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The Great Escape
The first thing Ursa was reminded of as soon as they reached the first tunnel spotted on the cliffside was her apparent nakedness. Yes, she was holding her dress and her undergarments all clumped in her arms-- her shoes were long forgotten in the shallow cave they had fled from. Ivan was no better off, perhaps even doing worse. His giant wound in the middle of his chest had begun bleeding again, and he too was running with his clothes in his arms.
“Your Majesty, before we continue, I think we should put on some clothes… at least, you should put on some pants.” Ivan stopped in his tracks and looked down, finally realizing he was still bare.
“Good idea.” Ursa immediately turned away and threw the dress back on in record time. All of it was still quite damp; however, complaining would get no one anywhere. The two of them
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Where Loyalties Lie The Aftermath
Ursa woke up after two days. The moment her eyes opened, the Oracle and Lord Orlov were immediately informed. A pile of clothes was left at the edge of her bed, neatly folded.“When you’re finished, the Oracle requests your presence, Your Majesty.” Ursa smiled politely and closed the door after the priest. It was the same type of clothes she wore three or four days ago when she went missing. Ursa got dressed quickly by herself and followed the priest to find the Oracle.Orlov paced the room, close to ripping the nails out of his fingers. “You must recognize the issue. I know you feel it, Your Holiness. The darkness. It’s seeping into the energy of the temple, it’s destroying the barrier--”“The barrier is old, young one. It is bound to break sometime soon.&
Where Loyalties Lie The Oracle's Secret...
The Oracle’s secret… was no secret at all. Everyone in the temple knew about it, if they weren’t blind to the truth.Ursa knocked on the Oracle’s door, and one of the priests opened it.“He’s expecting you,” the priest said, sliding out as she entered. The old man sat at his desk by the window, playing with the extravagant gold rings on his fingers.“Your Holiness, I must speak with you about an urgent matter.”“I know you do. I was waiting for you to return alone.”“What? Why would you need me alone?” she asked. The Oracle turned his chair to face Ursa, his kind eyes usually mistaken for complacency were unusually sharp.
Where Loyalties Lie Roads That Can't Be Taken
“Alright, what was it that you couldn’t say in front of her?” Ivan asked, laying back down in bed. He still felt a dull ache on his chest where he was deeply slashed by that one poisonous creature. Ivan had no doubt that he would be better soon, however, if he was going to fight those creatures head on in a few days time, it would be better for him to take it easy.“It’s nothing that I can’t say in front of Her Majesty, it’s just that I worry she may get in the way of our plans.”“Ursa is harmless in this kind of situation. She has no manna, no magical powers to speak of, and especially no fighting ability. I think she will come around. Besides, Ursa is a tactical person. She’ll understand that it’s better to get rid of those creatures to save all of us in here, rather than wait to be hunte
Where Loyalties Lie The Day of Magia Was Dawning I
By the time Ursa had dried off and put her clothes back on, the Temple was barren. Not a soul could be found in the halls, not even the guard outside the Pool of Burvju was there.“No,” Ursa murmured to herself. “They couldn’t have started, I wasn’t in there for that long--” Instinctively, Ursa looked out the window and up at the sky. The sky was an exquisite explosion of purples, reds and oranges. She did not need to be a mage to suspect what day it was. The sky was already setting-- how long had she been in there? How long had the High Goddess Mai kept her in there? Why did the guard not retrieve her?Ursa did not knock as she arrived at the Oracle’s study. She simply burst through the door, only to be met with complete emptiness. Not even the Oracle was here. Where was he? If Ursa ran to the Med Wing, wou
Where Loyalties Lie The Day of Magia Was Dawning II
Ivan raised his arms, the manna surging around him, picking up and throwing the creatures around him. Orlov had his back, fending off anything that managed to break through the manna circle. Orlov kept sending worried glances over at Ivan, who had just barely recovered from the forest.However, Ivan showed no signs of immediate injury or signs of slowing down. He cut through anything that came near him, and if he couldn’t kill it with his sword, he would throttle it and then throw it in a random direction.Orlov had the same strategy but to a quieter effect. He did not have the same scope as his pupil, but he managed to get by with what was in front of him.“Kassio! Go help the others!” Ivan ordered.“But--” Orlov was
Where Loyalties Lie The Day of Magia Was Dawning III
The God shrunk himself down to a more ‘mortal’ size, but he still towered over Ivan by two or three feet. Ivan was already an undeniably large man, but he looked miniscule compared to the green figure that approached him slowly.“You still have time to turn back, mortal. I will look past the insults if you begged to keep your life,” the God said with a smirk.“Perhaps you should watch your words, since you will be on your knees soon enough.” The God growled loudly and launched himself through the air, his claws extended like knives.Ivan held up his sword in a defensive position and held his ground when the God landed, swiping at Ivan like a cat. Ivan summoned another sword that was smaller and used it to swipe at the God’s stomach. The metal crumbled
Where Loyalties Lie The Day of Magia Was Dawning IV
Ursa grabbed Ivan’s hand. “You still have to fix this.” Ivan smiled and nodded before closing his eyes gently. A cool and calming feeling came over Ursa, and she, too, closed her eyes to feel the moment. A bright beam emitted from Ivan’s eyes and boomed like a star exploding over the surrounding area. Ursa wanted to back away, but his grip tightened around her wrist, pulling more and more energy out of her. The cool feeling slowly began to burn her from the inside out, creeping through her bloodstream. Her breathing picked up as the beam gained back its brilliance, overwhelming her view of her husband.“Ivan! Ivan!” she said worriedly. Orlov, who stood close by, was also getting worried for Ursa. Someone who had never practiced magic would certainly not be used to channeling-- and with her partner being someone so completely overwhelming, well, he couldn’t he
Where Loyalties Lie So Close, So Far
The sun shone through the window of the great Westlands conqueror’s office, illuminating his curly dark hair and picturesque features. A tired and unfulfilled look troubled his eyes as he stared at the mountain of paperwork left on the side of his desk, leftover from his recent pilgrimage. Orlov sat nearby, going through his own fair share of paperwork-- though not nearly enough, according to Ivan-- smirking at his old friend’s obvious distaste for the tedious affair.It was the same old thing every time: a governor asking for more funds; a farmer complaining about the unfair contract he had signed with the State; an arrogant official trying to curry favor; sometimes, sprinkled in would be marriage proposals. Those have gone down considerably, but many still try to put a concubine in power. Ivan always threw those letters out first; they disgusted him. Too big of a family would be impossi
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