving over her shoulder.
"Me? Die? Please, I am far too stubborn to rest before the job is done. Autumn does not rest until the harvest has been set away for the Winter, and we are not there yet, are we Chancellor?" She asks with a laugh as she turns a corner and her changeling begin falling into step next to her. She leaves Aurora behind with hope on her heart, hope that she will soon see extinguished.
"Not at all," Aurora declared calmly. She would die in this city like her children did if she had to; it was that determination to win and keep their families alive which was the anthem likely singing in each eladrin and elven heart that day. If there's was a hopeless battle than they wouldn't know for sure until they all failed to try to use every bit of what they had to win. Pessimism haunted the elf but she wouldn't let it make her falter.
"Recharge your magic, Chancellor, I will be right here fighting until its done." Though she doubted that one like Robin would stand still until that moment; Aurora only hoped that her old friend remained safe while she worked her blade through these hordes. "One favor: don't die before we make the drow queen pay for this. I'll kill you if you do." While it was meant as a light tease the words themselves were a dark truth. Every drow that was unlike Aegnor or Andruil would perish.
END
"Well that is concerning," she admits as her brows furrows when hearing about Nirvaan's current predicament. There is no doubt that Aurora will want to hear about that, the way she holds her warder dear. Biting her lip thoughtfully as she narrows her eyes, Robin nods to herself as she glances to Inan. "I shall find Laer, I might be running dry magic-wise but I have improved my physical combat skills. Please go to Aurora and tell her about Nirvaan," she says, then hesitates, before continuing, deciding that it is not the time to push. If Inan wants to hide behind his formalities, he shall have them fully. "Good Hunting, Warder Inan. Dar'eth Shiral."
(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Prudence Blackwood’s red tartan gown with white wool knitted sleeves in 3x02
"Well that is concerning," she admits as her brows furrows when hearing about Nirvaan's current predicament. There is no doubt that Aurora will want to hear about that, the way she holds her warder dear. Biting her lip thoughtfully as she narrows her eyes, Robin nods to herself as she glances to Inan. "I shall find Laer, I might be running dry magic-wise but I have improved my physical combat skills. Please go to Aurora and tell her about Nirvaan," she says, then hesitates, before continuing, deciding that it is not the time to push. If Inan wants to hide behind his formalities, he shall have them fully. "Good Hunting, Warder Inan. Dar'eth Shiral."
Familiarity had bloomed between himself and Fen'Harel once, Inan wasn't interested in venturing down that path again. Not yet, anways. "Nirvaan was in the forest fighting a drow when everyone fell apart, I saw a demon catch the Spring chancellor, Laer and Aurora I think are there-" Inan pointed, "and there." He thought it was pertinent that Aurora should know her warder was in danger but he kept this notion to himself, Inan was faithful and loyal, he'd do what the chancellor asked of him. He just wasn't' going to start using her first name now. "I'll find them both and then return to you, my lady."
"Robin, Inan, call me Robin," Robin says, a fond smile flitting through her lips as she sees his reluctance to drop the formalities. It is good for her, to have someone to depend on after the last few months. Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to keep him by her side, their bond would make it more convenient if they separated to cover more ground at a quicker speed. "Your place it's by my side, yes, but we need to cover a lot of ground in a small amount of time. The less time we spend apart, the better for our chances. Did you see where the others fell?"
Tamlen's nature remained a great mystery, but Inan understood now why they said power was seductive. The warder had never been stronger, sharper, or faster than when he'd felt Tamlen's power come flooding through his warder bond with Robin. Joined in body and soul, Inan did wish that Robin wouldn't put it like that, but he kept it to himself, he knew how the summer fey were when it came to carnal pleasures but the warder had always been more reserved. By no means prudish, just far more private. "What would you have me do, chancellor? My place is at your side." Inan did not enjoy the thought of leaving Robin in this moment, but he would do as he was commanded regardless.
"We are going to have to talk about how formal you are," Robin muses with mild amusement as she bumps her shoulder against Inan's in a friendly manner. It is a small teasing comment, but she means it. She wants the same sort of wardship Laer and Aurora have, one built upon trust and understanding, and the formalities need to go if she wants that to happen. She doesn't want a blindly loyal guard, but a friend and advisor willing to tell her she is wrong and offer her another perspective. Robin knows she is prone to pettiness and cattiness, and she believes that Inan's diligence might prove the perfect counterbalance. "Correct. I need to find Laer first to confirm what the Master of Secrets vacation means for Tamlen, but if he is not gone, then we will likely join in body and soul once more."
The city had fallen into chaos, the King a frenzy of power that Inan had never seen. Hellfire and changelings, his dark blade at his side. A bow of ebony obsidian ringing through the air. The Titan. There was much that Inan was unfamiliar with here, but hunting drow, defending people, and battle were three things that felt as though they had never changed. "Understood," Inan said measuredly, Robin was about as far from Fen'Harel as a person could be and for that he felt that he was grateful. "do you intent to reunite with the others? We were all scattered."
"Aurora, my dearest friend. I would find you in the middle of a forest fire without aid," Robin drawls dramatically as she steps past another ice barrier, raising a hand to her chest to add to add to her dramatics. "Of course, the ice show did help, but truly, you are far too bright to be hidden regardless."
She nods at her logic, flawless as usual, and she is glad to be able to contribute to the conversation with something more than her own guesses.
"I ran into Laer on the way here, he is currently fetching Tamlen. I believe he went on the direction of the Senate's current base, but I do not know if he changed his path," she offers. It is unfortunate that she does not know where Zahrya is, but Aurora is likely right. Zahrya is likely to return to the Forest now that they have separated. That, or to find his demon lover to have him close as they fight. Either way, he will be relatively safe and easy to find. Eyes narrowed, Robin considers their options, only to pause when Aurora speaks once more. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Will that stop you from trying once more?"
This union of their Chancellor magic had been a lot more potent than what had happened at Halloween. But, unlike Halloween, Aurora hadn't need a moment to recuperate. The elf reinforced their borders and fought while her fellows recovered up until that moment, becoming the center of a storm unlike any other that the once winter eladrin had ever conjured. Unforgiving ice and blue fire. Rarely did a soul pass through and, when they did, they were met with blade and shield. But Aurora was one storm in a sea of warriors and still she doubted even a god themself would be able to stop the onslaught of the drow forces. Their enemy had collective strength beyond anything she had ever seen, or anything she had ever seen from the memories of her ancestors.
Huginn hadn't needed to inform Aurora of the Autumn Chancellor's approach - she felt the familiarity and made sure not even a flake of snow touched Robin as she approached. "Hope it wasn't too hard to find me," Aurora joked, though her tone and her expression were as serious as death. She conjured up another wall of ice immediately where one had just fallen to a monstrous beast just a few blocks away. "No. But something tells me Tamlen isn't dead, not by Laer's reaction." Tamlen had certainly changed, changed into something. Plus, Aurora would have expected an ocean by Laer to drown half the city or a sandstorm to blind them all in his rage. "I have a feeling he'd be looking for him now." Aurora felled the monster, the tentacled thing bursting into shatters of crystalline ice. "Zahrya would never go far from the Forest."
There was a moment of hesitation but Aurora couldn't keep the sense of impending doom to herself anymore. "We're not going to be able to hold this city, Robin."
"That is a relief," she sighs quietly, one hand raising to rub the bridge of her nose as a weight leaves her shoulder's at the admission of Tamlen's continued existence. With the weight gone, it is far easier to feel her exhaustion, the magic well that seemed endless running low. "I sent Inan to seek Aurora out, but I can go meet them and try to find Zahrya so that we are all in one place once you have fetched Tamlen." It's not ideal, to separate while weak and depleted, but it is necessary. And even with her reserves running low, she has been training under Rainer's tutelage for long enough that most of her previous flaws when fighting had been smoothed out. "Or do you have another plan?"
Laer stood, he hadn't felt this depleted in ages. Was this what mortality felt like? So sad, it made him feel even worse for these creatures. "I felt Tamlen's head get snapped off before he died." Laer rubbed at his jaw, "Fortunately he'll be fine." He placed his hands upon his hips as he gazed out across the city, in the far distance he saw the Pyramid and through his bond he sensed the celestial's presence there. "Already I can feel his magic returning to me and restoring my reserves." Laer looked around and some distance away he saw blue flames and explosions of cold and lightning. "Well," he pointed, "that'd be our Aurora. We'll have to reconvene once I fetch Tamlen, we'll reunited our bodies then." Zahrya had been surprisingly tight.